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A third prosecution witness has told the jury at Derek Chauvin's murder trial that George Floyd died as as result of 'low oxygen' or 'asphyxia.'

Forensic pathologist Dr. Lindsey Thomas took the stand Friday morning at the close of the second week of the high-profile trial.

Dr. Thomas, who works as a medical examiner in Reno and Salt Lake City, said that in this case the autopsy itself did not tell her the cause of death in her investigation but the 'unique' amount of documentation in terms of videos and records was vital in establishing 'mechanism' of death.

Asked if she agreed with Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker's finding that cause of death was, 'Cardiopulmonary arrest, complicating law enforcement subdual restraint and neck compression.' She said, 'Yes.'

In an extraordinary move Judge Cahill decided that autopsy images of Floyd would not be displayed in court but handed in packets to the individual jurors and people in court. Jurors were shown a picture of Floyd's face with abrasions over his left eyebrow and cheek and small cuts on his nose and upper lip; a picture of his left and right shoulders bearing the echo of injuries sustained as he tried to push himself up to breathe.

They were shown a picture of his hands and directed to look at the base of the left hand just above his wrist where there was discoloration consistent with the handcuffs that ratcheted tighter around his wrists as he struggled.

On both hands there were areas where his skin had been rubbed up by the cuffs. On the knuckles of his right hand there was skin scraped off where he had pushed against the rim of the car tire.

For the first time in proceedings the seat in court set aside for Chauvin's family - which had been removed as it languished empty so long  was occupied.

An Asian woman who wore a wedding ring and her dark hair cut into a bob sat silently in Chauvin's camp watching proceedings.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Lindsey Thomas testified as a prosecution witness Friday in the trial of Derek Chauvin. 'This is a death where both the heart and lungs stopped working and the point is that it is due to subdual restraint and compression,' she said

Former officer Derek Chavin (right) is seen in court Friday morning at the close of the second week of the high-profile trial. In an extraordinary move Judge Cahill decided that autopsy images of Floyd would not be displayed in court but handed in packets to the individual jurors and people in court

George Floyd's death certificate ruled his cause of death as 'Cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compressions'

At the start of the proceedings Judge Cahill had pulled one of the female jurors aside and expressed concern that she had been exposed to outside influences.

She explained to him that her mother-in-law had texted her that it 'looked like a bad day for the defense,' an answer which seemed to satisfy the judge that there had been no misconduct.

Dr. Thomas had told the court that there are no physical findings in autopsy that show low oxygen but there are sometimes findings consistent with a cause of death that may result in low oxygen. She gave as an example a partial hanging in which a person may have petechiae, tiny burst blood vessels in the eye.

She said that she had found such supporting signs in Floyd's autopsy. According to Dr. Thomas, 'Mr. Floyd had superficial injuries on his face, shoulders and wrists. What that does is it supports what I saw in the videos which is that he's being forcibly restrained and subdued and trying to move into a position by rubbing his face against the ground, pulling against his handcuffs and by pushing with his shoulder.

'And he also had some scrapes on his knuckles on his right hand and again that was from him pushing trying to get into a position where he could breathe.'

Chauvin, 45, is accused of killing Floyd by pinning his knee on the 46-year-old black man's neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as he lay face-down in handcuffs after being detained for using an alleged counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes

She explained, 'There are really two parts; cardiopulmonary arrest which doesn't really provide much additional information because essentially we all die when our heart and lungs stop, but as a forensic pathologist I would use it to differentiate from cardiac arrest. This is not a sudden cardiac arrest.

'This is a death where both the heart and lungs stopped working and the point is that it is due to subdual restraint and compression.'

She explained, 'The activities of the law enforcement officers led to Mr. Floyd's death.'

And by that she meant placing him in the prone position, handcuffing him and kneeling on his back and, specifically, neck.

Dr. Thomas, a pathologist of 37 years experience who has conducted more than 5,000 autopsies, was on the stand the day after the court heard compelling medical testimony from expert pulmonologist Martin Tobin and forensic toxicologist and police surgeon, William Smock.

Both were unequivocal in their views that Floyd died not from an overdose of fentanyl or its interplay with excited delirium and his pre-existing cardiac disease, but due to 'low levels of oxygen,' 'positional asphyxiation.'

Put simply both told the court that Floyd had the life squeezed out of him, crushed between the street at 38th and Chicago and the weight of Chauvin and his fellow officers on his neck and back.

As with the previous experts Dr. Thomas told the court that her findings as to cause and mechanism of death were not based primarily on the autopsy but on the video and her wider investigation.

She explained that the autopsy was great for 'ruling things out.'

Dr. Thomas told the jury that the autopsy ruled out pre-existing lung disease or injuries to his neck that suggested the bones in his neck had been fractures and it ruled out a stroke, he didn't have an aneurism or an embolism, he didn't rupture his heart, he didn't have an old or recent heart attack.

Dr. Martin Tobin, a specialist at the Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital and Loyola University's medical school in Chicago, testified on Thursday that these images of George Floyd lifting himself off the ground with his hands (above) show he was trying to 'literally breath with his fingers and knuckles' because the force used to push him down was crushing his lungs

Dr. Tobin pointed to an image taken from a body cam video of Floyd pushing his knuckles against the tire of the police car next to him. Of that moment, Dr. Tobin said Floyd was trying to use his hands to push his chest up to get air

Questioned by Jerry Blackwell, Dr. Thomas told the court that Floyd's was not a fentanyl death  as forwarded by the defense  because his death was not a slow, peaceful slip into coma without struggle.

Similarly she ruled out Methamphetamine as behind Floyd's death because, she said that caused a much more sudden death possibly with a full blown seizure.

Yesterday Dr Tobin told the court that at points Floyd was so desperate that he had tried 'to breathe through his fingers and knuckles.'

The main thing this shows, she said, was that his face was in contact with some sort of rough surface.

None of this evidence was, Dr Thomas said, conclusive. It was only useful in the context of what could be seen in the videos.

Dr. Thomas told jurors that there was nothing in Floyd's medical history to suggest he would have died that night under any other circumstances.

But she told them that the physiologic stress under which Floyd was put that night was a contributory factor.

By that, she said, she meant the fear of life that caused the heart to raise, blood pressure to rise, stress hormones and adrenalin to be released, lactic acid generated in the muscles in an agonizing stress that goes on minute after minute with, in this instance, no recovery.

It was, in her view, 'a contributing mechanism' that put additional demands on his heart, his muscles and his breathing in a kind of 'double whammy' to his whole system.

But she was clear that the direct, primary, mechanism of death was asphyxia while the cause of death was the officers' subdual, restraint and compression of Floyd's neck.

She told jurors that she agreed with Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Baker's conclusion that the manner of Floyd's death was homicide  death at the hand of another.

During his testimony, Dr. Tobin relied on graphics and images that depicted the officers' positions on Floyd to analyze the impact the forces had on his death

During his testimony, Dr. Tobin analyzed the mechanics of how Floyd would have been unable to breathe due to the officers pinning him down and relied on graphics to show jurors how the level of force would have contributed. He said Chauvin was exerting 91.5lbs of pressure directly down on his neck

In direct questioning, Dr. Thomas had dismissed Floyd's general health or health issues as having any part of his ultimate death.

But in cross, Chauvin's attorney Eric Nelson circled back to those underlying issues starting with Floyd's heart which was enlarged  'somewhat enlarged' according to Dr. Thomas, 'profoundly enlarged' Nelson suggested giving the average normal weight of a healthy heart as 383g while Floyd's was 540g.

Focusing in on the narrowing of Floyd's arteries Nelson asked Dr. Thomas what level Dr. Thomas as a forensic pathologist would view as a potentially fatal. She said that she would consider it a possible cause of death if the narrowing was between 70 and 75 per cent.

Floyd, Nelson pointed out, had a 75 percent narrowing of his left coronary artery and a 90 percent narrowing of his right.

Chauvin's attorney Eric Nelson circled back to those underlying issues starting with Floyd's heart which was enlarged  'somewhat enlarged' according to Dr. Thomas, 'profoundly enlarged' Nelson suggested giving the average normal weight of a healthy heart as 383g while Floyd's was 540g

Under the physiologic stress described by Dr. Thomas earlier Nelson established that Mr. Floyd's already potentially compromised heart would have to work 'very hard'

Turning to Dr. Thomas's finding of positional asphyxia Nelson sought to neutralize the notion of the prone position as 'inherently dangerous.'

Patients being treated for covid are placed in the prone position, he said, chiropractors place people in it and massage therapists.

'So, you would agree,' he asked Dr. Thomas, 'that the prone position is not in and of itself inherently dangerous?' She agreed.

Nelson asked, 'Is the prone position on concrete inherently dangerous?'

Not, Dr. Thomas replied, with no other factors.

Nelson also had Dr. Thomas confirm the absence of damage or bruising to Floyd's neck and back.

In fact, Nelson said, 'There is really no objective evidence showing any pressure to the back of Mr. Floyd.'

Dr. Thomas replied, 'There is nothing in the autopsy that is correct.'

Nelson leaned heavily on Floyd's apparent coherence while he was able to speak to dismiss the notion that low oxygen was his cause of death noting that the brain is the first organ to show signs of its impact.

And he worked hard to reintroduce the causes of death that Dr. Thomas had eliminated he asked, 'Let's assume you found Mr. Floyd dead in his residence, no police involvement, no drugs, the only facts are these. What would you find as cause of death?'

Dr. Thomas replied, 'In that very narrow set of circumstances I'd probably concluded that the cause of death was his heart disease.'

Turning to the drugs in Floyd's system he asked, 'You find a person at home, no struggle with the police and the person doesn't have a heart problem but you find fentanyl and methamphetamine at the levels that they're at. Would you certify this as an overdose?'

She replied, 'In the absence of any of these other realities, yes I would consider that to be an overdose.'

When he stood to redirect, Blackwell was clearly irritated by the cross examination he had just witnessed and was cautioned twice by Judge Cahill for framing his questions in a way that was argumentative.

Blackwell asked, 'Would you ever approach an assessment, taking out of it the facts that you found pertinent and highly relevant to the case?'

Dr. Thomas replied she would not.

Blackwell asked Dr. Thomas to reiterate her findings as to cause and manner of death.

She said, 'Cause of death was law enforcement subdual, restraint and compression. And the manner of death was homicide.'

Prosecutor Blackwell was clearly irritated by the cross examination he had just witnessed and was cautioned twice by Judge Cahill for framing his questions in a way that was argumentative

Blackwell asked Dr. Thomas to reiterate her findings as to cause and manner of death. She said, 'Cause of death was law enforcement subdual, restraint and compression. And the manner of death was homicide'

The manner of death in the case of George Floyd is listed as 'homicide'. Dr. Thomas told jurors that she agreed with Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Baker's conclusion that the manner of Floyd's death was homicide  death at the hand of another

On Thursday, Dr. Tobin, a specialist at the Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital and Loyola University's medical school in Chicago, testified as a prosecution witness.

During his hours-long testimony, Dr. Tobin said he believed Floyd's cause of death was due to a lack of oxygen that damaged his brain and caused his heart to stop when he was pinned to the street by Minneapolis police officers.

He said there were several factors that he said made it difficult for Floyd to breathe, beyond Chauvin's knee on his neck: Officers lifting up on his handcuffs, the hard street, lying face down, his turned head and a knee on his back.

Dr. Tobin relied on graphics and bodycam video that depicted the officers' positions on Floyd to analyze and explain to jurors the impact those forces had on the 46-year-old black man's death last May.

'He was being squashed between the two sides,' Dr. Tobin said as he described the position Floyd was in lying face down on the ground with the officers pinning him down.

Dr. Martin Tobin was the first to testify for the prosecution on Thursday on what has become the most contested issue of Chauvin's trial so far: Floyd's cause of death

Dr. Tobin told the court that the impact of the pressure of the officers and handcuffs rendered movement so impossible that Floyd's left lung was greatly affected.

'Basically on the left side of his lung, it was almost to the effect of if a surgeon had gone in and removed his lung,' he said, adding that Floyd needed to be 'totally dependent' on his right side.

At one point, Dr. Tobin noted that Floyd had rammed his face into the ground to 'try to crank up his chest' so he could breathe.

'He's actually using his nose and chin and forehead as a way of trying to help him get air into the right side of his chest,' he said.

He pointed to an image taken from a body cam video of Floyd pushing his knuckles against the tire of the police car next to him. Of that moment, Dr. Tobin said Floyd was trying to use his hands to push his chest up to get air.

'This tells you he's used up his resources and he's literally trying to breathe through his fingers and knuckles,' Dr. Tobin said.

'When you breathe you use your diaphragm, next thing you recruit is the big muscles in the neck, when those are wasted up then you're relying on these kinds of muscles to get air into the right side.'

Dr. Tobin pointed to images showing Floyd's right shoulder, prominent and strained, as evidence that he was also trying to recruit his shoulders to facilitate breathing as he was being crushed between the officers and the street.

These were the tell-tale sides of a person trying to breathe 'in extremis,' Dr. Tobin said.

He went on to further analyze the mechanics of how Floyd would have been unable to breathe and offered specific calculations of what his lung capacity would have been at various points before he lost consciousness.

Floyd's cause of death has become the most contested issue of Chauvin's trial so far with the defense claiming he died as a result of a drug overdose. Dr. Tobin took the stand as part of an effort by prosecutors to establish that it was Chauvin's actions that killed him.

Tobin took direct aim at the defense's theory, declaring in his testimony: 'A healthy person subjected to what Mr. Floyd was subjected to would have died as a result.'

When asked if Dr. Tobin, based on his medical expertise, had determined a cause of death for Floyd after viewing videos from the scene, he said: 'Mr. Floyd died from a low level of oxygen... The cause of low level of oxygen was shallow breathing. Small breaths that weren't able to carry the air through his lungs.'

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter after being accused of pinning his knee on Floyd's neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds in May last year

Dr. Tobin delivered another blow to the defense's contention that Floyd died of a fentanyl overdose and not asphyxia.

According to Dr. Tobin, Floyd's breathing rate and the high levels of carbon dioxide found in his arterial blood post mortem both spoke to fentanyl having no part in his death. Fentanyl, he explained, depresses respiratory rate, while heart disease another factor pointed to as an alternative to asphyxia, increases it.

Having observed Floyd's final moments, Dr. Tobin said that his respiratory rate was right in the middle of normal, at 22, where a normal range is between 12 and 27 breaths per minute.

Dr. Tobin also said that the high levels of carbon dioxide, attributed by the defense to the presence of opioids, were 'completely explained' by the fact that he took his last spontaneous breath at 20.25.16 and was not delivered his next by paramedics' intervention until 9mins 50 seconds later.

He explained that the level of the gas in Floyd's blood  89  was exactly what one would expect taking into consideration the rate the gas rises in the bloodstream from normal levels of around 35 to 45 once a person has stopped breathing.

Dr. Tobin explained elsewhere in his testimony the impact of Floyd being placed in the prone position stating that his lung volume would have diminished in size by 24 percent - even without any pressure having been applied.

With smaller lung volume, his oxygen reserves were drastically reduced, his hypopharynx was constricted and, with his lung and chest walls having stiffened, the effort to breathe would have increased, the witness said.

With Chauvin's knee on his back the reduction of his lung volume jumped to 43 percent, his hypopharynx became more constricted and his breathing increasingly shallow.

'With each breathe [Floyd] has to fight against the street, he has to fight against the small volume, he has to try to lift up the against the effect of the officer's knee on his back and the other officer pumping his arm into his chest [with the handcuffs].'

By the time Floyd lost consciousness  a moment that Dr. Tobin placed at 4.53 minutes in  his blood oxygen levels, Dr. Tobin said with absolute certainty, would have dropped from a normal of 89mm Hg to 36mm Hg.

This image that Dr. Tobin referred to during his testimony shows the different ways Floyd's neck - or hypopharynx - was restricted at various stages when he was being detained

By the time Floyd lost consciousness  a moment that Dr. Tobin placed at 4.53 minutes in  his blood oxygen levels, Dr. Tobin said with absolute certainty, would have dropped from a normal of 89mm Hg to 36mm Hg

As a physician of more than three decades experience of working in critical care and Intensive Care Units Dr. Tobin said he has monitored 'millions' of patients for signs of unconsciousness and does so by observing their facial muscles and flickers

'It's a very important sign to be able to monitor,' he said when caring for patients.

Floyd stopped breathing, according to Dr. Tobin, at 20.24.16seconds. From then it would take, he said, only 25 seconds for every ounce of oxygen to be gone from his body.

'The knee remained on the neck for another three minutes two seconds after every ounce of oxygen had left the body,' Dr. Tobin said, adding the knee stayed on Floyd's neck for an additional 2.44 minutes after officers found he had no pulse.

Tobin also explained that just because Floyd was talking and shown moving on video, it doesn't mean he was breathing adequately. He said a person can continue to speak until the airway narrows to 15% - but once it gets below that, its dangerous. 'At the point where you can't speak... you are in deep trouble,' he said.

Officers are heard on video telling Floyd that if he can talk, he can breathe.

He said it appeared that Floyd was getting enough oxygen for about the first five minutes to keep his brain alive because he was still speaking. But Tobin said that where Chauvin had his knee after the five-minute mark would not make much of a difference, because at that point Floyd had already experienced brain damage.
Belfast: Authorities in Northern Ireland are seeking to restore calm after the worst mayhem in a week of street violence in the region, where Britains exit from the European Union has unsettled an uneasy political balance.

A crowd of about 100 Protestant and Catholic youths in Belfast hurled bricks, fireworks and petrol bombs at police and each other again on Thursday night. Police responded with a water cannon blast.

Nationalists attack police just up from peace wall interface gates which divide the nationalist and loyalist communities in Belfast on April 8. Credit:Getty Images

The attack in the Springfield Road area followed several nights of rioting by nationalists and pro-British loyalists nearby condemned by the British and Irish governments and local political leaders.

Crowds including children as young as 12 or 13 clashed across a concrete peace wall that separates a British loyalist Protestant neighbourhood from an Irish nationalist Catholic area in west Belfast on Wednesday. Police fired rubber bullets at the crowd, and nearby a city bus was hijacked and set on fire.
An Indian couple was found dead at



their home in the US after neighbours saw their four-year-old daughter crying alone in the balcony of their house, family sources said on Friday.

The bodies of Balaji Bharat Rudrawar (32) and his wife Arati Balaji Rudrawar (30) were found at their New Jersey home on Wednesday after their neighbours saw the child crying and informed the local police who then entered the house, Balaji's father Bharat Rudrawar told PTI.

The local police there informed Bharat Rudrawar of the tragedy on Thursday. There is no clarity yet on the cause of the death, he said, adding the US police said they will share findings of the autopsy report.

"My daughter-in-law was seven months pregnant," he said. "We had been to their house and were planning a trip to the US again," he said.

"I am not aware of any possible motive. They were a happy family and had lovely neighbours," he said when asked if he suspected foul play.

"I was informed by the US authorities that it will take at least 8 to 10 days for the bodies to reach India after necessary formalities," he said.

"My granddaughter is now with a friend of my son. He had several friends in the local Indian community, which comprises over 60 per cent of the population in New Jersey," he said.

Balaji Rudrawar, an IT professional from Ambajogai in Maharashtra's Beed district had moved with his wife to the US in August 2015 after they got married in December 2014, said his father, a businessman from the temple town, around 500 km from Mumbai.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man who pleaded guilty to drunk driving, driving without insurance and a driver's licence, and to public order offences was warned that he would be heading to Castlerea if his behaviour continued.

Appearing at Carrick-on-Shannon District Court on March 26 last was Raymond McGovern, Drumhubbrid, Drumcong, Co Leitrim.

He was convicted and fined 200 for driving without insurance and disqualified for two years. He was also convicted and fined 100 for having no drivers licence. He was further convicted and fined 200 for driving with excess alcohol in his breath and disqualified for three years. The reading was 71/100.

All of the offences occurred on August 2, 2018 at Aghadark, Ballinamore.

Mr McGovern also pleaded guilty to a public order offences on October 13, 2019 at Bridge St, Carrick-on- Shannon.

Sgt Michael Gallagher said on Sunday, October 13, 2019 at 11.50pm the Gardai spoke to the defendant who was intoxicated outside Apache Pizza in the town.

Mr McGovern became involved in another incident the Gardai were dealing with and was asked three times to leave the area.

Sgt Gallagher said the defendant was very intoxicated and unsteady on his feet and told the Garda to f*** off and leave me alone. He called the Garda a f***ing dickhead.

He said Mr McGovern has a previous conviction for a public order offence in July 2019 where he was fined 200.

Solicitor, John McNulty said Mr McGovern was more of an annoyance to the Gardai than anything else and caused them some minor hassle. He said Mr McGovern should have left the area and the Gardai were left with no option but to arrest him.

Judge Kevin Kilrane said the defendant had a public order conviction from July 2019 and just a few months later you are at it again.

He asked Mr McGovern if he had a problem with alcohol. He replied, not really.

Judge Kilrane asked him if he didnt get the message the last time.

Mr McGovern said he was drunk and had too much to drink that day.

Asked if he had apologised, he replied no.

Why shouldnt he get a stint in prison? the Judge asked, noting he has convictions for drink driving and public order offences.

Theres a bit of defiance with this man. Hes heading for Castlerea if this continues, he said.

He ordered Mr McGovern to have a total fine of 500 in court on April 20 next and said he will deal with the matter then, short of imprisonment.
New Delhi:

The State Bank of India has asked the customers of its 5 subsidiary banks and 1 other bank to stop using their cheque books as they will be invalid from Sunday. The banks have merged with the largest bank of the country from October 1.

The six banks include State Bank of Raipur, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad and Bhartiya Mahila Bank.

The customers of these six banks will have to apply for the new cheque books from their respective banks. Apart from the cheque books, the old Indian Financial System (IFS) codes will also become invalid.

In its post dated September 20, 2017, the SBI had said, We request customers of SBI's erstwhile Associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank to apply for new SBI Cheque books as soon as possible.

We request customers of SBI's erstwhile Associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank to apply for new SBI Cheque books as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/iWhq4xtbrn  State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) September 20, 2017

The customers can avail the new cheque books via internet and mobile banking, ATM or by visiting the home branch.

ALSO READ: Good news for SBI account holders, minimum balance requirement reduced to Rs 3000

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Pfizer on Friday requested to expand use of its Covid-19 vaccine to adolescents ages 12 to 15.

The request asks the Food and Drug Administration to amend the emergency use authorization, which the FDA originally granted late last year for people ages 16 and up.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

Last week, Pfizer-BioNTech said its Phase 3 clinical trials showed its vaccine was safe and 100 percent effective in 12- to 15-year-olds, though the findings have not been peer-reviewed.

"The hope of starting to vaccinate this age group before the start of the next school year," CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement when those results were released.

"Vaccinating our teenagers is the next step in seeing our way through the pandemic," said Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease expert at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

"By extending the age groups that can receive vaccine, we can continue our efforts to protect those that are most vulnerable: older adults as well as adults and teenagers with underlying medical conditions," said Creech, who was not involved in the Pfizer research.

The FDA's review process will probably take several weeks, provided the data look good and are consistent with what was seen in adults, said Dr. Jesse Goodman, director of the Center on Medical Product Access, Safety and Stewardship at Georgetown University and former FDA chief scientist.

Norman Baylor, president and chief executive of Biologics Consulting and former director of the FDA's Office of Vaccine Research and Review, agreed.

The FDA does not need to consult with its independent advisory panel before amending the Pfizer EUA, though they may decide to do so in the interest of full transparency, Baylor said.

One-third of Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to an NBC News database. In order to vaccinate the entire population, however, vaccines will have to be authorized for children.

Story continues

Pfizer is also studying how well the vaccine works in children ages 6 months to 11 years old. The first doses in that trial were administered in March.

The Pfizer vaccine is the only one currently authorized for teens ages 16 and over; the other vaccines available in the U.S., from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, are for people ages 18 and up. In December, Moderna began testing its mRNA vaccine in adolescents between 12 and 18 years old. It is also studying its vaccine in children ages six months to 11 years old.

Pfizer's request comes as Covid-19 infections among younger teens and kids are driving outbreaks in some states. In Michigan, for example, case rates for children ages 10 to 19 are at an all-time high, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

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A recruitment firm boss who did not approve of office romances has been forced to cough up more than 100,000 after he fired a female executive just two days after sacking her husband.

Mark Atherton's behaviour towards Paula Whitbourn changed 'as a consequence' of her marrying his nephew, Jason, who also worked at the recruitment company, a tribunal in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. heard.

He would avoid communicating with the 90,000-a-year sales executive and made it clear he did not approve of relationships 'in the office'.

Mr Atherton, a director at Key People Limited based in St Albans, Hertfordshire, then sacked the pair without notice.

He has since been ordered to pay the couple a combined 116,597.

Mr Atherton, a director at Key People Limited (office pictured) based in St Albans, Hertfordshire, has been ordered to pay 116,597

The tribunal heard Mrs Whitbourn, who began working for Key People Limited in 2001 as a pharmaceutical recruitment consultant, married her boss's nephew in 2016.

Jason Atherton had been appointed a sales director of the company in May 2011.

Mark Atherton, who was described as 'effectively the chairman' of the company, changed his behaviour towards Mrs Whitbourn as a 'consequence of that marriage', the hearing was told.

In November 2017, Mrs Whitbourn was told her guaranteed salary as a senior recruiter - 90,000 per year - would be removed the following year due to the company underperforming and she would be returning to 'the standard terms of your employment'.

As a result, her income was more than halved to 40,000.

In its ruling, the tribunal headed by Judge Martin Warren said: 'This does not appear to be logical or make sense given that in the previous three years Mrs Whitbourn had been provided with a guaranteed salary which was increased by 5,000 each year.'

She was also set a sales target which was the same as her colleagues, despite working fewer days - she worked four days a week.

The court heard that Mrs Whitebourn thought it should have been set at 16,000 rather than 18,000 to 'reflect the reduced hours that she worked' as her salary was also 20 per cent less than her colleagues.

In May 2018, Mrs Whitbourn formed a new company called Specialist Sourcing Group Limited using her married name.

She resigned as director six days later - before the first statement was due to Companies House.

Mrs Whitbourn was brought into a meeting and handed a formal warning for failing to 'achieve new business targets' the same year.

She then protested this in an email to her boss, arguing the minutes of the meeting did not 'show that she had stated she was being discriminated against because she is a part time female worker', the tribunal heard.

However, the company secretary and director, Norman Freed, who had been copied into the email, replied saying the claims were 'untrue and had no foundation whatsoever'.

Mr Freed first consulted Mark Atherton and then solicitors about making Jason Atherton redundant on the basis that they no longer needed a sales director.

Shortly after this, Jason Atherton listened to a recording of a telephone conversation between Mr Freed and a security company discussing having security on site, from which he learned he going to be dismissed.

He also heard his wife Mrs Whitbourn referred to as 'collateral damage' in the same conversation, which had been recorded, as all company calls were, 'for training purposes'.

Mr Atherton was then given the sack and two days later his wife was fired for starting her new company - neither were warned of their dismissal.

Mrs Whitbourn told the tribunal the company had existed for just five days and had never been active: 'It was something I did in April for five days because a very good friend of mine runs a company where she looks after homeless care staff.

'She was having trouble with recruitment and I said "oh I will help you out". I never did it, and closed it.'

She added: 'I took advice before I did it and there was absolutely no problem, no conflict of interest.'

The panel found that Mrs Whitbourn and Mr Atherton were unfairly dismissed and that Mrs Whitbourn was a victim of sex discrimination.

As Key People Ltd, based in St Albans, had been aware of her forming a limited company for two months previous to Mrs Whitbourn's dismissal, the panel said it was used as a 'convenient excuse'.

The tribunal stated: 'The reason Mrs Whitbourn was dismissed was because she was 'collateral damage' in the dismissal of her husband, Mr Jason Atherton.

'The fact that she had formed a limited company was a convenient excuse.

'We are satisfied that the principal reason for her dismissal was that she was married to Mr Atherton, who had been dismissed two days earlier.

'For some unexplained reason, Mr Atherton took a dim view of his nephew being married to Mrs Whitbourn.

'Mr Jason Atherton was not dismissed because he was redundant.'

The panel concluded that neither Mr Atherton nor Mrs Whitbourn were 'guilty of culpable and blameworthy conduct which could be said to have contributed to their dismissal'.

Mrs Whitbourn, who worked at Key People for over 17 years, won 58,657 for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination.

Jason Atherton was awarded 57,940 for unfair dismissal.
Photo: i.ytimg.com

By Jackie Jennings-Bates

The most fearful night of my life was spent on the border of Morocco and Algeria.

My husband, Mark, was in an off-road motorbike tour, and I was driving the back-up vehicle. We were completely off grid, ready for a night camping in the desert , but just before the end of the day, he took an almighty tumble from a dune and broke his collarbone. Luckily, not his neck!

The terrain and the map had us in safe Morocco, but the GPS and the only person we met that day had us in Algeria. It is not a good border to mess with.

While we were making a sling for Marks shoulder, we looked behind us and see a dense, black cloud  a sand storm was heading our way.

Yes, just like in the movies.

We rushed everything, threw up some tents and settled in. It was the most incredible force, like a whiteout, but more painful. Sandblasting is not meant for skin.

Mark couldn't crawl into our good tent, so we borrowed his brother's pop-up Wal-Mart tent. The storm flattened it on our faces; we could hardly breathe, but at least we didn't blow away.

We settled down for a long night  Mark, in lots of discomfort, and me with my rampant imagination.

There were so many strange sounds (like helicopters, flash floods, vicious animals etc.); sleep was completely elusive. The stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, were doing their job.

So what is fear. What was I afraid of? How did I deal with it?

Fear is a biochemical response as well as an emotional response that alerts us to the presence of danger or the threat of harm, whether that danger is physical or psychological.

Our nervous system automatically responds, sending out hormones, increasing blood pressure and heart rate. The danger doesn't have to be real, it can be imagined. In my case, I think it was both.

We had a medical and a meteorological situation. We didn't have helicopters or flash floods.

We couldn't alter our location, so we had to live with that uncertainty.

How to deal with it? The common expression is to face your fears. This seems to be a useful answer if you want to overcome them. You can ignore them, but then they don't go away and can grow bigger.

For my night in Morocco, I just tried to get through it.

We put on iTunes.

We talked it through.

We tried to breathe and relax our muscles.

We tried to think rational thoughts instead of letting our imaginations run wild.

We tried to mitigate the problems by administering the best First Aid procedures possible (being trained was very helpful and is a good idea for facing fears).

We tried to make a plan for the morning.

I focus on the moment. You can only do one thing at a time, so do the best you can with that one thing. I also try to reason that panicking is not helpful, although sometimes it feels tempting.

Then, we remembered that the worst holiday disasters make the best stories later, and tried to see the humour.

The joy always comes in the morning.

The sun came up, we were all still in one piece and no one was there to arrest us. We wedged Mark in the back-up vehicle, promptly got stuck in the mud about 10 minutes later and a whole village appeared from nowhere to dig us out and make us breakfast.

All fears washed away and our love of Morocco complete.



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SABA:--- The construction of a new greenhouse adjacent to the hospital in The Bottom has been completed. The wheelchair-accessible greenhouse was built for clients of the LIFE Center, a program for the senior citizens.

Clients of the LIFE Center program joined Commissioner of Health Care and Agriculture Rolando Wilson, head of the Planning Bureau Bobby Zagers, Planning Bureau project manager Evita Pronk, head of the Agricultural Department Randall Johnson, and representatives of the Saba LIFE Center in a visit to the location earlier this week.

Construction of the 22ft. by 12ft. greenhouse by Donisa Construction started in late February and was completed in late March. The structure is made of wood and has netting on the sides so the wind can pass through it. The greenhouse has shelves for the plants at wheelchair height. There is a wheelchair ramp, put in place by Work Monster, the company that also poured the foundation of the greenhouse.

Commissioner Wilson said he was content that the project had been completed so swiftly. He thanked the contractors. He pointed out that there are multiple benefits to this project. Not only will this help to keep the clients of LIFE Center healthy, strong, and active, but it will also give them the opportunity to grow their own plants and vegetables, do something that they like, he said.

The LIFE Center is a program of the Benevolent Foundation Saba, the foundation that runs the care home, located next to the medical center. The construction of the greenhouse is the first part of a more comprehensive outdoor recreation area that the Benevolent Foundation wants to establish for the clients of The Home and the LIFE Center. The greenhouse will be further fitted by the Benevolent Foundation, and officially opened at a later date.

Some of the materials to grow plants have already been ordered, while donations of additional materials are most welcome. This comprehensive project has several advantages for the clients: it promotes healthy eating, offers recreational activities in the fresh air, and being engaged in outside activities together reduces loneliness.

The US $21,000 greenhouse project is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK), the Public Entity Saba, and the Benevolent Foundation. A similar greenhouse has also been constructed at the Sacred Heart School so children can learn about growing their own vegetables.
" " Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh are seen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, waving to the crowd shortly after their wedding at Westminster Abbey Nov. 20, 1947. Their marriage united the royal houses of Britain, Greece and Denmark. Central Press/Getty Images

In November 1947, a dynastic union was forged between the royal houses of Greece and Great Britain. It would be one of the last of this kind of royal marriages in history  a type of union that had knitted together the continent for 1,000 years.

When Philip, prince of Greece and Denmark married Elizabeth, princess of Great Britain, they reconnected two bloodlines descended from Queen Victoria. But they also renewed a kinship tie between Britain and Denmark that had been joined together numerous times, from Canute and Aelfgifu in 1015 to Edward VII and Alexandra in 1863.

For centuries, almost every European monarchy maintained diplomatic relationships with its neighbors through dynastic marriages, in a system that persisted all the way up to the 1930s, then rapidly faded away in the postwar era.

In stark contrast, before the second world war this practice was the absolute norm  particularly seen in the dense web of intermarriages between the royal families of Sweden, Denmark and Norway in the earlier decades of the 20th century.

One of the great dreams of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert  themselves the product of close dynastic union, as first cousins  was to unite the continent of Europe through kinship relations, hoping that close cousins would be less likely to go to war with one another.

This proved to be politically naive  disastrously so. The Great War that followed not long after Victoria's death pitted the forces of "Cousin Nicky" (Tsar Nicholas of Russia) and "Cousin Georgie" (King George V of Great Britain) against those of "Cousin Willy" (Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany), close kinship notwithstanding. By 1914, Britain, Russia and Germany had evolved as nation states, with modern governments, beyond the control of princely dynasticism as a political or diplomatic force.

Prince Philip's marriage to Princess Elizabeth in 1947 thus represented one of the last iterations of this Queen Victoria's dream. It reunited two of her descendants: Elizabeth through her father's line, and Philip through the line of his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, a great-granddaughter of Victoria. Indeed, in the previous decade, three of Philip's four sisters had married other descendants of Victoria.

But in 1947, times had changed and postwar Britain was not so keen to see the heir to the throne married to a foreign royal. Particularly not one whose sisters had married prominent German officers and whose family had an extremely fragile position on its throne in Greece, with a dynastic history full of abdications, military coups and plebiscites. Prince Philip was therefore "rebranded" before his marriage as Philip Mountbatten, lieutenant in the Royal Navy, naturalised British subject. But where did the name Mountbatten come from? And why before he changed his name was he called "Prince of Greece and Denmark"?

" " Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip marked their 60th wedding anniversary at Broadlands in Hampshire, the former home of Prince Philip's uncle, Earl Mountbatten. Tim Graham/Getty Images

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Community of Nations

It is an important question for understanding the identity of the Duke of Edinburgh  and by extension, the identity of the British royal family and even Britain's position within the wider European Community of nations. It is all very intertwined. Philip himself said in an interview in 2014:

If anything, I've thought of myself as Scandinavian. Particularly, Danish. We spoke English at home ... The others learned Greek. I could understand a certain amount of it. But then the (conversation) would go into French. Then it went into German, on occasion, because we had German cousins. If you couldn't think of a word in one language, you tended to go off in another.

His experience is a perfect expression of the extraordinary cosmopolitan environment of the royal courts of Europe a century ago, when royal princes in Prussia and Russia almost always had English nannies, and adults conversed in polished French. Queen Elizabeth II is the product of this same nursery environment and also has very good French.

But why would a Greek prince consider himself Scandinavian? In the mid-19th century, when the crumbling Ottoman Empire was giving birth to newly independent states such as Bulgaria and Greece, the Great Powers of Europe determined that it was in the best interests of stability in the region to select junior members of the major royal dynasties to found new monarchies.

Greece, independent since 1832, had first been governed by a Bavarian prince, Otto, but in 1863, he was deposed and the 17-year-old Prince William of Denmark chosen instead.

" " The marriage of Prince George, Duke of Kent to Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, 1934. Seated at the front are Princess Elizabeth (left) and Lady Mary Cambridge of Prince George (right). Photo12/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

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Ancient Royal Dynasties

Denmark's ruling family, the House of Oldenburg, one of the oldest in Europe, was known for its liberal views, and it was hoped that a young prince from such a family would help the Greeks establish a democratic monarchy along the lines of Denmark, or its closely related ally, England.

The reign of Prince William, as King George I of Greece, was long and fairly calm. His son, Constantine I, was another matter, and after a disastrous war with Turkey (1919-1922) he was forced to abdicate. His younger brother, Prince Andrew, had fought in the war, and was sent into exile, along with his infant son, Prince Philip.

Philip was thus raised as an exile, first in Paris, then in England, where he boarded at Cheam School in Hampshire. He began a career in the British navy in 1939, served with distinction during WWII, then retired from active service once his wife became the Queen in 1952. He had been naturalized as a British subject in the summer of 1947, a few months before his wedding, and assumed a version of his mother's name, Battenberg  itself anglicized to Mountbatten at the height of anti-German sentiment in England in 1917.

The Battenbergs were also from an ancient ruling family, the House of Hesse, territorial princes in the heart of Germany since the 13th century. Philip wasn't alone in representing the Greek royal family in Britain: a decade before, his cousin Princess Marina had married the youngest son of George V, the Duke of Kent, and had charmed the nation with her elegance and cosmopolitan style.

Philip was firmly tied to the UK through his uncle, Earl Mountbatten, a British naval hero during the war  but, at the same time, he remained closely linked to the old continental system. One of his aunts, Mountbatten's sister, was Queen Louise of Sweden.

Louise Mountbatten died in 1965, and Marina of Greece in 1968 and, by the 1970s, royal marriages were seen as affairs of the heart, not affairs of state  or indeed as points of reunion and reconnection for these ancient royal dynasties.

With the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh, one of the last representatives of a system that had endured for a millennium passes into history.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. You can find the original article here.

Jonathan Spangler is a senior lecturer in history at Manchester Metropolitan University.
This Is Not a Burial was photographed in a boxlike 4:3 aspect ratio for good reason, Mosese told Film Comment: The curse of shooting in Africa, because it is so beautiful, is that you can end up pigeonholing yourself within beauty. I dont want the conversation to end in beauty. Thats why I chose the 4:3 ratio, because otherwise the movie would be way too beautiful and that would overshadow the story. On the other hand: Mary Twala Mhlongo is the films real story. And it contains multitudes.
A body has been found in a house in Brisbanes north after a serious fire caused the roof to collapse on Friday. Firefighters were called to the single-story brick home on Hervey Street in North Lakes about 10.30am, a Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokeswoman said. Superintendent Craig White said a search of the residence found there were no other people in the house. He said only an elderly lady lived at the house.

There is only one person living at that home, we are yet to identify that person, he said. Next of kin have been notified but at this stage were yet to identify the body ... next of kin have been notified about the house, and the significant damage caused by fire. The matter is being investigated and a report will be prepared for the coroner. A crime scene was declared, with investigators working to determine the cause of the fire. Superintendent White said there were some pets in the home, including two dogs who were being cared for by paramedics, however some animals were yet to be found.
A COVID-19 information poster is pictured on the fence of an empty children's play park in Manchester, northern England, on Feb. 15, 2021. (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

Children Worst Affected in Mental Health Crisis During Pandemic: UK Analysis

Children and young people are bearing the brunt of the mental health crisis caused by the CCP virus pandemic, and mental health services are at risk of being overrun, a professional psychiatric body warned on Friday.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists said its analysis showed that almost 400,000 children and 2.2 million adults sought help for mental health problems during the pandemic, and 1.68 million more sessions were given during the pandemic.

NHS Digital data shows that while the crisis is affecting people of all ages, it is under-18s who are suffering most, the college said in a press release.

Since March 2020, the UK has been through a number of national and regions lockdowns in order to curb the spread of the CCP(Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, and schools had been closed twice for months on end.

According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists analysis, 372,438 children and young people were referred to Children and Young Peoples Service (CYP) mental health services between April and December 2020, over 80,000 (28 percent) more than the number in 2019.

The number of treatment sessions given to children and young people was up by a fifth on 2019s figure, to 3.58 million.

The increase in the number of children and young people needing urgent or emergency crisis care was 18 percent.

Our children and young people are bearing the brunt of the mental health crisis caused by the pandemic and are at risk of lifelong mental illness, Dr. Bernadka Dubicka, chair of the child and adolescent faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said in a statement.

As a frontline psychiatrist Ive seen the devastating effect that school closures, disrupted friendships, and the uncertainty caused by the pandemic have had on the mental health of our children and young people, Dubicka added.

Services were already struggling to cope with the number of children needing help before the pandemic hit, and they risk being overrun unless government ensures the promised money reaches the frontline quickly.

Sarah (alias), whose teenage daughter relapsed into anorexia said that the pandemic had been devastating for her daughter.

The disruption to her normal routines and socialising really affected her recovery. She was spending a lot less time doing the things she enjoys and a lot more time alone with her thoughts, she said.

Sarah said she has to tube feed her daughter every day because no specialist eating disorder bed was available in hospital.

Dr. Adrian James, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the crisis will likely get a lot worse before it gets better.

Services are at a very real risk of being overrun by the sheer volume of people needing help with their mental illness, James said.

While the recent funding announcement is welcome, we need this money to reach mental health services as soon as possible to tackle this crisis.

Last month, the government announced a Mental Health Recovery Action plan, backed by an additional 500 million, specifically targeting those that have been most impacted by the pandemic including those with severe mental illness, young people, and frontline staff, Minister for Mental Health Nadine Dorries said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.

Mental health minister Nadine Dorries (L), and Health Secretary Matt Hancock visit the ExCeL London exhibition centre, which has been transformed into the NHS Nightingale field hospital, in London on April 3, 2020. (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)

Dorries said shes absolutely committed to support peoples wellbeing.

I am acutely aware of how difficult this pandemic has been for many, especially children and young people, and I remain absolutely committed to supporting the mental wellbeing of everyone, Dorries said.

Early intervention and treatment is vital, and we are providing an extra 2.3 billion a year to mental health services, this will help an additional 345,000 children and young people access NHS-funded services or school and college-based support by 2023/24.
Maya Jama has been branded 'disrespectful' for sharing a tone deaf video outside Buckingham Palace hours after Prince Philip's death.

The BBC presenter, 26, filmed herself driving past Buckingham Palace just hours after the news was announced about the royal's passing, where she remarked: 'Oh my god, it's kicking off, yes f**k'.

Shocked fans took to Twitter to share their outrage, calling out the DJ for her 'vile' language, and urging her to 'show some respect'.

Backlash: Maya Jama has come under fire for sharing a tone deaf video outside Buckingham Palace hours after Prince Philip's death

In the first video a tired Maya rubbed her eyes after jumping in a car to another job, penning the caption: 'Non stop today.'

As she turned the camera towards the window, the presenter revealed she had just driven past Buckingham Palace before finally appearing to remember the news that had broken.

Maya - who recently landed the role of presenter on BBC Three's Glow Up - said: 'The Palace, oh my god yes, it's kicking off, yes f**k.'

Maya then turned the camera towards the driver and asked him: 'Prince Philip died did you hear?' before noting the photographers that had gathered to cover the news.

A sad time: A statement released by Buckingham Palace on Friday revealed the Duke of Edinburgh died 'peacefully' at Windsor Castle at the age of 99 (pictured in 2017)

One shocked fan aired their outrage on Twitter, posting: 'This is disrespectful, she should lose her job.

'She has been in trouble for saying vile things before:Maya Jama drives past Buckingham Palace after Prince Philip's death & says "The Palace, oh my god yes, it's kicking off, yes, f**k".'

Others penned: '@MayaJama disrespectful little Cow how dare you use such vile language outside Buckingham Palace in regards to the death of #HRHPrincePhilip. You are vile';

'Maya Jama drives past Buckingham Palace after Prince Philip's death. Gobshite. Complete & utter gobshite. That man served in world war 2 & received a mention in despatches. Regardless of anyones views of the Royals show some respect.'

Shocking: Outraged fans aired their shock on Twitter after the star's tone deaf video posted just hours after the royal's death

What's happening? Maya said it was 'all kicking off' in a video she posted to Instagram Stories, before asking her driver if he'd 'heard the news' of Philip's death

A representative for Maya told MailOnline: 'It goes without saying that along with the rest of the country Maya was deeply saddened to hear Prince Philip had passed away...

'Her earlier video caught an off the cuff remark about the number of press outside Buckingham Palace and was in no way a reflection of her feelings on the matter...

'Understandably she is disappointed this has been taken out of context as no disrespect was ever intended.

It came as many celebrities took to social media to pay tribute to Prince Philip after the Palace announced his passing, revealing in a statement he died 'peacefully' at Windsor Castle.

The Royal Family said in a statement: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss'.

Realisation: Maya then turned the camera towards the driver and asked him: 'Prince Philip died did you hear?' before noting the photographers that had gathered to cover the news

Tragedy: She said: 'The Palace, oh my god yes, it's kicking off, yes f**k' as she drove past the royal landmark

Celebrities quickly flooded social media with their own tributes, including presenters Piers Morgan, Susanna Reid and Eamonn Holmes.

The makers of royal drama The Crown have said they are 'deeply saddened' by the news that His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh has died at the age of 99.

A statement said: 'Netflix, Left Bank Pictures, Sony Pictures Television and the production team on The Crown are deeply saddened to hear of the death of The Duke of Edinburgh. Our thoughts are with the Royal Family at this sad time.'

Officials at Buckingham Palace are now preparing for a royal ceremonial funeral at Windsor Castle in Berkshire in keeping with Philip's wishes, with a military procession also expected in London - Covid laws permitting.
New Delhi: A 28-year-old woman was arrested on Thursday for being behind the wheels of a car that allegedly mowed down an elderly couple in Dwarka four days ago, police said. The accused has been identified as Nupur Choudhary, they said.

Earlier, her elder sister was arrested in connection with the incident who claimed that she was driving the car when the accident happened.

Shanti Swaroop Arora (79) and his wife Anjula Arora (62) were run over by the car on Sunday evening, following which police arrested Deepakshi Choudhary (30), the elder sister of Nupur. She was apprehended on charges of rash driving and causing death by negligence.

Shanti was a retired government official, while Anjula was a homemaker.

However, police on Wednesday said the victims' family had raised suspicion over who was actually driving the car.

Police had said, "Deepakshi Choudhary accompanied the injured to Manipal hospital. She stated that she was driving the vehicle and committed the accident. She also produced her documents to the investigating officer. However, victim's family raised doubts that her sister was driving the vehicle."

During investigation, it was found that Nupur, who works as a probationary officer in a public sector bank in Uttam Nagar, was driving the car at the time of the incident, a senior police officer said, adding that she has a learner's licence.

"Both Nupur and Deepakshi have been arrested. Nupur has been arrested for committing the accident and Deepakshi for misleading the police," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Santosh Kumar Meena said.

According to police, Deepakshi was trying to be protective in an attempt to prevent Nupur from getting booked in the case. Another possible reason could be that Deepakshi wanted to save Nupur as she is a government employee and a criminal case registered against her might have an impact on her job.

However, there would be further clarity in due course of time.

The incident occurred at Sector 11 on Sunday evening and CCTV footage of it went viral on social media.

In the video, a Baleno car hits the couple and runs over them. A woman comes out of the car, goes to the rear side of the vehicle and later calls somebody after taking her mobile phone from the car.

Police said they are checking the CCTV footage of the area and investigating the matter to ascertain the exact sequence of the incident. Further investigation in the case is in progress, police said.

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From the WaPo to the TV networks, this tragic interaction has now garnered attention from across the political spectrum . . . Read more:

'Donut boy': Kansas Senate leader accused of drunk driving, tirade LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) - A powerful Kansas lawmaker accused of drunken driving had a blood alcohol level that was twice the legal limit and taunted the Highway Patrol officer who arrested him last month for allegedly speeding the wrong way on an interstate, according to documents released Thursday.
Johnson Controls has a significant opportunity to increase its focus on the data center vertical and accelerate growth Tweet this

"With Silent-Aire, Johnson Controls has a significant opportunity to increase our focus on the data center vertical and accelerate growth in this attractive end market by combining the strengths of our global scale in manufacturing and service, with leading-edge innovation and a broad portfolio of technologies dedicated to serving hyperscale providers," said George Oliver, Johnson Controls chairman and CEO. "This acquisition perfectly aligns with several of our key strategic growth initiatives and underscores our focus on creating shareholder value," Oliver continued. "We are incredibly excited to welcome Silent-Aire to the Johnson Controls family as we look to build upon their success of nearly 30 years of innovation, operational expertise, and deep customer relationships."

The continuous migration of applications to the cloud (SaaS) has resulted in unprecedented demand for computing power and the rapid expansion of data center infrastructure. Over the last several years, this trend has overwhelmingly favored the development of hyperscale cloud and colocation facilities. Hyperscale providers have unique capabilities in deploying large-scale computing power with increasingly more efficient, more rapidly deployed solutions and with greater geographic reach. To accomplish this, hyperscalers require trusted global partners, such as Silent-Aire, that provide highly efficient, sustainable and reliable products along with consistent and dependable execution.

"Silent-Aire grew up with the cloud and our DNA translates what it means to be a Hyperscale Data Center Company," said Lindsey Leckelt Silent-Aire Co-CEO. "Being an innovative partner with early adopters, we broke through traditional design barriers that pushed energy initiatives in what led to how most Hyperscale Data Centers are cooled and engineered today," he continued. "The culture in our business captures this unique skill set and is scaled through to our engineering, operations, and manufacturing teams to keep up with the explosive growth of cloud providers. Johnson Controls shares our vision to scale as a Data Center Platform business, which will enable us to serve our partners globally."

Silent-Aire is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta and has approximately 3,000 employees globally, with a legacy of providing mission critical data center technology, a commitment to customer-centricity and a clear focus on sustainability.

"Sustainability has been a major focus as we've grown our family business throughout our history," added Dan Leckelt, Silent-Aire Co-CEO. "Maintaining our growth to match our customers' demands has taken us from 30 employees to 3,000 over this period," Leckelt continued. "Through this growth, our global expansion to Europe provided a glimpse of the opportunity the rest of the world has to offer. As a measure of continuing long-term sustainability for our customers and employees; while pushing technological advances fostering environmental excellence, a partnership with Johnson Controls Inc. provides Silent-Aire the best opportunity to succeed."

Subject to the receipt of regulatory approval and customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the fiscal third quarter of 2021. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive and add $0.07 to $0.09 to Johnson Controls adjusted EPS from continuing operations in fiscal 2022.

An accompanying slide presentation with additional details on the transaction has been made available on the "Events & Presentations" section of the company's website at: https://investors.johnsoncontrols.com/news-and-events/events-and-presentations

About Johnson Controls:

At Johnson Controls, we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. From optimizing building performance to improving safety and enhancing comfort, we drive the outcomes that matter most. We deliver our promise in industries such as healthcare, education, data centers, and manufacturing. With a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150 countries and over 130 years of innovation, we are the power behind our customers' mission. Our leading portfolio of building technology and solutions includes some of the most trusted names in the industry, such as Tyco, YORK, Metasys, Ruskin, Titus, Frick, PENN, Sabroe, Simplex, Ansul and Grinnell. For more information, visit www.johnsoncontrols.com or follow us @johnsoncontrols on Twitter

Johnson Controls International plc Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Johnson Controls International plc has made statements in this communication regarding the acquisition of Silent-Aire that are forward-looking and therefore are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements in this document other than statements of historical fact are, or could be, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this communication, statements regarding Johnson Controls' future financial position, sales, costs, earnings, cash flows, other measures of results of operations, synergies and integration opportunities, capital expenditures and debt levels are forward-looking statements. Words such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "should," "forecast," "project" or "plan" and terms of similar meaning are also generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Johnson Controls cautions that these statements are subject to numerous important risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond Johnson Controls' control, that could cause the expected impact of the acquisition of Silent-Aire to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, include, among others, risks related to the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition, including the possibility that expected synergies will not be realized or will not be realized within the expected time frame; delays in the successful integration of Silent-Aire; unfavorable reaction to the acquisition by customers, competitors, suppliers and employees, disruption from the transaction making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; significant transaction costs; and unknown liabilities.

Other factors that could cause Johnson Controls' actual results to differ materially from those expressed include, among others risks related to: Johnson Controls' ability to manage general economic, business, capital market and geopolitical conditions, including the impacts of natural disasters, pandemics and outbreaks of contagious diseases and other adverse public health developments, such as the COVID-19 pandemic; the strength of the U.S. or other economies; changes or uncertainty in laws, regulations, rates, policies or interpretations that impact Johnson Controls' business operations or tax status; the ability to develop or acquire new products and technologies that achieve market acceptance; changes to laws or policies governing foreign trade, including increased tariffs or trade restrictions; maintaining the capacity, reliability and security of Johnson Controls' enterprise and product information technology infrastructure; the risk of infringement or expiration of intellectual property rights; any delay or inability of Johnson Controls to realize the expected benefits and synergies of recent portfolio transactions such as its merger with Tyco and the disposition of the Power Solutions business; the outcome of litigation and governmental proceedings; the ability to hire and retain key senior management; the tax treatment of recent portfolio transactions; significant transaction costs and/or unknown liabilities associated with such transactions; the availability of raw materials and component products; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; work stoppages, union negotiations, labor disputes and other matters associated with the labor force; the cancellation of or changes to commercial arrangements. A detailed discussion of risks related to Johnson Controls' business is included in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Johnson Controls' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the 2020 fiscal year filed with the SEC on November 16, 2020, which is available at www.sec.gov and www.johnsoncontrols.com under the "Investors" tab. Shareholders, potential investors and others should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements and should not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date of this document, unless otherwise specified, and, except as required by law, Johnson Controls assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to update such statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this communication.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

The Company's press release contains financial information regarding adjusted earnings per share, which is a non-GAAP performance measure. The adjusting items include transaction costs, integration costs and deal amortization. Management may use this metric as a guide in forecasting, budgeting and long-term planning processes and for compensation purposes. This metric should be considered in addition to, and not as replacements for, the most comparable GAAP measure.

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STCP's proposal, one of two PDA proposals approved by Metro, is notable for its direct connections to new and proposed Metro transit lines, direct connections to key destinations including UCLA, stations that are pleasant and convenient for riders, have high passenger capacity and high speeds that deliver a less than 20-minute trip time. The heavy rail concept within the proposal could potentially reduce air pollution and climate change-causing emissions, create thousands of good-paying construction jobs, and would create lasting economic and equity benefits by increasing the number of jobs in reach to people who do not own a car. STCP believes the proposal provides a cost-effective transit solution through design innovation and minimizes project delivery risk by utilizing proven technologies and a team of partners with a global track record.

STCP comprises Bechtel Development Company, Meridiam Sepulveda and American Triple I (ATI) as Equity Members, and Bechtel Infrastructure as the Lead Construction Contractor and Lead Engineering Firm. STCP is further supported by leading engineering firms Mott Macdonald, T.Y. Lin, and Systra. As a trusted engineering, construction and project management partner to industry and government globally, Bechtel brings large-scale rail experience to STCP. STCP also benefits from the leadership and expertise of Meridiam, an investment firm focused on sustainable infrastructure development with a successful track record of developing complicated public-private partnerships, and ATI, a 100 percent minority and woman owned, managed, and controlled investor and developer.

The PDA contract is for an amount not to exceed $69.9 million, with the opportunity to enter into an Implementation Agreement for project delivery if STCP's solution, as refined through the PDA process, is selected by the Metro Board as the locally preferred alternative (LPA) for construction. The contract to STCP was one of two Pre-Development contracts awarded by Metro for the Sepulveda Project. Metro plans to begin the environmental review process this fall, where concept designs for these and other alternatives will be advanced and/or refined through extensive, ongoing public feedback and technical investigation and analysis. Metro retains the ability to continue the partnership through final design with one of the private sector teams if its transit concept is consistent with the project's Locally Preferred Alternative, or LPA, that will be selected by the Metro Board.

In recommending STCP's proposal for approval by the Metro Board, Metro staff wrote: "Bechtel's proposal included well thought out stations siting, configuration and connections/transfers and stations were sized for some amount of growth in train consists. The team proposed a single-bore tunnel design to address significant challenges with tunneling and demonstrated a good understanding of geo-technical issues. The proposal highlighted detailed plans to completing the PDA work, including consideration for third parties, FTA and the environmental process. During the interview, the Bechtel team demonstrated cohesion and coordination and their commitment to the Project. The financial proposal highlighted deep global financing experience across a range of project types and extensive experience with projects of similar size and complexity. The team's financial capacity appeared quite strong and they depicted an appropriate financial structure with a diversity of sources."

STCP also comprises 28 disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) supporting the technical solution in various roles, including architectural design, traffic analysis and system engineering. Additionally, the team has selected four DBEs to mentor during the initial phases of the PDA.

"We are excited to partner with Metro and the community to refine our PDA proposal to potentially ease congestion between the Valley and the Westside with a transit solution that offers fast travel times, a superior passenger experience and complete connections to Metro's growing system," said Keith Hennessey, President, Bechtel Enterprises. "Our proposed heavy rail solution seeks to promote economic opportunity and sustainability within the Sepulveda Corridor and throughout the Los Angeles region."

"The Sepulveda Corridor Transit project truly meets the moment in terms of Los Angeles' immediate and long-term transit needs. Our below-ground, fully automated and time-efficient Metro system will address the critical transit challenges of currently underserved communities and reduce congestion while maximizing safety and energy efficiency," said Romain Limouzin, Chief Operating Officer, Meridiam N.A. "We look forward to working with Metro and our consortium partners to potentially bring this transformational transit project to the citizens of Los Angeles."

ATI CEO David J. Cibrian added, "Metro leadership continues its pursuit of a world-class transportation system that enhances the quality of life for the residents of Los Angeles County. Metro has adopted an innovative and visionary Pre-Development Agreement approach to this complex infrastructure project and we are pleased to be working alongside them."

A PDA is a form of early contractor involvement where a private project developer participates in early project definition and design, in partnership with the project owner. The two selected PDA contractors will provide technical work products including cost estimates, constructability reviews and technical analyses that support the ongoing development of the project as it progresses through the environmental review and approval processes.

About the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project seeks to improve travel between the San Fernando Valley, the Westside and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) via high-speed, high-capacity rail line. The line is intended to offer travelers with a competitive alternative to the I-405 Freeway, one of the most traveled urban highways in the nation that accommodates more than 400,000 daily trips. The project is funded in part by Measure M, the transportation sales tax approved by 71 percent of Los Angeles County voters in 2016. The total project will receive $9.5 billion in funding from Measure M and other local, state, and federal sources. Metro's pursuit of Pre-Development Agreements with private industry partners best positions Metro to potentially accelerate the project. For additional project information, visit https://www.metro.net/projects/sepulvedacorridor/.

About Bechtel

Bechtel is a trusted engineering, construction and project management partner to industry and government. Differentiated by the quality of our people and our relentless drive to deliver the most successful outcomes, we align our capabilities to our customers' objectives to create a lasting positive impact. Since 1898, we have helped customers complete more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries on all seven continents that have created jobs, grown economies, improved the resiliency of the world's infrastructure, increased access to energy, resources, and vital services, and made the world a safer, cleaner place.

Bechtel serves the Infrastructure; Nuclear, Security & Environmental; Oil, Gas & Chemicals; and Mining & Metals markets. Our services span from initial planning and investment, through start-up and operations. www.Bechtel.com

Bechtel Enterprises is the finance, equity investment and development group at Bechtel with a history of more than 50 years. The group specializes in the development, commercial structuring and project financing of large-scale infrastructure projects. Bechtel Enterprises has developed over 70 projects globally worth $46 billion in total financed costs. https://www.bechtel.com/services/development-financing-equity/

About Meridiam

Meridiam was founded in 2005 by Thierry Deau, with the belief that the alignment of interests between the public and private sector can provide critical solutions to the collective needs of communities. Meridiam is an independent investment Benefit Corporation under French law and an asset manager. The firm specializes in the development, financing, and long-term management of sustainable public infrastructure in three core sectors: mobility, energy transition and environment, and social infrastructure. With offices in, Addis Ababa, Amman, Dakar, Istanbul, New York, Luxembourg, Paris, Toronto and Vienna, Meridiam currently manages US$8 billion and more than 90 projects and assets to date. Meridiam is certified ISO 9001: 2015, Advanced Sustainability Rating by VigeoEiris and applies a proprietary methodology in relation to ESG and impact based on United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). www.meridiam.com | Meridiam Twitter | Meridiam LinkedIn | Meridiam YouTube

About American Triple I

American Triple I (ATI) is an investor, owner, developer and manager of infrastructure assets and infrastructure-focused companies. ATI is committed to serving its investor partners and communities by deploying capital into much needed infrastructure projects and businesses throughout the United States. The firm generally targets value-add, lower middle market opportunities that spur economic development in markets across the U.S. as well as larger opportunities where the experience of the firm and its Principals brings unique value to the transaction. The firm invests in the transportation, digital and social infrastructure sectors. ATI is a signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles of Responsible Investing and actively seeks high quality projects, which benefit its clients and adhere to the firm's environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. ATI is 100% minority and woman owned, managed and controlled. www.tripleipartners.com | American Triple I LinkedIn

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(Natural News) On April Fools Day, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly announced that his social media platform is unveiling new Covid vaccine profile frames that users can add to their profile pictures to shame their unvaccinated friends and family members into getting jabbed for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19).

The plan is to digitally segregate vaccinated and unvaccinated people on Facebook to highlight who the good vaccinated citizens are, and contrast them with the bad unvaccinated citizens.

If were going to stop Covid, Zuckerberg wrote, we need everyone whos eligible to get vaccinated.

People are more likely to get vaccinated if they see friends, family and people they trust doing it too. So were launching new Covid vaccine profile frame [sic] that you can add to your profile pic, partnering with the CDC and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to launch new Covid vaccine profile frames.

According to Zuckerberg, the new virtue signaling feature will let Facebook users easily show their support for Chinese virus injections.

And well show you in News Feed your friends who have put up this profile frame, Zuckerberg added.

Zuckerbergs segregation plan will make it easier than ever for Facebook users to make instant determinations about those in their social circles concerning how much they care about saving lives based on their vaccination status.

Now, everyone can make a snap judgment about the worthiness of their friends as human beings based upon a shallow virtue-signaling profile picture frame, writes Ulysses S. Tennyson for 100percentfedup.com.

Welcome to the digital world in which everything you do (or dont do) places you on an immutable list that can be used at any point in time against you.

Its time to delete Facebook

When the company is not busy stealing elections, Facebook apparently spends an inordinate amount of time coming up with new ways to try to manipulate its users into destroying their lives with experimental gene therapy cocktails. Zuckerberg himself has personally taken on this mission, anyway.

Or perhaps Zuckerberg is simply following his marching orders, which clearly come from outside sources like the CDC and HHS. Facebook, after all, is a deep state spying and surveillance tool and pretty much always has been.

As the platform has done with numerous other campaigns like Stay Home, Stay Safe and I stand against anti-Semitism, Facebook is once again training its users to virtue signal with a profile photo overlay that is intended to convey a message of Im better than you for actually caring.

Zuckerbergs virtue signaling message is a bit more veiled, but the intent is still there. His goal is to convince as many Facebook users as possible to get vaccinated and trumpet that fact to their friends and family members until everyone is either brainwashed or bullied into complying.

The message, on its face, is so shallow and trite, says Tennyson. Yet, in reality, it is not at all innocuous.

For the people who use Facebook, it will be an overt psychological manipulation to view their friends who are not like them as Covid enemies. Facebook likely knows this, yet will proceed with this divisive maneuver meant to highlight good vaccinated people versus the bad unvaccinated people.

Many commenters agree that Zuckerberg is intentionally pitting one group of his users against another, the purpose being to goad the non-compliers into complying.

He knows whats in it, wrote one skeptical commenter who does not actually believe that Zuckerberg is going to get vaccinated. No way he or any of the other globalist billionaires will be taking it or any of the other vaccines they will be rolling out the assembly line.

To learn more about how people are getting injured or dying from Chinese virus injections, visit ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

100percentfedup.com

NaturalNews.com
A former accounting manager for a Los Angeles firm was sentenced Thursday in the Central District of California to 10-and-a-half years in federal prison for embezzling more than $36 million and using the bulk of his illicit gains to pay off tens of millions in credit card debt.

Paul McDaniel, 44, also known as Edward Martin Karuku, embezzled the funds between July 2009 and December 2016 while providing accounting services to Hypermedia Systems Inc., a media technology services firm based in downtown Los Angeles.

McDaniel fled the United States for Costa Rica in 2017, and was extradited back in 2019 to face charges.

He pleaded guilty in September 2019 to one federal wire fraud charge, admitting he had used $23 million to pay off astronomical credit card debt.

'That is all true your honor,' McDaniel told US District Judge John A. Kronstadt at his sentencing.

While working for Hypermedia Systems Inc. as an account manager, McDaniel was assigned to request payments to be made from a Hypermedia account to pay purported vendors.

According to the indictment, McDaniel formed a Nevada corporation with a name similar to one of Hypermedia's vendors and opened a bank account.

McDaniel created over 100 'false and fictitious' invoices appearing to be from actual Hypermedia vendors, falsely stating the goods and services had been provided to the company.

He then used his authority as an account manager for Hypermedia to approve and direct tens of millions of dollars worth of payments to his personal bank account.

McDaniel embezzled over $36 million from Hypermedia Systems, Inc. during the course of more than 7 years, using the bulk to pay off his credit card debt

McDaniel caused more than $36 million to be fraudulently transferred by wire or check to his Nevada company's account.

During an FBI investigation, they discovered that McDaniel had used at least $23 million to pay off credit card bills, transferred another $8 million to his personal bank accounts, and additionally spent millions of dollars on 'miscellaneous expenses.'

In addition to his 10-and-a-half year sentence, McDaniel was ordered to pay $36 million in restitution to Hypermedia.

McDaniel previously resided in the city of Orange before fleeing to Costa Rica in early 2017. He was arrested later that year before being extradited to the United States in February 2019.

In 2006, McDaniel filed a name change lawsuit to change his original name, Edward Martin Karuku. It was finalized in 2008, one year before he began embezzling funds from Hypermedia Systems, Inc.

United States District Court initially charged McDaniel with 10 wire fraud counts which carried a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. He pleaded guilty to only one count and has been in custody since his 2019 extradition.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- New Yorks $212 billion budget includes $800 million for the states plan to rebuild Interstate 81 and the heart of Central New Yorks interstate system, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The allocation marks the largest spending to date -- and the first down payment on construction -- on the estimated $2 billion project. Cuomo says the state will break ground next year.

For years we have been working on a solution to transform the obsolete and poorly designed I-81 viaduct in Syracuse into a modern transportation corridor, and this years budget is making it a reality, Cuomo said in a news release this morning. Weve listened to the community, addressed concerns related to the project and put our best plan forward - now it is time for action. We look forward to that historic day when the first shovel breaks ground on this important project.

Before construction begins, much planning remains.

Still, the money and the summertime release of the latest construction plans mark a pivotal moment in the massive project that would change how people here get to work, downtown, hospitals and universities for generations.

The states Department of Transportation will release its latest version of the plan this summer, according to Cuomos office. That will start a clock -- likely 45 days -- to allow the public to comment on the plan. The comment period also includes a public hearing.

That newest Draft Environmental Impact Statement -- required by federal law for massive projects like this one -- coming this summer is the next highly anticipated step in a construction project thats been debated here for years.

In 2019, the state released a preliminary version of the plan. In it, the state proposed a $2 billion proposal that tear down about 1.4 miles of bridges on I-81 that run between the University Hill and downtown. Highway traffic would be rerouted onto nearby Interstate 481 on the citys eastern side. A portion of Interstate 690 that crosses the citys center would also be rebuilt.

The plan also includes a new pathway to Syracuse University and surrounding hospitals from I-690. People approaching the city from the north would enter through a new gateway celebrating the Erie Canal. State officials say the plans would alleviate traffic congestion on I-81 near Adams and Harrison streets, where accidents happen 2 to 3 times more often than on similar roadways.

Officials have been talking about solutions for the aging highway for a decade. Most recently, the state and many city leaders have endorsed the teardown idea, which the state calls a community grid. Proponents argue it would reunite parts of the city, open up valuable development and green space, and make the area around Pioneer Homes and Upstate University Hospital more vibrant.

In recent months, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh has pitched the plan to officials in U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigiegs office. Walsh and others argue the I-81 project is more than a construction challenge. Its also a chance to rebuild housing and businesses in the citys Black community that were, in part, razed during the original construction decades ago.

Buttigieg has said the project is on his radar.

President Joe Biden mentioned the I-81 project in his initial pitch for a $2 trillion infrastructure plan as an example of what he and others call restorative justice.

Walsh, Syracuse University, and the areas leading business group -- CenterState CEO -- have all endorsed the teardown plan.

But opposition remains, notably among businesses on the citys northern side and into those suburbs. Destiny USAs owners have also spoken out against the plan, saying the loss of a federal highway at their doorstep would hurt the megamall.

MORE ON INTERSTATE 81

See what the I-81 teardown plan looks like (maps)

Federal highway officials reviewing I-81 proposal

Five things to know about how I-481 would become I-81

Cuomo wants to break ground on I-81 project in 2022

See where NY would take land for I-81 project

Got a story idea or news tip youd like to share with a Syracuse-area reporter? Please contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook or at 315-470-2274.
New Delhi, April 9 : Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held bilateral talks with visiting Kazakhstan's Defence Minister Lieutenant General Nurlan Yermekbayev, in which he discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation.

During the meeting, the two ministers exchanged views to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, including through training, defence exercises and capacity building. They agreed that both sides must look at the possibility of defence industrial collaboration of mutual interest.

Lieutenant General Yermekbayev thanked Singh for the opportunity given to the Kazakh troops for deployment as part of the Indian battalion in United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Both ministers also positively assessed the annual KAZIND Exercise.

Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary (Defence Production) Raj Kumar and other senior civil and military officials of Ministry of Defence were also present on the occasion.

Lieutenant General Yermekbayev is on a three-day official visit to India from April 7-10, 2021. He visited HQs 12 Corps at Jodhpur and the Longewala sector in Jaisalmer. The Kazakh Defence Minister is in India on the invitation of India's defence minister.
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A novel way to pinpoint and illuminate bone damage promises to make X-rays more efficient at diagnosing bone and other injuries, Flinders University researchers say.

Image Credit: Flinders University

The new technique, looking at potential biomedical applications of an ancient inorganic salt-based aggregation induced emission (AIE) radio-luminescence material, could open new frontiers in medicine including X-ray dosimetry, bioimaging and advanced applications such as optogenetics, says Professor Youhong Tang, from Flinders University's College of Science and Engineering.

The review article, published by Professor Tang, postdoctoral student Dr Javad Tavokoli, colleagues in Hong Kong and Australian technology company Micro-X and, examined the potential of the AIEgen luminogens (AIEgens) in deep tissue imaging. The study used X-ray testing provided by Adelaide-based Micro-X.

"We were able to use Micro-X advanced X-ray machines at the Tonsley Innovation District to show the benefits of this AIEgen system which can be excited by X-ray (as the radioluminescence emitter) and UV light (as the photoluminescence emitter) compared to current AIEgens which mostly only act as the photoluminescence emitter," he says.

The study highlighted the disadvantages of autofluorescence, poor signal-to-noise radio, and poor tissue penetration depth of traditional photoluminescence emitters which could be elegantly solved by these radioluminescence luminogens. Not only do they pinpoint bone and soft tissue damage for better diagnosis and treatment but we suggest further studies could see these AIE-based materials with multifunctionalities used for improved drug delivery, biosensors, bioimaging, and tissue engineering." Youhong Tang, Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Flinders University

Lead author on the journal article in Aggregate, Dr Tavokoli, how based at the Centre for Health Technologies at University of Technology Sydney, says the next generation of fluorescent gels could also capitalise on additional light-emitting properties making them attractive for different applications.

The latest work not only explores a series of inorganic AIE systems but also "fundamentally helps to understand both the unconventional organic and inorganic clusteroluminescence phenomena, Professor Tang concludes.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 16:17:23|Editor: huaxia

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VIENNA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Parties to the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the Iran nuclear deal, resumed talks here on Friday, with the lifting of sanctions on Iran and nuclear implementation measures on top of the agenda. Enditem
New Delhi: The Serum Institute of India (SII) has refunded South Africa for 5,00,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine, in fact, South Africa has decided not to use the vaccine. According to information received, the move was taken after the vaccine was found to be less effective against the South African variant.

On the other hand, one million doses of the Serum Institute of India (SII), which had already been given to South Africa, have been sold to other African Union countries. At a television media briefing on Thursday, South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize confirmed that the Serum Institute of India has fully refunded us for the remaining 5,00,000 doses and the money has also credited to our bank account.

At the event, Mkhize said, "I want to clarify the decision not to take the vaccine, this vaccine is less effective on the South African variant, so it is wasteful to keep taking doses. On the other hand, he said that there was a big concern among South Africans that these vaccines would now be wasted, but we want to point out that all the AstraZeneca vaccines have been given to other countries. Mkhize said one lakh doses that we had received earlier have been sold to the African Union forum and given to many African countries that are now capable of accessing these vaccines."

Also Read:

Worldwide, the number of infections in these countries has worsened once again

Hong Kongs multi-millionaire population hit record high: Survey

German health care workers administer 650K COVID-19 vaccine doses: RKI
MULTI-BILLION euro plans for a massive green energy hub at Moneypoint represents an unprecedented and transformative opportunity for the region and nation.

Thats according to the Shannon Foynes Port Company chief executive Pat Keating, who says the proposal, announced this morning, "validates the enormous potential of the estuary as a global renewable energy hub.

The project sees the ESB teaming up with Equinor for a wind turbine construction hub and a floating offshore wind farm, while work on a 50m 'sustainable system support facility' is expected to begin in the coming weeks.

The ESB also announced plans for a green hydrogen production, storage and generation facility at Moneypoint by the end of the next decade.

Hundreds of jobs are expected to be created, with the development powering over 1.6 million homes.

Mr Keating said: This is a hugely positive day for ESB and Equinor but also for everyone who has been working tirelessly over recent years to promote this unprecedented opportunity for Ireland. We have one of the worlds great energy renewable resources, with the Atlantic wind resource considered amongst the best in the world. But we now finally have the wherewithal to use it because of the advancement of floating offshore wind technology and hydrogen generation. Put these elements together and we have the resource, the technology and base to transform Ireland into one of the worlds leading renewable energy locations.

He says the Port Company sees this as just the start of development along the west coast.

This announcement by @ESBGroup this morning will transform the whole MidWest and Shannon Estuary. It shows the potential that @ShannonFoynes as the deep natural port in the region has to assist in the delivery of this enormous plan to decarbonise https://t.co/IPh9H6KmX1  Patrick O'Donovan (@podonovan) April 9, 2021

Last December we published a report estimating that the available wind resource of the west coast can generate up to 70GW of floating offshore wind energy, which is multiples of what we require as a nation, and it also identified potential for large scale hydrogen generation. So today is a brilliant beginning in realising that potential, he said, The sustainable development of this renewable resource will allow Ireland to meet its climate action targets not only for energy generation but also, in time, in the carbon intensive transport sectors. In addition, due to the scale of the Atlantic wind resource and for the first time in its history, the country could become a significant global renewable energy exporter. This will deliver a lucrative new revenue stream for the exchequer while transitioning to a low carbon economy.

Shannon Foynes Port Company chairman David McGarry added: If we grasp this opportunity in the way that todays announcement indicates we will, we are potentially looking at tens of thousands of jobs right up and down the west coast. A very significant concentration will be here on the Shannon Estuary thanks to our deep-water port, which is essential for supply-chain activity, but the opportunity really is limitless for the wider western seaboard.
These plans should be using metrics, face coverings, social distancing, adequate and appropriate cleaning supplies and appropriate PPE for everyone in our schools, as guiding factors when determining whether or not to hold in-person instruction, Griffin said. It is also important for community members to adhere to health and safety precautions to avoid a community outbreak that would result in closing our schools.
Westlife Development, which operates McDonald's restaurants in southern and western region in India, on Friday said the quick service brand's restaurants will operate 24/7 for contactless delivery from select stores in Mumbai.

"In wake of the new restrictions announced to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections in Maharashtra, Westlife Development Ltd owned McDonald's restaurants will operate 24/7 for contactless McDelivery from select stores in Mumbai," Westlife Development said in a regulatory filing.

The brand will further be doubling up on its convenience channels of McDelivery, takeaway and On-the-Go as the state has announced new set of restrictions to arrest the mounting COVID-19 cases, the company added.

Saurabh Kalra, Chief Operating Officer, McDonald's India West and South said We have been able to cater to our customers' demand through our omni-channel strategy making McDonald's food available for consumers wherever, whenever and however they want."

Westlife Development recently announced vaccination cover for all its 10,000 employees which includes both its corporate office employees as well as the McDonald's restaurant staff.

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The increasing number of crime cases in Bihar every day is not going to stop. Not only that, everyone is disturbed by the stories of these rising crimes today, and now the panic in the hearts and minds of innocent people living in homes is increasing even faster. Where Bihar police have detained six persons near the Indo-Nepal border in connection with the murder of 5 persons on Holi last month. The massacre was termed ethnic violence by the media and the opposition as a massacre.

According to Madhubani Superintendent of Police Satya Prakash, all the six accused, including murder mastermind Prakash Jha, have been taken into custody from a village in the Bisfi police station area on Wednesday. It is alleged that five Rajput people were killed on March 29 in a village in the Banipatti police station area.

It has been discovered that four brothers were among those killed in the fishing dispute. The media called the massacre a battle for supremacy between 2 castes, Brahmins and Rajputs in the region. According to reports, the opposition had cornered the Nitish government terming it a massacre. RJD had alleged that the police were rescuing the killers. The killers are having fun under the protection of an influential BJP leader.

Also Read:

Israel government to disallow ICC war crimes probe, says no authority

Police get 272 Remedisivir injections from drug store, were selling illegally

Missing womans dead body found at Lower Lake
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-08 23:29:57|Editor: huaxia

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TOKYO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga Thursday said that Tokyo will likely be placed under stronger anti-virus measures due to a resurgence of COVID-19 infections in the capital and increased pressure on healthcare facilities.

The Japanese leader said the new, tougher measures will come into effect from next Monday and remain in place until May 11, according to sources familiar with the matter.

New COVID-19 cases in Tokyo hit a two-month high the previous day, less than three weeks after a second state of emergency was lifted for the capital since the outbreak of the virus in Japan.

Nationwide, meanwhile, new cases surpassed the 3,000-mark for the second successive day on Thursday, which was the first time in more than two months.

Kyoto and Okinawa prefectures, may also be designated as being on the verge of a state of emergency, with the designation to be effective until May 5, the sources also said.

The Japanese leader said he will meet with health minister Norihisa Tamura and other members of his cabinet and hold talks with the government's coronavirus task-force on Friday, before formalizing the stricter measures.

Suga said other prefectures may also be placed under stricter COVID-19 measures.

These potential moves come with less than four months to go before Tokyo is scheduled to host the Summer Olympics.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has requested the central government to grant the permission for her to implement stronger anti-viral measures.

These include requesting restaurants and bars to shorten their opening hours and close at 8:00 p.m. in certain areas, with establishments facing possible fines for non-compliance.

Koike said that the new emergency period should cover the upcoming Golden Week holidays which run from late April through early May and are a hugely busy time of travel for Japanese vacationers.

COVID-19 cases have been rising since around mid-March. A state of emergency covering Tokyo ended on March 21.

Tokyo confirmed 555 new infections on Wednesday, the most since early February, and reported 545 on new cases on Thursday.

Of the around 3,500 new cases reported nationwide Thursday, Osaka Prefecture confirmed 905, marking a record high for the third successive day. The western prefecture is already under a medical state of emergency.

The prefectures of Osaka, neighboring Hyogo and Miyagi in the northeast, were designated on Monday as being on the brink of a state of emergency.

Stricter measures came into effect Monday for the three prefectures in an effort to combat a resurgence of COVID-19 cases under a revised law that does not require declaring a state of emergency.

The tougher measures effective for one month until May 5, with restaurants and bars requested to close by 8:00 p.m. and customers asked to wear masks while conversing.

Businesses are also being urged to promote remote working for their employees, and large spectator events will have had the numbers of attendees capped at 5,000. Enditem
Former Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide has charged the Police to arrest drivers who use sirens while plying the roads in the country.



The culture of siren blowing has become rampant.



Almost every second or minute, drivers, particularly those who drive expensive cars like Land Cruiser, are spotted hooting sirens to avoid traffic and quickly speed up to their destinations.



What is more dangerous is that the identity of these drivers is usually unidentifiable, therefore one doesn't see whether the siren blower is permitted by law or not.



Addressing the issue in a panel discussion on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme, the former Minister vented his anger on the indiscriminate siren blowers.



He sided with the host of the programme, Kwami Sefa Kayi, who equally expressed worry over the attitude of such drivers that such people should be checked because the attitude is appalling.



Pius Enam Hadzide directed the Police to apprehend those drivers to serve as deterrent to others.



"I am encouraging even the Police to begin arresting them. If they arrest them, we will know that politicians might not be the ones to blame. Also, it poses security risks. What if the person is a thief who has stolen a Land Cruiser and passing by? So, at least, stop them and check to see their identity," he stated.





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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Congratulations to Charleston County Council for getting it right in approving $2.86 million in extra funding to buy four ambulances, refurbish two and add 44 full-time positions.

In my 14 years as chief of Charleston County EMS, I always found County Council to be supportive to a point.

Most people dont mind paying taxes; they just want to know where the money is going.

Whether its paid with higher taxes or other sources, there is no doubt that this funding boost will positively affect all lives in our county.

Many never think of EMS because they are not experiencing a serious medical emergency. When they do, people expect quick response with qualified, competent personnel.

Weve always had tremendous people who work with EMS and this should help with quicker response times.

This doesnt come without leadership. It is obvious that high-level work has gone into this project.

My personal thanks to Deputy County Administrator Eric Watson, who was an excellent choice to support this organization. He understands EMS like no other before him.

Even as a retired paramedic, I want to ensure that the government in charge of my public safety gets it.

Charleston County has done so with this funding increase

We will see miracles happen every day because, as a community, we understand public safety should always be No. 1.

DON LUNDY

Muirfield Parkway

Charleston

Trimmer dangers

An April 4 letter to the editor complained accurately about the dirty gasoline-powered blowers and trimmers widely used in many neighborhoods, including mine.

The letter writer is right. These devices emit noxious fumes at many times the rate of automobiles and even most truck engines.

I would point out that these small engines are also extremely noisy. Because they are often carried on the back or shoulder of the user, they will certainly damage the users hearing.

I dont think I have ever seen users wear ear protection while running these machines.

Industrial workers exposed to these noise levels are required to wear ear protection. Why arent the same rules applied to yard workers?

Why dont they use available rechargeable electric devices that do essentially the same job and are quiet?

FRITZ SAENGER JR.

Lettered Olive Lane

Mount Pleasant

Gun analogy wrong

Sen. Lindsey Graham recently expressed his desire to defend his home in Seneca (population 9,000) from marauding gangs with his AR-15. I guess tiny Seneca has a large gang problem.

Perhaps the senator was referring to his home in Washington, D.C.

If that was the case, where was he on Jan. 6 when marauding gangs took over the Capitol building, disrupted the orderly function of government, injured hundreds and led to the deaths of five people, one a federal officer?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2017 more than 38,800 died from gun violence with more than 1,600 of that number being children and teens.

Many of these deaths could be prevented if the national leadership in this country took some very simple steps to keep guns out of the hands of those who would harm themselves or others.

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I guess those lives dont matter much when it comes to grandstanding on gun rights issues.

It seems Sen. Graham would rather stir the pot on visceral issues, drumming up support from his base, than actually doing something to stop gun violence in this country.

TIMOTHY C. KIEL

Pelzer Drive

Mount Pleasant

Stamps a bargain

You have to admit, first-class postage in this country is one of the best deals around.

If you mail a letter Monday that is going to California, it will get there by Thursday.

Theres no telling how many hands or how many machines have touched that letter during the trip. If postage is increased to 75 cents, it would still be a good deal.

Lets give postal employees some credit and support all they do for this country.

DAVID YOUNT

Cottingham Drive

Mounts Pleasant

Libraries fill need

What would we do without our public libraries?

The Charleston County Public Library has served us well providing book kits put together by Assistant Branch Manager Donna Adams from the Dorchester Road Regional Library.

Our retirement community continued all winter with monthly book discussions.

Otranto Regional has been temporarily closed for renovation, so I found extra help at the Cooper River Public Library with special assistance from its manager several different times.

I recently made copies at the machine with cheerful guidance. I was even given directions to the Hanahan Library.

And, I picked up a list of libraries that were providing tax filing assistance.

One Saturday, I pulled up to Dorchester Regional and the power was out.

That did not stop the busy librarians from checking their smartphones and

helping me with every question.

I even enjoyed several newspapers by a sunny window.

Our residents have been using the clubhouse library all winter.

It is thrilling to know that reading has helped so many through this time of isolation.

Libraries bring the world to us in more ways than I can describe.

MARTHA F. BARKLEY

Shadowcreek Court

Charleston
Ishmael Abdallah, the 10-year-old boy, who was allegedly murdered at Kasoa for ritual purposes, was on Thursday buried at the Amanfrom Muslim Cemetery after Islamic rituals.



Sheikh Yousiph Saeed Ankomah, Imam for Taifa, who conducted the burial service, prayed for the soul of the deceased and asked the bereaved family to take heart and trust God for better times ahead.



He asked parents to develop interest in what their children did outside home, in their friends and what they used mobile phones for, to avert such calamities.



Sheikh Ankomah said the incident should be a lesson to all parents and emphasised the need to bring up children in the fear of God so they could become responsible citizens.



He said what was needed now was forgiveness and appealed to the bereaved family and residents of the community to be tolerant.



Two teenagers have appeared before the Ofaakor District Court for allegedly murdering Abdallah at Coca-Cola, near Lamptey Mills, at Kasoa in the Central Region.



Felix Nyarko, aka Yaw Anane, a 16-year-old labourer, and Nicholas Kini Kwame, an 18-year-old student, has been charged with conspiracy to murder and murder of Ishmael Mensah Abdallah.



The court, presided over by Mrs Rosemond Vera Ocloo, preserved their pleas.

The accused persons are to reappear on April 20 as investigations into the matter is ongoing.



The alleged murder shocked and saddened the nation, with many calling for restrictions on the activities of spiritualists on television.



It also attracted statements from the Gender Ministry and civil society organisations.



On Wednesday, April 7, a government delegation and personnel from the Counselling Unit of the Ghana Police Service visited the bereaved family to commiserate with them.



The burial was mainly attended by males and attracted relations and sympathisers across the country, especially from the Oti Region, where the deceased hailed from.

Source: GNA









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Chief Minister on Thursday directed officials to ensure strict compliance of COVID-19 guidelines to contain the spread of the pandemic in the state, an official statement said.

Chairing a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in the state, Gehlot asked collectors of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Kota, Chittorgarh, Alwar and Bhilwara, districts which are witnessing a rapid rise in cases, to ramp up testing, draw plans for creating containment zones and tracing contacts of those who test positive for the disease, it said.

He said there should be effective enforcement of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which prohibits the assembly of more than four people, in the urban areas of the state, the statement said.

Health Secretary Siddharth Mahajan briefed the chief minister on Thursday's report of COVID-19 cases, it added.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in surged to 3,50,317 on Thursday as 3,526 more people tested positive for the disease, while the death toll climbed to 2,886 with 20 more fatalities, according to an official report.

Health Minister Subhash Garg, Chief Secretary Niranjan Arya, and Vice Chancellor of University of Health Sciences Dr Rajababu Panwar, among others, were present at the meeting.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rioters have been blasted with a water cannon by police as unrest stirred on the streets of Northern Ireland once more.

After shocking scenes provoked calls for calm this week, violence again flared up on the streets of west Belfast, amid rising tensions in the area.

Stones and fireworks were thrown at police by gangs of youths gathered on the nationalist Springfield Road, close to where Wednesday nights riots took place.

The PSNI use a water cannon on the Springfield Road, during further unrest in Belfast. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA

Those involved were warned by police to disperse immediately or the water cannon will be used.

However, those present continued to fire missiles at police and after several warnings, the water cannon was deployed.

Some of those present jeered before fleeing as the water jet came closer.

Justice Minister Naomi Long issued a fresh call for calm after what she called depressing and reckless scenes.

She tweeted: More attacks on police, this time from nationalist youths. Utterly reckless and depressing to see more violence at interface areas tonight.

My heart goes out to those living in the area who are living with this fear and disturbance. This needs to stop now before lives are lost.

A heavy police presence was in operation on Thursday night, with water cannon, police dogs and the riot squad in place in a bid to quell another night of unrest in the area.

PSNI officers were seen holding riot shields and being pelted with missiles before causing the youths to flee by charging at them with dogs.

Youths fire fireworks at the PSNI on the Springfield road, during further unrest in Belfast. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Earlier, the UK Prime Minister and Taoiseach made a joint call for calm after days of unrest in Northern Ireland.

Boris Johnson and Taoiseach Micheal Martin spoke over the phone on Thursday about the violent clashes in mainly loyalist areas over the last week.

In a statement, the Irish Government said the two leaders stressed that violence was unacceptable.

The way forward is through dialogue and working the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, the statement said.

They agreed that the two governments would continue to stay in contact.

The Biden administration in the US also appealed for calm in Northern Ireland and voiced its support for the Brexit protocol.

At a briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: We are concerned by the violence in Northern Ireland and we join the British, Irish and Northern Irish leaders in their calls for calm.

We remain steadfast supporters of a secure and prosperous Northern Ireland, in which all communities have a voice and enjoy the gains of the hard-won peace.

We welcome the provisions in both the EU-UK trade cooperation agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol, which helped protect the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis earlier welcomed a united message of condemnation of the violence by the Stormont parties.

He denied that the UK Government had abandoned unionists through the new Brexit arrangements, one of the concerns inflaming tensions among loyalists that have sparked a week of violence, which police said had been on a scale not seen in recent years.

Mr Lewis arrived in Northern Ireland on Thursday to speak to political and faith leaders, as well as the police.

Read More What is driving the violent disorder in the North?

He said there could be no justification for the violence.

I absolutely recognise the challenge and the sense of identity challenges that people in the unionist community have felt around the protocol and the practical outworkings of it, he said.

Thats why we took the actions we took just a couple of weeks ago to help businesses and consumers here in Northern Ireland.

Obviously, I also appreciate people have talked about the decision last week by the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions), the situation with people coming out of Covid and as the PSNI has said today, pure criminal activity and encouraging young people to take up criminal activity.

All of these things come together in a way which is completely unacceptable.

Mr Lewis expressed his confidence in PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne, who the DUP has urged to resign over a decision by prosecutors not to pursue Sinn Fein politicians over alleged coronavirus breaches at a funeral last year.

Mr Lewis pledged to do all I can to continue to facilitate further constructive discussions on the way forward over the coming days.

I remain in close contact with the Prime Minister to keep him updated, he added.

Earlier in the day, ministers in the Stormont Executive condemned the violence and Stormont MLAs unanimously passed a motion calling for an end to the disorder.

In a joint statement, the five-party Executive said: While our political positions are very different on many issues, we are all united in our support for law and order and we collectively state our support for policing and for the police officers who have been putting themselves in harms way to protect others.

We, and our departments, will continue to work together to maximise the support we can give to communities and the PSNI to prevent further violence and unrest.

Speaking during the Assembly debate, DUP leader Arlene Foster said the scenes witnessed were totally unacceptable.

The First Minister said the injuries to police officers, harm to Northern Irelands image and peoples property had taken the region backwards.

Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill said the violence was dangerous and unacceptable.

She said illegal loyalist paramilitaries and criminal elements were influencing young people and orchestrating the violence.

They are holding back their own people and they are holding back their own community, she said.

But PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Jonathan Roberts later said during a press conference: I cant confirm the involvement of paramilitaries but the orchestration of [Wednesday] nights disorder and the previous nights is the subject of investigation.

The scale of the disorder last night was at a scale that we have not seen in recent years in Belfast or further afield.

The fact that it was sectarian violence involving large groups on both sides is not something we have seen in recent years. We believe there was a level of pre-planning.

Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill said the violence was dangerous and unacceptable. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

The violence is unfolding at a time of increasing rancour in the political sphere amid tensions over Brexits Irish Sea trade border and the fallout from the polices handling of the mass republican funeral that took place during pandemic restrictions last year.

As rioting has flared across Northern Ireland, all four main unionist parties continue to call for Mr Byrne to quit over how his service dealt with the funeral of former IRA leader Bobby Storey.

Unionists are furious at a decision by prosecutors not to take action against 24 Sinn Fein politicians, including Ms ONeill, for attending the funeral  a decision partly related to the fact that police had engaged with organisers before the event that drew 2,000 people on to the streets.

Mr Byrne has vowed not to resign and has signalled a desire to engage with people who have concerns about policing in the region.
A Kampot deputy police chief and two other suspects have been arrested and sent to court for allegedly trafficking two kilograms of methamphetamine.

Im Chhun, Kampots deputy police chief, and two accomplices  Keo Tith Mesa, a police officer, and a civilian named Hong Kea - were the targets of a police raid on April 6 in Phnom Penhs Daun Penh district, according to a National Police official. Officers confiscated 1.7 kilograms of methamphetamine during the raid.

Mok Chito, deputy National Police chief in charge of combating drugs, said that Im Chhun and his associates had been handed to court prosecutors and that authorities will continue to arrest other suspects.

We sent them to the prosecutors. The charge would be decided laterbut we accused him of storing and trafficking drugs illegally, Mok Chito said.

Kuch Kimlong, the spokesperson for the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, could not be reached for comment on Friday.

The government has embarked on a three-year drug crackdown, which has mostly netted small-time dealers or users caught in possession of drugs but has not seen the arrest of any major traffickers and dealers.

The police arrested 21,566 people linked to 10,461 drug-related crimes in 2020, up from 20,490 people arrested in 2019, according to National Police statistics.

Interior Minister Sar Kheng said around 3 tons of drugs were seized in 2020, which is higher than in 2019. During a meeting on commune safety policies in January, Sar Kheng called on local authorities to eliminate drug trafficking in the communes.

Yun Phally, human rights coordinator for ADHOC in Kampot, said this was the first time a senior police officer was arrested for drug trafficking and only junior officials had been arrested in the past.

He said drug use was previously limited to the provincial town but has spread to other areas.

It has spread to rural areas, meaning it has spread to the entire province, and there are drug uses in each district [of the province], he added.

Am Sam Ath, deputy director for monitoring at rights group Licadho, said Cambodias prisons were overcrowded because authorities continued to arrest only minor drug dealers and users.

"Major traffickers, smugglers, and drug producers were rarely arrested," said Am Sam Ath.

If we talk about prisons, they are more crowded due to these drug issues. So, its a matter that we need to enforce the laws strictly from the grassroots up to the national level, he said.
The Duke of Edinburgh Award was hailed Prince Philip's 'greatest legacy' as his patronages paid tribute to his decades of 'dedicated' service' today.

Adventurer Sir David Hempleman-Adams praised the prize, which has benefited 6.7 million participants since it was founded by Prince Philip in 1956.

The 64-year-old, who completed the bronze, silver and gold awards as a teenager, said: 'I personally think so because it influenced me in such a powerful way at such an early age. It's done the same thing for millions of people around the world.'

It comes as the Duke of Edinburgh's patronages including Shakespeare's Globe and The Scouts paid tribute to him hours after his death.

A spokesperson for The Scout Association said they were 'deeply saddened' to hear Prince Philip had passed away, while the Globe said that his support has been 'integral' to the world-renowned theatre.

Adventurer Sir David Hempleman-Adams (pictured with Prince Philip in 2008) says the Duke of Edinburgh Award will be the late royal's 'his greatest legacy'

Sir David said: 'He's always said that while things change in society - when he first started the award 64 years ago there were no computers and not as much travel as there is today - but young people they don't change. That's why the award continues to be such a huge success.

'I think he was probably always extremely pleased and proud that it's gone from strength to strength over the years.'

Sir David, who became the first person to complete the 'adventurers' grand slam' of climbing each continent's highest mountain and reaching both the North and South Poles, said Philip had a 'huge influence' on his life.

'I did the award when I was 13 and he's been a patron to a lot of my big expeditions throughout my life,' he said. 'He was still writing to me up to just a couple months ago, so we've been in contact for nearly all my life.

Prince Philip's royal patronages have paid tribute to his 'dedicated' services and told how he will be 'sadly missed.' Pictured, hosting the Duke of Edinburgh's Award gold award presentations at Hillsborough Castle in Co Down on May 25, 2017

What is the Duke of Edinburgh awards? The Duke of Edinburgh awards, also known as DofE, is a youth programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip. Over the last 65 years, the programme has expanded into 144 nations. It's aimed at self-improvements with the royal basing the programme on 'Six Declines of Modern Youth' by Kurt Hahn. At first, it was designed to attract boys who had not been interested in joining youth movements, such as Scouts, but in 1958 it was extended to include girls. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award programmes take between one and four years to complete, and they must be completed by the participant's twenty-fifth birthday. Participants must take part in the following: Volunteering: undertaking service to individuals or the community.

Physical: improving in an area of sport, dance or fitness activities.

Skills: developing practical and social skills and personal interests.

Expedition: planning, training for, and completion of an adventurous journey in the UK or abroad.

At Gold level, participants must do an additional fifth Residential section, which involves staying and working away from home for five days, doing a shared activity. Advertisement

'He's been hugely influential on my life and it's a very sad day for all of us and he was a man of our generation.

'I always remember - because I got to know him quite well over the years and I would meet him in his study - on this one occasion I had just been asked to become a trustee of his award and I said, "Sir, it is a great honour and a privilege to be a trustee" and he said, "It's absolutely not, it's a duty and make sure you know the difference".

'He was a man who knew duty more than anybody else. I met him privately and in public and to me he was always wonderfully kind, thoughtful and extremely generous with my family.'

The father-of-three, who lives in Box, Wiltshire, described the duke as a 'highly intelligent' man who had expertise on a range of subjects.

'When he was a patron for my expeditions, it wasn't just simply a box-ticking exercise, he would ask you some really, really searching questions,' he said.

'When I got back, he would ask equally searching questions. He certainly put your feet to the fire, which was welcome because sometimes he had different insights into things. He had a massive range of experience throughout his life, so there wasn't that many subjects he didn't know much about.'

Sir David added: 'It is a very sad day but he had an incredible, full life. He saw and has seen and met more people, and I can't think of anyone else, other than Her Majesty, who's had such a full life. I think he was a huge stay for her and made the monarchy the success it is today.'

DofE wrote on Twitter today: 'Its with great sadness that we acknowledge the death of our Patron HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, he will be sadly missed'

A tribute on the Duke of Edinburgh Awards website (pictured), which Prince Philip founded in 1956, read: 'It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the death of our Founder and Patron HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, he will be sadly missed

Today the charity mourned the loss of its longstanding patron with Ruth Marvel, the scheme's CEO, insisting the Duke's 'timeless vision' for young people has 'never been more relevant or needed'.

'The DofE has played a crucial role in supporting young people to survive and thrive despite the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic, and we will continue to build on his legacy,' she said.

'The Duke was a lifelong advocate for young people, believing in each individual's potential and creating in the DofE what he saw as a "do-it-yourself growing up kit".

'We're honoured to continue HRH's work, to ensure that all young people  especially those from marginalised groups  can benefit from the better educational outcomes, employment prospects, community ties and better mental health that are associated with doing DofE.

'The DofE has become one of The Duke's most remarkable achievements, equipping and empowering young people from all communities to build the skills, confidence, and resilience they need to make the most out of life.'

The website also noted: 'A space will be available shortly to share your DofE memories.'

It comes after the Queen today announced with 'deep sorrow' the death of her husband at the age of 99, her 'strength and guide' throughout their 73-year marriage and her 69-year reign.

Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, Patron of the Shakespeare Globe Trust, attend a special celebratory performance to mark the opening of the Globe Theatre in London Thursday June 12 1997

A spokesperson for The Scout Association said they were 'deeply saddened' to hear Prince Philip had passed away

Taking to social media, a spokesperson for Shakespeare's Globe penned: 'We are deeply saddened to hear that HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh has passed away' (pictured)

Taking to social media, many of the 800 charities and organisations that he was Patron of all expressed their deepest condolences. Elsewhere, others took to social media to pay their respects to Prince Philip for his services.

A spokesperson for Shakespeare's Globe penned: 'We are deeply saddened to hear that HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh has passed away. Prince Philip served as our Patron for over 40 years. His support for our founder Sam Wanamaker was integral to building the Globe Theatre and later, opening the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.'

The Scouting Association added: 'We were saddened to hear of the death of HRH Prince Philip, husband of our Patron Her Majesty the Queen. We are keeping his family in our thoughts at this time.'

Another Tweet from Pentathlon GB commented how the team 'are greatly saddened by the passing of our royal patron Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh'.

It continued: 'The Duke was an active supporter of sport, and all at Pentathlon GB felt most fortunate to have had him as patron since 1958.'

A spokesperson for the Chartered College of Teaching praised Prince Philip for being 'a true supporter of our profession' - adding: 'We shall miss him.'

It wasn't long before there was an outpouring of messages of condolences from many of the 800 charities and organisations of which he was Patron (pictured)

Catherine Woodhead, Chief Executive of Muscular Dystrophy UK, also released a statement saying Prince Philip had been a 'precious asset in the fight against muscle-wasting conditions'.

His Royal Highness became Royal Patron of Muscular Dystrophy UK in 1966 and hosted a special event at Buckingham Palace in 2016 to celebrate 50 years of MDUK.

She commented: 'We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of His Royal Highness, Prince Philip. His dedicated patronage for so many years has been a precious asset in the fight against muscle-wasting conditions. Prince Philip had the kindness and foresight to lend his backing to a charity focused on what were then little known, poorly understood conditions.

'The Duke's backing remained an immense encouragement throughout his patronage, most recently hosting an event in 2016 at St James's Palace. Through the decades, Prince Philip has helped to raise awareness and promote understanding of this vitally important cause.

Taking to social media, one person penned: Prince Philip as Patron of the Chartered College of Teaching was a true supported of our prodession. We shall miss him' (pictured)

He met with a great many people and families who were encouraged by his understanding of their condition  not only the physical challenges they faced, but the emotional challenges for them and their families too.

'He was also aware of the barriers that needed to be overcome to enable them to live well with muscular dystrophy. These moments and memories of his wholehearted support will be cherished for many years to come. Muscular Dystrophy UK will remain forever grateful to our Patron, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh.'

The British Heart Foundation also took to Twitter and told how they were 'deeply saddened' to hear that their Patron had died today.

They added 'Prince Philip was an unwavering advocate for our work and for the power of research to save and improve lives.'

Dr Charmaine Griffiths, our Chief Executive, commented: 'We're deeply saddened by the death of our patron, Prince Philip HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, and offer our condolences to Her Majesty The Queen and the Royal Family.

'Prince Philip offered steadfast support to the BHF for nearly 60 years and was a remarkable advocate for the power of research to save and improve lives from heart and circulatory diseases.

'Prince Philip's role as our patron was one aspect of a life characterised by support for good causes and devotion to public service. His contribution will forever be remembered.'

Towards the end of Prince Philip's life, his advancing years were acknowledged by him stepping down as president or patron of more than a dozen organisations ahead of his 90th birthday.

The Duke of Edinburgh spent his final days at Windsor Castle with his wife after a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

Her Majesty announced her husband's death at midday as the Union Flag was lowered to half-mast outside Buckingham Palace and on public buildings across the UK and Commonwealth.

What will happen to Prince Philip's titles? Edward will become the Duke of Edinburgh but will have to wait until Charles is king because of royal protocols

The Duke of Edinburgh's title will eventually pass on to his youngest son, Prince Edward, it was confirmed today - but he will have to wait until after the death of the Queen and his brother Charles becomes king because of royal protocols.

Buckingham Palace decided he would one day succeed his father as Duke of Edinburgh following his wedding to Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999, when the couple were given the titles the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

In keeping with the Letters Patent issued when George VI gave Philip the title in 1947, the Prince of Wales, as the duke's eldest son, inherits the title the Duke of Edinburgh.

The Duke of Edinburgh's (left) title will eventually pass on to his youngest son, Prince Edward (right)

However, on Charles's eventual accession to the throne, the title will merge with the crown and can be regranted anew to Edward.

The family agreed following Edward's wedding 22 years ago that he would become Duke of Edinburgh in due course, but only following the death of both his parents.

A title held by someone who becomes monarch is said to merge with the Crown and ceases to exist, so can be recreated for someone else.

The decision to give Edward the title was taken in recognition of his work with, and commitment to, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award - of which he is a trustee, as well as chairman of The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award.

Edward's wife the Countess of Wessex will eventually become the Duchess of Edinburgh - a courtesy title which was held by the Queen.

Philip was the sixth person - including two Dukes of Gloucester and Edinburgh - to bear the title the Duke of Edinburgh.

The first was George I's grandson Prince Frederick, later the Prince of Wales, for whom the title was first created in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1726.

George VI gave Philip the titles of the Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich in the Peerage of the United Kingdom shortly before his marriage to Princess Elizabeth on November 20 1947.

Philip's great-great-uncle, Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, fourth child and second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was also a Duke of Edinburgh in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
By Ji Cheng

According to an AP report, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently announced that the Australian government plans to invest A$1 billion to develop guided missiles with the US, to boost Australias national defense capacity while increasing job opportunities in the defense technology sector.

Australia stressing a sovereign guided weapons manufacturing capability

Morrison stressed that it is crucial for Australia to create a sovereign guided weapons manufacturing capability, citing the changing global environment. The Australian Department of Defense will choose an experienced strategic industry partner which will be contracted to operate a joint venture for missile manufacturing in a bid to accelerate the implementation of Australias missile development plan. Australia made the creation of a sovereign guided weapons manufacturing capability a priority on the agenda of its national defense sector mainly for the three reasons as follows:

First, Australia intends to mend its weak link in domestically developed guided missiles. According to the US media, Australia hasnt produced advanced missiles by itself for decades but depends on imported missiles to meet the needs of national defense. TheAustralian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) estimated that if Australia continues relying on imports, it will spend at least A$100 billion purchasing missiles and other guided weapons in the next 20 years. If Australia partners with others to produce missiles on its own land, it is expected to fill in its strategic blank of missile manufacturing.

Second, Australia hopes this move will improve its defense supply chain and boost the employment of military enterprises. From Australia's perspective, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of the global supply chain, and it is imperative to enhance the sovereign guided weapons manufacturing capability, so that Australia will be able to ensure weapon and equipment support for its military operations if the global supply chain is suspended. The move is also expected to boost employment in the military industry. Australian Minister for Defense Industry Melissa Price said that producing domestic missiles will create about 2,000 jobs in Australia.

Third, Australia hopes this move wouldboost the exporting of military products and reshape the international competitiveness of its defense products. In 2018, the Australian government released a new defense products export strategy and announced the plan to invest A$200 billion within ten years to support the development of its defense industry, in a bid to make the military sector a pillar industry with international competitiveness by 2028. Australia intends to become one of the worlds top 10 weapon exporters by developing domestic guided missiles.

The real intension of Australia-US collaboration in joint missile development

In recent years, the Australia-US military alliance has been increasingly consolidated, long been the cornerstone of Australias defense policy. According to some media outlets, the underlying reason that Australia partners with the US to produce guided missiles lies in its Asia-Pacific strategy.

Australias 2020 Defense Strategic Update states that the Asia-Pacific region is a priority in its future defense strategy, and it plans to spend A$270 billion over the next ten years addressing military conflicts that may emerge in the region and collaborate with other countries to develop offensive military equipment, with the focus of its defense policy shifting from homeland defense to offensive expansion in the Asia-Pacific region. The move to partner with the US in developing missiles is an important measure Australia took to strengthen its defense capability, as well as a continuity of the previous maneuvers to strengthen its military and strategic presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

For Washington, the unique geographical advantage of Australia and their defense alliance make Australia an indispensablechess piece in implementing its Indo-Pacific strategy and strengthening its military deployment in the region.

However, Australias economy was seriously weakened in 2020, making it short of funds to support the development of advanced weapons. Also, considering Australias immature technical ability, there is a high possibility that Australia will be unilaterally reliant on the US in their defense cooperation. That Australia follows the pace of Washingtons military strategy to adjust and expand its armament under the pretext of regional tensions will not only weaken the independence of its security policy but also threaten overall regional strategic stability.
A five-year-old boy has been rushed to hospital after being attacked by a monkey at a zoo in northern Portugal (pictured, a monkey at Santo Inacio Zoo)

A five-year-old boy has been rushed to hospital after being attacked by a monkey at a zoo in northern Portugal.

The youngster lost a finger in the incident at Santo Inacio Zoo in Vila Nova de Gaia near Porto.

Local reports said the youngster was with his family and playing by the cage the animal was in when the incident occurred on Friday morning.

The monkey is said to have bitten the child's finger and pulled it from the rest of his hand.

A police officer entered the cage and recovered the missing digit before the youngster was taken to Sao Joao Hospital in Porto.

A spokesman for the GNR police force in Porto confirmed the incident had occurred around 11am and said the monkey had ripped the youngster's finger off.

Specialists in child surgery and plastic surgery were said to be with the boy at Sao Joao Hospital on Friday afternoon.

It is not yet clear if medics have been able to reattach the boy's finger.

There has not yet been any official comment from the zoo, which claims to be the largest and greenest zoo in northern Portugal on its website.

It is home to 600 animals including the Amur Tiger and Asian Lion and before the coronavirus pandemic welcomed approximately 1.5 million visitors a year.

The youngster lost a finger in the incident at Santo Inacio Zoo in Vila Nova de Gaia near Porto

The zoo only reopened on Tuesday after being closed for three months.

Zoo staff spoke last month about the behaviour of some of the 200 species of animals at the zoo had changed during the lockdown closure.

Vet Carla Monteiro admitted the animals were not getting enough interaction and were sleeping more because there were no visitors.

She said: 'There is a change in attitude and behaviour that is noticeable in the transition phases, when we have visitors and we no longer have them, and when we start to have them again.'

An investigation into the incident is expected to be launched.

In February Joaquin Gutierrez Arnaiz died after one of the elephants he looked after at Cabarceno Natural Park, a zoo near the northern Spanish city of Santander, accidentally hit him with her trunk.

The 44-year-old was rushed to Marques de Valdecilla University Hospital after being assisted by two colleagues, but died around three hours after being struck.
This week on Legacies, Hope and Lizzie are forced to work together and reconcile when a monster shows up that is feeding on their anger towards each other. Alaric thinks its easy to be a gym teacher and pretends to be one at Mystic Falls High while he spies on Josie and MG, who is now also a student there. MG saves Ethan with his vampire speed. Alaric tells him to erase Ethans memory but MG decides not to because the two have become friends (yay). Josie is apparently living with Damon and Elena.





Favorite friendship: Oh my god, MG made a new friend. I actually love the dynamic between MG and Ethan. I was even yelling at the tv Dont do it when MG went in to compel him. And I like that this is how theyre bringing Ethan into the supernatural world even though I still think its a bit fast. I doubt MG will tell him much else. Itll be interesting when Ethan learns how he broke his arm. But Im so happy for MG. Hes been through so much crap lately, he deserves this.

Best dynamic: Right now, I feel like the relationship between Hope and Lizzie is the best dynamic on the show. That said, I was fully on team Lizzie here. Im glad Hope finally apologized, though I still dont think Hopefully grasped the depth of what she did. You know, its weird. In the last two seasons, Hope was always closer to Josie. The friendship with Lizzie had been steadily growing, but the friendship with Josie seemed to always be slightly ahead. Then this season Hope has barely interacted with Hope (whats up with that) and now Hope and Lizzie have grown closer than ever. Just in case youre wondering, Im not a huge Hizzie shipper (more moderately). My favorite love interests for Hope have both left the show but I certainly wouldnt be against anything romantic happening there. Though I still think it would be better for Hope if she could find happiness single first.





My theory is falling apart: Speaking of which, you know its a weird day when I actually agree with Landon. But he was absolutely right when he said that he shouldnt be Hopes everything. All of her happiness shouldnt be focused on one person. But this does mess with my theory a bit. Because I was convinced that this wasnt truly Landon, but Malivore in disguise (or something). But if it is, then hes extremely good, too good, at copying Landon. Then I thought, maybe human Landon and Phoenix Landon got split somehow. Hear me out, I always thought it was weird that Landons Phoenix side just vanished. What if Hope is currently with human Landon and the weird guy in the mask is Phoenix Landon, who has no memory of Hope (because all of the romantic stuff is tied to his human side). Or am I just making this too complicated?





Calling it: A few weeks ago we had a Sphinx predicting Alarics death, next week we have a Banshee, which is basically announcing someones going to die. My money is 100% on Alaric. His character has literally just been floating around for weeks with nothing to do. I mean, he left his students AGAIN, to play gym teacher in a different school so he could spy on his daughter? Just kill him off already. It would have a major impact on pretty much every character. Danielle did say that the show was going to take a turn (been waiting for that for weeks now). It could mean that the school closes and everyone moves over to Mystic Falls High, which would actually make Josie and MG already being there make sense. It would mean major character development for Hope (might shock her out of her Landon-focused funk), Josie, and Lizzie. Apparently, Jenny would very much like to see heretic Lizzie. A darker turn for her character might bring that about. Do it!

Nice throwback: Damn, Damon rebuilt Elenas house. Im impressed. Especially since they had that whole talk about how being human meant living on a budget and that had to be expensive. It makes sense for Josie to live with them. Damon is Carolines brother-in-law. Elena is Carolines best friend. Plus they already have a kid (or two, I cant remember) so they know how the parenting thing works (not that Elena didnt already have experience practically raising teenage Jeremy). Its just really weird that were not going to see them while shes living there. This means well also see nothing of Josie living there. Which is kind of a gap.





Crazy hunch: So this is not the first time that Belgium has been referenced. Considering my country is usually forgotten, does this mean something? Please give us Penelope back!





Best quotes: Lizzie: You know what, Hope. At least when Im a bitch, I own it.

Lizzie: How is it so big? Weve been kumbaya since Landons speech. Cleo: It is my fault. I may have used some colorful language as it dragged me here.





Thats it for this week. Check in again next week for an all-new review and let me know in the comments what you thought of this weeks episode.




Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-08 17:44:12|Editor: huaxia

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Aerial photo taken on April 8, 2021 shows artificial reefs being placed in Wuzhizhou Island's marine ranch in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province. (Wuzhizhou Island's marine ranch/Handout via Xinhua)

SANYA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A project involving the placement of artificial marine reefs was launched on Thursday in Sanya, a tropical city in south China, in an effort to restore the marine ecology of the popular tourist destination.

The project was co-organized by Hainan University and Sanya Wuzhizhou Island, one of China's top diving locations.

Beginning in April, 870 artificial reefs with a total volume of approximately 30,000 cubic meters are expected to be placed in the island's marine ranch, said Wang Aimin, a professor with the College of Ocean Sciences of Hainan University, at the project's launch ceremony.

Artificial reefs are utilized worldwide to enhance ocean ecology, by creating additional habitats for local aquatic organisms and fish.

Wang's team designs various types of reefs to ensure their ornamental qualities. Information technology will be applied to the marine ranch's data collection system.

By the end of 2020, 1,526 artificial reefs, 21 ship-reefs and a cluster of volcanic rocks had been placed in Wuzhizhou Island's marine ranch, according to Wang.

"With the reefs, we have restored the marine ecosystem and the coral has been growing well," said Ding Feng, vice president of the Wuzhizhou Island tourist resort.

According to official data, the coverage rate of living coral in Wuzhizhou Island's marine ranch has increased from less than 15 percent in 2010 to over 23 percent in 2021. The number of fish in the sea area has increased by two to three times during the period. Enditem
Trump Endorses Florida Sen. Marco Rubio

Former President Donald Trump threw his support behind former presidential opponent Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for re-election, saying, Marco will never let the people of Florida or this country down.

It is my honor to give U.S. Senator Marco Rubio my Complete and Total Endorsement, Trump said in a statement. Marco has been a tireless advocate for the people of Florida, fighting to cut taxes, supporting our Second Amendment, our Military and our Vets, a strong national defense, and all of the forgotten men and women of America.

Trump and Rubio started during the 2016 election cycle as rivals but soon became allies through Trumps America First effort focusing on American manufacturing and supporting small business.

Marco worked with me to reform the VA and help our small businesses grow, and with his help, we achieved the lowest ever unemployment for women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and almost all Americans, said Trump. Together, we worked closely with the Cuban and Venezuelan communities, and have made great progress.

Trump praised Rubio for his work as Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, where Rubio presided over an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Rubio responded to Trumps support in a written statement, saying he wants to build on what was accomplished during the Trump administration.

I am grateful for President Trumps endorsement and his leadership on the major issues facing our nation, including the threat from China and the need to bring good jobs back to America, Rubio said in a statement Friday. Democrats are trying to undo everything we accomplished over the past four years, but I will continue to fight for the forgotten men and women of this country and deliver results for hard-working Florida families.

The Cuban-born senator is the frontrunner for the Florida GOP Senate primary and faces little opposition from within his own party. Although the Democrats have not officially announced their favorite to run against Rubio in the 2022 Senate race, two possible contenders are Reps. Val Demings (D-Fla.) and Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.).

Murphy said she is considering running for the Senate and has been running attack ads on Rubio.

Senator Marco Rubio has repeatedly betrayed Florida by voting to take away health care, attacking immigrant communities, and standing with Donald Trump, declares a social media ad from Stephanie Murphy for Congress on Facebook. Do you think he should be re-elected?

Demings in Febrary said she is keeping the door open for a possible run for governor or the U.S. Senate in 2022.

I certainly would not talk about any private conversations that Im having, Demings said in an interview with the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, former Democrat congressman Alan Grayson has filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to raise money and explore a run for Rubios Senate seat.

While Trump won Florida in 2016 and 2020, Florida is still considered a battleground state and Democrats are expected to fight an aggressive campaign there in 2022.
Editor's Note: This story first appeared online April 9, 2020.

In the middle of H-E-B's heralded response to the coronavirus pandemic, it is also celebrating the birthday of the man who turned H-E-B into what it is today.

Howard E. Butt was born on April 9, 1895. Though the Butt family is one of the most well-known Texas names, Butt was born in Memphis, Tenn. The family moved to the Texas Hill Country, finding a home in Kerrville, where Howard E. Butt and his siblings grew up. His parents, Charles Clarence Butt and Florence Thornton Butt, decided on relocating in hopes that the dryer climate would be therapeutic for the father's tuberculosis, according to the Texas State Historical Association.

IT'S HERE: You can now buy Chick-fil-A sauces at H-E-B. Here's how.

When Howard H. Butt was 10, the first grocery store in the family history was started by Florence in Kerrville. The mother started C.C. Butt Grocery Store in November 1905 with a $60 investment, H-E-B's online timeline says. The store, which sold bulk food, started young Howard E. Butt on a path which would lead to generations of customer loyalty. At 16, Howard E. Butt became manager of his mother's store. After graduating as valedictorian of his Tivy High School class in 1914, he spent some time in California, then enlisted in the U.S. Navy to serve in World War I.

By 1919, Howard E. Butt had returned to Kerrville to help his mom with the store. In 1921, he transitioned the store, which was based on deliveries, into a cash-and-carry, which was a move that was considered risky at the time.

After a few failed attempts to expand the store in Texas, he opened a store in Del Rio in 1926 and then in the Rio Grande Valley. San Antonio welcomed the first H. E. Butt Grocery Company in 1942, before the stores were officially named "H-E-B" in 1946. In 1971, as the founder celebrated his 76th birthday, he gave the role of president to his son, Charles C. Butt. A few years later, H-E-B's headquarters moved to San Antonio. Howard E. Butt's successor also implemented changes like staying open on Sundays and starting the sale of beer and wine, according to San Antonio Express-News archives.

Howard E. Butt died on March 12, 1991. He was 95.

DFW: H-E-B expanding in the Dallas area soon

Charles C. Butt remains at the helm of the grocery giant as CEO. The chain, which remains privately owned, now has hundreds of stores in Texas and Mexico.

In January, H-E-B took the top spot in a consumer survey of more than 60 grocery stores nationwide. Now, H-E-B is earning national acclaim for its crisis response during the pandemic, including protective measures and increased pay for employees and community relief like a new program which allows local restaurants to sell their meals in the grocery stores. The partnership program gives restaurants in-store display space, as COVID-19 emergency orders restrict food establishments to take-out and delivery only. Participating restaurants are able to keep all of the proceeds from sales of the heat-and-serve meals, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Longtime H-E-B employee Eddie Garcia, who helped launch the company's annual Feast of Sharing dinner, said helping communities they're part of is ingrained in the Butt family values in a 2015 San Antonio Express-News interview.

The Butt family has always tried to address hunger in the community, Garcia said.

He said Florence donated all surplus from the original Kerrville store to the poor.

All of this builds customer loyalty, he added. For H-E-B, its not just about raking in money. Its about doing the right thing.

Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye
PHILADELPHIA, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CARISMA Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative immunotherapies, announced study findings accepted for virtual presentation at The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting on Saturday, April 10  Thursday, April 15. The accepted data reinforces the potential of CARISMA's proprietary chimeric antigen receptor macrophage (CAR-M) platform, as well as the importance of evaluating CAR-monocytes (CAR-Mono) as a novel and expedited immunotherapeutic pathway.

CARISMA will share key findings from recent studies including, "Chimeric antigen receptor macrophages (CAR-M) induce anti-tumor immunity and synergize with T cell checkpoint inhibitors in pre-clinical solid tumor models," presented by Dr. Stefano Pierini, Senior Scientist at CARISMA, which established a fully immunocompetent solid tumor mouse model and evaluated the interaction of CAR-M with the tumor microenvironment and the endogenous adaptive immune system. This study marks the first time CAR-Ms have been assessed in a fully immunocompetent animal model. The findings demonstrate that CAR-M therapy showed significant tumor control, increased overall survival, remodeled the tumor microenvironment, and protected mice from antigen negative tumor recurrence. Additionally, the studies demonstrate that CAR-M synergize with T cell checkpoint inhibitors against PD1 resistant solid tumors. The data build on findings from CARISMA's foundational CAR-M platform that were published in Nature Biotechnology in March 2020.

Also accepted for AACR presentation is the clinical trial design and foundational details regarding CARISMA's lead candidate, CT-0508, a human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) targeted CAR-M, "A phase 1, first in human (FIH) study of adenovirally transduced autologous macrophages engineered to contain an anti-HER2 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) in subjects with HER2 overexpressing solid tumors," presented by Joshua Bauml, MD, an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the division of Hematology-Oncology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). This first-of-its kind Phase 1 clinical trial is actively enrolling patients at two sites, Penn and the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chapel Hill. Dr. Bauml is the principal investigator for the trial at Penn.

In "Anti-HER2 CAR monocytes demonstrate targeted anti-tumor activity and enable a single day cell manufacturing process," presented by CARISMA Scientist Dr. Linara Gabitova, new data shows the successful development of CAR-Mono with direct anti-tumor activity and capacity to differentiate into M1-polarized CAR-M. In addition, CARISMA established an ultra-rapid, same-day CAR-Mono manufacturing process for this study, which has the potential to significantly reduce the future cost of goods and manufacturing turn-around-time associated with the autologous cell therapy.

"The data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting build upon the broad engineered monocyte and macrophage platform established by CARISMA Therapeutics," shared Michael Klichinsky, PharmD, PhD, Scientific Co-founder, and Senior Vice President of Research at CARISMA Therapeutics. "These critical pre-clinical data demonstrate that CAR-M not only directly shrink tumors but instill long-term anti-tumor immunity via antigen presentation to T cells, protecting from relapse in the future."

The following presentation and posters will be published on the AACR Annual Meeting website and available for registered attendees during the dates/times indicated below:

Saturday, April 10 at 8:30 am ET :

: A phase 1, first in human (FIH) study of adenovirally transduced autologous macrophages engineered to contain an anti-HER2 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) in subjects with HER2 overexpressing solid tumors



Anti-HER2 CAR monocytes demonstrate targeted anti-tumor activity and enable a single day cell manufacturing process

Monday, April 12 at 3:05 pm ET :

: Chimeric antigen receptor macrophages (CAR-M) induce anti-tumor immunity and synergize with T cell checkpoint inhibitors in pre-clinical solid tumor models

About CARISMA Therapeutics Inc.

CARISMA Therapeutics Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing a differentiated and proprietary cell therapy platform focused on engineered macrophages, cells that play a crucial role in both the innate and adaptive immune response. The first applications of the platform, developed in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania, are autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-macrophages for the treatment of solid tumors. CARISMA Therapeutics is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA.

For more information, please visit www.carismatx.com

Editor's Note: CARISMA has licensed certain Penn-owned intellectual property from the University of Pennsylvania, and Penn's Perelman School of Medicine receives sponsored research funding from the company. Penn may also be entitled to receive additional financial benefits from technologies licensed and optioned to CARISMA in the future. In addition, Penn is a co-founder of the company and holds equity interests in CARISMA.

Media Contact:

Christina Khoury-Folkens

612-806-0757

[email protected]

SOURCE CARISMA Therapeutics Inc.

Related Links

http://www.carismatx.com


Lee Jin-seok, presidential secretary for state affairs monitoring / Cheong Wa Dae press corps

Prosecutors on Friday indicted a presidential official in a high-profile political scandal surrounding a 2018 mayoral election.



The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office charged Lee Jin-seok, presidential secretary for state affairs monitoring, with violating election laws, wrapping up more than a year of investigation into the case in which presidential officials and a ruling party candidate's campaign allegedly colluded to win the mayoral election in the southeastern city of Ulsan.



Cheong Wa Dae expressed regret over the prosecution service's move.



"It is inappropriate to speak about the prosecution's indictment. But it's regrettable that it has indicted (Lee) at a time when he is playing an important role in (the government's) response to the coronavirus," a Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters.



Cheong Wa Dae will make a prudent decision on whether to keep Lee in his post as the COVID-19 situation is grave, he added, requesting anonymity.



In January 2020, a total of 13 officials including Song Cheol-ho, current mayor of Ulsan and longtime friend of President Moon Jae-in, and Han Byung-do, former senior presidential secretary for political affairs, were put on trial in the same case.



Lee, then the secretary for social policies, is suspected to have played a role in a maneuver to damage the campaign of Song's rival, Mayor Kim Ki-hyun.



At that time, Kim, now a lawmaker of the opposition People Power Party, promised to build a hospital specializing in occupational accidents in the industrial city, but the plan failed to pass a preliminary feasibility test.



In October 2017, Song allegedly requested presidential officials make public the survey's result around the election held in mid-June 2018.



Under the direction of then-senior secretary Han, Lee told the finance ministry to release the result in late May, according to the prosecution. The announcement was made 20 days before election day.



Meanwhile, the Seoul prosecution did not charge 31 others probed in the case, citing lack of evidence. They included Im Jong-seok, former presidential chief of staff; Cho Kuk, who was a senior presidential secretary for civil affairs and justice minister; and Lee Gwang-cheol, presidential secretary for civil affairs.



Several other former presidential officials, a former Ulsan police chief and city hall officials are also on trial for their roles in a corruption probe into aides to Kim prior to the election. Kim said the probe was designed to affect the outcome of the vote.



The presidential and Ulsan officials involved in the case denied all charges, claiming the investigation was aimed at undermining the administration's campaign to reform the prosecution. (Yonhap)
The new owner of C&C Groups former US cider unit is looking to launch new products to help revive the Woodchuck brand.

Completing the purchase of Woodchuck-owner Vermont Hard Cider yesterday, Northeast Drinks Group (NDG) said it will focus on innovations and investment in a bid to return the cider brand to health. C&C Group bought Vermont Hard Cider in 2012 for US$305m but following years of poor performance, offloaded the division to Northeast Drinks for just US$20m.

C&C announced the sale last month.

New Woodchuck launches will include the re-introduction of limited-edition ciders in the coming months that will pay homage to the brands variants over the years.

Vermont management praised the takeover and said Woodchuck demonstrated healthy growth in 2020. With NDG, we look forward to new ownership not only investing in key areas of support with our existing brands but also focusing on new product innovation and launches, added VHCs sales & marketing head, Bridget Blacklock.



Along with Vermont Hard Cider, NDGs acquisition also included Green Mountain Beverage, a manufacturer of and co-packing facility for hard cider, alcoholic RTDs and speciality non-alcoholic beverages. Vermont will continue to import C&Cs owned cider brands including Magners.

During its ownership of Vermont, C&C was forced into write-downs including an impairment charge of EUR150m (then-US$170m) in 2015. In full-year results for the 12 months to the end of February 2015, depletions for Vermonts Woodchuck cider brand fell 15%.

Are hard seltzers paving the way for soft seltzers?  Click here for a just-drinks comment
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger holds a press conference on the status of ballot counting in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 6, 2020. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

Raffensperger Refers 3 Counties for Investigation Over Ballot Drop Box Forms

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Thursday he has referred three counties to be investigated for failing to complete and retain absentee ballot transfer forms, a legal requirement for regions that used ballot drop boxes in the November election.

Raffensperger said in a press release that 120 Georgia counties filled out and retained ballot transfer forms in accordance with Georgia rules, but three countiesCoffee, Grady, and Taylordid not.

The rule, Raffensperger said, required counties with drop boxes to fill out ballot transfer forms that included the date, time, location, and number of ballots in the drop boxes whenever election officials collected ballots from the drop box.

He said a total of 123 counties had absentee ballot drop boxes for the November 2020 election, a measure that was enabled by an emergency rule from the states election board that Raffensperger said was enacted to cope with the surge of absentee voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The three counties accounted for 0.37 percent of all the absentee ballots cast in the November election, Raffensperger said.

Since day one, I have made securing Georgias election a top priority and I have not stopped working since then, Raffensperger said. Though the overwhelming majority of counties did what they were supposed to, this demonstrates that new steps need to be taken to fully secure our elections.

Securing elections is work that is never truly finished, said Raffensperger, who recently defended new election integrity measures adopted in Georgia.

The measures, called the Election Integrity Act of 2021 (pdf), were signed into law several weeks back by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, drawing praise from those who argue that more stringent requirements, including around voter ID, make elections more secure and build confidence among voters, while sparking condemnation from those who view the steps as voter suppression.

The move sparked several lawsuits from voter advocacy groups, who argued the measures erect barriers to casting a vote and have a disproportionately high impact on voters in communities of color.

Raffensperger responded to the criticism over the new law, saying, Theres no rational argument against requiring state IDprovided for free to those who dont have a drivers licensefor absentee ballots.

He 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.

In the wake of the 2020 election controversy, Republican and Democrat lawmakers across the country have been pulling in opposite directions by introducing legislation that either reduces barriersand guardrailsto voting or seeks to strengthen election integrity, which can also make casting a vote more effortful or burdensome.
New Delhi, April 9 : The Congress on Friday questioned the Narendra Modi-led government over the explosive revelations made by a French news portal in the Rafale deal alleging that there was 'massive corruption' and 'loss to public exchequer of at least Rs 21,075 crore.

The remarks came after a French news portal mediapart.fr in a three series investigation claimed that it was in possession of documents that showed Dassault Aviation, which manufactures the Rafale jet, and its industrial partner Thales, a defence electronics firm, paid a "middleman" several million euros in "secret commissions" in connection with the Rs 59,000 crore deal for 36 jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

In a tweet, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi fired salvos at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale row and said, "Dear students, Prime Minister said answer questions without fear and nervousness. Please ask him to do the same: Who took money in the Rafale corruption scandal? Who deleted the anti-corruption clauses in the contract? Who gave middlemen access to key Defence Ministry documents?" Rahul Gandhi was referring to Modi's interactive 'Pariksha pe charcha' programme with students.

His sister and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in a tweet said, "Difficult questions first, would the Prime Minister and his billionaire friends care to respond? Who took money in the Rafale corruption scandal? Who deleted the anti-corruption clauses in the contract? Who gave middlemen access to key Defence Ministry documents?" Earlier in the day, addressing a press conference here Congress national media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "The scandalous expose of facts and string of documents have uncovered a concerted collusion to defraud the public exchequer as also massive corruption." Firing salvos at the BJP-led central government, Surjewala said, "Isn't it correct that the 'Indian Negotiating Team' (INT) on August 10, 2015 arrived at a benchmark cost of Euro 5.06 billion for 36 Rafale fighter jets including weaponry package etc. Is it now not proved by the documents released by the French News Portal, who has accessed Enforcement Directorate (ED) documents recovered from the middlemen?" He questioned that isn't it correct that the price of Euro 7.87 billion for 36 aircraft was decided by Dassault Aviation in its internal meeting dated January 20, 2016.

He asked is it not correct that the Indian team had rejected this price calculation of Euro 7.87 billion for 36 aircraft, the very next day and isn't it correct that on September 23, 2016, the price of Euro 7.87 billion for 36 aircraft was accepted by the BJP government and the contract awarded to Dassault.

Surjewala said, "What was the reason for additional payment of Rs 21,075 crore, causing loss to the public exchequer?" The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had inked a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016, to procure 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation after a nearly seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force did not fructify during the UPA regime.

The Congress had raised the issue of corruption in the Rafale deal ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The government had rejected all the charges levelled by the opposition.

Surjewala also questioned whether the ED recovered the "secret defence ministry documents" from the middlemen in the raid on March 26, 2019, including the 'benchmark price document' and other documents.
After the successful last year summit in Stockholm, Sweden we are happy to announce next edition of Biomass PowerON 2021 with newly researched agenda, latest market news, excellent speakers & technical insights! The conference will take place on 15th and 16th September 2021.

Recent European regulations and new market trends resulting from the increase in demand for ecological energy sources cause the rise of interest in biomass. New worldwide opportunities appeared for bioenergy industry due to global pandemic, showing that energy, industry, transport and many others do not have to be coal-dependent.

This event is set to bring industry stakeholders, unique content, workshops discussions and networking. Showcase your products and services in the networking area and hold meetings with leaders from the industry. The commercial aspect of the event will create you a perfect intimate environment for doing business.

Key topics:

Market developments in a global and European perspective

Regulations and Policies for the European industry

Economics and sustainability challenges

Biomass certification and sustainability

Financing and investing strategies

Biomass plants case studies

Supply chain and logistics  planning and management

Latest technological advancements

Pellet market development worldwide

New solutions for Combined Heat & Power (CHP) generation

Best practise examples for specific applications

Role of biomass and influence to management of climate preservation

Confirmed speakers include:

Peter Kofod Kristensen, rsted

Lauma Kazusa, SUEZ Trading Europe

Bharadwaj Kummamuru, World Bioenergy Association

Andrius Smaliukas, Baltpool

Michael Schytz, HOFOR

Johan Mertens, Engie

Karin Medin, Soderenergi

Richard Peberdy, DRAX

Anders Egelrud, Stockholm Exergi

and many more.
GVMC on Friday unanimously passed a resolution against the privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP). (Photo: DC/ Murali Krishna)

VISAKHAPATNAM: The first council meeting of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) on Friday unanimously passed a resolution against the privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP). The issue was on top of the agenda and taken in response to a representation given by corporators Dr B Ganga Rao of CPI(M) and Peela Srinivasa Rao of Telugu Desam.

The meeting began with members condoling the death of former VMRDA chairman Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao and newly-elected corporator Dadi Surya Kumari.

Initiating the debate on privatisation of the steel plant, Lok Sabha member from Visakhapatnam MVV Satyanarayana narrated the efforts taken by the Chief Minister, MPs and MLAs.

Gajuwaka MLA Tippala Nagi Reddy and Anakapalle MLA Gudivada Amarnath said that the state government was strongly opposing the privatisation move and would take up the issue in the Assembly session.

There was heated exchange of words between Amarnath and TD corporators when the former blamed TD for demanding special category status in AP and settling for a special package.

TD corporators later demanded immediate convening of the Assembly and passing a resolution.

Official spokesperson of TD and corporator Kaki Govinda Reddy suggested resignation of Visakhapatnam district MPs, MVV Satyanarayana and Dr K Satyavati to put pressure on the Union Government.

Jana Sena corporator Murty Yadav asked for resignation of all the MPs and MLAs of north coastal Andhra to give strength to the ongoing agitation.

CPI (M) corporator from steel city, Dr B Ganga Rao, spoke on the importance of the steel plant remaining in the public sector. Ganga Rao said that Visakhapatnam city grew around VSP and its revenue contribution to the State was immense. GVMC also benefited through its taxes, he said.

Most importantly, we drew water from the steel plant reservoirs when there was a crisis in summer, Ganga Rao said.

Among other things, the council put on hold, appointment of 38 community guards and beautification of Mudasarlova reservoir park.

Earlier, Left corporators came to the GVMC in a rally from Ambedkar statue raising slogans for protection of the steel plant. TD corporators led by Govinda Reddy took out a padayatra from the steel plant main gate to GVMC. They garlanded the statue of Mahatma Gandhi before entering the corporation.
The virtual Workshop on Data Analytics (DA) for manager levels in the Asia-Pacific (AP) region, organized in close cooperation with ROCB AP, was held from 30 March to 1 April 2021, supported by CCF-Korea. Sixty four participants from 21 Customs administrations in the AP region attended the workshop.

The WCO Director of Capacity Building Directorate, Dr. Taeil KANG welcomed participants and highlighted the objectives of the workshop, which were to enhance regional competitiveness and help fellow officials gain better understanding on Customs DA.

The data experts from WCO introduced a comprehensive and holistic overview of Big Data Analytics and practical guiding principles in developing a capacity building framework on this topic. The workshop also provided an opportunity for Customs managers to strengthen the network of DA practitioners by sharing the many other initiatives, experiences, and good practices of six AP Members, namely Indonesia, Japan, China, Korea, Hong Kong, and Australia.

The participants were also updated on the latest developments regarding WCO capacity building initiatives. These included: 1) the future plan for technical assistance, 2) online and offline training courses to build the capability of data science including machine learning applications and programming skills, and 3) the recent developments by the BACUDA Expert Group.

The participants' active discussion resulted in a successful workshop. The AP region managers highly appreciated the activity and shared ideas on the next steps to further cooperate with the BACUDA Project to enhance capacity in DA nationally and regionally.

For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org
On Friday, Congressman John Moolenaar, R-Midland, visited the vaccine clinic at MidMichigan Health in Midland and saw how the clinic was handling the demand for vaccines in the community.

Moolenaar met with Diane Postler Slattery, the president and CEO of MidMichigan Health; Bryan Cross, the president of MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland; and Dr. Lydia Watson, the chief medical officer of MidMichigan Health. MidMichigan Health recently administered its 50,000th dose of vaccine and today the clinic was administering second shots to residents.
The incidence of Covid-19 in Laois has begun to fall but the county still has the third worst level of the disease in Ireland, according to the latest figures from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) which has reported more than 30 deaths in its latest pandemic bulletin.

There were seven new cases of the virus reported in Laois on Thursday, April 8 according to the figures published by NPHET on Friday, April 9.

The daily average has decreased to 9 and the total number of the past two weeks is 196.

The decreasing number of new cases has resulted in the incidence of the disease falling to 231.4 per 100 k in the 14 days to midnight April 8.

However, the better picture is not enough to move Laois out of the worst three counties in Ireland just ahead of two other midland counties Offaly and Westmeath.

By contrast with Laois, the county with the best containment record is neighbouring Kilkenny which at one point early in the third wave had the worst incidence of the virus.

SEE COUNTY BY COUNTY TABLE AT END OF STORY.

The national incidence has, however, risen slightly to 144.9 per 100 k on the back of 6,901 new cases in the past two weeks.

NPHET said the Health Protection Surveillance Centre was today been notified of 34 additional deaths related to COVID-19. Of the deaths reported today 3 occurred in April, 4 occurred in March, 19 occurred in February, 5 occurred in January, and 3 occurred in December or earlier.

The median age of those who died was 81 years and the age range was 33 - 96 years. There has been a total of 4,769 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of 8 am April 9, 212 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 53 are in ICU. There were 17 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

NPHET also reported that as of midnight, Thursday, April 8 the HPSC has been notified of 473 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

There is now a total of 240,192 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said; Anyone exposed to COVID-19 over the Easter weekend will now be at their most infectious - please isolate and contact your GP to arrange a test if you have any symptoms of COVID-19."

Of the cases notified today:

224 are men / 247 are women

76% are under 45 years of age

The median age is 29 years old

NPHET higlighted 229 in Dublin, 32 in Kildare, 21 in Mayo, 19 in Meath, 30 in Donegal and the remaining 142 cases are spread across 19 other counties

SEE TABLE AT END OF STORY.

As of April 6th 2021, 961,887 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:

679,844 people have received their first dose

282,043 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.
(CNN)  The United States is considering sending warships into the Black Sea in the next few weeks in a show of support for Ukraine amid Russia's increased military presence on Ukraine's eastern border, a US defense official told CNN Thursday.

The US Navy routinely operates in the Black Sea, but a deployment of warships now would send a specific message to Moscow that the US is closely watching, the official said.

The US is required to give 14 days notice of its intention to enter the Black Sea under a 1936 treaty giving Turkey control of the straits to enter the sea. It is unclear if a notice has yet been sent.

The Defense official also said the Navy is continuing to fly reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace over the Black Sea to monitor Russian naval activity and any troops movements in Crimea.

On Wednesday, two US B-1 bombers conducted missions over the Aegean Sea.

Although the US does not see the amassing of Russian forces as posturing for an offensive action, the official told CNN that "if something changes we will be ready to respond." Their current assessment is that the Russians are conducting training and exercises and intelligence has not indicated military orders for further action, the official said, but noted that they are well-aware that could change at any time.

The Biden administration and the international community have expressed concerns about mounting tensions between Ukraine and Russia. In recent weeks, President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley and national security adviser Jake Sullivan have all spoken to their Ukrainian counterparts.

On Thursday White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Russia's actions are "deeply concerning."

"The United States is increasingly concerned by recently escalating Russian aggressions in eastern Ukraine, including Russia's movements on Ukraine's border. Russia now has more troops on the border of Ukraine than any time since 2014. Five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed this week alone. These are all deeply concerning signs," Psaki said.

She also said a review of the Russian government's actions will be concluded in "weeks, not months," and that new sanctions on Moscow would not be introduced this week.

The Pentagon and State Department have also expressed their concern about Russia's behavior in eastern Ukraine.

"We are concerned by recent escalating Russian aggressions in eastern Ukraine, including the credible reports that have been emanating about Russian troop movements on Ukraine's borders and occupied Crimea," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said this week.

"We have asked Russia for an explanation of these provocations, but most importantly what we have signaled directly with our Ukrainian partners is a message of reassurance," he said.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said this week that it was important "for all sides to comply with the Minsk Agreement" and "for the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of Ukraine to be respected by Russia."

On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw troops in order to de-escalate the situation, according to a spokesperson for the German government.

According to a Kremlin readout of the call, Putin accused Kyiv of "provocative actions."

This story was first published on CNN.com "US considering sending warships to Black Sea amid Russia-Ukraine tensions".
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready to respond to the aggravation of the situation in the temporarily occupied territory of Luhansk and Donetsk regions and along the border with the Russian Federation, said Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel-General Ruslan Khomchak.

"The situation is under control, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready to respond to both the aggravation of the situation in the temporarily occupied territory of Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and along the entire Ukrainian-Russian border. We have planned appropriate measures for an immediate response to all provocations, all enemy actions," Khomchak said on the air of the Right to Power program on the 1 + 1 TV channel on Thursday.

He noted that Ukraine has been observing periods of aggravation almost since the new year, which are characterized by an increase in the number of shelling attacks of positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, combat losses of servicemen, the number of attacks by snipers of the Russian Federation, attempts by the enemy to provoke the Armed Forces of Ukraine so that they fire in response at critical infrastructure or other important objects, such as settlements, to which the Armed Forces of Ukraine, realizing all the importance and responsibility, do not respond.

"We are seeing an increase in the number of shelling attacks, there is an adequate response of units of the military of the Armed Forces along the entire front, and to say that today the ring around Ukraine is 'shrinking' would probably be an exaggerated definition, because outside the borders of Ukraine we see a buildup of Russian troops, which they move from different parts of Russia under the guise of conducting exercises. But today this number is characterized by the fact that to say that the ring is already shrinking and the situation is hopeless - no, this is not so," Khomchak said.

He stressed that the Ukrainian army is provided with both weapons and ammunition in order to give an appropriate rebuff.
New Delhi, Apr 9 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the post-Covid world will throw up new opportunities that India and the Netherlands would work together and strengthen the relationship.

"I have complete faith that in the post-covid world, some opportunities will come up to the fore, where like-mided countries like ours can build bilateral cooperation," Modi said in course of a virtual summit he held with his Netherlands counterpart Mark Rutte.

"We will get to talk about many new opportunities during the COP26 and India-EU summit," said Modi.

The prime minister said that the approach of the two countries towards global challenges like climate change, terrorism and pandemic is similar. The two sides are building convergence in new areas such as Indo-Pacific, resilient supply chains and digital governance. "Our strategic partnership on water will give this a new dimension," he added.

Both countries have wide ranging cooperation including in areas of agriculture and food processing, healthcare, smart cities and urban mobility, science and technology, renewable energy and space.

The Netherlands is the third largest foreign investor in India.

Modi said that establishment of fast track mechanism for investment promotion will give new momentum to the robust economic cooperation between the two countries.



Rutte thanked Modi for India's support to Dutch investors and two-way trade during the pandemic.

There are over 200 Dutch companies present in India with a similar presence of Indian businesses in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is one of India's top 10 trading partners in terms of volume.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Rutte said For EU, India is a crucial partner both in the region and the world at large. He supported India's bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, saying that "India is an obvious candidate for a permanent seat in an expanded Security Council."

He also praised India's Vaccine Matri programme.

The summit follows the recent victory of Prime Minister Rutte in the parliamentary elections and will sustain the momentum in the bilateral relationship provided by regular high-level interactions, said the Ministry of External Affairs.



The Netherlands is home to the largest Indian diaspora in continental Europe.

UNI SRJ


Norfolk church leaders pay tribute to Prince Philip Norfolk church leaders pay tribute to Prince Philip

Church and Christian leaders across Norfolk have been paying their own tributes to His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, following his death at Windsor Castle on Friday morning, at the age of 99.

Speaking on behalf of the Diocese of Norwich, the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham Usher said: We offer our deepest condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and all the Royal Family. The Duke of Edinburgh has been a tireless source of support and strength to The Queen through the 73 years of their marriage and the 69 years of her reign. He has also been an inspiration to very many people in this country and across the Commonwealth through his own charities and organisations.



Over seven decades, millions of young lives have been helped and shaped through the establishment of The Duke of Edinburghs Award scheme. I benefited from the scheme as a young person and being a Gold Award holder set me up with many important skills for life.



The Duke of Edinburgh had a great love of Sandringham and Norfolk and his commitment to the area meant that he was held in high esteem and affection by the people of this diocese. We join with all those who will give thanks to God for such a full and distinguished life of service.



The Bishop of East Anglia, Rt Rev Alan Hopes, on behalf of Catholics across the Diocese of East Anglia, said: We pray for the repose of the soul of His Royal Highness, the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In mourning his death, we express our sincere condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family.



Prince Philips long life was marked by an extraordinary example of duty and service to his Queen and his country. Countless individuals will have been touched by his many initiatives, particularly young people. His fidelity in family life, even in times of difficulty, has been inspiring. May he now rest in peace.



A Solemn Requiem Mass will be offered for His Royal Highness by Bishop Alan in the Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist, Unthank Road, Norwich on Wednesday April 14 at 6pm. the Mass will be live streamed. Due to the Covid restrictions, those who would like to attend in person are asked to view the cathedral website for details of booking arrangements. www.sjbcathedral.org.uk



The Dean of Norwich Anglican Cathedral, the Very Rev Jane Hedges, said: On this sad day for Her Majesty The Queen we at Norwich Cathedral join the rest of the people of this diocese in expressing our condolences as she mourns the death of her husband His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. We assure her and all the members of the Royal Family of our continuing prayers at this time.



Through more than six decades The Duke of Edinburgh has served alongside Her Majesty The Queen, giving her unwavering support and offering outstanding service to the life of our nation and to the whole Commonwealth. He also holds a special place in the affections of the people of Norfolk, having spent most Christmases at Sandringham and supported so many events in the county over the years.



As we honour the memory of His Royal Highness and give thanks for his life of service, Norwich Cathedral will be open for all to come to pay their respects, to lay flowers, light candles and attend worship.



Norwich Cathedral and many churches across the Diocese of Norwich are offering spaces for people of all faiths to pay their respects and reflect on the great contribution Prince Philip made to the country.



Preparations are under way for a special memorial service to be held at Norwich Cathedral, with more details to be announced in the coming days. The service will also be live streamed.



David Griffith from Norwich Interfaith Link said, "It is with sadness that we heard today of the death of Prince Philip. We are reminded of the work he did to unite the world religions in taking seriously their responsibility for the environment as God's creation."



St Peter Mancroft in Norwich marked the occasion with a half-muffled tenor bell being tolled 99 times at 12noon on Saturday April 10 with a short service of prayer taking place afterwards.





Pictured above is Prince Philip. Picture by Michael Gwyther-Jones.

Keith Morris, 09/04/2021
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill will have to spend at least a few years rehabbing his image if he wants to wage a political comeback following revelations this week that he carried on a three-year affair with a woman -- and the attempt at a political resurgence may not even work, according to experts.

Merrill, who is married, admitted Wednesday to having an inappropriate relationship with Cesaire McPherson only after being confronted by AL.com with an audio conversation between him and McPherson that she recorded.

The Republican secretary state initially denied the allegations, then took himself out of the running for any 2022 campaigns, including an anticipated run for U.S. Senate.

Natalie Davis, professor emerita of American politics at Birmingham-Southern College, said Merrill coming clean about the allegations gives him a chance at returning to politics once his last term as secretary of state ends in 2023.

He just has to figure out, does he need to redeem himself? And how would he go about it? Good works? Making more friends in the Republican community? Davis said. What if he goes to voters and says, I am a sinner, and he runs a good race? I just dont think hes out of politics.

Jess Brown, a retired Athens State University political science professor, argued Merrills age and the composition of the Alabama electorate work against a potential comeback for the secretary of state.

Hes 57-years-old in Alabama, a state with a lot of churches, and hes associated with a political party that still has a large segment of it that is religious right voters, Brown said.

Voters might frequently forgive politicians for childhood transgressions, according to Brown, this and a 2015 extramarital affair scandal make a comeback more challenging.

The woman in the earlier incident testified in divorce proceedings that she and Merrill both had clothing partially removed, they touched one another sexually and she performed oral sex on him. She said she wanted to have intercourse but Merrill declined.

The secretary of state admitted to AL.com that he had a brief, consensual encounter with the woman but denied the oral sex allegations.

When youre 57 -- at least if you believe both allegations -- then youre a serial bedhopper, the retired professor said.

For Merrill to be successful in politics again, he would have to run for a low-level office where a wide swathe of the electorate may know him in some way, Brown said.

As far as high-profile office or even a secondary state position like holds today, I just dont see it in the cards, Brown said. I think his career in elected office is pretty much over. Even a state legislative seat would be difficult at this point.

If Merrill had a loyal following among voters, like Donald Trump or Bill Clinton, then there might be some hope for a comeback, Brown argued.

I dont see Merrill evoking the kind of passion for voters, he said. He is a politician that in terms of image and political strength ... he would be a mile wide and half an inch deep.

Before winning his first term as secretary of state, Merrill represented Tuscaloosa in the state House of Representatives. In 2015, just a few months after the beginning of his tenure as secretary of state, Merrills name was floated as a possible gubernatorial candidate.

While he ultimately did not run for governor, he sought higher office in 2020, when he mounted a campaign for U.S. Senate. But he dropped out of the race when ex-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions entered.

I think he couldve been a bright light if not for the affair revelation, Davis said. I I just think hell have to be in the woodshed for a while.

Gov. Kay Ivey was asked Thursday if she thought Merrill has a political future.

Ill leave that decision to him and whether or not he thinks hes got the trust of the people, Ivey said.

AL.com journalist Trisha Powell Crain contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-08 02:53:27|Editor: huaxia

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People walk past a store hanging a portrait of Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman, Jordan, April 8, 2021. Jordan's King Abdullah II said on Wednesday that Prince Hamza, who was accused of being part of a plot to destabilize Jordan by authorities, was in the king's care. In a letter to the nation published by the Royal Hashemite Court, the king said the "sedition has been nipped in the bud" and Jordan is safe and stable. (Photo by Mohammad Abu Ghosh/Xinhua)

AMMAN, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Jordan's King Abdullah II said on Wednesday that Prince Hamza, who was accused of being part of a plot to destabilize Jordan by authorities, was in the king's care.

In a letter to the nation published by the Royal Hashemite Court, the king said the "sedition has been nipped in the bud" and Jordan is safe and stable.

Prince Hamza was with his family in his palace in Amman in the king's care, according to the letter.

"The challenge over the past few days was not the most difficult or dangerous to the stability of our nation, but to me, it was the most painful. Sedition came from within and without our one house, and nothing compares to my shock, pain, and anger," the kind said.

He said the issue of Prince Hamza was dealt with inside the Hashemite family, adding that the investigations will continue in line with the law. Jordan will continue to stand up to the challenges it facing at all levels and will continue its constant stances.

On Monday, Prince Hamza signed a letter in which he said he will remain loyal to the king and committed to the country's constitution.

Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Sunday that Prince Hamza, former minister and royal court chief Bassem Awadallah, and royal family member Sharif Hassan Ben Zeid have contacts with external powers to take some actions against the country.

As part of a thorough security operation and investigation, Awadallah and Sharif Hassan, along with around 15 other persons, were arrested on Saturday for involvement in a plot, said Safadi. Enditem
SAN JOSE, Calif., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cold Craft, Inc. has been selected for the 2021 Best of San Jose Award in the HVAC Contractor category by the San Jose Award Program.

Cold Craft, Inc. Campbell, CA specializes in wine cellar refrigeration, geothermal sustainable heating and cooling, and full-service HVAC for commercial and residential customers.

Cold Craft, Inc. wine cellar refrigeration specialists in the San Francisco Bay Area

Each year, the San Jose Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the San Jose area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2021 San Jose Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the San Jose Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About San Jose Award Program

The San Jose Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the San Jose area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The San Jose Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy.

CONTACT:

San Jose Award Program

Email: [email protected]

URL: http://www.2021-business-topinfo.com

SOURCE Cold Craft, Inc.
(Newser)  Rep. Matt Gaetz now faces another investigation, this one by the House Ethics Committee. The Florida Republican already is being investigated by the Justice Department on sex trafficking allegations. The Democratic-controlled committee's announcement Friday referred to a list of accusations against Gaetz, the Washington Post reports, involving "sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, illegal drug use." His office released a new statement Friday, per CNBC, saying, "Once again, the office will reiterate, these allegations are blatantly false and have not been validated by a single human being willing to put their name behind them."

story continues below

Gaetz, who has not been charged and has said he won't resign, hired a couple of New York lawyers, his office said Friday: Marc Mukasey and Isabelle Kirshner. Mukasey has represented the Trump Organization in tax investigations, per WNBC, and was a federal prosecutor in New York. He defended Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL acquitted of killing a wounded prisoner in Iraq. Mukasey's father, Michael, was attorney general under President George W. Bush. Kirshner's clients have included former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who stepped down after allegations that he'd physically assaulted women. Gaetz's office said the two lawyers "will take the fight to those trying to smear his name with falsehoods." (Read more Matt Gaetz stories.)
About $1.1 billion in this year's $7.4 billion budget is based on federal funding that has not yet been formally appropriated, prompting some lawmakers to wonder if the governor will line-item veto some, if not many, big-ticket items.
?? Ahora | La presidenta del Consejo de Ministros, junto con la presidenta de @EsSaludPeru, supervisan el funcionamiento del Centro Nacional de Telemedicina, que atiende mas de 100 mil consultas medicas al mes de manera virtual. pic.twitter.com/I59i8LqBjW
Because April is National Poetry Month, I want to share a few poems that have kept me good company through the years. Theyre poems Ive turned to for enlightenment or consolation and sent to friends searching for the same. Note: Whats printed here are only excerpts. The full versions are available online.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 02:47:38|Editor: huaxia

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Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed speaks during a press conference in Cairo, Egypt, on April 8, 2021. Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed on Thursday lauded the cooperation between Egypt and China on combating the COVID-19 pandemic as "fruitful and unprecedented." (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

CAIRO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed on Thursday lauded the cooperation between Egypt and China on combating the COVID-19 pandemic as "fruitful and unprecedented."

"I would like to thank the state of China, its leadership, government and people, for their great solidarity with us in this crisis," the minister told a press conference in Cairo on the situation of COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt.

Zayed pointed out that Egypt has received two batches of China's Sinopharm vaccines recently.

Egypt started in late January vaccinating medical staff of government hospitals with the Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, which was the first of its kind approved by the Egyptian Drug Authority.

In early March, Egypt started vaccinating the elderly people and patients with chronic diseases against the highly infectious coronavirus.

On Wednesday, Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang told an online press conference that, in the next stage, China will actively consider continuing to provide Egypt with vaccine assistance, as well as encouraging and guiding Chinese companies to sell vaccines based on China's production capacity and Egyptian needs.

He added that relevant Chinese and Egyptian departments and companies have initiated commercial negotiations on the commercial procurement and localized production of vaccines.

The Egyptian Health Ministry, starting with 39 vaccination centers nationwide, has increased the number to 169, Zayed said.

"By next week, we will have 350 centers," she added.

On the current pandemic situation in the most populous Arab country, Zayed noted that the daily infections are slightly increasing, while urging citizens not to take the precautionary measures lightly.

"Maintaining the precautionary measures ... is stronger than any vaccine in the world," the minister said.

Until Wednesday night, Egypt had registered 207,293 COVID-19 cases, including 12,290 deaths and 157,450 recoveries. Enditem
According to the United Nations, at least 40 people have been killed in the West Darfur region of Sudan after days of ethnic clashes.

By Nathan Morley

The UN says least 40 people have been killed in the West Darfur region of Sudan after days of ethnic clashes.

The clashes in El Geneina, near the border with Chad, have prompted the government to declare a state of emergency and deploy troops to the area to restore peace.

Fighting among members of the ArabiRizeigat and Masalit tribes began after armed men shot two people and wounded two others in the Masalit tribe.

The exact circumstances of the shootings are not immediately clear, however, gunfire exchanges between the two tribes continued into Monday, with reports suggesting that 58 people have been wounded.

Conflicts erupted into war in 2003 in the region, claiming over 250,000 lives and displacing millions of people.

International peacekeepers began pulling out earlier this year, and the Sudanese government said a new joint peacekeeping force mandated under the agreement would be able to protect civilians.

However, more than 200 people were killed in clashes in January, in some of the worst bloodshed the region had witnessed in decades.
OPEC and partners are betting on a significant boost in oil demand over the coming months as member states get ready to ramp up oil production. OPEC, Russia, and their allies are planning to increase oil production by 2.1 million bpd by as early as July this year, suggesting the confidence they have in a market rebound. The organizations output cuts of 7 million will be eased significantly each month between now and July. Oil Price reports that Saudi Arabia is also expected to ease its voluntary output cuts to increase production by 1 million bpd by July.

The announcement to ease restrictions comes unexpectedly as the oil industry is once again suffering from increased Covid-19 restrictions as Europe and parts of Latin America go into a third wave of the pandemic.

Oil prices have dropped to the lowest in almost two weeks as European lockdown measures continue to be extended, leaving the market unsure of upcoming demand trends. Futures in New York fell 4.6 percent on Monday, from $64.86 a barrel on April 1 to $62.15, which decreased oil prices to below the U.S. crudes 50-day moving average.

OPEC will be hoping that prices remain generally high as production increases, relying on the international market to soak up the higher crude production by the summer months. However, it will be battling with restrictions on travel, closed businesses, and the new working-from-home norm. Related: Irans Comeback To Oil Markets Unlikely To Cause Price Crash

However, optimism around the vaccine rollout continues, as the U.K. has given the first vaccine to almost half of the population, and the U.S. to over 30 percent of the population. While vaccination programs in the rest of Europe and North America are moving at a slower rate, there is still hope that many countries will catch up by late 2021.

Vitol, the world's biggest independent oil trader, stated this week that it expects oil demand to increase over the next decade but warns jet fuel recovery will be slower. While certain oil sectors will remain stagnant, others are expected to increase, including light ends used in manufacturing.

Platts Analytics is also optimistic about the 2021 rebound, anticipating an oil demand growth of 5.9 million bpd this year, in comparison to the 9 million bpd decrease experienced in 2020. The firm expects demand to climb steadily before plateauing at an estimated 113.5 million bpd in the late 2030s.

The increase in demand will come predominantly from Asia, as China and Indias energy needs are steadily increasing as already developed markets, such as Europe and North America, are expected to stagnate.

OPEC+ is looking increasingly toward India and its oil refiners, as Saudi Arabia hopes to forge strategic relations with one of the fastest-growing downstream markets in the world. At present, the Arab Gulf States account for around 20 percent of Indias total import bill, which is dominated by oil and gas.

While Covid-19 restrictions continue to hamper oil demand, optimism around the vaccine rollout as well as increased demand from emerging markets suggests OPECs plan to ramp up production will be met with enthusiasm.
Adding to the challenges brought forward last year, a lack of hospital fee increases in 2021 could put top-tier public hospitals in a war of nerves as they attempt to obtain autonomy.

Bach Mai Hospital decided against introducing new fees after a rebuke from the MoH.

Taking over 60 minutes to transport her father from the northern province of Thai Binh to Bach Mai Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in Vietnam, in early March to test for epithelial cancer, Hang Pham stressed when hearing about possible increases in hospital fees there.

I was worried when relatives of other patients told me that the hospital was going to increase some customised examination and treatment service fees from early April. My family is not rich enough to afford the increase, she told VIR in tears. If my father has cancer, my family would face financial pressure.

Bach Mai in March issued Document No.454/BVBM-TCKT announcing an increase in health service fees from April. Customised examination and treatment service fees were planned to be raised depending on academic title and diploma of doctors. For example, if a patient wants to be examined by a professor doctor, they must pay VND550,000 ($24) per time, up from the current VND200,000 ($8.70). Similarly, the charges of customised sick-beds were also in the new price plan.

However, the hike almost immediately met with objection from the Ministry of Health (MoH), citing Resolution No.33/NQ-CP dated May 2019 on pilot autonomy of the four major hospitals under the MoH as saying that the framework of customised examination and treatment service fees are decided by the MoH with all necessary factors and reference from those at private-run and foreign-invested hospitals to be taken into account. And the state-owned groups are only able to change the fees within the framework.

Due to the serious developments of COVID-19, which negatively affected livelihoods, the ministry has not issued a circular adjusting the frame of customised examination and treatment service fees at state-owned hospitals, and is yet to make any reports to the National Steering Committee on Price Management about the adjustment in 2021, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son said in a document sent to Bach Mai Hospital on March 6.

The MoH has asked Bach Mai not to make any increases in examination and treatment service fees until the framework is enacted, he noted.

Bach Mais plan was an attempt to cover the difficulties it has faced during the pandemic. The hospital admitted that 2020 was a challenging year as it had to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, while also implementing Decision No.268/QD-TTg from just over a year ago, approving the pilot hospital autonomy scheme of Bach Mai in 2020-2021, as well as Mays Resolution 33.

The other hospitals in the pilot autonomy scheme are Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital, Central Oncology Hospital in Hanoi (K Hospital), and Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. They received investment from the state budget in the past, but they now no longer receive this funding and must manage their own budget collection and spending once granted autonomy.

Like Bach Mai, the majority of hospitals also faced difficulties as the global pandemic kept people at home, resulting in a strong fall in the number of visiting patients.

Do Thu Ha, head of Finance and Accountancy at Vietnam-Germany Hospital told VIR, COVID-19 led to an on-year drop of 3 per cent in revenue. Moreover, it cost the hospital much in pandemic prevention, thus increasing its costs by over 2 per cent. As a result, the hospitals overall performance fell 18 per cent from 2019.

Similarly, 2020 was also not a rosy year for Hanoi Medical University Hospital (HMUH), which already enjoys self-control of revenues and expenditure. Deputy Director Nguyen Thanh Binh said, The hospital saw an on-year decrease of 1 per cent in revenue. Before the pandemic, it received about 3,000-3,500 patients a day. However, during March, April, and July of last year, the figure fell to fewer than 1,000.

Following the case at Bach Mai, hospitals including Vietnam-Germany Hospital and HMUH said that they have yet to formulate plans to increase hospital fees for 2021.

Autonomy aims to enable the hospitals to optimise the use of resources and improve their capacity and quality of services to ensure public healthcare, while maintaining and developing advanced techniques, not only to serve local patients but foreign patients as well.

But while some have succeeded, many other hospitals are still struggling to achieve such autonomy.

HMUH leader Binh admitted, It is a challenge to harmonise between improvement of service quality and keeping the fees unchanged but we did already achieve this. We have continued practicing cost saving and have tried to keep the hospital fees unchanged for nearly 10 years, while continuing to win peoples confidence, thus increasing the number of visiting patients.

Structural reforms in the governance of hospitals and performance of hospital autonomy were first introduced in developed countries in Europe and the North America. It has since been initiated in public hospitals of developing countries such as Ghana, India, Indonesia, and Kenya over the past few decades.

Hospital autonomy reforms have been promoted by the World Bank in the majority of developing countries  however, successful implementation of reforms in developed countries has not always ensured success in developing countries, mainly due to the vast differences in economic conditions and health systems.

Global studies have found that developing countries also face challenges in implementing hospital autonomy reforms due to lack of infrastructure, weaknesses in accountability mechanisms, unintended consequences and perverse incentives, lack of proper planning for implementation, limited decision rights, and more.

VIR

Medical prices to increase slightly from August 20 The prices of about 1,900 different services offered at public hospitals have increased from Tuesday (August 20), according to the Ministry of Health.
The Public Utilities Board has asked all major intervenors in past Manitoba Hydro rate applications to weigh in on a request to hold a special hearing to determine whether conditions at the Crown utility have changed enough to warrant an adjustment to electricity rates.

The Public Utilities Board has asked all major intervenors in past Manitoba Hydro rate applications to weigh in on a request to hold a special hearing to determine whether conditions at the Crown utility have changed enough to warrant an adjustment to electricity rates.

The original application for the hearing was filed by the Consumers Coalition, an umbrella group that represents the Consumers Association of Canada (Manitoba), Harvest Manitoba, and the Aboriginal Council of Winnipeg.

The coalition wrote to the PUB  an independent quasi-judicial administrative tribunal  last month to express its concern about how Hydro's finances have been "shrouded in secrecy" by the provincial government.

The coalition asked the PUB to convene a status update hearing to determine whether current hydro rates are appropriate, and deal with matters from past general rate applications (GRA) that have been left unattended since the utility stopped appearing before the board.

Before ruling on the coalition's application, the PUB has asked Hydro and other intervenors from past GRAs to weigh in: Manitoba Industrial Power Users Group; Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs; Green Action Centre; and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak.

In an April 1 letter to the intervenors  a copy of which was obtained by the Free Press  the PUB asks for all submissions on the coalition's application by April 12.

The PUB has not convened a hydro rate hearing since 2018, even though it was asked to return with a new general rate application in the fall of 2019.

Hydro appears to be deferring to as-yet unpassed legislation brought forward by the Progressive Conservative government that would limit GRAs to once every five years. Even though the legislation has not passed, Premier Brian Pallister has twice raised hydro rates by 2.9 per cent: once as part of the 2020 budget implementation bill, and in 2021, by cabinet directive.

Gloria Desorcy, executive director of the CAC (Manitoba) said the coalition was pleased to see the PUB was taking its request seriously.

"The Consumers Coalition believes that hydro rates should be set in transparent, evidence-based independent processes, rather than behind closed doors," she said. "We look forward to hearing the views of Manitoba Hydro and other intervenors on the value of an independent, public process for determining hydro rates."

The coalition applied for the special rate hearing under a section of the Crown Corporations Governance and Accountability Act and the Public Utilities Board Act. Under the terms of those laws, any person can ask the PUB to convene a special rate hearing if "the circumstances of Manitoba Hydro have changed substantially" since the last full hearing.

These applications are rare and so it's not entirely clear what the PUB will do after hearing submissions. However, the legislation does allow the PUB to order an interim rate adjustment if it deems it necessary.

Several of the intervenors are lining up behind the coalition's request for a special hearing.

Markus Buchart, lawyer for Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, said his client is keen to meet with the PUB to discuss recent Hydro developments, particularly a series of legal setbacks that have left First Nation residents facing an effective 9.4 per cent increase this year on their electricity bills.

Peter Miller, a representative of the Green Action Centre, said his organization would also support the application.

"There have been a lot of recent changes at Hydro and a lot of spin," Miller said. "So for those reasons, I think an update hearing is appropriate."

Antoine Hacault, who represents the Power Users Group at rate hearings, said his organization will be filing a response to the PUB, but declined to say whether it would be in support of the coalition application.

A spokesman for the premier declined to comment on the issue.
FIL Limited and its related entities now hold a 5.82% stake while Chapelgreen Pty Ltd and its related entities hold a 5.66% stake.

Both have participated in the companys A$65 million placement.

( ) (OTCMKTS:ASMMF) has received a strong endorsement of its integrated metals production strategy centred on rare earths by attracting two new substantial shareholders.

Prominent resources sector investor FIL Limited and its related entities now hold a 5.82% stake while Chapelgreen Pty Ltd and its related entities hold a 5.66% stake.

Substantial shareholder status was reached by both on April 6 following participation in the companys A$65 million placement.

FIL, which has a strong presence in Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore holds 7,795,880 shares that have been accumulated in transactions during March and April of 2021 while Melbourne-based Chapelgreen has 7,581,667 securities.

ASX success story

The company has been a major ASX success story since listing in late July 2020 with shares trading in the range of 84 cents to $6.840 while the market cap has grown to approximately $676.2 million.

ASM received firm commitments from sophisticated, professional and institutional investors for the placement of about 13.5 million fully paid ordinary shares at $4.80 per share, raising $65 million in gross proceeds.

$41 million entitlement offer

It is now proceeding with an entitlement offer to raise up to a further $41 million with some of ASMs largest shareholders committing to take up approximately 29.4% of entitlements under this offer.

On completion of the placement, ASM managing director David Woodall said: We are delighted to have completed the placement component of this raising from existing and new international and Australian institutional investors.

I am very pleased to welcome new shareholders to the company, who join our register at a truly exciting time as we finalise plans to develop our first metallisation facility in Korea.

The funds raised significantly bolster our balance sheet, placing the company in a strong position as we progress key workstreams, which include development of the proposed Korean Metals Plant and advancing key FEED workstreams on the Dubbo Project in New South Wales.

Importantly, we continue to advance our strategy for sustainable growth, with a primary focus on developing ASM into a globally relevant, independent and integrated metals producer by 2022.

Use of funds

Proceeds from the placement and entitlement offer will be primarily used as follows:
(CNN)  Snap and Twitter are among a group of investors that have just poured half a billion dollars into Mohalla Tech, an Indian startup that owns social media platform ShareChat as well as Moj  a TikTok-like app that has soared in popularity since the Chinese original was banned in India last year.

The $502 million funding round was led by investment firms Tiger Global and Lightspeed Venture Partners, and boosted the valuation of Mohalla Tech to a little over $2 billion, the company said in a statement on Thursday. This is Snap's first investment in the company, while Twitter has taken part in two previous rounds, a ShareChat spokesperson told CNN Business.

"With this infusion of capital we would continue to aggressively grow our user base," Mohalla Tech CEO and co-founder Ankush Sachdeva said in a statement.

The fundraising catapults Mohalla Tech into the growing club of Indian unicorns, or technology startups valued at over a billion dollars. So far, 2021 has been an outstanding year for Indian startup ecosystem, with at least eight other companies acquiring unicorn status.

Mohalla Tech, which was founded in 2015, has raised over $766 million in six funding rounds. It has 280 million users across its two products  ShareChat and short video app Moj.

The latter was launched less than two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government banned TikTok and other Chinese apps in June last year. Moj says it has already amassed 120 million monthly active users, showing India's keen interest in finding alternatives to popular Chinese apps that remain banned in the country.

"Moj is well positioned to seize the opportunity presented by the growth of short video in India. We are impressed with the team's understanding of these rapidly evolving technologies and its ability to execute quickly," said Scott Shleifer, partner at Tiger Global, in a statement.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Snap and Twitter are backing India's answer to TikTok".
Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Thursday said that subject to endorsement of the Executive Council, the amendment bill to improve the HKSAR's electoral system will be tabled to the Legislative Council (LegCo) next Wednesday.

Lam said at a LegCo meeting that the bill covers five main ordinances, namely the Chief Executive Election Ordinance, the Legislative Council Ordinance, the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance, the District Councils Ordinance, the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance, and relevant subsidiary legislation.

The bill will also revise the date of the LegCo general election, Lam said, adding that the HKSAR government will strive to cooperate with the LegCo's Bills Committees with the deliberation as time is tight.

Lam said that through local legislation, the HKSAR government will define the Election Committee subsectors and the statutory bodies, advisory bodies, relevant bodies of the LegCo functional constituencies and eligible corporate electors.

Boundaries of the directly elected seats of the LegCo's geographical constituency will be reset, methods of nominating candidates, voting methods, composition of the candidate eligibility review committee will also be handled, Lam said.

Meanwhile, the HKSAR government will take measures to deal with election manipulation and sabotage in accordance with the law. After the passage of the bill, preparations for three elections in the coming year will begin immediately, she said.
Twitter Inc. has thrown its support behind the Milk Tea Alliance of democracy movements in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other parts of Asia, defying China at a time when Beijing is punishing Western companies for commenting on what it considers internal matters.

The social-media company on Thursday prominently displayed flags of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Myanmar and Thailand while unveiling an emoji to support pro-democracy activists in places that have all seen historic protests in recent years and share a love for the milky, caffeinated drink popular in Asia. It will automatically show up when users post the #MilkTeaAlliance hashtag, which the company said appeared 11 million times since first popping up a year ago.

Although Twitter gets the majority of its revenue from the U.S. and is banned in China along with Facebook and Google, Asia is generally considered a growth area for the company. American internet giants earn advertising revenue off Chinese companies and organizations keen to reach global audiences.

Chinese officials have also increasingly embraced Twitter to counter criticism on a range of topics from snuffing out the democracy movement in Hong Kong to allegations of forced labor in the far west region of Xinjiang. Twitter now labels such accounts as government entities, and in January it used its policy against dehumanization to lock the official account for the Chinese Embassy to the U.S. after a post that defended the Communist Partys policies in Xinjiang.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a regular press conference on Thursday that the Milk Tea Alliance has consistently held anti-China positions, and is full of biases against China. After the briefing, Zhao added he hopes Twitter can be fair to objective in providing its services.

Last month, Beijing supported a boycott of retailers like Hennes & Mauritz AB amid rising criticism of Chinas policies in Xinjiang, where international observers have raised concerns about human rights abuses including detention camps and forced labor in a region that produces much of Chinas cotton.

We are proud of the fact that Twitter is a service where movements form, information is shared, and change happens, a Twitter spokesperson said.

A spokeswoman for Hong Kongs government didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sharing Tactics

Increasingly the Milk Tea Alliance is more than just a meme. Young, digital-savvy activists across the region have shared tactics for organizing and sustaining home-grown protest and democracy movements, while trying to ensure that demonstrators and organizers know how to avoid identification or arrest.

Following Hong Kongs protracted unrest in 2019, several activists in the territory have voiced support for other democracy movements: First Thai protesters challenging the monarchy and then Myanmar demonstrators following a Feb. 1 coup. Well-known Hong Kong democracy advocate Joshua Wong, who is currently in jail and facing multiple charges, has said the Milk Tea Alliance is not just about anger over Chinas policies in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang, but also about Chinas growing influence around the region.

Twitter on Thursday also voiced opposition to governments censoring the Internet or suppressing access to wireless networks, a tactic deployed by Myanmars military government.

From #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter to #MilkTeaAlliance, Twitter continues to play a unique role in enabling the public conversation around important social movements that are happening around the world, the company tweeted. During times of civil unrests or violent crackdowns, it is more important than ever for the public to have access to the #OpenInternet for real-time updates, credible information, and essential services. #KeepitOn.
US eases rules on officials' contact with Taiwan

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the rules would provide clarity on the One China policy. File photo: AP

The US State Department said on Friday it had issued new guidelines that will enable US officials to more freely meet officials from Taiwan, a move that deepens US relations with Taipei amid stepped up mainland military activity around the island.



"These new guidelines liberalise guidance on contacts with Taiwan, consistent with our unofficial relations," US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in statement.



The aim, he said, was "to encourage US government engagement with Taiwan that reflects our deepening unofficial relationship".



Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced in January he was lifting restrictions on contacts between US officials and officials in Taiwan.



Price said the new guidelines had followed a policy review and would "provide clarity throughout the Executive Branch on effective implementation of our "one China" policy"  which the US introduced on establishing diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1979.



The statement provided no details of the guidelines, but a report on the Financial Times website shortly before the release of Price's statement said they would mean US officials would be able to host Taiwanese officials regularly at federal government buildings.



US officials would also be permitted to meet counterparts at Taiwans economic and cultural offices in the United States and be able to attend events at Twin Oaks, an estate in Washington that served as the residence of Taiwan's ambassador until the United States ceased to recognise the Taipei government in 1979, the paper said.



However, it quoted a US official as saying there would still be some guard rails, such as not allowing officials to attend functions at Twin Oaks on major Taiwanese holidays that might complicate the US One-China policy.



The State Department announcement comes at a time of raised tensions over Taiwan. Taiwan has complained over the last few months of repeated missions by Beijing's air force near the island.



Beijing believes the United States is colluding with Taiwan to challenge Beijing and giving support to those who want the island to declare formal independence. (Reuters)
SPRINGFIELD  Local police and the Massachusetts State Police Air Wing teamed up Thursday to conduct an anti-dirt bike detail, aimed at curbing marauding dirt-bikes and all-terrain vehicles operating illegally on city streets. Police arrested three men and one juvenile and confiscated several bikes.

Police frequently receive complaints from irate motorists about large gangs of riders weaving in and out of traffic, ignoring traffic signals and endangering themselves and other operators. In some cases, riders have intentionally damaged vehicles. Several riders have been seriously injured and even killed in crashes that have resulted from their antics.

Thursday, troopers in the State Police helicopter notified Springfield officers of a number of dirt-bike and ATV riders and began to monitor them. The riders tried to hide from the air surveillance, but police were able to locate them near Roosevelt Avenue and attempted to pull them over. The riders ran from police, but one rider, David Clark, 19, of Springfield, was located in woods off St. James Avenue. Clark allegedly attempted to run down a Springfield officer who approached him on foot but was wrestled from the bike and arrested at the scene.

The dirt bike he was riding was seized and found to have been reported stolen in Connecticut.

Clark was charged with two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, resisting arrest, receiving a stolen motor vehicle, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and reckless operation of snow or recreational vehicle.

Later, police arrested a juvenile and seized the dirt bike he was riding, and within minutes, two 31-year- old motorcyclists were arrested when police found them revving their engines to cause backfires that sound like gunfire.

Hector Marrero of Springfield and Charlie Rodriguez-Otero of Westfield were charged with unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and creating harsh and objectionable noise.

It is illegal to operate an off-road vehicle anywhere on the streets of Springfield.
In a deliberate and provocative escalation of its offensive against Iran, Israel mined the cargo ship MV Saviz, owned by the state-linked Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, in the Red Sea on Tuesday morning.

It signals Israels determination to continue its naval offensive against Iran, despite potential reprisals from Tehran and the danger of an escalation into all-out war, as the major powers meet with Iran in Vienna to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), unilaterally abandoned by former President Trump.

MV Saviz (Credit: MNA)

The New York Times cited an unnamed American official as saying that Israel had informed the US that its navy had attacked the vessel near the Djibouti coast, claiming the attack was in retaliation for earlier Iranian strikes on Israeli vessels.

According to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh, Tuesdays explosion, caused by limpet mines attached to the hull of the ship, resulted in only minor damage. He added that the Saviz was a non-military ship helping to provide security along shipping lines and combat pirates in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a crucial chokepoint in international shipping.

US and Saudi analysts claim the vessel, present in the Red Sea since late 2016, is a mothership for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps flotilla of ships in the Red Sea and that uniformed men and a class of small boats used by the Guards have been photographed on board the ships deck. It is believed to play a crucial role in Tehrans efforts to evade sanctions by transferring oil shipments midsea to non-Iranian flagged vessels.

The Israeli attack is part of its long-running, covert offensive by its naval, air, security and intelligence forces against Iran.

Last month, the Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, revealed for the first time that Israel had attacked at least a dozen ships bound for Syria in the past two and a half years, most of which were carrying Iranian oil, while some were carrying weaponry to Tehrans allies, including Hezbollah, in Syria. The leaks to the Journal, like those earlier this week to the Times, are presumed to have come from officials opposed to Israels efforts to torpedo talks aimed at restoring the nuclear accord with Iran and isolating China.

A report in Haaretz puts the number of Iranian tankers sabotaged at around 20, with an estimated loss to Al Quds, Hezbollah and the Shiite militias of $500,000 over two and a half years. These attacks, which damaged but deliberately avoided sinking the vessels, were for the dual purpose of disrupting Irans supply of oil to Syria and choking off the revenue stream that paid the Shiite militias and Hezbollah supporting the Syrian regime forces. The newspaper also confirmed earlier Syrian and Iranian claims about an explosion on an Iranian tanker in the Red Sea in late 2019.

Such military attacks on civilian vessels in international waters are flagrant breaches of international law, potentially exposing Israel to international court actions, although the Journal was silent on that issue. By escalating the dangers to shipping, they could also lead to an increase in insurance premiums for maritime commerce in the region.

The attack on MV Savid is the second attack on an Iranian vessel since the WSJ report last month, when Iran accused Israel of damaging another ship sailing in the Mediterranean Sea.

Following the Journals revelations about Israels attacks, Tehran could no longer turn a blind eye, instead retaliating in a tit-for-tat response, with reports of Iranian missile attacks on two Israeli-owned cargo ships, one in the Arabian Sea and another in the Mediterranean.

Israels clandestine attacks on Iranian ships opened a new front in its operations that had largely been carried out by land and air. Tel Aviv has admitted to carrying out hundreds of strikes on Iranian-linked targets, including Lebanons Hezbollah, in neighbouring Syria since the start of the US-led proxy war to topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as part of its broader campaign to isolate Iran. It has also carried out a series of attacks inside Iran, including an explosion in July that destroyed an advanced centrifuge assembly plant at the Natanz nuclear facility and the assassination in November of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a leading Iranian scientist who set up the countrys nuclear programme two decades ago.



These attacks were carried out in conjunction with the Trump administrations campaign of maximum pressure against Iran, launched after Washington unilaterally abrogated the JCPOA in 2018. The ever-tightening economic sanctions, particularly on oil, Irans main export industry, and secondary sanctionstantamount to a state of warhave devastated Irans economy, while condemning millions of Iranians to hunger and disease, choking off vital medicines and medical supplies in the midst of the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

Irans Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif said earlier this year that the Trump administration had imposed, reimposed or relabeled some 1,600 sanctions on Iran, causing $1 trillion worth of direct and indirect economic damage to the country. The sanctions regime has also had wide-ranging regional repercussions, with Lebanonwhose banks served as the conduit for channeling money to Lebanese and Syrian citizens, as well as Hezbollahone of the major victims.

Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that there should be no return to the dangerous 2015 nuclear accord, telling his Likud party on Tuesday, In parallel we must continue to fend off Iranian belligerence in our region. And this threat is no theoretical matter. Im not uttering it rhetorically. We must take action in the face of the fanatical regime in Iran, which simply threatens to wipe us off the face of the earth.

While Netanyahu is determined to sabotage any attempt by the Biden administration to rejoin the JCPOA and lift sanctions against Iran, the New York Times cited an Israeli official as saying that the attacks were part of its broader strategy to force Tehran into agreeing to tougher and longer curbs on its nuclear ambitions along with restrictions on its ballistic missile program and its support for regional militias.

Netanyahu was speaking as Iran and the US were holding indirect talks in Vienna on ways to revive the deal that included the European powers, China and Russia. Both Tehran and Washington described the talks as constructive. Tehran has insisted that Iran would return to full compliance with the agreement as soon as Washington verifiably lifted the complex web of sanctions imposed on Iran since 2018 that includes many different categories, some of which are unrelated to the nuclear deal.

The Israeli leaders increasing belligerence against Iran is conditioned by Mondays opening of the evidentiary sessions for his long-delayed trial on multiple charges of bribery, corruption and breach of trust, for which if convicted he faces years in jail. Refusing to resign while he defends himself in court, he has called his trial an abuse of power by the state prosecutors office, saying, This is what a coup attempt looks like. After leaving Mondays session, he accused the prosecution of having illegally tampered with evidence, conducting a witchhunt against him and attempting to carry out a judicial coup.

In the last four years, Netanyahu has fought four inconclusive elections amid rising unemployment poverty and inequality, in a bid to assemble a coalition government strong enough to pass laws granting him immunity from prosecution and increased powers that would effectively neuter the judicial system, prompting his critics to warn of an impending constitutional crisis. While President Reuven Rivlin has called on Netanyahu, whose Likud party is the largest party in the Knesset, to try to form a government, it is widely believed that he will be unable to do so, precipitating yet another election.

Under such circumstances, Netanyahu calculates that fomenting a war with Iran may serve to divert social, economic and political tensions outwards and enable him to maintain his grip on power, even though such a war could engulf the entire region and, indeed, the entire world.
[April 09, 2021] Canada Supports Innovation for Compostable Bioplastic

QUEBEC CITY, April 9, 2021 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada continues to encourage alternatives to plastic waste. We are dedicated to creating jobs and driving innovation by investing in climate solutions. Joel Lightbound, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and Member of Parliament for Louis-Hebert, on behalf of Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Seamus O'Regan Jr., today announced a $1-million investment to BOSK Bioproducts Inc. as part of the second phase of the Bioplastics Challenge. This challenge is aimed at helping small businesses reduce pollution by turning forest-based residue into sustainable plastic materials. With this funding, BOSK Bioproducts Inc. will focus on the installation of a small-scale production line for proto-typing the formulations of compostable bioplastics made from forest biomass, developed at National Research Council Canada. Additionally, it will allow for product formulation and better compatibility with existing industry manufacturing equipment. As part of the first phase, BOSK Bioproducts Inc. developed a highly compostable and cost-effective new bioplastic made from paper mill sludge and wood fibre residue that could be used in areas like 3D printing, food packaging, plastic bottles and containers for cosmetics. Natural Resources Canada collaborated with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to implement this challenge as part of the Domestic Plastics Challenge under the federal government's Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC). ISC is a $100-million program dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses in developing innovative and sustainable solutions to complex environmental challenges. The government may then act as a first customer, helping these small businesses to commercialize their innovations, scaling up their business and creating good jobs for Canadians.



Clean innovation benefits our economy, our communities and our well-being. Investments in bioplastics present new opportunities in the forest industry while fighting global pollution and embracing a sustainable way of life for the future. Quotes

"These investments shine a light on the innovative nature of our local forest sector. With companies like BOSK Bioproducts Inc., we are reducing plastic pollution and building more sustainable communities. We will continue to empower and support local efforts to meet the challenges of climate change." Joel Lightbound

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Member of Parliament for Louis-Hebert "Canada's forests offer us so much, and we've become leaders in finding new ways to use this rich resource. Bioplastics made from forest biomass are compostable. They can reduce plastic waste in our landfills. They can be used in 3D printing and food packaging. It's good for the environment, and it's good for jobs." The Honourable Seamus O'Regan Jr.

Canada's Minister of Natural Resources "There are so many farmers and agri-food businesses developing new and innovative renewable materials that cut down on plastic waste. Our government is committed to investing in bioplastics and to helping our agri-food sector lead Canada's transition to a cleaner economy." The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau

Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food "The Government of Canada is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses. It is becoming increasingly important to invest in sustainable solutions that will support not only our economy but also our environment. When the Government of Canada invests in innovative and sustainable work from small businesses like BOSK Bioproducts, it supports the economy, helps build Canadian technological leadership and contributes to Canada's fight against global warming." The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry "La contribution de RNCan et ce programme de Solution Innovatrice Canada ont ete le coup d'envoi pour realiser notre projet. Ceci a permis de rallier differents joueurs du domaine prive et public autour d'un objectif commun, nous permettant de passer a une etape cle de notre strategie de developpement de marche. Ce projet permet de positionner le Canada comme un producteur de bioplastiques compostables en accord avec les fondements du developpement durable pour offrir enfin une solution concrete a la crise du plastique." Laurence Boudreault

General Manager, BOSK Bioproducts Inc. Associated Links Innovative Solutions Canada

Bioplastics Challenge

BOSK Bioproducts Inc. Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan) SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

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BEIJING, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from CCTV+:

Multiple platforms of China Media Group on Friday started airing "The War in the Shadows," the last episode of a tetralogy produced by China Global Television Network (CGTN) chronicling the fight against terrorism in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

It portrays the plight of Xinjiang residents living through the aftermath of terrorism in the region, unveiling the inside stories behind decades of struggle.

"The war in the shadows: Challenges of fighting terrorism in Xinjiang" - exposes the extremist thinking and the challenges facing China's efforts to tackle terrorism inside and outside of Xinjiang. The film is 55 minutes long and consists of four parts: "The network," "Enemies within," "The textbooks," and "The black hands."

Containing large amounts of exclusive interviews and footage released for the first time, the documentary uses facts to refute Western countries' lies of "over-anti-terrorism" and "genocide" in Xinjiang.

It reveals the methods used by extremist and separatist forces including the "Two-faced people" among the region's high-ranking officials, as well as how music and videos advocating violent terrorism and inciting ethnic hatred penetrated the region. Plus, it also tells of the very hardship police officers have been mired in for decades.

"Although there has been no violent terrorism case in Xinjiang for the last four years, Western media have never stopped their smearing attacks on Xinjiang. Through this new documentary, we keenly hope to use a calm and objective attitude to view the history, so as to help the world understand the truths of violent terrorism incidents in Xinjiang from various levels," said Han Bin, chief director of "The War in the Shadows."

Zhou Weiping, researcher with the Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies under The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said, "Through arduous efforts of officials and residents in Xinjiang, the region saw no violent terrorism incidents during the last four years, which was very difficult to achieve. And the key of the latest documentary is to tell the world and the people why we fight terrorism in Xinjiang, which is very meaningful."

Thousands of terrorist attacks from 1990 through 2016 killed large numbers of innocent people and hundreds of police officers in Xinjiang.

Video link: https://youtu.be/0km8LuzDgy8

SOURCE CCTV+
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 13:58:48|Editor: huaxia

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SAO PAULO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Brazil on Thursday registered a record daily count of 4,249 deaths from COVID-19, taking the national death toll to 345,025, the Ministry of Health said.

It was the second time in a week that Brazil's daily death toll had surpassed 4,000, following 4,195 fatalities on Tuesday.

Health authorities warned that April will be the worst month in terms of COVID-19 deaths, outstripping those seen in March throughout Brazil.

Meanwhile, 86,652 more cases were reported, bringing the national tally to 13,279,857, the ministry said.

Brazil started its vaccination process mid-January and has so far inoculated 27,511,537 people with one dose and 6,065,854 with both, according to official data compiled by local press.

The South American country has been one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in terms of both deaths and cases, second only to the United States. Enditem
A section of in have warned that it will open stores Monday onwards in defiance to the Covid-19 curbs.

The call has been given by Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (MACCIA), an apex body of 800 trade and industrial associations in the state. However other key bodies such as the Confederation of All India (CAIT) and Federation of Retail Welfare Association (FRTWA) have opposed MACCIAs move.

On Sunday the government issued state wide restrictions shutting malls, multiplexes, markets and non-essential stores. A weekend lockdown too has been announced. These curbs have sparked protests from industry bodies and hoteliers who have sought opening of establishments.

On Wednesday, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with representatives of various trade associations and assured them to consider their demands. Industry bodies are expecting the government to announce some relaxations on Saturday.

We are expecting the government to announce relaxations. We have decided to keep our stores open irrespective of the government decision. A meeting of all trade associations was held on Thursday and an unanimous decision was taken to this effect, said MACCIA senior vice president Lalit Gandhi.

Traders have stocked up for upcoming festivals and will make a loss if stores remain shut now. We suffered last year. We cant suffer again. There is no scientific basis for closing all commercial establishments. How long will the government keep them shut, Gandhi asked.

Other trade associations however are taking a more conciliatory stance and said MCCIA was hijacking traders issue and that its decision to open stores was politically influenced. Gandhi denied the charges.

We will wait for the governments decision. We have to respect the chief minister and have no intention of breaking the law, said Viren Shah of FRTWA.

CAITs general secretary Praveen Khandelwal said the body does not endorse the call for defying the rules and opening outlets from Monday. ""We believe it will be an extreme and immature step to do so," he said.
SAN FRANCISCOIf you only read headlines about a new study from the British Journal of Criminology you might think that large quantities of criminal videos of sexual violence on tube sites are warping most childrens minds, turning them into sexual violators.

But this isnt even close to true. The coverage of the study is misleading and exaggerated. But the study itself is extremely flawed.

First, the researchers included everything from stepmom to "ploughed in the category of sexual violence. Defined that broadly, its shocking the study found only one in eight videos depicted sexual violence.

The study also posits, without much evidence, that porn influences sexual desires while totally ignoring how sexual fantasies likely influence porn consumption. The authors also conflate sexual fantasies and sexual behaviors, despite ample evidence that most people never act out most of their sexual fantasies. Most distressingly, the authors fundamentally misconstrue the impacts of stigma and criminalization on consensual sexual behavior, helping to lay the groundwork for terrible policy.

The Studys Claims

The study joins an existing body of research investigating whether and how porn influences sexual norms. One in eight titles shown to first-time users on the first page of mainstream porn sites describe sexual activity that constitutes sexual violence, the authors write. Taken together, we argue that our study provides clear evidence that sexual violence is a normative sexual script in mainstream online pornography.

But by defining sexual violence overbroadly, ignoring consent and excluding too many non-violent titles the authors vastly overstate the percentage of mainstream pornography that depicts actual sexual violence.

Limitations of the Study

What the study actually found is that theres a lot of porn that depicts taboo behavior, power differentials and voyeurism.

The main problem with this study is that it defines sexual violence so broadly as to make the distinction meaningless. If everything is sexual violence, nothing is sexual violence.

The authors labeled four broad categories of content as sexual violence:

1. Sexual activity between family members

2. Aggression and assault

3. Image-based sexual abuse

4. Coercive and exploitative sexual activity

The study exaggerates the frequency of violence in video titles by excluding titles with only the name of the performer or studio. More worryingly, the study includes videos that dont depict any actual violence.

For example, the most frequent form of sexual violence in the data was incest/step-cest. While certainly taboo, its a stretch to claim that every stepmom video depicts sexual violence. Incest-light (or "taboo relations") porn is an incredibly popular porn category.

In the aggression and assault category, the authors included titles like tricked into dick riding and keywords including slap, throatfucked, "plow" and pound. Plowing and pounding are common euphemisms for vanilla, consensual sex. Neither are necessarily, or even generally, violent acts. Throatfucking implies some intensity but not violence per se.

Under the coercive and exploitative sexual activity category, researchers included every keyword that would indicate any power differential, including very young, schoolgirl, needs the cash, advantage, blackmail, bribe, exploit, drunk and woke up.

Aggression and assault category keywords included force, grope and molest. Image-based sexual abuse focused on voyeurism including revenge porn, upskirt, hidden, spy cams and secretly.

I used schoolgirl markers in my sex work until I was like 30, sex worker and author Juniper Fitzgerald wrote of the study. People who dont know our industry constantly use keyword analysis in research and its unethical.

The authors even admit the vast majority of these videos were consensually produced and distributed. The authors excluded videos with BDSM in the title, but included videos that included consensual power play without explicit BDSM keywords. Its astonishing that a study of sexual violence would completely ignore the role of consent.

Imagine if we did this for literally any other fictional media, Fitzgerald said. Apply this methodology to the horror genre.

Misunderstanding Cause and Effect

The authors heavily reference sexual script theory, which holds that social environments influence peoples understanding of sexuality, if not their desires and behavior.

While this is undoubtedly true, theres very little evidence that porn heavily influences the average persons sexual desires and behavior.

In reality, theres pretty strong evidence from Dr. Justin J. Lehmiller and others that taboo sex, power differentials and voyeurism are among Americans most common sexual fantasies. Why wouldnt a lot of porn depict them?

Not only that, but the evidence Lehmiller presents in his book Tell Me What You Want: The Science of Sexual Desire and How It Can Help You Improve Your Sex Life shows sexual fantasies dont correlate with real-world behavior. The average person who fantasizes about stepmom or spying is no more likely to actually engage in incest or non-consensual voyerism than the average person who doesnt. For most people, most of the time, fantasies are just that.

Most troublingly, the authors approve of stigmatizing and criminalizing some sexual behaviours to set out where the boundaries may lie between appropriate and inappropriate sexual conduct.

U.S. legislators are looking for ways to censor large amounts of adult content and deplatform vast numbers of sex workers. Our findings raise serious questions about the extent of criminal material easily and freely available on mainstream pornography websites and the efficacy of current regulatory mechanisms, the authors write.

The evidence, again from Dr. Lehmiller, shows that stigmatizing and criminalizing consensual sexual behavior is totally ineffective at reducing it, and can actually make people more likely to focus on these urges through the white elephant effect.

The authors also fail to acknowledge that providing comprehensive, medically accurate sex education actually works to reduce rates of sexual violence, while providing other benefits.

The study is actually somewhat reassuring, showing that a very small percentage of videos on tube sites depict actual sexual violence. Unfortunately, the authors redefine sexual violence to suit their purposes, and then push for solutions that evidence shows are likely to create more sexual violence rather than less.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Romania will clock up a faster economic growth if it speeds up Covid vaccination and lands a top position by collective immunization; this could bring a competitive edge in foreign trade and in the race to attract foreign investment, vice-president of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) Leonardo Badea told the online conference "Upgrade Romania - investments, the lifeblood of the economy" organized by DC News on Friday.

Badea pointed out that this is his personal opinion that doesn't involve or engage the central bank in any way.

In his opinion, Romania felt the third wave of the pandemic with a delay of about a month compared to other countries, which somehow allowed the economy to muster resilience."Vaccination is the only strategy that will allow the normalization and opening of economic and social life. The economy's capacity to heal depends on how quickly we manage to achieve herd immunity through vaccination. This is well known internationally. Therefore we shouldn't content ourselves with this rate of vaccination, which is a short distance from the EU average, but for the benefit of the local economy, it would be best to strive for a top position among European countries by the proportion of the vaccinated population and aim for good performance," Badea said.He also considers that Romania should reach immunization as soon as possible also in order to win the race for attracting foreign investors.We cannot allow ourselves to be left behind, because this would expose us to potential capital rebalancing, argues the BNR official. AGERPRES
Queen Letizia of Spain cut an elegant figure in sharp grey suit as she joined King Felipe to open a centre in San Agustin de Guadalix today.

The royal mother-of-two, 48, was the epitome of sophistication as she joined her husband, 52, to attend the inauguration of Ibedrola's Innovation and Formation center.

Queen Letizia donned a smart monochrome two-piece for the occasion, which she paired with a simple black lacy camisole and black accessories.

The couple, who were wearing medical face masks for the event, appeared relaxed as they met with staff members at the center.

Queen Letizia of Spain, 48, cut an elegant figure in sharp grey suit as she joined King Felipe, 52, to open a centre in San Agustin de Guadalix today

The royal mother-of-two, 48, was the epitome of sophistication as she joined her husband, 52, to attend the inauguration of Ibedrola's Innovation and Formation center

King Felipe VI's wife looked relaxed as she stepped into the center for the event earlier today alongside her husband.

She styled her brown locks straight, into a bounce blow-dry and donned a splash of makeup to compliment her natural glow.

A dash of eye shadow and mascara highlighted her hazel eyes, while a splash of bronzer added some sunkissed colour to her cheek.

It was Letizia's second outing since the Easter weekend, which she celebrated with her family.

Queen Letizia styled her brown locks straight, into a bounce blow-dry and donned a splash of makeup to compliment her natural glow

The couple donned white medical masks for the occasion, and appeared relaxed as they met with staff in the center

King Felipe donned a dark grey pinstripe suit with a cheerful polkadot turquoise green tie for the event

The couple appeared relaxed as they chatted with staff members at the Innovation and Formation center

Each year, the Spanish royal family attend the Easter Mass at the Cathedral-Basilica of Santa Maria de Palma de Mallorca in Palma on the island of Mallorca, however, the celebrations were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic this year.

The couple have been keeping busy so far this year with royal engagements, and visited Andorra last month for their first state visit to the principality since King Felipe VI became King in 2014.

Last month, 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.

The appearance comes amid a busy period for the royal couple, who last month visited Andorra

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia attend the inauguration of Ibedrola's Innovation and Formation center

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 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.
Melissa Marcus had been on four dating apps for almost two years when she matched on Bumble with Justin Wass in June 2016.

He was creative and goofy. In one photo he was wearing a tie-dye shirt with cats on it and he wrote a haiku, said Ms. Marcus, 30, a senior program officer at New Visions for Public Schools, a nonprofit educational program that supports New York City public schools. He was different from the carbon-copy men I dated in the past.

Mr. Wass had been on Bumble for only three months; Ms. Marcus was his seventh date.

They met two weeks later at the Russian Vodka Room in Manhattans Hells Kitchen, which Mr. Wass had chosen. Though the bar and location were not Ms. Marcus first choice, the man steering the conversation was surprisingly enjoyable. He was welcoming and warm, she said. It was the first time I kissed someone on a first date.

They moved to a second bar, Lilys, so they could watch the Brexit results. It was 2 a.m. when Mr. Wass dropped her off at home.
The WHO said Friday there was "no adequate data" on switching Covid-19 vaccines between doses, as France said under-55s who received an AstraZeneca first jab should get their second from a different vaccine

Geneva (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Apr, 2021 ) :The WHO said Friday there was "no adequate data" on switching Covid-19 vaccines between doses, as France said under-55s who received an AstraZeneca first jab should get their second from a different vaccine.

"There is no adequate data to be able to say whether this is something that could be done, so... interchangeability of vaccine was not something that we could give a recommendation on," World Health Organization spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters.
The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, has died

The Duke of Edinburgh - Prince Philip - has died, Buckingham Palace has said.

The Duke was married to Queen Elizabeth II for more than 70 years and became the longest-serving consort in British history.

Into his 90s he carried out a busy programme of public engagements, reflecting his own charitable interests.

He also travelled around the country supporting the Queen, both on state occasions and royal visits.

For a man of his age he enjoyed relatively good health.

He was taken to hospital over Christmas in 2011 for treatment for a blocked artery.

In 2012 he was admitted to hospital during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee with a bladder infection, and in 2013 had an exploratory operation on his abdomen.

But it was not until May 2017, after carrying out more than 20,000 solo public engagements, that the 96-year-old retired from his own programme of royal duties, occasionally stepping out to support the Queen for big events.

No official details have been released yet about the Duke's funeral, but it is understood he will be given a royal ceremonial funeral rather than a state funeral, in line with his wishes.

The Queen will sign off the final plans in the coming days.

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born on the island of Corfu in 1921.

At the age of 18, the prince joined the Royal Navy as a cadet.

He saw active service during the Second World War, serving in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, and was mentioned in despatches for his bravery.

In 1947 he renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles, took on the surname of Mountbatten and became a naturalised British subject ahead of his marriage to Princess Elizabeth.

Their wedding was the first great state occasion after the end of the Second World War.

His commitment to the Queen was unfaltering. He gave up his career in the Navy in order to support her in her role as monarch.

The Queen has described Prince Philip as her "constant strength and stay".

They had four children - Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward - and he was a much loved grandfather and great-grandfather.

He saw himself as a moderniser within the British monarchy, orchestrating the first royal walkabout - but he was also known for his forthright views and off-the-cuff remarks.

Prince Philip's concern for young people inspired him to create the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, and he supported more than 800 charities and good causes - focusing on his interests in wildlife conservation, technology and sport.

Since the 1940s Prince Philip was an ever present figure in the life of the UK and leaves behind his own considerable legacy.

Sky News

 Sky News 2021
Vietnam says it is closely monitoring the situation as 200 Chinese vessels are anchored illegally at the Whitsun Reef, part of Vietnam's Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands.

Vietnamese authorities always closely follow situations in the East Sea in order to protect and execute the nations sovereignty and sovereignty rights over sea areas in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Foreign Ministry spokewoman Le Thi Thu Hang said Thursday.

She was responding to inquiries regarding the situation at the Whitsun Reef, located within the territorial waters of the Grierson Reef, part of Vietnams Spratly Islands in the East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea. The Philippines, among other countries, has recently voiced opposition to more than 200 Chinese vessels being illegally anchored at the reef. The fact that they are not catching fish despite good weather conditions makes their presence more dubious and suspicious.

In an earlier press meet, Hang had stressed that the actions of the Chinese vessels within the territorial waters of the Grierson Reef are a serious violation of Vietnams sovereignty and of international law. Vietnam requests that China stop such violations and respect Vietnams sovereignty, she had said.

Vietnamese authorities have been performing their duties in accordance with Vietnamese and international law, Hang said.

The Quang Trung frigate of the Vietnamese navy has performed combat drills at the Spratly Islands, state broadcaster Vietnam Television reported on April 4.

"On the islands of the Spratly archipelago, combat preparedness is being performed at the highest level. Despite harsh weather conditions, each soldier still strives to practice," the report said.
Due to ongoing upgrade works on the Kasoa and Pokuase substations, there will be erratic power supply in May, the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has disclosed.



Just two days ago, I received a letter from MiDA [Millennium Development Authority], who are helping upgrade the Pokuase and Kasoa substations.



They informed me that the progress of the substation is such that in the month of May, there will be systematic power outages, so, we have invited both ECG and GRIDCo and in the light of that, let us sit and plan and communicate with the people who will be affected way before it happens, he said.



Dr Prempeh made this known at a forum in Accra on Thursday, 8 April 2021.



He said his ministrys current talks with the Ghana Grid Company Limited and the Electricity Company of Ghana, will help in strategising to minimise the impact of the outages on Ghanaians.



Also, he said a revised energy policy is going through its final processes of consultation.



At the appropriate time of approval, it will be made available to everyone, Dr Prempeh further noted.



The minister recently appealed to Ghanaians to have patience with the government as his ministry does all it can to solve the intermittent power outages currently afflicting the country.



Dr Prempeh went on a tour of some ongoing system upgrade projects of state power transmitter Ghana Grid Company Limited in the national capital, Accra on Tuesday, 6 April 2021.



Speaking to journalists during the tour, he said the intermittent power cuts are a result of system challenges and, thus, cannot be likened to the four-year power outages experienced under former President John Mahama from 2012 to 2016 due to production and financial problems, which necessitated a load-shedding timetable for the whole country.



I think the issue of financial challenges doesnt even come in here because they are doing the project, we can all see it, so, where does finance come in? The people dont have money to buy lunch, or? he wondered.



I dont know but as far as we can see, the project is an ongoing project, so, its not about finances, its just that if youre renovating your house, sometimes, its more complicated and its more expensive than even building a new house, he explained.



According to him, these our lines that weve just been informed were strung, some in 1950, some from 1965, the power they were supposed to transmit, Accra has expanded tremendously, so, they are giving us lines that can improve the power situation in Accra.





Source: classfmonline.com









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International

Nepals opposition parties begin talks to unseat PM Oli

Kathmandu, Apr 9 (IANS) | Publish Date: 4/9/2021 1:38:11 PM IST

Nepals primary opposition party, the Nepali Congress has begun talks with the Nepal Communist Party-Maoist Centre and the Janata Samajbadi Party to unseat Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and form a coalition government under its leadership.

Nepali Congress President, Sher Bahadur Deuba, had called a meeting of the opposition parties on Friday which ended on a positive note, according to party leaders.

Oli is under pressure to resign after his decision to dissolve the house on December 20 and call for fresh elections was overturned by the Supreme Court on February 23. In wake of the verdict, opposition parties had been demanding his resignation on moral grounds but he has been holding fast.

The Prime Minister is also facing problems inside his own Nepal Communist Party-UML as a huge section of senior party leaders have started forming parallel party structures while challenging his authoritarian way of running the party and the government.

NCP-Maoist Centre spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha told media that both his party and the Nepali Congress are almost on the same page but are waiting the decision of the Janata Samajbadi Party, the fourth-largest party in the legislature, and still undecided on whether to lend support Oli or Deuba.

Two senior Janata Samajbadi Party leaders, Chairman Mahantha Thakur and Rajendra Mahato are separately negotiating with Oli to extend support to his government in case it falls into a minority.

Meanwhile, the NPC-Maoist Centre that had lent support to Oli in February 2018 has not withdrawn its support so the government still enjoys a majority in the house. It, however, assured that as soon as opposition parties decide to unseat Oli, it will withdraw its support.

As soon as it withdraws support, the Oli government will be reduced to a minority and need to seek vote of confidence. Opposition parties are, however, inclined to register a no-confidence motion to bring down the government.

On Friday, as soon as the meeting began, Deuba told that they have decided to unseat Oli and take a lead to form a new government under the partys leadership, Shrestha said.

We have made clear our position that we are ready to support the new government to be led by Deuba and we also asked the Janata Samajbadi Party leaders to make their position clear whether it will support Deuba or not. But Janata Samajbadi Party leaders said that they need some time to discuss Deubas proposal inside the party.

Thakur said: We have received the formal proposal to form a new government from the Nepali Congress. We will first discuss the proposal inside the party and will communicate to the Nepali Congress at earliest.

During the meeting, Nepali Congress and NCP-Maoist Centre leaders had assured the Janata Samajbadi Party that once the new government will be formed, they will look into its demands and grievances.

The party has also forwarded some demands to both Oli and the Nepali Congress.

We will wait until Janata Samajbadi Party takes the decision on whether they will support Deuba or not, Nepali Congress spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma said.

We will wait for the response from the Janata Samajbadi Party... once they come up with their position, we will move on accordingly, he added.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says her government will forge ahead with plans for a mass-vaccination hub despite a huge overhaul to the countrys vaccine rollout.

The NSW government temporarily paused its deployment of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday after the Commonwealth announced it would prioritise Pfizer for people under 50 amid concerns of rare but potentially dangerous side effects linked to the AstraZeneca shot.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Friday her government would forge ahead with plans for a mass-vaccination hub at Sydney Olympic Park. Credit:Edwina Pickles

State clinics were given the green light to administer AstraZeneca to people over 50 by Friday afternoon following changes to informed consent information, while anyone younger can receive the vaccine from Monday if they choose.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday afternoon confirmed the Commonwealth had secured 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, though they are only expected to arrive in the last quarter of the year.
TORRANCE, Calif. and BASKING RIDGE, N.J., April 8, 2021 -- Through their partnership with the University of Michigan's Mcity, a test bed for connected and autonomous vehicles, Honda and Verizon are teaming up to research how new connected safety technology using 5G and mobile edge computing (MEC) could ensure fast, reliable communication between road infrastructure, vehicles and pedestrians sharing the road, thus reducing collisions and saving lives. Super-fast, reliable and low-latency data transmission at the edge of the network is essential for connected vehicle safety. Verizon's 5G and MEC platforms bring the power of the cloud closer to the vehicle, lowering latency, offering massive bandwidth, and improving communications and connectivity between drivers, other cars, traffic lights, pedestrians and emergency vehicles to improve threat detection and avoid accidents when seconds matter most.

Honda and Verizon are exploring the use of 5G to enhance connected vehicle safety at Mcity in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Tweet this

Since 2017, Honda has been developing a technology to realize a collision-free society called SAFE SWARM. Using Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) communication, Honda SAFE SWARM enables vehicles to communicate with other road users and share key information such as location, speed, and vehicle sensor data. One limitation of this approach is the need to outfit each vehicle with onboard artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. The use of 5G helps move the AI capabilities from the vehicle to the MEC, reducing the need for AI onboard each vehicle.

"Honda's research collaboration with Verizon is an important step in our multi-year effort to develop connected vehicle safety technology to realize our vision for a collision-free society," said Ehsan Moradi Pari, Ph.D, research group lead at Honda's Advanced Technology Research Division. "While the research is preliminary and not intended as a product feature at this time, 5G-enabled vehicle communication and MEC have the potential to advance safety for everyone sharing the road."

"The ability to move computing power to the edge of our 5G network is an essential building block for autonomous and connected vehicles, helping cars to communicate with each other in near real-time and with sensors and cameras installed in streets and traffic lights," said Sanyogita Shamsunder, vice president of Technology Development and 5G Labs at Verizon. "When you consider that roughly 42,000 people were killed in car accidents last year and 94% of accidents are caused by human error, our new technologies including 5G and MEC can help drivers 'see' things before the human eye can register and react helping to prevent collisions and save lives."

Using Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband, MEC and V2X software platforms, Honda and Verizon explored three safety scenarios:

Pedestrian Scenario: A pedestrian is crossing a street at an intersection. An approaching driver cannot see the pedestrian due to a building obstructing the view. Smart cameras mounted in the intersection relay information to MEC using the 5G network. Verizon's MEC and V2X software platforms detect the pedestrian and vehicle and determine the precise location of road users assisted by Verizon's Hyper Precise Location services. A visual warning message is then sent alerting the driver of the potential danger.

A pedestrian is crossing a street at an intersection. An approaching driver cannot see the pedestrian due to a building obstructing the view. Smart cameras mounted in the intersection relay information to MEC using the 5G network. Verizon's MEC and V2X software platforms detect the pedestrian and vehicle and determine the precise location of road users assisted by Verizon's Hyper Precise Location services. A visual warning message is then sent alerting the driver of the potential danger. Emergency Vehicle Warning Scenario: A driver cannot see an approaching emergency vehicle and cannot hear its siren due to the high volume of in-vehicle audio. Verizon's MEC and V2X software receive a safety message from the emergency vehicle and send a warning message to nearby vehicles. The driver receives a visual warning.

A driver cannot see an approaching emergency vehicle and cannot hear its siren due to the high volume of in-vehicle audio. Verizon's MEC and V2X software receive a safety message from the emergency vehicle and send a warning message to nearby vehicles. The driver receives a visual warning. Red Light Runner Scenario: A vehicle fails to stop at a red light. Using data from the smart cameras, MEC and V2X software detect the vehicle and send a red-light-runner visual warning message to other vehicles approaching the intersection.

Each research scenario demonstrates the potential of 5G and MEC to communicate urgent safety messages between vehicles and infrastructure, reducing the need for complex computing onboard each connected vehicle. In the future, this connected vehicle technology could help ensure that autonomous vehicles will be able to communicate seamlessly.

Watch the video of Honda and Verizon's Mcity tests at http://honda.us/5GResearch.

About Honda

Based on its vision for a collision-free society, Honda is working to improve safety for everyone sharing the road. Advanced active safety and driver-assistive systems found in Honda Sensing and AcuraWatch technologies, now on nearly 4 million vehicles on U.S. roads, are designed to reduce the frequency and severity of collisions while also serving as a technological and perceptual bridge to the more highly automated vehicles of the future.

About Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. was formed on June 30, 2000 and is one of the world's leading providers of technology, communications, information and entertainment products and services. Headquartered in New York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon generated revenues of $128.3 billion in 2020. The company offers data, video and voice services and solutions on its award-winning networks and platforms, delivering on customers' demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity, security and control.

SOURCE American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
The Kenyan government is in discussions to secure a Sh82 billion ($750 million) loan from the World Bank before the end of June.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the National Treasury indicated talks were at an advanced stage having fulfilled part of prerequisite conditions enabling the access of the facility dubbed as the World Bank Development Policy Operations (DPO).

Citizen reports that the facility alluded to earlier in exchequer documents is part of external financing targeted at plugging the 2020/21 budget hole exacerbated by a shortfall in tax revenues.

Kenyan ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have delivered all prior actions for consideration by the World Bank under DPO III, said the Treasury.

The loan facility is aimed at delivering inclusive growth and focuses on reforms in four critical sectors.

These include fiscal reforms ranging from promoting transparent spending, unlocking public-private partnerships (PPPs), enhancing revenues and strengthening debt management.

This will be the third direct budgetary support loan from World Bank in three years.

Last year, the international financial institution disbursed an estimated Sh107 billion ($1 billion) as part of a second DPO program to cushion the local economy from the negative impact of COVID-19.

Earlier in 2019, the World Bank disbursed Sh82 billion ($750 million) as Kenya re-engaged the multi-lateral lender for direct support for the first time in years.
This year's season of Married At First Sight hasn't been short of drama - largely due to the controversial pairing of Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson.

And despite being the talk of the last few dinner parties, Daily Mail Australia can reveal the divisive couple will not be attending Sunday's final dinner party.

The pair, both 31, decided not to attend following heated clashes with their co-stars at the boys' and girls' nights.

Trouble in paradise? Despite being the talk of the last few dinner parties, Married At First Sight's Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson will not be attending Sunday's final dinner party

Bryce and Melissa were noticeably absent during filming on November 26 as the other couples arrived at the warehouse set in Lilyfield, Sydney.

Johnny Balbuziente and Kerry Knight led the arrivals in matching-coloured outfits.

Kerry, 30, put on a leggy display in a yellow one-shoulder dress with a thigh split.

Nowhere to be seen: The couple were noticeably absent during filming on November 26 as the other couples arrived at the warehouse set in Lilyfield, Sydney. Pictured: Johnny Balbuziente and Kerry Knight leading the arrivals in matching-coloured outfits

Perfect combo! Kerry put on a leggy display in a yellow one-shoulder dress with a thigh split

The occupational therapist from the Sunshine Coast was glammed up for the occasion with a face full of makeup.

Kerry completed her look with silver high heels and square-shaped earrings.

Johnny followed his bride into the venue in a yellow button-up shirt and black jeans.

Nice! The occupational therapist from the Sunshine Coast was glammed up for the occasion

Glamazon: Kerry completed her look with silver high heels and square-shaped earrings

Fellow intruders Georgia Fairweather and Liam Cooper were next to arrive.

The couple filmed their entrance several times before producers were satisfied.

Georgia, 25, looked sensational in a maroon gown that featured a thigh split, and a pair of matching stiletto heels.

Meanwhile, Liam opted for a floral shirt, grey blazer and black jeans.

Arriving: Fellow intruders Georgia Fairweather and Liam Cooper were next to arrive

Take two! The couple filmed their entrance several times before producers were satisfied

Fashionista: Georgia, 25, looked sensational in a maroon gown that featured a thigh split, and a pair of matching stiletto heels

Despite their relationship woes, Jason Engler and Alana Lister looked cheerful upon their arrival.

Brisbane-based school teacher Alana, 30, held the car door open for her 'husband' before they made their way in together.

She stunned in a backless floral-print dress, which she teamed with a pair of heels.

Meanwhile, Jason opted for a white shirt, navy blazer and white pants.

Working it out: Despite their relationship woes, Jason Engler and Alana Lister looked cheerful upon their arrival

Thank you kindly! Brisbane-based school teacher Alana, 30, held the car door open for her 'husband' before they made their way in together

Melbourne-based couple Belinda Vickers and Patrick Dwyer couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces as they arrived next.

Belinda put on an eye-popping display in a pink floral jumpsuit and block heels, and straightened her usually curled locks for the occasion.

Patrick was seen theatrically motioning towards his 'wife' before they entered the warehouse together.

Ready to shine! Melbourne-based couple Belinda Vickers and Patrick Dwyer couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces as they arrived next

Turning heads: Belinda put on an eye-popping display in a pink floral jumpsuit and block heels, and straightened her usually curled locks for the occasion

What's going on here? Patrick was seen theatrically motioning towards his 'wife' before they entered the warehouse together

Jake Edwards and Beck Zemek were the last couple to arrive.

The once-troubled newlyweds seemed to have sorted out their problems by the time of the final dinner party, joining hands as they entered the building.

Business manager Beck, 27, was dressed to impress in a backless pink sequinned gown and high heels.

Stars of the show: Jake Edwards and Beck Zemek were the last couple to arrive

Meeting in the middle: The once-troubled newlyweds seemed to have sorted out their problems by the time of the final dinner party, joining hands as they entered the building

Dazzling: Business manager Beck, 27, was dressed to impress in a backless pink sequinned gown and high heels

Charity CEO Jake, 32, opted for a dusty pink shirt and white jeans, and completed his look with Converse sneakers and a wristwatch.

After filming their entry, the pair were escorted by producers to another building under umbrellas to hide them from the paparazzi.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Bryce and Melissa for comment.

Sharp-dressed man: Charity CEO Jake, 32, opted for a dusty pink shirt and white jeans, and completed his look with Converse sneakers and a wristwatch

We see you! After filming their entry, the pair were escorted by producers to another building under umbrellas to hide them from the paparazzi
Fort Polk, LA (71446)

Today

Showers with a possible thunderstorm early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Showers with a possible thunderstorm early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%.
Queensland will continue to administer doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as it plans to ramp up the rollout of the Pfizer version.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the vaccine rollout in Queensland was still business as usual after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the recommendation that people younger than 50 be administered the Pfizer, rather than the AstraZeneca, COVID-19 vaccine.

That recommendation was made after an extremely rare clotting disorder was associated with the AstraZeneca jab.

On Friday, Mr Morrison announced Australia had secured 20 million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine overnight, doubling the number the nation planned to buy.
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Tesla is starting to gain some serious momentum in Japan, thanks to a wave of Model 3 orders.

In March alone, the number of Teslas sold in Japan increased by 1,300% year-over-year, thanks in part to the car-buying publics warm reception to the Model 3.

Japan has been a rather elusive market for Tesla, with the company only selling 44 cars in March 2020, as per data from the Japan Automobile Importers Association. This year, Teslas sales jumped to 588 units, a 1,300% year-over-year increase. This effectively made Tesla one of Japans most popular foreign brands, just behind Fiat (739 units) and Land Rover (689 units).

Several tailwinds appear to have helped the Model 3 achieve its recent milestone in the country. The price of the Model 3 decreased significantly in March, thanks in part to the reduced manufacturing and transportation costs of the vehicle, which is now being imported from Gigafactory Shanghai. Overall, the Model 3s price in Japan for the Standard Range Plus and Long Range Dual Motor AWD decreased by 17% and 24%, respectively, making the vehicles more attainable.

Japans subsidies for electric cars have also seen an increase to 800,000 yen (previously 400,000 yen) and 450,000 yen (previously 300,000 yen). This made all-electric vehicles like the Model 3 more attractive to car buyers, especially among the younger generation, who appreciate Teslas direct sales model. As per a statement from a Tesla official to Yahoo News Japan, the ease of purchasing a Model 3 has positively affected the vehicles numbers.
Prevention of the growth of crimes in the region and restoration of the rights of those affected by the hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region are among the priorities for cooperation between the Offices of the Prosecutors General of Russia and Azerbaijan. This is what Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Igor Krasnov said during his meeting with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev today, the press service of the Prosecutor Generals Office reports.

Krasnov stated that the representatives of the Offices of the Prosecutors General of both countries are actively participating in the implementation of the agreements reached by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia within the scope of their powers. Among the priority directions are humanitarian issues, support to those affected by the hostilities and restoration of their rights, prevention of the growth of crimes in the region and the fight against transnational criminal manifestations, he said.
But most health spending by the federal government is not discretionary, meaning the proposal released on Friday does not show what the Biden administration hopes to do in Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.  Margot Sanger-Katz and Noah Weiland

Dealing with border security and immigration.

The spending request reflected an increasing sense of urgency within the Biden administration to deter migration to the southwestern border, including $1.2 billion toward investing in border security technology, like sensors to detect illegal crossings and tools to improve entry ports.

The request does not seek any new funding for the border wall construction begun under Mr. Trump.

Mr. Biden also proposed $4.3 billion to speed up the release of minors to sponsors in the United States, to assist minors in immigration court proceedings and to provide mental health services to children separated from their parents under the Trump administrations zero-tolerance policy, which led to the separation of thousands of immigrant families.

The funds would also be spent on processing more refugees displaced overseas. Mr. Biden has pledged to raise the cap on refugee admissions from the historically low annual cap of 15,000, although he has yet to sign the emergency determination.

The administration is scrambling to find shelter space for children and teenagers crossing the border without their parents. Nearly 5,000 are backed up into border detention facilities because of the lack of capacity in the shelters managed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Mr. Biden, who campaigned on increasing oversight over Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is requesting an additional $84 million for those agencies over the 2021 enacted funds. The money would be used to improve investigations of work force complaints, including those related to white supremacy or ideological and nonideological beliefs.  Zolan Kanno-Youngs

More money for federal housing assistance.

The proposal includes a major expansion of housing programs for low-income families and the homeless, with Mr. Biden requesting a $9 billion increase in the budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
New Delhi: Due to the current night curfew imposed in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, the metro timings have been changed. The last metro will now run at 9 pm.

In order to curb the COVID-19 spread in the city, Lucknow Metro will be operational till 9 pm and the last metro will depart from Munshipulia and Lucknow Airport Metro. In general circumstances, the last metro used to ply at 10.30 pm.

A night curfew was imposed by the district administration in Lucknow late on Wednesday (April 7) night from 9 pm to 6 am. The curfew is applicable only in Lucknow Municipal Corporation area, while rural Lucknow has been exempted.

The District Magistrate of Lucknow in a tweet on Wednesday informed that educational institutions will remain closed in the district till April 15. While the restrictions will not be applicable for medical, nursing and para medical institutions.

The supply of fruits, vegetables, milk, LPG, petrol-diesel and medicine will continue. People working in government and semi-government jobs for night shifts are exempted. From private sector, people engaged in essential goods services have also been exempted.

The night curfew which came into force on April 8 will last till on April 16.

People going to from railway station, bus station, and airport can travel by showing their valid tickets. No restrictions have been imposed on the movement of freight trains.

Besides Lucknow, night curfew has also been imposed in other UP cities including Varanasi, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), Ghaziabad, Bareilly and Meerut.

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Right now we're inspired by hottie Josie and her perky panty promo. Accordingly, we want to share a quick peek at community news, pop culture and top headlines.



KANSAS CITY GREAT OUTDOORS GUIDE 2021 DEBUTS!!!

Your spring and summer guide to outdoor living in Kansas City Having a plush outdoor living space where you enjoy spending time can be one of life's ultimate luxuries. Whether you're entertaining, working outside, enjoying native wildlife or just plain digging in the dirt, this guide will get you one step closer to your dream outdoor space.

Local Movie Buffs Celebrate Indie Spirit Online

Kansas City FilmFest: Celebrate 25 years of independent filmmaking with 165 cinematic features KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City FilmFest returns for its 25th year beginning on Monday, April 12 and running through Sunday, April 18. While the festival is virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, audiences can enjoy 165 films, a mix of features and shorts, narratives and documentaries, through a variety of pass options.

Show Will Go On

Starlight Theatre says live productions will return this summer Starlight announced Thursday that live productions will return to the historic theatre's stage with the 2021 AdventHealth Broadway Series. The COVID-19 pandemic kept Starlight dark for the first time in 70 years last summer. While most national Broadway tours will not resume until this fall, the theatre said Godspell (June 22-27) will kick off the summer in a concert-style production performed without intermission.

Panties Pull Up

L Brands and Abercrombie Are Upgraded to Buy at UBS Victoria's Secret parent L Brands and Abercrombie & Fitch were among the retailers upgraded by a UBS analyst to buy as he favors stocks with strong and under-appreciated post-pandemic growth prospects. In addition to L Brands, which is also the parent company of Bath & Body Works, and Abercrombie, analyst Jay Sole also upgraded Gildan Activewear and Kontoor Brands in a report on so-called softlines retail.

GOP Turns Against Congressman Gaetz

'Matt Gaetz needs to resign,' says GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., called for fellow Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz to resign on Thursday night amid a federal probe into allegations that Gaetz was involved in sex trafficking. Gaetz, who has not been charged with any crime, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Sign Of The Times

'Matt Gaetz wants to date your child' billboard goes up in Florida A billboard emblazoned with "Matt Gaetz wants to 'date' your child" has gone up in Florida. The billboards were paid for by a liberal political action committee called Mad Dog. Gaetz was also the star of other snarky billboards in Florida, one of them mocking his 2008 DUI.

Hollywood Notes On Murder Trial Of The Century

George Clooney emailed George Floyd's family lawyer advice amid Derek Chauvin murder trial George Clooney is paying close attention to the developments in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, according to George Floyd's family lawyer. Chauvin, 45, is facing charges of second and third-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of Floyd on May 25, 2020.

Litigious American Gun Crackdown Underway

Biden wants to end gun-maker liability protections. That could sink the industry, advocates say. WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden would like some divine help on his gun control agenda, but his ask might be surprising. And gun-makers warn the results could be dire for their industry.

Swing Vote Stays Winning

Manchin on his increased call for bipartisanship: Capitol riot 'changed me' Sen. Joe Manchin Joe Manchin Biden-GOP infrastructure talks off to rocky start On The Money: Pelosi wants infrastructure done by August | Powell warns US is reopening to a 'different economy' | McConnell vs. Big Business Biden action on guns draws praise, skepticism MORE (D-W.Va.)

Goodbye Sweet Prince

Prince Philip has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace announces Prince Philip, the Queen's husband of 73 years, had recently spent time in hospital with an infection.

JoCo Bets Big On Tech Games

New esports arena, third largest in US, opens in Overland Park OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - The old Kanza Hall at One Block South in Overland Park has a new purpose. LEVELUP opens this Friday. It's the third largest esports arena in the nation and the only one with a dedicated education program. The 15,000-square-foot facility has 100 gaming computers and consoles.

Brief Sunshine Interlude

Warm and sunny Friday 44 DEGREES RIGHT NOW, A LOWER NUMBER, CHILLY THIS MORNING, A BIT OF FOG HERE AND THERE, NOT ENOUGH TO HAVE AN IMPACT, A NOTICE FOG AND LESS OF AN IMPACT KIND OF FOG, A MILD VISIBILITY IN LAWRENCE, THREE QUARTER MILE VISIBILITY IN YOUR -- IN CLINTON.

Twenty One Pilots - Shy Away is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
Joshua Guerra / Joshua Guerra

A controversial proposal to cut the number of Texas appellate courts has been withdrawn by the author, Houston Republican state Sen. Joan Huffman, because she says there isn't enough time left in session to pass it.

Since the 87th Legislature concludes its business at the end of May, time does not allow for Senate Bill 11 to move further in the legislative process, Huffman wrote in a letter obtained by Hearst Newspapers that was sent to fellow senators, including those on the Jurisprudence Committee, which she chairs and where the bill was heard last week.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute to Philip as someone who was more than a public figure. We remember the duke ... above all for his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen, Johnson said. Not just as her consort, by her side every day of her reign, but as her husband, her strength and stay, of more than 70 years. And it is to Her Majesty, and her family, that our nations thoughts must turn today. Because they have lost not just a much-loved and highly respected public figure, but a devoted husband and a proud and loving father, grandfather and, in recent years, great-grandfather. Speaking on their golden wedding anniversary, Her Majesty said that our country owed her husband a greater debt than he would ever claim or we shall ever know and I am sure that estimate is correct. So we mourn today with Her Majesty the Queen, we offer our condolences to her and to all her family and we give thanks, as a nation and a Kingdom, for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

In a statement, Australian Governor-General David Hurley described Philips death as a sad and historic day. Loading Many Australians will have a personal memory of His Royal Highness and many around the world will, in coming days, reflect on his remarkable life and legacy, Hurley said. As we reflect and remember, we think especially of Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family, who have lost a beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. On behalf of the Australian people, I extend our deepest condolences to Her Majesty and family, the people of the Commonwealth and to all those who share in this sad news.

May he rest in peace. Hurley phoned Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday evening local-time to tell him the news. Morrison then told Senate President Scott Ryan, Speaker Tony Smith, cabinet members, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and former prime ministers Paul Keating, John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull. Philip was admitted to hospital on February 17 after becoming unwell at Windsor Castle, where he and the Queen have been shielding during the coronavirus pandemic. Palace officials said at the time that the duke was able to walk into the hospital and was admitted out of an abundance of caution. He was discharged on March 16 after a four-week stay which included a heart procedure and treatment for an unnamed infection, which was not related to coronavirus.

He was taken to a waiting car in a wheelchair and returned to Windsor Castle, the royal residence west of London, waving to those outside as he arrived. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Morrison said flags would be lowered to half-mast around Australia to mark Philips death. He embodied a generation that we will never see again, he said. His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh was, in the words of Her Majesty, her strength and stay.

Australians send our love and deepest condolences to Her Majesty and all the royal family. The Commonwealth family joins together in sorrow and thanksgiving for the loss and life of Prince Philip. God bless from all here in Australia. The Union flag hangs at half staff over Buckingham Palace in London, Friday, April 9, 2021. Credit:AP Former prime ministers Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott also paid tribute. I have fond memories of spending time with Prince Philip during his visit to Australia at the time of CHOGM in Perth, Gillard said. While a man of duty, he had a sense of fun. His loss will be mourned by the Queen, his family and millions around the world.

The world seems a little emptier tonight because Prince Philip has been part of our lives for so long that its hard to grasp that hes gone, Abbott said in a statement released on Twitter. Hes lived a long life of duty and service  to the whole Commonwealth but above all to his Queen. His death triggers a commemoration and funeral operation code-named Forth Bridge, which complies with the late dukes request for minimal fuss. The plans were altered over recent months to adapt to the pandemic. The funeral will likely be staged within eight days. The day before the funeral the duke will be transported to St Georges Chapel.
PHILIPSBURG:--- MP Sarah Wescot-Williams: I want hard guarantees from the Government for the uninterrupted continuation of the airport reconstruction since they condoned sacking the CEO.

Brian Mingo, the CEO of the Princess Juliana International Airport has been fired, with 2 months' notice, and relieved of his duties immediately. This act by the Supervisory Holding Board has been long in the making and it would appear the 3-man board now feels strengthened to push through with Mingos dismissal, notwithstanding the warning signs that appeared following their first attempt to dismiss Mingo in December of 2020.

The airport is at such a crucial stage at this very moment that is seems nearly criminal for anyone to amateurishly mess with the reconstruction. That the Government of St. Maarten would condone such an act is equally incriminating.

One would think that the Holding Board would have reconsidered its approach following their blunder in December, but apparently, they did not.

Brian Mingo and the PJIA operating board would have to decide how they respond to this decision of the Holding Board, but I hold the Government/Shareholder responsible for any and all fallout from this clearly politically motivated decision.

By (condoning) this act, the Government of St. Maarten is calling into question its dealing with the airport, the dealings of the Holding and those of the operating company and I foresee a fallout that will jeopardize the airport, its reconstruction, and the many families who rely on the PJIA for their livelihood. This victory, if considered such, will be short-lived.

It is impossible to expect that a project that is at such a crucial stage and a player is forcefully removed, will just move along as if nothing happened. Too many stakes and stakeholders are involved for this to just go down and be over with.

I have questioned the wisdom of this modus operandi by the PJIA Holding Board in December, to which the Prime Minister eventually responded.

This was her answer:  On Thursday, January 21, a virtual confidential meeting was held with the Supervisory Board of Directors and the Managing Director of the Princess Juliana International Airport Holding Company to receive insight on the process that was followed that led to the confidential letter that was sent to the CEO of the Princess Juliana International Operating Company by the Holding. Clarification was provided by each member present. It was established that the questions that were raised by one of the Supervisory Board members were adequately addressed. All individuals agreed to work together in the best interest of the Airport. Underlying documentation was requested which was recently received and is currently reviewed. The Council of Ministers as Shareholder continues to monitor the situation to ensure that the Corporate Governance regulations and guidelines are applied properly.

Before I start accusing anyone of misleading Parliament, I offer the Prime Minister to clarify what transpired between the date the above statement was made to parliament and the decision of the Holding Board of April 7, 2021, to dismiss the CEO of the Airport.

Can the Government assure Parliament and the people that he decided to fire the CEO will not delay or jeopardize the PJIA, its employees, and/or the reconstruction?

Can the Government assure Parliament that if the current Dutch/EIB financing is halted, there is a backup plan? And thirdly, how involved was the minister or were the ministers in the decision of the Holding Board to dismiss the CEO?

In addition to these questions, I wish to repeat my questions of January 11TH to the Prime Minister on this topic and I also look forward to these answers post haste. These questions relate to Holdings letter to Mingo in December 2020.

1. Please provide me with the Service Agreement between the Airport Operating Board and Mr. B. Mingo. To whom is Mr. Mingo accountable?

2. What is the vision of this Government for the airport? Please provide this in writing.

3. Please provide a timeline of the airport reconstruction funding, the players in the process, and the activities are undertaken.

4. Provide all correspondence with respect to Mr. Mingos functioning from key stakeholders.

5. Who has assessed Mr. Mingos functioning? Please provide.

6. Also provide the airport latest financial data.

7. Was Mr. Mingo offered a payout? If so, how much and under what conditions? Please provide.

Clearly, with all the pressure on the PJIA project from so many different angles from the onset, something had to give, and this it what that appears to be.

I await an urgent and clear statement from the government of St. Maarten, namely the Prime Minister of St. Maarten, Mrs. S. Jacobs, and Minister of TEATT, Ms. L. De Weever. concluded the MP in her statement.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 01:04:00|Editor: huaxia

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JUBA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Several South Sudanese health workers are more willing to take risks to fight COVID-19 after receiving AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. The world's youngest nation on Monday started vaccinating health workers, including elderly people above 60 years as part of efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

On March 25, Juba received 132,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility. The country is expected to receive a total of 732,000 doses of vaccines within the first six months of 2021.

Jawahir Awad Lemi, a nurse at Juba Teaching Hospital which is one of the vaccination centers, said she is no longer afraid of catching the novel coronavirus after receiving her jab. "I am not worried about coronavirus because the vaccine gives us protection," Lemi told Xinhua on Friday in Juba.

Lemi is among health workers assigned to collect samples from people for COVID-19 testing in the main referral hospital. "I encourage the general public to come and take this vaccine," she added.

South Sudan had registered 10,340 cumulative cases of COVID-19, including 10,090 recoveries and 114 deaths as of Thursday.

Lemi said that she is continuing to adhere to the preventive health guidelines such as wearing of face mask, hand washing, social distancing, despite having been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Judith Cenia Ondogo, a maternal, neonatal and child health officer at Juba Teaching and Referral Hospital expressed relief after being vaccinated, adding that this will help dispel fears and doubts over the efficacy of the vaccines.

"I wish all our community would come and have it, so that the number of deaths reduces," said Ondogo.

George Auzanio, director for immunization program in the ministry of health said the available vaccines are not enough, adding that their priority currently is to vaccinate some 2.4 million people out of the country's estimated population of 12 million.

Auzanio disclosed that the ongoing first round of vaccination will also include people living with diseases like diabetes, blood pressure and HIV/AIDS.

He, however, conceded that their plan to expand vaccination in the countryside is being hampered by logistical challenges in addition to cash shortage. "We are having logistical and financial difficulties in order to expand the vaccination to the states. If we receive the money immediately, we will roll out the vaccine any time from now to the states," said Auzanio.

He revealed that about 30 people received jabs on the first day of launching the vaccine in the capital.

Okello John Michael, a dentist based in Juba said that the arrival of the vaccine has brought hope to many South Sudanese. He encouraged the public to turn up and get vaccinated.

Atem Riak, director general for primary health care said they are planning to train more health workers before rolling out the vaccines in the states. "We are working on rolling out the vaccines to the states but first we need to train some people to give out the vaccines correctly," he said. Enditem
The appointment of a new chief executive officer at Eversource Energy is being viewed as a move by the electric distribution company to appease lawmakers and utility regulators for the lengthy power outage following Tropical Storm Isaias last August.

Eversource announced Wednesday that current president and CEO Jim Judge will become executive chairman of the companys board of directors on May 5. Judge is being replaced by Joe Nolan, who is currently executive vice president, strategy, customer and corporate relations.

Judge had been president and CEO since 2016 and chairman since 2017.

David Sacco, practitioner-in-residence from the University of New Havens Pompea College of Business, said that Eversources move suggests the companys board of directors felt they needed do something symbolic.

Its purely a move to appease what I call the three-headed monster: customers, regulators and shareholders, Sacco said. If the board had collectively thought that the best thing to do was to get him out of the company, they would have done that. The fact they have effectively kicked him upstairs suggests they believed this would be something that those three constituencies would represent change, without ever having really changed anything.

Sacco said the top executives of public utilities are put in a difficult position.

Dont get me wrong: I dont feel sorry for him, because he makes a lot of money, Sacco said. But these jobs are very political.

Judge made $11 million on adjusted basis in 2019, according to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, without taking into account pension values. Eversource estimated Judges compensation was the $19.8 million as its official figure for SEC reporting purposes.

Nolan said in an interview Thursday that Eversource absolutely has an image problem in Connecticut.

Were going to have to work hard to restore peoples confidence there, he said. Weve got to win over their hearts and minds again.

Nolans ascension to become president and chief executive officer comes as at a critical time for Eversource in Connecticut.

Eversource is seeking to recover money that PURA approved last July in the form of a rate hike. PURA suspended the rate hike a month later after complaints from consumers. A ruling on the filing the company made in March to recover the rate hike it was originally granted will come this summer.

The company is also awaiting a final decision from PURA that involves the regulators assessment of how Eversource and the states other large electric distribution company, The United Illuminating Co., performed in terms of restoring power to customers following Isaias. When PURA issued its draft decision in mid-March, the ruling was especially critical of Eversource, stating that regulators would consider fines against the company as a result.

State Rep. David Arconti, D-Danbury, who is co-chairman of the General Assemblys Energy and Technology Committee, said a final ruling in that PURA case is expected later this month. If PURA decides to issue any penalties against the utilities in the final decision, a determination of what those penalties might be would come following the final ruling, according to Arconti.

Arconti said Nolan would be well served to read PURAs final ruling if he wants to begin to repair Eversources relationship with Connecticut.

I dont know what the companys motive was in making this change, Arconti said. But I do know that what will appease me and my constituents is if Mr. Nolan takes our concerns seriously and works toward substantive change and doesnt just give them lip service.

State Senator Norman Needleman, D-Essex, Arcontis fellow co-chairman of the Energy and Technology, said he is encouraged by Nolans selection as president and CEO.

The choice of taking a communications and business development-type of guy is an interesting choice, I think, Needleman said. Jim was a CFO [chief financial officer] at one point, and while hes not a bad guy, any move to wrestle a company away from a finance guy is a move in the right direction. I hope its a step in the right direction.

Joel Gordes, a West Hartford energy consultant, said the change in leadership could be seen as an an attempt to show accountability for the length of the outages following Tropical Storm Isaias.

Accountability is one of the main things that goes with the [CEOs] office, Gordes said. And its not something that you see nearly enough of.

The real question, Gordes said, is how much influence the executive chairman of the board carries when it comes to a companys major decisions.

He could be the one pulling the strings, Gordes said, referencing a Russian word that means for show in English. This could be the utilitys version of that.

Judges departure has an eerie similarity to an executive suite change that occurred a decade ago.

In November 2011, Jeff Butler resigned as president and chief executive officer of Connecticut Light & Power Co., after the utilitys widely criticized handling of power restoration following Tropical Storm Irene in August of that year and an unusual late October snowstorm. Hundreds of thousands of CL&P customers were left in the dark after both storms, some for longer than 10 days.

CL&P and its corporate parent, Northeast Utilities, merged with Boston-based NStar in April 2012. The companies became collectively known as Eversource Energy in February 2015.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday said that racism in the United States is serious threat that structurally impacts racial and ethnic groups, including where they live, work and gather in a community.

Confronting the impact of racism will not be easy, Director of the CDC and Peabody native Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. I know that we can meet this challenge. I know that we can create an America where all people have the opportunity to live a healthy life. I know that we can do this if we work together. "

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC labeled racism an epidemic.

The pandemic thus far has disproportionately affected communities of color. Those communities have experienced higher numbers of infections and deaths linked to the virus.

The disparities seen over the past year were not a result of COVID-19, Walensky said. Instead, the pandemic illuminated inequities that have existed for generations and revealed for all of America a known, but often unaddressed, epidemic impacting public health: racism.

CDC expanded the definition of racism beyond discrimination but said it also included the structural affects it has on communities. The CDC said over generations systemic inequities have resulted in stark racial and ethnic health disparities.

Confronting the impact of racism will not be easy, Walensky said. We must recognize that we are working to overcome centuries of discrimination. We will only be successful in undoing the entrenched systemic and structural barriers if we work in collaboration with our public health partners, and deeply within our communities, across the country.

In addressing racism, the CDC shared an interactive map created by the American Public Health Association that depicts communities in the United States that have declared racism a public health crisis or emergency. Currently, there are 170 declarations nationwide, including 19 in Massachusetts.

Only California with 27 and Ohio with 25 have more declarations within a state.

The CDC plans to address the crisis in a number of ways.

The agency plans to continue studying the impact of social determinants on public health and share the evidence on how racism affects pubic health.

Through COVID funding, the CDC plans to expand investments in racial and ethnic minority communities that are disproportionately affected by COVID or other health conditions.

The agency also is expanding its efforts to foster greater diversity within the CDC.

Finally, the federal agency is launching a web portal called Racism and Health, to serve as a catalyst for public and scientific discourse around racism and health.

I know that we can meet this challenge, Walensky said. I know that we can create an America where all people have the opportunity to live a healthy life. I know that we can do this if we each take responsibility and work together.

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This expansion comes as a result of Atria's successful "Sleeve Up, Atria" vaccination campaign, with nearly 90% of current residents & employees taking the vaccine. Vaccination rates are expected to increase as the company's May 1st deadline for mandatory staff vaccination approaches.

"Atria was the first large senior living provider in America to mandate the vaccine for our staff in early January. The results make us glad we made up our minds early. So far, the breakdown is that more than 92% of our U.S. residents and 85% of our staff have taken the vaccine," said John Moore, Chairman and CEO of Atria Senior Living.

For Atria's more than 18,000 residents, the high vaccination rates translate to confidence in enjoying every day meals and programs together. Jansie Farris, a 75-year-old Atria at Foster Square resident, has most enjoyed virtual music performances and virtual lessons with nearby 7th grade students throughout the pandemic. Now, she is seeing her friends and making family plans in-person again. "Knowing that our community is vaccinated makes me feel very comfortable to put on my mask and visit people, carry on conversations and participate in activities every day," Farris said. "The pandemic is not behind us yet, but now I feel safe to be with people, even though I still have to be careful. I have plans to visit my family in Seattle and see my grandchildren again."

"It is as if a weight has been lifted off our shoulders. The vaccine provided me with the peace of mind in knowing that we have reached a new level of being able to protect our staff and our residents," said Seba Samuel-John, Executive Director at Atria Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, New York. "We are seeing the buzz of activity return. I feel safer coming to our community, which is almost 100% vaccinated, than I do being anywhere else."

For Beverly Riley, an 81-year-old resident at Atria Rancho Penasquitos, the vaccination levels also mean the promise of reuniting with her family once again. "Knowing we are no longer in the thick of it and getting back to normal makes me sleep better at night. I'm still staying safe, but now getting out and about again, and feeling freer. My next stop is our salon," Beverly said.

"We know the health benefits of a social living environment, full of expression and engagement. So many of our residents and staff have expressed their excitement to put many of the restrictions of the pandemic behind us and take on a beautiful life ahead. We've entered a 'COVID Watch' period where we are still observing our safety protocols but are also able to expand group dining, the use of community amenities and increased family visits as regulators allow. But this phase also equips us to escalate back to higher protocol levels if necessary," Moore said.

"Our goal is a 'Post COVID-19' protocol where there are no restrictions on community amenity usage, all visitors are allowed pending screening questions, and PPE requirements are relaxed or in some situations eliminated. We are ready for a world where we're poised to react but where we also have greater freedoms as disease activity wanes and immunity takes hold through the vaccines," Moore said.

"The decline in disease activity in our communities gives us hope, and the protection afforded by the vaccine, continuing safety protocols, and the things we have learned in managing through the last year, give us confidence in our plans to turn the page and spring into life at its fullest," he added.

About Atria Senior Living

Atria Senior Living is a leading operator of independent living, assisted living, supportive living and memory care communities in more than 200 locations in 28 states and seven Canadian provinces. Atria is the residence of choice for more than 18,000 older people, and the workplace of choice for more than 13,000 employees. The company creates vibrant communities where older adults can thrive and participate, know that their contributions are valued, and enjoy access to opportunities and support that help them keep making a positive difference in our world. For more information about Atria, visit AtriaSeniorLiving.com or follow them on Facebook or Twitter. For career opportunities and more information about working for Atria, visit AtriaCareers.com.

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Study: "How Do Weighted Funding Formulas Affect Charter School Enrollments?"

Author: Paul Bruno (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

This study was presented today at the American Educational Research Association's 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting.

Main Findings:

The adoption of a school funding system in California that increased revenues for schools enrolling higher-need students led to an increase in the rate at which charter schools enrolled low-income students.

This effect was concentrated among charter schools initially enrolling low-income students at relatively low rates, suggesting that some charters "cream skim" high achieving, wealthier students, but that such behavior also can be mitigated. Details:

For many, the expansion of charter schooling since the early 1990s has been a cause of concern. Among the major concerns is that charter schools will "cream skim" high-achieving, wealthier students from nearby traditional public schools, exacerbating segregation and burdening traditional schools with a combination of falling revenues and higher per-pupil costs.

Most states now adjust school funding to account for the costs of additional educational needs that certain groups of students are thought to have. These weighted student funding systems (WSF) differ in terms of which student characteristics are weighted, but additional funding weights are commonly given to students who require special education services or are English language learners or low-income.

In the study, the author analyzed the effects of a WSF policy implemented in 2013 in California that plausibly changed the incentives for charter schools to enroll disadvantaged students without a similar change of the incentives for students or their families to enroll in charter schools. The author looked at all charter schools in the state, without distinguishing nonprofits from for-profits.

With the adoption of the Local Control Funding Formula in 2013, weighted funding for low-income students increased significantly, increasing per-pupil funding provided to schools for eligible students by 300 percent or more.

The author examined changes in the gap between charter schools and traditional public schools in the share of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch (FRL) programs, from 2012 to 2017. He found that charter schools with relatively low FRL rates compared to their local district in 2012 gradually increased their FRL enrollments relative to traditional schools in subsequent years.

In 2012, these charter schools had almost 6 percentage points fewer FRL-eligible students than analogous traditional schools (i.e., those with FRL rates below their district average). Despite these traditional schools also gradually increasing their FRL shares during this time, the gap between charter schools and traditional schools shrank in every subsequent year, and by 2017 the gap was statistically indistinguishable from zero.

During the same period, the Local Control Funding Formula did not have the same effect on charter schools that already had relatively high FRL shares. The FRL gap between these charter schools and traditional schools that also started with relatively high FRL shares in 2017 (6.7 percentage points) was only modestly smaller than it was in 2012 (9.7 percentage points) and was slightly larger than the gap in 2013 (5.8 percentage points).

"My results suggest that previous studies on charter school cream skimming may have been too optimistic," said author Paul Bruno, an assistant professor of education policy, organization, and leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "If these state funding changes altered enrollment incentives only or mostly for charter schools, and not for families or traditional schools, then my results indicate that many charter schools are avoiding enrolling low-income students."

"The primary implication for policymakers is that charter schools appear to be sensitive to the costs of providing education," said Bruno. "This matters for both the funding and the regulation of charter schools."

The author noted that when designing weighted funded systems, policymakers need to think carefully about which student characteristics should be considered.

"There are some obvious candidates, including eligibility for free lunch or special education or English learner services," said Bruno. "Not only do students with these characteristics appear to have distinctive and costly educational needs, but there is also evidence that they are underserved by charter schools in at least some cases."

The author also noted that policymakers need to ensure that formula weights are large enough to change the behaviors of charter school operators, but also are not so large that they create perverse incentives, such as discouraging schools from declassifying students as English learners.

###

To request a copy of the working paper, or to talk to study author, please contact AERA Communications: Tony Pals, Director of Communications, tpals@aera.net, cell: (202) 288-9333; Tong Wu, Communications Associate, twu@aera.net, cell: (202) 957-3802

About AERA

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning. Founded in 1916, AERA advances knowledge about education, encourages scholarly inquiry related to education, and promotes the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. Find AERA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
VANCOUVER, BC, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Organic Garage (TSXV: OG) - an independent organic grocer with a growing footprint, increasing revenue and new business verticals - just announced the expansion of its Hand-Picked Partner program.

Founded in 2005 by a fourth-generation grocer, Matt Lurie, Organic Garage's 4-outlet Toronto area chain did $24 million in sales last year.

February 2021 marked the 12th consecutive month of sales increases, in compared to 2020's corresponding months.

Like Whole Foods (purchased by Amazon for $13.7 billion), OG targets health-conscious consumers, but it is more neighbourhood focused - with "a wide selection of healthy and natural products at everyday affordable prices."

"The price premium being charged on organic groceries in big chains is artificially high," Lurie told Global Stocks News CEO Guy Bennett, "It is pushed to a point where the average consumer feels that they can't eat organic."

"We started Organic Garage to lower the price points," added Lurie, "You can come into one of our stores, shop organic and all natural and find something that's going to fit your budget."

The Handpicked Partner Program will initially consist of the placement of the Cali-Rolls sustainable sushi brand at the Organic Garage Junction location and the roll-out of the Tori's Bakeshop program across all four OG stores.

Tori's Bakeshop is the latest partner in a curated food concept that allows select vendors to sell unique, ready-made and specialized foods to Organic Garage customers through small-footprint, on site kiosks.

"Tori's Bakeshop is grateful to be neighbourhood partners with Organic Garage, whose healthy conscience, best practices and community engagement are values we wholeheartedly champion," said Tori's Bakeshop founder, Tori Vaccher. "Their enthusiastic support offers increased access to our organic products in the Greater Toronto Area and beyond."

OG's geographic footprint is expanding.

On November 28, 2019, OG announced that it had begun construction of the Leaside location  which follows a formula of expanding its store footprint into high population density locations.

Leaside is located northeast of Toronto's downtown core and consists of over 229,000 households with an average household income of over $139,000 per year within a 5km radius.

"Organic Garage's new store, located in the fashionable neighbourhood of Leaside, is set to open in 2021 and could boost revenue by as much as 25% once fully operational," states eResearch Corp.

At a macro-level, the organic food market has a tail wind.

Although arable (farmable) land area is shrinking, land devoted to organic farming is increasing.

"The North American organic sector posted a banner year in 2019," reports the Organic Trade Association, "with organic sales in the food and non-food markets totaling a record $55.1 billion, up a solid 5% from the previous year".

Organic Garage is developing specialised products that can be sold outside its own brick & mortar network.

On March 17, 2021 OG announced that its recently acquired the plant-based food company, Future of Cheese has completed recipes and formulations for the initial line of products, and is proceeding to enter commercial production.

The Future of Cheese  now an OG subsidiary - plans to "disrupt the rapidly growing plant-based dairy alternatives market".

"Lactose intolerance affects 517% of Europeans, 6080% of Africans and Asians and around 44% of North Americans" according to Healthline.

Having delicious locally-sourced non-dairy cheese behind the counter is an example of Organic Garage's differentiation from big chain health-food stores.

"In Ontario alone, there could be 25 or 30 outlets, "OG's President & CEO Matt Lurie told Equity Guru's Jody Vance, "There's lots of runway for us to continue to add stores."

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Richwood, TX (77531)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms developing overnight. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms developing overnight. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Marc Malnati, who remains active in the pizza chain his father started, declined to comment on the Bloomberg report. All I would say is that it remains the intention of my family and I to continue in our fifty year tradition of making Chicagos best pizza for the next fifty years! he said in an email to the Tribune.
Veteran Greek crime reporter shot dead near home in Athens View Photo

ATHENS, Greece (AP)  A veteran Greek crime reporter was gunned down Friday near his home in southern Athens, police said.

Giorgos Karaivaz was found dead early in the afternoon with several gunshot wounds beside his car in the Alimos suburb, police said.

Private Star TV, for which he worked, said Karaivaz had just returned from work. It said two men on a motorcycle drew up beside him and the passenger fired at least ten shots.

The Greek government, opposition parties and the countrys main journalists union strongly condemned the attack.

The murder  shocked us all, government spokeswoman Aristotelia Peloni said. The authorities are investigating the case, to ensure the perpetrators are arrested and brought to justice.

Authorities said Karaivaz had not requested police protection or reported any death threats.

In a career that spanned decades, Karaivaz worked for several Greek newspapers and broadcast media.
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed fluorescent polymers whose colour can be easily tuned. Depending on their length, the polymers emit a different colour. Potential applications include biomedicine, security printing and solar energy.

Around the world, a huge amount of research and development work is currently being done on carbon-containing, or organic, molecules that emit coloured light after appropriate excitation. This research field is driven by the display industry and the development of biomedical imaging techniques. While precise colour tuning in organic fluorescent dyes has so far usually been achieved by mixing different molecules, ETH researchers have now developed an approach that can generate a broad palette of colours by way of chemical adjustments within the molecules themselves.

Yinyin Bao, a group leader in the group of ETH professor Jean-Christophe Leroux, and his team of scientists turned to fluorescent organic polymers for this work. These polymers can best be thought of as moving chains of varying lengths. The chains have a symmetrical structure, and two components within them contribute to the fluorescence, Bao explains. One component, called the fluorophore, sits in the middle of the chain, while the other component occurs once at each of the chains two ends. Joining the fluorophore in the middle of the chain with each end of the chain are links whose number and structure scientists can adjust. If the polymer chain is bent so that one of its ends comes to lie near the fluorophore and the chain is simultaneously irradiated with UV light, it fluoresces.

Distance affects the interaction

The scientists have now been able to show that the fluorescence colour depends not only on the structure of the chain links and ends, but also on the number of chain links. Its the interaction of the chain end and the fluorophore thats responsible for the fluorescence of these polymers, Bao says: The distance between the two components affects how they interact and thus the colour thats emitted.

Using a method called living polymerisation, the researchers can regulate the number of chain links. First, they gradually grow the chain by a slow process of attaching building blocks to the fluorophore. Once the desired length is reached, the scientists can terminate the process and simultaneously generate the chain end molecule. This is how the researchers produced polymers with different colours: with fewer than 18 building blocks, the molecules fluoresce yellow; with 25 chain links, green; and with 44 or more links, blue. Whats special about this is that these differently luminescent polymers are all composed of the exact same components. The only difference is the chain length, Bao says.

Wide colour range OLEDs

The research team, including scientists from the group of ETH Professor Chih-Jen Shih and from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia, published their work in the journal Science Advances. Currently, the researchers can produce fluorescent polymers in yellow, green and blue, but they are working on extending the principle to include other colours, including red.

These new fluorescent polymers cant be used directly as OLEDs (organic LEDs) in displays because their electrical conductivity is not sufficiently high, Bao explains. However, it ought to be possible to combine the polymers with semiconducting molecules in order to produce wide colour range OLEDs in a simple way. Used in concentrated solar power plants, they could also collect sunlight more efficiently and thus increase the plants efficiency. Bao sees their main areas of application in laboratory diagnostic procedures that use fluorescence, for example in PCR, as well as in microscopy and imaging procedures in cell biology and medicine. Other potential uses would be as security features on banknotes and certificates or in passports.
3 rhino calves rescued in floods at Kaziranga to move to Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam . Image Source: IANS News

3 rhino calves rescued in floods at Kaziranga to move to Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam . Image Source: IANS News

3 rhino calves rescued in floods at Kaziranga to move to Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam . Image Source: IANS News

3 rhino calves rescued in floods at Kaziranga to move to Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam . Image Source: IANS News

3 rhino calves rescued in floods at Kaziranga to move to Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam . Image Source: IANS News

3 rhino calves rescued in floods at Kaziranga to move to Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam . Image Source: IANS News

3 rhino calves rescued in floods at Kaziranga to move to Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam . Image Source: IANS News

Guwahati, April 9 : Three rhino calves, two females and one male, which were rescued two years ago during floods at the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNP&TR) in Assam would be trans-located to the Manas Tiger Reserve (MTR) on Saturday, officials said on Friday.

KNP&TR Director Karmashree P. Sivakumar said that the rhino calves will be shifted from the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga, where they were kept ever since they were rescued during the floods in 2019.

He said that these rhino calves have undergone a protocol of rehabilitation for two years before they are being translocated to MTR, 176 km west of Guwahati.

The two female calves were rescued from Hatimura and Kuthuri areas, while the male was rescued from Solmara during the floods that hit Kaziranga in July-August 2019.

The translocation is part of an ongoing effort to increase the number of wildlife at the MTR in Baksa district bordering Bhutan. The national park was devastated for many years due to terror activities and rampant poaching.

Sivakumar said that the convoy carrying the three rhino calves would reach MTR early on Saturday for the scheduled release of the animals in their dedicated 'boma', where they would be kept for a stipulated period for habituation before their final release in the wilderness of the reserve.

"The intra-state rhino translocation would help improve the gene pool of the species," Sivakumar pointed out.

"Under our commitment to bring back Manas, we have augmented the national park with 19 rhinos, including offsprings of the released rhinos, out of the total population of 44 rhinos," he said.

The Kaziranga National Park, extending across eastern Assam's Golaghat, Nagaon, Sonitpur, Biswanath and Karbi Anglong districts, is home to more than 2,200 Indian rhinoceros. With an estimated rhino population of 2,640, Assam has the largest number of Indian rhinos in the world.

Every year, the monsoon floods devastate the KNP&TR and a large number of animals including rhinos are killed by the deluge.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a meeting with chief ministers of all states over the rising cases and current status of Covid-19, New Delhi, Thursday, April 8, 2021. (PTI)

New Delhi: On a day India recorded about 1.32 lakh fresh cases of Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred with the Chief Ministers of several states in virtual mode to discuss the surging Covid-19 infections and the vaccine strategy.

He told the Chief Ministers to strengthen their efforts for the next 2-3 weeks to check the spread of the virus on a war-footing and to focus on vaccinations and testing and hold a special drive  vaccine festival from April 11 to 14 to cover all eligible beneficiaries over 45. He also asked the states to prevent vaccine wastage.

He defended the eligibility criteria for vaccination amid demand by some states, ruled by Opposition parties, to open the vaccination for all above 18 years. India's criteria is no different from the most prosperous countries in the world, Modi said.

States like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Haryana and Chhattisgarh have complained to the Centre regarding the shortage of oxygen, remdesivir and vaccine supply and said the vaccine drive will be severely impacted due to this. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan dismissed these allegations, saying enough vaccines had been given to the states.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister took the second dose of Covaxin at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, meanwhile, tested positive for Covid-19. He had taken the first dose of the vaccine on March 3.

Addressing the meeting, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said his state has vaccine supply only till Friday, while several vaccine centres in Maharashtra had to be closed for the want of vaccines.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday attacked the Centre for playing politics during the pandemic by giving more vaccines to BJP-ruled states and fewer to non-BJP governed states. He accused the Centre of giving Maharashtra only 7.5 lakh doses against its demand for 40 lakh vaccines. The minister said the state was aiming to vaccinate five to six lakh people daily to break the chain of transmission.

Tope also held meetings with the manufacturers of Covid-19 drug Remdesivir and asked them to double the production for the state. In order to increase beds for patients, the Pune administration has tied up with the Army Hospital to provide 40 ICU beds.

Health minister Harsh Vardhan said: The hue and cry by certain states about partisanship by the Union government is just a farce, an attempt to hide their own incompetence. Maharashtra and Rajasthan are two of the top three states based on the allocation of Covid-19 vaccine doses. Both are non-BJP governed states. Lets put an end to the fear-mongering now! Covid-19 vaccine doses: Total administered: 9 crore plus, in stock/nearing delivery to states: 4.3 crore plus. Where does the question of shortages arise? Were continuously monitoring and enhancing supply.

According to him, Maharashtra was given 1.06 crore vaccine doses, Gujarat 1.05 crore and Rajasthan 1.04 crore, while the countrys average distribution was 37.11 lakh.
Antoinette in the Cevennes is a daffy French farce premised on a lovelorn hike through the picturesque villages of the Massif Central. Theres a man, and a donkey. Turns out the donkey is preferable. But the films real enchantment lies in the deceptively casual contrast between the loose leafy hills and tight stone hamlets of rural France. This also makes it a weepy, because such a story  such a walk  couldnt happen here.

Sure, we have bushwalks and city-walks. We have the occasional pretty village  Sofala or Carcoar. But you cant walk between, much less include half-a-dozen in a six-day loop, with or without donkey. We dont do villages. What we do, with so much wealth and choice, is just two things: developer high-rise and developer sprawl. Thats it. Two building-modes and both  in the absence of anything resembling planning  are developer-driven. The latest instance is Lendleases egregious despoliation of Mount Gilead  now rebadged Figtree Hill.

Appin Road cuts through the home of Sydneys last chlamydia-free koala population. Credit:Saskia Mabin

Its five minutes from Campbelltown centre, if centre is the word, since Campbelltown itself is now enveloped by Sydneys featureless 60-kilometre sprawl. Sixty? Make that eighty. Once Lendlease, Lang Walker and the rest have their way, itll be roof-to-roof all the way to Wilton.

Cars streak along the Appin Road well over the 80km/h speed limit (which the Feds are spending $50 million to make still speedier). To them, the land in question is a blip of green in Sydneys relentless ex-urban sprawl. They probably dont know its also Sydneys last koala habitat, home to one of the few chlamydia-free and growing populations of this beloved species weve driven almost to extinction. Ive never seen koala roadkill. Hope I never will. But it happens here.
Energy poverty represents one of the most critical challenges for development in Africa. According to the International Energy Agency, in 2019, the continent had more than 580 million people without electricity access, with that number expected to grow to 660 million people by 2030.

Energy poverty is catastrophic not only on a macroeconomic level, but it also profoundly impacts peoples daily lives, as without energy, infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and other essential services cannot be developed. Imagine a hospital losing power in the middle of a pandemic? It could cost lives. However, the South African government is currently implementing an excellent short-term option in a solid attempt to address this problem.

It is not new that Eskom faces difficulties providing adequate services, as load shedding on its network has become a regular occurrence. A report issued by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research ( CSIR ) stated that South Africa had 859 hours of load shedding in 2020, representing roughly 10% of the year spent without electricity. Even though load shedding stops country-wide blackouts, it still comes with a hefty cost, as estimations indicate that load shedding had an impact on South Africas economy of between R60 billion and R120 billion in 2019, with an estimated total impact as high as R338 billion since 2007 [1].

Unfortunately, load shedding will continue to be a common occurrence in the near future as power generation in South Africa is not expected to meet demand. According to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy ( DMRE ), South Africas total domestic electricity generation capacity is 58,095 MW from all sources, produced chiefly by state-owned power company Eskom and primarily generated from coal. However, according to Eskoms CEO, Andre de Ruyter, there is still an estimated 4,000MW shortfall in the amount the power utility will supply in the next half-decade [2].

However, the country has been making efforts to reach demand and address energy transition. The South African government approved the Integrated Resource Plan 2019 ( IRP ) outlining the energy mix for the next decade in an attempt to add more energy sources to the mix and the decommissioning of some of Eskoms coal-fired power plants. Also, to increase renewable capacity, the government has been allowing private companies to develop capacity under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme ( REIPPP ), which, despite some setbacks and a long awaited fifth bid, has been a good program. By March 2020, the REIPPP had procured a total of 6,422MW, with 4,201MW of generation capacity operational and made available to the grid [3].

These capacity-building efforts have not reached the required demand, and load shedding keeps happening to this date. However, to immediately meet the supply gap and avoid load shedding, in 2020, the South African government launched the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme ( RMIPPPP ), aiming to procure 2000MW by Q3 2022, with preferred bidders required to reach financial close by the end of July 2021. The RMIPPPP attracted much interest from independent power producers, as the DMRE received 28 offers with a potential contracted capacity of approximately 5,117MW. The DMRE selected eight preferred bidders for a total amount of 1,845 MW. While not being addressed in such a manner, the RMIPPPP is an  emergency  program to access electricity in the short term. It should be beneficial to South Africa and its people.

Of the offers received under the RMIPPPP, more than half (1,220MW) of the capacity from the preferred bidders will be generated by three power ships that will be supplied by Karpowership, a subsidiary of Turkeys Karadeniz Energy Group, in the ports of Coega (450MW), Richards Bay (450MW) and Saldanha (320MW), under 20-year PPAs. These power ships will produce energy from liquified natural gas ( LNG ). According to Business Insider South Africa, they will feed energy back into the grid at a cheaper cost than Eskoms current diesel-burn rate.

These power ships have the advantage of providing almost immediate electricity, so they are an excellent option to meet the supply gap in the short term compared to the years it takes to design, award, and commission other types of power generation projects. Also, as the power ships generate energy from LNG, they are a viable option for most coastal countries, especially countries with access to such resource. Finally, power ships do not require any land or significant development. A connection to the LNG, either from a ship or onshore, is sufficient to get the power ships running.

Some West African countries as Ghana and Senegal, are currently analyzing this option. It should not stop there, as this could be a short-term solution to meet most coastal African countries energy supply, especially to gas producing countries as Nigeria, Mozambique, and Equatorial Guinea. While doing so, governments should not lose sight that this is only a short-term solution and should carefully plan for the projects economics and their power capacity building plans. Also, these countries should not forget other crucial matters as local content, black ownership (in the case of South Africa), and guarantees from the generators to mitigate any event in the duration of these type of projects.

This is not a proposal for African countries to stop developing long-term energy projects or abandon their goals of reducing greenhouse emissions by developing large-scale renewable energy projects. On the contrary, power ships should be considered a viable solution to address energy insecurity issues in the continent in the following years.

Africa and its people cannot wait for governments and companies to agree on the design, pricing, and financing of energy projects with a long development time. African countries need energy now. To grow their economies. To power their industries. And to achieve the most precise and laudable goal of every government: provide for their people.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky spent a night at the positions of Ukrainian servicepersons in eastern Ukraine and visited the frontline positions where Ukrainian soldiers were killed during the recent escalation.

This was reported by the press service of the head of state.

"During a working trip to Donbas, President Volodymyr Zelensky spent a night at the positions of defenders of the independence of the Ukrainian state. On Friday, the president visited the frontline positions, where Ukrainian servicemen were killed and wounded during the recent aggravation of the situation," the report reads.

Zelensky talked to the defenders and presented state awards to them. "Every day you show patriotism and dedication in defending Ukraine. Take care of yourself," he said.

The president and the military honored the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, President Zelensky is on a working trip to eastern Ukraine on April 8-9.

ish
Karimnagar: The Telangana government developing an apparel park over 64.49 acres of land on the outskirts of Poddur village in Sircilla district, is enlisting support from major players for setting up new projects in the textile manufacturing sector.

After the arrival of the lifestyle retailing giant Shoppers Stop, another entity, the Gokaldas Images group, signed an MoU at a meeting with the Telangana government on Friday to set up its manufacturing unit at the apparel park in Rajanna Sircilla district.

The state government is developing the apparel park at a cost of Rs174.86 crore in Sircilla with a view to providing employment for around 20,000 to 25,000 people and giving the much-needed boost to the Sircilla power loom industry. The initiative for this was taken by the textile minister KT Rama Rao.

The basic facilities required for the apparel park have been provided in Sircilla. The last phase of the works is going on at a brisk pace and Sircilla is expected to be the main centre not only for the apparels industry but also for the power loom and textile industries.

Last year, Shoppers Stop Limited, a part of the K Raheja Corporation group, inked a memorandum of understanding with the Telangana government in Mumbai for setting up a manufacturing unit at the apparel park.

Sameer Hinduja, managing director of the Gokaldas Images Company, after inking the MoU with the textile department in the presence of minister KT Rama Rao at Pragathi Bhavan here, said the company would provide employment to around 1,100 people. Some 75 per cent these jobs would be given to women after they are provided proper training in coordination with the Telangana government.

Expressing happiness, KTR said the state government would provide all basic facilities for industries. Only clothes are manufactured in the textile industry in the state till date, but with the entry of Gokaldas, the state will see manufacturing of ready-to-wear (readymade) garments, he said.

Notably, as part of the setting up of an apparel value chain system at the apparel park in Sircilla, the state government has, in collaboration with apparel manufacturer Kay ventures, decided to establish an Apparel Super Hub (ASP) at a cost of Rs.100 crore over a space of 20 acres. The ASP would house around 5,000 art sewing units with its corresponding embroidery, printing, washing, value addition and support facilities and this is proposed to be developed in three phases.
Armenia will most likely hold snap elections. This is what Director of the Caucasus Institute, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan told reporters today, adding that the election campaign that Nikol Pashinyan has already launched and his statement on the construction of a new nuclear power plant serve as evidence of this.

Holding elections now is in Pashinyans favor since he still has support from the people who are still apathetic and dont want to go to elections. Taking into consideration the fact that the crisis will deepen in different sectors, this will have a bad impact on the authorities rating. So, now is the most appropriate time for elections, he stated.

As far as the opposition is concerned, the analyst said he doesnt believe members of the opposition will unite and present a plan. They are against Pashinyan, but arent united around one thing, he added.

Earlier, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan had announced plans to hold snap elections on June 20.
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After the Jan. 6 sacking of the U.S. Capitol, we must recommit the nation to appreciate and understand our democratic form of government and our shared history as Americans. This effort should include the structures and artifacts of our past, which can positively inform the politics of generations to come.

We New Mexicans take pride in our cultural heritage. Our history of diverse cultures has given us many examples of both cooperation and conflict. Today we aspire to respect and understand our shared history and different views across many divides. New Mexico is fortunate to have prominent and successful organizations dedicated to preserving and teaching that history.

The New Mexico History Museum is a statewide educational resource and a landmark destination for anyone who wants to understand the diverse experiences of the people of New Mexico, the dynamics that have shaped our state, and the relationships that connect our region with the rest of the world.

Cornerstones Community Partnerships, largely focused on New Mexico, works in partnership with communities to restore historic structures, preserve cultural landscapes, encourage traditional building practices and conserve natural resources.

The Albuquerque Historical Society (AHS) is a nonprofit membership organization of residents promoting and preserving the history of Albuquerque and the surrounding communities. Thus, present and future generations may know and appreciate its history from settlement in 1706 to its incorporation as the City of Albuquerque, a cultural history that blends Indian, Hispanic and Anglo cultures.

The New Mexico Architectural Foundation promotes architectural excellence in New Mexico by stimulating public understanding and appreciation of architecture and our architectural traditions.

Each of these organizations, along with many others statewide, make significant contributions to our collective understanding and shared history.

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One current undertaking of Cornerstones, Community Partnerships assists Chimayosos to preserve the history of the Plaza del Cerro in Chimayo. This plaza, originally constructed by Spanish settlers in the mid-18th century, is located in a Tewa heritage area. When asked if Tewa people could participate in on-site preservation, the Tewa adoberos approved of this endeavor. The Chimayo Cultural Preservation Association was welcoming and enthusiastic.

Another Cornerstones example is the current Tapestry Preservation Project at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Villanueva. Created for the bicentennial by local women of the valley, this extraordinary assemblage of folk art depicts New Mexico history from pre-Columbian times to the modern era. The hand-sewn iconography of New Mexicos cultural history emphasizes the lifeways of the valley over the centuries.

Lastly, Cornerstones solar initiative focuses on rural and tribal lands. In a Gallup partnership, grassroots solar helps Navajo families attain electrical service. In Laguna Pueblo, the initiative provides solar electricity for a community center. In Nambe Pueblo, hands-on learn by doing solar work centers around youth education. The survival of Native American cultures depends on sustainability. Preservation does not mean ignoring technology, rather innovations like renewable energy make preservation more relevant to current community needs while saving its past.

Respect for our shared history, demonstrated by these projects, lowers barriers and reduces polarization between our various cultures and perspectives. Appreciation for shared history will allow our country to strive to eliminate those barriers nationwide and strengthen our local and regional communities.
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With doubts hanging over foreign holidays this year, Britons are currently staycation-obsessed  and it's Saint Clears in Carmarthenshire, Wales, that's the hotspot, according to Airbnb.

The home rental site has released data on 2021's trending destinations  those that have seen the biggest year-on-year increase in searches among its users  and the top 10 ranking is made up entirely of places in the UK.

Airbnb says that the results show that rural areas across the UK are enjoying a revival. Following Saint Clears comes the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, with the harbour village of Clovelly in Devon occupying third place.

With doubts hanging over foreign holidays this year, Britons are currently staycation-obsessed  and it's Saint Clears in Carmarthenshire, Wales, that's the hotspot, according to Airbnb. This image shows the view to the town along the River Taf, its castle mound visible to the left

The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire has seen the second-biggest search surge year-on-year on Airbnb

Behold the impossibly quaint fishing village of Clovelly in Devon, which comes third in Airbnb's ranking

BRITONS' TOP 10 AIRBNB DESTINATION SEARCHES 1. Saint Clears, Carmarthenshire 2. Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire 3. Clovelly, Devon 4. Bosham, West Sussex 5. Primrose Valley, Yorkshire 6. Mullion, Cornwall 7. Cawsand, Cornwall 8. Noss Mayo, Devon 9. Saunton, Devon 10. East Wittering, Sussex Source: Airbnb, based on year-on-year search increases Advertisement

The rest of the top 10 comprises Bosham, West Sussex (fourth); Primrose Valley, Yorkshire (fifth); Mullion, Cornwall (sixth); Cawsand, Cornwall (seventh); Noss Mayo, Devon (eighth); Saunton, Devon (ninth), and East Wittering, Sussex (10th).

So why are Airbnb's users drawn to Saint Clears?

It could be that the market town's idyllic rural location and hiking opportunities are proving to be strong bait for lockdown-weary Britons.

The historic town sits on the River Taf on a stretch of the Wales Coast Path that according to discovercarmarthenshire.com 'takes you on a journey back in time, when Normans and Welsh fought bitterly to hold the strategic points around Carmarthen Bay, aiming to control passage up the rivers to the heartlands of Wales'.

It adds: 'Beneath each stone is a story, within each community a tale.'

The site recommends a 12km- (7.4-mile) walk from the town to Llansteffan, along a path that threads through Pembrey Forest and the National Trust's 'peaceful farmland at Wharley Point', with mouth-of-the-estuary views one of the cherries on the cake.

Amanda Cupples, General Manager Northern Europe at Airbnb, says: 'As national lockdowns begin to ease, local hosts on Airbnb are ready to open their doors again to provide safe, clean and private stays for those looking to explore beyond their own four walls once more.

'Our trending destinations show that travel this year is likely to be a little different, with many using a summer closer to home to explore lesser-known rural destinations in addition to the well-loved favourites.

'With local communities needing support now more than ever, everyday Britons are doing their part, becoming hosts on Airbnb and turning their homes into economic empowerment engines to boost recovery.'

Prospective hosts in the UK can learn more about how much they could earn by sharing their space on Airbnb through the What's My Place Worth tool.

The interactive tool calculates the estimated income based on geography, type of listing, and uses prior local Airbnb booking data. For more information, visit Airbnb.com/host.

Airbnb said: 'During last summer, hosts on Airbnb in the UK earned more than 225million, with the average host pocketing nearly 1,000.'

Fourth on the staycation hotspot list is Bosham, pictured, a picturesque village in West Sussex

Taking fifth place in Airbnb's 2021 ranking of search hotspots is Primrose Valley in Yorkshire, which is home to this expansive coastal caravan park

Why Mullion in Cornwall makes the top 10 is summed up by this image of the village's stunning coastline

Cawsand village, pictured, in Cornwall takes seventh place on the Airbnb search hotspot table

Pretty as a picture: Noss Mayo in Devon is eighth on the staycation-boom hotlist

This stress-busting image shows the beach at Saunton in Devon, which is No.9 on the list
GCW ACID CUP 2021 FINALS REPORT FROM TAMPA, FLORIDA

By Adam Cardoza on 2021-04-09 17:41:00

GCW Acid Cup 3 (Day 2)

4/9/21 - 3pm

Tampa, FL - Streaming on FITE.tv

Its day 2 of Acid Cup! We have 7 competitors to eliminate from the bracket this afternoon. Who lives? Who dies?

Match 1: Calvin Tankman vs Dragon Bane (Quarterfinals)

Speed vs Power. Bane comes in fast and staggers the big man but Tankman hits a big powerbomb and press pin for two. Tankman landing big shots but Bane is resilient. Bane with some useless chops and Tankman returns with some withering shots. Bane with a rana and hooks both legs for two. Tankman eats the concrete but its not enough. Bane reverses a powerbomb to another rana. Superkicks and a destroyer! Bane with a beautiful shooting star but Calvin is out at two. One arm spinebuster, backfist and the sitout tombstone, Calvin Tankman advances.

Winner: Calvin Tankman

Match 2: AJ Gray vs Lee Moriarty (Quarterfinals)

Moriarty makes this HIS match early one, trying to wrap the aggressive Gray into the grap traps. Grays a champion and not out of his element here, wrapping up the legs and forcing Lee to the rope. Gray working Lees taped up ribs with elbows and a backbreaker. Gray is just slapping them ribs. Ow. Lee up with a double stomp. Gray wants the lariat but Lee hits a german for two. Spinning kick to the throat of Gray. AJ is mad and clubs a short lariat for two. AJ tries a powerbomb, Lee up and over, sunset flip roll up....GRAY IS CAUGHT FOR THREE. Whaaaaaaat?!!? I know Lee is IWTV champ but this feels like a huge upset to me.

Winner: Lee Moriarty

Match 3: Arez vs Cole Radrick (Quarterfinals)

Arez wants to do lucha stuff off the wrist but Radrick takes him into the graps, standing confident again and again against his opponent. Arez seems frustrated every time they disengage. Cole with a kick to the head and lariat to the back of the head for two. Trading face slaps, Arez fires up but Cole hits an air raid crash for two. Arez trying to work the ribs, big kicks to the chin. Dropkick, mizline, double stomp off the top and Arez gets a two. Arez has Cole up but Radrick slips it and hits a suplex and wrenches Arez into a sitout powerbomb to get the pin!

Winner: Cole Radrick

It looks like Laredo Kid couldnt compete in Day 2. Jordan Oliver says that hes going to fight the man Kid beat in Round 1: Brayden Lee. OH NICE.

Match 4: Jordan Oliver vs Brayden Lee (Quarterfinals)

Handshake of respect for Brayden stepping up today for a second chance in the bracket. Lee working a headlock, dumps Oliver out and dives after. Oliver walking it off but catches Lee coming after him with shots. Big Breakfast launches back into the ring with a corner stunner and short arm lariat for two. Lee whipped into a dropkick. Oliver drags Lee down in the head scissors. Lee picks up into an electric chair drop, Oliver is stunned. Fighting to the top rope. Oliver tries a back suplex but Lee turns it into a crossbody! Trading slaps and chops as they recover. Lee with a springboard clothesline for two. Oliver with a step up enziguri stuns Lee on the top. Oliver with a blue thunder bomb off the top! Two count?!? Lee with a poisonrana off the top and a powerbomb. Two count! Lee comes running, Oliver with that big boot again and he takes the win!

Winner: Jordan Oliver

Match 5: El Hijo de Canis Lupus vs Gabe Skye (Non-Tournament Match)

Fast paced lucha sequences to start this. Lupus works Skye into the corner and tries to choke him out with the foot. Skye germans him and crumples with a head kick for two. Lupus with a pop-up kick and a swinging german with bridge for two. Lupus tries a powerbomb, Skye with a ddt and facebuster for two. Skye with a double stomp off the top but Lupus wont stay down. Battle back to the top and Spanish fly down, Lupus with a GTS, a powerbomb and charging knee to put Skye down. JESUS THAT FINISH. O_O

Winner: El Hijo de Canis Lupus

Match 6: Calvin Tankman vs Lee Moriarty (Semi-Finals)

Lees ribs are still taped up and he has a HUGE test in this round. Lee in fast but Tankman with a popup knee right to those ribs. Calvin steps on em. Calvin puts his big fist into em. Lee with forearms but Tankman slams him. Tankman with a body scissors and Lee is in anguish. To the feet, Tankman with a big forearm and Lee tumbles to the concrete. Lee back in n Calvin is throwing knees to the mid-section. Lee can barely stand up, he jaw jacks Calvin repeatedly to make space. He finds his range with an enziguri. Lee to the top after stunning the big man, Tankman uppercuts. Calvin hits a gutbuster to the top turnbuckle and Lee tumbles to the floor. Lee back to stun Tankman and hit a double stomp. Lee hurting himself to throw a series of chest kicks. Tankman absorbs, headbutt to the torso, gutbuster, clothesline but Lee doesnt give it up! Calvin going for the Tankman driver but Lee slips into a sleeper hold. Its deep and Tankman crumbles. The Ref checks the hand, Calvin is still alive. Lee starts dropping a flurry of elbows to the back of the head, Tankman goes limp and the ref stops this one!

Winner: Lee Moriarty

Match 7: Jordan Oliver vs Cole Radrick (Semi-Finals)

This going fast, Cole and Jordan throwing punches in the pocket. Cole throwing kicks. Oliver hits a uranage out of the corner for two. More punches traded, Oliver with a high kick that crumbles them both. Cole whiffs a kick and Oliver his a german. He doesnt let go of the grip, wearing down Radrick. Step up enziguri collides Radrick face to the buckle. Cole up to the top, Oliver wants to toss him off it. Cole fights it off, Jordan tries a powerbomb, Cole with a pin reversal for two! Cole trying an abdominal stretch but Oliver with a sitout powerbomb for two! Trading slaps wild back and forth. Saito suplex from Cole! Oliver catches him running with that big boot again! ONE TWO THREE!

Winner: Jordan Oliver

Match 8: Ken Broadway vs Marcus Mathers vs Lucas Riley vs Matt Vandagriff vs Damian Drake vs Facade (non-Tournament Match)

Fast start to this, Broadway hangs in the corner while everyone beats each other up. Everyone adopts this strategy while Riley and Drake go head to head. Mathers with a powerbomb brings Broadway into the match to break the pin. Springboard moonsault from Ken crushes the rib of Mathers and Facade enters the fray. The Unguided pull Broadway out of the ring and Vandagriff comes in to face Facade. Drake joins in but Facade is holding his own. Double dropkick to the Unguided. Riley in but eats a springboard cutter from Facade. Facade back to the top but the Unguided clobber him down from there. Suplex plexand a double suplex to Facade. Broadway cuts it off and almost gets the pin himself. Mathis with a rollup to Broadway for two. Mahers with a moonsault into a flip headlock driver to Broadway! Vandagriff slingshots into a poisonrana. Riley with a step up knee to Drake. Uranage/DDT combo to eh Unguided for a near fall! Mathers with a tombstone to the apron on Riley. Drake PKs Broadway, moonsault to the floor. Vandagriff flies over the ring post to Mathers. Facade off the top...no! Drake cuts the spot off. Springboard blockbuster to Drake on the outside! Broadway dumps Facade into the chairs. Broadway with a german bridge to Drake out of nowhere and hes down for the three!

Winner: Ken Broadway

Main Event: Jordan Oliver vs Lee Moriarty (Finals)

Right into the graps to start but Oliver starts a shot right into the injured ribs of Lee. Moriarty wraps up a hammerlock and tosses Oliver to the floor. Oliver back in after dousing himself in water and getting a drink. Lee tries to take control back but runs into a dropkick. Oliver digs the elbow in the ribs while getting the two count. Oliver puts the ribs to the buckles, wraps a body scissors and working a dragon sleeper. Lee rolls back and tries a pin but falls into a Nelson. Lee wrenches the ankles of Jordan to break the hold. Lee dodges and Oliver posts himself. Lee around to the outside and kicking at the weakening arm and shoulder of Oliver. Oliver posts Lee out of desperation. Moriarty kneeling into the arms and wrists of Oliver back in the ring. Trading slaps, double clothesline, double down. Oliver fakes a high kick, blasts the ribs. Oliver hits the big boot but Lee is out. Oliver tries to come off the top, Lee pulls him down and tries to lock an armbar. Oliver squirms out and into a Boston Crab to get the tap out! Nice!



Winner of Acid Cup 3: Jordan Oliver

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The dreary weather today hasnt stopped students from gathering in Tauranga city to make their voices heard surrounding the issues of climate change.

The protest is part of a nationwide movement of school students called School Strike 4 Climate.

The group of students, who marched from The Strand starting at 12pm today, through Devonport road, before circling back to the Tauranga City Council building all had one thing in common.

Their futures are more important than missing a few hours of school.

Signs were held high as the group moved through the city, gaining toots and cheers of encouragement from passers-by.

Students, Maraea Schuurmans, left, and Natalia House with their recycled sign from the last march.

One sign read: The earth is hotter than my crush, with another reading: Dont leave us your leftovers.

A megaphone heightened the voices of the young students, who recited chants to be heard all over the city.

High school student Natalia House says she doesnt want our world to become a post-apocalyptic world from a movie.

Our time is running out, and its scary, says Natalia.

Fellow peer, Maraea Schuurmans adds that this march means a lot to her.

Our future lies in their hands, says Maraea.

Green Party co-leader James Shaw says the party fully supports the demands of the climate strikers.

Today the climate strikers have provided a set of demands that would help meet the scale of the challenge we have ahead. And their message couldnt be clearer: we need to act; and we need to act right now.

Students marching outside the Tauranga City Council building.

The decisions this Government takes will shape the type of world the climate strikers inherit from us. This is the world of their friends, classmates, brothers, sisters, and cousins.

If we want their future to be safe, prosperous and stable, then we will need to do more to rapidly bring down emissions, whilst ending inequality, and making life better for everyone.

Later this year the Government will publish an Emissions Reduction Plan setting out how we plan to meet our climate targets. The climate strikers demands will form an important part of this work.

Not least their demands to ensure a just transition, an honouring of our Pasifika neighbours, and more climate education in schools, Shaw says.
The HomeFront Family Preservation Center accommodates 38 families, giving them on-site access to childcare, job training and other services designed to break the cycle of homelessness.

HomeFront founder and CEO Connie Mercer earlier this week spoke to a socially-distanced crowd during a ceremony in front of the 42,000-square-foot building which once housed a Naval Training Center. Work began almost 7 years ago to convert the facility after $6M was raised. The grand opening was held in September of 2015. She thanked everybody for making sure the full potential of HomeFront Family Campus can now be realized.

The event held Monday morning marked the extension by NJ Transit of its 608 bus line, which will connect all the major transportation hubs in Mercer County, the airport and the three train stations, and have a stop at HomeFronts Family Campus.

And wearing my citizen of Mercer County hat, well this makes so much sense to connect all the transportation hubs in our community. This has been a long time coming, Mercer said.

This new extension will be a welcome addition to so many customers, said Michael Kilcoyne, NJ Transit general manager of bus operations.

It will give families and vulnerable New Jerseyians easy access to all the vital services provided by this amazing facility. Pointing to the agencys first ever strategic plan, NJT 2030, he added, Modernizing our bus network was also identified as a key strategy. We are beginning the process to completely reimagine and redesign our entire bus network.

Thursday, April 8, 2021 - NJ Transit extends bus line 608 to include HomeFront Family Preservation Center in Ewing, allowing city residents public transportation access to its services.

Thursday, April 8, 2021 - Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes speaks at a socially-distanced ceremony marking the extension of NJ Transit bus line 608 to include HomeFront Family Preservation Center in Ewing. Chief Operating Officer at HomeFront and Councilwoman, Township of Ewing is at right.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

In his remarks, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes pointed out that the idea wasnt well received initially. In our first meeting with New Jersey Transit when we said, can you extend the bus line out to the airport, we almost got laughed out of the room.

And I appreciate that. Its very difficult to extend the bus line. However when Connie came on, and Connie started making the plea for what she needed here at HomeFront, that changed the dynamic altogether. And it should have.

Praising the Trenton-Mercer Airport, and all the commercial flights that fly out of Mercer, Hughes said that some people may never get on a plane to take a flight. But now, they have more convenient transportation options.

The best they may do is get on one of these 608 buses and travel somewhere where they need to buy groceries for their family or take their kids to school, or to make sure that their families, who they are trying to knit together and hold together and provide services for, here at the HomeFront Center, that theyre able to do that, so I want to thank you Connie.

Thursday, April 8, 2021 - NJ Transit extends bus line 608 to include HomeFront Family Preservation Center in Ewing, allowing city residents public transportation access to its services.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Thursday, April 8, 2021 - A socially-distanced ceremony marks the extension of NJ Transit bus line 608 to include HomeFront Family Preservation Center in Ewing, allowing city residents public transportation access to its services.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Thursday, April 8, 2021 - Dignitaries participate in a ribbon-cutting marking the extension of NJ Transit bus line 608 to include HomeFrontFamily Preservation Center in Ewing, allowing city residents public transportation access to its services.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Thursday, April 8, 2021 - HomeFront founder and CEO Connie Merce, right, chats with NJ Transit bus driver Andre Carter after a ribbon cutting to mark the extension of bus service to HomeFront's Family Campus. Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Thursday, April 8, 2021 - NJ Transit bus driver Andre Carter shows adaptable space to accommodate wheelchairs inside the bus he drives. Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Michael Mancuso may be reached at mmancuso@njadvancemedia.com
(Natural News) Chiles government was praised throughout the world for its model rollout of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines. But the South American nation is now being hammered by a massive coronavirus outbreak that has threatened to overwhelm the countrys health systems.

The Chilean government has vaccinated more of its population than any other country in the Americas, exceeding even the vaccination rate of the United States. It has already vaccinated approximately 35 percent of its population. Only four other nations have vaccinated a larger percentage of its population: Bhutan, the United Arab Emirates, Seychelles and Israel. (Related: Breakthrough coronavirus cases still being reported, some even dying despite being fully vaccinated.)

But the countrys mass inoculation campaign has not saved it from a recent surge in coronavirus cases, which have doubled in the country and in other neighboring South American nations during the past few weeks. The countrys intensive care units are running at 95 percent occupancy.

Nowhere are infections as worrisome as in South America, where cases are mounting in nearly every country, said Dr. Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Chilean health officials argue rise in cases is not indicative of failure of vaccines

Public health experts in Chile have argued that the rise in coronavirus cases does not mean the mass vaccination campaign is not working.

Miguel ORyan, a professor of medicine at the University of Chile and a member of the science ministrys vaccine advisory committee, said the country did not expect the inoculations to make a big impact on infections until mid-2021. What we are seeing now is simply  and tragically  what happened in all of the northern hemisphere, with a few exceptions, as autumn started [six months ago].

The government was over-optimistic in believing that its successful vaccination program would avoid a new wave of infections, argued Eduardo Engel, an economist working for the Chilean government.

Engel explained that in early February the government gave its people the false impression that one dose of the coronavirus vaccine was all people needed. That led to people getting too relaxed, while the government was not very strict at implementing restrictions.

PAHO Assistant Director Jarbas Barbosa believes the immunization program will only have an effect when between 70 to 80 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated.

We really dont know yet what is the level that will provide  herd immunity, said Barbosa, adding that it is important for Chile to keep lockdown measures in place to prevent further transmission.

Ian Sample and Oliver Holmes, journalists writing for The Guardian, have even argued that, with transmission rates in the country at such a high level, a far greater proportion of the population will need to be vaccinated to get on top of the pandemic.

Other experts have argued that the rise in cases is because Chileans have been given a false sense of security, which led to the early rolling back of lockdown restrictions and social distancing rules.

This is what Ximena Aguilera, an epidemiologist serving in the advisory committee of the Chilean health ministry, has argued. According to her, a lot of the new cases came about when many Chileans began moving around the country for the summer holidays in March.

Aguilera has also blamed the less strict adherence to social distancing regulations that came about due to the supposed success of the vaccination program as well as lockdown fatigue.

Vaccines are just one part of our COVID response, argued Etienne. And we must continue to rely on public health measures to keep our populations and our countries safe.

Aguilera, Engel and many other experts have also pinned the blame on the proliferation of more infectious COVID-19 variants, particularly the P1 strain from Brazil.

The government did little to stop new variants entering the country, even though it knew since December that it was a major risk factor, said Engel.

Learn more about the ineffective mass vaccination campaigns in countries like Chile by reading the latest articles at Vaccines.news.

Sources include:

FT.com

TheGuardian.com

RepublicWorld.com

NYTimes.com

France24.com
Even though the US has now entered its fourth surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, driven primarily by the uncontrolled spread of more infectious and lethal variants in schools, the drive to reopen schools and keep them open continues apace.

On Thursday, New York Citys Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio unilaterally changed Department of Education (DOE) rules, making it more difficult to temporarily close schools when there are COVID-19 outbreaks.

In this March 31, 2021, file photo, students at Wyandotte County High School are separated by plastic dividers on the first day of in-person learning at the school in Kansas City, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Until now, schools had to close for 10 days whenever two cases were detected in the same building within a seven-day period, but starting Monday the threshold will be raised to four cases. Further, the four infections must be determined to have originated inside the school, which is all but impossible given the totally inadequate contact tracing in the city. Significantly, whole schools will no longer close for 24 hours when outbreaks occur, with only individual classrooms closing temporarily.

These changes were made one day before the latest deadline for families to opt-in for in-person learning and are part of a transparent effort to pack the schools as much as possible and keep them open regardless of the spread of the virus. The latest opt-in period was itself announced on March 24, just after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unscientifically reduced distancing recommendations between students from six feet to three feet.

To date, the vast majority of New York City families have chosen to keep their children learning safely from home, with roughly 700,000 out of the districts 1.1 million students learning remotely. Since schools first reopened last September, 10,717 students and 10,618 staff have officially tested positive, with only 20 percent of the districts students and staff tested weekly. Only 44 percent of DOE employees have been vaccinated, with 82,000 employees totally unprotected from the deadly virus.

In-person learning has been chaotic, with 13,612 classroom closures and 2,373 extended building closures since last September, as schools often announce closures hours before the school day is to begin. The easing of school closure rules is being combined with a propaganda campaign falsely claiming that schools are safe, in order to entice families to send their children back.

As with de Blasios unilateral decision last November to bypass the citys rules in order to reopen elementary schools, Thursdays move was immediately endorsed by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) in the face of enormous opposition among educators.

The UFT tweeted a statement which read in part: Our independent medical experts have advised us to shift our attention from unlinked cases within schools to the cases within schools that can be traced to a common source. Our focus should shift to even greater monitoring inside the schools to avoid spread. Echoing the line of de Blasio, the Biden administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the UFT wrote: We understand that as circumstances and science evolve, policies should shift to keep up. American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten retweeted the statement.

The UFT censored multiple comments on their tweet, undoubtedly those most critical of the union. One comment still under the post correctly notes: This new rule is not based in science or valid data. It is based on an agenda. Schools with huge #s of cases will stay open because the origin of cases cant be determined (community spread is too high). This is a convoluted way of agreeing to eliminating all closure protocols.

The loosening of restrictions in New York City is part of a nationwide push to fully reopen schools and businesses long before the pandemic is contained. On Monday, the CDC modified its guidelines on disinfecting surfaces, citing studies that show the coronavirus is not primarily spread through fomite transmission but rather through respiratory droplets.

The impetus for this change in guidelines appears to be mostly financial, to reduce expenses on disinfectant supplies and has nothing to do with protecting people. There are so many unknowns with COVID-19, in particular, the new variants that are emerging and a whole host of other viruses that are readily spread through fomites.

For the past two months, there has been an unrelenting torrent of lies and distortions of science directed by the Biden administration and parroted by the CDC, the corporate media, and the teachers unions in order to justify reopening schools en masse.

On February 12, the CDC modified its school reopening guidelines to encourage districts to reopen at any level of community transmission, only noting ventilation twice and encouraging districts to open windows instead of renovate their air filtration systems.

Four days later, Biden himself lied directly to a second grader at a nationally televised CNN town hall, telling her, Youre not likely to be able to be exposed to something and spread it to mommy or daddy. He added, Kids dont get  COVID very often. Its unusual for that to happen Youre in the safest group of people in the whole world.

On March 19, the CDC further updated its guidelines to recommend only three-foot distancing between students, in order to pack as many as possible into classrooms, with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky stating that science evolved for this purpose. The following week, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona hosted an hours-long propaganda event to push school reopenings and has since launched a nationwide tour for this campaign. Speaking on Tuesday in Philadelphia, which began reopening schools last month, Cardona said, Thats the message we want to get across the country, that we can safely reopen schools if we follow certain steps and we can do it quickly.

The results of these criminal distortions of science, which the World Socialist Web Site comprehensively exposed and warned against, are now on full display. Throughout the Upper Midwest and Northeast regions, massive outbreaks in K-12 schools that largely reopened in February and March are now fueling the fourth surge of the pandemic.

Since February 22, there have been 357 recorded outbreaks in K-12 schools in Michigan, with a 20 percent increase in just the last week. Schools are now the number one source of new outbreaks in the state, where daily new cases have increased by more than 700 percent in the past two months and hospitals are now at 92 percent capacity.

Last week, Minnesota reported 749 COVID-19 infections in schools. In Massachusetts, there were 801 new cases reported among students and 244 among school staff last week. In Iowa City (population 75,000), 564 students and 22 staff were quarantined this week as 99 students and four staff tested positive for the virus.

On Tuesday, schools in Pittsburgh reopened for in-person classes, starting with the primary grade students and expanding to the secondary students in the coming weeks. As a result, every school district in Pennsylvania now has some level of in-person education. COVID-19 cases have been rising for the past four weeks in Pittsburgh and throughout the state, as the states daily new case count has climbed back to the peak reached in January.

At least 218 active and retired educators have died from COVID-19 in 2021, according to Education Week. One of the most recent deaths took place in Covington County, Alabama, where 61-year-old Sheila Smith passed away on March 26 after contracting the virus while teaching in-person. Despite this tragedy and numerous other teachers deaths, the state is proceeding to end its mask mandate this Friday and is reducing its quarantining rules.

In the coming weeks, a number of major school districts are pressing ahead with reopening plans, either beginning with elementary and middle schools or adding high schools. In each instance, the teachers unions have been full accomplices in the reopening process.

On Monday, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second largest in the US, is set to begin reopening elementary schools. Initial surveys indicate that roughly 200,000 of the districts 665,000 students are expected to return for in-person learning. On April 19, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is set to begin reopening high schools, despite elementary schools already becoming hotbeds of infection throughout the city. Schools are also set to reopen in the coming weeks in Portland, Seattle, and other districts, while a growing number aim to fully reopen high schools.

The UFTs role in New York City has been mirrored in every district, with the teachers unions playing the most critical role in subordinating their members health and safety to the demands of the ruling elites that schools reopen in order to send parents back to work producing corporate profits.

The ruthless drive to reopen schools is broadly opposed by educators, parents and students across the US, who are organizing rank-and-file committees independently of the unions to carry out a fight against these policies. A Tennessee teacher and member of the Tennessee Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee told the World Socialist Web Site, I support the immediate shutdown of all in-person instruction and nonessential businesses until the pandemic is contained and communities are vaccinated. It doesnt take much more than having paid attention in a high school biology class to know that COVID will continue to spread as long as humans continue to gather together.

She added, To choose not to shut down is choosing that more illness and death is acceptable as long as corporate profits continue to fill the pockets of the elites. At the end of the day, this is the cynical choice Biden and Randi Weingarten are making for school personnel, students, families and communities all over this country: They choose profits over our lives.
WILLIAMSPORT -- A former securities broker in Tennessee has admitted emailing false and forged documents as part of a scheme that misappropriated $5.7 million from the pension plan of a Centre County business.

John Sherman Jumper, 55, of Memphis, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. Middle District Court to a charge of wire fraud.

The government has set the loss from the scheme at $2.7 million because the pension plan for hourly workers at Snow Shoe Refractories of Clarence was repaid $3 million.

The charge to which Jumper pleaded guilty involved an email he sent to the pension plans unidentified actuary in Harrisburg that contained false and fraudulent information.

He admitted falsely representing himself as a vice president of the refractory business that manufactures and sells fireclay and high alumina refractory brick and related products.

Jumper owned Alluvion Securities in Memphis, which he voluntarily closed. He told Judge Matthew W. Brann he has lost all his professional licenses.

His link to Snow Shoe, according to court documents, was to encourage a friend and United Methodist minister Brett Blair to acquire Premier Refractories Inc. in 2004.

Blair, with Brian Porterfield, also a United Methodist minister, formed BBBP Acquisition, which bought Premier in February 2007 and renamed it Snow Shoe. Jumper was paid $250,000 for facilitating the purchase.

Assistant U.S. Attorney George J. Rocktashel gave this synopsis of the scheme in which Jumper arranged for three transfers of pension plan funds:

The money went into accounts controlled by him, used by him and other investors to acquire a tubing plant in Arkansas, purchase several small businesses and pay down $1.2 million of his personal debt.

He held financial interests in the acquired businesses and he received over a $1 million in fees through Alluvion in connection with the purchase of the tubing business.

Beginning in 2007 and continuing through 2012, Jumper forged the signature of Blair, the majority owner of Snow Shoe, on a number of documents that purported to give him authority to approve the transfer of pension plan assets.

Although Jumper was widely viewed as Snow Shoes point of contact with Merrill Lynch, the plans trustee, neither Blair, minority owner Porterfield or any other officer or shareholder had granted him authority to transfer funds from the plan.

In March 2015, Jumper, without Blairs knowledge, put together a deal with other investors through Alluvion to acquire a refrigeration tubing manufacturer in Arkansas.

That month he caused the transfer of $3 million from the pension plan with about $2.27 million going to the purchase of assets and $725,364 for operating capital.

For the rest of 2015, the new entity, American Tubing Arkansas paid $1,040,500 in fees to Alluvion Securities that in turn made periodic payments to Jumper.

American Tubing paid interest payments on the $3 million until it was acquired by another entity and pension plan was repaid in full as part of the purchase agreement.

In November 2015, Jumper used forged documents to transfer another $2 million to pay off a $1.2 million personal loan, purchase small businesses called Speedee Brakes, Thousand Hills Capital and Evertone Records and to pay legal fees and penalties that had been imposed by securities regulators.

This time he forged the signatures of Blair and Porterfield, represented he was a director and vice president of Snow Shoe and that a bank had been appointed custodian of the transferred pension funds.

In February 2016, Jumper again used forged corporate documents to show Snow Shoe directors authorized the transfer of $700,000 from the pension fund to accounts for the three small businesses.

The scheme began to unravel in February 2018 with the actuary in Harrisburg inquired about the three pension plan transfers.

His response concealed the $5.7 million in transfers that were used to purchase businesses and to pay off Jumpers personal debts.

Jumper, who remains free pending sentencing, will be required to make full restitution under the plea agreement.

Charges of embezzlement, theft and making false statements are to be dismissed at sentencing, the date of which has not been set.

Jumper, who has a court-appointed attorney because he claims to have no income, also is defendant in a related federal suit that has been on hold pending the outcome of the criminal case.

Snow Shoe, as administrator for the pension plan for hourly workers, seeks to recoup all losses attributed to Jumper.

The plan was worth about approximately $9.8 million about the time Jumper was communicating with Merrill Lynch about the $3 million transfer, the civil suit states.
(Natural News) If you were to stroll through any typical upper-middle-income American neighborhood in 2021, the odds are very high that youd observe at least one yard sign exuberantly proclaiming something like this: In this house, we believe that science is real, love is love, no human is illegal   and other banal tautologies. There are usually six or seven examples in this litany, but really, one of the main goals of the yard signaside from signaling virtuecan be accomplished with just this: the curtsy to Science.

(Article by Gregory Gordon republished from Mises.org)

In a country where the traditional definition of virtue has evolved and the search for metaphysical truth has largely been sidelined, millions of Americans seem to believe that there is no higher truth than the Science and that there are no more virtuous citizens than those who deferentially submit to the experts, the societal planners, and the proclaimers of the Science. We can thank the Enlightenment for this spirit of scientism, as Science has now been fully separated from teleology (i.e., goal directedness) and final causality, which many elites consider to be backward Medieval thinking.

This separationand the general idea that human beings and their interactions can be boiled down to and predicted by physical phenomena and scientific methodshas led to numerous destructive movements such as scientific socialism, historical materialism, and even progressive racialism. While Science has indeed provided wonderful breakthroughs that enhanced human flourishing, it does not engender all knowledge that is necessary for human societies.

As John Gray has documented in Seven Types of Atheism, several of the leading Enlightenment figuresincluding David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Voltaireinfused some of their writings with a pseudoanthropological racism. This is particularly evident in Kants Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime and Humes notes accompanying his National Characters essay. Gray states that: Though twenty-first century missionaries for Enlightenment values resist the fact, modern racism emerged from the work of Enlightenment philosophes.

Out of the Enlightenments penumbra of positivism, proponents of eugenics and scientific racism achieved some prominence in the late 1800s and the Progressive Era of the early 1900s. Eugenics notoriously sought to use Science to purify the human race through selective breeding practices and even forced sterilization. Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, coined the term eugenics and began to apply Darwins work in evolution to human societies. Margaret Sanger, the well-known founder of the American Birth Control League and the first president of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, infamouslyand with a disturbing enthusiasmworked to reduce the birth rate in African American communities as part of the Negro Project. Sanger also advocated for the sterilization of disabled people.

None of this is meant to imply that all Enlightenment thinkers were racists (they werent), or that all progressives support eugenics (they dont). Going beyond merely calling attention to the dark underbelly of one of the Wests sacred cows, though, its a relatively safe assertion that the Enlightenments intellectual offspringincluding technocrats, government science advisors, and the elite expert class of academics and commentatorshave been responsible for disastrous public policy measures over the past several decades.

Thankfully, not all of their recommendations and prognostications have come to fruition. Paul Ehrlich (a professor of biology at Stanford, fellow at the National Academy of Sciences, and evangelist for population control measures) outlandishly predicted a number of neo-Malthusian horrors, including the mass starvation of hundreds of millions of humans, increases in global poverty, and an exploding world population in the 1970s and 1980s. The spread of free market ideas, advances in medicine, and other latent factors have ensured that his Population Bomb never went off, but impacts of his work still haunt us, in the modern Green and Build Back Better movements.

Harmful, impractical, and costly ideas of the expert class, as well as the experts themselves, often infiltrate the governments regulatory machine, at which time they are inflicted upon the general populace. Murray Rothbard discussed this in Power and Market:

Furthermore, the government itself contains mechanisms that lead to poor choices of experts and officials. For one thing, the politician and the government expert receive their revenues, not from service voluntarily purchased on the market, but from a compulsory levy on the populace. These officials, therefore, wholly lack the pecuniary incentive to care about serving the public properly and competently. And, what is more, the vital criterion of fitness is very different in the government and on the market. In the market, the fittest are those most able to serve the consumers; in government, the fittest are those most adept at wielding coercion and/or those most adroit at making demagogic appeals to the voting public.

Despite all of their misaligned incentives, which often lead to detrimental outcomes for individuals and small communities, the technocratic expert class is still intimately involved in practically every aspect of our lives. Nothing in recent times illustrates this more poignantly than the arrival of SARS-CoV-2.

In early 2020, Americans were besieged by a tidal wave of sloppy, reckless, and malevolently pessimistic news stories and information about the burgeoning coronavirus pandemic. Medical scientists and bureaucrats at the World Health Organization overestimated covids mortality rate at an alarming 34 percent. (The infection fatality rate is now estimated at ~0.15 percent.) Public health officials took the worst-case-scenario fatality estimates of epidemiological modelers such as the now disgraced Neil Ferguson at Imperial College London, promulgated them throughout the corporate media, and began implementing draconian measures that would radically alter civil society.

In the first months of the pandemic, the government monopolized and bungled the distribution of covid tests and the Food and Drug Administration delayed approvals for new test alternatives. Then US surgeon general Jerome Adams and Dr. Anthony Fauci admonished the public that they should not be wearing masks in public, before completely reversing themselves months later. Fauci would go on to mislead Americans about threshold numbers for herd immunity, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would end up changing the scientifically conjured social distance spacing from precisely six feet to precisely three feet, coinciding with growing political pressure to reopen schools. In March of 2020, the federal government and most states coordinated a de facto national lockdown of the economy.

Millions of people were ordered to stay home, stay safe for the disastrous two-week flatten the curve crusade that would last for more than a year in some states. Government scientists and public health experts decided that the livelihoods of tens of millions were expendable, and the educational and social needs of a generation of young Americans could be sacrificed for the common good. Thousands of cancer screenings and other medical tests were postponed for several months, under the Lockdown regime. Many small businesses and restaurants will never open again. The pain caused by government experts will be felt for many years.

Of course, scientists qua scientists were never supposed to run our society. Scientific technocrats and the expert class cannot possibly possess all of the knowledge that they would need to effectively run the lives of 330 million Americans, but that will not stop them from trying. They might be Enlightened, but perhaps there is still an incorrigible, ornery remnant in the United States who will resist efforts to be managed, regulated, and perfected by the experts

Read more at: Mises.org and ScienceFraud.news.
While some of its eight programs affected by a hacking incident have gone back online, a company official said Thursday that Applus Technologies continues to work with the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles to get their program up and running safely and securely as quickly as we can.

Following an attempted malware attack, some of Applus programs were halted. In Connecticut, that affected the state DMVs ability to offer emissions testing services.

Dennis Palmer, the vice president of corporate development for Applus Technologies, said the process to go live involves three stages: The remediation process, the restoration process  which is the one theyre currently in  and after that, the go live phase.

Once weve completed phase 2, the restoration, well do some testing to make sure its safe and secure, he said. Thats our primary concern right now is to make sure everything is safe and secure before we go live.

The company hopes to have some information shortly in terms of a little bit more definitive timeline, he added.

Shaun Formica, state DMV communications director, wrote in an email that procedures were altered last week to allow customers to register vehicles regardless of vehicle emissions test status.

Emissions testing requirements will need to be met at a later time, Formica wrote. DMV will provide information to customers when the system is back online.

Additionally, dealerships have been given the option to give 30-day registrations to those buying vehicles there, according to Formica. And when the system goes live again, [p]ermanent registrations will be issued, Formica wrote.

Formica also wrote that the agency had notified law enforcement last week to ask for their cooperation to not cite those with an expired emissions test during this outage.

As far as whether anyones information was compromised, Palmer said theyre still looking at that, but there wasnt any evidence of it right now. A recommendation from the company for people to check their personal information came out of an abundance of caution, he said.

That statement was made not because there was anything in particular or specific we identified, its just good practice, he said.

The company had told customers in a Q&A to monitor your financial accounts for any unauthorized activity and alert authorities and your bank if you see anything unusual.

Regarding the cyberattack, Palmer said it involved sophisticated malware, and they believed the incident was a crime.

So we turned the information over to the FBI, he said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation didnt say whether the agency was investigating the incident.

In keeping with DOJ policy, the FBI neither confirms nor denies the existence of any investigation, according to an email from Tina Jagerson, a representative from the FBI National Press Office.

.
The latest estimates by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) reveal that about 14.3 million illegal immigrants live in the US. People from other countries sneak into the US mostly because of the availability of jobs, knowing that there's no mandatory e-verification for all employers.

In addition to that, local governments in the US have been quite fair to illegal immigrants in that they allow them to benefit from social welfare programs, give them driver's licenses, and in-state college tuition, among many other benefits.

The Catch

Nevertheless, many undocumented immigrants wouldn't want their immigration status to be revealed since they're never sure whether the law will catch up with them or not. And this is especially true when it comes to car accident cases.

Many undocumented immigrants shy from filing lawsuits when they get involved in car accidents. They fear that their immigration status will be disclosed in the process and therefore lose the case or incur even more damages.

Are these fears valid or unfounded?

The Facts

In California, it's against the rules in any civil case including a car accident lawsuit, to use someone's immigration status against them. This is also true in many other US states.

You see, the right to sue isn't dependent on citizenship. The US constitution expressly states that 'no state should deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.'

This means that all citizens by birth, legal immigrants, and illegal immigrants have the right to compensation in case they're injured in car accidents. This also includes those immigrants whose visas have expired.

What About Witnesses?

Apart from the accident victim, witnesses of the accident who may have critical information may also decide to remain hushed due to the fear of judges discovering their immigration status and turning against them.

Be assured that there are strong legal protections for witnesses to ensure that they provide the necessary information in the courts of law.

The Need for A Lawyer

Many defendants will try to use your undocumented immigration status to their advantage. All they're after is to have the case dismissed, and if not dismissed, they fight to ensure that they pay as little cash as possible for the damages.

Assume you're injured in such a manner that you can no longer work. You should be compensated for lost wages and future medical care. A common argument by defendants is that:

The lost wages should be paid at the rate of your home country. It's obvious that the wage rates in the US are way much higher than the wage rates for your country, otherwise, you wouldn't have sneaked into the US for work purposes. Is that fair?

Compensation for future medical care should be paid at your home country's rates. Again, it's rare that the rates of your country of origin will be higher than the rates in the US. That's quite unfortunate.

What Your Lawyer Will Do?

You need a lawyer to help you navigate these issues. Your lawyer will first need to know your actual immigration status so that they're in a better position to help you. So, be honest. Don't hide any information from your lawyer.

Armed with the information you've provided, the lawyer will then try as much as possible to prevent the accused from knowing your immigration status. And throughout the case, the lawyer will smartly argue your case out to ensure that you're fairly compensated.

The Lesson to Employers

In a way, the laws are framed this way to discourage employers from hiring undocumented workers to cut their operational costs and then neglecting them when they get injured through accidents.

Every employer should've proper insurance to cover all their employees in case of such mishaps.

Are You A Victim?

If you get involved in an accident and your stay in the US is illegal, know that you're not the first one. Many undocumented immigrants have successfully filed car accident lawsuits and have received full compensation for their injuries.

Don't be tempted to give a false name to any police officer who comes to the car accident scene. Such lies will work against you in court. As you're now aware that your immigration status can't be used against you, try to be honest when filling any official report or document.

Thereafter, contact a reliable and experienced car accident attorney to represent your interests in the case. A good lawyer will see to it that you're lawfully compensated.
A scion of wealth has his powerful position threatened when it emerges he may have had a sexual encounter with an underage girl.

A scion of wealth has his powerful position threatened when it emerges he may have had a sexual encounter with an underage girl.

So yes, Toronto playwright Hannah Moscovitchs new work, Post-Democracy, has a topical sting, since its release coincides with a scandal south of the border involving scion/U.S. congressman Matt Gaetz.

Leif Norman photo Arne MacPherson delivers a poignant performance as a CEO in Post-Democracy.

Be assured, as the famous caveat goes, resemblance to any person living or dead is strictly coincidental.

In fact, Moscovitchs spare, one-hour drama has been in the works for more than a decade, going back to when she was commissioned to write the play by former PTE artistic director Robert Metcalfe. Its origins also precede the HBO series Succession, which dives into the twisted family dynamics of a ruthless billionaire and his ambitious offspring as they vie for his position.

It just goes to show that some scenarios will always feel fresh, as long as there are privileged heels born with an abundance of silver spoons, but no moral compass.

This PTE production, available online worldwide, was made in observance of COVID-19 protocols on the PTE stage, directed by PTE artistic director Thomas Morgan Jones and filmed with a jittery sense of immediacy by Ice River Films, led by film director Sam Vint.

The protocol-adhering production doesnt feel especially awkward. Set designer Brian Perchaluk sets the action on a quartet of physically distanced platforms where four performers keep at a safe remove from each other. But the platforms accent the more ineffable separations between the characters, starting in the first act, when Bill (Arne MacPherson), the CEO of an American car company, tells his CFO son Lee (Kristian Jordan) that the painting at corporate headquarters is a rental.

"Its a Matisse," Bill says.

"Whats that?" the liberal arts-illiterate Lee responds. MacPhersons face betrays just a hint of guilt for his own parental failure.

Leif Norman photo Kristian Jordan, left, and Alicia Johnston are co-workers-with-benefits in Hannah Moscovitchs play set in the corporate world.

The men are in an unnamed country  "polluted and poor, but its fine," says Lee  negotiating the purchase of a company given the plausible name "Systemis." The deal, however, may be in some jeopardy back at the home office, thanks to a brand manager with predatory tendencies toward the women in his circle.

The crisis necessitates the arrival of Bills adoptive daughter Justine (Stephanie Sy), also an executive with the company, more attuned to this particular breed of scandal.

Also showing is Shannon (Alicia Johnston), apparently a corporate troubleshooter who ironically has a friends-with-benefits relationship with Lee. During a moment of intimacy between them, Lee drunkenly drops another bombshell with potentially devastating ramifications for a company that CEO Bill is looking to leave, owing to an alarming health issue.

Moscovitchs script is fat-free, with its fireworks reserved for embattled siblings Lee, oblivious to all but his own ambition, and Justine, wised up to the evil of the world, but compromised by her own position in the company/family.

As Lee, Jordan nicely essays a character who is out of his depth on any realm outside the boardroom, forever asking for clarification: "What? What?" Any sympathy for his character is tempered with an acknowledgement of his selfishness and hubris. Playing harder and sharper, Sys character is comparatively wised up, and so is understandably fierce at the disadvantage at which she finds herself because of her gender and race.

Leif Norman photo From left: Kristian Jordan, Stephanie Sy, Arne MacPherson and Alicia Johnston battle the problems of the one per cent.

As Shannon, Johnston does some subtle work, not easy in a part that requires, in one scene, naughty sexuality morphing into horror.

It is MacPherson who anchors the work as the capitalist patriarch. Confronting his mortality, he finds himself trapped in a game where he, and men like him, made the rules. The advantage of the filmed format is that the close-up allows the full force of MacPhersons poignant performance.

One takes whatever benefit one can in a pandemic situation where enjoying theatre from home feels kind of like renting art.

But rented or not, Post-Democracy is art nevertheless.

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing
MIDDLETOWN  Eleven Skill Up for Manufacturing trainees collected their industry and pre-apprentice credentials and headed into the workforce recently following a brief graduation ceremony.

Leaders from the Workforce Alliance, Middlesex Community College and Vinal Technical High School in Middletown gathered to celebrate this latest class. Since February 2019, more than 130 Connecticut residents have completed the free program offered by Workforce Alliance in partnership with manufacturers and community colleges in South Central CT, according to a press release.

There are literally thousands of unfilled manufacturing jobs and not enough qualified workers in Connecticut to fill them, Bill Villano, president and CEO of Workforce Alliance, said in a prepared statement. The organization developed Skill Up with local employers uses a successful model from Eastern CT.

This class includes several people who never considered a career in manufacturing until now and this program is delivering a vital boost for the industry and states economy, Villano said.

Participants were joined via live stream by Connecticut manufacturers and family members. The program included remarks from Middlesex Community College CEO Steven Minkler and Vinal Principal Javette Allen. Community colleges partner with technical high schools to access hands-on lab space, the news release said.

Skill Up for Manufacturing pre-apprentice graduates have completed 250 hours of hands-on and classroom activities at MxCC/Vinal, earning them 175 pre-apprenticeship hours through the state Department of Labor, plus 10 OSHA and six Sigma certifications.

State manufacturing employers have a vital role in designing the course work and recruiting from classes, the release said. Workforce Alliance manages the program and manufacturers can access pre-screened candidates and hiring incentives including 90 percent wage reimbursement during new hire training.

Last month, 17 companies participated in a Skill Up for Manufacturing recruitment event, including: Barnes Aerospace, Hobson & Motzer, ASML, Light Metal Coloring, Holo-Krome, Ashcroft, OKeefe Controls, Bead Industries, Atlas Stamping, Wepco Plastics, Ulbrich Steel, MW Industries, Sikorsky/LMCO, Microboard, TOMZ Corp, Marmon Utilities, and PTA Plastics.

The next session, April 12 at Gateway Community College and Eli Whitney Technical High School, is full, however registration is open for two upcoming sessions. Support services are available to participants while in classroom training, including travel reimbursement, day care assistance and required books, tools and clothing, according to the agency.

There is a cash stipend awarded to participants for successful completion of training benchmarks. Candidates must be Connecticut residents at least 18 years old with a high school diploma or GED and eligible to work in the United States.

The model is based on a successful manufacturing pipeline initiative that has placed close to 2,000 people into jobs in Eastern Connecticut at over 100 companies, the news release said.

Students from East Haddam, East Hampton, Higganum, Manchester, Meriden, Middlefield, Middletown, and Portland were among the latest graduating class. All met with prospective employers, and many are considering job offers.

For information, visit workforcealliance.biz/skillup.
[April 09, 2021] Global Tech Industries Group, Inc. Announces Agreement with Alt 5 Sigma, Inc. to Provide Digital Assets Platform

New York, NY, April 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (GTII:OTCQB) Global Tech Industries Group, Inc. (GTII or the Company), www.gtii-us.com, a Nevada corporation announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Alt 5 Sigma, Inc., www.alt5sigma.com to provide the Company with a blockchain-based digital assets platform (Alt 5 Digital Assets Platform).

Under the terms of the agreement the Company will license the Alt 5 Digital Assets Platform on a white-label basis, which will enable the Company to brand the platform and utilize Alt 5 Sigmas services to customize the platform, so as to meet the needs of the Companys tokenization plans. The Company intends to use the Alt 5 Digital Assets Platform as the backbone for its planned fine arts tokenization strategy, currently being developed with Ronald Cavalier. It will also be evaluating its suitability for distributing digital assets its shareholders. David Reichman, CEO of GTII, commented We are very excited to be partnering with Alt 5 Sigma in connection with the planned roll-out of our digital assets platform. The flexibility of their platform and their technical expertise should enable us to deploy our platform on an expedited basis. This is especially important as we move forward simultaneously with Ronald Cavalier's efforts to develop the Companys fine art tokenization strategy. In the process of their discussions, the companies also found there to be various other patnership opportunities, and going forward, they will be considering strategic plans aimed at maximizing value for GTIIs shareholders and accelerating the markets awareness and utilization of the Alt5 blockchain technology suite.



About Global Tech Industries Group, Inc.: GTII, a publicly traded Company incorporated in the state of Nevada, specializing in the pursuit of acquiring new and innovative technologies. Please follow our Company at: www.otcmarkets.com/stock/GTII

Safe Harbor Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release may contain forward looking statements that are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks as well as uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected, including statements related to the amount and timing of expected revenues related to our financial performance, expected income, distributions, and future growth for upcoming quarterly and annual periods. These risks and uncertainties are further defined in filings and reports by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors detailed from time to time in our filings with the SEC. Among other matters, the Company may not be able to sustain growth or achieve profitability based upon many factors including but not limited to the risk that we will not be able to find and acquire businesses and assets that will enable us to become profitable. Reference is hereby made to cautionary statements set forth in the Company's most recent SEC filings. We have incurred and will continue to incur significant expenses in our development stage, noting that there is no assurance that we will generate enough revenues to offset those costs in both the near and long term. New lines of business may expose us to additional legal and regulatory costs and unknown exposure(s), the impact of which cannot be predicted at this time. Words such as estimate, project, predict, will, would, should, could, may, might, anticipate, plan, intend, believe, expect, aim, goal, target, objective, likely or similar expressions that convey the prospective nature of events or outcomes generally indicate forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of this press release. Unless legally required, we undertake no obligation to update, modify or withdraw any forward-looking statements, because of new information, future events or otherwise. Blaine Riley  br@intlmonetary.com

International Monetary

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She has been relishing in newlywed bliss following her wedding to Lee Elliott last month.

But happiness has now turned into heartbreak for Bachelorette star Georgia Love.

The brunette's beloved cat Pawdry Hepburn went missing in the heavy Melbourne rain overnight.

Heartbreak: Georgia Love's beloved cat Pawdry Hepburn went missing in the heavy Melbourne rain on Thursday evening, just weeks after her wedding to Lee Elliott

The reality star sent out an impassionate plea to her Instagram followers on Friday morning, begging them to help her find the adorable white and chocolate Ragdoll.

'Our baby has gone missing. We are beside ourselves. Jumped the fence in Fraser St, Richmond last night and hasn't come home. We're very worried after all the rain overnight. She's never been gone more than 2 hours before,' she wrote.

'Please share to help find her. '

Plea: The reality star sent out an impassionate plea to her Instagram followers on Friday morning, begging them to help her find the adorable white and chocolate Ragdoll

Lost: She also posted a 'Lost' poster of the adorable feline, describing the cat's features, along with her phone number

She also posted a 'Lost' poster of the adorable feline, describing the cat's features, along with her phone number.

Georgia, 32, and Lee, 39, tied the knot in a stunning ceremony in Tasmania in early March.

The couple said 'I Do' at the Frogmore Creek Winery, just 20 minutes outside of Hobart's city centre, followed by an outdoor reception at the Shene Distillery.

The bride stunned in a custom couture gown by Australian designer Jason Grech, while the groom donned a white tuxedo jacket and bow tie by YSG Tailors.

Georgia changed into a fun and flirty dress, also by Jason Grech, for the reception.

In happier times: Georgia, 32, and Lee, 39, tied the knot in a stunning ceremony in Tasmania in early March. The couple said 'I Do' at the Frogmore Creek Winery, just 20 minutes outside of Hobart's city centre, followed by an outdoor reception at the Shene Distillery

It featured a bust with intricate beading detail and a tulle skirt that flowed just past her knee.

The evening reception was held at Shene Distillery, with Shene Estate hosting limited bespoke wedding ceremonies each year at the historic property.

Georgia and Lee were due to marry in Italy last year, but were forced to cancel their wedding due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Taco lovers in The Woodlands will soon have a new place to satiate their cravings, as a new location of the popular Velvet Taco chain has had its preliminary plans approved.

The taco chain, described on its website as a, one of a kind taco concept, with a focus on liberating tacos to a whole new level, will take over the former Burger King restaurant at 9120 Gosling Road. The fast food eatery was forced to close its doors for good during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, now the space will be redesigned and have patio dining areas constructed as well as a drive-through service window.

On HoustonChronicle.com: The 10 best dishes at Houstons newest restaurants

The preliminary designs for the new restaurant were approved Wednesday night by the the townships Development Standards Committee in a unanimous vote. The site has yet to be remodeled and there is no opening date known. The next phases of the remodeling of the building will need to be approved by the DSC at a future meeting.

Cassie Cooper, a spokesperson for Velvet Taco, said The Woodlands location will join a soon-to-be opened Rice Village spot to make six total locations of the growing chain in the Houston region.

We believe that The Woodlands is a great market for Velvet Taco and we already have several locations in Houston that have shown us the demand for our tacos exist, Cooper said. While we cant confirm any new location details at this time because we dont have a signed lease, we can confirm we are exploring opportunities to bring more Velvet Taco restaurants to the area.

On the companys website, the about us area described a free-flowing, progressive restaurant with locations in Texas, North Carolina, Georgia and Illinois. There are four Velvet Taco locations in Houston with one planned in Rice Village. The others are located in The Heights, Montrose, The Galleria and one spot on Washington Avenue.

Velvet Taco is a temple to the liberated taco. Were a one-of-a-kind taco concept serving premium food in a unique & funky fast-casual setting. Founded on the idea that tacos dont have to be associated with Tex-Mex cuisine and can be made with the same care and quality ingredients as fine dining, Velvet Taco is where anything goes meets the art of the possible, officials state on their company website. Some cool things about us: we use only the freshest ingredients available to offer a menu that explores the edge of multi-cultural boundaries, liberating tacos to a whole new level. We slow roast our own chicken and corn, use lots of booze in our margaritas, and make everything from scratch. Which means our food tastes really awesome.

Some of the menu items featured include rotisserie chicken, a Nashville hot tofu sandwich, falafel, a Kobe bacon burger, fish tacos, shrimp and grits and other favorites. There will be a fill service bar with beer, wine and alcoholic beverages, too, and an all-day brunch menu.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Economic Outlook Conference returns to The Woodlands

Tacos are a beloved element of Houston and Texas food culture, and locals in The Woodlands love their tacos. A new Torchys Tacos was opened near The Woodlands Mall in fall 2019, joining another busy location in the Village of Alden Bridge. A new Killens Barbecue also recently opened in Shenandoah.

jeff.forward@chron.com
The episode has sent shockwaves and paranoia through the senior ranks of the Australian government and diplomatic corps. It should serve as an early warning that were about to enter a new world of deep fakes, where we will need to go the extra step in verifying the person were talking to is, in fact, who they claim to be.

The activists quickly realised something was up when Birmingham requested they transfer money into a Hong Kong bank account. It was, in fact, a cyber hacker who had somehow managed to verify a Telegram account with Birminghams phone number, thereby stealing his contact book. This phishing scam also hit Health Minister Greg Hunt , Australias ambassador to the United States Arthur Sinodinos and a number of other senior diplomats.

Applications such as Telegram, Signal or WhatsApp require you to verify your phone number  with your phone  before you can set up an account. In this instance, the cyber hackers somehow attained the phone numbers of scores of senior Australian politicians and officials and went on a phishing expedition on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app that was widely used in the Hong Kong protests. Numerous politicians and diplomats received messages asking them to verify Telegram. Senior security sources also confirmed WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, was a target but the hackers were less successful on that application.

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Extremely busy and perhaps in a momentary lapse of judgment, some clicked on the link to download the Telegram app. Once they did this, they were verifying the account for the cyber attacker  uploading their contact book and giving the hacker the ability to impersonate them.

One of the dozen people caught up in the scam was The Sydney Morning Herald and The Ages North Asia correspondent, Eryk Bagshaw. On the night of March 19, the person impersonating Birmingham sent Bagshaw a message on Telegram asking: Do you have a contact in Hong Kong. An Aussie preferably. After giving him a few names and phone numbers of activists, the fake Birmingham asked Bagshaw to reach out to the contacts as well to tell them he would be in touch. Let me know if you have reached out to the both of them, one message said.

When the Hong Kong contacts first began receiving messages from Birmingham on Whatsapp and Telegram, they were pleased to be put in touch. But soon the person started asking them to transfer money to a bank account registered to Yat Ting Ho Laundry Co. The account was with the Standard Chartered bank in Hong Kong. It was clearly a scam. As soon as Bagshaw was told of the suspicious messages he notified other affected contacts and Birminghams office that it appeared the minister was being impersonated. The other politicians and diplomats were hit in a similar way.
In return, she provided Philip with an emotional safe place his childhood lacked. Though his eye was rumored to rove, his devotion to the queen cannot be questioned. He completed more than 22,000 royal engagements on his own and accompanied the queen on all of her overseas tours. (Dont jostle the queen! he would sometimes bark if the press got too close.)

He made comments that ranged from impolitic (Your country is one of the most notorious centers of trading in endangered species, he told his affronted hosts when accepting a conservation award in Thailand in 1991) to offensive (Do you still throw spears at each other? he asked Aboriginal elders on a trip with the queen to Australia in 2002). But the queens poker face in public was no guide to how she might have dryly chided him in private.

The marriage succeeded on strategy as much as love. The queens marital challenge was how to harness her husbands prodigious energies in the service of the crown. The key to that was to avoid making him feel unmanned. There was a difficult passage in the early years, when he learned that his children would take the dynastic Windsor name, not his own. And there were few models then for how to build a marriage in which the balance of power was so entirely weighted toward a wife, unless you count Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

With her customary quiet savviness, the queen found sly ways to manage her husband while she got on with weighty matters of state. She put him in charge of all the royal estates and houses, which he oversaw  as the queen mother put it sourly  like a German junker, and she deputed to him the big family decisions.

Elizabeth encouraged activities that made Philip feel autonomous: flying, polo, carriage driving. He drove a four-horse carriage around Windsor Great Park at the age of 97. He had a passion for technology. In more recent years, I am told, he extolled the joys of his Kindle until, disgusted by all the direct marketing of books he didnt want to read, he threw it in the bath.
The Ukrainian low-cost carrier SkyUp Airlines will launch flights on the Kyiv-Izmir-Kyiv route from May 27, 2021, the airlines press service reports.

Flights will be operated three times a week: on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Tickets are already available on skyup.aero.

The airline reminds that to enter the country one needs to provide a negative PCR test for COVID-19 certificate, issued no more than 72 hours before crossing the border. This rule does not apply to children under 6 years.

In addition, to cross the border, it is mandatory to fill out an electronic form on the website of the Turkish Ministry of Health 72 hours before arrival in the country. The completed form must be printed or saved to a smartphone or other device. To travel, you need to have a medical insurance policy that covers the costs of treating Covid-19 in Turkey.

ish
A general view of the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport, one of the hotels to be used for hotel Quarantine on April 08, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Victorian Hotel Quarantine Staff Stood Down With Full Pay After Refusing Vaccine

Workers in Victorias hotel quarantine program who refused to be vaccinated against the CCP virus have been stood down with full pay.

While some workers refused the vaccine on medical grounds, at least one worker did so out of concern that the vaccine may affect her fertility.

All staff members working at our active quarantine hotels must have had at least their first vaccination; if they have not been vaccinated, they cannot work a shift in the hotels, a spokeswoman for COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria, which is responsible for the hotel quarantine program told The Australian.

We are working with the small number of staff who remain unvaccinated on alternative work arrangements outside of the hotels.

Currently, all hotel quarantine staff have received at least one jab of the Pzifer vaccine, with 46 percent having already received their second dose. Most of the workers have also undergone N95 mask fit testing.

Jacinta Allan, Victorian Transport Infrastructure Minister, said on Tuesday that all hotel quarantine staff need at least one vaccine jab when the program resumes on Thursday.

The hotel quarantine workers need to prove their vaccination by showing either a vaccination card or a printout of the MyGov medical records every time they arrive at a working site.

The news of the vaccine refusals come as Victoria reopens its hotel quarantine program for the third time. The program was suspended on February 13 after a cluster infection at the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport led to a five-day lockdown of the state.

The Holiday Inn near Melbourne Airport, the Novotel Ibis Melbourne Central, Pan Pacific, Holiday Inn on Flinders and Element Melbourne Richmond will be used for the states quarantine program, with the Holiday Inn on Flinders Street prepped to take travellers who test positive to COVID-19. The Element Melbourne Richmond will take those with medical conditions and complex needs.

Michael OBrien, the Victorian Opposition Leader, told The Australian that Victoria could not afford any more lockdowns.

We know that the last two times Labor made a mess of hotel quarantine, he said. The government needs to get it right this time. Victorians are counting on it.

AAP contributed to this report.
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Kristina Wong wears all the hats. She's a comedian, a performance artist, a community activist and a director. She also runs the Auntie Sewing Squad, a ragtag group of do-gooders who make face masks for vulnerable populations. She is an in-demand speaker at colleges and conferences, and, as an elected member of the Koreatown neighborhood council, she "votes on things, sits on the Planning and Land Use Management Committee and yells at developers." The lady is busy.

In late 2019, after scanning "haul" videos and posts about people's frugal food shopping trips, she fell down a YouTube rabbit hole watching videos by people who were spending only $10 a week on food. Between groceries and dining out, Wong was at the time, spending upwards of $1,000 a month on food. She decided to challenge herself and see if, in 2020, she could spend only $50 a month on groceries -- an experiment that she would, of course, document on Instagram. Enter the age of the food bank influencer.

Kristina Wong films World Harvest Food Bank CEO Glenn Curado for an Instagram food bank "haul" video. (Courtesy of Somerset New-Stein)

DOING IT FOR THE 'GRAM

The challenge of living under self-imposed economic or personal restrictions is a genre unto itself. There was the year of living by the Bible, the year without buying things from China, the year of zero waste (good luck cramming your garbage into a mason jar!) and the classic that started it all, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich's 2001 book in which she worked as a hotel maid, a waitress and a Wal-Mart clerk to explore the lives of minimum wage workers.

Wong doesn't appear to be angling for a book deal. Her art has always had a strong civic focus, mixing her personal obsessions with her public politics. In 2020, after winning a seat on the Koreatown neighborhood council, she wrote and performed Kristina Wong for Public Office, a one-woman show that explored the experience of joining the political establishment. Her goal was to open peoples' eyes to the importance of voting and local activism, while entertaining them with 75 minutes of comedy.

For this latest project, Wong isn't' interested in staging a full theatrical production (no bedazzled capes or Hillary-esque pantsuits this time). She's more focused on minimizing food waste, scoring killer bargains and evangelizing for her favorite food pantry.

"It's the most exciting thing to me," Wong says of shopping at World Harvest Food Bank a Pico-Union market that looks like the low-key love child of a bodega and a Trader Joe's. "It's like the rush of being on a game show, a scavenger hunt, a shopping spree, Christmas. It's like all that."

People shop at World Harvest Food Bank on July 24, 2019. (MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

Wong was on a sewing machine repair run when she first noticed World Harvest. Curious and with time to kill, she popped in to do a little shopping. She didn't realize until she got to the checkout and heard told the total amount for her groceries -- a mere $13 -- that she was in a food bank. Inspiration struck.

"I started to make these videos where I just wanted people to see how much you could get and how not shameful it was to go and how like, actually just fun it was," she says.

Artist and performer Mikki Yamashiro was converted to the cause of food banking after seeing Wong's posts. Before her awakening, Yamashiro was spending approximately $150 a month on groceries. These days, she spends about $80.

"I really love what Kristina is doing. Her videos are so joyful, so fun and really inspired me to go. I tell everyone about it," Yamashiro says. Now that she's a World Harvest veteran, she has advice for newbies: "As a vegetarian, I call beforehand to check what the produce situation is like. That's a pro tip I would offer."

Fine artist Sara Chao also jumped on the food pantry wagon after watching Wong's videos. Chao started going to World Harvest last year when her job was slashed to part-time. She frequently shares a cart with friends, some of whom haven't been hit hard by the pandemic but still want to save money or reduce food waste.

She admires Wong's practical application of her art. "I really enjoyed her take on performance art, taking it to the real world. And also bringing activism into it, too."

After more than a year of making these videos, Wong still gets jazzed to shop and shoot. "I get really excited the day of," she says. "It's like, 'Oh, I'm gonna get high today.' I run through the aisles taking videos and more and more stuff is revealed. It's like a happy haunted house."

A customer shops at World Harvest Food Bank on July 24, 2019. (MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

SISTERS ARE SHOPPING FOR THEMSELVES

On a recent afternoon, I accompanied Wong and two of her friends-turned-food bank-converts, Jessica Hanna and Dylan Kendall, to World Harvest as she shot her latest food bank "haul" video. It was like watching Supermarket Sweep, minus Leslie Jones. Hanna has been tagging along on these trips with Wong since early in the pandemic.

"She turned me on to it," Hanna says. "I came in and volunteered and was able to feed myself really well and was just like: 'This is amazing. Why is this place not packed with people all the time?'"It's not an uncommon reaction when people first enter World Harvest Food Bank.

Located in an unassuming building on Venice Boulevard near Arlington Avenue, its small parking lot is so jampacked with pallets you're lucky if you find a spot. You definitely want to drive here because you'll leave with so much food, there's no way you can schlep it on a bus or a bike.

The exterior of World Harvest Food Bank in the Pico-Union neighborhood. (Courtesy of Somerset New-Stein)

At most food pantries, you get what you get -- usually a pre-packed bag or box of food -- and you don't complain about it. At World Harvest, you pay a flat $40 fee then you shop just as you would in a regular grocery store. Anyone who can't afford the $40 buy-in can volunteer to do four hours of work, typically something like sorting newly delivered goods or stocking the aisles. The products are always changing, depending on what's been donated that day. Don't be shy. You're encouraged to fill your cart with as much stuff as it can handle. If you have a spare minivan, bring it.

On this day, World Harvest founder and CEO Glenn Curado greets Wong, Hanna and Kendall at the door. Their shared excitement about the donations from top-tier grocery stores (which he can't name) and luxury hotels (also nameless) is infectious. Adding to the excitement, Hanna's frequent shopper card means she her $40 cart of groceries is free. Shoppers and workers cheer as the cashier rings a bell to mark the occasion.

The three women have decided to split a single cart because World Harvest gives customers so much food, it's too much for a single person to store, let alone eat. First, the ladies stock their cart with packaged foods. (Saltines, seaweed snacks and, randomly, water from a German airline.) Then, they add all the produce it can handle. (Peppers and citrus were abundant that day.) After, they head to the meat and dairy section where employees load them up with 10 pounds of Jidori chicken, shredded cheese and other goods. At their final stop, they receive pre-packaged meals of beef, broccoli and rice along with individually wrapped breadsticks, honey cashew bars and more snacks.

As they push their cart out to the parking lot, the're followed by Curado and a couple employees carrying cases of San Pellegrino and World Harvest sweatshirts, because, seriously, this store seriously will not let you leave without an empty trunk.

"As you can see, it's insane," Wong says of their overflowing cart. "It's a project. I don't think my drunker younger self could have figured this out. But now that I'm sober and bored in the pandemic, I'm like obsessed with managing the food that comes in and out of my house."

A customer shops at World Harvest. (Elina Shatkin/LAist)

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

Curado says World Harvest has seen a 300% increase in customers since the pandemic began, which makes sense. Numerous organizations around Southern California (and the United States) say food insecurity has skyrocketed in the past year.

"I would say probably 20% or 30% of our customers might be on EBT. My average customer is actually middle class and the rest are hard-working individuals. They're just trying to make it," Curado says.

He wants everyone, regardless of financial need, to feel comfortable shopping at World Harvest, citing the ridiculous amount of food waste in the country. Wong is onboard with the mission. "We have enough in this country. We just distribute it wrong. Shopping here is an interesting way to get to a more sustainable version of the food chain, short of jumping in a dumpster," she says.

Artist, activist andfood bank enthusiast Kristina Wong. (Courtesy of Kristina Wong)

Her shopping experiences have made Wong rethink food access -- who has it, who doesn't and why. She was already living thriftily before the coronavirus pandemic. (When she was performing live, one of her favorite pastimes was raiding green rooms for goodies.) After COVID-19 shut down most comedy clubs and dried up many of her income streams, Wong decided it wouldn't hurt to keep the challenge going. It meant she'd have to do a lot more cooking and start incorporating foods outside her comfort zone.

"It's like being on this crazy episode of Chopped, where we have to go, 'Okay, let me figure out how to cook this random thing,'" she says. Jackfruit was her bete noir. It took a lot of online research to figure out how to prepare it, then two hours to actually get it done the first time. She lived off it for two weeks but says she'd be happy to never see another jackfruit.

Kristina Wong jumps for joy after pushing her loaded grocery cart our of World Harvest Food Bank. (Courtesy of Somerset New-Stein)

As Wong and her pals wrap up shopping and shooting for the day, they roll their loaded cart up to her well-worn Lexus (purchased for $1, long story, but know that she is a bargain shopper in all aspects of her life). There, they divvy up the goods. Wong cleans house on breadsticks and seaweed snacks. Kendall miraculously leaves with only a spaghetti squash and some cans of San Pellegrino. Hanna, the lone meat eater of the bunch, makes off with all the chicken and other animal proteins. Looking over their massive haul, she -- like everyone I spoke with -- says she makes sure all the food she gets at World Harvest finds a good home. "I will take whatever I can't use and drop it at community fridges," Hanna says

Wong's $50 a month challenge -- that's $600 a year for the math-challenged -- came in $42.19 under budget, a fact she announced on Instagram on New Year's Day. She doesn't see an end in sight to her budgeting-experiment-turned-performance-art-piece-turned-turned-lifestyle-choice.

Leaving the World Harvest parking lot, Wong shouts to Curado, "Thank you, food bank daddy!" and she heads home to upload her latest video, hoping to add a few more followers to her "Food Bank Fold."

WE LOVE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS
Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - Manganese X Energy Corp. (TSXV: MN) (FSE: 9SC2) (OTC Pink: MNXXF) ("Manganese X" or the "Company") wishes to clarify the record date (the "Share Distribution Record Date") for determining the shareholders of the Company entitled to receive the securities being distributed under its previously-announced statutory plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") to spin out its Lac Aux Bouleaux graphite property, located in the province of Quebec. Ahead of the Company's special meeting of shareholders (the "Meeting"), to be held on Monday, April 12, 2021, the Company clarifies that the Company has deferred the Share Distribution Record Date, pending the finalization of a definitive Closing date. The Company intends to announce the Share Distribution Record Date in due course, once determined, by way of a further press release.

Further details of the Arrangement, including the Meeting (including the date and time thereof, and the shareholders of the Company entitled to vote thereat) may be found in the management information circular dated March 16, 2021 prepared by the Company in connection with the Meeting (the "Circular"). All shareholders of the Company are urged to carefully read the Circular, available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, as it contains additional important information concerning the Arrangement or on the Company's website at www.manganesexenergycorp.com.

About Manganese X

Manganese X's mission is to advance its Battery Hill project into production, with the intent of supplying value-added materials to the lithium-ion battery and other alternative energy industries, The company is also striving to achieve new carbon-friendly more efficient methodologies, while processing manganese at a lower competitive cost. The company is moving toward commercialization of a manganese deposit in Canada

Subsidiary Disruptive Battery's mission is to develop an HVAC air purification delivery system for cleaner and healthier air, aiming to mitigate COVID-19 and other contaminants on surfaces and in the air.

For more information visit our website at www.manganesexenergycorp.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Martin Kepman

CEO and Director

E-mail: martin@kepman.com

Telephone: 1-514-802-1814

Cautionary Notes

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 press release.

Certain information in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the Company's expectations about the the Arrangement and the Share Distribution Record Date (including the timing of the announcement thereof), and the timing of the Meeting to approve the Arrangement. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, risks relating to (i) the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, (ii) the Company's dependence on management and the loss of key personnel, (iii) the receipt of the requisite shareholder, court, regulatory and stock exchange approvals in connection with the Arrangement, and (iv) the Company's business, including the mining industry in general, as described in the Company's public filings on SEDAR, which readers are encouraged to review in detail prior to any transaction involving the securities of the Company. The foregoing list is not intended to be exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements or information. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Readers are further cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such forward-looking statements (including, but not limited to, the assumption that (i) the Company and Graphano will satisfy, in a timely manner, all conditions precedent to completion of the Arrangement, and (ii) all necessary regulatory and shareholder approvals will be obtained in a timely manner, and on terms acceptable to the Company), although considered reasonable by management of the Company at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and result in actual results differing materially from those anticipated, and as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements, forward-looking financial information and other metrics presented herein are not intended as guidance or projections for the periods referenced herein or any future periods, and in particular, past performance is not an indicator of future results and the results of the Company in this press release may not be indicative of, and are not an estimate, forecast or projection of the Company's future results. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/79984
By Juliet Nalwooga

Finance minister Matia Kasaija has appealed to government agencies and public servants to spend sparingly as revenue is declining against shooting expenses.

Kasaija made the call following the launch of the Apex Platform, an oversight initiative by the Office of the President to ensure good governance in public institutions and effective implementation of the National Development Plan.

The Apex platform budget was initially Shs11bn, but the treasury says it will for a start make available only Shs3 bn since most of the work will be re-assigned to already recruited public servants.

It is against this background that the head of treasury cautions on the spending rate as Ugandas 49% debt ratio to GDP inches past the International Monetary Fund 50% set threshold.

The Apex Platform that was formed after service delivery gaps in the National Development Plan l &ll, is made up of four government agencies to include the Office of the Presidency, Ministry of Finance, the National Planning Authority, and the Office of the Prime Minister.
The mother of Richard Okorogheye, whose body was found in woodland this week, says police appeared to count the minutes when she would call about her missing son.

They believed she was just being frantic or had nothing better to do when Richard disappeared, Evidence Joel toldThe Independent.

On Wednesday, police confirmed a body found in a lake in Epping Forest two days earlier was her sons, and that a referral had been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct as a matter of routine.

The Oxford Brookes University student had left his family home in London on 22 March, before being reported missing on 24 March.

His mother says she felt police did not take his disappearance seriously at the beginning, thinking she was just worrying unnecessarily.

She said police also told her that her son, 19, was an adult who had a right to privacy.

Read more:

In fact, most of the time I was on the phone, they were counting the minutes, she says. They said, Evidence, you called earlier, about an hour ago. Youre still calling. There are no updates.

Evidence, you have been on the phone for the last 10 minutes. We cant give you any more information.

The nurse, 39, added: I will not treat anyone like that that comes into my care. I will give you the full support.

She also questioned how much officers understood about Richards health condition, sickle cell disease, after they tried to reassure her he would find his way to the hospital if needed.

I said, No he cant. Do you know when you are in crisis? Do you know what the pain is like?

During a sickle cell crisis, blood vessels can become blocked by the sickle cells which starves muscles, organs and surrounding tissue of oxygen, causing substantial pain that, left untreated, can last for days.

The teenager was shielding due to his health condition during the coronavirus lockdown and Ms Joel has previously said he had told her he was struggling to cope with university, which he had been attending virtually.

His death is being treated as unexplained and police do not believe at this stage that there was any third-party involvement.

The cause of death is pending while further investigations are carried out, however the Metropolitan Police say they have found no evidence of physical trauma or assault.

They say a referral has been made to the Mets Directorate of Professional Standards and to the Independent Office for Police Conduct as a matter of routine, as the student had been reported missing prior to his body being found.

Richards body was found on Monday and identified two days later  two weeks after his mother had raised the alarm.

Read more:

She said people have made comparisons with her sons disappearance and Sarah Everards, who went missing when walking home in London in early March and whose body was found in Kent woodland around a week later.

She says: The public have already summarised, I think the media have summarised, the obvious.

If Richard was that colour, blue eyes, maybe the reaction would have been different immediately: thats what they say.

While Sarah Everards body had been found a week after her disappearance, Ms Joel said the response to Richard going missing seemed slower.

But that whole week [for] Richard, they have not even initiated anything yet to say, Lets look for Richard, she said.

Ms Joel also highlighted the fact he was much younger than 33-year-old Ms Everard and also had a health condition. But she said: He was not taken seriously. Why?

Richard left his family home at around 8.30pm on 22 March and headed in the direction of Ladbroke Grove.

Police say further inquiries have established that he then took a taxi journey to Loughton, Essex.

He was last seen on CCTV walking alone on Smarts Lane towards Epping Forest at 12.39am on Tuesday 23 March.

The force says his phone has not been in use since his disappearance.

Ms Joel has also questioned how her son had been able to travel to the Essex woodland considering his condition.

Its too far for Richard to walk into the darkness alone, she said. How did he get there? We dont know. I feel something happened there.

A spokesperson for the IOPC, who has received a referral over the case, said: We will be assessing whether any possible future IOPC involvement is required. Our thoughts are with Richards family and friends at this difficult time.

The Met said it would be inappropriate to comment further due to the IOPC referral and shared a previous comment, in which the head of their Central West Public Protection Unit offered his deepest sympathies with Richards family during this time.

Last week, the force said it was committed to providing the best-possible service to families of missing people, ensuring that they are supported by specialist officers and informed of investigative updates as soon as possible.

The force said in a statement: Family members should always be treated with respect and dignity by officers and have confidence that officers will make every effort to investigate the circumstances of the disappearance with a matter of urgency.

The Samaritans are a charity available 24 hours a day offering a confidential listening service to anyone in distress. To contact the Samaritans helpline, call 116 123. The phone line is open 24 hours, seven days a week.

Additional reporting by Press Association.
Army Futures Command, or AFC, will soon decide whether weapons officials will get another shot at equipping infantry squads with a precision airburst weapon for killing enemy forces hiding behind cover.

Maneuver officials at Fort Benning, Georgia, announced in November that the Army would pursue the Precision Grenadier program to create a new weapon for launching explosive projectiles at enemies in defilade positions.

In the next couple of months, maneuver officials are scheduled to present a proposal for the effort to AFC commander Gen. Mike Murray for approval to move forward with the effort, Lt. Col. Christopher Kennedy, chief of the Lethality Branch at Benning, told defense industry officials Wednesday at the Maneuver Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate's Industry Day.

Read Next: Charles Coolidge, Medal of Honor Recipient Who Fought Boldly in WWII, Dead at 99

"This one here is really getting after our biggest issue when it comes to lethality," Kennedy said. "When the first rounds start flying, every firefight becomes a defilade fight. ... You are getting behind rocks, trees, vehicles, whatever; you are putting something between you and the enemy who is shooting at you and putting yourself in a defilade position."

And the enemy does the same thing, he said.

"I want something that I can employ almost anywhere and affect that enemy that is in defilade," Kennedy explained. "To us, that really means an air-bursting round, a round that I can tell, 'Hey, the enemy is at 142 meters -- go 143 meters and then explode' ... and put something on him that is either going to kill him or make him stop firing at us."

This is not the Army's first attempt to solve this problem.

During the past decade, the service tried to field the XM25 Counter-Defilade Target Engagement System to expand the infantry squad's effectiveness at killing enemies behind cover.

The XM25 was a semi-automatic, shoulder-fired weapon that fired 25mm high-explosive, air-bursting ammunition. The sophisticated weapon, known as the "Punisher," stirred excitement in the infantry community. But in the end, the complex system was plagued by program delays and became a target for Pentagon auditors.

The Army ended the contract with Orbital ATK in 2017, which led to the death of the program.

Currently, two infantrymen in each squad are armed with an M4A1 carbine with a single-shot M320 40mm grenade launcher attached for engaging enemies in defilade or behind cover, an outdated system that maneuver officials argue is unsuited for the counter-defilade fight.

"We are really looking for that flat trajectory, high-velocity, multi-shot system," Kennedy said. "We are going to go in front of Gen. Murray, and he is either going to tell us that we have permission to move forward or not. ... I expect in the next couple of months for things to really move fast."

Kennedy did not have many details about the proposed system.

"I don't have a caliber; you guys are going to come up with the caliber," he said. "Industry is going to come back and tell me ... 'Here's what I've got.'"

The Army wants a weapon capable of engaging enemy positions just beyond hand grenade range of 35 meters out to 500 meters.

"Really, the sweet spot is in that 300-meter range band -- being able to affect the enemy and engage him in defilade," Kennedy said. "And we are looking to do that in less than 15 seconds."

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Related: Army Still Wants a Precision Infantry Weapon to Destroy the Enemy From Behind Cover
Elegance has successfully secured 56 distribution commitments with a potential reach of 49,750 outlets nationwide, including 24 distributor commitments for SWAY Energy Drink, 8 commitments for Gorilla Hemp, and 16 commitments for VOCO, a canned RTD cocktail that will launch in May 2021. The expanded distribution footprint is highlighted by key energy drink markets, such as southern California.

Elegance continues to expand its DSD distributor network under the leadership of recently appointed Chief Commercial Officer Sam Wilson. Wilson has leveraged 22 years of experience in sales and distribution with market-leading brands, including at Gallo Wine Co., Boston Beer Co., Red Bull North America, and CLEAN Cause, to rapidly grow Elegance's footprint nationwide.

"We're excited to partner with Elegance Brands as their innovative portfolio not only compliments our own values, but we also see their products as true outliers in the beverage space," said Sean Nichols, VP of Sales at John Lenore & Co. in San Diego. "Elegance Brands has the right products, the right team and the right partners to make a strong run this year and far beyond."

Mark Danner, President & CEO of Straub Distributing in Orange County, California, added, "Straub Distributing is delighted to partner with Elegance Brands. With the explosive growth in energy drinks and canned cocktails, both SWAY Energy Drink and VOCO Vodka & Soda cocktails will be clear winners in their respective categories. We look forward to a long partnership for many years to come."

Elegance has also implemented its own DTC channel that will generate a new revenue stream for the company. The initiative is led by Donovan Dresti, VP of Marketing at Elegance Brands, who was previously contracted with Red Bull North America.

Additionally, SWAY Energy Drink is now available for purchase online at www.swayenergydrink.com , with additional distribution in third-party e-commerce marketplaces slated for Q2 2021. Elegance Vodka is available for purchase in select states on both www.elegancevodka.com and www.reservebar.com . Elegance products, including Gorilla Hemp CBD Energy Drink and upcoming product launches, VOCO and Twisted Shaker RTD Cocktails, will be launching through e-commerce channels throughout 2021.

To support the rapid growth in product route-to-market in 2021, Elegance intends to raise additional capital through an Intrastate Offering in California as well as a potential private placement to non-U.S. investors in Australia and Canada., underwritten by leading investment banking firm Boustead Securities, LLC.

About Elegance Brands, Inc.

Elegance Brands, Inc. is a global beverage company that develops, markets, and distributes products with a focus on innovation. In addition to its flagship brand, Gorilla Hemp Energy Drink, Elegance Brands offers a range of functional beverages, plus super-premium spirits and alcohol brands, including Elegance Vodka. For more information about the Elegance story, visit http://www.elegance-brands.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain information about Elegance Brand's view of its future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from historical results or those indicated by these forward-looking statements because of a variety of factors including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with its ability to maintain and grow its business, variability of operating results, its development and introduction of new products and services, marketing and other business development initiatives and competition in the industry, as well as the ongoing effects and uncertainty of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the marketplace and overall global economy. Elegance Brands encourages you to review other factors that may affect its future results in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Media Relations

[email protected]

Investor Relations

[email protected]

SOURCE Elegance Brands Inc.

Related Links

http://www.elegance-brands.com


In southern Spain (Malaga province, just east of the Straits of Gibraltar), a March 2021 police raid on a drug gang coastal warehouse found a ten-meter (31 foot) narco-sub (drug smuggling submersible vessel) under construction and nearly completed. The sub had a fiberglass and wood hull containing twin 200 HP engines. The sub could carry about two tons of drugs. This type of narco sub is used for offshore transfers of drugs from ocean-going fishing trawlers or cargo ships carrying cocaine from South America or hashish and heroin from Africa. Belgium and Spain are major centers of the European drug trade and together account for about ten percent of the drug seizures worldwide.

Building narco subs in Europe was suspected after the long-anticipated appearance of South American narco-subs in Europe finally happened in November 2019. This occurred off the Spanish coast when a trans-Atlantic narco-sub was having engine and ventilation problems made worse by rough seas. The three-man crew was discovered by police as they were abandoning the sinking narco-sub close to shore. Two of the crew, both from Ecuador, were arrested while the third man got away but was captured a few days later and found to be Spanish and the pilot of the sub. The sub was soon brought to the surface and taken to a port. The 21-meter (67 foot) submersible was carrying three tons of cocaine and had apparently made several voyages so far. This one had traveled farther than usual, to northwest Spain, near the border between Portugal and Galicia (Spain), to avoid more intense offshore patrols off the southwest Spanish coast. The use of these submersibles off the Spanish coast had been rumored since 2016. It was also known that some only went as far as Cape Verde Islands (570 kilometers off the northwest coast of Africa), the Canary Islands further north (100 kilometers off the Moroccan coast) or much farther north to the Azores (1,500 kilometers west of Portugal). Once near these islands, the subs offload their cargo to fishing or speedboats, take on fuel and return to their South American base to pick up another load. As the use of submersibles and subs in South America became more common, it was suggested that these difficult to detect boats be used to move the cocaine to Spain.

Some submersibles had already been delivering cocaine to the west coast of Africa where smugglers moved it north and distributed some of it to African and North African gangs that serviced the smaller (than Europe) local markets. Most of this trans-Atlantic cocaine ends up in Spain which is the source of most cocaine distributed throughout Europe. Spanish gangs dominate the importation and distribution of cocaine to other European markets. There are hundreds of police investigators in Spain and Europe who concentrate on the Spanish gangs that are at the center of the very profitable European cocaine trade. The Spanish gangs arrange for pick up and movement of cocaine from the Atlantic islands to Spain or other European countries. What information the police have about the trans-Atlantic movement of the cocaine comes from interrogations of arrested gang members and eavesdropping on their electronic communications. For a long time, the cocaine was smuggled in aboard cargo or passenger ships or commercial airline flights. These methods involved a lot of people getting caught and many shipments, some of them quite large, seized. Operating these small narco-subs on the high seas proved more difficult at first. After some trial and error, including many subs disappearing at sea, narco-sub design and crew qualifications reached the point where trans-Atlantic voyages were deemed practical for regular use. Eventually, the majority of cocaine used in Europe was arriving via these small narco-subs.

The European police cooperated with their American and South American counterparts to get an idea of how extensive the use of these submersibles was in moving cocaine from the source (Ecuador and Colombia) to world markets. The submersibles had already become the major transportation method to North America, Africa and Europe because they were the most difficult to detect. Since the 1990s it is believed that nearly a thousand submersibles have been built and about two hundred are currently in use. Thats about a billion dollars spent on narco-sub construction.

The United States has been dealing with these submersibles since 2000 because most of them appeared to be used to move cocaine to the United States. Most (about 80 percent) of the submersible traffic was in the Pacific, from South America to Mexico and, less often, to Central America. Another 15 percent operated in the Caribbean and a growing percentage of the boats were moving cocaine to Africa and Spain.

Most of these narco-subs are still "semi-submersible" type vessels. These are 10-20-meter (31-62 foot) fiberglass and wood boats, powered by one or two diesel engines, with a very low freeboard and a small "conning tower", providing the crew (of 3-5), and engine, with fresh air and the ability to safely navigate. A boat of this type was, since they first appeared in the early 1990s, thought to be the only practical kind of submarine for drug smuggling. After 2000 some drug gangs developed real submarines, capable of carrying 5-10 tons of cocaine. These boats were not true submarines because they did not have batteries so they could operate submerged with the diesel engine turned off. Instead, these subs used a World War II innovation, the snorkel. This looked something like a periscope, but thicker in diameter. For narco-subs, the snorkel mast was not retractable, as it is on military subs, but operated on the same principle. In the smaller narco-subs, the snorkel proved to be more trouble than it was worth. In bad weather, with waves constantly washed over the snorkel and forced its water valve to close, so water did not get into the sub. This often caused the diesel to shut down because of insufficient fresh air and too much exhaust unable to vent. The crew had a separate air supply but that supply was not sufficient to keep the diesel going, even for short periods. The snorkel was largely gone by the late 1990s. Instead, the designs of the semi-submersibles were improved by using better methods to cool the exhaust via more pipes outside the sub hull where the colder water absorbed heat before venting in into the air via a curved pipe that sent the exhaust down towards the water rather than straight up. By reducing its heat signature this way, the sub reduced its vulnerability to the heat sensors search aircraft used. At that point the semi-submersible subs were very difficult to spot using radar, heat sensors, or even visually, from the air or a surface ship. With its reduced heat emissions, the snorkel was no longer an attractive alternative. The police and military have since obtained better sensors for detecting these narco-subs. The American military is a leader in this field and that is why the one percent detection rate increased to about ten percent of all narco-subs being detected and caught.

The snorkel subs also cost more than semi-submersibles and required a more highly trained crew. For a long time, there were efforts to borrow a lot of technology and ideas from the growing number of recreational submarines being built. That led to the construction of a few true subs, based on recreational subs. These proved to be more expensive to build and operate and some were still detected at sea or during construction. That meant the true subs were not sufficiently more effective to justify their higher cost. Semi-submersibles cost about $2 million to build, which takes about a year. The true submarines take several years to build and cost over $5 million.

That has led to drug gangs changing their tactics and building smaller narco-subs that carry one or two tons of cocaine (at $24 million a ton) so that if one of these subs is caught, its loss is just considered a cost of doing business and not a significant financial loss.

Despite losing over a hundred of semi-submersibles to the U.S. and South American naval forces, plus hundreds more to accidents and bad weather plus hundreds more to heavy use, the drug gangs have apparently concluded that the subs are the cheapest and most reliable way to ship the drugs. Early on, several hundred of these narco-subs were built and used on one-way trips to Mexico or the United States. Most of them got through. As new ones were built, their designs and durability improved to the point where the semi-submersibles were capable of multiple round-trips. Some have apparently been refurbished or rebuilt so they can undertake even more voyages. It was these sturdier and more reliable vessels that made the trans-Atlantic routes possible. The more reliable boats also made it possible to obtain more experienced, and effective, crews. The early designs were dangerous and although high fees were paid to crew, usually operators of offshore fishing boats, it was very dangerous. Some of the early crews were recruited by threats against their families or even by kidnapping of family members. With the reusable boats more crews were making a career out of this well-paying job. Moreover, the trans-Atlantic voyages meant covering about 8,000 kilometers, which could take 15-20 days. The trips to Mexico were less than half that and the ones to Central American or via the Caribbean even shorter. The early trans-Atlantic voyages went only as far as some islands close to Europe and Africa but these were still about 75 percent as long as going all the way to Spain.

A detection network, run mainly by the United States, located a lot more of these cocaine subs than there were police or coast guard or navy ships available to run them all down. This was a problem that has yet to be solved. It is complicated by the fact that these aerial contacts can be lost even if you keep the search aircraft in the area for a long time so a surface ship can arrive. One possible solution to this was more international cooperation. Since the early 1990s the United States has used a special interagency (Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, State, and Defense) and international (over a dozen nations participate) intelligence sharing/analysis operation (Joint Interagency Task Force-South) to track drug smuggling from South America. After 2001 the task force has become quite expert at tracking the submarines and submersibles built in South America for smuggling cocaine to North America and, in a few cases, all the way to Europe. Some of these long-range subs are apparently going all the way from Ecuador to the United States, bypassing the Mexican cartels, who have been fighting each other, in a big way, since 2008. Trips directly to the United States proved too dangerous and most of the narco-subs now go to Mexico or Central America.

There was always a concern that larger boats would eventually head for Europe. For years little was known about this effort, except that it existed. Then verifiable reports, from informants, electronic eavesdropping and interrogations confirmed that cocaine was coming in via semi-submersibles. It was believed that these subs would be more at risk of being lost because of an accident or bad weather than being spotted. It turned out that the new designs were even capable of making the trip and (usually) returning under their own power. European navies, especially Portugal's and Spain's, and coast guards were alerted and began searching regularly but until 2019 had never actually caught one of these semi-submersibles. At first, it was thought that the risk of failure was so high for these trans-Atlantic narco-subs that few were built and not on a regular basis. That was not the case and the captured gangsters and overheard electronic communications indicated that the subs had become a regular method for moving the cocaine.

So far, the Colombian security forces and other Latin American navies have been responsible for most of these vessel captures. The number being captured has been going up in the last few years and 2019 was a record year with 36 boats detected and seized. Usually these boats are sunk by their crews when spotted, but the few that were captured intact revealed features like an extensive collection of communications equipment, indicating an effort to avoid capture by monitoring many police and military frequencies. The Colombians have captured several of these vessels before they could be launched. Since 2010 the Colombians have been collecting a lot of information on those who actually builds these subs for the drug gangs and FARC (leftist rebels that provide security and often transportation for moving cocaine). FARC made peace with the government several years ago but some factions refused to surrender and continued to produce cocaine and build semi-submersibles. Security forces in Colombia and Ecuador continue to search for the jungle river banks where the construction takes place. These construction sites are constantly being moved because they are hard to keep hidden for a long time.

Colombian police have arrested dozens of members of gangs that specialized in building submarines and semisubmersible boats. As police suspected, some of those arrested were retired or on active duty with the Colombian Navy, which operates two 1970s era German built Type 209 submarines. These arrests were part of an intense effort to find the people responsible for building subs for cocaine gangs. Find the builders and you stop the building efforts. In this case, it has only delayed some construction and made it more expensive to build these boats.

European police have detected signs that Spanish drug gangs are not only building their own narco-subs for making the final run of from up to a hundred kilometers off shore, with cocaine transferred from a larger surface ship, but also planning to make fully submersible subs powered by electric engines for this final run to the Spanish coast. These would be larger than the usual narco-subs because of the need to carry over ten tons of batteries to propel the sub under water at about 60 kilometers at five kilometers an hour, just beneath the surface. These subs would be virtually undetectable compared to the current diesel-powered semi-submersibles, but would have to meet the ship carrying the drugs closer (under 30 kilometers) to the shore. These submersible subs would be far more expensive (over $10 million each) to build and require better trained and more experienced crew to operate it. For that reason it is believed the drug gangs will not take the risk of building and operating these more expensive and complex submersibles unless losses among the semi-submersibles off the coast get too high.

The U.S. is sharing with Israel what it knows about finding these vessels because Israel feels threatened by them for different reasons. In 2016 Israel began deploying new sensors and techniques to find these small, easily built vessels that they fear will be used to attack Israels new offshore natural gas fields. The Israelis have an advantage in that they have a less restrictive ROE (Rules of Engagement) and, while the United States never has enough surface ships or long-range helicopters to make sure that long-range sensor contacts are actually narco-subs and not some legal vessel, the Israelis can warn all maritime traffic in their coastal waters to identify themselves or risk being fired on from the air or from surface craft. A number of the latter are unmanned, like the new Seagull USV (unmanned surface vessel) that can fire wire-guided torpedoes.
"The parts department at Hiley Hyundai of Burleson keeps an array of OEM parts in stock at all times."

Individuals in need of genuine OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts for a Hyundai vehicle are encouraged to shop at Hiley Hyundai of Burleson. The parts department at Hiley Hyundai of Burleson keeps an array of OEM parts in stock at all times.

There are many benefits that come from using OEM parts over generic ones. The first being the ability to save money. When an OEM part is utilized for a Hyundai vehicle, the buyer knows the part will fit and work properly. Each OEM part is designed and tested to confirm it is of high quality. Buying an OEM part will ensure the buyer does not have to go in search of a replacement if the generic part is not a good fit or does not function properly.

Another perk is having the OEM part backed by a Hyundai warranty. To learn more about the warranty given to OEM Hyundai parts, contact a parts advisor representative at the Hyundai Parts Department at Hiley Hyundai of Burleson.

Individuals that are interested in purchasing a genuine OEM Hyundai part can do so by visiting or calling the parts department at Hiley Hyundai of Burleson. This dealership works hard to ensure a variety of OEM Hyundai parts are always kept on hand. If a part is not available for some reason, a staff member can order the part. A trained technician is also available to discuss how to properly install the part or answer any questions the buyer may have.

To learn more, visit the Hiley Hyundai of Burleson website, http://www.hileyhyundaiofburleson.com. Parts and service staff members can be reached by calling 817-945-9900. The dealership is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Hiley Hyundai of Burleson is located at 320 N. Burleson Blvd., Burleson, Texas 76028.
The increased activity of NATO in the Black Sea complicates security situation in the region, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Sputnik, commenting on the passage of US warships through the Bosphorus

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) The increased activity of NATO in the Black Sea complicates security situation in the region, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Sputnik, commenting on the passage of US warships through the Bosphorus.

Earlier, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told Sputnik that Washington had notified Ankara of the passage of two warships through the Bosphorus to the Black Sea, where they would be stationed from April 14-15 to May 4-5.

"Increased NATO activity in the Black Sea is a factor that complicates the security situation in the Black Sea region," Grushko said.

Answering about contacts between Moscow and Ankara in connection with the passage of US ships into the Black Sea, the diplomat noted that "there are relevant mechanisms for notification."
A Confederate monument stolen from a Selma cemetery last month has been recovered and two people have been arrested, with a third still sought.

Selma Police Chief Kenta Fulford and District Attorney Michael Jackson on Friday confirmed the recovery and the arrests.

According to New Orleans police, Eighth District detectives on Tuesday received a request from the Dallas County Sheriffs Office for assistance in recovering the The Jefferson Davis Memorial Chair was stolen in late March from Old Live Oak Cemetery in Selma. During the investigation, detectives received a tip that the chair was at a location near the intersection of Feliciana and North Galvez Streets. The chair was found and recovered on Thursday - seemingly undamaged. The chair was taken into police custody and will be released to its owners.

Police arrested Stanley Warnick, 32, and Kathryn Diionno, 24. They are facing possession of stolen property charges in New Orleans. Police are still searching for 34-year-old Stanley Pate in connection with the case. Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact Eighth District detectives at 504-658-6080.

Stanley Pate (NOPD)

A group that calls itself White Lies Matter threatened earlier this week to use the chair as a toilet if the United Daughters of the Confederacy did not hang up a banner outside its Richmond, Va. headquarters at 1 p.m. Friday - the anniversary of the Confederacys surrender in the Civil War -- and leave it there for 24 hours.

The banner included a quote from Assata Shakur, a Black Liberation Army activist wanted by the FBI for the 1973 murder of a New Jersey state trooper: The rulers of this country have always considered their property more important than our lives.

The group then distributed photos to the media claiming to have used the chair as a toilet.

A day later, the group said the monument was safe and that a replica of the chair created in Hollywood was used in pictures with a man in a Union uniform appearing to use it as a toilet.

The memorial chair, valued at $500,000, was dropped off at a secure location in New Orleans and police and the United Daughters of the Confederacy were given GPS coordinates to locate the chair, the group said.

Fulford on Friday said the chair wasnt where authorities were told it was going to be, but that New Orleans police later carried out a search warrant at an undisclosed location.

Two people  a male and a female  were arrested.

Fulford said more information will be released as it becomes available.

The Columbos of New Orleans have solved this puzzle, Jackson said.
Portland, OR, April 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per the report published by Allied Market Research, the Egypt paints & coatings market was estimated at $2.2 billion by 2019, and is anticipated to hit $3.6 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 7.9% from 2020 to 2027.

Increase in building & construction activities in the region and growth in demand for heat & UV resistant paints & coatings products drive the growth of the Egypt paints & coatings market. However, rise in prices of raw materials hinders the market growth. On the contrary, surge in demand for eco-friendly paints & coatings products is expected to usher an array of opportunities for the market players in the future.

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Covid-19 scenario:

The prolonged lockdown during covid-19 outbreak temporarily suspended the import-export and disrupted the supply chain. In addition, the shortage of raw materials further restrained the production of paints & coatings.

However, the industry has now restarted their production facility as the government bodies have eased off the regulations. Moreover, the demand for paint & coatings is expected to recover post-pandemic.

The Egypt paints & coatings market is divided on the basis of resin type, technology, and product type. Based on resin type, the market is further segmented into acrylic resin, alkyd resin, polyurethane resin, epoxy resin, polyester resin, and others. The acrylic resin segment dominated the market with nearly one-third of the total market share in 2019, and would lead the trial throughout the forecast period. In addition, the segment is expected to manifest the highest CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period.

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Based on technology, the market is divided into water-based, solvent-based, powder-based, and others. The solvent-based segment held the largest share in 2019, with more than half of the total revenue. However, the water-based segment is estimated to register the highest CAGR of 8.0% during the forecast period.

Based on product type, the market is classified into decorative paints & coatings and industrial paints & coatings. The decorative paints & coatings segment held the largest share in 2019, accounting for more than three-fourths of the market. However, the industrial paints & coatings segment is projected to portray the highest CAGR of 8.1% during the forecast period.

The Egypt paints & coatings market report includes an in-depth analysis of the key market players such as BASF SE, Akzo Nobel N.V., KAPCI Coatings, PPG Industries, Inc., PACHIN, GLC Paints, Jotun A/S, Orient Paints, MIDO Coatings, and SIPES Egypt.

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TV power couple Peter Stefanovic and Sylvia Jeffreys welcomed their second son, Henry George, on Easter Saturday.

And on Friday, Channel Nine star Sylvia shared a new photo of her baby while thanking her colleagues at A Current Affair for their gifts and well-wishes.

The 34-year-old posted a picture of her newborn sitting in a rocker next to an assortment of purple, pink and white flowers.

Grateful: Nine presenter Sylvia Jeffreys has shared a new photo of baby Henry George while thanking her colleagues at A Current Affair for their gifts and well-wishes

'Henry is chuffed with the stunning delivery from our friends at @ACurrentAffair9, thanks team,' she captioned the upload.

Sylvia's main job at Nine is hosting morning show Today Extra, but she is also a reporter and occasional guest presenter for ACA.

She then shared another photo of her older son, Oscar Hamilton, at his local park.

'Meantime, this kid seems 10x bigger than he was last week,' she captioned it.

New addition: TV power couple Peter Stefanovic and Sylvia Jeffreys welcomed their second son, Henry George, on Easter Saturday

Meanwhile, Sylvia is not the only proud parent in the household.

Shortly after the couple announced their child's arrival this week, Sky News anchor Peter, 39, posted a clip of his little boy alongside a touching tribute to his wife.

'The newest littlest member of our squad of four, led by my hero - @sylviajeffreys,' he wrote on Instagram.

'Meantime, this kid seems 10x bigger than he was last week': The Today Extra host, 34, then shared another photo of her older son, Oscar Hamilton, at his local park

The short video showed the tot wrapped in a grey blanket and gazing at his parents.

The couple announced Henry's arrival on Wednesday morning, but Peter's brother Karl Stefanovic confirmed on the Today show his nephew had in fact been born four days earlier, on Easter Saturday.

'The Today show family has grown by one. This is very good news,' Karl said.

So cute! Shortly after the couple announced their child's arrival this week, Sky News anchor Peter, 39, posted a clip of his little boy gazing up at his parents

Fellow Today anchor Leila McKinnon added: 'Today Extra host Sylvia Jeffreys has given birth to a beautiful baby boy, Henry George Stefanovic. Well done, guys.'

'My ovaries are bursting!' Karl joked, which Leila replied: 'I'm lactating!'

Proud uncle Karl said his baby nephew was born on Saturday, weighing 3.5kg.

'Henry, our gorgeous, healthy little boy makes us a family of four': The pair announced Henry's arrival on Wednesday morning, but Peter's brother Karl Stefanovic confirmed on the Today show his nephew had in fact been born four days earlier, on Easter Saturday

'The Today show family has grown by one': Proud uncle Karl Stefanovic (left, with co-host Leila McKinnon) said his baby nephew was born on Saturday, weighing 3.5kg

'Mum is doing fantastic, I spoke to my bro, too... he was downing a Rockford Basket Press [a shiraz] at the time and enjoying being a father again,' Karl said.

Last year, Sylvia and Peter welcomed their first son, Oscar Hamilton, now one.

Just eight months after Oscar's birth, the Nine personality revealed she was pregnant with her second child.

Baby makes four! Last year, Sylvia and Peter welcomed their first son, Oscar Hamilton

Earlier this month, Sylvia went on maternity leave.

At the time, She shared a picture of herself next to newsreader and fellow mother-to-be Jayne Azzopardi, as they both cradled their bumps in the Nine newsroom.

Sylvia wrote in the caption: 'My last day at work = last chance for a bump comparison with @jayneazzo. How did we get here so fast? (Hint: 2 x turbo toddlers).'

Baby on board: Earlier this month, Sylvia went on maternity leave. She shared this picture of herself next to newsreader and fellow mother-to-be Jayne Azzopardi, as they both cradled their bumps while posing in the Nine newsroom

Their special day: Last week, Sylvia and Peter celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary. Pictured here on their wedding day

Last week, Sylvia and Peter celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary.

'Four years married to my favourite mate. Happy anniversary, Peter,' Sylvia wrote on Instagram, alongside a gallery of photos from their nuptials.

Meanwhile, Peter shared a photo from their first dance as husband and wife, and captioned it: 'Four years. What a blast of time - of love and laughs it's been. Happy anniversary.'

Pregnancy journey: The TV personality conceived her first son Oscar (pictured) via IVF, but has said her second pregnancy was 'spontaneous'

Sylvia conceived her first son Oscar via IVF, but has said her second pregnancy was 'spontaneous'.

'We hadn't planned to go down that path so soon, but having had not an entirely easy path the first time around you can't be anything but thankful and grateful to have fallen pregnant this way,' she told The Australian Women's Weekly.

She said many people had advised her against having boys 15 months apart, but she insisted they wouldn't have it any other way.

'I know it will be a lot to keep up with two turbo little boys, but for now I'm just embracing the beautiful chaos,' Sylvia added.
The chairman of Social Democratic Party (PSD), Marcel Ciolacu, declared on Friday that the social democrats will propose the introduction in the legislation of the "green criterion", through which the producer closest to the beneficiary will receive additional points at the tenders.

The PSD leader told a Friday's press conference in Baia Mare, that the Romanian companies making protection materials were ignored and disadvantaged by the Romanian state, while the French state bought the entire production of protective masks of a company local, agerpres.ro confirms.

In this context, Marcel Ciolacu proposed the introduction of a "green criterion" in the tender legislation, which already exists as a recommendation.

"Together with several Romanian producers and with the PSD parliamentarians, we hope to gather enough votes to pass this legislative initiative through the Parliament, more precisely the introduction of the 'green criterion'. There is this recommendation in the Romanian legislation. (...) This green criterion at the moment is functional in Germany and more precisely, the distance from the producer to the beneficiary is considered polluting, polluting transport and then, in the 100 points, in addition to the quality and price criteria, comes this green criterion. The closest producer to the beneficiary also has this benefit of 10 points at the tender," argued the PSD head.

According to Ciolacu, the "green criterion" would save more Romanian producers and the jobs they offer.
New Delhi: In an alarming surge, India reported 1,31,968 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the total tally to 1,30,60,542.

As per Ministry of Health data available on Friday (April 9), 780 new COVID-19 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll in the country to 1,67,642. The active caseload stands at 9,79,608, while as many as 61,899 people were discharged or recovered on Thursday taking the total number of recoveries to 1,19,13,292.

It is the fourth consecutive day when India has reported more than 1 lakh cases in a single day. On Thursday, India recorded over 1.26 lakh new COVID-19 daily cases, mounting the caseload to 1,29,28,574.

Meanwhile, 13,64,205 samples were tested for COVID-19 infection on Thursday. With this, the total samples tested in the country reached 25,40,41,584, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data stated. Around 9,43,34,262 people have been administered COVID-19 vaccination in the country so far.

Addressing the sudden spike in coronavirus cases due to the second wave, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting with chief ministers of states and union territories (UT) on Thursday. He called for the celebration of vaccine festival or Tika Utsav between April 11-14 which will aim to inoculate maximum number of eligible beneficiaries. The PM also ruled out the possibility of a complete lockdown and emphasised the need to work on war footing again to fight against the pandemic.

(With ANI inputs)

Live TV
ONEONTA, N.Y.  The acting police chief in Oneonta, Lt. C.J. Witzenburg, is speaking out for the first time since the fatal officer-involved shooting earlier this week.

Witzenburg says there has been a good deal of commentary regarding this incident that has been inaccurate and asks people to refrain from passing judgment on this incident until the facts and actions can be made public.

Police responded to 48 River Street for a domestic dispute Tuesday afternoon, where they found 23-year-old Tyler Green outside holding a child while wielding a knife, after allegedly stabbing the woman he lives with in the leg. Witnesses say Green dropped the child, and threatened officers with the knife. Thats when Sgt. Ralph Pajerski fired two shots, hitting Green in the chest.

The investigation has been turned over to the New York Attorney Generals Office.

Though we are not the investigating agency, I have had the opportunity to review a considerable amount of evidence concerning this incident, said Witzenburg. I am confident based on my training and experience that the Office of Special Investigations will clear up any doubt that this response was appropriate, logical, reasonable and necessary as the law requires.

Oneonta Mayor Gary Herzig said Pajerski and the other responding officer have not yet returned to work.

Witzenburg says the police department will operate normally throughout the AGs investigation.
Apple to pay $3.4-m over iPhone obsolescence in Chile (Source: freepik.com)

Apple is accused of having programmed a limited lifespan into some products to force users to replace their phones sooner than necessary, and has previously settled similar cases in the United States and Europe.

In Chile, some 150,000 users of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus and SE sued the US company, claiming their smartphones started underperforming after software updates programmed by Apple before December 21, 2017.

The agreement provides for a registration period for affected clients, who will have to provide proof of their devices' reduced performance, a lawyer for the Odecu consumer body, Juan Sebastian Reyes, told a virtual press conference.

Each client stands to get maximum compensation of $50, which is to be shared if there are more than one claim per serial number, as in the case of second-hand phones.

In December 2017, Apple admitted iOS software was tweaked to slow performance of older iPhones whose battery life was deteriorating.

An outcry forced Apple to upgrade its software and offer steep discounts on battery replacements.

In March 2020, Apple agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over slowed iPhones in the United States, followed in November by another $113 million to settle litigation with more than 30 US states over the same issue.

The company has also settled a case with France's consumer watchdog for 25 million euros ($29.7 million) for failing to tell iPhone users that software updates could slow older devices.

Italy, for its part, has fined Apple and Samsung 10 and five million euros respectively for planned smartphone obsolescence.
British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca which has been going through a rough patch over its COVID-19 vaccine's safety concerns and anger in the EU over failing to fulfil its promise has sent a legal notice to Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) over its delay in shipments.

The SII, which is the world's largest vaccine maker had entered into a deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine in India under the brand name Covishield.

AFP

This was to be sold in India and exported to other countries around the world.

What happened?

SII's CEO Adar Poonawalla had recently said that the company has so far delivered more than 100 million doses of the vaccine to the Indian government and more than 60 million jabs have been exported.

But according to the legal notice by AstraZeneca, Serum institute delayed shipment of vaccines to the UK and later didnt meet its obligations to other countries as a part of the Covax programme.

BCCL

In March, AstraZeneca had announced supply to 142 countries underway as part of the unprecedented effort to bring broad and equitable access to the vaccine.

COVAX supplier

AstraZeneca with its partner Serum Institute of India will be the biggest initial supplier to COVAX, the pharma company had announced.

The first of many millions of doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine have begun arriving in low and middle-income countries across the world through the multilateral COVAX initiative, Astrazeneca said.

First COVAX shipments were dispatched to Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire, also countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Fiji, Mongolia and Moldova. This supply represents the first COVID-19 vaccine for many of these countries.

AP

AstraZeneca had said further shipments will arrive in the coming weeks with the aim of supplying a total of 142 countries with hundreds of millions of doses of the vaccine in the coming months.

The majority of these doses, manufactured by AstraZeneca and its licence partner Serum Institute of India, will go to low and middle-income countries.

One of the reasons for the delay in shipment is said to be the increase in demand in India.

AP

Recently, amid the rapid spread of the second wave of COVID-19 in India, the government had imposed restrictions on vaccine exports from India to prioritise its population.

AstraZeneca is also under increasing pressure from the EU which last month threatened to impose export bans to countries outside the EU if it does not quickly deliver the vaccines to the 27-nation bloc as promised.

EU Commission President Von der Leyen had said the contract between the EU and AstraZeneca regulates how much vaccines the EU gets from AstraZeneca's plants inside the EU and in Britain.
Every time I think there are no more ways to describe what an insouciant dumbass Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is, the feckless AG steps up and provides new and innovative ways of proving me wrong.

Ever since he won his current office, Landry has distinguished himself as the states most clownish demagogue. He never tires of the kind of shameless grandstanding that more often than not comes off as mindless self-mockery. If he had an ounce of self-awareness, he might restrain some of his baser political instincts.

Nah.

Landry first caught my attention in 2016 when he described a man living in the U.S. without legal status as benefitting from New Orleans alleged sanctuary city policies  only the man lived in Jefferson Parish (and New Orleans was never a sanctuary city).

Then, there was his string of unsuccessful lawsuits against Gov. John Bel Edwards, particularly when Landry tried to gut the governors executive orders that helped reduce the number of Covid cases in Louisiana. He doubled down in spectacular fashion after one loss by publicly dissing the trial judge  a flagrant ethics violation that should have landed him in hot water with the Louisiana State Bar Associations Disciplinary Board.

Clancy DuBos: Edwards, Legislature must clean house at LSU and the AGs office In the short space of a year, LSU has gone from hero to zero in Louisiana politics. Similarly, state Attorney General Jeff Landry has gone fro

More recently, Landry betrayed his offices long history of championing transparency by suing The Advocate | The Times-Picayune reporter Andrea Gallo after she filed a public records request seeking records from his office about a sexual harassment complaint against one of Landrys top aides. So far he has lost that one, too, and the aide  Criminal Division Chief Pat Magee  resigned after another complaint against him surfaced.

Even a bad lawyer would have learned a lesson from that last debacle, but Landry is no ordinary laughingstock. Hes doubling down yet again, this time releasing a memo that takes aim at the whistleblower who filed the initial complaint against Magee.

According to a story by Gallo, the memo contains several curious assertions, among them a ham-fisted attempt by Landry to turn the tables on the whistleblower.

Clancy DuBos: AG Jeff Landry is an enemy of transparency There was a time when the Louisiana Attorney Generals office championed citizens right to know what public officials were up to. I remember 

The AGs office officially cleared Magee of sexual harassment allegations in January, but the facts unearthed by Gallo paint quite a different picture. Now comes the April 7 memo, no doubt sought by Landry, suggesting the whistleblower might actually have violated the offices sexual harassment policy  for failing to report Magees alleged harassment. This is Vladimir Putin-level retaliation.

Because the memo is addressed to Landry, and because it comes three months after the AGs office purportedly wrapped up its own investigation into Magees conduct, it seems obvious that this is yet another attempt by Landry to cover for his pal Magee, who reportedly had a habit of reminding people in the office of his close friendship with the boss. It may also be a typically inept attempt by Landry to build a case  I use that expression loosely in relation to Landry  for firing the whistleblower.

Hopefully, as he has so often since taking office as AG, Landry will soon learn yet another lesson in the law: that retaliation against whistleblowers is illegal.
The stage is set for music fans to come together in St Kilda this month for Victorias largest outdoor concerts and dance parties in more than a year.

April Sun, adjacent to the Palais Theatre, will host 11 days and nights of general admission concerts and mini-festivals without pods or seating, allowing up to 4000 people to attend each event under the states recently downgraded COVID-safe requirements.

Adalita, of Magic Dirt, and Ash Naylor from the Church, will be performing shows at this months April Sun concerts in St Kilda. Credit:Simon Schluter

Concerts by You Am I and Magic Dirt, the Church, Marcia Hines, Leo Sayer, Kylie Auldist, Sneaky Sound System and G Flip will be a much-needed shot in the arm for the local music industry. The event begins on April 16 and runs until May 2 with a closing show featuring Hiatus Kaiyote, Harvey Sutherland and Keeahn.

A collaboration between Live Nation, local event producers and the Port Phillip Council, April Sun will be held in accordance with government health advice and the support of Victoria Police, according to Port Phillip mayor Louise Crawford.
Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband, has died, aged 99, it has been confirmed by Buckingham Palace.

A short statement said: "It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle."

The prince married Princess Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she became Queen, and was the longest-serving royal consort in British history.

The couple had four children, eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin paid tribute to His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Mr Martin said, My thoughts and prayers are with HRH Queen Elizabeth and her family today, on the occasion of the passing of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

"Ireland remembers the great success of the State Visit to Ireland in 2011 by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, a historic and important occasion which was a key moment in our bilateral relations. This was followed in 2014 by the State Visit to the United Kingdom by the President and Mrs Higgins, when they were hosted so generously in Windsor Castle and across Britain.

"The commitment of the Royal Family to Irish-British relations is an important part of the work we do together - and today we pay tribute to Prince Philips own important contribution.

Most Revd John McDowell, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland said, "With profound sympathy for Her Majesty the Queen, I wish to express my sincere condolences to her and her whole family on the death of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. Her Majestys sense of loss must be very great after over seventy years of unbroken love and friendship.

"In remembering and reflecting on a life of service, including as an Naval Officer in the Second World War, we recall his exemplary sense of duty to the nation and Commonwealth over seven decades and, most especially, his love, honour and obedience to Her Majesty.

"Prince Philip accepted and developed a unique role in the life of the United Kingdom, always closely supporting the Queen as her liege man of life and limb, and continuing to serve in an active public life which continued long after many would have sought to lay aside a heavy burden of public service. My prayers will be with the Royal Family in the days to come.
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Caron Nazario was driving his brand new SUV through the town of Windsor last December when he saw a police cruiser signal for him to pull over.

The Army second lieutenant slowed down on U.S. Route 460, flipped on his turn signal, and looked for a lighted place to pull over because it was dark outside, according to a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Norfolk.

Less than a mile away, Nazario saw a BP gas station. He drove his Chevrolet Tahoe into the parking area and stopped, the lawsuit said.

In the meantime, Windsor Police Officer Daniel Crocker radioed he was attempting to pull over a vehicle with no rear license plate and tinted windows. He said the driver was eluding police and he considered it a high-risk traffic stop, according to a report he submitted afterward and was included in the court filing. The written report acknowledged, however, that the SUV was traveling at a low rate of speed.

Another officer, Joe Gutierrez, was driving by when he heard Crockers call, saw him attempting to pull the vehicle over, and decided to join the traffic stop. What happened after that has been disputed by the officers and Nazario.

But the police officers own body cam footage  and a cellphone recording made by Nazario  back up the Army lieutenants version of events, according to his attorney, Jonathan Arthur of Richmond.

Its all right there in the footage, the attorney said.

Arthur said the lawsuit was filed in federal court because it alleges Nazarios constitutional rights were violated. Windsor Police Chief Rodney Dan Riddle did not respond to a request for comment.

Windsor is a small town in Isle of Wight County, with a population of just 2,700. Crocker and Gutierrez still work for the department, according to the town manager, and are the only named defendants in the lawsuit. Neither could be reached for comment.

According to the lawsuit, when the two officers got out, they immediately drew their guns and pointed them at Nazario  who is Black and Latino and was dressed in uniform  as he sat in his SUV.

And while Crocker had radioed he was pulling the vehicle over for not having a license plate, his body cam showed there was a cardboard license plate typically used on new cars posted in the rear window, the complaint says.

The officers shouted conflicting orders at Nazario, telling him to put his hands out the window while also telling him to open the door and get out, the lawsuit says. At one point, Gutierrez told Nazario he was fixin to ride the lightning, a reference to the electric chair, according to the claim.

Nazario repeatedly asked what was going on but got no response. Frightened and unsure what to do, he told the officers he was scared to get out.

Gutierrez then responded, Yeah, you should be, the complaint said.

The officers then attempted to pull Nazario out of the vehicle. When the 27-year-old asked that they call a police supervisor, Gutierrez stepped back and pepper sprayed Nazario multiple times, the lawsuit says.

The chemical temporarily blinded Nazario and caused a burning sensation in his lungs, throat and skin. Nazarios dog was in a crate in the back and also started to choke.

Nazario got out of the vehicle and again asked for a supervisor. Gutierrez responded with knee-strikes to his legs, knocking him to the ground, the lawsuit says. The two officers struck him multiple times, then handcuffed and interrogated him, the complaint says.

Gutierrez wrote in his report that his body cam video stopped recording when it was compressed between him and Nazario during a struggle.

Crocker opened the windows and tailgate of the SUV after Nazario expressed concern about his dog.

When Nazario told the officers he waited to pull over until he could get to a well-lit area, Gutierrez said that was reasonable, the claim states. The officer also said it 

Gutierrez told Nazario the problem was that he refused to exit the vehicle, according to the claim, and threatened to charge him with obstructing justice, eluding police and assaulting a law enforcement officer.

Realizing that they had acted illegally, the lawsuit says, the officers told Nazario that if he would chill and let this go, they would release him without filing any charges. But if he fought it, which Gutierrez acknowledged he had the right to do, Nazario would be charged and would have to go to court and notify his command.

Afterwards, the two officers filed reports with near identical misstatements, the lawsuit says.

They reported that Nazario refused to show his hands and slapped theirs away when they tried to get him out. Gutierrez wrote that he gave knee strikes to Nazarios legs because he wouldnt get on the ground and resisted arrest.

Medics were called and treated Nazario at the scene. The police chief also came and was briefed as to what happened, the report said.

Gutierrez wrote in his report that he felt he had two options: charge Nazario with obstruction, eluding, and assaulting an officer, or release him without any charges.

I made the decision to release him without any charges, his report said. The reason for this decision is simple; the military is the only place where double jeopardy applies. Meaning that whatever happened in civil court, the military could still take action against him. Being a military veteran, I did not want to see his career ruined over one erroneous decision.

Crockers report also states that he chose not to file any charges because Nazario was active duty military, up for promotion, and the officer didnt want to see his career ruined for poor judgment.

The lawsuit argues the officers didnt have probable cause to charge Nazario with any crimes, the stop was illegal and that the officers threatened to ruin the Army officers military career to cover their own misdeeds.

This article is written by Jane Harper from The Virginian-Pilot and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
Publication of the Preparatory Documentation

Regulatory News:

Groupe SEB (Paris:SK) informs its shareholders that the Combined General Meeting of Thursday, May 20, 2021 will be held at the Groupe SEB Headquarters, 112 Chemin du Moulin Carron, 69130 Ecully, France, at 3:00 p.m. CET, in closed session, without the physical presence of shareholders.

In this context, shareholders are invited to express their votes under the conditions described below:

vote by postal voting or by Internet on the VOTACCESS secure voting platform (electronic vote), by expressing his choice for each resolution,

or

or give proxy to the Chairman of the General Meeting or to a person of their choice (other shareholder or any other moral or physical person).

We remind our shareholders that they may submit questions:

by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt to the following address:

SEB S.A., Service Actionnaires, 112 Chemin du Moulin Carron, 69130 Ecully

by email to the following address: actionnaires@groupeseb.com

Questions must be received by SEB S.A. no later than two business day preceding the date of the Annual General Meeting, i.e., May 18, 2021.

In addition to the legally framed system of written questions, in view of the current circumstances related to COVID-19 and the impossibility for shareholders to physically attend the Annual General Meeting, Groupe SEB has set up an interactive platform to allow shareholders to ask

questions in live during the Annual General Meeting. In this regard, the Company invites shareholders to consult the Company's website (www.groupeseb.com) in order to be kept informed of the terms and conditions relating to this system and more generally of the definitive modalities of holding the General Assembly.

The ability to ask questions live will be conditioned on the prior authentication of the shareholder and the verification of his status just before the start of the General Meeting.

As usual, the Annual General Meeting will be webcast live (in French) and will be available for later viewing on our website www.groupeseb.com

The preliminary notice of meeting was published in the Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires (BALO) on March 24, 2021. It includes the agenda and the draft text of the resolutions as approved by decisions of the Board of Directors on February 23, 2021.

The convening notice specifying the terms of participation and voting at this General Meeting, the agenda and the draft resolutions will be sent to registered shareholders from April 26, 2021.

The notice of meeting will be published in a Legal Gazette (LE TOUT LYON) on April 24, 2021 and in the Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires (BALO) on April 28, 2021.

The above documents are available in the Shareholder Area of the Group's website: (https://www.groupeseb.com/en/finance/annual-general-meeting). We will regularly update this page with the information required.

The information referred to in Article R.225-83 of the French Commercial Code is included in the 2020 Universal Registration Document, also available on Group's website at the following address: https://www.groupeseb.com/en/finance-news-and-publications

Next key dates 2021 May 20 | 3:00 pm (Paris time) Annual General Meeting July 23 before market opens H1 2021 sales and results October 26 after market closes 9-month 2021 sales and financial data

Find us on www.groupeseb.com

World reference in small domestic equipment, Groupe SEB operates with a unique portfolio of 31 top brands including Tefal, Seb, Rowenta, Moulinex, Krups, Lagostina, All-Clad, WMF, Emsa, Supor, marketed through multi-format retailing. Selling more than 360 million products a year, it deploys a long-term strategy focused on innovation, international development, competitiveness and client service. Present in over 150 countries, Groupe SEB generated sales of 6.9 billion in 2020 and has more than 33,000 employees worldwide.

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With a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases in India, preventing another reverse migration of workers, particularly from key industrial areas, seems to be the top most priority of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

In a bid to avert any panic like situation similar to that of last year, the government, including local administration and railways, are working on an elaborate plan to prevent the exodus of labourers from major cities, including Mumbai.

Top sources in the government said the local administration in industrial pockets of Mumbai and other metros have been asked to approach factory management, labour unions and concerned groups to convince the not to get scared of the sudden resurgence.

Industrial bodies and factory managements are also being apprised of the ongoing vaccination plan which will be escalated in weeks to come and would cover industrial workers.

The is concerned about the and wants to prevent mass exodus of workers which resulted in loss of jobs and human miseries last year.

On Wednesday night, several hundred had flocked to the railway stations at Bandra, Dadra and Churchgate, triggering fears that a mass exodus have started and may affect production in factories.

However the concerned authorities said that platforms were crowded mainly due to summer rush.

"I have spoken to IG, RPF Central Railway and IG, Western Railway in Mumbai. I want to clarify that groups of workers stayed at different railway stations because of the night curfew in Mumbai. They returned to their factories when curfew was lifted. The rush seen at platforms was mainly of waitlisted passengers boarding summer special trains," said Arun Kumar, Director General (DG) of the RPF.

He informed IANS that all efforts are being made to allay fears relating to reverse migration of workers.

"Our officers at the Western and Central Railway are coordinating with CP (Railways, Mumbai Police) and concerned authorities in industrial areas. They are being apprised of Covid protocols. Meanwhile additional special trains are being run to take care of the usual summer rush.," Kumar, a 1985 batch UP cadre IPS officer, said.

On Thursday, the DG and a team of senior officials held an important meeting with Chairman, Railway Board to further review the situation in Maharashtra, primarily Mumbai, a major railway hub in India presently facing the highest spike in cases relating to pandemic.

During March 2020, several lakh migrant workers returned to their villages, many of them reaching home on foot, as trains and local transport were shut due to nation wide lockdown.

Stories of human miseries and sufferings of migrant workers during their journey to villages had caught a large media attention.

Sources said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was perturbed over such incidents where poor labourers had to walk on foot, often without food for days.

"This time we are on alert. The government doesn't want this to happen again. All out efforts are being made at every level to prevent large scale migration of labourers. In a Covid affected economy, health of factory workers as well as the country's industrial production is our top priority," a senior officer said.

--IANS

ds/ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Prince Harrys return to the UK for his grandfather Prince Philips funeral will be a pivotal moment for a divided Royal Family still nursing deep wounds over his and Meghans bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview.

Harry will be attending the event at St Georges Chapel, Windsor, most likely next week, and although there has been no word on whether heavily-pregnant Meghan would join him, it is believed unlikely in the circumstances.

Harry is likely to make the journey to London by private jet from his home near Los Angeles and it is understood he may be permitted to use a diplomatic exemption to waive the normal Covid quarantine rules applying to flights from the USA.

There has not yet been an official statement from the couple on Philip's death.

It has been reported that Harry was already largely self-isolating at the 11m mansion near Santa Barbara from when his grandfather entered hospital.

It is thought he will be tested for Covid-19 before departure from the US and upon arrival in the UK, instead of being subject to the normal 10-day quarantine, though travellers are allowed to leave quarantine if they test negative after five days.

It is not known where he will stay during his stay in the UK, nor for how long he will remain after the funeral.

The reunion of the Duke of Sussex with his brother William and father Prince Charles will be awkward enough following his and Meghans shocking accusations of racism in the TV show aired only last month.

Despite the obvious rift, the Queen will expect her grandsons to put on a united front, along with the rest of the Royals as a mark of respect for the late Duke of Edinburgh.

Whether the unity will prove more than a public facade remains to be seen, but some royal sources hope that the brothers first meeting for more than a year could lead to some kind of reconciliation.

If Meghan were to join Harry for the funeral, a royal rapprochement is considered less likely to happen, particularly after she told Oprah that Kate has made her cry during the run-up to her wedding.

Harry, Meghan Markle and Prince Philip on Christmas Day 2017. The couple has not been in the UK since March last year

Prince Philip's death comes just a month after Harry and Meghan gave an interview to Oprah in which they alleged racism in the Royal Family. It aired when Philip was in the hospital

Harry was last pictured with Philip on May 8, 2019, when they were seen posing for a charming photograph with Baby Archie at Buckingham Palace

A source close to the family told DailyMail.com today: 'Harry will absolutely do his utmost to get back to the UK and be with his family.

'He will want nothing more than to be there for his family, and particularly his grandmother, during this awful time.

'Meghan is obviously pregnant so she will need to take advice from her doctors about whether it is safe for her to travel, but I think Harry will definitely go.'

While Harry claimed in the interview to have always had a good relationship with the Queen, it's unclear what kind of relationship, if any, he now has with Prince William and his father, Prince Charles.

According to CBS host Gayle King, a close friend of Oprah, Prince William, 38, reached out to Prince Harry after the explosive interview, but talks were not productive.

Harrys claims that William is trapped inside the monarchy are believed to have caused deep offence. Some royal experts believe that William is willing to give his brother a final chance.

The pair would almost certainly have met anyway on July 1 for the unveiling of a statue of Diana in London, but there was always a question mark over that reunion because of Meghans imminent due date, which has not been publically confirmed.

It is not clear if Harry had planned to return in June, when Prince Philip would have turned 100, and when a Trooping of the Colour was planned.

Now events have forced William and Harry to meet sooner than expected, and other members of the Royal Family will be hoping that a healing of the brothers rift will be a silver lining in the cloud of Prince Philips passing.

The Sussexes, who ignored calls to postpone the March 7 CBS interview because Philip was unwell, accused an unnamed royal, not the Queen nor the duke, of raising concerns about how dark their son Archie's skin tone would be before he was born.

Ms King claimed afterwards that the pair had a contingency plan that if Prince Philip's condition worsened, the interview would not have aired. That has not been confirmed by TV networks.

The interview was sold by CBS to dozens of countries around the world, and CBS paid a reported $8million for it.

Meghan also claimed that she'd been trapped by the 'institution' and was at one point suicidal, but that when she sought help, was told she could not have it.

Meghan is now pregnant with their second child and due to give birth sometime in the summer but she has not disclosed exactly when. The couple has not commented on any plan to return to the UK.

The Queen said after the interview that the allegations were 'concerning' but that 'some recollections may vary' and the matter was a family one that would be dealt with privately.

Prince Harry was last pictured earlier this month throwing a tennis ball for his dog in Los Angeles

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were seen out and about on March 7 in their 170,000 Range Rover

The Sussexes, who faced calls to postpone the interview because Philip was unwell, accused an unnamed royal, not the Queen nor the duke, of raising concerns about how dark their son Archie's skin tone would be before he was born.

Since then, they have launched a charity, accepted lucrative business deals with Netflix and Spotify, given public talks, appeared on Zoom conferences, and on March 7, they criticised the Royal Family in a sit-down interview with Oprah that was viewed around the world.

Meghan is now pregnant with their second child and due to give birth sometime in the summer but she has not disclosed exactly when. The couple has not commented on any plan to return to the UK.

Today royal biographer Angela Levin said it was 'unlikely' Meghan would join her husband in the UK due to her being pregnant.

According to government guidelines, people travelling to England must self-isolate from arrival into the country for 10 full days. However, arriving travellers can take a test five days after arriving in the country and - if this is negative - may leave self-isolation.

This is the most likely option for Prince Harry unless he claims special status accorded to diplomats.

Harry was last pictured with Philip on May 8, 2019, when they were seen posing for a charming photograph with baby Archie at Buckingham Palace.

Since then they kept up over Zoom, with Harry telling James Corden: 'We've Zoomed them a few times, they've seen Archie running around. But my grandfather, instead of pressing 'leave meeting', he just goes 'doof' [mimics shutting the laptop]. I'm like, okay, bye' Harry explained, laughing.

Meanwhile, Meghan spoke about Philip's illness on Oprah, saying: 'This morning, I woke up earlier than H, and saw a note from someone on our team in the UK saying that the Duke of Edinburgh had gone to the hospital. But I just picked up the phone and I called the Queen just to check-in. That's what we do, being able to default to not having to every moment go, 'Is that appropriate?''

What kind of reception the Sussexes will receive if they return to the UK after their extraordinary interview and behaviour over the last year is uncertain.

Buckingham Palace announced the death of Prince Philip at just after midday today - and described the Queen's 'deep sorrow'

The Sussexes' Oprah interview has further strained their relationship with other members of the royal family, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (seen visiting Westminster Abbey on March 23)

CBS host Gayle King, who is a close friend of Oprah, claimed afterwards that the pair had a contingency plan that if Prince Philip's condition worsened, the interview would not have aired. It has not been confirmed by TV networks that that is the case.

The interview was sold by CBS to dozens of countries around the world, and CBS paid a reported $8million(5.8m) for it.

The Queen said after the interview that the allegations were 'concerning' and that she would address them within Buckingham Palace.

While Harry claimed in the interview to have always had a good relationship with the Queen, it's unclear what kind of relationship, if any, he now has with Prince William and his father, Prince Charles.

Meghan claimed during the interview that contrary to public reports based on palace sources, she did not make Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, cry during the run-up to her wedding and that it was Kate who made her cry instead.

She also claimed that she'd been trapped by the 'institution' and was at one point suicidal but that when she sought mental health help, she was told she could not have it.

The Royal Family has not commented on those claims.

The Duke of Edinburgh spent his final days at Windsor Castle with his wife, who he lovingly called Lilibet throughout their long life together, after a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

Her Majesty announced her husband's death at midday as the Union Flag was lowered to half-mast outside Buckingham Palace and on public buildings across the UK and Commonwealth, while members of the public hugged and wiped away tears as they laid flowers in his memory - and messages of love and support for the Queen and her family.

The Royal Family said in a statement: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss'.

Her Majesty, who remains at Windsor Castle, is now expected to enter an eight-day period of mourning. She will not carry out any duties, even in private, while laws will not be given the Royal Assent and affairs of state will also be paused.

As with all royal births, marriages and deaths, a notice announcing Philip's passing was displayed outside Buckingham Palace. Mourners are already laying flowers at the palace, Sandringham, Balmoral and Windsor Castle, where he is expected to be buried in Frogmore Gardens following a small family service at St George's Chapel.

A state funeral including a flotilla of boats on the Thames to mark his life looks impossible due to covid restrictions, but the Duke was said to have disliked the idea because he 'didn't want the fuss'. Details will emerge in the next few days, with the plan nicknamed 'Operation Forth Bridge', but the public have already been urged to stay away to avoid spreading Covid-19.

The Union Flag was lowered to half mast at Buckingham Palace this afternoon just after it was revealed that Prince Philip has passed away shortly before his 100th birthday

A frail Philip was last seen leaving hospital on March 16 and his death plunges the nation and the Royal Family into mourning, and brings to an end Philip's lifetime of service to Britain and to Elizabeth, the Queen who adored him since her teens. The couple shared their 73rd wedding anniversary last November and he was due to turn 100 on June 10 this year.

Boris Johnson led the tributes and addressed the nation outside No 10 Downing Street shortly after the announcement. He said: 'We give thanks, as a nation and a kingdom, for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh'.

He added: 'Speaking on their golden wedding anniversary, Her Majesty said that our country owed her husband 'a greater debt than he would ever claim or we shall ever know' and I am sure that estimate is correct So we mourn today with Her Majesty The Queen.

'We remember the duke for all of this and above all for his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen. Not just as her consort, by her side every day of her reign, but as her husband, her 'strength and stay', of more than 70 years.

'And it is to Her Majesty, and her family, that our nation's thoughts must turn today. Because they have lost not just a much-loved and highly respected public figure, but a devoted husband and a proud and loving father, grandfather and, in recent years, great-grandfather.' Mr Johnson also praised his Duke of Edinburgh scheme, which has 'shaped and inspired the lives of countless young people'.
By incentivizing companies to go along with the Chinese government's repressive policies in Xinjiang and imposing punishments on those that don't, the Chinese Communist Party has made complicity in repression profitable for some companies  and for others, even mandatory.

The big picture: With the second-largest market in the world  one that is projected to surpass the U.S. to take the top spot by 2028  the Chinese Communist Party has an enormous amount of power.

Since Beijing has made access to the potential riches of China's markets contingent upon toeing party lines, companies face growing financial incentives to accede to China's demands  unless they face counterpressure, in the form of sanctions, export bans, or other actions, from their home governments.

Driving the news: Last week, Chinese social media users lambasted Swedish clothing retailer H&M for its previous statement disavowing the use of Xinjiang cotton, amid a state-supported nationalist backlash. H&M stores were removed from Baidu maps and their products disappeared from Chinese e-commerce platforms.

Other multinational brands including Nike, New Balance, and Hugo Boss soon faced a similar boycott. Hugo Boss then posted a Chinese-language statement on Weibo saying the brand would continue to purchase and support Xinjiang cotton"  but then deleted the post the next day.

Context: The Chinese Communist Party has put at least one million Uyghurs in mass internment camps in its northwest region of Xinjiang, banned most religious practice, used forced sterilization, and destroyed cultural heritage sites, in what some international human rights lawyers and several governments are now calling genocide.

Hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs have reportedly been pushed into factory work and cotton production as part of the Chinese government's forced assimilation campaign, potentially tainting global supply chains and resulting in a U.S. import ban on all cotton and tomato products from Xinjiang.

A United Nations human rights panel recently warned that more than 150 companies, including "well-known global brands," were connected to "serious allegations" of forced labor and other abuses in Xinjiang.

What's happening: Beijing is increasingly incentivizing companies to proactively contribute to its domestic repression and global geopolitical goals.

The Chinese government has required domestic facial recognition companies to develop software that can recognize Uyghur faces, and has increasingly worked to integrate these requirements into national industry standards. Chinese companies, in turn, are working hard to set international standards in emerging industries.

facial recognition companies to develop software that can recognize Uyghur faces, and has increasingly worked to integrate these requirements into national industry standards. Chinese companies, in turn, are working hard to set international standards in emerging industries. The government has provided incentives for foreign and domestic companies to open facilities in Xinjiang. Demonstrating economic development in the region could burnish the Chinese Communist Party's policies there.

Companies that accept Uyghur "labor transfers"  a term referring to a coerced labor program  may receive government subsidies. Some Chinese suppliers who receive labor transfers are intertwined in supply chains around the world, including for major global brands.

What to watch: The U.S. has banned cotton and tomato imports from Xinjiang, and the U.S. and the EU have levied sanctions on several Chinese government officials and entities deemed complicit in Xinjiang rights violations.
(Natural News) Over the past few months, world leaders have been pushing for the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. People have started looking forward to the end of the coronavirus pandemic even as new mutations of the virus continue to appear, confident that herd immunity will soon take over.

But liberals are singing a different tune. In a recent article on Bloomberg, investment banker-turned-journalist Andreas Kluth warned that things might never go back to normal. In his article, Kluth said pharmaceutical companies will never be able to develop COVID-19 vaccines fast enough to keep up with mutations of the virus.

It would be wise to assume, said Kluth, that SARS-CoV-2  the official name of the Wuhan coronavirus  has already mutated in most poor countries that have yet to receive COVID-19 vaccines, even if their youthful populations keep mortality manageable. This just means that people around the world should start planning for a permanent pandemic, said Kluth.

But libertarian and political commentator Tom Mullen begs to disagree. Mullen, whose website proclaims he is working to dismantle the government one lie at a time, pointed out that this push to make pandemic life permanent undermines peoples liberties. But these narratives are nothing new.

Liberals tout defeatist propaganda that undermines freedom

In his fatalistic article, Kluth said SARS-CoV-2 can only be moving along one of two evolutionary paths. In one, the virus becomes more severe, infecting and killing more people, but its growth remains linear.

In the other path, the virus never ceases to mutate. It becomes more contagious but not deadlier. In this case, a constantly mutating virus causes exponential, not linear, increases in the number of infections and deaths.

Either way, the result is the same: safety protocols, such as mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing, are retained. In other words, the world may never get back to normal, as Kluth puts it so succinctly. It is this idea of never getting back to normal that Mullen challenged in his own article.

If normal is viewed vis-a-vis the lack of protocols that now dictate peoples lives, it becomes clear that getting back to normal means recovering the relative liberty that people already had prior to the pandemic. Mullen says relative liberty because people were already overly regulated by the government prior to the pandemic.

To Mullen, the coronavirus pandemic is just the latest in a long series of crises that somehow lead authorities to the same conclusion each time: people can no longer afford their freedoms.

Government rehashes same old crisis narrative

Mullen argued that the coronavirus pandemic wasnt the first time that the powers that be have used narratives that undermine freedom of movement, assembly and other civil liberties. Government authorities have long been terrorizing citizens into relinquishing their liberties under the guise of keeping them safe.

For instance, Americans were told that the world changed after 9/11. Authorities had people believe that they needed better protection against what they said was the new threat of terrorism. And that protection came in the form of warrantless surveillance of calls, text messages, electronic messages, financial records and physical searches even without probable cause of an actual crime.

But it seems as if history is repeating itself. Mullen argues that the fearmongering that happened then isnt that different from the lefts own fearmongering about many so-called crises, such as climate change. The story goes that in order to save the planet and beat climate change, people would have to ditch gasoline-powered cars, limit air travel and limit meat consumption.

In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, even the freedom to assemble and see friends and family members in the flesh may be permanently banned as well to keep everyone safe. (Related: LA Mayor threatens to turn off power, water at homes where people are gathering in defiance of coronavirus orders.)

But these crisis narratives dont just assault civil liberties, added Mullen. They also lead to dire predictions that turn out to be false. Additionally, they lead to solutions that turn out to be ineffective.

For instance, environmentalists have been predicting end-of-the-world disasters decades before New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born. Ocasio-Cortez made headlines in 2019 after warning that the world will end in 12 years if world leaders do not address climate change.

Kluth is no different. There is little to no sense of proportion when so-called experts discuss the pandemic, said Mullen. For instance, there have been breakthrough cases of people spreading SARS-CoV-2 even after inoculation. But even medical experts studying the virus dont fully understand such cases.

Similarly, health authorities have justified the need for lockdowns time and again by claiming that it is possible for asymptomatic people to spread SARS-CoV-2. Yet medical experts themselves find it difficult to estimate the contribution of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients to outbreaks.

Nevertheless, governments continue to enforce draconian safety protocols like lockdowns and mask mandates, the effectiveness of which are questionable at best. Such solutions demand more of peoples freedom even though they havent been proven to work, said Mullen. Its always all pain and no gain.

Pandemic.news has more articles with updates about the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

Bloomberg.com

WakingTimes.com

WashingtonExaminer.com
Workforce

ODNI plans recruitment ad campaign

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is planning an ad campaign to brand and market the intelligence community.

The "One IC" campaign will focus on how the 18 intelligence organizations fall under the common umbrella of the intelligence community campaign, Lori Welch, the Chief of Emerging Talent in the Human Capital at ODNI, said at an April 8 FedScoop event.

"People know the FBI. They know the CIA," she said. "But there are 16 other elements, and together, we're one."

The campaign will target those with skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as well as a "younger generation, going all the way down to K-12." The campaign will also align with efforts to recruit a more diverse workforce, Welch said.

The paid advertising campaign, called "What It Takes," will launch this summer, Welch said in a statement to FCW.

Communicating the value of government work is critical to filling positions in competitive fields, Savan Kong, a digital service expert at Defense Digital Service within the Department of Defense, said at the event. This is especially true given the gap between the pay rates offered by private sector companies as compared to public sector.

"If you're competing just on compensation alone, you're going to lose in the government" Kong said.

DDS tries to target potential employees who are mission-oriented, Kong said. "You have to explain your values as succinctly as possible, as quickly as possible, because you're competing for other companies for that same talent," he said.

The pandemic has helped ODNI advance a strategic initiative focused on recruiting more widely, called the "Right, Trusted, Agile Workforce." The intelligence community is hoping to recruit more widely "beyond the beltway, outside the SCIF," Welch said, using the acronym for a classified workspace.

The emergency push last year to having more employees in a teleworking stance has proven the functionality of remote work, Welch said. There's a "significant percentage of our workforce" that "predominately does unclassified work" and can work from home, she said. Movement to the cloud and the advancement of virtual platform accounts within the intelligence community has also helped.

"From a recruiting standpoint, it's critical to think about the future workforce because they don't all want to come to Washington, D.C. to work and they don't all want to be in a SCIF without their cell phones," she said.
The Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has commended the contractor, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, for good work done on the Kpong de-commissioning and re-engineering landfill site.



During a working visit to the site on Friday April, 9 2021, she said "you have not disappointed us, and we are impressed with the level of work."



The Kpong decommision and re- engineering landfill site, which covers about 47 acres of land, when completed will be turned into a recreational facilities.



The minister therefore called for support from Ghanaians for the government as it embarks on human intervention projects such as this.



She acknowledged the president, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, for prioritizing water and sanitation in his government.



"He brought sanitation to the fore, and we are seeing the fruits of this," she stated.



The minister also acknowledged the president for the freebies during the height of the Covid-19.



The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, suggested that such projects should be replicated in other landfills across the country.



The Chairman of Zoomlion, Dr. Joseph Siaw-Agyepong, on his part, observed that the project shows a sign of good leadership and innovation and he attributed this to president Nana Addo.



"Research in Africa shows that there are no re-engineering and de-commissioning of landfill sites in Africa but thanks to President Nana Addo we have one in Ghana," he stressed.



On behalf of the local contractors, he thank the sanitation minister for believing and giving them the opportunity to work.



"We local contractors have learnt a lot of skill from this assignment," he mentioned.



He prayed that the site will become a model for other countries to learn from so their skills will be sort after across the world.



He assured the minister that they are committed and focus to ensure that the project is completed on time.



The project was awarded to Zoomlion in 2020 and it is expected to be completed in December 2021.



EAP consult were also contracted to supervise the work to ensure quality assurance and value for money.



The site has currently stopped receiving waste and it is in the encapsulation process. It has also drilled gas wells to trap gas. Fencing has also been carried out across the site.



The next stage is to cover the fill, undertake landscaping and revergitation.

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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Green Monday Group, the Hong Kong supplier of plant-based meat, is set to open its second manufacturing plant.

The factory will be the companys first in China, Green Monday, the owner of the OmniPork range of meat alternatives, said.

Green Monday told just-food the greenfield site in Guangdong will start production in the third quarter of the year.

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"It will be focusing on our own Omni products and mostly for domestic consumption within mainland China," the company said.



Green Monday, which launched OmniPork in 2018, sells products in more than ten markets including Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore and Australia. In another of those markets, Thailand, the company has its current factory.

A third manufacturing facility could be in the offing. Green Monday said it is planning to set up a plant in Taiwan but the project will not be finalised until later in the year. "We won't have more details to disclose until Q3 or Q4 this year, partially dependent on [the] Covid situation," the company said.

There are three more countries Green Monday is looking to enter in 2021. "We also hope to further open up markets in South Korea, Indonesia and the US," it added.

Green Monday declined to disclose its sales and net income for 2020, nor its forecasts for this year.

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

Yesterday, Beyond Meat, the US-based meat-free business, officially opened its planned manufacturing site near Shanghai, a project first announced in September.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, in a further sign of corporate investment in Asia's fledgling but growing markets for plant-based meat products, Nestle unveiled its new manufacturing facility in Malaysia, which will make plant-based protein products under the company's Harvest Gourmet brand.
Patna, April 10 : After Purnea, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) in association with South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd has commissioned a 2X10 MVA GIS Sub-station at Bihar's Bhagalpur town on Friday.

The GIS sub-station is a part of Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) of the Central government to celebrate 75 years of independence.

SS Rao, senior GM of PFC said: "The GIS sub-station will benefit approximately 1.21 lakh people in Bhagalpur and surrounding regions. Moreover, it will reduce the costs of acquisition, operation, and maintenance of the land. It will also provide a safe work environment to the people." "The sub-station project in Bhagalpur was sanctioned under IPDS scheme in 2018 at a cost of Rs 8.99 crore. The Central government has earmarked funds to the tune of Rs 5.40 crore for this project. The construction pace of the substation continued unhindered despite the challenges posed by Covid-19 and it has been completed as per its stipulated deadline of April 6," Rao said.

Earlier on Thursday, PFC in association with North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd had inaugurated same capacity of power sub-station in Purnea to benefit 3.26 lakh people of Seemanchal region.
AS Covid-19 deaths show little sign of abating, good news has come to Trinidad and Tobago of a vaccine gift from the United States.

According to Shante Moore, Charge dAffaires at the US Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago, this gift comes with no hidden conditions and imposing conditions as other countries are doing.
The $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package included targeted support for a small group with a tough history: Black farmers. A provision based on the Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act, introduced by Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock in February, gives the U.S. Department of Agriculture close to $5 billion to assist Black farmers whove faced systemic discrimination for decades. On Fridays episode of A Word, I spoke with the founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, John Boyd Jr. This was a huge victory for people like him. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Jason Johnson: Most of us dont know much about farming. Whats the average Black farmer look like in America in 2021?

John Boyd Jr.: Multigenerational farmer, like you see myself.  We are a very, very diverse bunch of farmers, but we raise crops on smaller and smaller acreage. So the average size of a Black-owned farm is 50 acres, and also the average age of a Black farmer is 61 years of age.

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I want to talk a little bit about the relief that just came in this new coronavirus package. Its relief targeted at disadvantaged farmers and minority farmers, and its $5 billion channeled through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock led the effort to make that happen. Now, Republicans were quick to criticize this bill, including South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. He said, In this bill, if youre a farmer, your loan will be forgiven up to 120 percent of your loan. Not 100 percent but 120 percent of your loan, if youre socially disadvantagedif youre African American, some other minority. But if youre a white person, if youre a white woman, no forgiveness as reparations.

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I know that youve wrestled back-and-forth with Lindsey Graham before. Whats your response to what Lindsey Graham has to say, and whats been your overall opinion of him when it comes to Black farmers over the years?

He gets an F-minus. I dont know if he can get any lower than that. But he knows what hes doing when he comes out and make these notorious type of statements, like inflammatory, race, catchy statements to the press. And Ive had meetings with him, FaceTime meetings, and lobbied Sen. Graham, both when he served in the House of Representatives as a congressman and as a U.S. senator, and hes never done anything on the Black farmers issue. He said at the beginning of his statement it really bothered him. And thats the problem with a lot of people in America, where any time resources go to Blacks and Native Americans and Hispanics, it bothers them.

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But were a part of the American fabric here, too. And especially the issue with Black farmers and what we went through in this country as slaves and sharecroppers and surviving the Jim Crow era. He wasnt concerned then. I find his comments deplorable, and the other 49 members who voted against this measure to pull it out of the spending bill deplorable. And we can do better. We can do better in the United States.

Given your experience of working with Black farmers who have been robbed of their land, sometimes chased off their land historically by white men and women with guns, what do you think of the idea of reparations? Have you ever looked at House Bill 40 and what the impact of reparations might be specifically on Black farmers?

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H.R. 40, John Conyers for many years introduced it every year. H.R. 40 was merely a study about reparations, and it didnt move very far in Congress. Reparations for Blacks in this country is long overdue. We should have done that years ago. Hopefully the timing is right to move that forward with this administration, with President Biden, who I believe his administration so far has shown that theyre open to doing initiatives, especially bills and things of that nature, to address Blacks in this country.

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But even if it is reparations, what do you call it when billions of dollars for the past 40 years, I can think of, went to all white farmers in this country? What do you call it? is my question to people like Lindsey Graham. I need to be treated with dignity and respect. Judge me for the character that I am and the life that I live in my community. I live a good life. I treat people with dignity and respect. I treat everybody that worked for me with dignity and respect, and thats the way I want to be treated when I walk into the United States Department of Agriculture. Thats what I want to get to in this country. When do we start getting that kind of treatment?

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So, John, how much confidence do you have in Tom Vilsack as secretary of agriculture to actually distribute these funds properly and make sure that the concerns of Black farmers are actually addressed, seeing as he didnt do it when he was in this position before?

Well, Ill tell you, I had a meeting with now-President Biden last February, before I endorsed him publicly. And one of the things that we spoke about was new blood at USDA and new political people that could come in and get the job done. So he said that that would happen. So when they made the announcement that Secretary Vilsack was going back to USDA, I and others immediately found it problematic for us. I believe its the wrong time in history, and I still do, for Secretary Vilsack. I dont think this is the right time in history to have him there. But hes there. And my daddy taught me as a young man, Dont watch what they say, but you watch everything that they do. So we are going to be watching what Secretary Vilsack does and his actions. And the last conversation we had with the president, he said, if he doesnt do what hes supposed to do, then to let him know.

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So I plan on letting the president know if his pick doesnt perform or not. But we are at a critical time where this bill is passed and we need to hear more details about implementation on how the farmers are going to receive the debt relief and how the outreach will be set up. Thats what Im urging the administration, thats my message. They have to implement this, and they have to do it with swift action, and to make sure that those Black and other farmers of color that are eligible to receive this debt relief actually receive it. And were going to be right on top of this, you know, tooth and nail here.

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Black farmers won a $1 billion settlement from the USDA over lifelong discrimination more than 20 years ago. This was Pigford v. Glickman. But then just 10 years later, the government had to step in again because the funds werent going to everyone who was entitled to the relief. So you say that Vilsack might be part of the problem. I agree with you he might be part of the problem.

Lets say were jumping to 2022, and the money still hasnt been distributed. Theres been a rush on Black farmland in the fall as we sort of come out of COVID, but Black people are still suffering. What kind of pressure can we apply? What does pressure look like on a secretary of agriculture? We know how to scream at members of Congress. We know how to scream at President Biden. How do we put pressure on the secretary of agriculture if hes not doing his job and handing out the stimulus checks?

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Well, I believe its just a little bit different time, because Ive seen in the past 30 years more interest right now, heightened interest, on whats going on with Black farmers and farmers of coloreven more so than when we announced the Black farmers settlement. So I believe there is more attention now to what is going on with Black farmers, and Im hopeful that this administration would do what it needs to do, because the past four years have been hell for Black farmers and farmers of color in this country, and were not trying to go back there. Were trying to go forward. Thats why I came right out the box quickly and pushed for this measure, and lets get some delivered goods out the box quick. Four years goes by very fast. And if you are going to do anything and implement any policy and changes, you have to get out the box quickly and show people what youre made of and what youre going to do.

Listen to the entire episode below, or subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Can you put a price on political pandering? If you're Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, it adds up to a cool $1.3 million.

Can you put a price on political pandering? If you're Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, it adds up to a cool $1.3 million.

Extensively reported Wednesday, the just-tabled 2021-22 provincial budget includes a controversial plan to send $190 million in education property tax rebate cheques to the owners of 658,000 tax-paying properties.

What was not included in the budget was the cost of physically mailing out the cheques.

According to finance department officials, it will cost $2 to cover the cost of each cheque, envelope and postage. With 658,000 property tax bills, that adds up to $1.3 million.

According to finance department officials, it will cost $2 to cover the cost of each cheque, envelope and postage. With 658,000 property tax bills, that adds up to $1.3 million.

The decision to offer a tax cut of this magnitude, amidst the economic uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, is obvious political pandering, in and of itself. Wasting more than $1 million to do it via rebate cheque has to be the ultimate act of political self-aggrandizement.

In an email response to inquiries, a government spokesman said sending out individual cheques was the cheapest option available to process the rebate, without creating "extra administrative work, which would cost money."

However, that response ignores the fact there was a pre-existing mechanism to process property tax cuts: the one Manitoba currently uses to give those eligible an education property tax credit.

As property owners know, the annual tax bill shows the full municipal and education levies payable. The $700 provincial education tax credit is then subtracted from the education portion; the net amount is then paid to local government.

As the primary property tax collectors, municipalities must remit the entire education portion to the applicable school divisions. The province then sends municipalities a lump sum to cover the tax credits, so the municipality is not left in the lurch.

Premier of Manitoba Brian Pallister didn't include in the budget the cost of mailing out the cheques. (David Lipnowski / The Canadian Press files)

It's a complicated and, for the most part, silly process that has been built over years as governments have struggled over the mechanics of education financing.

However, even with its dizzying array of money swaps, it is a system already in place and one largely paid for by municipalities.

As far as concerns about added administrative costs go, this is a really good deal for the province, which does not help underwrite the costs of collecting school taxes (a point of some friction for municipalities).

The province does provide one service: it prints all of the tax bills sent out each year to property owners in every municipality, except for Winnipeg. But it charges municipalities for doing so.

Local government officials have been left scratching their heads about why the Pallister government didn't just increase the tax credit, or add a new line with a property tax rebate to the bills it has not printed for this year.

Local government officials have been left scratching their heads about why the Pallister government didn't just increase the tax credit, or add a new line with a property tax rebate to the bills it has not printed for this year.

"It's silly, silly, silly," said one senior municipal administrator.

It is, however, the best way for Pallister to ensure property owners know exactly who is providing property tax relief.

When questioned further on why the existing property tax credit process was not used for this rebate, a senior finance department official said it could not be done before tax bills are mailed out to property owners in May, or before the deadline for municipal taxes in June.

The Tory government intends on tabling a separate bill just to facilitate the property tax rebate, and there is no guarantee it could get through the legislature in time to meet either of those deadlines, the senior official said.

Left out of that explanation is the fact this government has frequently enacted measures without legal authority.

Local government officials wonder why Brian Pallister didn't just increase the tax credit, or add a new line with a property tax rebate to the bills it has not printed for this year. (David Lipnowski / The Canadian Press files)

It has, for example, effectively frozen the wages of hundreds of thousands of civil servants, even though it has not proclaimed its wage-freeze law.

It's also worth noting the Pallister government made no attempt to expedite both the budget bill or the bill to enact the property tax rebate. Neither have been tabled in the legislature to this point.

Finally, the province will not commit to using the property tax bill system for future rebates. The senior finance official said government could well continue to mail out the cheques next year, and in subsequent years.

For a government that likes to portray itself as concerned about where every penny of taxpayer money is spent, squandering more than $1 million on rebate cheques seems like an uncharacteristically reckless thing to do.

For a government that likes to portray itself as concerned about where every penny of taxpayer money is spent, squandering more than $1 million on rebate cheques seems like an uncharacteristically reckless thing to do.

If this tax cut had been planned well in advance  given Pallister's propensity for calling political audibles at the last moment, there is no guarantee it was  surely the Tories could have developed a legislative strategy to get the necessary bills passed so they could use this year's property tax bills to deliver the rebate.

In fact, the government had 1.3 million good reasons to do just that. But it didn't.

Instead, the political calculus on the property tax rebates probably went something like this:

A total of 680,000 envelopes, cheques and required postage: $1.3 million.

One ill-timed, politically motivated tax cut: $190 million

Using a majority mandate to squander taxpayer money for an act of gross political pandering: priceless.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Ten minor candidates in the Seoul mayoral by-election gained a combined 3.28 percent of votes. From left are Shin Ji-hye from the Basic Independent Party, Huh Kyung-young from the National Revolutionary Party, Lee Soo-bong from the Minsaeng Party, and Song Myeong-suk from the Progressive Party. Yonhap



By Kim Rahn



The 10 minor candidates in Wednesday's Seoul mayoral by-election gained a combined 3.28 percent of the vote.



This percentage may seem small compared to the candidates from the two major parties, Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party, who was elected with 57.5 percent, and Park Young-sun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, who obtained 39.18 percent.



However, 15.1 percent of female voters in their 20s said they picked one of the minor candidates, showing that there is a demand for "third-way politics" that deals with more diverse social issues than just a few big concerns, such as real estate.



Among the 10, Huh Kyung-young, head of the National Revolutionary Party, gained 1.07 percent of the votes and came in third, becoming the only person among the minor candidates to earn more than 1 percent of the vote.



Huh has run in almost all major elections since 1997 with quirky campaign pledges, such as handing out 200,000 won ($179) in cash per month to every citizen, providing 150 million won to newlyweds and abolishing the property tax.



Rates of support for him have grown over time: he gained 0.15 percent in the 1997 presidential election, 0.4 percent in the 2007 presidential election, and 1.07 percent this time.



Many regard him as an "entertainer" rather than a politician, due to his unrealistic campaign pledges and eccentric behavior and remarks. But the fact that he ranked third in the by-election shows how citizens are sick of politics dominated by the two major parties.



"I agonized over whom to pick until the very last moment inside the polling booth  between Huh and the other candidate (either Oh or Park)," said Park Seong-su, a 45-year-old office worker in Seoul. "I knew it was impossible for Huh to win the election. But both Oh's and Park's pledges were unrealistic and didn't make sense to me as well, so I thought, 'Then, what is the reason not to pick Huh?'"



Besides Huh, the nine other minor candidates obtained between 0.01 percent and 0.68 percent.



Five of them  Kim Jin-ah from the Women's Party, Shin Ji-hye from the Basic Independent Party, Oh Tae-yang from the Mirae Party, Song Myeong-suk from the Progressive Party and independent Shin Ji-ye  pledged to advocate for gender equality and to protect the rights of sexual minority groups, and combined, they carried 1.91 percent of the total vote.



These five candidates showed growing public attention to and awareness of gender issues and the rights of social minority groups, which the candidates of the two major parties both neglected. The two main candidates did not pay much attention to gender issues, despite the fact that the by-election was held because former Mayor Park Won-soon took his own life following sexual harassment allegations raised against him.



These issues and the politicians working on them are likely to garner more attention moving forward. According to an exit poll at the Seoul by-election, 15.1 percent of female voters in their 20s cast their ballots for the "other" category among three options: Oh, Park or "other."


(Alliance News) - Clean energy company Berkeley Energia Ltd on Friday noted media reports following a meeting of Spanish regulator that discussed the approval of an amendment to the draft climate change & energy transition bill relating to the investigation and exploitation of radioactive minerals.

The AIM-listed company noted that the amendment to the draft climate change and energy transition bill approved by the Commission of Ecological Transition of the Parliament in Spain must now be reviewed and approved or rejected by the Spanish Senate.

The move follows a meeting of the Ecological Transition Ponencia in Spain in February, which discussed changes to a proposed amendment to the draft climate bill relating to the exploitation of radioactive minerals. The Ponencia is a sub-committee of the Commission of the Ecological Transition in Spain, which was formed to carry out a detailed study of the proposed amendments to the draft climate change and energy transition bill.

The modified amendment proposed by Ponencia states: "As of the entry into force of this law, no new applications will be accepted for the granting of exploration permits, investigation permits or direct exploitation concessions, nor their extensions, regulated under Law 22/1973, of July 21, on mines of radioactive minerals, as defined in Law 25/1964, of April 29, on nuclear energy, when such resources are extracted for their radioactive, fissile or fertile properties.

"In addition, applications for the authorisation of new radioactive facilities of the nuclear fuel cycle for the processing of radioactive minerals, as defined in the regulation on nuclear and radioactive facilities, will no longer be accepted."

However, existing concessions, as well as open proceedings and applications related to these, will continue as normal based on the current legislation.

The group expressed its opposition to the draft amendment, stating that "prohibition of economic activities in Spain with no justified reasons is contrary to the Spanish Constitution and to the legal rights recognised by other international instruments".

Concerning the Salamanca mine, the only approval left before full construction can start is authorisation for construction for the uranium concentrate plant as a radioactive facility. The company said it is continuing to engage with the relevant authorities to advance the approvals process

Berkeley Energia shares closed 8.4% higher in London on Friday at 35.50 pence each.

By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
USPS worker eventually able to break free and the women speed off in 4x4

'They trying to get that stimulus,' the man filming the assault is heard saying

Footage shows two women pounding postal worker around the back of the head

A USPS mailwoman has been savagely beaten by two women who were accused of trying to rob stimulus checks from her van in Flint, Michigan.

Footage shows the two women pounding the postal worker over the back of the head as they wrestle with her in the street, just yards away from a USPS truck which has a badly dented hood.

'Bruh y'all hit the mailman, they trying to get that stimulus,' the man recording the assault is heard saying.

The postal worker is eventually able to wrench herself free and the two attackers get back into their 4x4 and speed away.

It is not clear what led to the attack, but the bystander filming is heard saying, 'They hit this mail lady car,' while giving a close up of the mangled front vents of the USPS van.

Footage shows the two women pounding the postal worker over the back of the head as they wrestle with her in the street, just yards away from a USPS truck which has a badly dented hood

An elderly woman tries to intervene at one point, left, before the USPS woman later manages to wrench herself free and the women decide to get back in their car, right

Millions of checks for $1,400 are currently flooding through the postal service after Joe Biden last month signed the American Rescue Plan to provide a third round of stimulus checks.

Flint Police confirmed that the postal worker was not badly injured and that one arrest had been made since the incident on Thursday afternoon.

Detectives are continuing investigations and did not confirm whether the attack had been motivated by stimulus checks inside the USPS vehicle.

The footage shows several young men standing by and watching as the women batter the postal worker.

At least two young children are also seen in the background watching on.

An elderly lady, who the cameraman refers to as his 'granny,' attempts to intervene but is pulled back by her grandson who warns that she may get hurt.

The beating lasts for at least a minute, from what the video is able to show, before the women relent and clamber back inside a Chevrolet Equinox SUV.

'Y'all going to jail,' one of the bystanders tells the women as they start to leave.

The mail woman is seen chasing after their car as they speed away.

The front of the USPS van was badly mangled and the man recording said that the assailant's had hit the vehicle

Flint, around 70 miles northwest of crime-ridden Detroit, consistently ranks as one of the most dangerous cities in the United States.

The Democrat-run city of 100,000 residents has seen a surge in violence during the pandemic with 61 homicides in 2020, up from 46 the previous year - an increase of around a third.

Flint police confiscated 655 guns last year, an increase of more than 36 per cent on the 415 guns taken off the streets in 2019.

MailOnline has contacted USPS for comment.
Hotel quarantine workers in Victoria have been stood down with full because after they refused to take the coronavirus vaccine.

Covid-19 Quarantine Victoria, the agency behind the program, requires all frontline workers employed at the state's quarantine hotels to get the jab.

Some of the workers opted against the vaccine on medical grounds, with one woman fearful it could impact her fertility.

The stood down workers continue to receive full pay until other employment is sought.

Covid-19 Quarantine Victoria, the agency behind the program, requires all frontline workers employed at the state's quarantine hotels to receive the jab. Pictured: Healthcare workers and Defence personnel transport luggage outside the Intercontinental quarantine hotel in Melbourne on Thursday

'All staff members working at our active quarantine hotels must have had at least their first vaccination; if they have not been vaccinated, they cannot work a shift in the hotels,' a spokeswoman told The Australian.

'We are working with the small number of staff who remain unvaccinated on alternative work arrangements outside of the hotels.'

Shadow police minister David Southwick said although people had the right to deny the vaccine, it should be a condition of employment for working in hotel quarantine.

'No one should be sitting at home on full pay doing nothing,' he said.

However, legal experts said standing down staff with full pay until they were vaccinated avoided any risk of an unfair dismissal claim.

The hotel quarantine workers must prove their vaccination each time they arrive at a site through a vaccination card or a printout of their MyGov medical records.

Victoria's hotel quarantine program restarted for a third time on Thursday.

Victoria's hotel quarantine program restarted for a third time on Thursday. Pictured: Workers in PPE are seen in Melbourne on Thursday

The state hasn't accepted returned travellers since February 13 after workers contracted the British Covid strain from guests at the Holiday Inn.

The outbreak, which grew to 24 cases, triggered a statewide five-day lockdown.

Victoria's deadly second wave last year also leaked from hotel quarantine and led to a judicial review and overhaul of the program.

Under the latest changes, returned travellers will be tested four times, have their mealtimes staggered and large family groups will be spaced out to reduce the risk of aerosol transmission.

Hotel quarantine staff have all received at least one dose of the Pzifer vaccine, while 46 per cent have received their second.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, interacting with the chief ministers of various states on the COVID-19 situation via virtually on Thursday said, there's no need to worry if cases are rising in different states and that they should focus on testing. The PM's remarks come as a reassurance to the Maharashtra government, which came under pressure ever since there's been an unprecedented rise in coronavirus cases in the state. This has also led to a war of words and blame game between the Centre and state ministers over shortage of vaccines and rise in the number of cases.

"I told you that you shouldn't worry a bit if the number of cases is high. Don't be under any kind of pressure that your performance is bad because your numbers are high. You just focus on testing, I'm telling you even now. There is no reason to think you are doing badly if your numbers are high...There will be more positive cases if you do more testing," he said.

The PM said many states, including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, have crossed the peak of the first wave and the infection growth rate is much faster than the earlier. Other states are moving in that direction, which is a serious concern, he said. He also said people have grown more casual now than before, which has led to a sharp rise of the cases.

The Prime Minister said: "We have to keep focussing on 'test, track, treat', appropriate Covid behaviour and Covid management." He said at least 30 contacts of a positive case must be traced, tested and quarantined, preferably in the first 72 hours. The Prime Minister said there should not be any relaxation in efforts due to 'covid fatigue'. The PM said states should ensure 100 per cent vaccination of 45 plus population in the high focus districts. He also called for 'Teeka Utsav' - a vaccination festival between April 11 and April 14.

Also read: Will have to prioritise COVID-19 vaccination as per availability: PM Modi

Maharashtra has logged over 59,907 cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking its overall tally to 3.17 lakh.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday accused the Centre of giving BJP-ruled states more doses of the two approved COVID-19 vaccines -- Covaxin and Covishield. "Gujarat has a population of 6 crore, they got 1 crore doses. We have a population of 12 crore, we got 1.04 crore doses," said Tope.

Also read: Maharashtra closes 109 centres, Odisha 700 due to vaccine 'shortage'

After the Maharashtra government's vaccine shortage claims, health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan in a strongly worded statement has slammed "deplorable attempts by some state governments" to distract attention from "their failures and spread panic among the people".

He said Maharashtra has vaccinated only 86 per cent of health workers with first dose so far. The equivalent numbers for Delhi and Punjab are 72 per cent and 64 per cent. On the other hand, 10 Indian states/UTs have done more than 90 per cent. He said the state vaccinated just 41 per cent healthcare workers with the second dose; Delhi and Punjab are at 41 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively; and 12 Indian states/UTs have vaccinated 60 per cent of them, he said.

On the vaccine shortage claims, Dr Vardhan said this is nothing but an attempt to divert attention from the Maharashtra government's repeated failures to control the spread of the pandemic.

Also read: Scientists demand probe into COVID-19 origins with or without China's involvement
Geneva, 9 April 2021- Member of the Polisario Front Secretariat, Polisario Front representative in Europe and at the EU, Oubi Bouchraya Bachir, said that the Security Council is called to "deeply and objectively" examine the reasons of the UNs failure, for 30 years, to conclude the settlement plan which will hamper the missions of the next UN envoy, said Tuesday the Sahrawi Press Agency (SPS).



Speaking at a meeting with ambassador members of the Geneva Group on the latest developments in the Sahrawi issue, Bouchraya said that "the conflict in Western Sahara after



November 2020 does not only require the appointment of a UN special envoy to replace former German President, Horst Kohler."



He emphasized, in this context, the impertinence of the appointment of a new envoy to the Western Sahara following the breakdown of the ceasefire last November 13.



Bouchraya further noted the need for the UN Security Council to react appropriately to the new situation in the region. (SPS)



062/090/700
Renewable energy met almost 40 percent of Texas electricity demand in March, and during some early morning hours this month, power was essentially free because the wind was blowing so hard, and demand was so low, according to grid data.

Texas has more installed wind and solar capacity than any other state in the nation, and most countries around the world. Our grid has been a global leader in clean energy for two decades.

This embarrassment of riches comes just weeks after the Texas Blackout left 4 million homes without power and led to more than 200 deaths. Some Texas politicians want to exploit that tragedy to kneecap the renewables industry in a move that would not improve reliability.

TOMLINSONS TAKE: Republicans now want business leaders out of politics

To understand how an esoteric change in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas market could stymie new investment in clean energy, its important to understand how the grid manages electricity purchases.

ERCOT conducts a day-ahead market where generators compete to supply the cheapest electricity for the following day. The operator contracts for as much power as it expects to need, but ERCOT pays only for the electricity consumers use. Generators add or subtract from the grid as demand rises and falls.

To keep the grid balanced, ERCOT also asks quick-start generators to provide additional power in case of an emergency, or to assist the grid as generators spin up and down or when large customers, such as steel plants, add or drop load. These are called ancillary services, and these costs show up on consumers bills.

Ancillary service costs have been relatively consistent for the last decade, even as renewable generation has grown 250 percent. But just as the Texas Blackout triggered extremely high wholesale prices, ancillary service costs were 100 times higher than normal.

Sen. Kelly Hancock, a North Texas Republican, consistently trashes clean energy and does not like to talk about climate change. During the blackout, I criticized him on Twitter for spreading misinformation about renewable energy. He is leveraging the crisis to introduce a measure that would force wind and solar generators to pay ERCOT for any ancillary services they might trigger.

Never mind that untangling which generator or customer is creating the need for ancillary services at any moment is nearly impossible, or that no other companies would have to reimburse ERCOT for ancillary services.

Hancock could not pass his bill, so he got it amended on to Senate Bill 3, the measure I praised last week for making meaningful reforms to the grid. Hancocks amendment, though, threatens the future of a major Texas industry.

Renewable energy projects last year paid more than $380 million in state and local taxes and provided landowners with nearly $250 million in lease payments, according to industry data. Wind energy employed more than 25,000 Texans in 2019, while solar had more than 9,600 workers.

Energy investors have put $60 billion into Texas renewable energy projects. But billions more will not come if Texas lawmakers single out renewables for punitive fees, Gregory Wetstone, CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy, said in a letter to state leaders.

Our companies have invested tens of billions of dollars in the state partly because of our confidence in Texas historically friendly business environment, he wrote. The amendment found in Senate Bill 3  retroactively rewrites market rules that were relied upon by investors and imposes onerous new cost burdens. Such changes would undercut previous investment decisions and erode confidence.

Additional energy investment is exactly what Texas needs, according to a new analysis from the financial data firm S&P Global Ratings. ERCOTs energy-only market rewards low-cost electricity, not reliable power, and discourages new construction, analyst Aneesh Prabhu wrote.

TOMLINSONS TAKE: Texas Senate moving smart bill to address blackout

The wholesale market structure was designed for power plants that use variable-cost fuels. Renewable energy, though, has no fuel, only fixed costs, and the federal government provides tax credits. Because of those credits, renewables can give away electricity. And since wind and solar fixed costs are coming down, the future price curve for ERCOT electricity also slopes down.

Low prices mean low profit margins for investors. Some Republicans want to subsidize fossil fuel power plants, but there are better ways.

Lawmakers could restructure the market to pay fossil fuel plants for backup power, something called a capacity market. Or they could connect ERCOT to the rest of the country, allowing all power plants to export electricity when they have surpluses and import it when ERCOT needs it.

Better yet, they could reward new technologies that store clean energy, such as long-duration batteries, green hydrogen or compressed air. Texas could remain a global clean energy leader, developing the technologies and energy workforce of the future.

The Legislature needs to delete Hancocks amendment, and the sooner the better for our future.

Chris Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and politics.

twitter.com/cltomlinson

chris.tomlinson@chron.com
Florida Legislature Passes Bill to Survey Viewpoint Diversity on College Campuses

A Florida bill requiring public colleges and universities to survey students, faculty, and staff about their political beliefs has passed the state Legislature and is headed for Gov. Ron DeSantiss desk.

House Bill 233, which had already been approved by the Republican-dominated state House in a 77-42 party-line vote in March, cleared the state Senate by 25 to 15 on Wednesday.

If signed into law, the bill would require the state university systems Board of Governors and the State Board of Education to conduct and publish an annual survey to assess the status of intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity on public university campuses. Completing the survey would be voluntary for those in the campus communities.

The survey must be objective, nonpartisan, and statistically valid, and its goal is to find whether competing ideas and perspectives are fairly presented during lectures and whether students, faculty and staff feel free to express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus or in the classroom.

Another part of the bill prevents governing boards of public universities from shielding students, faculty, and staff from any speech ideas and opinions they may find uncomfortable, unwelcome, disagreeable or offensive.

In addition, university students are allowed to record classroom lectures without a professors consent, so long its for their own personal educational use, or if they want to use the recording as evidence in a civil or criminal case against their school. However, the recordings cannot be published, or the professor could seek damages up to $200,000, according to the bill.

The bill doesnt specify who will use the surveys results for what purpose. Republican state Rep. Spencer Roach, who sponsored the bill, said the results may be used for future policy decisions.

Im not asking you to make a policy decision here, all Im asking you to do is to allow us to ask the question, gather empirical data, to see if a future legislature may want to  use that data as the basis to make a policy decision, Roach said, reported Miami Herald.

Republican state Sen. Ray Rodrigues, another primary sponsor of the bill, said the governing boards of the state universities would hopefully use the survey results to decide whether there are issues that need to be addressed.

If the results came back and showed that there was a lack of intellectual freedom, or lack of viewpoint diversity, my hope would be that the governing body of the institution would recognize and find that unacceptable, and announced what the plan is to address that, Rodrigues said, reported Tampa Bay Times.

DeSantiss office has yet to announce whether he will sign the bill.
KYIV  If you've ever used Grammarly to polish up a piece of writing, hired a Portuguese-language tutor on Preply, kept your dog or cat out of trouble with Petcube, or found a job through Jooble, you have used products designed by companies with Ukrainian roots.



They are some of the best-known names to emerge from an IT industry that has been booming in recent years -- and whose growth has been slowed a bit but not stopped by the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit Ukraine hard and continues to take a deadly toll more than a year after its onset.

The economy contracted by 4 percent in 2020 and Ukraine is undergoing a third wave, with more than 1.8 million cases recorded and more than 35,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 as of April 6.



A hands-off approach from state regulators and tax collectors, at least when it comes to individual contractors has left Ukraine's IT industry mostly untouched and allowed it to thrive.



After recording growth of 30 percent in 2019, the sector defied the disruptive effects of the pandemic to grow by 20 percent in 2020, exceeding $5 billion in total exports for the first time. It also drew a record high of $563 million in investments, according to Yuliya Sychikova, director of AVentures Capital, a venture capital fund that also advises IT firms and other funds on strategy and execution.



Computer services accounted for more than 8 percent of the nation's exports after steel, food, and labor, central bank data shows. One out of five Fortune 500 firms use the IT services of Ukrainian companies, according to the Tech Ecosystem Guide to Ukraine, a report produced by UNIT.City, an innovation park on the outskirts of Kyiv.



Driving the growth is "minimum red tape that is careful not to incapacitate the goose that lays the golden eggs, a stable industry-wide tax policy, and the professionalism of Ukraine's IT specialists," said Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. In turn, he said, the industry's performance is "strengthening Ukraine's image as a reliable and innovative IT partner."



Around the time Ukraine recorded its first COVID-19 case, in March 2020, about 35 percent of orders in the IT sector were canceled, according to Nataly Vyeryemyeyeva, director of Tech Ukraine, a nonprofit that serves as a development platform for the industry.



Silver Lining For Some



But as companies around the world adopted and began to implement work-from-home policies, business picked up, and the Ukrainian IT sector's growth accelerated in the last quarter of the year, Sychikova said.



"The pandemic accelerated the demand for higher digitalization needs as businesses moved online," she said, adding that "companies got leaner and increased [research and development] budgets -- a beneficial macro trend for the outsourcing industry."



One company that has weathered the pandemic so far is Grammarly, which helps users identify plagiarism in research papers and improve their writing by assessing the tone and correcting mistakes in grammar, syntax, and other areas.



With offices in Kyiv and three North American cities including San Francisco, where it is based, Grammarly sent people home to work and changed schedules to have time zones overlap for project collaboration.

This meant that 250 employees in Kyiv started and ended work later to cooperate with colleagues in San Francisco who got up earlier to accommodate for a 10-hour time difference, said Anatoliy Visikirskiy, the company's "people partner" -- a senior human resources position.



As a result, Grammarly surpassed 30 million active users in 2020 "and we continue to hire and grow," Visikirskiy told RFE/RL.



Ukraine's rich talent pool has made it "one of the top destinations for outsourcing in Eastern Europe with one of the largest workforces," Sychikova added.



Ukraine has about 200,000 IT engineers capable of producing "high-end solutions," according to the Tech Ecosystem Guide, which places it seventh in the world in terms of the quality and efficiency of its freelance workforce.



The work they do ranges from software development for mobile phone platforms to gaming, financial technology, health-care programs, artificial intelligence, and e-commerce.



Ukraine now hosts more than 110 research and development centers run by multinational companies, including Apple, Google, Samsung, Huawei, Boeing, Siemens, and French game developer Ubisoft.



Whether Kyiv or Silicon Valley, the IT sector has a lingo all its own: "people partners," for example, and also unicorns, ecosystems, clusters, startups, co-working spaces, and early-stage and late-stage investors.



Ukraine's first unicorn, a term used to describe a privately held company with a value of $1 billion, is GitLab. It stores and edits programming code and is currently valued at nearly $6 billion.



History Lesson



Grammarly followed suit in 2019, raising $90 million that year. Next could be Reface, a popular face-swap video application, Sychikova said. It's been downloaded more than 70 million times since hitting app stores in January 2020, making it one of the top five in about 100 countries.



Another growing IT company is Ajax Systems, a Kyiv-based outfit that was founded a decade ago and makes wireless security systems for homes and offices.



Ingredients in the sector's success include history and human capital, according to Vyeryemyeyeva, who said that "cybernetics is rooted in Ukraine."
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Friday is the last day for New York City public school students who have been learning remotely full-time to opt-in for in-person learning.

The opt-in period, announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio last month, allows another opportunity for remote learners to switch to in-person learning, following new school guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that reduced the recommended distance between students from six feet to three feet.

The CDC said students can safely sit just three feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear a mask, but should be kept the usual six feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice.

The deadline was extended to Friday, April 9.

It will be the second time this school year that full-time remote learners can switch to in-person learning. The first opt-in period was in mid-November.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Heres what you should know.

How can I opt-in?

You can fill out this survey online, or call 311, to let the city Department of Education (DOE) know that you are opting in to in-person learning for the remainder of the school year.

The form doesnt apply to charter schools. If your child attends a charter school, please reach out to the school directly to discuss remote learning options, the DOE stated.

For information on opting-in to the blended learning plan, go to schools.nyc.gov/returntoschool2020.

When can my child go back to school?

Younger students who choose to opt-in now will be back in school buildings this month. These include students in 3-K, pre-K, elementary school and those in District 75 schools. While older students are included in the new opt-in period, de Blasio said more work needs to be done in bringing those additional middle and high school students back to campus.

We still have more work to do for middle and high school, de Blasio said. Were still not sure about those timelines, as I said, the opt-in will include middle and high school students so we know what their intentions are, and then well be able to provide more information as we get more guidance and as we see the overall situation evolve.

Do I need to consent to testing?

Students who sign up for in-person learning must submit consent for random coronavirus testing by the first day their child returns to campus. If you have already submitted consent, the DOE encourages parents to submit the consent form again to ensure the latest form is on file.

There are two ways to submit the consent form:

New York City Schools Account (NYCSA) -- Log into your account, click your students name, click Manage Account, and when a dropdown menu appears, click Consent Forms. Read the page and choose the consent option at the end for your student.

Print and sign the form and bring it to your childs school on the first day her or she is back on campus. A printable PDF file is available in 10 languages at the DOEs COVID Testing page.

If a student comes to school on the first day back for in-person instruction without a consent form on file, the principal and school staff will contact you to obtain consent. After that, those students without a consent form on file who dont have a medical or disability-based exemption must move to fully remote instruction.

Will there be five-day-a-week learning?

Currently, many schools across the city are offering students five-day-a-week in-person instruction.

If you opt-in to in-person learning, your childs school will keep you informed about its specific learning model and your childs schedule.

What if I want to switch back to remote learning?

At any time of the school year for any reason, you can opt back into full-time remote learning. You can use this form to opt back to fully remote.

But be aware that there may not be another opportunity to opt back into in-person learning for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year.

Does this impact summer school or next school year?

This opt-in period is only for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year. It does not affect summer school or the 2021-2022 school year, according to the DOE.

More information will be shared with families about summer opportunities and next school year at a later date, the DOE stated.

School Zone: A new newsletter with the updates you need as our schools try to get back to normal. Enter your email address here and hit "subscribe" to receive this weekly newsletter:



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Authorities in the north-central Vietnamese province of Nghe An recently fined and deported 53 Chinese citizens, who had made illegal entry into Vietnam.

Border guard officers in Nghe An, in collaboration with relevant agencies, stopped a passenger bus traveling in the direction from north to south on the section of National Highway 1 passing through Hoang Mai Town on March 9.

There were 57 people, including 53 of Chinese nationality and four Vietnamese, on the bus at the time.

The 53 Chinese passengers were determined to enter Vietnam illegally and were then sent to a centralized quarantine facility meant to prevent COVID-19 transmission in the provinces Hung Nguyen District.

Four of them managed to escape from the quarantine center on the night of March 17, but all four were captured again later on the same night.

Police in Nghe An said on Thursday that they had fined the Chinese a combined VND210 million (US$9,120) for crossing the border without going through required immigration procedures.

As the Chinese group had completed their quarantine and tested negative for the coronavirus twice, the provincial police handed them over to Chinese authorities.

Meanwhile, the border guard command of Nghe An also proposed the provincial police start legal proceedings against the driver and the owner of the passenger bus that had transported the 53 Chinese people for organizing and assisting the illegal entry.

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FLINT, MI  The Our Town Gift Match program aimed at helping small businesses impacted by COVID-19 throughout Flint and Genesee County is back for a second round.

Consumers Energy is partnering again with the Flint & Genesee Chamber, a division of the Flint & Genesee Group, to encourage additional support and patronage of area restaurants, event venues and locally owned retail shops. And this time, a third member  the Michigan Municipal League Foundation  has joined the partnership, according to a Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce press release.

The promotion begins on Friday, April 9 and will run until the donated funds are depleted.

Consumers Energy has donated $55,000  more than double the amount in the first round  for the matching gift card program. Nearly 40 businesses in Flint and Genesee County are participating in the program where customers can double the value of gift cards purchased at their locations for a limited time, per the release.

The energy company first donated $25,000 in February to the program.

The Our Town gift card program is a win-win for businesses and customers throughout Genesee County, Andy Younger, executive director of the Flint & Genesee Chamber, said. It will provide a much-needed boost in sales for our business partners and offer twice the value to participating consumers. Its a great way to reintroduce our community to shopping locally.

The Our Town program grew out of the need to help small businesses recover from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first round was focused on encouraging diners to support local restaurants.

It operates the same as before. A customer who buys a $10 gift card at a participating business will receive a second $10 gift card at no cost to them. The maximum amount eligible to be doubled for one customer is $50.

Small businesses are the backbone of the communities we serve, and they have definitely felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lauren Youngdahl Snyder, Consumers Energys vice president of customer experience, said. We believe investing in the Our Town campaign helps businesses to survive and thrive and provides an opportunity for shoppers to stretch their spending dollars.

The Michigan Municipal League Foundation signed on because the Our Town program aligns with its efforts to advance community wealth through strategic partnerships and investments in strong, diverse leadership for Michigan communities and place-based initiatives that drive equitable outcomes.

The MML Foundation is proud to join Consumers Energy and the Flint & Genesee Chamber in supporting this gift card effort. This program will provide much needed financial assistance to our local businesses that need it the most in emerging from the pandemic, Foundation President Helen D. Johnson said. Our Foundation believes in community wealth building and enhancing the human experience in our communities in ways that share economic prosperity for everyone. That is exactly what this gift card program does.

Unless noted otherwise, community members can take advantage of the program by visiting one of the following chamber member locations and asking to purchase a gift card through the Our Town program.

Some of the businesses participating in the program include 501 Bar and Grill, Bs Bowling, B Dogs, Blackstones Smokehouse, Blondies Food & Spirits, Coffee Beanery, Ltd., Cork on Saginaw, Edible Arrangements Grand Blanc, Fenton Winery & Brewery, Fireside Coffee Co., Flint Childrens Museum and Flint City Bucks.

To see a full list of participating businesses, visit here.

Related news:

Were competing against the government: Genesee County restaurants grapple with staffing shortages

Gift card match program doubles value at more than 20 Genesee County restaurants

Flint Farmers Market in running for top market in America

Grants up to $10K available for Genesee County small businesses impacted by pandemic
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP)  A 44-year-old man who was shot by a Waterloo police officer has been charged with two counts of assault on a peace officer.

Marcelino Alvarez-Victoriano was shot Wednesday after he allegedly aimed what looked like a long gun at two Black Hawk County sheriff's deputies. The deputies were responding to reports that a man with a gun was seen walking toward downtown Waterloo. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said Thursday that Alvarez-Victoriano chased one deputy around a vehicle and aimed at another deputy.

A Waterloo officer responding to the scene shot Alvarez-Victoriano. The weapon was an air gun. Alavarez-Victoriano remains hospitalized.
A day after the Election Commission (EC) issues a notice to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct during the West Bengal election campaign, Indian National Congress (INC) National Spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi on April 9 slammed the EC. Taking to his official Twitter handle, Abhishek Singhvi accused the EC of practising "discrimination" against Congress and CM Mamata Banerjee as it served Adhikari notice after 9 days delay.

9 days by #EC 2issue notice to #adhikari re his mini pak comment. EC control & power only based on campaigning ban, if guilty. 9 days delay renders ban if any infructuous. Did they take hours 2move against #Mamta #CM #cong leaders? #Selective #discriminatory hypocracy?  Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) April 9, 2021

In his recent post, the Congress Spokesperson attacked the Election Commission of issuing notice to Suvendu Adhikari after 9 days. He said that now the ban imposed by the EC will be useless now. These comments by Abhishek Singhvi comes after EC issues notice to Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct during his election campaign in Bengal.

EC issues notice to Suvendu Adhikari

The notice issued by the EC was based on CPI(ML)(L) Politburo member Kavita Krishnan's complaint pertaining to an alleged hate speech delivered by Adhikari in Nandigram on March 29. Adhikari was pitted against WB CM Mamata Banerjee from this constituency in the second phase of the Assembly polls. Making a prima facie observation that his remarks are in violation of the MCC, the poll body asked him to give an explanation within 24 hours of receipt of this notice failing which it will take unilateral action.

Here is an excerpt from Adhikari's contentious comments- "One one hand, Begum is competing against us. On the other hand, here is the son of your family, your younger brother, your friend, your elder brother for my juniors. Whom would you like to accept, tell me? Election is knocking at the door. You are not giving votes to Begum. If you vote for Begum there will be mini Pakistan...A Dawood Ibrahim has come up in your locality...We will note down everything."

Assembly election in West Bengal

Mamata Banerjee-led TMC had swept the 2016 Assembly polls by bagging 211 seats in the 294-member Assembly. In West Bengal, 294 seats are up for grabs and people will be able to cast their votes at 1,01,916 polling stations. Buoyed by its stupendous 2019 Lok Sabha performance, BJP is looking to oust TMC and is aiming at winning over 200 seats this time. While Congress was the second-largest party in 2016, it has tied with the Left and the Indian Secular Front founded by influential Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui. On the other hand, AIMIM has also entered the poll fray by fielding candidates in 7 seats.

The voter turnout for the seats that went to the polls in the first, second and third phases was 84.63 per cent, 86.11 per cent and 84.61 per cent respectively. The polling for the remaining phases will take place on April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26 and April 29. The counting of votes shall take place on May 2.

(Image: PTI, Facebook-SuveduWB)
Over a half of the Central African Republic's population need humanitarian assistance and protection, Mankeur Ndiaye, the head of the UN peacekeeping force MINUSCA told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th April, 2021) Over a half of the Central African Republic's population need humanitarian assistance and protection, Mankeur Ndiaye, the head of the UN peacekeeping force MINUSCA told Sputnik.

"More than half of the population (2.8 million people) are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. 1.9 million people are in acute need. In the last five years, there have never been as many people in humanitarian need in car as there are today," he said.

The UN official said he expected the warring parties to understand the role of humanitarian workers in the impoverished country and guarantee their freedom of movement.

"I do believe that the delivery of humanitarian assistance to all people in need across CAR is a collective responsibility, which deserves adequate contributions from the international community, "he added.

The UN refugee agency estimates that 742,000 people had been forced out of their homes as of late February, the highest number since 2014 and an increase of 19 percent since October. From mid-December to mid-March, 336,000 people were newly displaced because of election-related violence and 115,000 people fled to neighboring countries.
New Delhi: With COVID-19 infections spreading at a faster rate in the second wave, the authorities have come up with city/district-specific lockdown-like situations. Many states have imposed a number of restrictions to curb the COVID-19 spread.

On Thursday (April 8), India recorded 1,26,789 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 1,29,28,574. As per the Health Ministry data, over 685 deaths and 59,258 discharges were reported in the last 24 hours on Thursday. The active caseload has reached 9,10,319 while the death toll stands at 1,66,862 in the country.

Amid the rising COVID-19 cases across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while holding a meeting with Chief Ministers on the current COVID-19 situation, said that there will be no lockdown. He said that there is a need to work on war footing again to fight against the pandemic.

"A challenging situation is emerging again. I request you all to give your suggestions to tackle the COVID-19 situation," he said.

Here's the list of cities under COVID-19 restrictions:

Delhi

The Delhi government on Tuesday (April 6, 2021) decided to impose a night curfew to curb the COVID-19 spread. The night curfew has been imposed in the national capital from 10 pm to 5 am with immediate effect till April 30.

If anyone requires to go out during the night curfew orders they will require an e-pass, which can only be obtained from the Delhi government's website www.delhi.gov.in.

However, the order also states that individuals of certain professions like those involved in essential services will be exempted from these restrictions. Adding to this, the order also exempts pregnant women, patients and those travelling to airports, railway stations or bus terminals on showing their tickets.

Punjab

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday (April 7) extended the night curfew, which is in place from 9 pm to 5 am, across the state. The state has also banned political gatherings till April 30.

The authorities have also capped the number of people who can attend funerals and weddings has been reduced to 50 people in indoors halls and 100 for outdoor functions.

Schools and other educational institutions, except medical and nursing colleges, in the state have been closed till April 30.

Uttar Pradesh

Night curfew has been imposed in Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), Ghaziabad, Bareilly and Meerut.

While most of the state is free from restrictions, night curfew have been imposed in Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) and Ghaziabad from 10 pm to 5 am, and Lucknow Municipal Corporation has ordered a night curfew, starting from 9 pm to 6 am, from April 8 to April 16.

The order exempted the government, semi-government professionals and essential services workers. Schools and other educational institutions, except medical and nursing colleges, in the state have been closed till April 15.

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday (April 8, 2021) announced to impose weekend lockdown in all the urban areas due to rise in COVID-19 cases. The weekend lockdown will be enforced from 6 pm on Friday to 6 am on Monday.

In the past three weeks, the state government has imposed lockdowns in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior on Sundays and extended the curbs to some other cities last Sunday.

Additionally, a seven-day lockdown has been ordered for the entire Chhindwara district from April 8.

Gujarat

The Gujarat government on Tuesday announced a night curfew, in 20 cities and eight metros in the state, from 8 pm to 6 am. The major events will be postponed until April 30.

Government offices will remain closed on all Saturdays for the month of April. Also, a gathering of not more than 100 people will be allowed at weddings.

Odisha

The Odisha government on Saturday announced that night curfew would be imposed in 10 districts with effect from April 5.

Curfew has been imposed from 10 pm to 5 am in Sundergarh, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Koraput and Nabarangpur districts.

Rajasthan

The Rajasthan government has reportedly imposed night curfew from Monday (April 5) and ordered the closure of multiplexes and gymnasiums.

The night curfew will remain in force from 8 pm to 6 am, in which food delivery will be allowed while dining at restaurants and hotels has been prohibited.

Schools for classes 1 to 9 have been suspended from April 5 to 19. For college students, except those studying in final-year, classes will remain suspended for the above period. The number of people at social gatherings has been restricted to 100 in the state.

COVID-19 tests, not more than 72 hours old, have also been made mandatory for travellers entering the state.

Chhattisgarh

The Chhattisgarh government has announced a lockdown in the Raipur district with effect from April 9 to 19 and has declared the entire district, including the state capital, as a containment zone.

Even the offices of Central, state governments, semi-government as well as private offices including banks are directed to remain closed. Hospitals and ATMs will operate as per usual in the area. Delivery of commodities like milk, newspapers and LPG cylinders will be allowed from 6 am to 8 am and between 5 pm and 6:30 pm.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 06:18:42|Editor: huaxia

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BRUSSELS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Thursday strongly condemned the violence in Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms the acts of violence that have occurred in Northern Ireland over the past days. Nobody has anything to gain from this. We call on all those involved to refrain immediately from these violent acts," declared the commission's chief spokesperson Eric Mamer on Twitter.

Leaders of Britain and Ireland also called for an end to the riots. "The way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or criminality," said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"I utterly condemn the violent attacks on police, a journalist, and bus driver over recent days in The North. Now is the time for the two Governments and leaders on all sides to work together to defuse tensions and restore calm," tweeted Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin.

The Northern Ireland Executive also said Thursday that it is "gravely concerned" by the recent riots in the region in which more than 50 police officers have been injured.

Riots erupted last week in Belfast, Northern Ireland between nationalists, loyalists and the police over the Northern Ireland Protocol, a post-Brexit trading arrangement which they claim has created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain.

The latest development followed several nights of unrest in loyalist communities amid tensions over the Protocol within the Brexit deal between Britain and the European Union.

The Protocol, as an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement, was ratified by both the European Union (EU) and Britain and has been in force since Feb. 1, 2020.

"The protocol was agreed to protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland, to protect the Good Friday and Belfast agreement, to protect North-South cooperation, to avoid a hard border," said European Commission spokesperson for EU-UK relations Daniel Ferrie.

On March 31, the European executive arm received a draft UK-EU work program from the UK, following the bloc's request to be provided with "a credible roadmap with clear deliverables and milestones for the implementation of the protocol," said Ferrie.

The document is currently being reviewed by the European Commission, and contacts at the technical level have been established between the two parties, he added. Enditem
Kanpur : , April 9 (IANS) The winds of change are finally blowing through the Bikru village that witnessed the massacre of eight policemen in July last year.

With the death of gangster Vikas Dubey, the main accused in the massacre, the sense of fear has evaporated and democracy is coming alive in this hamlet.

After almost two and a half decades, there will be a contest for the upcoming Panchayat elections.

Eleven candidates have filed nomination papers for the post of village head and campaigning is on in full swing. The seat is reserved for Scheduled Castes.

Till he was alive, no one dared to contest the Panchayat elections and Vikas Dubey's candidate would invariably get elected unopposed.

"We had almost forgotten what democracy and election was. There used to be no campaigning and Dubey would simply name his candidate. People are now contesting the elections and going from house to house, seeking votes," said an elderly resident of the village.

Most people, however, are still reluctant to speak openly because of the police presence that continues to dominate the Bikru village.

In hushed tones, they talk of Vikas Dubey's followers discreetly building up his gang and keeping tabs on those who speak out against him.

Vikas Dubey emerged as a local gangster in 2001, after he was named in the murder of BJP leader Santosh Shukla. As his political clout grew, so did his terror in the village.

He held complete hold over local politics and the Panchayat.
It was on April 8, 1951 that representatives of the Holy See and the Philippines signed a treaty establishing diplomatic relations.

By Robin Gomes

The Holy See and the Philippines on Thursday marked the 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two states. Due to the restrictions of the pandemic, the anniversary was marked by a virtual event and a message by the Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

Outgoing Philippine ambassador to the Holy See, Grace Relucio-Princesa, reaffirmed her nations commitment to further strengthen the bilateral relations. She assured the governments continued partnership with the Church because theres really room for engagement. Let the Philippine embassy in the Vatican start this: diplomacy for humanity, diplomacy for the common good, and one of this is migration, said the 65-year-old diplomat who is retiring.

70 years of relations

On April 8, 1951, during the term of President Elpidio Quirino, representatives of both parties signed their first treaty establishing ties. The agreement raised the Holy Sees Apostolic Delegation to the Philippines to the status of Apostolic Nunciature. Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi became the first Apostolic Nuncio, having been appointed the following day, April 9, 1951.

The first Philippine ambassador was Manuel Moran, who presented his credentials to Pope Pius XII on June 4, 1951. On that occasion, Moran spoke of his country's desire to maintain and strengthen its long-standing bonds of friendship with the Holy See, and to cooperate with it in the great task of promoting peace and human dignity and freedom.

Through the Nunciatures, the Holy See is able to facilitate dialogue with the civil authorities, foster contacts with the local Churches and maintain a presence in international life.

Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs

Teodoro Locsin Jr, released a message extending his warmest and most sincere greetings for 70 years of close friendship between the Philippines and the Holy See. May our work together in the coming years, he said, contribute to the worlds healing. May we also witness and guide new generations to bear stronger faith, hope and love, he said recalling 500 years of Christianity in the country. Through all these years, Filipinos have adhered to the faith that was first brought to our shores 500 years ago, Locsin wrote. From the very beginning, we Filipinos have shown our innate friendliness and compassion to other people in need of help, during those first encounters with European visitors in our country, after their long trans-Atlantic and Pacific voyage, Locsin added.

4 papal visits by 3 popes

During the past 70 years, there have been four papal visits to the Philippines: the 1970 visit by Pope Paul VI, the visits of 1981 and 1995 by Pope John Paul II, and Pope Francis visit in 2015. The 70 anniversary takes place in the context of the jubilee celebrations of 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines, which kicked off on East Sunday, April 4.

Virtual celebration

The virtual event of April 8 was highlighted with a webinar titled 70 years of Philippine-Holy See bilateral relations: Reflections on the Filipino religious diaspora, and its impact on the overseas Filipino diaspora and the contribution of the Church towards their social-pastoral care. Fr. Gregory Gaston, the rector of Rome-based Pontificio Collegio Filippino, was the moderator.

Among the participants were Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Prefect of the Vaticans Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples; Archbishop Charles Brown, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines; Cardinal Jose Advincula, Archbishop of Manila; and Archbishop Romulo Valles, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Some officials from the Office of European Affairs and the Philippine Foreign Affairs were also in attendance.

A Catholic nation

According to the 2018 census, the Philippines has 108.7 million people, over 80 million of whom are Catholic, making it the nation with the largest Catholic population in Asia. Worldwide, the Philippines has the third largest Catholic population after Brazil and Mexico. The other Catholic-majority nation of Asia is Timor-Leste (East Timor), whose population of some 1.2 million is over 95 percent Catholic.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has released a video briefly highlighting some of the milestones of 7 decades of friendly relations with the Holy See. (Source: CBCP News)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 17:56:53|Editor: huaxia

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LUSAKA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, causing disruption to both social and economic lives around the world, there have been growing concerns regarding people's mental health.

The ongoing public health measures expose many people to experiencing situations linked to poor mental health outcomes, such as isolation and job loss. Hence, it is paramount that good ways to deal with mental issues be explored to improve people's fitness, both physically and emotionally.

In Zambia, only a few can afford the services of a professional mental health expert, while the rest are left to make do with whatever coping mechanisms are within their individual or collective reach.

It is for this reason that a significant number of residents of Lusaka, Zambia's capital are trekking to Chinyunyu hot springs, in Rufunsa district, a two hours drive from Lusaka to de-stress by releasing bodily or mental tension.

Chinyunyu hot springs is a tourist spot situated in Lusaka rural that often attracts both local and international visitors. Locals seek out the place because of its abundant water which is claimed to have many health benefits and can be used to bring order to one's life and increase health tourism.

Even during the pandemic, the national heritage conservation commission site is a hive of activity throughout the week and particularly busy during weekends and public holidays.

Those found at the site said that water from the hot springs and the serene surroundings along with fresh air has a calming and healing effect on the mind.

Nebart Mumba, a Lusaka resident who claimed to have been on the verge of a life-threatening nervous breakdown said taking a hot bath at Chinyunyu hot springs helped him think clearly.

"The medical tourism trip to Chinyunyu hot springs was refreshing and worthwhile," Mumba said.

Another Lusaka resident, Julian Mwango said visiting the site helped her overcome depression from the loss of a job resulting from economic challenges attributed to COVID-19 ramifications.

According to Lastone Gomah, a Zion Christian Church leader, Chinyunyu hot springs have for a long time provided both spiritual and physical relief to individuals in dire stress looking to find solutions to difficult life situations.

"To those that are spiritual, the water from the springs helps with ridding bad omens and bringing about success in different areas of life. The water has physical health benefits in that one can take a hot bath a few meters from the springs and feel rejuvenated," said Gomah.

Clara Nanja, an ecologist, said bonding with nature can provide much-needed mental relief, more so during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic when people are under a lot of stress.

"This is the best time to bond with nature. Bonding with nature helps to release tension and comforts one to reflect and focus on things that truly matter," Nanja said.

As an environmentalist, Nanja restated the importance of more people being encouraged to visit remote and rural areas where they can interact with and enjoy nature and thus release the tension and stress.

She added that COVID-19 offers an opportunity for Zambia to market her mental health capability through popularizing places like Chinyunyu hot springs as a mental health treatment destination.

A Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll from July 2020 found that many adults are reporting specific problems in their mental health and well-being, such as difficulty in sleeping or eating, increases in alcohol consumption or substance use, and worsening chronic conditions, due to worry and stress over the COVID-19. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 19:05:19|Editor: huaxia

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Guests wave flags at the breakthrough ceremony of Paka tunnel in Paka of Terengganu State, Malaysia, April 9, 2021. The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), Malaysia's mega rail project jointly constructed with China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), saw on Friday the first tunnel breakthrough in Terengganu state. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)

PAKA, Malaysia, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), Malaysia's mega rail project jointly constructed with China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), saw on Friday the first tunnel breakthrough in Terengganu state.

The breakthrough ceremony of the 1.1-km long single-bored Paka tunnel was attended by officials and representatives of project owner Malaysia Rail Link (MRL) and CCCC.

Despite major challenges faced during the construction period including work suspensions and strict containment measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, the tunnel site team managed to achieve the breakthrough ahead of schedule, according to MRL and CCCC.

Expressing his appreciation for the excellent work progress at Terowong Paka, MRL Chairman Mohd Zuki Ali said the hard work and commitment of about 100 ECRL personnel in carrying out the tunneling works have contributed to the breakthrough. All other related tunnel civil works are expected to be fully completed by the first quarter of 2022.

"Today's tunnel breakthrough is a result of mutual assistance and collaboration between MRL and CCCC that put into practice top-notch technology, equipment, planning, and safety aspects in tunnel engineering and construction," said Mohd Zuki.

For his part, CCCC's Managing Director for ECRL Bai Yinzhan thanked the ECRL project team from both sides for putting in efforts in accomplishing the first tunnel breakthrough and other project milestones.

"In the past 12 months, we had faced many challenges, including the pandemic and severe flooding along the East Coast. But our workers together with our local partners have put in relentless efforts to ensure the project stays on track while adhering to strict enforcement of the applicable standards of procedures to keep our workplace safe," said Bai.

The ECRL runs from Malaysia's largest transport hub Port Klang and travels across the peninsula to Kelantan state in northeastern Malaysia. The rail link is expected to greatly enhance connectivity and bring more balanced growth to the country by linking its less-developed region on the East Coast to the economic heartland on the West Coast upon its completion in 2026.

Malaysian Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said earlier this week that the construction work of the ECRL is "in full swing" and is progressing at an "encouraging" rate of 21.39 percent as of March 2021.

The works at more than 300 locations will commence by the year-end involving earthworks, bridge construction works as well as tunnel works which will drive the construction of the ECRL into its peak period, he said. Enditem
Members of the US House of Representatives have begun collecting signatures under a bipartisan letter urging President Joe Biden to join the Congress in recognizing the Armenian Genocide clearly and directly in his April 24 statement.

The letter states that while other world leaders have recognized the first genocide of the 20th century, the President of the United States has been silent for decades. These US lawmakers stated that they join the proud American Armenian community and all those who support truth and justice and ask Biden to recognize the Armenian Genocide clearly and directly in his April 24 statement. The US legislators added that they know this is an issue Biden has been well familiar with since his years in the Senate and as Vice President.

They recalled that as Biden had said in his statement on April 24 last year: silence is complicity. According to the shameful silence of the US on the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide has lasted too long and this needs to end. Therefore, they urged Joe Biden to fulfill his responsibilities and tell the truth.

Earlier, 38 US senators also called on Biden to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

And in 2019, both houses of the US Congress had passed resolutions on recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
Doctors in Japan have performed the world's first-ever living donor lung transplant on a patient with severe lung damage from Covid-19.

A Japanese woman's life was saved by the nearly 11-hour operation carried out by a medical team of 30 after her husband and son donated parts of their lungs, doctors said on Thursday.

The recipient, identified only as a woman from Japan's western region of Kansai, is recovering, Kyoto University Hospital said, along with her donor family members.

Doctors transplanted tissue from her husband and son's healthy lungs to replace parts of the patient's failing lungs. In the case of a live-donor transplantation, two donors are required.

Pictured: This combination of radiographs provided on April 9, 2021, by Kyoto University Hospital, shows the chest of a patient before the lung transplant surgery, left, and after the surgery, right. Doctors in Kyoto University Hospital announced Thursday, April 8, 2021

Transplants from braindead donors in Japan are still rare, and living donors are considered a more realistic option for patients.

Covid-19 can cause severe lung damage in some patients, and people around the world have received lung transplants as part of their recovery.

But the Kyoto hospital said it was the world's first transplant of lung tissue from living donors to a Covid-19 patient with lung damage.

Transplants from braindead donors in Japan are still rare, and living donors are considered a more realistic option for patients.

'We demonstrated that we now have an option of lung transplants (from living donors),' Dr Hiroshi Date, a thoracic surgeon at the hospital who led the operation, said at a news conference on Thursday.

'I think this is a treatment that gives hope for patients' with severe lung damage from Covid-19, he said.

Kyoto University said dozens of transplants of parts of lungs taken from braindead donors to patients with Covid-19-related lung damage have been carried out in the United States, Europe and China.

Pictured: Japanese doctors perform a lung transplant on a Covid-19 patient. The recipient, identified only as a woman from Japan's western region of Kansai, is recovering, Kyoto University Hospital said, along with her donor family members

Lung transplantation A lung transplantation, or pulmonary transplantation, is a surgical procedure in which surgeons either partially or totally replace a patient's diseased lungs with healthy lungs that come from a donor. Donor lungs can either be taken from a deceased or living donor. It is more common for a donated lung to come from someone who has died, but in rare cases a section of a lung can be taken from a person who is alive. However, in the case of a lobe transplant, a living donor can only donate one lung lobe - and therefore in this case, two live donors are required. With some lung diseases, a recipient may only need to receive a single lung, but with other diseases - such as cystic fibrosis - a recipient must be given two lungs. In the UK, the demand for lung transplants is far greater than the available supply of donated lungs, according to the NHS. This means that doctors must be selective about who is given a lung transplant, only choosing people who have a good chance of survival. Advertisement

The woman contracted Covid-19 late last year and developed breathing difficulties that rapidly worsened.

She was placed on a life support machine that works as an artificial lung for more than three months at another hospital because her lungs were so severely damaged.

The university said even after she was free of the virus, her lungs were no longer functional or treatable, meaning the only remaining option was for her to receive a lung transplant.

Her husband and son volunteered to donate parts of their lungs, and the surgery was conducted at Kyoto University Hospital by a 30-member team headed by Dr Date.

Her husband donated part of his left lung, and son gave part of his right lung.

She is expected to be able to leave the hospital in about two months and return to her normal life in about three months, the university said.

In June last year, surgeons in the United States performed a successful double-lung transplant on a Covid-19 patient, and last month, US surgeons completed a 'Covid to Covid' double lung transplant - from one patient who tested positive to another.

This was a significant milestone, with Dr. Ankit Bharat, the transplant surgeon, saying 'We will have a massive problem on our hands if Americans can't donate their organs after having a mild to moderate case of Covid-19,' according to CNN.

A study released earlier this year found that more than 1,700 patients in the Chinese city of Wuhan - where coronavirus is believed to have spread from - found that X-rays of severely ill patients showed evidence of lung damage months after infection.

Like other respiratory diseases, Covid-19 can cause lung complications such as pneumonia and, in the most severe of cases, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, and can even lead to sepsis, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

When someone is inflicted with pneumonia, the lungs become filled with fluid and inflamed, resulting in breathing difficulties. This can result in people needing hospital treatment, with oxygen or a ventilator.

Air sacs in the lungs - called Alveoli - fill with fluid, limiting their ability to take in oxygen, causing shortness of breath, a cough and other symptoms.

Even after the Covid-19 infection has cleared, lasting lung damage can be left behind, resulting in breathing difficulties that can take months to improve.

In the most extreme cases, pneumonia can lead to ARDS, leaving a patient unable to breathe on their own and will likely require a ventilator to ensure oxygen still circulates the body. This can be fatal, or leave lasting pulmonary scarring.
Imperial Valley News Center

Pakistani National Indicted and Sanctioned for Human Smuggling Conspiracy

Miami, Florida - A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia returned an indictment Wednesday charging a citizen of Pakistan for allegedly leading a scheme to smuggle undocumented individuals into the United States from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

According to court documents, between January 2015 and December 2020, Abid Ali Khan, 40, allegedly organized, led, and worked, with others in his Pakistan-based smuggling network to facilitate the travel of undocumented individuals to the United States. Khan allegedly disregarded the fact that the individuals did not have prior authorization to enter the United States and that their entry into the United States would be illegal. Khan also allegedly encouraged, induced, and brought undocumented individuals to the United States for commercial advantage and financial gain.

Abid Ali Khan is alleged to have organized and led an international organization that, in exchange for monetary payment, facilitated the illegal smuggling of individuals through various countries to the United States, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. As this case demonstrates, the department continues to identify and prosecute those who seek to profit from conduct that undermines our system of legal immigration and imperils the lives of those being smuggled, often under dangerous conditions.

Khan allegedly led a global human smuggling operation that used fraudulent documents and international travel routes to facilitate the entry of unauthorized individuals into the United States, said Acting U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh for the Eastern District of Virginia. We are committed to holding accountable those who seek personal monetary gain by compromising and undermining the integrity of the immigration process.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami is committed to prosecuting individuals who pose a threat to national security and our critical infrastructure, including exploiting our global financial systems through their smuggling networks, said Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of HSI Miami. A recent HSI-led investigation revealed the Pakistani-based Abid Khan human smuggling network, operating in the Middle East and southwest Asia, is allegedly exploiting systemic vulnerabilities in order to move people into the United States and elsewhere.

This outcome is a result of the outstanding dedication and commitment by case agents and the effective partnership between HSI and the Justice Departments Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, including significant contributions made by CBPs Counter Networks Division, members of the HSI Human Smuggling Unit and other partners, said Chief Ramon Romo of the HSI Human Smuggling Unit. Their collaborative efforts make our country a safer place.

Khan allegedly accepted payment in exchange for planning and coordinating the international travel for foreign nationals to travel from Pakistan through multiple countries, to include Brazil and the United States, allegedly offered or provided false documents for foreign nationals to use for travel through multiple countries, and allegedly instructed foreign nationals that his co-conspirators would facilitate various parts of the travel between Pakistan and the United States.

In addition to the criminal charges filed against Khan, the Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced today that it has designated Khan, the Khan Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO), and several other members of his smuggling network in connection with their involvement in a global network of human smugglers and the smuggling of undocumented noncitizens to the United States. The Treasury Departments sanctions require the blocking and reporting of all assets held by Khan, his associates, and the Khan TCO in the U.S., or in the possession and control of U.S. persons. The sanctions also prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons, or persons within (or transiting) the United States, that involve any property or interests of Khan, his associates or the Khan TCO.

The Department of Justice recognizes OFACs efforts to help stop Khan and his network from allegedly continuing to smuggle persons to the United States.

The case is being investigated by HSI Miami, with assistance from the HSI Human Smuggling Unit; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Department of Homeland Security Homeland Identities, Targeting, and Exploitation Center (HITEC); HSI Biometric Identification Transnational Migration Alert Program; HSI Attache Panama; and HSI Attache Brasilia.

The investigation is being conducted under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force (ECT) program, a joint partnership between the Justice Departments Criminal Division and HSI. The ECT program focuses on human smuggling networks that may present national security or public safety risks, or present grave humanitarian concerns. ECT has dedicated investigative, intelligence, and prosecutorial resources. ECT coordinates and receives assistance from other U.S. government agencies and foreign law enforcement authorities.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jay A. Bauer of the Criminal Divisions Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Walutes of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Black Michigan Student Admits to Spraying Racist Graffiti in Hoax That Led to Protests: Police

A student has admitted to spraying racist graffiti messages in an apparent hoax at a Michigan college, leading to protests and outrage from school administrators, according to reports.

The student wasnt immediately named by the college, but police identified him as a 21-year-old black male, Albion Department of Public Safety Chief Scott Kipp said, Mlive reported.

Authorities have confirmed the crime was an apparent hoax and the student identified is responsible for most of the vandalism, which occurred between March 28 to April 6 at Albion College.

The student tagged several walls of the private college with the phrases KKK, White Power, and Die [explicit] Please, according to pictures posted to Facebook of the vandalism.

Earlier today, we identified the individual responsible for the racist and anti-Semitic graffiti in Mitchell Towers, the liberal arts college said in a statement on Wednesday.

The student, who was acting alone, acknowledged their responsibility for these incidents, and was immediately removed from campus and placed on temporary suspension while we conduct a full investigation as part of our student judicial process, the college continued.

The campus didnt immediately identify the student publicly in their statement, although Albion College President Mathew Johnson told the Washington Examiner that the individual responsible for the vandalism is a student of color who was immediately removed from the campus while an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

All evidence has been turned over to law enforcement in cooperation with the ongoing criminal investigation, Johnson said. We do not have any additional information to provide at this time as the student judicial process and criminal investigation proceed.

About 200 students and staff at the college marched for at least three days around the campus, boycotting classes, and urging the college administration to be more transparent and urge for safety at the campus.

Moving forward I want the president to reach out to our community and let us know that we deserve to be here, freshman Brooklyn Tripp told WWMT at the end of March. From what Ive seen, no one cares.

The college said on Twitter they encourage everyone in the community to care for one another.

From NTD News
Srinagar, April 9 : Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has tested positive for Covid-19. Taking to Twitter on Friday, Omar said he is asymptomatic and self-isolating.

"For a year I did my best to dodge this damn virus but it's finally caught up with me. I tested positive for Covid-19 this afternoon," Omar tweeted.

"I'm completely asymptotic. Based on medical advice I'm self-isolating at home and monitoring my parameters like oxygen saturation levels etc." On Wednesday Omar took the first Covid jab. Last month Omar's father and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had tested positive for Covid-19 days after he had taken a Covid jab at SKIMS in Srinagar.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Bottom line: Samsung could be the latest smartphone maker to partner with an established photography company on an upcoming flagship. If true, the Korean electronics maker would become the latest in a growing list of smartphone makers that have teamed up with camera brands.

Tech leaker Yogesh shared in a recent series of tweets that Samsung and Olympus have held talks about a possible partnership. Its unclear how far along they are in the discussions or which devices might get Olympus-branded gear, but a special edition Galaxy Fold and the Galaxy S22 Ultra were mentioned by name as plausible candidates.

Its an interesting development considering the fact Olympus recently sold its camera business to Japan Industrial Partners, citing smartphones damage to the digital camera industry. The transfer was completed on January 1, 2021, despite largely flying under the radar.

Olympus has a long history in the camera business, and most recently focused its efforts on the micro four thirds platform alongside Panasonic.

Huawei locked arms with optics specialist Leica back in 2016 and Nokia has a history of working with Carl Zeiss. More recently, OnePlus partnered with Hasselblad on the OnePlus 9.

Samsungs next foldable smartphone is expected to arrive sometime later this year while the Galaxy S22 Ultra almost certainly wont land until sometime in early 2022.

Masthead credit: Wirestock creators
The General Directorate of the Dubai Civil Defence (DCD) inaugurated the first electric firefighting vehicle of its kind in the Middle East and the second in the world.

The vehicle was introduced today (April 8) during the Custom Show Emirates, which will run at the Dubai World Trade Centre untill April 10.

Equipped with LED lights, it has a smart operating system comprising 17 inches screen (CAN- BUST), which allows the authorities to control it remotely.

Major General Rashid Thani Al Matrooshi, Director-General of the Dubai Civil Defence, said the electric firefighting vehicle is 20 per cent faster than regular firefighting vehicles.

"It is connected to the Dubai Civil Defence's operation room with Telematic, the technology of sending, receiving and storing information using telecommunication devices to control remote objects," he explained.

The vehicles water tank capacity is 4,000 litres and its foam tank capacity is 400 litres, he added, noting that it is equipped with four high-resolution cameras, and can utilise a fast charger located at the firefighting and rescue centre, which charges the vehicle by 80 percent within 40 minutes, enabling it to operate from 6 to 8 hours at speeds of up to 100km/h speed.

The water pump in the electric truck is designed with high-power standards Rosenbauer (NH35), and the contraption uses smart applications, said the top official.

The vehicle, which has a carrying capacity for six firefighting personnel, can handle all types of fires, he stated, adding that it is environmentally friendly, does not produce harmful emissions, is easy to operate, and not noisy.-TradeArabia News Service
2018 French drama series The Crimson Rivers gets its Free to Air debut next week.

This is based on the 2000 feature and best-selling novel, and has previously screened at SBS on Demand.

Police detective Pierre Niemans and his former student, Camille Delaunay, solve unusually brutal murder cases that the police are unable to understand.

Episode One: The Last Hunt (Part 1)

A count is found cruelly murdered during a hunt. Investigations by Niemans, Camille, and their German colleague Kleinert show that the murder was carried out in the style of a stalking hunt.

Episode Two: The Last Hunt (Part 2)

Niemans, Camille, and Kleinert uncover a deep family secret in their investigation  one that places remaining members in danger.

Double episode 8:30pm Wednesday April 14 on SBS.

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Goose Creek, SC (29445)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms in the morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. High 83F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Cloudy in the evening, then off and on rain showers after midnight. Low 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
A British-Australian academic who spent two years in an Iranian jail has announced she has divorced her husband after discovering he was having an affair with her friend and colleague while she was imprisoned.

Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Islamic studies scholar, was freed last November in a prisoner swap deal after spending 804 days in an Iranian jail on spying charges.

But upon her return she discovered her Russian-Israeli husband Ruslan Hodorov had been having an affair with Dr Kylie Baxter, her university colleague and PhD supervisor, while she was held captive.

The 33-year-old filed for divorce shortly after her release, and made the announcement that it was official on her Twitter account on Thursday.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert (left) discovered that her husband, Ruslan Hodorov, had been having an affair with Dr Kylie Baxter (pictured together right) after she was released from prison in Iran

Both Mr Hodorov, 31, and Dr Baxter, 43, pushed for Dr Moore-Gilbert's release after her arrest for espionage in September 2018 at Tehran airport as she attempted to leave the country.

She was given a ten-year sentence but always denied the charges, that reportedly stemmed from the Iranian authorities' belief that she was a spy for Israel because of her relationship with her husband - an Israeli citizen.

While in prison, she refused to help lure him to Iran in a plot concocted by her captors, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC).

A letter from Dr Moore-Gilbert to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, which was smuggled out of Evin prison, revealed how the IRGC tried to set a trap for Mr Hodorov, who they accused of being an Israeli spy.

She was reported to have suffered 'immense' shock on learning of her husband's betrayal, with friends previously telling Australian news outlets the affair started a year after Dr Moore-Gilbert's arrest.

Before her September 2018 arrest Dr Moore-Gilbert and Mr Hodorov had just bought a house in Melbourne after marrying in 2017 in a Jewish ceremony.

Dr Moore-Gilbert declared the divorce was finalised in a post on Twitter, making light of the situation with a reference to a Kylie Minogue cameo in Australian sit-com Kath & Kim

Dr Moore-Gilbert, an Islamic studies scholar, was freed last November in a prisoner swap deal after spending 804 days in an Iranian jail on spying charges, which she denies

They met a decade earlier when she visited Israel, where Mr Hodorov lived after emigrating from Russia with his family.

When he was arrested, Moore-Gilbert - who is also the cousin of Julian Assange - had been attending a conference in Iran when she was flagged as 'suspicious' by a fellow academic and by a subject she had interviewed for research.

She was subsequently tried and sentenced to ten years in prison for espionage, and held in Evin prison in solitary confinement. Iranian authorities reportedly tried to recruit her as a spy in exchange for her release, which she declined.

She was detained after suspicions were raised that she was a spy when it was discovered that she was married to an Israeli, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

While imprisoned Dr Moore-Gilbert was kept in a tiny cell in freezing temperatures and was subjected to psychological torture. She staged several hunger strikes, and in May 2020 her family denied reports she had attempted suicide.

Nick Warner, the head of Australia's intelligence service, successfully negotiated a prison swap for Dr Moore-Gilbert's freedom.

Australian academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert was given a ten-year sentence but always denied the charges, that reportedly stemmed from the Iranian authorities' belief that she was a spy for Israel because of her relationship with her husband - an Israeli citizen

She was exchanged for three Iranian prisoners in Thailand, two of whom had been convicted in connection with the 2012 Bangkok bomb plot.

He is understood to have spent months convincing officials in meetings and even at social functions to get the Thai prisoners released - who the Iranian government called 'businessmen'.

Australia's ambassador to Thailand, Allan McKinnon, also lobbied with Thai officials to release the three Iranian terrorists as an exchange for the Melbourne University lecturer.

Dr Moore-Gilbert and Dr Baxter are both experts in Middle Eastern studies at the University of Melbourne, where she teaches. Moore-Gilbert has carried out research into revolutions in the Middle East, particularly in Bahrain.

To this day, no evidence of her alleged crimes have been brought forward by Iran, and the Australian government has rejected them as 'baseless and politically motivated'.

In December 2020, Western and Israeli media claimed Iran had launched a media misinformation campaign against Moore-Gilbert 'accusing her of coordinating with a former Bahraini MP, Jasim Husain, to steal secrets for Israel'.

Husain was accused by Iran of teaching Moore-Gilbert Arabic and Persia, and offering to help her spy on Shia exiles in Iran.
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




Tasmania has halted first-dose injections of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for people aged under 50 years, following federal health advice.

'Those who have had their first dose will also be contacted directly,' the government said on Friday.

The decision comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison late on Thursday received recommendations from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.

Tasmania has halted first-dose injections of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for people aged under 50 years, following federal health advice

The decision comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison late on Thursday received recommendations from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation

The ATAGI recommended the Pfizer vaccine be 'preferred' over the AstraZeneca one in people aged under 50, who face a very rare risk of developing blood clots.

'We understand that people will be anxious for more information,' the government said.

'That information will be provided via your vaccine clinic as soon as possible.'

Tasmanians aged over 50 will continue to be vaccinated with the AstraZeneca jab.

Premier Peter Gutwein, who is in the midst of a state election campaign, will on Friday join his interstate counterparts and Mr Morrision for a national cabinet meeting to discuss the national vaccine rollout.
Norwegian police said on Friday they have fined Prime Minister Erna Solberg for breaking COVID-19 social distancing rules when she organised a family gathering to celebrate her birthday.

The fine is for 20,000 Norwegian crowns ($2,352), police chief Ole Saeverud told a news conference.

The two-term prime minister apologised last month for organising an event for her 60th birthday with 13 family members at a mountain resort in late February, despite a government ban on gatherings of more than 10 people.

While the police would not have issued a fine in most such cases, the prime minister has been at the forefront of the government's work to impose restrictions, police said.

"Though the law is the same for all, all are not equal in front of the law," said Saeverud, justifying the fine.

"It is therefore correct to issue a fine in order to uphold the general public's trust in the rules on social restrictions," he said.

Police said Solberg and her husband, Sindre Finnes, made the decision together to hold a celebration and picked the restaurant, with Finnes taking care of the practical arrangements.

Though police said he had broken the law as well, he was not fined. The restaurant where the celebration took place was also found to have violated the law but it was not fined.

"Solberg is the country's leader and she has been at the forefront of the restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the virus," said Saeverud.

The prime minister's office was not immediately available for comment.

Solberg, who faces elections for parliament in September, has championed strict rules to curb the spread of the coronavirus, resulting in some of Europe's lowest rates of infection and deaths.

But the country saw a rapid rise in infections in the first quarter of 2021, led by more contagious variants of the virus, forcing the government to tighten restrictions in late March.

Also Read: Pakistan approves third Chinese COVID-19 jab despite low efficacy rate
Hyderabad, April 9 : In view of the rapidly increasing Covid Cases in the state, Telangana Police is taking various steps to ensure that the rule relating to wearing of masks is implemented strictly across the state in all public places with immediate effect.

In this regard, the DGP, Telangana held a meeting with all Commissioners of Police, district Superintendents of Police and all other officers upto the rank of SHOs through Video Conference. Range DIsG, Zonal IsGP and ADG (Law & Order) have participated in the meeting.

According to a note issued by the DGP, police officers across the state have been directed to coordinate with all the stake holders in the local communities including Resident's Welfare Associations, officials at the Village/Ward level and ensure strict implementation of the rule relating to wearing of the mask mandatorily in all public places.

"They have been directed to involve all the self-help groups across the state in securing the voluntary compliance by the local communities. Strict enforcement measures including prosecuting repeat offenders by registering specific cases will be undertaken all over the state." the statement read.

Police have also instructed the owners of various commercial establishments where gatherings are likely to take place including malls, wine shops, pubs, hotels, restaurants, kirana shops, petrol pumps etc., to not allow the entry of people without masks. The concerned establishments shall not provide their services to customers without wearing masks. They are also directed to display appropriate signages accordingly in their establishments at prominent places and ensure the same as required under the National Disaster Management Act.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-08 22:54:28|Editor: huaxia

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A freight train bound for Kazakhstan is seen in Nanning international railway port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, March 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin)

BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The allegation of China transfering pollutive production enterprises to Kazakhstan goes against the facts and has ulterior motives, a Ministry of Commerce (MOC) spokesperson said on Thursday.

Kazakhstan is among the first members of the Belt and Road Initiative. In recent years, economic and trade cooperation between China and Kazakhstan has yielded fruitful results and benefited the two peoples, MOC spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference.

By the end of 2020, China's outstanding direct investment in Kazakhstan topped 7.83 billion U.S. dollars, playing an important role in promoting local employment and economic development, said Gao.

He added that China-Europe freight trains made nearly 10,000 trips between China and Europe via Kazakhstan last year.

Gao also highlighted the steady progress in green economy cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the new energy, ecological agriculture and health care sectors.

He used a 100-megawatt wind power plant in Kazakhstan as an example of the cooperation, noting that it can help reduce local emissions of sulfur dioxide by more than 1,000 tonnes and carbon dioxide by nearly 300,000 tonnes.

China will continue to work together with Kazakhstan to deepen practical cooperation in various fields following the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, as well as extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, said Gao. 
Friday reported 36 more fatalities due to infection and 9,587 new cases, raising the Covid-19 death toll to 9,039 and the case tally to 6,63,991, a senior official said.

There are 48,306 active cases and while 6,06,646 patients have recovered so far in the state, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters.

Among the active cases, 22,904 people are in home isolation, 835 in private hospitals and the rest undergoing treatment in government hospitals, he said.

The state has so far has tested over 3.63 crore samples, including over 1.97 lakh on Thursday.

Over 81 lakh people have been administered the Covid-19 vaccine in the state. It includes over 69 lakh who have got the first shot and over 11 lakh who have been administered both doses, Prasad 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.)
Himanshi Khurana Opens Up About Her Upcoming Film with Gippy Grewal, Feels It Should Be Called Her Debut

Himanshi Khurana had been a popular name in Punjab even before she had made her appearance in Bigg Boss 13. She has achieved a pan-India fandom after her stint, but she is continuing to do more work in the Punjabi film industry. Now, she has signed yet another film, opposite Gippy Grewal. Titled Shava Ni Girdhari Lal, it also stars Neeru Bajwa. Now, she has opened up about it.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Himanshi Khurana  (@iamhimanshikhurana)

Talking to ETimes, she feels that this film should be called her debut. Himanshi said, "It feels great to be a part of such an interesting project. I was waiting for a good opportunity and especially a good script to hold on to. Although, honestly I consider this as my debut project since when I did my previous movies I was barely 16-year-old. The voice, the maturity and expression on the face everything was quite different than it is now. So, I would say it was only a teaser of the experience and exposure I was about to witness. So yeah officially we can consider 'Shava Ni Girdhari Lal' as my debut movie."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Himanshi Khurana  (@iamhimanshikhurana)

She further aadded, "I am extremely excited to be a part of this movie. When I used to feature in songs all my fans and my colleagues always asked me when I would get into movies and I always had one answer that the day I get a good script and good banner and good co-stars is the day Ill be back in movies. Working with such a great team like Gippy Grewal, Neeru Bajwa and the entire cast of Shava Ni Girdhari Lal is like a dream come true."

We hope that the film releases soon and Himanshi's fans from all over can get to watch it.
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Apr. 8The Vancouver Fire Department responded to two commercial fires overnight Wednesday, saving both businesses from destruction.

Firefighters were first dispatched to MAACO Collision Repair and Auto Painting, 2735 N.E. Andresen Road, according to a news release from the fire department.

The first arriving crew reached the business within six minutes, at 10:19 p.m., and found the one-story auto shop on fire, the department said.

MAACO is located directly behind Living Hope Church. The church's massive parking lot was used as a staging area and command post during the response.

The shop's construction includes metal walls and roof; the fire department noted that due to the "industrial nature" of the materials, as well as the hemmed-in location of the building, crews had to fight the fire using various tactics.

Crews doused the blaze from the roof and interior of the shop, according to the fire department. They declared the fire under control after about 70 minutes "of intense work by the 26 firefighters on scene," the department said.

Several hours later, at 1:48 a.m. Thursday, crews were dispatched to 5620 N.E. Gher Road.

Some crew members had just been released from the auto shop fire. They arrived at Jay's Stop and Go, a convenience store in a small strip mall, for their second commercial fire of the night.

Engine 6 was the first to arrive. Its crew quickly attacked the fire and was able to stop it from severely damaging the inside of the store, according to the fire department. Two engines were able to handle the response.

No one was injured in either fire.
Netflix's announcement of their new reality show Byron Baes has angered the residents of the once quiet coastal town on the New South Wales north coast.

And on Friday, Byron Bay locals did not hold back on the streaming service's plans to film a reality show about the young Instagram influencers based in beachside town.

The scandalous series will focus on the catfights and love lives of popular influencers in the area.

Not happy: Byron Bay locals are 'horrified and angry' at Netflix's new reality show, Byron Baes

But Karen Justice, a long-term local of the town, told ABC she is 'horrified, embarrassed and angry'.

She explained that if a show should be made, it should be about the real people who living there rather than the glamorous people who only recently made Byron their home to flaunt their lifestyles.

'Our little home town has already been loved, do we really need more attention? Us true locals can soldier on, but I wish these others would bugger off,' Ms Justice added.

Meanwhile, Mandy Nolan - a comedian and a Greens federal candidate - noted that a reality show is not what the area needs.

Influencer life: The series, which was announced by Netflix this week, will focus on the catfights and love lives of popular young influencers in the coastal town. Pictured left to right is Sammy Newton and Elyse Knowles

Not what Byron needs: Meanwhile, Mandy Nolan - a comedian and a Greens federal candidate - noted that a reality show is not what the area needs. She pointed out: 'Byron Bay doesn't need any more vacuous exposure, it needs housing, it needs urgent work on coastal erosion'

'Byron Bay doesn't need any more vacuous exposure, it needs housing, it needs urgent work on coastal erosion,' she pointed out.

The announcement of the reality show this week outraged Australians who flocked to Twitter to share their disbelief, including one who said: 'Legitimately the worst idea since Married At First Sight.'

'Never had a reason to cancel Netflix... until now,' wrote another, while one user said they were so upset that the announcement had left them feeling 'nauseous'.

Boycotting already: The announcement of the reality show this week outraged Australians who flocked to Twitter to share their disbelief, including one who said: 'Legitimately the worst idea since Married At First Sight'

'Zero respect for a town being torn apart by influencers chasing the perfect backdrop for crass commercial gain,' added another.

Byron Baes was announced on Thursday morning as the new Australian Netflix Original and will run for eight episodes in total.

The Block star and model Elyse Knowles is 'hotly tipped' for a starring role in the series, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Big reveal: Byron Baes was announced on Thursday morning as the new Australian Netflix Original and will run for eight episodes in total

Netflix's director of content for Australia and New Zealand, Que Minh Luu, said giving the show the green light was a 'no brainer'.

'You've got this cabal, or live feed as we've been calling it, of Instagrammers, who all live up in Byron, and there are a lot of them,' said Ms Luu.

'I'm not going to judge anyone for having a product to sell. Musicians have music to sell. I have ideas to sell,' Ms Luu added.

Influencer power: Byron Baes was announced on Thursday morning as the new Australian Netflix Original and will run for eight episodes in total. The Block star and model Elyse Knowles is 'hotly tipped' for a starring role in the series, the Sydney Morning Herald reported

A press release for the program describes Byron Baes as a 'docu-soap series' and calls it 'our love letter to Byron Bay' that will also offer audience 'fights, flings and heartbreak'.

It continues: 'It's not just Chris [Hemsworth] and Zac [Efron]'s backyard; it's the playground of more celebrity-adjacent influencers than you can poke a selfie-stick at.'

Byron Baes is being produced by Eureka Productions.

Emma Lamb, who is known for her work on Married At First Sight and The Real Housewives of Sydney, will serve as the executive producer.
QUEBEC - A former Quebec judge found guilty in 2012 of fatally shooting his wife was ordered released from prison on Friday while he awaits a new murder trial.

Defense lawyer Jacques Larochelle, right, reacts to a court decision to release his client, Jacques Delisle, as James Lockyer looks on, in Quebec City, Friday, April 9, 2021. The decision comes after Justice Minister David Lametti, earlier this week, ordered a new trial for the ex-judge after concluding a miscarriage of justice likely occurred in the case. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

QUEBEC - A former Quebec judge found guilty in 2012 of fatally shooting his wife was ordered released from prison on Friday while he awaits a new murder trial.

Superior Court Justice Francois Huot accepted the request to release the 85-year-old Jacques Delisle following a 15-minute hearing at the Quebec City courthouse.

Huot's decision came after the federal Justice Department announced this week that Justice Minister David Lametti had ordered a new trial for the ex-judge after concluding a miscarriage of justice likely occurred in the case.

The department said the minister had reviewed evidence that was not before the courts at the time of Delisle's trial or appeal.

Delisle was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Marie Nicole Rainville, and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. His appeal was dismissed in 2013, and the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear his case.

Calling himself a "victim of a judicial error," Delisle requested in 2015 that the Justice Department review his case. In the application to the department, lawyer James Lockyer had argued that proper analysis of the gun used to kill Rainville would rule out the possibility that Delisle fired the weapon.

Lockyer and another lawyer for Delisle, Jacques Larochelle, argued in court Friday that the new evidence reviewed by Lametti "suggests Delisle is probably innocent and that the death of Rainville was a suicide."

The defence also argued Delisle's continued detention "wasn't in the public interest" and asked the judge to consider their client's advanced age.

The prosecution conceded that Lametti's decision to order a new trial returns Delisle to where he was in 2010, when he had been released under conditions awaiting his first trial.

"How could we have logically kept him in detention after nine years of imprisonment, when he is 10 years older, therefore less dangerous, less likely to flee and commit other offences? " Larochelle said to reporters Friday at the courthouse.

Audrey Roy-Cloutier, spokeswoman for the prosecutions office, said a conditional release isn't the same as an acquittal. The order issued by the justice minister "does not mean that the convicted person is exonerated," she said, adding that Delisle does benefit from the presumption of innocence.

The case returns to court Sept. 7.

Delisle, the first Canadian judge to be convicted of first-degree murder, promised to respect conditions of his release, including not leaving Canada or possessing weapons. He also agreed to put up $100,000 bail.

Masked and wearing a blue shirt, Delisle appeared in court via videoconference. He told the judge he would "definitely" respect his release conditions.

Delisle, a former judge of the Quebec Court of Appeal, has maintained that he found his wife dead when he walked into the condo they shared in Quebec City on Nov. 12, 2009. She lay on a sofa, a .22-calibre pistol at her side and a bullet wound in her head. He called 911, telling the operator that his wife had killed herself.

The Crown argued during Delisles month-long trial in 2012 that he killed his 71-year-old spouse because he wanted to avoid a costly divorce and wanted to move in with his former secretary, with whom he had been having an affair.

Rainville had been paralyzed on one side by a stroke in 2007 and was recovering from a fractured hip suffered a few months before she died.

Delisle's version of events stated that his wife was depressed and took her own life using the gun that was found by her body. The former judge never testified during his trial, but in 2015, he admittedin an interview with Radio-Canadathat he had helped his wife kill herself by leaving a loaded gun in the home.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2021.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

China has four "autonomous" Orthodox churches, no recognition of the Church as an organization. The patriarchate is allowed to assist thanks to a 1997 agreement with the Chinese authorities. Dmitry Petrovsky, and his report on "Russian-Chinese negotiations on Orthodox issues in China".

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The mission of the Russian Church diaspora also includes China and was discussed last March 25 at a conference at the Orthodox University "San Tikhon" in Moscow, the largest ecclesiastical institute in the country.

One of the speakers, Dmitry Petrovsky, a collaborator of the Patriarchal Department for External Relations, gave a report on the Russian-Chinese negotiations on Orthodox matters in China. On April 7, he commented on it with the correspondents of Blagovest-Info.

In public opinion it is difficult to believe in a "Chinese Orthodoxy", given the very restrictive regime of religious freedom in the People's Republic of China. Petrovsky explains instead that the prospects of the Church in Beijing are not so prohibitive. The Orthodox link the spread of Christianity in the Land of the Rising Sun to the preaching of the apostle Thomas, recalling ancient monuments such as the Nestorian stele of the eighth century in Chang'an (later Xi'an), the capital of China under the Tang dynasty.

Russia came into contact with China following the Tatar-Mongol invasion of the heirs of Genghis Khan in the 13th century, when the Russian prince Alexander Nevsky also went to Karakorum several times to introduce himself to the Khurultai, the assembly of the Khans, and visiting the territories of China, where the Yuan dynasty was affirmed.

In 1685, with the mission of the priest Maksim Leontev, the Russian mission officially opened in Beijing, where in 1696 the first church of St. Sophia was consecrated. The Orthodox presence was very important for the hundreds of thousands of Russians who emigrated to China after the 1917 revolution.

The prospect of an autonomous Chinese Orthodox Church arose after the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, when the Moscow Patriarch Alexei I entrusted the task to the Russian Archbishop of Beijing Viktor (Svyatin), even if there were very few Orthodox priests of Chinese ethnicity.

The first of these to obtain episcopal dignity was the bishop of Tianjin Simeon (Du) in 1951, and in 1954 the Chinese Orthodox Church was established, which obtained autonomy from the patriarchate of Moscow two years later.

Over 100 churches and outbuildings have been transferred to state ownership, except for the territory of the Church of the Holy Martyrs of the Soviet Embassy in Beijing, which was however destroyed. It contained the relics of the Chinese martyrs, as well as those of some members of the imperial family, killed by the Soviets in Alapaev (today in Kyrgyzstan) in 1918.

The Chinese Orthodox mission survived outside the borders of Communist China, with the formation of the Orthodox Church in Japan, which in turn gained autonomy from Moscow.

In China, however, there was an agreement with the Communist authorities, which led in 1957 to the ordination of the bishop of Beijing Vasilij (Yao). The Chinese Orthodox Church was almost silenced following the Cultural Revolution, but in the 1980s a slow rebirth began, with the sending of Russian priests to Harbin, where in 1984 Father Grigorij (Chu) obtained state registration to exercise the ministry. The first Moscow Orthodox hierarch to visit China again in 1993 was the then Metropolitan of Smolensk Kirill (Gundjaev), the current patriarch of Moscow.

Currently, as Petrovsky explains, the Chinese Orthodox Church lacks bishops and is assisted by a small number of priests. The patriarchate of Moscow continues to play a subsidiary function of assistance, thanks to a 1997 agreement with the Chinese authorities.

Moreover, the Russian Church now faces competition from the patriarchate of Constantinople, with which it has suspended ecclesial communion. In 1996 Constantinople founded the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and South East Asia, which also extends to the Chinese territory. The dispute between Moscow and Constantinople over China thus predates the conflict of recent years.

In 2013, Patriarch Kirill visited China again, 20 years after his first visit, and as Petrovsky points out, "to date he is the only world religious leader to have met the president of the People's Republic of China". Kirill then celebrated a liturgy at the Russian embassy in Beijing (photo 2), and also in the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in Harbin (photo 3) and in the cathedral of Shanghai, dedicated to the icon of the Mother of God "Refuge of Sinners, a building where celebrations are allowed only a few times a year.

The dialogue with the Chinese authorities has allowed some Chinese candidates to the priesthood to enter Russian seminaries, and two of them were recently ordained and work for their compatriots: Father Aleksandr Yui Shi in Harbin, and Father Pavel Sun Min in Inner Mongolia.

Other trips to China were then made by Metropolitan Ilarion (Alfeev), head of the Department for External Relations, who is also preparing a trip to Xinjiang, where two Russian churches still exist in Urumqi and Kuldzhe.

Throughout China today four "autonomous" Orthodox churches are officially open, but there is no recognition of the Church as an organization, on a national or local level. The patriarchate of Moscow is confident that they will be able to find an agreement in the not too distant future, also considering that several hundred thousand Russians live in China today.

The negotiations intend to unite the Orthodox of all ethnic groups under the autonomous Church, starting with the Russians and other Slavs. This year, despite the pandemic that has complicated all initiatives, the Russian Church has included assistance to China among the reasons for the celebrations for the 800th anniversary of the birth of Prince Alexander Nevsky.
Employees work at Hyundai Motor's manufacturing plant in Ulsan in this file photo. The company said Friday that it will temporarily suspend another domestic plant in Asan next week due to an electronic parts shortage. Yonhap



Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday it will temporarily suspend another domestic plant next week due to an electronic parts shortage.



Hyundai will halt the operation of the Asan plant, 100 kilometers south of Seoul, which produces the Grandeur and Sonata sedans, from Monday to Tuesday, a company spokesman said over the phone.



Previously, the country's biggest carmaker said it would suspend the No. 1 plant in Ulsan, 414 km southeast of Seoul, which produces the IONIQ 5 all-electric car and the Kona subcompact SUV, due to a lack of chip parts from April 7-14.



The suspension comes amid a lack of semiconductor parts used in the Kona's front vehicle camera system and a problem in Hyundai Mobis Co.'s production line, which rolls out the traction motor for the IONIQ 5.



With the production suspension, the company expects production losses of 6,000 units of the Kona and 6,500 units of the IONIQ 5.






The U.S. delegation led by Defense Attache Colonel Brittany Stewart paid a working visit to the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area.

According to the press center of the JFO headquarters, U.S. representatives visited the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which carry out tasks on the contact line with the enemy, talked with Ukrainian defenders and once again made sure of the presence of Russian mercenaries in Donbas.

"The U.S. government is deeply concerned over the situation that is developing near the borders of Ukraine and in every possible way supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," Colonel Stewart said during the briefing.

Also, the foreign delegation visited the memorials to the fallen soldiers.
MISSOULA  Devin Hunt said he technically cracked the first book to prepare for the Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT, in August. But the truth, Hunt said, is that spending four years at the University of Montana deeply embedded in microbiology and biology classes, working in research labs and studying under the tutelage of faculty mentors, meant he had really been preparing for years.

Hunt, a senior in UMs Davidson Honors College from Colville, Washington, was recently notified of a rare, impressive feat: scoring in the 100th percentile of the MCAT exam.

Anything between a score of 524 and 528 is considered in 100th percentile, and there is no perfect score, as the exam is calculated on a percentage basis and changes from year to year. The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that about 85,000 people sit for the MCAT every year.

The exam tests physical and biological sciences, verbal reasoning and writing skills, in addition to sociocultural, biological and physiological influences on behavior and social interactions, according to the Princeton Review.

I fully credit the broad and robust training in the biological sciences and general microbiology I received at UM, he said. That training, combined with faculty who pushed my boundaries of understanding, encouraged and supported me in advising and offered me opportunities at every turn, is really what UM does best.

Originally declaring a math major with the possibility of combining premed studies, Hunt quickly found himself enamored with the biological sciences at UM. He developed relationships and projects with faculty members representing the intersection of biomedical and microbiological sciences, ecology and evolutionary biology. That layered and broad access to health and hard sciences is what allowed him to make connections at the systems level when it comes to human, microbes and the environment.

Hunt immersed himself under the mentorship of Regents Professor of Evolutionary Biology Doug Emlen in UMs Division of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor Mark Pershouse in UMs Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Assistant Professor Patrick Secor in UMs Center for Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics.

Working with Devin is always a joy, Emlen said. His enthusiasm is infectious, and his curiosity reminds me daily of why I love my job.

Pershouse said Hunt is one of his best students, and he has yet to observe Hunt doing anything only halfway.

Hunt said each of his professors were constantly drawing parallels and bringing in real-world examples to get students to view biological problems in a larger perspective. Hunts penchant for deep questioning is what Secor said propelled his journey at UM.

Devin is innately curious and intrinsically motivated  skills that have served him well in the lab and classroom, and they will serve him well in his future endeavors, he said.

His interest in the ways microbes interact with the human body only intensified this year when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and his professors tailored coursework to make deeper connections between biology and infectious diseases.

We know that biological systems are not static and they are uniquely influenced by their environment, Hunt said. Environmental elements can make humans incredibly sick and cause immense pain and suffering, as weve seen this year. Im interested in what happens to microbes and humans when they come face-to-face. Are there opportunities to improve human lives? Is there an exception to a biological rule?

Hunt said a natural inquisitiveness is what drives him. When he needed an inevitable break from academic rigor, Hunt would swim laps at Grizzly Pool on campus before walking to the library to study with classmates. A former competitive swimmer of 15 years, he said the pool is where he was offered a quiet space to reflect.

I spent a lot of time in the pool, thats for sure, he said. I needed a quiet place to go and found that swimming gave me a chance to process a lot of things I was thinking about.

Spending several semesters as a research associate in Secors Bacteriophage Pathobiology Lab on campus, Hunt said his access as an undergraduate student and the critical thinking he developed greatly influenced his performance on the MCAT as he approached the exam material in the same way he did in class or in the lab, although I probably didnt realize it, he said.

Whats a better way to develop and practice critical thinking than to analyze data and investigate conclusions that either support or reject hypotheses? he said. The MCAT tries to measure this kind of thinking, which is what Ive spent most of the last four years doing.

Hunt will graduate in May, impressively finishing dual degrees in microbiology and biology in only four years.

Next year, hell serve as a Postbaccalaureate Intermural Research Training Fellow with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Afterwards, he plans to apply for a medical scientist training program that combines medical and doctoral degrees, where he can examine some of the big questions facing our world and advance standards of care from benchtop to bedside.

He said he hopes his experiences at UM, in labs, in the community and classrooms will position him to be a competitive applicant for these coveted programs.

Tests are imperfect measures of imperfect people, Hunt said. A lot of people take this test. But Im from a liberal arts college, and whats more liberal arts than drawing connections, engaging critically in a lot of disciplines and finding those places where they intersect?

###

Contact: Devin Hunt, UM senior, devin.hunt@umontana.edu ; Dave Kuntz, UM director of strategic communications, 406-243-5659, dave.kuntz@umontana.edu.
d3sign/Getty Images

A cleaning chemical has been linked to a rise in Parkinson's disease, the Guardian reports.

Trichloroethylene is used in household spot removers, carpet cleaners, and industrial degreasers.

It can linger in soil and water and is linked to multiple health risks, including cancer.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Researchers warn that the growing number of Parkinson's disease cases may be linked to a chemical found in some household cleaning products such as paint stripper, spot remover, and carpet cleaner.

The number of Americans with Parkinson's has gone up 35% in the past decade, and could double in the next 25 years, the Guardian reported. Evidence suggests that the chemical trichloroethylene could be at least partly to blame.

Trichloroethylene (abbreviated as TCE) is used as an industrial degreaser and solvent to remove stains and clean a variety of materials, including clothing, rugs, and metal equipment. It can also be found in some adhesives, like arts and craft sprays, furniture cleaners, and car cleaning products, which can be risky if people inhale the fumes or get it on their skin, according to the EPA.

Research has found that exposure to trichloroethylene is a risk factor for developing Parkinson's years or even decades later, based on data from people who worked in environments where the chemical is used.

Trichloroethylene is also a known carcinogen, linked to kidney cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and possibly liver cancer. It has been banned in Minnesota and most recently in New York, after Reveal reported the dangers of the chemical and its use at manufacturing plants and military bases in the state.

But trichloroethylene doesn't just affect those who are directly in contact with it, since it can linger in the environment for over a year. People may not even realize they've been exposed, since the chemical can contaminate soil and groundwater, including well water that people drink.

Story continues

"Numerous studies have linked well water to Parkinson's disease, and it's not just TCE in those cases, it can be pesticides like paraquat, too," Briana de Miranda, a professor of neurology who studies environmental toxins at University of Alabama at Birmingham, told the Guardian.

It can potentially cause heart defects in children, research suggests.

Using a water filter can help mitigate the levels of trichloroethylene, according to the Guardian, but there's still a risk from bathing in contaminated water or inhaling fumes remnants of the chemical.

Read the original article on Insider
Appointment

9 April 2021

PROVision Partners ("PROVision"), a leading global strategic growth, marketing, technology, and commercial services advisory firm to the travel and hospitality industry, announces the appointment of Ted Horner as a Senior Advisor. Horner is owner and managing director of the Sydney-based information and technology services firm, E Horner & Associates Pty Ltd.

Horner is recognized both in Australia and internationally as one of the premier consultants in the industry for the past 30 years. He was inducted in 2004 to the Hospitality Technology and Financial Professionals ("HFTP") International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame.

In his role, Horner will help lead and deliver PROVision's expert advisory services and results to its clients for technology assessments, global business development and strategic marketing initiatives, while establishing the firm's presence in the Asia Pacific market.
A man arrested after driving the wrong way on a Spanish motorway with the corpse of his dead boyfriend has said he was fulfilling an item on his partner's bucket list.

The Spanish motorist was arrested after he crashed following a 20-mile high-speed chase, and after officers found the body of his 88-year-old boyfriend's decomposing body under a blanket on the passenger seat.

It has emerged that the 66-year-old driver was fulfilling one of his partner's last wishes - to go on a European road trip - when their Citroen C-3 crashed near the Catalan village of Jafre.

A motorist arrested by Spanish police after driving with the corpse of his dead boyfriend said he was fulfilling an item on his deceased partner's bucket list. He crashed the couple's Citroen C-3 after speeding down the wrong side of a Spanish motorway leading to a high-speed chase. Pictured: A police road block near the scene of the crash

The dead man, a Swiss national named locally as Hans Rols Taubenberger, is thought to have died around three weeks before the shocking discovery.

The unnamed Spaniard reportedly told police his terminally-ill partner died in Switzerland and he was fulfilling his last wish which had been to make a road trip around Europe.

Detectives are now investigating where he used his bank cards to try to build up a full picture of how many borders he crossed during his bizarre trip, thought to have included part of Italy as well as the Madrid area of Spain.

It was not immediately clear whether the dead man had passed away before the start of the journey or during the trip.

Police say there is nothing at this stage pointing to Hans' death being suspicious, although the results of the post-mortem have not yet been released.

The arrest was made after the Citroen driver, who was born in Galicia, crashed after avoiding a French police border checkpoint by U-turning and driving the wrong way down the AP-7 motorway.

Spanish officers pursued the car for nearly 20 miles in the Alt Emporda region.

Local reports said the driver claimed he had tried to avoid French police at the border checkpoint because he was not carrying proof of a negative coronavirus test before an officer pulled back the blanket to discover the body in the passenger seat.

t has emerged that the 66-year-old driver was fulfilling one of his partner's last wishes - to go on a European road trip - when their Citroen C-3 crashed near the Catalan village of Jafre (pictured) following a high-speed chase

A spokesman for the regional Mossos d'Esquadra police confirmed: 'A man who drove around 20 miles the wrong way along the AP-7 motorway in Alt Emporda has been arrested.

'After stopping the vehicle a body was found inside, in the passenger seat next to the driver, which doesn't appear to present signs of any criminality.

'An investigation is ongoing.'

A police source added: 'The passenger appeared to have been dead for several days at least, if not weeks, although the exact date is something the post-mortem will need to determine.

'The smell coming from the vehicle was an obvious giveaway. It was a miracle no-one was killed when the arrested man drove for so many miles down the AP-7 motorway.

'It was a very reckless thing to do.'

Pictured: A Citroen C-3 (stock image), the same model that was crashed by the Spanish driver as he was speeding the wrong way down a Spanish motorway with his partner's decomposing corpse in the passenger seat under a blanket

The arrested driver is being held at a police station in La Bisbal d'Emporda ahead of a court appearance in the Catalan town on Saturday.

A judge is thought to have delayed the behind-closed-doors hearing, originally scheduled for Friday, so psychiatric reports can be prepared.

The suspect is expected to be charged with reckless driving. Although further charges have not been ruled out, travelling with a corpse in a car is not classified as a crime under Spanish law if death is the result of natural causes.

Catalan police are said to have prioritised attempts to discover the route the Italian-plated Citroen took before the bizarre road trip came to an early end ahead of their expected return to Switzerland.

As well as Madrid it is understood to have been sighted in the area of Vilafranca del Penedes which is the epicentre of Cava production.
WE WENT to Newport for three days last week, two Minnesotans long married, to rediscover the fact that ocean air is delicious and invigorating and can even make you happy. That surely is why the Vanderbilts built their monstrous mansion on the shore: sinking into decadence in a fake palace w
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 21:48:18|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China is opposed to the United States including seven Chinese supercomputing entities in its "entity list" for export controls, a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said Friday.

Employing excuses such as "national security" or "military modernization efforts," the United States has repeatedly abused export-control measures and its state power to oppress companies and institutions in other countries, the spokesperson said.

Such moves have caused severe damage to the international economic and trade order, and have posed a grave threat to the security of global industrial and supply chains, said the spokesperson, adding that they bring no benefit to China, the United States or the world at large.

"China urges the United States to stop its wrongdoing immediately, and it will take any measures necessary to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies," the spokesperson said. Enditem
Intermountain Healthcare is working on a transformative model for the future of healthcare called population health that focuses on keeping people in communities healthy and pre-emptively addressing cause of illnesses, rather than just treating people when they are sick.

As an important additional step, Intermountain is partnering with the University of Utah to jointly develop a new medical educational program--the first of its kind in the United States--to be used to train the next generation of physicians in population health, which focuses on keeping people and communities healthy and addresses factors that can lead to illness and injury in an effort to prevent those from occurring.

Intermountain is investing $50 million over multiple years in the initiative which will help train and prepare physicians to not only consider a person's immediate medical needs, but also the social determinants of health that play a key role in their life circumstances that could impact health, including financial, social, and behavioral issues.

"I'm proud that these two organizations are leading the nation in developing a cadre of physicians specifically prepared to deliver this innovative approach to communities," says Marc Harrison, MD, president and CEO of Intermountain Healthcare. "Working with patients holistically will improve the health of all, most notably the vulnerable and underserved, who are too often left behind."

Specifically, the investment from Intermountain will:

Establish the University of Utah Intermountain Healthcare Population Health Student Scholars Program at University of Utah School of Medicine.

Provide tuition support for medical students accepted into the Program. There will be 10 students in the entering class of 2021 and 2022 and 25 students in each entering class thereafter.

Provide an opportunity for the University to seek legislative and accreditation approvals to increase the number of medical students in each class.

Support development of a population health medical education curriculum that will serve as a model for the nation.

Create three endowed professorships, the Intermountain Population Health Sciences Professors, and four Intermountain Population Health Endowed Chairs in the University of Utah School of Medicine. These faculty will teach the student scholars and lead research and clinical education opportunities.

The newly renamed University of Utah Intermountain Healthcare Department of Population Health Sciences will serve as the academic home for the initiative. Intermountain chose to partner with the U of U School of Medicine based on its national reputation in the field of population health and strength in developing and applying robust research methods to optimize population health outcomes.

"The University is grateful for this generous partnership investment from Intermountain," says Michael L. Good, MD, CEO of University of Utah Health, executive dean of U of U School of Medicine, and senior vice president for Health Sciences. "It is a tremendous recognition of the importance that integrative medical care based on population science will have in the years ahead. This approach to patient care has the potential to advance the doctor-patient relationship in many positive ways. It could lead to a metamorphosis of medical care that better addresses the emerging social and health needs of patients in the 21st century."

Through this innovative model, Utah will train a new generation of population health-minded physicians. In turn, Utahns will benefit from their expertise. After physician scholars graduate and subsequently complete their residency training--which is often carried out elsewhere in the country--they are committed to returning as a practitioner at Intermountain Healthcare or a partner organization in one of six population health specialties.

Population health-based care centers are premised on an understanding that social determinants of health - conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play - can have a substantial impact on an individual's physical and mental well-being. Poverty and food insecurity, for example, can lead to chronic stress that erodes health for a lifetime. Under the umbrella of population-oriented care, physicians proactively look out for their patients in order to maintain good health.

And, with looming physician shortages--the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates Utah will experience a shortage of 600 primary care physicians by 2025--a holistic approach to healthcare can't come soon enough.

"This is the future of healthcare," explained Dr. Harrison. "How we train physicians from the very beginning of their studies will help develop the medical providers of the future who are focused on wellness rather than illness."

This could mean integrating social workers into healthcare teams to assist with financial needs or connecting patients with exercise groups. It could also mean equipping patients who have diabetes with digital devices so that providers are alerted when their blood glucose swings too high or too low. Or those providers could reach out to patients in times of need, even if they don't have a scheduled visit.

"This program will change the way doctors think about providing medical care," says Angie Fagerlin, PhD, chair of the Department of Population Health at the University of Utah. "They will better understand how to identify barriers to good health and how to get around them. This will change medicine in a fundamental way."

###
A federal magistrate signed off Thursday on a $750,000 settlement in a malicious prosecution lawsuit brought by a former Coughlin High School teacher who was publicly accused of acting as a lookout in a student sex scandal and sexually abusing a teenage girl.

Attorneys Barry H. Dyller and Theron J. Solomon, of the Wilkes-Barre law firm Dyller & Solomon, alleged Luzerne County detectives Charles Balogh and Debbie Parker pressured a teenage girl to say former teacher Brian Hampel molested her, despite the girls insistence that it never happened.

Luzerne County Council agreed to the $750,000 settlement during a meeting last month and Magistrate Judge William I. Arbuckle ordered the case closed Thursday.

Hampels name came up during the student sex trial of former school administrator Stephen Stahl, a fellow teacher who was convicted of having a sexual relationship with a minor at the school in 2004.

Prosecutors at Stahls trial claimed Hampel served as a lookout while Stahl had sex with a 16-year-old girl in a classroom during school hours  a claim Hampel denied.

Hampel was never charged in that case, but in October 2016 prosecutors charged him with corruption of minors for allegedly having his own sexual relationship with a teenage student.

In May 2017, a county judge dismissed the case after the defense revealed the girl had never reported inappropriate contact.

The lawsuit alleged the Luzerne County district attorneys office used the states power to exact an enormous toll on Mr. Hampel and his family. The complaint alleged violation of Hampels constitutional rights, false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
But the amount of capital invested in these companies currently dwarfs the revenues coming in. The 20 biggest ASX-listed companies with an exposure to cannabis have a combined market capitalisation of more than $2 billion. According to Ibisworld, the sectors producers are expected to generate $32 million in revenues this year. Little Green Pharma is also somewhat of a novelty in the colourful, multibillion-dollar world of Aussie cannabis - a company not only breaking even, but eking out a profit in the first half of 2021. Solomon acknowledges theres still a big hill to climb before the sector pays for itself, but argues the investors now exposed to these companies are here for long-term growth. Now that the initial hype is gone, were getting to the next stage investors who actually want to see a return, she says.

The path forward A large cohort of Australias medicinal cannabis companies were founded with the express purpose of creating treatments for patients who have run out of other approved options. The sector encompasses a range of businesses involved in the manufacture, distribution and export of cannabis flowers and oils as well as R&D-focused biotechs hoping drugs including elements of the plant will prove effective at fighting everything from chronic pain to mental health conditions. Founders and investors in the space are often driven by finding solutions for patients who havent found any other options to treat pain, seizure or other health issues. Cann Group chief executive Peter Crock

The office of drug control oversees production licences while the TGA regulates access to products via the special access scheme. Patients are able to access products via a doctors prescription in cases where there are no other available treatments. And the past 12 months have been kind to the sector. At the end of last year, the TGA made a landmark decision to reclassify products that contain low-dose cannabidiol, or CBD, so that they can be sold over the counter in Australian pharmacies without a prescription. It was significant validation for the sector, and big consumer names were on board. In February, unlisted firm Cannatrek announced it was partnering with Chemist Warehouse to supply pharmacy products to consumers. Chemist Warehouse chairman and co-founder Jack Gance said the pharmacy chain was delighted to be able to be leaders in this area to bring cannabis products to consumers without need for a prescription. Cannatrek boss Tommy Huppert admits that while the opportunity for these products is huge, it may be at least a year before these products are registered with the TGA to come to market.

No products were ready to be registered when the regulator agreed to the rule change last year, and companies are now working to bring products, and their evidence of effectiveness, to the regulator. It is quite a formidable pathway being presented, he said. The evidence hurdles The other challenge for the sector is the question of evidence that cannabis actually works to solve pain and other ailments. Earlier this month, the Faculty of Pain Medicine at the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists warned doctors to think hard before prescribing cannabis to patients for non-cancer treatment and outside of clinical trials, claiming there is not enough evidence that it helps with chronic pain.

In its own advice to patients, the TGA advises Australians there have been very few well-designed clinical trials using medicinal cannabis, so there is limited evidence on its success in treating different medical conditions, or on effective forms and dosages. Outside of treatment for epilepsy, cancer and palliative care, more work needs to be done, the regulator said. Some of the earliest movers in the medicinal cannabis space say they want additional clinical evidence more than anyone. Thats exactly what we are pushing for, managing director of Cann Group, Peter Crock, says. Cann was the first Australian company to be licensed to cultivate medicinal cannabis under the office of drug control rules. Crock says its critical that the sector focuses on the long game, which includes building evidence to get medicinal cannabis products recognised as registered medicines and give doctors the confidence to prescribe.

Its understood this isnt going to be an overnight thing. Its more important to do it correctly, and not foot-fault on the way through, than to rush through and blow yourself up. Cann is forecasting revenues of between $8 million and $10 million this financial year, after it exports cannabis product to German and UK partners later this year. A core part of its expansion strategy is a cultivation and processing facility in Mildura, for which the company secured $50 million in debt financing from National Australia Bank last year to help build. Delivering on revenue is the number one thing they are looking for us to do. Peter Crock, Cann Group While the company is hoping to grow revenues substantially in coming years, its also running at a half-year after tax loss of $9.4 million - $1 million more than the same time last year. Crock says his investors seem happy with the way the company is investing in Australia, but the business wont forecast its path to profitability or when that facility might pay for itself.

I think the support we are getting [from investors] is showing confidence that we are [proceeding] in the right manner. Delivering on revenue is the number one thing they are looking for us to do. The long-term payoff Pot stocks have long been a passion project for retail investors, who have seen both a long-term opportunity and the chance to buy in and out of small cap stocks as they chase short-term wins. Investor Nathaniel Lee has positions in five ASX-listed cannabis companies, including Cann and Little Green Pharma. He says hes bought in and out of the sector over the past five years and is under no illusions that companies will make big profits in the next few years. Despite this, he sees long-term opportunity in the sector.

What is good about it at the moment is lots of companies have been through that new idea phase, now they are consolidating, he says. Given that the Australian market is only a few years into researching cannabis-based products, theres huge opportunity in the commercialisation phase for the sector which hasnt even really begun. I just see it as a huge market from then on, he says. Entrepreneurs in the sector who have successfully built healthcare businesses in the past say local companies face barriers because they are not yet registered medicines. The biggest barrier is drug filing, a pathway that unlocks enormous potential but can only be

achieved through clinical validation, says Medlab founder Sean Hall.

Loading [Its] a pathway pot stocks are generally not taking. Drug filing involves creating a validated evidence package including longitudinal data-approved manufacturing protocols. Hall, who sold his BioCeuticals brand to Blackmores in 2012, now runs Medlab, which is focused on research and development of registered medicines in hopes of taking these global. Solomon agrees it will be a couple of years before patients will be able to go into a chemist and see CBD oil on the shelves, but this doesnt mean the sector isnt succeeding. The costs associated with this industry are really high, the regulatory compliance costs are huge. And you really need to have sales at scale, she says. I dont see that as an unfair thing, its just the industry were in. Its not different from [any] other drug that comes to market.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  The government's decision to temporarily stop the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines on people under 60 years old does not affect tripartite deals for 17 million doses which were partially been paid for, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said Friday.

"Everybody's going forward because 70% of the value of these vaccines have been paid, 30% is due upon delivery and we need these vaccines badly," Concepcion told CNN Philippines' News Night.

On Thursday, the Department of Health adopted the Food and Drug Administration's recommendation to halt vaccination using AstraZeneca doses on those below 60 due to reports of blood clot incidents in other countries. However, the European Medicines Agency had said that the likelihood of severe blood clotting is 1 in 100,000 and 1 in 250,000 for blood clotting paired with low platelet count. The rate is considering 20 million have been vaccinated in the United Kingdom from where the vaccine originated.

Concepcion called the new restriction an "overreaction", adding that national officials were caught "flatfooted" by the DOH announcement. He reiterated experts' claims that the risks of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the benefits.

"In my opinion, the only way out of this is vaccines," said Concepcion. "You have to take certain risks."

The DOH on Friday reported 401 new COVID-19 related deaths, the highest recorded in a day in the country, along with over 12,000 new infections with 178,000 currently battling the disease.

In January, the country secured 17 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines through tripartite deals with the private sector, local government units and the manufacturers. The secured shots from those deals have not yet arrived but last month more than half a million AstraZeneca doses were delivered to the country under the COVAX initiative led by the World Health Organization. Healthcare workers and senior citizens have since been administered the shots. More deliveries from COVAX are expected until May.
Trump Endorses Rand Paul for Re-Election, Calls Him a True Champion

Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Sen. Rand Paul for re-election, expressing his belief that the Kentucky senator will continue to carry out Trumps America First vision.

Rand Paul has done a fantastic job for our Country, and for the incredible people of Kentucky. He fights against the Swamp in Washington, the Radical Left Liberals, and especially the destructive RINOS, of which there are far too many, in Congress, Trump said in a statement sent by released by his political action committee, Save America 45.

The former president underscored several issues Paul has taken a stand for that Trump believes benefit the country, including advocating for fiscal responsibility, defending the Second Amendment, and supporting the military and veterans.

I am proud to be working with Rand in our battle to Make America Great Again. He has my Complete and Total Endorsement for another term in the U.S. Senate. The Commonwealth of Kentucky has a true champion in Rand Paul, Trump added.

Pauls office did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times request for comment on the statement. He has yet to formally announce a run for Senate in 2022 but has previously indicated that he will run again.

The pair repeatedly clashed when they were both vying for the GOPs presidential nomination in 2016. But during Trumps presidency, the Kentucky senator was seen as one of the strongest voices supporting Trumps policies.

In January, Paul led an effort to counter the Democrats failed attempt to impeach the former president for a second time. All but five senators voted in support of Pauls motion to declare that it would be unconstitutional to hold an impeachment trial for a former president. The Senate ultimately acquitted Trump of a charge of incitement of insurrection.

Paul said during the 2020 Republican National Convention that he and Trump dont always agree but their occasional policy differences are far outweighed by our significant agreements. He extolled Trumps accomplishments during his presidency and said he was proud of Trumps job.

President Donald Trump gets things done, Paul said at the time. I brought President Trump an idea for better, cheaper health insurance called Association Health Plans. Donald Trump overturned years of red tape and bureaucrats and made it happen. While others talked about criminal justice reform, President Trump signed the First Step Act, the first real reform in a generation, and one that sought to undo the harm that others, like Joe Biden, have done.

Im supporting President Trump because he believes as I do that a strong America cannot fight endless wars, he also said.

Paul was first elected in the senate in 2010. In 2016, he won re-election for his seat by nearly 15 point.
Granard is positioning itself to take advantage of the potential of working remotely as identified in Irelands first Remote Working Strategy.

The strategy was unveiled by Tanaiste Leo Varadkar in January and working remotely also figured prominently in last weeks much trumpeted Our Rural Future blueprint.

Mr Varadkar said the Government needs to make sure we take advantage of the opportunity to promote remote working while also managing its risks, including investment in remote work hubs and ensuring they are in locations that suit commuters and are close to childcare facilities.

He added, The Covid-19 pandemic has restored our appreciation of rural Ireland, and the capacity of our regions to transform the way we live and work.

Many towns and villages will be seeking opportunities to help their local population adapt this new way of working and Granard is no different.

Fortunately, a local businessman has already taken up the mantle. Paul Belton, who is currently managing an Agricultural Consultants business in the town, recently purchased the former Ulster Bank building on Market Street for that exact purpose.

Mr Belton outlined, Our plans are to renovate the building with the help of the Longford Heritage Council and local Government agencies to once again establish it as a centre of business and commerce within the town and indeed, the county.

He added, Its an ideal property, in an ideal location for remote working hubs and hot desks, which we know is the future of working.

Ulster Bank closed its doors in Granard in November 2014 and since then the building has been unoccupied.

Local Independent councillor Turlough PottMcGovern said people are now delighted to see more life around the building.

They are looking forward to seeing the building back to its former glory. This will be a fantastic facility for the town of Granard.

Mr Belton plans to have the blue door opened once again by the end of this summer and has already had many enquiries from both business and private individuals who are keen to avail of the facilities.

For more details, you can email Paul at granarddigitalhub@hotmail.com.
(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) Senator Roy Blunt visited medical students at Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph Thursday.

The Missouri Republican helped secure grant funding that got the UMKC Medical School program off the ground.

The school's expansion to St. Joseph is aimed at training future doctors in a community that needs them.

For the last year, dozens of medical students have attended class in the Mosaic Life Care building.

They were joined by UMKC and Mosaic staff, local and state government officials to greet senator Blunt and to thank him for supporting the students' and community's future.

This is a good program. It's really particularly great for me to see it take such a strong foothold in our state. We had a $50 million national amount of money last year and UMKC got $7 [million] of it, Senator Blunt said.
The situation in eastern Ukraine "continues to be difficult," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

Officials in Ukraine and the West have raised concerns about increasingly frequent cease-fire violations in the country's industrial heartland, known as Donbas.

They also expressed worries about Russian troops' buildup along the border with Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of flexing its military muscles and held a series of calls with Western leaders to rally support for Ukraine amid the tensions.

Russia has rejected the claims, arguing that it can deploy its troops wherever it deems necessary on its territory and emphasizing that they don't threaten anyone.

It has accused Ukrainian authorities of trying to stoke up tensions in the east for domestic policy purposes.

"Ukrainian media escalate hysteria about the Russian mythical threat, about plans of Moscow to attack Ukraine practically tomorrow. All this is happening at the behest of Western curators of Kyiv, with the open support (of Western curators)," Zakharova said.

On Thursday, a senior Kremlin official sternly warned Ukraine against using force to reclaim control of the rebel east, saying that this might force Russia to step in to protect civilians there.

Speaking at a panel discussion with political experts in Moscow, Dmitry Kozak, a Putin aide who serves as Russia's top negotiator with Kyiv, warned Ukraine against using military force to retake control of the eastern regions, where many residents have received Russian citizenship.

The start of hostilities will the beginning of an end for Ukraine, Kozak said. It would mean shooting itself not just in the foot, but in the head.

If they try to do it like in Srebrenica, as our president said, we will likely have to come to their defense, he said in a reference to the July 1995 massacre of civilians by Bosnian Serb forces during the Bosnian war.

The conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine erupted shortly after Moscows 2014 annexation of Ukraines Crimea peninsula. More than 14,000 people have died in the fighting.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Hugh Hefner's widow Crystal broke her silence over Holly Madison's recent interview detailing sexual expectations at the Playboy Mansion on Wednesday's episode of Call Her Daddy.

After the 41-year-old former Girls Next Door star upset Kendra Wilkinson by claiming that all women had to sleep with Hugh before moving into the mansion (which she previously denied), Crystal expressed frustration over the women's reignited feud.

'I was at the mansion for a DECADE almost four years ago now and these ladies and their drama were there years before that. I side with Kendra here,' Crystal, 34, wrote.

Speaking up: Hugh Hefner's widow Crystal broke her silence over Holly Madison's recent interview detailing sexual expectations at the Playboy Mansion; Hugh and Crystal Hefner seen in 2010

The Playboy model continued: 'Not sure why these women who shared an incredibly uncommon and rare experience (that will never be repeated in our lifetimes) can't get along?'

She also went on to reveal on the social media platform MeWe that Madison and Bridget Marquardt, 47, 'despise' her 'for absolutely NO reason.'

'I hope one day we can all get along and compare experiences,' she admitted, nearly four years after Hugh passed away on September 27, 2017, at the age of 91.

'I was at the mansion for a DECADE almost four years ago now and these ladies and their drama were there years before that. I side with Kendra here,' Crystal, 34, wrote

Drama: She also went on to reveal on the social media platform MeWe , Madison and Bridget Marquardt, 47, 'despise' her 'for absolutely NO reason' (Bridget Marquardt (L), Hefner, Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson pictured in 2006)

On Wednesday, Madison seemingly called into question Wilkinson's previous claims that she had not been intimate with Hugh prior to when she moved into the famed mansion at the age of 18.

'I had to sleep with him first,' Madison said. 'I'm not trying to slut shame anybody or anything, but nobody ever got asked to move in unless they had slept with him.'

Wilkinson, 35, responded to the claims in a reply to an E! News Instagram post about the podcast, saying 'Dude... it's 2021.'

'I hope one day we can all get along and compare experiences,' Crystal said, nearly four years after Hugh passed away on September 27, 2017, at the age of 91

The San Diego native, who shares children, Hank IV, 11, and Alijah, seven, with ex-NFL Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Hank Baskett, 38, made clear she did not harbor any ill will amid the controversy.

'Times have changed, I forgive and have kids to love and focus on,' the mom-of-two said.

The reality star also responded to another commenter questioning why she had a negative reaction to the post from Madison.

Sparking headlines: On Wednesday, Madison seemingly called into question Wilkinson's previous claims that she hadn't been intimate with Hugh prior to when she moved into the famed mansion at the age of 18; seen in 2007

'How am I hating,' Wilkinson said. 'She's one out there. I'm all love now baby.'

Wilkinson also replied to a commenter who said Madison 'shouldn't be shamed' for her recollections of the past, which might not square with contemporary values.

The commenter said to Wilkinson, 'There's nothing wrong with comparing what was glamorized 20 years ago to how things are now How about we not silence women, even if what they're discussing happened years ago.'

'I had to sleep with him first,' Madison said of the mogul. 'I'm not trying to slut shame anybody or anything, but nobody ever got asked to move in unless they had slept with him' (pictured in 2006)

In response, Wilkinson said that 'if you believe this will help women then I will try to understand.'

She added: 'I wish I had more time with Holly to understand this side ... I wish her the best in life and [hope] this helps heal her.'

While on I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! in 2014, Wilkinson said she was naive to the dynamics of the Playboy Mansion when she had moved in.

'I moved in and weeks went by, and I didn't know "sex" was involved ... because I knew nothing about Playboy - I had just graduated high school,' she said on the show, ET reported.

Wilkinson, 35, responded to the claims in a reply to an E! News Instagram post about the podcast, saying 'Dude... it's 2021'
Tel Aviv, April 9 : The Israeli government Israel said that it will formally reject the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into possible war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israel will formally respond to a notification from the ICC with a letter to clarify that it will not cooperate with the investigation, Xinhua news agency quoted a statement issued on Thursday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

The letter will "make it clear that the ICC lacks the jurisdiction to investigate" and Israel is able to investigate itself, it said.

Israel also "completely rejects" charges of possible war crimes committed by the Jewish state against the Palestinians, it added.

In February, a panel of judges at the ICC decided that the tribunal does have jurisdiction to investigate possible war crimes by Israel in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel annexed East Jerusalem shortly after the war, claiming it as part of its "indivisible capital" in an act never recognised by most of the international community.
What just happened? Not for the first time, the US government has added Chinese supercomputing entities to the same export blacklist Huawei has been on since 2019. The seven new names include Sunway Microelectronics, whose processors are found in the fourth most powerful supercomputer in the worldSunway Microelectronics.

The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has added the new names to the Entity list "for conducting activities that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States." Their addition means they now need licenses from the Commerce Department to do business with US companies.

"Supercomputing capabilities are vital for the development of many -- perhaps almost all -- modern weapons and national security systems, such as nuclear weapons and hypersonic weapons," Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

The new additions include four supercomputer sites: The National Supercomputing Center Jinan, the National Supercomputing Center Shenzhen, the National Supercomputing Center Wuxi, and the National Supercomputing Center Zhengzhou.

Additionally, CPU developers Tianjin Phytium Information Technology and Sunway Microelectronics (Shenwei Microelectronics) were placed on the Entity List. Without access to American-made technologies, the Chinese companies will find it difficult, if not impossible, to continue making their processors, though The Washington Post writes that Phytium's microprocessors are produced by TSMC.

This isn't the first time Chines entities involved in the supercomputer industry were added to the Entity list; the Trump administration blacklisted five names in June 2019.

Japan's Supercomputer Fugaku remains the world's most powerful machine, followed by Summit (US), Sierra (US), Sunway TaihuLight (China), and Selena (US). China has almost double the number of Supercomputers on the list than its rival, 214 vs. 113.
A woman at the center of an alleged multi-million dollar drug and gun ring has been arrested wearing an elaborate fur coat.

The 41-year-old woman and her husband, 77, were hauled away during a raid on their home in Cherrybrook, in Sydney's north west, on Thursday morning after police began investigating the alleged criminal syndicate last year.

Officers allegedly discovered the couple's clandestine lab inside an Airbnb property in Camperdown in April last year and seized 1.9kg of meth with an estimated street value of $1.9million.

They were taken to Ryde Police Station where the woman was pictured arriving in a fur coat before being locked behind bars.

Husband, 77, and his 41-year-old wife are behind bars for allegedly orchestrating a multi-million dollar drug and gun ring across New South Wales.

NSW Police seized 14 hand guns with a street value of $200,000 during their raid at the couple's Cherrybrook home

'The 77-year-old man was the director of this particular criminal group, giving instructions and directions to others,' Detective Superintendent John Watson said.

NSW Police have also seized fourteen hand guns with a street value of $200,000 that the man allegedly sold at parks and shopping centres across Sydney.

'The firearms range from antique pieces to military-grade weapons,' Watson said.

'They had a complete disregard to public safety and innocent bystanders were obviously at all of those locations.'

Officers discovered the couple's clandestine lab inside an Airbnb property in Camperdown in April last year (pictured)

Fourteen hand guns were seized during a police raid at the couple's Cherrybrook home on Thursday

The man allegedly sold hand guns and pistols at parks and shopping centres across Sydney (pictured: one of the guns NSW police seized during a raid)

Police allege one of the locations used to sell the guns was a luxury day spa in Double Bay, in Sydneys eastern suburbs, and detectives seized several items.

The business is alleged to be used as a meeting point for the syndicate to exchange money and store guns inside.

The man was charged with 18 firearm and drug-related crimes including unlawfully selling firearms, manufacturing drugs, and knowingly directing a criminal group.

His wife was charged with 45 firearm-related crimes including unlawfully selling firearms and participating in a criminal group.

Another 45-year-old man was also arrested on Thursday and was charged with 45 firearm-related crimes.

The trio will face court on Friday.
Her scathing final report, following three weeks of harrowing evidence in September last year, made 24 wide-ranging recommendations. Central to the changes she has called for are improvements to the states firearms registry where licences were once granted among widespread confusion and incompetence. Gun reform advocates say the recommendations are a chance to plug holes in the states gun laws and should be fully implemented. But some think they need to go further. Failed by multiple agencies

Just a year before Edwards was granted multiple gun licences in 2017, Olga had gone to the police and laid out a series of violent allegations against her husband. She told an officer how Edwards had in 2015 punched and kicked Jack, then 13, for playing with his iPod without permission. Olga told the officer Edwards in 2015 had slapped Jennifer, then 10, across the face for not sleeping. Flowers and candles outside the house where Jack and Jennifer Edwards were murdered by their father, John Edwards in 2018. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer The officer noted in the internal system at the time she believed it may have been an attempt by Olga to influence family court and divorce proceedings, and the allegations were not recorded as alleged assaults.

In February 2017, Olga again attended the police station to report Edwards stalking her after he attended her regular yoga class. They had at the time been separated for almost a year. Police called Edwards and asked him why he was at the class - he claimed Olga was actually stalking him. No further investigations were carried out. In her recommendations, OSullivan said general duties police officers should be given mandatory training in responding to domestic violence allegations.

She said there should be regular audits of officers compliance with the standard operating procedures to respond to domestic violence complaints. Widespread confusion and incompetence OSullivan said it was clear Edwards should never have been granted a firearms licence under the act. She was scathing about the training offered to staff at the NSW Firearms Registry, labelling it grossly inadequate at the time Edwards was granted his licences. Officers who gave evidence to the inquest conceded it should have been an easy decision to come to the conclusion Edwards was not a fit and proper person to hold a licence.

Yet he was able to buy multiple deadly weapons and receive multiple gun licences. Five months after her children were shot dead by their father, Olga Edwards took her own life. Credit:LinkedIn There were 18 events on Edwards record on a central police database accessible to registry staff who helped decide the outcome. Fifteen of those incidents related to domestic violence, stalking, or apprehended violence orders. However the employee did not review the incidents because she did not think it was part of her role, according to OSullivans final report. She also failed to investigate why Edwards was refused a licence in 2010 and was therefore unaware he likely provided misleading information at the time.

As a result, Edwards was given the all-clear to apply for a commissioners permit, and was later granted a pistol and rifle licence. OSullivan said up until late 2018, firearm licences were granted by the registry in circumstances of widespread confusion and incompetence. The evidence also illustrated that the majority of the witnesses who were involved in the adjudication of John Edwards licences (at least) did not have a basic understanding of the nature of the adjudication task actually involved and the statutory tests underpinning that task, she said in her findings. In order to complete the required training to own and use a gun, Edwards needed to be accepted in a shooting club. Hornsby RSL Rifle Club and Ku-Ring-Gai Pistol Club both refused Edwards membership, concerned about his demanding behaviour.

This wasnt passed on to St Marys Pistol Club, where he was granted membership and stored his guns. The coroner made no adverse findings against the club for this decision. In her recommendations, OSullivan said gun clubs should be required to inform the gun registry if they have refused a person membership and the reasons for the refusal. Anyone engaged in family law proceedings should also be required to disclose that information to authorities when applying for a firearm under her recommendations. OSullivan recommended the registry investigate if gun clubs should be given the power to refuse to allow someone to remove stored firearms if the club thinks the person could pose a risk.

Gun control advocate Michelle Fernando, whose father was killed with a firearm from a pistol club, was disappointed some of the coroners recommendations fell short of what counsel assisting the inquiry had called for. NSW laws were changed in 2008 to allow people aged 12 or older to enter a gun club and shoot without a licence. They no longer needed to wait 28 days for a background check. Counsel assisting the inquest had proposed unlicensed shooting in pistol clubs be revoked - something Fernando had lobbied for since the death of her father - after Edwards was allowed to shoot unlicensed in late 2016 at a rifle club. Unfortunately, the Coroner did not make this recommendation, Fernando says.

Instead, OSullivan proposed an alternative scheme that would give the firearms registry oversight over the verification of casual shooters information. The problem is that any form of unlicensed shooting promotes casual, easy access to firearms and training in their use, she said. There ought to be a rigorous process of vetting before members of the community are given access to firearms. Gun Control Australia spokesman Tim Quinn says the coroners recommendations, if fully implemented, could close loopholes in the states gun control laws. The deaths followed a chain of events and unfortunately a lack of training in their registry has meant a falling down of a system that does have a lot of things covered off but there are holes, he says.
Community groups in Laois have been urged not to delay in preparing and submitting applications for projects to the Laois Partnership with confirmation of 2.1 million in funding by Laois Offaly TD Sean Fleming.

The Minister for State, Department of Finance confirmed that 2,104,992 has been allocated for Laois by the Government. Laois Partnership oversees the award of such funds in Laois.

"This new funding is available for projects in Laois for this year and 2022. This new extension to the existing Leader Programme is in place until a new long term Leader Programme is approved for future years.

"This new programme is now open for applications and I encourage local communities and enterprises to make contact with Laois Partnership to discuss their plans. This funding will support projects for Local Communities including developing outdoor amenities and creating jobs in rural areas and embracing opportunities for the green economy," said the Fianna Fail TD.

Finally, Minister Fleming urged all local groups to apply for funding immediately.

Minister Fleming issued the statement after the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, announced the details of the allocation of the 70 million Transitional LEADER programme for the period 2021-2022.

Of this 65 million is being allocated to support locally-led rural development projects across the 29 Local Action Groups. The Laois funding is coming out of this tranche.

LEADER is a rural development programme co-funded by the EU which operates a locally-led, bottom-up, approach to meeting the needs of local communities and businesses. The programme supports private enterprises and community groups in rural areas. LEADER forms part of Irelands multi-annual Rural Development Programme which is co-financed by the EU and is part of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).

The LEADER programme is delivered by 29 Local Action Groups (LAGs) in 28 sub-regional areas. These groups are partnerships of public and private entities from a defined geographical area. LAGs are responsible for identifying and helping to develop local projects which support the themes of Economic Development (including enterprise development and job creation), Social Inclusion and Rural Environment.

Of the 70 million, 65 million is being allocated across the 29 LAGs, 3 million is being allocated to support Co-operation projects and innovation between LAGs and 2 million is being provided to support the development of the next LEADER Programme.

The distribution of the 65 million being made available to the Local Action Groups over 2021 & 2022 under the Transitional Programme is based, pro-rata, on the allocations received by each LAG at the outset of the 2014-2020 programme.
Press Release

9 April 2021

Taking a long, hot bath can be a truly rejuvenating and relaxing ritual. But pair that soothing soak with panoramic vistas across the South African savannah or a stunning sunset over the Indian Ocean and you have some truly epic self care in store. With Stress Awareness Month upon us, we have delved into our more than 28 million listings in over 153,000 destinations around the world to present five ultra-luxurious bathtubs with one-of-a-kind epic views to take your bubble bath relaxation and travel daydreaming to the next level for when it becomes safe to travel again...

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Lion Sands River Lodge, South Africa

Lion Sands River Lodge  Photo: Booking.com

Lion Sands River Lodge  Photo: Booking.com

For nature-lovers who like to mix adrenaline with relaxation on holiday, the bathtub at the Lion Sands River Lodge on the Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa is for them. This long and generously deep tub faces the banks of the Sabie River, where guests can safely spot a wealth of wild animals drinking throughout the day. The tub can also serve as a welcome wind-down after an exhilarating guided walk or safari through the reserve. No matter how travelers choose to unwind afterwards, a glass of local South African wine is a must for that added touch of indulgence.

Hotel Aire de Bardenas  Photo: Booking.com

Hotel Aire de Bardenas  Photo: Booking.com

The sleek tub at Hotel Aire de Bardenas in the Navarra region of northern Spain is sure to capture the attention of any architecture and design enthusiast. Its unique outdoor location, which is connected to the guest room, is a welcome way to recharge while immersed in the raw elements of a semi-desert landscape. And as there's no roof enclosing the tub, an evening bath will give travelers the chance to sit back and stargaze in total peace.

Six Senses Ninh Van Bay  Photo: Booking.com

Six Senses Ninh Van Bay  Photo: Booking.com

The timber bathtub at the Six Senses Ninh Van Bay, sits on a dramatic bay on a peninsula of the same name overlooking the turquoise East Vietnam Sea. Guests can spend hours gazing at the mystic beauty of the white-sand beach and the towering mountains in the distance, or simply sit back and listen to the gentle waves crash against the shore in the background. To top off their serene soak, guests can spoil themselves with a six-course dinner and paired wines  a perfect way to end the day.

Atlantis The Palm, Dubai  Photo: Booking.com

Atlantis The Palm, Dubai  Photo: Booking.com

The spectacularly large tub at the Atlantis The Palm in Dubai will have every guest feeling like they are swimming underwater with nearly floor-to-ceiling views of United Arab Emirates' largest aquarium, which is home to 65,000 marine animals. During their stay, travelers can sit back, pop a bottle of Champagne (thanks to the hotel's 24-hour dedicated butler service) and be mesmerized by the calming movement of the fish.

Huvafen Fushi  Photo: Booking.com

Huvafen Fushi  Photo: Booking.com

Located on a private island that only a 20-minute speedboat ride can reach, the hot tub at Huvafen Fushi in the Maldives, is all about privacy and tranquility  ideal for a royally romantic retreat. The circular hot tub is positioned in the centre of the bungalow providing a panorama of the indigo Indian Ocean  so that guests can spend all their time unwinding in pure serenity.
Vide an email dated April 8, 2021, Roshan Gopalakrishna, Chief Legal Counsel of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has forwarded a communication to the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) regarding usage of IPL intellectual property content by print media publications during IPL 2021, which commences from today (April 9, 2021) and will continue till May 30, 2021.

This letter of advance notification clarifies what constitutes permissible and impermissible activity in relation to the VIVO IPL, so as to prevent any inadvertent infringements of IPL Names, IPL Marks and IPL Proprietary Content by the print media.

While affirming that IPL is the owner of all IPL Names (proprietary names), IPL Marks (proprietary marks and logos) and IPL Proprietary Content (other proprietary and protected content), the letter states the following:

VIVO, TATA Motors, Dream11, Unacademy, CRED, Upstox, Paytm and CEAT are currently the exclusive sponsors and partners of the VIVO IPL. Certain other sponsors and partners may be designated by the IPL from time to time;

Other than the entities specified herein above and their authorised licensees and sub-licensees, no entity is entitled to make unlicensed use for commercial purposes of any or all of the IPL Names, IPL Marks and IPL Proprietary Content (other than for activities that are primarily for news reporting and journalistic in nature, activity and scope), or commercially associate in any other way, either expressly or impliedly, including through marketing promotions, contests, advertising, fantasy games or other commercial activity, online or otherwise, with the IPL or the VIVO IPL;

More specifically, without license, print media publications may not:

(i) use any or all of the IPL Names, IPL Marks and IPL Proprietary Content in conjunction with any advertisement, message, name, logo, trade mark or word mark of any third party;

(ii) publish any article, match synopsis, match review, or snap-shot relating to the VIVO IPL or any previous IPL seasons that uses any or all of the IPL Names, IPL Marks and IPL Proprietary Content in conjunction with any advertisement, message, name, logo, trade mark or word mark of a third party;

(iii) publish any photograph that relates to the VIVO IPL or any previous season of the IPL that is sponsored by any third party, or contains catchphrases that refer to any third party (e.g., Entity A Moment of the Match);

(iv) publish third party sponsored or presented score-cards of VIVO IPL matches;

(v) publish third party sponsored capsules or tables containing fixtures, timings and/or venue details of VIVO IPL matches;

(vi) publish any syndicated column that displays any or all of the IPL Names, IPL Marks and IPL Proprietary Content and displays the advertisement, message, name, trade mark, word mark or logo of any commercial or non-commercial entity/entities;

(vii) publish a special page, section or supplement relating to VIVO IPL that displays any or all of the IPL Names, IPL Marks, and IPL Proprietary Content in conjunction with any advertisement, message, name, logo, trade mark or word mark of a third party; or

(viii) publish still images by altering or deliberately removing, replacing or obscuring any logo of a sponsor of the IPL, a participating team or a participating player;

Print media publications can utilise the official logo of the VIVO IPL for journalistic, news reporting and non-commercial purposes only;

In the event that print publications have entered into an arrangement with the IPLs official broadcast partner, STAR India, or the IPLs official digital streaming partner, Disney+ Hotstar, to advertise during or sponsor live broadcasts or streams of the VIVO IPL, they are not thereby entitled to use IPL Names or IPL Marks (only their association with the live broadcast/ streaming service may be promoted);

In the event that print publications are associated with any of the franchises participating in the VIVO IPL, as a partner or sponsor, such association permits the publications to use only the names, marks, designation and proprietary content of the franchise (as agreed with such franchise owner) and does not permit them, by means of such relationship, to use IPL Names, IPL Marks and IPL Proprietary Content in their marketing communications or promotions. The print media publications may not use the current or previous IPL logos or the names IPL, VIVO IPL, Indian Premier League or VIVO Indian Premier League or names associated with previous editions of the event in any of their marketing communications or promotions;

The letter goes on to state that the IPL has engaged the services of a specialised agency to monitor the usage of IPL Names, IPL Marks and IPL Proprietary Content by the print media during the VIVO IPL. It also warned of legal action in case of any breach of the exclusive rights granted by the IPL to its sponsors, partners and licensees.
Assam Minister and top leader on Friday said that the party would get around 84 seats against the earlier target of 100 plus in the 126-member assembly.

Sarma, pointsman of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam, said that there is no doubt that the BJP-led alliance would retain power in the state. "Our earlier target was to win in 100 plus seats. But our present assessment is that the would get in and around 84 seats. We are 100 per cent certain that the BJP-led alliance would form the government in Assam after the declaration of results (on May 2)," he told the media in southern Tripura's Gomati district headquarters Udaipur.

The BJP's top leaders including Sarma have been saying that the ruling alliance would get 100 plus seats in the assembly elections, which ended on April 6.

The in the last assembly elections in 2016 had secured 60 seats and formed a government in alliance with the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) and Asom Gana Parishad that had bagged 12 and 14 seats respectively.

"After the Assam elections, the BJP would restart renewed attempts to come to the power in the remaining states in Assam," said Sarma, who is also the convener of the BJP-led anti-Congress alliance of regional parties -- North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA). The BJP is currently leading governments in Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh while the allies of NDA (National Democratic Alliance) are in power in the remaining four states - Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram and Sikkim.

During his visit for a few hours in Tripura, Sarma offered "puja" at the famous Tripura Sundari Temple in Udaipur, 60 kilometre south of state capital Agartala.

Former Tripura king Dhanya Manikya (1463 to 1515) built the Tripura Sundari Temple in 1501. It is one of the 51 Hindu Shakti Peethas in India.

While claiming that the BJP would come to power in West Bengal by securing over 200 seats, Sarma said that the BJP government in Tripura is doing well and people are happy with the performance of the Tripura government headed by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.

The Congress turned BJP leader further said that the BJP would come to power in the politically important 28-member Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, for which elections were held on April and the result would be declared on Saturday.

After the Bodoland Territorial Council polls in December last year, the BJP had forged an alliance with two local parties -- United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) and Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) -- discarding its old ally BPF.

The AGP is the BJP's main ally. During the last Assembly elections in 2016, the BJP had allied with AGP and BPF, which have three ministers in the Assam Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

The three phases of balloting to the 126 member Assam assembly were held on March 27, April 1 and April 6. The results would be declared on May 2.

--IANS

sc/ash

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An ongoing shortage of semiconductor chips is continuing to reverberate throughout the global economy, particularly impacting the auto industry and disrupting production at virtually every major automaker in recent months.

General Motors and Ford Motor Company both announced new temporary plant shutdowns on Thursday. GM is halting production at six of its North American factories, including the Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee, the Lansing Delta Township and Lansing Grand River plants in Michigan, and the Ramos Arizpe Assembly plant in Mexico. In addition, previously announced shutdowns at the Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas and the CAMI Ingersoll plant in Ontario, Canada, will both be extended until at least May 10.

An etched silicon wafer used to produce processors (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Production will resume next week at GMs Wentzville Assembly plant near St. Louis, Missouri, after being idled since March 29. The plant has roughly 3,500 workers, who build the profitable Canyon and Colorado mid-size pickup trucks.

Ford said Thursday that it would be idling production at three plants next weekChicago Assembly, Flat Rock Assembly in Michigan, and the Transit van side of its Kansas City Assembly complexand that Ohio Assembly would run on a reduced basis. Previously, the company had announced that its Dearborn Truck plant in Michigan, the Louisville Assembly plant in Kentucky, and the Oakville Assembly complex in Canada would be down for parts of April.

The automakers have sought to shift scarce chip supplies to their more profitable pickup and SUV segments, and when those run short, they plan to go as far as producing them without certain electronic modules.

Ford has said it will build the F-150 truck, the linchpin to its profits, without some electronic components and will store them until there is an adequate supply of semiconductors. The F-150 is built by 4,400 workers at the Michigan Dearborn Truck plant, and the nearly 10,000 hourly employees at the Kansas City Assembly plant in Missouri. The F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the US for the past 40 years.

There have been previous shutdowns at Fords Louisville Assembly Plant (LAP) with 4,000 workers this year and last. Last month it was announced that the companys other plant in Louisville, Kentucky Truck Plant (KTP), with nearly 9,000 workers who produce the Super Duty pickup trucks, Lincoln Navigators and Expeditions, will remain open for the time being, but has dropped one production shift.

Ford also announced that it was planning to cancel its annual summer shutdowns at a number of plants, which is a time when many autoworkers plan family vacations.

For its part, Stellantis (formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Frances PSA Group earlier this year) stated in late March that it would be idling five North American plants, including Warren Truck in Michigan, Belvidere Assembly in Illinois, Windsor and Brampton Assembly in Canada and Toluca Assembly in Mexico. The companys new Mack Avenue plant is also running on short shifts, and the shutdown at Warren Truck has recently been extended to six weeks, according to unconfirmed reports from workers.

Autoworkers on temporary layoff at the Detroit Three will only receive roughly 75 percent of their pay through unemployment aid and supplementary benefits, known as sub pay. Temporary workersa category vastly expanded through the sellout contracts negotiated by the UAW in 2019will receive no supplementary benefits and will be forced to rely solely on miserly state unemployment aid.

The chip shortage threatens to significantly undermine the temporary recovery in auto sales which began in the latter half of 2020. The global auto industry could see a $61 billion drop in revenue in 2021, according to industry analysts AlixPartners. Ford is expecting that the impact of the shutdowns would cut profits by $1 billion from $2.5 billion expected in the first half of the year, while GM has said its pre-tax profits could be hit by as much as $2 billion.

Nearly every major global automaker has announced temporary shutdowns or slowed production in recent months, including Volkswagen, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Volvo. Honda and Nissan are facing plant shutdowns in the US both due to port congestion and the microchip shortage. US electric vehicle maker Tesla and Chinas Nio have both also been impacted.

Automotive industry analyst IHS Markit has stated that there would be 700,000 fewer vehicles produced in the first quarter of the year as a result of the chip shortage, while other trade groups expect a shortfall of 1.28 million vehicles produced in the US in 2021. The timeline for a return to normal continues to be pushed back, with analysts reporting that shortages may not be resolved until the third quarter.

Tom Caulfield, the CEO of the worlds third largest chip foundry, GlobalFoundries near Albany in Malta, New York, commented to CNBC that the semiconductor shortage could last into 2022. Right now all our fabs are not only more than 100 percent utilized, we are adding capacity as fast as we can. Caulfield continued, The semi industry going into COVID was projecting a five percent annual growth rate for five years. Were projecting that to almost double now.

Behind the chip shortage

There are a number of factors that are exacerbating the shortfall in semiconductors, which is straining not only the global automotive supply chain but also other high industrial sectors. The auto industry accounts for only 10 percent of the annual production of microchips, although this share has been growing in recent years as touchscreens and other advanced electronic systems are adopted in new models.

The immediate cause of the shortage is the disequilibrium in supply chains and economic activity triggered by the pandemic. In March 2020, as the threat posed by COVID-19 first became clear, workers forced auto plants to shut down through a wave of wildcat strikes in Europe and North America, in an effort to protect themselves and their families from infection. As limited shutdowns of daily activity followed and demand for vehicles plummeted, orders for microchips by automakers slowed precipitously.

However, a relative uptick in demand arose for chips used in consumer electronic goods, such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones, as many schools quickly transitioned to remote learning and some workplaces to remote operations.

The auto industry began to reopen in Mayprematurely and before it was safeand demand for vehicles began to rebound, with many of those buying cars seeking to avoid exposure to the virus on public transportation systems. But automakers found themselves suddenly flatfooted, now competing for semiconductor supplies with transnational electronics giants.

Additionally, small quantities of chips to none had been stockpiled by many auto companies or their Tier 1 suppliers, who have increasingly adopted just-in-time supply chain models in order to reduce warehousing and other costs.

In mid-March, the Renesas Electronics Naka semiconductor factory fire in northeast Japan worsened the shortage. Renesas has warned that it could take up to a month to restart production at the plant. Sixty-six percent of its production is for the automotive industry, and it has a 30 percent share of the automotive microcontroller units (MCU) produced worldwide.

Smartphones and other electronics manufacturers are experiencing their own difficulties. Samsung, both one of the worlds largest smartphone producers and a semiconductor maker, encountered a significant setback with the February 16 shutdown of its Austin, Texas, chip plant caused by the deadly winter storm that knocked out power across the state. Samsung is projecting a mid-April restart for the factory. The company is considering Austin as a site for a new $17 billion chip manufacturing plant.

The impact on the auto industry has not been uniform. Toyota announced the semiconductor shortage was not having as adverse an impact as on other companies due to measures to secure its supply chain after disruptions caused by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. But there is also a plastics shortfall that is causing delays in production at their plants in the US and Mexico, and a chief cause of the problem was the winter freeze in Texas this February.

Semiconductors, globalization and geopolitical tensions

The truly global nature of production and the need for systematic, scientific planning of international economic activity are exemplified in the intensifying global supply chain squeeze. Again and again, the working class and humanitys productive forces are running up against the limits imposed by capitalism, namely, the nation-state system and private ownership of the means of production.

Both the blocking of the Suez Canal and the semiconductor shortage have underscored in the recent period the reality of the world economy and its globally integrated character. The production of microchips and the vehicles and electronic devices which rely on them are the result of an international division of labor, with workers on several continents designing the devices, extracting the raw materials for them, building the machines to manufacture them, and shipping them around the world for assembly into their final products.

These international connections in the productive process are a potential reservoir of colossal strength for the international working class, holding the possibility for it to exert its power worldwide. Thus, they are simultaneously viewed by the ruling classes with growing fear and as a threat to their national interests.

The Biden administration is expected to meet with chip manufacturers next week to discuss what might be done to alleviate the shortages facing the auto industry. The White House also announced at the end of March a proposed $50 billion subsidy for the domestic semiconductor industry in an attempt to onshore production, as part of the administrations infrastructure spending bill. While the funding, even if approved, would come too late to have any impact on the current shortages, it is aimed at securing the US supply chain at the expense of China.

Bidens Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo bluntly told CNBC, This is about out-competing China. If we act now, we will compete with China.

For its part, China also views its semiconductor supply chains as vulnerable, and recently announced that it would enact tax breaks for its domestic industry, allowing them to import machinery and raw materials tax-free until 2030.

Taiwan has emerged as a chief flashpoint in the US war drive against China, with relentless propaganda pumped out day after day by the US media and government over the country. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), with a dominant 54 percent market share, and United Microelectronics, also in Taiwan, are not the least factors in this campaign.

Throughout the shutdowns caused by the microchip shortage, the UAW bureaucracy, which has integrated itself ever more deeply into corporate management over the last 40 years, has stated that it would take measures to lessen the hit to the auto manufacturers profits, while ratcheting up its promotion of poisonous nationalist sentiment.

In January, UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg told the Detroit News, This is an issue that demonstrates the need not to offshore American jobs and to bring back production of semiconductors and other auto supply parts to U.S. workers where as a nation we have more ability to respond to these demand issues.

The UAWs call to bring back semiconductor production has absolutely nothing to do with protecting the interests of its members, which the bribed and corrupt union bureaucracy has repeatedly demonstrated it has nothing but contempt for. Rather, it is aimed at handcuffing workers to the national interests of their exploiters, the capitalist ruling class and its political representatives in both the Democratic and Republican parties.

The relentless promotion of nationalism, anti-Asian and anti-Chinese sentiment by the trade unions, the corporate media and the Democrats and Republicans has the dual objective of dividing workers in the US from their class brothers and sisters in other countries, and lining American workers up behind the war drive of US imperialism against its rivals.

Control of semiconductor production, particularly the most cutting-edge technologies used in missile guidance and detection systems and artificial intelligence, are critical to US military dominance. Thus, the American ruling class, with the loyal support of the union apparatus, is dead set on preventing China, whom it views as its chief economic competitor, from gaining any technological advantage, and is willing to risk provoking a war with unfathomably catastrophic nuclear implications, sooner rather than later.

Crisis after crisis is laying bare the fundamental contradictions of capitalism threatening humanity: on the one hand, between globalized production and the nation-state system, and on the other, between social production by the working class and the private ownership of the means of production by the capitalists. The nationalist policies pursued by the ruling class have led to a situation where human lives and mankinds resources are being criminally squandered.

The alternative is an international movement of the working class, consciously setting as its political aim the overturn of the outmoded capitalist profit system and its replacement with socialism, a democratically controlled, scientifically guided, globally coordinated system to meet human needs.
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Like many Britons over the past year, Prince Philip endured a difficult 12 months with the coronavirus pandemic leaving him unable to see friends and family for several months.

On a personal level, his final year was also marred by questions over son Andrew's relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, as well as the bitter fallout from his 'favourite prince' Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to quit the royal family.

Philip and the Queen spent an unprecedented amount of time together over the past year, confined in their 'HMS Bubble' in Windsor as they isolated themselves from their family.

This meant Philip was unable to meet Princess Eugenie's baby, his great-grandson August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, who was named after him. He also didn't meet his other new great-grandson, Zara Tindall's baby Lucas Philip Tindall, also named after him.

Philip also saw Prince Charles and Prince William suffer from coronavirus and was unable to visit them.

The Duke of Edinburgh, 99, had his own health issues, enduring a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

He was in hospital recovering from heart surgery when the Sussexes' interview with Oprah aired in March and provoked a furious backlash against the Royal family.

The couple levelled accusations of racism at the Royal family and claimed that an unnamed family member had asked about the colour of their son Archie's skin. Oprah later said the family member was not Philip or The Queen.

The Duke of Edinburgh also had to contend with his son Prince Andrew's behaviour, including the fallout from his car-crash BBC interview about his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Philip, who dedicated his married life to improving the standing and popularity of the Royal Family, is said to have regarded Andrew's failure of judgment as a tragedy.

He had previously warned Andrew not to allow himself to be seduced by the rich and powerful  what he called 'seedy billionaires'  looking for a Royal to elevate their own status.

Andrew's toxic connection with Epstein, combined with his failed marriage to Sarah Ferguson and failed career as Britain's special envoy for overseas trade, made him a global laughing stock. In turn, it further tarnished the standing of The Firm, and with it Philip's family.

The succession of crises which blighted Philip's last months, including the breakdown of the marriage of his eldest grandchild Peter Phillips, would have sealed 2020's claim to being one of the most difficult years the Royal Family has ever faced.

Philip was in hospital recovering from heart surgery when the Sussexes' interview with Oprah aired in March

Prince Philip with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on Christmas Day in 2017 with other members of the Royal Family

Prince Philip with the Cambridges and the Sussexes on Christmas Day in Sandringham, 2017

In the Sussexes interview, Meghan also linked the alleged discussion of Archie's skin colour to his title, despite the convention that only royal offspring who are in the direct line of succession can be made a prince or princess.

And the couple claimed they were 'cut off' by the Royal family and complained that they had to fund their own security costs after announcing they would be leaving Royal duties.

Their accusations sparked a crisis at the Palace and led to hours of deliberations on how to respond to the accusations of racism, which are believed to have involved The Queen while Philip was in hospital.

Days after the interview was broadcast, the palace released a pointed statement that saying that 'some recollections may vary' about the race allegations.

Over the preceding months, the Sussexes' insistence that they could combine the privileges of royal life with a commercially-funded lifestyle in California caused tensions with the palace, forcing the Queen to step in and rule out any 'half-in, half-out' status.

Philip, a World War Two veteran who witnessed the decline of Britain's imperial power, had a profound sense of duty which he felt was lacking among many younger members of The Firm  reportedly including his grandson Harry.

According to Ingrid Seward's tell-all biography Prince Philip Revealed, he struggled with what he regarded as Prince Harry's dereliction of duty by giving up his homeland and stepping back from official duties.

Harry had all of Philip's best qualities, not least a cheeky sense of humour, and at one time it looked like he would fill a similar role to his grandfather at public events. Yet the ruptures caused by Megxit now mean this is unlikely to ever happen.

Philip and his grandson Prince Harry share a joke at Lady Gabriella Windsor's wedding on May 18, 2019 at Windsor Castle

The last cause of tension was the Sussexes' announcement they would be appearing in an hour-and-a-half 'tell all' interview with Meghan's friend Oprah Winfrey (pictured at her wedding)

This followed the couple's agreement of a 100million partnership with Netflix, followed by another 30m agreement to provide podcasts for Spotify (Spotify)

Before the interview, the last cause of tension was the Sussexes' announcement they would be appearing with Oprah despite having vehemently defended their privacy.

This followed the couple's agreement of a 100million partnership with Netflix, followed by another 30m agreement to provide podcasts for Spotify.

These moves raised eyebrows at the palace and sparked complaints the couple were using their royal status for commercial gain.

Later, it emerged that the couple will lose all their official royal patronages in the wake of the Oprah Winfrey interview being announced.

Then, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the couple would be stepping down from royal duties for good.

Prior to Megxit, Philip reportedly found it hard to understand what it was that had made Harry's life so unbearable, thinking that the Sussexes had everything going for them  including Frogmore Cottage, their son Archie, and a unique opportunity to make a global impact with their charity work.

It is understood that the Duke of Edinburgh also feared that Prince Harry had abdicated his responsibilities to the Royal Family for the sake of his marriage to Meghan, an American divorcee.

For Philip, the echoes of Edward VIII's decision to give up his crown for Wallis Simpson in 1937  and the disrepute it brought upon The Firm  were likely to have weighed heavily on his mind.

The Sussexes' departure from Royal life also exacerbated the growing rift between Harry and his brother Prince William, with whom Prince Philip had formed an unbreakable bond after the death of their mother Diana in 1997.

The Duke of Edinburgh also had to contend with his son Prince Andrew's behaviour, including the fallout from his car-crash BBC interview about his association with Jeffrey Epstein

Prince Andrew speaks to BBC Newsnight's Emily Maitlis in an interview on November 16, 2019

However, the health and safety of the elderly Philip and 94-year-old Queen were threatened by the outbreak and global spread of coronavirus.

The Duke of Edinburgh spent much of his retirement at his cottage, Wood Farm, in the sanctuary of Sandringham, more than 100 miles away from the Queen, who was usually at Buckingham Palace or at Windsor.

Fears about Philip's wellbeing were raised after his son Prince Charles tested positive for Covid-19 during the early part of the pandemic.

He was consequently trapped in Windsor for six months between March and August, before enjoying a summer break up in Balmoral with the Queen.

Even that holiday was shortened as a result of the pandemic, as he was whisked away to Sandringham in September before returning to Windsor Castle to continue self-isolation.

Despite the gloom of the pandemic, the Duke seemed to speak for millions of Britons when he thanked key workers on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis in a highly-unusual public statement.

He made a plea for national solidarity last April and was pictured in his final photograph on November 2020 as he and the Queen look at a homemade card given to them by their great-grandchildren Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis ahead of their 73rd wedding anniversary

Throughout his life Philip demonstrated that even during a year of panic and crisis brought by the pandemic, he managed to remain a source of light in an enveloping darkness.
Roads are set to be closed on the outskirts of Abbeyleix in April and May as Irish Water work with Laois County Council to dig up and replace rusty old pipes in need of essential repairs.

The company says it is progressing with essential water mains replacement works in Abbeyleix to improve the security of supply and reduce high levels of leakage in the area.

The works, which are scheduled to begin on Monday 12 April, will involve the replacement of over 1.5km of old cast iron water mains in Tonduff in Abbeyleix on the Portlaoise side of the town.

To facilitate the safe delivery of these works, Irish Water says traffic management will be in place in Tonduff. It says the L-1656 road will be closed from April 19 to May 7 and the L-6717 road will be closed from May 4 to May 21. It says diversions will be clearly signposted.

Irish Water says the works may involve some short-term supply disruptions which we understand may cause inconvenience. It adds that the project team will ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours notice prior to any planned water shut-offs.

Irish Water and Laois County Council says it regrets any inconvenience these improvement works may cause. The works will be carried out on behalf of Irish Water by Ward and Burke Ltd. and are expected to be completed by the end of May in Tonduff. MORE BELOW MAP OF TONDUFF DOWNLAND.

Irish Water says the pipes will be replaced with new, high-density polyethylene (plastic) pipes which will improve water quality and reduce high levels of leakage which was impacting the water supply to customers in these areas.

The company says the works will also involve laying new water service connections from the public water main in the road to customers property boundaries and connecting it to the customers water supply. Where the existing service connections on the public side are lead, these will be replaced as part of this improvement work.

To date, Irish Water and Laois County Council have saved over 6 million litres of water daily across Co. Laois, thats enough water to supply over 46,000 people per day, as a result of leakage reduction and repair works in several towns and villages across the county. It claims that this has significantly reduced the number of bursts and water outages, resulting in a more reliable water supply for homes and business in Laois.

Speaking about the project, Joe Carroll, Irish Water, said We understand that this type of work can be inconvenient and will ensure our work crews make every effort to minimise any disruption these works may cause. We would like to thank the local community, businesses, homeowners and commuters for their patience and cooperation while we deliver these vital water network improvement works to safeguard the water supply in Laois.

Irish Water says this project is one example of how it is working in partnership with Laois County Council to reduce leaks every day. It says fixing leaks can be complicated with over 63,000km of water pipe in Ireland. Our national Leakage Reduction Programme will see 500 million invested up to the end of 2021 to reduce the level of leakage across the country by fixing and replacing old and damaged water mains.

Irish Water says This will ensure a safe, reliable water supply which is vital for our health, our environment and our growing population and economy. For more information, please visit www.water.ie/reducingleaks.

The company says the customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1850 278 278 and customers can also contact us on Twitter @IWCare with any queries. For updates please visit the Water Supply Updates section of the Irish Water website.
Senior ministers in the federal Liberal-National Coalition government over recent days have taken the unusual step of aggressively intervening in a minor controversy relating to a student newspaper.

Amid the debacle of the coronavirus vaccine rollout, myriad social and economic issues and a broader government crisis, they have found the time to make dire warnings about the free speech implications of a single article being voluntarily withdrawn from a website by the student editors who commissioned and wrote it.

University of Sydneys Main Quadrangle. (Image credit: Jason Tong/Wikipedia)

The manufactured outrage was prompted by the decision of editors at the University of Sydneys Honi Soit newspaper to take down an article on March 31, several hours after it had been posted. The article had already been placed in the print edition and can still be read on web archives.

The piece detailed the alleged links between two academics at the campus engineering faculty and several Chinese research institutions. It claimed that these ties were not disclosed on University of Sydney biographies of the staff. The article uncritically cited unsubstantiated warnings by the US and Australian governments, and think tanks funded by them, of the national security dangers posed by Chinese government talent recruitment programs targeting academics.

The article did not allege any wrongdoing on the part of the academics named or the university administration. The rather lame and tepid conclusion of the Honi Soit investigation was that the lack of transparency surrounding the conduct of individual staff members and the results of due diligence checks make evaluating both individual and University behaviour difficult.

In a Facebook post announcing the withdrawal of the article, the editors wrote: We unreservedly apologise to the academics mentioned in the article and for the harm caused to them, the Chinese community, and to our readers. Honi acknowledges that directly naming those academics was negligent, particularly in the face of escalating sinophobia and racism at the University of Sydney and in wider society.

The post referenced the hostile treatment of Chinese academics in Australia, declared that the editors would in future be critical of the sources upon which they rely and said they recognised their duty as student journalists to actively combat Western imperialist and xenophobic biases presented in mainstream media.

In most circumstances, the matter would have ended there. The retraction of a poorly-conceived article is hardly an unprecedented development at a university newspaper staffed by volunteer student journalists and editors.

But in this instance, it was all too much for the federal government. After stating that he had not read the article in question, Education Minister Alan Tudge declared that, Left activists have forgotten what freedom of speech means in an era of woke culture. Certainly any claims that it was taken down to appease the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] are deeply concerning.

He was joined by Liberal Senator James Paterson, chair of the federal parliaments intelligence and security committee, who, according to the Sydney Morning Herald said the editors were giving into the CCPs favoured tactic of weaponising claims of racism to shut down legitimate scrutiny.

Liberal MP Dave Sharma said that such self-censorship from a student publication, and one with a reputation for free-thinking and straight-talking, is deeply concerning, while his colleague Tim Wilson crudely declared that the progressive left would rather side with authoritarians by pandering to the CCPs line than stand up for free discussion.

The professions of concern were bipartisan. Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching, chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade References Committee, declared that academic talent recruitment projects had been uncovered at most of our top educational institutions. In order to combat this effectively, we need to shine a light on this issue, not cover it up.

Kitching expressed her hope that the editors did not feel obliged to comply with inappropriate internal and external pressureswhether that be by foreign regimes or local politicians. The clear implication was that the long arm of the Chinese Communist Party had been brought down on the student editors.

The deranged insinuations were refuted by the editors themselves. Responding to the various politicians statements, they told the Sydney Morning H erald that they had not been pressured to remove the article by the university, any group or individuals.

In other words, Kitching and the federal ministers were doing exactly what she had warned against, joining a pile-on against a group of students to push a political line.

The seemingly bizarre episode underscores the acute sensitivity of the federal government and the Labor opposition over any pushback, however limited, to an anti-Chinese campaign that they have aggressively promoted.

Labors defence spokesman Richard Marles (left) addressing US Studies Centre [Source: United States Studies Centre

For the past five years, Labor, the Coalition and the corporate press have hysterically alleged pervasive Chinese interference in virtually every sphere of political, social and economic life, including at the universities. Chinese international students have been depicted as a potential fifth column, Chinese student associations have been subjected to intense scrutiny and aspersions have been cast against academics, faculties and even entire campuses, over research ties to Chinese universities and institutions.

The torrent of xenophobic filth has two chief purposes: to legitimise Australias participation in the advanced, US-led preparations for war against China and to establish an anti-democratic framework that can be mobilised against anyone who is deemed not to be adequately committed to these catastrophic military plans.

The controversy over the Honi Soit article was latched onto by the government and Labor amid a dramatic ratcheting up of the war drive.

Since his inauguration, US President Joseph Biden has escalated an anti-China campaign that was initiated by Obama and further intensified under Trump. Biden is inflaming regional flashpoints, especially Taiwan, waging a hypocritical campaign over Chinese human rights violations and engaging in alliance building aimed at furthering the encirclement of China.

All of these provocative moves have enjoyed the full support of the Australian government, which also recently announced its own missile building program.

The accompanying attacks on democratic rights are also continuing apace. Media reports in February revealed that late last year, the federal government secretly blocked five university research grants because they allegedly represented a China-linked national security threat, and subjected 18 others to stepped-up scrutiny. The decisions were taken on the basis of undisclosed assessments by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the domestic spy agency.

Academics and university departments, in other words, are being subjected to grand inquisitions over their research and work activities. This dovetails with foreign interference laws, passed by Labor and the Coalition in 2018, which provide sweeping grounds for criminal prosecutions and potentially illegalise internationally-coordinated political and other activities.

The fear of any critical discussion over the foreign interference campaign, expressed in the response to the Honi Soit controversy, is because it is built on a foundation of quicksand. The immense media and political resources devoted to uncovering evidence of some sort of Chinese conspiracy have come up empty. The campaign has consisted solely of insinuations, unsubstantiated claims, and attempts to depict standard practices, such as international research collaboration, in the most sinister terms.

The Honi Soit editors reference to a more critical attitude towards sources, likely also touched a nerve. In addition to promoting the pronouncements of the US and Australian governments, the article heavily promoted research by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) think tank.

Promoted to the centre stage of public discussion, ASPI functions as a clearinghouse for the most belligerent sections of the military and intelligence apparatus. Ironically, given its great concern over undisclosed ties between academics and Chinese universities, ASPI functionaries frequently appear in the media without revealing that they are funded by the US and Australian governments and American arms dealers.

Such ironies can also be found in the fears of the political establishment over potential Chinese influence at the University of Sydney. No such influence has yet been uncovered. But the campus does host the United States Studies Centre, a major think tank funded by the American and Australian governments. Founded in 2006, its explicit purpose is to overcome deep seated opposition to Australian involvement in US-led wars and military interventions.
The former PM who now serves as finance minister is to visit Viktor Orban today. Slovak Academy of Sciences says they tested the Russian vaccine per his health minister's request.

Slovakia received the first batch of Sputnik V vaccines on March 1. (Source: TASR)

Following Thursday's trip to Moscow concerning the supplies of the Russian vaccine to Slovakia, Finance Minister Igor Matovic confirmed that the Russian side has withdrawn from the contract and is demanding that Slovakia returns the batch of 200,000 doses delivered in early March.

Related article UPDATED: Finance Minister Matovic flew to Moscow for Sputnik negotiations Read more

Speaking to journalists during a press briefing on Friday, April 9, Matovic took no questions, only repeating his allegations from the day before that Sputnik "had many high-ranking enemies in Slovakia". He also repeated the accusations that the Sputnik V producer launched against the Slovak national drug agency (SUKL) on Twitter.

"They feel exceptional damage was caused to them when the SUKL assigned the assessment of the vaccine to a non-registered laboratory," Matovic told journalists, adding that the results of the assessment "flooded the world" and "harmed the image of the vaccine".

"I fully understand the disappointment on the Russian side," Matovic said.

The Biomedical Research Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, whose lab tested the Sputnik V doses delivered to Slovakia, has labelled Matovic's claims as false and said that they carried out testing based on the written request of former health minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO) and the contract with the SUKL.

Chief Hygienist Jan Mikas supports the SUKL and its director Zuzana Batova. Speaking to the Sme daily, Mikas said the SUKL has done its utmost to gain as much information as possible about Sputnik V.

Mikas expressed his criticism of Matovic.

"I am convinced people from the SUKL, including its director, have done the most they could. I feel solidarity with them," Mikas told Sme.

Sputnik V not approved for use now

9. Apr 2021 at 12:10 | Michaela Terenzani
Cristina Lara and Kevin Bailey dated twice in Raleigh, N.C. The first time, in 2015, they were focused on setting up their careers and continuing to adjust to adult life. They had met at the Cary Wine and Food Festival and hit it off. But the relationship was super casual, Ms. Lara said, and a typical date was partying with friends downtown late into the night. They were together for only a few months.

When Mr. Bailey, an electrical engineer, was promoted to a managerial position at Duke Energy later that year, he relocated to Charlotte. Soon after, Ms. Lara headed to New York to work for Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign. They parted on good terms and stayed in touch, but there was nothing to suggest they would wind up getting married.

Mr. Bailey first recognized how much they had both changed when he visited Ms. Lara in New York in September 2017. Seeing her in person, and learning more about her day-to-day life, he says he remembers thinking: Were a lot more mature than we were in 2015. Were like grown-ups now.

In the months leading up to his trip, they had gone from texting sporadically to talking on the phone for hours while Ms. Lara walked from her office in the Financial District to Times Square, where she would catch a subway to her Upper East Side apartment. When their communication reached a critical mass, they decided it was time to see just how deep their growing connection ran.
Commences Metallurgical Study

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2021 / Grid Metals Corp. (the "Company") (TSXV:GRDM)(OTCQB:MSMGF) is pleased to provide new drilling results for an additional three holes from the Central Parisien Lake target area on its East Bull Lake palladium project, located near Sudbury, Ontario. A metallurgical study has been initiated to confirm the potential for generating a palladium-rich sulfide concentrate from representative core samples from the Parisien Lake area.

Highlights

Encouraging new results for three step out holes are reported below. The holes are located between 30 metres and 250 metres away from discovery hole EBL20-13. Significant widths of anomalous palladium and copper sulfide mineralization were encountered in drill holes, including 77.0 metres of 0.81 g/t palladium equivalent grade ("Pd Eq") in EBL21-04. Narrower, higher grade intervals were also intersected including 2.0 metres of 5.39 g/t Pd Eq in EBL21-05.

Hole ID From

(m) To

(m) Length

(m) Pd

(g/t) Pt

(g/t) Au

(g/t) Cu

(%) Ni

(%) Pd Eq

(g/t) EBL21-04 30.00 107.00 77.00 0.43 0.13 0.03 0.10 0.06 0.81 inc. 82.00 103.00 21.00 0.75 0.24 0.05 0.12 0.10 1.31 with 96.00 99.00 3.00 1.38 0.42 0.09 0.21 0.08 2.12 and 178.94 210.00 31.06 0.27 0.10 0.02 0.11 0.05 0.59 inc. 194.00 200.00 6.00 0.47 0.16 0.03 0.20 0.07 0.98 EBL21-05 52.00 74.00 22.00 0.39 0.13 0.03 0.09 0.06 0.74 inc. 52.00 63.00 11.00 0.60 0.20 0.05 0.10 0.05 1.01 EBL21-06 50.00 59.00 9.00 1.62 0.48 0.08 0.12 0.07 2.19 inc. 56.00 58.00 2.00 3.75 1.05 0.25 0.42 0.24 5.39 and 72.00 73.00 1.00 1.04 0.50 0.02 0.01 0.04 1.41 and 100.00 101.00 1.00 1.99 0.84 0.20 0.55 0.07 3.24

Notes:

Based on current 3D geological interpretations, the true thickness is estimated to range between approximately 50-80% of the length of the reported mineralized intervals.

Pd Eq is the palladium equivalent grade expressed in grams per tonne that is calculated using the following long-term consensus price forecasts ($US) sourced from S&P Global Metals and Mining Research and dated October 30, 2020: Pd - $1,813.90/oz; Pt - $955.55/oz; Au - $1,832.01/oz; Cu - $2.96/lb; Ni - $6.87/lb.

Dr. Dave Peck, the Company's Vice-President of Exploration and Business Development stated "The new results continue to demonstrate the potential for a significant, near-surface palladium deposit in the Central Parisien Lake target area. EBL21-06 is a notable drill intercept as it was a significant step out hole to the west, which expands the size of the mineralized target area.

Winter Drilling Program Completed - Target Area Expanded

The Company's winter drilling program has been completed. Results for the first three drill holes (EBL21-01- 21-03) were reported in the Company's March 11th, 2021 news release. Thirteen holes were drilled at the Central Parisien Lake target and another two holes were drilled in a new target area located approximately 400 metres to the south (Figure 1). The new drilling at the Central Parisien Lake target includes step out holes to both the east and west of discovery hole EBL20-13, which intersected 119.0 metres averaging 1.13 g/t Pd Eq. Geological logging data indicate that the Inclusion-bearing Zone - the principal host to palladium mineralization at East Bull Lake, is present in all thirteen holes. This information, combined with 2020 and historical drilling results in the area, expands the Central Parisien Lake palladium zone to >1.7 kilometres in length and up to 500 metres in width (Figure 1). The zone remains open to both the east and west, and down dip to the northwest.

Figure 1. Location of Grid Metals Corp. drill holes EBL21-04 to 06, Central Parisien Lake target area, East Bull Lake palladium property.

Drill core is being logged and split at the Company's core facility in Massey Ontario. Hole specifications are provided below.

Hole Number Easting

(m) Northing

(m) Elevation

(m) Azimuth Dip Length

(m) EBL21-04 410042 5141816 356 350 45 228.7 EBL21-05 410003 5141920 360 350 45 224.0 EBL21-06 409770 5142005 358 190 50 230.0

Metallurgical Test Work Underway

A composite drill core sample from 2020 and 2021 core samples from the Central Parisien Lake target area has been prepared in order to conduct initial metallurgical test work to characterize the potential to produce a saleable palladium concentrate. The Company has signed an initial scope of work with XPS Expert Process Solutions - a Glencore Company, to complete the test work.

Bannockburn Nickel Property Drill Program Set to Commence

The Company will commence drilling at its Bannockburn nickel property before the end of the month. Details of the drilling program will be announced at the start up of the program.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Grid Metals applies best practice quality assurance and quality control ("QAQC") protocols on all of its exploration programs. For the current drilling program, core is logged and sampled at a core facility located in the town of Massey, Ontario - approximately 30 km south of the property. NQ-size drill core samples are cut into halves using a diamond saw. Standard sample intervals of 1.00 metre length are used unless a major geological, structural or mineralization boundary is encountered. Samples are bagged and tagged and transported by courier to, for this news release, the Actlabs Thunder Bay analytical facility. Actlabs analyzes each sample for Pd, Pt and Au using a lead collection fire assay on a 30 g pulp split and an ICP-OES finish. Copper, Ni and Co are analyzed using a 'near total' fusion multi-acid digestion and an ICP-OES finish. The Company uses two PGE certified reference materials ("CRMs") and one analytical blank purchased from Canadian Resource Laboratories to monitor analytical accuracy and check for cross contamination between samples. One of the CRMs or the blank are inserted every tenth sample within a given batch. The analytical results for the two CRMs and the blank for the sample batches reported here did not show any significant bias compared to the certified values and the results fell within the acceptable limits of variability.

Dr. Dave Peck, P.Geo., has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release for purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

About Grid Metals Corp.

Grid Metals Corp. is an exploration and development Company that has a diversified portfolio of projects in the nickel-copper-platinum group metal sectors. These commodities are vital to the emerging battery metals, energy storage and automotive sectors. All of Grid's projects are located in secure North American mining jurisdictions. The Company is focused on timely advancement of its property portfolio through prudent exploration and development activities.

To find out more about Grid Metals Corp., please visit www.gridmetalscorp.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Grid Metals Corp.

Robin Dunbar - President, CEO & Director Telephone: 416-955-4773 Email: rd@gridmetalscorp.com

David Black - Investor Relations Email: info@gridmetalscorp.com

We seek safe harbour.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Securities Act (Ontario) (together, "forward-looking statements"). Such forward-looking statements may include the Company's plans for its properties, the overall economic potential of its properties, the availability of adequate financing and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward- looking statements to be materially different. Such factors include, among others, risks and uncertainties relating to potential political risk, uncertainty of production and capital costs estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, physical risks inherent in mining operations, metallurgical risk, currency fluctuations, fluctuations in the price of nickel, cobalt, copper and other metals, completion of economic evaluations, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, the inability or failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis, and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the most recent financial period and Material Change Reports filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations 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 news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from U.S. registration requirements.

SOURCE: Grid Metals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/639588/Grid-Metals-Reports-Additional-Positive-Drill-Results-from-East-Bull-Lake-Palladium-Property
Dublin, April 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "2021 Lithium Ion Battery Market - Size, Share, COVID Impact Analysis and Forecast to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global Lithium Ion Battery Market is expected to grow from USD 40.5 billion in 2020 to USD 91.9 billion in 2026 with a compounded annual growth rate of 14.63%.



Demand for electric vehicles is forecast at 19.1% CAGR over the forecast period to 2026, with strong sales volume in developing countries. The US, China, Japan, India and other countries present strong potential for growth in batteries.



Consumer Electronics remains the most dominant segment in the Lithium Ion Battery Type worldwide with 36.1% market share in 2020.



LCO remains the most Dominant segment in the Lithium Ion Battery Type worldwide with 31.4% market share in 2020. LFP (Lithium iron phosphate) batteries are largely deployed in power tools, electric vehicles and power installations. These batteries use LiFePO4 as their cathode material. Key features include high stability, superior density, long battery life and economical.



The North America Lithium Ion Battery market accounts for 23.9% of global market value in 2020 and is forecast to reach USD $21. 1 billion in 2026, registering a growth rate (CAGR) of 13.82% between 2020 and 2026.



The report presents growth projections in the Lithium Ion Battery Market between 2021 and 2027 for companies operating across different types, applications, and end-user verticals.



Short-term and long-term trends affecting the market landscape are included in the research. Further, market drivers, restraints, and potential opportunities are also provided in the report.



The Lithium Ion Battery Market report computes the 2020 market value in revenue terms based on the average Lithium Ion Battery prices and sales/revenue models of key companies operating in the Lithium Ion Battery Industry. The study forecasts the market size to 2027 for different types of Lithium Ion Battery and provides respective market share and growth rates.



The study discusses technological innovations and the potential shift in demand among various products in the Lithium Ion Battery Market, over the forecast period. The leading five companies in the Lithium Ion Battery Industry together with their products, key strategies, and comparisons are provided.



The Lithium Ion Battery Market size, share, and outlook across different types and applications are provided at geographic levels of North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East Africa, South and Central America. Further, country-level Lithium Ion Battery Market value is also provided.

Story continues

Scope of the Report

Global Lithium Ion Battery Industry size, 2020-2027

Market trends, drivers, restraints, and opportunities

Porter's Five forces analysis

Types of Lithium Ion Battery, 2020-2027

Lithium Ion Battery applications and end-user verticals market size, 2020-2027

Lithium Ion Battery Market size across countries, 2020-2027

5 leading companies in the industry-overview, key strategies, financials, and products

Latest market news and developments

Companies Profiled

LG Chem

Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

BYD Co., Ltd.

Koninklijke Philips N.V



Key Topics Covered:





1. GLOBAL LITHIUM ION BATTERY INDUSTRY



2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2.1. Key Trends

2.1.1. Global Lithium Ion Battery Market Value, By Application

2.1.2. Global Lithium Ion Battery Market Value, By Type

2.1.3. Global Lithium Ion Battery Market Value, By Geography

2.2. Potential Drivers

2.2.1. Demand for alternative energy sources from automotive industry

2.2.2. Shift in global energy mix

2.2.3. Smart electricity market

2.2.4. Increasing power consumption from renewable sources and distributed energy storage

2.2.5. Strong demand from consumer electronic market

2.3. Major Challenges

2.3.1. Lithium supply demand challenges cause price fluctuations

2.3.2. Competition from alternative technologies



3. GLOBAL OUTLOOK AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES



4. NORTH AMERICA OUTLOOK AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES



5. EUROPE OUTLOOK AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES



6. ASIA PACIFIC OUTLOOK AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES



7. SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA OUTLOOK AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES



8. REST OF THE WORLD OUTLOOK AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES



9. COMPANY PROFILES



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4c4igz

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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




Editor's note: CNN was granted access to Myanmar by its military. The trip was coordinated through the military's consultant, Ari Ben-Menashe. The military escorted the team and controlled its access and movements throughout. A journalist from the Southeast Asia Globe, who was also reporting for Al Jazeera, was on the trip along with CNN.

(CNN)  "This is not a coup," said Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun from a gilded hall in Myanmar's purpose-built capital Naypyidaw, the city where his comrades recently ousted an elected government, detained the country's leadership, and installed a military junta.

During an hour-long conversation with CNN, the military spokesperson was steadfast in upholding the junta's official narrative: that the generals are merely "safeguarding" the country while they investigate a "fraudulent" election. The bloodshed on the streets that has killed at least 600 people is the fault of "riotous" protesters, he said.

At one point, Zaw Min Tun said if civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's father -- the assassinated independence hero Aung San, who founded the country's modern military -- could see the situation now, he would say: "You are such a fool, my daughter."

The interview took place during a week-long press tour of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, and Naypyidaw from March 31 to April 6. Prior to the trip, the military assured CNN it would be able to report independently and be given freedom of movement, but the journalists' request to stay in a Yangon hotel was denied and the team instead were housed in a walled military compound, given only intermittent and heavily controlled access to the public.

The following interview with Zaw Min Tun offers an insight into how Myanmar's military junta are trying to justify their bloody takeover to the world, while at the same time cocooning themselves in government buildings far from a populace fiercely resistant to their rule, as they order deadly crackdowns on their own citizens in villages, towns and cities across the country.

CNN was provided with military interpreters, but conducted its own translations afterward.

The back story

Hours after commander-in-chief of Myanmar's armed forces Gen. Min Aung Hlaing ordered his troops to seize the capital before dawn on February 1, he announced on television that a state of emergency would be in place for one year, after which elections would be held. His takeover came as newly-elected lawmakers were due to take their places on the opening day of parliament.

The state of emergency caused all legislative, executive, and judicial power to be transferred to Min Aung Hlaing.

Zaw Min Tun said the state of emergency could be extended for an additional "six months or more" over "two terms" and "if the duties are not done yet." He did not give a firm date for when elections would be held, but said that according to the 2008 military-drafted constitution, "we have to finish everything within two years. We have to hold a free and fair election within these two years."

"We promise that we will make it happen," he said.

Many observers have questioned whether the military, which ruled Myanmar for half a century between 1962 and 2011, would be willing to relinquish power again, whether elections would indeed be "free and fair" -- and whether ousted leader Suu Kyi and her popular party the National League for Democracy (NLD) would be allowed to contest.

Zaw Min Tun pointed to a string of reforms the quasi-civilian government embarked upon in 2011 after the military gave up direct rule, which paved the way for the 2015 elections, in which Suu Kyi won a resounding victory. "If we didn't want her from the beginning there would be no process like this," he said.

However, the 2008 constitution was designed so the military would retain power despite a civilian government. It allocated the military a quarter of seats in parliament, giving it effective veto power over constitutional amendments, and the generals kept control of three powerful ministries -- defense, border and home affairs.

Zaw Min Tun also highlighted that Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest and has not been seen in public since the coup, is facing five charges, including illegally importing walkie-talkie radios, and for breaking Covid-19 regulations. She has also been accused of corruption and bribery. The most serious charge, however, is violating violating the country's Official Secrets Act, which carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

"What happened is because of the corruptions on national level and errors on state level procedures and we are accusing on the facts," Zaw Min Tun said. "Daw Aung San Su Kyi is a well-known person both in Myanmar and the world and we will not accuse that person without any reason."

But slapping perceived opponents with charges under vaguely-worded colonial-era laws has been a well-used tool by the military throughout its rule, and during the reform period. The charges against Suu Kyi have been described as "trumped up" by her lawyer, who called the bribery accusations a "complete fabrication."

To justify the coup, the junta has alleged widespread election fraud in the November vote that would have given the NLD a second term and a mandate to continue its reform agenda, which included attempts to amend the constitution to limit the military's power. Zaw Min Tun said the military had tried to negotiate with the NLD government but "no action was taken."

Zaw Min Tun said the junta had "solid evidence" the elections were fraudulent, but did not show any to CNN.

"The voting fraud we found in the election is 10.4 million, the number of eligible votes announced by the Election Commission was around 39.5 million and the voting fraud is a quarter of the vote," he said.

The election commission denied there was mass voter fraud and independent election monitors said there were no substantial problems that would be enough to overturn the result. Suu Kyi won with 83% of the vote.

Bloodshed on the streets

It is evident from the interview that Myanmar's military leaders want the world to believe they are acting in line with the country's laws and constitution, and say they are committed to building a "multi-party democratic county."

But the bloodshed on the streets, in which soldiers and police have shot dead protesters, bystanders and children, belies that claim.

At least 600 civilians have been killed by security forces, according to advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The UN envoy has reported enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and torture in prisons. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said authorities have "increasingly resorted to heavy weaponry such as rocket-propelled and fragmentation grenades, heavy machine guns, and snipers to kill demonstrators in massive numbers."

Around 3,000 people have been detained, many kept out of contact from their families, their condition or whereabouts unknown. Meanwhile, protesters, activists, journalists and families of those killed by the junta, have been forced into hiding as they fear security forces will hunt them in nighttime raids.

On Wednesday, a special envoy of Myanmar's ousted civilian government to the UN warned of a civil war if the world fails to stop the junta from seizing power and killing pro-democracy protesters.

"The bloodbath is real. It is coming, more people will die. I am afraid," Dr. Sasa said on CNN. "It is the time for the world to prevent another genocide, another ethnic cleansing, another massacre, so the world has the power to stop it before it's too late."

Zaw Min Tun blamed the violence on protesters "provoking" the crowd and said security forces cracked down because protesters "blocked the civil servants" from going to work.

In reality, thousands of civil servants, as well as white- and blue-collar workers, including medics, bankers, lawyers, teachers, engineers and factory workers, left their jobs as a form of resistance against the coup. The strikes, called the Civil Disobedience Movement, have disrupted sectors of the economy.

"The crowds were throwing stones and slingshots at them in the beginning but later the crowd are blocking with sand bags, shooting with handmade guns, throwing with fire, throwing with molotov (cocktails) and the security forces have to use the weapons for the riot," Zaw Min Tun said.

Asked whether he was seriously comparing slingshots to assault rifles, Zaw Min Tun said the security forces were using "minimum force."

"There will be deaths when they are cracking down (on) the riots, but we are not shooting around without discipline," he said.

According to the military, the death toll at the time of the interview was 248 people, including 10 police officers and six soldiers, he said -- less than half the toll documented by multiple human rights groups, which have repeatedly said security forces are violating international humanitarian law by shooting indiscriminately into crowds of peaceful protesters.

Bullet wounds in the heads and necks of many of those shot also suggest the soldiers are shooting to kill. Video and images captured by local journalists and eyewitnesses and verified by CNN show security forces shooting into crowds. In others, security forces are beating detainees with their rifles, or dragging bodies through the streets.

The killing of children

According to the UN Children's Fund, 46 children have been killed since the coup. CNN has documented instances of children being shot in their homes or while playing outside.

When asked about three teenagers who have died at the hands of security forces -- Kyaw Min Latt, 17, Htoo Myat Win, 13, and Tun Tun Aung, 14, -- the military spokesperson blamed protesters for "using" children on the front lines.

"In some places they provoke the children to participate in violence riots ... Because of that they may get hit when the security forces were cracking down (on) the crowds," he said. "There is no reason we will shoot the children, this is only the terrorists are trying to make us look bad."

He said it was "not possible" that a child would be shot inside their house and an investigation would be carried out if that was the case. Videos posted on social media corroborate that security forces have shot at houses.

Htoo Myat Win's father said his son was shot when several bullets smashed a glass window in his house in Shwebo city on March 27. "I dodged the bullet but my son was coming up to the glass window and got hit," he said, adding that his son was hit in the chest. "I don't understand why they have to shoot us when we were inside our house."

"They were shooting at protesters before and the protesters were running and we hid some of them because we worried that they might get arrested. They (army) must have positioned themselves in this neighborhood," he said.

Video widely circulated online showed Htoo Myat Win's distraught father screaming with grief in the back of a taxi as he rushed to his son's lifeless body for help. Forced to go to a military hospital, Htoo Myat Win's father said doctors there did an autopsy and told him to sign a document stating there was no bullet.

"I asked them my son die with a bullet wound why you want to say it is not from a bullet?" he said.

Perhaps keen to avoid creating martyrs, the military has sought to control the narrative over some high-profile deaths. Junta forces exhumed the body of one young protester and carried out an autopsy in which they determined the bullet that killed her did not come from a police gun.

In another incident, a military hospital claimed Kyaw Min Latt died after falling off his motorbike in Dawei city. CCTV footage, however, captured the moment a soldier standing on the back of a truck shot at the teenager as he rode with two others, who managed to run away. His mother verified the footage to CNN.

"The doctor told us that my son is suffering from the injuries of fall from motorbike, we couldn't say back anything except just kept say yes to everything," his mother Daw Mon Mon Oo said. She said X-rays of her son's body conducted at a second hospital were taken away by officials from the military-run hospital.

His death certificate, seen by CNN, states Kyaw Min Latt died on March 30 because of "the primary brain injury due to the fall from cycle (motorcycle)."

When his family were able to take his body home, his mother said "there was no injury from the fall of the bike but only when there the bullet went in and out, and bruised on his right eye."s

Pressed by CNN about the allegations from families of soldiers shooting into houses and of the military attempting to cover up the causes of deaths, spokesperson Zaw Min Tun demanded CNN show him evidence. "If that kind of thing occurred, we will have investigation for it," he said. "There may be some videos which look suspicious but for our forces, we don't have any intention to shoot at innocent people."

It is unclear whether the military has launched any internal investigations into repeated claims of extrajudicial killings.

CNN also pressed Zaw Min Tun on why at least 11 people were detained shortly after speaking with the CNN team in Yangon. Some were detained merely for flashing the three-finger salute from the Hunger Games movies that has become a symbol of resistance. According to three sources close to those detained, who spoke on condition of anonymity over fears of reprisal, eight were later released.

Zaw Min Tun confirmed security forces detained three people from the first market and eight others at a second after interacting with the team on the ground. When asked by CNN what crime they had committed, he said they hadn't broken the law.

"The security forces were worried they would provoke others and start the protest in the market, and that is why they got arrested," he said, adding the military expressed "regret" over the arrests.

CNN has since learned those eight are now in hiding, fearing rearrest.

International reaction

The coup and subsequent deadly crackdown have been widely condemned internationally. The United States, United Kingdom and European Union have imposed sanctions on several generals in charge of the coup, as well as on military-owned companies.

However, while Zaw Min Tun insisted elections would be held in the future, he warned the military's version of democracy would perhaps not be a Western-style liberal system.

"The democratic country we are building is the one suitable with our history and geography. The standard of democracy in Myanmar will not be the same as from Western counties," he said.

Despite the dangers, protesters from all walks of life in Myanmar continue to demand the military hand back power to civilian control and are held fully accountable. They continue to call for the release of Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders. Myanmar's many ethnic minority groups, which have long fought for greater autonomy for their lands, are also demanding the military-written 2008 constitution be abolished and a federal democracy be established.

Having grown up with a level of democracy, and political and economic freedoms their parents and grandparents didn't have, Myanmar's young people leading the resistance movement remain determined to fight for what they see as their future -- and they say they will not give up.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Myanmar military denies responsibility for child deaths and says elections could be pushed back"
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-08 20:53:52|Editor: huaxia

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Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Leung Chun-ying, also chairman of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) International Information Technology Association, addresses the inauguration ceremony of the association in Hong Kong, south China, April 8, 2021. Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao on Thursday jointly launched the Greater Bay Area (GBA) International Information Technology Association and held an inauguration ceremony. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaochu)

HONG KONG, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao on Thursday jointly launched the Greater Bay Area (GBA) International Information Technology Association and held an inauguration ceremony.

The association aims to boost the information technology (IT) development and application by leveraging combined advantages of the overall GBA region.

It plans to undertake related policy research work, set up communication and cooperation platforms for enterprises to enhance the regional connectivity in the IT sector, and nurture young IT engineers and talents for the region.

To push for cross-boundary data and digital renminbi in GBA, the association announced the establishment of the big data and financial technology expert groups for discussing related policies, technology research and development and applications, and international cooperation for the GBA region.

Leung Chun-ying, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, who is also chairman of the association, emphasized cross-boundary data as the top priority for the GBA integrated development.

Either for economic and industrial operation or for local people's livelihood, interconnectivity with the cross-boundary data between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao will play a decisive role in the integrated development of GBA cities, according to Leung. Enditem
A dog walker has discovered a live cat trapped in a cage next to rat poison when he went to open a public bin on a baking hot day.

The cat was found locked in the carrier - which contained dry food mixed with blocks of rat poison - in a blue garbage bag with yellow drawstrings at Henley Beach South on the Adelaide coast.

The bin was in full sun on a 29 degree day but the feline somehow survived, according to the South Australian RSPCA.

The two-year-old male cat was luckily found alive, but trapped in a carrier - with blocks of rat poison mixed with dry food - on a hot day

The shocking sight that greeted am Adelaide dogwalker when he opened a public bin at Henley Beach South - a caged cat, surrounded by blocks of rat poison

'If this cat hadn't been found when he was, there is a high probability he would have suffered a slow and agonising death,' said RSPCA inspector, Emma Shepley.

'It is both shockingly cruel and unnecessary, when there are humane options to surrender unwanted animals to a reputable animal welfare organisation like RSPCA or find them new homes.'

The man who found the cat took it home and called the RSPCA, which has since placed the animal at its Lonsdale shelter.

The cat is an overweight, unmicrochipped, two-year-old, de-sexed black male and is not believed to have eaten any of the poison.

The RSPCA is calling for the public's help to find out how the cat was dumped.

'Anyone who believes the cat may be theirs is urged to contact the organisation as soon as possible,' the organisation said.

Ms Shepley, who transported the cat to Lonsdale, described it as one of the most appalling acts of cruelty she has investigated.

The public bin, fully exposed to the sun, where the dumped cat was found at Henley Beach South

'How anyone could dump an animal is difficult to understand, but to leave a live animal trapped inside a cage in a hot bin, with poison, makes this incident especially disturbing.'

The RSCPA said abandoning an animal is an offence under South Australia's Animal Welfare Act, and anyone found guilty can face up to two years imprisonment or a $20,000 fine.

If the cat was poisoned, the person responsible could face aggravated cruelty charges, which carry a maximum penalty of four years imprisonment or a $50,000 fine.
Reuters

Hedge funds focused on commodities have generated strong returns in 2021 and investors long wary of such funds are now putting money into them, betting the recovery from the pandemic will charge demand for oil, gas and raw materials from metals to grains to sugar and coffee. While money has flooded into other commodity investments, hedge funds are a more surprising choice after years of outflows and closures of several high-profile firms. Among the funds notching big gains this year are those run by famed oil investor Pierre Andurand.
At a time when the United States has seen history unfold with Kamala Harris becoming the first woman Vice President, and with work being underway to deal with issues like the gender pay gap and gender equality, there happen to be still some incidents that send us right back to the caveman era.



The most recent example of this was when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had traveled to Turkey on Wednesday (April 08) along with European Council President Charles Michel to meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

Despite there being three leaders present during the meeting, there were only two chairs kept in the room, and to von der Leyen's surprise, she wasn't offered a single one despite being the only woman in the talks.

Yikes. EU Commission Prez Ursula von der Leyen gets no chair in meeting with #Turkeys Erdogan.



As EU Council chief Charles Michel is ushered in, seated next to Erdogan, the senior woman official looks around, says Erm, before ending up on sofa:

pic.twitter.com/LO9yrqGhVb  Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) April 7, 2021

Von der Leyen, who is the first female lead of the EU executive, was taken aback and could only gesture in disbelief when Michel took the only remaining center-stage seat alongside Erdogan.

Footage of the meeting showed Von der Leyen uttering a surprised sigh after seeing the awkward game of musical chairs unfold right before her, before being relegated to the sofa adjacent to the chairs.

Yikes. EU Commission Prez Ursula von der Leyen gets no chair in meeting with #Turkeys Erdogan.



As EU Council chief Charles Michel is ushered in, seated next to Erdogan, the senior woman official looks around, says Erm, before ending up on sofa:

pic.twitter.com/LO9yrqGhVb  Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) April 7, 2021

Following the meeting, however, the EU executive arm's spokesman, Eric Mamer, released a statement saying, "The president of the Commission was clearly surprised."

"The president (von der Leyen) should have been seated in exactly the same manner as the president of the European Council and the Turkish president."

There was no immediate response to the request for comment from the Turkish government.

However, as per reports, a member of the European Parliament, Sophie in't Veld, asked why Michel had not reacted to the distasteful incident.

Later, on the same day, Michel in a Facebook post admitted that the incident was "regrettable" and caused by "Turkish authorities strict interpretation of protocol rules".

`The 45-year-old Belgian leader said he decided against a public confrontation.

As per an EU official, who declined to be named, any public confrontation would have resulted in provoking a "protocol and political incident."

"Turkey meant no disrespect. It extended a very courteous welcome to both presidents and strictly adhered to international protocol." the official said.

However, in the past when Turkish leaders had visited Brussels, three chairs had been provided for the meeting with the heads of the Commission and European Council.

In the past, three chairs were provided when the Turkish leader visited Brussels for talks with heads of the Commission and the European Council.

According to EU spokesman, von der Leyen still decided not to make "an issue out of it" and in the conversation brought up women's rights and the Istanbul Convention on violence against women, from which Turkey withdrew in March.

Good first meeting with President @RTErdogan. Turkey has shown interest in re-engaging with the EU in a constructive way.



We are ready to work on a new momentum in our relationship ahead of the June #EUCO. https://t.co/OKK1gdo3TC  Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) April 6, 2021

While the 62-year-old Brussels-born German leader chose to take the high road, viewers reading about the incident could not choose to let the incident slide down just like that. Here are some of their reactions on the microblogging website Twitter:

Truly shocking, Von Der Leyen is possibly one of the most important politicians in the world today. Turkey should hang it's head in shame  Andy_tradesmantrucker (@Andytrdmntrucka) April 7, 2021

Are you kidding me????!!! Disgusting!! She looks as angry as I feel!!! Do better, people!  One Voice (@Resist4Dem) April 8, 2021

Charles Michel fault for sitting down when he should have gestured to her.  Malik (@Malik__73) April 7, 2021

Why are men so jealous of smart women?



I admire their physical strength.



But they cringe at our intelligence.  Terra Cotta (@TerraCo90720232) April 7, 2021

Charles Michel should be standing up for Gender Equality and European Values and refusing to sit down until both he and Ursula von der Leyen were given chairs. Sexist!  Smartipants (@smartindc) April 7, 2021

Fact: that's not his culture apparently. However much I find it distasteful, I will not project my values onto him. However, the EU man should have sat with the lady on the couch in a united front. More mad at him.  Tippypivrad (@tippypivrad) April 7, 2021
John Savona, vice president of manufacturing and labor affairs at Ford, confirmed this information through a letter sent to factory workers. The Detroit Free Press reports that Michigan Assembly Plant will be joined by the Dearborn Truck Plant, Kentucky Truck Plant, Ohio Assembly Plant, Chicago Assembly Plant, and the Kansas City Assembly Plant in Missouri.Aside from the sky-high demand for the body-on-frame Bronco , the Blue Oval is also trying to please investors by making as many utility vehicles and trucks as technically possible to counter the global shortage of semiconductors. The Dearborn-based automotive company has been working tirelessly to find solutions to keep plants running so we can continue building high-quality vehicles that continue to be in high demand.On a more worrying note for the high-ranking executives and investors, more shutdowns are in the offing. During the week of April 12th, the Chicago, Flat Rock, and Kansas City locations will be offline due to the chip shortage that affects the smartphone and other gigantic industries too.The United Automobile Workers told the Detroit Free Press that The good news in this is that demand is high for UAW-made vehicles. Based on the first-quarter sales , the union is right. Ford improved its output by one percent over the first three months of last year, totaling 495,924 sales for the Ford brand and 25,410 for the luxury-oriented Lincoln Motor Company.As for when the all-new Bronco two- and four-door utility vehicles are going into series production, Job 1 is scheduled to start on May 3rd. By Job 1, the Blue Oval refers to legally sellable, VIN-stamped vehicles that are moving through the dedicated body shop on their way to final assembly.
Scientists could be a step closer to finding a way to reduce the impact of traumatic memories, according to a Texas A&M University study published recently in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

The report details a study by researchers from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and the Institute for Neuroscience. Stephen Maren, professor of psychological and brain sciences, said the group's findings suggest that procedures used by clinicians to indirectly reactivate traumatic memories render a window whereby those memories can be altered, or even erased completely.

In therapy, imaginal reminders are often used to safely retrieve traumatic memories of experiences. For example, Maren said a military veteran wounded by an improvised explosive device may be asked to re-experience trauma cues - like the lights and sounds of the explosion - without the negative consequences. The idea is that the fear responses can be dampened through this exposure therapy.

The one major challenge is when you do the extinction procedures, it doesn't erase the original trauma memory. It's always there and can bubble back up, which is what causes relapse for people who re-experience fear." Stephen Maren, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University

With this in mind, the researchers hoped to answer whether they could isolate a memory and drive fear responses by reactivating it artificially - and potentially disrupt the original memory itself. Maren said their findings suggest that procedures currently used by clinicians to indirectly reactivate traumatic memories create an opportunity to change or eliminate them.

To do this, the researchers used a conditioning procedure in which a cue becomes indirectly associated with a fearful event. When the cue is presented later, it indirectly reactivates a memory of the event and increases activity in the hippocampus, a brain area important for memory.

The study showed that indirectly reactivating a contextual fear memory through re-exposure to the cue can make the memory vulnerable to disruption. Maren said further research is needed to answer if scientists can produce a permanent loss of the traumatic information.
Albany, N.Y.  Several current and former staffers are disputing that their work on Gov. Andrew Cuomos book on the Covid-19 pandemic was truly voluntary, according to the Times Union in Albany.

When news first broke that state employees had worked on Cuomos book, his spokesman argued the situation was legal and not a misuse of government resources because the staffers had worked on the project voluntarily, the Times Union said.

The book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic, published in the fall. According to The New York Times, the bidding process for the book ended with a high offer of over $4 million.

Current and former staffers, or people speaking for them, told the Times Union that work on the book was expected within the culture of Cuomos office. Assignments on the project were made in the context of normal, daily duties, the paper said.

There was a clear expectation that we would do political work to help with his campaign and run the governors personal errands in the Executive Chamber, one former staffer said.

It was not optional, said the former staffer, who spoke on condition of not being identified, according to the Times Union. It was considered a part of your job. Everyone knew that you did what was asked of you and opting-out was never really an option.

Tasks included printing out copies of the manuscript, taking notes from Cuomos dictations and then typing up passages, according to the Times Union. Cuomo later used an app that directly transcribed his words as he spoke into a smartphone.

After the book published in October, staffers had to get Cuomos signature on copies of the book and mail them out.

State law bars any state employees, including Cuomo, from using government resources to advance private business interests, the Times Union noted.

Cuomo senior advisor Richard Azzopardi told the paper staff members who worked on the book project did so on their own time.

Every effort was made to ensure that no state resources were used in connection with this project  to the extent an aide did something like printing out a document, it appears incidental, Azzopardi said, according to the paper.

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598
Mumbai: The Uddhav Thackeray government on Friday (April 9) decided to postpone the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) examination scheduled for April 11, in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases in the state.

The decision was taken in an online meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and attended by cabinet ministers, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Pravin Darekar, MNS chief Raj Thackeray and senior officials.

According to the chief minister's office (CMO) statement, the age mentioned by candidates in the form will be considered whenever the exam is held. New dates will be announced later.

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that a "complete lockdown" of two to three weeks is required in the state to improve the health infrastructure in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases. He further said that such a step could be taken if the government is unable to cope with the situation.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will hold an all-party meeting on April 10 to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the state.

Live TV
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.
BALTIMORE, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Urological Association (AUA) is pleased to announce Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University School of Public Health and globally recognized expert on the COVID-19 pandemic preparedness and response, will deliver the keynote address at the 2021 Annual Urology Advocacy Summit.

In his keynote, Dr. Jha will discuss the public policy response to the pandemic, as well priorities in the coming months. Dr. Jha's presentation will take place virtually Wednesday, July 21st.

"Dr. Jha serves as a most compelling keynote speaker for this year's Annual Urology Advocacy Summit in July," said Dr. Eugene Rhee, Chair of the AUA Public Policy Council. "His deep perspectives as a public policy authority on the pandemic and how it impacts advocacy in urology will highlight a resurgence of public interest in healthcare delivery across this nation."

Dr. Jha received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and then trained in Internal Medicine at the University of California in San Francisco. He completed his General Medicine fellowship at Brigham & Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School and received his M.P.H. from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

His research endeavors focus on improving the quality and costs of healthcare systems with a specialized focus on the impact of public health policies nationally and globally. Dr. Jha has published over two hundred various papers in prestigious journals and heads a personal blog that focuses on using statistical data research to improve health quality. Prior to his role as Dean of Public Health at Brown University, he was faculty member at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Faculty Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute and Dean of Global Strategy. Dr. Jha is a member of the Institute of Medicine at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and continues his practice at the Providence VA Medical Center. He is a frequent medical contributor on CNN, NBC, MSNBC and other top news outlets discussing the impact of the global pandemic, vaccine distribution and health outcomes.

The AUA Summit provides an opportunity for those in urology to advocate directly with lawmakers for policies that impact their work and the lives of their patients. To learn more about the AUA Summit and to register to attend, visit www.AUASummit.org.

About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology and has nearly 23,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy.

Media Contact:

Teri Arnold, Corporate Communications and Media Relations Manager

Cell: 757-272-7002, [email protected]

SOURCE American Urological Association

Related Links

www.auanet.org


Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 23:59:02|Editor: huaxia

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A man receives the COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Nice, southern France, on April 10, 2021. France's top health regulator on Friday said people under 55 who had received the first dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should complete their inoculation with a second jab of a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine -- such as the one developed by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna. (Photo by Serge Haouzi/Xinhua)

PARIS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- France's top health regulator on Friday said people under 55 who had received the first dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should complete their inoculation with a second jab of a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine -- such as the one developed by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.

On March 19, the French National Authority for Health (HAS) recommended that AstraZeneca vaccine should be administered only to people aged 55 years and over, following reports that blood clots affected younger vaccinated people.

Before the restriction, more than 500,000 people under 55 have received a first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine, according to the HAS.

As a single dose is insufficient for effective protection, the HAS "now recommends completing the vaccination schedule for this population with an mRNA vaccine within 12 weeks of the first injection," it said in a press release on Friday.

Currently, two mRNA vaccines, one from Pfizer-BioNTech and one from Moderna, are being used in France. AstraZeneca vaccine uses traditional adenovirus-vectored technology.

The HAS added that it also recommends a study to assess the immune responses of dose-mixing vaccination.

An Odoxa poll released on Thursday showed that 71 percent of French people refuse to receive AstraZeneca shots, while 70 percent said they have confidence in Pfizer jabs and 65 percent said they trust Moderna vaccine.

As of Thursday, over 10 million people in France have got the first shot of a COVID-9 vaccine, representing 19.3 percent of the adult population, and 3.4 million have completed their vaccination, according to data released by the health ministry. Enditem
The Australian Federal Police has told the High Court it is actively considering referring a former NSW Labor staffer to prosecutors over suspected money laundering offences after bundles of $60,000 in cash were seized from his premises last year.

Police have underlined the serious and ongoing nature of their investigations before the High Court this week, as they fight to uphold search warrants executed against ALP staffer John Zhang last year.

Labor MLC Shaoquett Moselmane with former staffer John Zhang, right. Credit:Facebook

Mr Zhang is under investigation over an alleged foreign interference plot to advance the interests of the Chinese government while he was working as a staffer to NSW Labor backbencher Shaoquett Moselmane.

Some of the conduct allegedly took place in a private social media chat group.
Nearly two months after sexual harassment and assault scandals including a claim of rape inside the parliament, the Australian government on April 8 rolled out Road Map for Respect after accepting a series of recommendations to prevent gender-based abuse and increase accountability for inappropriate behaviour at the workplace. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison unveiled the road map for respect based on the suggestions by the nations Sex Discrimination Commissioner to enhance the workplace culture in the public and private sectors.

As per the New York Times report, the Australian PMs Thursday announcement comprises one of the most comprehensive efforts by the government to date to tackle the problem that has been prevailing in the nations politics for several years. Reportedly, through the years, women have been mistreated, demeaned or sexually harassed often without recourse. The media publication also reported that federal review with the focus on Parliaments workplace culture has also kickstarted and it may further produce additional calls for reform as the demand for demonstrable change continues to escalate.

Critics question if its enough

Following Morrisons announcement, critics reportedly questioned if the governments move is enough while citing the initial report published in March 2020 with most of its finding being overlooked by the ruling administration until now. As per reports, many women have demanded more details and an evident timeline.

"It's going to take more than just words from this government to correct the impression that they don't care about these issues," said Louise Chappell, a political science professor at the University of New South Wales as per ANI report. "This is not going to go away."

"It takes a rape, a rape survivors rights advocate, a historical rape, 47, marches of 110,000 people to implement 55 recs of a report. I will not be grateful for the bare minimum shouldn't have taken this long. Slow clap for all those up the back who don't get it," she wrote in a tweet.

Meanwhile, Morrison said that his government had accepted all 55 suggestions that were presented in the report in whole, in part or in principle. Thus, critics have been reportedly questioning which measures would be put in place at the federal level among other details.

Image credits: AP
A paranormal investigator claims to have communicated with the spirit of Ed Gein in a new documentary about the serial killer who inspired Silence of the Lambs and Psycho.

Steve Shippy, a paranormal investigator and documentary filmmaker, claims he successfully talked with the dead serial killer's spirit in a two-hour Discovery+ special titled Ed Gein: The Real Psycho that airs on Friday.

Gein, who was known as the Butcher of Plainfield and the Plainfield Ghoul, was a murderer and body snatcher who exhumed corpses from graveyards to make a 'skin suit' from the bones and skin of the dead.

He told police after his arrest in 1957 that he used the skin suit to 'become' his dead mother.

Gein's life has inspired a number of horror characters including Norman Bates from Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Psycho, Leatherface in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Buffalo Bill in the Silence of the Lambs.

In the documentary, Shippy partners with psychic medium Cindy Kaza to question Gein and his mother, Augusta Wilhelmine Gein, about their relationship, Daily Beast reported.

Scroll down for video

Serial killer Ed Gein is escorted from the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory to the county jail after confessing to two murders

The character of Buffalo Bill, pictured, is seen in the Silence of the Lambs and is inspired by Gein

The character of Norman Bates, right, is seen at the Bates Motel in the classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller Psycho

The documentary is an installment of the hit Shock Docs franchise and is the first time cameras have been allowed on the Gein property 'where the gruesome evidence was first discovered.'

Shippy and Kaza then 'question' the Geins about their relationship, Daily Beast reported.

'Put on the suit,' Shippy claims Gein says during the paranormal encounter.

Shippy asks Gein if he is referring to his infamous 'skin suit.'

'Yeah,' the serious killer's spirit allegedly responds in the documentary.

At the end of the 'interview,' Shippy says: 'This kind of evidence is unheard of.'

During some point in the documentary, Kaza 'almost seems stung' when Gein's mother allegedly calls her a witch, Den of Geek reported.

'Tapping into the energy of Ed Gein as he was alive, and dead, will haunt me for the rest of my life,' Kaza said in the press release, which referred to her as a 'world-renowned psychic medium.'

Cindy Kaza and Steve Shippy are pictured holding a knife owned by Ed Gein in a new documentary

Gein allegedly tells the investigators to 'put on the suit' - referring to the skin suit he made from human flesh - in creepy words caught on the investigators' radio

Shippy and Kaza visited a number of locations in Gein's hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, to find 'the most haunted locations connected to the infamous killer' and if he committed his heinous crimes while under his mother's spell.

In one scene, a man alleges that his animals and family members died after he bought a knife belonging to Gein, The Sun reported.

'People think this area is haunted. They see shadows where they shoudn't be. They hear screaming and wailing, mostly female,' a local historian Dave Bignell tells Shippy.

The investigators use a variety of high-tech ghost hunting equipment during their research. The documentary uses some archival media but relies heavily on dramatic recreations.

'You'd think that having 20 years of experience investigating the paranormal would have prepared me for taking on this case,' Shippy said in a news release.

'No matter how much I had read about the man and his atrocities, I never expected to uncover what we did during our investigation.'

Waushara County Sheriff Art Schley, left, escorts Edward Gein, 51, of Plainfield, Wisc. into Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane Nov. 23, 1957, in Milwaukee

Gein is pictured on his 160-acre farm after discovery of the mutilated and headless body of a 58-year-old woman and ten skulls on his property

View of a sign that welcomes visitors to Plainfield, Wisconsin in November 1957. At the time, the town was in the news following the arrest of murderer and body snatcher Ed Gein

A photo shows a close-up of a chair upholstered with human skin found in the home of murderer and body snatcher Ed Gein in Plainfield, Wisconsin in November 1957

An unidentified police officer examines the junk-littered kitchen in the farm home of Edward Gein, where authorities found human skulls and other parts of human bodies. They also found the butchered body of Bernice Worden hung in a shed near the house

Edward Theodore Gein, the second son of George Philip Gein and Augusta Wilhelmine Gein, was born on August 27, 1906 in La Crosse County, Wisconsin.

His father was an unemployed alcoholic and his mother was a highly religious Lutheran who held a domineering presence in Gein's life and tried to preach to her children about the dangers of drinking and women, who she believed were tools of the devil.

Gein, a shy boy, only left the farm to attend school and teachers later remembered him as being strange and prone to random bursts of laughter. His mother would punish him for making friends with 'sinners.'

'His mother will never let him have a voice or thought of his own,' Kaza says in the new documentary. 'It was always from her.

'She's evil and, as a young child, I'm sad for him because I don't think he was born this way. I feel like she created a monster.'

Deputy sheriff standing outside of house belonging to alleged serial killer Ed Gein, where he lived a deceptively quiet life and where parts of his victim's bodies were found

Filthy, cluttered kitchen of alleged mass murderer Ed Gein, where parts of his victim's bodies were found

Trooper Dave Sharkey looks over some of the musical instruments found in the home of bachelor farmer Ed Gein

An unidentified police investigator carries a chair from the home of murderer and body snatcher Ed Gein in 1957

Police investigators move a car as they search for evidence in a garage on the property of murderer and body snatcher Ed Gein in Plainfield, Wisconsin in November 1957

Overhead view of police investigators as they dig for evidence in a garage on the property of murderer and body snatcher Ed Gein in 1957

Smoldering ruins show all that remains of the House of Horrors after a fire of undetermined cause destroyed the two story home of confessed killer Ed Gein, who shocked the nation when human remains were found in it, the house was to be auctioned and police suspected arson

Gein's father died of heart failure on April 1, 1940 so he and his brother Henry started taking jobs around town to help bring money into the family, including babysitting for local families.

Henry Gein died on May 16, 1944, as the brothers performed controlled burns on their farm, which got out of control and required the fire department to be put out.

At the time, it was believed that Henry Gein had died from heart failure as he was not burned during the fire. However, investigators more than a decade later questioned Gein about his brother's death.

Dr. George W. Arndt, a psychiatrist who worked with the Wisconsin Board of Corrections, studied the case and wrote that, in retrospect, it was 'possible and likely' that Gein killed Henry and was 'the 'Cain and Abel' aspect of this case.'

After Henry's death, Augusta had a paralyzing stroke and Gein, the 'town fool,' was tasked with taking care of her as her health quickly deteriorated. She died on December 29, 1945.

Gein was devastated by his abusive mother's death and felt like he had 'lost his only friend and one true love,' biographer Harold Schechter noted.

He continued to live and work on the farm but boarded up his mother's rooms while the rest of the home fell to ruin.

A photo shows a squalid room in the home of murderer and body snatcher Ed Gein in Plainfield, Wisconsin in November 1957

View of a room in the home of murderer and body snatcher Ed Gein in Wisconsin in late November 1957. Gein had closed off the room, along with several others, when his mother died 12 years earlier, while he lived in squalid conditions in other rooms

Gein started to become fascinated with the concepts of cannibalism and began visiting local cemeteries in just two years after her death to start his 10-year grave robbing spree, according to a biography by Judge Robert H. Gollmar - who presided at Gein's trial.

Despite all of his notoriety as a serial killer, Gein has only been confirmed to have murdered two victims while robbing the graves and desecrating the bodies of nine others.

Gein's first victim, tavern owner Mary Hogan, was killed in 1954  nearly 10 years after the death of his mother.

Nobody linked Gein to her disappearance when she vanished from work leaving nothing but blood at the scene.

The second murder victim, Bernice Worden, owned a hardware store in Plainfield and disappeared on the morning of November 16, 1957. Her son Frank Worden, a deputy with the local sheriff's office, found the store's cash register open and blood stains on the floor around 5pm that day.

An unidentified man with a cigarette holds up a sketch of evidence in the case against serial killer Ed Gein on November 20, 1957. The sketch appears to be a face, possibly a dead skin mask

Edward Gein, owner of Plainfield, Wisconsin farm where butchered body of Bernice Worden was discovered hanging in a shed, is shown as he was taken to the state crime laboratory to face a lie detector test

Worden told investigators that Gein had stopped by the store the night before and said he would return that morning for a gallon of antifreeze  the last receipt Worden wrote on the morning she disappeared.

The deputy told investigators he believed Gein was behind the murder of his mother, a widow, because he had been asking her to go roller skating with him, according to the 1998 biography Obsession.

Gein was just leaving a neighbors house after being invited to dinner when police approached him, and he implicated himself by insisting he had nothing to do with Bernice Wordens death  even though no one had informed him the woman was dead.

Gein was arrested that evening while the Waushara County Sheriff's Department searched his farm and found the woman's decapitated body in his shed.

Worden's body had been hung upside down to a wooden crosspiece and was 'slit open from vagina to sternum,' biographers noted in Obsession.

Exterior view of Worden's hardware store in Plainfield, Wisconsin on November 20, 1957. The store was the site of a murder by serial killer Ed Gein who killed Bernice Worden there on November 16, 1957

A portrait shows murder victim Bernice Worden who was killed by Ed Gein, the inspiration for the film Psycho

Funeral for Bernice Worden, last victim of alleged serial killer Ed Gein, is held at Methodist-Episcopal Church

A crowd of about 2,000 persons took advantage of sunny skies to watch the auction on March 30, 1958 of the Ed Gein farm. The highest bidder for the land and charred ruins of the House of Horrors was Enden Schey a Wisconsin real estate broker who said he planned to put the entire 195 acres into pine for timber and pulpwood production

Inside the house, officers found human skulls attached to the posts of Gein's bed and Worden's heart in a saucepan on the stove.

Cops also found a trash can made of human skin, human skin covering several chair seats, bowls made from human skulls, a corset made from a female torso and leggings made from human leg skin.

Other items included the genitals of nine women in a shoe box, masks made from the skin of female heads, Mary Hogan's face in a paper bag and her skull in a box, a belt made from female human nipples, and a lampshade made from the skin of a human face.

Despite the filth and horror in most of the farmhouse, however, authorities discovered a blocked-off, dusty yet tidy area: Augustas bedroom, which had been kept by Gein as a virtual shrine to his dead mother.

The amount of human trophies found in Geins home seemed to indicate that he had killed far more people than just Worden and Hogan. He admitted to both of these murders, though he claimed each was accidental.

Gein insisted he had not killed any other women, and instead studied death notices so he could engage in grave robbing.

He told investigators that he made as many as 40 grave robbing trips in the middle of the night to exhume recently buried bodies of middle-aged women he thought looked like his mom.

Gein provided investigators with a list of graves he had dug up  and they were found to be either empty or containing mutilated remains.

Despite admitted to killing Hogan and Worden after his arrest in 1957, Gein was initially found unfit to stand trial.

He was sent to a mental health facility and was judged fit to stand trial in 1968, and was later found guilty of murdering Worden.

However, he was also found legally insane and returned to the psychiatric institution.

He died at Mendota Mental Health Institute of respiratory failure on July 26, 1984.
Senator Ted Cruz has criticized the Secretary of the Department of Homeland and Security for another media blackout on his trip in visiting two border towns. The Republican senator from Texas argued that the movement was another attempt of the administration to cover up the border crisis.

It can be remembered that the Republicans are voicing out their opposition to the Biden Administration's media blackout when it comes to the situation on the border. Senator Jon Barrasso, a GOP member from Wyoming has disclosed that an official from the current administration gave directives to the Republicans to delete the photos they took inside the migrant facilities, adding that the migrants are being packed "like sardines." Barrasso noted that despite the directives no one from their delegation has erased any photos they took.

READ NEXT: Pelosi Says Surge of Migrant Children At U.S.-Mexico Border Is a 'Humanitarian Crisis'

Senator Ted Cruz on Sec. Mayorkas

The announcement of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' visit was made on Twitter emphasizing at the end that the travel the DHS secretary has taken was "closed press," meaning he will not be accompanied by any media personnel.

Closed press.



Once again, Joe Biden is trying to hide his egregious failures at the border from the American people. #HidenBiden https://t.co/nZ6O5KA4A2  Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 8, 2021

Ted Cruz expressed his disappointment by quoting the announcement and highlighting the word "closed pres." Cruz argued that the media blackout is geared to hide the failures of the Biden administration to the American people. Ted Cruz also added a hashtag HidenBIden.

The DHS secretary visited the town of El Paso and McAllen in Texas, according to a New York Post report. Mayorkas met with the immigration advocates, law enforcement officials, frontline DHS workers, and local politicians.

It can be remembered that the White House has argued that the media was not allowed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Immigrants Amid the Media Blackout

The officials in the U.S.-Mexico border have discovered a 100% increase in the number of unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the border, according to a Time report. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection released data on Thursday morning stating that the agency has encountered about 18,890 unaccompanied migrant children in March. On the other hand, about 9,457 unaccompanied migrant children were encountered by the agency during the month of February.

Meanwhile, the president and the vice president have not yet visited the border to assess and evaluate the situation in the area, according to a News Chant report. It can be remembered that Vice President Kamala Harris was tapped by President Biden to lead the White House Efforts in addressing the situation in the U.S-Mexico border.

The 18,890 unaccompanied children were identified by the authorities as children from Central America. Furthermore, there is also an increase in individuals trying to cross U.S. borders illegally. CBP agents noted that they have encountered more than 172,000 people who illegally tried to cross the borders. In February, illegal crossers are reported to be about 100,441.

Apart from the recent visit of Mayokas to border facilities, the prior visits of the DHS secretary on March 6 and March 19 were also not allowed to be accompanied by media personnel.

READ MORE: Arizona Governor Disagrees with Kamala Harris Leading the White House Border Response

WATCH: Border Patrol Footage Shows Inside Of Texas Facilities For Migrant Children - from NBC News
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-08 22:49:08|Editor: huaxia

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A tourist-packed excursion train departed from Harbin in Heilongjiang in northeast China for Lhasa in Tibet in China's southwest.

The train, with more than 500 tourists, is the first of its kind for Heilongjiang Province.

The tourists will travel to Lhasa in a 16-day sightseeing trip.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
April 09 : After watching The Big Bull for the third time on Thursday night, Amitabh Bachchan praised the performance of his son Abhishek Bachchan in the film, and said that he will watch the film for the fourth time tonight. The megastar was filled with pride to watch his sons performance in the film. The Big Bull was released on the streaming platform Disney+Hotstar on April 8.

Taking to Twitter account, Big B wrote, T 3868 -apintment ,      ,     Bhaiyu (seen it thrice, will watch for the fourth time tonight).

T 3868 -

'apintment'  ,  

    ,    



Bhaiyu  pic.twitter.com/988jylhEQb  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) April 9, 2021

While watching the film on Thursday on Disney Plus Hotstar, Big B was joined by his wife Jaya Bachchan, daughter Shweta Nanda, grandchildren Navya and Agastya, and son Abhishek over a video call. While Jaya Bachchan is campaigning in Kolkata, Abhishek is shooting in Lucknow. Agastya and Navya joined him from New York, where they are studying, and Shweta was with him in Mumbai.

The Senior Bachchan also wrote in his blog, Aahhh .. children shall always be in the softest of spots no matter what!! And when they do something remarkable the pride and the chest swells further ..

Big B further wrote, For a Father it is ever a moment of great pride to see their progress report prosper and do well .. I am no different from any other Father .. the mention of such always brings emotion and tears .. particularly when there is an exhibition of immense value ...

The Gulabo Sitabo superstar further added, So despite the fact that Big Bull had been seen privately within the confines of the home much earlier, the excitement of watching it when the entire world shall be seeing it at the same time, was different .. The drive back from work was indulgent .. connect mobile to Disney Hotstar .. on with the dongle for internet connectivity .. open the packet of biscuits and the aerated water and .. there he is .. my SON ...

Directed and co-written by Kookie Gulati and produced by Ajay Devgn, Anand Pandit, Vikrant Sharma and Kumar Mangat Pathak, The Big Bull is inspired by the life of Harshad Mehta, a stockbroker who was involved in many financial crimes in the 1980s and 1990s. Besides Abhishek, the film also stars Nikita Dutta, Ileana D'Cruz, Sohum Shah, Ram Kapoor and Saurabh Shukla.

Expressing his excitement to watch his sons film, Amitabh Bachchan further wrote, Stop the relay on the reach of Jalsa .. rush up to the tv and continue as we were before, Face Timing in multiple presence imagery with Kolkata, New York and Lucknow and Shweta downstairs all at once and the joy of sharing our love and appreciation .. Life has become distant .. Jaya in Kolkata campaigning , Navya and Agastya in NYC on study, Abhishek in Lucknow on shoot , and Shweta and me out of shoot and home due curfew .. BUT .. thank you FT we get all connected on one screen at the same time talking watching .. such a delight .. and such a wonder of modern technology, Big B stated.
The Sub-Tropical and Tropical Coastal Resilience: Social, Economic, and Physical Adaptations in South Florida and the Caribbean symposium promoted an interdisciplinary approach for the growing global movement that seeks to anticipate and prepare for the shocks and stresses related to climate change.

Renowned medical anthropologist Paul Farmer and Miami-Dade Countys Chief Resilience Officer James Murley, in their respective keynote presentations, headlined the many panelists who shared their insights and experiences during the full-day virtual conference.

The symposium, the first of a series of planned biannual events to be offered by the University, was co-hosted by the School of Architecture, the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas, Graduate Studies, the School of Architecture Center for Urban and Community Design, the Master of Professional Science in Urban Sustainability and Resilience program, and the Patti and Allan Miami Herbert Business School M.S. in Sustainable Business program.

Jeffrey Duerk, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, and Rodolphe el-Khoury, dean of the School of Architecture, welcomed attendees to the virtual conference.

The multidisciplinary and interdisciplinarity of the symposium mirrors the Universitys diverse research endeavors, said Duerk, noting that through our involvement we continue to grow our commitment to partnerships with regional and local academic organizations; with local, state, and federal governments; and nonprofits and community groups to address these important issues.

El-Khoury pointed out that the wide array of speakers offers new comprehension into not only how climate change is driving transformation in the lives of individuals, communities, and society at large, but also how these same actors are contributing to finding innovative pathways towards resilience.

The dean especially recognized the efforts of Sonia Chao, director of the Center for Urban and Community Design, whose work has long probed the intersection of climate change, resilient design, and historic preservation and is shaping the schools architecture in coastal resilience, he remarked.

In his plenary presentation, Murley provided an overview of Resilient305, the Miami initiative launched in 2019 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation. The endeavor has grown to actively engage many of the countys 34 municipalities through a range of action steps and benchmarks that aim to improve social equity, innovation and technology, and intergovernmental collaboration.

Murley illuminated the role of the Metrolab Network, a collaborative of the county, the cities of Miami and Miami Beach, the University of Miami, Florida International University, and Miami Dade College. He noted the climate modeling research of Amy Clement, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric Science, and other researchers in an area of northeastern unincorporated Miami-Dade County that bodes well as a national model for the work going on in our universities.

As part of a lunchtime keynote conversation, Farmer spoke with Felicia Knaul, director of the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas and also a public health expert.

Farmer pointed out that public health systems in the United States and in many other countries have been [financially] starved for the last 50 years and are generally weak, patchwork systems that do not lend themselves to a coherent response to a natural or environmental disaster.

In answer to a question regarding the most important health-related response in a disaster, Farmer emphasized that from his decades of experience in Haiti and around the world material thingsstaff, stuff, spaces, and supportare most essential, and often can inspire the hope for individuals struggling to survive.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are often more competent at supplying needed care in a crisis, Farmer said. Partners In Health, the NGO he co-founded in 1987, serves millions of patients in 11 countrieswith enormous impact in Haitiand employs some 20,000 workers. Having more people involved in health care is an important marker of success, he said.

Both Farmer and Knaul concurred that dignificationrespecting and dignifying patients who seek and need careis a most critical element of effective care.

President Julio Frenk offered closing remarks. He accentuated the unique format that convened a rich diversity of presenters and the breadth of topicsfrom disaster mitigation and gentrification to cultural identity and the role of the arts and educationcomprised under the resiliency umbrella.

An interdisciplinary and integrated approach to complex issues is one of the most important aspects of research here at the University of Miami, Frenk said. This approachbringing diverse fields and perspectives togetheris essential if we are truly to become resilient.

The president noted the value of the dialogue sessions in generating insights of particular interest to University units and initiatives: urban policy and the equitable and wise use of our financial resources (Center for Urban and Community Design and the Master of Professional Science in Urban Sustainability and Resilience program), the infrastructure options that support and enhance our daily lives and our commitment to environmental protection (Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science), the realities of how a changing climate is shaping peoples decisions to move and seek shelter in new places (Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas), the challenges and the opportunities that exist in the built environment and the leaderslocally here in Miamiwho are developing pathways forward (School of Architecture), and the crucial function that education plays in fostering partnerships and nurturing the upcoming generations as they begin to take the reins and work toward meaningful and effective change (Graduate School).

He acknowledged the contributions and insights of the many speakers who participated.

We are delighted to work with each of you for the advancement of knowledge and for the promotion of a dialogue that can lead to effective solutions to the most consequential challenges facing all of humankind, Frenk said.

All sessions will be available as recorded files via Resilience.Miami.Edu within the next few weeks.
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) Party Secretary Chen Quanguo attends a group discussion session on the second day of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 19, 2017. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Top CCP Official Responds to Boycott Xinjiang Cotton Campaign

Xinjiangs Communist Party secretary Chen Quanguo for the first time on April 2 openly responded to the campaign to boycott Xinjiang cotton, which had been gaining traction among big corporations.

Last year, the United States imposed sanctions on four Chinese officials over serious human rights abuses in Xinjianga remote region in northwest China. As the top government official in the area, Chen was named at the top of the sanctions list.

Some forces concocted and propagated a large number of lies and false information about Xinjiang to smear Xinjiangs image, Chen said, touting Xinjiangs story as one of the most successful human rights stories in history.

He made the comments during a ceremony to receive a foreign delegation of diplomats from over 20 countries led by Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Vladimir Norov, the former foreign affairs minister for Uzbekistan. The group were in Xinjiang from March 30 to April 2.

Swedish fashion retailer H&M issued a statement in September last year, saying the company would stop sourcing cotton from Xinjiang as it was deeply concerned by reports of forced labor against ethnoreligious minorities in the region.

Six months later, the Communist Youth League of China issued an official statement on March 24 calling on Chinese people to boycott Western brands such as H&M, Nike, and Adidas because they had joined the campaign to boycott the use of Xinjiang cotton.

Since then, Chinas Foreign Affairs Ministry and Commerce Ministry have both opposed Western sanctions and the Xinjiang cotton boycott, claiming that external forces were trying to defame China.

So-called forced labor in northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is non-existent and entirely imaginary, and the spotless white Xinjiang cotton brooks no slander, a spokesperson for Chinas Ministry of Commerce said on March 24.

Chens Bloody History

According to London-based organization Free Tibet, Chen, during his tenure as the party boss in Tibet between 2011 and 2016, gained rich experience in how to tighten the CCPs grip on minority groups.

Chen ordered increased police checkpoints and state control over Buddhist monasteries, implemented grid management in communities, and intensified Tibets surveillance network.

After he took office in Xinjiang in 2016, he implemented detention on a large scale, and quickly reproduced the iron-handed management model he implemented in Tibet in his new territory.
A Sydney man has been charged after he was allegedly busted carrying a cache of weapons on a train.

Officers made the find during a routine patrol on a train service between Turramurra and Hornsby around 11am on Thursday.

Police say they spoke with the 36-year-old man in relation to an alleged transport offence, but upon searching the several bags he had with him, found an electronic stun device, a large knife and other items of interest.

The man was escorted off the train and charged with possessing a prohibited weapon without a permit, being in custody of a knife in a public place and having suspected stolen goods with him.

He was given conditional bail to appear at Hornsby Local Court on April 14.

A Sydney man has been charged after he was allegedly busted carrying a cache of weapons on a train
New Zealand Womens cricket team will be looking to prevent a series whitewash when they face Australia at the Bay Oval on Saturday.

The White Ferns have been on the receiving end of two defeats in Mount Maunganui so far as their Trans-Tasman rivals secured the Rose Bowl this week.

Australia also secured the world record for an international cricket winning streak of 22 in the first ODI, extending that record to 23 with the series win on Wednesday night.

However, the mood in the White Ferns camp remains positive ahead of the third and final clash of the current series against the all-conquering Australians.

Its exciting, says all-rounder Melie Kerr. Representing your country is always special. It would be great if we could take the series to be 2-1 and to take a game off of Australia.

They are a quality side but we have competed really well and are making a lot of improvements so hopefully tomorrow we can put the complete performance together.

Kerr, herself only 20-years-old, is excited by the talented young players coming through and has seen plenty of positives from the two defeats so far to suggest New Zealand can put an end to Australias winning run in Mount Maunganui this weekend.

If you look at the side we have got a lot of youth at the moment and players coming through, says Kerr. I think it is exciting to see those players coming through.

I think we have set really good platforms in both games to either set a big score or chase down the score Australia have got but we just have not been able to get the job done. I think there are positive signs that we are getting ourselves into winning positions.

Challenging herself against the best in the world is certainly something Kerr is happy to be doing.

You dont want to play a game that is too easy so it is always good getting out there and challenging yourself, she says.

Weve got good plans in place and if you play to your strengths I think that is the most important thing.

As for their time on the current tour, it seems despite the series loss the White Ferns remain upbeat and of the belief the positives showcase they remain on the right track.

It has been a really good vibe on this tour, says Kerr. I think the culture is definitely there and we are all excited to play cricket. Were excited about how we are tracking and I think we are heading in the right direction.

As I said, tomorrows another opportunity and it is exciting for the group and we are looking forward to it.
Yehuda Ben-Yishay, a psychologist whose experience working with wounded Israeli soldiers led him to make pioneering advances in treating traumatic brain injuries, helping countless patients return to some semblance of the life they had before, died on March 24 at the NYU Langone Health hospital in Manhattan. He was 88.

His death was confirmed by his wife, Myrna Ben-Yishay, a genetic counselor.

Before Dr. Ben-Yishay developed what he called holistic cognitive therapy in the 1970s, most scientists thought that the adult brain was immutable, and that serious injuries  and the behavioral changes that resulted  were permanent.

Working with Leonard Diller, his colleague at Rusk Rehabilitation at NYU Langone Health, Dr. Ben-Yishay proved otherwise, setting aside the biology of the brain to show that things like attention, memory and behavior could still be strengthened, or compensated for, in recovering patients.

The two first demonstrated their ideas in Israel, where hundreds of soldiers, many of them tank drivers, had suffered traumatic brain injuries in the sprawling tank battles across the Sinai Desert and in the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WTVA) - The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) has been called in to investigate an officer-involved shooting in Lowndes County.

Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said deputies responded shortly after 1 p.m. to a disturbance on Granderson Drive, which is just south of the Columbus city limits.

As deputies arrived, the incident evolved into a shooting, the sheriff said.

No one was hit, but the unnamed suspect did receive injuries during an incident prior to deputies arriving. The sheriff did not elaborate on the prior incident.

The suspect is being treated at a local hospital.

MBI is usually called in to investigate any shooting involving law enforcement officers.
Julie Winn had done about all she could to keep up with the rent on her Central City shotgun, despite a steep loss in income from a cancelled year as the longtime costume designer for the New Orleans Opera Association.

She cleaned apartments for her landlord, Pam Russell, helped Russell with social media and rented a booth, on Russells advice, selling holiday headbands at the Gretna farmers market.

I really did everything in my absolute power to be able to pay her. I used every ounce of money that I had, said Winn, 59.

But by January, she was tapped and behind on her rent. Shed applied a year ago for rental aid through the city but never heard back, she said. So Winn set her alarm for 8 a.m. on Feb. 15, when applications opened up for a huge new tranche of federal emergency rental aid coming to the city, and across Louisiana.

Last week, Russell received a direct deposit covering Winns unpaid rent and a month ahead.

It gives me time to catch up and figure out the next move, whatever its going to be, Winn said Thursday of the relief. I dont think Ive ever been through anything like this. I have never had a problem finding work, ever.

Winn was among the first renters in the state to see the benefits of a massive injection of emergency rent relief that promises to spread hundreds of millions of dollars across Louisiana to cover landlords and tenants for rents lost to the pandemic.

About 9,000 renters have applied so far in New Orleans, the first city in the state to launch its version of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The city is getting $25 million out of the $309 million in federal rental aid headed to Louisiana.

Thats just from the December stimulus. More money for emergency rental aid is coming from the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that President Joe Biden signed last month, housing officials said.

Officials say the available relief for renters and their landlords could nearly double.

Orleans was among seven parishes to receive money directly from the U.S. Treasury under the first program, which in New Orleans covers households at or below 60% of the area median income that have experienced pandemic-related hardships or risk housing instability.

The others are Caddo, Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Lafayette and St. Tammany.

Most have only recently launched their programs.

Marjorianna Willman, director of housing policy and community development in New Orleans, said the city has spent about $2 million so far, covering rents for about 240 tenants.

The slew of applications has brought some clarity to the depths of the personal debt facing by many renters, and the burden on landlords, after more than a year under a pandemic.

Willman said the average applicant in the city is behind $5,600, or four to six months' rent.

We know its been very difficult for landlords as well, she said. You cant separate the two. The best we can do is get the funds out there.

In Jefferson Parish, which is slated for $28.6 million in emergency rental assistance, about 2,500 tenants and 150 landlords have applied, said Nicole Fontenot, director of community development.

Most were eager, applying in the first two weeks after the parish opened its application process March 1.

Fontenot described a massive effort to start up the program. The task includes verifying information from both tenants and landlords, who -- if they take the money -- must agree to allow the tenant to stay at least three months, unless they commit a serious offense.

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Weeding out duplicative payments from other government sources and preventing fraud add to the challenges, officials said.

Were trying to move everything through as quickly as possible, Fontenot said.

The state launched its program March 5, aiming to dole out its $161 million share across the remaining 57 parishes.

It has approved the first 55 of 10,000 applications, said Keith Cunningham, executive director of the Louisiana Housing Corp., which is administering the state program.

Unlike New Orleans, which has limited forward payments to one month, the state program and others are allowing payments of up to three months.

Cunningham said the state has allocated the money by parish, to make sure it reflected what the need was and make sure no one is left behind.

He pointed to challenges in getting the word out to rural parishes, particularly for residents without Internet access.

Housing advocates in New Orleans say the city is working closely with them, and the citys two eviction courts, to funnel tenants and landlords to the program. City officials said they are scouring court dockets themselves each week to head off evictions.

Still, evictions continue, with landlords increasingly seeking eviction on grounds other than lapsed rent payments, advocates say. The latest extension, through June, of a federal eviction moratorium has left some landlords trying anything, said Hannah Adams, an attorney with Southeast Louisiana Legal Services.

Its far to say that landlords have started recognizing more and more that the terrain has changed, she said.

Some are declining to participate in the rental assistance program, according to advocates and housing officials, preferring to remove tenants and perhaps seek payment through small-claims courts.

Adams said she was concerned that the minute this moratorium ends, landlords are going to stop playing ball. Those who are owed only a few months' rent, she said, are not going to wait around for the government assistance.

Ive never seen the amount of just anger and tension as Im seeing right now between landlords and tenants as the debts have continued to grow, she added.

Breonne DeDecker, program director for the Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative, which tracks eviction hearings in New Orleans, said 59% of eviction filings before the pandemic were for one months late rent, compared to just 11% since September.

Bahaa Mahrous of Algiers is feeling it. He applied for rental assistance from the city last Tuesday but said he hasnt yet heard back. Meanwhile, he faces an eviction hearing on Monday.

Mahrous, 59, said he lost his job as a manager at an auto parts store. His wife, a nurse, contracted COVID-19 and became a long-hauler, with enduring symptoms, he said.

Theyre now three months back on rent. Mahrous said his landlord has tried to evict him twice already, once over the rent and a second time over pets and a makeshift fence hed built. But he said the majority of the $4,900 they owe is in late fees, complicating matters.

Mahrous said hes close to earning a certification as a respiratory therapist but needs more time.

If I could just get back to work, at least I could pay, he said. Thats really the only way Im going to pay my landlord back, and thats what Id like to do.

For Russell, the landlord who helped Winn keep up with her rent, helping her tenant try to pay made sense.

My position has been to try to help them, said Russell, who rents 11 units in Central City. These people are struggling. Nobody caused this to happen.

Details of the state program are available at lastaterent.com. New Orleans renters or landlords can apply at ready.nola.gov. In Jefferson Parish, the program is at jpera.org.
A South Korean oil tanker held for months by amid a dispute over billions of dollars held in Seoul was leaving early Friday.

MarineTraffic.com showed the MT Hankuk Chemi leaving Bandar Abbas in the early morning hours.

did not immediately acknowledge the ship had been freed. South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Iran released the tanker and its captain after seizing the vessel in January over alleged sea pollution. The ministry says the Hankuk Chemi left an Iranian port at around 6 am. local time after completing an administrative process.

Iran had accused the tanker, the MT Hankuk Chemi, of polluting the waters in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. But the seizure was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Seoul to release billions of dollars in Iranian assets tied up in South Korean banks amid heavy American sanctions on Iran.

The development came as Iran and world powers were set to resume negotiations in Vienna on Friday to break the standoff over US sanctions against Iran and Iranian breaches of the nuclear agreement. The 2015 nuclear accord, which then-President Donald Trump abandoned three years later, offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

The ship had been travelling from a petrochemicals facility in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when armed Revolutionary Guard troops stormed the vessel in January and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran.

(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.)
THERES an old saying about purchasing land and it goes as follows: Buy land, 'cause God aint making any more of it!

Well, the same could be said about lakeshore homes in Killaloe and Ballina. John Phelan, managing director of Harry Brann Auctioneers & Valuers, said based on the present planning criteria of Clare and Tipperary County Councils, it is highly unlikely that planning on the lake would be granted.

Lakeshore properties are a commodity. We are seeing the price going up. We are probably at 80% / 85% of the value of what it was in the boom in 2006 / 2007.

We used always say back at that time that anything on the water was a million and particularly within close proximity to either Ballina or Killaloe. It is slowly coming back, said Mr Phelan.

One such lakeside property is Heron's Rest, Craglea, Killaloe, guided at 795,000. He describes the three bedroom abode as an upside down house as the living accommodation is on the second floor to maximise the views over Lough Derg.

The only problem Mr Phelan has is he cant show people it!

It was put up for sale before Christmas. Were caught in the sense that with the restrictions we cant do viewings and people cant travel. We have five people on a list waiting to view it once restrictions are lifted.

People will look at the virtual tours but who is going to pay 795,000 for a house without seeing the inside. You need to be inside and get that feel. Everyone gets that feel the minute you go inside a house, said Mr Phelan.

And Herons Rest isnt the only house he has for sale that people are waiting to see. We have a number of properties where we would have 20-plus people on a list waiting to do viewings. We are expecting to be very busy in the next couple of months, said Mr Phelan.

Covid might currently be preventing him showing houses but like in Limerick city and county it has helped to drive the market.

The demand is there  our biggest problem is to get the stock. Its a mixture of people coming back from abroad, coming back from Dublin but also Limerick people very interested in moving out. A lot of our market in the boom time was people coming out from Limerick. It has always been a place that people aspire to live in. It has always been between Adare and here and we would obviously be selling Ballina and Killaloe, said Mr Phelan.

The other reason for the increased demand and people wishing to move to the Mid-West, which a number of auctioneers have spoken about, is the working from home phenomenon.

People can now work at home and maybe travel to the office one day a week. Somebody coming out of Dublin is getting up to 600,000 / 700,000 for a three-bed semi detached in Rathgar or Rathfarnham etc. A detached would be anything up to a million. You can come down here and be on the lake and live in Herons Rest for 795,000. With the new bridge and the upgrade of the R494 to the motorway you can be in Dublin in an hour and a half. That is all going to contribute to it, said Mr Phelan.

And Herons Rest isnt a bad spot to work from home.
A passenger wears a face mask to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus as he waits for a Delta Airlines flight at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

COVID-19 cases continue to rise domestically and now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning people in the U.S. about international travel to Canada.

The CDC now categorizes Canada in the "Level 4: Very High" category, the most severe level of COVID-19 risk, urging travellers to avoid all travel to the country.

"Because of the current situation in Canada even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to Canada," the notice from the CDC reads.

The CDC goes on to recommend that anyone who has to travel to Canada get fully vaccinated before doing so, in addition to wearing a mask, staying six feet away others, avoiding crowds, and washing their hands.

Canada has reported more than 1,036,000 COVID-19 cases to date, with an over age of over 6,800 cases reported daily across the country.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, highlighted at a press conference on Friday that over the past week, the number of new variant cases has more than doubled, with about 25,000 cases of variants of concern reported in Canada.

Data from the federal government states that 11.91 per cent of Canadians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 1.76 per cent of the population has received two doses. More than 7,361,900 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across Canada.
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YEREVAN -- Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of violating a key term of the Russian-brokered cease-fire deal that ended last falls fighting over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, alleging that Baku is reneging on a pledge to free Armenian soldiers and civilians captured during the conflict.

Unfortunately, the return of prisoners is again delayed, the office of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian said in a statement posted on Facebook on April 9.

Avinian said that Russian-mediated negotiations are continuing and we hope that the Azerbaijani side will at last respect the cease-fire agreement signed in November 2020, putting an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

There was no immediate reaction from Azerbaijani officials.

Avinians accusations come a day after Armenian government representatives said that a group of prisoners of war (POWs) was about to be repatriated to Armenia.

But a plane from Azerbaijan that was expected to bring 25 POWs turned out to be empty when it landed in Yerevan.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has been controlled by ethnic Armenians since the early 1990s.

Under the Moscow-brokered cease-fire deal, a chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by ethnic Armenian forces.

The agreement also resulted in the deployment of around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers, and provided for an exchange of POWs and other detained people.

Several prisoner exchanges have taken place in recent months.

There are no official figures of how many Armenians are still being held by Azerbaijan, but the RBK news agency said there were about 140. Its unclear how many Azerbaijani prisoners there are.

On April 9, hundreds of relatives of POWs and missing soldiers protested in Yerevan and other parts of Armenia.

In the capital, about 400 blocked the entrances of the Defense Ministry for a second day. Some protesters clashed with police.

More than 6,000 people died in last years fighting.

With reporting by dpa
UTICA, N.Y.  Short, tall or grande? Get your order ready, because a new Starbucks is coming to North Genesee Street in Utica.

The 2,200 square-foot facility will be located across from Babes next to Kookies Q & Creamery.

Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri said Starbucks has already formally submitted its plan to the Utica Planning Board.

As a community, we welcome Starbucks with open arms. This is an exciting time in our city and my administration will continue to work diligently to attract local, regional and national developers to Utica, said Palmieri. I thank Starbucks for investing in Utica and wish them every success.

The plan will be discussed at the planning boards next meeting on April 15.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Next year. The momentum is there!

Maybe in 3-4 years. There's always some problem.

Not until it's already legal in Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi

Somehow, the legislature will criminalize weed for eternity

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Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a holdover from the Trump administration, just unveiled his 10-year plan. In the name of fiscal responsibility, he would slow mail delivery, cut retail office hours, close post offices and mail processing plants, and raise prices. Good jobs would be lost ,and critical delivery of medicines, checks, bills and parcels would be delayed. More than 100 members of Congress have called for DeJoy to be removed, including most of the Oregon delegation.

President Biden cannot legally fire DeJoy, only the Postal Board of Governors can. Although Biden has recently nominated three pro-worker, pro-public, diverse governors to vacancies on the board, they will not be enough to remove DeJoy. Fifty-three representatives, led by Oregons Earl Blumenauer, have called on Biden to fire the entire postal board and replace them with governors who will value affordable, reliable and timely mail service. We must keep the pressure on Biden and Congress.

Jamie Partridge, Portland
Sidney Powell Says Democrat Governors Request for Sanctions Is Too Late

Attorney Sidney Powell, who filed several election-related lawsuits after Nov. 3, said in a court filing Thursday that Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers demands that she be sanctioned and fined are moot because the suit was dismissed months ago.

Evers, a Democrat, filed a request that Powell and former President Donald Trump each pay more than $100,000, claiming that they filed frivolous post-election lawsuits.

Powell, however, said (pdf) in court that it has been two months since the Seventh Circuit found this case to be moot and remanded it with instructions to vacate this Courts prior decision. The filing further said that during those two months, Evers did not make any application for sanctions against Powell.

Further, Powell and her lawyers continued, the Defendant has not made an effort to reopen this case, which was closed by the Court in December of 2020.

Now that the case has been vacated long ago as moot, it added, Defendant appears with a non-meritorious motion that is filed out of time and which, under controlling Seventh Circuit precedent, may not be considered by this court.

The governors request should be struck in its entirety as filed out of time in a closed case over which there is no longer jurisdiction, said Powell and her lawyers.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court rejected Powells election-related lawsuit in Wisconsin and Arizona. Writing on March 1, the high court issued a one-sentence order: The petitions for writs of mandamus are denied.

Evers had argued that Powell, who filed third-party lawsuits on behalf of the former president, and her client should pay over $106,000, and Trump and his attorneys should pay $146,000.

A message must be sent that this type of behavior cannot be tolerated in the judicial system, and that attorneys should avoid these types of frivolous attempts to disenfranchise voters in the future, attorneys for Evers said in court papers last week.

This litigation imposed significant costs on the taxpayers of Wisconsin, the attorneys said about Trump in separate court papers. Those costs were needless, because Trumps suit never had any merit, this litigation was precluded by exclusive state-court proceedings, and the costs were exacerbated by strategic choices made by Trump and his lawyers.

William Bock, a Trump attorney, told Reuters that his client denies the claims.

Theyre attacking in the pleadings my motives and the motives of my partners, of which they know nothing, Bock said. The statements made about our motives were absolutely false.

In November, Powell appeared alongside Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis at a press conference announcing post-election lawsuits. Days later, Giuliani confirmed that Powell was not part of their team.
Nurses are the lifeblood of our community. Words do not begin to describe how thankful we are for their sacrifices over the past year. They should be honored. The Express-News has a program, Salute to Nurses, that has honored nurses over the years.

This year we have restructured the program to make sure that we celebrate and honor your humble health warriors in the best way possible.

They have cared for so many of us when we were at our most vulnerable. We know there are great stories of sacrifice during the fight against COVID-19 and we are beyond grateful for the sacrifices they have made for our community. We thank you.

We believe that these humble health warriors deserve recognition. That's why this year, based on input from the public and health professionals, we want to celebrate San Antonio nurses through our Salute to Nurses program.

Anyone can nominate at mysa.com/salutetonurses now through May 15.

A panel of experienced judges will vote May 17-21.

Be sure to nominate during National Nurses Appreciation Week in May, and the winners of our program will be honored within a special section on June 6 and a virtual event, date to follow.

We thank you in advance for celebrating your special nurses and spreading the news about our program to honor them.

This is the time to make your voice of support and recognition heard as there has never been a time in our history where you and the healthcare community have given and sacrificed so much. Thank you, San Antonio, for continuing to support local journalism and important programs like these.


MOUNT ARLINGTON, N.J., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Baby Boomer generation grew up during an era of coupon cutting. The millennials have not seen coupons because they used to be distributed with your newspapers that this generation does not subscribe to. After the coupon cutting generation, products like Groupon filled the void. Temporarily. Enter the mobile-using crypto-friendly millennials and even a Groupon-type web product seems "old school."

How does one reach this generation of coupon cutters?

Enter the BUY token. "This generation has grown up on cryptocurrency and wallets, and what better way to distribute coupons than offering them in the form of tokens," says Jean Gabriel, CEO of Buying.com. "We are finding new and innovative ways to deploy our BUY token. Payment, coupons, discounts, offers, rewards, and on and on goes the list of how the BUY token can impact retail," added Jean Gabriel, CEO of Buying.com.

Buying.com has made forays into retail in the food services sector and is poised to disrupt other segments of retail. "Covid-19 has changed how consumers shop and receive their product. Buying.com has been at the forefront of this sea change in terms of the services we offer, but also how we have made it convenient to consumers and how the BUY token plays such a utilitarian role in this ecosystem," stated Jean Gabriel, CEO of Buying.com.

"Buying.com is well-positioned to be a leader in the retail space and as a startup, it is very successful. It is profitable and many startups would be envious of its position. This is no accident, and due to excellent execution on its strategy. The fact that Buying.com is not only a retail/logistics play but also a blockchain related startup with solid infrastructure and execution shouldn't go unnoticed," stated Raghu Bala, CEO of NetObjex, a Buying.com technology partner.

About Buying.com

Buying.com provides an on-demand delivery system for restaurants to streamline their delivery processes. The all-in-one order management system handles both internal and external orders, allowing restaurants to easily schedule drivers and track orders while reducing delivery costs. The on-demand delivery system eliminates any costs associated with external delivery apps while expanding the business' customer base.

About NetObjex

NetObjex, based in Irvine, California, provides enterprise software and business solutions for real-time tracking, tracing and monitoring of digital assets. The industrial grade NetObjex Matrix digital twin asset management platform unifies IoT, AI and blockchain technologies as a continuum for intelligent automation and data marketplaces. NetObjex clients and partners benefit from global coverage across key verticals like e-Commerce, energy, manufacturing, transport, healthcare, communications, retail & government.

Media Contact: Raghu Bala, CEO of NetObjex

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HOUSTON, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: GPI), an international, Fortune 500 automotive retailer, today announced that it will release financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021, on Thursday, April 29, before market open. Earl J. Hesterberg, Group 1's president and chief executive officer, and the company's senior management team will host a conference call to discuss the results later that morning at 10 a.m. ET.

The conference call will be simulcast live on the Internet at www.group1auto.com. Click on 'Investor Relations' and then 'Events' or through this link: http://www.group1corp.com/events. A webcast replay will be available for 30 days.

The conference call will also be available live by dialing in 15 minutes prior to the start of the call at:

Domestic: 1-888-317-6003

International: 1-412-317-6061

Conference ID: 7821943

A telephonic replay will be available following the call through May 6, 2021 by dialing:

Domestic: 1-877-344-7529

International: 1-412-317-0088

Replay ID: 10153988

About Group 1 Automotive, Inc.

Group 1 owns and operates 184 automotive dealerships , 237 franchises, and 49 collision centers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil that offer 31 brands of automobiles. Through its dealerships, the Company sells new and used cars and light trucks; arranges related vehicle financing; sells service contracts; provides automotive maintenance and repair services; and sells vehicle parts.

Investors please visit www. group1corp.com , www. group1auto.com , www. group1collision.com , acceleride.com, www. facebook.com/group1auto , and www. twitter.com/group1auto , where Group 1 discloses additional information about the Company, its business, and its results of operations.

Investor contacts:

Sheila Roth

Manager, Investor Relations

Group 1 Automotive, Inc.

713-647-5741 | [email protected]

Media contacts:

Pete DeLongchamps

Senior V.P. Manufacturer Relations, Financial Services and Public Affairs

Group 1 Automotive, Inc.

713-647-5770 | [email protected]

or

Clint Woods

Pierpont Communications, Inc.

713-627-2223 | [email protected]

SOURCE Group 1 Automotive, Inc.
The US Navy carried out a freedom of navigation operation in the Indian waters near Lakshadweep Islands on Wednesday without New Delhi's prior consent to challenge India's "excessive" maritime claims, according to an official statement.

A statement issued by the Commander of the US seventh fleet said that the operation was conducted by guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones on April 7.

"On April 7, 2021 (local time) USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) asserted navigational rights and freedoms approximately 130 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands, inside India's exclusive economic zone, without requesting India's prior consent, consistent with international law," the statement said.

requires prior consent for military exercises or manoeuvres in its exclusive economic zone or continental shelf, a claim the statement said was inconsistent with international law.

"This freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law by challenging India's excessive maritime claims," it said.

US forces operate in the Indo-Pacific region on a daily basis. All operations are designed in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, the statement said.

"We conduct routine and regular Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs), as we have done in the past and will continue to in the future. FONOPs are not about one country, nor are they about making political statements," it added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame constituency, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has been severely criticised over his 'non-Akan' flagbearer comment.



Hon Kyei Mensah-Bonsu courted controversy when he recently said that it will be unwise for the NPP to choose an Akan flagbearer again.



According to the Majority Leader, Inwardly, I know I have the competence to lead the party but is it wise that after two Akans  former President Kufuor and current President Akufo-Addo  to present a flagbearer candidate with different ethnicity . . . I think it is not good for a party which has been accused by some as being overly Akanistic in nature. But not everybody would agree with me and that is the beauty of democracy.



Days after his remarks, a group calling itself Concerned Northern Grassroots of the NPP called on the Suame MP who is also the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, to resign.



....it is very important for party functionaries like Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and his likes to know that even though the NPP calls itself Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition, we all are mindful of the fact that these three blocks do not adequately represent the NPP . . . if he is not above those directives by the National Executive Committee of which he is a member, then he should resign as our leader of the August House for showing bad fate and setting a very bad precedence, they said.



Speaking to the fallout of Hon Kyei Mensah-Bonsu's comments during a panel discussion on Neat FM's 'Me Man Nti' programme, former Greater Accra Regional Secretary of the NDC, Victor Kwashie Adonu said if that is the view of the Majority leader "then he is an 'enemy' of the Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen", who is regarded by some NPP activists as a likely flagbearer for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).



"He is one of the leaders of the party; for him coming out (with this), he's not being fair to any Akan candidate. Making such statements even his constituents won't forgive him. Alan cash should know that one of his biggest enemies today is Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu" he stated.



Listen to Victor's reaction below





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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iStock/Photo Beto (WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- It was a record number that hasn't been seen in nearly two decades, as immigration authorities say they halted more than 172,000 migrants at the U.S.-Mexican border in March 2021.

That is the highest number of migrants since the early 2000's, says U.S. Border Patrol.

The majority of the migrants were stopped between American ports of entry, while 4,000 were apprehended by port officials.

Sixty percent of those apprehended -- or 103,000 people -- were quickly expelled under the Trump administration's health regulation known as Title 42.

Border Patrol agents also say they are apprehending more families, but, have noticed "self separation" from older families by sending their children alone across the border.

On the growing crisis of unaccompanied minors at the border, the number of children taken into custody has doubled since February, with officials taking in about 18,890 minors last month.

Those numbers are rising as of early April and, as of Thursday, Customs and Border Protection authorities say there are over 20,200 unaccompanied minors in U.S. custody.

As for why the agencies say they are strained under the growing number of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., one official told ABC News that the fault can be traced back to former President Donald Trump's policies.

"We are continuing to dig out of a hole that was left by the previous administration," the official said, citing the lack of preparedness given to the Department of Health and Human Service.

Adds the official, "Nobody should have the expectation this is going to be solved overnight after four years of sort of potentially undermining the system."

In the meantime, officials have asked Congress for additional support in cracking down on criminals and smugglers that are trafficking individuals. The agency is requesting better technology at the border, improved infrastructure, more asylum officers and more immigration judges to expedite holding times.
The first phase of Leitrims new Walks Scheme has been approved by the Department of Rural and Community Development, beginning payments for a number of landowners along The Leitrim Way.

This opening phase sees 24 landowners brought onto the scheme by Leitrim Development Company along Leitrims National Waymarked Trail. The scheme, funded by the Department and implemented by Local Development Companies, involves landholders as key participants in the provision of high-quality walking trails in Ireland. It achieves this by contracting them to undertake maintenance work on sections of National Way Marked Ways that traverse their property. Participants of the scheme receive yearly payments for their time in undertaking maintenance work on approved trail. The scheme currently covers 40 trails nationwide, with annual payments averaging 1100 made to approximately 1,900 landholders. For landowners not interested in joining, they have the option to nominate a third party onto the scheme in their place, such as relative or friend.

The addition of The Leitrim Way to the Walks Scheme comes as a result of the great work achieved by The Leitrim Way Management Committee. This collaborative is comprised of key stakeholders along the route, including Leitrim County Council, Coillte, Waterways Ireland, landowner representatives, and community volunteers from Ballinagleragh and Leitrim Village, who have been working over the past number of years to keep the route maintained and open to the public.

The Walks Scheme programme is managed by Bryan Fennell, Rural Recreation Officer for Leitrim Development Company. Bryan stated that The Leitrim Way has a preliminary approval for up to 120 participants on the scheme along the entirety of the 56km route from Manorhamilton to Leitrim Village. Over the past few months, we have contacted all landowners along the route, where the trail crosses private property, to invite them onto the scheme. Its worth noting that this is a great opportunity for The Leitrim Way Management Committee to take more sections off public roads and through rural landscapes/farmlands. Some landowners whose property the trail comes close to at the moment may wish to contact us to discuss rerouting the trail through their property, where appropriate. In this case, they too may have the option to join the scheme. Work continues through the Rural Recreation Officer to engage with interest landowners along the entire route to bring them onto the scheme. The scheme is currently open for applications from interested landowners along the current Sport Ireland Accredited section of the trail from Dowra to Leitrim Village. Further improvement works are planned in 2021 to bring the remaining Manorhamilton to Dowra section of The Leitrim Way up to the standard required for Sport Ireland accreditation.

Shay O'Connor, Senior Engineer for Leitrim County Council, stated This is great news to finally have payments being made to landowners as part of the Walks Scheme for The Leitrim Way Trail. It has taken a lot of work with the local communities groups, including the Ballinaglera Development Company and the Leitrim Village Development Company, to bring this trail back up to the required standard so that it is now a Sport Ireland approved trail. Leitrim County Council will continue to work with all parties involved to maintain the trail to the highest standard possible and to get the section from Dowra to Manorhamilton approved so that these landowners can also join the Walks Scheme.

The Leitrim Way forms an important corner stone for tourism development in the county, as the trail can be combined with other trails to form nationwide long-distance walking routes, such as the Beara Breifne Way(700km), the Ireland Way (1010km) or the European Ramblers Association E2 Path (4850km, stretching from Galway to the Mediterranean).
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has died at the age of 99.

The prince had recently been treated in hospital for an infection.

Buckingham Palace issued the following statement this Friday:

"It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

1988, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia during their only visit to Spain. / EFE

"His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle."

Philip had retired from public engagements in 2017. He did however take part in the state visit to the UK by the Spanish royals, King Felipe and Queen Letizia that same year.

We have to go back to 1988 for the official visit Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip made to Spain.
Today

Mainly clear. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Mainly clear. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Generally sunny despite a few afternoon clouds. High 92F. NNW winds shifting to SW at 10 to 15 mph.
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Since 2016, a federal regulation has allowed nurse practitioners and physician assistants to obtain a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder as a medication assisted treatment.

But a recent study by Indiana University researchers found the bill, called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), has not greatly increased the amount of nurse practitioners prescribing buprenorphine, especially in states that have further restrictions. The study was published in Medical Care Research and Review.

"Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are an important workforce with a capacity to expand treatment access for those with substance use disorders," said Kosali Simon, co-author of the study and a Herman B. Wells Endowed Professor in IU's O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. "But we have found that efforts like CARA have been limited in actually utilizing this group, with nurse practitioners accounting for a relatively small proportion of buprenorphine prescriptions."

Buprenorphine is the only agonist medication for opioid addiction that can be prescribed by a qualified physician or nonphysician practitioner in an office-based setting. Simon said research has shown it is associated with significant decreases in relapse and overdose. However, the U.S. has a shortage of providers who have a waiver, known as an X waiver, from the Drug Enforcement Administration to prescribe buprenorphine outside of opioid treatment programs.

Through the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe buprenorphine to up to 30 patients at a time for their first year, and after that, they can obtain authorization to prescribe to up to 100 patients. Some states mandate further restrictions though, including those that limit the authority of nurse practitioners to prescribe.

Kosali and a team of researchers from various universities used pharmacy claims data between January 2015 and September 2018 from Optum's deidentified Clinformatics DataMart to examine the impact of federal and state scope-of-practice regulations on nurse practitioner's buprenorphine prescribing.

At the county-level, researchers found the proportion of patients filling prescriptions written by nurse practitioners was low even after CARA: 2.7% in states that did not require physician oversight of nurse practitioners and 1.1% in states that did. While analyses in rural counties showed higher rates of buprenorphine prescriptions written by nurse practitioners, the study found rates were still considerably low - 3.7% in states with less restrictive regulations and 1.1% in other states.

Simon said since relatively few physicians have a waiver to prescribe, it can be difficult for nurse practitioners who must have physician oversight to find a waivered physician to oversee them. Some also face supervising physicians who are unsupportive of buprenorphine treatment.

"These results indicate that less restrictive scope-of-practice regulations are associated with greater nurse practitioner prescribing following CARA," Simon said. "The small magnitude of the changes indicates that federal attempts to expand treatment access through CARA have been limited. More is needed so people with substance use disorder have access to medication assistant treatment."

While state restrictions did not help, the researchers said there are more deterrents involved including insufficient training and education about opioid use disorder treatment, burdensome training time, lack of institutional and clinician peer support, poor care coordination and inadequate insurance reimbursement.

Researchers recommend relaxing state scope-of-practice requirements for nurse practitioners and addressing other practice-level and educational barriers that impede treatment access. Additionally, Simon said eliminating the need for an X waiver for all practitioners should be further considered to help address gaps in opioid use disorder care, especially in primary care settings and rural areas. Alternatively, current X waiver training requirements could be decreased for certain clinicians, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, who have previously completed substance use disorder treatment training during residency.

###

Study co-authors include Thuy Nguyen, University of Michigan; Ulrike Muench, University of California San Francisco; Barbara Andraka-Christou, University of Central Florida and Joanne Spetz, University of Georgia.

Responding to the Addictions Crisis

The Responding to the Addictions Crisis Grand Challenge initiative engages a broad array of IU's world-class faculty, as well as IU's business, nonprofit and government partners. Working together, the groups are contributing to an initiative to implement a comprehensive plan to reduce deaths from addiction, ease the burden of drug addiction on Hoosier communities and improve health and economic outcomes. This initiative is one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive state-based responses to the opioid addiction crisis -- and the largest led by a university.
Minister of Justice of Armenia Rustam Badasyan today received the delegation led by US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Lynne Tracy and discussed the course of implementation of reforms in the sector.

As reported the Ministry of Justice, Minister Badasyan expressed gratitude to the US government and the Ambassador for supporting the reforms for the fight against corruption and police reforms in Armenia. The minister also touched upon the part about Armenia in the State Departments Human Rights Report and presented the reforms that are being implemented in the penitentiary sector and for confiscation of illegal assets. Ambassador Tracy reaffirmed the support of the US government for implementation of the reforms in several sectors.

During the meeting, Minister Badasyan emphasized the need for the US government to take more active steps to specifically respond to Azerbaijanis policy of refusing to return Armenian prisoners of war and other civilians being kept. He also stressed that those persons are prisoners of war in the sense of international humanitarian law, and this means that Azerbaijans statements are groundless.

The parties also discussed the actions being taken to set up the Anti-Corruption Committee, the Anti-Corruption Courts and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and several issues related to the upcoming parliamentary elections. Ambassador Tracy stressed that the snap parliamentary elections held in 2018 set a high bar for democratic, free and fair elections in the region and voiced hope that the bar would remain high during the upcoming elections. In this sense, Badasyan emphasized that the government has the political will to make sure all elections are free and transparent.
San Francisco, April 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National AIDS Memorial is marking National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day by celebrating its most recent Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship recipients, highlighting their work on campus and in their communities. The memorial has created a special section on its scholarship website highlighting their work, impact and commitment to social change, particularly around HIV/AIDS, which continues to disproportionately impact young people and communities of color.

This past year, eight scholars were selected from six states across the country, each receiving $5,000 in financial scholarships. Their studies and work range from mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS in communities of color and other marginalized communities and supporting mentor programs to reduce homelessness, to helping people navigate the criminal justice system and providing counsel to help people living with HIV through the challenges of Covid-19.

The scholars include Moses Aina, NYU Tisch, New York; August Clayton, Towson University, Maryland; Caterina Dong, Brown University, Rhode Island; Bo Hwang, UCLA, California; Philip Jones, San Francisco State University, California; Adeleye Mesogboriwon, Edward Waters College, Florida; Brandon Staple, Colorado University, Colorado; Matthew Zheng, Stanford University, California. Learn more about the scholars here.

This amazingly talented group of students truly embodies the spirit of Pedro and his work to help reduce stigma, fear and prejudice, said Annie Wilson, National AIDS Memorial Board Member, who chairs the scholarship selection process, and was a scholarship recipient in 2012. This scholarship provides a unique opportunity for us to celebrate the ideas and power of young people who are pursuing their educational goals and advancing social change through community service.

Named in honor of AIDS educator, activist and reality television pioneer Pedro Zamora, the scholarship supports young leaders who carry the torch of activists like Pedro in pursuit of a bold vision that never again will a community be harmed because of fear, silence, discrimination, or stigma. Much like Pedro himself, this scholarship seeks to support young scholars who embody their activism work in ways inspired by their own passions, insights, originality, and conviction.

The program is funded through the generous support of Gilead Sciences. Since its inception in 2009, the scholarship has been awarded more than 100 students, providing more than $350,000 in financial support for their higher education goals.

This scholarship supports inspiring students who are leaders on campus and in their communities and are making a tremendous impact on so many important issues around health, social and racial justice, said John Cunningham, executive director, National AIDS Memorial. Through the support of partners like Gilead Sciences, this program continues to grow, helping shape the next generation of leaders who carry Pedros torch forward.

Applications for the Fall 2021/Spring 2022 school year are now being accepted. Learn more about how to apply at www.aidsmemorial.org/scholarships. Applications must be submitted by July 15, 2021.

# # #

About the National AIDS Memorial: The mission of the National AIDS Memorial is to share the story of the struggle against HIV/AIDS and to remember, in perpetuity, the lives lost, offer healing and hope to survivors, and inspire new generations of activists in the fight against stigma, denial, and hate, for a just future. Through the AIDS Memorial Grove, AIDS Memorial Quilt, and inspiring programs, the National AIDS Memorial ensures that the story of AIDS and the AIDS movement is never forgotten and connects four decades of healing, hope, remembrance and survival, to issues faced by society today. Learn more at www.aidsmemorial.org.

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Kathmandu, April 9 : Nepal's primary opposition party, the Nepali Congress has begun talks with the Nepal Communist Party-Maoist Centre and the Janata Samajbadi Party to unseat Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and form a coalition government under its leadership.

Nepali Congress President, Sher Bahadur Deuba, had called a meeting of the opposition parties on Friday which ended on a positive note, according to party leaders.

Oli is under pressure to resign after his decision to dissolve the house on December 20 and call for fresh elections was overturned by the Supreme Court on February 23. In wake of the verdict, opposition parties had been demanding his resignation on moral grounds but he has been holding fast.

The Prime Minister is also facing problems inside his own Nepal Communist Party-UML as a huge section of senior party leaders have started forming parallel party structures while challenging his "authoritarian" way of running the party and the government.

NCP-Maoist Centre spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha told media that both his party and the Nepali Congress are almost on the same page but are waiting the decision of the Janata Samajbadi Party, the fourth-largest party in the legislature, and still undecided on whether to lend support Oli or Deuba.

Two senior Janata Samajbadi Party leaders, Chairman Mahantha Thakur and Rajendra Mahato are separately negotiating with Oli to extend support to his government in case it falls into a minority.

Meanwhile, the NPC-Maoist Centre that had lent support to Oli in February 2018 has not withdrawn its support so the government still enjoys a majority in the house. It, however, assured that as soon as opposition parties decide to unseat Oli, it will withdraw its support.

As soon as it withdraws support, the Oli government will be reduced to a minority and need to seek vote of confidence. Opposition parties are, however, inclined to register a no-confidence motion to bring down the government.

On Friday, as soon as the meeting began, Deuba told that they have decided to unseat Oli and take a lead to form a new government under the party's leadership, Shrestha said.

"We have made clear our position that we are ready to support the new government to be led by Deuba and we also asked the Janata Samajbadi Party leaders to make their position clear whether it will support Deuba or not. But Janata Samajbadi Party leaders said that they need some time to discuss Deuba's proposal inside the party." Thakur said: "We have received the formal proposal to form a new government from the Nepali Congress. We will first discuss the proposal inside the party and will communicate to the Nepali Congress at earliest." During the meeting, Nepali Congress and NCP-Maoist Centre leaders had assured the Janata Samajbadi Party that once the new government will be formed, they will look into its demands and grievances.

The party has also forwarded some demands to both Oli and the Nepali Congress.

"We will wait until Janata Samajbadi Party takes the decision on whether they will support Deuba or not," Nepali Congress spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma said.

"We will wait for the response from the Janata Samajbadi Party... once they come up with their position, we will move on accordingly," he added.
SPRINGFIELD  President Joe Bidens executive actions on guns  including tighter restrictions on homemade firearms and more resources for the prevention of gun violence  are suitable public policy, U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal said Thursday.

I support the presidents position that there ought to be mental health and background checks. And there ought to be the ability to access documentation, Neal said in response to a reporters question at a City Hall news conference on the American Rescue Plan COVID relief bill.

Biden tightened regulations on ghost guns, according to the Associated Press. The term describes homemade firearms assembled from parts and milled with a metal-cutting machine. The weapons often lack serial numbers used to trace them. Its legal to build a gun in a home or a workshop, and there is no federal requirement for a background check.

The justice department will now treat these kits as firearms under federal regulations.

I agree with him on that 100%, Neal said. On of the problems we had way back in 1994 with the assault weapons ban was that a lot of manufacturers got around that ban because they reconstructed the weapon.

The National Rifle Association denounced Bidens plan, describing the steps as extreme gun control actions.

Under Bidens plan, new federal regulations will make it easier for states to enact red flag laws that allow individuals to seek court order allowing police to confiscate weapons from a person deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed a red flag law in 2018, making Massachusetts the 11th state at the time to enact such a policy. Even in a state like ours, which has made tremendous progress on this issue, when theres more to do, we do it, Baker said at the signing.

Under the Massachusetts law, a family or household member can petition a district court judge to suspend someones gun license and order the confiscation of their weapons. Hearings are required within 10 days, and rulings can be appealed by either party. The law includes penalties for violating an extreme risk protective order and for filing false statements to harass someone.

In announcing his plan Thursday, Biden also promised to collect more data on mass shootings, and asked the Senate to take up measures closing background check loopholes. Some bills have already passed the House, where Neal is a key member of the Democratic leadership.

Congress should pass the Violence Against Women Act, Biden said  also already passed by the House  and eliminate legal exemptions for gun manufacturers. The president also called on lawmakers to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, according to the Associated Press.

Mike Meunier co-owner, of Pioneer Valley Arms in East Longmeadow, said new regulations on ghost guns will not have an impact on his business  his shop only deals in federally registered firearms. Pioneer Valley Arms does not sell kits or parts that could be made into a firearm.

We took a look at that and decided that that is not a part of the business we wanted to be in, he said.

In Springfield, gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson saw its stock price held steady Thursday, trading late in the day at $18.20 a share, down from $18.39 a share at the start of the days trading.

Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. saw its gross sales increase 102.2% year-over-year in its most recent quarter, hitting $257.6 million for the three months ending Jan. 31. Gun sales were boosted by buyers fearful that a Democratic administration would tighten gun restrictions.

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New York emcee DMX was pronounced dead Friday, a week after the rapper suffered a heart attack.

DMX, born Earl Simmons, was hospitalized last Friday and had been in a vegetative state with no sign of improvement. The family of DMX wrote a statement on his tragic passing.

"Earl was a warrior who fought till the very end. He loved his family with all of his heart and we cherish the times we spent with him. Earl's music inspired countless fans across the world and his iconic legacy will live on forever. We appreciate all of the love and support during this incredibly difficult time."

The Grammy-nominated rapper and actor was widely admired by both his fans and peers and will be dearly missed. Houston celebrities shared their condolences and memories of the animated rapper.

Days ago Houston rapper Slim Thug shared some sound advice from the rapper in a previous interview.

Rapper and activist Trae the Truth shared multiple photos he had with DMX, praying that he would pull through.

Trae writes, "Sending More Prayers And Energy Up For Ya ..... God Has The Final Say So Brother...... We Been Brothers From The Day We First Met... Always Stood Wit Me So You Know I'm Still Standing For You..... God Has The Last Say So... Keep Fighting Bro!! You Been Through Hell and Back And You Always Win... We Need You To Win This One Too G..."

Johnny Nunez/WireImage

"Radio Boss" Hard Body Kiotti shared a post of the rapper in the studio.

"Too much talent had left the world this past 2 days," Kiotti writes. "Hopefully all dogs go to heaven. His family finally made a statement. Rest up DMX."

Many users remembered him from his multiple performances in Houston.

One user remembered DMX from his Free Press Summer Fest performance in 2014.

Another recalled meeting being nervous meeting him in a Houston airport years ago.

The "Ruff Ryders" rapper was highly revered in the city of Houston and will be missed dearly.
To the Editor:

Re Amazon Workers Vote Down Union Drive at Alabama Warehouse (nytimes.com, April 9):

Amazon had its place during the pandemic for those lucky enough to be able to shelter in place and those who wanted to avoid being in public as much as possible. I bought everything  clothes, dog food, toys  on Amazon over the past year. But now that Ive been vaccinated and feel comfortable going out in a mask, Im committed to buying my items from a store.

I went to the local hardware store yesterday and there were most of the items Id just ordered online. Not as many options (do I really need 100 options for measuring cups?), and maybe slightly more expensive. But the more we all buy from Amazon, the more powerful it becomes over its employees, the market and the consumers.

Im going cold turkey, and I encourage other readers to as well.

Rachel Levine

New York

To the Editor:

Kudos to Amazon for fighting the unionization of the facility in Alabama. I suggest that it fight all attempts at unionizing.

I work for the State of Pennsylvania and was in one of the biggest unions until I recently got out. The unions today are not like they were in the 1960s and 70s, when they actually helped hardworking people.
Mumbai, April 9 : Actor Abhishek Banerjee, who plays a laundryman in the upcoming anthology "Ajeeb Daastaans", has never used an iron in his life! He had to stand around for hours and notice how the neighbourhood 'presswalas' go about with their work.

Starring in Raj Mehta's chilling segment "Khilauna" along with Nushrrat Bharuccha and child actor Inayat Verma, Abhishek says he loved the experience.

"My role was that of a pressman and the fun part is I do not know how to iron, even with a normal home iron, let alone those big bulky coal ones. The first time when Raj watched me try, he knew I was no good!" Abhishek laughs.

The actor, who is also a casting director, says he had to learn from scratch.

"I had to learn it from scratch and realised that this was something my father and wife wanted me to learn all my life, and it's finally happening on the sets of Ajeeb Daastaans. The time we spent together on the sets was fun despite the intense learning experience and the dark storyline," he recalls.

The actor is happy that he can at least iron his clothes now, after shooting for the film.

"It did not feel like work at all and I'm glad I can at least iron and fold my clothes," he says.

"Ajeeb Daastaans" is set to release on April 16 on Netflix.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Hitting out at West Bengal Chief Minister for her remarks on the Central Forces, Union Home Minister on Friday questioned whether she was pushing people towards anarchy.

Addressing media persons, Shah said, "When CAPF is deployed for poll duty, it does not come under the jurisdiction of the Home Ministry. It comes under the Election Commission. The frustration of TMC is very much evident from their action and speeches. I have not seen such a leader or chief minister in my life who give statements to 'gherao CRPF'. Is she pushing the people towards anarchy? I do not understand."

"The way TMC has appealed to minority voters to come together and vote for the TMC indicates that their minority vote bank is also slipping away," added Shah.

He furthers said, "In the three phases, BJP has got unprecedented support from the people of Bengal. As per our estimation, BJP will win between 63 to 68 seats in the three phases."

Shah will hold a door-to-door campaign for BJP in Kolkata's Bhowanipur today. Bhowanipur has been represented by West Bengal Chief Minister However, Banerjee chose Nandigram to contest the assembly polls this year.

will also hold roadshows in Madhyamgram and Jagatdal on Friday.

The first three phases of the eight-phased West Bengal polls have already taken place. The fourth phase of the elections will be held on Saturday. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two men allegedly tried to import 63kg of ice into Australia concealed inside the wooden pallets of a freight shipment from Malaysia labelled as 'mop buckets'.

Images of the bizarre smuggling method show packets of the methamphetamine, which has a street value of $18.9million, pressed into thin strips and concealed inside 18 hollowed-out pallet boards.

'You name it; they've tried to hide drugs in it,' AFP acting commander crime Geoff Turner said.

The smugglers attempted to conceal 63kg of methamphetamine in hollowed out pallet boards (pictured)

The ice which had arrived concealed in a shipment from Malaysia (pictured) has a street value of $18.9million

He said despite the creativity of criminals, authorities remained one step ahead, using advanced technology to catch offenders red-handed.

'We are dedicated to stopping these harmful drugs reaching our communities and harming countless Australians,' he said.

After the drugs were discovered in March, AFP officers allowed the shipment to be delivered under surveillance to an address in Guildford West in Sydney on Thursday.

A 27-year-old man was arrested as the alleged recipient of the delivery.

A 36-year-old man was also arrested in connection with the shipment after a search warrant was conducted at a Bexley residence.

They were both charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported border controlled drugs, contrary to section 307.5 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 - which carries penalties up to life imprisonment.

The pallet boards were used as packaging on a shipment of mop buckets (pictured) with authorities saying they were aware of new techniques smugglers were using to conceal drugs

The two men fronted Central Local Court in Sydney on Friday and were refused bail.

Australian Border Force said officers were aware of new techniques and trends smugglers were attempting to employ to get drugs into the country from overseas.

'This operation shows it's not just imported items that ABF officers are examining for hidden drug concealments, the packaging around those items are heavily scrutinised too,' ABF Port Operations East Acting Commander Brendan Slape said.

He said officers were using 'technological advancements, intelligence analysis and their unique skills' to keep on top of the constantly evolving concealment methods of drug smugglers.
New Delhi/Washington: The US Navy carried out a freedom of navigation operation in Indias exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Lakshadweep Islands earlier this week, without New Delhis prior consent, to challenge what the US said were Indias excessive maritime claims, a official US statement said.

The operation was conducted by guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones on Wednesday, April 7, a statement by the commander of the US Seventh Fleet said.

The US Navy said it had asserted navigational rights and freedoms approximately 130 nautical miles west of Lakshadweep Islands, inside Indias exclusive economic zone without requesting Indias prior consent, saying further it had challenged Indias excessive maritime claims. The US Seventh Fleet claimed this operation was consistent with international law.

Reacting to this on Friday evening, India said it had raised its concerns with the US through diplomatic channels, adding that the US warships movements had been continuously monitored. New Delhi made it clear that international law did not permit a nation to carry out military manoeuvres, especially involving weapons, in the EEZ and continental shelf without the consent of the concerned coastal state.

The US announcement is being seen by observers as nothing short of a mystifying attempt to humiliate India, which is a strategic partner of the US in the four-nation Quad that supports freedom of navigation in international waters. There is also speculation that it may be part of an American attempt to placate China at Indias expense. The Americans have been operating their warships in the South China Sea as well, which has angered Beijing in the recent past.

In a statement, the MEA said: The Government of Indias stated position on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is that the convention does not authorise other states to carry out in the exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf, military exercises or manoeuvres, in particular those involving the use of weapons or explosives, without the consent of the coastal state.

The MEA added: The USS John Paul Jones was continuously monitored transiting from the Persian Gulf towards the Malacca Straits. We have conveyed our concerns regarding this passage through our EEZ to the Government of the United States through diplomatic channels.

In its statement, meanwhile, the US Seventh Fleet said: USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) asserted navigational rights and freedoms approximately 130 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands, inside Indias exclusive economic zone, without requesting Indias prior consent, consistent with international law. India requires prior consent for military exercises or manoeuvres in its exclusive economic zone or continental shelf, a claim inconsistent with international law. This freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law by challenging Indias excessive maritime claims.

It added: US forces operate in the Indo-Pacific region on a daily basis. All operations are designed in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows. We conduct routine and regular Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs), as we have done in the past and will continue to in the future. FONOPs are not about one country, nor are they about making political statements.

It is not the first time that the US Navy has conducted such an operation in Indias EEZ. The US defence department publishes an annual Freedom of Navigation Report identifying the excessive maritime claims that US forces operationally challenged. The last time the US Navy conducted such an operation was 2019. In an unclassified report to the US Congress in July 2020, the US Navy said it conducted an operation in the Indian Ocean region during the period from October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2019, to preserve the rights, freedoms, and uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations by international law.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee speaks on protecting Americas seniors from the COVID-19 pandemic in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on April 30, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Tennessee Governor Signs Bill Allowing Permitless Carry of Handguns for Law-Abiding Residents

Tennessee has officially joined 19 other states to allow permitless carry of handguns by law-abiding residents, meaning that law-abiding adults in the state are allowed to carry a handgun without a permit.

Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday signed into law the measure that would allow residents 21 and older, or members of the military aged 18 to 20, to carry handguns openly or concealed without a permit, except in areas already restricted under existing laws. Permitless carry will also not apply to long guns, a point of contention for gun activists.

I signed constitutional carry today because it shouldnt be hard for law-abiding Tennesseans to exercise their #2A rights. Thank you members of the General Assembly and @NRA for helping get this done, Lee said in a statement on Thursday.

The Tennessee legislature passed the measure in late March with the backing of the National Rifle Association but with opposition from some state law enforcement groups, who said theyre worried how the law could impact public safety.

The law, which will go into effect on July 1, also increases penalties for certain gun crimes, including theft of a firearm, which will be increased from a misdemeanor to a felony.

The measure does not repeal the existing provision that makes it an offense to carry any firearm with the intent to go armed. Instead, the bill creates an exception to the crime if the person meets the requirements for an enhanced handgun carry permit, lawfully possesses a handgun, and is in a place that the person has a right to be.

Individuals will still have to follow federal law, which include background checks for purchasing guns from licensed sellers. No background checks are required for private sales in the state, although it is illegal to sell a firearm to a person with knowledge that the prospective purchaser is prohibited by state or federal law from owning, possessing or purchasing a firearm.

An analysis of the bill by the Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA), a not-for-profit organization to advocate for the Second Amendment, characterized Lees bill as not being a true constitutional carry, where anyone who can legally possess a firearm can carry it.

Governors new law is a form of permitless carry, John Harris from the TFA wrote.

True constitutional carry would recognize the full scope of the right that is protected by the 2nd Amendment and it would eliminate state and local infringements on that right. That is not what this bill does.

During a session of the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee in March, one of the legislators, Sen. Senator Kerry Roberts (R), said that even if the bill passes, there still needs to be more work done on the topic to make it easier for law-abiding citizens to obtain a gun to protect themselves and their loved ones from criminals.

Is this bill Constitutional Carry? Well, for many Tennesseans, they view it as exactly that  I dont believe its a true constitutional carry bill, Roberts said at the time. If this bill passes out committee, I simply want to say to the Legislators that our work is not done on this bill. Our work is not done on this topic.

Meanwhile, members of law enforcement have criticized the law.

I think permitless carry is bad for Memphis. I dont see how it is such a great thing for the state of Tennessee when the state of Tennessee leads the nation in violence, one of the top three in violence, especially violence against children, Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings told Fox13 in opposing the bill.

Weve seen what happened with extending [carrying guns from] the house to the car, because we saw an explosion of guns being stolen from cars, he stated.

Earlier this month, Iowa enacted a similar bill, lifting some restrictions on the purchase or carrying of a handgun in the state for law-abiding citizens.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
A Turkish military jet trainer crashed on Friday in the Aegean Sea, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said.

According to a ministry statement, the two pilots of the KT-1 type plane that crashed during its regular training flight were rescued by Turkish Coast Guard teams.

The plane had taken off from the 2nd Main Airbase of the Turkish Air Force and crashed off the coast of the Foca district of western Izmir province, Anadolu agency reported.
ATAGI labelled the side-effect thrombosis with thrombocytopenia; others call it vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia, or VIPIT. It typically occurs between four and 20 days after injection with AstraZenecas vaccine. It remains unclear how the vaccine causes VIPIT, but so far suspicion has focused on an unusual antibody some people with the syndrome have. The antibody appears to activate platelets in the blood, causing clots to form. Examine newsletter Science and health explained and analysed with a rigorous focus on the evidence. Examine is a weekly newsletter by science reporter Liam Mannix. Sign up to receive it every Tuesday. It remains unclear how rare this side-effect is. Current evidence suggests between four and six people in every million vaccinated will develop the syndrome, ATAGI says, with higher rates reported in some countries like Norway. There are no specific risk factors known, nor any medical conditions proven to increase the risk of VIPIT.

At this stage, it has a roughly 25 per cent fatality rate, although experts think that is likely to fall as doctors become more aware of the risk. What is the evidence that AstraZeneca actually causes this syndrome, and its not just random chance? That has been hotly debated since cases first started showing up. It is very, very difficult to conclusively prove a vaccine causes a rare side-effect outside a clinical trial, and AstraZenecas clinical trial did not show this risk, which is to be expected for very rare side-effects. Events that seem to happen in a pattern can often be caused by random chance. As late as Monday, Thrombosis and Haemostasis Society Australia and New Zealand told The Age we cannot say there is a causal link. After reviewing the evidence, ATAGI concluded AstraZenecas vaccine appears likely to be causally-linked to the syndrome.

The evidence suggesting a link comes primarily from two sources: the number of people reporting cases, and the time they are reporting them after receiving AstraZenecas vaccine. Data from Europe suggests between four and six people in every million vaccinated will suffer from the syndrome, which is more than would be expected if the vaccine was not causing an increased risk. And most of these cases happen between four and 20 days after vaccination. The overwhelming evidence really just relates to the timing. The events are happening between four and 20 days post-first dose of vaccine. And thats been relatively consistent in all the cases that have been described, says Professor Paul Monagle, a paediatric haematologist at the University of Melbourne who is studying the syndrome. What have other countries done? Every country faces a different epidemic, and therefore they have come to different responses.

Britain has opted to offer people aged under 30 an alternative vaccine if available. Germany decided on an age cut-off of 60, and recommended people who have had their first dose of AstraZeneca receive a second dose of a different vaccine  despite a lack of clinical evidence showing this is safe and effective. France chose to limit the second jab to people over 55, with second doses being switched out for mRNA vaccines. The Philippines suspended the use of AstraZeneca for people younger than 60 this week, as did South Korea, Portugal and the Netherlands. What does this mean for AstraZenecas vaccine? At this stage, that remains unclear. On the basis of ATAGIs advice, the vaccine appears likely to still be given to Australians aged over 50, of which there are several million. Doses will continue to be delivered from CSLs Broadmeadows plant. If there is surplus, that opens the possibility for Australia to rapidly supply them to other countries  like our Pacific neighbours  who are dealing with urgent outbreaks.

CSLs AstraZeneca lab in Melbourne. Credit:Jason South ATAGIs advice also leaves the door open for administering AstraZenecas vaccine to Australians under 50 in the event of a major local outbreak. Can I get one if I am under 50? On ATAGIs advice, it would appear likely: AstraZeneca can be used in adults aged under 50 years where the benefits are likely to outweigh the risks for that individual and the person has made an informed decision based on an understanding of the risks and benefits, the advisory group recommends. Do we have enough alternatives to vaccinate the under 50s?

Make no mistake, onshore production of AstraZenecas vaccine was the foundational centrepiece of Australias vaccine strategy. The government had initially purchased 20 million doses of Pfizers two-dose vaccine, 53.8 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine, and another 51 million doses of Novavaxs vaccine. On Thursday night, Australia managed to secure another 20 million doses of Pfizers vaccine, which are likely to be available in the final quarter of this year. All up, that should be enough to fully cover Australia. It is not yet clear if Novavaxs vaccine will be approved for use in Australia, despite encouraging data so far. The vaccine remains in late-stage clinical trials. If those trials succeed, the government has said it expects all 51 million doses will be delivered by the end of the year. Will this mean Australias rollout will be delayed and by how long? ATAGI co-chair Professor Allen Cheng wrote on Twitter there was no question that this decision will slow things down  having on-shore capacity to produce vaccine is very valuable.

The federal governments current goal is to offer all Australians their first jab by October. Tomorrow, and over the weekend, there will be a recalibration of how the program will need to be adjusted to take into account decisions the governments taken tonight to accept those recommendations from ATAGI, Prime Minister Morrison said on Thursday night. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces that Pfizer is the preferred vaccine for Australians under 50. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said on Friday that deals with other vaccine manufacturers were possible. So far, Australia has received 870,000 doses of Pfizers vaccine, with about 130,000 to 150,000 doses arriving on our shore every week; the federal government says it has received assurances this number will increase. Why are younger people believed to be more susceptible than older people?

On the data we have, there is a slightly higher incidence of VIPIT in younger people. British data suggests for every 100,000 people aged 20 to 29 given the vaccine, 1.1 will suffer from blood-clotting problems. That risk falls to 1 in 500,000 for people aged 60 to 69. It remains unclear why this might be. Professor Paul Monagle points out that autoimmune conditions  one hypothetical cause of VIPIT  are more common in younger people. But the rare condition that most closely-resembles VIPIT, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, is far more common in adults than children. Your immune system clearly changes with age. During childhood, youre meeting lots of antigens for the first time. As you get older, your immune system has previously been exposed. All of those things will have an impact. Was ATAGIs advice overly cautious?

The risk of dying from a complication from the AstraZeneca vaccine is smaller than other commonly encountered risks, like drowning while swimming, being in a car crash, or binge drinking. I accept the call by ATAGI, wrote Dr Stephen Parnis, former president of AMA Victoria, on Twitter. But Ill make the observation that if every therapeutic agent was pulled because of a vanishingly rare complication, there would be nothing left to prescribe. Scientists on Friday differed on whether ATAGIs advice was too risk-adverse. Genuinely surprised by ATAGI decision, but understand made with patient safety in mind, Professor Greg Dore, an infectious diseases physician and epidemiologist at the Kirby Institute, wrote on Twitter (he declined an interview request). Believe narrow framework of individual patient risk  incredibly small in this case  that most doctors use is the wrong perspective when achieving broader public health goals is key objective.

Doctors dont tell vast majority of their patients not to drive, not to go on holidays. Professor Fiona Russell, a vaccine expert at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, pointed out there were three to four serious side-effects per million doses for the polio vaccine but we still gave it to all Australian babies even though there was no polio in Australia. At the moment there is not a COVID alternative vaccine to the scale that is required. However, this will change over time but we have no timeline. The public should be able to make their own decision, in consultation with their GP after a discussion on risk and the unknown about alternatives. Dr Jose Perdomo, senior officer at the Haematology Research Unit at the University of NSW, said ATAGIs call was the right one.

Even though the risk of serious thrombosis following AstraZenecas vaccination is extremely low, I believe that restoring public confidence in vaccination was a key consideration by ATAGI. Ive already had the first dose of AstraZeneca. Is it OK for me to get the Pfizer jab now instead of getting a second dose of AstraZeneca? ATAGIs advice on this question is as follows: People who have had the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca without any serious adverse effects can be given the second dose, including adults under 50 years. Are people who have blood-clotting conditions, or are using blood-thinning medication, at any greater or lesser risk? So far, no underlying medical conditions or biological risk factors have been linked to an increased or decreased risk, ATAGI advises.
Watch: The wonderful life of Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh

Minutes after the British royal family announced that Queen Elizabeth IIs husband, Prince Philip, had died at the age of 99, the sleuths at Fox & Friends blamed their inevitable culprits: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Host Brian Kilmeade immediately linked the death of the extremely old and sickly Duke of Edinburgh to Harry and Meghans interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired last month and contained shocking claims of racism and cruel treatment against Meghan by royal family members.

Kilmeade said on Fridays show: There are reports that [Philip] was enraged after the interview and the fallout from the interview with Oprah Winfrey, so here he is trying to recover and hes hit with that.

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Kilmeade then went on to cite Piers Morgan, of all people, as evidence that Philips health was hit by the Oprah interview. Morgan resigned in disgrace from his show, Good Morning Britain, after thousands of people complained about his repeated attacks on Meghan. The low point came when he said didnt believe her admission that she felt suicidal.

If you love The Daily Beasts royal coverage, then we hope youll enjoy The Royalist, a members-only series for Beast Inside. Become a member to get it in your inbox on Sunday.

The Fox & Friends host said: Piers Morgan was saying on his morning show, which he famously walked off of, is like Really? Your grandfather is in the hospital, you know hes not doing well, is this really the time you have to put out this interview? Evidently, it definitely added to his stress.

Philip left his London hospital after a month-long stay for treatment of an unspecified infection. He also underwent a procedure for a pre-existing heart condition in that time. He was also 99 years old.

Watch: Prince Philip and the Queen's marriage

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Under the terms of a newly launched AI initiative, the company aims to develop novel technological solutions to improve existing therapies by combining PURE EP's electrophysiological signals and other data sources

The AAIH is the global advocacy organization for the advancement and use of AI in healthcare to improve patients lives and create more accessible healthcare systems

BioSig Technologies Inc ( ) said it has accepted an invitation to join the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AAIH).

The AAIH invite came after the company was awarded US patents for its artificial intelligence-based platform.

BioSig noted that the AAIH is the global advocacy organization for the advancement and use of AI in healthcare to improve patients lives and create more efficient, sustainable, and accessible healthcare systems.

The initiative, which was spun out from the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, was formally launched in 2019 with 22 founders, including Amazon WS, Bayer, GE Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline, and the University of Pittsburgh, BioSig noted.

Artificial intelligence excels at analyzing and uncovering patterns in vast volumes of clinical data  a fundamental building block in improving patient care," said BioSig CEO Kenneth Londoner. "BioSig is a company that is committed to providing superior technological solutions based on precise signal information. We believe that a joint effort between various healthcare community representatives is a much-needed step towards solving common challenges and accelerating the adoption of AI-powered solutions."

BioSig pointed out that it recently launched a strategic collaboration with the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research to develop a next-generation AI and machine learning-powered software for the PURE EP System which provides signal information during the cardiac ablations for the treatments of arrhythmias or irregular heartbeats, a condition that affects over 33 million people worldwide.

Under the terms of the newly launched AI initiative, the company said it aims to develop novel technological solutions to improve existing therapies by combining PURE EP's electrophysiological signals and other data sources.

BioSig has also announced major strategic collaborations with other experts to further the AI- and machine-learning applications of the PURE EP System for AI technical advisory services with Harvard- and MIT-trained computer scientist and physicist, Dr Wissner-Gross.

Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham
MIAMI, April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cano Health (the "Company"), a leading value-based primary care delivery platform for seniors, today announced that it will administer COVID-19 vaccines to eligible individuals in Florida on April 10, 2021 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Cano Health will offer the vaccine to Florida residents 18 years and older with Florida state-issued photo identification or proof of Florida residency. Vaccines will be administered at six sites across Florida on a first-come, first-served basis:

4160 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa, FL 33607

33607 1507 N. John Young Parkway, Kissimmee, FL 34741

34741 110 Century Blvd., Suite #200, West Palm Beach, FL 33417

33417 680 N. University Dr., Pembroke Pines, FL 33024

33024 8300 W. Flagler St., Suite #210, Miami, FL 33144

33144 4201 Palm Ave., Hialeah, FL 33012

Cano Health has vaccinated thousands of its patients and continues to contact its highest-risk patients to schedule appointments and transportation to those medical centers prepared to administer the vaccine.

About Cano Health

Cano Health operates value-based primary care centers and supports affiliated medical practices that specialize in primary care for seniors in Florida, Texas, Nevada, and Puerto Rico, with additional markets in development. As part of its care coordination strategy, Cano Health provides sophisticated, high-touch population health management programs including telehealth, prescription home delivery, wellness programs, transition of care, and high-risk and complex care management.

The Company's personalized patient care and proactive approach to wellness and preventive care sets it apart from competitors. Cano Health has consistently improved clinical outcomes while reducing costs, affording patients the opportunity to lead longer and healthier lives. Cano serves a predominantly minority population (80% of its patients are Latino or African American) and low-income population (50% of its patients are dual eligible for Medicare and Medicaid). The Company was recognized in August 2020 by Inc. Magazine for the second consecutive year as one of the fastest-growing health care companies in the country, ranking 39th among all U.S. privately held companies as part of its annual 5000 ranking. For more information visit www.canohealth.com.

SOURCE Cano Health, LLC

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https://www.canohealth.com


Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko has called on the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to introduce strict nationwide quarantine throughout the territory of our country.

Klitschko made the corresponding statement during an online briefing on Friday.

"I appeal to the government to urgently consider the issue of introducing a nationwide lockdown. A real lockdown. Movement between regions of our country should be limited. With control over compliance with strict rules, otherwise we all want to travel by public transport, work in offices, and not remotely, as we suggest, walking in crowds without masks, having parties, going for a walk to other cities. Let's be frank: there is an uncontrolled spread of the virus, its migration throughout the country," said Klitschko.
Internal Revenue Service officials are again urging participants in abusive micro-captive insurance arrangements to exit these transactions as soon as possible.

The IRS considers that many micro-captive arrangements are not really about insurance. The IRS has stepped up examinations of these arrangements in recent years. In 2020, the agency deployed 12 micro-captive examination teams to substantially increase the examinations of ongoing abusive micro-captive insurance transactions.

Adding to its argument, the IRS has just won another case in U.S. Tax Court that such arrangements are not eligible for the tax benefits claimed because they are not real insurance arrangements.

On March 10, 2021, the U.S. Tax Court held in Caylor Land & Development v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2021-30 (2021), that yet another micro-captive arrangement failed to qualify as insurance for federal tax purposes. In this case, an Arizona construction companys deduction of $1.2 million for what it said were insurance premiums paid to its captive insurer was improper because the entity being paid failed to distribute risk and was not selling insurance in the commonly accepted sense.

This decision follows several earlier Tax Court decisions that also confirmed the IRSs determinations that certain micro-captive arrangements were not eligible for the claimed federal tax benefits. In Caylor, the Tax Court also sustained the IRSs determination of accuracy-related penalties and rejected the taxpayers claim of reliance on tax advice.

In multiple cases before the courts, judges have held that these fanciful and unreasonable arrangements dont add up to insurance in the commonly accepted sense, said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. I strongly urge participants in these arrangements to get independent legal advice separate from those who helped steer them into these abusive arrangements.

The IRS says it will disallow tax benefits from transactions that are determined to be abusive and may also require domestic captives to include premium payments in income and assert a withholding liability on foreign captives. The IRS said it will continue to assert penalties including the strict liability penalty that applies to transactions that lack economic substance.

Under a micro-captive arrangement, the net premium paid by a taxpayer cannot exceed $2.2 million (prior to 2017 the cap was $1.2 million) and the captive is taxed only on taxable investment income.

In its Notice 2016-66, the IRS advised that micro-captive insurance transactions have the potential for tax avoidance or evasion.

While some taxpayers have challenged the IRS position in court, none have been successful, according to the IRS. The IRS started sending offers in 2019. The agency said there were more than 500 cases in court at that time. The IRS said in January, 2020 that nearly 80% of the taxpayers accepted its earlier settlement offer made in September 2019,

In March and July 2020, IRS again issued letters alerting taxpayers who participated in a Notice 2016-66 transaction of ramped up IRS enforcement activity and providing them with the opportunity to tell the IRS if theyve discontinued their participation in this transaction before the IRS initiates examinations.

The IRS said responses indicate that a significant number of taxpayers who participated in these transactions have exited them but did not give numbers.
BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP)  Rioters set a hijacked bus on fire and hurled gasoline bombs at police in Belfast in at least the fourth night of serious violence in a week in Northern Ireland, where Brexit has unsettled an uneasy political balance.

Youths threw projectiles and petrol bombs at police on Wednesday night in the Protestant Shankill Road area, while rioters lobbed bricks, fireworks and petrol bombs in both directions over the concrete peace wall separating the Shankill Road from a neighboring Irish nationalist area.

Police Service of Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Jonathan Roberts said several hundred people gathered on both sides of a gate in the wall, where crowds  were committing serious criminal offenses, both attacking police and attacking each other.

He said a total of 55 police officers have been injured over several nights of disorder.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the unrest, and Northern Irelands Belfast-based government was holding an emergency meeting Thursday on the riots.

Johnson appealed for calm, saying the way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or criminality. Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster, of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party, and Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill of Irish nationalists Sinn Fein both condemned the disorder and the attacks on police.

The recent violence, largely in pro-British loyalist areas, has flared amid rising tensions over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland and worsening relations between the parties in the Protestant-Catholic power-sharing Belfast government.

The latest disturbances followed unrest over the Easter long weekend in unionist areas in and around Belfast and Londonderry, also known as Derry, that saw cars set on fire and projectiles and gasoline bombs hurled at police officers.

Authorities have accused outlawed paramilitary groups of inciting young people to cause mayhem.

We saw young people participating in serious disorder and committing serious criminal offenses, and they were supported and encouraged, and the actions were orchestrated by adults at certain times, said Roberts, the senior police officer.

Britains economic split from the European Union at the end of 2020 has disturbed the political balance in Northern Ireland, a part of the U.K. where some people identify as British and some as Irish.

A new U.K.-EU trade deal has imposed customs and border checks on some goods moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. The arrangement was designed to avoid checks between Northern Ireland and Ireland, an EU member, because an open Irish border has helped underpin the peace process built on the 1998 Good Friday accord.

The accord ended decades of violence involving Irish republicans, British loyalists and U.K. armed forces in which more than 3,000 people died. But unionists say the new checks amount to a new border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.

Unionists are also angry at a police decision not to prosecute Sinn Fein politicians who attended the funeral of a former Irish Republican Army commander in June. The funeral of Bobby Storey drew a large crowd, despite coronavirus rules barring mass gatherings.

The main unionist parties have demanded the resignation of Northern Irelands police chief over the controversy, claiming he has lost the confidence of their community.

About the photo: Hijacked cars burn at the peace wall on Lanark Way as rioting broke out in West Belfast, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The police had to close roads into the nearby Protestant area as crowds from each divide attacked each other. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Connecticut health officials said Friday a Fairfield County child has a confirmed case of the measles.

In a statement, the state Department of Public Health said the child had not yet been vaccinated against the disease and picked up the infection while traveling internationally. The age of the child was not released.

DPH is collaborating with local partners to identify contacts and implement appropriate control measures, the statement said.

DPH noted that while the infection can spread quickly between unvaccinated people, most people are not at risk because they have either been vaccinated or have had measles in the past, before vaccination became routine.

Acting Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford urged those who have not received a measles shot to do so.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has been happening, some children have fallen behind on their immunizations, Gifford said in a statement. This measles case is an important reminder that these vaccine-preventable diseases still pose a threat, and that we must protect children through on-time vaccination.

The disease, caused by a highly contagious virus, leaves a rash on the skin about five days after the onset of symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rash typically starts at the hairline and works its way down the infected persons body.

Symptoms usually begin to show around one to two weeks after infection and include a high fever with spikes over 104 degrees, cough, runny nose and red watery eyes. Small white spots may also appear inside an infected persons mouth two to three days after the onset of symptoms, according to the CDC.

While most residents have been vaccinated, and having two doses of Measles, Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccine is required to attend school in Connecticut, not everyone has had the shot.

Some students with medical or religious exemptions may not be vaccinated against the disease, DPH noted.

Exposed individuals who are not vaccinated against measles must stay out of school, or other high-risk settings, for a full 21 days after their last known exposure, the agencys press release said.

Children should get the shot beginning at 12 to 15 months of age and a second dose between the ages of 4 and 6. Adult college students, health care workers, people at high risk and those traveling abroad should have two doses, while all adults should have at least one dose, DPH noted.

Adults born in the U.S. before 1957 are considered immune to measles from past exposures, but in situations where exposure to measles is likely, these adults may benefit from a dose of MMR vaccine to be safer, DPH said.

Last year, only 13 cases of measles were found in the United States, according to DPH.

Anyone with a fever and rash who believes they may have measles should contact their health care provider before going to the doctors office to help prevent the disease from being spread, the agency said.
France's vaccine rollout has been punctured by rows over the jabs

Europe's stuttering vaccine rollout faced multiple hurdles on Friday as EU regulators said they were reviewing side effects of the Johnson & Johnson shot and France further limited its use of the AstraZeneca jab.

The US drugs regulator said it had not found a "causal" link between the J&J vaccine and blood clots, but that its probe was continuing after "a few individuals" suffered complications.

Much of the world is still in the clutches of the pandemic that has killed 2.9 million people, from Brazil, where the virus is killing more than 4,000 people a day, to Japan where the government has tightened restrictions once again.

In India, the worst-hit state of Maharashtra is running out of vaccines as the health system buckles under the weight of the contagion. Home to megacity Mumbai, Maharashtra has been placed under a curfew and weekend lockdowns.

And across Europe populations are facing some of the world's toughest anti-virus measures, yet the epidemic refuses to be curbed.

All of France is subjected to restrictions of some form, and the country has so far doled out jabs to more than 10 million people.

But it has repeatedly changed the rules on AstraZeneca's vaccine, first over doubts about its efficacy, then over fears that it could be linked to blood clots.

On Friday it did so again, with Health Minister Olivier Veran saying citizens under 55 who had been given a first shot with AstraZeneca would be given a different vaccine for their second dose.

But shortly after he spoke, the World Health Organization said there was "no adequate data" to support switching COVID-19 vaccines between doses.

Global death toll and coronavirus cases as of April 9 at 1000 GMT, based on AFP tallies

'One more day'

As Europe continues to reel from constant rows over AstraZeneca's jab, the EU's medicine regulator announced it would be probing a second jab over bloodclot concerns.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said four "serious cases" of unusual blood clots had been reportedone of them fatalwith the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which uses similar technology to the AstraZeneca one.

The US Food and Drug Administration said it had found no "causal" link yet between the jab and clots.

But it noted "a few individuals" in the country had clots and low levels of platelets in the blood after receiving the vaccine, and its investigation was continuing.

"Both conditions can have many different causes," the agency said.

Johnson & Johnson released a statement saying the company was aware that "thromboembolic events... have been reported with all COVID-19 vaccines".

But the statement added: "At present, no clear causal relationship has been established between these rare events and the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine," referring to J&J's European subsidiary.

Both jabs are approved for use in the European Union but the J&J vaccine has not yet been rolled out, and various EU countries have stopped or limited the use of AstraZeneca.

Face masks have become the norm from the United States to Lithuania

Supply problems

Supply problem are also hampering vaccine rollouts.

India, which is one of the world's leading manufacturers of vaccines, is suffering its own problems with jabs in Maharashtra, home to more than 100 million people and the economic hub Mumbai.

"Most hospitals in Mumbai will exhaust their supplies by the end of the day," Mangala Gomare, who oversees the city's vaccination programme, told AFP Friday.

In the United States, deliveries of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are set to drop off sharply next week, US health authorities warned Friday.

Meanwhile Pfizer-BioNTech asked for authorisation to use their COVID-19 vaccine on 12-15 year olds in the US.

The companies said in a statement that they plan to make similar requests of other regulatory authorities worldwide in coming days.

In Europe, an AstraZeneca spokesman said half of its vaccine shipments to the EU will be delayed this week.

Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg said Friday she would skip a forthcoming climate meeting in Britain because countries were unable to participate on even terms.

"With the extremely inequitable vaccine distribution I will not attend the COP26 conference if the development continues as it is now," Thunberg told AFP.

Illustrating her point, Britain has so far given at least one jab to more than 31 million people, almost half of its population, compared with poorer countries like Mexico, which has administered fewer than 10 million jabs to only seven percent of its people.

Brazil is facing the world's most deadly current contagion with more than 4,000 deaths a day

'Everyone is not equal'

Germany's central government has tried hard to defeat the virus through restrictions on movement and commerce, but several states have torpedoed the strategy by refusing to go along with the proposals.

Now Berlin is changing the rules to gather more centralised power.

The proposed adjustments are likely to usher in night-time curfews and some school closures in especially hard-hit areas.

Japan has also tightened measures in the capital Tokyo and other areas, mostly calling for bars to close early.

On the other hand, Italy is set to end lockdown measures from next week for Lombardy, the epicentre of its coronavirus pandemic, and several other regions with improving contagion statistics.

Neighbouring Slovenia also announced it will ease coronavirus restrictions and suspend a six-month-long curfew starting Monday.

And in badly hit Brazil, the Senate said it will open an inquiry into the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as President Jair Bolsonaro continues to resist lockdown measures even with COVID-19 deaths at new records.

Yet Rio de Janeiro on Friday was reversing restrictions in place for two weeks, reopening restaurants and bars, though the city's famed beaches remained closed.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
(Newser)  A South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars seized by Seoul was freed and sailed away early Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal. MarineTraffic.com data showed the MT Hankuk Chemi leaving Bandar Abbas in the early morning hours. South Koreas Foreign Ministry said Iran released the tanker and its captain after seizing the vessel in January. The ministry says the Hankuk Chemi left an Iranian port at around 6am local time after completing an administrative process, the AP reports. Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, later confirmed that Iran had released the vessel.

story continues below

The Hankuk Chemi had been traveling from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates when armed Revolutionary Guard troops stormed the vessel in January and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran. Iran had accused the ship of polluting the waters in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. But the seizure was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Seoul to release billions of dollars in Iranian assets tied up in South Korean banks amid heavy US sanctions on Iran. Iran released the 20-member crew in February, but continued to detain the ship and its captain while demanding that South Korea unlock frozen Iranian assets. An official from South Koreas Foreign Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Seoul's willingness to resolve the issue of Iranian assets tied up in South Korea "possibly had a positive influence" in Irans decision.

(Read more Iran stories.)
South Carolina reported 495 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 20 new deaths yesterday, April 8.

Here's the latest on the pandemic in South Carolina.

1:30 p.m.  The former University of South Carolina president and Yale-trained epidemiologist is advocating for an aggressive vaccination campaign as variants of the virus that cause COVID-19 pose threats to plans to return to normalcy and disease cases rise in other states. Read more.

No region in the world spared as virus cases, deaths surge The only exceptions to the deteriorating worldwide situation are countries that have advanced vaccination programs, mostly notably Israel and Britain. Even the U.S., which is a vaccination leader globally, is seeing a small uptick in new cases, and the White House announced Friday that it would send federal help to Michigan to control the state's worst-in-the-nation transmission rate.

1:09 p.m.  Hospitals in Turkey and Poland are filling up fast. Pakistan is restricting domestic travel to contain a surge in coronavirus infections. Even Thailand, which has weathered the pandemic far better than many nations, is now struggling to contain a new COVID-19 spike. Read more.

PPE shortages in early COVID-19 pandemic days drove up health care worker deaths, Fauci says Nearly 560,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. Dr. Anthony Fauci says that a shortage of PPE in the early stages of the pandemic contributed to more deaths among health care workers.

8:02 a.m.  Dr. Anthony Fauci thanked Americas health care workers, who every single day put themselves at risk during the pandemic, even as he acknowledged that PPE shortages had contributed to the deaths of more than 3,600 of them.

Personal protective equipment  including gloves, gowns and critical masks  have been in short supply since the pandemic began and heightened the toll. The U.S. is the worlds largest importer of PPE, which made it especially vulnerable to the demand shock and export restrictions that hit the global market last spring.

During the critical times when there were shortages was when people had to use whatever was available to them, said Fauci. Im sure that increased the risk of getting infected among health care providers. (Read more.)

US nears full reopening to 'different economy,' Fed chief says WASHINGTON  The U.S. economy, boosted by quickening vaccinations and signs of rapid hiring, is headed toward a strong recovery, Federal Reser

April 8, 5 p.m.  The U.S. economy, boosted by quickening vaccinations and signs of rapid hiring, is headed toward a strong recovery, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said April 8.

But he cautioned that not all will immediately benefit.

There are a number of factors that are coming together to support a brighter outlook for the U.S. economy, Powell said during the virtual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Those factors are putting the nation on track to allow a full reopening of the economy fairly soon.
The Subject Expert Committee of the Drugs Controller General of India on Friday sought additional data from drug maker Dr Reddy's Laboratories for Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V.

Dr Reddy's is seeking emergency use authorisation for the human adenoviral vector-based platform vaccine candidate developed by Russia's Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. This is the second time the committee has sought additional data from the company after an initial evaluation in February.

"The committee asked the company to submit a comparative analysis of late-stage immunogenicity data from both its Indian studies and an ongoing Russian study, as well as data on serious adverse events and positive cases reported till date," news agency Reuters reported.

Also read: COVID-19: Panacea Biotec to produce 100 million doses of Sputnik V in India annually

In September 2020, Dr Reddy's had partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to conduct the clinical trials of Sputnik V, and for its distribution rights in India. RDIF has partnered many Indian pharma companies, including Panacea Biotec, Stelis Biopharma, Gland Pharma and Virchow Biotech Private Limited, for production of Sputnik V.

India has stepped up vaccination against the coronavirus as the country is in the midst of a second wave of cases. From April 1, vaccination has been opened up for all citizens above the age of 45 years. India reported 1,31,968 new COVID-19 cases in the preceding 24 hours as on Friday morning. A total of 32.16 lakh doses were administered till 8 pm on Friday as per the provisional data. India has so far administered 9.78 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

While some of the states have been alleging vaccine shortage, the Centre has said there are enough vaccine stocks available and more are in pipeline. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the country will have to prioritise COVID-19 vaccination as per the availability of vaccines.

Also read: Will have to prioritise COVID-19 vaccination as per availability: PM Modi
April 09, 2021

Why The U.S. Might Want War In Ukraine

Yesterday CNN said that the US is considering sending warships to the Black Sea amid Russia-Ukraine tensions. That the U.S. is 'considering' this is however disinformation:

The United States has notified Turkey that it intends to deploy two warships to the Black Sea amid rising tensions with Russia, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said on Friday. Washington made the notification just over two weeks ago, as required under the Montreux Convention on passage through the Straits. The warships will stay in the Black Sea until 5 May. "One US warship will arrive on 14 April, and another on 15 April to the Black Sea. And they will leave on 4 May and 5 May, respectively," a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

The tensions in the Ukraine have built up after the Ukraine transferred heavy forces to the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk, raised Nazi flags and made a lot of noise about reconquering the renegade provinces as well as Crimea.

Russia has also started some movement of troops and equipment towards its western border. For now these units are just training and not in a position to attack:

Although the US does not see the amassing of Russian forces as posturing for an offensive action, the official told CNN that "if something changes we will be ready to respond." Their current assessment is that the Russians are conducting training and exercises and intelligence has not indicated military orders for further action, the official said, but noted that they are well-aware that could change at any time.

A few weeks ago we explained why the Ukrainian president Zelinsky is under pressure to start a war. The country is bankrupt and in a constitutional crisis. On top of that:

Polling numbers for Zelensky have sharply declined. Right wing city councils call on Zelensky to outlaw the largest opposition party. Meanwhile the pandemic puts a record number of people into hospitals while a meager vaccination campaign is failing. A war against the eastern separatist could be a Hail Mary attempt by Zelensky to regain some national and international support. But nothing will happen on the frontline without the consent or even encouragement from Washington DC. The Biden administration is filled with the same delusional people who managed the 2014 coup in Kiev. They may believe that the NATO training the Ukrainian army received and the weapons the U.S. delivered are sufficient to defeat the separatist. But the state of the Ukrainian military is worse than one might think and the separatist will have Russia's full backing. There is no question who would win in such a fight.

Russia has since made its position clear:

Russia will be forced to protect the residents of Donbass if Ukraine launches full-scale hostilities against the region. Thats according to Dmitry Kozak, President Vladimir Putins deputy chief of staff, who is himself Ukrainian.

Russia is making such noise to deter Zelensky from any stupid moves. It is however not clear if this will deter Washington DC from ordering Zelensky to attack. The Ukrainian president recently was in Qatar to ask for money. He will soon (again) be in Istanbul to request more drones and likely also 'Syrian rebels' to be used as cannon fodder in the opening of a war.

The weather is not yet optimal to launch an attack. The grounds are still soggy and would hinder heavy weapon movements. The chance for war will increase towards the beginning of May.

But all depends on Washington. Will the Biden administration push Zelensky towards a war that would certainly end with the Ukraine's defeat and dissolution? Why would it do so?

Andrei Martyanov suggests a U.S. geo-strategic motive behind this:

[T]o convince those 447 million EUs residents that they need Americas protection and weapons, America needs Russia to get into the war in Ukraine and if it will end up with utter destruction, and it will if Russia really decides so, of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and, likely, Ukrainian statehood, so be it. Americans never really cared how many aborigines die, as long as it works for the US bottom line. Or, if one may, a condition of American condition, which is deteriorating steadily because not only the United States increasingly has very little of substance, that is of high value added, to sell to the world, but forming economic and military monster of Eurasia removes the United States from its, grossly exaggerated to start with, self-proclaimed status of global hegemon to the status of, at best, one of the few big shots on the planet. At worst, the United States is removed from Eurasia as a viable competitor and is relegated to a status of a regional power still powerful relative to its continental neighbors but not having a shot at this second number of 4.67 billion [Asians]. This is a big chunk of population and customers. Now imagine if the United States loses EU. Suddenly 4.67 billion become 4.67 billion + 447 million = 5.117 billion, it is 65% of Earths population. It is a huge majority of worlds population and, most importantly, population much of which can pay for goods, unlike it is the case with gigantic population of Africa. Moreover, this population is concentrated within a single continental mass which is insulated from the United States by two oceans. The United States cannot allow this consolidation of the market to happen and the loss of Europe, Washingtons thinking goes, is tantamount to capitulation. So, the United States must hold on to EU, or whatever it will become once EU inevitably collapses, and NATO remains the only tool to drive European weaklings into submission. Making Russia obliterate Ukrainian Armed Forces is a perfect way to scare Europeans into abandoning any attempts to economically compete with the United States and deny them access to Russias energy.

Could that really be the U.S. strategy? If so it is rather short term thinking. How long would the new situation of Europe as a U.S. protectorate hold. Five years? A decade?

Moreover as a strategy it is rather poorly thought out and I have yet to detect any serious thought behind most U.S. policies.

Then again - the neo-conservatives in the Biden administration, like Victoria Nuland who is nominated as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, are not known for long term strategic thinking but for ruthless activism. They might want to create chaos in Europe without giving much thought to the aftermath.

Posted by b on April 9, 2021 at 16:41 UTC | Permalink

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By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will reimpose a ban on nightclubs, karaoke bars and other nightly entertainment facilities, authorities said on Friday, after the number of new coronavirus cases surged, fanning fears over a potential fourth wave of outbreaks.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun announced the curbs, which take effect on Monday for three weeks, after daily new case counts climbed to a three-month high in recent days. The current 10 p.m. dining curfew and ban on gatherings of more than four people will be maintained, he said.

"Signs of a fourth wave of epidemics that we had so striven to head off are drawing nearer and becoming stronger," Chung told a daily meeting on the pandemic. "We will maintain the current distancing level, but actively reinforce various specific measures depending on the situation."

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 671 new cases for Thursday, a day after the daily tally hit the highest level since early January, with clusters developing from churches, bars and gyms, mostly in the greater Seoul area.

Total infections rose to 108,269, with 1,764 deaths so far.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
New Delhi, April 9 : Filmmaker Sudhanshu Saria on Friday alleged that the poster of Ekta Kapoor's upcoming web series "His Storyy" has "ripped off and stolen" the poster concept of his 2015 film "LOEV".

"Why do people do this? A reputed studio like @altbalaji and @zee5 with all the money and resources in the world embarrassing incredible artists like @instasattu and @crimrinal to post artwork that is just plain ripped off and stolen. The first image is the gorgeous illustrated poster of our film LOEV -- painstakingly created over 13 months with so many drafts we lost track. It was conceptualised in partnership with the amazing minds at Pigeon & Co @mouthofpigeon illustrated beautifully by @rohanpore with oversight from @jahanbakshi Just a total labour of love," Saria wrote on Instagram.

Requesting fans to focus on the comparison, he added: "Swipe right to see the way in which it was ripped off by Balaji and Zee5. Absolutely foolish and unnecessary hatchet job done by their show #HisStoryy We are a small community of artists. Why can't we lift each other up? Ask for help? I'm so glad they liked our poster. Am so glad Balaji is telling a queer story. Why do this? @ektarkapoor @baljitsinghchaddha @suparnverma @ritzbhatia2019 @thisishowweding @shankar.Charu @rajivkumarofficial @ntnbhatia. Ashamed and angry. So disappointed about the pathetic state of intellectual property rights in our country. We really do need to do better. Please spread the word. Share this post. Tag them and let them know what they have done is not okay. As a producer, I apologise to my artists and team for not being able to protect their work better." "His Story" stars Mrinal Dutt and Satyadeep Misra as part of a homosexual love story. "LOEV" was Saria's debut feature film as a director, starring Dhruv Ganesh and Shiv Panditt.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Ethnic groups in Myanmars Kayin State and elsewhere are reportedly still experiencing waves of attacks from the countrys military, the Tatmadaw, after the February coup, despite the juntas declaration of a one-month cease-fire on March 31.

The armed forces have aggressively cracked down on pro-democracy protesters nationwide since the coup, leaving thousands detained and hundreds dead.

Although the current nationwide crackdown in Myanmar is the biggest seen in years, ethnic conflict in the Southeast Asian nation is not new. Myanmar, also known as Burma, is home to the worlds longest ongoing civil war, spanning 70 years with a series of ethnic insurgencies.

David Eubank, head of the Thai-based Free Burma Rangers, a group that has provided medical assistance inside Myanmar, told VOA this week that daily military attacks against several ethnic minority states continue.

Eubank said by phone the Tatmadaw has stepped up assaults that have led to the displacement of thousands of members of ethnic minorities in recent weeks, starting with airstrikes from March 27 to April 2 in Kayin State, also known as Karen State.

From all these airstrikes, as well as sustained ground attacks, there are now 23,000 people displaced in northern Karen State," Eubank told VOA.

Saw Thuebee, spokesperson for the civil society group, the Karen Peace Support Network, told VOA that 30,000 people had been displaced in Kayin state by increasing fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Karen National Liberation Army, the military arm of Karen National Union, the political organization that claims to represent the ethnic Karens.

He said, the Tatmadaw presence in the region has been increasing, particularly since the coup.

The Karen has made a repeated request to the Tatmadaw in the last five years to remove their military camps in the Karen territories. But instead of removing the camps the, the Tatmadaw has increased more, more troops and upgrading their outposts, and building more bigger roads so they can move in as fast as possible even during military tensions. I think Karen is responding to this militarization of this Myanmar army, this is why we are seeing more fighting going on and it's spreading out to other districts as well, Saw Thuebee told VOA.

Non-Burman ethnic groups in Kayin State have had a long history of running conflict with the central government over issues related to autonomy or independence. As is the case with other ethnic groups in the country, ceasefire agreements have been agreed to over the years in attempts for peace.

Eubank, of the Free Burma Rangers said previous truces have often been broken but not to the extent of the current attacks. The Burma army said theres a cease-fire, there is no cease-fire there, he told VOA.

There has been a cease-fire in Karen State for five years. And every year there has been a violation, according to Eubank, who says the military moved in on some states before Februarys coup.

We saw more and more attacks in December and then January they kept increasing, steadily, slowly, he added.

Thousands nationwide have opposed the coup, both in urban and ethnic areas. But the militarys armored vehicles and live ammunition have suppressed regular street demonstrations and martial law and internet shutdowns have been imposed.

Reports in recent days have indicated that airstrikes have temporarily stopped in ethnic regions, but constant flyovers are still a daily occurrence, according to Eubanks group. Ground attacks are also increasing, and according to Eubank, his FBR team reported a 30% increase in attacks on ethnic minority areas such as Kachin State, while thousands have also been displaced in Shan State.

Ethnic armed organizations are fighting back, Eubank said.

In northern Karen State they are attacking with every chance they get, Eubank said.

Yet with thousands still displaced, a lot of damage has already been done. Eubank told VOA his groups biggest priority now is food, medicine and shelter as a food crisis could be imminent, coupled with the approach of the rainy season.

People are now hiding among the trees, many of them in caves to escape bombing and living pretty rough. Schools stopped, fields cant be tended, and people are scared, he said.
Shortly after his book came out, There was this moment where I actually thought I had accomplished something very meaningful because it seemed like folks were asking, what did we miss? What did we not see that was happening in the middle of the country with the white working class? Lets try to empathize and understand where theyre coming from, lets try to make their lives better because thats obviously a part of living and sharing the country with people 
In the state of Rio de Janeiro, emergency services are under their biggest strain since the pandemic began, with ambulances carrying patients of all ages to overcrowded hospitals struggling to care for everyone. Authorities say over 90% of the states intensive-care unit beds are taken by COVID-19 patients, and many cities are reporting people dying at home due to lack of available medical treatment.
A man has been charged in connection with a stabbing incident in Newbridge on Wednesday and was remanded in custody.

Danut Scurtu, 35, whose address was given as Rosebud Cottage, Old Connell, Newbridge, appeared before a special sitting of Naas District Court last night on allegations of assault causing harm on Jan Prochazka and possession of a knife at Patrick Street, Newbridge, on April 7.

The court was told by Det Gda Paddy Regan the victims heart was lanced in the incident and he went into cardiac arrest twice on the way to hospital. He added that when the defendants condition stabilised he underwent surgery at St Jamess Hospital, Dublin, where he is in intensive care.

Read more County Kildare news

The garda claimed that an altercation took place in Eyre Street, Newbridge, about an hour before the stabbing and CCTV images indicated this took place between the defendant and the injured party, whos aged 36.

The injury was caused by a flick knife with a four inch blade.

Det Gda Regan objected to bail because the defendant has no dependants and he believes he is a flight risk.

He claimed that an hour after the altercation, the defendant was seen in the vicinity of the injured party and in possession of a knife.

It was further claimed that afterwards the defendant was forced in the direction of the garda station by a passer by.

Solicitor Tim Kennelly said the defendant had never been in court previously and was prepared to provide 2,000 cash to secure bail.

He said the defendant says he was attacked by others when he went to get a Chinese take away. He added the defendant said he was on his way to the garda station to make a complaint.

Judge Desmond Zaidan refused the bail application and remanded the defendant in custody until April 15.
BRIDGEPORT, N.Y. (UPDATED)  A Taberg woman has been charged with vehicular manslaughter, after a man was killed in a crash on Route 31 in Bridgeport Thursday afternoon.

According to Madison County Sheriffs Office, 27-year-old Caitlin R. Frost was driving near Blanding Hardware around 3 p.m. when she veered into the eastbound lane, hitting a motorcycle driven by 43-year-old Christopher J. Tucker, of Oneida.

Tucker was taken to Upstate University Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

Deputies say Frost admitted to using drugs before the crash, and there was some evidence of distracted driving.

Frost consented to providing a sample of her blood for further analysis. The results are still pending.

The investigation is ongoing, but based on current evidence, Frost was charged with second-degree vehicular manslaughter, driving while ability impaired by drugs, driving with a suspended license and failure to keep right.

Frost is being held at the Madison County jail on $10,000 cash bail, $20,000 bail bond or $40,000 partially secured bond.

She is scheduled to appear in Town of Sullivan Court on Tuesday, April 13.
North Bengal, with its 54 seats spread across seven districts, has all the wherewithal to be a game-changer this election, with the striving hard to hold its fort in the region, and the seeking to recover its lost ground amid changing political equations.

Once considered a bastion of the Congress and the Left Front, north Bengal districts - mostly dominated by tribal and minority communities -- have largely remained out of bounds for the TMC, barring a brief period of time.

The ruling camp had managed to fare well in 2016 state polls, when it bagged 25 seats in the region, but the subsequent general election in 2019 changed the course of the wind in favour of the BJP, which won seven of the eight Lok Sabha seats and stayed ahead in 35 assembly segments.

The TMC, which pulled up its socks after the Lok Sabha poll debacle, has, however, managed to woo back GJM leader Bimal Gurung, who holds sway over at least 15 assembly seats and 11 Gorkha communities.

state president Dilip Ghosh stated that his party is confident of sweeping North Bengal this election.

Negating him, senior leader and state minister Gautam Deb claimed that "tables would be turned on rivals" and the ruling party will emerge victorious in the northern part of the state.

Voters in north Bengal's 54 seats -- Cooch Behar (9), Jalpaiguri (7), Alipurduar (5), Darjeeling (6), North Dinajpur (9), South Dinajpur (6) and Malda (12) -- have weathered many a storm over the past few years, including the 104-day-long Hill strike over statehood demand in 2017, as they sought the protection of indigenous rights.

The saffron party, sensing anger over infiltration in the region, made NRC and CAA its poll planks to impress the electorate and pocket votes in 2019.

It had also inducted leaders from various local outfits, stitched an alliance with social groups, such as the Rajbanshis in Cooch Behar, to gain a foothold.

Gurung, the chief of one of the two factions of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), lent his support to the back then.

The party had also claimed credit for facilitating the historic Land Boundary Agreement in 2015 -- which allowed 51 Bangladeshi enclaves to become a part of India and 111 enclaves in Cooch Behar to merge with Bangladesh's territory.

The TMC, however, had claimed that the age-old matter was resolved only after its dispensation took the initiative, and paved the way for territory swap.

In Darjeeling, the promise of a permanent political solution and growing resentment against the government over "atrocities" perpetrated during the 104-day agitation in the Hills, also helped the BJP cement its foundation.

Similarly, in Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and minority- dominated Dinajpur and Malda -- the saffron camp was steadfast in exploiting the issue of infiltration to outsmart the TMC.

According to sources in the BJP, the social work carried out by the RSS further worked in favour of the party, which came out with flying colours in 2019.

The TMC, which was grappling with infighting, corruption and communal clashes at that time, had failed to hold on to its bastions. The ruling party, however, did not take this setback lying low and initiated necessary measures to change the ground-level equations in the region.

With the return of Gurung, the TMC, which already enjoys the support of GJM's other faction led by Binoy Tamang, has geared to take on the BJP.

"Gurung's support is indeed one of our biggest achievements in the North Bengal region. We had ceded ground to the BJP in 2019, but now we are hopeful of recovering it," a senior TMC leader, who did not wish to be named, said.

Add to that, the growing dissension in the BJP over distribution of tickets, following the induction of leaders from other parties, may give the state's ruling camp an edge.

The TMC has also secured a trump card in Alipurduar, after popular Scheduled Tribe (ST) leader Rajesh Lakra, hailed as 'Tiger', joined the party.

Moreover, the Mamata Banejee-led camp, which is trying to cash in on the delay and confusion over CAA implementation to curry favour with the refugees, is hopeful that the Congress-Left-ISF alliance might eat into the vote bank of the BJP, which it had secured in 2019.

Political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty is of the view that the Gurung factor, and the three-party alliance might prove to be detrimental to BJP's prospects.

Both the parties, led by their top leaders, have tried to pull each other down during their election campaigns over the past few days, even as the Congress and the Left hope to take advantage of the squabble between the TMC and the BJP to re-establish its rein in the region.

All seven districts in north Bengal are set to go to polls in the remaining five phases of the assembly elections



to be held between April 10 and April 29.

(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.)
Manuel Goncalves de Jesus, Portuguese ambassador to Korea, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the embassy in Seoul, April 6. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk





By Kwon Mee-yoo







Korea-Portugal celebrates the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2021. Courtesy of Embassy of Portugal in Korea

Korea and Portugal established their diplomatic ties on April 15, 1961. Sixty years later, the friendship between the European country and Korea is flourishing despite the COVID-19 pandemic.







Portuguese ambassador to Korea, Manuel Goncalves de Jesus, shared the long history between the two countries.







Though the history of modern diplomacy between the two countries has run for 60 years, the beginning of the relationship goes back to the 16th century.







"We are what we are now as a result of what we had been in the past, so understanding the history between the two countries is the beginning," Jesus said in an interview with The Korea Times at the Portuguese Embassy in Seoul, April 6.







"From the moment the maritime route to Asia was opened, the Portuguese wanted to expand their influence. Mainly it was the missionaries who wanted to propagate Christianity, and the Korean society was influenced by the new religion from the West, proven by the number of Christians now."







"Another important area was geography and cartography. The first Western map featuring the Korean Peninsula and the Sea of Korea was made by Portuguese. These maps were very important as Asia was a new world to Europeans back then."







Jesus is an old hand at diplomacy, working for various departments of the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and serving as ambassador to East Timor before being named ambassador to Korea in October 2017.







Jesus recalled when he visited Korea for a short time over 30 years ago to meet a friend when he worked as a third secretary at the Embassy of Portugal in Japan.







"It changed a lot. Korea has become a huge economic power, ranked 10th in the world. South Korea's per capita income jumped from less than $10,000 to $30,000 now," the veteran diplomat said.







"At the same time, there are many changes in society. When I was here back in the early 1990s, there was little known about Korean literature, art, cinema or pop culture. Now, even in my country, people have started to read Korean writers such as Han Kang of 'The Vegetarian.'







"When you look at the pandemic, the Korean health system worked so well compared to Europe. These are examples of the differences between not a long time ago and what is now."







Seen is a photo of the Portuguese capital Lisbon with Sao Jorge Castle before sunset. Portugal was gaining popularity as a tourist destination among Koreans before it was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. gettyimagesbank









From the perspective of trade, Korea exports more to Portugal and imports less.







"There are many made-in-Korea cars and mobile phones in Portugal," the ambassador said. "Portugal's major exports to Korea include machinery and equipment as well as pastry and wine."







"There is a little imbalance, but it is compensated by the tourism sector as more Koreans visit Portugal than Portuguese visiting Korea. Tourism is an important sector of the Portuguese economy, accounting for 8.2 percent of the national Gross Domestic Product in 2018."







The ambassador expressed regret over the pandemic marring the budding interest in Portugal as a popular tourist destination among Koreans. In the past, Portugal was mainly known for Fatima, a Catholic pilgrimage site, but the travelers' demand diversified recently.







"Before the pandemic, there was a huge increase of Koreans visiting Portugal in recent years, reaching up to 200,000 in 2019. Portugal was featured in TV programs and the first direct flight to Lisbon was launched in 2019," the ambassador said.







"People visiting Portugal taste Portuguese food, wine and buy souvenirs such as tableware. When they come back, their image of Portugal is changed. We hope you can go back to visit Portugal soon."







The ambassador emphasized the importance of cultural exchange between the two countries.







"If you go back 20 years ago, Portuguese people knew little about Korean literature. Now, more Korean literature is translated into Portuguese and if you ask my daughter in her 20s, she is well versed in Korean writers, musicians and especially cinema," the ambassador said.







"From our side, we have a series of classical Portuguese literature translated into Korean. The most well-known would be Jose Saramago, after him receiving the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature."







The embassy is planning a series of events despite the pandemic to commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties. In May, a conference will be held in celebration of the World Portuguese Language Day, which falls May 5.







"Portuguese is the most spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere and the day highlights the economical weight and cultural importance of the language. We will host a Portuguese language competition among students, but it is likely to be held online due to the pandemic," Jesus said.







A film festival to be held in collaboration with the Cinematheque Seoul Art Cinema and an economic conference also line up, but as virtual editions.







Jesus sees a potential in bilateral cooperation in the field of green economy.







"There are many things to come such as climate change and digitalization. These changes are already in our faces, but will be more crucial in the future. It is about the way we live and survive in the middle of all changes," he said.







"Portugal is doing quite well when it comes to clean energy using wind, hydro and solar. Someday, we are going to make green energy as our main source of energy. The transition is supported by information technology (IT) and Korea can play an important role in IT."


The global emission of greenhouse gas has drastically increased in past few years. According to a Paris-based firm, the 12 highest methane emission rates were observed from Bangladesh alone this year. Methane is one such greenhouse gas that has been 80 times more potent in the last two decades in the atmosphere, than carbon dioxide. This report brings to you the findings of certain firms that specialise in analysing satellite observations to "locate methane gas leaks."

'Methane in the atmosphere can lead the world into 100 years of global warming'

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) observes that methane alone can lead the world into global warming for 100 years, with a potential that is 25 times higher than that of carbon dioxide. Interestingly, the cause for methane is not just due to industrial emissions, a major reason for the persistence of methane in the atmosphere is due to manure management, wastewater treatment, emissions from coal mines, landfills, and agriculture fermentation.

'Bangladesh has some of the strongest sustained methane emissions to date'

According to a report in a leading American news portal, Bluefield Technologies Inc., analysed European Space Agency data to identify concentrations of methane gas over Bangladesh. Founder of the firm, Yotam Ariel said "Our analysis shows that Bangladesh has some of the highest methane emissions in the world that can be detected by satellites.



Stephane Germain, president of GHGSat Inc, which also picked up the plumes said It has the strongest sustained emissions we've seen to date where we cant clearly identify the source. Lately, the emissions from Bangladesh are drawing the attention of the world as Bangladeshs Environment and Climate Change Minister Shahab Uddin observed " We're aware of the problems. The bulk of the methane likely came from rice paddies. When farmers flood their fields, bacteria in the waterlogged soil can produce large amounts of gas. The other source is landfill gas, released when trash breaks down. Were working to take mitigation measures, Uddin acknowledged.

More study required to track sources where methane concentrations are rising: EDF

Bangladesh chairs the Climate Vulnerable Forum, whose 48 members represent 1.2 billion people most threatened by climate change. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, man-made methane emissions lead to at least a quarter of global warming. Another firm Kayrros SAS that analysed the methane concentrations in Bangladesh, paddy fields, landfills, leaky natural gas pipelines, and coal stockpiles are the factors for the emission of the gas. The company uses data from the ESAs Sentinel-5P and Sentinel-2 satellites. It ran a dispersion simulation that takes into account atmospheric conditions such as wind, which can move methane plumes away from their source.



Steven Hamburg, chief scientist at the EDF explains The methane concentrations we see over Bangladesh are a signal and deserve more study. It will require more work to make reliable quantitative estimates of emissions and determine sources. The EDF is planning to launch its own satellite to track methane emissions next year, Hamburg hinted. Cutting methane emissions isnt just an opportunity to reduce global warming, it will also reduce ground-level ozone, and associated damage to human health and crop yields.


ISFARA, Tajikistan -- Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has assured residents of the countrys volatile Vorukh exclave within Kyrgyzstan that it will not be part of any land swap between the neighboring countries as they seek a solution to halt border disputes that frequently turn violent.

Rahmons statement during a trip to meet with residents of the exclave on April 9 comes weeks after a top Kyrgyz official publicly stated that Bishkek is ready to include the exclave in a land exchange.

"There have not been any talks about the possible exchange of Vorukh for another territory in the last 19 years [since the border delimitation negotiations started], and there is no possibility for it. I am making this statement because of various reports have been spread via the media regarding the issue recently. Border demarcation is a long process and there is no place for emotions in the matter," Rahmon said, calling on Vorukh residents to live peacefully with those on the other side of the border.

Rahmon added that agreements on almost half of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border issues have been reached during more than 100 rounds of negotiations held between Dushanbe and Bishkek since border delimitation talks started in 2002.

Rahmon also said that Tajikistan had fully finished all work outlined in a joint road map on border delimitation agreed on between the two countries in 2016 and accused Bishkek of failing to stick to the plan for "unknown reasons."

On March 26, the chief of Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security, Kamchybek Tashiev, said that Bishkek is ready to give 12,000 hectares of land from Kyrgyzstan's southern region of Batken to Tajikistan in exchange for the territory of Vorukh.

Tashiev also said that Kyrgyzstans long-standing border issues with another neighbor, Uzbekistan, had been "100 percent fully resolved" after talks in Tashkent.

Many border areas in Central Asia's former Soviet republics have been disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the volatile Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan meet.

Vorukh is one such exclave, where in July 2019 Tajik officials said one Tajik man was killed and seven more wounded after Kyrgyz villagers used hunting guns in clashes that erupted over a move by Tajik residents to install Tajik national flags on the Isfara-Vorukh road near the exclave.

Kyrgyz officials in the Batken region temporarily moved more than 650 residents from the village of Ak-Sai from the area for safety and security reasons in the days following the clashes.

Another volatile exclave, Sokh, which sits inside Kyrgyzstan, is an ethnic Tajik-populated Uzbek territory where shootings have been common for years.

In 2013, border crossings through Sokh were closed for several weeks after Sokh residents clashed with Kyrgyz border guards over the installation of electric power lines to a new Kyrgyz border post.

Five Sokh residents were reportedly wounded by Kyrgyz border guards and at least 30 Kyrgyz citizens were subsequently taken hostage.
Naomi Wolf laments 'war on religion' amid ongoing COVID restrictions, emergency powers

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A prominent liberal has become an outspoken critic of restrictions on religious faith implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and, in response, has launched a campaign committed to preserving the freedom to worship and other freedoms that governments imposed limits on.

Appearing on Fox News Primetime Monday, Naomi Wolf, a former adviser to Democratic politicians and outspoken feminist, reacted to the anti-religion nanny states war on Easter.

Host Mark Steyn prefaced the interview with Wolf by highlighting examples of law enforcement officials in western democracies, including Canada and the United Kingdom, interrupting church services that took place on the days leading up to Easter because of concerns that the gatherings violated COVID-19 restrictions.

There is a war on humanity. There is a war on religion. There is a war on human assembly, she said. Big tech wants to drive everyone indoors and dissolve the bonds between people.

The real pandemic, which is now an endemic, its turning into something we live with every year, has provided cover for very dark forces to terrorize human assembly and to do what youre right to point out is illegal, Wolf added. She further slammed western governments for assaulting the ways in which human beings gather strength and community from each other so that there will be ... kind of new overlords.

Wolf suggested that the attacks on the right to worship that have emerged during the coronavirus pandemic are a signal of something darker: Tyrants on the left and the right, totalitarian states, always go after churches and synagogues and mosques, always try to target outspoken clergy  and target the idea of faith because thats where people derive strength and community from.

Steyn asked Wolf to describe her organization that is actually committed to turning this around by demanding no more permanent emergencies. Wolf spoke about her platform, Daily Clout, which she founded to enable everybody to pass legislation and run for office, not just the elites or the insiders.

In the face of this crisis, a group of citizens have started a Five Freedoms campaign, Wolf explained. As you mentioned, number one is no mask mandates, no emergency law. Our Constitution forbids emergency powers in an open-ended way.

Freedom to assemble  worship, to engage in trade forever, its unlawful to restrict worship or trade or assembly in our democracy. Number four is no vaccine passports, super scary technology Ive been talking about. And number five is open schools immediately, she added. Wolf mentioned that the Five Freedoms campaign was getting a ton of traction and that leaders from Idaho, Missouri and South Dakota have signed on to aspects of the commitment.

Additionally, Wolf noted that she has been asked to update a book she wrote in 2008 titled, The End of America that outlined 10 steps to fascism. Emergency law is the tenth step and in Massachusetts, I live under emergency law. Next door, New York lives under emergency law; theres emergency law in California. This is the end of democracy and they are not giving up these powers, she warned.

Before introducing Wolf, Steyn discussed a tragic element to the diminished state of the Christian churches a year into [the lockdowns]." According to Steyn, If ever there were a huge opportunity for religious ministry, a world in which everything else is dead, movies, shows, sports, concerts, restaurants, all the noisy distractions of the secular, consumerist life, [now] is surely it.

Yet, for the most part, starting with the social justice pontiff in the Vatican blaming COVID on climate change, the churches blew it, he lamented. Saddest of all, an unchurched year has seen church membership in the U.S. fall for the first time below 50% of Americans, which is a pity because when the churches fall silent, the only religion left is the state.

In the most prominent example of western government officials attempting to break up a church service on Easter weekend, a Canadian pastor forcefully told a police officer and public health officer who entered his church without a warrant to vacate the premises. Artur Pawlowski, the Polish-born pastor of Street Church in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, appeared on Fox News Primetime Tuesday, after the video of his exchange with the law enforcement officials went viral. Steyn played a clip of the encounter at the beginning of the segment with Wolf.
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Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, questioned the government's decision to export coronavirus vaccines.

"Was the export of vaccines also an oversight, like many other decisions of this government, or an effort to garner publicity at the cost of our own citizens?" Gandhi asked PM Modi in the letter.

Communicating that India is facing "vaccine starvation", the Congress leader stated that over 6 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been exported.

Also Read: Unemployment, poverty, 'earnings of friends' rose under Modi govt: Rahul Gandhi

Gandhi also presented seven-point demands before the prime minister in the letter dated April 8, 2021.

The former Congress President's demands are as follows: -

o Financial support to vaccine manufacturers to ramp up production

o Stop vaccine export

o Fast-track approval of other vaccine candidates

o Universal vaccination

o Double central allocation for vaccine procurement

o Increase states participation in vaccine procurement and distribution

o Provide income support to vulnerable sections hit by covid

Gandhi also wrote that several state governments are frequently highlighting vaccine shortages, adding that their grievances are met with "intemperate statements" by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan attacking opposition-ruled states.

The Congress MP further stated that the states have been circumvented right from vaccine procurement to registration.

Also Read: 'Don't let guard down, COVID-19 still a big threat,' says Rahul Gandhi

Gandhi went on to say that "centralisation and individualised propaganda" are counterproductive.

"Our vaccination program has to move beyond an individual's picture on the vaccine certificate, towards guaranteeing maximum vaccination," said Gandhi.
(JNS)  While Israel was busy with the domestic political imbroglio surrounding last weeks Knesset elections, a strategic threat that could threaten the countrys very existence was developing. If the Iranian-Chinese alliance reaches its full potential, the Middle East could once again be dragged into a new cold war between superpowers.

Soviet support for the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nassers radical policies ensured him regional hegemony that threatened Israel for more than a decade. The American attempt to placate the Egyptian leader only made things worse.

Now, mass...
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has paid tribute to Prince Philip after he died at the age of 99 - saying the Duke of Edinburgh 'embodied a generation that we will never see again'.

The Queen on Friday announced with 'deep sorrow' the death of her husband - who spent his final days at Windsor Castle after a 28-night stay in hospital for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

Her Majesty announced Prince Philip's death at 9pm on Friday (AEST) as the Union Flag was lowered to half-mast outside Buckingham Palace and on public buildings across the UK and Commonwealth - including Australia.

'Australians send our love and deepest condolences to her Majesty and all the Royal family,' Mr Morrison said on Friday evening.

'God bless from all here in Australia ... The Commonwealth family joins together in sorrow and thanksgiving for the loss and life of Prince Philip.'

Prince Philip visited Australia on more than 20 occasions.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has led the tributes to Prince Philip after he died at the age of 99 by saying the Duke of Edinburgh 'embodied a generation' which would never be seen again

Mr Morrison said flags would be flown at half mast in honour of the Duke who had presided as patron or president of almost 50 organisations in Australia.

The Australian prime minister said His Royal Highness was in the words of the Queen, her 'strength and stay'.

'For 65 years, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme has encouraged over 775,000 young Australians to explore their leadership potential. Forty thousand young Australians are currently participating in the program,' Mr Morrison said.

Details about Australia's remembrance of Prince Philip will be announced in the coming days, Mr Morrison said.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian also offered her condolences to the Royal Family.

'The Duke of Edinburgh had a strong and lengthy relationship with NSW, visiting our state many times during his life,' the premier said.

'While we mourn his passing at the age of 99, it is the occasion to offer thanks for a very long and dedicated life of service.'

SCOTT MORRISON'S FULL STATEMENT ON PRINCE PHILIP'S DEATH For nearly 80 years, Prince Philip served his Crown, his country and the Commonwealth. His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was, in the words of Her Majesty, her strength and stay. He embodied a generation that we will never see again. Beginning as a naval cadet in 1939, he served in war and in peace. When Her Majesty ascended the throne, The Duke ended his military service and became her constant support. Prince Philip was no stranger to Australia, having visited our country on more than 20 occasions. Through his service to the Commonwealth he presided as patron or president of nearly 50 organisations in Australia. Given his own service, Prince Philip also had a strong connection with the Australian Defence Force. For 65 years, The Duke of Edinburghs Award scheme has encouraged over 775,000 young Australians to explore their leadership potential. Forty thousand young Australians are currently participating in the program. Australians send our love and deepest condolences to her Majesty and all the Royal family. The Commonwealth family joins together in sorrow and thanksgiving for the loss and life of Prince Philip. God bless from all here in Australia. Further details about Australias remembrance of Prince Philip will be announced over coming days. Flags will be lowered in honour of His Royal Highness. Advertisement

The Queen on Friday announced with 'deep sorrow' the death of her husband Prince Philip - who spent his final days at Windsor Castle after a 28-night stay in hospital

The Union Flag was lowered to half mast at Buckingham Palace this afternoon just after it was revealed that Prince Philip has passed away shortly before his 100th birthday

Good-looking and blond-haired, the Prince of Greece impressed the young Princess by jumping over the college tennis nets at their first publicised meeting. Pictured: Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in a wedding photograph in 1947. The couple were married for 73 years (pictured in a portrait taken to mark the 60th anniversary of The Queen's Accession in 2012)

Prince Philip (pictured in 2019), the Queen's husband and greatest supporter, has died at Windsor Castle today aged 99

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk joined the list of tributes, saying the Prince would always be 'remembered fondly' in her state.

'I send condolences on behalf of all Queenslanders to Buckingham Palace regarding the death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh,' she said.

'The Duke of Edinburgh is a much loved and respected member of the Royal Family and will be remembered fondly in Queensland.'

Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the royal's death will be mourned by millions across the globe.

'I have fond memories of spending time with Prince Philip during his visit to Australia at the time of CHOGM in Perth,' she said.

The Queen and Prince Philip wave as they leave Westminster Abbey after Prince William and Kate's wedding in April 2011

Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh smile as they arrive at Baldonnel Airport in 2011 for their historic trip to Ireland

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding photograph in Windsor in May 2018

The Duke of Edinburgh waves as he arrives for the transfer of the Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles at Windsor Castle in July 2019.

'While a man of duty, he had a sense of fun. His loss will be mourned by the Queen, his family and millions around the world.'

Prince Philip and the Queen shared their 73rd wedding anniversary last November and he was due to turn 100 on June 10 this year.

The Queen is expected to enter an eight-day period of mourning following the death of her husband.

The monarch will not carry out any duties even in private under Covid restrictions, laws will not be given the Royal Assent and affairs of state will also be paused.

Following these eight days, a further period of official Royal Mourning is expected to continue for 30 days.

Officials at Buckingham Palace are now preparing for a royal ceremonial funeral at Windsor Castle in Berkshire in keeping with Philips wishes, with a military procession also expected in London - Covid laws permitting.

Philip and his grandson Prince Harry share a joke at Lady Gabriella Windsor's wedding on May 18, 2019 at Windsor Castle

The last photograph of Philip with the Queen was in November 2020, where the Duke and Queen looked at their homemade card, given to them by their great-grandchildren Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis for their 73rd wedding anniversary
India and the Maldives on April 8 held the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on counter-terrorism. Both sides emphasized the need for strengthening international cooperation to fight terrorism comprehensively. The two nations strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms including cross-border terrorism.

India-Maldives joint working group meets

In the meeting, the Indian side was led by Secretary(West), Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Vikas Swarup and the Maldivian side was led by Foreign Secretary Mr. Abdul Ghafoor Mohammad. According to Ministry of External Affairs, both sides reviewed threats posed by the terrorist outfits that are under UN sanctions and they emphasized action against terrorist networks. The two nations emphasized the need for all the countries to take "immediate, sustained, verifiable and irreversible" action to ensure that no territory under their control are used for terrorist attacks on others.

Honoured to co-chair the first ever India-Maldives Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism with HE @aghafoormohamed, Foreign Secretary of Maldives, in New Delhi today, giving practical shape to the vision of Prime Minister Modi and President Solih. pic.twitter.com/8V3DvEZGeS  Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) April 8, 2021

The two sides also discussed various areas of cooperation on counter-terrorism that includes counter-radicalization, violent extremism and use of the internet for terrorism. According to MEA, the two nations exchanged views on enhancing bilateral cooperation against narcotics and drug trafficking. They also discussed the challenges they are facing due to the pandemic in fighting terrorism.

Both sides agreed to strengthen bilateral CT cooperation, including assistance & capacity building for the security, law enforcement and other agencies of Maldives and exchange of experience & best practices for de-radicalisation. and preventing & countering of violent extremism. pic.twitter.com/uVMZopkFkE  Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) April 8, 2021

They also pointed out the joint statement issued during the State Visit of Prime Minister Modi to the Maldives in June 2019. The two sides recognized the critical threats that terrorism, violent extremism and radicalisation pose to peace and security in the region. India appreciated the clear stance taken by the Government of President Solih to counter such threats and steps taken by the Maldives in this regard.

India and Maldives agreed to strengthen cooperation that includes assistance and capacity building for the security and law enforcement agencies. They also talked about collaborating in the areas of counter-terrorism, preventing and countering of violent extremism and deradicalization. The Maldivian delegation during its stay in New Delhi will visit the training facilities of the National Security Guard and the Bureau of Police Research and Development.

(Image Credits: VikasSwarup/Twitter)
POTTSVILLE  A Pottsville man will spend time behind bars, and more on probation, after admitting to a Schuylkill County judge that he broke into a residence in November in the city.

Steven J. Platts, 34, pleaded guilty to criminal trespass. Prosecutors withdrew one count each of burglary, simple assault, criminal mischief and harassment, and three of recklessly endangering another person.

President Judge William E. Baldwin accepted the plea Tuesday and sentenced Platts to spend six to 23 months in prison and an additional two years on probation, pay costs and $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account, and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities.

Pottsville police charged Platts with breaking into a residence on Peacock Street on Nov. 5.

This is the second time Platts has gone to prison because of a break-in. The first one was of a notable county religious landmark. Cass Township police charged Platts with committing that break-in on April 10, 2018, at St. Kieran Roman Catholic Church, Heckscherville.

On April 11, 2019, Judge James P. Goodman sentenced Platts to serve four to 23 months in prison, pay costs and $2,000 restitution and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities. Goodman made the sentence effective at 9 a.m. April 25.

A jury had found Platts guilty on Feb. 15, 2019, of criminal trespass and receiving stolen property, and not guilty of two counts each of burglary and theft and one additional count each of criminal trespass and receiving stolen property.

Platts already is an inmate at the county prison, and Baldwin conducted Tuesdays hearing by videoconference.
She's wowed audiences in hit films such as American Sniper, Layer Cake and Alfie.

And Sienna Miller threw herself into another gritty role as she was seen filming for Netflix's new political drama Anatomy Of A Scanda in Manchester on Friday.

The actress, 38, looked sensational as she donned a chic forest green jumpsuit and kept her feet cosy in a pair of chocolate Ugg boots.

Star quality: Sienna Miller looked stunning as she stepped out in a chic green jumpsuit to film Netflix's latest political drama Anatomy Of A Scandal in Manchester on Friday

Sienna is set to star in the film as the wife of a shamed minister played by Rupert Friend.

The plot of the movie follows the trial of the Eton-educated politician after he's accused of sexually assaulting a young political aide.

Sienna looked radiant on set as she scooped her blonde tresses up into a chic high ponytail to film the upcoming drama.

She shrugged a tailored tan coat around her shoulders as she got into character to play Rupert's devastated wife.

Drama: Sienna is set to star in the film as the wife of a politician who has been accused of sexual assault, played by Rupert Friend

Anatomy Of A Scandal is based on the acclaimed 2018 bestseller by former political journalist Sarah Vaughan.

The serious plot revolves around James Whitehouse's rape accusation filed by an aide with whom he'd been having an affair.

The role of the aide, called Olivia, will be played by the Charlie Angels actress Naomi Scott, it was confirmed in December.

The cast of the six-part series, which Netflix describes as 'an insightful and suspenseful series about sexual consent and privilege', also includes Downton Abbey actress Michelle Dockery as the high-flying prosecutor.

Sophie (Sienna) is convinced that he is innocent and will do whatever it takes to protect her family in the wake of the scandal.

Meanwhile, criminal barrister Kate (Michelle) is equally convinced that James is guilty and is determined to see he pays for his crimes.

Co-star: It was confirmed in December that the role of the aid, named Olivia, will be played by Charlie's Angel's star Naomi Scott (pictured in 2019)

It's thought the series could focus on a different political scandal each season in an anthology style, similar to BBC's A Very English Scandal according to Deadline.

It is being directed by SJ Clarkson, with David E. Kelley, the man behind the Sky drama The Undoing starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, acting as writer, showrunner, and executive producer.

The filming comes after Sienna starred in the drama film Wander Darkly this year, while she appeared as Roger Ailes' wife Beth in the miniseries The Loudest Voice the year before.
The campaign for regional elections in Madrid on 4 May is seeing strong ideological campaigning by the more extreme right-wing and left-wing parties as expected.

On Wednesday this week, the campaign launch of hard-right Vox in the working-class district of Vallecas turned violent. Media showed confrontations between attendees, police and protesters supported by left-wing parties.

According to most sources, a group of anti-fascist demonstrators had gathered ahead of the launch and began throwing stones and objects at Vox members. Leaders of anti-capitalist party Podemos hit back, blaming Vox for having provoked the tension in order to win votes in more supportive areas of the city.

An official opinion poll this week showed that parties on the left and on the right, including the more moderate ones, would each win half the seats based on their current support.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - Buffalo Coal Corp. (TSXV: BUF) announces that, on April 8, 2021 during the afternoon shift, approximately 130 employees at the Company's Aviemore mine refused to vacate their workstations and commenced with unprotected strike action. Underground employees have refused to return to surface whilst surface employees have refused to vacate the Company's premises unless their demands for immediate salary increases are met.

Management's efforts to convince these employees to cease their illegal and dangerous actions have been unsuccessful. The Company has been liaising with the recognized labour unions and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration ("CCMA") to secure the safe return of the workers to surface.

"It is unfortunate that some of our employees have decided not to follow recognized protocols and endanger their own and their fellow co-workers' health and safety through their illegal actions and intimidation. Management will continue to liaise in good faith with both the labour unions and the CCMA. The timing of these actions is unfortunate, considering the ongoing impact that COVID-19 has had on the Company's operational and financial performance," commented Emma Oosthuizen, the Company's Chief Executive Officer.

About Buffalo

Buffalo is a coal producer in South Africa. It holds a majority interest in two operating mines through its 100% interest in Buffalo Coal Dundee, a South African company which has a 70% interest in Zinoju. Zinoju holds a 100% interest in the Magdalena bituminous mine and the Aviemore anthracite mine in South Africa. Buffalo Coal has an experienced coal-focused management team.

The Company has its primary listing on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") and has a secondary listing on the Alternative Exchange ("AltX"), operated by the JSE Limited.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Ms Emma Oosthuizen

Chief Executive Officer

Email: Emma.Oosthuizen@buffalocoal.co.za

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/79957
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, April 9, 2021 /CNW/ - Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE: UEC) (the "Company" or "UEC") is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced offering of an aggregate of 3,636,364 shares of common stock of the Company (each, a "Share") at a purchase price of $3.30 per Share and for gross proceeds of $12,000,000 in a registered direct offering (the "Offering").

The Company offered and sold the Shares pursuant to a Securities Purchase Agreement, dated April 5, 2021, with certain institutional investors.

UEC anticipates that the net proceeds of the Offering will be used for additional uranium purchases and for general corporate and working capital purposes.

Following the closing of this offering, the Company has over $110 million in cash, equity and inventory holdings.

UEC's physical uranium initiative is fully funded with cash on hand and now includes 2.105 million pounds of U.S. warehoused uranium at a volume weighted average price of ~$30 per pound with deliveries between March 2021 to December 2022.

H.C. Wainwright & Co. acted as the exclusive placement agent for the Offering.

The Shares were offered by the Company pursuant to a prospectus supplement to the Company's effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-236571) previously filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and which became effective March 3, 2020. The Offering was made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus that form a part of the effective shelf registration statement. A prospectus supplement relating to the Offering was recently filed by the Company with the SEC. Electronic copies of the prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the Offering may be obtained from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov, or from H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC, 430 Park Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10022 by e-mail at: placements@hcwco.com or by telephone at: (212) 856-5711.

Story continues

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any state or jurisdiction. The securities being offered have not been approved or disapproved by any regulatory authority, nor has any such authority passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the prospectus supplement, the prospectus or the Company's shelf registration statement.

About Uranium Energy Corp

Uranium Energy Corp is a U.S.-based uranium mining and exploration company. As a leading pure-play American uranium company, UEC is advancing the next generation of low-cost and environmentally friendly In-Situ Recovery (ISR) mining uranium projects. In South Texas, the Company's hub-and-spoke operations are anchored by our fully-licensed Hobson Processing Facility which is central to our Palangana, Burke Hollow, Goliad and other ISR pipeline projects. In Wyoming, UEC controls the Reno Creek project, which is the largest permitted, pre-construction ISR uranium project in the U.S. Additionally, the Company's diversified holdings provide exposure to a unique portfolio of uranium related assets, including: 1) major equity stake in the only royalty company in the sector, Uranium Royalty Corp; 2) physical uranium warehoused in the U.S.; and 3) a pipeline of resource-stage uranium projects in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Paraguay. In Paraguay, the Company owns one of the largest and highest-grade ferro-titanium deposits in the world. The Company's operations are managed by professionals with a recognized profile for excellence in their industry, a profile based on many decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining.

Stock Exchange Information:

NYSE American: UEC

WKN: AJDRR

ISN: US916896103

Safe Harbor Statement

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable United States and Canadian laws. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans, "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as "forward-looking statements". Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, market and other conditions, risks that the Offering will not be completed, failure to satisfy the conditions to closing of the Offering, the actual results of exploration activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation or realization of mineral resources, the availability of capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the raising of capital through the sale of shares, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry including, without limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release. Certain matters discussed in this news release and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Federal securities laws. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Many of these factors are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and that could impact the Company and the statements contained in this news release can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

Cision

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/uranium-energy-corp-completes-financing-and-reports-over-110-million-in-cash-equity-and-inventory-holdings-as-of-april-9-2021-301265546.html

SOURCE Uranium Energy Corp

Cision

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2021/09/c6670.html
New Delhi, April 9 : The Supreme Court on Friday said free flow of traffic on public roads cannot be blocked. The observation was made by the top court during the hearing of a plea by a woman resident of Noida seeking direction to ensure the roads between Noida to Delhi should be kept clear.

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said: "Roads should not be blocked." The top court noted that the petitioner was facing undue harassment and the authorities concerned should make arrangements so that roads are kept free.

Earlier, the top court had issued notice to the Centre and Delhi Police Commissioner on the plea of Monicca Agarwal who alleged that instead of normal 20 minutes, she ends up spending two hours for her travel from Noida to Delhi.

During the hearing, the top court noted, "Public streets should not be blocked, and this aspect has been emphasized repeatedly in previous orders of this court." The top court said the petitioner is a single mother and it becomes harassing for her, if roads are blocked.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that he was appearing on behalf of Delhi and requested the court to impleaded Uttar Pradesh and Haryana government as parties in the matter.

Justice Kaul observed, "We are not concerned, how you resolve this issue, whether politically, administratively or judicially. We have said this before that roads should not be blocked." The top court said it is only examining limited aspects in the matter and not looking at other aspects involved in blocking the roads. The top court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on April 19.

The petitioner, in her petition, had contended despite various directions passed by the top court to keep public roads clear, have not been followed. The plea added that the petitioner being a single mother with medical issues, it has become a nightmare for her to travel from Noida to Delhi.
Two men were caught on camera about to pop bottles of Prosecco outside Buckingham Palace in an apparent effort to celebrate the death of Prince Philip.

Her Majesty announced the Duke of Edinburgh's death at midday as the Union Flag was lowered to half-mast outside the royal residence in London.

Philip had spent his final days at Windsor Castle with his wife after a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

Members of the public had gathered earlier today to pay their respects but were shocked to see the unnamed duo brazenly celebrating the Duke's death.

In one clip, shared to Twitter by YouTuber Mahyar Tousi, the two men could be seen straddling their bicycles and hovering outside the gates of Buckingham Palace with bottles of Prosecco in hand.

One then poses for photographs as his companion takes snapshots on his phone.

Mr Tousi uploaded his clip to Twitter alongside a caption that read: 'A couple of attention seekers with bottles of champagne being disrespectful outside Buckingham Palace.'

And other social media users flooded to condemn their actions.

Two men were caught on camera about to pop bottles of Prosecco outside Buckingham Palace in an apparent effort to celebrate the death of Prince Philip

One wrote: 'Wow vile... not a royalist or a lover of Prince Phillip but this is just wrong so disrespectful... what a sad world this is turning into.'

Another added: 'Let's get those flags on every building we can and fly half mast for [Prince Philip].

'He earned respect not like these two idiots with a cheap shot. They could learn a thing or two from HRH.'

And a third simply commented: 'Disgraceful.'

YouTuber Mahyar Tousi uploaded his clip to Twitter as other social media users flooded to condemn the duo's actions

One of the men then poses for photographs as his companion takes snapshots on his phone as other bewildered mourners walk past

Philip, who was the longest serving consort in British history, spent his final days at the family's Berkshire home with the Queen after a 28-night stay in hospital for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

There has been a huge outpouring of grief today as thousands of tributes were shared online with heartfelt words for The Queen - who was described by one well-wisher as having 'lost the brightest jewel in her crown'.

Crowds gathered to place flowers in front of palace gates including Buckingham, Windsor and Balmoral, where notices shared the news of the Duke's passing.

But officers on horseback have since arrived at Buckingham Palace to break-up crowds who had gathered with police on foot also seen marshalling the large numbers that had gathered.

Palace officials and No10 have encouraged the public not to congregate in large groups amid coronavirus restrictions as mounted police asked people to obey social-distancing measures.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson told MailOnline, said: 'The sad death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh has been announced by Buckingham Palace.

'Although this is an extraordinarily difficult time for many, we are asking the public not to gather at Royal Residences, and continue to follow public health advice particularly on avoiding meeting in large groups and on minimising travel.

'We are supporting the Royal Household in asking that floral tributes should not be laid at Royal Residences at this time.'
ROME, N.Y. -- Rome Police are investigating after a crash late Thursday night involving a car and an ambulance.

Crews were called to the area of Black River Boulevard and East Chestnut Street around 11:40 p.m.

NEWSChannel 2 cameras arrived as the AmCare ambulance and car were loaded on the back of two separate tow trucks.

Airbags were deployed in the ambulance and the other vehicle.

NEWSChannel 2 has reached out to Rome Police to find out if anyone was hurt, if a patient was in the back of the ambulance at the time of the accident, or if any tickets will be issued.

This story will be updated as more details are released.
Travel industry hopes 'seacations' will make waves

The Hong Kong Travel Agents' Relief Alliance says Hong Kong should follow in the footsteps of Taiwan and Singapore and reopen local cruises. Photo: RTHK

Travel sector representatives are calling on the government to reopen the cruise industry this summer, to allow people to go on "seacations" after cruises ground to a halt more than a year ago due to the pandemic.



The Hong Kong Travel Agents' Relief Alliance said on Friday that the city is lagging behind its neighbours such as Taiwan and Singapore which have reopened local cruises since last year.



The group said many people have longed to travel, citing results of polls that it conducted showing nearly 90 percent of respondents indicating they would consider going on a cruise if proper infection-control measures are in place on board.



They proposed that the government allow cruise ships to take passengers to international waters for a brief vacation, without berthing overseas.



Kelvin Fung, head of sales from Royal Caribbean Cruises, said the relaunch of cruises by his company in Singapore last December has proved to be successful and safe.



He said the firm is willing to put in place stringent precautionary measures, including testing all crew and passengers before they go on board.



We are looking at a full PCR test for our guest. In the testing industry, that is the gold standard and that is the more accurate testing choice. But I think the ultimate decision really depends on the requirements put forward by the Hong Kong government. If they are requiring PCR test or on-spot antigen test or any other options, well definitely work with them, he said.



Fung also said apart from adopting social-distancing measures, they are ready to set up negative pressure wards onboard to isolate suspected patients, and a team of medical doctors and nurses would provide medical assistance if needed.



Christine Li, senior vice president from Dream Cruises, said there has been no infection linked to her company's cruises in Taiwan and Singapore over the past nine months, which showed the effectiveness of their infection-control measures.



The alliance also urged the government to allow local tours to reopen, saying this could give confidence to other countries and regions to set up travel schemes with Hong Kong.
BEIJING -- China accused the U.S. of causing humanitarian disasters through foreign military interventions in a report Friday that was the latest broadside by Beijing amid increasingly contentious relations with the Biden administration.

The report from the government-backed China Society for Human Rights Studies said foreign wars launched under the banner of humanitarian intervention have not only cost the belligerent parties a large number of military lives but also caused extremely serious civilian casualties and property damage, leading to horrific humanitarian disasters."

The selfishness and hypocrisy of the United States have also been fully exposed through these foreign wars," said the report, which cited a list of what it called U.S. aggression, from its intervention in Greece in 1947 to its opposition to the Venezuelan government in 2019. It cited conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria as major U.S. wars.

Choosing to use force irrespective of the consequences reveals the hegemonic aspirations of the United States," the report said. Only by discarding the hegemonic thinking, which is chiefly motivated by self-interest, can we prevent humanitarian intervention from becoming humanitarian disasters."

Relations between Washington and Beijing have been fractious over U.S. support for Taiwan and sanctions over Chinese polices, including in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Chinas assertiveness in the South China Sea and U.S. calls for more candor from Beijing about the origins of the coronavirus pandemic have roiled ties further.

Despite hopes for a change in the tone of U.S.-China relations, there have been no major changes on those issues since Biden replaced predecessor Donald Trump. Congress, meanwhile, is preparing to take up new legislation that would underscore the competition with Beijing in foreign affairs, trade and other fields.

Asked Thursday about that pending legislation, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the administration has been heartened that there is a good deal of bipartisan agreement when it comes to how we should and could approach the government in Beijing."

China has struck back with heated rhetoric and visa bans against U.S. officials and others it deems to have damaged its interests through their criticism of Beijing's human rights record.

Chinese officials delivered unusually sharp remarks at an initial meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last month. Those comments were in apparent response to U.S. sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials deemed responsible for repression in Xinjiang and the former British colony, where Beijing has rounded up opposition figures and sharply curtailed civil liberties.

This article was written by The Associated Press from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
ATHENS (Reuters) -Two gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a prominent Greek crime journalist near his home in Athens on Friday, police said.

George Karaivaz, a veteran journalist for private broadcaster STAR TV, was well-known to Greek audiences for his coverage of law and order and police stories.

There were no immediate reports of a possible motive for Friday's shooting, however police said the murder was clearly carefully planned.

"Murdering a journalist is a despicable, cowardly act," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet.

"Europe stands for freedom. And freedom of the press may be the most sacred of all."

Police said Karaivaz was shot early on Friday afternoon by two individuals on a motorbike who fired multiple rounds near his home in Alimos, in the south of Athens. At least 12 bullet casings were collected from the scene, a police official said.

"It was a professional hit," said the police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to make statements to the media,

Greek government spokeswoman Aristotelia Peloni said the murder "shocked us all".

"Authorities are already investigating in order to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice," she said.

(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Kate Abnett in Brussels, Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, Peter Graff and Susan Fenton)
First responders work at the scene of the apprehension of a suspect at a residence in Bedias, Texas, Thursday, April 8, 2021, following a shooting at Kent Moore Cabinets in Bryan, Texas. One person was killed and several people were wounded Thursday in the wake of a shooting at the cabinet-making business in Bryan, authorities said, and a state trooper was later shot during a manhunt that resulted in the suspected shooter being taken into custody. (Michael Miller/College Station Eagle via AP)
HOWARD COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - The Howard County Prosecutor Mark McCann says they have seen an increase in the number of what they are calling social media "Vigilante" groups. Several of them perform stings on what the group calls online sexual predators. The prosecutor is urging citizens not to take the law into their own hands. The Facebook page Predator Catchers Indianapolis has over 87,000 followers.

The group pretends to be minors in order to lure and then confront suspected online predators. They usually live-stream those interactions on Facebook. Don Whitehead an Investigator with the Howard County Prosecutors Office says Confrontations of this nature are capable of turning violent quickly.

This type of crime along with any other type of crime should be handled by law enforcement, said investigator Whitehead. They are trained to keep the integrity of that investigation as well as the safety of all those involved and anyone who might be close by.

Whitehead said these groups do not have the support of law enforcement. He added that it is very unlikely any of these stings would be admissible in a court of law. The prosecutor did say that this group has the best intentions but that the risks outweigh the rewards with what this page is doing. He added these citizen sting operations could lead to injury or death to the person attempting to expose a suspected predator, the person they are confronting, or innocent bystanders. Confrontations of that nature are capable of turning violent quickly. Vigilantes also open themselves up to potential lawsuits for libel and slander should the person they are going after decide to bring a lawsuit.

If a resident has a reason to suspect someone may be attempting to lure minors online, please pass that information along to local law enforcement who can then conduct a legal investigation, collect the necessary evidence, which, if warranted, will lead to charges and prosecution. You may qualify for a cash reward by calling Central Indiana Crime Stoppers at 800.262.TIPS with your anonymous tip.

We reached out to Predator Catchers of Indianapolis to see if they had a response they declined to comment.
[April 09, 2021] Clinical Data with ImCheck's ICT01 to be Presented at AACR: Positive Results Observed on Safety, Activation of Gamma 9 Delta 2 T Cells and Anti-tumor Immune Response

ICT01 activates ?9d2 T cells that rapidly migrate out of the circulation and secrete IFN? and TNFa leading to an expanded immune system activation

Increased densities of activated and proliferating ?d, CD3+ and CD8+ T cells were observed in tumor biopsies post ICT01 treatment Marseille, France, April 9, 2021  ImCheck Therapeutics announced today that data from its ongoing EVICTION Phase I/IIa clinical trial will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021 in an oral presentation ( CT034 ) by Aurelien Marabelle, MD, PhD, Lead Investigator for EVICTION, titled: Activation of the anti-tumor immune response of ?9d2 T cells in patients with solid or hematologic malignancies with ICT01, a first-in-class, monoclonal antibody targeting Butyrophilin 3A: The EVICTION study, on April 11, 2021 from 4:50  5:00 PM US ET in the CTMS03 - Clinical Trials with Novel Immuno-oncology Strategies session. ICT01 is a first-in-class, anti-BTN3A monoclonal antibody that activates ?9d2 T cells, a subset of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes that have potent cytotoxic effects on solid and hematologic cancer cells and can activate other immune cells against the cancer. To the companys knowledge, the data that will be presented is the first demonstration of an activating antibody safely and dose-dependently engaging ?9d2 T cells that also coordinate an anti-tumor immune response from the innate and adaptive immune systems. The ongoing EVICTION trial is evaluating ICT01 in patients with advanced, relapsed/refractory solid and hematologic cancers with no remaining standard of care. The abstract published today covers results from four cohorts of patients with solid tumors (n=20) and one cohort of patients with hematologic cancer (n=3) and demonstrated that ICT01 monotherapy, at doses from 20 g to 20 mg, achieved safe and potent activation of the anti-tumor immune responses of ?9d2 T cells. Across the cohorts treated, more than 95% of ?9d2 T cells migrated out of the circulation at all four ICT01 doses. Levels of IFN? and TNFa increased in a generally dose-dependent manner, which correlated with baseline ?9d2 T cell counts, and activation and migration of NK and CD8+ T cells from the circulation at doses =7 mg. The second ICT01 administration induced similar cell activation and trafficking. Immunhistochemical staining showed a significant increase in ?d, CD3 and CD8 T cells in several tumor biopsies post ICT01 treatment, indicating that ICT01, via tumor-infiltrating activated ?9d2 T cells, induces a broad anti-tumor immune response within the tumor microenvironment. These new data from increasing doses of ICT01 indicate that ICT01 safely and dose-dependently activates ?9d2 T cells that induce an expanded immune system activation within the blood and tumor, which supports our proposed mechanism of action, commented Aurelien Marabelle, MD, PhD, Immuno-Oncologist at Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France and Lead Investigator for EVICTION, who will present the data at the AACR. We look forward to completing Part 1 and initiatng Part 2 where we will test the efficacy of ICT01 in target patient populations.



As a first-in-class, immune system-activating mAb, we are encouraged to see rapid and potent dose-dependent activity of ICT01 without any safety concerns in the patients treated to date. We are now more than halfway through patient recruitment for Part 1 of the trial and we remain on target to report on the topline results in 2021, said Paul Frohna , MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer at ImCheck Therapeutics. We are thankful for the efforts of the EVICTION investigators and their study teams, and their patients willingness to participate in our trial despite the ongoing pandemic. Following multiple safety reviews by the independent Safety Review Committee, the EVICTION trial has continued to dose escalation in all arms of the study.

The AACR presentation slides will be available starting April 11, 2021 at 5:00 pm US Eastern Time / 23:00 CET on ImChecks corporate website. *** About the EVICTION Trial EVICTION is a first-in-human, dose escalation (Part 1) and cohort expansion (Part 2) clinical trial of ICT01 in patients with various advanced solid or hematologic cancers that have exhausted standard of care treatment options. Part 1 is a basket trial designed to characterize the preliminary safety, tolerability, and pharmacodynamic activity of ICT01 as monotherapy (Group A: solid tumors; Group B: hematologic tumors) and in combination with pembrolizumab (Group C: solid tumors). Group A includes bladder, breast, colorectal, gastric, melanoma, ovarian, prostate, and pancreatic cancer, Group B includes AML, ALL, follicular lymphoma, and diffuse large B cell lymphoma, and Group C includes bladder, HNSCC, melanoma, and NSCLC. Basket trials represent a clinical trial design that allows new drugs to be tested rapidly in a range of indications, providing initial results on multiple parameters that can contribute to an accelerated development timeline. More information on the EVICTION trial can be found at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04243499). About ICT01 ICT01 is a humanized, anti-BTN3A (also known as CD277) monoclonal antibody that selectively activates ?9d2 T cells, which are part of the innate immune system that is responsible for immunosurveillance for malignancy and infection. The 3 isoforms of BTN3A targeted by ICT01 are expressed on the surface of innate (e.g., ?d T cells and NK cells) and adaptive immune cells (T cells and B cells) and are overexpressed on a number of solid tumors (e.g., bladder, colorectal, melanoma, ovarian, pancreatic, lung) and hematologic cancers (e.g., leukemia & lymphoma). BTN3A is essential for the activation of the anti-tumor immune response of ?9d2 T cells. ICT01 selectively activates circulating ?9d2 T cells that leads to migration of ?9d2 T cells out of the circulation and into target tissue (e.g., tumors or infection site), while also activating the tumor-resident ?9d2 T cells to directly kill malignant cells, which is accompanied by secretion of two key inflammatory cytokines, IFNg and TNFa, that expand the anti-tumor immune response. ICT01 has been shown to have anti-tumor activity against a range of cancers in in vitro and in vivo tumor models. About IMCHECK THERAPEUTICS ImCheck Therapeutics is designing and developing a new generation of immunotherapeutic antibodies targeting butyrophilins, a novel super-family of immunomodulators. As demonstrated by lead clinical-stage program ICT01, which has a mechanism of action to simultaneously modulate innate and adaptive immunity, ImCheck's first-in-class activating antibodies may be able to produce superior clinical results as compared to the first-generation of immune checkpoint inhibitors and, when used in combination, to overcome resistance to this group of agents. In addition, preclinical experiments with ImChecks antagonist antibodies have shown their potential as treatments for a wide range of autoimmune diseases. Co-founder of the Marseille Immunopole cluster, ImCheck benefits from support from Prof. Daniel Olive (INSERM, CNRS, Institut Paoli Calmettes, Aix-Marseille Universite), a worldwide leader in ?d T cells and butyrophilins research; from the experience of an expert management team; and from the commitment of leading US and European investors. For further information on ImCheck: http://www.imchecktherapeutics.com and @ImCheckThx Press contacts US and EU

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Gretchen Schweitzer

+49 (0) 172 861 8540

imcheck@trophic.eu France

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The most harrowing story Ive read in The New York Times in recent days was Miriam Jordans account of a car crash last month in Southern California involving a Ford Expedition that had come from Mexico, straight through a breach in the border wall. The Ford was crammed with 25 people when it hit a tractor-trailer rig on Route 115, 110 miles east of San Diego.

Few of the survivors have been able to describe what happened next, Jordan writes. The crunch of metal and glass, the bodies flung dozens of feet across the pavement. Twelve people died on the spot, a 13th at a nearby hospital.

Jordan follows the stories of the victims and survivors, and theres a heartbreaking sameness to them: people who have been driven by fear or want from their homes in Mexico and Central America, and who are willing to take grave risks and pay exorbitant sums to make it to the United States. These are not terrorists, gang members, lowlifes, benefit seekers or  except in their willingness to violate U.S. immigration laws  lawbreakers. They are seekers of the American dream, worthy of our compassion and respect.

Yet those 13 people  along with others who recently have lost their lives in dangerous crossings  might not have met their grisly fate if the Biden administrations concept of compassion wasnt also an inducement to recklessness.

And they would not have been killed if a wall had been standing in their way.

Thats a conclusion Ive come to reluctantly, and not because Ive abandoned my disgust with Donald Trump. Walls are ugly things: symbols of defensive, suspicious, often closed-minded civilizations. Walls are, invariably, permeable: Whatever else a border wall will do, it will not seal off America from unwanted visitors or undocumented workers  roughly half of whom arrive legally and overstay their visas.

Walls also cannot address the root cause of our immigration crisis, which stems from a combination of social collapse south of the border and the pull of American life north of it.

But a well-built wall should still be a central part of an overall immigration fix. Its an imperfect but functional deterrent against the most reckless forms of border crossing. Its a barrier against sudden future surges of mass migration.

Its also a political bargaining chip to be traded for a path to citizenship in a comprehensive immigration-reform bill. And its a prophylactic against the next populist revolt, which is sure to overtake our politics if the Biden administration cannot competently control an elementary function of governance.

That deterrent is needed now. U.S. agents apprehended 170,000 migrants along the southwest border in March, a 70% jump over Februarys numbers and the highest level in 15 years. Notwithstanding the administrations claims to the contrary, there is a crisis, led by a massive surge in child migration spurred by President Joe Bidens promises of a more humane policy than his predecessors.

Some of this surge is seasonal. And some can be dealt with by building more shelters for unaccompanied minors and families, or speeding up the process of finding relatives or others who can take in unaccompanied children.

But the administration would be foolish to suppose the surge will recede on its own. The years of relative economic prosperity in Mexico that, for a time, led to a net outflow of Mexican migrants from the U.S. is over, thanks to a combination of drug cartels, a pandemic and the misgovernance of its inept populist president. Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua are failing states. A Plan Colombia-style package of security assistance could help. But it will cost billions and probably take a decade for its effects to be felt.

In the meantime, the United States risks a version of the European migration crisis of 2015. Thats the one that contributed heavily to the Brexit vote, turbocharged the rise of far-right parties like Frances National Front and the Alternative for Germany, and paved the way to Trumps election.

Theres little question that our own migration crisis is a political boon for immigration restrictionists. The wonder is why a serious Democratic administration would aid and abet their cause.

Its also putting the interests of comprehensive immigration reform further out of reach. Congress has not passed a significant immigration bill in over three decades. Biden came to office with an opportunity to get a bipartisan accord, but no Republican will sign on to legislation that widens the doors to legal immigrants, much less one that offers some form of amnesty to illegal ones, without a serious plan for border security. Nothing accomplishes that more visibly than a wall.

For Democrats, thats an opportunity to defuse the political bomb Republicans would love to plant right under them. And its a jobs-creating infrastructure program to boot.

Will a wall solve all of our immigration problems? Hardly. It will take years to build, and some practical, regulatory and legal hurdles might be hard to surmount. But for anyone who hopes for America to remain a proud nation of immigrants, it has to be a part of the solution.

BRET STEPHENS writes for The New York Times.
United States Senator Bill Hagerty, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, on Friday released the following statement on President Joe Bidens budget proposal for fiscal year 2022:

The Biden Administration is sorely mistaken if they believe theyve submitted a serious budget proposal," said Senator Hagerty. "Despite taking extra time to develop it, this budget is light on details, woefully inadequate, and places our country on the wrong path by undermining investments made during the last four years, including for the border wall and military, and threatens our ongoing recovery from this pandemic-driven recession.

"President Biden recklessly ignored my request for increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding, instead doubling down on the demoralizing insults leveled on ICE and Customs and Border Patrol by effectively defunding both agencies and siding with the anti-law-enforcement policies of the far left.

"This budget prioritizes growing government, rather than jobs for the American worker. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I will fight for the interests of Tennesseans and all Americans while working to eliminate wasteful, duplicative, and unnecessary spending. This budget has no chance of being enacted, and is a waste of the paper that its printed on.
A SECTION of the M7 motorway approaching Limerick has been closed following a serious road collision this Friday afternoon.

The incident, which involved a number of vehicles, happened on the Limerick-bound carriageway near Junction 27 (Birdhill) shortly before 3.30pm.

Emergency services, including gardai and paramedics from the National Ambulance Service, remain at the scene and the motorway is closed, Westbound, between Junction 27 and Junction 28 (Castletroy).

#TIPPERARY M7 westbound closed due to an incident. More here: https://t.co/PSzIBsvOzE  AA Roadwatch (@aaroadwatch) April 9, 2021

Several units from Limerick Fire Station, Mulgrave Street attended the scene earlier and two units from Newport Fire Station remain in attendance.

Motorists are being warned of significant delays and are being advised to use alternative routes.

It's not know if anyone has sustained serious injuries.

More to follow....
Astros southpaw Framber Valdez hasnt pitched in the majors this season on account of a broken finger, though he did return to throwing from flat ground Thursday, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. While general manager James Click called Thursdays session a tremendous step forward for Valdez, there still isnt a clear timetable for a potential 2021 debut. Valdez broke out last season with 70 2/3 innings of 3.57 ERA/3.23 SIERA ball, an elite 60 percent groundball rate, and terrific strikeout and walk percentages of 26.4 and 5.6, respectively.

More injury-related items from Houston and a couple of other American League teams
ENGLISH, Ind. (AP)  An Indiana state trooper was arrested Thursday and charged with sexual battery for an alleged incident while he was off duty in February, state police said.

Ryan L. Griffith, a four-year veteran of the Indiana State Police, was charged with felony sexual battery and misdemeanor false reporting in Crawford Circuit Court, police said. He was held on $7,500 cash bond at the Crawford County Jail.

Indianas online court filing system did not reflect those charges Thursday afternoon. It was unclear if Griffith has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

He was arrested following an investigation into an incident that allegedly occurred Feb. 27, state police said. Griffith allegedly touched the female victim in an unwanted manner at a private residence in Crawford County, police said in a statement.

Griffith also is alleged to have provided false information to investigators, who turned their findings over to a special prosecutor.

He has been placed on administrative leave without pay until the criminal proceedings conclude, police said. At that time, an internal investigation will determine whether departmental discipline is warranted.

The incident originally was reported to the Crawford County Sheriffs Department, which then asked the Indiana State Police in Jasper to conduct the investigation.
ECR is now fully funded for its drilling programmes and does not envisage requiring additional equity financing for quite some time

( ), the gold exploration and development company focussed on Australia, has raised 2mln through a share placing.

The shares were placed at 2.2p. Shares in ECR Minerals were trading at 2.33p in early deals on Friday, down 9.7% in the day.

The net proceeds of the placing will be used to ramp up drilling and exploration activities on ECRs wholly owned gold exploration projects in Victoria, Australia and for working capital purposes.

Drilling with the companys own diamond drill rig is continuing in the HR3 area of the Bailieston gold project in Victoria. Five drill holes have been completed, and a sixth hole is in progress, ECR told investors.

ECR expects to be in a position to report assay results from initial holes later this month. Visible gold has been noted in the hole first drilled at the Byron prospect.

We are delighted by the tremendous show of support for ECR from investors in the placing announced today. We believe this reflects both the high degree of market interest in Victorian gold projects generally, and ECRs success in assembling a highly prospective portfolio of projects and establishing an in-house drilling capability which is being put to full use, said Craig Brown, the chief executive of ECR.

The net proceeds of the placing announced today will take the company's cash position to in excess of 5.8 million and, in addition to funding a modest expansion of our operational capabilities at our Bendigo HQ in Central Victoria, will enable ECR to drive hard towards its twin targets of establishing a maiden JORC-compliant gold resource at the Bailieston project and completing further drilling at the Creswick project.

The funds raised will also provide ECR with the financial flexibility to consider potential new opportunities as they arise. We are now fully funded for these programmes and dont envisage requiring additional equity financing for quite some time, Brown said.
I am indebted to Stamford. It has been my community for many years. My parents arrived here as immigrants from Colombia with a goal of achieving the American dream. Despite my late father speaking little English, he set the stage for my siblings and I, through our own hard and honest work, to repay a community he came to love. I enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving a country that gave him opportunity and fulfilled promises for me. Soon enough my sister and I were able to attain a decent life that my own father could only dream of. This is my reason for running for state representative.

The Democratic City Committee felt they understood the 145th District better than its own residents. They chose to nominate a Bridgeport resident, who is being investigated on allegations of voting fraudulently. This is not somebody we want representing us in Hartford and shaping laws that can have economic consequences for our families.

Connecticut is beautiful, but long-term outstanding debt has made life tough for the middle class. Last year the Yankee Institute for Public Policy found Connecticut had $67 billion in long-term debt, with $36 billion of this debt coming from unfunded pensions. This unsustainable debt has come with drastic economic consequences. Connecticut is ranked third in the nation for fiscal mismanagement. We also have more people, but less jobs than 20 years ago. Ultimately, hard-working middle class families bear the brunt of this economic reality.

If fortunate to serve, I will tackle wasteful spending in Hartford and fight to ensure infrastructure projects in Stamford are prioritized. I will also fight against our tax dollars being redirected to poorly performing school districts statewide. In the 2021 fiscal year, the governor proposes $187 million in Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants for Bridgeport, but a measly $13 million to Stamford Public Schools. This waste and disparity in tax dollar distribution is hurting Stamfords schools, but even worse, the students it aims to serve. Redistributing Stamford tax dollars to other towns also has an added cost: higher property taxes. In the legislature, I will oppose any budget that drastically underfunds Stamford schools.

I will also focus on job creation, seeking to remove barriers that make it harder to start small businesses. The extensive paperwork to open a restaurant or grocery store takes months and costs thousands of dollars, even when the existing space served the same purpose. This is not only wasteful, but impairs our ability to recover economically. Small businesses are the economic drivers of job growth and it is time that we encourage, not discourage, this growth. In the Legislature I will work to expand loan opportunities for Stamfords small businesses.

I will fight for tax relief and oppose any bills that hurt Stamford families. I support repealing the gift tax and will lead the push for property tax relief for seniors and veterans. In 2011, as part of a sales tax increase, the legislature agreed to distribute a portion of sales tax revenue back into the towns. I will fight hard to make sure that this unfilled promise is finally realized. My opponent supports a bill proposed in the legislature that would implement an annual state tax on homes valued over $300,000. Supporters call it a millionaires tax. It is a middle-class tax increase. In our district, it would impact 95 percent of property owners. I am vehemently opposed.

Our communitys best interest should not rely on the purview of one political party alone. I am willing to vote with Democrats when their ideas serve the district and oppose ideas that hurt us all. Although I run as a Republican, I work well with self-identified Democrats and residents who share many different perspectives, as shown in my work as a public health professional, local mentor to students and with local foundations such as the Parent Leadership Training Institute through the Stamford Public School Foundation and the Starfish Foundation.

However, a Democratic majority in our legislature, including many in our current Stamford delegation, have failed to listen to the concerns of the people they were elected to represent. As a result, our states fiscal health is dire, job growth is stagnant, and families are fleeing Connecticut daily.

Unlike my opponent, I walk outside into a community I know, overflowing with rich diversity. He spends 45 minutes in rush hour traffic just to arrive here. My motivation comes from the personal sacrifices of my family and neighbors. I understand running as a Republican in the 145th District may be difficult, especially in the current political climate, yet I take this task on in appreciation to a community that has delivered so much for me. As your representative, my priorities will be focused on education, infrastructure, job growth and tax relief.

Bipartisanship is the only way that we can return our state to a strong economic and fiscal outlook. I understand the difficulties ahead, but I undertake them knowing that Stamford families require strong leadership by a true local. I respectfully ask for your support as state representative for the 145th District in the special election April 27.

J.D. Ospina is the Republican candidate for the 145th state House District special election on April 27.
DETROIT, MI - The vaccine clinic at Ford Field was designed for Black Detroiters. This was the expressed goal of the federal site according to Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, chair of the COVID-19 Task Force on Racial Disparities.

Michigan worked with the federal government to make Ford Field a clinic to continue the states outreach initiatives towards racial equity with the vaccine, Gilchrist said on March 18.

As a Detroiter, I felt this personally, having said goodbye to 27 people due to this virus, he said at press conference inside the Detroit Lions stadium. The virus hit our city hard...and today, right here at Ford Field, southeast Michigan becomes a symbol of hope.

Read more: Ford Field vaccine site a symbol of hope for southeast Michiganders, officials say

The early data shows shots are going into the arms of other Michiganders. According to FEMA data provided to MLive, there have been 66,760 doses administered through the Ford Field program as of April 6. Just 9.5% of those shots went to Black residents across the state.

The Black population in Michigan is about 14%, while Black residents make up about 78% of Detroit.

When looking at vaccination efforts strictly from the citys public health department, the percentages flip. Out of 230,191 doses administered as of April 7, about 62% serviced Black residents in the city and surrounding counties.

The racial disparity between federal and local vaccine efforts could be a question of trust, said Denise Fair, Detroits chief public health officer, pointing to weeks of outreach efforts through the TCF Center and more.

Our TCF operation has been open since the end of January, she said. Right around Christmas, we were already going into congregate settings, such as homeless shelters, senior apartments to vaccinate folks. So we have built that trust with our residents.

Ford Fields numbers versus Detroits

Ford Field has provided ample opportunity for the rest of the state to receive their first shots of the Pfizer vaccine.

Out of the nearly 67,000 doses from the federal site, FEMA said that 58% went to white people and 5.5% went to Latinx residents. Surprisingly, 19.4% of shots went to the Asian population, even though Asians are just 1.7% of the population of Detroit (and 3.4% throughout the state).

That number is possibly due to Arab vaccine recipients having to self-identify at Ford Field as either white or Asian, said a FEMA data representative. Michigan has only recently added a demographic category for Middle Eastern and North African, said Mona Makki, a director at Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), though Ford Field does not have this category.

Weve been working closely with the state, she said.

Dearborn, the city with the highest concentration of Arab Americans in Michigan, is just nine miles from Ford Field. The stadiums clinic is open to any Michigan residents for free and without insurance, leaving vaccines open to anyone as west as Grand Rapids or as north as Petoskey, Fair said.

Ford Field is not just for Detroiters, Fair said. Its open to everyone.

That message wasnt part of the original pitch to use Ford Field as a federal vaccine site. The stadium clinic was another step of the states strategy to address racial equity gaps regarding vaccines, Gilchrist told MLive on March 17.

The Biden Administration worked closely with our office to secure this community vaccination site in southeast Michigan based on CDC guidance that prioritizes the most vulnerable Michiganders, his office said in a statement.

Read more: Michigan officials hope vulnerability index, Ford Field clinic will help address vaccination disparities

The Ford Field effort also includes mobile clinics, which have seen more success in the Black community. Out of 10,894 doses administered through April 6, about 32% of recipients were Black. The bulk of the remaining percentage is about 41% white, 16% Asian and 8% Latinx.

The success of the mobile clinics echoes the outreach efforts used by the Detroit Public Health Department, which Fair said aim to provide various access points for Detroiters to get the vaccine.

The TCF Center has accounted for about 60% of all vaccines administered by the Detroit Public Health Department, Fair said. The remaining 40% has been through churches, mobile clinics, shelters and targeted partnerships with community centers.

We know Detroiters trust their clergy. They trust their pastor, she said. So in January, we opened up the eligibility for clergy, and many of them took advantage of this opportunity. They got vaccinated, and they told their membership to get vaccinated, too.

Detroits lagging vaccination rates

Still, Detroit lags behind the surround counties in terms of percentage of adults vaccinated. Only 22% of Detroit adults have received at least one shot, compared to 41% of Wayne County, 34% of Macomb County and 42% of Oakland County.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan laid down the gauntlet to his constituents this week, saying during an April 5 press conference that the city is not a national model right now in the fight against COVID-19.

The problem in Detroit is that we are not sufficiently vaccinated to protect ourselves against what is coming, he said, referencing surging cases, positivity rates and hospitalizations statewide. These are numbers that arent good for us...because we have lower protection, more and more of our citizens are going to be hospitalized.

Read more: Vaccines dramatically reduces COVID-19 risk, experts say, though infections still possible

There is significant COVID-19 fatigue in Detroit, Fair said.

Theyre tired of wearing their mask, she said. Tired of practicing social distancing. They cant wait to get back to some sense of normalcy. I fear that people are tuning us out, and theyre not hearing us. Thats disappointing and thats not good for the city.

Despite the apathy of some Detroiters, Fair said the outreach efforts will continue to meet residents where they are. Duggan and Fair announced during a press conference eight new neighborhood pop-up clinics, as well as several sites to receive the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

Our goal is to continue sounding the alarm, continuing to be that source of truth from the health department, Fair said. To remind Detroiters that were still in the middle of this pandemic.

Read more from MLive:

Michigan isnt reporting COVID-19 vaccination data by race, but initial reports suggest disparity

State to release 35,800 COVID-19 vaccine doses to 22 entities for more equitable distribution

Michigan ranks highest in COVID-19 hospitalizations amid surge as model predicts further worsening

Whitmer on CNN: Michigan could shed COVID-19 restrictions, fully reopen this summer

Long Covid continues to stump doctors and exhaust those fighting months-long battles
Using a surprisingly simple technique, researchers in the University of Arizona Department of Neuroscience have succeeded in approximating how many brain cells make up the brains of several species of bees, ants and wasps.

The work revealed that certain species of bees have a higher density of brain cells than even some species of birds, whereas ants turned out to have fewer brain cells than originally expected.

Published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study marks the first time the new cell counting method has been applied to invertebrate animals and provides a robust and reproducible protocol for other research groups studying the brains of invertebrate animals.

For more than a century, scientists have attempted to measure and compare the brains and brain components of vertebrates across species in efforts to draw conclusions about how brains support the animals' behavioral and cognitive abilities and ecological requirements.

Theories of cognitive capacities of animal brains, including those of fossilized remains of the evolutionary ancestors of humans, are based on such measures.

To that end, scientists need to know how many neurons make up a given brain. Until recently, it was extremely tedious and time-consuming to count or estimate the number of neurons in a brain, even with computer and software-based systems.

For this reason, there were very few reliable neuron numbers available for any animals, including the human brain. Instead, brain researchers relied on estimates and extrapolations based on measurements of brain size or mass.

But that approach can be fraught with uncertainties and biases, according to the authors of this study. For example, while larger animals, as a general rule, tend to have larger brains than smaller animals, the volume and mass of a given brain alone don't say much about its cognitive capabilities.

How big or how heavy a brain is does not give you the best measure of an animal's cognitive capabilities." R. Keating Godfrey, Study Lead Author and Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Arizona

Why 'bird brain' is actually a compliment

One major reason is that the size of a brain is less relevant for its processing capacities compared with the number of neurons, or nerve cells, it contains. This is analogous to the processing power of a computer, which has little to do with the physical size of its central processor. Neurons are highly specialized types of cells found in virtually any species across the animal kingdom.

Contrast, for example, the sea hare - a giant sea slug found off the coast of California that can weigh more than 12 pounds - with the fruit fly Drosophila. The sea slug's brain alone dwarfs the entire fly by a lot, yet it has just 18,000 neurons, far fewer than the fly's approximately 100,000.

"Just because the brain of one species may be 10 times larger than that of another does not mean it has 10 times as many neurons," says the paper's senior author, Wulfila Gronenberg, a professor of neuroscience who heads a Department of Neuroscience research group dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of insect brains.

Whereas "bird brain" is widely used as a derogatory term for a lack of intelligence, it actually is a misnomer, Gronenberg says.

"Bird brains have many more neurons than a typical mammal of comparable size," he says. "Birds have to navigate a three-dimensional space by flight, and in order to get all that processing power into a small, lightweight package, their neurons are smaller and more densely packed."

Social brains

Gronenberg's research group is interested in the neuronal underpinnings of insects that live in social communities, like honeybees or many wasps.

"We wanted to know: Is there something special about the brains of social insects?" Godfrey says.

Specifically, she and her colleagues set out to study whether the "social brain" hypothesis, which was developed for vertebrate animals and postulates that the size of a brain or particular brain region is correlated with social group size and group behaviors, also holds true for social insects.

With the help of undergraduate students, Godfrey worked on adapting a technique - developed in 2005 by Brazilian neuroscientist Suzanna Herculano-Houzel that revolutionized the field of vertebrate neuroscience - to the insect brains.

Instead of slicing brains into hundreds or thousands of thin sections and counting neurons in each section, the method requires only that the brain tissue is homogenized. That's science speak for "blended," which results in a brain soup.

"We release the nuclei from the cells so we can count them," Godfrey says. "Vertebrates have dedicated brain regions and structures that you can sample from, but in insects, we can only really squish the whole thing. So we get a neuron density count for the entire brain."

Godfrey and her co-authors compared the brain cell counts with the body sizes of a large range of hymenoptera - bees, wasps and ants - and found that the neuron number and brain size relationships are very similar to those found in vertebrates.

Putting a number on an ant brain

Certain bees, the team reports, have particularly high numbers of neurons, which should stimulate renewed research into their behavioral capacities, and ants, in general, have fewer neurons than their wasp and bee relatives, probably because they do not fly and thus need less brain power for visual processing and flight control.

Some bees, it turned out, have even higher brain cell densities than some of the most compact bird and mammal brains. For example, the metallic green sweat bee, which is commonly seen in the Southwest and belongs to the genus Augochlorella, has a particularly high number of neurons for its brain size: about 2 million per milligram, more than the highest neuron densities found in the smallest vertebrate species - smoky shrews in mammals and goldcrests in birds.

Ants, on the other hand, tended to come in on the lower end of the spectrum. Compared with bees and wasps, ants had small brains and relatively few brain cells. A desert harvesting ant species common in Arizona amounted to just 400,000 cells per milligram of brain mass. Considering that this ant's brain weighs in at less than 1 milligram, this animal makes do with a total of 90,000 or so brain cells, Gronenberg estimates.

"We think this has to do with the ability to fly, which would make it less about intelligence but more about processing of information," he says. "Ants rely on scent information, whereas bees rely more on visual information."

How low can you go?

These findings beg the question of how many brain cells nature needs to make a functioning brain. Invertebrate brains tend to have highly specialized neurons, each performing a certain task, according to the authors of the study, which allows them to accomplish tasks with a small brain and a small number of neurons.

Gronenberg points to the tiny fairy wasp as a strong contender for the "tiniest brain in the insect world" award. Three strands of human hair, laid side by side, would cover the body length of the tiny creature, whose brain consists of fewer than 10,000 neurons.

"Yet, this parasitic wasp can do all the things it needs to do to survive," Gronenberg says.

"It can find a host, it can mate, it can lay eggs, it can walk and it can fly," he says. "While a small insect may just have one or a few neurons to perform a particular function, humans and other vertebrates tend to have many thousands, or even tens of thousands, of these specialized neurons dedicated to one task, which allows us to do things more precisely and in a more sophisticated way."
ERCOTs insurance company is seeking a court ruling excusing it from defending Texas electric grid manager from lawsuits or covering damages stemming from the catastrophic power failure in February.

The Cincinnati Insurance Co. on Tuesday sought relief from the U.S. district court in Austin, arguing it does not have to defend the Electric Reliability Council of Texas because it does not view the power outages as an accident, defined by the insurer as a fortuitous, unexpected, and unintended event. As a result, the company said it has no obligation under its insurance policy to cover ERCOT, which faces a flood of lawsuits after the winter storm.

The allegations in the Underlying Lawsuits allege ERCOT either knew, should have known, expected, and/or intended, that Winter Storm Uri would cause the same power outages which occurred as a result of previous storms in Texas, including storms in 1989 and 2011, the insurer said in court documents. The Underlying Lawsuits allege the power outages caused by Winter Storm Uri were a result of the exact same failures including failures of the same generators which failed in the previous winter storms, and therefore, the power outages were foreseeable, expected, and/or intended.

FROZEN: ERCOT blames power plants freezing up

ERCOT faces a barrage of lawsuits after prolonged blackouts during the winter storm killed nearly 200, left more than 4 million Texans without power and caused billions of dollars of property damage. Without insurance coverage, ERCOT is exposed to millions of dollars in settlements or damages to victims and their families.

ERCOT did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

ERCOTs insurance policy with Cincinnati Insurance, effective until June 2022, states that the insurer will pay those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury or property damage to which this insurance applies. We will have the right and duty to defend the insured against any suit seeking those damages.

The policy, however, says Cincinnati Insurance has no duty to defend ERCOT in cases in which the insurance policy does not apply, and retains the discretion to investigate any occurance and settle any claim or lawsuit that results from it. The insurer defines occurrence as an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions.

Lawsuits filed against ERCOT by family members of those who died during the blackouts allege ERCOT failed to adequately prepare the grid against freezing temperature and knew of the threats that ice and extreme cold would pose to the grid. Several lawsuits allege ERCOTs conduct was intentional and knowing.

ADDING IT UP: ERCOT cost Texas $16 billion during power crisis, market monitor says

Cincinnati Insurances filing comes less than a month after the Texas Supreme Court refused to rule on a question of whether ERCOT is a governmental agency with sovereign immunity protecting it from lawsuits. ERCOT, a private, nonprofit corporation overseen by the Texas Legislature and the Public Utility Commission, is the only grid manager in the country that has such protection.

The states highest court ruled 5-4 in March that it wont decide a closely watched case between Dallas electricity generator Panda Power and ERCOT, which raised questions about ERCOTs sovereign immunity from lawsuits. The majority ruled that the Texas Constitution prohibits the court from ruling on the case after the trial court issued a final judgement dismissing the case, making the case before the Supreme Court moot.

The Supreme Court could still decide on ERCOTs immunity as appeals from the Panda Power case come up through the legal system.

Rulings in the Panda Power and the Cincinnati Insurance cases will have widespread implications for ERCOT, which faces several lawsuits, including over the deaths of an 11-year-old boy and a 95-year-old man, both found dead in their freezing Houston-area homes.

Some 4.5 million Texans  including 1.4 million CenterPoint customers in the Houston area  were without reliable power for days during the power failure last month. The rolling blackouts caused billions of dollars of property damage as water systems failed, food spoiled and water pipes froze and burst.

Nearly 200 deaths statewide, including at least 90 deaths in the Houston area, have been linked to the blackouts, according to a Chronicle analysis of reports from medical examiners, justices of the peace and the Department of State Health Services. Deaths were caused by prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures, loss of essential medical devices and carbon monoxide poisoning as people sought warmth by running vehicles, portable generators and barbecue grills indoors.

paul.takahashi@chron.com

twitter.com/paultakahashi
17:04 | Washington D.C. (U.S.), Apr. 9.





According to the U.S. official, democracy flourishes when citizens and governments actively promote equality under the law and human rights for all, "and democracy thrives when we carefully and vigorously tend to such fundamentals."





"History here in the Americas and beyond has shown that societies that follow a non-democratic path struggle to reclaim lost ground," he indicated.





Thus, "we all must remain vigilant in strengthening our democratic institutions to support the rule of law, a free press, good governance, and build systems that solve the problems and move us towards a better future."





He also recalled that 20 years ago this September, the nations of the Americas gathered in Lima to sign the Inter-American Democratic Charter which affirms that "democracy is a way of life based on liberty and enhancement of economic, social, and cultural conditions for the peoples of the Americas."





"Our best regards to those celebrating and preserving that democratic way of life this Sunday and beyond," he concluded.
WAVERLY, Iowa  A third person is sentenced in a pair of back-to-back burglaries in Bremer County.

Jerred Russell Clos, 34 of Waterloo, has been given two to five years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to third-degree burglary.

Authorities say Clos and Richard Lusher burglarized a building in the 2200 block of Viking Avenue in Sumner on February 1, 2020. A plea hearing for Lusher is scheduled for April 20.

Two sentences have already been handed down in a February 2, 2020, burglary in the 2700 block of Midway Avenue. Allison McPherson got two years of supervised probation and Dylan Stull was sentenced to four years of supervised probation. Both pleaded guilty to attempted third-degree burglary.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - 9 Capital Corp. (TSXV: NCPL.P) ("9 Capital" or the "Company"), a capital pool company pursuant to Policy 2.4 of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"), is pleased to announce the voting results of its annual and special meeting of shareholders held on April 8, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario (the "Meeting"). In addition to the election of directors, the re-appointment of auditors and the re-approval of the Company's stock option plan, shareholders approved certain matters which are conditional on completion of the Company's previously announced proposed qualifying transaction (the "Proposed Qualifying Transaction") with Churchill Diamond Corporation ("Churchill"), as further described in the Company's press release of December 23, 2020, including: (i) the election of a new board of directors to hold office following completion of the Proposed Qualifying Transaction; (ii) the consolidation of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares on the basis of 1 post-consolidation common share of the Company for each 1.7 pre-consolidation common shares; and (iii) the change of the name of the Company to "Churchill Resources Inc.".

In addition, in accordance with the changes announced by the TSXV to its Capital Pool Company program and changes to the TSXV's Policy 2.4 - Capital Pool Companies, which came into effect as of January 1, 2021 (the "New CPC Policy"), the Company obtained the requisite approval of disinterested shareholders of the Company for the following matters: (i) to remove the consequences of failing to complete a Qualifying Transaction (as defined in Policy 2.4 of the TSXV) within 24 months of the Company's date of listing on the TSXV; and (ii) to amend the escrow release conditions and certain other provisions of the Company's escrow agreement. All matters submitted to shareholders of the Company for approval at the Meeting are more particularly described in the Company's management information circulated dated March 11, 2021 (the "Circular"). Please refer to the Circular for further details with respect to the amendments associated with the New CPC Policy.

The Company continues to work with Churchill to seek conditional approval from the TSXV for the Proposed Qualifying Transaction with Churchill and will update the shareholders in subsequent press releases at the appropriate time.

About the Company

The Company is a CPC within the meaning of the policies of the TSXV that has not commenced commercial operations and has no assets other than cash. Except as specifically contemplated in the CPC policies of the TSXV, until the completion of its Qualifying Transaction, the Company will not carry on business, other than the identification and evaluation of companies, business or assets with a view to completing a proposed Qualifying Transaction. Investors are cautioned that trading in the securities of a CPC is considered highly speculative.

For further information please contact:

9 Capital Corp.

Mr. Ben Cubitt, President and Chief Executive Officer

Tel. (416) 479-5048

The TSXV has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, the approval of disinterested shareholders of matters under the New CPC Policy at the general and special shareholder meeting and the future business of the Company. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "is expected", "expects" or "does not expect", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "believes", or variations of such words and phrases; or terms that state that certain actions, events, or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken", "could occur", or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is made, and is based on, a number of assumptions and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including but not limited to the timing of obtaining the necessary approvals of the shareholders and the TSXV. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/79939
Limited and the Hinduja group's Switch Mobility Automotive Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to play in the electric commercial vehicles segment.

also said Financial Services (SFS), the financing arm of Siemens AG, would consider a minority investment in OHM Global Mobility Private Limited, another company.

While Switch Mobility would bring in its electric commercial vehicles into India, Siemens would provide the charging infrastructure technology and charging infrastructure management software solution to enhance the energy-efficient operations of the chargers, Siemens said.

According to Siemens, it would also collaborate with Switch Mobility on new business models such as eMobility-as-a-Service (eMaas), integrated depot energy management, Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) as well as on-site/off-site renewable energy sources by leveraging batteries from commercial vehicles.

"With our experience of more than 230 electric vehicles already in operation successfully in India and the UK, we see immense growth opportunities for Switch's expansion in India, Europe and many global markets," said Dheeraj Hinduja, Chairman, Switch Mobility.

"Siemens is a global leader in e-mobility solutions for commercial vehicles. We have been implementing projects for electric commercial vehicles across the globe. Together with Switch Mobility, we intend to implement high-quality techno-commercial solutions to address the needs of the growing e-mobility market in India," said Sunil Mathur, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Limited.

Switch Mobility Automotive and OHM Global Mobility are two Indian subsidiaries of commercial vehicles major Ashok Leyland Limited.

--IANS

vj/khz

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A video showing how officials of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia are being brought out of the building of the Ministry of Defense has been posted on the Internet.

Earlier, Armenian News-NEWS.am reported that the relatives of the missing Armenian servicemen are outside the MOD grounds since Thursday. During the day yesterday, they closed off the entrances of the MOD building, and therefore the ministry employees were unable to leave the building.

Last evening, they were joined by the parents of prisoners of war who had received news that their sons were going to be returned via the plane transporting commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent Rustam Muradov from Baku, but later it was reported that only Muradov had arrived in Yerevan via the plane.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans Spokesperson Mane Gevorgyan had confirmed the news about the expected return of the prisoners of war, but Muradov refuted the news during a conversation with Hraparak Armenian newspapers correspondent, stating that the return of the prisoners of war was not planned, but his visit was.
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A horse was airlifted by the Swiss Air Force as part of an unusual trial on Friday.

The heavy cargo was hoisted from the ground by a military helicopter as part of a test to work out whether injured animals can be evacuated and transported to vets quickly.

The Swiss military also carried out a second test, hoisting three animals with the Super Puma helicopter.

A horse was airlifted as part of an unusual training exercise and evacuation trial run by the Swiss Air Force on Friday

The Swiss Air Force also carried out a second test which involved airlifting three horses in one go with the Super Puma helicopter

The heavy cargo was hoisted from the ground by a military helicopter as part of a project to determine whether injured horses can be rapidly evacuated to a medical facility

Seen through the trees, the horse is carried on the simulated evacuation as part of a trial project carried out by the Vetsuisse faculty of veterinary medicine

The horse is seen suspended from the Swiss Air Force Super Puma helicopter during Friday's unusual trial

The horse appeared to be thrown about by the wind and the helicopter as it was dragged along for a flight

The horse was blindfolded during the flight, but would otherwise might have enjoyed the stunning landscape and wind turbines on the helicopter's flight path

The blindfolded animal did not manage a quick stop at the Cafe Du Soleil, which remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, on his flight past

The soon-to-be flying pony was pictured being prepared for its flight by army vets with a blindfold, harness, head collar, and lead rope

The bizarre project was carried out by the Vetsuisse faculty of veterinary medicine and the Swiss army veterinary service in north western Switzerland

Staff were pictured in their own protective gear, including high-vis jackets and helmets, and noise cancelling headphones, before the experiment

The test was carried out by the Vetsuisse faculty of veterinary medicine and the Swiss army veterinary service in north west Switzerland.

Pictures show the horse being prepared for his flight, probably marking the first time the animal has ever been airborne.

Military vets cloaked the horse in a full body harness and appeared to cover its eyes ready for take off.

The horse was surprisingly calm during the short flight, despite seeming to swing around vigorously in the wind.

The horse was later pictured touching down safely surrounded by six waiting onlookers. It was not immediately clear how long the horse spent in the air.

The horse was later pictured preparing to touch down after the flight surrounded by six onlookers

Onlookers were seen photographing the unusual sight as the flying pony completed its journey and came into land

Seven people, many wearing hi-vis jackets and trousers, as well as hard hats were seen helping the horse make a smooth landing back on the ground

The horse looked relatively calm during the flight, despite appearing to swing around in the wind

The Swiss army are yet to say if they believe Friday's trial has been a success or if the practice will be rolled out for operational use

It was not immediately clear how long the horse spent in the air, but it was pictured high up in the sky in the Saignelegier area

It was not immediately clear what state the horse was in once it had returned to stand, as this is likely the first time it has been airborne

A second helicopter that was not carrying animals was seen shadowing the Super Puma during at least one of the test flights

The horse managed a fly-by of the town of Saignelegier's sites, including the Cafe du Soleil, were puzzled onlookers watched the display

Vets thoroughly covered the horse, including with a blindfold, before it was attacked to the helicopter's hoist

The horse appeared to be dragged around on the flight and seemed to often end up travelling at odd angles during the experiement

In a second experiment on Friday, the Swiss army airlifted three horses together, this time with the animals wearing protective boots.

Each animal had a harness around its midriff, which was then attached to the helicopter.

The trio each wore a head collar with an attached rope, ready to be caught by the waiting vets on landing. It was unclear what state the horses when they returned to land.

The Swiss army are yet to announce if the test has been considered a success or if it will be rolled out operationally.

The lucky - or unlucky - horse managed to take in the beautiful surrounding scenery during its flight, including a trip through the nearby town of Saignelegier. In a second experiment, the Swiss Air Force practiced hoisting three horses together from the Super Puma helicopter

The trio of ponies were strapped together using a set of harnesses that went round their midriffs and their tails

Onlookers in the town of Saignelegier, in the Swiss canton of Jura, watched as the unusual experiment took place

They also wore blindfolds, head collars, and lead ropes so they were ready to be caught by waiting vets when they landed

The trio were carried suspended below the military helicopter as part of a test to see if injured horses can be evacuated and transported to vets quickly

They were padded out with protective boots, head collars, and ropes, to make the flight and landing as seamless as possible

The goal of the exercise is to provide transport and rapid evacuation of injured horses to a veterinary medical facility
SANTA CRUZ, Calif., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, The Emerald Cup , California's longest-running and most prestigious cannabis competition, is testing and sorting flower entries into categories using terpene data as part of the judging process. This year, SC Labs , who has been the testing partner of the Emerald Cup for 11 years, has tested all of the Cup's flower entries and created profiles that detail the chemical properties of each cannabis varietal with a focus on terpenes. Terpenes are compounds that are predominantly responsible for the unique aromas and flavors in cannabis, but also contribute to the effects felt by the user along with the pharmacological and therapeutic effects of the cannabinoids.

With wide variability in terpenoid composition, SC Labs finds that each cannabis varietal generally falls into one of six primary terpene groups.

Both The Emerald Cup and SC Labs hope that this new data driven approach will provide a greater understanding and appreciation for the diversity and range of cannabis chemistry and chemotypes. Through this year's sorting process, judges will be rating similar terpene profiles against each other to choose the best-of-class for each, much like how wines are judged in similar events.

"Cannabis consumers have often solely looked to THC content as the primary indicator of quality. Terpene content is the other half of the equation," according to Alec Dixon, co-founder and Director of Client Relations. "Historic Emerald Cup data has shown year after year that the judges' picks and winners have never had anything to do with THC content when compared to the averages, but winners consistently test much higher in terpene content than the rest of the field. The real quantitative quality marker in cannabis is terpene concentration."

The 2021 Emerald Cup entries were placed into categories based on one of six primary terpene groups, color coded and anonymized prior to being given to judges. The six primary terpene groups are: Myrcene, -Caryophyllene, Limonene, Terpinolene, a-Pinene, and -Ocimene groups. Each primary group contains approximately 2-3 subgroups, based upon primary and secondary terpene content. These account for about 12 archetypal profiles that define the range of aroma, flavor, and the "entourage effects" that the cannabis plant has to offer. The term entourage effect is used to describe the unique effects from one cannabis varietal to the next caused by the unique blend of bioactive ingredients.

"The Emerald Cup is revolutionizing the cannabis judging process by categorizing entries by terpene content. This aids the judges in narrowing in on the winners and honoring the best chemotypes of each of these primary terpene classes," said Dixon.

Judges have been trained on this new sorting process and how this cannabis classification works to aid them in their process of identification and correlation of the spectrum of terpene profiles found in cannabis. This will include how to identify rare versus more common terpene profiles among entries. Tim Blake, founder of The Emerald Cup, hopes this new process will further legitimize the competition. "We're excited to empower our judges with the proper tools so The Emerald Cup can uphold the integrity of our process and our brand," he said.

SC Labs has been focused on terpene research in cannabis for more than a decade. With hundreds of thousands of cannabis chemotypes analyzed, the company has been able to obtain insights into patterns and market trends that provide valuable data to their customers. Demonstrating a commitment to make this data actionable, SC Labs has categorized and contextualized each entrant's result report data providing meaningful tools to better evaluate and judge product quality.

About SC Labs

SC Labs offers comprehensive solutions for cannabis and hemp testing. Our analytical data empowers thousands of clients to make informed decisions about product safety and consistency. Accredited to ISO 17025 in California and by ORELAP in Oregon, and with hemp testing licenses covering multiple states, we offer essential tools to carefully cultivate and distribute cannabis and hemp products. SC Labs is headquartered in Santa Cruz, California. For more information, visit www.sclabs.com

About The Emerald Cup

The Emerald Cup prides itself in bringing together experts and educators in the cannabis industry to fellow farmers, patients, and patrons each year. The Emerald Cup 2021 Award Show will be broadcasted live on The Emerald Cup Festival Channel on Social Club TV this Sunday April, 11, 2021 at 4:20PM PDT . Featuring special appearances and performances by Ziggy Marley, Melissa Etheridge, Chelsea Handler, and Michael Franti. For more information, visit www.theemeraldcup.com

SOURCE SC Labs

Related Links

https://www.sclabs.com


On March 2, 2021, a fire gutted 58 houses in Meringden rural municipality in the Taplejung district of northeastern Nepal. The fire that started due to a short circuit at the house of Bhola Poudel at 9 am spread all over the neighbourhood. Even though the districts only fire engine was sent to the scene from its headquarters Phungling, by the time it arrived, the fire had done significant damage.

It took the fire engine an hour to arrive. By then, the damage had been done, says Ganesh Limbu, the chair of the rural municipality. What could one fire engine do anyway?

Limbu says as the locals knew that it would take time for the fire engine to arrive, they used excavators and bulldozers to destroy a few houses to make sure that the fire did not spread. But, even that effort was too late as half of the settlement had been gutted by fire.

A similar incident was reported at Phungling Bazar on May 2, 2020, when a fire broke out destroying 37 houses. Police Inspector Mohan Prasad Pokharel says nothing could be done to save these houses as one fire engine was not enough there.

We had to call a fire truck from Panchthar to douse the fire. It took the vehicle three hours to get there.

According to the District Police Office, Taplejung, the district has seen 114 fire incidents in the past four years destroying 204 houses. In all these cases, the reason why the fire could not be doused quickly was the lack of fire engines. Moreover, other districts of the country are also reeling under the same condition.

Same problem everywhere, every year

On December 2, 2018, a fire killed an entire family of 4 at Shivasatakshi municipality in Jhapa. As soon as locals saw the fire, they called for a fire engine from Damak. But, it took the fire engine too long to get to the site. Locals feel that had the municipality itself had fire engines, human lives could have been saved.

A fire broke out in Narainapur of Banke, on Saturday, April 3, 2021.

Later that month, on December 28, another fire broke out in Mechi Nagar municipality in the district where 22 houses were destroyed. Locals say that the houses could have been saved had the fire engine arrived on time.

Not all local governments in Jhapa have fire engines. People often call on gods if a fire breaks out in areas like Jhapa and Kachankawal rural municipalities as they believe that the fire engine will surely not arrive there on time.

Jhapa rural municipalitys ward 6 member Motikhar Pokharel says that if a fire breaks out in the area, a fire engine has to be called from either Damak or Birtamod. By the time it gets here, a house which has caught fire will be reduced to ashes.

In November 2019, a fire broke out at Big Bar in Itahari. Locals called the fire station at Damak and asked it to send a fire engine. But, another engine from Dharan arrived faster than the one from Damak. By the time it had come to the scene, property worth Rs 40 million had been destroyed.

Incidents like these are not limited to Province 1 alone. On January 9, 2019, a bus in Jaleswar of Mahottari caught on fire. As soon as the bus caught on fire, its driver, Dhirendra Singh, called the police asking them to send help.

But, the fire engine, which was only a kilometre away could not reach the site on time. The reason: the fire engine was dysfunctional and needed repair. There were three fire engines present in the district: at Bardibas, Jaleshwor and Gaushala. But, none of them was operational.

Lack of fire engines has also been a problem in Pokhariya municipality in Parsa. Bashista Narayan Barnawals house caught fire on January 9, 2019. But as Pokhariya did not have a fire engine, they had to call one from Birgunj. But, like all cases above, the fire engine was late to arrive on the scene as Barnawal faced a loss of property worth Rs 1.5 million.

In Manang district, there have been four fire incidents in the past year alone. Out of the five, four were wildfires in the forest areas while one was at a monastery in Dharapani.

According to the districts Chief District Officer Bishnu Lamichhane, none of the local governments in Manang has a fire engine.

He says, If there was a fire engine, Im sure it would help a lot.

DSP Subas Khadka says that the fire at the monastery was doused by locals, the army and police by throwing mud.

On April 4, 2021, around 120 houses in Narainpur rural municipality in Banke were gutted by a fire. The rural municipality chair Istiyak Ahmed Sah says that even though the local government had bought a fire engine, it was not enough to douse the fire.

One is not enough to douse fires in these thatched houses, he says. We called for help, but by the time the fire engines arrived it was too late.

Remote areas of far-western Nepal have also had similar problems. On December 18, 2018, in Khalanga in Darchula, a garment shop owned by Padam Badal caught fire. As it was impossible for a fire engine to reach the shop on time, locals along with the police started to bring in water from the Mahakali river to douse the fire. It took them 90 minutes to do so.

Inspector Bhaskar Chand from the District Police Office says even though there is a fire engine in Mahakali municipality, due to the geography of the area, it is impossible for it to reach anywhere on time.

We rarely use fire engines in the area. The only time we use it is when there are fires along the highway, says Chand.

A furniture factory in Dhangadhi of Kailali was gutted to ashes on March 6, 2021. The owner of Alok Multi Concerns says that had the fire engines reached there on time, his factory would not have suffered so much.

He says that even though Godawari municipality in Kailali and Punarwas Municipality in Kanchanpur had sent fire engines, the one from Dhangadhi did not arrive. The mayor of Dhangadhi, Nirpa Bahadur Oad, after listening to his grievances, had said that he would ask officials to investigate why fire engines did not reach the area on time.

Over 50 people die in fires every year

A massive fire broke out at Dobhan Bajaar of Taplejung, on Tuesday, March 2, 2021.

The incidents above show that no part of the country is safe from fire incidents.

Basanta Kunwar, the Nepal Police central spokesperson, says the police have recorded 5,064 incidents of fire in the past three years. These incidents killed 158 people, injuring 871 others.

The fire events in the past three years resulted in the damage of 2,505 houses and the loss of material property worth Rs 8.5 billion.

Ill-equipped local units

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration says only six metropolitan cities and 11 sub-metropolitan cities among 73 municipalities have fire engines. Other 203 municipalities do not have fire engines.

Among the metropolitan cities, there are four fire engines in Kathmandu and Biratnagar each, three in Lalitpur, Pokhara and Birgunj each, and two in Bharatpur. Likewise, each of 11 sub-metropolitan cities has at least two fire engines. Nonetheless, not all of these engines are functional.

Of 460 rural municipalities, only oneNarainapur of Bankehas a fire engine, informs the ministrys Environment and Disaster Management Sections Rishi Raj Acharya.

Some of the local governments that do not have fire engines have made efforts to buy a few, but they have failed due to budget crisis or high maintenance costs and other reasons.

File: A firefighter checks the status of a fire engine in Kathmandu.

The numbers of local units that have fire engines in each province are as follows:

Province 1: 20

Province 2: 9

Bagmati: 11

Gandaki: 9

Lumbini: 10

Karnali: 5

Sudurpaschim: 9

As per the ministrys assessment, the provinces immediately need to add fire engines in the following numbers:

Province 1: 26

Province 2: 22

Bagmati: 12

Gandaki: 8

Lumbini: 12

Karnali: 8

Sudurspachim: 8

Total: 96

The countrys Terai region is the most prone to five incidents, but 21 districts of the region have only 20 fire engines, and they need 52 more immediately, according to the ministry.

The next vulnerable place is the Kathmandu valley due to its high population density and a high number of fuel stations among others. However, most of the fire engines that the city has are nonoperational due to different reasons.

We dont have staff to operate it, Chandragiri Mayor Ghanashyam Giri says, We are preparing to lease it to the Kathmandu metropolitan city for one year.

Rajan Dahal, a staffer at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, says the valley immediately needs modern fire engines. He claims if the engines are functional, they can be crucial in controlling fire incidents in the valley, adding, on average, 95 per cent of fire incidents were doused by the engines in the past.

However, the authoritys Chief Executive Officer Anil Pokharel says fire engines are not the best option available. He says operating these engines at the local level is difficult due to the countrys geographical condition and high operational costs.

Hence, the country should prioritise preventive measures and other alternatives for fire control except for the fire engines, according to him. For example, you can prepare 10 water pumps at the cost of a fire truck, he suggests, Bringing water from nearby wells and ponds can be more economical than the fire engines.

But, Kishor Bhattarai, the chief of the Judda Barun Yantra (Fire Brigade), Kathmandu, does not agree. For him, there is not an alternative to fire engines in controlling household fires in urban areas currently.

Other options might put off the fire, but they cannot minimise the loss.

File: Firefights douse a fire

Existing fire engines are not ready

The house of Urmila Devi Das in Biratnagar metropolitan city-4 of Morang caught fire on January 6, 2019. Locals immediately informed the city office of the incident, and the office sent two fire engines there.

But, as soon as the vehicles reached the incident site, the firefighters found one of the two engines was kaput. Locals turned infuriated and chanted slogans against the city government.

Yes, the victims are tense and they have complaints with us when we cannot reach on time, Jit Bahadur Budhathoki, who drives a fire engine for the Lamahi municipality in the Dang district, says, recalling a similar incident that he encountered in November 2016, But, we do not make any delay intentionally except when the machine has a problem. He informs tyres and tanks are two major parts that frequently turn nonoperational in a fire engine.

The Inaruwa municipality in Sunsari has a fire engine but it could not work when a cloth store caught fire in the city in June 2020. It had already been six months since the engine was nonoperational.

Pokhara also encountered a similar incident in June 2014.

Biggest trouble: Unplanned cities

File: Firefights douse a fire

Although firefighter Budhathoki also complains of the lack of support from the locals, the biggest trouble for stakeholders working in the fire control sector has been unplanned cities.

In many situations, the fire engine cannot reach the incident site, hence making it impossible to control the fire, the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authoritys CEO Anil Pokharel says. Likewise, the fire engines cannot help when upper storeys of tall buildings catch fire, according to him.

Existing fire engines in Kathmandu have tools to go up to the 10th storey only. It means these engines are not effective for tall buildings, former AIG Thule Rai, who holds considerable experience in disaster management, says, adding the countrys fire response capacity is really miserable in comparison to the risks it has.

Meanwhile, some stakeholders have demanded separate mechanisms for fire response in the country. Kathmandu Fire Brigade Chief Kishor Bhattarai says separate mechanisms for fire control are in practice internationally so that it can keep all human resources and equipment updated.

Rai agrees, If the equipment meant to serve people fail to work, another option should be sought.

Local govts reluctance

Meanwhile, some local governments have been found unwilling to buy fire engines even when they have money.

It has already been six years since the central government allocated Rs 6 million each to a local government to buy fire engines. However, only 28 local units purchased the engines that year. Realising the reluctance, the government then stopped releasing this fund.

The Shivasatakshi municipality in Jhapa announced it would buy a fire engine in its annual development plan for the fiscal year 2020/21 and allocated Rs 8 million. However, now into the ninth month of the fiscal year, the city government has already transferred the amount to other sectors.

Mayor Chandra Kumar Sherpa says, We didnt move ahead as a foreign agency assured us of a fire engine as a grant. However, a staffer there reveals the city government withdrew after considering various challenges in its operation.

An administrative officer in a municipality in Morang says a fire engine costs at least Rs 7 million. It requires at least three staffers in all shifts. It means you need at least six workers for two shifts, each of whom gets paid at least Rs 15,000 every month. You need to allocate a separate fund for the engines maintenance.

Everything okay for excavators

Whereas the local government officials say the operation of fire engines is fraught with so many problems, they have shown their interest in the operation of excavators and bulldozers. For example, Buddhashanti rural municipality in Jhapa has recently bought its own excavator.

The number of heavy equipment vehicles is increasing across the country of late. The Department of Transport Management says there are 38,291 units of heavy equipment in the country currently.

Excavators also glitch. They also need operators. But, there are several of them, Rajan Dahal, an employee of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority says, The reluctance to buy fire engines is incomprehensible.
This version will take longer, in part because Mr. Manchin and other moderate Democrats want it that way. In interviews and, this week, a prominent op-ed piece, Mr. Manchin, who could be the 50th vote Democrats need to pass a bill through the budget reconciliation process, has blared his message: First, try bipartisanship.

Senate Democrats must avoid the temptation to abandon our Republican colleagues on important national issues, Mr. Manchin wrote in the Washington Post op-ed on Thursday. Republicans, however, have a responsibility to stop saying no, and participate in finding real compromise with Democrats.

Privately, many Democrats and Republicans say there is little chance that lawmakers could produce a bill as ambitious as Mr. Manchin wants while also attracting at least 10 Republican votes in the Senate. Liberals and conservatives are trillions of dollars apart in their appetites for how much to spend and what to spend it on  and nowhere near one another on how or whether to pay for any of it.

Some Republicans are pushing for a bill that is a third the size of Mr. Bidens initial infrastructure plan, an echo of their position in the debate on the stimulus bill, while rejecting Mr. Bidens proposed tax increases on corporations. At the same time, progressive Democrats are clamoring for the White House to go bigger, and would be unlikely to support a whittled-down plan tailored to win Republican backing.

Congressional Democrats say Republicans resistance to spending on the order Mr. Biden  and even Mr. Manchin  has called for, coupled with widespread opposition to most tax increases, leaves little chance of common ground.

They dont want to pay for anything, said Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland. I think the faster everyone recognizes that Republicans are not going to support these efforts, the better. But I am OK with people trying for a while, as long as it doesnt run the clock out.
Kentucky voters to determine if state constitution will declare there's no right to abortion

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Voters in Kentucky will consider a state constitutional amendment declaring there is no right to an abortion when they go to the polls for the 2022 midterm elections.

Last week, the Kentucky legislature passed House Bill 91, which put a proposal on the Nov. 8, 2022 ballot to add an amendment to the state constitution denying that abortion is a protected right in the state.

To protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion, reads the proposed language.

If the measure is approved by voters next year, Kentucky will be the fifth state to amend its constitution in such a way, joining Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Addia Wuchner, executive director of the Kentucky Right to Life Association, told The Christian Post that her organization supports the proposed amendment since it leaves legislative abortion debates to the duly elected representatives of the people rather than rogue judges.

Critics of the measure include Jackie McGranahan, policy strategist with the American Civil Liberties Union's Kentucky chapter. She denounced the measure in a statement last week.

The General Assembly will stop at nothing to push constitutionally-protected abortion care entirely out of reach, even for people whose lives depend on it, said McGranahan.

Passing such extreme legislation shows Kentucky lawmakers want to force their constituents to remain pregnant against their will, even if they are victims and survivors of rape or incest.

Claiming that the measure, if approved, could cost lives, McGranahan went on to promise that the ACLU of Kentucky will continue to work to defend Kentuckians reproductive freedom.

Wuchner explained to CP that the idea claimed by some pro-choice activists that the amendment would ban abortion is a fallacy and totally not true.

HB 91 sponsor Rep. Joseph Fischer told a Senate committee that the amendment would not prohibit the legislature from hypothetically passing pro-choice laws but would prohibit judges from saying that abortion is legal in Kentucky, according to The Lexington Herald-Leader.

Regarding the likelihood of it passing, Wuchner told CP that she felt very hopeful and very positive about the outcome, adding that Kentucky is a right-to-life family values state.

And you can see that by those that they send to Frankfurt to represent them in the General Assembly, she contended, referring to the fact that the state legislature is overwhelmingly Republican.
MADISON, Wis., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cultured Decadence today announced the close of its $1.6M pre-seed financing to create the first cell-cultured lobster meat in North America. The financing follows important technical progress in the development of novel lobster cell lines and the reduction of cell-culture media costs. The company will use the funds to expand its team and continue development of cell-cultured lobster meat prototypes in preparation for a commercial launch.

John Pattison, CEO, and Ian Johnson, CSO, co-founded the company to create sustainable seafood products that have a dramatically lower environmental impact and higher nutritional qualityand at a lower price point compared to current products. Increasing acidification and warming of oceans, overfishing, and a growing world population all contribute to the need for better solutions for producing high-quality seafood. Cultured Decadence's technology will utilize the cells of shellfish, such as lobster, to make real meat without the shell or organs, thereby offering seafood that's more sustainable, animal friendly, and indistinguishable in form and function from wild caught. The company's technology can be applied broadly to the $160 billion market for seafood including lobster, crab, shrimp, and scallops.

"The way we engage with animals as a food source needs to change if we are to thrive as a planet," Pattison said. "Our team is at the forefront of that change as we build the future of seafood a thousand miles from the nearest ocean. We are pleased to partner with an experienced group of investors that share our vision and are eager to accelerate our technology to bring transformative seafood products to market."

Investors in the oversubscribed round include Bluestein Ventures, Joyance Partners, Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, gener8tor, GlassWall Syndicate, Bascom Ventures, and China-based Dao Foods. The company also received non-dilutive funding from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation administered by the Center for Technology Commercialization (CTC).

Ashley Hartman, Senior Principal at Bluestein Ventures commented, "John and Ian are visionary founders, and we've been impressed with the team's skill set and scientific integrity. We're excited to join the pre-seed round for Cultured Decadence and for the potential of their technology to transform the market for seafood; we look forward to supporting their vision to create animal-free shellfish."

CTC Director Dr. Idella Yamben noted, "This funding highlights critical progress made by Cultured Decadence and the importance of their collaborative engagement with academic and industry partners. CTC is excited for their continued success as they work to scale their technology in Wisconsin."

About Cultured Decadence:

Cultured Decadence is a Wisconsin-based cellular agriculture company using cell culture and tissue engineering to create seafood, specifically shellfish products, directly from cells. The company aims to produce a variety of products to help address the growing demand for nutritious, safe, and sustainable seafood worldwide.

Contact:

John Pattison

[email protected]

SOURCE Cultured Decadence

Related Links

https://www.cultureddecadence.com/


TOKYO, Apr 9, 2021 - (JCN Newswire) - Hitachi Astemo is pleased to announce that Hitachi Astemo (China) Ltd., our regional head office in China, will exhibit at the 19th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition (Auto Shanghai 2021), held from Monday, April 19 through to Wednesday, April 28 in Shanghai, China.The company will showcase its advanced mobility solutions that improve safety and comfort, and contribute to the protection of the environment for a sustainable future.China, the world's largest automotive market, has government targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and to become carbon neutral by 2060. To achieve these targets, aggressive policies are under review that include policies such as limiting new vehicle sales to both "environmentally friendly vehicles", split between new energy vehicles, mainly electric vehicles, and hybrid vehicles. This policy could be in place by 2035.Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and related products, which contribute to reducing traffic accidents, traffic congestion and driver burden, are seeing increased demand worldwide with demand forecast to increase significantly, notably in China.In line with these trends. Hitachi Astemo (China) Ltd. is providing the advanced mobility solutions that are defining tomorrow's automobiles and motorcycles.The Hitachi Astemo (China) Ltd. exhibit will be at Booth Number 5BE071 inside the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). A variety of products and technologies that demonstrate automotive megatrends, such as electrification and autonomous driving, and address the advancement of motorcycles will be showcased.Vehicle Exhibit AreaThe company will exhibit a showcase car with a mounted "electrification system" equipped with motors and inverters, sensing technologies that detect vehicle surroundings through a combination of peripheral recognition sensors, such as cameras and radars, an "autonomous driving system" reliant upon risk prediction technologies, and vehicle control based on information from such devices. The company will also exhibit a motorcycle mounted with Hitachi Astemo's cutting-edge technologies. By showcasing both actual equipment and video footage, visitors can experience the wide range of technologies that Hitachi Astemo has to offer.Technology Exhibit AreaThe company will showcase a variety of products and technologies that contribute to the future of a mobility society shaped by products for automobiles and motorcycles, such as electric powertrains, AD/ADAS*, chassis and motorcycle systems.*AD: Autonomous driving, ADAS: Advanced driver assistance systemsAbout Hitachi Astemo, Ltd.Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Hitachi Astemo is a joint venture between Hitachi, Ltd. and Honda Motor Co. Hitachi Astemo is a technology company that develops, manufactures, sells and services automotive and transportation components, as well as industrial machinery and systems. For more information, visit the company's website at https://www.hitachiastemo.com/en/Source: Hitachi, Ltd.Copyright 2021 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.

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 Jefferson County criminal judge has been temporarily removed from the bench after a scathing 100-plus page complaint filed against her by the Judicial Inquiry Commission.

Circuit Judge Tracie Todd, who first became a judge in 2013 and was re-elected without opposition to a second term in 2018, is now charged with multiple incidents of abuse of judicial power and abandonment of the judicial role of detachment and neutrality.

The complaint states that the incidents of alleged wrongdoing, primarily from 2014 through 2018, were done in the context of embroilment and impartiality regarding the issue of the death penalty, interference with the district attorneys prosecutorial discretion, and her efforts regarding personal vindication of her prior rulings and actions.

According to the complaint, filed after several years of investigation by the commission, Todd committed multiple violations of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics. She is charged with:

Lack of faithfulness to the law or failure to maintain professional competence in the law

Failure to timely cooperate with other courts and/or to respect their orders in the administration of court business

Advocating for defendants, issues and/or own rulings

Denial of full right to be heard, including by way of independent investigations

Failure to disqualify

Lack of proper judicial temperament and demeanor

Todd was automatically suspended with pay under state rules when the charges were filed. Her attorney, Emory Anthony, declined to comment on the charges or the report. The full report can be viewed here.

By way of background, Todd in 2016 ruled that Alabamas capital murder sentencing scheme, which at that time allowed judges to override jury recommendations of life without parole and instead impose the death penalty, was unconstitutional. In making her ruling Todd barred the death penalty in the cases of four men charged in three murders: Terrell Corey McMullin, Kenneth Eugene Billups, Stanley Chatman and Benjamin Acton.

The issues between the state and Todd began in January of 2018 when, according to the courts ruling, the Court of Criminal Appeals directed Todd to recuse herself from McMullins death-penalty case. The court ordered Todd to recuse herself because she had issued prior rulings that directly conflicted with the Alabama Supreme Courts rulings on judicial override of the death penaltywhen a judge can override a jurys recommendation and either sentence a defendant to death or order a sentence of life in prison. Alabama was one of the few states to still allow judicial override until state law barred it in 2017.

Todd, according to that 2018 ruling, applied the banning of judicial override retroactively, but, the Alabama Supreme Court specifically ordered that the ban did not apply retroactively. The court also noted Todd may have violated the Canons of Judicial Ethics when she gave a radio interview about several capital murder cases pending in her court.

Lawyers for McMullin  who was charged with capital murder in the 2013 shooting deaths of Birmingham twins Jeremi and Jonathan Berry, 17, and the wounding of their mother  asked the appeals court to reconsider its decision, but the court denied the motion. Todd and McMullin, both represented by attorneys from the Equal Justice Initiative, asked the Alabama Supreme Court to review the case, according to the ruling.

Later that year, Todd set an October date for a conference in McMullins case. The state asked the appeals court to make Todd show why she shouldnt be held in contempt for still not recusing herself and that the matter be referred to the Judicial Inquiry Commission for an investigation into Judge Todds behavior, the motion states. Todd responded, saying she set the case for a conference by mistake and that she did enter an order recusing herself from McMullins case.

Even though the appeals court did not hold Todd in contempt, the court noted that the commission would be better directed to determine if her actions violated the ethics canon and ordered that a clerk deliver a copy of their ruling to the commission. Should a member of the commission think the case deserves a proceeding, he or she must file a complaint with the commission.

All five of the appeals judges concurred with the ruling, and Judge J. Michael Joiner judge wrote a special opinion to note that Todd has been the subject of more than 20 petitions seeking extraordinary writs over the past two years. Many of those petitions sought Todds recusal, and several were denied on purely procedural grounds.

In 2018, the state appeals court asked the Judicial Inquiry Commission to investigate Todd to determine if she violated ethical rules. The Court of Criminal Appeals issued a ruling stating the court was troubled by Todds repeated failure to abide by controlling law and her seemingly cavalier disregard for the orders of this Court and the Alabama Supreme Court.

Todds actions present questions of grave concern, the appeals court stated, and they sent the case to the commission to determine if proceedings should be brought against Todd. The commission investigates ethics complaints, and if necessary, files charges, against judges. Those charges are then heard by the Court of the Judiciary, which could discipline or remove a judge from the bench.

The complaint cited multiple examples in detail of alleged impropriety by Todd, much of the time surrounding her passion, and rulings, against the death penalty and what she believes are injustices in the justice system. It pointed to a statement previously released by Todd about the death penalty.

The influence of partisan politics on the Alabama judiciary indeed has never ending, interlaced talons that reach into every aspect of its criminal justice system. Legal scholars, journalists and community advocates around the world have noted in numerous fashions the statistical realities in Alabamas death penalty statute. In most instances these views are articulated in a data driven, broad context  a birds eye view. However, clearly comprehending the urgency of the circumstance in Alabama requires an immersion at the rudimentary level of this life-to-death override epidemic  a view from ground zero.

The commission said Todd went far beyond the question of the law before her and exhibited an apparent predisposition against the death penalty generally. In essence, they said she conducted her own investigation and research into the death penalty and violated a judges duty of detachment and neutrality.

As an example of Todds abuse of authority, the commission used her questioning defense attorney Charles Salvagio, who died last year, during a post-conviction petition contesting a defendants conviction and death sentence. Steven Petric was convicted in 2009 of murder during the rape of Homewood woman, Toni Lim. He later alleged his trial attorneys, which included Salvagio, provided ineffective counsel.

During a hearing in that petition, the commission said, Todd injected irrelevant political considerations into her questioning of Salvagio which included asking him if he had donated money to the judicial campaign of his co-counsel on the case. She also asked him if he had donated to the campaign of a former judge who had been Todds opponent. Salvagio requested that she recuse herself because her questions about his political allegiances raised the issue impropriety.

Todd did not recuse, and in the same case, found Salvagio in contempt of court for violation of one of her orders. The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Salvagios conviction and ruled Todd should have recused.

The complaint against Todd also noted her friction with the Jefferson County District Attorneys Office, which was no secret among courthouse observers. The friction, the commission said, manifested itself in interference in prosecutorial discretion, banishment of a particular deputy district attorney from practicing before her, lack of proper judicial temperament and demeanor toward the office and its attorneys, and her personal affront based, at least in part, on that offices questioning her rulings by seeking review.

Deputy District Attorney Carlos Gonzales was assigned to Todds courtroom from May 2016 through December 2017 or January 2018. In November 2017, about two months after the Court of Criminal Appeals cautioned Todd to refrain from overseeing the DAs office following a contentious issue between the judge and the DAs office regarding a domestic violence case, Todd told Gonzales, You may tell (the district attorney) you dont need to come back. She issued that directive, the complaint notes, after ordering the court reporter to go off the record.

That same day, Todd cited him for contempt and set a hearing for January 2018 for Gonzales to show cause why he should not be held in contempt. The following Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, Gonzalez appeared in her court for a lengthy docket, and she enforced her banishment. The judges assistant told Gonzales that the judge wanted him to leave before she entered the courtroom. He complied, taking his files with him.

The next day, Gonzalez sent Todds judicial assistant an email stating that there was a large docket the next week and he was planning to be there unless the judge issued an order saying he was not allowed in the courtroom.

Todd did not issue an order or respond but sent a letter to the Jefferson County sheriff about safety concerns over Gonzales and contended he had displayed mental instability. In a subsequent letter to the district attorney, Todd cited a citizens conclusion that, after observing Gonzalez, the citizen felt Gonzalezs behavior toward Todd was because she was a Black female. I have been unable as a young, African American woman to earn respect from many practicing in this county,' she wrote. Therefore, I have been unduly forced to demand it.

She was enmeshed in other legal matters involving the district attorney,' the commission wrote. This conduct diminishes the publics confidence in the integrity, independence and impartiality of the judiciary.

Many of the facts, according to the commission, include erroneous rulings by Todd. This complaint is about a judge who continued to fail to respect and follow clear directives and rulings of the appellate courts  even after the law was set forth in pleadings submitted to her, was explicitly set for by the Court of Criminal Appeals in cases assigned to her and/or it was legal precedent of fundamental important issued by the Court of Criminal Appeals or the Alabama Supreme Court,' the complaint states.

Because of the circumstances under which they occurred, these errors were not mere legal error that could e sufficiently remedied or addressed by legal review, such as appeal,' according to the complaint. Rather they constitute a continuing pattern of legal error that has the capacity to detrimentally affect public confidence in the judicial process, particularly here, regarding fundamental death penalty issues, disqualification and interference with prosecutorial discretion.

Despite her arguable intent to accomplish what she perceived as noble purposes  elimination of the death penalty (at least in its current form), of selective prosecution, of racial discrimination in imprisonment etc., the commission wrote, her intent to achieve a noble purpose does not excuse apparent disregard of the law or her failure to maintain competence in the law.
After Facebook, LinkedIn has become the latest victim of data breach, in which scrap data of over 500 million of its users has been put on sale on a popular hacking platform. The leaked details are email ids, cellphone numbers, workplace information, full anmes, account Ids, social media accounts, and gender details.

LinkedIn has confirmed the report saying it's not a breach but collection of data from other websites and companies. LinkedIn has said it "investigated an alleged set of LinkedIn data that has been posted for sale and have determined that it is actually an aggregation of data from a number of websites and companies".

The unknown post author leaked 2 million records as proof-of-concept samples on the hacker platform, a CyberNews report said. "The four leaked files contain information about the LinkedIn users whose data has been allegedly scraped by the threat actor, including their full names, email addresses, phone numbers, workplace information, and more," the report said.

In exchange for the full details on leaked LinkedIn data, the hacker has asked for a four-digit amount in US dollars, preferably in bicoins. However, it has not been verified if the threat actor is sharing the up-to-date data of the LinkedIn users or it's a scrap data, meaning it's collected from previous LinkedIn and other company hacks.

LinkedIn has said the data put out by the hacker does include "publicly viewable member profile data that appears to have been scraped from LinkedIn". But, it can't be called as "data breach" as no private member account data from LinkedIn was included in what we've been able to review, said the company.

Meanwhile, Italy's privacy watchdog has launched an inquiry against the purported data breach since it has the highest number of subscriber counts among European states. The watchog has also called LinkedIn users in the country to be wary about any suspicious activity with regard to their bank accounts or phone numbers.

Experts suggest the alleged leeaked data can be used to carry out targetted phishing attacks, spamming 500 million emails and phone numbers and brute-forcing passwords of LinekedIn profiles.

In a similar incident, a massive data leak at Facebook this week had exposed the personal details of around 533 million of its users. The social media giant on April 6 had published a blog in which they admitted a data breach had occurred but added the data was actually stolen back in 2019.

The personal details that have been exposed are details such as phone numbers, Facebook ID, birthdates, etc, of millions of users. Facebook had also said the leaked data had not been obtained through its system but scrapped before September 2019. It said the said data was scrapped by cybercriminals utilising the social media site's contact importer feature.

Also Read: Facebook data breach: Mark Zuckerberg uses Signal; phone number leaked
Bangladesh recognises that Indira Gandhis repeated remark that the refugees would be sent back to their homes had contributed immensely to the consolidation of Bangladesh nationalism and become a rallying point for the nascent nation that was to emerge soon.

by Kazi Anwarul Masud

Some recent articles have compared Indian Prime Ministers style of governance as comparable to China. This is concerning to the neighbours who consider India as the largest practicing democracy and Chinese as style as dictatorial.

Such a conclusion is obvious to any layman who cares for the rights and privileges she/he enjoys in the country the person lives in. No one would like to live in fear of being whisked away at the dead of night for a crime he or she has not committed. One of the best selling authors in India Chetan Bhagat expressed his fear that  Buddhist and Jain history will be reduced to margins, and Ashoka will simply disappear. So will be the Sikh history - Guru Nanak will be reduced to a minor saint of the Bhakti movement, Guru Gobind Singh will be mentioned as a disciple of Durga, and Ranjit Singh will just disappear altogether

The constitution will be amended to designate that the ancestors of Muslims and Christians were Hindus who converted only a few centuries ago and that all the residents of the country, be they Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains etc., are culturally and nationally Hindus, whatever that might mean, and that the holy cow is the mother of all citizens. Every citizen will be made to sign a declaration to that effect whenever dealing with the state i.e. leaving or entering the country, applying for a government job, for drivers license, for entering the election fray etc.. A special well-staffed department of Ghar Wapsi will be constituted to bring Christians and Muslims back into the Hindu fold. All the Muslims and Christians willing to do so will be given reservations in government jobs and tax breaks. Muslim and Christian places of worship will have to enact high boundary walls to mark their boundaries unambiguously and to keep their celebrations to themselves. All open spaces of offering Islamic prayer, i.e. Eidgaah, will be confiscated by the state and will no longer be available for offering prayers. The list could go on much further. A Hindu Rashtra will be a disaster of epic proportions.

The problem countries like Bangladesh, a Muslim majority country, will face because it unlike Bhutan and Nepal ( Indo-Pakistan is a never ending saga where Pakistan is very much in the grip of China, both having no democracy. China ruled by an autocrat who possibly has amassed more power than Mao Tse tung and has elected hiself as President for life. Pakistans animosity with India begins with the withdrawal of the British from the sub-continent and Pakistan presenting herself as the abode of displaced Muslims from India. According to Yale Global Online i f current demographic trends continue, the ranks of religious believers in the world could rise through 2050, reports a Pew Research Report. Islam would show the fastest rate of growth, and the unaffiliated would decline in proportion to other religious categories.

Riaz Hassan, director of the International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding at the University of South Australia, analyzes the data for India, along with the Sachar Committee report on the status of Muslims in Indian society and Indias 2011 census report. He points out that Muslims could represent nearly one out of five Indians by 2050 as compared with one out of seven today. The population increase will present additional and more complex challenges for the nations democratic political system grounded in its secular constitution that envisions justice, liberty, equality and fraternity for all Indian citizens  but is increasingly contested, he writes. India is poised to be the worlds most populous nation by 2050. Uneven opportunities for a major minority group increase the risks of resentment, instability and security threats.  YaleGlobal . The report adds In the next three and half decades, the demography of world religions will change considerably with significant global consequences  political, social and economic. The proportions of the various religions in the world population will remain largely the same or decline, except for Islam. In South Asia, especially India, where tensions between majority Hindu and minority Muslims are on the rise such demographic change risks bringing upheavals.

Worldwide Muslims have the highest fertility rate and the youngest average age, and their number is projected to increase from 1.6 billion in 2010 to 2.76 billion in 2050. For the first time in history, Muslims will nearly equal Christians, until now the worlds largest religious group in size. The number of Christians in the United States, Europe and Australia will decline significantly because of a larger increase in the number of those who identify as unaffiliated, perhaps denoting agnostic or atheist.

These changes will also have repercussions for relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims globally, especially in South Asia  exacerbating existing tensions or giving rise to new challenges for promoting harmonious interreligious group relations. Since neither Pakistan nor China can be an option for Bangladesh India remains our only hope both politically and economically. Bangladesh and India share a 4,096-kilometre-long (2,545 mi) international border, the fifth-longest land border in the world, including 262 km (163 mi) in Assam, 856 km (532 mi) in Tripura , 318 km (198 mi) in Mizoram, 443 km (275 mi) in Meghalaya , and 2,217 km (1,378 mi) in West Bengal . Bangladesh shares the same language with West Bengal and the same history till 1947. But Bangladesh remains the only Muslim majority country in the region. If credence is to be given to Prem Shankar Jha personal lament(Hindutva's Dead Hand in Destroying India's Future: A Personal Lament) or fears expressed by others not easily dismissable (Will Modis Hindu Nationalist Agenda Tear India Apart? World PressReport March 5 2021), ( Sangeeta Baruas CAB Represents RSS-BJP's Successful Imposition of Hindutva Agenda in Assam THE WIRE) ( The Rape of Indias Soul Press Syndicate Dec 10, 2019 JAYATI GHOSH ) (The Triumph of Hindu Majoritarianism A Requiem for an Old Idea of India By Kanchan Chandra November 23, 2018 Foreign Affairs in which he wrote --In 1997, the historian Sunil Khilnani described "the idea of India, usually attributed to the countrys first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, as an imagined secular, pluralist, polity that belonged to all Indians and not to any one group. In particular, India did not belong to the Hindu majority, which constituted 80 percent of the countrys population according to the last official census. It was this secular idea that created India in 1947, not as the Hindu mirror of a Muslim Pakistan, but as the pluralist opposite of majoritarian nationalism  );

( Indias democracy in danger THE ECONOMIST Jan 24th 2020 -- By undermining the secular principles of the constitution, Indian governments latest initiatives threaten to do damage to Indias democracy that could last for decades. They are also likely to lead to bloodshed. The sad truth is that the BJP are likely to benefit politically by creating divisions over religion and national identity. ). These are only some of the observations made by Indians themselves. Some of these may or may not represent the views of the majority. But these views should not be thrown out of the window lest the baby is also thrown out along with the towel. Bangladeshis are concerned. As geography shows Bangladesh is surrounded on all sides by India. Economically Bangladesh is dependent on India for a host of commodities. More importantly Bangladesh has to to be politically aligned. U.S.-Chinese Rivalry Is a Battle Over Values Great-Power Competition Cant Be Won on Interests Alone By Hal Brands and Zack Cooper March 16, 2021 in an article WASHINGTON POST is an important indicator of modern age. Values must prevail over material benefits.

For Bangladesh to prosper India must remain a democracy. Articles like India's Foreign Policy Strategy Is Increasingly Resembling That of China Even as Narendra Modi aligns with the Quad to pressure Beijing, the BJP's assertiveness beyond India's boundaries and its conflation of regime interest with national interest mirror that of the Communist Party of China by Lenny Bernstein, Ariana Eunjung Cha, Ben Guarino and Isaac Stanley-Becker March 30, 2021; India's Foreign Policy Strategy Is Increasingly Resembling That of China Even as Narendra Modi aligns with the Quad to pressure Beijing, the BJP's assertiveness beyond India's boundaries and its conflation of regime interest with national interest of China are not welcome in todays world. Bangladesh looks up to India to continue its lead as the largest practicing democracy in the world. A Chinese style of governance which is basically a plutocracy where ordinary people have no voice and hence does not effectively exist should not be the fate of millions of people who fought a bloody war against genocide let loose by occupying Pakistani army.

Beyond any doubt Bangladesh war of liberation was fought in the name of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the war was brought to a quick end due to the active diplomacy played by the then Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi who went to different parts of the world pleading Bangladeshs case and gave refuge to millions of Bengalis who fled to West Bengal to escape the barbarism of the occupying Pakistani army . Most importantly Mrs. Gandhi signed INDO-SOVIET TREATY OF FREINDSHIP AND COOPERATION with then Soviet Union who vetoed six times Security Council resolution brought by the US, China and other nations seeking a political solution of the problem which was an impossible proposal after the genocide let loose by Pakistan army on unarmed Bengali nation.

Fortunately both in the US and in England and many other nations people holding important positions voiced their criticism of the Pakistani barbarism. Some also e.g. Ted Kennedy visited refugee camps in West Bengal. The world first woke up to the grim tragedy by the reports of Anthony Mascarenhas, a reporter of a Pakistani news paper who was horrified to see first hand the unfolding tragedy and later wrote a book Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood. In an article Aasha Khosla writes that Pijnacker Hordijk, representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in India, was the first to raise an alarm over an impending humanitarian crisis in India on account of the military action in East Pakistan. On March 29, 1971, he sent a message to the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.

As per the UNHCR The State of the World Refugees-2000 report, Hordijk told the world body that within a month, nearly one million refugees had entered India, fleeing the military repression in East Pakistan. By the end of May, the average daily influx into India was over 100,000 and had reached a total of almost four million, the report says. Indian official reports put the daily arrivals at about 10,000-50,000 refugees.

Pushpesh Pant, historian and author, says that in 1971 Indias economy was at the verge of collapse due to the burden of the refugees. In particular, the state of West Bengal, which had received the largest chunk of refugees, was under tremendous pressure.

The government had to issue a special postal stamp to raise funds for the refugees. Pant, who was teaching in the Delhi university then, remembers how people called conjunctivitis the Bangladeshi eye disease, as it was first spotted in a refugee camp. However, despite this and other social tensions, there was huge sympathy and goodwill for the refugees across India, he recalls.

Bangladesh recognises that Indira Gandhis repeated remark that the refugees would be sent back to their homes had contributed immensely to the consolidation of Bangladesh nationalism and become a rallying point for the nascent nation that was to emerge soon.

In conclusion as it is undeniable that the Bangladesh war of liberation was fought under the leadership of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman it is equally undeniable that the untiring efforts of then Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi brought the liberation to a quick end. India, therefore, has a particular responsibility that Bangladesh does not feel to be placed in a position of choice between India and China.

(The writer is a former Ambassador and Secretary in Bangladesh.)
Newborn twins found dead outside a Bronx apartment block last year were beaten to death, police have revealed.

NYPD quadrupled the reward to $10,000 on Thursday as they appealed for more information to find the boys' killer and their mother.

The infants, who were full term twins, were discovered dumped in the trash on November 9 behind a high-rise on College Avenue and East 171st street.

Reports that the children may have been strangled by an umbilical cord or died from a fall have been ruled out, Lt. William O'Toole told a press conference.

'It appears to be either they were hit or purposeful blunt force trauma,' the Bronx police commander said.

NYPD officers at the scene after the infants were discovered dumped in a paper bag on November 9 behind a high-rise on College Avenue and East 171st street

Officers attending the scene in November last year. Lt. William O'Toole told a press conference on Thursday: 'We would love to speak to the mother and help her, obviously, if she is in a desperate situation.'

The NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig announced the updated reward on Thursday

'It's kind of shocking to anybody to have two full-term newborn babies thrown in the garbage in the rear of the building,' O'Toole added.

He said that the twins were discovered less than 12 hours after they were killed.

But O'Toole said the NYPD's exhaustive investigations, including interviewing all residents in the neighboring buildings, as well as asking them for DNA samples, had turned up no leads.

Officers spent weeks going through hospital records for the city, as well as Winchester County and New Jersey, to check if the mother had sought medical attention after giving birth.

'Either she gave birth to these babies and someone threw them in the garbage, either some domestic or relationship situation she was in,' O'Toole said. 'We would love to speak to the mother and help her, obviously, if she is in a desperate situation.'

Officers spoke to every resident in the 42 apartments inside the College Avenue building. None of them remembered seeing a pregnant woman around.

O'Toole said: 'Someone who is physically pregnant with twins should really show.'

Turning over garbage in the area also revealed no evidence and there was no surveillance footage of a suspect.

'We did a pretty exhausting investigation so far but there's not much that goes on in this city that someone doesn't know about,' O'Toole said.

Police announced they were now offering $10,000, up from $2,500, after an autopsy determined that the case should be treated as homicide.

'Everybody is upset about this,' Ramon Sanchez, who has lived in the building for years, told the New York Daily News on Thursday. 'Nobody wants to talk about it. Everyone is scared.'

The 67-year-old added: 'I feel bad. Its not supposed to happen, something like that.'

Officers attending the crime scene in November after the infants were discovered by the building superintendent

Police officers at the scene last year. They said their exhaustive investigation had so far turned up no leads as they made a renewed appeal to the public

Police cars outside the Bronx building on November 9 after the boys, who were full term twins, were found dumped in the trash

The superintendent of the building who found the children spoke to the New York Post at the time, telling the paper that he first mistook one of the boys for a doll.

'I didn't pay it any mind, because I thought it was a toy doll,' the man, who gave his name as Johnny, said.

It was not until nearly six hours later that the superintendent went back outside and realized that it was a baby boy laying on the ground.

Johnny said that upon closer examination, he found the boy wrapped from the waist up in a blue pet training pad, which was wet with blood.

A short distance away, the super came upon the body of the twin, who had been placed inside a plastic bag.

First responders who were summoned to the scene rushed the children to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where both were pronounced dead on arrival.

Police asked anyone with information to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or submit tips online at nypdcrimestoppers.com.
He stuck in that area and eventually became a detective. I wish I hadnt. I would have liked to have stayed in uniform. Driving the (divisional) van is an exciting job because you are stopping crime. We pulled a car over in St Kilda and found a girl who had been abducted. We probably saved her life. It is better than being in a suit and coming around the next day when it is too late. One of the most successful armed robbery gangs of the time was the Flemington Crew, led by Victor Peirce, Jedd Houghton, Graeme Jensen and Peter David McEvoy. Gary Abdallah - shot dead by police. Before each job the gang had a thief steal two Holdens. One to be used for the armed robbery and the second as the clean getaway car, hidden a few kilometres away. His name was Gary Abdallah. On October 11, 1988 Jensen was shot dead by armed robbery squad detectives during an attempted arrest. Just before dawn the next day two police, Stephen Tynan and Damian Eyre, were ambushed and murdered in Walsh Street, South Yarra.

The Flemington Crew were the suspects. (Peirce, McEvoy and two others were charged and acquitted of the murders.) The police were lured to Walsh Street to check an abandoned car. It was a Holden, probably stolen by Abdallah. Lockwood was tasked to arrest Abdallah for a violent crime, but it had nothing to do with Walsh Street. A police surveillance photo of, from left, Graeme Jensen, Victor Peirce and Jedd Houghton at the Boronia Shopping Centre in September, 1988. Credit:Victoria Police In March 1989 a young man was deliberately struck by a car then reversed over in King Street. The driver was Gary Abdallah. It was pretty serious. He wasnt just clipped. There were tyre marks on his body. He was lucky to survive.

Lockwood says he knew Abdallah but not well. I may have charged him, I cant remember. I knew the name and had previous dealings with him. He was an active car thief. I have been asked, did I like or dislike him. I never judged any of them, it just didnt matter. On Sunday April 9, 1989 Lockwood and his partner, Senior Detective Dermot Avon, arrested Abdallah and took him to his Drummond Street two-level flat to search for evidence and an accomplice. According to both police, Abdallah grabbed what they believed was a loaded handgun and threatened them. Lockwood fired his full six shots at Abdallah, then grabbed Avons gun, who had drawn his weapon but not fired, to discharge a seventh  and fatal round. The gun found next to the dying suspect was a fake.

Lockwood later told Homicide, I saw that he was holding what I believed to be a .357 Magnum revolver  I think he was holding it in his right hand and was using his left hand to support it . . . He was bringing the revolver up to the firing position when I first saw it. . . I screamed at him, Drop the gun, drop the f----in gun, a couple of times. He screamed, Im not doin nothin, or similar. I just kept screaming at him to drop the f----ing gun. I started shooting at him and he kept raising the gun at me. I must have shot six because I took Dermots gun and shot one from his, I think. The last shot he dropped to the ground. We rolled him over and pushed the gun away. Avon was giving him mouth-to-mouth. A neighbour said, All the time I heard the bangs the male voice was continually yelling out . . . Put the f----ing thing down. Cliff Lockwood pictured in 1994. Credit:Craig Sillitoe So why would a man pull an imitation firearm when all police post-Walsh Street were a touch jumpy?

Abdallah knew he was a Walsh Street suspect and had been told police were planning to murder him. Months earlier his friend and fellow Walsh Street suspect, Jedd Houghton, was shot dead by police when they tried to arrest him near Bendigo. Perhaps Abdallah pulled the gun because he thought he, too, was about to be shot. The truth is only he knows. Lockwood and Avon (who did not fire a shot) were charged with murder. The prosecutors did not allege it was premeditated and the replica was planted. They said while the first six shots could be construed as self-defence, the threat was gone by the time Lockwood grabbed his partners gun and fired the final bullet. I used to be a red-necked hater. Now I think most people in jail have made bad decisions. There are very few really bad people. Both men were acquitted. Lockwood believes there was never enough evidence and they were charged to satisfy media outrage. I dont feel any guilt. He brought this upon himself with a stupid action.

Coroner Hal Hallenstein found, Abdallah has contributed to a sequence of events leading to him being fatally shot by picking up and pointing at Lockwood an imitation revolver reasonably believed to be real. The prospect of being sentenced to a large slice of his life in prison changed Lockwood. It was time to get out and live my life. I wanted to travel and have as much fun as I could. He worked as a locksmith in Melbourne before he and his then wife headed to Darwin, hoping to join the Northern Territory police. She was accepted while he was rejected. I rang them before I left to see if there was a problem with my background and they said it wasnt. In hindsight it was a waste of time. They had no intention of allowing me in. Lockwood worked in Darwin, Bali and East Timor in travel, car rental and as a taxi driver. But his reputation followed him. Often, he says, local police would tell others he was the ex-cop acquitted of murder.

The common thing I get is people saying he bloody well deserved it. Thats not what I want to hear. Overseas is a good option until you run into an Australian. Sometimes you have to look after yourself when someone says, Right, Im going to bring some justice here. Life spiralled out of control for Lockwood. He began taking drugs and in 2009 was arrested for trafficking pseudoephedrine. He doesnt claim innocence but says he was set up. He says he was taking drugs with a woman in a hotel who persuaded him to deliver the tablets to Andy, an undercover police officer. I went on a bender with her then she gave me a bag of Sudafed tablets to deliver. It was a stupid thing to do. A momentary lapse in the fog.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 17 months - serving eight months. The once lock em up cop found a new perspective by becoming an inmate with local offenders and people smugglers. Prison, he says, was good for him. If you take the embarrassment out of it, if I had my time over again, I wouldnt change it. It was a very enlightening time. He says many inmates need treatment, not punishment. There has to be a better way. I used to be a red-necked hater. Now I think most people in jail have made bad decisions. There are very few really bad people. Back in Victoria, Lockwood has been diagnosed with PTSD. There is broken sleep, anxiety, depression and lethargy. You cant put it aside and stop thinking about it. There is nothing you can do about it. Some police on the ground think I have gone to the dark side. They treat me with suspicion and that bloody hurts. The dark side  imagine that.
Dennis Amfo-Sefah, Tema West Constituency Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), has rebuked the Majority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu over his 'no akan' flagbearer comment.



The Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame constituency courted controversy and verbal attacks when he averted that it will be unwise for the NPP to choose an akan flagbearer again.



Inwardly, I know I have the competence to lead the party but is it wise that after two Akans  former President Kufuor and current President Akufo-Addo  to present a flagbearer candidate with different ethnicity . . . I think it is not good for a party which has been accused by some as being overly Akanistic in nature. But not everybody would agree with me and that is the beauty of democracy, he is quoted to have said in an interview.



Call for Resignation



Meanwhile, a group calling itself Concerned Northern Grassroot of the NPP are calling for Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu who is also the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs to resign.



According to them, it is very important for party functionaries like Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and his likes to know that even though the NPP calls itself Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition, we all are mindful of the fact that these three blocks do not adequately represent the NPP . . . if he is not above those directives by the National Executive Committee of which he is a member, then he should resign as our leader of the August House for showing bad fate and setting a very bad precedence.



Contributing to a panel discussion on Neat FM's M'e Man Nti' programme, Dennis wondered why the Majority leader flouted the directive from the executives of the party that no one should engage in the 'flagbearer' debate.



"He has expressed his view but we refuse to accept it. He should not have made those comments in the first place. I'm surprised; as a Majority Leader who should know better will be making such statements bringing division into the party . . . if that is the case then he should hand over his position as the Majority Leader since he is an Akan. Does it mean he will vote against any akan candidate? it's sad that such comment came from him," he bemoaned.



" . . but why should he even make such statements at this time when Akufo-Addo is still setting up his government. It was needless for him to make such comments. Akufo-Addo has not even finished his term and there is already a debate on who takes over from him, why do you want to push him out?" he further queried.



Listen to him in the video below





Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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In April of last year, COPA released more than a dozen video and audio clips from the shooting. While the cellphone video was seen on social media within hours of the shooting, the COPA footage provided closer views of the struggle between Roman and the two officers, as well as the scramble afterward as police tended to Roman and passengers squeezed by his body on the floor.
Oh dear, it was most ungentlemanly of me to laugh. But I couldnt suppress a chuckle over the video showing Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EU Commission, quietly fuming at this weeks summit in Turkey after two caddish males bagged the only available chairs.

Indeed, I suspect I was very far from alone in being instantly reminded of the age-old story of the Etonian, the Wykehamist and the Harrovian, repeated down the years to illustrate the stereotypical differences between alumni of Eton, Winchester and Harrow.

You know the one. A woman walks into a room where the three public schoolboys are standing. The Etonian languidly commands: Fetch that lady a chair! The meek Wykehamist scurries off to fetch it . . . and the bounder from Harrow promptly sits on it.

I couldnt suppress a chuckle over the video showing Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EU Commission, quietly fuming at this weeks summit in Turkey after two caddish males bagged the only available chairs

Clearly, the male presidents who treated Mrs von der Leyen so shoddily  Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Charles Michel of the European Council  are two of natures Harrovians.

For his part, the egregious Erdogan can hardly claim it was an accident that no chair was put out for von der Leyen. This is because earlier photographs show three chairs laid out for the meeting, before one was removed.

Deliberate

If this was a mistake, the Turkish leader could easily have demanded the chairs return  particularly after his German guest had made her displeasure felt, with an emphatic ahem! and a gesture that said: Where the Gott im Himmel am I supposed to sit? But he simply ignored her.

He and his aides would also have been well aware that, according to diplomatic protocol, the presidents of the EU Commission and the European Council hold equal ranking.

This means they should always be given seating of equal prominence  a courtesy accorded to their predecessors on past visits to Turkey, when both happened to be male.

So theres no getting away from it: Erdogans treatment of von der Leyen was a deliberate snub  all the more pointed, since one of the items up for discussion on the summit agenda was his governments disrespect for womens rights.

Erdogans treatment of von der Leyen was a deliberate snub  all the more pointed, since one of the items up for discussion on the summit agenda was his governments disrespect for womens rights. Which brings me to the extraordinary conduct of Mr Michel, pictured, the former Belgian prime minister who took over from Donald Tusk at the European Council at the end of 2019

Which brings me to the extraordinary conduct of Mr Michel, the former Belgian prime minister who took over from Donald Tusk at the European Council at the end of 2019.

Now, Im old-fashioned enough to believe that any true gentleman in his position would have known at once where his duty lay, the moment he saw only one chair laid out beneath the European flag. As a matter of basic good manners, he would have offered it to the lady.

Out of respect for the dignity of his own office, he would also have been fully justified in insisting that his host found a third chair for him.

Instead, he made a beeline for the single seat beneath the flag and instantly lowered his bottom into it, leaving Mrs von der Leyen standing. In the end, she had to sit on a side sofa, while Mr Michel lorded it from his throne.

What an unspeakable cad! In a more chivalrous age, he would have been horsewhipped  or at the very least exiled from civilised society.

Why is it, then, that when I saw the YouTube video of this disgraceful display, my first instinct was to chuckle?

One reason, I suppose, is that the incident highlights the ludicrous power structure of the EU, with its multitude of presidents  those of the Commission, the Council, the Parliament and the Central Bank  all jealously demanding that their status should be duly honoured.

Plonked

Add 27 heads of state, each vying with the rest for proper recognition, and is it any wonder that every big project Brussels touches, from the single currency to the Covid vaccination drive, ends up a shambles?

I must also confess to a touch of schadenfreude (a word Mrs von der Leyen will well understand). After all, she has treated Britains AstraZeneca so contemptuously, over its munificent gift to the world, that it does the heart good to see her get a dose of her own medicine.

But more than this, I laughed because that sticky scene in the Turkish capital so perfectly illustrates an agonising dilemma we men often experience in this age of feminism.

Indeed, I felt a surge of fellow-feeling for the ungallant Mr Michel when he plonked himself into that chair. There was an uneasy look in his eyes, as he stared at Mrs von der Leyen, that made me think I could read exactly what was going through his head.

If my guess is right, his thought-process went something like this: Mon dieu! Theres only one chair! Of course, chivalry dictates that I should offer it to Madame. But wait a minute...

I must also confess to a touch of schadenfreude (a word Mrs von der Leyen will well understand). After all, she has treated Britains AstraZeneca so contemptuously, over its munificent gift to the world, that it does the heart good to see her get a dose of her own medicine

Would she feel insulted if I treated her like a lady? Powerful women often do these days. Maybe it would be safer if I treated her exactly as I would if she were a man, and let her deal with it as she chooses . . .

With that in mind, he sat down.

Big mistake  as his grovelling apology on Wednesday night made so clear after Mrs von der Leyens office spelt out her fury. But then isnt it true that men just cant win in this age when so many feminists regard any show of gallantry as a micro-aggression?

Born in the early 1950s, I was brought up always to open doors for women, stand when they enter a room and offer them my seat on the bus or the Tube if they need it.

In some circumstances, I still do it  and I find that most women appreciate it. But in recent years, more than a few have looked daggers at me for showing them courtesies once seen as de rigueur.

Affronted

Hows a poor bloke to tell if the woman on the Tube, weighed down by shopping bags, will thank him for giving her his seat  or curse him for belittling the sisterhood?

And hows a poor Belgian bureaucrat to know if a female president of the European Commission will love him or hate him for behaving like a gentleman?

But let me end on a similar dilemma that faced me many years ago, when I had the pleasure of being invited to dinner at his Mayfair house by a rising Tory MP of decidedly old-fashioned manners. Lets call him Jacob Rees-Mogg, since that is his name.

I dont know if hes changed his ways, but in those days it was his habit to ask the ladies to withdraw at the end of the meal, leaving the men to their masculine talk over the port.

Now, it happened that one of my fellow guests on the evening in question was a female colleague, whom I knew to be a passionate feminist.

She was deeply affronted by the suggestion that the ladies should leave the table, presumably to talk about knitting and babies, while the men discussed matters of high state.

Hence my dilemma. Should I stay at the table and be damned for ever in the eyes of my female colleague as an antediluvian male chauvinist pig? Or should I show solidarity with her by joining the ladies  thereby insulting my generous host?

For what its worth, in this lose-lose situation I made a reluctant stand for feminism and abandoned my fellow male guests. But Ive wondered ever since if I did the right thing.

Wasnt life an awful lot simpler when everyone accepted that the sexes were treated differently, and nobody seemed to mind?
A medical expert in Derek Chauvin's murder trial defended the cause of death of the victim George Floyd. Dr. Martin Tobin argued that the lack of oxygen claimed the life of the victim of police brutality. It can be remembered that Floyd died after Chauvin pressed his knees on the neck of the victim against a pavement.

Tobin's emphatic defense for Floyd happened on Chauvin's murder trial on Thursday, according to a Fox News report. Tobin rejected the claims of the defendant that Floyd died due to drugs and his underlying health condition.

READ NEXT: Valentine's Day Photo Mocking George Floyd's Death Triggers LAPD Investigation

George Floyd's Cause of Death, According to Tobin

Tobin, who testified for Floyd, is a physician specializing in pulmonology and critical care, according to a report from TMZ.

Tobin told the jury that Floyd's breathing was severely constricted while the suspect and two other officers are pinning him down on his stomach. The incident happened in May 2020 while the victim was handcuffed behind him.

"A healthy person subjected to what Mr. Floyd was subjected to would have died," said Tobin during the trial. Tobin also works as a lung and critical care specialist in Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital and Loyola University's medical school situated in Illinois.

Tobin has presented a graphic representation of what happened during Floyd's death. The prosecutors noted that the event lasted for about nine and a half minutes, and for more than 90 percent of the time, Chauvin's knee was "virtually on the neck" of Floyd.

"The cause of low-level oxygen was shallow breathing, small breaths," said Tobin. Tobin furthered that the shallow breaths have no capability to bring air to his lungs down to the essential areas of the organ.

Chauvin's Defense Attorney Eric Nelson pressed Tobin with the misconception of Minneapolis Officers being trained that if people can speak, they can breathe. Tobin disagreed, saying that Floyd talking and moving, as shown in the video, does not mean that the victim is breathing effectively. Tobin also pointed out that the leg movement of Floyd was involuntary.

Chauvin's Defense and Other Testimonies

Nelson told the jury in the previous week that Floyd had taken drugs when the encounter happened. Nelson also argued that the autopsy result showed meth and fentanyl in Floyd's system.

However, it was disagreed with by Forensic Toxicologist Dr. Daniel Isenschmid. Isenschmid noted that the amount of methamphetamine in Floyd's system would be consistent with a prescription dose, and it is "very low." Isenschmid also pointed out that the fentanyl was metabolized, and if it is connected to a fentanyl death, the results will not show that the drug was metabolized.

Dr. Bill Smock also testified on the trial, confirming that George Floyd died from a "positional asphyxia." Smock described the method as a sophisticated way of saying how Floyd died with no oxygen in the body. Smock is a police surgeon for the Louisville metro police department and the head of Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention's Medical Committee.

READ MORE: George Floyd's Family Agrees to 'Historic' $27 Million Settlement With Minneapolis

WATCH: George Floyd died from low oxygen levels, doctor confirms during Derek Chauvin trial - from Global News
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  A Tennessee judge has made a rare move to rule against an opioid firm before a civil trial over its role in the epidemic, saying there was a coordinated strategy by the company and its attorneys to delay proceedings, deprive plaintiffs of information and interfere with the administration of justice.

In Sullivan County Circuit Court on Tuesday, Chancellor E.G. Moody entered the default judgment against Endo Pharmaceuticals, saying the company willfully withheld records during legal discovery to gain an edge at trial. In the ruling, the judge cited a dozen falsehoods from Endos legal team as the case played out.

The ruling finds the opioid manufacturer and another Endo subsidiary liable and sends the case right to a trial over damages.

Although this is a harsh sanction, justice demands it under the circumstances, Moody wrote. Anything less would make a mockery of the attorneys who play by the rules and the legal system.

The company indicated Wednesday that it plans to appeal the judges orders in the case, calling them procedurally, factually, and legally deficient.

The plaintiffs have sued for $2.4 billion. The judge wrote they have expert testimony that supports that amount.

We look forward to putting our $2.4 billion damage case to a jury and ultimately seeing funds returned directly to these small communities, which have borne the brunt of Endos focus on financial gain, said Gerard Stranch, managing partner of the firm representing the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs of the 2017 lawsuit include three northeastern Tennessee district attorneys as well as a baby born addicted to opioids who is referred to as Baby Doe.

Endo, which has a U.S. headquarters in Pennsylvania, is the last remaining active corporate defendant after Mallinckrodt and Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy. The lawsuit seeks to hold the company liable under the Tennessees Drug Dealer Liability Act, a strategy the state Supreme Court said is allowed in a December 2020 opinion in a similar case.

The same Supreme Court ruling said the local prosecutors cant be plaintiffs, so their corresponding cities and counties are in the process of being substituted into the case.

The lower court judge had already held the company in contempt of court in May 2020 over discovery issues, including false statements.

Endo defended its efforts to address the judges concerns, saying it hired an additional law firm, produced hundreds of thousands of additional documents and offered additional depositions at Endos expense.

But the judge said the company produced almost 400,000 documents after the discovery period closed, despite saying in February 2020 that it had not withheld anything. Many of the records that the company knowingly withheld were highly relevant and in some cases directly contradict testimony by Endos witnesses, the judge wrote.

Plaintiffs should not be forced to choose between going to trial without this highly relevant information _ which Endo and its attorneys intentionally hid from Plaintiffs and this Court _ or delaying the trial for months or even a year, Moody wrote.

Additionally, Moody wrote that the company and its lawyers have no shown any remorse, admitted their wrongdoing or apologized to opposing counsel or the Court for their actions.

Its very rare, but then again, rarely do you see the kind of behavior and actions taken by counsel and a defendant as outlined in that order, District Attorney General Barry Staubus, one of the plaintiffs, said of the default judgment.

At the state level, Tennessee has sued several companies over the opioid epidemic. Attorney General Herbert Slatery also is in a leadership role among a group of state attorneys general investigating various opioid manufacturers and distributors and negotiating possible settlements.

About the photo: A logo sign outside of a facility occupied by Endo Pharmaceuticals in Horsham, Pa. on April 22, 2018. (Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar/Sipa USA)
MARKHAM, ON, April 9, 2021 /CNW/ - Hyundai Canada is making a bold and powerful commitment to Georgian and the Automotive Business School of Canada (ABSC) by investing more than $250,000 over seven years to support Black and Indigenous automotive students. This fall, they will begin giving entrance awards to eligible students via the Hyundai Canada Entrance Award Suite.

The partnership aligns with Hyundai's continued efforts to tackle underrepresentation of Black and Indigenous individuals in the automotive industry, and with Georgian's ongoing work to seek out and welcome diversity across the college. This donation will fuel an innovative and critical initiative designed to grow the number of students in this demographic studying the automotive industry and who will later join the sector's workforce.

The announcement was made by Don Romano, President and CEO, Hyundai Canada at a special event last evening. The event  Auto Connect: Opportunities for Black Youth  featured Romano as the keynote speaker, as well as Oumar Dicko, Chief Economist, Canadian Automobile Dealers Association and Joe Lauzon, Marketing Officer, ABSC. Joyce Tshiamala, District Customer Service Manager, Hyundai, moderated a panel of three industry professionals who represent different sectors of the industry.

"It is our duty as industry leaders to build a successful path for our future generations in the automotive industry. Our partnership with Georgian College is an important investment to help form an automotive business community that attracts a pool of talent reflective of Canada's diversity," said Don Romano, President and CEO of Hyundai Canada. "Facilitating ways to ensure equal opportunity and equitable representation in the industry is a collective effort, and we are very proud to be part of the solution with Georgian College."

The Hyundai Canada Entrance Award Suite will offer $1,000 renewable entrance awards that will be given to each student who self-identifies as Black or of Indigenous ancestry and is accepted into the Automotive Business (co-op) diploma program or the Honours Bachelor of Business Administration (Automotive Management) (co-op) program. The $1,000 award is renewable for each year of their program.

The award will directly help increase the opportunity for Black and Indigenous students to access a quality education studying automotive business at Georgian.

"This partnership strongly aligns with Georgian's continued efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion and will augment the good work we're already doing and re-affirm our commitment about the type of organization we are striving to be," said Dr. MaryLynn West-Moynes, President and CEO of Georgian College. "It's incredibly important to have awards for underrepresented groups and it's wonderful to have corporate donors such as Hyundai Canada supporting our students in this way."

Georgian recently announced it will create a Centre for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to help identify and overcome systemic barriers that impede the career advancement, recruitment and retention of underrepresented and disadvantaged groups.

The partnership builds on past collaboration between Georgian and Hyundai that includes hiring co-op students, sponsoring and participating in the Georgian Auto Show, and funding other innovative scholarships for Georgian students, including the Hyundai Canada Diversity Scholarship and Women in Automotive Scholarship.

About Georgian College

Georgian is MORE than an education  it's an experience. The college offers 130+ market-driven programs, from degrees and diplomas, to certificates, apprenticeships, corporate training and more. A recognized leader in co-operative education, we have one of the highest graduate employment rates among Ontario colleges. We're the first  and only  college in Canada designated a changemaker college by Ashoka U for our role as a leader in social innovation and changemaking in higher education. GeorgianCollege.ca.

For more information about Georgian College, please contact: Elaine Murray, Communications Specialist, Office: 705.728.1968, ext. 1003, Email: [email protected]

About Hyundai Auto Canada Corp.

Hyundai Auto Canada, established in 1983 and headquartered in Markham, Ontario, is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout Canada by Hyundai Auto Canada and are sold and serviced through more than 221 dealerships nationwide. Hyundai is also the first to offer a second-generation zero-emissions Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle to Canadian customers, called the NEXO. More information about Hyundai and its vehicles can be found at www.HyundaiCanada.com.

For more information about Hyundai and its products, please visit www.hyundainews.ca or contact: Mohga Hassib, Public Relations Coordinator, Hyundai Auto Canada Corp., Office: (905) 948-6882, Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Hyundai Auto Canada Corp.

Related Links

www.hyundaicanada.com


Border police officers with the western Cruceni Sector intervened to rescue two young Afghan citizens, in danger of drowning in the waters of the Timis River, trying to illegally enter the country.

Immediately, a medical crew was called and they took over the two migrants and transported them to the hospital for specialized care, the Timisoara Border Police announced on Friday, in a press release sent to AGERPRES.

The border police officers with the Cruceni Sector carried out, on Friday, a specific action aimed at combating illegal migration in their area of competence, during which time they noticed the two people shouting for help. From that moment, the border police started the action to rescue the people, who were taken out of the water and brought safely to shore.Currently, the two men, Afghan citizens, aged 18 and 21, are out of any danger. In this case, the border guards are conducting investigations, and the necessary legal measures will be taken upon completion. AGERPRES
Smith College announced Friday it plans to have all students return to the campus this fall for in-person classes, noting its considering requiring members of the school community to get their coronavirus vaccines.

In an email to the campus community, Smith College President Kathleen McCartney said the decision was informed by the Northampton-based schools spring semester experience to date, the increased availability of the COVID-19 vaccine and current public health guidance.

I look forward to meeting our new students and to celebrating the joys of living, learning and working together in this remarkable community, McCartney wrote in her email to the community. I hope you are as encouraged and energized as I am by what awaits us this fall.

The colleges fall semester classes are set to begin Thursday, Sept. 2. They will be taught in classrooms, labs, studios and other facilities. However, depending on pandemic conditions during the term, there may be times when classes will revert temporarily to remote instruction, Smith noted.

According to the school, housing will return to traditional capacity, and all students will be able to live on campus unless granted an exception through the off-campus lottery or the normal petition process.

Ahead of the fall semester and amid the current spring term, Smith is strongly urging all members of its campus community who are eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine to do as soon possible.

We are considering requiring the vaccine for the fall, subject to medical and religious exemptions. If we elect to require the vaccine, we will provide as much advance notice as possible, the college said.

Smiths announcement comes a day after the University of Massachusetts at Amherst laid out its plans to allow for nearly full occupancy of its dorms for the fall semester. Around 13,000 students will have the opportunity to live on campus.

With the exception of a small percentage of space reserved for potential isolation and quarantine, all available rooms will be filled to design capacity, Dominick Uguccioni, UMass assistant director of residential life operations, wrote in an email to the student body.

UMass also said its exploring the possibility of requiring members of the campus community to get vaccinated for COVID-19, according to Uguccioni.

Although planning for the fall term at UMass is ongoing, the university said it expects campus life to return to normal operations next semester, meaning its putting emphasis on face-to-face instruction, full residence halls and a complement of student events and activities.

For Smith, in-person work schedules for staff and faculty will be implemented in advance of the fall semester.

Pandemic precautions (e.g., physical distancing, mask wearing) will likely be necessary at some level, the school said. Details will be released closer to the beginning of the fall semester.

Related Content:
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI  As COVID-19 vaccine continues to flow into Muskegon County, anyone over age 16 should not find it too difficult to get vaccinated.

Vaccinations are being provided at churches, pharmacies, work sites and community organizations.

The one-dose Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccine also is becoming more readily available. The two-dose vaccine shot from Pfizer and Moderna have been more widely available.

A COVID vaccination clinic will be held at the Greater Muskegon Womans Club, 280 W. Webster Ave., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, April 12. To pre-register, send your name, phone number and time preference to Nancy.f.b2020@gmail.com or via text to 231-730-0887.

An ongoing mass vaccination clinic is held regularly at Devos Place in downtown Grand Rapids, and registration is available at www.spectrumhealth.org/wmvaccineclinic.

Local pharmacies providing the vaccine include Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS, Hometown Pharmacy and Meijer.

Appointments at most vaccination sites can be accessed by visiting www.vaccinatewestmi.com. Those who need assistance signing up can dial 211.

Those who dont have internet access can call the states COVID-19 Hotline at 888-535-6136 and pressing 1.

To get on a Meijer list, text COVID to 75049 or visit a Meijer pharmacy.

Those who want a vaccine should not have to wait much longer than a week to get one, said Kathy Moore, public health director for Muskegon County.

The health department is working with local community organizations to get the vaccine to specific, and sometimes hard-to-reach, populations, Moore said.

Those include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Latinos Working for the Future and local churches, where clinics will be held on April 17 and April 24, she said. The health department even reached out to operators of local Chinese restaurants to organize a special clinic for more than 90 local Asian residents, Moore said.

As of Tuesday, April 6, nearly 27 percent of those age 16 and older in Muskegon County had been fully vaccinated, according to health department statistics.

Read more:

Rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in Muskegon County very concerning

Michigan reports 7,819 new coronavirus cases, 73 deaths Thursday, April 8

COVID-19 risk from touching contaminated surface is less than 1 in 10,000, new CDC study says
LONDON - Vaccines are the new diplomacy, but it's not all that different to the old diplomacy.

Countries around the world have been plunged into tense talks over vaccine supplies that have threatened to boil over into full-blown trade wars, with rich nations squabbling with each other while poorer nations look on, waiting for help.

Western states are hoping to take the moral high ground over China and Russia, which stand accused of handing out jabs in a bid for influence. But all parties are looking to see what they can gain from the fight, with some in Europe and the U.S. recognizing that vaccine donations to developing nations are a downpayment for future geopolitical clout.

If that sounds all too familiar, that's because it is.

International diplomacy is a cold-hearted place, said Jeremy Hunt, a former U.K. foreign secretary who now chairs the House of Commons health committee. And even when you're dealing with your closest allies, you need to be able to bring things to the table.

Hunt said all foreign affairs was transactional, adding: People want to know what you're going to do to scratch their back if they are going to scratch yours. In the midst of a pandemic, vaccines are a new diplomatic currency alongside the traditional bargaining chips of aid and military prowess.

Exhibit A: the most explosive tussle (so far) between the EU and U.K. over AstraZeneca jabs recalls the bad blood running through years of Brexit negotiations, but with thousands of lives at stake. The two sides have been locked in a stand-off ahead of a virtual meeting of EU leaders at which they will be anxious to demonstrate some grip on a worsening COVID situation on the Continent.

Despite a slight cooling of tensions in the last 48 hours, robust rhetoric is not entirely out of the picture. U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the FT on Thursday Our contract trumps theirs. Its called contract law  its very straightforward.

EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic responded with a dig of his own. The EU is fulfilling its responsibility and solidarity with others: not only it is a leading financial donor to the COVAX facility [which provides doses to developing countries], it is also a major exporter of vaccines that are distributed through this facility, unlike some others who are not (yet) exporting anything or who are doing it as part of their 'vaccine diplomacy,' he told POLITICO.

Meanwhile, vaccines and foreign policy are colliding around the world. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent one of his closest aides to India this week, in part to haggle over vaccines, after the Serum Institute of India cut its immediate shipment of AstraZeneca jabs to London from 10 million to 5 million. Close ties on COVID were forged after the two nations worked together on producing the AstraZeneca jab, but the political demand in Britain to keep its domestic rollout going meant engaging its foreign affairs gears in the hope of unlocking those extra doses.

For now, India is not coming through for Britain, after putting its exports on hold due to domestic demand as infections rise. But the question will be what nations like Britain can offer those like India in exchange for vaccines, and likewise what the EU could offer the U.K. in turn. In Delhi, Hunt said Britain would likely be dangling the prospect of scientific support.

Autocrats step in

Its that transactional nature of vaccine negotiations that has sparked fears about the exports anti-democratic nations are sending around the globe. China is sending out more than 60 percent of its doses to other countries; likewise Russia with tens of millions of its Sputnik jabs. Hungary was the first nation to break with the EU and order a Sputnik shipment from Russia before the EU had approved its use, causing disquiet in the bloc.

The worry is that those jabs come with strings attached, while the EU's faltering progress on vaccine roll out only makes them more attractive. When some European countries (including Germany and France) paused the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over safety fears (later dismissed by the European Medicines Agency) one EU official confided that he was worried that these problems can boost Sputnik.

Far right figures such as Italy's former deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, have pushed the Russian vaccine, arguing that "geopolitics cannot hold the health of Italians and Europeans hostage." Even Germany has argued that Brussels should add Sputnik to its procurement list, before it has been deemed safe by the the EMA.

But Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, who heads the EU executives vaccine task force argues Sputnik is a red herring. We have absolutely no need of Sputnik V, he said Sunday. And a separate EU official pointed out that even if the jab is approved as safe, it would be no silver bullet. [The Russians] dont have the production capacity for it, the official said.

And what about those potential strings? Sophia Gaston, director of the British Foreign Policy Group, said Russia and China had recognized that vaccines and other kit like PPE present a unique opportunity to develop meaningful relationships and foster goodwill toward their role as global actors and that Europe was still to grasp the geopolitical implications.

The West needs to recognize that, as well as ensuring its own populations are vaccinated as quickly as possible, there is a huge geostrategic imperative to ensuring that we are able to be seen as a dependable and committed partner to the developing world during this crisis, Gaston said. Authoritarian states recognise the opportunity they have, with very little investment, to seize the moment and start to build inroads with smaller nations during a time of acute instability and upheaval. The resources we can donate to ensuring that liberal, rule-abiding nations are spearheading the vaccine rollout and economic recovery from the pandemic, will be sound investments towards our future geopolitical advantage.

Some democracies appear to have cottoned on. Although India has paused vaccine exports for the time being as its domestic COVID situation worsens, it has trumpeted its millions of exports to more than 70 nations across the globe, with inspirational videos about sending a glimmer of hope to other countries. India is deeply honored to be a long-trusted partner in meeting the healthcare needs of the global community, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in January.

In Washington, President Joe Biden has pledged to send millions of AstraZeneca jabs, which are still yet to be approved for use in the U.S., to Canada and Mexico, on the assumption the neighboring states will return the favor in the future. Those nations with the capacity to produce vaccines hold a huge advantage not only for their internal governance but also for their ability to spread goodwill and soft power to other nations, said Gaston.

Other rich nations like Israel and the United Arab Emirates have largely kept out of international fights by doing deals with the secure supply and getting on with distributing the jabs among their population.

While some are opening up exports, others are poised to close the door. The EU has been a major coronavirus vaccine exporter, despite the slow roll out across the bloc. But Brussels this week decided it had had enough, and announced its proposal to block shipments for six weeks aimed mainly at the U.K and the U.S.

The move follows a tense diplomatic standoff with the U.K., which has been a recipient of vaccines but has not exported its own. Amid threats and heated rhetoric, both sides launched into diplomatic overdrive, with several arms of the U.K. government sent out to bat, including former EU ambassador Tim Barrow and ex-Brexit negotiator David Frost.

Boris Johnson signaled he could agree to share doses in the interests of wider foreign policy. There's no point in one country being immunized on its own. We need the whole planet to be inoculated, he told a press conference on Tuesday night, in answer to a question from POLITICO.

'Soft-power superpower'

The diplomatic wrangling between rich nations desperate to inoculate their populations was inevitable but not edifying, said Lord Ricketts, an ex-British diplomat and former head of the Foreign Office. I think this is probably the new normal for at least a period, he said. But very quickly, we have got to move on from this to the real issue, which is vaccinating the rest of the world which isn't in this rich world scramble at the moment.

Indeed, Britain is among nations that have pledged cash to the COVAX scheme to provide vaccines abroad, but has refused to send actual doses until it is satisfied it has surplus jabs.

That has enraged some African leaders, with Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African president for example, highly critical. "Rich countries in the world are holding onto these vaccines, and we are saying, 'release the excess vaccines that you've ordered and hoarded," he said back in January at the online Davos forum.

Ricketts said the U.K. should use the G7 summit in June, which it will be hosting, to show itself as a world leader on vaccinating developing nations. We want to portray ourselves as a soft-power superpower, as it says in [Britain's recent foreign policy review], so now we need to be acting as well as saying, he argued.

The former civil servant said the U.K. should also use its diplomatic leadership and financial leverage to help reform the World Health Organization, to make it better prepared to cope with pandemics in the future. Others agree that vaccine diplomacy is now a front line foreign policy issue. Medical diplomacy, like environmental diplomacy is an essential building block of the U.K.'s alliance network, said Tom Tugendhat, chair of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee.

Western nations will need to work together in part to prevent the squabbles becoming a distraction from other pressing issues, Gaston, from the British Foreign Policy Group, argued. She added that breakdowns in existing global alliances could leave power vacuums for others to step into. We will need to ensure that the chaos and disruption of the pandemic does not leave lasting scars on the liberal alliance, which will make us or our partners in the developing world vulnerable to coercion and influence by autocratic states, she said.

But there are opportunities for those who successfully navigate the diplomatic minefield of the global vaccine rollout. Hunt, the former foreign secretary, said handing out jabs to developing states would be a defining moment for Britains place in the world post-Brexit.

I hope it will generate a lot of a lot of goodwill, he said. But what I really hope is that it is part of a bigger reset in the way the world sees Britain  not as a shrinking imperial power that is retreating from Europe ... but as a self-confident rising power that is able to come to the help of the world's poorest in its moment of need.

Emilio Casalicchio, Jacopo Barigazzi

: politico.eu
To receive Steve Gutterman's Week In Russia via e-mail every Friday, subscribe by clicking here. If you have thoughts or feedback, you can reach us directly at newsletters@rferl.org.

Military movements and bellicose talk on state TV raise concerns about the Kremlins intentions regarding Ukraine again, seven years after the seizure of Crimea and the start of a war in the Donbas. Meanwhile, the condition of Russias most prominent prisoner, Aleksei Navalny, causes growing concern.

Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward.

Talk Of War

Two buildups in Russia are raising concerns about a new flare-up in the seven-year war in the Donbas this spring. One is the movement of military forces toward the Ukrainian border and into Crimea, the other is a rash of bellicose reports and rhetoric on state TV.

A sample: an exchange in which a guest told prominent political talk show host Vladimir Solovyov that Russia could halt any hostilities by threatening the use of tactical nuclear weapons, at least, and suggested that to show that the warning had teeth, Moscow could conduct a nuclear explosion somewhere in empty ocean waters -- but not so empty that it wouldnt be seen.

Solovyov had asked how quickly a Russian battle against NATO forces in Ukraine would lead to a nuclear conflict.

With the military movements, Russias ultimate purpose is unclear, presumably by design. And there may be several Kremlin goals that fall short of an intention to launch a major offensive and seize control of more territory in Ukraine -- where Moscow has occupied the Crimean Peninsula since March 2014 and has helped separatists take and hold parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions since that April, in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 civilians and combatants.

The intent of the barrage of bellicose programming seems clearer: to justify any offensive or increase in hostilities, mainly in the eyes of the Russian audience, and to blame Kyiv and the West. As analysts say of the military movements themselves, it may also be aimed as a warning to Ukraine, the European Union, and the United States that Russia is ready, willing, and able to take action whenever it sees fit.

Senior Russian officials have also advanced those goals. Amid the TV talk of demonstrative nuclear explosions, Nikolai Patrushev, a close Putin ally who heads his Security Council, told the newspaper Kommersant that its the United States that needs to show common sense.

And Dmitry Kozak, a deputy chief of Putins staff, said on April 8 that if Kyiv initiated major military action, it would mean the beginning of the end of Ukraine.

Ratings And Risks

The mention of nuclear weapons and existential threats may be a way of making -- at least on the level of propaganda -- what is on the ground a regional conflict into a major potential test for Washington and a warning that if the United States and Europe are going to support Kyiv with words, they may need to be prepared to do so with actions.

War scare in [the Donbas] will pass. This time. But the threat of war will remain.

Despite the growing tension, continuing Russian military moves , and reports of increased fighting in the Donbas, there are plenty of reasons to believe a major Russian offensive is not in the cards.

For one thing, the Russian populace may have little appetite for it, despite the propaganda on TV. With the COVID-19 pandemic still hitting the economy and real incomes falling, there are other things to worry about.

Putin got a boost from Russias takeover of Crimea seven years ago, but a new offensive against Ukraine now is less likely to boost [the] Kremlin's ratings, analyst Maria Snegovaya wrote on Twitter on April 8. My study shows that under economic decline, Russians are much less inclined to support the authorities' aggressive military rhetoric.

This is based on logic: [The] Kremlin should be solving internal problems instead of going to war against other countries, she wrote.

From Russia With

And many Russians have no desire to see relations with the United States sour still further, whatever state TV says about Moscows former Cold War foe as relations continue to plumb the depths but never seem to find a bottom. A recent poll by the independent Levada Center found that 65 percent of Russians aged 18-24 and 51 percent aged 25-39 viewed the United States positively. Those reporting a negative view of the United States exceeded 50 percent only in the 55-and-over age group.

Also, analysts say the Ukrainian military has improved markedly since 2014, when Russian forces who occupied Crimea helped the separatists in the east -- whose actions were fomented by Moscow -- seize parts of the Donbas.

So, for the time being at least, Russia may be in it more for the signals it is sending -- saber-rattling, almost in the literal sense -- than anything else.

War scare in [the Donbas] will pass. This time, Dmitry Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, wrote on Twitter on April 5. But the threat of war will remain.

The Kremlin may want it that way -- and be keeping its intentions cloudy deliberately.

Russian forces are on the move around Donbas and into Crimea, and the unsettling thing for the outside world is that we dont know why, author and analyst Mark Galeotti wrote in an article published by BNE Intellinews on April 6.

The current crisis, he wrote, is a case study of what happens when nations lie, bluff, and posture.

One cause for concern is the fact that in 2014, few predicted that Russia would seize Crimea and push into eastern Ukraine, changing Europes borders and making part of eastern Ukraine into a platform for constant pressure on Kyiv.

'Severe Test'

Another is the notion that with the world still reeling for the coronavirus pandemic and U.S. President Joe Biden saddled with multiple priorities at home and abroad less than three months into his term, Putin thinks he sees an opportunity to weaken the West.

Emboldened by inconsistent EU responses to its actions in several areas, Russia is posing a more severe test, Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, wrote in an April 7 article in the English-language Moscow Times. This is a dangerous moment for Europe and the transatlantic alliance.

The risk now is that a major Russian offensive against Ukraine splits the continent from the Anglo-American world, he wrote.

Russia may believe this is the right moment to attempt a decoupling of the Atlantic alliance that the Soviet Union never achieved, Gould-Davies added. If it waits, Biden will heal the damage done by his predecessor to the alliance and Europe will recover from COVID-19. The stakes are high not only for Ukraine but for the West.

Bad Medicine

Another test for the West is the Russian states treatment of Aleksei Navalny, the Kremlin opponent who survived a nerve-agent poisoning he blames on Putin and is now suffering from worsening health problems in prison 100 kilometers east of Moscow.

Navalny, who declared a hunger strike on March 31 after accusing his jailers of denying him adequate medical treatment and effectively torturing him through sleep deprivation, has been losing about 1 kilogram a day, his lawyer Vadim Kobzev said.

Navalny, 44, has complained of severe back pain and leg numbness for nearly three weeks. On April 8, another lawyer for the opposition politician, Olga Mikhailova, said that an earlier MRI showed he had two herniated disks in his back -- and also that he has started to lose feeling in his hands, as well. She said he refused treatment with two outdated drugs that have not been used by doctors in Russia for 30 years.

He is also being trolled.

Meanwhile, the government crackdown that gathered force following Navalnys return to Russia in January persisted.

On April 8, a Moscow court kept Navalnys spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, under house arrest and issued the same ruling in hearings for Pussy Riot protest group member Maria Alyokhina and two other people detained in connection with the protests sparked by the jailing of Navalny, who was arrested at the airport on return after treatment in Germany, and other grievances against the government.

On April 7, the same court ended house arrest and imposed milder restrictions on four other people in the case, including Navalny's brother, Oleg; a lawyer for Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, Lyubov Sobol; and Moscow city lawmakers Lyusya Shtein and Konstantin Yankauskas.

'Grotesque Fables'

All eight and two others face up to two years in prison if convicted of violating public health rules during the pandemic, but they dismiss the charges, and the prominent Russian human rights group Memorial has recognized them as political prisoners.

Kremlin opponent Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was detained at a forum in Moscow on March 13 at which all of the nearly 200 attendees were rounded up in a police raid, wrote in The Washington Post that the most grotesque fables in Franz Kafkas The Trial pale in comparison with the reality of the judicial system under Vladimir Putin.

Like all those arrested, many of whom were municipal lawmakers, Kara-Murza faced an administrative charge of participating in the activities of an undesirable organization. As expected, he wrote, he was found guilty at a hearing he described as an exercise in absurdity -- in part because the organization in question never existed.

Navalnys ordeal has brought back memories of the fate of whistle-blower Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow jail in November 2009 after accusing the authorities of denying him medical treatment.

April 8 was Magnitskys birthday: He would be 49 years old now.
Sunnier areas are associated with fewer deaths from Covid-19, an observational study suggests.

Increased exposure to the sun's rays - specifically UVA - could act as a simple public health intervention if further research establishes it causes a reduction in mortality rates, experts say.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh compared all recorded deaths from Covid-19 in the continental US from January to April 2020 with UV levels for 2,474 US counties for the same time period.

The study found that people living in areas with the highest level of exposure to UVA rays - which makes up 95 per cent of the sun's UV light - had a lower risk of dying from Covid-19 compared with those with lower levels. The analysis was repeated in England and Italy with the same results.

The researchers took into account factors known to be associated with increased exposure to the virus and risk of death such as age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, population density, air pollution, temperature and levels of infection in local areas.

The observed reduction in risk of death from Covid-19 could not be explained by higher levels of vitamin D, the experts said. Only areas, with insufficient levels of UVB to produce significant vitamin D in the body, were included in the study.

One explanation for the lower number of deaths, which the researchers are following up, is that sunlight exposure causes the skin to release nitric oxide. This may reduce the ability of SARS Coronavirus2 - the cause of Covid-19 - to replicate, as has been found in some lab studies.

Previous research from the same group has shown that increased sunlight exposure is linked to improved cardiovascular health, with lower blood pressure and fewer heart attacks. As heart disease is a known risk factor in dying from Covid-19, this could also explain the latest findings.

The team say due to the observational nature of the study it is not possible to establish cause and effect. However, it may lead to interventions that could be tested as potential treatments.

###

The paper has been published in the British Journal of Dermatology, an official publication of the British Association of Dermatologists: https:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1111/ bjd. 20093

Dr Richard Weller, corresponding author, consultant dermatologist and Reader at the University of Edinburgh, said: "There is still so much we don't understand about Covid-19, which has resulted in so many deaths worldwide. These early results open up sunlight exposure as one way of potentially reducing the risk of death."

Professor Chris Dibben, Chair in Health Geography at the University of Edinburgh and Co-author said: "The relationship between Covid-19 mortality, season and latitude has been quite striking, here we offer an alternative explanation for this phenomenon."
By Anuron Kumar Mitra

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson is in talks with India's government to begin a clinical trial of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in the country, the company said on Friday.

The U.S. drugs and healthcare giant's vaccine is currently approved for use in the United States, the European Union and other nations including Thailand and South Africa.

The news comes as some parts of India face a shortage of vaccine supplies just as the country of 1.3 billion battles a second wave of COVID-19 infections. India's government, however, has said there is no shortage of shots.

The Indian Express newspaper reported earlier on Friday that J&J had sent a letter to India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) saying it would "very shortly apply for permission to conduct clinical bridging trials in India". (https://bityl.co/6Jif)

The CDSCO did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.

"We are in discussions with the (government) with the objective of starting a bridging clinical study of our Janssen COVID-19 vaccine candidate in India, subject to local regulatory approvals," a local J&J representative said via email.

A bridging study tests the safety and immunogenicity of a vaccine, and India has indicated that any vaccine maker must conduct such a trial for a shot to be considered for its immunisation programme.

Separately, J&J has a deal with Indian firm Biological E Ltd to contract-manufacture its vaccine.

India currently has two approved vaccines in use, one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and the other, a shot from local player Bharat Biotech.

There are other vaccine candidates in trials in India including Russia's Sputnik-V and a shot developed by Cadila Healthcare Ltd.

COVID-19 infections in India rose by a record number for a third straight day on Friday, increasing by more than 130,000, while daily deaths hit their highest in five months.

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar and Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Shailesh Kuber)
Patna, April 9 : Following the Madhubani massacre, Sri Rajput Karni Sena national president Mahipal Singh Makrana and founder Lokendra Singh Kalvi along with their supporters met the victims' families on Friday and offered all possible help to them.

BK Singh, the state president of Karni Sena (Bihar), confirmed the development. "Our leaders have met victims families and given all assurance pertaining to this case. It is not only a fight of victims but now it is a fight of Karni Sena too." "Karni Sena and entire Kshatriya community is in deep pain and anguish over the massacre in Mohamadpur village in Madhubani. We have met with the family members of deceased and given assurance about their safety and security. We have demanded from the state government compensation of Rs 1 crore each and government jobs to every victim's family," Makrana said.

Makrana also repeated his controversial statement to cut off the tongue of BJP MLC Naval Kishore Yadav for his remarks on the Karni Sena.

Yadav had said that Karni Sena-Dharni Sena Kuch Nahi Hai Bihar Mein (Karni Sena is nothing in Bihar). On Yadav's statement, Makrana said: "We are followers of Karni Mata, our spiritual goddess and no one could mock her. Yadav is not an elected leader. He is an MLC and should live within his limitation." "We have discussed the entire incident that took place on March 29 and claimed 5 lives with one injured. It could be a small incident for the Bihar government but for us it is a massacre. We have come here to get justice for the family members and it will be complete only after all 35 named accused get death penalty. Karni Sena wants speedy trial in this matter," said Kalvi.

Earlier in the day, the leaders of the Karni Sena participated in an Aakrosh rally in Patna to show their anger to the state government over the massacre.

The Bihar police has arrested 16 persons including main accused Praveen Jha alias Ravan in this case and a hunt is on to nab the others.

The incident at Mohamadpur took place on March 29 (On the day of Holi), when around 35 armed men opened fire at the family of Ranvijay Singh over a land dispute. In that brutal attack, Ranvijay Singh and his cousin brother Virendra Singh were killed on the spot. Three other family members Rana Pratap Singh, Amrendra Singh and Rudra Narayan Singh succumbed to their injuries in hospital a day later. Another injured Manoj Singh is admitted in a hospital in Patna.
Brig. Gen. Kerry Muehlenbeck discusses her promotion by Gov. Doug Ducey to the states adjutant general, also making her the top officer in the Arizona National Guard. The appointment occurred as the governor said he is weighing sending Guard soldiers to the border to deal with the flow of migrants.
Married At First Sight's Jason Engler admitted to feeling betrayed by his 'wife' Alana Lister after she went behind his back at last week's dinner party.

And the 35-year-old construction estimator has now seemingly confirmed he doesn't get his fairytale ending with the Queensland school teacher on the show.

In footage obtained by Daily Mail Australia, Jason can be seen getting cosy with a mystery brunette during a night out in Surfers Paradise last week.

That's not Alana! Married At First Sight's Jason Engler was seen getting cosy with a brunette during a night out in Surfers Paradise last week, in footage obtained by Daily Mail Australia

Jason looked smitten as he wrapped an arm around his female companion, who flirtatiously danced in front of him.

He and his friend 'couldn't let go of one another all night', an onlooker said.

'They were there for a good four hours and kissing non stop,' they added.

Big night out: Jason and his friend 'couldn't let go of one another all night', an onlooker said

The sighting comes just days after Alana threw her 'husband' under the bus during an explosive dinner party.

Last week, the 30-year-old accused Bryce Ruthven of having told Jason he would be 'single' at the end of the experiment - which Bryce strongly denied.

Alana claimed Bryce had waited until his wife Melissa Ruthven had gone to the bathroom to tell Jason: 'Let's catch up on New Year's, because I'll be single then.'

Cosy: The 35-year-old construction estimator looked smitten as he wrapped an arm around his female companion, who flirtatiously danced in front of him

The experts were stunned by the revelation, with sexologist Alessandra Rampolla noting the 'impact' Alana's words were having on Jason - who was frustrated by her lack of discretion.

Jason lashed out at his 'wife' for having broken his trust, as he'd told her about Bryce's admission in strict confidence.

'Oh, God, Alana! I have never been betrayed by anyone as much as I have just then by my wife. Never, ever in my whole life, ever!' he raged.

Exposed: Alana Lister threw 'husband' Jason under the bus last week when she told the group Bryce Ruthven had privately confessed to Jason he'd be single by the end of the experiment

Overcome with emotion, Alana wiped away tears as she told Jason: 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I betrayed your trust, and I'm sorry.'

Throughout the chaos, Bryce, 30, maintained he'd never told Jason he planned on being single by the end of the experiment.

'I didn't say it. I never said that,' he told Alana in front of the group, as his 'wife' Melissa looked hurt and confused.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine
'Wild at Heart' author John Eldredge launches resources to help those struggling with 'trauma' amid COVID

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Wild at Heart author John Eldredge believes men and women across the United States are experiencing a mental health crisis like never before.

The last year absolutely clobbered us. We all just passed through extreme, global trauma thanks to the pandemic and lockdown, Eldredge, president of Wild at Heart, a ministry devoted to helping people discover the heart of God and recover their own hearts in Gods love, told The Christian Post.

As people come out of this, I think the world will realize that everyone has been through trauma. We are going to see the effects of that now. To have your normal routines disrupted, to be kept in a state of constant uncertainty  that is traumatizing. And then, of course, the deaths and the losses are very real. As a result, everyone has been turning back to self-comforting, often damaging, behavior.

An experienced therapist, Eldredge said hes seen domestic violence, porn addiction, depression, substance abuse, and suicide rates increase significantly amid the pandemic  particularly among men.

Mens core fear is failure, and they want to feel like they can tackle any challenge. But during the pandemic, they didn't know what to fix. They were told they were not essential, that they had to stay home and do nothing. Its a message that says you have no significant contribution to make, he said.

This, Eldredge said, has been crippling for men, adding: Were seeing so much anger in men right now, and its misdirected because they just don't know what to fight.

Though women are better at expressing how they're feeling, talking about it and making social connections than men, that doesnt mean the pandemic hasnt affected them as well, Eldredge stressed.

A woman's core fear is insecurity and primarily relational betrayal, he explained. Women thrive when their world is thriving, when their relationships are thriving. And when you take that away from a woman, the primary result is anxiety. Suddenly, their world is not secure. Were seeing anxiety in women like never before.

Sensing an urgent need to offer hope, encouragement, and support to men and women coming out of the pandemic, the New York Times bestselling author launched The Wild at Heart Experience and the Captivating Experience, two free, six-week programs available on the Wild at Heart website.

The Wild at Heart Experience is based on the message of Eldredges book written for men, while the Captivating Experience is based on the book of the same name written by Eldredge and his wife, Stasi, especially for women.

What Wild at Heart and Captivating offer are a deeper experience of the healing presence of our Father, because it's the unhealed soul that seeks out various addictions, he said. The unhealed soul is more vulnerable in an hour like this than the healed soul. What we need is wholeheartedness, because when were wholehearted, we are in a better place to resist these kinds of damaging behaviors.

Men and women can participate in the program by joining groups, hosting groups, or participating online as part of the Wild at Heart and Captivating communities.

Were inviting people to come on a journey through soul care, and heart-strengthening, and recovery coming out of the crazy year that we've all just been through, Eldredge shared.

In addition to the film series for men and women, the father and grandfather launched theWild at Heart Expanded Edition,which features an updated introduction and answers to the authors most frequently asked questions about the bestselling title that has sold more than 5 million copies and launched a movement of freedom for men around the world.

The book, Eldredge said, seeks to encourage men to recover their masculine heart, see themselves in the image of a passionate, dangerous God, and delight in the strength and wilderness they were created to offer.

He pointed out that when it comes to the family unit, COVID has exacerbated already-existing issues: What we are experiencing now is the result of a perfect storm stemming from the divorce culture that brought in a whole generation of fatherlessness, the Colorado native told CP. We've lost a lot of the context within which boys used to learn dignity and the passage of masculinity."

Every little boy has two core questions: Do you love me, and do I have what it takes? And hes looking at his father to answer these questions," he continued. "If the dad is not there, or if the dad is taken out through his own addictions, the boy doesn't get that bedrock and will try to get that sense of belonging and that sense of validation elsewhere. Every boy must understand that he is valued and loved, and then bring that to the world as a confident man. But if you look at the cultural story, it's pretty bad. It's a mess.

Yet, Eldredge said hes encouraged by the movement of masculine fellowship and intentionality that hes seen going on in Christian communities all over the world.

If you look at the cultural scene, it's pretty heartbreaking. There's just a lot of confusion. But God is at work, and there is a great deal of intentionality on the part of Christian men to recover what was lost and to offer it either to their son or to the young men in their worlds. Its becoming a global movement, he said.

Through his work, Eldredge said he hopes to help men and women discover who God designed them to be and offer hope at a time when it is desperately needed.

Its really remarkable that God let us get this done because we filmed this new series and wrote the expanded version of the book amid the pandemic, he said. It was extraordinary that we were able to get that done, but the timing couldn't be better, because now we can offer these resources to help people toward wholeheartedness at a time that people are pretty beat up.
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The doctors, staff and volunteers at Albuquerques Animal Welfare Department do what it takes for the homeless pets they treat, but post-operative recovery is sometimes harder than the procedure itself. It can be tough on everybody.

My work with the Placencia Humane Society in Belize put my skills to the test. We came well equipped for field medicine, thanks in large part to my readers. Donations included electric clippers, an otoscope, and cash for vaccines, heartworm prevention and antibiotics.

Most Belizeans are pretty stoic in their acceptance of the bugs, hurricanes and floods visited upon the one-room wooden houses on stilts many of them call home. One afternoon, a frantic local resident came to us for help with his 85-pound dog named Tequila. She had jumped off the porch, landing chest-down on a small stump. As we lifted her off the bare metal bed of the pickup bed, I heard the telltale sucking sound of air rushing into her perforated chest. My heart sank.

Having no proper chest tube or Heimlich valve, we improvised with an IV line and syringe. Following surgery to bring her ribs back into position and repair the rent in her chest, Tequila began her convalescence in our cabin. Antibiotics, IV fluids, pain management and frequent chest suction set Tequilas uncertain recovery into motion.

Our patients fever spiked and the makeshift chest tube leaked. Bandage changes were uncomfortable. Tequila needed to urinate often, but she struggled to stand. We got up every two hours during the night and summoned extra help for our spays, neuters and other daytime treatments to coax Tequila back to from the brink. She made it.

Albuquerques Animal Welfare Department is blessed with a modern facility, a well-trained staff and medical equipment that rivals any shelters. Still, the sick and injured pets they work so hard to save need all the help they can get. Volunteers are needed in the shelters veterinary clinic. Call 311 and explain that you want to make a difference. Medical training and experience would be a godsend. It feels right; youll wish youd done it sooner.

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Dr. Jeff Nichol is a residency-trained veterinary behaviorist. He provides consultations in person and in groups via Zoom (505-792-5131). Each week, he shares a blog and a Facebook Live video to help bring out the best in pets and their people. Sign up at no charge at drjeffnichol.com. Post questions on facebook.com/drjeffnichol or by mail to 4000 Montgomery NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87109.
WASHINGTON, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will provide coverage of the upcoming prelaunch and launch activities for the agency's SpaceX Crew-2 mission with astronauts to the International Space Station. This is the second crew rotation flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and the first with two international partners. The flight follows certification by NASA for regular flights to the space station as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program.

The launch, on a Falcon 9 rocket, is targeted for 6:11 a.m. EDT Thursday, April 22, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew Dragon is scheduled to dock to the space station about 5:30 a.m. Friday, April. 23. Prelaunch activities, launch, and docking will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website.

The Crew-2 flight will carry NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur  who will serve as the mission's spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively  along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who will serve as mission specialists to the space station for a six-month science mission.

The deadline has passed for media accreditation for in-person coverage of this launch. More information about media accreditation is available by emailing: [email protected].

All media participation in the following news conferences will be remote except where specifically listed below, and only a limited number of media will be accommodated at Kennedy due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Please note that the Kennedy Press Site facilities will remain closed throughout these events for the protection of Kennedy employees and journalists, except for a limited number of media who will receive confirmation in writing in the coming days.

NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Thursday, April 15

6 p.m.  Flight Readiness Review (FRR) Media Teleconference at Kennedy (no earlier than one hour after completion of the Flight Readiness Review) with the following participants:

Kathy Lueders , associate administrator, Human Exploration and Operations, NASA Headquarters

, associate administrator, Human Exploration and Operations, NASA Headquarters Steve Stich , manager, NASA Commercial Crew Program, Kennedy

, manager, NASA Commercial Crew Program, Kennedy Joel Montalbano , manager, International Space Station, NASA's Johnson Space Center

, manager, International Space Station, NASA's Johnson Space Center Norm Knight , deputy manager, Flight Operations Directorate, Johnson

, deputy manager, Flight Operations Directorate, Johnson SpaceX representative

Junichi Sakai , manager, International Space Station Program, JAXA

, manager, International Space Station Program, JAXA Frank de Winne , manager, International Space Station Program, ESA

, manager, International Space Station Program, ESA Randy Repcheck , acting director, Operational Safety, Federal Aviation Administration

Media may ask questions via phone only. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 5 p.m. Thursday, April 15, at: [email protected].

Friday, April 16

1 p.m. (approximately)  Crew Arrival Media Event at Kennedy with the following participants (limited, previously confirmed in-person media only):

Steve Jurczyk , acting NASA administrator

, acting NASA administrator Bob Cabana , center director, Kennedy

, center director, Kennedy Junichi Sakai , manager, International Space Station Program, JAXA

, manager, International Space Station Program, JAXA Frank de Winne , manager, International Space Station Program, ESA

, manager, International Space Station Program, ESA NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough , spacecraft commander

, spacecraft commander NASA astronaut Megan McArthur , pilot

, pilot JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide , mission specialist

, mission specialist ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, mission specialist

No teleconference option is available for this event.

Saturday, April 17

9:45 a.m.  Virtual Crew Media Engagement at Kennedy with Crew-2 astronauts:

NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough , spacecraft commander

, spacecraft commander NASA astronaut Megan McArthur , pilot

, pilot JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide , mission specialist

, mission specialist ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, mission specialist

Media may ask questions via phone only. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Johnson newsroom at no later than 5 p.m. Friday, April. 16, at: [email protected].

Monday, April 19

1 p.m.  Science Media Teleconference to discuss investigations Crew-2 will support during their mission

ISS U.S. National Laboratory Senior Program Director Dr. Liz Warren will discuss Tissue Engineering, which uses a combination of cells, engineering, and materials to restore, maintain, improve, or replace biological tissues. Scientists will leverage microgravity, which allows cells to grow without scaffolding and in ways that mimic tissues in the human body.

will discuss Tissue Engineering, which uses a combination of cells, engineering, and materials to restore, maintain, improve, or replace biological tissues. Scientists will leverage microgravity, which allows cells to grow without scaffolding and in ways that mimic tissues in the human body. Dr. Lucie Low from the National Institutes of Health will discuss Tissue Chips, complex bioengineered 3D models that mimic the structure and function of human organ systems. Scientists use tissue chips to test the potential effects of drugs on those tissues and to study diseases.

from the National Institutes of Health will discuss Tissue Chips, complex bioengineered 3D models that mimic the structure and function of human organ systems. Scientists use tissue chips to test the potential effects of drugs on those tissues and to study diseases. ISS Program Scientist for Earth Observations Dr. William Stefanov will discuss Crew Earth Observations. Astronauts have taken more than 3.5 million images of Earth from the space station, contributing to one of the longest-running records of how Earth has changed over time.

will discuss Crew Earth Observations. Astronauts have taken more than 3.5 million images of Earth from the space station, contributing to one of the longest-running records of how Earth has changed over time. NASA Project Manager for ISS Power Augmentation Bryan Griffith will discuss the ISS Roll-out Solar Array compact solar panels that roll open like a yoga mat. In 2017, the basic design underwent testing on the space station to determine its strength and durability, and NASA will deliver the first two of six new arrays that will be delivered this summer to augment the station's power.

Media may ask questions via phone. For the dial-in number and passcode, please email Stephanie Schierholz no later than 8 a.m. Monday, April. 19, at: [email protected].

Tuesday, April 20

TBD  Prelaunch News Conference at Kennedy (no earlier than one hour after completion of the Launch Readiness Review) with the following participants:

Steve Stich , manager, Commercial Crew Program, Kennedy

, manager, Commercial Crew Program, Kennedy Joel Montalbano , manager, International Space Station, Johnson

, manager, International Space Station, Johnson Kirt Costello , chief scientist, International Space Station Program, Johnson

, chief scientist, International Space Station Program, Johnson Norm Knight , deputy manager, Flight Operations Directorate, Johnson

, deputy manager, Flight Operations Directorate, Johnson Benji Reed , senior director, Human Spaceflight Programs, SpaceX

, senior director, Human Spaceflight Programs, SpaceX Junichi Sakai , manager, International Space Station Program, JAXA

, manager, International Space Station Program, JAXA Frank de Winne , manager, International Space Station Program, ESA

, manager, International Space Station Program, ESA Brian Cizek , launch weather officer, U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron

Media may ask questions via phone only. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than noon Tuesday, April 20, at [email protected].

Wednesday, April 21

10 a.m.  Administrator Countdown Clock Briefing with the following participants (limited, previously confirmed in-person media only):

Steve Jurczyk , acting NASA administrator

, acting NASA administrator Bob Cabana , Kennedy center director

, Kennedy center director Hiroshi Sasaki , vice president and director general, JAXA's Human Spaceflight Technology Directorate

, vice president and director general, JAXA's Human Spaceflight Technology Directorate Frank de Winne , manager, International Space Station Program, ESA

, manager, International Space Station Program, ESA NASA astronaut

NASA astronaut

No teleconference option is available for this event.

Thursday, April 22

2 a.m.  NASA Television launch coverage begins. NASA Television will have continuous coverage, including docking, hatch opening, and welcome ceremony, with a news conference following docking activities.

7:30 a.m. (approximately)  Postlaunch news conference with the following participants:

Steve Jurczyk , acting NASA administrator

, acting NASA administrator Kathy Lueders , associate administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters

, associate administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters Hiroshi Sasaki , vice president and director general, JAXA's Human Spaceflight Technology Directorate

, vice president and director general, JAXA's Human Spaceflight Technology Directorate Frank de Winne , manager, International Space Station Program, ESA

, manager, International Space Station Program, ESA SpaceX representative

Media may ask questions via phone only. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 7 a.m. Thursday, April 22, at: [email protected].

Friday, April 23

5:30 a.m.  Docking

7:35 a.m.  Hatch Opening

8:05 a.m.  Welcome Ceremony from the International Space Station with the following participants:

Kathy Lueders , associate administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters

, associate administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters Hiroshi Yamakawa , president, JAXA

, president, JAXA Josef Aschbacher , director general, ESA

NASA TV Launch Coverage

NASA TV live coverage will begin at 2 a.m. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules, and links to streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/live

Audio only of the news conferences and launch coverage will be carried on the NASA "V" circuits, which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240, -1260 or -7135. On launch day, "mission audio," countdown activities without NASA TV launch commentary, will be carried on 321-867-7135.

On launch day, a "clean feed" of the launch without NASA TV commentary will be carried on the NASA TV media channel. Launch also will be available on local amateur VHF radio frequency 146.940 MHz and UHF radio frequency 444.925 MHz, heard within Brevard County on the Space Coast.

NASA Website Launch Coverage

Launch day coverage of NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission will be available on the agency's website. Coverage will include livestreaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 2 a.m. Thursday, April 22, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff. For questions about countdown coverage, contact the Kennedy newsroom at: 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on our launch blog at:

http://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

Additional Media Opportunities

Live shots and remote live interviews via Zoom will be offered in English and Spanish from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 21. To book a live shot window, media should complete and submit the form available at:

https://forms.gle/LR3vWx1oC7eKeyzn9

Interview requests outside that window can be arranged by reaching out to Laura Aguiar [email protected] at Kennedy. Additional questions should be directed to the Kennedy News Center: 321-867-2468.

Public Participation

NASA invites the public to take part in virtual activities and events ahead of the launch. Members of the public can attend the launch virtually, receiving mission updates and opportunities normally reserved for on-site guests.

NASA's virtual launch experience for Crew-2 includes curated launch resources, a digital boarding pass, notifications about NASA Social interactions, and the opportunity for a virtual launch passport stamp following a successful launch.

Register for email updates or RSVP to the Facebook event for social media updates to stay up-to-date on mission information, mission highlights, and interaction opportunities.

Print, fold, and get ready to fill your virtual launch passport. Stamps will be emailed following launches to all virtual attendees registered by email through Eventbrite.

Engage kids and students in virtual and hands-on activities that are both family-friendly and educational through Next Gen STEM Commercial Crew.

Watch and Engage on Social Media

Stay connected with the mission on social media via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using the hashtag #LaunchAmerica. Follow and tag these accounts:

NASA will provide a live video feed of Launch Complex 39A approximately 48 hours prior to the planned liftoff of the Crew-2 mission. Pending unlikely technical issues, the feed will be uninterrupted until the prelaunch broadcast begins on NASA TV, approximately four hours prior to launch.

Once the feed is live, it will be available here:

http://youtube.com/kscnewsroom

Make sure to check out NASA en Espanol on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more Spanish-language coverage on Crew-2.

Para obtener informacion sobre cobertura en espanol en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en espanol, comuniquese con Kristina Irastorza 321-607-4073 y Antonia Jaramillo 321-501-8425.

NASA's Commercial Crew Program has delivered on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through a partnership with American private industry. This partnership is changing the arc of human spaceflight history by opening access to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and, eventually, to Mars.

For NASA's launch blog and more information about the mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


Daily coronavirus cases in Michigan have shot up over the last few weeks, but the number of diagnostic tests run for the virus has risen much more slowly.

The average number of new daily cases of the virus has more than doubled since Feb. 18, but testing has only increased about 10%.

Jacqueline Peacock is the director of laboratory operations at NxGen MDx, a diagnostic lab in Grand Rapids that processes samples from across Michigans Lower Peninsula. She used to work until 2 a.m. and barely had time to eat most days during the peak of local outbreaks this winter, she said.

Now, with cases climbing again, Peacock said she almost wishes she were still that busy. It would mean people were taking the pandemic seriously.

Things are feeling right now a lot more normal, said Peacock. But I am concerned that the dropoff is too great  that people are not being tested not because they havent been exposed, but because theyre complacent.

The comparatively low testing rates mean public health workers have a harder time tracking the spread of the virus and its variants.

Dr. Mark Hamed, medical director for the three health departments that serve the Upper Thumb said it is possible the reduction Peacock is seeing is because there are other facilities processing tests now. However, he said it is important for residents to continue to be tested for the coronavirus.

According to Hamed, there is some localized taboo surrounding testing because some people worry about being forced to quarantine. However, Hamed and Huron County Health Department Public Health Officer Ann Hepfer said testing is an important tool for people to avoid quarantine.

Hepfer said testing in the area has increased slightly in the past two weeks, but the health department would like to see more testing of people in quarantine for probable-COVID.

Probable COVID cases are people with mild symptoms like a runny nose, or people who have been in contact with a positive person or live with a positive person.

According to Hepfer, if those probable cases get tested and test positive for COVID, they will receive a lab-confirmed result, which would prevent another quarantine within 90 days should they come in contact with another COVID-positive person. Without the lab-confirmed positive result, those individuals would have to quarantine again.

Hamed told the Tribune previously that he believe many of the current COVID cases are in-part because of the variants which have been identified in regions across the state and in the Upper Thumb.

Hamed said the variants have shown to be more contagious and there has been an increased outbreak in younger people which he attributed to the variants.

Michigans Department of Health and Human Services is working to test more people for the virus more often, said spokesperson Lynn Sutfin.

The state is moving forward with plans to ramp up testing for schools, businesses and nursing homes. We are expanding a mandatory testing protocol for all student athletes. We are offering pop-up testing to communities with higher transmission, Sutfin said.

Michigan will also set up temporary testing sites to check for the virus in people returning from spring break trips, said Sutfin.

But availability of tests is only a small part of the problem, said local health leaders. The state already has hundreds of free testing sites, and theres excess capacity at testing labs, said Peacock.

In the first months of the pandemic, shortages of testing equipment meant health officials tried to limit who was getting tested for the virus.

Now, Peacock said, labs have everything they need to run as many tests as they can get from people in Michigan.

Peacock said she wants more people to take advantage of the tests that are already available.

Hepfer said there are numerous places that a person can get tested for the coronavirus, including Great Lakes Bay Health, pharmacies such as Rite-Aid, Walgreens, and CVS, along with area hospitals and clinics.

Our testing positivity average is over 30%, Hepfer said. There is a lot of infection out there. The only way we can get a handle on this is if we get more people testing so we can identify the positive cases.
Germany's health care personnel administered over 650,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses on Wednesday, almost 300,000 more than a day earlier, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said.

The country continues to accelerate its vaccination campaign. Since Tuesday, general practitioners (GPs) have also been administering vaccines. Previously, jabs were offered only at the country's 430 special vaccination centres or by mobile teams, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

More than three months after the start of the country's vaccination campaign in Germany, around 4.7 million people had been fully vaccinated by Wednesday, bringing the vaccination rate to 5.7 per cent, according to the RKI, the federal government agency for disease control and prevention.

On Thursday, Minister of Health Jens Spahn confirmed that Berlin was engaged in bilateral talks with Russia about the possible delivery of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine in the next two to five months once it receives approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Despite the ongoing lockdown and the country's vaccination campaign, the number of new Covid-19 infections increased sharply in after the Easter holidays. The country registered 20,407 new Covid-19 infections in 24 hours on Thursday, according to the RKI.

To date, more than 2.9 million Covid-19 infections have been officially registered in since the outbreak of the pandemic. The death toll climbed to 77,707 on Thursday, the RKI said.

--IANS

int/

(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.)
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Chair Gayle Manchin and ambassador Samuel Brownback announced the first ever International Religious Freedom Summit happening this year in Washington D.C.

In the midst of a global crisis and geopolitical unrest, faith perseveres. With this comes the first ever 2021 International Religious Freedom Summit, which is officially pushing through this summer at Washington D.C.

The announcement was made by International Religious Freedom Ambassador at Large Sam Brownback and USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin.

Described as an event that would "bring together a broad coalition that passionately supports religious freedom around the globe," the highly anticipated International Religious Freedom Summit will be held from July 13 to 15 in Washington D.C. and will also feature a virtual option for participation.

The event will "connect resources and advocates interested in religious freedom and highlight the personal testimonies of victims of religious persecutions and restrictions on religious freedom."

In the announcement, the sponsors reported that over 80% of the world's population live in countries where there are increased governmental or societal restrictions on religion. The 2021 International Religious Freedom Summit aims to provide insights on international religious freedom and address violations against religious liberty while providing a support group for those who are being persecuted for their faith.

CBN News reported that up to 40 diverse partners, including Alliance Defending Freedom, BarnabasAid, Bitter Winter, ChinaAid, the Family Research Council, the International Christian Concern, Open Doors, Religious Freedom Institute, the Uyghur Human Rights Project, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops all support the first International Religious Freedom Summit, which will be a yearly event.

The summit also aims to create a coalition of global organizations that together will push for the cause of religious freedom all over the world, as it raises public awareness and boosts political strengths for the movement. The 2021 International Religious Freedom Summit is very timely as the world faces the challenges of addressing the Chinese Communist Party's continued human rights abuses against the Uyghur communities in Xinjiang, China, as well as its abuses against Christians in the country.

In fact, USCIRF chair Gayle Manchin was recently the subject of sanctions from the Chinese government after the United States publicly condemned China's genocide of the Uyghurs.

"I feel flattered to be recognized by Communist China for calling out genocidal crimes against religious and ethnic minorities in the country," Manchin said about the sanctions.

According to Voice Of America, Manchin, together with USCIRF's vice chair Tony Perkins were prohibited by the Chinese Communist Party from visiting mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, and must refrain from conducting business with Chinese individuals and organizations.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also backed Manchin and the human rights advocates she represents, condemning China's sanctions. He said, as per Politico, "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."

The 2021 International Religious Freedom Summit is expected to hold meaningful discussions on religious persecution and put more pressure on China to address genocide accusations leveled at them on an international stage. The event is now open for registration.
Tutoring

Colorado Latest State to Adopt Khan's Schoolhouse.world for Free Tutoring

Small groups of Colorado students can be paired up with tutors online through a new agreement struck between two education nonprofits. The program is being undertaken by Denver-based Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) and Schoolhouse.world, an organization launched last year by Khan Academy Founder Sal Khan and others.

Tutoring is provided by a corps of volunteers, some of whom are trained as teachers and others who "just love to teach," as the site explained in an FAQ. All have gone through a vetting process. CEI works with the state's Department of Education, providing resources to help Colorado schools with teacher training and other education improvements.

Similar programs have been already been announced by the Departments of Education in New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Like those initiatives, the Colorado program will promote tutoring to students in pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, precalculus, calculus, statistics and SAT preparation. However, anybody in the world over the age of 13 can use the service for free. Sessions run through Zoom and last from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the tutor's preferences.

Schoolhouse.world said in a statement that it expected to expand to additional grade levels and topics "soon." So far, the organization reported, it has run tutoring sessions with students in more than 40 countries.

"As a close partner for districts and schools across Colorado, it has been clear to us, as schools emerge from COVID-related disruptions, that talking about delivering high impact tutoring at scale is not enough. Colorado students deserve these supports now," noted CEI President and CEO, Rebecca Holmes. "Schoolhouse.world ensures all Colorado students, regardless of financial considerations, can get the live tutoring they need to meet their unique academic or post-secondary needs. This is a terrific solution regardless of how much students did or didn't miss out on last year."

"I've always believed that every child should have access to a free, world-class education," added Khan. "Khan Academy has been doing this by offering free practice, instructional videos, and teacher tools. Now with Schoolhouse.world, we're excited to work with the communities across Colorado to supplement that with free, live tutoring to students everywhere."

Colorado educators can steer students to support on Schoolhouse.world through CEI's platform, The Hub. They can also meet other teachers who are using the tutoring service.
Keon Scott was known to the police, having served time for illegal gun and ammunition possession.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of Keon Scott, a 45-year-old labourer of Glen.





The shooting is reported to have taken place on Saturday 3rd April, at about 3:50 am.





Information received said that Scott was shot in his bed and at least one person who lives in close proximity recalled hearing one "very loud shot.





Another resident of Glen with whom THE VINCENTIAN spoke, said that he knew Scott had had run-ins with the law before, and had served a jail term.





The resident recalled that Scott "become famous when he escaped while in police custody.





while he was at the Serious Offences Court, and was of the opinion that his death might have been an act of revenge.





In fact, THE VINCENTIAN of November 16, 2016, reported that Magistrate Bertie Pompey had sentenced Scott to 12 months in prison, after he pleaded guilty to escaping lawful custody.





He had been taken into custody on November 10 and was remanded on gun and ammunition charges, to which he had pleaded not guilty.





He made the dash through an open window at the back of a prison vehicle in the Upper Bay Street area, sometime after 10am that day.





Scott was at the time being escorted by police officers from the Serious Offences Court to Her Majestys Prison, Kingstown, and said to have escaped unnoticed by the officers.





On November 15, Scott, accompanied by attorney Dr. Linton Lewis, turned himself in at the Central Police Station, Kingstown.





The resident who had recalled Scotts escape, was of the view that his death might have been an act of revenge.

Scotts death is listed as homicide #8 for the year.




The investigation into the cause of the K-Solv chemical fire continued Thursday, as officials worked to confirm how exactly the fire at the Channelview industrial site started and what specifically burned.

For nearly three hours Wednesday, a dark plume billowed from the site, another reminder of the potential danger that residents near the Houston Ship Channel live with. The facility previously caught fire in 2007.

But the fire in this case triggered an emergency response from Harris County that reflected much change  albeit with some hiccups  since a string of chemical fires caught the county flatfooted two years ago.

Ironically, K-Solv Group specializes in environmental and disaster response. At a press conference Thursday, a spokesperson said the companys experience prepared it to manage its own disaster, which he described as a reality of the business.

We feel confident that  we can act responsibly to mitigate those hazards as quick as possible, said Mikie Sopczak, director of environmental health, safety and security for K-Solv Group. And I think you saw that yesterday.

Still, Grace Tee Lewis of the Environmental Defense Fund said regulators needed to continue to take a prevention approach rather than a reaction approach to be sure fires such as Wednesdays dont continue happening.

New details

On Thursday, a clearer picture of what had occurred was emerging.

A call at 3:53 p.m. Wednesday alerted the Channelview Fire Department to the fire, Chief Ryan Thistle said. Responding firefighters saw the giant column of smoke and notified others.

As a precaution, fire officials called to evacuate the immediate area and issued a shelter-in-place order for nearby neighborhoods. Sheriffs deputies helped notify residents; not everyone was informed, a communications gap that has come up repeatedly.

On site, some employees were working on the ship channel, where they clean and prepare barges for new loads. Bulk storage there did not catch fire. Employees escaped by boat.

Two separate warehouses that stored cleanup supplies burned. The company believes the fire began in one warehouse as a product was transferred from one small container, a tote, to another, a drum.

The fire was extinguished by 6:20 p.m., and officials put out a few hot spots overnight. Harris County Pollution Control said it did not receive a definite list of what compounds were there; the county was told two chemicals involved were Toluene and Xylene, both hazardous.

Sopczak noted the site was receiving and sending shipments throughout the day, literally minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour.

By Thursday evening, Harris County Fire Marshal investigators had cleared the company to start clean-up except in one area of interest, a company statement said. A breach of fire water runoff into the sewer treatment facility had also been mitigated.

Enhanced response

Harris County Pollution Control dispatched a mobile air monitoring team that had been developed by an overhauled department after the days-long Intercontinental Terminals Co. fire in 2019 highlighted inadequate response capabilities.

Measurements were posted to the countys website, as were those from a stationary monitor at River Terrace Park that was installed in January, part of an expanding county stationary monitoring network.

One hiccup: The stationary monitor has a device to capture samples for more specific testing. That device didnt work because it was improperly sealed during a maintenance check, department spokesperson Dimetra Hamilton wrote in an email.

County benchmarks dont yet exist for when the readings should trigger shelter-in-place or evacuation orders. The Houston Advanced Research Center, or HARC, is helping to develop those and hopes to finalize them by June.

The facility was not without past complaints. The county went to inspect the site 16 times between 2003 and 2016, Hamilton wrote. Ten visits were prompted by complaints, mostly about odors or smoke.

In April 2007, a tanker truck there caught fire as it was being loaded with Xylene, according to online records from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

TCEQ investigated the site in 2017 and issued violation notices for failing to comply with a maximum allowable emissions rate for NOx, which contributes to ozone, and failing to prevent unauthorized outdoor burning and disposal of solid waste.

Still, its 10-year compliance history was considered satisfactory, TCEQ spokesperson Brian McGovern wrote in an email.

Zach Despart and Jon Shapley contributed reporting.

emily.foxhall@chron.com
Some new bars around the world seem to be missing something once central to their existence: alcohol.

The bars are trying to satisfy an increasing number of people who want to go out and have a good time with friends, but do not want to drink alcohol.

In Tokyo, a bar called 0% Non-Alcohol Experience serves an appealing drink made with wine and fruit, but no alcohol. The alcohol is removed from the wine in the manufacturing process.

In Austin, Texas, people gathered recently at the Sans Bar and drank alcohol-free beers and mixed drinks called watermelon mockaritas. It is similar to a margarita, a drink made with the alcohol called tequila.

These bars without alcohol are rare, but they are not new.

The United States saw its first such places in the 1800s during what was called the temperance movement. Its aim was to get people to reduce their use of alcohol. The movement led to a national ban on alcohol sales that was in effect from 1920 to 1933.

Chris Marshall is the owner of Sans Bar. He stopped drinking alcohol 14 years ago and worked in the field of drug abuse treatment.

He said most of the people who visit Sans Bar are not trying to stop drinking completely. A lot of people just want to drink less.

Sondra Prineaux is one such customer. Its just easier, she said. I dont have to worry about leaving my car here and getting an Uber home.

And, she noted: Ill wake up without a headache.

Head pain is a common reaction to a night of drinking alcohol. Drinkers also might wake up feeling very weak or sick to their stomach. All these conditions are signs of what is called a hangover. Many people do not like to drink as a result.

Tory Pratt founded Pratt Standard, a company in Washington, D.C. She makes liquid flavorings people add to alcohol so they can make cocktails. While she makes her products with alcohol in mind, a lot of customers buy her products to use without it.

She said some people use her companys ginger liquid mixed with water if they have a sick stomach. It can be really great for settling the stomach, she said.

The ginger product can be mixed with hot water that can ease throat pain.

She noted that many people are working from home because of COVID-19. So, she said, a special drink even without alcohol is a good way to separate the work day from the rest of the night.

I know that, like, in the pandemic a lot of people have leaned towards alcohol as a way to separate, you know, work from life. When youre working at home, its really, really hard to have that separation.

A drink maker called Seedlip carries products with different natural flavors that take the place of alcohol in a cocktail. Another, called Ritual Zero Proof, makes products that are substitutes for traditional alcohols like gin, whiskey and tequila.

Douglas Watters owns Spirited Away, a beverage store in New York. In the past, he said there were very few choices for people who did not want to drink alcohol.



But now, Watters said, I have the wonderful problem of too many great options.

Low-alcohol products still make up a small number of sales in countries like the U.S., Germany, Brazil and Japan. However, while alcohol sales fell five percent in those countries in 2020, sales of non-alcohol drinks rose by one percent.

Brandy Rand works for IWSR, a company that researches drinks. She said people are trying to be healthier. She noted the popularity of a public health campaign called Dry January, in which people try to remain alcohol-free for the month. The campaign began in Europe in 2013.

She said even though sales are small, people around the world are buying low- and no-alcohol drinks two to three times faster than traditional drinks with alcohol.

It is not completely clear why people are more open to reducing their use of alcohol lately. Some people are training for physical activity, others are trying to lose weight, some are pregnant. Others just decided they do not want to drink as much.

Joshua James was a bartender for years, making drinks at a traditional bar. But, he opened his own business after being treated for drug and alcohol abuse. The Ocean Beach Cafe in San Francisco, California does not serve alcohol.

Theres a thousand reasons to not want to drink as much, he said, adding that he wanted to help people who make that choice.

Watters of Spirited Away said the pandemic made him think about changing his drinking behavior.

There are a lot of people, this past year more than ever, thinking more critically about what theyre drinking and how its making them feel, he said.

Pratt Standards owner expressed a similar opinion. She said the pandemic fueled desire for new experiences.

Wine, and doing the same thing over and over again in the evening, its just not different enough in the middle of a pandemic, and so people are looking for something that you can be really creative with and can really differentiate one night from another. 

Some alcohol-free bars in places like Dublin, Ireland and Berlin, Germany, closed for a time during the pandemic. Their owners are looking forward to finding new customers once people feel safer about going out.

Billy Wynne owns Awake, a store in Denver that sells coffee and alcohol substitutes. He plans to open a no-alcohol bar soon. Wynne says once people understand that they can have fun and feel better at an alcohol-free bar, they will want to return.

People dont wake up to the negative impact alcohol is having on their life and then change their mind.

Im Alice Bryant. And Im Dan Friedell.

Dee-Ann Durbin wrote this story for the Associated Press. Dan Friedell contributed the interview with Tory Pratt and adapted the story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

Do you worry about getting a hangover when you drink alcohol? We want to hear from you. Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page.

__________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

bar n. a building or room where alcoholic drinks and sometimes food are served

wine n. an alcoholic drink made from the juice of grapes

alcoholic n. a person who frequently drinks too much alcohol and is unable to live a normal and healthy life : a person who is affected with alcoholism

flavoring n. a substance that is added to food or drink to give it a desired taste

cocktail n. an alcoholic drink that is a mixture of one or more liquors and other ingredients (such as fruit juice)

lean v. used to describe what someone wants to do, tends to do, or is likely to do

option n. the opportunity or ability to choose something or to choose between two or more things

variety n. the quality or state of having or including many different things

evening n. the last part of the day and early part of the night

impact v. to have a strong and often bad effect on (something or someone)
WA Polices coronial unit is assisting a coronial inquiry into the death of seven-year-old Aishwarya Asweth in Perth Childrens Hospital on Saturday night.

Premier Mark McGowan on Friday revealed these details of the inquiry, to run concurrently with the Health Department root cause analysis.

Premier Mark McGowan. Credit:Peter de Kruijff

Aishwarya spent two hours waiting in PCHs emergency department on Saturday night with fever-like symptoms but was triaged in the second-least urgent category.

Her parents pleaded with staff to be assessed earlier as her hands began turning cold and her eyes became cloudy. She died within minutes of being seen by doctors.
The Andalusian Minister of Health, Jesus Aguirre, has confirmed the first positive case of the Brazilian variant of Covid-19 in the region which was detected on Thursday in Seville.

Aguirre was speaking this Friday, 9 April, in a forum organised by CHIP and SUR and he said it is a case imported by a person from Brazil.

He also said 16 cases of a new variant of the "more contagious" coronavirus, B1258, have also been detected in Malaga, Almeria and Cordoba, in addition to seven cases of the South African variant and four of the Ugandan strain, which has resulted in one death while the other three are recovering.

During his speech, the Minister of Health warned that Andalucia is currently witnessing an increase in hospital pressure with 1,372 coronavirus patients admitted, of which 292 are in an intensive care unit. It is the seventh consecutive daily rise in the number of Covid-19 hospital patients in the region.

Aguirre confessed that "it has been an extremely intense year" for him, since the first case of Covid was diagnosed in Andalucia.

But he went on to acknowledge the regions health system and its workers "who have had to adapt to the different waves of the coronavirus and who have worked themselves to exhaustion to save lives." An effort that has seen the recovery of 400,000 Covid patients in Andalucia.
An employee of Berry Construction Company told police that a check cleared the company's First Horizon Bank account for $7,526.13. She said it appears that someone copied a company check and made it payable to a person and cashed it at an unknown location.



* * *A man on Forest Avenue told police that while he was at work someone stole his pressure washer and blower from the carport. He said the carport is open and he does not have serial numbers for the items.



* * *



A woman on Distribution Drive told police that she lost her wallet at work or between transits.

She said her ID and Bank of America debit card were in the wallet. She said she cancelled her debit card and will be getting a new wallet.* * *A man and woman were in an argument outside a residence on Eucalyptus Drive. The woman told police that they go together, but that they had gotten into it with each other and she just wanted him to leave. The man told police that he was just wanting to leave as well. Police waited for the man to gather some of his belongings and leave the scene.* * *A suspicious man was reported at a residence on Hickory Valley Road. The owner of the residence said he saw a man on the property. Police made contact with the man, who is a known homeless person. The man said he was trying to keep out of the rain and fell asleep under a table behind the residence. Police verified his identity and asked him to vacate the premises. He left without further incident.* * *A woman on Allin Street told police that a man would not leave her house. She said they are not married and the man does not live at her address. She said she wanted the man trespassed from her property. Police asked the man to leave the property and he was told he has been trespassed.* * *A suspicious vehicle was reported at 1701 S. Hawthorne St. Police located a blue 2013 Yamaha YZF-R6 parked behind the condemned house. Officers spoke with a neighbor, who said he observed two individuals pushing the motorcycle east on E. 17th Street at approximately 5 a.m. that morning via security camera. The neighbor told police the owner of the motorcycle lives on Lynnbrook Avenue. Police located the owner, who came to the location and drove his motorcycle from the scene. The owner told police it appeared the unknown suspects had tampered with the ignition of the motorcycle. Due to the theft and recovery being reported at the same time, the motorcycle was not entered into NCIC.* * *A woman on Angela Drive told police that a man had showed up to her daughter's house and caused a disturbance. She said she and the man had a verbal argument and then the man left the scene.* * *A woman on Sapulpa Street told police that her unlocked 2018 Chevrolet Tahoe was parked in her driveway when someone entered it and stole numerous items. She said that the only card used was a Capital One debit card. She said the debit card was used at three different locations totaling $50.70.* * *A man told police he came in to the new construction house that he was working in on Arcadia Avenue and he found the front door was opened, along with the back window. He said a brand new, still-packaged, electric water heater and a saw had been stolen. He said the neighbor across the street had cameras, but they were unable to view it until the son came home from work. He told police that whenever he was able to view the footage, he would call in.* * *An employee of Tru by Hilton Hotel, 7008 Shallowford Road, told police that a guest left a pistol in a room and wanted to get it back. Police spoke to the guest, who said she checked out this morning and forgot to grab her gun that she had hidden under her pillow. The gun was a Ruger that belonged to her and she had no history of warrants or being a felon. The pistol was given back to the woman without incident.* * *A woman on Brainerd Road told police she had been using an Uber that morning at approximately 9 a.m., but had left her phone in it when she got out. She said that it was through Assurance Wireless and was a government phone. She said that a man had called her and said he had found the phone, but he never showed up to give it back to her. She had no information about who he was.

* * *



A man on Brainerd Road told police that a black male walked up on his back porch, opened up the refrigerator, took several items out and walked off with them. The man said that he did not wish to prosecute, he just doesn't want the man coming back on his property. Police caught up with the other man down the street and told him that he was trespassed.
The Vegan Delight sandwich at Merri Cafe. Credit:Eddie Jim The plan had been for Ballard and his brother to live together, but then his brother and his fiance got pregnant during lockdown. They were going to get married but they did something else with the time instead, says Ballard. Now Ballard is sharing with his partner of a year. Hes a circus acrobat, he says. Evidently I look disbelieving at this, even before he tells me his partner is 22.

Hes real, ok? Hes very mature  and hes turning 23 soon. I promise you, other people have met him; hes a real human being. The spanakopita and grain salad. Credit:Eddie Jim The pair met at last years Adelaide Fringe festival, came back to Melbourne and then spent lockdown together. And fell in love because we had nothing else to do. But yeah, comedian and circus acrobat  a really solid income. Although Ballard says he spent lockdown watching Tiger King like everyone else, he also managed to start working on a book.

I did manage to get a book deal, but its been an absolute shitshow  which is entirely my own making, he says. The deadline was the end of December but its an evolving process! And its still on my list  the Comedy Festival sort of took over, but it has been a big focus. But its also really hard. And what is it about? Thats a great question. No, I have started it, really! Basically, in the madness of last year, it was me trying to write down why everything is so f---ed up, particularly for Millennials. Its me trying to be funny and informative about all the reasons everyones so angry, why this kind of neoliberal reality we live in is so shit, and trying to articulate that Boomer v Millennial thing and determine where were coming from. Ballard regularly uses his comedy to advocate on political issues and he says the book will look at issues through the prism of 2020 and COVID, which underscored how bad many things are. Like when Virgin collapsed and there was talk about nationalisation and that got dismissed immediately, the aged care, the privatisation of everything, the housing market continuing to boom, education, the way workers were f---ed over  each of these is a different chapter, he says. Im trying to chart that, my life and the political history of the past 40 years  within 80,000 words.

But funny? Tom Ballard is excited and a bit terrified to be back on stage. Credit:Eddie Jim I hope its funny! Theres lots of jokes because politicians are f---ed and theres a lot of very funny things that Australian politics comes up with. I guess Im trying to explain to someone my age, in a way they would understand. I use a lot of hashtag youth references! I think its something new, and a book I wish had existed five years ago  because Ive spent the past five years trying to figure out all this stuff myself. Ballard didnt go to uni  technically he did, but only for six weeks of a law degree  and says hes catching up, in a sense.

Ive since learnt that lots of people go to uni and they go through their radical student politics stage and learn all this shit then they leave uni and go, ah, thats all a bit silly  so I just hit at about 28. Ballard is a Millennial himself at 31, although hes managed quite a career already. Loading From being the youngest ever recipient of the Comedy Festivals Best Newcomer Award for his debut show in 2009, to Best Show at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards and even a Helpmann for Best Comedy Performer in 2016, by 2018 hed even managed to have a national TV program, the nightly satirical program Tonightly, axed. The day we have lunch the latest government scandal (you know the one), has just kicked off, and we are both agog that several politicians have retained their jobs in the circumstances.

And when I was doing Tonightly, you had this ... moralising from these people who thought the greatest crime in the world was a bunch of comedians saying the c-word, he says. You look at their personal behaviour, the workplace in which theyve cultivated this horrific culture plus all the policies and decisions they make which are far more consequential and important than anything we do and yet they dont clutch their pearls over that stuff. Such hypocrisy makes the politically motivated Ballard  who has recently joined The Greens (I joined last year, kind of a walk the walk thing. I talk a lot, I tweet a lot of stuff and I realised I should probably actually just do something)  genuinely angry. Much like his upcoming book, Ballard hopes his new show for this years festival, We Are All In This, is entertaining while also having something of an impact. The big question among comedians has been, do people want to hear about lockdown stuff for an hour  particularly if they see lots of different shows at the festival  or is it the last thing people want to think about? Ive taken a risk that they want to hear about the plague but also structural racism and climate change for an hour. Hes using a slideshow to look back on all the shit that happened last year, and while hes angry, its not, he says, as bleak as it might sound. Ill also be making fun of Gina Rinehart!

In 2016, Ballards show Boundless Plains to Share explored Australias refugee policies, and the new show is similar in tone. Receipt for lunch at Merri Cafe, CERES. There are moments when I am genuinely pissed off, but there are heaps of jokes, he says. If you get some really good jokes in a row, that buys you a little bit of licence to say this is what I really think. Every now and then, that might have a bit of impact  without being too worthy, which is always the line Im conscious of. The most satisfying comedy, he says, is making people laugh but also saying what he thinks, and making a decent satirical point. Thats the sweet spot, he says. Ideally if it doesnt cross that line of being boring or worthy  thats the dream.
Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews points as he inspects the underground site of the currently being built, State Library station, as part of the Metro Tunnel metropolitan rail infrastructure project on Nov. 6, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Australian State Govts Secret Deal With China Comes Under Federal Scrutiny

The federal government has forced the Victorian state government to hand over documents related to a secret deal signed between the state and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that involves the states infrastructure projects.

This is the third deal between Victoria and the CCP that the federal government is scrutinising under the Foreign Relations Bill that will see arrangements with all foreign nations at each level of government vetoed if they arent in Australias national interests.

Signed in March 201718 months before the Belt and Road Initiative was signedthe memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Victoria and the CCP commits the Australian state to work with Beijing on Victorian infrastructure projects through public-private partnerships (PPPs).

According to Michael Shoebridge, foreign policy expert at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, public-private partnerships and the Belt and Road Initiative pose a national security risk as the regime plans for a China-centred global economy.

China talks about PPPs as a way of accelerating and broadening the activities you can do to implement the Belt and Road. Its a faster way of getting projects delivered and a way of obtaining alternative finance to government finance, Shoebridge told The Age.

But I think a key thing about the way China thinks about public-private partnerships is that theyre still absolutely guided by the governmentso it uses private corporations and corporate capital for government purposes.

Shoebridge noted that Beijings blueprint discussed at its recent annual meetingespecially around technology competition, Hong Kong, and strategic threats posed by Western nationswill shape policies such as the Belt and Road Initiative and public-private partnership.

The federal government will have to evaluate it based on its merits, he said. But I would be surprised if the national security risks around this memorandum of understanding have anything but risen, given the way the Chinese government has operated in the last three years, and with the economic directions outlined in the recent Two Sessions meeting, where the risk of China using economic coercion has grown.

A Victorian government spokesperson did not provide any details related to the public-private partnerships but instead told The Age that the state government was continuing to work with the Commonwealth in line with the legislative requirements.

Moreover, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has maintained that deals with China, such as the BRI, pose no threat to national security threat and were always about jobs.

Ive always seen these arrangements and all of our arrangements, not just with any one country but with all the different countries, different states, different provinces, different regions that we have relationships with, theyve always been about a passport to export, he told reporters in August 2020.

Under BRI, the CCP is reported to significantly undercut foreign companies for infrastructure bids and loan unserviceable amounts to countries that cannot afford the BRI projects, resulting in debt-trap diplomacy.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said he saw no benefit to Victorias deal with Beijing and signalled that the agreement would be unlikely to stand under the bill.

If there are benefits, what are they and what was paid for them? I dont have the answers to those questions at this point, but the assessment of those arrangements will continue, Morrison said.

According to Victorias China strategy, Victoria aims to achieve targets across trade, investments, tourism and education with China over 10 years from 2016 to 2026.

Victoria will work with China to identify economic opportunities that target the intersection of Victoria and Chinas respective comparative advantages and development needsmaximising the mutual economic value of our relationship, the document states.

Were on track to surpass all targets by 2026.

Both the BRI and the public-private partnership between Victoria and China are among approximately 16 agreements between Australian states and China currently listed on the public register and are set to be scrutinised by the federal government.
Opening Remarks by Angel Gurria, OECD Secretary-General



Dear Ambassadors Barrett, Yoshikawa and Hur, Ladies and Gentlemen,



I am delighted to open this Seminar to discuss the White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century. This road map for the Australian Government, business and the broader economy represents your commitment to anchoring long-term sustainable growth for the benefit of future generations. It is welcome, it is useful, and is definitely inspiring.



There is no doubt that Australia is well placed to continue benefiting from robust Asian growth and the gradual shift of the world economys centre of gravity towards Asia. But Asias dynamism also presents significant challenges for Australia and other OECD countries.



I would like to highlight some domestic policy priorities for Australia to thrive in this Asian Century. I would also like to explore how we might support Australia in these endeavours.



To take advantage of new opportunities in growing Asia, Australia needs first of all to promote productivity growth, which has slowed significantly since its peak in the beginning of this century. Actually, labour productivity growth has been divided by more than three since then. Supporting productivity growth can be achieved through initiatives in a number of policy domains, including innovation, education and skills, and regulation. And you should seize the moment when the economy is strong to implement the reforms that will maintain prosperity in the years to come.



Australia can strengthen its productivity by providing responsive, high-quality training and higher education systems. This means raising the number of students completing vocational training, more flexible and simple apprenticeship schemes and a more outcome-focussed and competitive higher-education system. It also requires closer collaboration between firms and universities. Ongoing efforts in this area could be supported by a well-designed innovation voucher scheme for SMEs, to be used to contract academic research.



But innovation also means looking outwards. Australian business should take full advantage of regional and global value chains and invest in knowledge-based capital, such as patents, brands and trademarks.



Further harmonising regulation across the states, for example in the electricity sector, would also foster competition and improve productivity growth; as would do a more effective infrastructure policy by imposing user fees and introducing traffic congestion charges.



But to ensure the success of these reforms, adaptability is the key word. It is thus wiser to focus on helping workers and firms to adapt, rather than protecting jobs in specific regions or sectors. Some other reforms can help in this regard. This is true for instance for tax reforms that can facilitate the ongoing structural adjustments. For sure, substantial tax reforms have already been adopted to spread the benefits of the mining boom and help firms adapt. But more can be done. For example, a lower corporate tax rate would help businesses outside the mining sector to adjust.



It carrying out these reforms, it is equally important to Go Social. A flexible and fair labour market remains essential for adjustment. The existing framework of direct and decentralised pay bargaining has yielded good results so far, and should be preserved. But efforts to establish more co-operative industrial relations would be worth pursuing given current tensions. This is not easy, but a sector-by-sector approach may help. It is also important to tame the rise in income inequality. It has for sure slowed down recently, but the widening disparities have outpaced the OECD average since 2000.



As for Going Green, it is something you have embraced with the recent Clean Energy Legislative Package and other measures. But I encourage you to go further. Our work on Green Growth can be a source of support in this regard.



This is just a taste of some of the recommendations that were developed both in our Economic Survey of Australia released last December and in our 2013 Going for Growth that I will launch this week in Moscow. Most of them chime with those in the White paper.



But lets not forget that Australia also needs to look outwards to its integration in Asian markets. In this context, the recent launch of negotiations for a new trade agreement with 15 countries in the region is to be commended. For sure other countries in the region have important responsibilities too, and the creation of a level-playing field at the regional and global level is key. Issues such as ageing populations, increasing inequality, urban pollution, protecting energy and raw material supply lines are as important for Australia as they are for Australias partner countries in Asia.



This is also an area where the OECD can help. Our Organisation has been working with our key partners China, India, and Indonesia as well as with partners in Southeast Asia since the mid 1990s. There are many good examples of cooperation, but let me provide one. The OECD, in partnership with ASEAN, will conduct Investment Policy Reviews on eight countries in Asia, supported by the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Economic Co-operation Work Programme. We have already completed reviews for Indonesia and Vietnam.



To conclude, Australia has the opportunity to deliver a strong and resilient economy that is both part of a thriving Asia and open to the rest of the world. But to build an even brighter future, Australia must make the right choices today. The White paper represents a first step on the right path.



We would be delighted to discuss further how our recommendations can support your implementation efforts. If you take one message away from our discussions today let it be: Count on the OECD in these important endeavours. Thank you!














Obviously, if we had our druthers, and we could do all this with a snap of the finger, we would make all this available to everybody without submitting a FOIA, Kirvan said. I mean, were looking into that in the next year, two years, three years, but right now, were in a sort of transitional period.
The U.S. Navy is reportedly considering moving two ships into the Black Sea after Russia announced it was sending 10 vessels there amid a buildup of forces near Ukraine.

Navy ships could be headed to the Black Sea in the next few weeks, CNN reported Thursday. The move is meant to show support for Ukraine as Russian troops assemble near the country's eastern border, an unnamed defense official told the outlet.

The Navy maintains a regular presence in the Black Sea, said Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Comer, a spokesman for U.S. 6th Fleet, though he declined to respond to questions about whether any ships are heading there now.

Read Next: Biden's 1st Budget Request Sidelines Defense Spending in Favor of Massive Domestic Investments

"As a matter of policy, we do not discuss future operations or ship schedules," Comer said.

The Navy abides by the Montreux Convention, he added, which requires that Turkey be given 14 days' notice of plans to transit straits into the sea. The Middle East Eye, a London-based outlet that covers the region, reported Friday that the U.S. notified Turkey more than two weeks ago of plans to send two warships to the Black Sea. The ships, according to the outlet, will remain there until May 5.

"One US warship will arrive on 14 April, and another on 15 April to the Black Sea. And they will leave on 4 May and 5 May, respectively," an unnamed Turkish Foreign Ministry source told the Middle East Eye.

Russia's defense ministry announced Thursday that 10 vessels, including landing and artillery boats, from the Caspian Flotilla would be moving into the Black Sea. The ministry said the vessels will be there for a training exercise.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that the U.S. is "increasingly concerned by recent escalating Russian aggressions in eastern Ukraine, including Russian troop movements on Ukraine's border."

"Russia now has more troops on the border with Ukraine than at any time since 2014," Psaki said. "Five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed this week alone. These are all deeply concerning signs."

Russia in 2014 carried out an annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, which President Joe Biden slammed in February on the seventh anniversary of the invasion as a violation of international law and sovereignty.

"On this somber anniversary, we reaffirm a simple truth: Crimea is Ukraine," Biden said.

Ukrainian forces have been fighting Russian-backed separatist rebels since the illegal annexation. Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week about the new buildup of troops near the border. Psaki said administration officials have also had discussions with NATO allies on the increased tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Navy ships routinely operate in the Black Sea. Officials with 6th Fleet announced last month that ships from the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group conducted a patrol in the Black Sea, with U.S. and NATO aircraft. A Navy destroyer and reconnaissance aircraft also trained in the Black Sea in January.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Related: US Expresses Concern About Rising Russian-Ukrainian Tensions
State Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, said the new committee he leads will examine inequalities highlighted by the coronavirus pandemic as it seeks bold solutions to set Massachusetts on a more equitable path.
RTE star Daithi O Se is calling on Louth to show solidarity with people with dementia and their family carers and virtually have Tea in Every Town with their friends and loved ones to mark Alzheimers Tea Day across Ireland on Thursday, May 6th.

This year The Alzheimer Society of Ireland is inviting the public to brew the most important and powerful cup of tea this year and invite your family and friends to join you online. The ASI wants people to now come together virtually to celebrate, remember and show solidarity with people with dementia, their carers and the 500,000 people who are impacted by dementia in Ireland.

Although people cant gather in groups for Tea Day, people can still connect and reach out to friends and loved ones across their communities, around Ireland and abroad  on the phone, on screen, Skype, Zoom and any other socially-distanced way people may choose.

There are 64,000 people living with dementia in Ireland today and every day, another 30 people are diagnosed. However, there is one simple and magical thing you can do to help  put the kettle on and connect with friends online over a simple cuppa!

The ASI has listened to concerns of people with dementia and family carers who have been feeling isolated in their own homes lately and many people have contacted The ASI about Tea Day  and thanks to the wonders of modern technology, Tea Day can still take place.

This year, its more important than ever before that people put the kettle on, pick up the phone and reach out to a loved one or someone in your community to say hello and share a virtual cup of tea and to show people with dementia and carers who are at home, often confused, isolated and struggling without access to usual daily supports that we havent forgotten them.

The ASI needs to raise 3.5 million every year just to keep services running and while the public has been so generous over recent months; the reality is that more funds are needed to plug the gap in funding due to the impact of Covid-19 to support the 64,000 living with dementia in Ireland.

Daithi O Se, Ambassador for the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, said: On Thursday, May 6th, join your online gathering to thousands of others all over the country as we share a cuppa with our friends, family and colleagues to chat and celebrate those we love.

"Youll also be raising much-needed funds to help families living with dementia. Tea Day is The Alzheimers Society of Irelands biggest and most important fundraiser of the year. Over the last year, because of COVID-19, they could only raise a fraction of what is needed to run their vital services.

"So, this year people living with dementia need our support more than ever. So please join the Tea Day movement. Click with your family and friends by clicking online. Maybe even invite loved ones across the world.

"Share some precious memories over a cuppa and help change the life of someone living with dementia today. Thank you so much!

HOW TO TAKE PART IN TEA DAY 2021  FOUR EASY STEPS:

SIGN UP  Join the nation for the most memorable cuppa ever. All you have to do is sign up on teaday.ie and youll be helping to support people in your area living with dementia.

HOST  Share the magic of a cup of tea  online  with the ones you love. Invite family, friends, colleagues, neighbours and loved ones  from home and from all over the world  to join you to share some precious memories over a wonderful cup of tea.

CELEBRATE your Tea Day by sharing it on social media. Post your photos, videos, messages and dont forget to use our hashtags #TeaInEveryTown #TeaDay2021

DONATE Send us back your special Tea Day donation on teaday.ie. Remember, every extra euro you raise funds vital services for people living with dementia and their families.

The Alzheimer Society of Ireland CEO Pat McLoughlin said: Alzheimers Tea Day has been our biggest fundraising event over the last 27 years and the organisation is so dependent on the funds that it brings in each and every year. However, the Covid-19 health crisis means that Alzheimers Tea Day has to move online, but I am delighted that we can still celebrate the community spirit that makes Tea Day such a great national event through modern technology. This year we cant gather in each others homes to share Tea Day. But there is still something that you can do. You can invite friends and family from all over Ireland  and even all over the world  to join you online or on social media to share some memories and a cuppa. Every person who joins you will be helping to support vital dementia services all over Ireland.

Fujitsu Ireland CEO Tony OMalley said: We are incredibly proud to support this vital campaign alongside The Alzheimer Society of Ireland. People with dementia and their families, carers and supporters have felt the challenges of lockdown and the associated restrictions on travel, household visitors and daily social interactions most keenly and Fujitsu Ireland is committed to helping The ASI continue to deliver its vital support to this amazing community. We invite our staff, clients, partners and the Irish public to sign up on teaday.ie, put the kettle on, and raise much-needed funds for this incredible organisation.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned the Italian ambassador to condemn the Italian premier's remarks on the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to a statement, the ambassador was told that Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi's remarks were against the spirit of the Turkey-Italy alliance, Anadolu agency reported.

The ministry stressed Draghi should "immediately" take back his "impudent and ugly remarks."

There was criticism in some circles on the seating arrangement at Tuesday's meeting, where the Turkish President and the EU Council head Charles Michel sat down in separate chairs while von der Leyen was initially left standing. She was then offered a seat on a couch, with Cavusoglu also sitting down on a separate couch opposite her.
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 63 points lower at 14,882 around 8.40 am, indicating a negative start for the benchmark indices on Friday.

Here are the top stocks to track in today's session:

Bharti Airtel: Department of Telecom (DoT) in an SC affidavit said it is planning to slap Videocon Telecommunications Ltd's adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of Rs 1,376 crore on However, Airtel has questioned the legal validity of the demand.

Srei Infrastructure Finance: Its subsidiary Srei Equipment Finance said it had received an expression of interest for up to $250 million capital infusion in the company from international PE funds.

Zensar Technologies: The company has entered into a global strategic partnership with US-based Claimatic. This new, innovative partnership leverages the respective strengths of Claimatic and Zensar to create compelling value for both companies and their mutual clients, the company in its BSE filing said.

Thyrocare Technologies: Arindam Haldar has resigned as Chief Executive Officer of Thyrocare Technologies, for personal reasons. He had joined Thyrocare in September 2020.

BSNL, MTNL: State-run telecom firms BSNL and MTNL have not cleared their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of over Rs 10,000 crore as calculated by the Department of Telecom, a PTI report, quoting sources saai

Ashok Leyland, Seimens: Switch Mobility Automotive, a unit of Ashok Leyland, and Siemens have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) towards building a co-operative technological partnership in electric commercial mobility segment and execute e-mobility projects in India.

Future Retail: Amazon has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court's division bench order that had vacated a stay on Kishore Biyani-led Future Group proceeding with its Rs 24,713 crore asset sale to Reliance Industries.

Torrent Power: Lalit Malik will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer at Torrent Power with effect from May 1, 2021, the company said in a BSE filing. Sanjay Dalal will retire from the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company from close of working hours of April 30, 2021, it added.

Infosys: The IT major said ArcelorMittal has chosen it to help accelerate the companys digital transformation journey and enable next- generation application management and business process management (BPM) services for ArcelorMittal Europe.

Khadim India: ICRA has revised long term credit rating on the company's overall borrowings of Rs 204 crore to BBB-/Stable from BBB/Negative. The short term rating on the company's borrowings has been revised to A3 from A3+ by ICRA, said the company in its BSE filing.
BRUSSELS  Talks in Vienna aimed at reinvigorating the Iran nuclear deal that the Trump administration left in 2018 and which Tehran began breaking a year later made some progress this week: They didnt break down.

Senior diplomats involved in the talks agreed on Friday that initial steps in two working groups designed to bring both the United States and Iran back into compliance with the accord were positive and would continue next week.

Although there are no direct talks between Iran and the United States, the other signatories to the deal  Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, under the chairmanship of the European Union  are engaging in a kind of shuttle diplomacy between them.

One working group is focusing on how to lift the harsh economic sanctions that the United States imposed that are inconsistent with the terms of the nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The other working group is focusing on how Iran can return to the limits on enriched uranium and the centrifuges to produce it under the terms of the deal.
Ocean Adventures, the marina and habitat in the Dominican Republic of The Dolphin Company family, the largest park operator in Latin America and the #1 swimming with dolphins company in the world, announced that they are ready to offer fun, educational and safe water activities to their visitors during the Summer Vacations.

Ocean Adventures was acquired by The Dolphin Company at the end of 2019, it offers excursions at sea in the Bavaro area of Punta Cana. Among the activities it has are:



Sailing Splash, the experience of sailing on a catamaran, snorkeling in a beautiful reef and an exciting circuit that contains speedboats, encounter with stingrays and snorkeling with sharks.

Dr. Fish Ocean Spa, the only floating spa tour in the world, will pamper guests with relaxing treatments.

Caribbean Pirates, a fun treasure hunt that culminates in interaction with sharks and stingrays.

Swim with dolphins, a unique experience in which there is an educational interaction with bottlenose dolphins that will teach their guests the importance of caring for the environment and the species that inhabit it.

We are ready to receive the tourists who visit us from different parts of the world and different points of the Dominican Republic during these vacations. We have innovative, safe and quality activities, designed with the aim of providing our guests with a fun, educational and unforgettable day, all this of course, under the strict safety and hygiene measures stipulated by the WHO, the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic and our comprehensive Dolphin Cares program that governs our operation during this contingency period, said Emmanuel Gilbert, General Manager for Ocean Adventures.
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.
AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine may also be restricted for under-40s when Britain's immunisation drive moves down to younger age groups, it was claimed today.

Medical watchdogs will assess data on the jab's links to extremely rare blood clots in 'scrupulous detail' in order to paint a clearer picture on the exact risk-benefit ratio.

They have already advised 18 to 29 year olds are given an alternative to the UK-made jab because their odds of falling seriously ill with Covid are so small that the benefits of AstraZeneca's do not clearly outweigh the potential clot risks.

Analysis of the UK vaccine rollout has found that younger people appear more prone to clotting after vaccination but there is no set cut-off age. Experts told MailOnline there is a 'gradual age gradient of risk'.

Professor Jeremy Brown, a member of the JCVI, which advises No10 on jabs, told the Daily Telegraph: 'We're going to start vaccinating phase two healthy adults, starting with the 40 to 50-year-olds, and then we'll go to the 30 to 40-year-olds.

'When we are approaching that point we'll need to think about this a little bit more to be absolutely sure at what point in that age cut-off  given the situation we are facing at that time, and any more data that comes through on this rare complication, because more data will come through  then that might alter the age range.'

GPs warned today the announcement earlier this week had unintentionally caused 'panic' and sparked a wave of cancellations for the AstraZeneca jab.

Doctors in Nottingham and Peterborough said they had also been inundated with calls from concerned patients who have already had their first dose.

Statisticians insist the risk of under-30s developing blood clots from AstraZeneca's jab is so tiny that if Wembley stadium was filled with people in the age group, only one would be struck down.

For older adults, the risk of blood clots is even smaller - but their risk of dying from Covid is much higher, meaning the risks versus benefits swings heavily in favour of vaccination.

The move to recommend under-30s get a different jab does not mean it is unsafe for young people, with neither the UK's drug regulator or the EU's ordering the jab to be banned for certain age groups.

But both acknowledge cases of blood clots from the life-saving jab appear to be occurring slightly more often in younger adults.

EU nations - who have been embroiled in a stand-off with AstraZeneca for months - have defied guidance based on statistical analysis showing the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risks of the vast majority of adults. Germany has halted the jab for under-60s, while France has made the same move for under-55s.

France and Germany have both advised younger adults already given AstraZeneca's jab should get a second dose of Pfizer or Moderna's - taking the opposite stance to British counter-parts.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) today said there was 'no adequate data' on switching doses. The UK is currently trialling this dosing regimen, and scientists say it is likely to be safe and effective but results are not expected until later in the year.

Amid fears the guidance could scupper the UK's vaccination roll-out, which is heavily reliant on AstraZeneca's jab, ministers yesterday sought to dismiss blood clot fears. Health Secretary Matt Hancock compared the risk of blood clots overall - one in 250,000 - to taking a long-haul flight.

Britons still back the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine - as 75 per cent tell pollsters (pictured) they consider it to be safe

Professor Jeremy Brown, a member of the JCVI, which advises No10 on jabs, told the Daily Telegraph: 'We're going to start vaccinating phase two healthy adults, starting with the 40 to 50-year-olds, and then we'll go to the 30 to 40-year-olds'

Nottingham GP partner Dr Irfan Malik told Pulse Magazine the new advice created panic among patients.

He said: Patients and the public have become very concerned about the risk of clots with the Astra Zeneca vaccine  they are declining to have it. Im afraid this has been badly managed and stopping the under-30s from having the vaccine has alarmed the public.

The changes have led to a substantial increase in calls to practices creating a further huge increase in workload.

Peterborough GP Neil Modha said the vaccine hesitancy was not just exclusive to under-30s, adding: 'Its not just under-30s who are calling, the person who I just spoke to was 53, so its just general increased anxiety unfortunately about the vaccine programme.

'And then people have been signposted to their GPs for conversations and theyre not easy and simple conversations, you need to give people time and space to have them.

But polls show 75 per cent of the public still consider the jab to be safe. A fit and healthy 34-year-old who was left in intensive care with blood clots after being given the AstraZeneca jab, has also sought to downplay fears.

Mohammed Choudhury, from Poplar in east London, told MailOnline: 'Despite my experience I would still advise anyone to have the jab. I just want to raise awareness of the signs to look for in the extremely rare cases where blood clots developed as a side-effect.'

Professor Anthony Harnden, the deputy chairman of the JCVI, said the public 'should remain confident' in the vaccine programme despite the changes to guidance.

He stressed to The Telegraph that the link with blood clots was a 'very, very rare, extremely rare safety signal'. However, he said the new advice that those under 30 should be offered an alternative to AstraZeneca  is unlikely to change.

Professor Harnden said his team was poring over data for other groups and that they will have a 'much more clear' view a by the time the programme moves to thirty-somethings.

Any decision to restrict AstraZeneca jabs to adults in their thirties could damage the UK's roll-out.

Ministers insist there is enough doses of Moderna and Pfizer to cover the remaining 8.5million under-30s who have yet to be jabbed.

But estimates suggest there is around 10million adults in the 30-39 age bracket - and most won't have been offered their first dose yet.

No10 has bought 40million doses of Pfizer's jab, but is rationing it for second doses to ensure the 11million people already given their first dose get their top-up within 12 weeks.

Britain has also purchased 17million doses of Moderna's vaccine. It means that if the UK was to completely reserve supplies, there would be enough of the alternatives for around 17.5million people - similar to how many under-40s still need to be jabbed.

But there is no guarantee all the supplies will come by July 31 - the date ministers have set for offering every adult their first dose.

Other jabs, including ones made by Novavax and Johnson and Johnson, are set to come on stream in the coming months, which could provide the roll-out a much-needed boost in the face of any other age-restrictions on AstraZeneca's.

It comes after poll data showed Britons still back AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine, with 75 per cent saying they consider it to be safe.

GPs warned yesterday that patients have started cancelling appointments for the vaccine and asking for alternatives

This graphic shows the seating plan of Wembley Stadium which holds 90,000 people. If it were full and 10,000 people squeezed onto the pitch, there would be 100,000 people - the same number as Professor Spiegelhalter's risk groups. If all of them were 20-29 and had the AstraZeneca jab, one would be expected to get a blood clot, top left. While if they were all 50-59, no blood clots would be expected. The panels on the right show the risk of serious Covid if they all refused the vaccine

The Government yesterday wheeled out a series of graphs comparing the risk of falling ill with Covid compared to the threat of developing blood clots after getting the AZ vaccine in various age groups. In low Covid levels, every 100,000 vaccines prevents 0.8 ICU admissions from coronavirus in people under 30 but 1.1 people will suffer blood clotting after having the jab, making the threat higher than the virus itself

Mohammed Choudhury (pictured with his wife Alia) has told how a freak reaction to the Astra-Zeneca Covid jab left him in intensive care with blood clots, fearing for his life

The married financial services worker from Poplar, east London, is now recovering at home and will have to take blood thinners for at least the next six months

Outrage at AstraZeneca boss's 'silence over safety worries around Covid jab' The boss of AstraZeneca was criticised last night for failing to defend his company's vaccine as its safety was questioned. Pascal Soriot, who is currently staying in Australia with his family, was accused of not properly explaining the benefits of the jab to the public as it was linked to rare blood clots. Regulators have stressed that the benefits far outweigh the risks but they have recommended alternatives for people aged under 30. But EdenTree Investment Management, a top AstraZeneca investor, said Mr Soriot had failed to properly defend the jab in public and should be doing so more forcefully. Ketan Patel, a fund manager at the firm, said the chief executive 'hasn't been that public and being halfway around the world doesn't give the right signal or message'. 'Perhaps it is right to say where is the chief executive in terms of articulating the healthcare benefits? It's OK to work remotely but if you are the boss of a multi-billion pound healthcare company with a vaccine, I can see why people would be thinking 'why isn't Pascal here',' he said. It comes after another top shareholder, Royal London, rallied to Mr Soriot's defence saying his efforts during the pandemic have been 'heroic'. Mr Patel told the Daily Telegraph: 'Pascal has done hugely well, the company is delivering good growth, but that success is being overshadowed by negative sentiment over the vaccine. 'If we were grading the PR effort, they could do better. 'If you look at the data, and see that the chances of getting a blood clot with this vaccine is about four in one million, compared to four in 10,000 for the contraceptive pill, that perspective needs to be highlighted.' It comes after another top shareholder, Royal London, rallied to Mr Soriot's defence, saying his efforts during the pandemic have been 'heroic'. Insiders at Astrazeneca have previously stressed that Mr Soriot is working European business hours and keeps in regular contact with colleagues and clients via videoconferencing. They said current restrictions mean he would still have to do much of his work remotely even if he was in the UK. However, the company has said he plans to return as soon as travel restrictions are lifted. Last night an Astra spokesman said: 'Travel restrictions and local lockdowns mean it makes little sense to be travelling right now, particularly given that many countries require quarantine. 'Mr Soriot will continue to empower his team of experts and remain in regular contact with operational leaders in the many sites across the world.' Advertisement

The results by YouGov show a drop of two percentage points since March.

But it still ranks close to opinions of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine which 78 per cent dubbed safe, The Times reports.

Nearly two thirds of those aged 18 to 24 felt the vaccine was okay to use, while just 13 per cent of all people polled deemed the AstraZeneca jab unsafe.

However, GPs warned yesterday that patients have started cancelling appointments for the vaccine and asking for alternatives.

Dr David Triska, a GP partner at Witley and Milford Surgeries in Surrey, told MailOnline: 'We have now been inundated with consultations relating to headaches and people defaulting their AstraZeneca appointment to try and get another vaccine. We are reassuring them the balance of risk is in favour of receiving the vaccine.'

The comments were echoed by the Mail On Sunday's resident GP, Dr Ellie Cannon, who revealed she'd received lots of 'requests for brain scans from well people' who are concerned they may have developed the brain clots.

She said there had been 'mass panic' following yesterday's announcement by British regulators, tweeting: 'Lots of calls from patients thinking theyve had a blood clot or wanting to be checked for one...... Have we handled this reporting correctly? Storm for GPs and A&E colleagues...'

The Government has launched a media blitz on the back of the JCVI's ruling yesterday as officials scramble to shore up public confidence in the vaccine.

Mr Hancock warned people under the age of 30 that refusing a coronavirus vaccine because of blood clot fears could 'ruin your life' due to the risk of catching the disease and developing 'debilitating' long Covid.

And Boris Johnson told the public the jab was 'safe' urging everyone who had booked an appointment to show up.

Even Britons who have been struck down with the extremely rare blood clots have called for calm.

Mr Choudhury, a married financial services worker, said he thought he had pulled a muscle on a 5km run two weeks after having the jab.

'But within days I was in hospital and they told me the blood clots might reach my brain,' he told MailOnline.

Despite being told he will need to take blood thinners for the next six months, Mr Choudhury still strongly believes people should have the vaccine.

UK regulators have insisted it is safe for Britons to receive their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, unless they suffered one of the rare blood clots after their first dose.

They say there is no evidence that the rare complication - which is mainly occurring alongside a low platelet count - is linked to the second jab and it might be an 'idiosyncratic' reaction to the first.

However, Germany's regulator says the opposite because it doesn't expect there to be any risks of mix-and-matching. France has also taken the same move.

WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said: 'There is no adequate data to be able to say whether this is something that could be done, so... interchangeability of vaccine was not something that we could give a recommendation on.'

Studies involving mixing vaccine doses are underway.

It comes after a study by Public Health England found the rollout has prevented 10,400 deaths in over-60s since the first jab was given to Margaret Keenan on December 8.

PHE compared the number of Covid deaths until the end of March with the expected number had millions of over-60s not been immunised.

They estimated the vaccine had stopped 9,100 deaths in those aged 80 and over, 1,200 in 70 to 79 year olds and 100 in 60 to 69s.

Mr Hancock said: 'That's more than 10,000 families who haven't suffered the loss of a loved one.

'The science is clear  vaccines save lives. All three of our approved vaccines have been deemed safe and effective by our world-class independent medicines regulator.

'The figures published today show why it's so vital people get their second dose too. When people get the call, they should get the jab.'

On Wednesday UK medical regulators concluded the AstraZeneca vaccine was a 'reasonably plausible' cause of 79 cases of unusual blood clots, including 19 deaths. The NHS has now cancelled thousands of appointments for those aged 18-29 who were booked in to get their first dose of the AZ jab.

Most under-30s are not yet eligible but those who are, such as unpaid carers, will be rebooked with a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

The new advice from medical regulators has led to fears younger adults could shun the jab.

However, Mr Hancock said vaccinations are 'the right thing for them, and the right thing for their loved ones, and ultimately the right thing for the country'.

Healthy 34-year-old man who suffered multiple freak blood clots that left him in intensive care two weeks after having AstraZeneca vaccine urges others to still take the Oxford jab

A fit and healthy 34-year-old has told how a freak reaction to AstraZeneca's Covid jab left him in intensive care with blood clots, fearing for his life.

'I thought I had pulled a muscle on my 5km run nearly two weeks after having the jab - but within days I was in hospital and they told me the blood clots might reach my brain,' said Mohammed Choudhury.

The married financial services worker from Poplar, east London, is now recovering at home and will have to take blood thinners for at least the next six months.

But he says he still strongly believes people should have the vaccine - even though he will not have the second jab himself on medical advice.

'Despite my experience I would still advise anyone to have the jab. I just want to raise awareness of the signs to look for in the extremely rare cases where blood clots developed as a side-effect' Mohammed told MailOnline.

Mohammed, 34, had no immediate reaction after receiving the jab and when he began to feel pains in his calf some 13 days later he initially thought it was due to pulling a muscle after one of his regular 5km lockdown runs with wife Alia.

But over the following five days he developed chest pains, breathlessness and headaches, and sought medical help by calling 111 and was admitted to The Royal London Hospital that evening after being advised to visit A&E. After a series of tests he was rapidly put on critical care.

'In the space of 24 hours I went from expecting maybe a painkiller for a pulled muscle or something to being in a critical care ward on my own, unable to be visited by my wife,' he told MailOnline in an exclusive interview.

'There was a lot of fear of the unknown at first, as I didn't know for a few days what the brain scan showed and whether there was an even higher risk to my health.

'I didn't know how dangerous these clots were as I have no history of this and I'm a healthy young man. It's not the kind of thing that's ever happened to me before.'

Mohammed, who lives with Alia, 31, in Poplar said that despite his experience he would still advise anyone to have the jab

How Mohammed Choudhury's suffered rare blood clots after taking AZ vaccine Mohammed and Alia March 10: Alia and Mohammed Choudhury both receive the AstraZeneca jab at vaccination centre. March 23 (approx): Mohammed begins to feel pain in his right calf and puts it down to muscle strain after running with his wife. March 23-March 28: The leg pain persists and he also begins to experience pains in his chest, along with breathlessness and dizziness March 29: He calls NHS Direct and after a telephone consultation with a doctor an appointment is made at the Royal London Hospital's A&E Dept. Mohammed is admitted to a ward for tests March 29-30: Tests reveal that he has blood clots in his leg and lungs; a CT scan is ordered to check for clots on the brain. Mohammed is moved into the critical care ward. March 31: Mohammed is relieved to hear that his brain is clear from clots. April 5 (Easter Monday): Mohammed is released from hospital and now faces six months on anti-coagulant drugs. Advertisement

Mohammed, who lives with Alia, 31, in Poplar said that despite his experience he would still advise anyone to have the jab, but wanted to raise awareness of the signs to look for in the extremely rare cases where blood clots developed as a side-effect.

The drama began on March 10 when Alia was called in for her own jab and because of some missed appointments, Mohammed was asked if he wanted to take up one of the spare doses and agreed.

It wasn't until something like 13 days later that he first noticed pain in his right calf and because the husband and wife had both been regularly running 5k twice a week, he assumed it was a muscle pain.

'I put some ice on it, but it didn't go away and a few days later I began to get chest pain and headaches,' he said.

'One Sunday night (March 28) it became unbearable and I called NHS Direct and they made me an appointment to go straight to A&E at the Royal London Hospital.

'The diagnosis of DVT was a real shock. They told me it started in my leg and had spread to my lungs and they would have to give me a CT scan to check if there was any clots on the brain.

'Initially I was on the ward, then moved into critical care. This was out of nowhere, I had no understanding that this was even a possibility. When they said they needed to scan me to check for clots in the brain, that was a really scary moment.

'I had to call Alia and have a really upsetting conversation with her about what they'd found and what might happen next. It was very apparent from the beginning that this was very new - many of the doctors were saying this was uncharted territory and we'd have to see how things went as they progressed.

I was moved to a critical care unit where I had a few IV tubes going into me with blood thinners and anti-biotics because I had a temperature and there was also a drip with antibodies.

'The general aim was to allow my body's platelet count to recover while also thinning my blood to stop any new clots forming or growing those already present.'

Thankfully, after a few days, Mohammed's brain was declared free of clots and on Easter Monday, he was released from the Royal London.

HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE SUFFERED THE RARE BRAIN CLOTS AFTER GETTING THE ASTRAZENECA VACCINE? MHRA data leaked to ITV shows that, in total, more fatal blood clots have developed in 30 to 39-year-olds than any other age group. According to the regulator's review, by March 31 there had been 79 cases of the side effect and 19 deaths. The 79 cases occurred in 51 women and 28 men, aged from 18 to 79. Some 14 cases of the 19 were cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), a specific type of clot that prevents blood from draining from the brain. The other five cases were thrombosis. An age breakdown of the cases is shown below: Age range 18  29 30  39 40  49 50  59 60  69 70  79 Unknown Cases 11 16 10 12 13 5 12 Fatalities 3 6 2 2 3 1 2 Total 79 19 Advertisement

He said: 'I can't thank them enough for the care they gave me, it was quite exemplary.

'They were really good the way they communicated with me and they also showed a lot of concern for my wife because they knew she was on her own. We were able to speak on the phone each day.'

Tax adviser Alia added: 'We have been together working from home just the two of us throughout the lockdown so it's a really hard situation to manage emotionally when you're suddenly on your own.'

Now Mohammed will have to be on a course of anti-coagulants for the next six months to prevent any new clots forming as the clots will hopefully be absorbed back into his body. He still has pain in his legs and gets tired easily but the headaches have gone.

Mohammed said he had been advised by doctors not to take the second AZ jab. 'It's just too risky for me, given what's happened. I'm not sure about what the position would be with other vaccines, but for now I'm just concentrating on getting better. It's frustrating that I don't have as much energy as I did have before I got ill, but hopefully I'll get stronger as time goes on. It'll be a while before I start running again though.'

But he is adamant he doesn't want his experience to put anyone off having the injection.

'The chances of getting Covid are far, far higher than the kind of freak reaction I experienced, and Covid poses a risk to everyone around you, especially older relatives, so I would absolutely say get the jab.

'But I do think people need to be aware of the signs to look for which could be an indication of clots forming  pain in the legs or chest, possibly headaches, breathlessness and blurred vision.

'I was lucky that it was spotted early, and I hope anyone else in the same situation will seek medical help as soon as possible.'

Mohammed - who has since been discharged - said an examination of his most recent routine blood test a few years ago showed no sign of a low platelet count.

The Royal London Hospital was contacted for a comment.
SPRINGFIELD  City officials are making arrangements for the opening of some swim sites, youth camps and enrichment programs this summer, but with the need to follow state COVID-19 guidelines and to hire sufficient staff.

Patrick J. Sullivan, the citys director of parks, buildings and recreation management, said Thursday that the idea is to maximize summer fun for city youth after a year-long pandemic that prompted the cancellation of city programs and many recreation outlets last summer.

Last June, the city announced it would not open public pools, Five Mile Pond and youth camps due to the coronavirus.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the goal this year is reopening our summer family recreational outlets under public health and safety protocols and defeating COVID-19.

Details are expected to be provided within the next two weeks, Sullivan said.

The mayors directive, per the Governors guidance, was to open pools and summer recreation enrichment programs, so we are working on that, Sullivan said. He feels its very important that our youth have a positive outlet this year and our marching orders are to turn over every stone and find a positive way to do both swimming sites and summer enrichment locations.

The number of swim sites will depend on the city being able to hire enough lifeguards and provide training, among other staffing needs, Sullivan said. Lifeguard training is scheduled April 20-23, and those interested can call 413-787-6298.

The city is also planning summer enrichment programs this year, to be offered at various neighborhood locations in conjunction with the School Department, Sullivan said. Typically there are six locations provided to neighborhood youth for a day camp-like experience, near either a pool or splash pad, he said.

The number of sites and the extent of programming is not finalized due to COVID-19 issues, Sullivan said.

All of our locations will be dependent on the amount of staff we can hire and the new (COVID-19) regulations, he said.

In addition, the city is scheduled to open proposals on Friday from organizations for the reopening and operation of Camp Wilder, a city summer camp program on Parker Street in Sixteen Acres.

Camp Wilder provides week-long camps for youth, but the number of campers will need to conform with state regulations, Sullivan said. The guidelines have changed over time in response to virus trends.

Sarno, in a written response to questions about the reopening plans, said his administration must continue the delicate balance of re-opening aspects by utilizing public health, science and medical best practices.

This will move our City forward toward not only recovery, but just as important, prosperity, Sarno said.
NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wheels Up, the leading brand in private aviation, today announces an initiative with Bell Textron, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, to lead the industry both in short- and long-term solutions with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL). The collaboration between the industry leaders will set a new standard in addressing the growing demand for convenient intra-urban travel from/to city-centers and regional airport helipads.

The new initiative demonstrates a shared commitment to innovation and the expansion of the Wheels Up total aviation solution portfolio by providing VTOL transportation products and services. The initial list of high-demand markets are under review with an expected launch of service in 2021.

The introduction of VTOL transportation in the select markets will add to the seamless travel experience along the entire travel journey for the Wheels Up Members and Customers. This initiative will also enhance air travel flexibility and reduce vehicular congestion, while enabling Wheels Up and Bell to actively explore innovation opportunities to reduce overall environmental impact.

The collaboration with Bell, which has designed, certified, and manufactured commercial and military aircraft for more than 85 years, will enable Wheels Up Members and Customers to travel via Bell's industry-leading VTOL aircraft across a number of intra-city markets. Bell is a global leader in VTOL, and the engineering, technical expertise, and track record of the team at Bell is unsurpassed in the industry.

"We are always looking for different ways and new features to enhance the services we provide to our Members and Customers and this is a logical evolution of our systematic disruption of the aviation industry, and a vision to extend our holistic approach to air transportation," said Kenny Dichter, Founder and CEO of Wheels Up. "Our strategic initiative with global innovation leader Bell is focused on serving our Members' and Customers' travel needs using our leading-edge Avianis Flight Management System technology platform for helicopter service."

"Bell is proud to join with Wheels Up to make this cutting-edge travel solution a reality," said Mitch Snyder, President and CEO, Bell. "We have a history of setting new standards within the industry and utilizing our ability to deliver flexible travel solutions to market. We are excited to work with a company like Wheels Up to display the convenience of helicopter-based travel."

Wheels Up also plans to provide this connectivity and new transportation option to customers of Delta Air Lines, an existing partner. Currently, Wheels Up Members and Delta customers can travel seamlessly using private and commercial options and will be able to select VTOL as another solution in their travel journey.

"We must challenge the status quo as we envision the future of travel," said Bill Lentsch, Delta Air Lines Chief Customer Experience Officer. "We look forward to our customers being able to take advantage of the latest innovations from Wheels Up."

About Wheels Up

Wheels Up, the leading brand in private aviation, is the only company in the industry to offer a total private aviation solution that includes world-class safety, service, and flexibility through on-demand flights, membership programs, corporate solutions, aircraft management, whole aircraft sales, and commercial travel benefits through a strategic partnership with Delta Air Lines. Wheels Up, which was founded and is led by renowned entrepreneur Kenny Dichter, is uniquely positioned to offer its Customers and Members access to over 1,500 safety-vetted and verified aircraft.

Through the Wheels Up App anyone can search, book, and fly. Wheels Up Connect, Core, and Business memberships provide enhancements such as flight sharing, empty-leg Hot Flights, Shuttle Flights, Shared Flights, signature Wheels Down events, and exclusive member benefits from preeminent lifestyle brands. The Company's ongoing Wheels Up Cares program aligns with philanthropic organizations and initiatives that affect and matter to the Company and its Customers, Members, stakeholders, families, and friends. The Wheels Up Cares fleet is comprised of five custom painted Beechcraft King Air 350i aircraft; each plane serves as a flying symbol for a specific cause.

Wheels Up Media Contact:

JONESWORKS

[email protected]

About BELL

Thinking above and beyond is what we do. For more than 80 years, we've been reimagining the experience of flight  and where it can take us.

We are pioneers. We were the first to break the sound barrier and to certify a commercial helicopter. We were a part of NASA's first lunar mission and brought advanced tiltrotor systems to market. Today, we're defining the future of on-demand mobility.

Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas  as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Textron Inc.,  we have strategic locations around the globe. And with nearly one quarter of our workforce having served, helping our military achieve their missions is a passion of ours.

Above all, our breakthrough innovations deliver exceptional experiences to our customers. Efficiently. Reliably. And always, with safety at the forefront.

About Textron Inc.

Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, and Textron Systems. For more information, visit: www.textron.com

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements which may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the risk that the parties do not reach definitive agreements related to the initiative, the risk that the launch of VTOL services does not occur in the timeframe and in the manner anticipated and other risks related to launching an innovative aviation program.

SOURCE Wheels Up
The Election Commission (EC) has again issued a show cause notice to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, seeking a written explanation for her "attempt to berate and vilify the central forces by making false, provocative and intemperate statements".

This is the second EC notice to the Trinamool Congress supremo in a week. Mamata Banerjee was issued another notice earlier on Wednesday in which the EC directed her to submit a written clarification explaining her open demand for votes on communal grounds for her party in the ongoing Assembly elections in the state

The new EC notice, issued on Thursday night, has asked the chief minister to submit her written explanation to the commission before 11 a.m. on April 10 failing which the "commission shall take a decision without further reference to you".

In a two-page notice sent to the chief minister the commission mentioned that a report by the CEO of West Bengal with an authenticated transcript of the chief minister's speech made on march 28, said: "Who gave so much power to them that the central police are threatening the women without allowing them to cast their votes. I saw the same thing in 2019. I saw the same thing in 2016".

In another portion she said: "I know under whose instruction they beat up and how they beat up, It is your duty to save the family of the people. If any of your mothers and sisters suffer a single stroke with a stick attack them... I am telling you. It is the right of the women. And if anyone of our mothers and sisters is denied entry in the voting compartment all of you come out and revolt."

The commission also refers to a speech made by her at Cooch Behar on April 7 where she said, "And if CAPF create disturbances, I will tell you, ladies and group of you go and restrain (gherao) them which another group will go to cast their votes. If you engage yourself only in restraining them then they will be happy that you didn't cast your vote. It is their plan. It is the plan of BJP. And your plan will be that you will not be scared if they try to intimidate you coming to your village on the one hand, and on the other you just talk to them. Talking to them will tantamount to restrain them."

The commission in its notice mentioned that "going by the statements, and the historicity of the subsequent statements, it is more than obvious that Banerjee has been consisting in berating and demoralising the Central Para Military Forces who often played a significant role in assisting the concerned state government. Mamata Banerjee has been trying to make an emotional pitch for women voters to go to the extent of inciting them to attack the personnel of CPFs".

Election Commission is prima facie convinced that your statements are in violation of Model Code of Conduct as well as sections of 186, 189 and 505 of Indian Penal Code 1860, the notice said.
The wife of a Chinese NGO worker jailed for subversion after a secret trial last September has arrived in the United States with the couple's daughter.



Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hunan are believed to have secretly tried and jailed three non-governmental organization (NGO) workers, Cheng Yuan, Liu Dazhi, and Wuge Jianxiong, for "subversion of state power" in September after holding them incommunicado for nearly 18 months.



Cheng's wife Shi Minglei arrived in the U.S. with the couple's daughter on April 7, with the help of the Christian rights group ChinaAid.



Shortly after landing, Shi tweeted: "Cheng Yuan's wife and daughter are free!"



"Easter has just ended, and we have said goodbye to darkness ... and brought me and our five-year-old daughter to freedom, with the help of ChinaAid," she wrote.



Shi told RFA after her arrival that she still has no documentation to show that Cheng and the others have indeed been tried or sentenced.



"They acted illegally at every stage of the case," she said. "From the persecution of the family members following Cheng's arrest, to the later stages when the case had been sent to court."



"That has to be the reason that the authorities haven't made any details of the case public so far."

Legal help denied



The three defendants have been denied meetings with attorneys hired by their families since being detained on July 22, 2019.



The lawyers were told in March 2020 that the defenders had "dismissed" them and that the government had assigned them government-funded lawyers.



But the families said they believe that the lawyers were fired under duress, and said they have had no contact with the government-appointed lawyers.



For now, Shi said she was relieved to be beyond the reach of the state security police.



"It wasn't easy for us to get to the United States," she said. "I am very grateful that my daughter is now free, and that we can't be used as hostages, or as a way to threaten Cheng Yuan."

'No evidence at all'



Changsha Funeng co-founder Yang Zhanqing, who now lives in the U.S., said the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) often uses political cases involving public dissent or rights activism to make an example of its critics. The fact that they are not doing that in this case suggests that even the authorities can't believe in the charges against the Changsha Three.



"I'm guessing there is no evidence at all, and no legal basis at all [for bringing this case]," Yang told RFA. "It's purely a form of official retaliation."



Yang had earlier said that the three men were targeted because their rights work had received overseas funding, which the ruling Chinese Communist Party regards as "collusion with hostile foreign forces," and a threat to its national security.



Last year, San Francisco district supervisor Gordon Mar called in a letter to the city's mayor for the city administration to rethink its twinning ties to Changsha following the treatment meted out to the Changsha Three.



In a Dec. 24 letter to San Francisco mayor London Breed, Mar called on the city authorities to reconsider the twinning arrangement with Changsha, and for a letter to be sent to her Chinese counterpart Zheng Jianxin calling for the trio's release.



Reported by Yi Bing for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
The biggest value of the Covid-19 vaccine is reducing severe disease and mortality," says Ramanan Laxminarayan, founder and director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy, a health think-tank. "Why waste the vaccine on 20-year-olds?"

As the global Covid-19 ground zero shifts to India, as The Wall Street Journal put it, with nearly 100,000 cases per day, we spoke to Laxminarayan, also a senior research scholar at Princeton University and an affiliate professor at the University of Washington, on what the second wave means for India and what India should do to control it.

Laxminarayan, who has been working on Covid-19 from the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, spoke about how Indians should not believe the myth of lower mortality from the disease in India and take the disease seriously.

Edited excerpts from the conversation:

Did you see the second wave coming and how is it different this time, particularly in India?

The second wave was always going to happen. The question was the size of the second wave. You have to remember a few things: One, the size of a wave is only apparent to us through testing today. We are doing far more testing than we did one year ago so the wave appears to be bigger, it is not necessarily bigger.

Second, COVID-19 cases are going up quite fast and that is because a year ago the country was under a lockdown, so the rate of increase was much slower because the transmission was slower. Today it is uninhibited and so we get a taste of what COVID-19 looks like when there are no restrictions. We can imagine what the country would have looked like a year back had there been no restrictions.

You also have to remember that COVID-19 works with a 10-day lag for infections and then a 10-day to two-week lag post that for mortality. Everything that we see happening now was dictated by behaviour that happened two-three weeks ago and two-three weeks ago was when there was a feeling that COVID-19 was firmly in the rear-view mirror. Although people say, well, there was not a huge change with respect to compliance in mask wearing and so forth, there was. The virus responds to human dynamics and a couple of weeks ago there was a lot less care about COVID-19.

Lastly, from a purely theoretical understanding of the disease, the actual size of a wave and subsequent waves are determined by the strength of the Countries in western Europe, which had very significant lockdowns, were effective in controlling the disease then because they have smaller populations, but they had multiple waves. India probably had a much bigger wave in the first round with a lot more people infected and therefore it took a while for it to come down and for the second wave to pick up. It is hard to predict what will happen here because it is entirely going to be a function of what restrictions are in place. Any restrictions that are put in place today will not see any effect for at least another couple of weeks.

Are you arguing for restrictions at this point?

I think there should be restrictions which are highly localised. This is what I had argued for in March 2020, but I realised that the government had only one choice in the absence of evidence of where the disease was and what would happen without healthcare facilities or with doctors knowing what to do. They chose a nationwide blanket restriction in the hope that that could sort of lay things and it did. It certainly had a huge impact and data show that comprehensively. At this point, I think local jurisdictions have much better information and as cases go up people will also protect themselves a lot better.

We are at about 100,000 cases each day right now. How much worse could it get? If everything were to converge with our vaccination efforts, where do you think we could land, from a modelling point of view?

From a modelling point of view, 100,000 reported cases is probably more like two-three million actual cases per day. Not everyone is getting tested, there is not even the testing capacity to take on all of these people. Vaccination is progressing at the best rate that it can given the current constraints, which is about three million a day, because we had vaccines manufactured from October-November 2020. India's actual vaccine manufacturing capacity without accounting for exports is just over two million a day. Of this, 10-20% is Covaxin. We are not going to be able to vaccinate three million people a day in the next month or two months because you just do not have enough vaccines. It is only a matter of time before people who have paid for their vaccines are going to want their vaccines as well and that is going to run into some rough weather. At the rate of two million vaccines a day, it is going to take us two-and-a-half years to even get 70% of the population vaccinated with two doses.

I think vaccination is part of the strategy and it is eventually the final strategy but, in the short term, it is really going to have to be people taking precautions themselves. Visibility into the virus and its variants and the consequences of the disease are the most important. It is a myth that case fatality rates are lower in India. Any systematic evidence that we have gathered, based on literally millions of contact tracing, shows that case fatality rates in India are no different, if calculated correctly, than of other countries. All these India exception myths are simply not the case and the damage that they do is telling people that this is not as serious as it may be in the US. We have to deal with this disease seriously.

You are saying we should get it out of our heads that India is an exception in terms of Covid-19? That we are the same as anywhere else in the world?

The only thing that makes a difference for us is that we are a much younger population--65% of Indians are under the age of 35 years. That block of people do not develop severe disease in general. Once we account for that, the rest is exactly the same thing.

The other thing that works in our favour is that our people who are above the age of 75-80 years tend to be, oddly enough, healthier than the 75-plus year-olds in other countries. This is because of what is called selection bias--in a country, where those who have made it to 75 years are generally healthier to begin with, because otherwise they would not have made it to that age.

But, we have a dangerous age group which is between 45 to 75 years. In that age group, the case fatality rates in India are sharply higher than in countries like China, Brazil, Italy and the US. That is the age group that really worries me the most and that is because we know that comorbidities are the single biggest driver of severe diseases and mortality. If you are not diabetic or hypertensive, you do not have COPD [Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease], you are not obese, then your risk of severe disease comes down significantly. It is a trick--COVID-19 is an infectious disease but it is actually a disease which gets us for noncommunicable disease conditions.

Some people have opined that we should vaccinate young people first and I think Indonesia has done it and others have maybe thought about it. Should we have gone that way and is there still time to reverse that and change the course?

I would not do that for the simple reason that the vaccines do not prevent transmission generally. As far as I am concerned, the biggest value of the COVID-19 vaccine is reducing severe disease and mortality. You may still get milder forms of the disease but if you get the vaccine, it significantly lowers your chance of dying from the disease. That is the great value of the vaccine. Why would one waste that on the younger age group? Give it to everyone in the 45+ age group and focus on just that. Control your transmission through other methods because we have no evidence that giving the vaccine to a 20-year-old is going to prevent the 60-year-old grandparent living with them from getting the disease.

You had projected last year that, at one point, the country would likely see several million people being infected by the virus either symptomatically or asymptomatically. Are we looking at a repeat of that situation? Also, is there a case to be made that not as many were infected last time, as when a lot of people get infected, they don't get infected again?

We probably did have a few hundred million infections. In fact, the Indian Council of Medical Research's own second seroprevalence survey estimates that we underestimated infections by a factor of at least 30. If that is the case and we saw about 10 million cases, you are talking about at least 300 million cases, if not more, in that first wave. My guess is that we had had an upward of 400 million cases. That said, 400 million cases in a country the size of India, just short of 1.4 billion, means that a lot of people were not infected. I think the people that I am seeing infected in this round are people who are sort of wealthier and they managed to stay indoors during that first phase of and they all came out during this phase, either post-vaccination or even pre-vaccination, in the assumption that this is gone.

Let us say that was one half of the population and this is the second half that is now going to face the brunt and is facing the brunt right now?

Absolutely, and this will continue until this wave also passes. Now the variants are really the big unknown in this entire scenario. Variants in some instances can be thought of as a completely different virus so it is all but if the virus changes its spike protein, then we are dealing with something different. We are not sure at this stage if people who were infected last year can be reinfected this year by a variant--that still remains to be determined. What we do know is that the vaccines are not perfect protection. We have seen a number of people getting infected even though they have been vaccinated but no surprise there because vaccines are only 60-70% efficacious at best. I think we will see a new set of people being infected but possibly some of the old set will also have infections because of potentially new strains.

I am presently in Mumbai and you are in Bengaluru. Mumbai and Maharashtra are going into a semi-lockdown, there is curfew, weekends will be shut down and Delhi has now announced a night curfew. Maybe other states and cities may react similarly down the line. Do you see the progression of COVID-19 changing?

It is hard to tell because it is not just the lockdowns, it is also to do with how people actively change behaviour. There is a lot of confusion--one day, cinema halls had opened in Karnataka; the next day they closed, then they had 50%. There is a lot of knee-jerk reaction because the economy has opened back up and policymakers are reluctant to go back into the situation which could impede the economy. I do not expect the night curfews and the [isolated or piecemeal] measures to have a significant impact on the transmission of the virus. The only real change that will come about right now is because people comply better with masking because they are scared of getting COVID-19 or, if people stay indoors. That is a much more powerful force on the virus than an imposed

The last time Covid-19 started spreading on the western coast and then moved towards central, eastern and north India. Is it likely to follow a similar path? And therefore we have obviously got many difficult days ahead or, could it be different?

It could be entirely different because at that time it was not west to east, it was mostly international airports--Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala for Gulf returnees, and Chennai. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar do not have international airports so those were not the first places with infections. Punjab and Gujarat as well. In this particular round, the virus can show up from anywhere. The so-called UK variant is quite prevalent in Punjab for instance, because of people moving back and forth. I do not think we will necessarily see the same kind of spatial spread or that it is even possible to predict what the spatial spread will really look like.

I would instead look for cases and variance in places that appear to have low levels of cases now and take proactive action rather than being reactive. It is just too late for Maharashtra at this point to respond with night curfews. I know they have to be seen as being responsible or something but the time to do it would have been a few weeks ago. This is hard stuff--it is not as if epidemiologists also have a good handle on when it is going to come back and they could have told the Maharashtra government to be prepared. We are learning about a new virus and learning as we go along and we really have no template for this. Hindsight is 20/20 but it is very hard to look forward. The big variant here, apart from the viral variant, is human behaviour.

What do you think policymakers should be focusing on or, how should we be rallying our efforts to reduce Covid-19?

I would look at the test positivity rates [the proportion of all tests that are positive for COVID-19]. Testing rates are higher today but test positivity rates are lower so we need to pay attention to genetic testing for variants to systematically track where those are and see if there is a correlation between that and the severity of the disease and the number of people in the hospitals and mortality. If we find that going up, then it means that we are going to have to rethink our vaccine strategy because we know that some variants do not respond at all or are unaffected by the AstraZeneca and Serum Institute Covishield vaccine. We may have to switch to a different policy at a very short notice.

We would probably want to increase testing in places where there is not enough testing. I am often asked why Maharashtra has so many cases. It is very simple--Maharashtra has a lot of people and it is a large urban agglomeration. The third reason is that Maharashtra does a lot of testing because it has a very good health system. We really do not want to get this out of control in places where we know there were not any big epidemics in the first round--Odisha, parts of Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, where potentially not as many people have been infected in the first round. I would also look at spatial spread and where it is spreading to get ahead of the COVID-19 virus. Lockdowns or any kind of restrictive measures are not very useful once the virus has started transmitting because then it is a two-week lag. We would want to impose the restrictions where COVID-19 will spread now rather than as a response to a spike in cases.

We saw the peak in September 2020 and then it started going down from about a little over 90,000 cases. Now we have crossed that peak. What is the lesson from the rise and fall and then the subsequent rise of cases? If we are here today and assuming that cases would go down again, could they rise again and how do we even prepare for that?

Remember the dynamics, in the first round, we were on a severe lockdown and the virus still continued to rise because you can not stop the transmission among the urban poor who are living in very close quarters. It does take off and everyone who was within the striking range of the virus at that point got infected. The reason it started coming down is that everyone within the strike range was already infected and they were immune. But the virus has not managed to reach either the rural areas in full force or the urban wealthier middle class, who are sitting in their homes and working on the laptop. The peak starts coming down until that point in time when this bunch also starts going outside. [Then] the virus finds new prey and starts coming back up, so this pattern is very much dependent on us.

Over time as vaccination picks up, people start taking precautions and immunity builds up in this population, COVID-19 cases will start going down. At this stage, the cost of measures, like stringent lockdowns, as a main way to bring the virus down are going to be extraordinarily expensive and will not be terribly effective. The main way we can bring cases down is by advertising how severe the problem is so that people respond with their own behaviour. When people see their neighbours getting COVID-19, you do not need to tell them to not go out but they themselves will take that call.
An anonymous donation of $100,000 has been given to help capture the person responsible for the 2017 slayings of two teenage girls in Delphi, Indiana.

Indiana State Police this week announced that the large donation had raised the reward fund for information leading to a conviction in the cold case to $325,000.

It's been more than four years since 13-year-old Abigail 'Abby' Williams and 14-year-old Liberty 'Libby' German were found dead by the Monon High Bridge Trail near Delphi on February 14, 2017.

Investigators are still working tirelessly to catch the girls' killer, Carroll County Sheriff Tobe Leazenby said.

'It has been four years, but for us, it seems like it was just yesterday when we started this thing,' Leazenby told news station WLS.

Liberty 'Libby' German (left) and Abigail 'Abby' Williams (right) were kidnapped and killed in Delphi, Indiana, in February 2017. More than four years later an anonymous donation of $100,000 was added to the reward fund for information leading to the killer's capture

This man in blue jeans and a blue jacket is believed to be a suspect in the girls' murders

Libby and Abby were reported missing on February 13, 2017 after they were dropped off at the Delphi Historic Trails to hike but never showed when a parent came to pick them up.

Their bodies were found about a mile off the main trail the following day. Police have not revealed the cause of death.

Investigators believe the girls had been approached by an unknown man while they were hanging out on a bridge.

A photo of the alleged killer was found on Libby's phone, along with an audio clip in which he could be heard telling the girls: 'Go down the hill.'

Police hailed Libby as a hero for recording the evidence before she was killed.

A grainy photo of the man along with a composite sketch were released by police in hopes that someone would come forward to identify him.

Investigators said the suspect could be anywhere from age 18 to 40 with a deceptively 'youthful appearance'.

Libby (left) and Abby (right) were reported missing on February 13, 2017, after they were dropped off at the Delphi Historic Trails to hike but never showed when a parent came to pick them up. Their bodies were found about a mile off the main trail the following day

Libby posted this photo of Abby on an abandoned railroad bridge hours before they vanished

Police released the composite sketch on the left early in the investigation. The sketch on the right was released in 2019 when police said the investigation had moved in a new direction

In 2019 police announced that the investigation had moved in a new direction and released a second composite sketch that differed dramatically from the first, showing a much older and bearded suspect.

Still, the sketch didn't appear to draw any leads and the case has remained cold ever since.

Police have released few details about the investigation, to protect its integrity, they said.

Libby's older sister, Kelsi German, has been fighting hard to keep the case in the spotlight and even started studying forensic psychology at Purdue University in hopes of tracking down the killer.

Kelsi took to Twitter at the end of 2020 to wish her sister Happy Birthday on the day that Libby would have turned 18.

She said she was 'praying 2021 is the year' Libby and Abby's killer is finally caught.

Kelsi German marked what would have been her sister Libby's 18th birthday in a tweet (pictured) last December and said she's praying the killer is caught in 2021

Sheriff Leazenby said detectives have continued to receive countless tips as the investigation drags on, following up each credible lead with interviews and search warrants.

'We still have the up and down days is the best way to put it,' he said of the investigation.

'My term ends in 2022 - would love nothing more than to see someone convicted of this crime before I am out of office.'
NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Botanist Islay Dry Gin today announced its partnership with the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) to support local restaurants and bars as they continue to rebuild their businesses and navigate the impacts of COVID-19. The partnership is timed to the start of the promising spring season, when many bars and restaurants will hopefully be reopening, and National Gin & Tonic Day on April 9. At participating locations in April and May, The Botanist will donate $5 to the IRC up to $25,000 for every Botanist & Tonic or Botanist & Tonic To-Go Carrier Kit purchased.

"We know the hardships that many local restaurants and bars have faced over the last year. That's why we are proud to be partnering with the Independent Restaurant Coalition on this initiative," said Ian McLernon, President and CEO of Remy Cointreau Americas. "People are at the heart of everything we do at Remy Cointreau. This is particularly true for The Botanist, which comes from one of the only distilleries in the world to be B Corp certified  a distillery that believes in putting people and purpose in line with profit and in using business as a force for good. Through this partnership, we want to do our part to give back and help rebuild our local bar and restaurant community."

Hailing from the Bruichladdich Distillery in Islay, which leads with people-centric policies and progressive attitudes, The Botanist has always set out to put community at the forefront of its mission and purpose. As the optimistic and hopeful spring season begins, it is important that the community The Botanist supports extends beyond its home isle to the independent bar and restaurant community here in the U.S. It is with this spirit that The Botanist hopes to help rebuild the family of restaurants and bars that always bring so much joy and energy to their local communities.

"When we set out to help the hospitality industry as it grappled with the impacts of COVID-19, we knew that a federal grant program would be the best way to give local restaurants and bars confidence they could get through this crisis," says Erika Polmar, Executive Director of the IRC. "Grassroots donors and brands like The Botanist have enabled us to make that grant program a reality and advocate for the industry in Washington for the first time. The forthcoming Restaurant Revitalization Fund will help countless restaurants and bars make payroll and rent, pay down debt, and survive the pandemic. We're so thankful for the continued support we're receiving through the Botanist program, which will help us ensure that struggling restaurants and bars can access the relief they need as fast as possible."

All participating restaurants and bars can be found on TheInfatuation.com. Donations will be doubled for all purchases made on National Gin & Tonic Day on April 9, as well as over Memorial Day Weekend (May 28  31).

The Botanist & Tonic

Pour gin into a highball glass and add ice. Add premium tonic water to your taste.

2 oz The Botanist Islay Dry Gin

Premium tonic water  to taste

Garnish with seasonal fruit or herbs  as desired

About The Botanist Islay Dry Gin:

Founded in 2011, The Botanist Islay Dry Gin is distilled and hand-crafted at Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay, a remote island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the first and only Islay Dry Gin  a rare expression of the heart and soul of this wild Scottish isle. Hailing from one of the only B Corp certified distilleries in the world, The Botanist believes in using business as a force for good, putting people and planet in line with profit. The craft liquid is distilled with a unique combination of 22 wild Islay botanicals which are hand-foraged locally and sustainably on the island by The Botanist's professional forager, James Donaldson. The Islay botanicals are slow simmer distilled with pure Islay spring water in a unique Lomond Still, affectionately nicknamed Ugly Betty, by Head Distiller Adam Hannett. The result is gin that speaks of the locality and seasonality of Islay.

www.thebotanist.com

About Remy Cointreau:

All around the world, there are clients seeking exceptional experiences; clients for whom a wide range of terroirs means a variety of flavors. Their exacting standards are proportional to our expertise  the finely-honed skills that we pass down from generation to generation. The time these clients devote to drinking our products is a tribute to all those who have worked to develop them. It is for these men and women that Remy Cointreau, a family-owned French Group, protects its terroirs, cultivates exceptional multi-centenary spirits and undertakes to preserve their eternal modernity. The Group's portfolio includes 12 unique brands: Remy Martin and Louis XIII cognacs, Cointreau liqueur, METAXA Greek spirit, Mount Gay rum, St-Remy brandy, The Botanist gin, and our collection of single-malt whiskies (Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and Octomore from Islay, Westland from Seattle and Domaine des Hautes Glaces from the French Alps). Remy Cointreau has a single ambition: becoming the world leader in exceptional spirits. To this end, it relies on the commitment and creativity of its 1,900 employees and on its distribution subsidiaries established in the Group's strategic markets. Remy Cointreau is listed on Euronext Paris.

About the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC):

The Independent Restaurant Coalition was formed by chefs and independent restaurant owners across the country who have built a grassroots movement to secure vital protections for the nation's 500,000 independent restaurants and the more than 11 million restaurant workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Coalition's leadership team includes Tyler Akin, Jose Andres, Kevin Boehm, Sean Brock, Katie Button, Andrew Carmellini, Ashley Christensen, Jeanie Chunn, Amanda Cohen, Tom Colicchio, Nina Compton, Rosa Garcia, Suzanne Goin, Gregory Gourdet, Will Guidara, Mason Hereford, Sam Kass, Max Katzenberg, Mike Lata, Camilla Marcus, Ivy Mix, Kwame Onwuachi, Patrick Phelan, Erika Polmar, Naomi Pomeroy, Niki Russ Federman, Steven Satterfield, Michael Shemtov, Nancy Silverton, Frank Stitt, Bobby Stuckey, Robert St. John, Caroline Styne, Jill Tyler, and Andrew Zimmern.

SOURCE The Botanist Islay Dry Gin

Related Links

https://www.thebotanist.com


US sanctions on Myanmar gems target key junta funding source View Photo

BANGKOK (AP)  The latest U.S. sanctions on Myanmar target an army-controlled gems business rife with corruption and abuses that is one of the juntas key sources of revenue.

Its unclear if the sanctions will do much to close the taps of income and royalties from gems sales. Some estimates say more than half of such transactions are not declared, even though they are the countrys second biggest export after natural gas and oil.

The rights group Justice for Myanmar on Friday urged the U.S. government to expand penalties to include the Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise, which handles the countrys largest share of exports.

It is imperative that other countries follow suit in sanctioning the key businesses enabling the Myanmar militarys criminal conduct, said the groups spokesperson, Yadanar Maung.

The most recent report from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative for 2016-17 found that gems, pearls and jade accounted for 13% of Myanmars natural resource revenues, with oil and gas accounting for 87%.

The sanctions announced Thursday freeze any assets held by the Myanma Gems Enterprise in the U.S. or in U.S. jurisdictions and bar American citizens from doing business with it.

The company oversees all gemstone activities in Myanmar, also known as Burma, the Treasury Department said in announcing the latest sanctions against the military leaders who seized power in a Feb. 1 coup.

That includes control of permits for mines, collecting royalties and overseas marketing and sales.

The gems trade is important enough that coup leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and Myanmars central bank governor were among the dignitaries who visited the opening of a gems, pearls and jade emporium earlier this month in the capital, Naypyitaw.

The U.S. and other governments have been ramping up sanctions in response to the coup and a deadly crackdown on mass pro-democracy protests. At least 598 protesters and bystanders have been killed by security forces since the coup and violence has spread from major cities to provincial towns.

Earlier, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden sanctioned Myanmar Ruby Enterprise, Myanmar Imperial Jade Co., and Cancri (Gems and Jewellery) Co.  other military-controlled traders of gems and other precious stones. U.S. sanctions have also targeted two major military-controlled conglomerates that also have stakes in mining and gems businesses.

The Treasury announcement noted that the sanctions were not intended to penalize Myanmar citizens, in particular artisanal miners who depend on gem sales to survive.

The state-controlled newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar reported that 405 out of 450 lots of jade had been sold by April 7 at the gems emporium for 3.5 billion kyats ($2.4 million).

Separately, it said 317 lots of pearls worth 1.43 billion kyats ($1 million) were sold during the first three days of the emporium, which runs from April 1 to 10.

Official statistics on the gems trade in Myanmar, one of the top sources of jade and rubies, are scarce but previous emporiums netted hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. The sales are usually held three times a year.

The U.S. banned imports of jade and other precious stones from 2008 to 2016 following a previous crackdown on pro-democracy protests. The sanctions were relaxed after military leaders began a transition to a quasi-civilian, popularly elected government in 2011.

Some retailers, such as Tiffany & Co. of the U.S., have shied away from sourcing gems in Myanmar. But many others have not.

Thailand and China, both countries that have not imposed sanctions on Myanmars junta, are the main markets for its rubies and jade. But gems often pass through many hands before reaching markets in Europe and the U.S., making tracing their provenance difficult, according to a report by the Natural Resource Governance Institute, an independent research and advocacy institute that monitors resource-rich countries like Myanmar.

The best rubies, known as pigeons blood for their deep crimson color, are often sourced in Mogok, a mining region in northern Myanmar. The report said the military controls the mining in both Mogok and in Mong Hsu, another importance source of gems, but an unknown share of the gems is smuggled into China, especially through the border town of Ruili, which has a big jade and gems market.

The trade involves perils, especially for those working on the fringes of the big mines. Jade, especially, is mined with heavy equipment that leaves small pieces in tailings that are piled into huge mounds. Such slopes often collapse, burying people who settle near the mounds to scavenge for the scraps.

By ELAINE KURTENBACH

AP Business Writer
A health worker collects samples of a motorist for Covid-19 tests, as coronavirus cases spike across the country, in New Delhi on April 5, 2021. (PTI/Kamal Kishore)

New Delhi: The Delhi government on Tuesday imposed night curfew in the national capital from 10 pm to 5 am till April 30 in view of rising COVID-19 cases, officials said.

The city recorded 3,548 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Monday, while 15 more people succumbed to the infection taking the death toll to 11,096, according to the Delhi health department.

The order for night curfew will continue till April 30. The curfew will be in place from 10 pm to 5 am, said a government official.

The decision has been taken in view of rising COVID-19 cases in Delhi, he added.

The case positivity rate in Delhi has also risen to 5.54 per cent amid a massive surge in cases in the last few weeks.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said in a press conference that people have to be vaccinated if they go aboard a cruise ship or are granted temporary refuge in another island. He said two Royal Caribbean cruise ships are expected to arrive by Friday and a third one in the coming days, as well as two Carnival cruise ships by Friday. Islands that have said they would accept evacuees include St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Antigua.
The complaints of expectant Marines have finally been heard.

The Marine Corps is releasing the start of a series of new uniform items designed to be more useful and better-fitting for pregnant and nursing Marines, officials said this week.

New items, including maternity and nursing undershirts and a service uniform blouse with adjustable side tabs, will be available for purchase at Marine Corps Exchanges starting this month, Marine Corps Systems Command, or MCSC, officials said in a Wednesday release. Other maternity uniform components, including PT shorts, dress blue skirt and pants, and possibly a dress blue jacket, are also on the way, officials said.

Read Next: Charles Coolidge, Medal of Honor Recipient Who Fought Boldly in WWII, Dead at 99

Existing Marine Corps maternity items include a shapeless and tent-like service tunic in olive drab and a non-adjustable khaki service shirt; pregnant Marines have been known to squeeze into their regular uniforms for months to avoid wearing them.

The Marine Corps Uniform Board and Assistant Commandant Gen. Gary Thomas presented feedback to MCSC in October 2019, and the updated and modified items were approved by Commandant Gen. David Berger in June 2020, officials said.

The new green "skivvy shirts" are built for form and function. According to the release, the maternity shirt "includes a ruching element at the side seams, providing comfort, shape and ease of use during pregnancy." It's also stretchy enough to remain wearable throughout all three trimesters.

The nursing shirt has a "cross-over design under a panel" that allows a Marine to nurse or pump during the workday with more convenience.

Maj. Calleen Kinney provides her assessment of the Marine Corps modified maternity uniform items, March 4, 2021, aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. (Tonya Smith/U.S. Marines)

Maj. Elena N. Vallely, a team lead for Global Combat Support System-Marine Corps, said in the release that she had assessed the nursing shirt in March and found it "a great product."

"As both a mother and Marine, I think it's important for Marines to have options that enable them to both nurse and look professional while wearing the utility uniform," she said.

While all items remain optional, the new maternity shirt will be included in the maternity clothing allowance, meaning Marines will not have to pay for it out of pocket.

Still to come in the maternity clothing rollout are maternity PT shorts, designed to expand around a growing pregnant belly. They're still in development, officials said, but are expected to be certified this fall and made available for purchase soon thereafter.

And in 2022, pregnant Marines will be able to buy a maternity version of the dress blue skirt and sky-blue slacks. A spokeswoman for MCSC, Kelly Flynn, declined to provide Military.com with any additional details about dress blue items, noting that designs for a jacket are predecisional. Photographs released by the Marine Corps show a dress blue coat mock-up that features a cutaway design, allowing the coat to keep its fitted appearance with a looser underlayer covering the belly.

Maj. Desiree Sanchez, associate director for the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, recalled struggling to attend formal events while heavily pregnant in 2019.

"I remember an event where we had to be in our dress blues and I couldn't fit in that uniform," she said in the release.

Flynn told Military.com that, in addition to the dress blue coat, the Marine Corps is working to develop better maternity service uniform slacks and skirt and utility trousers.

"These items have no projected dates at this time," she said.

The Marine Corps' uniform updates follow moves by other services to better meet the needs of pregnant service members. Army officials said last November that the service's uniform board was considering updates to its smock-like standard maternity service uniform; the Air Force moved to purchase maternity flight suits for the first time in its history last June.

Marine Corps officials said this new series of items is aimed at supporting Berger's objective of improving recruiting and retention by better meeting Marines' uniform and equipment needs.

"The population of expectant Marines may be small," Lucinda Stocks, a program analyst with MCSC's Program Manager Infantry Combat Equipment, said in a statement. "But developing these maternity uniforms is important for the future of the Marine Corps."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.

Related: So Long to Smocks? Army Considers Changes to 40-Year-Old Maternity Uniform
Over a third of the Antarctic's ice shelf area may be at risk of collapsing into the sea if global temperatures reach four degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to a study.

The research, published in the Geophysical Research Letters journal, found that 34 per cent of the area of all Antarctic ice shelves -- around half a million square kilometers -- including 67 per cent of ice shelf area on the Antarctic Peninsula, would be at risk of destabilisation under such a warming scenario.

The team also identified Larsen C -- the largest remaining ice shelf on the peninsula, which split to form the enormous A68 iceberg in 2017 -- as one of four ice shelves that would be particularly threatened in a warmer climate.

"Ice shelves are important buffers preventing glaciers on land from flowing freely into the ocean and contributing to sea level rise," said Ella Gilbert from the University of Reading in the UK.

"When they collapse, it's like a giant cork being removed from a bottle, allowing unimaginable amounts of water from glaciers to pour into the sea," Gilbert said.

The researchers noted that limiting temperature rise to two degrees Celsius rather than four degrees Celsius would halve the area at risk, and potentially avoid significant sea level rise.

They noted that when melted ice accumulates on the surface of ice shelves, it can make them fracture and collapse spectacularly.

Previous research has given the scientists the bigger picture in terms of predicting Antarctic ice shelf decline.

However, the new study uses the latest modelling techniques to fill in the finer detail and provide more precise projections.

"The findings highlight the importance of limiting global temperature increases as set out in the Paris Agreement if we are to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, including sea level rise," said Gilbert.

The study used state-of-the-art, high-resolution regional climate modelling to predict in more detail than before the impact of increased melting and water runoff on ice shelf stability.

The team said the ice shelf vulnerability from this fracturing process was forecast under 1.5, 2 and 4 degrees Celsius scenarios, which are all possible this century.

Ice shelves are permanent floating platforms of ice attached to areas of the coastline and are formed where glaciers flowing off the land meet the sea, they said.

The researchers identified the Larsen C, Shackleton, Pine Island and Wilkins ice shelves as most at-risk under four degrees Celsius of warming, due to their geography and the significant runoff predicted in those areas.

"If temperatures continue to rise at current rates, we may lose more Antarctic ice shelves in the coming decades," Gilbert added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi:

The district administration of Amethi on Sunday requested Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to reschedule his visit for security reasons as the leader is slated to visit his constituency from October 4.

District Magistrate Yogesh Kumar wrote a letter to Congress district president while requesting him to reschedule visit of Rahul Gandhi in view of Muharram and Dussehra celebrations.

Kumar stated that a majority of police personnel will be deployed in maintaining law and order in the district till October 5, and it would be difficult for them to marinating law and order during his visit.

Amethi DM requests Congress district president to reschedule visit of Rahul Gandhi (from Oct 4-6), in view of Muharram &Durga idol immersion pic.twitter.com/9tHGmnF2X1  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 1, 2017

UP Congress President Raj Babbar said these are excuses and it is "unfortunate" that an MP can't go to his constituency on festivals. He said it is a murder of democracy.

These are excuses. Unfortunate that an MP can't go to his constituency on festivals. It's murder of democracy: Raj Babbar, UP Congress Pres pic.twitter.com/0XKQpofJOG  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 1, 2017

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
The former University of South Carolina president and Yale-trained epidemiologist is advocating for an aggressive vaccination campaign as variants of the virus that cause COVID-19 pose threats to plans to return to normalcy and disease cases rise in other states.

Harry Pastides said during an April 9 guest appearance on the American Medical Association's YouTube channel that some fluctuations in the numbers of cases is typical.

"There are always some peaks and valleys, even," he said. But increasing numbers of cases in states like Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan and New York raise concern the outbreaks are more than a blip and could be "a sign of worse things to come."

In South Carolina, case numbers are in a plateau, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. That might not always be the case.

In those states where cases are spiking, Pastides said directing resources to rapid testing and vaccinations is key.

"Get everybody in those communities that are spiking vaccinated," he said. "Do it as quickly as possible."

Variants of the virus are spreading, Pastides said, cause for concern because, at some point, a mutation could arrive that renders the vaccines we have ineffective. He noted viruses are among the most basic forms of life, "and just about the only thing they can do when we are winning a war against them is to mutate."

That is why it is important to continue physical distancing, masking, vaccinations and other measures to keep the virus at bay, he said.

Previous to his role as president, Pastides was dean of the university's Arnold School of Public Health. He earned his PhD in epidemiology from Yale University. Pastides stepped down from the presidency at USC in 2019.

Statewide numbers

New cases reported: 632 confirmed, 392 probable.

Total cases in S.C.: 470,153 confirmed, 90,609 probable.

Percent positive: 4.5 percent.

New deaths reported: 8 confirmed, 5 probable.

Total deaths in S.C.: 8,144 confirmed, 1,104 probable.

Percent of ICU beds filled: 70 percent.

Sign up for our new health newsletter The best of health, hospital and science coverage in South Carolina, delivered to your inbox weekly. Email

Sign Up!

How does S.C. rank in vaccines administered per 100,000 people?

41st as of April 8, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hardest-hit areas

In the total number of newly confirmed cases, Richland County (77), Greenville County (76) and Spartanburg County (54) saw the highest totals.

What about the tri-county?

Charleston County had 49 new cases on April 9, while Berkeley had 14 and Dorchester had 13.

Deaths

Two of the new confirmed deaths reported were patients age 35 to 64, and six were 65 and older.

Hospitalizations

Of the 506 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of April 9, 126 were in the ICU and 65 were using ventilators.

What do experts say?

Dr. Danielle Scheurer, chief quality officer at the Medical University of South Carolina, said she believes hesitancy to take the vaccine is "our biggest hurdle."

Even among MUSC's staff in Charleston, a third remain unvaccinated. Across MUSC's regional hospitals in Mullins, Florence, Chester and Lancaster, half have not yet taken a vaccine. All are eligible.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Scheurer said.
The River North neighborhood is among the many new flashpoints of an emerging third surge of cases on Chicagos North Side. From West Town and Lincoln Park to Edison Park, these neighborhoods have some of the citys highest rates of vaccination so far, as many as 42% of residents getting at least one shot in the period studied. And yet the third surge has affected them more than some areas that suffered greatly in previous surges.
Tokyo, Apr 9 (UNI) Japan said the number of incidents where its fighter jets were scrambled to intercept Chinese aircraft decreased by over 200 in the fiscal year 2020, the Japanese Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Friday.

According to the statement, last fiscal year, which began on April 1, 2020, Japanese fighter jets were scrambled 458 times to intercept Chinese aircraft and 258 times to intercept Russian aircraft, compared to 675 and 268 times, respectively, a year earlier. Japans Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) deployed its jets a total of 725 times last year, compared to 947 times a year earlier.

In March, media reported that JASDF changed its air defense strategy in order to lower the number of interceptions. This was done to help free resources for the advanced training of fighter pilots on recently procured F-35 stealth fighter jets that are not suitable for emergency lift-off.

UNI XC-RHK1422
Chief Minister pays tribute to Duke of Edinburgh

Chief Minister Howard Quayle has paid tribute to His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who passed away at the age of 99 today.

The Chief Minister said: "It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh."



"Throughout his life the Duke of Edinburgh had a profound impact on national life, including here in the Isle of Man, not least through the Duke of Edinburgh Awards."



"His Royal Highness visited the Island on a number of occasions and many in our community will have fond memories of meeting him."



"On behalf of the Isle of Man Government I extend my sincerest condolences to Her Majesty The Queen and to the whole of the Royal Family."
The final investment decision on a US$5.1-billion project involving French oil giant Total in Uganda is expected to be announced as soon as on Sunday, Bloomberg quoted Uganda National Oil Company as saying late on Thursday.

The project for tapping more than one billion barrels of crude oil in Uganda and transporting them out of the landlocked African country to an export terminal in neighboring Tanzania has seen several delays in recent years, due to changes in partnership structure and protracted negotiations with the Ugandan government on the deal.

The East-African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is planned to be a 1,443-kilometer-long (897 miles) pipeline expected to transport oil from Uganda to the Tanga port in Tanzania. Totals subsidiary Total East Africa Midstream is the developer of the project, says the French supermajor, which continues to pursue advantaged oil and gas resources in Africa despite ambitions to become a net-zero emissions business in Europe by 2050.

In September 2019, reports had it that all activities on the oil pipeline planned to export crude from Uganda had been suspended following the collapse of a stake acquisition deal in the key Ugandan oil project.

The oil project and pipeline are now on track for an FID at the end of this week, according to Bloomberg.

Tanzanias new president Samia Hassan Suluhu is expected in Uganda this weekend for talks and for the signing ceremony for the FID on Sunday, Uganda-based outlet Daily Monitor reported, quoting a senior official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Something major is expected to happen this weekend, regarding Ugandas oil, Herbert Ssempogo, Senior Corporate Affairs Officer at the Uganda National Oil Company, told Daily Monitor, without elaborating on the details.

Proscovia Nabbanja, CEO of Uganda National Oil Company, told The Energy Year earlier this month that the firms number-one priority for 2021 is to unlock the sector together with government and our partners  achieving the FID will launch EACOP and the upstream project. The projects will also open up a lot of opportunities for investment.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Rental assistance is available for Terre Haute residents.

The city has partnered with the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority to help provide the support.

The program is through the Indiana Emergency Rental Assistance program.

The program offers up to one year of utility assistance on past due bills between now and April 1 of last year.

To apply for help, click here.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, following a working trip to Donbas and communicating with the military personnel of the Armed Forces, noted the intensification of the work of snipers and the need to establish a new truce.

"I have visited the combat positions where our heroes died and where many soldiers were wounded. These are the points of aggravation that Donbas was again covered with. They want peace here, but on the other side of the demarcation line they do not lay down their weapons. Our soldiers told me about their service to the sound of gunfire, which again became a dangerous routine at the forefront. After months of adherence to a complete and comprehensive ceasefire regime, we returned to the need to establish a truce," Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel on Friday.

The head of state also said that "recently, enemy snipers have become more active in Donbas, regularly targeting at the positions of the Ukrainian military."

Zelensky said that "since the beginning of the year, 26 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine died in Donbas."

He also called on representatives of the Ukrainian authorities "to come to Donbas and provide assistance to Ukrainian servicemen."
The United States welcomes a restrained and responsible position held by Kyiv in the face of new challenges from Russia and calls on the Ukrainian authorities to continue this approach, according to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, he said this during an online conference hosted by the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) on Thursday, April 8.

Kent expressed the United States' concern over the escalation of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, the accumulation of Russian forces in the occupied Crimea, in the Bryansk region, the sending of Russian warships, including landing ships, to the Black Sea allegedly for exercises.

In addition, he said that the aggressive disinformation campaign and the statements of "Putin's mouthpieces" - his spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov - were also of concern.

In this regard, Kent reaffirmed the United States' position in support of Ukraine, its sovereignty, territorial integrity, as well as the desire of the Ukrainian people to join Western communities, including the European Union and NATO.\

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The Israeli Ambassador to Romania, David Saranga, organized on Thursday, at his residence, an event dedicated to the commemoration of the Holocaust, to which he invited on one of the survivors of Nazi German camps, Octavian Fulop, to tell his story.

"Today, the day of Holocaust Remembrance in Israel, we honor the memory of the 6 million Jews who were humiliated, tortured and killed eight decades ago. (...) This year marks the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Jews' mass murder operations. The memory remains alive only if a person turns it into something relevant to himself. (...) Today I organized this special event, 'Zikaron BaSalon', which translates to 'Memories from the living room'. In an intimate setting, a Holocaust survivor is invited to tell his story so that the memory of this tragedy can be passed on to the younger generations. His story is about a terrible past that we have a duty to carry on," Saranga said.

Octavian Fulop, a survivor of Nazi Germany's concentration and extermination camps, recalled the difficult times he went through during the Holocaust. He is originally from Transylvania, and when he arrived in the camp he was a child, he was 13 and a half years old. His parents died in those camps.He mentioned that about 140,000 Jews were deported from Northern Transylvania, of whom 10 percent survived, and currently in Romania there are still 25 survivors of German camps.Asked if he forgave those who committed those atrocities, Fulop replied: "At that moment, when I was there, you lose your parents, you lose your relatives, you lose your friends, and not just in any way, by gassing, innocent people, they have no graves ( ...), of course, by that judgment, I say what I felt at that moment, after the release I had a hatred in me, to be honest. Now I judge differently. At the moment I can't blame the whole German people. (...) But those who ordered, those who were executioners, I can never forgive them, for as long as I live. That is, they are innocent people, but those who were executioners, those who gave orders, as the executioner also acted on the basis an order, that I could not forgive and I do not forgive. It is impossible for me".The event was attended by, among others, the President of the Senate, Anca Dragu, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Ludovic Orban, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Senator Titus Corlatean and the Minister of Education, Sorin Cimpeanu.AGERPRES
Weber State Waits Announcement of Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Winner

April 8, 2021

On April 18, the U.S. Department of Energy will announce the winner of its international Solar Decathlon Build Challenge, and Weber State University is one of the nine finalists selected from teams around the world. The public will be able to tour the homes virtually, April 12 and 13.

The Solar Decathlon is a collegiate competition in which student teams design and build high-performance, low-carbon homes powered by renewables. The winners are those teams that best blend architectural and engineering excellence with innovation. Weber State students, under the direction of Building Design & Construction Professor Jeremy Farner, built the net-zero home in central Ogden. The home, at 2807 Quincy Ave., is now occupied by homeowners, who were selected from a pool of interested buyers during the grand opening in October 2020.

The Build Challenge competition and public exhibition were previously scheduled to take place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., during the summer of 2020. Because of COVID, this event was postponed and transitioned to a local build event, with teams constructing homes in their local communities, where they will remain after the competition.

The final phase has moved online, and the Department of Energy Solar Decathlon will open its Virtual Village on April 12, with online 3-D tours of all nine competing homes. Tours will be available at the following times and links.

Visitors can participate in a Solar Decathlon home scavenger hunt, and teachers can access a toolkit to help their students visit the village for unique educational activities.

The awards ceremony will be held, Sunday, April 18, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (MST). DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm will announce the overall winner of the Solar Decathlon Build Challenge, starting around noon (MST). Register for Zoom event

One cool thing is the collaboration that was undertaken on this home with the city, the Ogden Civic Action Network, the university and our department, Farner said. It was all funded by the university as a way to give back to the community as well as to provide real-world experiences to students. We successfully completed our project as planned, despite the challenge of COVID, and we now are beginning the next net-zero home.

Janae Thomas, who graduated in spring 2020, was the student project manager. She took on the monumental task because she said the future of transportation, housing and urban planning for her daughter depends on making a difference today.

I found myself in construction because of the industrys ability to directly impact environmental concerns and human well-being, Thomas said. This house showcases numerous economic solutions to improve Utahs air quality. This house is simple to reproduce, inviting to live in and built to last generations. Ill be proud to drive by this house and tell my children, and their children, I built that.

The Quincy Avenue home is designed to make the True Cost of Ownership' affordable by nearly eliminating all energy bills. Energy costs to operate the home are estimated at just over $100 annually or around $9 per month to be connected to the electrical grid. Weber State will monitor power bills for two years to make adjustments if the HVAC and solar systems are not performing as they were designed.

Nine teams are in the finals of the 2020 Solar Decathlon

For more information or pictures of the project under construction, visit weber.edu/solardecathlon. To follow the team on social media, use @wsusolardecathlon2020 on Instagram.

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
The legalization of marijuana comes with a new host of problems for law enforcement officials. Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl and Oneida County Sheriff Rob Maciol explain.

Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl: "Where I see this really, the new legislation really affecting is our ability to prosecute driving while under the influence of marijuana."

Oneida County Sheriff Rob Maciol: "Looking at data from other states, our fear is that were going to see what they see, and were going to see an increase in traffic accidents where the operator of the motor vehicle is under the influence of marijuana."

John Muehl: "We can no longer prove impaired to any extent. We have to prove impaired to the equivalent of an alcohol arrest."

Sheriff Maciol: "We currently in the United States of America have no roadside technology to measure the level of a persons marijuana in their system as compared to BAC, the Blood Alcohol Content of a person with alcohol in their system."

John Muehl: "When you test someone for marijuana it shows you that they have marijuana in their system, but marijuana stays in your system for a significant amount of time, so its hard to show whats active in a persons system, and so you have to have a drug recognition expert and go through all the process."

Sheriff Maciol: "Theres only a specific category of police officers that are certified to perform field sobriety tests outside of the alcohol sobriety tests. OK, so theyre referred to as DREs Drug Recognition Experts. Its not something that any police officer can do is to become a DRE. Theres an interview and selection process, obviously theres extensive training, like I said out of the area. Its not only extensive in time, but its expensive in resources. Its not cheap to get people certified. Theyre talking about potentially going to a saliva test instead of a blood, yearn, or hair test because the saliva test is going to just pick up the most recent level of marijuana in a persons system, but still no one can tell us at what level does that affect a persons ability to safely drive a car."

There are approximately 260,000 people in Oneida County alone, and theres only 6 Drug Recognition Experts to cover the entire county.
Junior Lucy Rena Marthaler will represent Cleveland High School on the 2021 Portland Rose Festival Court. Born in San Francisco and the daughter of Kerstin and Tyler Marthaler, she is a musician who plays flute, piccolo, tenor sax, guitar and piano.

Marthaler was crowned Thursday on the schools front steps in a ceremony that included fellow candidates seniors Hannah Crouser and Zoie Dalton-Smith and junior Pallas Lake.

Marthaler is the ninth princess named to the 2021 court. The other members of the court are:

The process continues Friday with Franklin High School, and will end April 16 with St. Marys Academy. In all, the festival will name 15 young women to the court from Portland-area high schools. Each of them will receive a $3,500 scholarship provided by The Randall Group and one-on-one mentorship arranged by Unitus Community Credit Union. The court will make public appearances as COVID-19 precautions allow.

This years downsized court announcements are just one more example of the ways the Rose Festival has adapted to COVID-19 protocols in a year that has already seen the festival cancel its large public events, including the Grand Floral Parade and CityFair.

The Queens Coronation will be staged in June in Washington Park, as it was in 2020.

Read more about Cleveland Highs Princess Lucy Rena Marthaler, as told to the Portland Rose Festival.

Junior Lucy Rena Marthaler will represent Cleveland High on the 2021 Rose Festival Court.Courtesy of Portland Rose Festival

Future education plans: Earn a masters degree in a STEM field, such as environmental engineering, with a double major in either music or social justice.

Career plans: I want to work in a field that exercises STEM skills and allows me flexibility. A job that benefits the world, like organizing or finance for a nonprofit in environmental justice or educational equity.

High school activities and honors: Wind symphony, jazz ensemble, color guard and marching band, earning awards for competition and performance. Ive earned soloist awards in the same activities. Im working towards the full IB diploma.

Hobbies and special interests: My biggest interests are community work and music. I play flute, piccolo, tenor sax, guitar and piano. I also love to sing and produce music on my own. In addition, I am learning the cello in my spare time. I volunteer at various organizations. Climate justice is a priority; I work on a team designing a climate justice course curriculum for schools, and Im part of PPSs youth climate advisory.

What is your favorite place to visit in Portland and why? I like to explore parts of Portland. It isnt one place, but its any place that I discover, like the first time I went swing dancing at Norse Hall, the time I walked to Pittock Mansion, and the days I found little bookstores and coffee shops where I could meet new people.

What are you most proud of during your high school career? I organized an Open Mic Fundraiser with my friend for the Q Center. After months planning and reaching out, getting sponsors and publicity, and putting it all together  It was a huge success. People of all ages and identities performing music, poetry, short stories, and more. We raised about $200 for the Q Center, but I am most proud of the community that was created that evening.

What is your favorite Rose Festival event and why? My favorite Rose Festival event is the Starlight Parade. Watching the parade in awe with friends and family is one of the things that makes me feel lucky to live in this city. One of my best band memories is performing in the parade!

Unitus Community Credit Union Mentor: Jessica Brown

 Kjerstin Gabrielson, kgabrielson@oregonian.com
It was the speech which cemented Winston Churchill's position as Prime Minister after the miraculous evacuation of British forces from the beaches of Dunkirk.

The rousing words of defiance about how Britain would 'never surrender' after Britain's humiliating retreat from marauding Nazi troops are the best-known utterances of the wartime PM.

But a new documentary sheds light on how giving speeches 'did not come naturally' to Churchill, so he would slave over them for hours until they were 'pin perfect'.

He dictated his words to secretaries who had a 'tough time trying to keep up with what the final version was'.

Churchill, who had become PM in May 1940 after a decade in the political wilderness, was under intense pressure from his war cabinet to sign a peace deal with Adolf Hitler after the Nazi leader's forces stormed through Europe and encircled Britain.

It meant that, in the speech which he gave to the House of Commons on June 4, 1940, he needed to convince both ordinary Britons and sceptical figures such as his Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax that Britain should fight on.

In Channel 5's Churchill: A Gathering Storm, viewers hear from leading historians as well as Lady Williams of Elvel - the secretary who worked for the politician from 1949 until 1955  about how the politician crafted his words.

A new documentary sheds light on how giving speeches did not come naturally to wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The words he uttered in June 1940 after the evacuation of British troops from the beaches of Dunkirk would have been rehearsed until they were 'pin perfect'

Operation Dynamo saw around 338,000 British and Allied troops evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk over the course of eight days

Churchill became Prime Minister on May 10, 1940, after previous incumbent Neville Chamberlain was forced to resign following the failure of his appeasement strategy and the declaration of war on Germany in September 1939.

Churchill had initially returned to the Government in September 1939 as First Lord of the Admiralty after a decade as a backbench MP.

Less than a week after becoming Prime Minister, Churchill travelled to France, where he learned that German troops were only 110 miles east of Paris.

Historian Dr Tessa Dunlop explains in Channel 5's documentary how Churchill was 'staggered' at how the Nazis 'went through the French like a knife through butter'.

It meant that an operation needed to be launched to try to rescue around 400,000 British and Allied troops who were trapped in Dunkirk.

Alan Packwood, the director of the Churchill Archives, said: 'Churchill is fighting desperately and simultaneously on two fronts.

'He is fighting to salvage everything he can from the beaches of Dunkirk but he's also having to fight a rear guard action against his own foreign secretary who is now proposing peace negotiations.'

The initial estimates were that Operation Dynamo  the name given for the Dunkirk evacuation  would only manage to save 50,000 men.

But incredibly, 338,000 British and Allied troops were ultimately rescued from the French beaches over the course of eight days.

The feat was accomplished using Royal Navy and civilian vessels, with the help of air support from the RAF and the good fortune of clouds which hampered Nazi efforts to attack ships and troops from the air.

Mr Packwood said: 'Churchill was obviously relieved but he does not see this as a moment of great triumph. Quite the reverse.'

Professor Andrew Stewart explained how Churchill then used the success of the evacuation as the basis of his speech.

'He sees it as being almost a form of salvation,' he said.

Churchill, who had become PM in May 1940 after a decade in the political wilderness, was under intense pressure from his war cabinet to sign a peace deal with Adolf Hitler after the Nazi leader's forces stormed through Europe and encircled Britain. Pictured: Churchill giving a speech during his time as Prime Minister

'From little hope or anticipation of getting many troops away to having the rump of the army back in Britain, this gives him something that he can actually use.'

However, Sonia Purnell, the author of a biography of Churchill's wife Clementine, explained how giving speeches 'did not come naturally' to the PM.

'He would labour over speeches, again and again and again and rehearse them,' she said.

'So his speeches had to be absolutely pin perfect before he was prepared to stand up and give one.'

Churchill needed to use the speech to convince sceptical members of his cabinet, as well as ordinary Britons, that the country could carry on fighting despite its perilous position.

The words would also need to warn the British people about the threat of Nazi invasion whilst not casting doubt on eventual victory.

In Channel 5's Churchill: A Gathering Storm, viewers hear from leading historians as well as Lady Williams of Elvel - the secretary who worked for the politician from 1949 until 1955  about how the politician crafted his words

After Hitler's forces invaded Poland in September 1939 and the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (right with Churchill) declared war, Churchill was recalled to the Government to serve as First Lord of the Admiralty, where he was in charge of the Royal Navy

Churchill's Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax wanted to sign a peace deal with Hitler

Lady Williams, who served as his secretary during his second stint as Prime Minister from 1951 to 1955, said: 'He always dictated. He would dictate it the whole way through. It might be a speech of 40 minutes.

'Then from that speech which was then typed up he would correct it probably four or five times. And so each speech was perfection.'

Mr Packwood added: 'When the speech was in its final form, it would have been taken away by the duty secretary and re-typed.

'His words set out in a blank verse format like poetry, designed to give him the rhythm, to give him the pauses, to give him the emphasis for his delivery.'

The most famous part of Churchill's speech is when he said Britain would 'go on to the end' and would 'fight on the beaches' and 'in the streets'.

But the PM also spoke of the Dunkirk evacuation being the 'greatest military disaster in our long history'.

Churchill needed to use the June 1940 speech to convince sceptical members of his cabinet, as well as ordinary Britons, that the country could carry on fighting despite its perilous position

Churchill was closely supported by his wife Clementine (seen right) during his time as PM and in the years leading up to taking on the role

Historian Tim Bouverie, the author of Appeasing Hitler, said of Churchill's words: 'Almost no politician could get away with the language that Churchill used.

'And the only reason that it worked so well for Churchill is that it matches the extreme drama of the moment.'

Mr Packwood added: 'This speech is the most important and greatest that Churchill ever produced. What Churchill did was to mobilise the English language and to send it in to battle.'

He said that Churchill was the 'right man' to be Prime Minister at the time because of his 'inner confidence' and 'self-belief in adversity'.

His previously political failures  which saw him toil as an unpopular backbench Member of Parliament for most of the 1930s  were a 'rollercoaster' which might have 'destroyed' another politician.

Dr Dunlop said his failures 'helped make the man that history recognises in World War Two.'

The documentary also sheds light on how Churchill had become a political outcast before the war.

Mr Packwood said he was someone who was 'considered a bit of a maverick, a loner and a bit of a dinosaur.

'We will fight them on the beaches': Churchill's most famous wartime speeches Winston Churchill's rousing speeches inspired a nation and played a key role in maintaining Britain's morale during the dark early days of the Second World War. His defiant and powerful words allowed ordinary Britons, soldiers, sailors and airmen to feel hope. He replaced Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister on May 10 1940. Days earlier, the 'phoney war', the period of relative calm following the declaration of war on September 3, 1939, had ended with the German invasion of France, Belgium and Holland. Churchill's first speech as premier to the House of Commons, three days later, would go down in history as one of his most famous. Winston Churchill's rousing speeches inspired a nation and played a key role in maintaining Britain's morale during the dark early days of the Second World War He said: 'I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." 'We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. 'You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. 'You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. 'Let that be realised; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward towards its goal. 'But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time, I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, 'Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.' ' Extract from his first broadcast as PM to the country on May 19, 1940. 'I speak to you for the first time as Prime Minister in a solemn hour for the life of our country, of our Empire, of our allies, and, above all, of the cause of freedom . . . 'It would be foolish . . . to disguise the gravity of the hour. It would be still more foolish to lose heart and courage or to suppose that well-trained, well-equipped armies numbering three or four millions of men can be overcome in the space of a few weeks, or even months... 'Side by side, unaided except by their kith and kin in the great Dominions and by the wide empires which rest beneath their shield  side by side, the British and French peoples have advanced to rescue not only Europe but mankind from the foulest and most soul-destroying tyranny which has ever darkened and stained the pages of history. 'Behind them  behind us, behind the armies and fleets of Britain and France  gather a group of shattered states and bludgeoned races: the Czechs, the Poles, the Norwegians, the Danes, the Dutch, the Belgians  upon all of whom the long night of barbarism will descend, unbroken even by a star of hope, unless we conquer, as conquer we must; as conquer we shall. 'Today is Trinity Sunday. Centuries ago, words were written to be a call and a spur to the faithful servants of truth and justice, 'Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar. As the Will of God is in Heaven, even so let it be.' ' Extract from his Commons speech on June 4, 1940, after the evacuation of 338,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk. 'I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. 'At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government  every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. 'Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous states have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. 'We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.' Extract from his Commons speech on June 18, 1940. 'What General Weygand [the French Allied commander] called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. 'Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. 'Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. 'But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. 'Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour." ' Advertisement

'This is someone who had made his name in the Edwardian era before the First World War.'

Churchill lost support when he supported King Edward VII over his desire to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

The political consensus at the time was that Edward could not remain King if he proceeded with the union.

Professor Richard Toye said: He makes a serious political mistake because he romanticises monarchy. He is friends with the King.

'He wasn't going to rush to condemn.'

Churchill was also 'vehemently' opposed to moves to grant India  which was then part of the British Empire  more independence.

Dr Diya Gupta said: 'Churchill's views for the 30s are extremely conservative. He is an old school imperialist.'

She described how Churchill called the non-violent Indian independence campaigner Mahatma Gandhi a 'fanatic'.

Churchill's status fell so far that he was considered a 'has been' in political circles.

Mr Bouverie said: 'It would seem inconceivable to most people that this man would ever return to frontline politics, let alone become Prime Minister.'

Churchill's luck began to improve when he established his Kent home Chartwell as an alternative seat of power. His wife Clementine worked to support him.

There, he campaigned against the British policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany.

Ms Purnell said: 'They have an intelligence network of their own across Europe. People are meeting secretly at their home down in Kent to talk about it and she's right there with him.

Katherine Carter, the curator at Chartwell, said: 'Chartwell becomes a hub of intelligence.

'A huge amount of the information that he was beaming about German rearmament and Nazi preparations for the war were brought to him at Chartwell.

'In Chartwell's visitor's book you see a real dip in signatories, even though you have more people visiting.

'Because at that point people are aware that by visiting Churchill at Chartwell, they are risking a great deal to be seen to be associated with [him] and providing him with information and evidence about German rearmament.'

Incredibly, 338,000 British and Allied troops were ultimately rescued from the French beaches over the course of eight days

The most famous part of Churchill's speech is when he said Britain would 'go on to the end' and would 'fight on the beaches' and 'in the streets'. Pictured: Churchill outside Number 10 Downing Street

Mr Bouverie said: 'Many of Churchill's sources are secret sources coming from the Government.

'These are civil servants or members of the armed forces who are deeply concerned by what is happening in Germany and are leaking information to Churchill.'

Among the people who visited Churchill at his home was the scientist Albert Einstein, who had fled from Germany.

Ms Carter added: 'Chartwell's role really does warrant the phrase the most important country house in Europe at that time.'

After Hitler's forces invaded Poland in September 1939 and Chamberlain declared war, Churchill was recalled to the Government to serve as First Lord of the Admiralty, where he was in charge of the Royal Navy.

Mr Bouverie said: 'It is the ultimate vindication of the warnings that he has been giving for nearly ten years and yet there's very little satisfaction for Churchill that Britain does end up going to war.'

Mr Packwood said the return marked a 'homecoming' to the 'front rank of British politics'.

In May 1940, Churchill met with Chamberlain and Lord Halifax, who was his only other rival to become Prime Minister.

Whilst Halifax was the favourite to replace Chamberlain, Churchill ended up becoming PM when Halifax turned down the role.

Dr Dunlop said: 'What he needs is for Halifax is to write himself out of the equation, which will then lead to him automatically being seen as the right choice.'

Churchill: A Gathering Storm airs on Saturday at 8pm. The programme was originally due to air at 9pm on Friday but was rescheduled following news of the death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Islamabad:

Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed has slapped Rs 100-million defamation notice on Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif for calling him the "darling of the United States".

Asif, while speaking at the Asia Society forum in New York on Tuesday, acknowledged that Saeed, the Haqqanis and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are "liabilities" for the country but it does not have the required "assets" to get rid of them.

The minister had also said that the US, which was putting pressure on Pakistan to tackle terrorist groups operating from its soil, once used to treat them as "darlings" just 20 to 30 years back.

Saeed's counsel A K Dogar sent the notice to the foreign minister on behalf of his client who heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), a front for the LeT militant group that carried out the deadly 2008 Mumbai attack.

"Saeed is respected as a deeply religious and devout Muslim. Saeed has never been near the White House, not to speak of wined and dined," Dogar said in the notice.

"It is shocking to know that the foreign minister of my country is accusing Hafiz Mohammad Saeed of taking wine. This is abusive language and can never be used for my client.

Also Read | US' former darlings' Hafiz Saeed, Haqqanis, LeT dined and wined in the White House, says Pakistan

"He is a patriotic Islam-loving Muslim following the dictates of the Prophet. This is a defamatory statement punishable under Section 500 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) to five years imprisonment and with a fine," he said.

The counsel termed it as an absolute lie and falsehood that Saeed is one of those persons who had been the "darlings of Americans" and had been dining and wining in the White House.

Whoever by words either spoken or intended to be read makes any imputation concerning any person so as to harm his reputation is said to defame that person, he said.

"The imputation of wining is a false statement which has injured the reputation of my client and lowered him in the estimation of others. This is slander and actionable libel. I am constrained to issue this 14 days notice of the intention of my client to bring an action against you.

"My client intends to file a suit for damages to the tune of Rs 100 million for injuring his reputation not only in Pakistan but all over the world," Dogar said.

"Apart from civil remedy, my client has a right to file a criminal complaint against you under Section 500 of the PPC. It goes without saying that you will be responsible for the entire cost of litigation," the counsel added.

US President Donald Trump had last month criticised Pakistan for its support to terror groups, saying it receives billions in US aid but continues to harbour militants.

Saeed and his four aides were placed under house arrest in Lahore on January 30 under the anti-terrorism act.

The JuD has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in June 2014.

Saeed carries a USD 10 million American bounty on his head for his role in terror activities.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Detecting and analyzing breast cancer goes beyond the initial discovery of the cancer itself. If a patient has a tumor removed and it needs to be analyzed to determine further treatment, it might be OK for the results to take 24 hours.

But if the patient is still on the operating table and clinicians are waiting to make sure no cancer cells are present along the edges of the removed tumor, results need to be nearly immediate.

A paper titled, "Breast cancer histopathology using infrared spectroscopic imaging: The impact of instrumental configurations," was published in Clinical Spectroscopy, an extension of previous work by Beckman Institute Postdoctoral Fellow Shachi Mittal and Rohit Bhargava, bioengineering professor and director of the Cancer Center at Illinois. Two alumni of the Beckman Postdoctoral Fellows program, Michael Walsh and Tomasz Wrobel, are co-authors. It seeks to advance breast cancer detection methodologies when using spectroscopic imaging.

They conducted the research at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Because time is of the essence in breast cancer detection, the research identifies how clinicians can choose the right detection methods and tools during the correct scenario to still drive accurate results.

The goal of the study was to give people a roadmap of how to plan and design an infrared imaging-based study for clinical work like digital histopathology. In one scenario, you determine what instrument configuration will be better, and then you determine what types of methodologies you can use to develop accurate models with that instrument." Shachi Mittal, Postdoctoral Fellow, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology

The team set out to examine the tradeoffs between using a standard Fourier transform infrared image or a high-definition Fourier transform infrared image.

"We wanted to see how the different types of instruments, especially different resolutions and how it impacts the capability of that data set to be used for different diagnostic purposes," Mittal said.

Instead of determining that one method is always superior, the researchers uncovered that the answer is much more complex. While high-definition imaging may seem like the best option regardless of the circumstances, sometimes standard definition infrared spectroscopy suffices in accuracy in instances when clinicians need a speedy result, for example.

"As technology expands and provides more capabilities with new features, it becomes more difficult to choose the optimal technology from the many options available," Bhargava said. "This study provides a nice comparison and guidelines to design a more useful and practical technology."

For Mittal, the research is an important step towards better dissecting, understanding, and curing cancer.

"Cancer is something we understand very little about," she said. "It's not only about the journey of battling the disease, but also the mental burden. Patients oftentimes don't understand, and they recognize the doctor may not fully understand either."

Mittal began her focus on breast cancer during her first graduate project, and continues to specialize her research in hopes to achieve something impactful that she can then apply to other types of cancers later in her academic career. She notes breast cancer has one of the highest mortality rates when looking at cancers that affect women.

"For females, it's not about just battling the disease, it also comes with a lot of cosmetic and life changing challenges," she said.

The interdisciplinary work that resulted in the paper was made possible by the Beckman Institute, Bhargava said.

"Developing new technology for human use requires a breadth of expertise that places like Beckman can bring together," he said. "I note that this study involves one current (Shachi) and one former (Tomasz) Beckman fellow as well as a Carle-Beckman Fellow (Michael). Together, these academicians' work is helping incubate a new community that provides chemical imaging technology to address human disease."
With COVID incidence rates falling statewide, Kentucky restaurants and bars have been allowed to increase capacity for indoor dining. PHOTO:AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File

Judge Blocks COVID Rules for Several Restaurants

By The Associated Press

GEORGETOWN - A Kentucky judge has temporarily blocked applying some of the states pandemic-related restrictions to several restaurants and breweries challenging them.Scott County Circuit Judge Brian Privett issued his order Friday. He says his order applies only to the businesses that filed suit challenging the coronavirus-related orders by Gov. Andy Beshear.The order runs counter to a previous ruling by a Franklin County circuit judge, who temporarily blocked Republican-backed laws threatening to invalidate the Democratic governors virus-related orders.Privett says there is every chance that the case he heard will join the Franklin County case on appeal ultimately to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Amazon has defeated the historic unionization attempt at its BHM1 fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama. According to CNBC, approximately 1,700 of the more than 3,000 employees who took part in the election voted against unionization as of Friday morning, with the Associated Press later confirming the result. Going into the contest, Amazon needed 1,608 ballots, or about 50 percent of the vote, to prevent the warehouse from unionizing.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)  Amazon warehouse workers reject union bid in Alabama, delivering win for company and a blow to labor movement.  Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) April 9, 2021

But the saga is far from over. To start, both Amazon and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which seeks to represent the approximately 5,800 employees at BHM1, have challenged about 500 ballots. According to CNBC, Amazon contested about 300 of those, primarily based on eligibility. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) won't release the official tally of contested ballots until it completes counting all the votes. Those contested ballots could play a pivotal role in the results as the election should the vote get closer as the NLRB continues the counting process.

There are likely to be legal challenges as well. On Thursday, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum called on the NLRB to investigate claims that Amazon had pressured the US Postal Service to install a mailbox outside of BHM1. "Amazon has left no stone unturned in its efforts to gaslight its own employees. We won't let Amazon's lies, deception and illegal activities go unchallenged, which is why we are formally filing charges against all of the egregious and blatantly illegal actions taken by Amazon during the union vote," he said in a statement.

BREAKING: More Perfect Union has obtained emails showing that Amazon privately pressured USPS to install an illegal ballot dropbox during the union election in Bessemer, AL.



The emails directly contradict public statements by USPS about the box's origins.



There's more. pic.twitter.com/1inCZKibO3  More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) April 8, 2021

Amazon refuted any claims it sought to unfairly influence the vote. "Its easy to predict the union will say that Amazon won this election because we intimidated employees, but thats not true," the company said in a blog post it published after the contest was called by the Associated Press. "Our employees heard far more anti-Amazon messages from the union, policymakers and media outlets than they heard from us. And Amazon didnt win  our employees made the choice to vote against joining a union."

Less than one percent of Amazon's more than 950,000 employees work at BHM1, but the unionization drive captured national attention, with celebrities, politicians and even President Joe Biden coming out in support of the workers. At one point, even Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, got involved when it stopped airing the company's anti-union ads in Alabama.
First responders work at the scene of the apprehension of a suspect at a residence in Bedias, Texas, on April 8, 2021, following a shooting at Kent Moore Cabinets in Bryan, Texas. (Michael Miller/College Station Eagle via AP)

Texas Shooting Leaves 1 Dead, 4 in Critical Condition, Suspect in Custody

A gunman suspected in killing one person and wounding five others in shooting incidents in Bryan, Texas, on Thursday, has been arrested, authorities said.

Four of those injured are in critical condition, the Bryan Police Department said on Twitter.

The initial shooting incident took place at about 2:30 p.m. at a cabinet-making business in the central Texas city. Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske told reporters he believes the suspected gunman, who apparently acted alone, is an employee at the company Kent Moore Cabinets.

By the time law enforcement officers responded to reports of shooting in the industrial park, the suspect, who has not been identified, had fled.

The suspected gunman was later arrested in the town of Iola, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) away from the shooting site, Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell said.

One of the injured victims has been identified as a trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). Texas DPS said on Twitter that the officer was while pursuing an individual suspected of being involved in the shooting in Bryan when he was shot.

He remains in serious but stable condition, Texas DPS said.

All five people injured in the shootings have been transported to local hospitals, according to officials.

The motive behind the shootings isnt yet clear. The Epoch Times has reached out to the Bryan Police Department for comment.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives sent agents and dogs to the shooting scene, said spokesman Deon Washington. Police asked people to stay away from the business during the investigation.

Bryan is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Houston and sits on the doorstep of Texas A&M University. The city of more than 86,000 residents is a market, industrial, and medical center with an economy centered on the university.

According to the companys website, Kent Moore Cabinets is headquartered in Bryan and employs more than 600 people statewide. The company makes custom cabinets and has design centers in nearly a dozen Texas cities.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the First Lady of Texas offered prayers for the victims of the shootings and their families.

Cecilia & I are praying for the victims & their families & for the injured officer, Abbott said on Twitter.

I have been working closely with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers as they assist local law enforcement on a swift response to this criminal act. Their efforts led to the arrest of the shooting suspect, he added in an official statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Shelly Ann Samuel, Country Head, CIBC FirstCaribbean, St Vincent and the Grenadines Office (left) and Acting Prime Minister Montgomery Daniel at the presentation of the donation.

CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank recently donated EC$54,000 to the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines, as the country continues its nationwide Covid-19 vaccination campaign.





This is part of the banks campaign around the region, through its charitable arm the FirstCaribbean International ComTrust Foundation, to support the purchase of vaccines in an effort to fight against the pandemic.





Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago have all benefited from donations to their respect national vaccination programmes.





"It is in these times that we come together and do what we can to assist the efforts of our nation to fight this pandemic. The fight against COVID-19 is far from over so we see it as a responsible corporate citizen, to support the Governments efforts in ensuring the safety of the people, many of whom are our clients, customers, our team members, our friends and our families, said Country Head, CIBC FirstCaribbean St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Shelly Ann Samuel.





"It is imperative that we rally behind the vaccination programme so that those persons who wish to be vaccinated can do so.





Samuel also thanked the staff of the bank, whom she said, despite difficult circumstances due to the pandemic, continued to ensure that their clients and customers had access to their banking needs.





Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the local branch participated in relief operations including distribution of supermarket/food gift vouchers to those in need. Regionally, the bank donated USD$250 000 last March spread across its 16-member regional footprint to assist health officials in purchasing testing supplies, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other supplies. (Source: FCIB)




An elderly couple have vowed to keep the Australian flag raised on their property after they were told to take it down by their neighbours.

Julie and Vaughan McLeod have had the national flag on display in the backyard of their unit on Queensland's Sunshine Coast since 1997.

The couple say a neighbour has complained it is an 'eyesore' and that the body corporate has told them to lower it because raising the flag is in breach of building by-laws.

Mr Vaughan, who served in the Royal Australian Air Force, says he has been left shocked by the request, Sunrise reported.

'I see the flag as part of my culture, I served in the Air Force under that flag and anything that seems disrespectful to the flag causes me anxiety,' he said.

Julie and Vaughan McLeod have had the national flag on display in the backyard of their unit on Queensland 's Sunshine Coast since 1997

The couple say a neighbour has complained it is an 'eyesore' and that the body corporate has told them to lower it because raising the flag is in breach of building by-laws

The couple say they were given permission to fly the flag when they first moved into the unit, though the body corporate says there is no written evidence.

Mrs McLeod said she refuses to bend under pressure and take down the flag.

'Its not coming down, its staying, so there will be a fight until the end,' she said.

Poll Should the couple have to take down their beloved Australian flag? Yes No Should the couple have to take down their beloved Australian flag? Yes 105 votes

No 908 votes Now share your opinion





The couple have been told they must remove the flag after receiving 20 notices telling them they are in breach of body corporate bylaws - but they are refusing to take it down without a fight.

'I'll just go to jail, cause I'm not gonna be paying a fine and I'm not gonna take the flag down,' Ms McLeod told A Current Affair.

'It's staying there. People have come and gone and died for that flag. It's not coming down.'

Ms McLeod's daily ritual includes hoisting the flag every morning and taking it down of an evening but the three other neighbours in the complex want it gone.

'Eyesore, I couldn't get over that word. It's an eyesore, that's what they put on the form. How could you call that an eyesore?,' Ms McLeod said.

'They keep sending (the notices) and I keep writing back and saying, well I'm afraid we've got permission.'

Mr McLeod said the couple were more than happy to provide an affidavit detailing how they received permission to fly the flag.

'I consider it a right to be able to show our flag. It's a symbol of our country and our culture,' he said.

'We are quite willing to do an affidavit, swear on the bible, that we have had permission. The fact the paperwork has been lost is not down to us at all.'

The body corporate at the couple's unit complex have said the couple are in breach of body corporate bylaws by flying the flag

The couple's home, which they moved into in 1997, is adorned with Australian flags, which Ms McLeod saying 'people have come and gone and died for that flag'

The couple have been locked in several bitter disputes with neighbours, including allegations Ms McLeod assaulted a neighbour. The case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence.

There have also been disagreements over garbage bins and cars in the driveway.

The flag debate has been sent to an adjudicator, who is expected to make a decision in the next six weeks.

Ms McLeod said depending on the outcome, she may consider court action.
A health worker prepares a Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 as people wait amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, in Bogota on April 7, 2021. Colombian President Ivan Duque on Sunday reinforced the curfews he recently imposed in the cities with the highest hospital occupancy to contain a new wave of covid-19 infections and deaths.(Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)

The statement came after the EU's EMA drug regulator said earlier in the day that blood clots should now be listed as a "very rare" side effect of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.

But the jab's benefits continue to outweigh the risks, it added.

The Covid-19 sub-committee of the WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety met on Wednesday to review the latest information from the EMA, British and other medicines regulators.

"Based on current information, a causal relationship between the vaccine and the occurrence of blood clots with low platelets is considered plausible but is not confirmed," the GACVS said.

"Specialised studies are needed to fully understand the potential relationship between vaccination and possible risk factors.

"Whilst concerning, the events under assessment are very rare, with low numbers reported among the almost 200 million individuals who have received the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine around the world."

"We believe the benefit-risk balance is very much in favour of the vaccine," said the WHO in response to an AFP query. "Nothing has changed in our advice - which is to keep vaccinating."

- Side effects 'common' -

It said that rare adverse effects had to be assessed against the risk of death from Covid-19 and the potential of vaccines to prevent coronavirus infections and reduce deaths.

Side effects within two or three days following vaccination "are expected and common", it noted.

"However, individuals who experience any severe symptoms... from around four to 20 days following vaccination, should seek urgent medical attention."

Those include shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling, persistent abdominal pain, neurological symptoms, such as severe and persistent headaches or blurred vision, and tiny blood spots under the skin beyond the injection site, the GACVS said.

The group suggested that a panel of clinical experts including haematologists should be convened for advice on clinical diagnosis and case management.

"The GACVS will meet again next week to review additional data and will be issuing further recommendations as relevant," it said.

- 'Risk-benefit' assessment -

The AstraZeneca jabs produced in South Korea and India, plus the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and that of Johnson and Johnson, are the only ones to have received WHO authorisation so far in the Covid-19 pandemic.

The AstraZeneca vaccine accounts for almost all of the doses being distributed around the world in the first wave of the Covax global vaccine-sharing facility.

Covax has now delivered 36 million doses of coronavirus vaccine to 86 countries and economies, the WHO said Tuesday.

The scheme aims to ensure poorer nations get enough doses to vaccinate at least 20 percent of their population by the end of the year.

Overall, more than 694 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been injected in at least 195 territories around the world, according to an AFP count.

The novel coronavirus has killed nearly 2.9 million people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP. At least 132 million cases have been registered.
The NUP President, Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine posted an emotional message for his long time friend and singing partner, Ali Buken alias Nubian Li who is in Kitalya prison.

It should be noted that 49 supporters of the National Unity Platform (NUP) were arraigned before the army court in Kampala and charged with illegal possession of four rounds of ammunition. These included Eddy Ssebufu alias Eddie Mutwe, Ali Bukeni alias Nubian Li, producer Dan Magic and many others.

According to Bobi Wines post on his Facebook page, he revealed that Nubian Li is the one giving strength to many people who were arrested on his campaign trail.

I thank you for remaining strong for the rest of the team. Our comrades who have come out of prison have told me that you have taken leadership of hundreds of our comrades at Kitalya, and done so with grace. They have told me that you are now a counsellor  some comrades come to you at the verge of despair and you encourage them to remain strong and hopeful in the face of impunity, injustice and uncertainty, he said.

Bobi Wine added that he is strengthened by the fact that when they decided to join politics, they were prepared for the challenges that come along with their decision.

May you continue being strong for the sake of everybody. Here on the outside, we are doing everything within our power to secure your release, but the dictator is also doing everything within his power to keep you under illegal detention. But like we always said, the forces of evil may appear very fearsome, but they never win in the end! Hang in there bro, he posted.

It should be noted that most of the NUP supporters who are in Kitalya prison were part of the 100 suspects who were on granted bail by Masaka Court where they had been charged with six counts, including inciting violence, assaulting police officers on duty, among others.
Anjali Raghbeer, Entrepreneur and Managing Director of Writers Qi, recently joined NewsX for a conversation as part of its special segment NewsX India A-List. With Writers Qi, Anjali has been helping students to achieve their dream of gaining a world-class education. She does so by making the college application process, both easy and fun. In the exclusive interview, Anjali talks to us at length about WritersQi, her journey so far as an educational consultant, the upcoming educational fair called College Brew 1.0, and more.

Speaking about Writers Qi and how she helps students to opt for the right college, Anjali said, I run WritersQi, it is an educational consultancy and we are based in Delhi. Much before the lockdown began, we have always had international clients from Singapore, US and the UK. I help the students with their college application journey and students come to me as early as Grade 9. I personally feel that grade 9 and 10 should be taken slower so that the children dont have burnout by the time that the applications are actually going out. The bulk of the work is done when one is in the 11th grade and grade 12 is when you end up applying for the colleges. I have been doing this for the last 6 years and I am very passionate about it. It fits really well with my writing background, thats how I got into it and I really enjoy it.

Writers Qi also advises students on which courses would be good for them. Anjali emphasised, When students come to me from Grade 10 onwards, the first thing that we do is give them a psychometric test, which is an aptitude test about where the child is best suited. As per that, we build the profile of the child by always keeping in mind what the interest and passion of the child is. I think it is very important to co-relate that and not have a manufactured result on the basis of what the colleges are looking for. I think it is very important to note what they are interested in and then make them passionate about what they are doing and eventually of course help them in shortlisting colleges. We do it on the basis of Dream-Target-Safety. Dream could be the college that one wants to get in, targets could be what we think is best suited for them, and then, of course, you want some safety and fallback option.

Talking about College Brew, an endeavour of Writers Qi, to help students coming from different backgrounds to gain insights from global experts and counsellors with a series of webinars and events, Anjali expressed College Brew is a baby of the lockdown. When the lockdown happened, one needed ways to reach out to people. I started doing these webinars. Since the world was absolutely closed, I think i had a lot of access to great resources such as NYU and Georgetown. So many people came on-board and there were happy to go on this platform. Then, it took a journey of its own. It has been almost a year now since we did the webinars consistently every month. College Brew is the mother of it all. We are using all of it under one platform on one day.

She added, College Brew is basically a series of talks with about 12 talk sessions in a day held by several experts. We have got Viral Doshi from Mumbai, who is a world-class counsellor. He will be coming to the platform to talk about applications. We have got people talking about the psychometric tests, some experts from the UK and the US, then people from University of Sydney who will talk to students about the opportunities in Australia, Ashoka talking about India. So, we have tried to give it a mix of everything. There will also be workshops on SATs by experts, who will help you with your application process. If you are thinking of applying to an IVY league, it is better to start the process early and this is a place where you can come in and get all the information you require. And, we have got a tremendous response and have received over 500 registrations already

On being asked if people are preferring one country over another for college applications and whether the pandemic has changed the priorities of people, Anjali responded, Not really. People who are aspiring to go abroad are anyway aspiring. Everyone wants to go to the best. The US is still a very coveted place. There is a lot of interest in UK, more so than pre-lockdown. Thats why we are bringing experts from there.

When prodded further on whether there is a session at College Brew that she is really looking forward to and will be the most useful to students, Anjali said, The way i structured it is, anybody from any kind of stage wherever they want to apply, they can come and get something out of it. If someone is in Grade 9, i recommend the psychometric testing and a session with Viral Doshi. This will help them get an overview about how to progress. For students in Grade 12, we got workshop in writing and we have got an expert from UCLA who will be giving the workshop. I have two companies who will be speaking about research opportunities. If someone is a design student, i have got a person who will be talking about how to build your portfolio as well as special one-on-one sessions. If you are interested in food, we have got an expert. We have tried to bring everything under one umbrella so that whatever your interest might be, there will be something for you there.

Addressing the question of grants and scholarships and whether there would be a session on this particular subject at the College Brew, Anjali said, Unfortunately, we couldnt put that together. But, Im sure Mr Doshi would be answering those sort of questions.

On a parting note, she spoke about what made her get into the field of counselling. I think it has to do with the writing background because I studied writing and did a lot of creative writing courses. I have also done a lot of childrens books. People used to come to me seeking assistance with their college essays. While helping them out, I sort of decided to get into the field and started doing it on a full scale rather than doing just bits and bobs. I found it so fulfilling because a lot of my students have won full scholarships and it has really been rewarding, in that sense. Anjali stated.

To enroll for College Brew 1.0  the Virtual Education Fair, register at this link: https://www.airmeet.com/e/4dec93b0-8b95-11eb-adfc-b1c12ad96800.

You can also access the CBI Brochure here.
New Delhi, April 9 : The night curfew imposed in the national capital amid resurgence of Covid-19 is not only hampering the shops, restaurants and others rather it is adding on to the woes of the banquet hall operators as people have started postponing the weddings and cancelling the bookings. A lot of people are even asking the banquet hall operators to change the time of the bookings too.

A lot of weddings are scheduled during the end of April. People have even distributed the wedding cards and invited a limited number guests while some of them have even compromised on the wedding rituals.

Kamal Arora, owner of Hallmark Banquet Hall, told IANS: "A lot of businesses are directly related to the weddings. I have received almost 60 phone calls since morning. People who were coming from outstation to organise their weddings here are requesting to cancel them." "People are in a panic situation due to uncertainty. The government should provide an e-pass to those who want to organise weddings or increase the time of the curfew from 10 p.m. to 12 midnight," he added.

He said that eight functions have been cancelled since the night curfew has been imposed. The wedding season is from April 22 to 30 only. People who had booked the banquet halls are now cancelling it and going to other states for the same.

Those who had planned their wedding in the capital are also cancelling the functions. Ankit Sachdeva, a resident of Agra, said: "I had planned my sister's wedding in Delhi. While we were planning the wedding, we didn't had any idea that night curfew will be imposed but now we have to change our plans." "We had requested the banquet hall owner to change the timings for our function. So, now they have asked to organise the wedding between 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.," he added.

Saurav Chawla, owner of Orchid banquet hall, said: "I am unable to understand the logic behind the night curfew. How can it be possible that the virus spreads only after 10 p.m.? The problem is that how we will manage the weddings during the day. The government should work on some feasible solution regarding this." Delhi's Community Welfare Banquet Association president Ramesh Dang said, "The night curfew has impacted the business of banquet halls. Almost 1,000 banquet halls in the capital will suffer the most because of this night curfew. We have even written to the LG and the Chief Minister urging them to keep the night curfew till April 22 only. We have also asked them to allow people go to their homes after seeing the wedding cards."
Lerner and Rowe Gives Back Donated $15K in Matching Sponsorship to Help United Food Banks "It is our duty to help those who have been impacted by food insecurities." Kevin Rowe, Esq.

Lerner and Rowe Gives Back is excited to announce that Arizonians showed up to join them in giving back to benefit the United Food Bank on AZ Gives Day 2021 and raising $62,750. The final total includes its matching donation of $15,000 and will be used to provide 300,000 meals to families facing hunger across the Valley of the Sun. Members of their team were also amped to volunteer their time to pack 1,190 food bags full of nutritious food.

United Food Bank helps lead the fight against hunger in the East Valley and eastern Arizona by providing food and more to over 165 nonprofit hunger relief partner agencies and programs, as well as to child nutrition and senior meal programs. The food bank's efforts are especially important after the COVID-19 pandemic that increased the need for food exponentially across the state.

Our team was honored to partner with the United Food Bank and support their efforts to provide nutritious food and hope to those who currently dont know where their next meal is coming from. We were also thrilled to learn that the food bank surpassed its goal by raising over $62,000 during AZ Gives Day, an annual online giving campaign that encourages peers to pay it forward and support local nonprofits, shares Kevin Rowe, Esq., founder of Lerner and Rowe Gives Back. It is our duty to help those who have been impacted by food insecurities.

Contact Kevin Rowe, Esq. to learn more about Lerner and Rowe Gives Backs $15,000 matching donation to the United Food Bank by sending an email request to krowe@lernerandrowe.com, or visit LernerAndRoweGivesBack.com.

More About Lerner and Rowe Gives Back

Lerner and Rowe Gives Back is a nonprofit organization founded by Kevin Rowe, managing partner of Lerner and Rowe Injury Attorneys and Lerner and Rowe Law Group. The foundation believes in paying forward the law firms achievements and successes by assisting other community organizations that advocate for the general health and well-being of children, struggling families and individuals, as well as our four-legged friends. For more details about their nonprofit organization visit LernerAndRoweGivesBack.com.

For more details about the law firms visit lernerandrowe.com, lernerandrowelawgroup.com, or follow them on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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Pennsylvania State Police are investigating how a 44-year-old man died after seemingly attending a RAW Warehouse Hoedown in Marysville, Perry County.

The man was found dead shortly after 4:30 a.m. March 26 at 600 South State Road, state police said.

The location holds a commercial building that was leased out for an overnight event, which state police said was advertised on Facebook as the RAW Warehouse Hoedown. It is unclear what this event entails.

State police said the event was organized by two men, one from New York and the other from Marysville.

Anyone with information on this mans death is asked to call Trooper Trisha Campbell at 717-567-3110.

READ MORE:

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The general spring fishing ban began on Friday in Romania's natural habitats, with the fishing closure next imposed in border waters - the Danube River section shared with Bulgaria and the waters that define the border with Ukraine, the Musura Gulf included - as of April 24, according to the Prohibition Order issued by the Ministries of Environment and of Agriculture, respectively.

The ban ends on June 8.

"Some claim that this order will affect tourism in the Danube Delta, due to the catch and release provisions for catfish, carp, pike and zander. Sport fishermen have a special respect for the living resource and go on this type of fishing anyway, without the need for a regulation, so that this type of tourists will not be affected," president of the Danube Delta Tourist Destination Management Association (AMDTDD) Catalin Tibuleac told AGERPRES."The act affects those who camp on the banks of the Danube, in areas that are not intended for tourism, those who don't spend money at their stay location and who would often leave with bags of salted and dried fish," Tibuleac added.He also criticized the fact that the provision that prohibits sport fishermen from keeping their catches of fish from these four species was not put up for public debate and argued that the prohibition order will affect Delta tourism to just a little extent.The general fishing ban is based on the species, but also on the breeding season and aims to protect the fish stocks.The fishing ban for zander and European perch started in March, and for mackerel the closure sets in successively on the various Danube sectors, starting this week. AGERPRES
LONDON, April. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TBD Media Group is pleased to announce the launch of the latest entry to its cutting-edge Global Thought Leaders campaign; shining a light on the businesses which are making effective use of new advances in technology to drive their sectors into the future.

The spheres of business and industry are always shifting. Innovations that were once revolutionary and exclusive are becoming the status-quo, and the needs of the market are evolving to both reflect the desire for greater sustainability, and to take advantage of the potential of ever-developing technologies.

The potential for invention is present across multiple sectors, each with their own unique needs: Industry must be made greener, and businesses must become more sustainable - with the decrease in carbon emissions a priority - through innovative methods and styles of leadership. Models and solutions for wellness and healthcare must be optimised using the very latest in technological advances. Similarly, attention must be given to the potential of technology when working to combat life threatening conditions such as cancer, and when engaging in initiatives to ensure a liveable world in the future. The companies exploring these diverse and crucial concerns are being featured in the Global Thought Leaders campaign; with focus given to the leadership that such organisations are demonstrating to the rest of their respective sectors, and how their work will change the world as we know it.

With high-quality and bespoke documentary films, this campaign offers an exclusive glimpse into the new and transformative methods and innovations of the leading organisations working to change the global conversation about the key issues affecting our world.

TBD Media Group CEO, Paolo Zanini says, "The world always faces problems of one kind or another. But, when looking back through history, leaders and pioneers always emerge with the bravery and skills necessary to make their mark on the world and offer solutions. Today is no different, and it is our privilege to give such trendsetters the opportunity to engage with the global conversation in a meaningful way."

Companies featured in this launch:

Tungsram Operations , Telemecanique Sensors , Jesa SA , Elekta , Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH) , Evercare Group, GEODIS , Ivoclar Vivadent

About Global Thought Leaders:

The Global Thought Leaders project showcases the businesses of today shaping the world of tomorrow. From digital transformation to industrial innovation, this thoughtful and insightful documentary series is educating the business community on how to use innovation to transform and grow. Businesses that wish to get involved should contact info@tbdmediagroup.com .

About TBD Media Group:

TBD Media Group is an international, purpose-driven, media developer that helps companies, organisations and governments tell their brand stories in a human and direct way. Learn more at https://www.tbdmediagroup.com/ .

Media Contact:

Jenna-Leigh Soobramoney

Head of Marketing

TBD Media Group

j.soobramoney@tbdmediagroup.com

Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1484157/Global_Thought_Leaders.mp4
New Delhi, April 9 : Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday slammed the decision of the education boards in the country, including the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), to conduct exams under the deteriorating Covid-19 situation in the country.

In a tweet, she said: "It is downright irresponsible of boards like the CBSE to force students to sit for exams under the prevailing circumstances. Board exams should either be cancelled, rescheduled or arranged in a manner that does not require the physical presence of children at crowded exam centres." Her remarks came a day after both the CBSE and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) said that adequate safety arrangements are being made for students and all Covid-19 guidelines will be followed during the exams.

The two boards responded after the hashtag, 'cancel board exams' trended on Twitter on Wednesday and Thursday.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Samsung has launched a new variant of their object location tracking device, called the Galaxy SmartTag+. This new version features both Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, which allows users to find their misplaced/lost objects with the help of AR.

Samsung first launched the Galaxy SmartTag during a Galaxy Unpacked event back in January 2021. It came in two different variants  one with a built-in Bluetooth that worked with any Galaxy device and one with a UWB chip inside that would work with the Galaxy S21 series smartphones.

Now, Samsung released the Galaxy SmartTag+ that combines both BLE and UWB technology into one, small square tag. Thanks to the presence of both these technologies, users can now use AR technologies to help find their objects. Naturally to locate using AR, you will need to use a UWB equipped smartphone such as the Samsung Galaxy S21+ or S21 Ultra.

The SmartTag+ can also connect to the Galaxy device network, thereby allowing it to be located on a map even if it is far away from the user.

Just as before, to get the best use out of these tags, users need to use the SmartThings Find feature. The SmartTag+ also has a single button that users can either press once or press-and-hold to perform custom functions through the SmartThings app.

The Samsung Galaxy SmartTag+ will begin rolling out globally in select regions from April 16th onwards.
Maharat Rori Picker-Neiss, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, has been invited to speak on a panel at the virtual J Street National Conference April 18-19. The 2019 J Street Conference had over 4,000 attendees, including some of the leading voices in Middle East peace policy, U.S. politics and many other topics of interest to the Jewish community.

Neil Jaffe, J Street St. Louis Chapter chair, said St. Louis will be sending a virtual delegation of people along with some of the J Street U students from Washington University. Given the virtual nature of the conference and the high-level of speakers and programming, Jaffe said J Street is expecting to engage a wider audience this year.

We are hoping that without a flight and travel expenses, more people will have the opportunity to participate, he said, adding that some of this years conference speakers include Ehud Olmert, former prime minister of Israel; MK Mera Michaeli, leader of the Labor Party; Ayman Odeh, chair of the Joint List; Senators Tammy Duckworth, Chris Murphy, Jon Ossoff, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Raphael Warnock; and Representatives Jamaal Bowman, Katie Porter, Marie Newman, Andy Kim, Barbara Lee and Debbie Dingell.

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Picker-Neiss panel will discuss the outlook for Jewish progressives organizing and moving forward during the Biden years, including areas that J Street should be focused on, and how it can continue to grow, rather than retreat, now that Donald Trump is out of office. The panel will be moderated by Rebecca Kirzner of HIAS, a nonprofit that assists Jewish refugees, and include Rabbi Sandra Lawson from Reconstructing Judaism and Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center (RAC) of Reform Judaism.

More information on the conference and program schedule is available at https://jstreet.org/conference/program. A current list of speakers is available at https://jstreet.org/conference/speakers-2021.
Three sisters who allege they were sexually abused by Malka Leifer are set to give evidence in person in court later this year rather than appear via video links.

As Ms Leifer faced Melbourne Magistrates Court for the second time since her extradition from Israel in January, the court heard it was the preference of sisters Elly Sapper, Dassi Erlich and Nicole Meyer to be questioned in person in the hearing that determines whether the former principal stands trial.

Malka Leifer - court sketch Credit:Mollie McPherson

But the cross-examination of the three women could feature questions about what was happening at home with the complainants at the time of the alleged abuse, defence lawyer Tony Hargreaves told the court.

Mr Hargreaves said Ms Leifers barrister, Ian Hill, QC, might pursue that line of questioning but if he did so, he would ensure it is done properly.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland (TMMP), the automakers European powertrain operation, has started production of hybrid electric transmissions.

The new transmission combines with a new 1.5-litre petrol engine, produced in Jelcz-Laskowice, to form the hybrid electric powertrain for the redesigned Yaris assembled in France.

Toyota claimed demand for the recently launched models was at an all-time high, the B-segment model accounted for over 20% of its European sales last year.

Production begins later this year at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech, the former JV with PSA set up originally to build a shared A-segment city car line.

TMMP output of hybrid electric powertrains will receive another boost when the Yaris Cross begins production later in 2021, also in France.

TMMP's latest expansion is a key part of Toyota Motor Europe's strategy to further localise production of hybrid electric drives to help meet the company's ambition of selling 1.4m vehicles a year by 2025 when 90% of sales will have electrified powertrains - hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery electric and fuel cell.

As part of increased European investment, TME has expanded TMMP's Walbrzych plant to accommodate a new casting line, additional processing lines and a new assembly line.

TMMP also began the first European production of the MG1 electric motor which is part of the hybrid electric transmission and, to meet increased demand for hybrids, Walbrzych will launch a twin production line for hybrid electric transmissions in autumn 2021. From 2022, it will operate a second production line for the 1.5-litre TNGA petrol engines, effectively doubling hybrid electric powertrain production capacity for the Yaris models.

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

"Our hybrid electric sales made up 53% of total volume in 2020 and we will increase hybrid sales along with those of battery electric, plug-in electric and fuel cell vehicles. Together these technologies have enabled us to meet our EU CO2 fleet targets in 2020, and we are confident that we will continue to achieve these targets in future," said TME EVP Marvin Cooke.

Once all new projects are in full output in 2022, the factories in Walbrzych and Jelcz-Laskowice will have six production lines for the main hybrid components, including three lines of hybrid electric transmissions and three lines of combustion engines.

This all followed TMMP establishment of a hybrid drives testing and evaluation department in 2020.

Including the recently completed projects, the investment in both plants will increase to PLN6bn (EUR1.3bin) by the end of 2022 with capacity for 1.65mi components per year and employment of 3,000 people.

Poland is Toyota's only hybrid drive production and development facility outside Asia.
(ANSA) - TURIN, APR 9 - An Italian elementary school teacher has been placed under investigation on suspicion of creating a "climate of terror" in her classes, police said Friday.

The teacher, who has not been named, allegedly subjected her young charges to "insults, threats, aggressive attitudes, and vexation", police said.

She reportedly worked as a supply teacher at two primary schools in Turin for various spells between 2013 and 2019.

The head teacher, deputy head and assistant head at one of the schools have been placed under investigation for failing to report her and failure to act.

Some 21 children have been cited as alleged victims of the woman. (ANSA).


Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 23:49:56|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Russian spaceship Soyuz MS-18 in a scheduled flight successfully sent two Russian and one U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos said.

A Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 0742 GMT and docked in an automatic mode to the Rassvet module of the Russian segment of the ISS in 3 hours 23 minutes after the liftoff.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei then joined their seven colleagues already working on the orbital outpost.

The Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft also delivered 169 kg of payloads to the ISS, including equipment, hygiene items and food. Enditem
COLUMBIA  Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will visit South Carolina to stump for Gov. Henry McMaster's reelection campaign in May, an early sign that the incumbent will enjoy the full backing of the GOP's national organization as he pursues another four years in office.

On top of her role as the Hawkeye State's chief executive, Reynolds is the vice chair of the Republican Governors Association, the official group focused on electing Republican governors across the country.

In both of those capacities, Reynolds said she is "proud to fully support Henry McMaster for reelection" in a statement to The Post and Courier.

"His strong record of bolstering South Carolinas economy, creating jobs, protecting seniors, and fighting for law and order speaks for itself," Reynolds said. "South Carolinians have a champion and a fighter in Governor McMaster and Ill do everything I can as RGA Vice Chair to help him deliver another win next year."

Reynolds and McMaster will hold a fundraiser and press event together in Columbia on May 19. In addition to the Reynolds visit, the RGA also donated $3,500 to McMaster's campaign at the end of March, offering an early indication of the type of financial assistance that can come along with the group's support.

McMaster ascended to the governor's office in 2017 after his predecessor, Nikki Haley, left to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He won his first full term in 2018.

No Republicans have formally announced plans to challenge McMaster in the 2022 GOP primary yet, but at least a few are rumored to be considering it.

Potential contenders include Greenville businessman John Warren, who lost to McMaster in the 2018 GOP primary runoff, and state Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey of Edgefield.

But the support from the RGA may make a challenger's prospective campaign more difficult, as GOP consultants may be wary of working against one of the party's favored incumbents. Operatives who do work for a challenger may be barred from working with the RGA in the future.

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McMaster campaign adviser Tim Pearson called the RGA "the best run political organization in the country."

"Given that no campaign they have supported in South Carolina has ever lost, it's a huge boon to our campaign that they are all in on the governor's reelection," Pearson said.

The RGA's move marks a departure from their decision to stay out of the GOP primary in 2018, when McMaster drew four opponents before ultimately prevailing in the runoff. The organization got behind McMaster that year only after he became the nominee.

Republican strategist Rob Godfrey said the RGA's earlier support this time for McMaster could have a "real impact on the race" and pave a more comfortable path for McMaster to reclaim the nomination.

"It makes a strong statement to those who might be looking at the race that the governor is not only going to have at his disposal the robust resources of his own finance team but also is going to be able to count on friends outside of his campaign organization who believe in the good work he's doing and will have his back," Godfrey said.

The RGA backed Nikki Haley's 2014 reelection bid as governor when she, like McMaster, sat on the group's executive committee.

McMaster already scored the crucial endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who praised the governor on behalf of the military, veterans and law enforcement in a March statement from his Save America PAC.

Trump and McMaster developed a friendship after McMaster became the first statewide elected official in the country to endorse Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, and Trump returned the favor when he held a rally in support of McMaster days before the 2018 runoff against Warren.
Social distancing and masks are still mandated by local health authorities. Moreover, face covering between bites still make restaurants a drag . . . Here's a more hopeful take from hipsters:

Kansas City Restaurants are Reopening After the most gut-wrenching, challenging year for restaurants in our lifetimes, restaurants and bars are at last being buoyed by the American Rescue Plan and the increasing availability of vaccines. In the past few weeks, many Kansas City restaurants that had been shuttered just for winter or even for months since the pandemic began, have...
DUBLIN, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market Research Report by Equipment Type, by End-use - United States Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The United States Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market is expected to grow from USD 744.50 Million in 2020 to USD 1,118.84 Million by the end of 2025.



This research report categorizes the Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Equipment Type, the Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market studied across Manifold Freeze Dryers, Shell Freeze Dryers, and Tray-style Freeze Dryers. The Tray-style Freeze Dryers commanded the largest size in the Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market in 2020. On the other hand, the Manifold Freeze Dryers is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period.



Based on Operational Scale, the Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market studied across Industrial-scale, Laboratory-scale, and Pilot-scale. The Industrial-scale commanded the largest size in the Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market in 2020. On the other hand, the Pilot-scale is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period.



Based on End-use, the Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market studied across Food Processing & Packaging, Medical Applications, and Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Manufacturing. The Food Processing & Packaging commanded the largest size in the Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market in 2020. On the other hand, the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Manufacturing is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period.



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



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



The report provides insights on the following pointers:



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

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

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

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

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



The report answers questions such as:



1. What is the market size and forecast of the United States Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the United States Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the United States Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the United States Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the United States Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market?

6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the United States Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market?



Key Topics Covered:



1. Preface



2. Research Methodology



3. Executive Summary

3.1. Introduction

3.2. Market Outlook

3.3. Operational Scale Outlook

3.4. Equipment Type Outlook

3.5. End-use Outlook

3.6. Competitor Outlook



4. Market Overview

4.1. Introduction

4.2. Cumulative Impact of COVID-19



5. Market Insights



6. United States Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market, By Equipment Type



7. United States Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market, By Operational Scale



8. United States Freeze-Drying/Lyophilization Market, By End-use



9. Competitive Landscape

9.1. FPNV Positioning Matrix

9.1.1. Quadrants

9.1.2. Business Strategy

9.1.3. Product Satisfaction

9.2. Market Ranking Analysis

9.3. Market Share Analysis

9.4. Competitor SWOT Analysis

9.5. Competitive Scenario

9.5.1. Merger & Acquisition

9.5.2. Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership

9.5.3. New Product Launch & Enhancement

9.5.4. Investment & Funding

9.5.5. Award, Recognition, & Expansion



10. Company Usability Profiles



11. Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6a8ga2

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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LOS ANGELESSex workers in Brazils sixth-largest city are on strike this week, demanding that the government classify them as front-line workers, and as a result, give them priority for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a report by the French Press Agency. Sex work is legalized in Brazil and since 2002, the Brazilian Ministry of Labor and Employment has classified it as an officially recognized profession.

That official recognition allows sex professionals to access public benefits, such as social security. But that doesnt mean life is easy for Brazilian sex workers. Many activities surrounding the legal exchange of sex for payment, such as living off the income generated by someone elses sex work, have an ambiguous legal status at best. That has led to a system in which the government is able to impose restrictions and regulations on sex worker activity, often through the actions of law enforcement, according to a 2017 United Nations report.

As they have throughout South America and the world, sex workers in Brazil were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. And Brazil as a country has struggled with the pandemic, just Thursday seeing more than 4,000 deaths in a single day.

Now, sex workers in the city of Belo Horizonte say that they need to be vaccinated as quickly as possible, because they are working on the front lines of the pandemic, mostly on the streets since being forced out of their rented hotel rooms due to widespread hotel closures.

"We are in the front line, moving the economy and we are at risk," Association of Prostitutes of Minas Gerais State President Cida Vieira told AFP. "We need to get vaccinated. We are a priority group, we are health educators, peer educators. We form part of that group, since we give information about STIs for men, and distribute condoms."

The Brazilian government has also struggled with getting vaccines to Brazilians. As of late March, only 10 million of the countrys more than 220 million people  about 4.5 percent  had received at least one dose of a vaccine. That number pales next to the achievement of another South American country, Chile, where 37.7 percent of the population has received at least one dose, and 22.4 percent are fully vaccinated.

In the United States, as of April 8, 33.7 percent have been partially vaccinated, at 19.9 percent had received full vaccination doses.

Health workers, teachers, the elderly, indigenous people and people with underlying health conditions have received top priority for vaccination in Brazil, but sex workers now say they should be included in that group and they are withholding their services for at kleast a week to make their point.

Brazils handling of the pandemic has been particularly lacking, with President Jair Bolsonaro consistently refusing to take decisive actions to curb spread of the novel coronavirus, deriding the disease that has killed nearly 350,000 Brazilians as just a little flu, publicly declaring that he refuses to be vaccinated, baselessly casting doubt on the vaccines effectiveness, and declining multiple opportunities to purchase millions of vaccine doses to distribute to his countrys people.

Photo By Wilfredor / Wikimedia Commons
Ukraine is not alone in defending its territorial integrity and sovereignty, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Zbigniew Rau has said.

The minister said this during his visit to Kyiv on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland reports on Twitter.

"Ukraine is not alone in defending sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders," the ministry quotes Zbigniew Rau.

In another tweet, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that the minister stressed that an independent and secure Ukraine is an integral part of Europe, which is based on the principles of the Charter of Paris for a New Europe.

In addition, the ministry said that Zbigniew Rau had held talks with Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Leonid Kravchuk and Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, who provided details of the negotiations regarding the situation in eastern Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Zbigniew Rau agreed to jointly consolidate efficient international support for Ukraine against the background of escalating Russian aggression.

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A Filipino man with a heart condition was forced to do squats more than a hundred times after violating the local COVID-19 curfew last week. According to a recently published article on USA Today, officials said that a 28-year-old Filipino man died last week after being forced to perform nearly 300 squats for violating the local COVID-19 curfew.





Filipino Man Dies After Doing Hundreds of Squats

The Filipino man was identified as Darren Manaog Penaredondo, who was apprehended on April 1 in General Trias City, south of Manila, by village watchmen. According to the report, he was buying water after 6 p.m., which is beyond the implemented curfew that lasts from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.

In a published article on CNN News, Reichelyn Balce, wife of the 28-year-old Filipino man, said that her husband was ordered to perform hundreds of squats along with other curfew violators. She also added that her husband had a heart condition, and he could barely walk when he got home a day after.

Balce also said, "He said they were made to do pumping exercises for 100 reps. If they're not in sync, they have to start over." Meanwhile, Penaredondo's cousin posted on social media that his cousin had a convulsion, and they were able to revive him at home. However, he died hours after he was rushed to the hospital.

Philippines Warns China of Daily Diplomatic Protests If Militia Continues to Stay

Philippine Authorities Investigating the Incident

In a recently published article on Yahoo News, Philippine authorities are already investigating the death of a 28-year-old Filipino man who broke the local curfew.

Ildebrandi Usana, National Police spokesman, said the city's police chief and two officers had been removed from their posts while the investigation is ongoing to ensure that they cannot influence the investigation.

Usana told the reporters that Penaredondo and other violators were made to perform a knee-bender exercise. The Police spokesman admitted, "It's painful. If that's the requirement, you will really pass out especially, if you're not used to it. Even policemen themselves find it difficult."

Philippines' New Police Chief Is an Official Who Broke Lockdown Rules To Celebrate His Birthday

Police Authorities Punished Thousands of People

Philippine police authorities have punished thousands of people for violating the curfew imposed last week due to the spike of new COVID-19 infections in Metro Manila and four provinces surrounding the National Capital Region.

It is one of the protocols implemented in the country in an attempt to curb infections. At present, the country has recorded more than 828,000 cases with a daily positivity rate of almost 25 percent, five times higher than the World Health Organization's positivity rate, which is 5 percent and below. Additionally, around 14,000 Filipinos already died due to the infectious and deadly COVID-19.

Meanwhile, human rights groups have raised concern over the excessive punishments for people caught violating the curfew and other restrictions. The Justice Secretary also said on Monday that police authorities should consider community service instead of extreme exercises.

Different local units across the Philippines are implementing various restrictions in an attempt to mitigate COVID-19. Different punishments were also imposed on the violators, but there is now a call to let them do community service instead of rigorous exercise.

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
[April 09, 2021] Johnson Controls Agrees to Acquire Silent-Aire to Accelerate Growth in Hyperscale Data Center Vertical

CORK, Ireland, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), the global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Silent-Aire, a global leader in hyperscale data center cooling and modular critical infrastructure solutions. This all-cash transaction is valued at up to $870 million, including an upfront payment of approximately $630 million and additional payments to be made subject to the achievement of post-closing earnout milestones. Johnson Controls has a significant opportunity to increase its focus on the data center vertical and accelerate growth Silent-Aire specializes in the design, engineering and manufacturing of mission critical custom air handlers and modular data centers for hyperscale cloud and colocation providers. Silent-Aire's portfolio of data center solutions allow for rapid deployment of critical infrastructure in flexible configurations, with a focus on quality, scalability, and speed-to-market. Silent-Aire's revenue for fiscal year 2021 (May) is expected to approximate $650 million. "With Silent-Aire, Johnson Controls has a significant opportunity to increase our focus on the data center vertical and accelerate growth in this attractive end market by combining the strengths of our global scale in manufacturing and service, with leading-edge innovation and a broad portfolio of technologies dedicated to serving hyperscale providers," said George Oliver, Johnson Controls chairman and CEO. "This acquisition perfectly aligns with several of our key strategic growth initiatives and underscores our focus on creating shareholder value," Oliver continued. "We are incredibly excited to welcome Silent-Aire to the Johnson Controls family as we look to build upon their success of nearly 30 years of innovation, operational expertise, and deep customer relationships." The continuous migration of applications to the cloud (SaaS) has resulted in unprecedented demand for computing power and the rapid expansion of data center infrastructure. Over the last several years, this trend has overwhelmingly favored the development of hyperscale cloud and colocation facilities. Hyperscale providers have unique capabilities in deploying large-scale computing power with increasingly more efficient, more rapidly deployed solutions and with greater geographic reach. To accomplish this, hyperscalers require trusted global partners, such as Silent-Aire, that provide highly efficient, sustainable and reliable products along with consistent and dependable execution. "Silent-Aire grew up with the cloud and our DNA translates what it means to be a Hyperscale Data Center Company," said Lindsey Leckelt Silent-Aire Co-CEO. "Being an innovative partner with early adopters, we broke through traditional design barriers that pushed energy initiatives in what led to how most Hyperscale Data Centers are cooled and engineered today," he continued. "The culture in our business captures this unique skill set and is scaled through to our engineering, operations, and manufacturing teams to keep up with the explosive growth of cloud providers. Johnson Controls shares our vision to scale as a Data Center Platform business, which will enable us to serve our partners globally." Silent-Aire is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta and has approximately 3,000 employees globally, with a legacy of providing mission critical data center technology, a commitment to customer-centricity and a clear focus on sustainability. "Sustainability has been a major focus as we've grown our family business throughout our history," added Dan Leckelt, Silent-Aire Co-CEO. "Maintaining our growth to match our customers' demands has taken us from 30 employees to 3,000 over this period," Leckelt continued. "Through this growth, our global expansion to Europe provided a glimpse of the opportunity the rest of the world has to offer. As a measure of continuing long-term sustainability for our customers and employees; while pushing technological advances fostering environmental excellence, a partnership with Johnson Controls Inc. provides Silent-Aire the best opportunity to succeed." Subject to the receipt of regulatory approval and customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the fiscal third quarter of 2021. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive and add $0.07 to $0.09 to Johnson Controls adjusted EPS from continuing operations in fiscal 2022. An accompanying slide presentation with additional details on the transaction has been made available on the "Events & Presentations" section of the company's website at: https://investors.johnsoncontrols.com/news-and-events/events-and-presentations







JOHNSON CONTROLS CONTACTS:

INVESTORS: MEDIA:



Antonella Franzen Chaz Bickers Direct: 609.720.4665 Direct: 224.307.0655 Email: antonella.franzen@jci.com Email: charles.norman.bickers@jci.com



Ryan Edelman Michael Isaac Direct: 609.720.4545 Direct: +41.52.6330374 Email: ryan.edelman@jci.com Email: michael.isaac@jci.com

About Johnson Controls: At Johnson Controls, we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. From optimizing building performance to improving safety and enhancing comfort, we drive the outcomes that matter most. We deliver our promise in industries such as healthcare, education, data centers, and manufacturing. With a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150 countries and over 130 years of innovation, we are the power behind our customers' mission. Our leading portfolio of building technology and solutions includes some of the most trusted names in the industry, such as Tyco, YORK, Metasys, Ruskin, Titus, Frick, PENN, Sabroe, Simplex, Ansul and Grinnell. For more information, visit www.johnsoncontrols.com or follow us @johnsoncontrols on Twitter Johnson Controls International plc Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Johnson Controls International plc has made statements in this communication regarding the acquisition of Silent-Aire that are forward-looking and therefore are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements in this document other than statements of historical fact are, or could be, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this communication, statements regarding Johnson Controls' future financial position, sales, costs, earnings, cash flows, other measures of results of operations, synergies and integration opportunities, capital expenditures and debt levels are forward-looking statements. Words such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "should," "forecast," "project" or "plan" and terms of similar meaning are also generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Johnson Controls cautions that these statements are subject to numerous important risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond Johnson Controls' control, that could cause the expected impact of the acquisition of Silent-Aire to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, include, among others, risks related to the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition, including the possibility that expected synergies will not be realized or will not be realized within the expected time frame; delays in the successful integration of Silent-Aire; unfavorable reaction to the acquisition by customers, competitors, suppliers and employees, disruption from the transaction making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; significant transaction costs; and unknown liabilities. Other factors that could cause Johnson Controls' actual results to differ materially from those expressed include, among others risks related to: Johnson Controls' ability to manage general economic, business, capital market and geopolitical conditions, including the impacts of natural disasters, pandemics and outbreaks of contagious diseases and other adverse public health developments, such as the COVID-19 pandemic; the strength of the U.S. or other economies; changes or uncertainty in laws, regulations, rates, policies or interpretations that impact Johnson Controls' business operations or tax status; the ability to develop or acquire new products and technologies that achieve market acceptance; changes to laws or policies governing foreign trade, including increased tariffs or trade restrictions; maintaining the capacity, reliability and security of Johnson Controls' enterprise and product information technology infrastructure; the risk of infringement or expiration of intellectual property rights; any delay or inability of Johnson Controls to realize the expected benefits and synergies of recent portfolio transactions such as its merger with Tyco and the disposition of the Power Solutions business; the outcome of litigation and governmental proceedings; the ability to hire and retain key senior management; the tax treatment of recent portfolio transactions; significant transaction costs and/or unknown liabilities associated with such transactions; the availability of raw materials and component products; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; work stoppages, union negotiations, labor disputes and other matters associated with the labor force; the cancellation of or changes to commercial arrangements. A detailed discussion of risks related to Johnson Controls' business is included in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Johnson Controls' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the 2020 fiscal year filed with the SEC on November 16, 2020, which is available at www.sec.gov and www.johnsoncontrols.com under the "Investors" tab. Shareholders, potential investors and others should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements and should not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date of this document, unless otherwise specified, and, except as required by law, Johnson Controls assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to update such statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this communication. Non-GAAP Financial Information

The Company's press release contains financial information regarding adjusted earnings per share, which is a non-GAAP performance measure. The adjusting items include transaction costs, integration costs and deal amortization. Management may use this metric as a guide in forecasting, budgeting and long-term planning processes and for compensation purposes. This metric should be considered in addition to, and not as replacements for, the most comparable GAAP measure. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/johnson-controls-agrees-to-acquire-silent-aire-to-accelerate-growth-in-hyperscale-data-center-vertical-301265741.html SOURCE Johnson Controls International plc

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The Iowa State Capitol building is seen on Oct. 09, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Iowa Troopers Arrest BLM Activist as Group Rallies Against Bills Increasing Protest-Related Penalties

A Black Lives Matter activist was taken into custody inside the Iowa State Capitol on Thursday after protesters stormed the building to urge lawmakers to reject legislation they oppose.

Police arrested 18-year-old Josephine Mulvihill, a high school student of Des Moines, and charged her with assaulting a police officer, according to a tweet posted by journalist Andy Ngo.

In a criminal complaint obtained by the Des Moines Register, the officer who arrested Mulvihill, identified as Iowa State Patrol Trooper Dylan Hernandez, said she pushed his arm in order to get his attention after trying to obtain the names and badge numbers of him and a fellow trooper.

A flyer that was posted by Black Lives Matter in order to invite activists to the protest and reject at least four proposals was posted on Twitter, claiming the state is passing racist and dangerous bills.

Dozens of activists gathered at the government building to oppose the bills that include Senate File 476, which passed the state Senate in March and now sits in the House. The bill is intended to strengthen qualified immunity for law enforcement officers.

The second legislation the activists rallied against is Senate File 534, which seeks to raise penalties for protest-related crimes, as well as give immunity to the driver of a vehicle, who is exercising due care, and accidentally hits a protester or rioter blocking the traffic on a public street or is unlawfully assembling.

Other bills opposed by the activists are House File 802, which will limit diversity and inclusion lessons that teach divisive concepts such as that Iowa is fundamentally or systematically racist or sexist, as well as Senate File 479, which seeks to withhold state funds from cities that defund police budgets.

In the video posted on Twitter by Ngo, the protesters are heard shouting popular slogans by Marxist groups like no police before Trooper Hernandez forces Mulvihill to the ground and arrests her.

Troopers are then seen clashing with the activists as Mulvihill is getting escorted out of the building before being put into the passenger seat of a police vehicle.

Angelina Ramirez, who co-organized the April 8 event named Advocates for Social Justice, claims state lawmakers passing these bills dont care about Iowans of color.

She told Iowa Public Radio, Im telling you from firsthand exposure to the legislators that are passing these billsthey wont care about their Black and brown constituents unless theyre forced to. Unless theyre pressured to.

Majority of Americans Against Defunding the Police

According to a poll released in March, only 18 percent of Americans support slashing funding to the police.

Another 58 percent of respondents said they oppose the defund the police movement, which is often synonymous with the Black Lives Matter movement, according to the Ipsos/USA Today survey.

Just 28 percent of black respondents and 34 percent of respondents who identify as Democrats support the movement to cut police funding, in addition to 67 percent of white respondents and 84 percent of Republican ones.

Dont defund the police department. We need them here to keep law and order, Kevin Hayworth, 66, of Garner, Iowa, told USA Today . We need our police department just as they are.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Sakura Kokumai, an American karate champion, says a stranger hurled racial slurs at her in a California park (Getty Images)

The latest target of anti-Asian hate is a United States Olympic athlete.

Sakura Kokumai, a karate champion who will represent the US at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, says she was minding her own business at a park in Orange, California when a stranger began cursing at her.

Youre a loser! Loser! Go home, stupid b****! the man yelled.

Not knowing what to do, Ms Kokumai recorded the abuse. Eventually the man left, shouting racial insults as he drove away.

Youre Chinese! You cant see me! he shouted from his car.

Later, Ms Kokumai reflected on the harrowing incident as she posted her videos on Instagram , noting how few people had stepped in to help her.

Yes what happened was horrible, she wrote, but I dont know which was worse, a stranger yelling and threatening to hurt me for no reason or people around me who witnessed everything and not doing a thing.

Eventually, she said, one woman came up to her and asked if she was OK, but for the longest time no one cared. People would walk by, some even smiled. And I didnt know what to do.

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The American karateka, who has Japanese roots, sees the attack as one more example of the anti-Asian hate speech and violence that have plagued the United States in recent months.

I was aware about the anti-Asian hate that was going on, she told KTLA . You see it almost every day on the news, but I didnt think it would happen to me at a park I usually go to to train.

Anti-Asian hate crimes have risen dramatically since Covid-19 arrived in the United States. From 2019 to 2020, such crimes more than doubled in the countrys 16 largest cities, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism .

The disturbing trend came into the spotlight last month after six women of Asian origin were among eight people killed in a mass shooting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ms Kokumai says she is still processing what happened to her, but has a message for anyone who witnesses a similar attack.

I was angry, frustrated, confused, scared, but I was also heartbroken to see and experience how people could be so cold, she wrote. Please take care of each other. Please look out for one another.

Story continues

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In a statement on Friday, the aircraft maker said it has recommended that 16 of its customers address a potential electrical issue in a specific group of 737 MAX aeroplanes prior to further operations

( ) shares lost altitude on Friday as the aircraft maker warned of another potential problem with its 737 MAX planes.

In a statement, the company said it has recommended that 16 of its customers address a potential electrical issue in a specific group of 737 MAX aeroplanes prior to further operations.

Boeing also said it is working with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the issue and will provide appropriate corrective actions.

The incident threatens to cause yet more headaches for the company over the safety of its MAX planes, which were grounded across the world in March 2019 following two fatal crashes.

While the aircraft was cleared to return to the skies in November last year, the problems have already forced the company to shell out over US$2.5bn in fines and compensation after reaching a settlement with the US Department of Justice.

However, the MAX is not the only aircraft model to have caused issues for Boeing in recent months, with its 777 planes using Pratt & Whitney 4000-112 engines having been grounded in February after a plane using the same engine type suffered a failure that sent debris raining down over the US city of Denver, Colorado.

Shares in the firm were down 1.6% at US$250.74 in mid-morning trading in New York.
UPDATE: Death of Muskegon jail inmate caused by gross neglect by staff, attorney general says

MUSKEGON, MI -- After four Muskegon County jail staff were charged this week with involuntary manslaughter for the 2019 death of inmate Paul Bulthouse, his familys attorney questions why earlier investigations found no fault.

The attorney told MLive on Thursday, after the attorney general field charges, that he doesnt understand how previous investigations, including one by the Muskegon County Sheriffs office, found no wrongdoing by jail staff.

Royal Oak attorney Marcel Benavides is representing Bulthouses family in a lawsuit filed in late March against Muskegon County, outside medical contractor Wellpath and multiple sheriffs deputies, doctors, nurses and emergency-medical technicians.

Jeffery Patterson, Crystal Greve, Jamal Lane, David Vanderlaan and Aubrey Schotts were each arraigned on a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter on Thursday, April 8 in Muskegon County District Court, records show. Schotts is an employee of Wellpath.

Staff with the state Attorney Generals office is expected to further detail the charges and their review of the case during a press conference Friday, April 9.

Bulthouse was found dead in a detoxification cell on April 4, 2019 and an autopsy determined he died of natural causes due to seizures he experienced in his cell.

RELATED: Family alleges coverup in inmates death at Muskegon County Jail

Bulthouses seizures were triggered by withdrawal of prescription medication that caused severe and fatal withdrawal symptoms that were ignored, a lawsuit filed by Bulthouses family alleges.

Jail officials saw Bulthouse having continuous and numerous seizures through video surveillance and in-person and did not offer medial care, according to the lawsuit.

In an interview Thursday, Benavides questioned why earlier investigations -- one initially by the Muskegon County Sheriffs office and a later independent look by the Michigan Sheriffs Association Mission Team -- produced no criminal charges.

The Sheriffs Association investigation determined jail staff acted appropriately in providing care and the performance of cell checks, Muskegon County Sheriff Michael Poulin said in a statement released Thursday.

Related: Muskegon County sheriff reopens investigation into inmates death

Why werent they charged by Muskegon County? Benavides said. What did they not see that I saw?

You could see they were culpable of criminal conduct in the videos. I didnt have any special video surveillance that they didnt have, Benavides said.

Benavides, in the lawsuit, claimed there was a coverup.

Sheriff Poulin seemed to address the attorneys allegation in the statement issued Thursday.

For the past two years, the Sheriffs Office has cooperated fully and been completely transparent with investigators and the public. We have provided hours of jail electronic video evidence, jail records, documentation, and access to all witnesses and evidence in this case. From the beginning, my office has been committed to getting to the truth of the events surrounding this incident and that all of the facts are clearly documented, according to the statement.

The statement went on to say that, even now, the Attorney Generals office has provided no additional evidence that would permit our office to make any determination of wrongdoing.

The four jail workers charged have been reassigned away from direct inmate supervision, however, as the criminal cases proceed.

When MLive called Friday morning to ask about the allegations by the familys attorney, a Muskegon County sheriffs captain said Poulin was relying on the statement issued Thursday and referring questions to the Attorney Generals office.

Poulin in May 2019 closed his offices initial investigation into Bulthouses death, but reopened it a month later. At the time, he said he wanted to clarify inconsistencies between his report and news reports that claimed a deputy may have witnessed the tail end of one of Bulthouses seizures, but did nothing.

Were going to make sure that we respond to this appropriately, Poulin said at the time.

It was then, in June 2019, that he asked the Michigan Sheriffs Association to conduct an independent investigation.

The Michigan Sheriffs Association report -- along with jail records, video footage, access to witnesses and more -- eventually was forwarded to Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson. He then asked the state Attorney General to conduct an examination. Hilson wanted to rule out any conflict of interest because of his close working relationship with the sheriffs department.

Poulin previously told MLive for a story that the results of the investigation by the Michigan Sheriffs Association, using investigators from outside agencies with expertise in corrections, had been forwarded to the attorney general.

More from MLive:

Rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in Muskegon County very concerning

As Kent County COVID-19 cases soar, health leaders look to dispel vaccination myths

Kent County considering ban on hair discrimination

Cooley Law School building in Grand Rapids listed for sale at $19.8M
PROZ Fund Our investments will provide both economic and environmental benefits to the residents of Puerto Rico and its economy which have been hard hit by Hurricanes Maria and Irma, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Monllor Capital Partners LLC (MCP), a minority owned alternative asset management and advisory firm based in San Juan Puerto Rico, announced today that it is accepting commitments from accredited investors for the Puerto Rico Opportunity Zone Fund, LP (PROZ)  a taxed-advantaged private equity fund focused on ESG investing in Puerto Rico Opportunity Zones.

Managing Partner Jose A. Torres and his team at MCP bring their experience in the finance industry, understanding of Puerto Rico, and the much-needed benefits that Opportunity Zones to help rebuild the economy of Puerto Rico.

Over 95% of Puerto Rico is within a designated Qualified Opportunity Zone created under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, so the potential benefits to the economy of Puerto Rico are significant and can help bring much needed investment, said Torres, whose fund has an initial target of $20 million to invest in Qualified Opportunity Zone Businesses.

Our investments will provide both economic and environmental benefits to the residents of Puerto Rico and its economy which have been hard hit by Hurricanes Maria and Irma, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The federal government has committed over $60 billion in federal aid to Puerto Rico, but private capital raised through impact funds will be an important component to rebuild Puerto Rico and its economy.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 offers three key tax benefits for investors that invest eligible capital gains in a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) within 180 days of a realized capital gain: i) a temporary deferral of capital gains tax through end of tax year 2016, ii) if investment is made prior to December 31, 2021 and held for at least five years, a 10% step up in basis on the deferred capital gains tax due at end of 2016 tax year, and iii) a full step in basis to fair market value on the gains at time of exit if held for at least ten years, avoiding taxes on capital gains.

PROZ will only invest in Puerto Rico to allow for resident investors of Puerto Rico to take advantage of the Opportunity Zone tax benefits under the Puerto Rico tax Code and the Act 60 Incentive Code of 2019.

Committed to be a best-in-class QOF, MCP has partnered with companies at the forefront of Opportunity Zones, including NES Financial as fund administrator and DLA Piper as fund counsel.

About Monllor Capital Partners LLC

Monllor Capital Partners (MCP) was founded in late 2018 by Jose A. Torres, an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience in private equity and investment banking. MCP is a minority-owned alternative asset management and advisory firm based in San Juan, Puerto Rico that focuses on making and facilitating tax advantaged ESG investing in renewable energy, sustainable business, and infrastructure in Puerto Rico. As general partner, MCP organized the Puerto Rico Opportunity Zone Fund, LP, a qualified Opportunity Zone fund.

For additional information, visit https://www.monllorcapital.com

About Puerto Rico Opportunity Zone Fund, LP

Puerto Rico Opportunity Zone Fund, LP (PROZ) is a tax-advantaged private equity fund focused on ESG investing in Puerto Rico. PROZ will invest in a diversified portfolio of renewable energy, sustainable businesses, and infrastructure in Puerto Rico Opportunity Zones to take advantage of U.S. and Puerto Rico tax incentives and help accelerate impact investing in Puerto Rico. By only investing in Puerto Rico Opportunity Zones, PROZ will allow Puerto Rico resident taxpayers to benefit from the Puerto Rico Opportunity Zone tax benefits. PROZ is committed to Puerto Rico, Opportunity Zones and ESG.

For additional information, visit https://www.proz.fund

DISCLAIMER

This press release is for informational purposes only. This is not an offer to sell nor a solicitation to buy securities in Puerto Rico Opportunity Zone Fund, LP. The Funds securities can only be sold a Confidential Private Placement Memorandum (CPPM) exempt from registration under federal and state securities laws.


Ukraine will receive 117,000 doses of the American Pfizer vaccine in May, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov has said.

He said this during the Pravo na Vladu (Right to Power) talk show on the 1+1 TV channel on Thursday evening, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"According to the latest data, Ukraine will receive the first 117,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on May 14-15," Stepanov said.

He also added that the first doses of the vaccine will be sent to specialized nursing homes and social workers who work there.

As Ukrinform reported, on April 6, Ukraine signed an agreement with the American pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer for the supply of 10 million doses of coronavirus vaccine. Delivery will take place throughout the year.

The coronavirus vaccination campaign in Ukraine started on February 24.

According to Ukraines national vaccination plan, vaccination is voluntary and includes five stages. Medical personnel working in hospitals designated for treatment of COVID-19 patients are among those offered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as workers of mobile teams that carry out coronavirus vaccination.

Ukraine recorded 19,676 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 1,823,674.

ish
Shanghai, China, April 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EXELPrint and Taeltech announced today that they have joined efforts to help Australian Exporters to protect their products from counterfeiting activities while distributing and selling in China.

EXELPrint will incorporate Taeltech anti-counterfeit protection and data services into their security labels. The project also allows EXELPrint and their customers to gain cross-category consumer insights in offline and online retail after scanning EXELPrint labels.

EXELPrint (https://www.exelprint.com.au/) is the leading Australian owned manufacturer that was created with the purpose of making custom printing jobs an easier and simple process, while giving their customers their desired tag and label the exact way they require.

EXELPrint are a fully digital printing facility that specialises in carriable data and variable imaging printing. Utilising the latest technology to generate secure scannable print, EXELPrint complement the winning edge Taeltech solutions for anti-counterfeit solutions.

Taeltech (https://www.taeltech.com/) is a comprehensive agile marketing platform. Based in Shanghai with regional offices in Tokyo, Melbourne, Singapore and focused on China market. Our clients around the world use our B2B services, incl. AI- driven marketing tools, rapid experimental marketplace, anti-counterfeit technologies and brand protection solution Taeltech consumers engage with Taeltech Ecosystem across 500+ cities in China. Taeltech list of partners includes prominent names such as Rakuten and Odakyu Department Store. Taeltech B2B clients are some of the top names in FMCG, Medical devices and services, Consumer Electronics and Retail.

The implementation of Taeltech brand protection and marketing data services will provide Australian brand owners and exporters with a unique opportunity to mitigate forgery activities and enable authentication of the EXELPrint security labels through the entire supply chain. The labels enhancement with Taeltech consumer incentives is critical to boost scan rate and engage with a large proportion of customers in various geo location to make it almost impossible for the counterfeiters to fly under the radar and avoid being detected. In addition, this technology provides protection by applying advanced algorithms to identify unusual scan behaviour and report it to brands.

This technology can be applied to any kind of printed labels with the unique identifiers, e.g. standard serial QR codes, Datamatrix, WeChat Circular codes, NFC, other security fingerprints that can be scanned by consumers using their smartphones.

Alex Busarov, CEO and founder of Taeltech, stated on the joint initiative: "Partnership with EXELPrint opens opportunities to protect millions of consumers with our technologies and to leapfrog growth of Taeltech userbase."

Jason Kiekebosch, Owner and Director of EXELPrint is excited to partner with Taeltech. I am very excited to be able to showcase our printing technology. We are proudly Australian owned and it is great to be able to assist Australian brands to open up secure channels to promote their products to the world.

EXELPrint and Taeltech have agreed to work together to pursue a Strategic Partnership relationship further exploring other technologies that can add value to Australian brands and exporters looking to secure their products and supply chains.



Media Contact

Company Name: Taeltech

Contact Person: PR Manager

Email: pr@taeltech.com

City: Shanghai

Country: China

Website: taeltech.com

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After guiding students through Falwell sex scandal, Liberty U campus pastor resigns

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David Nasser, Liberty Universitys campus pastor and senior vice president of the schools spiritual development office, who helped steer students through the shameful sex scandal involving the institutions former president, Jerry Falwell Jr., will resign at the end of the semester.

With his wife, Jennifer, by his side, Nasser, who began working with the university in 2014 after serving as pastor of Christ City Church near Birmingham, Alabama, announced in a video message to students Wednesday that this semester will be his last.

After seven years of being a part of this staff as campus pastor, the Lord is transitioning me out of this role, and this will be my last semester here, Nasser said.

He explained that God is calling him to move with his family to Nashville, Tennessee, and serve at an exciting new nonprofit, which he did not name.

Well be moving to Nashville to lead an exciting new nonprofit that we believe God has given tremendous favor to," he said. "Although this ministry is less than two years old, its fast become a force for good in a pretty massive and unusual way."

Nasser said what compelled him to take the job at Liberty seven years ago was a similar call from God to help "raise up evangelists."

What compelled my heart to say 'yes' seven years ago was not the job but the call  the very call to serve and to love and to daily give our lives away to a group of college students. As a mentor of mine always says, You ultimately dont change a generation, you get to raise a new one,'" he said.

So back in 2014, we came here in hopes to play a small role in raising a new generation. We love church planting, so we came to raise up church planters. We wanted to see the great commission carried out. So we came here to raise up evangelists."

In a statement, Liberty University assured that Nasser is departing on "good terms."

"David Nasser is moving onto the next opportunities the Lord provided, using his voice on behalf of the most vulnerable, ministering on behalf of orphans and foster children," the statement reads. "The programs of our Office of Spiritual Development are of vital importance to our mission, and the university appreciates his service to the students and staff and wishes him well. The parting is amicable and on good terms.

Nassers resignation comes just seven months after the board of trustees at Liberty University, one of the largest evangelical Christian universities in the world located in Lynchburg, Virginia, announced that they had accepted Falwells resignation after he and his wife, Becki, were implicated in a sex scandal.

The Falwells are alleged to have had an affair with former pool boy Giancarlo Granda, 29.

Granda reportedly attempted to blackmail the couple. As the scandal unfolded, Falwell claimed he was shocked to learn about his wifes affair. But Granda contradicted that claim when he said he had engaged in the affair with Falwells knowledge and provided audio evidence.

Becki and I developed an intimate relationship, and Jerry enjoyed watching from the corner of the room, Granda told Reuters.

He claimed his liaisons with Becki Falwell were frequent  happening multiple times per year  noting that they would meet at hotels in Miami, New York and the Falwells home in Virginia.

In condemning Falwells behavior, Nasser did not mince words as the campus community tried to process that news last summer.

This moment that were in is a mess. Let me begin by saying to you  I am sorry. In my opinion, you as a liberty student deserve better, and the embarrassment thats been brought upon you as a Liberty student and, more importantly, brought upon the name of Christ is wrong. I know that many of you are hurting, and that breaks my heart. Your concerns, if youre concerned, are valid. If youre not concerned, you should be concerned, Nasser said during a Campus Community event.

You and your family have worked hard to pay for a Christian education and this wasnt what you signed up for. I heard from one of you that you hesitated wearing your Liberty T-shirt this summer because you did not want the more recent baggage that came with it. And it just shouldnt have been that way. So let me be the first to say to you, if no one else has, and to personally apologize, and say I am sorry  not on behalf of anybody else but me.

On Thursday, the university named Falwell's brother, Jonathan Falwell, the senior pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, as the new campus pastor.

President [Jerry] Prevo, Pastor Jonathan Falwell, the spiritual subcommittee of the [Board of Trustees], and our [Office of Spiritual Development] directors and team are working side by side to make this transition as smooth as possible, Nasser said in the video. These people love God, they love you, and they are committed to making sure we all keep growing in Christs likeness.
Ashur Sargon Eskrya, president of the Assyrian Aid SocietyIraq (AASI), passed away today from COVID-19 complications.

A champion of the Assyrian Christian minority, he was also a central figure in US efforts to shelter refugees from ISIS and later rebuild the Nineveh Plains.

AASI was honored for its work with a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 2016.

Ashur has played a prominent role in being a voice for our people in international forums, speaking on behalf of us all especially on the subject of indigenous rights, stated the official account of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM), of which Eskrya was a senior member.

He will always be remembered for his leadership.

Fellow ADM member Jessi Arabou called him one of the Assyrian nations biggest assets.

Born in 1974, Eskrya was a civil engineer and graduate of Baghdad University. He became a member in AASI in 2003, and assumed the presidency in 2010. Founded in 1991 to respond to the humanitarian crisis following the first Gulf War, the nonprofit is funded through branches of the Assyrian diaspora in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Sweden.

Ashur did much to make [AAS] what it is today. His energy and passion fueled and propelled the work on a daily basis, stated the Assyrian Aid Society of America.

[His] tireless efforts in bringing international attention to the plight and struggle of Assyrians is commendable and will be remembered and honored for generations to come.

Under Eskryas leadership, AASI administered projects for refugee relief, reconstruction, irrigation, and medical clinics. Over 2,600 students in 27 schools were provided with K-12 education, including in the Assyrian language.

It also provided specialized care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eskrya was a member of the ancient Assyrian Church of the East. Born in Ainone, Iraq, one mile from the Turkish border, he fought for the rights of the original Christian inhabitants of Mesopotamia. He recognized their historical sufferings under Arabs, Turks, and Kurds, and lamented the divisions within Iraqs Christian denominations.

He told CT of his hope that the recent visit of Pope Francis would help unite them.

Eskryas family home was in Mosul until its sale in 2011. He lived in Dohuk near the AASI headquarters in Iraqi Kurdistan, where many Christians fled during the advance of ISIS.

Pastor Ashty Bahro, vice president of Dohuks evangelical alliance and president of the Zalal Life Christian Foundation, counted Eskrya as a close friend.

News of his death was tragic for me and for all the people here, he told CT, because Ashur was known in the region and he used to provide a helping hand to many, including the displaced and refugees.

He will always be remembered by us.

Many other Protestants expressed their grief at his passing.

Ashur was one of those real-life heroes who spent a lifetime defending his faith, his people, and his country in some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable, Robert Nicholson, president of the Philos Project, told CT.

In war after war, tragedy after tragedy, Ashur was there on the ground, often under fire, helping those in need, both Assyrians and non-Assyrians alike.

Strong, selfless, and wise, Ashur was truly one of a kind.

Chris Seiple, former senior adviser for the Center for Faith Opportunities and Initiatives at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), agreed.

I cannot imagine the Assyrian nation, the Iraqi people, and the body of Christ without him, he stated. A man of peace who loved all of his neighbors, he was my friend, and always will be.

Ashur was the guiding light for one of USAIDs most important Iraqi partners [AAS], Ambassador Mark Green, former administrator of USAID and now president, director, and CEO of The Wilson Center, told CT. He devoted himself to the recovery of his people and his land from the unspeakable horrors of genocide, and it is a great sadness that he did not live to see his good work completed.

He was a tireless advocate for Christians and religious minorities in Iraq, stated Knox Thames, the US State Departments former special advisor for religious minorities. I often sought his insights about conditions on the ground.

And Wissam al-Saliby, advocacy director for the World Evangelical Alliance, recalled encounters with Eskrya at the United Nations in Geneva.

He was steadfast in his advocacy for the rights of Assyrians, he stated. I pray for more leaders like him.

Eskrya is survived by his wife, son, and two daughters. Many on social media mourned the loss through the traditional Assyrian words of condolence:

Alaha Manikhleh. May God rest his soul.
Ukraine is negotiating the creation of an international fund for the green transformation of the country with international partners and financial institutions, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"The international green transformation fund for Ukraine will accelerate environmental processes in our country by stimulating business and providing it with access to appropriate financial resources," she said.

Stefanishyna said that this issue was discussed at the recent German-Ukrainian Economic Forum.

The deputy prime minister said that in negotiations with the European Union, Ukraine defends the position that its compliance with a high level of ambitions and the dynamics of the implementation of innovative solutions under the Green Deal depends on financial support from the EU. "The disproportionate access to financial resources distorts competition in the European market, and this is the subject of our dialog with the European Union," Stefanishyna said.

At the same time, she said that some green projects will need funding from the national budget, in particular, when it comes to the fair transformation of coal regions or the eco-modernization of Ukrainian state-owned companies.

The deputy prime minister recalled that the state is already financing a number of important environmental initiatives, in particular, the work of the Energy Efficiency Fund and the Ukraine Residential Energy Efficiency Financing program, and also provides support in the form of stimulating green purchases, prioritizing national industries, providing incentives for electric cars, feed-in tariff and green metallurgy.
New Delhi, April 9 : The Supreme Court said on Friday that free flow of traffic on public roads cannot be blocked.

The observation was made by the top court during the hearing of a plea by a woman resident of Noida seeking directions to ensure the roads between Noida and Delhi are kept clear.

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said: "Roads should not be blocked." The top court noted that the petitioner was facing undue harassment and the authorities concerned should make arrangements so that the roads are kept free.

Earlier, the top court had issued notice to the Centre and the Delhi Police Commissioner on the plea of Monicca Agarwal, who alleged that instead of normal 20 minutes, she ends up spending two hours for her travel from Noida to Delhi.

Blaming the the protesters for blocking the roads, the petitioner said this is sheer wastage of time, money by way of extra fuel and mental torture coupled with harassment and fear.

"It has to be taken into consideration by the highest court of the land why it has been established as a trend in the recent past by some people of the country to do 'Andolans' not only on the public places but on the busiest roads of the capital," said Agarwal's plea.

During the hearing, the top court noted, "Public streets should not be blocked, and this aspect has been emphasised repeatedly in the previous orders of this court." The top court said the petitioner is a single mother and the commute becomes harassing for her if the roads are blocked. However, the top court did not make any remark on the protesters during the hearing.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that he was appearing on behalf of Delhi government and requested the court to implead Uttar Pradesh and Haryana government as parties in the matter.

Justice Kaul observed, "We are not concerned how you resolve this issue, whether politically, administratively or judicially. We have said this before that roads should not be blocked." The top court said that it is only examining limited aspects in the matter and not looking at the other aspects involved in blocking of roads.

The top court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on April 19.

The petitioner had contended that despite various directions passed by the top court to keep public roads clear, they have not been followed.

"The only remedy available with the common citizen like the petitioner to get rid of these so called 'Andolankaries' (protesters) is knocking the doors of this highest court of the land by way of petition/PIL," the plea said.
Discussions around the administering of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination will continue for some time, the deputy chief medical officer has said, after a potential rare clotting incident was identified in the State.

On Tuesday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded that there was a possible link between the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and rare blood clots in the brain in people who have received the vaccine.

However, the EU regulatory agency still concluded that the overall benefits of this highly effective vaccine in protecting recipients from severe Covid-19 disease, hospitalisation and death outweigh the risks of this very rare event".

HPRA studying 'thrombosis' report

Speaking at a press briefing this evening, Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer, said the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) had met and discussed the latest developments, but had not yet issued a recommendation.

Those discussions are continuing, he said. "Those deliberations and considerations will go on for some time."

Irish authorities are communicating with their EU counterparts and Niac will likely meet again on Friday, he added.

In a statement today, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) confirmed it received a case of interest, associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which describes cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST).

We are following up on this report to obtain additional details and to evaluate if it is consistent with the profile of rare blood clotting events that were the focus of the recently concluded EMA safety review, the statement said.

This report will be notified to the EU's safety database and will be considered in the context of continuous monitoring coordinated by the EMA.

Covid cases decreasing

Meanwhile, Prof Philip Nolan, chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said the current situation is stable, and possibly improving.

Prof Nolan said the 5-day average now stands at 408, and the number of cases being confirmed each week is decreasing.

However, he warned that the situation is still quite uncertain as a result of the Easter weekend, and it will be another week to 10 days before we see the impact of that.

Prof Nolan said a public health investigation had been carried out on the safety of schools, which found they continue to be relatively low-risk environments.

Cases in school-aged children

He said the first cause behind the increase in confirmed cases of the disease among school-aged children earlier this year was due to public health officials resuming the testing of asymptomatic close contacts.

The second increase was due to a five- to 10-fold increase in testing of this age group as a result of extra vigilance by parents, teachers and general practitioners, he added.

However, Prof Nolan said that "paradoxically" the reopening of schools tends to result in an increase in the number of members of the public returning to workplaces.

An additional seven deaths related to Covid-19 and 400 confirmed cases were reported to the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) today.

Of those deaths, two occurred in April, two occurred in March, and three occurred in February.

The median age of those who died was 78 years and the age range was between 62 and 69 years old.
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lavishes praise on teenage attacker Anthony Elanga, who will be on the bench against Granada.

The 18-year-old has travelled with the Red Devils to Spain and will be on the bench for the European quarter-final first leg against Diego Martinez's side.

Elanga signed a new contract with the 20-time English champions last month, and the Man United manager has hinted that the attacker will be a part of his long-term plans at the club.

"Anthony will be in the squad, he'll be on the bench," Solskjaer told reporters. "He has impressed when he has been in training with us. He was very unlucky two or three months back when he got a bad injury and he's worked really hard to come back, because he was just due to move into the first-team squad back then.

"He's got an X factor, some attributes, it's not like a gift, but he's got the acceleration, pace, speed, that's a given for wingers and he's got qualities I like.

"He's a goalscoring winger, he's confident, he likes to beat men, right foot, left foot, he's got a great attitude. His appetite and hunger to improve and when he's been training with us the while he's been here now he's not been fazed by it, he's confident. He's not just there for experience, he's ready to play a part if he has to."

Elanga has scored eight times and registered four assists in 25 outings for Manchester United Under-23s.
BOISE  Anti-government activist Ammon Bundy was arrested again Thursday on a misdemeanor charge of trespassing at the Idaho Statehouse.

Its the fourth time the man known for leading a 2016 armed standoff at an Oregon wildlife refuge has been arrested in Boise since August, and his third arrest to occur at the state Capitol building.

The first arrest at the Statehouse followed a protest last August when more than 100 protesters shouted down and forced from a hearing room lawmakers considering a bill to shield businesses and government agencies from coronavirus-related liability. Bundy was arrested for trespassing when he wouldnt leave the room and banned from the building for a year. He was arrested again the next day when he returned despite the ban.

Bundy is representing himself in that case. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, telling the court he doesnt believe his actions were illegal. Last month, Bundy was arrested on a bench warrant for failing to appear in court because he wouldnt don a mask in order to enter the Ada County Courthouse, as required by the court rules. Last weekend, Bundy and several of his followers staged protests at the county courthouse and outside the judges house, decrying the case against him.

Video taken by an onlooker at the Statehouse on Thursday shows Idaho State Police officers lifting Bundy from a wheeled cart and placing him a police car. Bundy repeatedly asked the officers, By what authority are you arresting me?

It wasnt immediately known why Bundy was at the Statehouse on Thursday. Court records did not immediately show if Bundy has obtained an attorney for the latest charge.

--The Associated Press
Album Colors started back in 2015 when we noticed that the majority of the albums in our library were black and white. Was that the 2015 trend? Not only that, we are all designers that love the artworks, so the question of that trend was real, together with our passion for them, were the things that motivated us to create the first version: Album Colors of the Year 2015. Released early 2016, the site attracted 10,000 views in the first week.

Album Colors of the Year 2015.

Fast forward 6 years and here we are. 2020 wasnt the best year for so many reasons for so many people, but music was always there. Music kept us away from all that was happening in the outside world. Music created moments where we could breathe a little bit. So, we decided to give back a small colorful piece of happiness to the world- because who doesnt love music?

This time was a bit different and thank god Figma exists. Each one of us was working from a different place. Jose Gasparian, in San Francisco, Marcos Rodriguez in Sao Paulo and Edgard Kozlowski in Rio de Janeiro. We wanted to keep the same concept from the 2015 version: 150 curated and meticulously selected albums of the year.

The process

Since the beginning of the project back in 2015, we believed that the curation would be the main aspect of it. We picked everything that we listened to throughout the year. From EPs to LPs, we compiled more than 200 album covers. The next step would be the organization of the colors. We applied the same rule we had on the 2015 version: going from pink to purple and using purple as the anchor to start black then go to white.

(...) going from pink to purple and using purple as the anchor to start black then go to white.

One thing that we tried before and it didnt work was the use of color algorithms to read the album cover and provide two main colors of it. When we organized based on what the algorithm provided, it didnt work properly because, for example: an artwork can have more blue than red but it will stand out better around the red albums. Conclusion: the human eye won this time.

Yes, we decided to organize all of the albums manually. It was a long process but the results are totally worth it. We split them into 12 different colors including pink, red, orange, beige, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, gray, white and the special one: rainbow, cause there are artworks that dont have one main color.

12 colors. Every album organized manually.

The design

While we were choosing and organizing, we were also working on the page. The design direction for this version was more editorial, with a well established modular grid focused on the information from the album. We didnt want to have hover state this time around and the only interactions that we wanted were the ability to switch from covers to colors, to copy the hex and to click on the album that would direct to its Spotify link.

We had some goals before the start of the project: create the page, an Instagram account and a playlist to go with the page. The way that we could reach the same visual identity to all of them was to create a modular grid taking aspects of our logo.

We didnt want to lose the concept behind the logo that we created back in 2015, being the most simple form of a CD. And we really wanted to create a modular grid that could embrace 3 album covers per row but also highlighting a big one. So, the visual identity really pushed forward the most simple forms of the CD, being a square and the circle in the middle.

Design Process.

We chose 10 artworks that would guide the colors throughout the page. We really wanted the colors of 2020 to establish the identity instead of us providing them. And we had the idea to refresh the page and bring a new color/experience every time you access it.

The heroes of Album Colors.

We used a 3x3 grid so that we could have more control and highlight some artworks while the user scrolls, in comparison with the responsive grid we did for the 2015 version going from 5x5, to 3x3 and 1x1 on mobile. And since we were going to create an Instagram account this time for the Album Colors, the 3x3 grid matched the Instagram profile.

The scrolling effect was another thing that we wanted to keep the essence as we did in 2015. If you scroll really fast its possible to see the rainbow effect that the album covers create. Its beautiful.

The production

We created a Google sheet that we could input the title of the album, the artists name, the hex code, the main color and the Spotify link. Everything linking to the website, so whatever order we chose on the sheet, it would match with the page.

Album title, artist name, hex code, main color and spotify link.

The creation of this sheet helped a lot specially during the QA phase because anyone from the team could make any corrections such as typo or wrong links on the go and it would apply instantly to the page. Meaning the developer wasnt the only one responsible for making changes to the albums info.

The social

This time we decided to create an Instagram account that would complement the experience of the website. We really wanted the people to share their favorite album covers and Instagram was the perfect media to do it.

While we were organizing the covers by colors, we were also applying the Instagram portrait ratio that we would use to post it as a card with the artist name and album title on top and the hex code at the bottom. With that, on our Instagram profile the card would be cropped exactly on the album cover square ratio and once you click it you would see the information. It gave that nice surprise moment to people that would be curious to click on them.

The Instagram cards.

It was a good exercise to choose not only the prominent color but also the secondary color that would go on the text. We tested the opposite way  the text being the prominent color and the background being the secondary color  but it didnt work as expected cause it was giving so much contrast and we really wanted everyone to be able to recognize really fast which color was the most prominent one.

The playlist

Album Colors wouldnt live without a playlist. We had to remind ourselves that we didnt only want to highlight the artworks, but also the music inside them, so to compliment the experience we created a playlist with one song from each album that would follow the same order as the page having the same scrolling effect feeling once you scroll through the playlist.

Spotify and Apple Music covers.

This also gave us the ability to create our own album covers made for Spotify and Apple Music and for people to quickly discover all the songs/albums available on our page. We really wanted people to embrace the experience: listening to the artworks and watching the songs.

(...) listening to the artworks and watching the songs.

The release

We decided to launch on a Friday since new albums release this day and we also created a video to go with it. First, we created a storyboard to identify the most important pin points that we wanted to showcase on the video: the branding, the interactions of changing colors, copying the hex, the cards created for Instagram and different heroes of the page to show the variety of colors.

The storyboard.

Second, we chose a song that was released in 2020 and that was selected on the website as well: Affection by Dreams Are Made To from the Hungry EP. The song matched perfectly with the storyboard and the motion was entirely created on Principle with a post production on Adobe Premiere.

Album Colors of the Year 2020 won Awwwards Site of the Day and reached 36,000 pageviews since its release. The most fun thing to watch is people from all over the world sharing our website on Twitter and Instagram.

The technologies

Regarding the development of the project, it was noted that the biggest issue would be the performance. The website is a simple page, but it has 150 album covers and we wanted it to have a good quality, but also not to make the project heavy.

To solve this problem, we used the Intersection API observer to load the images only when they appeared on the scroll, and we also decided to use the .webp format to have greater compression on the images, without loss of quality.

Using Intersection Observer in the project, in addition to solving performance-related problems, ended up creating an interesting effect on the scroll. First the user sees the color of the album, then the cover is displayed.

Site Scroll.

Another challenge encountered was also to create an environment where the management of the content was simple, and gave complete freedom to edit the information on the site. As mentioned earlier, we use google sheets as a content editor. To make this work, we used an NPM package called drive-db, which makes it easier to use google spreadsheets as a database.

In addition, to create the interface we used React, Styled Components and other cool things like CSS Grid, which greatly simplified the development of the project.

Another cool library used was the Locomotive Scroll, which was able to make the scroll smoother, in addition to implementing parallax in some elements in a very simple way.

As it is a static website, we use Netlify to host our website. Using a continuous deployment tool was also very important because everyone in the project was able to have a very clear vision of what stage of development the project was in.

Meet the team:

Jose Gasparian is a Brazilian Senior Designer and Photographer based in San Francisco, CA. Hes previously worked at Huge (Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo) and Globo.com (Rio de Janeiro) and its currently working at Elephant. Helped brands to build digital products from different areas such as Apple, Twitch, KitchenAid, Itau, Estadao, and many more. Passionate about the relationship of design and music, he has created tons of personal projects involving them, and Album Colors was born from this passion.

Marcos Rodrigues is a Brazilian digital designer based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Currently working at Work&Co. With almost 10 years of experience, he's been building brands and products focused on digital with clients like Havaianas, Coca-Cola, T-Mobile, Itau, GOL, and many others. Hes also an activist for black people's rights in Brazil as a team member of Coletivo Negro Minervino de Oliveira (@minervino.sp), vegetarian, and music lover.

Edgard Kozlowski is a designer based in Rio de Janeiro currently working at Work & Co. During his career, he had the opportunity to work on projects for MailChimp, T-Mobile, Vistaprint, Descomplica and Itau. Edgard likes to work on side projects in his free time, mainly to develop code skills and also have fun.
DALLAS, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) will issue its first quarter 2021 results on Friday, April 23 with a news release issued via PR Newswire and First Call at approximately 6:30 a.m. CDT.

In addition to the news release, the company will make available prepared management remarks from Kimberly-Clark's Chairman and CEO Mike Hsu and Senior Vice President and CFO Maria Henry at approximately 7 a.m. CDT. These materials, as well as a link to the company's live question and answer webcast for analysts at 9 a.m. CDT, will be provided through the Investors section of Kimberly-Clark's website at www.kimberly-clark.com.

Kimberly-Clark will continue to post the date of future quarterly earnings releases and related webcasts on its website. Interested stockholders and others should monitor the website for these announcements.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its trusted brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an understanding of people's most essential needs, we create products that help individuals experience more of what's important to them. Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Sweety, Softex, Viva and WypAll, hold the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build stronger communities, and ensure our business thrives for decades to come. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company's nearly 150-year history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com.

Link - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/648588/Kimberly_Clark_RGB_Blue_Logo.jpg

[KMB-F]

SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Related Links

http://www.kimberly-clark.com


The Malaysian government defended itself Thursday over heavy criticism after an online video showed Kuala Lumpurs ambassador to Naypyidaw meeting with a minister from Myanmars junta, whose forces have killed hundreds of people in crushing post-coup pro-democracy protests.

In a statement responding to media inquiries, Malaysias Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the meeting took place a day earlier a day earlier at Myanmars Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE). It said the Ambassador Zahairi Baharim went there for the meeting, but the statement did not name Minister of Electricity and Energy Aung Than Oo.

He was also seen in the video, which has gone viral on social media and drawn accusations that this showed Malaysia recognized Myanmars military regime, which overthrew a democratically elected government two months ago.

The meeting does not construe a recognition or otherwise of the State Administration Council (SAC), Malaysias foreign office said, referring to the junta by its official name.

As of Thursday, at least 614 demonstrators had been killed by the military and government security forces across Myanmar since the Feb. 1 coup, according to information compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thai NGO.

Malaysias position on Myanmar is clear and consistent, the statement from the foreign ministry said.

We have persistently called for an immediate end to violence, unconditional and immediate release of political detainees, and resumption of an inclusive dialogue involving all concerned parties for a political transition and peaceful settlement of the ongoing crisis in the interest of Myanmar and her people, it said.

The meeting was held to convey a decision by a subsidiary of Petronas, the state-run Malaysian oil company, to suspend a gas project in Myanmar, the statement said.

The decision was made following challenges in the wells deliverability that resulted in the production rate dropping below the technical threshold of the offshore gas processing plant, Petronas said in an April 2 statement.

Thursdays statement from the foreign ministry mirrored comments by Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on March 19, when he called on Myanmars military leaders to change course.

Once again, Malaysia repeats our consistent call for all concerned parties to work together towards a peaceful settlement of this crisis. We will continue to support an inclusive dialogue for a political transition, and urge all parties to return to the negotiating table, remedy the crisis and avoid any further escalation of tensions, Muhyiddin said at the time.

I am appalled by the persistent use of lethal violence against unarmed civilians which has resulted in a high number of deaths and injuries, as well as suffering across the nation. There is no question about it  the use of live ammunition against peaceful protests is unacceptable, he said.

Muhyiddin also called for Myanmar authorities to unconditionally release political leaders, including civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and others who have been detained since their government was overthrown.

The junta declared a one-year state of emergency after ousting Suu Kyis government, which was democratically elected last November.

Malaysian and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) have joined world leaders calling for peace to be restored in Myanmar and for the unconditional release of Suu Kyi and others.

Earlier this week, ASEAN chair Brunei as well as Malaysia announced that a special meeting of top leaders from across the regional bloc would take place in Indonesia to discuss the Myanmar crisis, but a date has yet to be determined.

Myanmar is one of the 10 members of ASEAN.

Viral video

The video of Wednesdays meeting lit up social media in Malaysia.

Does Malaysia recognize SAC Terrorists as legitimate govt? @MuhyiddinYassin, according to one message posted on Twitter directed at the prime minister.

Members of the opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition also criticized the meeting.

The meeting between the Malaysian ambassador and the Myanmar junta army has created a perception that Malaysia has recognized the Myanmar government, coalition members the Peoples Justice Party, Parti Amanah Negara and the Democratic Action Party said in a joint statement.

Washington announced new sanctions

Meanwhile on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken announced sanctions on Myanma Gems Enterprise, part of the countrys mining ministry, as he called on the Myanmar military and security forces to cease all violence against peaceful protesters.

By imposing targeted sanctions on this entity, we are sending a clear signal to the military that the United States will keep increasing pressure on the regimes revenue streams until it ceases its violence, releases all those unjustly detained, lifts martial law and the nationwide state of emergency, removes telecommunications restrictions, and restores Burma to the path of democracy, Blinken said in a statement.
It seems like a lifetime ago when I was one of the first Manitobans to have a long swab jammed up my nasal cavity because it was suspected I might have COVID-19.

It seems like a lifetime ago when I was one of the first Manitobans to have a long swab jammed up my nasal cavity because it was suspected I might have COVID-19.

But, more than a year later, the light at the end of the COVID tunnel is finally closer: on Thursday, I received my first jab of vaccine at a doctor's office.

Kevin Rollason with wife Gail MacAulay and daughter Mary Rollason-MacAulay at a Grant Park High School grad dinner in 2018.

To say I am relieved doesn't quite explain it, because the relief isn't about me, it is for my youngest daughter, Mary. I am so relieved knowing she is one step closer to being protected from this life-threatening virus.

We are one step closer to ensuring Mary will survive this pandemic.

Back in March 2020, I eventually received a negative diagnosis from that nasal swab on March 13  yes, Friday the 13th. It was also the last day I was inside this newspaper's newsroom.

For all intents and purposes, it's as if I disappeared. I have been isolating and working exclusively from home since that day. All my interviews have been done by telephone and all my stories have been written on my home computer.

Grocery shopping took place once a week, just before closing when fewer people were around. In recent weeks, we've relied on curbside pickup. My wife hasn't been in a store for a year, my youngest daughter has only been in a pharmacy once  and that was a quick in and out to get a flu shot in the fall.

My hair was last cut in late 2019 and is the longest it has been since my teenage years in the 1970s. The only difference between then and now is I'm a wee bit older and I'm not wearing bell bottoms and platform shoes.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Kevin's vaccine experience was quick and easy

But, if you have a vulnerable family member, you know all of this because you've likely been doing the same.

Many readers have followed Mary's journey since she was born almost 24 years ago. Throughout the years, I've written many articles about her, how she was quickly determined to have Down syndrome and, two days later, major cardiac problems that necessitated her immediate move to intensive care.

The next day, Mary was flown to Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children for the first of several heart operations. She didn't get out of hospital for almost a year  something which resulted in me having to launch a constitutional challenge against the federal government and its employment insurance rules. It was successful.

Mary's Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and both past and present cardiac and respiratory issues have put her on the province's vaccine priority list. International studies have shown people with Down syndrome alone have a 10 times higher risk of dying than the general population if they get the coronavirus, and are five times more likely to be hospitalized.

But Mary can't get the vaccine yet because she is only 23 and, besides her high-risk issues, she would also have to be 55 at this time, or living in a group home.

For Mary, and many adults living with special needs, the pandemic has meant the shutdown of day programs since last March  programs where she received stimulation, therapy, care and love. She has been home full-time since then and we have been looking after all of her needs 24/7.

I also know how bad even a so-called mild case of COVID-19 can be on a young person. Mary's older sister, Sarah, recently contracted it  likely on public transit  while volunteering with non-profit organizations in Quebec City.

For Sarah, a minor case meant almost two weeks of blinding headaches, a high fever, nausea, extreme fatigue, and muscle pain so bad that it felt better to sleep on a floor than a mattress.

While Sarah has recovered, her suffering underscored the urgency of us protecting her sister.

For Sarah, a minor case meant almost two weeks of blinding headaches, a high fever, nausea, extreme fatigue, and muscle pain so bad that it felt better to sleep on a floor than a mattress.

Then I got the phone call advising me I could get the vaccine. My wife's appointment at the Winnipeg convention centre super-site is scheduled for later this month.

Having written about people who have endured long lineups at the convention centre, my vaccine experience was quick and easy. I went to a medical clinic, was ushered into a room with a maximum capacity of 12 people. There were nine chairs spaced two metres apart, a sign-in clerk, and a nurse stationed at a table.

After determining if Im right or left handed, double-checking the questionnaire, and going through the list of possible complications, the nurse told me just to let my arm dangle and not tense up.

Three seconds later, it was done. Fifteen minutes later, I was back outside.

The nurse said if I felt any pain I could take a Tylenol, but I have to wait at least six hours because studies have shown the painkiller can reduce the immune response from the vaccine.

Now that I have my first shot, I know Mary is safer. I also know many, many more people need to get the vaccine before she  and all of us  are protected and can get back to the lives we had before this pandemic.

But, as I said, at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel for my family.

And also yours.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
A high-profile Liberal party power broker has been linked to an alleged scheme to remove sitting local councillors, in claims made to a corruption inquiry into Drummoyne MP John Sidoti.

Liberal party-aligned lobbyist Joe Tannous was this week named as a friend of Mr Sidoti, who is under investigation for the possible misuse of his position to influence councillors from 2011-2018.

Mr Tannous is not under investigation.

Drummoyne MP John Sidoti leaving ICAC last week. Credit:Wolter Peeters

The Independent Commission Against Corruption is examining Mr Sidotis sustained campaign to rezone several blocks in Five Dock where his family owned property.
Advancing four projects located in gold-rich areas of Canada

Has struck a C$110 million option and JV deal with Kirkland Lake for Carscallen asset

Solid management team

What Melkior Resources Inc does:

Melkior Resources Inc ( ) wants to make the next major gold discovery in Canada and is advancing four projects in mining-friendly Canada.

The flagship asset is the well-situated Carscallen project 25 kilometers (km) west of Timmins, Ontario, which spans 320 claims over 47 square kilometres (sq km). It lies in the Abitibi Greenstone belt and has played host to impressive drill assays.

Around 9 km of Carscallen's boundary joins with Lake Shore Gold, which was purchased by Tahoe Resources and subsequently taken over by silver giant Pan American Silver.

In September 2020, in a milestone deal, Melkior granted mining major Kirkland Lake Gold the right to earn-in up to a 75% stake in the project via a C$110 million option and joint venture agreement.

In the first two years alone, Kirkland, as operator, must spend a minimum of C$3 million at Carscallen, which includes C$1.5 million and a minimum of 3,000 meters (m) of drilling to be completed in the first year.

Melkior also has 120 claims and four targets at its wholly-owned exploration-stage Val d'Or gold and base metals project in Quebec.

It holds 328 claims over almost 13,000 acres at its White Lake asset in Ontario, where five priority targets have been defined.

Its Maseres project at the Urban Barry camp in Quebec hosts seven targets defined by soil anomalies and a large VTEM target.

How is it doing:

Newsflow at Melkior has been steady over the past 12 months.

On April 8, 2021, the group said it had completed a maiden 1,449m of drilling at its Val DOr property in Quebec and found "multiple mineralization and alterations", having begun the program in mid-March.

Notably, the finds correlated well with the historical Bruell gold discovery, which sits 240m east of the property, said Melkior.

And at the end of March, the group announced first results from the Kirkland Lake Gold Partnership at Carscallen in Ontario where the operator has expanded the drill program, with high grades received in the latest assays from seven holes.

Highlights included 14.76 grams per ton (g/t) gold over 2m from 480.9m depth, which included an impressive intercept of 60.5 g/t of the yellow metal over 0.5m. The results continue to extend the Shenkman Zone to the south-east and demonstrate continuity to the high-grade gold system, said Melkior.

At Carscallen, it was announced in February by the operator that the drilling would be expanded to 6,600m, having said it was expanding it to 4,500m in January.

Elsewhere in January, Melkior said it had kicked off 700m of drilling at the Maseres property in the Urban-Barry camp in Quebec, comprising four holes to test the re-interpreted up-ice target from previously identified till and soil anomalies.

And in November, 2020, Melkior, significantly, boosted its White Lake project in Ontario, by striking a milestone deal with mining titan Barrick Gold Corp, giving the latter the right to earn up to 75% of the property.

The project lies 20km east of Barrick's producing Hemlo mine, where the major wants to extend the mine-life. Barrick can earn 75% of the asset by spending C$4 million on exploration over five years. It will become the operator of the project and must spend a minimum of C$0.5 million during the first two years.

Inflection points:

Further drill results at Carscallen

Precious metals price moves

News from the company's other projects

What the boss says:

In February 2021, Melkior CEO Jonathon Deluce spoke to Proactive and said: "Kirkland has to spend (at Carscallen) at least $2million within the next year and a half so with $2 million you know there's a lot of drilling in store for the next year and a half but whether or not they acclerate that larger than what we see now will be a key catalyst to look out for."

Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com
The bodies of 12 beheaded expats have been found after an ISIS massacre in a Mozambique town where a British worker was killed in a desperate escape bid.

The nationalities of the 12 people found 'tied up and beheaded' in the northern town of Palma cannot yet be confirmed, a local police commander said.

Their bodies were found near to natural gas projects worth 43.6billion.

They are all believed to be foreigners because they are white, Commander Pedro da Silva said.

Standing near to an area of disturbed earth where he said he buried the bodies himself, Commander Silva told state broadcaster TVM: 'They were tied up and beheaded here.'

The latest attack comes less than a month after dozens of innocent people were killed when Islamist insurgents launched a raid in Palma on March 24, including 50-year-old Briton Philip Mawer.

The latest attack comes less than a month after dozens of innocent people were killed when Islamist insurgents launched a raid in Palma on March 24, including 50-year-old Briton Philip Mawer (pictured)

The nationalities of the 12 people found 'tied up and beheaded' in the northern town of Palma (pictured) cannot yet be confirmed, a local police commander said

Horrifying images from the March 24 massacre showed bodies scattered across roads and people fleeing from the slaughter

A body matching Mr Mawer's description was pulled from the wreckage of a car destroyed in the attack.

It is believed he was fleeing from the siege by ISIS-linked insurgents at the Amarula Hotel.

He was working for RA International, a Dubai-based firm that provides living quarters and other logistics for expatriate workers.

The rise of ISIS in Mozambique Mozambique is a majority Christian country, with Muslims comprising around a fifth of its population. A religious movement, Ansar al-Sunna, first appeared in 2015 in the north of the country, formed by followers of radical Kenyan cleric Aboud Rogo Mohammed who has been linked to the 1998 US embassy bombings. The group attracted disaffected young men who resented a lack of opportunities in an area of rich natural resources. It started building mosques and religious schools, becoming more and more popular with locals. But in 2017, the group starting launching attacks and became known locally as al-Shabab, although they do not have any known connection to Somalia's jihadist rebels of that name. Militants started posting photos on the encrypted messaging service Telegram posing in front of the ISIS flag and praising its then leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Islamic State then confirmed that jihadis in Mozambique had joined its Central Africa Province division (ISCAP), along with militants in the Democratic Republic of Congo. ISIS have since claimed responsibility for many of the attacks carried out in Mozambique, including brutal beheadings and massacres, often posting photos of the victims online. In an official ISIS news bulletin in June last year, leaders taunted the West and African nations for failing to stop the insurgency in Mozambique, and said its interest there is financial with the country's huge coal and gas reserves. The militants still refer to themselves as al-Shabab but they are now strongly considered to be an arm of ISIS, which was confirmed by US officials in December. Coordinator for counter-terrorism Nathan Sales said: 'What we're seeing today is a committed ISIS affiliate that embraces the ISIS ideology, that embraces the ISIS tactics and procedures, and embraces the ISIS vision of a caliphate with territorial control.' As part of ISCAP, al-Shabab is part of ISIS's formal structure and the jihadi group in the Congo allegedly helps fund its Mozambican counterparts. Attacks have become increasingly sophisticated, using new and advanced weapons which indicate the group's involvement in the militant network. The rebels are mainly active in Cabo Delgado province and their attacks became much more frequent and deadly in the past year as they look to hold strategic towns. In August, they captured the port town of Mocimboa da Praia and nearby villages, one of the first territory gains by ISIS in months. The terrorist group then declared Mocimboa da Praia the capital of ISCAP. The insurgents are fighting against Western and Christian values as they seek to install a radical form of Islam and Sharia law in the country, targeting civilians as security forces struggle to quell their uprising. Their attacks have left an estimated 2,600 dead and caused 670,000 to flee their homes, creating a humanitarian crisis. US special forces arrived in Mozambique this month to train marines in counterinsurgency. Advertisement

Horrifying images from the March 24 massacre showed bodies scattered across roads and people fleeing from the slaughter.

Regional leaders from countries including South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana met in Mozambique's capital Maputo on Thursday to consider a response to the latest bout of violence.

Mozambique's foreign minister Veronica Macamo Dlhovo said the leaders resolved to send a mission to Mozambique this month.

'The mission will come to assess the dimensions of the threat and to see what means to employ, so that these means are proportionate,' she said.

A communique issued after Thursday's meeting referred to a 'technical deployment' to Mozambique and said further meetings of regional bloc SADC would be convened.

The government has said dozens died in the latest assault that began on March 24, and aid groups believe tens of thousands have been displaced.

But the full scale of the casualties and displacement remains unclear.

National police spokesman Orlando Mudumane said he could not confirm details of the most-recent attack - but said they were investigating.

The army claims Palma is now secure, after soldiers cleared one final part of the town.

On Monday, previously-unseen pictures of the March 24 attack in Palma were released.

In shocking pictures obtained by Sky News, the scale and violence of the attack by the Islamic State-affiliated local al-Shabaab group is becoming more clear.

The aerial footage shows corpses of those brutally murdered by the insurgents after being pulled from their lorries by the killers in the African nation.

Smoke is shown rising from the town's buildings after the ISIS militants rampaged through its streets, killing people that crossed their path.

People can be seen running towards rescue helicopters as they desperately flee the key industrial town that was overrun by an estimated 100 fighters.

One picture, taken from the air, shows people hoping to be rescued stand by 'Help' and 'SOS' written in stones and white bed sheets on the ground.

The true death toll remains unknown, with disrupted internet and mobile phone networks making communication with the region difficult.

According to eyewitness reports, the gunmen ruthlessly attacked nearby villages before their main assault on Palma, and even ambushed a convoy of foreigners trying to escape the violence.

Thousands have fled the town of some 75,000 people where dozens were killed, according to an early government toll, and French energy giant Total has abandoned a site where a multi-billion-dollar gas project is under way.

Bulama Bukarti, a sub-Saharan terror analyst with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, told The Guardian that the March 24 attack was the first time foreign nationals had been targeted by the ISIS-backed group.

He also noted the sophistication of the attack - with the insurgents targeting banks and warehouses for food and money - mimicked actions seen by other Islamist groups in Africa.

It is believed that the insurgents infiltrated the town before launching an attack from the inside.

A ship, believed to be carrying supplies, was grounded on the shore near the town and used by the insurgents to re-stock as the attack continued.

A body matching the description of missing Briton Mr Mawer was found on Thursday last week, according to his employers.

In a statement on behalf of his family, RA International said: 'It appears that Philip died while trying to escape from the siege by ISIS-linked insurgents of the Amarula Hotel.'

One picture, taken from the air, shows people hoping to be rescued having spelled out 'Help' and 'SOS' with stones and white bed sheets as the insurgents made their way through the town

Mawer, a contractor from Somerset, had not been seen or heard from since gunmen ambushed a convoy of vehicles fleeing a hotel.

His family described him as a 'much-loved son, brother, uncle and friend' while RA international called him 'an ebullient, outgoing character'.

Mercenary pilots recovered the body from the wreckage of a car destroyed in the attack, according to The Times.

The mercenaries, from the Dyck Advisory Group (DAG), handed over the body to the SAS soldiers after recovering it from a 4x4 which had been spotted on Monday.

A decision was made in London for the SAS soldiers not to search the destroyed vehicle themselves, so the mercenary pilots conducted the search instead.

His family said in a statement: 'It was the nature of his chosen line of work to be in the more dangerous corners of the world and Philip's career had previously taken him to Somalia, Sierra Leone, Algeria, Afghanistan and Yemen.

'His ability to get things done in the most hostile of environments made him a valued colleague.

'Earlier in his life, Philip overcame a period of compulsive gambling and went on to write the book Overcoming Problem Gambling: A Guide For Problem And Compulsive Gamblers, using his personal experience to help others to overcome this destructive addiction.

'He would often receive letters of thanks from people helped by the book.'
More than six weeks after the start of Australias vaccine rollout, the country has administered just 996,145 doses, less than 2.5 percent of the 40,060,000 needed to vaccinate the entire adult population.

While around 147,000 doses would have to be administered each day to complete the rollout by the end of the year, on its best day, the country has managed only 79,283, and this was followed by four days in which a total of just 31,372 doses were administered.

COVID-19 testing site in the Melbourne suburb of Fawkner (Photo: @JoanWil85024201, Twitter)

Concerns that the AstraZeneca vaccine may slightly increase the risk of contracting a rare blood clotting disorder yesterday led the Morrison government to announce significant changes to the rollout plan.

The AstraZeneca vaccine will no longer be preferred for Australians under 50 years old, unless they have underlying health conditions making them more vulnerable to COVID-19. Healthcare and other frontline workers who have already received their first injection without adverse effects will still be given the second dose.

This creates a major problem for Australias vaccine supply, which is heavily dependent on locally-produced AstraZeneca doses. The existing order of 20 million Pfizer doses is only enough to inoculate half the adult population, and so far the country has only received an average of around 150,000 doses per week.

With similar moves to restrict the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine around the world, supply of the Pfizer product is likely to become even more precarious.

In a bid to pIacate these concerns, Prime Minister Scott Morrison today announced that Australia had ordered an additional 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. He could not say when the vaccines would be delivered, but they are anticipated in the last quarter of 2021.

The other vaccine Australia has ordered, developed by Novavax, is only in Phase 3 trials and is not expected to be widely used in the country until the second half of the year.

The dangers of Australias slow rollout were sharply expressed by the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Queensland (QLD) and northern New South Wales (NSW), after two unvaccinated healthcare workers contracted the virus while treating returned overseas travellers.

The outbreak resulted in a snap three-day lockdown of Brisbane, a statewide mask mandate, and the imposition of some state border restrictions. Limited in scope and duration as they were, these measures set off a flurry of outrage from sections of the corporate elite, which view the vaccine as a justification to abandon all other protections against the coronavirus pandemic that could impact on big business profits.

After insisting for weeks that the vaccine program was on schedule, the federal government was forced to provide some semblance of an explanation for falling more than 3.3 million doses short of the original March 31 target of 4 million.

The federal government initially took aim at the states, accusing them of hoarding vaccines. Both the QLD Labor and NSW Liberal-National governments hit back, claiming that their vaccination efforts were being undermined by the federal government.

QLD Deputy Premier Steven Miles said last Thursday: Some of our hospitals have not known until the morning of [vaccines arriving], how many doses they will have available.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard accused the federal government of supplying misleading figures to the media suggesting that the state had only administered half the doses it had received, and of dumping 45,000 doses on the state in a single day rather than the 13,700 expected.

This week, the federal government laid blame for the glacial vaccine rollout on the European Union, which it claims has prevented the export of 3.1 million AstraZeneca doses bound for Australia.

Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud told the Nine Network: The arithmetic is simple on this. We are 3 million short at the moment. We were 3 million short because of the EU who cut us short.

The EU denied this, claiming that the only export request it has rejected was for 250,000 doses in March. In reality, Australia, the EU, and Britain have all been short-changed by AstraZenecas failure to meet its delivery targets.

Australias primary source of vaccines was to be Melbourne manufacturer CSL, where production has also encountered delays. The company had been expected to release two million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by the end of March, but Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Wednesday that only 1.3 million have been produced, of which 830,000 have been released.

This contradicts a report by news.com.au that 3.2 million doses had been produced by the company but 2.5 million were awaiting approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

In addition, Australia has received about 870,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 700,000 AstraZeneca doses produced in the UK, for a total of 2.4 million doses. Even assuming wastage of 20 percent, that means fewer than half of the available doses have been administered.

Phase 1a of the rollout, which includes 678,000 quarantine and border workers, frontline healthcare workers, aged care and disability care residents and staff, began on February 21 and was slated to finish in early April, but is now expected to take two months longer.

The delay has not been officially announced, but was revealed through government tender documents issued on March 16, seeking additional providers to assist with Phase 1a throughout the month of May.

The fact that the government is engaging new contractors at this stage shows clearly that supply is not the only factor slowing down the rollout. Decades of funding cuts and privatisation have left Australias health system without the resources to carry out an efficient mass vaccination rollout.

This is most sharply expressed in aged care. By the end of March, only half of Australias aged care residents had received their first dose, and the situation for aged care workers is even worse.

With so few Australians having received even one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the country is only beginning to confront the challenge of ensuring that second doses are administered on schedule. Already though, the signs are worrying.

Karen Price, national president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners told the Age Wednesday that numerous General Practitioners (GPs) and other health workers had received their first doses of the Pfizer vaccine but were now unable to receive their second.

These frontline workers, who were eligible to receive the shots during the first phase of the rollout, were injected with leftover doses from the Commonwealth-run aged care vaccination program to avoid wastage.

Aspen Medical, one of the contractors tasked with vaccinating aged care residents and workers, admitted on Tuesday that some healthcare workers did not have their first vaccination recorded accurately on the Australian Immunisation Register.

Price said: Getting the right second dose is critical. You cant give them a first dose of Pfizer and a second dose of AstraZeneca. That is just absolutely not on. The planning for the second dose has to be watertight.

The beginning of Phase 1b, in which vaccines can be administered by GPs, has brought further problems, with doctors frustrated by the unreliable supply of vaccines.

The slow progress of the first phases of the rollout has caused the government to push back the date from which pharmacies will be involved from May to June.

Australias vaccine debacle has raised the ire of big business and the corporate media, but this has little to do with the health of the population. Instead, their criticisms have centred on how the slow rollout will impact their demands for an end to lockdowns and border restrictions.

In an editorial on Monday, the Australian Financial Review wrote: Mass inoculation hubs would improve the chances of vaccinating the 6 million elderly and other vulnerable Australians as soon as possible. At this point, there would no longer be any risk-based health case for snap lockdowns and border slamming.

Federal Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon echoed the corporate complaints, declaring on Monday: There is a hurry, because we cant get the economy running again until we have broad-ranging vaccination.

Despite the slow rollout, the federal government has announced a travel bubble allowing people to move between Australia and New Zealand without quarantine, and is considering extending this to other countries in the region as soon as August.

These moves, along with the increasing hostility of the ruling class to any COVID-19 precautions, present a serious threat to the Australian working class, which, by the most generous estimates will not be fully vaccinated before the end of the year.

While the Australian vaccine rollout can only be described as a debacle, the continuing threat of the pandemic cannot be resolved on a national basis.

With global case numbers growing, and new variants emerging, no country can truly declare itself safe from COVID-19 until vaccines are distributed throughout the world. The biggest roadblock to this objective is the capitalist system, which insists that the preservation of human life is worthwhile only insofar as it generates a profit for massive pharmaceutical corporations.
The MT Hankuk Chemi leaves the port in Bandar Abbas, Iran, on April 9, 2021. (South Korea Foreign Ministry via AP)

Iran Frees South Korean Ship It Held Amid Dispute Over Funds

DUBAI, United Arab EmiratesA South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars seized by Seoul was freed and sailed away early Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal.

MarineTraffic.com data showed the MT Hankuk Chemi leaving Bandar Abbas in the early morning hours.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said Iran released the tanker and its captain after seizing the vessel in January. The ministry says the Hankuk Chemi left an Iranian port at around 6 a.m. local time after completing an administrative process.

Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, later confirmed that Iran had released the vessel.

At the request of the owner and the Korean government, the order to release the ship was issued by the prosecutor, Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying by the state-run IRNA news agency.

The ships owner, DM Shipping Co. Ltd. of Busan, South Korea, could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Hankuk Chemi had been traveling from a petrochemicals facility in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when armed Revolutionary Guard troops stormed the vessel in January and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran.

Iran had accused the MT Hankuk Chemi of polluting the waters in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. But the seizure was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Seoul to release billions of dollars in Iranian assets tied up in South Korean banks amid heavy American sanctions on Iran. Iran released the 20-member crew in February, but continued to detain the ship and its captain while demanding that South Korea unlock frozen Iranian assets.

A seized South Korean-flagged tanker is escorted by Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats on the Persian Gulf, on Jan. 4, 2021. (Tasnim News Agency via AP/File)

Irans Foreign Ministry did not acknowledge the fund dispute when announcing the ships release, with Khatibzadeh saying only that the captain and tanker had a clean record in the region.

But an official from South Koreas Foreign Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity under regulations, said Seouls willingness to resolve the issue of Iranian assets tied up in South Korea possibly had a positive influence in Irans decision to release the vessel.

The official said Iran had acknowledged South Koreas attempts to resolve the dispute as it became clear the issue was not just about South Koreas ability and efforts alone and was intertwined with negotiations over the return to Tehrans foundering nuclear deal.

Unfreezing the funds involves the consent of various countries including the United States, which in 2018 imposed sweeping sanctions on Irans oil and banking sectors. The official said South Korea has been closely communicating with other countries over the frozen Iranian assets.

In January, the U.N. said Iran topped a list of countries owing money to the world body with a minimum bill of over $16 million. If unpaid, Iran could lose its voting rights as required under the U.N. Charter.

Were expecting to make a considerable progress in terms of paying the U.N. dues, an unnamed South Korean Foreign Ministry official was quoted by the countrys Yonhap news agency. We have also exported some $30 million worth of medical equipment since we resumed the humanitarian trade with Iran last April.

The development came as Iran and world powers were set to resume negotiations in Vienna on Friday to break the standoff over U.S. sanctions against Iran and Iranian breaches of the nuclear agreement. The 2015 nuclear accord, which President Donald Trump abandoned three years later, offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

By Isabel Debre and Jon Gambrell
WHEN the pandemic forced schools to shut and move learning to virtual platforms, the way students were taught changed overnight.

It has been a tough year for many parents, managing childcare and home-schooling on top of their own working from home responsibilities, as well as for teachers that had to adapt to engaging a classful of children online.

With all classes set to return on Monday, parents across the country have breathed a collective sigh of relief. Yet, have the headlines and general lockdown malaise painted a misleading picture of the potential for ongoing digital learning?

Indeed, while there is light at the end of the tunnel with lockdown measures expected to ease further in time for summer, it is very possible we will see the pandemics impact on education extend for months and potentially years to come. Secondary and primary schools will need to balance the risk and reward of students attending physical education facilities, as there will be pupils who need to self-isolate due to potential contact with Covid-19.

This means we are likely to see a continuation of blended classroom and digital learning. But before we bemoan this as a repeat of the lockdown experience, we should consider what the opportunity for hybrid working could mean to the Irish education system.

A hybrid learning approach ensures students have the benefits of face-to-face teaching and social interactions with other students, while not losing out on their education if they need to self-isolate, with online learning.

The pandemic has given schools the impetus to adopt technologies and deliver teaching online, proving digital learning can be carried out successfully. Teachers have done an excellent job at ensuring the continuity of education during lockdowns by embracing apps and remote classes. Learning has never been a one size fits all approach, regardless of a students ability, and remote learning has unlocked a new way of learning for children.

Joe Baguley, Vice President and EMEA Chief Technology Officer at VMware

So, hybrid learning must be recognised at the next stage in embracing a more modern, digitally forward education.

Ultimately, a hybrid model enables students to connect with their teachers digitally whether thats doing homework online, taking assessments via interactive quizzes, getting access to resources including pre-recorded classes for students to review on-demand, or even participating in a range of extra-curricular activities online. Fundamentally, digital learning can have a huge impact on a students ability to learn and become productive at a pace and environment that suits them.

The digital learning experience provides flexible benefits for teachers too. They are not only able to assess students online and keep digital records of students homework. It has empowered greater communication and collaboration with parents and guardians, enabling them to report on students progress with virtual meetings.

The potential to increase digital learning could also support greater quality and accessibility of education. In fact, research from VMware has shown almost 72% of EMEA decision-makers in the education sector believe hybrid learning will improve access to education for lower income communities, and 76% stated it will enhance provision for students with disabilities. Remote learning on a more permanent basis could also widen students accessibility to better schools and removes geographical bias from the selection process. For example, students that want to pursue a specialist course may no longer be restricted by catchment areas.

The pandemic has been a catalyst for change and innovation within the traditionally slow-moving, education sector. Positively, research from VMware has shown the majority (77%) of decision-makers in Europe, across the public and private education sector, recognise the move to distance learning will create new opportunities for schools in the long-term.

Hybrid learning models have the potential to turn the education system on its head. But to truly enable a successful and sustainable hybrid learning model for both students and teachers for now and beyond the pandemic, the education sector needs to invest further in software and partner with technology companies to improve the remote learning experience. Whether thats with virtual desktops that provide students with a seamless learning experience in classrooms and at home, conferencing tools to enable hassle-free communication between students and teachers or migrating servers to the cloud to enable always-on learning. It also goes without saying that cybersecurity needs to be a key focus for IT teams at schools and universities making investments to enable hybrid learning.

Adopting new IT to enhance hybrid learning also involves equipping teachers with the required technology and digital skills so they can effectively incorporate it, whilst being able to support students who may have difficulties adapting and navigating virtual learning environments.

It will be the educational institutions that incorporate remote learning and technology into their long-term strategy, alongside training to ensure users can manage these systems, that will be able to meet the learning needs of today and beyond. These institutions now have some very experienced providers and consumers of online learning, that can provide excellent guidance and feedback  they should be listening to them.

In addition, internet connectivity cannot be taken for granted. While the Irish government funded devices for students in the pandemic to assist with online and blended learning, its important to ensure this is inclusive for all. To support and champion hybrid learning in the long term, the government must continue to invest in and provide subsidies to nurture the future generation of the workforce.

The pandemic has created a watershed moment for the education system and challenged the way learning is delivered and received. While its clear many students thrive in the traditional classroom setting, surrounded by their peers and more on-hand support, we should not ignore the benefits of virtual learning too.

Indeed, VMware research has revealed 27% of Europeans want to continue engaging with education institutions digitally.

The events of the last year have shown there is a place for digital learning to accompany classroom learning  and schools have proved that they have the skills and experience to make it a success.
Patna: Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa addresses during a 90-minute inaugural programme streamed digitally in all the 30 districts across the state for the benefit of the party cadres and the public, to mark the week-long celebrations on co Image Source: IANS News

Bengaluru, April 9 : Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Friday appealed again to the Karnataka State Road Transport Employees League (KSRTEL) to end their strike and get back to work.

"I am very much positive and I am willing to hold talks with the employees. I am confirming once again that it is not possible to implement the sixth pay commission at this point in time. So, I request once again to come and join the duty," he told the media.

The Chief Minister added that this is not the time to listen to any union or take part in any such protest.

"We together have already suffered, we are already spending 85 per cent of all earnings from the state-run four transport corporations for the payment of salaries and maintenance of vehicles. We are not able to save even 15 per cent to carry out any developmental works," he said.

Yediyurappa added: "I request all the four state-run transport corporation employees to come and join the duty and start operating buses immediately as all are aware of the loss we have incurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic." He said that it was not right to trouble at this juncture, when the country has come under the grip of the second Covid wave and as a government agency "it is our duty to serve the people in distress." The Chief Minister said that despite hardships due to the pandemic, the government had not stopped providing salary to any employee even as the transport corporations had incurred losses.

The bus services remain affected in the state for the third consecutive day on Friday as KSRTC employees continued with their indefinite strike.

The KSRTEL had given a call for an indefinite strike demanding their salary hike, permanent job, wages and shifts.
An Indigenous man suffered a suspected stroke two days before he died in his Melbourne prison cell last month.

Michael Suckling was found unresponsive in his cell on the morning of March 7 while in custody at Ravenhall Correctional Centre.

The Ravenhall Correctional Centre in Melbournes west. Credit:Joe Armao

The 41-year-old had been in custody since January 2018 after he was charged with culpable driving causing death relating to a car crash in Castlemaine. He was later sentenced to 10 years and three months in prison.

About 7.25am on March 7, his cellmate noticed he had not roused during the morning wake-up and was lying on his side in his bed.
The USA, France and Germany look set to be added to Ireland's mandatory hotel quarantine list from next week.

Sources said that the issue, which had caused division among the Cabinet had been "mostly sorted" at a high-level meeting of officials today. Government sources said that scaling up the operations of the quarantine facilities, run by hotel group Tifco, required a level of training and preparation for staff and state bodies.

The additions are likely to be made at next Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, but could be made sooner, one source said. When countries are added to the Category 2 list, it takes 72 hours for their status to become active. After that, all passengers who have come from, or transited through, those states in the last 14 days must undergo a 12-day quarantine at a State-designated facility.

Countries with Covid variants

Two hotels are currently being used for mandatory quarantining, and the hotel chain has another two hotels set aside if they are required. More accommodation available if it is needed. Sources said that modelling is undertaken to decide the number of hotel rooms needed on a given day.

Health minister Stephen Donnelly had said that EU countries which have variants should be added to the hotel quarantine list. He added that Ireland was "looking at" the USA, France, and Germany, but did not include Italy in that list.

"The system opened up two weeks ago," he said. "In the first week of operation, we added 33 countries. Last week, with the second week of operation, I added another 26 countries.

"This week, we're going through a consultation process on what would be the most significant countries.

We're looking at the USA, France, Germany. Austria, obviously, is already on the list. They have been identified as variants of concerned countries and my view is they do need to be on the list.

Government 'at one' on the issue

Mr Donnelly does not need Cabinet backing to add countries, but will need the approval of Paul Gallagher, the attorney general, who flagged his concerns with the proposals last week. It is understood that foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney had also raised concerns. However, he said that the Government is "at one" on the issue now.

He said the concern had been about ensuring that, when the list of countries was extended, Ireland would be ready for it in terms of capacity and legal challenges.

He said the leaking of the extended list of countries before plans were ready was unfortunate. Government sources have said that they are sensitive to such leaks as it may encourage last-minute travel.

'Capacity to deal with issues'

The Government needed to ensure that there would be capacity to deal with the significant issues that would arise, Mr Coveney said:

We wanted capacity in place before we announced the list of countries.

The addition of the countries comes after a recommendation from the Travel Expert Advisory Group in late March.

The group had recommended that the current list of 33 be more than doubled, with 43 countries added to it, including America. In the end, an additional 26 states were added to the mandatory hotel quarantine list, with one country removed. The additions brought the number of countries on the list to 58.
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President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled the demise of a close associate and exceptional scholar and administrator, Mahmud Tukur, describing him as a true patriot and a nationalist.

In a message to the family, friends and associates of the founding Vice-Chancellor of the Bayero University, Kano, President Buhari said Dr Mahmud Tukurs service to the nation will be remembered by generations. He had a passion for a prosperous, economically strong and united Nigeria. He was a proud nationalist.

The President, in his tribute, recalled that as Minister of Trade in his first coming as Military Head of State, Mr Tukur introduced a lot of schemes that revived the local industry, boosted exports and gave real meaning and effect to import substitution in regenerating the indigenous manufacturing sector of the economy.

He prayed to Almighty Allah to accept him in Aljannah Firdaus and give the family, friends, the Adamawa Emirate Council and the people of the state the strength to bear this grievous loss.

Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President

(Media & Publicity)
Vietnam Corporate Pride Network (VCPN), a network which seeks to highlight the importance of advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) rights and workplace inclusion practices in Vietnam, has launched an official website after hosting its first networking event on Wednesday.

The VCPN is a joint collaborative effort of KPMG Vietnam and the ICS Center, with active support from the Consulates General of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and the Australia-Vietnam Young Leadership Dialogue (AVYLD).

The VCPN will be driven by ICS, a Vietnamese nonprofit that runs local and national inclusion programs for the LGBTI community.

KPMG Vietnam, the Consulates General of Australia, the UK, and the U.S., and AVYLD will provide ongoing strategic direction.

The network brings together corporate organizations to promote inclusive workplace cultures and initiatives where LGBTI people can be themselves and are valued in their places of employment.

At their first networking event in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday night, VCPN invited employees from several organizations to share the personal stories of working in inclusive workplaces that celebrate and promotes LGBTI diversity.

In this supplied photo, Vietnam Corporate Pride Network's networking event attracts many people, including foreigners, in Ho Chi Minh City on April 7, 2021.

These stories were not just shared from the perspective of corporate leaders but also from employees who hope to inspire other companies to do more for employee welfare in their office spaces.

During the event, the network also announced the launch of their first official website, resources, and tool kits.

Speaking at the event, Paul Huynh, director of the People, Performance, and Culture group (PPC) at KPMG Vietnam, said that VCPNs platform is now live and in need of feedback to help it improve.

Anyone can visit VCPN.net to find out about all the upcoming events and photo galleries from past events, including tonights, as well as resources and tool kits for those starting the diversity journey," Huynh said.

"It is a work in progress and we will be continually updating."

Ngo Le Phuong Linh, ICS Center director, said that the establishment of VCPN is a big step in motivating and engaging Vietnamese companies because LGBTI inclusion in local enterprises is a relatively new concept.

ICS has provided tool kits for businesses for many years," Linh told Tuoi Tre News.

"Thanks to VCPN, ICS can expand its network to connect more people.

"This network can motivate Vietnamese businesses to easily access a diverse culture of inclusion and LGBTI topics at the workplace."

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100 years ago  1921

Harries L. Daddow, probably the most prominent citizen of Saint Clair, where for many years he operated the mine squib industry founded by his father and a prominent banker of this section, died at his home on South Second Street, that place, Friday evening.

75 years ago  1946

The school district and borough of Shenandoah today filed suit for $1,200,000 against the Stephen Girard Estate for damages they said resulted from cave-ins caused by mining operations underneath the Schuylkill County town.

50 years ago  1971

The Pine Grove Area School Board refused last night to alter or abolish the school dress code despite pressure from student council and from a parent who threatened to defy the bodys decision.

25 years ago  1996

RINGTOWN  Window manufacturer Wenco of Pennsylvania expects to lay off 60 full-time workers in the next few weeks due to the loss of its biggest customer, company officials said. Production Manager Ralph F. Buchspics said the company had to reduce its production after Grossmans Inc. announced on March 28 it would close its 60 stores in eight northeastern states.
A House panel on Thursday gave preliminary approval on broad bipartisan lines to a bill seeking to add regulations to marijuana delivery services over the vehement objections of minority business owners, entrepreneurs and advocates in the marijuana space.

Delivery options for cannabis were first authorized under 2019s House Bill 1234, which allowed medical marijuana delivery starting in 2020 and recreational cannabis products this year with the permission of local governments. So far, a handful of municipalities have approved medical delivery and only Aurora has approve recreational, though Denver is actively moving in that direction as well.

House Bill 21-1159 from Colorado Springs Democratic Rep. Marc Snyder seeks to put some guardrails and some protections and most importantly, some direction on the burgeoning marijuana delivery industry created by the 2019 legislation.

My hope was, back in September when I agreed to take this bill, was that I'd be able to really find that middle sweet spot, Snyder said during open testimony before the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee.

Snyders bill aims to find that sweet spot through several provisions. One requires retail marijuana stores seeking a delivery permit to be open at least five days per week and at least five hours per day, a measure aimed at rooting out shell storefronts. A second would tie online platforms directly to specifics stores while a third provision would prevent business operators in either the medical or recreational space from delivering marijuana. The bill also seeks to waive the initial application fee for social equity transporters.

But while Snyder felt a couple of lay-overs and more engagement with stakeholders moved the bill to a better place, Hashim Coats of Black Brown and Red Badged was the first of four minority witnesses to testify in the bill who strongly disagreed. Coats organization, where he serves as executive director, represents a coalition of Black and Brown marijuana business owners.

We simply feel that this bill will do more harm to social equity and Black and Brown-owned businesses than it will do to prevent monster corporations from overtaking the cannabis market, he said. Plainly speaking, this bill is too much of a risk to all the work we have done to promote social equity.

Art Way, the former state director of Drug Policy Alliance, went one step further.

It's simply a protection, this bill, for the big players in the industry who are stuck on their brick-and-mortar model, he told the panel. For this bill to come a year after we finally established an equity framework with the work of many people including the Marijuana Enforcement Division, the City of Denver, the City of Aurora  I think that's a slap in the face.

To claim that this is about public safety, when it's nothing more than a bill to protect the interests of the biggest players in the industry, it's embarrassing.

But others in the marijuana industry countered it wasnt big players in the industry that marijuana businesses needed protection from, but rather giant tech firms.

One of our big things that we like about this bill is that it does provide some protection to ensure that there's not some kind of a big tech takeover like we've seen in just about every other industry, said Richard Kwesell, who told the panel he owns who owns five retail marijuana businesses scattered across the state.

If you looked at any shopping mall or any retail district, you can certainly see the effects that multi-billion dollar, big tech delivery platforms and companies have had on other industries.

That testimony was corroborated by several other witnesses, including representatives Native Roots, the Bricks and Mortar Cannabis Coalition and the Marijuana Industry Group.

We didn't want to see an Amazon model that came in and completely ended all of the stores that have invested in their community and all of the work that they've put forward, said Kara Miller, MIGs government affairs director, in testimony supporting the bill.

Lawmakers on the panel voted overwhelmingly in support of the bill, with each of the panels 13 members except for Rep. Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock, supporting it.

Rep. Shannon Bird, D-Westminster, noted she voted in support of the 2019 bill to initiate marijuana delivery businesses and she said felt it was incumbent upon lawmakers to clarify their intent in that legislation.

My intent at the time was not to create an opportunity for virtual sales platforms to start direct selling to people who wanted to purchase cannabis products, she said. I don't see that as a second bite at the apple, I think that's us coming back and doing our job.

The bill now heads to the House Finance Committee.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Another top aide to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has resigned, a person familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast on Thursday.

Devin Murphy, who had served as Gaetzs legislative director on Capitol Hill, officially bolted on Friday, as the scandal surrounding a federal probe into Gaetzs alleged sexual misconduct continued to balloon. On Thursday evening, The Daily Beast reported that Gaetz had Venmo'd $900 to his friend and alleged child sex trafficker Joel Greenberg in May 2018. Greenberg subsequently paid that same amount of money to three women, one of whom had turned 18 just five months prior.

Murphys resignation was first reported by The New York Times. According to the Times, Murphy had confided in associates that he wasnt interested in being caught up in a TMZ-type environment.

Murphy did not respond to The Daily Beasts repeated requests for comment on Thursday. Gaetz did not immediately reply, either.

Murphy had worked for Gaetz since February 2017, almost immediately after the top Donald Trump ally stepped on Capitol Hill, according to Legistorm, the unofficial online congressional directory. He started in the office as a junior legislative aide and was promoted to legislative director in December 2018. Murphys LinkedIn page does not name which member of Congress he worked forit is listed simply as U.S. House of Representativesbut indicated that work ended in April 2021. His other employment dates line up with those on Legistorm.

Murphy is the second Gaetz staffer to leave the office since The New York Times reported on March 31 that the congressman is under scrutiny by federal investigators looking into whether he paid underage girls for sex, among other things. His communications director, Luke Ball, resigned last week. A statement from Gaetzs office said the two parties agreed it would be best to part ways.

The departure adds to what was already a difficult day for the congressman. On Thursday, Gaetzs companion Joel Greenberghis friend and political ally said to be his link to young women and girlsappeared in a Florida court, reportedly ready to take a plea deal with the feds and cooperate in their Gaetz probe. I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today, Greenbergs defense attorney told reporters in Orlando.

Story continues

Gaetz Paid Accused Sex Trafficker, Who Then Venmod Teen

Shortly after, the congressmans office released a statement signed by the women in his office attesting to his character, though only one, his chief of staff, attached her name.

The congressman himself has resisted calls to resign as he insists that the underage sex and sex trafficking claims against him are false and being used to extort him and his family.

And his two now-former aides arent the only ones close (or, once close) to Gaetz who are distancing themselves from the MAGA icon. As The Daily Beast reported late last week, former President Trumpno stranger to standing up for pals, or himself, when accused of sexual misconduct or assaulthas been privately warned by several advisers to keep his mouth shut about the Gaetz scandal as much as possible. For the time being, the twice-impeached ex-president has almost entirely complied with their pleas.

For something like this, a ten-foot pole is not long enough, said Barry Bennett, a longtime Republican operative and lobbyist who advised Trump during his 2016 run. The former president should stay as far away from this as possible.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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[April 09, 2021] LG Announces Up to Three OS Upgrades

Pledge Reassures Current and Future Customers

Following Announcement to Withdraw from Mobile Industry SEOUL, South Korea, April 9, 2021 /CNW/ - LG Electronics announced that premium LG smartphones currently in use will receive up to three iterations of Android operating system upgrades. This promise comes on the heels of Monday's announcement that LG will be exiting the mobile business by the end of July. The three OS upgrade commitment applies to LG premium phones released in 2019 and later (G series, V series, and VELVET in Canada), while certain 2020 models such as K series smartphones will receive two OS upgrades. (Future upgrades will depend on Google's ditribution schedule, carrier requirements, as well as other factors such as device performance and compatibility).



LG will continue to manufacture phones through the second quarter to meet contractual obligations to carriers and partners. This means customers can still purchase LG mobile phones currently in inventory. Service support and security software updates will continue to be provided for a period of time for certain devices. About LG Electronics Inc.

LG Electronics is a global innovator in technology and consumer electronics with a presence in almost every country and an international workforce of more than 75,000. LG's five companies  Home Appliance & Air Solution, Home Entertainment, Mobile Communications, Vehicle component Solutions and Business Solutions  combined for global sales of over USD 56 billion in 2020. LG is a leading manufacturer of consumer and commercial products ranging from TVs, home appliances, air solutions, mobile devices, monitors, service robots, automotive components and its premium LG SIGNATURE and intelligent LG ThinQ brands are familiar names world over. Visit www.LGnewsroom.com for the latest news.

SOURCE LG Electronics Canada

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Rs 550 crore beauty and personal care marketplace, Purplle.com, is all set to foray into offline distribution with its Rs 150 crore personal care brand, Good Vibes. Launched in 2018, Good Vibes along with Purplle's other private brands such as NY Bae contribute close to 40 per cent of the marketplace's revenue. Since the biggest chunk of Good Vibes sales comes from the East, the company intends to first roll out offline distribution in West Bengal.

While Good Vibes was initially sold only on Purplle, last year, it was rolled out on Amazon and Flipkart. Manish Taneja, Co-Founder and CEO, Purplle.com claims that the brand is among the highest selling personal care brands on Amazon and Flipkart. "Good Vibes has clearly transcended Purplle," he says.

However, Taneja says that they are going to be extremely cautious with their offline foray and won't hurriedly expand until they are doubly sure about demand. "As of now we are looking at a traditional distribution model, but we can't pre-emptively build depth as we don't know what challenges we will face." The company has hired a sales head for the East from Hindustan Unilever to take care of its brick-and-mortar sales and distribution.

The beauty and personal care marketplace, also plans to launch its own stores this fiscal. It had dabbled with its own store way back in 2017 and had burnt its fingers. "We were in a mall which wasn't doing well, also the floor where our store was located, got the least footfalls. We lost lot of money and moreover those were early days of Purplle," explains Taneja. He says the big learning for Purplle has been to stay away from bad performing malls. "You can't go to a bad mall just because rentals are lower. Your cost of operations whether you are in a good or bad mall remain the same. Therefore, one needs to choose locations carefully."

Taneja is hoping to inch towards the Rs 1,000 crore revenue threshold by the end of FY22. The beauty and personal care marketplace recently raised $45 million from Verlinvest, Sequoia Capital India, Blume Ventures and JSW Ventures.

Also Read: Second Covid-19 wave poses increased risks for India's economic recovery, banks: Fitch

Also Read: Specialised studies needed to link blood clot with AstraZeneca vaccine, says WHO

Also Read: Delhi, Haryana announce closure of schools amid COVID-19 surge
South Australian Visual FX company Rising Sun Pictures, has been acquired by FuseFX, a visual effects company owned by EagleTree Capital with studios in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, and Bogota.

Over its 25-year history, RSP has established itself as one of the worlds elite visual effects studios. Founded in 1995 by Tony Clark, Gail Fuller, and Wayne Lewis, Rising Sun Pictures credits include Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, Thor: Ragnarok and Chinese blockbuster The Eight Hundred.

RSP Co-Founder Tony Clark will continue to lead the studio and operate under the Rising Sun Pictures brand.

Tony, Gail, Wayne and the entire team at Rising Sun Pictures have created one of the most well-established and respected independent studios in the world, said David Altenau, Founder and CEO of FuseFX. Their commitment to delivering the highest quality art and service to their clients has helped make them an icon in the visual effects industry. Their previous work and position in the industry make them a fantastic partner for FuseFX.

RSP Managing Director, Tony Clark, shared, Were very excited to be partnering with FuseFX, which comes at an ideal time as we grow to meet the demand over the coming years. Our vision for Rising Sun Pictures is to be a cornerstone component of the next generation global full-service visual effects company, and with the FuseFX partnership, we can achieve this vision to ensure that we stay at the forefront of visual effects production and remain a trusted creative partner to our clients.

Clark added, Id sincerely like to thank my fellow founders and shareholders for the last 25 years. We have all been crucial to the success of RSP, culminating at this pivotal moment in time. RSP will embark on an expansion plan over the next few years, and were grateful to be partnering with David Altenau and the team at FuseFX to help fully realise RSPs potential.

South Australian Minister for Innovation and Skills, David Pisoni said, South Australia is enjoying a golden age in the production of film, television and streaming services, and the decision by FuseFX to invest in Adelaide vindicates the Marshall Governments ambitious strategy. 

Clark offered, The state government has been incredibly supportive of RSP and the creative industries in South Australia. The incentives on offer, in combination with federal incentives, mean that South Australia is a prime destination for visual effects production and will continue to be for years to come.

Related
AURORA, Colo., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cross Country Infrastructure Services, Inc. ("Cross Country"), a leading equipment and contractor supply provider to the construction industry, announced today that they are opening their newest location in Carrizo Springs, Texas. This facility will support construction companies throughout Southern Texas with equipment and consumable needs. This location joins the three other Cross Country Texas locations in Houston, Odessa, and Pecos to help support projects all over the great state of Texas. The address is 2535 TX-517, Carrizo Springs, TX 78834 and can be reached at (304) 618-0361.

Cross Country Carrizo Springs, Texas

Cross Country's equipment rental fleet has a large variety of earthmoving, trenching, lifting, and padding machines from top manufactures such as Caterpillar, Wolfe, Terramac and Scaip. In addition, the company is ready to supply the construction sites with an expanding variety of essential supplies including industry standards Milwaukee, Dewalt, Greenlee Electric Tools, 3M, and have a large variety of safety supplies and construction site consumables. Cross Country also has the capability to provide on-site supply trailers which are convenient and time-saving solutions to increase productivity on the job site.

With multiple locations around North America, Cross Country is strategically positioned to serve any need for a large variety of projects. The company has been providing the construction industry with innovative and dependable equipment solutions for over 25 years and is dedicated to provide exceptional customer service.

Media Contact:

Greg Orlando

[email protected]

973-600-2222

SOURCE Cross Country Infrastructure Services
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is seen at a news conference, March 16, 2021. One Jewish lawmaker called the first-term Democrat a "trusted friend, ally and partner" of the community.

(J. the Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) - Calling California Gov. Gavin Newsom a "friend and ally" to the Jewish community, members of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus spoke out in a unified show of support for the governor on Tuesday as he faced an increasingly likely recall vote.

With just under 1.5 million valid signatures needed to trigger a recall vote, the petition against Newsom had nearly 1.2 million authorized signatures as of March 19, according to the secretary of state's office. Recall proponents said they had turned in more than 2.1 million and were waiting...
Mourning members of the Royal Family swapped their smiling social media profile photos to their official coats of arms today in a mark of respect to Prince Philip.

The Duke of Edinburgh passed away peacefully at Windsor Castle this morning, aged 99.

The Royal Family issued a statement reading: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.'

Following the sad news, the Royal Family changed its social media profile image - which had shown a jolly image of the Queen and Prince Philip at the Epsom Derby in 2016 - to the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.

The Duke of Edinburgh passed away peacefully at Windsor Castle this morning, aged 99. Pictured in July last year

Following the sad news, the Royal Family changed its social media profile image - which had shown a jolly image of the Queen and Prince Philip at the Epsom Derby in 2016, pictured - to the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom

Clarence House also adopted its crest, the Prince of Wales's feathers, to pay their respects, replacing an image of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles smiling in an official portrait released to mark Wales Week 2019

Kensington Royal, the handle of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, changed its image - which had shown the couple with their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis clapping for carers from their Norfolk home Anmer Hall last year to their official monogram

Kensington Royal, the handle of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, also changed its image - which had shown the couple with their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis clapping for carers from their Norfolk home Anmer Hall last year - to their official monogram.

Clarence House also adopted its crest, the Prince of Wales's feathers, to pay their respects, replacing an image of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles smiling in an official portrait released to mark Wales Week 2019.

In a sad twist of fate, today is also the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall's 16th wedding anniversary.

All three Instagram accounts shared the black and white image of the Duke of Edinburgh, dressed in his military uniform, released by the Palace today.

Meanwhile the royal.uk website was replaced with placeholder image of the Duke along with the official statement declaring his death, with the message: 'The official website of the Royal Family is temporarily unavailable while appropriate changes are made.'

Prince Philip spent his final days at Windsor Castle with his wife after a 28-night stay in hospital, having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

Usually a resource for news and history of The Firm, the Royal Family website homepage was today replaced with a black background and a picture of The Duke of Edinburgh

The announcement of his death was made today after senior members of the royal family including Prince Charles and the Duke of Cambridge were told.

He is expected to have a royal ceremonial funeral and Union Jack flags will fly at half-mast around Britain following his death today.

The Duke, who was just two months short of his 100th birthday, will not lie in state and there will be no state funeral because he had insisted that he did not want the 'fuss'.

Instead a service will take place at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in Berkshire - although the precise details are unclear due to Covid restrictions.

Lord Chamberlain, the most senior officer of the royal household, will be in charge of arrangements.

All three senior Royal Family Instagram accounts shared the black and white image of the Prince, dressed in his military uniform, released by the Palace today

His death plunges the nation and the Royal Family into mourning, and brings to an end Philip's lifetime of service to Britain and to Elizabeth, the Queen who adored him since her teens.

A statement within a wooden frame was pinned to the railings outside Buckingham Palace in London, with a series of gun salutes also possible.

The Queen will sign off the funeral plans and confirm a period of mourning.

There will also be a memorial website where people can leave their condolences.

Boris Johnson addressed the nation outside No 10 Downing Street and said: 'We give thanks, as a nation and a kingdom, for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh'.
[April 09, 2021] Finit Named to the Fortune Best Workplaces in Technology List for the Second Consecutive Year

Finit, a consulting firm that crafts, delivers, and sustains Corporate Performance Management (CPM) technology solutions for some of the world's largest companies, is recognized for the second consecutive year by Great Place to Work and Fortune as a 2021 Best Workplaces in Technology (Small & Medium Companies). The Best Workplaces in Technology stand out for creating great workplaces for employees across all demographic groups, roles within the company, and levels of experience. The Best Workplaces in Technology award is based on analysis of anonymous survey responses from more than 122,000 current employees working in the tech industry across the U.S. This list is highly competitive, and companies can only be considered if they are a Great Place to Work-Certified organization. Employees responded to over 60 survey questions describing the extent to which their organization creates a Great Place to Work For All. Eighty-five percent of the evaluation is based on what employees say about their experiences of trust and reaching their full human potential as part of their organization, no matter who they are or what they do. Great Place to Work analyzes these experiences relative to each organization's size, workforce make up, and what's typical relative to their peers in the industry. "We compete with many large organizations for talent. Recognition such as this helps set Finit apart, especially right now, as industry demand for our specialty consulting services is growing. It also helps us attract top talent with extensive experience in finance and technology that will allow Finit to further address our clients' objectives related to finance processes, analytics, consolidation, and reporting," stated Chad Durian, Managing Partner at Finit. According to the results of this year's survey, 100% of employees at Finit say it is a great place to work compared to 59% of employees at a typical U.S.-based company. Nicole Emerson (News - Alert) , Employee Relations Manager at Finit, shared, "Our founding partners feel strongly about maintaining a positive and inclusive work environment, where being in service of thers is a way of life. This recognition validates the level of commitment our entire Finit family has to each other and to our clients."



In 2020, Finit was recognized by Fortune as a (Small and Medium) Best Workplace, Best Workplace for Millennials, and Best Workplace in Technology. "It's more than fancy perks at the Best Workplaces in Technology. Employees at the companies praised their leaders for their incredible transparency and care during this pandemic year," said Sarah Lewis-Kulin, VP global recognition, Great Place to Work. "Even while working from home, employees said they felt more connected to their colleagues and their communities than ever."

For more information about Finit, Finit employees, and Finit culture, visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Finit is interested in talking with qualified, service-oriented professionals. Inquiries about job openings can be made by emailing careers@finit.com. About Finit In 2002, Finit's founders created a company where people matter more than profit. They loved building solutions and working with technology, but were unsatisfied with the large consulting company approach. They believed that by doing excellent work and doing it with the highest standard of integrity, they could create unmatched experiences for both clients and employees. Finit, with its unique business model, which compensates consultants based on client satisfaction not billable hours, has delivered 100% success for over 350 clients, including many Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, and over 1000 projects. Finit consistently delivers value through excellent CPM/EPM solutions - with integrity and with a constant focus on what is in the best interest of the client. Finit was the first OneStream partner and leads the industry with 100+ OneStream clients and 275+ OneStream projects. About the Best Workplaces in Technology Great Place to Work selected the Best Workplaces in Technology by gathering and analyzing confidential survey responses from more than 122,000 employees at Great Place to Work-Certified organizations across the country. Company rankings are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place to Work Trust Index survey. About Great Place to Work Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Their employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting and insights they need to make data-driven people decisions. 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. Learn more at greatplacetowork.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005231/en/

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Several dozen people spent the night of April 8 outside the parliament building in Tbilisi in honor of the victims of a Soviet massacre 32 years ago. On April 9, 1989, Soviet troops killed 20 protesters who were taking part in a peaceful anti-Soviet demonstration in the Georgian capital.
Queen Elizabeth IIs husband Prince Philip dies aged 99

UNITED KINGDOM: Queen Elizabeth IIs husband Prince Philip, who recently spent more than a month in hospital and underwent a heart procedure, died on Friday (Apr 9), Buckingham Palace announced. He was 99.



By AFP

Friday 9 April 2021, 07:05PM

Britains Prince Philip, pictured here at Windsor castle on July 22 last year, has died. He was 99. Photo: AFP

It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, it said in a statement.

His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.

The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.

The palace added that further announcements would be made in due course.

Fears over the health of the Duke of Edinburgh, as he was formally known, had been heightened after he recently spent a month in hospital for treatment.

He left hospital on March 16 following what was described as a successful procedure for a pre-existing condition and treatment for an unspecified infection.

He was first admitted on February 16 on the advice of his doctor after he complained of feeling unwell.

Philip had returned to Windsor Castle, west of London, where he had been isolating with the queen  Britains longest-serving monarch  since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

He was due to turn 100 in June.

The news of his death saw television channels interrupt regular programmes and start special coverage marking his life.

The BBC announced his death and played the national anthem, God Save the Queen.

Philip had increasingly struggled with his health in recent years, and had retired from public life.

In the run-up to Christmas 2011, Philip was taken to hospital by helicopter after suffering chest pains.

The Greek-born former naval officer was then treated for a blocked coronary artery and had a stent fitted.

The strength behind the crown

He often grabbed headlines for his gaffes, but Prince Philip was portrayed by royalists as the silent stalwart, who shelved his personal ambitions to support Queen Elizabeth II over seven decades.

Born into the Greek royal family  although he preferred to be thought of as a Danish prince  the Duke of Edinburgh never wore a crown himself.

Yet he was a permanent public presence at the queens side, who called him her strength and stay.

Like her, his life was ruled by duty and tradition, putting his considerable energy behind numerous charities and carrying out 22,219 solo public engagements since Elizabeth rose to the throne in 1952.

But Philip regularly got into hot water for what were politely referred to as politically incorrect off-the-cuff remarks  quips that from anyone else would be seen as downright racist.

You managed not to get eaten, then? he remarked to a British student who had trekked in Papua New Guinea in 1998.

And on a historic state visit to China in 1986, the self-described cantankerous old sod warned a group of British students: If you stay here much longer, youll all be slitty-eyed.

There was also his reputation as a womaniser, something that worried the royal family even before he and the queen married.

They reportedly found the young naval officer rough, ill-mannered and uneducated and worried he would probably not be faithful.

The man the queens formidable mother privately referred to as The Hun because of his German Battenberg blood, was quickly suspected of a string of affairs, which would later be resurrected in the hit Netflix series The Crown.

But Philip laughed off talk of philandering  with Sarah, the Duchess of Yorks mother often cited as one of his former lovers.

For the last 40 years I have never moved anywhere without a policeman accompanying me. So how the hell could I get away with anything like that? he said.

At home, the duke had a reputation for being cold towards his four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward.

But many observers considered Philip to be the glue that held together the royal family.

And in a rarely seen softer side, it emerged the late princess Diana addressed him as Dearest Pa in letters in which he offered solace over her deteriorating marriage to his eldest son Charles.

Trial and error

Philip, the worlds longest serving consort, was blessed with robust health for much of his long life, and conducted his final official appearance in August 2017 at the age of 96.

But he was admitted to hospital with various complaints as he advanced into his 90s, most recently for a heart procedure.

In January 2019, at the age of 97 and still driving, he was involved in a car accident near the royal estate of Sandringham in eastern England.

His Land Rover Freelander overturned and two other motorists were injured.

Prosecutors decided not to press charges after the prince, who walked away unscathed, voluntarily surrendered his driving licence.

The accident saw him withdraw from public life and he spent much of 2020 in isolation with the queen at their Windsor Castle home west of London, shielding from the coronavirus pandemic.

But he made several appearances, including at the wedding ceremony of his granddaughter Princess Beatrice in July, four months before celebrating his own 73rd wedding anniversary.

He also attended a military ceremony at Windsor in July when he handed over his ceremonial military role as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles regiment to his daughter-in-law Camilla, wife of Prince Charles.

Never one to talk about his own feelings, the prince admitted in a rare 2011 interview that he had carved out his own role in the royal family by trial and error.

Asked if he had been successful, he told the BBC in his typical forthright manner: I couldnt care less. Who cares what I think about it? I mean its ridiculous.

But the queen has been more forthcoming about his worth.

He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, she said in a speech to mark their golden wedding anniversary in 1997.

Exile from Greece

Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark was born on a kitchen table on Corfu on June 10, 1921, the only son of prince Andrew of Greece  the younger brother of Greeces king Constantine  and princess Alice of Battenberg.

Aged just 18 months, he and his family were evacuated in a British Royal Navy ship from politically unstable Greece, with the toddler reputedly carried in a cot made from an orange box.

The family settled in Paris with young Philip heading to the austere Gordonstoun public school in Aberdeenshire, northeast Scotland, where he became head boy.

He pursued his love of sailing and at the outbreak of World War II in 1939 became an outstanding Royal Navy cadet before serving on battleships in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.

As the war progressed, Philip was mentioned in despatches and promoted through the ranks.

By 1945, he was a first lieutenant and witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay with the British Pacific Fleet.

Philip had been formally introduced to princess Elizabeth, the future queen, in July 1939.

The pair shared a great-great grandmother  Queen Victoria  making them distant cousins, and they kept in touch during the war, meeting on a number of occasions.

But it was not until July 1947 that their engagement was announced and they tied the knot that year on November 20 at Westminster Abbey in London.

Duty to serve her

The royal couple made their first major tour together  to Canada and the United States  in 1951.

By now a commander, Philips naval career was cut short by the death of Elizabeths father, king George VI, in 1952, which brought her to the throne.

Prince Philip was a highly talented seaman, said his contemporary Terence Lewin. If he hadnt become what he did, he would have been First Sea Lord (chief of naval staff) and not me.

Philip once admitted the curtailment of his career was disappointing but said, being married to the queen, it seemed to me that my first duty was to serve her in the best way I could.

Yet he remained closely involved with the armed services and the queen marked his 90th birthday in 2011 by appointing him Lord High Admiral  the titular head of the British Royal Navy and an office until then held by her.

He was a keen flyer, clocking well over 5,000 hours of pilot time, and turned his love of horses to competition, first as a polo player and later representing Britain at carriage-driving.

He also maintained an interest in science, technology and the environment and for years drove a liquid petroleum gas taxi around London.

His greatest legacy may lie in the Duke of Edinburghs Award scheme, which was set up in 1956 to develop the confidence and skills of young people aged 15 to 25 in Britain and the Commonwealth.

His youngest son, Edward, said its importance was likely to be greater due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on formal education.

I think the role of the non-formal in this present climate is going to be even more important than ever before because its those skills and experiences which are going to be looked for, he told Sky News television

Philip was also patron of a number of organisations, including the World Wide Fund for Nature, and chancellor of the universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh.
Pop star Lily Allen has posted a crying-with-laughter emoji at a meme which suggests Princess Diana is furious about Prince Philip entering heaven.

The meme, which has been shared by Instagram page Saint Hoax, has used a clip from Super Nanny which shows super nanny herself Jo Frost closing the door on a crying toddler.

The clip, which was shared with the account's 2.7million followers, was captioned: 'Princess Diana when Philip tries to enter heaven.'

Lily Allen, 35, commented on the post: 'I'm dead at the Diana one,' followed by a crying-with-laughter emoji.

She later called out 'trolls and bots' on Twitter who had hit out at her social media response to Prince Philip's death.

Lily Allen has posted a crying-with-laughter emoji at a meme which suggests Princess Diana is furious about Prince Philip entering heaven just hours after the palace announced his death

The Saint Hoax post attracted criticism at those making light of Prince Philip's death just hours after it was confirmed by Buckingham Palace this afternoon.

Britain has entered eight days of mourning ahead of Philip's expected funeral next Saturday, after The Queen announced with 'deep sorrow' the death of her husband at the age of 99.

The duke was the Queen's 'strength and guide' throughout their 73-year marriage and her 69-year reign.

Crowds of mourners who were pictured laying flowers and tributes at palaces became so large they were told to disperse because of Covid.

This evening, Ms Allen commented on Twitter: 'Oh, Prince Philip has died,' before responding to critics of her post by writing: 'lot of trolls and bots out tonight.

'#RIP Prince Phillip you would have loved late stage surveillance capitalism.'

Meanwhile, the post from Saint Hoax, a pseudonymous artist who is described as a social-political activist, has received more than 3,500 comments in the six hours since it has been shared.

Despite Lily Allen's reaction, not all commenters were as amused with many calling out the post for being distasteful.

Some called out Ms Allen's comment with one writing: 'Do you really think this is appropriate? Have some respect.'

Others called out the post itself with one user writing: 'Wow. There is so much hate in these comments. Someone died. It is not funny.

'And none of you knows the truth of what happened in the royal family. So please stop being judgemental and relax your nerves. This is quite tasteless.'

Another added: 'Usually I have found your posts super funny and on point. But now...a man has died. His family and country will miss him.

'I hope you understand that this is not a good way to find humour.'

A third commenter said: 'To half the kids in the comments, how would you feel if one of your relatives died and half the internet was poking fun at their death?

'This is clearly not okay and I'm tired of these platforms failing to draw the line between comedy, satire and plain, vile behaviour.'

Lily Allen's representatives have been contacted by MailOnline.
Vietnam requests businesses to respect its sovereignty over Hoang Sa, Truong Sa

Vietnam requests that businesses respect the countrys sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes, as well as its sovereignty, sovereign right and jurisdiction over related waters in the East Sea, said Foreign Ministrys spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang at the ministrys regular press conference in Hanoi on April 8.













A Vietnamese naval officer (Photo: VNA)



Commenting on several foreign brands use of maps showing the illegal nine-dash line on their Chinese-language websites, Hang stressed that as affirmed many times before, Vietnam has sufficient historical evidence and legal ground to affirm its sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa in line with international law, as well as sovereignty, sovereign right and jurisdiction over relevant waters in the East Sea as defined in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).



Every form of propaganda to spread things that are against historical truth and international law is valueless and will not be able to change the truth about Vietnams sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, as well as the East Sea issue, she said.



About Vietnams stance on recent developments in the East Sea and related issues, including Chinese vessels operation in the Bai Ba Dau (Whitsun Reef) in Vietnams Truong Sa, the spokeswoman affirmed that Vietnamese competent authorities always keep a close watch over developments in the East Sea, and protect and enforce the countrys sovereignty, sovereign right and national jurisdiction at sea and in Vietnamese waters in accordance with international law and the 1982 UNCLOS.



She made it clear that peace, stability, cooperation and development in the East Sea is the common aspiration and goal of countries in the East Sea, in the region and of the international community. The respect for legal order at sea and the full, consistent, good-will and responsible implementation of the 1982 UNCLOS hold significance to achieving such goals.



Vietnam calls on countries to contribute to maintaining peace, stability and cooperation in the East Sea, follow international law and the UNCLOS, seriously abide by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, especially the obligation to exercise self-restraint, refraining from complicating the situation, creating a favourable environment for the negotiations on an effective and efficient Code of Conduct in the East Sea, thus contributing to fostering trust, maintaining peace, stability, and promoting international order at sea and security, safety, navigation freedom in the East Sea, she said.
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - Wilton Resources Inc. (TSXV: WIL) (the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement of units of the Corporation ("Units") at a purchase price of $0.50 per Unit (the "Offering Price") for gross proceeds of $260,000 (the "Offering"). The principal use of the proceeds of the Offering will be for general corporate purposes and as a reserve to pursue the acquisition of an international oil and gas property.

Each Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of the Corporation ("Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant ("Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitles the holder to purchase one Common Share on or before April 9, 2023 at an exercise price of $0.55 (the "Exercise Price"), subject to an accelerated expiry as described below.

In the event that the 20-day volume weighted average price of the Common Shares as listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") is greater than $1.50, the Corporation may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by giving notice to the holders thereof and, in such case, the Warrants will expire on the 10th day after the date on which such notice is given.

The Corporation paid a finder's fees to Haywood Securities Inc. (the "Finder") consisting of a cash payment equal to 6.0% of the aggregate proceeds raised from the sale of Units to subscribers introduced to the Corporation by the Finder and the issued to the Finder 31,200 non-transferable warrants ("Finder Warrants"). Each Finder Warrant entitles the holder thereof to acquire one Common Share on or before April 9, 2023 at an exercise price of $0.50 per share.

The Offering was approved by the Corporation's board of directors by means of a unanimous resolution. The TSX Venture Exchange provided final acceptance of the Offering on April 6, 2021.

For more information concerning the Corporation, please refer to the Corporation's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "intend", "may", "will", "expect", and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Corporation's current beliefs or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information with respect to the principal uses of the proceeds of the Offering. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Corporation. The material facts and assumptions include the intended use of proceeds remaining in the best interests of the Corporation. The Corporation cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Corporation is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Due to the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward- looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

For more information, please contact:

Wilton Resources Inc.

Richard Anderson

Chief Executive Officer and President

(403) 619-6609

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this release.

Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. Securities Laws.

THE SECURITIES OFFERED HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES ABSENT REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS. THIS PRESS RELEASE SHALL NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY SALE OF THE SECURITIES IN ANY STATE IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SOLICITATION OR SALE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/80016
In 2019, Jiangxi Copper became the first Chinese company to receive approval to set up a 150,000-tonne-per-year copper facility in Malaysia to process low quality copper scrap including insulated copper wire (ICW).The Chinese state-owned company has not given a reason for its decision not to go ahead with the foreign investment project.

The company was under the lead of former chairman Long Ziping when the company made the decision to build the facility...
Southeast Texas is now seeing a new harbinger that the COVID-19 pandemic is waning  hospitals are returning back to normal occupancy.

The Medical Center of Southeast Texas this week announced it has begun to reinstate units that in early 2020 were dedicated to COVID-19 treatment.

Early last year, the hospital converted 71 rooms to meet the Centers for Disease Controls guidelines to treat COVID-19 patients. Those changes included air quality modifications, additional equipment and clinical staff.

Returning these floors to their original purpose signals a hopeful time for our hospital family and for our community. We will maintain the ability to expand our COVID hospitalization capacity should the need arise, Medical Center of Southeast Texas President Josh Snow said in a news release.

Related: Vaccine coalition disbands as appointment demand falls

During the pandemic, the hospital also created an isolation waiting area, which will continue to be used for patients arriving to the emergency room with COVID-like symptoms.

At the same time, state-sponsored crisis nurses are being demobilized throughout Texas, said Lori Upton, Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council vice president for disaster preparedness and response.

Facilities have done a great job in surging to care for COVID-positive patients, and as more and more people are receiving vaccines, our numbers across the state are declining, she said.

The crisis nurse phase-down effort has been going on for six weeks and is expected to continue for four more.

While Southeast Texas never had to convert non-medical buildings to serve as overflow for coronavirus patients, personnel were at a premium.

During the regions largest peak, hospital officials said they dont know how it would have fared had nurses from outside the region not brought their time and talents to the area.

Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox

But residents continued efforts of wearing a mask and social distancing, combined with greater access to vaccines, has allowed hospitals to ease many of these efforts.

There is a growing amount of confidence in vaccines and preventative measures for COVID-19. I am very happy to see the considerable decline of COVID hospitalizations and rededicating our resources to their original purpose, Dr. Gary Mennie, chief medical officer for the Medical Center of Southeast Texas, said in the release.

Through Thursday, Jefferson County has logged 19,081 positive cases of COVID-19 and 404 virus-related deaths, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services. The state estimates 576 of the countys positive cases remain active.

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/KaitlinBain
DALLAS (dpa-AFX) - AT&T Inc. (T) said, for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, due in part to the company's recent resizing and restructuring of operations, it expects total distributions from the pension plan will exceed the threshold of service and interest costs for 2021, requiring the company to follow settlement accounting and remeasure pension benefit obligation at each quarter-end in 2021. For the quarter ended March 31, 2021, the company anticipates to record a non-cash pre-tax actuarial gain of approximately $2.8 billion, which is primarily due to an increase in the discount rate used to measure the obligation. 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.
ALBANY, Ore.  More than 10 people are without a home after an apartment fire in Albany Thursday morning.

The Albany Fire Department said crews first responded to Madison Apartments just after 10:30 a.m. An upstairs apartment was on fire with heavy black smoke coming from it.

All occupants of the complex evacuated successfully, fire officials said. One pet was reported to be in the apartment at the time of the fire but was not found.

One apartment was a total loss and multiple apartments suffered smoke and water damage. The property owner is insured.

The Red Cross will assist displaced tenants with finding temporary housing and food assistance.

Investigators are looking into the cause and origin of the fire. No additional information is available at this time.
An Indian couple was found dead at their home in the US after neighbours saw their four-year-old daughter crying alone in the balcony of their house, family sources said on Friday.

The bodies of Balaji Bharat Rudrawar (32) and his wife Arati Balaji Rudrawar (30) were found at their New Jersey home on Wednesday after their neighbours saw the child crying and informed the local police who then entered the house, Balaji's father Bharat Rudrawar said.

PhotoThe local police there informed Bharat Rudrawar of the tragedy on Thursday. There is no clarity yet on the cause of the death, he said, adding the US police said they will share findings of the autopsy report.

"My daughter-in-law was seven months pregnant," he said. "We had been to their house and were planning a trip to the US again," he said.

"I am not aware of any possible motive. They were a happy family and had lovely neighbours," he said when asked if he suspected foul play.

Dead"I was informed by the US authorities that it will take at least 8 to 10 days for the bodies to reach India after necessary formalities," he said.

"My granddaughter is now with a friend of my son. He had several friends in the local Indian community, which comprises over 60 per cent of the population in New Jersey," he said.


OAK BROOK (dpa-AFX) - McDonald's Corp. is planning to hire 25,000 workers in its restaurants across Texas in April, reports said.



In a three-day event from April 13 to 15, the fast-food chain is expected to hire for crew and management positions. During these hiring days, participating McDonald's restaurants in the state will be accepting applications and interviewing job seekers.



Every summer, McDonald's, which owns about 14,000 restaurants in the United States, usually hires thousands of restaurant employees across the country. The company hired around 260,000 restaurant staff last year in the country after states, and dining rooms, reopened following the initial lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic.



The company has implemented about 50 new safety procedures to protect crew and customers during the pandemic. These include wellness and temperature checks, social distancing floor stickers, and masks and gloves for employees, among others.



Restaurants and retailers are announcing hiring plans to make them prepared for the summer months as the states are getting ready to reopen and lift mandates.



It may be noted that the Labor Department last week having released its more closely watched monthly employment data, showing bigger than expected increase in employment in March. This reflected widespread job growth, with employment in the leisure and hospitality sector once again leading the way.



Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead Economist at Oxford Economics, recently said, 'We expect the stellar March jobs report to be the first of many and look for a hiring boom in the spring and summer months.'



Fast-casual restaurant chain International House of Pancakes LLC or IHOP recently said it is hosting a National Recruiting Day on May 19, aiming to hire 10,000 people at more than 1,600 franchised locations.



Discount retailer Dollar Tree, Inc. has opened thousands of positions for job seekers at its stores and distribution centers across the United States.The company plans to recruit full- and part-time associates at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores and distribution centers.



In late January, Lowe's Companies Inc. had announced plans to hire more than 50,000 associates across U.S. stores this spring.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

MCDONALDS-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de
Michael and Rebecca Kelley were busy tending to one of their college-age daughters and her friends at their 28-acre spread in rural New Braunfels on Nov. 5, 2017, when a group text came to their phones.

It was from their son, Devin Kelley: Go untie Danielle. It left them puzzled.

What they would find out later, the Kelleys testified Thursday in a federal trial, was that their son had done the unimaginable. Devin Kelley had tied up his wife, Danielle, at an apartment on the familys property.

Armed with an assault rifle, two handguns, body armor and hundreds of bullets, Kelley drove to a town his parents had never heard of, Sutherland Springs. At First Baptist Church there, he massacred 26 congregants with the assault rifle and injured 20 more. They also learned he got into a gunfight with a good Samaritan who wounded him and that Devin shot and killed himself as he fled Sutherland Springs to return home.

Dad, I (expletive) up! Michael Kelley, breaking down on the witness stand, said his son blurted into the speakerphone after he texted them. I just killed a bunch of people in church.  Ive been shot and Im bleeding out.

Their testimony was the first time Kelleys parents have publicly spoken extensively about the incident. It came during the second day of a civil trial in a lawsuit survivors and families of the church victims filed against the federal government. The plaintiffs lawyers asked the Kelleys to testify.

Devin Kelleys text and call were so surreal, Rebecca Kelley testified, that she doesnt even know if she got straight the order of how things unfolded: Mom, I just killed a bunch of people! And he was just slurring his words.

He said hed been shot once in the side and twice in the leg.

Im dying. And at that point, I thought in my mind, if hes really done this, I cant forgive him, Rebecca Kelley cried. But if it was me, and I had done something terrible like that, I would at least want to be told that I was still loved, so I said, I love you, Devin. And he just fell apart and he was wailing, wailing, that he was sorry, over and over and over again.

His parents said they didnt know about his plot or what motivated him to kill the parishioners.

The lawsuit alleges that the Air Force failed to provide information to a national FBI database about a felony domestic violence conviction Devin Kelley picked up while he was in the service. The information, the plaintiffs argue, could have prevented Kelley from legally buying guns, including the assault rifle he used in the massacre.

Kelley, who served nearly five years in the Air Force, beginning in 2009, was court-martialed and sentenced to one year of confinement for assaulting a former wife and stepson, cracking the childs skull. He was discharged in 2014 for bad conduct.

Kelleys parents also testified that they knew about his conviction and incidents when he went AWOL but that neither knew that he was supposed to be barred from legally buying firearms. During one instance, Michael Kelley had to drive from his cabin in Ruidoso, N.M., to nearby Holloman AFB to pick up a gun that his son had, but he said he assumed it was against base rules to have a personal firearm. The father said he later sold it at a pawnshop.

Michael Kelley also testified that he asked Devin Kelleys defense lawyer if the conviction was a felony that would affect his right to vote and to buy a firearm.

He said, Its Air Force, therefore its federal, but because of the (sentence), its like a misdemeanor, Michael Kelley testified. I cant give you a clear answer. The reality is, its a gray area. Nobody knows.  It depends on where you are.

Rebecca Kelley said she was not aware her son was barred from legal gun purchases because of the conviction.

I assumed he could when he passed a background check and bought one, she said.

The parents also testified that they didnt know the full extent of their sons troubles while in the Air Force. For instance, they didnt know he had been ordered to psychiatric help after he threatened to kill his leaders.

Had they known all this, they said, they would not have allowed him to have obtained firearms, nor have them on their property, where testimony has established that he regularly fired his weapons.

Other testimony Thursday showed Devin Kelley clashed with his superiors as soon as he reported to Holloman in 2010, a former supervisor recalled during an interview with Texas Rangers after the massacre.

Keep an eye on him because hes the type of guy who will come shoot us, the supervisor recalled telling co-workers, who agreed with her assessment.

Government lawyers argued Thursday that Kelley was motivated to shoot people at First Baptist because he was angry that his second wife, Danielle Smith, would be forced to relive the sexual abuse she suffered while in foster care.

A criminal trial was scheduled for later that month, Nov. 27, 2017, for Smiths adoptive stepfather, Donald Curt Brassfield  who was later convicted in connection with the abuse of other minors  and Guadalupe County authorities had been trying to gather photos or videos that Kelley reportedly found of Smiths abuse.

Authorities also wanted Smith to testify at her stepfathers trial, but Kelley had told them he did not have any such evidence and that Smith did not want to take the stand.

According to the government, Kelley blamed Michelle Shields, Smiths adoptive mother (who divorced Brassfield) and others who attended First Baptist, for allegedly dismissing an outcry Smith had made when she was younger.

The plaintiffs have claimed otherwise. They say Kelley was motivated to commit the mass shooting because he blamed Smiths family for trying to convince her to end her marriage with Kelley.

Citing previously unreleased FBI and Texas Rangers reports and summaries of Kelleys social media and iCloud posts, the government argued that Kelley had expressed admiration of other mass killings. The information, the government argued, showed that Kelley had been increasingly unstable and threatened Shields and people he had contact with in the Air Force in May 2017.

The feds showed U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez investigative reports that said Kelley had been planning the shooting since at least June 2017, and they noted Kelley highlighted Nov. 5 as a significant date  apparently linked to Guy Fawkes, who led a failed political plot in England in 1605.

Numerous Facebook posts by Kelley provided relevant information including an indication he owned numerous guns; a history of drug use; an interest in mass shootings; and a reference to Guy Fawkes (Nov. 5); and suicidal tendencies, an FBI report shown in court stated. Around 2012, Facebook posts indicated a shift in Kelleys ideology from devout Christianity to atheism.

On Facebook, for instance, Kelley posted Oct. 28, 2017: Rember remember the fifth of November, a reference to Fawkes.

Kelley had accompanied Smith to First Baptist on a handful of occasions, and he always sat in the back because he had such an animosity towards the church, Pastor Frank Pomeroy told Texas Rangers. Portions of the interview were played in court by the government, in part to bolster its claim that Smiths abuse claims may have been dismissed because she had a history of making up stories.

Man, I could tell this boy had issues, Pomeroy said of meeting Kelley, who he understood to have beaten Smith. This doesnt sound real pastoral, but when I was in the military, you called it little mans disease. Hed go pick on those he could whip, run from those he couldnt.

Pomeroy said Kelley appeared to dislike him from the first conversation they had.

From that point on, the only words he had for me is when he did show up periodically would be snide remarks ... about how hes an atheist, and Gods not real, Pomeroy said. He was just a real abrasive individual.

Pomeroy also said he believed Smith had not approached Pomeroy for any guidance about the sexual abuse.

The story there, when she was younger, Danielle had an incredible propensity to lie, said Pomeroy, who added that Smith had dated his son for about a month. I tried to help her with several things to the point, I was like, Honey, until you decide you need to be forthright and tell me the truth, I cant continue to stick my neck out here for you for different things. And for that reason, (its) maybe why she didnt come to me. She maybe thought I wouldnt believe her.

Pomeroy, who was out of town the day of the shooting, said he believed he was a target because Kelley shot at the pulpit first upon entering the church. Pomeroy also told Rangers that his church had emergency plans in place to counter active shooters, but it was caught by surprise.

Its cowardly to shoot women and children, but to shoot through walls? Pomeroy said. Devin was ate up with darkness.

guillermo.contreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland
Cheng and his apparatchiks subjected the Australian reporters to a two-hour exercise in authoritarian propaganda that even the old Soviet Communist Party would have been embarrassed to offer. It included five videos showing maniacally cheerful Uighurs dancing in traditional costume, soaring skyscrapers and snow-capped mountain peaks. An official denounced the accounts of mass incarceration as downright lies. He explained that the high-walled encampments where Uighurs are held are actually re-education centres that taught singing, dancing and computer skills to a grateful population. To which Human Rights Watch Australias head, Elaine Pearson, merely asked: If Xinjiang really is such a wonderful land, then why doesnt the Chinese government let journalists and UN human rights monitors go there? Loading Beijing officials first told the UNs human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile, that she was welcome to visit Xinjiang in June 2019. She is still waiting to be given a visa. It has to be said that the Beijing government does not have a good track record of truth-telling about its operations against the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. When the evidence of vast new prison encampments first the regime of Xi Jinping flatly denied that any such camps existed. They eventually conceded that the system did exist, but insisted that they were vocational education centres  like TAFEs but with six-metre walls and watch towers.

A leak of 400 pages of internal CCP documents would later confirm not only the existence of camps intended for mass repression, but that the system had been set in the motion by the President, Xi Jinping, himself with the exhortation to party officials to show no mercy. Yet the Australian reporters were professional enough to give Cheng the opportunity of answering some real questions in the midst of this confection of deception. For instance, Cheng told the press conference that the reports of an estimated 1 million Uighurs in the re-education centres were all fake news. So if 1 million was fake, my colleague Anthony Galloway asked, reasonably enough, what was the true number of Uighurs in the re-education centres? Cheng responded without answering. Galloway tried again. He got the same response. Uighurs are held in re-education camps in Xinjiang. Credit:Michael Smith So I turned to someone with a much better record of truth-telling about the Uighurs situation, Rebiya Kadeer. She was once Beijings model Uighur, a wealthy businesswoman, Communist Party member and a delegate to the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Congress. When she started to speak out against repression of her people, she was locked up for six years and eventually released into the protection of the US in 2005 as part of a diplomatic deal. She has lived in Washington ever since. She lost her positions, her wealth, her family. But she has never been silenced. She has been described as the Muslim Dalai Lama. A grandmother, now 76, tiny yet fierce, she has been nominated for the Nobel peace prize five times.

The day of Chengs propaganda parade in Canberra happened to be three years exactly since Id last spoken to Rebiya Kadeer. In that 2018 interview in Sydney, she had shocked me. She told me then that at least 1 million Uighurs had been detained in the centres she calls concentration camps, including 37 of her relatives. This was her entire extended family in China. I reported her remarks but the number of 1 million detainees out of a total Uighur population of some 10 million seemed so outlandish that I made a point of including other estimates, all of which were lower, such as Radio Free Asias report of 120,000 Uighurs in detention. Of course, Kadeer was proved right, in this and every other detail. Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer Credit:Glen McCurtayne So this week I asked her what had happened in the three years since. I believe the Chinese Communist Party is achieving its goal, she told me through an interpreter. Their final goal is the total extermination of the Uighur people. Children aged two to 12 are taken from their families into state custody, girls are given forced sterilisation so they cant give birth to any more Uighur children. Some Uighur women are forced into marriage with Chinese men. A further method is forced transfer of Uighur workers into factories in other parts of China where the Chinese workers are allowed to leave the factories but the Uighurs workers are not. Luckily, recently the free world has woken up, including the US, Australia, and I hope they will prevent China achieving their final goal.

How many Uighurs are detained in the camps? Some party officials have said that all the detained Uighurs had graduated and returned to their homes. Kadeer says that the people allowed are allowed to leave if they are in dire health, so their deaths will not be counted as camp statistics, or once their brains have been reformatted. But, she says, the people released are replaced with new Uighur detainees: The total number of people who are in the concentration camps or who have been through the process is about five million. Half the total population. Some die in the process, but most do not. This is the evil genius of the system of genocide with Chinese characteristics. By allowing the Uighurs to live, Xi expected to avoid the accusation of genocide, Nazi-style. But total extermination of a people through mass murder is not the only definition of genocide. The UN Genocide Convention defines genocide as the intent to destroy, in whole or in part a people. Loading Eminent experts, such as the 50 who co-wrote a report last month for Canadas Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, argue that Chinas treatment of its Uighur people does indeed meet that definition. An increasing number of parliaments around the world agree. And Kadeers family members? One sister, detained in 2014, died under torture in 2017. All 36 others have been released, she says. And Beijing has found a better way of using them: My relatives make forced accusations, they speak against me and against the US. My children make good material for them. I regard this treatment of my children and my grandchildren, forcing them to abuse me on video, to be the furthest extreme a dictatorship can go to.
The death of Britain's Prince Philip has been announced.

A statement from Buckingham Palace said: "It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

"His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.

"Further announcements will made in due course."

Queen Elizabeth chatting with Tom Durcan, chairman, Market Traders Association, as the late Prince Philip looks through the food hamper with Maryrose Daly of Coffee Central on the left during the visit to the English Market in Cork. Picture Denis Minihane.

"The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss," the statement added.

'He was a lovely man'

Pat OConnell of K O'Connell Fish Merchants in the English Market today paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, who he described as a lovely man who was so much fun.

Mr OConnell, whose quick wit famously tickled the Queen and her late husband during their visit to Cork in 2011, said the historic visit only seems like yesterday.

We had a great laugh that time. He was a lovely man. Its so sad to hear the news today.

They put the English Market on the map. It was a wonderful day. I had a great chat with him.

They were very ordinary people the two of them, the Queen and himself. I suppose you have perceptions of these people and the life they live and you kind of expect them to be something totally different from what they are in reality - they were like any other couple at the counter, he said.

Following the visit, Mr OConnell was later invited to Buckingham Palace where he was among some 350 Irish people invited to a reception hosted by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2014 to recognise the contribution of the Irish to Britain.

I met him [Prince Philip] there as well but he didnt stay around that night.

The Queen did and Princess Anne was there.

There was about seven or eight of us had a private audience with the Queen and Prince Philip first and then he went away after that and she met the bigger group later on.

I have lovely memories of the man because he was just so ordinary and so much fun.

Its very sad, but he was a great age though and what a life lived, he said.

Mr OConnell said the positive feedback he received from the Queen and the Duke of Edinburghs visit to the Market in 2011 meant a lot to him.

It was really interesting actually because Julian King, who was the British Ambassador in Ireland in 2011, he came down to the Market six or seven weeks after the visit with Tim Lucey and he called up to us and said the Market really rocked for the Queen, she got such a kick out of it and I just said we just did what we always do, we just had a laugh and he said Yeah Pat but how many people meet the Queen of England and do what they normally do?'

"He said they just loved being treated as ordinary people and having the bit of craic.

They got such a kick out of it and I just thought yes, the Market really does have something special.

Tribute from Taoiseach

Taoiseach Micheal Martin also paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh.

My thoughts and prayers are with HRH Queen Elizabeth and her family today, on the occasion of the passing of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

"Ireland remembers the great success of the State Visit to Ireland in 2011 by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, a historic and important occasion which was a key moment in our bilateral relations. This was followed in 2014 by the State Visit to the United Kingdom by the President and Mrs Higgins, when they were hosted so generously in Windsor Castle and across Britain.

"The commitment of the Royal Family to Irish-British relations is an important part of the work we do together - and today we pay tribute to Prince Philips own important contribution.

Former Lord Mayor of Cork Michael O'Connell said he was saddened to hear of the passing of Prince Philip.

A visit to be remembered

"I had the honour as Lord Mayor to welcome the Queen and the Prince to Cork in 2011 it was a beautiful summers day and the people of Cork came out in their thousands to welcome them both to our city and in particular the wonderful welcome they received from the English Market community.

"The Prince was in great form and said that he was looking forward to meeting as many people as possible during the visit. The protocol for the visit had the Lady Mayoress assigned to look after the Prince on the tour of the market...The Prince would go off if something got his eye and sure enough halfway around the market Catherine, the Lady Mayoress said to me I think hes gone. We found the Prince over at the cheese stall checking the different varieties of cheeses on offer.

"The visit was a fantastic success and will be remembered by the people of Cork," he said.
On May 14, the Museum & Library will open its newest exhibit, Drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin & the Art of War

The Pritzker Military Museum & Library is proud to announce its newest exhibit, Drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin & the Art of War, which will celebrate the artistic career of cartoonist Bill Mauldin. A two-time Pulitzer Prize winning artist, Mauldins cartoons embodied the spirit of the infantryman during World War II before turning his critical pen to those in the political sphere. The exhibit will open on May 14th and will follow CDC-Guidelines for safety during the pandemic.

We are so excited to bring Bill Mauldins story back to the cultural forefront and introduce his talent and satire to a new audience, stated Colonel (IL) Jennifer N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired), Founder of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. The Museum & Library holds the largest collection of his artwork and with the archival items recently donated from the Bill Mauldin Estate, we can give his cultural legacy the platform and honor it deserves.

For nearly fifty years, from World War II to the end of the Cold War, Bill Mauldin used his artistry and wit to provide commentary on the world as he saw it, earning two Pulitzer Prizes in the process. As a soldier and nationally syndicated political cartoonist, he used his voice and platform to critique the policies and actions of the nations leaders, both military and civilian, when they came up short.

Born into poverty, Mauldin used his pen and paper to change his fortune and circumstances. His art saw him through World War II, where he used his own experiences and those of the downtrodden infantryman to present a true account of life on the front. Through his characters Willie and Joe, he was able to capture the cultural nuances of life in the Army, providing comedic relief or trepidation  depending on the viewer  while simultaneously presenting the grim reality of the war to the home front. On his return stateside, he transitioned his critique of military leaders to those leading the nation, finding success as a political cartoonist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he won his 2nd Pulitzer Prize, and then at the Chicago Sun-Times. His famous cartoon reacting to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, 20 years after he first came to renown with his Willie and Joe cartoons, showed his continued ability to tap into the cultural zeitgeist of the time.

What makes Mauldin so unique and forward thinking is his uncanny ability to take on complicated issues  veterans affairs, segregation, the civil rights movement, healthcare, and the economic inequalities in America  and distill it into single images that force the viewer to examine their own biases, explains Museum & Library Curator James Brundage. His images continue to be relevant because we are still grappling with these issues and themes today.

Drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin & the Art of War will feature 125 original Mauldin drawings, another 35 reproduced images, and more than 20 original artifacts. The art spans the breath of Mauldins entire career, from 1937  1994, from early years learning art in Chicago, to the frontlines of WWII in Europe, to his last years at the Chicago Sun-Times.

Curator James Brundage is available for interviews. Art and an in-person media preview will also be available.

Who: The Pritzker Military Museum & Library

What: Drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin & the Art of War a new exhibit offering a retrospective of the work by two-time Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin.

When: Opening to the Public on May 14, 2021 with a Member Preview on May 13. Virtual components and the online exhibit to be available on May 14.

Where: Pritzker Military Museum & Library

104 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60603

Hours: Tuesday  Saturday, 10am - 4pm CT

Fee: General admission to the Museum & Library is $10.00. Seniors, students and teachers with valid IDs: $8.00. Admission is free for children under 12 and Active Military.

Info: For more information on the Bill Mauldin art exhibit, Drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin & the Art of War, visit the website http://www.WhoIsBillMauldin.com

###

About the Pritzker Military Museum & Library

The Pritzker Military Museum & Library aims to increase the publics understanding of military history, military affairs and national security by providing a forum for the study and exploration of our military - past, present, and future - with a specific focus on their stories, sacrifices, and values. With national and global reach, these spaces and events aim to share the stories of those who served and their contributions as citizen soldiers, helping citizens everywhere appreciate the relationship between the armed forces and the civilians whose freedoms they protect. A non-governmental, non-partisan organization, the Museum & Library features diverse collections, scholarly initiatives, and public programs from its flagship center in downtown Chicago to its world-class research center and park currently under construction in Somers, Wisconsin.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: https://www.prweb.com/releases/wwll_veteran_and_chicago_s_political_cartoonist_bill_mauldin_comes_home_to_the_pritzker_military_museum_library/prweb17854169.htm
Speaking at a virtual event for the Richard Nixon Foundation on Tuesday, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel cautioned that China could potentially use Bitcoin as a "financial weapon" against the U.S., Bloomberg first reported.

Thiel, a well-known proponent of cryptocurrency, appeared to tamper down his enthusiasm surrounding digital currency when speaking on U.S.-China relations.

Related: The Chinese challenge to Bitcoin is ready. The Central Bank distributes 1.5 million dollars in e-yuan

"Even though I'm a pro-crypto, pro-Bitcoin maximalist person, I do wonder whether if at this point Bitcoin should also be thought of in part as a Chinese financial weapon against the U.S.," he said, while being joined by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Advisor Robert OBrien. "It threatens fiat money, but it especially threatens the U.S. dollar."

Even though I'm a pro-crypto, pro-Bitcoin maximalist person, I do wonder whether if at this point Bitcoin should also be thought of in part as a Chinese financial weapon against the U.S. says @Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel.



More on cryptocurrencies from The #NixonSeminar: pic.twitter.com/sIUQTQEWgr  Richard Nixon Foundation (@nixonfoundation) April 7, 2021

A noted China critic, Thiel also questioned where employees in Google's artificial intelligence division were allowing Chinese officials to use their technology in the Xinjiang region. U.S. government officials have repeatedly criticized China for detaining Uyghurs in the area in internment camps. Thiel similarly reserved his criticism for other companies  including Apple  that have done business in China.

"Apple is probably the one [tech company] thats structurally a real problem for U.S. interests, he said, according to Bloomberg. "Apple is the one that has real synergies with China."

The PayPal co-founder additionally echoed anti-TikTok sentiments from President Donald Trump, whom Thiel backed during the former president's 2016 campaign. The businessman suggested that, like India, the U.S. should ban the China-headquartered social media platform, citing, without proof, the company's "incredible exfiltration of data about people." TikTok has repeatedly said that it doesn't share its users' information.

Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 21:11:48|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- About 19 officers were injured in the latest riot in Northern Ireland on Thursday night, bringing the number of hurt police to 74 during a week of violence across the region, local media reported Friday.

According to the BBC, water cannon was used by police in Belfast for the first time in six years as they faced attacks by petrol bombs, fireworks and stones.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Assistant Chief Constable Jonathan Roberts said that there was "sustained violence directed towards police officers on both sides of the interface over a period of hours" on Thursday night.

According to Roberts, the majority of injuries to officers were to hearing due to fireworks being detonated close to them, one female officer suffered a broken bone in her foot.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday night on Twitter: "I am deeply concerned by the scenes of violence in Northern Ireland, especially attacks on PSNI who are protecting the public and businesses, attacks on a bus driver and the assault of a journalist."

"The way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or criminality," he added.

The latest development followed several nights of unrest amid tensions over the Northern Ireland Protocol within the Brexit deal between Britain and the European Union (EU).

The Northern Ireland Protocol, as an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement, was ratified by both the EU and Britain and has been in force since Feb. 1, 2020.

There were also disputes over the police's handling of alleged lockdown breaches by the left-wing party Sinn Fein at the funeral of republican Bobby Storey, according to Sky News. Enditem
Gaza: provision of desalinated water increased Three plants but shortage of electricity, funding

(ANSAmed) - GAZA, APRIL 9 - A desalination plant entered on Thursday in its 'third phase' in Deir el-Balah, in the central sector of the Gaza Strip, the Wafa news agency reports.



According to the agency, daily production has gone from 3,400 cubic meters of drinking water to 6,000 to the benefit of 100,000 residents. The cost is 18 million dollars.



Local sources added that two other desalination plants are functioning in Gaza. In the south, between Khan Yunes and Rafah, a plant funded by UNICEF and the European Union is working to provide 12,000 cubic meters of water for 75,000 inhabitants. In future, production could reach 20,000 cubic meters. North of Gaza a third plant is worth 10,000 cubic meters. The development of these projects however is influenced by the shortage of electrical power and poor finances.



Last month came the announcement of an agreement Italy signed with the World Bank to contribute to the work and to increase the quantity of drinking water in the Gaza Strip. Other sources of water provision in Gaza come from Israel (10 million of cubic meters a year) and from local wells.(ANSAmed).




UPDATE: Two suspects being investigated after alleged postal worker assault in Flint

FLINT, MI -- An arrest has been made after a United States Postal Service employee was assaulted in Flint, police said.

The Flint Police Department is investigating the incident, which was captured on video, according to a Thursday, April 8 email from Detective Sgt. Tyrone Booth.

Booth said the department is investigating the incident and an arrest has been made.

A video being widely circulated on social media shows what appears to be two women involved in the assault on the employee.

The postal employee is in good condition, Booth said.

Anyone with information regarding the assault is asked to contact Flint police at 810-237-6800 or, to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers of Flint and Genesee County at 1-800-422-JAIL (5245), on the P3Tips mobile app, or online at CrimeStoppersofFlint.com.

Read more on MLive:

Teen who took plea in 2018 case involving 2 bodies found in Flint River granted new attorney

Passenger ejected, killed after vehicle crashes into guardrail on I-75

16-year-old shot and killed in Flint, suspect in custody

Man critically injured in Flint shooting

Gaines Township police officers laid off, only chief remains amid funding shortfall

Man killed in Lapeer County after pickup truck crashes into tree

Flint area man ejected from pickup in I-75 rollover crash
The spurned lover of Alabama's married Secretary of State has released explicit audio and text messages describing in graphic detail their trysts - forcing him to abandon a possible run for the U.S. Senate, a day after he said her story was 'baseless'.

John Merrill, a Republican who has promoted himself as a 'family values' conservative, admitted on Thursday a three-year extramarital affair with Cesaire McPherson.

His admission came a day after he told a local radio station that her claims were 'baseless', describing her as a stalker who harassed him.

McPherson, a 44-year-old legal assistant from Montgomery, revealed the affair to the online blog National File, saying it started in November 2017 and ended in November 2020.

In one text message, she is begging him for sex, to which he replies: 'I can't talk anymore I will talk soon.'

She described in vivid detail her sexual encounters with the secretary of state in his marital bed. One at least one occasion, she recorded the two of them having sex.

In the recording, McPherson asks Merrill if 'the last time that he had sex' was 'the last time ever?'

'Well, it was a pretty good day,' Merrill is heard telling her.

John Merrill, Alabama's Republican secretary of state, acknowledged that he carried on a nearly one-year extramarital affair with Cesaire McPherson, a 44-year-old legal assistant from Montgomery, from November 2017 until November 2020. Merrill and McPherson are photographed together at the State Capitol in November 2018 - a year after the affair started

McPherson said that she and Merrill, 57, would have sex in his marital bed. Merrill is seen right with his wife, Cindy Benford Merrill, in this November 2019 photo

When she asks again if 'that's the last time ever,' he replies: 'It's supposedly the last time ever.'

She tells him: 'You know it's not going to be.'

McPherson then asks Merrill about specific acts they did in several locations, including a local inn, her house, and his apartment.

Merrill said that he hoped to draw strength from God to end the affair.

'I am not able to stay away from you, so that's the reason why I have to have help in order to do that  the help is coming from the Lord,' Merrill said.

'You already went against your marriage  So you've already done it, you can't take that back, you can't change it,' McPherson said.

'Can't take anything back. Can't change anything. All I can do is what I can do from today forward,' he responded.

Local news website AL.com played the full audio to Merrill, and he finally confessed.

On Thursday they then released a portion of the 17-minute clip.

McPherson (pictured above in December) released audio recordings of phone conversations as well as sexts between her and Merrill

The text messages released by McPherson describe explicit sexual acts involving accessories

McPherson said in her interview with National File that Merrill asked her to buy clothes pins because 'he wanted me to put them on his nipples.'

She also claimed he liked 'the top of his c*** to be bit' and that he 'always liked a finger up his a**.'

'When I'd s*** his c***, he'd want me to put both of his b**** in my mouth and put my finger up his a**,' she told National File.

'And his left b*** is smaller than his right one, and it's weird. It's so weird.'

She also described using a 'b*** plug,' saying: 'Yeah, he liked stuff up his a**, yeah.'

McPherson said that she initiated the relationship with Merrill by contacting him through social media.

'I started it, sending messages For some reason I just got bored one night and I was sending the text messages and I said maybe we should go have lunch or something,' she said.

'And he said, 'or something'? And I was like, okay. So, it was from like November until January, we'd just send text messages back.

'Then in January we started to just like over Facebook video just showing each other our body and doing things, and then when he met me for the second time in person and realized that I really am, I'm a very sexy kind of person, and I can't help it.

'I just am.

'It was July 2019, and then we'd just, he'd come over Sunday night, Monday night, sometimes Tuesday nights if she (his wife) didn't come into town and stay in the apartment with him because he would have to be there with her.

'And mostly Wednesday and Thursday. Sunday, Monday, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and then if he had a weekendI stayed at his house twice.

'I went and spent the night, and then I slept in her bed and had sex in her bed.'

McPherson also alleges that Merrill would often make racist remarks about African-Americans.

'He might act like he likes black people, but he's really racist. Real bad racist(He would say) 'The colored folks. He was loved by all the coloredsAnd they go around thinking everything is supposed to be theirs, and given to them, and all this and thatthe black people should be appreciative'.'

Merrill, who initially denied allegations of an affair and accused McPherson of 'stalking' and 'harassing,' reversed himself and admitted that they did indeed have 'an inappropriate relationship,' according to AL.com.

John Merrill married his wife, Cindy Benford Merrill, in 1985. They have two children - Brooks Merill and Allie Grace Merrill. The image above was posted in December 2020

'It's clear that I had an inappropriate relationship with her, and it is not something that I am proud of or something that is something that - I'm very disappointed in myself,' Merrill (pictured above with his wife) said

John Merrill married his wife, Cindy Benford Merrill, in 1985. They have two children - Brooks Merill and Allie Grace Merrill.

On their wedding anniversary, John Merrill tweeted: '28 years ago today, Cindy Benford & I were married @ Calvary Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa.

'That decision has made all the difference for me.'

DailyMail.com has sought comment from McPherson, John Merrill, and Cindy Merrill.

Merrill was expected to run for the US Senate seat from Alabama that is being vacated by the retiring Senator Richard Shelby in 2022. Merrill was likely to compete against the pro-Trump congressman, Mo Brooks.

'I will obviously not be a candidate for the United States Senate nor will I be seeking any other elected position in 2022, because I think it's important to me to make sure that I become the man that I have been before and that I am working to put myself in the position to be the leader that I have been before, as a husband, as a father, as a friend and as an elected official,' Merrill said in a statement.

Merrill was elected secretary of state of Alabama in 2014 and then re-elected in 2018. Alabama law places a two-term limit on the office.

'With the end of my term coming up in January of 2023, I have been presented with a variety of options for where my path in public service could lead,' a statement from his office read.

'I have decided that I will not be a candidate for any office in 2022.'

McPherson leaked audio of a 17-minute phone conversation she had with Merrill in October 2020.

McPherson released a 17-minute recorded phone conversation with Merrill in which the secretary of state is heard saying that he needed to summon 'help from the Lord' to end the affair

McPherson also alleges that Merrill made racist comments about African-Americans

In the recording, the two discuss several sex acts that they performed during the dozens of encounters they had over the course of three years.

Merrill heard a portion of the recording. He told AL.com that 'there's no excuse' for his affair.

'It's clear that I had an inappropriate relationship with her, and it is not something that I am proud of or something that is something that - I'm very disappointed in myself,' Merrill said.

'I'm also disappointed that I allowed my family to be embarrassed by this action,' he said.

During his career, Merrill has made several controversial statements denouncing 'homosexual activities' and 'wife swap shows' that were supposedly responsible for degradation in America

After Merrill confirmed the affair, Governor Kay Ivey released a statement on Thursday saying: 'It is always unfortunate when someone in public life, especially an elected official, betrays the trust of his family, his constituents and those who have supported him.

'My thoughts and prayers are with all who have been negatively impacted by these poor decisions and bad choices.'

In 2015, Merrill denied allegations made by a woman that she performed oral sex on him five years earlier - though he did admit to kissing her and allowing her to fondle him.

During his career, Merrill has made several controversial statements denouncing 'homosexual activities' and 'wife swap shows' that were supposedly responsible for degradation in America.

In 2010, he was elected to the state House of Representatives, where he served until he won the secretary of state seat in 2014.

In reflecting on how the affair has essentially destroyed his career, Merrill told AL.com: 'I hope someone can use me as an example of how they have the opportunity to accomplish things, but because of poor choices and poor decisions in things, it can result in a negative impact for a lot of people that you did not intend to impact.

'That's because I exercised poor choices and poor discipline. Maybe some good can come out of this for somebody else.'
An electric bus manufactured by VinFast runs at the Vinhomes Ocean Park urban area in Hanoi's Gia Lam District. Photo by VnExpress/Doan Dung.

VinBus Transport Service Co., a subsidiary of Vietnam's largest conglomerate Vingroup, launched the nations first smart electric bus service in Hanoi Thursday.

In the first phase of the service, the buses will only run in the Vinhomes Ocean Park urban area in Gia Lam District. The companys is waiting for the completion of procedures to connect with the citys public transport network, said VinBus deputy director Nguyen Van Thanh.

The buses are manufactured and assembled by automaker VinFast at its factory in Hai Phong City, around 120 kilometers from Hanoi.

Each bus is equipped with an automated system able to control driving behavior and give warnings about unsafe situations. The system includes an on-board public address facility, free WiFi, USB charging ports, security cameras and other features.

With a battery capacity of 281 kWh, the bus can travel between 220 and 260 kilometers on a single charge, carrying 68 passengers at a time.

VinBus plans to make 200-300 vehicles a year in the coming years and run them on 15 bus routes in the three popular tourist destinations of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Phu Quoc City.

The bus service is part of the companys aim of developing a modern public transportation system that reduces air and noise pollution in Vietnams major cities.
By providing ongoing managed services, Pivotree will support the leading furniture supplier's product information management (PIM) application.

TORONTO, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Pivotree Inc. (TSXV: PVT) ("Pivotree" or the "Company"), a leading provider of Frictionless Commerce solutions, today announced it has entered an Application Support engagement with an industry-leading global provider of office products and services. Through the engagement, Pivotree will provide Application Support for the company's PIM software platform, a critical driver of the company's e-commerce initiatives.

"Many e-commerce companies have an array of products, combinations, and permutations that leads to a vast amount of product information, managed through PIM as a single source of truth. In these cases, ensuring the application operates at its best is crucial to their success across all channels, but especially e-commerce," said Derek Corrick, GM of MDM at Pivotree. "We're proud that Pivotree is once again acting as an application support partner, helping a globally recognized online retailer manage platform enhancements so their team can focus on enabling the business in other key areas."

For companies seeking to scale their e-commerce capabilities, having complete application reliability and support is critical. It enables them to reallocate IT resources to projects designed to grow their e-commerce revenue and improve the overall customer experience, which is critical in today's competitive environment.

The growing adoption of PIM highlights the increased demand for product content and frictionless commerce experiences. A recent report conducted by Environics Research and published by Pivotree shows that consumers want to avoid delay, frustration, and extra effort when completing a commercial transaction. Instead, they prioritize rich product selection, fast delivery, and great customer service. Therefore, companies must shorten the distance, time, and hassle between these customers and the products they want  and do so with strategic investments that deliver the greatest possible return for the business.

"The reality is, personalized buying experiences often begin way before the consumer interface  they begin where the products are designed and created. That's why we help organizations apply frictionless thinking throughout their entire value chain," said Corrick. "Pivotree continues to accelerate a world of frictionless commerce by identifying and removing friction points to help companies and its stakeholders operate more smoothly, eliminate waste, reduce costs and their carbon footprint, improve performance, and create competitive advantage."

Details about Pivotree Application Support Managed Services can be found at www.pivotree.com/services/application-support. To learn more about Pivotree's strategy for frictionless thinking, click here.

About Pivotree

Pivotree is a leading global commerce and MDM services provider. It is an end-to-end vendor supporting clients from strategy, platform selection, deployment, and hosting through to ongoing support. It operates as a single expert resource to help companies adapt relentlessly in an ever-changing digital commerce landscape. Leading and innovative clients rely on Pivotree's deep expertise to choose enterprise-proven solutions and design, build, and connect critical systems to run smoothly at defining moments in a commerce business. Pivotree serves as a trusted partner to over 170 market-leading brands and forward-thinking B2C and B2B companies, including many companies in the Fortune 1000. With offices and customers in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, Pivotree is widely recognized as a high-growth company and industry leader around the globe. For more information, visit http://www.pivotree.com .

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 Pivotree Inc.
The Department of Overseas Labor wants to bring the number of Vietnamese manpower abroad this year to the set target of 90,000 in 2021.

Tong Hai Nam, director general of the Department of Overseas Labor under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the department has re-signed its agreement on labor cooperation with Thailand, researched and negotiated labor cooperation with Israel, and implemented labor cooperation agreements with South Korea, Japan and other countries.

The department said it is evaluating the pilot phase of bringing workers to European countries like Romania and Poland to promote development, and expand and stabilize the labor market. It is working to strengthen support for localities to send seasonal workers to South Korea and other nations.

Nam said more than 26,000 overseas workers have had their labor contracts expire, but are unable to return home due to the effects of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The Overseas Labor Management Department has instructed relevant units to coordinate with Vietnamese diplomatic missions abroad, partners, and employers to ensure the safety and legal rights of employees amid the global crisis, while they are waiting to return home.

At the same time, the department has also required 506 enterprises licensed to provide services to send workers abroad to review the number of employees set to return home due to the effects of the outbreak.

Since many countries issued regulations to restrict entry for foreign citizens due to Covid-19, there were 78,641 Vietnamese laborers working abroad in 2020, reaching 60.5 percent of the government target.
Prince Philips death is affecting millions today, many of whom only knew of him from Netflixs The Crown.

Since 2016, the hit show has taken viewers inside the British royal family, showing it in all its glittering  and frequently grubby  glory. And for Prince Philip, its fair to say the show transformed his image, at least in Britain.

For most younger people here, Prince Philip has long been known as simply a liability, an old man prone to gaffes, often racist ones.

But in The Crown, Matt Smith, the British actor, showed a far more vital and complex man whod played a key role in modernizing some aspects of royal life even as he snarled at its constraints. In the shows first seasons, covering the 1940s to 1960s, Smith portrayed Prince Philip as a castrated alpha male, Tim Lewis wrote in The Guardian, who frequently came across as a whining, childish husband, Mike Hale wrote in The New York Times.
The Dakota Access Pipeline will not be ordered to shut down while pending review, government lawyers told U.S. District Judge Brian Boasberg on Friday, much to the ire of environmentalists who have long called for the pipeline to be shut down.

According to Ben Shifman, a Justice Department Attorney, the government is still reserving the right to shut down the pipeline at any time during the environmental review by the Army Corps of Engineers.

That review is not expected to be complete until this time next year. For DAPL, thats a lot of uncertainty.

The Dakota Access Pipeline has been embroiled for years in a bitter battle with environmentalists and indigenous groups on one side, and the oil and gas industry on the other.

It was Judge Brian Boasberg that canceled the DAPLs permit given by the Trump Administration that allowed it to move crude oil. And it was Judge Brian Boasberg that ordered DAPL to empty and shut down, claiming its environmental review was insufficient. And it was Judge Brian Boasberg that voiced his surprise that President Biden decided not to shut down the pipeline today.

But an appellate court reversed Boasbergs earlier decision to shut down the pipeline, and allowed DAPL to continue while the Army Corps of Engineers conducts its review. At that time, the Army Corps of Engineers decided not to shut DAPL during its re-review.

Today, President Biden declined to enforce a temporary shutdown of DAPL pending this review, which could still take a year. But this would have meant stopping the flow of a pipeline that has been moving oil for years, and not even President Biden and his vocal green agenda is so bold as that.

But DAPLs tough road isnt over. Judge Brian Boasberg said on Friday that he would decide for himself whether to keep the pipeline open. Energy Transfer Partners, DAPLs owner, has ten days to submit its comments to the court as to the effects of a shutdown.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads from Oilprice.com:
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney speaks during the Count Every Vote Rally In Philadelphia at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Penn., on Nov. 7, 2020. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for MoveOn)

Philadelphia Mayor Kenney Sued for Ethnic Discrimination

A Philadelphia Councilmember, as well as Italian American groups, are suing the City of Philadelphia and Mayor Jim Kenney in U.S. District Court over a decision to rename the citys Columbus Day holiday to Indigenous Peoples Day.

The plaintiffs alleged that the mayors executive orders discriminated against Italian-Americans while exalting another ethnic group.

Also cited are actions to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus from south Philadelphia and a statue of ex-mayor Frank Rizzo last year from near City Hall.

The filing alleged that Kenney took unilateral actions against two iconic Italian American statues prominently displayed for decadesthe Frank L. Rizzo from the plaza at the Municipal Services Building and the attempted removal of the 140-year-old Christopher Columbus statue from Marconi Plaza.

The suit continues to say, No other statues in the City (amongst the many hundreds) have been targeted by the Mayor.

Both statues in the last summer became a target for protests after the killing of George Floyd.

The lawsuit further argues that Kenney has shown a pattern of a long line of divisive, anti-Italian American discriminatory actions, and he has stereotyped Italian-Americans in public rhetoric as Cousin Guido and vigilantes.

In addition to Philadelphia Councilmember Mark Squilla, the plaintiffs of the suit include 47 local and national Italian-American organizations, such as the 1492 Society, the organization that plans Phillys annual Columbus Day parade that was also canceled by Kenney; the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, a coalition of prominent Italian American groups; the National Italian American Bar Association; and Jody Della Barba, a former secretary to Frank Rizzo.

The plaintiffs say they are not against Indigenous People. While both groups ethnicity deserve recognition, Mayor Kenney may not take action that discriminates against Italian Americans to exalt another ethnic group in its place, the lawsuit says.

George Bochetto, an Italian descendent and the attorney filing this federal lawsuit who has been practicing law for about 40 years, said this lawsuit is to put a check on executive prejudices.

One of the most important things about this is that this particular Mayor seems to have a prejudice against Italian Americans. The next mayor of Philadelphia may have a prejudice against some other group. And I think its very, very important to put a check on these kinds of executive prejudices that this mayor has, so that we dont have a problem, either in this community, or some other community, for example, the Asian American community, or the African American community. Yeah. Who knows which community is going to be next, which ethnic group is going to be next for him to attack? Bochetto said in an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times.

I think the challenge is to get people to understand that this is a bigger issue than just Italian Americans. This is an issue of canceled culture. This is an issue of trying to play favorites amongst ethnic groups, and the government has no business doing that, Bochetto went on to say, Im hopeful that we can have an impact on this mayor, and maybe mayors in other cities that would try to do the same thing to tell them that this is not the way to run a country. You dont start playing favorites amongst ethnic groups. Our Constitution requires everybody gets treated equally, under the law.

Squilla, a democrat and the only Italian American lawmaker on Council, is in a rare clash with Kenney and a vocal critic of the holiday switch. He argues the mayor has to follow a process.

I think the purpose of this is, you know, this could be in the future of any other organization or any other ethnic group, Squilla told The Epoch Times. If an individual or a mayor or somebody unilaterally decides they no longer want to have a holiday that represents a group of people, that they have to follow a process. And if they dont do that, then you know that we believe that the action was not legally taken.

Squilla continued to say: All immigrants deserve, their goodwill to be remembered, their work ethic to be remembered, whether you came from another country, or whether you were here as a Native American or indigenous folks, we all deserve to be celebrated for what we did.  We dont have to do that by taking a day away from one person and give it to another group. Or we could do it by giving both people that opportunity to be celebrated and I think unity will definitely stop division.

On Tuesday, Kenney responded to the lawsuit, saying, This lawsuit is a patently meritless political ploy and will waste precious resources at a time when we are trying to both deal with devastating pandemic and work to build a safer and more equitable city for all residents.
Conservatives and others concerned with bias and censorship should clearly recognize these differences if they hope to achieve their desired Section 230 reforms. There should be wariness of getting on board with 230 reform without recognizing that many on the left have a completely different view of what reform looks like. Details matter, and Section 230 reform is needed, but the pathway in the current environment could help the left get reforms that would be to the opposite of what many conservatives would want.
A decision on the science of the vaccine rollout has given Prime Minister Scott Morrison a chance to reset the politics of a troubled program that could decide his fate at the next election, writes chief political correspondent David Crowe.

Morrison is using the guidance of his medical experts - specifically on the risk of blood clots from the AstraZeneca vaccine - to make changes that should have come weeks ago.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison with Health Minister Greg Hunt on Friday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The governments addiction to secrecy made it unwilling to admit problems in the programs as vaccine supplies dried up.

One simple fact, for example, was never disclosed. It turned out that 717,000 doses of AstraZeneca had to come from Britain because none were coming from the European Union. Behind all the assurances, the government was scrambling for shipments.

The most important and immediate change is positive. Australia will gain an additional 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine on top of 20 million already under contract.

Health Minister Greg Hunt struck the deal in talks with Pfizer over the past few days. This fills a huge gap when the medical experts are cautious about giving AstraZeneca to people under 50, but it is not clear whether all the extra doses will arrive this year.

The timing matters just as much as the volume. A deal on paper means nothing without delivery  as the EU showed by stopping supplies of AstraZeneca. The promise, at least, is that Australia will receive enough Pfizer doses to vaccinate most of the adult population.

Morrison and Hunt should use this moment to own up to some of the false promise of the vaccine rollout.

Read the full analysis piece here.
by Nirmala Carvalho

Delhi and Rome agree on compensation decided by international court. More than US$ 290,00 have already been paid out. The two marines will go on trial in Italy. The fishing boats owner will also be compensated.

New Delhi (AsiaNews)  India and Italy have ended their dispute over the killing in February 2012 of two Kerala fishermen by two Italian marines.

Indias Supreme Court yesterday said that the criminal case against the two Italian soldiers will be dropped once the Italian government deposits 100 million rupees (US$ 1.34 million) in an Indian Foreign Ministry account as compensation to the victims families. This comes on top of 21.7 million rupees (US$ 290,000) already paid out.

At the time of the incident, the two marines, Warrant Officer Massimiliano Latorre and Chief Petty Officer Salvatore Girone, were acting as armed guards on board the tanker Enrica Lexie.

Thinking that they were in international waters, the two soldiers said that they fired at a pirate ship, which turned out to be an Indian fishing boat. Two crew members, Jelestein and Ajesh Binki, died from the gunfire.

In July 2020, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that it was up to Italy to try Latorre and Girone, who enjoyed functional immunity. At the same time, it decided that the Italian government had to pay compensation to the families of the fishermen killed.

The latter have accepted the payment, each getting 40 million rupees while the other 20 million will go to the fishing boats owner who was wounded in the incident.
Its biggest launch to date features five new phones  the Nokia X20, Nokia X10, Nokia G20, Nokia G10, and Nokia C20  that have been streamlined into three distinct lines: the top of the range Nokia X-series, intermediate G-series and entry-level C-series.

The Nokia X20 and X10 are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G Mobile Platform and have three years of security and software updates, designed to encourage sustainable consumption, extend product lifecycle and reduce e-waste.

The wall charger and headphones have been removed from the sales boxes, helping to tackle the 12,000 tonnes of e-waste generated by mobile phone chargers in the EU. If needed, wall chargers can be purchased from Nokia.com. All money raised will be donated to CLEAR RIVERS, a charity that works to clear plastic waste out of international waterways.

The G-series comes with three-day battery life  the longest yet on a Nokia smartphone. The G20 comes with a 48MP camera and immersive OZO surround audio.The G10, meanwhile, has a triple rear camera and advanced imaging with AI-enhanced shooting modes.

The C-series has Android 11TM (Go edition), adding up to 20% faster speeds, and improved security features, as well as Nokia smartphone durability with quarterly security updates for two years. The Nokia C20, the most affordable device from the new launches, comes with features that include a front and rear LED flash.



For our team, innovative thinking is about unlocking high-value experiences to those who may have not had access to them before. Millions of people rely on a Nokia device for their everyday needs, from basic connectivity to payments and creativity. We care about people trusting their phone. Thats why our industry-leading security offering runs across the new X, G and C ranges  everyone deserves to feel safe.

We care about people keeping their phone for longer. These products are built to last inside and out, thanks to our upgrade promises and superior durability. And we want people to continue to love their phone. The X-series allows us to offer the benefits of our high-end partnerships with Qualcomm and ZEISS Optics," commented Stephen Taylor, CMO, HMD Global.



"Finding that perfect balance between specs and affordability is what the G-series is all about. The C-series, meanwhile, thrives on delivering ultra-high value tech to the smartphone market. Im proud of the niche weve carved within this extremely competitive market.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 04:28:36|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group should work closely together to contain the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure fair and efficient distribution of vaccines across all countries, the institutions' Development Committee said on Friday.

"Timely delivery of safe and effective vaccines across all countries is critical to ending the pandemic, especially as new variants emerge," the joint ministerial committee of the World Bank and the IMF said in a communique following a virtual meeting.

"Developing countries need to strengthen their readiness for vaccination campaigns and develop coordinated strategies to reach vulnerable populations," the communique said.

The committee welcomed the World Bank's partnerships with international institutions and private manufacturers to help ensure that developing countries have "fast, transparent, affordable, and equitable access to vaccines."

"The pandemic has triggered far-reaching consequences, and we must strengthen global preparedness for future pandemics, and at the same time make progress in building robust health systems with universal coverage," the communique said.

The committee also urged the World Bank and the IMF to help countries design and implement policies to "address the root causes of excessive and unsustainable debt."

"We ask the Bank and the IMF to identify lessons learned and continue working closely with other organizations and policymakers to address the debt challenges facing middle-income countries, on a case-by-case basis," the committee said.

World Bank Group President David Malpass said at the meeting that the Development Committee plays an essential and unique role in the international cooperation architecture.

"It is the only forum in which the governments of developed countries and developing countries, creditor countries and borrower countries, come together with a primary focus development and resource needs for developing countries," he said.

Malpass also said that the last year has made even clearer the challenges and staggering needs, noting the current international financial architecture is "heavily skewed in favor of the rich and creditor countries."

"It is ever important that all voices are heard. I urge all of us to consider how we can restore growth in developing countries and help reverse the growing inequality, in terms of access to vaccinations, unsustainable debt, and adverse climate impacts," he said. Enditem
Hyderabad, April 9 : The Telangana government will spend about Rs 42 crore every month to provide financial aid and rice to teachers and other staff working in the recognised private schools in the state.

Over 1.45 lakh teachers and other employees of 10,530 schools will receive Rs 2,000 financial aid and 25 kg rice each from the current month. The monthly assistance will be provided to them till the educational institutions reopen.

A day after the decision was taken by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Education Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy and Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar on Friday held a video conference with the district collectors and officials.

The meeting worked out the modalities for implementing the scheme, which is estimated to cost the state exchequer Rs 42 crore every month. While the government will provide Rs 29 crore financial assistance, rice worth Rs 13.50 crore will be supplied through fair price shops.

Indra Reddy said the education department will provide details to the districts from April 10 to 15. The beneficiaries will be identified by the district collectors after verification between April 16 and April 19.

She said the financial assistance will be credited to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries from April 20 to April 24.

Kamalakar said that an action plan was ready to provide rice to the teachers and other staff of private schools, adding that the government will provide quality rice under the scheme.

He asked the district collectors and officials to make the necessary arrangements in this regard. The beneficiaries will be identified at the fair price shop level.

The minister assured that every beneficiary will be provided the assistance. He said despite the financial problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is extending help to all sections of people.
New Delhi:

A Uttar Pradesh police constable in inebriated condition has been suspended after he tried to rape a minor with police station premises.

The constable posted at Rampur districts Kemri Police Station was caught in act of molesting a six-year-old girl inside the police station.

According to a senior police official of Rampur district the constables heinous act was caught in CCTV installed in the police station premises.

The constable has been suspended, said the senior police officer.

Also read: West Bengal Police constable rapes minor inside barrack



The officer added that the constable has been booked under appropriate sections under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and POSCO act.

While, the BJP-led government claims that several steps have been taken to prevent any crime against women in Uttar Pradesh.

Also read| Delhi: Elderly man lured 7-year-old, raped her repeatedly after sedating says police



But, in the last four months at least four incidents have been reported where a police personnel was allegedly involved in raping a minor.

In the month of August, a constable from Ballia district was arrested for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl atop a police outpost.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Galveston, TX (77553)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low around 75F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low around 75F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Srinagar, April 9 : With the killing of seven terrorists of Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) in two different operations in Shopian and Pulwama districts of South Kashmir in the last 24 hours, the proscribed terrorist outfit has been wiped out in Kashmir, top police officials told IANS on Friday.

The encounter at Shopian started on Thursday evening and ended on Friday with the killing of five terrorists. Two terrorists, including the Chief of AGuH Imtiyaz Shah, were killed in a second operation at Tral in Pulwama district on Friday.

Police sources said both the operations at Shopian and Tral in South Kashmir are over now.

A large quantity of arms and ammunition, including seven AK rifles and two pistols have been recovered from the slain terrorists.

"Both the ongoing operations at Shopian and Tral are over. Five terrorists in first and two in second operation neutralised. Both the terrorist groups are from the same outfit.

"Seven AK and two pistols recovered.

"With these two encounters and elimination of seven terrorists the terrorist group AGH (Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind) fully wiped out once again," Dilbag Singh, Director General of Police, J&K told IANS.
New World Development CEO Adrian Cheng wants nonproperty services to generate as much as 30% of the property giants income in five to seven years. Photo: Bloomberg

(Bloomberg)  New World Development Co. Ltd., one of Hong Kongs biggest real estate companies, is accelerating its expansion into areas such as health care and insurance as it targets more business on the Chinese mainland.

New World Development CEO Adrian Cheng wants nonproperty services to generate as much as 30% of income in five to seven years, he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. While he didnt elaborate, revenues from insurance and other nonproperty strategic investments made up about 21% of the groups income for the six months ended December.

The Hong Kong builder operates a range of other businesses including retail, aviation, infrastructure and transport. By doubling down on services including health care, education and insurance, its seeking to boost its presence on the mainland, the location for some of the groups fastest-growing projects.

The branding effect for New World is very important, said Cheng, 41. Because we are creating these integrated projects, we are also creating this ecosystem where you are able to cover all aspects of your life.

New World has been betting on services outside of property development since 2017, when Cheng officially took the helm of the company founded by his late grandfather. In 2018, it agreed to acquire FTLife Insurance Co. Ltd. for $2.75 billion and launched a health-care brand targeting seniors in Hong Kong.

The company is expanding in the Greater Bay Area by preparing for an insurance license in China and building a school, Cheng said. New World aims to be the largest Hong Kong developer in the economic hub, where it has spent more than HK$30 billion ($3.9 billion) acquiring 1.5 million square meters (16 million square feet) of land since 2016.

Cheng cited increasing disposable income and a young population as the draw cards in the area, which encompasses a cluster of cities in the Pearl River Delta.

New World is also planning to open 36 of its K11-brand retail and commercial projects in nine mainland cities as well as Hong Kong by 2025. The firm targets double-digit growth for its K11 rental projects and home sales in the next five years, according to Cheng.

Despite concerns about a growing number of people leaving Hong Kong, the property heir remained confident in the former British colonys housing sector. He said there is strong demand from the middle and upper segments of the residential market.

We are very optimistic with Hong Kong, Cheng said. We will grow together with Hong Kong.

Contact editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)

Support quality journalism in China. Subscribe to Caixin Global starting at $0.99.

Follow the Chinese markets in real time with Caixin Globals new stock database.
Last month, a group of residents watched as a bulldozer demolished a Toowong house, Linden Lea, which originally belonged to the family that created Websters Biscuits and gave Brisbane its Shingle Inn tearooms.

They had put in an application to protect the home, but it was too late for the largely part-time Queensland Heritage Council to consider.

Toowong residents John Scott and Freya Robertson express their concerns as bulldozers remove Linden Lea at Toowong.

That failure has prompted a state government investigation into why that Toowong character home was demolished.

It also galvanised community groups keen to protect character housing saying both the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council are out of step with communities.
Hi Marley Releases App for Field Adjusters

Insurance companies cant afford to tell claimants, dont call us, well call you. But a new app announced by Hi Marley gives claims adjusters the option of communicating with policyholders without revealing their personal cell phone numbers.

The Boston-based insurtech said Marley Mobile will protect adjusters privacy while speeding up the claims process by allowing them to communicate with customers from the field by sending text messages. The app also also allows adjusters to schedule visits, upload photos and appraisals and log conversations.

Amy Finn, director of marketing for Hi Marley, said adjusters dont really have the option to block their cell phone numbers when they make a call or send a text.

Most of us dont pick up calls or answer text messages from blocked and unknown numbers, especially in a situation where a policy holder will be sharing personal information like their drivers license photo, their address and phone number and other detail they would not want in the wrong hands, she explained in an email.

Hi Marley said in a press release that adjusters who use Hi Marley from their personal devices will be able to avoid waiting to get back to their work desk to make a call. That will speed claim resolution and relieve supervisors of the chore of chasing down adjusters to remind them to log data into the insurers claims management system, the company said.

Hi Marley said its product will improve insurers customer service scores by allowing consumers to communicate in the manner they choose, whether via email, voice or text. The app is available in the Apple and Android app stores, Hi Marley said.

Merger Expands Plaintiff-Oriented Analytics Provider

Competition in the claimant-oriented data analytics space is heating up.

PainWorth, a Canadian company that built an app that allows accident victims to estimate the value of their bodily injury claims has acquired California-based legal-tech provider, ProSe Claims.

Our goal is simple: we want to democratize and modernize a slow, biased, and antiquated justice system, PainWorth Chief Executive Officer Mike Zouhri stated in a press release. We want everybody to be able to get justice, regardless of their age, sex, race, or economic situation.

PainWorth, based in Edmonton, Alberta, provides a free app that allows claimants to estimate the value of their bodily injury claims and create a demand letter that can be mailed to an insurer. ProSe Claims, based in Los Angeles, guides users to search for alternatives to traditional legal representation, allowing clients to self-represent.

ProSe Claims founder and CEO Justin MacFayden will join the PainWorth team.

Americans pay the highest medical costs in the world, so the ProSe Claims and PainWorth technologies together are urgently needed to help people involved in car accidents, medical malpractice suits, or even assault and battery casessimply and through an app, he said in the press release.

PainWorth said it intends to purse investors in a seed round to fund its expansion into the US market and expand product offerings.

The Claims Journal in an article last month chronicled the emergence of data-analytics providers, long used by insurers to calculate potential damages, that are oriented toward claimants instead. Injury Claims Express charges claimants 3% of any bodily injury award, up to $500, for an app that estimates the value of minor injury claims. Justpoint gives consumers an estimate as to what their malpractice claim is worth and refers claimants to qualified attorneys.

Field Pros Direct Buys Bridgewater

Field Pros Direct, an Atlanta-based claims administrator founded in 2017, has acquired London-based Bridgewater Group.

Field Pros said the merger will allow both companies to accelerate their property, liability, and third-party administration services, expanding the lines of insurance where it can offer its technology-based claims services.

Bridgewater Group, Inc. is well-established in the London market, which complimented our history of innovating through Lloyds Lab, stated Field Pros Chief Executive Officer Matthew Anderson.

The company did not disclose terms of the transaction.

Farmers Pilot Offers SimpliSafe to Policyholders

Farmers Insurance is offering the SimpliSafe home security system to owners of homes that it insures in Ohio, Iowa and Alabama as a pilot project.

Customers who bind a new Smart Plan Home policy in those states from April 1 to May 32 will qualified to receive a seven-piece security system at no extra charge, the Boston-based tech company said in a press release. The system includes a camera, motion detectors, window and door sensors, water leak detectors and one month of professional security monitoring. Customers can extend the monitoring for $14.99 a month, Farmers said.

At Farmers, our determination to adopt and offer the latest technology to benefit customers continues to grow, stated Carolyn Wald, head of innovation integration at Farmers Insurance.

SimpliSafe announced a similar partnership with home insurer Hippo last year.
ALBANY  When news broke that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo used government staff to help produce a for-profit book, his spokesman asserted that the arrangement was legal: The work was performed voluntarily, he said, and was not a misuse of taxpayer-funded resources.

But several current and former Cuomo staffers, or people speaking on their behalf, disputed that their work on American Crisis last year was truly voluntary. Instead, they told the Times Union the work was expected within the culture of Cuomos office, and that book-related assignments were made in the context of normal, daily duties.

One former staffer, who was among those asked to perform tasks related to Cuomos book, said there was a clear expectation that we would do political work to help with his campaign and run the governors personal errands in the Executive Chamber.

It was not optional, said the former staffer, who spoke on condition of not being identified. It was considered a part of your job. Everyone knew that you did what was asked of you and opting-out was never really an option.

State law prohibits a state employee, including Cuomo, from using governmental resources to forward private business interests. The assertion from Cuomo's office  that staff was volunteering to help on American Crisis, even as the COVID-19 pandemic raged  is central to any claim that the work was legal.

"As is permissible and consistent with ethical requirements, people who volunteered on this project did so on their own time," Cuomo senior advisor Richard Azzopardi said last week.

It's not in dispute that two of Cuomo's closest advisors  Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa and Director of Governor's Offices Stephanie Benton  did extensive work on the book. But both are well-paid, salaried employees. More junior staffers also did work on the book. In those instances, the work was assigned by supervisors.

A second person, who has direct knowledge of a more junior Cuomo staffers work, called it patently ridiculous that the staffer had volunteered on the book. The work on American Crisis was done during the regular course of daily government duties, the person said.

Early on in the book-writing process, assignments were said to include taking notes from Cuomo's dictations, and then typing up passages of what would become American Crisis. (Later on, Cuomo used an app that directly transcribed words that the governor would speak into a smartphone.) After the book's October publication, staff tasks included getting Cuomo's signature on copies of the book, and then mailing them out.

Cuomo's spokesman said that people often sent the governor copies of his book that they had purchased and requested that he sign his autograph, "and we were glad to do it." He also would sign copies for state workers and others who had purchased copies  including many who worked at the Capitol during the pandemic.

Another person, with direct knowledge of a third Cuomo staffers book work last year, likewise stated that the work was done in the midst of normal government work.

At least two junior Cuomo staffers, who performed book-related work last year, earned substantial overtime payments in 2020, according to records provided by the Empire Center for Public Policy and state comptroller's office.

Cuomos office, however, said no overtime was paid to staffers for book-related work; instead, "overtime is requested to help assist in the operation of state government."

"Any state official that advised the governor on the book was voluntary, in compliance with state ethics laws and done on their personal time," Azzopardi said. "Every effort was made to ensure that no state resources were used in connection with this project  to the extent an aide did something like printing out a document, it appears incidental.

Contrary to an account provided by one person, Azzopardi disputed that any lower-level staff transcribed parts of the book. Instead, he said, words outputted by the "speech-to-text" app used by Cuomo were then cleaned up by Benton, working in a volunteer capacity.

Azzopardi said the voluntary nature of Benton's work was reflected in her time sheets, though he did not provide a copy of them.

Asked if there was documentation demonstrating that junior staffers were asked whether they wanted to opt-in to volunteering on Cuomo's book, Azzopardi did not provide any such records.

Cuomos book deal, inked after his nationally televised COVID-19 briefings increased his national profile, apparently came with a multi-million dollar advance from the publisher. The New York Times reported that Cuomo began writing as early as last June; the book was completed rapidly and published in October, becoming a best-seller. Assistance from government staff helped to quickly turn around the 311-page recounting of his administrations response to COVID-19 and the leadership lessons gleaned.

Assignments to work on Cuomos book were often made by Benton, who has long served as a gatekeeper and key confidante to Cuomo.

In July 2020, DeRosa made substantial edits to Cuomos manuscript, according to a draft copy of the book obtained by the Times Union. Benton then instructed a lower-level assistant to print out a copy of the edited version and bring it to the governors mansion on July 5, a Sunday.

Sorry lady can u print this too and put in a binder, Benton wrote to the governmental assistant. And drop at mansion.

The Times reported that Benton made a similar directive to a staffer on June 27, and that DeRosa had at one point sat in on online book pitch meetings.

Ethics inquiry

Last July, when Cuomo formally sought approval to write American Crisis, his government counsel Judith Mogul explicitly stated that governmental personnel would not be used.

"Specifically, he will write the book entirely on his own time, without the use of state resources or personnel," Mogul wrote to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics on July 10.

A week later, a top staffer at the ethics commission approved Cuomos book deal, with the caveat that no state property, personnel or other resources may be utilized for activities associated with the book.

Between 1989 and 1998, a predecessor agency to JCOPE, the state Ethics Commission, published five advisory opinions concerning whether state employees could earn book royalties. The opinions consistently stated that government personnel could not be utilized for a for-profit book, and Mogul herself had referenced those "established requirements" in her letter to JCOPE.

In response to questions on the matter last week, Cuomos office asserted that there is "nothing in law or regulation that speaks to a ban on state workers volunteering for a for-profit venture  this simply is not legally a 'thing.'"

"While state workers need outside-activity approval for several specified compensated and uncompensated outside activities (such as board service), there is nothing in any of the laws or regulations that requires approval for, or in any way limits, how a public officer spends his or her free time," Azzopardi said in a statement. "In fact, many public officers do engage in for-profit activities for themselves or others, and it is entirely OK to volunteer to do work for a for-profit project."

The five Ethics Commission opinions, however, were issued as formal interpretations of state law. The relevant law says that no state employee should use or attempt to use his or her official position to secure unwarranted privileges ... using property, services or other resources of the state for private business or other compensated non-governmental purposes."

In a press release last week, the government-reform group Reinvent Albany noted that over 20 JCOPE enforcement actions have cited that provision, including a 2014 case in which a Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee was fined $1,500 for using state printers, computers, and other software  to benefit his private engineering company.

Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt, a Republican, has asked JCOPE to investigate the book work. But its unclear that JCOPE will launch a probe. The 10-year-old ethics agency has been dogged by accusations that Cuomo exerts influence over its actions; under the law creating the panel, special voting rules often protect politicians from scrutiny.

Of the 14 commissioners, six are appointed by Cuomo  three of them Republicans and three Democrats. Under the special voting rules, two of the three Democratic commissioners appointed by Cuomo would have to vote to authorize any formal investigation into the governor, a highly unlikely scenario.

Indeed, JCOPE staff fought in court for months to avoid holding a vote on whether to investigate a former senior aide to the governor, Joseph Percoco, whose campaign work in Cuomo's government office was revealed at Percoco's federal corruption trial. When JCOPE lost the lawsuit, a vote was finally held in secret in January 2019. By all indications, there was not enough support on the commission to investigate whether Percoco misused state resources and whether Cuomo knew of the activities.

On Friday, JCOPE's commissioners are scheduled to hold a special meeting outside its normal schedule. If the Cuomo staff's book work is discussed, it will take place in a closed-door executive session, and any vote on whether to begin an inquiry would also be held in secret.

John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, said that if the book work was truly voluntary and above-board, that assistance would have been disclosed to JCOPE when Mogul sought approval, as well as to the public.

"It's fatuous in our view," Kaehny said of the Cuomo administration's explanation that the work was voluntary. "It's made up, and if JCOPE was real, it would not fly. But because this is enforced by JCOPE, and the judge and jury is JCOPE, it might be enough of a fig leaf for them."
An emotional Sergio Ramos has opened up about the pain he felt when leaving Sevilla to join Real Madrid.

The current Real Madrid and Spain captain departed his boyhood club to join Los Blancos in 2005, but an explanation for the move was never offered, leading to speculation and allowing false stories to spread.

"I know what Sevilla is and how the fans feel," Ramos said in his new Amazon documentary 'The Legend of Sergio Ramos'. "Nobody can tell me, because I've experienced it since I was young.

"All of the information was manipulated, and they lied to Sevilla. It was painful, not only for me but for my family. I'll never forgive them for the pain my grandparents went through, for my parents, who cannot return to Sevilla's stadium.

"It's the biggest pain that I've felt. That's why I've acted with rage and with anger when I've played and scored there, because of everything my family have suffered."

Despite the problems that came from his move, Ramos has no regrets about the decision he made.

"I'd make the same decision a thousand times over, but I'd never let anyone tell the story that was told at the time," Ramos said.

"To this day I can always say that I've played for Sevilla and that I'll always be a Sevilla player until I die, but I can also say proudly that I'm Real Madrid and Spain captain."

One of the mistakes that Ramos does regret making is not explaining his decision to leave at the time, as he had already alluded to.

"I've made mistakes in my life and one of the biggest was not coming out publicly to explain," he said. "Having not explained it, I let others tell the story for me.

"My signing was fully agreed between the clubs; it wasn't Real Madrid meeting a clause, as it was said to have been. That meant the fans didn't give me the same affection that I've always had and always will have for the club."
[April 09, 2021] Winning in the Digital Era with the Power of Global Ecosystems: H3C Hosts NAVIGATE 2021 International Business Summit

NANJING, China, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The H3C NAVIGATE 2021 International Business Summit came to an end today with more than 100 industry experts, scholars, senior executives and business partners from across the world in attendance. The International Business Summit was just one of the highlights of the company's annual NAVIGATE Summit, which saw H3C announce its new Cloud & AI Native strategy as well as its updated Digital Brain 2021 project, which will further assist partners in a range of industries worldwide to empower their digital transformations. "Our new Cloud & AI Native strategy will provide the digital innovation capabilities to accelerate the extraction of value from data and drive the development and transformation of the industry," said TonyYu, Chairman of the Board of Unisplendour & CEO of H3C, during NAVIGATE 2021's main session.



Steven Yoe, CTO & Co-President of H3C, added that: "H3C will build a new generation Digital Brain based on the six AI Native digital technology capabilities, empowering industry partners to enter a new stage of digital applications." During the main session, H3C also demonstrated its innovation and implementation of industry solutions, with H3C Vice President and President of the Solution Department Li Li introducing H3C's ambitions to empower industry transformation. Such solutions include partner-based services and technological innovation combined with one-stop services to help accelerate digital transformation across industries.

Following the main session, the "New Life Together, New Future" International Summit was held, during which Gary Huang, Co-President of H3C and President of International Business, and Dr. James Chen, Senior Vice President of H3C and Executive President of Unigroup Cloud & AI BG, delivered keynote speeches. H3C has upgraded its Cloud & AI Integration platform for 2021, with the company committed to developing the platform as a globally-leading digital solution through its end-to-end solution capabilities and diversified pool of professional talent. With the continuous growth in demand for digital transformation services worldwide, H3C has established representative offices in seven overseas markets since it first expanded outside of China in 2019. Its international business covers more than 30 countries in industries such as government, education, telecommunications, energy, healthcare, transportation and finance. "Relying on our 'Partner First' strategy, H3C is ready to work with partners to build an open, diversified and win-win ecosystem of cooperation. By continuing to optimize our global channels, we will help customers to grasp digital development opportunities, through which we aim to become one of the top three mainstream suppliers in target markets over the next five years," said Huang. "Under the framework of 'AI in ALL' and 'Digital Brain 2021', H3C will provide customized solutions for more enterprises that are exploring effective paths of digital transformation, working together to realize the best value in digital transformation," added Chen. As a leader in digital solutions, H3C is committed to continuously promoting the exchange of value between the digital world and the physical world through cloud computing and AI technology, helping more enterprises to become leaders in digital transformation. H3C's ambition is to work with companies across all industries, at home and abroad, to put intelligence first and build the future together. SOURCE H3C

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I recently traveled to the southern border with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to see the unfolding crisis firsthand and come up with solutions. The surge and resulting chaos is well documented.

Customs and Border Protection reported more than 172,000 total encounters at the border in March, up 70% from February and more than five times the March 2020 numbers. This includes more than 53,000 migrant family members, a more than 1,000% increase from March 2020; nearly 100,000 single adult migrants, an increase of 275% versus last year; and nearly 19,000 unaccompanied children, double the amount that crossed our border in February and a nearly 500% increase from March 2020.

The reason for the crisis is clear. The Biden administrations policy changes encouraged families and unaccompanied children, mostly from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, to come to our southern border and apply for asylum. Traffickers are telling families they can come into the U.S. if they pay to make the treacherous trip north, then apply for asylum at the border. Under the Biden policies, there is a lot of truth to that.

The legal process to grant asylum takes several years, with a 1.2 million-person backlog and only about a 15% success rate for asylum applicants. Most waiting for immigration court dates or appeals are already in the United States and many do not show up for their court dates. People know there is very little chance they will be deported. In fact, more than 95% of the families who were released into the United States pending their asylum decision during the last surge in 2019 are still here.

Unfortunately, much of this overcrowding and chaos could have been prevented. Upon taking office, the new administration took a number of actions, including canceling the Trump administrations Migrant Protection Protocols, which required immigrants to remain in Mexico while applying for asylum; announcing a 100-day pause on all deportations; halting construction of an essential part of the border wall; and reversing the Title 42 public health emergency travel restrictions for unaccompanied children and some families. The career professionals I spoke to at the border say these changes are the main reasons for crisis.

The Biden administration must change course before it gets worse. It should start by reinstating the ability to turn people back under the COVID-19 health emergency under Title 42 while implementing the following policies:

First, support the Border Patrol and finish the wall system already paid for, closing gaps and deploying badly needed technology.

Second, give families and children seeking asylum relief a way to apply in their own country or a neighboring country rather than making the treacherous trip north. The Biden administration should do this by reviving the Safe Third Country agreements with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries and working with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees so that individuals can seek asylum and are resettled in the country that makes the most sense for their situation  be it a neighboring country or the United States.

Third, the Biden administration should stop releasing children and families into the U.S. and instead restart and expand a pilot program that allows for due process through a rapid adjudication of asylum claims at the border, starting with the most recent cases. This will require additional resources, but it is worth it because it will create a powerful disincentive for future migration if people know they will be in custody on the border while their claims are being resolved.

Fourth, because American jobs are the magnet, the E-Verify program, which checks if a worker is legally eligible to work in the United States, must be made mandatory for all businesses, backed up by employer sanctions.

All four of these proposals would reduce the current incentives, or pull factors, to cross the border.

Congress and the administration should also provide additional smart development aid to the Northern Triangle countries to help with the long-term push factors that encourage people to leave their homes. This new assistance must be conditioned upon transparency and adherence to the rule of law, as well as assistance in the asylum process.

There is no doubt this is a difficult issue, but it can be addressed by putting in place sensible policies like these to reform the asylum process and better secure the border.

The American people support legal immigration, and over 1 million people a year, including thousands from Central America, come to our country legally. But the American people want to see the Biden administration work with Congress in a bipartisan basis to resolve the crisis at the border and come up with an orderly and legal process.

Without such action, the crisis will only grow worse.
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The Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, has been fined 20,000 krona (1,713), for violating her own governments COVID-19 social distancing rules, the police said Friday.

The Prime Minister had in February organised a family gathering to celebrate her 60th birthday with 13 family members at a mountain resort despite a ban on gathering of more than 10 people.

The two-term prime minister later apologised last month.

Although her action would not normally have attracted a fine, police chief Ole Saeverud told a local news conference that as the prime minister she should be held to a high standard.

Though the law is the same for all, all are not equal in front of the law, Mr Saeverud said.

It is therefore correct to issue a fine in order to uphold the general publics trust in the rules on social restrictions, he added.

Solberg is the countrys leader and she has been at the forefront of the restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the virus, the police boss noted.

It is yet to be seen if the fine would have an impact on Ms Solbergs Conservative Partys reelection bid come September, but it is believed that it may dent her popularity.

The Scandinavian country has maintained some of Europes lowest COVID-19 infection and death rates, partly due to its strict movement restriction when the virus broke out.

Solberg is not the first high-ranking official to fall foul of pandemic regulations. Other prominent public figures include the European Unions trade chief, Phil Hogan, who resigned in August after attending a dinner at which over 80 people were present.

Some commentators on Twitter have praised the sanction on the prime minister, with different nationals comparing the fine with what is obtained in their country.

If @AbiyAhmedAli was Norway's Prime Minister, Imagine how much he would have been fined for breaking sovereignty. He invited Eritrea, Somalia & #AUE to attack his own citizens. https://t.co/hl3fSN9Mud  Kahsay Nirea (@kahsay9) April 9, 2021

https://mobile.twitter.com/PellePeloton8/status/1380438399853690881

https://mobile.twitter.com/charliekiss/status/1380459405402107908
Photo: (Photo : William Fortunato from Pexels)

The Inselspital of the University Hospital of Bern and the University of Bern has made a significant study on better treatment in children at 12 centers in four European countries. Data revealed a need for better pain treatment in almost 1 in 4 children, hence better pain management in kids. The research found the possibility to reduce the usual meds after surgery as a safety measure.

ALSO READ: Researchers Discover New Way to Predict Childhood Obesity

The research

Experts and authors of the study chose to research this topic because several children in their hospital go through various surgeries and operations.

They wanted to learn more about pain management in kids and whether a better pain treatment would be helpful. Since these are children, the need for better pain treatment and pain management in kids is highly vital and crucial, especially for parents who are sick and worried about their children.

Children who undergo surgery

Such data came from children who went under the surgical removal of their appendix and tonsil.

After doctors removed their appendix, 24.8% of all children wanted better pain treatment in the first 24 hours after their operation.

Among children who had surgical removal of their tonsils, 20.2% wanted better pain treatment. The results showed that there is a need for better pain management in kids.

Prof. Ulrike M. Stamer, the lead author of the study, said that they lead with many affected children patients. The mentioned operations of the removal of appendix and tonsil are the two most common operations being done on children all in all.

ALSO READ: Dad Receives Kidney from Frontline Daughter

Pain management among kids

The study was based on the international pain registry "PAIN OUT infant," made in 2015 to track pain management quality in kids. The study consists of 472 children who went under appendectomies. The study also consists of 466 children who went under tonsillectomies.

Data showed based on the survey that observations mentioned more side effects in children who wanted a better pain treatment, hence, the need for better pain management in kids.

A shocking result came from analyzing survey data and comparing the meds used before and after these children's operations. They found out that children who had been given at least two different classes of meds (NSAIDs, metamizole, or paracetamol) as a safety measure were less likely to ask for better pain treatment. They observed this after they were asked 24 hours after their surgery.

The future of the research

Prof. Frank Stuber, Head of the Department of Anesthesiology at the Inselspital of the University Hospital of Bern, is looking very hopeful and is looking forward to the future of this research. He said that they have been able to know a bright path with such study results.

He added that safety management of at least two different classes of those meds being given appears to be a way to reduce the use of higher doses of such meds after children's surgery. The study was published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia.

ALSO READ: Father Gives Piece of Liver to Daughter Suffering from Biliary Atresia [Surgery Was Successful]
Multi-stage venture fund, Fireside Ventures, has witnessed a four-fold growth across all its portfolio companies in the last one year. The venture fund which invests only in new-age consumer brand start-ups claims that in the last one year six of its investee brands have crossed the Rs 100 crore revenue threshold. "COVID-19 made ecommerce mainstream and this helped our brands, as all of them are digital-first in their DNA," explains Kanwal Singh, Founder and Managing Partner, Fireside Ventures.

Fireside closed its second fund in January this year at Rs 863 crore, and Singh believes that its strategy of not chasing unicorns has paid off. "We have built successful businesses without having a single unicorn in the portfolio. We have always preferred to focus on fundamentals of business such as profitability and unit economics." Some of the Fireside investee companies such as Kapiva, Yoga Bar, Mamaearth, Slurrp Farm and SARVA Yoga have a strong focus on health and wellness and have benefitted immensely through the pandemic as Indian consumers became increasingly particular about consuming wellness products.

In fact, this trend of wanting to consume 'good for you' products has not remained a metro phenomenon in the last one year. Even consumers living in towns such as Barielly in UP or Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu have been more than open to spending a premium on a Mamaearth personal care product which promises a chemical-free experience or even a Yoga Bar protein bar.

DIGITAL ADVANTAGE

Vinay Singh, Partner, Fireside Ventures, says even though most of these brands only have a digital presence, it is easier to scale up in comparison to legacy brands. A brand like Slurrp Farm which is into kid's nutrition, is targeted at young mothers and the world of digital advertising enables the brand to target this set of audience. "Unlike legacy brands which need a deep distribution network to get into more households, the new-age consumer brands are audience driven. You can get to two million people, who will buy four times a month, and you build a $100 million brand right there which can get valued at $400-$800 million," he explains.

Being digital-first has also enabled these brands to customise as per their consumer needs. This also means that they have many more SKUs than a legacy brand normally has. "A legacy company is always grappling with the dilemma that the retail shelves are constrained and hence they can't have as many SKUs they would want to. If you are a challenger brand, you are talking to an Amazon which has an endless aisle. It enables you to put as many SKUs on Amazon. Many of our companies have 15 products and 100 SKUs. It's a big mindset change from optimising SKUs to saying we enjoy working with long-tail portfolio," explains V.S. Kannan Sitaram, Venture Partner, Fireside Ventures.

HAND-HOLDING

Manager Partner, Singh, believes that the USP of his fund is not just to invest in brands, but also help them graduate to the next level of growth. "We help build iconic, enduring and responsible brands," he says.

The fund has partnered with leading digital agencies to get the best possible ad deals for its investee brands. "All our brands put together spend almost as much as HUL would be spending on digital media," points out Sitaram. It has also worked with marketplaces such as Amazon and Big Basket to create accelerator programmes to help promote not just its investee brands, but also other challenger brands. "Amazon wants to create a large business of Indian brands outside India. We helped them choose the brands," says Sitaram

Dipanjan Basu, Partner and CFO, claims that the market cap of the aggregated Fireside portfolio has crossed $1 billion. "Today, six of our brands are Rs 100 crore brands and that is helping drive the valuation and excitement of strategic investors and private equity investors."

Going forward the venture fund intends to double its investment in new-age consumer brands. "This is just tip of the ice-berg, going forward, the plan is to help scaling up a host of new-age consumer brands," says Managing Partner, Singh.

Also read: Swiggy to close $800 mn funding round; valuation rises to $5 billion

Also read: Gupshup raises $100 from Tiger Global, enters unicorn club

Also read: Cred enters unicorn club; valuation touches $2.2 bn
VICE-PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwenga is today expected to launch the Zimbabwe Leather Sector Strategy (ZLSS) 2021-30 in Bulawayo.

The launch comes at a time when the Affirmative Action Group (AAG) has crossed swords with the Hides and Skins Merchants Association of Zimbabwe (HSMAZ) over the future of the industry in the face of COVID-19.

The ZLSS 2021-30, approved by Cabinet in November last year, seeks to push for increased investments while maximising on value-addition and beneficiation to promote export-led industrialisation.

The strategy, to be launched by Chiwenga, succeeds the 2012-17 ZLSS. HSMAZ is, however, at loggerheads with AAG over the future of the industry after the former requested the suspension of hides export tax to relieve the sector that has reportedly taken a beating from COVID-19 and competition from artificial leather products.

According to HSMAZ, COVID-19 has resulted in huge amount of resources being channelled towards food and health at the expense of luxurious leather products, resulting in the scaling down of operations at most tanneries.

With shrinking demand in small hides, hides and skins merchants including farmers and some abattoirs have been accumulating stocks of unwanted hides and skins, HSMAZ said, arguing that these stocks come with the high costs as the main ingredient for preservation, coarse salt is imported.

As a way forward, HSMAZ appealed to government to allow stocks to be exported tax-free to gelatin factories, a request AAG dismissed as criminal, arguing it amounted to exporting jobs.

Old stock in the absence of local gelatin manufacturing companies, HSMAZ, proposes that all old stock currently in warehouses and storages across the country be exported tax-free to gelatin factories in South Africa. HSMAZ (also) proposes that all unwanted light and reject hides be exported tax-free, HSMAZ said in a position paper which attracted AAGs fury.

AAG president Denzel Sita said: Government must not allow the export of raw leather, instead must provide incentives to local firms to process through duty-free imports of plant machinery and provide loans to already established players to import the required equipment for processing and producing various goods. We cant be preaching value-addition in the morning and practising the opposite in the afternoon.

In an earlier tweet, AAG posted: We cannot allow this criminal activity of exporting jobs to other countries under the guise of production capacity now with the Africa Free Trade Area. Lets build our industry capacity.

HSMAZ is the main link between the livestock farmers/abattoirs and the tanneries. ZLSS 2021-30 refers to the Zimbabwe leather value chain as well-structured starting from livestock farmers, abattoirs, hides and skins merchants/traders/suppliers, tanneries, manufactures and retailers.

Each player along the chain is expected to derive value for the strategy to pay dividends. Newsday
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 8, 2021) - Goldsource Mines Inc. (TSXV: GXS) (OTCQB: GXSFF) (FSE: G5M) ("Goldsource" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the filing of a Technical Report (the "Report") which includes an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (the "MRE") prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 for the Company's Eagle Mountain Gold Project. The Report is titled "Eagle Mountain Gold Project, Potaro - Siparuni Region Guyana, NI 43-101 Technical Report", dated April 7, 2021 with an Effective Date of February 17, 2021. The summary results of the Report were previously announced in the Company's news release dated February 22, 2021 and there are no material differences in the mineral resources between the Report and that news release.

The Report, prepared for Goldsource by CSA Global ("CSA"), is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or from the Company's website at www.goldsourcemines.com.

Highlights of the February 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE):

Estimated 23 million tonnes ("Mt") grading 1.14 grams per tonne ("gpt") gold for 848,000 ounces ("oz") of gold contained in Indicated Resources and 25 Mt grading 1.09 gpt gold for 868,000 oz of gold in Inferred Resources.

The MRE includes the Eagle Mountain and Salbora deposits, both of which feature gold mineralization starting at surface in saprolite (soft rock) and extending into the underlying fresh rock.

Mineral resources, employing cut-off grades of 0.30 gpt gold for the saprolite and 0.50 gpt gold for the fresh rock, are contained within a conceptual open pit.

The MRE is defined by a total of 674 core holes for 57,550 metres drilled, as well as 158 auger drill holes for 532 metres drilled, which includes infill and exploration drilling up to November 6, 2020.

Eagle Mountain Project Mineral Resources (Combined Eagle Mountain and Salbora Deposits)

Classification Tonnes (000 t) Gold (gpt) Ounces Au (oz) Indicated





Saprolite 11,000 0.95 353,000 Fresh rock 12,000 1.32 495,000 Total 23,000 1.14 848,000 Inferred





Saprolite 5,000 0.82 140,000 Fresh rock 20,000 1.16 728,000 Total 25,000 1.09 868,000

Numbers have been rounded to reflect the precision of a Mineral Resource Estimate. Totals may vary due to rounding.

Gold cut-off has been calculated based on a gold price of US$1,500/oz, mining costs of US$1.5/tonne ("t") for saprolite and US$2.0/t for fresh rock, processing costs of US$6/t for saprolite and US$12/t for fresh rock, and mine-site administration costs of US$3/t. Metallurgical recoveries of 95% are based on prior test work.

Mineral Resources conform to NI 43-101, and the 2019 CIM Estimation of Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines and 2014 CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves.

The Company is not aware of any environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing or political factors that might materially affect these Mineral Resource estimates.

Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Resources in this Mineral Resource Estimate are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred Resources as Indicated or Measured Resources, however, it is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration.

Qualified Persons

Adrian Martinez (P.Geo.) of CSA is the independent Qualified Person for the Mineral Resource estimates presented in this press release, has approved its publication. Luke Longridge (P.Geo.) of CSA, the principal author of the NI 43-101 technical report, has approved the information in this press release.

The Company QP under NI 43-101 for this news release is N. Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng, Executive Chairman and VP Finance for Goldsource, who has reviewed and approved its contents.

ABOUT GOLDSOURCE MINES INC.

Goldsource Mines Inc. (www.goldsourcemines.com) is a Canadian exploration company focussed on the 100%-owned Eagle Mountain gold project in Guyana, South America. The Eagle Mountain Project contains 23 million tonnes grading 1.14 gpt gold for 848,000 oz gold in Indicated Resources and 25 million tonnes grading 1.09 gpt gold for 868,000 oz gold in Inferred Resources with additional exploration targets and tangible opportunities for production scalability. The Company is led by an experienced management team, proven in making precious metals exploration discoveries and executing on phased project development in the Americas.

Steve Parsons

CEO

Goldsource Mines Inc

For Further Information:

Goldsource Mines Inc.

Contact: Steve Parsons, CEO

Yannis Tsitos, President

Jacy Zerb, Investor Relations

Telephone: +1 (604) 694-1760

Fax: +1 (604) 357-1313

Toll Free: 1-866-691-1760 (Canada & USA)

Email: info@goldsourcemines.com

Website: www.goldsourcemines.com

570 Granville Street, Suite 501

Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3P1

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT AND FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements concern Goldsource's strategic plans, estimates of mineral resources expectations for the Company's exploration and drilling programs at Eagle Mountain; and information regarding high grade areas projected from sampling results and drilling results. Such forward-looking statements or information are based on a number of assumptions, which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: the accuracy and reliability of mineral resource estimates, conditions in general economic and financial markets; accuracy of assay results and availability of mining equipment; availability of skilled labour; timing and amount of capital expenditures; performance of available laboratory and other related services; the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on operations and future operating costs. The actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of the risk factors including: the timing and content of work programs; the ultimate impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on operations and results, results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; the interpretation of drilling results and other geological data; the uncertainties of resource estimations; receipt, maintenance and security of permits and mineral property titles; environmental and other regulatory risks; project costs overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; delays in release of an undated mineral resource, availability of funds and general market and industry conditions. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statements were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements included in this news release if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law.

Neither TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/79897
Geopolitical competition in the Caspian Sea region over oil and natural gas fields, pipelines carrying these hydrocarbons across that body of water, and security measures intended to protect both have attracted the bulk of the attention of the littoral states as well as outside powers in recent years. But intensifying competition in the Caspian over other issues also deserves attention. Three of these many other forms of rivalry have assumed new prominence in the past several weeks, The Jamestown Foundation writes.

First, having just signed a 25-year cooperation agreement with China, Iran has announced plans to build the first artificial island in the Caspian. Such a land reclamation project is not something Tehran could do on its own, but it is now likely to trigger intensified competition among the other littoral states leading to the creation of brand new port facilities. Competition among Caspian ports has already been expanding in recent years, particularly because of Chinas interest in promoting east-west multi-modal container trade. But many experts had heretofore assumed that the capacity of the ports would remain limited and thus be a limiting factor on Chinese activities. What Iran has just announced, however, raises the possibility that such conclusions are not justified and that port trade may, in fact, expand. Moreover, Iran and Chinas activities are likely to encourage emulation from the regions other coastal countries, further upending current predictions.

Second, Kazakhstan is seeking to make its Aktau port on the Caspian a hub for both bulk and container trade between Central Asia, on the one hand, and Iran and the West, on the other. This drive involves the modernization of the port as well as the expansion of merchant shipping. However, it puts Kazakhstan on a collision course not only with Russia, which has dominated this trade in the past, but with other Caspian littoral states that themselves have sought a portion of these shipping volumes. At the same time, it may complicate Kazakhstans relations with the West, which views such trade with Iran as a way for Tehran to end run the sanctions regime now in place against its nuclear program. In recent years, Kazakhstan has often been ignored as a Caspian player given that existing rail routes have made other countries more significant. But increasingly, Nur-Sultan is signaling its intention to become a major player in areas, including grain and finished products, that China and Iran have a particular interest in but that other littoral states have so far devoted less attention to.

And third, recent reporting about environmental disasters in the Caspian have sparked concerns across the region about the future of the sea and the maintenance of its bio-diversity, including the survival and possible recovery of the local sturgeon, prized for its production of what many consumers consider the worlds best caviar (Astrakhanskiy Listok, March 30). But if the Caspian countries share those environmental concerns, they are not unanimous in their assessments of who is to blame or what should be done. Experts and government officials from the region are preparing to gather in Moscow for an international conference on this subject later this month. Nonetheless, each regional state clearly has its own ideas; and these will undoubtedly be on display at that meeting, likely deepening divisions and sparking further controversies among regional competitors.

Each of these trends, although rarely considered together with the more readily recognized competition about oil and gas, will affect what happens in that sector as well. Moreover, as more offshore hydrocarbon reserves are discovered in the Caspiansomething that currently appears to be happening almost on a weekly basis (News.ru, March 24)these separate developments are likely to matter more. And in turn, the littoral countries and outside powers working with them to gain access to this oil and gas will be compelled to pay attention to issues they have largely ignored up to now.

China has already done this with its 25-year deal with Iran, and Saudi Arabia is currently in talks with Turkmenistan (Oilgas.gov.tm, March 16). Other countries, including Russia and those in the West, where many of the worlds most important oil majors are located, seem certain to follow. This will require recognition of the reality that what happens in the non-hydrocarbon sectors in the Caspian will play an increasing role not only in how much oil and gas flows out of Central Asia but via which routes and to what destinations. They will also need to recognize that these issues determine how the countries of the region will relate to one another and to outsiders as well as whether the Caspian will be a place for peaceful development or a new cockpit of conflict between them and others.
The mother of Richard Okorogheye has today said she was 'disappointed' with how the Metropolitan Police initially handled her son's case.

The 19-year-old university student was found dead in a pond in Epping Forest, Essex, on Monday.

The discovery of his body came two weeks after his mother Evidence Joel reported him missing from his family home in Ladbroke Grove, London, on March 22.

Ms Joel, a nurse, called Scotland Yard a day later on March 23. He was not recorded as missing by police until the following day.

Yesterday it was revealed the Met Police had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct 'as a matter of routine'.

And today Ms Joel said she was initially 'disappointed with the police response.'

But, in the statement released through the Met Police, she said she was subsequently 'very pleased' with the way the force was working.

In the statement, she said: 'I am disappointed with the initial response by police when I reported Richard missing.

Evidence Joel (pictured left), the mother of Richard Okorogheye (pictured right), has today said she was 'disappointed' with how the Metropolitan Police initially handled her son's case

The 19-year-old university student was found dead in a pond in Epping Forest, Essex, on Monday. Pictured: Police at the scene

Metropolitan Police officers at the scene at the Wake Valley pond car park in Epping Forest. April 6

'The following week, I could see that the police were actively searching for Richard and the investigation was picking up.

'Since then, I am very pleased with the way police have been working.

'I would like to thank the family liaison officers for being thorough, honest and open with us throughout the investigation.

Mr Okorogheye, who had sickle cell disease, left his family home in the Ladbroke Grove area of west London on the evening of Monday March 22

'We hope to get closure on what happened to Richard.'

She added: 'I would like to say thank you to everyone who has been involved with searching for Richard, and to the police for the way they have picked this up.

'I have been overwhelmed by kindness and I am grateful for all the love, support, prayers, food and flowers that everyone has been sending.'

Mr Okorogheye, who had sickle cell disease, left his family home in the Ladbroke Grove area of west London on the evening of Monday March 22.

The Met said it first received a telephone call regarding Mr Okorogheye's disappearance the following day.

But he was not officially recorded as missing until 8am on March 24 following 'an initial assessment and careful consideration of the information available'.

The Met said his death is being treated as unexplained and officers do not believe at this stage that there was any third-party involvement.

A post-mortem examination has taken place but has so far been unable to establish a cause of death, although the force said there was no evidence found of assault or physical trauma.

Mr Okorogheye left his family home at around 8.30pm on March 22 and headed in the direction of Ladbroke Grove.

Mr Okorogheye left his family home at around 8.30pm on March 22 and headed in the direction of Ladbroke Grove

Police have confirmed the body of a man discovered in a pond in Epping Forest is Richard Okorogheye, 19, pictured

Mr Okorogheye left his family home at around 8.30pm on March 22 and headed in the direction of Ladbroke Grove

Police said further inquiries have established that he then took a taxi journey from the W2 area of London to a residential street in Loughton, Essex.

He was last seen on CCTV in Loughton, walking alone on Smarts Lane towards Epping Forest at 12.39am on Tuesday March 23.

The force said Mr Okorogheye's phone has not been in use since his disappearance.

Police said a referral has been made to the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards and to the Independent Office for Police Conduct 'as a matter of routine', as the student had been reported missing prior to his body being found.

An IOPC spokesperson said: 'Yesterday afternoon, following the formal identification of Richard Okorogheye, the IOPC received a mandatory referral from the Metropolitan Police Service. We will be assessing whether any possible future IOPC involvement is required.

'Our thoughts are with Richard's family and friends at this difficult time.'

It comes after a GoFundMe page was launched to provide financial support for Ms Joel following the tragedy.

A target of 1,000 was initially set but nearly ten times that has already been raised, less than 24 hours since the page was set up.

Organiser Rustam Wahab wrote: 'No amount of money can replace a loved one, the next months and years for Richard's Mum will be incredibly difficult.

'That is why, whilst she grieves I want us to be able to support her financially, so she has one less thing to worry about.'
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The Nigerian Army has confirmed the killing of one officer and 10 soldiers who were on stabilisation operation in Benue State by yet to be identified criminals.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Mohammed Yerima, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr Yerima, a brigadier general, said the Nigerian army personnel were initially declared missing which led to the deployment of a joint search and rescue team comprising army troops and personnel of Operation Whirl Stroke.

He said the search and rescue team unfortunately found all the missing troops dead in Konshisha Local Government Area of the state.

According to him, while the bodies of the slain troops were evacuated immediately, efforts are ongoing to track down the perpetrators of this heinous crime with a view to bringing them to justice.

Mr Yerima said that Nigerian Army under the leadership of its chief, Ibrahim Attahiru, would remain resolute in ensuring stability in Benue and other parts of the country that are affected by the activities of criminal gangs.

He gave assurance that the army authority was determined to ensure that the unprovoked attack does not disrupt the general peace being enjoyed by the local inhabitants.

According to him, the chief of staff for the Nigerian Army has therefore directed commanders on the ground to ensure sustained efforts to fish out and deal decisively with these bad elements who are threatening the peace in the area.

It may be recalled that Benue which was a hot bed for violent clashes has been enjoying relative peace following the successes achieved by the various security agencies who have been working tirelessly to safeguard law abiding citizens and ensure they go about their legitimate business without fear of harassment by criminals.

The Nigerian army appeals to the public to volunteer useful information that will lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of this dastardly act, he said. (NAN)
WASHINGTON  Former Speaker John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, says in a new memoir that he regrets supporting the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, calling it a partisan attack that he now wishes he had repudiated.

In his book On the House: A Washington Memoir, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Boehner blames Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, then the No. 2 Republican, for leading a politically motivated campaign against Mr. Clinton over his affair with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern.

The Republican-led House voted to impeach Mr. Clinton on two counts in 1998. He was acquitted by the Senate.

In my view, Republicans impeached him for one reason and one reason only  because it was strenuously recommended to us by one Tom DeLay, Mr. Boehner writes. Tom believed that impeaching Clinton would win us all these House seats, would be a big win politically, and he convinced enough of the membership and the G.O.P. base that this was true.
I wish a program like Wheatons M.A. in Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership had existed 20+ years ago. At that time, I had no idea that some day I would lead a company focused on global disaster risk reduction and emergency management based in Washington D.C. Yet I wouldnt trade my journey for anything, and hope my story inspires more faith-based disaster research and participation of communities of faith to be moved by compassion and vision to serve before, during and after disasters.

The summer of 2000 bore much fruit in my life. Motivated by my faith and interest in ministry and biblical studies (along with a bit of hubris and youthful zeal to change in the world), I explored college options expecting to serve as a vocational minister. But in while volunteering with a Christian ministry in Ghana for eight weeks that summer (during which time I met my future wife), I had a distinct moment in prayer. I knew that when I returned home, I needed to switch the trajectory of my studies toward business. While I didnt fully understand it, I was resolute and felt encouraged to pursue this path by my father and others when I returned home.

Upon my return, I was excited to discover that my school had launched a new focus area within the business major focused on non-profit management. This inspired a few thoughts. The first thought was that if I aspire to leadership in ministry, it would be good to know a thing or two about business. Second, I thought perhaps some day I could be part of an organization serving communities in a humanitarian context improving spiritual, social and economic development around the world. The more I considered it, the more I liked the idea, and I joined the business school. I already had an affinity for things like working with people, administration, and business in general - it was a natural fit. Also, I caught the travel bug and began pursuing opportunities to serve all over the world, inviting friends along for the journey. Things seemed to begin to make sense in life.

Soon after I was married, my wife and I made a plan to spend a season traveling to 19 countries on an around-the-world trip mostly in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. While on our journey, we worked with dozens of faith-based ministries and humanitarian organizations and led teams in many countries. I quickly observed that people in this field are incredibly committed to their missions, passionate, and willing to sacrifice everything. I also observed high degrees of burnout, lack of resources, and disillusionment of many friends who eventually grew weary and switched careers. We were offered numerous jobs while on our trip, but had a gut feeling to turn them all down, knowing that this was not the path for us.

It was while serving post-conflict refugees and disaster survivors in Asia and Africa that I had an idea - what if we could take the passion and energy of the volunteer and combine it with the resources of private industry and the government? After talking with several confidants, I concluded that to have the type of impact I wanted to have I needed more education and experience. So thats what I did. I moved to Washington D.C. and pursued higher education in public administration because I felt I already had a background in business and ministry, while also serving as a first responder in an urban campus environment.

Since then, I have used every bit of my education and experience in a career in homeland security, disaster risk and emergency management. My work has focused on the intersection of research, policy, operations, and innovative technology solutions that address critical and systemic challenges before, during and after disasters. In 2015, I ventured out in faith to launch SPIN Global, a public benefit corporation that exists to disrupt disasters from neighborhoods to nations.

As Ive spent the last 20 years in this space, particularly with the goal of disrupting disasters, Ive learned three things:

Disasters are more a consequence of socio-economic than natural factors. For example, a flood is an impartial equal-opportunity hazard. The disaster occurs at the intersection of people, the things we have built or need, and the hazard. If we commit to it, humanity is capable of improving disaster resilience, reducing risks, and mitigating losses. We have a readiness deficit. Disasters happen. People and institutions are too reactive and unprepared for disasters that are only increasing in frequency and intensity. This results in needless disruptions, suffering and losses. Yet, these disruptions can be a positive and vital catalyst for change for individuals and communities. We need to build a culture of preparedness. The human and economic toll of disasters cant be ignored any longer. This generation needs to flip the script and become proactive in disrupting the impact of future disasters through preparedness, risk reduction, and resilience.

College students today were alive during 9/11, record-breaking fires, floods, hurricanes, a global pandemic and conflicts of all kinds. This generation has survived a unique season of disruption, and is motivated to reduce suffering caused by disasters. Christians should be amongst the most informed and inspired to be a readiness culture ambassador in our communities. Theologically, it aligns with the essence of our entire existence, which is to prepare ourselves and our communities for the return of the Messiah. As a humanitarian, disaster work provides a fantastic way to care for the social and economic welfare of humankind, no strings attached.

A final word for students and young professionals...someone I greatly admire told me: Money follows life, so dont waste your life chasing money. Instead, live your life, and trust God to provide. If you have an interest in humanitarian or disaster work, but are unsure of what that looks like, then my advice to you is pursue your passion, live expectantly and just do it.

Joel Thomas is the Founder and CEO of SPIN Global, a public benefit corporation that exists to disrupt disasters from neighborhoods to nations. He is a trusted advisor to private industry, non-profits, and governments at local, state, national and multinational levels. He has degrees from Trinity International University (B.A. Business / Non-Profit) and The George Washington University, (M.A., Public Administration / International Development). He is also a Senior Fellow at Tulane Universitys Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy. Visit www.spinglobal.org and connect on LinkedIn to learn more.
City Editor

Tom Roeder is the Gazette's City Editor. In Colorado Springs since 2003, Tom has covered the military at home and overseas and has cover statehouses in Denver and Olympia, Wash. His main job, though, is being dad to two great kids.
Tirupati, April 10 : Several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Andhra Pradesh have castigated Tirumala Triupati Devasthanams (TTD) chief priest A.V. Ramana Deekshitulu for giving a divine allusion to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy recently.

After being reinstated as the chief priest of the Tirumala temple following the state government's decision to induct retired priests of Mirasi families, Deekshitulu allegedly equated the act to saving of Dharma by Lord Vishnu. He indirectly hailed the Chief Minister as one among the 'Trimurthis' keen to protect Dharma.

"It is an irresponsible and insensitive statement by (the) chief priest of Tirupati Balaji temple. It's an insult to millions of devotees of Lord Vishnu," said BJP state president Somu Veerraju.

He alleged that the state government has become 'fully' anti-Hindu and claimed that Reddy's silence reaffirms this point.

BJP national secretary and Andhra Pradesh co-incharge Sunil Deodhar alleged that Deekshitulu removed the sanctity of the TTD's chief priest post.

"Ramana Dikshitulu, by calling an on-bail CM an incarnation of Vishnu, you have insulted the God himself and crores of his devotees. With your boot-licking of an anti-Hindu family, you removed the sanctity of the pradhan archak's post in TTD," claimed Deodhar.

Likewise, BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao termed likening Reddy to Lord Vishnu as sacrilegious.

"Statements likening Reddy to Lord Vishnu by the chief priest of Tirupati Balaji temple is not just objectionable, but also sacrilegious. It seems a desperate YSRCP government under which several Hindu temples and idols have been attacked is orchestrating such statements by coercing the priests," Rao claimed.
Photo Shows Kind Police Officer Sitting on Floor With Man in Mental Health Crisis in Gas Station

Two Maryland police officers are being praised for their kindness after responding to a call from a gas station. A man believed to be having a mental health crisis was met with compassion as the officers took time to calm him down and de-escalate the situation.

Not everyday situation you have to arrest somebody, right? Hyattsville officer Edgar Andrickson-Franco told NBC. Thats not our job. Our job is to help.

Andrickson-Franco and officer Mancini Gaskill responded to the call from Sunoco gas station on Hyattsvilles East West Highway on March 13.

A gas station employee had told the 911 operator the man was acting disorderly and possibly intoxicated, according to CBS.

The Sunoco gas station on the East-West Highway in Hyattsville, Maryland (Screenshot/Google Maps)

Upon arriving, Andrickson-Franco recalled the suspect acting incoherently. We engaged in conversation with him and we didnt want to be too overbearing, said Gaskill.

When the agitated man got down on the ground, Andrickson-Franco sat down next to him. When the man became verbally abusive, the officer refrained reacting.

Gaskill snapped a photo of the kind interaction, which the Hyattsville Police Department later shared on Facebook, captioned, They built a rapport that allowed the officers to call the gentlemans family and get him the medical assistance he needed.

Officer Andrickson-Franco and the distressed man, with officer Gaskill behind the camera (Courtesy of City of Hyattsville Police Department)

By building trust, the officers were able to de-escalate the crisis and persuaded the man to hand over his cell phone. They made contact with his relatives who arrived at the gas station to pick him up.

A grateful family member told police their relative may have mixed up his medication following a procedure weeks earlier, affecting his behavior, reports CBS.

Overall, the encounter was an example of what our officers do every day, said Hyattsville police spokesperson Adrienne Augustus.

They do frequently help people, we just dont always have the photos and the videos to share.

Augustus pilots a full-spectrum mental health and wellness program for department members. A training session in April will focus on the de-escalation of mental health and domestic abuse situations.

Officers Andrickson-Franco and Gaskill have demonstrated the departments compassionate approach by giving a troubled man the space and time to resolve his crisis. I let him know I was there to help him out, said Andrickson-Franco.

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
MAUMEE, Ohio, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dana Incorporated (NYSE: DAN) will release its 2021 first-quarter financial results on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. A press release will be issued at approximately 7 a.m. EDT, followed by a conference call and webcast at 9 a.m. EDT. Members of the company's senior management team will be available at that time to discuss the results and answer related questions.

Participants may listen to the audio portion of the conference call either through audio streaming online or by telephone. Slide viewing is available online via a link provided on the Dana investor website: www.dana.com/investors . U.S. and Canadian locations should dial 1-888-311-4590 and international locations should call 1-706-758-0054. Please enter conference I.D. 8399308 ask for the "Dana Incorporated's Financial Webcast and Conference Call." Phone registration will be available beginning at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

An audio recording of the webcast will be available after 5 p.m. EDT on April 28 by dialing 1-855-859-2056 (U.S. or Canada) or 1-404-537-3406 (international) and entering conference I.D. 8399308. A webcast replay will also be available after 5 p.m. EDT and may be accessed via Dana's investor website.

About Dana Incorporated

Dana is a leader in the design and manufacture of highly efficient propulsion and energy-management solutions for all mobility markets across the globe. The company's conventional and clean-energy solutions support nearly every vehicle manufacturer with drive and motion systems; electrodynamic technologies, including software and controls; and thermal, sealing, and digital solutions.

Based in Maumee, Ohio, USA, the company reported sales of $7.1 billion in 2020 with 38,000 associates in 33 countries across six continents. Founded in 1904, Dana was named one of "America's Most Responsible Companies 2021" by Newsweek for its emphasis on sustainability and social responsibility. The company is driven by a high-performance culture that focuses on its people, which has earned it global recognition as a top employer, including "World's Best Employer' from Forbes magazine. Learn more at dana.com.

SOURCE Dana Incorporated

Related Links

https://www.dana.com/


Takoma Park police have charged an off-duty Pentagon security officer with murder after he fatally shot two men he believed were breaking into cars in the parking lot of a condominium on Wednesday.

David Hall Dixon faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of use of a handgun in commission of a felony, and reckless endangerment.

The victims have been identified as 32-year-old Dominique Williams, and 38-year-old James Lionel Johnson, and both were pronounced deceased at the hospital.

Police say Dixon lives in the condominium building where the shooting took place and that the suspects were in fact breaking into cars.

Dixon was taken into custody 'without incident' Friday morning and is being held with no bond at the Montgomery County Detention Center.

The Takoma Park Police Department stated in a press release that the deadly officer-involved shooting took place just after 5am on Wednesday at Takoma Overlook Condominiums on New Hampshire Avenue in Takoma Park.

According to police, officers responded to the condominium parking lot after receiving multiple reports of shots fired.

A Pentagon Force Protection Agency officer opened fire in the parking lot of this condominium building in Takoma Park, Maryland, Wednesday morning, killing two people

They were met at the scene by David Hall Dixon, an off-duty Pentagon Force Protection Agency officer, who told them that he had witnessed 'what he thought was a car being broken into.'

Dixon confronted the suspected car burglars, who were said to have failed to follow his commands.

Williams and Johnson then reportedly jumped into a car and tried to flee, at which time the Pentagon officer pulled out his service weapon and opened fire.

A short time later, the suspects arrived at Prince George's Hospital, where both died from gunshot wounds in their rear upper torso.

Dixon also fired into a vehicle driven by Michael Thomas, 36, leading to charges of attempted second-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a felony, police stated in a press conference Friday.

Thomas will not be charged with any crimes for his involvement.

Takoma Park Police Chief Antonio DeVaul said, 'Our investigation revealed that Mr. Dixons overview of events was inconsistent with the evidence and facts in the case and that Mr. Dixon had no lawful or justifiable reason to shoot and kill Mr. Williams and Mr. Johnson.'

Two suspects in a car burglary were pronounced dead from gunshot wounds at Prince George's Hospital

Authorities announced the five criminal charges against Hall during a Friday press conference

The incident marks the second time in as many weeks that a Pentagon police officer has discharged his weapon while off duty.

On March 24, a member of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency shot and wounded a 16-year-old boy who police said tried to rob him at gunpoint in Southeast Washington, DC.

The Pentagon cop told DC police that he made a failed attempt to wrestle a BB gun out of the teen's hands, and then pulled out his own service weapon and fired a single shot.

The 16-year-old survived and was later charged as a juvenile with assault with intent to commit an armed robbery.
By Pei Li and Julie Zhu

(Reuters) -China's antitrust regulator is ready to clear tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd's plan to take the country's no.3 search engine Sogou private, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, a move that signals the watchdog is willing to wave some deals through even as it ratchets up sector scrutiny.

The regulator, State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR), has no objection to the $3.5 billion deal for the 60% of U.S.-listed Sogou that Tencent doesn't already own, the people said, as long as Tencent is willing to set up a special mechanism to ensure data security - a first for SAMR deal approvals.

Shares of Sogou were up 5.8% in premarket trading on Friday.

Tencent must also pay a comparatively small fine - 500,000 yuan ($76,000) - for not reporting deals properly for antitrust reviews, two of the people said, in line with past cases for similar violations.

The move highlights Chinese regulators are still looking to approve merger and acquisition deals in the tech sector, but now with strict conditions after years of a laissez-faire approach. The green light for the closely watched deal will come as a relief for China's tech sector, reeling from Beijing's antimonopoly crackdown on home-grown internet giants that culminated weeks after the shelving of fintech firm Ant Group's $37 billion IPO in November.

"What SAMR wants is enforcement ... it is not in their interest to kill or actively block a deal," said one of the people. "They are fine with companies' actual market-leading status as long as it doesn't prevent new entry into the market."

The people with knowledge of the matter declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Sogou trails only Baidu and Qihoo 360 in China's enormous internet search market, according to analytics firm SpeedTest, and is the sole search engine on Tencent's all-in-one mobile app WeChat, a must-have in everyday life in China. Tencent, China's biggest video game and social media company, first announced plans to take it private last September.

Story continues

Tencent and SAMR did not immediately respond to requests for comments when contacted by Reuters.

Sogou declined to comment.

DATA CONCERN

One of the areas of heightened scrutiny has been M&A deals in the sector in the recent past, with the regulators taking a dim view of the violation of antitrust rules and, in some cases, data privacy laws.

The linchpin of the deal approval conditions is meeting the regulator's requirement on data security - defining who can have what kind of access to the bulk of users' data and personal information, and how to use that, said the three people.

A merger of China's two leading video games streaming sites - Huya and Douyu, both backed by Tencent - is also under review and will need to satisfy similar requirements on data security, said the sources.

Reuters reported last month that Tencent was having to offer concessions to get approval for its plan to merge the two sites, including giving up exclusivity on some of its content rights.

After the merger, Huya and Douyu will need to set up a firewall in-between and cannot share user data and information to each other, two of the people said.

SAMR would also approve the merger soon after a final touch on the concessions are made, they said.

($1 = 6.5468 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Pei Li and Julie Zhu; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Kenneth Maxwell)
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
New Delhi: The young and sassy Janhvi Kapoor is having a chill time with pals at the picturesque Maldives. A day back, the actress called herself the 'last one' to go there and it's totally worth all the hype.

Janhvi Kapoor has been on a photo-sharing spree ever since. She looked stunning in a metallic tinge monokini while posing for clicks. Take a look:

On the work front, Janhvi was last seen in horror-comedy Roohi. The film starred Rajkummar Rao and Varun Sharma. The film received a warm reception from one and sundry. Also, her peppy dance number 'Nadiyon Paar' became an instant hit with the masses.

Janhvi made her debut in Dharma Productions 'Dhadak' alongside Ishaan Khatter in 2018. Ever since she has managed to make a niche place for herself and amassed a huge fan base.

Before getting into films, Janhvi Kapoor flew to California to pursue an acting course at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

Janhvi has Dharma Productions' 'Dostana 2' with Kartik Aaryan and 'Good Luck Jerry' in her kitty.
A senior judge threw out Max Mosley's latest bid to sue the Daily Mail yesterday.

The ex-Formula One boss was told his application had 'no prospect of success'.

Last December, he lost a High Court case accusing this newspaper of malicious prosecution.

He tried to appeal, but yesterday Lady Justice Macur, sitting in the Court of Appeal, refused him permission.

She described aspects of his case as 'simply unarguable', unsubstantiated and containing 'unimpressive rhetoric'.

A senior judge threw out Max Mosley's latest bid to sue the Daily Mail yesterday. The ex-Formula One boss (above in 2011) was told his application had 'no prospect of success'

Mr Mosley, 80, began campaigning for stricter controls on the Press after successfully suing the News of the World for publishing a story about his sadomasochistic orgy with prostitutes in 2008.

In 2018, the Daily Mail unearthed a political leaflet that had been mentioned in the 2008 trial.

The racist pamphlet published by Mr Mosley  saying 'coloured immigrants' spread 'terrible diseases like leprosy' and should be sent 'home'  was from a 1961 by-election involving his father Sir Oswald Mosley's political Union Movement.

The Mail sent prosecutors a dossier in order for them to consider whether any criminal offences had been committed.

Last December, Mr Mosley lost a High Court case accusing this newspaper of malicious prosecution. He tried to appeal, but yesterday Lady Justice Macur, sitting in the Court of Appeal, refused him permission. (Above, the Royal Courts of Justice)

Last year, Mr Mosley took this newspaper to court, accusing it of 'cynically and maliciously' reporting 'bogus concerns' to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The Mail argued he had no claim  as no 'prosecution' had taken place.

At the High Court, Mr Justice Nicklin struck out Mr Mosley's claim, saying that it was clear his 'real complaint' was about 'the reputational harm' caused by the Mail's articles.

In one hearing, Mr Justice Nicklin questioned why Mr Mosley was pursuing a malicious prosecution case rather than trying to sue for defamation.

Last night, legal commentator Mark Stephens said: 'My advice to Max Mosley would have been: when in a hole, stop digging.'
(TNS)  Several Idaho law enforcement agencies have had access to a controversial facial recognition app that is used to identify individuals, according to a report from Buzzfeed News.Among the Idaho agencies listed that used Clearview AI's app  the company is based in New York City  are the Treasure Valley's two largest: the Boise Police Department and the Ada County Sheriff's Office. Other entities listed in the report are the Gem County Sheriff's Office, Pocatello Police Department, Rexburg Police Department and Bonner County Sheriff's Office.Clearwater AI's facial recognition app is designed with law enforcement agencies in mind, and its use has been scrutinized nationwide by critics as overly intrusive. The Buzzfeed News report outlines how some police agencies have used the app to run thousands of searches, looking for certain suspects and individuals.In Boise, the technology was used in just a handful of cases, according to BPD spokesperson Haley Williams. In an email to the Statesman on Tuesday, Williams said there were three cases where the use of Clearview AI led to identifying individuals  all of whom were matched through photos posted on arrests.org.In one instance, the department scanned a photo of an elderly woman who was lost and could not remember where she lived. The technology returned a possible match, and an officer later confirmed it was the same person. She was driven back to her home. In another instance, police used Clearview AI to match a photo of an assault suspect caught on security camera to an Ada County Jail booking photo from arrests.org. Williams said police developed other information in the case that identified the suspect. In a third instance, a man accused of disorderly conduct refused to give police his name. A photo was taken and run through Clearview AI, which returned a possible match through an Ada County Jail photo on arrests.org. When the man was taken to the jail, he was identified, and his ID and possible match through Clearview were the same.The Boise Police Department did not indicate when these three instances took place and did not identify the people who were run through Clearview AI's search engine. However, the matches would have taken place between January and June of 2020, when the department was doing a trial of the technology. Williams said only one person had access to the app. BPD decided not to use the technology long-term, though Williams said in an email Tuesday that police believed the results were "promising."Buzzfeed reported that Boise police ran between 11 and 50 searches through Clearview AI."At the conclusion of the trial, it was determined that, while the technology proved promising and potentially valuable under certain conditions and applications, the benefits did not outweigh the potential concerns surrounding facial recognition and its use in our community at this time," Williams said.Ada County Sheriff's Office spokesman Patrick Orr initially told Buzzfeed News that the department did not use the technology and had no plans to do so. However, Orr told the Statesman on Tuesday that since the Buzzfeed report was published, the Sheriff's Office learned that a detective ran a demo of the Clearview software to see how it worked, but did not use it in any cases. Buzzfeed said its data showed that the Sheriff's Office ran 6-10 searches on the app. Orr said ACSO has no plans to use the software in the future. Buzzfeed's reporting showed that employees using the app without an administrator's knowledge happened often. Clearview AI distributed the technology widely and made the tool accessible to many law enforcement agencies free of charge.The city of Boise experienced a bit of blowback in July 2019 over the use of facial recognition technology in city buildings. The city proposed and later scrapped a proposal to have the technology at City Hall and City Hall West. The move was intended to keep out people who had been banned from city buildings. A Meridian-based company, CompuNet, was supposed to be paid $31,000 for the technology.Then-Boise Mayor David Bieter later announced that the facial recognition setup would not be implemented, saying in a news release that after researching the issue, "the city is concerned with how this technology has been used in other cities."
The United States is considering sending warships into the Black Sea in the next few weeks in a show of support for Ukraine amid Russia's increased military presence on Ukraine's eastern border, a US defense official told CNN Thursday.

The U.S. is required to give 14 days notice of its intention to enter the Black Sea under a 1936 treaty (Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits) giving Turkey control of the straits to enter the sea.

It is unclear if a notice has yet been sent, the channel notes.

Although the U.S. does not see the amassing of Russian forces as posturing for an offensive action, the official told CNN that "if something changes we will be ready to respond."

The Pentagon spokesman noted that the U.S. Navy continues to conduct reconnaissance missions in the international airspace over the Black Sea and monitor the activity of the Russian Navy, as well as the movement of troops in Crimea.
I am fascinated by the housing crises that we are living in today here in New Zealand. For those of you who dont know, our large citiesincluding the largest one which I happen to call homeis overpopulated and underhoused.

Point the finger at whoever you want to (and I have read hundreds of articles doing just that), but the reality is grim. We have more people than we do have houses for them.

No house available

A few years back, we noticed that our neighbours had a van parked out front with its windows permanently covered by towels and sheets. After a couple of days, my father notified our family that there were actually people living in there.

Somehow, he found out that this young family were without a house simply because there wasnt one available to them. It wasn't that they couldn't afford it. This blew my mind! My dad helped broker a deal, somehow, and assisted them getting into a home.

That same month, an old friend from High School contacted me via Facebook. He and his one-year-old daughter were in emergency housing. They could afford rent, like the van-load of people we had had outside our house. There just werent enough houses available. Unfortunately, my dad couldnt help them.

The housing crises are real and they are a travesty. Many other Millennials like myself consider it a pipe dream to even own a house one day. Right up there with winning the lotto, becoming Prime Minister one day, and the Wallabies winning back the Bledisloe cup from the All Blacks.

A challenge for the church

In all this, I have often asked the question: where are the churches?

For me, the housing crises present a unique challenge to Christians. How is it that we, informed by the generosity of the Gospel, can pool our resources (much like the early church in Acts), and come up with solutions to the physical needs of our society?

Many older denominations sit on sites that could be used to build communal housing. Large swathes of land sit undeveloped and vacant for most of the week. There are creative conversations that I think need to be had by elders and deacons and lay-people all across this country and in this town.

I heard of a community in Australia who did such a thing. They bulldozed their old building and built flats with their church meeting in the main community building. Several members bought and now live in these flats.

They now have a revenue stream and more importantly the community literally under their roofs. This is a unique response to the housing crises. It also looks a little bit like the Kingdom of God.

What would it look like in your context, to see a radical answer to the housing crises? What would happen if your church decided to do somethinganythingto help respond in ways that are creative and kind.

At a time when we are becoming more and more out-of-touch with our increasingly secular communities, the time is ripe to start bold conversations about what could be done.

The time to act has already passed. This is our problem and we, I believe, can be a part of the solution. We can at least try.
Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, held phone talks Friday to discuss bilateral ties and Seoul's efforts to foster lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, the foreign ministry said.



During the talks, Chung said that South Korea will contribute actively to international discussions on addressing climate change and public health issues when it attends the Group of Seven (G7) summit slated to take place in Britain in June.



Chung also explained Seoul's continuing efforts for the complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the divided peninsula.



Maas reaffirmed his government's willingness to support the peace efforts, while noting that Germany has been pushing to diversify cooperative ties with Asian countries, including South Korea, the ministry said.



Since his inauguration in February, Chung has held a series of phone or in-person talks with foreign counterparts to strengthen bilateral ties and enlist their support for Seoul's peace efforts. (Yonhap)
(Natural News) She and I talk openly in one anothers homes, but we know we cant talk to anyone else.

(Article by Donna M. Hughes republished from AmericanThinker.com)

This is not a historic quote from the days of Stalinist suppression in the Soviet Union. It is a message I recently received from a graduate faculty professor in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) field referring to the secrecy with which she talks to her friend who works in university student services.

Today on college campuses, faculty are afraid to speak about a number of issues for fear of being verbally mobbed and denounced by angry students and faculty colleagues.

I know. Faculty, students, and administrators at the University of Rhode Island have recently denounced me for daring to write in 4W.pub, a feminist public forum, that humans cannot change their sex and children are not born [in] the wrong bodies. I wrote that the belief that people can change their biological sex is a fantasy.

Now, such commonsensical statements are deemed so offensive that I must be condemned by publicly issued university statements.

I am not alone in this experience. After my public denunciation was publicized a psychology professor, at another university wrote, I am reaching out it is happening to me at my university. Last week, I was denounced by an entire academic department! I have found no one within the university who is willing to publicly support me  particularly administration.

From inside my own academic institution, the University of Rhode Island (URI), I heard, I could put myself in hot water merely by sending this email. In the last week, Ive received dozens of messages like this from faculty and graduate students at universities across the country.

What is going on in universities today that faculty are afraid to speak, except to whisper in private or send emails pleading for confidentiality? We have reached a postmodern era where facts are irrelevant and only identity and feelings matter. If you dissent from the new regime of ideas, you will be verbally set upon by a mob of enraged students, faculty, and diversity and inclusion administrators. There will be calls for you to be disappeared from campus.

In some corners of campus, there is no respect for truth anymore; misquoting and distorting what I wrote is perfectly acceptable. A repeated claim in the denouncements and in the media is that I am anti-transgender. If you read the essay, you will see that I am not. What I am doing is speaking up for young people who are being harmed and their bodies mutilated and sterilized in the name of gender identity or transgenderism. Young people suffering feelings of confusion become immersed in social media forums where they are told that the solution to their problems is to change their sex. As I made clear in the essay, I support everyone to freely choose their gender expression, i.e., how masculine or feminine they want to appear. I only criticize the false claim that you can change your biological sex.

Sadly, after I was publicly denounced, Ive heard from graduate students in many disciplines who tell me they must keep silent about their views on a number of topics, not just gender identity, if they want to graduate and get a job. One wrote: I am a student in a MSW (Master of Social Work) program Please dont share this email with anyone. I would literally be thrown out of the MSW program for my thoughts. Another graduate student wrote: Im currently trying to work out how to write my thesis without risking a potentially career damaging backlash from members of my department.

The fear that exists in universities is growing. Those faculty and students, who care about truth, are increasingly self-censoring to avoid being ostracized and condemned or made unable to finish graduate degrees.

I regularly receive messages from people who compared URIs attempt to cancel my free speech to communist suppression: I grew up in a totalitarian regime I am watching with shock and horror to see what is happening in the US with the cancel culture, identity politics, and the suppression of opinions that dont fit with the current progressive dogma.

Universities must reverse course or parents are not going to pay money to send their children there. They are going to see what a professor of philosophy wrote to me, I am greatly saddened at the demise of the university as [a] place to pursue knowledge.

So, what am I doing? Im fighting back. Ive advocated for the rights of victims all my adult life. I wont stop now.

Fortunately, I saw the curtain of censorship and retaliation descending on campus in time to react. So, I secured a civil rights attorney who specializes in campus free speech and I became a founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance. Together we will stand up for free speech and truth.

Read more at: AmericanThinker.com and CampusInsanity.com.
Aung Ye Ko and the others in court this week are charged under Article 505 (a) of Myanmar's penal code. The same article has been used to charge several other journalists, including freelance video journalist Aung Ko Latt who was detained on March 21. Those convicted under Section 505 (a) can be sentenced to up to two years in prison. The article makes it a crime to publish or circulate any "statement, rumor or report with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause," a member of the military to fail in their duty. A preliminary hearing was held in Aung Ko Latt's case, at a prison court in Naypyidaw on Monday, the same day that his son was born. The journalist has tested positive for COVID-19 in prison.

Often, family are not told where their relatives are. Lawyers working on a pro-bono basis wait outside Insein prison in Yangon to help families find relatives, including journalists, who have gone missing while at protests.

The journalists are among at least 60 members of the media arrested since Myanmar's military seized control in a Feb. 1 coup, according to lawyers.

The journalists -- Aung Ye Ko, of the 7 Day Media -- Hein Pyae Zaw of Zee-Gwet or "Owl" Media -- and freelancer Banyar Oo -- appeared in a prison court for the closed hearing, a lawyer representing them told VOA Burmese. The lawyer, Nilar Khine, said she did not seek bail because the courts have rejected requests in similar cases. Her clients are next due in court on April 20.

As of Wednesday, 598 civilians, including dozens of children, have been killed by government troops and police, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which cautioned the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. Of the 3,500 people arrested, 2,847 are still detained, the AAPP said, adding that 38 have been sentenced. Authorities have issued arrest warrants for 481 others.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi, had governed Myanmar since its first open democratic election in 2015, but the military contested November's election results, claiming widespread electoral fraud, without evidence. Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained in the Feb. 1 coup. Since then, martial law has been imposed throughout Myanmar.

The military has released a wanted list of more than 120 celebrities, public figures, and prominent influencers, who have been charged under 505 (a) for supporting protests. Sithu Aung Myint, a VOA Burmese contributor to the Weekly Analysis program, is on the list.

"There is no press freedom nor rights or access to get information," said Sithu Aung Myint. "Everybody has been charged with 505 (a) for protesting, participating in [Civil Disobedience Movement], donating to food-funds, assisting medics tend wounded protesters." "Even the president and the state counselor have been charged in fabricated cases," he said. "The coup leaders keep saying that they are abiding by the law, but in fact they are not abiding laws, not a bit."

Myanmar's military has said that authorities arrest only journalists inciting unrest. The head of the State Administrative Council press team and spokesman for the army, Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, added at a March 23 news conference that the military "respects and values media freedom."

Coverage of the coup and its aftermath is seen as increasingly risky for the media. "Journalists in small towns cannot simply stay at home, it is not safe," said a journalist, whose identity has been withheld to protect them from retaliation. "All the journalists are in hiding. If caught or arrested, we'll be brutally tortured. Most of us do not have enough money to survive in hiding. It is really hard."

The family of those detained have also described the hardship of not being able to speak with their relatives.

Chit Swe has not been able to see his son Than Htike Aung since the former editor of multimedia news organization Mizzima was arrested on March 19. Than Htike Aung is charged under section 505 (a) after he covered a court hearing of a member of the NLD party. "Lawyers are still not allowed to meet with my son. No one is allowed to see him, and it is very painful," Chit Swe said. "However, somehow, it is a relief to know that he is alive. My son was just doing his job. We keep praying for his safe return."
Britain has offered safe haven to Myanmar's ambassador who was ousted in a mini-coup this week for supporting pro-democracy groups.

Nigel Adams, the UK's Asia minister, said the government will 'support' Kyaw Zwar Minn and 'ensure his safety and security' while he remains in this country.

'I pay tribute to [Minn's] courage and patriotism,' Mr Adams tweeted after the pair met in the Foreign Office on Thursday.

Nigel Adams, the Asia minister, paid tribute to Kyaw Zwar Minn's 'courage and patriotism' after the pair met at the Foreign Office, vowing to ensure his 'safety and security' in the UK

The meeting came just a day after Minn's former deputy Chit Win led staff in a mutiny which saw him locked out of the country's Mayfair embassy before spending the night asleep in his car outside.

Myanmar's military rulers also sent official notification to the UK that his diplomatic status had been revoked for refusing to recognise their authority and continuing to support jailed leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Minn said he had stopped obeying orders from the junta last month after he was ordered to return home for criticising them.

Asked yesterday whether he intended to return to his home country, Minn replied: 'Do you want to see me get killed?'

Minn has not said whether he intends to stay in this country long term. He is thought to have a house elsewhere in London with his wife and son.

Minn was ousted from his post as Myanmar's ambassador to the UK on Wednesday night when his staff staged a mini-coup and locked him out of the embassy

Minn was removed due to his continued support of pro-democracy groups against the wishes of the new military junta - some of whom gathered to protest on Thursday

Pro-democracy protesters gathered outside Myanmar's embassy in Mayfair on Thursday to protest Minn's removal as staff remained locked inside

Following the Foreign Office meeting, a spokesman also put out a statement which read: 'We condemn the way the Myanmar military in London barred their ambassador from entering the embassy yesterday (Wednesday) evening.

'We pay tribute to the courage of Kyaw Zwar Minn in standing up for the people of Myanmar.

'Given the bullying behaviour towards Mr Minn, we are seeking to ensure he can live safely in the United Kingdom while he decides his long-term future.

'We continue to call for an end to the coup in Myanmar and a swift restoration of democracy.'

The UK will also host an event on Friday for United Nations Security Council members to hear views on what is happening in Myanmar.

Kyaw Zwar Minn alleged the embassy was 'seized' by the military attache in an 'unacceptable and disrespectful' act against Myanmar's people and the UK.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he said: 'This kind of coup is happening in the middle of the UK, in the middle of London - this shouldn't be happening.'

Minn was forced to spend the night sleeping in his car - with a photo of jailed leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the back - after being ousted on Wednesday evening

Kyaw Zwar Minn said he still believed he was ambassador but when it was put to him that the Myanmar state had declared he was no longer their envoy, he said: 'I haven't got that information yet.'

The diplomat had called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's elected leader who was detained in the wake of the military seizing power in a coup on February 1, a move which has sparked weeks of protest and a retaliation from the regime resulting in bloodshed.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned the ousting of the elected government in Myanmar and criticised the 'unlawful imprisonment of civilians' after Ms Suu Kyi was detained.

Myanmar's military has since violently cracked down on opponents, with security forces reportedly killing hundreds of protesters and bystanders.
San Francisco, April 9 : Cybercriminals briefly floated fake 'Clubhouse for PC' app ads on Facebook in a bid to plant malware on devices of unsuspecting users before taking the ads out, TechCrunch reported.

It is clear that the cybercriminals wanted to take advantage of the popularity of Clubhouse, a voice-based chat app which is currently only available on iPhones only.

Some of the ads spotted on the social networking platform falsely claimed that Clubhouse "is now available for PC." One such ad even carried a photo of Clubhouse co-founders Paul Davidson and Rohan Seth.

The fake "Clubhouse for PC" app had a link clicking on which led to a fake Clubhouse website with a download link to the malicious app, said the report on Friday, adding that the fake Clubhouse websites were hosted in Russia.

The ads were tied to several Facebook Pages. TechCrunch said it was alerted about the ads on Wednesday.

Curiously, the fake Clubhouse websites went offline and the malware also lost its sting, according to the report.

Facebook's Ad Library no longer contains the ads, said the report, adding that the social networking giant did not reveal how many users had clicked on the ads.
If Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ever sets up a presidential exploratory committee, it should have to disclose an enormous in-kind contribution from CBS News.

The recent 60 Minutes segment alleging that DeSantis distributed the COVID-19 vaccine through pharmacies at the Publix grocery store chain as part of a quid pro quo was so outlandishly wrong that even Democratic officials in the state have objected.

Its not clear that the 60 Minutes piece can even be called journalistic malpractice, since it barely qualifies as journalism.

The downside for DeSantis is that hes been smeared by the most iconic news magazine show on American television; the upside is that this latest, swiftly debunked media attack contributes to his ongoing ascent in the Republican political firmament.

Its much too early to know with any certainty what the post-Trump GOP will look like, or even if there will be a genuinely post-Trump GOP for years. But if a post-Trump GOP looks like DeSantis, who has a populist edge and is combative with the press, yet is unquestionably serious about governing and is succeeding in the third-most populous state in the nation, it will have landed in a favorable place.

DeSantis has navigated the Trump years with a deft political touch. He obviously went out of his way to identify himself with Trump at the outset of his gubernatorial run in 2018, but it wasnt a Matt Gaetz-style play to gain cable TV notoriety and become a Trump-world celebrity.

DeSantis took the boost he got from Trumps support, won a contested Republican primary, and then captured the Florida governorship with a clear idea of what he wanted to do with it  indeed, near the end of his first year, prior to the pandemic, he had a 72 percent approval rating.

The governor checks key Trumpian boxes. Trumps supporters want someone who is a fighter, who gives as good as he gets with the media, and who has the right enemies.

Since the onset of the pandemic, the media has been determined to paint DeSantis as a villain flouting science to the detriment of his constituents. Actually, he had a considered approach focused on protecting the most vulnerable in the nursing homes and taking a light touch on government restrictions to try to get through the pandemic with a minimum of economic damage. Any fair reading of the evidence  Florida has a death rate thats about the national average, while its economy is in much better shape than New Yorks and Californias  has to concede that, at the very least, this was an entirely reasonable strategy.

DeSantis has rightly been fierce in defending his record, but never gives the sense, as Trump often did, that fighting with the media is a good thing in its own right, over and above any substantive considerations.

If the rise of DeSantis is a Trump-era phenomenon, his record is rooted in traditional conservative priorities  textualist judges, school choice, tax cuts, spending restraint and law and order. He also has a more pragmatic side, increasing teacher pay even as he has pushed for educational reforms and pursuing a robust environmental agenda.

It is always a fools errand forecasting a presidential race three years before it begins in earnest. Trump may decide to run again in 2024 and blot out the sun, and DeSantis still has to win re-election in 2022.

On paper, though, he has obvious strength as a potential national candidate. Hes from a hugely important swing state. Hes been battle-tested  he won a brawl of a race in 2018, trailing in the polls throughout. He would perhaps be the only major candidate in 2024 holding an executive office while his governing record would, in theory, allow him to appeal to the key category of somewhat conservative voters in GOP primaries, not just to the hardcore.

Certainly, 60 Minutes has done its part.

@RichLowry
We cannot be surprised that Prince Philip has died at the age of 99, yet somehow we are. For the news, when it came, was a shock. A jolting moment on a cold, spring morning. Followed by an unexpected wash of sorrow and then an even more surprising feeling of loss.

Why should we feel this way, bereaved over a man most of us have never met and whose life was lived at a far remove from ours, behind castle ramparts and palace gates?

Perhaps it is because Prince Philip has been a constant not just in the Queen's life, but in our lives, too. For over 70 years he has served this country first and foremost as a royal consort, but also as a kind of unofficial national father figure; his very presence a steel thread of paternalism running through the tapestry of British life. Sometimes avuncular, sometimes not  but always there for us, even when we didn't realise we needed him.

We cannot be surprised that Prince Philip has died at the age of 99, yet somehow we are. For the news, when it came, was a shock

A woman reacts after laying a floral tribute at the gates of Buckingham Palace in central London today

And part of the sadness at his passing must also be because it had irrationally seemed that Philip would slip the bonds of mortality and somehow go on forever; a glorified soul in his camel overcoat or naval uniforms, a gilded omnipresence at the heart of this country and by the side of its Queen, for ever and ever, amen. But death must come to us all, of course. And perhaps the keenness of our bereavement lies in the bleak knowledge that we will never see his like again.

For Prince Philip was the last major public figure from the age of courtesy and duty first, from the time when a stiff upper lip and good manners were as highly prized as the shine on your brogues and the cut of your jib.

He was a man who lived through brutish times, who suffered childhood bereavements and then  like the vanishing generation he belongs to  had his life truncated by war. Philip saw action, he sailed ships, he grew into a man of energy and accomplishment.

Yet somehow he had to compress his buccaneering lust for life into the cloistered role of royal second fiddle; he became the Queen's supporter, comforter and metaphorical handbag holder. We noted this sacrifice, and we appreciated it.

Prince Philip has been a constant not just in the Queen's life, but in our lives, too (pictured together in 2015)

A boy leaves a pot of flowers outside Buckingham Palace today after the death of Prince Philip was announced

Many men would have buckled or rebelled under such a loss of status but rather than be diminished, Prince Philip found it in himself to flourish instead. In the seven decades that he and the Queen spent as husband and wife, they achieved so much more together than they would have done apart, all credit to him for that.

For this alone, in addition to his chivalry and sense of obligation, he earned our abiding respect. There was also his strength of character. For behind his smiling royal public persona, as he trotted along at his wife's heels, there was always a sense of something granite and unassailable; something that belonged to him alone.

Prince Philip had a bevelled vigour, an iron will, he was always his own man. Within the orbit of the Royal Family, the gravitational pull of his discipline and presence was once a force to be reckoned with. In public, his unspoken imperium was always obvious.

A tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, which will be shown for 24 hours, on display at the Piccadilly Lights in central London

After him, the deluge. Perhaps we loved him most of all because of his devotion to the Queen, who described her husband as her 'strength and stay' in a rare pubic utterance of affection.

Certainly, we could always see that he was the iron clasp on her diamond, the comforting hand on her elbow, the rousing grind of pepper on her daily omelette of duty and service.

Prince Philip could be exasperating, of course. A curious mix of the courtly and the profane, he had a habit of making gaffes at public events that poured fuel on any passing anti-monarchy bonfires. Some of the things he said!

On a Diamond Jubilee Tour walkabout with the Queen in south London, he spotted a female council worker in a frock with a zip up the front.

For over 70 years he has served this country first and foremost as a royal consort, but also as a kind of unofficial national father figure

A woman wearing a Union flag face masks cries as she sits on The Long Walk outside Windsor Castle in Berkshire

'I'd get arrested if I unzipped that dress,' he joked to a policeman. In the pantheon of Philip gaffes, it wasn't too bad  not exactly up there with 'slitty eyes', telling the president of Kenya he looked 'ready for bed' in his national dress or asking the dance troupe Diversity if they were 'all from the same family'.

In a London community centre in 2015, he asked a group of women: 'Who do you sponge off?' He also wondered if they 'meet to have a gossip' and reprimanded another worker for using the word 'community' too much.

This kind of stuff used to make me furious, my feminist hackles rising like porcupine spines with every fresh clanger. Now I feel rather differently.

Now I think that in devotedly supporting his wife's career and dedicating himself to her cause, he was perhaps one of the greatest feminists of all time!

And also that being a royal personage demands a genius and knack for chummy small talk that borders on the superhuman. In the interminable process of talking to dumbstruck strangers who don't know what to say to a visiting prince, the instinct to reach out, forge a connection, make someone laugh, put people at their ease must be huge.

Prince Philip was the last major public figure from the age of courtesy and duty first, from the time when a stiff upper lip and good manners were as highly prized as the shine on your brogues and the cut of your jib (pictured with Prince Charles in 2018)

Perhaps it should be no surprise that Philip  a man from a generation with a different set of social values  sometimes put his big royal boot in it.

But there was so much more to him than gaffes, we all knew that. Yesterday, the author Tiffany Jenkins wrote movingly of how she once sat next to Prince Philip at a lunch, and he asked what brought her to the top table. She explained that her husband was the rector of Edinburgh University and that was why she had been invited.

'I am sure that he's the least interesting thing about you, tell me all about yourself,' replied the prince and the pair went on to chat happily about boats and old buildings, ageism and what he described as his son Prince Charles's 'fanciful ideas about plants'.

Philip was wearing, she noted, a blue wool jacket which was moth-eaten at the wrists and he drank a half pint of lager with his lunch, instead of the fine wines on offer.

Well, this is how I want to remember Prince Philip. Someone who was, despite it all, charming, unpretentious and kindly; sitting there resplendent in his frayed cuffs and simple tastes.

The same man who would write long and thoughtful letters to the troubled Princess Diana, and who has done so much to steer a monarchy, which he was not born into, through some of its most difficult times in history.

I think he would be surprised by the depth of public feeling that has greeted his passing; the huge affection in which he is held, even the fact that his image is being broadcast around the clock on the neon signs of Piccadilly Circus.

Hero, consort, father figure, most admirable admiral and confidante. Prince Philip is a man who led many lives, but in the dying of the light, they have all ended now. To be born, as he was, the younger son of a troubled throne with threadbare prospects and to pass away peacefully in a grand castle nearly 100 years later? Any sailor worth his salt would count that as a pretty decent voyage.
New Delhi:

People from Rajput community thrashed two men from the Dalit community for sporting moustache in two different states in Gujarats Gandhinagar in the last seven days.

Gujarat Police said, two Dalit men of a village near Gandhinagar were allegedly thrashed by people from the Rajput community for sporting their moustache in two separate incidents.

Police said, the incidents occurred at Gandhinagars Limbodara village on September 25 and September 29.

The victims have been identified as Krunal Maheria, a law student, and Piyush Parmar.

Also read| Madhya Pradesh: Dalit woman's nose cut, husband beaten for refusing work as bonded labourers



Police said, Maheria, 30, in his complaint filed with Kalol Taluka police has alleged that one Vaghela for sporting moustache.

According to Maheria, he was visiting his friend on Friday evening when Vaghela along with few other persons from the Rajput community intercepted him and verbally abused him.

Vaghela started beating me after he stated that I cannot become a Rajput by sporting a moustache, said Maheria.

Also read: Students burn copies of Roopanwal committee report on Rohith Vemulas death

Police have lodged a complaint with under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 323  punishment for voluntarily causing hurt.

Police said, Vaghela has been arrested.

In the second incident, Parmar had alleged that some Rajput men from the village beat him up for his moustache. On the day he was returning home after a garba programme. No arrests have been made in the attack.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today expressed New Zealands sorrow at the death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Our thoughts are with Her Majesty The Queen at this profoundly sad time. On behalf of the New Zealand people and the Government, I would like to express my sincere condolences to Her Majesty and to all the Royal Family, says Ardern.

Prince Philip will be fondly remembered for the encouragement he gave to so many young New Zealanders through The Duke of Edinburghs Hillary Award. In over fifty years of The Award in New Zealand, thousands of young people have completed life-changing challenges through the programme.

New Zealanders will also remember The Duke of Edinburghs enormous support for Her Majesty The Queen. His time as royal consort exceeded that of any other royal consort in British history. His Royal Highness accompanied The Queen on her ten visits to New Zealand, the first being in 1953, and the last in 2002, says Ardern.

National Party leader Judith Collins offered condolences tweeting the news was "so sad for Her Majesty, the United Kingdom, and the Commonwealth."

Leader of the ACT Party, David Seymour, has also released a statement.

"On behalf of ACT, I would like to express sincere condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family, says Seymour.

"Prince Philip will be remembered for his long dedication to public service. He has selflessly contributed to a long period of stability for the Monarchy and the Commonwealth even as the world has experienced enormous change.

"He spoke plainly and joyfully, often saying what many would like to with a twinkle in his eye. We will all miss him dearly, says Seymour.

The Duke of Edinburgh held a number of New Zealand honours and appointments.

He was appointed an Additional Member of the Order of New Zealand on June 4 2012 for services to New Zealand, to commemorate The Queens Diamond Jubilee.

He was appointed an Extra Companion of the Queens Service Order in 1981 - the QSO badge features prominently at the front of his extensive medal bar - and also received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.

He was made Admiral of the Fleet of the Royal New Zealand Navy during his solo visit to New Zealand in 1958 on the yacht Royal Britannia, and to commemorate the Queens Silver Jubilee in 1977 he was made Field Marshal of the New Zealand Army, and Marshal of the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

The Duke was a patron or member of over 780 organisations.

His New Zealand connections included his role as patron of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, and the New Zealand Society (in the United Kingdom).

He was a life member and gold badge award holder of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association, and life member of Aviation New Zealand, and the Tin Hat Club.

He was an honorary member of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Veterans Association, and the Wellington Club.

Additionally, he was an honorary fellow of the New Zealand Institution of Professional Engineers, and the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.

He was also involved with a number of Commonwealth associations, such as the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth.

The Prime Minister says that she has directed that flags on all government buildings and naval vessels be flown at half-mast.

The government is awaiting details from the Palace concerning the arrangements for The Duke of Edinburghs funeral. Following the funeral, a national memorial service will be held in Wellington.

More details will follow once arrangements have been confirmed.
Establish world class museum to commemorate life & sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur at Delhi : Sukhbir

Chandigarh, Apr 8 (UNI) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday requested that a world class museum be established in Delhi to showcase the life and sacrifice of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur on the occasion of his 400th birth anniversary.

Mr Badal also called for withdrawing all cases against farmers as well as youth which had been registered as part of the Kisan Andolan protests in the spirit of sarbat da bhala.

Participating in a meeting of a high level committee presided over by the Prime Minister which was held to finalize the year long events to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Guru, the SAD chief said the proposed museum should be on the lines of the Virasat-i-Khalsa established at Anandpur Sahib by former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal which had become one of the highest visited destinations. This is the need of the hour to make the new generation aware of the sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur as well as those of his followers.
The next meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) will not take place on Friday, April 9, a source in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has said.

"There will be no meeting today," the source said, answering a question from Interfax-Ukraine on Friday, April 9.

As reported, during the previous meeting on April 2, the NSDC imposed personal sanctions against top ten Ukrainian smugglers. Also, more than 100 employees of regional departments of the State Customs Service of Ukraine were dismissed, including 17 heads of customs and customs posts. In addition, the meeting discussed the issue of vaccination against coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A Maryland man reported to police he was robbed at gunpoint Wednesday night while attempting to buy a car in Syracuse, according to Syracuse police.

The 44-year-old man came to Syracuse to purchase a vehicle he saw advertised online, Syracuse police spokesman Sgt. Matthew Malinowski said Thursday.

The man said two men met him at the Regional Transportation Center before meeting him for a second time just before 8:30 p.m. on North Midler Avenue, police said.

The two men pulled out a handgun and stole the other mans belongings, police said.

The two men were last seen fleeing in a silver Nissan Altima with rosary beads hanging from the rearview mirror, according to Onondaga County 911 Center dispatches.

Police are still investigating the incident and ask anyone with information to call the Syracuse Police Department at 315-442-5222.

Staff writer James McClendon covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach him at 914-204-2815 or jmcclendon@syracuse.com.
Shares in Simec Atlantis Energy surged on Wednesday after the renewable energy firm updated investors on its operations.

SAE said that it remains fully committed to the Uskmouth Power Station Conversion Project after the Welsh Government decided to 'call in' the planning application, meaning it will no longer be determined by the local council.

In its tidal stream technology segment, SAE said it continues to work with UK Government to secure the necessary support mechanisms for the rollout, especially the next phase of the MeyGen project.

Tidal stream technology: Simec Atlantis Energy said it continues to work with UK Government to secure the necessary support mechanisms for the rollout

It said it expects MeyGen will unlock significant international opportunity for further projects and continue cutting costs of the energy produced, in line with more established forms of renewable generation.

The shares ended the week one-third higher than they started it.

In the world of old-school energy producers, UK Oil & Gas shot up 136 per cent this week after the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources granted UKOG Turkey and Aladdin Middle East formal consent to drill the forthcoming Basur-3 appraisal well.

UKOG has a 50 per cent interest in the licence, which contains the potentially significant Basur-Resan oil discovery.

As the adage has it, what goes up, must come down, as 88 Energy shareholders discovered this week.

Since the beginning of March, the shares had been chased higher from around 0.48p to a high point of 4.39p ahead of potentially high impact exploration well results at the Merlin project, onshore Alaska.

This week the shares subsided by 62 per cent to 1.525p after the company said drilling of the Merlin-1 well at Project Peregrine in Alaska provided encouragement but equipment failure had prevented hydrocarbon samples from being taken yet.

Multiple prospective zones were identified, consistent with the shows and logs obtained while drilling.

The explorer said one of these zones is considered to be a new prospective horizon within the Nanushuk Formation that may be wholly within the Project Peregrine acreage and was not one of the pre-drill targets.

The other zone is interpreted to be shared with one of the zones in the Harrier prospect, to the north of Merlin.

Not so long ago, 88 Energys sector peer, Hurricane Energy was a stock market star but that particular hurricane has blown itself out.

The shares lost a fifth of their value this week after the publication of a summary of the competent persons report (CPR) on the companys West of Shetland assets.

The summary of the CPR published today is broadly consistent with the estimates for Lancaster and Lincoln which we presented in September 2020, said Antony Maris, the companys chief executive officer.

Away from the energy sector, FireAngel Safety leapt 76 per cent this week after it signed a partnership agreement with a German energy and efficiency service provider for the property sector to provide a fully-funded research and development programme for a new generation smoke alarm.

FireAngel has agreed to provide its German partner with a new 10-year connected smoke alarm based upon FireAngel's Gen6 platform.

Both parties will have the right to use any foreground intellectual property resulting from development of the new smoke alarm.

Minds + Machines is to become part of the Go Daddy internet domain registration empire.

The new management team conducted a thorough review of the underlying profitability of the business and the contribution of each top-level domain asset and concluded the best solution was to sell all of the companys assets to Registry Services, an affiliate of GoDaddy Inc, for $120million in cash.
[April 09, 2021] Panduit(TM) Australia releases NEW Contractor Grade Epson hand-held printers

MELBOURNE, Australia, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Panduit, a leading global provider of electrical and network infrastructure solutions, has launched two new Contractor Grate Robust Mobile Printers at the start of 2021 that offer the best combination of capabilities, print quality and speed of use. They are preferred over the competition because of the product features, including: Contractor Grade and Robust for commercial use

Printing direct from Easy-Mark Plus software

Fast 35 mm/sec print speed

Wide variety of die-cut and continuous label sizes and materials

USB connectivity

Prints on up to 38 mm wide label media

Integrated automatic cutter with full and half cutting



These printers are the result of a partnership with Seiko Epson Corporation to jointly develop printers and labels for the industrial, construction and network infrastructure marketplaces. The MP100/E & MP300/E printers and labels are the first of many products that will be jointly developed through this partnership globally.

The product features and corresponding label cassettes were designed to meet the needs of a variety of customers and their most challenging applications. From the data center to the telecom room, from the jobsite to the plant floor, Panduit has you covered. About Panduit Since 1955, Panduit's culture of curiosity and passion for problem solving have enabled more meaningful connections between companies' business goals and their marketplace success. Panduit creates leading-edge physical, electrical, and network infrastructure solutions for enterprise-wide environments, from the data center to the telecom room, from the desktop to the plant floor. Headquartered in Tinley Park, Ill., USA and operating in 112 global locations, Panduit's proven reputation for quality and technology leadership, coupled with a robust?partner ecosystem, help support, sustain, and empower business growth in a connected world. For more information, visit www.panduit.com. SOURCE Panduit

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K-pop groups including BTS, TWICE, BLACKPINK, SHINee, TXT, and more received certification from Gaon Chart in their respective categories!

The Korea Music Contents Association, which runs Gaon Chart, announced on April 8, the only K-pop groups and artists that received certification for album and streaming category [March 11-April 8] and for download category [February 11- April 8].

Prominent K-pop artists including BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE, TXT, Girls' Generation's Taeyeon, SHINee, Oh My Girl, and more reigned in their respective categories, gaining new personal records.

TWICE and TXT Achieves Double-Platinum Certified Albums + SHINee Achieves First-ever Platinum Certification

For the album category, TXT's "Minisode1: The Blue Hour," released in October 2020, along with TWICE's "Eyes Wide Open," which kicked off on the same month, officially received double-platinum certification from Gaon Chart after earning a cumulative album sales of 500,000 copies.

Along with them, SHINee, who returned to the K-pop industry after three years and released their seventh full album, "Don't Call Me," achieved their first platinum certification as a group.

The album released in February surpassed 250,000 album sales in less than two months and eventually became their best-selling album since its debut in 2008.

BTS, SNSD Taeyeon, and Chung Ha Received Platinum Certification in Download Category

Meanwhile, world-renown group BTS who released "Boy With Luv" [ft. Halsey] (MAP OF THE SOUL: PERSONA) along with top-tier soloists Taeyeon's "Four Seasons" and Chung Ha's "12'o clock already" earned a cumulative 2,500,000 download sales volume for their tracks and became platinum-certified by Gaon Chart.

BLACKPINK, IU, OH MY GIRL Dominated Streaming Category and Earned Platinum Certification

Lastly, BLACKPINK's mega-hit track, "How You Like That," Oh My Girl's "Dolphin," IU's "I Give You My Heart," (Crash Landing on You OST Part 1) all accumulated 100,000,000 streams and received platinum certifications.

Akdong Musician (AKMU) joined them with a billion certification (1,000,000,000) for their track, "How Can I Love the Break Up" from their album, "Sailing."

On the other hand, other popular artists and groups also enjoyed a rank in their respective categories, including "Rollin" by Brave Girls, which topped the digital charts and streaming charts, winning two gold medals.

On the monthly album chart, Baekhyun's new album "Bambi - The 3rd Mini Album" topped the list with sales of about 591,944.

The monthly social chart 2.0, which allows K-pop enthusiasts to check the global popularity of their idols, is dominated by BTS, followed by BLACKPINK at No. 2, IU at No. 5, TWICE at No. 7, EXO at No. 8, and Rose (BLACKPINK) at No. 10.

IU's "Lilac" also topped the digital charts and streaming charts, winning two awards.

For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Eunice Dawson
Quang Ngai proposes ending Ly Son-Sa Huynh Geopark Project after five years

Authorities in Quang Ngai Province are considering ending the Ly Son-Sa Huynh Geopark Project after five years with an investment of over VND20bn (USD863,000).



Ly Son-Sa Huynh Geopark Project







Dang Van Minh, chairman of Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee, announced the decision on April 7.



"The result of the project are unclear so I personally agree to end it," he said.
Alkhair Capital, a leading Saudi sharia-compliant financial institute, has announced that it has shifted its base to King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD).

Alkhair Capital, which was established at Riyadh in 2009, now has around SR10 billion ($2.6 billion) assets under management. It holds a fully-fledged licence to provide investment products and sharia-compliant financial services.

Standing in front of the new office, Alkhair Capital Managing Director and CEO Khalid Al Mulhim, said: "Our new offices place us firmly in the centre of the kingdoms economic future. KAFD is becoming an increasingly important financial hub in what is the Middle East regions only G-20 economy."

A CMA-authorised financial institute, it has extensive experience in asset management, advisory services and private equity across regional and international markets, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Republicans Demand Audit of Taxpayer-Funded COVID Relief After New York Earmarks Billions for Illegal Immigrants

Two top Republicans in the House of Representatives are pushing for an audit of the recently-passed COVID-19 relief package after New York state created a fund to send payments to illegal immigrants.

Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, and Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the top GOP member on the House Oversight Committee, asked Eugene Sperling, who is overseeing implementation of the relief package, to probe the fund.

The $2.1 billion price tag of this fund is quite peculiar. The $1.9 trillion spending plan enacted last month allocated monetary relief to states using a new biased formula that resulted in New York, and other states run by Democrat officials, receiving disproportionately more aid than in previous coronavirus relief bills, the legislators wrote in a letter.

Coincidentally, the amount of additional federal dollars New York appears to be receiving because of the change in the funding distribution formula is exactly the same as this new fund for illegal immigrants$2.1 billion, they added later.

Sperling was appointed by President Joe Biden to oversee distribution of the funds in the package, which was passed by Congress but had no Republican backing before being signed by the president.

Given the questions raised by the actions of the State of New York, we sincerely hope you will use your position to protect the integrity of American taxpayer dollars and put American families first, Smith and Comer wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bidens relief package included approximately $195 billion for state and local aid.

People join a demonstration to advocate for New York legislators to allocate money for so-called excluded workers, including illegal immigrants, in New York City on April 4, 2021. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The Biden Bailout Bill was never about economic recovery, it was about control. The American people deserve to know why their money is being funneled to illegal immigrants over the working class, Smith wrote in a tweet.

New York legislators earlier this week agreed on a $212 billion budget that included allocating $2.1 billion for an Excluded Worker Fund.

The fund was meant to send up to $15,600 to each worker who lost their job during the COVID-19 pandemic but could not get federal stimulus checks or other aid approved in federal packages because of their immigration status.

Officials did not hide that virtually all of the money would go to illegal immigrants.

Just because you are undocumented doesnt mean we dont care and we dont have compassion and we dont want to help, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters in Albany this week.

Undocumented is another term for people illegally in the country.

New York City Gov. Bill de Blasio said Thursday that the people who will get money from the fund are New Yorkers.

Half a million of our fellow New Yorkers here in this city happen to be undocumented. They are part of our city. Theyre part of the life of our city. This is why long ago we provide public education, we provide health care, theres been a food crisis, we provide food, we dont discriminate, he said in a briefing at City Hall.

So, my answer is, yes, this is important to do because these are families. These are human beings who are part of our communities, part of our life, part of our economy, theyve been suffering without a lot of the help other people have gotten. This is part of how we recovered together. So, I do think it was the right thing to do.
Despite worrying he might be talking to an undercover cop, a Kingston man had sexually explicit conversations with a person he thought was a 15-year-old boy, police alleged in charges filed Thursday.

But the person was actually a Kingston police detective.

Police on Thursday charged John William Dawe, 39, with sexual abuse of a minor, illegal communication with a minor and criminal use of a communications device.

Following his arraignment by Magisterial District Judge James Haggerty, Dawe was jailed in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility without bail.

Court documents say no combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of minor children in the community.

Dawe, the former executive director of the NEPA Rainbow Alliance, runs a Wilkes-Barre consulting firm that has worked for various influential local nonprofit organizations and political campaigns in Northeast Pennsylvania.

Arrest papers say Dawe contacted the supposed minor on social media. He worried the person was a law enforcement officer posing as the boy, police said.

A preliminary hearing is set for April 20.

Police noted in arrest papers Dawe was previously arrested for possession of child pornography. Court records show Dawe was arrested for possession of child pornography while a student at Mansfield University in Tioga County in 2002 and the case ended in a migrated disposition.
Oslo, 9 April 2021: Yara International ASA will hold its Annual General Meeting on Thursday 6 May at 17:00 CEST. The meeting notice and the Nomination Committee's proposal are available on the company's website.





The Board proposes that a dividend of NOK 20.00 per share is paid for the financial year 2020, and that the existing share buy-back program is replaced by a new program, authorizing the Board to acquire up to 5% of Yara's shares before the next Annual General Meeting.





In accordance with Norwegian temporary legislation exempting companies from physical meeting requirements to reduce Covid-19 risk, the Annual General Meeting will be held as a digital meeting only, with no physical attendance for shareholders.



An online guide is available on Yara's website https://www.yara.com/investor-relations/reports-presentations-2021/ describing how shareholders can participate in the digital Annual General Meeting.

The complete notice of the Annual General Meeting will be distributed to Yara's registered shareholders and is also available on Yara's website:



https://www.yara.com/investor-relations/reports-presentations-2021/

www.yara.com

Thor Giver, Investor RelationsCellular:Yara grows knowledge to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet. Supporting our vision of a world without hunger, we pursue a strategy of sustainable value growth, promoting climate-friendly and high-yielding crop nutrition solutions for the world's farming community and food industry.Yara's ambition is to be the Crop Nutrition Company for the Future. We are committed to creating value for our customers, shareholders and society at large, as we work to develop a more sustainable food value chain. To achieve our ambition, we have taken the lead in developing digital farming tools for precision farming, and work closely with partners throughout the food value chain to improve the efficiency and sustainability of agriculture and food production.Founded in 1905 to solve the emerging famine in Europe, Yara has established a unique position as the industry's only global crop nutrition company. With our integrated business model and a worldwide presence of around 16,000 employees and operations in over 60 countries, we offer a proven track record of responsible and reliable returns. In 2020, Yara reported revenues of USD 11.6 billion.This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act

Attachment
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane does not want to see Lionel Messi leave Barcelona at the end of this season.

Ahead of Saturday night's Clasico, the prospect that this could be Messi's final time coming up against Real Madrid in a Barcelona shirt has begun to dawn on people, yet Zidane hopes that is not the case.

"I don't want it to be Messi's last Clasico," Zidane said during Friday's pre-Clasico press conference.

"Let him stay, let him stay at Barcelona. He's good there. It's good for LaLiga if he stays."

Curiously, Messi has not scored in a Clasico since Matchday 36 in the 2017/18 campaign, when Barcelona drew 2-2 with Real Madrid at the Camp Nou.

"We know what a player Messi is. He may not be scoring goals, but we know what a player he is," Zidane noted.

"We are going to play against Barcelona. It's true that we know what a player he is, but they are all very good. We're going to try to stop their strengths, because there have a lot."

Sergio Ramos is another player with an expiring contract, yet Zidane is clear about what he wants to happen with the Real Madrid captain.

"Hopefully it won't be his last Clasico and he stays here," he stated.

Vinicius Junior was the star of the show in midweek, as he scored a brace in Real Madrid's 3-1 win against Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.

"We are happy with Vini. Eden [Hazard] can't be there [for the Clasico]. We have had problems with injuries, but we have a big squad and everyone is committed," Zidane commented.

"We are enjoying Vini, but we have to leave him alone. We don't have to talk too much, he's very young. He's calm and I'm glad, because there's a lot of noise."

Given how tight things are at the top of the table, if Real Madrid lose the Clasico, are they out of the title race?

"No, and I'm not thinking about that," Zidane said.

"We are going to give our all, and we are positive.

"Atletico are the ones with the advantage and we are all going to have to play for [the title] until the end. I've been saying that for a long time.

"It's a very competitive and very good league. We won't know who the champion is until the end. There are a lot of points still to be played for."
Kim Kardashian is taking a pause on expanding her business empire until she is done with law school.

The 40-year-old reality TV star is currently studying to become a lawyer and has said she will not be embarking on any new projects until she has taken her bar exam, despite recently filing a trademark for a skincare, hair care, and nail care brand under the name Skkn By Kim.

'I want to finish [law school], before I connect with something else, ' she told WWD.

Studying: Kim Kardashian is currently studying to become a lawyer and has said she wont be embarking on any new projects until shes taken her bar exam; seen here in 2019

Despite recently filing a trademark for a skincare, hair care, and nail care brand, the 40-year-old reality star despite told WWD : 'I want to finish [law school], before I connect with something else'; seen modeling her successful SKIMS shapewear line on Instagram

Kim previously said she has two years left of her degree before she will sit her bar exam.

She explained: 'I'm still in law school, I have two years left. So I have two years under my belt. I actually am not doing an essay and doing this interview instead, so I'm gonna have to get up really early tomorrow to write like a two-hour essay. So that is really steady and a lot of work.'

The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star has been taking a break from her studies over the past year because the COVID-19 pandemic has meant she has been unable to meet with her teachers.

She first revealed her law degree aspirations during an interview with Vogue in 2019, saying she had begun a four-year apprenticeship with a firm in San Francisco, with the goal of taking the bar in 2022.

Two years left: Kim (here in 2019) previously said she has two years left of her degree before she will sit her bar exam. She explained: 'Im still in law school, I have two years left. So I have two years under my belt'

California is among the US states that offers a path to passing the bar without attending law school by apprenticing with a practicing lawyer or judge. Since Kim passed the baby bar in 2020, she was given the okay to continue for three more years of study.

And although she understands the last 12 months have been 'so challenging' for people around the world, she also believes the global lockdowns have allowed people to reflect on what makes them happy.

She added: 'This year has been so challenging for so many people, but I also think that this year was a huge cleanse and just a huge opportunity for people to really be grateful for the simple things. That is a huge awakening that so many people had.'

'I mean just even the amount of time that me and all my parent friends have spent with our children has been so beautiful that we get this time. I always try to look at things in a positive way, so even though its been such a challenging year, I think its been a time to regenerate, get creative, and spend so much time with family,' she added.

So sweet: the star believes the global lockdowns have allowed people to reflect on what makes them happy. Seen here lovingly cradled her three-year-old daughter Chicago in a snap posted to her Instagram on Wednesday

Priceless: 'Just this time that Ive been able to spend with my children has been priceless. That part has been so beautiful,' she added about her four children North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, one; seen here on her Instagram one week ago

The global sensation shares her four children North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, one, with her estranged husband Kanye West.

'Just this time that Ive been able to spend with my children has been priceless. That part has been so beautiful, just knowing that when we do start to fill our plates back up, I hope that we dont fill them up with things that dont make us happy,' she concluded.

Kim finally filed for divorce from Kanye in February after about a month of rumors that the marriage was on the verge of collapse.

The thrice-married SKIMS founder and her rap star husband have reportedly agreed to split custody of their children.

Divorce: Kim finally filed for divorce from Kanye in February after about a month of rumors that the marriage was on the verge of collapse. The thrice-married SKIMS founder and her rap star husband have reportedly agreed to split custody of their children; here in 2019

Billionaire: Despite not wanting to take on any new projects right now, she's recently made it onto the Forbes Billionaires List for the first time, ranking at 2674th place with an estimated $1 billion net worth for profitable businesses such as her KKW Fragrances

Despite not wanting to take on any new projects right now, she's already followed in Kanye's footsteps and made it onto the Forbes Billionaires List for the first time.

Kim ranked at 2674th place with an estimated $1 billion net worth while Kanye was ahead of her at 1750th as he is reportedly worth about $1.8 billion.

She currently boasts a net worth of $1B having climbed the ranks from $780M in October on account of her successful ventures including KKW Beauty, SKIMS and her career in reality television.

At her surprise appearance at The Grove SKIMS pop up on Wednesday, Kim was asked by a reporter from TMZ how it feels to secure a new title, to which she replied she 'feels blessed.'

When asked who the next family billionaire would be Kim resoundingly replied 'All of them.'

Net worth: The star currently boasts a net worth of $1B having climbed the ranks from $780M in October on account of her successful ventures including KKW Beauty, SKIMS and her career in reality television
International

Israel rejects ICC probe over crimes in Palestine

In this July 16, 2014 file photo, smoke rises after Israeli missile strikes hit the northern Gaza Strip. (AP)

JERUSALEM, APR 8 (AP) | Publish Date: 4/8/2021 1:24:49 PM IST

Israel on Thursday said it would formally reject the International Criminal Courts decision to launch a probe into potential war crimes against the Palestinians, denying that it has committed such crimes and saying the court lacks the jurisdiction to investigate.

A panel of judges at the ICC ruled in February that the court does have jurisdiction, allowing the investigation to proceed. Israels response to a formal notification sent out last month is not expected to reopen that debate, though judges may reconsider the issue of jurisdiction later in the process.

The court is expected to look at possible war crimes committed by Israelis forces and Palestinian militants during and after the 2014 Gaza war, as well as Israels establishment of settlements in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem that now house over 700,000 settlers. International law prohibits the transfer of civilians into occupied territory.

The Palestinians have hailed the probe as a rare opportunity to hold Israel to account for what they say are serious, longstanding violations of international law. The Palestinians were granted nonmember observer status in the U.N. General Assembly in 2012, allowing them to join international organizations like the ICC.

Israel says the court is biased against it and has no right to investigate, citing its own judicial processes and the fact that the Palestinians have neither a state nor defined borders.

In addition to totally rejecting the claim that Israel commits war crimes, Israel reiterates its unequivocal position that the Hague Tribunal has no authority to open an investigation against it, the government said in a statement, detailing a letter it plans to send to the ICC.

Israel is committed to the rule of law and will continue to investigate any charges against it regardless of the source, and it expects the tribunal to refrain from violating its authority and sovereignty, the statement said.

The letter is in response to an official notice sent to all parties by the ICC last month. Israel could have argued that it was capable of investigating and prosecuting violations on its own, potentially deferring or even cancelling the ICCs investigation.

Experts have said Israel might have succeeded in deferring investigations into possible war crimes by citing its own investigations into alleged misconduct by its soldiers. But the establishment and continuing expansion of settlements has been an official state policy for decades and is allowed under Israeli law.

Israel is not a member of the ICC, but Israeli officials could be subject to arrest in other countries if the court issues warrants against them.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 war, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but imposed a blockade after the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power there two years later. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars and numerous smaller skirmishes since then.

Most of the international community views the West Bank and east Jerusalem as occupied territory whose final status should be decided in peace talks.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its unified capital and views the West Bank as the historical and biblical heartland of the Jewish people. There have been no substantive peace talks in more than a decade.
(CNN)  Prince Philip, the lifelong companion of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, has died, Buckingham Palace announced Friday. He was 99.

In a statement, the palace said: "It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss."

The duke had been admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital in London hospital on February 17 after feeling unwell. The palace later confirmed that he was being treated for an infection. On March 1, he was transferred to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, also in London, where doctors continued to treat the infection as well as undertake testing for a pre-existing heart condition. After heart surgery, the duke was discharged from hospital in mid-March.

Philip, also known by his official title of the Duke of Edinburgh, was the longest-serving British consort. He married the then Princess Elizabeth in 1947 after a courtship that charmed a country still reeling from the ravages of World War II.

In his seven decades of service, Philip often accompanied the Queen on royal engagements, and conducted thousands of his own solo appearances. He once referred to himself as "the world's most experienced plaque unveiler," while the Queen lauded him as her "constant strength and guide."

The duke was known for off-the-cuff remarks that often displayed a quick wit but occasionally missed the mark, sometimes in spectacular fashion. Philip continued making public appearances well into his 90s, retiring only in August 2017.

He supported a number of philanthropic endeavors and was associated with around 800 organizations. He founded the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme, a youth development program that operates in more than 130 countries and territories around the world.

After retiring, Philip spent much of his time at the Queen's rural Sandringham estate. He was occasionally seen in later years at private family events such as the weddings of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and of Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank, both at Windsor Castle.

Philip's advanced age meant that his health had been the subject of much media focus in recent years. In December 2019, he was taken to hospital as a "precautionary measure" for what Buckingham Palace described as a "pre-existing" condition. He had previously been admitted to hospital on multiple occasions for a variety of reasons, including for a hip replacement and for treatment for bladder infections.

The duke was born the Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark on the Greek island of Corfu in 1921. He left Greece aged 18 months with his family when King Constantine was forced to abdicate after a revolt by Greece's war-stretched military forces. The family moved first to Paris and later, in 1928, to England.

Philip had an itinerant childhood, educated variously in the UK, France, and Germany.

He became a decorated naval officer for his service during World War II, and when peace returned, rekindled an earlier friendship with Elizabeth that quickly blossomed into a public romance.

In order to marry, the duke renounced his Greek title, became a naturalized British subject and took the surname Mountbatten, derived from his mother's side of the family. The marriage ceremony was held at Westminster Abbey in 1947. He and Elizabeth had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Prince Philip, husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, dead at 99"
The classification of countries as either red, amber or green, though, is expected to revealed in two to three weeks

( ) said today it will suspend flights and holidays until at least 23 June due to the lack of clarity from the government over its travel re-opening proposals.

Steve Heapy, Jet2s chief executive, said it had taken the decision with a 'heavy heart' but the plans released overnight by the government lacked any detail about how to get international travel going again.

In fact, the framework is virtually the same as six months ago, he said in a statement.

Customers will get a full refund on cancelled flights while Jet2 said it will also offer advice about booking a getaway later in the year.

The airlines decision came just hours after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had suggested people might start thinking about booking holidays again.

Speaking after the release of the Global Travel Taskforces review of how travel might resume, Shapps said in an interview with the BBC: This is the first time I'm able to come on and say I'm not advising against booking foreign holidays.

The governments travel plans involve a traffic light system of red, amber and green classifications for countries depending on the perceived Covid-19 risk.

Airlines UK, the industry trade body, also criticised the proposals, saying the scheme was too expensive and not the reopening they were promised.

Even travellers from green countries will require a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test on arrival back in the UK.

That will cost at least 100, an amount which will double for those also having a test before departure.

easyJet plcs ( ) boss Johan Lundgren said it would mean international travel would only be open to those who could afford it.

Airlines UK described the traffic light scheme as a further setback for an industry on its knees.

The insistence on expensive and unnecessary PCR testing rather than rapid testing - even for low-risk countries - will pose an unsustainable burden on passengers, making travel unviable and unaffordable for many people," chief executive Tim Alderslade added.

Shapps said that the government was trying to make flying as cheap as possible and was looking at alternatives to PCR tests, which might include a lateral flow option.

We are committed as a government to work to drive those costs down, and also in time of course review potentially the type of test, he said in the BBC interview.

The classification of countries as either red, amber or green is expected to be revealed in two to three weeks Shapps said, but it is not clear yet whether fights will be allowed on 17 May.

The taskforce said: "It is too early to predict which countries will be on which list over the summer, and the government continues to consider a range of factors to inform the restrictions placed on them.

"We will set out by early May which countries will fall into which category, as well as confirming whether international travel can resume from 17 May."

Under the traffic light system, travellers might be required to self-isolate, stay in hotels or take compulsory COVID tests depending on which category of country they arrive from.

Countries will be assessed on vaccination progress, infection rates, new variants of the virus and accuracy of testing and tracing data.

The taskforce said it will review further how and when flights and overseas travel can resume at the end of June, July and again in October.

Shares in Jet2 fell 3% to 1,327p. British Airways owner IAG ( ) fell 0.4% to 213.8p and Easyjet PLC ( ) was flat at 993p.
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Scott Disick and his girlfriend Amelia Gray Hamlin have been enjoying plenty of quality time together in Miami Beach, Florida.

And on Thursday, the couple stopped by a high-end jewelry store in Downtown Miami, with their vacation posse and a pair of armed security guards in tow.

Though it is unclear whether or not any purchases were made, Scott and Amelia were seen surveying the various high ticket items resting behind the glass displays.

Jewelry shopping: Scott Disick and his girlfriend Amelia Gray Hamlin stopped by a high-end jewelry store in Downtown Miami, with their vacation posse and a pair of armed security guards in tow on Thursday

Just browsing: Though it is unclear whether or not any purchases were made, Scott and Amelia were seen surveying the various high ticket items resting behind the glass displays

The 37-year-old Talentless founder strolled beside the 19-year-old model, who put her toned legs on display in a pair of high-waisted cutoff shorts.

Amelia paired her Daisy Dukes with a black racerback bodysuit and some comfortable flip flops.

She had a single bracelet on her wrist and carried all of her essentials in a trendy fanny pack, which she carried in one hand.

The youngest daughter of Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin wore her lengthy golden brown hair in a sleek middle part, while her eyes remained concealed behind a pair of chic shades.

Dynamic duo: The 37-year-old Talentless founder strolled beside the 19-year-old model, who put her toned legs on display in a pair of high-waisted cutoff shorts

Back in black: Amelia paired her Daisy Dukes with a black racerback bodysuit and some comfortable flip flops

Although Hamlin did her due diligence by donning a face mask in public, Disick opted to brave the open air without one.

The baby daddy of Kourtney Kardashian looked ultra casual in a hooded sweatshirt and a pair of camouflage cargo shorts.

Scott completed his look with a black bucket hat, which recently earned approval by Amelia's mother Lisa.

Accessorize: She had a single bracelet on her wrist and carried all of her essentials in a trendy fanny pack, which she carried in one hand

This is not the first time the duo have been spotted browsing for jewelry in Miami, just a day prior Scott and Amelia swung by the Miami Design District.

The loved-up couple got together six months ago after Scott broke up with his ex of two years, Sofia Richie, 22.

Amelia and Scott first sparked relationship rumors last year while attending Kendall Jenner's Halloween birthday party in West Hollywood

Meanwhile, Scott continues to share parenting duties with his ex Kourtney, whom he never married and from whom he split in 2016.

Not the first time: This is not the first time the duo have been spotted browsing for jewelry in Miami, just a day prior Scott and Amelia swung by the Miami Design District

Alrighty then: Although Hamlin did her due diligence by donning a face mask in public, Disick opted to brave the open air without one

They have two sons Mason, 11, and Reign, six, and a daughter Penelope, eight.

A source recently told People that things are going so well between Scott and Amelia that the entrepreneur has 'been telling friends how much she means to him and how into her he is,' a source told the publication.

Meanwhile the source added that the pair are not worried about their 18-year-age-gap.

'She grew up in the industry and knows how all this works,' the source explained. 'It's a different type of maturity, and they really don't feel the age difference.'

Casual: The baby daddy of Kourtney Kardashian looked ultra casual in a hooded sweatshirt and a pair of camouflage cargo shorts
Update, 4/9/21: The tuition measures were approved by the full Board of Trustees Friday.

Previous story: The University of Alabama System trustees are considering a 1% tuition increase for in-state medical, dentistry and optometry students for the next academic year.

During a finance committee meeting Thursday, trustees considered class size and tuition adjustments in an effort to right-size the numbers of health care professionals entering the field.

The system is proposing a 1% increase in tuition for in-state medical students while leaving rates unchanged for non-residents. The University of Alabama at Birmingham is proposing a 1% increase in tuition for in-state optometry students with no change for non-residents in the program and 1% tuition rate increases for all dentistry students.

Tuition at the UAB Birmingham School of Medicine and the University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences would increase from $29,702 to $29,998 per year for residents and remain $62,714 for non-resident students.

For the UAB School of Dentistry, tuition for Alabama residents would increase from $14,742 per semester to $14,891 per semester and increase from $34,363 to $34,710 per semester for non-residents. The school this fall also will add 21 slots to its yearly class size after receiving approval from its accrediting agency, according to Thursdays presentation.

The school sought the increase in class size to help address a shortage of dentists in the state, UAB Provost Pam Benoit said.

In-state optometry students at UAB would see tuition increase from $9,194 per term to $9,286 per term while non-resident tuition would stay at $18,004 per term.

The tuition increases are expected to generate an additional $1.23 million in revenue. The rates would take effect in July.

The board chose last year to leave rates unchanged for in-state and out-of-state students as it faced pandemic uncertainty. In 2019, the board kept tuition flat for in-state students with 3% increases for out-of-state students and 1 to 3% increases for the systems medical, dentistry and optometry students.

The board typically considers graduate and undergraduate tuition rate adjustments for the fall at its June meeting.

In its institutional peer group, UABs school of medicine is among the programs with the highest non-resident tuition rates, Benoit said. The university hopes keeping the tuition rate flat will help it remain competitive with non-resident students, she said. The tuition rates for non-residents in the UABs optometry program are the highest among peer programs, Benoit said.

The rates in the dentistry program are below the peer average, Benoit said.

I also think students are very much thinking about how much they have to pay, Benoit said as she answered questions from trustees about the rate for out-of-state students.

Recruiting out-of-state students also remains important as the UAB school of medicine tries to reach diversity goals, Dean Selwyn Vickers said. The school cant reach those goals solely through in-state students, he said.

Questions from committee members included how many graduates remained in the state and how many of those were originally from out of state.

Benoit said UAB graduates represent 44% of practicing doctors in the state, 72% of dentists and 83% of optometrists.

Trustee Stan Starnes said there are multiple ways the system can help address the shortage of professionals in the state.

One of those ways has to be admitting people who will stay in Alabama after graduation, Starnes said.

The full board of trustees is scheduled to vote on the proposed increase when it meets Friday.
BEREA, Ohio 

Assault: East Bagley Road

A 13-year-old boy staying at OhioGuidestone, 202 East Bagley, faces possible criminal charges after she punched a pregnant worker several times in the stomach at the behavioral health treatment center.

The incident occurred at about 3:30 p.m. April 5. The boy had demanded that staff allow him to leave a locked portion of the treatment center. When the staff said no, the boy threw a chair and trashcan at windows.

The worker, who was five-months pregnant, and a coworker placed the boy in restraints. After about 15 minutes, he calmed down, so the restraints were removed. Then the boy began raging again, and this time the coworker wasnt available to assist.

Two OhioGuidestone residents helped the worker restrain the boy a second time. As she was holding down his legs, the boy started punching her in the stomach from behind. The boy was released and continued to act belligerently. He was eventually escorted to his room, where he calmed down.

The woman drove to a local hospital, which determined that the womans unborn child was uninjured. Berea police contacted the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center about transporting the boy to the center. However, the detention center said the boys actions didnt warrant transport there.

Fraud: South Rocky River Drive

A South Rocky River resident said she was defrauded in an Easter egg scam on Facebook.

The resident said she had reached out to a woman selling candy-filled plastic Easter eggs on Facebook through her Easter Egg Delivery Service 2001  Northeast Ohio page. The resident, using PayPal, paid the woman $25 for 50 eggs. The woman promised to deliver the eggs between 10 p.m. April 3 and 6 a.m. April 4, which was Easter Sunday.

The eggs never arrived. The resident sent an inquiry to the woman on Facebook, but the woman didnt respond. The resident then noticed that posts on the womans Facebook page were deleted and the comments were turned off.

The resident saw on Facebook that other customers of the woman never received their Easter Eggs. The resident provided police wiht the womans name and address.

Cocaine possession, drug trafficking, operating a vehicle under the influence: West Bagley Road

A Cleveland man, 23, and a Brunswick man, 22, were arrested at about 9 a.m. April 1 after police caught them with about 20 grams of crack cocaine, a small amount of marijuana, about 40 alprazolam pills, two digital scales, a crack cocaine pipe and more than $2,200 in cash.

The men had passed out in a pickup truck in the drive-through lane of McDonalds, 350 West Bagley. A Cleveland Metroparks officer, in a police cruiser, was behind the men in the drive-through lane and called Berea police.

Welfare check: North Rocky River Drive

A North Royalton man, 33, was taken to Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights at about 9 a.m. April 3 after he lost consciousness in a car stopped at a red light on North Rocky River at West Bagley Road.

When the light turned green, the mans car didnt move. A driver who was stopped behind the man stepped out of his car to check on him.

When the driver realized the man wasnt conscious, he pounded on the car window, but the man didnt wake up. The driver broke a window in the mans car and turned off the engine.

Welfare check: West Bagley Road

A Berea woman, 48, was taken to Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights at about 5:30 p.m. April 3 after she urinated and defecated on herself inside Marcs Deeper Discount Store, 371 West Bagley.

The store manager called police and said the woman was intoxicated and had passed out in the restroom. Police, when they arrived, smelled alcohol on the woman. She had difficulty walking and answering questions.

Theft: Front Street

A catalytic converter was stolen between 5-9 p.m. April 2 from a car parked outside the Baldwin Wallace University Center for Innovation & Growth, 340 Front.

Theft: Barrett Road

A rear license plate was stolen between 1 a.m. April 2 and about 1 p.m. April 3 from a car parked outside Tower in the Park apartments, 55 Barrett.
The United States is considering sending warships into the Black Sea in the coming weeks to show support for Ukraine amid Russias increased military presence on Ukraines eastern border, CNN has reported, referring to an official in the U.S. Department of Defense.

The U.S. Navy routinely operates in the Black Sea, but a deployment of warships now would send a specific message to Moscow that the US is closely watching, the official said.

Under the Montreux Convention, the U.S. is required to give Turkey 14 days notice of its intention to enter the Black Sea. However, it is unclear if an official notice has yet been sent.

The defense official also said the Navy is continuing to fly reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace over the Black Sea to monitor Russian naval activity and any troops movements in Crimea.

At the same time, it is noted that Washington does not consider the concentration of Russian forces on Ukraine's eastern border as posturing for an offensive action, but the official added that "if something changes we will be ready to respond."

As Ukrinform reported, the United States and NATO countries have repeatedly made clear statements in support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity amid the escalation in eastern Ukraine, as well as increased Russian military presence in Eastern Europe.

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Then-Cook County Judge Franklin Valderrama ruled in July 2019 that the state constitution is unambiguous in prohibiting such action. In Thursdays ruling, Judge Allen Price Walker, who took over the case last year when Valderrama was appointed to the federal bench, rejected Mendozas arguments that Noland and Clayborne waited too long to sue. Her office also argued it has discretion over when to pay the former lawmakers their back wages.
Panaji, April 9 : Days after Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde lauded Goa for following the Uniform Civil Code, a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a young lawyer has questioned a colonial era temple code, which bars women from being appointed as "mazanes"/"mahajans" (temple administrators).

A Bombay High Court bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Mahesh Sonak has directed petitioner Shukr Sinai Usgaonkar to issue notice in daily newspapers to invite intervention from affected parties.

Goa's major temples are governed by the Portuguese-era Devasthan Regulation, a 1933 law, which is based on codification of customs, usages and practices in temples around the time. The regulation continues to be followed after the liberation of Goa in 1961.

One of the contentious provisions of the law prohibits women from being appointed as mahajans of a temple, a hereditary right enjoyed only by male descendants of the temple founders.

"Members (mazanes) shall be those who, according to the respective bye-laws, enjoy this quality, in which their male descendants in direct line and those adopted according to the respective Code of usages and customs shall succeed," states paragraph one in the Devasthan Regulation, 1933.

According to Usgaonkar, the obvious discrimination of women needs to be reversed, as the Indian Constitution forbids any state from discrimination on the basis of gender.

"Since the Devasthan Regulation, 1933, merely codifies the customs relating to Hindu temples as they existed back then, it is evident that women were always barred from becoming mahajans. This discrimination however received the stamp of approval of the state with the enactment of the Devasthan Regulation in 1933," he said.

Usgaonkar states that he was "driven" to file the petition in light of recent judgments of the Supreme Court in the Sabarimala case and the Bombay High Court in the Haji Ali Dargah case, "both of which resulted in a victory for women's rights".

The mahajans, collectively are known as the mazania, and elect the managing committee which looks after all the affairs of the temple.

Usgaonkar said that while the Uniform Civil Code, which is applicable in Goa is by and large a progressive legislation guaranteeing equal rights to women, some provisions under the family laws continue to be discriminatory towards women and have also been challenged in his petition.

"One such provision is Article 10 of a Decree dated December 16, 1880 which governs the usages and customs of Gentile Hindus in Goa. Article 10 allows a Hindu to adopt only a male, that too if he does not have male issues. A female cannot be adopted according to this provision and since this amounts to discrimination on the basis of gender..." he said.

The Bombay High Court bench has directed the Goa government to reply to its notice by May 7 and the matter will be scheduled for hearing in July this year.
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Jammu, April 9 : Battling with the worsening Covid spread situation, J&K government has decided to impose night curfew in eight districts from Friday.

"All leaves of the doctors and paramedics have been cancelled. Areas around GGM Science College and the Sanskrit University in Jammu have been declared as micro-containment zones. Permissions granted to hold exhibitions and fairs have also been cancelled," an official of the government said.

The official added that night curfew will remain confined to the municipal limits Jammu, Srinagar, Udhampur, Baramulla, Kathua, Anantnag, Budgam and Kupwara.

There has been an alarming spike in Covid-19 cases during recent days in J&K as 835 new cases were reported on Thursday with which the number of active cases has surged to 5,623 in J&K.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
When Amit Seth began to propose to Sue Jin Lee in 2019 on a balcony overlooking the ocean in Ischia, an Italian island off the coast of Naples, she walked away, back inside their hotel room. She wasnt overcome with emotion or opposed to getting engaged. She was hungry, cranky, and she had already moved past trying to anticipate when Mr. Seth was going to ask her to be his wife.

The ballet program he was brandishing, from one of their first dates, didnt register at first as the prelude to a proposal. Im thinking why did you bring that? said Ms. Lee, the director of partnerships and audience development at Womens Wear Daily. I just did not put two and two together.

This wasnt the first time that Ms. Lee and Mr. Seth found themselves operating at different tempos. The night they met in 2017 at a crowded bar in Manhattans meatpacking district, she initially spurned his advances, then suggested they talk more elsewhere, before announcing, suddenly, that she had to leave their new location for a date.

I was thinking to myself, My god, I went from getting rejected for a drink to getting dragged to another bar to now being told shes got to go because shes late for a drink, said Mr. Seth, an executive director at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Im like, this is a yo-yo.
DUBLIN, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Solar Energy Market - Forecasts from 2021 to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global solar energy market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.12% over the forecast period to reach a market size of US$267.747 billion in 2026 from US$68.579 billion in 2019.



The global solar energy market is growing at a significant rate in the recent years and have been expected to increase more in the upcoming years. The major driving forces for such a growth in this market are increasing concerns of the economies towards the environment sustainability and decarbonization making the power energy companies to improvise their technology towards renewable sources in an efficient way. To support this, governments are also providing the rebate policies to further promote the renewable energy market. Solar energy comes up as third renewable source of energy across the world, and one of the reliable sources from household consumption's point of view. People can have solar energy systems at their rooftops and though, the main concern for the general people to use the cost and the space of plantation of the solar energy. The COVID-19 has slowed the progress a little, but as per IEA report, the renewable energy sector is most resilient to the crisis and will continue to grow as forecasted. Despite the disruption in each sector, solar energy is expected to remain resilient in 2020. However, irrespective of the growing revenue, the cost of production for companies is also decreasing due to government policies, thus, increasing the scope of future strategic investment for the companies in the coming years.



In the upcoming years, all the countries have potential growth of the solar energy, Germany, India, and US are having the significant potential to grow. India is planning to increase the dependency of electricity more on the renewable sources to 55% by 2030 as the demand has been projected to increase by 15280 TWH by 2040 and investments will increase to US$ 500 billion by 2028 (source: IBEF). It can be noticed that there may be a growth of the PV solar plants in the coming period due to cost-competitiveness. While US has accounted for the 8300 MW installed capacity in 43 states in 2019, representing over 70% of all the commercial solar capacity installed in the US (source: SEIA)). The top companies of the US are also shifting their technology towards the solar energy, having Apple and Amazon having the highest installed capacity among them



Technology insights



There are mainly 4 types of technology used, among which thin film sheet is acquiring a significant share in the solar projects, mainly in commercial and utility-scale projects due to the light weight and low cost of installation. Although, thin sheets are having the less effectiveness as compared to the crystalline silicon segment (both mono and poly) which is mainly used in the premium segment of the solar market at present



Solar energy can be captured for electricity production using:

A solar or photovoltaic cell, which converts sunlight into electricity using the photoelectric effect. Typically, photovoltaics is found on the roofs of residential and commercial buildings. Additionally, utilities have constructed large (greater than 100 MW) photovoltaic facilities that require anywhere from 5 to 13 acres per MW, depending on the technologies used.

Concentrating solar power, which uses lenses or mirrors to concentrate sunlight into a narrow beam that heats a fluid, producing steam to drive a turbine that generates electricity. Concentrating solar power projects are larger scale than residential or commercial PV and are often owned and operated by electric utilities.

Solar hot water heaters, typically found on the roofs of homes and apartments, provide residential hot water by using a solar collector, which absorbs solar energy, that in turn heats a conductive fluid, and transfers the heat to a water tank. Modern collectors are designed to be functional even in cold climates and on overcast days.

With the anticipated improvements in technology and increased supply of panels from China/Europe, the capital costs are expected to stabilize at lower levels. As a result, investors/developers are expected to focus on the commercial viability of solar projects



By location, the global solar energy market is segmented as rural and urban areas. The rural areas have the potential growth of the solar energy as the countries are providing incentives to the companies who will establish the solar power plants in rural areas. This will lead to the improvement of the living standard of the people and improvise the areas as well. In many countries, it has one of the lowest costs - both in residential and commercial applications, but also increasingly in the utility-scale field, even if external costs are not added to fossil fuels and nuclear power. Still, solar power's share is in most markets is insignificant, although, decarbonization through electrification of heat, transport and power sectors offer huge solar business opportunities. While digital solar & storage business models are taking off for residential and commercial consumers, smart building technologies reveal their potential to optimize self-consumption rates of the building stock and smoothen grid feed-in, which enables a cleaner yet reliable electricity supply.



In Germany, a market introduction program for residential storage systems limits the feed-in behavior of PV systems to less than 50% of its maximum output. Due to this limitation, the feed-in during peak generation is reduced. Applying an optimized generation and storing strategy allows to increase the existing grid capacity for PV power. This allows to integrate more renewable electricity within the same grid design, avoiding network upgrades. Solar &Storage shall have a right for grid connection and fair, consumer contract level metering costs



So far, only five CSP projects, namely, ACME solar tower (2.5 MW), Dhursar (125 MW), Godawari solar project (50 MW), Megha solar plant (50 MW), and national solar thermal power facility (1 MW) have started operations in India. Owing to factors, such as, huge capital expenditure, difficulty in securing land and water, and insufficient DNI data, other projects have been delayed. By 2030 at the latest, and in some markets earlier, solar PV is expected to deliver the lowest cost of energy for new power generation installations. This decline reflects a series of technological improvements mainly driven by: -Increasing module efficiency (i.e., using better manufacturing techniques and new cell structures)7-Reducing overall usage of material content, in addition to the effect of rising module efficiency through reducing wafer thickness, decreasing silicon losses, silver paste, etc.8-Improvements in manufacturing processes, which increase throughput, reduce labor costs, and achieve greater economies of scale.



As per WE Forum, India will need to double its electricity output by 2030 to meet this massive rise in demand, while also honoring its commitment to reduce its carbon footprint by 35% from 2005 levels. This would require roughly half the additional output to come from renewables, which translates to adding 25 GW of renewable capacity annually until 2030. An expansion of this magnitude will require funding of around $76 billion to 2022, growing to $250 billion during 2023-30, as per India's Economic Survey 2018-19. Therefore, on an annualized basis, investment opportunities of over $30 billion are expected to emerge in the next decade and beyond, about three times current levels - clearly indicating a huge and untapped investment potential



Supportive Government Policies Driving the Market

The country has identified the potential of renewable energy, such as solar and wind, in decarbonizing the economy and meeting targets as per the Paris Agreement, and the Government of India has been bent towards increasing the share of renewables in the country's energy mix.

has been bent towards increasing the share of renewables in the country's energy mix. The government is aiming at 25,750 megawatts (MW) of new power generation capacity from solar plants under the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme by 2022, with total financials of more than Rs. 32,000 crores .

. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had launched the scheme in 2019, with three components -- installation of 10,000 MW capacity through small renewable energy-based power plants of capacity up to 2 MW each on barren or fallow land of farmers; installation of 17.5 lakh standalone off-grid solar water pumps; and solarization of 10 lakh existing grid-connected agriculture pumps.

Moreover, the government in planning is to add 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 which includes 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy. The country has spent more on investment in solar PV than in all fossil fuel sources of electricity generation together. Therefore, the government schemes and plans to increase the renewables share in energy mix is expected to drive the solar energy market in India .

. With the government promoting solar installation in the rural areas by providing subsidized solar panels and another incentive, the solar PV installation is expected to increase during the forecast period and is expected to drive the market.

Concluding, the solar energy market is having the potential growth in the upcoming years, mainly in PV solar system due to lower costs, easy installation and potential government policies which will promote the environment sustainability as well



Key Topics Covered:



1. Introduction

1.1. Market Definition

1.2. Market Segmentation



2. Research Methodology

2.1. Research Data

2.2. Assumptions



3. Executive Summary

3.1. Research Highlights



4. Market Dynamics

4.1. Market Drivers

4.2. Market Restraints

4.3. Porters Five Forces Analysis

4.4. Industry Value Chain Analysis



5. Global Solar Energy Market Analysis, By Product type

5.1. Introduction

5.2. Silicon

5.3. Thin Sheet

5.4. Poly-crystalline

5.5. Mono-crystalline



6. Global Solar Energy Market Analysis, By Area

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Rural areas

6.3. Urban areas



7. Global Solar Energy Market Analysis, By technology

7.1. Introduction

7.2. PV

7.3. CSP

7.4. Solar heating and cooling



8. Global Solar Energy Market Analysis, By Application

8.1. Introduction

8.2. Residential

8.3. Commercial/Industrialization



9. Global Solar Energy Market Analysis, by Geography

9.1. Introduction

9.2. North America

9.3. South America

9.4. Europe

9.5. Middle East and Africa

9.6. Asia



10. Competitive Environment and Analysis

10.1. Major Players and Strategy Analysis

10.2. Emerging Players and Market Lucrativeness

10.3. Mergers, Acquisitions, Agreements, and Collaborations

10.4. Vendor Competitiveness Matrix



11. Company Profiles

11.1. Jinko Solar (China)

11.2. JA Solar Technology Co Ltd (Parent company - China)

11.3. Trina Solar (China)

11.4. LONGi Solar

11.5. Canadian Solar

11.6. Hanwha Q-CELLS (South Korea)

11.7. Risen Energy (China)

11.8. GCL-SI (China)

11.9. First Solar (US))

11.10. Talesun Energy

11.11. SunPower Corporation (US)

11.12. Adani Group (India)

11.13. Azure Power Global Limited (India)

11.14. Tata Power (India)

11.15. Sunways AG (in doubt)

11.16. Motech Industries (Taiwan)

11.17. Urja Global Ltd (India)

11.18. Waaree group (India)

11.19. BrightSource Energy Inc (US)

11.20. eSolar Inc (US)

11.21. Yingli Solar

11.22. Wuxi Suntech Power Co Ltd



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/kwxoom

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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SOURCE Research and Markets

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South Africa: Developed countries urged to revisit climate change targets

The 30th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change has urged developed countries to revisit their climate change mitigation targets while also urging them to provide support to developing countries.

In a joint statement at the conclusion of the 30th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change on Thursday, Ministers said the substantial gaps in mitigation, adaptation and support provided by developed countries to developing countries in the pre-2020 period must be counter-balanced by ambitious climate change action by developed countries in the post-2020 period.

They urged developed countries to revisit their targets on mitigation under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, and fulfil their commitments of providing support to developing countries, said the Brazil, South Africa, India and China (BASIC) Ministers.

The two-day virtual meeting hosted by India got underway on Wednesday and was chaired by Prakash Javadekar the Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Republic of India.

In addition, the Ministers emphasised the necessity for the Glasgow Climate Change Conference to deliver a breakthrough on financing for developing countries, noting that finance is the key enabler of enhanced ambition and climate action. This is particularly at a time when developing countries are facing multiple developmental challenges and the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Developed countries shall provide new and additional, sustained, predictable, adequate and timely finance, technology development and transfer and capacity- building support to developing countries with a significant public funded component, with less conditionality and more reasonable co-financing requirements, open markets and carry out practical technological cooperation, which will serve as the basis for mutual trust and for the comprehensive and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.

The Ministers said such support must not exacerbate the existing debt crisis confronting many developing countries.

Also known as COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference is scheduled to be held in Glasgow, the United Kingdom, in November 2021.

The meeting which was attended by South Africas Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy, welcomed South Africas offer to host the 31st BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change in 2022. SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
(Straits Times)  With Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announcing that he is stepping aside as leader of the Peoples Action Partys (PAP) fourth-generation team, the spotlight is now on who is likely to succeed him.

At a press conference on April 8, the partys 4G leaders said they would need more time to select another leader from among them.

Here are four core members of the 4G team whom political analysts consider the likely candidates to replace Heng as the teams leader, and potentially succeed Lee Hsien Loong as Singapores prime minister: Chan Chun Sing, 51, Ong Ye Kung, 51, Lawrence Wong, 48, and Desmond Lee, 44.

All four sit on the PAPs central executive committee, and were among the 4G leaders who attended the press conference at the Istana on Thursday.

Wong and Desmond Lee were newly elected to the ruling partys top decision-making body in November last year.

Within the party, Chan ranks highest among the four as second assistant secretary-general. Heng, who is first assistant secretary-general, had chosen Chan as his deputy.

Currently Minister for Trade and Industry and Minister-in-charge of the Public Service, Chan joined politics in 2011 after 24 years in the Singapore Armed Forces, where he rose to become chief of army.

He was elected MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC and appointed Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports; and Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts.

Chan was then promoted to full minister in 2013, and helmed the social and family development portfolio. He was also Second Minister for Defence then.

He has been deputy chairman of the Peoples Association since 2015.

Ong contested the 2011 general election as part of the PAP team in Aljunied that lost to the Workers Party.

He successfully ran for election in Sembawang GRC in 2015, and was appointed Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills). He was promoted to full minister the next year and made Second Defence Minister.

Ong later helmed the full education portfolio. Now Transport Minister, he is concurrently a board member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Prior to politics, he worked at Keppel Corporation and the National Trades Union Congress, and was chief executive of the Workforce Development Agency. He was principal private secretary to Prime Minister Lee from 2003 to 2005, and his press secretary before that.

Wong, 48, is also a former principal private secretary to Prime Minister Lee. He then headed the Energy Market Authority before entering politics in 2011.

Now Minister for Education and Second Minister for Finance, he was made full minister in 2014 and has held positions in the defense; communications and information; national development; and culture, community and youth portfolios.

Wongs profile has risen due to his role in leading the governments pandemic response as co-chair of the multiministry task force on Covid-19, alongside Health Minister Gan Kim Yong.

He chairs the PAP Community Foundation and Singapore Labour Foundation, and sits on the boards of several organizations, including GIC and the Future Economy Council.

The youngest of the four is Desmond Lee, who is Minister for National Development and Minister-in-Charge of Social Services Integration.

He was elected MP for Jurong GRC in 2011, and in 2017 was appointed Minister in the Prime Ministers Office, Minister for Social and Family Development, and Second Minister for National Development.

He moved to West Coast GRC for the 2020 general election.

Lee co-chairs the Singapore Together movement that encourages people to partner the Government, as well as the Emerging Stronger task force charting the Republics post-pandemic economic recovery.

Before politics, Lee, who is the son of former cabinet minister Lee Yock Suan, served as a deputy public prosecutor and state counsel in the criminal justice division of the Attorney Generals Chambers. He also previously headed the Ministry of Healths legal department and was Temaseks in-house counsel.

This article was originally published by The Straits Times

Contact editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)

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Despite being half the size of the legal cannabis market in California, New York is poised to impact the larger industry and culture beyond its state lines and U.S. borders.

Why it matters: Even as cannabis is still simultaneously illegal at a federal level and only somewhat legal in 42 states, New Yorks unique global identity and mix of industries will enable changes in perception and business operations, experts say.

Driving the news: New York is now one of 16 states that have passed legislation to legalize recreational use, with many aspects of the law taking effect immediately.

How it works: Retail cannabis sales are expected to begin in 2022, but smoking cannabis in public is now permitted wherever smoking tobacco is allowed locally, and adults can possess up to 3 ounces of cannabis for recreational use.

Retail cannabis sales are expected to begin in 2022, but smoking cannabis in public is now permitted wherever smoking tobacco is allowed locally, and adults can possess up to 3 ounces of cannabis for recreational use. There are currently around three dozen marijuana dispensaries statewide for medical marijuana, and going forward, two new agencies will create and implement new regulations and licenses.

The New York Governor's Office expects the industry to create 30,00060,000 jobs and collect $350 million in annual tax revenue.

What they're saying: New York is one of the most visited destinations in the world, so the state can play cultural cannabis ambassador that no other jurisdiction has played to date, says John Kagia, chief knowledge officer of New Frontier Data, a marijuana market research firm.

Going forward in New York, medical marijuana patients can be prescribed treatments for a larger list of medical conditions, which may expand the state's existing operations.

Existing medical operators can now also obtain a license to cultivate, process and distribute cannabis  while most other companies wont be allowed to handle all parts of a recreational transaction.

What to watch: Expect an East Coast domino effect.

Govs. Ned Lamont and Daniel McKee, of respective neighbors Connecticut and Rhode Island, seem eager to align, while New Hampshire's Gov. Chris Sununu does not.

The dominos may also start to fall elsewhere.

Starting July 1, Virginia will become the first southern state to allow adult use.

Pennsylvania is a regional holdout as the states Republican-controlled legislature resists Democratic Gov. Tom Wolfs commitment for change.

In the long run, New York may aid the East Coast in becoming a bigger market with more lobbying power. But the West Coast  Washington, Oregon and California  wins on price thanks to supply gluts and unlimited licenses.

When Wall Street sees how the market develops on its own block, theres some expectation that financial players will want the SAFE Banking Act passed so they can work with cannabis clients without federal penalties.

By the numbers: With approximately 28 million people of age, California is the largest legal cannabis market in the world  nearly twice the size of New Yorks legal market (15 million).

California generated $4.4 billion in legal marijuana sales in 2020, or roughly 20% of global cannabis sales.

New York is expected to generate about $3.7 billion in sales by 2025, which is about half of what California is expected to generate that year, New Frontier Data says.

The bigger picture: As much excitement as there is for the economic benefits of an expanded cannabis industry, New Yorks passage also demonstrates the social need for legalization and decriminalization.

Black and Hispanic people are still arrested at higher rates for possession.

Democratic lawmakers fought and won against Gov. Cuomo to use a majority of the tax revenue toward disproportionately impacted communities, public education, and drug treatment and prevention.

New Yorks legislation also lays out a goal for social and economic equity  specifically, that half of the states licenses will be given to women, minorities, disabled veterans, farmers and people who have been impacted disproportionately by cannabis enforcement.

Yes, but: Opponents of broader legalization argue that increased use will lead to more incidents of impaired driving and that approving the New York bill sends a message to children that marijuana is harmless fun endorsed by the state.

The bottom line: There has never been a greater likelihood of public support in the U.S. for the legalization of marijuana, according to Gallup. As one of the most populated and influential states in the country  and a financial center of the world  New York will have an outsized impact on the shape of the cannabis industry.
A policeman allegedly shot dead his neighbour's four beloved dogs before dragging their bodies away and buried them in a shallow grave.

Townsville cop Greg Baker, 44, allegedly killed the four pets - Cheeko, Jelly Bean, Nacho and Spud - after they wandered near his property in July, 2020.

Their owners put a desperate plea out for help finding their companions before discovering the heartbreaking alleged truth - saying in a Facebook post they were trying to 'contain their rage'.

Townsville cop Greg Baker, 44, allegedly killed the four pets - Cheeko, Jelly Bean, Nacho and Spud - after they wandered near his property in July, 2020

The dogs, a Labrador-cross, two German shepherd-cross and a staghound, were roaming the neighbourhood when they were allegedly killed

The dogs, a Labrador-cross, two German shepherd-cross and a staghound, were roaming the neighbourhood when they were allegedly killed.

Baker allegedly killed them as they walked through a feedlot, shooting the four adored pets dead with a rifle.

'I had heard watch your dogs if they get out in parts of Blackriver,' a Facebook user wrote in response to the story.

'I've heard this too,' another replied.

A policeman allegedly shot dead his neighbour's four beloved dogs before dragging their bodies away and buried them in a shallow grave

The dogs' owners had initially posted on Facebook requesting help finding Cheeko, Jelly Bean, Nacho and Spud, reading: 'Missing... very much missed'.

The post was updated hours later after learning Baker allegedly killed them.

Baker, who worked across Townsville from several different stations, has since resigned from Queensland Police.

He will face court at the end of April.
A Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is administered in this tile photo taken in New York City on April 8, 2021. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

European Regulator Probing Possible Link Between Blood Clots and J&J COVID-19 Vaccine

A small number of people who received Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine have developed blood clots, the European Medicines Agency said Friday.

The agencys committee in charge of assessing medicines has launched a review of the vaccines safety that will delve into the reports of post-vaccination blood clots.

Four serious cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets have been reported post-vaccination with COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen. One case occurred in a clinical trial and three cases occurred during the vaccine rollout in the USA. One of them was fatal, the agency said in a statement.

Janssen is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

It is not clear yet whether there is a causal association between the vaccine and the blood clots, according to the European Medicines Agency.

The committee will probe the cases and decide whether regulatory action may be necessary.

The United States authorized Johnson & Johnsons shot last month and has administered nearly 5 million doses as of Thursday morning.

The shot was authorized in the European Union on March 11 but the rollout of the shots has not started yet.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Americas top drug regulator, told The Epoch Times via email that it was aware of the blood clots that occurred in people post-vaccination.

At this time, we have not found a causal relationship with vaccination and we are continuing our investigation and assessment of these cases. Our analysis of the data will inform the potential need for regulatory action, the agency said.

A vial with Johnson & Johnsons one-dose COVID-19 vaccine is seen at the Vaxmobile, at the Uniondale Hempstead Senior Center, in Uniondale, N.Y., on March 31, 2021. (Mary Altaffer/AP Photo)

FDA documents detailing why it decided to authorize the shot include notes on a small number of patients in a late-stage clinical trial developing blood clots after vaccination. The agency determined that a causal relationship with the vaccine could not be determined, adding, The assessment of causality was confounded by the presence of underlying medical conditions that may have predisposed individuals to these events.

Johnson & Johnson told The Epoch Times via email that it prioritizes the safety and well-being of people who use its products and that the company shares all adverse event reports post-vaccination, along with its own assessment of each report, with health authorities.

We are aware that thromboembolic events including those with thrombocytopenia have been reported with all COVID-19 vaccines. Our close tracking of side effects has revealed a small number of very rare events following vaccination. At present, no clear causal relationship has been established between these rare events and the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company said.

We continue to work closely with experts and regulators to assess the data and support the open communication of this information to health care professionals and the public to help ensure that, in the event of a very rare illness, appropriate steps can be taken for quick diagnosis and treatment, the company said, adding that anyone who experiences symptoms such as swelling, shortness of breath, and neurological difficulties after vaccination should immediately seek medical assistance.

Another COVID-19 vaccine, from the UK-based AstraZeneca, was previously investigated by the European Medicines Agency after reports of post-vaccination blood clots.

The agency concluded this week that there was a possible link between the vaccine and clots but recommended countries still use the jab, ruling the benefits outweigh the risks. However, the agency advised AstraZeneca to include rare blood clots as a possible side effect for its vaccine.

That came after an agency official said it is clear that there is an association between the clots and the vaccine.

The United Nations World Health Organization committee said last month, based on a review of clinical trial data and safety data, that reported rates of post-vaccination clots were in line with the expected number of diagnoses of these conditions, noting that clots sometimes occur as a result of COVID-19.

The committee recommended continued use of the AstraZeneca shot.
On Thursday, April 8, the European Commission approved an updated draft decision on the signing of the Common Aviation Area Agreement with Ukraine, which paves the way for the adoption of this document at the level of the Council of the EU.

This was reported by the Mission of Ukraine to the EU on Facebook.

Today European Commission has approved the draft Council Decision on the signing of the Common Aviation Area Agreement between the EU and its Member States and Ukraine. Next steps are the approvement by the Council of the EU and actual signing of the Agreement, the report reads.

The Mission notes that the conclusion of this agreement will ensure the air operation in Ukraine in line with the EU standards on aviation safety, air traffic management and aviation consumer protection.

We eagerly look forward to more flights and destinations. It will also open new opportunities for our citizens and business as well as investments into Ukrainian aviation, the report says.

The European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) is a bilateral agreement between the EU and third countries that establishes common safety standards and liberalizes aviation market relations, ensuring more efficient and safer use of airspace.

Negotiations on the ECAA with Ukraine ended in 2013, but the signing of the agreement was blocked due to the UK-Spain conflict over the status of Gibraltar airport.

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Fox News is under fire for comments linking the death of Prince Philip to a recent interview by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Buckingham Palace announced Friday that Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, has died at age 99. Minutes later, Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade appeared to blame the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for contributing to the elderly British royals death.

There are reports that [Philip] was enraged after the interview and the fallout from the interview with Oprah Winfrey, so here he is trying to recover and hes hit with that, Kilmeade said

Piers Morgan was saying on his morning show, which he famously walked off of, is like Really? Your grandfather is in the hospital, you know hes not doing well, is this really the time you have to put out this interview? Evidently, it definitely added to his stress.

Harry and Meghan became a trending topic as social media users criticized Fox News and UK tabloids suggesting the royal couple bears any responsibility for Philips death. See video clips here and here.

How dare Harry and Meghan kill a perfectly healthy man who was only 99 years old, one sarcastic tweet said.

Just waiting to hear from the Daily Mail how Meghan and Harrys interview with Oprah contributed to Prince Philips untimely death, another Twitter user wrote.

Prince Philip spent nearly a month in King Edward VIIs Hospital in London earlier this year after being treated for an infection and undergoing a heart procedure. He had been in declining health for years, stepping back from royal duties in 2017 and giving up his drivers license after a serious car crash in 2019.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle criticized life in the palace during an interview with Winfrey that aired while Philip was in the hospital. The couple, who now lives in California, said a member of the royal family made racist comments about the color of their unborn childs skin and Meghan said she was denied mental health help as she battled depression and suicidal thoughts.

The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning,' the palace said in a statement issued on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, Harrys grandmother, last month. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.'
Aalto University, University of Helsinki and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have signed an agreement to collaborate on quantum science and technology, under the umbrella of InstituteQ: The Finnish Quantum Institute. InstituteQ brings together expertise in research, education, and innovation to drive Finland's world-leading quantum technology research.

'Our goals are threefold,' explains Professor Jukka Pekola, Aalto University, 'firstly, to coordinate our national research efforts; secondly, to provide the best possible education, both in graduate and industrial programs; and thirdly, in driving innovation.'

'It is widely recognised that the expertise level in the workforce is currently a major bottleneck in developing quantum technology,' explains Professor Sabrina Maniscalco, University of Helsinki, 'By combining and coordinating our resources, we will be able to grow expertise in new directions.'

All three of the founder institutions have decades of experience in the research, teaching and commercialisation of quantum science and technology. By joining forces through InstituteQ, the parties aim to keep Finland and Europe at the forefront of an increasingly competitive global field.

'We see exponential and sustainable growth opportunities in quantum technologies for the future. We want to be inclusive and invite interested stakeholders - companies and institutions alike - across Finland to join. InstituteQ will be a global window of Finnish quantum expertise and facilitate new, international collaborations' said Dr Himadri Majumdar, VTT, 'Our aim is to all work together to leverage Finland's quantum expertise to create new opportunities - for both research, and business.' Supporting a growing ecosystem

'Quantum technology' is the application of phenomena that arise from the unique behaviour of quantum physics. The most widely recognised technology is quantum computing: making computers that can solve problems that are impossible for regular computers to solve. Quantum computing will be useful for problems like designing new medicines, securing digital communication and data storage, and others. Developing quantum computing requires whole new types of hardware, software, and communication technologies, with completely different logic from conventional computers.

Aalto University, University of Helsinki and VTT are already strong global leaders in the research and development of the technology needed for quantum systems, such as devices and sensors, novel quantum materials, and quantum information. Finland is currently building a 3-stage Quantum Computer in a co-development project led by VTT and together with Finnish start-up IQM. The project showcases Finnish expertise and provides an initial platform for both further research, innovation and commercial activities.

'Finnish companies are already working in this area, both as technology enablers providing the hardware and software to exploit quantum phenomena; and as end-users providing services that use quantum technology to customers' explains Dr Majumdar, 'at InstituteQ we want to work with both.'

'We have a lot of students, both domestic and international who are interested in studying quantum technology' continues Professor Maniscalco. 'By supporting the creation of new professorships and national educational programs across our partner institutions we will be able to grow the expertise here in Finland that industry and academia need to harness the capabilities of quantum technology.'

'In Finland, we already have a strong environment for quantum technology, such as the OtaNano research infrastructure and the QTF Centre of Excellence' says Professor Pekola, 'We want the Institute to guide the development of current infrastructure, and have a role in generating new pathways and projects for quantum technologies. We are looking forward to growing the institute to include more partners, collaborators and stakeholders from across research and industry in Finland. Together we can get the maximum benefit out of our great research environment, and develop it further to meet the needs of the future.'

###

Contact Details

Jukka Pekola

Aalto University

+358 50 3442697

jukka.pekola@aalto.fi

Sabrina Maniscalco

Helsinki University

+358 50 3663922

sabrina.maniscalco@helsinki.fi

Himadri Majumdar

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

+358 40 6589596

himadri.majumdar@vtt.fi
In the aftermath of the death of Prince Philip, the Leinster Leader recalls the occasion when the Queen and her husband visited Ireland.

Stopping off at the Irish National Stud, they enjoyed a warm welcome at the Kildare tourist attraction.

Prince Philip standing far left during the royal visit to Kildare in 2011. Photos courtesy of Jimmy Fullam.

Prince Philip standing far right as the royal party are shown some of the horses.

Kildare native and Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail, and the Cathaoirleach Senator Mark Daly have extended their sympathy to Queen Elizabeth, her extended family and all the people of the United Kingdom on the death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Speaking today they said On behalf of the Houses of the Oireachtas we extend our sincere sympathy to Queen Elizabeth and family and to all the people of the United Kingdom on the death of their beloved Prince Philip. Throughout his long life he showed an exemplary commitment to public service and was a constant support to Queen Elizabeth. Today a family has lost a husband of many years, a father, a grandfather, a friend and a nation has lost a Prince who represented it with good humour and deep dedication over a long period of time.

We remember in particular the Princes establishment of and commitment to the Duke of Edinburgh awards which was founded by the Duke in 1956 and are present today in over 144 nations worldwide. This youth award scheme is a wonderful testament and legacy to the commitment and essence of public service displayed by the Duke over many years.

Here is former Leinster Leader reporter, Paula Campbell's account of the visit in 2011.

Queen Elizabeth II was clearly in her element during her flying visit to the Irish national Stud on Thursday morning last, May 19.

Greeted with a round of applause as she stepped out of the royal jeep with the Duke of Edinburgh, even the weather was in her favour as black clouds threatened but failed to dampen the visit.

Her face said it all, a mixture of delight and genuine interest in, not only the stallions Invincilble Spirit and Amadeus Wolf, but talking to champion jockey Johnny Murtagh and the students from Kildare towns Racing Academy and Centre for education ( RACE).

Her love and life long interest in horses provided a common ground for all who attended the historic visit, which began with an escort around the grounds from CEO of the national Stud John Osborne and chair of the studs board, Lady Chryss O'Reilly. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh seemed equally intrigued by a demonstration of horse simulator, Henry, which is similar to a rodeo bucking bronco and used to train the student jockeys.

Next, the Queen was shown two student farriers in action, Jason Hogan from Kildare Town and Barry McGrath from Limerick. The students kept their heads down to make a horse shoe as the Queen viewed their handiwork.

"I was delighted to be chosen," said Jason ( 26) who is in his second year of the four year Irish Farriery School course.

"I didn't dare look up - I just made my shoe but I think she was smiling."

Dressed in a corn- flower blue suit with matching hat, the Queen looked radiant as she then went to talk to the students of the stud management course.

"It was absolutely amazing," said student Chris McGrath ( 20) from the Curragh speaking to the Leinster Leader afterwards. "This seemed to be the highlight of the trip for her. There are no words to describe what the Queens visit means to us."

Then it was time for the parade of the stallions where the Queen inspected at close hand Invincible Spirit and Amadeus Wolf. A third, Verglas, was due to be shown but had sadly passed away suddenly just hours before her visit. Handler David Hanratty paraded the stallions with pride as Invincible Spirit showed his worth by rearing up impressively, as if on cue, in front of the Queen.

Jockey Johnny Murtagh, who represented RACE on the day, paid tribute to Verglas afterwards.

"It was brilliant to see the Queen in Kildare," he said after the visit.

"I've met her a couple of times at the Royal Ascot. It is great meeting her there because it usually means I have won. Verglas was getting on in age but thats horses for you - its a tough life. Verglas was a champion race horse and a great stallion."

Before her departure, the Queen then unveiled a sculpture dedicated to Sea The Stars, the champion thoroughbred racehouse bred at the national Stud. Designed by artist Anthony Scott, the bronze sphere features all the signs of the zodiac in memory of the founder of the national Stud, ColWilliam Hall- Walker.

Col Walker, who donated the stud farm to the State, was adamant that horses should always be able to see the stars. Herelied, to great success, on a foals horoscope at birth as to whether it would be kept by the Stud or not. The sculpture was described as ingenious by the Queen.

Finally, the royal visitor was given a beautiful bouquet of flowers by eight- year- old Emma Osborne, and then was quickly whisked away to her private lunch engagement at Gilltown Stud in Kilcullen, home to Sea The Stars himself.
A national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, has stated that the achievements of the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, have made the office unquestionable.

Mr Tinubu stated this on Thursday at a book launch in honour of the First Lady.

The book titled, Aisha Buhari: Being different, was written by her Senior Special Assistant on Administration and Women Affairs, Hajo Sani.

Mrs Buhari, who is known for her criticisms against her husbands government, was away from the country for over five months.

She returned back to the country less than a month ago from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

After the swearing in of her husband in 2019, Mrs Buhari declared herself the First Lady of Nigeria.

This was against her husbands pledge in 2014 where he said that he would not have an office of the first lady should he emerge as president. He gave as his reason the fact that such office is not provided for in the constitution.

Mrs Buhari, following this statement, also gave her word that she would abide by whatever the constitution stipulates, and said she would perform her traditional duties only as the wife of the president.

However, after he was elected for a second term, Mr Buhari changed his stance and allowed his wife to occupy the office of the First Lady.

Concerns laid to rest

Justifying the office, the APC national leader said Mrs Buhari had achieved a lot.

Given the First Ladys achievements, no one can reasonably question the role of a First Lady any longer. Remember there were those who argued that the constitution does not assign an official role to the First Lady. Because of Dr. Mrs. Aisha Buhari, their concerns have been forever laid to rest.

The First Lady has played an uplifting, unifying role both in symbol and substance. She has been a voice of conscience calling us to be our better selves for the good of the nation and for the betterment of the weakest, most vulnerable among us.

As such she has been a strong pillar of support not only to the president but also to the Nigerian people whom they both serve with such patriotic commitment and high purpose.

The role of the First Lady is instrumental to our society and to how a great number of our people relate to government.

Custom and tradition may call to her in a certain way. Yet, the issues of the day may call to her in another. First Lady Aisha Buhari has done a masterful job melding the calls of tradition and the imperatives of today into a creative, benevolent role that has enriched society and the art of governance.

She has been an active and dedicated voice to those whom society sometimes forgets. She gives comfort to the broken and seeks relief for the destitute. No one can doubt her concern. And her care for the wellbeing of women, children and the powerless has established the standard for the office of the First Lady for years to come.

Mrs. Buhari shows that a First Lady should not stand aloof and detached from what is happening in the country. Mrs. Buhari never shies from what she believes in. This makes her a reliable and true advisor to her beloved husband. No doubt that Mr. Presidents administration has been enriched because of her active role and the teamwork that exists between husband and wife, he said.

The event was attended by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, state governors and other dignitaries.

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A fake email purporting to be from the chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee claiming he had submitted his resignation has been sent to journalists and MPs.

Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative MP who was recently among nine British citizens to be sanctioned by Beijing, suggested no-one on the committee fell for it, adding: This is what Chinas psyops looks like.

The email  sent from an AOL account using Mr Tugendhats name  told members of the committee he was notifying them of his wish to resign as chair of the body due to the sanctions making his position untenable.

Despite his role being elected by parliament, the email, which was also sent to The Independent, went on: I have tendered my resignation to the prime minister and Boris Johnson has accepted my letter of resignation. An announcement will be made at the next sitting of the prime minister in parliament.

It added: At this stage, the sanctions that have been placed upon myself by China makes my position untenable.

It leaves me with no other option but to resign as I am unable to effectively operate on an international stage along with our G-20 and United Nations partners in matters of international affairs.

However, posting on social media, Mr Tugendhat said the email had missed a number of points, including that sanctions have boosted support for our work and that India, Japan and the US had recently reached out to him.

He added: One last point  I chair a committee, I dont work for the PM so couldnt resign to him but only to parliament.

But you can expect a communist flunkey to understand that democratic power comes from the people through parliament not from the head of government.

The origin of the email is unknown, but the Labour MP Chris Bryant, a member of the committee who also received it to his parliamentary address, told The Independent: The Chinese states jokesters seem to be up to their usual tricks. Toms courageous stance on human rights abuses in China and elsewhere shows precisely why hes a perfect chair of the committee.

Last month, Mr Tugendhat was among nine MPs, peers and academics to be hit by sanctions by China after being vocal critics of the countrys approach to Hong Kong and alleged human rights abuses against the Uighur people.

Beijing imposed the measures, which prohibits the parliamentarians from doing business with Chinese citizens and institutions, in a retaliatory move after Britain announced it had sanctioned Chinese officials for abuses against the Muslim minority in the Xinjiang province.

Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, has previously denounced the abuses he described as being on an industrial scale, citing reports of torture, forced labour and sterilisation of women.

At the time Mr Tugendhat described the sanctions against UK citizens as a direct assault on British democracy and an attempt to silence the people that the British public have chosen to speak for them.
A father had a confronting conversation with his three surviving children about whether they wanted to watch the man who killed their brother and sisters receive his jail sentence.

Samuel William Davidson was speeding, drunk and high on drugs when he fatally struck Sienna Abdallah, eight, Angelina, 12 and Antony, 13, and their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, on February 1 last year in Oatlands in Sydney's north-west.

Davidson, 30, was told at Parramatta District Court on Friday that he would spend at least 21 years in prison.

In the days before the sentencing, the siblings' father, Danny Abdallah, said he had a heartbreaking conversation with his surviving kids and asked if they wanted to join him and his wife, Leila, in court.

His eldest daughter Liana bravely said she wanted to go and see the sentence handed down.

Danny Abdallah (right) and wife Leila are seen outside court on Friday after the man responsible for fatally crashing into their children was jailed for 21 years

Mr Abdallah said he asked his eldest surviving daughter Liana (pictured with mother Leila) if she wanted to join him and Leila at the sentencing to which she agreed

Samuel William Davidson was jailed for 21 years after the horror crash in February last year

'I told my surviving children that the driver that ran over their siblings and Veronique will be sentenced in court and Liana decided to join us,' Mr Abdallah said, The Daily Telegraph reported.

'We prepared for (the sentencing) with prayer.'

Judge James Bennett gave Davidson a maximum term in prison of 28 years but Mr Abdallah said no matter how long the jail sentence was, it couldn't bring back his beloved children.

'Whether he gets one year or 100 years we won't get Antony, Angelina, Sienna and Veronique back,' he said.

Instead, he said the day marked 'another milestone on our journey of grief'.

'We will all have our hearts broken until the day we take our last breath,' he said.

Davidson, a professional truck driver, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Veronique Sakr, 11, and her cousins, Sienna Abdallah, eight, and her siblings Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13

After the crash, Davidson appeared distressed and was heard saying: 'What have I done? ... I have killed people ... I am going to jail.'

'No sentence can help ease that pain.'

Three children survived the crash that shocked Australia but one was so badly injured he suffered permanent brain damage and now needs help for performing basic tasks.

Judge Bennett said the menacing, dangerous and aggressive driving sustained over a significant period leading up to the tragic event showed all responsibility to the road safety of others by Davidson was abandoned.

The tragedy was inevitable, but the magnitude of the tragedy extended to the unimaginable, Judge Bennett said.

Davidson, a professional truck driver, was afforded a 25 per cent discount on sentence after pleading guilty to manslaughter for the children he killed and also pleading guilty to three charges relating to the injuries caused to three other children.

Bridget Sakr (centre) and Craig Mackenzie (right) arrive at Parramatta District Court for Davidson's sentencing

The 30-year-old had been sitting poolside with his housemates drinking Vodka Cruisers and beers, having his first drink about 7am before consuming drugs and getting behind the wheel on the day of the fatal crash.

He was observed by witnesses speeding through a red light, swerving anti-clockwise around a round-about, and driving at a maximum speed of 133km/h in a 50km/h zone.

After the crash, Davidson appeared distressed and was heard saying: 'What have I done? ... I have killed people ... I am going to jail.'

Davidson's letter of apology stated that he is heartbroken to have hurt such beautiful families by his disgraceful actions and that he would do anything to relive that day sober and never leave the house.

While in court, Davidson wiped away tears while Mr Abdallah read his victim impact statement.

He did not look in the eyes of his family or the family of the children killed during his sentencing.
Novant Health is closing its mass COVID-19 testing centers in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, the hospital system announced Friday.

The hospital system will still offer COVID-19 tests at Novant Health primary care and pediatric clinics, and at Novant Health GoHealth Urgent Care clinics.

Novant Health said the COVID-19 screening assessment centers are closing as of Friday due to decreased demand.

The number of Mecklenburg County residents getting COVID-19 tests has decreased steadily in recent months. In the most recent data report, Mecklenburg Countys seven day average of resident tests hit its lowest point since October.

As of Friday, Novant Health has administered over 540,000 COVID-19 tests, according to the hospital system.

Novant Senior Vice President John Howard thanked colleagues for their work at the screening centers and ensuring that all communities had access to the testing. Now, we ask our community members to join us in our efforts to get as many people vaccinated as possible, he said.

Charlotte hospital system Atrium Health also offers COVID-19 testing at Urgent Care clinics.
Scott Morrison's plan to open Australia for international travel by October has been thrown into doubt amid fears millions still won't be vaccinated by then.

The government previously predicted overseas travel would be 'widespread' by October which was when everyone was expected to have received the jab.

But the recommendation that under 50s should have the Pfizer vaccine due to a very low risk of blood clots caused by the AstraZeneca jab is expected to push back the timeline.

Scott Morrison's plan to open Australia for international travel by October has been thrown into doubt Pictured: Commuters walk outside Melbourne's Flinders Street Station wearing masks

Australia's borders will remain closed while Europeans are able to book holidays. Pictured: A tourist near Barcelona in Spain

The Prime Minister on Friday admitted he has no idea when the rollout will be complete and when the borders can open.

'We're not in a position at the moment to reconfirm a timetable. We're not in that position. And I'm not going to do that,' he said.

Meanwhile, other countries around the world are preparing to relax border measures due to successful vaccine roll-outs.

The UK Government, for example, is preparing to give the green light to overseas trips from May, with a system rating destinations on their Covid-19 risk.

Australian tourism operators who have been smashed due to border closures since March 2020 fear the borders may stay shut for the rest of this year.

'Given the hope that is placed on the impact of the vaccine rollout [the AstraZeneca news] is obviously a concern to us,' said Daniel Gschwind, CEO of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council.

'We have been told categorically that the path to easing of restrictions and reduction of the treat of lockdown and the opening of international borders is all hinged on a comprehensive rollout of the vaccine,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday admitted he has no idea when borders can open. Pictured: Tourists in Rome last year

'So we have a very strong interest in seeing this achieved as soon as possible.

'Any hold up is a concern to us in the industry and a concern to the public and the travelling public hoping to move around freely without the impact of restrictions.'

However, Flight Centre boss Graham Turner was hopeful the borders could re-open once the most vulnerable people are vaccinated.

'The main thing is that people who are most likely to get sick from the virus will still have the vaccination because they are generally over 50,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

But he said younger people will need to chose to get the jab if they want to go abroad.

'The problem is that for visiting places like the US, the UK and Europe, you will likely need a vaccination certification or vaccine passport - so there will have to be a way for young people who want to travel to chose to get the jab anyway,' he said.

Mr Morrison has emphasised that young people can still get the AstraZeneca jab if they want to.

Mr Turner predicted that Australians will be allowed to travel to most places by Christmas if they test negative and are vaccinated.

'I would be surprised if this delay changes opening the borders. If we waited for the whole world to be vaccinated then we would be waiting forever,' he said.

After a National Cabinet meeting on Friday, Mr Morrison revealed he has asked the medical experts to say what needs to happen before the borders can open.

Mr Morrison has emphasised that young people can still get the AstraZeneca jab if they want to. They may need it to travel abroad

He wants to work out when it will be safe for vaccinated Australians to go overseas and return with home quarantine or no quarantine at all.

Under those circumstances, vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries would also be allowed to enter.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said there are several questions the experts need to find out the answers to before recommending the opening of borders.

He said: 'What is the role and the nature of the effect of the vaccine program in relation to transmission of the virus?

'What about variants of concern, how may that change these matters and what do we need to do specifically for those that have been shown to cause more severe disease or more highly transmissive virus.

'What is the length of protection given by the various vaccines that are being used? What about children, when should they be vaccinated?'

Meanwhile, Australia has ordered 20million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine after the AstraZeneca vaccine was linked to potentially deadly blood clots in rare cases.

The vaccines - taking Australia's Pfizer jab total to 40 million - are due to arrive in the final three months of 2021.

Australia has ordered 20million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine after the AstraZeneca vaccine was linked to potentially deadly bloodclots

Australia had relied heavily on the AstraZeneca vaccine with 53.8million doses ordered. It is also the only jab that it can manufacture onshore at the CSL factory in Melbourne.

Australia's Pfizer vaccines were due to arrive at a rate of 130,000 from April, but Health Minister Greg Hunt said this will now hugely expand and double by July.

The government did not reveal how much the extra vaccines cost or which country they will come from. Australia's told spend on vaccines is about $4billion.

Mr Morrison said Australians can still choose to take the the AstraZeneca jab if they want.

I want my mum to get it, and that's why I want your mum to get it Scott Morrison on AstraZeneca jab

'It is not a ban on the AstraZeneca vaccine, it is not a prohibition on the AstraZeneca vaccine, it recommends and notes that the risk of these side effects are remote.

'They are very rare. We are talking in the vicinity of five to six per million which is a rather rare event. But it must be acknowledged,' Mr Morrison said.

'It's important so Australians can make informed decisions about their vaccination and their health care with their medical professionals, with their doctor.

'So there was no instruction not to take that vaccine. There is an acknowledgement of the risk that is there but as is the case always with these matters these are decisions for Australians.'

The prime minster encouraged Australians over 50 to have the AstraZeneca jab because they are less at risk of the clotting events and more at risk of getting seriously sick from Covid-19.

'You would be putting yourself at risk if you didn't get the vaccine, because you would be exposing yourself to the more likely event of a COVID contracted condition that could result in serious illness,' he said.

'That's why I want my mum to get it, and that's why I want your mum to kept get it, and your dad, your uncle, your aunt, your brother, your sister. That's a life-saving vaccine.'
As they mourned the death of Prince Philip, who through 73 years of marriage to Queen Elizabeth II helped preserve a monarchy that many people saw as out of place in the modern world, the royal family and the nation grappled with how to pay him final honors amid a pandemic when mass gatherings are prohibited.

Tributes and condolences poured in from around Britain and the world, and small crowds collected outside Windsor Castle, where the 99-year-old prince died, and outside Buckingham Palace in London, despite rules barring outdoor gatherings of more than six people. Many of those gathered laid bouquets at the perimeter gates.

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, will not lie in state for public viewing. His funeral will be held at St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle, rather than a much larger and more public venue like Westminster Abbey in London, and because of the pandemic it will not be open to the public. More details are expected to be released on Saturday.

His death follows a traumatic 13 months in which Covid-19 has killed more than 150,000 Britons  by far the highest official toll in Europe  and social distancing requirements have deprived millions of survivors of the usual commemorations. Now it is the nations most prominent family dealing with the same issue. Britain currently allows no more than 30 people to attend a funeral.
RFE/RL Denounces Latest Kremlin Efforts to Force RFE/RL Out Of Russia

Russias media regulator, Roskomnadzor will serve RFE/RL 130 more violation protocols beginning on April 16  bringing the total number of violations charged by Roskomnadzor to 520, and the anticipated total amount of fines assessed to $2.3 million. Also - Russia Keeps The Pressure On To Push RFE/RL Out Of The Country .

INCIDENTS AND THREATS

Jailed Crimean Journalist Tells Court He Was Tortured, Coerced To 'Confess' On Russian TV

An RFE/RL freelance correspondent arrested in Ukraine's Russia-annexed Crimea has told a court he was tortured with electric shocks, beaten, and threatened with death unless he "confessed" to spying on behalf of Ukraine. Vladyslav Yesypenko's lawyer on April 6 said his client testified during a closed-door court hearing that the torture lasted two days after his arrest in March on what the defense calls false charges. On Wednesday, April 7, Yesypenko was reportedly once again taken out for investigative actions without an independent lawyer present .

RFE/RL Tatar-Bashkir Service Journalist On Trial For Doing Her Job

RFE/RL Tatar-Bashkir Service project Idel.Realities correspondent Darya Komarova is on trial, charged with participating in an unauthorized rally on January 23 in Cheboksary, Chuvashia. She is accused of taking part in the rally, while she was in fact on assignment to cover the protests; she has also been charged for covering protests on January 31, and in August 2020. Said RFE/RL President Jamie Fly, The rationale offered by Russian authorities for violating Komarovas right to report about local news events is both laughable and frightening. The Kremlin is actively deciding what media it will allow its people to see, hear, or watch. (Tatar-Bashkir/Idel Realii)

U.S. Secretary Of State Expresses Concern Over Russian Attempts To Restrict RFE/RL

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed his support for U.S. international media amid concerns over Russian efforts to shut down and muzzle RFE/RL under its controversial foreign agent law. Blinken met on April 6 with the acting head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), Kelu Chao, to discuss the vital role that free and independent media play in the preservation and promotion of democratic principles worldwide, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

Governments In Europe, Central Asia Used Pandemic To Clamp Down On Human Rights, Amnesty Says

Amnesty International says some measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic have aggravated existing patterns of abuses and inequalities in Europe and Central Asia, where a number of governments used the crisis as a smokescreen for power grabs, clampdowns on freedoms, and a pretext to ignore human rights obligations. Government responses to COVID-19 exposed the human cost of social exclusion, inequality, and state overreach, the London-based watchdog said in its annual report released on April 7. According to the report, close to half of all countries in the region have imposed states of emergency related to COVID-19, with governments restricting rights such as freedom of movement, expression, and peaceful assembly.

Documentary Filmmaker Vitaly Mansky Attacked In Moscow

Vitaly Mansky, documentary filmmaker, founder of the Artdocfest film festival, and host of the Current Time TV program Real Cinema, was attacked outside of Moscows Oktyabr cinema, where the festival was underway, by activists of the pro-Kremlin SERB movement. According to festival representatives, SERB activists first tried to get into the press hall, but were not allowed. They then waited for Mansky and asked him for a comment, when he agreed, they began to insult him and attacked him. Festival audience members intervened and drove the attackers away. Mansky is fine and unharmed. (Russian Service)

How State-Run TV Talk Shows Are Preparing Russians For A New War

RFE/RLs Russian Service spoke with Novaya Gazeta deputy editor Kirill Martynov and Moskovsky Komsomolets TV columnist Aleksandr Melman about the goals and effectiveness of Russian propaganda. Martynov compared current efforts to Soviet propaganda - how again the main problem of a typical Russian citizen is not pensions, not medicine, not the environment and not even elections, but the story of how hostile whirlwinds are blowing over us. According to Martynov, it worked back then and is apparently working now; TV audiences are told that everyone who is dissatisfied with something in Russia is declared to be an accomplice of those very winds. (Russian Service)

Current Time TV Journalist Fined For Trying To Bring A Book Into Belarus

In the latest of a series of legal actions against independent journalists in Belarus, Current Times Minsk correspondent Raman Vasyukovich has been fined 580 Belarusian rubles (about $220) for allegedly seeking to distribute an extremist book, Belarusian Donbas by Belsat TV journalists Ihar Ilyash and Katsyaryna Andreyeva. The book was declared extremist in March 2021, three months after Vasyukovich had two copies taken from him while trying to enter Belarus at the Minsk airport. Vasyukovich told Current Time's April 7 Evening news show , I don't acknowledge my guilt because I didn't intend to distribute anything." Adding that not a single word of mine was heard, journalist told RFE/RLs Belarusian Service that he will appeal the court decision.

Prominent Russian Journalist Vladimir Pozner Names Himself Honorary Kakhetian, Promises To Return To Georgia

Following protests that forced veteran Russian state TV journalist and commentator Vladimir Pozner to cut short a visit to Georgia on March 31, Pozner said he plans to return to the country despite the recent negative experience. Pozner, who called himself an honorary Kakhetian [Kakheti - a region in Georgia], described what happened to him as part of a desperate political struggle inside Georgia. The opposition used my visit to arrange a kind of - I dont know what to call it - a sabbath or something, -- said Pozner. (Ekho Kavkaza)

Opposition: Kyrgyz State TV Actively Lobbying For New Constitution

Kyrgyz opposition representatives have complained to the countrys Central Election Commission about state-run TV channels which, according to the opposition, are using similar language to praise the upcoming April 11 constitutional referendum, initiated by president Sadyr Japarov, and criticise referendums opponents. In some instances, opponents of the new constitution are being accused of lacking respect for the nations values. (in Russian, Current Time TV)

Writers, Journalists Sent To Schools In Uzbekistan To Fight Information Attacks

As of April 1, schools in Uzbekistan have introduced a new faculty position -- spiritual propagandist, and journalists and writers union members are being recruited to fill these positions. According to a March 26 presidential decree, one of the tasks assigned to spiritual propagandists is to strengthen the ideological immunity of the younger generation from ideological and information attacks, but school administrators have not been told what a writer or a journalist will be expected to do in the job. (Uzbek Service)

Azeri Journalist Afgan Mukhtarli Returned To Tbilisi

Azeri journalist Afgan Mukhtarli wrote on his Facebook account that, as of April 6, he was again in Tbilisi, Georgia. In May 2017, Mukhtarli disappeared in Tbilisi, where he was living in exile, and reemerged two days later at a detention center in Azerbaijan, where he was sentenced to 6 years in prison; after being released by the Azeri government in March 2020, Mukhtarli went to Germany. Mukhtarlis lawyer said his client had been summoned by the Georgian prosecutor's office for an interrogation on April 8, and that Mukhtarlis return to Georgia was related to an investigation into his abduction. Georgian authorities have denied any involvement in the abduction of Mukhtarli and cooperation with Azerbaijani special services. (Ekho Kavkaza)

Kazakh Journalists Protest Against Police Pressure

Holding signs reading Stop police arbitrariness! and Stop beating journalists!, three correspondents from Kazakh TV channels KTK, Astana, and 31 Channel held a protest in front of the police department building in the city of Shymkent to demand an end to pressure on journalists. The television correspondents were joined by nearly two dozen colleagues. According to the journalists, police on April 4 interfered with their ability to report on a spontaneous protest by residents of the village of Altyntobe near Shymkent, threatening and physically harassing them. (Kazakh Service)

Uzbekistans Prosecutor General Issues Arrest Warrant For Two Journalists

Two journalists with the website Effect.Uz are wanted by Uzbek police, following an incident in January 2021 when they entered a judges chambers to demand that they be allowed to film their colleagues trial. The prosecutor generals office said the journalists did not appear for questioning regarding criminal charges brought against them, and charged them in absentia with Resistance to Authority or Person Fulfilling Civil Duty, and Interference in Investigation or Consideration of Cases in Court. The journalists deny the allegations. (Uzbek Service)
New Delhi, April 9 : The Congress on Friday questioned the Narendra Modi-led government over the explosive revelations made by a French news portal in the Rafale deal alleging that there was 'massive corruption' and 'loss to public exchequer of at least Rs 21,075 crore.

The remarks came after a French news portal mediapart.fr in a three series investigation claimed that it was in possession of documents that showed Dassault Aviation, which manufactures the Rafale jet, and its industrial partner Thales, a defence electronics firm, paid a "middleman" several million euros in "secret commissions" in connection with the Rs 59,000 crore deal for 36 jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Addressing a press conference here Congress national media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "The scandalous expose of facts and string of documents have uncovered a concerted collusion to defraud the public exchequer as also massive corruption." Firing salvos at the BJP-led central government, Surjewala said, "Isn't it correct that the 'Indian Negotiating Team' (INT) on August 10, 2015 arrived at a benchmark cost of Euro 5.06 billion for 36 Rafale fighter jets including weaponry package etc. Is it now not proved by the document released by the French News Portal, who has accessed Enforcement Directorate (ED) documents recovered from the middlemen?" He questioned that isn't it correct that the price of Euro 7.87 billion for 36 aircraft was decided by Dassault Aviation in its internal meeting dated January 20, 2016.

He asked is it not correct that the Indian team had rejected this price calculation of Euro 7.87 billion for 36 aircraft, the very next day and isn't it correct that on September 23, 2016, the price of Euro 7.87 billion for 36 aircraft was accepted by the BJP government and the contract awarded to Dassault.

Surjewala said, "What was the reason for additional payment of Rs 21,075 crore, causing loss to the public exchequer?" The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had inked a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016, to procure 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation after a nearly seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force did not fructify during the UPA regime.

The Congress had raised the issue of corruption in the Rafale deal ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The government had rejected all the charges levelled by the opposition.

Surjewala also questioned whether the ED recovered the "secret defence ministry documents" from the middlemen in the raid on March 26, 2019, including the 'benchmark price document' and other documents.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Ukraine will not take on faith any version of downing of the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 that was voiced but not confirmed by real evidence.

This was said in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

The ministry drew attention to the comments by representatives of the Iranian Foreign Ministry on the UIA plane crash case.

Instead of taking into account the objective remarks based on the international experience of investigating air crashes, the Iranian side resorted to irresponsible accusations of the lack of constructiveness of the Ukrainian side," the statement reads.

The Iranian side is manipulating when it says that during two rounds of negotiations, explanations were given about the causes of the plane crash. These reasons must be officially confirmed by both the technical investigation that Iran was supposed to conduct in accordance with the norms of international law, and the final report, which was published only in March this year - more than 14 months after the disaster. Iran insists on the version of human error as the only correct one. At the same time, there is no analysis of the causes and the chain of events that led to it, if such an error became fatal. This could not but cause just indignation and disappointment on the Ukrainian side," the Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry assures that Ukraine is committed to solid and constructive cooperation with Iran. The very fact that more than 90 pages of comments on the draft final report on the results of the technical investigation, submitted to Iran in February this year, is sufficient evidence of this."

The Foreign Ministry noted that Ukraine's comments were not taken into account.

Ukraine will not take on faith any version of the flight PS752 crash that has been voiced, but not confirmed by real evidence. However, Iran is trying to promote a favorable version of human error, and, surprisingly, Iran does not even try to analyze the reasons that led to the fatal error, if it really was the cause of the disaster. This means that the correct conclusions will not be drawn, and the safety of civil aviation will not improve," the ministry said.

As reported, on April 6, the Iranian Military Prosecutor's Office filed charges against ten officials in connection with the downing of a passenger plane of Ukraine International Airlines in January 2020.

Ukraine was not informed about the names of ten Iranian officials indicted by the Military Prosecutor's Office over downing of the UIA plane.

On January 8, 2020, Ukraine International Airlines plane (Flight PS752) heading from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after taking off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport. There were 176 people on board  nine crew members (all Ukrainians) and 167 passengers (citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK).

On January 11, Iran admitted that its military had accidentally shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accepted full responsibility for the downing of the Ukrainian airliner.

On February 20, 2021, Iran announced the completion of the investigation into this case.

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The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center has reopened to the public.

Visitors can once again tour the museum, stroll the courtyard and shop at the Indian Pueblo store from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday at the IPCC located at 2401 12th Street NW. The last entry into the museum is at 3 p.m. Tickets for the museum and courtyard must be purchased in advance, online on the IPCC website.

The cultural centers restaurant, Indian Pueblo Kitchen, is open for dine-in and patio seating. Curbside pick-up is also available. The restaurant offers breakfast and lunch from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, according to an IPCC news release.

We look forward to sharing the menu for our exciting new dining concept, Chef Ray Naranjo is quoted saying in the news release. With unique, Pueblo inspired dishes and our famous hospitality, we will offer a cultural and culinary experience that customers cant find anywhere but at IPCC.

During its closure, the IPCC reimagined its restaurant to become Indian Pueblo Kitchen. The restaurants menu features indigenous foods and recipes by executive chef Ray Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo, Odawa). In the near future it will become a teaching kitchen and offer cooking classes, wine pairing dinners, Feast Day meals and farm-to-fork dining, according to the news release.

We are thrilled to reopen our doors and welcome the public back with in-person cultural, shopping and dining experiences, Mike Canfield, President and CEO of IPCC/Indian Pueblos Marketing, Inc. states in the news release. Guests will, once again, be able enjoy the museum, our courtyard with works by Native artists and artisans, the Indian Pueblo Store and our newly reimagined restaurant, the Indian Pueblo Kitchen.

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Over the past year, the IPCC has converted many of its educational and cultural programs to virtual events. The cultural center plans to continue many of the programs as virtual events or as hybrid programming with in-person and online components.

People are eager to partake in the unique cultural experiences that only IPCC can offer, Beverlee J. McClure, IPCC/IPMI vice president of cultural and community engagement, says in the news release. We are truly grateful for the publics support over the past year, as many have enjoyed our virtual programming and have contributed to the Pueblo Relief Fund, our joint initiative with the All Pueblo Council of Governors. We are excited that we can now reengage with everyone in person.

All IPCC campus businesses including the cultural center are NM Safe Certified and have implemented heightened COVID-safe practices to protect the health and safety of guests and employees.

Though our hours and operations will be a little different, we are committed to providing a safe, enjoyable experience for members of our Pueblos, New Mexico residents and visitors, Canfield states in the news release.

For more information about IPCCs COVID safe practices, reopening plans, and museum or courtyard tickets, visit indianpueblo.org/welcome.
Boeing has advised over a dozen of its customers to temporarily halt flights of 737 MAX to fix an electrical problem, the company said on Friday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) Boeing has advised over a dozen of its customers to temporarily halt flights of 737 MAX to fix an electrical problem, the company said on Friday.

"Boeing has recommended to 16 customers that they address a potential electrical issue in a specific group of 737 MAX airplanes prior to further operations," Boeing said in a press release. "The recommendation is being made to allow for verification that a sufficient ground path exists for a component of the electrical power system."

Boeing said it was working closely with the US Federal Aviation Administration on the production issue.

"We are also informing our customers of specific tail numbers affected and we will provide direction on appropriate corrective actions," Boeing said.

The Boeing 737 MAX, a new generation aircraft, was grounded worldwide between March 2019 and December 2020 due to the deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019, respectively. According to investigations, the reason for both incidents was an error in the aircraft's flight control software (MCAS).
Gov. Phil Murphy received his first coronavirus vaccine dose Friday as he toured one of the states six mega-sites in Atlantic City.

The governor, along with First Lady Tammy Murphy, both received the Pfizer vaccination. The shot requires a second dose in 21 days.

Boom, Murphy after getting the shot, while throwing a fist in the air.

It went great, Murphy said about getting the shot later in the day during a radio interview. The whole process ... was incredible.

Murphy, whos running for re-election, was one of only a handful of governors across the nation yet to be vaccinated. According to a report from Business Insider this week, he was one of five who had not gotten a shot.

Murphy had said he would wait until he was eligible based on New Jerseys rollout plan. Murphy, 63, became eligible on Monday when the state allowed anyone 55 and older  among others  to book an appointment.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

Neha Desai, a registered nurse with Atlantic Care, gives First Lady Tammy Murphy her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the Atlantic City Convention center, Friday, April 9, 2021. Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The governor had a cancerous tumor removed from one of his kidneys the same day New Jersey announced its first COVID-19 positive case in March 2020.

More than 5.1 million shots have been administered in the state so far, with more than 3.2 million whove received at least one dose and more than 2 million who are fully vaccinated - nearly half of the states adult population.

The Centers for Disease Control considered people fully vaccinated two weeks after their second Pfizer or Moderna shot, or two weeks after the single dose from Johnson & Johnson.

New Jersey health officials on Friday reported another 3,523 cases and an additional 43 deaths. The states seven-day average for confirmed cases is 3,360, down 18% from a week ago, but up 20% from a month ago.

In all, New Jersey has now reported 831,260 coronavirus cases out of more than 12.5 million PCR tests since the state reported its first case on March 4, 2020. There have also been 115,244 positive antigen tests. 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 24,826 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19  22,253 confirmed deaths and 2,573 fatalities considered probable. The probable deaths, which are revised weekly, increased by five on Wednesday.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com.
International

US envoy Kerry discusses climate challenges in Bdesh

Dhaka, Apr 9 (AP) | Publish Date: 4/9/2021 1:39:04 PM IST

John Kerry, the special US envoy on climate, said Friday that President Joe Biden was keen to work with Bangladesh in dealing with climate change impacts after the United States return to the Paris accord.

Kerry arrived in Bangladeshs capital, Dhaka, to hear what the South Asia delta nation has done to cope with weather extremes and rising sea levels ahead of a virtual summit on climate change that Biden is hosting this month.

No one country can solve the problems of climate crisis, he told reporters, after visiting other vulnerable countries including the United Arab Emirates and India. Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen, who appeared with Kerry, took the opportunity to ask for U.S. help in repatriating about 1.1 million Myanmar Rohingya refugees from crowded camps in the border district of Coxs Bazar, saying they were destroying vast areas of forests and ecology.

We hope that (the) USs proactive initiative can help them for a safe and dignified return, back to their country for a decent living, he said.

The refugees are victims of persecution in Myanmar, which is now military ruled since the Feb. 1 coup toppled the civilian government, and most say its unsafe to return.

Momen said earlier that Bangladesh believes that adaptation to climate change is not enough and it needs support as promised by others. It should be Kerrys special target, he was quoted as saying by the United News of Bangladesh news agency.

He said the countries that are mostly responsible for contributing greenhouse gases should also share responsibility of rehabilitating and protecting the people vulnerable to climate change impacts.

In the UAE, the government says the impact of warmer weather, less rain, droughts, higher seas and more storms is taking its toll on infrastructure, human health and natural habitat. Kerry heard of similar challenges in talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday, the State Department said.

Bangladesh, a nation of 160 million people, shares the same predicament.

Some expert warn that rising sea levels could devour much of its vast coastal region, and cyclones and tidal surge destroy agriculture and livelihood for millions. The worlds largest mangrove forest, Sundarbans, which straddles the border of Bangladesh and India, is especially vulnerable and its famous Bengal tigers at risk.

The State Department said that Kerry and Modi focused on mobilizing finance to support clean energy deployment, cooperation on innovation and scaling up emerging technologies such as for energy storage, green hydrogen, clean industrial processes and sustainable urbanization and agriculture.

Biden has invited 40 world leaders for the April 22-23 summit, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. (AP)
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, is asking the Biden administration to designate overseas white supremacists as foreign terrorist organizations, giving the American government more tools to check their influence.

Slotkin identified 13 groups in a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top national security and justice officials in the Biden administration. The Michigan congresswoman, who serves as chair on the House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism, also asked what responsibilities the U.S. has in helping the Canadian government track members of The Proud Boys and The Base, which Canada designated as terrorist groups.

Foreign terrorist groups are subject to sanctions designed to hinder their funding and prevent Americans from supporting them. Only one white supremacist group is recognized as a terrorist organization; the State Department designated the Russian Imperial Movement and three of its leaders in 2020.

Slotkin, in the April 5 letter, argued white supremacist groups pose a growing threat and are communicating with extremists in the U.S., but there is minimal intelligence available about them. The congresswoman pointed to deadly shootings in Germany, New Zealand, Ukraine and France as evidence of a surge in racist violence.

Such designations will help apply more stress to curtail these violent organizations and their leaders ability to operate their groups, Slotkin wrote. It would also give the United States Government more tools to engage and flag the Americans who contact, support, train and join these (white supremacist extremist) groups, under applicable laws.

American financial institutions are required to report funds belonging to foreign terrorist groups to the U.S. Department of Treasury. It is illegal to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Non-citizen members of foreign terrorist groups are not allowed to enter the U.S. and can be removed from the country.

The Department of National Intelligence found American white supremacists frequently communicate with like-minded groups in other nations, according to a report released in March. A small number of racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists traveled abroad to network with white supremacists, the report states.

Racially motivated extremists are the most lethal domestic terror threat facing the U.S., according to the report. There is no list of domestic terrorism organizations the same way there is for foreign terrorist organizations.

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security threat assessment from October 2020 identified domestic white supremacists as exceptionally lethal. White supremacists conducted more deadly attacks than any other domestic extremist category since 2018, according to the report.

In a Senate hearing held last month, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified that white supremacist groups were involved in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Slotkin also asked the Biden administration for guidance on how the U.S. should respond to Canadas designation of extremist groups that are active in Michigan. Canada formally recognized the Proud Boys and the Base as terrorist groups earlier this year.

Slotkin previously raised the question during a House committee hearing last month, asking Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel how this affects border crossings in Detroit. Nessel said she hasnt had any conversations with the Canadian government about that.

Its up to the State Department to identify groups that should be considered terrorist organizations under the applicable statutes. The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, decides whether to designate the organization.

Congress is given seven days to review the designation before it takes effect. Foreign terrorist organizations must be redesigned every two years.

Three terrorist groups have been designated in 2021 -- the Egypt-based Harakat Sawad Misr, ISIS-Democratic Republic of Congo and ISIS-Mozambique. The Biden administration reversed the designation of Ansarallah, sometimes referred to as the Houthis, which was labeled as a terrorist group this year.

The 13 groups Slotkin identified are:

Atomwaffen Division Deutschland

Azov Battalion

Blood & Honour

Feuerkrieg Division

Generation Identity

Hammerskins

National Action Group, aka System Resistance Network

Nordic Resistance Movement

Nothern Order

Order of Nine Angles

Rise Above Movement

Sonnekrieg Division

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How a fake lawyer and conservative outrage made Marlenas Bistro a national symbol of pandemic freedom
Urbikas attorney, a public defender, said he suffers from mental illness, and was born and raised in Chicago, where he has lived for most of his entire life. He beat cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2004 during high school, but still graduated the next year and went on to take business classes at Northeastern Illinois University and Truman College, the attorney said.
Fedselect.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 29 Nov 2016, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the fedselect homepage on Twitter + the total number of fedselect followers (if fedselect has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the fedselect homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the fedselect homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if fedselect has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the fedselect homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the fedselect homepage on Delicious.

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Domain and Server

DOCTYPE HTML 5.0 CHARSET AND LANGUAGE English UTF-8English DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Microsoft-IIS/8.5 (ASP.NET) OPERATIVE SYSTEM

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Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

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UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has shared with the Government of Kenya a proposed set of sustainable and rights-based measures aimed at identifying solutions for refugees living in the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya.

UNHCR recognizes the tremendous generosity that the people and Government of Kenya have demonstrated towards refugees for many decades and the need to resolve situations of longstanding displacement.

We have heard the concerns expressed by the Government of Kenya and hope that these measures will be a significant step forward in accelerating sustainable solutions for all those concerned, said Fathiaa Abdalla, UNHCRs Representative in Kenya.

The Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps host some 430,000 refugees and asylum-seekers of more than 15 nationalities.

UNHCRs plan, in support of the Government of Kenya, includes:

Enhanced voluntary repatriation in safety and dignity, while taking into account the movement restrictions related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Provision of alternative-stay arrangements to refugees from the East African Community (EAC). This would represent a major opportunity for refugees to become self-reliant and contribute to the local economy.

Acceleration of the issuing of national ID cards to over 11,000 Kenyans who have previously been identified as registered in the refugee database, and continuation of the vetting process for others in similar circumstances.

Resettlement to third countries for a small number of refugees who are not able to return home and face protection risks.

We believe that through joint renewed actions we can put in place measures that respect refugee rights and lead to sustainable solutions. We look forward to continuing our dialogue and collaboration with the Kenyan authorities and partners on this important matter, said the UNHCR official.

ENDS

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Glenn Jusnes, +254 798 487 959

[email protected]

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Tech Coast Angels' LA Chapter to Host April Online Events Open To Public

WHAT: Tech Coast Angels  Los Angeles Chapter (TCA-LA) will host a series of events open to the public. Learn from industry thought-leaders, executives at innovative startups, and capital providers as they share expertise and insight in exciting new industries in 1-hour Zoom events. April topics are Next Gen E-Commerce and Cannabis Tech.

WHEN: The events will be held on Tuesday evenings, from 6p -7p Pacific Time, on the dates specified below:

April 13, 2021: Next Gen E-Commerce: How Media and Commerce are Converging.



Speakers/Panelists:

Ivan Nikkhoo, Managing Partner, Navigate Ventures

Sunny Singh, Moderator, TCA-LA Member, incoming TCA-LA President

April 27, 2021: Cannabis Tech and Investing



Speakers/Panelists:

Ron Johnson, Co-Founder / CEO, GroLens

Sturges Karban, Director/CEO, Manifest Seven

Jeanne Sullivan, Co-Founder, Arcview Group

Mitchell Schwartz, Moderator, TCA-LA Member

WHY: Gain insights into opportunities available for entrepreneurs and investors in four emerging industries. Each panel will be moderated by a TCA member.

WHERE: Via Zoom. Pre-registration required.

HOW: The events are open to the public, but pre-registration is required.



To register for April 13: https://bit.ly/3sOuw1O

To register for April 27: https://bit.ly/3sOogqy

FOR MORE INFORMATION :



For general information about TCA-LA events, please contact events@techcoastangels.la

For more information about TCA-LA, please visit http://www.techcoastangels.la or contact Mitchell Schwartz, TCA-LA: mitchellschwartz@techcoastangels.la / (323) 387-0857

ABOUT TECH COAST ANGELS:

Tech Coast Angels (TCA) is one of the largest and most active angel investor networks in the nation, and a leading source of funding for seed-stage and early-stage companies. The angel network is comprised of four chapters, consisting of over 450 members in Southern California. Every TCA member is an accredited investor, and companies in which TCA invest go through well-structured, transparent, time-efficient screening and due diligence. TCA members are founders and business leaders who have extensive knowledge in the investment process and world-class business practices, and thus are able to provide companies with more than just capital: they also contribute counsel, mentoring and access to an extensive network of investors, customers, strategic partners and management. In December 2020, TiE named Tech Coast Angels the Most Active Angel Network in the World.

Since its founding in 1997, TCA has invested over $250 million in more than 450 companies and has helped attract more than $1.7 billion in additional capital/follow-on rounds. Tech Coast Angels is online at http://www.techcoastangels.com. Find TCA-LA at https://www.techcoastangels.la.
OSWEGO, N.Y.  Family is very important to Dan and Cindy Mather of Oswego.

It is all about family with us, Cindy said, and it always has been.

In 1991, when they were designing what would become their wonderfully unique home at 43 Lakeshore Road, across the street from Lake Ontario, creating a house with a great family atmosphere for hosting holidays, birthdays, surprise parties, and baby showers was foremost in their thoughts.

It is definitely a family home, she said. We have had so many great family events there.

Dan and Cindy purchased the property in 1988 and then began drawing up the plans themselves, with the help of Cindys high school and college friend, Bill Lafferty.

They started a notebook, jotting down thoughts and ideas as they came to them.

Can we make this happen? the couple often asked themselves. Is this doable?

I think we got it mostly right, Dan said.

They call their five-bedroom, house a unicorn and it is certainly not your typical home.

The couple wanted a home that blended the old-time feel and warmth of an older house, blended with the modern conveniences of today, including lots of storage and entertaining space.

To get the feel just right, the couple visited antique stores and festivals, and made inquiries with demolition companies.

The sunlight sparkles through the homes many antique windows and the family rooms gas fireplace has a vintage mantel piece from a demolished Syracuse home from 1900.

A balcony, with a built-in library, extends over the room.

The most prominent feature is the 18-foot-tall turret, with multiple built-in window seats, each with cushions sewed by Cindy herself, at the base.

This one-of-a-kind feature is the perfect place to hold baby showers and celebrate Christmas mornings. In fact, a sixteen-foot Christmas tree comes with the house.

The space also has a wet bar with a tropical fish tank built inside the bar.

(This detail was a compromise between Dan, who wanted a bar in the family room, and Cindy, who wanted a fish tank. There was only space for one, so they came up with this clever plan.)

Cindy loves her huge kitchen, where she said they spend much of their time.

With double ovens, a wall of pantry storage, and a large center island which makes buffet lines easy, extending from the kitchens dining area through the dining room and front parlor.

Pocket doors can separate the parlor, where their daughter played on the piano located there, from the family room.

Cindy also loves the screened-in front porch where they enjoy outdoor dining.

It is just like having a date without leaving the property, she said.

Dan likes the handy home office with its built-in cabinetry.

The house also includes a beautiful master suite, with window seats lined with cedar, a laundry room, where Cindy works on craft projects, and a full walk-up attic for storage.

The full basement has a home gym, even more storage, and a bonus room. Dan has learned to read music and keeps a drum kit in the space.

After a long day of work, the couple enjoy their private back deck, which includes a hot tub, under a gazebo, which they enjoy all year long.

After 30 years at their home, they have decided the time has come to downsize.

Dan admits that the feeling is bittersweet to sell the place that they poured their heart and soul in.

But they hope that a large family buys it and continues the entertaining legacy of their unicorn.

The couple plan to remain in Oswego.

For more information about this property, please contact Realtor Ed Fayette of Century 21 Galloway Realty. His contact information is below.

THE DETAILS

Address: 43 Lakeshore Road, Oswego, N.Y. 13126

Price: $429,900

Size: 3,611 square feet

Acreage: 0.77 acres

Monthly Mortgage: $1,500 (based on this weeks national average rate of 3.27 percent, according to Freddie Mac, for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 20 percent down payment. Fees and points not included.)

Taxes: $10,966 (Based on assessed value of $334,000)

Built: 1991

School District: Oswego

Kitchen: The huge kitchen is among Cindy Mathers favorite rooms. She says it is super convenient for large parties. Guests can pass through the dining room into the kitchen in buffet lines. There is a dining area just off the big center island. It has a wall of pantry storage space and a convenient desk for doing bills, writing recipes, and reading cookbooks. The appliances, including double ovens, are all less than ten years old.

Living spaces: There is a lot of room in this house for entertaining. Family and hosting big events were in the owners minds when they were designing their house 30 years ago. The front parlor and dining room can seat 30 people. The family room has a gas fireplace and a wet bar, with a tropical fish tank built in. The distinctive 18-foot turret has built-in window seats and is great for Christmas morning. A Christmas tree comes with the house. A first-floor laundry room also serves as a craft/sewing room. A handy home office has built-in cabinetry. There is a balcony which looks over the family room and turret has built-in bookshelves. The home was designed to have an old-fashioned feel and warmth, mixed with modern conveniences.

Bedrooms: There are five bedrooms in the house. The master bedroom has double walk-in closets and a window-seat, lined with cedar.

Bathroom: The home has three full bathrooms and one half-bath. The master has a coffee station, double sinks, and a Jacuzzi tub with a shower.

Basement and attic: The partially finished basement and walk-up attic are as long as the house, giving additional storage space. Each has a full bonus room. Dan Mather has a drum kit in the room in the basement and there is room for a home gym.

Outdoors: Cindy calls the neighborhood wonderful and enjoys walking its roads. Lake Ontario is across the street and she loves the flowers and birds of the area. A wildlife habitat is just down the street. The property is just 5 minutes or so from downtown Oswego. SUNY Oswego is just one mile to the west. The home has a two-car garage. The screened-in front porch is great for outdoor dining. The private back deck has a gazebo with a hot tub underneath. The home has many recently updated features, including new skylights, new windows, on-demand hot water, two new furnaces, a Leafguard gutter system, and a new home generator.

Agent: Ed Fayette

Century 21 Galloway Realty

Address: 120 East 1st Street, Suite 3A, Oswego, N.Y. 13126

Phone: (315) 402-3655

Email: ed.fayette@century21.com

Website: www.century21galloway.com

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If you know of a beautiful or interesting house currently up for sale, please consider sending a nomination for it to be featured as a future House of the Week. Send an email with the listing to home@syracuse.com.

Do you know of any older homes in Central New York which have fallen on hard times but have a lot of potential should they be restored to their original grandeur? A fixer-upper with a lot of potential? Consider nominating them to our new feature, Save this Home, in which we will spotlight grand houses of the past around Central New York that need to be saved. Send nominations to home@syracuse.com.
Weve heard it over and over: Never let a crisis go to waste. But while that might have become a cliche, its still good advice. And its a lesson Americas mayors and other local government leaders should heed today as they confront overlapping economic, public health, climate and racial justice crises in their communities.With the recent passage of the American Rescue Plan, offering new federal resources to address budget shortfalls and meet urgent needs, local government leaders have the opportunity to change the future of municipal governance, address deep-seated equity issues, better engage residents and emerge from the current crisis better prepared for the next one.To do this, however, mayors and other local government leaders should focus on five things that would help to both address the crisis at hand and boldly create the future they want to see:Local governments will start receiving their share of funds from the new federal stimulus package over the next several weeks. To invest those resources quickly, effectively and equitably , they should start gathering and sharing the key data sets needed to prioritize spending and ensure that it meets residents most pressing needs.In Los Angeles, for example, intensive collaboration around homelessness data has begun to allow for better predictions of those who are most at risk of eviction or homelessness in order to intervene earlier. In Newark, N.J., the city has used behavioral nudges to increase landlord registration for rent control by more than 450 percent . As eviction restrictions are lifted across the country, city and county officials and local housing authorities should accelerate their sharing of key data on evictions to help ensure that assistance is targeted at residents most in need.The American Rescue Plans direct fiscal relief to local governments is explicitly allowed to help cover costs associated with responding to COVID-19 and to address critical revenue losses caused by the public health emergency. Cities should pair that spending with investment in their internal capacity to respond to a range of emergencies.Cincinnati, for example, spent years building up its system to better track and address the growing opioid epidemic in its backyard. That experience helped the city respond quickly when the pandemic struck: It was able to shift its entire performance and analytics team to support its planning and response to COVID-19.Another allowed use of the new federal emergency relief to local governments is for long-overdue investments in infrastructure such as broadband, drinking water and sewers.These kinds of investments can serve multiple purposes. As sociologist Eric Klinenberg wrote in his 2018 book , conventional hard infrastructure can be engineered to double as social infrastructure. Or also, I would suggest, as data infrastructure. Boston; New York; Tempe, Ariz.; and several Colorado localities, for example, are studying sewage to help address the COVID-19 crisis by using the data as an early detection system.Similarly, Boulder, Colo., recently invested in new broadband across the city with a critical goal of addressing connectivity disparities disproportionately affecting lower-income communities of color. In doing so, the city also invested in its own data infrastructure, piloting a new data-driven procurement approach that enables it to more quickly, reliably and equitably align its purchases with core community values.Cities are the new laboratories of democracy, and with $130.2 billion in direct funding flowing to local governments, cities must be aggressive in piloting new programs that could make a meaningful difference in ameliorating many of the simmering American inequities that have been brought to full boil over the last year.For example, Dayton, Ohio, is testing new strategies to reduce the racial kindergarten readiness gap and is working with scholars from the University of Dayton to evaluate the programs effectiveness. And in more than two dozen cities across the country, mayors are testing new ways of providing a guaranteed income to residents.One of the biggest challenges we hear from local governments is that the decentralization of data and decision-making authority makes tackling massive challenges like COVID-19 so much harder. Cities, counties and community groups often control different data and have different spheres of authority, making it difficult to see the big picture when making decisions.But the enormity of the pandemic has begun to change this siloed existence. Memphis, Tenn., and surrounding Shelby County, for example, have begun working together to address challenges like equitable vaccine access with a coordinated data and performance staff. That work has led to more opportunities for unique collaboration to maximize relief to residents. As cities and counties receive new federal funds, they should expand and formalize these partnerships.Now is the time to formalize relationships among local governments, community groups, businesses and other stakeholders to help localities make faster progress on long-term challenges like declining economic mobility. In Racine, Wis., for example, the city is working directly with a collective-impact partnership, Higher Expectations for Racine County , to develop performance measures informed by the community and data to evaluate the impact of its Rental Empowerment and Neighborhood Tenant Services Initiative Local government leaders are the nations most trusted political officials. In this pandemic, when providing residents with reliable, evidence-based information and services can save lives, it is incumbent on them to continue to build on that trust. The American Rescue Plan gives local leaders a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make collective, data-driven decisions and innovation the modus operandi in government.GoverningGoverning
One Nations rising star in the Hunter, Stuart Bonds, has delivered an ominous warning about the partys future in the region, and his own membership, ahead of a crucial byelection.

Mr Bonds, who came close to unseating federal Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon at the 2019 federal election, told the party faithful at a fundraiser lunch in Lovedale that One Nations decision to support the Morrison governments gutted industrial relations bill had left its supporters angry and disillusioned.

One Nation member Stuart Bonds, on his property north of Singleton. Credit:James Brickwood

While Mr Bonds gave his speech before the announcement of a byelection in the NSW electorate of Upper Hunter, One Nations support for the bill could seriously threaten its bid to snare a state lower house seat.

The byelection was sparked after the resignation of Nationals MP Michael Johnsen, who was forced to quit parliament amid a police investigation into claims he raped a sex worker, which he denies.
Many people may have had the chance to meet Prince Philip in a receiving line or at an official reception or tea party, but few have had the chance to meet the Duke of Edinburgh person-to-person, let alone the experience of giving him direction.

Many people may have had the chance to meet Prince Philip in a receiving line or at an official reception or tea party, but few have had the chance to meet the Duke of Edinburgh person-to-person, let alone the experience of giving him direction.

That was the experience of Winnipeg actor-filmmaker Jon Ted Wynne, who met Prince Philip in 2011 while making his six-part documentary series Standing on Guard, a look at Manitoba's military units. In his capacity as the colonel-in-chief of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, Prince Philip consented to filming an introduction to that chapter of Wynne's series, which was later broadcast via MTS Stories from Home.

In the wake of Philip's death Friday, Wynne, 62, remembers the experience fondly, and not just because he got to get into a cab at London's Victoria Station and tell the driver, "Buckingham Palace, please."

"It was a very special circumstance," Wynne says. "Im sure his demeanour for meeting individuals was a little bit different than meeting groups. Its more down to earth, more immediate.

"Ill never forget that because it was so special. It didnt have to happen that way, but because of Philip's dedication to his regiment, thats the only reason I got in. I was just a poor slob making a movie. I could be anybody.

"He was very accommodating and very kind."

Upon arriving at Buckingham Palace, Wynne was escorted by Philip's assistant to the "Sunshine Room" of the palace, which was like a mini library.

"It had a beautiful big window with sunlight streaming in and it was perfect for my purposes," Wynne recalls, adding the assistant cautioned Wynne the prince "doesnt like to be fawned upon."

"And I thought: Yeah, I imagine that would be hard to deal with... all these people bowing and scraping and all the rest of it."

Two minutes before the appointment, Philip stuck his head in the door with three ties in his hand, and asked his assistant to confirm which of the ties was the official regimental tie. Because Wynne himself was wearing the same tie, the task was made easy.

It was quickly time for the task at hand, filming Philip reading the introduction to the episode, which Wynne hoped to accomplish in two takes.

"We did the first take and it was perfect," Wynne says. "He just turned 90 a few weeks before, and he read this one page for me. I was flabbergasted. When I was filming the intros to the other regiments with generals and people like that, they were quite good but Philip knocked them right out of the park. He was perfect.

"So I had asked for the second take and he said, 'Is there anything youd like to comment on?'"

Yes, Wynne, a veteran theatre professional, took the opportunity to give the prince some notes, such as adding a pause after one line.

"He looked down at the sheet for about five seconds later he said 'Yes, OK.' So he did it again and he nailed it. It was just fantastic.

"Philip was extraordinarily professional. There was nothing snobby about him. He was as sharp as a tack and it was an extraordinary experience."

In fact, Philip remembered Wynne when the actor was battling cancer a few years later.

"When I was fighting the 'Big C', a friend of mine in England wrote to Philip to tell him. Prince Philip, through a secretary, sent me a beautiful letter wishing me a speedy recovery. It came during one of the most difficult times in my life when I was not expected to live. Philip's thoughtfulness really had a positive effect on me," Wynne says.

"That's one reason why I'm a monarchist. I believe our royalty at its best serves an important purpose to our collective morale, well-being and sense of tradition."

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing
President Klaus Iohannis on Friday sent a message of condolences to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and to Charles, Prince of Wales, after the passing of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Presidential Administration informs.

"In the name of the Romanian people and in my name, I want to send my sincere condolences and deep sorrow over the huge loss suffered by Your Majesty and the entire Royal Family. His Royal Highness Prince Philip was and he remains a source of inspiration not just for millions of citizens of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, but for the entire world," the head of state said in his message to Queen Elizabeth II, agerpres.ro confirms.

Moreover, in his message to the Prince of Wales, Klaus Iohannis evoked the fact that Prince Philip "was an example of loyalty, verticality and dignity." "His memory will remain in people's minds as a remarkable personality and his departure will leave an immense void behind," said the Romanian President.

Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, died this morning, aged 99, according to the announcement made by the Buckingham Palace.

Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Count of Merioneth and Baron of Greenwich, also known as Philip Mountbatten, was born on June 10 1921 in Corfu, Greece, and he held the title of Prince of Greece and Denmark.
Quebec Restores 8 p.m. Curfew in Montreal, Extends Lockdown Order in Quebec City

MONTREALQuebec will bring back an 8 p.m. curfew in the Montreal area and extend a lockdown order in three cities and one region as it tightened COVID-19 restrictions Thursday for the second time in three days.

Beginning Sunday, people in Montreal and its northern suburb of Laval will have to remain at home from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. or face fines of more than $1,000, Premier Francois Legault said in Montreal. The curfew in that region currently starts at 9:30 p.m.

Legault said he is imposing the health order on Montreal and Laval as a preventive measure despite the fact new, daily COVID-19 cases in the region have been stable. He said health officials are near-unanimous that the heavy presence of virus variants will soon cause cases to rise rapidly in the densely populated area.

Like many places in the world, we have to bring back restrictions, Legault said, adding that the curfew will help the government control peoples movements and reduce transmission. The government has only offered circumstantial evidence indicating a curfew is successful at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Our challenge is to find a balance between mental and physical health, and there is no magical recipe to succeed against the pandemic, he said. Asked how long the curfew will remain at 8 p.m., Legault said: until further notice.

Last week, Legault placed Quebec City, Levis and Gatineau under the earlier curfew. He did the same on Monday for several municipalities in Quebecs Beauce region. The government also closed schools and non-essential businesses in those areas, and Legault announced Thursday that the measures would be prolonged until at least April 18.

On Tuesday, Legault announced that gyms in COVID-19 red zones, including Montreal, had to close effective Thursday and places of worship had to limit attendance to 25 people.

Quebec reported 1,609 new infections Thursday, the highest daily tally since Jan. 21. The Quebec City region had the most new cases, with 436a 74 percent increase from the previous day.

People must be prudent because the virus is circulating enormously with the variants, Annie Ouellet, a spokeswoman for the Quebec City health authority, said Thursday.

She said Quebec City had conducted 5,044 tests in the past 24 hoursa record. The positivity rate is 7.9 percent, up from around five percent in the last week.

The province now has 11,452 active reported cases. Montreal had 370 new cases Thursday, Chaudiere-Appalaches reported 179 while the Outaouais reported 165. Authorities also reported a 23-patient jump in hospitalizations, for a total of 566, including 132 people in intensive carenine more than a day earlier.

Legault said there are no plans to close schools outside of the four hot spot regions, but didnt rule it out. The situation would have to be severe to shutter schools in Montreal and Laval, he said.

We hope that we dont need to close the schools until the end of June, but it can happen, Legault said. At this point, we dont know, nobody knows.

By Sidhartha Banerjee
Time Running Out to Welcome Back International Students: University Executive

The Australian state of Victoria will lose prospective international students to other countries if the federal government continues to delay the re-opening of its borders to overseas students, a university head fears.

Deakin Universitys Vice-Chancellor Iain Martin said the state governments inaction on welcoming students back into the state is causing them, especially those from India, to look to other countries to study.

He called for the government to accelerate plans for students to return, so the multi-billion dollar sector would not suffer further economic losses.

I dont want to leave this sitting for another six months without an articulated pathway because I think that will push the recovery back probably another full 12 months, Martin told The Age.

Education Minister Alan Tudge recently forecasted the mass return of international students to begin in 2022. He also said universities were welcome to work with local governments to allow small cohorts earlier return.

RMIT graduates march through the Melbourne CBD on Dec. 17, 2008, in Melbourne, Australia. (Luis Enrique Ascui/Getty images)

The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) is calling for state and federal governments to launch pilot programs that allow students to return in time for semester two this year.

We need to see a plan, and that plan needs to be signalled, flagged, and marketed to international students before the end of June, VCCI CEO Paul Guerra said. Both Canada and the UK start to come online then, and if students choose to go to Canada or the UK, well lose them for another 12 months.

Education has been Victorias largest service export industry for over a decade. In 2019 it contributed a record-high $13.7 billion (US$9.6 billion) to the state economy and accounted for 32.3 percent of all Australian onshore enrolments.

Victorian universities are so anxious that there has been discussion to set up a quarantine system, similar to one for the Australian Open, allowing around 1000 students into the state every few weeks.

The universities are willing to pay for the quarantine expenses if it means the possibility of their students return.

Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia, supported the proposition and expressed his concern for Victorias education sector.

Honeywood said students have been waiting to resume their studies for over 18 months but may decide to go to Canada or UK to finish their studies.

Its taken decades for Australia to build up a reputation as being a safe, welcoming, multicultural, world-class place to study, he told 3AW radio. So are we just going to walk away from that and trash [Victorias] biggest industry?

General view of signage for the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Nov. 17, 2020. (AAP Image/James Ross)

Honeywood expressed his frustration at the state government prioritising sport, allowing athletes to compete in the Australian open, over the higher education sector.

Were the only state that doesnt have a state international education strategy, he said. Im really upset that New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia (SA) are going to take market share of Victoria when we finally get around to doing something.

Honeywood was referring to proposals that NSW and SA have recently announced to begin letting students return. NSW is planning to welcome back up to an estimated 10,000 students this year.

Monash Universitys Deputy Vice-Chancellor Abid Khan said his university was working closely with the Victorian Government to support the safe return of international students.

Monash, in collaboration with other universities, has provided detailed approaches in support of various potential secure-student-corridor models that provide students with the education, mental health, social and other pastoral care services they require throughout the lifecycle of their journey to campus, Khan told The Epoch Times.

A spokesman from RMIT University also told The Epoch Times they were working with the state government and other universities on a state-wide approach to allow students to enter Victoria.

Weve put in place innovative alternatives to support students based overseas to actively engage with them until they can join us again in Melbourne, the spokesman said. Australia and Victoria remain attractive destinations for international students to pursue their studies, and we look forward to welcoming them back at the earliest opportunity.
A 360-degree view of our exhibition for Julians Park and Six Private Collections, comprising a wide variety of works of fine and decorative art from seven English country houses
Winnie Odinga has defended her family against claims that they are a political dynasty that is out of touch with the reality of the ordinary mwananchi.

The daughter of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga was speaking on Spice FM Thursday when a caller made the claims about the Odinga family.

The caller who was identified as Charity from Ruiru claimed that Winnie was ill-equipped to answer questions about the problems facing Kenyans.

We are asking questions to someone who can actually not answer. I do not think that she knows what it means to work, we have to do away with dynasty families. This is because they do not know the problems that we have down here and therefore there is no way they can give us a solution. It is ridiculous that we are doing mistakes over and over again, said Charity.

Also Read  Winnie Odinga: Shame on You If You Pay Your House Girl Less Than Sh50,000

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The BrickHouse Counsel was quick to correct the caller saying the Odinga family has suffered greatly for the sake of the country.

I do not believe she can be talking about me when we talk about dynasties. I do not believe that we can talk about Jaramogi Odinga in the worst place in this country in Hola Detention Camp and Raila Odinga following with eight years in detention.

I do not know that she knows the life I have lived with policemen surrounding my house and guns to my head. I do not believe she knows the floors I have slept in, floors my mother has slept in, my siblings have slept in for this country and I do not expect her to know. I do not believe it is correct to judge a story when you do not know the whole story, she said.
Some South Jersey inoculation sites are said to be so awash in precious vaccines that Gov. Phil Murphy announced at his Wednesday COVID-19 update that hundreds or thousands of appointments were available, especially at the mega-site operated by the state (withAtlantiCare) at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

In fact, by the time you read this, the governor and First Lady Tammy Murphy may have filled two of the Atlantic City slots. Theyre slated to get their first vaccinations there today in an event that surely will be turned into a grinning photo-op.

In one sense, its bad modeling since the Murphys live in Middletown and work in Trenton, and should have been able to get their appointments closer to those places. However, the Murphys waited their turn, and there are no residency requirements within New Jersey for state-run mass clinics, including A.C.

So, if the Murphys can travel 85 miles to get their shots, you can too  provided that youre mobile enough, wealthy enough or can spare the time. There are also said to be newly opened appointments at the state/county mega-site at Rowan College of South Jersey in Deptford, and Camden Countys site at Camden County College in Gloucester Township.

The supposed glut occurred because the state received more doses sooner than expected. In North and Central Jersey, that hasnt loosened the appointment logjam as much as in South Jersey. However, state officials know that expected near-future shipments of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be reduced due to production problems.

This is where a nationwide, computerized, real-time supply-chain vaccine management system would have helped. We still dont have one, for all the good the Biden administration has done ramping up the number of doses and converting them to shots in arms. Now, some question the feds continued allocation among states based on their population, since a recent assessment found 44 percent of new coronavirus cases occurring in just five states  Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan and Florida, along with New Jersey.

Its still up to each state how to proceed within its borders. The Murphys travel plans suggest that you be willing to traverse the entire state. Yet, since everyone over age 16 will be eligible for vaccination on April 19, the state shows no apparent urgency to bring in before that date everyone already eligible who wants shots  heath care workers, 65-and older, educators, etc. New Jersey has been slow to roll out mobile clinics that might best serve special needs populations, the poor and communities of color.

As soon as the governor announced South Jersey availabilities came the inevitable question from the press: Why not take the vaccine away from South Jersey and send it to North Jersey?

Longtime south-of-Trenton residents have read this script before. There was the plan to pump the pristine water beneath the Pinelands up north to meet demand. There was the fear that more-open southern counties would end up with all of the states hazardous waste disposal sites. Some of these items spurred ill-fated South Jersey secession efforts.

Were not quite there yet over intra-state vaccine allocation. Murphy and state health officials have an obligation to balance supply with demand. Realistically, this could include sending hundreds of vials northward on rare occasions. As general policy, though, its a bad idea that could revive movements to have the state called New Jersey mark its southern border somewhere in Ocean County.

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2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning --

4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS.

We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover.

We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come.
ALBANY  The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics discussed and authorized "steps" concerning unspecified investigative matters during a specially-called meeting on Friday.

That announcement, from JCOPEs general counsel Monica Stamm, came after a lengthy closed-door executive session held by the 14 commissioners overseeing New Yorks ethics oversight agency.

Its not clear what investigative matters were discussed, but the meeting  called and held between the agencys normally scheduled monthly meetings  came as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo faces multiple scandals potentially touching laws under JCOPEs enforcement purview.

That includes revelations that COVID-19 tests were prioritized for members of Cuomos family at a time when the tests were not widely available last year, a matter referred to JCOPE by state Attorney General Letitia James.

Additionally, a week before Fridays meeting was held, the New York Times reported that Cuomo had utilized government staffers to work on his lucrative book project, despite his government counsel telling JCOPE in July 2020 that government staff would not be used. In approving Cuomos writing of American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic," a top JCOPE staffer told Cuomos office that government resources  including personnel  could not be used as a condition of the book approval.

Other matters JCOPE might possibly investigate include a spate of sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo, although those matters are already being probed by two independent lawyers appointed by James.

Based on JCOPEs history, it seems unlikely that full-scale investigations into the matters would be authorized by the panels commissioners. State law would require two of the three Democratic commissioners appointed by Cuomo  who have regularly voted for the governor's interests in public sessions of the meeting  to approve any probe. Throughout its 10-year history, JCOPE has received regular criticism for what's viewed as Cuomo's excessive influence on its operations.

Before the panel went into executive session on Friday, JCOPE commissioner George Weissman, a Senate Republican appointee, read a statement that did not mention Cuomo's book, but clearly concerned it.

In late March, JCOPE Commissioner Gary Lavine told the Times Union that the panels new Cuomo-appointed chair, Camille Joseph Varlack, was withholding requested information about Cuomos book deal from other commissioners. In addition, Lavine said that JCOPEs commissioners had not voted to approve the book book, which was instead approved solely by commission staff.

Lavine, a Senate Republican appointee, said he believes certain information was being shared exclusively with Cuomo-appointed super-commissioners  a charge first made in 2012 by a former legislative appointee to the commission.

After the Times Unions article discussing Lavine's concerns was published, JCOPE commissioners appointed by Cuomo apparently suggested that Lavine might have violated confidentiality rules by disclosing that the commissioners had not approved Cuomos book project.

In his statement on Friday, Weissman criticized the fact that parties outside the commission  presumably the Executive Chamber  were being allowed to deem certain information confidential and have it withheld from commissioners. Weissman also dismissed the idea that Lavines disclosure somehow violated a confidentiality law.

The argument that being deprived of information is confidential, in and of itself, turns the commission into a star chamber presided over by super-commissioners, Weissman said.

Lavine added that he would be genuinely delighted to discuss concerns from the Cuomo appointees about his conversations with the news media, but said he would only do so in public, not the closed-door executive session. The matter was not discussed further in public at Fridays meeting.

While Cuomo's commissioners are now expressing concern about Lavines disclosure, in 2019 many of the same appointees unanimously voted down Lavines proposal to conduct a review of an alleged leak of confidential commission information to Cuomo.

cbragg@timesunion.com
The IWM Auto-Pilot Pricing Platform represents a paradigm shift for the financial advisory industry, which traditionally only rewards its clients lower fees based on the overall size of their account.

Ithaca Wealth Management, an independent financial advisory firm that helps individuals compound their wealth, today announced the launch of an innovative pricing platform to celebrate its one-year anniversary.

The launch of the IWM Auto-Pilot Pricing Platform incentivizes clients to commit to their long-term financial plan by reducing their annual asset management fee by five basis points (.05%) for every two years they maintain an investment management account with IWM, until they reach one all-in annual fee of just 0.50%.

The IWM Auto-Pilot Pricing Platform represents a paradigm shift for the financial advisory industry, which traditionally only rewards its clients lower fees based on the overall size of their account, Ithaca Wealth Management Founder & Wealth Advisor Matthew Fox said.

Now, simply sticking to your financial plan and remaining invested for the long-term will lower your advisory fees at Ithaca Wealth Management, regardless of your account size.

IWM was founded on the principle that quality financial advice from a human advisor should be neither expensive nor exclusive, Fox said. Thats why we offer $0 account minimums, fractional share investing, and competitive fees that start at just 0.85% for the first $1 million in assets under management.

Ithaca Wealth Management was founded in April 2020 and is powered by Altruist, a digital investment platform that enables quick online account opening, $0 trade commissions, and a smartphone app to track your investments.

To learn more about how the fiduciary services offered by Ithaca Wealth Management can better help you compound your wealth, visit http://www.ithacawealth.com or call 607-882-1434.

About Ithaca Wealth Management

Ithaca Wealth Management is an independent, fee-only, financial advisory firm that offers investment management and financial planning services to individuals and small businesses in the States of New York and Tennessee. Ithaca Wealth Management is powered by Altruist, a fintech company on a mission to make financial advice better, more affordable, and more accessible to everyone. Their next-generation digital suite, built for independent financial advisors and their clients, combines software to manage an investment portfolio with a powerful brokerage platform to invest. This helps streamline operations and frees up time, so advisors can focus on serving their clients even better.
He said Thursday during a guest appearance on Fox News Primetime that the left and all the little gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term replacement, if you suggest that the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate of voters now casting ballots with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World.
Passengers wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, react as they exit Terminal 1 after landing at Manchester Airport, northwest England, on July 27, 2020. (Anthony Devlin/AFP via Getty Images)

Only the Rich Can Fly Under UKs Travel Restart Plan, Airlines Say

Britains airline industry has criticised the governments plan to restart international travel, saying its too expensive and will make flying unaffordable.

The governments Global Travel Taskforce published a report on Friday, which set out COVID-19 testing requirements for international travellers but gave no clarity on whether Britons will be allowed to travel abroad from May 17.

The Global Travel Taskforce report has set out the approach to safely restart international travel. This will ensure businesses and the economy continue to grow as well as helping reconnect families across the globe. More on the report https://t.co/HWiUHEeHiN #TravelSafely  Department for Transport (@transportgovuk) April 9, 2021

The Department for Transport (DfT) said the risks posed by variants of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus remain significant and therefore restrictions for inbound passengers will remain in place, including 10-day managed quarantine, home quarantine, and testing.

A traffic light system will be set up to categorise countries as green, amber, or red based on risk. Different travel restrictions will be imposed on travellers from different countries based on the categorisation.

While those travelling from green countries will not need to quarantine as those from amber or red countries must, even they need to take at least one expensive PCR test, which costs about 100 ($135).

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: The framework announced today will help allow us to reopen travel safely and sustainably, ensure we protect our hard-won achievements on the vaccine roll out, and offer peace of mind to both passengers and industry as we begin to take trips abroad once again.

But prominent figures in the UK airline industry blasted the government plan for making travel unviable for many.

This does not represent a reopening of travel as promised by ministers, and the insistence on expensive and unnecessary PCR testing rather than rapid testingeven for low-risk countrieswill pose an unsustainable burden on passengers, making travel unviable and unaffordable for many people, said Tim Alderslade, CEO of Airlines UK, the industry body representing UK-registered carriers.

It is also a further setback for an industry on its knees and the UKs wider economic recovery, with many businesses and exporters reliant upon our domestic and international connectivity and a thriving aviation sector.

All the evidence suggests you can reopen travel safely and in a risk-based manner with more proportionate measures, and we urge government to work with industry on a faster, cheaper and less complex solution, he said in a statement.

EasyJet, Britains biggest airline by passenger numbers, also questioned the PCR testing requirement, the cost of which it says is higher than some of its fares, and called on the government to re-assess its plan.

This risks reversing the clock and making flying only for the wealthy, said easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren.

Reuters contributed to this report.


Pastors hike to commemorate E Anglian Revival

Ian Savory, senior leader at Lighthouse Community Church in Sheringham, is planning a four-day prayer walk from Lowestoft to Sheringham in June to commemorate the centenary of the Lowestoft Revival. Tony Rothe reports.

Ian will start his walk on Sunday June 6 at London Road Baptist Church in Lowestoft, which was the seat of a major revival back in the Spring of 1921 when thousands heard the preaching of Douglas Brown, a Baptist minister from London, and many became Christians.



Ian said The urge to do this has really been on my mind for some time now. It would have been good to have done this on the actual anniversary of the start of the Revival in March, but this would not have been easy because of pandemic restrictions.



Ian will be accompanied by Daniel Ward, Lighthouse Community Pastor, and hopefully other church leaders from around Norfolk. They hope to walk via Ormesby and Stalham, then on to the coast and finishing at Lighthouse Community Church in Sheringham on Wednesday June 9. They will be praying at regular intervals along the route, asking God to pour His spirit on the communities they pass through.



Lowestoft, Britains most easterly town, was the setting for the start of a revival of interest in Gods word following the carnage of the First World War. Scotsman Hugh Ferguson was pastor of London Road Baptist Church. He ran a flourishing weekly Bible class and active prayer meetings at the church, with considerable interest being shown by young people, with prayer reaching a crescendo in the early weeks of 1921.



Meanwhile, in Balham in South London, Baptist minister Douglas Brown was seeing conversions every Sunday at the large, successful Baptist Church he had been leading for 26 years, but became acutely aware that something was missing from his life, and realised that God was calling him to mission.



Hugh Ferguson had invited Douglas to preach at a mission at his Baptist Church in Lowestoft for a week from Monday March 7 1921. The Missioner duly arrived by train. Although ill, he spoke on the Monday night and at meetings on Tuesday morning, afternoon and night, and the power of the Holy Spirit moved among the people from the beginning. On Wednesday night 'inquirers' packed the adjacent schoolroom for counselling and prayer and sixty to seventy young people were converted that night, along with older people. Each night more packed the 'inquiry room' after the service, so the mission was extended indefinitely.



By the end of March the meetings had moved to the larger St John's Anglican Church nearby. People flocked to the meetings from surrounding areas and over subsequent weeks there occurred scores of conversions. Lowestoft was set on fire for God. Within eighteen months Douglas addressed over 1700 meetings, and saw revival in his evangelistic ministry.



Interest was spreading. Revival meetings multiplied in the fishing centre of Yarmouth as well in Ipswich, Norwich, Cambridge and elsewhere. Scottish fishermen working out of Yarmouth in the winter were strongly impacted, and took revival fire to Scottish fishing towns and villages in the summer.



Douglas Brown is quoted as saying, at the time:

The army of organised religion is a great host. The possibilities are immense. But the great machine is hung up and powerless for want of water. Continued drought will soon spell disaster. Rain Committees do not make rain. Christians need to get back to apostolic simplicity of faith in the supernatural.



We need to count upon God more and more, and to rest upon His Word unfalteringly. God's answer will be a revival downpour which will fill all the ditches that faith has dug. Unless we get a spiritual revolution in our churches that will bring back reality of faith in professing Christians and turn the multitudes of professors into possessors there is little hope of a spiritually revived nation.



If anyone would like to know more about Ians prayer walk, please e-mail hello@lighthousesheringham.org . The team would appreciate prayer for this venture and also any financial gifts to help cover the costs.



Do you have a news story or forthcoming event relating to Christians or a church in North Norfolk?
Many parents already had undergone weeks of anxiety as their children undertook the dangerous journey through Mexico, often in the hands of smugglers. Customs and Border Protection officials this week released a video of a sobbing 10-year-old Nicaraguan boy who had been found wandering in a remote area of Texas after he was abandoned by the group he was traveling with.

The inhumane way smugglers abuse children while profiting off parents desperation is criminal and morally reprehensible, the secretary of homeland security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, said in a statement in March. Just this month, a young girl died by drowning, a 6-month-old was thrown into the river, and two young children were dropped from a wall and left in the desert alone.

Since arriving in the United States a decade ago, Ms. Mendez, 42, has juggled jobs as a housekeeper, a packer at a seafood processing plant and a chefs assistant at a diner, sending $200 to $300 every two weeks back to her family.

Last year, Ms. Mendez watched her daughter graduate from high school by video. Cindy wanted to fulfill her dream of becoming a computer programmer, and the time to do that was now, she said.

As she headed north toward the border, Cindy checked in with her mother every few days.

To prepare for her arrival, Ms. Mendez painted her room pink, furnishing it with a new bed and a colorful princess spread. She hung helium balloons to make it festive.

Cindy reached Texas in early March and was intercepted by the Border Patrol, which took her to a processing center.

After an initial phone call from her daughter, Ms. Mendez waited anxiously for more news.

But weeks went by, and every time Ms. Mendez phoned a call center at the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is responsible for sheltering migrant children, she heard that her daughters case was pending.
UW College of Business Earns AACSB Reaccreditation

UWs College of Business is one of less than 5 percent of the worlds business programs that have earned accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. (UW Photo)

Students graduating from the University of Wyomings College of Business can be assured that their degrees will continue to carry a reputation of high quality, as the college has been reaccredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

UWs College of Business, one of less than 5 percent of the worlds business programs that have earned AACSB accreditation, has held that distinction since 1956. The college recently received notification of its reaccreditation following a rigorous, multiyear effort.

AACSB is the gold standard for business school accreditation, and Im delighted that we have been able to maintain that status during challenging times, Dean David Sprott says. Among other things, AACSB accreditation requires a commitment to continuous improvement and, through the work of our faculty and staff, we have taken actions demonstrating that commitment.

As part of the accreditation process, the College of Business goes through a continuous improvement review every five years. The college submitted its application for reaccreditation in July 2018, just before Sprott became dean. AACSB, which updated its standards in 2020, conducted a virtual peer review team visit in February. UWs College of Business is among the first schools in the U.S. to be reaccredited under the new standards.

Among the initiatives that helped the college achieve accreditation:

-- Policies and procedures related to faculty workload, tenure and promotion, assurance of learning and budgeting have been drafted, created and revised.

-- The suite of undergraduate degree offerings has been revamped, leading to a smarter set of course offerings and more faculty teaching capacity.

-- The Green Johnson Student Success Center was launched, improving support for students from pre-entry to graduation and beyond.

-- Online programs have been added and enhanced to better serve students throughout the state and region.

-- The Center for Business and Economic Analysis and the Center for Blockchain and Digital Innovation were launched to support Wyomings economic diversification efforts.

-- A hospitality minor was added to support the states No. 2 industry, tourism.

Our story over the past several years is one of clear vision and motivated action, Sprott says. We deeply appreciate AACSBs role in helping us align our local mission with broader business school best practices.
Over 2,500 arrested over Hong Kong's social unrest involve in judicial proceedings

Xinhua) 15:35, April 09, 2021

HONG KONG, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Department of Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Thursday said that of the 10,242 people arrested between June 9, 2019 and Feb. 28, 2021 over the social unrest in Hong Kong, 2,521 have been or are undergoing judicial proceedings.

According to the Security Bureau of the HKSAR government, of the 2,521 people, about 720 people were charged with riots, the rest were charged with other crimes including illegal assembly, arson and insulting the national flag.

In response to questions from Legislative Council members on Thursday, the Department of Justice said that among the 2,521 people involved in judicial proceedings, 883 people had to bear legal consequences, including 614 people convicted, 261 were bound over, four were sentenced to care or protection orders, and four were punished through civil proceedings for contempt of court.

In addition, 50 people were acquitted of their charges, 186 people were acquitted after trial, and the judicial proceedings for the rest are still ongoing.

The Civil Service Bureau of the HKSAR government said that by the end of February, 26 civil servants had been arrested on suspicion of participating in illegal activities. They are now under police investigation or being prosecuted, and all have been suspended.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Bianji)
A senior Apple executive has claimed that Apples App Store fraud checks are of no use, and are like bringing a butter knife to a gunfight.

Recently, internal documents of the Epic Games lawsuit on Apple were leaked. In the documents, senior Apple executive of the companys Fraud Engineering Algorithms and Risk department Eric Friedman was cited for the two damning quotes about Apple. Financial Times has released a report saying:

A senior Apple engineer compared the defences of its App Store against malicious actors to bringing a plastic butter knife to a gunfight, according to legal documents released on Thursday. The anecdote, which was cited by Fortnite maker Epic Games ahead of a highstakes antitrust trial in California next month, was based on internal Apple documents quoting Eric Friedman, head of the companys Fraud Engineering Algorithms and Risk (FEAR) unit. In the papers, Friedman also likened Apples process of reviewing new apps for the App Store to more like the pretty lady who greets you . . . at the Hawaiian airport than the drug-sniffing dog. He added that Apple was ill-equipped to deflect sophisticated attackers.

Apple has enjoyed a monopoly over iOS app distribution. Recently, in an interview, Tim Cook proudly claimed that Apple checked every app and content uploaded to the App Store. But Friedmans comments say otherwise. It seems like Apple enjoys the commission being made due to the fraudulent apps. One of these fraudulent apps was highlighted this week.

Developer Eleftheriou has also been bantering Apple lately. The developer has notified of a number of scam apps on the App Store and has even charged a lawsuit against the company. Epic has been in a long battle with Apple about the malpractices of the App Store, which might end on May 3.

What are your thoughts about the stories being reported about the App Store in the past few weeks? Do you think Apple intentionally lets fraudulent apps enter the App Store? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

[Via Financial Times
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Officials in Worcester provided optimism regarding the citys fight against COVID-19 despite cases increasing from last week.

City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. reported 359 new cases of the virus in the city this week. The number represented a small jump from last weeks total of 311.

In general, I feel a little bit better this week than last week, Worcester Medical Director Dr. Michael Hirsh said. I thought the numbers would be going up a little more. Im hopeful that I was wrong. Maybe I was wrong, but were not out of the woods yet.

Augustus echoed that sentiment as new coronavirus cases over the last month has dipped as low as 261 as high as Thursdays total of 359. Before Thursdays number, the previous high over the last month was 351 on March 25.

Last week, officials warned of rising cases especially with spring break, Passover and Easter taking place.

Were not there yet, Augustus said. Were not at a point where people can take their masks off and gather in large groups and not take note of the sanitary and hygiene precautions that are part of the mantra that weve been doing since the beginning of this. We really have to stay vigilant.

Hirsh said the plateauing case numbers in the city may be caused by several factors including the loosening of state COVID guidelines, the fatigue associated with mask-wearing and social distancing and variants of the virus fighting back against the vaccine efforts.

Hirsh said the strain that originated in the United Kingdom now represents the most prevalent strain in the northeast. While more contagious, the vaccines still show strong efficacy against that strain.

Hirsh is a bit more concerned about the strains originating in South Africa and Brazil, which have shown to be a bit more resistant to the vaccines.

In Worcester, Augustus said 29% of the citys population have received at least one dose of the vaccine while 16% are fully vaccinated. Both numbers grew by 4% from last week.

About 73% of the citys seniors have received at least one dose of a vaccine and 51% are fully vaccinated.

The large-scale vaccination site at Worcester State University continues to ramp up its vaccine rollout. Hirsh said the site eclipsed 50,000 doses this week.

Augustus said the site is now administering more than 10,000 doses a week and can ramp that up even more.

Were clearly picking up the pace as more vaccines become available, Augustus said.

The number of COVID-positive patients at the citys two hospitals - Saint Vincent Hospital and UMass Memorial Health - dropped by one this week to 47. The number of ICU patients though rose by 6 to 20 along with the number of deaths increasing by four to 710.

Neither hospital reported a new case among employees.

Were nearing the end of the tunnel, Mayor Joseph Petty said. Theres light, but as we said, were not quite there.

Related Content:
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 14:55:47|Editor: huaxia

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FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Three soldiers and 20 militants were killed, as Afghan security forces repelled Taliban militant attacks in the country's northern Badakhshan province during Thursday night, an army source said on Friday.

"Militants armed with guns and heavy weapons stormed security checkpoints in Shuhada, Jurm and Wardoj districts at midnight on Thursday. The security forces efficiently responded to the attacks, evicting the militants and secured the areas," Abdul Raziq from Afghan army's 217 Pamir Corps told Xinhua.

There were also 10 militants and five soldiers wounded during the fighting in the mountainous region, he said.

Taliban militants, who ruled the country before being ousted in late 2001, renewed armed insurgency killing government troops as well as civilians.

They have frequently been attacking district offices, military camps, government installations and security checkpoints, while the Afghan troops respond with airstrikes on militant targets in the countryside. Enditem
As National Save your Vision Month concluded, Mediaplanet is proud to have launched its Access to Vision Health Campaign this past March. This campaign has raised awareness for the dangers of Myopia, Glaucoma, and other ocular diseases and feature the leading solutions that help protect vision health. This campaign also encourages Americans to take their vision health seriously this year by providing our readers with the organizations and resources that are ensuring safe and regular vision care during this time period.

While 80% of all vision impairment is considered avoidable, only half of Americans visited an eye doctor in the past 12 months. Early detection and timely treatment of eye disease and conditions such as glaucoma and myopia has been found to be significantly more efficacious and cost effective. The editorials from the All About Vision Foundation, Caregiver Action Network, and Orbis International articulate the urgency for regular vision checks for people of all ages as many Americans are canceling regular exams due to COVID concerns. Their contributions on this important publication showcase why its vitally important to stay on top of preventative eye exams as well as eye disease treatment.

While the first half of the print publication articulates the ways to prevent eye disease, the latter half directly addresses the leading treatments for those living with eye disease as well as their efforts to dismantle traditional as barriers to quality care. With the support of Glaukos and The Glaucoma Foundation, the campaign establishes the importance of equitable access to eye care for black and latinx communities who are genetically predisposed to glaucoma. As the prevalence of glaucoma increases across the globe, it is more urgent than ever to highlight top therapeutic treatments available who also prioritize a commitment to racial justice for traditionally underserved communities. With contributions from renowned Ophthalmologist, Dr. Jay Katz, we are honored to feature Glaukos as a pioneering leader in the ophthalmic community advancing eye-care standards throughout the pandemic.

In addition to the featured glaucoma section medical solutions, this campaign offers key thought leadership and educational resources on Myopia, a national health crisis that is hiding in plain sight. With contributions from The American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS), The OneSight Foundation, and The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), we educate our readers on this urgent public health issue. On our current course, its believed that one in every 10 people will have high myopia by 2050. But theres a silver lining: With proper diagnosis, possible medical treatment and a few lifestyle changes, we can slow or stop myopias progression. Our key partners such as SONY, Alternative Eyewear, and Eyes Are The Story, all offer different solutions to optimizing eye health and wellness with an increase in screen time and round out the comprehensive scope of the campaign by showing ways to live well and safely in the digital age.

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Posted Thursday, April 8, 2021 5:57 am

Firefighters from Clark County Fire District 6 saved a cat and several kittens on Wednesday after the second floor of a house caught fire in Felida.

The fire, reported on Northwest 34th Avenue, started at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, stated a news release.

Initial reports indicate the homeowner noticed there was a fire on the second floor of the two story home. The person called 911 and crews arrived in four engines, assisted by a truck from Vancouver Fire.

The fire was knocked down in 12 minutes, stated the release. Afterwards, crews found two cats and a litter of kittens. Firefighters started CPR and although not all of the animals survived, they were able to save one of the cats and an unspecified number of kittens.

The Red Cross is organizing lodging for two adults and several felines, stated the news release.

The cause and damage estimate is being investigated by the Fire Marshal's office.
Farmers who use drones to herd their flock have less stressed sheep.

That's the result of a new Australian study, which found methods of shepherding have a direct impact on animal welfare.

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles in agriculture is not new, but the benefits haven't previously been probed.

'What we found through this study is that the sheep had higher heart rates when they're being shepherded by traditional means,' researcher Kate Yaxley from UNSW Canberra said.

'The simple act of moving them to another paddock for food is actually putting the animal under stress.'

A a new Australian study, found farmers who use drones to herd their flock have less stressed sheep, with their heart rates significantly lower than when directed by a dog

A view from a drone as it directs sheep around a paddock by emitting different sounds

The drones emit sounds to help direct the sheep

'We measured the variations in their heart rates, and we found it to be much lower when using UAVs with appropriate approach speed, and that the animals actually responded to the technology,' the lead researcher said.

'If we played certain sounds that allowed them to use their sensors, their aural and visual acuity, they moved a lot easier.'

What's the value of the research?

'As sheep are cognitive living beings, it is our social and ethical responsibility to consider their welfare if we're going to interact with them,' RAAF Squadron Leader Yaxley, a visiting military fellow at the university said.

The traditional method of using a sheep dog could be on its way out

'It's all about promoting a positive relationship between the farmer, the technology that is available to them, and the welfare of the animals.

'I want to empower farmers to work in different ways, while maintaining social responsibility towards animal welfare and ethics.'

The research is part of broader artificial intelligence studies and has been published by Nature Portfolio.
The ombudsman in charge of investigating problems in New Jersey prisons is resigning in the wake of a tense public hearing Thursday when he struggled to explain how hed missed years of documented abuse at the states only womens facility.

Corrections Ombudsman Dan DiBenedetti will step down Aug. 1, according to a spokeswoman for Gov. Phil Murphy.

Alyana Alfaro declined to comment further Friday. DiBenedetti didnt respond to requests for comment.

The announcement came less than a day after more lawmakers said New Jersey needed a new prison watchdog.

Everyone has to go, Assemblywomen Aura Dunn, R-Morris, Nancy Munoz, R-Union, and Assemblymen Christopher DePhillips and Bob Auth, both R-Bergen, said in a joint statement Thursday night about DiBenedetti and Marcus Hicks, the leader of the prison system.

Dozens of other representatives previously called on DiBenedetti to at least temporarily step down in the wake of a growing criminal probe that has charged multiple officers with either attacking inmates or covering up misconduct at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Hunterdon County.

Former prisoners, advocates and federal investigators have long raised concerns about the offices effectiveness.

On Thursday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers repeatedly asked DiBenedetti how hed failed to flag years of sexual abuse.

DiBenedetti acknowledged he hasnt been to the prison in more than a year.

His staff hasnt conducted any recent formal inspections of the womens facility, according to public reports.

And despite being in office since 2009, DiBenedetti couldnt think of any policy recommendations hed ever made about Edna Mahan.

One committee member asked if, in recent years, DiBenedetti thought conditions at Edna Mahan were a problem.

I didnt believe ... for them to be unacceptable, no, he said. We received very few complaints of that nature from inmates at Edna Mahan, DiBenedetti repeated, referring to sexual assault accusations.

Former prisoners testified that inmates had given up contacting the office because they rarely received help.

Lawmakers appeared baffled by DiBenedettis answers.

I leave here very disappointed, said Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, D-Hudson. It could just be that youre not a wartime consiglieri.

Part of the disconnect may stem from the role the office has played in the past.

A new law that took effect last August gave the office broad new powers, including the ability to force people to testify under oath, and experts have said New Jerseys ombudsmans office could now be one of the strongest in the nation.

The reforms were modeled after a similar watchdog agency in Washington, which has completed more than 50 public reports just since last year.

New Jersey has published six since the new law was passed  after years of releasing none.

DiBenedetti pushed back against lawmakers who wanted him to take a more aggressive role. During the hearing, he described his office as mainly reactive: Staff respond to complaints as they come in and pass serious allegations back to prison officials or prosecutors.

Lawmakers and advocates also raised concerns that he wasnt fully following state statute.

There are provisions of the law that the office has explicitly not yet complied with, and these are all critically related to community and public engagement, said Tess Borden, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

The office is supposed to hold public meetings at least quarterly, according to statute, yet it does not appear to have hosted any.

DiBenedetti did say hes long been short staffed.

The pandemic overwhelmed his office, he said, and he previously told NJ Advance Media that all of his staff were furloughed during part of last summer. DiBenedetti also recently took a pay cut and he made $116,600 as of December, according to pension records.

The office has hired more people and he now has nine employees, one of whom did visit Edna Mahan earlier this week, he added. But he said the agency really need 16 total to effectively oversee the entire prison system.

The governors newest proposal would increase the offices annual budget to more than $1.3 million.

DiBenedetti spent nearly 20 years working for the prison system he now monitors, and he sometimes appeared hesitant to challenge corrections officials.

When asked over the summer about his new ability to subpoena documents, he wrote that his office had always been able to get the information it needs by cooperating with prison officials.

One lawmaker pointed out Thursday that DiBenedetti told prisons about upcoming inspections, yet still labeled two resulting reports as unannounced inspections. DiBenedetti clarified that prison staff didnt know every unit inspectors would visit.

The new law also requires DiBenedetti to consult with an advisory board, which should include at least one former prisoner or an inmates relative, but that board doesnt yet exist.

Members are supposed to be appointed by the Assembly speaker, Senate president and governor, but the latter two do not appear to have made any appointments since the law took effect in August.

A spokesman said Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin has nominated three people deeply involved in prison advocacy: Gale Muhammad, J. Amos Caley and Ron Pierce.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Joe Atmonavage contributed to this report.

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An India-based tech website TechNadu has reported that Tata Steel, an Indian multinational steel-making company, has been hit by the Windows REvil ransomware  also known as Sodinokibi  which reportedly attempted to extort the company to the tune of US$4 million (A$5.22 million) but failed.

iTWire spoke to Tata Steel's media contact Sarvesh Kumar on Thursday after repeated calls to him on Wednesday, both on a mobile line and a landline, were not answered.

Kumar said he would send a response to an email seeking comment on the alleged attack, which had been sent to him on 6 April. But he has not yet done so.

The email was also forwarded on Wednesday [7 April] to Rob Simpson who is listed on the Tata Steel website as a contact person for the company in Europe. No reply has been received

The actors behind REvil have posted a number of technical diagrams allegedly filched from the company on their dark web site. All are marked confidential.

The TechNadu report said the initial ransom amount had been doubled to US$8 million in the monero cryptocurrency and encryption of files on the Tata Steel site had taken place on 25 March.

Tata Steel, formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel Company, is a subsidiary of the Tata Group. It is based in Jamshedpur in Jharkhand state and headquartered in Mumbai.

The company reported net profits of Rs 2148 crores (US$300 million) in 2020, according to Wikipedia. It had 32,364 employees last year.
An Instagram post by Anna Heinrich is the first social media influencer post found to be in breach of advertising transparency rules by the ad watchdog after stricter new guidelines were introduced in February.

In a decision published in March, Ad Standards determined that the post by the lawyer and Bachelor winner, which tagged fashion brand Runaway The Label, went against the advertisers code of ethics for not being a clearly distinguishable ad.

Anna Heinrichs Instagram post was the subject of a complaint to the advertising watchdog. Credit:Instagram

Heinrichs Instagram photo, posted on February 11 to her 380,000 followers, showed her wearing a green dress with the caption, Turning my apartment into a Runway [green heart emoji] Then back to my PJs I go! Wearing: @runawaythelabel.

Australias advertising regulatory body upheld consumer complaints that the post lacked transparency and was not using the proper wording for sponsorship.
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A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts have blasted off for the International Space Station (ISS) on board a Soyuz MS-18 rocket  and docked with the space station about three-and-a-half hours later.

NASA's Mark Vande Hei, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskly and Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos made the journey to dock with the station that's orbiting 254 miles above the Earth.

The trio, who are part of the latest crew heading to the orbiting lab, launched from Earth at 08:42 BST from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and docked at the ISS at 12:05 BST.

They orbited the Earth twice before successfully docking with the Rassvet module on the station, a nearly 20-foot-long 'mini research module', launched in 2010.

Just four minutes and 40 seconds after liftoff, impressive views from the Soyuz showed the spacecraft on its way to orbit, headed for the ISS.

Live coverage of the docking procedure on NASA TV began at 11:15 BST  and docking was confirmed by NASA to be complete just after midday.

Live coverage of the docking procedure (pictured) on NASA TV began at 11:15 BST  and docking was confirmed by NASA to be complete just after midday BST - at at 12:05

Footage from lift-off at 8:42 today. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is making his second trip to the ISS that's orbiting 254 miles above the Earth

NASA's Mark Vande Hei, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskly and Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos made the journey to dock with the station

Expedition 65 crew members Russian cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos, left, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, centre, and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei

The Soyuz launch comes three days before the 60th anniversary of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's launch to become the first human in space.

It is also three days before the 40th anniversary of the first launch of NASA's space shuttle, taking place on April 13.

The trio join the Expedition 64 crew including NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins, who arrived on the station with Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos in October 2020.

They also join the crew of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience  NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, as well as Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

Liftoff! Mark Vande Hei of NASA and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov launched on their Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They join the Expedition 64 crew aboard the ISS

NASA tweeted footage of the three men waving goodbye as they boarded the Soyuz MS-18 rocket ahead of the take-off to the ISS

The Soyuz launch pad at site 31, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, April 8. Expedition 65 NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Novitskiy are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft on April 9

Expedition 65 Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy (left), NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei (centre) and Russian cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov (right) wave farewell prior to boarding the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft for launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on April 9 in Kazakhstan

They orbited the Earth twice before making the trip to dock with the Rassvet module on the station (pictured). It is used primarily for cargo storage and some payload operations

About two hours after docking, hatches between the Soyuz and the station open, and the 10 crew members will greet each other.

Vande Hei, Novitskiy, and Dubrov will be part of Expeditions 64 and 65. The departure of Rubins, Ryzhikov, and Kud-Sverchkov on Friday, April 16, will mark the start of the new expedition.

The new launch follows a complicated docking manoeuvre on the ISS on April 5 that saw the SpaceX Crewe Dragon spacecraft move from one docking port to another.

The International Space Station (ISS, pictured) is a $100 billion (80 billion) science and engineering laboratory that orbits 250 miles (400 km) above Earth

From left, Expedition 65 NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and Russian cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov, waving farewell as they depart from a hotel at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, left, Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov, right, are seen in quarantine, behind glass, during a press conference, Thursday, April 8, 2021 a the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan

This wasn't to make way for the Soyuz, which docks with a Russian module, but rather to make way for both the next Crew Dragon later this month and a cargo dragon ship, due to arrive at the station in June.

The SpaceX Crew-2 mission is scheduled to launch on April 22 on the Crew Dragon Endeavour, taking NASA's Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA's Thomas Pesquet and JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.

A week later, on April 28, the Crew-1 mission will come to an end when Hopkins, Walker, Victor Glover and Soichi Noguchi splash down near Florida.

The returning Crew Dragon Resilience will be refurbished for the 'Inspiration4 Mission' that will take four private citizens to the ISS no earlier than mid-September.
India should have reported 320 cases of blood clot associated with administering of Covishield vaccine by now if the European levels of risk calculated for AstraZeneca were to apply to the country, according to eminent scientist Gagandeep Kang who termed it a "very small risk" with absolutely no need for apprehension.

Kang, Professor at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, said that the European levels of risk of blood clots from the AstraZeneca vaccine are 1 out of 100,000 according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and 1 out of 250,000 as reported by the British Health Regulator.

A growing number of countries have either halted or limited the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine recently over fears that it can cause serious blood clots.

Co-developed by the University of Oxford and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, the vaccine uses an engineered version of adenoviruses that infect chimpanzees to carry the gene responsible for the spike protein of the novel coronavirus. It is manufactured in the country by the Serum Institute of India, Pune.

"There are bound to be a few or several cases of people who have had blood clots after getting a jab. That is to be expected. What we need to know is whether these blood clots were accompanied with a low platelet count," Kang told The Wire in an interview. She said the government should set up an inquiry to look into this matter in a time-bound manner and make its report fully public.

According to the virologist, if the European-level calculations were to apply to India, the country would have a total of 3,000 cases of blood clots out of its total target of 300 million people to be vaccinated. "I notice that the EMA puts it at roughly 1 out of every 100,000 and the British Health Regulator puts it at 1 out of 250,000 but for laymen that''s a very small risk...

"So if we think about how many people have been immunized in the country so far and we think about the 300 million cohorts you''re really talking about perhaps having 3000 cases of this across the country once we complete the entire immunization program in India," she said.

This, she said, means out of the 80 million doses of the Astrazeneca the vaccine is already given, India should have 320 cases. She added that this is a "very small risk" and there is absolutely no need for apprehension. However, she said the exact numbers of such cases are not known currently.

Kang said that in India, there is no official information whether there have been worrying blood clots with a low platelet count after taking a dose of the Covishield vaccine. She was of the view that it is the blood clots in veins in the brain and abdomen accompanied by low platelet counts that we need to look out for.

She said no doubt hospitals would have this information but she did not know if it has reached the government''s adverse events committee or, if it has, what it's done with the data. Kang also said that it's not possible India could have given 80 million doses of Covishield without incidences of blood clotting.

"It's hard to believe that after giving 80 million doses of AstraZeneca, we had no blood clotting. But many people after having AstraZeneca had strokes or other sorts of blood clots. What's more important is to find out whether they have blood clots in association with low platelet count and that we don't know," she said.

She also cited the example of the details and full transparency set by Britain's Health Regulator as one the Indian system must emulate. However, the scientist added that for now there is no need for India to follow the British and European example and decide not to give Covishield to particular age groups.

She said there is absolutely no doubt the benefits of Covishield far outweigh the very small risks. She said the country does not make enough Covaxin, India's indigenous vaccine, to replace Covishield. Covaxin is developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

Kang noted that in order to ensure ample supply in case Covishield needs to be halted or limited, India must expeditiously clear other vaccines like Sputnik, Johnson and Johnson, and Novovax, the first two of which are already being used internationally.

Also read: SII fully refunds South Africa for 500,000 undelivered COVID-19 vaccine doses

Also read: Australia, Philippines, African Union ban AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot
India Infrastructure has acquired a stake in iBus Networks for $21 million (around Rs 150 crore).

iBus offers in-building wireless solutions, outdoor small cells and other last-mile connectivity solutions to mobile operators to enable them to serve their customers seamlessly. With Covid forcing professionals and to adopt to WFH, the demand for robust in-building connectivity has increased manifold. The need for low latency, high-speed internet is being demanded be it for running schools and colleges online or WFH, e-comm, online transactions and remote health monitoring has never been felt so urgently before.

iBus, through its coverage of 277 million sq ft across top 10 cities, serves approx four million customers. The company currently deploys its infrastructure across 233 commercial, residential and retail sites across the country.

The funds raised will be used for business expansion plans, support working capital requirements to scale the indoor wireless coverage to 400 million sq ft in the next few years to cover 7 million people. With a track record of 100 per cent profitable growth YoY over the last foure years with area additions to its portfolio which covers over 500 million sq ft over 750+ premium projects, iBus is now keen to blend & offer even more convenience to do digital business continuity by working towards integrating New Technology such as 5G , ORAN , FTTH , IoT , BMS within the In-Building Space, said the company.

Ram Sellaratnam, Sunil Menon and Subash Vasudevan, Co-Founders of iBus, said, We at iBus welcome India Infrastructure as an equity partner for the strength of experience in helping build scale. Connectivity is fundamental to large developing digital economies like India and our mission is to build an end-to-end intelligent, scalable and convergent connectivity ecosystem. Distributed Antenna Systems such as In-Building solutions have been fragmented and silo-ed for a long time. With this investment, iBus will build scale and eliminate inefficiencies to fast track the essential digitalization of our economy.

Cipher-Plexus Capital Advisor was the exclusive advisor for the transaction.

The companys business model is intricately linked to Indias data consumption and digital infrastructure story, said the company in the statement. Indias per capita data consumption is the highest globally with an average monthly data consumption of 11GB per month compared to only 1 GB per month as recently as March 2017. Almost 80 per cent of data consumption takes place indoors where telecom coverage is least adequate and the growth in mobile data consumption and the transition to 4G / 5G requires densification of indoor telecom networks.

We are excited to partner with a management team that is establishing itself as the in-building solutions partner of choice for telecom operators. Our will allow iBus to drive consolidation and scale in a fragmented industry while enhancing the mobile user experience, said Raja Parthasarathy, Managing Director and Co-Head of India Infrastructure.

Founded in 2013 by three first-generation entrepreneurs, iBus previously raised capital from a number of well-known investors and family offices.
Around a thousand people are expected to attend this unique anniversary celebration event including guests, staff, media and other well-known giants of the 3D printing industry who are focused on the advanced progress and cutting-edge technology of this industry and who regularly lead the way in 3D printing innovation.



General manager and one of the four co-founders of Creality, Chen Chun, is scheduled to give a speech on the day and award winners of the Creality Global Creative Modification Masters Contest will also receive prizes.

"As an industry leading company, we always set out to create work that is full of creativity and ingenuity to impress our users all around the world," said Chen Chun. "It is innovation and endless perseverance that has pushed us to be here, driving us to break boundaries in every one of our creations and intelligently guide the future, helping to build the technological innovation ecosystem, because, striving to be the leading global consumer grade printer enterprise is where we aim. It is for these reasons that we will also be launching a new mystery blockbuster product on the day of this special anniversary event."



This celebration event will be simultaneously broadcast on major global platforms including Facebook, Youtube, Netease, Nanjixiong, Bilibili, and others. Creality is looking forward to sharing this special day with everyone on April 9.

About Creality:

Founded in 2014, Shenzhen Creality 3D Technology Co., Ltd is a global consumer-level 3D printing leading brand and national high-tech enterprise, focusing on 3D printer research and production. We boast more than 100 patents in consumer, industrial and educational 3D printers. Creality has always been dedicated to the market application of 3D printers and provided efficient and cost-effective, comprehensive 3D printing solutions to individuals, families, schools and enterprises.

Headquartered in Shenzhen with branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Chengdu, Creality established an industry-university-research teaching and internship base with multiple colleges and universities, extending our technological strength. The progressive large-scale R&D center, 3D printing laboratory, Creality Academy and modernized production line combined with a 24 hour, non-stop professional testing line and rigid quality system has ensured product quality from its source. Our products have been sold to 192 countries and regions, ranking in the global 3D printer top sales list.

Contact us: [email protected]

Creality

https://www.creality.com/activity-news/creality-7th-anniversary-celebration

SOURCE CREALITY 3D
Nations Will Not Surrender Sovereignty for Global Minimum Tax Rate: Economists

'Unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats trying to undermine national sovereignty'

Economists are sceptical of the Biden administrations push for a global minimum tax rate for corporations, saying not only will it frustrate the free market, but it will see very little support from foreign governments.

At the end of the day, any international agreement is essentially toothless due to the existence of national sovereignty, Gigi Foster, professor of economics at the University of New South Wales (NSW) told The Epoch Times.

The incentive for individual countries to offer appealing tax treatment will remain, no matter how strong the international pressure on a country to conform to some nominated standard, she added.

Foster said practical policies mostly originate from individual countries, not via coordinated efforts.

We have already seen in other areas, in everything from climate policy to criminal justice, how coordinated effort across multiple countries is simply not a workable approach for achieving significant change, she said.

Foster said the only alternative where she could see a global minimum tax rate succeed was for a supranational body to wield unilateral power over different nations, akin to a world empire, and setting a global tax rate.

However, this would be a true dystopian nightmare.

On Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that the Biden administration would throw its support behind a global minimum tax rate.

The announcement came following revelations U.S. President Joe Bidens $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan will be propped up by an increase in the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent.

President Joe Biden speaks about jobs and the economy as Vice President Kamala Harris listens, at the White House in Washington on April 7, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

To disincentivise U.S. companies from relocating overseas, the administration is pushing for nations to adopt a standardised rate, and prevent them from domiciling in tax havens or low-tax jurisdictions.

Since 2013, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and G20 nations have been working on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, with one of its pillars being to agree to a global tax rate.

The United States has historically resisted unconditionally endorsing BEPS, but the Biden administrations position signals a major shift.

It is about making sure that governments have stable tax systems that raise sufficient revenue to invest in essential public goods and respond to crises, and that all citizens fairly share the burden of financing [the] government, Yellen told attendees.

We are working with G20 nations to agree to a global minimum corporate tax rate that can stop the race to the bottom, she added.

The Washington D.C.-based Tax Foundation disputes the race to the bottom claim, saying tax rates across the world have plateaued for over a decade.

Hundred dollar bills are are counted out by a banker counting currency at a bank in Westminster, Col., on Nov. 3, 2009. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)

When the United States cut the federal statutory corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent in 2017, it was not leading a race to the bottom but moving to the average, it said in a report.

Universal Tax Rate Threatens Competition and Developing Nations

Robert Carling, the former executive director of the New South Wales Treasury warned that Yellens proposal would be disruptive to the free market, especially since tax breaks can often be the only tool for some governments to attract investment into their countries.

I think its an attempt to frustrate tax competition. Tax competition between countries is always good, and a productive thing. And this would frustrate it. Theres no other way of looking at it, the senior fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies told The Epoch Times.

Sharif Mahmud Khalid, assistant professor in accounting from the University of Sheffield, warned that developing nations would suffer the most.

In a world where there are huge disparities in the income levels of different countries, a minimum global corporation tax rate could crowd out those who are not especially attractive but for the fact that they can offer lower rates, he wrote in The Conversation.

A woman walking in the Gypsy Hill quarter in the town of Soroca, some 155 km north of Chisinau, Moldova on October 31, 2020. (Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images)

In contrast, low-tax jurisdictions already attracting significant investment, like Singapore or the Republic of Ireland, may be just as reluctant to support the proposal.

Why would they increase taxes for the sake of this global minimum tax? Cian Hussey, a research fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, told The Epoch Times.

Hussey also said tax policy should be the domain of national governments and citizens, not a supranational body.

This is just the latest example of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats trying to undermine national sovereignty in the nation state, he said.

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, once a colleague of the OECDs newly appointed Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, welcomed discussion on the issue.

Australia welcomes the United States commitment to continue to engage in the OECD-led discussions seeking to agree to a globally consistent approach to the tax challenges posed by the digitalisation of the economy, he told The Epoch Times in an email.

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg (L) and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann (R) announce the Federal Budget in Canberra, Australia, on April 2, 2019. (Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)

Australia will remain an active and constructive participant in these discussions as we have done so throughout, he added.

European Leaders Pleased By US Move

Finance ministers from Europes largest economies, Germany and France, have already strongly backed the proposal for a global minimum tax rate with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire saying he was delighted by the announcement.

An agreement on international taxation is now within reach, he told AFP. We must seize this historic opportunity.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz also hailed the proposal saying he was in high spirits.

Their response could be partly motivated by the Republic of Irelands historically low tax rate of 12.5 percent which has attracted over 700 U.S. companies to its shores.

Drones create the Orchestra of Light St Patricks Day lights display above the Samuel Beckett Bridge, over the River Liffey in the centre of Dublin, on March 7, 2021.  (Paul Faith/AFP via Getty Images)

They (the European Union) have not succeeded in forcing Ireland to increase that rate, and its always been a bone of contention, Carling said.

Even if a global tax rate was established, there could instead, be an increase of tax loopholes and opaque tax policy.

A country could just establish a domestic policy of subsidising certain industries to attract them there, Hussey added.

I think this is a short-sighted and a poorly thought-out move, he said. Its another example of bureaucrats trying to design the world that they would like to see, without thinking through how those in the business world actually make decisions about investments.
Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu has disclosed that he refused to put himself out to contest as Ghanas Speaker of Parliament despite pressure from some party stalwarts to do so.



Mr Iddrisu made this revelation at a thanksgiving event held in honour of the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin in the Waala Traditional Area of the Upper West Region.



He told the congregation: A group of NDC MPs led by Mahama Ayariga and some of our colleagues even surprisingly at that time supported by my able whip honourable Muntaka had come to my office to lure me and to encourage me to run for the position of Speaker and without any hesitation, I declined their bid.



Going forward, I knew in my heart, God will have favour on someone amongst us, therefore, in a subsequent meeting of the Minority Caucus, I had questioned Mahama Ayariga and my colleagues that I was not too sure whether they had my mandate or my authority to proceed further with their good intentions.



Then in a meeting with the NDC highest leadership somewhere in the offices of former President Mahama, I said to the group that my candidate for Speaker was amongst us and pointed to Alban Bagbin and honourable Aseidu Nketia. Before I could finish speaking, Aseidu Nketia held the hand of honourable Bagbin strongly and said it should be the Bagbin little did I know Gods favour was vested in him



Mr Iddrisu expressed confidence that he knew Mr Bagbin would be fair and firm as Speaker and serve Ghana well.



Bagbin was elected as the Speaker of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic after a chaotic voting exercise in the chamber of parliament in the early hours of Thursday, 7 January 2020.



He was elected over the New Patriotic Party's nominee, Prof Mike Oquaye, who had served as Speaker of the Seventh Parliament.

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April 9, 2021

Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced its participation in the upcoming Annual Integrative Ultrasound Meeting (AIUM) virtual event, April 11-14, hosted by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. The company will spotlight its latest advanced tele-ultrasound solutions, extending access and consistency of care and expanding capacity of care teams by enabling remote clinician to clinician collaboration.

As telemedicine continues to grow in adoption, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the evolution of ultrasound has been revolutionized by the expansion of tele-ultrasound, demonstrating its ability to extend global access to quality care across cardiovascular, general imaging and women's healthcare, regardless of geographic limitations. Advancements in point-of-care (POC) ultrasound are showing tremendous promise in rural and underserved areas of the world, allowing users of POC - emergency medicine physicians, intensivists, hospitalists, critical care physicians, medical fellows, residents, and more - to perform exams and consult with patients and one another, all via tele-ultrasound technology.

Spotlight on Philips Handheld Ultrasound) with Collaboration Live (Reacts), the world's first truly integrated tele-ultrasound solution providing remote access to clinical staff in real-time during exams - will be front and center at the event. Remote guidance and collaboration allows tele-ultrasound users to eliminate time wasted in switching physical locations and to limit exposure to infectious patients, while increasing productivity and improving the patient and staff experience.

"In the era of COVID-19, the use of remote ultrasound guidance and training is more important than ever before. Patients are very sick, and cannot be examined with a stethoscope in order not to spread the virus from patient to patient," said Yanick Beaulieu, MD, Cardiologist-Intensivist and Medical Officer for Precision Diagnosis at Philips. "Tools that can deliver tele-guidance have become invaluable. When I am working remotely with one of my residents who is with a COVID patient performing an ultrasound exam with Philips Handheld Ultrasound (Lumify) and Collaboration Live (Reacts), I can see everything she is doing and guide her as if I were in the same room. Bringing expertise to where it is needed most is the true benefit of tele-ultrasound."

"When you work in a vast state like New Mexico, there are many rural areas, with limited access to high quality obstetric medical care," said Michael S. Ruma, MD, MPH, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Perinatal Associates of New Mexico. "We deal with many common fetal illnesses and abnormalities in our practice. Having access to Philips Collaboration Live, lets me provide real-time consultation to both sonographers and patients to help improve outcomes. Telemedicine has become even more critical during the pandemic, because in-person visits have been greatly limited. Since the onset of COVID-19, we've done more than 5,500 telemedicine visits, including many via Philips Collaboration Live, allowing us to reach out and touch patients remotely."

The impact of Philips tele-ultrasound on patient care

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare leaders recognized the need for digital transformation across the imaging enterprise. Enabled by increasingly connected informatics platforms, imaging innovations that support extended, virtual, and collaborative care are rapidly responding to these needs.

During the AIUM virtual event, Philips will host a panel session of leading clinicians to discuss how they are "going remote" to connect with colleagues and patients in new and effective ways via tele-ultrasound, in continued efforts to transform patient care. The session is open to registration for AIUM attendees. Panelists include:

Yanick Beaulieu MD, Cardiologist-Intensivist, Medical Officer for Precision Diagnosis, Philips;

Michael S. Ruma MD, MPH, FACOG, with Perinatal Associates of New Mexico, USA;

Richard G. Barr MD, PhD, FACR, FSRU, FAIUM, with Southwoods Health in Ohio, USA.

Philips Handheld Ultrasound.

Visit AIUM 2021 for more detail on Philips participation in the virtual event, and visit Philips advanced tele-ultrasound solutions for more information on Philips Collaboration Live and Philips Handheld Ultrasound).

For further information, please contact:

Kathy O'Reilly

Philips Global Press Office

Tel.: +1 978-221-8919

E-mail: kathy.oreilly@philips.com

Twitter: @kathyoreilly

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips.





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Paris, TX (75460)

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Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

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Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 21:44:22|Editor: huaxia

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BRUSSELS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- For Danica Angela Marcos, the weirdest yet saddest scenario was to watch her grandfather's funeral live on Zoom, seeing her cousins crying on the screen but not able to give them a hug because of the lockdown.

"It's not like we can do (it) all over again when the pandemic is over ... I cannot re-attend my grandpa's funeral," mumbled the black-hair Londoner in her 20s, rolling eyes to hold back tears, whose grandfather passed away in California, the United States, towards the end of last year.

Many Europeans, like Marcos, have undergone similar human sorrows and pains, as the nightmare of COVID-19, which has shrouded the continent since more than one year ago, is still hovering around.

On Friday, the Copenhagen-based World Health Organization (WHO) Europe Office announced that the European region has recorded more than 1 million COVID-19-related deaths.

FACTORS BEHIND RESURGENCE

Since breaking out in late 2019, COVID-19 has been causing infections and deaths at an accelerated pace across Europe. One after another, governments of different countries were woken up to the danger, announcing partial or full lockdowns, and even night curfews, moves rarely seen since the end of World War II.

Schools closed, flights grounded, hairdressers and restaurants shutdown, only grocery and shops selling essential goods, in most countries, were among the few that were allowed to open, while the customers were required to wear masks and keep social distance of more than one meter.

Before the reopening of schools, online courses were offered to students who were forced to stay home during the pandemic in many European countries. Many schools sent assignments to parents via e-mail or other digital tools, or shared free online resources.

However, not all students are self-disciplined. In France, about 5 to 8 percent of students were "lost," or unreachable by their teachers, estimated the French Ministry of Education in April 2020.

"This virus has imposed limitations on all of us. I have practically no social life and can't hug the people I love. My personal life has turned completely around. Few things remain from my previous life. And as a person, I feel exhausted, restless, and uncertain," Abigail Mora Sanz, a psychotherapist in Spain, told Xinhua.

Besides the continent's aging population and the overwhelmed healthcare systems, some experts attributed the bleakness in Europe to frequent policy changes, which have swung between lockdowns and relaxations for several rounds.

One of the major challenges for European countries is "the temptation of too fast reopening, which is politically popular but can cause another wave of epidemics before proper vaccination," said Miklos Hargitai, an editorialist of Hungary's daily Nepszava.

"In addition, Europe has not adopted the practice of the most successful countries in curbing the virus," Hargitai told Xinhua.

Another factor behind Europe's current COVID-19 resurgence is the alarming and explosive spread of the highly contagious virus variants, which increases the risk of hospitalization.

The slow rollout of vaccination may also prolong the pandemic. According to WHO Europe Office, only 10 percent of the region's total population has received at least one vaccine dose and 4 percent has received both, as of April 1.

"Vaccines present our best way out of this pandemic... However, the rollout of these vaccines is unacceptably slow," said Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe.

SCALE UP VACCINATION

On April 1, Kluge called upon governments in the region to "scale up both vaccine production and vaccination."

German photographer Ulrich Hufnagel was diagnosed with COVID-19 last September, with so-called mild case symptoms and was quarantined for more than 20 days.

"It is very annoying that some people in Germany and Europe do not take the virus seriously. My hope now rests on quick vaccination. I think this is the only possibility to get our normal life back," Hufnagel said.

Due to what appears to be an acute shortage of vaccine doses earlier this year, tensions once remained high between the European Union, Britain, and some central-eastern European countries like the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Austria.

The connection between blood clots and the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which has been purchased and administrated in large amounts by many European countries, also raised concern among people.

The European Medicines Agency confirmed on Wednesday that the occurrence of blood clots with low blood platelets are strongly associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Faced with such dire challenges, some governments in the region have started to look for the alternatives. Serbia and Hungary have granted permission for the use of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China. Some other countries, like Poland and the Czech Republic, also voiced interest in Chinese-made vaccines.

"We fully support the Chinese idea of establishing a global anti-pandemic community of cooperation and help," said Sylwester Szafarz, former consul general of Poland in the Chinese city of Shanghai.

However, vaccines themselves are not a panacea for the pandemic, until people are inoculated in huge numbers, WHO Europe Office warned, noting that it can give a false sense of security, inducing the public to stop wearing masks and taking other precautions.

SAY NO TO DEPRESSION

Besides measures to accelerate the vaccination, several governments and health care experts deem social restrictions a key tool for containing the disease and reducing deaths.

"Now is not the time to relax measures. We can't afford not to heed the danger. We have all made sacrifices, but we cannot let exhaustion win. We must keep reining in the virus," Kluge said.

With their life being changed amid the pandemic, many people in Europe have been eventually getting used to wearing face masks outside, working and studying from home.

To some people, the future seems less gloomy and confidence is growing.

Once worried that the lockdowns could totally ruin his business, Remi Boute, director of a bookstore in southeast France's Saint-Etienne, feels relieved as his shop reopens.

"When the stores reopened, we had the satisfaction of seeing people tell us they were happy to see our stores open. They returned in large numbers," he said.

"We faced something that we'd never seen and so what we tried to do was to understand it, to better treat our patients and save or try to solve the problem in the most cases we could," said Pere Domingo, senior infectious disease consultant and coordinator of COVID-19 at Barcelona's Sant Pau Hospital.

"This intellectual component ... has been something that has stimulated us, and helped us overcome all these negative feelings that at one time or another we have all had," said the Spanish professor, who has been devoted to the research of infectious diseases since 1989. Enditem
ROCHESTER, Minn.  A second plea is entered over 14 pounds of methamphetamine and thousands of oxycodone pills.

Douglas Ray Howard, 58 of Rochester, pleaded not guilty Thursday to first-degree possession of drugs and first degree sale of drugs. No trial date has been set.



Ann Jessen-Ford Ann Jessen-Ford

Matthew Lyman Matthew Lyman

Howard is one of three people arrested after a traffic stop in January started an investigation.

Matthew James Lyman, 47 of Mantorville, was pulled over after law enforcement said he was swerving through traffic and failed to signal a lane change. Investigators say five pounds of meth, 4,000 oxycodone pills, and two handguns were found in Lymans vehicle. Court documents state one of the handguns had been reported stolen.

Lymans arrest led to the discovery of nine more pounds of meth at a home in the 2100 block of 18  Avenue NW. Howard and Ann Marie Jessen-Ford, 57 of Rochester, were arrested at the home.

Jessen-Ford has pleaded not guilty to first-degree drugs sales and first-degree drug possession. No trial date has been set. Lyman has not yet entered a plea to three counts of 1st degree sale of drugs, three counts of 1st degree possession of drugs, receiving stolen property, 5th degree drug possession, and DWI.
Whether it is a Syrian Muslim gunning down Trump supporters in Colorado, the attack near the Capitol by a Nation of Islam supporter, the change in laws that protect police in New York, or the campaign against the state of Georgia, we must acknowledge the widespread assault on the conservative, Christian community. I use the phrase White America, though ironically we are comprised of all ethnicities and races but united in our stand for biblical and democratic values that are the foundation of our country. The radical left characterizes us as angry white people so they can garner support for the vilification of our principles as part of a broader scheme to undermine our way of life. It is critical that we do not look at each of these issues as separate unrelated events when each of them is a critical aspect of how insidious movements weaken traditional social structures.



For over two decades, I researched and published about how these nearly identical tactics are used by radical Islamists to transform the Middle East, South Asia, and to a lesser extent, even parts of Europe. For over 50 years, radical Islamists have used outright violence, political upheaval, and large public campaigns to dramatically alter relatively tolerant societies into oppressive countries that eliminate personal liberties and freedom to practice any religion other than radical Islam. Most prominently, we see the results of their efforts in countries like Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and Egypt where Christians are either driven out completely or suffer tremendous persecution. In Europe, I personally visited distinct neighborhoods in London and the Netherlands where non-Muslims are driven out and the immigrants are so isolated from mainstream society that their communities seem to be parts of a foreign country.

Islamists have engaged in similar campaigns here in the US, successfully creating a group of homegrown terrorists and political organizations that seek to affect US policy, but their efforts remained marginal. The Judeo-Christian principles that govern American society and its legal system, coupled with a strong law enforcement apparatus, have been the bulwark against any ideological movement fundamentally changing American society.

However, the assault on White America that unites Islamists and the radical Left is particularly dangerous, not only because it has followers capable of terrorizing the population, they also have tacit support from the Biden administration, local and state lawmakers, and a large portion of mainstream society. Together these two movements have the power to murder opponents and sabotage traditional legal and political structures.

The recently enacted law eliminating qualified immunity for the New York Police Department is an important example of this assault. The City Council said in a statement that it passed a bill creating a local civil right protecting the citys residents against unreasonable search and seizures, excessive force, and a ban on the use of qualified immunity as a defense[1]. The general public thinks this is valuable to reduce police brutality cases but many are not considering the broader ramification of this dramatic change. From my personal experience working with NYPD for years on counter-terrorism cases, its difficult enough to engage in the complex legal world of law enforcement and investigations, but this legislation will make the police department even more hesitant about programs and procedures that could potentially bring civil action against the department. Though the extent of its current application is unknown, this law could dismantle the massive counterterrorism effort in place after 9-11 because terror suspects would cripple the police by filing countless lawsuits that protest ongoing investigations, allegations of unreasonable searches, and arrests under the guise of discrimination against Muslims.

Source:The Christian Post
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 04:37:18|Editor: huaxia

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Portugal's former Prime Minister Jose Socrates wearing a face mask leaves the court in Lisbon, Portugal, April 9, 2021. Portugal's former prime minister Jose Socrates will be the country's first head of government to stand trial, having been indicted for money laundering and forgery of documents, according to a decision by Judge Ivo Rosa on Friday. (Photo by Petro Fiuza/Xinhua)

LISBON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's former prime minister Jose Socrates will be the country's first head of government to stand trial, having been indicted for money laundering and forgery of documents, according to a decision by Judge Ivo Rosa on Friday.

However, the magistrate withdrew the passive corruption charges from the Socrates trial, saying "the facts against the accused ... are insufficient to uphold an indictment for passive corruption."

Socrates, who served as prime minister between 2005 and 2011, was accused in 2017 of 31 crimes of passive corruption, money laundering, forgery of documents, and tax fraud, in a process that has lasted seven years.

He was arrested at Lisbon Airport in 2014 in Portugal's biggest-ever corruption investigation, codenamed Operation Marquis.

Prosecutors alleged that Socrates received around 34 million euros (40.5 million dollars) between 2005 and 2015 from companies.

Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Friday declined to comment on the lawsuit involving Socrates, whom he has always called a "friend."

"I had the opportunity to answer this question six years ago. And I still have nothing to add to what I said," he said in a quick statement to the press.

In 2014 Costa visited Socrates in prison and stated that he hoped that "justice would work, ensuring the presumption of innocence," the prosecution's investigations, and "the right for people to defend themselves."

The Portuguese Public Prosecutor's Office has already announced that it will appeal Judge Ivo Rosa's decision to uphold the corruption charges against Socrates. Enditem
Redistricting reform on the state level was the topic of a webinar hosted by Schuylkill Indivisible, which believes a bill sponsored by state Sen. David G. Argall, R-29, Rush Township, could help in the effort.

Jean Handley, Dauphin County coordinator for Fair Districts PA, which aims to create a transparent, impartial and fair redistricting process in the state, led Wednesday nights discussion.

Congressional redistricting is done through a bill passed by both legislative branches and signed into law by the governor.

State legislative districts are apportioned by a five-member Legislative Reapportionment Committee, which is made up of the four party leaders of both legislative branches and a fifth person selected as chair.

The once-a-decade process is officially underway in Harrisburg,

With both processes, Handley said there is little transparency on the data used, and the process can only be challenged in court. Attempts to create a citizens commission on redistricting failed in the Legislature and she said the governor cant veto the maps for state legislative districts.

Handley discussed what the organization calls the Legislative and Congressional Redistricting Act, SB 222 and HB 22, which have bipartisan support.

Both bills would keep the legislators roles the same, but promote transparency in the redistricting process by creating a user-friendly website for data, allowing the public to submit ideas for maps. It also mandates multiple hearings statewide on the maps, as well as prohibiting counties being split and drawing districts that favor a party. As of Wednesday, both bills are in the State Government committees.

She urged attendees to think of gerrymandering as a bipartisan problem as it affects everyone, adding the redistricting process that will take place early next year will shape future politics and policies.

Gerrymandering leads to uncompetitive districts and leaves communities and school districts divided, making it harder for legislative issues to be addressed, she argued. It can also be a form of voter suppression, Handley added, as it leads to uncompetitive races or candidates that run unopposed, leading many voters choosing not to go to the polls.

A delay in getting the U.S. Census Bureau data to states will mean the timeline for completing redistricting before the next election cycle will be delayed.

Meanwhile, the state constitution gives the committee five months to approve a plan, consider objections and holding hearings, which Handley argued doesnt have to take so long.

She said most of the requirements outlined in the bills can be met this year if the bills are passed.

Pennsylvanias 2011 congressional map was considered one of the most gerrymandered of the time, and in 2018, the state Supreme Court threw it out, saying Republicans gave themselves an unfair advantage, Spotlight PA recently reported.

While the congressional map-drawing will still be led by Republicans this year, theyll have to work with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf  who must give his stamp of approval  if they want to avoid the map being challenged in court.

Argall will play a powerful role in the process as chair of the Senate State Government Committee, which considers the new map, and he told Spotlight PA that hes planning a round of public hearings.

Argall is the primary sponsor of SB 441, which sets rules the type of candidate who can serve as chair of the LRC.

It was voted out of the State Government Committee and awaits a vote in the state Senate.

Hes on board with this, Handley said. He has not been an opponent of redistricting reform; he can be an ally.

In a statement Thursday, Argall said that he is working to pass anti-gerrymandering reforms.

Passing Senate Bill 441, which would require the legislative reapportionment chair to be truly impartial and nonpartisan, is one small step to begin to roll back the hyperpartisan gerrymandering sins of the past, Argall said in the statement.

Handley said the four members have put out statements in favor of a fair and transparent redistricting process.

She concluded her presentation by urging attendees to become active on social media and contact legislators to urge them to sponsor SB 222 and HB 22.
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A recent market study published by FMI on the digital wound measurement devices market includes the global industry analysis of 2015-2019 & opportunity assessment for 2020-2030, and delivers a comprehensive assessment of the most important market dynamics. Our analysts have conducted thorough research on the historical as well as current growth parameters of the market to obtain growth prospects with maximum precision.

Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market: Segmentation

Wound Type

Diabetic Ulcer

Chronic Wounds

Burns

Incisional

Traumatic

End User

Hospitals

Clinics

Region

North America

Latin America

Europe

South Asia

East Asia

Oceania

Middle East & Africa

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Report Chapters

Chapter 01- Executive Summary

The report gives a brief with the executive summary of the Digital Wound Measurement Devices market, which includes a summary of the key findings and statistics of the market. It also includes the demand & supply-side trends pertaining to the digital wound measurement devices market.

Chapter 02  Market Overview

In this chapter, readers can find the definition and a detailed taxonomy of the digital wound measurement devices market, which will help them understand the basic information about the digital wound measurement devices market. Along with this, comprehensive information about digital wound measurement devices is provided in this section. This section also highlights the inclusions and exclusions, which help readers understand the scope of the digital wound measurement devices market report.

Chapter 03  Key Market Trends

This section includes key trends impacting the market as well as the major development trends associated with wound type development trends.

Chapter 04- Key Success Factors

This section includes key successful factors concerning the success of prominent products, the key strategies followed by manufacturers and the global market regulatory scenario.

Chapter 05  Global Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market Demand (Size in US$ Mn) Analysis 2015-2019 & Forecast 2020-2030

This section explains the global market value analysis and forecast for the digital wound measurement devices market for the historical period 2015-2019 & forecast period of 2020-2030, in value terms. This chapter includes a detailed analysis of the historical digital wound measurement devices market, along with an opportunity analysis for the future. Readers can also find the absolute $ opportunity for the current year (2020), a Y-o-Y growth trend analysis and absolute $ opportunity for the forecast period.

Chapter 06- Market Background

This chapter explains key macroeconomic factors that are expected to influence the growth of the digital wound measurement devices market over the forecast period. Along with the macroeconomic factors, this section also highlights forecast factors, pointing out technology advancements and adoptions, new product approvals & launches, product adoption rate, research & development funding, regulatory policies and academic research activities for the digital wound measurement devices market. Moreover, in-depth information about the market dynamics and their impact analysis on the market have been provided in the successive section.

This chapter explores the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on current and future growth projections. It incorporates the current statistics and the probable future impact, current GDP projections and its probable impact, and a comparison of the incumbent scenario with the 2008 financial crisis. Furthermore, this section also incorporates the impact of the pandemic on each of the segments covered in the report. It also provides a quarter-wise forecast, highlighting possible recovery scenarios in the near future.

Chapter 07- Global Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 and Forecast 2020-2030, by Wound Type

This chapter provides details about the Digital Wound Measurement Devices market based on regime type and has been classified into diabetic ulcer, chronic wounds, burns, incisional wounds and traumatic wounds.

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Chapter 08  Global Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030 by End-User

This chapter provides details about the digital wound measurement devices market based on application and has been classified into hospitals and clinics.

Chapter 09- Global Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030 by Region

This chapter provides details about the Digital Wound Measurement Devices market based on region and has been classified into North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East & Africa (MEA), East Asia, South Asia and Oceania.

Chapter 10- North America Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030

This chapter provides details about the growth of the North America Digital Wound Measurement Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes the U.S and Canada. Readers can also find the pricing analysis, regional trends, and market growth based on material and countries in North America.

Chapter 11- Latin America Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030

This chapter provides details about the growth of the Latin America digital wound measurement devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Rest of Latin America.

Chapter 12- Europe Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030

This chapter provides details about the growth of the European Digital Wound Measurement Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes Germany, Italy, France, the U.K, Spain, BENELUX, Russia and Rest of Europe.

Chapter 13- South Asia Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030

This chapter provides details about the growth of the South Asian Digital Wound Measurement Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Rest of South Asia.

Chapter 14- East Asia Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030

This chapter provides details about the growth of the East Asian Digital Wound Measurement Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes China, Japan and South Korea.

Chapter 15- Oceania Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030

This chapter provides details about the growth of the Oceania Digital Wound Measurement Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes Australia and New Zealand.

Chapter 16- Middle East & Africa Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market Analysis 2015-2019 & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030

This chapter provides details about the growth of the Middle East & Africa Digital Wound Measurement Devices market, along with a country-wide assessment which includes GCC countries, Turkey, Northern Africa, Southern Africa and rest of MEA.

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Chapter 17- Key Countries Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market Analysis 20152019 and Forecast 20202030

This chapter provides the growth scenario of the Digital Wound Measurement Devices market of 21 key countries by type, and form. Additionally, COVID-19 impact in the said market in all respective countries has been included.

Chapter 18- Market Structure Analysis

In this chapter, readers can find detailed information about the tier analysis and market concentration of key players in the Digital Wound Measurement Devices market, along with their market presence analysis by region and product portfolio and channel footprint.

Chapter 19- Competition Analysis

In this chapter, readers can find a comprehensive list of all the prominent stakeholders in the Digital Wound Measurement Devices market, along with detailed information about each company, which includes company overview, revenue shares, strategic overview, and recent company developments. Some of the market players featured in the report are Perceptive Solutions Inc. and ARANZ Medical.

Chapter 20- Assumptions & Acronyms Used

This chapter includes a list of acronyms and assumptions that provides a base to the information and statistics included in the Digital Wound Measurement Devices market report.

Chapter 21- Research Methodology

This chapter help readers understand the research methodology followed to obtain various conclusions as well as important qualitative and quantitative information about the Digital Wound Measurement Devices market.
Islamabad, April 9 : Top commanders of the Pakistan Army held a Corps Commander Conference (CCC) to review the overall security situation with a detailed review of the situation at the Line of Control (LoC) after the recent agreement of a ceasefire between New Delhi and Islamabad.

"The CCC chaired COAS (Chief of Army Staff) held at GHQ (General Headquarter). The participants undertook a comprehensive review of global, regional and domestic security environment," the military's media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a tweet.

"Forum expressed confidence in operational preparedness of the Army displayed during recently held formation exercises." The forum also held detailed deliberations on the situation along the eastern border, the LoC, especially after the recent mutual agreement at the Director General Military Operations (DGMOs) level of both India and Pakistan, bring a halt to a longstanding tense and escalated situation with both sides coming eye-to-eye on almost a daily basis.

"The forum held a detailed discussion on situation along the eastern border/LoC especially the environment post ceasefire understanding 2021 between the DGMOs," ISPR statement added.

The CCC also reaffirmed "complete solidarity with the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in their struggle for right to self-determination".

Pakistan's military establishment along with the civil administration under Prime Minister Imran Khan have been giving positive statements and showing gestures, expressing intent to normalise tensions with India.

Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, in his recent statement said that the time had come to bury the past and move forward towards peace, a clear signal towards Islamabad's intent to initiate dialogue and table talks with India.

The recent decision to open cotton and sugar specific import trade with India, which was later reversed and deferred by the Cabinet Committee, coupled with the meeting between India and Pakistan delegations on the water dispute as per the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), are certainly showing positive nods from both sides for each other.

While the olive branches shared from both sides are signs of hope, but the prime agenda and concern of India against Pakistan is focused on terrorism and its export into India, while Pakistan's main contention is on the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir.

And it seems that both sides are not ready to show any flexibility or compromise on it, and both sides refuse to acknowledge each other concerns on the same.
COLUMBIA - Starting April 9, Missouri Art Now, a Bicentennial Celebration will visit the State Historical Society of Missouri. The exhibit, which will be available in Columbia until May 15, displays works from a collection of Missouri artists all across the state.

Executive Director of Post Art Library in Joplin, Jill Sullivan, helped spearhead the exhibit and oversaw the selection process. By dividing the state into quadrants, Sullivan and art councils from each zone combed through and selected submissions to ensure a wide variety of representation in the art selected.

One thing that we are hoping to capture is for people to see art thats being created from outside of the area where they live, Sullivan said. Its a really good way for artists to see what other artists across the state are creating, and that was the main goal, just to be representative of Missouri art now.

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According to Sullivan, the exhibit takes an unusual approach to celebrating 200 years of history and the statehood of Missouri.

Instead of looking back, like we tend to do during things like bicentennial years, we thought we could showcase artists who are currently living and creating art in the state of Missouri, Sullivan said.

With Columbia being the second stop out of five for the tour of Missouri Art Now, the exhibit will travel to Joplin and Hannibal before arriving for its final showing in St. Joseph in September.

Featured works showcase a diverse array of mediums, from photographs and paintings to sculptures and ceramics.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 05:04:42|Editor: huaxia

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SANTIAGO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris called for national unity on Friday after 9,171 new COVID-19 cases were registered in the last 24 hours, a record number and the first time the country exceeded 9,000 daily cases.

"We are living through a critical moment of the pandemic. The key word is prevention; I call for national unity," the official said during a brief press conference.

With this record, the total number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,060,421, while 129 more deaths were reported in the last day, bringing the total to 24,108.

Chile is experiencing a new wave of infections, after the end of the summer season in the Southern Hemisphere and the relaxation of restrictive measures from January to March.

Currently, over 80 percent of Chile's population is under quarantine and the country has closed its borders and restricted trade in goods and services. Enditem
Latinos in Chicago continue to be disproportionately affected by the pandemic, both in deaths and in mitigations such as testing. As of Thursday, 1,725 of the 5,162 people who had died from COVID-19 complications in Chicago were Latinos. So while they make up 29% of the citys population, Latinos accounted for 33% of the COVID-19 deaths and only 15% of tests performed.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - An explosive eruption rocked La Soufriere volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent on Friday after the government ordered thousands to evacuate their homes nearby.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - An explosive eruption rocked La Soufriere volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent on Friday after the government ordered thousands to evacuate their homes nearby.

Experts said the first explosion shot an ash column 32,000 feet (10 kilometres) into the sky and that the majority of the ash was headed northeast into the Atlantic Ocean. Lightning crackled through the towering column of smoke and ash late Friday.

Heavy ashfall was reported in communities around the volcano and beyond, with authorities saying some evacuations were limited by poor visibility.

Several flights also were cancelled and islands including Barbados, St. Lucia and Grenada prepared for light ashfall as the 4,003-foot (1,220-meter) volcano continued to rumble. Authorities reported two other explosions later Friday as the island braced for possible additional activity.

"More explosions could occur," Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Center said in a phone interview, adding that it was impossible to predict whether they might be bigger or smaller than the explosions that have occurred so far.

This image provided by Maxar Technologies shows La Soufriere volcano on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, Thursday, April 8, 2021, the day before it erupted. (Satellite image 2021 Maxar Technologies via AP)

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the eruption that occurred four days short of the 42nd anniversary of the last sizable eruption.

In the coastal town of Barrouallie, about 14 kilometres (9 miles) from the volcano, evacuees trudged toward shelters carrying backpacks, duffel bags and shopping bags stuffed with personal belongings after the explosion. Some prepared to stay there, while others were expected to board cruise ships and go to nearby islands that have offered help.

Others still waited for transportation to a shelter, including one family who stood for at least an hour by the side of a road under the sun with their children and suitcases as they awaited a ride from someone.

The volcano last erupted in 1979, and a previous eruption in 1902 killed some 1,600 people.

The new eruption followed mandatory evacuation orders issued Thursday for the roughly 16,000 people who live in the red zone near the volcano in the island's northern region. More than 2,000 people were staying in 62 government shelters.

"We have had hiccups here and there ... but by and large we are proceeding pretty well," Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said in a press conference. He later wiped tears from his eyes and apologized for crying while he thanked people and other governments in the region for opening their homes and countries to St. Vincentians.

Ash rises into the air as La Soufriere volcano erupts on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, seen from Chateaubelair, Friday, April 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Kepa Diez Ara)

"On the dangerous road to Jericho, we have the good Samaritans," he said.

He said that depending on the damage done by the explosion, it could take up to four months for things to go back to normal.

As dozens of people streamed toward safer ground, officials worried the pandemic could hamper evacuation efforts.

Gonsalves said people have to be vaccinated if they go aboard a cruise ship or are granted temporary refuge in another island. He said two Royal Caribbean cruise ships and two Carnival Cruise Lines ones arrived Friday. Islands that have said they would accept evacuees include St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Antigua.

He said he was talking to Caribbean governments to accept peoples ID cards if they dont have a passport.

"This is an emergency situation, and everybody understands that," he said.

Plumes of ash rise from the La Soufriere volcano as it erupts on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent, as seen from Chateaubelair, Friday, April 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Orvil Samuel)

Gonsalves added that he highly recommends those who opt to go to a shelter in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an island chain of more than 100,000 people, be vaccinated. Authorities said those staying in shelters would be tested for COVID-19, and that anyone who tests positive would be taken to an isolation centre.

Emergency management teams have been going out to communities in the red zone and providing transportation to safer locations, including prearranged shelters, according to Joseph.

By late Thursday evening, shelters were filling up as a string of car lights making their way to safer ground twinkled through the darkened mountains.

John Renton, a school principal who was in charge of one shelter, said in a phone interview that they had plenty of masks and other personal protective equipment but needed more cots. While talking, he was interrupted by a phone call from a government official asking about the state of things. "We're over capacity," he responded, noting that the shelter could hold 75 people and was already filled up.

Meanwhile, the government warned of water shortages given that people were stocking up after the alert was issued.

Scientists alerted the government about a possible eruption after noting a type of seismic activity at 3 a.m. on Thursday that indicated "magma was on the move close to the surface," Joseph said.

A team from the seismic research centre arrived in St. Vincent in late December after the volcano had an effusive eruption. They have been analyzing the formation of a new volcanic dome, changes to its crater lake, seismic activity and gas emissions, among other things.

Seventeen of the eastern Caribbean's 19 live volcanoes are located on 11 islands, with the remaining two underwater near the island of Grenada, including one called Kick Em Jenny that has been active in recent years.

The region's most active volcano in recent years has been Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which has erupted continuously since 1995, destroying the capital of Plymouth and killing at least 19 people in 1997.
This piece originally appeared in Alma, 70 Faces Medias feminist Jewish culture site. Content warning: anti-Japanese slur.

The term Jewish American Princess has been debated within Jewish communities for as long as it has existed. Many bemoan it for perpetuating sexism and negative stereotypes of Jewish women, while others have argued that despite these origins, theres a power in embracing the moniker.

But as a Jew of Japanese descent, Im here to say the much larger problem comes from the acronym used in its place: JAP. There needs to be a conversation about the dangerous and violent history of the racist slur jap, and why Jewish people should not want to co-opt this word.

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For those unaware, jap is a racial slur used against Japanese people. World War II-era America best showcases the dangers of this hateful word.

As we all know, the war brought much suffering to many groups of people. And while America claims to be the hero that saved the world, the assertion often ignores or justifies its treatment of the Japanese. In Japan, America dropped devastating bombs on civilian cities that resulted in 225,000 deaths, which is likely an underestimated count, according to UCLA. Stateside, the U.S. government deported Japanese Americans  fellow citizens  to Japan, as bargaining chips to trade for American prisoners. In 1942, the U.S. government forcibly relocated and incarcerated some 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were natural-born citizens.

These people were ripped from their homes by the government and placed in makeshift internment camps in the desert on the West Coast. They had no trials and nobody to save them. In 1942, Gen. John DeWitt, commander of the Western Defense Command, said, A Japs a Jap. It makes no difference whether the Jap is a citizen or not. That same year, Col. Karl Bendetsen of the Wartime Civil Control Administration said, I am determined that if they have one drop of Japanese blood in them, they must go to camp.

The homes and businesses of Japanese Americans were destroyed, looted and vandalized. The word japs was everywhere. Spray-painted on homes, on the front page of newspapers, on signs and posters. People protested the presence of Japanese people in America in the streets and from the comfort of their homes. Businesses put up signs banning Japanese from entering the premises, saying No japs allowed.

These were innocent citizens, many of whom came here for the American dream. Like many Jewish immigrants who came to the U.S. at the turn of the century, the Japanese came for opportunity, for the chance at greatness, yet America did what America always does.

This history is America, and it is the history of my heritage in this country. This is not a history that you can ask Japanese people to forget. Jap is not just a word; its a searing symbol of hate.

Growing up with a Japanese relative in metro Detroit, I was very familiar with the use of jap. Its been hurled at me, and Ive felt the pain that the term evokes.

My grandfather was born in Okinawa, Japan, sometime in January 1953, with the name Susumi Kise. As a baby he was put up for adoption at the Yonabaru orphanage in Naha, Okinawa. There is no documentation of his parents, whether they were alive or dead when he was brought to the orphanage. He was adopted as a young child by an American family stationed on the island and spent three years waiting to immigrate to the United States under the Refugee Relief Act. Upon his arrival in the U.S., he became the youngest-ever naturalized citizen in Detroit and the first person for whom the Michigan city ever waived the oral oath.

Despite how incredible of a headliner this situation was  a poor abandoned Okinawan orphan rescued by an American soldier from a war-ridden, desolate island  the novelty of the story quickly wore off. My grandfather was brought overseas to a racist America that hated him and saw him as a traitor while still seeing themselves as his savior. He was brought to an America that less than 10 years before bombed his country and locked up his people in the desert. He faced endless racism throughout his life  was bullied as a child in school, experienced discrimination from employers, endured harsh xenophobia from my white grandmothers family when they announced their relationship and intention to have children, or as they said, interbreed.

When people use the slur jap, theyre using it against my grandpa, against his people and against everything they have ever been through. And that causes me immense pain.

The first time I ever saw the term JAP used to signify Jewish American Princess was from a Jewish person on Twitter. Initially I thought I had stumbled across another Jew of Japanese descent. I mean, who else would use this slur so lightly? Upon reading their profile I realized they werent Japanese at all, and I became very concerned and confused. I had to resort to googling Jewish JAP to find the meaning. I was shocked and disappointed to see that Jews online were lightly using a slur as an acronym.

This experience was so isolating and hurtful as I began to feel unsafe in the online Jewish community. I have desperately tried to gain the attention of Jews online to warn them of this slur, and to beg them to stop using it, but it has always been to no avail. While many Jewish people see using this acronym as a lighthearted substitute for a long-winded phrase, those unaware of the Jewish meaning may look at this and see a racial slur, as I and many fellow Japanese people do.

No matter how many times I see it used as Jewish American Princess, I cannot separate it from the hate word that was used to vandalize Japanese-American homes. Even if we as Jewish people have an alternative meaning, or think, Well, thats not what I mean, remember it doesnt matter whether you mean to use a slur or not. It matters that youre using it, and it matters to the people who are harmed by it.

Jewish people understand all too well pain and suffering, being othered and singled out, and we should never subject others to that feeling. It is especially important as a diverse people who span the world that we as Jews work hard to be as inclusive as possible. A good start is to analyze our actions as Jews and see how language such as JAP is divisive and especially harmful to Jews who are Japanese or of Japanese descent.

Jewish women want to reclaim Jewish American Princess? I support that. But please, for the love of God, take the extra five seconds and spell out the phrase. As Jews, its the least we can do.

Ivy Humbarger is a Jewish food worker of Ashkenazi and Japanese descent. She is currently studying forensic pathology in Detroit, Michigan.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2021 / AMPD Ventures Inc. ("AMPD" or the "Company") (CSE:AMPD)(FRA:2Q0) is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a live webinar in conjunction with partners PNY and NVIDIA focusing on how AMPD is architecting optimal real-time and virtual production studio environments for its customers.

Virtual and real-time production techniques, such as those utilized in Disney's "The Mandalorian", are revolutionizing the television and movie-making process, with a recent Nostradamus Report predicting that "Virtual Production will become the industry norm by 2026."

Scheduled for 9 am PDT on April 22, 2021, the webinar will feature Anthony Brown, CEO at AMPD, Carl Flygare, NVIDIA Professional GPU Product Marketing Manager, at PNY, as well as Matt Welford, Director of Virtual Production and Creative Director at AMPD customer, Versatile Media, a full-cycle virtual production studio that recently opened in Vancouver, Canada. People interested in attending the webinar can register here.

"We are pleased to be invited to lead this webinar," said Anthony Brown, CEO at AMPD. "We recently announced our participation in the NVIDIA Cloud Service Provider Partner Program, and we continue to emphasize how our High-Performance Computing at the Edge approach is continuing to result in meaningful, cloud-supported workflow and pipeline improvements for customers such as Versatile Media in the realm of virtual production."

The webinar will focus on how recent NVIDIA RTX professional GPUs are enhancing the virtual production pipeline, and how GPU acceleration is expected to radically alter workflows across studios. With next-gen infrastructure and virtualization, remote production is now possible, and studios are able to collaborate directly with virtual production stages from anywhere. Topics include how NVIDIA RTX professional GPUs are powering LED volumes for virtual production, and the latest trends in virtual studio environments that enable production both on-prem and in the data center.

"We expect the combination of NVIDIA technology and AMPD's approach to upgraded cloud computing to fuel some major innovations in real-time and virtual production," said Carl Flygare, NVIDIA Professional GPU Product Marketing Manager, at PNY. "Integrating NVIDIA GPUs into AMPD's cloud service offerings unlocks the power of scalable high-performance computing in private and public cloud environments for distributed virtual production-focused teams."

The GPU as a Service Market was estimated to be worth USD $700 million in 2018 and will grow at a CAGR of over 38% per year to over $7 billion by 2025.

About AMPD Ventures Inc.

AMPD specializes in providing high performance cloud and compute solutions for low latency applications, including video games and eSports, digital animation and visual effects, and big data collection, analysis, and visualization.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Anthony Brown

CEO & Director

AMPD Ventures Inc.

ir@ampd.tech | Tel: 604-332-3329

For more information on AMPD, please contact:

Investor Relations

Tel: 604-332-3329 ext. 3

ir@ampd.tec

Or visit http://www.ampd.tech

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement

Certain statements made herein may contain forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities laws. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements or information herein include, but are not limited, to statements or information with respect to the perceived benefits and outcomes of the webinar, the success of any hybrid virtual production compute environments to be developed and deployed, and expectations for the growth rate for the global hosted GPU market over the next few years.

Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. We have made certain assumptions about the forward-looking statements and information, including benefits and outcomes of the webinar, the success of any hybrid virtual production compute environments to be developed and deployed, and expectations for the growth rate for the global hosted GPU market over the next few years. Although our management believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include the inability of AMPD to successfully develop the systems described herein, the market fit or applicability of such systems, market demand for hosted GPU systems not happening as quickly as assumed or at all, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 2A Listing Statement dated October 17, 2019 and "Risk and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recent Management Discussion and Analysis filed on SEDAR.

There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements or information contained herein. Except as required by law, we do not expect to update forward-looking statements and information continually as conditions change and you are referred to the full discussion of the Company's business contained in the Company's reports filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada.

All forward looking statements and information contained in this News Release are qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE: AMPD Ventures Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/639628/AMPD-Announces-Virtual-Production-Webinar-With-PNY-NVIDIA--Focusing-on-Architecting-Optimal-Real-Time-and-Virtual-Production-Studio-Environments
Taiwan says that it can shoot down Chinese drones that get too close to its control areas in the South China Sea. The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy has stepped up activity in the area, putting more pressure on the Taiwanese defense forces.

Chinese drone spotted flying near Taiwan

Taiwan has detected Chinese drones flying around the Pratas Islands located in the South China Sea. A warning was issued they will be shot down if they loiter too close, said a government minister last Wednesday. It is only one of Beijing's provocations to heighten tensions more, reported the Epoch Times.

Lee Chung-Wei, the head of the Ocean Affairs Council whose responsibilities include the Coast Guard, spoke in parliament about the recent incident. He reported the Chinese deployed drones that avoid flying over the Taiwanese ADIZ covering the Pratas or Dongsha (Chinese name).

Lee remarked that the drones kept a safe distance while flying over restricted waters and airspace. Chinese Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) always fly in circles out of Taiwan's reach.

China usually denies that Taiwan is an independent country and denies it has sovereignty as a nation. Their naval vessels and military aircraft will avoid its ADIZ and never go beyond 3.7 miles, the Taiwan coast's distance.

When Lee was asked what the Taiwan Coast Guard will do if any drone got too close, he mentioned engagement rules.

He explained that reactions to Chinese drones would depend on the rules. Shooting at a target is always an option when it cannot be avoided.

Taiwanese F-16 Crashes in Training Exercise, All 150 Planes Grounded After That

The Pratas, which are located at the top of the controversial waters, have recently become tension points between Taiwan and Beijing.

Taiwan's island enclave is worried about the increased probing of its airspace by the Chinese air force close to the islands. Their Coast Guard has no heavy defenses in the Pratas or Dongsha; there is only minimal marine corps activity on these islands. It is relatively unpopulated with people, who are primarily scientists doing research.

Last October, a civilian plane was bringing in supplies meant for the Pratas, which was done weekly, but Hong Kong air traffic told the plane to turn back.

Since anti-government protests began in the Chinese-run capital, the Pratas, the closest Taiwan-controlled territory to Hong Kong, has added significance.

Taiwanese authorities intercepted one boat full of Hong Kong people; they were trying to get to the Republic of China, aka Taiwan.

Itu Aba, also known as Taiping Island, is Taiwan's other major South China Sea island and is part of the Spratly archipelago. Lee added that no Chinese UAVs had been seen there.

It is not only Taiwan that has claims in the SCS. Countries like Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam have claims but not as belligerent as China.

An American Aegis missile destroyer, the USS John S. McCain, passed through the Taiwan Strait last Wednesday, doing freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) to demonstrate the US intention to continue its allies' support like Taiwan. More than Chinese drones, Chine sent more fighters and even a battlegroup with one of their carriers to make a point in Taiwan's vicinity.

US Admiral Forecasts China Could Soon Takeover Taiwan

Biden Takes Hardline Stance, Sends Warship into Taiwan Strait Amidst Chinese Threats

Upgraded American F-16s to Deter Aggression in the Taiwan Strait

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Even as coronavirus cases climb in parts of the United States, California is slowly lifting its pandemic restrictions. It's a welcome relief for Angelenos weary of locked venues and pleas to stay at home, but public health officials are worried.

For the first time since the color-coded tier system was put in place last fall, Los Angeles County is in the less restrictive orange tier, indicating fewer cases and spread, and allowing some indoor activities such as dining in a restaurant. On Tuesday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that many coronavirus restrictions will lift on June 15 (although masking will still be required indoors), as long as cases remain low and the COVID-19 vaccine is readily available.

The move would eliminate the complex web of tiers and replace it with a statewide reopening of businesses to full capacity, although individual counties can still opt to have more restrictions depending on their circumstances. But the tantalizing prospect of summer barbeques and fireworks rests entirely on our behavior right now.

A sign enforcing mask wearing on Manhattan Beach (Josie Huang/LAist)

LAist spoke with Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer about a range of topics, including getting teenagers vaccinated and why this is such a critical time in the pandemic.

On The Potential Lifting Of Coronavirus Restrictions On June 15

I hear the promise of June 15 and a return to pre-pandemic times. I think many of the restrictions on capacity will disappear, but some of the basic infection control practices will be around for many weeks to come. We're going to need to make sure that we have masks to protect people who can't get vaccinated, like kids in schools. We've also got to wait and get a lot more information about vaccine effectiveness. The vaccines are so powerful right now. It's really good at protecting people from serious illness ... and from being hospitalized and from dying, but if 10% of everybody who's vaccinated can still become infected and we find out those people can still go ahead and and pass-on that infection, will need to continue to take care of each other by wearing masks.

On Vaccines Versus Variants

Part of me wants to just say, you know, folks, we are so very close right now. We are also so very much not there. If we're not particularly careful as we're doing more reopenings ... during these next six weeks, while we actually are able to accelerate the number of people who get vaccinated and have that protection, we could see an increase in cases. And we also could see, unfortunately, the dominance of some of these variants of concern, which are just more infectious. None of that would be good for us. And it would thwart our ability to get to that June 15 deadline. For the most part, everyone who dies [from COVID-19] from here on in is more than likely to be passing away because they weren't yet vaccinated. Our job is to keep everyone alive right now until they can get vaccinated.

On Contact Tracing In LA County

We're averaging about 50% of the new cases that actually complete our interviews. So we're going to be piloting some additional efforts in some of the hardest communities where we will now have community health workers that will be able to go and visit and allow us to be able to identify close contacts and get in touch with them.

On Getting Teenagers The Pfizer Vaccine After April 15

I think what we're going to end up needing to do is have some designated sites where young people know they'll be able to get vaccinated. It is highly likely that we'll find a fair number of sites that will be able to partner with the schools and at least for 16- to 17-year-old students, that may be one of the easier strategies if we can get it to work, where they can have an identified location within their school district where they'd be able to get vaccinated.
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(Newser)  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for waging another "arduous march" to fight severe economic difficulties, for the first time comparing them to a 1990s famine that killed hundreds of thousands. Kim had previously said his country faces the "worst-ever" situation due to several factors, including the coronavirus pandemic, US-led sanctions, and heavy flooding last summer. But it's the first time he publicly drew parallel with the deadly famine, per the AP. North Korea monitoring groups haven't detected any signs of mass starvation or a humanitarian disaster, but Kim's comments suggest how seriously he views the current difficulties, which foreign observers say are the biggest test of his nine-year rule. "There are many obstacles and difficulties ahead of us," Kim told lower-level ruling party members on Thursday, per the Korean Central News Agency.

story continues below

He then added: "I made up my mind to ask the WPK (Workers' Party of Korea) organizations at all levels ... to wage another more difficult 'arduous march' in order to relieve our people of the difficulty, even a little." The term "arduous march" is a euphemism North Koreans use to describe the struggles during the 1990s famine, precipitated by the loss of Soviet assistance, decades of mismanagement, and natural disasters. The exact death toll isn't clear, varying from hundreds of thousands to 3 million, and North Korea depended on international aid for years to feed its people. Some experts say the North's current difficulties won't lead to famine because China won't let that happen, noting that China worries about North Korean refugees flooding over the border or the establishment of a pro-US, unified Korea.

(Read more Kim Jong Un stories.)
She launched her own swimwear brand called Kimberley London in 2013.

And Kimberley Garner displayed her incredible physique on Thursday in a black two-piece from her latest collection as she basked in the sun while abroad.

The former Made In Chelsea star, 30, worked her best angles in the skimpy swimwear and uploaded the sizzling snaps to social media.

Turn up the heat! Kimberley Garner displayed her incredible physique in a black two-piece from her Kimberley London collection as she basked in the sun while abroad

Her bikini boasted gold detailing including a ring pendant nestled beneath her pert cleavage.

Kimberley shielded her eyes from the scorching sun with classic Ray-Ban shades as she appeared to go make-up free for her trip to the beach.

Her blonde tresses tumbled down in a natural straight style as she was seen clutching a towel in front of an infinity pool and the sea.

While international travel is currently prohibited from her native Britain, Kimberley has been able to fly without restriction after basing herself at her second home on the Florida coast.

Send temperatures soaring: The former Made In Chelsea star, 30, worked her best angles in the skimpy swimwear on Thursday and uploaded the sizzling snaps to social media

Kimberley has been sunning it up in Miami with her boyfriend since late December, after spending Christmas in Barbados.

But it hasn't all been carefree partying as she took to Instagram to defend herself from backlash over her international travel.

The TV star said she jetted out of the UK on December 14  a week before London moved into Tier 4  to 'check on my apartment'.

The London native said at the time: 'I bought my place here this time two years ago. It was a massive achievement, still really can't believe it sometimes. I run a business - I'm not an influencer.

Golden touch: Her bikini boasted gold detailing including a ring pendant nestled beneath her pert cleavage

Sun-kissed: Her blonde tresses tumbled down in a natural straight style as she was seen clutching a towel in front of an infinity pool and the sea

'I am here, but I am very very strict still. I see people in Tulum and all over going to parties and it doesn't feel right to me.

'I haven't been out to any parties and turned down invites from friends as feel it's just not right to be in a crowd - it's not OK at the moment.

'I'm really lucky to be in the sun and outdoors, and am valuing that totally, but not going to live normally as it's not a normal world at the moment.

'I really think and feel for everyone home at the moment, it really sucks, please be brave, please be kind to each other.'
As a company with research and products designed to cure various diseases, we want to equip medical professionals with much more aggressive care options.

AngioSoma, Inc. (OTCBB: SOAN) has selected Bay Capital as its investment advisors. New York Bay Capital was awarded the AngioSoma, Inc. contract due to its significant experience working with healthcare organizations.

Headquartered in Richland, Washington, AngioSoma, Inc. is a fast-growing company focused on providing medical research, development and treatments for Multiple Sclerosis and others diseases. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease in which the immune system of the individual attacks the central nervous system and affects the nerve cells. The disease can manifest with a wide range of neurological symptoms and can progress to total physical and cognitive disability. AngioSomas mission is to help people begin their journeys to health by finding cures for disease.

AngioSoma is currently preparing to launch a campaign to gain regulatory clearance for the worldwide treatment of MS patients based on their licensing agreement with 7 to Stand, Inc. for the exclusive global rights to U.S. patent 10,610,592 issued to Fabrizio de Silvestri, Terni, Italy, as the inventor of a potential MS treatment on April 7, 2020.

Regulatory clearance is a time-intensive process that requires a solid team. Part of that team includes New York Bay Capital. With their global healthcare expertise, their team solves one piece of the puzzle.

We are thrilled to be working with New York Bay Capital, said James C. Katzaroff, President and CEO, AngioSoma, Inc. As a company with research and products designed to cure various diseases, we want to equip medical professionals with much more aggressive care options. We selected New York Bay Capital because their values, history, experience, and mission are consistent with ours.

New York Bay Capital (http://www.nybaycapital.com) is a New York-based boutique cross-border firm experienced in providing financial advisory services in connection with mergers, acquisitions and capital raising initiatives primarily for foreign clients. The firm serves the growing demand for independent, partner-level advice by clients.

We are very pleased that AngioSoma, Inc. will be working with New York Capital, said Joseph J. Ceccarelli, General Counsel and Executive Vice President for New York Bay Capital. We are thrilled to help AngioSoma bring cures to the forefront of our healthcare system.

NOTICE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements that include the words believes, expects, anticipate or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, description of anyones past success is no guarantee of future success. This news release speaks as of the date first set forth above and the company assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof.

About AngioSoma, Inc.

AngioSoma is a healthcare company dedicated to bringing innovative, effective and high-quality healthcare solutions to the medical community.

Learn more at http://www.muscles4U.com and htttps://muscles4u.blogstop.com. Stay up to date at Twitter: @tweetmuscles4u, Instagram and Facebook. For more information on AngioSoma, please visit http://www.angiosoma.com.

About New York Bay Capital

Founded in 2013, New York Bay Capital is a New York City, New York-based investment bank. The firm provides financial advisory services in connection with mergers, acquisitions, capital raising, and corporate restructuring to its clients. New York Bay Capital caters to hotels, resorts, fintech, film production, e-commerce, food, optical fiber, power plants, fintech, virtual reality, and cannabis sectors. For more information about New York Bay Capital please us online at http://www.nybaycapital.com.
Slovakia has reportedly turned to neighbor Hungary for assistance examining shipments of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine as a dispute widens over the reliability and consistency of 200,000 doses supplied to Bratislava last month.

Slovak Finance Minister Igor Matovic announced the Hungarian regulator's role after a meeting with Hungary's foreign minister in Budapest on April 9.

Hungary is the only EU member state that has already begun mass vaccinations with Sputnik V against COVID-19 as the European drug regulator inspects its efficacy and safety, as well as ethical concerns about the Russian clinical testing that went into it.

On April 8, Russia demanded that Bratislava return the Sputnik V doses after the Slovak drug regulator said the doses it received differ from those being reviewed by the European Unions drug overseer. It complained of violations of the procurement contract.

A number of EU member states are considering ordering Sputnik V but have said they are awaiting a green light from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been a vocal critic of European institutions' pandemic responses, and his country has imported hundreds of thousands of doses of Sputnik V.

The Slovak State Institute for Drug Control said on April 7 that there were lingering questions about the efficacy and risks of the Russian vaccine, due mainly to inadequate data from the producer, and that was preventing doses from being rolled out across the country.

The next day, the institute also said the Sputnik V doses it was examining were not the same as those being reviewed by the EMA, or apparently those that were reviewed in the British medical journal The Lancet.

Matovic lost the Slovak prime minister's post earlier this month in part over a scandal involving the decision to procure Sputnik V.

New Prime Minister Eduard Heger said on April 9 that the country needs Sputnik V in order to save Slovak lives.

The dispute has been further complicated by unconfirmed reports that Russian officials were accusing their Slovak counterparts of entrusting some of the local testing to unauthorized laboratories.

Russian developers have insisted European regulators will be satisfied by the safety and efficacy of Sputnik V, which was raced into authorization by Russian authorities and is already being used in mass vaccinations there and in numerous other places.

A lead scientist on Sputnik's development, Aleksandr Gintzburg, was quoted by Interfax on April 9 as saying that while its effectiveness "declines" against the South African variant of the coronavirus, it is still more effective than other vaccines.

Based on reporting by Reuters and SME
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The Chinese owners of Australias biggest and oldest dairy farming business are facing fresh scrutiny following claims of animal welfare abuse and overstocking of cattle that is causing effluent systems to fail and damaging nearby waterways. Confidential documents, photographs and accounts from employees and locals obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reveal that conditions at Tasmanias iconic Van Dairy farm have been deteriorating since its 2016 takeover by Chinas Moon Lake investments. The business, which was founded in 1825 and today comprises 23 farms and 30,000 cows was sold to Moon Lake for $280 million in a deal approved by then-treasurer and current Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Its biggest customers include New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, which makes the Mainland cheese and Western Star butter brands. Photographs obtained by this masthead, most of which were taken in December 2020, show farms in disrepair with effluent overflowing as drainage systems fail to cope with the number of cows on the properties. Other photos show skinny cows, dead cows and a 1000 litre cube container three-quarters full of dead calves. The images are in sharp contrast to Van Dairys website which spruiks its Van fresh milk product as milk from healthy cows grazing on lush green pasture in the most pure place on earth. WARNING: Graphic imagery

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The Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), which scrutinises international takeovers, attached undertakings to the 2016 deal including requirements that Moon Lake employ an additional 95 staff and invest $100 million into the business. However, five years on insiders say the conditions have not been met and many skilled staff have been replaced by foreign workers who havent been sufficiently trained. An update in May shows staff numbers are virtually stagnant at 145 full-time employees and 34 casuals, while capital investment disclosed since 2016 totals $20.1 million. Audit finds breaches A confidential audit of Van Dairy completed by the Tasmanian Dairy Industry Authority (TDIA) completed on February 28, 2021, found 83 per cent of the dairy giants 23 farms had failed to comply with the Farm Dairy Premises Effluent Management Code of Practice. Failure to comply can lead to suspension or revocation of farm licences. One farm licence has been suspended and Van Dairy was forced to move 280 cows to a nearby property for milking. TDIA officers visited 23 Van Dairy farms between February 22 and 26 this year and found 43 per cent of the farms that failed the audit had issues it regarded as critical or major, requiring urgent action. One farm that failed the audit, Mistvale, was given days to fix the severe failures, while a number of other farms were given until March 31, a deadline they failed to meet. TDIA agreed to extend the deadline.

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The report says, TDIA does not have confidence in the management of Van Dairy Group Pty Ltd to ensure the effluent systems on farms are designed or operated effectively at this time. It highlighted severe management issues and significant overstocking of cattle on original effluent plan cow numbers. It noted that five of the farms increased herd sizes more than 60 per cent with no change to the effluent system to accommodate the increased wastage, which includes animal faeces, urine, milk, detergents and chemicals including a pollutant that can impact waterways and the environment if not managed properly. It noted that the Greenfields farm had ignored a deadline for remediation. The audit found a dead cow in an overflowing effluent pond, undetected by management due to vegetation growth. And at Harcus farm, designed for 1600 cows, numbers had increased 63 per cent to 2600 cows, resulting in a catastrophic failure of the effluent system with effluent pouring into paddock drains and a creek. Dr Rachel Brown, an adviser on sustainable dairying based in Tasmania, said the situation on the Van Dairy farms makes her and many in the dairy industry sad and frustrated. This should not be happening on dairy farms in Australia, she said. If there is no motivation for care factor and basic maintenance is not done, things go wrong at a very large scale. The TDIA report pointed to a lack of oversight of the farms, failure to clean out effluent systems, which caused problems such as blockages, a failure to replace or repair broken equipment, a lack of investment in infrastructure such as irrigation equipment and a failure to adequately address previous corrective action requests.

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The current operations manager at Van Dairy does not have appropriate skills and knowledge in dairy farming to assist farm managers, the report said. Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson, who is based in Tasmania and has been raising concerns for years about the condition of the farms and compliance with its pledges to FIRB, said the business has been run into the ground, there have been animal cruelty allegations and the effluent discharges were causing significant environmental harm to the Boullanger Bay and Robbins Passage in Tasmania. Going on for years Since Van Dairy was sold to Moon Lake Investments it has been riven with controversy. In 2018 five independent directors quit, citing a failure by the owner to invest in irrigation systems and maintenance to make the business sustainable. In June 2019 a group of senior staff wrote to the owner, warning of animal welfare issues due to poor operational repairs and maintenance standards. A whistleblower, who worked on a number of Van Dairy farms over the past year and agreed to speak to the Herald and The Age on the condition of anonymity, said despite the various scandals, the company and regulators had been asleep for years, allowing the situation to get to the current state.

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This schmozzle hasnt happened overnight, it has been going on for years, he said. Ive never seen anything like it in all my years working on farms, its a total balls up. He said underinvestment and untrained staff running the farms was a recipe for disaster. He said on at least one farm the cows had not been fed for days, some farms didnt have enough water for the milking cows to drink, which caused them to struggle, some had been left to die in effluent and on one farm the cows displayed symptoms of mastitis. In the past few days a number of calves had been shot due to malnutrition. Another said the reputation of the farms was so poor that the company was now having trouble hiring locals with experience. It is gross mismanagement, he said. The former employee said it was a tight-knit community and what had gone on was a national disgrace. It should never have been sold to Moon Lake, they have owned it for five years and they still dont know the basics. Locals, who also asked not to be named, said state politicians and authorities had been sweeping the problem under the carpet for years. Its got so bad they cant anymore, a local said. Van Dairy does not treat animals badly In response to the animal welfare allegations, a spokesman for Van Dairy said: Van Dairy is aware of statements from outside sources about water troughs not being maintained and consequently being empty, resulting in livestock dying of thirst, allegedly substantiated by a photograph of a dead cow near a water trough. This was not the case. Yes, the cow was dead, but not from a lack of water. In the interests of the animals welfare it had been euthanised for an unrelated reason. The spokesman said a responsible dairy business does not treat animals badly.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Disclosure of total number of voting rights and

number of shares forming the capital

as of March 31, 2021

Clichy, France  09 April 2021

Article L 233-8-II of the French Code de Commerce and Article 223-16 of the General Regulations of the French Autorite des Marches Financiers.

As of March 31, 2021, the total number of issued shares of SOCIETE BIC is 45,395,857 shares, representing:

66,790,746 voting rights,

66,395,723 voting rights excluding shares without voting rights

ABOUT BIC

A world leader in stationery, lighters and shavers, BIC brings simplicity and joy to everyday life. For more than 75 years, the Company has honored the tradition of providing high-quality, affordable, essential products to consumers everywhere. Through this unwavering dedication, BIC has become one of the most recognized brands and is a trademark registered worldwide. Today, BIC products are sold in more than 160 countries around the world and feature iconic brands such as BIC Kids, BIC FlexTM, BodyMark by BICTM, Cello, Djeep, Lucky Stationery, Rocketbook, Soleil, Tipp-Ex, Us. TM, Wite-Out and more. In 2020, BIC Net Sales were 1,627.9 million euros. The Company is listed on Euronext Paris, is part of the SBF120 and CAC Mid 60 indexes and is recognized for its commitment to sustainable development and education. It received an A- Leadership score from CDP. For more, visit about.bic.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube.

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2021 AGENDA

ALL DATES TO BE CONFIRMED

1st Quarter 2021 Results April 27, 2021 2021 AGM May 19, 2021 First Half 2021 Results July 28, 2021 3rd Quarter 2021 Results October 27, 2021

Attachment
Despite the devastating spread of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, all European governments are pursuing the deadly policy of reopening schools and the economy. The Network of Rank-and-File Committees for Safe Education (Netzwerk der Aktionkomittees fur Sichere Bildung) met on Monday of last week to organize resistance to these policies.

We are faced with the necessity of imposing a serious, Europe-wide lockdown that includes schools, daycare centers and industry, Gregor Kahl, Bundestag candidate for the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP, Socialist Equality Party in Germany), said at the beginning of his remarks opening the meeting. Insofar as this is not done, hundreds of thousands of lives will be at stake in Germany and Europe.

Nevertheless, governments continue opening schools and the economy. Under conditions where the pandemic is escalating and more lives are threatened than ever before, the ruling class is moving to end all protective measures against coronavirus. The bourgeoisie has decided to let the virus spread.

But resistance to this profits before lives policy is becoming increasingly pronounced, Kahl added. The pandemic is developing more and more into an open class struggle of the international working class against the ruling capitalists in every country. The first lockdowns were imposed by the independent and courageous intervention of workers in Italy, Canada, France and the U.S., making it ever clearer to the those in power that they cant just do nothing without risking their own necks.

Kahl pointed to recent figures from the ZDF political barometer, according to which 36 percent of respondents said the current Covid measures were not tough enough, an increase of 18 percentage points compared to the previous month. At no point was there a majority in favor of easing these measures, pollsters report.

This opposition, and the growing class struggles around the world, reveal the fundamentally opposed interests of the capitalist class and the working class, which find expression in the capitalist and socialist programs: The capitalist program declares that pandemic policy must be guided by profit interests. The socialist program argues that health policy must be guided by science.

The same contradiction is expressed in the faltering vaccination campaign. The vaccination program must be wrested from the anarchic and destructive profit motive and be pursued scientifically. Vaccinating into a spreading pandemic without a lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19, Kahl said, is a recipe for increased evolutionary pressure and the potential emergence of vaccine-resistant mutants.

Regarding the policy of reopening schools, it follows from the capitalist program that schools should be reopened and the lie spread that the risk to students and teachers is low. The socialist program, on the other hand, demands full income compensation for workers and small businesses for the duration of the crisis, paid for by expropriating the pandemic profiteers and big capitalists and transforming the banks into public institutions under working-class control.

The international character of these developments was illustrated by the contribution of Jordan Shilton, a member of the Socialist Equality Party in Canada and of the newly formed Cross-Canada Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee. The Canada-wide network of teachers and educators was developed in the course of a struggle against the unions decades-long attempt to divide educators in Canada along provincial and territorial lines and keep them in the dark about events in other parts of the country.

Despite studies from Canada and around the world showing that schools are important vectors for the transmission of COVID-19, governments of all major parties continue to keep schools open with cover from the unions, Shilton said. Quoting from the networks founding appeal, he said, At every point in the pandemic, Canadas governments have prioritized the selfish class interests of the capitalist elite over saving working peoples lives. These are international questions, he said: The situation of educators and teachers in Canada resembles that of workers around the world. Whether in Brazil, Germany, France or the US, teachers are being sent to the front lines in the midst of the pandemic under the most dangerous conditions. Because the pandemic is global in character, it can only be fought by the working class internationally.

Following the introductory remarks, a lively discussion developed among the students, workers and teachers in attendance. Florian, a high school student from Baden-Wurttemberg, referred to the devastating role of vaccination nationalism and linked it to the tensions between Europe, the US and China that have been heightened by the pandemic. Even within the EU, there are fierce national tensions, he noted: Countries like Hungary have ordered vaccines from Russia and China, which the EU strictly rejects because it undermines its confrontational course against these countries.

The threat of war between the US and Chinawhere comprehensive measures have led to a decline in the pandemicis further exacerbated by the Biden administrations anti-Chinese agitation, Florian noted. The aggressive US actions against China, however, put the German bourgeoisie between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, China is a very fast-growing market for many German companies; on the other hand, the US remains Germanys largest export market, the most important destination for foreign direct investment. Germany is countering this quandary with a massive military buildup to better assert its own geostrategic interests, he said.

Madeleine, who suffered a family death from COVID-19 due to the criminal policies of the federal and state governments, spoke about the need to turn the tables with a joint strike: We all need to stick together and strike to take control for the good of our health! We should all just stay home for 14 days.

International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) member Clemens pointed out that an international strike movement is already developing. Quoting from a statement of solidarity sent by the Network of Rank-and-File Safety Committees to the German WISAG union on strike in Frankfurt, he concluded: The WISAG workers are not alone: Resistance is forming internationally. Workers in France, Spain, Great Britain and Italy are on strike, as are teachers in Chicago and Sao Paulo. To lead this struggle to victory, we must organize independently of the unions and build the Socialist Equality Party and its sister parties around the world.

Philipp Frisch, a teacher from North Rhine-Westphalia and SGP member, reported on the growing resistance of teachers to the profits before lives policy. At his own school, he said, this was among other things evidenced by collective sick-outs. But this only raised the question of organization, he noted. Only independent rank-and-file committees are willing or able to facilitate international cooperation between teachers and broader sections of the working class.

Amid the vaccination and testing debacle, Frisch continued, the brutal character of the reopening policy was becoming increasingly apparent. The governments ostensible zigzagging course results from attempts to preserve the interests of the financial elite in the face of overwhelming popular opposition, he said. The rulers in all countries realize that they are sitting on a powder keg and that there is massive opposition to their policies.

Eylem, a former cab driver from Hamburg, stressed that a pandemic can only be fought internationally. In Turkey, 13 percent of all tests are currently positive. This is a veritable tsunami of infections that just keeps spreading, and all because workers are being forced into factories. Many German car companies are supplied by companies in Macedonia and Serbia. As long as plants keep running here [in Germany], theyll try to keep plants open in those countries, too.

Tamino, a student from Baden-Wurttemberg, concluded by speaking about the relationship between social issues and the governments COVID-19 policy. He said that the reopening policy only serves the interests of banks and large corporations, as was most recently shown by the jubilation of Big Finance over the rollback of a planned Easter lockdown in Germany. Workers are being forced back to work in deadly conditions and are at the same time facing mass layoffs and wage cuts. This inhumane correlation, he said, is most poignantly illustrated by the tandem rise in COVID-19 death tolls and DAX share values.

Our next online meeting will take place Monday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. (German time) in conjunction with the Rank-and-File Committees for Safe Workplaces network. Join the Facebook event and register here to build action committees at your schools, institutions and workplaces.
New Delhi:

Rival faction AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran ppressed for a CBI probe into the death of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday.

Dhinakaran when asked if the party faction led by him was ready to cooperate with the government-constituted Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry to probe the death of Jayalalithaa on December 5, 2016 said, I want a CBI probe.

Tamil Nadu government on September 25 had constituted an inquiry commission headed by Justice A Arumughaswamy to look into the circumstances leading up to the death of the former chief minister and AIADMK supremo.

Dhinakaran has accused the state government of trying to use "the doubts over Amma's death" to "divert" the attention of the public from its misgovernance.

He said, To divert the peoples attention from the misgovernance, doubts are being raised over Ammas death.

Dhinakaran and Palaniswami are engaged in a tussle for power with the latter accusing the chief minister of betryaing Sasikala, who nominated him to the top party post in February.

He also lashed out at the government on the spread of dengue, saying "their words and action show they are only bothered about the government. We can't expect any action from them".

(With PTI inputs)

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Polje, nappe, vuggy, psammite. Some scientists who study caves might not bat an eye, but for the rest of us, these terms might as well be ancient Greek.

Specialized terminology isnt unique to the ivory tower  just ask a baker about torting or an arborist about bracts, for example. But its pervasive in academia, and now a team of researchers has analyzed jargon in a set of over 21,000 scientific manuscripts. They found that papers containing higher proportions of jargon in their titles and abstracts were cited less frequently by other researchers. Science communication  with the public but also among scientists  suffers when a research paper is packed with too much specialized terminology, the team concluded.

These results were published Wednesday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Jargon can be a problem, but it also serves a purpose, said Hillary Shulman, a communications scientist at Ohio State University. As our ideas become more refined, it makes sense that our concepts do too. This language-within-a-language can be a timesaver, a way to precisely convey meaning, she said. However, it also runs the risk of starkly reminding people  even some well-educated researchers  that they arent in the know.

Its alienating, said Dr. Shulman.

Two scientists recently investigated how the use of jargon affects a manuscripts likelihood of being cited in other scientific journal articles. Such citations are an acknowledgment of a studys importance and relevance, and theyre used to estimate a researchers productivity.
LIMERICK charity Bothar has alleged its former chief executive David Moloney misappropriated hundreds of thousands of euro in donations.

Representatives of the charity, whose head office is at Old Clare Street in the city centre, made the claims before a High Court hearing this Thursday.

It secured a temporary injunction freezing the assets of Mr Moloney.

Mr Moloney, who is from the city, but lives in Newport in Co Tipperary, denied all allegations of wrongdoing and protested his innocence.

He had taken over as chief executive from Peter Ireton in 2011 having served as the charitys second-in-command for a long time before that. However, in 2013, Mr Ireton, who had become secretary of Bothar, resumed the role of its chief executive.

Mr Moloney had returned to being the second-in-command at the charity, which among other things, exists to aid poor farmers in developing nations through donations of livestock.

In a statement, Bothar stated it believed serious financial irregularities may have occurred at the organisation. Bothar is being represented in the case by Limerick-based Sweeney McGann solicitors.

These irregularities are currently the subject of a detailed investigation not only by the Board of Bothar, but also by the relevant statutory bodies who have been fully informed of these matters. The Charities Regulator instigated a statutory investigation into the affairs of Bothar in October 2020 and this review is also ongoing.

The organisation will not be making any further comment on any matters relating to these investigations, the statement added.

Established in 1991, Bothar is an Irish international charity that provides the gift of livestock as a means of long-term development aid.
(JNS)  The Palestine Society at SOAS University of London released an open letter earlier this year demanding that the universitys academic board reject the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism that the British government has asked universities to accept. Co-signed by a coalition of 50-plus SOAS student groups, the letter argues that the definition would seriously threaten free expression on campus by labeling any criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic.

As SOASPS letter does not specify a problematic clause in the definition, I will assum...
Singapore: A state of calamity has been declared by East Timor, whose foreign minister has been asked to seek international assistance from Australia and others as it bids to recover from catastrophic floods and landslides and confronts an alarming new COVID-19 outbreak.

There have been 42 recorded deaths in the country since Tropical Cyclone Seroja unleashed carnage this week, with 70 others still missing. Another 163 have died and 45 are missing in Indonesias southernmost province East Nusa Tenggara, where Indonesia president Joko Widodo visited on Friday to survey the affected areas.

Dili has been devastated by a cyclone that tore through east Timor this week. Credit:Wayne Lovell

At a meeting of government officials, ambassadors and aid organisations in east Timors capital Dili on Friday the government said it had allocated $US1.45 million ($A1.9m) from its state budget for the initial recovery effort from the natural disaster including for food supply and the re-construction of roads and bridges.

But that will be far from enough - Timors Prime Minister has estimated the destruction will cost more than $US100 million ($132 million). Beyond the destruction there are major concerns about a spike in COVID-19 cases and the virus spreading more rapidly within Dilis 40 evacuation centres, which are housing between 7000 and 10,000 people.
China refutes allegation of transfering pollutive enterprises to Kazakhstan: MOC

Xinhua) 15:30, April 09, 2021

A freight train bound for Kazakhstan is seen in Nanning international railway port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, March 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin)

BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The allegation of China transfering pollutive production enterprises to Kazakhstan goes against the facts and has ulterior motives, a Ministry of Commerce (MOC) spokesperson said on Thursday.

Kazakhstan is among the first members of the Belt and Road Initiative. In recent years, economic and trade cooperation between China and Kazakhstan has yielded fruitful results and benefited the two peoples, MOC spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference.

By the end of 2020, China's outstanding direct investment in Kazakhstan topped 7.83 billion U.S. dollars, playing an important role in promoting local employment and economic development, said Gao.

He added that China-Europe freight trains made nearly 10,000 trips between China and Europe via Kazakhstan last year.

Gao also highlighted the steady progress in green economy cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the new energy, ecological agriculture and health care sectors.

He used a 100-megawatt wind power plant in Kazakhstan as an example of the cooperation, noting that it can help reduce local emissions of sulfur dioxide by more than 1,000 tonnes and carbon dioxide by nearly 300,000 tonnes.

China will continue to work together with Kazakhstan to deepen practical cooperation in various fields following the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, as well as extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, said Gao.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Bianji)
The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) today named Faith Atai, MD, a skilled clinician and medical administrator with a dedication to teaching geriatrics trainees of all levels, its 2021 Clinician of the Year. An Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), as well as Medical Director of the UT Physicians Center for Healthy Aging and the Bayland Geriatric Health Center, Dr. Atai will be honored at the AGS 2021 Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS21) May 13-15.

"Our 2021 Clinician of the Year embodies all the best qualities of a geriatrics health professional," said AGS President Annie Medina-Walpole, MD, AGSF. "Dr. Atai's colleagues and trainees respect her and her patients trust her because all her work as an administrator, educator, and clinician is in service of providing the best patient care possible."

A board-certified physician in family medicine with a certificate of added qualifications in geriatrics, Dr. Atai has played a vital role in expanding outpatient clinical geriatrics programs at UTHealth, where she helped establish a new outpatient clinic tailored for older adults in 2010. She currently serves as Medical Director for two UTHealth clinics, as well as Director of the UT Physicians House Calls Program. At these sites, she devotedly teaches medical students, trains clinical fellows and attending physicians, and supervises nurse practitioners, inspiring them to take exceptional care of older adults. For all her documented accomplishments, Dr. Atai's colleagues, mentees, and patients may appreciate her most for her more intangible contributions--her empathetic listening skills and compassionate bedside manner.

"Dr. Atai is the kind of physician that any of us would send their parents to,'" notes Holly M. Holmes, MD, MS, AGSF, Associate Professor and Director of the Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. "She treats her patients with kindness and respect, and she truly listens to their concerns."

Dr. Atai counts among her patients not only those she sees at UTHealth, but the hospice patients she serves as a palliative care physician with VITAS Hospice. From 2012 to 2016, she worked as an attending physician and medical director at New Century Hospice in Houston, TX.

In her various leadership positions, Dr. Atai has set the highest standards for interdisciplinary teamwork and advocated for policy changes that improve clinical care for older adults. At the Bayland Geriatrics Health Center, she championed the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement, encouraging the clinic to adopt the initiative's four evidence-based elements of high-quality geriatrics care.

An AGS member since 2010, Dr. Atai received her undergraduate and graduate education at the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria and completed her residency in family and community medicine and fellowship in geriatric medicine at the University of Texas Medical School.

The AGS Clinician of the Year Award recognizes exceptional health professionals who deliver outstanding care to older adults and who model the importance of geriatrics for our country. It is one of several honors conferred by the AGS at its Annual Scientific Meeting. The 2021 award recipients, who will be honored alongside those from 2020 at #AGS21, include 15 health leaders representing the depth and breadth of disciplines championing care for older adults. Last year's Clinician of the Year was James Lin, DO, MS, MHSA. For more information, visit Meeting.AmericanGeriatrics.org.

###

About the American Geriatrics Society

Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide, not-for-profit society of geriatrics healthcare professionals that has--for more than 75 years--worked to improve the health, independence, and quality of life of older people. Its nearly 6,000 members include geriatricians, geriatric nurses, social workers, family practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and internists. The Society provides leadership to healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public by implementing and advocating for programs in patient care, research, professional and public education, and public policy. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org.

About the AGS Clinician of the Year Award

The AGS Clinician of the Year Award was established to recognize the contributions of practitioners to quality health care for older people and the importance of the geriatrics clinician in our healthcare delivery system. Through awardees' efforts, scientific advances are integrated into the practice of geriatrics, resulting in improved well-being and quality of life for older adults.

About the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting

The AGS Annual Scientific Meeting is the premier educational event in geriatrics, providing the latest information on clinical care, research on aging, and innovative models of care delivery. More than 2,000 nurses, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, long-term care and managed care providers, healthcare administrators, and others will convene virtually May 13-15 2021 (pre-conference program on May 12) to advance geriatrics knowledge and skills through state-of-the-art educational sessions and research presentations. For more information, visit Meeting.AmericanGeriatrics.org.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 19:46:36|Editor: huaxia

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BUDAPEST, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The number of Hungarians getting at least the first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine is nearing 3 million, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday, while total COVID-19 cases topped 700,000 in the country.

"The number of people receiving their first vaccination will soon reach three million, and by the beginning of May, four million," Orban told public radio MR1.

The government would be able to vaccinate seven million of the eight million adult Hungarian citizens by the beginning of June, said Orban.

The country on Friday registered 7,325 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, raising the national total to 705,815, according to official data.

Hungary has been using vaccines from five producers, including China's Sinopharm. Enditem
One quarter of Americans adults are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.

It's a major milestone in the U.S. fight against the pandemic, and a welcome sign for hope as Americans tire of restricted life and variants drive an uptick in new infections and hospitalizations.

Biden administration officials said on Monday that half of U.S. adults will have had at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine this weekend.

And it comes ahead of the president's directive for all states to expand vaccine eligibility to all adults by April 19.

Already, 66 million Americans are fully vaccinated. New infections tend to decline once states or countries have vaccinated 30 percent of their populations - putting the US about 40 million shots away from a likely turning point.

Just shy of 20 percent of the total U.S. population - including under-18s - have been vaccinated.

But there may be trouble on the horizon, in the form of a slow down in the flow of vaccine doses to states.

The U.S. government will allocate nearly 85 percent fewer Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines next week to non-pharmacy providers, data from the CDC showed.

Allocations will fall to 785,500 doses from 4.95 million doses this week. The CDC data does not include a federal retail pharmacy program.

One quarter of Americans adults are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data and the U.S. is giving three million shots a day

States will still get hundreds of thousands of doses of Moderna's and Pfizer's vaccines, but the shortage of Johnson & Johnson's doses, which get people fully vaccinated in a single shot, will likely throttle the progress toward herd immunity - if only temporarily.

Allocations will fall to 785,500 doses from 4.95 million doses this week. The CDC data does not include a federal retail pharmacy program.

An official from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), who did not wish to be named, told Reuters that J&J released about 1.5 million doses to the U.S. government this week, compared with about 11 million doses last week.

The allocation and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is done by the federal government.

The official said HHS expects J&J's supply to be uneven, but the company had assured it was on track to meet its commitment of near 100 million doses by the end of May.

J&J did not respond to requests for comment.

J&J last month said it had delivered enough vaccines by the end of March to enable the full vaccination of more than 20 million people.

States will be allocated about 85% fewer doses of Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine next week than they received this week

The company said it would be able to deliver an additional 24 million single-shot vaccine doses through April.

A New York Times report last week revealed that workers at an Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore, which produced both AstraZeneca Plc and J&J doses, mixed up ingredients of the two vaccines, ruining 15 million J&J doses.

The Baltimore facility has not been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and a federal health official told Reuters last week that none of the vaccine doses from the plant have been used in vaccination efforts so far.

In the latest stumbling block for the rollout out of Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine, two separate clinics paused their administrations of J&J's shot after they saw unusual numbers of 'adverse reactions.'

The PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina paused its J&J vaccinations for the day on Thursday after 18 people suffered reactions to the shot. Four had to be taken to hospitals for evaluation.

About 2,000 people are vaccinated a day at PCN Arena, though it is unclear how many J&J shots were given.

The reactions seen at the clinic were 'consistent with known common side effects from receiving the vaccine,' said a spokesperson for Wake County, where Raleigh is located.

A Colorado pop-up vaccination site also shut down after 11 people suffered reactions to the Johnson & Johnson shot, 'such as nausea and dizziness,' said a spokesperson for Centura Health, which oversees the clinic.

CDC and local officials are investigating the reactions, which accounted for less than one percent of vaccinations at each site 'out of an abundance of caution.'

By Thursday evening, officials concluded that the reactions in Colorado were not signs of anything worrying about the vaccine.

'After reviewing each patients symptoms, analyzing other vaccinations from the same lot of the vaccine and speaking with the CDC to confirm our findings, we are confident in saying that there is no reason for concern,' said Dr Eric France, chief medical officer at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

'We are committed to making sure every community clinic is well-staffed with medical professionals who take patient safety with the utmost seriousness, just as they did at yesterdays clinic.'

U.S. officials assured Americans that none of Johnson & Johnson vaccines shipped this week or last were affected by the ingredient mix-up at the Baltimore plant.

Thankfully, it's unlikely that the reactions have anything to do with the disastrous mistake at Emergent BioSolutions, but the 'human error' is still rippling through the American Covid rollout.

Overseas, U.S. troops report poor access to vaccines, in part because they were set to receive shipments of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine. Instead, they are now slated to get larger shipments of Moderna's vaccine which has less stringent cold-chain requirements for air travel than Pfizer's shot.

According to the CDC data, California is the main recipient of the J&J vaccine, followed by Texas and Florida.

The vaccine allocation for California is down by about 88%, with the state set to receive a maximum of 67,600 doses next week.

A California health official told Reuters that the state's allocation will fall further to 22,400 doses in the week starting April 18.
Hue Traditional Craft (HTC) 2021 Festival is the longest, compared to the previous eight festivals, with several interesting programs and activities.

HTC 2021 Festival General Director, Le Quoc Vinh

Mr. Le Quoc Vinh, Chairman of the Board of Le Group of Companies, is the General Director and the General Art Advisor of the HTC Festival. He said about the opportunity to cooperate with Hue as well as the creative ideas about the Festival:

After a long time researching and pursuing the industry of culture and creativity, I had the opportunity to cooperate with many ministries as well as national and local agencies in this area.

It is interesting that Hue has started to shape and develop the industry of culture and creativity. Seeing the common goal between my interests and the directions of Hue, I started to find the opportunity to cooperate with Hue.

Hue is a point of convergence of factors and human resources for the development of culture and creativity. The city leaders want the HTC 2021 Festival to be a starting point to present programs and activities for the sake of developing creativity industry.

The festival is a good vehicle to convey to the local people a new concept of conservation and development of traditional craft villages. It means that it is not only the conservation of what we had, but also the momentum for traditional crafts as well as the socio-economic development of the city and the province.

As the General Director, can you tell me about the objectives of the HTC 2021 Festival?

This HTC Festival not only promotes the traditional crafts and the craft villages, but also motivates and inspires artisans to create artifacts that suit the contemporary life demands. The industries of culture and creativity are essential for the development of the local traditional crafts.

Ao-dai show at the HTC 2019 Festival

The HTC 2021 Festival will be from May 29 to June 26. There will be many changes in the programs and activities, albeit on the theme The Quintessence of Vietnamese Craft, with the view to creating opportunities to boost the creativity in new products. It is also to encourage craft villagers and artisans to design and make new products appropriate to the contemporary life to develop the market.

At the Festival, there will be shows and performances, as well as creative activities, among which will be a design contest and an exhibition of craft products made by individuals and organizations.

Some activities are for the promotion of Hue-specific traditional crafts, such as Ao-dai through the Ao-dai week featuring designers from Hue. Famous domestic brands will also be present, which will make it a festive atmosphere for Ao-dai. It is expected to raise the market demand, contributing to promoting the Ao-dai industry in Hue.

What are the opportunities for craft village participants at this Festival?

They will not only have the opportunity to display, present and sell their products, but will also gain the inspiration and new way of thinking to keep up with the new life. Creativity does not depend on the sole sector, but it needs a combination of different craft sectors.

There is a tendency in creativity today that different folk materials are combined in making the products that meet customer demands and trends. The design contest will help to find out solutions to traditional crafts. This is the objective of the festival.

In addition to the space that honors artisans and craft villages, and ao-dai fashion show, what are the other program and activities?

One of Thua Thien Hues recent goals has been the promotion of book reading, and thus there will be a one-week festival of Hue Book Fair. It will be held in an innovative way, that is, in addition to book exhibition, it emphasizes the book reading culture for the community. Therefore, the space for the Book Fair is not only for book sales, but also for book launches and reading experience exchanges, contributing to the development of book reading culture in Hue.

The Festival is scheduled for a month, including many festivities in various spaces and places on the basis of one event a week. Boosting the culinary culture and food festival are among the activities towards the development of Hue as Vietnams capital of Gastronomy.

Furthermore, there will be supplementary programs, including two nights of Trinhs, rap music for the young, music for the middle-age, the Craftmanship Recital and Parade, TEDtalk-like speeches of Art and Culture, Hue Singing festival. It is expected that Hue will become a bustling city for a month with many interesting programs and activities throughout the festival.

Thank you very much!

By Thanh Huong
We all love our gadgets and the convenience of modern technology, but have you ever worried about the effects of all that EMF exposure?





And maybe you're thinking, just what are EMFs and why should I be worried about them.





Well, read on...





We are all reliant on the handy conveniences of modern life, like our mobile phones, Wi-Fi routers, laptops and even our microwaves.





But few of us are aware of the possible health risks that this plethora of gadgets may pose.





If you are plagued by headaches, tired all the time, permanently stressed out, or suffering with other seemingly inexplicable symptoms, it might just be that the technology we rely on is actually causing them.









What are EMFs?





Electromagnetic frequencies are emitted from all wireless technologies including laptops, routers, mobile phone towers, smart phones, smart meters and our everyday electrical appliances such as televisions and microwaves.

If you imagine hammering at the same spot on a piece of wood, eventually the wood will get damaged.

EMFs work in the same way, in that they consistently and constantly send frequencies into our bodies which eventually damage our cells at a DNA level.

While many people dont believe EMFs to be dangerous, some scientists question our everyday exposure.

They cite the lack of studies into EMF exposure, a relatively new phenomenon, and say there hasnt been enough research into understanding whether EMFs are safe both to humans and animals.

here and here. However, the scientific evidence is mounting to show it does have some effect. You can read more about these studiesand

petition from more than 180 scientists in 36 countries who are calling for an independent task force to research the effects of EMF. There is also afrom more than 180 scientists in 36 countries who are calling for an independent task force to research the effects of EMF.

Indeed, some believe this stream of invisible energy can affect our bodies without us knowing, and can cause a range of symptoms ranging from mild to severe.

The recognised condition is called Electrohypersensitivity (EHS) and Sweden has officially recognised EHS as a disability.

Symptoms in adults and children can include: nausea, headaches, fatigue, poor sleep, dizziness, skin rashes and even heart palpitations.





How Can I Protect My Family from EMF Exposure?





While the scientists may be split on this, it always makes sense to minimise our health risks as much as possible.





These 5 simple tips can help to minimise your exposure to EMFs as much as possible:





1. Use Your Smartphone Well





Put your phone down when not in use and carry it in a bag rather than in your pocket.





Use the speaker function or earbuds so you don't need to hold the phone by your ear.





Try to avoid speaking on your phone while travelling in the car because the smartphone has to work extra hard to keep a decent signal, thus increasing EMF exposure.









2. Unplug





Do you really need to be accessible 24/7? Take some time out as often as you can.





Aim to spend at least one whole day a week phone-free, or at least a few hours a day whenever possible.





family camping trip for a few days! You could even take off on an away from it allfor a few days!









3. Go Wired





In our offices and homes we are surrounded by wireless technology.





Take a moment to switch off wireless devices such as your router, printer or laptop when not in use, and particularly at night when you are sleeping.





timer plug adaptor so that these devices turn themselves off and on again at the times you set for them. You could also use aso that these devices turn themselves off and on again at the times you set for them.





You can go a step further by ditching Wi-Fi for an ethernet cable and your wireless mouse for one with a cable.








According to Fox News, Kristen Clarke, Joe Bidens nominee to lead the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, organized a conference at which left-wing activists championed cop-killers and backed the freeing of violent criminals. Fox News reports:

According to a previously unseen university transcript obtained by the American Accountability Foundation and given to Fox News, Kristen Clarke was a critical leader and organizer of the controversial Race-ing Justice Conference while she was a student a Columbia Law School in April 1999 The transcript points to Clarke as the event organizer multiple times, as many speakers thanked her and other organizers for bringing the conference together. Clarke was previously reported as only being a contact for the conference.

What was the conference Clarke organized about? It was mainly about freeing cop-killers and radical extremists:

The conference organized left-leaning students and anti-government activists in their shared support of freeing death row inmates, whom they referred to as political prisoners. The list included people convicted for a wide array of crimes, including convicted cop-killers Mumia Abu-Jamal, Mutulu Shakur, Sundiata Acoli, and Tom Manning, in addition to other radical extremists. The convicted criminals the conference equated to political prisoners included Assata Shakur  who was convicted of murdering a New Jersey state trooper, escaped from prison and remains on the FBIs Most Wanted list  and Susan Rosenberg, who was convicted for transporting multiple illegal firearms and over 740 pounds of explosives. Rosenberg was also a member of the American communist terrorist group, the May 19th Communist Organization, that bombed the US Capitol on Nov. 7, 1983.

I guess attacks on the Capitol, the temple of our democracy  didnt bother Clarke much back then.

One of the speakers was Safiya Bukhari, founder of the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition. Bukhari downplayed the Holocaust, saying it was only 6 million Jews killed in the camps and prisons of Germany and Poland.

Clarke must have been comfortable with that. A few years earlier, she had invited a notorious anti-Semite to speak at Harvard and then endorsed his attacks on Jews.

Clarkes defenders may argue that her organizing activities in law school shouldnt be held against her two decades later. However, I doubt that, for purposes of high-ranking Justice Department nominees, theres a statute of limitation on supporting cop-killers.

Moreover, Clarke held the college writings of a Trump nominee against that nominee. Law school activism is more relevant than college writings.

Accordingly, Senators should hold Clarkes celebration of cop killers against her. They should add it to the list of reasons not to confirm her.
A large number of coronavirus vaccination centres across Mumbai suspended the inoculation drive on Friday due to shortage of vaccines. People, who came to take the COVID-19 jab on Friday, waited outside the vaccination facilities, including Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) jumbo vaccination centre after the vaccines ran out of stock.

Rajesh Dere, Dean, BKC Jumbo vaccination centre informed media that he was expecting more supply of vaccines, but it didn't happen. Dere said only 160 doses are left in the city's jumbo vaccination facility. "From day 1 we used to get vaccines before a day as buffer stock, till yesterday we got a sufficient number of vials for this centre. Last night we were expecting to get today's dose, but it has not come. Now we have only 160 doses," Dere told ANI news agency.



Mumbai: People gather outside BKC Jumbo vaccination Centre as the centre runs out of #COVID19 vaccine doses. pic.twitter.com/1OvGKdZ2yO  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2021

From day 1 we used to get vaccines before a day as buffer stock, till yesterday we got a sufficient number of vials for this centre. Last night we were expecting to get today's dose but it has not come. Now we have only 160 doses: Rajesh Dere, Dean, BKC Jumbo vaccination Centre pic.twitter.com/7IyKqFuIpb  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2021

According to a PTI report, as many as 75 of the 120 centres, mainly at private hospitals, suspended vaccination on Friday morning due to unavailability of doses, while some other centres suspended the drive within a few hours after the stock got over.

Yesterday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claimed it suspended vaccination at 25 centres in private hospitals due to shortage of doses. A vaccination centre in Mahim, Fortis hospital in Mulund and Vashi Jumbo vaccination Center at ESIS hospital have also been temporarily shut.

Amid the reports of shortage of vaccines, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said she was informed that about 76,000 to 1 lakh doses are about to reach Mumbai, but Pednekar does not have any official information on that. Pednekar added, "PM is serious and proactive about our issues but it seems that the people under PM are not taking this issue with the same seriousness". Her statement has come amid the ongoing exchange of barbs between the Centre and Maharashtra.

Two days back, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope asked the Centre why the state was getting fewer COVID-19 vaccine doses as compared to some other states, including Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Thereafter, several BJP ministers rallied against Tope's claims and slammed the state for wastage.

Additionally, the union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan dismissed Tope's claim and also said the allegations of vaccine shortage are utterly baseless. Dr Vardhan said Maharashtra need to improve the implementation of its testing, containment strategies and vaccination drive.

Moreover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also urged the Maharashtra government to focus more on testing. The prime minister in a video conference with chief ministers of all states, including CM Uddhav Thackeray said, "Don't be under any kind of pressure that your performance is bad because your numbers are high. You just focus on testing; I'm telling you even now. There is no reason to think you are doing badly if your numbers are high...There will be more positive cases if you do more testing".

According to BMC data, Mumbai reported 8,938 new COVID-19 cases and 23 fresh deaths on Thursday. As many as 48,902 more COVID-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the number of samples examined so far to 44,54,140, the civic body said. Mumbai's number of active COVID-19 cases rose to 86,279. The overall infection growth rate has increased to 2.03 per cent, while the case doubling rate has dropped to 33 days in the city.

Also read: Maharashtra leads in COVID-19 vaccination, shows Centre's data

Also read: Maharashtra closes 109 centres, Odisha 700 due to vaccine 'shortage'
Here we go again. For the second time in the 21st century so far, Australia has responded to a global shock better than most nations. For the second time, the Australian people have seen their magnificent resilience in a crisis betrayed by faltering leadership in the recovery. This is history unfortunately repeating as farce: first as Kevin Rudd then as Scott Morrison.

The difference between the aftermath to the global financial crisis in 2008-9 and the global pandemic now is that the policy gridlock we are witnessing extends beyond politics, to the bureaucracy itself. Its a troubling development because Australians should at least expect sound advice from the public service, even if it isnt always followed by the government of the day.

Illustration by Simon Letch Credit:Fairfax Media

Commonwealth health officials must share the blame for the Morrison governments failure to deliver on his promise to place Australia at the top of the queue for coronavirus vaccines, and to have every Australian receive their jab by October. It was their call to bet the recovery on the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, which we could produce locally, without the backstop of other vaccines in sufficient quantities in the event of supply delays, or unexpected side effects. It was that call, made some months ago in the euphoria of our elimination of the virus, which brought us to this weeks multiple prime ministerial implosions.
Through a webinar, the Vatican COVID-19 Commission supports the campaign for debt cancellation for African countries.

By Vatican News staff writer

In a statement released on 8 April, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development notes that along with the Vatican's Covid-19 Commission it is "supporting the campaign for debt cancellation for African countries."

The initiative was launched on Wednesday, 7 April, during a webinar organised by the Dicastery and the Commission itself, in collaboration with Caritas Africa, the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM) and the Association of Consecrated Women of East and Central Africa (ACWECA).

Sister Alessandra Smerilli, Undersecretary of the Dicastery, noted that this campaign, which is even more urgent because of COVID-19, starts in Africa where the local Church has given shape to a widespread demand in civil society.

See, judge, act

Archbishop Gabriel Justice Yaw Anokye of Kumasi in Ghana, also President of Caritas Africa, opened the session by saying: "Now is the time to see, judge and act on behalf of the poor and vulnerable. In times of difficulty and crisis, we can see God's action in solidarity". Henry Akaabiam, Secretary General of SECAM, said: "We cannot fail to act, because if Africa lives in debt, the whole world will live in debt. If Africa is doing well, the whole world is doing well".

A question of justice

Fr Augusto Zampini, Adjunct Secretary of the Dicastery and member of the board of the Vatican COVID-19 Commission added that "This is not just a question of technique or mere solidarity, important though that is, but a question of justice. It is a question of intergenerational justice, because we cannot make our children and future generations pay for all the effects of our mistakes, and of spiritual justice.

"Debt and poverty are cousins, they go together unfortunately," said Sr. Hellen A. Bandiho, STH, Secretary General of ACWECA. "It is certainly an ethical issue, but it is much more than that," said Fr Charlie Chilufya, director of JCAM's Justice and Ecology office. The point is that the permanence of the pandemic in the peripheries of the globe, for lack of means, puts everyone's health at risk".

Global justice

Jaime Atienza, from Oxfam, then drew attention to the link between all the forces that can help improve crisis situations. "We are at a time when we need to push finance towards social justice," he said.

The urgency of debt cancellation, said Dominic Chai, SJ, a Jesuit economist for the Vatican COVID-19 Commission, requires that we work steadfastly and continue this dialogue. In doing so, we will raise both awareness and commitment to a new level, not only in Africa, but also in all regions where the burden of unjust debt is felt.

Guardians of our brothers and sisters

Finally, Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Dvelopment, noted that "the person, as the Social Doctrine of the Church teaches, has a dignity that cannot be compromised: no one can be left behind because of injustice. We are called to be guardians of our brothers: this is the heart of our solidarity.
JourneyGuide, Inc., an innovative retirement income planning software provider for financial advisors, announced it has started modeling the following products from Great American Life Insurance Company, a leading annuity provider, directly in its software:



American Legend 7

Index Frontier 5

Index Protector 5 MVA

Index Protector 7

Index Summit 6 (coming soon)

JourneyGuides relationship with Great American Life allows greater precision in the modeling of its income annuities. Furthermore, JourneyGuide can now model Great American Lifes accumulation annuities, including the Index Frontier 5, Great American Lifes flagship registered index-linked annuity. These enhancements improve annuity options for all JourneyGuide advisors.

JourneyGuide is excited to partner with Great American Life, a highly rated and innovative carrier with decades of experience, said Gary Moorman, Head of Business Development & Sales at JourneyGuide. We strive to give our advisors access to products that benefit their clients retirement plans, and we know that Great American Life annuities will help us in achieving that goal.

Technology is integral now more than ever, and were pleased to offer our growth and protection solutions within this dynamic platform, said Joe Maringer, Senior Vice President and National Sales Manager of Great American Life. The ability for financial advisors and their clients to see the benefits that insurance can provide to a portfolio is extremely valuable. Were proud to partner with JourneyGuide to provide thousands of advisors with access to our annuity solutions that can help simplify retirement and income planning needs.

About JourneyGuide, Inc.

JourneyGuide helps advisors improve retirement outcomes for millions of people who rightfully worry about outliving their retirement assets. Designed with annuity sales in mind, the software provides an interactive retirement planning experience for advisors and clients to complete together. JourneyGuide improves advisor efficiency and increases client understanding and ownership of their retirement plan, leading to peace of mind.

About Great American Life Insurance Company

Great American Life Insurance Company, member of Great American Insurance Group (GAIG), helps simplify the path to financial security through the sale of traditional fixed, fixed-indexed and registered index-linked annuities in the retail, broker-dealer, financial institutions and registered investment advisor markets. The members of GAIG are subsidiaries of American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG). AFGs common stock is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFG. AFG is a Fortune 500 Company with approximately $74 billion in assets as of December 31, 2020. Note: On January 27, 2021, AFG announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Annuity business, including Great American Life, to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. The sale is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.
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This is the second in a series of stories on how different communities around L.A. County have weathered the pandemic. Our first story profiled Burbank's Magnolia Park.

In the South L.A. neighborhood of Leimert Park, nearly 80% of the residents are Black -- making it one of the few majority Black neighborhoods in the county and a cherished enclave.

Three years ago, Leimert Plaza Park was fenced off by the city for a restoration project. The park's gates don't open much these days. The office of Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas says it's still working to find shelter for unhoused residents living around the park, a process that could take months, if not longer.

Leimert residents have mourned the temporary loss of a space known for hosting festivals, talks and street vendors. But just north of the park, around Degnan Boulevard, you'll still find a panoply of Black-owned restaurants, clothing stores, health stores and vendors.

Sunday is the time to be there. You'll probably get a chance to listen to a drum circle, or catch a fashion show or a concert. Once, someone hosted a homegoing ceremony for their mom. Film crews routinely take over the whole strip (HBO's "Insecure" was there recently).

Locals confirm what's already clear: business is booming.

Marlene Beckford poses outside of Ackee Bamboo, holding one of her restaurant's signature dishes, ackee and saltfish. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

ACKEE BAMBOO

Growing up in Jamaica, Marlene Beckford always had food on her mind. She remembers using what was on hand, such as flour, green bananas, and yams to "run boat," a patois phrase meaning to put together a quick meal.

"Even as children, as long as we have a little flour we could make our dumplings." Beckford said. "As a teenager ... I would buy pots and pans and I would store them under my bed."

Beckford moved to the United States in 1977 and began working for Kaiser Permanente. Her dream, though, was to share Jamaican spices and flavors, like "ackee," a soft, yellow fruit with the texture of avocado. It's the main ingredient in the country's national dish, ackee and saltfish.

When her kids were still young, Beckford quit her job and opened Ackee Bamboo, a Jamaican restaurant on Degnan Boulevard. Sixteen years later, she's something of a Leimert fixture.

"We keep pushing and we're still here," Beckford said.

The beginning of the pandemic was scary, she said. The landlord of the building that's home to Ackee Bamboo posted a notice saying everything would be shut down.

Ackee and saltfish, one of Ackee Bamboo's signature dishes. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

"I thought to myself, Well, what are we going to do? I have a mortgage. I have a staff that relies on us," Beckford said. "I decided, no, we're not going to do that."

Beckford checked the L.A. County health guidelines and pushed back against the landlord, who relented. She was allowed to stay open for takeout and delivery, which went pretty well at first.

Then last summer, the Black Lives Matter protests and Juneteenth celebration brought thousands of people to Leimert Park.

"Then we got a tweet out from Beyonce and that was another blessing," Beckford said. "We couldn't stop because, how could you deny your blessings?"Ackee Bamboo has been able to keep staff on throughout the pandemic. At this point, Beckford is optimistic about the future of her restaurant, and the new businesses opening up around her.

"It's all positive," Beckford said. "But our mindset has to be positive too, towards all the changes that are coming."

Ferriss Mason is the brand manager at Sole Folks. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

SOLE FOLKS

A few doors down from Ackee Bamboo is one of those new businesses: the clothing store cooperative Sole Folks, which sells the work of Black designers. It opened last Juneteenth, filling a void in Leimert Park by offering streetwear styles for the "younger generation in the community," its website says.

Brand Manager Ferriss Mason decides what the store carries.

"I just feel like it's my divine purpose to be of service to my community -- Black people," she said.

Sole Folks sells brands from Black designers. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

At first, Sole Folks was selling six brands. Now, it's up to 40. Some designers are making around $4,000 a month, according to Mason.

"The pandemic has helped put a highlight on the community," she said. "It's been a really good thing, actually."

Designers selling through Sole Folks, including Mason, have received grants from businesses to help them through the past year. Sole Folks has become a neighborhood presence, hosting weekend events, such as a recent fashion show.

And Sole Folks is expanding. This summer, it plans to launch an incubator program for young Black entrepreneurs. There's also a juice bar in the works.

Sole Folks sponsored TheMovementLA eighth annual Fashion Week Fashion Show in front of its store. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

"People know, if you want to be around like-minded creatives ... this is where you come," Mason said.

GRANDMA'S REMEDY

Brick-and-mortar stores are one part of Leimert Park's business community. The street vendors are also central to the neighborhood's identity.

Down the street from a recent Sole Folks fashion show, vendor W.L. Jackson, Jr. was selling cannabis.

"You have people that just cook food, people that make clothes, people that deal with literature," he said. "We all represent Leimert as a whole."

Jackson, who goes by Lay Low, has been in the cannabis business for eight years. His brand is called Grandma's Remedy.

"Everybody's grandma has some type of remedy," he said. "If you look at my logo, it's a grandma with no face. So when you look at her, you see your grandma."

Jackson grows his own organic plants in an L.A. greenhouse, with no animal products -- except for ladybugs that eat pests.

"I only enter the greenhouse if I'm happy," he said. "So no bad vibes or nothing like that."

Jackson started selling his cannabis in Leimert six months ago, at the invitation of other vendors. Coming from the Watts area, several miles south, he hardly knew anyone and felt intimidated. The pandemic helped him get a foothold, Jackson said, by slowing people down.

"It allowed me to mingle and get around folks that usually ... wouldn't have looked at me," he said.

A few weeks ago, Jackson sold a $75 joint, the VIP CEO premium, to a producer who's worked with Kanye West. That's the sort of clientele he's hoping to cultivate by staying in Leimert as COVID-19 restrictions are eased.

A Leimert Park community fridge offers food to those in need during the pandemic. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

"A lot of new buildings are being built, a lot of new people coming out from every different background," Jackson said. "The point is, Leimert is getting bigger, it's getting better, and it's prospering as a community."

By the end of this year, the new Crenshaw/LAX Metro line is supposed to be finished, including a Leimert Park stop. For some, there's trepidation about rents going up.

Jackson, though, is excited about the neighborhood's future. He welcomes people of all backgrounds to visit -- and spend money.
Two years ago on Sunday, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was seized from the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He has been incarcerated ever since, fighting extradition to the United States where he faces life imprisonment in barbaric conditions for exposing war crimes, coup plots, mass state surveillance, torture and corruption.

Julian Assange in Belmarsh Prison in 2019

On April 11, 2019, Assanges political asylum status was revoked by the Ecuadorian government and British police entered the embassy building, dragging him away. The recently published diaries of former Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan confirm the involvement of the highest levels of the state in this lawless operation.

Duncan explains how he watched the police raid on a live feed from the Operations Room at the top of the Foreign Office. Codenamed Pelican, Duncan recalled how one of its officials looked on, wearing a pelican-motif tie. Duncans diary entry concludes, So, job done at lastand we take a commemorative photo of Team Pelican. It had taken many months of patient diplomatic negotiation, and in the end it went off without a hitch. I do millions of interviews, trying to keep the smirk off my face.

The sadism of the British states snatch-and-grab operation was matched only by the degraded efforts of the pseudo-left to vilify Assange and blacken his reputation in support of a manufactured sexual assault investigation launched by Sweden in 2010. Rightly fearing that his extradition to Sweden would be a stepping-stone to US extradition, Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy. While he was there, his former media partners, most prominently the Guardian, and an international roll call of pseudo-left groups, launched a despicable years long slander campaign to smear him as a sexual predator.

The Swedish frame-up was a high-level operation. When prosecutors signalled in 2012 they were likely to drop the casewhich they finally did for the last time in 2019the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) sent a message warning Dont you dare get cold feet!!! The CPS was then led by current leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer. The support by pseudo-left groups for the CIAs Swedish operationchampioned on the basis of gender politicsexposed them as a tool for imperialist interests. By 2012, the affluent social constituency for pseudo-left politics had embraced the doctrine of humanitarian intervention, supporting regime change operations in Syria, Libya and elsewhere.

Republican and Democratic officials alike continued to seek Assanges arrest. In 2018, in the context of a ferocious campaign to drag Assange into their jingoistic, anti-democratic Russian meddling campaign, 10 Democratic Party senators wrote to Vice President Mike Pence to demand the Trump administration put pressure on Ecuador to secure Assanges eviction from the embassy.

The Trump administration, it was later revealed, was working with the CIA to spy on Assange, including his privileged communications with lawyers and doctors, and to steal his personal documents. CIA operatives discussed plans for Assanges kidnap or assassination, until Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno agreed to turn him over to the UK police.

Once in the hands of the British state, Assange was subjected to two years of pseudo-legal persecution, culminating in a degrading show trial. Hauled in front of Westminster Magistrates Court just hours after he was seized from the embassy, Assange was found guilty of violating bail. District judge Michael Snow declared, His assertion that he has not had a fair hearing is laughable. And his behaviour is that of a narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interests.

At a subsequent hearing in Southwark Crown Court, Assange was given the near maximum sentence for bail violation (50 weeks) and sent to Belmarsh maximum security prison. Judge Deborah Taylor accused him of exploiting your privileged position to flout the law and advertise internationally your disdain for the law of this country.

Assanges time in Belmarsh was characterised by the repeated and flagrant denial of his legal rights, aimed at crushing him and which left him suicidal. He was repeatedly denied proper access to his lawyers and to materials necessary to prepare his defence. When Assange reached the end of his sentence, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ordered that he continue to be held in Belmarsh on remand. During the initial week of Assanges extradition hearing, held in February 2020 at Woolwich Crown Court, he was held in a glass box, with Baraitser preventing him from speaking or communicating effectively with his lawyers. He was stripped twice and handcuffed 11 times on the first day.

In the run-up to the main hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court in September 2020, Assange was repeatedly denied bail, even as COVID-19, to which he is especially vulnerable on account of a respiratory condition, ripped through Belmarsh prison.

The US government used this time to develop its monstrous assault on democratic rights. The initial indictment of the WikiLeaks founder, unsealed on the day of his seizure from the embassy, charged him with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, with a maximum sentence of five years. On May 23, 2019, the US unveiled 17 new charges under the 1918 Espionage Act with a combined potential sentence of 170 years. These charges have chilling implications for freedom of the press, criminalising basic journalistic practices and holding them tantamount to treason or espionage.

Another superseding indictment was issued on June 24, 2020, after one phase of Assanges hearing had been completed and a matter of weeks before the defence was due to submit its skeleton argument for the second. Besides being a gross abuse of due process, the new indictment, based largely on testimony from FBI informants with histories of fraud and entrapment, expanded the framework of the charges to an even wider range of journalistic activity.

The immense significance of WikiLeaks and Assanges journalism, and the criminality of their persecution, was underscored at his hearing in September. Dozens of witnesses spoke to WikiLeaks pioneering source protection and the global impact of releases like the Collateral Murder video, revealing the massacre of Iraqi civilians, journalists and first responders by a US Apache helicopter gunship. The US case was exposed as a groundless, vindictive witch-hunt designed to destroy Assange and set a dictatorial precedent for what will happen to any journalists who dare expose imperialist crimes.

With a ruling in favour of extradition considered all but assured, Baraitser delivered a surprise decision against on January 4 of this year. But her politically calculated ruling blocked the extradition request solely on the grounds that it would be oppressive by reason of Assanges compromised mental health and his risk of suicide if he were imprisoned in the US. She accepted every other element of the prosecutions case, including its denial of free speech and freedom of the press, and its justification of the abuse of Assanges democratic rights.

This left the gate wide open to a US appeal. The US Department of Justice quickly responded, While we are extremely disappointed in the courts ultimate decision, we are gratified that the United States prevailed on every point of law raised. In particular, the court rejected all of Mr. Assanges arguments regarding political motivation, political offense, fair trial, and freedom of speech. We will continue to seek Mr. Assanges extradition to the United States.

Baraitsers actions essentially postponed the real decision on Assanges fate until the outcome of Trumps ongoing coup plot had been decided. Two days after his extradition was blocked, on January 6, a fascist mob stormed the Capitol and came within seconds of seizing members of Congress. The continuing hostility of the British state towards Assange was confirmed by Baraitsers legally absurd denial of bail that same day, leaving Assange in a maximum-security prison with no lawful legal charges against him.

Since then, the Biden administration has continued Trumps pursuit of the WikiLeaks founderin 2010, Biden had labelled him a high-tech terrorist. As the World Socialist Web Site and the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) have warned, Assanges persecution is integral to the war drive of US imperialism, escalated by Trump and now intensified by his successor.

Biden has engaged in an aggressive anti-China campaign and is whipping up anti-Chinese xenophobia at home, promoting conspiracy theories on the origin of COVID-19. The US and its allies stand on a cliff edge with Russia over Crimea and eastern Ukraine, with NATOs endless anti-Russia provocations and proxy incursions threatening to spill into war.

Military conflicts of such catastrophic scope can only be pursued abroad by destroying democratic rights at home. WikiLeaks releases of the Afghanistan and Iraq war logs were a spark to mass anti-war sentiment all over the world. The ruling class in the imperialist countries around the world are determined to prevent their war plans and crimes being reported and have sought to crack down on left-wing, socialist and anti-war opposition. The Assange case is emblematic of this turn to dictatorship.

In the two years since Assanges arrest, two sharply opposed political perspectives have defined themselves in the fight for his freedom. The official campaign, run by Dont Extradite Assange (DEA), has based itself on rotten appeals to the state and its representatives. The DEAs first champion was former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Throughout the 2019 general election, as leader of the Labour Party, Corbyn maintained a politically criminal silence on Assange, blocking the development of a mass movement against British and US imperialism to secure his freedom. When Corbyn did finally speak, it was to appeal to Boris Johnson and the British justice system that had trampled Assanges democratic rights.

After cobbling together a motley collection of minor parliamentarians, celebrities and civil rights and media organisationsmany of which had been complicit in Assanges persecution over yearsthe DEA campaign reached a new low in the weeks before Baraitsers decision, making an obsequious appeal to Trump for a presidential pardon. Trump instead handed out a slew of pardons to crooks, fascists and war criminals.

When Trump left office, the appeals switched seamlessly to Biden, remaining just as bankrupt.

The ICFI and its affiliated Socialist Equality Parties have been vindicated in insisting that the fight for Assanges freedom depends on the development of a mass movement in the working class. The pandemic has proved beyond all doubt that there is no constituency in the ruling class for even the most basic democratic rights, including the right to protest and assembly and the right to life. It has responded to the virus with a policy of social murder and by advancing its preparations for state repression and war on a vast scale.

But these actions have set the capitalist states on a collision course with oppressed workers around the world, who were already entering into major strikes and protests before the pandemic. Assanges ultimate fate is inseparable from this developing conflictthe fight of the international working class against capitalism and the struggle to put the real criminals, the imperialist warmongers and torturers, in the dock.

On the second anniversary of the WikiLeaks founders seizure, we reaffirm our demand for Assanges immediate, unconditional freedom and our commitment to a programme of class struggle to achieve it.


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Champagne Bollingers acquisition of Ponzi Vineyards rolled through the Willamette Valley like a seismic wave. Now that the dust has settled, questions are finding answers.

Wednesdays sale of Ponzi Vineyards to the French wine giant for an undisclosed amount of money was a bolt from the blue. Both sides managed to keep their negotiations, which began in March 2020, close to the vest.

Typical was the response of Doug Tunnell, owner and winemaker at Brick House Wines in Newberg: Stunned, was my first reaction to the Ponzi news.

Theres nothing new about outside investments in the Willamette Valley. Starting with Robert Drouhin in 1987, numerous wine entities from California, Washington, Germany and France have purchased land, wineries and vineyards in this region. Jackson Family Wines made the last big splash when they acquired Penner-Ash Wine Cellars, in Newberg, and WillaKenzie Estate, in Yamhill, in 2016.

Ponzi Vineyards, located in Sherwood, is an integral part of the Willamette Valleys origin story. It is not surprising its sale hits hard.

This is not just any story about an Oregon winery being sold. Ponzi Vineyards is one of the Willamette Valleys first 10 wineries. They are a legacy brand, David Adelsheim, founder of Newbergs Adelsheim Vineyard, said.

The Ponzi familys decision to sell was a matter of receiving an attractive offer from the right party.

As a family, we would never sell to a corporation. That has never even been discussed before. This opportunity presented itself, and because it was Bollinger, we paid attention, Luisa Ponzi, winemaker for Ponzi Vineyards, said.

Ponzi said her family was swayed because the Bollinger family has owned and operated their Champagne house since it was founded in 1829.

They are a family winery just like we are. They are coming at this from a family business perspective, and they respect my parents vision. Ponzi said.

That respect is one reason Ponzi expects little change in her day-to-day winemaking and farming operations. She looks forward to continuing to make world-class pinot noir and chardonnay while Champagne Bollinger focuses on boosting sales and the visibility of the Ponzi Vineyards brand.

Etienne Bizot is the chairman and chief executive officer of Societe Jacques Bollinger, his familys holding company. He also represents the sixth generation of Bollingers in the family business. Bizot claims several reasons motivated the decision to purchase their first winery outside of France.

According to Bizot, the United States is a top export market for Champagne and the fastest-growing market globally for high-quality wine consumption.

These facts definitely captured my attention, Bizot said in a telephone interview from France.

Bizots plan was to conduct his market research up close and personal.

The conviction I have is the best way to disrupt the important market is to anchor our family in the United States, which means acquiring a winery, so we have our feet on the ground, Bizot said. Bizot traveled the American west coast for the last 3-4 years to purchase the right winery.

Bizot says he was sold by the Ponzis family history, gravity-flow winery, well-designed hospitality center and the Laurelwood soils found in their vineyards. With Ponzi, we found a nice fit with our DNA and strategy in terms of terroir, climate and the fact this is a legacy winery with a long history, Bizot said.

Bollingers decision is viewed as a stamp of approval for the region.

Its just like when Drouhin came here. It reaffirms what the Willamette Valley has been doing. Its Bollinger saying, This place is important, and we want to be a part of it, Ponzi said.

Will Bollinger suddenly start making sparkling wines at their new Oregon winery? No. I think you need to capitalize on what a winery is good at, and this winery is very good at producing pinot noir and chardonnay, Bizot said.

Will Bollinger ramp up the production levels or change the prices of Ponzi wines? Bizot claims his familys priority is more on value and visibility than volume and pricing.

Maybe we have some efforts to be made in terms of positioning the Ponzi wines in the market at the right value. By value, I dont necessarily mean increasing price. I mean the proper value for the consumer. If the consumer has a perception of the value of the wines, that is what we have to make, Bizot said.

For now, Champagne Bollinger appears content with shining a global spotlight on the Ponzi familys legacy. Luisa Ponzi calls it a beautiful full circle for her parents, Dick and Nancy Ponzi.

They started this winery hoping to bring attention to this area for these varietals. Now here we are, so many years later, with this iconic family wanting to buy into that vision, Ponzi said.

-- Michael Alberty writes about wine for The Oregonian/OregonLive. He can be reached at malberty0@gmail.com. To read more of his coverage, go to oregonlive.com/wine.
GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, MI  They say April showers bring May flowers, but in one Northern Michigan community, April also brings gift certificates.

A total of $5,000 in gift certificates will be hidden throughout downtown Traverse City as part of Honor Banks Make it Rain celebration marking the opening of its Commercial Lending Center at 415 E Front Street.

The bank is partnering with Downtown TC and the Downtown TC Merchant Association to host the event, which will take place April 21-25.

As we continue to support the growth of northern Michigans business community, Honor Bank is looking forward to the opening of our Commercial Lending Center in downtown Traverse City, Honor Bank President and CEO Norm Plumstead said in a statement.

This fun community event will benefit our Downtown small businesses who have been struggling during these challenging times. Lets all come out and Make It Rain.

Each day, 100 envelopes will be hidden at participating businesses which will be announced online on April 21.

Lucky raindrop catchers are encouraged to post a photo on social media with the #makeitrainTC hashtag, tagging the business location, Honor Bank and downtown TC.

In the spirit of giving, winners also have the option to purchase another certificate to Make It Rain for another lucky supporter of small business.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar and Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anatoliy Petrenko informed the heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Ukraine about the escalation of the situation in Donbas, the buildup of Russian troops on the borders of Ukraine and in the temporarily occupied Crimea.

"Together with Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anatoliy Petrenko, I held an online briefing for the heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Ukraine on the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict, the buildup of Russian troops on the borders of Ukraine and the temporarily occupied ARC," Bodnar wrote on Twitter on Friday.

The Deputy Minister pointed out that they once again emphasized Ukraine's commitment to a politico-diplomatic settlement of the conflict with the Russian Federation.

"At the same time, Ukraine will resolutely defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity in the event of a Russian offensive," he added.
Have you ever seen a mainstream news report containing the phrase the French regime? How about the British regime or the Australian regime?

If these phrases look a bit odd, its because youve never seen them written down before. Ostensibly the word simply means a form of government or a government in power, but its generally understood that its got a kind of negative connotation to it just because of the way it tends to be used. In theory its meaning is closer to a bad or authoritarian government, and in practice by the western media it means a government which disobeys the dictates of Washington.

Just look at some recent examples of the way that word has been used in headlines by the mass media:

Amb. Michael McFaul: Putins treatment of Navalny proves this is a regime that is in decay by MSNBC on April 8.

Appeasing Cubas Regime Didnt Work, by The Wall Street Journal on April 2.

Senior GOP Senators Call BBC Notoriously Sympathetic to the Iranian Regime by Newsweek on April 8.

Hitting Nerve With Kim Jong Un Regime Takes Just a Few Words by The Wall Street Journal on March 18.

America Will Only Win When Chinas Regime Fails by Foreign Policy on March 11.

At a Hotel in Caracas, Oil Executives Weigh a Return to Venezuela  Promises of more autonomy to tap the worlds biggest crude reserves are drawing the oil industry to meetings with the Nicolas Maduro regime by Bloomberg on March 19.

As Gregory Shupak documented in a 2018 Fair.org article titled A Regime Is a Government at Odds With the US Empire, this label is seldom affixed to US allies  even US allies with extremely oppressive governments like Saudi Arabia  while it is used constantly on empire-targeted governments like Venezuela and Syria. Shupak notes that we even see this label abandoned after a targeted government is toppled, with nations like Iraq and Honduras magically transforming from regimes to governments after they are successfully absorbed into the imperial blob.

The immense disparity between the frequency with which this label is applied to member states of the US-centralized power alliance compared to how often its applied to governments which have resisted absorption into that alliance is one of the most blatant ways in which the mainstream western news media outlets help facilitate US empire building. This is because mainstream western news media outlets are propaganda. They exist to advance the agendas of the imperialist plutocratic class which controls them.

When the empire wants to topple a government, their first step is to psychologically uncouple it from the nation and its people in the eyes of the western world by consistently using labels that make it look like an alien, occupying force. Its not Syrias government, everybody! Its the Assad Regime!

Oh no! A Regime?? How did that Regime get in where Syrias government ought to be?? Watch out Syrians, youve got a Regime on your back! Dont worry, well come and rescue you from it!

Do you see how it works? If you can make a nations government look like an illegitimate invading force instead of the governing body which arose from that nations internal dynamics, you legitimize any attempt to defend that nation from that force. Up to and including staging coups, arming oppositional militias, airstrikes, sanctions, or full-scale ground invasions.

You see this same tactic in the way anti-China spinmeisters have been training their credulous audiences to use the term CCP for Chinas government; its an alien-sounding label most people wont have grown up hearing, so it helps mentally dissociate the government from the nation and its people in the public eye. This despite the fact that the Chinese people overwhelmingly approve of their government. They even deliberately use a weird abbreviation for the partys official English name, the Communist Party of China (CPC).

This is why you constantly hear indoctrinated automatons bleating the mantra I dont oppose the Chinese people, I oppose the CCP! Theyve been trained to help spin Chinas government as an illegitimate force which is occupying China against the will of its people, thereby creating the perception of legitimacy for anything that will be done in the future to target that government. Of course it can be helpful in certain instances to create such distinctions, but this mantra isnt being mindlessly bleated ad nauseum for helpful reasons. Its to help grease the wheels of the slow-motion third world war the US-centralized power alliance is waging upon the remaining unabsorbed nations.

Whoever controls the narrative controls the world. The agendas to secure this control and shape those narratives look different, but their purpose is always the same: to facilitate the agendas of a ruling class of sociopaths who operate the most deadly and destructive power structure of the face of the earth.

________________________

New book: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix.

The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at my website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following my antics on Twitter, or throwing some money into my tip jar on Ko-fi, Patreon or Paypal. If you want to read more you can buy my books. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what Im trying to do with this platform, click here. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else Ive written) in any way they like free of charge.

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Bangladesh: Illegal fishing by influential figure endangers fishermen in Dinajpur

by Faruk Hossain

April 09,2021 | Source: Dhaka Tribune

Allegations have surfaced about a local influential figure carrying out illegal fishing activities in a reservoir of Barapukuria coal mine in Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur. This 15-20ft deep reservoir, created as a result of underground coal mining, was declared a means for local fishermen to earn their livelihood. Owned by the Barapukuria Coal Mining authority, the reservoir is currently under the jurisdiction of the upazila administration. Asaduzzaman Asad, general secretary of the local fishermen's co-operative society, said: In the last 15 years, local MP Mostafizur Rahman and the Barapukuria Coal Mining authority jointly released five tons of different species of fish fry in this reservoir. In addition, a few more tons of fish fry are released every year by the Upazila Fisheries Extension Department and various non-governmental organizations, he added. It is estimated that there are fish worth over Tk1 crore in this 300-acre waterbody. While only registered fishermen are allowed to catch fish in the reservoir, the ongoing three-month fishing ban imposed by the local administration temporarily bars them from doing so. However, disregarding the restrictions, Rezwanul Haque, owner of ARB Brick Kiln, has been carrying out illegal fishing activities in the reservoir for the past week, said Md Nuruzzaman, president of the local fishermens co-operative society.



He said Rezwanul was catching around 10-12 tons of different species of fish from this reservoir every day. Consequently, local fishermen fear a shortage of fish owing to the rampant fishing during the ongoing fishing ban. Rafiqul Islam, of Bouddhanathpur village in the upazila, said Rezwanul Haque had illegally dug a pond on a 50-bigha area of land in the northeastern corner of the reservoir. He lures fish from the reservoir to his pond using chum. For the last few years, he has been aided by policymakers and hired goons. Speaking on the issue, Sultan Mahmud, Inspector of Barapukuria Coal Mine Police Investigation Centre, said: Local fishermen have verbally informed me about the illegal fishing. I have advised them to lodge a written complaint with the Upazila Nirbahi Officer. When contacted, ARB Brick Kiln Owner Rezwanul Haque confirmed the allegations without any hesitation. Its not just me, everyone is fishing in these waters. Speaking on the matter, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Nasheed Kaiser Riyadh said: Fishing of any kind during this season has been prohibited by law. Action would be taken against the culprits if specific written allegations were received, he added.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Fast-casual chain Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), has upgraded its debt-free degree program that it offers to its employees by offering debt-free degrees in Agriculture, Culinary, and Hospitality to all eligible employees. The company has partnered with Guild Education, a education and upskilling company in the country. After only 120 days of employment, employees are eligible to pursue degrees from leading nonprofit, accredited universities, including The University of Arizona, Bellevue University, Brandman University, Paul Quinn College, Southern New Hampshire University, Wilmington University, the University of Denver and soon Johnson & Wales University, and Oregon State University. Chipotle originally rolled out the education benefit program in 2019. The company said it will cover 100% of tuition costs up front for 75 different business and technology degrees through its partnership with Guild. The chain also offers a tuition reimbursement program where employees can be reimbursed up to $5,250 a year at the school of their choice. 'Diversifying our debt-free degree program with new majors and partner universities makes our educational benefits even more inclusive,' said Marissa Andrada, chief diversity, inclusion and people officer at Chipotle. 'Through our partnership with Guild, we are committed to accelerating our employees' professional growth and helping them achieve personal success by offering opportunities to pursue career paths in their particular area of interest.' 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.
Warrior Met coal miners should vote to reject the sellout contract offer accepted by the United Mine Workers and begin mobilizing support now to broaden their fight.

After working under a $6 an hour pay cut since 2016 while the company rakes in massive profits, workers are being asked to accept an insulting wage increase that divides workers by pay grade and will not take full effect until 2026. Meanwhile, the companys brutal disciplinary policy, which has resulted in countless unjust terminations, is being kept in place, only with six strikes before dismissal instead of four.

Striking miners in Brookwood, Alabama (Photo: Friends of Coal Alabama)

Miners are in a powerful position to carry forward their struggle and press their demands, including full restoration of all pay cuts, restitution of lost wages and concessions, along with the abolition of the companys draconian attendance policy.

Any claim that there is no money to meet these demands is a lie. Warrior Met made $302 million in 2019, while CEO Walter J. Scheller III has pocketed an annual salary of over $4 million even during the pandemic.

The main obstacle workers face is the United Mine Workers, which is seeking to corral and strangle the strike. On Wednesday, UMW President Cecil Roberts, who earns a salary of $210,000 annually, told Warrior Met miners that a $1 to $2 pay raise was the best the union could get.

While sitting on assets of over $164 million, the union is attempting to starve workers on a strike pay of only $300 a week. Meanwhile, it is keeping the strike isolated from other sections of workers, such as teachers, Amazon workers, steelworkers and autoworkers.

Workers must organize independently of this corrupt organization and build a rank-and-file strike committee to take over negotiations and continue the fight. Instead of ending the strike, Warrior Met miners should expand the struggle, demanding a nationwide miners strike and solidarity action from workers throughout the area. Delegations of striking miners should go to the US Steel and US Pipe mills in nearby Birmingham, the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, the Constellium aluminum plant in Muscle Shoals, the Mercedes Benz plant in Vance and schools in Birmingham, Montgomery and other cities where educators are fighting the deadly back-to-school policy.

Conditions are developing to wage such a fight. After a year of a pandemic in which the government has shoveled literally trillions of dollars into the coffers of the corporations while doing nothing to keep the population safe from COVID, workers are ready to fight back. Already significant struggles are breaking out.

* More than 1,300 steelworkers at Allegheny Technologies Inc. are on strike at nine mills in five states seeking to overturn a pay freeze and restore lost concessions.

* About 700 nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts are entering the fourth week of strike action against Tenet Health Care for safe patient ratios and patient care.

* In New York City, 3,000 graduate student instructors at Columbia University are in rebellion against the United Auto Workers, which is seeking to shut down their strike against poverty-level wages without even achieving a contract. Meanwhile, other graduate student instructors at New York University are preparing to walk out.

In waging their struggle Warrior Met miners must advance demands based on what they need, not on what the company and the UMW says management can afford.

These demands must include:

*Full restoration of all wage and benefit concessions and a large pay increase to make up for what has been sacrificed.

*Ending of all pay tiers. Equal pay for equal work.

*Abolition of the disciplinary system. Rehire with back pay all workers who were unjustly terminated.

*End forced overtime and grueling work schedules. Hire additional miners to ease the workload and give workers time with their families.

*Workers oversight of health and safety conditions. Appropriate social distancing and daily testing for COVID. Workers must have the right to refuse to work under unsafe conditions.

In mobilizing to fight for these demands Warrior Met miners should turn to the militant traditions of class struggle in Alabama going back more than 100 years. Alabama coal miners have waged repeated strikes in the face of company gun thugs and state militia and confronted repeated attempts to divide workers by race.

A rejection of the contract is not enough. New rank-and-file organizations of struggle are needed. The unions long ago turned their backs on the working class for the warm embrace of corporate management. This fact is underscored by the failure of the union drive at the Amazon Bessemer plant. Workers want to fight, but they know the corporatist unions will do nothing to defend them.

As long as the struggle is left in the hands of Cecil Roberts and the UMW, it will be isolated and defeated like the strikes against A.T. Massey and Pittston Coal in the 1980s and 1990s.

Workers must build their own rank-and-file strike committees and democratically decide for themselves their demands and how to conduct their struggle. The strike against Warrior Met is part of a nationwide and global movement of workers against the obscene growth of billionaire wealth amid the deaths caused by the willful negligence of the corporations and their political frontmen, whether it is Trump and the Republicans or Biden and the Democrats.

Workers everywhere are fighting the same global corporations and are increasingly facing identical conditions under a rampaging pandemic. The fight against the sacrifice of workers lives to the drive for profit must be combined with building an international political movement of the working class for socialism, and the reorganization of society so the wealth created by the collective labor of workers goes to them not the wealthy few.

The World Socialist Web Site encourages miners to help circulate this statement.

For more information about building rank-and-file committees and to share your story, contact the WSWS today.
Apples iPhone has already replaced your wallet, keys, and flight tickets. Now in Utah, it is beginning to replace your driving license in a new pilot project.

What is happening?

The state is working on a mobile driving license (mDL) using a combination of technologies including NFC and QR codes as digital proof of ID. Holders of the license will be able to choose what personal information is displayed when the QR code is read, or NFC terminal tapped. This can be used in any situation in which you might be expected to present your driving license, including restaurants and bars.

Bluetooth verification is expected in the future.

The license will be made available to a limited number of people for a pilot program in June. Utah isnt unique, by the way. The UK Driving Vehicle License Authority apparently began developing its own digital driving license in 2017.

What about compliance?

The Utah license complies with an ISO mobile ID standard. It has also been developed within guidelines developed by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. It is being piloted within the GET Mobile ID app, which is available for iOS 12 or above. (For Android, GetMobile recommends Android 10 or later.)

There are some useful advantages. If you change your name, address, or license information the changes will automatically be pushed to your digital license  or should be.

The one obvious problem? If your iPhone runs out of power and you dont have the paper version of your driving license with you, or your device is stolen, you're going to need backup.

Carrying your physical document as backup is always a good idea, especially while the number of business accepting mobile documents is growing, the mobile ID group says.

GETID says this deployment resists tracking, protects privacy, and has security protections. To use the app, you must enter a PIN code, use FaceID, or a fingerprint. You can also remotely wipe your device.

Beyond driving licenses

Apple exec Eddy Cue told us that replacing passports was one of the companys ambitions back in 2015. An Apple patent published in 2018 described a system to take and securely store ID information from the RFID chip on passports.

Since then, weve seen some movement across governments to weave identity into iPhones, culminating in the current press toward use of smartphones as COVID-19 passports."

While not everyone is comfortable with the idea of this additional layer of ID, whats interesting is how stakeholders are approaching the challenge. For example, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is developing its own Apple-friendly COVID-19 passporting system.

Scheduled for partial introduction on Virgin Atlantics London-to-Barbados route this month, it will integrate vaccination and testing status and advice, and will also hold a secure digital version of a travellers passport on the device.

Up next

While all these systems will likely require voyagers continue to carry their conventional passports along with their digital ID, the momentum is hard to ignore.

Its a journey in which the significance of the identification carried by mobile devices continues to increase. These devices, which have already replaced so many things  and dozens of items of office equipment  are slowly but surely replacing other forms of digital identity.

The fact that digital devices are becoming critical to digital identities should act as a red flag for security and privacy advocates.

When our smartphones carry more information about us than we keep in our offices and homes it becomes essential to protect the contents of these devices to prevent identity theft. This is going to require a great amount of regulatory and logistical work before it becomes as widely accepted as Apple Pay.

That's why most iPhone users wont be leaving their physical passport or driver's license behind for the time being.

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker says hes confident hes within the bounds of his authority with continued COVID-19 orders lasting more than a year impacting restaurants. Now, he may have to prove that in court.

While other challenges have either been dismissed or withdrawn, a Sangamon County judge this week denied Pritzkers motion to dismiss a Geneva restaurants challenge.

[T]he governor cannot rely on emergency powers indefinitely, wrote Sangamon Circuit Court Judge Raylene Grischow. The U.S. Constitution recognized the importance of dispersing governmental power in order to protect individual liberty and avoid tyranny.

The judge said the governor has to answer to the charge that his orders are arbitrary and capricious.

Since this has been pled, it is within the province of this court to determine if the defendants implementation of the business shutdowns and/or restrictions were arbitrary and unreasonable, Grischow wrote. Fox Fire bears a heavy burden to establish that defendants actions were clearly arbitrary and capricious. Nonetheless, Count V of the amended complaint contains enough information to reasonably inform the defendants of the nature of the claims they are called upon to defend.

The governor has less than two weeks to respond to the charge. The judge scheduled April 28 to establish a scheduling order for a preliminary injunction hearing.

The Pritzker administration had previously been ordered by the court in the case to turn over discovery documents to FoxFires attorneys.

Pritzker reacted to Grischows order, downplaying the judges denial to dismiss the case.

There have been a number of right-wing organizations that have stoked some of these lawsuits and they continue to try and poke and prod to find something and anything, Pritzker said. Theyve lost at every turn. This is just another one of those cases.

FoxFire is not some right wing organization as the governor claims, but a family owned small business, which, was almost put out of business by his unconstitutional and unprecedented actions, said FoxFire attorney Kevin Nelson. FoxFire stands for restaurants and small businesses throughout this state which Pritzker, quite literally, left out in the cold this winter.

FoxFires specialty is fine dining, not votes, Nelson said. FoxFire will stick to fine dining, and leave the mismanagement of our state to Mr. Pritzker.

The governor said he is confident hes within his legal authority.

So I expect that theyre just looking to stay in court and not get dismissed like so many of their colleagues have been, so well see where it ends up, but I have every, every confidence that we have followed the rules, followed the law, Pritzker said. The attorney generals office has confirmed that, our governors office legal team has confirmed that and every court, nearly every court has confirmed that and where they havent theyve been overturned.

FoxFire owner K.C. Gulbro said while has conservative political leanings, thats not what drives his legal challenge. He plans to see the case through the courts to the end.

Its just unconstitutional and against Illinois and against business, Gulbro told WMAY Thursday. We felt we needed to take the stand. Were still going through with it because we want to see this through. We dont want this to happen again.

The governor still has capacity limits at 50% for indoor dining, and despite the benchmark of 70% of senior citizens getting vaccinated being met and exceeded, the governor has not moved to his Phase 4 bridge plan to a full reopening because of increased hospitalizations and variants strains of the virus.

Theres still talk of new strains, new this, new that, now the mandatory 50% of the population has to be fully vaccinated before he can take us to [Phase] 5 [for a full reopening of the economy], Gulbro said. We feel we still have to fight and look at this with some common sense and hopefully return power back to the people.

Gulbro has said he plans to take his case all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court.

The next hearing in the case is set for April 28.
Amid tensions over disputed waters, China on April 9 drilled deep in the South China Sea in a bid to retrieve sediment core from the seabed. According to the Xinhua news agency, the Chinses scientists on a maritime research vessel used Chinas homemade Sea Bull II drilling system to obtain a sediment core 231 metres long at a depth of 2,060 metres. The state media informed the system can help explore natural gas hydrate resources in the seabed, which are basically the solid ice-like crystals formed from a mixture of methane and water that are touted as a promising source of energy.

#Chinese scientists have completed a #deepsea drilling project ''Sea Bull II'' to obtain a sediment with a length of 231 meters from a depth of over 2,000 meters in the #SouthChinaSea, setting a new world record for deep-sea drilling. pic.twitter.com/ZKZNNAW0No  Ambassador Deng Xijun (@China2ASEAN) April 9, 2021

The exact location where the drilling took place is still unclear, however, it is worth mentioning that around 90 per cent of the South China Sea is claimed by Beijing as its territorial water. Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam and Brunei also lay claim to parts of the sea, which has vast oil and gas potential. However, tensions in recent years have escalated as Chinese incursions in the South China Sea have massively increased.

Tensions in South China Sea

On Sunday, the US Navy strike group also entered the disputed waters after the president of the Philippines, a US ally, voiced concern about the Chinese vessels massing in Manilas 320km exclusive economic zone. The Philippines has also discovered illegally built structures on features in the Union Banks which is a series of reefs in the South China Sea. The diplomatic war of words between China and the Philippines stemmed last month from a fleet of more than 200 Chinese ships after parking at Whitsun Reef off the Philippines is now scattered across the Spratly Islands.

Amid the tensions, the US guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain, on the other hand, conducted a Taiwan Strait Transit on April 7. The American military has warned that China is probably accelerating its timetable for capturing control of Taiwan. The democracy of the island has been the chief source of tension between Washington and Beijing for decades. The worry about Taiwan comes as China wields new strength from years of military buildup. China has become more aggressive with Taiwan and more assertive in sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea.

(Image: Twitter/AP)


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Two Harris County judges ordered in separate hearings on Friday that Tony Buzbee refile sexual assault and harassment cases against quarterback Deshaun Watson with the names of the accusers made public.

State district Judge Dedra Davis granted defense attorney Rusty Hardins request and asked that Buzbee refile a case in her court and disclose 7one of the womens names within two days. Buzbee had suggested a private disclosure to Hardin for the women, who were initially all listed as "Jane Doe."

A second judge, Rabeea Sultan Collier, made the same determination in the cases of three other women late Friday morning. Ten other women agreed to allow Buzbee to release their identities, and the woman in Davis' court was "emboldened" and told Buzbee not to fight the judge's decision, he said.

In a Thursday court filing, Hardin lambasted Buzbee for holding a trial by press conference and making it difficult for Watson to respond to the 22 separate accusations without knowing who filed suit. The anonymous women, most of whom are massage therapists, allege that Watson assaulted or harassed them during sessions in 2020 and 2021 in Texas, California, Georgia or Arizona.

Hardin says Buzbee had initially declined to help them identify the women, which he said he needs to do to investigate and properly respond to the allegations.

Mr. Buzbee is wielding Plaintiffs anonymity as a sword instead of a shield, Hardin wrote in the filing.

Mark Mulligan/Staff photographer

During the first Friday morning hearing, Hardin added that Watson has rights that need to be upheld.

Now Playing: Video: Houston Chronicle

"It is not only the accuser that is entitled to fair treatment, the accused is, and that has been totally ignored," he said.

Buzbee countered that using the name "Jane Doe" is common practice in sexual assault cases, and the lawsuits were detailed enough with dates, locations and times that Hardin should be able to properly investigate the claims. Still, after Hardin told him he wanted to hold emergency hearings on identification, Buzbee said he wanted to compromise with a confidential agreement that would protect the women as well as Watson's concerns.

Buzbee said that although he would concede to Collier's and Davis' orders with the support of many of the women, he feels women's rights in sexual assault cases lag behind where they should be.

"I believe the Texas legislature has failed women who are brave enough to come forward," he said.

Ashley Solis, the first woman to publicly identify herself at a Tuesday press conference, has received numerous death threats on social media, Buzbee said.

Hardin told Collier that making names public, while a concern for women's safety, is also necessary for the defense. Since Solis and one other woman identified themselves during a Tuesday news conference, his team has received information about them from outside parties, he said.

Now Playing: Video: Houston Chronicle

Davis agreed that both parties needed fair treatment and that the women needed to be protected. But she agreed with Hardin that his use of publicizing the case in the media hurt his arguments.

"Everythings been thrown into the spotlight," she said. "I understand that you said in private you will allow the accuser to be known but its been very public."

Collier heard arguments about 12 cases, nine of which were moot since the women agreed to have their names released. Solis' case, the first to be filed, landed in her court, which means it is customary that any consolidation of cases would also move to her courtroom.

Hardin and Buzbee also agreed on a consolidation agreement Friday. All 22 women's cases will proceed in Collier's court before trial, but would move back to their original courts for a trial.

Tahira Khan Merritt, a Texas attorney who litigates civil sex assault cases in state and federal court, said prohibiting a pseudonym would merely be an intimidation tactic so early in a case, she said.

"The use of pseudonyms is very common across the United States," Merritt said. "The only reason they would push it is to shut the victim up and discourage others from coming forward."

Hearings remain to be scheduled on the same issue in several other cases.
CCP Fires Party Boss in Ruili for Not Curbing Virus Outbreak

The Chinese regime fired party boss Gong Yunzun in southwestern Ruili on April 8 for the citys continual reports of diagnosed COVID-19 patients.

[The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak in Ruili] severely impacted and undermined the overall situation of epidemic prevention and control across the country and the province,  has caused serious consequences and adverse effects, the regime stated in an announcement explaining why it fired Gong.

On Thursday, Ruili announced about a dozen diagnosed patients and asymptomatic carriers, which caused Gong to lose his position. However, this number may not represent the true scale of the outbreak.

The real infections must be a bigger number, China affairs commentator Zhong Yuan concluded on April 7 after analyzing the officially announced data.

Zhong pointed out that the national data announced by the health commission is even smaller than the city data that was released by the Ruili regime, which is logically impossible. At the same time, the Ruili regime announced numbers that were in conflict with each other, and it did not explain the source and meaning behind the data.

Ruili said that 8,162 people in the city were quarantined at quarantine centers or hospitals on April 7, while the national health commission only announced 7,423 people quarantined across the country.

A tier-five city in Yunnan Province, Ruili has a land area of 364 square miles and 205,000 residents (approximately one-ten-thousandth of the national population).

Government officials block roads in Ruili, southwestern Chinas Yunnan Province on April 1, 2021. (Provided to The Epoch Times by interviewee)

Party Boss

The Chinese regime has deliberately masked the total infections in a bid to safeguard its image both nationally and internationally. Therefore, whether a government official can prevent and control an epidemic is key to assessing his overall performance.

Gongs case shows other Chinese officials the importance of concealing the truth to the public.

Gong, 46, has been the party boss of Ruili since April 2018, according to his official resume. If he hadnt announced the CCP virus outbreak in Ruili, Gong might have been a candidate for promotion next year.

It is unclear whether Gong will be permitted to take a new position in the future. At present, he is fired from all positions within the regime, although he maintains a first-level investigator ranking. This means he can earn the same salary as before but has no power to command others.

In the CCP system, the higher level officials appoint the lower ones, and the party bosses are ranked higher than the mayors.

Soldiers are guarding Jiegao Bridge in Ruili, southwestern Chinas Yunnan Province on March 30, 2021. (Provided to The Epoch Times by interviewee)

Concealing True Numbers

If the regime doesnt accurately report the numbers, its hard to know the true scale of the CCP virus outbreak in China.

Recently, some Ruili residents told The Epoch Times in phone interviews that they were locked at home and only receive official information from state-run media reports. On the other hand, they do get information from many friends and relatives but are not sure what is the real truth.

Zhong compared the announcements about the outbreak from Ruili and the communist authorities. He expressed concern for Ruili citizens in a commentary published in the Chinese-language Epoch Times on April 8.

Zhong pointed out that the regime announced on Wednesday a total of 114 infected individuals, who had 4,594 close contacts in the past 14 days. These close contacts encountered 3,568 additional people.

On average, one infection had contacted over 40 people within 14 days, and 31 more people indirectly  Its incredible that these people have such broad contacts, Zhong wrote.

Zhong didnt believe that ordinary Chinese people would contact dozens of others within two weeks, especially under the pandemic. He believed that the real, reported infections should be much more than the announced data.

The street is empty in Ruili, southwestern Chinas Yunnan Province on April 1, 2021. (Provided to The Epoch Times by interviewee)

On April 8, the city regime didnt remove the lockdown policy, as previously planned, and didnt tell people when it would unlock the city. On April 6, it ordered the second round of mass testing of all residents. The first rounds were performed on March 31 and April 1.
Police have revealed how a woman was violently murdered while meeting a man she wanted to buy a fridge from in a Facebook Marketplace deal. According to Crime-Online, Geistown police in Pennsylvania say 26-year-old Joshua Gorgone is charged with murder in the Facebook Marketplace fridge stabbing of Denise Williams, 54.



Denise Williams was reported missing Monday April 5, after leaving her family home to check out a fridge she saw online. Williams was found dead in Gorgone's apartment and when confronted by investigators he reportedly confessed to the Facebook Marketplace fridge murder.



Police allege he confessed to stabbing the woman with a kitchen knife after arguing with her over the price of the refrigerator which she had hoped to buy as a gift for her boyfriend.



She did put up one heck of a fight, Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees said.



This was a violent death that she sustained.



According to Fox 8, Gorgone was arrested Tuesday after police tracked down Williams whereabouts via cell phone tracking and information provided by her family. Investigators say they were able to track the Williams phone to her car which was parked outside the apartment complex. Were all going to do our jobs and start figuring this thing out and do everything that we can, says District Attorney Greg Neugebauer. Ive spoken with the family members of the deceased and obviously theyre very distraught and very upset as is understandable.



Geistown Borough Police Chief Nicholas Zakucia called the stabbing a tough scene for responding officers.



When you lose someone like this or have incidents of this nature, its a shock to us all, he said.



Officials have now warned the public to exercise caution when purchasing items from strangers on the internet. This was unfortunate; it was a tough scene. It was a tough call for myself and my officers. Use caution when youre dealing with anybody or anything involving purchasing something through then internet, meeting up with someone, District Attorney Greg Neugebauer said. Dont go alone. Dont invite someone to your house alone to look at something. Always have someone with you or if possible, meet in a public or well-lit place.



Gorgone is being held at the Cambria County Prison without bail and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 14.













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President Moon Jae-in speaks during the unveiling ceremony of the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet at Korea Aerospace Industries in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, Friday. Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



Korea has rolled out a prototype of the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet, formerly known as the KF-X, marking a success in the project to locally develop a next-generation combat aircraft with indigenous technology.



President Moon Jae-in visited Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, Friday, for the unveiling ceremony of the first KF-21 Boramae. Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and more than 230 government officials from both countries also attended the ceremony. Indonesia is a partner in the project.



"A new era in self-defense has come and we have set a historical milestone in the progress of our aviation industry," Moon said. "I also express sincere gratitude to the Indonesian government for having trust in Korea's capability and becoming a partner in this co-development project. Until the development is complete and the two countries are ready for mass production to make forays into third-country markets, Korea and Indonesia will work together."





Seen above is the prototype of the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet during its unveiling ceremony at the Korea Aerospace Industries in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, Friday. Yonhap



The KF-21 is a multi-role fighter jet and the outcome of the KF-X aircraft development program which has been pursued since 2016. Indonesia has promised to fund 20 percent of the total development cost, or 1.73 trillion won ($1.55 billion), in exchange for 50 planes that will be manufactured there for the Indonesian Air Force, as well as technology transfers.



Korean engineers have been leading the design and development process of the KF-21, localizing key technologies including the active electronically scanned array, infrared search and tracking system, electro-optical targeting pod and electronic warfare suite.



When the Boramae completes its final tests, Korea will be the world's eighth nation to develop an advanced supersonic jet with its own technology. Moon said mass production will begin after final tests, and Korea plans to deploy 40 KF-21s by 2028 and 120 by 2032.



"The government seeks to become one of the top seven aviation powerhouses in the 2030s and will strengthen the country's technological independence in aircraft engines and other core technologies," Moon said. "Also, the government will make long-term investments into the technologies for electric or hydrogen aircraft and urban air mobility."



According to the government, 719 Korean businesses have participated in the development of the KF-21. About 65 percent of over 30,000 parts used in the prototype aircraft were made in Korea, and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the KAI plan to raise this percentage.



The government estimates the project has created 2.1 trillion won in economic effects and 12,000 jobs from 2016 to 2020. When it goes into mass production, 100,000 new jobs will be created and 5.9 trillion won of additional value will be generated, according to the government.





President Moon Jae-in and Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, right, salute during the unveiling ceremony of the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet at Korea Aerospace Industries in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, Friday. Yonhap




Position Objective: Provides workstation and desktop installation and support; server installation, maintenance and support; wireless installation and support; installation of all peripheral devices and support. Ensures proper data system back-ups, media management and security. Performs installation and configuration of all software applications; operating system and anti-virus updates; and applicable software installs. Must have excellent troubleshooting skills, be able to triage a customers issue, getting to the root of the problem, document issue in Help Desk application, resolve or escalate to appropriate level of support, and follow up with customer to insure ticket closure and positive customer service experience. There is expectation that employees in this position will be required to travel to multiple customer sites. Essential Job Duties: Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Responds to calls from computer system end users requesting assistance and takes appropriate action; utilizing a variety of equipment. Provides desk-side assistance to users. Enters and tracks all trouble calls into problem tracking application, follows-up with users in a timely manner to ensure problem resolution and takes proactive measures to prevent recurrence. Configures, maintains, installs and replaces end user hardware and software as required using a variety of equipment. Performs repairs as necessary or arranges repairs through appropriate vendor. Consults with offices to determine hardware/software needs and advises of current options, obtains quotes and places orders for existing and new equipment with Manager and Director approval. Educational/Experience Requirements: Two years' experience in help desk/user support environment working with the above-mentioned hardware/software components. One-year experience in an NT Local Area Network environment and VPN network. Required License/Certifications: Working Conditions, Equipment, Physical Demands: There is a reasonable expectation that employees in this position will not be exposed to blood-borne pathogens. Physical Demands - Light work. Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects. If the use of arm and/or leg controls requires exertion of forces greater than that for sedentary work and the worker sits most of the time, the job is rated for light work. The physical demands and work environment that have been described are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The above job description is an overview of the functions and requirements for this position. This document is not intended to be an exhaustive list encompassing every duty and requirement of this position; your supervisor may assign other duties as deemed necessary.


Steve Jacobs was certainly in good spirits as he enjoyed a day at Bondi beach last month.

The former Today show weather presenter stripped down to show off his fit physique while enjoying a day out with a group of friends.

During the outing, the TV personality hammed it up for the paparazzi while soaking up the sun with a male friend.

Mates: Steve Jacobs (right) was certainly in good spirits as he enjoyed a day at Bondi beach last month. The former Today show weather presenter stripped down to show off his fit physique while enjoying a day out with a group of friends

Smiling widely, Steve planted a kiss on his companion after spotting a photographer nearby.

The two men huddled close, sharing a friendly smooch before parting, with Steve poking out his tongue afterward.

His mate laughing heartily, Steve kept his arm around his pal as they stood side by side having a giggle.

Friendly: During the outing, the TV personality hammed it up for the paparazzi while soaking up the sun with a male friend

Smooch: After smiling widely, Steve planted a kiss on his companion after spotting a photographer nearby

Kisses: The two men huddled close, sharing a friendly smooch before parting

The pals then laughed and glanced over at the photographer, confirming it was all a joke.

A source said Steve was in 'high spirits' before locking lips with his shirtless friend.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Steve Jacobs for comment.

Funny: His mate laughing heartily, Steve kept his arm around his pal as they stood side by side having a giggle

Got ya: The pals then laughed and glanced over at the photographer, confirming it was all a joke

Good mood: A source said Steve was in 'high spirits' before locking lips with his shirtless friend

Steve showed off his muscular form during the day out, his rippling muscles on display as he went shirtless.

He wore a pair of dark grey board shorts, as well as a trendy beige hat, shielding his eyes with sunglasses.

Going barefoot and his skin glistening from sunscreen, Steve certainly appeared to be having a whale of a time.

Now that is fit! Steve showed off his muscular form during the day out

Hitting the gym? His rippling muscles were on display as he went shirtless

Slip, slop slap! Steve put on some sunscreen before he headed off for a swim

Get in there! He made sure not to skip any important slots as he slathered it on

The TV star soon stripped off his hat and sunnies, showing off his silver hair, which was slicked back.

Steve headed into the water for a refreshing swim on what was a steamy hot day.

He waded into knee-deep water at first, raising his arms to flex his muscles and show off his bracelets.

Looking good: The TV star soon stripped off his hat and sunnies, showing off his silver hair, which was slicked back

Splash: Steve headed into the water for a refreshing swim on what was a steamy hot day

Flex! He waded into knee-deep water at first, raising his arms to flex his muscles and show off his bracelets

Matey: The pal who Steve had shared a kiss with also joined him, the pair strolling across the sand side by side

The pal who Steve had shared a kiss with also joined him, the pair strolling across the sand side by side.

Steve was surrounded by friends during the outing, including his girlfriend, Amanda King.

The pair chatted on the shore before Amanda headed into the water, showing off her incredible figure in an animal print swimsuit.

Friends: Steve was surrounded by friends during the outing, including his girlfriend, Amanda King (far right)

Roar: The pair chatted on the shore before Amanda (pictured) headed into the water, showing off her incredible figure in an animal print swimsuit

Just friends: Steve has rumoured to be dating the mother-of-two, who he met at his daughter's primary school, since 2019

Denied: Despite rumours of a romance, in 2019 Steve told Daily Mail Australia that their relationship was strictly platonic

Changes? However the pair have been spotted together many times since

Steve has rumoured to be dating the mother-of-two, who he met at his daughter's primary school, since 2019.

Despite rumours of a romance, Steve told Daily Mail Australia that their relationship was strictly platonic.

However the pair have been spotted together many times since.

Nice day for it: Steve went barefoot and his skin was glistening from sunscreen

What a day! Steve certainly appeared to be having a whale of a time

After his swim, Steve headed off with his pals, stopping to take fun snaps on the street as Amanda cuddled up with another woman for selfies.

Amanda and a friend were loaded up with a tray of green smoothie drinks, with another tray standing at their feet.

Steve, who went without shoes on the concrete, played photographer, laughing and taking snaps as the women posed.

Say cheese: After his swim, Steve headed off with his pals, stopping to take fun snaps on the street as Amanda cuddled up with another woman for selfies

Talent: Steve, who went without shoes on the concrete, played photographer, laughing and taking snaps as the women posed

Delivery: Amanda had earlier arrived loaded up with a tray of green smoothie drinks

Earlier, the group had enjoyed a picnic on the grass beside the beach, Steve happily chomping down a taco.

Steve parted ways with Channel Nine in 2019, after being replaced as the Today show's weather presenter by Tim Davies.

He had been a fixture of the program on and off since 2005, and had spent much of 2019 as an in-studio weatherman.

Munchies: Earlier, the group had enjoyed a picnic on the grass beside the beach, Steve happily chomping down a taco

Mixer: Steve had an animated exchange with one of his friends on the grass

Sips: The group enjoyed refreshing drinks as they chatted alongside the shore

Sitting back: The weatherman looked relaxed after his delicious meal

While his exit came amid a staff reshuffle, Steve insisted it was his decision to leave.

Taking to Instagram after the news broke, he claimed the real reason he was leaving was to spend more time with his daughters.

'Sadly I can't commit to future travel requirements of the job and have to put my beautiful daughters first... They are my world, my life, my joy,' he wrote.

Moving on: Steve parted ways with Channel Nine in 2019, after being replaced as the Today show's weather presenter by Tim Davies

Popular: He had been a fixture of the program on and off since 2005, and had spent much of 2019 as an in-studio weatherman

Moves: While his exit came amid a staff reshuffle, Steve insisted it was his decision to leave

Family: Taking to Instagram after the news broke, he claimed the real reason he was leaving was to spend more time with his daughters

Steve shares daughters Isabella, nine, and Francesca, seven, with his ex-wife Rose Jacobs, whom he split from in 2018.

The former couple had relocated to Vanuatu with their daughters in mid-2017, in what friends say was a 'last-ditch attempt' to save their marriage.

However, things fell apart within a few months.
An Air India Express flight made an emergency landing at Kozhikode in Kerala today after a fire warning was sounded in the cargo compartment, news agency ANI tweeted.

"An Air India Express flight made a precautionary landing at Kozhikode today after pilots detected fire alarm from cargo. With 17 passengers onboard, the flight was scheduled for Calicut-Kuwait," said Air India Express spokesperson.

An Air India Express flight made a precautionary landing at Kozhikode today after pilots detected fire alarm from cargo. With 17 passengers onboard, the flight was scheduled for Calicut-Kuwait: Air India Express spokesperson.  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2021

Fire tenders were rushed to the spot and can be seen next to the aeroplane.

More details are awaited.

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As the lawsuit hearing in the case of Fortnite game developer Epic and is set to begin next month, the two companies have reiterated their stands before the trial, as they got themselves involved in a legal battle over the use of an in-game payment system.

While Epic Games argues about Apple's monopoly over the app market and treats 30 per cent standard fee amount to anti-competitive behaviour that must be regulated by antitrust law, contends that "the whole antitrust allegation and associated dust-kicking is little more than a PR stunt," reports TechCrunch.

"With the basic facts agreed upon, the two companies will go to battle over what they mean, and their CEOs will likely take the (virtual) stand to do so," the report said on Thursday.

CEO Tim Cook as well as Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney may testify in the trial, set to begin from May 3.

For Apple, the proposed witness list also includes Software Engineering Senior Vice President Craig Federighi and Apple Fellow, Phil Schiller.

On team Epic, the Vice President Mark Rein is also included as witness, besides Sweeney.

The Fortnite game was removed from App Store in August of last year after the company allegedly violated rules by adding an in-game payment system aimed at depriving Apple of its commission on in-app purchases from App Store.

The company said that when Epic gave Fortnite players on iOS a choice between Apple payment and Epic direct payment, Apple retaliated by blocking Fortnite updates.

When Epic sought to bring the Epic Games Store to iOS, Apple declined.

Apple has denied the charge of monopoly, pointing out it faces enormous competition all over the market, just not within its own App Store.

The company had earlier denied that its 30 per cent commission was anti-competitive, saying it was Epic Games that violated its contract.

The iPhone maker said that Epic benefited from Apple's promotion and developer tools.

--IANS

na/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
GUANGZHOU, China, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A high-level "science-centered" conference was held lately in Nansha District, Guangzhou, aiming to discuss policies recently introduced by the district government in the report the 16 scientific and technological innovation policies on supporting the transformation of Nansha Science City into the main comprehensive national science center of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the 16 scientific and technological innovation policies for short), according to the People's Government of Nansha District. The conference was also an invitation to the global science and technology innovation (STI) professionals and enterprises, whose cooperation with Nansha will inject impetus to the progress of human civilization.

Planned to cover an area of 99 square kilometers, Nansha Science City is jointly established by Guangzhou Municipal Government and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), integrating science and education. It is expected to serve as an important platform for the frontier research, basic research and high-tech innovation in the Greater Bay Area. The City is built upon the objective to establish a "Centenary Science City" set by Guangzhou Municipal Government in early 2021.

According to Lu Yixian, secretary of Nansha District, Guangzhou, Nansha Science City should guarantee innovation development in all aspects: scientific discovery, technological invention, industrial development, professional support and ecological optimization, while fostering an ideal environment with concentrated innovation resources, active innovation subjects and efficient innovation mechanism.

"The Nansha Science City built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Guangzhou Municipal Government aims to become an international first-class science city and an important source of original innovation. With original innovation as the new blood, Nansha witnesses an increasing number of emerging industries with strategic importance such as aerospace industry and marine economy," said Xie Ming, standing committee member and executive vice mayor of Nansha District.

The 16 scientific and technological innovation policies will facilitate the gathering and building of major technology infrastructures in Nanhai District, and will foster the establishment of scientific research platforms not only consistent with the industrial development orientation of the region, but also essential to the STI.

Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) is an important scientific research platform jointly established by Nansha District Government, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Guangzhou Municipal Government. It focuses on major scientific and technological tasks such as sustainable exploitation of marine islands and reefs, sustainable use of resources and ecologically sustainable development. Zhang Si, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the director of the Laboratory, said in the conference that the Laboratory will work on the major scientific facilities of the cold seep ecosystem, which will support the natural gas hydrate exploitation with long-term observation and real-time early warning throughout the process, so as to ensure a safe, clean, economic and sustainable utilization of hydrate resources.

Three major science and technology infrastructure pre-research projects, including the cold spring ecosystem research device and dynamic wide area hypersonic wind tunnel, are reported to have started in August last year. Soft foundation treatment and foundation pit are expected to be completed by the first half of the year.

While enterprises are home to STI, high-end professionals are the key to these innovations. According to Xie Jiasheng, CEO of Guangdong Medical Valley Investment Management Co., Ltd. (GDMV), Nanshan government provides substantial support for the STI enterprises and professionals, incentivizing companies to bring in talents. It is reported that the 16 scientific and technological innovation policies have stepped up the talent attraction effort by providing high-quality education for the children of the introduced professionals, granting them qualification to apply for Guangzhou Talent Green Card and equal civic rights as locals without changing their place of origin.

The transformation of technological achievements was also the focus in the conference. The 16 scientific and technological innovation policies will provide financial support for the local enterprises as they procure and industrialize scientific achievement from universities and scientific research institutes, which will accelerate the transformation of the sci-tech achievements from sample to product. The CAS Academician, Professor Chen Xinzi from Sun Yat-sen University stated that Nansha Research Institute of Sun Yat-Sen University has cultivated a group of enterprises with core competitiveness since its establishment in Nansha nine years ago. It has promoted the development of related industries, and formed a service system for the transformation of sci-tech achievements in drug industry featured by small-scale R&D, test, sample production and industrialization.

Companies have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic since its outbreak, and those from Nansha District are no exception. Dr. Xiao Guowei, leader and founder of APT Electronics Co., Ltd., said that after the short but severe impact, APT has resolutely scaled up its input in R&D and accelerated product and industrial upgrade, so as to reverse the adverse market situation brought by the Trade War and the pandemic. So far, the company's orders have been scheduled till the third quarter of 2021. The development of APT also demonstrates the advantage of the Greater Bay Area in the high-end manufacturing industry chain. Looking back at the company's achievements, Xiao Guowei was grateful for Nansha Government for its support. He said that the key competitiveness of Nansha's business environment lies in the enterprise-centered government-business relationship, together with the flexible and efficient government services.

According to Lu Yixian, Nansha will further strengthen the core position of innovation in the future of the district, promote the high-quality development of Nansha Science City, create a new blueprint for growth, contributing to the construction of an international scientific innovation center, and the innovation development of the Greater Bay Area.

SOURCE The People's Government of Nansha District, Guangzhou
(Adds context, quotes)

MOSCOW, April 9 (Reuters) - Russia's Sputnik V shot is less effective against the South African COVID-19 variant but still does better than other vaccines, the lead scientist behind it was quoted as saying on Friday.

"With regards to the 'South African' variant, the effectiveness of the antibodies produced by Sputnik V, like all other vaccines, against it declines," Alexander Gintsburg said in a interview with the Interfax news agency.

He said that Sputnik V was tested against the British and South African variants, as well as the original strain, first detected in China's Wuhan province, by laboratories in the United States. The labs used blood samples collected from people vaccinated with Sputnik V in Argentina, Gintsburg said.

Underlining that Russian researchers played no part in the lab tests, Gintsburg said that the results in trials of Sputnik V against the Wuhan strain confirmed what his team at Moscow's Gamaleya Institute found.

"It has also been shown that of all the vaccines currently in use in the world, Sputnik V... is best at neutralising the 'British' variant well," Gintsburg said.

Though the antibody response against the South African variant was less intense, the decline was significantly smaller than the drop other vaccines showed, Gintsburg was cited as saying.

(Reporting by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Nick Macfie)
KYODO NEWS - Apr 9, 2021 - 20:34 | All, World

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday unveiled a major piece of bipartisan legislation to counter China's rise through close coordination with Japan and other allies, promotion of human rights as well as military investments to beef up security.

The draft bill, titled "Strategic Competition Act of 2021," is designed to ensure that the United States is "positioned to compete with China across all dimensions of national and international power for decades to come," the committee's chairman, Robert Menendez, said.

The committee will hold a meeting on Wednesday to take up and vote on the measure, he added in a statement.

The plan reflects a bipartisan consensus in Congress on taking a tough stance against China, which, the draft bill warns, is executing a plan "to establish regional hegemony over the Indo-Pacific and displace the United States from the region."

"The United States must coordinate closely with allies and partners to compete effectively with the PRC, including to encourage allies and partners to assume, as appropriate, greater roles in balancing and checking the aggressive and assertive behavior of the PRC," the draft said, using the acronym of the People's Republic of China.

It also said the government "must prioritize" military investments necessary to achieve U.S. political objectives in the Indo-Pacific, including promoting regional security, reassuring allies and deterring conflict with China.

Japan was mentioned in the draft as among "critical" U.S. allies in the region, along with a reassurance that the Japanese-administered, Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea fall within the scope of the Japan-U.S. security treaty, meaning Washington would come to Tokyo's aid in the event of an armed attack against the uninhabited islets.

The draft also called on the United States to cooperate with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Australia to promote human rights bilaterally and through regional and multilateral fora and pacts.

Meanwhile, Taiwan, which China sees as a renegade province awaiting reunification, should be recognized as a "vital part" of U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy and the U.S. government should not place any restrictions on interactions with Taiwanese counterparts, the draft legislation said.

Under the Taiwan Relations Act, which was passed by Congress in 1979 after the United States switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, Washington maintains substantive though unofficial relations with Taipei and supplies the island with arms and spare parts to enable it to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.

China on Friday lambasted the U.S. bill, saying it will continue to take steps to "safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests."

"I would like to reiterate that China is committed to developing a nonconflict, nonconfrontational, mutual respect and win-win relationship with the United States," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing.
Something is wrong at Dauphin County Prison.

A 19-year-old shouldnt just die after losing consciousness in his cell. Its time we listen carefully to the protesters who faithfully have been marching for months and will be out there again at 10 a.m. Saturday, trying to tell the community something is wrong at Dauphin County Prison.

Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick couldnt provide a reason for Kejuan Cookes death this week, and is awaiting test results. Officials say Cookes cellmate summoned help Tuesday after noticing he was unresponsive in his jail cell. He was pronounced dead Wednesday at a local hospital. There were no obvious signs of trauma, but Hetrick said the young man had medical issues.

21-year-old Ty'rique Riley died while in Dauphin County Prison. The Dauphin County District Attorney's Office is investigating his death.

It was a similar story with 21-year-old TyRique Riley, who died in a hospital after falling unconscious days earlier in Dauphin County Prison. There were clear signs of trauma in that case, but the coroner determined they were not what killed him.

In both cases, people in the custody of Dauphin County apparently had life-threatening conditions that were neither detected nor treated. So they died, while in the countys custody. Both were African American men, caught up in a criminal justice system that seems to treat them as expendable.

The people walking week after week around the prison complex have reason to protest. There is something wrong at Dauphin County Prison.

A protest was held at Dauphin County Prison after the death of 19-year-old inmate Kejuan Cooke., Apr. 3, 2021. Vicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLiveVicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLive

The numbers dont lie. Since 2009, 22 human beings have died in custody at Dauphin County Prison.

PennLives Jenna Wise says the national news service Reuters conducted a years-long investigation and found Dauphin County had the most deaths per 1,000 inmates statewide in 2019. Thats the year TyRique Riley died.

Two people in Dauphin County died last year while in custody, one reportedly from complications from a duodenal ulcer, and another from a brain injury after a fight with his cellmate.

At least 12 other prisoners have died since 2014, including five suicides.

The era of COVID-19 has only made the health situation inside Dauphin County prison worse.

Inmates hold up signs for the protestors at Dauphin County Prison, Apr. 3, 2021. Vicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLiveVicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLive

John Hargreaves, volunteer director of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, says overcrowding is a big problem, as it is at other prisons in the state. He says inmates havent been able to go outside for years. And the virus has run rampant. Tests in December of 2020 found more than 100 inmates and employees had COVID-19.

Kevin Maxson, who has been leading the protests and has spent time inside the prison, says conditions are deplorable and especially dangerous during a pandemic. He also alleges inmates are routinely mistreated.

Community advocate Kevin Maxson speaks during the protest at Dauphin County Prison, Apr. 3, 2021. Vicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLiveVicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLive

Its a system. Its a cycle. It keeps happening over and over again, he said. Maxson keeps saying the same thing over and over, too. Its time we listen.

As a result of this latest death, Maxson said he met with Director Brian Clark and Board of Pardons Secretary Brandon Flood who said reform efforts are underway. County commissioners confirmed they are moving to better protect inmates, staff and visitor rights.

Guards are getting body cameras and new policies are being instituted on searches and on the operations of the Community Advisory Committee. Plus, and a new website soon will make it easier for families to get information.

But Maxson says these efforts are not enough. Guards need to be retrained in de-escalation techniques, and the prison should expand medical staff and facilities to be able to respond to emergencies.

Maxson and his fellow marchers are demanding what seems utterly reasonable  better medical care and de-escalation of tensions. He says prisoners and their families are frustrated by increasing charges for simple things like phone calls, text messages and emails  at a time when many people are out of work.

We should keep in mind many of these prisoners havent been convicted of a crime. And some of them are children being treated as adults. They are awaiting the opportunity to defend themselves. They could be found innocent. They deserve decent food, sanitary conditions and humane treatment.

A protest is held at Dauphin County Prison after a prisoner, 46 year-old Herbert Tilghman, collapsed and suffered a fatal medical event while receiving treatment Thursday morning. Protesters hug a family member of Tilghman. August 20, 2020 Sean Simmers |ssimmers@pennlive.com

County officials dont dispute any of this, and they say they are thoroughly investigating what happened to Cooke. And while they are moving to better protect people in the prison, its fair to ask, whats taking so long?

Why are so many young people dying in county custody?

When TyRique Riley died in 2019, officials vowed to investigate medical procedures and improve food and sanitation. Why are protesters still circling the building almost two years later screaming about the same complaints? Why are we compelled to write about the same allegations of neglect and abuse?

If officials in charge are unable to solve the problems after almost two years of trying, perhaps they need help. Something is desperately wrong at Dauphin County Prison, and we need to fix it before another man, woman or child dies.

Quality local journalism has never been more important. You deserve the best. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
At least 37 doctors of Delhi's Sir Gangaram Hospital have tested positive for coronavirus, as per the hospital sources on Thursday.

" 37 doctors of the hospital have tested positive for COVID-19 while treating COVID-19 patients at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. A majority of these Health Care Warriors have mild symptoms. 32 doctors are in home isolation and 5 are admitted in the hospital", informed hospital sources.

Meanwhile, Delhi Government has issued an order directing 115 private to reserve 50 per cent of their total ICU and ward bed capacity for COVID-19 patients amid the massive spike in cases.

Also, Delhi Government ordered an increase in the total number of beds reserved for COVID-19 patients from presently 1000 to 1500 at Lok Nayak Hospital and from 500 to 1000 at GTB Hospital.

It also ordered Dental and Ayush doctors to be deployed at COVID-19 in Delhi.

In view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held a meeting with chief ministers amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in several states.

"The number of tests being done on daily basis needs to be significantly increased with the aim to reduce positivity to 5% or less, with focused and targeted testing in containment zones and areas where clusters of cases are being reported," said PM Modi during a meeting with Chief Ministers.

Delhi reported a significant spike in new COVID-19 cases by registering as many as 7,437 fresh cases and 24 related deaths in last 24 hours, the health department informed on Thursday evening. 5,506 cases were reported on Wednesday.

Thursday's spike was the highest single-day rise witnessed in Delhi since November 19 last year when 7,546 COVID-19 cases were registered.

(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.)
KOLKATA: In yet another attack on the Prime Minister, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has accused him of dividing people on religious lines and playing the Hindu-Muslim card for vote bank.

The West Bengal CM, who had got a notice from the Election Commission, said, It hardly matters even if 10 show-cause notices are issued against me. I am telling everyone to vote together, there will be no division. How many complaints have been filed against Narendra Modi? He does Hindu-Muslim every day so why EC is not taking any action.?

She made these remarks while appealing to voters to vote for her party during a poll rally in West Bengal's Hooghly district. The TM chief also came down heavily on the Union Home Minister saying, the ECI is being run by Amit Shah.

The poll panel had on Wednesday issued a notice to Banerjee for violating the Model Code of Conduct, after she allegedly urged the Muslim community to vote en masse for the TMC.

The Election Commission of India asked Mamata Banerjee to explain her stand by 10th April, regarding her statements against central forces on 28th March & 7th April This is the second notice issued to her by Election Commission.

Election Commission of India issues notice to CM & TMC leader Mamata Banerjee asking her to explain her stand by 10th April, regarding her statements against Central Forces on 28th March & 7th April This is the second notice issued to her by Election Commission#WestBengalPolls pic.twitter.com/yO7oy1HLhc  ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2021

The TMC supremo, during her campaign in Domjur assembly seat, also sought to know why no complaint has been registered against BJP star campaigner and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he often makes references to Hindu and Muslim vote banks while delivering speeches.

"Why is that no complaint has been filed against Narendra Modi, who every day talks about Hindu and Muslim)? How many complaints have been lodged against those who had uttered the word 'mini Pakistan' during the Nandigram campaigns?" the CM said.

The TMC chief further said that even after 100 complaints against her, she will not change her stand as she only appealed to people that votes shouldnt get divided.

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Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush said this week that he is weighing a run against Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican primary next year.

Im seriously considering a run for attorney general, Bush told a Dallas radio program. More to come on that.

Bush, finishing his second term as land commissioner, was aggressive in criticizing Paxton, who last fall had members of his staff accuse him of abuse of office, accepting bribes and other potential criminal offenses. And for five years, Paxton has been under indictment on charges of felony securities fraud. Paxton has denied wrongdoing.

Bush said the allegations against Paxton are serious.

Personally, I think that the top law enforcement official in Texas needs to be above reproach, said Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and grandson of the late-President George H.W. Bush.

Later he added: I think Texans deserve better.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Bush made his comments in an interview on the Mark Davis Show on 660 AM The Answer.

Paxtons campaign released a statement to the media after the interview.

Attorney General Paxton is focused on keeping the Texas border secure, holding the Biden administration accountable and taking on Big Tech, Paxton campaign spokesperson Ian Prior said in a statement to the Texas Tribune. It is unfortunate, but not surprising, to see a potential opponent more interested with the narrative being set by the liberal media than on the real and important issues facing Texas families and small businesses.

In 2018, Paxton went unchallenged in the Republican primary and defeated Democrat Justin Nelson in the general election by just 3.6 percentage points.

Bush, who turns 45 this month, was born in Houston but grew up in Florida. He graduated from Rice University and earned his law degree at the University of Texas.

Paxton, 58, is a Baylor graduate and holds a law degree from the University of Virginia.

If Bush runs against Paxton, they would battle in a primary scheduled for March 1. But that primary could move to April or May because of delays with the state redistricting plan.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com
Im very happy, but as I always say this credit goes to the village residents, Urlacher said. These residents really rallied for me. It was a team effort. There were a lot of people working behind the scenes. Im honored to be elected for another four years. I plan on doing a great job for them.
ISLAMABAD (PTI): The Pakistan Army's top brass on Thursday discussed the situation along the border with India, including the Line of Control, after an agreement to restore the ceasefire agreement.



The 240th Corps Commanders' Conference chaired by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa was held at GHQ, Rawalpindi and the participants undertook a comprehensive review of global, regional and domestic security environment.



The army said in a statement the forum expressed confidence in operational preparedness of the army displayed during recently-held formation exercises.



"Forum held a detailed discussion on the situation along the Eastern Border/LOC especially the environment post ceasefire understanding 2021 between the DGMOs, it said.



In February, Pakistan and India agreed to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) and address each other's core issues and concerns which have the propensity to disturb peace and lead to violence.



An agreement was reached between the two countries after the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan held discussions over the established mechanism of hotline contact.



A joint statement issued in Islamabad and New Delhi after the talks said the two sides reviewed the situation along the LoC and all other sectors in a "free, frank and cordial atmosphere."



"Both the DGMOs have agreed that the existing 2003 understanding should be implemented in letter and spirit," Pakistani army spokesman Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar had said.



The conference also expressed satisfaction over positive developments in Afghan peace process and efforts made so far.



The meeting was also apprised about military engagements with friendly countries.



The commanders undertook a detailed review of security situation in the newly-merged districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).



The meeting also reviewed internal security situation, including the ongoing third wave of COVID-19 and reaffirmed the resolve of the armed forces to extend full support to civil administration in controlling the pandemic.



The Corps Commander Conference is held regularly to review the external and internal security situation.



Meanwhile, a two-week long multinational air exercise ACES Meet 2021-1 hosted by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) concluded on Thursday at one of its Operational Bases.



Saudi defence attache Air Vice Marshal (Pilot) Staff Awad Abdullah Al Zahrani and US Air Attache Colonel Wallin David were also present in the ceremony along with observers from Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan.



With the successful and meaningful conduct of exercise, we have consolidated our resolve that we stand by each other as allies and friends, said Air Commodore Ali Naeem Zahoor, Base Commander PAF Base.



The exercise was organised by the Airpower Centre of Excellence (ACE) set up by the PAF in 2016 to transform air force capabilities to meet future challenges and to strengthen relations with friendly air forces.


(Reuters) - A government panel of experts is investigating for any domestic cases of blood clotting, even mild ones, as a side effect of the two COVID-19 vaccines being administered in India, financial daily Mint reported on Friday, citing two people aware of the development.

India is currently administering AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, which is manufactured by the Serum Institute and branded Covishield, and a shot developed by Bharat Biotech called COVAXIN.

The review comes after Europe's drug regulator said on Wednesday it found a possible link between AstraZeneca's vaccine and rare blood clotting issues in adults who had received the shot, although it added the vaccine's advantages still outweighed the risks.

India is banking on vaccinations to help contain a record surge in cases in its second wave. The country reported a massive 126,789 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.

"We are looking at side-effects of blood clots that have been seen in people who received Covishield and Covaxin, even if it was a mild case," a source told Mint, who added that a report on it was likely to be ready by next week. (https://bit.ly/2OAP4wc)

Following Europe's announcement, several countries have announced restrictions on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in younger people.

(Reporting by Juby Babu and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
The officer had pulled Burrage over shortly before 5 p.m. in the 500 block of Jeffrey Avenue. After getting out of his vehicle, Burrage reached back into the car for a handgun, which he started to raise in the officers direction, according to police.
Press Release

9 April 2021

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, a global leader in luxury travel and lifestyle experiences, has debuted A Sense of Place, the brand's newest film created in partnership with Studio Dangin, a creative agency renowned for its collaborations with the world's most influential fashion, lifestyle and fragrance brands. A stunning interpretation of Rosewood's guiding A Sense of Place philosophy, wherein the distinctive ethos of the destination is woven into the identity of each property, the video celebrates the vibrant characteristics of the communities that comprise the brand's global footprint to inspire meaningful travel and togetherness in today's times.

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Directed by Pascal Dangin, esteemed photographer and CEO and chief creative officer at Studio Dangin, the short film takes viewers on a journey to Rosewood's destinations around the world, highlighting the brand's approach to hosting guests as an art form and the leading role that local culture and heritage play in the Rosewood experience. Rooted in the notion that Rosewood is more than just a collection of premier hotels and resorts, but a facilitator of meaningful journeys, gatherings and connections, the film speaks to the soul of today's traveler, igniting the pursuit of exploration, wonder and possibility.

Clips showcasing several of the collection's most iconic properties, as well as the larger land and cityscapes to which they belong, are accompanied by smart text overlays that communicate the wonder of travel and Rosewood's commitment to helping guests to capture them. The film also features a prototype room filmed inside an abstract space as if it were a luxury fashion or beauty product. The serenity of the room is captured in delicate motion, textured with tranquil sounds, and juxtaposed against the film's scenes a fast-moving and busy world.

The stylized model room symbolizes that Rosewood is more than a hotel; the sanctuaries exist to inspire gathering across cultures and experiences  to welcome, to share, to dine and, together, to journey in discovery. The result is a love letter to the countless excursions that await Rosewood travelers.

"Our latest brand film beautifully showcases the vibrancy of cultures and communities that Rosewood is privileged to be a part of," says Sonia Cheng, chief executive officer of Rosewood Hotel Group. "Whether Paris or Phuket, Montecito or Manhattan, each of our destinations encourages a meaningful journey of discovery. As people begin to explore the world once more and look for ways to reconnect with both themselves and one another following this past year of isolation, we are proud to offer inspiration and bring people together over the exceptional experiences that only Rosewood can provide."

Debuting today on Rosewood's official brand and property websites and social media channels, the video can be viewed here.
Bengaluru, April 9 : Karnataka's decision to announce a 10-day night curfew in Bengaluru, starting Saturday, has triggered concerns in the local bar and restaurant and eatery industry.

Terming this decision as "unscientfic", Bruhat Bengaluru Hoteliers Association President, P.C. Rao said that generally, the business of hotel, bars, and restaurants and eateries peaks after 9 p.m. and goes on till past midnight.

"We had already incurred huge losses since the pandemic's outbreak in March 2020. First we faced lockdown and uncertainty of people to come out for dinner. As slowly, people were willing to go out for eat out, at this juncture, the government announced its decision, that too after 10 p.m.," he said.

He wondered who would this night curfew would benefit? "Yes, all will cooperate, if the Covid virus activates only after 10 p.m. This is just an unscientific decision... we are going to apprise the government soon," he said.

Rao added that no sane person can agree to a partial night curfew as it is not a solution. "The government is overlooking all the other issues, the economy which is slowly reviving, will stop. There is no help to any of our restaurant people - but still they want to hit our economy again. This is a very bad decision taken by the government," he said.

Bengaluru and six other cities in Karnataka will enforce a night curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting Saturday, the government announced on Thursday.

The curfew, which will be in place till April 20, will also be imposed in Mysuru, Mangaluru, Kalaburagi, Bidar, Tumakuru and Udupi-Manipal.
In the last week-plus, the nominally intellectual right-wing publication National Review has run three separate articles arguing that voting shouldnt be easier to do, because if it is, stupid, ill-informed people will do too much of it. What?

Roughly speaking, we got to this moment like so:

1. Donald Trump lost a presidential election, in which Georgia was one of the states that he lost by a very narrow margin.

2. Trump and his allies in the Republican Party claimed his losses in Georgia and elsewhere were the result of frauda centralized plot, carried out in predominately Black areas and coordinated with foreign governments, to rig voting machines and submit fake ballots. This culminated on Jan. 6 when Trump supporters, many of whom were members of white-nationalist groups, stormed the grounds of the Capitol.

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3. Republican-controlled state legislatures and statehouses in Georgia and elsewhere passed laws rolling back automatic voter registration, mail-in voting, and early in-person voting, on the grounds that such restrictions are needed to restore public trust in the electoral system. Historically, these methods have been disproportionately used by Black voters and lower-income voters who tend to vote Democratic.

4. Many observers interpreted the Georgia law as a suppressive, racist one on the grounds that it limits methods of voting used disproportionately by Black people in response to claims about Black-led election theft that have been made most publicly by psychotic white-power militias and a former president who, polls have typically found, is perceived as racist by more than half the country. Indeed, evidence from other states indicates that Republicans have sought to limit non-Election Day methods of voting not because of any principle involving election security, but because it suppresses the Democratic and/or Black vote. It also does not necessarily make sense that the alleged problem of Venezuelan communist leader Hugo Chavez fixing the 2020 election using voting machines even though he is dead would be remedied by requiring prospective voters to travel to an office somewhere to register instead of registering them automatically.

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5. The case that the law is suppressive and racist has been sufficient to persuade a number of major corporations with business in Georgia (likely more mindful of employees and potential customers than of the merits of the issue, granted) to denounce the law. Though public opinion polling on the subject is not definitive, Republicans seem to perceive the idea that they will be seen as making a Jim Crowstyle attack on civil rights as a problem, and have started responding to it. Mostly, theyve tried to argue that only a woke leftist would see a link between (ostensibly security-oriented) voting restrictions and race.

National Review authors Andrew McCarthy, Dan McLaughlin, and Kevin Williamson, however, moved beyond the entire framework of election security. Instead, they suggested, it is good when restrictions make it harder for people to vote, because people should be discouraged from voting unless theyre really motivated to do it.

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Here is the nut of McCarthys argument:

It would be far better if the franchise were not exercised by ignorant, civics-illiterate people, hypnotized by the flimflam that a great nation needs to be fundamentally transformed rather than competently governed. Left to their own devices, many such people would not even take note of elections, much less go through the effort to register and vote.

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And Williamsons:

Voters  individually and in majorities  are as apt to be wrong about things as right about them, often vote from low motives such as bigotry and spite, and very often are contentedly ignorant.

And McLaughlins:

The theory of what Democrats and progressives urge is that they particularly want the votes of the subset of people (mostly younger voters) who are unwilling or unable to plan ahead, and can be swept into the voting booth on a momentary enthusiasm without deliberation or reflection. The point made by Republicans and conservatives is not that these people should be barred from voting, but that the system benefits from deliberation and reflection, and so should not bend over backward to accommodate voters who are unwilling to play by the rules of adulthood.

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It might seem that the National Review is cracking under the strain of the Republican Partys current unpopularity, which leaves it dependent on the electoral college to have any chance of defeating the large majority of American voters who would prefer to have a Democratic president and Congress. The days when the conservative movement could point to a map colored in from coast to coast for Ronald Reagan, and proclaim that their ideas were obviously winning, is long past. If you cant win democratically, maybe its time to give up on democracy as a goal altogether.

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Theories about moving the ballot box out of the easy reach of the masses also belong firmly within the magazines intellectual tradition. Heres what the National Reviews founder and guiding spirit, William F. Buckley, had to say in 1957 on the subject of how widespread the franchise ought to be:

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If the majority wills what is socially atavistic, then to thwart the majority may be, though undemocratic, enlightened . It is more important for any community, anywhere in the world, to affirm and live by civilized standards, than to bow to the demands of the numerical majorityMillions who have the vote do not care to exercise it; millions who have it do not know how to exercise it and do not care to learn.

Sounds familiar! Unfortunately for the magazines current editor, Rich Lowry, who defended the Georgia law this week under the headline Anyone Using the Jim Crow Charge as a Political Weapon Should Hang His Head in Shame, Buckley was specifically defending Jim Crow when he wrote it. His argument was that given the median cultural superiority of White over Negro, it was only appropriate to prevent Black people from joining a political majority that might favor things like integrated educationthat, in the face of such a possibility, the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not predominate numerically. The magazine would make similar arguments for years about the white apartheid government in South Africa.

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The National Reviews current writers, contorting themselves to prove this is not another Jim Crowapartheid thing, are forced to argue that making it more time-consuming to register and cast a ballot is important because it selects for literate and civic-minded voters, as if free time on a given Tuesday, and the ability to navigate paperwork-heavy bureaucracy, are traits with an ethical valence. (Is it clear that someone who votes by default on the customary day is necessarily more civically engaged and informed than someone who has gone to the trouble of figuring out how to take advantage of expanded voting options like drop boxes and early voting days?) Writes McCarthy: If voting is as crucial as the Left says it is, people should be proud to exert the close-to-zero effort that is called for. Indeed, doing so is a source of pride for those who care about the country.

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Williamson takes things even further with this nuclear holocaust of an analogy: There would be more voters if we made it easier to vote, and there would be more doctors if we didnt require a license to practice medicine. The fact that we believe unqualified doctors to be a public menace but act as though unqualified voters were just stars in the splendid constellation of democracy indicates how little real esteem we actually have for the vote, in spite of our public pieties. But we dont act one way or another about unlicensed or unqualified voters because we dont recognize those categories. Williamson et. al treat the celebration of an egalitarian electorate as a contemporary fad along the lines of TikTok, but the idea that voting shouldnt have anything to do with alleged signifiers of intelligence and seriousness is, in fact, the culmination of centuries of consideration and agitation done by Americans who believed in perfecting the concepts of all men are created equal, government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and one person, one vote. Williamsons idea that the vote exists somehow apart fromand must be protected againstthe voters is a rejection of the basic concept of self-government.

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There are centuries of grounding behind the idea that restrictions making voting more difficultparticularly those imposed in the American South by almost unanimously white legislators and executiveshave racially discriminatory effects and are sometimes explicitly discriminatory in intent, a well-established body of knowledge that the National Review authors dismiss as hyperbolic, woke fantasy. There is also a lack of evidence, within our laboratory of democracy, that states which have made it unusually difficult to register and vote are run more competently or responsivelyNew York state stands as a very strong non-partisan counterexample, something McLaughlin actually admits, then ignores.

We can go on. The minority rights which Williamson claims to be concerned about are already a central feature of the American system, and are often the kind of thing that the National Review complains about when cited by, say, criminal defendants and non-Christians; McCarthy seems confused about whether China, which basically operates on the elite-consensus system he proposes, but also serves as his reflexive example of a place where it would be oppressive to live, is good or bad; McLaughlin, meanwhile, makes the incredible claim that Republicans and conservatives, the people who were just convinced by various online hoaxes to smash through the Capitol taking selfies in an effort to extend the presidency of a man who watches 16 hours of cable TV every day, believe to an extent that Democrats and liberals do not that the electoral system benefits from deliberation and reflection.

Ultimately, though, the relevant question is not whether these arguments are tight, well-considered, and commensurate with American values, but whether theyll spread beyond the creepy, colonialist pages of the National Review to influential and quasi-respectable conservative figures like Mitch McConnell and Samuel Alito. Unfortunately, its not difficult to imagine: Unlike the stories about Hugo Chavez and Dominion voting machines, the National Reviews new/old theory of civics has the benefit of not requiring its supporters to believe in an ever-shifting set of myths and conspiracies about how the other side got its votes to count. They just have to tell themselves theres no reason to count those votes at all.
The CM was speaking at the video conference conducted by the Prime Minister with Chief Ministers on Thursday. (Photo: Twitter @TelanganaCMO)

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Thursday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure adequate supplies of the Covid-19 vaccines for the vaccination programme in Telangana state, which has one of the highest levels of vaccinaton in the country.

The CM was speaking at the video conference conducted by the Prime Minister with Chief Ministers on Thursday.

Official sources said the CM had brought to the notice of the PM that though Telangana state had the capacity to vaccinate 10 lakh people per day, it could vaccinate only 60,000 to 70,000 per day due to the limited stocks.

He is learnt to have said that state government was taking all the precautionary measures to check the spread of the Coronavirus. There is no proposal to impose a lockdown anywhere in the state.

However, the official release issued by the Chief Minister's Office after the meeting did not mention anything about the opinions expressed by the CM at the meeting.

It only stated about Chandrashekar Rao reviewing Coronavirus situation in the state with health minister Etala Rajender and officials concerned soon after the PM's meeting.

"The CM asked officials to lay special focus on Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Medchal districts which are densely populated. He directed officials to significantly increase Coronavirus tests and ensure 100 per cent vaccination for all frontline warriors in the state. This drive should be completed in a week," the release noted.

The CM asked officials to hold a special drive to achieve 100 per cent vaccination for staff working in police, panchayat raj, TSRTC and revenue departments within a week in all the districts in consultation with district collectors concerned.

He also asked officials to increase the number of RT-PCR test centres in all the districts. The CM directed officials to immediately set up RT-PCR test centres in Gadwal, Wanaparthy, Khammam, Kothagudem, Mahbubabad, Nirmal, Mancherial, Kamareddy, Sangareddy, Medak, Jagtial, Peddapalli, Ramagundam, Bhongir, Jangoan and Vikarabad districts.

Rao directed Director-General of Police M. Mahendar Reddy to strictly enforce the orders on compulsory wearing of masks across the state and impose penalty of Rs1,000 on whoever flouts this norm. He requested all aged above 45 years to undergo vaccination at the earliest.
Myanmar's ambassador Kyaw Zwar Minn gestures outside the Myanmar Embassy, after he was locked out of the embassy, and sources said his deputy had shut him out of the building and taken charge on behalf of the military, in London, Britain, April 8, 2021.

The British government has offered shelter to Myanmars former ambassador in London, after he was ousted by diplomats loyal to the military junta that seized control of the countrys embassy this week, British foreign affairs officials said.

Kyaw Zwar Minn, who had been outspoken against the Feb. 1 military takeover in Myanmar, was recalled by the military regime last month after he called for deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyis release.

On Wednesday, defense attache Col. Soe Aung and at least two other diplomats seized control over the embassy in Londons posh Mayfair neighborhood, locking the ambassador out in what he called a kind of coup reminiscent of the juntas seizure of power in Naypyidaw.

We condemn the bullying actions of the Myanmar military regime in London yesterday, and I pay tribute to Kyaw Zwar Minn for his courage, British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab saying on Twitter. The UK continues to call for an end to the coup and the appalling violence and a swift restoration of democracy.

Kyaw Zwar Minn on Thursday met with Nigel Adams, the foreign office minister for Asia, after the British government informed him they could no longer recognize him as ambassador once the junta had recalled him.

We will support him to ensure his safety and security in the United Kingdom, Adams said on Twitter.

"Given the bullying behavior towards Mr. Minn, we are seeking to ensure he can live safely in the United Kingdom, while he decides his long-term future," a foreign office spokesperson said on Twitter.

Barbar, a London-based Burmese activist described to RFAs Myanmar Service how the embassy takeover unfolded.

While the ambassador was out, some people from the military attaches office came to knock on the door of the building. When a staff member opened the door, they pushed him in, locked the main door and told everyone to stay inside,

A staff member sent a text message to the ambassador and he returned. But he was locked outside, so he sent messages to his friends among the Burmese community, Barbar said.

Barbar said the ex-ambassador told him there were three diplomats that took control of the embassy, but he did not know if they were armed.

Min Hein, another London-based Burmese activist, told RFA he was near the ex-ambassador on the street in front of the embassy as his supporters gathered in front of the embassy to protest.

All the young Burmese people are here in front of the embassy and the ambassador is in his car. What I heard is that the ambassador left to go home after work, and soon after that the military attache and a senior staff member called Kyi Win went into the building and locked the door from the inside, Min Hein said.

Min Hein confirmed the identities of the diplomats who took over the embassy.

There are at least three of them, the military attache, Col. Soe Aung, Minister Counselor Kyi Win and Third Secretary Ye Lin Aung, Min Hein said.

He said none of the embassy staff supported Myanmars Civil Disobedience Movement, a mass movement opposing the military junta with labor strikes by civilservants and daily street protests.

They didnt seem to be happy about the ambassador calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Kyaw Zwar Minn is a former colonel who served in Myanmars military for 30 years. He is one of a number of high-profile diplomats who spoke out against the Feb. 1 coup, a group that includes Myanmars ambassador to the UN, Kyaw Moe Tun, who was fired by the regime but continues to represent the country at the UN General Assembly in New York.

The death toll from nine weeks of protests that have been met with repression and gunfire has surpassed 600 and was expected to rise as anti-junta activists carry out rallies across the country of 54 million people. Myanmar was ruled as a British colony known as Burma from 1824 to 1948.

Reported by Khet Mar for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Kyaw Min Htun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
La Soufriere erupting on St. Vincent. UWI Seismic Research Centre

La Soufriere, a volcano on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, erupted on Friday.

Plumes reached 4.97 miles, and ash spread across the island, local emergency services said.

It's the volcano's first eruption since 1979.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

La Soufriere, a volcano on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, has erupted on Friday, the National Emergency Management Organization of St. Vincent and the Grenadines confirmed on Twitter.

"La Soufriere has moved into an explosive state. Plumes up to eight kilometers," the agency said.

NEMO SVG said minutes after the volcano erupted that ash fell at Argyle International Airport, on the other side of the 133-square-mile island.

Officials from NEMO encouraged people to leave the "red zone" of the volcano immediately, and as of Friday morning officials were still evacuating residents from the island.

As ash and smoke spread across the island on Friday afternoon, a second explosion sent ash 2.5 miles into the air, the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Center said on Twitter.

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Friday's eruption marked the first time the mountain has erupted since April 1979.

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We understand the unique challenges this springs assessment administration may pose for educators, families, and students, and we are committed to supporting our school communities each step along the way, the district wrote in an email to families. As one example, the district noted that some children who would typically be in school might have to learn remotely on a given day, possibly with a substitute teacher, so other students can be brought in for the assessments.
Hyderabad, April 9 : Apparel major Gokaldas Images on Friday said it will be setting up its unit in Sircilla Apparel Park in Telangana.

Gokaldas Images and Telangana government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the presence of Industry Minister K.T. Rama Rao, for this purpose.

The firm will create employment opportunities for 1,100 local youth. Out of this, 75 per cent of the jobs will be given to women. Telangana government will also provide skill training to the unemployed youth, making them industry-ready.

Gokaldas Images MD Sumir Hinduja, Principal Secretary, Industries Department Jayesh Ranjan, Handlooms and Textiles Director Shailaja Ramaiyer and Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) VC&MD Narsimha Reddy were present during the occasion.

The Telangana government has already set up the infrastructure facilities at the Sircilla Apparel Park.

The park is said to boost the power-loom and handloom sectors apart from giving major scope to the apparel industry in the region.

According to a statement from the Industry Minister's office, the state government's industrial policies have attracted the Apparel industry major Gokaldas Images to set up its industry here.

Hinduja informed the Minister that the Gokaldas Images industry at Sircilla Apparel Park will produce and supply cloth to various global brands in the US and Europe.

Rama Rao expressed happiness over Gokaldas Images setting up their unit in Telangana.

He said that the Telangana government has given top priority to the textile industry in the state and has also introduced various schemes.

Rao added that the government will set up all the required infrastructure and also provide skill training to the local youth, making them industry-ready.

He hoped that more apparel industries will look towards Telangana for future investments.
From the TaxProf comes the news that a number of states are lowering, or considering lowering, the scores needed to pass the bar exam. Why? So that more minorities will become lawyers:

Several states say they could make their bar exams easier to pass as a way to address racial diversity problems and access-to-justice issues entrenched in the legal profession. Their statements coincide with the first data from California, which permanently lowered its cut score last summer just incrementallybut saw significant changes in the racial make-up of those passing the test to become its newest lawyers. Last week, Rhode Island became the first to follow suit in lowering the states cut score. Several others say theyll soon be weighing similar reforms.  Court officials from Texas, Arizona, and Michigan said theyre also monitoring efforts from a national testing group to modify the bar exam, with an eye toward eventual changes in their own states.  Several other statesincluding New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, North Carolina, and Utahsaid they could consider lowering cut scores based on their own reviews and after studying how the moves play out elsewhere.

California found that when it lowered the score needed to pass the bar exam, the passage rate naturally increased for all ethnic groups. But it increased somewhat more for Asian, black and Hispanic candidates than for whites.

Obviously, lowering the score needed to pass the bar exam will result in more lawyers in any given state. Is this a good thing? If you think we are a society with too few lawyers, yes. On the other hand, if you think it is important that lawyers licensed by the state demonstrate a minimum level of competence, and the bar exam is an important means of insuring such competence, then no.

The trend toward dumbing down bar exams is part of a broader phenomenon that Paul has written about many timesa decline in standards across many sectors of our economy and our culture, allegedly in service of racial equity. If members of a particular ethnic group are statistically less likely to get over any particular bar, one solution is to lower the bar. Whether this helps in the long run is of course another matter.

The racial quota system that is becoming ever more pervasive in industry, the academy and government can only undermine the quality of work done in all of those environments. If, to take just one recent example, United Air Lines establishes a quota system for pilots rather than hiring the most qualified pilots possible, a decline in pilot quality follows inexorably. Maybe it doesnt matter, at least not catastrophically. Maybe no airplanes crash as a result of a less skilled pilot pool.

But it would be ridiculous to suggest that meritocracy doesnt improve quality in any human endeavor, leading to a better life for all of us. For almost all of our history, America has been a beacon of meritocracy, compared with the rest of the world. That largely explains our economic and cultural success. But today, individual achievement is being subordinated to group politics.

Meanwhile, Chinaostensibly ruled by a Communist Party in which all are equalhas become a ruthless meritocracy. If you are trying to get ahead in China, whether in science, engineering, business or government, you need the best scores, qualifications and experience. Being from an under-represented ethnic group gets you nowhere, although family relationship to the powerful is still a plus, if a rare one. It appears that China is now more a meritocracy than the U.S. The implications for our economic, cultural and military future are dire.
[April 09, 2021] OriginClear Offers Free Advice to Piney Point Reservoir Owners on Emergency Repairs to Remediate Toxic Waste Leaks

OriginClear Tech, a division of OriginClear Inc. (OTC Pink: OCLN), a leading provider of water treatment solutions, offered to advise at no expense the owners of Tampa Bay's old Piney Point phosphate plant on the best method to remediate the toxic waste leak and emergency discharge of an estimated 38 million gallons per day into the Bay. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005097/en/ OriginClear Tech Piney Point Proposal Cover (Graphic: Business Wire) OriginClear also said proposals being offered to remedy the situation were all way too high and the emergency could be remediated at far less cost, which OriginClear said it could accomplish itself at a fraction of what other companies are proposing. On March 26, 2021, a retention pond at Piney Point was breached and cordoned off. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection reports that while some wastewater has been contained on site, roughly 173 million gallons of untreated wastewater have still been discharged into the bay. "This is a major disaster," said Tom Marchesello, OriginClear Chief Operating Officer, "and it is our duty to help however we can." He addressed this offer to New York investor William "Mickey" F. Harley III, the listed owner of HRK Holdings, which owns the troubled Piney Point phosphate plant site leaking polluted wastewater. Marchesello described Monday on WWSB ABC7 TV the longtime practice of allowing heavy toxins to settle at the bottom of the area's gypsum stacks as "unsustainable." At the very least, he said the huge wastewater lagoons must still be treated to prevent more disastrous leaks. (ABC7 News at 7 Roundtable Discussion) https://www.mysuncoast.com/video/2021/04/06/abc-news-roundtable-discussion-april-part-2/ OriginClear Chief Engineer Daniel M. Early also reviewed the situation: "The current issue facing Piney Point and neighboring communities is that the nutrient loads for nitrogen and phosphorous, as released, are 300 to 800 times more concentrated respectively than typical municipal WWTP discharge permitted into Tampa Bay. While much is being done to protect the area from further damage, what remains important is that what should have been done in the first place is still needed as proper wastewater recovery. Our engineers want to offer what we believe will be the best solutions to avoid furter environmental damage and to engage a real solution as quickly as possible," said Early.



For Piney Point alone, OriginClear engineers believe it will be necessary to remove the following quantities (appx) of dissolved compounds from the water to bring it to a safer level allowable for discharge: Two million pounds of ammonia

5.3 million pounds of phosphate

17.3 million pounds of sulfate

The pH of the pond water at 2.5 is to be considered highly acidic. Based on its internal modular treatment systems that can be quickly trucked onsite, OriginClear believes Piney Point can be cleaned up over 4 years at an estimated cost of $50 million. This includes the initial equipment purchase of about $6 million in machines plus the monthly operational support of about $1 million per month to run the systems and replace filters.

Other solutions may include dewatering and sidestreaming process using the company's BroncBoost Booster Pump Skids. A site like this will require backup redundancy to keep it continuously operating for job completion. You have to plan for a much higher load level of toxic wastewater than is anticipated to foul the filters and machines. Often, they will require a higher level of maintenance and replacement compared to other more normal industries. "While this is an expensive process, it is easily affordable over time in the phosphate supply chain," said Daniel M. Early, OriginClear Chief Engineer. "Contrast that with the costs of irreversible damage from not treating a toxic liquid landfill that could fall apart at any moment causing a cascading failure of the other nearby pond structures as well." "I live here now - this bay and beaches are where I take my daughter too; so, we want to help," said OriginClear's Chief Operating Officer, Tom Marchesello. "If this is done right, we can deal with this in my lifetime and make this region safe again before she is a teenager." With a strong program in place Florida can be an environmental leader and deal with the other 27+ Phosphate Gypsum stack sites in a more unified manner that delivers real results in a reasonable timeframe. OriginClear Tech - a division of OriginClear, Inc. OTC Pink: OCLN OriginClear Tech is the development, manufacturing, and operations group of OriginClear Corp. Our Tech division focuses on small to midsize commercial and industrial & municipal end markets that need to self-manage onsite systems. We provide next generation Water Treatment Solutions engineered to be stronger, safer, and more cost effective using environmentally friendly materials and process. OriginClear Tech owns brands that design, engineer, manufacture, and distribute water treatment solutions for commercial, industrial, and municipal end markets. Wholly owned Brand Companies include Progressive Water Treatment and Modular Water Systems. OriginClear Tech brands build and deliver the plug-n-play solutions, products & services for a revolutionary new model of self-reliant water treatment at onsite locations in the United States and International markets. OriginClear Tech has a long history of developing innovations for Instant Infrastructure and is responsible for identifying leading edge technologies to solve today's toughest water challenges. OriginClear Tech sponsors partnership relationships and sales distribution relationships to drive more advanced technologies towards adoption and use in Europe, Asia, Middle East, and North America. Our mission is to enable breakthrough water technologies that help make clean water available for all. For more information, visit the company's website: www.OriginClear.tech OriginClear Tech is a subsidiary of OriginClear, Inc. OTC Pink: OCLN Follow us on Twitter

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Sign up for our Newsletter OriginClear Safe Harbor Statement: Matters discussed in this presentation contain forward-looking statements. When used in this update, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with our history of losses and our need to raise additional financing, the acceptance of our products and technology in the marketplace, our ability to demonstrate the commercial viability of our products and technology and our need to increase the size of our organization. Further information on the Company's risk factors is contained in the Company's quarterly and annual reports as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason except as may be required under applicable law. There cannot be any assurance that our agreement with Philanthroinvestors, Inc. will enable us to generate any revenue. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005097/en/

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COLUMBIA  South Carolina businesses will no longer be able to pay people with disabilities less than the minimum wage under legislation approved April 8 by the Senate.

But the ban for businesses wouldn't kick in until August 2024. The three-year delay is intended to provide time to phase out the federally allowed exception without causing harm to the very people the bill seeks to help, and to reverse course if data indicates there will be unintended consequences.

The bill now heads to the House.

Advocates for people with special needs pushed the measure as closing a discriminatory loophole in federal labor law that dates to 1938, decades before other laws added protections and opportunities for them.

"I believe its a civil rights violation," said its sponsor, Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, chairwoman of the Family and Veterans' Services Committee, noting a half dozen other states have already barred their employers from participating in the waiver program.

Before the pandemic hit, an estimated 3,000 South Carolinians were paid less than $7.25 an hour. That's since shrunk to about 1,200 people. The decrease amid COVID-19 job losses offers an ideal time to phase out the subminimum wage, said the nonprofit Able South Carolina, which has campaigned for the change.

Sen. Tom Davis called the loophole bad public policy.

It "reflects values or thoughts that were widely held in the 1930s when people with disabilities were thought of in certain ways. Ninety years later, I cant imagine something like this passing today," said the Beaufort Republican.

"Individuals with disabilities have the right and should have the right to be treated the same as everyone else in employment," he added. "Employers ought not to have a special right to look at this group and say, 'Aha, maybe I can pay them this.'"

But others countered businesses that participate are trying to help, not take advantage, of the disabled and may no longer be able to afford keeping them employed.

"Im sure there are some looking at the bottom dollar and cheap labor," said Sen. Dwight Loftis, R-Greenville. But for others, "one of their goals is to get them a job  to give them gratification of accomplishing something, and there are various stages of disability.

"Ive been at places people are doing very, very, very simple things" Loftis continued. "Theyre doing the best to their ability but its very simple tasks. The question is, would an employer continue to use that option to give these people the benefit of a job to build their self esteem?"

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Loftis said he believes people instead will be left "sitting home doing nothing all day."

Kitty O'Neill of Charleston called the measure the "worst thing I've ever heard."

Her 38-year-old son, who has the mentality of a child, fills packets at a work center for people with disabilities. He gets paid by the piece. She's unsure how that translates to an hourly wage, "but he's happy. It's a lifesaver for us to have this. He doesn't care if he gets paid," O'Neill said, adding he's picked up and brought home daily.

"It's not work to him," she said. "It's something he loves doing. It's just sad. It's the most ridiculous thing I've heard of. These children are not being mistreated."

But advocates contend people haven't lost their jobs in states that have enacted similar legislation.

Plus, the measure creates a task force of advocacy and business groups to make sure that doesn't happen here either, said Beth Franco, director of Disability Rights South Carolina.

"We're not just going to turn off a switch and suddenly people will lose their ability to work. We're going to use examples of what's worked in other states," she said, noting the bill has already been years in the making. "People with disabilities do want options to work in the community and be paid for that work. It's a right to have these options available."

Sen. Penry Gustafson, R-Camden, was among several senators of both parties who added their names as sponsors of the bill mid-debate.

"Adults with special needs sometimes need a little more time to learn a task or something on the job, but once they know it, they will do it very well and should be paid for their time," said Gustafson, a former case manager for the state Department of Disabilities and Special Needs.

"There are many adults with special needs who work a lot harder than other people I see out there not even trying to get work," Gustafson said. "Theyre dependable. Theyre on time, and they do their best every time."
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 00:05:29|Editor: huaxia

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TASHKENT, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan has been accepted as a beneficiary country to the European Union (EU)'s Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus scheme, Uzbekistan and the EU said on Friday.

The EU will start applying preferential tariffs for products imported from Uzbekistan under this arrangement from April 10, providing an opportunity for Uzbekistan to significantly increase its exports to the EU and increase the competitiveness of its domestic goods in the European market.

The scheme removes import duties from products coming into the EU market from vulnerable developing countries if they assume certain burdens and responsibilities.

"The acceptance of Uzbekistan as a beneficiary of GSP+ reflects the recognition of reforms undertaken by the government, in particular to improve the business climate, the judicial system, security services, labour conditions, and administrative accountability and efficiency," the European Commission said in a statement.

Uzbekistan has been enjoying basic benefits from the scheme, but upgrading its status will now allow the Central Asian country to raise the number of commodity items it can export to the EU without import duties from its current amount of 3,000 to 6,200, Uzbek officials said. Enditem
(Natural News) On Thursday, April 8, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that governments can make vaccinations obligatory because they are necessary in a democracy. Experts stated that this ruling could have massive implications for Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination policies throughout Europe.

The ECHR made this ruling as a result of a case brought before the court involving several families from the Czech Republic whose children were barred from school because they elected not to give their kids vaccinations against nine different diseases: poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, whooping cough and pneumococcal infections.

Under Czech law, it is illegal to not be vaccinated against these diseases. They were either fined for failing to comply, or their children were denied admission to the school. The petitioners believed the consequences for not complying with Czech mandatory vaccination rules were a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which lays out how it is essential for the right to private life must be respected.

Sixteen of the 17 judges on the ECHRs court of last resort, the Grand Chamber, rejected the appeal of the Czech families. The Chamber found that Czech authorities were well within their rights to punish the families of the unvaccinated children because they were supposedly doing it to protect the health and rights of others. (Related: EU IN CRISIS: Deadly rollout of AstraZeneca vaccine destroys EUs reputation, shatters image of unity within bloc.)

The  measures could be regarded as being necessary in a democratic society,' ruled the court. It said that the Czech health policy mandating vaccinations for children was consistent with their best interests and that it had not exceeded their wide margin of appreciation in this area. The ruling added:

The objective has to be to protect every child against serious diseases. In the great majority of cases, this was achieved by children receiving the full schedule of vaccinations during their early years. Those to whom such treatment could not be administered were indirectly protected against contagious diseases as long as the requisite level of vaccination coverage was maintained in their community; in other words, their protection came from herd immunity.

Because of this, the court said that laws making vaccinations compulsory do not violate European law. As such, the decision of Czech authorities to bar children from school if they do not get vaccinated was fully consistent with the rationale of protecting the health of the population.

In addition to rejecting the argument on privacy, the ECHR also rejected an argument from several of the Czech parents that the Convention on Human Rights guarantee of freedom of thought, conscience and religion under Article 9 protected them from mandatory vaccinations.

The court found that the plaintiffs failed to prove that their stance on vaccines was of sufficient cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance so as to constitute a conviction or belief.

ECHR ruling could pave the way for mandatory vaccination legislation throughout Europe

These cases were lodged between 2013 and 2015, well before the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and it was primarily concerned with the vaccination of young children.

But Nicolas Hervieu, a legal expert specializing in European human rights concerns, still believes that the ruling has implications for the coronavirus. He said it reinforces the possibility of compulsory vaccination for COVID-19. Hervieu teaches at the Sciences Po, an educational institution in Paris that specializes in teaching political sciences.

Hervieu added that the ECHRs ruling endorses the principle of social solidarity which can justify imposing vaccinations on everyone, even those who feel less threatened by the disease, when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable people.

Other legal experts like Hervieu have called the ECHRs decision a death blow to the vaccine skeptic movements in Europe who opposed mandatory vaccinations.

Governments all over the EU have now been provided a legal precedent to make vaccinations against COVID-19 compulsory. But this does not mean every single nation in the bloc will make vaccinations mandatory.

French President Emmanuel Macron previously stated that he is against mandatory vaccinations.

I do not believe in compulsory vaccination for this [COVID-19] vaccine because above all we have to be very honest and very transparent, he said in Dec. 2020. We do not know everything about this vaccine as we do not know everything about the virus.

Learn more about the vaccine skeptic movement in Europe that has arisen in opposition to the coronavirus vaccines by reading the latest articles at Vaccines.news.

Sources include:

Barrons.com

EuroNews.com

Express.co.uk

RT.com

NPR.com
[April 09, 2021] Tokocrypto Launches Toko Token (TKO), a CeFi-DeFi hybrid and Indonesia's first virtual currency project

JAKARTA, Indonesia, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On, April 7, 2021, Binance Smart Chain (BSC) officially began trading their signature self-built "Toko Token" (TKO), Indonesia's first local virtual currency project on Binance Launchpad, the largest virtual currency launchpad worldwide, according to Tokocrypto. The currency was launched with $0.1 per coin with a total supply of 500 million shares and enables high-speed transactions at low fees. TKO recorded an oversubscription of 201,406 individuals with a total of 10,502,201 BNB at the launch date. The TKO offers a unique hybrid feature by combining the advantages of both the Centralized Finance (CeFi) an Decentralized Finance (DeFi) model which is the first in Indonesia. "The birth of TKO is a big achievement for us. It will be the most appropriate vehicle to help Indonesian realize the unlimited potential that we can achieve through blockchain technology," said Pang Xue Kai, Founder & CEO of Tokocrypto platform.



Accordingly, the ResearchAndMarkets.com in December 2019 reported global fintech market are showing a significant increase in 2018, reflecting greater application of blockchain in financial services around the world. The research covered Southeast Asian countries and it forecasted blockchain market size will reach US$23.3 billion by 2023, representing a CAGR of 81% over the period from 2018 to 2023. "The age of blockchain and virtual currency is here. With the technology from BSC that offers user-friendly services, it allows Indonesia with a large population of approximately 270 million to enjoy a financial system that is equivalent to developed countries," said Kai.

Kai explained, as the first local Indonesian virtual currency project, TKO offers a hybrid currency model. Several services the currency offers are Exchange Platform Token that offers trading fee discounts, airdrop entitlement, merchandise redemption. TKO can be used in deposit and savings programs such as TKO Deposit, TKO Savings, and TKO Cashback. Furthermore, as DeFi product, TKO will be integrated on third-party DeFi platforms via farming pools, lending, and more. Finally, the Tokocrypto will pioneer the Indonesian NFT landscape with Indonesia's first-of-its-kind marketplace for digital collectibles and creative assets from emerging young artists. He continued, "Through TKO, we aim to build an "Indonesia Strategy" for Indonesians, where this solution can reach out to everyone in the country on top of general financial services," said Kai. SOURCE Tokocrypto

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Italian anti-mafia police and finance police arrested this week dozens of people, including an oil heiress, as part of an investigation into a massive tax fraud with oil products involving mafia clans.

As part of the so-called Petrol Mafie operation, Italian police arrested 71 people and seized assets worth US$1.19 billion (1 billion euro) on Thursday in a coordinated action across Italy targeting to bust money laundering and tax fraud schemes allegedly carried out by various clans of the Camorra and Ndrangheta mafia organizations in southern Italy.

Clans from the organizations have allegedly used fake invoices for oil product supplies to launder money from illegal activities.

One of the persons arrested is Anna Bettozzi, the widow of oil entrepreneur Sergio Di Cesare. Bettozzi is a former realtor and a former aspiring pop star and also goes by the stage name Ana Bettz.

According to prosecutors and police in Naples, the investigations have shown that the mafia clans have permeated the legal economy, especially the strategic petroleum sector.

Investigators and police in Naples, Rome, Catanzaro, and Reggio Calabria have been investigating since 2015 various schemes of tax fraud and money laundering involving oil products and the mafia.

Bettozzi has been the undisputed leader of the schemes, the person most in the know in the petroleum business of all, also thanks to what she has learned from her late husband Sergio Di Cesare, the preliminary hearing judge Tamara De Amicis wrote in the arrest warrant.

According to Italian finance police and investigators, Bettozzi has received over the years liquidity from various clans of the Camorra to grow her struggling oil business, boosting the revenues of the company with fake invoices. In just three years, the turnover of the firm, Made Petrol Italia, jumped from just US$10.7 million (9 million euro) to US$439 million (370 million euro), Romes finance police have found.

The assets seized by the police this week include the company Made Petrol Italia, formerly known as Max Petroli.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Sir Philip Green will be handed 50million after the huge warehouse that served his fallen Arcadia empire was sold.

When the tycoon lent the money interest-free to the company in 2019 as part of an emergency restructuring, it was secured on its Daventry distribution centre in Northamptonshire.

The site has now been sold by Arcadia administrators Deloitte to San Francisco based property investor Prologis, which immediately leased the warehouse to online fashion retailer Boohoo that took on more than 330 Arcadia employees.

Dedicated followers: Sir Philip Green with, from left, models Suki Waterhouse, Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne, Sienna Miller and Naomi Campbell line up at an Arcadia launch

Deloitte did not reveal the price paid for the property, but analysts have estimated its value at between 60million and 90million. The sale means Green can be repaid the 50million he is owed by Arcadia.

However, hundreds of unsecured creditors are likely to only get a tiny proportion of what is owed to them through the administration process.

Former staff also face a cut in their pensions thanks to a black hole estimated to be in excess of 200million.

Boohoo said it will use the warehouse to 'support expansion' and, alongside its other distribution sites, will be able to support 4billion of annual sales. Boohoo said it will invest more than 50million into the site 'in the coming years', creating up to 1,000 jobs.

Arcadia's joint administrators have raised proceeds of over 600million from selling the collapsed group's assets.

This includes its stable of brands, its property and even items of furniture at its head office created by Green & Mingarelli Design, the interior design business set up by Green's wife Tina.

The chain's Oxford Street store in central London is being sold under a different administration process.

When Arcadia collapsed it had debts of around 800million, raising fears that hundreds of unsecured creditors will receive a tiny proportion of what they're owed.
(Newser)  Surgeons in Japan say they have carried out a first-of-its-kind operation that will give hope to coronavirus patients with severe lung damage. In the world's first transplant of lung tissue from living donors to a COVID patient, a woman who had spent months on a life support machine received transplants of healthy tissue from her husband and her son, CNN reports. Doctors say the woman's lungs were no longer functional and she required a lung transplant to livebut since organ donations from brain-dead patients are rare in Japan, it could have been years before an organ was available.

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"I think there is a lot of hope for this treatment in the sense that it creates a new option," said Hiroshi Date, the surgeon in charge of the operation, per Kyodo News. The woman received part of her husband's right lung and part of her son's left lung. The husband and son, who accepted the risk of decreased lung function, are in stable condition and the woman is expected to leave the hospital in around two months. Doctors say the woman, whose name has not been released, had no pre-existing conditions before a coronavirus infection wrecked her lungs late last year. (In the US last year, a double lung transplant saved the life of a COVID patient in her 20s.)
ROCHESTER, Minn. - April is National Minority Health Month. To raise awareness, Mayo Clinic doctors held a media briefing to discuss health disparities among people of color.

Mayo medical professionals say the health care workforce has seen issues of systemic social injustice and racism across many generations.

The pandemic has only helped to expose even more disparities in communities of color.

Though the health care workforce is ever changing, there is an underrepresented amount of people of color in the healthcare field.

Professor of Radiation Oncology, Dr. Michele Halyard, says, Students of color who want to go into healthcare - we need to be increasingly proactive about helping them achieve their dreams because ultimately that will help the healthcare delivery in this country."

Chair of Health Disparities, Dr. Edith Perez says as more people of color get into the medical field, she is hopeful for change.

"As we continue to expand the opportunities people have to get into the healthcare field this will translate to improved health equity in this country. Dr. Perez explains.

Mayo Clinic Cardiologist, Dr. Sharonne Hayes adds, "Because if there isn't trust or access to people who look like you - who are handing you a pill - then that perpetuates this problem as well."

Dr. Perez says some of the biggest challenges are understanding the differences between biological and social determinants of health.

Dr. Hayes says the most progress has been made when listening to communities and working with them to develop solutions to health disparities.

And while all the doctors agree there has been progress made - there is still a long way to go.

"We can do it if we want to do it and this is a month we can reflect on that, says Director of Health Equity and Community Engagement, Dr. Chyte Doubeni.

Dr. Doubeni adds one area progress has been made in this journey to health equity is vaccine acceptance - saying we began with 30 percent of minority groups wanting to get the vaccine - now that percentage is in the 60s.
Every now and then, something you probably havent heard of will bounce to the top of Netflixs mysterious Top 10 list. This weeks surprise winner is What Lies Below, an erotic thriller that debuted on the streaming platform earlier this month with no fanfare. As of this writing, it doesnt even appear to have a Wikipedia page.

Well then, what is it? you may ask. What is it about? And why is it atop Netflixs charts? I watched this horny-turned-horrific nonsense so you dont have to (though after reading this, you may want to).

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What is What Lies Below? Can you just tell me what lies below???

Ill get to it, but first I need to do a little setup. What Lies Below is about Libby (relative newcomer Ema Horvath), a shy teen who loves fossils and her overbearing mom, Michelle (Mena Suvari). Michelle excitedly picks up Libby from camp and drives her to their lake house in upstate New York. There, Libby is greeted by a surprise guest: Michelles new boyfriend, John (hunky actor Trey Tucker), who walks straight out of the lake like some kind of merman to greet them.

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Is he a merman?

Ill get to it! But suffice to say that what lies below refers both to  sex stuff, and also to sea monsters. So: Libby is skeptical of John, in part because she is protective of her mom, but also because John is as weird as he is hot. (That is to say, very.) The depths of his weirdness become clearer and clearer to Libby as she spends more sexually tense get-to-know-you time with John, who shares her interest in science: Hes a biologist whos researching freshwater creatures at the lake. Its his relationship to those seemingly friendly fish that slowly reveals him to be more dangerous than he seems.

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By relationship, do you mean he literally sleeps with the fishes? Or is he himself  a fish?

No, hes not quite a Troy McClure type, using a woman to hide a fish fetish. He definitely is horny for the hot ladies! In fact, there are a handful of scenes in which Libby listens in on her mom and John having extremely loud, aggressive sex, in case youre doubting that this movie is truly as horny as previously mentioned.

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As for whether John is a fish, its not entirely clear. What hes not, though, is 100 percent human. The Netflix subtitles peg the strange noises that John sometimes makes as alien-like sounds, and some of the scarier moments involve John seeming to develop scales and shooting a tongue out of his mouth that is thin and forked like a snakes. He also cant ingest sodium, and salt is his kryptonite. His research also centers around trying to keep these particular fish alive forever  so perhaps he has combined some of their DNA with his own? Unclear!

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 Lets go back to the horniness for a second. Is this, like, porn-adjacent?

Sadly, no, but the first half of What Lies Below is pure lust. The camera constantly lingers on Johns glistening, bare six-packthe man seems to own, like, one shirt totalas he dips in and out of the lake. After Libby first meets John, she immediately swoons over him, his buff arms and calves, and his perfectly tousled brown hair. She ends up going to bed that night and masturbates while thinking about him. (This uncomfortably intimate moment is interrupted by the sound of her mothers over-the-top sex grunts.)

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So who is horny for who here?

The lust triangle looks like this: Libby is horny for John. Michelle is horny for John. John is horny for Michelle, but also Libby, and also the fish, at least a little. One harrowing moment involves John grabbing at Libbys crotch (!!!!) when she gets her period while the two are on a disturbingly romantic boat ride together. He claims he did it just to stop her from staining her clothes, but then were treated to a scene where Libby is taking a shower, embarrassed and grossed out, and John stands on the other side of the curtain, turned on by the thought of her naked. He then sniffs the clothes that she stained.

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Uh, how old is Libby again?

They dont say! But she doesnt have a permit, and she just took her PSATs, so its definitely not clear that shes of age to be fooling around with fishmen.

Where do the horror parts come in?

It turns out that John is actually something of a mad scientist. The lab hes set up in the basement is not just where he studies his fish. Its where he experiments on humans, too. The last half-hour of the film involves Libby trying to save her mother from becoming one of these experiments, as she looks for ways to break out of the basement that John has locked them in. Its tense and terrifying, and Johns transformation from nerdy hottie into tortured, evil villain is pretty much instantaneous. But the cinematography so completely devolves into murky shadows and searing red lighting that the action on screen is almost impossible to parse. This is when the movie begins to truly jump the man-shark.

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Im not sure I want to watch this, but now I am curious how this all ends, so can you just tell me?

I dont blame you. (Spoilers follow, obviously.) Libby and her mom break out of the basement, seemingly free from John. But, of course, their freedom is fleeting: John manages to find and knock out the women, who wake up back in his clutches. John, now a full amphibian-dude hybrid, has bound and gagged Libby, who starts screaming for help to no avail. She quickly passes out again when she refuses to swallow this bizarre blue glowing ball that John pukes into her mouthits presumably the fake-scientific thing that transforms her into a part-fish like him. Libby next wakes up submerged in a water tank somewhere else in the basement, surrounded by other women who are unconscious and trapped in other tanks. After pleading for help that will obviously never come, she gives up, appearing to accept her fate that John has added her to his growing collection of sexy fish-ladies.

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This sounds mostly terrible. Why is it popular?

It is mostly terrible! But its also at once wildly self-serious and totally bonkers, and perhaps you, like me, love mess? Some choice lines: He grabbed me. Like, Donald Trump grabbed me, says Libby to a friend about her boat ride with John. Also: Im riding him constantly, Michelle tells Libby when she first sets eyes on John.

In a sense, this movie is so bad, its good, except that any time the characters arent indulging their sexual desires, it falls flat. Thankfully, its brisk, and mostly fun, especially when watched at 1.25-times speed. (Thank you for that option, Netflix.) Who doesnt love sexy scares, even if the scares arent too scary and the sex is mostly implied? Clearly Netflix does, and for that, I thank them.
A federally backed COVID-19 vaccination center is set to open later this month in Baton Rouge with the ability to deliver thousands of shots each day and reach underserved areas across Louisianas most populous parish, state and White House officials announced Friday.

The community site will be located at the Bon Carre Business Center on Florida Boulevard, with an anticipated opening on April 14. Once running, the center can deliver 3,000 shots daily and more than 20,000 doses per week for eight weeks.

The site will operate Tuesdays through Sundays and people can sign up for appointments on the Department of Health's website.

Drive-thru hours run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays; and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

Louisiana National Guard members will conduct mobile vaccination clinics to reach communities that may not have easy access to shots.

State and local leaders say there is more work to be done in getting shots in arms, and the federally supported center will give that massive undertaking a boost.

Vaccines are moving the state of Louisiana one step closer to ending the COVID-19 pandemic, said Baton Rouge Mayor-president Sharon Weston Broome in a statement Friday, adding that her administration is focused on equitable distribution. This mass vaccination site should prove to be a vital asset in our fight against the coronavirus.

Need help finding a vaccine appointment? Louisiana launches COVID vaccine hotline Louisiana launched a COVID-19 vaccine hotline on Thursday that the public can call to schedule a vaccination appointment or talk directly with

Roughly 20% of Louisiana's population is fully vaccinated, according to state Department of Health figures. Late last month Gov. John Bel Edwards allowed anyone older than 16 to receive shots.

About one-quarter of the countrys adults have also been fully vaccinated, according to the White House COVD-19 response team.

Already in Louisiana, weve administered more than 2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, but we have much work ahead of us to ensure that all Louisianans have the opportunity and ability to access this safe and effective shot that will help us end the pandemic, Edwards said in a statement Friday.

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

Federal health leaders have created other community vaccination centers across the country that are similar to the future Baton Rouge site. It's part of President Joe Bidens goal of inoculating 200 million Americans by the end of the month and putting vaccine sites within five miles of 90% of Americans homes.

Those sites, including the Baton Rouge center and another announced Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were selected based on a range of criteria that factors race, socioeconomic status and transportation, among others. White House officials said the goal of the centers is to ensure communities at a higher risk of COVID-19 exposure arent left behind.

"We are making progress on meeting people where they are," said White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients during a Friday morning news briefing to announce the new centers.

The sites will serve some 30 million Americans. Two-thirds of patients they will serve live at or below the federal poverty level and more than 60% are people of color, Zients said.

More than 10,000 Louisianans are suspected of dying from COVID-19, and the illness has disproportionately impacted Louisianas Black community despite making up only about 30% of the states population, according to Louisiana Department of Health figures.

In East Baton Rouge Parish, for example, Black residents make up less than half of the population but account for 51% of fatal cases and a disproportionate rate of reported infections, according to state data.

The push to get more Louisianans vaccinated also comes as hospitals and other vaccine providers have noted ebbs and flows in participation  including waning interest ahead of the shots being expanded for anyone older than 16.

Health facilities, community groups and universities have aimed at giving communities greater access to the shots by setting up pop-up clinics and mass vaccination sites that often use a drive-thru setup.

+15 In rural Louisiana, officials look for answers to improve lagging vaccination rates Franklin, a city of roughly 7,000 on the banks of Bayou Teche, employs about nine firefighters, and Chief Chuck Bourgeois said the nature of t

On Saturday, Southern University plans to offer walk-up vaccine clinics at 9 locations, including all of the system's campuses.

Additional doses needed to stock the Baton Rouge community center will be provided by the federal government in addition to weekly allocations the state receives.
UPDATE (2:18 p.m.): The Yankees have pulled third baseman Gio Urshela from the lineup. Heres the reason why: The Yankees placed Urshela on the COVID injured list due to side effects from vaccination and recalled infielder Mike Ford from the Alternate Site.

Heres the new lineup:

1. DJ LeMahieu, 3B

2. Giancarlo Stanton, DH

3. Aaron Hicks, CF

4. Gleyber Torres, SS

5. Jay Bruce, 1B

6. Gary Sanchez, C

7. Clint Frazier, RF

8. Mike Tauchman, LF

9. Tyler Wade, 2B

Corey Kluber, RHP

Introducing Yankees Insider: Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text message directly with beat writers

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.  Here are the lineups for the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Friday.

Aaron Judge (side soreness) still inst ready to play, manager Aaron Boone said.

1. DJ LeMahieu, 2B

2. Giancarlo Stanton, DH

3. Aaron HIcks, CF

4. Gleyber Torres, SS

5. Gary Sanchez, C

6. Jay Bruce, 1B

7. Clint Frazier, RF

8. Gio Urshela, 3B

9. Mike Tauchman, LF

Corey Kluber, RHP

First time our Yankees are playing the Rays since Game 5 of the 2020 ALDS! pic.twitter.com/J2IWBKBPwO  Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 9, 2021

From the Yankees:

STRIKE EM OUTS: Yankees pitchers have recorded at least 10K in five of their first six games for only the second time in franchise history (also 5G in 2012)have never begun a season with at least 10K in six of their first seven games.

 Their 73K are a franchise record and the second-most by any club through its first six games in Major League history behind only the 2020 Cincinnati Reds (83K).

 The clubs highest total through its first seven games of a season is 78K in 2018.

 Lead the Majors with an 11.53 K/9.0IP ratio this season (73K, 57.0IP).

PEN PALS: Yankees relievers have allowed only 6R/3ER and struck out 31 batters in 27.0IP (1.00 ERA)own the second-lowest bullpen ERA in the Majors this season (San Diego-0.91).

 Their 0.59 WHIP (11H, 5BB) is the lowest among Major League bullpens.

RETURN TO SENDER: With LHP Justin Wilson being reinstated from the 10-day injured list prior to todays game, the Yankees roster now features two sets of players who were once involved in a Yankees trade for one anotheron 12/9/15, RHP Luis Cessa and RHP Chad Green were acquired by the Yankees from Detroit in exchange for LHP Justin Wilsonon 7/25/16, INF Gleyber Torres and RHP Adam Warren (currently back in the Yankees organization) were acquired by the Yankees (along with OFs Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford) in exchange for LHP Aroldis Chapman.

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.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
9th April 2021

Runtime 31:17

London South East were delighted to welcome Incanthera to our April Investor Webinar last night (6.04.2021), where Chairman Tim McCarthy and CEO Dr Simon Ward presented and took questions.

Incanthera are an AQSE-listed oncology and dermatology therapy business with close ties to the University of Bradford cancer therapy labs. They develop and licence innovative technologies for the treatment of cancer and skin cancer.

They recently raised 1.14M from an oversubscribed share placing which is intended to see them through lucrative commercial negotiations with two global cosmetic companies as they agree licensing arrangements for their innovative anti-skin cancer cream Sol.

By quickly commercialising Sol, they hope to create a regular revenue stream to develop the business as they work on a significant pipeline of other cancer treatments.

The licensing revenues for Sol may be as much as 10M per annum - for a company which currently has a market capitalisation of around 10M, so this is a significant tipping point in the growth of the business.
In a bid to give a fillip to the Centres Aatmanirbhar Bharat programme, (CIL) has drafted plans to ramp up domestic coal evacuation facilities at a cost of Rs 40,000 crore.

The miner will execute 35 projects to improve first-mile connectivity and coal handling plants as well as create more rail lines and sidings.

Coal handling capacity of these 35 projects is estimated to be close to 405 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by FY24. Each of the mining projects would have production capacity of 4 mtpa and above.

As of now, three of the projects have already been commissioned. Of the remaining 32 projects, 29 have been awarded and are at various stages of construction. Tenders were opened for the remaining three and are under scrutiny, said a senior CIL executive.

In June last year, the finance minister  under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package of Rs 20 trillion  allocated Rs 50,000 crore for creating coal evacuation infrastructure. It included Rs 18,000 crore for mechanised coal transport. The move was in line with the Centres efforts to bring down coal imports.

Under phase-I of the first-mile connectivity or transport of coal from mines end to dispatch points, CIL will increase rail connectivity projects to 24. They are 11 currently. These points would also have coal handling plants at mines with rapid loading systems.

In the second phase, CIL will set up 14 more first-mile connectivity projects.

On Friday, Mahanadi Coalfields, one of the subsidiaries of CIL, inaugurated its 10th railway siding at Talcher Coalfields in Odisha.

The company said it will enhance the deptach capacity of the mine to 4 mtpa.

CIL is constructing 21 greenfield and brownfield railway sidings in four of our subsidiaries in addition to 132 operational sidings for dispatching coal to consumers. The company is also funding construction of 12 rail line projects. The dovetailing of existing and new rail sidings with a rapid loading system will help improve loading quantity in future, said a senior executive of CIL.

CIL is currently increasing the capacity of two key rail lines  Jharsuguda-Sardega in Odisha and Tori-Shivpur in Jharkhand.

Along with this, it is also planning to construct the Shivpur-Kathautia rail link through a joint venture for transporting coal through the Kathautia-Koderma circuit in Jharkhand.

A Sardega-Pelma line of about 30 kms is proposed to be constructed through a new rail joint venture. CIL said this will enhance integrated coal evacuation arrangements for both Mand-Raigarh and Basundhara coalfields in Odisha.

The proposed rail link will be a game changer in traffic movement from this area as it bypasses the congested Howrah-Mumbai trunk route and Bilaspur to Pendra Road branch. This link provides an alternative traffic route and reduces travel distance by 75 kms, said the executive.
South Africa: Operation Vulindlela makes inroads

President Cyril Ramaphosas ambitious programme of resuscitating economic growth and streamlining policy implementation in a challenging environment is gaining momentum.

In his address to a joint sitting of Parliament in October last year, the President announced that in order to fast-track the delivery of economic reforms, Operation Vulindlela will be implemented as a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury.

Vulindlela means to open the way in isiZulu and isiXhosa.

Government established Operation Vulindlela with a dedicated team from the Presidency and National Treasury.

The government-wide approach through which Ministers, departments and state-owned entities (SOEs) implement structural reforms is making inroads.

Its aim is to fast-track the implementation of high-impact reforms, addressing obstacles or delays to ensure execution of policy commitments.

Reporting directly to President Ramaphosa and the Ministry of Finance, the Vulindlela unit provides updates to Cabinet and the National Economic Recovery Council on a regular basis.

The unit facilitates technical support to enable the implementation of these reforms by reform implementers  departments and SOEs. OV also provides recommendations to the President and the Cabinet.

Its location in the Office of the Presidency also points to the importance of OV, notes Finance Deputy Minister David Masondo.

The OV team collects information, analyses progress, prepares progress reports and makes recommendations.

Why do we do this? Many of you will know that the economy has not been growing in the last 10 years. In 2019 the economy grew by 0.2% against the target of 5% as entailed in the NDP [National Development Plan]. We all know that the economy declined by 7% in 2020, [however], we project a growth of 3.3% this year, but it will be coming from a very low base, says Masondo.

South Africas poor economic performance has been documented in indicators like the unemployment rate.

We know the consequences of unemployment [and] poverty. This leads to many other problems in society. Why [has] the economy not been growing? There are structural impediments arising out of how the economy is structured and how these constraints have constrained [the] potential of economic growth, he says, adding that its important to overcome these constraints.

Early progress made by OV, some of which was noted by the President in his February 2021 State of the Nation Address, includes the raising of the licensing threshold for embedded generation as well as the phased switch-off of analogue signal. The Ministry of Communications and Digital Technologies, together with broadcasters, last month started with the phased switch-off of analogue television transmitters in the Free State.

Progress has also been noted in the revival of blue and green drop water quality assessments and the establishment of the National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency (NWRIA). There has also been inroads in the roll-out of the e-visa system as well as the publication of the critical skills list and comprehensive review of the framework for attracting skills.

The initiative also seeks to facilitate structural reforms to grow the economy and to reduce the cost of production. It mainly focuses on network industries which provide inputs for economic agents, including business.

They range from reliable and cost effective electricity to dependable communications infrastructure, efficient water supply as well as skills.

Part of our task is to facilitate structural reforms that will enable us to produce more electricity, more energy, not just for business but also for households. If you go to a firm that produces industrial goods, when theres a power outage, [this has] a huge implication for that firm to meet its production requirements.

Masondo points out that network industries are dominated by SOEs who have enjoyed monopoly positions.

There are certain things that we need to do to ensure that there is competition in some of these industries.

Finding solutions

The initiative has identified three main reasons for slow reforms - namely internal government capacity, policy ambiguity and differences in certain respects and political economic interests.

To these, Operation Vulindlela escalates and proposes solutions in the different industries.

The team is led by Dr Sean Philips, Head of Economic Policy at the National Treasury, Duncan Pieterse and Head of Project Management in the Private Office of the President, Rudi Dicks.

Dicks explains that as part of the process, President Ramaphosa requests reform implementers to provide reform implementation plans with milestones and timeframes.

Where required, OV assists with development of cross-cutting reform implementation plans. Reform implementers provide regular updates of progress against reform implementation plans. OV analyses progress updates, obtains information from other sources, and engages with reform implementers. [It also] provides support or escalates [matters] where necessary, he says.

The unit regularly presents progress reports (independent of reform implementers) with recommendations to Clusters, Cabinet Committees, National Economic Recovery Council and the President.

In each sector, OV continuously assesses the status quo with implementation of all prioritised reforms.

If implementation is progressing well under capable leadership and only involves a single department or entity, it is monitored and progress reports are made.

If implementation of a reform is not progressing well, capacity is lacking amongst the reform implementers, or there is a lack of coordination, OV engages with implementers, seeks consensus on challenges and what needs to be done by whom.

Where necessary it offers support to reform implementers. If this is unsuccessful, or if an issue is urgent, [we] escalate [the matter] to the President with recommendations, says Dicks.

If a policy decision is required to unlock progress, resolve uncertainty or disagreement, the unit provides recommendations to the President for engagement with the relevant Minister.

We are not implementing a new plan; we are not coming with new plans; we are implementing what already exists in government. We are just making sure that these reforms, programs, initiatives, are implemented, says Masondo.

The initiative does not take away the roles and functions of line departments.

All we are doing is to identify issues, ask questions about why we are not moving insofar as this reform and support where we possibly can and escalate to the President and Cabinet where we think there isnt movement.

Effective implementation

Agreeing with the Deputy Ministers comments, is President Ramaphosas economic advisor Trudi Makhaya.

She emphasises that President Ramaphosa holds the unit dear.

This is not another plan and it does not rehash everything that is in the Medium Strategic Framework but focuses on the effective implementation of governments priorities. It is deliberately not comprehensive. Everything that government has committed to has to be implemented, she says.

Throughout many engagements and forums, Cabinet members have always expressed a desire to sharpen the execution capability of government and this supports them in doing so.

We need a new tool that fast-tracks and accelerates service delivery reforms and this is that tool. It is focused on a very specific set of objectives.

She says the approach was that of a delivery unit, a very agile machinery that responds to very particular challenges.

Makhaya says coordination is a very important theme the country has grappled with in past years, leading to failures, especially where multi-departments and agencies are involved in a particular reform.

In that particular instance we are able to have a team that can see and operate above the level of reform implementers and can see across and see when there are contradictions and also ensure that there is strong coordination when that is required.

This is designed to address key obstacles to the implementation of reform and I think we cover most of the key obstacles that have been recognised over time as the most important issues, she said.

The unit is not adding another layer of complexity.

The idea here is to provide that strong coordination, technical expertise and also ensure theres progress and clear understanding of what the challenges are, bringing to bear empirical and a technical approach to it rather than having an assumption as to why certain things are not happening.

That is the essence of OV, she says. SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Ben Shephard has revealed Kate Garraway has a 'huge responsibility' caring for her husband Derek Draper after it was revealed he's finally home from hospital.

Describing it as being like caring for a newborn baby, the presenter said close friend Kate has the help for a 24-hour care team looking after Derek and he still 'needs' to be looked after even though he's left hospital.

It comes after Ben fought back tears on Friday's Good Morning Britain following the news that Derek had finally returned home after a year-long battle with Covid.

Speaking on This Morning, Ben said: 'She described it as coming home with a newborn, you've been waiting to bring him home but it's a huge responsibility.

Important: Ben Shephard has revealed Kate Garraway has a 'huge responsibility' caring for her husband Derek after it was revealed he's finally home from hospital

'She's got a huge team around her, he still needs 24 hr care, he's not walking around making a cup of tea, he needs this care.'

He added: 'I think it's been going on for a very long time now and lots of your viewers saw the documentary and the whole plan of it was to chart his journey and hopefully at the end of it we can be home together and that didn't happen.

'At the end of it, it says he was due to stay until the end of the year, but that's changed dramatically in the last week or so.

'Whereas in the documentary he was making progress, but because the family couldn't see him in second lockdown he was going backwards a bit and so they decided to bring him home to help stimulate him so all of a sudden he's back.'

News they've been waiting for: Describing it as being like caring for a newborn baby, the presenter said Kate has the help of a 24-hour care team looking after Derek

Conversation: Speaking on This Morning, Ben said: 'She described it as coming home with a newborn, you've been waiting to bring him home but it's a huge responsibility'

Progress: Kate appeared on Friday's GMB to discuss Derek's return home from hospital admitting he still needs round-the-clock care to aid in his recovery

Ben added that Kate's ordeal could have happened to anyone, telling Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford: 'I think Kate is very aware of that, people have been through similar situations, or people who haven't been able to bring their loved one home or they have lost their loved ones.

'She's doing an amazing job. She's been a full time mum to bill and Darcy, they're old enough to understand what's going on.

'While he is home and it's so exciting to have him there there's a huge step they have to go through.'

On Friday's GMB, Ben was visibly emotional as he admitted that when Derek was first admitted to hospital last March he reassured himself he'd 'be fine,' but added he was 'anything but fine,' as his health deteriorated.

Ben also offered his own kind words to Kate after she appeared on GMB to discuss the emotional moment Derek was brought home from hospital after a year in intensive care.

Emotional: It comes after Ben fought back tears on Friday's Good Morning Britain following the news that Derek had finally returned home after a year-long battle with Covid

Sad: The star was visibly emotional as he admitted that when Derek was first admitted to hospital last March he reassured himself he'd 'be fine,' but added he was 'anything but'

At the start of the show Ben reflected on a challenging year for his close friend Kate, telling co-host Ranvir Singh they were 'all smiling' upon learning the news of Derek's return home.

He said: 'I think it's really important that as Kate said, she can't share with us exactly where he is and he has a long, long way to go but this is a monumental step.'

'I remember sitting with her about a year ago and her telling me he had gone into hospital and what that felt like and just thinking at the time ''he's going to be fine, he's going to be fine'' and it hasn't been.'

Progress: At the start of the show he told Ranvir Singh: 'As Kate said, she can't share with us exactly where he is and he has a long, long way to go but this is a monumental step'

The star added: 'It's been anything but fine and not just for Kate, but everyone up and down the country who have been through this and lived this as well.'

Earlier in the show Ben also thanked viewers for their kind words and revealed Kate would be making an appearance on the show following the news her husband Derek was finally home from hospital.

'We are all smiling this morning,' he said. 'Living at home with Kate means an awful lot to us and it's lovely when we see the messages about how excited and pleased you are.

'It is the first step on a very long journey trying to work out how it will unfold and what he needs.'

Later in the show Kate herself appeared on GMB to discuss the moment husband Derek returned home and was reunited with his children after more than a year in intensive care.

Emotional: Later in the show Kate herself appeared on GMB to discuss the moment husband Derek returned home and was reunited with his children after a year in intensive care

The journalist revealed that daughter Darcey, 15, and son Billy, 11, were overwhelmed as they saw their father, while Derek immediately burst into tears at the reunion.

Kate added that Derek is 'aware' that he's home and 'is responding all the time' but he is unable to talk as she tearfully recalled moments from the last few days, including setting the table for four people instead of three, after a year of it being just her and the children at home.

She recalled: 'When we came in the door and pulled up, I could see Darcey and Billy looking out the window and they ran out and ran to the door and he immediately burst into tears and there was a lot of hugging.

'He knew he was home. He is responding all the time, what he's not able to do is talk. But he is responding and aware where he is. There have been so many lovely little moments - he can swallow a little bit now so I said "lets get you round the table for a little bit."'

She said that it felt 'like the start of a new chapter but a really really big important one', remarking on the significance of setting the dinner table for four instead of three.

Little things: She said that it felt 'like the start of a new chapter but a really really big important one', remarking on the significance of setting the dinner table for four instead of three

Kate began to well up as she spoke about making Derek one of her casseroles, explaining: 'As I was laying out the plates I realised I was laying out four, it makes me cry now, and Darcey was saying, Oh, we're going to put four spoons down.

Discussing Derek's ongoing health needs, she explained: 'He can't really move, he needs a lot of help. It's 24/7 care. I haven't really slept as you can probably tell.

'It's a new team now helping him and working with him. It's going to take a lot of adjustment. On top of the care side there's also the therapeutic side. This isn't just for us, but helping it will prompt some recovery'.

The TV presenter, 53, has had their family home adapted so that Derek, also 53, could come back and receive round-the-clock care at their North London property. Kate is now believed to be facing medical bills costing her tens of thousands.

Former lobbyist Derek has now been taken off all hospital machines, but his family have been warned he still has a long way to go to recover from the virus.

Kate explained that while she's pleased to see Derek's progress, things seem to have slowed down. She revealed: 'Its going to take a lot of adjustment. But on top of the care side, theres the very specialised therapeutic intervention, which will have to come in to make sure that this isnt just about getting him with us for us, its hoping that actually this will prompt some recovery.

'Hes definitely sort of plateaued at this level. Obviously were very grateful for this level but want to see if we can move forward, if we can get him speaking more, able to move more and see what we can draw out.

'Its going to be very slow and a bit of wait and see. The physiotherapy, the occupational therapy, neuropsychology as well and speech and language therapy all working on a programme.

'What theyve said is purpose is what they hope will come in, so when they see the children playing, will it perhaps prompt him more to say, What you building with your Lego, Bill? or What are you doing Darcey? rather than a forced situation in a vacuum in a room with people in PPE.'

She added that their children have been 'amazing' throughout, stating 'theyve both just not stopped cuddling him'.

An insider told the Sun that the family they have wept tears of joy, adding: 'Kate's dreamt of this day for so long, and can't thank wonderful NHS staff enough.'

Sweet: Kate added that their children have been 'amazing' throughout, stating 'theyve both just not stopped cuddling him' (pictured in 2019)

A family friend declared Kate has been 'dreaming of this day', and said: 'The children, who have been so resilient, have been so, so happy to have their dad home. There have been a lot of happy tears from everyone.

'This past year has given Derek and Kate an absolutely unbreakable bond  she has been such a rock, and a total inspiration to everyone in Britain battling their own horror stories with the pernicious disease.'

It was reported by the publication that Derek was taken by ambulance back to his home on Wednesday after he began regularly responding while under the care of doctors in hospital.

It has been confirmed that Derek is Britains longest surviving Covid hospital patient after he was first admitted with breathing difficulties on March 30 last year.

Finances: Kate has reportedly spent 'thousands' on renovating their family home to support Derek's return. It was revealed last week that Kate has taken control of her husband's business affairs, a year after he contracted Covid

Derek was put on a ventilator and spent months in a form of coma before uttering his first word - 'pain' - in October last year.

The father of two's body has been 'universally affected' by the condition, which means that it has targeted his lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas.

Kate has reportedly spent 'thousands' on renovating their family home to support Derek's return. It was revealed last week that Kate has taken control of her husband's business affairs, a year after he contracted Covid.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2021 / PowerBand's (TSXV:PBX) (OTCQB:PWWBF) (Frankfurt:1ZVA) ("PowerBand", "PBX" or the "Company") leasing and financing division is being brought under the DRIVRZ brand and will now operate under the sub-brand DRIVRZ Financial.

PowerBand's leasing and finance division was previously known as MUSA Holdings, LLC ("MUSA"). PowerBand acquired a 60 per cent share of MUSA in July 2019.

DRIVRZ Leasing and Finance is an integral component of the overall DRIVRZ marketplace experience. With DRIVRZ, users can lease, buy, sell, trade-in and insure electric and non-electric vehicles on any digital device, from any location.

DRIVRZ Leasing and Finance is an innovative transaction platform aimed at automotive dealers and consumers, to provide the most advanced leasing options in the industry. It takes credit applications, calculates leases and auto-decisions applications within seconds. The pre-populated lease agreements make the process quick and easy for consumers and dealers.

"We are excited to be integrating our leasing service under the DRIVRZ brand," said DRIVRZ Financial CEO Jon Lamb. "DRIVRZ will be the one-stop marketplace for consumers and automotive dealers to buy, lease, sell, auction, insure and finance vehicles using any digital device."

Approvals can be delivered in a little as eight seconds. As a result of its proprietary technology, this leasing and finance component of DRIVRZ was awarded a contract by Tesla Motors to become a national leasing partner in 2018.

"For the sake of simplicity and clarity to consumers, automotive dealers, partners and investors, we are consolidating components of our marketplace under our trademarked brand, DRIVRZ," said PowerBand CEO Kelly Jennings.

For further information, please contact:

Kelly Jennings

Chief Executive Officer

E: info@powerbandsolutions.com

P: 1-866-768-7653

About PowerBand Solutions Inc.

PowerBand Solutions Inc., listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and the OTCQB markets, is a fintech provider disrupting the automotive industry. PowerBand's integrated, cloud-based transaction platform facilitates transactions amongst consumers, dealers, funders and manufacturers (OEMs). It enables them to buy, sell, trade, finance, and lease new and used, electric- and non-electric vehicles, on smart phones or any other online digital devices, from any location. PowerBand's transaction platform - being trademarked under DRIVRZ - is being made available across North American and global markets.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize, and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.

Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by Canadian securities law.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, unless an exemption from such registration is available.

SOURCE: PowerBand Solutions Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/639657/PowerBands-Leasing-Division-MUSA-being-Re-Branded-as-DRIVRZ-Financial
In what a business lobbyist calls the holy grail of the session, House Speaker Clay Schexnayder is pressing a bill he hopes will overcome generations of reluctance by local governmental taxing agencies to turn over their sales tax collection and distribution authority to a new centralized system that would align Louisianas taxing system with those in rest of the country.

While municipal governments havent rallied around House Bill 199, at least theyre not throwing up roadblocks.

We appreciate the speaker including us and local government in providing input on the bill, John Gallagher, head of the Louisiana Municipal Association, said Thursday. At this time, we remain neutral and asking our members for input while we remain actively engaged in the process.

The school boards are still working Thursday with Schexnayder on the bill, said Janet Pope, head of the Louisiana School Board Association.

Small though it is, those are steps forward for local and parish governments as well as school boards that over the years have jealously guarded their authority to collect their own sales taxes. Its in the state Constitution.

Lawmakers are officially revamping Louisiana's tax system; what that could mean for taxpayers The work of revamping the states tax system, which has been going on for weeks behind the scenes, became public Friday when Senate President 

Sales taxes are one of the few sources of revenues local jurisdictions are allowed by the state.

Gallagher says local government officials historically have been fearful that the state would take control of sales taxes and then, as is often the case, decide that some or all of the money is needed in Baton Rouge more, despite the fact that local voters had approved the amounts for specific local projects.

Think the settlement dollars from the multi-state lawsuit against the tobacco companies, Gallagher said. Part of that money was supposed channel to local programs. But the state of Louisiana needed the bucks and hasnt appropriated the local earmarks since 2003.

Thats part of the problem weve had for past 75, 100 years. We have an amazing ability at the state level to give away local revenues, said Julie Stokes, head of Ellevate Louisiana, a Metairie-based policy analysis group of women. We do it a lot. I dont blame them, the locals. Theyre really not the bad guys.

As a former Republican state representative from Kenner, Stokes led unsuccessful fights to change Louisianas tax system, including centralizing the collection of sales taxes. Only Colorado, Hawaii and Louisiana dont use a single agency to gather up taxes on the sales of goods and services. That means retailers and wholesalers with stores in different parishes have to collect different taxes on sales, follow different rules and different interpretations of the same state law, Stokes said. It's a burden on business, she added.

The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

This is the holy grail of this session, said Stephen Waguespack, president of the Louisiana Association of Business & Industry, told members of One Acadiana in Lafayette on March 5. If theres one thing you could choose, this would be it.

This could be the year Louisiana makes significant tax reform, including centralized sales tax collection This could be the year significant tax reform happens in the state Legislature, including finally establishing a centralized system to collect

HB199 differs from past centralization efforts in that the legislation by Schexnayder, a Gonzales Republican, would create the State and Local Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Commission, which would have four local government representatives and four state government representatives.

The money goes to the independent commission, rather than the Department of Revenue, said Jay Adams, a tax law specialist with the New Orleans-based law firm of Jones Walker LLP. The state is on equal footing with the parishes, municipals and school boards. Thats the difference.

Adams said the technology is available to give businesses the ability to file a single return, submit the cash to one place and have it distributed to each parish  all 64 have different sales tax rates  as well as the state, which charges 4.45 cents on every dollar of a particular purchase.

As long as the commission doesnt morph into the state, as long as the local authority and control remain local, the structure in HB199 is workable, said Dannie Garrett III, a Baton Rouge tax attorney who has represented local taxing authorities. It doesnt amend the authority the Constitution gives the locals.

Louisiana reaps beaucoup bucks from online sales Louisiana was expecting great things once a 5-4 majority on the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door in 2018 to levying taxes on sales made over

Stokes is concerned that the structure might cause stalemates. Thats the part I worry the most about in the bill: The four-to-four structure and they have to pass everything by two-thirds votes.

Karen White, the Municipal Associations general counsel, said one of her concerns in the wording that requires the two existing boards established to collect sales taxes being immediately subsumed and folded into the Schexnayder commission at its very first meeting. Both boards have programs and technologies that will require a fair amount of work to transfer into a new entity. This process is not going to be done overnight. We would be interested in seeing some language that accommodates some transitional period, she said.

But the wording of the legislation likely will change during the legislative session that begins Monday and adjourns June 10.
New Delhi:

Assam Police has accused a retired Indian Army soldier, who serve as Junior Commissioned Officer for 30 years, of being an illegal immigrant.

The Assam Police claims Mohd Azmal Haque came to India illegally after 1971. The state police has has termed Haque as a "doubtful voter."

Haque has claimed that he was in Assams Kamrup district in 1968 and that his mothers name features in the 1951 National Register of Citizens.

In a twitter video uploaded by Aman Wadud, Haque has expressed his grief after being served a notice to prove his citizenship.

Mohd.Azmal Haque,served in Indian Army for 30yrs, Retd as Junior Com Officer,now accused of being illegal immigrant by AssamPolice. @adgpi pic.twitter.com/UYrSuyr5U5  Aman Wadud (@AmanWadud) September 30, 2017

The ex-army personnel, in the video has requested the Indian President, Prime Minister and Home Minister to take adequate action so that rightful citizens are not harassed.

Dear India,AzmalHaque,ex-IndianArmy,wants u all to listen to him& request @PMOIndia to stop harassing IndianCitizens in d name of foreigners pic.twitter.com/5xHfB1Ldji  Aman Wadud (@AmanWadud) September 30, 2017

Haque said, I am very said. I have cried a lot because I am an ex-jawan of Indian Army. I gave 30 years of my life for my country in the Indian Army. I have served in the most difficult terrains during my service period.

Also read: Assam Police and Army nab 5 HNLC ultras, recover arms and explosives



In the video the ex-army man adds, After retirement I shifted to Guwahati. Kamrup superintendent of police (SP) has issued a notice saying doubtful foreigner.

Earlier in 2012 Haque was accused of being an illegal immigrant in 2012 by Foreigns Tribunal.

The Assam Director General of Police Mukesh Sahay told the media, I will look into the matter and see why a notice has been served.

The Indian Armys East Command contacted Haque and has promised to all necessary assistance till the matter is solved.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
With only one exit and inadequate safety standards, Vietnam's so-called 'tube houses' pose a severe fire risk to their occupants.

In just one week recently, there was a fire each in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh which claimed 10 lives.

The one in Saigon's Thu Duc City on March 30 killed six members of a family after completely engulfing their house. It is not known yet if they were burned to death or died of asphyxiation.

On April 4, four people died in the capitals Dong Da District after their house, which had an infant clothing store, caught fire.

No one could save them no matter how loudly they screamed behind their barricade and metal bars.

The two shared one common tragic feature: both houses had only one entrance, and the occupants were trapped inside.

The fire in Hanois three-storied house with a 3.2-meter facade took firefighters three hours to put out and it took them another hour to cool it down after its occupants had run up to the attic and died there.

The only entrance, the main door on the ground floor, burned fiercely.

Due to high house prices and urban security issues, city dwellers tend to utilize their living spaces for business or storage purposes, installing burglar bars along balconies. In doing so, all possible emergency exits are accidentally deleted.

Land price in downtown Hanoi is around VND100 million - 1 billion ($4.342 - $43,425) per square meter.

Facade of a row of tube houses in the center of Hanoi. Photo by Shutterstock/lulu and isabelle.

Traditional tube houses, so called because of their tall, narrow appearance and providing living and business spaces in crowded metropolises, have dominated the urban landscape for decades.

In recent years fires in such houses have claimed many lives, sparking fear as people gradually become aware of the deadly threat posed by the absence of emergency exits and fire safety regulations.

The lack of exits is the main culprit in deaths caused by fire since people trapped inside cannot escape and firefighters have to break open solid doors to reach them.

Le Thi Anh Dao, who lives in one such house in Hanois Ba Dinh District, explains the rationale: "Burglars are everywhere. So just one entrance is enough. We even have two layers of doors to keep thieves at bay."

Thus, some 120,000 of Hanois 500,000 multistory tube houses lacked fire exits, an official from the city Department of Fire Fighting and Prevention had said in 2017.

Many homeowners also install metal grilles on balconies to keep out thieves, eliminating a possible escape route in case of a fire.

Besides, as Colonel Nguyen Van Son, deputy director of the Hanoi's Department of Fire Fighting and Prevention, once lamented, firefighting in tube houses is a nightmare since they are often situated in tiny alleys and are very close to each other.

According to local officials, most households have no escape plans in place for emergencies like fires.

Many are not even aware of the need for such plans, and so do not have fire extinguishers or the skills needed to escape from a burning building.

"I have never thought about having fire extinguishers at home, but the recent fire that killed four people in Hanoi has changed my mind," Dao said.

A day after the fire she installed two fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in her five-story house.

But there are no regulations that mandate fire safety measures when building houses.

According to architect Tran Anh Tuan, the construction licensing process has "forgotten" fire safety regulations.

There are rules for construction standards, density, height, etc., but not fire prevention measures and equipment, he added.

An inspector from the city Department of Construction admitted that fire safety regulations only apply to hotels, guest houses and motels that have more than five floors or are more than 5,000 square meters.

The absence of fire exits and safety regulations have led to many tragedies.

Last year there were 537 fires in Saigon in which 12 people died, 11 of them in houses.

Firefighters bring the body of a victim out of the house in Dong Da District of Hanoi where a fire killed four family members on April 4, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dinh.

Trade width for height and depth

One of the main reasons for the popularity of tube houses can be traced backed to the village trading culture, Bloomberg quoted Michael DiGregorio, Vietnam country representative of the Asia Foundation and an expert in urban planning, as saying.

People would usually build their stalls before constructing living quarters behind them, he explained.

As cities grow and attract more migrants, people tend to build houses with a number of floors and use the ground floor for shops, cafes and stores on the bustling street below.

Some 120,000 tube houses in Hanoi have shops in them, while the number for the entire country is around 4.4 million, the Vietnam Fire and Rescue Police Department said, adding half of all fires have occurred in them.

The dense population and traditional family structure are also reasons for the popularity of tube houses.

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have populations of 8.2 million and 9 million, and migration to these cities continues in large numbers, which drives up house prices relentlessly.

The tube-like structures with many floors and rooms are a cost-efficient solution for large families with multiple generations. Besides, if more space is needed with the arrival of new members, more floors could easily be added.

"My parents live in the third floor, my husband and I and my son live in the second floor," Le Thu Huong of Hanois Long Bien District said.

Following the numerous fire accidents in recent years, architects are now advising people to have more exits for their buildings and learn about fire safety.

Pham Thanh Tung, a Hanoi architect, said: "Instead of only one exit, a house must have an exit on each floor. Occupants must be able to escape when they face threats."

Some people have installed fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in their houses.

"I have not built more exits in my house, but I am seriously thinking about having one more," Dao said, adding that her new fire detectors help her sleep better.
Xi stresses modernizing agriculture and countryside, boosting rural vitalization

Xinhua) 16:51, April 08, 2021

Aerial photo taken on June 5, 2020 shows agricultural machinery harvesting wheat at a cooperative in Sanmenxia City, central China's Henan Province. (Photo by Du Jie/Xinhua)

BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged carrying forward the momentum of poverty elimination to accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, and promote the rural vitalization in an all-round way.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in his recent instruction on the work related to the collaboration and paired assistance between the eastern and western regions of the country.

Conducting collaboration and paired assistance between the eastern and western regions is a major decision made by the CPC Central Committee to promote coordinated regional development and common prosperity, Xi said.

He stressed expanding the fields for paired assistance and optimizing related mechanisms.

Efforts should be made to strengthen industrial cooperation, resource complementarity, the transfer of laborers and exchange of talents to foster a sound momentum of coordinated, collaborated and common regional development, Xi said.

The whole Party should carry forward the momentum of poverty elimination, and build on this achievement to speed up the modernization of agriculture and rural areas and promote rural vitalization in an all-round manner, Xi said.

On Thursday, a conference on promoting the collaboration and paired assistance between the eastern and western regions was held in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, during which Xi's instruction was delivered.

Vice Premier Hu Chunhua, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting and delivered a speech.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Bianji)
Schulte Roth Zabel (SRZ) is pleased to announce the election of Kelly Koscuiszka, Lawrence Natke and Lee Smith as partners and the promotion of Amy MacDonagh to special counsel. Ms. Koscuiszka and Mr. Natke are resident in the firm's New York office and Mr. Smith and Ms. MacDonagh are resident in the firm's London office.

"We are delighted to recognize these highly skilled practitioners who have distinguished themselves as market leaders," said David Efron, SRZ co-managing partner and co-head of the Investment Management Group. "These exceptional lawyers truly are trusted advisers, and we look forward to continuing to work with them as they take on these new roles," commented Marc Elovitz, SRZ co-managing partner and chair of the Investment Management Regulatory Compliance Group.

"Our London office continues to grow as the premiere private investment funds practice in the U.K., and we are pleased to recognize Lee and Amy's significant contributions to the firm and the industry as a whole," said Josh Dambacher. "They are well versed in the complex issues surrounding the alternative investment management industry and have shown a dedication to providing exceptional service to our global client base," commented Christopher Hilditch. Mr. Dambacher and Mr. Hilditch serve as co-heads of Schulte Roth Zabel's London office.

Partners

Kelly Koscuiszka advises private funds on regulatory and compliance matters, with a particular focus on the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and works closely with clients undergoing SEC examinations. Ms. Koscuiszka also advises clients on privacy and data security as well as the challenges presented by new technologies and alternative data. She regularly leads training sessions for clients, including on topics such as alternative data, insider trading and best practices for electronic communications and technology usage. When necessary, she represents clients in regulatory investigations and enforcement actions by the SEC, DOJ and FINRA as well as in complex civil litigation matters.Ms. Koscuiszka received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. from Rutgers University.

Lawrence P. Natke practices primarily in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, alternative asset management transactional matters, leveraged buyouts and general corporate law matters. His experience includes transactions across multiple industries, including structuring control and non-control investments in alternative asset managers, joint ventures, spin outs and representing private equity buyers and sellers connection with investments in the financial services sectors. Mr. Natke received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and his B.A. from the College of William Mary.

Lee Smith focuses his practice on alternative investment management firms and their funds. He advises on the structuring and operations of asset management businesses, with a particular focus on hedge funds, hybrid funds, funds of funds and co-investment funds. In addition, he regularly advises on the negotiation of seed transactions, strategic investments, side letters and managed account mandates. He also advises on general corporate, regulatory and compliance matters. Mr. Smith received his LPC from BPP Law School and his LLB from London School of Economics.

Special Counsel

Amy MacDonagh focuses her practice on the establishment and management of hedge funds and private funds, and the representation of investment managers in connection with their structuring, restructuring and ongoing operational needs. Her experience includes the structuring and negotiation of managed accounts and strategic seed investments, co-investment vehicles and "funds of one." She advises managers and funds across a number of jurisdictions, including the Cayman Islands and Ireland. She also provides advice on various regulatory and compliance matters. Ms. MacDonagh received her Bachelor of Civil Law, with honours, from University College Dublin.

About Schulte Roth Zabel

Schulte Roth Zabel LLP (www.srz.com) is a full-service law firm with offices in New York, Washington, DC and London. As one of the leading law firms serving the financial services industry, the firm regularly advises clients on corporate and transactional matters and provides counsel on regulatory, compliance, enforcement and investigative issues. The firm's practices include: bank regulatory; bankruptcy creditors' rights litigation; blockchain technology digital assets; broker-dealer regulatory enforcement; business reorganization; complex commercial litigation; cybersecurity; distressed debt claims trading; distressed investing; education law; employment employee benefits; energy; environmental; finance derivatives; financial institutions; hedge funds; individual client services; insurance; intellectual property, sourcing technology; investment management; litigation; litigation finance; mergers acquisitions; PIPEs; private equity; real estate; real estate capital markets REITs; real estate litigation; regulated funds; regulatory compliance; securities capital markets; securities enforcement; securities litigation; securitization; shareholder activism; tax; and white collar defense government investigations.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005389/en/

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Group Gordon Inc.

Lana Gersten

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Apr. 8A judge set bond at $100,000 Thursday for a central Toledo man charged with firing several shots into a Dorr Street bar, injuring a woman.

Lemandre H. Lofton, 22, of the 1700 block of Bancroft Street was arrested Wednesday on charges of second-degree felonious assault and having weapons while under disability, a third-degree felony in connection with the March 16 shooting, according to an affidavit filed in Toledo Municipal Court.

Lofton also is charged with obstructing official business for disregarding a police order to stop for questioning when officers on routine patrol spotted him, court records show. He was booked into the Lucas County jail and appeared Thursday before a Toledo Municipal Court judge who, along with setting bond, ordered him to have no contact with the victim of the shooting at Unique's Lounge, 5327 Dorr, a bar patron who suffered a leg wound.

At the time of the shooting, Lofton was out on $10,000 bond stemming from two pending Lucas County Common Pleas Court cases in which he is charged with illegally carrying a concealed weapon, tampering with evidence, receiving stolen property, forgery, and obstructing official business. A warrant was issued for his arrest in those matters after he failed to appear in court Dec. 7.

The shooting-related charges were filed March 30 after investigators analyzed surveillance video they said shows Lofton shooting into the bar. He is legally barred from possessing firearms after being adjudicated in juvenile court for a violent felony offense, records show.

The previous charges stem from Lofton's alleged use in July, 2019 of a stolen credit card and a traffic stop three months later during which he is accused of fleeing police and tossing a concealed gun during that pursuit, court records show.

First Published April 8, 2021, 7:55am

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A Russian spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American has docked with the International Space Station (ISS) after a flight honoring the anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human to reach space 60 years ago next week.



Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronaut Mark T Vande Hei blasted off aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.



The capsule docked at the ISS after a journey that lasted just over three hours.



Four Americans, two Russians, and a Japanese national are currently manning the orbiting laboratory.



Quiz: How Much Do You Know About The First Man In Space? Test your knowledge! Begin

Three of them being relieved by the incoming trio will return to Earth in about a week's time.

The next planned mission to the ISS is a rocket owned by the private U.S. company SpaceX that is scheduled to set out late this month for the ISS from Florida.

The latest launch came three days ahead of the anniversary of Gagarin's historic flight on April 12, 1961. The Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft that carried the trio was named after the legendary cosmonaut.

Gagarin orbited the Earth once after taking off from the same Kazakh facility at the height of the U.S.-Soviet space race.

Russia's government this month extended a space cooperation agreement with the United States until 2030, one of the few remaining partnerships between Moscow and Washington amid frosty relations.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approved and signed the extension on April 3.

The original cooperation agreement, signed in 1992 and extended four times previously, laid the groundwork for wide-ranging, space-related projects and research between NASA and Roskosmos.

Based on reporting by AFP, dpa, and Reuters
On March 30, in remarks presenting the State Departments 2020 Human Rights Report, Secretary of State Antony Blinken made good on his promise at his January Senate confirmation hearing that the Biden-Harris administration would repudiate the report of the Commission on Unalienable Rights. (Harvard Law School Professor Mary Ann Glendon chaired the COUR; I served as its executive secretary.) He did so, he said, decisively. The commissions report did not represent a guiding document for this administration, according to the secretary, because it was unbalanced.

In mischaracterizing and summarily rejecting the COURs report, Blinken betrayed the high-minded aspiration to unite the country that President Biden expressed in his inaugural address. Today, on this January day, Biden vowed only two months earlier, my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together. Uniting our people. And uniting our nation.

Fairly read, the COUR report offered the new administration an excellent opportunity to honor the presidents pledge to promote unity at home and, in so doing, strengthen Americas ability to advance fundamental freedoms and basic rights abroad. Instead, by groundlessly accusing the COUR report of promulgating erroneous and harmful views about human rights, Secretary Blinken fosters disunity at home and weakens America abroad.

In fact, much of what he had to say about human rights and U.S. foreign policy on March 30 echoed the report that he disparaged and dismissed.

Secretary Blinken emphasized the universality of human rights: All people are entitled to these rights, no matter where theyre born, what they believe, whom they love, or any other characteristic. The COUR report said much the same and in respects went further. It stressed that unalienable rights was the term Americas founders used to speak of the rights inherent in all persons, and that because the nations constitutional order is grounded in universal rights, the United States has not only an obligation to secure them at home but also an interest in, and responsibility for, fostering respect for them abroad.

Secretary Blinken asserted, Human rights are also interdependent. The COUR report elaborates that point, showing in its exposition of the history, text, and structure of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that the founding document of the great post-World War II human rights project was written and understood as an integrated set of interlocking principles. Accordingly, the COUR report maintained, it does violence to the Universal Declaration to wrench out of context any one of its rights at the expense of others, or to ignore one part of the document by focusing exclusively on another.

Secretary Blinken observed that respect for human rights is declining in every region of the world. The COUR report grew out of such concerns: the ambitious human rights project of the past century is in crisis. The broad consensus that once supported the UDHRs principles is more fragile than ever, even as gross violations of human rights and dignity continue apace.

Secretary Blinken highlighted Chinas egregious violations of human rights. The COUR report did so as well. While calling special attention to the genocide being committed against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang, Blinken omitted his reliance on the official State Department determination of his predecessor, Secretary Mike Pompeo.

Secretary Blinken underscored the threat to human rights posed by the ways authoritarian governments are using and exporting new technologies to surveil and harass. In a section on new challenges to human rights, the COUR report made that very case and explained how the Chinese Communist Party leads the assault.

Secretary Blinken rejected the idea that its not worth it for the United States to speak up forcefully for human rights. For overlapping reasons, the COUR report urged the United States to champion human rights with renewed vigor, with pride in what has been accomplished, with humility born of the awareness of her own shortcomings and imperfections and of the complexities of world politics, and with the heavy knowledge that the future of freedom is bound up in no small way with the vitality of her commitment to her own constitutional tradition, rooted in unalienable rights.

Secretary Blinken argued that governments that respect human rights tend to be more peaceful, prosperous, stable and are more likely to support the rules-based international order. This is in agreement with the COUR report, which contends that the United States grounding in unalienable rights gives it an interest in supporting liberal democracy as the form of government best suited to protecting rights; in promoting a freer and more open international order, one that is friendlier to claims of human rights and democratic self-government; and in standing with peoples everywhere who seek the dignity that comes from living under a government that respects individual freedom and equality under law.

And Secretary Blinken denied that because we have work to do at home the United States must refrain from criticizing the abuse of rights elsewhere. This reflects the COUR reports position: In the war of ideas between liberal democracy and autocracy, the uneven progress of liberal democracies does not invalidate the lofty goals to which they are dedicated.

With so much agreement on so many vital matters, why would Secretary Blinken take the trouble to showcase his repudiation of the commissions work?

Based on the salvos of progressive criticism -- from Capitol Hill, human rights organizations and activists, and scholars and journalists -- directed at the Commission on Unalienable Rights commencing with Secretary Pompeos establishment of it in the summer of 2019 and continuing through publication of the report, it is reasonable to suppose that Blinken and his teams primary objections are threefold.

First, Blinken and his team oppose the reports descriptive claim that the great post-World War II human rights project is in a state of confusion. Yet the alacrity with which Secretary Blinken repudiated the commissions work reflects -- and exacerbates -- the partisan division over human rights that the commission diagnosed and sought to ease.

Second, Blinken and his team disapprove of the reports explicit grounding of Americas commitment to human rights in the nations founding principles and constitutional order. But contrary to the progressive belief that such grounding undercuts the universal claims of human rights, the UDHR itself is rooted in the conviction that nations and peoples will justify agreed-on human rights by appeal to their own moral, national, and religious traditions.

Third, Blinken and his team fault the report, as he made explicit in his March 30 remarks, for espousing a hierarchy that makes some rights more important than others. But their quarrel is with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and not with the commission. As the report observes, while the UDHR rests on the principle of the interdependence of basic human rights, it also recognizes distinctions among them. For instance, in some cases the UDHR states blanket prohibitions: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. At the same time, it allows for variation in the implementation of social and economic rights in accordance with the organization and resources of each State. Consistent with the UDHR, as the commission stated, International law accepts that some human rights are absolute or nearly so, admitting of few or no exceptions, even in times of national emergency, while others are subject to many reasonable limitations or are contingent on available resources and on regulatory arrangements.

The Biden administrations repudiation of the work of the Commission on Unalienable Rights not only reinforces domestic divisions but also imposes diplomatic costs. What will Secretary Blinken say, for example, to Nahdlatul Ulama -- headquartered in Indonesia and, with 90 million members, the worlds largest independent Muslim organization -- which embraced the commissions analysis of human rights and welcomed the reports invitation to the worlds diverse nations and peoples to seek sources for affirming fundamental freedoms and basic rights in their distinctive traditions?

To effectively champion human rights abroad, the United States State Department must recognize and reaffirm the convictions about the rights inherent in all persons embodied in Americans founding principles, which transcend Americas partisan divisions.
As more people get vaccinated and states begin to roll back some of the restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic  schools, agencies and workplaces are working on a plan on how to safely return to normal.
Pfizer Inc has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine to Americans between ages 12 and 15.

When the vaccine was originally authorized for use by the FDA in December 2020, it was only for those aged 16 and older.

But recently, Phase III clinical trial data showed that the vaccine was 100 percent safe and effective in younger teenagers.

If approved by the FDA, 12-to-15 year olds could be immunized against coronavirus before the start of the 2021 school year.

In a statement on Twitter, the New York-based drugmaker said it plans to request similar rulings in other countries that are using the vaccine.

Pfizer Inc has asked the FDA to expand emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine to Americans between ages 12 and 15. Pictured: Caleb Chung receives the first dose of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine or placebo as a trial participant for kids ages 12 to 15, December 2020

If approved by the FDA, Pfizer said 12-to-15 year olds could be immunized before the start of the 2021 school year

In the trial, about 2,200 teenagers were enrolled in the U.S. compared to 40,000 for the aged 16 and older trial.

Half of the group received two doses of the vaccine three weeks apart and the other half were given two placebo injections.

A total of 18 cases of COVID-19 were reported in the placebo group while no cases were reported in the vaccine group.

What's more, side effects were similar to those seen in the larger trial among 16-to-25-year-olds, including pain at the injection site, tiredness, fever and headaches.

At the time, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the hope was 'starting to vaccinate this age group before the start of the next school year.

Researchers plan to track participants for two years to collect information long-term protection, effects and safety.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech are also studying how well their vaccine works in children aged six months to 11 years old and expect approval in early 2022 (file image)

It is unclear how long the FDA will take to review data, but director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Rochelle Walensky told ABC News on Wednesday she expects Pfizer's vaccine to be authorized for 12-to-15 year olds by mid-May.

It is unclear if the FDA's advisory committee will need to meet first to recommend use of the vaccine in younger kids as they did in December 2020.

Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech are also studying how well their vaccine works in children between ages six months and 11 years old.

The first volunteers in the early-stage trial were given their first injections in March and the companies hope to expand eligibility to that age group by early 2022.

Although children are less likely to develop severe COVID-19 or develop complications, health experts say inoculating kids and teenagers is a critical step in the U.S. reaching 'herd immunity.'

According to Market Watch, shares of Pfizer were up one percent in trading on Friday upon the news.

Children are often the last group to be tested during clinical trials because they are not merely little adults.

Their bodies and immune systems behave differently, meaning they might have different treatment needs.

What's more, children may need different doses or needle sizes depending on their height, weight and age - which is why most children are only vaccinated after safety has been well-documented in the adult population.

So far, 112 million Americans - 33.7 percent of the population - have received at least one dose and 66.2 million - 19.9 percent - are fully immunized.

About an average of three million people are being vaccinated every day and President Joe Biden has set a goal of 200 million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office.
The pressure on Ireland's decades-old 12.5% corporation tax regime has come under further pressure as Luxembourg backed the global reform plans of the US, while France weighed in with a minimum global tax rate.

US president Joe Biden last week put the weight of the White House behind securing support from the big countries in EU for an upheaval in the way multinationals are taxed, under an initiative driven by the OECD.

His plan to tax the overseas profits of US multinationals at a minimum of 21% is widely seen as undermining the advantages to Ireland from the low level of 12.5% that helps attracts so many US investments here.

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters today that he too welcomed the latest US proposals to unblock international negotiations, adding that they are a good starting point.

He said he was open to a global minimum corporate tax rate above the 12.5% under discussion so far in the negotiations after Washington proposed a rate of 21%. Luxembourg had also welcomed the US plans.

The US offer for a global deal on corporate taxes is well-timed and a positive step toward promoting solidarity in the treatment of multinational companies, its finance minister Pierre Gramegna said.

The proposals of the Biden administration go in the right direction, and in the best interests of both Europe and the United States.

Mr Gramegna added a note of caution that Luxembourg and other European counterparts might still have reservations with the plan if it advances.

Its clear that some European countries  for example, small open economies like the Benelux countries, Scandinavian countries, Ireland  have specific considerations to value and to put forward that need to be taken into consideration, he said.

But I think the global direction is the right one. We need more solidarity, we need to break the mould of many multinationals trying to reduce their taxation close to zero, and thats been recognised by all observers: We must avoid a race to the bottom.

Mr Gramegna added that Luxembourg is very pleased that this discussion is taking place.

The US offer to the nearly 140 countries participating in OECD talks suggests nations should be able to tax more corporate profits based on revenues within their borders.
ONE of Limericks most colourful and memorable characters has been immortalised in a giant street mural unveiled in the heart of the city.

Legendary Limerick lady, Dodo Reddan, real name Hanora Quirke, was renowned for her two passions in life, her great love of dogs and rugby.

Limerick City and County Council has funded the mural which is located at Sraid an Ceoil behind St Johns Pavilion in the city centre and collaborated with Draw Out to bring to life the tribute to one of Limericks most recognisable people.

Draw Out selected artist Omin to complete the mural.

Dodo was well known for her pram full of dogs. She rescued countless dozens of stray dogs throughout her life and had been caring for 24 dogs when she passed away following a short illness in September, 1995.

Dodos other passion was rugby, and more specifically Young Munster RFC. She attended every game and was a regular at Thomond Park.

She became the clubs unofficial mascot, with her pram and dogs always festooned in the Cookies colours of black and amber.

Mayor of the City and County of Limerick, Cllr Michael Collins said: Dodo Reddan was a cherished character in Limerick, known to all. Her drive and determination are legendary and Im delighted that we are honouring her with this wonderful mural. To this day, Dodo Reddan is a name which causes the ears of any Limerick native or rugby fan to prick up, and she has now gone down in history.

Metropolitan district leader Cllr Sarah Kiely has been at the forefront in getting the mural painted, saying its the one thing she has sought during her year in office.

So delighted to get this over the line

Thank you to Catherine @DrawOut and @ominous_omin who worked all weekend on this fantastic new mural

The Reddan family are thrilled and very moved by it#Limerick #mural #dodoreddin #StreetArt https://t.co/DifbzeA2kD  Cllr Sarah Kiely (@sarahleekiely) April 6, 2021

She said: Im just thrilled to get this over the line. This is another epic mural for our beautiful city with a much loved character we remember fondly, Dodo evokes so many memories for people in Limerick and it is fitting that we acknowledge one of our own.

Some people can do incredibly good things and sometimes it never gets attention, in the last few weeks while talking to Dodos family and people who knew her, they spoke about how she fed the homeless by night, took in stray dogs and was famous when it came to rugby.

Metropolitan district leader Sarah Kiely, pictured with Catherine O'Halloran, Draw Out Limerick and artist Omin at the completed mural

One of Dodos most memorable ventures was her journey to Lansdowne Road in Dublin, for the 1993 All-Ireland League Final between Young Munster RFC and St Marys College. The story goes that she had to travel in the goods compartment of the train with her pram-full of dogs as she was not allowed bring them into the passenger carriages.

Arriving in Dublin, no taxi or bus would carry her, so she walked her pram of dogs all the way to Lansdowne Road, arriving just in time to witness Young Munsters historic victory. Many attendees at the match recount that the sight of Dodo and her dogs is one of the stand out memories of that historic day.

In addition to rescuing dogs, Dodo also supported those in need. She distributed food to the homeless, gave toys to the citys poorest children, and spoke on many social issues at the time including animal welfare and proposed domestic water charges.

Cultural and arts officer at Limerick Council, Dr Pippa Little said: The mural is a striking statement on one of the main entrances to the city, a bold and vivid tribute that celebrates her.

Catherine OHalloran, creative director with Draw Out, Limericks urban art initiative which has been managing the mural project, said: Draw out are delighted to work with Limerick City and County Council and the mayor and cathaoirleach to produce a mural featuring such an iconic and unique female figure, as Dodo Reddan. We were excited to develop this concept and bring the mural to life in a way that truly reflected the essence of such a vibrant and compassionate character.

Our hope is that this work can do what only great portraits seem to master, reacquaint us with the magic of her spirit and inspire a new level of appreciation for a life so well lived
The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is here, across most of the country. Our daily infection peak has crossed that of 2020. It will once again stress the entire system, including our creaking public health infrastructure, and such times of stress are when the force majeure clauses in commercial agreements are waved about to renege on the promised word.

Last year, early in the first lockdown in April 2020, a major financial daily had reported that several large retail chains in India, such as Reliance, the Future Group, McDonalds, Dominos Pizza and others were trying to use the omnipresent force majeure clause in all agreements and contracts to back out of commercial obligations. Typically, these notices are served on the smaller associates deemed least able to challenge it. Some succeeded.

It will be interesting to know if the government has been told by Reliance or Airtel of their inability to pay the telecom spectrum dues? Or would Prince Mohammed bin Salman take kindly to any attempt to diddle his desert kingdom of payment for oil already processed?

It wont be long before the companies try these tactics again. Several automotive companies also operate their own showrooms, as do oil marketing companies and others. Some of our top business groups like the Tatas, with Croma and Westside, and the Goenkas, with Spencers, have a strong presence in the retail sector. The More retail chain was recently sold by the Birlas to a private investment group. Companies like Godrej, Samsung and LG have nationwide exclusive networks for their products. These company showrooms are often the anchor stores in a mall or market that because of their perceived creditworthiness manage to get much lower rents.

These companies are citing a letter dated 19.02.2020 issued by the ministry of finance and is in relation to the definition of force majeure in the Manual for Procurement of Goods 2017. This manual is in relation to the procurement contracts of the Government of India for goods and services and is not applicable to the interpretation of separate force majeure clauses in private contracts.

Unlike with government procurement contracts, the performance of the obligation of contractual payments has not been prevented by any act, proclamation, regulation or ordinance of any government or government agency. The spread of Covid-19 is undoubtedly a public health crisis with multiple measures placed by the state and Central governments. However, the orders of the governments only cover educational institutions, theatres, function halls and cinema halls.

In any event, the Covid-19 virus cant be invoked as a reason to escape all contractual obligations in general by universally invoking force majeure clauses. The spread of the Covid-19 virus or the government regulations around it have to directly make the performance of the obligation in a contract impossible in order to invoke the force majeure clause. The force majeure clause in agreements clearly specify the requirement of prevention or delay by causes beyond the reasonable control of such party, including but not limited to any act, proclamation, regulation or ordinance of any government or government agency, having jurisdiction over the parties, provided that the affected party take(s) all reasonable action to eliminate the cause of the delay.

Even if a company claims that it may have become onerous to pay the contracted amount as a result of the Covid-19 related government notifications, no government notification has rendered it impossible for the companies to pay for goods and services availed or being availed of. The ability of a company to generate a monthly profit is not linked to the obligation or ability of a profitable public corporation to pay the contracted amount.

Despite the lockdown notifications, these companies continued using the premises for storing commercial goods that were for present or future sale. For instance, most retail verticals continued to take orders and payments online for all postal codes. During the nationwide lockdown too, in the absence of being able to complete the delivery of sale, they still continued to receive payments for products that were being stored in their premises.

Nothing renders the payment of rent impossible. Any kind of temporary business interruption is covered in the risk insurance that these companies are obliged to have. The burden of the rent cant be wriggled out of because of reduced business opportunities in the light of measures taken around the prevention of Covid-19.

With respect to a similar pandemic, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in 2003, the courts did not permit tenants to wriggle out of their obligations of payment in lease agreements even when the tenant was not permitted to enter the leased premises due to the temporary isolation orders of the government. In that context, the courts held that a two-week period was insignicant in view of the long duration of the lease, and that while SARS was arguably an unforeseeable event, it did not signicantly change the nature of the outstanding contractual rights or obligations of the parties in the case.

The law of the land with respect to lease agreements is that where the property leased is not destroyed or substantially and permanently unfit, the lessee cannot avoid the lease because he does not or is unable to use the land for purposes for which it is let to him. Additionally, the courts have held that even when the economic conditions are the product of a force majeure event, such financial hardship would not excuse performance if the party retained some level of control over its allocation of resources.

All our big companies report significant profits. Reliance Industries Ltd has reported a post-tax profit of over Rs 35,000 crores for the year ended March 2019. Its annual report also highlighted that Reliance Retail became the first retailer in India to cross the Rs 100,000 crore turnover milestone. Reliance Retail posted a profit of Rs 2,727 crores just in Q3 of 2019. Incidentally, Mukesh Ambanis personal wealth went up by 60 per cent in the pandemic year.

It would be a travesty if these big groups should attempt to wrongfully wriggle out of their contractual obligations in such difficult times. Such attempts to renege on performance obligations particularly oppresses their smaller associates.
Maharashtra, the country's worst-affected state from coronavirus, might impose complete lockdown if the current situation continues to deteriorate, a senior minister indicated on Friday.

Maharashtra's Health Minister Rajesh Tope said in order to break the chain of coronavirus infection, the state government might have to impose a lockdown. Tope, in an interview with a TV channel, said, "We are not in favour of a lockdown but it will be essential to break the chain if things don't improve".

In another news report, the minister of relief and rehabilitation Vijay Wadettiwar suggested that Maharashtra must enforce a complete lockdown for three weeks in order to save people's lives. Speaking to a Marathi news channel, Wadettiwar said he will put the demand regarding the lockdown before Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray instead of weekend lockdown.

Maharashtra government so far has announced restrictions, including night curfews and weekend lockdowns, to curtail the spread of the coronavirus in the state. The night curfew is from 8 pm to 7 am in the state. Whereas the weekend lockdown begins from 8 pm on Friday to 7 am on Monday.

The Maharashtra government has also put a curb on gatherings of five or more people throughout the day. Besides, religious, social, cultural, or political functions have also been put on hold for now. The government has also shut schools, colleges, gyms, bars.

Maharashtra reported 56,286 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, which took its caseload to 32,29,547. Also, 376 deaths due to the infection pushed the toll to 57,028. A total of 36,130 patients recuperated and got discharged from hospitals on Thursday. The state's recovery count touched 26,49,757. Maharashtra's COVID-19 recovery rate now stands at 82.05 per cent, while the fatality rate is 1.77 per cent. There are 27,02,613 people in-home quarantine and 22,661 in institutional quarantine, according to state health department data.

Also read: COVID-19 vaccination halts in Mumbai's BKC centre, 75 other sites due to shortage

Also read: 'Was COVID-19 vaccine export an oversight?': Rahul Gandhi asks in letter to PM Modi




KEY TAKEAWAYS

The Joint Managing Director of the company KRBL Limited was accused by the Enforcement Directorate with regard to offences involving money laundering.

The ED had taken the businessman inti custody on the 29th of January for lacking cooperation in the probe of the Investigating Authority in the Agusta Westland International Ltd. VVIP chopper scam.

The businessman applied for bail and was granted the same after being in custody for more than 60 days.

Such bail was granted by Special Judge Arvind Kumar in Delhis Rouse Avenue Court on Monday, the 5th of April, 2021.

INTRODUCTION

The businessman Anoop Kumar Gupta was granted bail by Delhis Rouse Avenue Court in connection to the alleged VVIP chopper scam which approximately amounted to Rs. 3600 crores. He had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on the 29th of January, 2021 and had been in custody ever since then.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar granted such relief to the accused businessman, who was admitted to bail on his furnishing personal bond in the sum of Rs. 5 Lac with two sureties of the like amount with further conditions that :-

1. The accused shall not tamper with evidence.



2. The accused shall not try to contact or influence the witnesses.



3. The accused shall join investigation as and when called by the IO.



4. The accused shall not leave India without the permission of the Court.



5. The accused shall furnish his mobile numbers and e-mail IDs used by him to the investigating Officer. He shall also inform the change in mobile numbers and e-mail IDs, if any, to the IO.

BACKGROUND

A contract for the supply of 12 VVIP/non VVIP helicopters was awarded to M/s Agusta Westland International Ltd., the British subsidiary of the Italy-based company, Finmeccanica, which amounted to Euro 556.262 million, approximately 3726.96 Crores INR, and the Ministry of Defence, Government of India and M/s Agusta Westland International Ltd executed the agreement to such effect 08.02.2010. Such deal was scrapped in the year 2014.

The proceeds of crime of money laundering was approximately Euro 24.37 Million, out of which Euro 12.4 Million was received in M/s Interstellar Technologies Ltd., which was further transferred to various companies including M/s Rawasi Al Khaleej General Trading LLC Dubai, M/s Carisma Investments Limited Mauritius, M/s Palmira

Consulting Services Limited, M/s Windsor Group Holdings Limited BVI, M/s Capital Infrastructure Limited, Mauritius etc. M/s Rawasi Al Khaleej General Trading LLC, Dubai (RAKGT) was incorporated in 2007 by M/s KRBL DMCC, Dubai.

Directors of KRBL DMCC are Anoop Gupta, Anil Kumar Mittal and Arun Kumar Gupta. M/s KRBL DMCC itself was incorporated in 2006 as 100% subsidiary of M/s KRBL Limited, India. M/s KRBL Limited is a prominent player in the Basmati Rice Industry in both domestic and overseas markets. Anoop Gupta is the Joint Managing Director of KRBL Limited.

The Joint MD of the company was arrested by ED after his refusal to cooperate in the probe after the contract was scrapped by India in 2014 due to allegations of irregularities in performance of the contract.

CONTENTION OF THE COUNSEL OF THE ACCUSED

The Learned Counsels for the accused Anoop Kumar Gupta, Shri Shadman Ahmed Siddiqui and Shri. Shubham Prajapati brought to the attention of the Court the medical conditions of the accused who required immediate medical attention.

The counsels notified the Court of the cooperation of the accused with respect to every summon issued by the ED and produced any and every document as and when required on the orders of the ED. Thus, the custody of the accused, who has already been in custody for about 60 days, is in no way going to prove to be more beneficial to the investigation than if he were to be released from custody on bail.

They also submitted that all the evidences are documentary in nature and the allegations made against the accused have to be tested during the trial, which might take years to be concluded, which makes the accused to be held in custody a moot point. The accused cannot be incarcerated for an indefinite period as it would amount to pre-trial detention.

The counsel submitted that the accused satisfies the triple test of bail and that the statement of witnesses allegedly incriminating the accused as per law are not credible evidences and cannot be basis to deny bail and the same has to be tested during the trial.

The counsel also clarified with the court that there are no chances of the accused absconding owing to him being 62 years of age, and his roots in the society.

They further submitted that twin conditions of Section 45 (1) of PMLA Act are not applicable in view of judgment passed by Hon'ble Supreme Court in Nikesh Tarachand Shah's case, 2016 (11) Sec. 1 wherein Hon'ble Supreme Court observed that the twin conditions of Section 45 (1) of PMLA are violative of constitutional provisions and struck down the said twin conditions of Section 45 (1) PMLA.

CONTENTIONS OF THE COUNSEL OF THE ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE (ED)

The counsel for the Enforcement Directorate, Shri N.K. Matta for the Enforcement Directorate, Shri N.K. Matta submitted to the court the investigation is still going on with regard to the role of the accomplices/aides of the accused, including accused, to derive the end use and the last mile connectivity of the money trail, and if the accused was to be released on bail, there was a good chance that he might influence the witnesses, tamper the evidence and hamper the investigation.

The counsel further referred to the provisions of Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, which prescribes stringent conditions for the grant of bail to the accused in offences concerning money laundering, and further argued that reliance of the accused on section 167 (2) Cr.P.C for grant of bail is misplaced since prosecution complaint on the basis of investigation conducted till date has already been filed and

process has been issued against the accused.

The learned counsel submitted that there are sufficient incriminating documents have come on record to show the complicity of accused. This case involved the commission of serious economic offences having public ramifications which need to be considered seriously while granting bail. In such cases it is the interest of the public which needs to be considered and bail is liable to be rejected if it would result in the hindrance of further investigation and tampering of evidence. There exists a reasonable apprehension of accused tampering the evidence and hampering the investigation of the instant case. Further, being an influential person, his adverse impact on further investigation of the instant case is writ large. It is submitted that there is reasonable apprehension that accused will try to liquidate the proceeds of crime and destroy money trail apart from continuing to be involved in the commission of money laundering.

The Court, after considering arguments of both the parties, granted the bail to the businessman after a personal bond and two sureties and promise on the behalf of the accused to comply with certain obligations such as making himself available for the investigation whenever called, and restrictions such as not to leave the country without prior approval of the court or tampering with evidences and witnesses.
(Newser)  The Matt Gaetz controversy gave an anti-Trump political action committee a reason to put up a quite controversial billboard in Florida: "Matt Gaetz wants to 'date' your child," reads the billboard paid for by the liberal Mad Dog PAC. It's a reference, of course, to the Justice Department's probe into allegations that the Republican Florida lawmaker had sex with a 17-year-old girl including paying her to travel, and that he paid for sex with other women. A former staffer for Bill Clinton's administration, Clyde Taylor, started the PAC; he tweeted a photo of the billboard to Gaetz and asked how he liked it, the Northwest Florida Daily News reports. The congressman has not publicly responded. The Daily Beast reports that Gaetz allegedly sent $900 to friend and accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg in May 2018 via Venmo, and Greenberg then sent the same amount to three young women via the app, including at least one teenager.

story continues below

Meanwhile Thursday, female aides in Gaetz's office issued a statement defending him, the Hill reports. They say they support him and have never seen him act inappropriately, and they note that he has empowered women to rise up the ranks in his office. The statement, which is not signed with any specific names, notes that the staffers have traveled with him and tracked his schedule and have seen "no hint of impropriety. No ounce of untruthfulness." But the New York Times reports Gaetz's legislative director abruptly resigned last Friday, reportedly because of the scandal; he's the second senior aide to the congressman to abruptly resign recently. Also Thursday, Adam Kinzinger became the first Republican congressman to call on Gaetz to resign, CNN reports. (Greenberg is expected to cooperate with authorities, which could be bad news for Gaetz.)
David Nasser, Liberty Universitys campus pastor and senior vice president of the schools spiritual development office, who helped steer students through the shameful sex scandal involving the institutions former president, Jerry Falwell Jr., will resign at the end of the semester.

With his wife, Jennifer, by his side, Nasser, who began working with the university in 2014 after serving as pastor of Christ City Church near Birmingham, Alabama, announced in a video message to students Wednesday that this semester will be his last.

After seven years of being a part of this staff as campus pastor, the Lord is transitioning me out of this role, and this will be my last semester here, Nasser said.

He explained that God is calling him to move with his family to Nashville, Tennessee, and serve at an exciting new nonprofit, which he did not name.

Source:The Christian Post
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The global medical waste container market size is expected to reach USD 2.64 billion by 2027 according to a new study by Polaris Market Research. The report Medical Waste Containers Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Product [Chemotherapy Containers, Biohazardous Waste Containers, Sharps Waste Containers, Resource Conservation, and Recovery Act (RCRA) Containers, Other], By Waste Type; By End-Use; and By Regions; Segment Forecast, 2020  2027 gives a detailed insight into current market dynamics and provides analysis on future market growth.

Medical waste containers are used for the disposal and management of all types of wastes generated from healthcare activities such as treatments, surgeries, and diagnosis. These containers aid in the collection, storing, handling, and disposal of medical debris, thus reducing spill and exposure risk for laboratory professionals, service workers as well as the common public.

The major factors triggering the market growth include an increasing prevalence of infectious and chronic ailments, rising awareness pertaining to threats of improper disposal of healthcare waste, and a surge in implementation of stringent rules for the disposal and management of medical debris. For instance, governing bodies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have set several guidelines regarding the disposal of healthcare waste.

Request for sample Copy : https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/medical-waste-container-market/request-for-sample

Moreover, the growing demand for safe and proper disposal of useless remains produced in healthcare centers especially during the COVID-19 pandemic is augmenting the market growth. Several foremost market players are increasing the production of medical waste bins and taking additional efforts toward protective measures to curtail disturbance in waste management.

Recently, in June 2020, the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has enforced a temporary policy for the organizations producing hazardous waste, such as healthcare waste, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, government bodies in numerous countries are making it compulsory to dispose of medical waste in specialized containment arrangements to ensure the safety of service workers as well as the general public. Such trends are contributing to demand growth.

Companies operating in the industry include Medtronic, Sharps Compliance, Inc., Mauser Group, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Daniels Sharpsmart Inc., Terra Universal, Inc., Bondtech Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Henry Shein, Inc., and EnviroTain. These players are profoundly focusing on the development of advanced and safe medical waste bins. Moreover, new product launches, mergers & acquisitions, partnerships, R&D, etc., are a few initiatives taken by these players to obtain market share.

Any Question! ask our industry expert: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/medical-waste-container-market/speak-to-analyst

For instance, Daniels Health, a leading supplier of sharps, medical, and biohazardous waste disposal and clinical product solutions to the U.S. healthcare industry, have invested significant funds in the R&D to develop the Sharpsmart system which significantly helped decrease injuries owing to sharps medical instruments and needles.

Read More : https://www.medgadget.com/2020/12/medical-waste-container-market-to-surpass-2-64-billion-by-2027-cagr-5-9-polaris-market-research.html
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has proposed removing the rule in a decree that says foreign investors are allowed to hold no more than 35% of shares in petroleum trading businesses.

The rule is included in an amended draft Decree 83/2014. The Ministry said that it was necessary to do further research.

In its document recently submitted to the Government, MoIT further explained the regulations allow domestic petroleum trading firms involved in production activities to transfer their shares to foreign investors, but it cannot exceed 35%.

This is controversial content. The ministries of Public Security, Planning and Investment, and Finance believe that this is a new regulation, raising concerns about energy security, legality, and the actual benefits of opening up for foreign investment.

The amendment to the decree on petroleum trading has not been completed yet. Photo: L. Bang

According to MoIT, this regulation has recently been included in Decree 83, but in fact it has been implemented for many years for state-owned petroleum trading enterprises such as Petrolimex (with 20% of shares owned by foreign investors), PVOil (35%), BSR (49%), through equitization and mobilization of investment capital. This was also approved by the Prime Minister before implementation. These firms are still doing business and operating normally.

MoIT explained that the inclusion of this regulation in the amended draft Decree is to comply with the Governments guidance issued in March 2016 on the issuance of shares to increase capital for strategic shareholders of Petrolimex.

In addition, the participation of foreign investors contributes significantly to improving governance, making financial statements more transparent, thereby improving efficiency and competitiveness, and helping increase the value of petroleum trading businesses through shares.

The Ministry said that foreign investors are very knowledgeable and abide by Vietnamese laws and regulations in petroleum trading. However, because of the absence of official and specific regulations on the shareholding ratio of foreign investors, domestic enterprises as well as state management agencies are very confused when negotiating with foreign investors on investment and capital increases, especially the lack of heterogeneity in the shareholding rate of this subject when these firms are listed on the stock exchange.

The Ministry said that when the Government Office consulted the Government members on the draft amended Decree, 24 of 25 members passed it. One did not agree with the content allowing petroleum traders to transfer no more than 35% of shares to foreign investors. Three members approved but had additional comments on some content of the amended draft decree.

For the needs of businesses?

According to MoIT, in fact, there are thousands of other companies involving in petroleum trading, including many listed joint stock companies which also need to attract foreign investment.

Foreign investors are also interested in the shares of those firms, but the lack of clear and specific regulations hinders them from investing in local petroleum trading firms. Therefore, MoIT believes that this regulation is consistent with the actual situation and the development needs of the petroleum industry.

The rule on share transfer limitation at 35% helps solve the problem of capital, technology, and business management skill attraction while still restricting foreign investors' intervention in production and business activities of local enterprises, the MoIT said.

Therefore, it is necessary to consider the benefits of not opening the door for foreign investors to buy shares of local petroleum trading companies with the early opening of the door for foreign capital and technology.

"The proposal to open the petroleum market comes from the needs of domestic petroleum trading businesses, not from foreign enterprises," the Ministry said. Most countries in the world and the region have opened their petroleum markets, such as China, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan.

The Ministry affirmed that petroleum enterprises, regardless of economic sector, when doing business in the Vietnamese market, must comply with the conditions and provisions of this Decree and other related legal documents. Therefore, businesses are controlled to ensure management of energy security, quality, fire safety and others.

Allowing share transfer in such cases is an indirect investment activity that does not allow foreign firms to directly exercise the right to distribute petroleum in Vietnam. The exercise of the right to distribute petroleum in Vietnam is only possible when a foreign company establishes its branch in Vietnam and directly conducts distribution activities.

The Ministry also added that if the Prime Minister thinks this content needs to be further researched and evaluated, MoIT will propose removing this content from the amended draft decree.

This decree has not been approved by the Government, so it will have to wait for the decision of the new Government.

Commenting on the draft decree, the Ministry of Finance proposed setting regulations to control the number of petroleum traders. In response, MoIT said that the increase in the number of petroleum traders is consistent with actual conditions. Before 2015, there were 23 major traders nationwide, which has increased to about 40 at present. The Ministry emphasized that the increase is not high. China has nearly 500 and Singapore more than 500 petroleum traders. MoIT promised to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and relevant agencies to strengthen the post-inspection task to closely control the quality and number of petroleum distributors.

Luong Bang
Brussels, April 9 : The European Commission has strongly condemned the violence in Northern Ireland which erupted last week over a post-Brexit trading arrangement.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms the acts of violence that have occurred in Northern Ireland over the past days. Nobody has anything to gain from this. We call on all those involved to refrain immediately from these violent acts," the Commission's chief spokesperson Eric Mamer tweeted on Thursday.

British and Irish leaders have also called for an end to the riots.

"The way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or criminality," said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"I utterly condemn the violent attacks on police, a journalist, and bus driver over recent days in The North. Now is the time for the two Governments and leaders on all sides to work together to defuse tensions and restore calm," tweeted Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin.

The Northern Ireland Executive also said on Thursday that it is "gravely concerned" by the recent riots in the region in which more than 50 police officers have been injured.

Riots erupted last week in Belfast, Northern Ireland between nationalists, loyalists and the police over the Northern Ireland Protocol, the trading arrangement which they claim has created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain.

The latest development followed several nights of unrest in loyalist communities amid tensions over the Protocol within the Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union (EU).

The Protocol, as an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement, was ratified by the two sides and has been in force since February 1, 2020.

"The protocol was agreed to protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland, to protect the Good Friday and Belfast agreement, to protect North-South cooperation, to avoid a hard border," said European Commission spokesperson for EU-UK relations Daniel Ferrie.

On March 31, the European executive arm received a draft UK-EU work program from the Britain, following the bloc's request to be provided with "a credible roadmap with clear deliverables and milestones for the implementation of the protocol", said Ferrie.

The document is currently being reviewed by the European Commission, and contacts at the technical level have been established between the two parties, he added.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - City View Green Holdings Inc. (CSE: CVGR) (OTCQB: CVGRF) ("City View" or the "Company"), trading through the facilities of the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") under the symbol "CVGR" and on the OTCQB under the symbol "CVGRF", announces the resignation of Donald Robinson as a director of the Company. The Company would like to thank him for his efforts during the past year and wish him well in his future endeavors.

City View also announces that it is undertaking a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") of up to 25,000,000 units ("Units") at a price of $0.08 per Unit for proceeds of up to $2,000,000 if the Private Placement is fully subscribed. City View previously filed for and has received price protection for this financing from the CSE. The Company has today closed the first tranche (the "First Tranche") of this Private Placement and issued an aggregate of 3,892,500 Units for total gross proceeds of $311,400.

Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company and one-half (0.5) of one warrant. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one common share of the Company at a price of $0.15/share for a period of 2 years from the closing date, subject to acceleration from and after the date that is four months and one day after the closing date, if the closing price of the Company's common shares on the CSE is equal to or exceeds $0.20 for 10 consecutive trading days, at which time City View may then accelerate the expiry date of the warrants to the date that is 30 days following the date on which the Company issues notice to all the warrant holders of the new expiry date.

The Units are being offered to qualified purchasers in reliance upon exemptions from prospectus and registration requirements of applicable securities legislation. A finder's fee in cash and/or non-transferable warrants may be paid to eligible finders in relation to this financing. Proceeds from this financing will be used for general working capital.

Certain Insiders participated in the First Tranche closing (Rob Fia, the Company's President, CEO and director, purchased 1,200,000 Units; Stephen McNeill, a director of the Company, pursuant 312,500 Units, and Quinsam Capital Corporation, an insider by virtue of its shareholdings, purchased 1,250,000 Units). Participation by Insiders in the Private Placement is considered a "related party transaction" pursuant to MI 61-101. The Company is exempt from the requirements to obtain a formal valuation and minority shareholder approval in connection with the Insiders' participation in the Private Placement in reliance of sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(a) of MI 61-101, respectively, on the basis that participation in the Private Placement by the Insiders did not exceed 25% of the fair market value of the Company's market capitalization.

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 of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons (as defined in the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration is available.

For further information contact:

City View Green Holdings Inc.

Rob Fia, CEO & President

Email: rob@cityviewgreen.ca

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulations services accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About City View

City View Green is a leading cannabis-infused food company focused on the development of food brands, extraction and distribution. Upon the anticipated receipt of its Cannabis Act processing and sales licences ("Cannabis Licences"), City View will incorporate cannabis-infused food production and extraction at its Brantford, Ontario facility. Once operational, it is our expectation that City View will produce high quality cannabis-infused food, oils, distillates, and water-soluble products for the food and beverage markets. In addition, City View owns a 27.5% stake in Budd Hutt Inc. ("Budd Hutt"), a retail-focused cannabis company with access to cannabis cultivation and production licences in Alberta and other retail opportunities across Canada. Through its relationship with Budd Hutt, the Company anticipates securing shelf space, product placement, and distribution opportunities for City View's products. For more information visit www.cityviewgreen.ca.

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the beliefs of management and reflect the Company's current expectations. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events.

THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE COMPANY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE THE COMPANY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS.

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/80015
JACKSON, MI -- A 36-year-old Jackson County man was injured Tuesday in a vehicle fire police said they suspect was caused by the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine.

Police and firefighters arrived at the Auto Zone parking lot on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Jackson at about 12:23 a.m. April 6, and found the vehicle burning bumper to bumper, Jackson Deputy Director of Fire Services David Wooden said.

While at the scene, police were told a man had shown up at the Henry Ford Allegiance Health Emergency Department with burns on his arms, Jackson Police and Fire Services Director Elmer Hitt said. The man was transferred to the University of Michigan Hospital for further medical treatment, Hitt said.

The incident remains under investigation.

Read more:

Shots fired at Jackson park were from 16 year old, police say

Motorcycle rider suffers head injury in Jackson County crash

Police seek help in finding truck, other items stolen from Jackson storage building
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 19:15:56|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The friendly cooperation between China and the Philippines far outweighs maritime differences, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Friday.

Zhao made the remarks when asked to comment on Philippine presidential spokesperson Harry Roque's remarks that the Philippines and China will resolve the Niu'e Jiao issue through diplomatic channels and peaceful means.

Roque said any difference between the Philippines and China cannot define the relations between the two countries, nor will it hinder the positive momentum of development of the bilateral ties.

Zhao told a press briefing that China and the Philippines are friendly neighbors, and friendly cooperation between the two countries far outweighs maritime differences.

China has always and will continue to work with the Philippines to properly resolve differences through friendly consultations, promote cooperation, enhance mutual trust and maintain the overall situation of the bilateral relations and maritime peace and stability. Enditem
Chris Lilley just debuted his new podcast Ja'miezing, which is based on his iconic schoolgirl character Ja'mie King.

And on Friday, the podcast claimed the number one spot on Apple's podcast charts.

The comedian, 46, took to Twitter to share the exciting news with his legions of fans, writing: 'Ja'miezing debuts at number one on the Australian Apple Podcast Charts.'

It's a hit! Chris Lilley's Ja'miezing podcast has debuted in top spot on the Australian Apple Charts as he revives his iconic bratty schoolgirl character Ja'mie King

He also included an image that showed his podcast beat NPR's Planet Money, The Dropout and Cautionary Tales.

Meanwhile, on the podcast's official Facebook page, Ja'mie - who is now a public relations student at university - shared her excitement over the news.

She wrote in a post: 'Ok so my Mum just woke me up screaming and smashing on my door. At first I was like chill bitch and then she goes - "the podcast is number one in the UK and Australia!" Like f*** my actual life.

Taking top spot: On Friday, the comedian, 46, took to Twitter to share the exciting news with his legions of fans, he included an image that showed his podcast beat NPR's Planet Money, The Dropout and Cautionary Tales

'Stay quiche': Meanwhile on the podcast's official Facebook page, Ja'mie - who is now a public relations student at university - shared her excitement over the news

'I threw my doona off and hugged her (which I haven't done since my 8th birthday),' she said.

'Also my lecturer emailed me yesterday saying she'd heard the podcast and thinks its a bit offensive so I'm like "Ummmmm cancel me then b**** cause I'm leaving it up."

'I hope I don't lose marks for it. Anyway. Love you all so f***ing much. Stay quiche. Ja'mie xoxo,' the PR student added.

'She's literally Ja'miezing': The podcast series, titled Ja'miezing, will see Lilley - in character as Ja'mie - offering 'life advice from Sydney's own Gen-Z icon and banter queen'

The podcast series, titled Ja'miezing, will see Lilley - in character as Ja'mie - offering 'life advice from Sydney's own Gen-Z icon and banter queen'.

Ja'mie King made her debut in the 2005 series We Can Be Heroes, followed by Summer Heights High and Ja'mie: Private School Girl.

According to the podcast's official Apple bio, Ja'mie has evolved from a humble schoolgirl into an 'influencer who everyone wants as their best friend'.

'She's quiche, she's wise, she's unapologetic, and no offence but she's literally Ja'miezing,' it adds.

'She's quiche, she's wise, she's unapologetic': Ja'mie King made her debut in the 2005 series We Can Be Heroes, followed by Summer Heights High and Ja'mie: Private School Girl (pictured)

In the first episode, Ja'mie explains she took a gap year after finishing school and is now in her final year of university.

She still has a private school attitude, making the coronavirus pandemic all about her after her European summer holiday was cancelled.

The revived character will see Lilley parodying performative activism, as Ja'mie - who is hardly known for being politically correct - tells listeners she's 'really woke now'.

In June last year, four of Lilley's shows - Jonah from Tonga, Angry Boys, Summer Heights High and We Can Be Heroes - were removed from Netflix in Australia and New Zealand.

She's woke now! The revived character will see Lilley parodying performative activism, as Ja'mie - who is hardly known for being politically correct - tells listeners she's 'really woke now'

The programs raised questions about racial discrimination as several of the characters were portrayed with Lilley in blackface and brownface.

On Angry Boys, he portrayed African-American rapper S.mouse and performed a song called Squashed N****.

In Jonah from Tonga, he painted his face brown and wore a curly wig to portray troubled teen Jonah Takalua.

Controversial: Four of Lilley's shows - Jonah from Tonga, Angry Boys, Summer Heights High and We Can Be Heroes - were removed from Netflix as it raised questions about racial discrimination with Lilley in blackface and brownface

In We Can Be Heroes, Lilley played Chinese physics student Ricky Wong.

Despite having four of his shows removed, Lilley still has two series available on Netflix: Ja'mie: Private School Girl and Lunatics.

Chris has defended his style of comedy, telling The Weekend Australian last year: 'I'm not trying to do the thing that is trendy at the moment.'

Raising questions: For Jonah from Tonga, he painted his face brown and wore a curly wig to portray troubled teen Jonah Takalua (centre)

Still available: Despite having four of his shows removed, Lilley still has two series available on Netflix: Ja'mie: Private School Girl and Lunatics. Pictured: Lilley as South African 'dog whisperer' Jana Melhoopen-Jonks in Lunatics

The award-winning comedian went on to say he would continue making 'clever, layered' characters.

Defending his controversial portrayals, he added: 'When you meet them, you think "I know that type of person", but then there is a twist, something crazy.

'[In] the end you think, "Actually, I kind of relate to this, she just did that thing that I do every day."'

You can listen to Ja'miezing here
Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, answering the inquiry of Vestnik Kavkaza about preparations for the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Russian-Azerbaijani diplomatic relations, stressed the high importance of this event for Russia's foreign policy contacts.



"The issue is being worked out, and such an important event will be properly celebrated, various and interesting events will take place," Maria Zakharova assured.



She also recalled a detailed interview with Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko on April 2, dedicated to the 29th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan and Armenia.



The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry drew attention to the fact that "they still have a lot of time to prepare for the celebration of the diplomatic anniversary."



Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation were established on April 4, 1992.
Connecticut health officials are urging homeowners who rely on well water to have their systems checked for arsenic and uranium contamination.

The advice comes as the result of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey released Tuesday that found almost 4% of private wells in the state have elevated levels of arsenic and 4.7% have higher concentrations of uranium than acceptable under guidelines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Jospeh Ayotte, chief of the environmental hydrology section of the New England Water Science Center of the USGS, said the problem was first discovered in 2017, leading to a more comprehensive study.

He said that there is a national problem with the contaminants and that in Connecticut, levels are higher in certain areas of the state.

We see high concentrations of arsenic that kind of go from the southwest corner to the northeast corner along the strike of the bedrock, he said. Uranium seems to be more specifically related to certain rock formations and different ones where the uranium can be dissolved by water.

Arsenic exposure has been lined to an increased cancer risk, low birth weight, decreased child intellectual development, immune system suppression and other health issues. Ingestion of uranium has been associated with kidney disease.

The state Department of Public Health said anyone finding high levels of arsenic or uranium should find an alternate water source or have proper filtration equipment installed on their well system, or on sinks where drinking water is drawn.

Above certain levels, those risks are real, said Lori J. Mathieu, the departments Environmental Health & Drinking Water Branch Chief. `If you dont test your well, you dont know.

There are about 322,600 private wells in Connecticut that provide water to about 23% of the states population, according to DPH.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Homeowners Connecticut
Kianna Ameni-Melvins parents used to tell her that there wasnt much money to be made in education. But it was easy enough for her to tune them out as she enrolled in an education studies program, with her mind set on teaching high school special education.

Then the coronavirus shut down her campus at Towson University in Maryland, and she sat home watching her twin brother, who has autism, as he struggled through online classes. She began to question how the professions low pay could impact the challenges of pandemic teaching.

She asked her classmates whether they, too, were considering other fields. Some of them were. Then she began researching roles with transferable skills, like human resources. I didnt want to start despising a career I had a passion for because of the salary, Ms. Ameni-Melvin, 21, said. Few professions have been more upended by the pandemic than teaching, as school districts have vacillated between in-person, remote and hybrid models of learning, leaving teachers concerned for their health and scrambling to do their jobs effectively.

For students considering a profession in turmoil, the disruptions have seeded doubts, which can be seen in declining enrollment numbers. A survey by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education found that 19 percent of undergraduate-level and 11 percent of graduate-level teaching programs saw a significant drop in enrollment this year. And Teach for America, which recruits recent college graduates to teach in low-income schools across the country, said it had received fewer applications for its fall 2021 corps compared with this period last year.

Many program leaders believe enrollment fell because of the perceived hazards posed by in-person teaching and the difficulties of remote learning, combined with longstanding frustrations over low pay compared with professions that require similar levels of education. (The national average for a public-school teachers salary is roughly $61,000.) Some are hopeful that enrollment will return to its prepandemic level as vaccines roll out and schools resume in-person learning.

Exhausted VolunteersInexperienced adventurers have flooded remote areas like Wyomings Sublette County during the pandemic. When they call for help, the task is left to an overwhelmed network of volunteers.

But the challenges in teacher recruitment and retention run deeper: The number of education degrees conferred by American colleges and universities dropped by 22 percent between 2006 and 2019, despite an overall increase in U.S. university graduates, stoking concerns about a future teacher shortage.

For some young people, doubts about entering the teaching work force amid the pandemic are straightforward: They fear that the job now entails increased risk.

Nicole Blagsvedt, an education major at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, felt a jolt of anxiety when she began her classroom training in a local public school that recently brought its students back for full in-person learning. After months of seeing only her roommates, moving around a classroom brimming with fourth and fifth graders was nerve-racking. Ms. Blagsvedts role also encompassed new responsibilities: sanitizing fidget toys, enforcing mask use, coordinating the cleaning of the water bottles that students brought to school because they couldnt use the water fountains. In her first week, she received a call from an office assistant informing her that one of her students had been exposed to Covid-19, and that she had to help shepherd the students out of the classroom so it could be disinfected.

This panic crossed my mind, she said. I thought: This was what its going to be like now.

Administrators running teacher preparation programs said the new anxieties were most likely scaring away some potential applicants. People are weighing whether or not it makes sense to go to a classroom when there are alternatives that may seem safer, said David J. Chard, dean of the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development at Boston University.

But for many students, the challenges posed by remote teaching can be just as steep. Those training in districts with virtual classes have had to adjust their expectations; while they might have pictured themselves holding students hands and forming deep relationships, theyre now finding themselves staring at faces on a Zoom grid instead.

Being online is draining, said Oscar Nollette-Patulski, who had started an education degree at the University of Michigan but is now considering swapping majors. You have to like what youre doing a lot more for it to translate on a computer. Im wondering, if I dont like doing this online that much, should I be getting a degree in it?

In some instances, remote teaching has deprived education students of training opportunities altogether. At Portland State University in Oregon, some students were not able to get classroom placements while schools were operating remotely. Others were given only restricted access to student documents and academic histories because of privacy concerns.

At the universitys College of Education there was a decline in applications this year, which the dean, Marvin Lynn, attributed to students in the community hearing about the difficulties in training during the pandemic.

Applications may tick back up as schools return to in-person learning, Dr. Lynn said, but the challenges are likely to outlast this year. Educators have struggled with recruitment to the profession since long before the pandemic. In recent years, about 8 percent of public schoolteachers were leaving the work force annually, through retirement or attrition. National surveys of teachers have pointed to low compensation and poor working conditions as the causes of turnover.

The pandemic is likely to exacerbate attrition and burnout. In a recent national study of teachers by the RAND Corporation, one quarter of respondents said that they were likely to leave the profession before the end of the school year. Nearly half of public schoolteachers who stopped teaching after March 2020 but before their scheduled retirements did so because of Covid-19.

This attrition comes even as many schools are trying to add staff to handle reduced class sizes and to ensure compliance with Covid-19 safety protocols. Miguel A. Cardona, the secretary of education, recently called for financial help to reopen schools safely, which will allow them to bring on more employees so they can make their classes smaller. The Covid-19 relief package approved by President Biden includes $129 billion in funding for K-12 schools, which can be used to increase staff.

Not all teacher preparation programs are experiencing a decrease in interest. California State University in Long Beach saw enrollment climb 15 percent this year, according to the systems preliminary data. Marquita Grenot-Scheyer, the assistant vice chancellor for the university system, attributes this partly to an executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom, which temporarily allowed candidates to enter preparation programs without meeting basic skill requirements because of the states teacher shortage.

Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City also saw an increase in applications this year, according to a spokesman, who noted that teaching has historically been a recession-proof profession that sometimes attracts more young people in times of crisis.

Even some of those with doubts have chosen to stick with their plans. Ms. Ameni-Melvin, the Towson student, said she would continue her education program for now because she felt invested after three years there.

Maria Izunza Barba also decided to put aside her doubts and started an education studies program at the Wheelock College of Education at Boston University last fall. Earlier in the pandemic, as she watched her parents, both teachers, stumble through the difficulties of preparing for remote class, she wondered: Was it too late to choose law school instead?

Ms. Izunza Barba, 19, had promised to help her mother with any technical difficulties that arose during her first class, so she crawled under the desk, out of the students sight, and showed her mother which buttons to press in order to share her screen. Then she watched her mother, anxious about holding the students attention, perform a Spanish song about economics.

Ms. Izunza Barba said she realized then that there was no other career path that could prove as meaningful. Seeing her make her students laugh made me realize how much a teacher can impact someones day, she said. I was like, whoa, thats something I want to do.

Emma Goldberg

: nytimes.com
Prince Philip, the source of the Queen's love and joy, died at the age of 99. This leaves the royal family and the whole world mourning.

Prince Philip, the Queen's Husband, Has Died at the Age of 99

Prince Philip, or Philip Mountbatten was born in Greece on June 10, 1921. He descended from Greek and Danish royal families. As an infant, he was forced to flee his homeland in a wooden fruit box because his father was in danger during World War I.

He married Queen Elizabeth more than 70 years ago. He died at Windsor Castle on Friday morning, according to Buckingham Palace. He was 99 years old, reported Los Angeles Times via MSN.

The Prince faithfully served the Queen during her 50-year reign, the longest of any British monarch. When they tied the knot, he had to give up his royal chances of the throne to be naturalized in the UK and serve as the Duke of Edinburgh.

He retired from royal service in 2017, attending over 22,000 public meetings or solo events and giving almost 5,500 speeches. According to British officials, he had been doing that since 1952.

Prince Philip underwent hip replacement surgery in 2018 and made a grand entrance with the Queen at his grandson Prince Harry's royal wedding to Meghan Markle.

In January 2019 at Sandringham, he had a car accident that overturned the Land Rover he was driving and wounded two female passengers, as per Time. In December of that year, he spent four nights in a London hospital to treat a "pre-existing illness," and was sent home before Christmas.During the coronavirus pandemic, the retired Prince kept a low profile, while the Queen mostly carried out her duties from afar. In February 2021, he was admitted to hospital for what Buckingham Palace described as a "precautionary measure" after "feeling unwell."

In 1997, on their 50th wedding anniversary, the Queen declared her love for Prince Philip. "He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments. He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know." said the Queen.

Related Stories:

Prince Philip Dead: Hoax Stories Circulating Online After Duke Allegedly Made Funeral Requests

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@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The private-equity owners of Portugal-based chocolate maker Imperial Produtos Alimentares have agreed to sell the business to confectionery peer Chocolates Valor in Spain.

Vallis Sustainable Investments, the investor that has owned Imperial since 2015 and is based in the Portuguese city of Porto, did not reveal the terms of the transaction, which it said represents the first international acquisition for Chocolates Valor, a business founded in 1881 located in Alicante in Spain.

Imperial was established in 1932 and supplies a range of chocolate under brands such as Jubileu, Regina, Pintarolas and Allegro, including vegan offerings, no-added-sugar and reduced-sugar varieties.

Based in Vila do Conde in Portugal, the company also exports to 50 countries in the regions of Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia. It also provides contract manufacturing and private-label services.

Eduardo Rocha, the CEO of Vallis, said the private-equity firm had invested EUR16m (US$19m) in Imperial since it bought the company, including in its facilities, and Chocolates Valor is well placed to continue its growth.

The deal is subject to competition approvals.
Neuralink co-founder Max Hodak, who started the brain-computer interface company with Elon Musk, has claimed that humans have the technology to recreate Jurassic Park.

We could probably build jurassic park if we wanted to. wouldnt be genetically authentic dinosaurs but [shrug], Hodak tweeted. Maybe 15 years of breeding + engineering to get super exotic novel species.

It is unclear who Hodak is referring to when he says we. Neuralink has demonstrated a chip implanted into the brain of a pig and a monkey, but does not appear to have made any announcements with regards to animal cloning.

If Hodak is referring to scientists and genetic researchers as a whole, the prospect becomes more feasible  although is undeniably difficult.

Scientists have cloned a number of animals, including wolves, dogs, cats, monkeys and, famously, sheep. A black-footed ferret, which is on the US endangered species list, has also been cloned, but scientists have not managed to create an extinct animal yet.

Read more:

Biodiversity (antifragility) is definitely valuable; conservation is important and makes sense. But why do we stop there? Why dont we more intentionally try to generate novel diversity? Hodak also tweeted.

The challenge in creating genetically authentic dinosaurs is due to the fact that soft material which would contain DNA is hard to preserve.

We do have mosquitos and biting flies from the time of the dinosaurs and they do preserve in amber. But when amber preserves things, it tends to preserve the husk, not the soft tissues. So you dont get blood preserved inside mosquitos in amber, Dr Susie Maidment, a dinosaur researcher at the Natural History Museum, has said.

It is possible that a small insect, such as a mosquito or fly, could be used to extract DNA but even in the unlikely event that blood or soft tissue is found that is no guarantee of the necessary genetic material needed for cloning.

Breeding and engineering, as Hodak suggests, is a possibility  albeit one that relies on a much greater understanding of the genome. In the film Jurassic Park, they used DNA from a frog to replicate a reptile, but scientists do not currently know where the holes are in an animals genome if the animal no longer exists.

A genome is the complete set of DNA of a living thing. Without the full genome, it would be impossible to tell which parts of the DNA have been found and therefore impossible to fill the gaps to build a whole animal, Dr Maidment said.

But if you did have the whole genome and you were going to fill the holes in fragments, then you definitely wouldnt do it with frogs, because frogs are amphibians. If you were going to do it, youd use bird DNA, because birds are dinosaurs. Or you might do it with crocodile DNA, because they share a common ancestor.

Scientists are attempting to bring back similar species that have gone extinct, such as cloning a proxy species of mammoth from an Asian elephant where there is a large amount of DNA material available. Even then, however, the process might not be the optimum way to conserve nature.

If it works, de-extinction will only target a few species and its very expensive. Will it divert conservation dollars from true conservation measures that already work, which are already short of funds? posed David Ehrenfeld, professor of biology at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to The Independent in 2015.

At this moment brave conservationists are already risking their lives to protect dwindling groups of African forest elephants from heavily-armed poachers, and here we are talking about bringing back the woolly mammoth. Think about it.
Timeline of District Attorney Newman case

July 5, 2013: Gov. Pat McCrory appoints Newman, an attorney in private practice and former mayor of Hendersonville, as district attorney.

June 12, 2014: Valerie Marie Owenby, who was then 12 years old, and her mother, Carol Lynn Owenby, report to the Henderson County sheriffs office that James Franklin Sapp, a next door neighbor, had sexually assaulted her from the time she was 5 years old to the present.

Aug. 6, 2014: Sheriffs Detective Tonya Reeves submits a search warrant application detailing Valeries accusations of sexual assault by Sapp from the time she was 5 until she was 12 and her accusations that Sapp told her she would kill her dad if she told anyone and when he stopped the abuse threatened to kill her family if she told anyone. The search warrant, granted by Superior Court Judge Mark Powell, compels Sapp to pose for photos from the waist down to corroborate Valeries statement that he had identifying marks around his penis area.

Sept. 3, 2014: Deputies charge Sapp, then 60, with rape of a child, a felony. He is jailed under a $150,000 bond.

Sept. 5, 2014: An employee of Newmans office contacts Valeries mother to explain the court process and provide Sapps court date of Sept. 23. Carol Owenby confirms she plans to attend.

May 18, 2015: A Henderson County grand jury charges Sapp with five felonies  one count of rape of a child by an adult, one count of sex offense with a child by an adult and three counts of indecent liberties with a child. During a subsequent meeting with Valerie, Newman shows the victim the photos of Sapps groin area and describes them as good evidence for the case. Sometime before Oct. 13, 2015, Newmans office informs Valerie and her parents that Sapps trial would be scheduled for Nov. 2, 2015.

Oct. 13, 2015: Newman signs a statement charging Sapp with a misdemeanor count of assault on a female, identifying the victim as Valerie Owenby. Neither Newman nor anyone in the D.A.s office consulted with or notified the Owenby family that Newman had reduced the case to one misdemeanor charge, in violation, the state Bar said, of state law requiring prosecutors to notify a victim of the date, time and place of all trial court proceedings  that the victim has elected to receive notice, the state Bar says. During Sapps plea proceeding, Judge Athena Brooks asks the prosecutors office whether the victim and her family had been notified of the plea and offered a chance to be heard. Newman tells the judge that the victim had been advised of the plea and did not wish to be heard.

April 3, 2017: State Bar opens an investigation into a grievance filed about Newmans actions in the Sapp case.

May 30, 2017: Responding to the Bar, Newman says:

I had my victim/witness staff person prepare a bill of information and contact the mother of the victim.

I handled the plea in District Court instead of Superior Court, where a trial jury was under way.

I explained this situation to (Owenby) on the day the plea occurred.

Our file shows that the mother never returned the call.

July 29, 2019: In a North Carolina State Bar complaint against Newman, two deputy counsels and the Bar chair say that neither Newman nor a victim advocate notified the Owenby family of the Oct. 13 District Court plea; there was no jury trial in Superior Court on that date; Newman did not speak with Carol Owenby on that day; on Oct. 13, the victim and her family still believed that Sapps trial was scheduled for Nov. 2; the prosecutors office file on the case contained no notes showing that Newmans office called Carol Owenby about the Oct. 13 court date, nor any reference to Carol Owenby failing to return a phone call.

Nov. 12-13, 2020: A three-member panel of the state Bars Judiciary Hearing Commission hears the grievance case against Newman.

Jan. 4, 2021: In an Order of Discipline, the Commission found that Newman:

Knowingly made a false statement of material fact when he told Judge Brooks that the victim had been notified of Sapp plea in District Court and that the victim and her family did not wish to be heard.

Engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice in violation of the state Bar rule against misconduct when he failed to inform Valerie Owenby of the Sapp proceeding.

Engaged in misconduct and violated a state Bar rule requiring attorneys to demonstrate candor toward the tribunal by failing to correct his false statement that his office had notified the Owenby family of Sapps scheduled appearance in District Court and that the victim and that her family did not wish to be heard.

Engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation that reflects adversely on the lawyers fitness as an attorney, and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice when he made false statements to the state Bar during its grievance investigation and violated three different Bar rules pertaining to knowingly making false statements.

The hearing panel suspended Newmans law license for three years but stayed the suspension provided he pay costs of the grievance proceeding, comply with state Bar continuing education requirements and not violate Rules of Professional Conduct, including the North Carolina Crime Victims Act.

Feb. 11, 2021: Peggy McDowell files a four-page affidavit with the Henderson County Clerk of Superior Court purporting to show grounds for Newmans removal as district attorney.

March 3, 2021: Finding that the filing complied with state law governing an attempt to remove a district attorney, senior resident Superior Court Judge Peter Knight refers the matter to Robert C. Ervin, senior resident Superior Court judge for the judicial district made up of Burke and Caldwell counties.

March 17, 2021: Judge Ervin finds that four areas in the request for Newmans removal warrant a hearing: Conduct resulting in his stayed suspension; potential willful misconduct in office that would bring the office in disrepute; the probable cause that charges of willful misconduct resulting in the state Bar order may be true; and allegations that Newman engaged in the vindictive prosecution of Leonard Schalow, who was charged with a domestic violence felonies. Ervin appoints James P. Cooney III of Charlotte as independent counsel to present evidence at a hearing on April 12.

SOURCES: Henderson County sheriffs detectives application for search warrant, arrest records, grand jury indictment, state Bar complaint, state Bar order of discipline, court records of complaint seeking Newmans removal from office.
Scientists have extracted and analyzed DNA from three individuals of anatomically modern humans who lived between 45,930 and 42,580 years ago in what is now Bulgaria.

Modern humans appeared in Europe by at least 45,000 years ago, but the extent of their interactions with Neanderthals, who disappeared by about 40,000 years ago, and their relationship to the broader expansion of modern humans outside Africa are poorly understood, said co-lead author Dr. Mateja Hajdinjak, a researcher in the Department of Evolutionary Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and Francis Crick Institute, and his colleagues.

Analyses of the genomes of Neanderthals and modern humans have shown that gene flow occurred between the two hominin groups approximately 60,000-50,000 years ago, probably in southwestern Asia.

However, owing to the scarcity of modern human remains from Eurasia that are older than 40,000 years, genome-wide data are available for only three individuals of this age. Little is therefore known about the genetics of the earliest modern humans in Eurasia, the extent to which they interacted with archaic humans and their contribution to later populations.

For example, whereas 42,000 to 37,000-year-old Oase1 individual from Romania and 45,000-year-old UstIshim individual from Siberia do not show specific genetic relationships to subsequent Eurasian populations, 40,000-year-old Tianyuan individual from China contributed to the genetic ancestry of ancient and present-day East Asian populations.

Another open question is the extent to which modern humans mixed with Neanderthals when they spread across Europe and Asia.

In the new study, the researchers sequenced the genomes from the modern human remains dated to between 45,930 and 42,580 years ago.

The specimens were found in direct association with an assemblage of artifacts in Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria.

They are the earliest Late Pleistocene modern humans known to have been recovered in Europe so far, and were found in association with an Initial Upper Paleolithic artifact assemblage, the scientists said.

Unlike two previously studied Oase1 and UstIshim individuals who did not contribute detectably to later populations, the Bacho Kiro individuals are more closely related to present-day and ancient populations in East Asia and the Americas than to later west Eurasian populations.

Moreover, the authors found that all three individuals had Neanderthal ancestors a few generations back in their family history.

This suggests that mixing between Neanderthals and the first modern humans that arrived into Europe was perhaps more common than is often assumed.

We found that the Bacho Kiro Cave individuals had higher levels of Neanderthal ancestry than nearly all other early humans, with the exception of Oase1 individual from Romania, Dr. Hajdinjak said.

Crucially, most of this Neanderthal DNA comes in extremely long stretches. This shows that these individuals had Neanderthal ancestors some five to seven generations back in their family trees.

The results suggest that the first modern humans that arrived in Eurasia mixed frequently with Neanderthals, added senior author Professor Svante Paabo, a researcher in the Department of Evolutionary Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

They may even have become absorbed into resident Neanderthal populations. Only later on did larger modern human groups arrive and replace the Neanderthals.

The findings were published in the journal Nature.

_____

M. Hajdinjak et al. 2021. Initial Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe had recent Neanderthal ancestry. Nature 592, 253-257; doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03335-3
's ( ) Managing Director, Geraint Harris talks to Proactive's Katie Pilbeam about the news of Italian battery startup Italvolt gearing up to build Europes largest battery gigafactory outside the northern Italian city of Ivrea - very near to Alta's mining operations. Harris explains how this could impact their demand in the future and says 'it is another endorsement of why Italy is a great place to do business'. Italy is one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world as well as having a lot of industry surrounding the city near Turin. Harris also explains the recent results from their maiden drilling program at the Ponente area of the Gorno Project in Italy which received thick high-grade zinc and lead.
We always say that the success of our franchisees is our only business, and while we are thrilled about this ranking, our top priority is helping our network of travel agents grow their businesses.

Leading home-based travel agency franchise Dream Vacations recently ranked 20th globally and 14th in North America in Entrepreneurs list of the Fastest-Growing Franchises, published in the March issue of Entrepreneur magazine.

"Nothing can stop the smartest franchises from growingnot even a pandemic! says Jason Feifer, Entrepreneurs editor-in-chief. We've been impressed with how innovative franchises have pivoted and adapted this past year and are happy to celebrate the ones who keep pushing forward and growing."

Franchises on this list are ranked based on the net total of units (both franchised and company-owned) added globally from July 2019 to July 2020, with ties broken based on percentage growth. (In previous years, only US and Canadian unit growth was considered2021 marks the first year that the ranking is based on systemwide growth, in recognition of the increasingly global nature of franchising.) Dream Vacations position in the Fastest-Growing Franchises ranking is evidence of the strength and appeal of its concept, even during challenging times.

When the COVID-19 pandemic started more than a year ago, Dream Vacations led the way in providing financial assistance and enhanced support for new and existing franchisees. From reducing the initial franchise investment and deferring up to six months of fees to offering up to $1 Million in commercial loans, Dream Vacations aided franchisees in sustaining their businesses during this difficult time. In addition, the Training & Events Team quickly pivoted to hosting a completely virtual travel agent training program for new franchises, and they launched a virtual engagement plan to ensure the network of travel agent franchisees always felt connected. In addition, to prepare for the travel industry rebound Dream Vacations doubled down on training opportunities and launched an acclaimed Travel Safety program covering everything from health and safety best practices while traveling and travel protection health policies to sales and marketing tips in this current environment.

We always say that the success of our franchisees is our only business, and while we are thrilled about this ranking, our top priority is helping our network of travel agents grow their businesses, said Drew Daly, senior vice president and general manager of Dream Vacations. In a year when travel came to a standstill, we invested in our franchisees growth by launching new and innovative marketing programs that engaged and inspired.

The Marketing Team pivoted to meet the demands of its franchisees by providing inspirational messaging encouraging consumers to dream about their next vacation, promoting the value of a travel agent and building lead-generation opportunities, and eventually shifting focus to promoting land-based vacations that people can take immediately. Doing so resulted in record-breaking land vacation sales that rivaled pre-pandemic numbers.

Daly adds, The pandemic has inspired people to pursue their passions and seek business opportunities that provide flexibility and remote work options. Owning a travel agency franchise such as Dream Vacations is the perfect fit because we are seeing not only an incredible pent-up demand for travel, but for people who want to own their own travel business.

To view Dream Vacations in the full ranking, visit http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/fastestgrowing. To learn more about joining the travel agency franchise that cares more about its franchise owners, please visit http://www.DreamVacationsFranchise.com or call 888-249-8235.

About Dream Vacations

Travel agents with the top-ranked home-based travel agency franchise Dream Vacations have the resources to plan and create seamless vacation experiences for their customers while offering the best value. A member of the International Franchise Association, Dream Vacations is part of World Travel Holdings and has received franchise partner of the year, a top-ranking status, by all the major cruise lines as well as national recognition for its support of military veterans. For more information about Dream Vacations, visit http://www.DreamVacationsFranchise.com. Like Dream Vacations on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DreamVacationsFranchise, follow on Twitter at @Dream_Franchise and watch its videos at http://www.youtube.com/DreamVacationsBusiness.
Kathmandu, April 9 : Nepal and India have agreed to continue the cooperation to fight the Covid-19 pandemic during a telephonic conversation between the foreign ministers of both the countries.

The foreign ministers of Nepal and India held a telephonic conversation on Friday afternoon to discuss cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, including supply of vaccines, among other matters.

Nepal Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali called his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar and discussed about Covid cooperation and vaccine supplies, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nepal.

"Nepal-India continue cooperation to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. FM @PradeepgyawaliK held a tele-conversation with EAM of India @DrSJaishankar this afternoon.They exchanged views on further strengthening cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, including supply of vaccines," the the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted.

During the meeting, Gyawali requested Jaishankar to make available one million Covid vaccine doses that Nepal had procured from the Serum Institute from India. The Serum Institute has not supplied half of the two million doses for which Nepal had placed an order by paying 80 per cent of the total cost.

The conversation between Gyawali and Jainshankar took place at a time when both Nepal and India are witnessing a massive surge in the number of Covid-19 cases, with the latter reporting a massive spike in daily caseload.

On Friday, Nepal reported 288 new Covid cases, while India reported more than 1.3 lakh cases.

Both ministers also discussed tightening the Nepal-India border in order to check the influx of people coming into the Himalayan nation from India. Nepal and India share long, open borders and people from both sides frequently cross the transit points.

The sudden surge in the number of coronavirus cases in India is a cause for concern for Nepali authorities, as the two countries share a 1,800 km-long open border through which people from both the countries crossover.

On the other hand, Nepal's vaccination drive has been halted due to lack of supplies from India. After inoculating around 1.8 million people with Covishield, Nepal suspended its vaccination drive after March 15 for the lack of vaccines. Nepal's plan to procure 5 million doses from the Serum Institute has been in limbo.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
One of Pennsylvanias largest construction companies allegedly stole more than $20 million from workers health and retirement money, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro said.

Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. was charged Thursday, the culmination of a three-year investigation into the companys practices for calculating and claiming fringe benefit credits.

The massive, unprecedented fraud led to the largest prevailing wage criminal case in history, Shapiro said during a news conference.

My focus now is on holding Hawbaker accountable for breaking the law, and getting these workers their money back, Shapiro said. Employers across this commonwealth, you are on notice: if you steal from your employees, if you misclassify workers, if you violate our labor laws, we are going to find out, we are going to hold you accountable, and we will do all we can so Pennsylvania workers receive the wages and benefits owed to them under the law.

The business stole more than $20 million from workers for more than three decades, Shapiro said, though charges were only filed for alleged violations over the past five years.

Keeping money allowed Hawbaker to underbid projects, offset other costs and deny honest companies from working on construction projects across the state, Shapiro said.

No individuals were charged.

Hawbaker operates a quarry in Hazle Twp. off Route 309 between Lattimer and Pardeesville. It has also recently attempted to place an asphalt plant in Sugarloaf Twp., but was refused a special exception for the Tomhicken Road site.

In a statement provided by its attorneys, Glenn O. Hawbaker said that since learning of the attorney generals investigation in 2018, it has cooperated fully.

While we believe that we have always acted in accordance with all state and federal laws, in an abundance of caution, the company immediately changed its prevailing wage practices, the companys attorneys wrote. These changes remain in effect today as we continue to do whats right for our employees, both past and present.

Hawbaker is one of the largest contractors in the state. The construction and paving company has received about $1.7 billion in funding, Shapiro said.

We learned what Hawbaker was doing from folks with their boots on the ground, keeping a close eye on how contractors pay workers and making sure workers get paid the wages that they earned, Shapiro said.

The laws the company is accused of violating were enacted to ensure all contractors who receive state or federal funding pay the same wage rates, which are determined by state and federal agencies.

Contractors are allowed to satisfy a portion of the required wage by providing fringe benefits to employees. Workers lost tens of thousands from their retirement when Hawbaker improperly calculated the rate, state prosecutors said.

While Hawbaker boasted that it provided great employee benefits, in actuality, the company was stealing its workers retirement, health, and welfare money, Shapiro said. ... Hawbaker used its workers fringe benefit funds to lower their costs, and thereby increase profits for the Hawbaker family.

Prosecutors said the business stole wages from its employees by using money intended for prevailing wage employees retirement funds to instead contribute to retirement accounts for all Hawbaker employees, including the owners and executives.

The company was also accused of stealing funds intended for health and welfare benefits to subsidize the cost of a self-funded health insurance plan that covers all employees, state prosecutors wrote.

Hawbaker said it will continue to work with the attorney generals office to reach a swift resolution.

The business was charged with four felony counts of theft by failure to make the required disposition of funds. The organization waived its preliminary hearing.

A formal arraignment is scheduled for May 12.
But observers say the holiday should be a time of political reconciliation for the good of the nation.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures as he receives the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine during a vaccination campaign in Phnom Penh, March 4, 2021.

Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sen lauded himself for the 2017 ban of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party in a New Years address Thursday, saying the group had sought to sow chaos in the country, while observers urged both sides to pursue political reconciliation for the good of the nation.

Ahead of the April 14-16 observation of the Cambodian New Year, or Choul Chnam Thmey, Hun Sen thanked King Norodom Sihamoni, the armed forces, civil servants, and the people of Cambodia for their support.

He pledged to work on improving all aspects of the country, while ensuring peace, maintaining national integrity, protecting Cambodias territory, and preventing any interference in the nations internal affairs.

The government is strongly taking action against any color revolution attempts or incitement against the constitution and democratic principles that contribute to instability, including political and social chaos, he said.

As a result, Cambodia has maintained its security, independence, national integrity, and territory, and avoided any unwarranted disaster.

Cambodias Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017 and barred its members from taking part in political activities, two months after the arrest of party president Kem Sokha for his role in an alleged scheme to topple Hun Sens government. The ban, along with a wider crackdown on NGOs and the independent media, paved the way for Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in the countrys 2018 general election.

Since then, dozens of CNRP officials and supporters have either fled abroad or been rounded up by authorities for incitement after expressing views critical of Hun Sens rule.

The worlds longest-serving prime minister at 36 years, Hun Sen and his party stand virtually unopposed ahead of commune elections next year and general elections set for July 2023.

Call for reconciliation

Speaking to RFAs Khmer Service on Thursday, Klaing Bunlay, the CNRPs chief in Bangkok, Thailand, said that Hun Sens message is meant to split Cambodian unity because he is afraid of the CNRPs continued existence and influence. He said that the opposition party continues to draw support because the people of Cambodia want social justice.

Hun Sens message does not come from the heart, he said. Hun Sen has ignored the needs of the people and persecuted them, actions which have caused pain.

Soeung Sengkaruna, spokesman for Cambodian rights group Adhoc, said that opposition and ruling party leaders should take the opportunity during Choul Chnam Thmey to exchange best wishes and work to resolve the countrys political stalemate.

He said Hun Sens message could create more pressure, negatively impacting the people, economy, and the countrys development.

We dont want to see any harm to Cambodia. We want to see a proper democracy, consisting of a power challenge through mutual understanding, he said.

The winner should win with dignity and the loser should accept the results so that people can exercise their rights according to the constitution and the state can guarantee those rights.

Political analyst Kim Sok told RFA that Hun Sens message was also aimed at calming down a public that has endured difficult living conditions amid an economic downturn fueled by the countrys latest and deadliest outbreak of the coronavirus.

He said that Choul Chnam Thmey is a time for Hun Sen to deliver a message of national reconciliation for the sake of people so that the country can work on restoring the economy when the pandemic ends.

Cambodia, which had largely remained unscathed by the coronavirus in 2020, registered its first death from COVID-19the disease caused by the viruslast month, a year to the day that that the World Health Organization labeled it a pandemic. Since then, 24 people have died, and Cambodias caseload has reached more than 3,000 people.

Scathing assessment of governance

Hun Sens address came as London-based rights group Amnesty International issued a scathing assessment of his governance in an annual report, highlighting an intensification in 2020 of what it called extreme restrictions on civil and political rights implemented since 2017.

The group called out a controversial State of Emergency Law, enacted under the pretext of fighting the spread of the coronavirus, which it said, severely impinges upon human rights.

Also in 2020, human rights defenders, peaceful demonstrators, and members of the CNRP continued to face harassment and intimidation through a justice system beholden to the government, while womens rights came under sustained attack after Hun Sen led a campaign to punish those who did not adhere to an arbitrary interpretation of tradition and culture.

Members of the banned CNRP faced continued arbitrary criminalization and increasing levels of physical violence, the group said.

Judicial harassment against former CNRP politicians and activists intensified in November as at least 126 CNRP-affiliated individuals were summoned in a series of politically-motivated mass trials on treason and incitement-related charges.

Amnesty noted that several CNRP officials and activists were the targets of severe physical assaults, and that authorities had failed to arrest or investigate anyone for the attacks.

The group also slammed the countrys Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO), which it said continued to be used to stifle freedom of association, as well as the arbitrary detention and physical assaults of environmental activists working to expose illegal logging by state authorities and corporate actors.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Long-time philanthropist, community leader and dedicated Zionist, Bruce Gould has a new role - producer of a documentary portraying the complex and consequential life of the late Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, whose 1977 meeting in Jerusalem with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was an act of unprecedented courage and a turning point for the Jewish state.

The film is debuting in Florida at the Miami Jewish Film Festival, running virtually from April 14-29. Titled "Upheaval: The Journey of Menachem Begin," it is the only English language feature documentary ever made about the bold but...
NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sodium Chloride market will register an incremental spend of about USD 4.35 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 3.45% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Sodium Chloride sourcing can unlock several opportunities for buyers. This report also offers market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download free sample report

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Sodium Chloride Market Procurement Research Report

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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 Sodium Chloride market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Sodium Chloride 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.

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Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth:

The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers.

Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. During the forecast period, the market expects a change of 3.00%-4.00%.

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This Sodium Chloride procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Cargill Inc.

DuPont de Nemours Inc.

Compass Minerals International Inc.

AkzoNobel N.V.

Wacker Chemie AG

Tata Chemicals Ltd.

China National Salt Industry Group Co. Ltd

K+S AG

Schweizer Salinen AG

CK Life Sciences Int'l., (Holdings) Inc.

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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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The Congress on Friday questioned the Narendra Modi-led government over the explosive revelations made by a French news portal in the Rafale deal alleging that there was 'massive corruption' and 'loss to public exchequer of at least Rs 21,075 crore.

The remarks came after a French news portal mediapart.fr in a three series investigation claimed that it was in possession of documents that showed Dassault Aviation, which manufactures the Rafale jet, and its industrial partner Thales, a defence electronics firm, paid a "middleman" several million euros in "secret commissions" in connection with the Rs 59,000 crore deal for 36 jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Addressing a press conference here Congress national media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "The scandalous expose of facts and string of documents have uncovered a concerted collusion to defraud the public exchequer as also massive corruption."

Firing salvos at the BJP-led central government, Surjewala said, "Isn't it correct that the 'Indian Negotiating Team' (INT) on August 10, 2015 arrived at a benchmark cost of Euro 5.06 billion for 36 Rafale fighter jets including weaponry package etc. Is it now not proved by the document released by the French News Portal, who has accessed Enforcement Directorate (ED) documents recovered from the middlemen?"

He questioned that isn't it correct that the price of Euro 7.87 billion for 36 aircraft was decided by Dassault Aviation in its internal meeting dated January 20, 2016.

He asked is it not correct that the Indian team had rejected this price calculation of Euro 7.87 billion for 36 aircraft, the very next day and isn't it correct that on September 23, 2016, the price of Euro 7.87 billion for 36 aircraft was accepted by the BJP government and the contract awarded to Dassault.

Surjewala said, "What was the reason for additional payment of Rs 21,075 crore, causing loss to the public exchequer?"

The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had inked a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016, to procure 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation after a nearly seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force did not fructify during the UPA regime.

The Congress had raised the issue of corruption in the Rafale deal ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The government had rejected all the charges levelled by the opposition.

Surjewala also questioned whether the ED recovered the "secret defence ministry documents" from the middlemen in the raid on March 26, 2019, including the 'benchmark price document' and other documents.
MILAN, APR 9 - A man who hijacked and later torched a school bus with 50 children, two teachers and a janitor aboard near Milan in March 2019 on Friday saw his sentence for attempted murder cut from 24 years to 19 on appeal. Senegalese-Italian Ousseynou Sy, 48, was found guilty again by the Milan court of appeals after a first-instace trial last July. The crime was committed at San Donato Milanese. Sy had told the court he is neither a killer nor a terrorist despite his apparent attempt to kill the occupants of his vehicle. "As an Italian citizen and an African, I accuse" (anti-immigration League leader Matteo) Salvini, (who was deputy premier and interior minister at the time of the hijacking), "and his government of crimes against humanity and genocide". Sy argued that Salvini had condemned many migrants to death and torture by blocking Italian ports to NGO run rescue ships. Salvini says his hardline policy saved lives. Sy, a man with a criminal record who is originally from Senegal but has been an Italian citizen since 2004, got off the bus after it was stopped by police, who were alerted by students on board. He had just set it alight. The Carabinieri managed to get the children out by smashing windows at the back. The two Egyptian boys who were hailed as heroes after phoning the police when Sy was not looking have been granted Italian citizenship. (ANSA).
A look at Friday's major share movers on the London Stock Exchange

( ) tumbled 36% to 442.1p before the weekend after warning on revenues because it is in dispute with the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

The DHSC did not extend a supply contract for COVID-19 tests so the diagnostics firm has taken legal advice, adding it believes it has strong grounds to assert its contractual rights.

Without this contract, the AIM-listed firm said revenue and profit for 2021 may be lower than current market expectations, while it continues to have limited visibility over future sales because of the ever-changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and diagnostic testing demands.

2.05pm: Open Orphan higher after launching data platform on infectious diseases

( ) rose 6% to 42.7p in the afternoon after its hVIVO operation has officially launched its Disease in Motion platform.

It is a collation of clinical, immunological and virological biomarkers as well as information taken from wearable technology.

The pharma company said data from multiple infectious disease types is likely to be used by big tech, wearables, pharma and biotech companies, investors were told.

12.55pm: SRT Marine Systems shoots up as it waits to start new contracts worth 125mln

( ) shot up by a tenth to 34.5p at midday after announcing full-year revenue is expected to come in at 8.2mln with loss before tax of 5.8mln.

It compares to a revenue of 18.9mln and loss before tax of 3mln in the year to March 2020.

The provider of maritime surveillance, monitoring and management systems said it has been hit hard by COVID-19, but there are now seven new contracts worth 125mln in total that will start as soon as restrictions are relaxed in the relevant countries.

11.50am: TUI slides after tapping market for more cash

( ) slid 6% to 372.45p at lunchtime after tapping the debt market for further 350-400mln of liquidity to see it through the latest phase of the global pandemic.

The tour operator, which has been severely hit by COVID-19 restrictions, will also use proceeds to repay existing financing instruments.

The coupon will pay 4.5-5% per year twice annually. The conversion price for the debt will be at a 25-30% premium to the volume-weighted average share price between the launch and pricing of the offer.

10.45am: Alpha Growth jumps after upbeat update

( ) jumped 15% to 4.21p in the late morning after announcing the trend of growth and improved operational and financial performance continued in the first quarter of 2021.

The Black Oak Alpha Growth Fund saw US$5mln (3.6mln) of additional inflows during the quarter. Assets under management (AuM) at the end of the quarter stood at US$25.5mln; at the end of 2020, AuM were said to be over US$22mln.

The specialist in the senior life settlement class plansto substantively increase the marketing of the Black Oak Alpha Growth Fund in 2021, which has achieved a net return of 15.65% since being established in 19 months.

9.45am: Babcock drops in light of reports of potential 700mln write-downs

Group PLC ( ) lost 8% to 217.44p following a Financial Times report suggesting it was preparing to make wholesale asset write-downs.

They could be as high as 700mln, analysts estimate.

The FTSE 250 engineer warned in January a review of its balance sheet could lead to negative impacts.

Elsewhere, ( ) shed 6% to 0.32p after completing a structural review of its Limerick Base Metals Project in Ireland, which identified three main target zones for follow-up exploration activities, including drilling.

However, the prospectivity of one of the targets depends on the preservation of Waulsortian Limestone in the hanging-wall of the Coonagh Castle Fault.

Short exploratory drilling is being considered to confirm the bedrock stratigraphy, followed by deeper exploration drilling.

8.40am: Versarien rises early after new partner South Koreas Graphene Lab buys shares for 1.9mln

Versarien plc (LON:VRS) was an early riser at the end of the trading week, surging 12% to 43p after South Koreas Graphene Lab subscribed for shares worth 1.9mln.

The buyer, which specialises in chemical vapor deposition graphene, including sensors, OLEDs and flexible transparent touch panels, now owns 2.2% in the advanced materials engineering group.

The pair also entered into a wide-ranging series of agreements, the AIM-listed firm said, for activities in South Korea.

Elsewhere, PLC ( ) advanced 8% to 542p after announcing that business had picked up month-by-month throughout the first quarter of 2021 with March just 2% below a year ago.

The white-collar recruiter posted 184mln gross profit, which was up 2% quarter-on-quarter but down 9.9% on a year ago.

The FTSE 250 group said it is not clear whether the improved performance is the result of pent-up supply and demand, or the beginning of a sustainable trend.

Proactive headlines:

Next Fifteen Communications PLC ( ) announced the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of data-led business Shopper Media Group (SMG) for 15.7mln.

said its hVIVO operation has officially launched its Disease in Motion platform, a collation of clinical, immunological and virological biomarkers as well as data from wearable technology.

( ) said the trend of growth and improved operational & financial performance continued in the first quarter of 2021. Assets under management, which at the end of 2020 were said to be in excess of US$22mln, rose to US$25.5mln at the end of March.

IronRidge Resources Limited ( ) said it has strengthened its management team through the appointment of Mark Schild as full-time Group Financial Controller.

( ), the gold exploration and development company focussed on Australia, has raised 2mln through a share placing.

( ) has announced the appointment of Giorgio Bonfanti, who will take up the position of chief financial officer at the end of May. Bonfanti has been employed by the global accountancy network PwC since 2014, working out of their Milan office.

( ) said it has closed the first tranche of its non-brokered private placement of units in the company raising gross proceeds of C$3.6mln.

( ) has unveiled the constitution of an environmental, social and governance (ESG) board committee. The committee comprises Hazel Adam as Chair, Elizabeth McMeikan and Chris Ireland, all of whom are independent non-executive directors of the company.

( ) said AsiaPhos Ltd has terminated its proposed acquisition of MMJV Pte. Ltd, which if successfully completed would have triggered a payment of around 5.6mln in AsiaPhos shares being issued to Bezant.

PLC ( ) said it has secured a short extension to its option to acquire First Development Resources (Pty) Limited, an Australian private company with a portfolio of copper-gold focused exploration interests in the Paterson Province in the eastern Pilbara Region of Western Australia. Late on Thursday, the company said the exercise period of the agreement has been extended to April 16, 2021, from its original date of April 8.

PLC ( ) said production and sales from its Sahamamy deposit in Madagascar ran at record levels during the first three months of 2021.

(LON;SLE) said a drilling rig has been contracted for the Oza-1 re-entry well in Nigeria.

( ) has advised shareholders to take no action regarding a cash offer from Virgata Services. Directors of the supported housing specialist said the offer was opportunistic and substantially undervalues the company.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has denied allegations of massive killings and destruction of houses and other properties by the military in the Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State.

The denial was contained in a statement by the acting Director of Defence Information, Onyema Nwachukwu, on Friday.

There were reports of a massacre of innocent persons by the military in Konshisha town.

The Nigerian Army had also said that one of its officers and 10 soldiers were killed in Benue State during an operation.

According to a statement on Thursday by the Army spokesperson, Mohammed Yerima, the officer and soldiers were ambushed and killed in Konshisha.

Although the names of the slain officer and soldiers were not revealed, the army said they were attached to the operation Whirl Stroke.

The DHQ, in its response on Friday, said its men engaged in battle with hundreds of bandits which led to the death of 10 bandits.

It further said residents of the area fled to nearby villages knowing the consequences of killing the military personnel.

The statement also said bandits who attacked and ambushed the slain soldiers took over the abandoned houses of the villages which led to the destruction.

The DHQ further challenged anybody from Konshisha to present to the public the 200, 70 or 30 dead bodies of innocent persons killed by its troops in Konshisha.

The Defence Headquarters wishes to put it on record that apart from these initial 10 bandits, there are no other civilian casualties recorded in any part of Konshisha till date, the statement said.

We therefore challenge anybody from Konshisha to present to the public the 200, 70 or 30 dead bodies of innocent persons, male, female or children killed by troops in Konshisha. There was never a massacre as being touted by some mischief makers.

Read full statement below:

UPDATE ON SITUATION IN KONSHISHA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENUE STATE

The attention of the Defence Headquarters is drawn to numerous publications in the media and other online blogs reporting massive killing and destruction of houses and other property by the military in Konshisha LGA of Benue State. The Defence Headquarters which has oversight responsibility for Operation WHIRL STROKE deployed to maintain peace in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States, has deemed it necessary to refute these spurious allegations and put the records straight.

There have been incessant cases of communal clashes in recent times between the people of Konshisha and Oju over boundary demarcation. As part of efforts to resolve the crisis, the Benue State Government held a series of meetings with stakeholders from both local governments with a view to arriving at an amicable solution to the problem. Appreciable progress has been made and a final date fixed for all stakeholders to meet in the disputed areas to fully demarcate the boundary so that peace could reign. Trouble however started on the eve of the final meeting during Easter holiday, with reports that fresh fighting has broken out in the area.

All along, 72 Special Forces Battalion had troops deployed on the Oju side of the boundary and troops of the Battalion were on their way to replenish their colleagues on 5 April 2021, when they were attacked by armed bandits at Bonta in Konshisha. The troops who were under command of a Captain were seized at a checkpoint mounted by the so-called Bonta Boys and taken into Konshisha forest where they were all brutally murdered. Not satisfied with killing the soldiers, the bandits proceeded to burn all the eleven soldiers and their officers beyond recognition while their weapons and ammunition were carted away. Military reinforcements were dispatched to Bonta the following morning. Unfortunately, the reinforcement also came under attack from close to 500 armed youths who by this time had fully occupied Bonta. The sheer number of youths involved in the attacks suggests that the armed bandits cannot be from Bonta alone, but were joined by bandits from other parts of Konshisha LGA. The military repelled the attack after more than 4 hours of intense fighting during which the military helicopter provided close air support to ground troops. Ten armed bandits were killed during the fight with the rifle of one of the Killed in action soldiers recovered from the bandits who fell casualty during the exchange of fire.

ALSO READ: Nigerian Army confirms killing of 11 personnel in Benue

The Defence Headquarters wishes to put it on record that apart from these initial 10 bandits, there are no other civilian casualties recorded in any part of Konshisha till date. We therefore challenge anybody from Konshisha to present to the public the 200, 70 or 30 dead bodies of innocent persons, male, female or children killed by troops in Konshisha. There was never a massacre as being touted by some mischief makers.

The remnants of the armed bandits that escaped from Bonta withdrew into neighbouring villages where they kept on attacking troops as they continued with the search operation through Bonta into other parts of Konshisha. Knowing the implications of killing troops in cold blood, most of the villagers fled their homes which were then occupied by armed bandits who kept firing at troops from the settlements as they advanced into Konshisha. Troops repelled the attacks and destroyed the houses and other buildings which the criminals used as hideouts for the attacks. The use of abandoned settlements by armed bandits to attack troops is popular with insurgents. The aim is to draw military fire into the dwellings and then turn round to blame soldiers for the destruction. This is common guerilla tactics armed bandits designed to whip up public sentiment against security forces and this is what played out in Konshisha. This accounts for some of the burnt houses being reported in the press. Some of the phones of the dead soldiers were also tracked to some of the settlements. We should therefore blame the armed bandits for the destruction since they used these settlements as hideouts for attacks. It will be wrong to blame soldiers who are in Konshisha on legitimate duties when some of them were murdered in cold blood. Some of the buildings being paraded today were actually burnt during earlier communal clashes between Konshisha and Oju, all of which the sponsors of the mayhem are now blaming on the military.

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Finally, the Defence Headquarters wishes to state that soldiers deployed to Konshisha displayed commendable restraints by adhering to the rules of engagement in the face of unprovoked attacks and therefore deserve accolades. In addition to the return of all carted away weapons, the local leaders of Konshisha must bring the main actors responsible for the mayhem to security forces to face justice. They must also surrender all other weapons in their possession. The military will not tolerate the jungle justice attitude and dastardly acts leading to the gruesome murder of patriotic soldiers on legitimate duty to keep the peace. We look forward to working with the Benue State Government in its promise to support security forces in fishing out those fomenting trouble in Konshisha. Once again, there is no massacre in Konshisha and the stories making the rounds are fabricated by bandits and their sponsors to smear the military after murdering troops in cold blood.

ONYEMA NWACHUKWU

Brigadier General

Acting Director Defence Information

9 April 2021
New Delhi:

Former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane, who recently resigned from Congress, on Sunday announced the launch of a new political party called 'Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh'.

I have decided to form a new party, it will be called Maharashtra Swabhimaan Paksh, said Rane while addressing a press conference. It is said that Rane could join NDA soon.

Rane's move comes after days of speculation that he may join the BJP. Last week, Rane had also met BJP president Amit Shah in Delhi.

Rane had resigned from the Congress last month while accusing the party of reneging on the promise of making him the chief minister when he had joined the party 12 years ago after leaving the Shiv Sena.

I have decided to form a new party, it will be called Maharashtra Swabhimaan Paksh: Narayan Rane, former senior congress leader pic.twitter.com/GP1VwqfTwp  ANI (@ANI) October 1, 2017

He had also resigned as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council.

Also Read: Congress leader Narayan Rane resigns from party

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OSCODA, MI  The U.S. Air Force has taken some flak over its refusal to comply with Michigan rules limiting how much toxic forever chemicals would be allowed to remain in discharge from an expanding groundwater treatment system.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has low thresholds for how much pollutants can go back into the environment from a treatment system at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda.

In a call with reporters, Air Force officials said federal law prohibits it from complying with those rules, but they argued thats its a moot point anyhow because the system will meet state thresholds even if its not designed to do so.

It is a good news story for everyone that the treatment we use does, in fact, achieve  typically  non-detect levels, said Mark Correll, deputy assistant secretary of Air Force Installations, Environment and Energy.

Now, that doesnt mean that we have the authority to go design a system to do that, Correll continued, adding that it becomes more an academic discussion about what the levels are because the result youre going to get is a good one.

Correll and others involved in Wurtsmith cleanup spoke with journalists on Friday, April 9. The call comes roughly a week after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took steps to force the Department of Defense to conduct a stricter cleanup in Oscoda and elsewhere in Michigan by invoking provisions in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Whitmers action  which Correll said has much broader implications to the entire program and is being separately addressed through Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austins office  followed a March 25 meeting in which the Air Force drew criticism from activists and former state regulators upset that treatment wont be designed to comply with state law.

The Air Force is taking public comment until April 17 on plans to expand a groundwater treatment system at the old Fire Training Area No. 2 next to Clarks Marsh, a nearby wetland where some of the most highly PFAS contaminated fish and wildlife in Michigan are found.

The state of Michigan is also holding a community meeting on April 20 and theres an Air Force Community Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meeting on April 21.

The system expansion is one of several interim cleanup actions the Air Force agreed to undertake last year under heavy pressure from activists, state regulators and members of Congress  which gave the military $13.5 million in supplemental funding specifically for new stopgap cleaning measures at the former base in late 2019.

In the March 25 meeting, Air Force site managers said they wouldnt design the new treatment system to comply with state rules limiting PFOS discharge to 16 parts-per-trillion (ppt) and PFOA discharge to 8-ppt. Those levels mirror new state drinking water standards enacted last year. Air Force attorneys said federal law lets them ignore such state rules until later stages in a slow-moving cleanup process.

Correll and others, including Stephen TerMaath, chief of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center in Texas thats overseeing Wurtsmith cleanup, said repeatedly on Friday that remediation efforts in Oscoda are strictly governed by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, (CERCLA) also known also as the federal Superfund law.

Correll and TerMaath pointed numerous times to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys health advisory level of 70-ppt for PFOS and PFOA in drinking water, citing CERCLA as requiring that level govern actions protecting human health around the base. That level has been widely criticized by academics and state regulators as offering inadequate protection from the chemicals and it only pertains to two of many different PFAS chemical variations.

Michigans drinking water standards passed last year are four to eight times lower than the EPA advisory level.

Michigan laws, however, wont be applicable at Wurtsmith until several years from now when the Air Force completes more investigation and study, Correll said. And theres no guarantee the Air Force will adhere to them when it reaches that point.

We will consider the standards, he said. At this point I cant guarantee, yes thats whats going to be selected.

That position has generated conflict between the Air Force and the state, as well as with local officials and activists who call the whole argument a smokescreen.

Anthony Spaniola, a Detroit area attorney who owns a home on Van Etten Lake across from the base, says the National Wildlife Federation has analyzed the Air Forces arguments and concluded that nothing in CERCLA stops them from complying with state law right now.

Corrells assertion that the Air Force is prohibited from designing a treatment system to meet state law is totally false, said Spaniola, who has also argued that EGLE should take a firmer stance on the issue.

He said Air Force officials have previously told locals that theyre reluctant to commit to complying with Michigan law out of concern it would set an expensive precedent for the hundreds of other bases where PFAS chemicals are polluting the groundwater across the nation and the globe.

Spaniola said refusing to design the system to meet Michigan requirements now is poor project management and a waste of tax dollars because itll eventually have to be fixed.

They should do it now from a financial and public health standpoint, Spaniola said. But the flip side is, if they arent going to do it now, why should we believe they are going to do it at some point down the road? Particularly given their track record, when they have made promises and violated them on this very issue?

Related stories:

Whitmer invokes defense bill to force stricter cleanup

Air Force says it wont follow state law during cleanup

Plan to stop toxic lake foam a step in the right direction

Pentagon needs culture change on pollution

Michigan PFAS site list surges past 100

With trepidation, Michigan settles Air Force dispute

Michigan veterans face uphill battle proving toxic exposure
The battle over Gov. Gretchen Whitmers use of state of emergency powers during the pandemic continues with new support for the governor.

Keep Michigan Safe, a group in favor of Whitmers use of state of emergency powers, has challenged a petition looking to undo the 1945 law that allows governors to declare a state of emergency without legislative approval.

On Oct. 2, Unlock Michigan, a group that opposes Whitmers use of state of emergency powers, turned in more than half a million petition signatures from citizens who felt the governor had overstepped.

Ten days later, separate from the petition, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Whitmers emergency powers must be stripped effective immediately.

The court also decided that Michigan governors do not have the authority to issue executive orders for as long as necessary, as outlined in the 1945 Emergency Powers of Governor Act, calling that law unconstitutional.

Although the law has been deemed unconstitutional, Unlock Michigan has not dropped its ballot initiative in hopes that it reaches the Republican-led state legislature and is taken off the books completely.

Unlock Michigan spokesman Fred Wszolek said the Supreme Court decision was not permanent enough.

A different Supreme Court, like we currently have, could come to a different conclusion, he said. We think that dumb ideas never really die in Lansing, they just take naps. This one needs to get strangled.

Keep Michigan Safe filed a legal complaint on Friday, April 9, challenging the petitions validity on multiple grounds.

Before the Board of Canvassers reviews the signatures, Keep Michigan Safe is asking that a criminal investigation be launched into how the signatures were obtained by members of Unlock Michigan.

During a press conference for Keep Michigan Safe, attorney Mark Brewer of Goodman Acker said the group has obtained recordings of Unlock Michigan petition circulators advising canvassers to leave petitions unattended and then illegally sign that they witnessed the signatures.

Keep Michigan Safes complaint also claims that the language on the petition was misleading, loaded with legal jargon and did not explain in full the 1945 law or the repercussions of repealing the law.

Additionally, the group found evidence of forged and duplicated signatures during its review, Brewer said. The Keep Michigan Safe review of the signatures also found unregistered voters signed the petition, which is illegal in Michigan.

Brewer believes that if these signatures were removed the group would not meet the 340,047 valid signature threshold. There were 539,384 signatures submitted, according to a social media post from Unlock Michigan.

If the Board of Canvassers does consider the Unlock Michigan petition, Keep Michigan Safes complaint demands that Board of Canvassers member Tony Daunt recuse himself for conflict of interest. Daunt is a conservative activist and director of the Michigan Freedom Fund and has publicly stated his support for the petition.

In response, Wszolek said the complaints made by Keep Michigan Safe were frivolous and preposterous.

Wszolek claims Unlock Michigan already reviewed the signatures for duplicates and Brewers claim that 278 signatures of the 500 sample were invalid was ridiculous.

Although its possible circulators could have misrepresented the petition or been circulating two petitions at the same time, Wszolek notes that Michigans law does not prevent circulators from lying about the petition and it is the responsibility of the signee to read the petition in full.

Even so, Wszolek said the Unlock Michigan petition sold itself.

We just didnt need to [mislead] at all, he said. We had no problem getting people to sign this petition. The demand for overturning the governors abuse of emergency powers was pretty sweeping.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Bensons office could not be reached on the current status of the petition.

More on MLive:

House Dems use secretive money to outsource communications to group with ties to special interests

Benson declines invite to testify before Michigan Senate committee on 2020 election

Whitmer asks high schools, youth sports to pause for two weeks  but doesnt order it
Reporter

Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
U.S. Customs officers speak with people in a car beside a sign saying that the U.S./Canada border is closed in Lansdowne, Ontario, Canada, on March 22, 2020. (Lars Hagberg/AFP via Getty Images)

No Crystal Ball on When Canada-US Border Will Re-open Fully: Garneau

Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau says he doesnt know when the Canada-U.S. border will re-open to its pre-pandemic state.

I dont know if my crystal ball is any better than yours, Garneau told Liberal MP Sherry Romanado, who asked the minister if the border would open before the end of summer during his testimony before the Commons Committee for Canada-U.S. Relations Thursday.

Were hearing from our stakeholders, and of course, from industry as well. We have to look at all of the information that we have and make the right decision for Canadians.

Garneau cited the example of U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) who has been advocating for the border to re-open.

Higgins is the co-chair of the Northern Border Caucus, which the group of lawmakers have said their northern states economies hit hard by the border closure.

On March 21, Higgins issued a statement urging the Biden administration for a full reopening by July and encouraging a partial reopening, including additional exemptions to allow families to reunite, much sooner.

The Canada-U.S. land border has been closed for vacations and other travel deemed non-essential since March 2020 by the federal government in its effort to curtail the spread of COVID-19, the disease the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus causes.

But were not out of the woods, Garneau said. Theres concern about the third wave and there has even been some discussion in some quarters about a potential fourth wave.

The minister added that with more people getting vaccinated in both countries, it certainly moves us in the right direction.

NDP MP Brian Masse asked if Garneau will put in place a formal task force to resolve border crossing problems.

We have the Canadian Association of Mold Makers (CAMM) who cannot get workers across the border properly. Your ordering council that you were part of didnt accommodate for those types of employees, Masse said.

According to the CAMM, the Ontario government has, in their legislation, categorized mold makers as essential workers, but they are not recognized at the federal level, causing challenges when they seek to cross the Canada-U.S. border for work.

We were deemed essential for a reason. So, to be blocked at the border and asked to quarantine for 14 days makes no sense. It isnt reasonable or fair, said Jonathan Azzopardi, chair of CAMM in a statement on March 19, petitioning for fair treatment.

We are not asking for wide open borders; we are merely wanting our essential work to be recognized and for border crossings to be allowed so we can fulfill our contractual obligations as part of manufacturing in Canada.

Garneau said that the federal government is looking into it.

Well examine whether certain classes of workers need to have access across the border that arent on the original list of essential workers.
Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) Patrick ODonovan TD has appealed to objectors to the Blackpool Flood Relief scheme to reconsider their position.

Following opposition from a newly formed community group, Patrick ODonovan TD has outlined details of the environmental assessment undertaken for the recently approved Blackpool Flood Relief Scheme.

In a statement, the Minister said the scheme had been developed by a multi-disciplinary team of local experts and will protect properties to the internationally recognised standard of protection from flooding when completed.

Save Our Bride Otters (SOBO) is seeking a judicial review on the decision to allow plans for the scheme to proceed.

Minister ODonovan said that since the inception of the scheme, the community of Blackpool has engaged extensively with the consultation process ensuring that local knowledge and the needs of the community have fully informed the evolution of the project design over the last eight years.

Extensive consultation has taken place as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment, with Inland Fisheries Ireland, National Monuments and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, he said.

The OPW noted opposition from those with concerns on the potential impact on otters and wildlife but said that mitigation measures have been provided for in the design of the scheme.

According to the OPW, many of the suggestions being posed by opponents have already been considered during the development and it is hoped that construction can commence on the scheme early next year.

Appeal to those challenging the scheme

Minister ODonovan said that he fully recognises everyones right to appeal planning decision but urged those who are opposed to the current plans to reconsider their stance.

I appeal to those considering challenging the schemes approval, to first consider the homeowners and businesses of this area, who have been subjected to the nightmare of flooding, who remain at risk today, and who now finally see a solution which can bring this nightmare to an end.

He said that almost 300 properties and businesses will benefit from the Scheme, including many traders whose livelihoods are at stake as many cannot get insurance today due to the previous flooding in Blackpool.

Save Our Bride Otters

Earlier this week, SOBO urged the OPW to consider Irelands declaration of a biodiversity emergency.

The OPWs plan to bury a 350m stretch of the River Bride in Blackpool under a concrete culvert, along with other concrete channelling and screening further upstream, is surely in direct conflict with our declaration of a biodiversity emergency."

The group believes that using upstream storage of water would be a highly effective and relatively cheap form of flood prevention, which is based on preserving and enhancing biodiversity.

In a statement earlier this week, John MacCarthy, an engineer who is working with the campaign, said that the culvert extension proposal would cause a significant negative impact on otters and otter habitats.

The upstream catchment storage would introduce additional biodiversity benefits to the Bride catchment as well as protecting existing urban blue and green space crucial for otter breeding, he said.

So far, the group have raised over 10,480 through an online fundraiser to help cover the costs of the initial phase of the judicial review.

Mr ODonovan concluded by stating:

While the development of a scheme is the main objective of the process, I am glad to say that any scheme is only advanced with a full assessment of the environmental impacts of the measures to be implemented.

"I am delighted that we now have a scheme to protect the community in Blackpool," he added.
New Delhi, April 9 : US Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry has welcomed India's ambitious goal of generating 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 and said that Washington will help New Delhi achieve it by helping mobilise international funding.

Rounding up a three-day visit to India on Thursday, Kerry told reporters: "That's a terrific goal, we think that's a powerful goal," and "we want to make sure that we're facilitating the ability to reach that goal".

Kerry said "that's part of the partnership that we reached" in discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Indian leaders Last year, Modi set the target of 450 GW green energy by 2030 as India, which now heavily coal-dependent marches towards an ultimate goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Modi tweeted after their meeting on Wednesday: "Had an excellent discussion with US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. His passion and commitment to expedite climate action are commendable." "We intend to work very closely together, focusing on the deployment of 450 GW, on technology and on the finance components of that," Kerry said.

"There are lots of countries that would be willing to invest -- obviously with the right investment conditions," in India's green energy projects, he said.

He said that the United Arab Emirates, which he visited before coming to India, is interested in partnering with the US on the endeavour and that he had spoken to some countries in Europe and North America "who are prepared to try to be helpful".

Kerry's visit to India comes ahead of the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate convened by President Joe Biden on April 22 and 23, and the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November.

Biden has made climate change one of his top priorities and appointed Kerry, a former Secretary of State, to be the point person for it.

The President sees an important role for New Delhi in his global climate agenda as the two countries draw closer together strategically while India is the third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China, although in per capita terms it is a much smaller polluter.

Although Biden seeks cooperation with China on climate change, unlike with New Delhi, political and strategic relations with Beijing are hostile.

Kerry said that "India is a key partner" of the US fighting climate change.

"It's not only the largest democracy in the world, but it is by values a country that hugely cares about the relationship of all of us to the planet, to the environment, the surroundings around us," he said.

"Prime Minister is hugely seized by a sense of responsibility which we feel provides the capacity for a very important partnership." About the scope of the climate change partnership between India and US, Kerry said: "We have, both of us, innovative, entrepreneurial populations that are always trying to push the limits of discovery -- research and development, the creation of new products, new solutions.

"Having a partnership really links a country that has enormous development challenges with a country that is developed but still has major transitional infrastructure and other types of challenges, so there's a lot in common and we very much look forward to working with our friends here." During his India visit, Kerry also met Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Power and Renewable Energy Minister Raj Kumar Singh, Commerce and Industry Miinister Piyush Goyal, and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

"Officials of the two countries will pursue ways in which they can deepen their partnership on climate and clean energy in this critical decade," the State Department said in a statement.

During his interaction with reporters, Kerry said that former President Donald Trump had damaged Washington's standing on climate by pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, but "we come back with humility. We come back knowing the last four years were a disappointment to people".

"He shot America's credibility in the head and turned his back on science and became the only leader of a nation who decided to withdraw from the agreement.

"We get hurt by him getting out but the truth is the American people continued to fight. And people need to know that because that will help us restore our credibility.

"I hope people in India and elsewhere in the world will recognise that Donald Trump is Donald Trump... He lost the race," he added.

Kerry is scheduled to begin a visit to Bangladesh on Friday.

While in New Delhi, Kerry also met with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Serger Lavrov who was on a separate mission to India and talked about climate.

Russia's TASS News Agency reported that the meeting took place in the lobby of the hotel where they were both staying.

It noted that Biden has invited Russia's President Vladimir Putin to the Climate Summit and said that according to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, "the details are now being worked out through diplomatic channels".
Joe Biden said he and wife Jill were 'keeping the Queen and Prince Philip's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in our hearts' as he led international tributes to the Duke of Edinburgh, who died at the age of 99 on Friday.

The US president highlighted Prince Philip's 'decades of devoted public service', Second World War service and environmental efforts in remembering his legacy.

He said in a statement: 'Over the course of his 99-year life, he saw our world change dramatically and repeatedly. From his service during World War II, to his 73 years alongside the Queen, and his entire life in the public eye - Prince Philip gladly dedicated himself to the people of the UK, the Commonwealth, and to his family.'

'The impact of his decades of devoted public service is evident in the worthy causes he lifted up as patron, in the environmental efforts he championed, in the members of the armed forces that he supported, in the young people he inspired, and so much more.

'His legacy will live on not only through his family, but in all the charitable endeavours he shaped.'

'Jill and I are keeping the Queen and Prince Philip's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in our hearts during this time.'

US vice-president Kamala Harris tweeted: 'His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, led a long, remarkable life - the hallmarks of which were loyalty and service. Doug and I send our condolences to the Royal Family, the people of the United Kingdom, and the Commonwealth.'

Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump said Philip's death is 'an irreplaceable loss for Great Britain, and for all who hold dear our civilisation'.

He said the Duke 'defined British dignity and grace' and 'personified the quiet reserve, stern fortitude, and unbending integrity of the United Kingdom'.

Germany's Angela Merkel praised Prince Philip's 'friendship, straightforwardness, and 'sense of duty' while France's Emmanuel Macron hailed 'an exemplary life defined by bravery, a sense of duty and commitment to the youth and the environment.'

Joe Biden has led world leaders in paying tribute to Prince Philip after the Duke of Edinburgh passed away today at the age of 99

Angela Merkel (right) has said she is 'deeply saddened' to hear of the death of Prince Philip (left, in 2015) as she praised his 'sense of duty'

George W Bush has joined world leaders in paying tribute to Prince Philip after his death today at the age of 99 (pictured, the pair together at the White House in 2007)

Vladimir Putin (pictured with Prince Philip in London in 2003) said the duke 'rightfully enjoyed respect among the British and international prestige'

Former US president Barack Obama tweeted: 'Through his extraordinary example, His Royal Highness Prince Philip proved that true partnership has room for both ambition and selflessness - all in service of something greater.' (Above, Mr Obama, with his wife, Michelle, and the senior royals in 2016)

Vladimir Putin of Russia, Canada's Justin Trudeau, the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern, India's Narenda Modi and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu were also among those who paid tribute to Prince Philip - a man with presence on the world stage.

Meanwhile Europe's royals, including the kings of Spain, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands expressed their condolences, with Dutch King Willem-Alexander calling Philip: 'A lively personality [who] never ceased to leave an unforgettable impression.'

Former US President George W Bush also paid a glowing tribute to a man he said represented his country 'with dignity'.

World leaders honour Prince Philip after his death aged 99 USA Joe Biden: 'He gladly dedicated himself to the people of the UK.' George W Bush: 'He represented the United Kingdom with dignity and brought boundless strength.' Germany Angela Merkel: 'His friendship with Germany, his straightforwardness and his sense of duty will not be forgotten.' Foreign Minister Heiko Maas: 'He lived a long life of service to his country.' EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen: 'I am saddened to hear of his passing.' President Frank-Walter Steinmeier: 'His commitment to democracy and freedom will be remembered.' France Emmanuel Macron: 'Prince Philip lived an exemplary life defined by bravery, a sense of duty and commitment to the youth and the environment Michel Barnier: 'Sincere condolences to Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family.' Europe minister Clement Beaune: 'Prince Philip was a grand figure of the century.' Spain King Felipe and Queen Letizia: 'We shall never forget the moments that we shared with him and the legacy of service and dedication to the Crown.' Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison: 'He embodied a generation that we will never see again' New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: 'My sincere condolences to Her Majesty and to all the Royal Family.' Russia Vladimir Putin: 'He rightfully enjoyed respect among the British and international prestige.' Canada Justin Trudeau: 'Prince Philip was a man of great purpose and conviction, who was motivated by a sense of duty to others.' Ireland Prime Minister Micheal Martin: 'Thoughts and prayers with Queen Elizabeth and the people of the United Kingdom.' Foreign minister Simon Coveney: 'Sincere condolences to all British people.' First Minister of Northern Ireland Arlene Foster: 'The loss will be felt across the world.' Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf: 'A good friend of our family, a friendship we have placed great value on.' Norway King Harald: 'Our thoughts are with Queen Elizabeth and the rest of her family.' Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima: 'His lively personality never ceased to leave an unforgettable impression.' Prime Minister Mark Rutte: 'Our thoughts and sympathy are with Britain's Royal Family and the British people.' Belgium King Philippe and Queen Sofia: 'Deeply saddened by the passing away of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip.' Turkey President Erdogan: 'My deepest condolences on behalf of my country and the Turkish nation.' Denmark Queen Margrethe: 'Her Majesty has sent personal condolences to Queen Elizabeth.' India Prime Minister Narenda Modi: 'May his soul rest in peace' Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan: 'Britain has lost a wise elder who was imbued with a unique spirit of public service Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: 'He was the consummate public servant and will be much missed.' President Reuven Rivlin: 'May his memory be a blessing.' Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa: 'May his soul rest in eternal peace.' Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta: 'Prince Philip has been a towering symbol of family values and the unity of the British people.' Qatar Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani: 'My sincere condolences and sympathies to Her Majesty.' Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari: 'The death of the Duke of Edinburgh is the end of an era.' Oman Sultan Haitham: 'His Majesty the Sultan sends a message of condolence and sympathy to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II ... on the death of her husband.' Italy President Sergio Mattarella praised Philip's 'exemplary dedication, accompanying the evolution of his country with an open and innovative spirit'. Poland President Andrzej Duda: 'Prince Philip's death is an 'irretrievable loss for the United Kingdom, for the Commonwealth and for the entire international community.' Slovakia President Zuzana Caputova: 'Prince Philip will be remembered as a man of commitment and public service.' Czech Republic President Milos Zeman said in a letter to Queen Elizabeth II that Prince Philip 'represented Britain in the best sense of the word.' West Bank, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas expressed his 'utmost sadness' to the Queen and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, according to the official Palestinian news agency. Advertisement

Bush said: 'Throughout his long and remarkable life, he devoted himself to worthy causes and to others.

'He represented the United Kingdom with dignity and brought boundless strength and support to the sovereign,' he said.

And former US president Barack Obama tweeted: 'Through his extraordinary example, His Royal Highness Prince Philip proved that true partnership has room for both ambition and selflessness - all in service of something greater.

'Our thoughts are with Her Majesty the Queen, the Royal Family, and the British people.'

King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain telegrammed 'Dear Aunt Lilibet' to mourn the passing of 'Dear Uncle Philip', the royal household said.

The message expressed 'all our love and affection', adding: 'We shall never forget the moments that we shared with him and the legacy of service and dedication to the Crown and the United Kingdom by your side.'

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden praised Philip as 'a good friend of our family [and] a friendship we have placed great value on.'

'His contribution to his country is an example for all of us. We extend our condolences to Her Majesty the Queen, the Royal Family and the people of Great Britain,' he added.

King Harald of Norway added: 'Our thoughts are with Queen Elizabeth and the rest of her family. We also send our condolences to the British people.'

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he sent the Queen a telegram expressing his 'deep condolences', wishing her 'courage and fortitude in the face of a grievous and irreparable loss.'

'The name of His Royal Highness is associated with many important events in the recent history of your country,' he said.

'He rightfully enjoyed respect among the British and international prestige.'

The Russian embassy in London issued a separate statement pointing out that Philip was the 'great-great-grandson of Russian Emperor Nicholas I' and saying that he will be 'mourned by many Russians.'

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife Queen Maxima issued a statement honouring the duke's 'lively personality' which they said 'never ceased to leave an unforgettable impression'.

'Throughout his long life, he committed himself with dedication to the British people and to his many duties and responsibilities,' they added.

'Our deepest and most heartfelt sympathy goes out to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and all the members of the Royal Family.'

Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands said on Twitter: 'On behalf of the government I have sent my condolences to prime minister Boris Johnson on hearing the sad news of the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip.

'Our thoughts and sympathy are with Britain's Royal Family and the British people at this time of mourning.'

A spokesman for King Philippe of Belgium said the monarch had conveyed his condolences to the Queen in a private message and hoped to speak to her in person as soon as it is possible.

A public statement added: 'Deeply saddened by the passing away of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'We wish to express our deepest condolences to Her Majesty The Queen, the British Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom.'

Queen Margrethe of Denmark, who was Philip's cousin, also conveyed her 'personal condolences' to Queen Elizabeth in a private letter which was not made public, the royal household said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed 'deep sadness' over the passing of Britain's Prince Philip on Friday, saying he will be 'fondly remembered as a constant in the life of our Queen.'

'Prince Philip was a man of great purpose and conviction, who was motivated by a sense of duty to others,' Trudeau said on behalf of this Commonwealth nation, adding that 'the Duke always sought out the best in people and challenged them to strive for greater heights.'

Ireland's prime minister Micheal Martin on Friday sent his condolences to Queen Elizabeth, saying he was 'saddened' to hear of Prince Philip's passing.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with Queen Elizabeth and the people of the United Kingdom at this time,' he said.

Foreign minister Simon Coveney tweeted: 'I want to express sincere condolences to all British people on the sad passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'Our thoughts and solidarity are with you on a very sad day for the United Kingdom.'

Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald added: 'Sincere condolences to Queen Elizabeth and family on the death of her husband Prince Phillip. Sympathies to those of a British identity on our island, for whom his death will be felt as a great loss.'

Arlene Foster, the DUP leader and First Minister of Northern Ireland said the loss would be felt across Ireland and the world.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella praised Philip's 'exemplary dedication, accompanying the evolution of his country with an open and innovative spirit'.

Italians would 'cherish a grateful memory of his deep admiration for Italy's artistic and cultural heritage', he said.

German foreign minister Heiko Mass tweeted a statement which said: 'We are deeply saddened by the loss of His Royal Highness Prince Philip.

'Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Royal family, the people of the Commonwealth, and all who loved him dearly.

'He lived a long life of service to his country.'

The President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier added: 'Prince Philip was popular and highly respected in Germany. I had the pleasure of personally experiencing his astute humour during our meetings in London and Berlin. His commitment to democracy and freedom will be remembered'.

German ambassador to Britain, Andreas Michaelis, said: 'His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, will be sorely missed.

'It is a great privilege that he visited Germany on so many occasions and helped us develop a very close partnership between the United Kingdom and Germany. Our thoughts are with Her Majesty The Queen and her family.'

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted: 'I am saddened to hear of the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip. I would like to extend my sincere sympathy to Her Majesty The Queen, the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom on this very sad day.'

Spain's Queen Letizia and King Felipe sent a telegram to 'Dear Aunt Lilibet' wishing 'all our love and affection' on the death of 'Dear Uncle Philip'

Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (left, alongside Queen Elizabeth, Queen Silvia, and Prince Philip) also paid tribute, calling the duke 'a good friend of our family'

A spokesman for King Philippe of Belgium (right, meeting Prince Philip and the Queen in 2007) said the monarch had conveyed his condolences to the Queen in a private message

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (left with the Queen and Prince Philip) paid tribute to his 'lively personality' while Norway's King Harald (right, greeting Philip with his wife Queen Sonja) said: 'Our thoughts are with Queen Elizabeth'

Michel Barnier, Europe's chief negotiator during Brexit, said: 'I am saddened to hear of the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

'Sincere condolences to Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family. My solidarity to all the people of the United Kingdom today.'

And UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres paid tribute to Philip for 'his active work for the betterment of humankind', his spokesman said.

France's Europe minister, Clement Beaune, tweeted simply that 'Prince Philip was a grand figure of the century.'

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also paid tribute, saying the duke had 'embodied a generation that we will never see again' and added that Australia 'joins together in sorrow and thanksgiving for the loss and life of Prince Philip'.

'Prince Philip was kind and warm, with a sharp wit': Tribute from Barack Obama and his wife Michelle The Obamas first met the Queen and Philip in 2009 and would go on to share a warm bond with them during subsequent visits, once staying at Buckingham Palace in 2011. A statement from the couple reads: 'When we first met His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, he and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had already been on the world stage for more than half a century - welcoming leaders like Churchill and Kennedy; Mandela and Gorbachev. 'As two Americans unaccustomed to palaces and pomp, we didn't know what to expect. 'We shouldn't have worried. The Queen and Prince Philip immediately put us at ease with their grace and generosity, turning a ceremonial occasion into something far more natural, even comfortable. 'Prince Philip in particular was kind and warm, with a sharp wit and unfailing good humor. It was our first introduction to the man behind the title, and in the years since, our admiration for him has only grown. We will miss him dearly. 'Like the Queen, Prince Philip saw world wars and economic crises come and go. The radio gave way to the television, and the television to the internet. 'And through it all, he helped provide steady leadership and guiding wisdom. It has long been said that the United States and Great Britain have a special relationship - one that has been maintained and strengthened not just by presidents and prime ministers but by the Royal Family that has outlasted them all. 'At the Queen's side or trailing the customary two steps behind, Prince Philip showed the world what it meant to be a supportive husband to a powerful woman. 'Yet he also found a way to lead without demanding the spotlight - serving in combat in World War II, commanding a frigate in the Royal Navy, and tirelessly touring the world to champion British industry and excellence. Through his extraordinary example, he proved that true partnership has room for both ambition and selflessness - all in service of something greater. 'As the world mourns his loss, we send our warmest wishes and deepest sympathies to the Queen, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; and everyone who knew and loved this remarkable man.' Advertisement

In a statement issued from Canberra, Mr Morrison said: 'For nearly 80 years, Prince Philip served his Crown, his country and the Commonwealth.

'His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was, in the words of Her Majesty, her 'strength and stay'.

'He embodied a generation that we will never see again.

'Australians send our love and deepest condolences to her Majesty and all the Royal family. The Commonwealth family joins together in sorrow and thanksgiving for the loss and life of Prince Philip. God bless from all here in Australia.

Across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern also praised Philip's legacy which will live on through the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

'In over fifty years of The Award in New Zealand, thousands of young people have completed life-changing challenges through the programme,' she said.

'Our thoughts are with Her Majesty The Queen at this profoundly sad time. On behalf of the New Zealand people and the Government, I would like to express my sincere condolences to Her Majesty and to all the Royal Family,' she added.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted: 'Deep condolences to the Royal Family. Irreparable loss for the British people.

'Ukraine grieves together with Great Britain. Prince Philip lived a great life to serve his people and to be an example for the future generations.'

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the duke's military career and community work in a statement issued from Delhi.

It read: 'My thoughts are with the British people and the Royal Family on the passing away of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'He had a distinguished career in the military and was at the forefront of many community service initiatives. May his soul rest in peace.'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his 'deepest condolences' the the Royal family.

'Prince Phillip was the consummate public servant and will be much missed in Israel and across the world,' he wrote.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin added: 'My deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathy to Queen Elizabeth, the Prince of Wales, the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom on the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'May his memory be a blessing.'

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan praised the Duke for his support for the second largest country in the commonwealth, which he last visited with the Queen in 1997 for a six-day tour.

'Britain has lost a wise elder who was imbued with a unique spirit of public service,' he tweeted.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted: 'I convey my deepest condolences on behalf of my country and the Turkish nation. I share the sorrow of the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom.'

'My deepest condolences to the people of the United Kingdom and the Royal Family on the death of His Royal Highness Prince Phillip', said President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe.

'May his soul rest in eternal peace.'

Justin Trudeau praised Philip as 'a man of great purpose and conviction' who 'always sought out the best in people and challenged them to strive for greater heights'

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (above, signing a condolence book) has led world leaders in paying tribute to Prince Philip who died today at the age of 99

The condolence book signed by Australian Governor-General David Hurley and Australian PM Scott Morrison at Admiralty House

Jacinda Ardern paid tribute to Philip's legacy in the form of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which tens of thousand of New Zealand children participate in each year

President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya said the Duke of Edinburgh had been a unifying figure, calling him a 'great man'.

'His Royal Highness Prince Philip has been a towering symbol of family values and the unity of the British people as well as the entire global community.'

Ivan Korkok, Slovakia's minister of foreign affairs offered his 'deepest condolences' to the Queen and Royal Family.

Malta's prime minister, Robert Abela, said he was 'truly saddened by the loss of Prince Philip, who made Malta his home and returned here so often.

'Our people will always treasure his memory,' he added.

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, president of the Maldives, called Philip 'a staunch exemplar of public service.'

Meanwhile emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said: 'My sincere condolences and sympathies to Her Majesty The Queen, the Royal Family and the British people on the loss of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

The head of UNESCO tweeted her 'sincere condolences' to the royal family and the United Kingdom after Philip's death.

'His Royal Highness Philip was a pillar of English modern history and a strong advocate of Planet action through the Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Award. He will be missed,' Audrey Azoulay said on Twitter.

The government in Taiwan also issued a statement which read: 'The government & people of Taiwan extend their deepest condolences on the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the royal family, & the people of Great Britain & the Commonwealth.

'May he rest in peace.'

A statement issued by Buckingham Palace at midday announced Philip's death on behalf of the Queen, who expressed 'deep sorrow' at his passing - which happened 'peacefully' on Friday morning.

Philip - an outspoken former navy commander - had devoted much of his life as the queen's husband to charity work but was also notorious for his many opinionated public remarks which caused humour and offence in often equal measure.

He had recently spent time in hospital, being admitted on February 16 for treatment on a pre-existing heart condition and then for an infection, before returning home a month later.

Tributes poured in from the United States, Europe and Commonwealth countries including Australia, India and New Zealand.

Condolences were also expressed by leaders in Ireland, where in 2011 the queen and Philip paid the first royal state visit for a century following generations of enmity with Britain.

President of Greece pays tribute to Philip as she shares boyhood photo of Duke dressed as a Greek soldier

The President of Greece - where the Duke of Edinburgh was born almost 100 years ago - has paid tribute to him and his decades of service.

President Katerina Sakellaropoulou shared a photo of Philip as a young boy dressed as an Evzone guard.

The Prince of Wales gave a framed copy of the photograph to the presidential guards in Athens just over a fortnight ago.

The President of Greece - where the Duke of Edinburgh was born almost 100 years ago - has paid tribute to him and his decades of service. President Katerina Sakellaropoulou shared a photo of Philip as a young boy dressed as an Evzone guard

The Evzones are the elite light infantry units of the Greek Army and are known for their distinctive uniform, which originates from the clothes worn by Greek irregulars who fought against the Ottomans during the Greek Revolution in the 1821-1827 period.

Charles gave a nod to Philip's link to Greece during his recent visit, and said the country of his father's birth has 'long held the most special place in my heart'.

Philip was born a prince of Greece and Denmark, allegedly on the kitchen table of his family home, Mon Repos, on the Greek island of Corfu, in 1921.

President Sakellaropoulou tweeted: 'The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, who was born in Corfu, served his country with devotion for many decades.

'I extend my warm condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the members of the @RoyalFamily and the British people.'

Charles paid tribute to Greece and said he was 'delighted' to be back when he visited Athens with the Duchess of Cornwall in March for the country's Bicentenary Independence Day celebrations.

Speaking at an official state dinner at the presidential mansion in Athens, hosted by President Sakellaropoulou, Charles said: 'My wife and I could not be more delighted to be back in Greece, which has long held the most special place in my heart.

'After all, Greece is the land of my grandfather; and of my father's birth, nearly one hundred years ago, in the centenary year of Greek Independence.

'Later, it was in Athens that my dear grandmother, Princess Alice, during the dark years of Nazi occupation, sheltered a Jewish family - an act for which in Israel she is counted as 'Righteous Among The Nations'.'

In his speech, Charles also said: 'In feeling a profound connection to Greece - her landscapes, her history and her culture - I am hardly alone: there is something of her essence in us all.

'As the wellspring of Western civilisation, Greece's spirit runs through our societies and our democracies.

'Without her, our laws, our art, our way of life, would never have flourished as they have.'

Charles and Camilla's official two-day visit to Greece, at the request of the British Government following an invitation from Greece's prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, came eight days after Philip left hospital following a month-long stay receiving treatment.

The Mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, said in a statement that he was 'deeply saddened' to hear of Philip's death.

He said the duke's life 'serves as an example of tenacity and adaptability in the face of adversity'.

The mayor added: 'Praised for his personal bravery as an officer of the Royal Navy during the Second World War, Prince Philip will be remembered for his decades of service to the public, his selfless dedication to royal duties, and his complete devotion to Her Majesty The Queen.

'I offer my condolences to Her Majesty at this sad time.

'My thoughts also go to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, whom I had the pleasure of meeting last month during the celebrations for the Bicentennial of the Greek War of Independence.'

... while Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece posts touching tribute on Instagram, with image of a young Philip

'With deep sadness, but with the joy of reflecting upon a life lived through outstanding dedication and devotion to his country, family and, of course, to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, my family and I remember HRH Prince Philip,

'Duke of Edinburgh. He was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in Mon Repos, our home on the Island of Corfu, on 10th June 1921, the only son of Prince Andrew (Andreas) and Princess Alice of Greece.

'Uncle Philip, as he was known to us, has been a very loved member of the extended Greek family and of course a strong connection for us to Britain where my brother Philippos was born and given his name by my parents.

Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece paid tribute on Instagram to the Duke, whom he knew as Uncle Philip (pictured above as a boy)

'As I reflect on his life, I feel immensely proud of him: of his bravery in World War II and of the way he overcame the challenges of exile in his formative early life.

'He was by any conceivable standard, the most remarkable servant to the Sovereign and to the United Kingdom, his adopted country, and to the Commonwealth.

'He was armed with the determination, compassion, vision and steadfast loyalty which were at the core of his ability to support the Queen in their united stability amidst the shifting tides of the past century and beyond.

Prince Pavlos (bottom right) at the wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank in 2018

'At the coronation he swore to be his wifes liege man of life and limb, which he carried out unfalteringly, unquestioningly.

'He will be remembered by over 700 organisations as President or Patron and for the Duke of Edinburgh Award that since 1956 has had 8million young participants. He took great pleasure in his relationship with the Armed forces and the life of the men and women serving them.

'Prince Philip did not like to dwell on things: he was a doer, with great vigour and energy. It has been said that the life of the dead is placed into the memory of the living and this will be compellingly true of the memories of our time spent with him - the hilarity, the stories, the seemingly limitless interests - will always be treasured.

'Our thoughts and prayers are today with HM Queen Elizabeth II and her own family, for whom the sense of loss will be very hard to bear; and yet I know that the joy of reflecting upon his extraordinary life will be a source of immense comfort and pride.'
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus M.Barysevich meets the Honorary Consul of Belarus in Pakistan

On April 9, 2021, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Mikalai Barysevich met with Honorary Consul of the Republic of Belarus in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Walid Mushtaq.

During the meeting the Sides discussed topical issues of the development of Belarussian-Pakistani relations with an emphasis on intensifying trade and economic cooperation and developing cooperation in the field of education.

The interlocutors paid special attention to summing up the results of the negotiations held between Pakistani delegation and Belorussian enterprises, as well as discussing plans for increasing supplies of Belarusian products to Pakistan.

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As Windsors star rose, so did Dominic Foppolis.

The small Sonoma County town had long hidden in the shadow of Healdsburg, the tony tourist destination to its north. But thanks in part to Foppoli, its mayor since 2018, Windsor was quickly becoming a destination in its own right. During his tenure, Windsor saw the arrival of a famous brewery, luxurious new wineries, a new civic center and multimillion-dollar housing projects.

Meanwhile, Foppoli, a co-owner of Christopher Creek Winery, was making video appearances with celebrity chef Guy Fieri. A 2018 CBS special crowned him prince of the Wine Country. When the Kincade Fire threatened Windsor in 2019, national news outlets positioned him as a local hero, helping his town escape destruction.

So when news circulated through Windsor on Thursday that four women had accused Foppoli of sexually assaulting them, going public in interviews with The Chronicle, the story had deeper resonance than it might have in a different community.

This wasnt just the mayor. This wasnt just a local business owner. This was a man who was deeply embedded in seemingly all aspects of public life here. For a community still in the process of forging an identity, the allegations  which Foppoli categorically denied in a statement released by his attorney  threatened to be Windsors defining moment.

Hes made himself a big presence in the town for years, said Erica Stancliff, a winemaker who works in Windsor and lived in the town from 2014 to 2016. Hes wine tasting at the wineries, hanging out with business owners, just very socially active in the community.

Thats part of what made the sexual assault claims so jarring to Stancliff. Its unacceptable, she said. Its 2021 and women shouldnt live in fear of a man assaulting us. She hoped Foppoli would step down from the mayors office, echoing the calls of more than a dozen state and local lawmakers who on Thursday demanded Foppolis resignation.

They spoke out after a Chronicle investigation detailed the accounts of four women who said Foppoli sexually assaulted them after drinking, in incidents from 2003 to 2019.

Foppoli declined to be interviewed, but his attorney said he has a long history of supporting women in his business, personal and political lives, and the accusation that he has engaged in any of these misdeeds is deeply troubling.

Thursday was a sunny, clear day in Windsor. A long line wrapped around the exterior of Huerta Gymnasium, where a COVID-19 vaccine clinic had set up shop, but signs of post-pandemic life were already visible. The Town Green was dotted with people eating lunch at picnic tables and others walking their dogs.

Marlena Sloss / Special to The Chronicle

Windsor High senior Toby Feibusch read the Chronicles story after finding a link to it on Facebook early Thursday morning and was disgusted, but not surprised. I knew a lot of people felt very uncomfortable around him, the 18-year-old said as she ate sushi on a picnic bench.

Feibusch, who was back in school in person for the first time Thursday, said Foppoli needs to go. Its insanely frustrating, she said. In a time when sexual assault allegations are taken seriously, nothing is being done.

Jenny Delgado, 38, and her father Mario De Bello, 63, ate lunch at a table along the downtown strip of cafes and other eateries. The squeal of children hanging onto a spinning merry-go-round at a nearby playground broke the lunchtime calm.

Were about the same age, so we crossed paths when I was younger, Delgado said of Foppoli. Its hard having an opinion without reading all the facts. Up until now, I thought he was a good mayor advocating for our town.

Foppoli has lived in Windsor for more than 30 years. After losing a bid for Town Council in 2006, he built a small empire of family businesses, purchasing Christopher Creek Winery in 2012 and opening Old Redwood Brewing Co., which was purchased in 2018 by Jean-Charles Boisset, a well-known Napa Valley vintner.

In the years following those purchases, he was elected to the council, appointed vice mayor, then appointed mayor, then finally elected mayor by voters.

Delgado was impressed by Foppolis response to the Kincade Fire, which broke out in his second year as mayor. As the wildfire approached, Foppoli shepherded what he told ABC News was the largest evacuation in the towns history. He issued frequent updates on his social media channels to residents.

He was the face of that, and people here hailed him as a hero, said Stancliff. People look up to him here as someone who tried their best to save Windsor. ... This is someone who was standing with the firefighters up on 101, telling people to evacuate, handing out food and water.

Marlena Sloss / Special to The Chronicle

But perhaps Foppolis most lasting legacy in the town, until now, was his role in transforming Windsor from the sleepy way station on the way to Healdsburg to a chic Wine Country enclave.

Russian River Brewing Co., the famous Santa Rosa brewery whose yearly release of its Pliny the Younger beer draws tens of thousands of visitors to Sonoma County, built an outpost in Windsor in 2016, a deal Foppoli helped broker. Fancy wineries like Grand Cru and Bricoleur set up shop in Windsor and opened state-of-the-art tasting rooms.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Suddenly, Windsor was looking a lot less like Healdsburgs forgotten stepsibling and a lot more like, well, Healdsburg.

De Bello, Delgados father, said Windsor used to be a two-horse town, and now its Healdsburg without the price tag.

He didnt know the mayor but has supported his sustainable growth platform. The last five years its really started to gain traction, De Bello said of becoming part of Wine Country. And its a great little town to raise kids.

Yet it was precisely this reputation in town, and in the region, that made the women who accused Foppoli of sexual assault feel they might not be believed, they told The Chronicle.

As Thursday went on, locals took to social media to speak out about the news.

In the Windsor California Community group on Facebook, users urged others to call in to a meeting of the Mayors and Councilmembers Association of Sonoma County scheduled for Thursday night, to express their demands for Foppoli to be removed from office. In a Facebook group for the Healdsburg community, one user noted they would never buy a bottle of Christopher Creek wine again.

As lawmakers calls for Foppolis resignation mounted, Windsor officials told The Chronicle they were referring the sexual assault allegations to the towns police department. Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said her office was reviewing the matter.

And pressure may continue to mount against Foppoli. On Thursday evening, a small crowd gathered in downtown Windsor to denounce him, holding up signs saying women supporting women and Dom  youre fired! From, your constituents. Another rally to recall Foppoli is planned for the Town Green on Friday.

Despite the shocking revelations in the article, Feibusch was glad the details finally came out.

I hope he resigns, she said. Hes just really slimy.

Correction: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the nature of the business relationship between Dominic Foppoli and Jean-Charles Boisset. Boisset purchased Old Redwood Brewing Co. from Foppoli in 2018.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Alexandria Bordas contributed to this report.

Esther Mobley and Matthias Gafni are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com, matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley @mgafni
Shares of Limited, on Friday, hit 20 per cent upper circuit at Rs 7.02 on the BSE after its subsidiary Srei Equipment Finance Limited (SEFL) said it has received expression of interest for up to $250 million capital infusion in the company from international private equity (PE) funds.





"Srei Equipment Finance Limited ("SEFL") said that it has received expression of interest for up to USD 250 million capital infusion in the company. The international private equity ("PE") funds are US-based Arena Investors LP and Singapore's Makara Capital Partners," the company said, in a press release. CLICK HERE FOR THE PRESS RELEASE

At 9:40 AM, around 68 lakh shares of had changed hands on the NSE and BSE, combined. There were over 37 pending buy orders.

The company's Strategic Coordination Committee (SCC), chaired by Malay Mukherjee, independent director, will coordinate, negotiate and conclude discussions with the PE investors to bring the capital into the business and advise the management, the company said. Ernst & Young (E&Y) will be advising the committee on the proposed fund raising exercise.

Arena Investors LP is a multi-strategy investment firm with $2.2 billion of committed capital while Makara Capital Partners is a global financial services company specialising in fund management, private equity as well as structuring and financing with a core focus on innovation, infrastructure and energy.

Srei had been under stress in the wake of Covid-19, which had led to an asset-liability mismatch. In the third quarter, Srei Infrastructure had reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 3,810.93 crore on account of higher and accelerated provisioning, which came on the back of a special audit conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) into the company and SEFL.

The company has also seen about 200 exits across various levels since December last year as banks capped salaries at Rs 50 lakh a year for senior executives.

The SCC will also be the nodal point for a comprehensive cash flow realignment plan with banks and financial institutions and for all external service providers, including investment bankers, lawyers and consultants, said SEFL.
Electrical batteries are increasingly crucial in a variety of applications, from integration of intermittent energy sources with demand, to unlocking carbon-free power for the transportation sector through electric vehicles (EVs), trains and ships, to a host of advanced electronics and robotic applications.

A key challenge however is that batteries degrade quickly with operating conditions. It is currently difficult to estimate battery health without interrupting the operation of the battery or without going through a lengthy procedure of charge-discharge that requires specialised equipment.

In work recently published by Nature Machine Intelligence, researchers from the Smart Systems Group at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, UK working together with researchers from the CALCE group at the University of Maryland in the US developed a new method to estimate battery health irrespective of operating conditions and battery design or chemistry, by feeding artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms with the raw battery voltage and current operational data.

Darius Roman, the PhD student that designed the AI framework said: "To date, the progress of data-driven models for battery degradation relies on the development of algorithms that carry out inference faster. Whilst researchers often spend a considerable amount of time on model or algorithm development, very few people take the time to understand the engineering context in which the algorithms are applied. By contrast, our work is built from the ground up. We first understand battery degradation through collaborations with the CALCE group at the University of Maryland, where in-house degradation testing of batteries was carried out. We then concentrate on the data, where we engineer features that capture battery degradation, we select the most important features and only then we deploy the AI techniques to estimate battery health."

In addition, the researchers found that current data-driven models for battery health estimation do not consider model confidence. However, this is often critical for decision making to understand how the AI model came to a certain conclusion and whether the model can be trusted. In their work, the proposed AI model is capable of quantifying uncertainty in its predictions to better support operating decisions.

The developed framework scales up with new chemistries, including the new upcoming solid-state batteries, battery designs and operating conditions and has the potential to unlock new strategies of how batteries can and should be used.

Valentin Robu, from the Smart Systems Group said: "Batteries are increasingly critical to a variety of applications, from robotics to renewable energy integration. A key challenge in these domains is having an accurate, high-confidence estimates of battery state of health. Consider for example, a robotic asset operating in a remote environment such as deep subsea monitoring, where assuring the health of the battery deployed on the robot is mission-critical. Similarly, for energy applications, having an accurate estimate of the remaining useful lifetime of the battery is often critical to a project's economic viability."

###

Funding note:

This research was supported by the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Embedded Intelligence, the UK Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Hub for Offshore Energy Asset Integrity Management (ORCA Hub) and Responsive Flexibility (ReFlex), one of UK's largest smart energy demonstration projects, based on the Orkney Islands in the UK.
San Francisco, April 9 : Amazon appears to have defeated a major union drive as preliminary tally on Friday suggests that workers at a warehouse in Alabama voted against forming a union.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the US has tallied 1,700 "no" votes on the measure, more than half of the 3,215 ballots cast by workers at the Bessemer, Alabama facility which has an employee strength of about 5,800, The Verge reported.

This is a major victory for Amazon which has waged an aggressive campaign in Bessemer, showing workers benefits of not joining a union.

However, the NLRB has not yet declared an official winner as counting of votes is still on.

Amazon workers at the Alabama facility started voting by mail starting February 8 over whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

Amazon, which has seen its sales growing dramatically during the pandemic as people rushed to get their supplies through online services due to the Covid-19 restrictions, has faced criticism from several quarters for allegedly not putting in place enough measures to protect its warehouse workers.

The union is considering appealing the election.

"Our system is broken," RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum was quoted as saying in a statement on Thursday evening.

"Amazon took full advantage of that, and we will be calling on the labor board to hold Amazon accountable for its illegal and egregious behaviour during the campaign."
Tom Cruise has just seen three of his upcoming movies postponed by the latest release schedule reshuffle of the ongoing pandemic.

His forthcoming movie Top Gun: Maverick was meant to arrive in theaters July 2 this year but has now been bumped to November 19, Deadline reports.

However November 19 was previously meant to be the release date of the seventh Mission: Impossible movie so both that film and its sequel have to be pushed back.

Incoming: Iconic: Tom Cruise has just seen three of his upcoming movies postponed by the latest release schedule reshuffle including Top Gun: Maverick (pictured)

Meanwhile: Top Gun: Maverick is a sequel to the iconic 1986 action drama Top Gun (pictured) that helped propel Tom to the stardom he enjoys today

Paramount has set new release dates for 10 movies in all which includes the Top Gun sequel and the next two Mission: Impossible movies.

Top Gun: Maverick has had to undergo a string of postponements stretching back to even before the coronavirus pandemic.

Its initial release date was in July 2019, then it was pushed to summer 2020. Then lockdown necessitated its delay to two days before last Christmas.

As the year 2020 rumbled on even a winter release appeared unfeasible for various reasons including schedule changes for other movies.

Long-running franchise: Both of the next two Mission: Impossible films have also had to be pushed back; Tom is pictured in Rome filming the upcoming seventh film

Still at it after all these years: The most recently released Mission: Impossible movie was the sixth one which was subtitled Fallout and came out in 2018 (pictured)

Shakeup: Paramount has set new release dates for 10 movies including the Top Gun sequel and the next two Mission: Impossible movies; Tom is pictured in the first Mission: Impossible

Consequently the film, a sequel to Tom Gun's iconic 1986 action drama, was moved to this July only to now be shifted again to the week before Thanksgiving.

The seventh Mission: Impossible is now slated for release May 27, 2022 prompting a delay for film eight which was previously scheduled to come out that same year.

Mission: Impossible 8 has now been shifted from its planned November 4, 2022 release date to July 7 the following year.

May 27, 2022 was previously the set release date for an upcoming Dungeons And Dragons movie which has newly been moved to March 3, 2023.

Still got it: May 27, 2022 was previously the set release date for an upcoming Dungeons And Dragons movie starring Hugh Grant (pictured) which has newly been moved to March 3, 2023

Laugh it up: The fourth Jacka** movie has fared a bit better, being delayed just seven weeks from September 3 to October 22 this year; Jacka** 3D is pictured

Dungeons And Dragons has been assembling a star-studded cast including Hugh Grant as a villain and Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez in other roles.

The fourth Jacka** movie has fared a bit better, being delayed just seven weeks from September 3 to October 22 this year.

However October 22 had previously been the release date Snake Eyes, a G.I. Joe spin-off movie led by Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding.

Charmer: However October 22 had previously been the release date Snake Eyes, a G.I. Joe spin-off movie led by Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding (pictured)

Rather than postponing Snake Eyes the studio has instead given it an earlier release, choosing the summer blockbuster date of July 23.

Three out of the 10 newly announced release dates are in fact not delays but the first release dates that have been made public for these particular films.

Mission: Impossible 8's former release date of November 4, 2022 has now been given to a biopic of the Bee Gees.

Remember when: Meanwhile the next Star Trek movie will come out on June 9, 2023 - seven years after its commercially disappointing predecessor Star Trek Beyond (pictured)

Meanwhile the next Star Trek movie will come out on June 9, 2023 - seven years after the release of its commercially disappointing predecessor Star Trek Beyond.

A movie based on the 1970s children's book The Shrinking Of Treehorn and reportedly directed by Ron Howard will bow November 10, 2023.

Exactly one week later viewers will be treated to a movie that stars smoldering Hollywood heartthrobs John Krasinski and Ryan Reynolds.
(Natural News) For a long time, liberals have been accusing conservatives of being conspiracy theorists. Say anything about Hunter Biden, and youre a conspiracy theorist. Urge Andrew Cuomo to resign, and youre a conspiracy theorist.

(Article by Jeffrey Folks republished from AmericanThinker.com)

Now its worse. Conservatives arent just conspiracy theorists; theyre white supremacists. Like those who defend Georgias voting reforms designed to protect the integrity of the election. Or any person or business that lives or operates in Georgia. For the left, anyone associated with a bill designed to prevent voter fraud, and so deny Democrats permanent power, is a white supremacist.

Maybe that was the point of Bidens attack on extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism in his inaugural address. Democrats are seeing white supremacists everywhere they look  like the New Republic, which in 2017 suggested that Trumps economic agenda of returning manufacturing jobs to America was white supremacist. Or the accusation elsewhere that Trump ignored supposed connections between the police and white supremacists, or the supposed Alt-Right bridge between conservatism and white supremacism (so now conservatism in general is white supremacist?).

Once again, liberal thinking has followed the race to the bottom, whereby anything one disagrees with is white supremacist.

Its easy to charge someone with being a white supremacist because its difficult to prove a negative. Once charged, if charged often enough, the charge may stick even if baseless. In a 2019 poll, 57% of Americans agreed that President Trump is a white supremacist or emboldened them. What embolden meant in that context is not clear. The media worked overtime to establish this idea in the minds of the public, and now theyre using the same rhetoric to attack opponents of the Biden administration.

The charge against conservatives appears daily on thousands of liberal media outlets. Its now commonplace to accuse anyone who takes pride in America  anyone who admires George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, to say nothing of Reagan or Trump  of being a vicious white supremacist. Or even anyone who questions Black Lives Matter, or is not vocal enough in his support.

Whats happening with the rhetoric of white supremacism is the classic tactic of expanding the definition of something odious until it covers everything outside your own way of thinking. Its the equivalent of labeling your opponent a fascist just for opposing your ideas, and like the charge of fascism, its purpose is to silence the opponent without having to debate him. This because once you debate him, you might discover that you are wrong.

As Orwell understood, such rhetoric can be effective. Create a lie and repeat it often enough, and it comes to seem as if it were true. Orwell was correct in his belief that in our time it is broadly true that political writing is bad writing  with the exception, he said, of those rebels, including many conservatives, who express their own honest opinions outside the party line.

As Orwell realized early on, the political language of the left relies on vague charges and deliberate obfuscation. What better, in our own time, than the vague charge of white supremacy? Most everyone would agree that white supremacy is a bad thing, but the fact is that there are few white supremacists around. So charging someone with white supremacy without a basis in fact is a grave error  a crime, actually (slander or libel). And yet, for many liberals, attacking opponents with white supremacist rhetoric is the equivalent of saying, I dont like you.

Leftists often use such extreme rhetoric to deflect attention from their own incompetence and corruption. During the presidential campaign, candidate Biden boasted of what he would accomplish in his first 100 days. What has he accomplished, other than a ruinous stimulus bill loaded with political payoffs to key constituencies and a border crisis of mounting proportions?

The next 100 days look worse. Its true: by July, most Americans will have been vaccinated, largely due to former President Trumps Operation Warp Speed. But, according to reliable predictions, the border crisis will worsen, and questions about the economy will emerge based on the unsustainability of federal deficits. Biden refuses to call for Cuomos resignation, which many believe must come soon enough. And Biden may find it harder and harder to appear in public, much less to participate in an actual press conference, where the questions have not been submitted in advance and those chosen limited to cooperative members of the press.

The white supremacist rhetoric opens up a slippery slope whereby eventually one may be charged with racism simply for the crime of being white, and certainly for the crime of being a Southern white. Kamala Harris played the race card in her primary debate with candidate Joe Biden. Just because he was a white male who had opposed busing, on legitimate grounds, he was deemed a racist. Presumably, she could not have made that charge against a black who had opposed busing, as many did. Then, during the campaign, she repeatedly suggested that President Trump was a white supremacist or had ties to or sympathized with white supremacists.

One assumes that V.P. Harris does not now consider President Biden a racist  not, at least, until it becomes politically expedient to do so. At that moment, perhaps when she wishes to remove him from office, she might play the race card again.

For now, Harris confines her accusations to anyone else who gets in her way. Her comparison of ICE to the KKK introduced white supremacy rhetoric into the discussion of the border crisis. Other situations are perfectly suited to the white supremacist charge. The retrial of George Floyds killer, the shooting of Asian-Americans in the Atlanta area, resistance to the expansion of federal gun control laws after several recent mass shootings  those who oppose the lefts script are immediately characterized as white supremacists.

As things worsen, expect to hear the white supremacist charge thrown around more often. Who knows what comes next? Silencing the opposition involves tarring it with the worst sort of charges  charges that reduce the opponent to a category that has no right to speak. Whatever comes next, liberals wont be loath to employ it. Their record of abusive rhetoric makes that clear.

Read more at: AmericanThinker.com and Libtards.news.
Rebecca Lobie has not shied away from showing off her bikini body on Instagram.

And the 33-year-old set hearts racing as she flaunted her curves in a tiny pink bikini on a beach near her based in Queensland this week.

She took to Instagram to shared a photo of herself wearing a bright pink two piece - with a halter-neck top and G-string bottoms.

Suns out buns out! Steve Irwin's 'hot niece' Rebecca Lobie soaked up the sun on a Queensland beach in a tiny pink bikini this week, after her cousin Bindi welcomed daughter Grace

The blonde beauty, who is the niece of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, lay on her front on a beach towel as her backside soaked up the sun.

She styled her up in a low bun and completed her look with a pair of chic oversized sunglasses.

In the caption, the Instagram sensation, who built a reputation for sharing racy photos of herself, wrote: 'Hello Sunshine,' along with sun, heart and hands up emojis.

Family ties: In the caption, the Instagram sensation, who built a reputation for sharing racy photos of herself, wrote: 'Hello Sunshine,' along with sun, heart and hands up emojis. Rebecca is the daughter of Frank Muscillo, who is married to Steve's sister Joy

Rebecca is the daughter of Frank Muscillo, who is married to Steve's sister Joy.

She was previously the managing director of the Irwin family business, Australia Zoo before leaving in December 2015.

Her uncle Steve, known to millions around the world as 'the Crocodile Hunter', was filming a documentary when he was fatally stabbed in the heart by a stingray barb on September 4, 2006 in Batt Reef, Queensland. He was 44 years old.

Business: Rebecca was previously the managing director of the Irwin family business, Australia Zoo before leaving in December 2015

Now, Bindi, 22, continues to run Australia Zoo's operations, alongside mother Terri Irwin and brother Robert Irwin.

Bindi and her husband Chandler Powell, 24, recently welcomed her first child, a daughter named daughter Grace Warrior Irwin Powell on March 25.

In a lengthy Instagram post, that has garnered more than a million likes, Bindi explained that the baby's two middle names were inspired by her late father, wildlife warrior Steve Irwin.

She's here! Bindi and her husband Chandler Powell, 24, recently welcomed her first child, a daughter named daughter Grace Warrior Irwin Powell on March 25

'March 25, 2021. Celebrating the two loves of my life. Happy first wedding anniversary to my sweetheart husband and day of birth to our beautiful daughter,' Bindi wrote.

'Our graceful warrior is the most beautiful light. Grace is named after my great-grandmother, and relatives in Chandler's family dating back to the 1700s,' she continued.

'Her middle names, Warrior Irwin, are a tribute to my dad and his legacy as the most incredible Wildlife Warrior. Her last name is Powell and she already has such a kind soul just like her dad.'
(Newser)  A family hopes to hold a major reunion soon, on the oceanfront land in Los Angeles County that was seized from their relatives a century ago. The City of Manhattan Beach and the state are considering returning the land to descendants of the people kicked off it in 1924, the Los Angeles Times reports. "It's not often we can correct these atrocities in America," a California legislator said. "But this is an easy fix." Starting in 1912, Willa and Charles Bruce owned a couple of lots along the beach where they operated a lodge, cafe, and dance hall. People called it Bruces Beach. The resort was the first seaside resort along the West Coast specifically for Black guests. Other Black families established cottages nearby. All endured harassment from the KKK and others until 1924, when the city used eminent domain to seize two dozen properties, giving the need for a park as the reason.

story continues below

The family also lost its opportunity to build generational wealth, per the Daily Breeze. A bill now in the legislature would allow the county, which now owns the land and uses it for a lifeguard headquarters, to transfer the parcel to the Bruce family. Los Angeles County probably would then lease the land back from the family. There's support, but public hearings have been contentious, and the city council voted Tuesday not to issue an apology to the family. Some opponents don't see the logic in apologizing for an event a century ago, while others express concern that an apology could spark lawsuits. If the current effort succeeds, it would be the first time that land in the US has been returned to a Black family to atone for a racial wrong. (Read more eminent domain stories.)
TORONTO, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Predictiv AI Inc. (TSXV: PAI) (OTC: INOTF) (FSE: 71TA) ("Predictiv AI" or the "Company"), www.predictiv.ai, a software and solutions provider in the artificial intelligence markets, is pleased to announce it has installed multiple ThermalPass temperature scanning devices in Memorial Healthcare System hospital facilities in south Broward County. Memorial is a leader in providing high-quality healthcare services to South Florida residents through its six-hospital network and various ancillaries throughout South Florida. The initial rollout of units was completed at Memorial Regional Hospital, the flagship facility and one of the largest hospitals in the state and Memorial Regional Hospital South, home of the Rehabilitation Institute.

Predictiv AI's ThermalPass Adopted by Memorial Healthcare System (CNW Group/Predictiv AI Inc.)

"With COVID-19 still threatening our community, it's important for us to continue using technology in a way that will help us maximize our team's time and provide quality and safe care to our community," said Dawn de la Vega, MSN, RN, Director of Nursing at Memorial Regional Hospital. "We have integrated ThermalPass, which has helped us eliminate forehead temperature checks and capture core temperature for employees reporting to work in a more efficient manner."

"It is an honour to be of service to one of America's top healthcare systems, having garnered many prestigious awards over the years, including having been selected by the American Hospital Association from more than 5,000 hospitals as the national model for improving the health of the community," said Jason Elmaleh, President of Commersive Solutions, joint venture partner in ThermalPass. "To have been selected by a customer with an unparalleled standard and commitment to their staff, patients, and community further demonstrates ThermalPass' best-in-class temperature screening solutions."

"The healthcare industry is experiencing a technological revolution, and we're extremely pleased that ThermalPass is at the forefront and well-positioned to capture market share in the temperature screening solutions category," said Michael Lende, CEO of Predictiv AI. "It's an achievement to have been recognized and accepted by one of the leaders in America's healthcare system. Our team and partners are looking forward to working with Memorial to ensure a successful rollout to their entire network."

Predictiv AI is not making any express or implied claims that its product has the ability to eliminate, cure, or contain the COVID-19 (or SARS-2 coronavirus) at this time.

ThermalPass is manufactured by SMRT Labs Inc., a company jointly owned by AI Labs Inc., a subsidiary of Predictiv AI Inc. and Commersive Solutions Corp.

For more information on Predictiv AI or ThermalPass, visit: www.predictiv.ai and follow Predictive AI on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PredictivAI/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/predictivai

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/predictivai/

About Predictiv AI Inc.

Predictiv AI Inc. www.predictiv.ai is a technology company which helps businesses and organizations make smarter decisions using advanced artificial intelligence, deep machine learning and data science techniques. Its Weather Telematics Inc. subsidiary uses patented air quality monitoring sensors to provide predictive weather risk information to the insurance, logistics, fleet management and public safety sectors. The Company's R&D division, AI Labs Inc., develops new products that solve real-world business problems. The joint venture with Commersive Solutions Corp. is developing innovative technologies for use in various public spaces, starting with the ThermalPass fever detection system.

Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this news release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements that involve risk, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. All forward-looking statements included in this news release are based on information available to the Company on the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of the Company to differ materially from the conclusion, forecast or projection stated in such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, ThermalPass achieving the commercial results anticipated by the Company, market demand for ThermalPass and other factors referenced in the Company's other continuous disclosure filings, which are available at sedar.com. Readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE

SOURCE Predictiv AI Inc.

Related Links

https://www.predictiv.ai/


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Brazil has recorded its largest one-day death toll of the Covid pandemic so far after 4,249 people perished from the disease in just 24 hours on Thursday.

The figure tops the country's previous one-day record, set just 48 hours earlier, which was 4,195. It brings the country's death total to 345,025 - the second-highest in the world, after the US.

Brazil also logged 86,652 new cases Thursday, the second-highest one-day toll anywhere in the world after India, bringing its overall case-load to almost 13.2million.

Even as the crisis escalates, President Bolsonaro continued to play down the risks - insisting that 'people die everywhere', there is no use 'crying over spilled milk' and hitting out at state leaders for tightening lockdowns.

In response, Brazil's senate has opened an inquiry into his handling of the pandemic including whether the government was responsible for oxygen running out in hospitals in Amazoas state in January which has been blamed for dozens of deaths.

Brazil recorded a record 4,249 deaths from Covid in the last 24 hours, beating the previous one-day high of 4,195 set just two days earlier (pictured, Covid victims are buried in Sao Paulo)

In total, Brazil has now suffered 345,025 deaths from Covid - the world's second-highest total after the US, which has suffered more than half a million but has a population that is 50 per cent larger

Experts have warned that three in four private hospitals in Brazil - among the country's richest - are in danger of running out of key supplies of oxygen and medicines to treat Covid within a week

A grave digger works on a plot of land near Sao Paulo in Brazil where people who have died of Covid are being buried

Brazil recorded 4,249 deaths from Covid in the last 24 hours - a new one-day record that topped the 4,195 deaths recorded just 48 hours earlier

The leader of the Brazilian senate had been resisting the move, but his hand was forced after a judge ruled the inquiry should go ahead.

Bolsonaro has continued to play down risks from the virus, even as the senate opened an inquiry into his handling of the pandemic

In another blow to Bolsonaro, judges also ruled Thursday that religious services can be banned by regional leaders to stop the spread of infection - something the president said infringed the right of freedom to religion.

In a nine-to-two ruling, the judges found that freedom of religion was not being obstructed by stopping face-to-face services because people can pray at home.

'If we want to pray, we pray at home,' said the head of the court Marco Aurelio Mello.

Judge Edson Fachin pointed to the out-of-control nature of the country's Covid-19 outbreak.

'Every second that passes without people staying in their homes, the pandemic grows. The hospitals cannot treat everybody. Faced with their imminent collapse, we cannot tolerate more risk,' he said.

Brazil's public healthcare system has shown growing signs of buckling under the caseload, and a survey by the National Association of Private Hospitals (ANAHP) this week suggests even the richest hospitals are running short on critical medicine.

Three out of four private hospitals said they have a week or less of supplies for treating COVID-19, including oxygen, anesthesia and essential drugs for intubation, according to the ANAHP survey of 88 member hospitals across the country.

Brazil is suffering through a massive second wave of virus driven by a new and potentially more-lethal variant of the disease that first emerged in the Amazon

Medics have warned that the country's health system is now at risk of collapse due to Covid, with key supplies such as oxygen running short even in wealthy hospitals

Grave diggers bury victims of Covid who have died in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as the country suffers a wave of infections and deaths

Brazil has been hit hard by a second wave of the virus that has been driven by a mutation that is more infectious and potentially more deadly than previous versions, and which might be able to beat natural immunity

Graves dug for Covid victims in Sao Paulo, one of the coutry's largest cities, are seen from the air on Thursday

A view of graves dug for victims who died of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Bolsonaro's government has played down the risk of the country's hospitals running out of medicine, as the right-wing leader tries to allay fears of the virus, while railing against state and local efforts to restrict movement.

'Let's not cry over spilled milk. We're still going through a pandemic that, in part, is being used politically - not to defeat the virus but to bring down the president,' Bolsonaro said in a public address on Wednesday.

'In what country on earth do people not die? Unfortunately, people die everywhere.'

More than 345,000 people have died of COVID-19 in Brazil, making it the second-deadliest outbreak after the United States, which has seen more than half a million deaths but whose population is about 50 per cent greater.

As Brazil suffers the worst of the pandemic, the country has become a testing ground for new vaccines.

Brazilian health regulator Anvisa on Thursday approved the fifth late-stage trial for a COVID-19 vaccine in the country, greenlighting a study by Canada's Medicago R&D Inc and GlaxoSmithKline PLC.

Anvisa said the companies were authorized to conduct phase 3 trials in the country. The companies are recruiting around 3,500 volunteers in Brazil for the study, which will include some 30,000 people, in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Latin America.

Patients are treated on a Covid ward at a hospital in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, as they wait to be tested for the virus

Data shows that three out of four of Brazil's private hospitals - some of the country's wealthiest - are now just a week away from running out of key medicines
George Floyd died because when police restrained him on the ground for more than nine minutes with knees on his back and neck, it was more than he could take with his very severe pre-existing heart conditions, the county medical examiner who conducted Mr Floyds autopsy testified on Friday.

In my opinion, the law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression was just more than Mr Floyd could take by virtue of those heart conditions, Dr Andrew Baker said in the Derek Chauvin murder trial on Friday.

In other words, police directly caused Mr Floyds death, but other factors like his recent drug use, pre-existing heart condition, and high blood pressure contributed as well. These were not direct causes though, Mr Baker explained.

Mr Floyds use of fentanyl did not cause the subdual or neck restraint, he said. His heart disease did not cause the subdual or the neck restraint.

Assessing what exactly killed Mr Floyd  whether it was police officers, as the state argues, or other factors, according to the defence  is one of the main questions in this landmark case, where former Minneapolis police officer Mr Chauvin faces multiple murder charges after Mr Floyd, an unarmed Black man, died during an arrest for a counterfeit $20 bill on 25 May last year.

Despite extensive video of the encounter between police and Mr Floyd, Mr Baker says he didnt watch any before his analysis so it wouldnt bias his work.

I did not want that to be in my mind when I physically performed his autopsy on the morning of the 26th, he said.

Defence attorney Eric Nelson, meanwhile, pointed out a number of factors he thought complicated the medical examiners conclusion.

During his autopsy, Mr Nelson noted, Mr Baker didnt document any damage to Mr Floyds neck and back, nor to his brain, and later told prosecutors he would have suspected the death was an overdose if Mr Floyd hadnt also been involved in a physical struggle with officers.

Additionally, Mr Nelson noted that the county medical examiner has said he had seen fatal cases where individuals had even less fentanyl in their systems than Mr Floyd did at the time of their deaths.

But the county medical examiner, perhaps the trials most important witness so far, stuck with his initial finding from last summer, that police detaining George Floyd caused his heart and lungs to stop.

My opinion remains unchanged, he said. Its what I put on the death certificate last June. Thats cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression. That was my top line then. It would stay my top line now.

Much of the week was consumed with testimony from medical experts called by the state to analyse what killed Mr Floyd, although Dr Baker was the only one who worked directly with his body.

Others went even further in discussing Mr Floyds moment-by-moment medical situation. Dr Lindsey Thomas, a Minnesota-based pathologist, agreed that police restraining Mr Floyd caused his body not to get enough oxygen, leading to an anoxic reaction that damaged his brain.

She said that most cases dont have such thorough video evidence of what happened before a death, and police body camera and bystander footage captured the moment when Mr Floyds body began to twitch and seize involuntarily as the anoxic reaction began.

Thats the point at which you can tell by looking, thats where he no longer is getting oxygen to his brain, Dr Thomas said. Then the restraint and subdual and compression continue for many minutes more, even after someone checks and says theres no pulse, they maintain the position. At that point his heart has also stopped.

Others, like Dr Bill Smock, an emergency doctor and forensic medical specialist who also trains police officers, testified that despite the substantial pressure on Mr Floyd, his life may have been saved with timely CPR.

As soon as Mr Floyd is unconscious, he shouldve been rolled over, Mr Smock said. We have documentation on the video that the officer says, I cant find a pulse. Thats clearly, when you look at the video, it shouldve been started way before.

Officers remained on top of Mr Floyd for more than nine minutes, until the moment paramedics moved his motionless body onto a stretcher.

All the experts, in one form or another, ruled out the defences main argument, that a fentanyl and methamphetamine drug overdose was a primary cause of death.

Dr Martin Tobin, a lung expert who testified on Thursday, said that fentanyl is a powerful opioid that causes people to slow their breathing and appear woozy just before an overdose. Mr Floyd, however, continued taking breaths at a normal rate until the moment he passed out, Mr Tobin said.

It tells you that there isnt fentanyl on board that is affecting his respiratory centres, Dr Tobin said.

Before the trial moved to focus on medical issues, a number of policing experts testified to the other main question in this case: did Mr Chauvin use a legal and reasonable amount of force on Mr Floyd, according to his police training.

Four senior Minneapolis police officers, as well as Jody Stiger, a use of force expert from the Los Angeles Police Department, argued that Mr Chauvin crossed the line. They explained how police are taught to use force thats proportionate to the situation, only escalating to potentially deadly manoeuvres like pressing against someones neck in cases where officers or the public were at high risk.

Theres an initial reasonableness in trying to get him under control in the first few seconds, Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo testified on Monday. Once there was no longer any resistance, and clearly when Mr Floyd was no longer responsive and even motionless, to continue to apply that level of force to a person proned out, handcuffed behind their back, that in no way shape or form is by policy, is not part of our training, and is certainly not part of our ethics or values.

And they noted that in most counterfeit bill calls like the one that brought Mr Floyd into contact with police, arrests and jail, let alone the use of force, are uncommon.

With many of the states experts finished testifying, the defence will soon move to call its own witnesses to the stand.
CHICAGO, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Waud Capital Partners (Waud Capital or WCP), a leading growth-oriented middle market private equity firm, today announced a new executive partnership with Bales Nelson and Allen Dye to pursue platform investments in the technology-enabled healthcare services and staffing markets.

Mr. Nelson and Mr. Dye are highly accomplished healthcare executives each with more than 20 years of management experience and a track record of significant value creation providing technology-enabled services and solutions to health systems, health plans, post-acute facilities and patients in their homes. As part of this executive partnership, WCP has committed $100 million of equity capital to support the initiative, which seeks to identify, acquire, and build a market-leading technology-enabled healthcare services and staffing company.

Mr. Nelson commented, "Waud Capital is a proven, growth-oriented sponsor with a unique approach to healthcare and technology investing. Allen and I look forward to collaborating on new healthcare services and staffing opportunities that leverage our operational and strategic expertise. The firm's executive partnership approach and resources across the firm dedicated to platform development make it an attractive partner, and we believe this combination will allow us to capitalize on extraordinary growth, both organically and through M&A."

"We are very excited to partner with Bales and Allen," said Chris Graber, Partner of Waud Capital. "Both have created tremendous value throughout their careers and are intimately familiar with the healthcare and outsourced provider services market. The use of technology is changing how healthcare services and staffing solutions are delivered."

Paul Sutphin, Principal at WCP, added, "The combined knowledge and experience in healthcare and HCIT we bring together in this partnership, along with a deep network of industry relationships, position us as an excellent partner for companies looking to transform the healthcare industry. We are excited by the power of software and services to improve care delivery and solve complex logistical and staffing challenges."

Tim Lawler, Partner and Head of Human Capital at WCP, added, "This is a longstanding relationship several years in the making, and what unites us is our shared vision of building leading businesses together to solve complex healthcare challenges. We're excited to officially launch our partnership together."

Most recently, Mr. Nelson co-founded and served as President of CenseoHealth, a provider of home health risk assessment services that developed and utilized proprietary technology to provide high quality, cost-effective services to health plans through a distributed network of physicians and other medical professionals. He began his career at Merritt Hawkins, eventually rising to a senior executive role in the years before and after the company's acquisition by AMN Healthcare.

Mr. Dye began his career as a hospital administrator before joining Merritt Hawkins and working with Mr. Nelson. He later left AMN Healthcare to join CenseoHealth where he became Chief Operating Officer and Head of Business Development. Together, Mr. Nelson and Mr. Dye helped build CenseoHealth into one of the largest providers of health risk assessments and successfully exited through a merger with a peer company to form SignifyHealth. As Chief Operating Officer and Chief Growth Officer through his exit in 2019, Mr. Dye oversaw a transformation with the company growing more than two-fold during that period. SignifyHealth completed an IPO in 2021 with a market capitalization of over $7 billion. Mr. Nelson was also a co-founder and advisor to THMed, a leading tech-enabled staffing solutions company, which was acquired by Doximity in 2020.

This partnership further expands upon Waud Capital's strong portfolio of healthcare, HCIT, and technology-enabled investments, including Integrated Practice Solutions (specialty EHR and practice management software), Sphere (healthcare payments and technology), Health & Safety Institute (software and technology-enabled workplace safety training), Pharmacy Partners (infusion management services), and Concierge Home Care (home-based care services), among others.

About Waud Capital Partners

Based in Chicago, Waud Capital Partners is a leading growth-oriented private equity firm with total capital commitments of approximately $3.2 billion since its founding in 1993. Waud Capital teams with exceptional executive leadership to build market leading companies within two industries: healthcare services and business and technology services. Since its founding, Waud Capital has successfully completed more than 325 investments, including platform companies and follow-on opportunities. For additional information on Waud Capital, visit www.waudcapital.com .

Investment Team Contact:

Chris Graber, Partner  Investment Team

(312) 676-8405

[email protected]

Business Development Contact:

Phil Olson, Partner  Business Development

(312) 676-8401

[email protected]

Investor Relations Contact:

Philip Kemp, Head of Investor Relations

(312) 676-8435

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Nick Rust  Prosek Partners

(646) 818-9252

[email protected]

SOURCE Waud Capital Partners

Related Links

https://www.waudcapital.com/


Doctors and NGOs running medical camps at the Singhu border have claimed that no farmers protesting here have been tested positive for COVID-19 yet and they are safe due to their strong immunity power.

Sagar, a doctor from West Bengal volunteering here, said, "If people with complaint of fever and cold-cough visit us, we check the patient briefly. We check their temperature and oxygen saturation. If we suspect the person is infected with COVID-19, we refer them for a COVID test and keep the record."

"There were 3-4 suspects of COVID infection here but all of them tested negative," he said.

Sagar further said, "We motivate the farmers here to get themselves vaccinated if they are eligible. And if they have any side-effects after getting vaccinated, they can consult us or the hospitals."

Avtar Singh, founder of NGO Life Care, said that the immune system of the people protesting at the border is strong.

"There is a spurt in the cases of cold and cough due to the increase in the pollution level in the area. We have not encountered any major emergency yet," Singh said.

"We have been here since November 30 last year. Having fever or cold and cough does not mean that a person is COVID positive. We have referred as many as 50 people to Sonipat and Rohtak PGI but no one tested positive for coronavirus," he said.

"There are no COVID cases in the states where the government is holding rallies but there are chances of COVID where the farmers are protesting! We are taking care of sanitisation and hygiene here," he added.

A physician, Gaurav, said that the most patients who visit him suffer from gastro ailments as the weather is changing.

Chanranjit Singh, a volunteer of United Sigh Organisation, said, "We are dealing with patients with minor complains like headache or stomach aches. Everything is fine here. People have been protesting here for four months."

Farmers have been continuing their protest against the three newly enacted farm laws -- Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 at different borders in the national capital.

(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.)
HO CHI MINH, VIETNAM / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2021 / Santo Mining Corp. dba Santo Blockchain Labs (OTC PINK:SANP) today announces the launch of its new SKULLYS NFT website. In the days to come the Company will mint over 2,000 SKULLYS NFTs to the Cardano network, additionally to having these NFTs on the Cardano network the Company will re-branded the SANTPOOL to SKULLYSPOOL. SKULLSPOOL is a proof of stake pool for Cardano delegators to earn passive income on their ADA coins. The Company will automatically pledge all the sales of the NFTs to the SKULLYSPOOL to increase the pledge, additionally, the Company will be giving away SKULLYS NFTs to delegators that delegate more than 50,000ADA coins on the SKULLYSPOOL for more than 10 Epochs.

Frank Yglesias aka "Captain Calico Jack" stated, "Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! from the depths of the Caribbean sea, I have just unleashed from Davy Jones' Locker an array of NFTs SKULLYS that will join the Cardano network. We are linking our Cardano stake pool to the purchase of our SKULLYS NFTs, to increase our pledge on the stake pool, as the Cardano network increases we will add multi-functions like augmented reality, geo-positioning, reward coupons, treasure hunting, our unique NFT code A.R.R. (Accept, Relinquish, Reward) just to name a few, kool things."

SKULLYS

https://skullys.io/ From the depths of the ocean inside Davy Jones' Locker, we have come to pillage booty. You can collect us, earn ADA and sell us for more ADA Coins on our very own Port of Call Nassau's Marketplace. Each SKULLY is a unique NFT digital collectible with a specially embedded pirate code we created - A.R.R. (Accept, Relinquish, Reward), allowing for the accumulation of treasures and making each unique collectible grow in value.

SANTO BLOCKCHAIN LABS

SANTO www.sanp.us is a publicly traded company (OTC:SANP) on the OTCMarkets. The company focuses on the development of blockchain smart digital contracts and IoT internet of things for everyday life. The Company also operates a website at https://santopool.com (ADAPOOL Ticker: SANP) and provides cryptocurrency staking service to potential Cardano (ADA) delegators. Through its 100% owned subsidiary SAITEC Technology & Development Joint Stock Company in Ho Chi Minh City, VietNam, the company leverages its highly efficient software engineers. VietNam is currently known as the Silicon Valley of South Asia.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this presentation are forward-looking statements. These statements relate to analyses and other information, which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. These statements also relate to our future prospects, developments, and business strategies. These forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "target," "will" and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions. However, these words are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Although we believe that our plans, intentions, and expectations reflected in or suggested by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that we will achieve those plans, intentions, or expectations. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expected or may prove unachievable.

The Company's business and prospects must be considered in light of the risks, expenses, and difficulties frequently encountered by companies working with new and rapidly evolving technologies such as blockchain. These risks include, but are not limited to, an inability to create a viable product and risks related to the issuance of tokens. The Company cannot assure you that it will succeed in addressing these risks, and our failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. There can be no assurance as to whether or when (if ever) the Company will achieve profitability or liquidity.

The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

SANTO BLOCKCHAIN LABS

SANTO www.sanp.us is a publicly traded company (OTC:SANP) on the OTCMarkets. The company focuses on the development of blockchain smart digital contracts and IoT internet of things for everyday life. The Company also operates a website at https://santopool.com (ADAPOOL Ticker: SANP) and provides cryptocurrency staking service to potential Cardano (ADA) delegators. Through its 100% owned subsidiary SAITEC Technology & Development Joint Stock Company in Ho Chi Minh City, VietNam, the company leverages its highly efficient software engineers. VietNam is currently known as the Silicon Valley of South Asia.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this presentation are forward-looking statements. These statements relate to analyses and other information, which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. These statements also relate to our future prospects, developments, and business strategies. These forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "target," "will" and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions. However, these words are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Although we believe that our plans, intentions, and expectations reflected in or suggested by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that we will achieve those plans, intentions, or expectations. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expected or may prove unachievable.

The Company's business and prospects must be considered in light of the risks, expenses, and difficulties frequently encountered by companies working with new and rapidly evolving technologies such as blockchain. These risks include, but are not limited to, an inability to create a viable product and risks related to the issuance of tokens. The Company cannot assure you that it will succeed in addressing these risks, and our failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. There can be no assurance as to whether or when (if ever) the Company will achieve profitability or liquidity.

The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

SOURCE: Santo Mining Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/639641/SKULLSR-NFTs-New-Website-Launch
Centre playing politics by giving more vaccines to BJP-ruled states and fewer to non-BJP governed states, says Maharashtra health minister

Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a meeting with chief ministers of all states over the rising cases and current status of Covid-19, New Delhi, Thursday, April 8, 2021. (PTI)

New Delhi: On a day India recorded about 1.32 lakh fresh cases of Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred with the Chief Ministers of several states in virtual mode to discuss the surging Covid-19 infections and the vaccine strategy.

He told the Chief Ministers to strengthen their efforts for the next 2-3 weeks to check the spread of the virus on a war-footing and to focus on vaccinations and testing and hold a special drive  vaccine festival from April 11 to 14 to cover all eligible beneficiaries over 45. He also asked the states to prevent vaccine wastage.

He defended the eligibility criteria for vaccination amid demand by some states, ruled by Opposition parties, to open the vaccination for all above 18 years. India's criteria is no different from the most prosperous countries in the world, Modi said.

States like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Haryana and Chhattisgarh have complained to the Centre regarding the shortage of oxygen, remdesivir and vaccine supply and said the vaccine drive will be severely impacted due to this. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan dismissed these allegations, saying enough vaccines had been given to the states.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister took the second dose of Covaxin at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, meanwhile, tested positive for Covid-19. He had taken the first dose of the vaccine on March 3.

Addressing the meeting, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said his state has vaccine supply only till Friday, while several vaccine centres in Maharashtra had to be closed for the want of vaccines.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday attacked the Centre for playing politics during the pandemic by giving more vaccines to BJP-ruled states and fewer to non-BJP governed states. He accused the Centre of giving Maharashtra only 7.5 lakh doses against its demand for 40 lakh vaccines. The minister said the state was aiming to vaccinate five to six lakh people daily to break the chain of transmission.

Tope also held meetings with the manufacturers of Covid-19 drug Remdesivir and asked them to double the production for the state. In order to increase beds for patients, the Pune administration has tied up with the Army Hospital to provide 40 ICU beds.

Health minister Harsh Vardhan said: The hue and cry by certain states about partisanship by the Union government is just a farce, an attempt to hide their own incompetence. Maharashtra and Rajasthan are two of the top three states based on the allocation of Covid-19 vaccine doses. Both are non-BJP governed states. Lets put an end to the fear-mongering now! Covid-19 vaccine doses: Total administered: 9 crore plus, in stock/nearing delivery to states: 4.3 crore plus. Where does the question of shortages arise? Were continuously monitoring and enhancing supply.

According to him, Maharashtra was given 1.06 crore vaccine doses, Gujarat 1.05 crore and Rajasthan 1.04 crore, while the countrys average distribution was 37.11 lakh.
China has joined Russia in opposing direct sanctions on Myanmar's military junta by the U.N. Security Council, and has restricted its public comments to wishes for peace and stability, while the country's foreign ministry has denied tacit encouragement for the coup.



Inside Myanmar, however, unidentified people have vandalized Chinese factories, staged protests in front of the Chinese embassy, and burned the Chinese flag, suggesting that Beijing is strongly linked in people's minds to their own military government.



Huang Chung-Ting of Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research said the CCP is unlikely to set much store by growing anti-Chinese sentiment in Myanmar, however.



"As long as China can maintain good relations with those in power in Myanmar, it can afford to pay less attention to the feelings of its people," Huang told RFA.



China's interests in Myanmar include economic ties, border security, and geopolitical factors, Huang said..



The 2,100-kilometer (1,300-mile) shared border alone is enough cause for concern, should Myanmar continue to deteriorate into factional violence and civil war, he said.



"There are a large number of ethnic minority armed groups in the China-Myanmar border area," Huang said. "This conflict has been going on all this time, and the relations between the various factions and the Chinese government ebbs and flows."



Armed conflicts like the one in the Kokang border region in are a headache for China," he said. "Back then, large numbers of refugees crowded across the border into China ... and there were even stray bullets that found their way across into [the southwestern Chinese province of] Yunnan."



China's international infrastructure investment project, the Belt and Road initiative, currently includes the flagship China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC). Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has indicated that Beijing is keen to speed up the construction of the western, northern, and eastern ends of the CMEC.



Chinese state media reported earlier this year that Wang is keen to promote an early implementation of the Kyaukpyu deep-sea port, the China-Myanmar Border Economic Cooperation Zone, and New Yangon City.



The CMEC bisects the northern part of the country and ends at the $1.3 billion deep-sea port at Kyaukpyu in southern Rakhine state along the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It includes plans for a U.S.$8.9 billion high-speed rail link from Yunnan, as well as gas and oil pipelines.

Anti-coup protesters burn a Chinese flag during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar, April 7, 2021. Credit: AP

Cross-border security concerns

China is also increasingly dependent on rice imports from Myanmar, with rice imports soaring from 100,000 tons to 500,000 tons in the past decade, accounting for 65 percent of Myanmars total export trade with China.



There are also long-running cross-border security concerns that could worsen if the violence continues, according to Derek Mitchell, a former U.S. ambassador to Myanmar who now serves as president of the National Democratic Institute in Washington.



"There's been human, weapons, narcotics trafficking for decades across that border, that can affect Chinese well-being and stability," Mitchell told RFA. "If there's a failed state on that border with massive civil war and civic unrest, it will only make those problems worse: the internal instability of Myanmar won't stay within the country."



"Really the primary concern is that they can control what happens inside their borders, so that nothing outside the country affects how they controls things inside the country," he said.



However, he said China would also likely take steps to protect its strategic investments in the country.



"The Chinese have a tremendous amount of investment in Myanmar; oil and gas ... Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects," Mitchell said. "They want to use Myanmar as a way to access the Indian Ocean. An unstable Myanmar can affect all of that."



"And of course they have factories. You saw what happened outside Yangon to their factories, whoever did that," he said, referring to arson attacks on 32 Chinese-funded factories in several Yangon townships early last month.



He said that while anti-China attitudes were "exploding" in the wake of the social unrest, China was unlikely to pay them much heed.



"People are not going to forget how China acted and spoke about the coup, and how they don't seem to be interested in the Myanmar people, but only in their own, very narrow, interests," Mitchell said.



"They don't particularly care about democracy, or any values, but they definitely want a peaceful, stable southeast Asia, any way they can get it, for their investments, for their BRI plans, or for their trade, so that they don't have to worry about their borders, so that they can focus on their internal affairs," he said.



He said China was highly unlikely to get behind any form of U.N. peace-keeping intervention in Myanmar.



"They use the U.N. really to prevent the world from intruding, to prevent the world engaging in [its] internal affairs," Mitchell said. "Even if it's another country, they see it as a precedent for the U.N. Security Council being engaged potentially in their own internal affairs."



"We are all simply watching mass murder with impunity on a daily basis, of children, of women, and there's more and more people thinking there has to be something done to put a stop to it," he said. "But for the U.N., it will be vetoed almost certainly by China and Russia."



Myanmar's army chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (L) speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping, during their meeting at a hotel in Naypyidaw. Jan. 18, 2020. Credit: AFP/Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services





Myanmar's army chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (L) speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping, during their meeting at a hotel in Naypyidaw. Jan. 18, 2020. Credit: AFP/Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services

'Dirty List' of companies

The Irrawaddy, an independent on-line news outlet, reported Thursday that the Chinese embassy in Yangon had spoken by telephone for the first time with the country's "shadow government" of elected lawmakers from the ousted National League for Democracy government.

China, which has called for all parties in Myanmar to seek a political resolution through dialog, had a counselor from the embassy speak last week with members of the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a group that enjoys popular support at home and abroad, the outlet said.

"The counselor reiterated the Chinese ambassadors earlier comments that the current situation is not what China wants to see, and expressed concern for the safety of Chinese citizens and investments in Myanmar amid the escalating violence," the Irrawaddy reported.

According to an advocacy group Justice For Myanmar and public domain information, Chinese state-owned enterprises are among the biggest suppliers of arms and military equipment to the Myanmar military.



Justice For Myanmar has listed 122 top business partners of the military government, which staged a coup on Feb. 1, ousting the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD).



The five biggest suppliers are listed as China North Industries Group (NORINCO), the Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AVIC), the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), the China Aerospace Science & Industry Corp. (CASIC), and the China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC).



More than a dozen other suppliers were funded from China or Hong Kong.



A spokesperson from Justice for Myanmar said weapons supplied by NORINCO to the Tatmadaw were being used on unarmed civilians amid mass protests that have followed the coup.



A "Dirty List" published by Burma Campaign UK listed 12 Chinese companies as having ties to the Myanmar military, including most of those already mentioned in this article.



Justice For Myanmar called on the international community to impose immediate comprehensive and targeted sanctions against the Myanmar military in response to the coup, and their continuing violations of international law, including their campaign of genocide against the Rohingya and war crimes and crimes against humanity in ethnic regions.

Reported by Rita Cheng for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Amid growing anxiety about the pandemic's impact on wellbeing, a new survey finds that US workers rank mental and psychological wellbeing as one of their biggest wellness concerns. Despite these worries, The Conference Board survey reveals that participation in programs including mental health resources and Employee Assistance programs has dropped.

On the upside, the nationwide survey found that most respondents continued routine doctor's visits to some degree during the pandemicalthough women struggled more. Employees also report that they aren't suffering in silence: An overwhelming majority feel their supervisor genuinely cares about their wellbeinga likely basis for their comfort speaking of wellbeing challenges at work.

Conducted from early to mid-March, the online survey polled more than 1,100 US workers representing a cross-section of people across industries, from lower-level employees to the CEO. Key findings include:

The pandemic's psychological toll: Workers rank mental wellbeing as one of their biggest concerns.

Nearly 60 percent of workers reported concerns about stress and burnout.

More than one-third of respondents also expressed concerns about their physical wellbeing, including fear of getting sick.

Another one-third worried about social wellness and belonging, such as opportunities to connect with others.

Spiritual wellbeing was of least concern, with only 10 percent reporting they were worried about feeling a sense of purpose in what they do.

CEOs' top concerns varied greatly from those of individual contributors.

CEOs were less concerned than lower-level employees about mental/psychological wellbeing:

CEOs: 53 percent.

53 percent.

Lower-level employees: 76 percent.

76 percent. But they were more concerned about financial wellbeing:

CEOs: 33 percent

33 percent

Lower-level employees: 27 percent

Age and gender factored into top wellbeing concerns.

Millennials are most concerned with mental and psychological wellbeing. As workers earlier in their careers, they are also more concerned than other generations about professional and financial wellbeing.

GenXers were more concerned about social wellness and belonging than other respondents.

Baby Boomers are more concerned about physical wellbeing than their generational counterparts.

Women were more concerned about spiritual wellbeing and slightly more concerned about physical, professional, and financial wellbeing than men.

Men were slightly more concerned about social wellbeing than women.

Despite overwhelming concern for mental/psychological wellbeing, participation in programs that address these issues dropped.

In the aggregate, usage of mental health resources and Employee Assistance Programs dropped 4 percent during the pandemic.

Only millennials increased usage of these programs:



Millennials: +8 percent

+8 percent



Generation X: -5 percent

-5 percent



Baby Boomers: -4 percent

-4 percent Usage of online tools increased 6 percent as workers socially distanced.

Millennials used online resources significantly more than other generations:



Millennials: +19 percent

+19 percent



Generation X: +4 percent

+4 percent



Baby Boomers: +5 percent

+5 percent Activities for social wellness and belonging, such as celebrations, retreats, and virtual coffee hours increased 4 percent.

Women increased use of these activities, while men decreased use:



Women: +8 percent

+8 percent



Men : -4 percent.

: -4 percent. Usage of all other programs declined, with those for community wellbeing taking the largest hit (-25 percent).

Men especially decreased participation in community wellbeing programs, compared to a lesser decrease among women.



Women: -24 percent

-24 percent



Men : -40 percent.

: -40 percent. One might expect the participation among millennials in programs for career and professional wellbeing to be higher, given their elevated concerns about professional and financial wellbeing. However, usage decreased 2 percent for this population.

"With the wellbeing of so many workers under immense strain, it's surprising that the use of many programs to support wellness decreased," said Rebecca Ray, PhD, Executive Vice President, Human Capital at The Conference Board. "These findings speak to the need for better communication from leaders about the availability of resources, and a rethinking of the ways in which companies offer them."

An overwhelming majority (78 percent) believe their supervisor genuinely cares about their wellbeing.

This supportive relationship may be why 62 percent feel comfortable speaking of their wellbeing challenges at work.

Unfortunately, nearly one-fifth of workers (18 percent) do not feel comfortable discussing their hardships at work without fear of negative consequences.

This includes 19 percent of women who are not comfortable, compared to 14 percent of men.

"Today more than ever, leaders need to understand their teams' struggles so they can take steps to actively support their wellbeing, engagement, and productivity," said Amy Lui Abel, PhD, Vice President, Human Capital Research at The Conference Board. "By managing with empathy, leaders can build trust and better understand how to support their employees' wellbeing."

Most respondents maintained a health regimenbut CEOs and women struggled.

Women: They had difficulty keeping up their regimen to the same degree, likely due to the disparate impact of child and elder care.

They had difficulty keeping up their regimen to the same degree, likely due to the disparate impact of child and elder care. CEOs : Executives were unable to keep up their health regimen at a higher rate than other levels, with 33 percent reporting they were unable to do what they have normally done (such as annual physicals, dental exams, and preventative tests).

: Executives were unable to keep up their health regimen at a higher rate than other levels, with 33 percent reporting they were unable to do what they have normally done (such as annual physicals, dental exams, and preventative tests). One-fifth of respondents overall were unable to maintain their regular health routine, an indicator of possible health issues in COVID-19's aftermath.

Media Contact

[email protected]

About The Conference Board

The Conference Board is the member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what's ahead. Founded in 1916, we are a non-partisan, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States. www.conference-board.org



SOURCE The Conference Board
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian held a meeting with Ambassador of the United States to Armenia Lynne Tracy, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

The current agenda of the bilateral relations was discussed during the meeting.

The Armenian President and the US Ambassador also exchanged views over the international and regional issues.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Health officer urges vaccines, masks and distance

It was just a matter of time, Dr. Jean Stachon, the countys health officer said about when variants of the novel coronavirus would appear in Sweetwater County. Currently, 12 of Wyomings 23 counties have variants circulating within their boundaries.

Two variants, originally discovered in California, have appeared amongst the COVID-19 infections recorded in Sweetwater County. They have been circulating for a while too. Dr. Stachon said one of the variants was first detected in a sample from late February, raising the possibility that the variant was in Sweetwater County before tha...
EUGENE, Ore.  King Estate Winery in Eugene is requiring employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine, a move that is drawing controversy.

"We're very proud as a company to put such an emphasis on workplace safety and provide the resources to employees, staff, as well as their families," Chief Operating Officer Brent Stone said.

If employees want to continue to work at the winery, they must have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by May 20. The winery hosted its first on-site vaccine clinic in partnership with Lane County Public Health Thursday, where employees and their family members received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Stone said the winery is planning an additional on-site clinic in the coming weeks.

Whether or not a company can require employees to get the vaccine is a hotly contested issue, as the Food and Drug Administration has yet to officially approve any COVID-19 vaccine. It has, however, approved the use of the vaccines using its emergency use authorization authority.

However, Liz Tippett an associate professor at the University of Oregon's School of Law, said employers are allowed to mandate vaccines as long as they allow certain exemptions. Those include employees who are unable to get vaccinated due to disability or religious beliefs.

According to Tippett, not wanting to get the shot doesn't qualify as one of those reasons.

"[Employers] certainly could say if you don't agree to it, you could be fired," Tippett said. "The same way they say you could be fired if you come to work late or if you violate any other policies. They certainly could say that."

Stone said the company reached out to third party experts before sending the notice informing employees about the vaccine mandate to ensure the company was within it's legal bounds. The winery plans to grant exemptions to specific employees on a case-by-case basis.

"We have allowed for a number of exceptions and accommodations as per the law," Stone said.
Botswana's health ministry has said that only those aged over 75 will be eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine because few doses are remaining.



Health ministry director Malebogo Kebabonye was quoted by local media as saying that young people were advantaged because of online booking but now priority will be on the elderly.



Botswana has vaccinated 13,690 people and only 24 of those reported side effects like flu, headache and fever.



The country received 24,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on 31 March, it was the first batch of 100,000 doses expected in the country through the Covax global vaccine initiative, according to the World Health Organization.

Source: BBC









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BOCA RATON, Fla., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AE Industrial Partners, LP ("AEI"), a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense, Space & Government Services, Power Generation, and Specialty Industrial markets, announced today that Dr. Mallika Gummalla has joined the firm as a Director. In this role, she will be primarily responsible for the evaluation of emerging technology themes and managing industrial sourcing networks for new investments.

Dr. Gummalla brings almost 20 years of deep technical, innovation and business development experience in the Industrial and Aerospace markets. Previously, she was a Business Development Director and Sales Executive for the New England territory at Airtech USA. Prior to Airtech, Dr. Gummalla spent 14 years at United Technologies Corporation (UTC), serving in roles of increasing responsibility and diversity. She established the Strategic Innovation Partnerships practice and Innovation Hubs for UTC's Building Integrated Systems (Carrier and Otis) to generate organic growth and accelerate product development. During this time, she established strategic partnerships with venture capital, private equity, accelerators and incubators with a focus on start-ups in the HVAC and elevator businesses. In her early years at UTC, Dr. Gummalla also led the fuel cell programs at the research center and developed proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells for tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). She holds a BTech degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and a PhD from University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

"Mallika's unique background makes her particularly well qualified for her role at AEI  a strong technical background, supported by a track record of innovation and start-up development," said David Rowe, Managing Partner of AEI. "She will be a huge asset to our sourcing networks and portfolio companies as they look to grow and develop new business lines, and we are excited to welcome her to the AEI team."

About AE Industrial Partners

AE Industrial Partners is a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense, Space & Government Services, Power Generation, and Specialty Industrial markets. AE Industrial Partners invests in market-leading companies that can benefit from its deep industry knowledge, operating experience, and relationships throughout its target markets. AE Industrial Partners is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing. Learn more at www.aeroequity.com.

CONTACT:

Lambert & Co.

Jennifer Hurson

845-507-0571

[email protected]

or

Caroline Luz

203-656-2829

[email protected]

SOURCE AE Industrial Partners
Thousands of travellers were yesterday facing a race home from Pakistan to beat today's hotel quarantine deadline.

Airlines laid on extra flights after the country was added to the travel ban 'red list' of countries last week.

It means all arrivals landing in the UK from there after 4am today will have to pay 1,750 for 11 nights of quarantine in a Government-approved hotel.

Thousands of travellers were yesterday facing a race home from Pakistan to beat today's hotel quarantine deadline. (Above, the last Pakistan flight from Islamabad, into Manchester, before the new quarantine regulations are implemented)

Airlines laid on extra flights after Pakistan was added to the travel ban 'red list' of countries last week. It means all arrivals landing in the UK from there after 4am today will have to pay 1,750 for 11 nights of quarantine in a Government-approved hotel. (Above, Manchester arrivals)

With Pakistan likely to remain on the red list for some time, travellers scrambled for tickets on one of the ten or so services from the country yesterday.

Arriving before 4am meant they will only have to self-isolate at home for ten days and take Covid tests on days two and eight at a cost of 210.

Thousands of British Pakistanis have been flying to the country for family weddings.

Thousands of British Pakistanis have been flying to the country for family weddings. They have been blamed for a third Covid spike there, driven by the variant first detected in Kent. (Above, a Pakistani security official seals a restaurant for violating Covid rules)

Dozens of Labour and Tory MPs, many of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage, have signed a letter to Boris Johnson raising 'major concerns' about Pakistan being added to the red list. (Pictured, a vendor sells protective masks on a road in Peshawar)

They have been blamed for a third Covid spike there, driven by the variant first detected in Kent.

Polish-registered Enter Air was among the airlines cashing in yesterday, laying on three Boeing 737s which flew from Islamabad via Moscow to Birmingham.

At least 30 extra flights have been laid on over the last week.

Dozens of Labour and Tory MPs, many of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage, have signed a letter to Boris Johnson raising 'major concerns' about Pakistan being added to the red list.
Abbie Chatfield has revealed that she has 'ended friendships' with fellow influencers who promote an anti-vaccination stance.

Appearing on ABC's The Drum on Friday, the former Bachelor star had damming words for those who discourage their fans from receiving vaccines.

'I've ended friendships with people who have a platform and have posted anti-vax rhetoric. It does concern me, the direct access they have to young people,' she said.

Opinion: Abbie Chatfield (pictured) has revealed that she has 'ended friendships' with fellow influencers who promote an anti-vaccination stance

Abbie added that she blames certain influencers for discouraging young women from getting Covid-19 jabs, amount other types of vaccines.

'The reason why young women are [becoming] anti-vaxxers is because of influencers, and the influence they have on young people.

'I think young people particularly are very easily convinced to do whatever the favourite influencer is doing.

Speaking up: Appearing on The Drum on Friday evening, Abbie had damming words for those who discourage their fans from receiving vaccines. 'I've ended friendships with people who have a platform and have posted anti-vax rhetoric,' she said

Vaccine woes: Abbie added that she blames certain influencers for discouraging young women from getting Covid-19 jabs. 'The reason why young women are [becoming] anti-vaxxers is because of influencers, and the influence they have on young people' she said

'If you're having a baby and saying, "I'm not vaccinating my baby, it is up to you, though", it's a soft push.'

The It's A Lot podcast host added that the 'soft push' tactic also extends to the concept of vaccines being 'my body, my choice'.

She told the panel: 'The most dangerous thing for young people in Australia is this soft idea of not wanting the Covid vaccine [because it's "your choice"].'

Abbie added: '[You see] a young woman around your age, you love her clothing line you think maybe there is something in this.'

Issues: The podcast host added that a 'soft push' tactic extends to the concept of vaccines being 'my body, my choice'. She told the panel: 'The most dangerous thing for young people in Australia is this soft idea of not wanting the Covid vaccine [because it's "your choice"]'

It comes after Australian health authorities on Thursday night recommended the AstraZeneca vaccine not be used for people under 50.

The recommendation by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) was accepted by the federal government under an 'abundance of caution' over the 'rare but serious' side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Australia had ordered 20 million imported doses of the Pfizer vaccine, enough for 10 million people, but had banked on the AstraZeneca product for the majority of shots with biopharma CSL Ltd contracted to make 50 million doses domestically.

Pfizer remained committed to delivering all 20 million doses by the end of 2021.
Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son on April 8 chaired a United Nations Security Council open debate via videoconference on Mine action and sustaining peace: Stronger partnerships for better delivery.

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son chairs the UNSC open debate on mine action on April 8. (Photo: UNSC)

Among delegates attending the event were Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; Ambassador Stefano Toscano, the Director of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining; Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh, Manager of Project Renew (an all-women demining team) at the Norwegian Peoples Aid in Vietnam; and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Michelle Yeoh. Actor Daniel Craig, a UN Global Advocate for the Elimination of Mines and Explosive Hazards, delivered a pre-recorded video message before the start of the meeting.

Delegates voiced their support for the humanitarian purpose of limiting use of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) around the world, emphasized the consequences of landmines and ERW in conflict-ravaged zones, and backed efforts to overcome the consequences, assist victims, and stabilize the situation for reconstruction and socio-economic development.

They underscored the importance of international cooperation in overcoming the consequences of landmines and ERW, and emphasized the need to strengthen cohesion and coordination within the United Nations system, including the UN Security Council, so as to further contribute to landmine and ERW recovery efforts by the United Nations and relevant countries.

Representatives of UNSC member states attend the videoconference on mine action. (Photo: UNSC)

Addressing the meeting, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son stressed that sustainable peace is only achieved when the consequences of wars and conflicts, including consequences of mines and ERW, are resolved.

He shared Vietnams experience, saying the leaderships interest, the participation of people of all social strata, including women, and cooperation with international partners are important factors in carrying out the task.

Cooperation with international partners should be strengthened, especially through landmine and/or unexploded ordnance recovery, to heal the wounds of war, said Son, adding that this should be done through financial provision, technical assistance, capacity building, awareness and experience sharing for affected countries.

He stressed the United Nations and in particular the Security Council should step up measures to ensure the safety of peacekeepers, protect civilians and promote sustainable peace.

The meeting adopted a presidential statement initiated by Vietnam that calls on member states and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen their efforts to implement resolution 2365 on mine action. It encourages the inclusion of mine action, where appropriate, in ceasefire and peace agreements.

The presidential statement also underscores the need to facilitate adequate resourcing, training and equipment for UN peace operations to mitigate the threat posed by landmines, improvised explosive devices, and explosive remnants of war. It further expresses concern regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mine action.

The statement also calls for setting up a specialized landmine and ERW recovery body within the United Nations peacekeeping missions, taking into account special needs of women and children in implementation of related tasks.

Vietnam is assuming the role of UNSC Presidency in April 2021.

VOV

Vietnam affirms international position via role in UNSC It is an honour and great responsibility for Vietnam when the country assumes the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council (UNSC) this month, the second time during its tenure as a non-permanent member of the UNSC (2020-2021).
As veteran leader Idriss Deby Itno goes for a sixth term in Chads presidential vote on Sunday, we look back on the key events of his 30 years at the helm of the huge mostly desert African state.

 1990: Seizes the capital 

Former army chief turned rebel leader, Deby seizes power in December 1990 when his troops enter the capital NDjamena and send dictator Hissene Habre fleeing into exile in Senegal.

After six years of transition towards democracy, he is elected president in 1996 in Chads first multi-party election, bringing some of the political opposition into government.

He is reelected in 2001 but comes under increasing pressure from the opposition accusing him of election fraud and human rights violations.

A 2005 referendum approves changes to the constitution to remove limits on presidential terms.

 2008: Rebel offensives 

In late 2005 there are mass desertions in army ranks. Soldiers intent on overthrowing the regime set up in the east, near the border with Sudan, where they form armed movements.

In 2006 NDjamena breaks diplomatic ties with Khartoum for several months, accusing Sudan of aiding rebels who are seeking to overthrow Deby.

In 2008 rebels attack the capital, reaching the gates of the presidential palace before being pushed back with the aid of French forces.

 2013: Anti-jihadist fight 

Chad deploys 2,000 troops alongside French forces to counter advances by jihadists groups occupying northern Mali since 2012.

In 2014 the French army establishes the headquarters of a new operation against jihadist groups in the region in NDjamena.

The following year Chad launches a ground offensive in neighbouring Nigeria against the radical Islamist group Boko Haram which is destabilising the countries bordering Lake Chad.

Chad troops also join the G5 Sahel multinational force headquartered in Mauritania and the 13,000-man UN force in Mali, MINUSMA.

 2016: Fifth term 

In April 2016 Deby is reelected for a fifth mandate with around 60 percent of votes compared to 13 percent for the opposition leader Saleh Kebzabo.

The opposition claims the vote is a political hold-up.

A month later a special court in Senegal sentences Habre to life in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity during his time in power in Chad.

In 2018 parliament passes a controversial change to the constitution that further bolsters Debys powers. The opposition boycotts the vote.

The following year an armed group opposed to Deby  the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR) led by his nephew Timan Erdimi  enters Chad in columns of pick-ups.

At NDjamenas request, France carries out air strikes to stop their advance.

Chad launches another major offensive against Boko Haram in 2020 after the death of some hundred of its soldiers in the Lake Chad area.

 2021: Intimidating rivals 

In the weeks leading up to Sundays vote the campaign has turned deadly.

In February a gun battle erupts at the home of a presidential candidate after security forces try to arrest him. At least three people die.

The next day Kebzabo, again the main opposition leader, announces he is withdrawing from the election and accuses Deby of using force to intimidate rivals and create a climate of insecurity.

The authorities ban demonstrations in the run-up to the election and Amnesty International criticise unnecessary and disproportionate restrictions on the right of peaceful assembly, as well as arbitrary arrests.
We had mentioned in last weeks closing report that Nifty, Sensex may continue to rally. The major indices opened lower this week but recovered and ended with minor losses over previous Fridays closing price.

The trend of the major indices in the week is given in the table:

On Monday, the indices opened lower and suffer a major correction. On the NSE, there were 624 advances, 1,371 declines and 82 unchanged.

Mahindra & Mahindra could look at applying for a banking licence either by acquiring a state-run bank or a private bank, Anish Shah, MD and CEO of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) told the media.

SAIL recorded quarterly sales of 4.27 million tonnes (MT) during the March 2021 quarter, up 14% YoY.

Adani Enterprises along with its wholly-owned subsidiary company, Gare Palma II Collieries Private Limited signed a coal mining agreement with Maharashtra State Power Generation Company.

Adani Ports signed an agreement with Vishwa Samudra Holdings, to acquire the remaining 25% stake in Adani Krishnapatnam Port where it currently holds 75% stake.

On Tuesday, the indices opened higher but lost all gains and ended flat. On the NSE, there were 1,157 advances, 769 declines and 79 unchanged.

Panacea Biotec said it would produce 100 million doses a year of the Russia-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.

GM Breweries net profits for March 2021 quarter jumped 154% YoY at Rs 45.3 crore. Revenue from operations grew 16.7% YoYat Rs 464.12 crore. EBITDA was up 45.7% at Rs 27.4 crore.

Jindal Steel & Power reported a 34.41% rise in its output to 2.07 million tonne (MT) of steel during March 2021 quarter, compared to 1.54 MT YoY. Sales grew 37.41% YoY.

Bharti Airtel announced an agreement with Reliance Jio Infocomm to transfer the 'Right to Use' of Airtel's 800 MHz spectrum in Andhra Pradesh (3.75 MHz), Delhi (1.25 MHz) and Mumbai (2.50 MHz) to Jio.

On Wednesday, the indices opened higher and closed with decent gains. On the NSE, there were 1,276 advances, 645 declines and 106 unchanged.

Bharti Airtel has launched 'Airtel IoT' - an end-to-end platform to connect and manage billions of devices and applications in a highly secure and seamless fashion.

HDFC sold part of the invoked shares of Reliance Power on the stock exchanges worth Rs 30.63 crore.

Tanla Platforms appointed Aravind Viswanathan as chief financial officer effective 1 June 2021.

Rajesh Exports bagged a first major prestigious order post Covid worth Rs 745 crore of designer range of gold jewellery from Germany.

On Thursday, the indices opened higher and closed with decent gains. On the NSE, there were 1,237 advances, 705 declines and 87 unchanged.

Infosys won a contract for digital transformation of steel maker ArcelorMittal's IT operations. Infosys will work with the London-based steel and mining firm's European arm and share its best practice to optimise, stabilise and transform its IT landscape.

Hester Biosciences has signed two agreements with ICAR-IVRI (Indian Council of Agricultural Research  Indian Veterinary Research Institute) for acquiring technologies for the production and commercialisation of classical swine fever vaccine and sheep pox vaccine.

Muthoot Finance plans to raise Rs 1,700 crore through the public issue of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures.

On Friday, the indices opened lower and ended with minor losses. On the NSE, there were 1,069 advances, 843 declines and 100 unchanged.

SREI Infra received expression of interest for up to USD 250 million capital infusion from US-based Arena Investors LP and Singapores Makara Capital Partners.

Larsen & Toubro renewables arm secured a turnkey EPC contract from the consortium of ACWA Power and the Water and Electricity Holding Company (a subsidiary of the PIF of Saudi Arabia), for Sudair solar PV project of 1.5 GW capacity.

CEAT has entered into a third addendum agreement with Tyresnmore Online for making a future investment of up to Rs 2.4 crore in Tyresnmore to acquire an additional 3.47% of the post issue total share capital of Tyresnmore. Upon completion of the investment, the total holding of CEAT in Tyresnmore would be 44.17 percent.

Market Access III-Aubrey Global Emerging Markets Opportunities fund sold 30.8 lakh equity shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance at Rs 192.7 per share through bulk deals.
A Christian wedding photographer has filed a complaint against New York over a state law that requires her to service same-sex wedding ceremonies despite her religious objections.

Emilee Carpenter of Emilee Carpenter Photography sued multiple state officials, with the lawsuit being filed Tuesday in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.

Named defendants include New York Attorney General Letitia James; Jonathan J. Smith, interim commissioner of the New York State Division of Human Rights; and Weeden Wetmore, district attorney of Chemung County.

At issue, according to the litigation, are provisions in state law that require businesses like Carpenters to provide services. This included New York Executive Law  296.2(a), which unlawful discriminatory practices  because of sexual orientation in any place of public accommodation.

Source:The Christian Post
Months before COVID-19 cases surged to record highs last year, Shelley Luther was fighting to keep her Dallas salon open despite safety guidelines. She had torn up a cease-and-desist order from Dallas County, and soon was fined $7,000 and sentenced to seven days in jail.

Almost a year later, the Texas Supreme Court concluded Friday morning that the countys order was too vague to enforce, and voided the order holding her in contempt of court.

The temporary restraining order failed to set forth the conduct required and the legal basis for its issuance in clear, specific, and unambiguous terms, the court decision said.

FYI: Trying to make sense of how Texas ranks on COVID vaccinations? Here's a look behind the numbers.

Luthers case had captured nationwide attention as top Republicans in the state worked to petition against the countys orders. She appeared on "The View" and headlined rallies across the state while receiving half a million dollars in crowdfunding. The conservative support led her to a run for state Senate, where she lost to state Sen. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, by 13 percentage points in December.

Luther was operating her salon, Salon a la Mode, in blatant defiance of state orders last April, as Gov. Greg Abbott had announced hair salons and barbershops would have to remain closed. Even now, updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say those providing services to clients in hair salons are at risk for contracting COVID-19.

Days before the hearing in Dallas County, Luther had received $18,000 in refundable loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, a sum that could have helped cover costs during the pandemic. But she would later say she wasnt sure how she was allowed to spend it and felt she couldnt risk closing.

I am not going to shut the salon, she had told the judge.

Luthers vocal opposition drew in Abbotts team, which reached out to her and asked for guidance on salons opening sooner, according to previous reporting by The Texas Tribune.

About a week later, Abbott allowed salons to reopen. But Luther was in jail. The sentence had come from District Judge Eric Moye, who made a contempt of court judgement after she ignored his original temporary restraining order.

DID YOU KNOW?: CDC declares racism a 'serious' public health threat

Before he issued the judgement, Moye said he would consider giving only a fine and allowing her to avoid jail time if she pledged not to reopen her salon until emergency orders were lifted. In a Facebook video, Luther said that if she had to go to jail to prove a point that what theyre doing is totally unconstitutional, then thats what happens.

Texas Republicans took a range of actions to support her. Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote a direct appeal to the Dallas judge, claiming Moye had abused his discretion and should immediately order Luthers release. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick offered to pay Luthers fine and serve seven days of house arrest in place of her jail sentence.

Abbott soon removed enforcement mechanisms from his executive order and said confinement could no longer be a penalty for not following COVID-19 safety restrictions.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 00:43:08|Editor: huaxia

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ALGIERS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Algeria on Friday reported 135 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the North African country to 118,251.

The death toll from the virus rose to 3,123 after four new fatalities were added, said the Algerian Ministry of Health in a statement.

Meanwhile, 103 more patients recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recoveries in the country to 82,392, the statement added.

A donation of Chinese Sinopharm vaccines arrived in Algeria on Feb. 24 to help combat the pandemic. Enditem
(Newser)  Pfizer asked the Food and Drug Administration on Friday to add recipients ages 12 to 15 to the emergency use authorization for its coronavirus vaccine. At the moment, Pfizer has permission to distribute the vaccine for anyone 16 or older. The company said last week that its trials showed its vaccine to be 100% effective in recipients 12 to 15; those results have not been peer-reviewed, per NBC. "Vaccinating our teenagers is the next step in seeing our way through the pandemic," said an expert at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Changing the use authorization probably will take a few weeks. A former FDA official said the agency won't have to consult its independent advisory panel, as it did before the first approval. But the agency might ask the panel to display transparency, he said.

story continues below

If approved, that age group could be vaccinated in time for the return to school in the fall, per the New York Times. Pfizer has begun assessing the vaccine's efficacy in children 6 months to 12 years old; those trials began last month, and the results are due in the second half of the year. The trials for children started slowly partly because it took a while to find study participants. Teenagers and younger children are part of the reason coronavirus case counts are climbing in some places. Michigan, for example, has more infections among those ages 10 to 19 than ever. Pfizer said it will ask other nations for similar approvals soon. Moderna also has trials for children and teenagers in progress. (Read more Pfizer stories.)
UTICA, N.Y.  Handshake.City in Utica has donated to another local business through its Be A Neighbor Fund, which was launched in February.

The fund raises money through community and corporation donations, to help small businesses recover from the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest check for $3,000 was presented Thursday to Irwins Fine Food, located on Genesee Street in Utica. The restaurant will get $1,000 payments each month over the next three months, sponsored by First Source Federal Credit Union.

Owner Linda Irwin says revenue from the restaurant has decreased by more than $20,000 since the start of the pandemic, due to reduced capacity and event restrictions.

More than $27,000 has been awarded to five small businesses over the past several weeks, including the Irwins, Melos Subs, Cafe Domenico, Bodywise Pure Pilates and Simmer Jamaican Restaurant.
Google is signaling to the White House that a lack of coordination on tech and trade policy across the Atlantic is hurting business.

What's happening: Google's head of global policy and government affairs, Karan Bhatia, is urging the Biden administration to accept an invitation from the European Commission to form an EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council, according to a post shared exclusively with Axios.

Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

Driving the news: Around the world, different countries are proposing and enacting trade, tax, privacy and moderation rules impacting U.S. tech companies.

On Thursday, the Biden administration proposed a tax agreement for very large multinational companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Today's global regulatory patchquilt is a legacy of trade wars launched intermittently during the Trump administration plus aggressive moves aimed at U.S. tech companies from overseas.

What they're saying: "Trans-Atlantic coordination has largely become an afterthought, if its thought of at all," Bhatia wrote in a blog post.

"These policy trends hurt both the U.S. and European economies, risking the 16 million jobs on both sides of the Atlantic linked to transatlantic trade and investment," he wrote. "They also make it harder for the U.S. and the EU to address new global technology challenges and partner with emerging economies in Asia."

Bhatia says the Biden administration should opt to participate in the proposed Trade and Technology Council to avoid "unilateral approaches" on data flows between the U.S. and Europe and regulation of digital platforms.

Between the lines: Directly appealing to the Biden administration shows Google considers this a pressing business issue.

The bottom line: Companies hate having to deal with the inefficiency of conflicting rules and regulations around the world.

More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
60 meters in New Zealand

Hi Folks,

The internationally allocated 60 metre amateur band 5351.5 - 5366.5 kHz has been cleared of formerly licensed users in New Zealand. This can be confirmed by a public search of the New Zealand register of radio frequencies. There is now a clear path for New Zealand amateur radio operators to gain access to all of the internationally allocated amateur band 5351.5 - 5366.5 kHz.

Background: I independently liaised with New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to implement a plan I formulated in January to clear a 60 metre band for amateur radio. NZDF liked my plan and it has relevance to other NZDF radio projects. As I'm an Approved Radio Engineer I can modify radio licences and NZDF authorised me to make specified changes to their licences, which cleared bandwidth for amateur radio. These changes were registered by RSM around midday on 8 April. That completed my contribution to development of a 60 metre amateur band in New Zealand.

73, Bob ZL2CA

Bob says its now up to NZART to take the next step

Well done Bob

Cheers Gary ZL3SV
She released the controversial tell-all autobiography Close Up back in 2004.

And on Friday, Kelly Brook, 41, left Heart FM in a tiered denim mini dress and furry gilet after admitting that she 'regrets some of the things' she included in her book, in which she divulged details about some of the worst parts of her past relationships.

Speaking on her Heart radio show, the brunette beauty confessed that her 'mum wasn't happy' about some of the book's content, which included 'sensationalised' recollations of her childhood.

Regretful: On Friday, Kelly Brook, 41, admitted that she 'regrets some of the things' she included in her autobiography Close Up

Work chic: The radio host looked to be in good spirits as she left Global HQ after talking about her autobiography

Whilst Professor Brian Cox tried to explain the theory behind black holes to the glamour model, she asked what would happen if she threw her autobiography into one.

Kelly said: 'I don't get it though, if I throw my autobiography into a black hole, are you saying it's lost or it's going to come back out?'

The science genius explained:' Eventually, everyone thinks now, at the end of time almost, billions, billions, billions, billions of years in the future, the black hole evaporates away...

'It's called Hawking radiation after Stephen Hawking, and all the information in your autobiography would in principle, still be there.'

Finishing touches: Kelly added an off-white furry gilet and a pendant necklace to her look

Mum wasn't happy! Some of the content in Kelly's autobiography included 'sensationalised' recollations of her childhood (Pictured with her mum Sandra in 2008)

Kelly gasped: 'Wow, incredible. I'm never throwing it in a black hole because I do regret some of the things I put in it to be honest.'

Her co-host JK joked: 'Did you write this one?' and the pair laughed as Kelly admitted: 'My mum wasn't happy!'

Professor Brian Cox continued: 'Even if you don't it's going to last forever, it's always going to be there, you could burn every single one of them and someone, some superbeing in the future could reconstruct everything you put in.'

Kelly added: 'Because I put it out thereyou can't take it back. This is why you've got to be careful what you say, you can never take it back.'

Oh dear! Speaking on Heart radio, Kelly confessed that her 'mum wasn't happy'

Black holes: Whilst Professor Brian Cox tried to explain the theory behind black holes to the glamour model, she asked what would happen if she threw her autobiography into one

Be careful! After learning it would always exist, Kelly added: 'Because I put it out thereyou can't take it back. This is why you've got to be careful what you say, you can never take it back'

In 2016, Kelly revealed that she had not been completely honest about her 'violent and horrific' childhood memories in her 2014 autobiography.

She told Fabulous Magazine: 'It's probably the thing I'm least proud of in my life. I felt like I had to sensationalise my life more than it was.'

Kelly had asserted that she used to 'dread' weekends because she would have to witness her parents getting drunk.

She told the magazine: 'I probably wasn't that true to myself. I'm not saying it never happened, but it's not really my upbringing to air all my dirty laundry like that.

'I think it was a bad move. I kind of regret my autobiography.'

Violent past: In Close Up, Kelly also revealed that she hit two of her exes, Jason Statham and Danny Cipriani (Pictured with Jason in 2001)

In Close Up, Kelly also revealed that she hit two of her exes, Jason Statham and Danny Cipriani.

Kelly started dating Jason in 1998 after they met in Greece and they were together until 2004, but there was trouble when they attended Madonna's wedding to Guy Ritchie in December 2000.

After the Lock, Stock actor made fun out of Kelly for not knowing who a song was by, Kelly said she saw red when she heard the star talking to Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

She said: 'Jason started to swing his hips from side to side and do a little jive with his arms, saying: "Gywnnie, Gwynnie, Gwynnie. Sexy, sexy, sexy!.."

'He turned round, only to be met with my fist in his face.'

Turbulent love life: Danny Cipriani also faced Kelly's wrath after they headed to the Spearmint Rhino strip club together in Las Vegas and Kelly discovered her man had given his number to a stripper (Pictured in 2010)

And Danny also faced Kelly's wrath after they headed to the Spearmint Rhino strip club together in Las Vegas and Kelly discovered her man had given his number to a stripper.

She said: 'As I headed back to the table, I saw Danny walking towards me. "Babe", he said, "I've been looking for you!" I punched him straight in the face.'

Kelly revealed that four bouncers leaped on her, before she tried to have another 'pop' at her boyfriend.
COLONIE  Economists and analysts may be expecting a robust rebound from the pandemic, but the folks in the corner office aren't as upbeat.

The Siena College Research Institute's annual survey of upstate CEOs is out, and it paints a picture of companies struggling to recover after more than a year of furloughs, lost sales and social isolation and distancing.

Nearly four in 10  39 percent  of Capital Region CEOs expect the economy will worsen during the rest of 2021, although 44 percent expect improvement. That compares to 43 percent statewide who expect the economy to worsen, while just 40 percent expect improvement.

The Capital Region business leaders are slightly more pessimistic about their own industry. Asked whether conditions would improve during the rest of the year, 39 percent believed they would while 41 percent thought conditions in their industry would worsen.

The Siena survey includes responses from 1,036 CEOs across upstate. The survey was conducted between Jan. 12 and March 12, during the depths of the pandemic.

Nearly three in four Capital Region CEOs  73 percent  say a recession before the end of the year as somewhat or very likely, or certain. Statewide, 74 percent of respondents felt that way.

Asked where their challenges were for the coming year, dealing with Covid-19 came in third, both among Capital Region CEOs and those statewide. Expanding in existing markets and growing in those markets ranked first and second, respectively.

Profits were squeezed, said a majority of respondents statewide. The cost of doing business, especially in food/beverage, wholesale/distribution, retail and manufacturing rose thanks to the pandemic, while sales and profitability fell.

A majority of respondents both in the Capital Region  61 percent  and statewide  58 percent  thought the state's actions to combat Covid-19 were "about right," while 36 percent of Capital Region respondents and 40 percent of respondents statewide thought the state's actions were "too strict."

The federal government received poor grades from the majority of respondents for its handling of the pandemic, with 29 percent saying they were "not too satisfied" and 39 percent saying they "weren't at all satisfied." The survey was taken during a transitional period between administrations in Washington.

Since then, the Biden administration's efforts have generally received high marks, with 73 percent of respondents approving his handling of the pandemic in a March 31 AP-NORC poll.

On Thursday, JP Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, in a letter to shareholders, predicted that the economy would thrive as it emerges from the pandemic.

I have little doubt that with excess savings, new stimulus savings, huge deficit spending, more QE, a new potential infrastructure bill, a successful vaccine and euphoria around the end of the pandemic, the U.S. economy will likely boom, Dimon wrote. This boom could easily run into 2023 because all the spending could extend well into 2023.

And in December, Hugh Johnson, internationally known economist and founder of the Albany investment firm JNB-Hugh Johnson Advisors, suggested that, if the government did the right thing, we could be entering boom times similar to the Roaring 20s. Johnson made the remarks during his annual economic forecast to the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce.

The right thing, Johnson suggested, would be government stimulus, something that the Biden administration has since rolled out.

Meanwhile, Capital Region CEOs gave poor marks to state government and its ability to create healthy business climate. Just 2 percent said the state was doing an "excellent" job on creating a healthy business climate, while 30 percent said it was doing a "fair" job and 62 percent said it was doing a "poor" job.

Capital Region respondents suggested state government should focus its efforts on spending cuts, business income tax reform, and addressing the budget deficit (49 percent in each category); personal income tax reform (48 percent); and business development incentives and infrastructure development (46 percent each).

When companies were asked that, if they had to do it all over again, would they locate in New York, 58 percent of Capital Region CEOs responded that they would not. Statewide the figure was 52 percent.

Of the Capital Region respondents, 76 percent were male and 24 percent female, 96 percent were white, 2 percent were other, while Asian and Hispanic respondents each made up 1 percent. There were no Black respondents.
A tiny silver fish few people in the Bay Area have heard of could be a new symbol of the states continuing battle over water resources.

San Francisco Baykeeper sued the Biden administration Thursday to list the local population of longfin smelt as an endangered species. The environmental groups legal action comes nine years after the federal government first declared that the fish warranted that status.

Once an important source of food for marine mammals, birds and chinook salmon, the local population of the longfin smelt has dropped by 99.9% since the 1980s. Scientists and environmentalists say that reduction is a direct result of too much water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin river system being diverted to farms and other water users rather than flowing through the bay to the Pacific. If the fish were to be protected as an endangered species, that would likely have to change.

The longfin smelt is an avatar of sorts for a big range of sensitive species like salmon, delta smelt and sturgeon, and a lot of other species that are really on the brink of extinction themselves, Ben Eichenberg, staff attorney for San Francisco Baykeeper. The federal government and the state of California both have a responsibility for the extinction of the species thats happening in the bay right now.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for protecting endangered species, declined to comment because of the pending litigation.

James Ervin / UC Davis

Listing the longfin smelt, the less-famous cousin of the delta smelt, as an endangered species would require the federal government to issue whats called a biological opinion that could include water requirements for its habitat. Thats a politically thorny proposition, especially at the beginning of another drought, when water allotments to farms have already been cut.

Fish and farmers are often pitted against each other for the states water resources. At a Bakersfield news conference last year, former President Donald Trump blamed protections of certain little tiny fish  referring to the endangered delta smelt  for the states water problems. He went on to announce that he would allow more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin river system to go to farms.

Longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys), a 3- to 4-inch silvery fish named for its larger-than-average pectoral fin, has a range from San Francisco Bay to Alaska, but its the local population that the state listed as threatened back in 2009.

While there are five other species native to San Francisco Bay that already have federal endangered species status  delta smelt, spring- and winter-run chinook salmon, steelhead trout and green sturgeon  longfin smelt has the most direct relationship to the bays water flow, said Jon Rosenfield, lead scientist at San Francisco Baykeeper.

The volume of flow that makes it out of the delta from December to May or June is very strongly correlated over decades and decades with longfin smelt abundance, Rosenfield said.

The fish requires freshwater when it spawns in winter and early spring in the delta or local rivers, said researcher Levi Lewis of UC Davis, who studies the species, and during years when less water comes through, the population drops.

Lewis and his colleagues have collected them for study in the brackish waters of Alviso Marsh in the southern part of the bay.

COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife monitors the bays population of longfin smelt by sending a boat to 100 locations from September to December and pulling a net to see how many it catches. After getting a monthly average, it creates an index value that it can compare to previous years.

Historically, the department would find hundreds of longfin smelt in a single tow of their sampling net, whereas today it may take more than 100 trawls of the same net to catch a single longfin, Rosenfield said. The index numbers were in the tens of thousands in the early 1980s, dropping to the single digits in 2014, during the most recent drought, and have since gone back to double digits.

Rosenfield and San Francisco Baykeeper, among other organizations, have been petitioning the federal government to give endangered status to the San Francisco Bay-delta population of longfin smelt since 1992. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service agreed that it warranted being listed as endangered in 2012, but it said it was precluded, meaning it had to wait in line behind other species. That message has repeated each year since.

While the longfin smelt may not be well known among locals, losing it would mean losing part of what makes the estuary special, Lewis said.

Were systematically eliminating elements of Californias natural heritage that made it unique, he said. The loss of these species is really the loss of California.

Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan
London, 9 April 2021 (SPS) - The International Amnesty Organization pointed out on Wednesday the absence of a human rights monitoring mechanism in occupied Western Sahara, lamenting the suppression of the Sahrawi people in the occupied territories.



In October, the United Nations renewed, until October 2021, the MINURSO mandate, without including a section relating to human rights monitoring as it is generally the case for the peacekeeping missions, said Amnesty in its 2020s report on the situation of human rights in the world.



The occupied Western Sahara has remained inaccessible to the human rights organizations, making the task of monitoring human rights violations difficult, said the source, underlining that the forces of the Moroccan occupier made arrests and degrading treatment against Sahrawi people.



The report cites the conviction of 19 Sahrawi activists between 2013 and 2017, following the unfair trial in which their torture allegations werent duly examined.



Between May and July, the police arrested in the city of occupied al-Ayun the Sahrawi journalist and human rights activist Ibrahim Amrikli. He was beaten and insulted several times and forced to sign totally unfounded confessions, according to the source. (SPS)



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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  When City & State magazine released its Above and Beyond honorees for 2021, among the roster of 40 women from across the state of New York was Trientina Tina Campbell, director/coordinator of Environmental Health and Safety/Emergency Preparedness for Richmond University Medical Center.

Campbell is one of 39 other high profile women in politics, non-profit leadership, education, civil rights, and healthcare who are also Above and Beyond honorees. City & State magazine covers New Yorks local and state politics and policy.

It gives me immense pride and joy to receive such an amazing award alongside my fellow distinguished honorees, Campbell said. My thanks to City & State for such a remarkable recognition. It gives me great pleasure knowing that this award was given because of the passion and love I have for my job and the Staten Island community I have served for almost 20 years.

Since joining RUMC in 2005, Campbell has been a guiding force behind developing and maintaining the hospitals safety and emergency preparedness protocols for patients and staff.

In her role, she advocates for the needs of RUMC and the Staten Island community on numerous state, city and local committees and coalitions.

On Staten Island, Campbell is the co-chair of the Medical Ecosystem, a committee comprised of representatives from local hospitals, primary care physicians, assisted living facilities, community organizations, and the borough presidents office.

The Ecosystems mission is to address challenges Staten Island has faced in times of disaster so the borough is better prepared for the future. The Medical Ecosystem falls under the umbrella of the Staten Island Community Organizations Active in Disaster (SI COAD), which is managed by the Staten Island Not For Profit Association. Both the Ecosystem and SI COAD formed in the wake of Superstorm Sandy to help residents in their recovery efforts and to ensure Staten Islands business, non-profit, and community sector resources were coordinated and prepared for future large-scale emergencies.

Especially relevant this year with the COVID-19 pandemic, Tina has continued to bring unmatched dedication, expertise and leadership to her role as co-chair of the Medical Ecosystem, Sharmila Rao Thakkar, executive director of the Staten Island Not For Profit Association said.

Thakkar nominated Campbell for the honor with City & State. There is no doubt that she has not only impacted the health and wellness of communities throughout COVID-19, but also our boroughs overall crisis preparedness and response during the pandemic.

Since last spring, Campbell has worked with RUMC leadership on the protocols to keep staffers and patients safe during the COVID-19 pandemic including monitoring and implementing all federal, state and city guidelines as the pandemic evolved. Sometimes, guidance changes daily requiring quick action to coordinate multiple departments throughout the hospital and also RUMCs outpatient sites across Staten Island.

Now, as RUMC is administering COVID-19 vaccinations to the public, Campbell continues to play a critical role, ensuring the safety of residents from across the borough entering the hospital to receive their COVID-19 shots.

Last month, RUMC vaccinated its 10,000th individual and is on pace to reach 15,000 individuals in a few weeks. Campbell also continues to oversee the safety of the entire hospital and all outpatient facilities as surgeries, procedures, and in-person services continue amidst the pandemic.

Tina has been instrumental in our efforts to ensure the safety of everyone at RUMC, especially during the unprecedented challenges we have faced over the past year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, president and chief executive officer, Daniel J. Messina, said. She is one of the many heroes in our hospital, which makes this honor by City & State all the more deserving.
A 16-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in Brisbane CBD has been identified, as his devastated friends remember him as 'the life of the party'.

Yannis Leulusoo was allegedly knifed in the stomach by a man he knew while walking on Emma Miller Place, near Roma Street Station, about 8pm on Thursday.

He staggered about 200 metres to King George Square, before he collapsed in a pool of his own blood and died.

A teenage girl said Mr Leulusoo was 'like a brother' to her, and revealed they made plans to go to the movies together two days before his stabbing murder.

Pictured: Yannis Leulusoo, 16, who was stabbed in the stomach in Brisbane on Thursday evening

'We had plans to go out to the movies next week and I wake up to see this all over my Facebook and messages,' she told The Courier-Mail.

'It's just really hard for me to take it all in, but my sisters told me that brother's gonna be okay and he's in a better place now.'

The girl, who did not want to be identified, described him as 'one of the strongest boys I've ever met' who always looked out for her.

'He will forever be loved! And I know that for a fact,' she added.

Yannis Leulusoo (pictured) staggered about 200 metres to King George Square, before he collapsed in a pool of his own blood

Pictured: Police at the scene where 16-year-old Yannis Leulusoo was stabbed by an armed attacker

Heartbroken friends and family have left tributes to the teenager on social media.

'You may rest in love and peace dear cous,' one woman wrote.

'So hard to believe you're gone, Yannis. RIL champ,' another shared, with a series of crying and heart emojis.

The alleged knifeman was seen running towards the nearby Roma Street Parklands, and he is still on the loose.

Police believe he and Mr Leulusoo had a calm conversation at Queen Street mall at about 7.30pm (pictured: Emma Miller Place, where the stabbing happened)

Police believe he and Mr Leulusoo had a calm conversation at Queen Street mall at about 7.30pm - half an hour before the stabbing.

Detective Inspector Tony Fleming said there was no tension or violence during that conversation, prompting officers to focus on what happened in those 30 minutes.

'I expect the young man who died had no reason to expect that this was going to unfold,' Detective Fleming said.

He also said police had not yet identified everyone who was in the area on Thursday night, but there is a possibility that the males may have been part of two opposing gangs.

Pictured: King George Square, where Mr Leulusoo collapsed in a pool of his own blood and died

Detective Fleming urged anyone in the groups to 'stay calm'.

'Retaliatory action is not going to benefit anyone, everyone loses out of that,' He stressed.

'The primary focus here is on the homicide investigation but if there's going to be ongoing tension, that's a key area of focus for us.'

He urged anyone with information to contact police.
New Delhi: Three unidentified terrorists were killed and two army troopers were left injured in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmirs Shopian town on Thursday (April 8), informed the police.

A police official said, Two army soldiers sustained injuries in the ongoing operation and have been shifted to hospital for treatment. He added that the identity of the slain militants is yet to be ascertained.

The encounter is still underway between terrorists and security forces in Jan Mohalla town of Shopian district. As per sources, two more terrorists are believed to be holed up inside the mosque.

Meanwhile, late on Thursday night, the Jammu and Kashmir police sent the brother of one terrorist and a local Imam inside the mosque to persuade the terrorists to surrender. The Jammu and Kashmir Police informed in a tweet, "#ShopianEncounterUpdate: Brother of holed up #terrorist and local Imamsahab sent inside the mosque to persuade the #terrorists to come out and #surrender. Efforts are on to save the mosque. #Operation going on. Further details shall follow."

Chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) terror outfit has been trapped while three unidentified terrorists have been killed by the security forces, the police stated. Confirming the same, the Kashmir Zone police tweeted, "Chief of proscribed terrorist outfit AGuH (JeM) trapped."

Earlier around 4 PM, a joint team of J&K police and security forces had launched a cordon and search operation in Jan Mohalla area of Shopian district in south Kashmir after getting the input of the presence of terrorists in the area.

As the searching party cordoned the suspected spot, the terrorists fired upon them and during the retaliatory firing security personnel sustained injuries, the police official said.

(With ANI inputs)

Live TV
Police in the southern Vietnamese province of Dong Nai on Wednesday inspected nine locations and arrested a company director for being involved in a huge fake gasoline ring that sold 200 million liters of bogus and substandard gasoline to the market.

The Dong Nai Department of Public Security confirmed it had apprehended Tran Huy Lap, general director of Phuc Lam Petro JSC.

Dong Nai police also coordinated with officers under the Ministry of Public Security and their counterparts in Ho Chi Minh City, southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, southern Binh Phuoc Province, and the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong to examine nine locations, including Laps house, Phuc Lams headquarters, and some filling stations.

Phuc Lam Company has six shareholders and is headquartered at 60A Hoang Quoc Viet Street in Phu My Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, officers stated.

The general director is Tran Huy Lap, 61, who resides in Phu Nhuan District.

The headquarters of Phuc Lam Petro JSC in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Minh Hoa / Tuoi Tre

The firm registered its business operations for the first time in 2013 and as of June 29, 2020, the companys investment capital had reached VND153 billion (US$6.6 million).

This is the latest development in the investigation into an illegal racket that traded a massive amount of bogus fuel in multiple localities in southern Vietnam.

Dong Nai police began breaking up the ring in early February, when more than 500 officers raided many warehouses and filling stations, as well as workplaces and homes of those involved in Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City, Vinh Long, Long An, Vung Tau, and Can Tho.

Another team of officers caught many ring members red-handed trading fake gasoline on several ships along a section of the Hau (Back) River in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long.

Police investigation showed that the ring had sold about 200 million liters of fake and substandard gasoline to the market since August 2020.

Police inspect the headquarters of Phuc Lam Petro JSC in Ho Chi Minh City, April 7, 2021 in this supplied photo.

During the regular press meeting of the government on March 31, Major General To An Xo, spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security, said that 53 suspects had been probed for being involved in the racket.

Among them, 52 were charged for smuggling while the other was indicted for taking bribes.

Officers confiscated 14 ships, 10 tank trucks, 13 cars, millions of liters of gasoline and chemicals for making fake gasoline, over VND123 billion ($5.3 million) in cash, 15 savings books, and other documents.

They have also sealed off several inland waterway terminals, dozens of filling stations, and multiple bank accounts worth over VND200 billion ($8.6 million).

The fraudulent trading took place for a long time and on a large scale, abetted by several individuals and organizations, Major General Xo stated.

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United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to Israel, Germany, Britain and the NATO headquarters in Belgium in the coming week for talks with government and military leaders, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

The highest-ranked official of the administration of President Joe Biden to visit Israel, Austin will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, where discussions will cover "shared priorities" and reaffirm Washington's commitment to Israel maintaining military superiority over its neighbors, according to a Pentagon statement.

In Europe, he will hold talks with German defense minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Chancellery Foreign and Security Policy Adviser Dr. Jan Hecker, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and British defense minister Ben Wallace.

Austin will leave Washington on Saturday, but the dates for his stops in each country were not given.

The trip coincides with rising tensions between Israel and Iran just as the Biden administration tries to engage Tehran over returning to the nuclear pact effectively torn up by former president Donald Trump.

In Europe it comes as Russia has sent shivers across the continent with the massing of a troops and war equipment along its border with Ukraine.

"Russia now has more troops on the border of Ukraine than at any time since 2014," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday, saying Biden was "increasingly concerned."

This article was from Agence France Presse and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
CONCORD  A Hudson man is getting closer to a face-off with U.S. customs officials over their use of checkpoints on Interstate 93 in the White
Actress Kangana Ranaut took to social media on Thursday to talk about her love for India.

She wrote about how you are an 'ultranationalist' if you try to work for the well-being of the country and its people.

Posting a picture of herself in a yellow sari, she wrote: "If you love your nation then you are a nationalist if you are obsessed with your nation, and every single action of yours is directed at its well being every penny that you spend you want your nation and it's people to benefit then you are an ultranationalist #VocalForLocal."

Kangana was also in the news on Wednesday for her tweet claiming that actors Akshay Kumar and others called her up to praise the trailer of her upcoming film "Thalaivi" secretively.

In the film, Kangana plays late former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa. It is scheduled to release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

She is also shooting for her film "Tejas", which is Sarvesh Mewara's directorial debut.

Text: IANS

Images: Instagram
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The moon-sighting committee will meet on Sunday evening (April 11) at the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA) headquarters to receive news and testimonies, from Bahrain and the Islamic World, about the birth of the Ramadan crescent, signalling the advent of the month fasting.

In a statement today, the council urged to the public to report their testimonies to the moon sighting panel.

The council wished the Kingdom of Bahrain and its loyal people with development, prosperity and stability, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa,

It prayed to Allah the Almighty to guide the Government, chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, on the path of success, wishing the Islamic nation many happy returns.
Joe Gorga admitted he felt like he was living with a stranger on Wednesday night's episode of The Real Housewives Of New Jersey.

The 41-year-old reality fixture complained that his wife Melissa Gorga, 42, had 'changed' after she didn't wait for him and walked ahead as they left a restaurant by the Jersey Shore.

But Melissa contended that her husband's feelings were hurt because she'd found success after starting her own business.

Left out: Joe Gorga, 41, argued with his wife Melissa Gorga, 42, after she didn't wait to walk with him when they left a Jersey Shore restaurant on Wednesday's RHONJ episode

The trouble began after the group finished dinner at the restaurant and started to walk out.

Joe was clearly upset as they left because Melissa walked ahead and didn't wait to walk by his side.

'What are you mad about?' she asked. 'Did I do something wrong?'

Her husband unloaded and claimed that she acted like they weren't even together.

'I would just like my wife to wait for me and you just walk away like you don't even have a husband,' Joe said after they got into the shuttle together.

Lagging behind: Joe was clearly upset as they left because Melissa walked ahead and didn't wait to walk by his side

Complaining: 'I would just like my wife to wait for me and you just walk away like you don't even have a husband,' Joe said after they got into the shuttle together

They were forced to have their argument in front of others in a confined space, as they were riding with Margaret Josephs and her husband Joe, as well as Jackie Goldschneider and her husband Evan.

'From now on, you just go by yourself while I just walk in the back,' Joe huffed.

'We used to be so attached and I'm still like that,' he felt the need to tell everyone in the vehicle. 'She's just changed. You turned into this different businesswoman.'

After Joe let slip with the 'businesswoman' line, Melissa developed a theory about the real issue that was eating at him: jealousy over her boutique Envy, which she founded back in 2016.

'If I have a little success in my personal life, it's not against you,' she replied. 'Let your wife have a little something that's my own. It doesn't mean I don't love you.'

Changes: 'We used to be so attached and I'm still like that,' he felt the need to tell everyone in the vehicle. 'She's just changed. You turned into this different businesswoman.'

Insecurity: After Joe said the 'businesswoman' line, Melissa had a theory about the real issue that was eating at him: jealousy over her boutique Envy, which she founded back in 2016

'It started a couple years ago with Envy,' she explained later during a confessional session.

'I'm not home as much as I used to be. I have to go to Fashion Week. I have to go to trade shows. I have appearances, red carpets. If it were up to him, I would just cook and clean and I'll be here at four with your dinner.'

Back in the shuttle, Joe mused, 'Maybe we grew apart. It's just life.'

That comment seemed to set his wife off.

'I've kissed your a** for how many f***ing years, so you sit home while I go to work now,' she said. 'You are so spoiled.'

Not holding back: 'I've kissed your a** for how many f***ing years, so you sit home while I go to work now,' Melissa said. 'You are so spoiled.'

Married to a stranger: 'The problem is, she's changed a little,' Joe told his friends later. 'For me, it bothers me. I want to be loved. Is that a problem?'

Later, Joe hung out with Joe Josephs and Evan to help cool down.

'You're ticked off because you don't think you're getting the affection that you need,' Joe Josephs said.

'The problem is, she's changed a little,' Joe Gorga replied. 'For me, it bothers me. I want to be loved. Is that a problem?'

Meanwhile, Melissa was having her own session to go over the altercation with Margaret and Jackie.

'He has a very old school mentality,' she said, explaining that her husband had retrograde views about marriage.

'When we started our marriage, I was 24 years old. I did whatever Joe told me to do. He was someone who was jealous. At the end of the day, I don't want to feel guilt for achieving things that I want to achieve. He tells me that's wrong.'

Straightforward: 'I think you're too involved with work,' Joe told Melissa later. 'You need to realize what's happened to you'

In his own confessional, Joe blamed Melissa supposed changes not on her business, but on her reality show gig.

'I call fame the devil. The devil comes into your soul and you forget who you really are,' he said accusingly.

But he also didn't want to just stew on his hurt feelings, so he went back to more directly share his feelings with Melissa.

'I think you're too involved with work,' he said. 'You need to realize what's happened to you.'

'I feel so bad when you say that,' Melissa replied. 'What did I do wrong to you?'

'You've just changed,' he said. 'You're just different, a little bit.'

Armistice: Joe and Melissa managed to make up enough to enjoying the rest of their Jersey Shore trip, during which they paid tribute to his late father Joe

Joe and Melissa didn't come to any compromise or understanding about her working life, but they did manage to make up enough to enjoying the rest of their Jersey Shore trip, during which they paid tribute to his late father Joe, who died in April of 2020.

Though the two didn't completely resolve their issues then and there (they were preparing to celebrate the memorial of Joe's late father, who died on April 3, 2020), they put aside their differences to enjoy the rest of the trip.

The couple have been married since 2004 and have three children: two sons, Joey and Gino, and their daughter Antonia.
London, April 9 : Prince Philip, the "beloved" consort and a crucial supporter and confidante of UK's Queen Elizabeth II, who did much to modernise the monarchy but was panned over his "insensitive" remarks in various countries while on state visits, passed away on Friday, the Buckingham Palace announced. He was 99.

"It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle," the statement said, the BBC reported.

It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.



His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/XOIDQqlFPn  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 9, 2021

Prince Philip died weeks after he returned home to Windsor Castle, where the Royal couple was staying amid the Covid pandemic, on March 16 from a month-long stay in hospitals in London - first admitted to King Edward VII's hospital on February 16, and then he was operated for a pre-existing heart condition at St Bartholomew's.

The exact reason for his initial admission to hospital was not disclosed, but Buckingham Palace said at the time it was not related to coronavirus.

As the news spread, mourners gathered at both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle and left floral tributes at the gates. All UK parties announced suspension of their election campaigns as a mark of respect. The Parliament has been called into session on April 12 to pay tributes to Prince Philip.

Top leaders from around the UK, the Commonwealth and acrossed the world, as well as royalty from around Europe mourned his passing.

Emerging out of 10 Downing Street to address the waiting media, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Prince Philip had "earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth, and around the world".

"Like the expert carriage driver that he was, he helped to steer the royal family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life," he said.

Extending his condolences to the Royal family, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: "Today, we mourn the loss of an extraordinary man, who devoted his life to public service and helping others." Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he "embodied a generation that we will never see again", while former PM Julia Gillard recalled "fond memories" of spending time with him during a Royal visit to Australia, and termed him a "man of duty", who had "a sense of fun".

"My thoughts are with the British people and the Royal Family on the passing away of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He had a distinguished career in the military and was at the forefront of many community service initiatives. May his soul rest in peace," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.

Hailing from the Greek and Danish families, Prince Philip was also the nephew of Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, under whom the country became Independent.

Living in Britain and joining the Royal Navy in 1939 and seeing action in World War II, he married Princess Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she became the Queen. After her accession to the throne, he had to give up his naval career to help her.

It was as the Queen's key support during her long reign that he is most known, but there were many sides to his personality.

While he was known for his efforts for conservation of wildlife and nature (despite one tiger hunt in India in 1961 that drew flak), and for welfare of youth and providing them greater opportunities, his remarks on the people of host countries on various Royal trips drew much adverse comment. Supporters, however, contended that he was joking.

The couple had four children, eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. There were also claims that he was a "brusque and insensitive" parent, especially with respect to their eldest child and Heir, Prince Charles. While critics cited the strained marriages of three of their four children, the insiders, on the other hand, cited his concern and support to them.

He was also a keen sportsman, playing polo before shifting to carriage-driving as he aged.

Prince Philip had retired from his Royal duties in 2017, months ahead of the couple's 70th marriage anniversary.

-- Syndicated from IANS
 Close George Floyd died because he had no oxygen in his body, medical expert says

Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr Andrew Baker is expected to testify today in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Dr Baker is the only person who performed an autopsy on George Floyd, following his death in May 2020 in the custody of Mr Chauvin and three other Minneapolis officers.

The former officer faces two murder charges after he knelt on Mr Floyds back for more than nine minutes during the arrest for a counterfeit $20 bill nearly 12 months ago.

Dr Bakers testimony will come a day after two major witnesses for the state testified in court on Thursday that Mr Floyd died when Mr Chauvin kneeled on his neck until he couldnt breathe.

Mr Floyd died of positional asphyxia, which is a fancy way of saying he died because he had no oxygen in his body, said Dr Bill Smock, a forensic medical specialist and police training doctor.

When the body is deprived of oxygen, in this case from pressure on his chest and back, he gradually succumbed to lower and lower levels of oxygen until it was gone and he died, he added.

Earlier in the day, Dr Martin Tobin, a lung specialist, reached a similar conclusion on the stand.

Mr Floyd died from a low level of oxygen, he said. Its like the left side is in a vice. Its totally being totally pushed in, squeezed in from each side, he added.

The jury is set to reconvene at 9:15am CT (3:15 UK) on Friday, as the prosecution continues to state its case.

Check out The Independents live updates and analysis below.
Oslo, April 9: Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg was fined by cops for breaking COVID-19 social distancing rules. Erna Solberg reportedly broke the rules during a family gathering organised to celebrate her birthday. Solberg was fined 20,000 Norwegian crowns (Rs 1.75 lakh approx). Police chief Ole Saeverud told the reporters about the development during a press conference.

Also Read | Mumbai Local Trains Update: Government Has Started to Reschedule Timetable, Some Restrictions Likely on Services, Says Minister Vijay Wadeittwar

According to reports, the party was organised at a mountain resort in late February in spite of a ban on events with a gathering of more than 10 people. Solberg celebrated her 60th birthday with 13 family members. Norway Reports Deaths of 23 After Receiving Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine, 13 Were Nursing Home Patients.

The Norwegian prime minister has been at the forefront of the government's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and framing policies to impose restrictions in the country. "Though the law is the same for all, all are not equal in front of the law," reported news agency Norway: 40 Crew and Passengers Test COVID-19 Positive on Luxury Cruise Liner.

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On Wednesday, Solberg told Parliament that the Norway government would gradually lift COVID-19 restrictions by the end of June, but only if the country witnesses a decline in infection rates. A four-step plan for easing the restrictions. Notably, Norway is among the European countries that have the lowest infection and death rate.

Till now, over 101,000 people have been infected with COVID-19. The country has reported 684 deaths so far. More than 88,000 people have recovered from the virus until now.
ROME, APR 9 - Italy's COVID-19 Rt reproduction number has fallen to 0.92, down from 0.98 last week, sources said Friday ahead of the publication of the weekly coronavirus monitoring report of the health ministry and the Higher Health Institute (ISS). The nationwide incidence has fallen to 185 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants, down from 232 last week, the sources said. A draft of the weekly report said that eight regions/autonomous provinces have a Rt over 1. A Rt number of over 1 indicates that the virus is in expansion. The draft of the report said there had been a decrease in the general risk level. But it also said that risk level remained high in four regions - Liguria, Puglia, Tuscany and Valle d'Aosta. It said 15 regions/autonomous provinces had a moderate risk level while the risk level was low in Veneto and the autonomous province of Bolzano. The report said the nation's health system was still under stress. It said that in 15 regions/autonomous provinces the proportion of intensive-care places taken up by COVID-19 patients was above the critical threshold of 30%, up from 14 last week. It said the proportion of ICU places taken up by coronavirus sufferers was 41% nationwide. The "overloading of hospital services, the incidence that is still too high and the broad spread of some more transmittable viral variants require the application of every useful contagion-containment measure," the draft report concluded. (ANSA).
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation. May the salutations of Allah, His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet, his family, his companions and his true and sincere followers until the Last Day  then to proceed:

Dear brothers and sisters, fasting for the sake of Allah Almighty is indeed a pious and beloved act in the eyes of the Creator. Allah Almighty, the Benevolent, never burdens a soul more than it can bear and He eases every task for His believers. Even though fasting in Ramadan is mandatory upon every functional and able Muslim, Allah Almighty has pardoned and excused certain people from the act of fasting if they are unable to fast due to certain legitimate reasons.

Ramadan, being one of the noblest of months in the Islamic Calendar, is one of the most revered and anticipated month in the lives of Muslims across the globe. It is a month of immense blessings and rewards like no other. It is a month of heightened spirituality and serves as an opportunity to get close to our Creator. Hence, it is the aim of each and every believer to make the most of Ramadan through fasting, exercising patience and control. However, there are people who cannot, physically or otherwise, keep a fast and Allah Almighty has excused them for it and provided alternate ways for them to compensate for it. People exempted from fasting are as follows:

1. The physically ill: Individuals who are suffering from any form of physical sickness (temporary or permanent) and they feel that fasting would worsen their health, are exempt from fasting. Moreover, if an ill individual feels that fasting may hamper the recovery process or cause greater damage to the body is also exempt from fasting. However, common fatigue or difficulty during a fast does not fall under the category of acute sickness and does not excuse that individual from breaking his/her fast.

2. The mentally ill: Individuals who are mentally challenged or are victims of any sort of mental illness, which affects their cognition as a whole, are not required to fast in Ramadan, or on any other occasion. They are automatically exempt.

3. Travelers: People who are travelling are excused from fasting in the eyes of Allah Almighty if they meet the following conditions:

a. Their duration and distance of the journey should be such that it falls under the category where prayers are shortened.

b. The purpose of travel should not be sinful  in any way.

4. Women during menstruation: Women who are going through their monthly period cycles are exempt from fasting. They may continue fasting once their cycle has ended completely and they perform the proper Ghusl (bathing).

5. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding: Women who are expecting or they are in the phase of breastfeeding, they are allowed to break their fast if they think that their childs health is at risk.

6. People in old age: Individuals facing senility and old age are essentially exempt from fasting. With old age comes weakness, terminal illnesses, loss of mental faculties and extreme fragility, hence, it is believed that people in their old age are not required to fast at the cost of their health.

7. Children who have not reached puberty: Fasting is not obligatory for children who have not yet undergone puberty. Once they do, then it becomes mandatory.

Even if lifes circumstances do not allow one to fast, Allah Almighty is kind enough to provide alternate ways of compensation where one can make up for the missed fasts and reap equal benefits and blessings in the blessed month of Ramadan.

Allah the most merciful has exempted those people from fasting in Ramadan. Some cases like; sick, old people, or travelers. And they have to make up for those days later and give compensation to the poor and needy. Allah Almighty says:

[Fast] on a certain number of days. But whoever of you is ill, or on a journey, shall fast instead the same number of days later on. [Quran, 2:184]

He Almighty also says:

So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast; and whoever is ill or on a journey then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship. [Quran, 2:185]

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Imam Bukhari mentions that:

Al-Hasan and Ibrahim mentioned that an elderly person who finds fasting too hard may feed a poor person. Anas did that for a year or two when he was too old: he fed a poor person in compensation for every day he could not fast. [Bukhari]

And Ibn Abbas said:

Each should feed one poor person in compensation for every day of fasting. [Bukhari]

And Allah Almighty says:

[Fasting for] a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill, or on a journey, [during them]  then an equal number of days [are to be made up]. [Quran, 2:184]

He the Most High also says:

So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast; and whoever is ill or on a journey then an equal number of other days. [Quran, 2:185]

And someone asked the Prophet (Peace be upon him) about fasting during travel. He answered:

If you wish you may fast, and you may not fast if you wish. [Bukhari and Muslim]

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) started his travel to Makkah fasting, but when he reached Al-Kadid he broke his fast, and so did his Companions. [Bukhari and Muslim]

Anas reports that:

We used to travel with Allahs Messenger, and a fasting person did not press an advantage against one who did not fast, nor did the one who was not fasting claim that he was doing better. [Bukhari and Muslim]

During his travel, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) saw a man who was being given covering shade because it was too hot, and people gathered around him. When he was informed that the person was fasting, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

It is not an act of righteousness to fast when travelling. [Bukhari]

Abu Said Al-Khudri mentions that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) clearly stated that a woman in menstruation may neither pray nor fast. She is required to compensate by fasting later on. Aishah said:

It happened to us and we were ordered to fast later in compensation, but not to compensate for missed prayers.

Anas reported that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

Allah has reduced a travellers prayer by half and exempted him from fasting, and He has exempted pregnant and breastfeeding women from fasting. [Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Nasai and Ibn Majah]

Ibn Abbas said:

If a breastfeeding or a pregnant woman fears for her child, she does not fast, but she feeds a poor person. [Abu Dawud]

I pray to Allah Almighty to make us among those who are able to take advantage of the opportunities provided to us in the month of Ramadan; to make us among the people of Taqwah (piousness), to accept our good deeds, to forgive us, to keep us safe and fully protected from the Hellfire and to make us all enter into Jannah (Paradise), ameen.

May Allah send His Salah and Salam upon our noble Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

And all praises and thanks are due to Allah alone, Lord of the worlds. May the peace, blessings and salutations of Allah be upon our noble Messenger, Muhammad, and upon his family, his Companions and his true and sincere followers.

And I pray, May Allah grant us the opportunity to witness this coming month of Ramadan in good health, ameen.

Murtadha Muhammad Gusau is the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumuah and the late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okenes Mosques, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusauimam@gmail.com or +2348038289761.
Troubling findings into a devastating military training accident that killed nine troops prompted a meeting between the top Navy and Marine Corps leaders to discuss improvements needed to make future naval operations safer.

Eight Marines and one sailor were killed in July when their amphibious assault vehicle filled with water and sank off the coast of California. The investigation into the accident found a series of failures, including communication breakdowns between Navy personnel aboard an amphibious ship and the Marines training on a beach.

Those breakdowns left several decades-old and mechanically unsound Marine amphibious assault vehicles heading back to the ship without a safety boat in the water. The ship was also found to be moving away from the AAVs' location at the time of the accident. And no assessment of sea conditions was provided by the ship before the AAVs headed back into the water.

Read Next: Marines Launch New Probe into Fatal AAV Accident as Families Demand Accountability

The findings led to a meeting between two members of the Joint Chiefs: Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday.

"What we discussed was the fact that there are gaps in seams where there shouldn't be gaps in seams in Navy and Marine Corps operations at the tactical level," Gilday told reporters this week. "These are combined operations that we've been doing for some time now, and to have separate requirements on the Marine Corps side and the Navy side just doesn't make sense."

Gilday said he and Berger decided to ensure the services are standardizing procedures not only for amphibious vehicle operations, but also for a range of blue-green missions. To start, the CNO said that he has put a Navy three-star on the West Coast in charge of working with the Marine Corps to standardize amphibious vehicle operations.

"What the commandant and I agreed to do is to take a look more broadly across the range of tactical operations that the Marine Corps and the Navy does together," Gilday said. "Where there are disparate and stovepipe operating guidance, they need to be combined and agreed upon by both services."

The day of the accident, the Marine AAVs left the ship with empty vehicles that were authorized to act as safety boats in place of a Navy vessel from the ship. But when several AAVs began heading back to the ship later that day, they did so without any empty vehicles.

The Marines ashore assumed the ship was providing a safety boat, the investigation found. Personnel on the ship assumed the Marines were providing their own safety boats like they'd done on the way out.

When mechanical problems with some of the vehicles delayed their return, the ship began carrying out flight operations, which left it moving away from the AAVs' location. And while a couple of sea-state assessments were conducted from the ship that day, there wasn't one done just before the AAVs hit the water again.

A general noted in the investigation that the water conditions might have exceeded the "no-go" limits for AAVs to operate in the water, but that no such assessment was made ahead of the operation.

A former Marine expeditionary unit commander who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation's findings freely said any changes in safety decisions should have been confirmed by top Navy and Marine Corps commanders involved in the operation.

"The investigation is silent over whether those actions occurred," he said.

The Marine Corps will continue examining the root causes of the tragic accident, officials announced this week, which could leave more leaders being held responsible. A three-star general has been put in charge of reviewing how the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, to which the troubled AAV was assigned, assembled for a monthslong ship-based deployment.

The command investigation found that the vehicles selected for the mission were in bad shape, and the unit's personnel weren't fully trained for waterborne missions.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Related: Marines Vow Safety Improvements After Fatal AAV Accident Reveals Serious Flaws
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 22:03:23|Editor: huaxia

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LUSAKA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Sustainable Development Goals Center for Africa (SDGC/A) aimed at strengthening collaboration in the implementation of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The agreement was signed after a meeting held to showcase the monitoring and reporting system developed by the SDGC/A, according to a release.

The Ministry of National Development Planning Permanent Secretary Trevor Kaunda said the signing of the agreement will help in monitoring the progress made in the implementation of the goals, noting that it comes at an opportune time when there was a need to attain the set targets and safeguard the milestones that have been achieved so far.

"World over, the attainment of the SDGs is under threat from COVID-19 pandemic as it affects not only the health sector but also the ability of countries, including Zambia, to finance development," he said.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic made Zambia's economy contract by 3 percent in 2020, a situation that has increased the cost of living and unemployment levels as well as a higher government deficit.

According to the official, the country recorded notable improvements in life expectancy to 63.04 years in 2019 from 53.3 years in 2016, while literacy levels increased to 80 percent from 67.5 percent.

He said that the monitoring and reporting system provided for in the agreement were the key to ensuring that the achievements were safeguarded.

SDGC/A acting Director-General Caroline Makasa said there was a need for Africa to provide its own data on the progress in the implementation of the SDGs.

Reliance on internationally provided development data was insufficient to provide necessary evidence in tracking and reporting progress on SDGs, said Makasa, adding that the real-time monitoring and reporting system developed by her organization was dedicated to monitoring and reporting SDGs and commitments at the country level. Enditem
Michigan doubled its number of counties with COVID-19 test positivity surpassing 30% over the last week, and nearly doubled those above 20% as well.

Statewide, cases continue to surge and the latest seven-day positive test rate came in at 16.5% -- up from 13.4% a week ago. There are now four counties with at least 30% of tests coming back positive, and 23 counties above 20%.

Counties with the highest rates are Huron (36.5%), Sanilac (34.1%), Tuscola (32.6%), and St. Clair (31.1%). A total of 68 counties are above 10%.

Below is a look at state and county numbers for new cases and positivity rates, as well as statewide numbers on hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations.

New cases: The state is averaging 6,249 new cases a day.

After the states daily case average spiked 45% two weeks ago, it jumped again. This time, it was a 28% increase.

In two weeks, the state has gone from 3,493 cases per day to 6,249. The latest daily average is the highest since Dec. 5 and is nearing the peak of the fall surge.

Below is an online database that allows readers to see the number of new coronavirus cases in the past seven days compared to the previous week, as well as the per capita number that adjusts for population. The arrows indicate whether the total number of new cases reported in the last seven days has gone up or down compared to the previous seven days.

The top counties in cases per capita over the past seven days: St. Clair, Huron, Sanilac, Macomb, and Tuscola.

The map below is shaded based on the states six risk-assessment levels. The arrows indicate whether the total number of new cases reported in the last seven days has gone up or down compared to March 27 through April 2.

Readers can put their cursor over a county to see the underlying data. (Hint: You can drag the map with your cursor to see the entire U.P.)

Positivity rate: The seven-day average is now 16.5%.

The seven-day positivity rate is the highest its been since April 2020 during the first surge of the pandemic. On Wednesday, 14.7% of tests came back positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Sixty-nine of the states 83 counties reported increases in positivity rates week-over-week, with the worst of it coming out of the thumb counties including Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, St. Clair and Lapeer.

Only 15 counties have positive test rates below 10%.

The chart below allows you to look up any county by name to see the seven-day average positivity rate for April 1-7. The chart compares the average from the past seven days to the average for the previous week.

The interactive map below shows the seven-day average testing rate by county. You can put your cursor over a county to see the underlying data.

Hospitalizations: 3,730 inpatients on Thursday

Michigan had 3,688 adults patients and 42 pediatric patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 on Thursday, April 8. That includes 714 patients in the ICU.

By comparison, there were 2,687 patients hospitalized on Thursday, April 1, with 511 in the ICU.

The states percentage of hospital beds being used by COVID-19 patients is the worst in the country. State health officials have said hospitals are beginning to look at implementing their surge plans again, and some hospitals are postponing surgeries as a result.

Deaths: The state is averaging 37 deaths a day.

That compares to an average of 22 deaths a day a week ago, and 21 deaths per day two weeks ago.

Deaths are a lagging factor, but typically follow a surge in cases and hospitalizations by a few weeks. State officials have said theyre closely monitoring this data.

Vaccinations: 33.1% of adults have received at least one dose

As of Wednesday, April 7, a total of 3,150,725 residents 16 years and older have gotten at least one dose of vaccine, and more than 1.8 million -- or 24.4% -- are fully vaccinated.

Below is a breakdown by age group of adults who have gotten at least one dose of vaccine and those who are fully immunized.

75 and older: 68.8% initiated; 58.5% completed.

65 to 74: 69.2% initiated; 57.3% completed.

50 to 64: 46.2% initiated; 23.1% completed.

40 to 49: 29.8% initiated; 15.7% completed.

30 to 39: 26.7% initiated; 13.6% completed.

20 to 29: 17.8% initiated; 8.7% completed.

16 to 19: 9.4% initiated; 2.0% completed.

States overall risk assessment: All regions at highest level

All eight of Michigans MI Start regions are back to Level E in the states overall risk assessment. The Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Upper Peninsula regions were the latest to climb to the top risk level.

In assigning the risk scores, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services looks at factors such as new cases and deaths per capita, test positivity rates, number of tests administered and emergency department visits for COVID-19 symptoms. The scale used by MDHHS has six levels -- low plus Levels A-E.

Read more on MLive:

Some surgeries being postponed at Michigan Medicine as COVID-19 hospitalizations rise

Michigan hospital to study COVID-19 vaccine in people with severe allergies

Michigan ranks highest in COVID-19 hospitalizations amid surge as model predicts further worsening

Coronavirus testing is down in Michigan, but its no less important as cases surge

Long Covid continues to stump doctors and exhaust those fighting months-long battles
NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Drug Development Biometric Services market will register an incremental spend of about USD 47.17 Million, growing at a CAGR of 12.30% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Drug Development Biometric Services 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

Drug Development Biometric Services 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 Drug Development Biometric Services market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Drug Development Biometric Services pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfill their category objectives.

For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, Click here.

Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth:

The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers.

Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. During the forecast period, the market expects a change of 3.00%-7.00%.

Identify favorable opportunities in Drug Development Biometric Services 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 Drug Development Biometric Services suppliers listed in this report:

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This Drug Development Biometric Services procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

IQVIA Holdings Inc.

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings

AbbVie Inc.

PPD Inc.

ICON Plc

Parexel International Corp.

Dassault Systemes SE

Bioclinica

Celerion

Syneos Health Inc.

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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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The free run the US and regional allies like Saudi Arabia had to alter the ground realities in Syria ended when the Russians arrived in 2015

In 1952, like a bolt from the blue, came UP chief minister Govind Ballabh Pants order abolishing zamindari. The abrupt drop in prestige and lifestyle caused a relative across the Ganga to hide his arsenal of a few rifles and 12-bore shotguns along with boxes of Eley cartridges.

Whenever courtiers in rags, with some previous pique, stoked his fragile ego with stories of rampant lawlessness in villages because huzoors power had ended, huzoor would come out with his preferred shotgun. This sad, fake dadagiri lasted as long as the boxes of Eleys did.

This trans-Ganga tragic hero came to mind when my eye fell on a bold headline of a piece by Graham E. Fuller, formerly of the CIA, on the aggressive style of Joe Bidens and Anthony Blinkens early outings in Foreign Affairs: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Superpower in Decline.

The subsequent utterances are subdued and moderate but the initial knee-jerk reaction was revealing. Fuller writes: The US leadership must have set some kind of new record in managing to personally insult the powers of the world within 48 hours of each other in these early days of the Biden administration. President Biden called Vladimir Putin a killer and lacking a soul. Blinken was equally insulting on China.

This country has some grounds for pride in its own imperfect democratic order. Still, how much reflection does it take to acknowledge what the Chinese Communist Party has accomplished in the past 30 years? Is it more worthy to bring half a billion people out of poverty into middle-class life in a mere generation? Or more worthy to maintain intact an American electoral system in which mediocre or bad leaders emerge as readily as good ones?

Fullers invective is focused on the Biden-Blinken opening salvos at Russia and China. I would have scoured anything Fuller wrote on the tenth anniversary of the Syrian crisis. Five Western powers observed the occasion with all the fire and brimstone of the past. Fuller knows the area backwards.

A key policy document advising the Reagan administration in 1983 on military action against Syria for strategic reasons was his handiwork. I have had this document ever since it was released in 2008, having been in secret vaults for 25 years.

After visiting Damascus and almost all the trouble spots in Syrias neighbourhood, I had written a paper The Storm in the Arab Spring, the eye of the storm being Syria. I feel qualified to take a critical look at the statement the foreign ministers of the US, France, Germany, Italy and UK issued on the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the tragedy.

One allegation the ministers repeat is straightforward: President Bashar al Assad started the ghoulish operation against his own people who were rebelling against misrule, corruption, economic distress. Not true. I was in Damascus at the outset.

There were reports fairly early in the Obama administration leading the global effort to deploy shadow Internet and mobile systems which dissidents can use to undermine repressive governments that seek to silence them by shutting down communications network. James Glanz and John Markoff of the New York Times described one operation in a fifth-floor shop at Washingtons L Street, where a group of young entrepreneurs, looking like a garage band, are assembling deceptively innocent-looking hardware into a prototype Internet-in-a-suitcase. It was all part of the big push for the Liberation Technology Movement, and how comprehensively it was applied against the Syrian regime.

In Syrias case, the moderate operation the free world was busting its guts to help, in many cases, turned out to be cover for extreme Islamists like Jabhat al Nusra. One such instance defence secretary Lloyd Austin admitted before the Senate Armed Services Select Committee: A $500 million project to train moderates to fight Assad turned into an embarrassment for Washington. Most trainees disappeared, along with the lethal equipment. Mr Austin mumbled four or five of the moderates trained were still with us.

Among the trick sentences in the foreign ministers statement was one on Daesh (Islamic State). Preventing Daeshs resurgence remains a priority, the statement says. Hadnt Daesh, in the administrations words, been destroyed? So why is possible resurrection posed as a threat? Because the threat, when live, can justify airstrikes and other forms of intervention?

In Americas sole superpower moment, countries were averse to calling the US names: how can it be accused of nurturing terrorists as possible assets in future contingencies?

The free run the US and regional allies like Saudi Arabia had to alter the ground realities in Syria ended when the Russians arrived in 2015, boots on the ground.

A brief background to place Baghdadi in perspective. President Barack Obama was livid with Iraqi PM Nouri al Maliki for not signing the status of forces agreement before the US troops departure. Washington wanted him out.

Just about this time, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi puts out a video from Mosuls main mosque on July 4, 2014, declaring the formation of an Islamic Caliphate. In August 2014, Mr Obama gave a significant interview to Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times. Asked why he didnt order airstrikes against ISIS when it reared its head in June-July 2014, Mr Obama admitted that airstrikes on Baghdadi in July would have taken the pressure off Nouri al Maliki, Iraqs stubbornly anti-American Shia PM. In other words, the rapid march of ISIS from Mosul to Baghdads outskirts was facilitated to keep the pressure on the PM. In September 2014, Mr Maliki was shown the door. Moral: Terrorists can be assets in certain circumstances!
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) advisory panel concluded on Wednesday that there is a link between AstraZenecas COVID-19 vaccine and a rare blood clotting disordercerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), blood clots that occur in veins that drain blood from the brain, and splanchnic vein thrombosis (SVT), blood clots that develop in the veins of the liver, spleen, or intestinesthat is accompanied with declines in platelet counts. Platelets are an essential blood component whose function is to react to blood vessel injury and bleeding by initiating a blood clot formation.

In their analysis, they reviewed 62 cases of CVST and 24 cases of SVT, of which 18 resulted in death. The statistics were obtained from the European Union drug safety database. These cases occurred among 25 million people who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine. Most occurred in women within two weeks of receiving their first injection. According to the website Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, published by the University of Minnesota, the European Union surveillance had received 169 reports of CVST and 53 reports of SVT among 34 million vaccinated individuals.

A vial of AstraZeneca vaccine is pictured in a pharmacy in Boulogne Billancourt, outside Paris, Monday, March 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

At the same time as EMAs press conference on AstraZenecas vaccine was under way, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the UKs medicine regulator, announced that their review from last week had found 79 cases of severe blood-clotting complications out of 20 million doses of vaccines that had been administered. Regulators said that 19 patients had died days after having been inoculated. Much work remains to be done to determine the exact etiology of this adverse event, but they hypothesized it is most likely related to the immune systems reaction.

Dr. Jonathan Van-Tam, UK deputy chief medical officer, noted that the propensity for the complication was higher in younger people who have a lower risk of death with COVID-19 than older people. Based on a risk-benefit analysis of young people developing severe COVID-19 versus the small risk of blood clots from the vaccine, the UK health regulators have changed their recommendations that people under 30 should receive alternative vaccines, such as Pfizer or Modernas COVID-19 vaccines. However, many EU nations such as Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Canada are placing higher age restrictions on the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Emer Cooke, executive director at the EMA, told reporters, Our review has found that the AstraZeneca vaccine is not associated with an increased risk of overall thromboembolic events or blood clots, but there have been a small number of very rare but very serious clotting disorders which triggered a more focused review. She went on to add, After a very in-depth review of reported cases of these unusual blood clots, the agency has decided that these should be listed as possible side-effects of the vaccine. The EMA, however, stopped short of recommending placing any limitations on the vaccine for a particular population by their age or gender. As Cooke explained, their review didnt indicate there was any causal link between the different gender or age groups.

In this regard, Cooke went on to state, It is very important to highlight when a country makes a decision about vaccination, they do that with the full knowledge of that particular population, of what is available and what the particular risk factors of that population are. The EMAs job is to look at the vaccine and to see whether it is safe and effective and if the benefit outweighs risk.

The chair of the EMAs Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), Dr. Sabine Straus, supplemented Cookes remarks by adding, We have been working around the clock on this review. Our conclusion is that benefit of the AstraZeneca vaccine is far greater than the risks. There is also no evidence of a quality issue with a particular batch of vaccine.

After explaining that the number of overall blood-clotting events after vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine is lower than would be expected in the population, she added, As the vaccine is effective in reducing COVID-19, which itself causes an increased risk of blood clots, it is likely that vaccination will result in an overall reduction of blood clots. She estimated that the overall frequency for the condition is approximately one in 100,000.

They did advise that anyone who has recently received a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and develops shortness of breath, chest pains, leg swelling, persistent abdominal pain, severe headaches or blurred vision, or tiny blood spots under the skin at the injection site, occurring from four to 20 days following vaccination, should seek medical attention immediately to determine if such a rare complication is developing. Though there have been fatalities associated with these rare blood clot events, the reaction is treatable. Mild and local side effects within two or three days from vaccination are expected and common.

Following suit, the COVID-19 subcommittee of the World Health Organizations (WHO) Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) published their statement based on a review of the investigations conducted by the EMA and MHRA. They wrote, Based on current information, a causal relationship between the vaccine and the occurrence of blood clots with low platelets is considered plausible but is not confirmed. Specialized studies are needed to understand the potential between vaccination and possible risk factors fully.

The WHO said that 200 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been given so far out of a total of 710 million COVID-19 vaccine doses worldwide. They also pointed to the grim statistics noting that almost 2.9 million people had succumbed to COVID-19 in the 16 months since the first death from the infection was reported.

Dr. Andreas Greinacher from the University of Greifswalds Institute for Immunology and Transfusion Medicine named the rare disorder as vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (low platelet count).

The dominant theory about this rare blood-clotting event is that it resembles a condition known as heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) but caused by an immune reaction elicited by the vaccine. Heparin is a medication used to prevent or treat blood clots. In rare instances, the drug can cause the immune system to form antibodies against it when bound to a protein called platelet factor 4 (PF4). These antibodies bind to platelets, activating them, which initiates the formation of aberrant blood clots. At the same time, platelet numbers drop, causing thrombocytopenia.

Heparin was first discovered more than 100 years ago. Clinical trials only commenced in the mid-1930s and the drug has been a critical component of the medical armamentarium since. On June 1, 1957, Dr. Roger Weismann and Dr. Richard Tobin presented a report on ten patients at their scientific meeting of the International Society of Angiology in New York. These patients had developed unusual arterial blood clots after having been on heparin therapy. Finally, after platelet measurement counts became routinely performed by the 1970s, the conditions pathogenesis began to be understood.

In a preprint report first posted on March 29, 2021, Greinacher et al. published their investigation of nine cases of rare blood clots from Germany and Austria after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. Eight of the patients were female, with a median age of 36, ranging from 22 to 49. Seven patients had CVST, one had a pulmonary embolism, and one had SVT. Four of those who died had also tested strongly for the HIT antibodies leading to their conclusions. What precisely is triggering the formation of this immune-mediated pathway remains to be determined.

Medications have been an essential adjunct in modern medicine to improve peoples lives from infections, high blood pressure, blood clots and diabetes, to name just a few. Vaccines have been critical in response to potential pandemic pathogens and community scourges like tuberculosis, typhus, cholera and dysentery. Life expectancy has doubled over the past 200 years, having reached close to 80 in the US. The most significant gains occurred between 1880 and 1920, as implementation of public health measures helped improve control of infectious disease, particularly provisions for more abundant and safer food and water.

Yet, the very same medications that have provided these social gains have been known to cause harm and be fatal to a small subset of people. Severe allergic reactions to antibiotics that may lead to a respiratory arrest are one typical example of this. No one, however, questions the benefits antibiotics have had for society. With regard to the COVID-19 vaccines, the clinical phase three trials found no such safety concerns. It required a vigilant pharmaceutical monitoring program to capture these rare events in the population where millions were being inoculated.

But it is precisely in this context that societys benefits have to be balanced with risks to a tiny minority of people. As the Guardian recently noted, We pay disproportionate attention to rare events precisely because they are exceptional. Politics often exploit that cognitive weakness. Emotion and drama crowd out reflection and reason. That has been the hazard throughout the pandemic.

It becomes imperative that vaccines are not politicized nor commoditized, and communities remain in constant engagement with their health systems to learn more about the nature of these decisions made by their regulatory agencies. However, with the nature of the herd immunity policy and amidst the utter disregard exhibited by governmental and public health officials for the lives of the population, the working class is pitted in an adversarial position with the infrastructure that claims to have its best interest.
Editor's note: This release is adapted from a press release issued by the American Thoracic Society.

Boston, Mass. - More than 91 percent of the world's population lives in areas that exceed air quality guide-lines recommended by the World Health Organization, and more people are impacted by worsening air quality each year. Ambient air pollution - including potentially harmful pollutants such as small particles and toxic gases emitted by industries, households, cars and trucks - has been shown to worsen viral respiratory infections. Now, new studies are showing a similar association between ambient air pollution and worse COVID-19 outcomes.

In a new commentary reviewing current research on the potential relationships among pollution, respiratory viruses and health disparities, physician-researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) dis-cuss several ways that the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the urgent need to address the global problem of air pollution and improve respiratory health and equity worldwide. The commentary appears in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

"A multitude of studies show that exposure to higher long-term ambient air pollution is associated with both increased risk of infection and death from COVID-19," said corresponding author Stephen Andrew Mein, MD, a physician in BIDMC's Department of Medicine. "Historically, air pollution has been linked with worse health outcomes, including higher mortality, due to other respiratory viruses like influenza. Now, new research on COVID-19 adds further evidence of the adverse effects of ambient air pollution and the urgent need to ad-dress the public health crisis of pollution."

In one of the most prominent studies modeling COVID-19 mortality Mein and colleagues reviewed, research-ers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that each small (1 ?g/m3) increase in long-term fine inhalable particle (PM2.5) exposure was associated with an eight percent increase in mortality during the pandemic, per an examination of county level data. Another study concluded that air pollution has contributed 15 percent to COVID-19 mortality worldwide.

"The studies we reviewed evaluated whether long-term, ambient air pollution exposure that occurred years prior to the pandemic was associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes," said Mein, who is also an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The exact mechanisms of the association between long-term pollution and poor COVID-19 outcomes are not fully known. However, scientists have suggested that long-term exposure to air pollution may impair the im-mune system, leading both to increased susceptibility to viruses and to more severe viral infections. Higher air pollution exposure -- a burden disproportionately shouldered by communities of color in the Unites States -- is also associated with higher rates of heart disease and metabolic disorders such as diabetes, which are known to be risk factors for severe disease and death from COVID-19. These long-term chronic effects occurred well in advance of the reported reductions in air pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authors noted that recent models predict that improved air quality (due to less travel and industrial activity) during the pandemic may have reduced morbidity and mortality from non-communicable diseases, but more study is necessary.

"Research evaluating associations between the dramatic reduction in ambient air pollution during global lock-downs and health care utilization for respiratory conditions would further confirm the impact of ambient air pollution on non-communicable diseases and the need to reduce air pollution to improve overall health," said Mary Rice, MD, physician in the Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine Department at BIDMC and senior author of the commentary.

"While the primary association between air pollution and COVID-19 outcomes has been generally consistent, there is still much research to be done," added Rice, who is also Assistant Professor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "In particular, there is a need for studies that adjust for individual-level risk factors, since cur-rent studies have been restricted to county or municipal-level exposure and outcome data. Research is also needed to evaluate whether air pollution contributes to the stark differences in COVID-19 outcomes among communities of color.

Racially and ethnically diverse communities are more likely to be located in areas closer to industrial pollution such as PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide, and to work in types of businesses that expose them to more air pollution. These inequalities in residential and occupational air pollution exposure may be one of the causes of the stark disparities of the COVID-19 pandemic along racial and ethnic lines.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the widespread health consequences of ambient air pollution, including acute effects on respiratory immune defenses and chronic effects that lead to higher risk of chronic cardiopulmonary disease and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)," said Mein. "These chronic health effects likely explain the higher COVID-19 mortality among those exposed to more air pollution. The pandemic has also provided a glimpse into the health benefits of cleaner air. COVID-19 is a wakeup call for the need to adopt stricter air quality standards and end our tolerance for pollution in disadvantaged neighborhoods. As part of our post-COVID-19 recovery, we must clean up the air to improve respiratory health and equality worldwide."

###

About Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School and consistently ranks as a national leader among independent hospitals in National Institutes of Health funding. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, vis-it http://www. bidmc. org .

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, a new health care system that brings together academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, community and specialty hospitals, more than 4,000 physicians and 35,000 employees in a shared mission to expand access to great care and ad-vance the science and practice of medicine through groundbreaking research and education.
An NHS finance chief stole 50,000 from a 'vulnerable' elderly relative to help pay for her daughter's school fees and pay off her mortgage, a tribunal heard.

Janet Ashby took the cash from the family member, referred to only as Mr A, after persuading him to let her oversee his assets.

Ashby, who worked for Barnsley Hospital before she was sacked and later jailed over the theft, was 'living beyond her means' after taking the money, a disciplinary panel for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) was told.

Mr A was described as an elderly man whose assets were 'a small amount of savings and a house'.

The house had no mortgage as he had 'paid it off' during his working life.

The hearing was told 'mean' Ashby, 55, began caring for her relative when his wife died, and later persuaded him to give her power of attorney and control over his financial affairs.

Janet Ashby worked as a Finance Director at Barnsley Hospital, pictured, but was sacked and later jailed over the theft

The former Finance Director of Barnsley Hospital then convinced him to take an equity release of 64,500, in May 2013.

Ashby had assured him the money would be spent on 'converting her house' so he could 'go and live with her family' instead of in a care home, where he didn't want to go.

The money was placed in a shared account between Ashby and Mr A, who trusted her to act 'in his best interests'.

However the accountant, who had a 'well-paid job' with the NHS, betrayed his trust and took 'between 40,000 and 50,000' from the account, the tribunal heard.

The panel was told that she used the money to 'pay her daughter's school fees', 'pay off some of her mortgage arrears' and 'buy presents for her children'.

Ashby, of Low Barugh, Barnsley, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison after being convicted of theft at Leeds Crown Court in June 2018.

During her trial she accused Mr A of 'being confused' and 'forgetting what he had promised to give her'.

The court also heard that she 'hid her actions' from Mr A's son, who was 'intended to be the beneficiary under his will'.

His Honour Judge Guy Kearl QC told the court: 'Mr A put his financial affairs in [Ashby]'s hands knowing that she was an accountant and someone who he thought could be trusted.

'[She] exploited that trust. She siphoned off the money, without keeping any record of what she was doing.

'She hid her actions from Mr A's son, who she knew was intended to be the beneficiary under his will.

'There was evidence that, despite having had a well-paid job with the NHS, [Ashby] had been living beyond her means.

'Mr A trusted [Ashby] to act in his best interests. However, she did the opposite.'

The details came to light in a judgement this week after Ashby successfully lodged an appeal against 4,350 in costs she was ordered to pay after being stripped of her ICAEW membership in 2019.

She argued that she 'did not have the means to pay' and was 'heavily bankrupt' and the panel this week reduced her costs to 500.

Ashby was also dismissed from her job as Finance Director at Barnsley Hospital Foundation Trust for gross misconduct in 2015, after a multi-million pound black hole was found in its accounts.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars seized by Seoul was freed and sailed away early Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal.

FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2021, file photo released by Tasnim News Agency, a seized South Korean-flagged tanker is escorted by Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats on the Persian Gulf. The South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars held in Seoul was leaving Iran early Friday, April 9, 2021. (Tasnim News Agency via AP, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars seized by Seoul was freed and sailed away early Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal.

MarineTraffic.com data showed the MT Hankuk Chemi leaving Bandar Abbas in the early morning hours. By Friday afternoon, it was off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, having passed safely through the Strait of Hormuz.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said Iran released the tanker and its captain after seizing the vessel in January. The ministry says the Hankuk Chemi left an Iranian port at around 6 a.m. local time after completing an administrative process.

Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, later confirmed that Iran had released the vessel.

In this photo provided by South Korea Foreign Ministry, The MT Hankuk Chemi leaves the port in Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, April 9, 2021. The South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars held in Seoul was freed and sailed away early Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal. (South Korea Foreign Ministry via AP)

At the request of the owner and the Korean government, the order to release the ship was issued by the prosecutor," Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying by the state-run IRNA news agency.

The ship's owner, DM Shipping Co. Ltd. of Busan, South Korea, could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Hankuk Chemi had been travelling from a petrochemicals facility in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when armed Revolutionary Guard troops stormed the vessel in January and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran.

Iran had accused the MT Hankuk Chemi of polluting the waters in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. But the seizure was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Seoul to release some $7 billion in Iranian assets tied up in South Korean banks amid heavy American sanctions on Iran. Iran released the 20-member crew in February, but continued to detain the ship and its captain while demanding that South Korea unlock frozen Iranian assets.

Iran's Foreign Ministry did not acknowledge the fund dispute when announcing the ship's release, with Khatibzadeh saying only that the captain and tanker had a clean record in the region.

But an official from South Koreas Foreign Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity under regulations, said Seoul's willingness to resolve the issue of Iranian assets tied up in South Korea possibly had a positive influence in Irans decision to release the vessel.

The official said Iran had acknowledged South Koreas attempts to resolve the dispute as it became clear the issue was not just about South Koreas ability and efforts alone" and was intertwined with negotiations over the return to Tehran's foundering nuclear deal.

Unfreezing the funds involves the consent of various countries including the U.S., which in 2018 imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran's oil and banking sectors. The official said South Korea has been closely communicating with other countries over the frozen Iranian assets.

In January, the U.N. said Iran topped a list of countries owing money to the world body with a minimum bill of over $16 million. If unpaid, Iran could lose its voting rights as required under the U.N. Charter.

Were expecting to make a considerable progress in terms of paying the U.N. dues, an unnamed South Korean Foreign Ministry official was quoted by the country's Yonhap news agency. We have also exported some $30 million worth of medical equipment since we resumed the humanitarian trade with Iran last April.

Iran later announced it expected South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun to travel to Tehran for a two-day visit beginning Sunday. Yonhap said the trip would be the first visit of a South Korean premier to Iran in 44 years  before Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Chung previously visited Iran in August 2017 as the then-speaker of the National Assembly.

The development came as Iran and world powers were set to resume negotiations in Vienna on Friday to break the standoff over U.S. sanctions against Iran and Iranian breaches of the nuclear agreement. The 2015 nuclear accord, which then-President Donald Trump abandoned three years later, offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Since January, the Hankuk Chemi has been docked on charges of having polluted the waters of the area. Incident fuelled by controversy over freezing of 7 billion Iranian dollars in South Korean banks. The captain "is in good health" and the ship "has departed". Nuclear talks continue in Vienna. For President Rouhani, "a new chapter" has opened.

Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Tehran today released the South Korean-flagged oil tanker and its captain, docked last January and detained for over three months in response to Seoul's decision to freeze a billionaire fund attributable to the Islamic Republic.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry confirmed that the Hankuk Chemi - blocked in the Strait of Hormuz on suspicion of having violated the rules on pollution - left the coast in the early hours of the morning and began navigation.

All 20 crew members, with the exception of the captain, were released last February. The crew included 11 citizens of Myanmar, five South Koreans, two Vietnamese and two Indonesians.

The boat left from a petrochemical plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, and was headed for Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). During the Strait Crossing Guardians of the Revolution (the Pasdaran) bordered the ship and forced it to change its course, making it land on its coasts. The charges were rejected by the shipowner DM Shipping Co. Ltd based in Busan, of having polluted the waters of the area.

Economists and experts point out that the controversy is linked to Seoul's earlier decision to freeze Iranian assets and properties (at least $ 7 billion), preservatives in South Korean banks; a decision taken in the context of the "maximum pressure" campaign with sanctions imposed by the previous US administration led by Donald Trump.

Asked by Reuters, the Seoul Ministry of Foreign Affairs stresses that "the captain and sailors are in good health, and it's been confirmed that the ship and its cargoes had no problems," adding that "the ship departed Iran after completing administrative procedures."

The definitive release of the dispute comes a few hours after the new round of talks between Tehran and the world powers (including the United States) scheduled in Vienna, Austria, and mediated by the European Union, on the restoration of the Iranian nuclear agreement (JCPOA).

Commenting on the talks, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke of a "new chapter" in international diplomatic relations and his US counterpart Joe Biden says he is ready to cancel the decisions of his predecessor Trump. However, some unresolved issues remain on the table, including the mechanism of reintegration of the United States into the agreement and the return of Iran to full compliance with the terms of the JCPOA, violated several times in recent weeks.
She's been enjoying a resort break in Turkey.

And Jessica Alves appeared to be in great spirits as she posed up a storm while enjoying dinner with a very impressive view in Istanbul on Friday.

The media personality, 37, who recently had sex reassignment surgery, flaunted her curves and trim waist in a pink velour tracksuit for the meal.

Work it! Jessica Alves made sure to showcase her sensational curves as she posed up a storm while enjoying dinner with a very impressive view in Istanbul on Friday

Jessica smiled as she held one hand to her head and tucked her long blonde locks, which were styled perfectly straight, behind her ear.

She donned a full face of makeup for dinner at the Seven Hills Restaurant in Istanbul, including a touch of nude lipstick and false eyelashes.

The star completed her look by adding a selection of stylish jewellery and ensuring her red nails were perfectly manicured.

Stunning: The media personality, 37, who recently had sex reassignment surgery, teamed her comfortable pink ensemble with a slick of nude lipstick and false eyelashes

Jessica has shared several glimpses into her Turkey trip in recent weeks, with the star enjoying a pampering session at Akra Hotels last week.

During the day, Jessica put on an elegant display in an oyster grey robe and tied her long extensions back into a sleek ponytail.

It comes after Jessica revealed to MailOnline that she was inundated with offers of cash from men after she shared a nude snap to her Instagram Stories.

However, the former Celebrity Big Brother star insisted she would never 'sell her body' and is 'looking for love'.

Watch out! As she posed holding some food in the air at the rooftop restaurant, a bird seemed to swoop very close to her dinner

She said: 'I took that photo down because a lot of men sent me messages and I dont know how to handle it.

'Some even offer me money to break my virginity. One man offered me 15,000! I would never sell my body, I am looking for love and not for money.'

In the snap, Jessica displayed her jaw-dropping figure as she posed in a mirror of her room in Bangkok, where she stayed following her sex reassignment surgery.

Jessica, previously known as the Human Ken Doll, protected her modesty with fire emojis over her chest.

Elsewhere, Jessica recently gushed that she was delighted with the results of her gender reassignment following the Penile-Peritoneal Vaginoplasty.

Treatments: Jessica has been sharing regular glimpses into her trip to Turkey and posted an elegant snap of herself in a silk robe after a day of pampering at Akra Hotels last month

Speaking on a recent episode of This Morning, she explained: 'The aesthetics of my vagina is exactly the same as a biological vagina, I look at it all the time.

'In three months time, it will behave like a biological vagina. It's elastic, it self-lubricates.'

Jessica almost became emotional during the interview as she told how her life can finally begin after her surgery.

She said: 'I promised myself I was not going to cry. My life will start now. I'm going to continue doing television shows. I've done more than 400 television shows as a man and will continue as a woman.'

Jessica underwent the procedure on February 17 and said she is recovering well and feeling comfortable.

Shocking: Last month, Jessica claimed she had been offered up to 15,000 by men eager to take her virginity after she shared this nude snap to her Instagram Stories

She told MailOnline that her family have been incredibly supportive of her decision to get surgery - which cost her 13,700.

But she admits that not everyone has been so accepting of her decision.

'I lost most of the people that I assumed were my friends. They could not cope with the changes,' she regretfully revealed.

'2020 was a very lonely year with COVID restrictions - but I was able to have my feminisation surgeries and do my hormone therapy all privately as the waiting list on the NHS to have the first assessment is three years so I could not rely on it.'

Jessica also told MailOnline she is already planning a breast enlargement, just days after her last procedure.
Ever wondered what happened to that restaurant you once loved and have memories of dining at with your family and friends? We did! There is an amazing website called Lost Tables, dedicated to celebrating the restaurants of our past. We are partnering with the sites creator Harley Hammerman and celebrating these wonderful stories. Hammerman and his wife Marlene are members of Shaare Emeth, and she is past president of the National Council of Jewish Women of St. Louis. Visit Lost Tables on Facebook

Leslie and Paulette Fono came to the United States from Budapest in 1956, settling in Denver. When they entertained, Paulette would make palacsintas, the Hungarian equivalent of crepes, using many of her mothers recipes.

It was our friends who became enthusiastic about the filled pancakes and who encouraged us to open a restaurant and serve some of our specialties, Leslie recalled.

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In 1966, the Fonos moved to San Francisco and opened a small restaurant at 3221 Fillmore, near Lombard Street. It seated 24 people and was decorated just like home in Hungary.

Paulette made the fillings and Leslie made the crepes. And to make crepes efficiently, Leslie came up with an invention which gave the restaurant its name  The Magic Pan.

The device was a large iron wheel which held eight crepe pans. The pans rotated over gas flames, which heated them from below. When the pans were hot, they were greased on the bottom, dipped into crepe batter and placed upside down on the wheel. After a pan made a complete circuit, the crepe was lifted carefully from its bottom and placed atop a stack in the middle of the table.

Crepes were made in full view of diners by a chef in a dirndl outfit. One perfectly cooked crepe could be made every minute.

The original Magic Pan menu offered crab crepes, spinach crepes, mushroom crepes, cheese crepes and lobster crepes. The starter was a goulash soup and salad. Desert was strawberry crepes with chocolate sauce.

The Fonos creperie was so successful that a year later a second Magic Pan opened at Ghirardelli Square, the onetime chocolate factory turned complex of shops and restaurants. And then in January of 1969 it was announced that the Fonos had sold their restaurants to the Quaker Oats Company, which planned to expand the concept throughout the country. Leslie and Paulette Fono became president and vice president of Magic Pan, Inc.

In January of 1972, the Frontenac Board of Alderman voted to rezone a 68-acre tract of land at the southwest corner of Clayton and Lindbergh, paving the way for the development of a 30-acre high-fashion shopping center. The center would consist of two anchor stores connected by a two-level mall with small specialty shops.

Plaza Frontenac opened in the fall of 1973 with Saks Fifth Avenues ribbon cutting ceremony on November 3. Saks was located at the north end of the mall, at #1 Plaza Frontenac. On November 25, 1974, The Magic Pan opened next door at #2.

The St. Louis Magic Pan was an instant success. In the February 5, 1975 St. Louis Post-Dispatch food critic Joe Pollack gave the creperie a rave review.

A recent, and sparkling bright, addition to the St. Louis luncheon, dining and late-evening scene, The Magic Pan is located in the new Plaza Frontenac shopping center at Lindbergh Boulevard and Clayton Road. It is a branch of an operation that began in San Francisco and has spread to other cities, and there seems to be a strong and admirable thread of consistency running through the chain. The menu is based on crepes, a thin, light pancake that is rolled, then stuffed and covered with a wide variety of fillings and sauces. The ones at the Pan may not match the quality of real hand-made crepes at a great French restaurant, but they still are good. Crepes for dinner, followed by crepes for dessert, may seem rather redundant; but the Pan has sufficient imagination to make the combination delightful, and also rich and filling. The crepes are prepared in the dining room on a device called, of course, a Magic Pan, and its almost as fun to watch them being made as it is to devour them.

To read the entire article about the Magic Pan, visit Lost Tables online.
Ximen Mining (CVE: XIM- OTCQB: XXMMF) CEO Christopher Anderson joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share news the company has picked up a royalty on a land package in Southern British Columbia. Anderson telling Proactive its a 2.5% NSR on 15,116 hectares of mineral properties in the Greenwood mining Camp.

Ximen now owns and operates mineral properties covering 19,000 hectares in addition to the recently acquired NSR.
Chad, an oil-rich African nation which holds a presidential election on Sunday, has become a key regional ally of the West in the fight against jihadists.

 Landlocked 

Stretching from the Sahara desert of the inhospitable mountainous north bordering Libya to the fertile lowlands in the south, Chad is three times bigger than California.

Home to around 15 million people and scores of ethnic groups, just over half its population are Muslim with 35 per cent Christian and the rest animist.

 Military challenges 

Chad faces military challenges on all of its borders.

In the west, in the region of Lake Chad, the army has been fighting the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram  which is allied to the Islamic State  since 2015.

Former colonial power France keeps troops in Chad and heads a multinational force based in NDjamena since 2014 to combat Islamists across the Sahel region.

Chad is also a member of five-country regional military force battling jihadists that also includes Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.

Eastern Chad, on the border with Sudan, has seen conflicts between different ethnic groups.

Northern Chad is also unstable, little populated and difficult to control. Several Chadian rebel groups have set up their base in neighbouring southern Libya.

 Violent history 

Chad has seen a succession of coups and rebellions since independence in 1960. It was wracked by civil war for three decades and has been invaded several time by Libya.

Idriss Deby Itno took power in December 1990 after ousting Hissene Habre, whom he had served as army chief.

Habre, dubbed Africas Pinochet, was sentenced by a special African court to life in jail in 2017 for crimes against humanity. More than 40,000 people are thought to have been murdered during his rule.

 Oil rich, poor and corrupt 

In 2003 Chad began to export oil to an Atlantic terminal through a pipeline built across neighbouring Cameroon.

It suffered badly from the plunge in the price of crude in 2014.

It is ranked as one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world, with nearly two fifths of the population living below the internationally recognised poverty line.

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Good morning.

This is a look at our daily Express Briefing newsletter. Sign up for Express Briefing here. Subscribers get access to the full version of our Express Briefing newsletter, which includes exclusive insight and links to more of our best stories. To become a subscriber, take advantage of this special offer today.

TOP STORIES

'I just killed a bunch of people in church,' Sutherland Springs gunman told his parents moments after the massacre

Michael and Rebecca Kelley were busy tending to one of their college-age daughters and her friends at their 28-acre spread in rural New Braunfels on Nov. 5, 2017, when a group text came to their phones.



It was from their son, Devin Kelley: Go untie Danielle. It left them puzzled.



What they would find out later, the Kelleys testified yesterday in a federal trial, was that their son had done the unimaginable.



Here is where the trial stands now.

The Border Patrol encountered more migrants at the southern border in March than it has in two decades as the number of unaccompanied children and families seeking refuge in the United States continues to grow.



The Border Patrol reported more than 172,000 migrant encounters last month  a 70 percent increase from February mostly attributable to single adults being repeatedly caught crossing the border.



The Biden administration is immediately expelling those individuals under a Trump-era public health order, leaving them free to try again.



Our Austin Bureau has the latest.

Ahead of what turned out to be one of the worst winter storms in the states history, ERCOT was charged with providing the public consistent updates on power outages, tips for consumers and other important crisis communications.



But as Texas froze and ERCOT called for rolling power outages, the agencys main vehicle for providing the public with information was a series of Twitter posts sometimes indecipherable to most residents.



You're going to want to read this.

NEED TO KNOW

THE FUN STUFF

Things to do in San Antonio this weekend

San Antonio loves parties, but its been a long time since we could say this: Its a two festival weekend. We're rounding up the best happenings around town.



Bee Gone: Got bees? Calling a removal and relocation service is cheaper and better for the environment than using an exterminator.



Pro Tips: Expert advice for navigating farmers markets, from The Culinary Institute of America, San Antonio.



Mexican Munchies: Stone Oak Mexican restaurant Cuishe Cocina Mexicana is where bugs, tequila and mezcal help deliver interior Mexican flavors.

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER NEWSLETTERS

SA Inc.: Get Texas business news updates from behind the scenes, delivered twice a week.



Texas Take: The latest in state, local and national politics, delivered every weekday morning.



Taste: Hungry for restaurant reviews? Get the free Taste newsletter, delivered once a week.



The Docket: We have San Antonio's legal drama covered in our weekly crime and courts newsletter.
By Lucia Cheng

chengluc@grinnell.edu

After a tumultuous 2020, the Sexual Health Information Center (SHIC) is not only navigating the murky waters of sexual health and COVID-19 restrictions, but also setting up new foundations by partnering with the Student Health and Wellness Center (SHAW). With a new physical space and staff trainings with medical experts, SHIC is reaffirming their core mission: to help support students sexual health.

With so many people during lockdown experimenting with their gender and sexuality  we see the need for SHIC more than ever, said Em Odesser `23, a staff member for SHIC.

SHIC is run by student staff who advise other students on sexual health. The center provides contraceptives and menstrual products, as well as helping to guide individuals who are questioning their sexual/gender identity. In addition, SHIC offers a selection of dildos, vibrators and other pleasure products for purchase by students, emphasizing the importance of understanding your body for purposes of self-pleasure.

[SHIC] is a judgement-free area where you can get snacks, bond with your friends and get a t-shirt, but it is also the last line of defense. It is a really important resource to have in rural Iowa, said Odesser. Where else will people get resources?

Transition to SHAW



In January 2020, the Department of Student Affairs temporarily shut down SHIC due to concerns over the liability involved in distributing medical products. Because SHIC had originally been under the umbrella of Student Government Association (SGA), Student Affairs was concerned about the quality of staff trainings and the safe distribution of products related to sexual health, believing that SGA was not equipped enough to handle certain medical questions and guidelines.

After protests by a number of students and alumni, SHIC had a limited reopening in February 2020, only offering Plan B, contraceptives and menstrual products. Odesser was one of the students involved in opening SHIC up again. She said that a petition to reopen SHIC received 350 signatures within the first 24 hours of its release.

Nobody knows better than us what would happen if we were to lose such a significant resource, Odesser said.

Over the summer, student leaders in SHIC agreed to partner with SHAW to address the issues brought to their attention earlier in 2020. Terry Mason, dean of health and wellness, started his position in February 2020, right after SHIC was closed. He said he was surprised to learn of its closure upon hearing about the resources they provided to students.

It is a really important resource in Central Iowa  Where else will people get resources? -Em Odesser 23

The products they distribute serve a very, very important function, said Mason. SHAW also offers these products,  but SHIC can offer these products after hours on the weekends.

SHAW is open only on the weekdays, while SHIC is open on weekdays and weekends as well. In addition, SHIC is open after SHAWs 9-5 PM workday, making the office more accessible to students who may have classes during that time block.

Instead of dictating what [students] need to do, whats important is for us to discuss and find out where they are going, and [for administration] to offer some advice about how best to get there, said Mason. My experience in my short time here at Grinnell is that our students by and large are very responsible and very open to not only keeping themselves safe but keeping students safe.

As a student in Grinnell, I trust the people on the team when I need to ask for help, said Nazma Noray `23, a staff member for SHIC. I can ask them if I have questions.

Previously located on the first floor of Main Hall, SHIC has been a safe space for students to ask questions regarding sexual health without going through the more formalized process of making an appointment at SHAW. In the fall, SHIC will move, along with SHAW, to a bigger, more welcoming space with windows and better ventilation that has yet to be finalized.

Bringing SHIC under the umbrella of SHAW also puts them in touch with medical experts and a larger pool of resources. Notably, SHIC staff will now have access to more trainings on topics like Title IX, harm reduction, gender and pleasure products. The partnership also allows them to collaborate directly with sexual harm advocacy group, Grinnell Advocates.

Sexual health in a pandemic



SHICs role has changed since the beginning of the pandemic. Now, the office stands at the forefront of a larger debate between student wellness and adherence to COVID-19 protocols. As liaisons between the administration and the student body, SHIC staff see themselves in a unique position to redefine the working relationship between the two.

Within the SHIC Advisory Board, the question of how medical amnesty fits into strict COVID rules on social distancing and substance use is difficult to navigate. While SHICs primary purpose is to encourage sexual health, compliance with COVID-19 safety measures (e.g., social distancing) creates a gray area when it comes to students and sex. However, Title IX Coordinator Bailey Asberry noted that the priority is ensuring there are no barriers for students seeking help.

Were not trying to police relationships. Were not trying to say, Students cant have sex or Students cant have relationships, said Asberry. What we want is for people to use their judgment to make healthy decisions.

For Leah Johnson `19, post baccalaureate fellow for sexual respect and harm reduction, the approach to sexual health during a pandemic has also been one of support.

If you went to Bailey Asberry and said, Hey, this thing happened to me while I was drunk, shes going to say, How can I help you? She is not going to say, You were intoxicated and the campus is dry right now, so you have to go do something, said Johnson. That is not the concern in that moment. The concern is, What resources do you need?

Challenges and next steps



As part of the partnership between SHAW and SHIC, Mason chairs the SHIC Advisory Committee, which meets biweekly and is made up of both students and staff. Student leaders Zama Buthelezi `21 and Durowaa Agyeman-Mensah `22 are currently working on crafting short- and long-term vision statements for SHIC with SHAW and Student Affairs staff.

However, this new foundation has not come easily. The pandemic delayed SHICs transition to SHAW, and the implementation of a new campus-wide student employment policy led to difficulties in hiring a staff and getting paid. Currently, only five students work for SHIC, compared to around 15 in previous years.

Its not very often that queer kids of color get to do something like this. -Zama Buthelezi 21

Issues with communication between the administration and SHIC have also led to discord. Initially, the intervention of Student Affairs felt like a conduct process or punishment for wrongdoing on the part of SHIC, said Buthelezi. Additionally, last summer SHIC leaders received inconsistent and infrequent response from Student Affairs to repeated email efforts to plan for the fall.

Due to these frustrations, SHIC leaders were thus more motivated to make sure SHIC is responsive to students, not administrative demands.

We are an organization that is concerned with student health, said Buthelezi, emphasizing SHICs for students, by students approach. We are not selling out to admin.  We are not SHAW Jr.

With a restructured SHIC, student staff members now have more formalized roles detailing what kinds of support they can give to other students. Buthelezi and Agyeman-Mensah said they are keenly aware of how essential this internal reorganization is and are focusing their efforts on setting the right precedents for the future.

Currently, SHIC staff are working on improving their outreach in collaboration with Peer Educators, also supervised by SHAW to be a student health resource. Staff post on their new Instagram page, @gcshic, promoting events and providing information about the importance of self-pleasure, understanding your body and more details about SHIC.

SHIC staff said that their worries about SHICs longevity, passing the torch to first- and second-years has been on staffs minds, have been assuaged a bit by their partnership with SHAW.

[Outreach] is really difficult, said Agyeman-Mensah. Next year, almost three-quarters of the student population will not really understand what SHIC is all about.

Buthelezi emphasized that SHIC staff, many who are queer students of color, are in a prime position to help underrepresented students have a voice in decisions and messaging when it comes to student health.

Its kind of cool that SHIC was picked up by admin. So, lets see what we can do with it, in terms of experimenting with this kind of student power, said Buthelezi. Its not very often that queer kids of color get to do something like this.

Moving forward, students and supervisors have put together a vision for SHIC as a place for continued experimentations, aspirations, mentorship and above all, connection.

Ive never seen anything like SHIC before in my life. I just want people to feel comfortable enough to walk through the door and keep coming back because theyve enjoyed the conversations theyve had here, said Agyeman-Mensah.

I just want this place to exist, said Buthelezi.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - It's been a busy day for U.S. Sen. Tina Smith as she's been listening to how federal COVID relief funds are still assisting several essential facilities in Rochester.

Despite full press coverage KIMT News 3 was the only broadcast station during Smith's visit to ask questions and defend your right to know.

Her first stop took place at Channel One Regional Food Bank which is better off now than before the pandemic according to the executive director Virginia Merritt.

Merritt explained, "This time last year we were worried. We were projecting a $200,000 deficit per month to serve our 14 counties and the funding through the state of Minnesota and the CARES Act, and of course the support of the community, it rescued us."

She says because of CARES Act funding the facility has been able to buy foods and distribute it off-site as well as increase infrastructure that she says will last into the future.

Sen. Smith says seeing the lasting impact the funds are having in Rochester is what she works towards.

The senator explained, "This boils down to families, moms and dads and kids who are trying to make it work during this extremely difficult time. To know that we were able, in Congress, to provide the resources to that incredible local organizations like Channel One can do the work to help support families means everything to me."

The food bank is now allowing families to shop at the food shelf once a week instead of once a month to get the resources they need to fill their fridge with fresh ingredients.

Sen. Smith also toured RCTC's Heintz Center's Health Service Clinic, Inc. later Thursday morning.
PARIS - Recipients under 55 of a first dose of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine in France will receive a second shot with another vaccine against the coronavirus, Health Minister Olivier Veran has said. "It is entirely logic", said Veran, stressing however that the official announcement will be made by the Superior Institute of Health (Has) at a press conference on Friday morning. Has has suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine for the under-55s on March 19.



Before the suspension on March 19, some 600,000 French, including many healthcare operators, had received the first dose of AstraZeneca. "I am among them", said Veran, 41, who was vaccinated on February 8 as a neurologist. "It is entirely logic - he added - to say 'we don't recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine to those under 55 before we know more, and therefore if you received a first jab and are under 55, we will offer another vaccine 12 weeks after the first shot. You will receive a messenger-RNA vaccine".

No AstraZeneca in areas with South Africa variant

PARIS - The vaccine against Covid-19 AstraZeneca should not be used in Moselle (eastern France) and in the overseas territories of Mayotte and Reunion, because it is not sufficiently effective against the South African virus variant, according to France's top health authority. In Moselle, at the border with Germany, the agency advised to "continue to privilege access to the vaccines" of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, as well as Johnson&Johnson when it will be available.
Researchers from Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) invented a durable and compact radiator for lithium-ion batteries, which in the future can be used for electric vehicles. The radiator was developed using friction stir welding technology.

"The development of the electric transport industry stimulates the search for new solutions in the field of rechargeable batteries with special requirements for energy consumption, weight, dimensions, and safety. These requirements are increasing every year. Its fulfillment can be achieved only by the introduction of new manufacturing technologies. For example, not the most noticeable, but an important part of such a battery is the cooling system. Thus this radiator should be compact, lightweight, and at the same time durable. To create such radiator, we used aluminum alloys and also applied friction stir welding technology" says Fedor Isupov, engineer of the Laboratory of Light Materials and Structures SPbPU.

The scientist explained that the material for the radiator was chosen due to its lightness and strength. However, if creating a cooling system made of aluminum using conventional methods (for example arc welding) the radiator wouldn't be able to meet the requirements (in particular, in terms of dimensions).

"We can't achieve the required compactness using the traditional methods. The welding of dissimilar aluminum alloys, which is used to create the radiator, is quite complicated. The seam at the junction of the sheets will be very fragile. Friction stir welding helps to avoid the defects inherent in fusion welding. It also speeds up and reduces the cost of the process. Also, thus it possible to obtain solid overlap joints, which are better than the one made by conventional welding, " the scientist noted.

The obtained radiator has several functions. First of all, it plays the role of the battery bottom. Also, it is used not only to cool the battery but in low-temperature conditions, the heat is supplied through the radiator to heat the batteries; a special control system has been developed to regulate this process.

Researchers of St. Petersburg Polytechnic University developed the first sample of the radiator, and soon, they plan to test this cooling system.

According to the engineer, currently, in Russia, the friction stir welding of various materials is actively introduced in manufacturing: for example, for the construction of train and tram car; in the field of aviation and aerospace industry. It is also used for household appliances (for example, the Apple monitors).

###
Azerbaijanis sent me a list with a code telling me that my son is with them. This is what one of the parents of missing Armenian servicemen told reporters in front of the building of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia.

If my sonn wasnt with them, how did they know? I might have brought my son and buried him, he said, adding that he has addressed the National Security Service of Armenia, but there are things that hes not allowed to say.

The man mentioned that his only son is 18 years old and had been serving in the army for one-and-a-half months when he was taken to the military positions.

Today marks the second day that the administrative complex of the Ministry of Defense is surrounded by the parents of missing servicemen who demand the return of their sons.
Sage Glendale, a luxury assisted living and memory care community, will officially open its doors to residents on May 1. The stunning 5-story new community has been built from the ground up with the best of modern assisted living in mind. The centrally located urban community is right in the heart of downtown Glendale at 525 W. Elk Avenue, Glendale, CA 91204. Milestone Retirement manages Sage Glendale for the Willis Group.

"We are so pleased to open our doors to the Glendale community. Our vision of providing a standard of senior living that meets the needs and desires of today's aging population is all here under one roof," said Elizabeth Whittington, executive director of Sage Glendale. "We welcome everyone to come by and see what makes Sage Glendale so unique and special."

Sage Glendale is a brand new 109-apartment community, featuring 81 Assisted Living residences located on the community's top three floors. The second floor is dedicated to 28 private memory care studio apartments as well as four shared apartments, specifically designed for those living with dementia-related diseases, such as Alzheimer's Disease.

The 5-story structure features a long list of on-site amenities, including:



Spacious apartments with various floor plans

Meals served restaurant-style in our private dining room or on the patio

Demonstration kitchen

Cable TV, Wi-Fi and utilities (except telephone)

Landscaped grounds

Movie theater

Card & game room

Arts & crafts room

Scheduled transportation

Fitness center

Weekly housekeeping and linen services

24-hour emergency call system

Social and educational programs

Two hair salons

On-stie parking

Spectacular views of the Hollywood Hills

Assisted Living

Sage Glendales trained care partners are on-site 24-hours a day, seven days a week, to ensure that residents receive top-notch care. Its assisted living services include:



Spacious apartments with various floor plans

Utilities and basic cable TV (except telephone)

Weekly housekeeping & linen services

24-hour emergency call

Scheduled transportation

Individual temperature controls

Memory Care

Sage Glendales In the Moment memory support program is thoughtfully designed as a team-approach to memory care delivery, shifting away from outdated dementia care practices and into a hospitality model. Services include:



Specialized activity & engagement programs

24-hour staffing with nursing oversight

Routine personal care & health monitoring

Family-style meal services with guidance from care staff during meals

Escort for meals & engagement programs

Private and shared suites

To learn more about the signature In the Moment memory care program go to https://www.milestoneretirement.com/test-in-the-moment.

The community strives to enhance residents' experience with Milestone's comprehensive caregiving training "Milestones to Excellence" program, ensuring clinical teams are trained in the company's best practices and expectations of care.

For more information visit the website Sage Glendale at https://www.milestoneretirement.com/senior-living/ca/glendale/sage-glendale/.

About Sage Glendale

Sage Glendale will provide the finest in assisted living and memory care for residents. Located in Glendale, California, the expertly trained staff will provide residents with the highest standards of assisted care services amidst a beautiful, urban community. It is operated by Milestone Retirement, dedicated to creating an environment where residents, employees, and investors, all feel equally valued and respected. Milestone provides management services to over 38 communities offering independent living, assisted living, memory care, and specialty care to residents across the U.S. For more information visit the website Sage Glendale.
Revisiting Assessment Policy

Forget about Standardized Testing This Fall, Parents Say

Parents overwhelmingly opposed going ahead with standardized testing this spring, according to a survey done by a parent advocates group. In a survey of more than 1,200 respondents, the assessment nays beat the yays by a margin of two to one. The polling also found that parents "overwhelmingly" opposed testing being used at all in ways that penalize students (81%) or teachers (73%). Two-thirds of parents also reported that any testing done this year should be shortened and used mainly to measure the impact of remote school on student learning.

The random sampling was done by ParentsTogether Action, a national advocacy that focuses on family issues, among its 2.5 million members. The polling was run between Mar. 10 and Mar. 16, 2021 through Facebook Messenger.

The survey also found that in families where students participated in a mix of in-person and remote learning, two-thirds of parents (62%) believed their kids' mental health had gotten worse since the pandemic began. That's 12 percentage points higher than families whose students attended only in-person (50%) and 16 points higher for families whose students were studying only remotely (46%).

In fact, free mental health counseling was the number one area where parents would like districts to spend their federal relief funding; 77% prioritized this area of possible spending, followed closely by spending on families who were "struggling" (74%) and adding teachers and staff to support learning (72%).

Nearly two in five "blended" families (38%) stated that the remote learning portion of their students' schooling was going poorly, compared to a quarter (26%) of "all-remote" parents.

In spite of discontent with remote learning, the majority of parents (78%) said they're worried or "very" worried about their students' health risks in attending fully in-person learning. But most (two-thirds) said they were likely to send their students back to school for on-campus instruction. Just 13% said they expected to keep their children home.

The survey found that parents continued to have "largely favorable views" of educators, as well as their unions. Seven in 10 said they felt "favorable" towards teachers, with 47% expressing the same about teachers' unions and 11% saying they felt unfavorable.

"A year into the pandemic, parents of school-aged kids are still struggling with how to keep their families safe, and that means different things for different families," said Justin Ruben, co-director of ParentsTogether, in a statement. "But they largely agree that schools should be fully open in the fall  and that the focus right now should be on supporting kids' mental health and learning, not on conducting standardized tests."

A more complete rundown of results is openly available on the ParentsTogether website.
If, as expected, Bidens American Family Plan includes universal pre-K education and free community college, that would mean four more years of free schooling for millions of young Americans. As Rahm Emanuel said to me, when was the last time we achieved something as big as that?

Its also a unifying agenda. For the past several decades the economy has funneled money to highly educated people who live in large metro areas. That has created a ruinous class rift that divides the country and fuels polarization. The Biden measures would funnel money to the roughly two-thirds of Americans without a bachelors degree  who work on road crews, in manufacturing plants, who care for the elderly and are disproportionately unemployed.

Its kind of interesting to me that the Democrats, the party of the metro educated class, are promoting policies that would send hundreds of billions of dollars to, well, Trump voters.

Because the Biden plan owes more to Hamilton than to socialism, its not only progressives who love it, but moderates, too. Jim Kessler, an executive vice president at the moderate Democratic group Third Way, sent me an email this week with the subject line, Why Mods Love Biden Jobs Plan.

Is it a risk? Yes, a big one. If your historical memory goes back only to 2009, then you think theres no risk to going big on spending and debt. But history is filled with the carcasses of nations and empires that declined in part because they took on too much debt: imperial Spain, France in the 18th century, China in the 19th.

The Biden plan would have us pouring money into some of our least efficient sectors. As Fareed Zakaria noted recently, American infrastructure projects often cost several times more than European projects. Adding just two miles of new track and three stations to the New York subway system ended up costing $4.5 billion.

You can pour a lot of money into American infrastructure and get relatively little back.

But weve had 20 years of anemic growth and a long period of slow productivity growth. The current trendlines cannot continue. These are necessary and plausible risks to take if America is not to drift gentle into that good night. Look at the cities, like Fresno, Calif., and Greenville, S.C., that have surged back to life in recent years. What did they do? They invested in infrastructure and community colleges. The Biden plan is what has already worked locally, just on a mammoth scale.
The race to vaccinate encountered more roadblocks on Thursday. Numerous patients at a North Carolina mass vaccination site experiences immediate reactions to the Johnson & Johnson dose. One day previously, 11 people had unfavorable reactions in Denver, ranging from nausea and dizziness.

Johnson & Johnson's Side Effects

According to health officials in North Carolina on Thursday, they halted administering the vaccine doses at a mass vaccination site in Raleigh and Chapel Hill and Hillsborough clinics. This followed at least 26 people experiencing adverse side effects, including fainting. Four people were hospitalized for further evaluation, and state and federal health officials are surmising the matter.

Thirteen people at the Colorado vaccination site experienced unfavorable side effects from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Wednesday. It closed operations for the day. Officials did not divulge the kinds of reactions experienced by less than one percent of the over 1,700 people provided shots at Commerce City's Dick's Sporting Goods Park, reported New York Post.

Medical staff determined two people required additional observation and were admitted to nearby hospitals for further help. The nine others who became sick were provided water and juice prior to being cleared to go home, reported NPR.

However, Colorado public health officials declared that they found no sign of a problem following the unprecedented number of side effects from Johnson & Johnson's novel coronavirus vaccine on Thursday. None of them became severely ill. It was an uncommon number in less than four hours since merely ten people suffered adverse reactions.

According to Dr. Eric France, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's chief medical officer, "After reviewing each patient's symptoms, analyzing other vaccinations from the same lot of the vaccine and speaking with the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to confirm our findings. We are confident in saying that there is no reason for concern. We are committed to making sure every community clinic is well-staffed with medical professionals who take patient safety with the utmost seriousness, just as they did at yesterday's clinic," reported DP.

South Korea To Issue Digital Vaccine Passports Showing Person's COVID-19 Vaccination Status

Those who suffered from the symptoms made up less than 1% of the people inoculated that day. According to Dr. Luis Ostrosky, chief of infectious diseases at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, Colorado medical officials halted inoculations out of an abundance of caution.

Dr. Shauna Gulley, a Centura Health chief clinical officer, stated they have no reason to think there is anything wrong with the COVID-19 vaccine itself. She added this is a temporary halting of one brand of vaccine so they could probe into the matter further.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reactions including fainting are not unusual after an individual is immunized. It is assessing reports of unfavorable reactions in North Carolina and three other states. All those transferred to hospitals are expected to recuperate, local health officials remarked. Kim McDonald, medical director at Wake County Human Services, said they are working with the CDC and NC DHHS (the state Department of Health and Human Services) to further assess the situation to affirm everyone is confident in their ongoing safety vaccine operations.

More than 100 Fully Vaccinated People in Washington Test Positive for COVID-19

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If you ever needed an excuse to get more sleep, exciting new findings about lucid dreaming could be it. A recent study has just proved that, in the right conditions, you can not only communicate with people in the lucid state, they can answer questions, too. Sure, the subjects only solved simple math questions (the kind most 8th graders could) but it provokes a tantalizing thought  what else can we do while were in slumberland?

Scientists communicating with lucid dreamers is nothing new, but the latest experiment dialed up the complexity of that communication, just enough, to renew the publics interest in this mysterious activity.

For the uninitiated, lucid dreaming is realizing that you are in a dream and then being able to influence what happens within it. As simple as this sounds, its actually a tricky thing to do, and an even harder thing to study. But with this latest research, scientists are beginning to consider there might be tangible benefits we could tap into  something the community of avid dreamers has been suggesting for years.

Can we access parts of our mind that normally remain filtered during our waking life? Could we use this as a therapeutic tool? Could we even unlock some powerful learning tools? The answer seems to be tantalizing maybe. And technology might be the catalyst we need.

Research into lucid dreaming has its foundation in the 70s and 80s. In 1975 Dr Keith Hearne demonstrated its possible to communicate with lucid dreamers in an experiment where subjects repeated a predefined pattern of eye movements while asleep. Ten years later, Stephen LaBerge, a name now synonymous with the subject, was able to determine that our sense of time in the lucid dream state was the same as that of the waking world  hinting at a stronger relation between the lucid and waking state than we first might have suspected.

gorodenkoff via Getty Images

What we now have is a more direct conversation between the dreamer and the scientist, albeit somewhat limited to simple math and food likes/dislikes. This opens up a lot of possibilities for dream research, of course, but also, there's a lot of potential in all sorts of applications. If you think about it, our participants learned new knowledge during sleep. Dr. Kristoff Appel, one of the study authors, told Engadget.

Of course, if popular culture has taught us anything, its that behind those heavy eyelids is when our inner genius comes out to play. In the future, maybe we could use this for creative purposes, maybe connect the dream out to some machines to control robots, or maybe use it in creative space for creating art or music, compose some melodies maybe from dream. The Beatles song, Yesterday, is said to have composed or the idea came from a dream. Appel added.

Now, dont confuse this with something like those hypnosis audio tapes of yore. The kind that convinced Chandler Bing he was a strong, confident woman. Those programs claimed to speak to the subconscious, Appel and his colleagues were simply speaking to someone who also happened to be asleep. If youre wondering, then, what actually defines being asleep from a scientific perspective, its a combination of measurable signals.

You measure the brain activity, you measure the eye movements and the muscle tension. That's classical so-called polysomnographic recording in the sleep laboratory. And from these recordings, you can definitely say objectively okay, this is awake, this is maybe REM sleep, this is a deep sleep, and so on, according to Appel.

Kristen LaMarca, a clinical psychologist based in California, is even more enthusiastic about lucid dreamings potential. It is a fantastic, just wildly imaginative, magical state. There's so much positive emotion and beauty and some of this, we've actually quantified in research, she told Engadget.

Its not all just for flying around or visiting far away places, though. LaMarca uses lucid dreaming as a therapeutic tool, helping people overcome things like PTSD. With PTSD, you're already revisiting those scenarios in different aspects of your life, she said. So, the point of lucidity is to do that in a wiser way, a more conscious way. Once patients are able to achieve lucidity, LaMarca said, they know that they are safe and that the situation isnt real, thus better enabling them to process it.

You might well be asking yourself, "How do I achieve this 'magical' state?" The short answer is: With practise. There are many, many guides online on how to do this, but most of them revolve around two key ideas: Reality checks and dream signs. The former involves things like, counting the number of fingers on your hand (it can change in a dream) or using technology (which often doesnt work in the land of nod). Dream signs, LaMarcas preferred method, involves recognizing things that regularly occur in your dreams  like a recurring character or situation  as a way of triggering the awareness and, ideally, then being able to control it. Another really great thing to focus on is your own thinking process as a dream sign itself. And this is ignored a lot in the literature. But your own thinking is a really great dream sign, she added.

Youll need more than just a trigger, though. There appears to be a strong link with memory recall ability and lucid ability. Which is why most guides will tell you to keep a dream journal and its also why PTSD sufferers might be particularly suitable candidates  given that they spend a lot of time recalling the same event in vivid detail. There are also some practical factors. Lucid dreams tend to happen toward the end of the sleep cycle, so some people intentionally wake themselves around two hours before they normally get out of bed and set an intention to go back to sleep and, hopefully, right into a lucid dream  a technique known as WILD.

If this all seems like a lot of work, there are some tools out there to help. Galantamine is a drug typically used to treat cognitive decline and alzheimers. Thanks to its effects on memory, it has been found to be useful in promoting lucid dreaming. In fact, LaMarca claims taking galantamine in the middle of the night and going back to sleep can put you in a state that's conducive to having these long, full, very vivid, lucid dreams. Galantamine is available over the counter in the US, but is prescription only in most of Europe. Another supplement thats claimed to help is Huperzine A, which generally doesnt require a prescription. Of course, you should always check with your doctor before trying any new medication, prescription or otherwise.

This is where technology comes in. In a world full of sleep trackers and wearable silent alarms, we effectively already have tools that can, or so they claim, detect different stages of the sleep cycle and wake us up quietly. Used creatively, these gadgets could be a sort of lucid dreaming starter kit, right? According to Appel, were not quite there yet.

Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images

I would say until a few years ago, just all these sleep staging algorithms inside watches and all these also other devices, they were not reliable at all. And also there's a lot of research papers about it showing that, for example, REM sleep and being awake can't really be differentiated just from having a watch also recording your sleep. You need to analyze the brain activity for that, because the rest is not good enough to differentiate between.

So, it turns out, that sleep-stage detection might not quite be accurate enough with the current wave of wearables. Although that doesnt mean they cant be useful for waking you for the WILD technique. Its just not quite smart enough to automatically tell when youre in the right type of sleep. Yet.

That hasnt stopped a wave of smaller companies making all sorts of different types of gadgets that promise to hold the keys to the lucid kingdom. Just a cursory search on Kickstarter will reveal everything from wristbands, to headbands to eye masks. All of them promise to make achieving lucidity a cinch. Appel isnt so confident.

I tried out several of these, different of these Kickstarter things, and other lucid dream mask, and so on, and so far it doesn't seem to work really well. And I think it will change over the next few years, I think there will be some maybe more sophisticated apps or devices and so on, but at the moment I don't see a technical device that can induce lucid dreams reliably, unfortunately.

LaMarca is also cautiously optimistic that we will be able to make effective devices for inducing lucid dreams, but itll need companies to work with scientists to get it right. I'd like to see more interdisciplinary collaboration in order to get that going more, but it is a shame because there really is a lot of potential to help use technology to help us lucid dream more.

Fancy wearables might not be the only way technology can help us get lucid. There are many apps that also make bold claims about tipping you off that youre dreaming. These might actually be a little more practical, for now. Awoken (Android) and Lucidity (iOS) for example operate more like training tools that leverage some of the tech in your phone. Every morning you can add to your dream journal and throughout the day theyll prompt you to check that you arent sleeping (the idea being this test will carry over into your dreams). Some apps also let you set a trigger sound  a low volume audio cue that helps you lurch out of passive dreaming into the active.

Whatever method you might choose, be it the classical reality checks, supplements, gadgets or apps, theres definitely a lot that can be learned and not just for scientists. For many, the real allure is the rare access to your own mind, as Appel can attest. I've tried it myself, talking to your subconscious, and asking the dream a question and it answers. So there's lots of interesting things that you can try out in your lucid dreams, and also a lot that you can learn about yourself, in my opinion, with these self questions.
(@FahadShabbir)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) Efforts of the Central African government to mount an anti-coronavirus response have been hindered by the latest waves of violence by rebels who ignored calls to allow free movement of humanitarian workers, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission MUNISCA told Sputnik.

"MINUSCA spent $7,563,019 on COVID-19 related support projects and equipment to assist and support the authorities to implement protection measures though this is very difficult in a country where people survive on their day-to-day life and wages and any disruption makes it difficult for the population to cope," Mankeur Ndiaye said.

The UN official said he had called on the armed groups, which control most of the nation's territory, to halt operations after the UN secretary general appealed for a global ceasefire in March last year.

The militants defied the calls by launching several attacks through winter.

The country is expecting a delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in the coming weeks through the COVAX shot-sharing mechanism. Ndiaye said that MUNISCA would coordinate with the car government and UN charities on a "coherent and concerted" vaccination campaign, which might be muddled by the rebels.

"The health workers who do the vaccinations will require access in order to vaccinate the population," he said.

Ndiaye praised cooperation with the CAR government on the COVID-19 response at the strategic, technical, and operational levels, as well as donations of essential supplies by UN charities, who helped transport samples to the country's only labs in the capital and rehabilitate severely ill people.
Though it was not clear what they were fighting about, the motive in the attack was a domestic fight that happened March 17, when Urbikas allegedly struck Criddell in the head numerous times and he told police he knew he was dying and did not call an ambulance, police said.
Hong Kong reports 10 new COVID-19 cases

Xinhua) 16:53, April 08, 2021

HONG KONG, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported 10 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, taking its total tally to 11,549.

The new cases included two local infections, of which one had an unknown origin. The eight imported cases were from the Philippines and Indonesia, according to the CHP.

Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Carrie Lam, said that the HKSAR government is discussing with the mainland over exempting people traveling between the two places from quarantine in an orderly manner.

Hong Kong launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive on Feb. 26. About 516,000 people have received their first dose of vaccine, and about 143,600 have received their second dose so far.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Bianji)
Participant of unauthorized Moscow rally gets 3.5 years in jail for attack against policeman

 Moscows Meshchansky District Court

16:31 09/04/2021

MOSCOW, April 9 (RAPSI) - Moscows Meshchansky District Court on Friday sentenced Pavel Green-Romanov, a defendant in a case over assault on a National Guard officer at an unauthorized rally, to 3.5 years behind bars, the courts press service told RAPSI.

The man was found guilty of the use of force against a representative of authority.

According to the investigation, the defendant used pepper spray against a National Guard officer in central Moscow on January 31. Green-Romanov pled guilty in full.

Unauthorized rallies in support of Navalny were held in Moscow and other Russian cities in late January and early February.
The logo of Google is seen on a building at La Defense business and financial district in Courbevoie near Paris, France, (Photo : REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo)

TAE Technologies, a California-based firm building technology to generate power from nuclear fusion, said on Thursday it had raised $280 million from new and existing investors, including Google and New Enterprise Associates.



The company, which did not disclose its latest valuation, was valued at $2.6 billion after raising funds in May 2019, according to data platform PitchBook. Including the latest funding, TAE has raised $880 million till date.



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The fresh capital will mostly be deployed towards further fusion work and a new reactor scale facility, the company said.



Founded in 1998 and formerly known as Tri Alpha Energy, TAE Technologies kept a low profile for years and operated in stealth mode. Over the years, it has drawn the interest of investors including Venrock, brokerage Charles Schwab and the Kuwait Investment Authority.



The company is also working on producing baseload power from the Hydrogen-Boron fuel cycle, which is an environment-friendly fuel source. Baseload power refers to the minimum amount of power that needs to be supplied to an electrical grid at any given point in time.



Prior to the latest funding round, TAE had raised about $130 million earlier this year.



(Corrects to remove inaccurate company descriptor from headline. Also corrects paragraph 3 to say that the company plans to use the funds for further work related to nuclear fusion)


The Coast Guard came to the rescue of a kayaker who was calling for help off the coast of Longport, New Jersey.

Video Transcript

- New from our New Jersey newsroom, these images of a rescue of a kayaker just off the coast of Longport, New Jersey yesterday. Police got the call for a person in the water in distress, calling for help and contacted the Coast Guard. When they arrived, they found the man, clinging to a submerged Kayak. He was pulled ashore and taken to a nearby hospital. He'll be checked out.

- The--
Authorities on Friday identified the state trooper who was injured and the man who was killed by a gunman who opened fire Thursday at a Bryan cabinet manufacturing facility where he worked.

Larry Bollin, 27, shot and killed Timothy Smith, a 40-year-old Bryan resident, and wounded five others at a manufacturing plant for Kent Moore Cabinets, according to the Bryan Police Department. Bollin, an Iola resident, was charged with murder, attempted capital murder and five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and remains in Brazos County jail on a combined $2.2 million bond.

Bollin is scheduled to appear Friday afternoon before Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Celina Vasquez in Brazos County, a court clerk said.

Bollin also shot Trooper Juan Rojas Tovar of the Madisonville Texas Highway Patrol Office while he fled authorities. The trooper remained in serious but stable condition Friday morning at St. Joseph Health, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. He is surrounded by family and friends while other troopers hold watch.

"We remain hopeful his condition will improve & appreciate the many kind thoughts and prayers," the agency tweeted.

One victim was released from the hospital Friday morning, Bryan police announced. Another victim remained in stable but critical condition and two additional victims were in stable condition at the hospital, the agency said shortly before noon. One person who was not struck with a bullet was hospitalized for a medical episode stemming from the shooting and was released on Thursday. Police did not name the surviving gunshot victims.

Officials may file additional charges against Bollin on Friday, police said. A spokesperson for the Brazos County District Attorney's Office said prosecutors will make additional charging decisions after reviewing the case in full.

The armed man entered the business at 350 Stone City Drive and opened fire around 2:30 p.m., police said. Employees said they heard loud banging and it appeared the assailant was targeting specific people.

One employee was at his work station cutting wood when he heard three loud bangs, according to a probable cause statement. He thought it was a staple gun, but turned around and saw Bollin empty the magazine of a black handgun in Smith's direction.

The witness said Bollin then turned around, looked at everyone, reloaded and started firing again, according to the statement. The worker said he believes the gunman shot other people around him and that he ran when Bollin opened fire in his direction.

Authorities arrested the gunman around 4:30 p.m. near Bedias, roughly 35 miles east of the original scene. No shooting victims have been identified.

Texas Department of Public Safety

Law enforcement agencies said the investigation is ongoing and have not released a possible motive.

There are a lot of layers that were trying to unfold to make sure we get the answers we need, said Texas DPS Lt. Craig Cummings. Thats all a part of this ongoing investigation and the reason why we have multiple Texas Rangers there on the scene, working on this along with our criminal investigations division.

The deadly attack marked at least the fourth mass shooting in the U.S. since March 16.
Ruling class members are starting to state out loud the heretofore tacit punitive anti-White discrimination they seek in order to atone for "structural racism." Two professors at Harvard Medical School, Drs. Bram Wispelwey and Michelle Morse, have published an open call for racial discrimination in the delivery of medical services in the name of remedying "structural racism." The article, titled "An Antiracist Agenda for Medicine," has attracted criticism from conservatives, but so far no rebuke from Harvard Medical School or Brigham and Women's Hospital, the Harvard-affiliated hospital, where they practice.



Doctors Morse and Wispelway (Twitter graphic),

The authors openly state that they are drawing on "Critical Race Theory" and advocate for reparations paid to (all? Including Barack Obama and Kamala Harris, both of whose Black ancestors were slave-owners) Blacks, but they see that measure as insufficient. They want open discrimination against Whites (and maybe Asians) in order to favor Blacks and what they call "Latinx" (a patronizing label favored by progressives but shunned by most Hispanics).

[W]e have developed what we hope will be a replicable pilot program for direct redress of many racial health care inequities  one that takes seriously the limitations of colorblind solutions and empowers institutions in variety of contexts to take decisive action to achieve racial equity. Building on calls for reparations, we call this a vision for medical restitution. Federally paid reparations  urgent and long overdue  would help to mitigate racial health inequities (including those seen in COVID-19), but they would not, on their own, end institutional and structural racism. We believe we must pursue restitution programs at the institutional level while also advocating for federal reparations. (snip) Redress could take multiple forms, from cash transfers and discounted or free care to taxes on nonprofit hospitals that exclude patients of color and race-explicit protocol changes (such as preferentially admitting patients historically denied access to certain forms of medical care). (snip) [W]e have taken redress in our particular initiative to mean providing precisely what was denied for at least a decade: a preferential admission option for Black and Latinx heart failure patients to our specialty cardiology service.

That last sentence means that if you are White or Asian and arrive in an ambulance, desperately needing admission to one of the country's premier hospitals, you will be turned away at the emergency room door because of your race. You can take all the fine rhetoric the two docs provide in their wordy article about "structural racism" and "applicative justice," but it won't hide the ugly truth. They want to punish Whites (and, presumably, Asians).

This is patently illegal (as well as morally repugnant), as a Heritage Foundation fellow, cited by The Federalist, explains:

According to GianCarlo Canaparo, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, the effort would violate a "number of federal and state laws," in addition to Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which states, "No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." "What's more, Bringham and Women's Hospital's decision to discriminate in providing medical services makes it ineligible to receive federal funding and jeopardizes the federal funding of Harvard Medical School with which it is affiliated," Canaparo noted. "For example, the Affordable Care Act ('Obamacare') bars any Health and Human Services funding from going to a medical provider that discriminates on the basis of race. Likewise, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars federal funds from going to any organization that engages in racial discrimination. The hospital also exposes itself and Harvard Medical School to court or federal agency enforcement of the law's anti-discrimination requirements."

For now, their institutions are not confronting the problem, responding with mealy-mouthed rhetoric:

Brigham and Women's Hospital told the Washington Examiner in a statement that the article is an "opinion piece written by two physicians, not a formal position of the hospital." "The Brigham is committed to examining and eliminating the many impacts that racism has on the health and wellbeing of our patients," the statement added. "As part of our system's United Against Racism campaign, we support efforts focused on improving both the access and the experience of our patients, focusing on community health and advocacy, and increasing the diversity of leadership." The statement continued: "As part of this commitment, researchers have proposed a pilot program for heart failure patients that aims to address the racial inequities found in a recent study, which found that race, as well as other factors, affected who was admitted to cardiology service at the hospital. Aspects of this pilot program were described within the opinion piece you've cited. This program offers a critical step toward identifying opportunities to improve access for patients who have been historically denied equal access."

In my view, openly racist views like this are appearing among members of the ruling class because they secretly hate ordinary Americans that are not claiming victim status. They have a need to see themselves as better than everyone else  except the victims, whom they plan to rescue, thereby justifying their high status. Their own personal goodness makes them very different from the irretrievably corrupted (systemically racist) masses of their own race. Those corrupted Americans deserve punishment for the many sins of America. In order for them to be good, the rest of us must be bad, in need of correction  by them.

This is sick. But I don't expect that these particular doctors will be able to put into practice the adage, "Physician, heal thyself."

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
The government is considering closing of schools for students up to middle classes till April 30, said Chief Minister on Friday amid a spike in cases.

The CM, however, told reporters in Gurgaon that there is no need to panic as the situation is under control.

As a precautionary measure, the government is considering closing schools for students up to middle classes till April 30, he added.

He said wearing masks, following social distancing norms, sanitisation of public places and gathering restrictions will be strictly enforced.

While all this strictness will be imposed, the normal life too has to go on, he said.

There is no need to panic as was seen in March-April last year at the outbreak of the pandemic. The situation is under control. We have stepped up the vaccination drive. We are taking all necessary steps to check further spread of the virus, said Khattar.

Asked to comment on the ongoing wheat procurement, he said the process is going on smoothly, though arhtiyas (commission agents) have gone on a strike at a few places.

The commission agents are protesting the government's decision of direct payment to farmers.

Payment is being directly credited into farmers' accounts within 72 hours and if there is a delay beyond this period, then farmers will be paid 9 per cent interest.

Meanwhile, according to a state government release here, the government is striving for radical changes in the sector.

In this series, the chief minister, taking another step towards digital education, initiated projects worth more than Rs 10.60 crore in various districts of the state, the release 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.)
January Jones is 'praying' for her dog Vinny after the pooch was bit by a rattle snake on Wednesday morning.

The actress, 43, revealed on her Instagram account that her pooch was now at the animal hospital after an encounter with the rattler.

Posting a photo of the cold-blooded reptile to her account, January revealed, 'This baby rattler bit my lil Vinny this morning. I caught and released it but praying for my pup who's in the hospital now.'

Scary encounter: January Jones is 'praying' for her dog Vinny after the pooch was bit by a rattle snake on Wednesday morning

She also shared a photo of her furry black dog, presumably taken prior to the incident, as he sat upon the floor wearing a red vest.

Vinny appears to be one of two dogs owned by January.

In addition to Vinny, January owns a fluffy cream pooch named Joey, who makes occasional appearances on Instagram alongside his brother.

On top of caring for two dogs, January is also raising nine-year-old son Xander.

Get well soon: Jones' dog Vinny is currently in the animal hospital following his encounter with the snake

Concerned pet owner: Jones revealed to her Instagram followers she was now 'praying' for her pooch

For personal reasons, January has never publicly revealed the identity of his father.

She talked about his birth in an interview with Red magazine in 2017, saying: 'My younger sisters and my mom and my doula were in the room; my brother-in-law and my dad were next door.

'I only wanted women with me,' the celebrity said, adding, 'it was a 30-hour process but it was awesome. I'd love to do it again.'

Furry friends: In addition to Vinny, January owns a fluffy cream pooch named Joey, who makes occasional appearances on Instagram alongside his brother

January has been raising Xander as a single mother, and does not feel the urge to be in a relationship.

'I just don't feel I need a partner,' she recently told Red Magazine.

Outside of quarantining at home with her son and furry friends, January has remained a presence on the small screen.

After ending The Last Man On Earth in 2018, January continued her run on small screens with appearances in the Netflix shows The Politician and Spinning Out.

Next, she will star opposite Jamie Foxx and Maika Monroe in the crime drama God Is A Bullet.
OAK CREEK, Wis., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ashbusters Chimney and Fireplace, one of the largest full service Chimney and Fireplace companies in the country, is expanding into Milwaukee WI effective June 1, 2021. Established in 1985 in Nashville, TN, Ashbusters currently operates in Nashville, TN, Knoxville, TN, and Charleston, South Carolina.

"As a Wisconsin Native, I am not only excited about the opportunity to serve homeowners, but also excited to be bringing very high-paying trades jobs to South-eastern Wisconsin with great benefits and retirement plans," said Kent Wessley, Chief Operating Officer. "Wisconsin has been on our radar for a couple years, and is part of our strategic growth plan as we continue to expand our geographic footprint from the South East, into the Midwest, and beyond."

Ashbusters, founded by Mark Stoner, began as a 1 man chimney sweep business in 1985, and has grown into a leader in the country of construction, repair and maintenance of fireplaces and chimneys. In 2020, Ashbusters was named one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the country by INC Magazine. Please visit us at: Ashbusters.net, or contact us at 615-459-2546.

Related Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euCg5CF7YEs

SOURCE Ashbusters
The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., Friday, April 13, 2018. The Ottawa Police Service has cleared Nunavut RCMP in the shooting death of Abraham Natanine in Clyde River. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
He returned to the spotlight with Coming 2 America which dropped n Amazon Prime in March and on April 3, he celebrated his 60th birthday.

And Eddie Murphy says life couldn't be better than it is right now.

'I'm the most comfortable I've ever been in my skin,"' the Hollywood star tells Oprah Winfrey in Apple TV+'s The Oprah Conversation premiering Friday.

Coming Friday: Eddie Murphy tells Oprah Winfrey he's the most comfortable he's ever been in his own skin as he sits down with the media mogul for The Oprah Conversation on Apple TV+

Murphy explained: 'I feel great and optimistic and totally comfortable in Eddie. I always was comfortable in my skin, but not like now.'

In her conversation with Murphy, Oprah talks with him about his decades of success in Hollywood and his return to stand-up comedy.

The acclaimed comedian was 19 when he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live and at 21 he starred in the movie 48 Hours followed the next year by Trading Places.

His other hits included the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, the comedy The Nutty Professor and his role providing the voice of Donkey in the Shrek series of animated movies.

In 2007, Murphy was nominated for a best supporting actor Academy Award for Dreamgirls.

Star: Murphy, who was presented with the Hall of Fame Award during the 52nd NAACP Image Awards on March 27, turned 60 on April 3 and has spent 4 decades as an entertainer

Huge success: The acclaimed comedian was 20 when he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, left, and at 21 he starred in the movie 48 Hours, right with co-star Nick Nolte

Together again: After a break from making movies, Murphy returned this year in Amazon Prime's Coming 2 America, reuniting with his 1988 co-star Arsenio Hall for the sequel

Murphy also reflects on what he loves most about being a father and grandfather.

In a teaser for Friday's episode of The Oprah Conversation, Winfrey chides Murphy for apparently never having changed a diaper in his life despite being the father of 10 children.

'I've bought a lot of diapers,' the funnyman quipped in response.

Life at 60: Murphy explained to Oprah: 'I feel great and optimistic and totally comfortable in Eddie. I always was comfortable in my skin, but not like now' (pictured in January 2020)

Last month, Murphy revealed how proud he is of his kids who range in age from two to 31.

'I am so blessed with my kids,' he said on Marc Maron's WTF podcast.

'I don't have one bad seed. I don't have any like 'Oh you are the one.' I don't have any of that. My kids are so great, normal people, and nobody is like the Hollywood jerk kid.'

The actor added: 'My kids are smart and are trying to do stuff. I am blessed with my kids. I really, really got lucky.'


Mary Coupe and MP Chris Penk

A petition to stop the plundering of sea creatures from rock pools at Mahurangi beaches has gained more than 2800 signatures.

The petition to Parliament by Mary Coupe, of Omaha, asking the Government to reduce the legal take limit of various sea creatures, closed this week.

It will be handed over to Kaipara ki Mahurangi MP Chris Penk, who will present it to parliament to be referred to the petitions select committee.

Mr Penk says submitters may be invited to speak and the relevant departments, such as MPI, will be invited to respond.

The committee will then decide whether the response is sufficient and may make a recommendation on a course of action to the appropriate Minister or open an enquiry.

Mr Penk says 2800 signatures should be enough to get Parliament to take notice.

The Omaha locals really are to be congratulated. Its not like this was Forest and Bird  its a group of residents.

In the meantime, Mary Coupe has engaged members of Ngatiwai, from Omaha Marae, and says a rahui on taking sea creatures is being considered.

Signs erected by residents of Omaha asking visitors to look but not take sea life has had a definitive impact, but Mary fears the plundering has simply shifted elsewhere.

Mary says she has heard from residents of Pakiri who confronted visitors taking shellfish from the beach. She said the residents later found their tyres slashed.

Meanwhile, Mary contacted MPI and was told that locals who observe visitors taking in abundance should take photos of car licence plates and call the 0800 4 POACHER line.

Mary says she is proud of what the group of Omaha residents has been able to achieve in creating a platform to discuss conservation of local beaches.

The petition was started at the request of Omaha residents who were concerned that sea creatures from rock pools were being taken in unsustainable numbers, and legally so.

In Auckland and Northland, each individual is allowed a combined take of 50 crabs, limpets, starfish, periwinkles, cats eyes and sea cucumbers each day.

Meanwhile, coastal engineer Andre La Bonte, of Waipu, applauds Omahas efforts after his own beach was swamped with putrid red algae.

He hypothesises that the algal bloom in Waipu, currently causing a stench, is a result of the absence of shellfish and bottom feeders that filter the water.

Ive lived in Waipu for 35 years, and I used to be able to walk around the cove and find 20 to 30 tuatua for dinner. Then people started coming and taking them by the bucket-load.

I tried at the time to get in touch with fisheries about the limit of 150 per day, but couldnt overcome the legal hurdles. Now they have been decimated.

Northland Regional Council says the naturally occurring algal bloom, and its hydrogen sulphide stench, will likely persist until an autumn storm flushes the cove.
Kim Tae-hyun, the suspect of the brutal murders of a woman and her two adult daughters last month, kneels during his press appearance at Dobong Police Station in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



Kim Tae-hyun, 24, the suspect of the brutal murders of a woman and her two adult daughters last month, was handed over from the police to the prosecution for further investigation on Friday.



The Dobong Police sent Kim's case to the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office, requesting that he be indicted on charges of murder, burglary, breaking and entering, continued harassment and violation of the act on promotion of information and communications network utilization.



During his appearance before the press at the police station, Kim kneeled down and took off his face mask in an apparent gesture of apology and said, "I feel guilty about even breathing so shamelessly." He also apologized to the victims and the bereaved family members. However, he did not answer questions about his charges.



Kim is accused of killing the three women after breaking into their home in Nowon District in northeastern Seoul on March 23. Kim allegedly stole a weapon from a nearby store and disguised himself as a delivery worker to enter the house. After stabbing the younger sister to death, he stayed there and killed the mother and then the elder sister who came home later.



Kim is also charged with stalking, as a police investigation found that he committed the murders after being disgruntled at the elder sister who had been refusing to meet him. Kim claimed that he got to know her through an online game. He also allegedly attempted to destroy the evidence by deleting his phone number from the elder sister's cell phone.



The crime was discovered on March 25 when the police visited the house after the elder sister's friend reported that she had been out of contact for days. Police found Kim at the scene with self-inflicted injuries on his neck. He was arrested on April 4 after getting treatment at a local hospital.



Initially, Kim's identity had been withheld, but the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency revealed his personal information, including his name, age and photo, on April 5, following a mounting public outcry. More than 253,000 people have signed a petition posted on Cheong Wa Dae's website demanding that his identity be revealed. The presidential office officially responds to petitions that more than 200,000 people sign.


One person died, and five others were injured in a shooting at a cabinet plant in Bryan, Texas, on Thursday, police said. The shooting prompted a search and the subsequent arrest of a male gunman who also shot a state trooper.

According to Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske, the shooting suspect is an employee at the Kent Moore Cabinets plant, where the shooting occurred about 2:30 P.M. inside plant bays where workers produce cabinets.

One died, five others injured amid Texas shooting

Officials said the five shooting victims were taken to nearby hospitals. But one of the five was not actually hit but was taken to the hospital due to an asthma attack, as per CBS News.

According to Buske, the shooter acted alone and used a handgun, but the reason for the shooting was not immediately known. He said that by the time police arrived, the suspect, who has not been identified, had vanished.

Capitol Police Officer Dies, Another Injured After a Suspect Rammed Vehicle Into Them at a Barricade

Sheriff Don Sowell of Grimes County said the perpetrator was arrested in the small town of Iola, about 30 miles from the cabinet facility. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, a state trooper who was shot while chasing the perpetrator is in serious but stable condition.

Kent Moore Cabinets staff were interviewed, and witnesses identified a suspect, Bryan Police Lt. Jason James said before the suspect was caught. "When law enforcement arrived at the incident place, it was already over," said James.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives sent dogs and agents to the shooting scene, as per spokesman Deon Washington. During the investigation, police have asked that people stay away from the business, AP News reported.

Boulder Massive Shooting Suspect: Probe Reveals He Has a Mental Condition, Family Issues

Where does the shooting in Texas happen

Bryan is located about 100 miles northwest of Houston and is home to Texas A&M University. With over 86,000 residents, the city serves as a market, medical, and industrial hub for the middle Brazos River valley. An industry focused on the nearby College Station University and its associated agribusiness; computers, research, and development. It is also the county seat of Brazos.

Kent Moore Cabinets is based in Bryan and hires more than 600 employees throughout the state, said the company's website. Custom cabinets are made by the firm, which has design centers in College Station and nearly a dozen other Texas cities.

The person who answered a call at Kent Moore Cabinets' office on Thursday said she couldn't give any information regarding the shooting. Governor Greg Abbott of Texas offered a prayer for the victims of the shooting and their families.

He said he is working closely with the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety to help local law enforcement respond quickly to the incident. The shooting suspect was detained as a result of their efforts."

The shooting took place just hours after President Joe Biden issued a series of executive orders to reduce gun violence. Biden's executive orders aim to eliminate mass shootings, murders, and domestic violence, but they are expected to face legal challenges, as per NBC News.

Boy Dies After Jumping From 15-Story Apartment Building, Landing on a Car in New York

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
With a turkey carcass for Aarons dog in hand, I walked into a room lit with candles with Leon Bridgess Beyond playing, and I knew what was about to happen, Ms. Myer said. I immediately put down the carcass and slipped off the rings I had adorning my left ring finger.

Storms havent been the only challenge for the couple. There was also the issue of distance.

When they began dating, they both lived an hour apart in Louisiana. She was in Baton Rouge, he in Lafayette. In August 2017, Mr. James moved to a place of his own in Baton Rouge, where Ms. Myer joined him five months later. Just seven months after that, he moved to Houston for work.

For the next 21 months we were long-distance, Ms. Myer said. I had a school where I really wanted to work alongside my mom, and he had an amazing job opportunity in Texas. We would see each other every two to three weeks and would take turns driving back and forth.

The drive from Baton Rouge to Houston is about four-and-a-half hours. Sometimes they would meet in Lafayette so they could visit his family. In May 2020, she moved to Houston.

Mr. James said they learned a lot about one another through their long-distance relationship. The trials of trying to make a relationship work while being in two separate states really allowed us to experience the ups and downs of life together, he said. It allowed me to learn to communicate in a way that is effective and helped me step up to the plate when showing Carmen how much she means to me.
9 April 2021

TECTONIC GOLD PLC

("Tectonic Gold" or the "Company")

Exercise of warrants and issue of equity

Tectonic Gold plc (TDIM: TTAU), is pleased to announce that following the 5 March 2021 call on warrant holders, warrants for a total of 90,568,178 new Ordinary Shares at a price of 0.7p have been exercised raising a total of 633,977.25.

In addition, the Company has partially exited its holding in VOX Royalty Corp, strategically monetising two thirds of its position, at over CAD3,10 per share. 65,539 shares were sold generating proceeds of circa AUD215,000 to be applied to additional drilling.

Highlights:

0.7p September 2020 "Drill Warrants" called on 5 March 2021

"Drill Warrants" called on Initial indicative demand of 500,000 significantly exceeded

633,977.25 in new capital raised

65,539 of the 98,039 share Vox Royalty holding sold (32,500 shares retained)

Technical program has resumed

Mr. Brett Boynton, Managing Director - Tectonic Gold Plc

"We are very encouraged by the exceptional level of support from our September 2020 warrant holders. VSA structured a great deal for investors and the Company with this "drill warrant" and it has played out really well. Tectonic is now fully funded to complete the next phase of the technical program which will extend the drill testing along the mineralised strike at Specimen Hill with a particular focus on our Southern Copper discovery.

We were also able to take advantage of a price movement in our Canadian listed "Vox Royalty Corp" holding to monetise a portion of that investment at a significant profit. The proceeds will be added to the Specimen Hill campaign war chest. Timing has been perfect on this as we are back in the field in about ten days. We have completed initial system modelling work with our independent expert consultants, and this has informed a structural mapping program to fill in some gaps so we can tighten drill targeting for the next round of drilling. It is going to be another busy quarter with plenty of news flow."

As announced on 24 March 2021, , the Company had received exercise notices resulting in the issue of 22,836,361 new ordinary shares of 0.1 in the capital of the Company ("New Ordinary Shares") raising 159,854.53, in addition to the exercise of 1,818,181 drill warrants in January 2022, resulting in the issue of 1,818,181 New Ordinary Shares, raising 12,727.27.

The warrant exercise period for the exercise of the Company's remaining drill warrants has now closed with warrants exercised for a further 65,913,636 New Ordinary Shares.

The New Ordinary Shares are issued pursuant to the exercise of 65,913,636 drill warrants, generating additional proceeds of 461,395.45 for the Company. The New Ordinary Shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company's existing ordinary shares and Admission is expected to become effective on 14 April 2021.

Agreement was reached with exercising warrant holders to be subject to a lock in until 28 February 2022 in return for receiving one new warrant to subscribe for a new Ordinary Share at 1.4p per share for every 2 existing drill warrants exercised. As a result the Company has issued 72,268,180 new warrants to subscribe for a new Ordinary Share at 1.4p with an expiry date of 28 February 2022.

In total therefore, over the course of the warrant exercise period, the Company received exercise notices from warrants exercisable at 0.7p, over 90,568,178 new Ordinary Shares raising a total of 633,977.25 for the Company, significantly more than the 500,000 initially expected. The Company has also granted 83,686,362 new warrants, exercisable at 1.4p and expiring on 28 February 2022.

Total Voting Rights

Following Admission of the 65,913,636 New Ordinary Shares on 14 April 2021, the Company's enlarged issued share capital will comprise of 940,421,826 ordinary shares, each with voting rights. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company, under the Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

For further information, please contact:

Tectonic Gold plc

Brett Boynton

Sam Quinn

www.tectonicgold.com

@tectonic_gold +61 2 9241 7665 Aquis Stock Exchange Corporate Adviser and Broker

VSA Capital Limited

Andrew Raca, Pascal Wiese - Corporate Finance

Andrew Monk - Corporate Broking

+44 20 3005 5004

Ends
Scott Morrison remains under pressure to take stronger action against workplace sexual harassment after finally responding to a landmark report.

The prime minister has proposed some common-sense reforms in response to the Respect at Work report.

It will soon be easier to sack sexual harassers including federal politicians and judges.

Scott Morrison remains under pressure to take stronger action against workplace sexual harassment after finally responding to a landmark report

But he has been criticised for refusing to adopt some of the key recommendations, including giving further investigative powers to a national watchdog.

Mr Morrison has also baulked at introducing a positive duty to protect workers from sexual harassment.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, who wrote the report, vowed to continue pushing for the critical change.

'At the moment, the laws on sexual harassment really only come to life if a victim complains. That leaves a huge burden on individuals who have been harassed,' she told Nine on Friday.

'That needs to change. The government said they will continue to assess that and I will continue to raise that with them.'

The prime minister has also attracted criticism from employers groups about some of the steps taken.

Labor senator Kristina Keneally said while some of the proposed changes were welcome the government needed a concrete plan, not just an announcement

They are worried about increasing from six months to two years the time in which a workplace sexual harassment complaint can be made.

Labor senator Kristina Keneally said while some of the proposed changes were welcome the government needed a concrete plan, not just an announcement.

'There is no legislation, there's no funding attached, there's no reporting mechanism,' she told the ABC.

'The devil here is in the detail and what do we see in 24 hours, that is the prime minister's claim that he's accepted all the recommendations has been undercut.'

Labor is challenging the prime minister to dump disgraced Queensland MP Andrew Laming if he takes harassment seriously.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, who wrote the report, vowed to continue pushing for the critical change

Dr Laming is on paid leave to undertake empathy training after being accused of harassing two female constituents and taking a photo of a woman while she was bending over.

He is quitting at the next election but Mr Morrison has resisted calls to dump him because it would plunge the coalition into minority government.

Senator Keneally said Mr Morrison could not be taken seriously while Dr Laming remained a member of government.

Labor is also calling on the government to introduce 10 days of paid domestic violence leave.

Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O'Neil said the response didn't go far enough.

'It's a road map with big potholes in it, and unfortunately the victims of sexual harassment - many women and some men - are going to fall through those holes,' she told the ABC.
Last year, Zoe Amos was invited to the dorm room of a male student at the University of Portland.

Amos, then a freshman, said she had two hard seltzers. She does not remember what happened next. The following morning, she woke up in another dorm room.

She said she felt strange. Her brain seemed foggy. She was sore.

She worried she had been drugged and sexually assaulted.

Physically I felt like something might have happened, she said. I felt as though something was wrong.

That day, she drove to a Kaiser urgent care center in Northwest Portland to undergo a forensic exam for rape.

She said staff at the center told her they lacked the capacity to perform the exam and referred her to Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Centers emergency room.

She remembers the medical staff assuring her multiple times while she was at the Clackamas hospital that the state would cover the cost of the exam.

But then came the bill.

Amos is now suing Kaiser, saying she worries shes just one example of hospitals illegally billing patients for sexual assault exams that, by law, should be covered by the state.

Her lawyer, Jacqueline Swanson, suspects the problem is larger in scope.

Swanson said theres a disconnect in medical providers understanding of the law, resulting in patients like Amos getting billed for services that are covered, such as emergency contraception and the use of exam rooms.

Victims too often dont understand their rights, she said.

Kaiser Sunnyside sent Amos, then 18, a bill for $1,886.19, according to the lawsuit. She said it even included a $35 charge for a blood test she said she had declined.

I have never dealt with a bill like that, she said. I have never been billed for something. I didnt know how to handle it.

Amos was billed even though she said she asked for the bill to be sent to the Oregon Department of Justice for payment.

Oregonian/OregonLive does not typically identify victims of sexual assault, but Amos chose to be identified.

Swanson said Amos was eligible to have her exam and associated costs picked up by Oregons Sexual Assault Victims Emergency Medical Response Fund, known as the SAVE Fund.

The fund is paid for with state and federal dollars. Under the federal 1994 Violence Against Women Act, states must show that they are covering the costs of forensic exams for victims of sexual assault to receive grant funding.

Under Oregon law, individuals who ask for their bills to be submitted to the state are not responsible for most costs associated with forensic examinations, even if the person decides not to report the assault to police.

Hospitals have had plenty of time to learn to comply with the requirements of this law, said Swanson, a Portland attorney with experience representing survivors of rape, sexual assault and childhood sexual abuse. The costs should not be born on the backs of rape victims. Its unacceptable.

Michael Foley, a Kaiser spokesman, said the institution had not been served with the lawsuit yet and had no comment.

STATE PAID $1.1 MILLION LAST YEAR

A 2017 study in the American Journal of Public Health analyzed 2013 hospital billing records of 1,355 sexual assault victims and found that nearly all paid for some health care costs associated with the crimes. The study found that insurance typically covers 85% of the average medical costs associated with sexual assault, leaving survivors to pay the rest.

Two years ago, the New York Attorney Generals Office reached settlements with multiple hospitals that had illegally billed sexual assault survivors for forensic sexual assault examinations.

And last year, a North Carolina hospital said it had mistakenly billed at least 17 sexual assault survivors for exams, with some receiving bills totaling thousands of dollars.

Oregons fund was set up in 2003 and is administered by the Oregon Department of Justice. The agency covers the costs of forensic exams, evidence collection, emergency contraception and medication to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, as well as counseling sessions.

Last year alone, nearly 1,000 people applied to the fund, which paid out $1.1 million.

Under the states rules, a hospital may not bill both a patients health insurer and the states fund. If the patient prefers to have their insurance cover the cost, they are responsible for any expenses their policy does not cover.

If, however, they opt to have the state cover the costs, Oregon law prohibits hospitals from passing along any remaining charges to patients -- even if the cost of those services exceeds the states reimbursement rates.

Rebecca Shaw, the compensation and revenue section manager for the Justice Departments crime victim and survivor services division, said the state occasionally receives reports from sexual assault victims that they have been billed.

It happens, but it happens infrequently, she said.

The state typically reaches out to the hospitals in those cases to try to get things worked out, she said.

Crime victims are typically unaware of their options, Shaw said.

The unfortunate thing is if there is no advocate working with the person, they might not know who to call or what to do, she said. They have enough going on.

Swanson said sex crime victims are often overwhelmed just coping with trauma. She said some who receive bills may just try to pay it to make it go away.

BILL COLLECTOR CHARGED INTEREST

In Amos case, she said she would not have proceeded with the exam had she known she would have been billed.

They asked me if I wanted to bill the SAVE Fund, she said. I said yes.

According to her lawsuit, filed this week in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the bill from Kaiser reflected discounts that reduced what she owed to $1,049.71.

I thought this is a bill for an amount of money I dont have, she said. That is when I started to panic a little bit. I wasnt sure how I was going to pay it and I didnt know what to do.

She said she was mentally unable to deal with the bill and set it aside.

But within a month or so, a second bill arrived, according to her lawsuit.

This one was itemized and included a charge for blood work that she said she declined during her visit. She said she was told the test would have determined whether she had drugs in her system.

Lab work, for instance, came to $48, according to her lawsuit. Emergency room facility use totaled $1,483.

Last summer, the matter landed with a bill collector, identified in her lawsuit as USCB. Now, she was told, she owed not just the bill but $40.64 in interest.

Amos said she contested the debt and wrote a letter to the collections company. She said she never heard back from the bill collector or Kaiser.

She later obtained her medical records, which according to her lawsuit were marked: BAD DEBT, COPAY UNCOLLECTIBLE.

Tim Eblen, a second Portland lawyer representing Amos, said it is not clear what the notes in the file mean. He said he is still trying to determine what if any effect Kaisers actions have had on Amos credit rating.

Amos said she reported her suspected assault to the universitys Title IX program. Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities.

Amos said her complaint was resolved; she declined to comment on the outcome on the advice of her lawyer.

The experience, coupled with going through the universitys Title IX process and the unresolved medical bill, weighed so heavily on her that she withdrew from the University of Portland at the end of her freshman year.

Amos, who is from the Seattle-Tacoma area, is now at Portland State University studying sociology.

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BROUGHT UP

Amos said she chose not to report her experience to police.

She worried she would end up in a protracted criminal case only to have it end without a meaningful outcome.

I was scared, she said. I didnt feel it was something I could handle. I was going through more than I thought I could deal with and I thought it was pointless.

Her decision meant her sexual assault kit was never analyzed by the Oregon State Police crime lab.

Amos suit seeks $65,000 in emotional distress damages from Kaiser.

She said the bill only added to her stress.

You have the initial trauma of being a victim and you go through a rape kit, which is more trauma in and of itself, and then you get billed for it and it just keeps getting brought up, she said. Its something that I am trying to work through and move on from and I cant because I always have this in the back of my mind.

Its just something, she said, that no one should have to go through.

-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie
A California mom, who tortured her son to death, has filed a petition to toss out her conviction. Pearl Fernandez was taken into police custody for killing her 8-year-old son, Gabriel Fernandez, in 2013.

Her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, was also arrested by the authorities for Gabriel Fernandez's death, Fox News reported.

An ABC7 report said that Pearl Fernandez pleaded guilty in 2018 to killing her son. But recently, the California mom filed a set of court papers to seek a new hearing in her case.

READ NEXT: Woman Indicted for Allegedly Killing Her 9-Year-Old Son with Autism Confesses, Affidavit Says She Pulled Him into a Canal in Florida

Pearl Fernandez's Case

In her petition for re-sentencing, Pearl Fernandez argued that she could not be convicted of first-degree or second-degree murder because of recent changes made in California law.

Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami has criticized the recent changes in the state's penal code 1170.95.

Hatami said that it empowers the "murderers of children" to apply for reconsideration and undergo re-sentencing. Jonathan Hatami is a Deputy District Attorney who handles the case of Gabriel Fernandez.

In a tweet, Hatami expressed his disappointment in the changed law, saying "it is plain wrong and completely unjust."

Gabriels family now has to relive all the horror that was perpetrated upon a small and helpless child. It is plain wrong and completely unjust. https://t.co/DRWswS6vkL  jonathanhatami (@jonathanhatami) April 8, 2021

Hatami's tweet stirred up sympathies from the netizens.

A Twitter user expressed her sympathy for the family of Gabriel Fernandez. Another Twitter user expressed his support to Hatami, saying that another child should not be a victim.

This is just horrible, I feel so sad for Gabriels family   Melanie Smith (@melsmith65) April 8, 2021

You got it right the first time. In the very unlikely event this petition is granted - we'll all make sure they get it right again. #NotOneMoreChild #GabrielFernandez  When the System Fails, Corp. (@WTSFCorp) April 8, 2021

Pearl Fernandez pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 2018 while admitting a special circumstance allegation of murder involving torture's infliction. Isauro Aguirre received the death penalty after he was convicted of the same charge the year prior.

The California mom faced a possible death sentence if her case had gone to trial and if she had been convicted. Her plea came some two months after jurors' recommendation that Isauro Aguirre be sentenced to death for the boy's killing.

The case of Gabriel Fernandez has been featured in a Netflix documentary film released last year. The six-part documentary was entitled "The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez."

Gabriel Fernandez: How Did He Die

Gabriel Fernandez was eight years old when his mother brutally murdered him. His mother's boyfriend was also guilty of putting him in agony.

Authorities reported that Gabriel Fernandez was routinely beaten, tied up, starved, and sometimes made to sleep in a cabinet. The family members of the victim noted that homophobia played a role in the boy's death.

Aguire allegedly called the boy "gay," and it was the first thing he said to police when they responded to the 911 call.

Authorities said Gabriel Fernandez was even fed with cat feces, his teeth were knocked out with a bat, and he was shot in the face using a BB gun.

The boy was also pepper-sprayed for fun while lying down in the bathtub and showed up to school with fresh cigarette burns and shaved hair.

A hearing for Pearl Fernandez's latest petition is set on June 1 before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George Lomeli, who sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole in June 2018.

READ MORE: 6-Year-Old Boy Dies After Clinging To His Mom's Car as She Drives Away to Abandon Him

WATCH: Judge Lashes Out At Couple Who Killed 8-Year-Old Gabriel Fernandez - from CBS Los Angeles
Partners' responsive behavior can overcome the harmful effects of personal and situational vulnerabilities on relationship outcomes.

In the 3 -year GEM study involving more than 200 newlywed couples and funded by the National Cancer Institute, Pietromonaco and colleagues examined how couples change over time and how their relationships affect health. During each annual visit to the lab, couples were videotaped while they discussed a major conflict in their relationship."The unique thing about our study is that we looked at responsiveness in terms of people's actual behavior, as opposed to their perceptions," Pietromonaco explains. "We used a very complex, intensive coding scheme that captures a whole range of behaviors that we can call responsive behavior."The study found that being a responsive partner - one who focuses effort and energy to listen to their partner without reacting, tries to understand what's being expressed and be supportive in a helpful way, and knows what their particular partner needs - is in general associated with better relationship quality, "which is what you would think," Pietromonaco says."But when people have a vulnerability like being depressed or having a lot of external stress," she adds, "having a responsive partner seems to protect them against a sharp drop in relationship quality from one time point to the next."The researchers predicted that a person with signs of mild to moderate depression would experience a drop in marital quality from one year to the next during the study. "And that's what we saw," Pietromonaco says. "It was a big drop - five points."Such a significant drop in relationship quality was not seen with people who had low depression scores and also partners who were low in responsiveness. "But if you were depressed and your partner was responsive, in the next wave your marital quality did not look any different from people who were not depressed," she says.Similarly, a person's external stress resulted in a drop in marital quality over time - unless their partner was found to be highly responsive, supportive and accepting. "If your partner is high in responsiveness, you don't show any more of a decline than people who have low external stress. But if your partner is low in responsiveness, you drop an average of over seven points, and that is a large effect," Pietromonaco says.The new research advances Pietromonaco's previous work probing the couple-level dynamics of romantic relationships. "Each person's behavior and responsiveness and feelings affect the other person's, and they do so reciprocally," she explains.The paper concludes that "these findings underscore the importance of adopting a dyadic perspective to understand how partners' responsive behavior can overcome the harmful effects of personal and situational vulnerabilities on relationship outcomes."Source: Eurekalert
The five members of the Niles Ethics Board are appointed annually by the Niles Village Board of Trustees and do not receive compensation, according to the village. The boards purpose is to investigate complaints concerning unethical conduct as to any official or employee of the village and present an opinion to the Niles Village Board of Trustees, information provided by the village says.
SARATOGA SPRINGS  A move by 73 former Republicans and Independence party members to switch political affiliation to the Working Families Party -- putting up candidates and trying to push off the ballot a dozen candidates who the WFP officially endorsed -- is a "runaround," opponents say.

Saratoga Springs police officer Thomas Sartin, a former Republican who recently switched to WFP, is leading the effort to collect signatures for new WFP members to run. He is also the top petitioner in the lawsuit, argued by former GOP congressman and Donald Trump supporter John Sweeney, to block Democrats, including Tara Gaston of Saratoga Springs and Cynthia Young of Malta, from the WFP ballot line.

Its a move WFP volunteer Joe Seeman called a runaround by Republicans to retain power in the once solidly red county.

They are trying to make life difficult, said Seeman, who was defeated last fall for an Assembly seat. Its clear as a bell, the Republicans have no moral dimension or compass. They will do anything for power.

Sweeney, who took part in Trump's challenges in several states to overturn the 2020 presidential election, contends that candidates like Gaston, Young and Democratic sheriff's candidate Jerome Holland do not have proper documentation authorizing them to run on the WFP line. Neither Sartin nor Sweeney returned a call to discuss the suit.

But County Democratic Committee Chairman Todd Kerner, said Sweeney and Sartins legal maneuver is sloppy, as two of the WFP-endorsed candidates named do not need authorization. Alexander Patterson, running for Clifton Park Town Board, is already a member of the WFP and Jennifer Jeram does not need authorization as a candidate for Clifton Park justice, Kerner said.

(Republicans) are trying throughout all of New York State to block candidates the WFP voters and their party designated to be on the ballot, by alleging a hyper-technical error which did not occur due to the protections put in place during the COVID pandemic, Kerner said. In the GOPs overzealous effort to block candidates, they are even trying to knock off two candidates which are undisputedly valid....This case is wasting judicial and governmental resources and costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to limit voter participation and choices.

Saratoga Springs Republican Chairman Chris Obstarczyk, denies that the GOP is involved with the effort to secure the WFP line for candidates others than those endorsed by the progressive party.

We didnt have anything to do with the WFP, Obstarczyk said. We are committed to getting Republicans registered in the party," Obstarcyzk sent 979 letters to former Independence party members asking them to register Republicans, not into any other party.



Meanwhile, Seeman said "it's telling" that many of the WFP candidates that the former Republicans want to run didnt sign their own petitions to get on the ballot. In the case of the seven running for office in Saratoga Springs, none signed their own petitions.

If the WFP-endorsed candidates retain their spot on the WFP ballot line, the unendorsed WFP candidates will force a primary, Seeman said. In that case, he believes they will press for write-in votes for the Republican-endorsed candidates.

Kerner said a write-in scheme is a long shot. Still, this WFP infiltration may be scaring off other Democrats who once embraced the WFP. Democratic candidate for Saratoga Springs Mayor Ron Kim is one. He was endorsed by the WFP, but did not accept it, saying the unendorsed candidates that are running on the WFP line are not a fair representation of the party.

Young said she is disappointed by these tactics.

Its a thinly veiled attempt to influence the outcome of the elections statewide, Young said. Im proud to represent the Working Families. But this is down and dirty politics. We should be talking about our strengths and what we stand for, not these shenanigans. 

Gaston said the WFP officials should decide who they want to endorse, and that the more conservative views of Republicans do not align with those of the progressive WFP.

I would hope that no one would be running on a line on progressive issues with anything other than progressive values, Gaston said. My focus is making sure we know what their values are so the voters would understand. Its like my running on the conservative line. That would make no sense.

Note: This story was updated on Monday to indicate that Samantha Guerra did not sign her Working Families Party petition.
Allegations of abuse and neglect of migrant children at the Freeman Coliseum shelter raised this week by Gov. Greg Abbott stemmed from complaints of sexual acting out by teenage boys at the facility, as well as the bullying of children who may be homosexual, state officials said.

The new details were provided in a memo sent to Abbotts office by associate commissioners at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and the Health and Human Services Commission. Both agencies received separate reports of the allegations this week.

At a hastily called news conference Wednesday in front of the county-owned coliseum, Abbott framed the complaints as allegations of sexual assault and neglect of the children and demanded the federal government shutter the facility. The GOP governor toured the shelter after the news conference.

On ExpressNews.com: Gov. Abbott says he received allegations of sexual assault at the Freeman Coliseum shelter

The coliseum is being used as one of several shelters set up by the federal government to handle the immigration surge this year by thousands of unaccompanied Central American children crossing the U.S. border without their parents.

Abbott, in a letter Friday to Vice President Kamala Harris, repeated his demand to close the shelter based on allegations of sexual assault, a shortage of staff to properly supervise the children inside the facility, and that the children in the facility are not eating throughout the day.

He also cited a complaint that COVID-19 protocols are not being followed inside the facility.

In his letter, Abbott included the memo from state officials detailing the complaints.

READ THE LETTERS:

The memo said a report was received at 9:32 a.m. Tuesday alleging that the bathrooms are not supervised during showers; the boys are not properly monitored and are engaging in sexual behavior in the showers; there is concern about staff ratio at night; there is no staff training; there are no first aid or CPR certifications for direct staff; and the children are not being reunified.

Another report received a minute later, at 9:33 a.m. Tuesday, alleged that the children do not have enough to eat throughout the day; there is not enough staff watching the children and children may be left with no supervision overnight; there is sexual acting out between children; and children who are homosexual may be bullied.

At 1:31 p.m. Wednesday, a third report was received that echoed the complaints about food, supervision and the bullying of children who may be homosexual.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said his office has received three calls alleging sexual abuse at the shelter and forwarded the information to state and federal authorities.

County Judge Nelson Wolff, Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores and other county officials have rebutted any complaints of neglect, saying the migrant children  about 1,900 boys ages 13-17  are appropriately supervised and fed three meals a day. The facility will remain open as federal and state authorities investigate the complaints.

Erick M. and Josue A., two migrants from Central America who were released from the shelter Thursday, said the only problem they encountered there was boredom.

There were nothing but nice people who treated us well, Josue, 18, said in Spanish.

Erick left his home in Guatemala on March 4, while Josue left El Salvador on March 13. The two did not know each other until they arrived in the United States.

At a facility along the border, the boys said they were given metallic blankets and were not fed as often as they were in San Antonio.

At the coliseum, neither saw abusive behavior, and both said they were fed daily. They also were tested every two to three days for the coronavirus.

The two were released from the shelter after they turned 18. Catholic Charities put them up in one of its facilities.

J. Antonio Fernandez, CEO of Catholic Charities, said the two celebrated turning 18 with a party at Pizza Hut. The organization has been helping the unaccompanied boys until they are placed with family members or other sponsors while they await the resolution of their asylum applications.

In his time spent with them, Fernandez said he has not seen any signs of abuse.

The only thing I have seen negative with the kids is that they are bored, Fernandez said.

A group of Texas Democrats  U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio and eight state representatives from San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas  toured the coliseum Friday on a visit that was planned prior to Abbotts airing of the complaints.

They spoke to reporters afterward, many stressing that the facility is well-run.

Castro suggested that Abbott had overstated the complaints, particularly his allegation of sexual assault, in order to score political points.

I think the governor, his intent was to drop a political bomb, Castro said. Hes trying to use the issue of immigration as a wedge issue.

He added, Whatever evidence the governor has, the governor should put forward. In fact, if what hes saying is true, he has a responsibility to do that immediately because hes leaving people at risk and in danger if he doesnt.
Vine Trail Coalition fundraiser

The coalition will sponsor a Month of Movement Challenge in May to raise funds for the 47-mile walking and biking trail.

To sign up for the Month of Movement Challenge, visit vinetrail.org/locomotion and click GET STARTED to register. Registration fees are $47 for the 47-mile challenge, $147 for the 147-mile cycling challenge, and $470 for the 470-mile cycling challenge which includes a Vine Trail cycling jersey.

For more information, visit vinetrail.org/locomotion or email info@vinetrail.org.
The man who raped and killed 15 year-old schoolgirl Kayleigh Haywood has died in prison, it has been confirmed.

Stephen Beadman, 34, from Ibstock, was serving a life term in Wakefield Prison for the killing Kayleigh in November 2015.

His horrific crime took place as the teenager had tried to flee his clutches - and another man who had groomed her over a two-week period online.

Stephen Beadman, 34, was found dead yesterday in Wakefield Prison. He was serving a minimum 35-year term for the rape and murder of 15-year-old Kayleigh Haywood, right

Prison authorities conformed that Beadman, who was an inmate at HMP Wakefield, died yesterday. They refused to release the cause of the killer's death insisting that was a matter for the coroner. They said the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has been informed

Kayleigh's father, Martin Whitby, right, welcomed Beadman's death in prison yesterday

The Ministry of Justice has issued a statement stating that Beadman died in hospital yesterday.

The cause or circumstances of his death, however, was not revealed.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: 'HMP Wakefield prisoner Stephen Beadman died in hospital on April 8.

'The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has been informed.'

They added: 'The Prison Service cannot confirm the cause of death, which is rightly a matter for the coroner.'

Kayleigh, from the village of Measham, Leicestershire, was murdered after chatting to a stranger online before taking the decision to meet up with him.

Over a period of 13 days she was groomed by Luke Harlow, 23, who exchanged 2,643 text messages with the youngster.

Kayleigh had spent the night at his flat in Ibstock on November 13, 2015.

The following day, Harlow's next door neighbour Beadman, then 28, arrived and the pair plied her with drink.

In the two weeks before her murder, Kayleigh exchanged 2,643 text messages with Luke Harlow, 23 - who lived next door to Beadman. Harlow was sentenced to 12 years in jail

She was sexually assaulted by Harlow before trying to flee, at which point she was chased by Beadman, who raped and murdered the schoolgirl with a brick before dumping her body in a farmer's field.

Kayleigh's body was found five days later on the outskirts of the village. Her body had to be identified using dental records.

On learning the news of Beadman's death, Kayleigh's father, Martin Whitby, posted his reaction on social media.

Writing on Facebook, he said: 'Best news ever... the ******* that killed my daughter is dead.

'Hope the ******* rots in hell.'

Beadman was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 35 years, meaning that would have been likely to have remained in prison until at least 2050.

Harlow was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.

'Kayleigh's Love Story', a film produced by Leicestershire Police to deter children and young people from falling victim to online sexual abuse and exploitation, was shown to pupils in schools in Leicestershire and Rutland and across the UK.

It was later released to the public and has been placed in the National Film Archive due to its significance.
The United States on Thursday announced new sanctions targeting the countrys multi-billion dollar jade industry, a sector long controlled by Myanmar military figures responsible for ousting the countrys democratically elected government in a coup on Feb. 1.

The move follows economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and UK at the end of March on other military companies controlled by the junta, and aims to block the flow of revenue supporting junta leaders and military operations in Myanmar that have killed more than 600 civilian protesters to date.

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Myanma Gems Enterprise (MGE), a Burmese state-owned entity that is responsible for all gemstone activities in Burma, the Department added in a statement Thursday.

Gemstones are a key economic resource for the Burmese military regime that is violently repressing pro-democracy protests in the country and that is responsible for the ongoing lethal attacks against the people of Burma, including the killing of children, the Treasury Department said, referring to Myanmar by an earlier name.

These sanctions are not directed at the people of Burma, the Department said.

All property or property interests of MGE in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are now blocked and must be reported to OFAC," the Department said.

The U.S. action comes as Myanmar military leaders take part in a large gems emporium held in the capital Naypyidaw under the auspices of MGE, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken added in a statement Thursday announcing the sanctions.

By its sixth day, almost $2.5 million worth of jade had already been sold at the event, the state-run New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday.

The United States will continue to put pressure on the Myanmar junta until it ceases its violence, releases all those unjustly detained, lifts martial law and the nationwide state of emergency, removes telecommunications restrictions, and restores Burma to the path of democracy, Blinken said.

The U.S. and Britain had earlier leveled economic sanctions in March on two Myanmar military holding companies that also serve as a critical economic lifeline for the junta, designating Myanma Economic Holdings Public Co., Ltd. (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited (MEC).

And in July 2019, then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing and three other senior Myanmar military generals for travel sanctions for their roles in a 2017 army campaign that killed thousands of Rohingya and drove more than 700,000 of the Muslim ethnic minority into Bangladesh.

In 2015, Global Witnessan NGO tracking resource and corruption issues around the worldestimated the value of Myanmars jade production at $31 billion.

In December, the pre-coup Myanmar government of Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy announced the suspension until January of large-scale jade mining activities in Kachin state, home to the worlds largest jade mine and a magnet for poor scavengers, in the face of surging coronavirus infections.
As more Americans are vaccinated against COVID-19, there are questions about what you should or shouldnt do in the days leading up to your shot. And what about after?

A celebratory glass of wine may be top of mind for those who are newly vaccinated and, so far, theres no official guidance or recommendation about avoiding alcohol before or after getting a prick in the arm.

Thats not to say people shouldnt think twice before knocking back a few drinks, considering the potential side effects from any of the three available coronavirus vaccines.

Symptoms from the immune response to the vaccine, like fever, body aches and others, are all common, said Angela Hewlett, MD, an infectious disease physician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Heavy drinking may increase these side effects, making you feel worse. Bottom line  a celebratory drink is probably OK, but celebrate in moderation.

Richard Watkins, M.D., a professor of internal medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University, also told Prevention magazine theres currently no evidence that alcohol reduces the formation of antibodies.

Newly vaccinated individuals should still watch their alcohol intake, he said, or run the risk of compounding hangover symptoms with the flu-like side effects of the vaccine  making the experience much less pleasant.

Binge drinking or excessive alcohol use, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as consuming four or more drinks within two hours for women and five or more drinks for men, can be detrimental to your overall health.

Dr. Christopher Thompson, who specializes in immunology Loyola University Marylands Department of Biology, pointed to alcohols effects on the immune system and said excessive drinking should be avoided for at least a week before the first dose, according to Healthline.

Overseas, Russian health officials have also taken a hardened stance against mixing alcohol and the COVID-19 vaccine, Alexander Gintsburg, PhD, who helped develop the countrys Sputnik V vaccine, has advised citizens to avoid drinking for at least three days after each dose, Healthline reported.

Story continues

Dr. Fiona Sim, who chairs the independent medical advisory panel for the UK alcohol education charity Drinkware, offered a similar suggestion: those who plan to get vaccinated should abstain from drinking two days before the shot and at least two weeks afterward, according to British outlet i news.

Also, Sims said heavy drinkers are at increased risk of becoming severely ill if they contract COVID-19, so getting vaccinated is important.

Long term heavy drinking reduces immune protection, and specifically for respiratory infections, which include Covid-19, she said, according to i, adding: We would reassure anybody who has already been vaccinated and has had an occasional drink since, that they should still benefit from the vaccination.

So while a cocktail or two likely wont cause much harm, experts advise keeping your daily alcohol intake within daily recommended guidelines if youre getting inoculated.

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The postponed visit by First Lady Jill Biden to Birmingham is expected to happen on Friday, but actress Jennifer Garner wont be accompanying her.

Bidens visit was previously scheduled to happen on March 26, with Garner alongside. The First Ladys office gave no explanation why Garner wont be traveling to Alabama.

The previous visit was postponed because it was scheduled to happen a day after a destructive tornado hit Alabama, killing five people and damaging hundreds of homes.

Biden will now fly into Birmingham on Friday morning and plans a visit to a childcare center and later to the YWCA of Central Alabama, which was part of her itinerary on the previously planned trip. A visit to Jasper has not been included this time as it was last.

The purpose of the visit remains the same. Its part of Bidens Help is Here Tour, to explain how the recently passed federal stimulus plan will lower child poverty, the White House said.

Biden is expected to explain how the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan will cut child poverty by half, according to the White House.

Alabamians know its nothing more than worthless snake oil being peddled by the Biden Family Traveling Medicine Show, said Republican candidate Lynda Blanchard, who has said she plans to run for U.S. Sen. Richard Shelbys seat as he retires in 2022. She issued a statement criticizing Bidens visit.

The trillions of dollars the Socialist Democrats have already spent and the trillions more they plan to spend will burden our children, our grandchildren, and their children after them with the most massive debt our nation has ever known, said Blanchard, who served in the Trump administration as U.S. ambassador to Slovenia, former First Lady Melania Trumps home country. Its a theory known as Elvis economics because you just keep bloating the economy with so much debt that it eventually falls off of the toilet and dies.

Within the package is an allowance for most working and middle-class families to receive an expanded child tax credit worth up to $3,600 for each child under the age of 6, and $3,000 for each child ages 6 through 17. The White House anticipates the changes in the Child Tax Credit to cut child poverty in half.

In Alabama, a report released in December shows that children of color experience disproportionately high rates of poverty. The report titled Alabama Kids Count, indicates that children of color will make up the majority of the child population and the majority of the workforce by 2030. At the same time, Black and Hispanic children suffered average poverty rates of 41.9% and 42.6%, respectively, between 2014 and 2018. The rate for white children was 16.5%.

Biden is participating in a nationwide tour to promote the American Rescue Plan Act. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are also participating in the Help is Here tour. The mission is to educate Americans on whats inside the COVID-19 relief package.

Read about Jill Bidens visit to Alabama here.
New South Wales has suspended AstraZeneca vaccinations for all age groups over the jab's link to a rare blood clot condition.

Australian health authorities on Thursday night recommended the vaccine not be used for people under 50, but was safe for older recipients.

However, NSW Health said it had 'temporarily paused' giving it to anyone until it could update its informed consent information.

'Following the new advice from the Commonwealth last night, informed consent information will be updated to provide patients and those administering the AstraZeneca vaccine with the latest information,' it said.

Australian health authorities on Thursday night recommended the vaccine not be used for people under 50, but was safe for older recipients

A spokesperson said the vaccine would become available again to people aged 50 and over later on Friday (pictured, nurse receives the Covid-19 jab at Townsville in Queensland)

A spokesperson said the vaccine would become available again to people aged 50 and over later on Friday.

'As with all other vaccines, informed consent is required before administering COVID-19 vaccines, ensuring recipients make decisions based on an understanding of the risks and benefits.'

The recommendation by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) was accepted by the federal government under an 'abundance of caution' over the 'rare but serious' side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Australia had ordered 20 million imported doses of the Pfizer vaccine, enough for 10 million people, but had banked on the AstraZeneca product for the majority of shots with biopharma CSL Ltd contracted to make 50 million doses domestically.

Pfizer remained committed to delivering all 20 million doses by the end of 2021 and the Australians were already talking to the company about upping its order, Kelly noted.

AstraZeneca said in a statement that it respected the Australian decision and was working with regulators around the world 'to understand the individual cases, epidemiology and possible mechanisms that could explain these extremely rare events'.

Australia had ordered 20 million imported doses of the Pfizer vaccine, enough for 10 million people, but had banked on the AstraZeneca product for the majority of shots with biopharma CSL Ltd contracted to make 50 million doses domestically

AstraZeneca said in a statement that it respected the Australian decision and was working with regulators around the world 'to understand the individual cases, epidemiology and possible mechanisms that could explain these extremely rare events' (pictured, resident gets Covid-19 jab in Kimberley region)

CSL said it remained committed to meeting its contracted arrangements with Australia and AstraZeneca to make the vaccine 'which remains critical for the protection of our most vulnerable populations'.

As well as the AstraZeneca and Pfizer contracts, Australia ordered 51 million doses of a vaccine being trialled by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Novavax Inc, but local authorities say they do not expect to approve the product until late 2021.

After saying Australia had 150 million vaccine doses on order, enough for several times the population, the government said in January that it planned to have four million vaccinated by the end of March, only to have 600,000 by that time.

'Australians won't forget who is responsible for failing to deliver on what are his own promises and his own commitments,' opposition Labor leader Anthony Albanese told reporters on Friday.

'They should have listened to the expert advice that was given to the government, and indeed to all governments, about not placing all our eggs in one basket'.

Australia is the latest country to join a long list of European nations that have at one time suspended the use of the vaccine (pictured, resident receives the Covid-19 jab in Western Australia's Kimberley region)
Local officials have extended their sympathies to the Royal Family following the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Local officials have extended their sympathies to the Royal Family following the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Buckingham Palace announced Friday morning that Prince Philip, 99, died at home.

The Queen and Prince Philip wave as they depart Winnipeg on Oct. 9, 2002. Prince Philip, the Queen's husband of more than 70 years, passed away at Windsor Castle on Friday, Buckingham Palace announced. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press files)

Premier Brian Pallister said in statement he was "saddened" to learn of Prince Philip's passing and noted the "special relationship" Manitobans had with the Duke of Edinburgh.

Prince Philip's first visit to Manitoba dates back to 1951 during a royal tour. Since then, the Duke of Edinburgh visited the province for the opening of the Pan Am Games in 1967, celebrated Manitoba's Centennial in 1970, presented the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards in Thompson in 1984, visited Churchill in 1992 and toured communites affected by the "Flood of the Century" in 1997.

Pallister also encouraged Manitobans to visit the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba's website (www.manitobalg.ca) to share condolences and memories in a virtual book of condolence that will be posted later today.

Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba Janice C. Filmon also released a statement acknowledging Prince Philip's "compassion for and service to all Canadians."

"His Royal Highness will be deeply mourned by all and his legacy will continue through the thousands of young people who challenge themselves each year to achieve the Duke of Edinburgh Awards," said Filmon.

Mayor Brian Bowman called on Winnipeggers to join fellow Canadians and people across the Commonwealth to mourn Prince Philip.

"Throughout his life, his devotion to duty has always been inspiring; his deep concern for youth and the environment will surely continue to resonate far into the future," said Bowman.

"The Duke of Edinburgh was a member of the 'Greatest Generation,' and in so many ways his life and work exemplify its virtues. For this, for his countless good works, and for his steadfast friendship with Canadians, Winnipeggers will always remember him."

nadya.pankiw@freepress.mb.ca
Shimla, April 9 : The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet on Friday decided to keep all educational institutions shut till April 21 to prevent the spread of coronavirus. However, it decided to hold the 'Jan Manch', a once-in-a-month district-level public programme to redress grievances, on April 25.

The Cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, decided that teaching and non-teaching staff, except those required for exam duties, will stay at home till April 21. Earlier, the educational institutes were closed till April 15.

The Cabinet also decided to fill 311 posts of Forest Guard in the Forest Department on contract basis through direct recruitment. These include the already approved 113 posts of Forest Guard by the Cabinet on March 9, an official statement said.

It also approved to fill 25 posts of Agriculture Development Officer on contract basis in the Agriculture Department through the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission against direct recruitment quota.

A decision was taken to implement the Central sector scheme SVAMITVA in the state for surveying the land parcels in rural inhabited areas using drone technology. The Revenue Department would be designated as the nodal department for implementation of this scheme with the support of the Panchayati Raj Department.

A memorandum of understanding would be signed with the Survey of India for launching the scheme.

In the meeting, the Jal Shakti Department apprised the Cabinet on the prevailing drought situation in the state. It was decided to hold a review meeting under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister for further action in the matter.
A Nigerian man, Ahmed Saka, has killed his ex-wife and two children after threatening he would kill her for walking out of their marriage.



According to reports, Saka and Mutiat lived in their home in the Shogoye area in Oyo State. Recently, Mutiat told Saka she was no longer interested in their relationship and will be leaving him for good. This infuriated Saka who threatened to kill her. True to his threat, on Wednesday night April 7, Saka set their home ablaze, killing Mutiat, two children, and injured four others with severe burns.



Apart from Mutiat and Saka, two children who lost their lives were identified as Ramon Sarumi (10) and Abiodun Oladele (seven). Those with severe burns include Bisola Oladele, Lateef Sarumi, Aishat Sarumi, and Wosilat Sarumi.



The matter was reported at Mapo police station by one of the neighbours, Olaide Aliu at about 5:10am. This led the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Mapo and other detectives to visit the scene. After taking photographs, the police operatives also evacuated the corpses from the scene to the mortuary of State Hospital, Adeoyo, Ibadan, for autopsy.



The injured ones were however taken to Anglican Diocese Hospital, Molete, for prompt medical treatment.



Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of the state police command, CSP Olugbenga Fadeyi, said an investigation has commenced into the matter.

Source: LIB









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Sri Lanka: Solution to poaching in Lankan waters: Contradictory statements from Fisheries Minister

by Shamindra Ferdinando

April 09,2021 | Source: The Island Online

Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda on Wednesday (7) contradicted a statement attributed to him regarding the continuing crisis over the Indian fishing fleet invading Sri Lankan waters. The Fisheries Ministry quoted the EPDP leader Devananda as having told fisheries sector trade unions, at separate meetings held at his ministry that the Indian fishing fleet would be prevented from entering Sri Lankan waters before the end of 2021. Trade union representatives were accompanied by former lawmaker Nihal Galappaththi. The assurance was given in the wake of fisheries trade unions complaining about Indian poaching and continuing harassment of Sri Lankan trawlers by the Indian Coast Guard when entering the Arabian sea via the Indian Ocean. Minister Devananda explained steps taken by him to bring the situation under control. Claiming that he had held more than four rounds of talks with India, Minister Devananda said the talks meant to reach a consensus in that regard were continuing. Pointing out that the northern fishing community had been the worst affected due to unbridled Indian poaching, Minister Devananda said that the impact would be devastating.



The Minister said that during his visit to New Delhi with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa last year, they had reached a consensus with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in that regard. However, it had not been possible to implement what was agreed upon due to outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. Minister assured that once the ongoing Indian elections were over, he would seek Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardenas assistance having received instructions from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa to address the long-standing issue. The minister said that pending finalisation of the proposed solution, illegal bottom-trawling had been prohibited and the Navy issued instructions to arrest those violating Sri Lankan waters. However, a week ago, Minister Devananda said that he proposed to introduce a licence system under which Indian fishermen would be allowed to catch fish in the northern waters. They would be able to engage in fishing under tough conditions and controls, the former militant said. In a statement issued by the ministry, the EPDP leader was quoted as having said that Sri Lanka could collect substantial revenue by issuing licenses to Indian fishermen and the project could be implemented under the supervision of the Navy.
Jamalpur: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday (April 9) launched a scathing attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah and accused him of trying to incite violence in the state. The Trinamool Congress supremo stated that she will urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to control Shah first and claimed that she would be killed for speaking these in public.

"I have not seen such a 'gunda' (gangster), 'dangabaaz' (rioteer) home minister in my entire life. Amit Shah is more dangerous than a tiger. People fear to talk to him. I will urge PM Narendra Modi to control Amit Shah first. He is inciting riots here," PTI quoted Mamata as saying while addressing a rally in Memari in Purba Bardhaman district.

Mamata had earlier accused the central police forces of working at the behest of Amit Shah following which the Election Commission of India (ECI) show-caused her. "This election is to stop people from turning Bengal into another Gujarat. This election is to protect the women, mothers and sisters of Bengal, to protect the youths of our land," she said.

She charged the Union Home Minister with planning the attack on Girindra Nath Barman, the TMC nominee for the Mathabhanga seat in North Bengal. "Amit Shah has planned this attack. He is trying to incite riot so that law and order here (Bengal) is compromised. They (BJP) are doing this because they are losing the elections. "I know that you will plan to kill me because I am speaking all these. You have injured my foot and you will plan to kill me. But I do not care. I will live life like a tigress till the last day of my life," she said.

Live TV

Mamata suffered a foot injury after a fall while campaigning in her constituency Nandigram on March 10. Since then, she is seeking votes for her party sitting on a wheelchair. The TMC supremo has been alleging that her injury was the result of a conspiracy hatched by the BJP. However, the Election Commission has concluded that it was an accident and not a planned attack.

(With PTI inputs)
(Natural News) The Aspen Institute Commission on Information (AICI) has been tasked with launching an effort to eliminate misinformation and disinformation from the internet, and none other than billionaire eugenicists Bill Gates and George Soros are funding the operation.

According to reports, numerous key personalities from media, business and government are also on board with the project, which aims to stop all questioning of Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines, fraudulent elections, and other potential show-stoppers to the globalist agenda.

Katie Couric, a fake news icon, is a co-chair of AICI, as is Rashad Robinson, the CEO of the far-left activist group Color of Change. Couric recently suggested during an interview with HBO host Bill Maher that we should deprogram people who were involved with President Donald Trumps cult, while Robinson has been a loud voice in efforts to defund the police.

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs also co-chairs AICI. As you may recall, Krebs declared the 2020 election to be the most secure in history, a comment that was quickly met with criticism from senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials.

Between 2003 and 2020, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has dumped upwards of $105 million into AICI. The Foundation to Promote Open Society and the Open Society Institute, both run by Soros, have together contributed more than $3 million to AICI, according to Foundation Directory Online data.

Dont question experimental vaccines and dont support Donald Trump, say the globalists

Joseph Vasquez of NewsBusters identified other questionable members of AICI that also deserve a mention. Estranged liberal Duke of Sussex Prince Harry is listed, as is Quadrivium Foundation co-founder and president Kathryn Murdoch, the climate activist wife of former Fox News heir and fellow eco-activist James Murdoch.

Quadrivium was listed as a funder behind a leftist organization called Democracy Works, Vasquez further explains. Democracy Works was used to formulate Facebook and Googles 2020 election strategy.

Another member of AICI is former Republican Congressman Will Hurd of Texas, a vehement anti-Trump politician.

The obvious goal of AICIs speech policing plans is to prevent the rise of another populist candidate like Trump who might steer the sheep away from the deep states globalist agenda. AICI also wants to stamp out all talk about Chinese virus injections killing people, or the plandemic itself being a sham.

To prevent total liberal hegemony, America First must build competing institutions and prop up talented individuals who can challenge the oligarchs grand designs, suggests Jose Nino, writing for Big League Politics.

Otherwise, an ineffective response will guarantee a complete consolidation of the liberal regime.

The hilarity of Bill Gates and George Soros claiming to care about protecting the truth against lies did not go unnoticed. Many independent news readers were quick to point out the hypocrisy of these two claiming to be trustworthy sources of guidance on what is true and what is false.

Policing disinformation? Is that some kind of joke? asked one commenter. Coming from Soros and Gates, it ought to be named creating disinformation.'

Others noted that instead of advocating for truth, Gates and Soros will actually be promoting hate and division under the guise of filtering out alleged deception on the internet.

Are these creeps kidding? asked another commenter. THEM fact checking for disinformation? Thats like putting a rapist in charge of couples counseling.

A real zinger came from someone named Phil Cameron who jokingly asked:

What are they going to call it, Snopes?

It is encouraging to see many folks waking up to the sham that is these globalist billionaires. Hopefully this awakening continues to spread.

More related news about the anti-free speech agenda of Bill Gates, George Soros, and other far-left goons can be found at Censorship.news.

Sources for this article include:

BigLeaguePolitics.com

NaturalNews.com
His incredible energy and sense of public duty saw Prince Philip through countless official engagements over the course of his 73-year marriage. Yet it is the unashamedly politically incorrect comments he made on such occasions which attracted most attention. Here is a selection of the most memorable...

ON STATE VISITS

'You look like you're ready for bed!'

To the President of Nigeria, wearing traditional robes, in 2003.

'Do you still throw spears at each other?'

To Aboriginal leader William Brin in Queensland, 2002.

To Aboriginal leader William Brin in Queensland, 2002: 'Do you still throw spears at each other?'

'You managed not to get eaten then?'

To a British student trekking in Papua New Guinea, during an official visit in 1998.

'Aren't most of you descended from pirates?'

In the Cayman Islands, 1994.

'I'll tell you a secret  we're all Christians!'

To the Roman Catholic bishop of Malta in 2015.

To the Roman Catholic bishop of Malta in 2015: 'I'll tell you a secret  we're all Christians!'

ON EUROPE

'I would like to go to Russia very much  although the bastards murdered half my family.'

In 1967, when asked if he would like to visit the Soviet Union.

'It's a vast waste of space.'

To guests at the opening of a new 18m British Embassy in Berlin in 2000.

'You can't have been here that long  you haven't got a pot belly.'

To a British tourist during a tour of Budapest in 1993.

ON SCOTLAND

'How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?'

To a Scottish driving instructor in 1995.

'It looks as though it was put in by an Indian.'

His verdict on a messy-looking fuse box on a tour of a Scottish factory in 1999. He later explained: 'I meant to say cowboys. I just got my cowboys and Indians mixed up.'

ON CHINA

'Ghastly.'

Verdict on Beijing in 1986.

'If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it.'

To a meeting of the World Wildlife Fund in 1986.

'If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes.'

To a British student on a visit to China in 1986.

ON MULTICULTURAL BRITAIN

'There's a lot of your family in tonight.'

After noticing business leader Atul Patel's name badge during a reception for 400 influential British Indians in 2009.

'The Philippines must be half empty  you're all here running the NHS.'

To a Filipino nurse in Luton in 2015.

To a Filipino nurse in Luton in 2015: 'The Philippines must be half empty  you're all here running the NHS'

'Are you all one family?'

Said to mixed-race dance troupe Diversity in 2009.

ON WOMEN

'British women can't cook.'

To the Scottish Women's Institute in 1961.

'Ah, so this is feminist corner then.'

To female Labour MPs in 2000.

'You ARE a woman, aren't you?'

To a Kenyan woman in 1984.

'If it doesn't fart or eat hay, she isn't interested.'

On daughter, Princess Anne.

'When a man opens the car door for his wife, it's either a new car or a new wife.'

On marriage.

'I would get arrested if I unzipped that dress!'

After spotting 25-year-old Hannah Jackson's red dress in Bromley in 2012.

After spotting 25-year-old Hannah Jackson's red dress in Bromley in 2012: 'I would get arrested if I unzipped that dress!'

ON CELEBRITY

'What do you gargle with  pebbles?'

To Tom Jones, after the Royal Variety Performance, 1969.

'Oh, it's you that owns that ghastly car is it? We often see it when driving to Windsor Castle.'

To neighbour Elton John after hearing he had sold his Watford FC-themed Aston Martin in 2001.

'I wish he'd turn the microphone off!'

During Elton's performance at the Royal Variety Show, 2001.

ON FOOD AND DRINK

'Get me a beer. I don't care what kind it is, just get me a beer!'

On being offered fine Italian wines in Rome in 2000.

'Don't feed your rabbits pawpaw fruit  it acts as a contraceptive. Then again, it might not work on rabbits.'

To a Caribbean rabbit breeder in Anguilla in 1994.

'You're too fat to be an astronaut.'

To 13-year-old Andrew Adams who wanted to go into space

To 13-year-old Andrew Adams who wanted to go into space: 'You're too fat to be an astronaut.'

ON CLASS AND MONEY

'People think there's a rigid class system here, but dukes have been known to marry chorus girls. Some have even married Americans.'

Speaking in 2000  18 years before his grandson Harry married Meghan Markle.

'If you travel as much as we do you appreciate the improvements in aircraft design of less noise and more comfort - provided you don't travel in something called economy class, which sounds ghastly.'

To the Aircraft Research Association in 2002.

'Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they're unemployed.'

During the 1981 recession.

We go into the red next year ... I shall have to give up polo.

On the Royal Family's finances in 1969.

ON ART

'It looks like the kind of thing my daughter would bring back from her school art lessons.'

On an exhibition of 'primitive' Ethiopian art in 1965.

ON THE PRESS

'Just take the f***ing picture!'

At an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

At an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain: 'Just take the f***ing picture!'

'You have mosquitoes. I have the Press.'

To the matron of a hospital in the Caribbean.
In a rare sentencing enhancement allowed for hate crimes, a Kendall County man received a 45-year prison term for knifing a Black man in the face and threatening to rape the children of the Hispanic officer who arrested him.

James Chester Kemp, 30, had been convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and harassment of a public servant after a three-day trial in January.

Kemp was 28 when he was arrested for assaulting Ferrill Delano Miller, 53, the manager at a Churchs Fried Chicken restaurant in Boerne, in January 2019.

Testimony established that Kemp called Miller a racial slur and threatened to kill him before slashing him in a brutal attack that required 16 stitches. The harassment charge was added for threatening the arresting officers.

State District Judge Kristen Cohoon sentenced Kemp on Tuesday after determining that the assault had been motivated by bias or prejudice because of Millers race. Kemp got 45 years for stabbing Miller and 10 years for making the threats, to be served concurrently.

On ExpressNews.com: Officials, Asian American group speak out on hate crimes

According to reports, Boerne police responded to a disturbance call at the restaurant. A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper arrived first and found the injured Miller. Officers searched the area around a motel on Interstate 10 where witnesses had spotted the assailant. Kemp was located nearby, on Christus Parkway, and taken into custody.

Miller testified that Kemp, who is homeless, had been hanging around the eatery that day, harassing people outside, Miller told Kemp he had to leave, which led to Kemp making threats and then attacking, said Erica Matlock, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, on Friday.

Officer Ricardo Gomez Jr. transported Kemp to the Boerne Police Department, where Kemp said he was mentally ill, asked for a mental evaluation and predicted he would soon be released. Kemp was verbally abusive to all the officers but hurled racial slurs and threats at the nonwhite officers, police reports stated.

When a detective arrived to interview him, Kemp became uncooperative and demanded to speak to a white officer. Gomez then turned on his voice recorder to capture the racial slurs.

While being booked, Kemp used an expletive and called Gomez a Mexican pig, the report states.

On ExpressNews.com: COVID froze the machinery of justice - now, in-person jury trials could resume in June

He spat on my back and stated he was going to rape my children upon his release, Gomez wrote in his report. Kemp continuously repeated the same comments and serious threats to hurt my family.

Before sentencing, Matlock pointed to Kemps lengthy criminal history across numerous states, which included a prison sentence in Arizona for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His parole in that case was revoked because he did not comply with its requirements, she said.

Top hits: Get San Antonio Express-News stories sent directly to your inbox

Matlock also presented testimony from Gomez, who said he would not feel that his young children would be safe if Kemp was released.

Kemp has been a threat to the citizens of Kendall County for years, and many other counties before that, Matlock said in a statement released Thursday.

While we recognize the need for mental health compassion and treatment, we will not tolerate it as an excuse for violence against our citizens or our law enforcement.

Because of his previous felony conviction, Kemps punishment range for threats to the officer was two to 20 years. Because of the hate crime finding in Millers attack, he faced 5 to 99 years or life in prison for the assault charge.

Kemp will have to serve more than 22 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.

To establish motive for a hate crime, prosecutors have to go into the mindset of the person, said Nick Socias, an assistant district attorney in Kendall County.

We have to prove a bias or prejudice, he said, and Kemp had a prior history of making comments, and this case is a good example where the evidence helped in this way.

ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863
We've heard the announcement by the Tourism Ministry that cultural workers are to get priority access to vaccines and travel exemptions.
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
COLUMBIA  South Carolina's largest health care system terminated its agreement to purchase competing hospitals in Columbia and Camden.

Prisma Health and Tennessee-based LifePoint Health  owner of Providence Health hospitals in Columbia, KershawHealth in Camden and an emergency room in Fairfield County  entered a preliminary purchase agreement in March 2020. But the deal was plagued by legal challenges, causing the companies to call it quits April 9.

"While both parties anticipated that the acquisition would have a complex regulatory path, significant delays and challenges with the Federal Trade Commission and state regulatory authorities have made it prohibitive to move forward," the hospitals said in a joint statement.

Had the purchase been finalized, it would have taken the Columbia area down to two hospital systems  Prisma and Lexington Medical Center. And it would have made the state's largest system even larger, taking it to 3,263 patient beds across its Midlands and Upstate footprint, according to S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control data.

By comparison, the Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina  the second-largest provider in the Palmetto State, has half that number, with 1,600 beds across its system, according to its website.

It was Prisma and Providences competitor, Lexington Medical, that filed suit in S.C. Administrative Law Court, attempting to block the sale by alleging state regulators did not give it a proper review.

Sign up for our Columbia business and real estate newsletter. Get all the latest industry happenings from the Midlands, plus exclusive development news and more in your inbox each week. Email

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In its filings with the court, Prisma revealed that, under the purchase agreement, there was a clause stating the sale must go through by March 2, 2021, or it would lose the deal and $10 million in down payments. It was not clear from the hospitals joint statement whether that earnest money was forfeited.

Prisma had sought to shield itself from the stricter scrutiny of antitrust regulations and legal actions through a process called Certificate of Public Advantage, or COPA, which allows states to carve out exceptions to federal laws governing monopolies and business competition. The companies instead submit an annual report and make concessions to the state, which are often less heavy handed.

The Midlands arm of Prisma Health currently operates under a COPA formed in the 1990s when Baptist Hospital and Richland Memorial Hospital were joined to form Palmetto Health. Prisma wanted its purchase of the LifePoint hospitals simply to be added to that original COPA.

Buying Providence Health locations would have bolstered Prisma as it faces stiffer competition from rival hospital systems in the fast growing northeast sector of Columbia. Lexington Medical Center, which before now had stayed within the bounds of Lexington County, cut the ribbon on a new $80 million northeast medical center on March 9.

In the ongoing battle for market share, Lexington Medical faces legal challenges of its own, from Providence Health, that have prevented it from opening an outpatient surgery center and permanent MRI unit in its new location. Providence argues those services aren't needed, and therefore do not meet the state's legal threshold requiring a show of necessity, because its own northeast facility already provides them.

Lexington Medical Center declined to comment on the termination of the purchase deal between its competitors.
MADRID  Theyre often in darkened, cavelike spaces, with a stage nestled among patrons tables and chairs. These small clubs, called tablaos, have acted as a springboard for generations of flamenco artists in Spain to launch professional careers, much in the way that many jazz musicians first came to the publics attention in the clubs of cities like New Orleans.

But that intimate setup, designed to pack the audience close to the stage, has left most tablaos unable to reopen even after Spain lifted its most severe pandemic lockdown restrictions last summer. The situation has created an existential struggle for these cherished institutions at the heart of a national art form.

Juan Manuel del Rey, the president of the national association of tablaos, said that if the government didnt step in with more financial support, We are now heading for extinction.

You cannot function economically when you have almost more employees and artists than spectators, he said.




Haiti - News : Zapping...





Remarks by President Moise

"We put forward all kinds of alibis to continue to fuel our internal disputes without finding a single reason for dialogue. A meeting around a table is often more fruitful than all the useless and destructive violence," President Jovenel Moise



Transporting poles difficult

The electricity poles that will be used for the construction of the electricity distribution network in downtown Abricot (Grand'Anse) have arrived in Bonbon (April 8, 2021). Due to the difficult access road, they will soon be transported on other trucks to Abricot.



The OAS supports the PNH

Leon Charles, Director General a.i of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) spoke with Cristo Dupouy, the Special Representative of the Organization of American States (OAS) about possible collaborations. Cristo Dupouy reiterated his support for the PNH in its work to reduce the influence of gangs and organized crime in Haiti.



15th Council of Government

Wednesday Joseph Jouthe chaired his 15th Council of Government where the emphasis was on cohesion, communication around the referendum and the elections. "I appeal to the attention of ministers to respect the guidelines given for the implementation of policies and the pursuit of priorities," Said Jouthe.



USA : "Prolonged pre-trial detention, a serious problem for Haiti"

The United States agrees with the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) that "prolonged pretrial detention is a serious problem for Haiti". Haiti needs an independent and functional judicial system capable of putting an end to this crisis. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33408-haiti-justice-detainees-in-haiti-at-the-gates-of-hell.html



Delmas : towards a benchmark municipality

As part of the road sanitation project, the municipal administration of Delmas was able to complete the paving of the streets at Delmas 75, Puits Blain; impasse Lanau, Rue Emil Roumer, impasse Verna Jean-Charles, 1st and 2nd rue de la Grand-Anse ect... [...] Mayor Wilson Jeudy continues to work in order to provide the country with a town which meets certain standards of international urbanization, a reference municipality which arouses hope in young people while bringing substantial economic and social benefits both in the municipality and in the national economy in general," informs the Town Hall of Delmas.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Another potentially dangerous blood condition has been spotted in a handful of patients given the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, the EU's drug watchdog has announced.

The European Medicines Authority (EMA) said five cases of capillary leak syndrome had been reported in vaccinated patients on the continent.

The rare condition sees blood leak from tiny vessels into muscles and body cavities, resulting in a sudden drop in blood pressure. If left untreated, it can cause organ failure.

Data suggests the UK's regulator, the MHRA, had spotted three cases of capillary leak syndrome out of 20million people given the AstraZeneca vaccine by late March.

It is another blow for the British-made jab, which has been restricted for certain age groups in various countries around the world, including under-30s in Britain, after reports of rare blood clots in the brain and abdomen.

Officials insisted there is still no evidence the jab causes the blood conditions and stressed the benefits of vaccination far outweighed the risk.

Meanwhile, the EMA revealed it is also reviewing reports of rare clots involving Johnson and Johnson's Covid vaccine, which uses the same technology as AstraZeneca's.

Four serious cases of rare blood clots with low platelets were detected in people vaccinated with the jab, one of which died.

In the US, four clinics have had to pause J&J vaccinations, after eight people suffered 'adverse reactions' in the latest crisis, coming at a site in Cummings, Georgia.

Officials did not specify what types of reactions the eight people had to the shot, but said they were 'consistent with common reactions in adults being vaccinated with any vaccine,' and cited the number of cases as the trigger for the pause.

However, the eight people who had reactions were among 425 people who got the J&J shot at that site and, ostensibly, did not have any noticeable reactions.

The same thing has happened at clinics in three other states this week.

J&J vaccinations have now resumed at a Colorado site that reported 11 people had had bad reactions to the one-dose vaccine and two were taken to hospitals on Wednesday, as well as at a North Carolina site where 18 people had reactions. Four were taken to hospitals.

'The reactions people experienced today were consistent with known common side effects from receiving the vaccine,' Wake County officials said in a statement about the adverse reactions at PNC Arena in Raleigh.

Georgia officials said in a statement that there was a similar incident in Iowa, but no details have been released there.

The J&J jab, made by the US-firm's Belgium arm Janssen, had been earmarked by UK officials for young people because it is given as a single dose.

The vaccine has been approved in the EU and was due to be rolled out in the coming months. It is currently under review by the UK's medicines watchdog and the UK Government has ordered 30million doses.

The EMA has said that 'at this stage, it is not yet clear whether there is a causal association' between either vaccines and the reported conditions.

J&J said that it was aware of the reports of blood clots and is working with regulators to assess the data and provide relevant information.

'At present, no clear causal relationship has been established between these rare events and the Janssen Covid vaccine,' the company said in a statement.

The European Medicines Authority said five cases of capillary leak syndrome had been reported in people given the AstraZeneca vaccine

The EMA revealed it is also reviewing reports of rare clots involving Johnson and Johnson's Covid vaccine, which uses the same technology as AstraZeneca

It comes as Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 shot was paused at the PNC Arena site (pictured) in Raleigh, North Carolina after 18 people had adverse reactions on Thursday. Four have been taken to area hospitals

Furthermore, a scientist advising the Government said today any blod clots associated with the J&J vaccine are 'extraordinarily rare events'.

The jab , also known as Janssen, is yet to be approved for use in the UK, but the Government has ordered 30 million doses.

Professor Peter Openshaw, a member of the Covid-19 clinical information network, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We still don't know whether they are directly related and caused by the vaccine but it seems possible that they could be.

'It wouldn't be surprising to find the J&J, the Janssen vaccine, also causes rare blood clots because it's based on an adenovirus technology which is not that far away from the technology being used in the AstraZeneca vaccine.'

Asked if he is concerned it could undermine public confidence in coronavirus jabs, Prof Openshaw said: 'These are extraordinarily rare events and there is no medicine that is going to be completely free of side effects but this is on the scale of the risk of adverse outcome you would expect if you get into a car and drive 250 miles, and many of us wouldn't blink before taking that risk.'

Stacey Beard, a spokesperson at the Raleigh site, also told WRAL that about 2,000 shots a day had been given out at the site, and only a 'handful' of the J&J shots it gave resulted in adverse reactions.

Generally, the shot is thought to have a milder side effect profile compared to vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna.

Similarly, the reactions at the Colorado clinic represented less than one percent of the 1,300 shots it was giving a day.

Both AstraZeneca and the J&J vaccines are viral vector types, which use a weakened version of a different virus to deliver instructions to human cells.

So far over 20 million AstraZeneca jabs have been given out in the UK, and 5 million J&J vaccinations in the US.

They tell the cells to produce a harmless piece of Covid, known as a spike protein, so the body can recognise it if the real virus infects them.

WHAT IS CAPILLARY LEAK SYNDROME? Capillary leak syndrome, also known as Clarkson's disease, sees blood leak from tiny vessels into muscles and body cavities. This can result in a sudden drop in blood pressure and, if left untreated, organ failure. Initial symptoms may include fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain and extreme thirst. The condition is extremely rare and thought to affect just one in a million people a year, according to the US National Institutes of Health. In most cases the cause is not known, but some people have reported having a viral infection before the episode. Patients are treated with an infusion of fluids or blood medications. Advertisement

Scientists are interested in whether the clotting issues are related to the engineered spike protein specifically, a senior SAGE source said today.

This could explain why clotting conditions have been widely reported in people who catch the real coronavirus.

However, the SAGE member said this would not account for why clotting issues have not been linked to the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Those vaccines use different technology to deliver the genetic instruction to the cells but they also trigger the body to make and recognise spike proteins.

Meanwhile, it was claimed today AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine may also be restricted for under-40s when Britain's immunisation drive moves down to younger groups.

Medical watchdogs will assess data on the jab's links to extremely rare blood clots in 'scrupulous detail' in order to paint a clearer picture on the exact risk-benefit ratio.

They have already advised 18 to 29 year olds are given an alternative to the UK-made jab because their odds of falling seriously ill with Covid are so small that the benefits of AstraZeneca's do not clearly outweigh the potential clot risks.

Analysis of the UK vaccine rollout has found that younger people appear more prone to clotting after vaccination but there is no set cut-off age. Experts have told MailOnline there is a 'gradual age gradient of risk'.

Professor Jeremy Brown, a member of the JCVI, which advises No10 on jabs, told the Daily Telegraph: 'We're going to start vaccinating phase two healthy adults, starting with the 40 to 50-year-olds, and then we'll go to the 30 to 40-year-olds.

'When we are approaching that point we'll need to think about this a little bit more to be absolutely sure at what point in that age cut-off  given the situation we are facing at that time, and any more data that comes through on this rare complication, because more data will come through  then that might alter the age range.'

GPs have warned the announcements this week have unintentionally caused 'panic' and sparked a wave of cancellations for the AstraZeneca jab.

Doctors in Nottingham and Peterborough said they had also been inundated with calls from concerned patients who have already had their first dose.

Statisticians insist the risk of under-30s developing blood clots from AstraZeneca's jab is so tiny that if Wembley stadium was filled with people in the age group, only one would be struck down.

Britons still back the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine - as 75 per cent tell pollsters (pictured) they consider it to be safe

For older adults, the risk of blood clots is even smaller - but their risk of dying from Covid is much higher, meaning the risks versus benefits swings heavily in favour of vaccination.

The move to recommend under-30s get a different jab does not mean it is unsafe for young people, with neither the UK's drug regulator or the EU's ordering the jab to be banned for certain age groups.

But both acknowledge cases of blood clots from the life-saving jab appear to be occurring slightly more often in younger adults.

EU nations - who have been embroiled in a stand-off with AstraZeneca for months - have defied guidance based on statistical analysis showing the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risks of the vast majority of adults. Germany has halted the jab for under-60s, while France has made the same move for under-55s.

France and Germany have both advised younger adults already given AstraZeneca's jab should get a second dose of Pfizer or Moderna's - taking the opposite stance to British counter-parts.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) today said there was 'no adequate data' on switching doses. The UK is currently trialling this dosing regimen, and scientists say it is likely to be safe and effective but results are not expected until later in the year.

Amid fears the guidance could scupper the UK's vaccination roll-out, which is heavily reliant on AstraZeneca's jab, ministers yesterday sought to dismiss blood clot fears. Health Secretary Matt Hancock compared the risk of blood clots overall - one in 250,000 - to taking a long-haul flight.

Nottingham GP partner Dr Irfan Malik told Pulse Magazine the new advice 'created panic' among patients.

He said: 'Patients and the public have become very concerned about the risk of clots with the Astra Zeneca vaccine  they are declining to have it. I'm afraid this has been badly managed and stopping the under-30s from having the vaccine has alarmed the public.

'The changes have led to a substantial increase in calls to practices creating a further huge increase in workload.'

Peterborough GP Neil Modha said the vaccine hesitancy was not just exclusive to under-30s, adding: 'It's not just under-30s who are calling, the person who I just spoke to was 53, so it's just general increased anxiety unfortunately about the vaccine programme.

'And then people have been signposted to their GPs for conversations and they're not easy and simple conversations, you need to give people time and space to have them.'

But polls show 75 per cent of the public still consider the jab to be safe.

Professor Anthony Harnden, the deputy chairman of the JCVI, said the public 'should remain confident' in the vaccine programme despite the changes to guidance.

He stressed to The Telegraph that the link with blood clots was a 'very, very rare, extremely rare safety signal'. However, he said the new advice that those under 30 should be offered an alternative to AstraZeneca  is unlikely to change.

Professor Harnden said his team was poring over data for other groups and that they will have a 'much more clear' view a by the time the programme moves to thirty-somethings.

Any decision to restrict AstraZeneca jabs to adults in their thirties could damage the UK's roll-out.

Ministers insist there is enough doses of Moderna and Pfizer to cover the remaining 8.5million under-30s who have yet to be jabbed.

But estimates suggest there is around 10million adults in the 30-39 age bracket - and most won't have been offered their first dose yet.

No10 has bought 40million doses of Pfizer's jab, but is rationing it for second doses to ensure the 11million people already given their first dose get their top-up within 12 weeks.

Britain has also purchased 17million doses of Moderna's vaccine. It means that if the UK was to completely reserve supplies, there would be enough of the alternatives for around 17.5million people - similar to how many under-40s still need to be jabbed.

But there is no guarantee all the supplies will come by July 31 - the date ministers have set for offering every adult their first dose.

Other jabs, including ones made by Novavax and Johnson and Johnson, are set to come on stream in the coming months, which could provide the roll-out a much-needed boost in the face of any other age-restrictions on AstraZeneca's.

The rashes people claim occurred after receiving the AstraZeneca jab Mild side effects have been common from all of the Covid vaccines approved so far, including AstraZeneca's. The Anglo-Swedish firm acknowledges that its shot can cause a host of symptoms that are usually nothing to worry about. The most common are pain, itchiness and bruising around the injection site, tiredness, chills, headaches, nausea and joint pain. But number of people have reported suffering sore rashes after getting the shot and shared images of the painful blotches on social media. Britain's drug regulator lists rashes as an 'uncommon' side-effect of the AstraZeneca jab  affecting up to one in 100 people  and has recorded 3,795 cases so far. Experts say the rashes, or any mild side effects, are actually a good thing, signalling that a person's immune system is responding to the vaccine. However, they warn that if symptoms persist for more than four days then people should seek urgent medical care. Leigh King, a 41-year-old hairdresser from North Lanarkshire, said her skin erupted into rashes almost immediately after she got the AstraZeneca vaccine Advertisement

Johnson & Johnson vaccinations are paused at North Carolina site after 18 people have 'adverse reactions' and four are hospitalized following similar reactions at Colorado site

ByNatalie Rahhal U.S. Health Editor

Vaccinations with Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 shot have been paused at a North Carolina site after 18 people had adverse reactions on Thursday. Four have been taken to area hospitals.

'The reactions people experienced today were consistent with known common side effects from receiving the vaccine,' Wake County officials said in a statement about the adverse reactions at PNC Arena in Raleigh.

The site stopped giving the J&J shot for the day 'out of an abundance of caution.'

Officials from Wake County, where Raleigh is located, are consulting with the state health department to decide how the clinic's vaccination program should proceed, according to local outlet CBS17.

Wake County said it will announce 'guidance' about its use in the coming hours after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experts assess the lot.

It was not immediately clear what types of reactions the 'number' of people suffered following the shot, and the Wake County Health Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Just hours earlier, a similar incident forced a Colorado clinic to shut down. Eleven people suffered adverse reactions 'such as nausea and dizziness' at a pop-up vaccination site at a Dick's Sporting Goods in Commerce City and two had to be hospitalized.

Vaccinations with Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 shot have been paused at the PNC Arena site (pictured) in Raleigh, North Carolina after 18 people had adverse reactions on Thursday. Four have been taken to area hospitals

Just hours earlier, a similar incident forced a Colorado clinic to shut down. Eleven people suffered adverse reactions 'such as nausea and dizziness' at a pop-up vaccination site at a Dick's Sporting Goods in Commerce City (pictured) and two had to be hospitalized

It's worth noting, however, that the Raleigh site gives up to about 2,000 shots a day, and only a 'handful' of the J&J shots it gave resulted in adverse reactions, spokesperson Stacey Beard told WRAL.

Similarly, the reactions at the Colorado clinic represented less than one percent of the 1,300 shots it was giving a day.

So far, more than 4.5 million Americans have received J&J's one-dose vaccine.

Generally, the shot is thought to have a milder side effect profile compared to vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna.

Side effects are to be expected with any vaccine, but it comes at a tense time for Johnson & Johnson's vaccine.

Earlier this week, 15 million doses of the shot had to be thrown out because a manufacturing plant in Baltimore, Maryland used an ingredient meant for AstraZeneca's vaccine - which it was also producing at the time - in the shots.

U.S. officials assured Americans that shipments of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine shipped this week and last were not affected, however.

A New York Times report last week revealed that workers at an Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore, which produced both AstraZeneca Plc and J&J doses, mixed up ingredients of the two vaccines, ruining 15 million J&J doses.

The Baltimore facility has not been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and a federal health official told Reuters last week that none of the vaccine doses from the plant have been used in vaccination efforts so far.

The Colorado pop-up vaccination site also shut down after 11 people suffered reactions to the Johnson & Johnson shot, 'such as nausea and dizziness,' said a spokesperson for Centura Health, which oversees the clinic.

CDC and local officials are investigating the reactions, which accounted for less than one percent of vaccinations at each site 'out of an abundance of caution.'

By Thursday evening, officials concluded that the reactions in Colorado were not signs of anything worrying about the vaccine.

'After reviewing each patient's symptoms, analyzing other vaccinations from the same lot of the vaccine and speaking with the CDC to confirm our findings, we are confident in saying that there is no reason for concern,' said Dr Eric France, chief medical officer at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

'We are committed to making sure every community clinic is well-staffed with medical professionals who take patient safety with the utmost seriousness, just as they did at yesterday's clinic.'

The investigation at the Raleigh clinic is still ongoing.
National Rifle Association boss Wayne LaPierre says he hasn't sent any emails or texts in the course of his work running the nation's most politically influential gun-rights group because he is old fashioned.

LaPierre's testimony this week during the NRA's high-stakes bankruptcy trial offered a rare window into the work and habits of the notoriously secretive titan of the American firearms movement.

Seldom seen in public outside choreographed speeches and TV appearances, the 71-year-old was blunt and occasionally combative under lawyers' questioning.

He took the virtual witness stand in a federal case over whether the NRA should be allowed to incorporate in Texas instead of New York, where the state is suing in a separate effort to disband the group over alleged financial abuses.

LaPierre's testimony revealed him to be an embattled executive defending his leadership and punching back against what he characterized as a political attack by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Wayne LaPierre's testimony this week during the NRA's bankruptcy trial offered a rare window into the work and habits of the notoriously secretive titan of the American firearms movement

But he also tried to acknowledge enough mistakes and course corrections to avoid having the NRA's reins handed to a court-appointed overseer - a move he said would be a death blow to the 150-year-old group that claims 5 million members.

The NRA declared bankruptcy in January, five months after James' office sued seeking its dissolution over allegations that executives illegally diverted tens of millions of dollars for lavish personal trips, no-show contracts and other questionable expenditures.

The NRA contends that its Chapter 11 filing is a legitimate maneuver to facilitate a move to a more gun-friendly state, Texas, and was made necessary by a Democratic politician who has 'weaponized' her state's government. Lawyers for James' office, meanwhile, say it's an attempt by NRA leadership to escape accountability for using the group's coffers as their piggybank.

LaPierre appeared on camera before a court in Dallas on Wednesday and Thursday and was grilled by lawyers for New York and Ackerman McQueen, an Oklahoma City-based advertising agency that says the NRA owes it more than $1 million.

The questioning has focused on LaPierre's management of the NRA and the legitimacy of his filing for bankruptcy without first informing most of the groups top executives and its board.

On Wednesday, a lawyer for New York asked why the state's investigation had turned up no emails or text messages from LaPierre.

'I'm old fashioned,' he replied. 'I haven't sent any emails or texts.'

LaPierre's testimony this week during the NRA's high-stakes bankruptcy trial offered a rare window into the work and habits of the notoriously secretive titan of the American firearms movement

LaPierre is shown in the 2014 docu-series Under the Skies with an animal he has just killed

The allegations of financial abuses and mismanagement have roiled the NRA and threatened LaPierres grip on power. Political infighting spilled out in public during the NRA's 2019 annual meeting, where its then-president Oliver North was denied a second term. Tensions also eventually led to the departure of a man who'd been seen as LaPierre's likely successor, Chris Cox, who headed the groups lobbying arm.

To be sure, its not unusual for chief executives of organizations the size of the NRA to travel by private plane or live lifestyles beyond the means of most people. But LaPierres alleged misspending of NRA membership dues came even as the group was urging supporters to donate so that it would have enough cash to battle gun control efforts.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing the NRA. While the bankruptcy hearing goes on, her case is on pause

Board members and former NRA leaders who support LaPierre didn't respond to requests for comment or referred questions to the NRA. Others who are skeptical of LaPierres leadership said the trial has only reaffirmed their concerns.

'Im looking for the next Wayne,' said Phillip Journey, a board member and Kansas judge who is set to testify during the trial next week. 'This cant go on forever.'

LaPierre said Thursday that he kept the bankruptcy secret from the full board because he was worried that someone on it would leak the plan. 'We were very concerned,' he testified.

He also said he was within his authority to file for bankruptcy with only the assent of the boards three-member special litigation committee, he attacked James and New York's financial regulator as 'corrupt,' and he repeatedly strayed beyond the bounds of yes or no questioning to defend his record.

LaPierre's efforts to explain his actions led to opposing lawyers moving to strike from the record much of what he said after nearly every question. He occasionally raised his voice and his expansive answers drew repeated warnings from his own attorneys and the judge.

'Can you answer the questions that are asked and do you understand that Ive said that to you more than a dozen times in the last two days?' Judge Harlin Hale asked LaPierre on Thursday.

'I understand your honor,' he replied. 'I apologize if Ive gone too long.'

LaPierre also, however, showed moments of regret and referred repeatedly to the NRA's 'self-correction.'

For instance, he defended summer sailing in the Bahamas on a large yacht he borrowed from a Hollywood producer who has done business with the NRA. LaPierre said the family trips were a 'security retreat,' noting that some came as he was facing threats months after mass shootings.

But he acknowledged that not mentioning the voyages on conflict-of-interest forms - which New Yorks lawsuit contends violated NRA policy - was an oversight.

'I believe now that it should have been disclosed,' he testified. 'Its one of the mistakes Ive made.'
2 1 of 2 Transwestern Real Estate Services Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Transwestern Real Estate Services Show More Show Less



WeWork has hired Transwestern Real Estate Services to help the fill nearly 300,000 square feet of space across its four Houston properties. The global workplace provider is targeting larger tenants, businesses that need anywhere from 1,000 to 60,000 square feet of space.

Houston-based Transwestern will support WeWork's leasing efforts for 298,751 square feet in downtown's 609 Main, the Jones Building at 708 Main, Galleria Office Tower I at 2700 Post Oak Blvd. and 1725 Hughes Landing in The Woodlands.
As we reflect on a year of great change and volatility, we should take time to evaluate the organizations that thrived and those that did not. Obviously, some that did not, or will not, survive are in industries like hospitality that had no chance, but for those in other industries, how well did they adapt and what was the common denominator?

While COVID-19 required organizations to innovate, respond, and react all the while protecting themselves from new threats, it wasnt the only story. We saw some of the worst breaches in history. We dealt with political turmoil and an uprising against racial injustice all while battling a global pandemic. Some organizations fared well and some, not so much.

What set them apart? It starts with leadership. Not leadership in the sense of guiding a companys vision or strategy. I am referring to leaders that understand change management and recognize the need for turnaround strategies to help an organization respond to challenges in order to grow.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office has arrested a suspect accused in a Marrero stabbing that left a man critically injured Wednesday evening.

Cody Cheramie, 23, of New Orleans, was booked with attempted second-degree murder, said Capt. Jason Rivarde, a Sheriff's Office spokesman.

The stabbing occurred just before 7 p.m. at a residence in the 2700 block of Russell Drive in the West Bank's Estelle neighborhood, according to authorities. The victim, a 20-year-old man, suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to the hospital.

The Sheriff's Office has not released any details about the suspected motive for the stabbing. Authorities also have not said how Cheramie allegedly knows the victim.

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Cheramie was taken into custody just before 5 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of Manhattan Boulevard and the West Bank Expressway in Harvey, Rivarde said.

Man hospitalized after Marrero stabbing Wednesday, JPSO says The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office is investigating a stabbing that left one man wounded Wednesday night.

Bond was set at $250,000 on the attempted murder charge. But Cheramie was being held without bond at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on two counts of parole violation.

Cheramie was sentenced to two years in prison in November 2019 after pleading guilty to two counts of simple burglary, residence burglary and communicating false information about an arson plan, according to Jefferson Parish court records.
New Delhi, April 10 : The Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' has launched 'NanoSniffer', a microsensor-based explosive trace detector (ETD) developed by NanoSniff Technologies which will help to detect a wide range of military, commercial and home-made explosives threats.

The NanoSniffer can detect explosives in less than 10 seconds. It identifies and categorises explosives into different classes. It detects all classes of military, conventional and home-made explosives giving visible and audible alerts with sunlight-readable colour display, said an official statement on Friday.

The Minister said, "NanoSniffer is a 100 per cent 'Made in India' product. The core technology of NanoSniffer is protected by patents in the United States and Europe.

This device will reduce India's dependency on imported explosive trace detector devices. It will also encourage other institutions, startups and medium-scale industries to research and develop products indigenously. It's a perfect example of a lab to market product," It has successfully passed Pune-based DRDO's High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) testing, and has also been tested by the country's elite counter-terror force National Security Guard (NSG), according to an official statement.

It has been developed by NanoSniff ATechnologies, an IIT Bombay incubated startup and has been marketed by Vehant Technologies.

"Given the constant threats, which our nation faces due to geo-political realities, explosives and contraband detection has become a norm at high-security locations like airports, railways and Metro stations, hotels, malls, and other public places," the Minister added.

V Ramgopal Rao, Director of IIT Delhi and Chairman of NanoSniff Technologies on the occasion said, "NanoSniffer's launch is a step towards achieving the government's dream of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. With the development of this product, IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi along with their offshoot companies are making a sincere effort to boost the nation's security with highly reliable and affordable indigenous products."
So far 168 Oregonians have tested positive for the coronavirus despite being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, leaving 19 hospitalized and three dead -- figures so small that officials said they were good news.

The case count means that of the 700,000 people who reached full immunity, just 0.024% got infected anyway.

This shows the vaccines are working really well, said Dr. Melissa Sutton, the Oregon Health Authoritys medical director for respiratory viral diseases. All of those numbers are good news.

While coronavirus vaccines are proven to be effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths among those who do get infected, no vaccine is foolproof. Sutton was not surprised by the death and hospitalization counts, either.

They are, of course, unfortunate, Sutton said. But the numbers were not more than we would have expected.

State officials calculated the number of so-called breakthrough cases among Oregonians who had reached full immunity, which comes two weeks after a final vaccine dose. Officials track the cases because they could point to dangerous mutations of the virus.

Its unclear how many, if any, of the breakthrough cases Oregon announced were caused by virus variants, Sutton said, though none of them are known to be.

State officials said many of the people with identified breakthrough cases reported no symptoms and were tested for other reasons, such as care-facility workers who must be screened at least once a month.

None of the three deaths was tied to a variant, the state said. The states information is current through April 2.

Oregon has now identified 294 cases driven by variants the federal government is concerned about. But the health authority has detailed case data for only 23.

Thats because the state identified the other 271 variant cases before federal health officials said those specific versions of the virus had to be monitored closely. As a result, at the time Oregon discovered those variants it didnt check whether the people infected with them had been vaccinated.

Oregons disclosure Thursday makes it at least the seventh state publishing breakthrough case numbers. Officials initially denied a records request from The Oregonian/OregonLive for the data.

Lawmakers said the state should reveal how many such cases health investigators identified. They also criticized the state for hiding behind a law allowing officials to conceal any health investigation information they want, with a bill pending in the legislature to improve transparency.

Sutton said the agency will continue to update numbers about breakthrough cases once a month.

-- Fedor Zarkhin
Hyderabad, April 9 : Amid an ongoing row over use of loudspeakers for Azan, an eminent Islamic scholar and All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) leader Moulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani has suggested that if an area has many mosques, external loudspeakers be used for Azan from one big mosque.

In a series of tweets on Friday, the spokesman and acting general secretary of AIMPLB called for adopting self-regulation in use of loudspeakers for Azan or call for prayers and stressed the need for taking every care as per the Islamic teachings to ensure that no one is inconvenienced.

Rehmani said while the Muslim community should fight against the tirade of communal forces against Azan, it should also make sure that their action is based on moderation as per the Islamic teachings.

"If a mohalla has many mosques, azan should be given on external mike at one big mosque and care should also be taken to ensure that the volume is not too high. It should be enough to reach the people in neighbourhood. In the remaining mosques azan can be given on internal speakers or outside without speakers," he wrote on Twitter in Urdu.

"Care should also be taken in the positioning of loudspeakers that they are not directed towards non-Muslim localities or hospitals so that it causes no inconvenience to others," added Moulana Rehmani, who is founder and director of Islamic seminary Al-Mahad Ul Aali Al-Islami, Hyderabad.

Moulana also clarified that he expressed his opinion in his personal capacity and not as an office bearer of AIMPLB.

He also referred to announcements made from some mosques between Azan and Iqamat (beginning of namaz). "Today, everybody has a mobile phone and hence there is no need for repeated reminders. It is also observed that despite repeated reminders only those people come to mosques who are regular in offering namaz and they don't need repeated reminders." The cleric also advised that speakers installed inside the mosque be used for sermons, 'dars-e-quran', 'dars-e-hadith' and recitation of holy Quran during namaz should be on internal speakers in mosques. Using external speakers for the same is not desirable as this amount to disrespect of holy Quran and religious talk.

Moulana Rahmani said these points should also be kept in mind even during public meetings. Mikes should be used in meetings to the extent required and meetings should be held during the times allotted as per the law.

He said that it's is not correct to think why should we keep our volume low when people of other communities are making noise and high volume is used in marriages and election meetings.

"It's neither correct for us to copy other communities nor our act should be a reaction. We should act keeping in view the Shariat where care has been taken at every step to ensure moderation and to save others from pain." AIMPLB leader's advice assumes significance in view of some recent developments concerning Azan. A court in Goa recently ordered that loudspeakers should not be used for Azan.

The Vice Chancellor of Allahbad University also complained that Azan from a mosque near her residence is disturbing her sleep. Following her complaint, the mosque committee reduced the volume and changed the direction of the loudspeaker.

Karnataka's minister for Haj and Waqf Anand Singh said that there is no need for Azan to be given on loudspeaker throughout the day. He stated that a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Karnataka High Court over the issue of disturbance due to Azan on loudspeakers.
Amazon beat back the unionization drive at its warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., the counting of ballots in the closely watched effort showed on Friday.

A total of 738 workers voted Yes to unionize and 1,798 voted No. There were 76 ballots marked as void and 505 votes were challenged, according to the National Labor Relations Board. The union leading the drive to organize, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said most of the challenges were from Amazon.

About 50 percent of the 5,805 eligible voters at the warehouse cast ballots in the election. Either side needed to receive more than 50 percent of all cast ballots to prevail.

The ballots were counted in random order in the National Labor Relations Boards office in Birmingham, Ala., and the process was broadcast via Zoom to more than 200 journalists, lawyers and other observers.




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As the meeting was in progress and the majority of the members were in favour of adopting the bylaws and holding of polls, a section of the advocates wanted to defer the exercise so as to avoid the polls. (Photo: ANI)

Vijayawada: As lawyers met here, it was a free-for-all. High tension prevailed at the general body meeting of the Andhra Pradesh high court bar association as two groups of advocates engaged in heated arguments, followed by a manhandling that left Bar Council member Ch. Ajay Kumar seriously injured on Thursday.

The bone of contention between the two groups was the model bylaws of the Bar Council. One group backed it so that they could go ahead with elections to the association that was delayed due to Covid-19. Another group wanted to dump the bylaws.

The Bar Association election was held in 2019-2020 and its tenure ended by March 31 last year. Due to the prevalence of Covid-19, no fresh election was held. Bar association secretary P. Raman called a general body meeting at 4 pm on Thursday.

As the meeting was in progress and the majority of the members were in favour of adopting the bylaws and holding of polls, a section of the advocates wanted to defer the exercise so as to avoid the polls.

As per norms, unless the association adopts the model bylaws, its members are not eligible to avail a series of welfare scheme benefits like death-related assistance. The majority of the members are learnt to be keen on adopting the model bylaws.

Bar council member Ajay Kumar was in favour of adopting the model bylaws and was targeted by those who opposed it. He was given the first aid. The meeting was held at the high court advocates canteen premises. The advocates in favour of adoption of common bylaws staged a protest and condemned the assault on Kumar.
Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan has issued a statement stating that he has addressed the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe with the issue regarding the immediate return of all Armenian prisoners of war being illegally kept in Azerbaijan.

The submitted special report concerns the fact that on March 9, 2021, the European Court of Human Rights sent a public notice to the Committee of Ministers, stating that the Government of Azerbaijan isnt observing the periods established by the Court for the return of prisoners of war and is providing the Court with general and limited information.

The report of the Human Rights Defender shows that the behavior of the Azerbaijani authorities grossly violates international requirements by presenting the prisoners of war as terrorists or saboteurs. The report states that all the Armenian servicemen and civilians were captured by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces during the armed conflict, therefore, all of them were captives, need to be released immediately and returned to the homeland, without any political or other precondition.

The Azerbaijani authorities are artificially delaying and politicizing the process, grossly violating the rights of the captives and their families, causing them suffering and sparking tension in society. What is absolutely condemnable is the fact that the Azerbaijani authorities arent announcing the real number of Armenian prisoners of war and are constantly obstructing the search efforts of bodies. The absolute urgency of these issues also needs to be viewed in the context of Azerbaijans state policy on Armenophobia and enmity. The letter addressed to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe presents a detailed analysis of the international requirements for human rights protection, indicates the human rights violations with specific examples and raises the issue of supporting the immediate return of the prisoners of war. Alongside this, the Human Rights Defender particularly states that the state bodies and officials of Armenia are obliged to ensure proper communication with the families of captives and missing servicemen, provide them with exhaustive information, act in a coordinated manner and be attentive towards every word in order to rule out any tension, the report reads.
In June 2020, after four years of non-stop, worldwide hatred for Donald Trump, I got to thinking about why I don't hate Donald Trump  a well received essay that you can find here. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since that article was published, Trump is gone, and the evil left is in charge. We wonder what Trump will do next. Will it be a new social media platform or a run again in 2024?

That's probably my dilemma as well. Sort of. I'm in Australia, so I'm not contemplating running for office in 2024. However, thanks to Trump, politics has become a real passion for me. From pushing the "post" button, nervously proclaiming I was a Trump-supporter, to being the admin for my Facebook group Talking Politics and Issues, it has been an exciting ride.

In my earlier American Thinker article, I mentioned Talking Politics and Issues, which led to being inundated with new members from America. It was an exciting time with membership virtually doubling in a few days. Before that, the group was mostly filled with Australians, particularly those from Tasmania. Many of the Americans were surprised at how knowledgeable Australians were about American politics. It was a rewarding time with the blending of the two countries.

Even before the 2024 U.S. election, however, things began to change with Facebook's censorship. Our distribution was reduced, and the posts appeared lower in members' news feeds. We suddenly received notices of multiple admin violations due to "false information." If the violations continued, we were told, the group Talking Politics and Issues would be disabled. (I have already set up the group on MeWe as a backup if this happens.) It has been a disappointing time with censorship, the Democrats in charge, and dealing with the COVID "crisis."

It feels as if the world is changing for the worse with the Great Reset, vaccination passports, vaccination apps, lockdowns, and restrictions ruling our lives. It has led me to think, what else can I do? It is all very well having a censored Facebook group and a Twitter feed where I can voice my own opinion and share others' thoughts, but will that bring about a change in society? Is it time to put my money where my mouth is? Time to act.

My first thought was to get into local politics and run for the councilors' positions on the local council. It seemed to be the natural step up from having an interest in politics. It still may be something I do. Whether it is independent enough for me, I do not know.

I have also had various conversations with people about starting up a new conservative political party with the intention of fighting wokeism, cancel culture, climate change, political correctness, and other societal issues  a party that values freedom of speech, common sense, and middle-class values. It is a massive job to start a political party, financially and logistically, so 100% effort and commitment would be required. The rewards would be immense, too. Is it feasible? I will give it due consideration.

I flip-flop between these two options, but another thought has entered my mind: establishing a media organization that presents the news and opinions of conservative, independent thinkers. A media hub based in Tasmania. In Australia, there is only Sky News to cater to those of the conservative persuasion, so maybe there is a need for a second platform. This would include radio and TV to present the thoughts and opinions of free thinkers in an environment that the left (which is ascendant in Australia) cannot censor.

Currently, Brian Carlton is probably the only announcer in Tasmania not afraid to voice his opinion and challenge the left. Why can't there be more? If I were dreaming, I would see a building housing a conservative TV Channel and radio station to air fresh ideas. It would be a place where interviews are held, videos made, news compiled and presented.

Most of the news organizations in Australia are left-leaning, so it's no wonder the population is brainwashed! I am stunned at the beliefs held by family and friends who are so convinced by what they see on television or hear on the radio. Why not provide an alternative? What will happen to the right if socialism and the Great Reset are rampant?

Is it a fanciful dream? I will let you consider.

What will have the biggest impact and influence  a conservative medium or a new conservative political party?

Image: On Air sign by Arielinson. CC BY-SA 4.0.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
The background: At 2:38 a.m. on March 29, Chicago police responded to a ShotSpotter alert of gunshots fired in the Little Village neighborhood. They reported seeing two males in an alley, one of whom they said appeared to have a gun. The one allegedly carrying a gun fled, according to a police media notification, the officers chased him and ultimately killed him with a shot to the chest in what police later called an armed confrontation.
Golden letter-shaped balloons that spelled "missed & murdered" drifted up to the grey sky amid drizzle, as a drumming band began to sing with a sudden force that stopped the crowd from chattering.

Golden letter-shaped balloons that spelled "missed & murdered" drifted up to the grey sky amid drizzle, as a drumming band began to sing with a sudden force that stopped the crowd from chattering.

Jingle-dress dancers hopped deftly on their toes, and the rattle of their bells mingled with the scent of burning sage. They sang and danced for Eishia Hudson, the 16-year-old Indigenous girl who was shot by a police officer after a high-speed chase on Lagimodiere Boulevard during the afternoon rush-hour on April 8, 2020.

About 200 supporters gathered at Oodena Celebration Circle at The Forks, near the monument to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. They came to remember the teen, denounce police violence toward Indigenous people and call for change.

They peered out from masks, some marked with red handprints or the words "Justice for Eishia." They held or set up signs that read "Not another Indigenous life stop killing," and "Winnipeg Police Cause Harm."

One sign close to the speakers and musicians said, "Winnipeg police killed my sister."

Eishia Hudsons parents, William Hudson and Christie Zebrasky (right), with MP Leah Gazan at Thursday nights vigil. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press)

Eishia, the driver of a stolen SUV, was shot at the intersection of Lagimodiere Boulevard and Fermor Avenue after police responded to a call about a robbery at the Sage Creek Liquor Mart. Four other teens who were passengers in the SUV weren't injured.

After an investigation, the Independent Investigation Unit cleared the officer in January.

"My daughter didnt deserve what happened to her," said William Hudson. "No child deserves that."

He choked back tears throughout much of his speech, seeming particularly overwhelmed when thanking all those who were supporting him and his family  including at vigils in Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax.

"It touches my heart so much, its " he paused for six seconds as he regained his composure. "Its hard. Todays a hard day for me."

He commended the crowd for coming out and made impassioned pleas for people to make their voices heard. He sharply criticized those who say a few "bad apples" are at the root of police violence.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A sign at the one year anniversary vigil of the police shooting and killing of Eishia Hudson at Odena Circle in Winnipeg Thursday.

"Youre just as bad when you stay silent," he said. "Silence is violence."

Community advocate Mitch Bourbonniere also spoke, saying, "It is both triumphant we are here, and sad that we have to be here again."

The current of mixed feelings seemed to run through the crowd, and multiple speakers echoed the sentiment, including Winnipeg Centre NDP MP Leah Gazan.

Crouching in the crowd, Jennifer Ashley Disbrowe, who said she knew Eishia, said she was happy to see how many people came out. She said it was shocking when she learned of Eishias death. Its easy to put herself in the teens place, she said.

"Ive made a lot of dumb mistakes in the past," she said. But shed had the opportunity to "work and make things right."

Jonathan Henderson, co-founder of community group Healing Together, said it was important for him to support the vigil because his mother was a residential school survivor.

"Its a little bit overwhelming right now," he said.

In the legislature Wednesday, NDP MLA Nahanni Fontaine renewed calls made by the Hudson family for a public inquiry into police violence against Indigenous people. Neither Justice Minister Cameron Friesen nor Premier Brian Pallister promised an inquiry.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
MOSCOW  Armored personnel carriers bristling with weapons line a highway in southern Russia. Rows of tanks are parked beside major roads. Heavy artillery is transported by train.

Videos of military movements have flooded Russian social media for the past month, shared by users and documented by researchers.

And Western governments are trying to find out why. The movements appear to be the largest deployment of Russian land forces toward the border with Ukraine in seven years, according to the U.S. government.

Whether it is a test of how the Biden administration might respond, retaliation against Ukraine for curbing Russian influence in domestic politics in Kyiv, or preparation for actual cross-border military action has divided analysts of Russian policies.
The ability to quickly and cost-effectively screen people for COVID-19 is an essential part of addressing the ongoing pandemic, and NASA is leveraging its expertise to assist in tackling the issue head-on.

NASA has been funded by the Department of Health and Human Services with $3.8 million to enhance the E-Nose device developed at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley using patented nanosensors and nanosensor array technologies for COVID-19 detection. E-Nose is a smartphone-based device derived from technology used to help monitor air quality inside spacecraft, but NASA is advancing it to detect COVID-19 by "sniffing" a person's breath. E-Nose could help mitigate community spread of the virus in a manner similar to how temperature checks are used to screen individuals before entering shared indoor spaces, such as a local grocery store or restaurant.

"We've been working on E-Nose and these nanosensor technologies for the last 19 years, targeting trace chemical detection for space applications, and have repurposed this technology to address the COVID-19 pandemic," said Jing Li, the inventor of E-Nose. "The portability, low cost, and non-invasive nature of the device makes it perfect for on-the-spot community screening."

n working on E-Nose and these nanosensor technologies for the last 19 years, targeting trace chemical detection for space applications, and have repurposed this technology to address the COVID-19 pandemic," said Jing Li, the inventor of E-Nose. "The portability, low cost, and non-invasive nature of the device makes it perfect for on-the-spot community screening."

This application of E-Nose will work by measuring volatile organic compounds, the gases produced from an infection from a virus like SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 disease, in a person's breath with an array of sensors that mimic the human nose. Recent studies show there are changes in the volatile organic, or VOC, breath profile due to the COVID-19 infection. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Lawrence Livermore National Lab are working on identifying the specific VOCs in the breath of COVID-19 patients, using them as biosignatures for the virus. This research will help to develop the breath profile of patients needed in to modify the sensors in E-Nose to detect COVID-19.

The Ames team is fine-tuning the sensors for detecting the target VOCs in human breath with initial field test planned in early spring 2021. This latest prototype, built by NASA subcontractor Variable, Inc., includes Bluetooth capabilities and a smartphone app that processes, displays, and transmits sensor data. The sensor array chips are swappable, and therefore can be updated with improved sensors as more is discovered about SARS-CoV-2's VOCs. E-Nose will be ready to move into production for clinical trials after a field test specifically for its COVID-19 version.

"Once the clinical trials are completed and the sensitivity and specificity are demonstrated, E-Nose can be deployed in factories, airports, grocery stores, and businesses of all sorts to rapidly screen for active infections," said Li. "It's a non-invasive and rapid way to keep our communities safe as this pandemic continues."

By analyzing the E-Nose data along with body temperature and other non-invasive symptoms, NASA's expertise in advanced machine learning methods will allow for more accurate on-the-spot answers. That immediate data transfer would allow for a network of E-Nose devices to be used to inform real-time decisions related to public health. A machine learning algorithm is currently in development to enable this kind of "smart" COVID-19 identification.

"In future, E-Nose can be used as a platform for other medical conditions as well as meeting its original goal of monitoring astronaut health and crew cabin air quality," said Rupak Biswas, Director of the Exploration Technology Directorate at Ames. "With the potential for other applications in the space and Earth sciences, E-Nose is a non-invasive, rapid technology solution that can meet the current COVID-19 crisis and support NASA's future exploration and research."

E-Nose is supported through funding from NASA through the Department of Health and Human Services.

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Google launched a new Nest Thermostat last fall to mark the tenth anniversary of the smart temperature control range. The sleek device came in a more compact package complete with an all-new touch sensitive edge and elegant mirrored display. While the $130 Thermostat was already affordable, Google has dropped its price to $100 ahead of Earth Day. But, Amazon is offering the puck-shaped device for slightly less at $99.98 or $114.97 with a Trim Kit designed to cover up any imperfections during installation.

Buy Nest Thermostat at Amazon - $99.98 Buy Nest Thermostat with Trim Kit at Amazon - $114.97

Of course, the big draw here is the ability to monitor and reduce your energy use. The main way the Thermostat does this is through a feature called Savings Finder that learns about your home system and schedule to offer helpful suggestions, like temperature or Eco mode adjustments. There's also a Quick Schedule option that lets you set temperature profiles based on your preferences. For instance, you can make weekdays warmer if you work from home and weekends cooler if you plan to go out. The same goes for different periods during the day or when you're sleeping, and you can override the presets at any time.

All of these settings are available through the Google Home app, which also allows you to interact with the device using Assistant- and Alexa-powered smart speakers. That way you can control the Thermostat using your voice from the couch or when you're outdoors. You can currently grab the Thermostat in three colors on Amazon, including charcoal, sand and snow.

Keep in mind that Google does offer a premium alternative in the Nest Learning Thermostat, but that costs $149 more compared to the current deal on the entry-level model. For that price, you get more luxury materials including a metal ring, a high-res display that packs in extra information including the time or weather and the device comes in more colors.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
STORY LINK GBP/ZAR Forecast: Pound to South African Rand Exchange Rate Near 2021 Worst as Rand Rally Continues

Pound Sterling (GBP) Exchange Rates Set for Biggest Weekly Loss of the Year

The selling of Sterling may have been connected to buying of Euros



It looks like perhaps people are getting more optimistic about the rollout of a vaccine in the EU and less optimistic about the comparable move in the UK.



South African Rand (ZAR) Exchange Rates Continue to Capitalise on Market Mood



The South African Rand is a currency often correlated to risk and emerging market sentiment. Because of this, it has been reacting to the big shift in market mood this week.



As the safe haven US Dollar was hit lower by the continued dovishness of the Federal Reserve, investors have been more willing to take risks.



Despite the improving global recovery outlook, most central banks are still hesitant to tighten monetary policy due to the huge uncertainty of the pandemic.



This has made investors more willing to take risks to capitalise on the dovishness of banks and look for higher yields. Bianca Botes, Executive Director at Citadel Global, said:



Hopes of a global economic recovery as countries continue their vaccination rollout programmes have led to lower yields and ongoing risk appetite,



This has been the primary cause of broad South African Rand strength this week.



In fact, the Rand continues to climb despite continued signs of weakness in South Africas economic outlook.



Recent South African data continues to show poor economic performance for the start of 2021, as the nation struggles with the coronavirus pandemic.



Pieter du Preez, Senior Economist at NKC African Economics, said:



This once again highlights the underlying weakness in the economy and continues to point towards a very soft start to the year,



Although we expect the sector to show some sort of recovery over the coming months, it still faces significant obstacles over the short term



GBP/ZAR Exchange Rate Forecast: Key Data Could Help Pair Recovery



Next weeks UK economic calendar will be a little busier, and could influence movement in the Pound to South African Rand exchange rate if it surprises.



The weeks data will start with a slew of UK data, due for publication on Tuesday.



Stats due for publication include UK growth, trade balance, production and construction output results from February.



As February was the first full month in which Britain was under its third national lockdown, surprising data could give investors a better idea of how Britains economy weathered the lockdown.



Of course, stronger than expected UK growth data would boost hopes for a strong economic recovery and potentially bolster the Pounds appeal next week.



Investors may also be more willing to buy the Pound again if market sentiment calms and investors become more concerned about South Africas economic performance instead.



Key South African data due for publication next week includes February retail sales on Wednesday, and February building permits on Thursday.



Any domestic or global developments in the coronavirus pandemic will also be closely watched by Pound to South African Rand exchange rate investors next week.

Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: 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: Pound Rand Forecasts

Despite concerns about weakness in South Africas economy, the British Pound to South African Rand (GBP/ZAR) exchange rate continues to trend lower and lower as the Rand capitalises on the latest market moods. Sterling has been sold on profit-taking and fresh coronavirus vaccine concerns all week, and higher demand for risk and emerging market correlated currencies has kept the Rand broadly appealing in comparison.Since opening this week at the level of 20.27, GBP/ZAR has trended with a largely downside bias. Towards the end of the week, GBP/ZAR touched on a low of 19.90. This was the worst level for the pair since the end of 2020 and the worst point for GBP/ZAR this year so far.GBP/ZAR has since steadied slightly but the South African Rand remains strong and continues to pressure the pair near its lows. At the time of writing on Friday, GBP/ZAR trends in the region of 20.00.Investors have been selling the Pound all week. After the British currency struck new highs against some major rivals like the Euro, markets took profit from its strong levels and sold it.This led to sharp losses, and a shift in market sentiment has only seen continued falls for the Pound.Britains coronavirus vaccination rollout has been perceived as slowing and is no longer considered the furthest vaccination scheme among major economies.Because of this, the Pounds relative appeal has been lessening. Investors no longer see Britains coronavirus recovery outlook as the most optimistic among major economies.This week has also seen a rise in concerns around Britains usage of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.Following concerns in the Eurozone over low numbers of blood clots associated with the vaccine, the UK has suggested disallowing the vaccine for those under 30.On top of this, optimism around vaccines in other nations such as the Eurozone are rising. According to Marshall Gittler, Head of Investment Research at BDSwiss:
A candidate for Kirby mayor pleaded guilty in 2018 to a reduced misdemeanor charge of sexual contact without consent in a plea deal stemming from a case five years earlier at a hotel in Fort Collins, Colo.

Chris Garza, 37, was sentenced to one year in prison and required to register as a sex offender in Colorado, but he was released for time served  34 days  and isnt required to register in Texas because theres no similar offense here.

Those are the facts.

The hotly contested race for mayor in this tightly knit Northeast Side suburb has coffee shop talk and social media postings running wild with rumors, but more than 100 pages of court and police documents obtained through record requests by the San Antonio Express-News from Colorado, Pennsylvania and Texas provide the unvarnished details.

Despite the plea, Garza maintains his innocence. The tour manager has sought to put the case behind him, focusing on community improvements to benefit residents of Kirby, which he has called home for some 35 years.

But the campaign for the May 1 election has turned an unwanted spotlight on his past.

At a Feb. 25 meeting of the Kirby City Council, Garza chastised council members for what he considers continuing attempts to smear his name.

I want to take this opportunity to express my concern that some members of this council, he said, have gone to extreme lengths to bring to light my old convictions and make them as though they are greater than what they truly are.

This is the most scrutinized misdemeanor in the history of Kirby.

It all started in November 2013, when Garza was in Fort Collins, a historic town just north of Denver, to staff a booth for a yogurt company at a major festival. One night, according to a police report, he and a co-worker visited several bars, became intoxicated and returned to their hotel. Later that night, a woman who was staying at the same hotel told police that she woke up to find a naked man on top of her.

She told officers that at first she was confused and responded to the man  she said she had drunk about a quarter of a beer and used some meth but only about 20 cents worth  but when she realized it was a stranger, she told him to get out, records show. However, he assaulted her before leaving, she told police. When he tried to get back in the room, she called 911 and he left again, the police report states.

The woman later identified the man as Garza, according to court records, and he was detained and questioned. But he was released and allowed to leave Colorado with no charges filed.

On April 30, 2014, after test results came back showing her DNA had been found on him and his fingerprint was on the windowsill of her hotel room, a warrant was issued for his arrest on four felony charges: burglary of a dwelling; sex assault-overcoming victims will; sexual contact with no consent; and sex assault-victim helpless.

Garza said he didnt know charges had been filed.

I lived in the same home and maintained the same mailing address, Garza said. I could have easily been contacted.

It wasnt until four years later that the warrant showed up during a routine traffic stop halfway across the country.

It was February 2018 and Garza was in Pennsylvania working on a hunting show when he stopped at a state Department of Transportation inspection station. A check of his drivers license through a national database showed he was wanted in Colorado.

The month before he was in Pennsylvania, he said, I actually was in Colorado doing a rodeo without concern of a warrant I did not know I had.

Taken into custody in Clarion County, he agreed to be extradited and was sent to Fort Collins, where he immediately pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was allowed to go back home to Texas pending trial.

That set off months of legal wrangling and several costly trips between Texas and Colorado; finally, Garza said, his attorney persuaded him to take the plea deal to avoid further expense and a seemingly endless quagmire. Chief Deputy District Attorney Amanda J. Duhon in Larimer County, where Fort Collins is located, said Friday the prosecution agreed to the reduced misdemeanor count because of witness unavailability that affected the states ability to prove the original charges in court.

David Moore, spokesman for the Larimer County Sheriffs Office, said Garza has completed his legal responsibilities.

Garza was a registered sex offender in Larimer County following his conviction and fulfilled all requirements, Moore said. He de-registered, as required, with Larimer County when he (left for) Texas.

Garza is no longer on those state and county websites because he doesnt live in Colorado.

In September 2019, a Kirby police detective met with a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman, who informed him Garza had no duty to register as a sex offender in Texas, after DPS conducted its own investigation into the out-of-state charges.

For his part, Garza just wants to concentrate on the issues: improving street maintenance and repairs; developing a city transparency plan that includes regular updates on the progress of city grants and video-recording all city meetings for better public viewing; and bringing back HoboFest, to name a few.

The other candidate for mayor is former Mayor Pro Tem Kimberly McGehee Aldrich, 51, a native of Kirby who works for Bridgehead IT. She said she knows about Garzas record but is running a clean campaign and isnt bringing up his past.

Aldrich said she, too, wants to focus on her priorities for Kirby: improving infrastructure; increasing street and road repairs; and creating more events to bring the community together, among others.

Mayor Lisa Pierce chose not to run for a third term.

jflinn@express-news.net
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ANKARA/MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States will send two warships to the Black Sea next week, Turkey said on Friday as Russia, which has beefed up its military forces near Ukraine, accused non-coastal NATO powers of increasing naval activity in the region.

Washington says Russia has amassed more troops on Ukraine's eastern border than at any time since 2014, when it annexed Crimea from Ukraine and backed pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine.

Violence has flared between Ukrainian troops and the separatists, spurring fears of a major escalation. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine on Friday of "dangerous provocative actions" in the Donbass region during a telephone conversation with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey, a NATO ally, said on Friday the United States would deploy two warships to the Black Sea from April 14-15.

"A notice was sent to us 15 days ago via diplomatic channels that two U.S. warships would pass to the Black Sea, in line with the Montreux Convention. The ships will remain in the Black Sea until May 4," Turkey's foreign ministry said.

The 1936 Montreux accord gives Turkey control over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, which connect the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. It also limits access of naval warships and governs foreign cargo ships.

NATO ACTIVITY

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko raised concerns on Friday over what he said was increasing Black Sea naval activity by powers that did not have a coast line in the region, an apparent reference to the United States.

"The number of visits by NATO countries and the length of the stay of (their) warships have increased," he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

According to a Reuters witness who keeps track of ships passing through Turkey's Bosphorus strait, the United States and NATO increased their presence in the Black Sea early this year, when U.S. President Joe Biden's administration took power.

Story continues

The Reuters witness said the level had reached that seen in 2014-2015 at the time of the Crimea annexation.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was due to meet Erdogan in Turkey on Saturday on a previously scheduled visit.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu, Ezgi Erkoyun, Yoruk Isik in Turkey and by Maria Tsvetkova and Polina Ivanova in Moscow; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Gareth Jones)
French owner of the 'Farconnet' restaurant Eric Besson, 55, prepares food in his kitchen as he cooks for construction industry workers in Tournon-sur-Rhone, France, on Feb. 2, 2021. (Philippe Desmazes / AFP via Getty Images)

Mature Workforce Expected to Play Key Role in Food Industry Recovery

As Orange Countys restriction-ravaged restaurants recover from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, theyre expected to turn to an unexpected source for help: the aging workforce.

With younger employees moving toward virtual, gig- and opportunity-driven jobs, restaurants willing to dip into the more mature pool for help may just find a golden solution to the economic recovery challenges ahead, industry experts said.

Everyone in Orange County is scrambling for staff, Pam Waitt, president of the Orange County Restaurant Association, told The Epoch Times. Older workers are the answer.

The demographic shift comes as California plans for a June 15 reopening, after being under government-mandated restrictions and closures throughout the past year.

With Orange County restaurants beginning to expand their capacity, COVID-weary diners are filling establishments in record numbers. As a result, staffing demands are surging at a staggering pace.

By the Numbers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that in the next 12 years, employees aged 65 and older will be at a record high, with 16.1 million of them remaining in the workforce. In comparison, there are only 5.1 million teenage workers, the lowest number since 1963.

The National Restaurant Association says that teens once outnumbered adults aged 55 years or older by three to one; its now two to one. Between 2007 and 2018, the older demographic rose 70 percent.

While it will remain critical for restaurants and foodservice outlets to attract Gen Z and millennial workers for certain positions, the typical labor bubble is expected to be insufficient in meeting the demand.

To analyze and better understand the economic and social challenges of recovery that lay ahead for Orange County, a coalition was formed between the Orange County Business Council, First 5 Orange County, Orange County United Way, CalOptima, and the Orange County Community Foundation, resulting in its 202021 Orange County Community Indicators Report.

The report states that residents aged 65 and older are the only segment of the population expected to see growth between 2020 and 2060, at which point theyre projected to represent 25 percent of the countys population.

A Slow Rebuild

The states restaurant industry is expected to be the last to recover, according to the California Restaurant Association (CRA).

The CRA reports that in California alone, more than 900,000 restaurant jobs were lost. While many of those jobs are expected to come back, with some restaurants closing permanently, not all will return. Nationwide, 110,000 restaurants closed, or one in six, and are not expected to return, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Restaurants were the first businesses forced to shut down, and in California, 12 months later, we are still pushing to safely get our dining rooms back open, California Restaurant Association president Jot Condie said in a statement.

The economic losses to restaurants, our workforce and their communities have been disproportionately enormous.

The Orange County Community Indicators Report said that due to the various travel restrictions, social distancing measures, and business closures, Orange Countys leisure and hospitality sector saw the highest employment declines, losing 76,600 jobs, or 33 percent of the previous years jobs.

Within the leisure and hospitality industry, foodservice and drinking places lost 34,500 jobs, a reduction of 23 percent, while accommodation and food services declined by 46,600 jobs, or by 26.5 percent.

Employment in Orange Countys leisure and hospitality sector peaked in July 2019 at 233,100, dropping to 225,200 by January 2020. Once COVID-19 took hold, employment declined to 123,400 by May 2020, a reduction of 47 percent or nearly 110,000 jobs from the sectors July 2019 high.
New Delhi: Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd has offially unveiled the brand name of its much-awaited SUV, built on the W601 platform, as the XUV700.

The XUV700 will also come with world class safety features, Mahindras said. It will come with "world class safety features, reaffirming Mahindra's commitment towards safety", the company said.

Mahindra XUV7 00 will be offered both Diesel and Gasoline engines in Manual and Automatic transmissions, along with optional All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) capabilities.

The XUV700, which is slated to be launched in Q2 FY2022, will be manufactured at the companys manufacturing facility at Chakan in Maharashtra.

"The XUV700 is an all new, authentic, global SUV set to redefine benchmarks in the SUV segment and get your hearts racing with its sci-fi technology, spirited performance and first-in-class features," M&M said.

Veejay Nakra, CEO  Automotive Division, M&M Ltd. said, The XUV700, one of the most awaited offerings from Mahindra is sure to hit the sweet spot with customers. Built on the new W601 platform, XUV700 marks the beginning of the next generation of sophisticated and authentic Mahindra SUVs which will offer an adrenaline rush like never before.

Live TV

#mute
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath and Gov. Greg Abbott should have canceled the STAAR test this year, and the failure Tuesday to get the test going for online testers underscores that point.

Teachers venting about this on social media have said this is karma, but its deeper. The STAAR fails students, teachers and taxpayers.

Calling the statewide glitches completely unacceptable, Texas Education Agency officials told school districts to suspend the first day of STAAR testing when thousands of students showed up in person  including many who have been learning remotely because of COVID-19.

The issues  from slow response times to students unable to log in  affected online testers. Writing tests for fourth and seventh graders were disrupted, as were English I tests for high school students, according to the TEA.

Online testing resumed Wednesday, and testing is scheduled to continue until May 14. But why? STAAR results wont count toward A-F district accountability measures this year and testing isnt required for most remote students.

However, STAAR is required for high school juniors and seniors, who must pass five STAAR subject tests by the time they graduate.

We arent the only ones who have called for canceling the STAAR, having written about this before. Superintendents, lawmakers, parents, education experts and students have been pleading with the state to back off STAAR testing.

Its difficult to understand the states commitment to the STAAR. Its been around since the 2011-12 school year, but ask most lawmakers, superintendents, school board members, principals or teachers and they will say the STAAR is what they hear the most complaints about.

In response to Tuesdays testing fail, TEA explained that Educational Testing Service will no longer administer statewide testing services after this spring. Cambium Assessment, another commercial standardized testing company, will take over those duties in the 2021-22 school year.

This doesnt bode well for TEAs plans to transition the test fully online by the 2022-23 academic year.

That STAAR costs too much  the more than $90 million cost alone should be an impetus to find a better way, but instead, the price just keeps increasing. According to the Texas Tribune, Washington, D.C.-based Cambium Assessment will receive $262 million from 2021 through 2024 to manage the online platform. And Pearson will receive an additional $126 million from 2021 through 2024 to develop and construct the assessments.

The STAAR is unnecessary. This year more than ever, it will only show us what we already know: Students are struggling academically and emotionally, and they are behind in learning. After experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic for longer than a year, thats understandable.

The answer should not be administering the STAAR, which is high stakes for most everyone. STAAR forces teachers to teach to the test  and students to learn to the test. Teachers fear losing their jobs over the test. Schools could be shut down or taken over because of consistently low STAAR scores. Students suffer anxiety on test days. Some students fail and arent promoted to the next grade.

In a statement, Texas State Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina called this years STAAR testing absurd and risky: Here we go again. Even in normal years, the STAAR testing regime is a waste of classroom time and taxpayer dollars.

All we can say to TEA is we agree with its statement on Tuesday: All involved in public education in Texas should expect better than what they have experienced.

Thats why its past time to make a change. Your STAAR exam lost its shine a long time ago.
As the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to raise the demand for digital transformation amongst enterprises, the cloud computing market appeals to both domestic and foreign suppliers despite the difficulties each side has to face.

The Vietnamese cloud service market is projected to grow from $181 million in 2019 to $427 million by 2025, exhibiting a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 15 per cent during 2020-2025.

On March 31, Korean telecommunications company KT Corporation announced that it will enter the B2B cloud computing market in Vietnam. Based on its achievements in the cloud business in Korea, KT signed an MoU with FPT Smart Cloud, an affiliate of FPT Group, a leader in Vietnam's ICT scene.

KT is planning to carry out a project on hybrid cloud computing services optimised for industrial characteristics such as G-Cloud and F-Cloud can be offered in Vietnam.

At the middle of the month, Mat Bao Corporation, a Vietnamese technology company also launched its new cloud server cluster located at the data centre of Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT). As planned, the server cluster will store information with high security and stability to ensure efficient data security for enterprises.

With the rapid development and high demand from the market, the investment in upgrading services to bring advanced quality and outstanding products is a prerequisite to ensuring data security at Mat Bao, Huynh Ngoc Duy, CEO of Mat Bao said.

Earlier, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon.com officially announced AWS EdStart in Vietnam, an online support programme for educational technology startups to develop teaching solutions on the AWS cloud platform.

The AWS EdStart programme provides EdTech startups with resources to quickly get started on AWS  including AWS Promotional Credits and access to training and support. AWS EdStart is a global community of like-minded people and companies that are solving complex educational problems.

At the present, the cloud computing market in Vietnam is led by both domestic and foreign suppliers. The key players in the Vietnamese cloud services market are FPT Corporation, Viettel-CHT, CMC Corporation, IBM Vietnam, Microsoft Vietnam, Amazon Web Services Vietnam, Mat Bao Corporation, NTC Cloud Computing, SAP Asia (Vietnam), HPT Vietnam, Google LLC, and Salesforce.

In 2020, the Vietnamese cloud computing market currently reaches about $133 million, equivalent to VND3.2 trillion ($139.13 million). However, domestic enterprises only account for about 20 per cent of the market while foreign partners hold the remainder.

Bui Quoc Anh, director at Data Centre  Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City stated that the international providers, such as AWS, and Google Cloud have a lot of platforms. It is too difficult for domestic providers to build such platforms because of cost, time, and expertise level.

At the moment, the public sector and big enterprises in Vietnam use domestic cloud computing services but mainly infrastructure services.

However, the international players such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, or IBM Cloud do not officially operate in Vietnam because Vietnam's Network Security Law does not allow, because of data centre locations, although many people and companies use their services.

He noted that the big barriers for international players are Vietnam's Network Security Law. They cannot provide their services in Vietnam including the public sector, state-owned organisations and big enterprises that work with the public sector. It is challenging for them to open data centres in Vietnam if they do not have enough customers in Vietnam. Maybe, when international companies work in Vietnam, the situation may be changed.

For domestic providers, the big challenges are capital-intensive platforms as well as time and expertise for development. It is difficult for domestic providers to develop fast in a cost-efficient manner for competitiveness. Domestic providers need to find an exclusive or niche segment or a more innovative market for survival and development.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made the digital transformation trend stronger than ever. A survey of IBM Institute for Business Value showed that 56 per cent of Vietnamese enterprises are already using cloud management platforms. Responses indicate that Vietnamese enterprises plan to increase expenditure on hybrid cloud services from the current 41 to 43 per cent by 2023.

In fact, figures from the Ministry of Information and Communications showed that the market has been growing at 30 per cent on average in recent years while the growth rate reached 40 per cent in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commenting on this trend, Le Anh Vu, creative director of CMC Telecom, stated that in 2021, the cloud computing market will continue to be more active with the strong entrance of small- and medium-sized enterprises, even business households. Also, the push for digital transformation from the state and the growth of domestic clouds such as CMC Cloud, VNPT Cloud, and VNG Cloud will be the premise to speed up the process of cloud computing.

According to the report of TechSci Research, the Vietnamese cloud service market is projected to grow from $181 million in 2019 to $427 million by 2025, exhibiting a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 15 per cent during 2020-2025.

VIR

Ensuring information security for cloud computing a key national goal The Ministry of Information and Communications has determined that the cloud computing platform is a key part of telecommunications infrastructure to focus on in the coming years.
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky has signed the law "On People's Rule through the All-Ukrainian Referendum" (bill No. 3612), the Verkhovna Rada said on its website.

"Returned with a signature from the President on April 8, 2021," the information on the passage of this law posted on the website of the Verkhovna Rada says.

As reported, on January 26, the Verkhovna Rada supported bill No. 3612 "On the All-Ukrainian Referendum" at the second reading. Some 255 deputies voted for the document. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Dmytro Razumkov signed it on February 17 and handed it over to Zelensky for signature.

According to the law, the subject of an all-Ukrainian referendum may be issues of approval of the law on amendments to clauses I, III, XIII of the Constitution (General Provisions; Elections. Referendum; Amendments to the Constitution), the issues of national importance, issues of changing the territory of Ukraine, on the loss of the force of the law of Ukraine or some of its provisions.
OTTAWA  The international vaccine-sharing program known as COVAX says it has reached 100 countries with vaccines as of Thursday, though many of the world's poorest nations have still not been able to receive a single dose.

Since Feb. 24, when the first COVAX doses landed in Ghana, the facility has delivered 38 million doses to 100 countries, including Canada.

"This is an important milestone because it's proving that COVAX is working, that multilateralism is working, and that the world is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in a co-operative and collaborative way," International Development Minister Karina Gould said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

More than 60 of the first 100 recipients are low- and middle-income nations for whom COVAX is the main, if not only, supply of vaccines. The others are generally self-financing countries like Canada, who joined COVAX to get some doses and help fund doses in countries that can't afford them on their own.

About 30 other modest-income countries are still waiting, some because they are not yet ready to start vaccinations. A handful of countries that would qualify, including Tanzania, Burundi and Madagascar, have said they're not interested.

Canada, which has been widely criticized for taking doses from COVAX even though that's how the program was designed, received its first 316,800 doses from the program Thursday morning.

Another 1.6 million doses are supposed to come by the end of June, but COVAX is facing a significant supply crunch. Its main supplier, the Serum Institute of India, has halted most exports until at least June while India addresses an explosion of COVID-19 cases at home.

Green party Leader Annamie Paul said Canada shouldn't be taking a single dose from COVAX, even if it is entitled to do so.

"It is completely disingenuous of any minister or member of the government, or the prime minister, to say that COVAX is functioning as intended," said Paul. "It just simply is not."

Story continues

Earlier this week United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said COVAX is helping but the vaccine nationalism of wealthy nations that hoard supplies is hurting. More than eight in 10 vaccines injected so far have gone to high- and upper-middle income countries.

"Thanks to the COVAX initiative, more nations are now beginning to receive vaccine supplies, but most people in low- and middle-income countries still must watch and wait," Guterres said. "Such inequities are immoral, and they are dangerous for our health, our economies and our societies."

Paul said the least Canada could do, when it has signed private deals with seven vaccine makers and is getting more doses than it will need, is to not take the doses allocated from COVAX, even if it is entitled to do so.

Canada is the only G7 nation to receive COVAX doses, though all have contributed funding to the program. Canada is contributing $325 million in aid to help COVAX buy doses for lower- and middle-income countries.

Among the first 100 countries to receive doses, there are six G20 nations, including Canada, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, India, Indonesia and South Korea.

Canada had vaccinated about 17 per cent of its population as of Thursday, or 6.4 million people. About eight per cent of the world's population has received a shot, and some countries haven't vaccinated anyone.

The United States, which signed contracts with suppliers forbidding the export of vaccine doses, has vaccinated almost half its population. It has been criticized of late for sitting on vaccines it can't even use, with 90 million doses of AstraZeneca prepared but in storage because the U.S. hasn't yet authorized the brand.

Gould said without COVAX many of the world's poorest countries would not have vaccines at all, adding Canada is committed to giving doses back after completing its vaccination program.

"It's not perfect, absolutely," she said. "But it's certainly better than the alternative, which is nothing at all. And so that's why I think that this is an exciting milestone."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2021.

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press
Russia reaffirmed Wednesday it will enhance security cooperation with Pakistan by strengthening the South Asian nation's "potential" to fight terrorism, which is to include supplying Islamabad with the "relevant military" hardware, Voice of America writes.

"We believe this [cooperation] serves interests of all states of the region," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in the Pakistani capital before concluding his landmark two-day official visit. In his talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Lavrov said the two countries agreed to increase the frequency of their joint military drills and maritime exercises to fight terrorism and piracy.

The chief Russian diplomat last visited Pakistan in 2012, and the ensuing years saw a marked improvement in Moscow's otherwise strained and mistrustful relations with Islamabad. The distrust stemmed from Islamabad's decision to side with the U.S.-backed Afghan armed resistance of the 1980s that forced Moscow to withdraw Soviet occupation forces from Afghanistan.

Afghan peace

Lavrov said Wednesday that Russia and Pakistan are working closely to help in peace-building efforts in neighboring Afghanistan. He said both sides agreed to "further facilitate" a deal through an "inclusive political dialogue to put an end to the civil war" between Afghan's warring parties in the conflict-torn country. "We are, just like our Pakistani partners, seriously worried about the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, and by the rise of terrorist activities and the march of ISIL (an acronym for Islamic State) in north and east of the country," Lavrov said.

Moscow maintains contacts with the Afghan government and the Taliban waging a deadly insurgency against the U.S.-backed Kabul administration. Russia has hosted several Afghan peace meetings in recent months, with envoys of Kabul and the Taliban among the attendees. The latest gathering happened last month in Moscow, where senior diplomats from the United States, China and Pakistan also were in attendance, together with representatives of the Afghan adversaries.

Qureshi, while speaking alongside Lavrov, described the March 18 Moscow meeting as "successful" and said he discussed with his Russian counterpart the possibility of arranging another such conference to further the Afghan peace process.

Islamabad traditionally also maintains close ties with the Taliban and has long been accused by Kabul of sheltering insurgent leaders on Pakistani soil. Pakistan rejects the charges and is credited with bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table for peace talks with Washington that culminated in a landmark agreement in February 2020.

US-Taliban deal

President Joe Biden's new administration, however, has been reviewing the U.S.-Taliban deal, which requires all American and NATO-led foreign troops to leave Afghanistan by May 1. The reassessment stems from concerns the Taliban have not eased violence, and hostilities will intensify if international forces withdraw from the country in the absence of a political deal between warring Afghans.

Biden said last month it will be tough for the U.S. to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by May 1 for logistical reasons, prompting the Taliban to threaten they would resume attacks on foreign troops in the country if Washington fails to honor the deal.

Gas pipeline

Lavrov and Qureshi both reported Wednesday that construction by Russia of a 1,100-kilometer gas pipeline will begin soon in Pakistan. The pipeline, linking the southern port city of Karachi to the eastern city of Lahore, will cost an estimated $2 billion and is expected to transport up to 12.4 billion cubic meters of gas annually.

"We are making necessary efforts to start the construction of the north-south gas pipeline  the flagship project in the energy sector," the Russian foreign minister said. "We hope that all remaining technical issues will be agreed upon in the very near future."

The project, officials say, will open a fast-growing gas market for Russian energy companies.

The steady growth in bilateral ties saw trade between Russia and Pakistan last year hitting an all-time high of $790 million, an increase of 46 percent, mainly due to large supplies of Russian wheat to help Islamabad bridge its domestic shortfalls.

Qureshi said Islamabad also intends to buy about 5 million doses of the Russian-developed Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to boost Pakistan's efforts with its recently launched program to inoculate its population against the pandemic. Lavrov said Russia also will look into a request put forward by Pakistan to help the country ultimately manufacture the vaccine.

Before departing Pakistan, the Russian foreign minister also met with Prime Minister Imran Khan and the country's military chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Khan reaffirmed Pakistan's resolve to "expeditiously conclude the requisite legal process" for the gas pipeline project and begin work as quickly as possible, the prime minister's office said in a statement. "Pakistan values its relations with Russia and reciprocates the desire for enhanced bilateral military cooperation," a military statement quoted Bajwa as telling Lavrov. "We have no hostile designs toward any country and will keep on working toward a cooperative regional framework based on sovereign equality and mutual progress," the Pakistani army chief asserted.
PATRICK Collison has hit back at a controversial article on Limerick, which suggested he and his brother had "escaped" the city.

There has been a volley of criticism this Friday evening across social media over the article on the business magazine's web site, which contained what Mayor Michael Collins described as a "number of slurs" about the Treaty City.

OPW Minister and local TD Patrick O'Donovan has also called on Forbes and writer Stephen McBride to apologise for the article, and has invited them to Limerick "where I will gladly set the record straight in respect of what our city and county has to offer".

Fellow Minister of State Niall Collins criticised the magazine's "trash ill-informed journalism".

He added it's "a disgraceful description of Limerick home to so many fine and decent people. Also home to so many high end multi national companies."

Mayor Collins will make a formal complaint to the magazine, while Limerick City and County Council has already, it's understood, written to express its misgivings to the publication itself following on from the story, published online this evening.

Council communications boss Laura Ryan has attempted to reach out to Mr McBride over Twitter.

After former Limerick Leader journalist Petula Martyn, now a business correspondent with RTE, mentioned the Collison brothers through their personal Twitter accounts, the elder brother Patrick wrote: "Not only mistaken about Limerick but the idea of "overcoming" anything is crazy. We are who we are *because* we grew up where we did."

In a separate, earlier Tweet, John described the article as simply "daft". Both brothers also 'liked' a number of other tweets which were supportive of Shannonside.

Ms Martyn had described the Forbes article as "scurrilous, defamatory and disappointing".

Not only mistaken about Limerick but the idea of "overcoming" anything is crazy. We are who we are *because* we grew up where we did.  Patrick Collison (@patrickc) April 9, 2021

Daft  John Collison (@collision) April 9, 2021

The story, since removed from the Forbes web site, about the pair who set up multi-billion dollar payments firm Stripe, was initially headlined: 'How Two Brothers Escaped Stab City And Made $11 Billion'

It was later amended to 'How two brothers escaped Limerick and made $11bn'.

But the remainder of the story perpetuates a number of other stereotypes of Limerick, including a false claim that it's known as Europe's "murder capital".

"A couple of years back, a gang feud turned Limerick into a warzone. Shootings, pipe bomb attacks, and stabbings happened nightly. Some bad neighborhoods [sic] are even walled off by a dirty, graffitied 10-foot-high concrete barrier, like the Berlin Wall. Its the kind of place, as my grandfather says, Where even the German Shepherds walk around in pairs," the writer added.

I am calling on @Forbes and @DisruptionHedge to come to Limerick where I will gladly set the record straight in respect of what our County and City has to offer as opposed to what your work of fiction depicts. Please let me know when suits to visit.  #luimneachabu  Patrick O'Donovan (@podonovan) April 9, 2021

.@Forbes disgraceful description of #Limerick home to so many fine and decent people. Also home to so many high end multi national companies. Trash ill-informed journalism at it best. pic.twitter.com/xhwiVXEQqU  Niall Collins (@NiallCollinsTD) April 9, 2021

In fact, many of Limerick's former gangland kingpins are behind bars, which has resulted in a drop in the crime rate in the city.

Shocking journalism by @forbes casting such a slur on our beautiful vibrant, successful and positive City @Limerick_ie. We are very proud of the Collison Bros @patrickc & @collision and what they have achieved. @forbes need to apologise. https://t.co/7UK3Mbm1zz  Mayor Michael Collins (@cllrmcollins) April 9, 2021

Despite this, Mr McBride added: "Limerick is the last place you want your kids growing up. But two brothers who went to high school there recently beat the odds. Not only did they escape stab citythey moved to Silicon Valley, founded one of the most disruptive companies on earth, and became two of the youngest self-made billionaires in history. At barely 30 years old, Patrick and John Collison are now worth $11 billion each.

There has been a fierce reaction from across Limerick, with Mayor Collins saying a council contact is in progress, and he will officially write a letter of complaint to the publication on Monday.

"It's not right that an ill informed journalist can damage a city that has achieved so much on many levels in recent years. I'm shocked at what was printed. We are very proud of the Collison brothers in Limerick. I'm sure they won't be happy at what has been printed about their home place," he added, describing the article as "full of slurs".

Fine Gael TD Kieran O'Donnell also called on Forbes to issue an immediate retraction and apology on its "disgraceful, baseless and inaccurate reflection" of Limerick.

"Very shoddy and poor journalism and an insult to our city and its people," said the TD.

His party colleague, Cllr Daniel Butler described the article as "the most vile piece of rubbish", and has resurrected his #LimerickandProud hashtag which he first began using in the wake of a controversial TV3 documentary in 2015 which was critical of the city.

As a result, many people have posted pictures of Limerick with this hashtag in a bid to have it trending on Twitter.

Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan said: "The guy obviously has never been in Limerick - the article references Uber who actually operate a large base in the centre of the city and when arrived said the majority of our employees are local, which speaks to the wealth of talent in the greater #Limerick area."

Rugby star Keith Earls, who was raised in Moyross, took to Instagram, where he said: "the wall didn't look too bad to me".

And ex-Limerick Leader editor Alan English stated the article is "absolute drivel".

Founded in 1917 and based in New Jersey, Forbes Magazine is generally considered to be a well-respected business publication, with a six-figure circulation.
Container ships stretch far out into the Pacific, waiting days for their turn to unload goods at California ports. Automakers pause production because they cant get enough of the computer chips that make a modern car work. Long-dormant restaurants finally see a surge of customer demand, but they cant find enough cooks.

These are all headlines of recent days, and they have one thing in common: They show how Americas great economic challenge has turned 180 degrees in a breathtakingly short time.

Just a few months ago, the nation faced an enormous shortage of demand for goods and services, which threatened to prolong the pandemic-induced downturn long beyond the point at which the virus was contained. The central economic problem of 2021 is looking like the polar opposite. Businesses are beginning to face the challenge of producing adequate supplies of goods and services  whether of lumber or of cold beer  to satiate that resurgent demand.

Huge swaths of the economy shut down last spring and are now being turned back on. But as roughly three million Americans are vaccinated per day and nearly $3 trillion in federal money courses through the economy, it is an open question how long it will take businesses to get up to speed. Their collective success or failure will determine whether this is a year of Goldilocks economic conditions, or a frustrating mix of price spikes and persistent shortages.

The global economy is vulnerable because it never really recovered, said Nada Sanders, a professor of supply chain management at Northeastern University. There is massive pent-up consumer demand, but its important to have supply and demand connected because when you have a supply shortage you dont have the products consumers want.

After huge disruptions over the last year, the intricate networks by which major industries keep shelves full and services available have become frayed. Many workers have left the labor force. Worldwide manufacturing and shipping went through temporary shutdowns followed by reopenings, creating disruptions that random recent events, like the Texas ice storms and the Suez Canal blockage, have made worse.

Semiconductor companies cut back on manufacture of the chips destined for cars and trucks when major automakers reduced production during the early days of the pandemic. The semiconductor firms shifted toward making the chips needed for in-demand computers and other home electronics.

The auto industry is now facing the lagged effects of that cutback. For two weeks, Ford idled the factory that makes its popular F-150 trucks, for example. Over all, analysts at IHS Markit forecast one million fewer vehicles will be made in the first quarter of 2021 because of the disruptions. That means American consumers who want to put their new stimulus checks toward a car may face fewer options and have little negotiating leverage on price.

The labor market, meanwhile, presents a paradox. The unemployment rate, at 6 percent, is far above its prepandemic level, and the job market is even worse if you include Americans who say they are no longer looking for work. Yet many employers, especially in restaurants and related service industries, describe a shortage of labor.

At Bibb Distributing Co., a distributor of Anheuser-Busch and other beers in Macon, Ga., delivery drivers are sufficiently hard to find  and demand for the product sufficiently strong  that drivers have been asked to put in overtime and managers deployed on trucks, said Win Stewart, the chief executive.

When I talk to other people in the market, trying to figure out whether its something were doing or if others are experiencing the same thing, all of my conversations are the same, Mr. Stewart said. We cant find people.

That could make things challenging if the summer goes the way many expect, with a wider reopening of the economy as most people are vaccinated. The 85-person company already has 10 to 12 openings, and drivers routinely are offered signing bonuses to move elsewhere. I feel like theres going to be a surge in demand, as they open up concert venues and resorts, Mr. Stewart said. Youre going to see strong demand, and Im not sure youll have the labor pool to service it.

There are varying theories for the disconnect between the data that point to a weak labor market and anecdotal reports of a strong one.

It may be that many would-be workers are unable or unwilling to take jobs so long as they see health risks from coronavirus, or they are spending their time caring for children or for older or disabled family members. Jed Kolko, chief economist of Indeed and an Upshot contributor, has calculated that the percentage of women 25 to 54 who are working has declined by 4.5 percentage points among mothers, compared with 3.4 percentage points among those without children.

That would imply that efforts to get schools, day care centers and nursing homes back to full capacity will have important positive effects on the economys supply potential  part of the Biden administrations rationale for emphasizing spending on those areas in its pandemic rescue plan.

Another possible reason for the lack of workers is that the influx of federal money has made some people less motivated to work. Mr. Stewart said five or six employees quit in the days after the government sent out $1,400 stimulus checks, and business leaders have argued that expanded unemployment insurance benefits may be dissuading people from returning to the work force. But that theory is not supported by research on earlier rounds of expanded benefits, which found that a shortage of job opportunities was a bigger factor in joblessness than people staying on unemployment benefits.

The combination of a surge in demand and disruptions in the economys supply has important global dimensions, too. Many businesses rely on imports, including from countries that are far behind the United States in vaccinating their people, and in some cases facing new outbreaks.

Moreover, the backup in container ships at the Port of Los Angeles and some other American ports, especially on the West Coast, shows the world trade system has continued to be stressed by the whipsaw effect of last years shutdowns followed by surging demand. There are companies that have changed the way they operate from before the pandemic and are more digitally enabled, and reopening is not as big a deal for them, said James Manyika, a partner at McKinsey Global Institute, the in-house research arm of the giant consultancy. The problem is those are not the majority of companies, and those other companies will find they are highly dependent on their ecosystems and their supply chains.

You cant turn the world economy off, then turn it back on, and expect everything to come back to normal instantly, in other words. The question for 2021 is just how slow that rebooting process turns out to be.

Neil Irwin

nytimes.com
Import prices for ferrous scrap in Vietnam are still increasing due to a strengthening downstream steel market, though the rate of increase has slowed, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday April 9.

A higher auction price at Japans Kanto Tetsugen, a cooperative of scrap dealers in the Tokyo area, will likely support further price increases.



Bulk cargoes of Japanese H2 scrap were offered to Vietnam at $455-460 per tonne cfr Vietnam this week, up by $10-17 per tonne from last week. Sources told Fastmarkets early this week that transactions involving such cargoes had been concluded at $443 per tonne cfr Vietnam late last week.



Key suppliers of H2 scrap were adamant about selling at $455 per tonne cfr Vietnam by Friday, and refused to give any discounts. A transaction was heard to have been concluded at this price during the week.



The April Kanto Tetsugen auction was concluded on Friday at 404 ($3.65) per tonne higher month on month, with four 5,000-tonne parcels of H2 scrap each priced at 43,380 per tonne. All of the cargoes are bound for Vietnam.



A transaction involving a bulk cargo of Japanese H1&H2 scrap (50:50) was concluded at $452 per tonne cfr Vietnam at the start of this week. This is equivalent to around $458 per tonne cfr Vietnam for Japanese H2 scrap.



But sources said prices for Japan-origin material had increased since then.



Bulk cargoes of Hong Kong-origin H1&H2 (50:50) was offered at $445 per tonne cfr Vietnam this week. Bulk cargoes of Japanese HS scrap was offered at $485 per tonne cfr Vietnam.



Fastmarkets weekly price assessment of steel scrap H2, Japan-origin import, cfr Vietnam was $448-455 per tonne on April 9, up by $5-13 per tonne from a week earlier.



Prices for steel products such as wire rod, rebar and billet in Vietnam will increase by an average of about 300 Dong per kg - about $13 per tonne - from April 11 as a result of a price revision by mills in the country, a Vietnamese trader told Fastmarkets.



For instance, a major Vietnamese mill will offer 12-32mm CB300-V/SD295 rebar at 15.18 million Dong per tonne, and 12-32mm CB400-V/SD390 rebar at 10.05 million Dong per tonne, both excluding value-added tax, the trader said. These are for deferred payments of seven days; buyers making immediate payment will pay 50,000 Dong per kg lower, he added.



The mill will also offer 6mm CB240-T wire rod at 15.33 million Dong per tonne, and 7-8mm CB40-T wire rod at 15.28 million Dong per tonne, all excluding VAT, the trader continued.



Exporters of Vietnamese billet are also seeing good demand from China. A major billet producer in Vietnam has received bids of up to $650 per tonne fob from Chinese buyers. This is equivalent to around $680 per tonne cfr China.



The optimism has spilled over into the deep-sea scrap market.



Offers for deep-sea cargoes of heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) from the United States were at $460-465 per tonne cfr Vietnam at the start of this week. Key market participants said sellers in the US were likely to be willing to sell at $455-460 per tonne cfr Vietnam.



But by Friday, offers for HMS 1&2 (80:20) had risen to $466 per tonne cfr Vietnam while those for shredded scrap reached $471 per tonne cfr Vietnam.



A transaction involving a barge of Southeast Asia-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was heard to have been concluded at $467 per tonne cfr Vietnam this week. But this was not included in the price assessment because it does not adhere to the specifications of Fastmarkets' methodology with regard to origin and type.



Fastmarkets weekly price assessment for deep-sea bulk cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam was $455-466 per tonne on Friday, up by $1-11 per tonne from $454-455 per tonne on April 1.



Sellers offered US-origin cargoes of containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $425-435 per tonne cfr Vietnam this week. A transaction involving 1,000 tonnes was concluded at $415 per tonne cfr Vietnam.



Containerized shredded scrap and plate and structural scrap were offered at $460 per tonne cfr Vietnam this week.
LAKE COUNTY  Court documents show the amount of firearms, ammunition, and explosives a group of six men, plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, had on-hand at their respective properties.

In early October 2020, Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were arrested following an FBI investigation alleging the men evolved a plan to kidnap Whitmer.

Eighteen pages of court documents filed in the U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan on March 30 show the type and amount of weaponry seized from 11 different properties, spread between three different states.

On the weekend of Sept. 12-13, 2020, the six men  along with an undercover agent  met at Garbins property in Luther, located in Lake County.

At the property, the men created and tested homemade explosives as well as conducted tactical exercises, an FBI affidavit states. They also surveilled Whitmers vacation home, which is roughly an hour from Garbins property. The anti-government extremists were upset over coronavirus restrictions Whitmer had imposed in Michigan.

Of the 18 pages filed in court this week, 17 of them detail seizures from each property.

Authorities seized hundreds of rounds of live ammunition and loaded handguns from Garbins property in Luther  a town with a population of about 300 located about 35 miles northwest of Big Rapids.

Garbin, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit kidnapping in January, said he hosted training at his property near Luther, constructing a "shoot house" to resemble Whitmer's vacation home in Antrim County and "assaulting it with firearms," the Associated Press reported.

A number of rifles, shotguns and pistols were also seized from a separate piece of property owned by Garbin in Hartland.

FBI agents seized thousands of rounds of ammunition, dozens of different kinds of firearms, and explosives from the other five codefendants prosperities.

Those properties include: Hudsonville, Wyoming, Hartland, Waterford, Canton, Ypsilanti, and Plymouth, all located in Michigan, as well as Swedesboro, New Jersey, and Bear, Delaware.

Garbin's sentencing is scheduled for July 8. As part of a plea bargain, he agreed to testify against his co-defendants in exchange for no additional charges being filed against him by prosecutors.

A trial is scheduled to begin for the other five codefendants this October. If convicted, the codefendants faces life in federal prison.

To view all 18 pages of court documents, view the online version of this story by visiting www.bigrapidsnews.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
We just feel like we can do it without the union, he said. Why pay the union to do what we can do ourselves?

Pro-union Amazon workers said they were dispirited by the outcome. Of course were going to be disappointed and angry about the way this election turned out, Emmet Ashford, a worker in the Bessemer warehouse, said at a news conference organized by the union.

He and other workers said they hoped the election result would be overturned because of Amazons anti-union tactics and added that they were proud of inspiring workers at other warehouses to consider unionizing.

Our time will come around again, Mr. Ashford said.

The vote could lead to a rethinking of strategy inside the labor movement.

For years, union organizers have tried to leverage growing concerns about low-wage workers to break into Amazon. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union had organized around critical themes of supporting Black essential workers in the pandemic. The union estimated that 85 percent of the workers at the Bessemer warehouse were Black.

The inability to organize the warehouse also follows decades of unsuccessful and costly attempts to form unions at Walmart, the only American company that employs more people than Amazon. The repeated failures at two huge companies may push labor organizers to focus more on backing national policies, such as a higher federal minimum wage, than unionizing individual workplaces.

Democrats in Washington, who put their full weight behind the union effort, said the loss showed that they needed to push for changes to labor and antitrust laws. The House of Representatives passed an expansion of worker protections this year, but it is unlikely to be approved in the Senate.
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MONTREAL, April 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (Osisko or the Corporation) (OR: TSX & NYSE) is pleased to announce several positive steps towards its ongoing commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. These include the release of an inaugural ESG report, commitment to the United Nations Global Compact (UN Global Compact), and an investment and strategic partnership to promote global decarbonization and biodiversity efforts through carbon credit streaming transactions.

Sandeep Singh, President and CEO of Osisko commented, ESG sustainability principles have always been core tenets of the Osisko group of companies. When Osiskos management team built the Canadian Malartic mine in our predecessor company, we did so by being on the forefront of sustainability practices. Those same values underpin our present-day royalty and streaming company.

Our inaugural ESG report entitled Growing Responsibly and voluntary commitment to the UN Global Compact improve stakeholder communication of our ESG successes, risks, and mitigation activities and highlight our belief in the importance of corporate responsibility.

We perform well under an ESG lens due to the nature of our non-operating business model, the quality and jurisdictional advantages of our portfolio and the importance our operating partners place on sustainability. Nevertheless, we intend to go further and strive to be part of the solutions for a Net-Zero world.

Our early stage partnership with Carbon Streaming Corporation (Carbon Streaming), a newly formed private entity, allows us to be on the forefront of a nascent sector that leverages our streaming expertise to fund capital projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These projects will not only offset our relatively small direct carbon footprint, but also provide opportunities to offset our indirect carbon footprint. We view this as an opportunity to have a positive impact while deploying a small amount of capital accretively.

ESG Report

Osiskos goal, with the release of its ESG report, is to facilitate ongoing discussions of our risk management processes and help stakeholders assess our relative exposure to, and performance managing, ESG issues. In addition to a discussion of corporate governance practices, the report provides a focused review of how Osisko assesses potential investments through its diligence process and monitors existing assets to ensure the Corporation is well positioned to deliver growth responsibly.

The Corporations ESG report covers the 2020 period as well as providing context on Osiskos historical activities. It is available on www.osiskogr.com.

Partnering to Reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

Osisko is also proud to announce a strategic partnership with Carbon Streaming to help promote global decarbonization and biodiversity projects. The groups management team consists of seasoned executives with significant streaming expertise and recognized climate change experts. Carbon Streamings business model is to fund carbon-offset projects that avoid, reduce or remove GHG emissions globally.

Osiskos investment totaled C$3.5 million for a 14.3% partially diluted stake in the company, which has been able to raise approximately C$36 million privately. The investment affords Osisko a 20% right to participate in any streaming transactions conducted by Carbon Streaming under certain circumstances.

Beyond the potential to offset the Corporations indirect carbon emissions, Osisko expects potential synergies with current and future mine operators in its traditional royalty business. Mining operations afford significant opportunities to generate carbon credits through ancillary projects that are value enhancing for the mine, the neighboring communities (through employment and conservation) and the environment overall.

United Nations Global Compact

As part of its broader ESG initiative, Osisko is proud to have joined the UN Global Compact. It is the worlds largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative, with over 12,500 participants across 160 countries. The UN Global Compact is based on ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. By signing onto the initiative, Osisko has committed to align with these principles, intended to promote and strengthen responsible corporate policies and practices worldwide. As part of our commitment, Osisko will release an annual Communication on Progress that outlines the Corporations efforts to operate responsibly and implement the Ten Principles.

Management Information Circular

Osisko has filed its Management Information Circular for its upcoming Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held, virtually, on May 12, 2021 at 3:30 pm (EDT).

Shareholders will be asked to elect the Corporations directors for the ensuing year, appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers as independent auditor, adopt an ordinary resolution to approve all unallocated rights and entitlements under the Corporations Employee Share Purchase Plan, adopt an ordinary resolution to approve amendments under the Restated Restricted Share Unit Plan and approve the unallocated rights and entitlements under said plan, and adopt an advisory resolution supporting Osiskos approach on executive compensation.

The Management Information Circular is available on www.sedar.com, www.sec.gov and www.osiskogr.com.

About Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd

Osisko is an intermediate precious metal royalty company focused on the Americas that commenced activities in June 2014. Osisko holds a North American focused portfolio of over 150 royalties, streams and precious metal offtakes. Osiskos portfolio is anchored by its cornerstone asset, a 5% net smelter return royalty on the Canadian Malartic mine, which is the largest gold mine in Canada.

Osiskos head office is located at 1100 Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montreal, Suite 300, Montreal, Quebec, H3B 2S2.

For further information, please contact Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd:



Heather Taylor

Vice President, Investor Relations

Tel: (514) 940-0670 #105

Email: htaylor@osiskogr.com

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed forwardlooking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. These forwardlooking statements, by their nature, require Osisko to make certain assumptions and necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forwardlooking statements. Forwardlooking statements are not guarantees of performance. These forwardlooking statements, may involve, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future events or future performance, the realization of the anticipated benefits deriving from Osiskos investments, including from its investment in Carbon Streaming with the objective of promoting decarbonization and biodiversity efforts through carbon credit streaming transactions, the general performance of the assets of Osisko, including the realization of potential synergies with current and future operating partners to generate carbon credits, and the results of development exploration and production activities as well as expansions projects relating to the properties in which Osisko holds a royalty, stream or other interest. Words such as may, will, would, could, expect, believe, plan, anticipate, intend, estimate, continue, or the negative or comparable terminology, as well as terms usually used in the future and the conditional, are intended to identify forwardlooking statements. Information contained in forwardlooking statements is based upon certain material assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including, without limitation, managements perceptions of historical trends; current conditions; expected future developments; the ongoing operation of the properties in which Osisko holds a royalty, stream or other interest by the operators of such properties in a manner consistent with past practice; the accuracy of public statements and disclosures made by the operators of such underlying properties; no material adverse change in the market price of the commodities that underlie the asset portfolio; no adverse development in respect of any significant property in which Osisko holds a royalty, stream or other interest; the accuracy of publicly disclosed expectations for the development of underlying properties that are not yet in production; and the absence of any other factors that could cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Osisko considers its assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, but cautions the reader that their assumptions regarding future events, many of which are beyond the control of Osisko, may ultimately prove to be incorrect since they are subject to risks and uncertainties that affect Osisko and its business. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, that the financial information presented in this press release is preliminary and could be subject to adjustments, the successful continuation of mining activities in Quebec and more particularly of the operations underlying the Corporations assets, the performance of the assets of Osisko, the growth and the benefits deriving from its portfolio of investments, risks related to the operators of the properties in which Osisko holds a royalty, stream or other interest, including changes in the ownership and control of such operators; risks related to development, permitting, infrastructure, operating or technical difficulties on any of the properties in which Osisko holds a royalty, stream or other interest, the influence of macroeconomic developments as well as the impact of and the responses of relevant governments to the COVID-19 outbreak and the effectiveness of such responses.

For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forwardlooking statements made in this press release, see the section entitled Risk Factors in the most recent Annual Information Form of Osisko which is filed with the Canadian securities commissions and available electronically under Osiskos issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available electronically under Osiskos issuer profile on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. The forward looking statements set forth herein reflect Osiskos expectations as at the date of this press release and are subject to change after such date. Osisko disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forwardlooking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.
Police arrested a guard at a Miami girls detention center for allegedly engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old inmate.

Javontate Richardson, 30, was arrested after a 15-year-old inmate told her youth care specialist at the Miami Girls Academy Detention Center that she engaged in sexual activity with Richardson, who worked as a guard at the facility, according to the Miami Herald.

The alleged incident occurred on April 5.

According to Miami-Dade police, after the girl notified the specialist, management at the detention center reviewed surveillance camera footage based on information the teen provided.

Javontate Richardson, 30, was arrested for allegedly engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old at a Miami girls detention center

Police say security footage 'confirmed that (the) incident occurred.'

According to the Miami Herald, Richardson was an employee of TrueCore Behavioral Solutions, the contractor who operates the Miami Girls Academy.

Richardson was promptly fired on Thursday.

The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Inspector General will also investigate the incident.

'The actions taken by this individual and the harm caused to this child is inexcusable and unacceptable,' the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) said in a statement.

'This behavior has not and will not be tolerated by DJJ, and it is our expectation that they be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'

The 15-year-old girl has been offered medical care and mental health counseling, DJJ said.

Richardson reportedly worked as a guard at the Miami Girls Academy Detention Center

Police said that surveillance footage from the Miami Girls Academy Detention Center confirmed the incident occurred

Richardson's former employers said that they are cooperating with law enforcement and investigators 'to ensure this individual is brought to justice.

'TrueCore has a zero-tolerance policy with regard to such actions by staff towards any youth in our care and custody.' they said in a statement.

Miami-Dade Schools Police took Richardson into custody and he was charged by the Sexual Crimes Unit with sexual battery on a minor and sexual misconduct with an inmate.

Police say they are concerned there may be more victims, the Miami Herald reported.

He is currently being held at Miami-Dade's Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with no bond.
(Newser)  Lawyers for both sides seemed to indicate in a Florida court hearing Thursday that a former Seminole County tax collector is cooperating with prosecutorsa development that could provide a major boost to the investigation of US Rep. Matt Gaetz. Joel Greenberg faces a host of charges, including sex trafficking a minor; federal investigators are looking into the same charge for Gaetz. "I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today," Fritz Scheller, an attorney for Greenberg, told reporters after the hearing. A federal prosecutor had told the judge, "We believe this case is going to be a plea," and Scheller had agreed with him, Politico reports. The judge endorsed the idea, which would avoid a trial. Although no one mentioned Gaetz in the hearing, the comments taken together could well have been intended to pressure him.

story continues below

Prosecutors have added charges recently in Greenberg's case, which could be intended to pressure him to cooperate. Scheller would not say Thursday whether Greenberg, who faces more than 30 felony charges, had given prosecutors any information about Gaetz but said his client is "uniquely situated." Gaetz has not been charged with anything but has denied the reported accusations. Greenberg has incentive to help prosecutors: Conviction on his charges could send him to prison for years, per CNN. He's been jailed since March, per the New York Times, and did not appear in court Thursday. Gaetz's office did not comment on the hearing, but it released a statement from unnamed women who work for him. "At no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect," it said. (Gaetz reportedly wanted Trump to pardon him.)
The establishment by Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly of a taskforce to consider the mental health and addiction challenges of persons interacting with the criminal justice system is a welcome and long overdue response to what has been acknowledged as one of the most serious challenges facing that system.

Individual 'horror stories that come to our notice through reporting in the national media, of violent crimes or detainees being held in unacceptable conditions, or unable to access appropriate treatment settings, unfortunately represent only the tip of this tragic iceberg, even in terms of the numbers affected.

On any day, there are about 3,800 people in prison and over 8,000 individuals under Probation Service supervision in the community.

A substantial proportion of these experiences significant mental health or addiction issues, or indeed a combination of both.

The establishment of the taskforce, to be chaired by former Minister of State Kathleen Lynch, represents a unique opportunity to address some of the most deep-rooted challenges facing our justice and health systems.

Mental health and addiction issues

The percentage of people subject to penal sanctions such as probation and prison who have mental health and addiction issues in Ireland and internationally, is well above the comparable level in the general population.

In addition, members of An Garda Siochana are routinely called to incidents involving individuals with significant mental health and/or addiction issues. Offenders in such cases are frequently brought before our courts, who in turn may struggle to identify appropriate referral routes and treatment pathways towards helpful outcomes.

Those directly affected as a result of all this systemic failure extend beyond those perpetrating the offences in question, to include their family members and wider communities, as well, of course, as the victims of crime.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly have established a taskforce 'to consider the mental health and addiction challenges of persons interacting with the criminal justice system'. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

The joint ministerial statement around the establishment of the taskforce, and its terms of reference, identify the need to address the mental health and addiction issues of those "coming into contact with the criminal justice system or interacting with the criminal justice system", implying clearly that such contact or interaction may occur at any point of the criminal justice process, from investigation, through prosecution to sanction and beyond.

Nevertheless, there is a somewhat imbalanced focus in the terms of reference and related statements on prison as the default, as the institution where all the work needs to be done. This should not be the case.

There must be no less focus by the taskforce on other stages of the justice system, including the roles played by the gardai, courts and probation, as well as on the role of other bodies, especially the health services.

Lost opportunity

If there is a narrow focus on prisons, this will be a lost opportunity. The focus on prisons is understandable, given the important and high-profile role they play.

Yet it is precisely because of the fact that so many people with serious and enduring mental illness are in prison, in the absence of viable alternatives, that we need to move beyond the focus on such custodial options, which are so often in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

We must remember that it is better to ensure that as many as possible have access to appropriate services in the community in the first instance, than that we try to "fix" something that is often only made worse by imprisonment.

One disturbing feature of this dilemma includes those cases where someone ends up in custody specifically for the purpose of accessing treatment that is otherwise not available.

No one should have to go to jail specifically for treatment.

It is unlikely, if not impossible, for example, that someone would be sent to prison solely to access physical/medical treatment.

Why should mental health treatment be any different? In that context, the focus of the taskforce must ensure that, as far as possible, those coming to the attention of the various arms of the criminal justice system are enabled to access appropriate services at each relevant point in the justice process, from contact with the Garda, the Courts and the Probation Service, as well as in prison.

This will require fine-tuned co-operation and interagency working between justice and health services.

The issues being addressed by the taskforce are by no means unique to Ireland. For example, the Council of Europe has acknowledged the importance of the same issues across its 47 member states, including Ireland.

The council has recently therefore tasked its working group that develops practice standards for probation and prison services across Europe (the PC-CP) to prioritise the development of good practice standards in relation to mental health issues of those on probation and in prison.

Lack of adequate data

One of the challenges facing efforts to make positive change in this area of service delivery  whether in Ireland or anywhere else  is the lack of adequate data on the problem.

Thankfully, this is now being addressed. For example, just last month Ms McEntee published research by the Probation Service on the prevalence of mental health issues among those under its care and supervision.

Unsurprisingly, that study found the level of mental health issues among those on probation to be much higher that among the wider general population.

The report also identified the need for improved training for staff and more effective engagement by probation with mainstream mental health service providers, as well as joined-up strategies and interventions.

While last weeks ministerial announcement of the taskforce is indeed welcome, what is required if the initiative is to enjoy maximum success and benefit and add most value to a system under strain, includes a need to:

Include the voices of all stakeholders (including service users) in the consultation process;

Have the taskforce work and report completed on target (by end of 2021);

Include a clear action plan, with identified responsibilities and timeline;

Harness interagency goodwill and buy-in;

Overcome entrenched siloed thinking and working, particularly between justice and health sectors;

Build follow-up actions into existing agencies strategic plans.;

Be solution-focused, including developing new and practical ways for getting things done. This includes cross-agency practice protocols, communications systems, shared goals, training and practice language.

Experience has shown that, while new initiatives to address deeply-entrenched problems may require additional or even redirected resources, by far the most important ingredient for success will be interagency commitment at the highest level.

Also essential will be a system of adequate reporting on progress, monitoring and evaluation structures inbuilt to the action plan.

Unique opportunity

Despite being overdue, this taskforce has a unique opportunity to influence the future direction of strategy and practice in this area and thereby make a significant contribution to making our communities safer, as well as ensuring that those in need of help get it, ideally before they need to punished and, where possible, without their having to enter the criminal justice system in the first instance.

 Vivian Geiran is adjunct assistant professor at the School of Social Work and Social Policy and a board member of the Irish Association of Social Workers and former Probation Service Director
He delivered his opinions without a shred of ambivalence, noting that his conclusions were based on very precise scientific knowledge like the level of oxygen when someone loses consciousness.

Dr. Tobin said he had watched portions of the video evidence hundreds of times. He had calculated what he said was the exact amount of weight Mr. Chauvin had placed on Mr. Floyds neck (86.9 pounds), clocked Mr. Floyds respiratory rate and marked the instant he took his final breath: 8:25:15 p.m.

He reassured jurors that many of the medical terms they have heard during the trial  hypoxia, asphyxia, anoxia  all mean essentially the same thing, a drastically low level of oxygen.

His testimony may help prosecutors overcome the fact that the official autopsy report did not use the word asphyxia, and seemed to make irrelevant the exact position of Mr. Chauvins knees, which has come up several times.

I dont think Ive seen an expert witness as effective as this, said Mary Moriarty, the former chief public defender of Hennepin County, who has been following the televised trial. He appears to be the worlds foremost expert on this, and he explained everything in English, in laymans terms.

The jury has heard repeatedly that police officers are taught that restraining people facedown is dangerous. Dr. Tobin walked the jury through exactly why, explaining first that simply being in the prone position reduces lung capacity.

On top of that, a knee on the neck compressed Mr. Floyds airway, he said, and the weight on his back alone made it three times harder than normal to breathe.
Two people accused in a bizarre ransom plot that involved a threat to turn an Alabama Confederate monument into a toilet have been arrested in New Orleans, and police said Friday they are searching for a third suspect.

Jason Warnick, 32, and Kathryn Diionno, 24, were booked with possessing stolen property after the Jefferson Davis Memorial Chair was recovered Thursday in the Upper 9th Ward, police said. The ornately carved, 500-pound stone relic was stolen last month from a cemetery in Selma, Alabama. Prosecutors estimate its value at $500,000.

As of Friday afternoon, 34-year-old Stanley Pate was still wanted in the case, the latest in a nationwide wave of activist actions against memorials to slave owners and Confederate leaders.

Such monuments have come under increasing attack since a counter protester was killed in 2017 during a white supremacist rally against the removal of a Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia.

New Orleans police said Friday they have returned the Davis chair to its owners: an Alabama chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which commissioned the monument in 1893. Davis, who enslaved dozens of people before the Civil War, was the sole president of the Confederacy.

The drama surrounding the monument dates from March 19, when it was taken from the Old Live Oak Cemetery.

According to the news outlet AL.com, a group calling itself White Lies Matter later threatened to use the chair as a toilet if the United Daughters of the Confederacy did not hang a certain banner outside its headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, by Friday afternoon, the 156th anniversary of the Confederate surrender that ended the Civil War.

+3 Lafayette school employee charged with raping European exchange student in French Quarter hotel A Lafayette Parish public school employee who had sex with a 16-year-old foreign exchange student at a French Quarter hotel is now facing stat

The news organization reported that the banner included a quote from Black Liberation Army activist Assata Shakur, who was linked to a New Jersey state troopers murder in 1973: The rulers of this country have always considered their property more important than our lives.

While they were somber about the legacy of the Confederacy, the groups members adopted a playful tone about the Davis chair's theft in an email. We took their toy, and we dont feel guilty about it. They never play with it anyway, the group said.

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After news of a $5,000 reward for the chairs recovery circulated, investigators in Alabama received a tip that the monument was being held inside a storage room at a tattoo shop in the 1000 block of Touro Street in Faubourg Marigny. The tipster said it was on a dolly covered by a brown tarp held with red and yellow tie-downs, and the informant provided photos, police wrote in court documents.

Police obtained a search warrant for the shop and raided it Wednesday. The chair wasnt there. But officers encountered Warnick, who reported that he and Diionno own the shop.

Nearby, investigators found a surveillance video that showed a masked woman with a tattoo of a candlestick on her right forearm helping five people take the hulking monument out of the shop and load it into the back of a U-Haul van, cops said. Police said they determined Diionno has that exact same tattoo on her right forearm, prompting them to label her and Warnick as suspects.

Police said that the chair was left at the corner of North Galvez and Feliciana streets, and someone sent the intersections GPS coordinates to the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Officers recovered the chair there Thursday morning and arrested Diionno and Warnick later in the day, the Police Department said.

Both were ordered released from jail on their own recognizance on Thursday, their attorneys, Michael Kennedy and Miles Swanson, said in a statement.

Kennedy and Swanson also said their clients have no specific ties to White Lies Matter or any other political activist group.

The facts and circumstances that have led to this arrest amount to nothing more than a mistake, albeit an unfortunate one, and we have no doubt that our clients will be proven not guilty, should the case even make it that far, the lawyers' statement added.

Canal Street shooting was revenge for victim's failure to defend woman in fight, suspect says A man failed to defend a woman during a fight on Bourbon Street, and as a result, he and his brother were shot blocks away on Easter morning, 

Matt Sledge contributed to this report.
A newlywed who posed for bridal photos in her immaculately organised pantry has been forced to defend herself after being viciously trolled on social media.

After returning from her honeymoon, Liana Rinaldo, 28, slipped back into her wedding dress to take lighthearted photos at her home in Adelaide, South Australia.

One of the shots captured the children's nurse in her pristine pantry, where shelves stacked with neatly labelled containers of pasta and cereal provided the backdrop for a fun-filled shoot arranged by her sister-in-law, Sarah.

While the photos were intended as a joke, Ms Rinaldo was hit with a barrage of criticism after uploading them to a household organisation group on Facebook.

After returning from her honeymoon, newlywed Liana Rinaldo (pictured) slipped back into her wedding dress to take lighthearted photos at her home in Adelaide, SA

'We did the photoshoot as a bit of fun, a bit of a laugh. But unfortunately not everyone has shared the humour,' Ms Rinaldo told Daily Mail Australia.

She said she received body shaming comments such as 'that's a lot of carbs, do you eat any of it?' and accusations that she does little more than cooking for her husband.

Ms Rinaldo - who shares interior decorating and design tips on her Instagram account, 'From House to Home' - called the remarks 'absolutely disgusting'.

'Luckily I don't let the trolls get to me but saying this to the wrong person could really affect them,' she said.

'Don't like something, scroll past. Or maybe don't join an organising group, you know?'

Comments slamming Ms Rinaldo's weight and relationship have since been removed by the group administrator, who called on members to 'scroll past' if they have nothing positive to say.

One of the shots (pictured) captured the children's nurse in her pristine pantry, where shelves stacked with neatly labelled containers of pasta and cereal provided the backdrop

Dozens rushed to her defence, urging Ms Rinaldo to ignore the hate.

'It's after her wedding. She just loves her wedding dress and put it on a few days after she got married... I would too, the dress is stunning, she absolutely glows and the pantry is beautiful,' one woman replied.

'I'm not sure which is more beautiful, the dress or the pantry,' said a second.

A third added: 'Beautiful, very funny and original also. I hope you enjoyed your big day.'
Racism is a 'serious public health threat,' the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday, becoming the largest U.S. health agency to identify the longstanding problem as such.

On Thursday, the CDC launched a new initiative to address the effects of racism, saying the life expectancy of 'non-Hispanic/Black Americans' is four years lower than that of their white counterparts.

'Racism - both interpersonal and structural - negatively affects the mental and physical health of millions of people, preventing them from attaining their highest level of health, and consequently, affecting the health of our nation,' the CDC said on its website.

The agency said the coronavirus pandemic and its 'disproportionate impact among racial and ethnic minority populations' brought renewed attention to 'enduring health disparities' in the United States.

On Thursday, the CDC launched a new initiative to take steps to address the effects of racism, saying the life expectancy of 'non-Hispanic/Black Americans' is four years lower than that of their white counterparts. Pictured: A Florida woman receives the Covid-19 vaccine at the St. Johns Missionary Baptist Church in Tampa in January [File photo]

CDC figures show that Black and Hispanic Americans are around three times more likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 and around two times more likely to die from the virus than white Americans.

Rather than genetics, factors known as 'social determinants' of health are to blame, scientists say. These non-medical factors include where people are born, their level of education and their access to housing and basic amenities.

'The word racism is intentional in this [initiative] for the CDC. This is not just about the color of your skin but also about where you live, where you work, where your children play, where you pray, how you get to work, the jobs you have. All of these things feed into people's health and their opportunities for health,' Dr Rochelle Walensky, who became CDC director in January, told Time Magazine.

Dr Rochelle Walensky, who became CDC director in January, told Time Magazine that addressing the links between racism and health will be a key part of her directorship [File photo]

The agency has previously acknowledged the link between racism and health, but Director Dr Rochelle Walensky said the new initiative, called Racism and Health, is distinct in that it marks a shift in the organization's role from observation to action.

The announced actions include ensuring the CDC's efforts to address the impact of racism on public health are company wide.

Walensky has asked all of the agency's centers and offices to draft interventions and health outcomes to measure in the next year addressing racism in their respective areas - from childhood immunizations to nutrition, Time reported.

She said that in the two agency-wide meetings she had held since becoming director, she has made it clear that addressing racism is a priority.

'It had to be baked into the cake; it's got to be part of what everybody is doing,' she told Time.

The CDC has $2.25billion earmarked for addressing Covid-19 related health disparities, the magazine reported.

It plans to not only continue its research into the links between race and health, but also build upon outreach efforts in minority communities established by the coronavirus vaccine rollout.

'Now is the time because there is attention drawn to it, and resources drawn to it. We are making a concerted national effort to reach those who have not been reached because we are making ties to local folks and trusted messengers,' Walensky told Time Magazine.

'I just really want to make sure that as long as we are doing that effort, and reaching people where they are, that we do so in a way that will allow us to not only vaccinate them for COVID-19 today but vaccinate their children for any missed immunizations and treat their blood pressure and screen them for cancer and do all the things that have been long neglected because they lacked access.'

The CDC has also pledged to increase diversity within its own workforce.

The agency is among dozens of public health bodies and medical organizations to identify racism as a public health threat in recent months.

These include the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association.
The Ministry of Health reported 576 new cases of COVID-19, a new daily record, with Phnom Penh registering the most cases on account of clusters in garment factories and local markets.

Cambodia has now recorded a total of 3,604 COVID-19 cases since last year, with 3,072 of these cases linked to the ongoing February 20 community event, which is Cambodias worst outbreak since the start of the pandemic.

Phnom Penh accounted for 544 of the 576 new cases, with the municipal administration turning the Chea Sim Samaky High School into a makeshift hospital for COVID-19 patients with a capacity of up to 238 patients.

The Health Ministry statement released Friday said 497 patients in Phnom Penh had not been transferred to a treatment facility.

Two clusters have emerged in Phnom Penh: one at the popular Orussey Market and the other at a Taiwanese-owned factory, Din Han Enterprise, in Meanchey district, according to Phnom Penh spokesperson Met Measpheakdey.

It is normally like that when you have more infections sourced from the main geographical clusters and we also detected more cases in other locations in the capital, he told VOA Khmer.

Asked about the spreads throughout the citys markets, Met Measpheakdey said the capitals marketplaces are upping their vigilance and enforcement of COVID-19 measures.

We have enforced various measures since the start of the pandemic, but there still exist incidents causing us difficulties like the one in Orussey Market, he said.

The governments sub-committee on COVID-19 surveillance said on Friday it had started contact tracing of patients at multiple markets in Phnom Penh, including Deum Kor, Neak Meas, Boeng Prolit, Dei Thmei, and Boeung Trabek Plaza.

Deputy National Police Chief Dy Vichea, who heads the sub-committee, told VOA Khmer that the announcements were only an alert for people to be safe and that no cases had been found at these markets.

We only know that patients had been to these markets but we have not detected any new positive cases of people who are sellers at these markets, Dy Vichea said.

In the Meanchey district, residents and garment workers from an Adidas supplier, Din Han Enterprise factory, have tested positive for the disease with authorities asking other workers and their families to get tested immediately.

According to the Municipal Administrations late announcement on Friday, new positive cases were also detected at two other factories near the Meanchey District.

Labor Ministry Spokesperson Heng Sour did not respond to a request for comment.

Health Ministry Spokesperson Or Vandine expressed serious concern over people who were refusing to follow the Health Ministrys safety guidelines.

The spike in the number of patients causes a concern for long-term public health consequences in the time that we are facing a high risk of large-scale transmission of the virus in the community, she wrote in a group chat on messaging application Telegram.

Li Ailan, who heads the World Health Organization in Cambodia, said it was concerning those infections were spreading through garment factories and local markets, but noted the decision to close factories should be done using a risk-based approach balancing health and economic factors.

What is also concerning is that this outbreak contains the B.1.1.7 variant, which spreads faster and causes serious illness, she said. There is the potential for this outbreak to be a national disaster, and we must work together to prevent this.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e unveiled back in February 2019 with Android 9 Pie is receiving the Android 11 update with One UI 3.1 - Samsung's latest custom Android skin.

The new firmware comes with version number T72XXXU2DUD1 and the usual Android 11 and One UI 3.1 goodies. It doesn't include the latest April 2021 Android security patch, but Samsung should release it soon.

The Android 11 update is seeding in Russia and the UK at the time of writing this, and it shouldn't be too long before the rollout in other countries begins.

If you live in the UK and Russia and haven't received the OTA yet, you can try checking the update manually by navigating to the Settings > Software update menu on your Galaxy Tab S5e.

Via
Mutations in the DNA of the cell's energy 'factories' increases the chances of survival for people with bowel cancer, according to a study published today (Thursday) in Nature Metabolism.

Image Credit: Cancer Research UK

Scientists funded by Cancer Research UK have found that patients with colorectal cancer, a common form of bowel cancer, had a 57 to 93% decreased risk of death from their cancer, depending on the presence and type of mitochondrial DNA mutations in their tumors.

The researchers hope that in the future, doctors could use this information to identify patients with more aggressive forms of bowel cancer so they can receive the most effective treatments.

Whilst most of our DNA is wrapped up at the center of our cells in the nucleus, we also have some in our mitochondria, which are small structures found in our cells that help us turn carbon fuels, such as sugar, into energy. Just as our main nuclear DNA can randomly get errors in it, or 'mutations', the same can happen to the DNA in our mitochondria.

It's known that mitochondrial mutations can be found in cancer cells, but there has been little research into what they do or whether they have any effect on treatment response or how the cancer will progress.

To answer these questions, researchers at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in Glasgow collaborated with the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York to collate and analyze data from the largest published dataset of tumor samples that include mitochondrial genome data and the corresponding clinical outcomes of the patients.

By analyzing this data from 344 patients with a common form of bowel cancer known as colorectal cancer, the researchers could match groups of mutations to the likelihood of survival.

They found that, after controlling for other variables which affect cancer risk like age, the presence of mitochondrial mutations was associated with 57 to 93% decreased risk of death from colorectal cancer, depending on the type of mitochondrial DNA mutation.

The team also wanted to know how common mitochondrial mutations were in cancer more broadly. They used cutting-edge genetic techniques to look at existing data from over 10,000 tumor samples across 23 cancer types to search for mitochondrial mutations that were frequently repeated.

They found that mitochondrial mutations were present in almost 6 in 10 of the tumor samples, with 25 out of the 30 most commonly mutated genes across cancers being present in the mitochondrial genome.

These results indicate that mitochondrial mutations could play a role in survival beyond bowel cancer. Further research is needed to understand the wider implications of mitochondrial mutations in different cancers, and to delve into the biological underpinnings behind it.

This new study shines a light on the impact of mitochondrial DNA mutations in cancer, which have been overlooked for decades. This discovery could have a huge impact on patient care, with potential for changes to suggested treatments and a patient's outlook based upon the mitochondrial DNA status of their cancer. However, further research will be necessary to move these discoveries from the lab to the clinic." Dr Payam Gammage, Study Co-Lead Author and Group Leader, Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute

Dr Ed Reznik, co-lead author based at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said: "Using data hiding in plain sight, we have shown that a critical piece of the cell's machinery to make energy is quite often broken in cancers. It now begs the question of how these mutations within mitochondrial DNA might be exploited as drug targets."

This work highlights just how much more there is to discover about the inner workings of cancer, and all those breakthroughs for people with cancer we have yet to unlock. Incredible things can be achieved through research, and the gains are even greater when we collaborate with world-class global institutes like Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. We look forward to seeing where this relatively unexplored area of research takes us, which could have some fantastic potential for people with cancer." Michelle Mitchell, Chief Executive, Cancer Research UK
Ashley Cain has spent his last night in hospital with his eight-month-old daughter Azaylia, as the family prepare to return home after learning she could have just days to live.

On Thursday the reality star, 30, shared a heartbreaking Instagram video revealing he and the tot's mum Safiyya Vorajee were bringing their little girl home to make her comfortable after learning doctors had found tumours throughout her body.

In the emotional post, Ashley added that Azaylia, who was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia six months ago, can no longer fly to Singapore for treatment after discovering the tumours, and vowed to make her final days 'as fun as they can.'

Sad: Ashley Cain has spent his last night in hospital with his eight-month-old daughter Azaylia, as the family prepare to return home after learning she could have just days to live

After sharing his moving video, Ashley took to Instagram Stories to share a snap of him kissing his daughter as they lay in the hospital bed together.

He wrote: 'Last night in here before we take you home baby,' along with a broken heart emoji.

Safiyya then shared a similar image with her baby girl in the bed, writing: 'My hero.'

Ashley marked his last night in hospital with little Azaylia after revealing the tot has just days to live amid her devastating battle with leukaemia.

He took to Instagram on Thursday where he shared a heartbreaking video in which he explained what was happening, revealing to fans that they're taking their little girl back home from hospital to make her as comfortable as possible.

Upsetting: The reality star shared a heartbreaking Instagram video on Thursday revealing he and the tot's mum Safiyya Vorajee (pictured) were bringing their little girl home

Devastating: In the emotional post, Ashley added that Azaylia can no longer fly to Singapore for treatment, and vowed to make her final days 'as fun as they can.'

Speaking outside of the hospital, the TV star told his followers: 'Where do I start? Where do I start? A lot has happened. A whole lot. Too much to write in a caption, too much to explain in a picture, so I thought I'd do a video.

'So last week we had the bone marrow test and the lumber puncture and bloods taken to send to Singapore in the hope that they could create a CAR T therapy to save Azaylia's life.

'Then we had to have a CT scan on her head and the results came back the next day, saying that Azaylia's got two very big tumours on her brain.

'They also said that the intrathecal treatment that is usually given to treat leukemia in the spine or the brain will not be available, because she has too much pressure with these tumours. And if they tried to even go through the spinal tap it would kill her. At that point, obviously, our world came down.

Family: The reality star took to Instagram on Thursday where he shared a heartbreaking video in which he explained what was happening (Pictured with Azaylia's mum Safiyya Vorajee)

Heartbreaking: Ashley revealed that little Azaylia cannot fly to Singapore for treatment as doctors have discovered tumours throughout her tiny body

'Because obviously, the current chemotherapy that we were doing was for her blood, not the tumours in her brain.

'Consultants said that they think she's only got one, two days to live, and it could even be that night. So, we took Azaylia home with the palliative care team and stuff.

'It was scary. You walk into your little daughter's room and there's big oxygen tanks and stuff like that and it was horrible.

'We took her home. She was on high levels of pain relief and we tried to enjoy every little bit we could, but it was tough. We got through the first night, we got through the second night, but we noticed that Azaylia wasn't really here properly.

'As a parental instinct, I told my girlfriend, I said: "Let's take her off her pain relief". So we took her off the pain relief and the next morning she was as bright as a button, she had her sharpness back, she was responding to everything.

Poor baby: Doctors have found tumours in Azaylia's stomach, her spleen, her liver and her kidneys, in addition to tumours in her brain. And sadly, the chemotherapy isn't working

'And we sat there, and we thought: "this disease is not killing our daughter. We need to do everything that we can do to save this girl's life."

'And so I rang up the consultant at hospital and said: "We're coming back in, we're carrying on with treatment and we're getting her to Singapore."

Ashley said he told consultants in hospital that he has always been a fighter and always will be, adding: 'My daughter is a product of me: through nature, via nurture. That means she'll be a fighter too.'

The TV star touched on how some parents might be more comfortable at home with their child, but explained that it would 'break him' to stay at home knowing his daughter is dying and he's not doing anything about it.

Fighter: Ashley told consultants: 'My daughter is a product of me: through nature, via nurture. That means she'll be a fighter too'

The father-of-one continued relaying his conversation with doctors, explaining that he told them: 'Azaylia had one in four hundred trillion chance of being Azaylia, and you only get one chance at life...

'So we, I are gonna do everything we possibly can do preserve hers, 'cause when you're gone, you're gone... But it's how you wanna be remembered when you're gone.

'She's fought a hard tough fight the whole way through, so I wanna honour that and give her the best chance of survival.'

Too rare: Ashley revealed to his followers that doctors in Singapore have now said that Azaylia's condition is too rare to treat

Ashley then told his followers that they took Azaylia back into hospital and were exploring treatment options.

He said: 'We've been back in hospital the last three four days. We've been pushing, fighting for options and we made steps forwards.'

'She's currently on the drug that we fought to get. We're talking about potential options of radiotherapy to target the tumours in her head.

'They don't usually get radiotherapy to children under three but they were potentially willing to make an exception potentially, after talks.'

After taking a deep breath, Ashley explained that they had an ultrasound scan yesterday and the results came back today revealing that they found tumours throughout her body.

Going home: Holding back tears, the doting dad continued: 'So that means we're going back home. We're going back home and, we're gonna try and make our baby as comfortable as possible...

Ashley told fans: 'They found tumours in her stomach her spleen her kidneys, as well as the tumours in her brain, and the chemotherapy's not working.

'Her disease is that aggressive that nothing they are doing... Nothing's working.

'And then, to make it worse, the consultants got an email from Singapore, and because Azaylia's literally one in a trillion - she literally is she's so special, she's one in a trillion - but unfortunately so is her disease. In Singapore they can't create a CAR T for her leukemia.

Holding back tears, the doting dad continued: 'So that means we're going back home. We're going back home and, we're gonna try and make our baby as comfortable as possible...

'And we're gonna have as much fun as we can with her as possible. And I thought that...

Fighter! Ashley explained that he told his girlfriend: 'We're gonna smile, we're gonna be strong and we're gonna go out with honour'

Champ! 'She's had a tough, tough life. From eight weeks old she'd been in hospital having chemotherapy, operations, transplants...' said Ashley of his incredible little girl

When you hear of all the other kids in the hospital they just wanna be at home, but Azaylia doesn't have a voice yet. I think if she had a voice, she'd wanna be at home too. So we're gonna take her home.'

Ashley told fans that he forced himself and his partner to get up, get dressed, eat and clean up, adding: 'We're gonna smile, we're gonna be strong and we're gonna go out with honour.

At the end of the harrowing video, while on the verge of weeping the reality star said: 'She's had a tough, tough life. From eight weeks old she'd been in hospital having chemotherapy, operations, transplants...

'And I feel like, for the last part of her life I just want to take her home. See her like a baby and give her the best rest of her life that we can give her. And that's it.

Sad news: Safiyya also took to Instagram to share the news in a lengthy caption alongside a photograph of herself and Ashley in hospital with baby Azaylia

Ashley took a moment to collect himself, and then confessed: 'I've been strong the whole way through this, but this last week I've been numb... Numb to the core.

'I've been upset, I've been sad, I've been depressed, I've been heartbroken. Some days I don't even know where I am.

'But I think right about now I've got to step up more than ever and be stronger than I've been the whole time, because I'm doing it for her. She needs to see her daddy smiling, she needs to see her mummy smiling. And that's it.

Ashley ended his video with a message of gratitude for his fans, saying: 'Thank you for all the love and support guys, honestly. I'm gonna go back into hospital now, to take my baby home.'

The media personality and his partner Safiyya Vorajee recently raised more than 1.5 million to fund a trip to Singapore for potentially life-saving transplant, but she was being treated in the UK during the interim.

Honoured: 'I am so proud of my baby girl she has been fighting for so so long... I'm incredibly honoured to have become a mummy to my precious girl' wrote Safiyya

Safiyya also took to Instagram to share the news in a lengthy caption alongside a photograph of herself and Ashley in hospital with baby Azaylia.

She penned: 'With a heavy painful heart I share the saddest news of my life...' before confirming that which her boyfriend had told his followers.

Of the planned treatment in Singapore which is now no longer possible, Safiyya wrote: 'This was our last, our only and our final option to save Azaylia and her disease was even too complex for them.

'So we will be now returning home with our beautiful baby to give her the best possible time left that we can.

Devoted: Beneath Safiyya's heartfelt caption, Ashley wrote of their daughter: 'She has made me a better man, a proud, strong father and imprinted on me for life!'

'I am so proud of my baby girl she has been fighting for so so long, and doesn't deserve for this to happen to her!

'There isn't enough words out there to describe the heartache and pain I'm feeling but I'm incredibly honoured to have become a mummy to my precious girl.'

Beneath Safiyya's heartfelt caption, Ashley commented: 'We have fought an incredible fight. None of us more than our beautiful baby girl. She made us smile, she kept us strong and she always gave us hope.

'I've never ever been happier, more devoted and in love than this last 8 months. She has made me a better man, a proud, strong father and imprinted on me for life! You gave us so much, now it's time to go home!'

Supportive friends: Ashley's celebrity pals rushed to send messages of love and support to him amid what is the most devastating time

Ashley's celebrity pals rushed to send messages of love and support to him amid what is the most devastating time.

Charlotte Crosby wrote beneath his video: 'God ash I am so so so so so sorry. Wow my heart is breaking,' while Holly Hagan added: ' Im so so sorry and sending all the love and prayers in the world.'

Love Islander Shaughna Phillips penned: 'No sense, no reason and no justice in this world at all. Your beautiful darling girl has the heart of a lion, and she could not have been more blessed to have parents like you and @miss_safiyya_ .

'You have both shown the world what the true meaning of love is, everything that was asked of you, you did. I pray so much you that you find strength to enjoy your precious daughter at home, and just know you all have the love of the country and beyond.'

Theo Campbell wrote: 'Really no words,' and Alex Bowen added: 'I'm so so sorry brother sending love to you all.'

Lauren Goodman shared: 'Im so sorry! My heart is broken for you all. Sending you all my love and strength. Youve done the best you could xx she has been so brave and tough!' while her sister Chloe Goodman added: 'No words completely heartbroken for your family.'

New mum Charlotte Dawson commented: 'Ash no Im so so sorry. She is the most bravest little angel, fought so hard. You are the best parents ever.'

Pop star Aston Merrygold wrote: 'So sorry man! sending you guys love,' while Olivia Bowen penned: 'I am so sorry, there are no words. You have all been so brave, sending all my love you and your beautiful baby girl Azaylia - she stole the hearts of us all.'

Other celebs flooded Safiyya's heartbreaking post with messages of love goodwill amid Azaylia's last days.

Lisa Maffia wrote: 'Sending you so much love and strength. I am praying so much for you all. Your beautiful babygirl will be well looked after and I pray to meet her in another life. I hope you get as long as possible together and just know that my whole family are thinking of you every second. Love you all.'

Jessica Hayes shared: 'Im so sorry just no words sending love and strength always . Holding you all in my thoughts xxxxxxxxxx.'

Wayne Lineker commented: 'There are no words. My daughter tia had to have a blood test today as she has bruises to her little finger and as A devoted parent I was naturally concerned but what you guys are going through and have been through is incredible compared. Ashley has been my friend for many years and he is a beautiful man I am just so so sorry.'

Comments from celebs: Other celebs flooded Safiyya's heartbreaking post with messages of love goodwill amid Azaylia's last days

At the end of March, Ashley revealed that his daughter Azaylia would be required to undergo another round of chemotherapy amid her battle with leukaemia.

And in a heartbreaking update, Ashley revealed that doctors have found 'blasts of leukaemia forming in her cerebrospinal fluid'  forcing yet more chemo for his daughter.

Taking to Instagram to share a snap of himself with his daughter, Ashley wrote: 'Azaylia had to go into theatre yesterday, for a bone marrow test to read her leukaemia count, plus, a lumber puncture to extract samples to send off to Singapore.

Treatment: Last month, Ashley revealed that Azaylia would be required to undergo another round of chemotherapy amid her battle with leukaemia

'After that, doctors had to take 60ml of blood from her followed by a 4 hour blood transfusion. Later, she had chemotherapy with two separate drugs: Azacitidine and the drug we've been working tirelessly to get hold of, Venetoclax.

'That was a tough enough because of Azaylia's pain and discomfort from the multiple procedures. Until we got told by consultants, that they had found blasts of leukaemia forming in her Cerebrospinal fluid, which can result in it finding the brain!'

He explained: 'This now means that Azaylia will now have to have another form of chemotherapy intrathecally, through the spinal tap to attack the leukaemia and protect her brain.

Update: In an update, Ashley revealed that doctors had found 'blasts of leukaemia forming in her cerebrospinal fluid'  forcing yet more chemo for his daughter

'This means today she will be having a CT scan on her head to make sure we can go through with this intrathecal procedure tomorrow.'

Touching on the strain of the experience on the family, he concluded: 'With 3 hours sleep in 2 days, the reality is that, there are no days off on this journey, no time out periods and no single second without worry or fear.

'If you asked me a year ago, I would've never imagined how strong I could or would have to be. That being said, you never really know how strong you are, until being strong is your only option. '

A day before, his partner Safiyya Vorajee revealed their daughter Azaylia is 'in a lot of pain' ahead of her planned treatment in Singapore.

Upsetting: Ashley's partner Safiyya Vorajee revealed their daughter Azaylia was 'in a lot of pain'

Keeping her followers updated on their journey, Safiyya detailed the blood transfusion and surgery which Azaylia underwent.

Addressing her followers from the hospital, Safiyya explained: 'We've got a heavy morning today, we are getting a bone marrow test done and then Azaylia needs 60ml of blood taken from her.

'She needs to have a blood transfusion so that they can send the blood over to Singapore. She's very swollen this morning, she's on lots of fluid as that keeps the leukaemia from sticking.'

Determined: Safiyaa and partner Ashley Cain recently raised more than 1.5 million to fund the trip but she was being treated in the UK during the interim

Speaking about the emotional toll it has taken on her, Safiyya continued: 'Watching your daughter being put to sleep, again, really pulls another level of heartstrings.

'These days feel so long and tough, but you'd do anything for your child - you don't care about how you are yourself.

'So many people ask how are you feeling, and we have one destination and that is to get to Singapore and get through this.'

Thankfully, the blood transfusion and operation went smoothly, with Safiyya later updating fans: 'The procedures are all done and we are currently on a blood transfusion. Azaylia has recovered, she had to have blood taken from her.

Update: Keeping her followers updated on their journey, Safiyya detailed the blood transfusion and surgery Azaylia underwent

'60ml can leave you very anemic and your blood pressure and heart rate can go anywhere while blood's being taken from your body but luckily Azaylia was very stable.'

She then wrote: 'What a tough day she's had, bless her. She's been in a lot of pain today.'

While Ashley shared a clip of his little girl captioned: 'The amount this little girl has battled through today.'

He later added: 'One hour sleep with this little one last night. She went through the whole lot of procedures yesterday and she's really feeling it.

Heartbreaking: Ashley later shared a clip of his little girl in hospital captioned, 'The amount this little girl has battled through today'

'Three hours sleep in the last two days. There are no days off or times out on this journey. We're going to get you across that line baby'.

It comes after Ashley revealed pharmaceutical companies were not releasing the life-saving drugs needed to beat his daughter Azaylia's leukemia battle.

Ashley, whose baby girl was undergoing her fourth round of chemotherapy at the time, took to Instagram to admit he's in 'heavy talks' with consultants and doctors in an attempt to change the businesses' decision.

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.

Update: The following morning, Ashley revealed it had been a sleepless night for all as Azaylia recovered, with the EOTB star promising to get his daughter 'across the line'

'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 previously asked fans for help in donating, explaining the treatment his daughter needs is only available in Singapore.

The total of his fundraiser for his eight-month-old's treatment reached over 1.5million, following donations from Love Island's Molly-Mae Hague and Maura Higgins.

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.

Fighting for her: Azaylia was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia when she was just two months old and her parents have fought to save her life

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 eight months of fatherhood under Covid-19 restrictions in hospital as his daughter fought the cancer.

Doctors told the TV star and his partner Safiyya that chemotherapy would not be enough to cure Azaylia.
A teenage boy has been rushed to hospital after he was bitten by a snake in the rural area.

Emergency crews were called to a property in Norwell, on the Gold Coast, about 8.50am on Friday following reports of a snake bite.

Queensland Ambulance said the boy was bitten on the hand.

He was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition.

The species of snake is not yet known.
FOWLER, Ind. (WLFI)  Katherine Jenkins' life changed the morning of March 5 after she arrived at work.

Jenkins had been manager at Treasure on Pallets in Lafayette for nearly a year when it was raided by police.

"I see cops in the parking lot but I didn't think anything of it," she says. "When I stuck the key into the door, that's when I realized they were there for Treasure on Pallets."

Police seized inventory, receipts, invoices and cash as part of a long-term investigation into the business owners, Fran and Menashi Cohen.

As News 18 previously reported, the Cohens are defendants in a civil suit filed by the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor's Office alleging a pattern of racketeering, including money laundering, theft, forgery and perjury.

"I would never suspect in a million years that something like that would be happening," Jenkins says.

Jenkins says she met Menashi Cohen when she was homeless and in active drug addiction, and she saw him as a father figure.

"He told me, 'When you get your life together, come see me.' So I did," she says. "He believed in me when I couldn't even believe in myself. That's what hurts the most."

She became manager at Treasure on Pallets, a liquidation business selling overstock inventory, with plans to open another store in Fowler.

"Before he could close on this building, his stuff got seized, so that left me jobless," Jenkins says.

A family friend came forward to purchase the building, anyway, making Jenkins the co-owner of Treasure on Palletz in Fowler. Although it shares a similar name, business model and much of the same clientele as the former store in Lafayette, she says it's not affiliated with the Cohens.

Jenkins says she started from scratch after the raid with all new inventory. She says she wanted to maintain relationships with customers who affectionately knew her as "the pallet lady."

"They know me as Kat from Treasure on Pallets ... and I have nothing to hide so I didn't feel like making a drastic name change was necessary," she says.

She shares the building with Kathy Matson, owner of Connecting Visions, a local pantry and charity. They met at the former Lafayette location and Matson says God connected them for this new endeavor.

"There was a reason that we came together and this is exactly what we need to be doing," Matson says. "The Treasure on Palletz, it's going to be a success, there's no doubt about it in my mind."

Jenkins and Matson are urging anyone in need or anyone who would like to donate to visit the store. It's located at 300 South Grant Avenue in Fowler and is open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

News 18 reached out to attorneys representing the Cohens but they declined to comment.
Alabama saw $4.8 billion in new economic development projects in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the economy.

Thats down more than $2 billion from what the state saw in 2019, but Alabama also racked up almost 9,500 new job commitments from 230 projects. The figures were released today in the Alabama Department of Commerces New and Expanding Industry Report.

While 2020 was far from being a normal year, Alabamas economic development efforts made a steady and important contribution to the states growth prospects, Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement. Companies from around the world continue to find all the ingredients they need for success right here in Alabama.

In the previous year before coronavirus, Alabama had $7.1 billion in economic development with more than 13,400 jobs created.

In 2020, Jefferson County was tops for job creation through economic development projects, with 1,211 jobs. Other counties in the top five were Lee, Tuscaloosa, Cullman and Madison. Limestone County was tops in new capital investment, with projects worth more than $1.1 billion. Other leaders were Mobile, Tuscaloosa, Jefferson and Lee.

The states 40 counties classified as rural also had nearly $615 million in new capital investment and 1,940 jobs commitments.

Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield said the development pipeline in 2021 looks poised to bring new opportunities to Alabama.

Working diligently to overcome obstacles, Alabamas economic development team managed to bring home solid results last year that will help advance the states economic revival, Canfield said.

Despite the pandemic, Alabama landed a $775 million electric arc steelmaking facility at AM/NS Calvert near Mobile, creating 200 jobs. Warrior Met Coal is developing a new $529 million underground mine with 359 jobs in Tuscaloosa County. The state also saw large scale distribution and logistics projects with Aldi, Amazon, Dollar General, Lowes and FedEx. Those projects alone represent $500 million in new capital investment, creating at least 2,000 jobs.

Alabamas auto manufacturing sector also saw more than $1.6 billion in 2020 projects generating 2,600 new job commitments. That includes Mazda Toyotas $830 million investment in its Huntsville plant, and Mercedes-Benzs $54 million logistics center to support electric vehicle production.

Foreign direct investment from 13 different countries also represented a combined $2.7 billion, creating 2,700 jobs.
The River North neighborhood is among the many new flashpoints of an emerging third surge of cases on Chicagos North Side. From West Town and Lincoln Park to Edison Park, these neighborhoods have some of the citys highest rates of vaccination so far, with as many as 42% of residents getting at least one shot in the period studied. And yet the third surge has affected them more than some areas that suffered greatly in previous surges.
New Delhi, Apr 9 (UNI) India and the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan on Friday agreed to step up defence industrial cooperation and mutual capacity building.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with visiting Kazakh Defence Minister Lieutenant General Nurlan Yermekbaye.

They agreed that both sides must look at the possibility of co-production and co-development in defence production. Kazakhstan has expressed its interest in the joint production of aerospace equipment.

The two sides are also interested in repair, maintenance and upgrade of the military equipment and setting up joint ventures.

India and Kazakhstan established a strategic partnership in 2009. Kazakh-Indian military cooperation is executed within an agreement on Defence and Military Technical Cooperation signed in 2015 during the visit of Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kazakhstan.

The two ministers exchanged views to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, including through training and defence exercises.

Bilateral cooperation in the defence sector has strengthened over the last few years with programmes in military education and training, such as Youth Exchange Programme (YEP) between cadet corps, as well as annual joint military exercises.

Lt Gen Yermekbayev thanked India for deploying Kazakh troops in the Indian battalion in United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

They agreed that both sides must look at the possibility of defence industrial collaboration of mutual interest.

Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar,and Secretary, Defence Production, Raj Kumar were present on the occasion.

The two ministers had last met in Moscow on September 5, 2020 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' meeting.

UNI SRJ
General view of the Main Building on the campus of the University of Kentucky. Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

The University of Kentucky accidentally sent 500,000 acceptance emails for a selective program.

A university spokesman told WLEX-TV a "technical issue" was responsible for the mixup.

Many of the students who received the email in error hadn't even applied to the university.

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Less than two months before national College Decision Day, one Kentucky university made a technological error to the tune of 500,000 mistaken acceptance emails.

On March 15, the University of Kentucky sent hundreds of thousands of acceptance emails to high school seniors for a program that typically only accepts 35 to 40 students, according to WLEX-TV.

An error in the school's customer relationship management tool resulted in accidental acceptances to the university's selective clinical leadership and management program in the College of Health and Sciences, the outlet reported.

Mary Dougherty, a high school senior from San Antonio, Texas, was among the thousands who received the mistaken email.

"I was like, 'Mom, I just got accepted into the University of Kentucky,'" Doughtery told WLEX-TV. "And she's like, 'Oh, I didn't know you applied to University of Kentucky.' And I was like, 'oh, I did not.'"

Other students who received the email told the outlet they had never even heard of the university, let alone applied to the selective program.

"I had to Google it just to make sure it was a real college because, like, I've heard of them. But I'm not so sure," Erin Esping, a senior from Georgia told WLEX-TV.

A spokesman for the university told the outlet that only a handful of students who received the email in error had actually expressed interest in the particular program.

"Only a handful of those on the prospect list had been admitted to UK. The vast majority had not, nor had the vast majority of these students expressed an interest in the program," Jay Blanton told the station. "Nevertheless, we regret the communication error and have sent correspondence to all those who were contacted, offering our apologies."

Story continues

He also said all the students who actually had been admitted to the program should have already received their acceptances.

The school reportedly followed up with an apology and explanation email within 24 hours of the initial mistake, according to The Associated Press.

Blanton told WLEX-TV that the university's distribution management system could have had students' contact information if they indicated they were interested in the school at some point during their college search or if they sent in an application.

"It is a common practice in higher education," he told the outlet.

Some of the students who mistakenly received the email told WLEX-TV that they were initially worried they had applied by accident and taken someone else's spot.

"I'd be heartbroken," Texas senior Gabriel Botello, who did not apply to the University of Kentucky, told the outlet. "Reading that 'congratulations you're in' for students who really wanted it, that must have been horrible"

Read the original article on Insider
Prince Philip, age 99, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has died, Buckingham Palace says.

The WWII naval officer-turned-royal consort had been a high-profile member of the British royal family since 1947.

Philip spent a month in hospital earlier this year before being released on March 16 to return to Windsor Castle.

It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the palace says. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.

Born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark on June 10, 1921, on the Greek island of Corfu, he was the son of Princess Alice of Battenberg and Prince Andrew of Greece.

It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.



His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/XOIDQqlFPn  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 9, 2021

After his family was exiled from Greece, Philip grew up in France and Germany. He was later sent to live in Britain with his maternal grandmother, Victoria Mountbatten, herself the granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

In 1939, aged 18, Philip joined the British navy. He met his future wife, Elizabeth  his third cousin  that same year when the royal family toured his naval college.

She was 13 at the time and reportedly fell in love with him almost immediately.

The pair began writing letters to each other  the beginning of a long courtship which continued as Philip served in the Navy during World War II, including on battleships in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1946, Philip asked for Elizabeths hand in marriage, and they wed the following year. She was 21, he was 26.

His three sisters, all of whom had married German princes, were barred from attending the wedding at Westminster Abbey, due to post-WWII tensions.

Philip abandoned his Greek and Danish royal titles and adopted his grandmothers surname, Mountbatten. Before the wedding, he was given the title Duke of Edinburgh.

When Elizabeth took the throne in 1952, Philip gave up his naval career to accompany her on royal duties.

Accompanying her on royal tours across the globe, Philip visited New Zealand 11 times between 1953 and 2002.

He once described himself as the worlds most experienced plaque-unveiler  and hes not wrong.

Since Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne, he made over 22,000 solo public engagements and delivered over 5000 speeches.

Philip and Elizabeth had four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

Their grandchild, Prince William, is second in line to the throne, after Prince Charles.

In total, they had eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

In 2017, Philip, then aged 95, announced he would be stepping down from his royal duties, after years suffering from heart disease and other ailments.

In April 2018, he had hip replacement surgery and had since been largely absent from public life, including missing his great-grandson Prince Louis christening. But he did attend the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Windsor in May of that year.

In January 2019, the then-97-year-old was driving a Range Rover and was turning out of an intersection when he collided with a Kia car carrying three people, causing minor injuries to two of them.

In February of 2021, at the age of 99, he was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London. Buckingham Palace said the move was a precautionary measure taken on the advice of Philip's doctor.

His illness was not related to Covid-19. The Queen and Philip were vaccinated against the coronavirus in early January.
At least 160 Confederate symbols were removed from public spaces across the United States in 2020, according to the the Southern Poverty Law Center. Even Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy, has removed a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from the Richmond Statehouse and is trying to take down others seen as offensive by an increasing numbers of Americans, including those whose ancestors were enslaved.

Texas has largely declined to participate in this nationwide reckoning with the symbols of the Old South. Instead, local officials are doubling down on their Confederate monuments.

Republican state Sen. Brandon Creighton, who represents the city of Conroe, says he will file a bill this legislative session to protect historical monuments from efforts to remove them.

Meanwhile, officials in rural Walker County voted unanimously in December to keep a marker to Confederate Patriots on the county courthouse lawn in Huntsville. The vote followed an eight-month citizen campaign calling for the removal of the monument, which was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1956.

Walker County Commissioners explained their Dec. 21 decision only by saying that the monument does not belong to us, suggesting it is a piece of local history.

Yet Walker County is hundreds of miles from any major Civil War battlefield. And the countys most famous resident, Sam Houston, a Texas hero, ardently opposed the Confederacy.

So rejecting the Confederacy is Texas history, too.

A proud Southerner who opposed secession

Sam Houston was the most important political figure in Texas before the Civil War. The modern city of Houston is named for him, as is the university in Huntsville, where we teach American history.

Born in Virginia, Houston moved to the Mexican state of Texas in 1832. A veteran of the War of 1812, Houston was soon appointed commander of the Texas Army and helped secure Texas independence at the 1836 Battle of San Jacinto. He went on to serve two nonconsecutive terms as president of the independent Republic of Texas.

Later, Houston was the states Democratic governor when secession became a serious subject of discussion in the South.

In 1860, following Abraham Lincolns election, white leaders in Huntsville wrote to Houston seeking his advice. Houston counseled them in a letter written on Nov. 14, 1860, to remain vigilant in their defense of American constitutional values when the country is agitated and revolution threatened. He urged the group not to get carried away by the impulse of the moment.

There were natural bonds between Houston and Southern secessionists: All were white male slave owners who openly endorsed white supremacy. But Houston saw slavery as a necessary evil, not a patriotic cause.

It is necessity that produces slavery, he said in 1855, and it is convenience, it is profit, that creates slavery.

As a senator in 1854, he had voted against the extension of slavery into the Kansas and Nebraska territories and was condemned throughout the South for his principled stand.

Houston was no abolitionist, however. He owned more than a dozen enslaved people and profited from enslaved labor throughout his life. Unlike much of Americas Southern gentry, though, Houston was not willing to shed blood to expand slavery.

When Texas legislators met in 1861 to consider seceding from the United States, Houston made clear his opposition to the move. But Texas secessionists were a stronger force. When Houston refused to take an oath to the Confederacy on March 16, 1861, he was removed from the governors office.

Booed by crowds and driven from state politics, Houston settled into a self-imposed exile in Huntsville. He watched in dismay as Texas joined the Confederacy. He died two years later, a lonesome and broken man.

A contorted view of Texas history

As scholars who focus on race and class in Texas, we have studied the states history and have been led to speak out against Huntsvilles Confederate monument.

As we wrote last year in a statement published in the local newspaper, the Huntsville Item, the courthouse marker obscures and misrepresents local history. It is an insult to Houstons refusal to pledge allegiance to the Confederacy and ignores the fact that enslaved African Americans made up most of Walker Countys population during the Civil War.

It is, in so many words, an ahistorical monument.

Yet Huntsville  population 40,000  glorifies Houston as a military and political hero. His former home is surrounded by a modern museum dedicated to him. And Interstate 45, which runs from Houston to Dallas, features a 67-foot statue known as Big Sam advertising Huntsville to travelers.

How can modern Huntsvillians  like local officials across Texas  both revere this anti-Confederate leader and pledge their support for Confederate symbols?

The answer lies in the Lost Cause, a tenacious Southern myth that portrays slavery as benign and the Confederacy as noble. This is the preferred version of Texas history promoted by the states conservative leadership, the version that appears in Texas schools textbooks.

By the 1950s, when the Huntsville chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected the courthouse monument, the group had been pushing the Lost Cause narrative for over half a century.

Mae Wynne McFarland, a Huntsville native and 1941 president of the Texas Daughters of the Confederacy, characterized the War Between the States as a conflict fought for exactly the same principles which inspired the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Texas Revolution.

Houston fought in two of those three battles. His repeated public statements show, however, that he did not believe the Confederacys effort in the Civil War aimed at the same principles as the War of 1812 or the Texas Revolution.

Conservative white Texans have long tried to knit Sam Houston into their Lost Cause narrative. But biographers and students of history have always been there to correct them.

Littlejohn is a professor, Hyams is a visiting assistant professor, Henze is a lecturer and Montz is a lecturer in the history department at Sam Houston State University. This piece was published by The Conversation.
Soldiers of People's Liberation Army (PLA) are seen before a giant screen as Chinese leader Xi Jinping speaks at the military parade marking the 70th founding anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, on its National Day in Beijing, China, on Oct. 1, 2019. (Jason Lee/Reuters)

Why Is the Chinese Regime Having Trouble Recruiting More Soldiers?

Commentary

The Chinese regimes military expansion in the Indo-Pacific region is becoming a hot topic, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping has told troops to prepare for war. However, there is a growing number of draft dodgers and deserters in China. What are the reasons behind this phenomenon? What does it reflect?

I used to work at the grassroots level of government organizations and assisted in the conscription process. I would like to share what I know about draft dodging and desertion in China.

First, a lot of young men refuse to serve in the military because they think its too difficult. Under the one-child policy, many young people are spoiled and do not want to bear hardshipsthis phenomenon is known as little emperor syndrome. Some of them find the recruit training very challenging, and when they think about the difficult days ahead, they will escape from the military camps regardless of the consequences.

The second reason is family obligations. For example, the young man doesnt want to join the army because he is being groomed to take over the family business. This kind of family is often quite wealthy and has political ties.

The third reason is ideological resistance to the CCP. For example, many people who lived through the Cultural Revolution dont trust the CCP and they believe the military only protects the regimes interests. Some people may not pass the political censorship of the authorities. Those who could be ineligible for military service include: dissidents or outspoken critics of the CCP; protesters; petitioners (those who appeal their complaints and grievances to central authorities in Beijing); Falun Gong adherents and other members of religious groups targeted by the CCP.

The fourth reason is low morale. It has been getting worse for Chinese draft dodgers in recent years. Since Xi Jinping took over the military, the CCP has issued strict penalty requirements on people who refuse to serve in the military.

On April 4, authorities in Shushan district of Hefei city, Anhui Province, posted a notice with regards to the treatment of a raw recruit who refused to continue to serve in the army.

According to the local governments website, Liu Shuai, a native of Hebei Province, was admitted to Anhui Agricultural University in 2019 and enlisted in the army in September 2020. He was assigned to serve in a military unit under the Xinjiang Military Region. Shortly after enlisting, Liu asked to leave the army. Two months later, his name was removed from the military. But it left a permanent record in his household registration booklet, citing objection of military service. State-run media published Lius story and called him a negative example.

Liu faced eight penalties, including a fine of 46,866 yuan (about $7,200). He was prohibited from working for a government agency or state-owned company, re-enrolling in Anhui Agricultural University in the next two years, leaving the country in the next two years, and setting up his own business in the next three years.

These penalties are severe, as theyve taken away the young mans future in China. His only way out is to leave the country after two years time when the ban is removed.

Soon after Lius situation was publicized, various government departments reported the story again in such a high-profile manner, in an attempt to deter more people from refusing or resisting military service. But, it hasnt worked.

The frequent incidents of young people refusing to serve in the military, after much official publicity, can also affect those still in the service and bring a subtle shock to military morale.

According to CCPs National Conscription website, Chinese male citizens who have reached 18 years of age by December 31 shall register themselves under the law and those who have registered can enlist directly online for active service.

In reality, male citizens reaching the age of 18 cannot decide on their own whether they register or enlist themselves, as they are already included in the overall accounts of the local conscription office. Anyone who refuses to register or enlist is considered a serious political problem and is treated as a deserter.

It is not hard to imagine that the authorities must have done a lot of so-called ideological work beforehand, persuading these young people to register and threatening them with penalties in case they refuse to enlist themselves.

There are also social injustices that affect the military. A few years ago in Yunnan, an active serviceman was detained after he took a video of his familys property that was forcibly demolished by local authorities. Over the years, millions of Chinese have lost their homes through forced demolitions and forced relocations of villages and towns when local governments decided to reclaim the land for more profitable use.

In recent years, many protests have erupted over the lack of rights and protection for military veterans.

The CCPs military has been corrupt throughout its history, and Xi Jinping has not been able to solve that problem since he took power. With all these complicated factors, can the CCPs military really act at any second and remain on full-time combat readiness as Xi has requested in his mobilization order for the training of the armed forces?

Yue Shan is a freelance writer who used to work for the CCPs government organizations and listed Chinese real estate companies in his early years. He is familiar with the inner workings of the CCPs system and its political and business relations and is dedicated to analyzing Chinese politics and current trends. He has been a long-time contributor to several Chinese media outlets based in the United States and Taiwan.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
General Assignment Reporter

Chris Mays is a general assignment reporter for the Brattleboro Reformer. He has been with New England Newspapers Inc. since 2012.
Forest City police Thursday charged a Bucks County man with stalking for sending a borough woman threatening messages and posting nude photographs of her online.

Brian Jeffrey Creazzo, 47, 669 Easton Road, Riegelsville, repeatedly harassed a woman he used to be in a relationship with by sending her messages, such as "I'm going to kidnap you," according to a criminal complaint.

He also posted images of the victim on various pornographic websites without her consent. Creazzo is charged with stalking, unlawful dissemination of intimate images and harassment.

In 2015, he was sentenced in Lehigh County to 33 months to eight years in state prison after pleading guilty to homicide by vehicle. Police charged he struck and killed 28-year-old Iraq War veteran Shane Uttard in 2014 in South Whitehall Twp., The Morning Call of Allentown reported.

Creazzo is in the Susquehanna County Correctional Facility in lieu of $10,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled April 20.
Scathing political rebuke from this longtime Kansas City journalist turned pundit/blogger.

The money line . . .



Jimmy C: "I knew this guy was a terrible chief  pays little attention to the East Side and goes out of his way to protect rogue officers on the force  but I didnt know until today he was an idiot."

There's not much "news" here but a worthwhile glimpse into how progressive locals view the current crisis that's really just starting. Read more . . .
(Reuters) - Inc said on Friday it is converting a part of its Menlo Park headquarters into a vaccination site, joining the government effort to speed up the vaccination drive in the United States.

For this initiative, the company is teaming up with Ravenswood Family Health Centre, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg wrote in a post.

"We're also teaming up with the State of California and local nonprofits to support mobile vaccination clinics in four of the state's hardest hit regions," wrote Sandberg.

Earlier this year, the social media company decided to launch a tool to give people in the United States information about where to get COVID-19 vaccines and added a COVID-19 information area to its photo-sharing site, Instagram.

(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

(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.)
Chinese embroidery artist uses needle and thread to recreate universe

People's Daily Online) 11:07, April 09, 2021

Photo shows Chen Yinghua's embroidery work of the Horsehead Nebula. (Photo/guancha.cn)

Chinese embroidery artist Chen Yinghua is an expert at capturing the beauty of astronomical spectacles, including the Horsehead Nebula, the Leonid meteor shower, Neptune, sunspot, and the Orion Nebula, using just a needle and silk threads.

Chen started to create universe-themed embroidery works in 2006, when Mei Bao, head of the Suzhou Observing Station under the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, showed her some pictures of various galaxies and nebulas and asked her if she could embroider the images.

Impressed by what she saw, Chen decided to attempt to embroider these subjects, which have almost never appeared in conventional Chinese embroidery before. She started with Crab Nebula, but found it very difficult because of its vague shape. After seven months of trial and painstaking work, she completed the embroidery work, which involved using ten kinds of stitching.

Chen's dreamlike embroidery works were exhibited at the 28th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union and became a hit. Several representatives from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration showed interest in buying her work, but Chen turned them down.

"I have a very strong sentimental attachment to these works. I would prefer for them to be collected by Chinese science and technology museums and planetariums, rather than sell them abroad," she said in an interview in 2018.

Born in 1973 into a family with a long embroidery history in Suzhou, a city in east China's Jiangsu province well-known for delicate silk embroideries, Chen started to learn the exquisite art from her mother when she was 14.

Apart from the breathtaking universe collection, she has also produced many other fine embroidery works on new subjects including famous oil paintings, such as Van Gogh's masterpiece Sunflowers'.

She has also helped reproduce and restore over 100 pieces of embroidery for the Palace Museum in Beijing since 2006.

As an inheritor of Suzhou embroidery, Chen has made great efforts to promote this fine art. In 2009, she became a volunteer teacher at a special education school in Suzhou to teach embroidery to students who were deaf or suffered hearing loss on a regular basis. In 2013, she launched a three-week embroidery training program in the China Cultural Center (CCC) in Mauritius.

"I want to spread the craftsmanship of embroidery to more people. As long as they want to learn, I will teach them," Chen said.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)
Egypt will release the giant container ship that had blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week once a deal is reached on compensation for related losses, the head of the canals authority said.

The ship is ready, Osama Rabie said in an interview on Egyptian television. Once we agree on compensation, the ship departs and the matter is closed.

Related: Egypt Seeks Out-of-Court Settlement with Owners of Huge Ship that Blocked Suez Canal

The Ever Given blocked the canal for six days, roiling global markets and costing the Suez Canal Authority $15 million a day in lost revenue, according to its calculation. Rabie said Egypt wants compensation for the losses, as well as the cost of freeing the vessel.

The ship and its cargo are currently in the Great Bitter Lake, roughly halfway along the canal.

Photograph: Egyptian official checks the operation that freed the cargo ship Ever Given, which impeded all traffic in the Suez Canal for nearly a week. Photo credit: Handout/Getty Images.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Lawsuits Talent
Chandigarh, April 9 : With the Centre rejecting Punjab's demand for continuation of payment through 'arhtiyas' and exemption from the direct benefit transfer (DBT) system, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday asked Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to tell why he had kept the farmers and the 'arhtiyas' in the dark.

The party also demanded that the more than 50 per cent hike in fertilizer prices announced by the Central government be rolled back immediately and asked the Chief Minister why he was not opposing this measure aimed at punishing farmers for protesting against the three agricultural laws forcefully.

Addressing a press conference here, senior party leaders Prem Singh Chandumajra, Jathedar Tota Singh and Sikander Singh Maluka said the Chief Minister had made a big show of opposing the DBT scheme and had during a recent meeting with 'arhtiyas' or commission agents announced that all payments for food grain procurement would be routed through them only.

"However the Punjab ministerial team led by Finance Minister Manpreet Badal abjectly surrendered before the Centre in its meeting with Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday. It is also a fact that the Congress government had committed in writing to implement the scheme from the forthcoming Rabi season," they said.

Despite this the government resorted to a drama to befool the people in the same manner as the Congress party befooled and deceived all sections of society with false promises in the 2017 assembly elections, they added.

Asserting that implementation of the new DBT scheme would increase social strife, Chandumajra said 'relations between farmers and 'arhtiyas' would be poisoned and it would cause immense problems for those who leased out land.

The SAD leaders also announced that its top leadership would fan out in the 'mandis' on Saturday, the first of the wheat procurement, to ensure it was initiated in earnest as well as to secure the rights of farmers.

Chandumajra said there were reports that farmers were not being allowed to download their produce in the 'mandis' and even jute bags had not reached the mandis.

They said the SAD would also 'gherao' wheat trucks being brought into the state from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and demanded the Chief Minister take action against Congress ministers and legislators indulging in this corrupt activity.

The Akali leaders also castigated the Chief Minister for not standing up to the principle of federalism and allowing the Centre to infringe on the rights of the state.

They said the centre was not disbursing Rs 800 crore due to the state on account of the Rural Development Fund (RDF) and demanding the tax be reduced from the present three per cent to one per cent.

They said the states were well within their rights to levy this tax and said it was surprising that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had not even taken up the issue forcefully with the Central government.

Meanwhile, state Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa flayed the BJP-led Central government for exorbitant hike in the price of DAP from Rs 2,400 to Rs 3,800.

In a statement he described this steep hike of Rs 1,400 per quintal as totally illogical and arbitrary decision at a crucial juncture, especially amid afresh spike of Covid-19, when the farmers were already grappling with the challenge of economic slowdown in the agriculture sector.

The procurement of wheat in the state will begin from April 10 with an estimate to procure 130 lakh metric tonnes.

State Food and Civil Supply Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said procurement agencies, including the Food Corporation of India (FCI), would procure it on the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,975 per quintal.

He said the state has increased procurement centres from 1,872 to 4,000 to check the spread of coronavirus.
The people have spoken  at least the record low number of electors who summoned the energy needed to go to the polls and vote on a beautifully sunny April Tuesday have.

In a way, the record number of white voters who chose their Lazy Boy recliners over the voting booth spoke even more loudly.

Record low turnout, record apathy on the most important election Tuesday in Alton history. When faced with the choice of a white incumbent who championed diversity and inclusion at city hall and a Black challenger backed by the Madison County Republican Party, apathetic white voters boycotted the polls in record numbers.

Tuesday, April 6th, was the day that stealth Republican operatives  i.e. Mayor Elect David Goinss Republican kitchen cabinet  won an election and routed the last bastion of democratic municipal government from a major Madison County city.

Well done, party of Lincoln. Well done, party of Trump.

On March 24th, Ray Wesley, Madison County Republican Chairman, sent a letter to all Republican voters to vote for Goins. Ive seen the letter. Essentially what Wesley was saying was that Goinss election served the interests of the Republican Party.

Goinss inner circle advisers and strategists were also high level Republicans, both Black and white. Madison Countys century-old rule of Democratic supremacy has been has been all but rooted out. Really, as you survey the countys political battleground, the sole surviving Democratic bastion is the countys judiciary.

Good luck Madison County Democratic judges. The clock is ticking.

The voters, and non-voters through their apathy, have spoken. Good luck in maintaining the historic levels of diversity and inclusion at city hall which Brant Walker fostered. David, your Republican kitchen cabinet  your Republican paymasters  will demand an approval of Sunnybrook, as well as a good old fashioned house cleaning at city hall. Republican operatives in Edwardsville were heard in the days after the election loudly congratulating themselves on orchestrating Goins victory. And well they should.

The party of Trump has file lawsuits or lobbied:

1. Against universal healthcare

2. Against the right to vote for people of color

3. Against measures to alleviate income inequality

4. Against measures to alleviate wealth inequality

5. Against equality for women, gay people, trans people and people of color

6. Champions the politics of grievance.

It is against any single measure that promotes racial equality at the perceived expense of white privilege and white supremacy.

However, Id be a sore loser if I didnt say this: Congratulations David. Congratulations Ed. Congratulations Madison County Republican party. You won, fair and square. For the umpteenth time you found the Democrats asleep at the wheel and steamrolled them. My hat is off.

Alton, this was a Republican-backed victory and youre about to get Republican government.

To the victors belong the spoils. Hello Sunnybrook. Goodbye diversity and inclusion in Alton city government.

Retired Judge Luther W. Simmons, Jr. is a shareholder at Simmons Hanly Conroy after serving as an associate circuit judge of the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois in Madison County.
Britain is thought to be paying about 15 ($29) per dose compared to 2.17 for AstraZeneca. The European Union is paying about 12 ($19) per Pfizer dose - less than the UK because it helped subsidise its development. Those prices were set in 2020 and competition for scarce vaccine supplies has only increased since. The next questions are whether all 20 million extra doses arrive by the end of 2021, and where from. Tough export controls established by the European Union have prevented Australia from importing 3.1 million AstraZeneca doses from the Continent. In good news, though, Australia will likely have a much easier time getting approval for exports of Pfizer from Europe. This is because Pfizer has largely met its supply contracts with the EU, so the bloc has no beef with the company and will not stand in the way of exports even while its own contracts continue to be met. It is often overlooked that the European Commission has approved the shipment of more than 1 million Pfizer doses to Australia in the months since it established new powers to block exports. Australian government sources say Pfizer doses have come into the country every week, almost without fail. The United States will have likely vaccinated the majority of its population by mid-year so there is a chance Pfizer rolling off the production line there could also end up in Australia, however US President Joe Biden will come under pressure to use excess production to prop up Mexico and Canada.

Loading Morrison and Health Minister Greg Hunt were taken aback by Thursdays advice by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) to offer an alternative dose to AstraZeneca for under 50s. The expert panel reached the conclusion after reviewing UK data which showed 1 out of every 250,000 people given the jab might develop a rare but potentially deadly blood disorder after being vaccinated. Concerns focus on the young because they make up most of the cases of fatal blood clots in Europe. Professor Greg Dore, an infectious diseases expert at the University of New South Wales Kirby Institute, says that even if clots formed at a rate of 1 in 100,000 vaccinated people, a 20-year-old could be jabbed every month for the next 40 years and have a 99.5 per cent chance of not getting a severe clot and 99.9 per cent chance of not dying from one. Professor David Spiegelhalter, chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at Cambridge University, calculates that, based on current evidence, Londons Wembley Stadium could be filled with vaccinated people in their 20s and one person in the crowd would likely develop blood clotting.

The rate of blood clots in Germany is higher than the UK, which has prompted authorities there to restrict AstraZeneca for anyone aged under 60. The European Unions regulator this week said there was a link between the vaccine and the blood clots but cleared it for use on all age groups. The UK drug regulator said AstraZeneca should not be used on people under 30  an outcome some in the Australian government thought ATAGI might endorse. However Morrison had no choice but to follow ATAGIs much more cautious decision because he spent most of this year talking about how much he values vaccine safety. In some ways, Australia has been a victim of its own success because the chances of dying from COVID-19 are currently close to zero, meaning the risk  however small  of developing severe side effects from the vaccine might outweigh the benefits of being inoculated. In the UK, where community transmission is still fairly high, the benefits of having the vaccine for those aged 30 and above clearly outweigh the chances of getting a life-threatening blood clot.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, with Simon Buensch, executive director of manufacturing at CSL, and Dr Brian McNamee, chairman of CSL board, holds a box of AstraZeneca vaccines at the CSL factory in Melbourne last month. Credit:NCA British authorities were also able to restrict AstraZeneca to under-30s with less disruption to its rollout because it has more options. The UK has rights to seven different alternatives to AstraZeneca, and two  Pfizer and Moderna  are in use already. Up to 30 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson jab might be available from July. Australia only has Pfizer for its under-50s right now,and Novavax potentially later in the year. It is already in talks with Johnson &Johnson but will not touch others made by China and Russia. In the meantime, the Australian public will debate whether to take what is for the extraordinarily vast majority a safe and effective vaccine that can help bring the pandemic to an end. It would be a good idea to keep some perspective when calculating the risks. Based on current UK data, the chances of dying from a rare blood clot following an AstraZeneca dose stands at about 1 in a million. The risk of dying in a car crash is about 1 in 6700.
Meyersdale takes down Shade for fifth district title in six seasons

Meyersdale took down Shade in the District 5 Class A softball championship on Friday, marking its fifth overall title win in the last six years.
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The Nigeria government has extended the work from home directive to civil servants from Grade Level 12 and below until the end of April.

The Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), Folasade Yemi-Esan, disclosed this in a circular dated April 7 and obtained by PREMIUM TIMES on Friday.

Officers on this level were initially directed to continue working from home till the end of March 2021 as part of measures to sustain the downward trend of reported cases of COVID-19 in the country.

Further to that directive and following the advice of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, especially with regard to maintaining the reduction of reported cases, the earlier work-from home directive is hereby extended till the end of April, 2021, the official said in the latest statement.

Mrs Yemi-Esan emphasised the need for all public servants to continue to ensure strict compliance with the existing guidelines on the prevention and spread of the pandemic.

She urge all Permanent Secretaries and Chief Executive Officers to bring the content of the circular to all concerned and ensure strict compliance.

As of Thursday evening, Nigeria has recorded 163,581 COVID-19 cases and 2,058 deaths, according to an update by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Mumbai, April 9 : Gone are the days when male actors had nothing substantial to contribute to a story on television soaps. TV has traditionally been an actress' medium, and till not long ago the men before the camera were little more than props, as 'saas' and 'bahu' squared up. A slew of new shows is changing that equation.

To begin with, there is "Aapki Nazron Ne Samjha", where actor Vijayendra Kumeria plays a visually impaired photographer. "Hero: Gayab Mode On" is woven around Abhishek Nigam's character, who is on a quest to find his father. "Tera Yaar Hoon Main", departing from saas-bahu cliches, is for a change about a father and son. "Amma Ke Babu Ki Baby" has Karan Khanna playing a man trying to balance life between his mother and wife.

The pertinent thing here is not just that these are male-centric shows according to the lead role and maximum footage to male actors. Importantly, they look at life from the perspective of men, quite unlike the tradition on Indian fiction television.

"Aapki Nazron Ne Samjha" producer Sonali Jaffar says the emerging trend is just a part of the larger maxim that television stories are generally about the underdog in society.

"Men in Indian soaps have been behind the frontlines for a bit but in the new age telling, there are shows that are revolving around them. On Indian TV, we accept a protagonist who is either an underdog or God. In our patriarchal society, usually, the woman is an underdog. But now the lines are blurring and men to have issues that need to be addressed," she says.

Vijayendra also acknowledges that things have changed. "Earlier, women-centric shows were made keeping in mind the target audience, and though male actors were given importance, there was not much to do. From the title to the stories, everything mostly revolved around the female characters, other than the occasional monologues or dominating dialogues, male actors had certain limitations in a show. But now it has changed," he says.

He adds: "Male actors are now getting out-of-the-box roles, which they also enjoy as an actor. At the end of the day, we all are hungry for good roles, we all want to prove our versatility on-screen, and these days both male and female actors are being given such different roles to play on-screen. I feel it has to do a lot with the stories too. The audience today has become much more accepting of newer concepts, they don't just want a female actor to be the saviour, they want both male and female actors to be the hero of the show." Karan Khanna says when he was approached for "Amma Ke Babu Ki Baby", he was specially told that the story would revolve around the male protagonist.

"It has always been said that TV is women-centric. When I signed the show, my producer told me that this is the first time that everything is revolving around a man. The story revolves around Babu, and Maa and Baby are related to it. This was a show where I could show my talent," he says.

Abhishek Nigam of "Tera Yaar Hoon Main" feels not only his role, but all roles must be integral to the story for a show to be engaging.

"I feel it all boils down to the story and it's not entirely about who takes the centre stage but how your character is perceived and how impactful it is," he says.

Here are the prominent current shows that have stories woven around a male protagonist:

Hero  Gayab Mode On

The story of the show revolves around Veer, essayed by Abhishek Nigam, who sets out on a quest to find his father. His journey gets exciting because he attains the miraculous power of invisibility through a ring.

Tera Yaar Hoon Main

Protagonist Rajeev, essayed by Ssudeep Sahir, regrets not having an open and healthy relationship with his father, played by Rajendra Chawla. He does not want to replicate this with his son, essayed by Ansh Sinha. The story is based on the relationship between father and son.

Aapki Nazron Ne Samjha

Vijayendra Kumeria plays a blind man. He is a visually impaired photographer and the story revolves around his struggles.

Amma ke Babu ki Baby

In the show, actor Karan Khanna plays the role of Babu. The story is about him balancing life between his mother and his wife.

Baalveer Returns

Actor Dev Joshi, who essays the role of the protagonist, plays six different characters in the show. Baalveer's energy star is divided into six pieces and these go into the body of the six lookalikes.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Pennsylvania receives an extra $100 million each month to provide low-income residents with federally-funded food assistance benefits, but the states human services secretary said that aid would disappear a month after Gov. Tom Wolfs COVID-19 emergency declaration ends.

In a virtual news conference on Thursday, Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller said she wanted to raise awareness of that possibility if the pandemic-related declaration expires. Miller said such an outcome would affect nearly 600,000 Pennsylvania households who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

Miller said that possible outcome would be disastrous on those relying on aid to pay for groceries.

But Republicans saw another motivation behind that announcement.

They saw it as an attempt to sway voters to oppose proposed constitutional amendments that will appear on the May 18 ballots. Those amendments, if ratified by a majority of voters, would limit the governors emergency declaration powers.

Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County, said Millers scare tactics serve as a prime example of why voters should support the proposed amendments.

Weaponizing federal funding as a way to scare the people of Pennsylvania is just one more example of the Wolf Administrations mishandling of the COVID pandemic, and reinforces the need to bring the balance of power back to the people by including the General Assembly in any emergency declaration that extends beyond 21 days, Ward said in a statement.

One of the proposed amendments that will appear on the ballot would limit the length of an emergency disaster to 21 days, but it could be extended through passage of a concurrent resolution of the General Assembly. Currently, the constitution allows a governor to declare an emergency disaster for up to 90 days and it can be extended indefinitely.

A second amendment would allow the General Assembly to terminate an emergency disaster without having to present it to the governor for his signature, which the courts have ruled is currently the case.

Miller said it wasnt her place to weigh into the fray over the amendments.

Really, Im just here to raise awareness of an issue where if this state of emergency declaration were to go away, were looking at $100 million of assistance [each month] that we can make available to Pennsylvanians who are struggling with food insecurity that we will no longer be able to make available, she said.

Since March 2020, the federal government has provided the Department of Human Services with an emergency allotment of about $100 million in additional SNAP benefits each month to low-income individuals and families facing food insecurity.

For example, a one-person household living on Social Security who received the maximum $19 a month in non-pandemic times began receiving an additional $215 a month as of Jan. 1 through this emergency allotment, Miller said.

As of this month, department officials said the federal government is allowing states with emergency declarations in place to request an additional supplement of $95 for households that receive the maximum benefit. This will allow Pennsylvania to issue an additional $712 million in emergency allotments to households that previously did not receive this assistance.

All of that goes away if the Legislature uses a new authority to terminate the disaster declaration, Miller said.

House Republican spokesman Jason Gottesman accused the Wolf administration of politically-charged fear-mongering by providing misleading half-truths. He indicated the proposed constitutional amendments are intended to give lawmakers a say in whether or not to extend all, part or none of an emergency declaration.

In having the ability to extend part of an emergency declaration, the Legislature would have the ability to consider what impacts to federal relief would be had and could extend portions of an emergency declaration critical to continuing necessary aid while ending portions that have to do with unilateral authority, for example, Gottesman said.

He added: This ensures the peoples voice, as expressed through their state representatives and senators, is heard while giving oversight to emergency executive authority run amok and potentially preserving the ability to continue to receive relief funding or other federal assistance.

According to Feeding Pennsylvania, nearly 1 in 20 Pennsylvanians were newly food insecure in 2020.

The federal assistance also provides direct support to more than 10,000 small businesses, food retailers, and grocers that participate in SNAP, Miller said. It also helps the states charitable food network.

There will be a time when a disaster declaration will no longer be appropriate, Miller said. None of us expects this to be a situation thats indefinite. But I want to be clear, loss of this federal funding would be in a word disastrous for Pennsylvania and our most vulnerable individuals and families.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, has died at the age of 99, Buckingham Palace has announced.

It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the palace said in a statement on Friday.

His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.

Boris Johnson led tributes to Prince Philip, who was married to the Queen for 73 years, saying: He helped to steer the royal family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life.

Mourners gathered outside Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace to lay flowers in tribute on Friday, while flags at the palace and all government buildings were lowered to half mast.

Gun salutes marking his death will take place across the UK and at sea on Saturday. Saluting batteries will fire 41 rounds at one round every minute from 12 noon in cities including London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced.

All election campaigning across the UK has been suspended following the death. Parliament will be recalled from recess on Monday, a day earlier than scheduled, to allow for further tributes.

A period of mourning will see planned government announcements cancelled. The government is advising the public not to gather or leave flowers at royal residences, and to continue following lockdown rules.

An online book of condolence has been made available on the royal website for those who wish to send a personal message, while the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs website has been transformed into a memorial page.

Prince Philip will not have a state funeral nor lie in state for the public to pay their respects, the College of Arms announced, with arrangements revised to meet Covid restrictions. His body will rest at Windsor Castle ahead of a service at St Georges Chapel.

Philip at the Queens Diamond Jubilee (PA)

The Duke of Edinburgh officially retired from public duties in 2017, having spent more than seven decades supporting his wife as her consort in a role that defined his life.

His remarkable life spanned nearly a century of European history, starting with his birth as a member of the Greek royal family and ending as Britains longest-serving royal consort.

He married Elizabeth in 1947, playing a key role in modernising the monarchy in the post-war period after she became Queen in 1952  becoming the one key figure she could turn to behind the walls of Buckingham Palace.

He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, the Queen said in a rare personal tribute to Philip made in a speech marking their 50th wedding anniversary in 1997.

The Queen and Prince Philip together in 2011 (AP)

As a Greek prince, his early years were marked by upheaval after his family went into exile following a military coup in Greece which overthrew his uncle, King Constantine I.

His childhood lacked stability and he moved between relatives in France and Britain, eventually going to Gordonstoun School in Morayshire, Scotland.

The former naval officer admitted he found it hard to give up the military career he loved and take on the job as the monarchs consort in 1952, for which there was no clear-cut constitutional role.

There was no precedent. If I asked somebody What do you expect me to do?, they all looked blank  they had no idea, nobody had much idea, he said in an interview to mark his 90th birthday.

The Queen and Prince Philip after the coronation of 1953 (PA Wire)

Philip spent four weeks in hospital earlier this year for treatment for an infection and to have a heart procedure, but returned to Windsor in early March.

Some royal watchers have argued that his absence from a frontline role in recent years due to his declining health has played a role in some of the monarchys recent travails, such as the crisis of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, and their decision to give up royal roles.

In private, he was often regarded as the head of his family, but protocol obliged the man dubbed the second handshake to spend his public life literally one step behind his wife.

He took a typically irreverent view of his own retirement in 2017, telling a guest who said he was sorry he was standing down: Well, I cant stand up much longer.

 The moment the BBC announced Prince Philip had died

He was known to be an occasionally irascible figure, with a strong propensity to speak his mind, and become famed in the press for a series of gaffes made at official engagements.

He once warned a group of Scottish students in China that they would become slitty-eyed. During a visit to a Glasgow factory, he pointed to a fusebox of loose wires and said it looked like it had been installed by an Indian.

Some royal observers believe his propensity to speak his mind meant he provided much-needed, unvarnished advice to the Queen.

The way that he survived in the British monarchy system was to be his own man, and that was a source of support to the Queen, royal historian Robert Lacey said.

All her life she was surrounded by men who said yes maam, and he was one man who always told her how it really was, or at least how he saw it.

Prince Philip and the Queen in 2007 (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

It was widely assumed that he was critical of Dianas use of broadcast interviews, including one in which she accused Charles of infidelity. But letters between Philip and Diana released after her death showed that the older man was supportive of his daughter-in-law.

Philips final years were clouded by controversy in the royal family. His third child, Prince Andrew, was embroiled in scandal over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a US financier who died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

At the start of 2020, his grandson Harry and his wife Meghan Markle announced they were quitting royal duties and moving to North America to escape the media scrutiny that they found unbearable.

 Prince Philip's death announced at Buckingham Palace

The Duke of Edinburghs Award will likely to be judged Philips greatest legacy. Aimed at both able-bodied and disabled youngsters, it became one of the best-known self-development schemes for 14 to 24-year-olds.

In 2013, celebrated the 500th Gold Award presentation ceremony, the duke joked with one group who told him of their hardships on their expedition: You were meant to suffer, its good for the soul.

The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, said the nation has lost an extraordinary public servant.

He will be remembered most of all for his extraordinary commitment and devotion to the Queen, said the opposition leader.

Their marriage has been a symbol of strength, stability and hope, even as the world around them changed  most recently during the pandemic. It was a partnership that inspired millions in Britain and beyond.

Mourner adds flowers outside Buckingham Palace (AFP via Getty Images)

Scotlands first minister Nicola Sturgeon, Wales first minister Mark Drakeford and Northern Irelands first minister Arlene Foster all paid tribute to Prince Philip following the news of his death.

Among the world leaders paying tribute, US president Joe Biden said he sent his deepest condolences to the Queen, the royal family and all the British people.

Over the course of his 99-year life, he saw our world change dramatically and repeatedly. From his service during the Second World War, to his 73 years alongside the Queen, and his entire life in the public eye, Prince Philip gladly dedicated himself to the people of the UK, the Commonwealth, and to his family.

Indias prime minister, Narendra Modi, hailed his sense of public service, while Australias prime minister, Scott Morrison, said Philip embodied a generation that we will never see again.

New Zealands prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said her thoughts would be with the Queen at this profoundly sad time, and Canadas prime minister, Justin Trudeau, described the Duke of Edinburgh as a man of great purpose and conviction.

The BBC has said planned programming had been suspending following the death, while ITV also announced changes to its schedules.
Stolt Tankers launches sustainable biofuel trial on Atlantic crossing

In support of its long-term sustainability strategy, Stolt Tankers is partnering with GoodFuels to trial the use of a marine biofuel produced from sustainable and certified feedstocks.

The trial will take place on board the 37,000 DWT chemical tanker Stolt Inspiration as she travels from Rotterdam, the Netherlands to Houston, US. The trial is designed to assess the viability of the future use of biofuels in both engines and boilers, and will test the fuels impact on consumption, power and reliability. The ships management team and crew on board will manage the trial to ensure complete operational safety and optimal performance. I am excited to see the results of the trial. Said Lucas Vos, President Stolt Tankers. This is just one of the areas that we are exploring as the industry moves towards a carbon-neutral future. We are committed to working with other leaders to explore innovative technologies including biofuels, hydrogen, wind, ammonia and methanol, to reduce our environmental footprint, while continuing to provide customers with the high quality service they expect from us. Bunkering for the trial was completed at the end of last week at the Port of Rotterdam, where the Stolt Inspiration received the biofuel which is derived from feedstocks such as used cooking oil, tallow and waste animal fats. The fuel has the potential to deliver a well-to-exhaust CO2 reduction of between 80 and 90% compared to fossil fuel equivalents. GoodFuels is a pioneer in alternative marine fuels, ensuring that the feedstock of the biofuels meet the strictest sustainability criteria. The biofuel used is functionally equal to petroleum-derived marine fuels, and no modifications to the engine or the fuel infrastructure were required. Isabel Welten, Chief Commercial Officer at GoodFuels, said: We believe passionately in the tanker segments sustainability vision, and were proving that advanced biofuels can have an immediate impact in reducing emissions. By supplying a credible low-carbon alternative to Stolt Tankers, together were marking another vital step towards advancing the uptake of marine biofuels while also supporting the wider maritime industry in meeting its decarbonisation goals. The trial supports Stolt Tankers focus on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in line with the IMOs target to reduce the total annual GHG emissions from international shipping by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels.




Patterson Thompson, President of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA), has reiterated a call for full payment of severance owing to LIAT pilots. (Photo Credit: Barbados Today)

In a memorandum dated April 1, 2021 and circulated to its members, president of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA) Patterson Thompson described the ex-gratia payments, promised by the Barbados government, as falling short of what is due to the severed pilots.





In fact, Thompson accused Barbados and the three other LIAT shareholder governments - Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica - of leaving the regional pilots in the cold.





The promise of an ex-gratia payment was broached by Barbados Attorney General Dale Marshall, who told that countrys Parliament during its debate on the Estimates, that some of the terminated Barbadian employees who worked for LIAT and who should have been paid by the Antiguan government, would shortly receive an ex-gratia pay, the details of which he promised would be made known to the public in a few days.





But the LIALPA president is suggesting that Barbados and the other three major shareholder governments needed to do much more to ensure that all the pilots received the entitlements due to them.





"To be left in the cold by four governments who have used their power to find ways around the limited liability laws to keep an insolvent company operating, serving their purposes, and then hiding behind the same laws to avoid paying severance to the terminated workers, leaves an extremely bitter taste in our mouths





Thompson also observed that April 1, 2021 was one year since 77 pilots were temporarily terminated by LIAT 1974 Limited, and pointed out that in that period, more pilots met the same fate.





These dismissals were all in contravention of the collective agreement between the association and the company, Thompson contended.





Thompson also reported that an unproductive meeting was held with the Antigua and Barbuda government and the Administrator on the same anniversary date of the termination of the 77 pilots.




The people of Lahore throw a loud birthday bash for their Prophet, and Sarmad captured his hometown in rapture.

Three censor boards cleared the film for release in theaters in different regions.

The scriptwriter, Nirmal Bano, told me in September, I felt indescribable joy in writing a male character who did all the household chores without painting him into some kind of hero. Its this householder, a caring man and struggling property dealer and, according to Sarmad, a good-enough Muslim, who faces the wrath of his community after a short video of him dancing goes viral. This, even though videos of old bearded men dancing at weddings are practically a subgenre on Pakistani YouTube.

Enter Khadim Hussain Rizvi, a real-life cleric and self-appointed guardian of the Prophets honor.

If a character like Mr. Rizvi were shown in a feature film, he would probably be considered over the top. Mr. Rizvi, who died in November, would appear at rallies in a wheelchair wearing spotless, starched white robes and a black turban. He was fiery and funny, mixing in his sermons poetry and curses with quotes from the holy texts.

Mr. Rizvi also thought he spotted blasphemy everywhere, including in Sarmads film.

A blasphemy charge in Pakistan is a tricky thing to deal with: One person accusing another of blasphemy cant say what the insult was because just repeating it would be blasphemy, too. Its also a dangerous thing.

In 2010, Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province, spoke up for Asia Bibi, a Christian woman accused of insulting the Prophet. He visited her in prison, even had a picture taken with her, and called on the blasphemy laws to be amended. Mr. Taseers bodyguard, the constable Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, shot him in January 2011. Twenty-seven times.

Mr. Qadri was sentenced to death under the law of the land, and a cult was born: An ordinary policeman had killed a powerful governor, not because of any personal enmity, but because he couldnt stand an insult against the Prophet. Mr. Rizvi founded the religious party Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (T.L.P.) partly around the cause of getting Mr. Qadri released.

Mr. Qadri was hanged in 2016, but T.L.P. kept hunting for blasphemers. Mr. Rizvi latched on to a brief argument between two bearded characters in the trailer for Zindagi Tamasha, during which one threatens to accuse the other of blasphemy. He claimed this was an insult to Islamic scholars, and hence an insult to Islam. He said the film would be released over my dead body.
The parents of Azerbaijanis who were declared missing during the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh demand a meeting with Head of the State Security Service Ali Nagiyev

Two bodies were found and transferred after the previous meeting. We hope there is progress after this meeting, one of the parents said. The parents say the search efforts arent being organized properly. One of the parents said it is necessary to search for their children in not only the conflict zone, but also Armenia since they are captives.

Based on the data provided by the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, as of January 2021, 64 Azerbaijani servicemen are considered missing.
Some Americans could be waiting all year to be vaccinated against COVID-19 despite promises from President Joe Biden.

On Tuesday, Biden announced that he was speeding up the deadline for states to open eligibility to all adults from May 1 to April 19.

With 112 million people already having received at least one dose and an average of three million shots being administered every day, every U.S. adult could be be vaccinated by mid-July.

The commander-in-chief has also promised to have enough doses to vaccinate all adults by May.

But a combination of a slow rollout and vaccine hesitancy means residents in several states, mainly in the South and Midwest, may not be vaccined until late fall 2021.

Georgia is moving the slowest of the states with about 300 per 100,000 every day fully immunized, meaning all willing adults will be immunized by November

Alabama has a similar vaccination rate to Georgia, but fewer residents, so the state should expect all willing adults to be fully vaccinated by October

A DailyMail.com analysis of federal data shows shows that Georgia and Alabama are the states vaccinating at the slowest pace.

Only 15.4 percent of residents in Georgia are fully vaccinated as are 15.6 percent of residents in Alabama.

What's more, according to a recent survey conducted by the US Census Bureau, 1.4 million Alabamans and 3.2 million Georgians are not planning to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

This means only 71 percent of Alabaman eligible adults and 70 percent of eligible adults in Georgia 'probably' or 'definitely' plan to be vaccinated.

With 300 adults per 100,000 being fully immunized, according to CNN, Alabama will not be vaccinated until October not until November in Georgia.

Another state where residents may be waiting a while is Mississippi.

Currently, just 17.8 percent of the population has been vaccinated - but 37.9 percent of the state has no plans to be inoculated.

With about 15,000 people being vaccinated every day, the state will complete immunizations by late August or early September,

On Tuesday, Gov Tate Reeves held a news conference with a panel of medical experts to tackle misinformation surrounding the vaccines

'I had about 18 hours of turbulence,' Reeves said about his symptoms after his final injection.

Mississippi will have adults vaccinated by September as 15,000 adults are filly immunized every day

In Missouri, only 18.6% are fully immunized with about 25,000 people each day doing so, meaning it take the state until about November to reach all residents

'But I was able to continue and move on and work, and I feel much better waking up every day knowing that I have been vaccinated.'

Yet another state where vaccinations are moving slowly is Iowa.

In the state, about 675,000 adults - one out of every five eligible residents - has been vaccinated.

But 34 percent of the population say they have no plans to be vaccinated, meaning only 1.58 million of the 2.41 million adults of the state will receive shots.

What's more, the state is only vaccinating about 9,000 people every day. This means it will take 25 weeks, or until about late September, for all residents to be fully vaccinated.

Missouri is yet state where the vaccine rollout is moving quite slowly.

Only 18.6 percent of the population, about 773,000 adults, have been fully vaccinated.

However, only 2.6 million adults out of the 4.16 million in the state says they plan to be immunized.

Still, with about 25,000 people a day being fully immunized, it will take the state until about November to reach al eligible residents.

Another reason for the slow rollout in Missouri? The state raced ahead to vaccinate as may people as possible, meaning demand far outpaced supply.

Dr Elizabeth Bergamini, a pediatrician in suburban St. Louis, told the Associated Press she drove about 30 people hundreds of miles to rural towns to their appointments.

often out-of-the way vaccination events after the state opened eligibility to those 65 and older Jan. 18 and then expanded further.

'We went from needing to vaccinate several hundred thousand people in the St. Louis area to an additional half-million people, but we still hadn't vaccinated that first group, so it has been this mad dash,' Bergamini said.

'It has just been a whole hot mess.'
A 10-year-old boy is fighting for his life after being struck by a ute on Friday afternoon.

He was hit on Pittwater Road near Balgowlah Road, Manly about 3.40pm.

The boy suffered severe head injuries and had to be placed in an induced coma before being flown by helicopter to the Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick, NSW Ambulance said.

A 10 year old boy is fighting for his life after being struck by a ute on Sydney's Northern Beaches on Friday afternoon.

He was hit around 3.40pm and had to be placed in an induced coma and airlifted to Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick

Paramedics said the accident, at Pittwater Road near Balgowlah Road, Manly, occurred at a low speed emphasizing how careful drivers need to be

Police said the male driver of the ute had been taken to Northern Beaches Hospital for mandatory testing.

'This was a really difficult scene for all emergency services,' said Eddie Freitas, NSW Ambulance spokesman.

'Anytime someone so young is involved it really hits home for our paramedics.'

Six emergency crews were dispatched to the scene.

They included two inspectors, two intensive care paramedics and a rescue helicopter.

'Even though it's believed this accident happened at a relatively low speed, it just goes to show how careful drivers and pedestrians needs to be on our roads,' Mr Freitas said.

According to Life Traffic NSW, Pittwater Rd was still closed in both directions between Balgowlah Road and Collingwood Street and traffic was heavy in the area.
At least 17 people have been shot in the city of Birmingham  seven of them fatally  in the past week and Police Chief Patrick Smith on Thursday vowed to get justice for each and every one of the victims.

Over the past few days, the city has been completely devastated as weve witnessed unimaginable acts of violence committed by members of our community,' Smith said.

I stand before you with a very heavy heart, because I know that this is useless violence that has plagued many of our young adults and simply did not need to happen.

The seven homicide victims included a 32-year-old woman killed with friends while in Birminghams Patton Park on Sunday, a 16-year-old boy killed in a drive-by shooting while sitting on a couch at an Inglenook home, a 39-year-old man fatally shot during a dispute with another family member, a 19-year-old who was called to north Birmingham to settle a dispute and ended up shot himself, a Hoover man found on a city street, a 44-year-old man killed in front of small children during a domestic dispute and a 19-year-old shot by police after they say he brandished a weapon at police.

Areyelle Meishaun Yarbrough (Special to AL.com)

Additionally, Smith said, at least 10 others have been shot and survived.

Although they survived, many of their lives will never be the same as they have been tremendously impacted by the sights, the sounds, the visions, what theyve seen, what theyve had to experience,' the chief said. It is simply unacceptable.

Smith, joined by some of his highest-ranking commanders, on Thursday held a news conference to address the spike in violence.

As of Wednesday night, Birmingham has had 29 homicides so far this year, an increase of three for the same time period last year.

Of those, two have been ruled justifiable and arent deemed criminal. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 52 homicides, including the 29 in Birmingham, eleven total happening since April 1.

Outside of Birmingham, three people were killed in Bessemer over the weekend, including two at a large family Easter gathering in Bessemer.

Some of them have been absolutely heart-wrenching,' Smith said.

Justice Holness (Contributed)

Also Thursday, Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway, joined by his top-ranking staff, area pastors and chaplains, and Crime Stoppers of Metro Alabama, addressed the violence. They encouraged citizens not to be afraid to share information with law enforcement officers.

My prayers go out to our communities and to the families that have been affected by any act of violence,' Pettway said. Were calling for the pubic to say something if you see something to help us make our communities safer.

Its every citizens responsibility to try to stop as much crime as possible, to make our cities as safe as possible so that your families can go and walk on the street without worrying about being mugged, or killed or shot, or something like that,' said Crime Stoppers Board Chair Frank Barefield.

If you have information about a crime and you dont want to testify, or for some reason youre concerned about retribution, call Crime Stoppers.

Youre totally anonymous, your tips go to the police and if those tips help solve a crime or result in the issuance of a felony warrant or the arrest of a felony offender, youre going to get a reward and you dont have to wait long,' Barefield said.

Our board approves rewards every week. So if a tip to us this week and that bears fruit, youre going to get cash money next week. Thats the best deal in town.

Perhaps the highest profile of the incidents during the past week was the Easter Sunday shooting at Birminghams Patton Park that killed Areyelle Yarbrough, a Jefferson County employee, MBA student and the daughter of a longtime Birmingham pastor.

Five others  ranging in ages from 5 to 21- were wounded. The youngest, 5-year-old Justice Holness, was critically injured but is recovering.

About 1,000 people were at the park Sunday when, about 7 p.m., someone opened fire in the crowd and others  its not clear how many  returned fire.

A witness told AL.com, They didnt even know what they were shooting at, estimating that about 100 shots were fired.

Birmingham police Sgt. Rod Mauldin said investigators believe an altercation among a group of males led to the shooting.

The majority of the victims are believed to have been innocent bystanders. No arrests have been made, but authorities said Thursday the case is progressing, and multiple tips have been given to police.

Were still working to an arrest in that case,' Smith said. We have very good information, but we can never have enough. Somebody could just be holding that missing piece.

A shooting in Birmingham's Inglenook community on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 left one man dead.

Investigators confirmed that they are looking into the possibility that the Wednesday-night shooting in Inglenook could somehow be linked to the Patton Park shooting.

Were not prepared to say those two are related right now but we are certainly not ruling it out,' said homicide Capt. Joe Roberts. That will be a very quick line of investigation.

Smith described arriving at the scene of the park shooting.

It was very difficult as I heard the sound of gospel music playing in the air very loudly, but then as you get closer, you see the victim laying there,' he said. Clearly from the music playing from the car she was right next to this was not what she was planning on. She was simply there to be with family and friends.

Im outraged and I know the community has to be outraged,' he said.

The chief called opening fire in a crowded park severe cowardly acts of violence, especially on a holiday when families and children were there celebrating. It is simply unimaginable,' he said.

He said he is determined and resolved to deliver justice in each and every case, but again called on the community to step up and help. There is up to $16,000 in reward money being offered by various groups.

I need the community to not accept it. I need the community to step up,' he said. Share your thoughts, video and everything that youve seen as it relates to each and every one of these incidents. We cannot do this without you. This department cannot operate without the community.

He said investigators have received some tips and some video. We know there is ample more video out there. We know people are posting certain items on Facebook and weve been able to cull those,' he said. But we need individuals to step up. We know there are eyewitness and were asking them to have the courage to step up.

There are a lot of people who narrowly escaped, and they should want to bring closure and peace to their parks and their community,' he said.

Birmingham police on April 7, 2021 were investigating a fatal shooting inside a home in the 800 block of Avenue G.

Over the past couple of weeks, he said, there has been an uptick in homicides in the Birmingham area. He said the story is much the same beyond the city, and even Alabama.

The thing is, across the nation during the COVID timeframe, homicides have increase in most major metro communities,' Smith said. Some have seen a 30 to 250 percent increase and Birmingham is no different. We saw a 10 percent increase last year.

All other areas of crime are down but the sheer nature of being confined, closed in, the pandemic, you cannot socialize, there are a number of factors that have some play in this, the chief said.

Smith said detectives and officers are working diligently to gather leads and prevent crime.

Weve deployed additional resources to combat violence in our parks and our communities and I really want to express that. I want the community to know that the parks are open, and they should feel safe. Our officers will be there to make sure were providing the appropriately level of patrol.

The chief said they will continue to fight gun violence. Last year, he said, Birmingham police took more than 2,500 guns off the streets and have seized more than 700 so far this year.

Weve already eclipsed the number of guns we have taken off the street at this time last year,' he said.

Clearly there are a number of things that need to be done. We also need to talk about the conflict resolution component so that a gun is not your first line of communication or defense.
Trains at Mumbai's Lokmanya Tilak Terminus were seen packed with migrant workers as they feared an impending lockdown. (ANI)

Mumbai: Amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, trains at Mumbai's Lokmanya Tilak Terminus were seen packed with migrant workers as they feared an impending lockdown.

Speaking to reporters, a migrant worker who was travelling in an Uttar Pradesh bound train said, "This train will go to Gorakhpur. We're leaving the city because COVID-19 cases are rising here."

Taking cognisance of the emerging situation, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam talked to the officials and asked the authorities to allay the fear of the migrants and monitor the COVID-19 situation. He said to the reporters, "Many of them fear that a lockdown will be imposed in the state due to rising COVID cases.

However, our state government has no such plans. We do not want businesses or small businessmen to incur losses."

"Many of them have not even got themselves tested for COVID-19 and have boarded the train illegally. We are looking into the situation. However, I can assure you that none of them can return back to our state without showing a COVID negative report", he said.

Another migrant worker told, "We are leaving for our hometown in Uttar Pradesh. As of now, there is a night curfew in place. It is very likely that a lockdown will be put into place. To avoid chaos like the previous lockdown, we are travelling back to our native place. Not sure when, whether we will come back here."

Due to a sharp rise in COVID cases, Mumbai's BMC on Thursday imposed a weekend lockdown in the city until further orders.

Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala and Punjab have shown a rise in the COVID daily new cases. 84.21 per cent of the new cases are reported from these 10 states.

Maharashtra reported 56,286 new COVID-19 cases, 36,130 recoveries, and 376 deaths in the last 24 hours, the state health department informed on Thursday.

According to the state government's data, the active number of COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 5,21,317.

Out of 56,286 new COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, 8,938 cases were reported in Mumbai and 12,090 in Pune. The total count of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai now stands at 4,91,698 while the active COVID-19 cases in Pune is mounted to 89,598.

As a sign of relief, the cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 9.40 crore yesterday. A total of 9,40,96,689 vaccine doses have been given, as per the provisional report till 8 pm yesterday.
Best for: Targeted towards Christians of any denomination who have experienced swipe fatigue on other apps and want to make faith and commitment central to their dating life.

9.1/10 Overall Rating

Pros & Cons

Pros

Cons

The Review

Modern dating has a lot to recommend it, what with the ease of meeting new people and the relatively low-risk environment provided by sites and apps, but it has a frustrating side, too, exemplified by low-commitment, low-effort interactions, ghosting, and the frustrating experience of trying to find someone who shares your vision of love and life. That problem is particularly acute for Christian daters, who might not only want a partner in search of a serious and long-term relationship, but also a shared faith commitment.

Upward addresses these concerns by targeting itself to Christian daters, of all denominations, who are experiencing major swipe fatigue and eager for a different, more serious approach to modern dating. Through internal polling, Upward reports that over 90% of its users are looking for either a long-term relationship or marriage, and more than 50% would get married tomorrow if they met the right person today.

Numbers like that separate Upward from the mainstream dating apps, where casual daters and people unsure of what theyre looking for are much more common, so if youre sick of the same-old, same-old, give Upward a try.

Key Features

Faith denominations are featured prominently in bios

Users have the ability to filter by faith, as well as the usual variables

Upwards users are disproportionately serious about dating, rather than oriented towards casual or short-term.

Upward Review

Upward is the ideal dating app for younger Christians, of all denominations, looking for love and romance rather than go-nowhere flirtations or casual dating. Its interface will be familiar to users of Tinder, Bumble and Hinge, so there wont be much of a learning curve, but the substantive changes are all going on beneath the surface, thanks to Upwards approach and ethos.

Upward users are overwhelmingly focused on serious, long-term dating with the prospect of marriage, so if thats what youre looking for, youre much more likely to find that on Upward than on more mainstream rivals like Tinder and Bumble. Their internal polling has revealed that the majority of their users are oriented towards long-term relationships and marriage, and fully 60% are open to a long-distance relationship (defined using a minimum of two hours of travel time).

In terms of its features and interface, it isnt massively innovative or overwhelmingly feature-rich, but in this case, simplicity is an advantage: the app is designed to foreground faith and connection, and most of the bells and whistles offered by competing apps detract from this mission. Users of Tinder and Hinge will be right at home with Upward: you will like potential matches, and a mutual like opens the possibility for direct messaging. And, like Tinder, Upward also offers Super Likes, that notify the person youre liking that youve expressed interest.

How much you enjoy Upward will depend on what youre looking for, but if youre out for serious, faith-centered dating, this is a must-try app designed with you in mind.

Signing Up

Most of the signup process will be recognizable to online dating veterans: you sign up using your phone number and by entering a verification code that will be sent to your phone. Youll then be asked to provide your name, gender, and birthday, and to fill out both an About Me section and a faith statement, which is sort of a testament of what you believe or how you identify.

What it costs: The basic membership is free, and thankfully it offers enough abilities to make it worthwhile: you dont need to pay for a membership to speak with other members, for example. But if you do want to drop some coin, you have two options: a Premium or Elite membership.

The Premium membership costs $9.99 for one month, $14.99 for three months (or $4.99/month), or $23.99 if you commit to six months ($3.99/month), and gives you the ability to see who has been liking your profile. The Elite membership is more costly and more extensive: it will set you back $19.99 for one month, $29.99 for three months ($9.99/month), and $47.99 for six months ($7.99/month), but unlock unlimited swipes, likes and rewinds, eliminate ads, gift you 5 daily Super Likes, and one free boost per month, to make your profile more visible.

Sign up for Upward here

Upward

How Does Upward Work - Searching for Matches

The search process is very similar to other apps, in that you can like or super like profiles in your area, and can only start talking if someone you liked reciprocates your interest. But, since this is a faith-based dating site, you also have the option of filtering users by their faith, so if youre looking for something particular, you can find it that way.

Upward

How to Start a Conversation on Upward

At present, there are no methods of communicating outside of the mutual like, so we recommend you put some serious effort into your bio and photos.

Upward

Safety & Security

As with most dating apps, Upward will require some personal information to help you find matches, including your location, your age, your gender, and your personal phone number. That having been said, theyre transparent in their usage of your info, and offer more information, for those interested, on their privacy policy.




The Forum

The Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness set out to reform the way developed and developing countries work together, to ensure that development assistance is well spent and that it helps build sustainable economies that lift people out of poverty.

Organised by OECD and the World Bank, and hosted by the Government of Ghana, the Forum brought together ministers, heads of development agencies and civil society organisations from more than 100 countries. Examining the results of development aid, they examine what needs to change and how the international aid system can deliver the "best bang for the buck".

The three-day meeting closed with a day of ministerial sessions. The OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurria, began the ministers discussions (read Gurria's speech) by introducing John Kufuor, the President of Ghana. They were joined by national leaders and ministers from donor and developing countries  including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Liberia, Moldova, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Timor Leste, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam  and the heads of the World Bank, the African and Asian Development Banks, and the UNDP.

The Forum concluded with the endorsement of the Accra Agenda for Action which outlines a renewed international commitment to take the Paris Declaration forward and to step up efforts to reach its 2010 targets.

Using as their benchmark the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, participants evaluated how well donor and recipient countries are working in partnership to meet their development commitments.

Are donors are providing long-term and predictable funding?; co-ordinating development efforts within and between national governments including their developing partners; and are further untying aid. Are recipient countries taking ownership of their own development needs, working with their parliaments and civil society to set development goals and build the capacity to meet them.

The Accra Agenda for Action



Developed and developing countries agreed to take bold steps to reform the way aid is given and spent. After three days of intense negotiations, they endorsed the Accra Agenda for Action. Developing countries have committed to take control of their own futures, donors to co-ordinate better amongst themselves, and both parties to the Agenda have pledged to account to each other and their citizens.

The Accra Agenda for Action is the product of an unprecedented alliance of development partners  developing and donor countries, emerging economies, UN and multilateral institutions, global funds and civil society organisations. They all participated in the discussions leading up to the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, hosted by the Government of Ghana and organised by OECD and the World Bank, in Accra.

Forum participants used as a baseline the development goals set out in the The Paris Declaration signed in 2005. Their discussions on the need to make aid more effective were based on consultations with more than 80 developing countries, all OECD donors and a large number of civil society organisations from around the world.
One of the most perplexing mysteries about Wyomings 2021 legislative session is how the House could kill a suicide prevention bill. Then, when lawmakers got a chance to reconsider the matter, they rejected a second measure, too.

Trying to keep people from killing themselves shouldnt be a controversial issue in Wyoming, which has the highest suicide rate in the country. But apparently it is, at least for lawmakers who decided against mandating school programs that train students how to recognize suicide warning signs from their peers and obtain help from adults.

Administrators, teach...
ROME, APR 9 - Italian Premier Mario Draghi has angered Ankara by calling Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan a dictator in a press conference on Thursday. The Turkish government rapidly summoned the Italian ambassador to Ankara to express its disapproval of the comments, which Draghi made in relation to the 'sofagate' case regarding the failure to provide a seat for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a meeting on Tuesday. "I am really sorry about the humiliation that the commission president had to suffer with these, let's call them for what they are, dictators," Draghi said. The Italian premier said the EU had to be frank with figures like Erdogan, stressing the differences in outlook while at the same time being ready to cooperate. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the comments "ugly and unreasonable" and said they should be taken back. (ANSA).
A man carries an oxygen cylinder to deliver to a family member infected with COVID-19 in Dhaka, April 8, 2021.

COVID-19 will put a damper on New Year festivities and the observance of Ramadan for the second year in a row in Bangladesh and many Southeast Asian nations.

Countries around the region have imposed total lockdowns or instituted strict curbs on movement because of an alarming spike in coronavirus infections, with vaccine delays adding to the health crisis.

Bangladesh, the Philippines and Thailand have reported a huge surge in COVID-19 cases. Indonesia, Southeast Asias most populous nation, still has one of Asias highest rates of transmission of the novel coronavirus disease.

In addition, coronavirus vaccine delays are set to affect most of these countries, either due to shortages or what some say are faulty procurement policies.

People are frustrated with what they see as an over reliance on lockdowns by governments perceived to be incompetent at signing vaccine deals and implementing enduring health protocols.

In Bangladesh, this frustration boiled over in violent protests this week, with police shooting at demonstrators who were agitating against a week-long lockdown imposed by the government.

Instead of staying the course amid daily new highs in COVID-19 infections, Bangladeshs government walked back many of its lockdown measures.

First, it allowed public transport services to resume in Dhaka and some other areas, and on Thursday, it said stores and shopping malls could reopen ahead of the Bengali New Year and the start of Ramadan next week.

For Dr. Nazrul Islam, who is part of a national COVID-19 committee, the governments backtracking is emblematic of all that is wrong with the way it has handled the pandemic.

There would have been no need for separate interventions in public transport or shopping malls operations if they had enforced the practice of health protocols from the beginning, Nazrul told BenarNews, referring to a dangerous backsliding in the use of protective masks and social distancing.

But Kamal Hossain, a trader who works at the Dhaka New Market, expressed relief that shops could reopen.

If the shops remain closed ahead of mega celebrations like the Bangla New Year and Eid-ul-Fitr [the end of Ramadan], they will face serious losses, Kamal told BenarNews.

I have still not been able to make up for the loss from the closure of shops last year.

On Thursday, Bangladesh reported its highest ever daily new COVID-19 infections  close to 7,000  taking the cumulative caseload to 666,132. With another 74 virus-related fatalities, total deaths due to COVID-19 rose to 9,521.

People wait outside a nightclub for their turn to have a swab sample taken at a mobile COVID-19 testing unit in Bangkok, April 8, 2021. [AFP]

New COVID-19 cluster in Thailand

By contrast, the situation in Thailand is not as grave as in Bangladesh, but is worrying to health officials nevertheless, because the country had for a long time managed to keep a lid on COVID-19 infections.

The Thai government on Thursday shut bars and nightspots for the next two weeks in 41 provinces, after a spike in infections linked to Bangkoks nightlife venues. This shutdown comes ahead of Songkran, or the Thai New Year festival, next week.

Events at some of these pubs and hotel bars were also reportedly attended by the minister of transportation and many civil servants, sparking anger among a public already upset at a perceived slowness in the governments acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines.

Taweesilp Wissanuyothin, the spokesman for the governments anti-COVID task force, said Thursday that at least 504 people had been infected from the nightspots cluster.

According to officials, 42 policemen, and people working at the attorney generals and other public offices, had also contracted COVID-19.

Opposition lawmakers and some health experts, meanwhile, have criticized the government for relying heavily on coronavirus vaccines from one developer, Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca.

With 405 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, Thailands cumulative caseload rose to 30,310.

With a government ban on gatherings of more than a 100 people, and New Year activities such as parties, music concerts and water fights, it will be a tense Songkran as the authorities try to contain the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

AstraZeneca woes

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Indonesia on Thursday said it was negotiating with China for up to 100 million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines after delays in the delivery of the shot developed by AstraZeneca.

This is in addition to 125 million doses of its vaccine that Chinese state firm Sinovac had earlier agreed to supply to Indonesia.

The countrys health minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, said AstraZeneca was expected to deliver only 20 million doses for this year, instead of 50 million doses as agreed in a bilateral deal. This is because of export curbs by India, where the vaccine is manufactured, amid rising COVID-19 infections there.

Indonesias share of AstraZeneca vaccines, through the multilateral COVAX scheme led by the World Health Organization (WHO), has also been delayed for the same reason, Budi said.

Bangladesh, in fact, got no AstraZeneca vaccine deliveries in March, Dr. Mirzadi Sebrina Flora, a Health Directorate official, told BenarNews.

The Serum Institute of India, which manufactures the AstraZeneca vaccine, was expected to ship a total of 30 million doses of the vaccine over six months, starting in January 2021.

Mirzadi said the government had written to the Indian drug maker at the end of March but had not heard back.

It is not yet known whether the shortfall of AstraZeneca vaccines and the COVAX shipment delay would affect Indonesias campaign to vaccinate 181.5 million of its 270 million people by March 2022.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 5,504 to 1,552,880 on Thursday, according to the health ministry. The virus-related death toll rose to 42,227 after 163 fatalities overnight.

While new infections are down from record highs in February, Indonesia continued to report on average more than 4,000 cases daily in March and April, causing the worlds most populous Muslim-majority country to announce a ban, almost two months in advance, on travel for the festival of Eid which falls in mid-May.

On Thursday, the government announced it would block road access in more than 300 places to reinforce this ban on the annual Eid homecoming tradition.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (left) sits with Sen. Bong Go at an undisclosed location, in a photograph released on April 7, 2021. [Photo courtesy Sen. Bong Go]

On Thursday, the neighboring Philippines said it had suspended the use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 shots for people below the age of 60.

This decision came after the European Unions drugs regulator said on Wednesday that it found very rare cases of blood clots among some adult recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

On Monday, the government extended by another week the lockdown it imposed in Metro Manila and four nearby provinces as COVID-19 are rising at such a fast pace that overwhelmed hospitals have been rejecting patients.

The Philippines reported 9,216 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, bringing to 828,366 the total number of those infected in the country. With 60 new virus-related fatalities, the COVID-19 death toll rose to 14,119.

Meanwhile, speculation about President Rodrigo Dutertes health has been swirling on social media after he called off two public engagements this week, and after a report Wednesday said that members of his Presidential Security Guard had contracted the virus. Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was in self-quarantine.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Thursday said Duterte was safe and healthy.

Separately, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Thursday urged Developing-8 (D-8) member-nations to work together to speed up production of coronavirus vaccines.

Although the vaccination roll-out program is ongoing for some countries, there are still others waiting for vaccines arrival, Muhyiddin said at the virtual summit, which included leaders from D-8 member-states Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Thus, there is an urgent need for all of us to work together to accelerate the development and production of vaccines and assure equitable and affordable vaccines for all.

Jesmin Papri in Dhaka, Nontarat Phaicharoen and Wilawan Watcharasakwet in Bangkok, Ronna Nirmala in Jakarta, Marielle Lucenio in Manila, and Muzliza Mustafa in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla., on June 19, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Organizer of Alleged Pro-Trump Super PAC Charged for Allegedly Misleading Donors

The organizer of a political action committee that was presented to prospective donors as supportive of then-President Donald Trumps re-election was charged this week with wire fraud.

Kyle James Bell started the Keep America Great Committee in January 2020 purportedly to support Trumps re-election efforts. He copied content and source code for his website from other legitimate websites for campaigns and committees supporting Trump without permission, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court and obtained by The Epoch Times.

He then began using the committee to solicit donations. With the help of an email marketing company, Bell sent solicitations on behalf of his new group to tens of thousands of recipients. Authorities allege the marketing emails contained misinformation, such as promising to match any donation by five times.

The materials also had the appearance of solicitations from the Trump Campaign containing the official campaign logo, misleading potential donors to donate to the group instead of directly to the campaign, authorities wrote in the complaint.

Bell siphoned money he received to a company he created in Nevada called KAGC-LLC. He received over $246,000 in donations between January and October of last year.

Bell is also accused of applying for Payment Protection Program loans, or loans from the federal government for businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, on behalf of five different companies organized in the names of himself and his wife. The loan applications are said to have contained false statements and misrepresentations.

After a report in June 2020 about the Keep America Great Committee, Bell submitted a revised filing to the Federal Election Commission that allegedly included a false address and false names for organizers. The committees website was seized by the FBI in the middle of 2020.

A filing to the commission for the committee from June 2020 reviewed by The Epoch Times states that it is based in Washington and run by two people named Amy Ashton and Jim Searcy.

That same month, Bell started another super PAC that was presented as supporting the election of then-Democrat candidate Joe Biden. Bell raised some $100,000 and spent nearly $23,000 on at least 33 advertisements on Google for the group.

Bell, who underreported the amount of money he earned from the Keep America Great Committee, according to the complaint, is also accused of making zero contributions to any candidates, political parties, or committees from either group he started, nor did he provide the promised 5X matching of contributions.

Bell was charged with one count of wire fraud.

An attorney for the man did not respond to a request for comment.
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Gwen Stefani and Saweetie have teamed up for a new version of Stefanis Slow Clap. Stefani released the original song of her follow-up to Let Me Reintroduce Myself last month.

The visual finds the pair hanging out at a high school. Cutting between scenes in a locker room and a gymnasium in the clip, the high-octane track inspires dancing in the stands, coordinated dribbling on the court, and double-Dutch moves to the songs beats.

Throw it back, make it twirl, make them baby hairs swirl, Saweetie raps on her verse that hearkens to teenage times with references to Bubblicious and Laffy Taffy. This for all my icy girls all around the world. The songs Hollaback Girl vibes also get a shout-out from Saweetie: I aint no Hollaback bitch/Now I got it, I aint gotta act rich.

Both Slow Clap and Let Me Reintroduce Myself are likely to appear on Stefanis upcoming LP. Stefani told Billboard she had about 20 songs written for her upcoming LP.

I just had this lightbulb moment, Stefani said. I was like, I really want to investigate where I started in music  the reggae and ska, when I first fell in love with music, when it defined who I was. I really want to do happy music, thats where it all started. Once I got into that mode, it was like a wildfire, because every person I went in with, we were just so inspired and excited to be doing that kind of music.
A snap election in Greenland has dealt a potentially fatal blow to a mining project that had been expected to produce around 10% of the world's rare-earth materials.

Why it matters: Rare-earths are key ingredients in batteries and magnets for everything from cell phones to electric cars. China dominates the industry  a source of concern in Washington because of the economic leverage it provides Beijing.

A Chinese company owns a stake in the Greenland project and would also process all of the materials mined on the site in the mountains of Southern Greenland, per WSJ.

The project would boost the economy and make independence from Denmark more viable (Danish aid currently covers about half of Greenland's budget). But it could also be environmentally disastrous.

The latter argument won out, as an opposition party opposed to the mine won Tuesday's vote.

Worth noting: China has made a number of plays recently for influence in Greenland (pop. 56,225) but has not, like Donald Trump, offered to buy the island outright.
EOS Risk  piracy strategies for Gulf of Guinea

The piracy risk in the Gulf of Guinea (West Africa) is getting more complex, with pirates moving outside Nigerian waters  but shipping companies are not allowed to deploy privately contracted armed guards. David Johnson of EOS Risk updated us.

Tankers are the most vulnerable and targeted vessels in the Gulf of Guinea, says David Johnson, CEO of maritime risk consultants EOS Risk. In the last 18 months or so, the frequency of successful hijacking has increased, not hugely, this is forecast to change with the onset of the dry season, an expansion of the threat area, and the possible splintering of piracy gangs, he said. The number of people kidnapped has gone up a lot over that time. The pirates have been able to charge more money for the release of these people. Tanker operators need to consider if they have the appetite to trade in an area which is subject to such risk. The Gulf of Guinea region is normally taken to be the region from Liberia to Gabon, covering the coastlines of Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Weve gone through the whole Somali piracy, which people are still protecting against, to the more aggressive Nigerian piracy, which has proliferated over 5-6 years, he says. The pirate gangs have something of a logistics operation behind them in the lead-up to an attack, including choosing which vessels to attack, finding people to physically conduct the attack, finding people to look after hostages in camps, and negotiators. It is not just guys in a speedboat, he said. The key is to assess the risk before you go, he said. If you understand the risk  youll understand the measures that can be taken to mitigate against it. The Joint War Committee of insurance underwriters Lloyds recently expanded the area of Gulf of Guinea waters which they consider high risk. The expanded area covers the eastern side of the Gulf of Guinea across to Gabon. Further to this the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) and International Maritime Employers' Contract (IMEC) on 21 October expanded their High Risk Area to include the waters between the Ivory Coast and the Congo/Angola boarder, to reflect the concerns they have regarding the threat to their members working in the region. Authorities Ships are offered direct public sector protection by Benin, and Togo, with a degree of protection in Nigerian waters provided by a higher level of naval activity. The Nigerian authorities have stepped up their policing of Nigerian waters, but this has had the effect of displacing pirates into other waters, as far away as Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire) to the West and Gabon to the South. There is some increase in co-operation between governments, so they can pursue pirates across different national waters, and also share intelligence between agencies. But the gangs are not exclusively Nigerian. Crewmembers who have been kidnapped and released have said that not all the pirates in the gang spoke the same language. In the recent attack of general cargo ship Rio Mitong (May 2020), the pirate gangs involved in that  were hunted mercilessly and publicly through several countries. It resulted in them losing people in military operations against them, several pirate camps being raided and destroyed, and the seizure of a ransom [by authorities] on the way to a ransom drop, and seizure of weapons and paraphernalia that the pirates use, Mr Johnson says. The Nigerian government brought in a number of laws to try to suppress piracy. One shipping company was charged with paying a ransom, under charges of funding terrorism, although subsequently the charges were dropped, with the company prosecuted for other infringements. Now, we have companies and their crisis response advisors very reluctant to enter ransom negotiations, and pirates wary of being intercepted by Nigerian authorities. This creates an interesting backdrop in terms of how things will go, he said. EOS Risk believes that there will be some splintering of pirate groups, with groups operating in different ways. It is possible that pirates will ask to be paid ransom in bitcoin, so it cannot be traced, and the need for traditional ransom drops removed. Shipping companies may really want to use armed guards. When these were introduced in Somalia, there was a big impact in reduction of attacks, and the risk-reward calculation pirates were making. There hasnt been a successful hijacking of a ship with armed guards onboard in Somalia. Today, it may be sensible advice to have an armed guard in a location which allows it, Mr Johnson said. But most states in the Gulf of Guinea take the view that security is a role of the state, and only state appointed people can carry weapons. So for a vessel sailing from Douala (Cameroon) to Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire), going through territorial waters of Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana on the way, even if it gets a navy escort, the navies from each country cannot cross the water boundary. It doesnt make a huge amount of sense, he said. It is possible for a private security provider (such as EOS) to contract with host nation naval forces to provide private/public security services for clients, and regularly do so. Escort vessels or embarked naval detachments are a common feature of the services offered, and provide deterrent and protection. Maximising defences Ships can however do a great deal without resorting to armed guards  if they put defences up, and make sure the vessel is in regular contact with an intelligence service. This may be the best mitigation you can get under the circumstances, he said. Your risk increases if you have a low freeboard (distance from the waterline to the deck), or if the vessel is slow moving. You have to put a lot of hardening on to prevent boarding, keep people off deck, have good citadel procedures, he said. If pirates come to attack the vessel, and youve all gone in the citadel, the chances of having someone kidnapped is minimised. Even as this report is written, it has been reported that the tanker Errina was attacked in the region, with a successful retreat to the citadel resulting in no crew kidnapped, although the pirates ransacked the vessel and destroyed bridge equipment. Both vessel operators and pirates have been learning from each other. At one time, ships felt safe from pirate boarding by putting razor wire around the vessel. Pirates learned to pull the wire down with a grappling hook tied to a rope. Shipping companies then learned to make periodic cuts in the wire, so only a small piece of wire could be removed at a time. In another example, pirates tried to board a container ship by ladder, but found their ladders were not long enough  so they came back next time with a longer ladder. It is a sort of cat and mouse game, with pirates, agencies and shipping companies steadily increasing their methods. You need to make sure the vessel has done everything possible to not make it a target, he said. In another example, a vessel was attacked a mile from shore, with crew not on guard because they didnt think it could happen. Sometimes ships have had armed guard protection, but the guards have disembarked 60 miles offshore, but then found pirates operating 150 miles offshore. There are other examples of vessels being attacked in areas far away from normal attack areas, and so they were under a normal watch routine. The watchkeeping element is absolutely crucial. The quicker you pick these guys up the more chance youve got to muster the crew, he said. About EOS Risk EOS Risk offers intelligence service, led by former high-ranking naval officers, where it tries to see the world through the pirates eyes. Operating in the Gulf of Guinea for several years EOS provides a wide range of protective services in cooperation with host nations. The company has developed expertise in how pirates operate, what measures are effective. It provides services to help with mitigation, intelligence about what pirates are doing, crisis response and evacuation, the whole package around it. The companys director of intelligence, Ian Millen, is a former Royal Naval Commander and law enforcement senior officer. The head of operations and private client services, Ben Tams, is a former member of the UK elite advanced forces. David Johnson, CEO of EOS Risk, is a former business development manager of Drum Cussac. The companys largest client base is tanker operators, and has been for the last 15 years.




Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 01:18:20|Editor: huaxia

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People walk past the Francis Crick Institute Vaccination Centre in London, Britain on March 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England Jonathan Van-Tam has said that because of the supply situation with other vaccines, the effect on the vaccination program in Britain should be "negligible".

LONDON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Britain has more than enough supply of alternative vaccines to vaccinate all adults under 30, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Thursday.

His remarks came after the British government's vaccination advisory body said Wednesday that Britons aged 18-29 will be offered an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine amid concerns over its possible link with reported rare cases of blood clots.

Hancock told the BBC that Britain is still on track to vaccinate all adults by July 31.

The AstraZeneca jab remained safe and those who had received one dose should take up their second when they are called, he said.

There was "no evidence" of rare blood clots after the second dose of the vaccine, he said.

"The safety system that we have around this vaccine is so sensitive that it can pick up events that are four in a million (the chance of developing a rare brain blood clot) -- I'm told this is about the equivalent risk of taking a long-haul flight," he said.

A man wearing a face mask cycles past the Francis Crick Institute Vaccination Centre in London, Britain on March 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said Wednesday that the side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine were extremely rare and the vaccine's effectiveness is proven, adding that the benefits of taking the vaccine are still very favourable for the vast majority.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England Jonathan Van-Tam has said that because of the supply situation with other vaccines, the effect on the vaccination program in Britain should be "negligible".

Currently, Britain is also rolling out the Pfizer jab, and the first doses of the Moderna vaccine were administered Wednesday in Wales.

The country also has supply agreements with several other companies that are still waiting for approval, including Valneva and Janssen.

More than 31.7 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the official figures.

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.

People wearing face masks walk past the Vaccination Centre at ExCel exhibition centre in London, Britain, Jan. 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)
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Popular ArtWalk returns to Galveston, with other events to follow

STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News Katie Darby, of Indianapolis, Indiana, browses among paintings at G. Lee Gallery in downtown Galveston on Thursday, April 8, 2021. ArtWalk, the regularly occurring downtown Galveston event that encourages visitors to stroll through the areas many art galleries, will resume on April 24 after a year-long hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. Stuart Villanueva/The Daily News Artist Samantha Wiley works at the Rene Wiley Gallery in downtown Galveston on Tuesday, April 6, 2021. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News Brenda Lee, right, owner of G. Lee Gallery, speaks with visitor Lisa Lawrence at the gallery in downtown Galveston on Thursday, April 8, 2021. ArtWalk, the regularly occurring downtown Galveston event that encourages visitors to stroll through the areas many art galleries, will resume Saturday after a year-long hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News file photo Paintings hang on the wall at the Rene Wiley Gallery as a pedestrian walks on the sidewalk in downtown Galveston on Tuesday, April 6, 2021.

GALVESTON

With the number of local cases of COVID-19 dropping and with more residents getting vaccinated, organizers of the long-running and popular ArtWalk plan to revive the event April 24 after more than a years hiatus.

The artists and gallery owners arent alone in seeking to revive longtime island events and traditions stopped by the pandemic.

Island event organizers largely have been planning on returns to large-scale festivals this summer in expectation that COVID-19 cases will continue to decline. They also expect there to be high demand for such events from visitors and residents eager for a sense of normalcy and from businesses eager for the revenue bump.

The most recent ArtWalk event was more than a year ago. Now organizer Galveston Arts Center, 2127 Strand, is ready to try to host the event again, Executive Director Lisa Shaw said.

The popular ArtWalk had taken place roughly every six weeks for decades. It allows guests to stroll through various art galleries and shops in Galvestons downtown and East End on a Saturday evening. Many galleries would offer snacks and drinks to the residents and visitors. It was a way for artists to show their work and attract people to downtown.

Galveston Arts Center had stopped the event last spring when the coronavirus swept through the area.

Now that people are getting vaccinated, I feel like the comfort level is coming back, Shaw said.

A few galleries got together in March to stage an Art Stroll that wasnt hosted by the center.

Shaw doesnt expect huge crowds, but its good for the artists to get the foot traffic through the galleries, Shaw said.

Ben Wiley with Rene Wiley Gallery, 2128 Postoffice St., is glad to see the return of ArtWalk, he said.

During a normal ArtWalk, between 1,500 and 2,000 people might visit the gallery, he said.

Its kind of what the art business in Galveston revolves around, Wiley said. Not having them has not been good for business.

Brenda Lee, owner of G. Lee Gallery, 2217 Strand, is very happy ArtWalk is returning, she said.

Obviously, it indicates improvement in our communities general health, Lee said.

The gallery features artists from the greater Galveston area and ArtWalk helps spread the word about the work, she said.

It brings in people who would not, frankly, normally walk into a gallery, Lee said.

OTHER EVENTS

ArtWalk is among many events planning returns into Galveston this year. Almost all major events were canceled or rescheduled during the past 12 months over COVID-19 restrictions and concerns. For almost a year, the city wasnt issuing special event permits in most cases.

But the city has been taking applications for and issuing event permits since March 10, when Gov. Greg Abbott lifted COVID- related capacity and masking restrictions in Texas, said David Smith, city executive director of fleet, mass transit and special events.

Since then, the citys been getting a lot of interest, he said.

We have gotten got a lot of inquiries about special events, Smith said.

The city still is requesting that event organizers submit COVID guidelines, but all the promoters so far have offered pandemic protocols, such as masking and social distancing, without the citys prompting, Smith said.

The city already has been in talks with organizers of motorcycle event Lone Star Rally about its November festival, Smith said.

Many organizers are moving forward with some changes to the events.

After canceling the Grand Kids Fest in April last year and moving ARToberFEST virtual in October, The Grand 1894 Opera House, 2020 Postoffice St., is moving ahead with Grand Kids Festival on May 1, said Sarah Piel, director of education and resource development.

We know we cant be closed forever, Piel said. So when things seem to have kind of maintained, we felt like that was a good time to pull the cord and keep moving forward.

The Grand plans to space out activity booths and limit participation in the activities at any given time, she said.

Mike Dean, owner of Yagas Entertainment, sees demand for events and festivals, he said.

Yagas plans to host the Wild Game & BBQ Cook-Off on May 8 and has hosted two small-scale festivals over the past few months with limited attendance.

Both of the events sold out, Dean said.

I think theres more demand than there is supply at this point, Dean said.

As they become vaccinated, more people are interested in getting out and doing things, Dean said. Vaccinations are the key to further opening up, he said.

We understand that theres a need for people who want it to get it, Dean said.

Dean is planning for larger-scale festivals later this summer or fall, he said.

The ArtWalk event will be a little different, Shaw said.

The Art Center is requiring masks and is encouraging galleries to not serve drinks so people dont have to take their masks off, she said.

Shaw is a little nervous and hopes the event April 24 goes well but also is excited, she said.

It kind of feels like were getting back into the swing of things, Shaw said.
Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a neurodegenerative disease with multiple debilitating symptoms. One of them is sleep disorders; however, owing to limited research, little is known about why only some patients are affected, how sleep disorders influence MSA severity, or even how sleep disorders vary across different MSA subtypes. Now researchers at West China Hospital of Sichuan University have uncovered these mysteries in a new study published in Chinese Medical Journal.

Sleep disorders are an important but often overlooked symptom in multiple system atrophy that could help researchers understand the biological underpinnings of a rare neurodegenerative disease. Photo courtesy: Pexels

Unusual diseases are medical mysteries that fascinate us, and one such disease is multiple system atrophy, or MSA. This rare neurological disorder causes failures in the proper functioning of the bodys autonomic system (processes that are not under our conscious control, such as blood pressure, breathing, and involuntary movement). The resulting symptoms can look like two other types of neurodegenerative disease: Parkinsons disease and cerebellar ataxia. In fact, MSA can be separated into a parkinsonism subtype or a cerebellar subtype based on whether the resultant movement-related symptoms bear greater similarity to one or the other. However, MSA also has other symptoms, with sleep disorders being common, but under-researched. As a result, we understand very little about the factors that influence the presence of sleep disorders in patients with MSA. Being unable to sleep well makes life harder for these patients, who already suffer from the other symptoms of the condition; as such, emphasizing sleep disturbances is important for addressing patient needs.

With this in mind, researchers led by Dr. Hui-Fang Shang of Sichuan University in China set out to investigate three specific sleep disorders (Parkinsons disease related sleep problems [PD-SP], excessive daytime sleepiness [EDS], and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder [RBD]) in patients with MSA. Dr. Shang explains, Our goal was to determine the frequency of these three sleep disturbances in MSA, including in both subtypes. We also wanted to know whether sleep disorders affected how severe MSA was. Their findings have been published in Chinese Medical Journal.

After screening for MSA and excluding other neurological disorders, the researchers examined 165 patients using questionnaires to determine the presence of sleep-related symptoms and MSA severity. Dr. Shang and colleagues found that PD-SP occurred in 18.8% of patients, EDS in 27.3%, and RBD in 49.7%, whereas all three coexisted in 7.3% of patients. They also showed that PD-SP and EDS, but not RBD, were more common in the parkinsonism subtype than in the cerebellar subtype. Their analysis adjusted for patient age, duration of MSA, and usage of drug treatment for MSA, meaning these three factors did not help explain the differences in sleep disorders across the two MSA subtypes. They also found that male sex was associated with EDS and RBD in patients with MSA.

And most importantly, greater the number of these sleep-related symptoms a patient had, more severe their MSA was.

When the researchers combined their findings with results from previous brain imaging studies that looked at MSA and sleep disorders, they concluded that sleep disorders are associated with MSA-induced damage to certain regions of the brain. The location and distribution of degenerating neurons are different between the two subtypes, with a wider range of brain areas affected in the parkinsonism form. This could explain why patients with the parkinsonism subtype have more sleep disorders. Additionally, the connection between MSA severity and increased number of sleep-related symptoms could reflect the amount of neuronal damage. Because sleep disorders are associated with loss of dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic neurons (that is, neurons producing the neurotransmitter chemical dopamine), the results shed some light on the underlying biological causes of MSA.

For me, this research emphasizes the need to focus more on sleep disorders when treating patients with MSA, says Dr. Shang , explaining the scientific and clinical contributions of their work, We are the first to perform such a systematic analysis of sleep-related symptoms in MSA, and any future research can build on what we did here to better understand this serious condition. Currently, MSA has no cure, so a greater emphasis on sleep disorders will help do two things: address the lower quality of life in these patients due to disturbed sleep, and provide scientific data for developing effective treatments.

The findings provide hope for a more holistic approach to improving patients quality of life.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 21:52:05|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on April 9, 2021 shows a meeting of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna, Austria. (EU Delegation in Vienna/Handout via Xinhua)

VIENNA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. promise on lifting unilateral sanctions must be put into action immediately, said Wang Qun, Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, on Friday, after a meeting with other senior diplomats concerning the Iran nuclear deal.

"Regarding the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States, China and the parties concerned clearly expressed their concerns at the meeting, and it must be lifted immediately," Wang told Xinhua after the talks on the resumption of implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by the United States and Iran.

Wang said that "such sanctions problems were all caused by the previous U.S. government's illegal sanctions on entities and individuals that implemented the JCPOA."

He stressed that the lifting of these sanctions is "not only a bilateral issue, but also an important aspect of safeguarding the JCPOA, which is the result of multilateralism."

"We have noticed that the U.S. side recently released some positive messages about the lifting of such sanctions, and we call on the U.S. to take practical actions immediately to facilitate the complete and effective implementation of the JCPOA," Wang added.

The Joint Commission of the JCPOA, known as the Iran nuclear deal, resumed talks here again on Friday, following Tuesday's meeting. The Iran nuclear deal was struck in 2015 but paralyzed by the U.S. withdrawal in 2018.

Wang told Xinhua that Friday's meeting was "constructive in general, as all parties have actively implemented the consensus reached at the joint ministerial meeting last December, and that the parties were moving in the right direction."

Intensive work has been carried out upon the two processes launched in the current meeting, namely, the nuclear implementation and sanction-lifting working groups' work, and the "proximity talks" with the United States, Wang said.

"Through these four days of meetings, the differences between the parties concerned are narrowing, and we have seen the momentum towards gradually forming a consensus among parties concerned. And this has created a beneficial atmosphere for the next step towards a good prospect," he added.

Wang said the parties will continue negotiations here next week. "We hope that the positive and constructive momentum of this week's meeting can be continued."

"Vienna is the place where the negotiations on the JCPOA started and reached," Wang said. "China hopes that Vienna will also witness all parties reaching an arrangement for the United States and Iran to resume the implementation of the JCPOA." Enditem
The War Against Californian History

Commentary

On Oct. 12, 2020, a group of Indigenous Peoples Day protesters entered the grounds of the Mission San Rafael Arcangel, a historic California mission about 20 miles north of San Francisco thats now part of the Catholic parish of St. Raphael in Marin County.

During the course of the protest some of the 50 or so activists present pulled down a six-foot statue of Junipero Serra, the 18th-century Franciscan priest who had founded Californias mission system when California was under Spanish rule. Serra was canonized a saint by Pope Francis in 2015, but among Californias progressives he has become a symbol of European colonization and enslavement of the Native Americans the missions sheltered and served.

The statue-topplers had come prepared, bringing with them nylon rope and red paint. They used the rope to drag the statue to the ground, peeled off a layer of duct tape with which the missions employees had hoped to protect it, and defaced it with the paint, which presumably symbolized blood. They covered the statues base with graffiti.

Eventually five people (all of whom seem to be Native American women, although at least one identifies as Two Spirit), allegedly caught on video pitching the statue, were arrested and in February formally charged with felony vandalism. Since then, however, there has been a relentless campaign, spearheaded by the National Lawyers Guild, to persuade Marin County District Attorney Lori Frugoli to drop the charges against the Indigenous Peoples Five, as they now call themselves.

Some 80,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to that effect. The petition calls Serra a notoriously violent mission system leader and implies that the mission was the guilty party in the incident because of the violence of its founding on land stolen from indigenous peoples.

So far Frugoli has stood firm, but affluent Marin County is famous for its political liberalism and its residents attachment to leftist causes du jour, so it would not be surprising if she yielded to pressures that have allowed statue-demolishers around the country to escape prosecution and punishment.

This was not the only destruction of a statue of Serra in California in what amounts to an outright war against the friar by protesters claiming to represent the interests of Native Americans. On June 19, 2020, activists toppled and smeared red paint onto a 30-foot bronze statue of the saint that had stood in San Franciscos Golden Gate Park for more than a century.

The next day, June 20, tribal protesters in Los Angeles knocked down a nine-foot statue of the saint that had stood since 1932 in Father Serra Park near the site of the first Spanish settlement in the citys downtown (it was a copy of a statue of Serra that the state placed in the U.S. Capitol in 1931). The Los Angeles City Council deemed the action an act of civil disobedience, and no one was prosecuted.

On July 4, demonstrators ripped down a statue of Serra in Sacramentos Capitol Park, again without any effort being made to catch them, much less to bring charges (a bill pending in the California Legislature would replace the statue with a monument honoring Native Americans). On July 15, the Ventura City Council voted to remove two Serra statues from public places.

Earlier, in 2018, Stanford University administrators, reacting to campus protesters, had voted to remove Serras name from the campus mall and two campus buildings. Stanford planned to change Serra Mall to Jane Stanford Way. This was ironic, because Jane Stanford, who with her husband, the railroad magnate Leland Stanford, had founded the university in 1885, was one of Serras most fervent admirers. In 1891, she had commissioned the erection of a statue of him in a park at Monterey, where he had first arrived in California in 1768 after serving as a missionary in Mexico for 18 years. That statue was decapitated by a sledgehammer in 2015, but the head was found and reattached two years later. It seems to be one of the few outdoor statues of Serra that is still permitted to stand.

The Californian war against Junipero Serra isnt simply a war of leftist activists, abetted by politicians in this overwhelmingly blue state, against former generations of Californians who romanticized the missions and their padres (Helen Hunt Jacksons hugely popular 1884 novel Ramona is an example of this). Nor is it simply a war against Christianity and its elevation to sainthood of a man they believe helped destroy Native American culture by converting Native Americans to Catholicism. It is a war against California history itself.

Indeed, Junipero Serra could be said to have invented the state of California. The missions that he and his successors founded were the vertebrae along the spine of the El Camino Real (pretty much coterminous with U.S. 101), which runs along the California coast. Every major city in CaliforniaSan Diego, Santa Ana, Los Angeles (near Mission San Gabriel), San Jose, San Franciscolies on the mission trail.

Serra and his successors introduced vineyards, cattle, and olive trees to California agriculture, and were responsible for the states distinctive mission style of architecture: the stucco-coated walls and red-tiled roofs that are ubiquitous in the state.

University of CaliforniaRiverside professor Steven W. Hackel, in his prizewinning 2014 biography of Serra, calls him Californias founding father. Hackel doesnt romanticize Serra, whose missions worst failing, he writes, was that they decimated the native population by exposing it to fatal European diseases. But he also focuses on Serras intense and genuine religious devotion and his tireless war against the Spanish military and secular authorities who thought little of the Indians except as candidates for exploitation.

Mission San Rafael, founded in 1817 by one of Serras successors, started as a hospital for sick Native Americans. Serra deserved in every way the many statues of him in California, the statues that current-day activists, who have no understanding of history, seek to destroy in every way they can.

Charlotte Allen is the executive editor of Catholic Arts Today and a frequent contributor to Quillette. She has a doctorate in medieval studies from the Catholic University of America.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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.
Sri Lanka: Equity, justice, dignity and peace for fishermen?

by Steve Creech

April 09,2021 | Source: The Sunday Times

An Indian Government statement read out ahead of the recent vote on the resolution on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva said: Indias approach to the question of human rights in Sri Lanka is guided by two fundamental considerations. One is our support to the Tamils of Sri Lanka for equity, justice, dignity and peace. The other is in the ensuring the unity, stability and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. While an Indian diplomat was making his speech to the UNHRC in Geneva, hundreds of Tamil Nadu trawlers were once again streaming across the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) to fish illegally in Sri Lankan waters; demonstrating scant regard for the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. Anarasa



The dignity and peace that Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen have worked tirelessly to achieve in their lives since the end of the civil conflict were shattered overnight, by Tamil owned trawlers. And justice? Nine trawlers were arrested in the days that followed, after protests by fishermen and the seafood industry. But almost immediately the nine vessels and 54 crewmembers were released without charge; allegedly at the request of the Government of India. Are Sri Lankas small scale, fishing communities on the north coast, not entitled to the right to freedom from bias or favouritism, too? Must the dice always fall in favour of Tamil Nadus semi-industrial trawl net fisheries employing a few thousand labourers as against Northern Sri Lankas 29,000 small-scale fishermen whose only source of livelihood is the hugely productive, highly lucrative and thankfully renewable marine resources on either side of the IMBL in the Palk Bay? Unsurprisingly sans a meaningful legal deterrent, Tamil Nadu trawlers continued to fish illegally in Sri Lankan waters throughout last week. Fifty or so trawlers operated within 500 metres of the shore off the islands of Delft, Alanaithivu and Eluvaithivu, according to Eluvaithivu Fishermens Cooperative Society president T. Stanislaws. Rameshwaram boat owners had the cheek to call Jaffna District Federation of Fishermens Cooperative Societies Unions president A. Anarasa last week to tell him to warn Jaffna fishermen that hundreds of Rameshwaram trawlers were coming. This surprising development happened because Jaffna (and Mannar) fishermen have come to accept that Tamil Nadu trawlers may cross the IMBL every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings. This is the so-called three day/four day rule. The rule is a consequence of trawler owners refusing to accept  and the State Governments inability to implement  a Tamil Nadu state law prohibiting trawling within 2.5 km of the shore  that is in the fishing grounds of small scale Tamil Nadu fishermen. A Sri Lankan Navy officer inspecting an Indian trawler loaded with fish caught in Sri Lanka's waters



Instead an agreement was reached between trawler owners and small scale fishermen to permit trawlers to operate anywhere they like for three days a week and small scale fishermen to fish in their traditional fishing grounds on the other four. Last week, the three day/four day rule applied only in Tamil Nadu. In Sri Lankan waters Tamil Nadu trawlers felt emboldened to fish anywhere they liked for six days of the week, which they duly did without fear of arrest or legal consequences. According to Anarasa, hundreds of Jaffna fishermen lost thousands of rupees worth of nets over the last two weeks. Last month alone, fishermen and fisher societies in Kayts, Delft and Karainagar lost millions of rupees worth of income due to the sudden upsurge in illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing by Tamil Nadu trawlers. Who is going to compensate these fishermen for their losses, he asked? Who will buy our fishermen new nets to replace those destroyed by the trawlers? Fishermen on the islands off the coast of Jaffna are now fearful about setting their nets, he said. How can fishermen risk going out to fish, if Tamil Nadu boats continue to trawl with impunity in the fishing grounds of small scale fishermen in Sri Lanka, just like they do in Tamil Nadu? The trawlers will continue to come until April 15, he said. This is when the Indian Government officially closes coastal fisheries for 85 days to allow fish stock on the Indian side of the Palk Bay to recover. A group of Indian fishermen who were released after they were arrested for poaching in Sri Lankan waters.



The issue of persistent IUU fishing by Tamil Nadu trawlers in Sri Lankan waters is often couched in language that calls for a humanitarian response: The semantics of equity, justice, dignity and peace that Indian diplomat in Geneva last week. Northern fishermen and fisher leaders like Stanislaws and Anarasa are not asking anything different. They call for: n Equity for small scale fishermen; the right to fish freely in their traditional fishing grounds without bias or favoritism; n Justice through the rule of law; the implementation of a meaningful legal deterrent under the Fisheries (Regulation of Foreign Fishing Boats) (Amendment) Act No. 1 of 2018; n Dignity for small scale fishing communities; rebuilding livelihoods shattered by civil conflict, creating a future for their families based on the sustainable harvest of the Palk Bays rich marine resources. n And peace. Small scale fishermen on both sides of the Palk Bay want to live and fish peacefully. The ultimate responsibility for delivering equity, justice, dignity and peace for small scale fishermen on both sides of the Palk Bay and respect for Sri Lankas territorial integrity lies not in Jaffna or in Colombo, but in Chennai and New Delhi.
Millions of residents have been told to prepare for heavy rainfall, powerful winds and flash floods as three cyclones form off the coast of Western Australia.

The first is a tropical low that has been forming off the north-west coast and will develop into a category one cyclone by Friday.

The cyclone, named Cyclone Odette, will bring heavy rain and gusty winds to Exmouth, on the north-west coast, as soon as Saturday night.

The second is Tropical Cyclone Seroja, which is expected to develop from a category one into a category three system, before moving south-west and making landfall on Sunday.

The Bureau of Meteorology said anywhere along a 1,100km stretch from Perth north to Coral Bay could be in the cyclone's firing line - although it will most likely make land near Carnarvon in the Gascoyne region.

A third tropical low is also developing near the Cocos Islands and, combined with the other two systems, will bring a month's worth of rain in just one day to parts of the state.

Cyclone Odette and Cyclone Seroja are expected to rotate around each other to create the extremely rare Fujiwhara Effect

Holidaymakers in the state's north have been told to evacuate with 150km/h winds forecast to batter the coastline.

Bureau of Meteorologist senior meteorologist James Ashley says he has never seen such an event.

'I've been working here in Perth for over 20 years and I've never seen us have three systems so close to being cyclones or being cyclones at the one time,' he said.

'Generally, cyclones tend to need a bit of space between them so they don't mess each other's inflow and winds and moisture feeds and things like that.'

Cyclone Odette and Cyclone Seroja are expected to rotate around each other to create the extremely rare Fujiwhara Effect.

Tropical cyclone forecaster Craig Earl-Spurr said the rare meteorological phenomenon would make it look like the cyclones were 'dancing' and was not common in Australia.

'Because both are trying to throw each other around their own wind fields, as each one moves the wind field moves with it,' he told ABC News.

'Depending on how that then pushes the other [system] around, little changes can become big changes very quickly.'

BoM computer modelling has yet to pinpoint the path of Cyclone Seroja.

The Bureau of Meteorology said anywhere along a 1,100km stretch from Perth north to Coral Bay could be in the cyclone's firing line - although it will most likely make land near Carnarvon in the Gascoyne region

South Australia, Victoria, southern parts of NSW and the ACT will see temperatures dramatically drop over the weekend. Pictured: A woman braves the rain in Sydney in February

But the bureau warned there could be an increase in rain and winds in the Pilbara and Gascoyne Coat region.

Mr Earl-Spurr said the systems are difficult to track because they will be locked in a 'tug of war' once the Fujiwhara Effect starts to take place.

'They can take a full 90-degree turn when they first start to interact with each other,' he said.

Parts of Australia are forecast to shiver through icy temperatures and wet weather in the coming days as a blast of Antarctic air sweeps across the nation's south.

Some areas are tipped to see their coldest days of the year so far.

Cold fronts are forecast to hit southern and central parts of the country beginning on Friday, with some areas expected to see hail or snow by the end of the weekend.

Cyclone Seroja pictured to the east of the other tropical low north-west of the Australian coastline. Meteorologists have said the systems are difficult to track because they will be locked in a 'tug of war' as part of the Fujiwhara Effect

Parts of Australia are set to shiver this week as two cold fronts sweep a 'polar blast' of air across the country. This map shows the coldest areas (in blue) on Sunday morning

As a high pressure system that has brought balmy weather across the east shifts into the Tasman, two low pressure systems moving in from the south are bringing cold artic air up from the Great Australian Bight.

'A spell of unseasonably warm weather will come to an abrupt end over central and southern Australia this weekend,' said Sky News senior meteorologist Tom Saunders.

'The warmer temperatures have left southern Victoria about 5C above average.

'But the cold front hits Hobart on Thursday night, and on Friday morning cold south westerly winds will arrive in Melbourne.'

South Australia, Victoria, southern parts of NSW and the ACT will see temperatures dramatically drop over the weekend, with those regions tipped to potentially see the coldest day of the year so far on Sunday or Monday.

Melbourne is forecast to fall from a top of 29C on Thursday to just 15C on Sunday, with showers developing on Friday and continuing through the weekend.

Tropical Cyclone Seroja is tracking south from its current position 720km northwest of Broome and is expected to make landfall as early as Sunday

In Adelaide, the mercury will plummet from 31C on Thursday to a high of 19C on Sunday.

Meanwhile, residents along a vast stretch of Western Australia's coastline have been warned to prepare for two possible tropical cyclones developing offshore, while minor flood warnings are in place for rivers in north-east NSW.

Sydneysiders can expect a hot 30C on Friday, before mid-20C temperatures on Saturday and Sunday.

But the mercury will drop to a chilly minimum of 11C on Monday, before jumping back to 26C on Tuesday.

Canberra is set to shiver through cloudy days over the weekend with lows below 5C and highs in the mid-to-high teens.

Residents of a vast stretch of Western Australia's coastline are being warned to prepare for two possible tropical cyclones developing offshore. Pictured: A couple walking near Leighton Beach in Perth during wet weather

Sunshine will reappear on Monday, but temperatures will remain low, with a 0C minimum, bouncing up to 2C on Tuesday.

Showers are in store for Hobart on Saturday and Sunday, with temperature ranges between 7C and 15C.

Possible storms and showers are forecast for Darwin from Friday until Tuesday, with highs topping 33C and lows in the mid 20C.

Brisbane and Perth residents will enjoy warm weather leading into next week, with lows in the high teens and maximum temperatures in the 20Cs.

Perth will swelter through 30C heat on Saturday, before some showers on Sunday.




SK hynix Icheon plant / Yonhap



By Kim Hyun-bin



Local semiconductor companies have requested the government for aid in order to better overcome the global chip shortage.



The Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo hosted an event with major industry representatives from the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) and conglomerates officials at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul, Friday to brainstorm ways to counter the global chip shortage crisis that has led to key automakers idling their plants.






Seminal gay drama series Queer as Folk is on the comeback trail with a reimagined version greenlight by NBCs streaming service Peacock.

The new version will be set in New Orleans and centres around a diverse group of friends whose lives are transformed in the aftermath of a tragedy.

The original UK series by Russell T. Davies was considered ground-breaking for tackling frank and taboo subjects when it screened for just 8 episodes from 1999  2000. A Canadian-US adaptation (pictured) set in Pittsburgh, which ran for 5 seasons, was equally well-received. Both screened in Australia on SBS.

US writer Stephen Dunn (Little America) has been developing the project since late 2018

It is a surreal honor to adapt the notoriously groundbreaking series by Russell T. Davies, Dunn said. When the show originally aired, the idea of unapologetic queer stories on TV was so provocative that I felt I could only watch Queer as Folk in secret. But so much has changed in the last 20 years and how wonderful would it be if the next generation didnt have to watch Queer as Folk alone in their dank basements with the sound muted, but with their family and friends and the volume cranked all the way to the max 

Queer as Folk was more than just a show, it was a groundbreaking and necessary voice for so many people. Stephens new version for Peacock arrives at yet another pivotal moment in our culture, said Lisa Katz, president of scripted content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. Alex Sepiol, exec vp drama programming, and his team have championed this project from the first moment it landed on their desks, working to ensure the script became the series were announcing today. The entire team is so excited to be a part of introducing a new generation to this type of authentic and affirming storytelling.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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Photo: (Photo : Photo by Pixabay from Pexels)

Summer camps and other camps are now allowed to operate as long as they follow all the safety guidelines such as social distancing and other protocols.

Now that more Americans are getting vaccinated every month, the United States started to convene youth camps. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention released their safety guideline, suggesting people who have undergone vaccination can already enjoy and have fun after taking their shots.

Though children are not yet eligible for vaccination, the American Academy for Pediatrics released their recommendation that kids can now enjoy summer camps this 2021. AAP also said that it would be safe for children as long safety guidelines are being followed.

READ: Help Your Kids Get the Protein They Need this Summer



In support of this activity, the CDC released their suggested safety guidelines administrators can follow in handling summer camps. These safety guidelines should be followed to protect the campers, administrators, staff, and community.

Camp administrators can collaborate with local health officials or state officials to know where they can adjust to the guidelines depending on the needs and requirements based on their activities.

But the CDC clarifies that the safety guidelines intended for summer camps are not to replace the protocols mandated by the state, local or tribal but are only to supplement.

So for parents out there, we know your kids have wanted to go and have fun outside, but you might want to check and consider first their safety and secure the guidelines appropriate for them.

ALSO READ: Lockdown Kids at Higher Risk of Developing Asthma Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases





Summer Camp Safety Guideline Parents Must Know

Administrators and staff should frequently remind and encourage all campers to wash their hands now and then, wear their masks every time, and maintain social distancing.

Administrators and staff should undergo orientation on how to properly handle campers' screening for them to check possible signs and symptoms of COVID-19 from a camper before they let them enter the camping site.

Administrators, staff, and campers should be oriented on how to prevent the spread of the virus.

Maintaining a healthy environment inside the campsite. It means that the staff should see that the site is being checked every day and is always disinfected.

Campers should be discouraged from sharing their things with other campers.

If the camping site is inside a closed room, administrators must provide the campers with proper ventilation.

Do not give big groups to the campers, only small groups, and keep the campers within that group for the rest of the camp.

Putting hand washing sink areas, sanitizers and alcohol must be placed in different and many areas of the site.

Require your campers to bring their meals on the site and encourage them to eat with small groups only. Gathering with the crowd and sharing of food is strictly prohibited.

If you're the administrator and plan to open your summer camp, you must submit your application 14 days before your camp's date. And within 24 hours, your attestation form must be submitted before the opening of your activity. And if you want to check the forms required for submission and all the list for camp safety guidelines, you can always refer to CDC.

READ MORE: Should Your Kids Start Playing Outside Again? Here Are 6 Ways to Safely Do It
Even as it remains a collective struggle to build a nation with the bricks of mutuality, plurality and tolerance, the media, as gatekeepers in the fourth estate, must demonstrate a greater awareness of the society, while upholding the principles of balance, objectivity and fair-hearing, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Mr Osinbajo stated this on Thursday evening during the book launch and presentation of The Making of the Nigerian Flagship, the Story of The Guardian, which held at the Federal Palace Hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos State.

According to the Vice President, while it is true that the freedom of expression is enshrined in our constitution, society, progress, and order depend upon the responsible exercise of freedom, otherwise the end result will be anarchy.

Nation-building is not the sole preserve of politicians and governments; in fact, it is just as much a task for civil society of which the press is an important member, the VP stated.

Acknowledging the significant role of the Nigerian media in actualizing democracy, the Vice President urged media practitioners to continue to speak truth to power.

The Guardian harked back to the proud and illustrious tradition of the Nigerian press that practiced journalism with a social mission and a commitment to speaking truth to power. It played an important role in the struggles that birthed our democracy, suffering proscription and the firebombing of its business offices at Rutam House. Alex Ibru, himself, narrowly survived an assassination attempt in which he was severely injured.

Years later, I confronted the horror of the attack on him myself, when as Attorney-General in Lagos, it was my lot to prosecute his assailants. It was a reflection of the terrible costs that journalists bore as they continued to heroically ply their craft as an act of resistance against tyranny.

For decades, the men and women that work at The Guardian have drawn inspiration from the immortal words of Uthman Dan Fodio on its masthead: Conscience is an open wound. Only truth can heal it. It is the role of journalists to tell the truth even when it is inconvenient. This mission has a special resonance in this day and age.

Calling on the Nigerian press to effectively tackle the spread of fake news, Mr Osinbajo submitted that, even as we strive to make governance more transparent and accountable in its workings, and to abandon the habits of secrecy and opacity that became deeply ingrained during the era of military rule, we have realized that abuse of state power is not the only threat to the liberal tradition. Right now, we also have to deal with issues such as the proliferation of fake news.

Almost daily, fake news or mischievously manipulated news is trafficked with the clear intent of warping the perception of reality and inducing conflict.

It is said that journalism is the first rough draft of history. It is true that reportage shapes the perception and understanding of events. It shapes memories and can influence behaviour for good or for ill. There are arguably no bigger influencers than those who report and interpret the world to us. This is considerable power and it comes with responsibility.

While commending the Guardian Newspapers for raising the standards of journalism in Nigeria, the Vice President noted that there must be collective effort by media organisations and practitioners to uphold and improve on the quality of professionalism.

He said, The story of The Guardian Newspaper is significant, for the redefinition it meant for print media in Nigeria, and for its uniqueness in bringing public intellectuals and academics into journalism and breeding a generation of talented journalists.

About four decades ago, The Guardian set new standards that forever transformed the practice of journalism. Today a more complex media and information landscape require a corps of professionals to set new standards and raise the quality of the fare on offer.

The pioneers of The Guardian understood that journalism operates in a social context and cannot be value-neutral. This same cognitive commitment is incumbent upon all media practitioners today. We are at a time in our national odyssey in which retailers of discord and merchants of strife are working assiduously against our collective potential as a people.

Creating commonality of purpose in ethnically and culturally diverse societies is challenging the world over. However, nation-building is not the sole preserve of politicians and governments; in fact, it is just as much a task for civil society of which the press is an important member.

The Vice President commended the authors, The Guardian Newspapers and especially the chief custodian of the legacy, Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru for broadening our understanding of history, for the appreciation of the present and inspiring the future.

Laolu Akande

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity

Office of the Vice President

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Lucknow: In a shocking incident, three senior citizens were administered with anti-rabies vaccine rather than the COVID-19 vaccine in Uttar Pradeshs Shamli.

Due to the negligence of the health department, three old women of the district, who went to the health center to get vaccinated against COVID-19, were given shots of anti-rabies vaccine.

The incident took place at Kandhla Community Health Center in Shamli on Thursday (April 8).

The negligence on the part of the department came out after one of the women became sick and her condition worsened. It was also noted that the health workers in the facility were unable to understand the difference between the COVID-19 and rabies vaccines,

The three old women are identified as Saroj (70 years old), Anarkali (72 years old) and Satyavati (60 years old). The family of the patients alleged that the health center had sent the women outside for purchasing empty syringes of Rs10 each and sent them home after administering them with anti-rabies vaccine rather than COVID-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, Saroj's condition worsened and she started getting dizzy. Family members hurriedly took her to the private doctor nearby, who then revealed that the women were given anti-rabies vaccination in place of COVID-19.

The DM Jasjit Singh said, "A case of Kandhla CHC has come to light, in which assistant CMO and CMO have been appointed to look into the incident. They will take the statement of the complainant, which includes the patients and their families."

The DM further promised the agitated locals of the area that strict actions will be taken against the once found guilty.

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( ), a mobile gaming content developer and licensor, said it has been awarded an interactive gaming manufacturer licence by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, marking the group's third US state licence.

The licence will allow Gaming Realms to provide its Slingo Originals game content to licenced online casino operators in the state. Pennsylvania has a population of around 13 million people and is the fifth most populous state in the country.

"We are delighted to have been granted our licence in Pennsylvania, where iGaming revenues grew by nearly 600% in 2020, said executive chairman Michael Buckley. "We are now licenced in the three largest states for iGaming, and look forward to more states regulating in the future.

We have signed a number of multi-state deals and direct integration agreements with some of the largest operators in the US, giving an excellent opportunity to capitalise on the expansion of the exciting US iGaming market."
Burma Kachin State Land Confiscated by Myanmar Military Crony Taken Back by Local Farmers

Local residents stage a protest against Yuzana Co on April 7. / Kachinnews

Local residents in Kachin States Hukawng Valley have reportedly taken back land which a crony close to Myanmars military confiscated from them some 15 years ago.

Yuzana Co, founded by Htay Myint, a businessman linked to the former junta that ruled Myanmar from 1992-2011, confiscated some 200,000 acres of land in the Hukawng Valley, Hpakant Township, in 2006 and has since grown cassava there commercially. In total, Yuzana Co has confiscated over 300,000 acres of land in the area, including land in Tanai Township.

Locals from nine villages have taken back their own land as of Wednesday and have started farming on that land. The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) said Yuzana Co was dissolved on April 7. We have taken back our land as the company no longer exists, said U Aung Latt, leader of the farmers in Hukawng Valley, which is known as the worlds largest tiger reserve.

Yuzana Co also operates a plant in Wara Zup Village by the Ledo Road in Hpakant Township. The plant produces tapioca starch and sugar. Plant employees reportedly do not get along with local residents and are alleged to have beaten them over land disputes.

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the armed wing of the KIO, carried out an attack on the plant on April 1. The ethnic armed group ordered Yuzana Co to leave Hpakant by April 7.

We demanded, through various channels, appropriate compensation for our land both under military rule and under two elected governments. They didnt give back our land. As the KIO has ordered the Yuzana Co to leave by April 7, we local people have now got back the confiscated lands, said U Aung Latt.

On Wednesday, local people staged a protest in support of the KIAs move against Yuzana Co. Protesters called on Yuzana Co to leave Hukawng once and for all, holding placards reading No Dictatorship, Kachin farmers support CDM (civil disobedience movement), We want farmland rights, Yuzana Co! Get out of our land.

KIA information officer Colonel Naw Bu confirmed the KIAs April 1 attack on Yunaza Co, but said he has no knowledge about locals taking back their land. The KIA attacked the Yuzana Cos plant because it suspects that Myanmars military has been using the factory compound to store food supplies and ammunition for its troops, said Col. Naw Bu.

Col. Naw Bu said he also could not confirm whether KIA troops had ordered Yuzana Co to leave the Hukawng Valley.

Yuzana Co has filed a complaint against U Aung Latt and two others with the police in Hpakant. The three have gone into hiding. The Irrawaddy was unable to contact either local police or Yuzana Co for a comment.

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On April 30, 2021, the general meeting of shareholders of Public limited liability company Novaturas, code 135567698, registered at A. Mickeviciaus str. 27, Kaunas, the Republic of Lithuania (the Company), is being convened (the Meeting) upon the initiative and decision of the board of the Company.

The place of the Meeting  premises of Vilnius branch of Public limited liability company Novaturas, address: J. Jasinskio str. 16, Vilnius, the Republic of Lithuania. The Meeting commences at 12 a.m. (registration starts at 11.00 a.m. and ends at 11.45 a.m.).

Please note that on the day of publication of this announcement, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a quarantine has been announced in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania by the Government (the Quarantine), which includes a ban on organizing all events and gatherings in open and closed spaces. Quarantine is currently set until April 30, 2021, 12:00 p.m. (midnight). In the event that Quarantine and the aforementioned restrictions on organizing events and gatherings will still be in force, shareholders and their representatives will not be given the opportunity to come and participate in the Meeting in person. In this case, shareholders and their representatives will be given the opportunity to participate and vote at the Meeting in the way allowed by law and permitted in such circumstances  to vote in advance in writing by filling in the general ballot paper and submitting it to the Company prior to the day of the Meeting at Vilnius branch, address J. Jasinskio str. 16, Vilnius, the Republic of Lithuania.

The Meetings accounting day  April 23, 2021. Only persons who are shareholders of the Company at the end of accounting day of the general meeting of shareholders or persons authorized by them, or persons with whom shareholders concluded the agreements on the transfer of voting rights, shall have the right to attend and vote at the Meeting.

The Board of the Company initiates and convenes the Meeting, which on 7 April 2021 has approved the following agenda of the Meeting:

Approval of the audited annual financial statements and the Annual Report of 2020 (will be published not later than April 20).

Draft decision proposed:

To approve the audited annual financial statements and the Annual Report of 2020.

Election of the auditor of the Company.

Draft decision proposed:

To approve the election of the audit company Deloitte Lietuva, UAB (the Auditor) to audit the Companys financial statements for the years 2021 and 2022. To approve the payment terms for Auditors services by establishing that the remuneration for audit of the Companys annual financial statements per year shall not exceed EUR 86,000 (excluding VAT). On the initiative of the Board the auditor of the Company for year 2022 may be re-elected by the Meeting approving the same or electing other audit company.

The general director of the Company is hereby authorised to execute on behalf of the Company the audit services agreement with the Auditor, as well as to determine other terms and conditions of its services, which are not established in this shareholders resolution.

The total number of the Companys shares with the nominal value of EUR 0.03 each and the number of shares granting voting rights during the general meeting of shareholders is the same and amounts to 7,807,000.

ISIN code of the Companys shares  LT0000131872.

A person attending the general meeting of shareholders and having a right to vote must provide a persons identification document. A person who is not a shareholder must additionally provide a document confirming his/her/its right to vote at the general meeting of shareholders.

Each shareholder shall have a right in the manner established by the laws to authorise other (natural or legal) person to attend and vote at the general meeting of shareholders on his/her/its behalf. At the general meeting of shareholders an authorised person shall have the same rights as would be held by the shareholder represented by him/her/it unless the authorized persons rights are limited by the power of attorney or by laws. The authorized person must provide a power of attorney certified in the manner established by laws. A power of attorney issued in a foreign state must be translated into Lithuanian and legalised in the manner established by laws.

The Company does not establish a special form of power of attorney.

Shareholder shall have the right to authorize through electronic communication channels another person (natural or legal) to participate and vote in the meeting on shareholders behalf. Such authorization may not be approved by the notary public. The power of attorney issued through electronic communication channels must be confirmed by the shareholder with a safe electronic signature developed by safe signature equipment and approved by a qualified certificate effective in the Republic of Lithuania. The shareholder must inform the Company on the power of attorney issued through electronic communication channels via e-mail tomas.staskunas@novaturas.lt not later than until 12.00 a.m. (noon) of the last business day before the meeting. The power of attorney and notification must be in writing. The power of attorney and notification to the Company must be signed with the electronic signature but not the letter sent via e-mail. By submitting the notification to the Company, the shareholder must include the internet address from which it would be possible to download free of charge software to verify an electronic signature of the shareholder.

A shareholder or a person authorised by him/her/it shall have a right to vote in writing in advance by filling in the general ballot paper. Upon shareholders request, the Company, not later than 10 days before the general meeting, shall send the general ballot paper by registered mail free of charge. The general ballot paper is also provided on the Companys website at www.novaturasgroup.com on the menu item For investors. The filled-in general ballot paper and the document confirming the voting right (if any) must be submitted to the Company via registered mail or providing them against signature at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice and received by the Company not later than on the last business day prior to the meeting.

The Company is not providing the possibility to attend and vote at the meeting through electronic means of communication.

The shareholders holding shares that grant at least 1/20 of all votes shall have the right to propose to supplement the agenda. Draft decisions on the proposed agenda items must be submitted together with the proposal or, if the decisions do not need to be adopted, explanations on each proposed item of agenda of the general meeting of shareholders must be presented. Proposal to supplement the agenda must be presented to the Company via registered mail or by providing it against signature at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice. The agenda will be supplemented if the proposal is received not later than 14 days before the general meeting of shareholders.

Each shareholder holding shares that grant at least 1/20 of all votes at any time before the general meeting of shareholders or during the meeting shall have the right to propose draft resolutions on the issues already included or to be included in the agenda of the Meeting, as well propose additional candidates to the members of the supervisory council of the Company (if elected). The proposed draft decisions must be presented to the Company in writing via registered mail or by providing them against signature at the address of the Company indicated in the notice.

The shareholders shall have the right to present to the Company in advance and in writing questions related to the agenda of the Meeting, by providing the shareholders personal identification number and consent to process personal data  personal identification number in the letter which should be sent to the Company via registered mail or delivered against signature. The Company undertakes to respond if the questions are received not later than 3 business days prior to the general meeting of shareholders. Responses of a general character shall be posted on the Companys website www.novaturasgroup.com on the menu item For investors. The Company will not respond personally to the shareholder if the respective information is posted on the Companys website.

By arriving at public limited liability company Novaturas, address at A. Mickeviciaus str. 27, Kaunas, or by visiting the Companys website at www.novaturasgroup.com on the menu item For investors, the shareholders may get familiarised with the documents possessed by the Company related to the agenda of the Meeting, including notice on convocation of the Meeting, information about the total number of the Companys shares and the number of shares granting voting rights during the general meeting of shareholders, draft resolutions and other documents being submitted to the general meeting of shareholders, as well as to obtain information regarding exercise of the shareholders rights.

Attached:

General voting ballot.

Contacts:

Tomas Staskunas

CFO
Kia has officially released the seven-seater Kia Sonet SUV in Indonesia today. Indonesia is the first country in the world to get the three-row variant of the Sonet SUV. Kia is also likely to drive in this model in other Asian markets soon.

Compared to the five-seater Kia Sonet SUV, which is also available in India, the seven-seater Sonet does not have too many differences, barring an added row of seats at the back for two adult passengers.
The Biden administration has joined British, Irish and Northern Irish leaders in calling for calm after Protestant and Catholic youths in Belfast hurled bricks, fireworks and gasoline bombs at police and each other.

It was the worst mayhem in a week of street violence in the region, where Britains exit from the European Union has unsettled an uneasy political balance.

"We are deeply concerned by the violence in Northern Ireland," said State Department Spokesman Ned Price.

"We remain, as you have heard us say before, steadfast supporters of a secure and prosperous Northern Ireland in which all communities have a voice and all communities enjoy the gains of a hard-won peace," Price told reporters.

Britains split from the EU has highlighted the contested status of Northern Ireland, where some people identify as British and want to stay part of the U.K., while others see themselves as Irish and seek unity with the neighboring Republic of Ireland, an EU member.

Unrest has erupted over the past week - largely in loyalist, Protestant areas - amid rising tensions over post-Brexit trade rules and worsening relations between the parties in the Protestant-Catholic power-sharing Belfast government.

The Biden administration also announced an additional $152 million in humanitarian assistance to aid people in Ethiopia's Tigray region.

Ethiopia's government faces intense pressure to end the Tigray war, which started in November when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed deployed troops to the region following an attack on federal military facilities.

The region's fugitive leaders do not recognize Abiy's authority after a national election was postponed last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The United States has characterized some abuses in Tigray as ethnic cleansing, charges dismissed by Ethiopian authorities as unfounded.

"This new assistance will provide lifesaving food, water, medical and health support, shelter and protection for the most vulnerable," Price said.

The State Department says the U.S. has provided a total of $305 million since the crisis began.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Lee Fogle reached down to save his 12-lb. Yorkshire terrier Nemo as a pit bull lunged forward. The attacking dogs jaws clamped onto his left hand, sending him to a clinic for sutures and starting a 10-month-long insurance battle.

It seems in dog park etiquette, the winning dog has to provide insurance or payments to the losing dog, Fogle said.

Fogle had worked 27 years in insurance technology, so he had a pretty good idea how much his claim was worth. But he was frustrated by the glacial pace of the process, the claims adjusters refusal to return telephone calls and his attorneys 40% cut from the $15,000 settlement.

There had to be a better way.

About two years after the dog park incident, Fogle founded Injury Claims Express, a company that makes software that uses data to estimate the value of a potential plaintiffs claim. He said his patented system offers a solution to people who seek compensation from insurers for minor injuries and would rather notor cannothire an attorney.

Fogle is not the only entrepreneur who is bringing applied analytics to the people. Justpoint, a company launched by healthcare technologist Victor Bornstein, allows victims of medical mistakes to document the particulars of their injury and find an attorney with matching qualifications and experience.

The two entrepreneurs are turning the tables on the insurance industry by employing data analytics as a means of pricing claims  but for the claimant. Both men say their products will also benefit insurers by managing expectations of potential plaintiffs who sometimes make overly optimistic assumptions about what their claims are worth.

Every Joe out there on the street thinks they won the lottery, Fogle said. They have an unmanaged expectation.

Injury Claims Express is Fogles second go at launching a data analytics product in the claims space. In 2001, he founded Claims Outcome Advisor, which produces software that estimates the value of bodily injury claims. Fogle said his company created the Book of Quantum for the Republic of Ireland. The document offers guidelines to determine appropriate compensation to plaintiffs with bodily injury claims. He sold the company to Verisk shortly after its launch.

Fogle said consumers who use ICE must agree to pay his company 3% of any settlement amount up to a maximum of $500  far less than the typical attorney contingency fee. He said the app allows potential claimants to attach medical bills and other relevant documents and stores the information in a file that can be accessed by the claims adjuster assigned to the claim.

Users can negotiate with the claims adjuster directly using the app. But even if the adjuster refuses to accept an invitation to log onto ICE, the system is useful because it allows claimants to document their claims, estimate the value and keep records of relevant medical bills, Fogle said.

The app even notifies the carrier of early settlement opportunities, such as when the claimant reaches maximum medical improvement. ICE also suggests reasonable settlement amounts based on the nature of the injury and the degree of disability or disfigurement. Medical providers can also enter data into the system.

Fogle said about 3 million people are injured in accidents in the U.S. each year. About 50% of them hire an attorney, even though 96% of those injuries are not severe. He said claimants who make unreasonable demands delay settlement by persuading the insurer to dig its heels in.

With ICE, claimants can ask for a settlement that reflects what insurers have paid to persons who suffered similar injuries.

The PDF we create for the claimant is basically your demand letter, he said.

A personal experience also influenced Victor Bornsteins decision to launch Justpoint, the app that helps malpractice victims find a lawyer to represent them. Bornstein said his own mother was injured because of a medical error when he was a boy growing up in Brazil. Although was only 7 at the time, Bornstein said he still remembers that his mother was in a coma for two weeks and nearly died because of the error.

Bornstein said Justpoints customers are at the lowest point in their life. He said the app can help them by aligning their expectations with reality.

Justpoint gives consumers an estimate as to what their malpractice claim is worth. The app also taps in a database of information about 900 plaintiff law firms to find professionals with a record of success and relevant experience, Bornstein said.

Bornstein said often people who are injured by a medical error are unable to find an attorney because the perceived value of the claim is too low. In some states, for example, health providers cannot be held liable for non-economic damages. Oftentimes, the statute of limitations has passed.

We are going to tell them the truth, regardless of whether they have a claim or not, he said.

Bornstein said he first marketed the proposed technology to insurers. He said his system can be of great help claims professionals by informing them aboutpotential damages. He said the inefficiency of the professional liability line is frightening.

Most of the money is being spent is not on the claims, he said. In malpractice, most of the cost is in claims processing and underwriting.

Harry Langenberg, founder of Optima Tax Relief, and Vivek Garipalli, founder of Clover Health, were among investors who provided $1 million in seed funding to Justpoint last fall.

But Bornstein has changed strategy since then because he found insurers moved too slowly. In a second funding round now underway, hes seeking investors in the litigation-funding space.

Justpoint is still in the pre-revenue stage, but Bornstein said he intends to negotiate finder fees with the attorneys who take referrals from the system.

Bornstein said health care providers can also benefit from his app. The company has learned a great deal about medical mistakes, he said. He said his research discovered two claims against the same doctor at the same hospital who made the same error both times. He also found two allegations of sexual abuse against minors by the same staffer at a Florida hospital.

My goal is to work with hospitals to prevent these incidents from happening, he said.

Martin Ellingsworth, an analyst for Celent, said the services being offered by Injury Claims Express and Justpoint seem like a natural next step in the evolution of applied analytics. He said jury verdict research has been around about as long as court proceedings have been published.

When you have a number that needs to be generated, there are frequently two sides  often three or four  with an opinion about what the number should be.

Ellingsworth said analytics can provide value to consumers as well as insurers. Advanced analytics isnt just for e-discovery and forensic audit, it can help consumers understand the value of their claim so they can make informed decisions, he said.

Data also creates opportunities. Years ago, Ellingsworth wrote a program that analyzes unstructured data held in written narratives within claim files to find subrogation possibilities. The same program can be extended to detect potential fraud.

Ellingsworth said Paradigm Outcomes business was built on data: The firm has a deep understanding of what it costs to treat people with catastrophic injuries, so it can accept a flat fee from workers compensation insurers to take over the care of seriously injured workers, speeding recovering by dispatching swarms of specialists.

Similarly, Ellingsworth said installing video cameras in commercial trucks can help insurers avoid the cost of litigating a claim that should be quickly settled, or showing that the truck driver was not at fault.

Thats good for everybody, he said. It reduces the expense of arguing, for example. I dont see a downside to having the facts because it takes all the expense out of it.

Topics Carriers InsurTech Startups
Video of the pre-dawn attack included the sounds of gunfire and grenade explosions. Social media posts said rocket-propelled grenades were fired. A young man who lives in Kalay and escaped arrest told VOA the security forces fired at least 20 rocket-propelled grenades to destroy the barricades and fired bullets at the protesters.

One protest organizer told the service that troops tasked with removing barricades set up by the demonstrators opened fire indiscriminately. The protesters are demanding that Suu Kyi's civilian government be returned to power. The organizer said an undetermined number of protesters, some armed with homemade weapons, were arrested in the town known for fiercely resisting government forces.

The development comes a day after Myanmar security forces killed at least 11 civilians and wounded at least 10 others when they fired on government protesters in the northwestern town of Kalay, according to reports received by VOA's Burmese service.

In a statement read on his behalf Thursday in front of the building, Kyaw Zwar Minn said that embassy personnel were being "threatened with severe punishment" if they refused to work for diplomats loyal to the military government. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, in a tweet Thursday, condemned the "bullying actions of the Myanmar military regime," while paying tribute to Kyaw Zwar Minn for his courage.

Myanmar's ambassador to Britain has been locked out of his London office over his support for deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Kyaw Zwar Minn told reporters he was barred from entering the embassy Wednesday under orders from Myanmar's military junta.

Protesters in Kalay, who previously armed themselves with homemade hunting rifles and had established neighborhood strongholds, inflicted casualties on security forces during an earlier assault on the town and nearby villages on March 28, according to the Myanmar Now news service. The demonstrators, who have organized what they call the "Kalay Civil Army," inflicted more casualties on junta forces in the following days, the online news site reported.

The March 28 attack occurred one day after government troops killed more than 110 civilians throughout the Southeast Asian country, the highest one-day death toll since the February 1 military coup that ousted the democratically elected government.

Regular anti-government protests continued in other cities and towns Wednesday, including in Bago, northeast of Yangon, where a resident confirmed to VOA that government forces killed two men and injured five others. One person was killed in a protest crackdown in Monywa, the capital of the Sagaing region, and another was killed in the town of Nyaung Shwe in the southern Shan State, VOA confirmed. At least nine arrests were reported in the southern city of Dawae.

Nearly 600 civilians, including dozens of children, have been killed by government troops and police since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Of the 3,500 people who have been arrested, 2,750 are still detained, AAPP said.

The National League for Democracy, led by Suu Kyi, had governed Myanmar since its first open democratic election in 2015, but the military contested last November's election results, claiming widespread electoral fraud, largely without evidence. Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained in the coup. Martial law has been imposed in townships across Myanmar.

On April 1, the UN Security Council repeated its call for the immediate release of all detainees in Myanmar, including Suu Kyi and Win Myint, and an end to violence. In a statement, the council expressed its deep concern for the "rapidly deteriorating situation" in Myanmar and strongly condemned the use of lethal force by security forces and police against peaceful pro-democracy protesters and the deaths of hundreds of civilians, including women and children.

The council also called on the military "to exercise utmost restraint" and on all sides "to refrain from violence." The Security Council reiterated the need for full respect for human rights and the pursuit of "dialogue and reconciliation in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar."
The ambassador to the UK from Burma (also known as Myanmar) urged the British government not to recognize the juntas envoy and to send them back after he was locked out of the embassy by the representatives of the military.
MONTREAL, April 8, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - Responding to the call from Health and Social Services Minister Christian Dube, Montreal's aviation community will be contributing to the vaccination drive in Quebec for the next three months. ADM Aeroports de Montreal, Air Canada and Bombardier are joining forces to create the YUL vaccination hub.

Thanks to a partnership developed with professionals from Biron Health Group Inc., more than 50,000 people, including members of the aviation community, neighbouring companies and their immediate families, will be able to get vaccinated in the facilities that will make up this vaccination hub designated by the government of Quebec. This major mobilization effort will not only accelerate the pace of mass vaccination in Quebec, but also relieve pressure on the health system.

The three organizations will participate in the operation by providing two vaccination sites, medical and non-medical resources, and all required contributions to ensure efficient logistics.

At a glance:

Two vaccination sites: at YUL (clinic located on the departures level of the terminal building) and at the Bombardier hangar located at 1200 Percival-Reid Street, just off Cote-Vertu Boulevard West;

Appointments by reservation only;

The YUL vaccination hub will be open starting in May 2021 .

Quotes

"ADM Aeroports de Montreal and its employees are extremely proud to be contributing to this company initiative. We have agreed to take on the significant logistical challenge of deploying the YUL vaccination hub in collaboration with our valued and dedicated partners in the airport community because we believe in the importance of this mass vaccination campaign as a step towards a 'new normal'. This is a key factor in the safe resumption of travel and the entire industry is looking forward to it. We can't wait to welcome and serve our passengers from across Quebec again," said Philippe Rainville, President and CEO of ADM Aeroports de Montreal.

"As one of the largest private sector employers in Quebec, it goes without saying that we are actively participating with our partners in this large-scale vaccination operation in the workplace," said Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources and Public Affairs Officer at Air Canada. "Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been working with various partners in the medical community to enhance biosafety across our operations. In particular, we have been at the forefront of advocating for the use of rapid screening tests. Contributing to this collective effort by playing a key role will not only ensure the health and safety of our employees, but will also contribute to the reopening of the economy and the recovery of our industry."

"Bombardier is a proud partner in the national roll-out strategy for this important vaccination campaign. Our employees' health and safety has always been a priority at Bombardier, and certainly a primary focus during the pandemic. Our employees have always developed efficient work practices and innovative products, which have enabled Montreal to be one of the few cities where the world's best business aircraft are not only delivered but built from tip to tail. Putting our expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and ingenuity to work for public health and the economic recovery is extremely important to us," said Eric Martel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bombardier.

"The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, which causes COVID-19, is an unprecedented event, one that has disrupted all our lives, disoriented us and put people's health at risk. In such a situation, it is more important than ever to stand together. I am therefore very proud to have the opportunity to put the Biron Health Group team and its expertise to work. According to experts, vaccination is key to fighting the pandemic and allowing us to return to normalcy. By participating in the company vaccination campaign, we are demonstrating our commitment to promote the steps taken by public health authorities and we are giving our support to the community," said Genevieve Biron, President and Chief Executive Officer of Biron Health Group.

About Aeroports de Montreal

ADM Aeroports de Montreal is the airport authority for the Greater Montreal area responsible for themanagement, operation and development of YUL Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, certified 4-stars under the Skytrax World Airport Star Rating program, and YMX International Aerocity of Mirabel.

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline, and in 2020 was among the top 20 largest airlines in the world. It is Canada's flag carrier and a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax. In 2020, Air Canada was named Global Traveler's Best Airline in North America for the second straight year. In January 2021, Air Canada received APEX's Diamond Status Certification for the Air Canada CleanCare+ biosafety program for managing COVID-19, the only airline in Canada to attain the highest APEX ranking. Air Canada has also committed to a net zero emissions goal from all global operations by 2050. For more information, please visit: aircanada.com/media, follow Air Canada on Twitter and LinkedIn, and join Air Canada on Facebook.

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.

About Biron Groupe Sante inc.

Founded in 1952, Biron is today a Quebec leader in the health sector. Having first built its reputation through its medical laboratory expertise, it is recognized for the quality of its services, its exemplary execution and its speed of access. Over the years, Biron has diversified its service offering in medical imaging, sleep disorders, genetics and occupational health while maintaining the same level of excellence. Throughout its growth, Biron has remained a company with a human dimension that takes its role in the community to heart. Today, the company has close to 800 employees who operate more than 100 points of service in most regions of Quebec. Its team of experts and dedicated professionals is increasing efforts every day to offer each client medical expertise through a process that is simple, fast and efficient. Biron Health Group is accredited by Accreditation Canada and holds an operating permit from the LSPQ. For more information on the company: biron.com. Follow Biron Health Group on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE Aeroports de Montreal

For further information: ADM Aeroports de Montreal, Public Affairs, 514 394-7304 / [email protected]; Air Canada, Contacts: [email protected], Internet: aircanada.com/media; Bombardier, Mark Masluch, 514-855-7167 / [email protected]; Biron Groupe Sante, 514-777-3969 / [email protected]

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The AAPI community gathered on Sunday for a funeral honoring Daoyou Feng, a victim of the March shooting in Atlanta, who didnt have any close friends or family in the U.S.







Dr. Charles Li, a founder of the Atlanta Chinese American Alliance (ACAA) which organized the funeral via a GoFundMe campaign, said that around 100 mourners attended the service.



Some came as far from Alabama and Washington, D.C. to pay their respects, he added, according to ABC.



"It was a great feeling seeing this great show of support from people not only from the Chinese American community in Atlanta but also our friends from the Korean American community, who are mourning the loss of their own, too, he said.



Feng, a 44-year-old Chinese national, was one of six Asian women killed in the shooting last month. Eight people were killed in total.



Her family in China, however, reportedly had no clue about her death until they noticed that she hadnt been sending them messages. They only found out after contacting the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C., who then contacted the ACAA.



In preparation for the funeral, Li spent two weeks with Fengs brother in China and learned that Feng moved to the U.S. in 1999 to better provide for her family.







Her parents were poor farmers who never went to school. She had two brothers and one sister, Li explained, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. When she was 8 years old, her father died of an illness. She dropped out of school in third grade. She had to stay home and help her mother.



She left without a word, leaving behind a letter because she knew her family wouldnt let her go.



Her family said Feng traveled a lot when she was in America, going to New York City and Los Angeles to find work, mostly at cosmetic salons and massage places She would send money every two, three months to her mother, Li added.







He said that ultimately, Fengs dream was to be able to go back to China and open up her own beauty salon. She was ready to make the trip last year until the COVID-19 pandemic halted her plans.



Forced to stay in the U.S., she found work in Atlanta. She kept in touch with her family every day until her last.



When asked by the family why this happened, Li was unable to find the right words.



I cant come up with an answer so I just told them she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he said.



Though none claimed to know her, about a dozen people spoke up at her service.





As survivors, we need to unite with all Asian Americans. We need to unite with all people of color here and all other Americans, said attendee Yawei Liu. We need to unite. We need to make our country better.



Featured Image courtesy of the family of Daoyou Feng

Story continues

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Photo: (Photo : Lucy Wolski / Unsplash)

As of date, both Moderna and Pfizer are testing their vaccines on infants as young as six months. But before the vaccine can make it to infants, breastfeeding vaccinated moms have already thought of ways to boost the immunity of other infants, potentially saving them from the risk of the pandemic with COVID-19 antibodies through their breastmilk. Studies have shown this can be life-saving.

Small Study as Basis for COVID-19 Antibodies

Recent studies suggest COVID-19 antibodies may be passed on from mother to infant during breastfeeding, CTVNews reported. Previously, research had also determined that infants carried antibodies when their mother was infected with COVID-19. The latest data looks into passing those antibodies to other infants through the breastmilk of vaccinated mothers.

A study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in March looked into the possibility of passing antibodies through breastmilk. The researchers tracked five women vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. Over three months, the researchers studied how long the antibodies would remain present in their breastmilk after being vaccinated. This was the first study to show the persistence of COVID-19 antibodies in breastmilk months after the nursing mom is vaccinated.

ALSO READ: COVID Positive Mom Gives Birth to Baby with Antibodies

COVID-19 Antibodies found in Breastmilk of Vaccinated Moms

The breastmilk samples were taken and studied at different stages. The study revealed that protective COVID-19 antibodies continued to be present in breast milk even after 80 days of vaccination, NYTimes reported.

Further, Jeanie Kelly, co-author of the study and assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Washington University School of Medicine, noted a "huge boost in COVID-19 antibodies in breastmilk two weeks after receiving the first shot of the Pfizer vaccine." Moreover, there is a likelihood that the COVID-19 antibodies remain longer in the breastmilk. The protection is likely to extend longer as researchers noted high antibody levels when they ended the study.

ALSO READ: Pediatric Advice for Parents: Get COVID-19 Vaccine

Further Studies on Vaccinated Mothers and their Breastmilk

A non-peer-reviewed study on ten vaccinated mothers-either Pfizer or Moderna -found significant levels of a specific antibody, the IgG, in their breastmilk samples. Bridget Young, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center, noted that the study's early results further suggested that breastmilk from mothers who previously had the COVID-19 infection may also contain active antibodies. Hence, they may transfer the antibodies through their breastmilk without transferring the virus.

COVID-19 Vaccinated Moms Help Protect Babies

The researchers revealed new data indicating maternal vaccination might help protect babies during pregnancy and receive the breastmilk of vaccinated moms, Eurekalert noted. Co-author of the study, Kelly strongly recommends pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

ALSO READ: COVID Vaccine During Pregnancy Does Not Lead to Infertility, Says Doctors

Is it Safe to Give Babies the Breastmilk of Vaccinated Moms?

Have you ever been told to dump your breastmilk after getting vaccinated or waiting until your baby is older before getting vaccinated, especially if you are breastfeeding? Well, previously, lactating mothers have not been included in the vaccine trials. As such, researchers did not study the risks. With these recent studies, there came more understanding about vaccines and the transfer of antibodies through breastmilk.
China is reviving a sale of Dajia Insurance Group Co., the company that took over most of the operations of troubled Anbang Insurance Group Co., as the government seeks to turn the firm over to private investors, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Advisers are working on a sale of Dajia that could value the state-owned company at about $3 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. The Beijing-based insurer has drawn preliminary interest from bidders including other insurers and investment funds, and non-binding offers are set to be received as soon as this month, one of the people said.

This would be at least the second attempt to sell the business following an effort last year, Bloomberg News has reported. The divestment may be spread out across multiple transactions, the people said.

Deliberations are ongoing and theres no certainty the current process will lead to a deal, the people said. A representative for Dajia declined to comment. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Anbang became emblematic of the unbridled appetite for international trophy assets displayed by some of Chinas biggest conglomerates. Authorities seized control of Anbang in February 2018 and later sentenced former chairman Wu Xiaohui to 18 years in prison for fundraising fraud and embezzlement.

As part of Anbangs restructuring under state control, China created Dajia Insurance Group in 2019 to take over its main insurance operations. The new entity acquired the stakes of Anbang Life Insurance, Anbang Annuity Insurance and Anbang Asset Management, as well as some assets of Anbang Property & Casualty Insurance.

With assistance from Zhang Dingmin.

Photograph: Signage is displayed atop Anbang Financial Center Block A in Beijing, China. Photo credit: Giulia Marchi/Bloomberg.

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Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics China
[April 09, 2021] Jardine Schindler Launches "kNOw Touch Contactless Elevator Control Panel"

HONG KONG, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jardine Schindler Group (JSG) has proudly signed a licensing agreement with the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) for the "kNOw Touch  Contactless Elevator Control Panel" solution, to promote this local original innovation to the overseas markets as an effective hygienic solution for Schindler elevators. Easy and simple to install, kNOw Touch can be applied conveniently in different elevator models without the need to change the original button system or perform vast mechanical alterations, thereby ensuring swift retrofitting. By fitting a set of infrared distance sensors near the control panel and calibrating according to the distance and layout of the elevator buttons, the users can select the destination floor by pointing their fingers at close range without touching the panel. This is an effective means of minimising the risk of COVID-19 transmission through touching the elevator buttons. kNOw Touch was invented by HKPC mid-2020, with strong support from the Innovation and Technology Commission of the HKSAR Government as part of the public sector trial scheme - Special Call for Projects for the Prevention and Control of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Hong Kong (PSTS-COVID-19) funding. Since then, kNOw Touch has been awarded various accolades. This includes the highest achievement of Gold Medal with Congratulations of Jury at the prestigious "2021 Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions", a laurel to R&D achievements that contribute towards the community's anti-pandemic efforts. HKPC and Jardine Schindler have now partnered to promote the wider adoption of this technology, a testament to the two organizations' efforts to help the world combat the pandemic. Through Jardine Schindler's market leader position, kNOw Touch has already found its presence in mny locations across Hong Kong such as government departments, office buildings of public organisations, Hong Kong International Airport, shopping centres, municipal buildings, places of worship, private housing estates and private organisations, etc.



Jardine Schindler will continue to actively promote the adoption of kNOw Touch in the elevator facilities of different building types in Hong Kong as well as other regions with our strong presences, including Macau, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. They will also provide aftercare services such as installation and maintenance. Mr Elton Chan, Chief Executive Officer of Jardine Schindler Group said, "We are excited to be partnering with HKPC, and proud to have the opportunity to promote this local original innovation to the Southeast Asian markets."

Mr Mohamed Butt, Executive Director of HKPC, said, "We hope kNOw Touch will extend its reach beyond Hong Kong, and enable the technology to flourish further, create value for the community and promote the development of smart city." For more details about the technology, please click the following link: https://www.hkpc.org/en/our-services/smart-mobility/latest-information/touchless-lift-panel About Jardine Schindler Group Jardine Schindler Group (JSG) is a Joint Venture between Jardine Matheson in Hong Kong and Schindler Group of Switzerland, who between them bring over 300 years of experience in business management, regional specialization and engineering excellence. JSG is headquartered in Hong Kong and designs, engineers, installs, maintains and modernizes elevators, escalators and moving walkways in Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. JSG employs over 5,000 staff in a variety of specialist disciplines, ranging from engineering design to construction management. The business is split into two principle operating divisions: New Installations, focusing on new construction projects, and Existing Installations, providing maintenance and modernization services. On average, 100 million people throughout the Asia Pacific regions will be transported by equipment supplied and maintained by JSG on any given day. For more information, please visit Jardine Schindler Group's website: https://www.schindler.com/hk/internet/en/home.html Media Enquiry Jardine Schindler Group

Group Marketing & Digital Business

Tel: (+852) 2516 8168

Email: marketing.jsg.hk@schindler.com SOURCE Jardine Schindler Group

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The covid-19 pandemic has done nothing good for the mood of Park Ha-young, an undergraduate at Seoul National University. She spent much of last year worrying about the disease, and her chances of spreading it: I was terrified of becoming the person to cause a huge outbreak.

Her freedom has been drastically curtailed. The government determines whether she can see friends or attend classes, leaving her frustrated and unable to make plans. She is beginning to worry about finding a job after she graduates. Politicians and officials frequently talk about how covid-19 affects public health and the economy. But for most people those are abstract considerations. What they experience each day are moodsthe sense of being anxious and sad, or, if they are lucky, cheerful and optimistic.

To mark World Happiness Day on March 20th, researchers linked to the un Sustainable Development Solutions Network have tried to pin down these moods and examine how the pandemic has changed them.

Gallup, a pollster, asks the same questions in scores of countries. The most revealing one tells people to imagine a ladder, with steps numbered nought to ten. The top rung represents the best life you could have, the bottom rung represents the worst. What rung are you on now?

Peoples responses to that question, known as a Cantril ladder, suggest (rather surprisingly) that the world was about as happy in the teeth of an awful pandemic as it was before the coronavirus struck. The average score across 95 countries, not population-weighted, crept up insignificantly from 5.81 in 2017-19 to 5.85 in 2020. But the pattern of life satisfaction has changed. Covid-19 has made old people more cheerful. A few countries have had some of the happiness squeezed out of them; others have amassed more of it.

Covid-19 threatens the old far more than the young, with the risk of death after contracting the disease doubling for every eight years of life. Yet the old have cheered up. Globally, between 2017-19 and 2020 happiness was boosted by 0.22 points on the Cantril ladder among people over the age of 60. Celina Beatriz Gazeti dos Santos, a 64-year-old psychologist in Sao Paulo, ticks off a list of things that might dampen her moodthe pandemic, widespread corruption, a dislikeable government, others misery. Yet she proclaims herself increasingly happy and optimistic all the same.

In Britain, a country with excellent happiness data, everyone has slipped, but some more than others (see chart 1). There, and in other rich countries, the age profile of happiness before the pandemic struck was roughly U-shaped when plotted on a graph. People began their adult lives in a cheerful state. They became glummer in middle age. Then, after about the age of 50, they started to became happier again. If they made it to a very advanced age, however, they fell back into the doldrums.

Today the pattern is an upward slope. The young are less satisfied than the middle-aged, who are less satisfied than the old. That might be put down to Britains vaccination programme, which has targeted the old first. But the pattern has barely changed over the past year. Months before Britons became familiar with what some call the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca, something had shifted.

Video-conferencing software has enabled many old people to stay in touch with their familiessometimes better than before the pandemic. In countries that locked down, they have the pleasure of knowing that society made sacrifices to protect them. And as John Helliwell, an economist at the University of British Columbia who wrote part of the World Happiness Report points out, the old feel healthier. Globally, 36% of men over the age of 60 said they had a health problem last year, down from an average of 46% in the three years before. Among women, the share with health problems fell from 51% to 42%. Old people probably are not actually healthier. Rather, covid-19 has changed the yardstick. They feel healthier because they have dodged a disease that could kill them.

Meanwhile the young have had a rough year. Many lost their jobsin America the unemployment rate for people aged 20 to 24 shot up from 6.3% in February 2020 to 25.6% two months later (it fell back to 9.6% last month). In some rich countries young women have had a particularly hard time. They often work in sectors, such as hospitality, which have been shut down. When schools close, many are lumbered with more than their fair share of child care.

They also have busy social lives. Having lots of friends seems, counter-intuitively, to have made the pandemic harder. One study of Britain by Ben Etheridge and Lisa Spantig, both at the University of Essex, found that women with at least four close friends slumped more than anyone during the spring 2020 lockdown. People who are used to seeing lots of friends really sufferedand women and younger people have more friends, says Xiaowei Xu of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Some countries have fared better than others (see chart 2). Whereas Britons happiness slumped in 2020, Germany rose from being the 15th happiest country in the world to the seventh happiest. Britain has endured long lockdowns and an excess-death rate of 190 per 100,000 people since the start of the pandemic. Germanys excess-death rate is just 77 per 100,000. For most of last year Germany fought covid-19 much better than most of Europe, although it has gone on to fluff the vaccination endgameleading Bild, a tabloid newspaper, to declare in February: Liebe Briten, we beneiden you (dear Britain, we envy you).

Strikingly, the countries that were at the top of the happiness chart before the pandemic remain there. The three highest-ranking countries in 2020Finland, Iceland and Denmarkwere among the top four in 2017-19. All three have dealt well with covid-19, and have excess-death rates below 21 per 100,000. Iceland has a negative rate. It helps to be a remote island.

The most intriguing suggestion in the World Happiness Report is that some links between covid-19 and happiness operate in both directions. The authors do not suggest that happiness helps countries resist covid-19. Rather, they argue that one of the things that sustains national happiness also makes places better at dealing with pandemics. That thing is trust. Polls by Gallup show that many of the places that have coped best with covid-19, such as the Nordic countries and New Zealand, have widespread faith in institutions and strangers. Large majorities of their inhabitants believe that a neighbour would return a wallet if they found it.

Countries have failed to see off covid-19 for many obvious reasons. Some are poor; others are poorly led. They lack recent experience with diseases such as sars. They cannot police their borders. But Jeffrey Sachs, an economist at Columbia University, suggests another reason: politicians and officials in many rich European and American countries decided they could not ask too much of the public. A combination of individualism and less-than-solid institutional trust meant they felt unable to insist on quarantines or mask-wearing until the situation grew desperate.

People who dont need people

If that is right, it might help explain a broad regional change: the falling happiness of Latin America and the rising happiness of East Asia. Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico all became less happy in 2020; China, Japan and Taiwan became happier, although South Korea slipped a bit. It is as though Latin American countries had the wrong kind of happiness before 2020, says Mr Helliwella happiness sustained by peoples close social connections, not by high levels of social trust. A global poll in 2019 found that only 52% of people in Latin America and the Caribbean thought a neighbour would return a wallet; just 41% thought a cop would. That is the lowest share of any region.

The pervasive lack of trust made it harder for Latin American countries to tackle covid-19 in a comprehensive way. People can and do keep their distance from each other, but that is emotionally tough in countries where people are normally so sociable. Mexicans have been deprived of their leisurely Friday lunches and Sunday family gatherings (though some carry on anyway). The pandemic has changed a lot, laments Edmilson de Souza Santos, a builder in Barueri, a Sao Paulo suburb. You have to stop living your life.

There remains a big national puzzle. America responded poorly to covid-19 and has suffered more than 500,000 excess deaths. Yet the Gallup poll detects a slight rise in Americans happiness level in 2020. A panel survey by the University of Southern California shows that mental stress and anxiety shot up in America last March and April, but then subsided. Two subsequent waves of infection and death appeared not to disturb them further.

Many American states have had rather lackadaisical lockdowns, at least for adultsfor schoolchildren restrictions can seem unbending. That could have kept peoples spirits up. Abi Adams-Prassl of Oxford University and other researchers found that the first wave of lockdowns, last spring, lowered womens moods. It could also be that extreme partisanship helps. Many Americans have spent the past year in an alternate information universe in which covid-19 is just like flu. It is hard to get too worked up about fake news.

: economist.com
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 21:14:33|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian military commander said that Israel and the United States are suspected to be behind the recent attack on an Iranian ship in the Red Sea, Press TV reported on Friday.

Iran will "definitely" respond to the attack on the country's ship in the Red Sea, said Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesman of the Iranian Armed Forces.

"We need to ascertain the source of the incident. If we uncover the source of the attack on the ship, we will definitely respond. We will never be silent," Shekarchi was quoted as saying.

"Washington is undoubtedly involved in any attempt to undermine and harm the Islamic Republic," he added.

On Wednesday, Iran confirmed an explosion in the country's commercial ship Saviz in the Red Sea. Enditem
Director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights on the Passing of Elbert Hatchett

Director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights on the Passing of Elbert Hatchett

Vicki Levengood levengoodv@michigan.gov

April 9, 2021

LANSING, MI - James E. White, Director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, has issued the following statement on the passing of Atty. Elbert Hatchett.

"With the passing of Attorney Elbert Hatchett, Pontiac has lost one of its most prominent citizens and Michigan has lost an exceptional legal mind and civil rights icon. Atty. Hatchett was known for his oratory and legal prowess and, most significantly, for his successful, decade-long battle against segregation in Pontiac schools. He was far ahead of his time, recognizing that the fight for civil rights would never fully succeed until we overcome inequities in educational opportunity. His passion and commitment to the people of Pontiac and the state of Michigan will be sorely missed."

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission was created by the Michigan Constitution to safeguard constitutional and legal guarantees against discrimination. The Commission is charged with investigating alleged discrimination against any person because of religion, race, color or national origin, genetic information, sex, age, marital status, height, weight, arrest record, and physical and mental disability. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights serves as the operational arm of the Commission.

###
Johnson & Johnson Shots to Stay Scarce in U.S. Until Plant Is Approved, White House Official Says Johnson & Johnson will allocate 86 percent fewer doses across the United States next week than are currently being allocated, according to C.D.C. data. Around 15 million doses at a Baltimore factory had been contaminated, delaying the plants authorization.

A White House official warned that Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccines will be scarce until a troubled plant gains regulatory approval. Johnson & Johnson vaccines were given at a community college in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Credit... Richard Vogel/Associated Press Supplies of Johnson & Johnsons one-dose coronavirus vaccine will be extremely limited until federal regulators approve production at a Baltimore manufacturing plant with a pattern of quality-control lapses, the White Houses pandemic response coordinator said on Friday. With allocations of the companys vaccine set to plunge by 86 percent next week, governors across the country warned that the loss of supplies they had been counting on would set back their vaccination drives. Federal officials said Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, the other two federally authorized vaccine manufacturers, could make up some of the shortfall. They also pointed out that some states were not currently using all the vaccine allocated to them. But increases from Moderna and Pfizer will not make up for the plunge in Johnson & Johnson supply. California will receive 400,000 fewer overall doses next week than this week, a drop of 15 percent, even with slight increases from Pfizer and Moderna. That will be followed by another 5 percent decrease the next week, state officials said on Friday. Officials in a broad band of states said the sudden drop in Johnson & Johnson supply would significantly slow inoculation efforts. The last thing we wanted to hear about was were getting less vaccines, Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican, told reporters Friday. We were hoping to ramp up as theyve been promising. In a statement, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, a Democrat, said, We will not be able to get as many shots into New Yorkers arms as we would like. He added, As has been the case since the beginning of our vaccination effort, the X factor is supply, supply, supply. Some state health officials had hoped to use Johnson & Johnsons one-shot, easily stored vaccine to target college students and other transient groups. Others were offering it at mass vaccination sites or directing it to rural areas. Instead, shipment of doses of Johnson & Johnson next week will drop severely in states: California will fall from 572,700 to 67,600 doses, Texas from 392,100 to 46,300, Florida from 313,200 to 37,000 and Virginia from 253,400 to 27,900. In Virginia, which will broaden vaccine eligibility to its entire adult population in nine days, the effect will be huge, Dr. Danny Avula, the state vaccine coordinator, said. He said that officials would have to warn people that even though they would be eligible to sign up for shots, appointments could be hard to come by. Johnson & Johnson was a latecomer to winning federal authorization for emergency use, after Pfizer and Moderna. But as recently as late February, federal officials were projecting weekly deliveries of more than four million doses of the companys vaccine in April, a significant increase to the nations vaccine stock. Only a quarter of those doses, at best, are now expected this month  all from the Netherlands  while federal regulators comb through the Baltimore factory that was supposed to take over for the Dutch plants. The falloff comes as new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus are sending infection rates soaring in some parts of the country. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said on Friday that she had urged Mr. Biden to surge vaccines into her state, where an outbreak, the worst in the nation, has filled hospitals and forced some schools to close. But the White House is reluctant to change the allocation formula for states, which doles out doses equally based on population. Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said on Friday that the administration did not plan to shift additional vaccine doses to hard-hit states like Michigan. At this point thats not being deployed, but I am not giving up, Ms. Whitmer said, describing a call Thursday evening with the president. Today its Michigan and the Midwest. Tomorrow it could be another section of our country. The drop-off in Johnson & Johnson doses is directly tied to quality-control issues at the 112,000-square foot plant in southeast Baltimore, run by Emergent BioSolutions, a subcontractor to Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson discovered last month that Emergent workers had contaminated a batch of vaccine and was forced to discard the equivalent of 13 million to 15 million doses. Mitch Smith and Julie Bosman contributed reporting. Noah Weiland, Sharon LaFraniere and

Michigans governor, confronting a surge in virus cases, calls on Biden for more vaccines. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:07 - 0:00 transcript Michigans Governor Urges Caution as Virus Cases Surge Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan called on residents of the state to exercise caution and practice upholding social distancing measures as coronavirus cases across the state spread. Anyone who looks at a Covid map knows Michigan is unquestionably a national hotspot, right now. My team and I have been in regular conversation with the national Covid response team, and we have asked for more vaccines. But as we take a hard look at the data and observe the spread of the variants, we all need to go above and beyond the rules we already have in place. We all have to step up our game for the next two weeks to bring down rising cases. And thats why Im calling on high schools to voluntarily go remote for two weeks past spring break. Calling on youth sports to voluntarily suspend games and practices for two weeks. And Im strongly encouraging all Michiganders to avoid dining indoors and avoid gathering with friends indoors for two weeks. This is my ask to you, the people of Michigan. Please redouble your efforts on these fronts for the next couple of weeks. I know Michiganders are concerned about the latest rise in cases, and I am too. Weve come so far, weve sacrificed so much. This has changed every aspect of our lives for over a year. We cant let up now, not when were so close. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan called on residents of the state to exercise caution and practice upholding social distancing measures as coronavirus cases across the state spread. Credit Credit... Jake May/The Flint Journal, via Associated Press Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan said Friday that she had urged President Biden to surge Covid-19 vaccines into her state, where a worst-in-the-nation outbreak has filled hospitals and forced some schools to close. I made the case for a surge strategy. At this point thats not being deployed, but I am not giving up, Ms. Whitmer said, describing a Thursday evening call with the president. Today its Michigan and the Midwest. Tomorrow it could be another section of our country. Ms. Whitmer, a Democrat whom the president considered as a potential running mate, took pains to praise aspects of Mr. Bidens coronavirus response at a Friday news conference. But Ms. Whitmer said a rapid influx of shots, particularly the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, was essential to tamping down case numbers even as she resisted additional restrictions on gatherings and businesses. Supplies of Johnson & Johnsons one-dose coronavirus vaccine will be extremely limited until federal regulators approve production at a Baltimore manufacturing plant under scrutiny, the White Houses pandemic response coordinator said Friday. The company will send 86 percent fewer doses across the United States next week than are currently being allocated, according to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dealing a setback to a national vaccination campaign that has just found its footing. Michigan is slated to get another 17,500 Johnson & Johnson doses next week, an 88 percent drop compared to the nearly 148,000 doses it was allocated this week, according to C.D.C. data. The Biden administration does have a strategy and by in large it is working, Ms. Whitmer said. As should be expected, though, in an undertaking of this magnitude, there are shortcomings and different points of view. About 75 percent of vaccine doses sent to Michigan have been administered, according to federal data, near the middle of the pack nationally. Jeff Zients, the White House Covid coordinator, said at a news briefing on Friday that the administration does not plan to shift additional vaccine doses to hard-hit states like Michigan. There are tens of millions of people across the country in each and every state and county who have not yet been vaccinated, and the fair and equitable way to distribute the vaccine is based on the adult population by state, tribe and territory, he said. Thats how its been done, and we will continue to do so. The virus is unpredictable. We dont know where the next increase in cases could occur. Ms. Whitmer elevated her national profile last year by taking a tough, unapologetic approach to restrictions despite pushback from the Republicans who control the states Legislature. But as cases have risen again this year, she has taken a dramatically different tack. On Friday, she asked for high schools to voluntarily move classes online for two weeks and asked youth sports organizers to pause games and practices during that period. Ms. Whitmer also suggested, but did not require, that residents avoid eating inside restaurants for two weeks. It is less of a policy problem that we have and more of a compliance and variants issue that we are confronting, Ms. Whitmer said. Policy change alone wont change the tide. We need everyone to step up and to take personal responsibility here. Ms. Whitmers decision not to lock down again brought some measure of agreement on Friday from Republicans, who control the Legislature and have for months criticized her use of executive power and warned that residents were losing patience with restrictions. I think whats happening now is she is realizing that she has lost the goodwill of the people, said State Representative Jack OMalley, a Republican. Still, the outbreak in Michigan is bad and getting worse. Hospitalizations have more than tripled in the last month and cases continue to spike. About 7,200 new cases are being reported each day, a sevenfold increase since late February. And 16 of the 20 metro areas with the countrys highest recent case rates are in Michigan. Debra Furr-Holden, an epidemiologist at Michigan State University, said before the governors announcement on Friday that the state should reimpose restrictions that were loosened just before the most recent surge. What it looks like happened is she tried to be fair and meet us in the middle, said Dr. Furr-Holden, who was appointed last year by Ms. Whitmer to the states Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities. And what I think weve learned  and I hope other states will get the message  is that there really isnt a lot of middle ground here. We just have to tighten up and hold tight. But there is also a sense  articulated by Ms. Whitmer, politicians from both parties and even some public health officials  that pandemic fatigue and partisanship have limited the effectiveness that any new state mandates might have. Its been a long time, said Mayor Pauline Repp of Port Huron, where case rates are among the highest in the country. Its a long time to be restrictive and you get to the point where you kind of think, Will life ever go back to normal? Eileen Sullivan contributed reporting. Mitch Smith and

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France says those under 55 who got a first AstraZeneca shot should follow up with a different vaccine. Administering the AstraZeneca vaccine in Paris. Credit... Christophe Archambault/Agence France-Presse  Getty Images Recipients of a first dose of AstraZenecas Covid-19 vaccine who are under 55 should get a second shot with other vaccines, Frances top health regulator said on Friday. Several European countries briefly suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine last month because of the risk of rare blood clots. France resumed administering shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine after European health regulators vouched for it, though only to people 55 and older. That left over 500,000 younger people who had received a first dose wondering how they would get their second. (In Britain, the authorities recommended the opposite strategy on Thursday: Health Minister Matt Hancock said that the 1.5 million people age 18 to 29 who had received one AstraZeneca dose should get a second injection of the same vaccine. Others, he said, would be offered an alternative.) Frances top health agency said on Friday that a single shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine was insufficient for lasting and efficient protection from the virus. It recommended administering a shot of vaccines like those produced by Pfizer or Moderna 12 weeks after the initial AstraZeneca jab. The new guidelines in France come amid growing skepticism over the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine across Europe. In Spain, the authorities in the Madrid region said that nearly 20,000 people had turned down the vaccine on Thursday after the countrys central government changed the age threshold for its use to 60. A regional health official said that more than 60 percent of the people called up for vaccination in Madrid had not shown up, higher than the no-show rate of two percent before the authorities announced the change. The official, Antonio Zapatero, called on the central government and European officials to authorize the use of Russias Sputnik V vaccine to speed up the countrys vaccination campaign. In France, Dominique Le Guludec, who heads the countrys top health agency, said at a news conference that the immune reaction to a second dose was sometimes stronger than the first, which could expose younger people to heightened risks of rare blood clotting if they got a second AstraZeneca shot. Prof. Elisabeth Bouvet, who leads the health authoritys vaccine committee, said at the news conference that clinical data on mixing and matching vaccines was still sparse. But she stressed that available data indicated that the strategy was safe. There is no reason to fear any particular side effects, Professor Bouvet said. The health authority said that the mixing of Covid-19 vaccines would be closely monitored to assess peoples immune response and to ensure adequate protection from the virus. The twists and turns over use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe have put a dent in peoples trust in the vaccine over the past months, but Ms. Le Guludec emphasized that it was still efficient and broadly safe to use. Those older than 55 represent over 95 percent of the 98,000 people who have died of the coronavirus in France, she said. This vaccine will therefore save lives, and if we want to win the battle against the virus, we must use all the weapons at our disposal. Aurelien Breeden and

Europes drug regulator investigates some blood clots after Johnson & Johnson shots, but no link is clear. Preparing a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Hempstead, N.Y., last month. Credit... Chang W. Lee/The New York Times The risk-assessment committee of the European Medicines Agency is investigating whether a handful of blood-clotting events could be linked to Johnson & Johnsons one-dose vaccine, the agency said on Friday, though it was unclear whether there was any causal link. The agency, which is the European Union drug regulator, said serious cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets have been reported in four people after they received the Johnson & Johnson shot. Its unclear if any of them were caused by the vaccine. One of the cases emerged in a clinical trial, though it was not immediately clear where the trial was held. Three other cases were found in people in the United States after vaccinations. One of the four people died, though it was unclear where it happened. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4.9 million people in the United States, as of Thursday, have been vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson shot, which was developed by the companys drug development arm, Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The F.D.A. said it had shared information about the cases with the E.M.A., prompting that bodys investigation. At this time, we have not found a causal relationship with vaccination and we are continuing our investigation and assessment of these cases, an F.D.A. spokeswoman said in a statement. The company noted that blood clotting events have been reported with other Covid-19 vaccines. Our close tracking of side effects has revealed a small number of very rare events following vaccination, the company said in a statement. At present, no clear causal relationship has been established between these rare events and the Janssen Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccine, which is easier to store than vaccines manufactured by other companies and has the benefit of being a one-and-done shot, is being widely used only in the United States. It has been approved for use by European Union states, but has not yet been rolled out, the agency said. Use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been limited in many countries because of blood-clotting issues. Earlier this week, the European Medicines Agency said that blood clots and low blood platelets should be listed as a very rare side effect of that vaccine. A blood clot is a thickened, gelatinous blob of blood that can block circulation. Clots form in response to injuries and can also be caused by many illnesses, including cancer and genetic disorders, certain drugs and prolonged sitting or bed rest. Clots that form in the legs sometimes break off and travel to the lungs or, rarely to the brain, where they can be deadly. Blood clots are common in the general population. From 300,000 to 600,000 people a year in the United States develop blood clots in their lungs or in veins in the legs or other parts of the body, according to the C.D.C. Carl Zimmer , Monika Pronczuk and Denise Grady contributed reporting.

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Trump health advisers cheered attempts to alter scientific reports, emails show. Former Trump health adviser Paul Alexander sent messages to Michael Caputo, right, celebrating efforts to alter reports by career scientists. Credit... Sam Hodgson for The New York Times Political appointees in the Trump administrations health and human services department celebrated their efforts last year to alter reports written by career scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to new emails released by the Houses select committee investigating the federal governments pandemic response. Paul Alexander, a science adviser in the departments communications office who regularly clashed with the C.D.C., wrote to the agencys acting chief of staff, Nina Witkofsky, in August claiming that attempts to influence the agencys closely-guarded guidance on disease outbreaks, known as the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports, had been a success. The last 2 MMWR reports have been more positive than usual and I find encouraging, Dr. Alexander wrote. So have you seen this shift? Maybe you are having a huge impact and this is tremendous. Well done! The emails were the latest evidence of how a small group of Trump loyalists at the Department of Health and Human Services used their roles last year to question career scientists at the C.D.C. and label them antagonists bent on hurting the political fortunes of Mr. Trump. Their messages were released as part of the House investigation into the federal governments pandemic response. The committee asked for interviews with Dr. Alexander and Dr. Scott Atlas, a White House pandemic adviser with no background in infectious disease responses. Dr. Alexander, who had been a part-time professor at McMaster University in Canada, and Michael Caputo, a longtime Trump loyalist with no health background, repeatedly attempted to edit and halt the agencys latest research on the spread of the virus. In a separate email with the subject line Examples of CDC adjusting writing based on my inquiry, Dr. Alexander claimed success in altering a report on transmission of the virus at an overnight camp. The changes, Dr. Alexander wrote, were a small victory but a victory nonetheless and yippee!!! In one exchange last May between Dr. Alexander and Mr. Caputo, the two planned an effort they saw as a boost to Mr. Trump: organizing data on what they viewed as the social and economic costs of shutdown policies. That campaign would be similar to one the president waged as he fought against states with more restrictive responses to the virus. I know the President wants us to enumerate the economic cost of not reopening. We need solid estimates to be able to say something like: 50,000 more cancer deaths! 40,000 more heart attacks! wrote Mr. Caputo, who at one point accused C.D.C. scientists of sedition. You need to take ownership of these numbers. This is singularly important to what you and I want to achieve. Around the time Dr. Alexander celebrated his efforts to edit the C.D.C. reports, he worked to draft an op-ed column under the name of Dr. Atlas, pushing to keep schools open during the pandemic. It later appeared in the New York Post.

German lawmakers move to strengthen the governments powers in the pandemic. In Berlin last month. Credit... Lena Mucha for The New York Times BERLIN  Germanys government plans to ask lawmakers to grant it stronger powers in order to introduce a nationwide lockdown as the country is gripped by a third wave of the coronavirus. The countrys approach has so far been to have the governors of Germanys 16 states agree to any nationwide pandemic policies. But as calls from public health officials have grown stronger for a new nationwide lockdown in recent weeks, Chancellor Angela Merkel has had trouble gaining all of the governors support. The lawmakers new plan seeks to overcome regional differences in how to curb the latest surge in cases. It will be put before Ms. Merkels cabinet next week, Ulrike Demmer, a spokeswoman for the chancellor, told reporters on Friday. The law would spell out which restrictions would be imposed in areas with over 100 new cases per 100,000 residents over a period of seven days. Germany is in the middle of a third wave, so the federal government and the states have agreed to add to the national legislation, Ms. Demmer said. Last month, the chancellor sought to impose a strict lockdown over the Easter holiday weekend, only to retract that move in the face of criticism from opposition lawmakers and industry leaders. She also offered a public apology. Speaking on national television, she then raised the idea of seeking Parliaments support in consolidating her governments powers to ensure that all states abide by the same rules. Germany has been wary of consolidating power in the central government since World War II, but several lawmakers have backed the idea for this specific circumstance. The aim here is to create uniform national rules, Ms. Demmer said, adding that the law change would be put before cabinet on Tuesday. The German authorities registered 25,464 new infections on Thursday, 3,576 more than a week ago. On Thursday, nearly 300 people died of the virus. There will be, once again, a couple of difficult weeks, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Friday, calling for a unified lockdown. It is about not overburdening our health care system. It is about protecting human lives. A planned meeting between the chancellor and state leaders that was planned for Monday was canceled as part of the decision, Ms. Demmer said. Christopher F. Schuetze contributed reporting.

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Covax falls short of goals to get Covid-19 vaccine to low- and middle-income nations. People in Nairobi, Kenya, waited in line on Thursday to receive doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine provided through the Covax initiative. Covax announced it has not reached its distribution goal due to short supply of doses. Credit... Brian Inganga/Associated Press Covax, a global initiative dedicated to distributing coronavirus vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, has delivered just 38 million doses so far, falling short of the 100 million doses it had expected to distribute by now, the World Health Organization said on Friday. Most countries do not have anywhere near enough vaccines to cover all health workers, or all at-risk groups, never mind the rest of their populations, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the W.H.O. There remains a shocking imbalance in the global distribution of vaccines. Tracking Coronavirus Vaccinations Around the World More than 2.05 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, equal to 27 doses for every 100 people. Although the pace of vaccinations has sped up considerably in the United States, where about a third of the total population has received at least one shot of the vaccine, enormous disparities exist between nations. In other high-income countries, nearly one in four adults have received a vaccine, Dr. Tedros said. In low-income countries, which have received just 0.2 percent of the worlds vaccine supply so far, that figure is one in 500. Covax, which is run by the W.H.O. and relies on donors, was $32 billion short of the funding it needed, Dr. Tedros said in February. China and Russia have been donating vaccine supplies globally, while the United States has focused on vaccinating its entire adult population as quickly as possible. The Biden administration had agreed to donate $4 billion to Covax earlier this year, and it has faced pressure to donate more of its supply after securing more than enough vaccine doses to guarantee American adults can be inoculated. The W.H.O. and other Covax partners are currently investigating ways to boost supply, including accelerating the release of new vaccines and asking for donations from countries that have extra doses, Dr. Tedros added.

Vaccine passports could bring back international travel, in some cases at the risk of discrimination. A woman showed her Green Pass before entering a show at an opera house in Tel Aviv. Israel is one of the countries that has already implemented the use of digital vaccine passports. Credit... Dan Balilty for The New York Times Vaccine rollouts in some countries have world travelers dreaming of trips abroad again, as travel destinations eagerly await the return of the tourism lifeline. But a ticket to travel that requires some kind of vaccine documentation has set off a fraught debate about the fairness of a two-tier system for haves and have-nots. Almost everywhere, the pressure to restart international travel is forcing the debate. With tens of millions of people vaccinated, and governments desperate to reopen their economies, businesses and individuals are pushing to regain more freedom of movement. Verifying whether someone is inoculated is the simplest way to do that. At its simplest, this verification is something like the physical card created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, typically given to people in the United States after their first Covid-19 shot. Similarly, the World Health Organization has a yellow card, used for decades by travelers to show inoculation against diseases like yellow fever. But paper documents are vulnerable to forgery, which makes vaccine passports (as they are commonly called) appealing as an electronic record of vaccination  possibly in the form of a QR code easily accessible through a smartphone, or possibly stored on the device or printed out. Some versions are taking shape or already in use. Israels version, for example, allows people who are fully vaccinated to go to bars, restaurants, concerts and sporting events. (Israel has vaccinated more than half its population, and the vast majority of its older people.) At this point, allowing access only to vaccinated people deprives young people of access to many of the pleasures of their elders. In most cases, consideration of vaccine passports has heavily focused on international travel and not domestic everyday life. In some strictly quarantined countries like China and Singapore, it is not clear that a vaccine passport designed for travel would also be used for citizens at home, setting up another inconsistency between those who can afford to travel freely overseas and those who continue to live under onerous restrictions at home. Any requirement to prove vaccination status would discriminate against those who cant get the shot or refuse to, and there is lingering uncertainty about how well inoculation prevents virus transmission. For those reasons, the W.H.O. said this week that it does not support requiring proof of vaccination for travel  for now. Mark Landler and

Some experts call for delaying second shots to speed vaccinations. A healthcare worker prepares doses of a Covid-19 vaccine at a clinic in Derbyshire, England, last month. Britain has been delaying second doses of the vaccine in an effort to vaccinate more people. Credit... Oli Scarff/Agence France-Presse  Getty Images The prospect of a fourth wave of the coronavirus, with new cases climbing sharply in the Upper Midwest, has reignited a debate among vaccine experts over how long to wait between the first and second doses. Extending that period would swiftly increase the number of people with the partial protection of a single shot, but some experts fear it could also give rise to dangerous new variants. In the United States, two-dose vaccines are spaced three to four weeks apart, matching what was tested in clinical trials. But in Britain, health authorities have delayed doses by up to 12 weeks in order to reach more people more quickly. And in Canada, which has precious few vaccines to go around, a government advisory committee recommended on Wednesday that second doses be delayed even longer, up to four months. Some health experts think the United States should follow suit. Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, a co-director of the Healthcare Transformation Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, has proposed that for the next few weeks, all U.S. vaccines should go to people receiving their first dose. That should be enough to quell the fourth surge, especially in places like Michigan, like Minnesota, he said in an interview. Dr. Emanuel and his colleagues published the proposal in an op-ed on Thursday in USA Today. But opponents, including health advisers to the Biden administration, argue that delaying doses is a bad idea. They warn it will leave the country vulnerable to variants  those already circulating, as well as new ones that could evolve inside the bodies of partially vaccinated people who are not able to swiftly fight off an infection. Its a very dangerous proposal to leave the second dose to a later date, said Dr. Luciana Borio, the former acting chief scientist of the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nations top infectious-diseases expert, agreed. Lets go with what we know is the optimal degree of protection, he said. Britain has been able get first doses into an impressive number of arms. As of Thursday, 48 percent of the British population has received at least one dose. By contrast, the United States has delivered at least one dose to just 33 percent of Americans. In January, some researchers lobbied for the United States to follow Britains example. But the government stayed the course, arguing that it would be unwise to veer off into the unknown in the middle of a pandemic. Although the clinical trials did show some early protection from the first dose, no one knew how well that partial protection would last. In recent weeks, however, proponents of delaying doses have been able to point to mounting evidence suggesting that a first dose can provide potent protection that lasts for a number of weeks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that two weeks after a single dose of either the Moderna or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, a persons risk of coronavirus infection dropped by 80 percent. And researchers in Britain have found that first-dose protection is persistent for at least 12 weeks.

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Migrant workers again flee Indias cities as new lockdowns bite. Migrant workers getting ready to leave Mumbai on Wednesday. Credit... Divyakant Solanki/EPA, via Shutterstock Fearing new lockdowns and rising infections in major cities, thousands of migrant laborers in India are beginning to travel home to their villages in crowded scenes reminiscent of the start of the pandemic last year. India recorded 131,968 infections and 780 deaths on Friday  the fourth day this week that it had announced more than 100,000 new cases. And many states are imposing restrictions, including night curfews and weekend lockdowns. At least 45 million Indians come from the countryside to work in cities every year, according to government estimates, with many taking jobs at construction sites, working as housekeepers or selling juice at roadside stalls. Last March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi enacted one of the worlds severest and most abrupt lockdowns, leaving laborers instantly unemployed and forcing millions to return to their villages on foot. The chaotic exodus was widely blamed for helping the virus spread through the countryside, threatening rural Indias patchy health system. When India began reopening its economy, many migrants returned to cities because there was no work at home. Now, some are fleeing to the villages again. On Thursday, Mohammad Naseem was among dozens of migrant workers who boarded a train leaving the western city of Mumbai. The 42-year-old sugar cane juice seller said he was returning to his home in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and probably would not return to Mumbai. The city can survive another lockdown and be prosperous again, he said. But we dont want to die here because of hunger. Mr. Naseem, who returned to his juice stand after previous lockdown measures were lifted, said that business hadnt been the same. Two co-workers never returned from their villages. Mr. Naseem, who supports a family of six, said he would try to find work in Uttar Pradesh. We will suffer the most, like the previous lockdown, he said. I am not going to come back again. Even as coronavirus cases have surged in India and elsewhere in South Asia, political leaders, including Mr. Modi, have continued to hold crowded rallies in several states where elections are taking place. Reports in the Indian news media have shown senior officials participating in rallies even after coming into contact with infected people. For the political rallies of big leaders, there is no coronavirus, said Mahesh Kumar, an ice cream seller in New Delhi, the capital, who returned to his home in Jharkhand State on Friday. But when it comes to our business, officers threaten us with jail if they see three people around our stalls.

As many fled cities in the pandemic, these suburban homeowners took the opposite route. John Pham and Maryna Stasenko sold their three-bedroom home in Lawrence, Mass., and moved into a condo in Boston. Credit... Kayana Szymczak for The New York Times The pandemic has created a frenzied demand for suburban homes, driven partly by city dwellers seeking more space as remote work and virtual schooling stretch into a second year. But for some longtime suburbanites, the rush from urban areas has created an opening to be seized. With the housing market offering a chance to sell suburban homes for a tidy profit, theyre listing their houses and moving into apartments in the city  reversing the urban exodus trend. John Pham is an insurance strategist who also runs a popular personal finance blog, The Money Ninja. When the pandemic hit, he owned a three-bedroom home in Lawrence, Mass., and realized that he should take his own financial advice. I felt like it was a good time to sell high in suburbia and buy low in Boston, he said. Mr. Pham, 39, was a bachelor in 2008 when he bought his house, but in 2018 he met and married Maryna Stasenko, 35, a fashion blogger originally from Ukraine. She was eager to move into a more urban setting, and Mr. Pham, who has been working from home for the past year, was in no hurry to return to his hour-plus commute into downtown. As a busy late-30s professional, you just have less free time to mow the lawn and stain the deck, he said. The couple put their house on the market in October for $280,000. Within a week, they had 16 offers, including an all-cash buyer who offered $320,000 with no contingencies. They accepted, and in February moved into a 1,300-square-foot condo in Boston with skyline and harbor views. The city is still hushed because of the pandemic, but they are hopeful that by summer its restaurants, museums and attractions will spring back to life. Thad Wong, a founder of the Chicago brokerage @properties, predicts that for some buyers who left cities during the pandemic, the coming years will bring an acute sense of buyers remorse. I dont believe people will be working from home forever, he said. And if youre a creative person who wants to be around ideas happening, and you thrive on that energy, youre dying in the suburbs.

Travel continues to rebound in the U.S., fueled by Easter and spring break. More than 150,000 people per day visited Times Square in New York over Easter weekend, the highest number in a year. Credit... Karsten Moran for The New York Times Times Square had its highest pedestrian traffic of the year. Major hotels in Miami were booked three-quarters or more full. And pools at Las Vegas resorts were filled to their limit of 50 percent capacity. Easter weekend saw a resurgence of tourist activity in some U.S. cities, suggesting what could be a turning point for the tourism industry as Covid-19 vaccinations pick up and more businesses reopen across the country. Data from the Transportation Security Administration this weekend shows that travel is still relatively high. The country averaged more than 1.5 million travelers on Thursday and Friday, and dropped slightly to nearly 1.4 million travelers on Saturday, similar to the numbers from Easter weekend. There have been similar bursts throughout March and April as travel has steadily increased, most likely in part because of spring break travel among younger Americans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this month that Americans who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can safely travel at home and abroad, as long as they take basic precautions like wearing masks. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nations leading infectious disease expert, said the risk would only get lower as more travelers got vaccinated. It is a risk to fly, but its a small risk, he told CNN last week. The more infection you get in the community, the greater the risk. So, if we get more and more people vaccinated, by the time we get to the summer, the risk of flying will be even less than it is now. Before Easter weekend, the recovery in tourism had been very regionalized, with places like Florida and Texas doing well while cities that depend more on large meetings and conventions, like Chicago, continue to struggle, said Chip Rogers, the president of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the trade organization for the hospitality industry. Now, Mr. Rogers said, theres reason for cautious optimism, and signs in several cities point to leisure travel picking up. In New York, the Times Square Alliance, which tracks activity in the area, counted about 150,000 pedestrians a day over the holiday weekend, up 394 percent from last year, though still far from prepandemic numbers. Though the weekend of Easter is, historically, the second-slowest weekend in Las Vegas, this year was different because of March Madness, the annual N.C.A.A. basketball tournaments. On Saturday, all of our venues were filled by 10 a.m. because of Final Four, said Derek Stevens, who owns three hotels in the city. I think that was the case throughout all of Las Vegas. In Miami, where warm weather and comparatively looser Covid-19 regulations have drawn tourists for months, the period from March 28 to April 3 brought the city its highest occupancy level since the start of the pandemic, with most hotels reporting upward of 75 percent occupancy levels, said Suzie Sponder, a spokeswoman for the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. Thats only a 6.6 percent drop compared with the same weekend in 2019. Carl Bergstrom, a biology professor at the University of Washington, said he was not too concerned that Easter travel would bring a surge in cases like the one after Thanksgiving and the holiday season, which he said had been caused more by social gatherings than travel itself. While Dr. Bergstrom said he hoped people would hold off the riskiest behavior for a few more months, he said it was more important to encourage people to travel safely than not at all. Concepcion de Leon and

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Global Roundup In England, vacations abroad may be allowed next month, and other news from across the world. Passengers at Heathrow Airport in London this year. Prime Minister Boris Johnsons government is expected to announce new travel recommendations on May 17. Credit... Matthew Childs/Reuters Englands residents will probably be allowed to travel abroad this summer, a government official said on Friday, as the authorities plan to announce new travel guidelines next month. For the first time, people can start to think about visiting loved ones abroad, or perhaps a summer holiday, but were doing it very, very cautiously, said Grant Shapps, the transportation minister. For months, the authorities in the country have asked residents not to book summer vacations abroad, and the cautious recommendation on Friday was the first official indication that travel could soon be allowed. Prime Minister Boris Johnsons government is expected to announce new travel recommendations on May 17 based on a tiered system that would outline whether travelers returning to England from various countries must isolate, and where. On Monday, England is scheduled to reopen outdoor spaces in pubs and restaurants, as well as nonessential shops, gyms and hair salons. In other news from other the world: Hong Kongs health secretary, Sophia Chan, said on Friday that the Chinese territory would delay a shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines that had been scheduled to arrive in the second half of this year. She said the government had sufficient supplies of the Sinovac and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines and did not want to waste any doses. Germany recorded its highest number of Covid-19 vaccinations on Thursday, with nearly 720,000 people receiving either a first or second dose. The authorities attributed the sharp rise to increased supplies and the addition of family doctors to the vaccine drive. People who are fully vaccinated will not have to present proof of a negative Covid test to travel or to enter shops, as is now the case in some regions, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Friday. He said at a news conference, however, that Germany could soon require a new nationwide lockdown and a nighttime curfew as the countrys intensive-care units risk being overwhelmed.

In Japan, the authorities issued stricter measures in Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa set to begin on Monday. Restaurants and bars will have to close by 8 p.m., and large events will be capped at 5,000 people. The measures are expected to be in place until May 11 in Tokyo and May 5 in Kyoto and Okinawa.

In Norway, Prime Minister Erna Solberg was fined for organizing a party that violated social distancing rules. She celebrated her 60th birthday with 13 guests at a mountain resort in late February, even though her government had limited such gatherings to 10 people. Ms. Solberg, who has been leading Norway since 2013, was fined about $2,350. Christopher F. Schuetze , Mike Ives , Makiko Inoue and Thomas Erdbrink contributed reporting.

Iraq warns of dire consequences as coronavirus infections reach a record high. Worshippers attending an Easter Mass at St. Elya Chaldean Church in Baghdad on Sunday. Credit... Khalid Al-Mousily/Reuters Iraq reported a record high number of coronavirus cases this week, a situation that the authorities blamed on the negligence of most citizens, government institutions and the private sector in disregarding social distancing guidelines, not wearing masks and continuing to hold large events. The health ministry warned that countrys health care system was becoming overwhelmed by a very dangerous level of infection. It also said it was alarmed by the low turnout for Covid-19 inoculations in Iraq, for which it blamed rumors that the vaccines are harmful. The country on Wednesday reported 8,331 new coronavirus cases  the highest figure since the pandemic began. A further 7,817 cases were added on Thursday. Iraq has reported over 14,500 Covid-19 deaths, and public health officials believe that the numbers of infections and deaths have been underreported. Many of those infected do not seek treatment in the countrys dysfunctional public health care system. Despite the pandemic, Iraqis have routinely held wedding celebrations and funeral gatherings. Many Iraqis are now rushing to hold weddings before the start next week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when weddings traditionally do not take place. The semiautonomous Kurdistan region this week barred entry for people from other parts of Iraq. The police in the Kurdish capital, Erbil, have been deployed to enforce the wearing of masks in public. Slightly more than 126,000 Iraqis have been vaccinated, according to the health ministry  a tiny portion of the countrys 40 million inhabitants. A first batch of 336,000 doses from the Covax international vaccine sharing initiative arrived in Iraq in March, according to the aid group Doctors Without Borders. The aid group described Iraq as in the grip of a second wave of the pandemic, with Baghdad as its epicenter.

Prince Philip will lie in rest at Windsor Castle before a funeral in St. Georges Chapel. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:35 - 0:00 transcript Remembering Prince Philip, Husband of Queen Elizabeth II Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died on April 9 at Windsor Castle in England. He was 99. Announcer: Its easy to see the radiant happiness of the princess as she and her very good-looking husband-to-be posed for the cameras in the palace. In the evening, Londoners, who had been waiting outside the palace for hours, made their feelings perfectly clear, when princess and her fiance came out onto the balcony. Announcer: Now the most triumphant of all marches, the princess and prince. Once mere Lieutenant Mountbatten in His Majestys Navy, march as man and wife toward the West door. Announcer: And his work ashore here is as much a part of his regular service as it was when he was at sea in the destroyer H.M.S. Whelp, for example. Main lesson that weve learned is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage. It may not be quite so important when things are going well, but it is absolutely vital when things get difficult. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died on April 9 at Windsor Castle in England. He was 99. Credit Credit... Andrew Milligan/Agence France-Presse  Getty Images The death of Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, at 99 on Friday came at the end of a year marked by mourning, with 150,000 lives lost to Covid-19 in Britain. Buckingham Palace said that Prince Philip had died peacefully, and he was vaccinated against the coronavirus early this year, along with the queen. Yet his death is likely to take on a new meaning in the middle of a pandemic, and to raise many questions: What will the funeral look like at a time of social distancing measures? And with families across Britain unable to hold typical funerals for loved ones lost to Covid-19, how will the countrys most famous family mourn one of their own? The palace said that a full outline would likely be released on Saturday, but details began to emerge on Friday. The ceremony will not be a state funeral and will not be preceded by a lying-in-state, according to a statement from the College of Arms, which has created and maintained official registers of coats of arms and pedigrees since 1484. His Royal Highnesss body will lie at rest in Windsor Castle ahead of the funeral in St. Georges Chapel, the statement said. The funeral arrangements have been revised in view of the prevailing circumstances arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, it added, and it is regretfully requested that members of the public do not attempt to attend or participate in any of the events that make up the funeral. Philip had been hospitalized in February for a heart problem and was discharged last month. Buckingham Palace said that his hospitalization was not related to the coronavirus. But the privileges of royalty did not grant the family immunity from the virus. Prince Charles  Prince Philips and Queen Elizabeths elder son and the heir to the throne  tested positive for the virus last year, as did Prince William, their grandson. The queen has encouraged people in the country to be vaccinated. Once youve had the vaccine, you have a feeling of, you know, youre protected, she said in a public call with health officials. Britain is slowly emerging from a stringent national lockdown of recent months, with outdoor spaces in pubs and restaurants scheduled to reopen on Monday, as well as nonessential shops, gyms and hair salons. But many bereaved families of those lost to Covid-19 have said that as the country moves to brighter days, the staggering deaths of 150,000 people should not be forgotten.

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Ukraine should expect a military standoff with Russia, considering the relevant information of Ukrainian security agencies, presidential deputy chief of staff Ihor Zhovkva said.

"Alas, we should [expect a military standoff]. So to say, the relevant Ukrainian agencies have such information. We are using their information in our work and relay it to our partners. For instance, since the moment the situation near the Ukrainian border started to escalate, Ukrainian President [Volodymyr] Zelensky has had phone calls with U.S. President Joseph Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau," Zhovkva said in an interview with the LB.ua media outlet published on Friday.

He also said that Zelensky had received clear messages of support from the leaders of major Western nations.

In the course of his phone call with Biden, Zelensky presented his vision as to how the United States could help Ukraine handle the situation on the Ukrainian-Russian border.

"He was assured that the United States would not abandon Ukraine. The fact that this is related to the increasing security risks in Donbas and near our borders is not the most important thing. The fact that we have received the only answer we should have received from our strategic partner is: the United States will not allow anyone to instigate new aggressive activity in our region with impunity. This is the chief message of the conversation between the two leaders," Zhovkva said.
Nurses in Brazil have come up with a novel idea to comfort COVID-19 patients, one emulating human touch.

With people infected with coronavirus spending days in isolation, away from their loved ones, nurses in a hospital here found an innovative solution to extend them a compassionate hand with just a pair of disposable gloves.

They used two disposable gloves and tied them up after filling them with hot water.

Also Read: Covaxin, Covishield effective against UK, Brazil variant of coronavirus

A journalist working the Gulf News, shared an image on Twitter showing the inflated gloves kept on the hands of a COVID-19 patient, stimulating human touch.

The caption of the heartwarming post reads, "'The hand of God' - nurses trying to comfort isolated patients in a Brazilian covid isolation ward. Two disposable gloves tied, full of hot water, simulating impossible human contact. Salute to the front liners and a stark reminder of the grim situation our world is in."

See the tweet here:

The hand of God  nurses trying to comfort isolated patients in a Brazilian Covid isolation ward. Two disposable gloves tied, full of hot water, simulating impossible human contact. Salute to the front liners and a stark reminder of the grim situation our world is in! #MaskUppic.twitter.com/HgVFwOtg2f  Sadiq Sameer Bhat (@sadiquiz) April 8, 2021

The photo garnered thousands of likes on Twitter with many people retweeting it. Several users concurred that such healing touch was much needed during this glum time.

See the comments here:

The hand of God  nurses trying to comfort isolated patients in a Brazilian Covid isolation ward. Two disposable gloves tied, full of hot water, simulating impossible human contact. Salute to the front liners and a stark reminder of the grim situation our world is in! #MaskUppic.twitter.com/HgVFwOtg2f  Sadiq Sameer Bhat (@sadiquiz) April 8, 2021

The hand of God  nurses trying to comfort isolated patients in a Brazilian Covid isolation ward. Two disposable gloves tied, full of hot water, simulating impossible human contact. Salute to the front liners and a stark reminder of the grim situation our world is in! #MaskUppic.twitter.com/HgVFwOtg2f  Sadiq Sameer Bhat (@sadiquiz) April 8, 2021

The hand of God  nurses trying to comfort isolated patients in a Brazilian Covid isolation ward. Two disposable gloves tied, full of hot water, simulating impossible human contact. Salute to the front liners and a stark reminder of the grim situation our world is in! #MaskUppic.twitter.com/HgVFwOtg2f  Sadiq Sameer Bhat (@sadiquiz) April 8, 2021

Brazil, the second worst-hit nation by COVID-19, registered over 4,000 new deaths due to coronavirus on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Also Read: Brazil reports 1.14 crore COVID-19 cases; overtakes India to become second most affected country

More than 3,45,000 people have lost their lives because of COVID-19 in the country. Several reports suggest that hospitals are running low on medical and other essential supplies, comprising anesthesia, oxygen, and essential drugs for incubation.

Three out of four private hospitals have stated that they have limited supplies that could only last for a week or less to treat coronavirus patients, the National Association of Private Hospitals said in a survey carried out on over 88 hospitals across Brazil.
(CNN)  South Korea unveiled its homegrown supersonic jet fighter on Friday, joining an exclusive club of military aviation giants and setting the stage for a $5.2 billion program it hopes will be a top export driver and jobs creator.

Once operational, the KF-21 jet is expected to be armed with a range of air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles  and possibly even air-launched cruise missiles.

The twin-engine fighters will come in single- and two-seat versions, depending on the missions to which they are tasked.

"A new era of independent defense has begun, and it's a historic milestone in the development of the [South Korean] aviation industry," President Moon Jae-in said at the rollout of the KF-21, nicknamed Boramae, or "young hawk trained for hunting," at the production plant of Korea Aerospace Industries in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang province.

Moon said after ground and flight tests are completed, mass production of the KF-21 will begin with a goal of 40 jets deployed by 2028 and 120 by 2032.

"When full-scale mass production begins, 100,000 additional jobs will be created and we'll have an added value of 5.9 trillion Korean won ($5.2 billion). The effect will be much greater if they're exported," Moon said.

South Korea is expected to produce six KF-21 prototypes for testing and development, the first three to be completed by the end of this year and the next three in the first half of 2022, according to the country's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

Exclusive club

While only 65% of the KF-21 is of South Korean origin, its rollout still marks a significant achievement for a country that doesn't have a lengthy history of aircraft production.

"When the final tests are completed in the future, South Korea will become the eighth country in the world that has developed an advanced supersonic fighter," a government statement said.

Those countries are the United States, Russia, China, Japan, France, Sweden and a European consortium of the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Of those, only the United States and China have deployed domestic-made fifth-generation fighter jets  planes which feature stealth technologies, radar-jamming capabilities and advanced avionics that integrate onboard and remote data to give pilots a complete real-time picture of their operation, according to NATO's Joint Air Power Competence Center.

While the DAPA calls the KF-21 a 4.5-generation fighter jet because it lacks, for instance, an internal weapons bay that increases stealthiness, analysts say it may be able to fly higher and faster than the newest US-made fifth-generation fighter, the F-35, and still carry a robust weapons load.

"The KF-21 is the first fighter aircraft made with domestic technology, and it indicates that South Korea is now able to build fighter aircraft by its own. It will also be a stepping stone to develop better fighter aircraft and operate locally developed arms," a DAPA statement to CNN said.

The KF-21 is a joint project between South Korea and Indonesia in which Seoul holds 80% of shares while Jakarta seeks 20%. South Korea says Indonesia is behind in payments to the project, but negotiations continue and Jakarta's defense minister was at Friday's rollout.

Moon saluted Indonesia for its role. "In particular, I thank the Indonesian government for becoming a partner who believed in the potential of South Korea," he said.

The new fighter jet is expected to replace South Korea's F-4 and F-5 fighters, third-generation US-designed jets first introduced in the 1960s.

As production runs are increased, it could also replace South Korea's fourth-generation F-16s and F-15Ks, analyst Abraham Ait, chief editor of Military Watch Magazine, wrote in The Diplomat last year.

South Korea also operates F-35 stealth fighters, receiving the first in a 40-jet order in 2018.

Overseas sales

While the KF-21 might eventually replace hundreds of fighter jets in South Korea's fleet, it also has significant export potential because its price tag is expected to be significantly lower than the F-35s the US sells to foreign militaries.

Thailand, the Philippines, and possibly even Iraq "could be leading clients for the fighter," Ait wrote, noting those countries all operate the same kind of aircraft the KF-21 will replace in South Korea's fleet. They also have been customers for South Korea's indigenously developed FA-50 light-attack fighter.

If Seoul is successful in marketing the KF-21 as an export product, it will continue a trend for South Korea. According to statistics from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Seoul's arms exports were 210% higher from 2016 to 2020 than in the previous five years  giving South Korea a 2.7% share of the world's global arms market.

Government spokesperson Lim Se-eun said Thursday South Korea plans to build its own surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, electronic warfare ability, enhance its air defenses, build stronger guided weapons, and secure an independent satellite navigation system and space war capability  all with the goal of being in the top seven nations in the global aviation industry by 2030.

This story was first published on CNN.com "South Korea rolls out the KF-21, joining elite group of global supersonic fighter jet makers"
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  The decision to temporarily stop giving the AstraZeneca vaccine to people under the age of 60 is an act of prudence, Philippine General Hospital spokesman Jonas del Rosario said Friday, adding there is time to pause since most of those who received the first shot won't need the second dose until late May or early June.

I think it is just prudent for the FDA to check on the data, del Rosario told CNN Philippines New Day.

We have time to pause, review the data, check if any of our vaccinees had complication of blood clots, he added.

But in PGH, none of the 4,100 AstraZeneca vaccine recipients had experienced blood clots after inoculation, the spokesman said.

The Department of Health adopted the recommendation of the Food and Drug Administration to hit the pause button on the rollout of AstraZeneca shot for those below 60 while awaiting clearer guidance from local experts and the World Health Organization. This was after the European drug regulators found a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and very rare cases of blood clots with low platelet count.

The European Medicines Agency or EMA said it reviewed 62 cases of clotting in the sinuses that drain blood from the brain, and 24 cases of clotting in the abdomen, 18 of which were fatal. The cases were reported to the EudraVigilance, the EU drug safety database from European countries, including the United Kingdom, where around 25 million people had received the AstraZeneca vaccine, it added.

Those who had this rare reaction mostly occurred in women below 60 years old within two weeks of vaccination, the agency said. But the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective in preventing COVID-19, based on studies, the EMA noted. It also lowers the risk of getting hospitalized and dying due to the infectious disease, it added.

The FDA and the DOH earlier said that careful review of this new development is ongoing to craft recommendations on the vaccines use. FDA Director General Eric Domingo has assured the public the review will be completed in time for the second vaccine dose completion.

Big problem

It is going to be a big problem if the government decides not to give AstraZeneca to less than 60 years old permanently because there will be a lot of people who will be missing their second dose since there are no studies on mixing different vaccines, del Rosario said.

He said if this happens, people who received the first shot may have to start over with another vaccine of a different brand.

But he said he is confident authorities will allow the use of AstraZeneca vaccine for those below 60 years old anew, noting that the incidence of blood clots possibly linked to the shot is quite low.

He added: One expert said it (incidence) is 100 hundred times less than having a blood clot for people taking contraceptives. He did not name the expert.

AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine: How common are blood clots and should I be worried?

Local experts recommend giving two doses of AstraZeneca shot to people aged 18 and older four to 12 weeks apart.

The country began rolling out AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the COVAX facility shortly after they arrived in two separate shipments in the first week of March. The Philippines has so far received 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca. The Philippines has so far received 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca. As of April 6, only 31,912 of those doses remain unused, according to National Task Force Against COVID-19 spokesman Ret. Gen. Restituto Padilla. Officials expect to receive the next batch of AstraZeneca shots from COVAX no later than May.
Fifteen Rhode Island residents have been charged with defrauding unemployment insurance programs tied to federal COVID-19 relief funds, U.S. Acting Attorney Richard Myrus announced Thursday.

Prosecutors said the suspects fraudulently filed unemployment insurance claims in some 11 states, totaling nearly $580,000.

Its disgraceful that anyone would attempt to fraudulently obtain funds intended for hard-working Americans during the current health crisis, Myrus said at press conference announcing the arrests, WPRI-TV reports.

Prosecutors said some of the suspects were discovered after they took out large cash advances at Twin River Casino using out-of-state unemployment benefit cards, but then left without gambling.

One Central Falls man made a $9,000 cash advance at the Lincoln casino using a California-issued unemployment benefits card. Investigators later found hed also made other unemployment insurance claims in California and Massachusetts.

Myrus said the suspects all used their own names to fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance money, rather than stealing other peoples identities.

Sadly, the victims of these crimes are unemployed and are relying on these benefits, said Joseph Bonavolonta, head of the FBIs Boston office, which helped execute the search warrants.

The case is part of a broader federal effort to crack down on COVID-19 relief fund fraud.
For more than 30 years, the National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) has been dedicated to promoting and protecting the interests of Australian women, including intellectual, cultural, political, social, economic, legal, industrial and domestic spheres.

Yet, rarely has there been a greater focus in Australia on gender equity. There is overwhelming national demand for equality and for cultivating a greater culture of respect. It is a pity that this interest has been generated by such flagrant breaches of the principles of equality and respect, but experience shows us that real action is often driven by attempts to clean up after massive failures.

Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations Michaelia Cash and Prime Minister Scott Morrison reveal the Roadmap For Respect in Canberra on Thursday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

So, interest in this weeks first meeting of the cabinets Womens Taskforce was high, not just in Canberra but across the country.

On the agenda was delivering the governments response to the Respect@Work report. Delivered by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins more than one year ago, the report delivers recommendations for preventing and addressing sexual harassment. NFAW, along with many others, had written to the government to highlight the need to implement the 55 recommendations in full.
The mother of three mysteriously found dead inside a charity bin at Easter had struggled since the heartbreak of discovering her husband was having an affair five years ago.

Charmaine 'Mikki' O'Shea, 43, was found half inside one of the bins behind Stockland Burleigh Heads Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast on Easter Monday.

Police suspect the 'vibrant and creative' market stallholder was crushed by the falling lid when trying to retrieve something from inside.

Ms O'Shea's life took a turn for the worse when she ended up in court in 2016 after discovering her husband was having an affair and made threats against his lover.

Photos from before the court case show the 'devoted single mum' with her arms draped around her three kids, and another goofing around with her two sons.

Charmaine O'Shea with her children Tillz (centre), Jack (left) and Rory (right) in a photo posted in 2012

Charmaine O'Shea with her sons in a 2014 post. Her death is regarded as a 'misadventure'

In 2016 Ms O'Shea appeared in Southport District Court charged with making threats against a woman who was having an affair with her husband, Paul Woods, also known as Paul O'Shea, then 49.

The threats related to pictures Ms O'Shea had found on her husband's phone of the three children of his lover. The pictures depicted the three youngsters sleeping and swimming naked.

The childrens mother was later given an 18-month suspended sentence in the Brisbane District Court for making and distributing child exploitation material to Woods.

Ms O'Shea had threatened to send the explicit pictures to the womans friends and family unless she paid her $100,000, the court heard.

No conviction was recorded against Ms O'Shea, with the court told she had 'acted impulsively' during a time she was experiencing 'severe distress' after finding out about her husband's affair.

Woods was sentenced to 105 days imprisonment but it's understood he was later deported to his native New Zealand by Australian Border Force, having also served eight years in prison for heroin trafficking in 1994.

Charmaine 'Mikki' O'Shea, 43, (pictured) has been identified as the woman who tragically died after getting stuck in a Gold Coast charity bin

Daily Mail Australia can also reveal Ms O'Shea ran a business called Kiwiana through a stall at Carrara Markets on the Gold Coast until a few years ago, selling 'cultural gifts' from New Zealand such as korowai, or traditional Maori feather cloaks. She was originally from Greymouth on New Zealand's South Island.

'This wee Kiwi shed is jam packed with memories from Aotearoa, the old, the new, the classic Kiwis icons and more,' said her Facebook page for the stall.

A current Carrara Markets stallholder told Daily Mail he believed Ms O'Shea had been selling Kiwi giftwares and clothing at other Gold Coast flea markets in recent years.

Initial reports suggested Ms O'Shea was trying to get something from the bin when the lid came down and trapped her.

Friends set up a GoFundMe page on Tuesday to cover the cost of her funeral and support her family.

Initial reports suggested Ms O'Shea was trying to retrieve something from the bin (pictured) when the lid came down and trapped her

'Mikki was a vibrant, creative, and just all round amazing person who was a devoted single mother to her three kids,' the fundraiser description reads.

'She was the most generous person someone could ever meet. She was such a joyful woman who always lived life vicariously.

'Mikki's family is going through a very difficult time as this was a horrible accident that no one could've expected.

'The family has still not been told the whole story.'

Another woman who previously worked with Ms O'Shea said together they had 'shared the good and the bad, and the ups and the downs' of life.

'I feel privileged to have been your friend for so long,' she wrote.

Her family have since claimed they don't know the 'full story' of what happened near the Gold Coast shopping centre (pictured, paramedics at the scene on Monday)

The mother-of-three has been remembered by friends as a 'vibrant, creative and all round amazing person'

Ms O'Shea (pictured, right, with her mother) was found by a passerby at 7am on Monday behind the shopping centre at Burleigh Heads, on the Gold Coast

'I love [you] mate and am heartbroken to lose you.'

Paramedics announced Ms O'Shea dead on arrival, as police taped off the surrounds and established a crime scene.

A similar tragedy unfolded in 2015 in Sydney when a man died while trying to shelter from the rain in an inner Sydney charity bin.

A passerby made the gruesome discovery at Rosebery in November of that year after they spotted the 38-year-old man's body dangling out of the charity bin while driving past.

It is believed the man may have been attempting to access the charity bin when he became stuck and sustained fatal injuries.

'We're still trying to establish his identity. There were a number of items down there (in the bin) that we haven't been able to confirm whether they belong to him or belong to someone else,' Inspector Crisafulli said at the scene.
Chennai, April 9 : The Tamil Nadu government on Friday warned that it would impose night curfew if its new Covid-19 restrictions announced on Thursday do not give the desired outcome.

The government announced various restrictions on Thursday which would come into effect from Saturday onwards.

It said it is taking several steps to contain the spread of coronavirus, and appealed to the people extend their cooperation.

As many as 95.55 per cent of the people infected with coronavirus in the state have been cured and the death rate is 1.41 per cent, the government added.
Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell have been keeping a relatively low profile since welcoming their daughter, Grace Warrior, on March 25.

But the new parents shared a gallery of heartwarming photos on Instagram on Friday to update fans on their progress as a family of three.

In the pictures, the loved-up wildlife conservationists gaze sweetly at their little girl as Bindi, 22, holds a sign that reads 'two weeks old'.

Making memories: Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell shared a gallery of heartwarming family photos on Friday, two weeks after welcoming their daughter, Grace Warrior

Chandler, 24, captioned the snaps: 'Two weeks of happiness with my girls. And yes, I'm already that dad who shares baby photos with everyone and I'm proud of it!'

Bindi posed in a black T-shirt while flashing her wedding and engagement rings.

Meanwhile, her husband wore a wildlife-print shirt as he cradled his precious girl, who looked cute as a button in a beige onesie.

Bonding: In the pictures, the loved-up wildlife conservationists gaze sweetly at their little girl as Bindi, 22, holds a sign that reads 'two weeks old'

Gushing: Chandler captioned the snaps, 'Two weeks of happiness with my girls. And yes, I'm already that dad who shares baby photos with everyone and I'm proud of it!'

Bindi and Chandler announced the birth of their daughter on March 26, one day after welcoming the child at Buderim Private Hospital on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Bindi explained her baby's middle name was inspired by her late father, Steve Irwin, who coined the term 'Wildlife Warrior'.

Steve died in September 2006 at the age of 44, after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming a wildlife documentary in Batt Reef, Queensland.

She wrote: 'March 25, 2021. Celebrating the two loves of my life. Happy first wedding anniversary to my sweetheart husband and day of birth to our beautiful daughter.

She's here! Bindi and Chandler announced the birth of their daughter on March 26, one day after welcoming the child at Buderim Private Hospital on Queensland's Sunshine Coast

'Our graceful warrior is the most beautiful light. Grace is named after my great-grandmother, and relatives in Chandler's family dating back to the 1700s.

'Her middle names, Warrior Irwin, are a tribute to my dad and his legacy as the most incredible Wildlife Warrior. Her last name is Powell and she already has such a kind soul just like her dad.'

'There are no words to describe the infinite amount of love in our hearts for our sweet baby girl. She chose the perfect day to be born and we feel tremendously blessed,' she concluded.

Bindi first met Chandler in 2013, when the American former wakeboarder went on a guided tour of Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast.

The pair married on the grounds of the zoo in March last year.
 Flash

The European Commission on Thursday strongly condemned the violence in Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms the acts of violence that have occurred in Northern Ireland over the past days. Nobody has anything to gain from this. We call on all those involved to refrain immediately from these violent acts," declared the commission's chief spokesperson Eric Mamer on Twitter.

Leaders of Britain and Ireland also called for an end to the riots. "The way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or criminality," said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"I utterly condemn the violent attacks on police, a journalist, and bus driver over recent days in The North. Now is the time for the two Governments and leaders on all sides to work together to defuse tensions and restore calm," tweeted Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin.

The Northern Ireland Executive also said Thursday that it is "gravely concerned" by the recent riots in the region in which more than 50 police officers have been injured.

Riots erupted last week in Belfast, Northern Ireland between nationalists, loyalists and the police over the Northern Ireland Protocol, a post-Brexit trading arrangement which they claim has created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain.

The latest development followed several nights of unrest in loyalist communities amid tensions over the Protocol within the Brexit deal between Britain and the European Union.

The Protocol, as an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement, was ratified by both the European Union (EU) and Britain and has been in force since Feb. 1, 2020.

"The protocol was agreed to protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland, to protect the Good Friday and Belfast agreement, to protect North-South cooperation, to avoid a hard border," said European Commission spokesperson for EU-UK relations Daniel Ferrie.

On March 31, the European executive arm received a draft UK-EU work program from the UK, following the bloc's request to be provided with "a credible roadmap with clear deliverables and milestones for the implementation of the protocol," said Ferrie.

The document is currently being reviewed by the European Commission, and contacts at the technical level have been established between the two parties, he added.
Residents of Ingersoll, Mount Haley and Porter townships will have a few extra items to vote for on the May 4 ballot.

The Merrill Community School District Bond proposal suggests the district borrow a principal sum of up to $5.2 million to cover the costs of the following projects:
A 3,000-year-old lost city from Egypts golden era has recently been unearthed.

An Egyptian mission discovered the mortuary city, which had been hidden beneath the sand all this time in the southern province of Luxor.

The archaeologists began their dig last year, and were at first simply looking for a mortuary temple of King Tutankhamun (most widely referred to as King Tut).

They were in for a special surprise, however, when they soon began to excavate a whole city of extraordinarily well-preserved mud brick houses. Tools and artifacts from that time period such as wine vessels, rings, and colored pottery were also still present within the buildings.

In fact, the city was so well-preserved that a press release concerning the discovery stated, The archaeological layers have laid untouched for thousands of years, left by ancient residents as if it were yesterday.

Built on the western bank of the Nile River, archeologist Zahi Hawass explained that the city was in full swing during King Amenhotep IIIs rule, and was once the largest administrative and industrial settlement in the land. The city was then left to Amenhotep IIIs grandsonTutankhamununtil his death and the passing of it to his successor, King Ay.

Many in the field of Egyptology have praised the citys excavation as being one of the most important archaeological discoveries to take place in years. Hawass confirmed that, Many foreign missions searched for this city and never found it.

Further information regarding what else that may have been found in the city remains pending.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
South Africa: Government allocates more for research on health threats

Department of Science and Innovation Director-General, Phil Mjwara, says government through the department is to make a further R25 million to the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA) to continue with health threats researches.

NGS-SA is a network established to rapidly respond to public health threats in South Africa.

Mjwara said government has coordinated a package of responses across the National System of Innovation (NSI) to address South Africas readiness for the impact of COVID-19.

Addressing a webinar on the role of the scientific research in mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic organized jointly by Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) and the National Press Club, Mjwara said the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Biosciences Lab has conducted 16 986 SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests for eight different entities to date.

He said 2800 SARS-CoV-2 whole genomes from South Africa have been produced to date.

Future studies underway to gather data on whether there is any clinical and epidemiological evidence to suggest impact, Mjwara said, adding that the CSIR has been able to leverage its capabilities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This highlights the importance of investing in Research and Development (R&D) capability development in dealing with future crises and opportunities. There are ongoing R&D activities which include developing relevant capabilities in order to fully support the state, Mjwara said.

Mjwara said the CSIR and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) continue to explore the possibility of localising vaccine technology from the Kentucky Bioprocessing (KBP).

There is consideration being given to conducting some phases of clinical development in South Africa as part of the potential technology transfer approach, adjusting technology for new variants.

This approach is necessary given the strain variation that could impact the efficacy of some of the current vaccines, Mjwara said.

Mjwara said the KBP technical team will be engaging with the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) clinical trial expert committee to explore possible strategies on the basis of the KBP vaccine and its properties and the efficacy/clinical trial data accumulated to date.

The capability to be established will be able to produce other high value biotechnology drugs, notably for other infectious diseases, cancer and other chronic diseases.

The vision is that the facility, if established, should be able to supply vaccines and medicines to Sub-Saharan Africa, Mjwara said.

Mjwara said the Centre for Proteomic and Genomic Research (CPGR) provided 20 018 tests to support NHLS.

Also speaking was Chief Executive Officer of the South African Health Products Authority, Dr Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela, who said South Africa participated in a number of ongoing vaccines studies across the world.

We were able to expedite our processes. We were involved in studies for AstraZeneca vaccine, Pfizer vaccine, Johnson & Johnson vaccine studies and a number of other studies that are ongoing, Semete-Makokotlela said.

Semete-Makokotlela said all these are a reflective of the scientific stature of the country and also a reflective of the capability of the country in the area of clinical trials.

It is important for us as the regulator that we play our part in enabling the scientific community in the research community to be able to participate in these studies, she said.

Dr Semete-Makokotlela said South Africa contributed significantly in the data that was generated by the pharmaceutical industry.

South Africa's pharmaceutical sector is worth approximately R20-billion annually. Although there are more than 200 pharmaceutical firms in the country, large companies dominate the field.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Hyderabad, April 9 : Archaeology experts plan to take up digging at a place in Telangana's Jangaon district where a treasure trove was discovered by a realtor while leveling the land on Thursday, Officials from Department of Heritage visited Pembarthy village on Friday and inspected the area where a copper vessel filled with gold and silver ornaments was found.

Following the find, the revenue officials cordoned off the 11 acres of land and deployed police at the site. The officials directed the realtor to stop work till further orders.

After the discovery, district officials along with police reached the spot and took the ornaments in their control under the Indian Treasure Trove Act, 1878.

The pot contained 187 grammes of gold ornaments and 1.727 kg of silver ornaments. According to Additional Collector A. Bhaskar Rao, the pot weighed 1.2 kg. The copper vessel with ornaments was shifted to the Treasury Office in Warangal.

Realtor Mettu Narsimhulu and earthmover driver Ravi were pleasantly surprised when the earthmover hit the pot of golden and silver ornaments including earrings, anklets, necklace, crown, nose beads, rings, chains and sticks.

There was sudden excitement in the village. A large number of curious villagers gathered at the site and some of them started worship by breaking coconut and lighting incense sticks. Few of them demanded the local officials build a temple there.

Those gathered there included a woman whose four sons had sold the land abutting the Warangal-Hyderabad NH-163 to the realtor few years ago.

The jewellery is believed to be of Kaktiya era (12-14th century A.D) but archaeology experts were examining the items recovered to know their historical significance and other details.

The officials decided to take up digging to find out if the plot has more such treasure troves.
The Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Claudiu Nasui, and his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, signed three agreements between Budapest and Hungary in Budapest on Friday, agerpres.ro confirms.

"Today I am in Budapest, where I signed with Peter Szijjarto, my Hungarian counterpart, three agreements between Romania and Hungary. The first is a protocol for the operationalization of the Joint Committee, a structure through which to improve economic cooperation between Romania and Hungary. The second is the agreement for the establishment of the Romania-Hungary Bilateral Chamber of Commerce, a structure through which the Romanian and Hungarian business environment can get closer. The third is the agreement through which we will make the connection between the Satu Mare - Oar express road and the express road Mateszalka - Csenger, which will make possible a faster movement between Romania and Hungary," the official wrote on his Facebook page.

He underscored that he wants the most open relations and the generation of as many business opportunities as possible for the Romanian and Hungarian enterprises, mutually beneficial.
Australian Potash Ltd (ASX:APC) is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Australian Potash hits new high on identifying massive nickel sulphide targets at Laverton Downs

Australian Potash Ltd's (ASX:APC) hit a new record high after ongoing work at its 100%-owned Laverton Downs Project (LDP) returned compelling targets with Kambalda-style massive nickel sulphide potential.

A limited program of Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic (VTEMTM) surveying has returned six well defined conductive plates interpreted to be indicative of massive sulphides.

The geological setting and initial geochemical analysis support the potential for these plates to represent nickel sulphides with three high priority target areas defined and plans for drill testing underway.

Shares have been as much as 56% higher to 25 cents, a new record high for the SOP development company which has a market cap of approximately $88.5 million.



"Similar pathway to Lake Wells Gold Project"

Australian Potash managing director and CEO Matt Shackleton said: "The strength of the VTEMTM targets generated from the first time use of this technology at Laverton Downs is highly encouraging.

"We are following a similar pathway to creating value as we did at the Lake Wells Gold Project where initial low-cost exploration by APC defined targets which attracted a major partner to fund ongoing work.

"Beginning with high-precision geochemical analysis and interpretation by external consultancy CSA Global, we then opportunistically flew a limited VTEMTM program.

"The strength of the EM response at these compelling conductor targets suggests we go directly to a drill program targeting massive nickel sulphide mineralisation."
Though access remains a problem in rural Mississippi, experts say that the state  one of the first to open eligibility to all adults three weeks ago  may be a harbinger of what much of the country will confront in the coming weeks, as increasing supplies enable most Americans who want the vaccine to easily make appointments.

The hesitancy has national implications. Experts say between 70 percent to 90 percent of all Americans must be vaccinated for the country to reach herd immunity, the point at which the virus can no longer spread through the population.

When it comes to rates of vaccination, Mississippi still has a way to go, with just a quarter of all residents having received at least one dose compared to the nationwide average of 33 percent, according to state data. Other southern states, among them Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia, have similarly low rates of vaccination.

A closer look at Mississippis demographics explains why hesitancy may be especially pronounced.The state reliably votes Republican, a group that remains highly skeptical of the coronavirus vaccine. Nearly half of all Republican men and 40 percent of Republicans over all have said they do not plan to get vaccinated, according to several recent surveys. Those figures have barely budged in the months since vaccines first became available. By contrast, just 4 percent of Democrats have said they will not get the vaccine.

Another factor in the states low vaccination rate may be Mississippis large Black community, which comprises 38 percent of the states population but accounts for 31 percent of the doses administered, according to state data. Vaccine hesitancy remains somewhat high among African-Americans, though the doubts and distrust  tied to longstanding neglect by the health care system and past government malfeasance like the notorious Tuskegee syphilis experiments  have markedly declined in recent months.
MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves has declared a massive evacuation on the island of Saint Vincent over the threat of eruption of La Soufriere volcano.

Seismologists have warned that the seismic activity in the crater of La Soufriere shows that the volcano may start to erupt soon.

"I have issued an evacuation order to all residents living in the RED ZONES on the North East and the North West of the island. All residents are asked to act accordingly with immediate effect to ensure their safety and that of their families," Gonsalves wrote on his Twitter page on late Thursday.

The prime minister stressed that the decree on the evacuation would be published on Friday, but the relocation of residents will start immediately.

The most famous eruption of La Soufriere took place on May 6, 1902, and left 1,680 people dead. The most interesting fact about that event is that several days after it, on one of the neighboring islands, Martinique, the eruption of Mount Pelee volcano destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre, killing some 29,000 people.
But as the Pentagon on Friday presented its path forward  a working group will be set up to examine how to better vet recruits and how to better educate service members who may be targeted by extremist organizations  senior Defense Department officials acknowledged that one thing is clear: Rooting out extremist views from a military of 1.3 million active-duty troops drawn from Alaska to Florida will be an uphill slog.

The vast majority of those who serve in uniform and their civilian colleagues do so with great honor and integrity, but any extremist behavior in the force can have an outsized impact, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in a memo on Friday.

The Pentagon is directing all of the military services to ask recruits a standardized set of questions about extremism in its screening questionnaires to help weed out those who might take part in extremist organizations. But that, by itself, will be difficult to enforce  because the Pentagon does not specifically ban membership in many of those groups.

Mr. Austins memo says that the updated screening questionnaires will nonetheless better enable officials to clarify that any demonstrably false answers provided in response could form the basis for punitive action for fraudulent enlistment. A Defense Department official said the Pentagon was still trying to figure out how to avoid running afoul of the First Amendment protections of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

The phrase stand down is used in the military to refer to any issue that the defense secretary decides is important enough that it needs to be addressed through discussions across the force. In the past, stand downs have been employed to address topics as varied as safety concerns, sexual assault and suicide.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said there is racism physically built into United States highways, while discussing a sweeping new proposal that seeks to overhaul the nations ailing infrastructure system and dramatically reinvest in historically disadvantaged communities.

The transportation secretary detailed how some highways in the US were built to accommodate wealthy, white communities while effectively shutting out black communities and furthering racial divisions in an interview with theGrio.

Well if youre in Washington, Im told that the history of that highway is one that was built at the expense of communities of colour in the DC area, Mr Buttigieg said in an interview published this week. There are stories and I think Philadelphia and Pittsburgh [and] in New York, Robert Moses famously saw through the construction of a lot of highways.

His comments come as President Joe Biden promotes a $2.3 trillion plan to reimagine everything from transit infrastructure to environmental justice, as the White House says at least 40 per cent of that investment will go towards disadvantaged communities.

Mr Buttigieg added: There is racism physically built into some of our highways, and thats why the jobs plan has specifically committed to reconnect some of the communities that were divided by these dollars.

Read more:

The transportation secretary said the lack of federal infrastructure projects throughout history in Black and minority communities wasnt just an act of neglect but a conscious choice and added that the plan would be paid for in part through corporate tax hikes.

Mr Biden has touted his infrastructure proposal as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in the countrys roadways, highways and bridges, many of which have low or failing ratings according to engineering groups, as well as modern infrastructure, like broadband and renewable energy.

We are America, the president said in remarks on Wednesday while promoting the recently released proposal. We dont just fix for today, we build for tomorrow.

He added: Two hundred years ago, trains werent traditional infrastructure either until America made a choice to lay down tracks across the country. Highways werent traditional infrastructure until we allowed ourselves to imagine that roads could connect our nation across state lines.
Having a flexible work schedule is attractive to many remote employees. visualspace/Getty Images

Jesper Schultz is the CEO and cofounder of BasicOps, a San Francisco-based task and project management system.

During the pandemic, he allowed his small team to adjust their preferred working hours.

Schultz says the flexibility encourages workers to prioritize their own wellness and be more motivated and productive while working.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

A year of postponed weddings, torn-up plane tickets, and far too many Zoom calls has forced us all to adapt to a new way of life. Beyond personal changes and too much time spent perfecting the art of sourdough bread baking, the workforce has also adapted.

Jesper Schultz is the CEO and cofounder of BasicOps. Jesper Schultz

For better or worse, we've said goodbye to long commutes and water-cooler chats. A new era of remote work has taken its place, bringing far more flexibility than the traditional 9-to-5 ever gave us.

While juggling childcare and crafting an office out of your bedroom closet probably wasn't your idea of work-life balance, there are two sides to every coin, and the pandemic has forced some positive changes in the way we work, too.

Flexibility has become a necessity rather than a luxury. After permitting work schedule flexibility BasicOps, I've seen positive shifts in our employees' overall mindsets and productivity.

Here are the top five benefits of this flexibility that I've witnessed reshaping our workplace.

1. Flexibility leads to higher productivity

There's a myth perpetuated by traditional office culture that our most productive hours happen between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. This schedule may work for a portion of the population, but there's growing evidence that at least half of us operate on an altogether different productivity timeframe - and much that is calculated by our circadian rhythms.

In "Why We Sleep," sleep researcher Matthew Walker describes how up to 50% of us aren't programmed to wake up early. Our genetics determine our circadian rhythms: While you might have no trouble turning in at 10 p.m. and rising at 7 a.m., these hours may force your colleague to wake up far earlier than their natural sleeping patterns.

Story continues

Losing early morning sleep has been linked to poor memory recall, trouble concentrating, poor communication, and lost productivity. Beyond the cognitive difficulties, it's also costly for companies: In a study across four large US companies, researchers found insufficient sleep costs employers almost $2,000 per employee per year.

Companies including Nike and Google allow employees to time their work hours to match their circadian rhythms. Employees at these companies are even encouraged to take cat naps during their workdays, with "nap pods" scattered throughout corporate headquarters. Other than scheduled meeting times, my employees can plan their days as they please. If they're tired after lunch and need a nap, I'm totally fine with that.

2. Remote workers take fewer sick days

The standard workday leaves very little room for the unexpected. The 9 a.m. punch-in doesn't account for a feverish child at home or a rough night of sleep, meaning it's likely your employees will opt to call in sick.

With flexible scheduling, your employees will feel comfortable starting later to get a few extra hours of sleep or tend to a sick child at home. Rather than losing an entire day, employees can start when it suits them.

Rigid working hours lead to higher stress levels, and higher stress weakens our immune systems. One powerful way to help keep your employees healthy is by providing flexibility - that alone will decrease stress and anxiety in their daily lives. They'll take fewer sick days, and you'll likely see more motivated workers, too.

3. Flexible schedules lead to happier employees

If you're skeptical that a flexible schedule can improve happiness levels, look no further than Finland, the happiest country in the world.

Finnish workplace culture is a far cry from the American standard: For nearly 25 years, the Finns have been able to set their work hours - by law. The Working Hours Act, put into law in 1996, allows most workers in Finland to adjust their hours as needed. With that much flexibility and control over their lives, it's not surprising that the Finns are happier than, well, everyone.

By offering a working agreement that mimics the Finns, you're allowing your employees to incorporate personal errands such as picking up the kids, attending courses, or exercise, all of which will make it far easier for your employee to juggle life and work. They'll be less stressed, more productive, and feel more balanced.

At BasicOps, all employees have the opportunity to take weekdays off and make up the time over the weekend if that works better for them. One of our employees takes hikes every Wednesday, which I think is great.

4. Communicate more effectively with flexible work

This may come as a surprise, but communication is far more efficient when an employee works from home or works on a flexible schedule. Between excessive coffee breaks and idle chit-chat, there's a surprising amount of time wastage in the office place.

With the pandemic has come a heavy adoption of workflow management software programs. While these programs existed pre-pandemic, the work-from-home mandates made them all the more necessary to keep projects and collaboration flowing.

Flexible and remote workers are far more likely to use these platforms to connect with colleagues than those who are in the office on a rigid schedule. By adopting such platforms, communication among teams becomes far more streamlined and efficient, saving everyone time and energy.

5. A flexible work culture improves employee retention

Work-life balance is the Holy Grail of today's professionals. Millennials (who now make up the largest generation in the US workforce) and Gen Z both place a high value on achieving that balance, so finding and retaining new talent will be likely more successful with flex work.

Perhaps most importantly, a flexible working agreement indicates trust and transparency between employee and employer. That not only puts employees at ease but also improves productivity.

While flexibility has been somewhat forced upon all of us during these pandemic times, it's become clear that there is a silver lining for both business and employees. The era of micromanagement is dying and flexibility must be embraced in order to keep moving forward.

Jesper Schultz is the CEO and cofounder of BasicOps, an easy-to-use internet-based platform and intuitive digital hub that enables team collaboration and communication across tasks and projects.

Read the original article on Business Insider
RI residents can deduct up to $1000 from taxes with CollegeBound Saver Tweet this

Rhode Island's CollegeBound Saver and CollegeBound 529 plans are the only plans that allow Rhode Island residents to deduct savings from their state taxes. Individuals can deduct up to $500 in CollegeBound contributions and joint-filing households can deduct up to $1000. While Rhode Island residents must contribute to a CollegeBound plan to receive a deduction on their state taxes, CollegeBound is available to residents in any state.

"As a former public-school teacher, I know how important it is to plan ahead for higher education opportunities that open up for your child," said Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner, whose office administers CollegeBound. "In 2016, I overhauled the CollegeBound program to make it easier than ever to save."

"If you are expecting a refund this tax season, a contribution to CollegeBound Saver could mean that next year's refund is even bigger," continued Magaziner. "Whether you want to contribute a little from each paycheck or when you have extra cash, CollegeBound allows you to save in the way that is best for you. You can even give friends and relatives a code to contribute directly into your child's account."

CollegeBound Saver makes it easy and affordable to save for future education related expenses. Designed to work for any schedule or budget, savings in a CollegeBound account can earn tax-free interest when used for education related expenses like tuition, housing, books, and even meal plans.

Opening an account takes 10 minutes and there is no minimum to get started. Visit CollegeBoundSaver.com to start saving today.

SOURCE CollegeBound Saver

Related Links

http://www.CollegeBoundSaver.com


Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) CEO Ezekiel Mutua took his infamous morality cop and deputy Jesus tags a notch higher on Wednesday as he lashed out at Kenyans for complaining about corruption.

In a series of posts on Twitter, Mutua accused Kenyans of double standards saying most of them are corrupt but only lack an opportunity to practice the vice.

Most Kenyans are corrupt, they only lack the opportunity to steal. You can rant till cows come home, but majority of the people making noise on social media always elect their corrupt tribal kingpins, in the hope of eating together. Its all about the opportunity to eat. SAD! read one of the tweets.

The tweet drew a reply from US-based scholar Prof Makau Mutua who jokingly tested Mutuas resolve against receiving bribes.

Right daktari, BUT I hope you are not saying you wont censor a same-sex movie if I bribe you! Makau Mutua tweeted.

In his response, Ezekiel Mutua dared Makau Mutua to try and bribe adding that he turned such overtures when he banned the lesbian film, Rafiki.

Try! When I banned Rafiki, I got such overtures. LGBT guys wanted that film so bad that they were willing to bribe people to get it approved. I stood my ground. Someone more senior was compromised and wrote a letter terminating my contract. He himself was sacked so publicly! said the moral cop.

In another tweet, Ezekiel Mutua took aim at Kenyans complaining about bad governance.

Those shouting about corruption and bad governance are the ones who demand for money from people vying for political offices. They do not elect leaders on their ability to lead, but on the basis of who can give handouts. Its difficult to be elected in Kenya without money, he tweeted.

Mutua further spared some words for social media bullies and keyboard warriors. He told them: You are the most irresponsible people on earth. You have no moral authority to demand accountability from anyone when you hide behind anonymity to insult people. You do it with impunity because you cant be held to account!
BOMBAY SAPPHIRE has been disrupting the category ever since its iconic blue bottle landed on shelves within a sea of green glass. Now, with the introduction of the new BOMBAY SAPPHIRE & TONIC, fans can expect a drink that stays true to the brand's long-standing commitment to only the finest ingredients.

The RTD trend is increasing across the US, driven by consumer demand for drink options that are easy to enjoy to-go and on-the-go. Working together, Master of Botanicals, Ivano Tonutti and Master Distiller, Dr. Anne Brock, spent time refining a formula that answers the demand for a product that doesn't forego quality for the sake of convenience.

Natasha Curtin, Global Vice President for BOMBAY SAPPHIRE comments: "Following the successful launch in Europe earlier this year, I am pleased to announce the latest addition to our growing portfolio, which hits shelves nationwide in April 2021. We're extremely proud to say that we've created an RTD befitting the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE name in terms of taste, quality and ingredients. We look forward to shaking up this category with sophisticated options that promise to be unrivalled when it comes to taste."

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE & TONIC is also available in a more mindful option, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE & LIGHT TONIC. With only 90 calories and 0 sugar, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE & LIGHT TONIC offers balance-seekers a more mindful drink experience without compromising on taste. Both BOMBAY SAPPHIRE & TONIC and BOMBAY SAPPHIRE & LIGHT TONIC are best enjoyed cold, straight from the fridge. Whatever the occasion, whether it is al-fresco events, relaxing at home, entertaining friends or on the move, the pre-mix is skillfully crafted to showcase the signature citrus notes of BOMBAY SAPPHIRE gin. Delivering against the promise of quality, the final product contains no artificial flavours or colors.

The sleek, matte finish packaging has been carefully designed to preserve the standard of the serve both on-shelf and once purchased. The material helps protect the liquid from sunlight, keeping it fresher and colder for longer. Available in a pack of four, both the can and cardboard holder are 100% recyclable.

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE & TONIC and BOMBAY SAPPHIRE & LIGHT TONIC will be available to purchase online at Drizly.

For more information on BOMBAY SAPPHIRE and products please visit www.BombaySapphire.com.

For press inquiries, please contact Elaine Fintel at [email protected].

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About BOMBAY SAPPHIRE

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE is the world's number one premium gin by value and volume (IWSR). Based on a 1761 recipe, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE gin is created by perfectly balancing a unique combination of 10 hand-selected exotic botanicals from around the world. The BOMBAY SAPPHIRE distillery at Laverstoke Mill has won a BREEAM award for sustainability and is the home of the unique Vapour Infusion process, where the natural flavours of the botanicals are skilfully captured, resulting in the fresh and vibrant taste with which BOMBAY SAPPHIRE is synonymous.

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE has recently been awarded the prestigious Double Gold and Gold medal at the 17th San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC).

The BOMBAY SAPPHIRE brand is part of the portfolio of Bacardi Limited, headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. Bacardi Limited refers to the Bacardi group of companies, including Bacardi International Limited.

ABOUT BOMBAY SAPPHIRE AND CREATIVITY

Launching the 'Stir Creativity' campaign in 2018, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE is leading a global mission - a call to arms for everyone to engage with their creativity and unlock their creative potential. From advocacy programmes including World's Most Imaginative Bartender competition running in the US for the last 14 years to hosting The Glasshouse Project, a global advocacy programme bringing together the world's top bartenders in a series of creative workshops designed to push the boundaries of cocktail creativity.

For ten years, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE has run The Artisan Series, an art competition created by the brand to provide emerging artists with an international platform. The brand has also partnered with well-known artists and creators such as Tracey Emin, Thomas Heatherwick and Tom Dixon for the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Designer Glassware Competition.

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SOURCE BOMBAY SAPPHIRE
Here are some key questions and answers about The Chronicles investigation of winemaker and Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli, who has been accused of sexual assault by five women in connection with encounters between 2002 and 2019. Foppoli, 38, has denied the allegations.

Who is Dominic Foppoli?

Dominic Foppoli is the mayor of Windsor, a small town in the heart of Wine Country, and the co-owner of Christopher Creek Winery outside Healdsburg. He was also recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District in Sonoma County. Foppoli was first appointed mayor by the Windsor Town Council in 2018.

He graduated from high school in Santa Rosa, attended Dominican University of California in San Rafael and, at 22, was elected vice chairman of the Sonoma County Republican Partys executive committee. In 2014, at the age of 32, he was elected the youngest council member in the towns history. In 2016, he became the towns vice mayor. In recent years, he has started a series of wine and beer ventures.

What are the allegations?

Five women are accusing Foppoli of sexual assault, describing incidents they say happened between 2002 and 2019. Four of the women, who do not know each other, told The Chronicle that Foppoli isolated and assaulted them after nights of drinking. The fifth said he abused her during a three-year relationship. Reporters interviewed family members, witnesses and friends, and reviewed social media messages, journal entries and other documents in an effort to corroborate the womens accounts. The Chronicle also obtained a 2017 email containing an additional allegation of sexual misconduct against Foppoli, who the complainant said tried to remove a womans bathing suit without her consent in 2013.

What is Foppolis response to the allegations?

Foppoli declined The Chronicles requests for an interview, but his attorney, Bethany Kristovich, said he categorically denies having engaged in any of the abuses described. (A fifth woman, the one who reported abuse during a long-term relationship, spoke to The Chronicle after this statement was released; Foppoli did not immediately comment on her account.) In the emailed statement, the attorney went on to say:

Sexual assault and sexual misconduct are very serious issues, and Mr. Foppoli takes these allegations very seriously. He has a long history of supporting women in his business, personal, and political lives, and the accusation that he has engaged in any of these misdeeds is deeply troubling. Mr. Foppoli prides himself on working to improve life for all of his constituents, and he will continue to maintain the fundamental value of treating everyone with respect.

What is the response from local officials and the community?

Windsor officials, in a statement released on the towns Facebook page, have called the allegations shocking and horrible and said, The conduct described in the article published by the San Francisco Chronicle is not acceptable nor does it reflect the values or standards we hold ourselves to as a community.

Within a day of the publication of The Chronicles investigation Thursday morning, more than a dozen state and local lawmakers demanded that Foppoli resign, including every colleague on the towns elected council and the North Bays two congressional representatives.

The eight mayors from the other cities and towns in Sonoma County released a joint statement saying Foppoli should step down. As your local elected leaders, they wrote, we are committed to ending sexual violence in Sonoma County and believe the actions by a fellow Mayor should not be tolerated.

The Russian River Winegrowers Association announced Friday afternoon that it had begun the process to terminate Foppolis winery Christopher Creek from its membership. Additionally, Joe Foppoli, Dominics brother and a co-owner of Christopher Creek, was on the groups board of directors; he was asked to resign and accepted. As an organization we feel that we need to respond forcefully to these allegations, said Clark Lystra, president of the associations board of directors. The allegations were extensively corroborated, and theyre very disturbing.

Why are these allegations coming out now?

None of the women has filed a lawsuit, nor did they go to the police in the past, explaining that they felt shame at the time and wanted to move forward from the episodes. The women told The Chronicle that Foppolis growing political aspirations, and the increasing possibility that he would hold power beyond Windsor, made them willing to publicly share their allegations for the first time.

What will happen to Foppoli? Can he face legal trouble?

The Sonoma County Sheriffs Office has opened a criminal investigation into the allegations against Foppoli detailed in the Chronicle investigation.

These allegations are troubling, shocking and, if verified through our investigation, they constitute criminal actions, and we will prosecute them to the fullest extent, Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said. As a 28-year cop this affects me not only as a member of the community, but as the father of a 21-year-old daughter. This really hits home.

It was not immediately clear whether Foppoli could face criminal charges; as of this week, none of the women who spoke to The Chronicle had filed police reports, and in some cases the legal statute of limitations for prosecution may have passed.

Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said she has assigned the chief deputy district attorney to review and analyze the allegations made against Foppoli.

But even if county prosecutors speak to the women and find evidence of wrongdoing, they may have limited ability to file charges. California, where three of the alleged assaults occurred, has an intricate and evolving set of laws governing the time limit for bringing charges in sexual assault cases.

Annie Vainshtein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avainshtein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annievain
SECOND NATURE

Scenes From a World Remade

By Nathaniel Rich

On average, an American man puts 85 man-made chemicals into his body every day, while an American woman takes in nearly twice that amount.

Rich tourists pay top dollar for disaster tours to gawk at New Orleanss Katrina-devastated Lower Ninth Ward, where the people who have remained struggle to survive.

In Aspen, Colo., dogs fly in private jets to Billionaire Mountain to join their owners in multimillion-dollar homes for two weeks of the year.

Cattle exposed to DuPonts toxic chemicals drool uncontrollably and birth stillborn calves. Their teeth turn black, and blood gushes from their noses, mouths and rectums. When they are cut open, they are found to be filled with giant tumors, collapsed veins and green muscles.
Zelensky to pay working visit to Turkey on April 10  president's press service

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will pay a working visit to Turkey on April 10, the president's press service has said.

"The head of state will meet with President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan," the website of the head of state said.

The ninth meeting of the Turkey-Ukraine High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council will be held under the co-chairmanship of the presidents of the two states.

In addition, a number of bilateral documents are planned to be signed during the visit.
2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Prince William community has proven resilient. The Prince William Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning --

4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS.

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As we get closer to September 2021, the hype for the iPhone 13 is through the roof. In fact, several speculations have leaked and speculated online as to what feature the new Apple iteration might offer.

Now, latest rumors suggest that the upcoming iOS phone may have an upgraded storage capacity and some incredible new color variants.

iPhone 13 to Offer 1TB of Memory and awesome Color Hues

Softpedia News cited a French report that laims the iPhone 13 could have an improved memory capacity of 1TB. However, the publication does not state what iPhone 13 variants Apple could implement the feature on. It is most likely that the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Max Pro versions will get a 1TB of internal memory upgrade, according to previous iPhone releases.

Currently, the iPhone 12 has a max memory capacity of 512GB, which could mean that Apple is planning to upgrade its memory cap for the iPhone 13. Also, there is a higher chance that the Cupertino-based company will boost the internal memory of the upcoming device to compete against Android phones.

However, if Apple decides to add 1TB of memory for the iPhone 13, this could mean that iCloud services could become obsolete in the future since Apple users tend to purchase more storage from the cloud, where it is automatically stored in the company's database.

Also Read: iPhone 13 Rumors Hint Use of Samsung's LTPO Displays: Release Date, Specs and More

This could also mean that the 1TB iPhone 13 variant might have a higher price range from other iPhone iterations. Consumers should expect that the upcoming device could have a $100-$200 increase over the 512GB configuration.

On other news, YouTuber EverythingApplePro E A P claimed that the upcoming iPhone 13 would have new features such as a fresh lens style, matte black color variant, new fingerprint coating, compact batteries, portless design and new colors.

The YouTuber stated that Apple has reworked its graphite/grey space colors of the iPhone 13 and turned it into a "Borderline Black," which means that the iPhone 13 would come with a matte black color scheme, like what the company did previously for the iPhone 10 in 2017.

The tech giant would also reportedly look at the current bronze or copper colors that have been validated on the first step. EAP stated that Apple has been experimenting with Orange as well, and currently, it is now past Stage 1 on production validation. However, the YouTuber said that the Orange hue would not make it to launch.

iPhone 13 Release Date: Will it Be Launched Early?

Forbes reported that a Taiwanese publication stated that the iPhone 13 could have an early release date since the tech giant's chipmaker, TSMC, is way ahead of manufacturing the A15 chipset. The chipset manufacturing was reported to start production by the end of May, but current reports suggest that it has already begun.

A May shipping could mean that Apple has started manufacturing the iPhone 13 to pre-pandemic levels. By comparison, the iPhone 12 A14 chipset did not enter initial production until the end of June, resulting in an October 23 launch of the iPhone 12.

Related Article: iPhone 13 Rumored to Have Up to 1TB of Storage--But Is Apple Way Behind Samsung and Asus?
Jessamyn Smyth hopes that two shots in the arm may be what finally delivers her from a year in which the lasting effects of Covid-19 wreaked chaos in her life.

Smyth says that after coming down with an acute infection in March 2020, she continued experiencing a constellation of health issues. For months, she has suffered from breathlessness, irregular and rapid heartbeat, diarrhea, and unusual skin rashes. Like many "long haulers," Smyth's fatigue was a constant "knock-down-pass-out-for-15-hours pathological exhaustion," she explained in an email to CNN.

A writer and humanities professor in Holyoke, Massachusetts, she had difficulty even recalling basic words she used every day, such as "punctuation."

Her life as a scholar and an avid swimmer had crumbled.

"In the end, I lost two jobs, the end of my mother's cognitive life and her transition into dementia care, a partner and home, all financial securityand, I feared, my life and identity as an endurance swimmer (and) athlete," she said.

But then she got her vaccine.

An instant recovery

Within a couple of weeks, her fatigue and cognitive issues were "noticeably better," she said. Her rashes were gone. And after her second Pfizer dose, on February 24, her symptoms kept improving.

Stories like Smyth's are gathering steam on social media, offering a tantalizing possibility when specialized clinics don't seem to have the answers for how to treat them. A portion of long haulers could be having vaccine-induced relief. If so, it could be a game-changer for the growing number of people experiencing long-term health issues and even disability; 10% to 30% of those who contract Covid-19 experience long-term symptoms, according to the National Institutes of Health. However, experts aren't yet certain about the science on why this could be happening or how long patients' improvement might last.

In Smyth's case, her resting heart rate, which she had often clocked at 150 beats per minute post-Covid, was back to the strong, slow throb of an endurance athlete, around 50 to 60. (Most healthy adults have resting heart rates between 60 and 100, with those on the lower end having greater protection against heart attacks, according to Harvard Medical School).

"My skin was different. My brain was different. I began to feel like myself for the first time in a year," she said.

Judy Dodd is another Covid-19 long hauler, sick for a year, who is suddenly improving after her Pfizer vaccination. She might be back to 90% of how she felt before she got sick, she says.

"After my second vaccine, the next day I had a high fever, and I followed up with a couple of days of fatigue and severe headaches," she said on CNN on Tuesday. "And then I woke up, it was a Sunday morning ... day four ... And it was like those coffee commercials you see and the sun is just coming up. I felt great. Attitude change. I woke up ready to go. I have energy now. The shortness of breath is gone. The headaches are gone. Mainly the fatigue is gone."

The science is still coming together

So far, large, formal studies about vaccine recoveries are in short supply.

One recent observational study in the United Kingdom is available in preprint as it has not yet undergone peer review. It compared how those hospitalized with Covid-19 fared after vaccination versus previously hospitalized Covid-19 patients who didn't receive their shots. Some 23% of those vaccinated reported symptom resolution, while 15% of unvaccinated participants also said they felt better.

That study had a small sample size of 44 patients, and while statistically significant, the portion who improved wasn't very large.

"The issue is thus far that it's anecdotal," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 17. "Many people get better anyway, and if you get vaccinated and get better, you are not sure whether it's the vaccine or the spontaneous recovery. So you'll have to do a randomized trial in order to determine that."

Still, though, anecdotal reports can start to stack up, especially for doctors who have been treating long haulers for months.

"It's getting to be a large number of reports, hundreds of reports of patients that we've been caring for with Covid almost a year now," said Dr. Daniel Griffin, chief of infectious disease at ProHealth and an instructor in clinical medicine at Columbia University. "They are reporting that following vaccination they're having significant, if not complete, resolution of their long Covid symptoms."

He estimated that as many as 30% to 40% of his long Covid patients said they were feeling better after vaccinations, and the boost in energy and mental clarity appeared to be coming from all three vaccines currently authorized in the US.

CNN reached out to the three companies -- Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson -- whose vaccines have been authorized in the US. A spokeswoman for Pfizer noted that the company "may capture long term symptoms in individuals who've had Covid" as part of its clinical trials, and that it could choose to look into the question as part of a post hoc analysis of its studies.

Figuring out why vaccines improve long Covid could be a clue into why the persistent symptoms occur in the first place.

"One of the theories to explain long Covid was that maybe there's a subset of individuals -- unfortunately a larger subset than any of us would like to believe -- who could not clear the virus," Griffin said. "But then they get the vaccine. Now they're able to have a proper, robust immune response. That may be what it takes to clear the virus."

That squares with what Dr. Kartik Sehgal, a medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an instructor at Harvard Medical School, believes could be ailing long haulers.

"One of the hypotheses is that this is virus-related, meaning that viruses are hiding behind in the form of a reservoir in the body, whether the actual virus or the genetic material of the virus which is causing long lasting, low level inflammation," said Sehgal, who co-authored a recent review article about long Covid in Nature Medicine.

Sehgal and Griffin both ventured another hypothesis: Long Covid could cause persistent immune dysfunction even after SARS-CoV-2 had left the body. From that perspective, the mRNA vaccines distributed by Pfizer and Moderna, which teach the immune system how to respond to a spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus, could represent what Griffin called a "hard reset for the immune system."

However, anecdotal reports suggest the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which doesn't use mRNA, may also be instigating long Covid recoveries, and doesn't jostle the immune systems in the same way.

Since there are reports of alll three vaccines helping some long haulers, it's likely they're fighting an infection, rather than fixing lingering immune dysfunction caused by the virus.

"It's starting to get several of us thinking that maybe the viral persistence theory is the most persuasive based upon the data that we have," Griffin said.

It's too soon to tell, though, if vaccine remissions are permanent, or if long haulers are likely to relapse back to their same symptoms.

So far, none of Griffin's patients who reported vaccine-induced recoveries had relapsed, but it's still early. Through his position as a senior fellow for United Health Group, he is studying 10,000 people over five years and has built questions about the vaccine into the study's questionnaires.

"I am very curious about the durability of this response," he said.

Vaccine recoveries aren't happening for everyone

But while some long haulers say they improved after the vaccine, they appear to be in the minority.

Some 347 days into his journey with Covid-19, Maneesh Juneja, a digital health consultant in the UK, has kept close track of how his symptoms switch off and on at different points over the past year.

He regularly deals with "horrible brain pressure" that makes him feel like his brain is about to "explode," or fatigue making it feel impossible to lift his head off his pillow.

In the weeks leading up to his first vaccine dose, Juneja's symptoms were a "mixed bag," he explained, getting a bit of work done some days, while being totally non-functional on others.

When the day came for his vaccine, he was unlucky. His symptoms revved up again.

"I do feel worse in the three weeks after the vaccine versus the three weeks before the vaccine," he wrote via email. "However, there is no way of knowing if the vaccine triggered my relapse or if it was just going to happen anyway during the normal course of my illness."

He argued that his experiences like his underscore the importance of more recognition and research for long Covid, as quick fixes for most patients are still fleeting.

"Many of the early insights into long Covid and the impact of the vaccine have come from patient-led research," he said. "But not every long Covid patient is part of an online patient community, so we do need more comprehensive research to really understand what impact the vaccine has on long Covid patients."

(Corrects spelling of Dr. Kartik Sehgal)
KYODO NEWS - Apr 9, 2021 - 16:53 | World, All

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin on Thursday expressed "shared concerns" over the massing of Chinese "maritime militia vessels" in the South China Sea, the U.S. State Department said.

The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the same day that its aircraft and ships, such as the nuclear-powered Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, conducted exercises in the South China Sea on Friday local time "in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific."

During their telephone talks, Blinken reaffirmed the applicability of the U.S.-Philippine mutual defense treaty to the sea, in parts of which the Philippines and China have competing ownership claims.

The top diplomats also repeated their calls on China to abide by a 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration that invalidated China's historical claim over much of the South China Sea, according to department spokesman Ned Price.

The Philippines and China have been trading barbs over the massing of Chinese vessels in the area of Whitsun Reef, known in the Philippines as Julian Felipe Reef and in China as Niu'e Jiao, in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

The vessels have been staying there since they were spotted in early March.

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has called on the vessels to leave the area, which lies within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

But the Chinese Embassy in Manila has said the reef is part of China and that the vessels have recently taken shelter near the reef due to rough sea conditions.

At their talks, Blinken and Locsin also indicated plans to enhance bilateral and multilateral cooperation on South China Sea issues.

Friday's U.S. naval exercises in the sea involved the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group with members of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the Makin Island amphibious assault ship and two other ships, according to the 7th Fleet.

Two aircraft carrier strike groups from the Navy conducted a joint exercise in February in the South China Sea, in the first such exercise since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January.

China has rattled the region in recent years through large-scale island-building and base construction activities in the sea.
The Defense Department plans to add questions about current or past extremist behavior to screening questionnaires given to troops during the accession process, part of an effort to eliminate radicalism from the ranks.

And recruits who provide demonstrably false answers to the questions could find themselves subject to punishment for fraudulent enlistment, according to a Friday memo signed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The review and standardization of accession screening questionnaires is one of several actions the Pentagon announced Friday in its anti-extremism effort.

Read Next: 140 Former NatSec Officials Demand 9/11-Style Commission on Capitol Riots

Austin's memo also establishes a new anti-extremism working group, and commissions a study to gauge the scope of how prevalent extremist behavior is in the force.

The SecDef also ordered the department to immediately review and update regulations to better define extremist activities that uniformed troops are prohibited from taking part in.

And service secretaries will update transition checklists for service members who are retiring or separating, to alert them about how they -- and their unique and valuable leadership, organizational, weapons and other military skills -- might be targeted for recruitment by extremist groups.

Concerns about troops possessing extremist views -- such as white supremacist or anti-government ideologies -- have grown in recent years, and gained fresh urgency after the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot. Arrest records show several accused rioters had served in the military.

In early February, shortly after taking charge of the Pentagon, Austin ordered all units to hold stand-downs to discuss extremism in the ranks. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters Friday that, aside from a few units that needed extensions, those stand-downs are largely finished.

But even as the Pentagon reviews what was learned in those sessions, the military will take several immediate steps to address problems, Austin wrote in the memo.

The working group will make sure the changes are put in place and develop additional mid- and long-term recommendations to keep working on eliminating extremism, Austin added.

The working group will study whether the Uniform Code of Military Justice or other related DoD policies and regulations need to be updated to properly address extremist behavior in the ranks.

It will study how the services' existing insider threat programs are handling extremist activity, and find out whether the department needs to do more to help these programs collect and share information with law enforcement and security organizations, as well as commanders and supervisors.

The working group will also review the Pentagon's effort to acquire scalable, cost-effective ways to screen publicly available information during the accessions and vetting process for national security positions.

And it will examine existing training programs on extremism and insider threats to see whether any improvements need to be made.

The group will be led by Bishop Garrison, the Defense Department's senior adviser on human capital and diversity, equity and inclusion. It will have its first meeting on or around April 14, the memo states, and will issue its recommendations within 90 days.

During the press conference Friday, Kirby said it became clear during the stand-down process that troops want better guidance about what extremist activity is. That is one reason Austin stood up the working group and put other changes in place.

"A consistent theme that he heard was a hunger for more information and context about what we're talking about here," Kirby said.

But the memo does not go so far as to ban troops from simply belonging to extremist organizations. Currently, troops are not barred from membership in such groups, but active participation -- such as taking a leadership role or fundraising -- could result in separation or other punishment.

Kirby said Austin wants the working group to study whether such a change needs to be made.

However, because these groups are so malleable and change so quickly, and because radicalization happens in so many different ways, outlawing membership won't be as simple as changing a few words in regulations "with a stroke of a pen," he added.

Kirby stressed that the military is interested in stopping unacceptable behavior and conduct motivated or influenced by ideology, not singling out troops for their religious or other beliefs.

"This is not about being the thought police," he said. "It's not about identifying you as an individual and what's in between your ears. It's about what you do with what's between your ears. It's about the behavior and the conduct that is inspired by or influenced by this kind of ideology."

Kirby said that training departing service members, as part of the transition process, about potential recruitment by extremist groups will prepare them to watch out for such efforts -- "to know what it looks like and what it feels like, what it sounds like when these groups are trying to recruit them."

"When you get ready to leave the service, [we make sure you know] what your medical benefits are, what your educational benefits are, how to buy a new house. There's a whole list," Kirby said. "In some cases, when you retire, they even tell you how to pick a suit and a tie. But there's nothing in there -- not consistently, anyway -- about this particular [extremist recruiting] problem."

Austin also wants the working group to see whether it's possible to better track when troops are kicked out for extremist behavior.

And the working group will look at how much and how consistently the insider threat programs are addressing extremism, Kirby said.

"It is an issue ... that the secretary believes we need a little bit more clarity on, and that's going to take some time," he said.

-- Stephen Losey can be reached at stephen.losey@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StephenLosey.

Related: 2 Charged with Spraying Slain Officer, an Air Force Veteran, During Capitol Riot
Azerbaijan is an important country for the UN, Chairman of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Volkan Bozkir, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan, told reporters.

According to the UN representative, at the meetings to be held these days, the key discussions will be on the topics of water supply, electricity and ecology.

"Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has taken important steps at the UN to combat COVID-19," Trend cited Bozkir as saying.
Appointment

9 April 2021

An innovative and enthusiastic sales and marketing executive, Danielle Boyles brings proven expertise and thoughtful leadership to Grand Hyatt Vail. Eager to celebrate the year round appeal that the Vail Valley has to offer and the resort's extensive array of experiences, Boyles is committed to showcasing Hyatt's first Grand Hyatt hotel within a world-class U.S. mountain resort destination.

Returning to the Hyatt family and with over 20 years sales and marketing experience, Boyles is no stranger to the hospitality business. Before joining the Grand Hyatt Vail team, Boyles spent several years in various sales and marketing executive positions across noteworthy industry leaders including ConferenceDirect as Chief Sales Officer, Hyatt Hotels as Opening Director of Sales and Marketing, HelmsBriscoe as Vice President and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts in the Canadian Rockies as Director of Sales and Marketing.

As a native of Toronto, Canada, Boyles holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree with honors from Carleton University, and obtained Digital Marketing, Marketing Strategy and Revenue Management certificates from Cornell University's School of Business as well as a Women in Leadership certificate from Meetings Professionals International. As the Director of Sales and Marketing for Grand Hyatt Vail, Boyles will oversee the resort's sales and marketing teams and be responsible for leading brand awareness and revenue generating initiatives.
Karnataka: The story of Jakkur lake sets an example for inclusive rejuvenation projects

April 09,2021 | Source: Money Control

Morning walkers, residents of nearby residential complexes, vouch for the beauty and serenity of Jakkur Lake in Bengaluru and completely endorse and support the rejuvenation of the fairly large water body in their area. Administration and local agencies are mighty proud of the project  which involved fencing, cleaning of sewage and garbage and aiding biodiversity. Environmentalists and naturalists are enthused by the arrival and staying of birds. However, this much-documented success story has a crucial stakeholder, that has played an integral part in the success story  the fishing community.



-- The poor condition of lakes in Bengaluru and subsequent revival efforts have been under scrutiny and public discourse for several years now.



-- Jakkur Lake in north Bengaluru has received many accolades for creating and sustaining the rejuvenation and conservation initiative.



-- The lake supports and provides livelihoods for 70 fishermen families and their role has been crucial to the success of the lake rejuvenation project.



-- Jockim, a fisherman, and other members of his community rue the general attitude to keep local communities out of conservation plans and not recognise their contribution.



Jockim is one of the leading members of the fishing community that depends on the lake for its livelihood and is also part of the conservation initiative. But it doesnt stop at that. In fact, without the help, support and active participation of the community and without any major differences with other stakeholders, the management of the lake would have been impossible.



Jakkur is one of the 51 lakes in the city, artificially created in the 16th century. It is a crucial urban wetland for Bengaluru, in the absence of any other waterbodies such as rivers or the sea. The lake supports and provides livelihoods for 70 fishing families and 30 cattle owners/grass cutters and their role has been crucial to the success of the lake rejuvenation project. The lake has been managed by a citizens group with Bengalurus municipal corporation (BBMP) since 2015. Prior to that, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) had completed fencing and cleaning before handing it over.



Rejuvenating Jakkur



Jakkur Lake, constructed over 200 years ago, had become a site for sewage and garbage dumping, in recent decades, like most of the other lakes in the city. In 2005, the BDA took up the project to rejuvenate a few lakes, Jakkur was one of them. They worked on it for from 2008 till about 2010-11. The BDA took charge of desilting, fencing and sewage treatment and completed the revival of the lake. Once most of the work was done by 2012, they handed over the lake to Bengalurus municipal corporation (BBMP) and the citizens group. Post the handover, the lake has been managed by the BBMP with citizens group Jalaposhan since 2015. The BBMP, as the custodian of the lake, has its various departments undertake different tasks of lake management such as sewage treatment, checking quality of water, water pollution, maintenance of biodiversity in the wetlands, construction of pathways and maintenance of bunds. The Fisheries department meanwhile, works with the fishing community for the formation of society, and monitoring of fishing, sales, cleaning of the lake, etc. Around 197 species of birds are found at the lake. These include pelicans, who have made Jakkur their home and no longer migrate. There are nests of peacocks as well, indicating that the flora and fauna are in healthy condition now. The fishermen fish upto 500 kg of fish on good days during the fishing season from the lake.



The fishing community has been a proactive stakeholder among all the others. It is primarily responsible for the maintenance and conservation of water in the lake. Though the communitys livelihoods depend on it and hence it is invested in the lakes upkeep, the people are also on board for eco-friendly practices and working as a multiple-stakeholder community to enable conversation of biodiversity and upkeep of the lake in the best possible way. For example, at the moment they are busy cleaning up the rampant growth of water hyacinth, which is detrimental to the overall health of the lake.



Jockim, 45, has a quiet, confident presence. He takes a long time to open up and even after that, he speaks little. He is well aware of the role he and his people play in keeping Jakkur Lake as beautiful and ecologically thriving. However, he is also deeply aware of the fact that the urban idea of conservation often seeks to keep traditional dwellers out. Fishermen are the main people for a lake to thrive, he says. If fishermen are there, the birds will come. We are the only people entering the water and we understand it from generations. His family, like many others in the vicinity, has always depended on fishing. They lived nearby and fished in Rachenahalli lake, very close to Jakkur lake (it gets its water from Jakkur too) and moved to Jakkur sometime in 2006.



Jockim witnessed the lakes degeneration and the subsequent efforts of Bangalore Development Authority to clean and rejuvenate it. He has been part of the community initiative to maintain the lake from the very beginning and brought with him the entire fishing community. The BBMP website about the lake says, Jakkur Lake is an example of collective action  the implementation of a node for social and scientific innovation to help improve the lake ecosystem and social relations among stakeholders. Jakkur Lake is one of the largest lakes in the grid of man-made lakes in the city and is located in the north eastern part of Bengaluru.



Unplanned development in the area surrounding the lake had led to solid waste filling its feeder channels. This choked the natural watershed so much that the lake resembled a dumping yard. Jakkur Lake interestingly has a very well-designed wetland system. According to the BBMP website, a wetland is a complex assemblage of water, substrate, plants (vascular and algae), litter (primarily fallen plant material), invertebrates and an array of micro-organisms (most importantly bacteria), as defined by the US Environmental Protection Agency.



Annapurna Kamath, of Jalaposhan, the NGO that was registered to partner officially with BBMP to manage the lake, says the primary goal of conservation has to be inclusive. You cannot assume that you have some privilege because you are environmentally inclined and the rest of the world is not interested. Fishermen community have been here much before us, they know the lake very well. Initially, some people said fishermen community are a threat, birds get threatened by fishing and all that. But we believed they had a role because fishing community understands water the best and the ecosystem as well. They need to be supplemented but they have the base knowledge of what a lake should be and how to take care of it. Its innate. Moreover, we shouldnt think of disturbing social eco-system, she told Mongabay-India.



Jockim, on his own, has always tried to improve and learn the best practices for fishing as well as preserving the biodiversity of the lake. The fisheries department people help us and guide us on what to do to maintain the biodiversity. Along with our traditional methods, we also get scientific advice. We dont fish when the fish are small. We understand when to stop, says Jockim, who has studied up to Class 8 but makes all efforts to understand the environmental issues, guidelines from the fisheries department and legal issues as well. He said at least 70 families directly depend on Jakkur Lake for their livelihoods.



He is right when he says that having healthy fish in the water body is a sign of good health of the overall wetland ecosystem. Nagendra Babu, Assistant Director in the Fisheries Department says, If fishes are there in the water, it will be clean. If not, the rampant growth of plankton leads to bacteria, it dies and settles in water, becomes algae. All urban lakes are flooded with sewage, which leads to rampant growth. Secondly, birds will come, if the fishes are there. It maintains the food chain. Livelihood for fishermen is also useful to balance the ecosystem. Though it sounds logical and plausible in theory, it is easily possible to alienate and have differences between various stakeholders  administration, scientists, citizens groups and local communities. Especially, when there is a popular perception that removing all activity from a distressed waterbody will actually help its conservation. Because of that, there have been instances of indifference or even conflict between citizen-environmentalists and local communities. Add to that, if the administration is not effective, it can make the situation worse.



T.V. Ramachandra from the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) in Bengaluru has studied various wetlands management systems. It doesnt work where people have disassociated themselves. People are actively involved and it worked at Putanehalli and Jakkur lakes. If there is a sense of belonging, no one will abuse it. Moreover, many families who are below poverty line depend on common property. S. Vishwanath, urban planner and water conservationist, emphasises the need to recognise local communities. Acknowledging the grass cutters and fishermen will go a long way. Middle-class attitude is to exclude in the name of protection. We have to reinvent the conservation of the lake with the current urban context. Lake is a complete wetland by itself if we allow biodiversity, the flora and fauna to develop by itself. However, the real question is are the citizens ready to pay the true cost of their sewage?



Ramachandra adds, Those who live away from the lake, pollute and contaminate. Raw sewage, industrial effluent are resulting in falling health standards, air and water quality. Vegetables, fish, grass  all had heavy metal. It is getting reflected higher instances of cancer and kidney failures in the city. Innocent people are paying for the irresponsible behaviour of bureaucracy and state and management strategies. He says many lakes in the city are in need of urgent attention but the initiatives are not working the way they worked at Jakkur.



Kamath says there is no alternative to an integrated approach. Everyone understands conservation in their own language. We cant be extreme. The existing ecosystem is native intelligence. We cant work with superficial intelligence. Jockim knows if sewage comes, what happens, if fish is dying, what is happening. Grass cutters and fishermen are the first responders. All of us have the same passion. They feel its my own lake they have an attachment to the lake. I dont know if its special to Jakkur but it should be the model because it works. Kamath speaks of Jockim as a spiritual person who has the ability to take everyone along with him. I always tell people that we never had any conflict with the fishing community. In fact, I even suggested that Jockim should train other fishermen near other lakes where similar efforts are going on.



When asked if he has faced any resistance from the community or outside of it, while taking up these activities apart from fishing, Jockim simply says, My reputation is good. They are with me. One of the reasons why Jockim is respected and almost indispensable is his integrity and honesty. He has maintained the water body from their own expense and does not seek funds from the NGO or the administration. However, the past year hasnt been easy. First, the pandemic and the lockdown affected their business. And now they are witnessing rampant growth of water hyacinth. For Jockim and his fishermen partners, the lack of funds to clean the hyacinth is a challenge. Sewage also continues to be a problem. What truly bothers him are different rules and regulations that try to put them out. While Supreme Court doesnt allow fishermen to live near the water bodies, Jockim says at least facilities like sheds to mend the equipment, boat, and to rest while working should be allowed. Community initiatives would be failures without fishermen. But nobody writes or recognises us, he says wistfully. Ironically, he points out that they get unnecessary attention from social media when walkers post their pictures. They dont ask or talk to us about what we are doing but take photos. He doesnt talk much about family members. He says he doesnt want his children to follow this vocation. People arent good. The younger generation will not be able to manage. It is not a peaceful profession, he says requesting to highlight their problems and their contribution as a community and not as an individual.
In an exclusive interview with Republic's Executive Editor Niranjan Narayanaswamy, Roman Kosarev, the Presenter and correspondent on Russia Today (RT) TV channel acknowledged the issue of Russias Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine approval in the European Union. While answering a question, Kosarev noted that the EU taking a long time to approve the Russia-made vaccine has prompted different responses throughout Europe as well. He noted that Germany, Austria, Italy that are EU member states are already in talks privately to bring the Sputnik V from Russia to their respective countries.

Kosarev told Narayanaswamy, In terms of what you said about problems with the European Union and the fact that it takes them a long time to say that the Russian vaccine is okay to use, well, that prompted different responses throughout Europe as well. For example, countries like Austria, Germany, Italy, all members of the European Union, they are already in talks privately, by themselves outside of the European Union in order to bring the vaccine from Russia to their respective countries.

Russia is in one of the final stages of talks with Austria to produce vaccines locally. And of course, Germany as well, he added before citing a poll carried out by a British company YouGov to say people in Germany are waiting for Russia Sputnik V vaccine. So in terms of global recognition, global demand for Sputnik V, well it is on the rise and representatives of Russia are talking with everybody. There are negotiations with everybody that wants to get the Russian vaccine. The ultimate goal is to vaccinate as many people around the world as possible.

Kosarev on Sputnik V and Slovakia row

Just one hitch in the long process, said Kosarev while acknowledging the row of Sputnik V vaccines and Slovakia. As Slovakia was told to return its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines due to multiple contract violations, the RT correspondent in an interview with Republics Executive Editor said that RDIF was in touch with a company in Slovakia. However, Kosarev elaborated that apparently that company was not accredited by the European Union but RDIF has said that it is willing to continue talks with Slovakia with a place that has been accredited by the EU.

Further talking about the efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine in the face of different novel coronavirus variants including the one that emerged in South Africa, Kosarev noted that the inventor of the vaccine Gamaleya National Research Centre, has said that Russia Sputnik V vaccine is great to combat to all new variants of the coronavirus.

How is Russia battling COVID-19?

As per Johns Hopkins University tally, Russia has already recorded over 4,572,053 cases of novel coronavirus with at least 100,554 deaths.

While answering the question about how Russia is battling with COVID-19, Kosarev said, Russia has gone for its second wave already. We now see many countries in Europe, theyre bracing themselves for the third wave. We see really high numbers of people who fell ill with the coronavirus. We see numbers like 30,000 and 40,000

Russias numbers are quite low at the moment. If there will be another wave, it will be the third so-called wave but vaccination in Russia is going at quite a good rate. People can get vaccinated basically anywhere now, he said before mentioning that shopping centres also have facilities for citizens to get vaccinated. The RT correspondent said that Russia is presently living a semi-normal life with over 50 or 60% of the people being already vaccinated.
The United States on Friday demanded swift action from the UN Security Council on Myanmar amid a push for a resolution to pressure the military junta to restore democracy.

"The military needs to feel the cost associated with its horrific actions. The stability and prosperity of the region depends on swift action," US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a Security Council meeting.

"The military has ignored our condemnations, posing a test for the Security Council," she said.

"Will the Council quibble over language in yet another statement or will we act to save the lives of the Burmese people?" she said, using Myanmar's former name of Burma.

Estonia, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, said that the 15-nation body needed to start drafting a resolution that could include sanctions on Myanmar including an international arms embargo.

"The United Nations Security Council is the only entity in the world, which has the legitimate power to protect nations at risk and must explore every tool in its toolbox to end this horrible situation," said Estonia's ambassador, Sven Jurgenson.

Russia and China both hold veto power and have historically opposed international sanctions, although Beijing -- the military's primary ally -- has voiced increasing concern about the instability in its neighbor.

The military on February 1 toppled democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi and has since violently suppressed pro-democracy protests, with the United Nations saying that more than 600 people have died.

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed with the French and German foreign ministers the need for Russia to stop its military buildup in the occupied Crimean Peninsula and near Ukraines borders, its "provocations" in eastern Ukraine, and its "inflammatory rhetoric," according to the State Department.

Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas spoke separately on April 9, suggesting stepped-up consultations among the NATO allies as fears grow of a major escalation in the conflict in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 13,000 people and displaced more than 1 million since April 2014.

Kyiv and the West blame the Russia-backed separatists holding parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions for a recent spike in hostilities, while Moscow points the finger at Kyiv.

A recent accumulation of photographs, video, and other data also suggested major movements of Russian armed units toward or near Ukraine's borders and into Ukraines Crimean Peninsula, fueling concerns that Moscow is preparing to send forces into Ukraine.

The Kremlin has rejected Western calls to pull back its troops, denying that they are a threat, and on April 9 issued a stark warning that Russia could take steps to protect civilians in the region in the event of a resumption of full-scale combat operations there.

General Ruslan Khomchak, chief of the general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said Ukraine wont launch an offensive against the separatists and accused Moscow of using "intimidation and blackmail by military force" to exacerbate the situation.

"The liberation of the temporarily occupied territories by force will inevitably lead to the death of a large number of civilians and casualties among the military, which is unacceptable for Ukraine," Khomchak said in a statement.

Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries after Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted amid a wave of public protests.

Since then, overwhelming evidence suggests Russia has continued to lend diplomatic and military aid to armed separatists fighting in the eastern Ukrainian region known as the Donbas.

Despite multiple cease-fire agreements, the violence has never really ended. Fighting intensified in recent weeks as Russia massed troops near the border with Ukraine.

International Diplomacy

Amid the rising tensions, Blinken and Le Drian on April 9 "discussed the need for Russia to end its dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric, its military buildup in occupied Crimea and along Ukraines borders, and unilateral Russian provocations along" the front lines in eastern Ukraine, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

In their call, Blinken and Maas "emphasized the importance of supporting Ukraine against Russian provocations in eastern Ukraine, Crimea, and along Ukraines borders, as well as the need for Russia to immediately cease its military buildup and inflammatory rhetoric.

After speaking with Blinken, Maas, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba, Le Drian said that Russia should explain its motives for its troop movements, stop its provocations, and take initiatives to de-escalate.

According to the White House, the United States has been diplomatically engaging with Russia and other countries about "the escalating Russian aggressions in eastern Ukraine, including Russia's troop movements on Ukraine's borders."



"We are, of course, in close consultation and working with partners and allies in the region, to assess, to share intelligence, to determine what's happening...and what can be done about it," press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.



She declined to give details about the process.



The United States has notified Turkey that two U.S. warships will sail to the Black Sea on April 14 and April 15 and stay there until early May, a spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.



Such visits by U.S. and other NATO ships have vexed Moscow, which long has bristled at Ukraine's efforts to build up defense ties with the West and its aspirations to eventually join NATO.

Front Lines



Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on April 9 met for a second day with Ukrainian soldiers serving on the front lines separating them from Russia-backed fighters, according to his office.

The 43-year-old president presented servicemen with awards, thanking them for their "patriotism and dedication in defending Ukraine.

According to Zelenskiy, 26 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the start of the year, compared with 50 in all of 2020, when fighting in the conflict subsided as a new cease-fire deal came into force in July 2020.

Separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions said that more than 20 of their fighters had been killed so far in 2021.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 9 accused Ukraine of "dangerous provocative actions" in its eastern regions in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, according to the Kremlin.

His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, also blamed the recent escalation on Ukraine, saying Kyiv does not completely reject the idea of solving its own problem with the southeast of Ukraine by military means."

Peskov alleged that virulent nationalist rhetoric in Ukraine was inflaming hatred against the mostly Russian-speaking population of the east, where in 2019 Putin simplified the procedure for people there to obtain Russian citizenship.

He claimed that if civilians in eastern Ukraine faced the threat of a massacre, all countries, including Russia, will take steps to prevent such tragedies.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned after the reports that Ukraine's NATO bid wouldn't only lead to a massive escalation of the situation in the southeast but could also entail irreversible consequences for Ukrainian statehood.

Moscow is demanding Ukraine give the separatist-controlled regions greater autonomy, which would effectively prevent the country from joining NATO.

Some analysts have suggested that Russias recent actions may be meant to test the new administration of U.S. President Joe Biden and its commitment to Ukraine.

With reporting by TASS, Interfax, Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa
By Jeffrey Dastin and Nandita Bose

(Reuters) - com Inc warehouse employees in Alabama were on track to reject unionization by a 2-1 margin with almost half the votes counted in an election seen as a potential turning point for organized labor.

Of the 3,215 ballots received, workers so far voted 1,100-463 against forming a union at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. The vote count will resume at 8:30 a.m. CT (1330 GMT) on Friday.

Unionizing Amazon, the second-largest private employer in America, has been a goal for the U.S. labor movement, which is aiming to reverse long-running declines in membership. Union membership fell to 11% of the eligible workforce in 2020 from 20% in 1983, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has said.

Even the White House was closely monitoring the ballot count with Erika-Dinkel Smith, a senior member of President Joe Biden's labor engagement team, among over 250 participants who watched the vote count on a video call.

The White House declined comment and Smith did not respond to a request seeking comment.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the agency overseeing the election, set up multiple cameras so participants and media could watch its agents count the votes.

Voter turnout was about 55%, according to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

Neither nor union officials were immediately available for comment.

The vote count followed more than a week of challenges to ballots during closed-door proceedings that could influence the final result. Lawyers for and the union were allowed to question ballots on suspicion of tampering, a voter's eligibility and other issues.

The union says there have been hundreds of contested ballots, making it unclear the number of votes needed to declare a winner.

The labor board would adjudicate the challenges in coming days.

Amazon for years has discouraged attempts among its more than 800,000 U.S. employees to organize, including by showing managers how to identify union activity, raising wages and warning union dues would cut into pay, according to a prior training video, public statements and the company's union election website.

Amazon has said it is following all NLRB rules and wants employees to understand each side of the contest, and that the RWDSU does not represent a majority of its employees' views. The company has said it wants as many of its employees to vote as possible.

Stuart Appelbaum, the RWDSU's president, has said more than 1,000 Amazon workers from other warehouses have asked if they could join the union. He added in a statement: "This still represents an important moment for working people and their voices will be heard."

(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco, Mike Spector in New York and Nandita Bose in Washington; Additional reporting by Hilary Russ in New York and David Shepardson in Washington; writing by Anna Driver, editing by Lisa Shumaker)

(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.)
Jaipur, April 9 : Sensing the threat of 'possible horse-trading' in Assam, a total of 18 candidates of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), a Congress ally, had reached Jaipur from Guwahati and are camping in Hotel Fairmont here.

"We were fearing the 'possible horse-trading' threat by BJP and therefore, these leaders have been invited here and they shall be staying here till the results are out," said a senior Congress source.

Other Congress candidates may also be brought here in a day or two. The seclusion is likely to continue till the results are out on May 2.

Chief whip Mahesh Joshi and Congress MLA Rafiq Khan are looking after these guests.

The Congress contested in Assam in alliance with AIUDF.

A Congress leader told IANS: "There remains the scope of horse-trading till the BJP is in power at the centre. Leaders from Assam are our guests. As long as they stay here, we will take care of them well." It needs to be mentioned here that Rajasthan is perceived as the safest state for the Congress and its allies.

In November 2019, Maharashtra MLAs were cordoned off in Jaipur based resort of Jaipur. In February 2020, MLAs from Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat were cordoned off here The Gujarat MLAs stayed here till March last year.

Again in May last year, during the Rajya Sabha elections of Rajasthan, Congress MLAs camped here and during political crisis in July-August 2020, Congress MLAs camped in a hotel for 34 days.
Last week Brazils fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro replaced key figures in his cabinet and the military. The move is in preparation for a wholesale crackdown on all opposition amid record COVID-19 cases and deaths and just weeks after a wave of strikes by bus workers, oil workers, app delivery workers and teachers.

The countrys COVID-19 death toll reached 340,000 on Wednesday, the worlds second highest, amid record numbers of new cases and deaths. There were 460,000 new cases and 20,000 deaths last week, and the death toll is expected to be even higher this week after the daily toll surpassed 4,000 more than once. Brazil accounts for one in every four deaths reported worldwide each day and leads the world in the daily average number of new deaths reported.

Return to schools in 2021 (Wikimedia Commons)

Amid the incompetent and indifferent response to the pandemic, the political crisis within the ruling class is intensifying. All of its factions are bent on guaranteeing the uninterrupted exploitation of the working class. This has been expressed by the concerted efforts of the leading daily Folha de Sao Paulo and Sao Paulos state government to distort COVID-19 data before the reopening of schools set for April 12.

Last week, Folha reported a new study supposedly establishing that there was no significant change in cases and deaths following the reopening of schools in the state of Sao Paulo last year. In its effort to promote this thesis, the Folha article showed that the reopening was carried out in tandem with Bolsonaros herd immunity policy.

Titled Reopening Schools in the Pandemic Did Not Increase Covid Incidence and Mortality in Brazil, the study uses COVID-19 data from the period between October-December 2020 from 131 cities that reopened schools, comparing it with data from a prior period. It also compares these cities with others that did not reopen during that same period.

The study is mainly based on the growth rate in cases within the total population of each city which, when compared to the much smaller universe of school communities, makes it impossible to assert how much they were specifically impacted by the reopening.

Moreover, the authors do not discuss the effect of the actual number of students on their results. They simply argue that the estimate that about two million students did come to school should leave no doubt about their conclusion, glossing over the fact that the governments safety protocols allowed for about a million more students inside classrooms. The impact that such an increase would have is left unmentioned, and so is the effect of new more virulent coronavirus variants that became dominant since December.

Folha quoted Guilherme Lichand, the lead author of the study, as saying that the indicators did not get worse, not only because school communities represent a little fraction of the general population, but also due to the already substantial mobility, making insignificant in total the marginal benefits of keeping schools closed for healthcare.

According to Lichands article, data from cell tower triangulation attest that, in large cities like Sao Paulo, mobility was never below 50 percent even during the strictest periods of lockdown. In other words, contagion was so widespread during the second half of 2020 that no difference was seen in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Folha can only promote such a study because it has no issue with the fact that hundreds of thousands of people are getting infected and dying from the coronavirus pandemic. Amid Bolsonaros efforts to end even the partial state and local restrictions imposed to prevent a health care system collapse, Folhas report is tantamount to defending the fascistic presidents policy of keeping all sectors of the economy open and accepting the deadly consequences.

Since last year, the mainstream media has waged a campaign against the inclusion of schools in any restrictions against the coronavirus, feigning care about child mental health. It included the promotion of the Escolas Abertas (Open Schools) movement, backed by powerful interests in private education and the state government. Escolas Abertas maintains to this day the discredited claim that children transmit the virus less than adults.

This campaign is being waged in concert with the state government of Sao Paulo, with Folhas report being published on March 30, one day before the state government authorized the reopening of local and private schools starting on April 12.

Since then, on Wednesday, amid reports that 30 of the 39 cities in the metropolitan region had registered an increase in their rolling average of deaths for the last 15 days, with a 236 percent increase in Diadema and even higher rates in other cities, the administrations Contingency Center stated that it is evaluating an extension of the states emergency phase. This supposedly strictest phase prohibits gatherings at night and restricts some types of commerce, while allowing for the reopening of schools.

In February, right-wing Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) Governor Joao Dorias administration created the Medical Committee on Education. The committee coexists with the Coronavirus Contingency Center, having been ostensibly created to deal specifically with issues related to education. The committee was created to shift gears in the failed campaign of imposing the return to schools last year amid enormous opposition among teachers and parents. It was packed with figures who favor the return to in-person classes amid the greatest surge of the coronavirus pandemic so far.

The committees first epidemiologic report, based on the period between January-March, claims coronavirus incidence rates would be 33 times lower within both public and private schools than in the state at large, implying it would be safer to bring children to school rather than keeping them at home.

What the report deliberately leaves unmentioned is that the period considered includes 37 days in which schools were shut down for holidays during January and the beginning of February, bringing in only a small percentage who failed their school year. The report also falsely assumes that 100 percent of students attended schools during this period.

Significantly, the reports section related to education workers presents their incidence rate in relation to the entire population of students, a bogus attempt to declare a low contagion of teachers and staff. This effort is being carried out while the state government is promoting a completely inadequate vaccination campaign among educators, which includes only teachers above the age of 47, and requires school staff to prove that they are within the risk group. The partial vaccination of these workers, which will not address the need for immunization among all students, teachers and families, is the latest attempt to justify reopening as part of the drive to get parents back to work.

Underlying the promotion of Lichands study by Folha and Dorias maneuvres to distort COVID-19 data and vaccinate a small percentage of the school community is the essential agreement with Bolsonaros campaign against any measures to protect the population from the virus that would impinge upon the profit interests of the rich.

Until a week ago, education workers were being pressured into unsafe buildings for months under the threat of being fired for not complying with the states criminal policy, while many students relied on attending schools for meals. The school reopenings amid the biggest coronavirus surge yet would result in widespread contagion and deaths among students, teachers and their families.

The efforts to impose the return to schools has led to enormous opposition among teachers and school staff, forcing trade unions in the heavily populated states in the Southeast and South of Brazil to initiate strikes for life in February and March. In Sao Paulo, where hundreds of thousands of striking state and local teachers called for a general strike and a unified struggle against the return to schools, and amid calls for a strike from private school teachers, the APEOESP and SINPEEM trade unions worked to divide teachers and prevent their opposition from reaching other sections of the working class.

In March, the National Confederation of Education Workers (CNTE) president stated, We dont see any change in the political conditions or in health safety to carry out the return to schools, openly admitting that the unions defense of life is only a different tactic in the ruling class strategy of reopening.

The unions efforts to subordinate opposition among teachers to the state courts was expressed in APEOESPs latest article on the reopening on April 1, titled [Rossieli Soares, state Education] Secretary: abide by court order of no in-person teaching. In the neighbouring state of Rio de Janeiro, teachers and school staff have been on strike for months, while the state education workers union (SEPE) has kept their struggle isolated.

In the southern state of Santa Catarina, where tens of thousands of teachers went on strike two weeks ago, the SINTE-SC state teachers union is trying to bring opposition under control. During an interview with a local radio station, a union official declared that only the justice system is responsible for declaring a strike illegal.

In contrast to the sabotage of the trade unions, in the industrial city of Araraquara, where an 18-day lockdown resulted in a drop in cases and zero deaths for the last two days, local teachers saw the extension of this life-saving measure as critical to their interests, with 80.2 percent approving a strike, which started on Monday against the reopening of schools on April 12.

Teachers must break from the unions, which have the goal of suppressing and dividing opposition to the reopening of schools. Education workers can only win this fight through organizations controlled by themselves, rank-and-file committees, united with teachers and staff from other states and internationally, in opposition to the deadly policies that begin with capitalist profit rather than human life.
Burma Myanmar Regimes Troops Kill More Than 20 in Friday Assault

The anti-regime protest held in Bago on Thursday.

Myanmars military regime reportedly used mortars to drop explosive shells on anti-regime protesters in three residential wards in Bago town, Bago Region early on Friday morning.

The dawn raids targeted the main assembly areas of protesters, firing live rounds of ammunition in addition to the mortar shells.

More than 20 were reportedly killed and several were wounded during the attacks, according to residents. Several were arrested. But the Irrawaddy was unable to confirm the numbers separately.

About 4 a.m. on Friday, the regimes forces opened fire with automatic weapons in a raid targeting roadblocks that had been erected with sandbags by anti-regime protesters. Only defense team members were guarding the area at that time.

Residents said that the regimes forces raided three wardsShinsawpu, Hmawkan and Nantawyarwhere anti-regime demonstrations have been held daily.

In videos that recorded the attacks, several gunshots including the firing of automatic weapons can be heard.

Other video shows a man being chased and fired upon by a dozen troops while he was running to escape arrest.

Residents said that they heard about five explosions of heavy ammunition during the regimes attack.

A photo also shows a tail of a mortar shell found by the residents.

Friday morning, all entrances to the wards were blocked with police lines by after about 250 regime troops were deployed in the areas. People are not allowed to go outside or enter the areas, residents said.

A student union member of Bago University said that troops forced the residents to remove the roadblocks in the areas.

Amid the killing, we will keep fighting until the end of the regime, the student said.

A civil society group said that none of the rescue groups in the town dared to go into the area to pick up the bodies of the dead or provide the treatment to those injured. The regimes forces are targeting civil society organizations in the town for arrest.

Recently, the regimes forces have seized ambulances and arrested members of two rescue societies.

Local residents said that many people from around the areas where the regimes forces are deployed have fled their home in fear of arrest.

On Friday, the regimes forces also removed the roadblocks in many townships in Mandalay, according to a resident.

Also, anti-regime protests in Kayah States capital Loikaw were attacked by regime forces and two were injured in the gunfire on Friday.

On Wednesday, the juntas forces used explosive ammunition and live rounds during a dawn raid to remove the roadblocks at Kale, Sagaing Region while anti-regime protesters were resisting with homemade percussion lock firearms, homemade gas air-guns and slingshots.

During the raid, about 12 protesters were killed, mainly by explosives. More than 12 were wounded. Nearly 20 were arrested.

As of Thursday, about 614 people have been killed by the military regimes forces during their assaults on anti-regime protesters, according to Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). That death toll includes bystanders and residents, including children, hit by random gunfire by security forces.

Meanwhile, more than 2,800 people including elected leaders, members of National League for Democracy, election commissioners, artists, writers, teachers, journalists, protesters and civilians have been arrested.

Tens of thousands of people across Myanmar continue to take to the streets to show their defiance of the military regime.

You may also like these stories:

In Myanmar, Pair of Protest Activists Share Common Goal: Root Out Dictatorship

Myanmar Junta Bans Satellite Dishes in Effort to Restrict Anti-Regime News

KIA Ambushes Myanmar Military Convoy in Kachin State
In October 2016, a new independent bookstore opened in Tallahassee, Fla., offering readers a space to enjoy literature and civil conversation just weeks before an acrimonious election put Donald Trump in the White House. Whether customers at the opening of Midtown Reader knew it or not, national politics was the reason they had a new bookstore at all.

Earlier that year, Sally Bradshaw, a veteran Tallahassee political operative, was working in Nashua, N.H. Her candidate and longtime friend, Jeb Bush, was preparing to exit the race, and she had decided that her own 30-year career in politics needed to come to an end as well.

It was, quite frankly, the most frustrating campaign experience Ive ever had, Bradshaw said. Not because of Jebs loss in the primaries, but because of the lack of civil discourse.

While working in New Hampshire, Bradshaw came across an article that named Tallahassee the smartest city in Florida. At first, she was surprised. Were a very small Southern capital, and I just expected a vibrant urban area to get that designation, she said. But Florida A&Mthe nations largest historically Black universityand Florida State University are both located in Tallahassee, and she began to see her city in a different light. When she returned home, her husband said out loud what had been on her mind: You should open a bookstore.

Bradshaw, a lifelong reader, grew up in Greenville, Miss., a community that celebrated books. There, McCormicks Book Inn was a draw for local writers and political figures like Ellen Douglas, Shelby Foote, Walker Percy, and former assistant secretary of state Hodding Carter III. Though Bradshaw ended up in politics, she always harbored the dream of stepping away and opening a bookstore.

In the spring and summer of 2016, Bradshaw began laying the groundwork for what became Midtown Reader, Tallahassees first indie bookstore with new titles to open in a generation. Years of work on the campaign trailconducting focus groups, listening to peopleprepared her to learn a difficult trade. She enrolled in the Workshop Retreat offered by Paz & Associates in Jacksonville and began cold-calling indie bookstores asking for advice. For her vacation that summer, she traveled to nearly a dozen independent bookstores, and she got a boost when her former boss, Jeb Bush, became something of an adviser.

Jeb is a huge reader, and he said, You need to meet Mitchell Kaplan,  Bradshaw recalled. Within 10 minutes, she was on the phone with Kaplan, owner of Books & Books in Coral Gables and cofounder of the Miami Book Fair.

Coming from the cutthroat world of politics, Bradshaw was surprised by the welcoming spirit of indie booksellers. It was just such a breath of fresh air to be around people in the same industry who really wanted us to succeed, she said.

Most importantly, Bradshaw realized she needed to reach out to local literary leaders and creative arts organizations. She contacted Tallahassee writers, asking them what they wanted to see in a neighborhood independent bookstore. At the end of one conversation, she remembered, a professor said, Well, Im completely surprised, because this was a delightful conversation. Taken aback, Bradshaw asked why he was surprised, to which he responded, Because you worked as a Republican all your life.

But for Bradshawwho said she is now registered as an independentthe whole point of opening Midtown Reader was to create a space for respectful discussion and a celebration of books, putting community first. The store is staffed by one full-time bookseller and four part-timers who live in the immediate area. The childrens section is a destination for families, while the stores events have become a regional draw for nationally renowned authors.

With the fifth anniversary of Midtown Reader approaching, Bradshaw said each day still presents new things to learn. But every year, the store has been on firmer footing. Despite being closed to in-store traffic for eight weeks in 2020, sales for the year were up 21% over 2019 due to higher online sales, and local support, including support from local authors. Among them were celebrated speculative fiction writers and editors Jeff and Ann VanderMeer, who began driving readers of Jeffs new titles to Midtown Reader for signed copies. Bradshaw used some of the sales gains to deepen her connections with the community, partnering with nonprofits to increase childhood literacy and collecting books for mothers living in shelters.

It is because of these connections that Bradshaw said her second career has provided a sense of fulfillment that cant be found in politics. When youre in that world, one minute theres a hurricane and the next minute theres a prison riot and the next minute youre dealing with a budget issue, she said. It all seems very important. But when you look back over that period of time, you think, What did I really do? How did I contribute in any way? I know that I can look at this bookstore and see how we have made a difference to Tallahassee. It just seems more rewarding. Its much more tangible.
But Mayor Richard Irvin pointed out to aldermen that when the pilot status of the program ends in about 11 months, the city will have to find money to keep it going. Rodriguez-Fransen and city officials already have begun trying to raise money, which has come in the past from members of the citys banking community.
It was the year 2001, social media, influenza culture, travel and fashion bloggers were terms we didnt even know and life was simpler. An iconic movie, which was way ahead of its time, which led a full revolution of how we perceived mens fashion (courtesy the jazzy cuts and the goatee) and established how every group of friends just wanted to end up in Goa, casually released and changed the way we saw life. I am talking about Dil Chahta Hai, a film which was not just a script but an emotion which has continued to stay with us even after 20 years of its release. Here are some lesser-known facts about this epic movie which might surprise you if youre a true fan:



1. The original choice of the lead cast was in fact Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan and Akshaye Khanna. When Hrithik and AB didnt sign up for this wonderful ride, Farhan Akhtar had to legit wait for over 10 months before he could meet Aamir Khan and convince him for this project. Also, Akshaye had originally signed up for playing Akashs character but things changed after Aamir came on board. Arent we all GLAD this happened? Can't imagine anyone who could flawlessly play the role of this pensive painter.

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2. You know about writer's block? Similarly, the wonderful music maestros of this album, Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy were trying to come up with the title song. The three of them, along with Farrhan, went to Lonavla for 4 days to just relax and rattle their minds. When they came back, the entire soundtrack of the movie was written and planned. We all witnessed the magic that ensued later.



3. Talking about the title track in particular, the tune of Dil Chahta Hai came to Shankar Mahadevans mind when the musical genius was just brushing his teeth one morning. Yeah it was THAT smooth! Also, the words chamkeele din were initially not finalised because Farhan thought it sounded like a jingle for a detergent. Little did he know that this music and this movie would go on to give us so many chamkeele din.

4. The beautiful scene where Sid is explaining Deepa about how she needs to let go of Akash and the reference of holding sand in our hands is actually a literal ode to Edgar Allen Poes poem A Dream Within A Dream.

5. I remember how I was fascinated with the beauty of Australia and I am pretty sure, this movie became a big reason why so many of us eventually visited the country. But the original script had Akash and Shalini falling in love with each other in New York. Since it was Winter over there, the script shifted the aesthetic background to Australia.

6. Farhan and Preity first met when she landed in Mumbai for her audition for Kya Kehna. It was at that time that he told her that whenever he would make a film, she would be a part of it.

7. In case you are wondering how the storyline came into place, then not many people know that it was inspired by Farhans trip to Vegas with his friends and a loose script which was handed to him by his friend. Everything got stitched together and DCH happened.

8. The visualisations of every song in the movie are remarkable. My personal favourite was the way Wo Ladki Hai Kahan was shot. It was very different and what a refreshing change. While the choreography genius behind this was Farah Khan, the idea of having a film in a film was originally Arjun Bhasins idea, who was the costume designer.

9. For a movie which was so progressive in that period, it wont come as a surprise to you if I tell you that the original script and dialogues were in fact written in English.

10. After the huge success of this movie, Farhan had suggested that he would like to make a sequel to this iconic movie with an all-female cast. Well, it's 20 years and counting, but on the other hand, some things can never be remade, right?
Lethal third wave of killed 105 more in in last 24 hours, taking the national death tally to 15,229.

Citing National Command and Operations Centre's (NCOC) official data, Geo News reported that about 5,312 new cases emerged in the country with the total tally now recorded at 710,829 as of today.

With a positivity rate of 9.6 per cent, the number of active cases stands at 69,811. In addition, country-wide recoveries have risen to 625,789.

Meanwhile, according to the official data, the total number of patients in Sindh has reached 267,970 while 4,521 people have died in the province so far.

The total number of patients in Punjab is 243,295 and 6,851 people have died due to the virus, while the total number of patients in Balochistan is 20,097 and the death toll is 19,295, reported Geo News.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the number of coronavirus patients have been recorded at 96,128 with 2,553 deaths while in Gilgit-Baltistan, 5,064 cases have been reported while 103 people have lost their lives to the virus.

According to the portal, the total number of coronavirus patients in the federal capital Islamabad is 62,775 and 588 patients have died from the virus so far, reported Geo News.

(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.)
Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

American multinational investment management corporation BlackRock Inc. has raised $4.8 billion for a new fund to invest in renewable power assets around the world - almost double its initial target.

The total for the firm's GRP III was almost three times the size of GRP II, which closed in July 2017 at $1.7 billion.

BlackRock Real Assets closed on its third global renewable power fund (GRP III), drawing money from over 100 institutional investors, including leading public and private pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, and family offices from over 18 countries globally.

Institutional investors making commitments to the fund in recent months included Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, Leeds, England, which brings together 45 billion ($62.2 billion) in local authority pension fund assets, and the $19.5 billion Illinois State University Retirement System, Champaign, with commitments of $125 million and $100 million, respectively.

According to a press release from the New York asset manager, GRP III is the third vintage of BlackRock's Global Renewable Power fund series and the fifth Fund overall, which invests in global climate infrastructure assets, primarily in renewable power generation, across Americas, Europe, and Asia.

"GRP III seeks to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns with positive and measurable environmental and social impact by investing across the spectrum of renewable power and s......................

To view our full article Click here
Hong Kong: More voting system briefings held

Principal government officials today met more representatives from different sectors to explain the improvements to Hong Kongs electoral system.

Secretary for Labour & Welfare Dr Law Chi-kwong met social welfare sector representatives and reiterated that the electoral system improvements aimed to fully implement the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong", ensuring steadfast and successful implementation of one country, two systems and enhancing the efficacy of governance.

He hoped that the community would focus on economic development and improving people's livelihoods after the legislative amendments, with concerted efforts to solve deep-seated problems and relieve the burden of sectors in need.

Secretary for the Environment KS Wong met representatives of Southern and Wan Chai district organisations.

Permanent Secretary for the Environment/Director of Environmental Protection Maisie Cheng, Under Secretary for the Environment Tse Chin-wan and Under Secretary for Home Affairs Jack Chan also attended the briefing sessions.

Elaborating on the background and objectives of the improvements to the electoral system, Mr Wong said the improvements and implementing patriots administering Hong Kong can restore order from chaos and return Hong Kong to the right track, ensuring the robust and successful implementation of one country, two systems.

Mr Wong noted that with the electoral system improved, the Government and society can focus on improving people's livelihood, promoting economic development and strengthening environmental protection, with a view to providing a better living environment for the people.

He encouraged the local representatives to gain a better understanding of the matter and support the legislative work as well as brief people in the community on the improvements to the electoral system.

Participants from the district organisations welcomed and supported the improvements to the electoral system given their necessity and urgency. They also expressed their hope for safeguarding Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability.

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng hosted two briefing sessions for representatives of the Law Society and stakeholders in the legal sector to explain the improvements to the electoral system.

Ms Cheng noted that the improvements enable better implementation of the "patriots administering Hong Kong" principle, and effectively safeguard the constitutional order as set out in the Constitution and the Basic Law.

Through synthesising a new democratic electoral system suited to Hong Kong's actual situation and with Hong Kong characteristics, the improved electoral system will put "one country, two systems" back on the right track, thus ensuring the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, she added.

At the briefing sessions, Ms Cheng also appealed to the participants to support the Government in the work of improving the electoral system.

Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau briefed representatives from the textiles and garment sector and reiterated the necessity and urgency of improving the electoral system as well as highlighted its importance to creating a stable business environment and ensuring Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.

Mr Yau emphasised that by improving the electoral system, the excessive politicisation in society and the internal rifts that have torn Hong Kong apart can be effectively mitigated, thereby enhancing the governance capability of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The Hong Kong SAR will then be able to focus on addressing economic and livelihood issues, and developing the economy to achieve long-term prosperity and stability through leveraging its unique advantages and the staunch support of the central authorities, he added.

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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San Francisco, 9 April 2021: The Report Leak Detection And Repair Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Handheld Gas Detectors, UAV-based Detectors), By Technology (VOC Analyzer, Optical Gas Imaging), And Segment Forecasts, 2021 - 2028

The global leak detection and repair market size is expected to reach USD 26.07 billion by 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 4.6% from 2021 to 2028. The growth can be attributed to the increasing oil and gas leakages in pipelines and storage tanks and the ongoing new pipeline constructions, among others. The rise in oil and gas consumption has increased the production activities of oil and gas and thereby, created the need for leak detection repair systems.

Nowadays, oil and gas companies are leveraging internet of things capabilities for leakage detection, remote area monitoring, and so on. In the oil and gas industry, IoT technology is used for monitoring pumps, compressors, and motors and detecting the temperature, dynamic pressure, and traces of gas in pipelines. Various companies are making efforts to provide internet of things-based pipeline leak detection services. For instance, in November 2020, Siemens announced its partnership with ProFlex Technologies, a provider of leak detection solutions to pipeline operators. Under this partnership, the Pipe-Safe advanced leak detection technology of ProFlex will be combined with Siemen's IoT system to enable operators to reduce the risk of gas leaks.

Government bodies across the world are making efforts to reduce methane emissions in recent days. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the government's Climate Action Plan and the Clean Air Act, is making efforts to cut down methane emissions from oil and natural gas industries. This strategic plan is aimed toward reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by 40% to 45% by 2025. Methane is the key contributor to global warming, having a potential of more than 25% compared to carbon dioxide. This creates the need for leak detection and repair solutions for controlling methane leakage from oil and gas industries.

The COVID-19 pandemic is anticipated to impact the market growth favorably in the coming years. The pandemic has led to an increase in the use of UV leak detection systems for identifying leaks in mobile HVAC systems. The pandemic has led to an increase in the use of car heating systems to sanitize emergency vehicles. Thios creates the need for a leak detector as coolant leaks can lead to the risk of overheating of engines.

Access Research Report of Leak Detection And Repair Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/leak-detection-repair-ldar-market

Leak Detection And Repair Market Report Highlights

Low-cost operation, high accuracy, and sensitivity in leak detection, environmental concerns regarding emission of harmful greenhouse gases, and support provided by governments and regional associations are among the primary growth stimulants for the market

Presence of the largest oil and gas pipeline network and concentration of major oil and gas producing and refining companies in North America are expected to offer a high-potential market for the deployment of gas leak detection, monitoring, and repair systems over the forecast period

Major American and European oil and gas companies are focusing on increasing their presence in Asia Pacific through acquisitions and investments

National oil companies in the Asia Pacific region such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, and Petronas are also expanding their operations to capitalize on the regions rapidly growing market

In terms of technology, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) analyzers are in demand as they detect various gases such as propane, methane, and carbon dioxide

North America dominated the market in 2020 owing to the stringent regulations such as Leak Detection Regulations in the U.S. as well as the high adoption of advanced technologies by companies in the region

List of Key Players in the Leak Detection And Repair Market

Aeris Technologies, Inc.

IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center

Bridger Photonics, Inc.

LI-COR, Inc.

Duke University

Colorado State University

Palo Alto Research Center

Maxion Technologies Inc.

Rebellion Photonics

Physical Sciences Inc.

Avitas Systems

PrecisionHawk

SeekOps, Inc.

Advisian

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.

Gas Ops Leak Detectives, LLC (G.O.L.D. LLC).

Guideware Systems, LLC.

Summit Inspections Services, Inc.

GHD, Inc.

ERM Group, Inc.

AECOM

Guardian Compliance

ABB Ltd.

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V.

Heath Consultants

ENCOS, Inc.

Team Inc.

VelocityEHS

Picarro Inc.

Microdrones GmbH

Boreal Laser Inc.

Kairos Aerospace

Access Press Release of Leak Detection And Repair Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-leak-detection-repair-ldar-market
The claim: Images show Vladimir Putin's house in Sochi, Russia

A viral image of a white, futuristic home is circulating on social media alongside the claim that it shows Russian President Vladimir Putin's residence in Sochi, Russia.

"Putin's house in Sochi, Russia designed by Roma Vlasov #EvilBuildings," reads a screenshot of a viral tweet that was shared to Facebook by the page Black Twitter on April 6.

The Facebook post has accumulated more than 9,200 shares, 6,400 reactions and over 500 comments before it was apparently removed.

Similar versions of the claim have been shared to Facebook. USA TODAY reached out to the users who posted them and the Facebook page for comment.

The claim recently gained attention on Twitter after it was retweeted by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on April 5.

The original poster of the claim later clarified in a tweet that the image is a visualization and criticized Cruz for not checking the accuracy of the post.

Fact check: Comedian satirically altered image to show pride-themed, spike-covered underpass

Photos are a 3D concept by architect

The images included in the post were first shared to Instagram as a three-dimensional concept design by Russian architect Roman Vlasov on Jan. 25.

"PUTIN HOUSE or a story about what his villa might look like," Vlasov captioned the photos, tagging the location as Sochi, Russia. He also added the hashtags #concept and #architecture.

In a March 28 Instagram video of the design, Vlasov wrote that his design could be purchased as a non-fungible token, a piece of data that verifies you maintain ownership of a digital item.

The creation was also featured in a Feb. 5 article by designboom headlined, "Russian architect Roman Vlasov imagines what Putin's house might look like."

USA TODAY reached out to Vlasov for additional comment.

Fact check: Russian leader Vladimir Putin never made this viral speech about Muslims

Our rating: False

An image claiming to show Vladimir Putin's house in Sochi, Russia, is FALSE, based on our research. The home is a conceptual design that was created by Russian architect Roman Vlasov based on what he imagines Putin's home would look like.

Story continues

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Viral image does not show Vladimir Putin's house in Sochi
A woman from Japan has become the globe's first COVID-19 patient to be granted a living donor lung transplant. She was donated with lung segments from her husband and son after her organs failed due to damage caused by the novel coronavirus.

World's First Living Donor Lung Transplant

Professor Date Hiroshi, the director of the thoracic surgery department of the Kyoto University Hospital, held a news conference on Thursday with his staff members. According to the hospital, the coronavirus patient from the Kansai region underwent almost 11-hour surgery on Wednesday.

According to the hospital on Thursday, it has enacted the globe's first living donor lung transplant on a patient who lost functions of her lungs due to infection from the virus. The surgery transplanted part of healthy lungs from the patient's husband and son in place of her frail lungs, reported Kyodo News.

Although there have been 20 to 40 lung transplants in Europe, China, and the United States following infection, all cases were from brain-dead donors. According to the hospital in a news release, "The world's first living donor lung transplant is expected to be a promising treatment for patients who have serious lung disorders," reported Nikkei Asia.

In Japan, transplants from brain-dead donors remain to be rare. Living donors are regarded to be a more realistic option for patients. According to Dr. Hiroshi Date, a thoracic surgeon at the hospital who spearheaded the surgery, he believes this is a treatment that provides hope for patients with serious lung damage due to COVID-19.

Donors, who are from western Japan, are reportedly in a stable condition. Doctors stated the woman, who was hospitalized on Monday while connected to an artificial heart-lung device named extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, is currently in intensive care. She will take two months to fully recover "if all goes well," reported AA.

Fauci: Federal Government Not to Mandate COVID-19 Vaccine Passports

The patient became infected with COVID-19 in late 2020. Following her respiratory condition's aggravation, she was placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, machine while she was undergoing treatment at a different Kansai hospital.

After she was free of COVID-19, the university stated that the patient's lungs were no longer treatable or functional. The only option for her to live was to be donated a lung transplant. The operation was conducted at the hospital by a 30-member group.

The Kyoto doctors hope she will completely recover within months. Waiting lists for full lung transplants, where the lungs are provided by donors who have died, are very long in the country and elsewhere.

The woman had developed serious pneumonia following her infection. She lost most of her lung function because of fibrosis. There was initially no prospect of recuperation.

The operation went ahead following the husband and son's acknowledgment of the risk of decreased lung capacity on their part. There are usually limitations on who could undergo such transplants based on physical condition and age. The surgery is limited to elderly people and those with underlying illnesses in the case of COVID-19 damage. Numerous patients undergoing the same treatment for the virus tend to have underlying conditions, which may restrict the number of patients qualified for the procedure.

AstraZeneca Vaccine Linked to Rare Blood Clots, European Union Confirms



@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Five Face Drug Charges After Search of Home

By West Kentucky Star Staff

BOAZ - Five people were arrested Thursday afternoon during a drug investigation in northern Graves County.About 2:30 pm, officers from the Graves County Sheriff's Office, the Hickman County Sheriff's Office, and Kentucky State Police executed a search warrant at a home on Highway 849 near Boaz.Authorities say the search led to seizure of methamphetamine, electronic scales, meth pipes, used syringes containing meth residue, Narcan, cash and other items.Officers arrested 21-year-old Dustin Boyd of Mayfield for possession of meth and drug paraphernalia.Twenty-two-year-old Heather Wilson of Pahokee, Florida, faces charges of trafficking in methamphetamine, tampering with evidence and possession of drug paraphernalia.Fifty-six-year-old Michael Sullivan of Mayfield was charged with possession of meth and drug paraphernalia.Thirty-year-old Shannon K. McFarland of Graves County was arrested for possession of meth and drug paraphernalia, and on a bench warrant for failure to appear in court.Thirty-three-year-old Autumn A. Hunter of Mayfield was jailed for possession of drug paraphernalia. She was also arrested on a bench warrant for a probation violation, three separate warrants from 2020, and three warrants related to 2018 cases.All five people were taken to Graves County Jail.
ROME, APR 9 - Regional Affairs Minister Mariastella Gelmini said Friday that she hopes Italy can take a big step towards normality with the substantial easing of COVID-19 restrictions next month. "May must be the month of reopening economic activities, of the return to (normal) life," Gelmini told RAI radio. She added that she hopes some activities and businesses that are currently on hold will be able to resume later this month. Tourism Minister Massimo Garavaglia said Thursday that it was necessary to schedule in advance the easing of COVID-19 restrictions to give businesses time to prepare, adding that the Republic Day holiday on June 2 was a possible date for the nation to substantially "reopen". Shopkeepers, hoteliers, bar owners and other people whose businesses have been shut by the restrictions have staged a series of protests in many Italian cities this week, including a demonstration outside the Lower House in Rome on Tuesday that turned ugly. "There are businesses that can open from one day to the next, such as a barber," Garavaglia told La7 television. "Others, such as large hotels, cannot. "It is necessary to monitor the data and, on the basis of the data, reopen as soon as possible. "We need to plan to be fast, otherwise the others will overtake us. "June 2 is our national holiday and it could be the date of the reopening". (ANSA).
She is hailed as one of the original supermodels of the 90s.

And Helena Christensen, 52, displayed her ageless beauty and radiant skin on Thursday as she stripped nude at a sizzling photoshoot after becoming an ambassador for a cosmetic clnic.

The model reached forward to touch her toes, strategically poised to protect her modesty as she worked her best angles for N'Age aesthetics clinic.

Stunning: Helena Christensen, 52, displayed her ageless beauty and radiant skin on Thursday as she stripped nude at a sizzling photoshoot for cosmetic brand, N'Age

Her signature brunette locks tumbled down in a tousled straight hairstyle as she enhanced her timeless beauty with soft make-up.

Speaking of the importance of good skin care, Helena said: 'You must feel safe when you leave your face in the hands of experts who treat your skin.

'For me, the most important thing is that the result is natural but at the same time makes a suitable difference, so you feel fresh and happy when you see yourself in the mirror.'

Helena's modelling career was launched when she won the Miss Universe Denmark title in 1986.

Leave little to the imagination: The model's signature brunette locks tumbled down in a tousled straight hairstyle as she enhanced her timeless beauty with soft make-up

The bombshell went on to become one of the original 1990s supermodels alongside Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Elle Macpherson and Claudia Schiffer.

Since her break into the fashion industry, the clothing designer also has become an accomplished photographer and was a co-founder of Nylon magazine which published from 1999 to 2017.

In 2019, the brunette, who shares son Mingus, 21, with her former partner Norman Reedus, spoke to Daily Mail about some of her fitness secrets.

She detailed how she likes to swim in 'rivers, lakes and oceans' in a bid to maintain her sensational figure.

She shared: 'I think it's important to shake it up and do as many different forms of workout as possible, but also to incorporate nature into them.

'Swim in the ocean, swim in rivers, swim in lakes. Hiking, trekking, chopping wood  it's the best way of working out, because it doesn't really feel like a workout. It feels like you're alive.'
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Government of Sint Maarten made contact with Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves on April 8, 2021, regarding the possible approaching emergency; the eruption of La Soufriere Volcano in Northern Saint Vincent. Reports at the time mentioned that the Volcano was expected to erupt within hours or days. For this reason, the Government of St. Maarten has reached out to Prime Minister Gonsalves to show solidarity and offer support if the need arises. During the conversation, Prime Minister Gonsalves conveyed that he had indeed just ordered the evacuation of the red zone as more activity had been noted. Residents are being evacuated to shelters in safe zones and off-island via boat to neighboring islands.

Deputy Prime Minister Egbert Doran stated, It is important that within the region, we maintain relationships and help when one of our brothers and sisters are in need, especially when its a natural disaster, which is beyond our control, and unpredictable. This is what being a part of the Caribbean is all about. We hope to find ways to assist Prime Minister Gonsalves and the people of St. Vincent should the need arise.

Prime Minister Gonsalves expressed gratitude for the contact made and expressed that he would let St. Maarten know of any needed support in the coming days.
Robust growth trends projected for investment in healthcare. Source: freepik.com

Kim Dental, Vietnams largest private dental care platform, has recently raised $24 million in a series B round. The investment was led by ABC World Asia, a private equity fund dedicated to investing across Asia, seeded by Temasek. Proceeds from the round, which saw the participation from existing backer Aura Private Equity, will support Kim Dental in expanding the delivery of affordable and reliable oral health services across Vietnam.

Kim Dental owns and operates a fast-growing network of 19 dental clinics across four cities. The clinics provide dental check-ups and treatments as well as more advanced orthodontics, prosthodontics, oral surgery, and implants. Kim Dental employs 120 dentists and dental surgeons, as well as over 600 clinical and operational staff serving over 23,000 patients per month. Kim Dental also operates a dental laboratory to support its clinic network with in-house production of crowns, dentures, and bridges.

Huynh Minh Viet, CFO of Kim Dental said, With this successful round, were now well-positioned to expand our delivery of international quality dental care to the fast-growing communities across the country, thus improving community access and helping to elevate the standards of oral healthcare in Vietnam, so that we achieve more positive overall healthcare outcomes in our country.

Meanwhile, SK Group is said to be mulling over an investment in Vietnams largest pharmacy retail chain, Pharmacity, with an expected value of up to $90 million, according to Dealstreetasia.

Phamarcity is Vietnams largest pharmacy retailer with approximately 500 drugstores. The company has a plan to open its 1,000th store this year.

If the deal is concluded, it would make up SK Groups second investment in Vietnams pharmacy and healthcare market. Last May, SK Investment III, a subsidiary of South Koreas third-largest conglomerate SK Group, received 12.32 million shares of Imexpharm Corporation, equivalent to 24.9 per cent.

Michael Han, head of SK Groups Representative Office in Vietnam told VIR, There are dozens of industries and companies that we are trying to get to know better here, and healthcare happens to be one of them. It does not necessarily mean that an investment is imminent though.

However, Han remains upbeat about Vietnams healthcare and pharmacy market. Historically, this sectors growth has been backed by peoples growing concerns about the wellbeing of their family members, environmental factors, rising household income, and the high urbanisation rate  which leads to changes in lifestyles and a higher demand in personal healthcare.

We believe that the robust growth will continue into the foreseeable future. We have seen a similar trend in South Korea over the last 20 years or so. In terms of market size, Vietnam is still at the emerging stage, with estimated total value of $7 billion in 2019, growing at a robust pace of 8 per cent from 2019-2024, he said.

Meanwhile, a consortium led by Singapores state investor GIC Pte. Ltd. has agreed with Vietnams largest conglomerate Vingroup to buy a stake in its medical unit, Vinmec, for over $200 million. However, Vingroup will remain the controlling shareholder of the unit after the deal, Vingroup said in statement last December.

Other funds like Vinacapital and Mekong Capital have seen the prospects of the market and decided to cash in on local healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Last August, VinaCapital invested in Thu Cuc International General Hospital by purchasing a 30-per-cent stake for $26.7 million. In 2019, Mekong Capital also financed pharmacy chain Pharmacity out of its Mekong Enterprise Fund III.

Private equity investments in healthcare are on the rise. Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha, head of advisory at Grant Thornton Vietnam, cited the firms survey showing that healthcare is among the most attractive industries for investors, with its growth prospects coming from higher healthcare spending per capita.

However, the shortage of qualified personnel and inadequate healthcare infrastructure results in a huge supply gap, and the increasing ageing speed of the Vietnamese population will further boost the healthcare demand, Ha added.
Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS) innovator AVA Security found that more than four out of every five (82%) of IT, Operations, Facilities Management and Security systems decision makers employed by medium and large-sized businesses, see a potential role for their workplaces video monitoring systems in supporting corporate plans for 'a safe return to the workplace post-lockdown.

Video monitoring systems

This was perhaps the most significant finding of the security industrys first multi-national study of COVID-19 video monitoring system usage and upgrade impacts. Questionnaires for this reached decision-makers during March when many of them were in the midst of making final arrangements for the safe return of staff to organisations offices and work premises later this summer.

In the US, 90% of respondents saw a role for video monitoring systems in supporting a safe return to the office, whilst that percentage fell to 72% in the UK and went up to an average of 94% across Norway and Sweden.

IT Cloud adoption

AVA Securitys research also uncovered acceleration in cloud migration of IT services which looks set to positively impact VSaaS adoption. Nearly four out of every five US firms (79%) have already accelerated their cloud migration plans during the pandemic. More than half of those have already secured an increased IT budget in the financial year 2020/21 for moving additional services into the cloud.

In the UK, over half (51%) have accelerated cloud migration of services over the last year, again with over half of those already benefitting from increased budgets to complete cloud migration projects.

Sweden and Norway together had an average of 84% seeing an acceleration of cloud migration of services, with over two-thirds of this group confirming a new budget had already been assigned to this activity.

VSaaS demand led by the US

Over three quarters (76%) of US firms with video monitoring systems regarded VSaaS migration as a net high priority (marking it as either high priority or somewhat a priority'). That percentage was even higher across Norway and Swedens respondents at 90%. However, in the UK VSaaS adoption was favoured by just over half (51%) of security system decision-makers.

Remote monitoring of assets

AVA Security also revealed that four out of every five businesses predict an increase in remote monitoring of assets

AVA Security also revealed that four out of every five businesses captured in its multi-national study, predict an increase in remote monitoring of assets, processes, and people on their work premises over the 12 months.

There is no doubt that the spike in demand for remote management of systems and premises (because so many of us having to work from home) is set to continue apace: 78% of firms predicting that it was likely they would increase their remote management capability over the next 12 months. That figure was slightly higher in the US at 83% and only slightly lower in the UK at 72%.

Cybersecurity

AVAs study also uncovered the fact that 79% of firms declared it likely that their organisation would accelerate the migration of IT applications into the cloud over the next 12 months. The study also found that 80% of firms predicted an increased focus on cybersecurity for all networked devices and applications over the next 12 months.

Vegard Aas, Head of Online Business at AVA Security, commented, Increased demand for remote management of IT systems is naturally feeding through to demand for cloud-based IT services as those running systems focus on speed of access to data, as well as increased cybersecurity to protect network infrastructure.

Video set for deeper integration

The top priority for improving and optimising existing video monitoring systems on both sides of the Atlantic was to integrate them better with other security-related systems, such as access control or alarm systems  nearly four of every five system owners (79%) considered this a high priority for improvement.

The next highest priority (jointly), for 77% of system owners, was improving their systems resilience and backup systems and procedures and GDPR compliance procedures surrounding their video monitoring/CCTV systems.

Video analytics adoption

People counting (including room capacity monitoring) is the most heavily deployed smart analytics tool right now on both sides of the Atlantic, the AVA study found. Across all four countries captured by the study, the average deployment of people counting stood at 43% of video systems. A further 32% of firms plan to deploy this video analytics capability in workplaces within the next 12 months.

In the US, 54% of video system owners have already deployed people counting in their systems, whereas adoption is higher again in Norway and Sweden combined at 62%, although much lower in the UK at just 29%.

Crowd density analytics

People crowd density analytics runs a close second in terms of video analytics adoption

People crowd density analytics runs a close second in terms of video analytics adoption, no doubt stimulated by COVID-19 safety requirements  39% of organisations have already deployed this capability into their video surveillance systems.

The US leads in terms of crowd density analytics usage with 57% of firms there using it, whereas a little less than half (44%) of Sweden and Norway-based video monitoring system owners have crowd density analytics capability. Only a quarter (26%) of UK system owners has so far deployed it.

However, the UK is set to see a more than doubling of crowd density analytics deployments  29% of system owners plan to deploy this in their video monitoring systems over the next 12 months.

ANPR analytics user base

Automatic Number Plate Recognition (called License Plate Recognition outside the UK) has seen similar levels of deployment: 35% of system owners across all countries captured by this study have so far deployed ANPR/LPR.

Sweden and Norway together lead with an average deployment of ANPR between them of 52%. In the US that number is only slightly lower at 43%. Again, the UKs adoption of ANPR analytics lags at a quarter (25%) of system owners.

ANPR analytics, the findings suggest, is set to see rapidly increased take-up, in some cases doubling in terms of market penetration over the next 12 months. So, in the US, a further 43% are set to put in LPR analytics into relevant surveillance cameras over the next 12 months, whereas in the UK an additional 22% plan to install ANPR capability into their existing CCTV systems by March 2022.

Increased VSaaS adoption

Our new study reveals increased take-up of remote management and cloud-based IT services

Vegard Aas, Head of Online Business at AVA Security, confirmed, Our new study reveals a plethora of changes focused on increased take-up of remote management and cloud-based IT services which all bode well for the accelerating adoption of VSaaS.

Managers running video monitoring systems are looking for greater functionality which the next generation of video analytics can now deliver. Some specific video analytics like crowd density and room capacity analytics is enjoying a COVID-19- linked uplift in demand simultaneously.

Security system owners are also clearly looking for the tighter cybersecurity of video data. They also want more timely access to that data from wherever they are to help drive faster and smarter decision-making.

Cloud Connector

Ava Security launched its Cloud Connector offering to enable video security system owners easy and cost-effective transition of video security solutions to the cloud. This brings Avas advanced real-time analytics and proactive security to existing surveillance cameras by integrating with the open Aware Cloud platform.
DECORAH, Iowa  A crime spree in northeast Iowa is sending a man to prison.

Authorities say Brandon Scott Thibadeau, 27 of West Union, committed a string of burglaries, mostly of vehicles, in the Fort Atkinson area between February 2 and February 11 of 2021. He has not pleaded guilty to eight counts of third-degree burglary.

The Winneshiek County District Court has ordered Thibadeau to spend up to 15 years behind bars and must serve at least three years before being eligible for parole. Thibadeau has also been ordered to pay $3,058.68 in restitution to his victims.
The outgoing general manager of the Inner West Council has revealed mayor Darcy Byrne has a personal staff entourage worth more than half a million dollars, warning of the potential for ratepayer resources to be used for purely political purposes.

Brian Barrett, who recently brought forward his departure date while citing working difficulties with Cr Byrne, has fired a parting shot in the form of a memo revealing the size of the Labor mayors staff cache comparative to those of other large councils.

Inner West Council mayor Darcy Byrne has more than $500,000 worth of salaried staff in his office. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

It can promote an unhealthy relationship between the Mayor and the General Manager where one can provide unlimited resources with little practical oversight on a day-to-day basis, Mr Barrett said in the memo sent on Thursday, the day before he was due to leave his interim role at the council.

It also has the potential for the resources allocated to be used for purely political purposes notwithstanding the intent of the policy that they would be dedicated to civic purposes only.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The State Department on Friday unveiled new rules for U.S. government contacts with Taiwan that are likely to anger China but appear to reimpose some restrictions that had been lifted by the Trump administration.

The department announced the changed policy in a statement that said the Biden administration intends to liberalize the rules to reflect the deepening unofficial relationship between the U.S. and Taiwan. However, the revised guidelines dont include all the changes put in place by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the waning days of the Trump administration.

Pompeo had lifted virtually all restrictions on contacts with Taiwan, including allowing Taiwanese military officers to wear uniforms and display the Taiwanese flag at meetings with U.S. officials. Fridays changes were silent on those matters, although the rules do continue to permit U.S. officials to meet their Taiwanese counterparts in federal buildings.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and opposes any attempt to treat the island as an independent country. China had condemned Pompeo's easing of the restrictions that had been in place since the U.S. recognized Beijing and dropped formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979.

These new guidelines will continue the U.S. governments longstanding practice of providing clarity throughout the U.S. executive branch of how to implement our one China policy, the department said. This new guidance is a step forward from earlier versions, including the contact guidance that was in place for virtually all of the previous administration, by encouraging engagement with Taiwan counterparts and removing unneeded restrictions.

Yet the statement contained no details about the new contact guidance and congressional aides briefed on the matter said the changes were actually more restrictive than those Pompeo had rolled out just 11 days before the end of the Trump administration.

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The department said Pompeo's changes had not made engagement with Taiwan easier but rather had the practical policy effect of impeding our unofficial engagement with Taiwan  a problem that we are rectifying today with this new guidance. It was not immediately clear how the new guidance rectified the matter.

On Jan. 9, Pompeo issued a sweeping order that rescinded almost all U.S. restrictions on contacts with Taiwan.

The United States government took these actions unilaterally, in an attempt to appease the Communist regime in Beijing. No more," Pompeo said in a statement that announced the lifting all of these self-imposed restrictions. He said the U.S.-Taiwan relationship should not be shackled by self-imposed restrictions of our permanent bureaucracy.
(@FahadShabbir)

A total of 183 international observers will monitor the nationwide referendum on the new constitution in Kyrgyzstan scheduled for April 11, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbaev said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) A total of 183 international observers will monitor the nationwide referendum on the new constitution in Kyrgyzstan scheduled for April 11, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbaev said on Friday.

The decision to hold the nationwide referendum was approved by the Kyrgyz parliament on March 11, with President Sadyr Japarov signing a decree to put into force the decision the next day.

"The referendum in Kyrgyzstan will be monitored by 183 international observers," Kazakbaev said at a meeting with a delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Bishkek.

The minister also thanked the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly and Russia's lower chamber chairman Viacheslav Volodin for sending missions to observe the referendum.

According to the draft of the country's new constitution published in early February, Kyrgyzstan will establish a new institute People's Kurultai (council) that will serve as an advisory body and provide recommendations on social development priorities.

The initiative also envisages the reduction in the number of lawmakers from 120 to 90. The constitutional changes would also boost the power of the country's leader, thus changing the government system from the existing parliamentary-presidential to presidential form of government.

The reform of the governmental system was backed by over 80 percent of voters in a separate referendum held along with a snap presidential election, which brought Japarov to victory, on January 10.

Kyrgyzstan switched to the current parliamentary-presidential system of government, in which powers are distributed between the president and prime minister, as a result of a referendum conducted after the Revolution of 2010.
Clackamas County commissioners bristled Thursday over impending COVID-19 restrictions on businesses, voting unanimously to send a letter to Gov. Kate Brown objecting to renewed limitations.

In a written message to the governor, the countys five elected board members said they felt the ordered move to stricter regulations would place an unsustainable strain on businesses such as restaurants and gyms.

The governor announced Tuesday that Multnomah and Clackamas counties would need to implement tighter restrictions Friday because of increased coronavirus spread in those communities. Each exceeded coronavirus benchmarks for case rates over the past two weeks, prompting Brown to move the counties into a high risk designation.

Clackamas County recorded 140.5 coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks, far above the 100-case threshold to face new restrictions.

The designation means restaurants and bars will be limited to 25% capacity for indoor seating, instead of the 50% allowed under the previous moderate risk level. Gyms and theaters will also see capacity limited to 25%.

The metrics for business restrictions have been in place since last fall to slow the spread of COVID-19. The Oregon Health Authority updates risk designations every two weeks and publicly shares data in off-weeks so officials at the county level can keep on top of trends.

Browns office also announces lists every two weeks alerting the public about counties facing new restrictions because of increase coronavirus spread.

Clackamas County commissioners nonetheless asked Brown to give counties an additional two-week warning period before moving them to a higher risk category, to allow businesses to make changes to staffing and other operations.

They also asked Brown to consider other factors when determining community risk level, such as how many people in the county have been vaccinated and the regions hospital capacity. The letter also cited that more outbreaks have been connected to extracurricular school gatherings than to workplace gatherings.

Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR
Before the pandemic, Meghan Smith commuted to work in downtown Baltimore, met with colleagues at her marketing agency, traveled to events and sometimes ate out at the Inner Harbor.

But for Smith and countless other workers, activities such as those stopped suddenly in March 2020. For more than a year, the 29-year-old marketing executive has alternated between her living and dining rooms for an office, conferred with colleagues via online videoconferencing, planned virtual events, and worked a modified four-day week. On Mondays, her day off, she volunteers.

Now, as more people get inoculated for COVID-19 and businesses and schools start bringing people back, a return to normal seems almost within reach. Even so, the workplace for millions may never be the same.

Experts agree that for white-collar workers at least, the workplace wont resemble the one they hastily vacated in 2020. Many thought the closings might last a couple of weeks; instead, it dragged on.

COVID-19 sparked a global experiment in large-scale and long-term remote work, according to researchers at Cornell Universitys Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, who say it proved more productive and efficient than many employers expected.

As a result, experts expect remote working to continue and expand with technological advances and more allowances for worker flexibility. That will allow office space to be used for teams rather than individuals.

More employees will be working outside of the office, said Bradford S. Bell, a Cornell professor of strategic human resources.

Among them will be Smith, who has no desire to return to the before world of work. Her employer, Awin, a global marketing technology firm that helps retailers boost online sales, plans to encourage that option after the pandemic.

I have loved working remotely, said Smith, a Locust Point resident. It gives you a lot more flexibility in your day and time.  Im talking with team members more than I was in the office.

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Many employers are rethinking work models for the longer term, Bell said. Some companies are reconfiguring office space and preparing employees for the transition as they begin to return some workers to offices.

What happens has implications across the economy from commercial real estate in office centers like downtown Baltimore to apparel sales and business travel.

A survey by the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore found that 65% of downtown office workers wanted to return to their offices, at least some days of the week, by September, said Shelonda Stokes, the advocacy groups president.

The future is hybrid, she said. We know that the new normal will be different, and that people will not use office space the same.

Concerns about downtown office vacancies predate the pandemic, though the public health crisis did accelerate and exacerbate the worrying trend of companies moving away from the business district, Stokes said.

Donald C. Fry, president and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee, said he expects most companies to bring their employees back to offices, though in a staggered fashion. He said some commercial spaces may be converted to new uses or physically modified to accommodate what the new, post-pandemic workforce looks like, causing some disruption for the area.

The future of the central business district is still strong, Fry said. We just need to give it more attention to make sure it can be more competitive with other business hubs.

Some are eager to return to the office. Lockdowns and homebound work have left them feeling burned out and isolated, itching to return to a more defined, professional setting. Some have Zoom fatigue, or find that virtual meetings and calls extend their days, taking up the time they once spent commuting and more.

Christine Chandler is looking forward to joining a voluntary, phased reopening of M&T Banks mid-Atlantic headquarters in downtown Baltimore. The return of a first wave of workers to One Light Street was initially planned for April 5 but pushed back to April 19 because of a recent uptick in some COVID-19 statistics. Chandler, a senior vice president of M&T Realty Capital Corp., believes more people will want to return in coming months.

I think theres a lot of pent-up demand to get back into a routine, said Chandler, who plans to return three days a week. I really miss the interaction with my colleagues.

And shes ready for more defined separation between work and home.

For me, right now, my days are extended to 24/7, she said. You walk by your computer and there it is.

About 20% to 30% of M&Ts downtown workers expressed interest in returning, said Chandler, who has helped coordinate the phased return. Employees will be able to choose to work in the office all five days or fewer. They can change their minds and return to remote work, which proved successful despite the abrupt nature of the March 2020 transition.

For those who do return, strict COVID protocols will be enforced, including requiring masks in common areas or shared space, and the use of an app to answer questions about virus symptoms before entering the building. The numbers of employees coming in on each floor will be monitored. Workers will find ample supplies of hand sanitizer, directional signs, limited elevator capacity and temperature scanners. The bank plans to evaluate a broader reopening in July.

Its a test-and-learn environment, Chandler said.

Before the pandemic, most workers who said their job could be done mainly from home rarely or never teleworked, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Now, 71% of those employees work from home all or most of the time. More than half said they want to continue to work from home after the pandemic. In the future, about a quarter to just under a third of the workforce is expected to work from home several times a week, according to Global Workforce Analytics.

Those teleworkers represent just a slice of the overall U.S. workforce, however. The Pew survey found that most workers simply cannot work from home. It also found a divide between those who can and cannot telework, with 62% of workers with a bachelors degree or more education saying their work can be done from home, while only 23% of those without a four-year college degree can work from home.

Of the 55 companies that work with Cornells Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, including large, multinational businesses, about two-thirds plan to expand remote work offerings to workers, said Bell, the centers director.

The pandemic has opened Pandoras box, Bell said. Employees have been able to work from home, he said, and thats helped dispel myths that people working from home were not working and just running errands. People managed to stay mostly if not more productive.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, which has 750 workers in Canton and offices in Columbia, Owings Mills and Annapolis, is staying almost completely remote, for now. About 95% of the workforce has teleworked for more than a year. CareFirst has not set a date for a return, saying it is monitoring COVID-19 trends before making such a decision.

Until it is safe, CareFirst will focus efforts on creating a new and better normal for our workforce, including improved technology for both office and remote work, the health insurer said in a statement.

Some smaller businesses have been able to work closely with employees to decide how to work going forward.

When the lease for her marketing and public relations firm was up for renewal in August, Sandy Hillman polled her employees to see who wanted to return eventually. The president of Sandy Hillman Communications had closed the office March 11, 2020, temporarily, she believed.

By late summer, all 12 full-time and two part-time employees, who already worked remotely out of state, wanted to keep working from home. Hillman had expected younger workers to clamor to return in person, but that was not the case, she said.

Most employees now catch up several times a day with videoconferencing. Thats a lot of calls, but everyone feels they are very connected as a result of that, she said.

But Hillman was not ready to give up on the office altogether. Instead, she leased a newly renovated but smaller space in Cross Keys. A couple of times a week, she works there, where two swing desks are open for employees. Hillman wanted a place to store work materials and files, host out-of-town clients and have employees gather for meetings.

Plus, I wanted a backup, in case people changed their minds, she said. If more people decide to return, which she doubts, she said she could lease more space.

Awin, the downtown marketing agency where Smith works, has used the health crisis to take stock of its work culture. The company had limited experience with remote working before the pandemic, when it shut down all its offices, including the Baltimore headquarters, home to about 50 client account managers.

Awin has no plans to close offices but is not rushing to reopen them, said Adam Ross, the firms CEO. Once it does, it plans to reconfigure space to serve more collaborative work, believing creative tasks and workshops need to be in person. But flexibility in where and when individuals work is here to stay, he said.

In June, the company switched to a 4 1/2-day workweek, allowing workers to de-stress by logging off early each Friday. It went so well that Awin is now experimenting with a permanent four-day, 32-hour week with no reductions in salaries or client work. Employees work with supervisors to choose one day or two half days off per week.

For Smith, that means a three-day weekend with Mondays off to schedule doctors appointments, run errands or volunteer helping organ transplant patients and donors.

The workload is the same, and I get it done in those four days, Smith said. Its just allowed us to be more cognizant of how we organize ourselves and our time management. Its made me be better at prioritizing my time and focusing when I needed to.

Ross said the changes stem from a philosophy that employees with work/life balance are more loyal, productive and successful. A business should work toward measurable goals, regardless of when and where that work gets done, he said.

After a successful period of remote working, Ross said, we  tried to pick out the best elements of what had happened and create a vision for the future of work.

Baltimore Sun reporter Hallie Miller contributed to this article.
Is that a train whistle in the distance, or Amtrak just whistling Dixie?

The long-moribund effort to reestablish passenger rail service between Scranton and the New York metro area suddenly was recently revived.

President Joe Biden, a Scranton native and passenger rail enthusiast, unveiled a $2 trillion national infrastructure plan in Pittsburgh that includes $80 billion for Amtraks passenger rail system.

Amtrak, in turn, has produced a map for its proposed service by 2035. It includes new, separate lines from Scranton and Allentown to Hoboken, New Jersey, for connections to New York City, and another line from Reading to Philadelphia. It would be interesting to see a line restored to Pottsville, where trains used to run to Reading and Philadelphia.

Amtrak is a corporation owned by the U.S. government. Congress would have to approve Bidens infrastructure plan and Amtraks service proposals.

But the real obstacle to service is in Harrisburg. The state government pays Amtrak about $16 million a year to subsidize service between Harrisburg and Philadelphia and between Pittsburgh and New York City, through Philadelphia.

Expanding service to Scranton, Allentown and Reading would require further state subsidies, as would Amtraks plans for enhanced service on the Pittsburgh and Harrisburg routes. Gaining legislative approval for those subsidies would be a very heavy political lift.

But Bidens proposal and Amtraks plans offer the best propsect for passenger rail restoration since the original plan crashed for lack of funding in the early 2000s. Gov. Tom Wolf and the affected regions congressional and legislative delegations should coordinate an all-out effort to restore the service.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 02:49:28|Editor: huaxia

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PRAGUE, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Czech police announced on Friday that they had uncovered a large-scale international operation of illicit trafficking in hormonal substances.

The police said in a press release that the operation was trading at least five million ampoules of anabolic steroids a year to be used mainly by professional bodybuilders, powerlifters and owners and customers of various fitness centers across the European Union (EU).

The investigation was initiated by the Czech Republic and Slovakia, later joined by Hungary and Europol, and involved cooperation from Romania, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy and Spain.

The substance manufactured by the operation, according to the investigators, is a counterfeit of an official drug used in the EU.

Police detained six people in the Czech Republic in connection with the investigation, along with 18 others in Slovakia and an unspecified number in other participating countries.

In the Czech Republic, police seized about 20 million Czech crowns (about 917,000 U.S. dollars) worth of property related to the alleged organized criminal activity, including two properties, three cars, a large number of different types of anabolic steroids and counterfeit medicines, as well as mobile phones.

Police also seized a fully equipped manufacturing plant in Romania, which they believe was the center of the operation's drug manufacturing. (1 U.S. dollar = 21.821 Czech crowns) Enditem
Any doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine not taken up before their expiration date by residents here, will be donated to neighbouring countries.

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves does not intend to sit by and allow the doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in this countrys possession, to expire.





Before that happens, he said, he will give the doses not taken to countries in the region.





In fact, Gonsalves said, St Lucia had requested a further 5,000 doses of the vaccine.





Reported via radio that as of April 6, 2021, a total of 11,787 persons had received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.





"This is not good enough, Gonsalves said, adding, "If we go at this rate, the vaccines will expire, but I am not going to allow the vaccines to expire.





According to the Prime Minister, the doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in this countrys possession were expected to expire at the end of June 2021.





But he said that he had instructed the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Simone Keizer-Beache to provide a cutoff date, and if there was no marked increase in the number of persons opting to take the vaccine, he was prepared to give them to countries that were in need.





And that date could very well be close to the end of this month (April), Gonsalves said.





He clarified, though, that he had instructed the CMO to keep in stock adequate numbers of doses for those requiring the second dose. Remaining doses will be donated.





To date, this country received 5,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in February, 40,000 doses from India in March  of which donations of 5,000 each were made to Grenada and St Lucia - and the first set of doses under the COVAX facility, 24,000 arrived this week with another 22,000 expected.





Once these doses were depleted, Gonsalves cautioned that he was not sure how soon this country would be able to procure another batch of vaccines, because it was difficult to procure vaccines given the manner in which some countries were hoarding vaccines, even if other countries had the money to buy them.





Whatever the case, Gonsalves repeated his appeal to residents to take the vaccine.
When universities across the country first went virtual last year in response to COVID-19, administrators increased their use of anti-cheating programs , which monitor students through their webcams with artificial intelligence-based facial recognition. Through functions such as these, officials hoped to discourage cheating on tests during remote learning  but it hasnt come without backlash.In March, the University of Wisconsin-Madison disabled facial recognition features offered through Honorlock, an online exam proctoring service, after three students with darker skin tones said the program failed to recognize their facial features and paused the exam. University spokesperson Meredith McGlone said students also raised privacy concerns about the tool in focus groups and surveys conducted last fall.We shared the concerns that emerged here with Honorlock, and they indicated that they have no data from our campus or others to indicate that the tool has difficulty recognizing certain skin colors, she said in an email toNonetheless, because of this and other concerns and out of an abundance of caution, we asked them to disable the exam pause feature for our campus and they did so.Honorlock CEO Michael Hemlepp said the exam pause feature sometimes disables online exams when students look away from the camera or use low lighting. He said developers are working to refine the programs AI features, which also watch for behaviors deemed suspicious during testing.Unlike other proctoring platforms, Honorlock works by using AI technology to monitor exams, watching for unexpected behaviors, he explained. Only when a flag is triggered does the system notify a certified online test proctor who has the option to pop-in to the exam and communicate with the student directly via live chat.Hemlepp denied hearing any explicit reports about the companys facial recognition technology flagging students due to their race, adding that any new technology gets better with time.We acknowledge that AI technology is imperfect, and flags are not always an indication of problematic behavior, he said. We have not been informed by UW-Madison, or any other customer using Honorlock, that the pause feature was disabled due to the test takers ethnicity.McGlone said officials expect other digital tools will continue to play a role at UW-Madison, but the university had not yet entered into a digital proctoring contract for the 2021-22 academic year as of this week.Digital rights organization Fight for the Future has railed against the use of various facial recognition technologies in both the public and private sectors for years. Campaigns and Communications Director Lia Holland said the reports about problems faced by students of color at UW-Madison were troubling to digital privacy advocates.It seems like almost every week that we hear another story of a student of color being told that they arent there, being told that they dont have a face, being told that they are cheating, she said. We find that incredibly problematic and concerning.Holland said experimental surveillance technologies are largely inaccurate and inefficient at what they set out to do, noting errors such as those reported at UW-Madison. She believes these tools also cultivate a culture of distrust and suspicion within institutions between professors, administrators and students. This culture, she said, has also found its way into K-12 schools , where administrators have used surveillance software tools that provide granular analytics on how students devices are used.Holland said questions remain about how AI proctoring programs like Honorlock interact with neurodiverse students, adding that perceptions of whats considered normal or suspicious can be subjective.It also does things like tracking your eye movements and whether youre looking away, she said. There are huge ableism concerns in the same vein as the racial [concerns], and those are just as important and urgent too.In a broader context, digital rights activists have pressed the Biden administration to impose restrictions on the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement and federal agencies.Holland believes officials should ban these and other digital monitoring tools as tech companies offering surveillance programs look to new markets in education and in telework, where she said theres little need for them.Its [about] privacy concerns overall, because all of these move fast, break things Silicon Valley-type companies are creating solutions for problems that dont really exist, she said. It truly is an awful situation, and were working very hard to change that.Students taking online courses at San Diego State University have also voiced complaints regarding the universitys use of Respondus, another exam proctoring program with similar functions. According to a university statement to, SDSU officials have taken note of student concerns about the widely used ed-tech tool, which can flag and lock student browsers.The university recently decided to phase out campus support of the software, the statement read. The move is in response to national concerns regarding privacy, equity and the efficacy of the software.As some universities ditch their anti-cheating programs, others such as the University of North Carolina at Greensboro continue using tools like Respondus. So far, UNC-Greensboro Dean of Undergraduate Studies Andrew Hamilton said there has been little backlash over proctoring tools among students whove enjoyed the convenience of online courses.It matters that students are fairly assessed for what they know and can do, he said. We have received feedback from students about what they take to be the invasive nature of electronic monitoring of remote exams; these are in the tens or dozens in number, while in the fall 2020 term alone we served more than 30,000 assessments to nearly 8,700 students using lockdown browser and monitoring technologies.For the overwhelming majority of our students, convenience and safety eclipse any concerns they may have about steps we and they must take to ensure the integrity of our courses and grading, he said.Though discussions about surveillance and privacy in general often weigh privacy concerns against a desire for security, Holland said many ed-tech surveillance tools can backfire and create new vulnerabilities for students. She cited a data breach last year that affected more than 440,000 individuals using exam proctoring program ProctorU as one example.Anyone can be behind a camera, using an algorithm or AI for their own purposes, she said.
NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) has appointed healthcare leader Michael Enriquez, FACHE as President of HSS Florida. HSS is the world's leading academic medical center specializing in orthopedics, rheumatology, and related disciplines. In Orthopedics, HSS is ranked No. 1 in the world by Newsweek, and No. 1 in the nation  for the past 11 years  by U.S. News & World Report. HSS Florida includes a comprehensive outpatient facility in West Palm Beach and offices in Wellington opened within the past 16 months.

Mr. Enriquez brings more than 20 years of experience in a variety of settings including both health systems and physician practices. He most recently served as CEO of OSS Health, an Orthopedic-focused health system including a 26-bed surgical specialty hospital. Prior to that he was Executive Director/CEO for Premier Orthopaedics, Orthopaedic Associates Division in the greater Philadelphia area, where he was responsible for strategy, business development, and operations.

"Michael is a seasoned health care executive with an intimate knowledge of orthopedics, and we are pleased that he will bring his expertise to HSS Florida," said Justin Oppenheimer, HSS Enterprise Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. "His proven track record will help extend the excellent experience and outcomes for our patients and the communities we serve in Florida and beyond."

Mr. Enriquez will direct all operations at HSS Florida, partnering with clinical leadership in Florida, enterprise leadership at the HSS main campus in New York City, and with HSS's partners in the Florida community.

"I am excited to be joining the HSS team which is highly recognized as the industry leader in musculoskeletal care," said Mr. Enriquez. "I'm looking forward to using my experience in and knowledge of the industry to add value to HSS Florida's outstanding patient care services."

Mr. Enriquez holds a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from King's College and a Master of Health Administration from Wilkes University, and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

His new role is effective April 12, 2021.

About HSS

HSS is the world's leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. At its core is Hospital for Special Surgery, nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics (for the 11th consecutive year), No. 4 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report (2020-2021) and named a leader in pediatric orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report "Best Children's Hospitals" list (2020-2021). HSS is ranked world #1 in orthopedics by Newsweek (2020-2021). Founded in 1863, the Hospital has the lowest complication and readmission rates in the nation for orthopedics, and among the lowest infection rates. HSS was the first in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center five consecutive times. The global standard total knee replacement was developed at HSS in 1969. An affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College, HSS has a main campus in New York City and facilities in New Jersey, Connecticut and in the Long Island and Westchester County regions of New York State, as well as in Florida. In addition to patient care, HSS leads the field in research, innovation, and education. The HSS Research Institute comprises 20 laboratories and 300 staff members focused on leading the advancement of musculoskeletal health through prevention of degeneration, tissue repair and tissue regeneration. The HSS Global Innovation Institute was formed in 2016 to realize the potential of new drugs, therapeutics, and devices. The HSS Education Institute is a trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal knowledge and research for physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, academic trainees, and consumers in more than 130 countries. The institution is collaborating with medical centers and other organizations to advance the quality and value of musculoskeletal care and to make world-class HSS care more widely accessible nationally and internationally. www.hss.edu .

SOURCE Hospital for Special Surgery

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Many Facebook users have turned to the site during the pandemic to post and look up information about often hard to find vaccine appointments as people scramble for inoculation against the coronavirus.

Now the social media giant is making it easier for some Peninsula communities to get vaccinated for free on Saturdays at its Menlo Park headquarters, partnering with Ravenswood Family Health Network to distribute shots to underserved communities.

In a Facebook post, Chief Operations Officer Sheryl Sandberg said the company partnered with Ravenswood to increase vaccine access for communities that have been hit hardest by the pandemic. Were also teaming up with the State of California and local nonprofits to support mobile vaccination clinics in four of the states hardest hit regions, Sandberg said.

Anyone over 18 who lives in the communities of East Palo Alto, Belle Haven or North Fair Oaks will be eligible to receive the shot at the companys Menlo Park headquarters starting this Saturday between 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., said Ravenswood CEO Luisa Buada.

Ravenswood Family Health Network

The shots will be distributed at Facebooks headquarters at Building 28, 164 Jefferson Dr. in Menlo Park. No appointments are needed, questions can be texted to 650-383-2331 and more information is available online. A valid form of photo ID will be required.

These are communities where significant numbers of people are lower income and live in higher density areas that have higher cases of COVID and higher morbidity rates relative to other communities in the county of San Mateo, Buada said.

Many community members also work in essential, in-person services and live in multigenerational housing, compounding the need to vaccinate them as quickly as possible, Buada said, particularly as eligibility widens on April 15 and the states vaccine supply is projected to dip.

Facebook is also working with Menlo Park and East Palo Alto to run free shuttles for people who live or work in the targeted communities to more easily get to the vaccination site. More information about the shuttle routes can be found at the Ravenswood website.

The company said it has also been working with Gov. Gavin Newsoms office and other nonprofits to vaccinate communities across the state at pop-up clinics. If vaccine supplies hold up they hope to vaccinate up to 10,000 people in the coming weeks at their headquarters and sites statewide in the Central Valley, Inland Empire, South Central Los Angeles and San Diego.

Ashley Quintana leads Facebooks statewide on-the-ground vaccine efforts and said that while speaking to community groups like Ravenswood, it became clear that what they needed most to deliver more shots was more space, which Facebook has in ready supply with most of its staff continuing to work from home for the time being.

Ravenswood runs a community medical clinic on Saturdays at their own facilities and the extra space will allow them to continue those services while distributing the vaccines in Menlo Park.

Quintana said if all goes well and vaccine supplies hold up, they hope to continue the Saturday clinic into the summer.

With eligibility requirements opening up next week, theres going to be more folks than ever wanting vaccines, Quintana said, adding barriers like access to online appointments and transportation made it harder for some communities to get the vaccine. We want to make sure these communities are not left out.

Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice
In today's market, U.S. products can be sold at a premium. Relative shipping costs are low because of North Americas extensive road, rail, and port infrastructure; and shippers can take advantage of free trade agreements

Richard Jung, Vice President of Sales, Port Drayage and Transload at NFI, will speak on a panel at The Logistics of Food: Getting Your Exports to Global Markets event hosted by PhilaPort and U.S. Commercial Services. Jungs session will take place virtually on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, at 10 a.m. EST. The event aims to provide exporters and potential exporters with an overview of the food export supply chain from food cargo experts.

During the panel discussion, Jung will provide an overview of the drayage industrys biggest challenges including the changing demographics of drivers, port congestion and safety regulations, as well as tariffs and trade imbalances. He will also provide advice for exporters, highlighting the importance of seeking good partners and identifying new markets.

In today's market, U.S. products can be sold at a premium. Relative shipping costs are low because of North Americas extensive road, rail, and port infrastructure; and shippers can take advantage of free trade agreements shared Jung. Exporting also provides client diversity and helps offset swings in demand. To succeed in our current environment, shippers have found it crucial to work alongside full-service logistics providers to deliver positive experiences for their customers.

With a presence at nearly every major United States point of entry, customers of NFI benefit from the ability to diversify their port strategy for more efficient, cost effective import and export capabilities. The company has made significant investments into state-of-the-art technology that give customers real-time visibility and transparency into their shipments. In addition, the company is working with industry-leading electric vehicle manufacturers such as Daimler Trucks North America and Volvo Trucks to reduce its carbon footprint by operating battery electric trucks, yard tractors, and material handling equipment. As a result of these factors, NFI has steadily risen as North Americas top port drayage and transload provider.

Learn more about the state of exports in the food industry by registering for The Logistics of Food: Getting Your Exports to Global Markets virtual event here.

About NFI -- NFI is a fully integrated North American supply chain solutions provider headquartered in Camden, N.J. Privately held by the Brown family since its inception in 1932, NFI generates more than $2.6 billion in annual revenue and employs more than 14,500 associates. NFI owns facilities globally and operates approximately 53 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space. Its dedicated fleet consists of over 4,500 tractors and 12,500 trailers operated by 3,900 company drivers and leveraging partnerships with 1,700 owner operators. NFI has a significant drayage presence at nearly every major U.S. port, leveraging the services of an additional 1,200 owner operators. The companys business lines include dedicated transportation, distribution, brokerage, transportation management, port drayage, intermodal, global logistics, and real estate. For more information about NFI, visit http://www.nfiindustries.com or call 1-877-NFI-3777.
Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Vaccine equity clinics at several majority-Black churches in the Houston area are expected to serve up to 5,000 people today through Sunday.

Today and tomorrow Walgreens is giving vaccinations at two Church Without Walls campuses: the megachurchs original campus at 5725 Queenston Blvd. in northwest Houston; and at 7500 Eldridge in southwest Houston. Formerly known as Brookhollow Baptist Church, the megachurch is ranked among the 100 largest congregations in the country.
A veteran Sydney journalist's threat to expose the masterminds behind an alleged million-dollar tax fraud was done to blackmail them, a jury has head.

When Stephen Barrett listed his 39 years of reporting credentials for Channel 7, Channel 9 and ABC investigations in a meeting recorded by police, it wasn't purely for journalistic purposes, crown prosecutor Patricia Mcdonald said in her opening address.

The surveillance device installed in Clamenz Lawyers firm at the MLC building in Sydney picked up Barrett talking about a 'very serious story I want to investigate'.

Veteran Sydney journalist Stephen Barrett's (pictured) threat to expose the masterminds behind an alleged million-dollar tax fraud was done to blackmail them, a jury has head

'You can Google me ... I'm the real deal OK,' he said.

Barrett, 63, has pleaded not guilty to blackmailing alleged 'Plutus fraudsters' Adam Cranston, Jason Onley and Dev Menon by using his media status to threaten the trio.

The Crown says Barrett was acting in a joint criminal enterprise with Daniel Rostankovski, who had a part to play in the alleged Plutus Payroll fraud, and property developer Daniel Hausman.

Plutus Payroll promised a service to pay employees' salaries while diverting appropriate tax to the ATO. This money was funnelled through a second tier of companies headed by 'straw' or 'dummy' directors Rostankovski allegedly recruited and appointed.

A total of $105million was then streamlined into the 'Plutus fraudsters' accounts between March 2014, and May 2017, the NSW Supreme Court was told on Thursday.

Australian Federal Police recorded a number of conversations, installed surveillance technology and obtained documents including some from Channel 9.

In the law firm meeting recorded by one of these devices Barrett promised to 'go the distance' with his former colleague and former executive producer at A Current Affair Grant Williams, and said he would interview then-deputy commissioner of the ATO and Cranston's father Michael.

'I could even sit down with Scott Morrison the Treasurer and get his two bobs worth ... or go to the opposition,' he is recorded saying.

Stephen Barrett , 63, has pleaded not guilty to blackmailing alleged 'Plutus fraudsters' Adam Cranston (pictured), Jason Onley and Dev Menon by using his media status to threaten the trio

Soon after this conversation Barrett leaves the room and Rostankovski demands $5million.

The menacing threat was made by Barrett, then the unwarranted demand was made by Rostankovski, which puts them in a joint criminal enterprise, the Crown says.

Hausman is expected to give evidence later in the trial about two meetings he had with Barrett at a pub in Paddington, and a cafe in Newtown.

The plan for Barrett to 'throw down your media card' and say 'you're aching to do the story' was laid out for him, and an amount of up to $3,000 was paid as part of his participation, the Crown says.

Barrett asked if he could pursue the story on record but was told only if 'we've achieved what we want'.

The former A Current Affair producer is also expected to testify that he received a call from Barrett in January about a 'major scandal at play,' involving tax fraud and the son of one of the ATO's main commissioners.

He never heard of the story again until months later.

The trial before Justice Peter Johnson continues.
CLINTON, Ind. (WTHI) -- Many people in assisted living facilities weren't able to see family or friends for months. However, one care facility in Clinton, Indiana is making sure its residents are staying positive by doing something unique. In order to keep the spirits of residents up the Vermillion Convalescent Center started a program called Adopt a Senior.

On the Facebook page, people can adopt any of the seniors living there.

People drop off gifts, cards, and can even video chat with their seniors.

The Adopt a Senior program was started by Amber Adams. Adams said she wanted to start this program to help keep everyone's mental health in a good condition.

Adams said, "We knew we were going to be isolated, and the patients we knew they'd start getting depressed. And we wanted to make sure they wouldn't fall into a depression so having the community come in and help let them know they were being taken care of."

All residents at the Vermillion Convalescent Center have been adopted. Some of them, like Phyllis Lambert, have even been adopted by more than one person.

Lambert said this experience has been unlike any other. She said, "It meant so much to me because you didn't have anything to look forward to and you had to be in here."

She told News 10 she is very thankful to the people who have adopted her and her peers.

She told us the program has helped raise everyone's spirits.

However, it's not just the residents who feel joy.

Tressa Earley has adopted a senior at the center. She said this year has been tough on everyone, so this program has been a great opportunity to give back.

Early said, "So, it's just giving a little piece of joy back to somebody who may need it because they were here and lonely, and to me who needed it because I've been lonely too."

This program is continuing to help people feel a little less lonely during this time.

Lambert said because of the program, everyone has something to look forward to almost every week. She said, "And I get so much stuff. Different things from different people, and I love it. I love all the different cards, I get so many cards. You can't possibly be bored because there's always something going on."

If you would like to spread a little joy and adopt a senior yourself, you still can.

For more information on how to do so, you can click here and be directed to the Facebook page.
FUKUOKA, Japan, April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- What do you get when you mix a Pharrell/Frank Ocean hybrid with a creative persona born in Fukuoka, Japan? This is Ace Hashimoto. Although he doesn't like to be defined within one specific genre, he has drawn inspiration from the aforementioned musicians along with a tasteful blend of Soul, R&B, Jazz, and Hip-Hop.

Before revealing his work as an artist, Hashimoto had already earned music production credits for his work with Mac Miller, Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Anderson Paak and many more.

In 2016, Hashimoto departed the United States following an opportunity to work with Miya Terrace, a subset of renowned Japanese music label, Toys Factory. While there he has been able to craft a handful of singles including one with Moe Shop, titled "Natural", which has garnered over 5.4 million plays on Spotify alone. He has also collaborated with the likes of Thundercat, Onra, Kero One and more. In addition to this, he has also released solo singles like "4EVERYTHING" that has amassed over 700,000+ streams via Spotify and a cover of Playboi Carti & Kid Cudi that is well on its way to 600,000 streams, cumulatively.

He is currently working on his debut album, "PLAY.MAKE.BELIEVE." to be released under French label, "Nothing But Net", co-owned by French music producer, Onra. Hashimoto began working on the album over just a 3 month span after returning to the United States. He was able to enlist the talents of pH-1 (of Jay Park's H1GHRMUSIC), Grammy producer for H.E.R., Lophile & many more to assist in crafting this beautiful nod to his childhood influences. All while posting covers and original music videos frequently to his YouTube channel.

Hashimoto has continued to attract a following of music-lovers and put out sonically unique music, sprinkled with Japanese influence, 2000s nostalgia and a love for horror films.

Be sure to check him out on his Instagram @ACEHASHIMOFO or his twitter @ACEHASHIMOTO.

CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE Ace Hashimoto
Pet theft could become a crime in its own right that carries a two-year jail sentence under plans to change the law.

Labour justice spokesman David Lammy yesterday tabled an amendment to the policing Bill to make it a separate offence following a rise in dognapping.

Should the amendment receive cross-party support and pass, the Government would be required to introduce the law.

One dog, three-year-old sprocker spaniel Ted, was taken in December while being walked in South London

The Government is already looking at increasing penalties for those who steal pets and sell them on for commercial gain and changes are expected to be announced shortly.Home Secretary Priti Patel has launched a task force.

At present, dog theft is not defined as a specific crime with pets classed as property under the Theft Act 1968.

Despite the current act including a maximum penalty of seven years in prison, the Kennel Club say that less than five per cent of cases result in a criminal conviction.

Campaigners also argue it equates stealing a beloved family dog to taking a phone or bike.

The amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill would create a specific offence for pet thefts.

Labour justice spokesman David Lammy yesterday tabled an amendment to the policing Bill to make it a separate offence following a rise in dognapping

Offenders could face up to two years in jail and factors such as if the pets are stolen for commercial gain and whether distress is caused to the pet, its owner or dog walker would aggravate the offence.

Demand for puppies has boomed in the past year with prices for some breeds rising from 500 to 2,000  which has attracted criminal gangs as well as opportunistic thieves.

It is estimated that dog thefts have risen by a staggering 250 per cent since the pandemic began.

The issue has already caused concerns among MPs with many Tory backbenchers  including former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith  calling for tougher sentences.

Miss Patel met Environment Secretary George Eustice and the Justice Secretary Robert Buckland last month to agree a cross-government approach.

Mr Lammy said: The current laws are failing to put off organised crooks from stealing pets for profit. Labour is calling on the Government to work with us to prevent more victims of this cruel crime.
Houston, April 9 : One person was killed and five others injured during a shooting in the US state of Texas, according to local police.

The police said that the shooting took place at an industrial complex at around 2.30 p.m. on Thursday in the town of Bryan, about 160 km northwest of Houston, and four of the five wounded victims were in serious condition, reports Xinhua news agency.

One of the injured victims has been identified as a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper who was shot during a search operation for the suspect.

According to Texas DPS, the officer remained in serious but stable condition.

Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske told reporters he believed the suspect is an employee at the cabinet-making business where the shooting happened.

He said the man was believed to be solely responsible for the shooting.

According to police, the shooter was arrested later in Bedias, a community about 40 km northeast of Bryan.

The reason for the shooting is yet to be determined as several law enforcement agencies are investigating the inceident.

After the shooting, Texas Governor Greg Abbott praised the law enforcement's swift act of arresting the suspect.

"The state will assist in any way needed to help prosecute the suspect," he said.

This incident is the latest in a series of shootings that have occurred across the country in recent days.

On March 31, four people, including a nine-year-old boy, were killed during a mass shooting in the city of Orange, California state.

On March 22, 10 people, including one police officer, were killed in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.

On March 16, a series of mass shootings occurred at three spas or massage parlours in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, which killed eight people including six Asian women.
Reporters from overseas media outlets on Thursday began a tour of China's old revolutionary base areas to learn more about the history of the Communist Party of China.

Organized by the State Council Information Office, 39 reporters from 25 overseas media outlets and reporters of Chinese news organizations started their journey in the city of Jinggangshan, known as the cradle of the Chinese revolution, in east China's Jiangxi Province.

During the first leg of the tour, the reporters have chances to learn about local efforts in poverty alleviation, rural vitalization, accelerating high-quality development, and improving people's livelihood.

The tour, scheduled to last through April 13, will also bring them to another old revolutionary base area of Zunyi in southwest China's Guizhou Province.
Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer become superheroes in Thunder Force, WWE offers its biggest matches of the year at WrestleMania 37 and Shameless ends after 11 seasons this weekend.

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In addition, Wynonna Earp wraps up after four seasons, Carey Mulligan hosts Saturday Night Live with Kid Cudi as the musical guest, Them brings horror to Amazon Prime Video and Oprah Winfrey interviews Eddie Murphy on The Oprah Conversation.

Here's a rundown on some of the films and television shows that are set to be released this weekend.

Films

'Thunder Force' -- Netflix

'Have You Ever Seen Fireflies?' -- Netflix

The genius Gulseren deals with loneliness, love and loss in Istanbul as her family tries to keep up with an ever-changing environment in Have You Ever Seen Fireflies?, which premieres on Friday. Ecem Erkek, Engin Alkan, Devrim Yakut, Merve Dizdar, Ushan Cakir and Bulent Colak star. Andac Haznedaroglu directs.

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'Night in Paradise' -- Netflix

A mobster with a target on his back is hiding out on an island in Night in Paradise, which arrives Friday on Netflix. The mobster meets and connects with a woman who has given up on life. Park Hoon-Jung serves as writer and director.

TV

'Them' -- Amazon

Amazon Prime Video presents a new horror anthology series from creator and executive producer Little Marvin and executive producer Lena Waithe, which arrives on Friday. The first season will explore terror in America in the 1950s. Deborah Ayorinde, Ashley Thomas, Alison Pill, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Melody Hurd and Ryan Kwanten star.

'The Oprah Conversation' with Eddie Murphy -- Apple TV+

Oprah Winfrey sits down with Eddie Murphy for a funny and insightful conversation in the latest episode of The Oprah Conversation, which comes to Apple TV+ on Friday. Murphy will discuss the cultural impact of Coming to America, making its sequel and Murphy's decades of success.

'Wynonna Earp' series finale -- Syfy

Wynonna Earp comes to close with its fourth a final season, which airs Friday at 10 p.m. EDT. Melanie Scrofano is the titular great-great-granddaughter of legendary lawman Wyatt Earp with Tim Rozon as gunslinger Doc Holliday.

WWE WrestleMania 37 -- Peacock in the U.S., WWE Network internationally

WWE's biggest event of the year is taking place over two nights on Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m. EDT on Peacock in the U.S. and on the WWE Network internationally. SmackDown Women's Champion Sasha Banks defends her title against Bianca Belair on night one, while Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends his title against Edge and Daniel Bryan in a Triple Threat match on night two.

'Saturday Night Live' with Carey Mulligan and Kid Cudi -- NBC

Carey Mulligan is hosting the next installment of Saturday Night Live, which airs Saturday at 11:30 p.m. EDT on NBC. Kid Cudi is serving as the musical guest.

'Fear the Walking Dead' Season 6 Part 2 -- AMC

Fear the Walking Dead returns to continue it's sixth season, which comes back Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT on AMC. Morgan (Lennie James) tries to free the remaining members of the group and Virginia (Colby Minifie) is getting desperate about finding her sister.

'The Nevers' -- HBO, HBO Max

A group of women in 1896 London are given abnormal abilities following a supernatural event in The Nevers, which is coming to HBO Max and airs on HBO Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT. Olivia Williams, Laura Donnelly, Ann Skelly, Tom Riley, James Norton, Ben Chaplin, Nick Frost, Pip Torrens and Denis O'Hare star.

'Shameless' Series Finale -- Showtime

Showtime's long-running comedy drama about the Gallagher family will end after 11 seasons on Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT. The final episode includes a party at a bar. William H. Macy, Ethan Cutkosky, Jeremy Allen White, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Emma Kenney and more star.
MUSKEGON, MI  The man who died in the Muskegon County Jail died because of gross neglect from the people who were supposed to be checking on him every 15 minutes.

Paul Bulthouse, 39, died after suffering 22 visible seizures across five and a half hours, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a video released Friday, April 9.

Mr. Bulthouse died of gross neglect and due to complete disregard of human life by five individuals who were within feet of him but never acted to assist him, Nessel said in a video.

He died April 4, 2019, in jail cell near the booking center, and while he was always visible on video monitors, Nessel said.

Four Muskegon County Sheriffs Office deputies and one nurse are facing a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter  failure to perform a legal duty.

Deputies Jeffrey Patterson, Crystal Greve, Jamal Lane and Sgt. David Vanderlaan were arraigned April 8. Former WellPath employee Aubrey Schotts, a registered nurse, was also arraigned.

Related: Charges filed against 5 people in death of Muskegon County Jail inmate

They were granted personal recognize bonds, because they are not considered a flight risk, Nessel said.

The four jail workers charged have been reassigned away from direct inmate supervision, Sheriff Michael Poulin said in a prepared statement released Thursday, April 8. Nessel declined to offer her opinion on the staff returning to work.

Bulthouse was arrested for allegedly violating his probation. He was on suicide watch and was supposed to be checked every 15 minutes, Nessel said in a news release.

His seizures were visible yet Patterson, Greve, Lane, Vanderlaan and Schotts failed to check on him or provide any medical care, Nessel said.

Related: After AG charges 5 in inmates death, attorney questions Muskegon Countys earlier investigation

An autopsy said Bulthouse died of natural causes due to seizures he experienced in his cell.

Bulthouse died around 5:35 a.m., Nessel said. He was dead in his cell until he was found by deputies around 6:20 a.m., Assistant Attorney General Melissa Palepu said during a press conference Friday.

The sheriffs office did an independent investigation into Bulthouses death and closed it May 22, 2019. It was reopened June 12, 2019, after reports that a deputy may have witnessed part of a seizure and did nothing. The Michigan Sheriffs Association was involved in that investigation.

The AGs office then started the investigation in August 2019. They reviewed nine hours of video footage, more than 400 pages of medical records and numerous police reports, Nessel said.

The investigation used evidence provided by the sheriffs office and found additional information, Nessel said. Poulin cooperated with the investigation, Assistant Attorney General Danielle Hagaman-Clark said during a press conference.

We know that the defendants were in a position to observe  both on camera and in-person  Mr. Bulthouses seizures, Nessel said. Yet they simply failed to assist him or care for him.

Jail records, video footage, access to witness and more were given to the Muskegon County Prosecutors Office, who then requested an examination by the AGs office, Poulin said in a news release.

From the beginning, my office has been committed to getting to the truth of the events surrounding this incident and that all of the facts are clearly documented, Poulin said.

Video footage from the jail wont be released at this time because of the ongoing criminal case, Nessel said.

Bulthouses family filed a lawsuit in March, alleging a criminal coverup of his death.

Bulthouses seizures were triggered by withdrawal of prescription medication that caused severe and fatal withdrawal symptoms that were ignored, a lawsuit filed by Bulthouses family alleges.

In an interview with MLive on April 8, the familys attorney questioned how previous investigations found no wrongdoing.

Jail officials saw Bulthouse having continuous and numerous seizures through video surveillance and in-person and did not offer medical care, the lawsuit said.

The five defendants are scheduled for a probable cause conference April 15 in Muskegon County District Court.

More from MLive:

Rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in Muskegon County very concerning

Muskegon County suspends jury trials, limits in-person access during COVID-19 spike

George Floyds life was slowly and painfully taken, says church leader at Black Lives Matter vigil
Mike has reported on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem's wildlife, wildlands and the agencies that manage them since 2012. A native Minnesotan, he arrived in the West to study environmental journalism at the University of Colorado.
Paris, April 9th, 2021

Release of documents and information

regarding the combined shareholders meeting of EDF of 6 May 2021

Note: Given the exceptional circumstances created by the coronavirus epidemic, the Chairman and CEO of EDF, upon delegation from the Board of directors, has decided that EDFs Combined Shareholders Meeting, initially planned on Thursday 6 May 2021 to be held with the participation of shareholders, will take place behind closed doors, i.e. without the physical presence of the shareholders. The shareholders are invited to connect to the Companys website to consult the documents relating to the shareholders meeting.

The Combined Shareholders Meeting of EDF will be held behind closed doors on 6 May 2021 at 10 a.m. at the Companys head office (22-30 avenue de Wagram, 75008 Paris) and will be broadcast live and in full on the Companys website1 (www.edf.fr).

The preliminary notice comprising the agenda and the text of the resolutions was published in the Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires n27 on 3 March 2021. The amended agenda and final version of the draft resolutions to be submitted to the shareholders meeting are set out in the notice of meeting published in the Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires n44 on 12 April 2021.

Conditions for remote participation and voting at the shareholders meeting are described in these notices as well as on the Companys website.

Documents and information regarding the shareholders meeting will be made available on the Companys website at the following address: https://www.edf.fr/agm











1 Unless technical reasons make it impossible or seriously disrupt this retransmission.







Attachment
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP)  Slovakias deputy prime minister traveled to Hungary to ask for assistance in inspecting doses of the Russian-made COVID-19 vaccine, a day after Russia demanded Slovakia return the jabs.

Deputy Prime Minister Igor Matovic said he went to Budapest to find a helping hand and that he had requested for the doses of the Sputnik V vaccine received by Slovakia to be evaluated in Hungarian laboratories.

I came here to ask for help, and Hungary will help because they have laboratories which can assess the vaccine. In Slovakia, we dont have such a lab, Matovic said at a news conference.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which markets Sputnik V abroad, asked Slovakia on Thursday to return its supply of Sputnik V, arguing the Central European country had committed multiple contract violations and engaged in an act of sabotage against the vaccine.

Slovakias State Institute for Drug Control said earlier Thursday that it had not received enough information about the Russian jab from its producer to be able to assess its benefits and risks. The regulator also said the doses it received from Russia differed from those under review by the European Unions medicines authority.

RDIF called the findings fake news and said Slovakias drug regulator had tested the vaccine in a laboratory which is not part of the EUs official network of approved labs.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday that his countrys laboratories, which are part of the network, would examine Slovakias Sputnik V doses at Matovics request.

We are happy to comply with this request, as we have the capacity, the internationally accredited laboratory capacity and the knowledge to do so, Szijjarto said.

Sputnik V, which was shown to be 91% effective in studies, has not yet been approved for use in the EU. The European Medicines Agency started a rolling review of the vaccine last month.

Matovic was Slovakias prime minister until his government collapsed last month after he orchestrated a secret deal to buy 2 million Sputnik V vaccines despite disagreements from his coalition partners. He now serves as the countrys finance minister and deputy prime minister.

Many people in Slovakia will surely say, thank God, we have such a good neighbor as Hungary, Matovic said Friday.

___

Karel Janicek in Prague contributed.

___

Follow APs pandemic coverage at:

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

By JUSTIN SPIKE

Associated Press
A teenage mother whose 20-month-old daughter starved to death while she was out partying had left the toddler alone 11 times before, it emerged last night.

Verphy Kudi's child Asiah perished in the supported housing block in Brighton after being abandoned for six days with no food or water in December 2019.

Kudi, 19, had been celebrating her 18th birthday on benders in London, Coventry and Solihull - 150 miles away - and last month pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

It has now been revealed the young mother had left Asiah unsupervised 11 times in the weeks from mid-October 2019 to the toddler's tragic death.

Verphy Kudi's child Asiah perished in the supported housing block flat in Brighton after being abandoned for six days with no food or water in December 2019

A post-mortem examination and forensic tests found that Asiah starved, was dehydrated and developed flu. Her cause of death was given as neglect

Kudi, 19, had been celebrating her 18th birthday on benders in London, Coventry and Solihull - 150 miles away - and last month pleaded guilty to manslaughter (pictured at Lewes Crown Court)

On the first occasion she was reportedly spoken to by concerned staff at Gocher Court, the accommodation for vulnerable families where she lived.

These previous occasions were brought to light by the prosecution at a bail hearing in Hove last year, according to The Times.

YMCA DownsLink Group, which runs Gocher Court, said staff were 'aware of a safeguarding incident' involving Kudi in mid-October, and had contacted the authorities.

But one of Kudi's relatives told the newspaper last night the family was never alerted to her behaviour and this was the first time they had learned of it.

YMCA said it was not familiar with the other reported occasions, but prosecutors believe seven of the incidents are of a serious nature.

They include the final occasion Kudi left Asiah on December 5 before returning to find her dead on December 11.

A post-mortem examination and forensic tests found that Asiah starved, was dehydrated and developed flu. Her cause of death was given as neglect.

Last month Lewes Crown Court heard how, after returning home from the party spree, Kudi called 999 saying her baby would not wake up.

Asiah was taken to Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton but was declared dead on arrival.

Kudi, who is due to be sentenced next month, has repeatedly gone missing since the age of 14 and been the subject of numerous police appeals.

At court last month her father Muba Kudi, 59, said: 'My heart is so broken. My daughter was missing. She had been missing since the age of 14.'

Kudi's flat was one of eight in a complex in Brighton (it is pictured in an undated photo)

Kudi lived in a supported housing complex in Brighton. While she left her baby alone she partied in London, Solihull and Coventry

Last month YMCA Downslink said: 'This tragedy has shocked us all. Our staff, particularly those who work the complex, have been and continue to be, deeply affected by it.

'Verphy Kudi and her daughter, Asiah had been living at the independent living flats, for 11 weeks, when Asiah died.

'We will be working with the Safeguarding Practice Review to understand any lessons that can be learned from this tragedy.

'Our sympathies and thoughts are with the family and everyone affected by this tragic event.'

YMCA DownsLink was handed a three-year contract worth 336,000 by Brighton council to run the accommodation, starting on September 1, 2019.

A council spokesperson said last month: 'We have been deeply saddened by this tragedy.

'The case is currently the subject of criminal proceedings, and the city's Safeguarding Children Partnership is also conducting a review of the circumstances in to the tragic death of this young child.

'We are undertaking an internal review, which will feed into the partnership review.

'We have fully supported the police investigation, and are committed to working with the Partnership in its review and taking learning from this.

'Asiah was not on a child protection plan and was not involved with social work services when she died.

'It would not be appropriate for us to comment further while the criminal proceedings and reviews are ongoing.'


Brazil reported more than 4,000 COVID-19 deaths in one day for the first time this week. As the death tolls rise, experts fear that the South American country could pass the United States death total from the coronavirus pandemic later this year.

The total number of deaths recorded by Brazils health ministry is close to 400,000. The U.S. is the only country with more deaths, at about 555,000. Brazil has two-thirds of the U.S. population.

From the start of the health crisis, Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro has resisted measures to prevent the spread of the virus like wearing cloth coverings and social distancing. He once called the coronavirus a small flu.

The countrys governors and mayors are reopening parts of the economy while the healthcare system is at risk of collapsing. Hospitals are overcrowded. COVID-19 patients are using more than 90 percent of hospital beds in intensive care units for the sickest patients.

Adding to the problem, Brazil also has many different COVID variants. And this week, a judge ruled that schools could reopen in Rio de Janeiro.



Brazilian officials, however, are claiming life will be back to normal soon. We think that probably two, three months from now Brazil could be back to business, said Economy Minister Paulo Guedes.

Miguel Lago is the director for the Institute for Health Policy Studies in Brazil. He said reopening is a mistake that would bring even higher death numbers. He also said local political leaders fear the presidents supporters will try to stop any policies like social distancing from going into effect.

The fact is, Lago said, the anti-lockdown narrative of President Jair Bolsonaro has won.

While the U.S. is working to make vaccines available to all adults by April 19, Brazil has been slow to vaccinate its people. Our World in Data, an online research site, says just 3 percent of the Brazilian population has been fully vaccinated.

Miguel Nicolelis is a Brazilian doctor and professor at Duke University. He compared the situation in Brazil to Japans nuclear disaster.

Its a biological Fukushima, he said.

Both Nicolelis and Christovam Barcellos, a researcher at Brazilian medical institute Fiocruz, are warning that Brazil will soon pass the U.S. in total and daily death numbers.

The respected Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington created a model to predict COVID deaths in Brazil through June. It says Brazil may even break the U.S. seven-day average for COVID-19 deaths as soon as next week.

The model also predicts Brazil to have 563,000 deaths by the start of the summer. By then, the U.S. is expected to record 600,000 deaths from the virus.

Im Jonathan Evans.

Pedro Fonseca reported this story for Reuters and Mauricio Savarese reported this story for The Associated Press. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

toll- n. - the number of people who are killed or injured in an accident, disaster, war, etc.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 08:39:25|Editor: huaxia

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Shanghai Disney Resort officially opens in Pudong New Area, east China's Shanghai, June 16, 2016. (Xinhua/Chen Fei)

SHANGHAI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Disney Resort celebrated the 10th anniversary of its ground-breaking on Thursday, with president and general manager Joe Schott expressing his great confidence in the resort's future.

"We believe in the long-term benefits of the China market. That's what you'll see us continue to do," Schott said.

Since its opening on June 16, 2016, Shanghai Disney Resort has set many records, including welcoming more than 11 million guests in its first year of operations, beating market expectations.

Among the main features of the resort's story is the rapid expansion of its operations. The first major expansion, DisneyPixar Toy Story Land, opened on April 26, 2018, making Shanghai Disneyland the fastest Disneyland in the world to expand after opening.

The second major expansion is the Zootopia-themed land, which is currently under rapid construction in Shanghai, and is the first-ever Zootopia-themed land at any Disney park in the world.

According to He Jianmin, a professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, the resort has made a positive impact on the industry chain, improving service quality and innovating tourism products.

Shanghai plans to double the number of scenic spots and tourist projects each with more than 10 million visits annually in 2025, compared with 2020. In this context, the Shanghai Disney Resort could be a new driver for the high-quality development of the tourism industry in the Yangtze River Delta, He said.

Analysts have pointed out that, thanks to the continuous development of China's economy and the growing middle-income population, the consumption demand for culture and tourism among the Chinese people has increased.

The success of the resort reflects China's continued expansion of opening-up and has proved the trend of win-win cooperation among different economies, said Quan Heng, an economist with the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Associations. 
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  On Thursday, April 8, the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center (AICC) in Tompkinsville hosted a New York State run COVID vaccination site. The AICC is one of 18 designated locations selected to host a pop-up COVID vaccination site.

Between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM Northwell Health staff administered the Johnson and Johnson vaccine to more than 800 people.

With four people operating check-in and twelve nurse stations where the shots were administered, Northwell staff were able to maintain short lines and wait-times. The process overall took about half an hour on average.

Check-in at the pop-up COVID vaccination site at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center on April 8, 2021 (Staten Island Advance/Giavanni Alves)

Once people received their single dose they then sat in a waiting area for 10-15 minutes to monitor any potential adverse reactions to the vaccine. People with known allergies waited at least 20 minutes.

People wait for 15-20 minutes to monitor any adverse reactions from the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine at the pop-up COVID vaccination site at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center on April 8, 2021 (Staten Island Advance/Giavanni Alves)

Bianca Campbell, who is one of the Northwell Health Registered Nurses that was administering the vaccine at the AICC pop-up site felt very positive about the reception of the vaccine so far.

Its great to be a part of this experience, to be moving us in a more positive direction. And seeing how many people are actually coming out to get it surprises me everyday. Seeing so many people come out, its really encouraging, said Campbell.

Through partnerships with Northwell Health, Governor Cuomos office, Mayor Bill De Blasios office, and others, the AICC has supported the community throughout the pandemic. Some of these initiatiatives include providing free personal protective equipment (PPE) and food. AICC has also partnered with Project Hospitality to deliver meals to people in need.

The Albanian Islamic Cultural Center hosted a state-run pop-up COVID vaccination site on April 8, 2021 (Staten Island Advance/Giavanni Alves)

Imam Tahir Kukiqi of AICC and the NYPD Chaplains Unit explained to the Advance that the pop-up site is a continuation of the many initiatives that AICC has collaborated with local organizations and officials for in order to support the community.

Were here to remind people that we have to work harder to keep our health. We are mandated to be healthy. As we take care of our health, we take care of others as well, said Kukiqi.

The Albanian Islamic Cultural Center has always been at the service of the community, regardless of faith and ethnicity. This center has always been serving those in need.

This is what it is about: trying to keep our community healthy and trying also to bring trust between different organizations, government, and trying to answer positively to those that are trying to spread this doubt about the seriousness of the vaccine and the seriousness of the illness, COVID, he continued.

People wait for 15-20 minutes to monitor any adverse reactions from the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine at the pop-up COVID vaccination site at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center on April 8, 2021 (Staten Island Advance/Giavanni Alves)

While many people remain skeptical of the vaccine, some are still choosing to get the vaccine despite some doubt. Peter Donchik of Clifton told the Advance that he is anti-vaccine as he stood in line waiting to receive the vaccine.

I dont think its been tested with a sufficient amount of time, said Donchik.

He chuckled admitting that peer pressure may have played a role in his decision to get the vaccine anyway, noting that most of his colleagues have been vaccinated. Donchik is a veterinarian so he is regularly exposed to a lot of people in a small space.

Peter Donchik receives the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine from a Northwell Health nurse at the pop-up COVID vaccination site at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center on April 8, 2021 (Staten Island Advance/Giavanni Alves)

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been appealing to some people because of its convenience  being a single dose.

I specifically chose the Johnson & Johnson because Im not pro-vaccine and I may not return for the second one, so now I know I got it done, explained Donchik.

Doris ONeill Cabrera of Princes Bay was very pleased with the AICC pop-up site noting how well organized it was and how smoothly the process went. She also pointed out the sense of community and hope she felt in seeing places of worship such as AICC that have opened their doors and resources to everyone regardless of their race, ethnicity, or faith.

Woman answers questions and waits patiently as a Northwell Health nurse prepares to administer the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine at the pop-up COVID vaccination site at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center on April 8, 2021 (Staten Island Advance/Giavanni Alves)

Im glad that this shows that we are together in this. Well continue together in this, and were going to get better, said Cabrera.

Going to get the vaccine was actually Cabreras first time being out in public in seven months. She has been taking extra precautions and said that she will continue to do so even after receiving the vaccine.

Doris O'Neill Cabrera receives the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine from a Northwell Health nurse at the pop-up COVID vaccination site at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center on April 8, 2021 (Staten Island Advance/Giavanni Alves)

Im still going to be taking care of myself for at least a month. You know, you cant just take chances. And theres still many people that have not been vaccinated and they go to the stores and sometimes without a mask. So, I havent been to a store in a long time because its not over; its going to take some time. You never know, she told the Advance.

Im still very hopeful though, said Cabrera.

To schedule an appointment for the vaccine in New York City use the COVID Vaccine Finder site. For more information about the vaccine such as eligibility or COVID vaccination sites throughout New York State visit: https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/
OTTAWA - Canada's national unemployment rate was 7.5 per cent in March. Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):

OTTAWA - Canada's national unemployment rate was 7.5 per cent in March. Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):

_ Newfoundland and Labrador 12.4 per cent (15.3)

_ Prince Edward Island 8.1 per cent (9.2)

_ Nova Scotia 8.6 per cent (8.1)

_ New Brunswick 9.2 per cent (8.9)

_ Quebec 6.4 per cent (6.4)

_ Ontario 7.5 per cent (9.2)

_ Manitoba 6.8 per cent (6.8)

_ Saskatchewan 7.3 per cent (7.3)

_ Alberta 9.1 per cent (9.9)

_ British Columbia 6.9 per cent (6.9)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2021 and was generated automatically.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared racism a serious threat to public health. In a statement announcing a health equity initiative on Thursday, the agency acknowledged that racism negatively affects the mental and physical health of millions of people, preventing them from attaining their highest level of health, and consequently, affecting the health of our nation.

As part of the initiative to address racisms impact on public health, the agency plans to study how social determinants (the environments in which we live and work) affect health outcomes for Americans. The CDC said it will also make new and expanded investments in racial and ethnic minority communities to address health inequities related to Covid-19 and other health conditions. That includes a $300 million program to fund community health workers to reach out to marginalized communities. The agency has also created a web portal called Racism and Health, which it hopes will spark public discourse. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky wrote in a commentary on the site that she hopes these investments will create a durable infrastructure that will provide the foundation and resources to address disparities related to Covid-19 and other health conditions.

The pandemic has exposed many existing inequities in our country and healthcare system, Walensky wrote: The disparities seen over the past year were not a result of Covid-19. Instead, the pandemic illuminated inequities that have existed for generations and revealed for all of America a known, but often unaddressed, epidemic impacting public health: racism.

Public health specialist and physician Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones explained to Scientific American in 2020 how racism, public health and the pandemic have intersected to cause these inequities. Race doesnt put you at higher risk. Racism puts you at higher risk, Phyllis Jones said. It does so through two mechanisms: People of color are more infected because we are more exposed and less protected. Then, once infected, we are more likely to die because we carry a greater burden of chronic diseases from living in disinvested communities with poor food options [and] poisoned air and because we have less access to health care.

The CDC has $2.25 billion in funding to address health inequities exacerbated by the pandemic, and Walenski wants to use this as a way to make an impact on other health disparities caused by structural racism.

We are making a concerted national effort to reach those who have not been reached because we are making ties to local folks and trusted messengers, she told Time in an interview. I just really want to make sure that as long as we are doing that effort, and reaching people where they are, that we do so in a way that will allow us to not only vaccinate them for COVID-19 today but vaccinate their children for any missed immunizations and treat their blood pressure and screen them for cancer and do all the things that have been long neglected because they lacked access.
Perhaps its part of our self-reliant culture not to expect too much from government in Texas. Its why our forefathers didnt trust the governor with too much power and only let lawmakers meet every two years.

But this perennial hedging of our sacred voting rights begs the question: how on Earth did we allow Texas government to expect so much from us?

How did we get to a point where all voting-age Texans  Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Green Party members and independents  are expected to relinquish more and more of our voting access to lawmakers every two years in the service of one partys rule?

Texas GOP leaders cry integrity and security, alleging widespread voter fraud that, after 15 years of looking under every rock, they have yet to find. And what do many of us do? We dutifully fall in line, handing over more options to cast ballots, more convenience, more protections from intimidation.

Texas already ranks dead last in the nation for voter access. And lawmakers are still hacking away to make it worse. This session, they are no longer debating things such as Voter ID, for which reasonable, if flawed, cases can be made.

No, in the name of combating phantom voter fraud, lawmakers are demanding we give up something as harmless as drive-thru voting, which Harris County election officials so successfully introduced last year to protect voters during the pandemic.

Many appreciated the option, helping contribute to record turnout in Texas largest county, which happens to be run by Democrats. And that, of course, contributed to Republican fears.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other champions of Senate Bill 7 defend it by saying that provisions such as limiting voting hours and number of polling locations wont suppress voting. For many, of course, it wont. For many others  those who struggle with transportation, shift work schedules or child care  it will.

Fighting voter suppression is fundamental. But those of us who care about voting rights in Texas must ask ourselves: how did fighting suppression become our loftiest goal? Why have we let a few Republican leaders redefine the expectations of our own constitutional rights by such lowly standards?

Thats like sending us last years lower tax bill and calling it tax reform.

We want more than just no new suppression. We want open access, the kind a democracy requires to truly be of the people, by the people, for the people.

Abraham Lincoln did not define people as only those with home printers to complete an onerous voter registration process. He didnt mean only those with working cars and bosses who let them take a long lunch to hit the polling place.

In a state that already hovers near the bottom in the nation in voter turnout, we cannot be content to defend the scraps of status quo when it comes to voting access. We must demand not only that lawmakers stop dismantling our voting rights but start building them back.

We must support legislation that is pro-active rather than defensive, bills that actually expand access  as states as diverse as Trump-favoring Kentucky, blue-blue New Jersey and purplish Virginia already have.

Voting procedures that are scandals in Texas, and potentially criminal, are perfectly legal and ordinary in other states.

Consider, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures:

While Texas requires an excuse to vote by mail, nearly three dozen other states do not.

Texas is one of only around 10 states that doesnt allow voters to register online. (Our state was actually found by a federal judge earlier this year to be violating the 1993 Motor Voter law that requires states to let people register to vote when they apply for a driver license.)

While Texas House Bill 6 aims to make it a state jail felony for local election officials to send out vote-by-mail applications to all voters  yes, thats only applications, not actual ballots  five states manage to conduct actual voting entirely by mail without any existential threats to their democratic processes. Unsurprisingly, all but one have much higher voter turnout than in Texas.

While more than 20 states allow voters to register the same day they cast a ballot, Texas is among the states that cuts off registration the earliest: 30 days before Election Day.

Patrick has the audacity to claim the Senates voter legislation, SB 7, will change little: Nothing has changed for mail-in ballots, Election Day or early voting, he said. And anyone who says different is lying to you.

Tell that to a Harris County voter who was able to roll through a drive-thru polling place in 2020 but, under pending legislation, wont have that right again  because, integrity.

Tell that to the thoughtful Texan who, under pending legislation, would be forced to fill out paperwork to assist an elderly neighbor at the polls.

Tell it to a voter who may feel intimidated by a proposed law allowing partisan poll-watchers to focus their prying eyes, and their recording cell phones, on anyone they reasonably believe is violating an election law.

Patricks red-faced rebuke of local leaders who dare criticize the bill and the media who dare report the facts is telling. A nest of liars he called us all. As the saying goes, if you have facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither, pound the table.

Patrick doth protest too much.

But it is we, Texas voters, who protest too little.
(JNS)  Two weeks ago, the White House Passover seder was hosted by Americas Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. The Brooklyn, N.Y.-born lawyer is the first Jew to be a spouse of a vice president, as well as the first male to occupy the role. Being a Jew in such an important place in American society is not quite as big a deal as it might have been in previous eras when most Jews were either immigrants or first-generation Americans. Nonetheless, Emhoff has become a symbol of the acceptance of a community that was once marginalized.

The same might also be true for his children, who call his w...
The Biden administration has called for calm in Northern Ireland after a week of riots (Reuters)

The Biden administration has called for peace in Northern Ireland after a week of riots including fresh violence on Thursday night in which a water cannon was fired to disperse crowds in west Belfast.

We are concerned by the violence in Northern Ireland, and we join the British, Irish, and Northern Irish leaders in their calls for calm, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a press conference on Thursday.

The statement came after the most violent week Belfast has seen in years. There have now been six consecutive nights of unrest. On Wednesday, hundreds of people took part in a riot that ended with a bus being hijacked and set on fire .

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Irelands Taoiseach Micheal Martin have both called for a lowering of tensions. On Thursday, the White House joined them.

We remain steadfast supporters of a secure and prosperous Northern Ireland in which all communities have a voice and enjoy the gains of the hard-won peace, Ms Psaki said.

Read more:

She added that the United States continues to support the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the truce that largely ended the decades of violence between Irelands Unionist and Republican factions.

Ms Psaki also expressed support for the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol, which she described as protecting the gains of the Good Friday Agreement in the context of Brexit.

This is not the first time Mr Biden, who is Irish-American, has weighed in on Northern Irelands peace process. Last year, as Britain grappled with the tangle of Brexit negotiations, the Democratic presidential candidate tweeted a warning to Mr Johnson.

We cant allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit, Mr Biden said then . Any trade deal between the US and UK must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period.

On Thursday, Irelands prime minister called for peace as well.

I condemn the violence and attacks on the police that we have witnessed over the last number of days in The North, Mr Martin said. The only way forward is to address issues of concern through peaceful and democratic means.
(CNN)  The Biden administration said it is "disturbed" by reports of swift deterioration in the health of Alexey Navalny, as campaigners called on the US to impose more sanctions to hold Moscow accountable for what Amnesty International said may be the "slow death" of the Russian opposition leader.

The Russian government appears undaunted by previous tranches of sanctions by the United States and European Union over its poisoning and imprisonment of Navalny. Although some said it is unclear or unlikely that more sanctions would change Russia's behavior, they said it was important that the United States continue to speak out and act against Moscow's treatment of Navalny.

And as the US may be weighing potential consequences for the Kremlin's continued maltreatment of Navalny, the Biden administration is preparing to roll out sanctions for a range of other Russian misdeeds ranging from the SolarWinds hack to reported bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan and election interference, according to two administration officials familiar with the process. The sanction options have been drawn up and the administration, which has largely been focused on domestic issues in recent weeks, has been looking to carve out the right time to roll out these sanctions.

Navalny, an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been diagnosed with two hernias and is losing feeling in both hands, one of his lawyers, Olga Mikhailova, said in an interview with Russian media on Wednesday. He is on a hunger strike in protest of prison officials refusing to grant him access to proper medical care. The Kremlin said this week that it would not give him special treatment.

"The Kremlin is killing Navalny. He may not die next week or next moth but they will grind him down until his heath deteriorates and make up an excuse about how he died," said Bill Browder, an American-born financier, Kremlin critic and friend of Sergey Magnitsky. Magnitsky, a Moscow lawyer, died in a Russian jail in November 2009.

Agnes Callamard, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, said in a tweet this week that Navalny has been subjected to prison conditions "amounting to torture."

Retired US Ambassador Kenneth Yalowitz, who served two tours as a diplomat in Moscow and ambassadorships in Eastern Europe, told CNN it was unclear if the Russian government "simply wants to let him die in prison or to keep him as sort of a hostage -- every time his health declines to pump him up, so that he can keep going, simply to demonstrate that his fate is in Putin's hands completely."

Putin trying to demonstrate 'he is all powerful'

"I think that's what (Putin's) trying to demonstrate is that in the end, he is all powerful," Yalowitz said, adding that if the Kremlin allows Navalny to die, "all hell will break loose."

On Wednesday, officials from the White House, the State Department and the National Security Council offered calls for Russia to allow the ailing Navalny to access adequate medical attention and reiterated their opposition to his imprisonment.

"We urge Russian authorities to take all necessary actions to ensure his safety and health," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing.

"So long as he is in prison, the Russian government is responsible for his health and well-being," she said, adding that they would "monitor the situation closely."

"I would also reiterate that we consider Mr. Navalny's imprisonment on trumped-up charges to be politically motivated and a gross injustice," Psaki said. "And we stand with like-minded allies and partners in calling for his immediate release, as well as an end to the persecution of his supporters."

Garry Kasparov, chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, said in a CNN opinion piece that "the free world's political and business leaders have another chance to show newfound resolve  or continued cowardice."

Browder called on the administration to impose new sanctions "imminently."

"If they do not do it imminently it will only get worse," he said.

Biden administration unveiled sanctions in March

In early March, the Biden administration imposed a raft of sanctions on Russian officials and entities in response to Navalny's poisoning and imprisonment.

The actions -- taken in coordination with the European Union, which also unveiled sanctions -- represented the first significant move against Moscow since Joe Biden became President.

One EU official told CNN that there are "ongoing discussions between EU and US in response to Russia's behavior, including on the situation with Navalny's poisoning and imprisonment."

Browder told CNN on Wednesday that "the last sanctions were not on the right people."

"Navalny made a list of who needed to be sanctioned, and it was full of people who are not working for the Russian government but are the cashiers, the businesspeople who look after the funds of Putin and his cronies," he said. "The US should go down that list and sanction more people, and keep doing it until they release Navalny. That is the way to stop Putin from killing him."

Yalowitz, a global fellow at the Wilson Center, said he doubted that new sanctions would make a difference in Russia's behavior toward Navalny but that they "are important to keep pressure on, to let the Russians know that they are isolated, that this is inhuman behavior."

"President Biden has talked about the importance of human rights, distinguishing his administration from the previous one. And I really think it's really important for, you know, for us to act in accordance with those principles, even though we may know that it may not deliver the end result that we want," he said.

This story has been updated with further comment from Kremlin critic Bill Browder.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Campaigners call for US to do more to hold Putin accountable as Navalny's health deteriorates".
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Police accused of wrongdoing can usually count on the blue wall of silence  protection from fellow officers that includes everything from shutting off body cameras to refusing to cooperate with investigators. But that's not the case with Derek Chauvin, with many colleagues quick to condemn his actions in George Floyd's death, some even taking the stand against him.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo testified that Chauvins kneeling on the handcuffed Floyd's neck was in no way, shape or form in line with department policy or training. Homicide detective Lt. Richard Zimmerman testified, If your knee is on a persons neck, that can kill him.

Chauvin's former supervisor, retired Sgt. David Ploeger, testified that the force used on Floyd went on too long and should have ended when the Black man was handcuffed and stopped resisting. An inspector acquainted with Chauvin for two decades and an officer who said the defendant spent a day as her training officer took the witness stand as well.

The criticism didn't start at trial. Fourteen officers, including Zimmerman, signed an open letter last year saying Chauvin failed as a human and stripped George Floyd of his dignity and life. This is not who we are.

It's unclear whether officers are becoming more willing to call out a colleague, or if the extraordinary circumstances of this particular case are at play. While police agencies across the country have instituted reforms that promote more ethical behavior, some experts say the unblinking video of Chauvin with his knee on Floyd's neck as the dying man pleads for air is the impetus for fellow officers to stand against Chauvin.

I sincerely wish I could see a crumbling of the blue wall, but sadly I do not see that, said Bill Hall, a former Justice Department mediator who handled brutality cases, and a political science adjunct professor at Webster University in Missouri.

The damning police testimony  and the public criticism  against Chauvin is coming from the top of the department, not patrol officers. All 14 signers of the June letter were ranked as sergeant or higher. Hall said supervisory police officials have incentive to show the fault lies with the officer, not with their policies and procedures.

Story continues

Still, in June, the head of the Minneapolis police union, Lt. Bob Kroll, a usually militant defender of officers, agreed that Chauvins firing was warranted, calling what was shown on camera horrific. Meanwhile, the three other officers charged in Floyd's death, fired soon after and facing their own trials in August, are likely to blame the far more senior Chauvin for what happened.

The number of Chauvin's Minneapolis colleagues who have turned on him is telling, said Rick Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

We dont usually see a dozen or more police officers from the very same agency come out opposed to the actions taken by a police officer, Rosenfeld said.

It's a far cry from the code of silence that has surrounded cases of police brutality and killings for so long in so many places  including Minneapolis.

In 2017, Officer Mohamed Noor shot and killed Justine Ruszczyk Damond as she approached Noors squad car in the alley behind her home. Court testimony showed that an incident commander turned off her body camera when talking to Noor shortly after the shooting. Other officers told him not to say anything. Prosecutors told the court that about 20 police officers refused to talk to investigators and met with union officials to discuss withholding information.

Noor was one of the rare officers to be convicted anyway. He is serving a 12-year prison term.

In another Minnesota case, former St. Anthony officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted in the July 2016 killing of Philando Castile. Fellow officers were in court throughout that trial supporting Yanez.

Chauvin still has the legal support of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association. The associations legal defense fund is paying for his defense, and is obligated to do so because his years paying dues to his local union earned him the right to representation, said Brian Peters, executive director of the association.

Eric Nelson, Chauvins attorney, is one of 12 attorneys for the MPPOA who take turns handling officer-involved cases.

Some new programs seek to address the blue wall head-on.

New Orleans police in 2015 implemented a program called Ethical Policing Is Courageous, or EPIC. Training emphasizes peer intervention if an officer is doing something wrong such as committing an assault or planting evidence. The idea is that if one bystander officer intervenes, others will follow and the peer pressure will halt the bad act.

New Orleans Chief of Detectives Paul Noel said Floyd's death could have been prevented if Minneapolis police had a program like EPIC.

It would have taken just one officer to say, hey, get off of him, Noel said.

But John Kleinig, professor emeritus of criminology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York, believes that in most cases, police officers will remain inclined toward actions that protect their wayward colleagues.

For the police, its not a simple matter of coverup, Kleinig said. Theres a moral impetus to the blue wall of silence. In other words, we owe loyalty to each other.

___

Find APs full coverage of the death of George Floyd at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd
The head of a new student watchdog is seeking to rid cancel culture from campuses by fining universities where free speech is curtailed.

Lord Wharton of Yarm last night put Britain's universities on notice they face harsh penalties for enabling the 'deeply unhealthy' intolerance of open debate.

The Tory peer said the Office for Students is prepared to wield sweeping powers to deregister institutions, restrict certain degree courses, and hand down fines.

'Free speech is so crucially important that it would be a nonsense to take on these powers, and then fail to use them,' he said.

Lord Wharton of Yarm last night put Britain's universities on notice that they face harsh penalties for enabling the 'deeply unhealthy' intolerance of open debate

Lord Wharton used his first interview since taking the reins at the OfS to champion free speech and rail against cancel culture.

He told the Daily Telegraph there was a 'risk of a monoculture in higher education where certain views are seen to be, whether formally or informally, acceptable and others are not.'

The ex-Conservative minister singled out feminism, transgender issues and climate change as thorny subjects but where free dialogue must be allowed.

He also tore into 'no-platforming' techniques used by left-wing students to shut down controversial speakers.

Last year a speaking invitation for ex-Home Secretary Amber Rudd at Oxford University was revoked because of her role in the Windrush Scandal.

Warning such behaviour would not go unchecked by the OfS, Lord Wharton branded the move 'ridiculous'.

The OfS, a non-departmental body of the Department for Education, was launched in February and Lord Wharton was appointed chair by Gavin Williamson (pictured)

The OfS, a non-departmental body of the Department for Education, was launched in February and Lord Wharton was appointed chair by Gavin Williamson.

It sparked accusations of cronyism because Lord Wharton, 38, had spearheaded Boris Johnson's Tory leadership campaign in 2019, when he was an MP.

At the time Labour's shadow education secretary Kate Green said: 'It seems to me that Baron Wharton has none of the statutory qualifications for this post, and both the higher education sector and the wider public will be deeply concerned that this is simply another example of cronyism, which undermines trust in public life at a time when it is needed most.'

Lord Wharton told the education select committee he recognised the 'crucial importance' of the universities' watchdog being independent and added he would 'uphold that'.
A recent parent survey conducted by the district found that 83% of the 1,352 respondents indicated they are interested in a free full-day kindergarten at their neighborhood school. When asked if they would be interested in a free, full-day kindergarten if it was offered at one school, such as Jefferson, the number expressing support dropped to 53%, according to the survey results.
Jon Ferrando, Chief Executive Officer and President of RVR stated, "We are pleased to announce a multi-year partnership with RVTI to deliver training and certification for our service technicians across the RV Retailer family of stores. This investment by RVR in tech training will support the continued growth of our service and parts business. We are committed to ensuring that we have the best certified technicians who have the resources available to advance their skills and provide the highest quality RV service for our customers at our 55 stores."

"RV Retailer's commitment to training and developing its service technicians is setting the bar for the industry to follow and makes them the perfect learning partner for the RV Technical Institute," said Curtis Hemmeler, Executive Director of the RV Technical Institute. "Through attracting new service technicians to meet the demand of the rapidly growing RV industry, and providing the gold standard RV Technical Institute training to their technicians, RV Retailer is showing their dedication to improving the customer experience."

"The partnership with RVTI expands our commitment to train our 400+ service technicians. This program coupled with our tech apprenticeship program, on-site tech training, and virtual leaning modules helps our service technicians gain the knowledge and experience needed to grow their careers," said Chris Glenn, RV Retailer's Vice President of Service and Parts Operations.

Created by top RV industry experts, RVTI offers the only industry-wide training program and career path for RV technicians. The career path included four levels of certification, from a Level 1 Certified Pre-delivery Inspection Technician all the way to a Level 4 Certified Master Technician.

Taylore Elliott, RV Retailer's Chief Human Resources Officer added, "This investment in our people provides RV Retailer service technicians with the opportunity to receive RVTI's training and certification at no cost to the employee and allows RV techs to advance their skills and build a career. We are committed to having all of our service techs certified this year as part of this program."

Under the terms of the new partnership and investment by RV Retailer, service technicians employed by RVR will have access to all RVTI training material at no cost to the service technicians. This includes all materials, unlimited testing, and access to self-paced online programs, as well as a comprehensive training portal and individual profiles to track their personal certifications in the portal.

To learn more about RV Retailer or RV Technical Institute, please visit www.rvretailer.com or www.rvti.org.

About RV Retailer, LLC

RV Retailer, LLC is a leading recreational vehicle retail company in the United States with the goal of providing an outstanding sales, service and ownership experience for recreational vehicle customers with a focus on new and used sales, service and parts, and customer financial services. RV Retailer is led by co-founders Jon Ferrando, Chief Executive Officer and President, and John Rizzo, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Jon Ferrando and John Rizzo were instrumental in building America's largest automotive retailer from start-up to over $20 billion in revenue. RV Retailer's leadership team has over 250 years of automotive and RV retail industry experience.

RV Retailer has 55 RV stores in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Regional store brands include: RV One Superstores, Motor Home Specialist, ExploreUSA, Sonny's Camp-N-Travel, Cousins RV, Camper Clinic, Lifestyle RVs, Family RV Group, Northgate RV and Tom's Camperland, which sell a wide range of new and used RV brands with thousands of RVs in inventory.

About RV Technical Institute

The mission of the RV Technical Institute is to provide world-class training for RV maintenance and repair that will reduce the RV industry's shortfall of trained RV technicians. The RV Technical Institute's gold standard training and curriculum was developed by top RV industry experts and is the only industry-wide RV technician certification. Training is available directly from the RV Technical Institute through in-person classes or the self-paced online program and through our network of Authorized Learning Partners.

SOURCE RV Retailer, LLC

Related Links

http://www.rvretailer.com


Patients and health professionals say the symptoms associated with coronavirus were significantly worse than any symptoms from the vaccine.

"COVID was bad. The vaccine was nothing compared to having COVID," said Kisha Montgomery.

Sand Mountain Family Practice Sand Mountain Family Practice

Montgomery is fully vaccinated against coronavirus and already had the virus back in December. She said her symptoms with the second shot were worse than the first. She said she had a fever and body aches after the second shot.

Montgomery got her first vaccination a couple weeks after having the virus, but guidance has since changed and patients are asked to wait three months. Now, even with the new guidance, some patients are seeing symptoms.

"People who have had COVID tend to have a little more of a reaction," said Dr. Wayne Peters.

Dr. Peters says he had just a little arm soreness when he got his shots. His office has vaccinated hundreds, and some patients did have symptoms, but a lot did not.

"It's nothing to keep you from getting the vaccine," said Dr. Peters.

Some people with coronavirus had symptoms after the first shot, some after the second and some not at all. Dr. Peters says they let everyone know that they might feel sick for a few hours after their shot.

Sand Mountain Family Practice got a new shipment of vaccines just this week. They're looking for patients to vaccinate and don't have a waitlist. Click HERE to learn more.
At times of grief, it is our close family we turn to for comfort and consolation. One can only imagine the wretchedness Prince Harry must have felt receiving that dreaded phone call telling him the terrible news that his grandfather had died.

So helpless. So far away. So isolated from his family.

He had not seen Prince Philip for more than a year  ever since Megxit, when he took his wife and young son to the other side of the world to escape from being trapped in the Royal Family, as he put it in that Oprah Winfrey interview.

At times of grief, it is our close family we turn to for comfort and consolation. One can only imagine the wretchedness Prince Harry must have felt receiving that dreaded phone call telling him the terrible news that his grandfather had died

Prince Harry, right, pictured with his wife Meghan and his grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh on Christmas morning 2017, had not seen Prince Philip in more than a year

One can only imagine the wretchedness Prince Harry must have felt receiving that dreaded phone call telling him the terrible news that his grandfather had died

But I hope Harry at least had a chance to say goodbye. It is perhaps too fanciful to hope that he apologised to Philip for the damage the interview caused the Royal Family to which Philip devoted his life, sacrificing a stellar naval career

We will never know  nor should we  how often Harry spoke to his grandfather by phone or Zoom in the past year, nor whether there was any communication when Philip was seriously ill in hospital before he returned home to die.

We do know they did talk though. Harry joked to comedian James Corden how Philip would slam his laptop shut instead of hanging up after Zoom calls.

But I hope Harry at least had a chance to say goodbye.

It is perhaps too fanciful to hope that he apologised to Philip for the damage the interview caused the Royal Family to which Philip devoted his life, sacrificing a stellar naval career.

In stark contrast to Harry and Meghan, Philip always put honour and duty before his own pride and sometimes restless spirit. He wasnt just the Queens strength and stay all these years, as she told us on their golden anniversary, he was the nations. And the effect of Megxit on his family and the monarchy must have devastated him.

One can only hope that since Philip was being treated in hospital when the Oprah interview was aired, he did not know too much about it.

The rift between Harry and Meghan and the Royal Family had cast a long shadow over Philips final year. And at heart Harry must understand this. Which is why I hope Harry had the chance to explain to Philip why he and Meghan had to strike out on their own.

For all his apparent brusqueness, Philip, I feel, would have been the best of counsellors. Just as he was with Diana, with whom he had a surprisingly close relationship.

After all, few could have been more of an outsider than he when he joined the Royal Family. An impoverished Greek prince with German blood, he was even nicknamed The Hun by the Queen Mother.

And then with the death of the Queens father George VI, this highly energetic man  who was accustomed to leading from the front in the Navy and was mentioned in despatches for his heroism during the war  suddenly had to walk in the shadow of the Queen.

Like Harry and Meghan, he was hugely frustrated by suffocating royal protocol

Like Harry and Meghan, he was hugely frustrated by suffocating royal protocol.

Like Harry, he became something of a rebel when young, enjoying louche behaviour and boozy lunches with raffish young members of the Thursday Club.

Like Harry, he was good looking, had a twinkle in the eye and charmed the ladies.

These two princes had so much in common: both raconteurs, both with a rakish off-beam sense of humour that often landed them in trouble.

And crucially, both were distinguished military men. How proud Philip must have been for Harry after his two tours in Afghanistan and his excellence as an Apache helicopter pilot.

Such was their camaraderie that when Philip handed over his honorary command of the Marines to Harry, he told his grandson: Dont cock it up.

And now with his adored grandfather gone, my fear is that Harry may be wondering if he did cock it up.

Not in his service to the Marines which he had to relinquish but in his duty to his Queen and country  something Philip held to be so important.

Tragically, it is too late now if Harry has any guilt or regrets that his grandfather went to his grave thinking of him as the errant prince who turned his back on the Royal Family.

A final farewell in person could have been a reconciliation  but after Megxit that was unfortunately not possible.

Tragically, it is too late now if Harry has any guilt or regrets that his grandfather went to his grave thinking of him as the errant prince who turned his back on the Royal Family

As those who have loved and lost know, nothing compares with that last goodbye, holding a hand for the final time, looking deeply into once brilliant eyes dimmed by age but still full of love.

We all know that when great loss strikes us, despite the fights and fallouts, we want to hold our family close. How Harry must have longed to be here in the UK and not in LA when his grandfather was ailing during the past year and to have traded old soldier stories with the man who he not only loved and was inspired by but whom he revered.

Let us all hope that through their shared loss, this divided family might unite again and move forward with love. That is what Philip would have wanted.
Britney Spears enthusiastically revealed she's had her Covid vaccine in an Instagram post on Thursday.

'Got the COVID vaccine. Great success . High-five!!!!!!' the singer, 39, wrote in the caption, before tagging her boyfriend Sam Asghari who said the jab was 'a great success'.

It comes after Britney was forced to deny claims that she doesn't share her own social media posts after it was claimed she wasn't behind an Instagram caption referencing the documentary Framing Britney Spears.

Thrilled: Britney Spears, 39, enthusiastically revealed she's had her Covid vaccine in an Instagram post on Thursday

In the clip, Sam, a 27-year-old fitness professional, asked Britney: 'OK, so what did you think of the vaccine?'

The Grammy-winning pop star replied, 'OK so the people on the Internet said it was really bad, like a bullet going through your arm, it was not, I felt nothing I'm fine and I hope I continue to stay fine.'

Sam later commented, 'As @sachabaroncohen said great success,' while the video showed the pair high-fiving each other.

In the clip, Britney donned a pink top with black pants with pearls while her boyfriend was wearing an ash grey shirt.

Happy: 'Got the COVID vaccine. Great success . High-five!!!!!!' the singer, 39, wrote in the caption, before tagging her boyfriend Sam Asghari who said the jab was 'a great success'

Her take: The pop star said: 'OK so the people on the Internet said it was really bad, like a bullet going through your arm, it was not, I felt nothing I'm fine and I hope I continue to stay fine'

Happy: Sam later commented, 'As @sachabaroncohen said great success,' while the video showed the pair high-fiving each other

Britney is one of many stars who have shared their vaccination experiences over social media, as others include comic Amy Schumer, icon Dolly Parton and Spears' fellow pop star Mariah Carey, who shared her experience last week.

Carey, surrounded by doctors, said, 'They're having a medical narrative, but I'm here, Excited and nervous a little bit about getting this shot. This is distracting them from doing their job, but you know how I am. I just talk and don't really think about it.

'Here we are, all the way from that first post, washing my hands with Roc and Roe in New York, trying to encourage people to really be safe. You know, we're still in this battle together.'

Spears has continued to be a newsmaker amid the documentary Framing Britney Spears, showing her rise to stardom and the ongoing conservatorship battle with her father.

Get the jab! Britney is one of many stars who have shared their vaccination experiences over social media, alongside Mariah Carey and music icon Dolly Parton

It comes amid a recent scandal that saw Britney deny to TMZ a claim by a former makeup artist Billy Brasfield, that she told him she hadn't written an Instagram post that made reference to the documentary Framing Britney Spears.

Asked by the outlet about her association with Brasfield, Spears said, 'No, I'm not talking to him at all.

'I write my posts,' she said, 'I'm not sure who he is talking to, but I am not talking to Billy B.'

Limelight: Spears has continued to be a newsmaker amid the documentary Framing Britney Spears, showing her rise to stardom and the ongoing conservatorship battle with her father

In the Instagram post Tuesday, ...Baby One More Time singer said she 'didn't watch' the documentary but was 'embarrassed by the light they put me in' and cried for two weeks' amid the release of the documentary in February.

'It takes a lot of strength to TRUST the universe with your real vulnerability cause I've always been so judged... insulted... and embarrassed by the media... and I still am till this day!!!!' she said. 'As the world keeps on turning and life goes on we still remain so fragile and sensitive as people !!!

'I didn't watch the documentary but from what I did see of it I was embarrassed by the light they put me in ... I cried for two weeks and well .... I still cry sometimes !!!!'

Speaking to Page Six the following day, Brasfield, 57, said the singer confirmed to him personally that she didn't pen the post.

'I immediately knew it was not her,' he told the outlet. 'I texted her about it and she texted me back last night. What was upsetting - it was basically a narrative denouncing her fans and the Free Britney movement and people now taking a very conscious look at the facts and what is going on.'
Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Is Dropping 85 Percent Next Week: CDC

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data indicates that the Johnson & Johnson CCP virus vaccine supply will drop more than 80 percent next week.

According to a graph published by the agency, during the week of April 5, about 4.95 million doses of the J&J vaccine are available, but next week the supply will plummet to 700,000. The J&J COVID-19 vaccine is a single-shot dose.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as SARS-CoV-2.

In March, there was an error in manufacturing the vaccine at a plant in Baltimore, Maryland, which reportedly ruined 15 million doses. The incident prompted J&J to take over vaccine production at the plant, which has been operated by UK-based pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

A spokesperson for J&J, in a statement in response to a question about the CDC data, told The Epoch Times that it expects to deliver nearly 100 million single-shot doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the U.S. Government by the end of May. The company did not elaborate on the dropoff next week.

News of next weeks vaccine dropoff drew a comment from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who said it did not have anything to do with any factory error.

The amount that were receiving next week, which is down very considerably, is not, Im told, impacted by what happened in that factory, DeWine said. So weve got a couple weeks of a lot less Johnson & Johnson.

Officials said that the decline in supply will put a damper on states vaccination efforts.

It definitely is way lower than what we were expecting, said Dr. Danny Avula, Virginias state vaccine coordinator, according to the Wall Street Journal. Its just going to take longer for those who want a vaccine to be able to get vaccinated.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said during a Thursday news conference that the decline in vaccines suggests there are available appointments now that are probably not going to be available next week, adding: Jump at them if you can.

We have pretty clear visibility that the Johnson & Johnson supply that went up so dramatically this week is going to be down for at least the next couple of weeks, Murphy added, cautioning: I want to remind everybody youre not going to get your vaccine on April 19.

The vast majority of the shots available in the United States are produced by Modera and Pfizer. Approximately 90 million Pfizer doses and 80 million Moderna doses have been administered so far, according to CDC data. Thats compared with about 5 million doses of the J&J vaccine, although Moderna and Pfizer use two shots instead of J&Js single shot.

This week, meanwhile, two vaccination sites in North Carolina and in Colorado were shut down after several people developed adverse reactions afterward, said officials. Both sites were reportedly using the J&J vaccine.
SHARON  The town went live with its installation of two intelligent speed signs this week, devices that can record the types and size of cars, speed and when speeding occurs, and times of day when traffic volume peaks.

The signs, which have been placed on Sharon Valley and Calkinstown Roads, will provide the town, the state, and state police Troop B with a report through email, with information they can track and use to make decisions about patrols, road improvements and more.

The signs were funded through Connecticut Department of Transportations High Risk Rural Road Program. Theyre part of an effort initiated through the state and the Northwest Hills Council of Governments, which covers 21 towns.

Melissa Evans, safety circuit rider at the Connecticut training and technical assistance center at UConn, distributed the signs to the 119 municipalities in Connecticut that have rural road designations.

In coordination with the University of Connecticut, the DOT allows a lot of towns to borrow speed signs or traffic monitoring systems where you can learn how many cars or trucks go over a certain road at a certain time. This year, they gave us an opportunity for a brand new type of sign that has everything, said First Selectman Brent Colley.

In March, all the towns in the region went to Goshens Public Works Department to learn about the signs and to pick them up, if they were interested.

These are signs that people are familiar with and the towns are excited to get them, Evans said. A lot of police departments use them, the state of Connecticut uses them.

Sharon had borrowed the signs periodically over the past eight years, to track specific areas of concern.

The signs are solar, operate 24-7, and can be moved. Sharon plans to rotate them all around town, and will post the findings on its website, which will be available to the public.

Since the town will know when speeding took place, if its over the course of time, and we find its a pattern, we can get reports on how many accidents or where the areas are that have that issue, Colley said.

Additionally, tracking a vehicles size helps us plan for future road improvements, he said.

No license plates are recorded.

Through this donation, the state is trying to help smaller towns that dont have their own police force to manage speed, according to Colley.

The two streets chosen for the signs were selected based upon reports of prior accidents in those locations. On Sharon Valley Road, drivers are coming off Amenia Road, which is a state road off Route 343.

They just come flying off the state road onto a residential area, Colley said. We are trying to catch them right away and slow them down.

The sign at Calkinstown Road is on a hill, heading into town.

There is a lot of activity with people walking. The local Sharon Inn is there, so there are people staying at the inn and want to take a walk, or people locally who like to walk their dog, Colley said. It makes people coming into town tap their breaks before they get into the center of town. Its one of our highly traveled areas that attaches to Route 41.

Another street in town where the sign will go is Mudge Pond Road.

Mudge Pond Road is where our town beach is, but its also the new road that leads to our transfer station, Colley said. If we know that people are doing 50 or 60 miles an hour every day from 8 to 9 oclock in the morning, now we have a report we can give to Troop B, so maybe they can sit there and monitor it during those times.

When cars drive by the new signs, they flash and show their speed. That, alone, can be a deterrent for drivers to slow down, Colley noted.

The turnaround to get results is quick, according to Colley.

We will get it back that day or within a couple of days, said Colley, noting that his first data request will be April 22.

sfox@milfordmirror.com
Reacting to former president Rahul Gandhi's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister said that after failing as a part-time politician, Gandhi has switched to full-time lobbying.

In a series of tweets, Prasad said, "After failing as a part-time politician, has switched to full-time lobbying? First he lobbied for fighter plane companies by trying to derail India's acquisition programme. Now he is lobbying for pharma companies by asking for arbitrary approvals for foreign vaccines."

In his letter to Modi, Gandhi had urged the government to open vaccination for all.

"Fighting a pandemic is not a one-trick game. Apart from vaccination, there needs to be adequate focus on testing, tracing and treating. Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't understand all this and his ignorance is compounded by his arrogance," Prasad said.

Prasad said, " must know that the shortage in Congress-ruled states is not of vaccines but of basic commitment towards health care. He should write letters to his party's governments to stop their vasooli ventures & concentrate on administering the lakhs of vaccines they are sitting upon."

Referring to claims that the country is facing "vaccine starvation", Prasad said, "India is not facing vaccine starvation but Gandhi is facing attention starvation. Why has not yet taken the vaccine? Is it an oversight or he doesn't want it or has he already taken one in many of his undisclosed trips to foreign locations but doesn't want to disclose?"

--IANS

ssb/ash

(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.)
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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Polling was peaceful all over the state with the exception of stray incidents or minor violence in some parts. (Photo: DC/ Narayana Rao)

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh recorded the average poll percentage of 60.78 in the MPTC/ZPTC elections held on Thursday. West Godavari district registered the highest poll percentage at 68.27 while Prakasam the lowest at 51.68.

Poll percentages recorded in other districts were as follows: Srikakulam-58.37, Vizianagaram-67.13, Visakhapatnam-65.25, East Godavari-63.07, Krishna-63.99, Guntur-57.25, Nellore-51.87, Kurnool-60.28, Anantapur-58.07, Kadapa-63.59 and Chittoor-61.34.

Though the polling began at 7am, the turnout of voters was slugging during the initial hours as the states average poll percentage recorded in the first two hours at 9am was 7.76. By 11am, it rose to 21.65. At 1pm, it was 37.26 and by 3pm, the poll percentage was recorded at 47.42.

Polling was peaceful all over the state with the exception of stray incidents or minor violence in some parts. Voters were seen standing in long queues braving the sweltering heat at several polling stations to cast their vote.

In Nellore district, a BJP supporter dumped a ballot box in a water tub at Ponugodu village of Anuma Samudram Peta mandal falling under Atmakur assembly segment following a row with the ruling party agents over helping the aged people to reach polling station to cast their votes.

District collector KVN Chakradhar Babu announced the repoll in the village on Friday. Tellagunta villagers of Bogole mandal boycotted the polling to express their protest over not providing drinking water facilities in the village.

In Prakasam district, the car of Darsi MLA Maddisetty Venugopals brother Ravindra was damaged as he went to Sivaramapuram village in Tallur mandal to see the polling trend.

In West Godavari, a voter identified as Seshadri Venkata Durga Prasad was arrested by the Undi police as he tried to pour ink on ballot papers at the 32nd polling station in the village.

In East Godavari, polling was stopped for some time at a polling station located Sakurru village in Amalapuram as the Glass symbol of Jana Sena party was not printed on the ballot paper. The problem was rectified and the polling was continued.

A retired woman teacher Nrisimhadevara Simhachalam died while waiting for an auto-rickshaw to reach a polling station to cast her vote at Katrenikona.

Police booked a case against a voter Kasi Venkata Ramana for taking a selfie with the ballot paper at a polling station at Pallamkurru village in Katrenikona mandal. The election authorities declared his vote as invalid.

In Vizianagaram district, polling was stopped in three stations in Anti Peta polling centre in Seethanagaram mandal as the voters found the name of YSR Congress dummy nominee Senapati Lakshmi in the ballot paper for MPTC polls though the official nominee was Senapati Nirmala. A repoll is likely to be held on Friday.

Several adivasis in Visakhapatnam and other places faced a tough time to reach the polling stations for want of proper road connectivity. Hundreds of them crossed Matyasagedda in Arasu mandal to reach the polling stations.

In Kurnool, two groups of voters entered into heated arguments at Devanakonda as some of them tried to resort to cross-voting. Police rushed to the spot and restored normalcy.

In Kadapa, at Utpativaripalle of Badvel mandal, YSR Congress supporters acted as agents at a polling station instead of TD activists, forcing the TD nominee Sirisha Reddy and the party agents to stage a protest.

TD agents alleged that the signatures on the forms were not theirs.

In Rajuvaripeta of Chapadu mandal, YSR Congress activists did not allow a TD agent to sit in the polling station. MPTC nominee Rajeshwari tried to disrupt the polling, forcing the police to take her into custody.

In Guntur, TD activists from Gonepudi and Palapadu villages staged a protest in front of Narasaraopeta sub collectors office, alleging that their polling agents were not being allowed to enter the polling stations by the YSR Congress leaders with the support from CI Krishnaiah.

The villagers from both the villages demanded a repoll and sought suspension of the CI. They alleged rigging of votes by YSR Congress leaders and submitted a representation to the officials.

In Srikakulam, Krishna, Chittoor and Anantapur districts, polling was peaceful.
Manitobas finance minister admits hed gotten used to the idea of annually balancing the provincial books  that is, until the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged any chance to do so.

Manitobas finance minister admits hed gotten used to the idea of annually balancing the provincial books  that is, until the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged any chance to do so.

"Its certainly something we were proud to accomplish before all of this happened," Minister Scott Fielding told a virtual event hosted by the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce Thursday, a day after he tabled the 2021-22 budget at the legislative assembly.

"But, even with these circumstances and the hits to our economy, were committed to having another balanced budget within the next eight years."

Moments after he announced the fiscal blueprint, Fielding said he started getting questions from constituents about why the Tories decided to cut taxes when the province is set to run high deficits.

"People definitely keep asking about this," Fielding said. "And I think, to us, tax relief right now makes sense for individuals and businesses to help them save as much as possible.

"Right now is the time to invest money to get through the pandemic. But the budget needs to look at both that and how we can be prepared for the future beyond this."

Co-sponsored by Rogers Communications Inc., Winnipeg-based 6P Marketing and Manitoba Egg Farmers association, the webinar was a way for Fielding to peddle whats been described as a "transitional budget" to the business community.

According to the latest projections from the province, Manitoba has seen over $2 billion in deficit spending during the 2020-21 fiscal year, and it anticipates around $1.6 billion in slippage this year.

Estimates for deficits show itll be $374 million, $254 million and $209 million, respectively, within the next three years.

"Clearly, this budget is not going to be like any other weve seen in Manitobas recent history," noted Peggy May, chairwoman of the Chambers. "Thats why we understand why the focus right now is to protect Manitobans through the ongoing pandemic, and to that end, we see $1.1 billion going towards COVID-19 costs."

Chuck Davidson, CEO and president for the Chambers of Commerce, asked Fielding what it was like navigating "another pandemic budget."

"I remember it was your third budget and you were scheduled to speak with us pretty much the day COVID hit Manitoba, so we never got to have that talk last year when 400 people were expected to hear you in-person," said Davidson.

Fielding said it was most important to prioritize contingency plans and understand the uncertainty of a post-pandemic economy.

"One thing we know about COVID, a year into this, is that we cant judge it for the present because it really does keep changing," he said. "We know that it could change with variants and a whole bunch of other things that can happen. So, weve built around $300 million in contingency under (unplanned) costs towards COVID-19.

To that end, Fielding said it was important to "hear the voice of Manitobans to make these budget decisions," mentioning that nearly 51,000 people participated in consultations.

"We value feedback with these things, but it did come back quite mixed," he said.

Around 44 per cent of participants for government surveys say the province should balance the budget later than 2027, even if it means higher deficits and more provincial debt. Meanwhile, 37 per cent believe government should stick with its plan to balance the books by 2027.

"But at the end of the day, this budget shows our focus is to protect Manitobans. Weve got a lot of money thats invested to protect us if a third wave comes to our province."

The Chambers will host Ralph Eichler, Minister of Economic Development and Jobs, at another stakeholder event in May.

temur.durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @temurdur
The World Health Organization (WHO) has begun supplying 20 artificial lung ventilation devices to Ukraine, funded by the European Union.

According to a press release from the EU Delegation to Ukraine, the equipment will be delivered to Kyiv, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Ternopil, Rivne and Cherkasy regions in the next two weeks. The first device has already been handed over to Uman city hospital (Cherkasy region).

The total cost of equipment, spare parts and consumables, as well as installation services, personnel training, additional warranty and preventive maintenance is EUR 899,000.
PUPILS from various schools were yesterday turned away after incapacitated teachers resolved to attend duty for three days per week.

NewsDay Weekender gathered that parents were ordered to withdraw their children from schools, especially in Harare, as teachers did not report for duty.

Teachers unions vowed that their members would not attend classes until government addressed their concerns. Primary and Secondary Education ministry spokesperson Taungana Ndoro said the ministry was aware of reports that teachers were not attending classes.

He said to maintain order in schools, government had tasked devoted teachers to attend to learners whose instructors had absconded.

The (Education) ministry will not be deterred from its mandate of providing inclusive and quality education by perceived threats of job action, Ndoro said.

If the employees who are under our ministry are not performing as expected, then we will advise the employer.

There are only a third of teachers who are members of the teachers unions and the rest have no representatives. Just like any other employer, we will take the necessary measures against those teachers who are not reporting for duty.

But a boarding school head who spoke on condition of anonymity told NewsDay Weekender that it was difficult to control and monitor pupils when teachers were not reporting for duty.

It is difficult to enforce the wearing of masks, sanitising and social distancing among pupils single-handedly as teachers are on go-slow, he said.

That is the reality on the ground. The situation is better for day schools as pupils can go to their homes, but here at boarding schools, we have to take care of them.

Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) president Obert Masaraure said government should address the incapacitation crisis, as it was likely that school would close due to the bleak COVID-19 situation in schools.

Teachers are not teaching. When they show up at the workplace, they are simply logging in and staying in, he said. When Artuz members go to schools on Monday, they are going to protest on campus. The COVID-19 scare is soon going to force schools to close; we should find solutions to the incapacitation crisis.

Governments efforts to resolve the impasse reached a deadlock last week after the civil servants rejected a 70% pay rise offer. Government also threatened to revoke salaries for civil servants who were not reporting for work in protest over poor salaries. Newsday
As states hit a delay in their federal supply of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Gov. Ned Lamonts administration on Thursday said college students could go home half vaccinated.

Our plan had been to give college students Johnson & Johnson before they leave knowing that we didnt really have enough time to get them a second dose of (Pfizer or Moderna) before they head home, said Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe, outlining the broad strokes of the plan during the governors press conference that afternoon.

Now, he acknowledged, that strategy will have to adapt as the state faces a drop-off in doses from Johnson & Johnson.

Instead, college students in Connecticut would get their first shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine before heading home for the end of term. At the same time, Geballe said the governors office has been working with the Biden administration and other governors to encourage them do the same.

The thinking is that once college students arrive home in May theres gonna be a lot of extra doses of vaccine in all 50 states, he said.

Students returning home to Connecticut would then be able to get there second in the state, while students returning home out of state would presumably be able to find a second shot in their communities.

Some colleges are already reporting vaccinations among students. The University of Connecticut reports 19 students at its campus in Storrs have been partially vaccinated, while 268 have been fully vaccinated as of Thursday. The school is not requiring students or employees to be vaccinated.

Yale University is offering appointments to students and staff at its vaccination clinic at the Lanman Center. Sacred Heart University in Fairfield is also allowing students to sign up for appointments at its mass-vaccination site through Hartford HealthCare.

Earlier this week, the states Department of Public Health alerted vaccine clinics that it expects a sharp decline in doses from Johnson & Johnson starting next week.

Geballe said the holdup right now appears to be indefinite as federal regulators work to certify Emergent Biosolutions, a manufacturing plant in Maryland that is supplying the pharmaceutical giant. He said the state has not received a timeline for that process.

The state had expected to receive 20,000 doses of the vaccine next week, but instead is expecting around 6,000, with a drop down to 2,000 doses per week in the future, Geballe said.

He said the vast majority of the states supply of Johnson & Johnson shots will be prioritized for mobile vaccine units targeted at underserved communities. The state is also making contingency plans to supply those mobile units with either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, Geballe said.

That comes as the governor has increasingly made pleas for younger people in the state to roll up their sleeves. On Monday, Lamont said the state hopes to have 60 percent of those age 16-44 vaccinated within a few weeks. That age group became eligible on April 1.

Many states have now opened eligibility to those 16 and older, putting doses in the arms of the youngest people able to receive the shots under the emergency use authorizations from the Food and Drug Administration, and fulfilling a directive by the Biden administration to make all adults eligible by May 1. But some states still restrict access for younger people only to those who are medically vulnerable.

On Thursday, Lamont made a plea to younger people to get vaccinated, noting the message was a turnaround from a year ago when he called on residents to try to protect the states older population. The call for younger people to get their shot included appearances by state Sen.Will Haskell and Ed Ford Jr., a member of the Middletown Common Council  both young politicians who had posted about getting vaccinated on social media.

Meanwhile, the state departments of Public Health and Education called on students and staff to finish the year strong.

As vaccines continue to be distributed throughout our state, as the weather warms, and as outdoor activities increase, there is hope that we may begin to get back closer to our pre-COVID lives, the agencies said in a joint statement. However, with the spread of more contagious virus variants and many other unknown variables, DPH and CSDE continue to urge individuals and organizations to take a cautious approach to planning and resumption of activities at this time as expanding too much, too quickly could result in a significant rebound of community spread and a further loss of in-person learning opportunities.
Police have issued Norways prime minster with a fine for breaching coronavirus restrictions during her birthday party earlier this year.

Prime minister Erna Solberg hosted a 60th birthday celebration attended by 13 people in late February, breaking her own governments ban on gatherings of more than 10.

She has since apologised for her actions, stating that she was very sad about what has happened.

She has been fined 20,000 Norwegian crowns (1,715) for the breach, police chief Ole Saeverud told a news conference on Friday.

Police suggested that the rules are being enforced particularly strictly in this case in order to uphold the publics trust in the measures.

They said that they would not have issued a fine in most similar cases, but did so because Ms Solberg has led the governments imposition of restrictions.

Emphasising the prime ministers position of responsibility, the police chief said that all are not equal in front of the law despite the law being the same for all.

He explained: It is therefore correct to issue a fine in order to uphold the general publics trust in the rules on social restrictions.

Her husband, Sindre Finnes, who police said helped plan the event and also broke the rules, was not fined alongside Ms Solberg.

The restaurant at a mountain resort where the celebration took place was not fined either, underlining the polices desire to use the prime ministers case to set an example.

Solberg is the countrys leader and she has been at the forefront of the restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the virus, said Mr Saeverud.

Norway, which has recorded some of Europes lowest rates of infection and deaths over the course of the pandemic, has suffered a surge in cases since the beginning of 2021.

The jump in infection numbers, caused by more transmissible virus variants, is part of a third wave sweeping Europe.

The government tightened restrictions in response to rising infection levels in March, with health minister Bent Hoeie blaming the rise on the coronavirus variant first discovered in Britain.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  The lights are on, the beer is flowing and Kaktus Brewing Company in Bernalillo is back to welcoming customers after a monthslong hiatus.

Kaktus Brewing, 471 South Hill in Bernalillo, officially reopened in mid-March, and planned a grand opening event today, Friday. Company president Dana Koller said that other than some people behaving more cautiously, business is almost back to normal.

People are excited to get out, they want to participate in things and so its been pretty good, he said.

Like many restaurants and breweries, last year proved to be a struggle for the Bernalillo business. Changes in health orders caused the brewery to temporarily shutter twice and Koller said he had to dump thousands of dollars worth of beer with each shut down.

Despite the closures, Koller said he was able to take advantage of the downtime by reconfiguring the layout of the brewery, adding specialty beers and developing a system of service to help people feel more comfortable while enjoying a brew.

I would say the biggest hurdle is just, you know, time and money invested before even being able to open the doors, he said. Even though thats a negative, we have proven that the things that weve put into place have already been a big success.

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Bernalillo director of Economic and Community Development Mike Kloeppel said that while the town hasnt experienced mass business closures like other cities, the reopening of the brewery is still a relief and a positive sign.

Hes got a lot of new, anticipated and exciting adventures going on over at Kaktus which brings in a lot of people to the Town of Bernalillo, Kloeppel said. So were excited that hes reopening again.

Kaktus Brewery is open Thursday through Sunday. More details are available at kaktusbrewery.com.
Philippine Coast Guard personnel in Manila salute to welcome the U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter Bertholf as it arrives for a port call in the first visit by a U.S. cutter in more than seven years, May 15, 2019.

The Philippines welcomes an American commitment to back it should Beijing become aggressive in the South China Sea, Manilas defense department said Thursday, after Washington warned that an armed attack on the Southeast Asian nation would force the U.S. to aid its ally under a decades-old treaty.

For weeks, the Philippine government has engaged in a verbal tussle with Beijing and lodged diplomatic protests over the presence of dozens of Chinese ships in contested waters of the sea, but China has denied the allegations and said these are fishing vessels.

The U.S. admonition to China against the use of force on Philippine public vessels and aircraft, which are performing their constitutional mandate to protect and defend Philippine rights in the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, is an additional affirmation of the long-standing partnership between our two countries, said Arsenio Andolong, a spokesman for the Philippine Department of National Defense.

As the situation in the West Philippine Sea evolves, we keep all our options open in managing the situation, including leveraging our partnerships with other nations such as the United States, Andolong said, referring to the section of the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines.

A day earlier, the U.S. State Department reiterated that Washington was backing its longtime Asian ally  a former American colony  in the ongoing dispute over the Chinese ships moored at Whitsun Reef, which lies within the Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and other disputed waters in the Spratly Islands.

As we have stated before, an armed attack against the Philippines armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the Pacific, including in the South China Sea, will trigger our obligations under the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, Ned Price, the departments spokesman, told a daily press briefing in response to a reporters question.

Under the auspices of the 70-year-old treaty, the armed forces of the United States and the Philippines will come to each others military aid in the event of an external attack on one of them.

Despite repeated calls by Manila for the ships to leave the area and the filing of diplomatic protests, the Chinese vessels have lingered there.

Last week, the Philippine military said dozens of Chinese militia ships were scattered among contested reefs and islets in the Philippine EEZ.

Chinas foreign ministry has insisted the area around Whitsun Reef belongs to Beijing.

The Philippines attempts to use an illegal, null-and-void award to negate Chinas sovereignty, rights and interests, negate Chinese fishermens fishing history and rights in their traditional fishing grounds, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a press briefing on Tuesday.

We hope the Philippines will look at this objectively and correctly, immediately stop wanton hype  and avoid casting negative influence on bilateral relations and the overall peace and stability in the South China Sea, he said.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond on Thursday to the Philippine and U.S. statements.

Beijing insists much of the South China Sea is its territory, despite a July 2016 international arbitral ruling by a United Nations-backed tribunal that affirmed the Philippines EEZ.

Other governments claiming parts of the South China Sea are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. Although Indonesia does not consider itself a claimant in the territorial disputes, China claims historic rights that overlap with Indonesias EEZ.

A student activist takes part in a protest on Roxas Boulevard in Manila against the presence of Chinese ships in Philippine-claimed waters of the South China Sea, April 8, 2021. [Jason Gutierrez/BenarNews]

Ongoing protests

Since Monday the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs has filed daily protests against China about the ships in its EEZ.

On Wednesday, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. again demanded that all the Chinese ships move out.

Nobody fishes by lashing ships together. Last time that was done was the Persian invasion of Greece recorded by Herodotus, Locsin said in a Twitter post late Wednesday. Weve seen that movie.

The Chinese presence in the Philippine EEZ also has Manila counting on its Visiting Forces Agreement with Washington, which President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to terminate.

In February, Lloyd Austin, the defense chief in the new Biden Administration, reaffirmed Washingtons commitment to the 1999 VFA and the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty during his first official phone call with his Philippine counterpart, Delfin Lorenzana.

The VFA, which allows the presence of U.S. troops in the Philippines, has remained in effect since Manila deferred its termination.

The pact is also the basis for another defense cooperation agreement, which allows U.S. troops to pre-position assets at certain Philippine military bases.

We are continuously in talks with the U.S. on the matter of mutual defense, Andolong said Thursday.

Both parties are committed to undertake their obligations under the Mutual Defense Treaty so that neither stands alone in these issues involving the two states inherent right of self-defense, individually and collectively, he said.

The U.S., meanwhile, has maintained naval patrols in the South China Sea. On Sunday, the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group entered the waterway to carry out maritime strike exercises, anti-submarine operations, coordinated tactical training and other activities, according to the U.S. Navy.

On Wednesday, the Royal Malaysian Air Force announced it had completed a two-day bilateral military exercise in the sea with the Roosevelt strike group.
Srinagar, April 9 : A soldier of the Territorial Army (TA) was shot dead by suspected terrorists at his residence at Bijbehara in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Friday, officials said.

The TA soldier, identified as Mohammad Saleem Akhoon, a resident of Jablipora, Bijbehara, was home on leave.

Officials said the 43-year-old soldier was attacked by two terrorists suspected to be from the LeT. Akhoon was rushed to SDH, Bijbehara from where he was referred to the GMC Srinagar, but declared dead there.

He is survived by his wife, a nine-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son.

"Mohd Saleem was a brave and conscientious soldier, who was highly decorated, having been awarded the Chief of Army Staff's Commendation Card twice and the Northern Army Commander's Commendation Card," the army said.

In 2019, the soldier had been issued threats by terrorists via an audio message but had continued to do his duty undeterred, it said.

"The nation stands in solidarity with the family of the brave soldier. The perpetrators will be tracked and booked," army said.

Officals said that five Kashmiri army soldiers have been killed in the region in the last two years.
Hyderabad, April 9 : Officials on Friday found more golden ornaments from a plot in Telangana's Jangaon district where a treasure trove was discovered by a realtor while leveling the land on Thursday.

Officials from Department of Heritage visited Pembarthy village on Friday and inspected the area where a copper vessel filled with gold and silver ornaments was found.

They sifted the soil from a ditch at the site and found more golden ornaments weighing 6.03 grams. The jewellery was handed over to the District Collector.

A team of officials led by Department of Heritage's Assistant Director Mallu Naik visited the site on the direction of the District Collector. They are also planning to take up digging at the site to find out if there are more ornaments.

Following the discovery on Thursday, the revenue officials cordoned off the 11 acres of land and deployed police at the site. The officials directed the realtor to stop work till further orders.

After the discovery, district officials along with police had reached the spot and took the ornaments in their control under the Indian Treasure Trove Act, 1878.

The pot contained 187 grams of gold ornaments and 1.727 kg of silver ornaments. According to Additional Collector A. Bhaskar Rao, the pot weighed 1.2 kg. The copper vessel with ornaments was shifted to the Treasury Office in Warangal.

The jewellery is believed to be of Kaktiya era (12-14th century A.D) but archaeology experts were examining the items recovered to know their historical significance and other details.

Realtor Mettu Narsimhulu and earthmover driver Ravi were pleasantly surprised when the earthmover hit the pot of golden and silver ornaments including earrings, anklets, necklaces, crowns, nose beads, rings, chains and more.

There was sudden excitement in the village. A large number of curious villagers gathered at the site and some of them started worship by breaking coconut and lighting incense sticks. Few of them demanded the local officials build a temple there.

Those gathered there included a woman whose four sons had sold the land abutting the Warangal-Hyderabad NH-163 to Narsimhulu and 10 others few years ago.

On Friday, Ailamma and her sons reached the site when officials were inspecting the area. They entered into an argument with officials, demanding that they should get a share in the treasure.

The revenue officials, however, made it clear that they would act as per the law.
A family kicked off a Southwest flight after their two-year-old could not keep his face mask on turned to Facebook to complain and were offered a private flight by a family friend.

Erik Harvey, his wife Michelle and two-year-old son Jackson ended up with a free ride to their Austin, Texas destination after pilot James Peck saw Erik's Facebook video.

On April 1 Erik posted an 18-minute video to Facebook titled 'Kicked off the plane *'not an April fools joke' where he shared his traveling experience.

In the video, which has garnered over 1,000 views, he said he was 'fired up' as he told the story of his family getting kicked off a Southwest flight from Denver, Colorado to Austin, Texas, where they intended to visit family.

Harvey kicked off the video by saying 'I should be sitting on a plane seat'.

He said his family woke up at three in the morning to prepare for their flight out of Denver, Colorado.

After venting on Facebook about being kicked off a Southwest Airlines commercial flight, Erick Harvey's friend, pilot James Peck, flew the family to Austin, Texas

Erik and Michelle Harvey and their two-year-old son Jackson woke up at 3am to catch their flight to Austin out of Denver

Erik Harvey posted an 18-minute video to Facebook titled 'Kicked off the plane *'not an April fools joke' after the travel experience

According to Harvey, everything was going 'swimmingly' and the three even made it onto the plane, seated looking out the window, before things went south.

They had even practiced mask-wearing with Jackson before the flight.

'I practiced with him at least two or three times at the house and every time he threw it off, but I figured that [Southwest] would work with us on the plane because he's two,' Michelle Harvey said.

'He was sitting there complying with his mask on, everything was great, it was wonderful. Until it wasn't.' he said.

Harvey said Jackson ripped off his face mask and was 'done' and would not put it back on.

It was then a flight attendant approached the family and said the 2-year-old had to put it on or the family would have to get off the plane.

Harvey said he and Michelle were 'flustered' trying to get their son to put the mask on but he would not cooperate.

The flight attendant told them they had to deboard the plane.

'You have to go ahead and leave the plane,' she said. 'It's federal regulation, you cannot stay on the plane.'

Harvey said they pleaded but the flight attendant did not budge so they gathered up their things and 'walked off the plane in a daze'

Michelle Harvey said they had even practiced mask-wearing with Jackson before the flight

Harvey said he and his wife Michelle pleaded after being told they had to deboard but the flight attendant did not budge so they gathered up their things and 'walked off the plane in a daze'

Erick Harvey, his wife Michelle and their two-year-old son Jackson were forced to deboard a Southwest flight to Austin

But in a twist, an old friend of the couple, Peck, watched the Facebook video and decided to help.

'I knew that I could use that as a great excuse to go take a flight and help them out and get them here,' Peck told FOX 7.

'I have a family of my own and it's not impossible to get your kids to be awesome on a flight, but to get them to be able to keep a mask on the entire time has its challenges.'

FOX 7 reports that Peck flew his twin-engine airplane to Denver, picked up the family, and flew them to Austin at no charge.

Peck has even offered to fly the family back to Denver at the end of their trip.

Erik Harvey with his wife Michelle and two-year-old son Jackson. The family flew on a private plane after being kicked off a Southwest Airlines commercial flight to Austin, texas

Pilot James Peck, a friend of the couple, saw the Facebook video and decided to offer them a free ride aboard his private plane

'I just was floored,' Michelle said. 'I just said ''You know what, babe? I'm nervous, but I feel like turning him down would be rude, like this is an opportunity,''

'The miracles will come to you, things will show up, and that Good Samaritan will show up,' said Erik.

In a statement to FOX 7, Southwest Airlines said they regret the inconvenience the Harvey family suffered but that they were told multiple times about face mask regulations prior to being booted off the plane.

'Federal law requires all customers two and over to wear a face mask while at the airport and onboard the aircraft,' Southwest said.

'This is communicated to customers in multiple areas including during the booking process, checking in, boarding, and pre-flight messaging.'
GREENSBORO, N.C., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Spire Capital backed Dynamic Quest, a managed service provider offering IT and cloud services to enterprises and businesses, completed the acquisition of IT 4 the Planet dba Integrated Solutions ("Integrated Solutions"), a Birmingham, Alabama-based managed service provider.

Dynamic Quest, led by CEO and Founder Javier Gomez, continues to execute on its strategic vision to become a regional leader in the Southeastern United States with its acquisition of Integrated Solutions. This marks the seventh acquisition for Dynamic Quest since the formation of its partnership with Spire Capital in Q2 2018.

Integrated Solutions offers managed IT, disaster recovery, and cybersecurity services to businesses and enterprises across medical providers and a wide variety of other verticals. The company has a long-tenured and strong customer base. The Integrated Solutions team members will join Dynamic Quest and continue to serve the Alabama market.

Javier Gomez, CEO of Dynamic Quest stated, "Dynamic Quest is very fortunate to have the Integrated Solutions team join our Dynamic Quest family. Curtis Woods and Aaron Woods at Integrated Solutions have done a terrific job growing the business and building a strong reputation as a customer focused and dependable IT team. We are looking forward to the next phase of growth together."

Curtis Woods and Aaron Woods, owners of Integrated Solutions conveyed, "We are excited to be joining Dynamic Quest. They have a culture of integrity and exceptional service to their clients. As part of Dynamic Quest, we will be able to deliver significant benefits to both our team and clients throughout a much broader geographic region."

The transaction will expand Dynamic Quest's presence into Alabama and provide the ability to cross-sell a broader base of products and services to the Integrated Solutions customer base. Dynamic Quest will look to leverage its infrastructure including its data center, centralized delivery team, and sales and marketing initiatives to enhance service solutions for end clients and accelerate growth.

About Spire Capital

Spire Capital (https://spirecapital.com/) is an active and experienced private equity firm with an investment focus in small market companies within the technology enabled business services, media, communications and education sectors. Spire Capital was founded on the principle of partnering with management teams and founders to help effectuate the next stage of growth for their companies. Spire professionals have a broad array of past operating, investing and advisory experiences they leverage to help portfolio companies accelerate growth, guide strategic direction and execute their business plan. Spire Capital is a New York-based investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

About Dynamic Quest

Founded in 2000, Dynamic Quest is a managed service provider for IT services to enterprises and mid-sized businesses. Dynamic Quest offers a broad set of services including hosted cloud services, disaster recovery, managed IT, service plans, application support, virtual CIO and security services. The Company's headquarters is in Greensboro, North Carolina. Dynamic Quest currently has satellite offices in Winston-Salem and Raleigh, North Carolina; Atlanta and Valdosta, Georgia; Jacksonville, Florida; and Clark, Philippines. For more information, visit https://dynamicquest.com/ or follow Dynamic Quest on LinkedIn

About Integrated Solutions

Headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, Integrated Solutions is an IT managed service provider to small to medium sized businesses. For more information about Integrated Solutions, visit the company website https://integratedsolutions.us/.

SOURCE Spire Capital Partners
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YEREVAN.  Zhoghovurd newspaper of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: RA Supreme Judicial Council member Gagik Jhangiryan has won after fighting for his rights at the European Court. The state gave him quite a large sum of money as compensation for trampled and violated rights.

Zhoghovurd daily has learned that Gagik Jhangiryan took the money received from the state yesterday and went to the Homeland Defender's Rehabilitation Center. He personally gave an amount of two million drams to the director of the center, Haykuhi Minasyan, promising to donate some more money these days, already individually, for those being treated at the rehabilitation center, in their name.

Thus, our country has lost at the European Court because of a number of judges, investigators, and prosecutors. And, in addition to the shameful defeat, the RA government had to compensatefrom the state budget formed with the money generated by means of the taxpayersJhangiryan for [his] violated rights. And it is good that at least that money went to the wounded, amputated soldiers.
Update 2:23 p.m.: The man died at 12:45 p.m., at the hospital, police said.

ANN ARBOR, MI  A man was fatally shot in the head Friday morning in Ann Arbor.

The shooting happened before 10 a.m., April 9, in a car in at a hotel parking lot in the 3500 block of S. State Street, the Ann Arbor Police Department said.

The victim, a 31-year-old Mississippi man, was taken to the University of Michigan Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head, police said. He died at 12:45 p.m. and his name is being withheld while family is notified.

A 22-year-old Mississippi man is in police custody, police said. The men know each other, however, police do not have motive at this time.

Police are continuing to investigate the shooting.

Anyone with information should call Ann Arbor police at 734-794-6920 or the tip line at 734-996-3199. Emails can be sent to email tips@a2gov.org .

More from MLive:

Semi crash closes M-14 for hours in Ann Arbor

Police investigating body found in Lenawee County

City reverses position, releases police report involving Ann Arbor official and ex-senator
The British government has allocated a further one million euros for eight organisations across Europe who have been helping Britons with residency applications made under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement from the EU.

In Andalucia, IOM is working for the British government as part of the UK Nationals Support Fund to help more vulnerable residents apply for residency status. Age in Spain, and Babelia also cover different parts of Spain.

The news of extended funding came as data was published showing that on 31 December 2020 Spain had recorded 381,448 Britons as officially resident, up 15,000 on the last published data from June 2020.

Despite the increased numbers, there are believed to be many people living in Spain who still do not have resident status and who are entitled to register under the more favourable pre-Brexit conditions.
A common question raised about the federal courts, especially the Supreme Court, is why judges rule differently in the same or similar cases. Federal judges take an oath to administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and [to] faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all [their] duties. If judges are intelligent and well trained in the law, why do they look at the same facts yet reach different conclusions?



This is a valid question. There are academic studies suggesting federal judges appointed by Democratic presidents differ in rulings from those appointed by Republican presidents in certain types of cases. Other studies suggest male judges differ in their rulings from female judges in certain cases. And although not as many, some studies suggest differences in rulings between judges of different races, between judges from rural or urban areas, and between judges from defense backgrounds or plaintiffs backgrounds.



We believe there are two answers to the question of why judges reach different results from similar facts. First, law is not math. Second, the judges of our federal courts are human beingswhich is a good thing.



Law Is Not Math

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., famously wrote in The Common Law in 1881 that [t]he life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience. In math and in logic, there is one correct answer to a problem. But law does not deal just with numbers. It deals with human actions, human words, and human intentions. There are also often gradations in law. For a plaintiff to win a civil case, for example, he or she must prove a case by a preponderance of the evidence. One person might take this to mean proof by 51 percent, while another might take it to mean 50.1 percent. Both

interpretations are reasonable.



Courts Are Populated by Human Beings

Both the people who make the lawlegislatorsand those who interpret and apply the law judgesbring their lived experiences to their tasks. This is an unavoidable reality. Varying lived experiences create different viewpoints and decision-making processes. And that leads to our second answer to the question: judges are human beings, not machines.



If perfect consistency were the most important goal in court rulings, then having machines serve as judges would be ideal. In fact, there are ongoing experiments with algorithmic decision-making tools, actuarial tools, and other emerging technology to test their ability to do the job of judges without the influence of judges lived experiences. Even if a satisfactory tool could be developed, though, few of us would wish to have our cases decided by a machine. Such technology might remove the possibility of individual variations from the courts, but it would also remove the human heart.



When we present a case to a judge, we bring all of our lived human experience with us. We want our judge to understand, share, and consider our individual human experience. To do this requires a human heart, not a machines mathematical calculation.

This is the reason our laws at their root are based on lived human experience. Legislators use their experience to make laws. Judges use their experience to reach their decisions. As a society, we do not want to delegate those important responsibilities to calculators. But as a consequence, reasonable people will have honest disagreements when viewing the same set of facts and applying the same law.

Differences Are Not as Deep as Portrayed

It is important to keep in mind that even the studies mentioned above indicate that judges individual differences operate only at the margins. For the vast majority of cases, differences in judges experiences play no role in court decisions. Using the example of the preponderance of the evidence, while judges might disagree on whether the proof must be 50.1 percent or 51 percent,

if the proof were 52 percent, there would be no disagreement.

The same is true of the Supreme Court. Despite the perception that the Supreme Court is incessantly split, the reality is quite different. According to an article in the Washington Post on June 28, 2018, justices agree far more often than they disagree. The article explains: According to the Supreme Court Database, since 2000 a unanimous decision has been more likely than any other resultaveraging 36 percent of all decisions. Even when the court did not reach a unanimous judgment, the justices often secured overwhelming majorities, with 7-to-2 or 8-to-1 judgments making up about 15 percent of decisions. The 5-to-4 decisions, by comparison, occurred in 19 percent of cases.

Protections from Individual Judges Differences

Finally, our legal system contains structural limits on judges exercise of individual differences based on their backgrounds and experiences. One of the most important constraints on judges is the jury. In the vast majority of civil and criminal cases, the parties have the right to have a jury to decide the case. With a jury, the judges background and experiences have a limited effect. A jury of ordinary citizens decides the outcome, not the judge.

Another constraint is the appeal process. A faulty decision by a trial judge can be reviewed and corrected by an appellate court. And on the appellate courts, any individual judges background and experiences will be tempered, because each panel is composed of multiple judges, most often three. With multiple judges on each panel, no one judges individual tendencies will prevail. We as citizens can know that while judges are human beings and retain all the experiences and characteristics of human beings, human beings in the end make better judges than would machines.

We can also be assured that our legal system contains systemic protections to guard against the possible excessive effects of judges individual backgrounds and experiences.



Curtis L. Collier

United States District Judge

Chair, Eastern District of Tennessee

Civics and Outreach Committee



Carrie Brown Stefaniak

Law Clerk to the Honorable Curtis L. Collier

Immediate Past President, Chattanooga Chapter of the Federal Bar Association



Eliza L. Taylor

Law Clerk to the Honorable Curtis L. Collier
More contagious variants of the coronavirus have been blamed for a record surge in infections in Metro Manila

Angelo Barrera's father struggled to breathe from COVID-19 as he was driven around the Philippine capital in search of a hospital bed. After five hours he got on a waitlist, but died before he could get inside.

More contagious variants of the coronavirus have been blamed for a record surge in infections in Metro Manila that has overstretched hospitals and sent the national capital region into lockdown.

Long queues at emergency rooms have forced people to drive from one health facility to the next in search of treatment, in a situation described by a hospital official as a "nightmare".

"They went to eight hospitals physicallyit was full capacity everywhere," said Barrera, who called an additional 20 medical centres during his father's ordeal last month.

The 61-year-old pastor, who had no pre-existing conditions, suddenly collapsed after suffering mild symptoms of the disease for about 10 days.

"Admission was full, ER was full and even the waitlist for the ER was full. Some hospitals had told us they had 40 patients waiting to get into the ER," said Barrera.

Eventually, at around 4:00 am, a large private hospital added him to its waitlist for the intensive care unit.

He was on a stretcher and hooked up to an oxygen tank in the patient drop-off area outside the packed emergency room when he died, said Barrera, who declined to name his father.

"Even though we know the ICU isn't miraculously going to save him it was still our best shot."

Many have turned to social media to crowdsource information on facilities still accepting patientsand vent their frustration at the hospital bottlenecks

A COVID-19 referral hotline set up during the pandemic to direct the sick to the appropriate hospital has been swamped, unable to handle the hundreds of calls a day to the service.

Many have turned to social media to crowdsource information on facilities still accepting patientsand vent their frustration at the hospital bottlenecks.

"We called 48 hospitals in & around Metro Manila for a friend; her oxygen is at 75%," Laurel Flores Fantauzzo tweeted on March 31.

"All are full. Many won't add to waitlists. I wish there were field hospitals. Medical ships. Transformed stadiums. We'll pay whatever to save her but the infrastructure doesn't exist. Help, please."

'Dire situation'

In a bid to slow the spread of the virus and decongest hospitals, authorities last month ordered more than 24 million people in the capital and four neighbouring provinces to stay home unless they are essential workers.

A week after lockdown was imposed, 70-80 percent of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients were full, while ICU beds were "almost 100 percent" occupied in most of the capital, Health Undersecretary Maria Vergeire said.

"It's a dire situationit is the worst nightmare of a hospital manager happening in reality," said Jaime Almora, president of the Philippine Hospital Association.

Leland Ustare, an anaesthesiologist at St Luke's Medical Center, said some patients were spending days in the emergency room waiting for an intensive care bed.

Isolation facilities are being expanded in an effort to ease the burden on hospitals and stop the virus spreading in crowded households

"This time is even worse than last year," Ustare said, referring to the first few months of the pandemic.

"The numbers are really worse."

The government is distributing modular tents to struggling hospitals and re-deploying health workers from regions where virus transmission rates are low.

Isolation facilities were being expanded to include schools and hotel rooms for mild cases in an effort to ease the burden and stop the virus spreading in crowded households.

The World Health Organization warned hospitals were nearing a "red line" where demand exceeded healthcare capacity.

"It's very, very important to avoid crossing this red line," said Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific.

'Bleak months ahead'

Almora said the problem in hospitals was a lack of health workers, not beds.

"The hospitals have the capacity, they have the beds, but they cannot expand their capability because of the manpower problem," he said.

The government is distributing modular tents to struggling hospitals and re-deploying health workers from regions where virus transmission rates are low

Some nurses have resigned out of fear of catching the virus or gone abroad to work in hospitals where the risks were the same but the pay higher, he said.

Government insurance restrictions on copayments was also deterring smaller facilities from accepting COVID-19 patients, Almora added.

President Rodrigo Duterte, whose government has been under fire over its handling of the pandemic and vaccine rollout, warned last week of "bleak months" ahead.

The country's caseload of more than 828,000the second highest in Southeast Asiawas expected to top a million before the end of April.

Amid growing panic, some lawmakers and doctors are pushing for the anti-parasite drug ivermectintouted by some on social media as a COVID-19 "miracle cure"to be approved for widespread use.

The WHO says ivermectin should only be used as a COVID-19 treatment in clinical trials, citing "inconclusive" evidence.

Unemployed hotel worker Rodell Nazario said his 46-year-old wife passed away last month after waiting two days at home for a hospital admission.

As her condition worsened he piled her into a taxi, but she was dead by the time they reached the emergency room.

"The cases would not have ballooned if they (the government) were doing the right thing," said Nazario.

"They locked down but then they allowed the people to go out again."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
Thiruvananthapuram, April 9 : The Congress-led UDF on Friday cried foul over the course of Kerala Police's probe into the brutal murder of Indian Union Muslim League worker at Kuthuparamba near Kannur, hours after the Tuesday's assembly election.

IUML worker Manzoor, 22, was seriously injured when a gang of two dozen people first threw a bomb at him and then attacked him and his brother with swords and knives at their house near Kuthuparamba.

Manzoor died while being taken to the hospital, while his brother is being treated at a hospital in Kozhikode.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala alleged that this was a well-planned murder similar to the way the CPI-M planned the murder of former Communist leader T.P. Chandrasekheran.

"The CPI-M is trying to change the entire case by announcing a Crime Branch probe. The police are playing foul and even after almost three days, the only person who has been nabbed is the one who was taken into custody by the local people from the place of the crime. After that, the police have not been able to take into custody even a single accused. We demand that the probe should be headed by an IPS officer," he said.

The senior Congress leader said that the party is also going to organise a protest meeting at the site to highlight the "callous manner" in which the probe is being conducted.

Kannur's Congress MP K.Sudhakaran alleged the present probe team is headed by the "close aide" of the CPI-M and hence, all can assume which way the probe is heading.

"We are certain that, the truth will never come out in the present probe. Just like in a few similar murder cases at Kannur, the CBI will have to be called, with the help of the court," he said.

Angry IUML leader P.K.Kunhalikutty said that there is no way that they will accept a probe by a team of police officials "close to the CPI-M".

"The criminals who did this are sure that nothing will happen to them, but we are not going to sit idle and we will do everything to bring out the real culprits," he said.
NEW CANAAN  Like other providers, the towns health department is seeing a high demand for COVID vaccines.

There has been (no hesitancy) from what I am seeing, New Canaan Health Director Jennifer Eielson said. Everyone is beating down the door to get vaccines as fast as possible.

The towns health department offers first and second dose vaccinations during a weekly clinic Thursdays at Lapham Center in Waveny Park.

At the Lapham Center, there have been more than 4,000 first doses and 1,800 second doses administered to town residents, according to Eielson.

(On March 31), we did 520 appointments, the health director said.

Harrison Pierce, New Canaan Schools medical director and chairman of the Health and Human Services Commission, said he has seen some residents show slight caution, but they have typically chosen to proceed with the vaccination.

There are probably sporadic people out there who have issues with it. I saw two patients who came in with a myriad of questions, but they were there so they did want to be vaccinated, Pierce said. They just had to be reassured.

Eielson said some residents have asked who administers the vaccines. All of Lapham Centers clinics are run by medical professionals, she said, and she thanked emergency medical service members and local physicians for volunteering.

The state Department of Public Health last week notified local health officials that the full allotment of 800 Moderna doses will be available for the next town clinic on April 15.

We sent a link out through (the first selectmans) messaging and it's already filled, Eielson said. All 720 spots for next Thursday were filled within 45 minutes.

New Canaan will also continue its vaccination efforts for those homebound in town. Earlier this week, the state DPH released an official form online so residents who are unable to leave their home for physical or medical reasons may also receive a COVID-19 vaccination.

Eielson said the towns health department will continue to hold vaccine clinics as long as the department of public health keeps giving us vaccines and as long as we have arms to put doses in.

Pierce was impressed by the operation.

The efficiency of the whole operation is impressive. These people that are vaccinated are called, greeted, escorted, signed in on the computer, they are ushered back to their stall and they are given the vaccine, Pierce said. They then go into a room where they are again checked for the mandatory 15 minutes (after the first dose).

Those with a history of allergic reactions are watched for longer periods of time.

New Canaan also has a waitlist, of town residents clamoring for a dose if there are any left over from that weeks clinic.

We do not have an issue with people saying that they do not want to be vaccinated, Eielson said.
Hailey Bieber cut a stylish figure in a bra top and cream overshirt as she flashed a hint of her taut midriff.

The 24-year-old model took to her Instagram Stories on Thursday to share the stunning mirror snap with fans.

She fixed the camera with a pout as she some added green trainers and black accessories to the typically cool ensemble.

Effortlessly cool: Hailey Bieber cut a stylish figure in a crop top and cream overshirt as she flashed a hint of her taut midriff in a snap she shared on her Instagram Stories

Hailey flaunted her svelte physique in a pair of black cargo trousers and added the complementary black bralet.

The beauty threw a cream shacket over her edgy look and rolled the sleeves up as she posed for the camera.

Never one to miss out on the latest trends, Hailey sported a pair of green Nike Jordan trainers to add a pop of colour to her look.

Beauty: Hailey is no stranger to putting on a stunning display on social media, as she posed with a glass of red wine earlier this month

She added the finishing touches with a black Bottega Veneta clutch which she'd tucked under her arm.

Hailey covered her pretty features with a pair of black sunglasses and left her golden tresses hanging in sleek lines.

Earlier this week, Hailey was 'so upset' to learn she had not been kind to an NYC hostess who rated her poorly in a TikTok video documenting her experiences serving celebrities.

TikTok user Julia Carolan awarded the model a measly 3.5 out of 10 stars after claiming the model had never been nice to her in their 'handful' of interactions.

Speaking about the experience in a YouTube video about mental health with Dr. Jess Clemons, Hailey said she was troubled to learn she had not been on her best behaviour with the woman.

'I wish I didn't act that way towards her': Hailey Bieber was 'so upset' to learn she had not been kind to an NYC hostess who rated the model poorly in a TikTok video documenting her experiences serving celebrities

'Months ago, there was this TikTok of this girl, right? And she was a waitress in New York and she was kind of rating people's level of kindness or her interaction with them on a different scale,' Hailey recalled.

'And she did one about me, and she was like, "You know I didn't have a great experience with her, I just didn't feel like she was that nice." When I saw her video I was so upset.'

Despite not remembering their interactions, Hailey took ownership of her behaviour.

'There's never an excuse for being rude. I felt bad that that was her experience with me. You never know what someone's going through.

'I remember going through times in my life where I was so sad, and so heartbroken that engaging with people felt hard for me.

'Every time she was not nice': Julia Carolan rated Hailey a measly 3.5 out of 10 as she recalled her allegedly unpleasant interactions with the model

'I don't ever remember meeting her, but I thought about it, and I regretted that and I wished that that wasn't her experience with me.

'I wish I didn't act that way towards her. I'm a human, and I made a mistake, and I acted a way that was out of character for me. I acted a way that I don't want to be. I'm trying to do better every single day, and I want to continue to grow as a person and I'm open to people correcting me.'

Hailey has since issued an apology to Julia, who claimed on Tik Tok to have met the model 'a handful of times and every time she was not nice.'

'I really want to like her but I have to give her a 3.5 out of 10, sorry!' Julia said in the video.

Hailey has been married to Canadian crooner Justin Bieber, 27, since 2018.
Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg has been fined 1,700 for breaking the country's Covid-19 restrictions to celebrate her 60th birthday, police have said.

Solberg gathered members of her family in the ski resort town of Geilo at the end of February in breach of restrictions limiting social interactions, public broadcaster NRK revealed on Thursday.

The country's current rules limit the number of people attending a private event in a public space to ten.

It is thought that 13 members of Solberg's family dined at a restaurant on February 25 - but that the Prime Minister was not present because she had to go to hospital with eye problems.

The next day Solberg and her relatives violated another recommendation by having 14 people, four more than the limit, eating sushi in her flat.

Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg (pictured during the trip to the ski resort) was investigated after she and her family broke the country's Covid-19 restrictions to celebrate her 60th birthday

The reports that Solberg breached the restrictions immediately sparked a furore on social media with some calling for her resignation.

'If the PRIME MINISTER, with hordes of advisors, can't figure out the rules, it's TOTALLY UNREASONABLE to expect the average person to do so,' one user on Twitter railed.

At the time, police released a statement that read: 'Against the background of information that has surfaced through the press, together with the prime minister's own statements, police have decided to initiate an investigation tied to a potential breach of the infectious disease regulation.

'The matter will then be evaluated by the prosecution authority in reference to a potential legal sanction.'

Solberg gathered members of her family in the ski resort town of Geilo (stock image) at the end of February in breach of restrictions limiting social interactions

The reports that 60-year-old Solberg (pictured) breached the restrictions immediately sparked a furore on social media with some calling for her resignation

Solberg issued an apology on her Facebook page.

In a post, published on March 18, she wrote: 'I am sorry that my family and I have broken the corona regulations, that should never have happened.

'We of course should have followed all the recommendations, as I have asked you to do.

She added: 'I'm especially thinking of all those who have had to cancel things they have looked forward to, a birthday with classmates, a celebration with friends or anything else that is important.

'I understand those who get angry and disappointed over this. I have made a mistake and for that I want to say I'm sorry.'

In addition to the legal consequences, the outing could also have ramifications for the head of government's political career as the country heads into planned elections in September.
Scott Distler: Finding a way out of 'the cave'
Oh Bachchoo, pity and cry for poor mankind

Who discovered several way to be blind

Blind to truth and blind to beauty

Blind to the message of the stars above

Blind to dharma, blind to duty

And blind not to, but blindly in love.

From Pyar Kiya, Abh Karna Kya? by Bachchoo

Let us ponder, gentle reader, on the word revolution: Its certainly what the planets do around the sun. But historically, socially, it has been applied to changes in who controls societies -- a change, but not in the gentle way that Joe Biden and Kamala Devi Harris took over from Donald Trump. A revolution, historically, involves blood.

Bloody Myanmar today is not a revolution, it is an imposed change of regime, best described as a fascist military coup. The word did apply to England in the seventeenth century, to France in the eighteenth and to Russia and China in the twentieth. These countries overthrew the governance by one class and replaced it with another, who shed the blood of the first. Oliver Cromwells side in Britain defeated the Cavaliers, cut off Charles Stuarts head and declared the country a republic. In France, power passed from the monarchy to the nascent bourgeoisie.

In Russia and China, both predominantly peasant countries, power passed from monarchy and an inheriting feudal class to a single party and its obedient and self-serving members.

None of these, though two of them claim the title, can be called Marxist or Communist revolutions. The latter two have, inevitably, ended up -- one as a mafiocracy and the other a stiflingly dictatorial state-capitalist country. The revolution, as Karl Marx had envisaged it, is yet to overtake us -- if not soon, eventually.

Meanwhile, the twentieth century had experienced the revolution of decolonisation. The colonial rulers of Europe, who had for three hundred previous years ruthlessly exploited -- and perhaps brought some forms of progress and some benefits -- to a number of Asian and African nations, were compelled to leave them to be governed by their own populations.

India, Ghana, Indonesia and myriad others were decolonised in this manner. The captains and the European Kings departed.

The slave trade, one of the cruellest episodes of mans inhumanity to man, cant strictly be called colonialism. There is though, in Britain today, a socio-political movement dedicated to banning words, toppling statues and doing they-dont-quite-know-what to buildings and places associated with the slave trade. This movement, supported by several British institutions such as universities, the National Trust (which is something like the Archaeological Survey of India), the British Library and the curriculum prescribers for schools, is labelled decolonisation.

I have no quarrel with such sentiments but wonder about the word. In my long-forgotten and happy youth, my father, a military officer was transferred to Kanpur and we lived in a house on Havelock Road. I am sure that the name has been charged now, as Havelock was a general who had fought to suppress what used to be called the Sepoy Mutiny of India, but which we must, in this decolonising era, refer to as the First War of Independence. Down with Havelock Road meyrey yaaron! Lets rename it something like Aditya Yogi Marg -- if it hasnt already been changed.

We are aware that the colonial statues of Queen Victoria and other major Raj figures have been removed from our cities. This is not seen by anyone (sorry Zareer Masani?) as a regrettable move. Of course, the Raj was and is part of Indias history, but then isnt all history -- f*** the truth of the centuries and who did what to whom -- to make the people in power at present feel good?

In India or Africa, its easy peasy. We can easily change the names and demolish the statues. We were the victims, and we are triumphant in our justifications. In Britain its a little more problematic. Its a fact that cities such as Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow were built on profits from the slave trade. I think gentle readers would agree that dynamiting the buildings and precincts of these existing cities and reducing them to the rubble of the cities of, say, Syria today, would be tragic and unnecessary.

Of course, the texts that teach history to children everywhere should tell the truth. But the truth in a historical context always begs the question --whose truth?

In Britain, and in the other colonising countries, there are now swathes of the population from their ex-colonies. They are now permanent citizens of the ex-colonising countries and a part of the vociferous and globalised community engaged in self-expression.

I sincerely believe that revolutions that really make a difference to the lives of ordinary people lives are not linguistic -- the banning of this or that word. Neither will the banning of depictions, the renaming of roads or museums cause any real material advance in a communitys future. These gestures have, however, proved to be the rallying points for people who desire change all over the world.

The facts of history are petrified. Britain was a slave-trading and slave-owning nation. Several of its cities were built on the profits of this trade. Yes, the curriculum in schools will have to accommodate the truth of this era of history and alleviate some of its horror with the fact that many Europeans, through moral conviction, battled against slavery and eventually managed to prevail in abolishing it.

Tumbling statues, renaming buildings and streets doesnt wipe out the injustices that the names and memorials represent. Can they really decolonise our history or merely pull the niqab over its ugly face?
A chimpanzee named Mogli was likely killed by another ape after a vicious power struggle, a primate expert has claimed.

The 10-year-old chimp was found dead in a moat outside his enclosure at Sydney Zoo on Friday morning after initial reports falsely claimed he escaped from the pen.

Panicking visitors called radio stations saying they were locked in buildings and told to stay in their cars.

Sydney Zoo in Blacktown in the city's west said reports an animal on the run was incorrect and revealed a chimpanzee had actually died, but didn't disclose the cause of death.

An animal expert who is familiar with handling the primates told Daily Mail Australia that Mogli likely met a grisly end.

A photo of Mogli who the zoo said was a beloved member of its chimpanzee troop

Mogli was found in a moat outside an enclosure at Sydney Zoo on Friday morning

Rescue teams are seen pulling the chimp from the water after the incident on Friday

'It is likely another chimp has drowned Mogli after a power struggle,' they said.

Chimps have been known to kill other apes in rival groups and even within their own communities.

One ape, a West African chimpanzee called Foudouko, was savagely beaten and partly cannibalised by his own group at a research site in Fongoli, Sengal in 2013.

Foudouko had been the leader of the troop for years when he disappeared and began living on his own on the outskirts of the community, professor of anthropology at Iowa State University Jill Pruetz said.

When he decided to rejoin the group he was immediately killed.

An alpha chimp named Snowy was also reportedly pushed into a moat at an enclosure in 1999 by another male ape and then drowned.

Chimps are known for being poor swimmers due to their lack of body fat, which causes them to sink.

Sydney Zoo has not confirmed what caused Mogli's death and is conducting an investigation into the incident. CCTV has not provided any evidence as to what may have caused the death.

'The exact cause of death is inconclusive, and a post-mortem will be conducted,' a spokesman for the zoo said.

The zoo earlier announced the death of the much-loved chimpanzee.

Sydney Zoo said it was investigating the circumstances of Mogli's death

'Sydney Zoo is sad to announce the death of Mogli a beloved member of our chimpanzee troop,' the zoo said.

'Once more information is known we will make a further statement.

'We would like to confirm that media reports of an escaped animal are false.

'The team are in a state of deep shock and grief.'

Sydney Zoo Primate Curator, Lou Grossfeldt, said Mogli's death was the same as losing a 'family member'.

'Mogli had a personality that was larger than life. He will be remembered for his adventurous spirit, piercing amber eyes and cheeky smile,' he said.

'This has been a very sad day for everyone.'

Pictures from the enclosure showed a man in a scuba suit and snorkel in the water as he was helped by zookeepers.

Another shot from the scene showed four men carrying a green bag.

Mogli was remembered by hundreds of Facebook users who offered their condolences to the zoo.

Visitors were told to stay in their cars on Friday morning amid reports an animal escaped the zoo in Blacktown, Sydney's west. Pictured: Crowds in the car park

An aerial shot of Sydney Zoo in the western suburbs on Friday morning

'I am so sorry for your loss. Sending my love to the troop, keepers, staff, and volunteers. Go easy on yourselves,' one person commented.

'How terribly sad. We were there yesterday and my kids had such great time. Our thoughts are with the keepers and the staff,' another wrote.

A third person commented from outside the zoo: 'So sorry to hear this. We're still happily waiting in the very long queue to come in - many new friendships have been made in cars around us while we all sit and wait!'

In the car park, hundreds of animal lovers were huddled together in a line as they waited to be allowed into the zoo.
A grieving father has emotionally told how even the most severe sentence for the driver who killed three of his children would not be enough to bring them back.

Samuel William Davidson was speeding, drunk and high on drugs when he fatally struck siblings Sienna Abdallah, eight, Angelina, 12 and Antony, 13, and their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, on February 1 in Oatlands in Sydney's north-west.

Davidson was told on Friday at Parramatta District Court he would spend at least 21 years in prison.

The siblings' father, Danny Abdallah, said the sentence handed to the professional truck driver over the crash was 'God's will' - but it had a limited meaning to the family.

'Whether he gets one year or 100 years we won't get Antony, Angelina, Sienna and Veronique back,' Mr Abdallah said.

Judge James Bennett gave Davidson a maximum term in prison of 28 years.

Danny Abdallah, whose three children were killed by drunk and drugged driver Samuel Davidson in February 2020, said no sentence would ease the family's lifelong heartbreak. He is pictured outside Parramatta District Court after the sentencing with his wife Leila

Instead, he said the day marked 'another milestone on our journey of grief'.

'We will all have our hearts broken until the day we take our last breath,' he said.

'No sentence can help ease that pain.'

Mr Abdallah said the justice system 'isn't a place to service revenge for the victims' but it still needed 'to show the community the consequences of breaking the law'.

'Where my disappointment lies is the way our culture loves drugs and alcohol. That's where my frustration is, more than the driver,' he said.

'Hug your kids tight, and love them unconditionally, as you don't know where life takes you.'

Bridget, the mother of Veronique, said too many innocent lives had been claimed by dangerous driving and the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Davidson, a professional truck driver, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Veronique Sakr, 11, and her cousins, Sienna Abdallah, eight, and her siblings Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13

Danny Abdallah (right) said he forgave Davidson 'for your sake, for my sake, and most importantly for my family's sake' in a victim impact statement the court heard in March

'Where my disappointment lies is the way our culture loves drugs and alcohol. That's where my frustration is, more than the driver,' Mr Abdallah said

'It needs to stop,' she said.

The four children had been walking to buy ice-creams when the 31-year-old ploughed into them after his ute mounted a kerb at Oatlands last year.

Judge Bennett sentenced Davidson in Parramatta's District Court on Friday saying the menacing, dangerous and aggressive driving sustained over a significant period leading up to the tragic event showed all responsibility to the road safety of others was abandoned.

Bridget Sakr (centre) and Craig Mackenzie (right) arrive at Parramatta District Court for Davidson's sentencing

The tragedy was inevitable, but the magnitude of the tragedy extended to the unimaginable, Judge Bennett said.

The professional truck driver was afforded a 25 per cent discount on sentence after pleading guilty to manslaughter for the children he killed and also pleading guilty to three charges relating to the injuries caused to three other children.

One boy has suffered permanent brain damage.

Davidson had been sitting poolside with his housemates drinking Vodka Cruisers and beers, having his first drink about 7am before consuming drugs and driving on February 1.

After the crash, Davidson appeared distressed and was heard saying: 'What have I done? ... I have killed people ... I am going to jail.'

He was observed by witnesses speeding through a red light, swerving anti-clockwise around a round-about, and driving at a maximum speed of 133km/h in a 50km/h zone.

After the crash, Davidson appeared distressed and was heard saying: 'What have I done? ... I have killed people ... I am going to jail.'

Judge Bennett acknowledged Davidson suffered from ADHD but did not accept impulsivity that day caused him to drive, seen in his consciousness of guilt immediately after the crash.

Davidson's letter of apology stated that he is heartbroken to have hurt such beautiful families by his disgraceful actions and that he would do anything to relive that day sober and never leave the house.
In January last year, Facebook, along with online selling firm eBay, committed to better identifying, investigating and removing groups and other pages, as well as preventing them from reappearing. Photo: Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Facebook (FB) has removed 16,000 groups that traded fake product reviews on its platforms as the UKs competition regulator uncovered more evidence of misleading content.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was the second time it had taken action against Facebook. In January last year, Facebook, along with online selling firm eBay (EBAY), committed to better identifying, investigating and removing groups and other pages, as well as preventing them from reappearing.

Facebook gave a similar pledge in relation to its Instagram.com business in May 2020, after the CMA had identified similar concerns.

However, the watchdog was forced to intervene for a second time after a follow-up investigation found evidence that the illegal trade in fake reviews was still taking place on both Facebook and Instagram.

The tech giant is set to make it harder for people to find groups and profiles that buy and sell fake reviews.

Further changes to its systems include suspending or banning users who are repeatedly creating Facebook groups and Instagram profiles that promote, encourage or facilitate fake and misleading reviews.

Other changes include introducing new automated processes that will improve the detection and removal of this content, and making it harder for people to use Facebooks search tools to find fake and misleading review groups and profiles on Facebook and Instagram.

WATCH: Facebook helps users not confuse satire with reality

More than three-quarters of people are influenced by reviews when they shop online, and billions of pounds are spent every year based on write-ups of products or services.

Fake and misleading reviews are illegal under consumer protection law. Websites have a responsibility to ensure that unlawful and harmful content isnt advertised or sold through their platforms.

Never before has online shopping been so important. The pandemic has meant that more and more people are buying online, and millions of us read reviews to enable us to make informed choices when we shop around, Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, said.

Story continues

Thats why fake and misleading reviews are so damaging  if people lose trust in online reviews, they are less able to shop around with confidence, and will miss out on the best deals. It also means that businesses playing by the rules miss out.

Facebook has a duty to do all it can to stop the trading of such content on its platforms. After we intervened again, the company made significant changes  but it is disappointing it has taken them over a year to fix these issues.

She added that the CMA would not hesitate to take further action if the company fails to honour its commitments.

READ MORE: Existing laws not enough to tame Facebook and Google, UK government told

Recently, Facebook has also faced pressure from the CMA for antitrust concerns over its acquisition of GIF website Giphy.

Rocio Concha, director of Policy and Advocacy at Which?, said: Weve previously raised the alarm about fake review factories continuing to operate at scale on Facebook, leaving online shoppers at huge risk of being misled. The tech giant failed to meet its earlier commitment to the CMA, so it is positive that the regulator has stepped in and demanded more robust action.

Facebook must deliver this time round  it has shown it has the sophisticated technology to eradicate these misleading review groups and needs to do so much more swiftly and effectively."

WATCH: What UK government COVID-19 support is available?
Enbridge Inc.s push into new frontiers of the energy transition such as carbon capture and clean hydrogen production could use Canadian tax credits similar to those in the U.S., the companys CEO said.

North Americas biggest oil pipeline company, which for years has invested in wind and solar power projects, is also looking at gaining scale and becoming competitive in technologies such as hydrogen production using renewable electricity. To get there, its seeking incentives in Canada similar to the $35- to $50-per-metric-ton credits for CO2 sequestration and storage that exist in the U.S. under Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code, CEO Al Monaco said in an interview.

Its all about scale, and in order to achieve scale, you need some initial investment, and initial incentives, Monaco said, adding that 45Q could be more generous. Were talking about it in Canada.

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Enbridge last year became the first major company in the North American oil and gas industry to set a goal of eliminating all net emissions from its operations by 2050, joining European producers such as Royal Dutch Shell , BP, Total SE and Repsol. The industry, long the target of environmental groups, is under increasing pressure from shareholders managing trillions of dollars to address greenhouse-gas emissions such as methane.

From a capital markets perspective, if youre not world class in ESG, its going to impact your cost of equity, Monaco said of the growing investor push for environmental, social and governance policies.

Critics say steps the oil and gas industry is taking wont be enough to fight climate change, because most dont address emissions from cars, homes and factories that burn fossil fuels.

The Calgary-based pipeline giants efforts include building solar power generators to run pump stations along its oil and gas conduits. The company is already a major investor in offshore wind in Europe and on-shore wind farms in the U.S., and is talking with Canadian oil-sands producers about capturing carbon emissions and injecting the greenhouse gas back into the ground

At a power plant in Ontario, Enbridge is using excess electricity when demand is low to make hydrogen that can be burned when consumption increases, and its experimenting with blending hydrogen into the natural gas pool to make it cleaner.

Hydrogen has emerged as a promising fuel in global efforts to cut emissions at industrial facilities, shipping and aviation. One of the biggest challenges is that, while hydrogen fuel cells only emit water when generating electricity, large-scale production of the clean gas itself still relies on coal-fired power plants in some parts of the world. Making hydrogen using renewable energy can cost as much as six times more than simply burning natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel.

In wind power, after starting years ago as a partner of developers like Electricite de France, Enbridge has already acquired development and operational capabilities, Monaco said.

We started participating more and more in management and construction with EDF, he said. Were ready to compete with the best.

While outlining ambitions to become a major player in the renewables market, Enbridges primary focus continues to be on hydrocarbons, specifically building out its natural gas network. Monaco said gas will be key in the energy transition because its helping displace coal and its a good complement to renewables when theres not enough sunshine or wind.

He cautioned that growing resistance to natural gas pipelines in the Northeast could lead to price spikes such as those faced by California and Texas recently.

Natural gas is going to be a great enabler generally. Weve got to keep hitting home the realities of the importance of natural gas, and importantly how its going to fit with reducing emissions, how its going to support green hydrogen, how its going to support blue hydrogen, he said.
The decision was taken as about 25 traders including association president Laxminarayan Rathi reportedly contracted Covid-19 in recent days. (Photo: DC)

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Kirana Merchants Association decided on Thursday to voluntarily shut shops in Begum Bazaar, the largest wholesale trade hub, by 5 pm from Friday due to the sudden surge in Covid-19 cases.

Shops in the market will be open from 9 am, the association said after a meeting of its executive members. The decision was taken as about 25 traders including association president Laxminarayan Rathi reportedly contracted Covid-19 in recent days.

Association general secretary Mahesh Kumar Gupta, speaking to the media, said, Considering the spike in Coronavirus cases we decided to reduce the business hours.

The association asked traders to ensure physical distance is maintained and every shopkeeper must wear a mask and use sanitisers. If any customer or staff member doesn't wear a mask, remind them. If they don't have a mask, provide them masks, he said. They also advised not to hire any employee below 18 years of age as it was against the law.

Replying to a question, Gupta said the second wave of the pandemic was more dangerous than the first wave. The self-imposed restrictions will continue until the situation normalises.

In June last year, even as the government-imposed lockdown was lifted, traders of Begum Bazaar and Lad Bazaar apart from many other merchant organisations had voluntarily closed their shops for a week while others had curtailed working hours till the situation improved.
A York man who admitted to killing his wife, children and two other family members 30 years ago is scheduled for execution next month, corrections officials said.

Paul Gamboa Taylor is scheduled to be executed May 14, said Maria Bivens, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.

It is, however, unlikely, that this punishment will be carried out on that date, as Gov. Tom Wolf declared a moratorium on capital punishment in 2015. Pennsylvania last carried out an execution in 1999.

Taylor admitted to using a kitchen knife and ball-peen hammer to kill his wife, his children Jasmine, 2, and Paul, 4, his mother-in-law, Donna Barshinger, her son Lance, 2, on May 17, 1991. He did not harm an infant child.

He told authorities he was drinking that night and had used free-based cocaine before voices in his head told him to kill his family and himself.

Afterwards he tried to commit suicide by slashing his wrists, stabbing himself in the abdomen, drinking household chemicals and getting into a bathtub of water in which he placed a running hair dryer.

Taylor pleaded guilty to a first-degree murder charge. His lawyer Matthew C. Lawry later tried to have his death sentence overturned in several appeals by claiming Taylor was severely mentally ill. Lawry said Taylor at one point wanted to be executed.

Before his guilty plea was accepted, a psychologist and psychiatrist evaluated Taylor and found he had some mental illness but was competent.

Staff writer John Beauge contributed to this report.

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photo: Dan Perez

Reem Kassis (The Palestinian Table) is a Palestinian food writer and chef currently living in the U.S. Her newest cookbook, The Arabesque Table: Contemporary Recipes from the Arab World (Phaidon; reviewed below), is a gorgeous and well-researched tribute to Arab culture, food history and her own family memories. She recently chatted with Shelf Awareness about her earliest kitchen experiences, current culinary inspirations and the important message she hopes readers will take away from her book.

The memories you share in this book, from the lemon and pomegranate trees in your parents' garden to your grandmother's beautiful needleworks, elevate the experience of each recipe. Tell us about your writing process--did you find food to pair with the memories or the other way around?

It was a symbiotic process in many ways. My memories and experiences undoubtedly inspired many of the dishes I chose, but I almost always wrote the headnotes after the recipe was written because the process of testing these recipes far away from home, from the people who inspired them, from the specific era in which they were cooked, or even from the exact original ingredients, all made me experience them differently. It was that juxtaposition that helped the different elements come together in what you see as headnotes throughout the text. As for the chapter intros, those I wrote at the very end because I knew from my first book that the idea you start out with is never the book you end up with, and I wanted my experience of writing and living this book to inform the essays throughout the book. This way, the writing grows naturally out of the experience rather than forcing the experience and recipes to fit into particular writing.

You describe how "centuries of migration... have left their mark on Arab cuisine." You've lived in several places: Jerusalem, the U.K., Germany and currently the U.S., to name a few. How has your own personal migration left its mark on the way you now cook?

Growing up, I would look at a dish made by someone and, if it wasn't exactly the way my mother or grandmothers made it, judge it as inferior or not correctly made. My experiences abroad have taught how there is no right or wrong in food and how many different versions can exist for the very same dish. I've also learned how much of the way we perceive flavor, how we perceive good vs. bad, is subjective and is influenced by intangible factors like our love for a certain place or people or experience.

From a less philosophical standpoint, my living abroad has forced me to adjust my cooking to cater to the different ingredients and different appliances I have access to, to the different climates and geographies which yield different produce and quality of ingredients. It has also introduced me to foreign ingredients and techniques, which I might incorporate into certain dishes, and even if it happens to be on a small scale, you start to see how over time the evolution of food can take place.

The Arabesque Table is steeped in thoroughly researched Arab food history. What were some of the things you discovered that really stood out and had an impact on you?

The number one thing that I had heard in passing but not really seen concretely was the scope of influence Arab cuisine has had on the food of the entire world. Arabs always brag about how "we invented this or we showed this culture how to do that" and I would shrug it off as a natural tendency towards grandiosity. But in my research, I actually saw just how far the sphere of influence Arab culture and cusine reached, all the way to every corner of the world. Bagels are first mentioned in an Arabic cookery book. Milk puddings, and the very idea of thickening milk with starch, can be traced back to the Arabs; the use of oil for deep frying in Spain, and many other examples, can all be traced back to Arab cuisine.

In the introduction, you state that "rather than focus on what differentiates the various cuisines of the Arab world, you wanted to show the commonality across the many Arab nations." What do you hope will be the greatest takeaway from this book?

I hope people realize that food, just like the arabesque patterns which inspired this title, is inherently cross cultural and intertwined, and that this does not detract from its importance in defining our national identities or connections to specific cultures, countries and cuisines, i.e., those things are not mutually exclusive.

You describe many beautiful moments spent in your mother's and grandmother's kitchens. Did your family share collections of written recipes with you or did you learn by watching them as they cooked?

We have this concept in Arabic called nafas, which roughly translates into breath or spirit, but which in the context of cooking is much more--it's an energy a person possesses which allows them to make food that is exceptional. But basically, no written recipes--and I talk about this in my first book and how difficult it was to transcribe recipes from my mother and grandmother, how I would have to watch and reverse engineer or reverse measure to accurately pin down what they were doing!

At what stage of your life did you learn to make the food of your childhood?

I learned to make the food of my childhood only after I left home. I would call my mother or my grandmother and have them call whoever else I wanted a recipe from and I would get things like "a pinch of this and a pinch of that" or "until texture is as soft as earlobe" or "the consistency of yogurt," etc., and it was through my own trial and error that I eventually learned a lot of the details of these dishes, but am still learning to this day. I'm learning how different crops or different seasons affect the outcome, how your mood, your environment, your ingredients, all of it influences your food and learning to cook is always a work in progress, it is a skill you perfect with time or experience, but it definitely helps if you have good nafas!

What are some of the well-worn and spice-stained cookbooks that will always have a place in your kitchen?

As surprising as it may sound, my first cookbook The Palestinian Table is the one I use the most. It is the traditional foods of my childhood and the dishes I make most often at home, and even though I know them by heart, I still reference the book time and time again (especially for pastries and cakes). Other than that, I use a book called 660 Curries [by Raghavan Iyer] on a regular basis for inspiration to Indian curries (I'm obsessed with Indian food). I also often use The Flavor Thesaurus [by Niki Segnit] when I want to figure out which flavors might go with what. Finally, this is not a cookbook, but I use the recipes from a Korean food blog called Korean Bapsang for the most delicious Korean recipes. --Grace Rajendran, freelance reviewer and literary events producer
A central Queensland community group is taking its fight against a proposal for a coalmine on the banks of the Dawson River to the United Nations.

Save the Dawson, a group of farmers and traditional owners from central Queensland, have lodged a complaint with the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) against insurance company Liberty Mutual.

'We write to you to lodge a formal complaint regarding serious violations of the Principles of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment by Liberty Mutual, a signatory of the UNPRI initiative, in relation to Liberty Mutual's ongoing attempts to develop a wholly-owned proposed greenfield coal mine in Central Queensland,' the written complaint says.

A central Queensland community group is taking its fight against a proposal for a coalmine on the banks of the Dawson River to the United Nations (stock image)

It says the proposed open-cut mine at Baralaba South, some 140km southwest of Rockhampton, is just 500 metres from the Dawson River and could contaminate drinking supplies as well as creating '400 million tonnes of additional carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of product coal'.

The UNPRI is a UN-backed responsible investment initiative with signatories holding more than $100 trillion of assets under management.

The complaint has been escalated to the board of the UNPRI which will make a final decision on Liberty Mutual's expulsion from the initiative, according to anti fossil-fuel group Lock the Gate.

'We don't believe it is appropriate for Liberty Mutual to remain a signatory to the UNPRI while it progresses the Baralaba South coal mine,' Save the Dawson's Paul Stephenson said.

'Liberty Mutual's actions cast doubt on its genuine commitment to the Principles of Responsible Investment. This opens up serious questions about signatories' engagement in greenwashing via the PRI initiative.'

Liberty Mutual have been contacted for comment and were not immediately available.
The (IIT)-Bombay incubated startup NanoSniff Technologies has developed the world's first micro-sensor based explosive trace detector (ETD) which will be marketed by IIT Delhi-incubated startup Vehant Technologies.

To be branded and marketed as 'NanoSniffer', the device has been developed for the first time in the world using a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS), with its core technology being protected by patents in the US, Europe and India.

A fully made in India product in terms of R&D and manufacturing, the indigenously developed ETD device can detect in less than 10 seconds and it also identifies and categorizes into different classes. It detects all classes of military, conventional and homemade

NanoSniffer provides trace detection of nano-gram quantities of explosives and can accurately detect a wide range of military, commercial and homemade explosives threats. Further analysis of the algorithms also helps in categorization of explosives into the appropriate class. According to Kapil Bardeja, CEO of Vehant Technologies and Director, Nanosniff technologies, the device has been priced at Rs 10 lakh, one-third of the existing similar devices by global peers.

"So far, all the other existing explosive detector devices were global. This is the first time that an Indian player has forayed in the segment. While NanoSniff will manufacture the sensor in-house, the electronic part of the device will be manufactured by an electronics manufacturer that we have roped in. Vehant will market the product," said Bardeja.

Initially, the manufacturing capacity will be about 50 units per month. The device is undergoing a security testing process for Europe with both the startups looking at an international foray into European markets first, followed by the US.

Launching the product virtually, union minister for education Ramesh Pokhriyal said that the affordable device will reduce the country's dependency on imported explosive trace detector devices, apart from encouraging other institutions, startups and medium-scale industries to research and develop products indigenously.

"With the development of this product, and IIT Delhi along with their offshoot companies are making a sincere effort to boost the nations security with highly reliable and affordable indigenous products," said V Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi and Chairman, NanoSniff Technologies.

According to Bardeja, the global explosives trace detector device industry is valued at Rs 10000 crore, with India forming 2-3 per cent only, thereby enhancing scope of adoption for a cost-effective alternative in NanoSniffer.

Meanwhile, Rao maintained that the country needs to see more academic institutions backed startups come up. However, for that to happen, patent filing has to ramp up at institutions.

"As compared to the US where a patent is filed for every five research papers published, India sees one patent for every 300 papers. At IIT Delhi we have adopted a time-bound patent filing process wherein students and faculty are encouraged to convert their research papers into patents. For more technology startups to come up from academic institution backed incubation centres, patent filing has to ramp up in the country," Rao added.
China speeds up construction of clean, low-carbon society

09:21, April 09, 2021 By Liu Yi, Sun Xiuyan ( People's Daily

A bicycle race event is held in Zunhua, north China's Hebei Province to promote low-carbon lifestyles, July 2, 2020. (People's Daily Online/Liu Mancang)

As climate change becomes an increasingly severer challenge over the recent years, countries are facing more arduous tasks to maintain sustainable development.

China made a solemn promise to peak carbon dioxide emission by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. At present, the country is taking more forceful measures and policies to ensure that the goal, which benefits the whole mankind, can be met.

The next five years is a critical period for the carbon neutrality task. According to China's Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, the country plans to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP and carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 13.5 percent and 18 percent, respectively, and will make overall arrangements to actively respond to climate change.

This year marks the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan, and efforts are being made across the country to advance green development.

South Chinas Guangdong province proposed to improve a dual control system of total energy consumption and energy intensity, and promote the peaking of carbon dioxide emission by regions and industries. Beijing has rolled out a clear timetable and roadmap for carbon neutrality, and will restructure its energy consumption and advance energy conservation in key areas such as transport and construction. East Chinas Zhejiang province urged that the proportion of non-fossil energy in total primary energy consumption must be raised to 20.8 percent, and the ratio of installed capacity of coal-fired plants shall be reduced by 2 percentage points.

Enterprises are major players in energy conservation and reduction of carbon dioxide emission.

Xinjiang Bayi Iron & Steel Company of China Baowu Steel Group is now working on a project of hydrogen-rich blast furnace. The project, replacing coal with hydrogen, can not only improve the efficiency of smelting furnaces, but also reduce carbon dioxide emission by 30 percent.

State Power Investment Corporation Limited, China Three Gorges Corporation and other energy enterprises of China recently raised their own goals to peak carbon dioxide emission. To peak carbon dioxide emission and achieve carbon neutrality as early as possible is becoming a consensus of and put into practices by more and more enterprises.

"In recent years, China has been committed to a green and low-carbon path of high-quality development featuring ecological conservation, which has laid a solid foundation for the country to reach its goal of peaking carbon dioxide emission and achieving carbon neutrality," said He Jiankun, deputy-president of National Expert Committee on Climate Change.

"From incandescent light bulbs to energy saving lamps, and to today's LED bulbs, it's becoming more and more environmentally friendly," said Tan Xiaojun, a resident of Pingdu, east China's Shandong Province, when buying lamps at a store.

Ten years ago, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with four other departments and ministries released a roadmap to phase out incandescent light bulbs, after which the electric light gradually faded out. This helped China save 48 billion kilowatt hours of electricity every year, which is equivalent to reducing 48 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission.

Meanwhile, China has also been subsidizing energy friendly home appliances and new energy vehicles (NEV) in recent years, which not only drives green consumption, but also guides the green and low-carbon development of relevant industries. Last year, over 1.3 million NEVs were sold across China, up more than 10 percent from a year ago.

China has completed its 2020 targets of carbon emission reduction ahead of schedule. The 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) required the country to cut energy consumption per unit of GDP by 17 percent, while the final result stood at 18.8 percent. During the last five years, China ranked the first in the world in multiple indexes, such as the installed capacity of hydropower, wind power, photovoltaic power and nuclear power under construction. As of the end of 2020, the total installed capacity of clean energy had hit 1.08 billion kilowatts, surpassing that of coal power for the first time and accounting for 49.2 percent of the country's total installed capacity.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)
MediPharm Labs high THC medical cannabis has been successfully exported to Peru for distribution by specialized compounding pharmacies





Peru marks MediPharm Labs first Latin American export following successful exports to Australia and Germany

BARRIE, Ontario, April 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MediPharm Labs Corp. (TSX: LABS) (OTCQX: MEDIF) (FSE: MLZ) (MediPharm Labs or the Company), a global leader in specialized, research-driven pharmaceutical-quality cannabis extraction, distillation and derivative products, today announced its wholly owned subsidiary, MediPharm Labs Inc., completed its first shipment of premium, formulated cannabis oil to its customer Cann Farm Peru S.A.C., a Lima-based producer and distributor serving Peruvian and other markets in Latin America.

This first import into Peru demonstrates the versatility of our GMP certified platform that qualifies MediPharm Labs to export high THC and CBD formulated oils into international medical markets where cannabis is regulated like other pharmaceutical products, said Keith Strachan, President and Interim Chief Executive Officer, MediPharm Labs. We look forward to expanding our presence in Peru and other Latin American markets like Brazil where we have agreements in place and are awaiting final permits to import our pharmaceutical quality products to patients and physicians looking for products they can trust.

MediPharm Labs pre-formulated cannabis concentrate will be distributed to patients through compounding pharmacies in Peru that will complete final formulation and fill to exact prescription specification.

Since Perus initial cannabis legalization, patients have predominantly had accessed to CBD in the absence of a steady supply of legal THC. This initial shipment will provide Perus growing patient base with access to formulated THC medicines that have a high degree of quality and control. Bringing high-quality THC into the country will also open many doors in the healthcare sector, says Andres Vazquez, President of Cann Farm. Providing a consistent supply of high-quality THC will allow physicians to prescribe cannabis oils to address a wider range of therapeutic needs, versus mainly CBD dominant oils, including pain management.

Expanding into International Medical and Pharmaceutical Markets

MediPharm Labs is creating footholds in pharmaceutical, medical and wellness markets around the world including Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Denmark, U.K., Peru and Brazil. Peru, Latin Americas fifth largest country, offers high growth potential. Peru was an early mover among Latin American countries creating a legal framework for producing, importing and selling cannabis for medical use. As a result, Perus market is advancing rapidly and offers the potential to register varied formats of cannabis-based products.

About Perus Market

Peru adopted Law 30681 in October 2017 with the objective of allowing access to medical cannabis. Perus medical cannabis market thus far is 100% dependent on imports. The law explicitly allows domestic production, importation and commercialization of cannabis for medical and scientific purposes and mandates the creation of a series of registries within its Ministry of Health. Only certified pharmaceutical laboratories can apply for a production license domestically and retail sales occur only in licensed pharmacies. Physician prescriptions are required and multiple medical conditions can be prescribed cannabis.

About Cann Farm Peru S.A.C.

Cann Farm is dedicated to cultivating and processing medicinal plants under the highest quality standards and developing from them a broad portfolio of innovative products for the health and well-being of the international community. As of March 2021, Cann Farm received its production and cultivation licence in Peru. In addition to the importation and marketing of products derived from cannabis and other plants for medicinal use and cultivation and processing of medicinal plants, both for the Peruvian market and for export, Cann Farm invests in scientific research projects in topics related to the application of medicinal plants for health, as well as in agronomic issues aimed at optimizing their production.

About MediPharm Labs

Founded in 2015, MediPharm Labs specializes in the production of purified, pharmaceutical-quality cannabis oil and concentrates and advanced derivative products utilizing a Good Manufacturing Practices certified facility with ISO standard-built clean rooms. MediPharm Labs has invested in an expert, research driven team, state-of-the-art technology, downstream purification methodologies and purpose-built facilities with five primary extraction lines for delivery of pure, trusted and precision-dosed cannabis products for its customers. Through its wholesale and white label platforms, MediPharm Labs formulates, develops (including through sensory testing), processes, packages and distributes cannabis extracts and advanced cannabinoid-based products to domestic and international markets. As a global leader, MediPharm Labs has completed commercial exports to Australia and has fully commercialized its Australian extraction facility. MediPharm Labs Australia was established in 2017.

For further information, please contact:

Laura Lepore, VP, Investor Relations and Communications

Telephone: 416-913-7425 ext. 1525

Email: investors@medipharmlabs.com

Website: www.medipharmlabs.com

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION:

This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as expects, or does not expect, is expected, anticipates or does not anticipate, plans, budget, scheduled, forecasts, estimates, believes or intends or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results may or could, would, might or will be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, expanding the Companys presence in Peru and other Latin American markets like Brazil; performance of agreements in place; receipt of final permits to import the Companys pharmaceutical quality products; distribution of cannabis concentrate to patients through compounding pharmacies in Peru; footholds in pharmaceutical, medical and wellness markets around the world; and forecasts regarding the growth of the Peruvian market. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the inability of MediPharm Labs to obtain adequate financing; the delay or failure to receive regulatory approvals; and other factors discussed in MediPharm Labs filings, available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Except as required by law, MediPharm Labs assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change.

All information contained in this press release with respect to Cann Farm was supplied by Cann Farm for inclusion herein.
CBS This Morning devoted three packages to Prince Philip's death on Friday but none mentioned the bombshell interview with Harry and Meghan that it aired just a month ago while Philip was in hospital and gravely ill.

The Queen announced on Friday that Philip died peacefully, aged 99, at Windsor Castle.

Like every other major network, CBS devoted the start of its morning show to his death.

But it did not mention that just last month, when Prince Philip was in the hospital, it aired an interview between his grandson, Prince Harry, and Oprah Winfrey, during which Harry and his wife Meghan Markle made devastating allegations of racism against the Royal family.

The interview sent shockwaves through Buckingham Palace and no doubt saddened Prince William who afterwards sternly told reporters during an appearance: 'We are not a racist family'.

Gayle King - Oprah's best friend who attended Meghan's baby shower in New York City and who promoted the interview extensively - spoke briefly on Friday morning to introduce the first package on Philip's death.

It was a marked difference from when she promoted the Oprah interview and gave long, opinionated commentary on how the Royal family supposedly treated Meghan. She and her co-hosts said Meghan had been 'vilified' and 'oppressed' by them.

Gayle King on Friday morning announcing Prince Philip's death. CBS then aired three packages on it which detailed his life and marriage to the Queen but none mentioned the interview that CBS aired last month and made money from

On March 7, CBS aired Harry and Meghan's sit-down with Oprah, during which they made devastating allegations against the Royal family

Gayle said on Friday: 'Buckingham Palace has just confirmed that Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has died at the age of 99. He was recently as you know released from the hospital after a heart operation. Mark Phillips has this story.'

The next two packages were not led by Gayle but her male co-hosts and featured interviews and commentary from CBS international correspondents and royal experts.

Gayle said during a talk back with CBS Senior International Correspondent Charlie D'Agata: 'I am so sad to hear this news. When he was released [from the hospital] people were feeling really good people were feeling better.

'Have you heard anything... was it just natural causes?'

D'Agata alluded to the recent turmoil in the family but none of the studio hosts acknowledged it.

'Even recently with Prince Harry, Prince William, Prince Charles and everything that has gone on... when we talk about Megxit, we know he had a part in those conversations...' he said.

Prince Philip was admitted to the hospital in mid February. He was released on March 16, after spending a month there. Oprah has not commented on Philip's death.

Tony Dokoupil interviewed British historian Amanda Foreman for the second package. Again, they ignored the Harry and Meghan interview and turmoil from it

CBS host Anthony Mason speaking with Senior International Correspondent Charlie D'Agata. D'Agata, who is based in London, alluded to the recent turmoil in the family but none of the studio hosts acknowledged it

Neither CBS nor the Oprah Winfrey Network responded to inquiries immediately on Friday morning.

There was widespread criticism of the network choosing to air the interview with Harry and Meghan given Philip's condition.

Gayle later claimed that they had a contingency plan not to air it if his condition worsened.

'Just so you know, they had done that interview before Prince Philip went into the hospital, and if something, God forbid, had happened to him, the interview would not have run at this particular time,' she said on her SiriusXM radio show afterwards.

Neither Oprah nor CBS has confirmed that this was the case.

A tribute to Prince Philip in London's Piccadilly Circus on Friday morning after his death

Meghan claimed during the interview that she had an open line of communication with the Queen and phoned her when she learned Philip had been taken into hospital.

Neither she nor Harry has released any kind of statement since the announcement of Philip's death.

They claimed during their bombshell interview that Meghan was mistreated to the point she was suicidal and was denied mental health help when they were working as senior royals.

They also made the sensational allegation that someone in the family had concerns about their son Archie's skin tone and that it is why he was not given a prince title at birth.

The Queen responded saying she would investigate the allegations of racism in Buckingham Palace separately.
To coincide with National Youth Month, which celebrates South Africa's young people and commemorates the Soweto Youth Uprising of 16 June 1976, we're inviting South Africa and pan African businesses to nominate the rising under-35s making a difference in their organisations to be featured in our June 2021 #YouthMatters content exclusive.

Collaborating on purpose Marketing is no longer only about talking to consumers, it is about being part of the conversation. Content partnerships allow organisations to be seen at the centre of new networks and narratives...

Celebrating the rising under-35s making a difference in your sector

Company name:

Industry sector:

Nominee name:

Job title:

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Sponsorship opportunities to underwrite this valuable content exist as monetised or prize donations.Ensure the rising stars in your region get the recognition they deserve, as our editors celebrate and acknowledge the contribution and excellence of youthful diversity to business across 18 sectors, this June on Bizcommunity.This year on 16 June, commemorates the 45th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising. Join us to honour the contribution of youth making a difference to business in your region.Nominees will stand a chance to be featured as top-story news in Bizcommunitys month-long #YouthMatters focus; empowering Africas future leaders.The month-long feature will take the form of a profile of under-35 nominees within your organisation.To feature your under-35s, across any of 18 industries, email our editors at moc.ytinummoczib@srettamhtuoy To sponsor this valuable content initiative or prizes, which will also include practical empowerment information to help equip the youth for the world of work, contact moc.ytinummoczib@selas Contact moc.ytinummoczib@selas for a proposal or call us to chat about your content strategy on +27 21 404 1460
An energy community in northern Italy will integrate a PV installation with a storage system to power 48 households of a social housing project and a fleet of rented electric vehicles. It is a collective effort that could be replicable as soon as 2023.A 48-apartment building in the Reggio Emilia province in northern Italy will help assess an energy community business model specifically targeting social housing. The testing phase, which should end by December 2022, will show if and how the model being implemented in the Scandiano municipality will be replicable. "The project foresees a 60 kW PV ...

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.
Russias long-standing foreign minister Sergey Lavrov was in New Delhi and then proceeded to Islamabad earlier this week in a quest to build on Moscows interests-based diplomacy in the wake of the emerging global reset in 2021, which has seen it very active over Afghanistan. Strangely, the hyphenation of India and Pakistan for a high-profile Russian visit is a first of its kind and symbolises the changes that the world order and alignment is seeing. This was the old world way the United States used to run its foreign relations in South Asia, but Indias tearaway progress and enhanced comprehensive national power led to a de-hyphenation.

In the last 12 months, Russia may have remained comparatively less significant except in the brief period of the SCO meetings in September 2020, leading up to the summit in November 2020. Chinas belligerence at the Ladakh border with India saw India being pushed further into the American camp. The United States aims at keeping Russia out of the Indo-Pacific order of nations as an influential player so that its intended countering of Chinas rise remains without the complexity of any Russian involvement.

The Russian foreign minister may have been a tad late in his engagement of India because the subcontinent has witnessed the visit of the former US secretaries of state and defence for the 2+2 Dialogue in end of October 2020 and a visit by Americas new defence secretary Lloyd Austin in March 2021.

Russia has been observing the rising strength of India-US ties which in recent months have received a spurt as a result of China raising the ante in the Indo-Pacific. The Russians cannot afford to be insignificant in the manoeuvres which are taking place at this stage without any definitive terminal status in mind. The Russian concerns, however, are not pegged to just the immediate area of South Asia. They go far and wide commencing from East Europe where the former Soviet Union held sway through the Warsaw Pact in the Cold War era. The US and the Western Europe effectively neutralised Russian influence there by the inclusion of the former Soviet vassal states into Nato and the European Union.

Russia resisted the eastward march of Nato by contesting this in Ukraine, setting up one of the most effective hybrid campaigns in recent times. Russias influence in the Middle East, however, was enhanced through its support to Syria in the civil war, to Iraq in its post-war dispensation and to Iran in the quest to partially overcome the pariah status that the United States imposed on the latter. The alignments have been effective to achieve balance even as the Middle East stabilises and the isolation of Iran is under reversal. Russia also maintains balance in its relationship with Turkey, with which it has had several run ins; both sense their mutual interests and despite being on opposite sides in many theatres continue to maintain cooperation.

That brings us to Central Asia, the reputed soft belly to which Russia remains hugely sensitive. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was launched when a threat was envisaged to the Central Asian republics (CARs), then a part of the Soviet Union. Later, Russia remained mindful of the threat potential to the CARs and has made every effort to retain its hold, including the presence of Russian troops in Tajikistan and now in Kyrgyzstan. It is improving its foreign military bases in the region and supporting the militaries of the CARs with activities ranging from arms sales and joint military exercises to training and assistance programmes, both in bilateral and Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) frameworks. Russia perceives the region as a source of political instability, organised crime, and a pathway for extremists into Russian territory from there, or Afghanistan. It has an 11 per cent Muslim population existing in regions such as Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Dagestan and Chechnya, which have witnessed separatism and efforts at the cultivation of extremist practices. Russias interest in Afghanistan and Pakistan stems from this perceived future threat, especially in the aftermath of a US withdrawal. It therefore maintains a pro-Taliban stance and in the hugely complex Afghan international power game it is seeking to remain aligned with Iran, which has its differences with the Taliban but linkages too. In Afghanistan, every nation is in projection of power play and the alignments are not fixed; no one enemy and no one friend, multiplicity is the policy.

This is what has brought Russia to Pakistan, a nation with which it has traditionally not had friendly relations and that goes back also to the 1980s, when Pakistan became the US-Saudi frontline state to contest the Soviet push into Afghanistan. Even before that the Soviet Union had aligned with India, and the 20-year Indo-Soviet Frienship Treaty acted as a balance to the Cold War alliances of Pakistan with the US. After the Cold War ended, India has attempted to maintain a balance between the US and Russia. While it needed US cooperation to enhance its economic development, security and technological threshold, India has also continued to rely on Russia for diplomatic support and defence supplies; its Russian-origin military equipment being in abundance. The policy of multilateralism was really at the fore with Indias decision to spend $5 billion to buy the S-400 air defence system, at the risk of application of the US legislation -- Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

Russia now realises that the core centre of international politics is shifting from the Middle East and Afghanistan to the Indo-Pacific. Chinas coercion of its Asian adversaries, particularly India, and the wolf warrior diplomacy that China has adopted is changing the equations of alignment internationally. The Quad is being seen to be transforming from the confused and benign platform to something more substantial, with India moving closer to the US. Russia cannot afford to see the carpet being swept from under its feet and is making efforts towards retaining its alignment with India to enable a more proactive role in Asia. Simultaneously, it cannot consider Pakistan a basket case because the geostrategic location and its linkages with the Taliban promise higher security to Russia. The promise of weapons to Pakistan for counter-insurgency operations may not, however, immediately materialise.

Mr Lavrovs visit to South Asia may have come slightly late but it helps reveal Russian interests and the additional complexities that the Indo-Pacific is likely to witness in the future.
The Serum Institute of India has fully refunded South Africa for the 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which were not delivered to the country after it decided not to use the vaccine because it was not effective against a new variant of the virus. A million doses from the institute, which had already been delivered, have been sold on to other countries in the African Union.

"Treasury has confirmed that the Serum Institute of India has fully refunded us for the remaining 500,000 doses that had not been delivered to South Africa and the money is already in our bank account," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said at a televised media briefing on Thursday.

"I want to clarify this quite clearly, as this now closes the matter of the AstraZeneca vaccine and also we close it without incurring any fruitless and wasteful expenditure," he said. Mkhize said that there was a huge concern among South Africans that these vaccines would now be wasted.

"But we want to indicate that all of the AstraZeneca vaccines have been salvaged," he said. "The one million doses that we have received have been sold to the African Union platform and have been distributed to many African countries, who have been able now to have access to these vaccines," Mkhize said.

The minister explained why other states in Africa could use the 500,000 doses of the vaccine, which were rejected by South Africa. "The difference between us and some of these countries is that they actually don't have the same variant as what we have got and therefore they also don't have evidence in their countries that the AstraZeneca would be a problem.

"So, in those countries we go by the WHO guidelines that said it could be used, even if there are other variants in other countries," he said. Mkhize said South Africa would continue to support AstraZeneca's efforts and would deal with them again when they could show that they had developed a vaccine with efficacy against the new variant in South Africa.

He also outlined plans for the vaccine rollout in South Africa from other suppliers. "We have now secured 51 million doses of vaccines with the agreements that have been signed - 31 million from Johnson and Johnson, which is a one-dose vaccine; and 20 million from Pfizer, which is a two-dose vaccine.

"This means that we can now move forward with confidence as we finalise our plans for our mass rollout campaign, which is due to officially begin at the end of phase one on May 17," he said. South Africa started the first phase by vaccinating its healthcare workers. The second phase of six months will target the elderly, people with comorbidities, and workers in essential services, with the rest of the population following in the third phase.

"If we didn't have this debacle with the AstraZeneca vaccines, we would have been able to move faster, as we have indicated to the public," Mkhize said as he expressed hope that South Africa would achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 within a year.

Also read: Australia, Philippines, African Union ban AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot
Chinas ambitious effort to vaccinate 560 million people -- 40% of its population -- by the end of June is running into a supply shortage, forcing health authorities to extend the intervals between two doses, and leaving some people unable to book their second shots.

The supply bottleneck comes as Chinas vaccination roll out accelerates to nearly 5 million doses a day, the fastest in the world, though the proportion of its vast population covered still lags the U.S., Israel and other leading inoculating nations.

While gets its vaccine supply from domestic manufacturers, thus giving it more control than most countries which are struggling to secure doses, the accelerated pace is pushing the limits of what its homegrown makers can churn out, said people familiar with the matter.

This partly drove a decision at the end of March by Chinas National Health Commission to issue guidelines on vaccination that said the interval between the first and second dose can be stretched to as long as eight weeks, said the people, who asked not to be identified as theyre not authorized to speak publicly.

This is over twice as long as the dose interval used during clinical trials of the vaccines made by state-owned National Biotec Group and Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

Among Western vaccines, dose intervals for mRNA shots range from 21 days to 28 days, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a maximum of six weeks. In the U.K., AstraZeneca Plc.s vaccine is advised to be administered with an interval of between four to 12 weeks.

The moves underscore the mammoth effort ahead of China, which has virtually eliminated the pathogen domestically and yet risks falling behind other countries -- particularly geopolitical rivals like the U.S. -- in achieving herd immunity and re-opening its economy and borders. In recent weeks, a hardening propaganda campaign that links vaccination to maintaining Chinas global prestige in containing the has raised take-up rates considerably, but its still vaccinating just five out of every 100 people, compared to 27 in the U.S. and 56 in Israel, according to Bloombergs vaccine tracker.

Pushes Vaccine on Bankers, Colleges to Catch Up With U.S.

The National Health Commission did not respond to questions sent by fax.

The supply shortage is being exacerbated by Beijings pledge to make its shots a global public good to help end the pandemic. More than 100 million doses have been donated and sold overseas and more will be exported as Chinese makers are on track to be included in the WHO-backed Covax program to provide immunization access to poorer nations.

China has also offered vaccines to the International Olympics Committee for the upcoming Tokyo Games, while carrying out discussions with European countries looking for supply.

Beijing Is Color-Coding Buildings to Boost Vaccination Levels

The supply shortage appears to be felt unevenly across China. Beijing, the capital, does not appear to have any supply concerns and has raced ahead with over half of its population dosed. Meanwhile, financial center Shanghai -- whose population is also over 20 million people -- has raised Sinovac dose intervals from 14 to 21 days due to supply concerns, said one of the people. To date, Shanghai has given out only 5.5 million doses.

In southern Guangdong province, Chinas manufacturing hub, the local government has selected five key cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan and Zhuhai to prioritize for vaccination while halting new doses in all other cities, said a person familiar with the situation there.

In the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the local CDC branch notified some residential compounds to temporarily suspend vaccinations because shots are running out, said people familiar with the situation there.

Given supply constraints, the 40% vaccination target is a nationwide one and doesnt mean coverage will be even across places, said one person familiar with authorities thinking. Densely populated megacities along the developed eastern part of China are being prioritized for vaccination, while remote, sparsely inhabited western provinces will be further behind in the line.

In recent days, some people have complained on social media platforms that theyve been unable to book appointments for second shots.

In northeastern Jilin province, resident Wang Yuemei said shes been told by local officials that she cant get a vaccination appointment. Some cities in northeastern China are barring people from getting first doses, as their remaining supply will be rationed for those who have already taken a first shot and are waiting for a second, said people familiar with the situation there.

They said its due to the shortage of the vaccine. Im in a wait-and-see mode because even if I get a first shot, theres a chance I cant get the second, said Wang, 42. This already happened to one of my family members who has passed his set date for the second shot but is still told to keep waiting.
HOLLAND, MI -- A vehicle fire at a Holland area auto salvage yard that spread to other vehicles is deemed suspicious, police said.

The fire was reported just after 4 p.m. Thursday, April 8 at LKQ Auto Parts, 11475 Chicago Drive in Holland Township.

Ottawa County sheriffs deputies arrived at the scene to find that the fire, starting with one vehicle, had spread to several other vehicles.

Holland Township firefighters extinguished the fire.

Deputies say the fire is suspicious and they are reviewing surveillance video as part of their investigation.

Anyone with information about the fire can call Silent Observer 1-877-88-SILENT.

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Crossrail has sparked fury after it's mural designed to celebrate East London made light of 'crime and murders' in the area.

Angry residents blasted the 1million artwork as 'derogatory' and a waste of money - which could have gone to community groups.

The 1.2-mile mural - which is thought to be the biggest in Europe - will run alongside the Elizabeth Line track.

Locals have expressed outrage over a section of artwork on Newham Trackside Wall in Woolwich, which included a poem that referenced the area's murder rate

The poem, Like A Village, which forms part of the 1m artwork, references the area's crime rate

It is called the Newham Trackside Wall from North Woolwich to Custom House.

Work started last month, however locals have already blasted a poem in one section - which mentions that 'the only negative thing is the crime and the murder'.

Residents are furious that overlooking their homes is a mural talking about murders.

The poem - entitled Like A Village - starts by saying: 'I love this area North Woolwich.

'I'm glad I was brought up here, it's like a village.'

Like A Village I love this area North Woolwich. Im glad I was brought up here, its like a village. It has a hairdresser, a corner shop, a post office, a library, three parks, a bakery and a pharmacy. What else? Theres the Police station, theres a Chinese takeaway. It has everything all in one small area and everyone knows everyone. The only negative thing is the crime and the murders, which has been increasing. This is unfortunate, but other than that everything else is fine. Also, theres a little beach and you can take a ferry ride. Its all so close. Advertisement

But after listing some of the sites such as the hairdressers, the police station and Chinese takeaway it mentions the crime rate.

It says: 'The only negative thing is the crime and the murders, which has been increasing.

'That is unfortunate, but other than that everything else is fine.'

Photographer Mark Oliver had gone to photograph the mural for his blog Street Art Goodness, but was left outraged by the poem.

Mr Oliver said: 'Having traveled the world looking at art I can confirm this Berlin Wall of shame is nothing of the sort.

'I know a few artists that could have done something in a more creative and tasteful way for free.

'It's such a shame that local residents are never listened to, apart from that awful quote.

'Hopefully somebody in authority can explain their thinking and more importantly remove it.'

While Cllr Sarah Ruiz raged: 'There are no words!

'Given this was a paid commission you would think someone would have sense checked.'

Following the outcry Crossrail confirmed it would be covered up.

A spokesperson said: 'Following concerns about the language on part of the Newham Trackside Wall, the panel will now be covered up to allow the content to be further considered with the local community and council.'

A spokesperson for Crossrail said the poem would be covered up while a decision was made about it's future following consultation with the local community and the council
A Louisiana teacher's aide who was arrested in February for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old foreign exchange student has been charged with additional counts stemming from a trip to New Orleans with the boy.

Kimberly Wellman-Rich, 36, was booked into the New Orleans jail on Monday on counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile, which is Louisiana's equivalent of statutory rape, and indecent behavior, among others. She was later released on $35,000 bail.

The new charges are related to allegations that in January, Wellman-Rich took the boy from Jefferson Parish to New Orleans and had sex with him at a French Quarter hotel.

Wellman-Rich's husband, Jeffrey Rich, later confronted the teen, who told him about his many sexual encounters with his wife, according to newly filed court documents. The teen said Jeffrey was 'angry' but told him to keep his encounters with Kimberly a secret 'from everyone except him.'

Louisiana teacher's aide Kimberly Wellman-Rich, 36 (left), was booked in New Orleans this week on new counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior. Husband Husband Jeffrey Rich, 35, faces charges of accessory after the fact to felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile

The new charges stem from Wellman-Rich's trip to New Orleans in January, during which she allegedly had sex with a 16-year-old foreign exchange student at a French Quarter hotel (stock)

In mid-February, Wellman-Rich, who worked as a special education teacher's aide at Edgar Martin Middle School, was arrested in Jefferson Parish on similar charges related to her suspected sexual relationship with the 16-year-old foreign exchange student from Europe, who had been staying at her house.

She was fired from her job less than two weeks after her February 11 arrest, reported Nola.com.

Jeffrey Rich, 35, was charged at the time with accessory after the fact to felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. He remains free on bail.

The case began unfolding on January 22, when an anonymous tipster told police that Wellman-Rich was hosting a juvenile foreign exchange student at her home in Youngsville and having sex with him.

Until her firing on February 23, Wellman-Rich worked as a special education paraprofessional at Edgar Martin Middle School in Jefferson Parish

Police said they interviewed witnesses and gathered evidence, which led them to believe that Wellman-Richs husband had first-hand knowledge of the alleged abuse.

Investigators also said they learned that the couple allowed the teen to smoke marijuana and drink alcoholic beverages in their home.

The teenager was removed the home once the investigation began, police told KFLY.

According to documents filed in court this week, the couple began hosting the teen in August 2020.

When the boy turned 16, Wellman-Rich allegedly had sex with him. Police said the teen was a virgin before his encounter with the married teacher's aide.

During his interview with investigators, the boy said he and Wellman-Rich had sex multiple times on the couch, in her bed and in the guest room. During some of the encounters Jeffrey was at home but in another room.

The alleged victim said that Jeffrey (left) was at home but in another room during some of his sexual encounters with his wife (right)

According to the filings, Wellman-Rich told friends about her relationship with the minor, but pleaded with him to keep it a secret. The legal age of consent in Louisiana is 17.

On January 15, Wellman-Rich went on a trip to New Orleans with three girlfriends and brought the foreign exchange student along with her.

After a night of bar-hopping, Wellman-Rich allegedly kicked her friends out of their shared hotel room so that she could have sex with the teenage boy, according to the documents.

When they returned home, the boy allegedly came clean to Jeffrey Rich about his sexual relationship with his wife.

Wellman-Rich allegedly had sex with the teenage student for the first time on his 16th birthday; he was said to be a virgin at the time

'According to [the boy], Mr. Rich was angry, but not as angry as he thought Mr. Rich would have been after he was told [the student] was having sex with Mrs. Wellman-Rich,' investigators wrote in a report. '[The boy] stated that if it were him receiving that type of information, he would have been very angry.'

The teen said he had sex with Wellman-Rich one more time after his conversation with her husband, and before police were tipped off about the woman's suspected conduct, resulting in her arrest.

In addition to the new charges in New Orleans, Wellman-Rich faces counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile, indecent behavior with a juvenile, contributing to the delinquency of minors and encouraging child delinquency in Jefferson Parish.


Kathmandu: Nepal's main Opposition party Nepali Congress has launched talks with the leaders of the CPN-Maoist Center and Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) to topple Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and form a coalition government under its leadership, according to a media report on Friday.

The three-party meeting, which was held at the residence of Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba, ended on a "positive note" according to a report in myRepublica newspaper said. The meeting comes after NC's Central Working Committee last week decided to take initiative to form a new government under its leadership and ask Prime Minister Oli to step down and allow the formation of a new government.

If he does not resign, the NC will move a no-trust motion against him in the House of Representatives and take initiative to form a new government under its leadership to save the democratic achievements of the past, the party's senior leader Prakash Man Singh had said.

Maoist Center's Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha said both NC and CPN-MC led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' had asked for the official position of the JSP to form a new government under the leadership of NC.

"At the outset of the meeting, NC President Deuba informed the participants of the meeting about the party's decision to form a new government under NC's leadership. We clearly said that we have our support for the NC-led government. We also asked JSP leaders to make their positions clear at the earliest possible," Shrestha was quoted as saying in the report.

NC Spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma said they had decided to wait until the JSP took its formal decision as Prime Minister Oli is also trying to solicit the support of JSP to save his government, the report said.

"Janata Samajbadi has asked us for a few days to make a decision. Today's meeting is positive. We will soon sit for another round of meetings once Janata Samajbadi takes appropriate decisions," Sharma was quoted as saying in the report.

JSP leader Mahanta Thakur said they have not held discussions on this issue in the party. "In fact, we are yet to hold a discussion on this issue. We have informed them that we will soon hold discussions on the proposal and take a decision at the earliest," he said.

Prime Minister Oli's dissolution of the House of Representatives in December triggered a political crisis in Nepal. However, in a landmark ruling, the apex court in February reinstated the lower house of Parliament.

The political scenario in the country worsened after the Supreme Court last month nullified CPN-MC's merger with CPN-UML. The two parties had merged in May 2018 to form a unified Nepal Communist Party following the victory of their alliance in the 2017 general elections.

According to sources, Prime Minister Oli-led government will lose majority in the lower house if CPN-MC led by 'Prachanda' withdraws its support.

A senior leader of the CPN-Maoist Centre earlier said that the Maoist party will withdraw its support to the Oli government that would pave way for forming an alternative government under the leadership of the Nepali Congress.

Live TV
A first round of talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear agreement made halting progress and will resume next week, with diplomats describing the end of four days of meetings on April 9 as constructive.



The EU-hosted talks center on overcoming an impasse between the United States and Iran to bring both parties into full compliance with the 2015 agreement, which lifted international sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear program.



President Joe Biden has expressed a willingness for the United States to reenter the accord.

Washington abandoned the agreement under then-President Donald Trump, who imposed a raft of sanctions on Tehran under a "maximum pressure" campaign. Iran responded to the U.S. exit from the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), by gradually breaching many of the nuclear restrictions.



Although U.S. and Iranian diplomats did not hold face-to-face meetings, the other parties to the deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia  engaged in shuttle diplomacy to narrow differences.



Two working groups have been formed to hammer out a compromise, which if reached could still be weeks away. One expert group is focused on how to lift U.S. sanctions to bring Washington back into compliance with the accord. Another group is tasked with detailing a path for Iran to comply with restrictions on its nuclear program, including limits on uranium enrichment and centrifuges.

An EU statement after the last session on April 9 said the so-called Joint Commission on the JCPOA had been "briefed on the work of the two expert groups on sanctions lifting and nuclear implementation measures and participants noted the constructive and results oriented exchanges."



It said "the participants emphasized their resolve to further pursue the ongoing joint diplomatic effort" and that a coordinator under EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell "will continue his separate contacts with all JCPOA participants and the United States."



The U.S. and Iranian sides have publicly clashed over the sequencing of possible U.S. sanctions relief and Iran reversing its breaches of the deal.



Iran is demanding that the United States lift all sanctions and return to full compliance first, after which it says it will reciprocate.



All Trump sanctions were anti-JCPOA & must be removedw/o distinction between arbitrary designations, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter.



In addition to reimposing nuclear-related sanctions, the Trump administration slapped a web of sanctions on Tehran over a range of issues such as terrorism, human rights, and ballistic missiles. They include sanctions on Irans Central Bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a part of Irans armed forces that the Trump administration labeled a terrorist organization.



Analysts say the bevy of sanctions was meant to deliberately complicate a future administrations efforts to rejoin the nuclear accord.

Briefing reporters after talks wrapped up on April 9, a senior State Department official said the initial talks were encouraging but that the United States would not meet Iranian demands to lift all sanctions.



"If Iran sticks to the position that every sanction that has been imposed since 2017 has to be lifted or there will be no deal, then we are heading towards an impasse," the senior U.S. official told reporters on a conference call.



The official said the Trump administrations sanction policy on Iran had a purposeful and self-avowed intent to make it difficult for any future administration to return to the nuclear deal.



The head of Iran's delegation to the talks, Abbas Araghchi, stressed the need for "political will and seriousness from other parties."



"Otherwise, there will be no reason to continue negotiations," he said, according to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.



German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the RND news network in comments published on April 10 that the talks were "constructive" but cautioned they could drag on.



"All sides showed a willingness to work with the necessary sincerity towards the same goal -- the full implementation of the nuclear deal with Iran," Maas said.



"It won't be easy. We are only at the beginning of intensive negotiations," he said, adding that the talks concern highly complex issues and will require compromise.



Russia's ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said the parties "took stock of the work done by experts over the last three days and noted with satisfaction the initial progress made."



He later tweeted that representatives "will reconvene next week in order to maintain the positive momentum."

With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters
DUBLIN, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Weigh-In-Motion System Market by Type (In-Road, Bridge Weigh, Onboard), Vehicle Speed (Low, High), Component (Hardware, Software & Services), End-use Industry (Highway Toll, Oil & Refinery, Logistics), Sensors, Function, and Region - Forecast to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global weigh-in-motion system market is projected to reach USD 1,730 million by 2027 from USD 858 million in 2020, at a CAGR of 10.5% during the forecast period.

To make transportation safe, more efficient, and sustainable, the governments of various countries such as the US, China, Japan, and many European countries have defined a roadmap for intelligent transportation infrastructure. For instance, the ITS Strategic Plan 2015-2019, started by the US Department of Transportation (USDOT), focuses on intelligent vehicles, intelligent infrastructure, and the creation of intelligent transportation systems.

In the fiscal year 2020, the US Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) awarded Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) grants worth USD 49.6 million to 10 projects using advanced intelligent transportation systems (ITS) that will improve mobility and safety and support vehicle connectivity. The Virginia Department of Transportation (US) issued an order worth USD 135.9 million to construct a 6.24-mile long bypass for Rout6e 29 in Charlottesville (US) and Albemarle County (US). It planned to install an ITS and traffic control devices on the 6.24-mile long bypass. In FY 2020, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) issued an order worth USD 6 million for the Integrated Safety Technology Corridor project.

In 2015, the Government of the Netherlands announced substantial investments in 12 regions and allocated more than USD 77.7 million for ITS until 2018, which involved the use of innovative technologies for traffic management, leading to better traffic distribution. Further, the Delhi government (India) planned to invest about USD 1 billion in 2019 in intelligent traffic management systems, with an aim to renovate the existing traffic system.

ITS applications offer benefits of combining information, data processing, communication, and sensor technology and apply them to vehicles and traffic infrastructure and management software to provide a more efficient transport network. A WIM system enables intelligent use of the available transportation infrastructure and vehicles by allowing real-time information and data flow. The system collects data from sensors located in or above the infrastructure. It helps in smooth traffic flow, increases road safety by identifying overweight vehicles, and reduces road wear over a period. Thus, the growing demand for ITS all over the world is expected to drive the WIM market during the forecast period.

Globally, the traffic data collection segment is expected to be the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period

The traffic data collection system provides real-time monitoring of specific situations and road areas, such as toll highways, bridges, and underpasses, with the help of dedicated video devices. The system extracts useful information about road mobility and traffic, helps enhance road safety, and gives information to users. Thus, the traffic data collection segment is expected to be the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period.

Europe is projected to be the largest regional market

In 2020, Europe is estimated to dominate the market for weigh-in-motion systems. The region is expected to be a key revenue pocket for the weigh-in-motion market with growing investments by regional governments for transportation infrastructure development projects in national and international highways. Moreover, Europe is dominated by the high-speed weigh-in-motion system, which costs 50-60% higher than low-speed systems. Furthermore, a major reason for the European dominance of the weigh-in-motion system market is the free trade agreements between the EU countries.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary

3.1 Introduction

3.1.1 Pre- & Post-COVID-19 Scenario

3.1.2 Report Summary

4 Premium Insights

4.1 Attractive Opportunities in the Weigh-In-Motion System Market

4.2 Weigh-In-Motion System Market Size, by Vehicle Speed

4.3 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by Type

4.4 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by End-use Industry

4.5 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by Component

4.6 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by Function

4.7 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by Region

5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.2.1 Drivers

5.2.1.1 Increasing Government Initiatives Toward Intelligent Transportation System & Increasing Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)

5.2.1.1.1 Government Support Toward Intelligent Transportation System

5.2.1.1.2 Increasing Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) Model

5.2.1.2 Increasing Traffic Congestion

5.2.1.3 Low Cost Compared with Static Weigh Scale

5.2.2 Restraints

5.2.2.1 Lack of Standardized & Uniform Technologies

5.2.3 Opportunities

5.2.3.1 Increasing Investment in Smart Cities

5.2.3.2 Free Trade Agreements

5.2.3.3 Onboard WIM System

5.2.4 Challenges

5.2.4.1 Data Fusion

5.2.4.2 Accuracy of Weigh-In-Motion System

6 Industry Trends in Weigh-In-Motion System Market

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Supply Chain Analysis

6.3 Porter's Five Forces

6.4 Potential Use Cases

6.4.1 Mining Industry

6.4.2 Agriculture

6.5 Patent Analysis

6.6 Trade Analysis

6.7 Weigh-In-Motion System Market Scenario

6.7.1 Realistic Scenario

6.7.2 Low Impact Scenario

6.7.3 High Impact Scenario

6.8 Decision Chain Analysis: Weigh-In-Motion System

7 Analyst's Recommendations

7.1 Europe is Estimated to Dominate the Market for Weigh-In-Motion System

7.2 High-Speed WIM Systems - Key Focus Areas

7.3 Conclusion

8 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by Vehicle Speed

8.1 Introduction

8.1.1 Research Methodology

8.1.2 Assumptions & Definitions

8.1.3 Industry Insights

8.2 Low-Speed

8.2.1 Low-Speed WIM System Has the Largest Market Share in WIM System Market by Vehicle Speed

8.3 High-Speed

8.3.1 High-Speed WIM is the Fastest Growing Market in WIM System Market by Vehicle Speed

9 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by Type

9.1 Introduction

9.1.1 Research Methodology

9.1.2 Assumptions & Definitions

9.1.3 Industry Insights

9.2 In-Road System

9.2.1 In-Road WIM System Has the Largest Market Share in WIM System Market by Vehicle Speed

9.3 Weigh Bridge System

9.3.1 Europe Has the Largest Market Share in Weigh Bridge System

9.4 Onboard System

9.4.1 Onboard WIM System is the Fastest Growing Market in WIM System Market by Type

10 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by End-use Industry

10.1 Introduction

10.1.1 Research Methodology

10.1.2 Assumptions & Definitions

10.1.3 Industry Insights

10.2 Highway Toll

10.2.1 Highway Toll Has the Largest Market Share in WIM System Market by End-use Industry

10.3 Oil & Refinery

10.3.1 Oil & Refinery is the Fastest Growing Market in WIM System Market by End-use Industry

10.4 Logistics

10.4.1 Europe Has the Largest Market Share in Logistics Segment

10.5 Others

11 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by Component

11.1 Introduction

11.1.1 Research Methodology

11.1.2 Assumptions & Definitions

11.1.3 Industry Insights

11.2 Hardware

11.2.1 Hardware Has the Largest Market Share in WIM System Market by Component

11.3 Software & Services

11.3.1 Software & Services is the Fastest Growing Market in WIM System Market by Component

12 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by Sensor Type

12.1 Introduction

12.1.1 Research Methodology

12.1.2 Assumptions & Definitions

12.1.3 Industry Insights

12.2 Image Sensor

12.2.1 Image Sensor Has the Largest Market Share in WIM System Market by Sensor Type

12.3 Piezoelectric Sensor

12.3.1 Europe Has the Largest Market Share in Piezoelectric Sensor Segment

12.4 Bending Plate

12.4.1 Asia-Pacific is the Fastest Growing Market in Bending Plate Segment

12.5 Inductive Loop

12.5.1 Europe Has the Largest Market Share in Inductive Loop Segment

12.6 Magnetic Sensor

12.6.1 North America Has the Second Largest Market Share in Magnetic Sensor Segment

12.7 Acoustic Sensor

12.7.1 Asia-Pacific is the Fastest Growing Market in Acoustic Sensor Segment

12.8 Infrared Sensor

12.8.1 Europe Has the Largest Market Share in Infrared Sensor Segment

12.9 Radar Sensor

12.9.1 North America Has the Second Largest Market Share in Magnetic Sensor Segment as of 2019

12.10 LiDAR Sensor

12.10.1 Europe Has the Largest Market Share in LiDAR Sensor Segment

12.11 Thermal Sensor

12.11.1 Asia-Pacific is the Fastest Growing Market in Thermal Sensor Segment

13 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by Function

13.1 Introduction

13.1.1 Research Methodology

13.1.2 Assumptions & Definitions

13.1.3 Industry Insights

13.2 Vehicle Profiling

13.2.1 Europe Has the Largest Market Share in Vehicle Profiling Segment

13.3 Axle Counting

13.3.1 Axle Counting Has the Largest Market Share in WIM System Market by Function

13.4 Weight Enforcement

13.4.1 Weight Enforcement Has the Second Largest Market Share in WIM System Market by Function

13.5 Weight-Based Toll Collection

13.5.1 Europe Has the Largest Market Share in Weight-Based Toll Collection Segment

13.6 Traffic Data Collection

13.6.1 Traffic Data Collection is the Fastest Growing Market in WIM System Market by Function

14 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by Region

14.1 Introduction

14.2 Asia-Pacific

14.3 Europe

14.4 North America

14.5 Rest of the World (RoW)

15 Competitive Landscape

15.1 Market Evolution Framework

15.2 Overview

15.3 Market Evaluation Framework: Revenue Analysis of Top Listed/Public Players

15.4 Weigh-In-Motion System: Market Ranking Analysis

15.5 Competitive Scenario

15.5.1 Product Launches, 2018-2020

15.5.2 Deals, 2018-2020

15.5.3 Other Developments, 2018-2020

15.6 Competitive Leadership Mapping for Weigh-In-Motion System Market

15.6.1 Star

15.6.2 Emerging Leaders

15.6.3 Pervasive

15.6.4 Participants

15.7 Winners vs. Tail-Enders

15.8 Revenue Impact Analysis

16 Company Profiles

16.1 Kapsch Trafficcom

16.2 Q-Free ASA

16.3 International Road Dynamics (Quarterhill)

16.4 Mettler Toledo

16.5 Transcore (Roper Technologies)

16.6 Avery Weigh-Tronix (Illinois Tool Works)

16.7 TE Connectivity

16.8 Kistler

16.9 General Electrodynamic Corporation

16.10 Efkon GmbH

16.11 Other Players

16.11.1 North America

16.11.1.1 Intercomp

16.11.1.2 Cardinal Scale Mfg.

16.11.1.3 Roadsys

16.11.2 Europe

16.11.2.1 Cross Zlin

16.11.2.2 Kemek

16.11.2.3 Traffic Data Systems

16.11.2.4 Camea

16.11.2.5 Axis Communications

16.11.3 Asia-Pacific

16.11.3.1 Essae Digitronics

16.11.3.2 Ashbee Systems

17 Appendix

17.1 Insights of Industry Experts

17.2 Discussion Guide

17.3 Knowledge Store: The Subscription Portal

17.4 Available Customizations

17.4.1 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by Type, by Country

17.4.1.1 In-Road System

17.4.1.2 Bridge Weigh

17.4.1.3 Onboard

17.4.2 Weigh-In-Motion System Market, by End-use Industry & Speed, by Region

17.4.2.1 Asia-Pacific

17.4.2.2 Europe

17.4.2.3 North America

17.4.2.4 RoW

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/jvrq2w

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MINSK -- Well-known human rights activist Tatsyana Hatsura-Yavorskaya, one of the founders of the Belarusian civil rights group Zvyano (Chain), is being held in a detention center on an unspecified charge.

Hatsura-Yavorskaya was detained on April 6 after police searched her home and office, saying that the searches were conducted as part of an investigation into "financing mass disorders."

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.

The activist's husband, Uladzimer Yavorski, told RFE/RL late on April 8 that a court in Minsk earlier in the day had fined his wife for "disobedience to police," but that they did not immediately release her afterward.

"[After the hearing] we waited for her near the detention center. But in the end, her lawyer told us that Tatsyana will remain in custody as she had a different status. She had been detained on a criminal charge. We do not know what exactly the charge is at this point," Yavorski said.

A day before Hatsura-Yavorskaya's detainment, two of her associates, Natallya Trenina and Yulia Syamenchanka, were also detained after their homes were searched.

Trenina and Syamenchanka helped Hatsura-Yavorskaya organize an exhibition in Minsk devoted to physicians assisting COVID-19 patients called The Gadget Is Breathing, But I Am Not.

Hatsura-Yavorskaya, a mother of four, is known for initiating several cultural events, including WATCH DOCS, an international festival of documentaries about human rights that has been held each year since 2015.

She and her associates were arrested amid an ongoing crackdown directed by authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka to quell demonstrations sparked by the official results of a presidential election last August that handed Lukashenka a sixth term in office.

Opposition figures say the election was rigged. Many countries and groups, including the United States and the European Union, have refused to recognize Lukashenka as the leader of Belarus. They have also imposed sanctions on him and several senior Belarusian officials over the crackdown.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2nd R), joined by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (R), speaks while facing Yang Jiechi (2nd L), 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, U.S. March 18, 2021.

Western trade and investment interests in China are facing new threats as sanctions trigger retaliation, heightening tensions over human rights, national security and territorial control.

Since the start of President Joseph R. Biden's term in office on Jan. 20, there have been several exchanges of new sanctions announced by the United States, U.S. allies and Beijing.

Within hours of Biden's inauguration, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced sanctions against 28 ex-officials from the Trump administration, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former trade adviser Peter Navarro.

China charged that they had "seriously violated China's sovereignty" by interfering in China's "internal affairs."

As vocal critics of China's trade policies, cybersecurity snooping, intellectual property thefts, pandemic responses and military ambitions, the former officials were barred from Chinese territory and business dealings, along with their immediate families, companies and affiliated institutions.

The sanctions were quickly followed by statements seeking to make amends with Washington.

"With cooperation from both sides, the better angels in China-U.S. relations will beat the evil forces," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

But if China hoped for a new path to pursue its agendas with the Biden administration, it soon found it would have no easier course.

On March 17, one day before a high-level bilateral meeting in Alaska, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken announced sanctions against 24 Chinese officials for their efforts "to unilaterally undermine Hong Kong's electoral system" by enacting amendments to screen legislative candidates for their allegiance to Beijing.

Although the penalties were aimed at a limited number of government and party officials, the financial sanctions could have potentially far-reaching effects.

"Foreign financial institutions that knowingly conduct significant transactions with the individuals listed in today's report are now subject to sanctions," Blinken said.

While the impact remains uncertain, the announcement put China on the back foot, leaving it little choice but to proceed with the talks in Anchorage and hope for the best.

"In diplomatic terms, the timing of the action was pointed and clearly intentional, continuing a testy start to relations between the Biden administration and China after a tumultuous four years under President Donald J. Trump," The New York Times said.

The sequence of events and official statements highlighted the relatively greater importance to China of starting the long, drawn-out process of another "strategic dialogue" with the new U.S. administration. Biden aides had firmly rejected such a label for the talks.

"This is not the resumption of a particular dialogue mechanism or the beginning of a dialogue process," said a senior U.S. official in a background briefing for reporters two days before the Anchorage meeting.

Instead, it was an opportunity for laying out positions, "getting an understanding of each other, and then taking that back and taking stock," the official said.

Greater expectations

Statements from the Chinese side suggested higher hopes for the exchange.

"It is not a normal way of hosting guests that the United States introduced the sanctions on the eve of the Chinese side's departure for the dialogue," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Foreign Minister Wang Yi as saying.

The sanctions were not the only move against China in the hours before talks began.

On March 17, the U.S. Commerce Department served subpoenas on "multiple" Chinese information and communications technology companies as part of an evaluation of security risks.

"Beijing has engaged in conduct that blunts our technological edge and threatens our alliances," said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in a statement reported by Reuters.

China acknowledged the difficulty of its position in response to the U.S. moves.

"The U.S. claimed that they are attending the Alaskan dialogue from a position of strength. But as long as China decides to have a dialogue, the courtesy will go first," said an editorial in the Communist Party tabloid Global Times.

Instead of more talks, the Anchorage meeting appears to have started a process of action and reaction.

On March 22, more sanctions on Chinese officials followed with coordinated moves by the United States, the European Union, the UK and Canada, citing "serious human rights abuses" of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

The EU participation overcame years of reluctance to apply China sanctions.

"Unlike the United States, the EU has sought to avoid confrontation with Beijing, but the decision to impose the first significant sanctions since an EU arms embargo in 1989 following the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy crackdown indicates a change in posture," Reuters said.

The EU policy shift is all the more remarkable because it threatened to head off European ratification of a bilateral investment treaty with China that took seven years and 15 rounds of talks to negotiate.

China retaliated against the Western penalties on March 22 and again on March 26, slapping sanctions on 10 European Parliament members, other individuals and rights groups, as well as nine UK lawmakers and four entities associated with the Uyghur rights cause.

China's Foreign Ministry also designated members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Canadian lawmaker Michael Chong and the House of Commons Foreign Affairs subcommittee on human rights for retaliatory visa and financial sanctions related to Xinjiang.

Eye for an eye

The tit-for-tat penalties may have ushered in a new phase of U.S. and allied tensions with China, threatening an escalation that may not be easily reversed.

On Thursday, Raimondo announced bans against seven Chinese supercomputer developers, adding them to the U.S. Entity List for "activities that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States."

Raimondo cited the contributions of the computer makers to "destabilizing military modernization efforts."

On Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that "China will take necessary countermeasures to resolutely safeguard Chinese companies' legitimate rights and interests."

Trade and economic frictions have also followed from earlier decisions by Western clothing retailers including Sweden's H&M and U.S.-based Nike to stop selling products made with cotton from Xinjiang, blaming forced labor practices and abuse in Uyghur internment camps.

China has responded with boycotts of the foreign-branded outlets, which it claims are the result of spontaneous consumer movements rather than blacklisting by the government.

The rapid succession of sanctions has raised questions about the effects on trade and investment in China after years of continuing growth despite rights abuses and policy conflicts that have been reported for years.

The sanctions on officials and groups have relatively little impact, but the implications may be serious, said William Reinsch, a former Commerce Department undersecretary in the Clinton administration, now Scholl chair in international business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"Most of the sanctions are on individual companies and entities, so the overall effect is likely to be small. Indirect effects, however, are significant," Reinsch said.

After years of reported rights abuses, the latest conflicts over the Uyghurs have become a wake-up call for foreign investment, sourcing and supply chain decisions.

"The best example is apparel, where companies are caught in the middle between trying to disentangle themselves from Chinese components in their supply chains, like cotton from Xinjiang, due to consumer and government pressures from Western countries, and suffering Chinese retaliation if they do so," Reinsch said by email.

"China's overreaction to the sanctions will cost companies market share and sales in China, which in some cases is a huge market for them. If they do nothing, however, they risk the ire of activists in the U.S. and Europe," he said.

International retailers are facing anger no matter which way they turn.

"The global brands can protect their sales in North America and Europe, or preserve their markets in China. It is increasingly difficult to see how they can do both," The New York Times said in another report this week.

"This will accelerate a trend toward shortening supply chains that began some time ago, Companies are increasingly looking for trusted, reliable partners, and China is not one of them," Reinsch said.

The broad range of Western policy disputes with China may mean that any one of them could raise tensions and bring relations closer to the boiling point, calling more attention to investment and sourcing decisions.

"I don't see an easy end to this," said Reinsch.

"China is not willing to even acknowledge its behavior or admit that there might be a problem, so I don't see easing the sanctions to be likely," he said.
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Bamboo, an online investments platform that allows Nigerians and other users to access foreign and local securities, on Friday assured investors that their asset were safe.

The platform said this in response to the Securities And Exchange Commissions declaration that services offered by Bamboo and other similar platforms were illegal.

Richmond Bassey, Bamboos Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement that investors assets on its platform remain safe and easily accessible to you.

We are already in discussions with the SEC and our broker partner and are fully committed to working with them to ensure your interests as our users are fully protected, he said.

He said, We want to reassure you that theres nothing to be concerned about. We are still able to carry out all our operations and will continue to do so. Should the situation change, we will inform and advise you on the best course of action.

Mr Bassey said by opening a Bamboo account, a user has also opened an account with its U.S. broker partner, DriveWeath LLC, which is licensed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and is also a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the U.S. Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).

The SIPC insures your Bamboo account up to $500,000. All your wallet balances on Bamboo are insured up to $250,000 by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), he said.

Nigerias regulator, SEC, said on Thursday that those securities were not registered in Nigeria, and that platforms providing access to them were acting against the law.

It warned that capital market operators in partnership with the platforms to desist from providing brokerage services for foreign securities.

The move by the SEC to bar fintechs from selling, issuing or offering for sale foreign securities not listed on any exchange registered in Nigeria, if seen through, will negatively impact thousands of Nigerians who have lately been drawn by technology to investing in foreign securities.

Platforms like Bamboo, Trove, and Risevest that offer Nigerians access to stocks, bonds and other securities in both local and international markets, have in recent years grown in popularity in the Nigerian fintech space, especially amongst young people.
Police arrested two more suspects in connection with a deadly March 21 hit-and-run.

The Athens-Clarke County Police Department arrested two more suspects in connection with the March 21 hit-and-run death of University of Georgia student Knox Whiten, according to a Thursday press release.

Police arrested a 57-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man, both from Athens, in connection with the incident. The suspects attempted to cover up the actions of the suspected driver, according to the release.

Both new suspects are charged with felony tampering with evidence in Clarke County and second-degree arson in Jackson County, according to the release.

Police identified the suspect believed to be the driver in late March, and the suspect was already in jail on unrelated charges.
A controversial ballot measure on police reform and the citys response to the COVID-19 pandemic took center stage Thursday night at a San Antonio mayoral candidate forum.

Before a more conservative audience hosted by the Greater Harmony Hills Neighborhood Association, Mayor Ron Nirenberg defended measures adopted early in the pandemic, including mask mandates and business shutdowns  steps later implemented statewide by Gov. Greg Abbott.

We have been following the guidance of our medical professionals to ensure we can get out of this pandemic as quickly as possible, Nirenberg said.

The mayor noted that, among major Texas cities, San Antonio has the lowest positivity rate  or the percentage of people tested for the coronavirus who turn out to be infected.

I think its the result of us as a community paying attention to the public health guidance rather than the politics, Nirenberg said.

Regardless of whether the city had authority to put measures in place, such as mask mandates and occupancy restrictions, the vast majority of the public has been mindful of their responsibility to protect their own family and the rest of the communitys health, he said.

Nirenberg also touted the millions of dollars  mostly from federal stimulus funds  the city has spent to help needy residents stay in their homes and small businesses keep their lights on as the pandemic ravaged the economy.

Greg Brockhouse, a former city councilman who nearly ousted Nirenberg two years ago, accused City Hall of adopting a fear leadership mentality in its response to the pandemic  lock it down, mandatory masks and stay home  while also allowing major sporting events at the city-owned Alamodome. City officials have defended that decision, pointing to safety protocols put in place at the stadium during the pandemic.

I would have never shut down San Antonio, Brockhouse said. I would encourage mask usage and gone door-to-door to keep our small businesses open. We had to do that to keep lives moving, money coming in. We saw the food lines at the San Antonio Food Bank. Thats because people ran out of cash, money and opportunity.

People should wear masks, Brockhouse said, though he has said in the past hes not in favor of mask mandates. Public health officials have repeatedly insisted throughout the pandemic that wearing masks drastically reduces the spread of the virus.

Residents should not be required to get vaccinated, the former councilman said, nor should they have to use so-called vaccine passports  a credential to show that someone has been inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine. Both ideas were banned in Texas earlier this week by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Were going to treat people with respect, Brockhouse said. Its your choice and were going to honor that.

Prop B

Brockhouse and candidate Denise Gutierrez-Homer both blasted Proposition B, a ballot measure intended to gut the police union. If passed, the San Antonio Police Officers Association would no longer have the right to collectively bargain its contract with the city  a measure proponents say is necessary to strip the union of its ability to influence how officers accused of misconduct are disciplined.

You have bad employees anywhere, Gutierrez-Homer said. But the fact remains that right now in the police department, we have the most highly-educated police force for our men and women in San Antonio.

To Brockhouse  a staunch police union ally who formerly worked for the union as a consultant  there havent been enough bad officers to warrant doing away with collective bargaining for officers.

Nobody wants a bad cop gone more than a good cop, Brockhouse said. But the answer isnt to throw out the entire contract and in essence defund our police department because thats what would happen.

Nirenberg told the head of the San Antonio Police Officers Association last month that he supports collective bargaining but is not wading into the Prop B fight.

Moderator Gary Gibbons pressed Nirenberg on his appearance with Black Lives Matter activists in June as they protested police brutality in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis  and when he and other City Council members that month took a knee on the council dais and raised their fists in solidarity with activists.

Does the mayor believe San Antonio is a racist city, Gibbons asked.

Do I think that San Antonio is a racist city? No, I do not, Nirenberg said. But do I think we are immune from systemic racism, as many other cities around the country have experienced? No, I do not.

Nirenberg has so far refused to debate his opponents one-on-one, part of a broader effort to deprive his main contender, Brockhouse, of oxygen. Brockhouse and Gutierrez-Homer attended the event at Vogt Auction House on the citys North Side in person, and Nirenberg appeared virtually after the other two candidates.

We do not need a Zoom mayor, and youre getting the perfect example of that this evening, Brockhouse said. He would rather do his 13-minute television show today (a reference to the mayors regular televised coronavirus briefings) than spend time with the voters  you, yourself  answering the tough questions but, more importantly, telling us his vision.

Gutierrez-Homer echoed that.

He loves to hide behind a camera or behind a computer and not address the public, she said.

jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFReports
Moscow, April 9 : Russia will be protect the residents in eastern Ukraine's conflict-hit Donbas region if there is a need to do so, Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak said here.

Such a decision will depend on the scale of violence in the region, Xinhua news agency quoted Kozak as saying on Thursday.

He added that the "armed formations" in Donbas, which comprises the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, are experienced and currently able to defend themselves without external assistance.

He reiterated that Russia does not want to violate Ukraine's sovereignty or seize its territories.

"It is in our interest to have a friendly, calm and stable neighbouring state," he said.

Since the beginning of this year, a new round of confrontation in the Donbas region has claimed the lives of 20 Ukrainian servicemen and injured 57 others, according to data released by Kiev.

Besides the escalation of the confict, clashes between the Donbas insurgents and Ukrainian government forces have also intensified despite the ceasefire secured in July last year.

Insurgents have controlled parts of Donbas along the Russian border for almost seven years.

According to UN estimates, the conflict has killed some 14,000 people and left as many as 40,000 wounded.
Credit: Ross HalfinMetallica fans are in a frenzy after the metal legends posted a hashtag related to their iconic 1991 self-titled release, aka The Black Album.

On their Instagram, Metallica shared a video from a 2012 live performance of the Black Album closer "The Struggle Within." The caption includes a quote from the song -- "Boredom sets into the boring mind" -- as well as the hashtag #BlackAlbum2021.

It's that list bit that's got everyone worked up. Since The Black Album turns 30 this year, fans are speculating that Metallica might be planning an anniversary tour.

Also of note, the video in the Instagram post comes from a show in Nickelsdorf, Austria, during which 'Tallica performed all of The Black Album in reverse order.

Nothing's been officially announced yet, though, so stay tuned.

By Josh Johnson

Copyright  2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Ted Cruz is hitting back against former House Speaker John Boehner's "drunken, bloviated scorn" for the Texas senator.

Cruz responded to a clip from a "CBS Sunday Morning" interview with Boehner, where he criticized Cruz for being a "political terrorist."

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"I dont beat anybody up, its not really my style, except for that jerk," Boehner told CBSs John Dickerson in the clip. "Perfect symbol, you know, of getting elected, making a lot of noise, draw a lot of attention to yourself, raise a lot of money, which means youre gonna go make more noise, raise more money."

"Its really, its unfortunate," he said.

Cruz quickly responded on Twitter.

"The Swamp is unhappy," Cruz wrote. "I wear with pride his drunken, bloviated scorn. Please dont cry."

Boehner, a Republican and former Ohio congressman, has been a vocal critic of Cruz. He once famously called Cruz, "Lucifer in the flesh" and recently railed against him in his new book, to which Cruz responded with a gif from "Mean Girls" earlier this month.

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In February, Boehner also reportedly told Cruz to "go f--- yourself" while recording the audio for his book, "On The House: A Washington Memoir." Cruz addressed the recording in his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, The Hill's Jordan Williams reported.

You know yesterday, John Boehner made some news. He suggested that I do something that was anatomically impossible, Cruz said at CPAC. To which my response was, 'Whos John Boehner?'
Aerial images of the near-empty San Gabriel Reservoir show the impact of a drought gripping the state amid extremely low rainfall

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Dramatic pictures of a California reservoir are revealing the impact of a drought gripping the state as it pours $536million into fire prevention.

The aerial images of the near-empty San Gabriel Reservoir show an extremely low water level after California recorded its driest February in 150 years.

In some pictures, the contours of the riverbed of the San Gabriel River, which feeds the reservoir, are clearly visible.

Normally the height of the rainy season, this February saw no measurable rain recorded in downtown Los Angeles, while precipitation was extremely low across LA county.

Drought increases the risks of wildfires, which have long plagued California but appear to have grown in intensity in recent years. In the absence of water, vegetation grows drier and more flammable each month.

Dramatic pictures of a California reservoir show the impact of a drought gripping the state as it pours $536million into fire prevention. Images of the near-empty San Gabriel Reservoir reveal its extremely low water level after California recorded its driest February in 150 years

In many of the pictures, the contours of the riverbed of the San Gabriel River, which feeds the reservoir, are clearly visible

This file photo shows the huge difference in water levels from the images from Thursday, in which water is almost entirely absent [File photo]

Fire officials expect another devastating season of massive wildfires as historically, there is little chance of rain until late 2021.

The pictures, taken on April 8, come as the state authorized $536million toward forest management projects and efforts to reduce wildfires before the worst of the fire season strikes later this year.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders announced the spending on Thursday.

It more than doubles the $200million in recent annual spending, advocates said, and wildfire preparedness grants were dropped entirely last year when the state prematurely anticipated a pandemic-driven budget shortfall.

Normally the height of the rainy season, this February saw no measurable rain recorded in downtown Los Angeles, while precipitation was extremely low across LA County. Pictured: The exposed lakebed of the San Gabriel River on Thursday

Drought increases the risks of wildfires, which have long plagued California but appear to have been growing in intensity in recent years. Pictured: The exposed lakebed of the San Gabriel River on Thursday

Fire officials expect another devastating season of massive wildfires as historically, there is little chance of rain until late 2021. Pictured: Grooves in the land caused by the flow of water show the normal water level of the river, which had shrunk to a trickle on Thursday

Armed now with an unexpected multi-billion-dollar surplus, lawmakers plan to add the money to this fiscal year's budget before considering even more for the new spending plan that takes effect July 1.

Newsom said lawmakers 'wanted to move forward more aggressively' to immediately allocate more than half the $1billion that he had sought to spend starting in the second half of the year.

That will 'get these projects moving ... so we're prepared for this upcoming wildfire season.'

In January, Newsom had proposed spending $323million this spring on forest health and fire prevention projects.

Officials are rushing to thin forests, build fuel breaks around vulnerable communities and allow for planned burns before a dry winter turns into a tinder-dry summer.

Last year's record-setting wildfire season charred more than 4 per cent of the state while destroying nearly 10,500 buildings and killing 33 people.

This undated image shows the San Gabriel River and the reservoir at a time of much higher water level than those seen on Thursday [File photo]

The pictures of the parched riverbed, taken on April 8, come as the state authorized $536million towards forest management projects and efforts to reduce wildfires before the worst of the fire season strikes later this year

Earlier this month, the governor used his emergency powers to authorize nearly $81million to hire nearly 1,400 additional firefighters.

He said the firefighting and mitigation efforts are in addition to the state's many long-term efforts to fight climate change that is worsening fires and droughts.

Lawmakers said Thursday's agreement expands governor's January budget proposal with more short- and long-term spending on vegetation management for public and private land, clearing space around homes to make them less vulnerable to wildfires, fire prevention grants and prevention workforce training.

It also includes $25million in economic stimulus for the hard-hit forestry economy.

The new plan, Newsom said, will be considered by lawmakers as early as Monday so he can sign them into law on Tuesday.

Three Republican Assembly members who represent rural, fire-prone areas in a joint statement said that the portion included for forest management projects is the same as last year and is 'quite simply not enough and [does] not recognize the urgency of the situation.'

'A $500million appropriate would be huge and they'll need to do substantially more than that again for next year,' said Paul Mason, vice president of policy and incentives at the Pacific Forest Trust, a nonprofit land trust and think-tank that promotes forest conservation.

'It will need to be in the billions.'

Governor Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders announced the spending on Thursday. It more than doubles the $200million in recent annual spending, advocates said, and wildfire preparedness grants were dropped entirely last year when the state prematurely anticipated a pandemic-driven budget shortfall. Pictured: Newsom (second from left) meets with local fire officials wild touring an area burned by last year's Creek Fire on Thursday

Lawmakers said Thursday's agreement expands on the governor's January budget proposal with more short and long-term spending on vegetation management on both public and private land, clearing space around homes and making them less vulnerable to wildfires, fire prevention grants and prevention workforce training. Pictured: Newsom (second from right) meets with local fire officials wild touring an area burned by last year's Creek Fire on Thursday

Besides devoting some of the budget windfall to fire preparedness, he said lawmakers should find a stable funding source for future years.

'Just as it took us a century to create the fire problems we have right now, it's going to take us many years to restore resilience to the forest landscape in California,' Mason said.

Newsom was flanked by a red state firetruck and yellow-uniformed members of the California Conservation Corps working behind him as he spoke outdoors from a podium set up before an area of thinned trees in Shaver Lake in Fresno County.

He said previously completed fuel breaks there had helped contain the Creek Fire in September.

It was one of the largest fires in the state last year, destroying nearly 900 structures and burning more than 537 square miles (1,391 square kilometers) in Fresno and Madera counties.

Lawmakers have already mostly divvied up what Newsom said in January would be a $15billion one-time surplus, with most of it going to school and a state economic stimulus package that includes $600 payments to millions of low-to-moderate-income Californias.

But the state expects another $26billion in aid from the federal government with few limits on how it can be spent.

Pictured: A firefighter battles the Creek Fire in Shaver Lake, Fresno County in September 2020. It was one of the largest fires in the state last year, destroying nearly 900 structures and burning more than 537 square miles (1,391 square kilometers) in Fresno and Madera counties [File photo]

Three Republican Assembly members who represent rural, fire-prone areas in a joint statement said that the portion included for forest management projects is the same as last year and is 'quite simply not enough and [does] not recognize the urgency of the situation.' Pictured: Firefighters in the back yard of a home during in Boulder Creek in August 2020 [File 2020]

Mason and Newsom said Democratic President Joe Biden's new administration should also invest more in forest projects, given that more than half of California's forestland is federally owned.

That's a change from the last few years when Newsom said he felt like he was 'a sparring partner' with the U.S. Forest Service and former president Donald Trump blamed Democratic state officials for not doing enough forest management.

State officials said they hope to get $75million in federal disaster prevention grants to match money the state will spend on making homes less vulnerable to wildfires.

Democratic Senator Bill Dodd, a member of the Senate Wildfire Working Group, said the new spending package includes more than $280million for forest management, $200million for fuel breaks and $30million for community and home hardening.

Newsom said Democratic President Joe Biden's new administration should also invest more in forest projects, given that more than half of California's forestland is federally owned. Pictured: A home is destroyed by fire in Malibu, California in November 2018 [File photo]
A longtime anti-war activist from New Haven was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison Friday for his part in vandalizing property at the Kings Bay submarine base three years ago in Georgia.

Mark Colville was the last of seven defendants who admitted to illegally entering the naval installation by cutting the padlock and damaging property, according to a release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Georgia.

Mark Colvilles sentence brings closure to a prosecution that represents the triumph of the rule of law over misguided principles, Acting U.S. Attorney David H. Estes for the Southern District of Georgia said in a statement.

Given the 15 months he already has served in federal prison and time off for good behavior, Colville estimates he will go back to prison for about 125 days to complete the sentence.

Colville said they used hammers and containers of their own blood to mark several areas of the base, which is home to six Trident nuclear submarines, before surrendering to naval personnel.

He has been participating in civil disobedience actions against nuclear weapons since 1997 as part of the U.S. Plowshares movement, which takes its direction from the Biblical quote in Isaiah 2:3-4.

... Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord ... and he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Colville, 59, was found guilty after a four-day jury trial in October 2019 on charges of conspiracy, destruction of property on a Naval installation, depredation of government property, and trespass.

On Friday he was ordered to pay $33,503.51 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release after completion of his prison sentence.

Colville said he would not make such a payment and pledged not to cooperate with the probation office.

He said he expects to go before the court again on these issues.

On probation, Colville said, I will not allow them in anyway to supervise my conscience. What I did was responsible. I was being a responsible citizen in the face of a government that has obviously thrown its lot in with criminality.

You are going to supervise my conscience and you have no conscience? Colville said.

He said he did not request special consideration, but when Judge Lisa Godbey Woods asked, Colville said he would prefer to serve out his sentence at Danbury federal prison to be close to his family.

Colville said ultimately it is up to the Bureau of Prisons. He said he will report in 60 days on June 8.

Estes issued a statement after the sentencing.

Colville and his attention-seeking cohorts attempted to make a grand statement by breaking into and vandalizing a secure government facility, but in the end succeeded only in adding felony convictions to their criminal records, Estes wrote.

Colville and the six other members of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 had cut through fences at the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in St. Marys, Ga., and symbolically disarmed the nuclear weapons by beating on storage bunkers and monuments to the Trident sub with hammers made from firearms and pouring their own blood on the property.

We went as far as we could nonviolently to get to the weapons and where we were stopped is where we did the action, Colville said in 2019 when he was freed from detention in Brunswick, Ga. Marines descended on us with their guns drawn and we knelt down and prayed.

It was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the seven carried a banner with a quote from King: The ultimate logic of racism is genocide.

Colville has long protested the presence of nuclear weapons. The federal court said he has eight previous convictions related to trespassing and damaging federal property. Colville also is a longtime activist in the city to protect the rights of people experiencing homelessness. Colville founded Amistad Catholic Worker House with his wife, Luz Catarineau-Colville.

In a statement before the sentencing, Colville thanked all those who have followed the case and who sent letters of support to the court.

Im asking her (the judge) to consider them as expressions of the conscience of the community regarding the criminal enterprise of nuclearism, as it continues to scourge humanity and creation beyond reason or accountability, Colville wrote.

My family, my neighborhood and I have a right to live without a nuclear gun on hair-trigger alert held perpetually to our heads, and this courts failure to recognize that right has made it an accessory to crimes against humanity. This is the reality that I plan to confront as clearly and simply as possible on Friday ... and the rest, as an old friend used to remind me, is Gods problem, Colville wrote.

The sentencing was held virtually, Colville said, given dangers of gathering in person during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contacted at home, he did not have a reaction to the sentencing itself as he and his family were prepared for the consequences of the activist path he has taken.

Colville said it will take other families, like his own, to assume a similar stand against nuclear weapons.

It is obvious that governments are not going to disarm on their own, he said.

He said the goal is for people to free themselves and the institutions that govern us, and in so many ways confine us, and start thinking about the future of life on the planet.

Colville in the beginning refused bail, but eventually did get pretrial release a few weeks before the October court session to take care of a cancerous growth.

He was later allowed to attend his daughters wedding and he has been out since then.

His 15 months in detention were spent at the Glynn County Detention Center l in Brunswick, Ga., which he said was mainly occupied by individuals who could not afford bail as they awaited trial because of probation violations.

He said some were incarcerated longer than he was.

The statement from the U.S. attorneys office said the seven trespassers, once through the security fence, split into two groups and then damaged and vandalized property inside the facility before being taken into custody by naval security personnel.

The six other defendants, previously sentenced in the case, include: Stephen Michael Kelly, 72, of Massachusetts; Patrick ONeill, 65, of Garner, N.C.; Elizabeth McAlister, 81, of New London, Conn.; Clare Therese Grady, 62, of Ithaca, N.Y.; Martha Hennessy, 65, of Perkinsville, Vt.; and Carmen Trotta, 58, of New York, N.Y.
Commerce and Industry Minister (pictured) will soon push the World Trade Organization (WTO) to waive intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines when he meets the trade bodys Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

The meeting, to be held virtually, will be Goyals first with the recently appointed DG. While there will be discussion on several issues, the topic of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver is likely to be on top of the list, a senior government official told Business Standard.

In October last year, India and South Africa had requested waiver from certain provisions of the multilateral agreement, so that more countries get equitable access to vaccines. Amid rising Covid-19 cases, a waiver on certain provisions of the agreement is expected to help more countries, especially middle- and low-income nations to access vaccines.

However, countries have been divided on the issue, with some developed nations opposing it.
17 attorneys from the Phoenix office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP were named to the 2021 Super Lawyers list, and three were listed by the publication as Southwest Rising Stars.

The 16 attorneys recognized in the Super Lawyers list include: Brian H. Blaney, Rebecca Lynne Burnham, John E. Cummerford, Karl A. Freeburg, Nicole M. Goodwin, Andrew F. Halaby, Stanton E. Johnson, Robert S. Kant, Leslie A. Klein, Kevin J. Morris, Jon T. Neumann, Stephanie Quincy, Pamela Overton Risoleo, Gil Rudolph, Jeffrey H. Verbin, E. Jeffrey Walsh, and Quinn P. Williams.

Greenberg Traurig had more attorneys on the Top 50 Arizona list than any other law firm, with Burnham, Goodwin, Quincy, Walsh, and Williams recognized with this distinction. Burnham, Goodwin, and Quincy were also named to the Top 25 Arizona Women list.

The three Greenberg Traurig attorneys honored on the Southwest Rising Stars list are: Adrianna Griego Gorton, Andrew X. Yocopis, and Jeremy D. Zangara.

We continue to be proud of our attorneys achievements, said Goodwin, managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurigs Phoenix office. This independent award--recognizing both our more seasoned lawyers and our Rising Starsis particularly gratifying.

Super Lawyers is a research-driven, peer-influenced rating service of lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The mission of Super Lawyers is to bring visibility to those attorneys who exhibit excellence in practice.

According to the publication, the selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. Super Lawyers Magazine features the list and profiles of selected attorneys and is distributed to attorneys in the state or region and the ABA-accredited law school libraries. Super Lawyers is also published as a special section in leading city and regional magazines across the country. In the United States, Super Lawyers Magazine is published in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., reaching more than 13 million readers.

About Greenberg Traurigs Phoenix Office: Greenberg Traurigs Phoenix attorneys practice locally and nationally at the intersection of business, government, and the law. Combining local experience and global reach, the Phoenix team represents clients in matters related to commercial litigation, securities, mergers and acquisitions, health care, municipal and corporate finance, intellectual property, labor and employment, real estate, and tax.

About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has approximately 2200 attorneys 40 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. The firm is net carbon neutral with respect to its office energy usage and Mansfield Rule 3.0 Certified. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com
The Crown got an 85 per cent viewership bump in the week after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's tell-all bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Royal fans rushed to watch the historical drama after hearing the Duke, 36, and Duchess of Sussexes', 39, explosive comments, including accusations of racism within the Royal Family.

According to The Wrap, in the week after the interview, viewers tuned in to the show for a total of 449 million minutes, an 85 per cent leap from 242 million minutes the week before.

The Netflix drama has come under fire from friends of close senior royals including Prince Charles, with some accusing the latest season of 'trolling on a Hollywood budget'.

Harry and Meghan Markle raised eyebrows when they signed a deal with the streaming platform, thought to be worth around 100million, last year.

The hit Netflix show The Crown got a viewership bump after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's tell-all bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey

In the week after the interview, most viewers tuned in for the first season of 'The Crown,' as well as Season 4 episode, 'Favourites.'

In that episode, the Queen, 94, meets with each of her four children to figure out which one she likes best, eventually settling on Prince Andrew.

Days before the explosive interview, while speaking on The Late Late Show with James Corden, the Duke gave his seal of approval to the Netflix show, which portrays his father Prince Charles as callous and self-serving and his grandmother the Queen as cold.

Prince Harry - who also name-dropped Netflix elsewhere in the interview - said The Crown is 'fictional' but is 'loosely based on the truth' and captures the feeling of being expected to put 'duty and service above family and everything else'.

Royal fans rushed to watch the historical drama after hearing the Duke, 36, and Duchess of Sussexes', 39, explosive comments, including accusations of racism within the Royal Family

Harry added he would like Homeland actor Damian Lewis to play him if his character ever appears on the show as an adult.

'They don't pretend to be news, it's fictional,' Prince Harry said of The Crown. 'But it's loosely based on the truth.

'Of course it's not strictly accurate but it loosely it gives you a rough idea of that lifestyle and the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else and what can come from that.

'I'm way more comfortable about The Crown than the stories I see written about my family, my wife or myself. Because it's the difference between that's [the fact] obviously fiction, take it how you will  but this is reported on as fact because you're supposedly news.'

In the week after the interview, most viewers tuned in for the first season of 'The Crown,' as well as Season 4 episode, 'Favourites'

During their interview this month, Prince Harry and Meghan said racism drove them out of Britain and claimed their son Archie was denied the title of prince because he is mixed-race.

The couple accused an unnamed royal, not the Queen or Prince Philip, of raising 'concerns' about 'how dark' their son Archie's skin tone would be before he was born.

Meghan also described her 'pain' that officials had denied Archie the title of prince, accusing Buckingham Palace of failing to protect him by denying him 24/7 security.

Despite Prince Harry's endorsement of the show, many royal experts and friends of Prince Charles have panned the programme for its historical inaccuracy.

Controversy over invented scenes prompted the Princess's brother to add his voice to the calls for a disclaimer. Pictured, Emma Corrin as Diana

Speaking on True Royalty TV's Royal Beat Angela Levin, author of Harry: Biography of a Prince, said the portrayal of the Firm in The Crown is 'wrong' - while expert Robert Jobson went so far as to call it 'dangerous'.

'They saw people mainly for their faults, they didn't try and balance it,' she claimed.

'It's an attack to get rid of the Royal Family. A lot of them are still alive and I think it is spiteful. They should have balanced it, it's not fair.'

She added it's 'appalling' the drama 'attacked the Queen', claiming senior members of the Royal Family 'try really hard' for the country and have provided comfort and reassurance during the pandemic.

'We saw The Queen talking to us when the Covid virus was at its peak, saying, "We will get better, we will meet again." Kate and William did that on their train journey,' Ms Levin went on.

'They are saying, "Thank you, we are part of this, we are all together." It gives you strength and courage and [for The Crown] to make them [into] inept idiots is wrong.

Earl Spencer, Diana's brother, has indicated his support for a disclaimer being added. He previously told ITV's Lorraine: 'I think it would help The Crown an enormous amount if, at the beginning of each episode, it stated that, "This isn't true but it is based around some real events".'

He added: 'I worry people do think that this is gospel and that's unfair.'

Netflix has said it had 'no plans - and sees no need' to add a disclaimer.
After a brief halt, India accelerated the work on early this year and the strategic Iranian port is expected to be operational by next month, a Congressional report has said.

In 2015, India agreed to help develop Iran's and an associated railway that would enable India to trade with unimpeded by Pakistan, the independent Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in its latest report for the members of the US Congress.

Prepared for the lawmakers for them to take informed decision, the report, running into nearly 100 pages, said that in May 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Iran and signed an agreement to invest USD 500 million to develop the port and related infrastructure.

Even though the Trump administration gave India the " reconstruction" exception from its punitive Iranian sanctions, India largely stopped work on the project until late 2020.

"It accelerated work in early 2021 and the port is expected to be declared operational no later than May 2021," said the CRS report.

CRS reports are prepared by experts and are not considered as official report of the US Congress.

Iran's economy is highly integrated into those of its immediate neighbours in South Asia, it said, adding that India cites the UN Security Council resolutions as its guideline for policy towards Iran.

During 2011-2016, when UN sanctions were in force on Iran, India's central bank ceased using a Tehran-based regional body, the Asian Clearing Union, to handle transactions with Iran, and the two countries agreed to settle half of India's oil buys from Iran in Indian currency.

India reduced its imports of Iranian oil substantially after 2011, but, after the sanctions were eased in 2016, India's oil imports from Iran increased to as much as 800,000 bpd in July 2018 - well above 2011 levels.

India paid Iran the USD 6.5 billion it owed for oil purchased during 2012-2016. India has not imported Iranian oil since May 2019.

The CRS said Iran's economic relations with Pakistan are less extensive than are its economic ties with India.

One test of Pakistan's compliance with the sanctions was a pipeline project that would carry Iranian gas to Pakistan - a USD 7 billion project that US officials on several occasions stated would be subject to ISA sanctions.

Iran reportedly completed the pipeline on its side of the border but, during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit to Pakistan in March 2016, Pakistan did not commit to complete the line. In 2009, India dissociated itself from the project, 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.)
We had spotted a young Tom Waterhouse with his father, Robbie. Tom was wearing a Tongan costume and had official Tongan credentials, so we just sort of followed him into the stadium. We were stopped by a volunteer at the door, and remember this was all before September 11 changed everything, and we made up a story that we were actually with the Waterhouses and part of the official Tongan entourage, Pinniger revealed. We ended up getting through, thinking we were going to some VIP seats, only to find we were actually swept up with all the athletes walking into the stadium! I mean, really, it was ridiculous! We looked like the most unlikely athletes you could imagine, but someone slapped a glowing wrist band on us and gave us disposable cameras ... and off we went, talking to all the athletes about their various successes and posing in photos! Fred Nile meets Madame Lash (aka Gretel Pinniger) in 1974. Credit:Ted Golding/Sydney Morning Herald Going through old press clippings, PS came across further evidence of McQueens time in Madame Lashs orbit in October 2000. It was reported that McQueen and Pinniger had failed in their attempt to have apprehended violence orders made against former prominent private investigator, standover man and notorious crook, the late Tim Bristow, who was described at the time as a business associate of the pair.

McQueen and Pinniger claimed Bristow had some kind of sinister agenda towards them, but the application was dismissed. McQueen said she had no recollection of the details when asked this week. Vale Carla Zampatti Businesswoman Jillian Broadbent conceded that her late friend Carla Zampatti was a private person when she spoke on ABCs Radio National on Wednesday about the fashion designers fall at La Traviata two weeks ago. It was Broadbent who held on to Zampattis arm as the women made their way out of the makeshift bleachers when the designers shoe became caught, resulting in the fall that would ultimately claim her life. PS has since learnt that Broadbent stayed by Zampattis side, along with two medical professionals who were also attending the opera, and a lifeguard, as the designer drifted in and out of consciousness during the 20 minutes it took for the ambulance to arrive.

Jillian Broadbent with her friend Carla Zampatti at the designers home in 2018. Credit:James Brickwood Zampatti, a keen reader of this column although she was not keen about appearing in it, was well known for keeping her personal life out of the press. Indeed, for many years she compared notes with PS about how best to torture our respective lemon trees into production, and would often suggest ever more outrageous methods whenever our paths crossed. Her yearning for privacy continued to be respected by those closest to her as the true gravity of the 78-year-old fashion icons condition was kept secret for the week she lay in intensive care at St Vincents Hospital hooked up to a ventilator and fighting for life. Among those who had privately expressed grave concerns within the designers tight circle was her partner of recent years, Kogarah ear, nose and throat specialist Dr Kenneth Howison. Their relationship was not widely publicised, but friends informed PS this week they had found great comfort in each other into their winter years, which they were looking forward to spending together. Loading

As Zampattis three children, Alexander Schuman, Bianca Spender and Allegra Spender, came to terms with the potential demise of their mother last week, St Vincents staff were instructed to redirect all media queries to a family spokesperson, former Harpers Bazaar Australia editor-in-chief Kellie Hush, a long-time friend and associate of Zampatti. Hush had the unenviable task of shielding the family from the media and was given limited details, instructed to tell reporters only that Zampatti remained in hospital purely for observation and was on the mend, which this column reported in good faith. Tragically and regrettably, as it transpired last Saturday morning, that was not the case. Australian Clubs glacial pace Change moves at a glacial pace within the rarefied air of the exclusive Australian Club on Macquarie Street, which counts James Packer and former prime ministers John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull among its ranks.

Its been 18 months since PS exclusively revealed the countrys oldest gentlemens establishment was gingerly taking steps into the 21st century by opening membership to women. Lucy Turnbull, whose father and grandfather were both members and has visited many times as a guest, said she welcomed any moves towards gender equality but added that she would have to think about it if she were ever invited to join. Shed better not hold her breath. On Tuesday members received a long-winded letter from club president John Stanham, who PS understands is a descendent of John Macarthur, confirming that a proposal is circulating which requests support for a proposed process: The Desirability or Otherwise of Women Being Entitled to Membership of the Club. The view of the general committee is that the issue of womens membership is an issue for members to consider, debate and determine. Not an issue to be determined, or advocated (either for or against) by the general committee, read the letter, no doubt causing several of the clubs more rusted-on members to squirm on their well-stuffed Chesterfields.

The prestigious Australian Club on Macquarie Street in Sydney. Credit:Rhett Wyman Stanham then unleashed even more turgid club speak, telling the lads in the interest of transparency that around six months ago I was approached by two club members seeking to progress the proposal referred to above. Following discussion with the general committee I requested these members delay initiating their proposal so that the club could retain focus on other matters. On the basis that it was in the clubs interest, these members agreed to delay initiating their proposed process. Recently in recognition of the current environment, I advised these members that the general committee had withdrawn its request that their proposal be delayed, and accordingly they were free to commence collecting the required number of names and/or were free either to instigate discussion of, or respond to any issue that may arise at the AGM. The reason for the withdrawal of my request to delay their proposal was simply to not place these members at a disadvantage due to them having delayed their process at my request. Eesh! Keeping up? Ultimately it should be, as it always has been, that members will determine the soul of the club. An interesting time lies ahead of us, Stanham writes, adding somewhat hopefully: I encourage everyone to respectfully debate this and other issues which will arise as we progress as a club in todays society.
Rio Tinto chairman Simon Thompson has vowed to use his remaining time at the global miner overseeing the rollout of critical reforms to ensure a disaster like the destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters never happens again.

Mr Thompson will step down from the worlds second-largest miner within 12 months in response to the blasting of the 46,000-year-old Indigenous heritage site in Western Australia last year, which left traditional owners devastated, triggered a federal parliamentary inquiry and drew widespread investor and community outrage.

I am ultimately accountable: Rio Tinto chairman Simon Thompson will step down by 2022 Credit:Eddie Jim

Addressing Rio Tintos investor meeting in London on Friday, Mr Thompson described the Juukan Gorge disaster as a breach of both our values as a company and of the trust placed in us by the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people.

As chairman of your company, I am ultimately accountable for the failings that led to the tragic events at Juukan Gorge, he said. Accordingly, I will not be seeking re-election at the annual general meetings next year.
NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Direct Agents, an independent digital marketing agency with offices in New York and Los Angeles, is celebrating its 18th year anniversary. First generation immigrants and brothers, Josh and Dinesh Boaz, founded Direct Agents on the principles of collaboration, diversity and innovation.

In the last year, Direct Agents celebrated its third consecutive year on Crain's Best Places to Work list, welcomed over 15 new team members, and expanded its Commerce & Marketplaces, Data & Analytics, Creative and Polycultural Marketing solutions. In addition, Direct Agents launched Konami AI, an advanced proprietary bidding and automation technology to provide clients a very key competitive advantage across performance media channels, dramatically improving campaign ROI and scalability through AI.

"Looking at the agency today, I am most proud of the passion and diversity of our team and the idea that the 'unknown' of what's ahead still exists today. The foundation of Direct Agents in 2021 is one of constant innovation, our incredible team and our client partnerships." -Dinesh Boaz, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Direct Agents.

The agency continues to look to the future with industry-leading technology and a passionate team that continues to grow. Upcoming initiatives include continued investment in Direct Agent's proprietary technology platform, expansion of both its NYC headquarters and Los Angeles offices, and further growth of it's Polycultural practice. As one of the few minority-owned digital agencies of its size, Direct Agents leads efforts to increase investment in diverse populations. The Direct Agents Polycultural team provides brands with data-driven strategies to tackle DEI challenges. Strategies focus on objective-driven roadmaps for brands to break through systemic barriers and connect with diverse customers, employees, and communities.

"While we've gone through many evolutions over the years, from the complexity of our business solutions, to the depth, diversity and sophistication of our team, what remains the same is the culture of entrepreneurial hustle that sparked our origins. Our team continues to be united all these years later, by a shared passion to build and create, continuously learn and evolve, and have fun along the way," -Josh Boaz, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Direct Agents.

Please visit the Direct Agents website to learn more about their digital marketing offerings.

Contact:

Valentina Elegante

[email protected]

SOURCE Direct Agents

Related Links

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They dont trust the vaccines, which have yet to be recognized by the World Health Organization.

Civil servants in Cambodia are up in arms over a directive ordering them to get Chinas homegrown coronavirus vaccines to help combat a deadly outbreak in the country or be issued a pink slip, saying they do not trust the quality of the injection and calling for a review of its effectiveness.

On April 6, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned that any civil servants who refuse the Sinopharm or Sinovac vaccines will be fired and ordered authorities to record their names, citing their risk of infecting others. He also said that those who choose not to get the vaccines will be prevented from going to work.

Local authoritiesespecially governors and district governorsmust monitor their staff in all provinces to determine who hasnt been vaccinated make sure they are not trying to avoid vaccination, he said.

In case people avoid vaccination, we should not invite them to work. Wed rather have them stay at home. Wed like them to leave their jobs and we will hire their substitutes.

Hun Sen also said that anyone who is seeking a job as a civil servant or being trained for one must first be vaccinated before they can take their examinations.

China donated its second batch of the Sinopharm vaccine to Cambodia on April 1, following an initial batch which arrived on Feb. 7. On March 26, a batch of Sinovac vaccine that Cambodia purchased from Chinas pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech also arrived in the country.

Cambodia launched a drive to inoculate at least 10 million of its 16 million people in February and as of April 1, more than 407,000 people in priority groups had been vaccinated, according to a government report. Cambodias Ministry of Health secretary of state Or Vandine has called the Chinese vaccines safe and effective, and said that there have been no reports of serious side effects after inoculations.

Despite the governments claims, civil servants said Friday that Hun Sens order is a violation of their right to decide how they want to get vaccinated.

Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, a teacher told RFAs Khmer Service that some civil servants dont want to take the Sinopharm or Sinovac vaccines because they havent been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) yet.

We must follow [Hun Sens] order, otherwise we will be punished, he said.

But I dont agree with this way. I cant accept it. We live in a democratic country and the people have the right to express their opinion on whether or not they want to be vaccinated.

Another civil servant, who also declined to be named, said the government should conduct more research into the effectiveness of the vaccines and make the results public to alleviate doubts.

He noted that government offices will be registering the names of those who refuse to be vaccinated, and that those people could be subjected to discrimination because of their decision.

We dont discriminate against any vaccine, but we want it to be recognized by the WHO, he said.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan told RFA on Friday that according to Cambodias civil servant statute, the state has the right to terminate anyone who does not listen to instructions. He confirmed that, right now, the vaccination is no longer given on a volunteer basisit is mandatory, and the government must protect the lives of others.

Many countries have already administered [Sinopharm and Sinovac], he said. [Civil servants] cant demand that their human rights are more important than the current [outbreak] situation.

Cambodia on Friday broke its record for the number of daily infections of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, with 576most of which were found in the capital Phnom Penh.

The country, which had largely remained unscathed by the coronavirus in 2020, registered its first death from COVID-19 last month, a year to the day that that the WHO labeled it a pandemic. Since then, 25 people have died, and Cambodias caseload has reached nearly 4,000 people.

But despite growing risks from the outbreak, Cambodian Independent Teachers Association president Ouk Chhayavy told RFA that the government cannot simply fire the countrys civil servants because of their preference on how to deal with the coronavirus and dismissed Hun Sens order as a threat.

It is the right of the people to decide whether they want to be vaccinated or not, she said. If parents repeatedly threaten their children, will the children respect them?

Political analyst Kim Sok called Hun Sens statement inhumane.

The governments forcing of policy is inhumane and unethical, he said, noting that Hun Sen himself had chosen the U.K.s AstraZeneca vaccine over those from China.

It is unethical when you force people to do what you, yourself, are afraid to do, he said, calling Hun Sen a poor leader and model.

Hun Sen is implementing Chinas trial policy. If he doesnt force people [to take their vaccine], he wont be able to face China.

Kim Sok called on Cambodians to stand up and protest against the distribution of the Chinese vaccines, or risk their health.

Vaccine efficacy

At the end of March, Sinopharm and Sinovac presented data on their vaccines indicating levels of efficacy that would be compatible with those required by the WHO, according to Reuters news agency, which reported that the WHOs Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) hopes to issue recommendations on the vaccines by the end of April.

The WHO requires around 50 percent efficacy and safety data to show that the vaccine will not cause harm in humans when used. The developer of Sinopharms vaccine has said it was more than 79 percent effective in preventing people from developing COVID-19 based on interim data, while Sinovacs vaccine showed varied efficacy readings of between 50 percent and 83 percent based on trials in Brazil, Turkey, and Indonesia.

A WHO spokeswoman said in early March that the two Chinese vaccines could receive emergency use listing quite soon.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
The week after New York City got the green light to move forward with their congestion pricing plan that would charge New Jersey drivers a double toll, two North Jersey congressmen once again pledged to fight the surcharge, starting with a formal request to the U.S. Department of Transportation to hit pause on the plan.

On March 30, New York City received an approval to move ahead on a long-delayed plan to make motorists pay a surcharge fee for driving below 61st street in Manhattan. New Jersey commuters, specifically those who take the George Washington Bridge to and from Manhattan, were concerned they would be charged a toll for the bridge and a congestion pricing fee for driving south of 61st street, what amounted to a double toll.

Drivers who use the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels would have their tolls applied to the congestion pricing fee, under a conceptual plan. But per the plan, that provision does not cover the George Washington Bridge, the busiest toll bridge in the world.

On Friday, on the Lemoine Avenue overpass in Fort Lee, in the the shadow of the George Washington Bridge, backed by the bridges ever-busy toll lanes, Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., and Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist. vowed to stop the plan in its tracks and announced that they would ask U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to halt any approvals.

Nearly two years to the day the duo threatened a Jersey-style fight if they were not given a say in how the pricing would be implemented, they renewed their pledge to kill the plan.

Were standing here in Fort Lee to say this will not stand the light of day, said Pascrell.

The plan, if implemented, would make New York City the first U.S. city to use congestion pricing. Cities like London, Singapore and Stockholm already use congestion pricing.

New York would use the revenue, estimated at about $1 billion annually, to issue bonds to fund $15 billion in capital improvements over the next four years to refurbish an aging and underfunded subway and bus system whose revenues have plunged during the pandemic.

But the cost of the plan would be too much for New Jersey commuters to bear, said Gottheimer, with an estimated additional $3,000 per year for each commuter. The additional cost for commuters using the George Washington Bridge would be $13 to be tacked onto the $15 bridge toll, he said.

Its some sort of sick joke to do this to families in the middle of a pandemic, said Gottheimer.

Along with formally requesting that the U.S. DOT postpone any approvals, the duo plan to request a comprehensive report of the effects of the plan on New Jersey commuters. The two congressmen also plan to ask for a full review process ahead of any implementation, including a series of public hearings held in New Jersey where commuters could speak their piece.

So they can hear first hand from our families, just how badly our residents would get whacked by this commuter tax, said Gottheimer. Right now there are no hearings that are announced or planned for Northern New Jersey. They want to tax us without any new hearings. Thats unacceptable.

The state Legislature approved a conceptual plan for congestion pricing two years ago and it was initially projected to be in place by early this year. But the pandemic and a lack of guidance from federal regulators on the type of environmental review that was required combined to stall the project.

In a letter March 30, the Federal Highway Administration notified local officials that an environmental assessment will be required that will include a public comment period.

According to the administration, congestion pricing can help improve the environment by reducing vehicle miles traveled, which would reduce the amount of fuel consumed and pollutant emission. Additionally, the congestion pricing plan would reduce the emissions generated by accelerating and decelerating and would reduce traffic in cities, making urban areas more walkable, the administration said.

The air monitoring station at the foot of the George Washington Bridge had the highest annual average of fine particle matter pollution of all the Department of Environmental Protections monitoring stations in 2019.

The plan would also use the funds to revamp roadway facilities and to invest more into improving alternatives to driving, including the public transportation system.

But Gottheimer said that much of New Jersey does not have the public transportation options for commuters as an alternative to driving into New York.

We just dont have the mass transit options, said Gottheimer. We just dont have the same level of public transportation in a lot of parts of northern New Jersey.

They have to drive. Its the only way to do it, he added.

In a statement to NJ Advance Media, Michael Zhadanovsky, a spokesman for Gov. Phil Murphy, said the administration opposes the plan.

The Governor remains opposed to any congestion pricing plan that double taxes New Jersey drivers, Zhadanovsky said. The administration intends to vigorously pursue efforts for a fair solution with our counterparts across the Hudson.

President Joe Bidens proposed $571 billion infrastructure bill includes $85 billion to be spent on mass transit. Pascrell said he hoped Buttigieg would discuss with Biden and figure out a better way to get more people on mass transit than through the congestion pricing plan.

I think the president has a better idea than congestion taxation, said Pascrell.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.
Scientists have made a pivotal breakthrough in understanding the way in which cells communicate with each other.

A team of international researchers, including experts from the University of Exeter's Living Systems Institute, has identified how signalling pathways of Wnt proteins - which orchestrate and control many cell developmental processes - operate on both molecular and cellular levels.

Various mechanisms exist for cells to communicate with each other, and many are essential for development. This information exchange between cells is often based on signalling proteins that activate specific intracellular signalling cascades to control cell behaviour at a distance.

Wnt proteins are produced by a relatively small group of cells and orchestrate cell proliferation and differentiation, but also cell movement and polarity of the neighbouring cells.

However, one of the most crucial functions of the Wnt signalling is patterning of the body axis - which essentially helps determine where the head and tail should form in in a developing tissue.

Previous research led by Professor Steffen Scholpp, from the Living Systems Institute, highlighted that thin finger-like protrusions, known as cytonemes, carry Wnts from the source cells to recipient cells.

However, the mechanism controlling Wnt cytonemes at the molecular level is currently unknown.

In the new study, his team explored the role of a key component of the PCP signalling pathway Vangl2 in zebrafish embryos.

In this project, Dr Lucy Brunt, identified that Wnt proteins activate the PCP pathway in a source cell in order to regulate cytoneme initiation and signal dissemination.

By activating this pathway via Vangl2, she induced the formation of long and branched cytonemes which reinforced distant Wnt signalling in the neighbouring cells.

Based on these data, fellow researcher Dr Kyle Wedgwood and his team developed a mathematical model to simulate this effect in a developing zebrafish egg, and predicted that the patterning of the body axis is massively altered.

And the prediction was correct. We found that the formation of longer cytonemes in zebrafish larvae led to a strongly reduced head, and strikingly the forebrain tissue was missing completely." Dr Lucy Brunt, University of Exeter

Together with cell biologists from the National University of Singapore, the scientists showed that the mechanism they described in zebrafish embryogenesis, operates also in different tissues, including human cancer cells.

Professor Scholpp said "The exciting results of this multidisciplinary, multiscale project provides a step change in understanding how the Wnt signalling pathway operates at the molecular and cellular level in a living vertebrate animal.

"The data from this project will help us to understand the mechanisms involved in controlling normal Wnt signalling, in the future," he added. "We believe that the outcome will have fundamental implications for how we could manipulate Wnt signalling during disease states."
NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Long Point Capital is pleased to announce it has sold its investment in Woolpert in connection with a new strategic investment by MSD Partners, who are partnering with the Woolpert management team. With its exit from Woolpert, Long Point Capital continues to establish its reputation as a premier partner to the management teams of professional services companies. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1911, Woolpert is a leading global provider of architecture, engineering, and geospatial (AEG) services to a wide variety of public, private, and government clients. The Company has more than 1,100 dedicated employees at 42 offices and is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio.

Long Point made its investment in Woolpert in December 2017. Since that time, in partnership with Long Point, Woolpert tripled its profits, completed six strategic add-on acquisitions, expanded into new geographic markets, and developed new lines of service, including strategic consulting and data-as-a-service.

"Long Point lived up to their reputation  they have been a great partner for me and my management team," said Scott Cattran, Woolpert President and CEO. "They became my trusted advisor. They provided the strategic and tactical advice that played a critical role in helping us achieve our growth plan. I could not have picked a better partner."

Ira Starr, Long Point Founding Partner commented, "We have had a great experience working with Scott and his team. It is rare when we have the honor to work with such a smart, talented, and committed management team. We are very proud of our role in their great success. We are very confident that they are well positioned for continued growth as the premier AEG company in the industry."

About Woolpert

Woolpert is the premier architecture, engineering, geospatial (AEG) and strategic consulting firm, with a vision to become one of the best companies in the world. We innovate within and across markets to effectively serve public, private and government clients worldwide. Woolpert is an ENR Top 150 Global Design Firm, recently earned its fifth-straight Great Place to Work certification and actively nurtures a culture of growth, inclusion, diversity, and respect. Founded in 1911, Woolpert has been America's fastest-growing AEG firm since 2015. The firm has over 1,100 employees and 42 offices in three countries. For more, visit www.woolpert.com.

About Long Point Capital

Long Point Capital, with offices in New York and Michigan, invests in outstanding founder, family, and management-owned companies in operating defensible niches with stable demand, highly capable management teams and strong growth prospects. We focus on professional services companies and opportunistically evaluate niche manufacturing and distribution companies with EBITDA between $5 million and $30 million. For more information please visit our website at www.longpointcapital.com.

SOURCE Long Point Capital

Related Links

http://www.longpointcapital.com


MENTOR, Ohio  A man claiming to be armed with a firearm robbed a Sunoco gas station but was taken into custody a short time later after being spotted by officers, police say.

Officers were called to the Sunoco station at 8903 Mentor Ave. at 7:49 p.m. Wednesday. A clerk in the store tells police the suspect entered the station and claimed he had a firearm in his pocket. He took money and then drove west on Mentor Avenue in a Volkswagen sedan.

Moments later, an officer spotted the vehicle pulling into the parking lot of a shopping center at 8500 Mentor Ave., just east of Ohio 615. The driver was arrested and police say he was identified as the robbery suspect.

Derek Bryner, 28, of Mentor, was arraigned on charges of robbery and possession of criminal tools Thursday morning in Mentor Municipal Court, police say. Court records show he pleaded not guilty and was issued a $50,000 bond.

More crime-related content on cleveland.com:

I cant breathe: Video shows Akron police officer repeatedly shoving snow in mans face during arrest

Man fatally shot co-worker at McDonalds in Cuyahoga Falls, police say

Womans car stolen at gunpoint in Akron, later found burning

Cleveland mayors aide accused of raping woman told her in separate incident that she would need to leave the country if she called police, report says

Michigan man claimed to have bomb in trailer at Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Lake County, sheriff says

Boys break out of OhioGuidestone in Berea, steal car as victim watches
The newest Netflix true-crime documentary is hitting our screens soon, and we can't wait. Why Did You Kill Me? is about a mother who tries to track down her daughter's killer with the help of her niece and fake MySpace accounts.

Netflix describes it as,

The line between justice and revenge blurs when a devastated family uses social media to track down the people who killed 24-year-old Crystal Theobald.

Crystal was shot dead in 2006 and her mother, Belinda Lane, took matters into her own hands to find who killed her daughter via the internet. It looks super dark, but we are already so invested if it's like any of the other gripping documentaries Netflix has made.

This will be arriving on Netflix on April 14th. Not long to wait, watch the trailer above.
We are therefore Christs ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christs behalf: Be reconciled to God. - 2 Corinthians 5:20

Scripture makes clear that we are called to be ambassadors for Christ. That makes it important for us to understand exactly what an ambassador is and what an ambassador does. When we consider that we are representatives of our King, how should this affect our behavior, our relationships, and our purpose?

How I found a Biblical Truth from a Restaurant

ips, and our purpose?

I have always been a big fan of Texas Roadhouse. I love the food, and I love the environment! For over a decade, Texas was my home, and I have come to appreciate that wherever I am in the country. I can recapture that Texas feeling at any nearby Texas Roadhouse. From Maine to Montana, you can find this restaurant in any state except Hawaii and Washington, and they all look and feel like Texas because that is what the place is designed to represent. From the food, the vibe, the music, and right down to the Texas flag flying over the building, this restaurant accurately represents the state of Texas. Now that I think of it, the restaurant is kind of like an unofficial Texas embassy.

The Role of an Ambassador

Even though Texas Roadhouse can be found in just about every state, it retains its distinct Texas identity. This is basically what an ambassador does. In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul refers to himself, along with all believers, as ambassadors for Christ. From ancient times through today, governments have seen the benefit of sending and receiving ambassadors: an official who lives and works in one nation while being a citizen and representative of another. An ambassador serves many purposes: they allow for safe and friendly communication between leaders who may not be on friendly terms and advance the interests of their home nation in the nation they are an ambassador to.

For example, the US ambassador to France may live and work in France, speak French, and raise their kids in France. Yet their goals and interests are to not become French but to represent and speak up for the interests and good of the United States to the French government, and ensure that American citizens are treated properly while traveling in France. We could essentially say that they are in France, but not of it.

In the World but Not of It

They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. - John 17:16

Pauls assertion that we are ambassadors for Christ is grounded in the teachings of Jesus Himself. Jesus made it clear that when we believe in Him, we are essentially taking up citizenship in another Kingdom, His heavenly Kingdom. This is further confirmed in his conversation with Pilate when he stated that His, kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place (John 18:36).

Jesus makes it clear that this world is not His Kingdom, yet we spend far too much of our time trying to make it that way. How desperately we want people to just get it! We want them to just understand who Jesus is and what He did for them and why it changes everything about...everything! Yet it isnt hard to realize that even though we live and move in our world, we are not truly of it. We have become citizens of another Kingdom, and we now work as representatives, as ambassadors, of that kingdom as we continue living our lives on this earth. This can be difficult to live out, so what does that really look like?

One way to figure it out is to use Paul as an example. He was, like many of us, a dual-citizen with a complex personality. Paul was simultaneously a devout Jew, a citizen of Rome, and a citizen of heaven. How did Paul utilize this unique mix of citizenship to his advantage, and more importantly, how did he use it to the advantage of the Kingdom of God?

A Citizen of Rome, an Ambassador of Christ, and a Delicate Balance

The commander went to Paul and asked, Tell me, are you a Roman citizen? Yes, I am, he answered. - Acts 22:27

I am blessed to be a member of Gods Kingdom, and also proud to be an American. How do we balance our citizenship of two kingdoms? First of all, it is of utmost importance that no part of our identity supersedes our identity in Christ. We find many ways to divide ourselves up, and have many ways to identify ourselves. Politics, careers, hobbies, likes, and dislikes all define, and separate us. Whatever it is that defines us, it must be secondary to our place as believers in Christ. Sadly, we even divide ourselves within the Church family: Armenian, Calvinist, Complementarian, Egalitarian, Traditional, Progressive, etc. All of these qualifiers must be set aside for the sake of our unity in a Savior who died for our sin and rose on the third day. These discussions are not wrong, yet they become wrong when they become divisive.

As for Pauls earthly citizenship, we see on several occasions that Paul has no issue in proclaiming the fact that he is a Roman citizen, and therefore entitled to the rights and privileges of a Roman citizen. In Acts 22, Paul is thrown into prison for this vocal representation of Christ. It can be said that he was facing prison on the basis of his ambassadorship. Once in custody, it was planned that he would be flogged, which was common in those times. However, Paul brings up his citizenship as a Roman, As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasnt even been found guilty? When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. What are you going to do? he asked. This man is a Roman citizen (Acts 22:25-26).

Paul knew that as a citizen, it was illegal for them to flog him. He, therefore, demanded his rights as a Roman citizen to defend his work as an ambassador for Gods Kingdom. He does this again in Acts 25:10-12 when he appeals to Caesar, Paul answered: I am now standing before Caesars court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar! After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!.

Only a Roman citizen had the right to avoid local courts and be tried in the court of Caesar in Rome. Therefore, we also are free as believers to use our rights as citizens of whatever nation we live in to further the Kingdom of Christ. Yet we can never allow those rights, or our demands to have those rights, to become more important to us than our privilege to be called children of God.

Whatever Happened to Diplomatic Immunity?

Most of us have heard of diplomatic immunity. The idea is that an ambassador is immune from most punishment in the country where they are working. This keeps nations from taking out their grievances on the messenger and allows people to have hard conversations and to do difficult work without fear of reprisal. In the case of Paul, the ambassador for Christ and Roman citizen, this meant an appeal to Caesar. We must note that this appeal still ended in imprisonment and death. So, what was the point of it? The fruit that came from his appeal was that the gospel was proclaimed throughout Rome, and many came to faith because of Pauls imprisonment there. Even as a prisoner, he never gave up his role as ambassador. Was it fair? No. Was it Gods plan so that God would be glorified? Absolutely.

As believers, we should expect persecution. Just like Paul, we would be naive to expect that we can use our national rights as a way to shield our safety. As believers, we will be hated and ridiculed for proclaiming the gospel. This has been true since Jesus Himself came proclaiming salvation.

Representing Christ Wherever we Are

Just like Texas Roadhouse represents the state of Texas wherever it may be located, our representation of Jesus should look no different no matter where we are or what we are doing. We should use our influence to change our family, our community, and the far corners of the earth as we have the opportunity. As ambassadors, we are to represent Jesus and share the good news of His Kingdom in every circumstance, no matter the difficulties that may arise in doing so. As ambassadors, we know our future is secure, our Savior is good, and our message is eternal. Our utmost concern is living out and representing the truth and mission that we have been entrusted with.

Photo credit: GettyImages/ duckycards

Jason Soroski is a homeschool dad and author of A Journey to Bethlehem: Inspiring Thoughts for Christmas and Hope for the New Year. He serves as worship pastor and in Colorado and spends his weekends exploring the Rocky Mountains with his family. Connect on Twitter, Instagram, or at JasonSoroski.net.
April 09 : Janhvi Kapoor is enjoying her Maldives vacation with her friends. Ever since she landed in the beach destination, the Gunjan Saxena actress has been sharing stunning pictures avidly on social media.

On Thursday, Janhvi shared a bunch of pictures from the island nation, giving a glimpse of her holiday. Today, she shared two cute pictures on her Instagram profile from the picturesque location. In the pictures, the girls squad can be seen enjoying the serene blue water as they sit together in colourful swimsuits with their backs towards the camera. In one picture, the girls can be seen spelling out the word lame with their fingers. The Roohi actress captioned the post as, We were trying to spell LAME in case you guys didnt get it.

As soon as Janhvi dropped the post, her fans poured in comments with hearts and fire emojis. More than 4 lakh netizens liked the post already.

Previously, the actress raised the temperature on the internet when she shared a bunch of pictures from the island nation in a metallic monokini. The post read, Iridescence and she added a rainbow emoji. In the pictures, Janhvi can be seen smiling and looking back at the camera, as she poses in a stunning monokini. The picture went viral in no time and Janhvi's Roohi co-star Varun Sharma also liked her post. Her fans were floored and dropped heart and fire emojis on the post. One of the fans wrote, These pictures are blessing to my eyes. Another fan wrote, You killing me baby.

Janhvi has followed a whole lot of Bollywood actors who have flocked to Maldives ever since the lockdown was relaxed in 2020. While, Shraddha Kapoor is also in Maldives, recently, Madhuri Dixit returned from the beach destination. The Kalank actress was in Maldives with her husband Shriram Nene and her sons Arin and Ryaan. Dia Mirza, who has also recently returned from Maldives, was enjoying a holiday in the beach island with her husband Vaibhav Rekhi and stepdaughter Samaira.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Janhvi was recently seen in Roohi, which was released in theatres recently. The actress is awaiting the release of her film Dostana 2, where she has shared screen space with Kartik Aaryan and Laksh Lalwani. Janhvi has recently wrapped up her forthcoming comedy film Good Luck Jerry. She also has Karan Johar's period epic Takht in her kitty.
Kathmandu, April 9

The Ministry of Health and Population has informed that the countrys Covid-19 tally has reached 279,388 as of Friday afternoon.

The ministry says 288 new cases were confirmed in the country in the past 24 hours.

In this period, 4,071 swab samples were tested. So far, 2 million and 306,244 people have been tested in the country.

As of today, 2,615 cases are active.

Of the total cases so far, 273,735 people have achieved recovery whereas 3,038 died, according to the ministry. In the past 24 hours, 127 people have been discharged whereas no death was reported.

Over 80 people are quarantined across the country.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Police in Minneapolis are searching for a man who stabbed three people around the city in March, killing one of them.

Police say the stabbings occurred March 17. The man stabbed a woman at a bus shelter. She later died. He also stabbed a man at another bus shelter and a man standing on the sidewalk waiting for his wife to get done with a doctor's appointment. He was stabbed multiple times.

Video surveillance shows the man is between five-foot-seven inches and five-foot-nine inches tall with black hair and facial hair. His age is unknown.
Understanding the different types of Microsoft 365 mailboxes and related tools will help businesses communicate more efficiently and save license costs.

Messaging Architects, an eMazzanti Technologies Company and Microsoft 365 email expert explains several kinds of useful Microsoft 365 Mailboxes and their associated productivity features in a new article. The informative article first lists the mailbox types, including Distribution Group, Resource, Contacts and Shared.

The author then explains the options and benefits of each mailbox type. He concludes by discussing Microsoft 365 Groups and their similarity to Shared Mailboxes, including the option to include both internal and external members.

Understanding the different types of Microsoft 365 mailboxes and related tools will help businesses communicate more efficiently and save license costs, stated Greg Smith, Vice President of Services Delivery at Messaging Architects.

Below are a few excerpts from the article, Understanding Microsoft 365 Mailboxes Improves Efficiency and Saves Money.

Mailbox (requires paid license)

When organizations purchase any Microsoft 365 subscription that includes Exchange Online, each licensed user receives a mailbox. This is the mailbox that users add to their various devices and log into each day with their email address and password. Businesses pay a license fee for each user.

Distribution Groups Streamline Communications

Distribution groups provide a streamlined way to send email to a list of recipients with more functionality than a simple distribution list. There is a mailbox associated with the Distribution Group and all mail will be sent to that address.

Resource Mailboxes for Scheduling

Resource mailboxes facilitate scheduling for physical locations or equipment, such as conference rooms. They provide a wide range of options for self-management allowing auto-acceptance or manual acceptance.

Shared Mailboxes Instead of Extra Licenses

Shared mailboxes provide a great option for sharing email communications among a group of users without cluttering their primary mailboxes. For example, an IT department may create a shared mailbox for the help desk. Any user assigned to the shared mailbox will be able to see and act on emails sent to the mailbox.

Explore the Benefits of Microsoft 365 Mailboxes

Microsoft 365 mailboxes offer flexible options to help organizations communicate more efficiently. The Microsoft 365 experts at Messaging Architects help to optimize mail setup to improve business communication. Or, if looking to migrate to Microsoft 365, they guide organizations through a successful cloud migration.

Have you read?

State-backed Cyber Attacks Pose Dangerous Threat to Business

7 Work from Home Security Tips to Include in Your Cybersecurity Checkup

About Messaging Architects

Messaging Architects specializes in effectively managing and securing an organizations most precious asset, its information. With over 20 years of information management and technology consulting experience, the Messaging Architects team has provided corporations, educational intuitions, health care facilities and nonprofits with methodologies, procedures, and technology to keep their data organized, compliant and secure.

About eMazzanti Technologies

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Three years after Pine Creek High School graduate Taylor White was killed in a hit-and-run crash, his family may finally have answers.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 21:51:34|Editor: huaxia

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By Xinhua writers Liu Yiwei and Chen Yuxuan

BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- In his famous science fiction book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams created a fantastic animal called the Babel fish.

As its name suggested, the little fish could bridge the language gap between people from different countries or even different planets. Anyone who put the fish in their ear could instantly talk to an alien.

Inspired by the Babel fish, a young Chinese entrepreneur named Leal Tian decided to do something to change the way speakers of different languages communicate with each other.

He found that, despite the boom in speech recognition technology, the usage experience provided by most translation devices could hardly meet the growing demands of international travel and communication.

"It's not a good experience if you have to spend a lot of time waiting for the translator to translate every sentence when you're talking to someone," he said.

He wanted to develop earbuds that could translate foreign languages instantly, just like the Babel fish. The simultaneous-translation function provided by such a device would be an improvement on the consecutive interpretation provided by existing translation technologies.

In order to transform his idea from science fiction into reality, in 2016, Leal founded a tech firm called Timekettle. The following year, the translator earphones concept was launched on a U.S. crowdfunding website for the first time, attracting 200,000 U.S. dollars in project funding.

There followed several years of technical development, the result of which is Timekettle's latest product, the WT2 translator earbuds. With the use of intelligent algorithms, they can translate more than 40 languages.

"All you need to do is give an earphone to your foreign friend, and you can enjoy a free and immersive conversation almost without delay," Leal told Xinhua during an interview in Timekettle's meeting room, which is named after the famous science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov.

A Timekettle user from a multinational family once told Leal that his relationship with his mother-in-law had improved thanks to the earbuds.

A total of over 100,000 Timekettle translator earbuds have been sold to customers in more than 100 countries and regions, including the United States, Europe and Japan. The company's partners, including iFlytek, Google and Microsoft, are from over 30 countries and regions.

Timekettle owns more than 20 patents at home and abroad, most of which focus on algorithms to improve communication bandwidth and experience.

Tian believes that the market prospects of translation devices lie in helping people communicate more freely. In the future, he hopes to launch translation earphones that allow speakers of different languages to instantly understand each other when they speak very fast or even quarrel.

"With artificial intelligence booming, more and more science-fiction scenarios are coming true," Leal said. "I hope Timekettle will always be an imaginative technology company." Enditem

(Du Yiting also contributed to the story.)
New Delhi, April 9 : The Supreme Court on Friday asked Italy to deposit Rs 10 crore, that would be paid to the families of two Kerala fishermen killed by Italian marines, in an account specified by the Ministry of External Affairs.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian said the compensation received from the Italian government will be deposited with the Supreme Court for disbursement among the victims.

The Central government and the Kerala government informed the top court that victims' families have agreed to a compensation of Rs 10 crore, over & above ex-gratia amount received earlier from Italy. The bench observed that the case against Italian marines will be closed after the compensation is deposited.

The top court has listed the government's application for closure of criminal trial against Italian marines on April 19.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the top court that the Indian government has negotiated a good deal with the Italian government and cited the international tribunal order, which ruled that the criminal proceedings will be carried out against the marines by the Italian government.

The Italian government has offered a compensation of Rs 10 crore, out of which Kerala government proposed to disburse Rs 4 crore, to the dependents of each deceased and Rs 2 crore to the owner of the boat St. Antony.

Mehta told the bench that after the Indian government receives money from the Italian government, it will be transferred in the top court account within three 3 days.

Chief Justice Bobde told Mehta: "We wish the government showed such promptness in other cases listed before us." In a lighter vein, Mehta replied, "it depends on which ministry is involved in a case." Senior advocate Suhail Dutt, representing the Italian government, submitted that his client has agreed to deposit the compensation of Rs 10 crore with the Indian government and they are waiting instructions from the Ministry of External Affairs to transfer the money.

The top court was considering Centre's plea to close criminal proceedings pending against Italian marines accused of killing two fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012.
The Dave Matthews Band, the GRAMMY-winning collective thats helped define generations of music fans across the globe, is coming to perform in New Jersey this summer.

The band will perform June 25-26 at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden, N.J. at 8 p.m. on both nights, and then again on July 20 at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, N.J., at 7:30 p.m.

You can purchase tickets by visiting Vivid Seats or TicketNetwork. Ticket prices start around $134 and escalate past $400.

If you attend the show, expect pandemic protocols to be in place. Please check before you go.

According to Vivid Seats, the Dave Matthews Band has built a legendary reputation for its incredibly compelling jam sessions and elaborate light shows. When you attend a Dave Matthews band concert, you can expect fan-favorite songs, audience dance parties and plenty of sing-alongs.
In this April 2016 file photo, a group of defectors fly balloons containing anti-North Korea leaflets at a border village of Paju, Gyeonggi Province. A bipartisan caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives said Thursday it will hold a public hearing next week on South Korea's recently legislated ban on the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets into North Korea. Yonhap



A bipartisan caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives said Thursday it will hold a public hearing next week on South Korea's recently legislated ban on the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets into North Korea.



The caucus, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, said it will hold "a hearing on freedom of expression on the Korean peninsula" on Thursday next week. Five witnesses have been called in to testify, including Suzanne Scholte, a human rights activist.



"Recently, international attention has focused on a controversial 'anti-leaflet law' passed by the National Assembly last December," the commission said.



"Some observers have expressed concerns that the law could interfere with efforts to promote human rights in North Korea, including programs funded by the U.S. government, such as by disseminating USB drives containing information about the outside world," it said.



The commission, previously known as the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, is a bipartisan caucus, formed in 1983, whose mission is to "promote, defend and advocate internationally recognized human rights norms as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."



Under the new leaflet ban, South Korea prohibits sending propaganda leaflets to North Korea, which had mostly been done by sending them via large balloons from just south of the inter-Korean border.



Such activities had long exposed South Korean residents in border areas to physical dangers as North Korea often sought to shoot down such balloons to stop them from crossing the border, the South Korean government has said of the reason for the new anti-leafleting law.



Still, many activist groups, including North Korean defector groups, have accused the Seoul government of limiting their freedom of speech in its effort to improve its ties with Pyongyang, while others have argued the ban will further limit the narrow access to information for people in the reclusive North.



The U.S. State Department earlier described in detail the anti-leafleting law in its annual human rights report on South Korea, while stressing the importance of free flows of information to the North.



An informed source said none of the activist groups in South Korea previously engaged in leafleting activities had received direct funding from the U.S. government or its subsidiaries. (Yonhap)


LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a combined $300 million in financing to help Asia's supply chains boost manufacturing capacity for COVID-19 vaccines, the two lenders said on Friday.

The initiative builds on a risk-sharing scheme the banks launched in July to help to fund suppliers of personal protective equipment (PPE) as they and vaccine makers race to meet global demand that outstrips supply.

By leaning on the ADB's sovereign-level credit rating, private sector lenders such as HSBC can lend more easily to companies in the complex chain of vaccine supply production, HSBC said.

"Right now demand for vaccines far outstrips supply and one of the challenges is that supply and distribution networks have to be formed, which requires a lot of liquidity," said Surath Sengupta, global head of financial institutions at HSBC.

The lenders will offer funds through trade loans and invoice financing among other tools, Sengupta said, as countries across Asia try to shorten the usual multi-year time scale needed to deploy large-scale inoculation programmes.

Vaccination levels in Asian countries have varied widely as governments deal with limited supplies, rapidly rising demand and political jockeying to secure doses.

Leaders of the United States, India, Australia and Japan agreed to pool financing, manufacturing and distribution capacity to send 1 billion coronavirus vaccines across Asia by the end of 2022, India's foreign secretary said in March.

(Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by David Goodman)
New Delhi, April 9 : An increasing number of people, including doctors, are testing positive from the Covid-19 infections even after taking both doses of vaccinated. The reason could be an increase in the risk-taking behaviour, prompted by the rollout of vaccines against the deadly virus, better understood as the "Peltzman Effect".

Peltzman Effect has been termed after Sam Peltzman, an economist at the University of Chicago, who first described it in 1975. According to the theory, when safety measures are mandated, people's perception of risk decreases, making them take riskier decisions.

Peltzman postulated about mandating the use of seatbelts in automobiles, leading to more accidents. It implies that safety perception increases risk appetite. In other terms, people become more careful when they sense greater risk and less careful if they feel more protected, according to his theory.

Similarly, in the case of Covid-19, vaccines are giving a sense of security, leading to increased risky behaviour, that is low adherence to preventive measures -- mask usage, social distancing and hand sanitisation.

While it is a known fact that vaccines neither give immediate protection or full protection (against infection as against death), the sense of security unfortunately starts much earlier, even before the actual injection: people wear masks with less caution, do not maintain distance as soon as they reach vaccination centres -- the Peltzman effect.

The increase in the number of people being innoculated gives rise to a "misplaced sense of security in 'herd immunity' long before widespread immunity is truly present," said doctors from New York University's Langone Health in a comprehensive review of the Peltzman Effect, published in the ACP Journals on March 2.

As a result "...the very optimism that is necessary to encourage widespread acceptance of the vaccine will undoubtedly contribute to the overconfidence" and lead people to forgo the preventive measures.

"Consciously or not, even those who have not received a Covid-19 vaccine may forgo masks and social distancing if they know that others are receiving the vaccine," the doctors added.

Although pandemic fatigue is a reason for low adherence to preventive measures, the Peltzman effect cannot be ignored. The theory is also evident in the drastic decline in the usage of PPE kits by the healthcare workers.

This risk-taking behaviour can be dangerous for general public. But for a health care worker dealing directly with Covid-19 patients, it can prove detrimental and impair the health care services, as is seen in the recent report of 37 doctors in a Delhi hospital testing positive even after taking both doses. The doctors, reportedly, got infected while attending to Covid-19 patients at the hospital.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The government of Montenegro has extended visa-free travel for the Russian nationals until October 31, 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry said .

"In March 2021, the government of Montenegro made another decision on a temporary visa waiver for the Russian nationals. Under the document, between April 1, 2021 and October 31, 2021, citizens of the Russian Federation may enter Montenegro, cross its territory or stay in the country up to 90 days without a visa, with a valid document identifying the person," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a report issued on Thursday.

"Thus, within this term, the Russian nationals will only need the valid passport for travel abroad for a short-term entry into Montenegro for a period of up to 90 days," TASS cited the ministry as saying.

The ministry noted that those Russian nationals who go to Montenegro to work or to study would need a visa. It also noted that the rule of entry into that Balkan country could be changed depending on the coronavirus situation.
COLUMBIA  Senators approved changing South Carolinas liquor laws April 8 to lure winemaking giant Gallo to the Palmetto State, despite concerns of competition with small retailers.

The California wine producer, E&J Gallo Winery, is in talks to open its proposed East Coast bottling, canning and distribution hub in Chester County as part of a $400 million economic development deal expected to bring nearly 500 jobs.

The county, an hour north of Columbia, has given initial approvals for tax incentives.

But Gallo also asked lawmakers to shake up its so-called three-tier system, which subdivides the industry into producers, wholesalers and retailers, and OK the opening of satellite tasting rooms around the state. Under current law, samples and retail sales for wineries are limited to where the beverages are produced.

The Senate obliged by passing the legislation, though there were several changes to the original proposal: Gallo would only be able to open three, not four, tasting rooms, could only sell six bottles of the product to each customer and they must close at 5:30 p.m. so as not to compete with local restaurants. The company also will be required to purchase back its own wines from wholesalers in order to serve them at the tasting rooms.

The bill will now be sent to the House for its consideration.

Still, liquor stores' hopes were disappointed when a last-hour amendment, brought by Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, to remove any retail element from the tasting rooms failed to pass.

"My amendment says, you can have your tasting rooms, which is a change in the law," Cash said. "But we're not going to let you infringe upon the three-tier system and be the retailer. It's not fair to the ABC stores."

Multiple other lawmakers rose to voice similar concerns but their objections were ultimately overruled.

Retailers say they have harmoniously coexisted with smaller South Carolina-based producers, like Duplin Winery, which sells bottles for take-home consumption at its North Myrtle Beach tasting center, since exceptions were carved out in state law two years ago.

But Lock Reddic, president of Greens Beverages, a wine, beer and liquor retailer in the Columbia area, calls the massive Gallo bottling operation "a winery in name only" that now will be able to bring in any of its 130 wine brands produced around the globe and sell them directly in a retail setting.

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"We recognize everyone needs to win here," Reddic said. "We want to see them come here. We think they'll be a great corporate citizen.

"We just can't have the biggest, most powerful supplier in the world come in and ask to change our laws," he added. "Theyre a $5 billion-a-year company."

Four of every 10 bottles of wine sold in South Carolina are owned by Gallo Wines, Reddic said.

The company controls more than 30 percent of the U.S. wine market, Karl Storchmann, New York University economist and American Association of Wine Economists executive director, told Wine Enthusiast magazine. Its major brands include Barefoot, Apothic, Dark Horse, Arbor Mist and Mark West. Gallo is also in the low-cost hard-liquor business, with brands like Amsterdam Vodka and E&J Brandy.

Reddic also raised concerns over comments made by Gallo that it wants to be able to bring in exclusive wines to its tasting rooms not available to other retailers to sell.

The bill was supported by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, co-sponsored by powerful Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, and received a further boost from the governor.

A Gallo spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment by The Post and Courier.

The law change comes with an investment and jobs requirement tailored directly to the Gallo facility. The company also must pay an annual $5,000 fee per location.

The full details of Gallo's proposed tax incentive deal with Chester County are still unknown to the public.

In addition to county incentives, the company would also likely be eligible for state tax credits for jobs created at a rate of $25,000 per position annually, up to five years.
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As demand for the coronavirus vaccine shifts to a slower pace, two well-known bars are pitching in to help get shots into arms.

The Dragon's Den on Frenchmen Street will host an event Friday  it will include a free shot of booze along with the vaccine shot  and local trumpeter Kermit Ruffins' Mother-in-Law Lounge will follow with its own vaccination event on April 17.

Both will feature the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine shots.

Friday's event at the Dragons Den will provide vaccine shots for 200 people. The event is put on by Crescent Care, a local clinic, and DJ RQ Away starting at 8:30 p.m. on the neutral ground.

The venue is providing the shots of liquor on their own dime, said Dr. Jason Halperin, an infectious disease expert with Crescent Care.

Its so New Orleans unique  drinks on us for getting a vaccine, said Halperin.

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The event at the Mother-in-Law Lounge will be held from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. April 17, according to a Facebook post by the venue. The shots are first-come, first-served for up to 200 people at the bar in Treme. We will do it again soon, the post said.

As supply increased and eligibility expanded to anyone in recent weeks, providers have noticed a change in how quickly appointments are being filled. They have to be proactive about approaching people, rather than having to turn away people due to limited supply as was the case just a month ago.

+13 Vaccine appointments in Louisiana are going unfilled - sooner than officials thought When COVID vaccines first opened to Louisiana residents over 70 in January, there was a mad scramble for appointments. Overloaded phone system

Crescent Care is also in talks with Melba's Poboys to put on a similar event. Businesses are eager to help spread the word.

"The owner of Dragons Den, he was like, 'I will do anything.' The owner of Melbas said, 'Anything you need or want I will do for you,'" said Halperin. "These connections of the business community and those in the health community are essential for herd immunity."
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Given the number of these disaffected young persons who are arming themselves to find solutions to their problems, we can easily fall into anarchy and were this to happen, we will ALL BE LOSERS as our lives would become nasty, brutish and short.

Yesterday, I gave the lead paper at a National Town Hall Meeting organised by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, at Kaduna State University. The theme was setting benchmarks for enhanced security and national unity in Nigeria. It was well attended by a cross section of commanders of various security agencies and selected members of the public from all over the country. The thrust of the meeting was for all Nigerians to accept that the country is headed for the brinks and there is an urgent need to pull it back. It was the honesty of this concern that convinced me it was worth attending. I started with the following quote:

There is no easy way to pull this country apart. The problems arising from such an exercise will be far bigger than the problem of trying to keep it going. The value of the size, the market, and the varieties of cultures etc. are important and should not be neglected.  Professor Ade Ajayi, The Nigerian Social Scientist, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2002, P. 56.

I believe Professor Ade Ajayi is right on both counts. Breaking up Nigeria will be no easy task. Indeed, it would be much easier to keep the country together than to carve it up. Secondly, the potentials of Nigeria growing into a great and advanced country remains real. Nonetheless, Nigeria is confronting a number of critical political challenges that are raising serious questions about its identity and survival as a democratic federal republic. First, there has been a dramatic breakdown in security provisioning that has created a climate of disillusionment in the state as a protector of citizens. Secondly, there is a significant rise in and expansion of sectarian conflicts, both ethnic and religious, fuelled in part by massive disinformation and hate speech in both the traditional and social media. Thirdly, Nigerias elite consensus on federalism and the federal character principle as a guarantee against group discrimination and marginalisation is badly shaken. The risk, therefore, is that even if the drift towards disintegration is the worst possible outcome, the country is being pushed in that direction. We ALL have a collective responsibility to stop the drift and seek pathways to re-establish confidence in the nation building project.

As a people, we love living near the precipice and the risk is that our dangerous behaviour could one day push us over. On Monday, there were well-coordinated commando-like operations by gunmen who invaded an Imo State Correctional Facility near the State Government House in Owerri and set 1,844 inmates free.

The Nigerian state is undergoing a three-dimensional crisis. The first one affects the political economy and is generated mainly by public corruption over the past four decades, which has created a run on the treasury at the national and state levels, threatening to consume the goose that lays the golden egg. The second is the crisis of citizenship, symbolised by ethno-regionalism, the Boko Haram insurgency, farmer-herder killings, agitations for Biafra, militancy in the Niger Delta and indigene/settler conflicts. The third element relates to the frustration of the countrys democratic aspirations in a context in which the citizenry believes in true democracy, while confronted with a reckless political class that is corrupt, self-serving and manipulative. These issues have largely broken the social pact between citizens and the state.

That is why today, Nigerians find themselves in a moment of doubt about their nationhood. It is similar to the two earlier moments of doubt we have experienced  in 1962-1970 when we went through a terrible civil war, and the early 1990s when prolonged military rule created another round of challenges to the national project. We survived those two moments but there is no guarantee we will survive this third threat. We must, therefore, commit ourselves to addressing the current crisis as an opportunity to surge forward in fixing Nigeria.

As a people, we love living near the precipice and the risk is that our dangerous behaviour could one day push us over. On Monday, there were well-coordinated commando-like operations by gunmen who invaded an Imo State Correctional Facility near the State Government House in Owerri and set 1,844 inmates free. They also attacked the Imo State Police Command Headquarters and set about 600 suspects being held in custody free. Not done yet, the attackers also set the Police headquarters ablaze, burning down several operational vehicles of the force parked at its command headquarters. The attack started around 1.30 a.m. and lasted till about 3.30 a.m. without the resistance of any of the security agencies. More attacks were conducted on Tuesday. Some states in the zone have also witnessed confrontations between the Nigerian Army and members of the Eastern Security Network.

This is a time for hard questions about how we got to this situation and what we can do to return to peaceful co-existence. The first element is to unmask how the people came to perceive security agencies as their enemy, although the slogan of the Nigerian Police Force is that the POLICE IS YOUR FRIEND.

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State stated last week (The Nation, April 3) that there are no fewer than 30,000 gunmen spread across more than 100 camps in and around the State. He said such is the grip of bandits on the State that they collected N970 million as ransom from the families of their victims in the eight years between 2011 and 2019. During the same period, the bandits killed 2,619 people and kidnapped 1,190 others. For some years now, significant proportion of farmers cannot go to their farms out of fear, as such food insecurity is on the horizon. Given the seriousness of the situation, his approach is to negotiate with the outlaws. The dialogue led to the suspension of attacks and kidnapping for eight months but it resumed and in February, they invaded Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe and abducted about 300 of the students.

On Wednesday, April 6, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chairman of the National Peace Committee, told Nigeria that there are six million weapons circulating in the country. We are at a point in our national trajectory where young Nigerians feel sufficiently marginalised from the STATE and SOCIETY to procure arms and engage in self-help, which they define variously as banditry, scotched earth attacks on innocent village communities, accompanied by mass rape and other forms of sexual violence, in addition to killing security agents, and even declaring an Islamic Caliphate in Nigeria. There are too many groups that have discovered that obtaining an AK47 can be their pathways to wealth because they are not in government where you can be wealthy by stealing without arms. Given the number of these disaffected young persons who are arming themselves to find solutions to their problems, we can easily fall into anarchy and were this to happen, we will ALL BE LOSERS as our lives would become nasty, brutish and short.

According to the Inspector General of Police, 20 police officers were killed in March this year. In October last year, during the EndSARS protests, 205 police stations all over the country were attacked and 22 Police officers killed. All over the country, the Police are being hunted and killed. This could be a turning point if more citizens define the Police as the enemy and expand these attacks. This is a time for hard questions about how we got to this situation and what we can do to return to peaceful co-existence. The first element is to unmask how the people came to perceive security agencies as their enemy, although the slogan of the Nigerian Police Force is that the POLICE IS YOUR FRIEND.

A professor of Political Science and development consultant/expert, Jibrin Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Development, and Chair of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES.
A Gretna man in a stolen sport utility vehicle who led State Police on a high-speed chase early Monday morning had seemingly disappeared after troopers caught up to the crashed SUV atop the Des Allemands Bridge only to find it empty.

But the man's body was discovered several hours later under the bridge with "injuries consistent with a fall," according to Trooper Jesse LaGrange, a State Police spokesperson.

Authorities identified the man as Frederick Howard, 19.

Troopers didn't know the name of the man behind the wheel when they begin chasing a 2007 Toyota Highlander on U.S. Highway 90 in Raceland Monday morning. The SUV had been reported stolen out of Houma, and when a trooper tried to stop the vehicle the driver hit the gas and drove eastbound on U.S. 90, State Police said.

The man committed several traffic violations, including at one point crossing the median to drive east in the highway's westbound lanes, State Police said.

The SUV continued onto the Des Allemands Bridge, traveling against traffic, according to authorities. Pursuing troopers, who were following the stolen vehicle from the bridge's eastbound lanes, got to the other side but never saw the SUV exit the bridge, State Police said.

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When they turned around, the found the Highlander crashed at the top of the bridge with no one inside, authorities said. Troopers searched the westbound lanes and the base of the bridge, but didn't find the driver.

A Des Allemands resident called the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office about 4:45 p.m. Monday after discovering the body of a man in the 100 block of West Bayou Road, which is beneath the bridge, according to Capt. Brennan Matherne, a Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office spokesperson. Within about an hour, Sheriff's Office investigators determined the man was likely the missing chase suspect and contacted State Police.

An autopsy was conducted, but the results were not immediately available. The man's body had injuries consistent with a fall, according to State Police. But authorities did not say whether they suspect the man accidentally fell, jumped or was thrown from the bridge during the crash.

Though the man's body had been recovered Monday, authorities weren't sure who he was, according to State Police. He did not have a driver's license or any other kind of identification.

On Wednesday evening, State Police investigators learned of social media posts searching for Howard, who was missing and had last been seen on Monday, according to authorities. Investigators identified Howard as the man found under the bridge after speaking with his family.

The Houma Police Department has since determined that Howard was the suspect who stole the Toyota Highlander, State Police said. The case is still under investigation.
Thanks to the preventive measures we have taken, many of which were agreed upon by the communities near our Salar de Atacama Plant, we continue to operate normally at our sites in Chile with no impact to our production or shipments, and always maintaining the safety of our workers, a spokesperson for lithium producer Albemarle told Fastmarkets.Albemarle operates a lithium production facility in the lithium-rich Atacama salt flats in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.The other major lithium producer active in the Atacama salt flats is Chiles Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM). A spokesperson for SQM confirmed with Fastmarkets that no disruption is expected by the new measures implemented in the country.That said, market participants broadly anticipate the stricter restrictions in the country will add to the logistics disruptions which had emerged late last year.The government of Chile, one of the richest lithium resources in South America, has taken new measures to curb the Covid-19 surge, including closing its borders for a month starting from Monday April 6.The logistics of lithium from the South American country have been disrupted in the past few months by the global container shortage and general low efficiency of customs clearance and port handling amid the pandemic-induced disruptions, according to market participants.Precaution measures will cut the number of staff at customs and ports, resulting in low working efficiency, a second producer source said. Ultimately, it will takes more time to ship cargoes [from South America] to destinations.These disruptions come at a time of the agricultural goods exports peak from South America in the first quarter when shipments of those cargoes are usually prioritized, adding further difficulties for lithium exporters to secure containers, market participants told Fastmarkets.As perishable items tend to be booked preferentially, it becomes further harder under the Covid situation to book the containers for chemicals like lithium carbonate, a distributor said.As a result, spot availability of lithium from South America has been squeezed in seaborne Asian countries since early this year, while supply in China has also been tightened amid robust demand from the battery supply chain and tightened supply of spodumene , the key feedstock lithium smelters in the country.Fastmarkets weekly assessment of the lithium carbonate, 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot price cif China, Japan and Korea rose to $10.50-12.00 per kg on Thursday April 8, up by 4.65% from $10-11.50 per kg previously. The price has risen by 66.67% from $6.00-7.50 per kg on January 7.Fastmarkets assessment of the lithium hydroxide monohydrate 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, battery grade, spot price cif China, Japan & Korea rose to $11.50-12.50 per kg on Thursday, up by 2.13% from $11.00-12.50 per kg one week ago. The price has gained by 33.34% from the start of this year.[Chile situation] in addition to the tight vessel availability should push prices even higher in the second quarter, a consumer predicted.
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Kozhikode : April 9 (IANS) An Air India Express flight with 17 passengers and crew, which on Friday morning had left for Kuwait from the Kozhikode international airport, made an emergency landing after it was airborne for 30 minutes.

According to the airport authorities the flight departed at 8.35 a.m. and returned at 9.10 a.m.

The reason that has been given was that the flight was forced to return after a fire alarm in the cargo hold of the aircraft was sounded.

The flight was then asked to return. It landed safely and all the passengers and crew were safe.
The pair had travelled between Melbourne and Perth via air and road on four trips over the course of a month before being arrested in Western Australia in a national sting operation on August 22, 2017.

Zheng Li, 33, and Xiaoli Zhuang, 37, will serve an extra two years in jail on their original sentence after it was found to be manifestly inadequate.

Two Victorian men who transported almost $4.5 million in ill-gotten cash for a crime syndicate linked to China got a heftier jail sentence to deter money laundering in Australia.

One of the mens handlers, Xixuan Huang, made their travel arrangements and passed on the money to Xiao Tang, who offset the cash by means of a series of online banking transactions in Yuan to various Chinese bank accounts.

Huang and Tang admitted to being unregistered remittance dealers under Victorias AntiMoney Laundering and CounterTerrorism Financing Act and were fined $12,000 and $14,000, respectively, by a Victorian court.

Li and Zhuang went to trial in WA in February last year, arguing the money was lawful but they were acting as brokers to circumvent Chinese law  which prevented unapproved transfers of more than $US50,000  on behalf of their Chinese clients, who also wanted to have money available in Australia.

The jury did not convict them of the harsher crime of money laundering but convicted them on two counts of possessing $1.47 million suspected of being unlawfully obtained and two counts of dealing in $3.03 million that was the proceeds of an offence.

District Court Judge Alan Troy said the convictions were utterly inevitable since what the pair testified was, at times, complete nonsense and he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that each one believed the money was the profits of criminal enterprises in Australia and their role was to assist in moving the money to Victoria.
An archive of pet columns from the UI College of Veterinary Medicine is at vetmed.illinoi.edu/pet

columns. Requests for reprints of this article may be directed to Chris Beuoy at beuoy@illinois.edu.
New Delhi, April 9 : Days after a French news portal alleged that a middleman was paid several million euros by Dassault Aviation, makers of Rafale fighter jets, businessman Sushen Mohan Gupta's legal team broke its silence and denied all the allegations as "fabricated and baseless".

The legal team claimed that neither Gupta nor his companies were involved in any manner in the Indo-French transaction for the acquisition of 36 fighter jets.

The remarks from the businessman's legal team came days after a French news portal, Mediapart, in three investigative reports claimed that it was in possession of documents that showed Dassault Aviation, which manufactures the Rafale jet, and its industrial partner Thales, a defence electronics firm, paid "middleman" Gupta several million euros in "secret commissions" in connection with the Rs 59,000 crore deal for 36 jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

In a statement issued on Friday, Gupta's legal team said, "Fabricated, factually incorrect and baseless reports have appeared in a section of the media over the past days reporting factually incorrect statements regarding Gupta and his companies." It said that first and foremost, "all allegations, insinuations or claims of any impropriety, irregularity or illegality involving Gupta or companies are vehemently denied and rejected as being false, baseless and mischievous".

It said that the reports seem to be "motivated". "It is preposterous to suggest that a private individual could have influenced a government to governmental transaction for the acquisition of 36 Rafale jets," it said.

Categorically denying any wrongdoing, the statement read, "Gupta or his companies are not involved in any manner in the Indo-French transaction for acquisition of 36 Rafale jets." It further said that it is preposterous to suggest that Gupta has any relevance or can exercise any influence on inter-governmental dealings or transactions and Guptas not and has never been a commercial agent in relation to defence deals, whether of Dassault or of any other entity.

The French news portal has alleged that the bulk of the payments were made before 2013. "According to an accounts spreadsheet belonging to Gupta, an entity called simply 'D', which is a code he regularly used to designate Dassault, paid euro 14.6 million to Interdev in Singapore over the period 2004-2013," the report said. It said that Interdev was a shell company with no real activity, and administered by a straw man for the Gupta family.

The statement from Gupta's legal team further stated that all transactions of Indian Avitronics are "legitimate contracts" and "duly disclosed" to concerned authorities. The statement further read that Gupta has never obtained or shared any classified government documents.

The legal team also said that Gupta does not have any companies or bank accounts outside India and has never had any offshore dealings with Dassault, Thales or Safran as alleged.

It further stated that there have been "no financial transactions" whatsoever of Gupta or his companies with 'IDS', Interdev or Interstellar.

The statement also read that Gupta has always fully cooperated with all investigative agencies.

The statement also said that the media reports appear to be based on material incorrectly and falsely attributed to Gupta.

"The credibility of both, the source, as well as materials submitted by the source, in the proceedings is currently under challenge before the Supreme Court as being false, self-serving and motivated," it said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus V.Makei meets the Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan

On April 9, 2021, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Makei met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Republic of Belarus Ermek Ibraimov.

The Parties discussed topical issues of Belarusian-Kyrgyz cooperation, interaction within integration associations and multilateral platforms.

The interlocutors exchanged information on the measures taken by the two countries to counter the spread of COVID-19.

Following the meeting, steps for further development of the Belarusian-Kyrgyz cooperation in 2021 were outlined.

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COLUMBIA  A Gilbert man linked to the riots at the U.S. Capitol in January agreed to become a federal informant as part of a plea agreement finalized April 9.

James Giannakos Jr., 47, pleaded guilty to making threatening phone calls to a former federal prosecutor over information released on the leader of the alt-right group Proud Boys, who was himself acting as a government informant.

It was during a search of Giannakos' Lexington County residence for evidence related to the phone threats that FBI agents found multiple items, including a U.S. Capitol Police shield, which federal law enforcement said in court documents showed "probable cause" that Giannakos participated in the mob that overran the Capitol. The riots were an effort to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The FBI also confiscated a "riot bag" that contained a map of the District of Columbia's Metro system, eye protection, a bike helmet, a tactical vest with hard plates, baton, flashlight, masks and gloves, according to a search warrant filed in federal court.

At least four other South Carolinians have been arrested for their roles in the Capitol breach to date.

The event, which followed a rally held by then-President Donald Trump, resulted in the deaths of five people  a Capitol Police officer and four protesters, one of whom was fatally shot  as well as more than 100 injuries.

But the plea agreement Giannakos entered Friday only relates to the phone threats he made. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia still holds the ability to charge him for his alleged involvement in the riot should prosecutors so choose, though no charges have been filed to date.

During a court hearing finalizing the plea, Giannakos expressed his remorse to U.S. District Court Judge Terry Wooten for the calls he placed to the former federal prosecutor in Florida and her employer.

"I don't even know where to start to apologize for this," he said. "I was getting wrapped up in the 2020 election and the emotions of everything."

Giannakos had been upset over the release of news that Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was an FBI informant, information that was already public record and simply confirmed by the former prosecutor.

Giannakos had a cousin who he said died suspiciously some years ago. The family held out hope a confidential informant would step up to give information in the case. But no one did.

He believed the prosecutor had put Tarrio and his family at risk, transferring those past emotions from his cousin's case and viewing it as a betrayal that prompted him to leave the threatening messages.

"If anything happens to Mr. Enrique Tarrio, the same thing will happen to you and your family," read a transcript of a voicemail from a phone number linked to Giannakos' residence that was included in court documents. "If anything happens to him, I promise you and your associates will pay for it. You will be held responsible."

He also left six other messages on the voicemails of employees at the former prosecutor's law firm.

Giannakos pleaded guilty to the crime of making an interstate threat and faces up to five years incarceration and a $250,000 fine. But federal prosecutors agreed to a lower sentence in exchange for his cooperation in identifying and testifying against others involved in crimes of which he has knowledge, which could include other Capitol riot participants.

He has been in custody since the beginning of February. He remains jailed as he awaits a sentencing hearing, which is expected to be scheduled in roughly three months.
New York Digital Investment Group, an asset manager focused on bitcoin investments, has raised $100 million it will use to expand the use of bitcoin in insurance.

The round comes just a month after announcing $200 million in new financing.

NYDIG, a subsidiary of asset manager Stone Ridge, said this week it raised $100 million of growth capital from strategic partners including property/casualty insurers Starr Insurance, Liberty Mutual Insurance and others.

The New York-based company also announced that Mike Sapnar, a 30-year insurance industry veteran of insurance and former CEO of TransRe, is joining NYDIG as global head of Insurance Solutions to focus on accelerating bitcoin use in in the global property/casualty industry.

Sapnar will be joined by Matt Carey, NYDIGs U.S. head of Insurance Solutions, who will be focused on bitcoin for U.S.-based life insurance and annuity providers. Prior to joining NYDIG, Carey was co-founder and CEO of Blueprint Income, an online annuity marketplace recently acquired by MassMutual from Stone Ridge.

The latest $100 million capital round follows an earlier a $200 million round led by Stone Ridge Holdings Group, Morgan Stanley, New York Life, MassMutual, Soros Fund Management, and FS Investments. Bessemer Venture Partners and FinTech Collective, which led the two prior funding rounds for NYDIG, were also significant participants.

According to NYDIG, life, annuity and P/C insurers now own, in aggregate, more than $1 billion of direct and indirect bitcoin exposure facilitated exclusively by NYDIG and held on NYDIGs platform.

Robert Gutmann, co-founder and CEO of NYDIG, noted that the global P/C insurance industry pays out more than $1 trillion in claims annually and the addition of Starr and Liberty Mutual is part of NYDIGs expansion of bitcoin into new areas of insurance.

We see a brighter bitcoin-powered future for the billions who depend on the insurance industry every year, said Ross Stevens, CEO of Stone Ridge and executive chairman of NYDIG.

Topics Carriers Property Casualty
President Joe Biden delivers remarks about vaccinations, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on April 6, 2021. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

Biden Asks for $1.5 Trillion in 1st Budget Request, Including 16 Percent Domestic Spending Boost

President Joe Biden on Friday asked Congress to authorize a $1.52 trillion federal spending plan for 2022, calling for a 16 percent increase in funding for non-defense domestic programs and a relatively flat 1.7 percent increase for defense.

Bidens first discretionary spending request, detailed in a blueprint (pdf) from the White Houses acting budget chief, Shalanda Young, calls on Congress to provide $769 billion for non-defense programs and $753 billion in national defense funding for the upcoming fiscal year.

The request is a precursor to a bigger, annual budget proposal that will come later in spring and will cover mandatory spending on programs like Social Security and Medicare. Discretionary spending requests, which are subject to the appropriations process and require Congress to set a new funding level each year, can be a battleground for partisan wrangling that have in the past led to government shutdowns.

Later this spring we will release the presidents full budget, which will present a unified, comprehensive plan to address the overlapping crises we face, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing Friday. She added that this will include the big proposal Biden has just introducedreferring to the $2.25 trillion infrastructure planas well as other proposals that he will introduce between now and then.

Our country is confronting historic crisesthe pandemic, an economic downturn, climate change, and a reckoning on racial justice, Psaki said.

At the same time, were inheriting a legacy of chronic underinvestment, in our view, in priorities that are vital to our long-term success and our ability to confront the challenges before us, so the president is focused on reversing this trend and reinvesting in the foundations of our strength, she said, adding that the discretionary funding proposal provides another opportunity to do that and is an indication of the Biden administrations priorities.

While the overall 8 percent boost in federal discretionary spending over 2021 levels signals that the White House is not inclined to pivot towards austerity, the specifics of the blueprint show that many of the agencies Biden wants to fund at higher levels are programs that former President Donald Trump sought to cut, while giving high priority to fighting climate change.

Biden is calling on Congress to spend an additional $14 billion towards climate change investments, including $1.7 billion to improve the energy efficiency of homes, schools, and federal buildings. Another $2 billion is slated for putting skilled laborlike welders and electriciansto work on the construction of various clean energy projects across the nation.

His proposal also includes $600 million for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure for 18 federal agencies to provide an immediate, clear, and stable source of demand to help accelerate American industrial capacity to produce clean vehicles and components. It also calls for $815 million to incorporate climate impacts into pre-disaster planning and projects. An additional $1.4 billion would also be sent to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, allowing more work on climate observation and forecasting.

Biden is also calling for $1.2 billion in climate aid for poor countries by resuming spending on the United Nations Green Climate Fund, and another $485 billion on other multilateral climate initiatives.

Theres also $861 million to combat the economic deprivation in Central America to help address the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States. It also calls for over $10 billion in humanitarian assistance to support vulnerable people abroad, including refugees and conflict victims.

The discretionary request also includes $8.7 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the agencys biggest budget boost in nearly two decades. Another $6.5 billion is earmarked to launch the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) project, which is meant to support research that enhances health, lengthens life, and reduces illness and disability. Theres also $10.7 billion to help end the opioid epidemic$3.9 billion over the 2021 leveland $670 in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.

Bidens proposal also calls for $1.6 billion for community mental health services, $1 billion for Department of Justice (DOJ) Violence Against Women Act of 1994 programs, and $2.1 billion to combat gun-related violence.

The request also contains a $36.5 billion investment in Title I grantsa $20 billion increase from the 2021 enacted levelproviding historically under-resourced schools with more funding. Nearly $20 billion is set aside for expanded access to affordable early child care and learning, $15.5 billion for support for children with disabilities.

Biden is calling for $30.4 billion for housing assistance in the form of housing choice vouchers, and $500 million in homeless assistance grants to help prevent and reduce homelessness.

The proposal seeks $625 million for a new competitive grant program for passenger rail and $2.7 billion for Amtraka 35 percent increasein contrast to Trump, who sought to reduce Amtrak funding.

Other proposed increases track long-held Democrat priorities, including criminal justice and police reform, greater worker protections, boosting state unemployment insurance programs, reducing emissions, and more money for the IRS to crack down on tax avoidance.

The expansive proposal may face an uphill battle on Capitol Hill, however, as Democrats have narrow congressional majorities and, since the funding proposal cannot be advanced via budget reconciliation, they must win over at least ten Senate Republicans, who maintain filibuster power in the upper chamber.
Back in 2017, Dwayne The Rock Johnson said that he was seriously considering running for president but it depended on what the people wanted. According to this new poll that claims that 46% of Americans would support him, we may have a new presidential candidate.

The poll found that 29% would support The Rock to become president and Matthew McConaughey to become the Texas Governor. 17% would only advocate for Dwayne Johnsons run. When talking to USA Today in February this year Dwayne Johnson said,

I would consider a presidential run in the future if thats what the people wanted... Truly I mean that, and Im not flippant in any way with my answer. That would be up to the people...So I would wait, and I would listen. I would have my finger on the pulse, my ear to the ground.

It looks like if he is seriously considering running for president it may be as soon as 2024 or 2028 according to an interview he had with Stephen Colbert. Johnson is registered as independent and we know that in the past he has voted for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

63% of voters in the poll think that celebrities would make good politicians if they had political aptitude or had the right team backing them. The poll had 30,138 participants and was conducted over two days.

At one point in time, we did think that the thought of a wealthy reality tv businessman becoming president was ridiculous but it looks like anything is possible if youre a celebrity! Who knows? Maybe the next election will feature a WWE Royal Rumble match for the presidency!
Israel honored the memory of the millions of Jews killed during the Holocaust by observing a two-minute silence throughout the state on Thursday.

The Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah in Hebrew, is celebrated annually. The observance started the night of April 7 and ends the evening of the next day.

To mark the occasion, Israeli leaders held a ceremony at Yad Vashem Wednesday. Franklin Graham, in a Facebook post, described how the Jewish people honored the memory of those who have died, and remembered the atrocious acts committed by the Nazis against them:

"At 10 am in Israel, things came to a standstill. Sirens sounded, pedestrians stopped walking, drivers pulled to the side of busy highways and stepped out of their cars. For two minutes, Israelis paused to honor those who lost their lives in the Holocaust today on the country's Holocaust Remembrance Day."

Graham added that despite the current pandemic, "the world must never forget what happened in that horrific genocide" that killed six million Jews without mercy.

On that day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the issue on Iran's nuclear deal during the event, Faithwire reported.

"History has taught us that deals like this, with extremist regimes like this, are worth nothing. An agreement with Iran that will pave the way for nuclear weapons - weapons that threaten us with destruction - we will not be obligated to such an agreement in any way. We have only one obligation: to prevent anyone who seeks to destroy us from carrying out his plot," he said.

Iran and the United States reportedly resumed the discussion over the 2015 nuclear deal through indirect talks in Vienna on April 6. Five other countries joined the meeting, including Russia, Germany, China, France and Britain.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was an agreement that seeks to restrict Iran on its nuclear program, sealed under Obama in July 2015. Calling it "the worst deal ever," Trump pulled the U.S. out from the accord in 2018, launching a "maximum-pressure campaign" by restoring and imposing additional sanctions on the Islamic government.

Considering Iran as an enemy, Israel is concerned that its nuclear weapon "would pose a grave threat" to the state.

The prime minister also criticized the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its investigation over war crime allegations on Israel and Palestinian terror groups, calling it "absurd" and anti-semitic.

"During the Holocaust. We had no rights, no country, no protector. Today we have a country, we have protection and we have the natural and complete right, as the sovereign country of the Jewish people, to defend ourselves from our enemies," Netanyahu further argued.

Last month, the ICC opened its formal investigation over the actions committed by Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem since 2014.

The probe is expected to focus on three areas, including the Israeli settlement policy, the war between Israel and Hamas in 2014 and the 2018 Great March of Return protests.

President Reuven Rivlin also delivered a message, addressing the Holocaust survivors.

"My dear Holocaust survivors, Israeli citizens, the burden of memory that we carry in our hearts is a sacred duty. Whether we want it or not, the memory of the Holocaust shapes our identity as a people. The Holocaust places before us - its victims, the Jewish people and the State of Israel - an infinite task of remembrance," Rivlin stated.

The Holocaust was the murder of 6 million Jews, comprising two thirds of Europe's Jewish population, by the Nazi regime, from 1933 to 1945. The mass killing started in 1941, when 1.3 million Jews in Eastern Europe were executed with "mobile killing units". Deemed inefficient, the Nazis created the gas chambers. Nazi Germany was then ruled by the anti-semitic Adolf Hitler.

Extermination of the Jews was made into an official government policy during the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, calling it the "Final Solution". To execute the plan, the Nazis created six death camps in Poland, including Auschwitz, Chelmo, Belzec, Majdanek, Treblinka and Sobibor. 2.5 million Jews from all over Europe were murdered in the gas chambers.

The camps were only liberated when the Allied Forces advanced into the occupied territories between July 1944 and May 1945.

There are about 180,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel today. 900 of them have reportedly died due to COVID last year.

To commemorate the six million Jews who perished, six survivors lit six symbolic torches during the ceremony on Wednesday night.
This is a breaking news story and has been updated

Amazon secured enough votes on Friday morning to defeat the union drive at its facility in Bessemer, Alabama. Of the 2,536 uncontested ballots cast, 738 approved and 1,798 rejected the proposal to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Though the RWDSU will file a challenge alleging that the company improperly tampered with the voting process, the resulta blowoutcould hail the end of a hard-fought battle to make the Bessemer facility Amazons first unionized workplace.

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The union drive originated from workers who were critical of Amazons grueling productivity requirements and dissatisfied with the companys coronavirus protections. A group of them reached out to the RWDSU last summer to inquire about organizing their workplace. Roughly half of the workers at the facility then signed a petition calling for a vote in November, which got the ball rolling on the election. The mail-in voting period ran from February to March, and from the 5,805 eligible workers at the facility, 3,215 ballots were cast; 506 were contested and 76 were void. Counting began on Thursday evening, after Amazon and the union spent more than a week checking the eligibility of the submitted ballots, and was on pace to finish Friday.

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The Bessemer drive became a national issue. Figures like Stacey Abrams, Danny Glover, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Sen. Marco Rubio threw their support behind organizers on the ground. President Joe Biden released a video tacitly applauding the unionization campaign and tut-tutting Amazons many attempts to undermine them. In an effort to prevent the election from being successful, the company has reportedly required workers to go to anti-union town halls, posted Vote No signs in the bathrooms, launched an anti-union social media campaign, and even successfully lobbied local officials to change the timing of the traffic lights near the facility, which made it harder for organizers to approach workers in their cars. The Washington Post also reported this week that it had obtained emails showing that Amazon had pressed the U.S. Postal Service in January and February to install a mail box outside the facility, which the union argues is a violation of labor laws around ballot harvesting. Amazon claims, however, that the mail box was simply intended to improve turnout.

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Because of these alleged attempts to improperly sway the vote, the union announced on Friday that it is filing a challenge to determine if the results of the of the election should be set aside because conduct by the employer created an atmosphere of confusion, coercion and/or fear of reprisals and thus interfered with the employees freedom of choice. Either side can file challenges to the National Labor Relations Board about how the voting was facilitated, which could prompt a new election. The NLRB would make such a decision after scheduling a hearing for the union and Amazon to present arguments on the vote process.

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The drive in Alabama was the most visible and formidable unionizing effort in Amazons history. There have been fleeting attempts to organize Amazons U.S. workplaces over the years. In 2000, the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers tried to help unionize about 400 customer support representatives in Seattle, though the effort fell through when Amazon closed their facility. There have been some concerns that Amazon could also shutter the Bessemer plant, but the company has already allocated more than $360 million to leases and equipment for that location, and the Seattle closure was in part connected to the dot-com bubble burst. Prior to the Bessemer drive, the union effort that got the farthest was in a Delaware, where a small group of technicians ultimately voted 21-6 against joining the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in 2014. There have also been rumblings of a unionization effort at Amazons Whole Foods subsidiary since 2018, though Amazon has moved aggressively to tamp it down by sending around a 45-minute anti-union training video to managers and monitoring stores most likely to organize using heat maps.

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Labor advocates were hoping that a victory in Bessemer would show Amazon workers across the country that they could successfully form unions and encourage them to launch their own organizing efforts using similar strategies. That now seems in doubt, though hundreds of Amazon workers in other parts of the country have reportedly already contacted the RWDSU to inquire about starting union drives. Anastasia Christman, a program director at the National Employment Law Project whom I spoke to before the election result was announced, said that a loss for the union wouldnt necessarily close the door for organizing efforts at other Amazon facilities. I dont think that a defeat here is going to mean that workers will suddenly be satisfied with being treated the way theyre treated, she said. I think it could just inform whatever strategy they pursue to try to fix it. Christman predicts that organizers will likely conduct a forensic analysis of where things fell short, which would probably involve interviewing workers who voted no on why they thought forming a union wouldnt be lead to an improvement. Reporters from Bloomberg wrote in early March that many of the union-skeptical workers they interviewed were appreciative of the $15.30-per-hour pay, which is higher than most other jobs involving unskilled labor in the area, and the benefits. (The pay at nearby unionized poultry plans and warehouses, however, tends to be higher.) The Bessemer organizers also have the option to launch another union drive at the facility after a year has passed. Just like in a presidential election, if your party loses that doesnt mean you dont get to vote again in four years, Christman said. They have not given up their right to organize just because theyve lost any one particular drive.

Update, 1:22 p.m.: This story was updated with the final vote tally.
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Two years ago, three pre-eminent materials scientists, John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino, were awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their groundbreaking work in the development of lithium-ion batteries.

The Nobel committee noted that Whittingham developed the first functional Li-ion battery in the early 1970s, though it failed to become a commercial success due to its excessive volatility. Meanwhile, Goodenough built on Whittinghams work and successfully developed more powerful batteries while Yoshino later produced the first commercially viable lithium-ion battery in 1985.

The committee acknowledges the critical role that these revolutionary devices are playing in the clean energy transition:

"Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized our lives and are used in everything from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles. Through their work, this year's Chemistry Laureates have laid the foundation of a wireless, fossil-fuel-free society."

Despite lithium prices jumping 120% since their August 2020 lows, several giant producers including Albemarle Corp. (NYSE:ALB), Chiles second-largest lithium producer, and Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium, the worlds largest lithium mining company with a market capitalization of $19 billion, remain incredibly bullish.

Similarly, Wall Street is going ultra-long with Morgan Stanley saying lithium supply needs to jump 10x in the space of just four years in order to keep up with the massive electrification drive.

While there's plenty of lithium on our planet, no new mines are coming online at a fast enough clip to meet growing demand, pointing to an unfolding shortage a few years down the line.

The Helium Boom

At first glance that sounds like the usual Wall Street hyperbole, but not when you consider that experts are predicting that the humble lithium-ion battery is beginning to threaten coal and natural gas power plants as utilities everywhere increasingly plug them to the electric grid.

Indeed, theres an unfolding trend whereby cheap grid-scale batteries are beginning to replace fossil fuel power plants as the more economical option for supplying extra power during times of peak usage thanks to rapidly falling battery costs. The trend is gaining serious momentum as the transition to renewables shifts into a higher gear.

When grid-connected batteries supply enough electricity to meet peak demand, utilities neither have to build as many power plants and transmission lines nor fire devices that emit copious amounts of planet-warming gases.

But whereas Li-ion batteries are unequivocally some of the greatest innovations in modern times, many investors have been sleeping on yet another commodity thats enjoying a renaissance in the clean energy boom: Helium.

Explosive growth in the semiconductor and healthcare industries as well as space and quantum computing have been driving huge and growing global demand in helium.

While batteries are set to power everything, helium is indispensable in many key applications including space exploration, rocketry, high-level scientific applications, in the medical industry for MRI scanners, fiber optics, electronics, telecommunications, superconductivity, underwater breathing, welding, cryogenic shielding, leak detection, and in lifting balloons. At a melting point of -261.1C (-429F), helium has the lowest melting point of any element, meaning theres no substitute for the gas where ultra-low temperatures are required including in superconductors.

With demand constantly outstripping supply and the federal government no longer freely selling helium, prices have skyrocketed, hitting $35 per liter in 2019, more than double an average of $14.60 per liter they commanded three years ago.

Dwindling supplies

Only a small percentage of the helium generated through natural means is readily accessible, and even a smaller proportion is economically feasible to collect.

The helium that we find on our planet is a product of radioactive decay from minerals made of uranium and thorium. Unfortunately, the vast majority leaks off into space, and whatever little that is trapped comes nowhere close to meeting our global demand of 32,000 tons of helium per year (about 6.2 billion cubic feet measured at 70F and under earth's normal atmosphere). The vast majority of our helium reserves come from millions of years of gradual accumulation, especially in shale formations.

After being formed deep in the bowels of the earth, helium tends to rise and collect in the same deposits as natural gas. In fact, most of our helium supply comes from natural gas companies that collect the gas as an ancillary benefit. Unfortunately, current technological limits mean that helium is only economically recoverable at concentrations greater than 0.3%. Consequently, the vast majority of the helium in gas reserves is simply vented away.

But the weakest link in the helium supply chain: The U.S. federal government is no longer selling helium to traders and manufacturers.

Back in 1925 when helium-based airships seemed like they would become vital to national defense, the U.S. government created the Federal Helium Reserve (FHR) out of a giant, abandoned salt mine located 12 miles northwest of Amarillo, Texas. Over several decades, FHR collected as much helium as it could and essentially became the worlds strategic helium reserve supplying ~40% of the worlds needs.

Unfortunately, the FHR eventually ran into debt trouble to the tune of billions of dollars thanks to its practice of selling helium at well below market prices. In 1996, the U.S. government passed laws mandating FHR to sell off its reserves and close in 2021 in an effort to recoup its debts.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has outlined the process and timeline by which the FHR will dispose of its remaining helium and helium assets. BLM, which now manages the reserve, managed to sell off most of the stored helium to all users, with the remaining 3 billion cubic feet (84 million cubic meters) by 2018 restricted for sale to only federal users, including universities that use helium for federally sponsored research. BLM held its last Crude Helium Auction in Amarillo, Texas, in 2019 with the price rising 135%, from $119/Mcf in 2018 to $280/Mcf in 2019.

The sale of crude helium to private industry has been discontinued and the remaining stockpile is earmarked for Federal users only.

The sale deadline has since then been extended to 30 September 2022, but privatization likely wont be completed until at least 2023.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
AleksandarGeorgiev/iStockBy Katie Kindelan, ABC News



(LONDON) -- Prince Philip's death Friday at the age of 99 marked the end of an era in Britain's royal family.



Philip was a steadfast supporter of his wife of 73 years, Queen Elizabeth, and a consistent presence in public life.



When he officially retired from royal duties in 2017 at age 96, Philip had completed more than 22,000 solo engagements since 1952, given 5,496 speeches in his travels to more than 76 countries, authored 14 books, served as patron to 785 organizations and made 637 solo overseas visits, according to Buckingham Palace.



Philip was also a constant presence in the life of his family. In addition to Queen Elizabeth, the duke is survived by four children, eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.



Upon his death, leaders from around the world reflected on Philip's 99 years of life and the legacy he leaves behind.



Buckingham Palace announced Philip's death with a statement that read, in part, "The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss."

It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.



His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/XOIDQqlFPn  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 9, 2021

The statement was shared on the royal family's website, as well as the social media accounts of royal family members, including Philip's grandson, Prince William, and his wife, Duchess Kate.



Members of the royal family are not expected to issue further public comments as they continue their period of mourning.



Following tradition, Buckingham Palace also placed an announcement of Prince Philips death on the gates of the palace. Flags at the palace will be flown at half-mast from today until the morning of the day after the funeral service for Philip.



U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke about Philip's life and legacy in comments delivered Friday outside 10 Downing Street in London.

It is with deep sorrow that we received the news of the death of His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh. More information can be found at: https://t.co/2dSvZhXPw1 pic.twitter.com/ylBSJAofHX  British Army (@BritishArmy) April 9, 2021

"Prince Philip earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and around the world," Johnson said. "Like the expert carriage driver that he was, he helped to steer the Royal Family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life."Former U.S. president George W. Bush said in a statement, Laura and I are saddened to learn the passing of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Throughout his long and remarkable life, he devoted himself to worthy causes and to others. He represented the United Kingdom with dignity and brought boundless strength and support to the sovereign. Laura and I are fortunate to enjoyed the charm and wit of his company and we know how much he will be missed. We join those around the world offering heartfelt condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the entire Royal Family.The British Army also shared news of the death of Philip, whose military career included service in the British Navy during World War II.

It is with deep sorrow that we received the news of the death of His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh. More information can be found at: https://t.co/2dSvZhXPw1 pic.twitter.com/ylBSJAofHX  British Army (@BritishArmy) April 9, 2021

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison released a statement reflecting on Philip's service to Australia, a Commonwealth nation.



"Prince Philip was no stranger to Australia, having visited our country on more than 20 occasions," Morrison said in the statement. "Through his service to the Commonwealth he presided as patron or president of nearly 50 organizations in Australia. Given his own service, Prince Philip also had a strong connection with the Australian Defense Force."



"For 65 years, The Duke of Edinburghs Award scheme has encouraged over 775,000 young Australians to explore their leadership potential. Forty thousand young Australians are currently participating in the program," he said. "Australians send our love and deepest condolences to her Majesty and all the Royal family. The Commonwealth family joins together in sorrow and thanksgiving for the loss and life of Prince Philip. God bless from all here in Australia."



Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf remembered Philip as a "great friend" of his family.



The Queen & I are deeply saddened to learn of the death of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh," he said in a statement. "Prince Philip has been a great friend of our family for many years, a relation we have deeply valued. His service to his country will remain an inspiration to us all. We offer our sincere condolences to Her Majesty The Queen, The Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom."



India Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembered Philip's legacy of community service.



"My thoughts are with the British people and the Royal Family on the passing away of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," he said in a statement. "He had a distinguished career in the military and was at the forefront of many community service initiatives. May his soul rest in peace.



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Neytanyahu said Philip will be missed "in Israel and across the world."



"I express my deepest condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom on the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh," he said. "Prince Philip was the consummate public servant and will be much missed in Israel and across the world."

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.



Copyright  2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Several Republican senators proposed a bill against Chinese influence to minimize the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) effect on American educational institutions. The new bill will provide ways to lessen how the Chinese compromise American institutions.

A New Bill to Stop the Subversion of America

For many years, the CCP promoted their language centers called the Confucius Institutes in universities worldwide. This is part of their grand strategy to gain more influence globally. However, it has not been easy as the Confucius Institutes are getting affected by blowback over their role in promoting communist propaganda. It also appears that they are conditioning students to accept communist-style education against academic freedom, reported the Epoch Times.

Sources identified that these Confucius Institutes are finance, controlled, with staff from Hanban, which is connected to the Chinese Ministry of Education. That was revealed by a 2019 U.S. Senate subcommittee on investigations in a special report.

Hanban has several agreements with universities in the US that are kept confidential; no one outside the university knows anything about the arrangements. In the United States, there are 50 of these China-based institutes, based on data provided by the National Association of Scholars (NAS).

On April 6, a group of Republican lawmakers led by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced a bill against Chinese influence called the Transparency for Confucius Institutes Act. Their goal is to make sure host universities are still in control of these Chinese centers and that all agreements with the Hanban should be made public.

According to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.),

"Confucius Institutes allow the Chinese regime to funnel propaganda into American universities under the guise of educational enrichment."

Chinese Grad Students With Ties to Military Schools Face Expulsion as US Cancel Visas

Senator Blackburn remarked that students in the US should not be "brainwashed by revisionist history" that the Chinese institutions do. They posed a danger by indoctrination to American students who are not aware they are getting brainwashed.

Shoving money to American students is not what CI (Confucius institutes) does. They also have Chinese directors and teachers who are all part of the Chinese regime, with relevant teaching materials. Ex-Confucius teachers said that the CCP dictated what suitable subjects for classes were. Taboo topics like Tibet or Taiwan were avoided, giving a positive image of the CCP is a critical component.

On top of funding, Hanban provides host universities with a Chinese director, teachers trained by the Chinese regime, and teaching materials. Former Confucius Institute teachers previously told The Epoch Times that they were instructed not to discuss topics deemed sensitive by the CCP, such as Tibet and Taiwan, and promote positive images of the CCP to students.

Once the new bill passes the senate floor, the need for a Chinese director is not required. Universities have to specify what programs will be under the Confucius institutes, including those organized by their Chinese language departments.

Senator Hawley added that all the members of the Confucius centers would undergo a required background check. Quoting what the senator said, "Anything else would be an abdication of our national security efforts."

In March, the 'Transparency for Confucius Institutes Act' in the Senate was passed by the Republican senators to stop the overarching influence of these Confucius institutes. The federal government will not give funds.

The 'Transparency for Confucius Institutes Act' is a bill against Chinese influence, which is essential to control because it is getting more serious; it is a means to lessen CCP control of American learning institutions. Where theft of American IT is sanctioned by the CCP has been going on, this bill ends it once and for all.

Chinese Consulate in Houston Closed After Suspicions of Harboring Spies

Chinese Diplomats Banned From Travel in the U.S. Without Clearance

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Chances are, youve been ordering more takeout than ever this past year. Dine-in closures and social distancing efforts amid the COVID-19 pandemic have  temporarily  made crowded restaurants a thing of the past.

2021 Small Business Spotlight: Dont Miss Out on Nominating Your Favorite Small Business To Be Featured on GOBankingRates  Ends May 31

Like many people, you probably miss walking into an establishment and dining without a care. However, youre still trying to do your part to support local restaurants by picking up takeout on a regular basis.

The only thing is, every time you walk into the restaurant to get your order, you feel awkward because youre not sure if youre supposed to tip  and if so, how much to leave.

Related: How Much Should You Tip Your Delivery Driver?

How Tipping Has Changed

Tipping on takeout orders hasnt always been the standard, said Jodi RR Smith, president of Mannersmith Etiquette Consulting.

In our olden, pre-pandemic days, tips on takeout would be given when the order was [completed] quickly, for a really large order or any special instructions, she said. If there was an above-and-beyond action, the tip would be in the 10-15% range.

However, things have changed. Smith said if you want the establishment to be open post-pandemic, you should definitely tip on takeout orders.

During the pandemic you should tip to the point of pain, she said. Tip as much as possible, even if you are doing pick-up.

Find Out: Heres How Much Restaurants Mark Up Your Food

Smith said the servers and restaurants have been hit very hard by the pandemic, so they need your support right now.

A few extra dollars from you can make a huge difference for them, she said. When in doubt, tip more.

Dining Establishments in Crisis Mode

Restaurants were the hardest-hit industry during the pandemic and have the longest road to bounce back to pre-COVID-19 employment levels, according to the 2021 State of the Restaurant Industry Report, released by the National Restaurant Association.

Story continues

More: Surprising Things You Never Knew About Tipping

In fact, the eating and drinking place sector ended 2020 with nearly 2.5 million jobs less than pre-pandemic times, according to the report. This isnt surprising, considering more than 110,000 establishments were closed at least temporarily  many for good  as of Dec. 1, 2020.

Initially, restaurant sales were expected to reach $899 billion in 2020. However, the pandemic ultimately caused sales to fall by $240 billion, according to the report.

Of course, its not just restaurant owners taking a hit  employees who rely on tips to supplement their income have also suffered.

More Modern Money Etiquette: Should You Make Your Venmo Transactions Private or Public?

Employees and Tips

The federal minimum wage for tipped employees  i.e., those earning more than $30 per month in tips  is $2.13 per hour.

Some states have different laws requiring employers to pay tipped employees the full state minimum wage before tips while other states require employers to pay tipped employees a higher minimum wage than mandated under the Fair Labor Standards Act. However, in the case of the latter, this is sometimes just a few cents more than the federally required $2.13 per hour  i.e., hourly rates of $2.23 in Delaware and $2.33 in Wisconsin.

Therefore, servers and other tipped restaurant employees really rely on you to help pay the bills. Failing to tip on takeout orders  or leaving a small fraction of what you would for dine-in service  significantly lowers their income during a global pandemic.

See: US Sees Huge Surge in New Restaurants, Food Trucks as the Country Reopens

Restaurant workers cant do anything about restrictions placed on dine-in establishments due to COVID-19, but you can control your level of generosity during this challenging time.

More From GOBankingRates

Last updated: April 2, 2021

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Modern Money Etiquette: Do You Tip on Takeout Orders or Not?
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The plane that returned from Azerbaijan did not arrive empty; a Turkish-Azerbaijani delegation arrived in Armenia with Rustam Muradov, commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent that is stationed in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict zone to monitor the ceasefire there, Hraparak.am writes about this.

It was rumored this evening that General Muradov's plane will land in Yerevan in an hour and a large group of Armenian prisoners of war will return home. Even the Prime Minister's spokesperson, Mane Gevorgyan, and Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan's office confirmed this news. RFE/RL broadcast live from Erebuni Airport in Yerevan, while ruling My Step bloc MP Nazeli Baghdasaryan boasted on the air that she was dealing with the matter of the captives.

As Hraparak.am covered the return of the captives several times, all this seemed suspicious to us. First of all, the information about the return of the captives was kept top secret, our sources were strongly demanded not to arrive at the airport early, not to write news in advance, and to come to the airport only after the flight. The Baku-Yerevan flight lasts 20 minutes, until the door of the plane was closed in Baku, we were not being told how many captives were returning and, of course, we did not give any news in advance. There was even a case when the plane was a few hours late and our camera crew waited patiently away from the airport until the flight was confirmed.

This time, however, the source of the announcement in advance, they say, was the Deputy Prime Minister, in the absence of the Prime Minister. It is said that Mane Gevorgyan asked Avinyan about the return of the captives and, receiving a positive answer, hurried to tell the good news to the reporters. Avinyan's unrestrained behavior has put the entire ruling team in a very awkward position, which is now trying to present the plane that came without prisoners as "unfortunately, it is being delayed again."

As for Muradov's plane, the question arises: why did the general go to Baku if the captives would not return? Our sources say that the plane did not arrive empty at all; a Turkish-Azerbaijani delegation came to Armenia with Muradov, and whose mission is to locate the road being built in the Meghri area, so to speak, to study the area. Thus, the November 9 agreements all the points which are beneficial to Azerbaijan are being fulfilled with lightning speed, whereas the points concerning Armenia are being perverted, the captives are called criminals, the part of the road that is necessary to the Azerbaijanis is being unblocked, and the points of return of our captives are not being fulfilled.
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The former president never had a valid reason to sue to toss out Wisconsins 3.3 million votes, a long-shot effort that would have paved the way for the states GOP-dominated legislature to appoint a slate of electors more favorable to Trump, the county said in a filing Thursday in federal court in Milwaukee.
Updated at 3:10 p.m. ET on 2021-04-09

Democracy must be restored in Myanmar to ease the Rohingya refugee burden on Bangladesh, U.S. special envoy John Kerry said Friday during a lightning visit to the South Asian nation to drum up support for a Washington-hosted climate summit.

The American diplomat heaped praise on Bangladesh for its extraordinary generosity in sheltering the refugees from Myanmar, and even mentioned Dhakas controversial decision to relocate thousands to a flood-prone island.

He called the current situation in Myanmar one of the great moral challenges of the planet today, in referring to a coup and deadly violence against civilians by the same military that caused hundreds of thousands of traumatized Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh in 2017.

Bangladesh has been one of the greatest helping hands, youve given them an island. Youve helped people to be able to find a future, but thats not a long-term future, and that doesnt resolve the issue, Kerry, President Joe Bidens special envoy for the climate, told reporters in Dhaka.

So the new administration, Secretary [of State] Tony Blinken, is very cognizant of this issue, and very focused on it, and I know that he and the administration are going to do everything in their power to try to restore democracy to Myanmar, and in the doing of that, to try to be able to help relieve the pressure and the challenges that the Rohingya represent, Kerry said in responding to a question from a BenarNews correspondent.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen, who appeared at a press conference with Kerry, asked Washingtons special envoy for help in repatriating the Rohingya  about 1 million of whom are sheltering at densely crowded refugee camps in southeastern Coxs Bazar district.

The vast majority crossed the border into Bangladesh while escaping a brutal military offensive in their home state of Rakhine in 2017.

We hope that the U.S.s proactive initiative can help with a safe and dignified return, Momen said.

Addressing climate issues, Kerry said, Were excited in the United States about the prospect of moving to this cleaner energy, this new future that protects our world for our children, our grandchildren, future generations, and we live up to our global responsibility to lead and to do what young people around the world are asking us to do  which is to behave like adults. And get the job done.

Kerrys visit to South Asia came ahead of President Bidens virtual Leaders Summit on the Climate, from April 22 until 23, and which will include 40 world leaders. His hours-long visit to the Bangladeshi capital was the third and final stop on an official trip, which also took him to Abu Dhabi and New Delhi.

[W]ere delighted that Bangladesh will take part in President Bidens summit, but equally importantly, were delighted that we have the ability to work together now, intentionally going forward, in order to bring technology, research and finance to do what we know what we must do, he said, referring to an invitation, which he officially extended to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during his short trip to Dhaka.

Hasina hosted Kerry at her residence and praised U.S. efforts under Biden to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate, after the previous administration had pulled the United States out of the international pact, which aims to reduce carbon emissions in countering global warming.

The returning of the U.S. to the Paris Agreement will create new momentum to the climate diplomacy, she said, according to state-owned BSS news agency.

Rohingya and climate crisis

Linking the Rohingya crisis with the climate crisis, Momen discussed how the refugee camps have had a negative effect.

About 1.1 million Rohingya are destroying our forest and ecosystem, he said.

As many as seven reserve forests, totaling about 2,500 acres, were wiped out in Coxs Bazar as the Rohingya who began fleeing Myanmar in August 2017 cut down trees for firewood and to construct makeshift shelters, area forest officer Ali Kabir said two months later.

Landslides that struck near the camps in 2018 killed at least a dozen people, including a Rohingya youth who was killed by a falling tree.

Climate change, more broadly, is a critical issue for the South Asian country.

Bangladesh loses 2.5 percent of its national income annually because of extreme weather-related phenomena, according to analysts. Experts have also warned about the effects of global warming causing erosion as sea levels rise and threaten low-lying areas along the countrys coastline, where millions of people live.

Bangladesh chairs the Climate Vulnerable Forum, a group of 48 countries that are home to 1.2 billion people and have a combined gross domestic product valued at U.S. $2.3 trillion. Forum members collectively contribute only 5 percent of total emissions.

The nation has been at the forefront in the climate negotiations as one of the leaders of the group of Least Developed Countries.

There are many issues that need to be sorted out in the climate change negotiations, Md Ziaul Haque, an official who represents Bangladesh at climate negotiations, told BenarNews.

In terms of carbon emission, we are at the bottom, but we are one of the severely affected countries. Our main demand is to reduce carbon emission in line with the Paris Agreement and the developed and developing countries must do it, he said.

Unless they reduce emissions, we will continue to be affected by severe weather conditions such as temperature rise, sea level rise, frequent and severe floods, droughts, river erosion, storms and so forth.

Incredible spirit

Kerry spoke about the incredible spirit and helping hand that Bangladesh has given to the Rohingya refugees.

Efforts to provide food supplies to the Rohingya cost about U.S. $11 million per month, the World Food Program representative in Bangladesh said in March 2020.

The U.S. has been the leading donor to the humanitarian response to the crisis in Myanmars Rakhine state and Bangladesh, having provided nearly $1.2 billion since August 2017. In October 2020, the U.S. donated $200 million of the $600 million raised in a virtual fundraiser to support United Nations efforts to assist Rohingya in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Meanwhile, since last December, Bangladesh has moved at least 18,000 Rohingya from refugee camps on the mainland to Bhashan Char, a Bay of Bengal island.

The government plans to relocate 100,000 Rohingya there as a measure for relieving crowding at the camps in Coxs Bazar, although international human rights groups and humanitarian organizations have voiced concerns about the islands vulnerability to cyclones. The government, which has built housing and infrastructure to accommodate the refugees, insists that Bhashan Char is safe and that refugees are moving there voluntarily.

Kerry also discussed U.S. efforts to push Myanmar back toward democracy.

On Feb. 1, the military overthrew the government that was elected in November 2020 and arrested civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and other political leaders. Since then, military and security forces have cracked down on protesters, killing at least 618 people, according to Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thai NGO.

I know that we fought very hard to try to see Myanmar move in a different direction and we had high expectations and we talked frequently with and worked with Aung San Suu Kyi to try to move the process forward, said Kerry, who served as U.S. secretary of state during the second Obama administration (2013-2017).

I personally visited Naypyidaw and met with the generals and we tried very hard, to hold, to have an accountability that met the highest universal standards of human behavior ... they have not honored that.

Kamran Reza Chowdhury in Dhaka contributed to this report.
The author's father's rice and beans, along with her favorite photo of her father. It includes a sweet inscription to his parents, sent with letters home in 1955. (Courtesy of Cara Colon-McLauchlan)

The Family Table: In My Fathers Rice and Beans, a Celebration of Home, Family, and A Love That Remains

Readers share their treasured recipes

Submitted by Cara Colon-McLauchlan, Raleigh, North Carolina

Rice and beans meant home to my dad. No matter the occasion, they were his way of celebrating the place he knew and longed for always.

As a child, I grew up listening to the stories of tenacity from his homeland of Puerto Rico. His memories of losing everything during the Great Depression and selling food in the streets were hard to imagine as an ordinary American kid. For him, banding together as a family wasnt simply a nice idea, it meant survival. Each sibling before him worked hard, saved money to go to college, then found a job in order to send money home for the next one to do the same. This pattern repeated over and over until it was his turn, the youngest child of nine children.

My dad left Puerto Rico in the 1950s to attend medical school in Philadelphia. Going against his familys wishes and the politics of the country, my father gave up all he fiercely lovedfamily and home.

But even when my father was dying and in his late 80s, his understanding of family held an unfathomable depth. No matter his state of health, he always mustered the energy to make rice and beans for my visits home. It was the buoyant remnant of a far-flung place and the hope he carried with him always. It was his way of sharing something with us that was more than food, but a love that only lately have I fully understood.

On the surface, rice and beans is a truly humble dish, yet deeply personal. Even among my four siblings, we cannot agree on the subtleties. In fact, as I was composing this recipe with them, they all vehemently chimed in with their own absolutes. Rice and beans are a vast legacy and taken seriously by all of us.

It starts with a sofritothe basic preparation of foundational elements in Latin American cooking. This typically includes a combination of onion, garlic, tomato, and salt pork or bacon. My dads favorite way to make Puerto Rican rice was by cooking it to the point of forming an extra crispy, almost burnt layer on the bottom for texture. This was achieved by adding a generous amount of oil at the end, and cooking it undisturbed for an additional 30 minutes on low heat. This crispy bottom layer is called pegao, meaning stuck in Spanish. This was the best part and always fought over in our family.

My dad passed away in April 2020, during the peak of COVID, at age 90. I find it ironic and tragic that a small-town doctor who saved countless lives was unable to have a moment to celebrate his one incredible life. But in many ways, he was just like the dish he loved to share. Humble. Deeply personal. Passing away in a pandemic would have been exactly his style, preferring to quietly tuck away and not make a fuss.

Now, each time I make rice and beans, I celebrate him. My hands fall into a satisfying rhythm of chopping and assembling the ingredients. I take my time; it is a dish best prepared in a slow, puttering state. By not rushing things, the ingredients are given proper time to bloom and fully ripen together. For my father, he wasnt just giving us a meal; he was showing us home. He was reliving the beauty of a faraway island and he wanted us to see it at its very best. This meal deserved preparation with a sense of sacredness and care.

As I make it now, Im reminded of his deep love of home and family. I make this dish partly because it connects me to a place and a culture, but more to honor a love that remains. It remains despite living far from my childhood home, despite my own family looking vastly different than his from Puerto Rico, and despite my father no longer cooking on this side of heaven. I make this dish and I honor him. In this way, I am reminded of his ability to demonstrate family and love as always what you make it. In this way, home is never far away.

My Fathers Puerto Rican Rice and Beans

This recipe is dedicated to my father, Dr. Cesar Colon-Bonet, and the Colon siblings, who provided extensive inputDenise Colon-Bonet, Ivan Colon, Glenn Colon-Bonet, William Colon, and Cara Colon-McLauchlan.

Like all good recipes, it serves as a reflection of the deeply personal nature of family and should be adapted to your own personal family tastes and style.

Serves 8 to 10

For the Puerto Rican Beans

3 tablespoons olive oil

6 strips bacon, diced

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/8 teaspoon oregano

1 tomato, roughly chopped

2 cans kidney, pinto, or pink beans, 15.5 ounces each, rinsed

Additional liquid for moisture: 1/2 cup broth, 1/2 cup water, or 1/2 can unsweetened coconut milk, in true Caribbean tradition

Salt and pepper, to taste

For the Puerto Rican Rice

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus optional 1/4 cup

6 strips bacon, diced

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/8 teaspoon oregano

1 tomato, roughly chopped

2 to 3 sazon seasoning packets, to taste

3 cups medium- to short-grain rice, rinsed

3 cups water

1/4 cup sliced Spanish olives stuffed with pimentos, rinsed (optional)

Salt, to taste

Cilantro for garnish (optional)

For the Puerto Rican Beans

Start with making the sofrito by frying the bacon in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat in a deep saucepan until brown. Drain off excess oil, leaving 2 to 3 tablespoons in the pan.

Reduce heat to medium, add onion and garlic, and cook gently until soft and translucent. Add oregano.

Remove from heat and stir in tomatoes. Return the pan to the stove over medium heat for an additional minute, until combined.

Rinse beans and add to pan. Simmer gently for 20 minutes over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally. As beans simmer, add liquid to keep moist.

Check seasonings. Serve with Puerto Rican rice.

For the Puerto Rican Rice

Heat the olive oil on medium-high heat in a deep pot. Start by making the sofrito by cooking the bacon over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Drain off excess oil, leaving 2 to 3 tablespoons in the pot.

Add the onion, garlic, and oregano and saute until soft and onion is translucent.

Add tomato and continue cooking for an additional minute until combined.

Add one sazon packet for seasoning. Add the rice and stir to coat, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce the heat to low, and cook for 30 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice has become fluffy.

Optional: If you like an extra-crispy bottom layer for the rice, or pegao, which means stuck, add an extra 1/4 cup olive oil or bacon drippings and continue cooking over low, covered and undisturbed, for 15 to 20 minutes, until a lightly browned and crispy layer forms.

Remove from heat, fluff rice with fork, and check seasonings. Adjust seasoning by adding additional sazon packets or salt as needed. Add rinsed Spanish olives, if using, and any other personal touches.

Leave lid half-covered until ready to serve or re-heat. Garnish with cilantro.

___________________________

Do you have a treasured family recipe that holds a special place in your family history, heritage, or traditions? We would be honored if you would share it with us.

Along with the recipe, tell us its storywho gave it to you, its journey through the generations, and the personal meanings and memories it carries. Is it a special-occasion dish, or an everyday family favorite? Does it connect you to your cultural heritage, or to a certain loved one?

How have you kept the recipe alive, and why is it important to you to do so?

Send your recipe and comments, along with your full name, state, and contact information, to food@epochtimes.com, or mail it to: Food, The Epoch Times, 229 W. 28th St., Floor 7, New York, NY 10001.
San Francisco, April 9 : After Huawei, ZTE and a host of Chinese companies, the US Commerce Department has now added seven supercomputing firms to its Entity List for allegedly supporting China's military efforts.

The move is aimed at restricting the development of Chinese technology towards building weapons of mass destruction.

The new entities include the Shanghai High-Performance Integrated Circuit Design Center, Sunway Microelectronics, and the Tianjin Phytium Information Technology, the US Commerce Department said in a statement on Thursday.

The remaining organisations are the National Supercomputing Centers in Jinan, Shenzhen, WuXi, and Zhengzhou.

These entities are "involved with building supercomputers used by China's military actors, its destabilising military modernisation efforts, and/or weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programmes".

Companies placed on the Entity List are banned from buying parts and components from US companies without government approval.

"Supercomputing capabilities are vital for the development of many - perhaps almost all - modern weapons and national security systems, such as nuclear weapons and hypersonic weapons," US Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo said in a statement.

"The Department of Commerce will use the full extent of its authorities to prevent China from leveraging US technologies to support these destabilizing military modernisation efforts," she added.

In the past, the US has added Chinese chipmaker SMIC, drone company DJI Technology, and other China-based technology companies to the list.
A woman from Maine is suing a medical supply company after a job offer was rescinded following a request that she be allowed to breastfeed her 10-month-old baby during a week long training course.

Siera Boucher filed a complaint against Community Surgical Supply in U.S. District Court in Bangor on Thursday following an investigation by the Maine Human Rights Commission, which backs her claims.

The company, with headquarters in New Jersey, provides patients with equipment and services for medical care at home.

Boucher, 30, from the town of Readfield near Portland, is a licensed respiratory therapist and had applied for the job through the website Indeed.com.

Siera Boucher, 30, secured a job with a medical supply company, Community Surgical Supply, who offered her role after two rounds of interviews

Before starting the job, Boucher, right, asked if she could take her mother and baby along to a week-long training course in Connecticut in order to breast feed

After completing two rounds of interviews and received a written job offer, Boucher was told that she would have to attend a training course in Connecticut.

At the time, with her baby not taking the bottle, she asked an HR representative if it would be possible for her mother to come with, in order to help with babysitting while she was in training sessions.

But instead of approving the request, HR told her that the job offer had been rescinded without offering any further explanation.

Lawyers for Boucher have since uncovered an internal email in which the company's director of operations wrote to the Indeed.com recruiter that offer had been withdrawn because 'we see too many red flags.'

The company CSS then rescinded Boucher's job offer citing 'too many red flags'

Boucher is now suing the company claiming sex discriminations

The director cited that Boucher 'called in to state that she could not travel out of state for training because she needed to care for her 10 month old child.'

Boucher has outlined her position in a statement through her lawyers in which she accuses the company of 'sex discrimination, retaliation and interference with the right to breastfeed.'

'I was excited to go work for CSS. I just had a few questions about attending the one-week training while continuing to feed my baby. The new job with CSS was a great opportunity for me and my family and we were committed to making it work, including attending the one-week training in Connecticut. But CSS never gave me the chance.'

After initially securing the job, Boucher asked an HR rep if she was eligible for a sign-on bonus that had been advertised on the company's website and whether the company would consider a $2 increase in the hourly wage according to the Portland Press Herald.

Although the bonus was said to have not been available, Boucher was told she could have her hourly increase after completing a 90-day probationary period.

'Unlike most Respiratory Therapist positions, the CSS position would allow Ms. Boucher to work a regular weekday schedule, which would enable her to spend more time with her young family,' the complaint details. 'The job at CSS would also afford Ms. Boucher a substantially higher pay rate than the job she held at the time.'

A previous investigation by the Maine Human Rights Commission found that the company was unable to prove that it did not discriminate against her

'The double standard here is unmistakable: men routinely ask questions about job offers with no penalty, but when Ms. Boucher politely asked about breastfeeding and pay, that was enough for CSS to revoke its job offer,' her attorney Carol Garvan said.

'This unequal treatment was not only unfair and bad for CSS's customers who were denied a very capable respiratory therapist, but it was also plainly illegal.'

In the investigation conducted by the Maine Human Rights Commission the report included the company's explanation: 'The event [in Connecticut] could not be moved or rescheduled, and it would not have been possible for the Boucher to attend via videoconference. In light of her questions, the company was worried Complainant would be unhappy with the company and decided to rescind her offer.'

The investigator also found that the Community Surgical Supply company were unable to prove that they did not discriminate against Boucher because she was a breastfeeding mother.

'It is not credible that CSS has never had a job candidate ask questions about pay or hours after receiving, but prior to accepting, a job offer.  Boucher accepted the job offer, which should have negated Manager and Director's concerns about hiring an unhappy employee,' the investigator wrote.

'Boucher has therefore also shown that but for her status as a breastfeeding mother, Respondent would not have rescinded the offer.'

Boucher has now returned to work at her previous job despite having resigned once before when she thought she had secured the new role with CSS.
Calls grew louder Friday for Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli to resign, with every colleague on the towns elected council and the North Bays two congressional representatives saying the young winemaker could not continue to lead in the wake of a Chronicle investigation detailing sexual assault allegations brought by four women.

These multiple, corroborated accounts suggest a pattern of predatory sexual misconduct that is deplorable and totally unacceptable, Reps. Jared Huffman of San Rafael and Mike Thompson of St. Helena, both Democrats, wrote in a joint statement. It is not possible for Mr. Foppoli to credibly or effectively continue serving on the Windsor council. We call on him to resign immediately.

The stamement came as Foppoli lost the support of his chief political ally, Windsor Town Councilmember Debora Fudge. A longtime friend and mentor of Foppoli, Fudge demanded he step down without delay in a lengthy and blistering statement on her Facebook page Friday.

He is not a leader, he is a predator  and he must go  now, Fudge wrote.

Typically vocal on social media, the 38-year-old Foppoli  who denied the allegations through an attorney Wednesday and has not responded since to requests for comment  was silent Friday evening as Windsor witnessed rallies and protests. Someone had affixed a copy of Thursdays print edition of The Chronicle, which featured the investigation into Foppoli on its front page, to the Town of Windsor sign.

Dump the wine, its time to resign! ralliers chanted at the northeast corner of Old Redwood Highway and Lakewood Drive, where the sign sits. A constant stream of drivers chanted their support.

The Chronicle investigation, first published online Thursday morning, documented four womens allegations that Foppoli isolated and sexually assaulted them after nights of drinking alcohol. The alleged assaults took place between 2003 and 2019, and ranged from groping to rape.

In addition, The Chronicle obtained a copy of an email describing purported sexual misconduct by Foppoli that was sent to Fudge in 2017, when she was the mayor of Windsor and Foppoli was the vice mayor. The complainant  whose name was redacted by Windsor officials  said Foppoli tried to remove the bathing suit of a woman who had rented his winerys guesthouse for a birthday celebration, among other allegations.

At the rally Friday, some people held signs that said #FireFudge.

Fudge declined to comment for the Chronicle investigation. On Friday, in her Facebook post, she said she and other town officials responded appropriately to the complaint.

I followed Town policies and procedures and immediately forwarded the email to Windsors Town Manager and Town Attorney (both who have since moved on or retired), Fudge said. I relied on the Town Manager and Town Attorney, who notified the other Councilmembers of the email received. The Town Manager and Town Attorney performed an investigation. I was quick to respond to the accuser, and thanked her for her courage in coming forward.

Foppoli, who has described Fudge as his mentor in public meetings, was nominated by Fudge when the Town Council appointed him mayor in 2018. This past November, voters selected Foppoli as mayor in Windsors first election for the position. He is the co-owner of Christopher Creek Winery on the outskirts of Healdsburg.

Through his attorney, Bethany Kristovich of Los Angeles, Foppoli categorically denied all the allegations described in The Chronicle investigation.

Sexual assault and sexual misconduct are very serious issues, and Mr. Foppoli takes these allegations very seriously, Kristovich said. He has a long history of supporting women in his business, personal, and political lives, and the accusation that he has engaged in any of these misdeeds is deeply troubling. Mr. Foppoli prides himself on working to improve life for all of his constituents, and he will continue to maintain the fundamental value of treating everyone with respect.

More than a dozen elected leaders  including the mayor of every other city in Sonoma County  called on Foppoli to resign within 24 hours of The Chronicle publishing its investigation. And both the League of California Cities and the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors said they were moving forward with efforts to remove Foppoli from two positions he recently acquired beyond Windsor.

The Russian River Winegrowers Association announced Friday afternoon that it had begun the process of terminating Christopher Creek Winery from its membership. Joe Foppoli, Dominics brother and a co-owner of Christopher Creek, served on the wine industry groups board of directors; he was asked to resign and accepted.

As an organization we feel that we need to respond forcefully to these allegations, said Clark Lystra, president of the associations board of directors. The allegations were extensively corroborated, and theyre very disturbing.

In addition, Christopher Creek Winery was suspended from all Sonoma County Vintners and Sonoma County Vintners Foundation programs and activities, officials said Friday.

Active 20-30, a national civic organization to which Foppoli has belonged for at least a decade, announced late Thursday that it had expelled the mayor. One of Foppolis accusers, Allison Britton, told The Chronicle he sexually assaulted her at Active 20-30s national convention in Reno in 2012.

These developments came amid a burgeoning criminal investigation into the allegations made against Foppoli, and amid community members plans for the Friday afternoon rally to raise support for recalling Foppoli from office.

Our Board was deeply disturbed by the seriousness and gravity of these allegations, and felt that given the actions alleged against Mr. Foppoli, removal from membership and expulsion from our organization was the only outcome that would facilitate a path for others to come forward and allow our organization to begin the healing process, Jason Balatti, president of the Active 20-30 Club of Santa Rosa, said in a statement posted to Facebook late Thursday.

Balatti said Foppoli had been suspended from the organization since March 29, when its officers said they first learned about both the upcoming Chronicle investigation and Foppolis alleged assault of Britton. The national organization is conducting an internal investigation that will continue despite Foppolis expulsion, Balatti said.

Foppoli was just this week appointed to the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District to represent Sonoma Countys residents in the operation of the bridge and the districts bus and ferry services.

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said Friday that the Sonoma County board can, and will, take a vote next Tuesday regarding our approval of the appointment.

I will be voting to rescind our approval of that appointment, Hopkins said in a Facebook post. I stand in solidarity and agreement with all eight of the other Mayors of Sonoma County who have publicly called on Dominic Foppoli to resign immediately from all elected and appointed positions.

Hopkins continued, If Mr. Foppoli does not choose to resign, I trust that the leaders and voters of our community will take all actions necessary to strip him of his authority. We cannot reward sexual predators with power.

Hopkins will have support at the Tuesday vote from Supervisor David Rabbitt, who is also a board member for the bridge district, and who previously told The Chronicle he had sent a note to the districts chair asking to rescind Foppolis appointment.

The executive committee of the League of California Cities voted unanimously on Friday evening to remove Foppoli from his position as second vice president for the Cal Cities Mayors and Council Members Department.

The behavior described in the allegations has no place in the Cal Cities organization, and while the allegations are under investigation, we must lead by example, the officials said in an emailed statement.

As the rally in Windsor continued into Friday evening, a woman who had told The Chronicle that Foppoli raped her in 2004, when she was 18, passed by the crowds in a car, her husband at the wheel.

It was strange, she said, to wrap my head around this being for me in part.

The woman said she cried, rolling down her window to scream out her support.

San Francisco Chronicle staff photographer Jessica Christian contributed to this story.

Alexandria Bordas and Cynthia Dizikes are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: alexandria.bordas@sfchronicle.com, cdizikes@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @crossingbordas, @cdizikes
Accor, a world-leading hospitality group, has announced the expansion of the international SLS Hotels & Residences brand to the Middle East with the opening of SLS Dubai.

Developed in partnership with World of Wonders Real Estate  the new property is one of Dubais tallest buildings and is set to officially welcome guests and residents on April 5.

The highly anticipated opening is a testament to the SLS brands longstanding reputation and experience in creating and delivering extraordinary, unforgettable and timeless experiences.

This news comes on the heels of Accors latest phase of expansion following its acquisition of sbe's hotel brands and its planned joint venture with Ennismore, which will see the creation of one of the world's largest and fastest growing lifestyle operators.

Using the SLS Hotels & Residences global perspective gained from its expanding network of hospitality properties, SLS Dubai presents a host of truly enriching and elevated experiences via its portfolio of diversely distinct luxury brands. From Filia, the entirely female-run restaurant that celebrates food & identity, to Carna by the award-winning Italian butcher Dario Cecchinis contemporary steakhouse, SLS Dubais culinary venues are a testament to the hospitality hallmarks of the SLS brand.

Chadi Farhat, Chief Operating Officer, sbe stated: We are happy to announce the official opening of SLS Dubai. We are excited to deliver culinary concepts like Filia, our Italian concept, which will at this specific location focus on empowering the incredible leadership team of women, from our chefs to mixologists to managers. We truly believe that the property will be a highly sought-after destination for global travelers and locals alike.

Located in the Downtown district, SLS Dubai offers 360-degree views over the city, with unobstructed views of the iconic Burj Khalifa, along with a clear overhead of the calming Dubai Creek. The impressive 75-storey tower makes SLS Dubai one of the tallest hotels and residences in the region. Developed in collaboration with international architecture firm Aedas, SLS Dubai features 254 expertly designed hotel rooms by acclaimed designer Paul Bishop, 371 residential units, 321 hotel apartments and in true SLS fashion, contemporary art, sleek accents & exceptional fittings that are unique characteristics of the brands DNA. Bishop, along with his team at Bishop Design, are responsible for the design of the hotel in its entirety, including all of the F&B venues, public spaces as well as the rooms.

Dakota Development, a subsidiary of sbe, provided technical service support for the entire development process including partnering with Bishop Design on SLSs public spaces and food and beverage venues.

Hotel guests will enter through the ground atrium, take an express elevator to the opulent Sky Lobby on the 71st floor, giving them panoramic views of the citys skyline. Floor-to-ceiling windows and a grand marble bar highlight S Bar, a lounge area where the menu is playfully divided between healthy, angelic options and sinful, decadent ones. Take your pick.

On the 75th floor, sits Privilege, a lounge and nightlife venue,featuring the regions highest two infinity pools offering coveted and unobstructed views of Dubai.Privilege is also home to the iconic SLS brand duck, placing it at the top of Dubais most Instagram-worthy destinations.

A modern yet sophisticated coffee brand, called EllaMia, greets guests on the ground floor. Promising a sensory and sensual experience, 12 Chairs is a caviar bar that showcases the very best of caviar exclusively reserved for only a few select guests.

SLS Dubai also includes sbes signature Ciel Spa, the epitome of luxury with treatment rooms, plunge pools, a hair and nail salon, a fully equipped gym and two outdoor terraces. - TradeArabia News Service
Rapper Big Boogie is among 24 people who have been arrested following a highway shooting in Mississippi.

The incident occurred on Interstate 55 near the town of Coldwater, just south of the Tennessee border, shortly before 1 pm Thursday. One man was shot and injured inside of his car.

Officers rushed to the scene where they surrounded a 'caravan of vehicles', before arresting 21 people. They additionally impounded four cars.

Three more people were taken into custody at a separate location.

Big Boogie, real name John Lotts, 24, is based in Memphis, Tennessee, and has previously hit headlines over a separate shooting incident.

In July of last year, two people were fatally shot at a Big Boogie concert in Como, Mississippi. Two men were subsequently arrested and charged.

The rapper has a hit track titled 'Murder 4 Me'.

Rapper Big Boogie is among 24 people who have been arrested following a shooting in Mississippi on Thursday

Officers rushed to the scene where they surrounded a 'caravan of vehicles', before arresting 21 people. They additionally impounded four cars

One of the suspects is seen handcuffed after the shooting incident on Thursday afternoon

Several other suspects were seen lined up after being placed into handcuffs

The victim of Thursday's shooting, who is in a stable condition, has not been publicly identified.

However, officers have confirmed that they recovered a firearm, sums of cash and 'felony amounts of narcotics' inside his vehicle.

One of the passengers inside the car has been confirmed to be a convicted felon.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics are leading the investigation. No charges have yet been filed.

Police confirmed to The Panolian that several of those arrested were members of Big Boogie's 'posse' or 'entourage'.

Big Boogie was scheduled to perform at a BlackSpringBreak event in the town of Biloxi.

Big Boogie (real name John Lotts), 24, is based in Memphis, Tennessee, and has previously hit headlines over a separate shooting incident

The rapper, who boasts almost 250,000 followers on Instagram, is signed with CMG Records

The rapper, who boasts almost 250,000 followers on Instagram, is signed with CMG Records.

A biography from his official website states that he was born in Louisiana and was one of 11 children 'raised mostly below the poverty line'.

Big Boogie's father died when he was young, prompting the youngster to enter the rap scene.

'I got into music out of necessity. I needed money,' he is quoted as saying in the autobiography.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  The Armed Forces of the Philippines is investigating the reported harassment of a Filipino civilian vessel by Chinese Navy and Coast Guard ships in the West Philippine Sea.

The AFP launched the probe on Friday as ordered by the Department of National Defense. Both expressed concern over ABS-CBNs report that its television crew, onboard a Filipino civilian vessel, was chased down by two missile attack craft of the Chinese Navy just around 90 nautical miles from mainland Palawan, well within the Philippines exclusive economic zone.

"The AFP expresses concern over the report of an alleged harassment by Chinese PLA Navy vessels and a Chinese Coast Guard vessel as reported by a team of journalist on board a watercraft within our EEZ," Armed Forces spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, said a statement.

ABS-CBN reporter Chiara Zambrano said the team wanted to do a story on how Filipino fishermen are coping amid the presence of Chinese vessels around the Kalayaan Island Group, a resource-rich area the Philippines considers as part of Palawan province. The KIG is being claimed by Beijing through a historic nine-dash line that an arbitral tribunal already invalidated in 2016.

According to ABS-CBN, the local civilian vessel was four miles away from Ayungin Shoal, internationally known as Second Thomas Shoal, when it received a radio challenge from a ship of the Chinese Coast Guard. Since the message was in English, the Filipino captain was unable to respond and decided to leave instead.

However, the China Coast Guard vessel accelerated its speed and started to chase the Filipino vessel, ABS-CBNs report read.

The Chinese ship followed the Filipino ship on its path home to mainland Palawan for an hour, getting so close that bow number 5101 was visible to the naked eye, sometimes sailing beside the Filipino vessel on either side, it added.

The China Coast Guard vessel eventually left the civilian boat, only to be replaced by two smaller, faster vessels, which turned out to be Houbei Type 22 missile fast attack craft, it said. The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea earlier reported spotting four Chinese Navy vessels at Panganiban Reef, also known as Mischief Reef, the largest of Chinas artificial islands in the disputed Spratlys located less than 20 nautical miles from Ayungin.

Arevalo said the military's Western Command has asked ABS-CBN for raw footage and photographs to help us establish the circumstances and document the incident.

In the same statement, however, he reminded the media to be more prudent.

While we understand the journalists insatiable desire to be ahead in reporting, we appeal to them to exercise prudence in the course of their job, Arevalo said, noting that the AFP previously gave the media access to maritime patrol so they can be protected while in the practice of their profession.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Tedoro Teddy Boy Locsin, Jr. in a series of tweets said he wanted to know if the ABS-CBN team was in a passenger vessel or a boat they hired, saying the latter would be inviting risk.

And you dont give chase; you use your bullhorn to warn off, he said.

In a separate statement, DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said AFPs findings will be used to coordinate any appropriate action through the NTF-WPS and engagement among the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs), DND, DOTR (Department of Transportation), and other concerned agencies."

There have been reports of Chinese vessels driving away Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea, but this could be the first known case of alleged missile-capable boats doing the chase. The incident comes amid diplomatic protests filed by the Philippines against the presence of suspected Chinese militia vessels at Julian Felipe Reef, also known as Whitsun Reef, 175 nautical miles from Bataraza, Palawan.

The landmark arbitral decision recognized the Philippines sovereign rights within its 200-nautical mile EEZ that China contests, but the East Asian giant rejects the ruling.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 10:34:38|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Thursday reported eight new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in Yunnan Province, the National Health Commission said Friday.

The same day also saw 13 new imported cases on the mainland, the commission said in its daily report.

One new suspected case arriving from outside the mainland was reported in Shanghai on Thursday, said the report, adding that no new deaths related to COVID-19 were reported.

Five COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals following their recovery on Thursday, said the report.

A total of 5,397 imported cases had been reported on the mainland by the end of Thursday. Among them, 5,203 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 194 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 90,386 by Thursday, including 279 patients still receiving treatment, three of whom were in severe condition.

As of Thursday, 85,471 patients had been discharged from hospitals following recovery on the mainland, and 4,636 had died as a result of the virus.

There were two suspected COVID-19 cases on the mainland as of Thursday.

Thursday also saw 12 asymptomatic cases newly reported, all of whom from outside the mainland. On the same day, one asymptomatic case was re-categorized as confirmed case.

A total of 293 asymptomatic cases were under medical observation as of Thursday.

By the end of Thursday, 11,549 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 205 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), while 49 cases had been reported in the Macao SAR, and 1,050 cases, including 10 deaths, had been reported in Taiwan.

A total of 11,174 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, while 48 had been discharged in the Macao SAR, and 1,007 had been discharged in Taiwan. Enditem
If the CBMs ties improve further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may pay a visit to Islamabad for the Saarc summit there later this year

When asked whether there could be any Saarc summit in Islamabad which could be attended by Prime Minister Modi, as claimed in Pakistani media reports, the MEA spokesman termed it as speculation, adding that he did not have anything to share on this for now.  PTI file photo

New Delhi: The Indian government on Thursday sidestepped media queries on some claims in the Pakistani media that back-channel secret talks had begun between the two countries over a year ago, with New Delhi saying both countries had functioning high commissions in each others capitals that are a very effective channel of communication.

The Pakistani media reports had further claimed that if the confidence-building measures (CBMs) hold and ties improve further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may pay a visit to Islamabad for the Saarc summit there later this year. The developments come in the wake of a sudden perceptible improvement in India-Pakistan ties in the past six weeks following the implementation of the ceasefire at the Line of Control by the armies of the two countries.

Our respective high commissions exist and are functioning. So thats a very effective channel of communication, MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday, in response to reporters queries on the back-channel talks. When asked whether there could be any Saarc summit in Islamabad which could be attended by Prime Minister Modi, as claimed in Pakistani media reports, the MEA spokesman termed it as speculation, adding that he did not have anything to share on this for now.

Just last week, in a swift U-turn on Thursday following a political backlash, the Pakistan government had deferred its move to import cotton and sugar from India and linked it to the condition that India should first restore Article 370 on Jammu and Kashmir that was abrogated two years ago. However, some optimistic Pakistani media reports are referring to this as a temporary bump.
(Natural News) A new Russian submarine armed with nuclear drones is set to be deployed in the Pacific Ocean.

The Belgorod submarine will serve the Russian Navy once it clears state tests starting in May. A news agency in the country said the submarine will be nuclear-powered.

A source close to the Russian Ministry of Defense told the Russian news agency TASS: According to preliminary information, the Belgorod nuclear submarine  after being handed over to the customer  will serve in the Pacific Ocean. [At] the same time, it will be able to solve its tasks anywhere in the world ocean.

The Belgorod submarine  built as part of Russias Project 09852  is the first underwater craft to carry the Poseidon nuclear drones. It was first launched for testing in April 2019, and was originally scheduled for commissioning the following year. However, information obtained by TASS said the onset of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic delayed the submarines commissioning.

Another source confirmed to the Russian news agency that the Belgorod submarine will also carry the AS-15 deep-sea nuclear station. Under the countrys current armaments program, three other special-purpose submarines similar to Belgorod will be manufactured. These submarines are set to be ready for launch in 2027.

A December 2019 report by RT said Belgorod can carry as many as four Poseidon drones because it has been supposedly modified for that purpose. The report said the submarine measuring 184 meters is one of two vessels assigned to carry the nuclear weapon system. The long-range Poseidon drones are part of Russias effort to combat anti-ballistic missile technologies the U.S. is developing.

The RT report also got confirmation from Mikhail Budchenko, top executive of the Russian submarine manufacturer Sevmash, that Belgorod would be turned over to the Defense Ministry in 2020 along with three other vessels  a Borei-class nuclear missile submarine and two Yasen-class cruise missile submarines. (Related: Russia unveils secret nuclear-armed drone sub that could destroy America as geopolitical posturing puts world on brink of nuclear war.)

Belgorods deployment appears to be in preparation for possible conflict

The Belgorod submarines deployment coincides with a possible conflict involving Russia. Footage shared on social media shows large-scale movements by the Russian military in areas close to eastern Ukraine and Crimea. Russia annexed Crimea into its territory in 2014 while separatist rebels backed by Russia have been fighting Ukrainian forces since the Crimean annexation.

Given the current turn of events, an author of books about the Russian military warned that a major conflict between Russia and Ukraine could break out as soon as May 2021. Russian military expert Pavel Felgenhauer remarked that determining Russias intentions in Ukraine requires a psychoanalysts. However, he continued that incidents between the two nations could see war break out in a month.

The crisis has the potential to escalate into a pan-European war, if not even a world one. But for now, will it happen or not? Lets wait and see. In the west, they dont know what to do about it, Felgenhauer remarked. (Related: Russia testing nuclear missiles and submarines in the Arctic as global tensions escalate.)

While Felgenhauer warned of a potential war involving Russia in Eastern Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin engaged in a word war with U.S. President Joe Biden. A March 18 BBC report said the Russian leader hit back at Biden dubbing him a killer. During an interview on Russian television, Putin remarked that it takes one to know one and challenged the American leader to talk to him face-to-face.

Putins remark aimed at Biden also aimed at the U.S. presidents comment to ABC News that the Russian leader would pay the price for allegedly interfering in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Because of this verbal exchange between the two nations, Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov had been called home to prevent the irreversible deterioration of links.

Visit WWIII.news for more articles about Russia and its conflicts with other nations.

Sources include:

DailyStar.co.uk

TASS.com

RT.com

BBC.com
Krishna district collector Imtiaz said using normal soaps to clean hands in place of alcoholic sanitizers would be better options and they also work effectively.  Representational image/PTI

VIJAYAWADA: Private and corporate hospitals have been strictly warned against collection of high fee from corona patients. Those found guilty of violating government norms face severe punishment, said Krishna district collector A Md Imtiaz on Friday. He warned that hospitals treating Covid infected patients without taking prior permission from the government and collecting abnormal fees will have to forego their registrations and they would be subject to action under the Epidemic Act.

He was speaking at a review meeting on Covid containment measures with DM&HO Dr M Suhasini, DCHS Dr Jyothermai and medical officer Dr Chaitanya Krishna.

He said that there are 14 recognised hospitals with 1,086-bed availability in the district. Imtiaz said that Covid patients can get treatment in recognised hospitals and can also avail Aarogyasree benefits. The recognised hospitals include government general hospital, Vijayawada with 250 beds; district government hospital, Machilipatnam, 150 beds; Time hospital (35 beds); Indo-British hospital (25); Capital Hospital (25); Andhra Hospital (16); Ambitious Accident Hospital (20); Nagarjuna Hospital (15); Kamineni Hospital (25); Nimra Hospital (300); Railway Hospital (60); Anu Hospital (25); PSIUS Hospital (100) and the 40-bedded Ayush Health Care Hospital.

Meanwhile, the officials asked Muslims to follow the Covid protocol during Ramadan. Imtiaz conducted a preparatory meeting with Muslim leaders, clerics and preachers about prayers during the holy month, which starts on April 14.

Prominent Muslim leader Sk Khaja complained about the frequent power-cuts in Nandigama. Sufi mentor Altaf Raza Baba sought supply of non-alcoholic sanitizers as alcohol mix sanitizers are forbidden in the community. Imtiaz said that using normal soaps to clean hands in place of alcoholic sanitizers would be better options and they also work effectively. He urged all Moulvis, Mullas and clerics to take the vaccination without fail.

Krishna district minority welfare officer Razia Sultana said that the government has sanctioned Rs. 18 lakh towards repairs of 186 mosques in the district. The funds have been duly transferred, he said.
Mumbai, April 9 : Mumbai is among the world cities that have made significant progress on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a new global study.

Mumbai was categorised "Sprinter" on the SDG progress along with cities like Singapore, Osaka and Tokyo.

The new "Smart City Solutions for a Riskier World" study showed that while Covid-19 posed significant hurdles to cities worldwide, it also accelerated a wave of innovation that will continue after the crisis.

The study was carried out by ESI ThoughtLab research and sponsored by Oracle, Deloitte, Intel, and others.

The research underscores the vital role technology, data, cybersecurity, and public-private partnerships play to ensure a healthy, safe, and prosperous future for citizens in the wake of the pandemic.

Conducted in August and September 2020, the research included a survey of senior officials from 167 cities across 82 countries, including in Asia, North and Latin America, Europe, and Africa.

Cities were assessed and categorised based on progress in two categories: progress in applying smart solutions, with cities being classified as either "beginner," "intermediate", or "leader;" and progress on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with cities classified as either "implementer," "advancer," or "sprinter." Mumbai, Chennai and Pune were among cities categorised as "intermediate" in applying smart solutions.

"We are seeing that the more successful cities are focusing on emerging technologies that have a direct impact on service delivery, such as cloud computing, AI, and digital assistants," John Tuohy, Director, Smart Cities strategy, Oracle, said in a statement.

"Providing remote access to staff and residents is crucial for maintaining business continuity." The survey showed that 65 per cent of city leaders noted the biggest lesson learned during the pandemic was just how crucial smart city programmes were for their future.

While 43 per cent respondents learned the importance of operational continuity and agility, 37 per cent of city leaders said Covid-19 highlighted the need to invest more in upgrading core infrastructure, according to the survey.

About 88 per cent of city leaders identified investment in cloud platforms as the most urgent requirement needed for the successful delivery of critical and non-critical citizen services.

Moreover, 66 per cent of cities are investing heavily in AI and 80 per cent will do so over the next three years, especially in the area of digital assistants and chatbots, said the study.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on stage after speaking to supporters at Joint Base Andrews before boarding Air Force One for his last time as president in Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Jan. 20, 2021. (Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty Images)

Better Than 50-50 Chance Trump Runs Again: Former WH Chief of Staff

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows claimed that there is a better than 50-50 chance that former President Donald Trump runs for president again.

Im feeling great about President Trumps willingness to serve once again in the Oval Office, he said in an interview with former Trump administration official Sebastian Gorka.

Meadows, who did not elaborate, said that Trump is making all the preparations necessary for another White House bid and is being encouraged by his friends and ex-Trump administration staffers.

Ultimately, what I think you will see is a vision for America that didnt stop on Nov. 3, didnt stop on Jan. 20, and we need to reengage, Meadows said. So hes getting major encouragement, and I would say this: I would put the odds at better than 50-50 that he runs again, and everybody should take note of that.

However, should Trump run, he would likely have to re-establish himself on social media.

After he was banned on Twitter and Facebook, Trump has opted to send out press releases and statements via email, and some former aides have said he is planning to launch a social media platform.

They havent silenced me, Trump told Newsmax on April 6 of Twitter, Facebook, and Google moving to de-platform him. Im not getting into trouble because I dont retweet people that, after you do massive research, you find out maybe you shouldnt have, Trump said.

Last week, Trumps interview with Lara Trump was taken down from Facebook, with Lara Trump posting an email allegedly sent by a Facebook staffer that said it will remove content with the voice of Donald Trump.

Twitters become very boring  many people have left, the former president also said, adding that he helped bring life to the social media platform when he started using it years ago.

When I went on Twitter years ago, it was like a dead company, he said.

In March, Trump said that he will make a decision about running for reelection in 2024 after seeing how the 2022 midterm elections pan out.

Based on every poll, they want me to run again, but were going to take a look, and well see. We have first steps. First, we have to see what we can do with the House, Trump said last month in an interview with Fox News Maria Bartiromo.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 06:29:06|Editor: huaxia

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VIENNA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. promise on lifting unilateral sanctions must be put into action immediately, said Wang Qun, Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, on Friday, after a meeting with other senior diplomats concerning the Iran nuclear deal.

"Regarding the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States, China and the parties concerned clearly expressed their concerns at the meeting, and it must be lifted immediately," Wang told Xinhua after the talks on the resumption of implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by the United States and Iran.

Wang said that "such sanctions problems were all caused by the previous U.S. government's illegal sanctions on entities and individuals that implemented the JCPOA."

He stressed that the lifting of these sanctions is "not only a bilateral issue, but also an important aspect of safeguarding the JCPOA, which is the result of multilateralism."

"We have noticed that the U.S. side recently released some positive messages about the lifting of such sanctions, and we call on the U.S. to take practical actions immediately to facilitate the complete and effective implementation of the JCPOA," Wang added.

The Joint Commission of the JCPOA, known as the Iran nuclear deal, resumed talks here again on Friday, following Tuesday's meeting. The Iran nuclear deal was struck in 2015 but paralyzed by the U.S. withdrawal in 2018.

Wang told Xinhua that Friday's meeting was "constructive in general, as all parties have actively implemented the consensus reached at the joint ministerial meeting last December, and that the parties were moving in the right direction."

Intensive work has been carried out upon the two processes launched in the current meeting, namely, the nuclear implementation and sanction-lifting working groups' work, and the "proximity talks" with the United States, Wang said.

"Through these four days of meetings, the differences between the parties concerned are narrowing, and we have seen the momentum towards gradually forming a consensus among parties concerned. And this has created a beneficial atmosphere for the next step towards a good prospect," he added.

Wang said the parties will continue negotiations here next week. "We hope that the positive and constructive momentum of this week's meeting can be continued."

"Vienna is the place where the negotiations on the JCPOA started and reached," Wang said. "China hopes that Vienna will also witness all parties reaching an arrangement for the United States and Iran to resume the implementation of the JCPOA." Enditem
Strictly Come Dancing judges Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli have landed their own motoring show on ITV.

Both Craig, 56, and Bruno, 65, are passionate about vehicles, and their new programme will 'combine their love of both cars and travel as they motor the length and breadth of the nation,' according to The Mirror.

Speaking about the exciting new venture - which has a working title of Craig and Bruno's Great British Adventure - Bruno said: 'I always had nice cars. I love driving around Regent's Park with the hood down.'

Exciting: Strictly Come Dancing judges Craig Revel Horwood, 56, and Bruno Tonioli, 65, have landed their own motoring show on ITV

He added: 'I suppose that is, kind of, my extravagance.'

Craig, however, only passed his driving test in 2011, but told the outlet of his 'passion' for classic cars, namely his Triumph Stag, which the star spent an impressive 35,000 restoring.

He explained: 'People stare when they see it coming down the road and there is nothing better on a beautiful day than driving along with the top down.

'I love the roar of the exhaust as I drive through a tunnel or listening to the powerful sound reverberate off buildings. It's absolutely wonderful.'

Flashy: Speaking about the exciting new venture Bruno reportedly said: 'I always had nice cars. I love driving around Regent's Park with the hood down'

The news of Bruno and Craig's new show comes after it was reported that Strictly bosses are planning to resume their usual run of 13 weeks for its upcoming series.

It was also reported that the much-anticipated Blackpool special will be back this year, after travel restrictions meant a trip to the seaside town last year was impossible.

A source confirmed to The Sun: 'They're going to put on a full series this year. That means 13 episodes will and all of the themed weeks. The pinnacle will be the trip to Blackpool and that's always been the way on Strictly.

'As things stand, the whole show will head to the North West in November. Everyone is really excited.'

The BBC declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.

Strictly's eighteenth series faced major setbacks and was forced to go ahead with strict social distancing protocols in place.

This meant the annual Blackpool trip was scrapped, and the competition only ran for nine episodes.

However, the BBC succeeded in keeping the show on air despite a handful of COVID-19 outbreaks, with the likes of Katya and her celebrity partner, world champion boxer Nicola Adams, 38, testing positive for the virus and leaving the show early.

New driver: Craig, however, only passed his driving test in 2011, but told of his 'passion' for classic cars, namely his Triumph Stag (pictured in 2017)

Popstar HRVY, 22, also tested positive before the show aired, however was able to recover in time to take part.

Bruno is reported to have ruled out a return to the 2021 judging panel after he missed last year's show due to his commitments on the judging panel for the US version Dancing With The Stars.

Bruno is said to have told friends he 'can't commit' to the upcoming series.

Exciting: It's been reported that Strictly bosses are planning to resume their usual run of 13 weeks for its upcoming 2021 series

He appeared on last year's Strictly via video link after being unable to return to the UK during the Covid crisis, and has previously travelled across the Atlantic to simultaneously film both shows.

A source told The Sun: 'Bruno can't commit to both shows right now and is staying put in LA  it's a better lifestyle there, with great weather, which is good for his health.

'He earns close to 1 million a series in America, so he has to prioritise that.

'Of course, he's still very much part of the Strictly family and is keen to appear on a video link several times through the series.'
New Delhi, April 9 : In November 2015, Narendra Modi in his second public meeting in Kashmir after becoming the Prime Minister had announced Rs 80,000 crore development package for J&K's development.

The then J&K Chief Minister, late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who shared stage with Prime Minister Modi and was his alliance partner at that point of time, had tried his best to push Modi to soften his stand towards Pakistan and Kashmiri separatists but the Prime Minister had snubbed him by saying, "I don't need advice or analysis from anyone in this world on Kashmir. The three mantras of Atal ji... and these will be helpful in moving forward. 'Kashmiriyat ke bina Hindustan adhura hai'. (Without Kashmiriyat, India is incomplete). Sufi tradition has emerged from this land and this tradition has taught us oneness and strength of unity." Even four years before, when there was no debate over scrapping Article 370 -- due to which J&K enjoyed special privileges -- PM Modi had made it clear that it was his "heartfelt desire" that the Rs 80,000 crore package announced by him should help in turning the fate of J&K people. He had stated that the money should be used for converting Jammu and Kashmir in a modern, prosperous and progressive place.

PM Modi had assured the people of J&K that the package announced by him was just a beginning and it was not a full stop. "Delhi's treasury is for you. Not only our treasury, but our heart also beats for you," PM Modi had told the gathering.

In 4-years only 37 per cent of funds were utilized Till 2020 the J&K Government could only spend 37 per cent of Rs 80,000 crore package that was announced by the Prime Minister. When PM had made the announcement at that time it was decided by the Central Government that the sanctioned amount would be spent in five years and the developmental works under the package had to be completed by the ending 2020.

According to the official figures, of the Rs 80,068 crore package, Rs 30,049 were released till March 31, 2019 for the erstwhile J&K state. Of the 63 projects, only 18 were completed in five years. In 2020, the parliamentary panel had expressed dismay over the slow pace of work under the package.

Change after August 5, 2019 Soon after the Government of India (GoI) announced its decision to revoke J&K's special status and divided it into two union territories on August 5, 2019, many things changed in Jammu and Kashmir. The biggest change the newly carved out union territory witnessed was the government shifting its focus on development projects and expediting the pace of the works.

Nearly one year after the abrogation of Article 370, in July 2020, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated six bridges in border areas of J&K.

The work on Shahpur-Kandi, electricity, and irrigation project that couldn't commence for five decades has begun. The Ujh project has been fast-tracked. And the metro rail is on its way to Srinagar and Jammu. Union Power Minister R.K. Singh and then Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik had jointly inaugurated 15 power projects and laid the foundation stone for 20 others worth Rs 10,000 crore in September 2019.

The world's highest railway bridge over the river Chenab that is expected to connect Kashmir with the rest of India by train for the first time is likely to be completed by 2022.

Municipal Committees were empowered to approve projects up to Rs 5 crore and transparent e-tendering was also made mandatory. In 2021, Kashmir witnessed a heavy snowfall. It was for the first time in the past seven decades that the Valley didn't plunge into darkness due to weather vagaries and the Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) ensured that history is not repeated in the harsh winter season.

After the scrapping of Article 370 the government announced that it would refurbish 11 airports -- including two along the India-China border and military airports along India-Pakistan border like Poonch, Rajouri, Gurez would also be expanded and opened up for civilian use.

For developing the Information and Technology sector in J&K many sops have been framed like providing "subsidy on rent" to the outside investors. The policy document of the government envisages two IT parks -- one each in Srinagar and Jammu -- spread over 5 lakh square feet.

The J&K administration has also released a real estate policy which said that "land banks" created by the government will be disbursed to "private developers" through a transparent bidding process.

According to Union Minister of State for HRD, Communications, and Electronics & Information Technology Sanjay Dhotre, the Government of India after August 5, 2019 has expedited the process of opening of IIT, IIM and AIIMs and allowing development of highways, power generation and irrigation projects.

The projects that were lying dormant for the last several decades were also being revived in a speedy manner. Dhotre had stated that various developmental schemes include, acceleration of the projects being executed under the Prime Minister Development Package (PMDP); to execute effective implementation of various schemes targeting the individual beneficiaries; to restart the long-pending projects by removing the obstacles that have been holding such projects; and, to ensure effective administration with transparency.

J&K opens up for outsiders After August 5, 2019, the government has left no stone unturned to woo the outside investors into Jammu and Kashmir as the region is now free of the restrictions imposed by the special status.

The creation of land banks, the new industrial policy under which the outsiders can get the land on lease for 90-years have been among the major steps that were taken during the past one and a half years.

According to the official figures, more than 40 companies have expressed their interest to invest in J&K after the abrogation of Article 370. Till December 2020 the government had accepted proposals of 33 companies. The current figure of the proposal of investments stands at Rs 15000 crore. Companies from various fields like Renewal Energy, Hospitality, Defence, Tourism, Skill, Education, IT & Technology and infrastructure have come forward to set up their units in J&K.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed




Haiti - Diplomacy : The Core Group worried about the general deterioration of the situation in the country





The Core Group made up of Ambassadors from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Spain, the United States of America, France, the European Union, the Special Representative of the Organization of American States and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations expresses her concern at the growing political polarization and the general deterioration of the situation in Haiti.



In accordance with the framework set by the declaration of 24 March 2021 by the President of the United Nations Security Council (S/PRST/2021/7), it calls for free, fair, transparent and credible elections in 2021. In this regard, it is the responsibility of the Haitian authorities to facilitate the participation in these ballots of the greatest number of citizens https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33241-haiti-elections-already-more-than-4-million-registered-voters.html, in particular by ensuring as best as possible the security of candidates and voters and by establishing the most reliable and complete electoral lists possible.



The Core Group encourages all stakeholders to forge a consensus that would allow the various ballots to take place in a peaceful atmosphere. He urges all actors to refrain from resorting to violence as a political instrument.



In addition, he calls on the authorities to fight against insecurity and against impunity. He is waiting for them to bring the alleged perpetrators of serious crimes (notably the massacres perpetrated in several working-class neighborhoods and the assassination of the Batonnier Dorval) to the courts.



The Core Group recalls that only Haitian solutions and the commitment of Haitians can solve the country's problems.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33432-haiti-elections-the-dominican-government-deeply-concerned.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33241-haiti-elections-already-more-than-4-million-registered-voters.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















The Morrison government says employers must abide by existing obligations to stamp out sexual harassment as it comes to a final decision about the extent of legislative change needed.

But workplace law experts say it is clear the work, health and safety (WHS) regime isnt adequately protecting people from sexual harassment.

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash and Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week released the governments response to a report on ending workplace sexual harassment. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

In the governments response to Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins landmark Respect@Work report, it noted a recommendation to put the onus on employers to eliminate sexual harassment within their workplaces.

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash pointed out there was an existing positive duty within WHS laws and said the government would assess whether changing the Sex Discrimination Act would create further complexity, uncertainty or duplication.
The most famous family on earth is mourning the loss of its patriarch.

Prince Philip, the husband of British monarch Queen Elizabeth II, has died, Buckingham Palace has announced. He was 99.

The Duke of Edinburgh -- who married then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947 -- was the longest-serving consort in British history.

He will be remembered for his charitable work, his dedication to public service and, of course, his mischievous and controversial sense of humor.

Phillip once jokingly referred to himself as "the world's most experienced plaque unveiler." But as a child born into the turmoil of interwar Europe and a naval officer decorated for heroism during World War II, the Duke of Edinburgh was an extraordinary figure in his own right.

Childhood and exilea

Philip's life was dramatic from the outset. The nephew of Greece's King Constantine I, the Prince of Greece and Denmark was born in 1921 on the dining room table of a villa on the Greek island of Corfu.

He was forced into exile just 18 months later, when the Greek monarchy was overthrown by a military revolt. His family's experience shaped Philip's later desire to modernize the British Royalty, in the hope they would seem more relevant to the Queen's subjects.

He was taken on board HMS Calypso, the British cruiser given the secret mission to take his family to safety, sleeping in a crib made out of an old fruit box.

Stateless and -- by royal standards -- poor, Philip's family spent the next few years traveling between the homes of European relatives, as the continent descended into the political and economic upheaval that ultimately led to World War II.

His mother, Alice, was committed to a psychiatric clinic in 1930. This meant Philip rarely saw his parents growing up. He was instead mentored by an uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and dispatched to a series of boarding schools in England, Germany and Scotland.

In 1935, Greece voted to reinstate its monarchy, but Philip's father Andrew resisted pressure to push his son into the Greek military service. Instead, Philip remained at Gordonstoun, the school in Scotland where he would later send his own sons, including Prince Charles. It was here he began preparing for training to join the British Royal Navy.

Tragedy struck in 1937, when Philip's sister, Cecile, died in an airplane crash while going into labor. Her husband and prematurely born child both lost their lives too.

The war years -- and a princessa

He joined the Navy in 1939, the same year he met Elizabeth when she visited the Royal Navy College in Dartmouth with her father, King George VI. The trip had been arranged by Mountbatten.

One of his cousins, Lady Kennard, described the teenage Prince as "like a sort of young Viking, very blond and strong and very handsome. Oh, I think he was everybody's heartthrob."

As a citizen of Greece, Philip was initially deployed as a "neutral foreigner" serving on naval escort and convoy missions. But after Italy invaded Greece in 1940, he was assigned to Valiant, a battleship that would soon see action in the Mediterranean.

Philip was commended for his operation of searchlights during night battle in 1941 near Cape Matapan, where the British destroyed much of the Italian fleet. He was later awarded the Greek War Cross of Valor.

After numerous postings and promotions, Philip was in 1944 appointed first lieutenant of HMS Whelp, a destroyer that would be deployed in the Pacific as part of a British fleet in joint operations with the US Navy, including the landings at Iwo Jima during the Pacific conflict. When peace came, Philip remained in the navy, but rekindled a friendship with Elizabeth that blossomed into a public romance.

Marriage into the British royal familya

In 1947, Philip became a naturalized British subject, renounced his royal titles and changed his name from Philip Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg. He took the surname of his uncle and godfather, becoming Philip Mountbatten.

The couple married in Westminster Abbey in 1947. Shortly afterward, Philip returned to naval duty, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander.

Newly appointed as the Duke of Edinburgh, Philip had to abandon his naval career for royal duties after the then King, George VI, fell ill. The King died on February 6, 1952, while Philip and Elizabeth were on an official trip to Kenya. It was Philip who broke the news to his wife -- now the Queen.

The royal couple had two children before Elizabeth acceded to the throne -- Prince Charles in 1948 and Princess Anne in 1950 -- and two after, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. They have eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.a

During the early years of the couple's marriage, the Prince enjoyed the height of his popularity. On their first major tour together -- to Canada and the US in 1951 -- huge crowds turned out to see the couple.

Their relationship was discussed in an ITV documentary about Prince Philip and the 60th anniversary of his charity, Duke of Edinburgh award, in 2016.

Sophie Wessex, wife of the couple's youngest son, Prince Edward, revealed how the pair still enjoyed each other's company after more than six decades of marriage.

"He has been a fantastic life partner for her. I think it's maybe a fairly lonely job being Queen," she said. "As a female in the top job, I think to have somebody you can lean on, you can discuss things with, she can be honest with behind closed doors ... I don't think she could have chosen better. And they make each other laugh, which is half the battle, isn't it?"

Horses, polo and gaffesa

The Duke himself spoke of his own struggles to find a purpose within the royal family, saying he took on patronages out of duty rather than passion.

"I didn't want to be president of the World Wildlife Fund," he said in an interview in 1992. "I was asked to do it. I'd much rather have stayed in the navy, frankly."

But it is for his charitable work that many will remember him. As of 2016, more than 2.4 million people had achieved a Duke of Edinburgh Award in the United Kingdom alone. The program operates in more than 140 countries and territories in total.

He was also a patron or member of 785 national organizations, many of them charities.

As of May 2017, Buckingham Palace said Philip had carried out 22,191 solo engagements since becoming Prince Consort in 1952. He made 637 solo overseas visits, more than a third of them to Commonwealth countries. He also gave 5,493 speeches and authored 14 books.

Yet he found time to pursue his own interests: over the years these have included polo, barbecues, competitive horse carriage driving (a sport in which he has represented Britain) and practical jokes. He even trained to be a pilot, being awarded his "wings" in 1953. Philip's passion for flying led to speculation that he might fly the Queen to her Scotland residence, Balmoral, for a holiday before her coronation on June 2.

Philip had no constitutional roles other than being a privy counselor, but the Queen in 1952 declared that he had "place, pre-eminence and precedence" next to herself "on all occasions and in all meetings, except where otherwise provided by act of Parliament."

Over the years Philip also cultivated a reputation for numerous gaffes and indiscreet comments, which helped shape some of his public persona.

In 1986, Philip made a number of remarks that offended many Chinese.

Notoriously, on an official visit to China, he told a group of British exchange students: "If you stay here much longer you'll all be slitty-eyed." His verdict on the Chinese capital? "Ghastly."

The same year, he told a World Wildlife Fund meeting that "if it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and flies but is not an aeroplane and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it."

In 1998, he asked a British student who had been trekking in Papua New Guinea: "You managed not to get eaten then?"

And four years later, while touring Australia with the Queen, he reportedly asked a group of Aborigines: "Do you still throw spears at each other?"

However, as Harry Mount, who had been on the receiving end of Philip's wit, wrote for CNN after the news that he'd be stepping down from public life, the "gaffes" were a way of making people feel at ease in the presence of royalty. "The 'gaffes', I suddenly saw, were brilliant devices to make you feel at ease in his company. He was behaving like the sort of old friend who shows how much he likes you by teasing you."

His retirement had been a long time coming. During an interview with the BBC for his 90th birthday in 2011, Philip said it was time to take a step back from his responsibilities.

"I reckon I've done my bit, I want to enjoy myself now ... have less responsibility, less frantic rushing about, less preparation, less trying to think of something to say," he said.

However, Philip continued to appear by the Queen's side. In 2012, he was with Elizabeth as she undertook a busy schedule of public engagements across the UK to mark her 60 years on the throne. In a diamond jubilee address to Parliament in March 2012, the Queen said the support of her own family had been "beyond measure" throughout her reign. In a special tribute to her husband, she said: "Prince Philip is, I believe, well known for declining compliments of any kind. But throughout he has been a constant strength and guide."

Philip finally retired from public life in the fall of 2017 but continued to make some public appearances. He attended the wedding of his grandson Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018, followed by the wedding of granddaughter Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank in October that year. Philip also attended the small, private wedding of granddaughter Princess Beatrice to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in July 2020. That same month, he took part in a ceremony to hand over his role as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles to the Duchess of Cornwall, in what was his last public appearance.

The announcement in 2017 that he was stepping back from public life brought glowing tributes in the British press to Philip's long decades of service to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, both by the Queen's side and in more than 22,000 solo engagements.

Those who have known Philip away from the public eye, such as actress Dame Judi Dench, described him as "an indomitable person."

Joanna Lumley, the British actress, who knew Philip for years, labeled him an "extraordinary character."

"He rides, sails, drives horses, fishes and swims and does stuff," Lumley told ITV. "He really could have been James Bond, actually."
Some university experts whove advised the state throughout the pandemic have said that even with increasing vaccination rates, it could take until late May for the state to bring the current surge under control, based on their most recent projections. Theyve said renewed restrictions may be needed to help slow the spread while more people are being vaccinated.
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AstraZeneca's chief executive has been criticised for failing to defend his company's vaccine while holed up in Australia.

Frenchman Pascal Soriot, who has been Down Under with his family since Christmas, was accused of not properly explaining the benefits of the jab to the public as it was linked to rare blood clots.

Regulators have stressed that the benefits far outweigh the risks but they have recommended alternatives for people aged under 30.

On Thursday night the Australian government recommended not administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to people under 50 because of an extremely rare but serious blood clot side effect.

Pascal Soriot, who is currently staying in Australia with his family, was accused of not properly explaining the benefits of the jab to the public as it was linked to rare blood clots

EdenTree Investment Management, a top AstraZeneca investor, said Mr Soriot had failed to properly defend the jab in public and should be doing so more forcefully.

Ketan Patel, a fund manager at the firm, said the chief executive 'hasn't been that public and being halfway around the world doesn't give the right signal or message'.

'Perhaps it is right to say where is the chief executive in terms of articulating the healthcare benefits? It's OK to work remotely but if you are the boss of a multi-billion pound healthcare company with a vaccine, I can see why people would be thinking "why isn't Pascal here",' he said.

It comes after another top shareholder, Royal London, rallied to Mr Soriot's defence saying his efforts during the pandemic have been 'heroic'.

EdenTree Investment Management, a top AstraZeneca investor, said Mr Soriot had failed to properly defend the jab in public and should be doing so more forcefully

Mr Patel told the Daily Telegraph: 'Pascal has done hugely well, the company is delivering good growth, but that success is being overshadowed by negative sentiment over the vaccine.

'If we were grading the PR effort, they could do better.

'If you look at the data, and see that the chances of getting a blood clot with this vaccine is about four in one million, compared to four in 10,000 for the contraceptive pill, that perspective needs to be highlighted.'

It comes after another top shareholder, Royal London, rallied to Mr Soriot's defence, saying his efforts during the pandemic have been 'heroic'.

Insiders at Astrazeneca have previously stressed that Mr Soriot is working European business hours and keeps in regular contact with colleagues and clients via videoconferencing.

They said current restrictions mean he would still have to do much of his work remotely even if he was in the UK.

However, the company has said he plans to return as soon as travel restrictions are lifted.

Last night an Astra spokesman said: 'Travel restrictions and local lockdowns mean it makes little sense to be travelling right now, particularly given that many countries require quarantine.

'Mr Soriot will continue to empower his team of experts and remain in regular contact with operational leaders in the many sites across the world.'
As humanity faces a new upsurge of the pandemic driven by more contagious coronavirus variants, Asia is emerging as the worlds worst-hit region. Forty percent of the worlds over half-million reported daily cases of COVID-19 are now in Asia, where vaccination has barely begun. Moreover, nearly 90 percent of these cases are in a swathe of countries in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific where, virtually from one week to the next, infections are exploding, shattering previous records.

However calls for medically-guided lockdowns and social support for those unable to work to halt this new, even deadlier upsurge of the virus invariably run into implacable opposition from governments across Asia.

People queue up for COVID-19 vaccine in Mumbai, India, Thursday, April 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

In India, daily infections have doubled since late March to over 120,000, the highest in the world, and nearly half of Asias 260,000 cases. Yet Prime Minister Narendra Modis government is adamantly opposed to calls for a nationwide lockdown, or even the closing of non-essential businesses in the worst affected states. Instead, Modi and his Hindu supremacist BJP boast of mounting the worlds largest vaccination drive. To date, India has administered the worlds third highest number of vaccine shots. But fewer than 6 percent of Indians have received a single dose of a vaccine, and just 0.8 percent are fully vaccinated.

As India crosses the threshold of 13 million cases and 167,000 deaths, its underfunded health system is on the brink of collapse. A double variant, which combines mutations akin to the South African and US West Coast variants, is spreading, along with the B.1.1.7, or UK, variant. In Mumbai, Indias financial capital, Dr. Lancelot Pinto told the BBC that every few minutes he must refuse calls from desperate families seeking an emergency care bed for their loved ones: We are already overrun. All COVID-19 beds in my hospital are full.

A hysterical campaign is underway among Indias ruling elite to oppose even partial local lockdowns. The Times of India denounced them as a cure truly worse than the disease, in an editorial Tuesday. Meanwhile Jai Ambanithe son of a billionaire and the nephew of Asias richest man, Mukesh Ambani, with a fortune of $83.1 billiontweeted that lockdowns destroy the very backbone of our society and economy and are a totalitarian attempt to control every aspect of your life. This confirms the British Medical Journals characterization of the US, UK and Indian ruling elites pandemic policy as social murder.

Turkey saw a record 54,740 cases of COVID-19 and 276 deaths from the disease on Wednesday, with the number of active cases quadrupling to 406,004 since March. Child intensive care cases are rising rapidly, with an estimated 75 percent of new cases caused by the B.1.1.7 variant. Turkish Intensive Care Society chair Professor Ismail Cinel has warned that Turkeys intensive care units will be full within 10 days. Only 8.7 percent of Turkeys population and 10 percent of educators are fully vaccinated.

Nonetheless, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has kept tens of millions of workers on the job in non-essential industries while lifting social distancing measuresending weekend curfews, and reopening schools and cafes. The Istanbul Medical Chamber branded this policy as a fiasco, and the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) tweeted: There is no rational, scientifically-based struggle against the pandemic.  Insisting on wrong health policies is social murder.

Iran saw a record 20,954 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and 193 deathsa figure that has doubled in one week, as the UK variant spreads. With a record 4,200 intensive care beds occupied in Tehran, one doctor told Le Monde: Public hospitals are full, urgent care wards have no more space. Patients are treated lying on the ground or wait days for a bed.

Facing devastating US economic sanctions, Irana country of 83 millionhas received only a few hundred thousand doses each of Chinese, Russian and South Korean vaccines. Citing the impact of US sanctions and war threats, President Hassan Rouhani refused to order a lockdown, stating that its economic impact could trigger mass protests of workers: The easiest would be to stop everything. But after that, the people, facing hunger, poverty and unemployment, would go into the streets.

Iraqwhose health infrastructure has been shattered by decades of US-led wars, bombings, and sanctions since the 1991 Gulf Warsaw a record 8,331 new cases Wednesday. As infections near 1 million, with only 119,000 vaccine doses administered in a country of 39 million people, Save the Children is warning that hospitals could soon be flooded: There are worrying signs that COVID-19 is taking a heavy toll in Iraq.  We are worried that the new variant will start spreading undetected among children. It could be a matter of time before Iraqs healthcare system is overwhelmed.

In the Philippines, new daily cases surged from 2,065 on March 2 to 15,280 on April 2. The number of active cases, now at around 160,000, is more than double the earlier peak of 79,800 last August. Manila and its surrounding provinces have 70 percent of Filipino cases, and intensive care beds are already 79 percent occupied in the National Capital Region, 26 of whose 150 hospitals are fully occupied. However, President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to channel US$19 billion of desperately-needed public funds into paying off state debts to major investors.

In Bangladesh, a global textile center where garment workers earn only a few dollars per day, daily infections have surged from 606 to 6,854 in a month. The state has declared a lockdown, but only for a week. Meanwhile, it is forcing workers to stay on the job to satisfy fashion conglomerates based in the imperialist countries, who dominate Bangladeshs economy. Only 5.5 million vaccine doses have been administered in this country of 163 million, which has seen 666,132 cases of COVID-19.

Significantly, Asia also provides examples showing that a scientific social distancing policy can halt the virus while mass vaccination prepares its eradication. China, the initial epicenter of the pandemic, has reported 3,270 COVID-19 cases and two deaths in all of 2021, mainly as a result of travelers bringing the virus back into the country. Similarly, Taiwan has reported 246 cases including 3 deaths this year, and Vietnam reported 1,174 cases, but no deaths.

The successes of the few countries that have halted the virus expose the bankruptcy and criminality of the herd immunity policies pursued not only in the rest of Asia, but in the imperialist centers of North America and Europe. Their governments have systematically prioritized profit over human lives, insisting on opening businesses and schools as the pandemic runs rampant. While Chinas 1.4 billion people have suffered less than 5,000 COVID-19 deaths, the NATO countries 941 million have suffered over 1.4 million deaths.

The re-importing of the coronavirus into countries where it is under control underscores an essential political point. The fight against this constantly-mutating virus, which ignores borders and needs no passports, is international. It cannot be stopped in one country, or even on one continent, but only across the world. Stopping it requires, however, an international struggle against capitalism.

Claims that there is not enough money to end herd immunity policies, fund social distancing, rapidly make vaccines, and halt the pandemic are lies. This last year, the worlds billionaires added $5.1 trillion in wealth to the $8 trillion they already owned, as central banks in the imperialist centers pumped trillions of dollars, euros, pounds and yen in public funds into the financial markets. Indias three richest billionaires added US$100 billion to their wealth last year, while Turkeys 26 billionaires increased their collective wealth to $53.2 billion.

At the same time, countries across Asia and the world are plunging trillions of dollars into preparing for war. NATO countries are to spend over $1 trillion on their militaries this year. India, which budgeted just US $8.4 billion for health care last year, spent $66 billion on its military in 2020, while integrating itself ever more fully into Washingtons military-strategic offensive against China, including through the US-led Quad strategic partnership with Australia and Japan. Turkey spent $19 billion on its military, including on the continuing NATO war in Syria.

Were these sums to be expropriated, they, together with the even larger fortunes held by the financial aristocracy in the imperialist centers, could provide humanity with the resources needed to halt the pandemic and avert tens of millions of unnecessary deaths.

But this requires the mobilization of the working class in revolutionary struggle against imperialism, the reactionary capitalist governments across Asia, great-power conflict and war, and for socialism.

The globalization of production, over several decades, has brought over a billion peasants to cities across Asia, producing a vast and powerful working class. The last year has seen hundreds of millions participate in protest strikes or industrial action in India, wildcat strikes against herd immunity policies at major industrial plants in Turkey and Bangladesh, and mass social protests in Iran.

Halting the pandemic requires unifying this mighty force in struggle across its many regional, ethnic and sectarian divides, and welding it together with its class brothers and sisters in the imperialist powers and beyond, based on an international socialist program to reorganize economic life based not on private profit, but social need.
Experts have warned against a 'dangerous' trend circulating on TikTok of deep frying water, which they say could lead to fiery explosions.

The pointless trend involves combining water with calcium alginate to form a sphere of water, before coating it in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and dropping it into a fryer.

But if the calcium alginate membrane splits and the water leaks into the hot oil, it could give explosive results that could cause a gruesome injury.

Footage posted by TikTok user @trendychef_ shows the various stages of preparing deep fried water  which has little taste or nutritional value.

Dr Christopher Cramer, Fellow of the American Chemical Society, called the trend 'somewhere between insane and suicidal'.

DANGERS OF PUTTING WATER IN HOT OIL Hot oil in a deep fat fryer is much hotter than the boiling point of water  100C (212F). When oil is heated, it ignites and burns much more quickly and violently than at lower temperatures. When water is rapidly heated it instantly turns into steam and expands by about 1,500 times. On contact with high temperature oil, water instantly changes from water to steam, while also creating a change in pressure and volume, resulting in an explosive ball of fire. This is why putting frozen food with higher water content into hot oil should be avoided  and why special chemical fire extinguishers used for fires involving cooking oils and fats. Advertisement

'Bottom line  good heavens, dont do this!' he told MailOnline.

'The way deep frying works, of course, is that the nugget is immersed in a hot oil  typically about 400F or warmer.

'The exposed breading fries quickly to a crispy texture, while the heat works its way inward to a cooler centre, raising the interior's temperature more slowly.'

The problem, he explained, is that hot oil in a deep fat fryer is much hotter than the boiling point of water.

'Water boils (turns into the gas we call steam) at 212F [100C], said Dr Cramer.

'And, when that happens, it will expand in volume by about 1,500 times.

'That will happen pretty much in an instant, as the first portion to boil will break the nugget, and the resulting exposure of all of the remaining volume to the hot oil will flash it to steam immediately.

'So, thats basically an explosion in a vat of hot oil  and heaven help you when that oil begins to rain down onto the gas flame or hot electric burner.'

This is why putting frozen food with higher water content into hot oil should be avoided  and why special chemical fire extinguishers used for fires involving cooking oils and fats.

The idea to deep fry water can be traced back to US chef Jonathan Marcus, who demonstrated the method in a video in 2016.

Marcus used calcium alginate for his original recipe  an insoluble, gelatinous substance  as well as flour, egg, panko breadcrumbs and peanut oil heated to 375F.

But the idea was not intended to be replicated.

A shot from Jonathan Marcus' original video of the water sphere before being coated in flour, egg and breadcrumbs

Marcus said at the time that the preparation method it is 'potentially very dangerous' and called it 'the blandest fried thing I've ever tasted.'

A dozen of the fried water balls were prepared by Marcus and given away at the 'Stupid S**t No One Needs and Terrible Ideas Hackathon 2.0'  an event in May 2016 in San Francisco.

'If water leaks out while the sphere is frying in hot oil, it may explode sending scalding oil everywhere,' he wrote on his YouTube channel.

'Do not attempt without proper safety precautions. Do not consume until cooled down or you may get burned. Also they don't taste particularly good.'

A shot of TikTok footage posted by user @trendychef_ shows the various stages of preparing deep fried water - which has little taste or nutritional value

James Orgill, a chemical engineer and YouTuber who runs the channel The Action Labs, posted a video last December showing his own take on the preparation method.

'There were a lot of cooking channels doing it, but nobody seemed to be talking about the chemistry behind these edible polymers, which I used sodium alginate to make,' he told VICE.

'It tasted really gross though. Theres no flavour, and it just tastes kind of salty and slimy.'

Its surprising that you can turn water into an edible dish, and its a little bit comical to fry it after. It seems ridiculous to say, even impossible.'

This is not the first time stupid and potentially lethal trends have spread like wildfire on the popular app, which is owned by Chinese company Bytedance.

Only last month did vets warn against feeding hot sauce to their pet dogs to see their reactions.

The Blue Cross, one of the UK's leading animal welfare charities, told MailOnline it was 'horrified' to see the trend.

Chilli in hot sauce can cause pancreatitis  inflammation in the pancreas  in dogs, while other ingredients like onion and garlic are also toxic for canines.

In February, doctors warned people not to replicate the trend of covering one's face and neck with hot wax before peeling it off when it dries.

Dr Emma Wedgeworth, a consultant dermatologist and a British Skin Foundation spokesperson, told MailOnline: 'It is clearly not a good idea to cover the whole face with wax.

'The bottom line is that this is a senseless practice, which has more potential for harm than good and I would not advise it.'

In September last year, dentists had to urge people not to whiten their teeth with undiluted bleach as seen in other TikTok videos, which could lead to damaged gums and tooth loss.
UPDATE: More details on the project here.

___________

Decades after many Worcester residents flocked to the former Boys Club at Lincoln Square as children, a use will soon exist again for them to return to the now-vacant building.

One Lincoln Square, which formerly housed the Worcester Boys Club and the Worcester Technical Vocational High School (Worcester Voke), will be transformed into about 100 senior housing units by WinnCompanies, a source familiar with the project told MassLive.

Residents older than 62 will be eligible to live in the units.

According to the source, WinnCompanies purchased the property originally with the intent of commercial interests, though, the pandemic altered the course of the project to residential buildings.

The project will include a new building as well as the air rights above the Johnson Tunnel. The tunnels vehicular and pedestrian uses would be unencumbered by the project, a source said. Some approvals still need to be cleared for the project.

More information will be made available Friday at 5 p.m. after an embargo is lifted on information distributed during a briefing by the city earlier in the day.

The development also will include community spaces for residents to take advantage of.

The project could start as soon as 2022.

Any work done at One Lincoln Square and the new addition would need to meet the requirements of the National Park Service and MassHistoric Commision for the use of Federal/ State Historic Tax Credits.

In May of 2019, a lease between WinnCompanies and Summit Academy, a school for children with autism, fell through.

At that time, WinnCo. planned to actively market the space to businesses and organizations that have approached the developer in the past, including biotech companies, educational institutions and restaurants.

Instead, it will act as the latest housing project in the neighborhood. Residents began moving into The Courthouse Lofts on Main Street earlier this year.

The Courthouse Lofts include 118 units, with most already reserved through pre-leases.

The $60M project, which has received state and federal historic tax credits, brings life back to a building that has sat unused for at least 10 years.

This is one of three big buildings in the North Main Street side with the Worcester Auditorium and the Boys Club, Augustus said in January about the Courthouse Lofts. Ive always talked about these three as kind of a Berlin Wall that kind of kept the organic energy that we all know happens on Highland Street with all the businesses and the restaurants, and Becker on one side and WPI on the other, and all the good stuff happening on Main Street.

The project follows a host of housing projects within the city.

Not far from One Lincoln Square, the Commerce Building on Main Street will undergo a $55 million project that will offer 312 housing units.

About a half-mile from the Commerce Building, the Chatham lofts are expected to debut this year with 24 units.

Residential housing projects are also scheduled in the Canal District. Boston Capital Development LLC has plans for a six-story building with 80-affordable units. Its the first of a multi-phase project.

Also on Green Street, Churchill James LLC plans to renovate the old Lucky Dog Music Hall with a bowling alley, pizza restaurant and housing.

Related Content:
Published On Apr 09, 2021 11:58 AM By CarDekho for Maruti Celerio

Most of the cars are sold in India too, however, with different nameplates.

Pakistan sells a humble 2 lakh (approx) cars every year compared to Indias mammoth sales of over 43 lakh units. But, with no homegrown automobile maker, our South Asian neighbour has to primarily rely on imports for its motoring needs. Many car models are common between the two countries, some with different names but similar underpinnings. For example, much like in India, Suzuki enjoys loyalists in Pakistan due to its fuel-efficient and value-for-money cars.

Suzuki Bolan

Price: PKR 11.34 lakh (INR 5.40 lakh)

Another Japanese offering popular in Pakistan is the Suzuki Bolan, known as the Maruti Omni in India. This versatile family vehicle, discontinued here in 2019, is sometimes referred to as a minibus in Pakistan due to its roomy interiors that can accommodate large families easily. Like India, Pakistan has many joint families, making the Bolan a popular choice. Suzuki provides the Bolan with a 0.8-litre petrol engine mated to a 4-speed manual gearbox.

Toyota Corolla Altis

Price: PKR 32.20 - 40 lakh (INR 15.34 - 19 lakh)

Surprisingly, the Corolla Altis has been the most admired premium sedan for many years now, even outperforming many mass-market hatchbacks. Although axed from the Toyota India portfolio in 2020, its available in Pakistan with two petrol engine options -- a 1.6-litre and a 1.8-litre with choice of MT and AT.

Suzuki Alto

Price: PKR 11.98 - 16.33 lakh (INR 5.69 - 7.75 lakh)

The eighth-generation Alto was introduced recently as a replacement for the ageing Mehran city car. The 660cc Alto, different from the one in India, is currently the bestselling model there. It gets both 5-speed manual and AMT options. Interestingly, Pakistan is the second country, after Japan, to locally manufacture this latest-gen Alto.

Suzuki Cultus

Price: PKR 17.8 - 21.30 lakh (INR 8.45 - 10.11 lakh)

Dubbed the Maruti Celerio in India, the Suzuki Cultus is a premium hatchback in Pakistan, particularly popular among the Pakistani youth. It is available with 5-speed manual and AMT (Automated Manual Transmission) gearbox choices with its 1.0-litre petrol engine. With city traffic an issue in the country, the AMT trim comes as a boon. While an earlier version of the Cultus was the Maruti Esteem minus the boot, the latest is exactly the pre-facelift version of the Maruti Suzuki Celerio.

Honda City

Price: PKR 24.5-28.6 lakhs (INR 11.63 - 13.58 lakh)

Honda City is a favourite in the neighbouring country too. While we recently got the fifth-gen City, Pakistan still has the third-gen model. Thanks to its engine refinement and efficiency, the City, coupled with the Civic, is the most sought-after sedan among Pakistans elites. It is available with two engine choices: 1.3-litre and 1.5-litre petrol. Both get 5-speed manual and automatic transmission options.

Suzuki Swift

Price: PKR 20.30 - 22.10 lakh (INR 9.64 - 10.49 lakh)

Loved by all and sundry in India, our favourite Suzuki hatch is popular in Pakistan too. However, it is the first-gen Swift and not the latest one. The engine specs, design, and fuel efficiency remain essentially the same. The Swift there is provided with a 1.3-litre (91PS/114Nm) motor mated to a 5-speed MT and a 4-speed AT.

Special mention

Suzuki Jimny

Price: PKR 44,90,000 (INR 21,61, 072)

This may come as a surprise to many, considering the much-awaited Suzuki Jimny in India has been on sale in Pakistan for many years now. The compact off-road SUV is available as a CBU (Completely Built Unit) there and is equipped with a 1.5-litre engine that produces 102PS and 130Nm, mated to a 5-speed MT. While India still awaits its debut, the Jimny is already due for a facelift in Pakistan. The long-wheelbase version of the SUV has been testing internationally and is expected to be launched in India in 2022.

These aside, Pakistan also has other bestsellers, including the Toyota Fortuner SUV, Suzuki Ravi (Omni-based micro pick-up), Toyota Hilux pick-up, Honda BR-V, and Suzuki Wagon R.

Read More on : Maruti Celerio AMT
A case has been registered against at least 50 traders in Pune for violating Covid-19 protocols during a protest against the restrictions imposed by the state government in view of the surging Covid-19 cases.

The traders association had on Thursday held a protest at Laxmi road in Pune. They demanded to allow the opening of their shops and also threatened to open them defying the state orders.

Also Read | Why insolvency pros are living on the edge

Restrictions in Pune

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Monday ordered that barring the essential services shops, other establishments and markets in Pune city will remain closed till 30 April.

"As per the state government's direction, except for the essential services shops, all the shops and markets in the city will remain closed till April 30. The implementation of the weekend lockdown order will also be done in the city effectively," Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol tweeted.

The state has also imposed night curfew and weekend lockdown until further orders.

Cases in Pune

The district registered 12,090 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, taking its tally to 6,16,127.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 56,286 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, which took its caseload to 32,29,547, while 376 deaths due to the infection pushed the toll to 57,028, the health department said.

On Wednesday, the state had recorded the highest daily count of 59,907 cases and 322 fatalities.

A total of 36,130 patients recuperated and got discharge from hospitals on Thursday, due to which the state's recovery count reached 26,49,757.

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Rome, April 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Apr, 2021 ) :Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Thursday described Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan as a dictator, in remarks that risk further souring EU-Turkey ties.

Asked about controversial seating arrangements during European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen's meeting Tuesday with Erdogan, Draghi said: "I am very sorry for the humiliation that the president of the commission had to suffer with these, let's call them for what they are, dictators...."
BRYAN, Texas (AP)  A man opened fire at a Texas cabinet-making company where he worked, killing one person and wounding five others before shooting and wounding a state trooper prior to his arrest, authorities said.

Larry Winston Bollin, 27, of Iola, Texas, was booked into the Brazos County Detention Center in Bryan late Thursday, according to a Bryan Police Department statement. Jail records showed Bollin was charged with murder and being held on a $1 million bond. No attorney was listed for Bollin in the jail record.

Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske told reporters he believes the suspect is an employee at the Kent Moore Cabinets location where the shooting happened. He said investigators believe the man was solely responsible for the attack, which happened around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, and that he was gone by the time officers arrived.

\

Two of the five people who were wounded at the business were hospitalized in critical condition, while three others were in serious but stable condition, according to a hospital statement. During the manhunt for the suspect, he shot and wounded a state trooper, who was hospitalized in serious but stable condition, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on Twitter.

Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell said about two hours after the attack, the suspect was arrested in Bedias, a tiny community about 25 miles northeast of Bryan.

Investigators were still trying to determine the motive for the attack, authorities said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent agents and dogs to the shooting scene, said spokesman Deon Washington. Police asked people to stay away from the business during the investigation.

Bryan is about 100 miles northwest of Houston and is near Texas A&M University. With more than 86,000 residents, it is the seat of Brazos County.

A person who answered the phone at Kent Moore Cabinets headquarters in Bryan said she couldnt provide any information on the shooting. The company, which makes custom cabinets, has design centers in nearly a dozen Texas cities and employs more than 600 people, according to its website.

This Thursday, April 8, 2021, booking photo provided by the Bryan Police Department in Texas shows Larry Winston Bollin. Authorities say Bollin opened fire Thursday at a Texas cabinet-making company where he worked, killing one person and wounding others before shooting and wounding a state trooper prior his arrest. (Bryan Police Department via AP)AP

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott offered prayers for shooting victims and their families.

I have been working closely with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers as they assist local law enforcement on a swift response to this criminal act. Their efforts led to the arrest of the shooting suspect.

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Lack of oxygen led to brain damage and heart stoppage, killing George Floyd: expert

Biden tightens some gun control rules, says much more is needed

Former NFL player kills 5, including 2 children, then himself
New Delhi: The recent surge in COVID-19 cases has also hit Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital as 37 doctors at the private facility have tested positive for the virus, and five of them are admitted for treatment.

Hospital sources said on Thursday that as many as 37 doctors have tested positive for the virus in the recent spike.

There has been a spike in coronavirus cases in the national capital over the past few weeks, and the daily case count breached the 7,000-mark for the first time this year.

Delhi recorded 7,437 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the highest single-day surge this year, while 24 more people died due to the coronavirus infection, taking the death toll to 11,157, according to the city Health Department.

"Serving Covid patients at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, 37 doctors of the hospital have tested positive for COVID-19. The majority of these corona warriors have mild symptoms. Thirty-two doctors are in home isolation and rest five are admitted in the hospital," a hospital source said.

Sir Ganga Ram Hospital has been among the facilities which have been at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic for nearly a year.

Live TV
Ashanti Regional Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sam Pyne, has called on movie producers to check the content of their movies before showing them.



Sam Pyne blamed the movie makers for the immoral habits of children and the youth.



According to him, the showing of fetish priests and other spiritualist roles portrayed in movies is part of the reason why most children and the youth are eagerly searching to enrich themselves and therefore do anything bad for self-aggrandizement.



He made these comments in relation to the gruesome murder of a 10-year old boy at Kasoa in the Central Region.



The young boy was murdered by teenagers aged sixteen and eighteen years at an uncompleted building in the area.



The teenagers are said to have committed the murder for money rituals.



Discussing the issue, Sam Pyne noted that the ''passiveness of the society is a factor. This is because we look on for things to happen without showing any concerns".



Part of the societal passiveness to uphold morality is the influx of movie scenes showcasing spiritualists or fetish priests and priestesses doing juju for people.



To him, these scenes register in the minds of children which drive them to crave riches by hook or crook means.



''If we say we will build the society, just as Africa and Ghana especially have our identity to give our children and the nation good upbringing, when we're writing the script; we should be circumspect how we go about using some of these scenes in the movies," he advised during a panel discussion on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme.













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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Chennai, April 9 : The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic hurt both Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teams, forcing them to drop their first-choice openers in this season's Indian Premier League (IPL) opening match on Friday night.

While South African wicketkeeping-batsman Quinton de Kock missed out for Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore were forced to pick a replacement for their opening batsman Devdutt Padikkal, who was a find for them last season.

"Quinny (Quinton de Kock) is in quarantine, so he isn't available. Lynn will make debut," said MI skipper Rohit Sharma ahead of the tournament opener.

"Padikkal has been recommended rest," said Sharma's counterpart from RCB, Virat Kohli.

While de Kock has just arrived India from South Africa after playing the second ODI against Pakistan on April 4, Padikkal had tested positive for Covid-19 before clearing it with a negative test and joining the team.

Both are left-handed openers and provided strong starts to their franchises in IPL 2020 in the UAE. Padikkal made 473 runs in 15 matches in IPL 2020, his debut season at an average of 31.53 while de Kock scored 503 runs in 16 matches at an average of 35.92 last season.

Latest updates on IPL 2021
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 22:18:30|Editor: huaxia

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A woman wearing a face mask walks past an NHS (National Health Service) COVID-19 Vaccination Centre in London, Britain, on March 31, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

- Besides the continent's aging population and the overwhelmed healthcare systems, some experts attributed the bleakness in Europe to frequent policy changes, which have swung between lockdowns and relaxations for several rounds.

- The slow rollout of vaccination may also prolong the pandemic. According to WHO Europe Office, only 10 percent of the region's total population has received at least one vaccine dose and 4 percent has received both, as of April 1.

BRUSSELS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- For Danica Angela Marcos, the weirdest yet saddest scenario was to watch her grandfather's funeral live on Zoom, seeing her cousins crying on the screen but not able to give them a hug because of the lockdown.

"It's not like we can do (it) all over again when the pandemic is over ... I cannot re-attend my grandpa's funeral," mumbled the black-hair Londoner in her 20s, rolling eyes to hold back tears, whose grandfather passed away in California, the United States, towards the end of last year.

Many Europeans, like Marcos, have undergone similar human sorrows and pains, as the nightmare of COVID-19, which has shrouded the continent since more than one year ago, is still hovering around.

On Friday, the Copenhagen-based World Health Organization (WHO) Europe Office announced that the European region has recorded more than 1 million COVID-19-related deaths.





FACTORS BEHIND RESURGENCE

Since breaking out in late 2019, COVID-19 has been causing infections and deaths at an accelerated pace across Europe. One after another, governments of different countries were woken up to the danger, announcing partial or full lockdowns, and even night curfews, moves rarely seen since the end of World War II.

A sign of closure is seen on the door of a bar in Brussels, Belgium, Nov. 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

Schools closed, flights grounded, hairdressers and restaurants shutdown, only grocery and shops selling essential goods, in most countries, were among the few that were allowed to open, while the customers were required to wear masks and keep social distance of more than one meter.

Before the reopening of schools, online courses were offered to students who were forced to stay home during the pandemic in many European countries. Many schools sent assignments to parents via e-mail or other digital tools, or shared free online resources.

However, not all students are self-disciplined. In France, about 5 to 8 percent of students were "lost," or unreachable by their teachers, estimated the French Ministry of Education in April 2020.

"This virus has imposed limitations on all of us. I have practically no social life and can't hug the people I love. My personal life has turned completely around. Few things remain from my previous life. And as a person, I feel exhausted, restless, and uncertain," Abigail Mora Sanz, a psychotherapist in Spain, told Xinhua.

Besides the continent's aging population and the overwhelmed healthcare systems, some experts attributed the bleakness in Europe to frequent policy changes, which have swung between lockdowns and relaxations for several rounds.

One of the major challenges for European countries is "the temptation of too fast reopening, which is politically popular but can cause another wave of epidemics before proper vaccination," said Miklos Hargitai, an editorialist of Hungary's daily Nepszava.

"In addition, Europe has not adopted the practice of the most successful countries in curbing the virus," Hargitai told Xinhua.

Another factor behind Europe's current COVID-19 resurgence is the alarming and explosive spread of the highly contagious virus variants, which increases the risk of hospitalization.

Staff members help an old man on a wheel chair enter a COVID-19 vaccination site in Berlin, capital of Germany, March 19, 2021. (Photo by Stefan Zeitz/Xinhua)

The slow rollout of vaccination may also prolong the pandemic. According to WHO Europe Office, only 10 percent of the region's total population has received at least one vaccine dose and 4 percent has received both, as of April 1.

"Vaccines present our best way out of this pandemic... However, the rollout of these vaccines is unacceptably slow," said Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe.





SCALE UP VACCINATION

On April 1, Kluge called upon governments in the region to "scale up both vaccine production and vaccination."

German photographer Ulrich Hufnagel was diagnosed with COVID-19 last September, with so-called mild case symptoms and was quarantined for more than 20 days.

"It is very annoying that some people in Germany and Europe do not take the virus seriously. My hope now rests on quick vaccination. I think this is the only possibility to get our normal life back," Hufnagel said.

Due to what appears to be an acute shortage of vaccine doses earlier this year, tensions once remained high between the European Union, Britain, and some central-eastern European countries like the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Austria.

The connection between blood clots and the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which has been purchased and administrated in large amounts by many European countries, also raised concern among people.

The European Medicines Agency confirmed on Wednesday that the occurrence of blood clots with low blood platelets are strongly associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Faced with such dire challenges, some governments in the region have started to look for the alternatives. Serbia and Hungary have granted permission for the use of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China. Some other countries, like Poland and the Czech Republic, also voiced interest in Chinese-made vaccines.

"We fully support the Chinese idea of establishing a global anti-pandemic community of cooperation and help," said Sylwester Szafarz, former consul general of Poland in the Chinese city of Shanghai.

A woman receives a dose of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Budapest, Hungary, March 5, 2021. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

However, vaccines themselves are not a panacea for the pandemic, until people are inoculated in huge numbers, WHO Europe Office warned, noting that it can give a false sense of security, inducing the public to stop wearing masks and taking other precautions.





SAY NO TO DEPRESSION

Besides measures to accelerate the vaccination, several governments and health care experts deem social restrictions a key tool for containing the disease and reducing deaths.

"Now is not the time to relax measures. We can't afford not to heed the danger. We have all made sacrifices, but we cannot let exhaustion win. We must keep reining in the virus," Kluge said.

With their life being changed amid the pandemic, many people in Europe have been eventually getting used to wearing face masks outside, working and studying from home.

To some people, the future seems less gloomy and confidence is growing.

Once worried that the lockdowns could totally ruin his business, Remi Boute, director of a bookstore in southeast France's Saint-Etienne, feels relieved as his shop reopens.

"When the stores reopened, we had the satisfaction of seeing people tell us they were happy to see our stores open. They returned in large numbers," he said.

"We faced something that we'd never seen and so what we tried to do was to understand it, to better treat our patients and save or try to solve the problem in the most cases we could," said Pere Domingo, senior infectious disease consultant and coordinator of COVID-19 at Barcelona's Sant Pau Hospital.

"This intellectual component ... has been something that has stimulated us, and helped us overcome all these negative feelings that at one time or another we have all had," said the Spanish professor, who has been devoted to the research of infectious diseases since 1989. 
Operation Home Alone: 10 Potential Child Predators Arrested in South Carolina

Ten potential child predators have been arrested following an extensive online child exploitation investigation in South Carolina dubbed Operation Home Alone that involved 14 state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Ten men aged 25 to 60 from the Charlotte and Chester areas were arrested in the sting which involved a local police officer posing as an underage female, the York County Sheriffs Office said in a release on April 5.

One of the suspected child predators is a 48-year-old registered sex offender in North Carolina who was released from federal prison in November last year and went off house arrest on March 1.

Another suspect is a large haul driver for a prominent shipping company, deputies said.

Seven of the ten arrestees, dubbed as travelers, actually came to the residence or attempted to come to the residence of the operation, the sheriffs office said. These men believed they were traveling to a location to have a sexual encounter with a minor. The ages of the children they thought they were coming to have sex with were 10 to 17-years-old.

Multiple agencies participated in the weeks-long online investigation that began last month, including the York County Sheriffs Office, which is part of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force with the South Carolina Attorney Generals Office, which work together to track down, identify and prosecute those individuals who prey on children.

The FBI, Homeland Security, US Secret Service, Rock Hill, and Fort Mill police also participated in the sting. The sheriffs office noted that at any given time, 25 to 45 officers, an analyst, and an additional staff member were working on the operation.

We want our communities safe, we want our internet safe, said Sheriff Kevin Tolson. If these suspects had not been identified and arrested talking to an officer, they would likely have been talking to a live child victim.

The message we need to communicate to parents in our community is, its extremely important to know what your children are doing on their phones, Tolson added. Know what your childs passwords are, know what apps they are using, and check them from time to time to see who they are talking with in chat rooms or texts.

All ten men face various child exploitation charges.

The sheriffs office said additional suspects are still being identified and will be arrested in due course. The investigation is ongoing.

Eight of the 10 suspects have since bonded out of jail, according to the sheriffs office.
Eastern Health could not confirm on Friday whether the man was still in Box Hill Hospital. The Prime Minister stressed that the advice about the AstraZeneca shot was not a ban. There was no instruction not to take that vaccine, he said. There is an acknowledgement of the risk that is there, but as is the case always with these matters, these are decisions for Australians. State governments reacted quickly as they waited for information about how younger people could consent to the AstraZeneca vaccine. Victorian Health Department ordered vaccination appointments for people under 50 to be cancelled until consent forms are available which outline the new advice regarding the risks of taking the AstraZeneca vaccine. NSW cancelled appointments on Friday for the same reason but resumed them on Friday afternoon.

Josh De Bono, centre, was among those turned away in Victoria. Credit:Jason South Josh De Bono, a cardiothoracic registrar at the Epworth hospital, arrived at the mass vaccination centre at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton on Friday morning only to be turned away. The 34-year-old was one of dozens of people under 50 who were refused entry by security staff including other frontline workers, such as firefighters, police and paramedics. Dr De Bono said hed taken the morning off work to attend his pre-booked appointment. I think this will hurt public confidence in the vaccine, and its already wavering, he said.

Athena Stathoulis (right ) described the situation as a mess. Credit:Jason South Athena Stathoulis, 20, a St John ambulance volunteer, arrived about 10.30am only to be told she also no longer qualified for the AstraZeneca jab. I knew about the blood clot risk but its low, there is more of a risk taking the contraceptive pill, she said. I was really confused by it. Its a mess. According to a Health Department statement until updated consent forms and consumer information are available from the Commonwealth ... it is advised that the AstraZeneca vaccine is not administered to eligible persons aged under 50 years. Eligible persons who are booked to receive their second dose of AstraZeneca, including people aged under 50 years, with no major adverse reaction, should receive their second dose as planned.

Australia had previously bought 20 million doses of the Pfizer shot but was relying more heavily on the AstraZeneca product, which is being made by CSL in Melbourne. The Prime Minister described the move to secure the extra 20 million doses as very welcome news. Pfizer is currently delivering roughly 130,000 doses a week, but Health Minister Greg Hunt said that would dramatically increase from May, with all 40 million due to be delivered by the end of the year. We are working with them on the possibility of bringing forward as many of those doses as possible, he said. Loading

State and federal leaders met in national cabinet on Friday and pledged to continue to work towards opening up the country, including further options for international travel without the need for quarantine. We want to open up more, we want to do it safely, we want to ease restrictions, we want to do that in a consistent way across the country and we want to do that because we know we are not just managing the health but we are managing the economics as well for peoples livelihoods and wellbeing, Mr Morrison said. Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said he was advising his own father to sign up for the AstraZeneca vaccine, as was Mr Morrison with his mother. He is 86, he has health conditions and I have advised him to take the AstraZeneca. Its very safe for him, Professor Kelly said. The two doses of that vaccine far outweigh any of the risks, even the issues that we have been raising today. Other countries have taken action on the AstraZeneca vaccine this week including the Philippines, South Korea, Portugal and the Netherlands which have suspended it for people younger than 60. Britain has opted to offer people aged under 30 an alternative vaccine if available. Germany decided on an age cut-off of 60 and France has chosen to limit the second jab to people over 55, with second doses being switched out for mRNA vaccines such as Pfizers.
Google has come out in response to rumors about its upcoming Pixel 5a being canceled. The company has stated that it will be launching the Pixel 5a 5G later this year. The phone will be available in the US and Japan around the same time that the Pixel 4a launched, which should be in August.

The rumor was started earlier today by a YouTuber, stating that the Pixel 5a has been canceled due to chip shortages. This was later backed by Android Central citing two sources.

The rumor was refuted later by a Google spokesperson speaking to 9to5Google. Of course, the rumor mentioned the Pixel 5a while Google specifically named the Pixel 5a 5G, but we never had any confirmation regarding there being two separate 5G and non-5G devices to begin with.

Pixel 5a 5G is not canceled. It will be available later this year in the US and Japan and announced in line with when last years a-series phone was introduced.

What's interesting about Google's statement is the part where they mention the US and Japan as the only two markets for the launch. Last year's Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G already had a fairly short list of regions where they were available but with the Pixel 5a 5G just being dropped down to two countries does suggest some limitations that Google didn't elaborate on.

As for the Pixel 6, we haven't heard anything official from Google but it's possible it would be launched around the same time as the Pixel 5a 5G.

Source  Image source
The New York Times reported this week that a series of confidential audits and investigations revealed a pattern of troubles at the factory, including a persistent problem with mold, failures to properly disinfect for contaminants, frequent use of raw materials without fully testing them and problems with data integrity. Former supervisors who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that when they complained about the failure to correct some problems, plant managers blamed tight production deadlines.

Because regulators from the Food and Drug Administration have so far not certified the plant, none of the other 62 million Johnson & Johnson doses already manufactured there can be distributed to the public. As many as 15 million of those doses have already been bottled and could be distributed quickly if regulators give the plant a green light.

Mr. Zients said that Johnson & Johnson was installing new senior leadership and that AstraZeneca, another vaccine that has not been federally authorized for use in the United States, would no longer be manufactured there. Production of new batches of Johnson & Johnson vaccine is on hold until the federal regulators conduct their inspection.

Mr. Zients said Johnson & Johnson ultimately expected to be able to deliver as many as eight million doses weekly from the Baltimore plant. He first suggested that the F.D.A. might certify the plant by the end of the month. Then he backed off, saying he did not know and could not speculate about what federal regulators might do.

Johnson & Johnson expects a relatively low level of weekly dose delivery until the company secures F.D.A. authorization, he said.

In a subsequent interview with The Times, Mr. Zients said that the federal government would still have enough doses for all adults in the country by the end of next month.

You know, its wartime. Were always going to have sufficient supply, he said. We are always planning for contingencies. And we dont know what specific things are going to happen, but we will have supply by the end of May.
BRYAN, Texas (AP) - Police say one person was killed and four people were wound in a shooting at a cabinet-making business in Bryan, Texas, and a state trooper was later shot during a manhunt that resulted in a suspect being taken into custody.

Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske told reporters Thursday he believes the shooting suspect is an employee at the Kent Moore Cabinets location.

Buske said the shooter was gone when officers arrived.

Buske said the shooting took place in the bays in a plant where employees make cabinets.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said the state trooper who was shot while pursuing the suspect is in serious but stable condition.

Bryan borders College Station, Texas, and is about 100 miles northwest of Houston
First, the good news: the United States and Iran had talks in Vienna on Tuesday, and the nuclear deal they and all the other great powers signed in 2015 is coming back.

Opinion

First, the good news: the United States and Iran had talks in Vienna on Tuesday, and the nuclear deal they and all the other great powers signed in 2015 is coming back.

Its not exactly back yet. After Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the treaty in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran, the Iranians retaliated by slowly deviating from their own commitments under the deal, one baby step at a time. So now there has to be agreement on a timetable for unwinding those steps as well as cancelling the U.S. sanctions.

On a better-run planet, the U.S. special envoy for Iran, Rob Malloy, would just declare that all the U.S. sanctions on Iran wrongly put in place by the discredited previous administration are cancelled as of today.

The Iranian delegation, led by deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, a veteran of the 2015 talks, would reply that Iran will immediately return to compliance with all the terms of the treaty, and invite UN inspectors to verify that all its temporary deviations from treaty obligations over the past three years have been reversed.

And we would all live happily ever after. However, in the real world...

The negotiators in Vienna were not even in the same hotel. All the countries that are still observing the treaty (China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia and the United Kingdom) were in one hotel, and the American mission was in another, with messages going back and forth between the two parties. Porcupines mate with less difficulty, but there has already been some progress.

"The United States knows that, in order to get back into compliance, its going to have to lift those sanctions that are inconsistent with the deal that was reached with Iran," said Rob Malloy. Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei replied that he "saluted" Malloys remarks. "We find this position realistic and promising," he added.

Two working groups have been set up that include American representatives, with the task of choreographing reciprocal moves by the United States and Iran to return to the treaty and a target of full compliance by both sides within two months. Just in time for Iranian moderates to claim credit for ending the U.S. sanctions a week or so before the June election.

So thats probably sorted, but what about all the countries that actually do have nuclear weapons? Iran originally got into trouble because it signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1970 and later tried to get nuclear weapons anyway, but the countries that already had nukes when they signed the NPT have obligations, too. How are they doing?

The NPT states that "nuclear-weapons states agree to... pursue nuclear disarmament aimed at the ultimate elimination of their nuclear arsenals." But it has been a long pursuit: 50 years later not one of them has actually managed to catch the damn thing.

The United States has got turned around somehow and is pursuing in the wrong direction. Its in the midst of a trillion-dollar-plus "upgrade" of its nuclear forces, including a new generation of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and new submarine-launched cruise missiles.

According to President Vladimir Putin, Russia has developed nuclear-powered cruise missiles and torpedoes with unlimited range, a hypersonic vehicle called Avangard to deliver nuclear weapons at low level and ultra-high speed, and a new ultra-heavy ICBM called Sarmat able to carry even more and bigger warheads (10-15) over a longer range (18,000 km).

There have also been reports of a new nuclear-powered drone torpedo able to deliver a 100-megaton warhead (biggest ever tested was 50 megatons) over a range of 10,000 km. Then it would explode off an enemys coast to create a tsunami wave 500 metres tall to inundate the coastal regions with highly radioactive water. But maybe this one is a fiction.

Then theres Little Britain, with its four submarines that carry nuclear-tipped missiles. Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently announced that he was increasing the number of warheads they carry from 180 to 240, but it doesnt really make much difference.

Traditional U.K. strategy is "no first use," which means Britains retaliation would be on cities, not on empty silos. So youre just bouncing the rubble after the first few dozen warheads explode.

Thats probably why Johnson broke with tradition and said that Britain might use nuclear weapons in response to non-nuclear attacks, including even cyber-attacks. One way to compensate for not really being very dangerous is to sound very reckless.

Then theres France (mostly harmless, despite some 280 nuclear weapons) and China (320, but talking about expansion). Plus India (150), Israel (90), North Korea (30-40) and Pakistan (160), all countries that "unsigned" or never signed the NPT.

But at least were safe from Irans nuclear weapons, which never existed and still dont.

Gwynne Dyers latest book is Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy (and Work).
Between hospitals in Midland and Odessa there have been at least five patients with confirmed or suspected cases of known COVID-19 variants, officials said this week.

Midland Memorial Hospital has had three patients with the UK variant and one patient with the California variant, according to a hospital spokesperson.

At Medical Center Hospital in Odessa there is currently one patient suspected to have the Brazilian variant of the virus, Critical Care Attending Alejandra Garcia Fernandez said during a press conference on Thursday.

Testing to confirm the presence of the variant has not yet been completed, she said, but the Brazilian variant is suspected because of where the patient traveled to. She declined to say when the patient was admitted to the hospital.

Variants, or mutations of the coronavirus, have health officials concerned because of the possibility that existing vaccines may be less effective against them. So far, preliminary studies have suggested the vaccines are still helpful in preventing infections from known variants.

The most notable difference between variants and the original strain of the virus is that the mutations appear to be more contagious, Garcia Fernandez said. She said mutated strains are not necessarily more dangerous and treatment for patients in the hospital remains the same.

The main difference is that its very similar to the South African strain that was detected a while back, she said of the Brazilian variant. It has two different kinds of mutations in two very specific places and what those mutations do is allow the virus to replicate and be contagious faster than the initial strains of COVID-19 we dealt with early in the pandemic.

Garcia Fernandez said the most effective way residents can protect themselves from new variants of the virus is by continuing to follow the recommended precautions and getting vaccinated.

Basic measures that weve been pushing for since the beginning of the pandemic are still up to date, she said. You can do your life but be mindful and take the precautions that weve been offering since the beginning of the pandemic. Thats the only concern people should have.

And whenever you have the ability to get your vaccine, please do, because thats what you can do to help these variants not be able to keep mutating and spreading, she said.

The Midland Health Department on Thursday reported there have been 17,109 confirmed cases and 250 COVID-19 related deaths in Midland County.
You have probably discovered the truth that we cannot always trust our emotions because they can be unreliable and misleading. A friend verbally blasts you and rage consumes your spirit. Your career is in decline and depression slithers into your heart. Caught in the comparison trap, you find yourself avoiding those who have bigger, more influential jobs.

Anger is a constant companion; finances are tight, and rest is a distant memory. A sense of bone-deep weariness saturates your soul as your own heart ridicules the validity of your walk with Christ. You might as well give up. Its no use. Just quit! the enemy taunts.

Spiritual discipline and control put emotions in their God-shaped place, discarding negative emotions as the spiritual leeches they are while safeguarding and reinforcing positive emotions. I am amazed at the number of people who base eternal decisions on feelings while seeking confirmation and even direction from emotional responses. I almost missed one of the highest plans for my life because it didnt feel right.

My husband Dan was the Youth Pastor at a church in Hollywood, Florida where Bill Billingsley, one of the greatest men I have ever known, was senior pastor. He and his amazing wife Betty Jean had an enormous impact on me personally. In fact, it was their leadership and guidance that laid the foundation for the ministry of speaking and writing I now love.

Right in the midst of my God-ordained transformation at Sheridan Hills and the youth programs greatest growth, Dan dropped the bomb  he felt God calling him back to Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Well, I felt God calling him to stay put!

I loved Sheridan Hills! It was home! Going back to seminary meant I would have to go back to teaching elementary school. Teaching wasnt the problem--but placing our son Jered in daycare was.

We had waited so long for this chosen baby. The thought of handing over his care to strangers broke my heart. How could this possibly be Gods plan when it felt so wrong?

My favorite worship time at Sheridan Hills was the Wednesday night service--for two reasons. I enjoyed the contemporary worship and in-depth bible teaching. I also treasured the fact that each week, while Dan was in meetings and Jered was in the nursery, I could slip into the empty, darkened auditorium for an hour of solitude.

However, the Wednesday night after Dan shared the numbing probability of our return to seminary, my usually refreshing solitude dissolved into a tantrum of crying, praying and pleading with God to let us stay. When a hand gently patted my shoulder, I looked up into the tear-filled eyes of my pastor. I have something to tell you, he said.

Pastor Billingsley was a spiritual mentor in my life. He was also a loving father figure as well. Expecting a word of wisdom or encouragement, I was shattered by his words, I have cancer. How could we leave him and the church when they needed us the most? It felt very wrong!

Speechless, we sat in pain-filled silence, weeping, each flailing in our own sea of emotions and questions. Bill Billingsley then spoke the words that have guided my steps from the moment he gave them life. Mary, just remember that Gods will penalizes no one. I immediately knew I had a choice to make.

I could mulishly hold on to my emotional comfort or I could submit to Gods will. My choice to obey God plotted the course for an incredible journey filled with purpose, a life of sharing Gods hope and healing with women across the world through speaking and writing. Had my emotions ruled, I would have missed Gods highest and best plan for my life.

Emotions are a gift from God. While emotions themselves are not sin, the place we give them can be. Since God created us with the capacity for strong emotions, we can rest assured that He has a plan for managing them. It is a step-by-step plan that begins with our commitment to being honest and transparent about every emotion, especially the negative ones.

Step 1: Identify the Source of Negative Emotions

Proverbs 3:7 (NIV) For as a man thinks, so is he.

Negative emotions are nourished in many ways--by daily challenges, a painful past, hurt or rejection, an undisciplined thought life, or Satan himself. Some people qualify as carriers because they not only transmit negative emotions, but they also use others as their personal dumping ground.

In managing negative emotions, it is imperative that we identify their source and disarm it.

Step 2: Label Negative Emotions Honestly

We are masters at mislabeling emotions because we fear that exposing our true emotions will affect the way others see us. It is time for us to take off and burn the emotional masks we wear. Healing and restoration begin at the point of emotional integrity.

Going back to seminary proved to be a spiritual marker for our family. At first, I cried every day and seethed in anger each night. I couldnt blame God, so I blamed Dan!

I missed being home with Jered, even though he loved the seminary daycare and Miss Nancy, his incredibly gifted and caring teacher. I complained about others raising my son, overlooking the fact that Dan picked him up after lunch each day and kept him every afternoon. I resented having to work, even though my teaching assignment was at one of the best elementary schools in Fort Worth and my principal was a precious Christian man.

Gradually, God broke my hardened heart as I realized that Jered was flourishing in daycare. He made wonderful friends, learned how to adjust to changes, and enjoyed priceless time with his dad. Teaching school became a passion and, in many ways, prepared me for the calling I am now living.

Looking back, I now see how I gave negative emotions free reign. The result was wasted emotional energy, health problems, spiritual disobedience, and mental exhaustion. Do not walk that path, my friend. Instead, right now, commit to emotional integrity and discipline.

Step 3: Learn to Manage Emotions

It is not enough to acknowledge the presence of negative emotions or even understand why they exist. We must take action - because if we dont, negative emotions will. We must not only be able to manage negative emotions, but we must also be able to respond correctly to those negative emotions produced by the abrasive behavior of others.

On the other hand, we can put negative emotions to work in our lives. Emotions can be like runaway horses. You are trampled by a family member with a hidden agenda, kicked in the gut by a trusted friend, or crushed by a lack of integrity and character of those in authority over you. Emotions can easily stampede out of control and into sin.

The success of emotional integrity lies in the one who holds the reins.

We must constantly choose to surrender every emotion to the supernatural control of God because when we do, the Holy Spirit empowers that choice, produces control and transforms emotional bondage into emotional freedom. Learning to control anger is a crucial life lesson.

The people around us want to see what happens when life pushes our buttons or squeezes our emotions. While God created us with the capacity for emotions, it is our responsibility to control them instead of allowing them to control us.

When Jesus saw money changers desecrating the temple of God, He was furious! Yet, He modeled the right way to harness emotions and use them for good. I have heard many Bible teachers and preachers attempt to soften the response of Jesus, but the truth is--He was irate!

I can almost see His face shrouded in plain old fury as He contemplated His options. If I had been in His place, I can tell you that those wicked men would have been toast. Not Jesus!

Before Jesus faced the intruders, He stepped aside to braid a whip. What? Jesus had not just completed Whip Braiding 101. He chose to take the time to harness His emotions, and then used that harnessed anger to drive the money changers out of the temple, correcting a wrong. Like Jesus, we choose where to invest every ounce of emotional energy we possess.

We must learn to invest wisely in order to reap the benefits of healthy emotions, harnessed and trained by godly discipline. We must intentionally monitor emotional withdrawals and the impact they will have on our lives.

Life provides the opportunity for countless emotional withdrawals that are good, right and ordained by God. I will never forget the night we found a broken and defeated young pastor standing at our front door. With tears streaming down his face, he told us that his wife was having an affair and wanted a divorce.

Certain that both he and his ministry was doomed, this precious and gifted servant poured out his pain and defeat. For months, Dan and I ministered to this stellar young man, loving him, encouraging him, making him part of our family while he tried desperately to save his marriage.

When it became clear that his wife was determined to leave, we repeatedly assured him that God would once again use him for Kingdom work.

Today, that once broken young man is married to a beautiful, godly woman who adores him, and they have three incredible children. The church he now pastors is exploding in growth, changing lives and impacting the world for Jesus Christ! The time and energy we poured into this young man was a worthy emotional investment and one of the greatest blessings in our lives.

However, some emotional deposits are not good, right, healthy or God-ordained. Every day is jam-packed with lifeless places in which we can invest emotional energy. There are those who look to us to be their faithful savior or always available crisis manager. That job belongs to God alone!

We all know about bounced checks.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why banks dont adopt my obviously superior philosophy about checking accounts. It goes something like this, As long as there are checks, there is money. Sadly, my current bank is rather narrow-minded in this area, so the reality is that our checks will bounce when our bank account is overdrawn and out of balance.

The same is true in life.

We constantly need to check our emotional balance, guarding the emotional withdrawals we allow and diligently making consistent emotional deposits. Prayer, solitude, bible study, friendships, service, accountability and a guarded thought life are just a few of the deposits that can make the difference between emotional health and emotional bankruptcy.

Paul says it well, God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing (Ephesians 2:10, NCV). In other words, we need to do what God has called us to doperiod.

An unbalanced emotional life occurs when we operate in our own strength while doing our own thing instead of wholly depending upon God and living in the parameters of His will. When we abandon all that we are to His strength, purpose and power, the Father deposits everything we need to accomplish every good work He created us to do--including getting a grip on our emotions.

Photo Credit: GettyImages/Mike Powell

Mary Southerland is also the Co-founder of Girlfriends in God, a conference and devotion ministry for women. Marys books include, Hope in the Midst of Depression, Sandpaper People, Escaping the Stress Trap, Experiencing Gods Power in Your Ministry, Fit for Life, and 10-Day Trust Adventure, You Make Me So Angry, How to Study the Bible, Fit for Life and Joy for the Journey. Mary relishes her ministry as a wife, a mother to their two children, Jered and Danna, and Mimi to her six grandchildren  Jaydan, Lelia, Justus, Hudson, Mo, and Nori.
NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio -- After spending the last eight years serving as North Olmsted City Council President, Nicole Dailey Jones announced on Wednesday (April 7) shes running for mayor on the November ballot.

Its something Ive been thinking about pretty strongly over the last six months, said 1996 Parma Senior High School graduate Jones, 43, who was born in Cleveland and raised in Parma. It really started to kind of come to the forefront, honestly, when this pandemic happened.

I thought there wasnt the right kind of communication coming out of city hall. Then it started building up -- especially over the last few months -- the way the budget was being handled and those types of things. I just thought now is the right time to step forward and offer something different to the residents.

A North Olmsted resident since 2002, Jones has experience working in local, county and federal government for more than 20 years. In addition to serving North Olmsted City Council for 13 years -- beginning as a Ward 3 councilwoman -- shes currently a congressional aide for Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur.

Jones, who unsuccessfully ran for a Cuyahoga County Council seat, ended up working for the county before being appointed as city council president in 2013. She was elected to the position later the same year.

Mother of five with her husband, Daniel, Jones is a volunteer with the PTA, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA.

Regarding running for North Olmsted mayor, Jones said it wasnt something she initially had as a goal.

I dont know that it was something I had on a certain timeline, Jones said. I will say that we run for council president here in North Olmsted, so youre elected by the people citywide.

If you run for (council president), it stays in the back of your mind that one day you could be called to step up and serve as mayor if there was a vacancy. As far as that goes, I was prepared to step up and do that but it became more of an issue of now is the time to do this.

Throwing their support behind Jones mayoral run are five current members of North Olmsted City Council -- At-Large Councilman Patrick Kelly, At-Large Councilwoman Angela Williamson, Ward 1 Councilman Louis Brossard, Ward 2 Councilman Chris Glassburn and Ward 4 Councilwoman Mary Ellen Hemann. Four council members were present for her announcement, as well as various other community leaders.

We need a mayor that is going to meet our citys challenges head-on, said Williamson in a press release. Nicole Dailey Jones has the experience and demonstrated the leadership we need for North Olmsted to succeed in the future.

Added Kelly, a retired police officer and lifelong resident, It takes focus and commitment to keep our residents and our community safe. Nicole Dailey Jones has shown that she cares about quality services and will work with our police, fire and EMS to keep us safe.

The filing deadline for the November election is June 16. Expecting competition, Jones is looking forward to the campaign.

I tend to think positively, Jones said. Usually, thats the way that I conduct most of my interactions. So I expect a positive race to talk about North Olmsteds future.

What I think is really great about local government is youre connecting directly to those residents. So thats my plan is to knock on doors and talk to residents about what most matters to them.

Read more news from the Sun Post Herald here.
A Nairobi-based commercial sex worker pleaded guilty to stealing a customers mobile phone after he allegedly failed to pay her for services rendered.

Grace Wanjiru, 21, appeared at Milimani Law Courts where she was charged with one count of stealing.

The court heard that Ms Wanjiru stole a phone valued at Sh18,000, the property of Kiprop Victor Beth, at Duruma Road in Nairobi on Tuesday, April 6.

A police report noted that Mr Kiprop said he was accosted by the sex worker on Duruma Road where she offered to pleasure him for cash but he declined the offer.

After rejecting her advances, Kiprop told police that Ms Wanjiru quickly called her friend on phone and they took his smartphone after she arrived.

He said he pleaded with the two women to return his phone but they threatened to beat him up.

Kiprop then said he decided to report the incident on the advice of a Maasai man who told him that the women were violent.

Wanjiru on the other hand contradicted Kiprops statement, saying he took her to Maydene Lodging after they agreed on a payment of Sh400.

She told the court that after the act, Kiprop refused to pay prompting her to seize his phone, which she later sold for Sh1500.
Secretary-General has warned that the use of improvised explosive devices is increasing as conflicts become more urbanised and armed groups proliferate, and he urged nations to work together to curb the threat from those weapons as well as land mines and other remnants of war.

The chief told the Security Council on Thursday that in the preceding three years funding made more than 560 square kilometers (215 square miles) safe from in global hotspots from Afghanistan and Iraq to Cambodia and Colombia. That's an area equivalent to 10 times the size of Manhattan that can now be used for buildings, farming, markets, schools and roads, he said.

But he added that despite progress by the and other organizations, "challenges have intensified," including from the COVID-19 pandemic limiting access for mine clearing operations.

Guterres said represent the greatest threat to African Union peacekeepers in both Somalia and Mali. He said mines and other explosive remnants of war hinder the mobility of UN peacekeepers in South Sudan and "new explosive threats" are emerging in Central African Republic and Congo.

The secretary-general said 164 countries are parties to the 1997 international treaty against land mines, which prohibits their use, stockpiling, production and transfers and requires their elimination.

He called for the 33 UN member states that haven't ratified it "to do so without delay."



Among the countries that have not ratified are the United States, Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea, Myanmar, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

Vietnam holds the Security Council presidency and organized Thursday's virtual meeting, which was presided over by its newly named foreign minister, Bui Thanh Son.

"Every year, land mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices claim nearly 10,000 casualties, mostly civilian, and children in conflict areas such as Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen, but also alarmingly in places like Cambodia, Laos and my own country, Vietnam, where wars ended decades ago," Bui said.

"It is a reminder of the long-lasting, destabilizing effects to post conflict peace-building and sustainable peace."



Bui said that "almost one-fifth of Vietnam's land areas are still contaminated by unexploded ordnances," and if clearance efforts continue at the current rate and with current resources it "will take another hundred years to complete."Vikas Swarup, India's vice minister for foreign affairs, expressed deep concern that terrorist groups, including the Islamic State movement, "have resorted to land mines and as low cost and effective options to spread terror and threaten innocent civilians.'"We need to strongly condemn and take effective measures to combat this trend," Swarup said.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield noted that the Landmine Monitor's 2020 report said 5,554 people, most of them "innocent civilians," were killed or injured globally in 2019 by land mines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war.

Thomas-Greenfield said US President Joe Biden "believes we need to curtail the use of land mines" and has been clear that he intends to roll back the Trump administration's policy.

The Pentagon said this week it will keep in place a Trump-era policy allowing the use of certain anti-personnel land mines that were restricted under former President Barack Obama while it conducts a review.

The Security Council adopted a presidential statement calling for enhanced international action against mines, war remnants and IEDs, particularly in conflict areas.

Council members called on all parties in armed conflicts "to end immediately and definitively any indiscriminate use of explosive devices in violation of international humanitarian law.

(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.)
Have you ever heard that after stealing your phone, the thief comes and returns it back to you? This surprising incident happened in Noida after a journalist's phone was snatched at the Sector 52 metro station.

However, there is a twist in the tale as the thief came and returned it back to him saying, Bhai mujhe laga One Plus 9 pro model hai.

This whole saga started when Debayan Roy, a journalist was texting someone while standing at the metro station in Sector 52 in Noida, suddenly, to his utter surprise he found out that a man wearing a black mask snatched his phone and ran off.

Roy followed the thief to get back his phone but he saw that the thief was running towards him instead of trying to escape. And he came and said that he thought that it was an OnePlus 9 Pro and dropped the phone on the floor and ran away. The phone used by the journalist is Samsung Galaxy S10+.

It looks like the craze for the OnePlus 9 Pro has gone into the head of thieves and they are leaving no stone unturned to get it.

Roy tweeted the whole incident on Twitter with the hashtag #WhatWasThis and this left Twitteratis in splits as many users poked fun at the entire fiasco.

However, on a serious note, it is advisable to be extra careful when you are using your phone in public places as not everyone can be lucky as a journalist.

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Photo: (Photo : University of Phoenix Works With Leading Community College Systems to Bring Affordable Higher Education and Degree Options to a Broad New Set of Learners)

El Camino College (ECC) is a Los Angeles County-based college founded in 1947 that is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). ECC offers two-year programs and serves over 30,000 students every year. The college holds roughly 2,500 classes in 200 programs and awarded roughly 4,000 degrees in 2019.

ECC has entered into an educational alliance with University of Phoenix to offer community college students an affordable option for earning a bachelor's degree in a variety of high-demand disciplines such as nursing, IT and healthcare.

The 3+1 Transfer Program allows ECC students to complete three years of general degree requirements before applying to transfer their credits to University of Phoenix, where they can then complete the rest of their coursework and earn a bachelor's degree. Students can complete the 11 courses needed for graduation from University of Phoenix in as little as 14 months. The University even waives all fees and tuition expenses for each eligible student's first course. University of Phoenix offers all transfer program students a special Associate Degree transfer tuition rate for their remaining courses. With this special rate, students can enjoy an average of $144 in additional savings per course.

The alliance makes strategic sense on many levels, and launching the program was an easy decision to make. Both ECC and University of Phoenix share a commitment to offering students the best way forward in their educational journeys, and they both relentlessly focus on preparing students for life in the workplace. Context-based coursework, a focus on industrial applications, workplace scenarios and realistic modeling of issues and challenges provide students with first-hand training that can help them excel in their jobs, whatever their line of work may be.

ECC President Dena P. Maloney stated that the College is pleased to work with University of Phoenix and happy to help their students earn degrees they may never have imagined were possible. All it takes is for ECC students to transfer their eligible credits - up to a maximum of 87 - towards a bachelor's degree with University of Phoenix. The remaining 33 credits needed to graduate are then completed at the University in 11 courses that are taken one course at a time every five weeks. Students can earn their degrees in as little as 14 months and benefit from lifetime access to the University's alumni network, learning resources and placement office services.

University of Phoenix Provost John Woods echoed the sentiments of his ECC counterpart, saying how exciting the new arrangement with ECC with the many opportunities it opens for students to earn degrees in popular growth industries such as nursing, IT and healthcare. Together, ECC and University of Phoenix can help students focus their energy toward earning a bachelor's degree and starting their careers on the right track.

University of Phoenix launched a similar initiative with Houston Community College (HCC). As a member of the 3+1 Transfer Program, HCC's alliance with University of Phoenix will provide students with a smooth and clear pathway toward bachelor's degrees in high-demand fields. HCC representative Zachary Schroeder stated that HCC aligns very closely with the University when it comes to their vision of how to prepare students for the workplace. The 3+1 Transfer Program not only provides prospective students with cost savings but also a richer, wider target market that can help them - and the organizations they join - meet their business, personal and professional goals.

About University of Phoenix

University of Phoenix has pioneered the concept of flexible, user-focused learning tailored to the unique goals and challenges of today's busy working learner. The University provides a wide range of degree and certificate programs designed to help students excel in the workplace. Self-paced, interactive learning ensures no student is left behind. Learn more about programs, offerings and benefits at https://www.phoenix.edu/.

About El Camino College

El Camino College has trained the best and brightest minds of Los Angeles County for over 70 years and provides roughly 2,500 classes in 200 programs to 30,000 students every year. With an award-winning faculty, the college is a leader in the region and is committed to student success and attainment. Learn more at https://www.elcamino.edu/.

About Houston Community College

Houston Community College operates in Houston, Missouri City, Greater Katy and Stafford, Texas. The college actively recruits internationally and has open enrollment policies that do not require English proficiency since the college provides an 18-month English proficiency program and remedial course to all eligible students. Learn more at https://www.hccs.edu/.
The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

6:40 p.m.

Ontario has issued a pair of emergency orders to help it address a hospital capacity crunch, including a directive allowing patient transfers without consent.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says a recent spike in COVID-19 patients arriving at hospitals prompted the orders, which are effective immediately.

Elliott says patients will only be transferred to an alternate site when a hospital experiences "a major surge event."

The province has been transferring patients between hospitals for months to accommodate a growing number of COVID-19 cases, but those transfers were done with the patient's permission.

The second emergency order issued today allows the province to redeploy dozens of workers from home-care organizations and Ontario Health - the body that oversees the health system - to hospitals during a surge.

The orders come as Ontario hospitals are preparing to start ramping down elective surgeries and non-urgent procedures next week to ensure they have the capacity to treat COVID-19 patients.

6:30 p.m.

Health officials in Alberta are reporting 1,521 new cases of COVID-19 in the province and two new deaths.

Since the pandemic started last year, a total of 2,007 people have died due to the illness.

Todays case numbers are the highest single-day tally since December.

The province says 674 new infections from the more contagious variants of concern have been detected.

It says variants make up 45.5 per cent of the 13,059 active cases in Alberta.

There are 333 people in hospital with the virus and 83 of them are in intensive care.

6:15 p.m.

COVID-19 case numbers continue to soar in British Columbia with 1,262 new cases reported today, just shy of yesterday's record-setting total of 1,293 new cases.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix say there are 9,574 active cases in the province, with 332 people in hospital, 102 of whom are in critical care.

The province has surpassed the one-million mark for vaccinations with 1,025,019 shots administered in B.C., most of which are first doses.

The health officials say there are 4,111 cases that are confirmed variants of concern, including 3,082 of the strain first identified in the U.K. and 974 of the variant first detected in Brazil.

5 p.m.

Health officials in Saskatchewan are reporting 358 new cases of COVID-19 in the province and six new deaths.

Since the pandemic began last year, 453 people have died in Saskatchewan due to the virus.

The province says a total of 3,086 cases of variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan.

It says 206 people are in hospital with the illness and 43 of those are in intensive care.

4:45 p.m.

Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.

Health officials say the case involves someone in their 30s who recently travelled outside the Atlantic region.

P.E.I. has six active reported cases of COVID-19.

2:30 p.m.

A group of 285 Saskatchewan physicians have banded together to urge the provincial government to implement stricter COVID-19 health measures and vaccinate younger essential workers.

The doctors' names are on a letter sent today to Premier Scott Moe and Health Minister Paul Merriman that says intensive care admissions are at an all-time high with younger, previously healthy people.

It says many are front-line workers and are from lower socio-economic status groups who cannot stay home or cannot isolate from their families if someone is sick.

The doctors are calling for public-health measures to be consistent throughout the province and for paid sick leave for all essential workers.

And they want the vaccine rollout to include all health-care workers, teachers and those at higher risk due to socio-economic or medical risk factors.

2:25 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador's eastern health authority says a staff member at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's has tested positive for COVID-19.

The health authority says the case is under investigation and fewer than 10 people so far have been identified as close contacts of the person involved.

Officials would not say if the employee was in contact with patients.

1:35 p.m.

Manitoba is reporting three additional deaths of people with COVID-19 and 179 new cases.

However, three earlier cases have been removed due to data correction, bringing the net increase to 176.

1:30 p.m.

Manitoba is expanding COVID-19 vaccine eligibility requirements.

The government is reducing the minimum age for vaccines in the general population by two years  to 40 and up for Indigenous people and 60 and up for others.

The province is also expanding the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to include people aged 65 and up.

Another mass vaccination centre is slated to open in north Winnipeg on May 7, adding to existing sites in downtown Winnipeg, Brandon, Thompson and other communities.

1:10 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting three new cases of COVID-19.

Officials say one case involves a man between 20 and 39 years old and his infection is related to travel within Canada.

Contact tracers are trying to chase down the source of the other two infections.

There are now eight active reported cases of COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador, and 1,025 infections have been reported in the province since the onset of the pandemic last spring.

1 p.m.

Health officials in New Brunswick have confirmed a person in their 60s in the Edmundston region has died as a result of COVID-19, bringing the province's number of deaths from the disease to 32.

There are eight new cases of COVID-19 in the province today, including six in the Edmundston region in the northwest of the province, one in the Moncton region and one in the Fredericton area.

The number of active cases is 140, and 19 patients are hospitalized, including 13 in intensive care.

A positive case of COVID-19 was confirmed at Garderie des Ptits Amis, a daycare in Edmundston, and the facility has been closed as contact tracing is carried out.

12:05 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting two new cases of COVID-19.

One case is in the province's northern zone and is related to travel outside Atlantic Canada.

The second was recorded in the central zone, which includes Halifax, and it is under investigation.

The province now has 41 active cases of COVID-19.

11:45 a.m.

Canada's chief public health officer says the spread of more contagious COVID-19 variants is driving a strong resurgence of the virus in many parts of the country.

Dr. Theresa Tam says Canada saw average daily increases of more than 6,800 new cases and 30 deaths over the past week.

Tam says an average of more than 2,500 patients were treated for COVID-19 in hospitals last week, a seven per cent increase compared to the previous week.

She says the number of cases linked to more contagious variants of the virus has almost doubled over the past week.

---

11:40 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says stricter measures are needed in several parts of the country to curb the third wave of COVID-19.

Trudeau says more contagious variants of the virus are sending young people to hospital.

He says the federal government has delivered more than 10.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the provinces and territories.

The prime minister says Canada is expectingto receive at least 44 million doses from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca by the end of June.

11:15 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,683 new COVID-19 cases today and eight more deaths attributed to the virus, including five in the previous 24 hours.

Health officials say hospitalizations rose by three to 569 over the pats 24 hours, while the number of intensive care patints rose by two to 134.

The Quebec City area continues to be the region reporting the highest daily cases, with 449.

Montreal reported 392 new infections while the Chaudiere-Appalaches region, south of the provincial capital, logged 218.

The province administered 69,148 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, for a total of 1,754,749.

11:05 a.m.

Ontario hospitals are being instructed to ramp down elective surgeries and non-urgent procedures in order to treat a growing number of COVID-19 patients.

Ontario Health's president and CEO sent a memo Thursday night instructing hospitals to make the move to preserve critical care and human resources, starting Monday.

Hospitals in northern Ontario are exempt, but Matthew Anderson says they should prepare to ramp down quickly in the near future.

The memo from the body that oversees the province's health system also asks hospitals to identify staff who could be redeployed to other sites if necessary.

11 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 4,227 new cases of COVID-19 today and 18 additional deaths from the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 1,218 new cases in Toronto, 762 in Peel Region, and 532 in York Region.

She also says there are 247 new infections in Durham Region and 246 in Ottawa.

More than 61,410 tests were completed since the last report.

11 a.m.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine today.

Ford received a shot of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine at a pharmacy in Toronto's west end.

Ford says he wanted to take the shot in front of media to help encourage people to get immunized and combat vaccine hesitancy.

The premier set a goal of getting 40 per cent of Ontarians -- or five million people -- their first dose over the next month.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2021.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  McDonalds restaurants across New Mexico are hosting a drive-up hiring event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

McDonalds is looking to hire 350 new employees at 50 restaurant locations across the state, according to a news release from the company. The restaurants are hiring for crew, manager and maintenance positions, according to the release.

The list of participating McDonalds locations includes 27 locations in Albuquerque, five in Santa Fe, three in Rio Rancho and two in Carlsbad, according to the release.

Applicants may also apply at www.careers.mcdonalds.com/us.

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People are crowding trains out of Mumbai trying to beat any new lockdown. The railways have denied reports that it plans to stop its trains. For the fourth consecutive day, the number of cases in India tops 100,000. Despite export controls, many Indian cities are beginning to run out of vaccines.

Mumbai (AsiaNews/Agencies)  India is once again facing the nightmare of last years great exodus when millions of people left cities like Mumbai after the government lockdown threw them out of work, forcing them to return to their home villages without transportation, often thousands of kilometres away.

For the past few weeks, the country has seen a new surge in the number of COVID-19 cases. Mumbai, Maharashtras metropolis, is once again the epicentre of the pandemic.

Today India reported almost 132,000 new infections in last 24 hours, a record and the fourth consecutive day with the number above 100,000.

The death toll from COVID-19 also rose to 780, the highest in five months, with 376 in Maharashtra, a state that has already had 2,100 deaths since the start of April with local hospital intensive care units at a breaking point.

Under the circumstances, many fear that they will find themselves stuck in Mumbai if a new full lockdown is imposed. This explains why trains leaving the city have seen a sudden jump in the number of passengers.

In an attempt to relieve pressure, India's railways denied reports about plans to curtail or stop train services.

In response to the surge in cases, more and more Indian states have imposed night curfew in cities. Indias Union (federal) government has stepped its vaccination rollout, with vaccine currently available to everyone over the age of 45.

More than 94 million people have been vaccinated (out of a population of 1.3 billion), over 3.6 million yesterday alone.

To boost the plan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a special mobilisation for the period from 11 to 14 April.

Local governors, however, are complaining about the lack of vaccines. Although controls have virtually ended exports to meet local needs, domestic production of anti-COVID vaccines is struggling to keep up with demand.

Today, in Mumbai, as many as 50 vaccination centres were forced to close early because of a lack of doses, while other Indian states claim that they have stocks only for a few days.

The government has tried to be reassuring, noting that supplies are on the way. Johnson & Johnson has also announced that it is in negotiations with Indian authorities to provide the country with its vaccine.
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An explosive eruption rocked La Soufriere volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent as thousands of terrified residents were ordered to evacuate.

Ash and smoke plunged parts of the island into near total darkness, blotting out the bright morning sun, said witnesses.

Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies Seismic Center, said a column of ash from the initial explosion is estimated to have risen as high as 10 kilometers (6 miles) on Friday.

She said: 'This is just the beginning.

'There is heavy ashfall in the near vicinity. More explosions could occur.'

She added this kind of activity could go on for weeks if not months and said it was impossible to predict whether any potential upcoming explosions would be bigger or smaller than the first.

The volcano last erupted in 1979, and a previous eruption in 1902 killed some 1,600 people.

An explosive eruption has rocked La Soufriere volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent following mandatory evacuation orders from the local government

The eruption is said to have plunged parts of Kingstown on the eastern Caribbean island of St Vincent into darkness at first as the evacuation got under way by terrified islanders

Roughly 16,000 people live in the surrounding red zone and will need to be evacuated, an official said

The new eruption followed mandatory evacuation orders issued on Thursday for people who live near the volcano.

Officials planned to place them aboard cruise ships, send them to nearby islands or take them to shelters elsewhere in St. Vincent outside the danger zone.

Roughly 16,000 people live in the red zone and will need to be evacuated, Joseph, said.

The pandemic could hamper evacuation efforts.

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said in a press conference that people have to be vaccinated if they go aboard a cruise ship or are granted temporary refuge in another island.

He said two Royal Caribbean cruise ships are expected to arrive by Friday and a third one in the coming days, as well as two Carnival cruise ships and another from Celebrity Cruises.

The location of the volcano on the island of St Vincent is seen on the graphic above

A cruise ship arriving at St. Vincent following the eruption of La Soufriere volcano on Friday morning to transport evacuees to nearby islands in the Caribbean for their safety

Government officials warned it could be months before people are allowed back to their homes on the island, depending on any damage caused by the falling ash and rock

Islands that have said they would accept evacuees include St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Antigua.

'Not everything is going to go perfect, but if we all cooperate ... we will come through this stronger than ever,' Gonsalves said.

He noted that he was talking to Caribbean governments to accept people's ID cards if they don't have a passport.

'This is an emergency situation, and everybody understands that,' he said.

Gonsalves added that he highly recommends those who opt to go to a shelter in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an island chain of more than 100,000 people, be vaccinated.

He added some 4,500 residents near the volcano have already been evacuated ships and by road.

Heavy ash fall had halted the evacuation efforts somewhat due to poor visibility, according to St. Vincent's National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO).

Lavern King, a shelter volunteer, said: 'The place in general is in a frenzy.

'People are still being evacuated from the red zone, it started yesterday evening and into last night.'

Gonsalves said that depending on the extent of the damage, it could be four months before evacuees could return home.

Thousands of residents on the island have been ordered to evacuate to safe zones after the volcano erupted Friday morning for the first time since 1979

Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies Seismic Center, said on Friday that the ash column is estimated to have risen as high as 10 kilometers (6 miles)

A masked official from the National Management Organisation of St Vincent and the Grenadines makes a few checks before sending evacuees on their way

The sky was turned a moody grey colour as evacuees escape a red zone in village Rose Hall in the back of a farmer's truck amid warnings the eruptions could continue for several days and weeks

Thousands of evacuees have already escaped the worst affected areas on the Caribbean island as officials work to keep people safe following the volcano's first eruption in more than 40 years

Emergency management teams have been going to communities in the red zone and providing transportation to safer locations, including prearranged shelters, according to Joseph.

'They know who doesn't have transportation because all of this has been canvassed before,' she said, adding that those who board the cruise ship would not be taken elsewhere but would remain there for an unspecified period of time.

People were seen evacuating the area in vehicles after the government ordered them to escape

By late Thursday evening, shelters were filling up as a string of car lights making their way to safer ground twinkled through the darkened mountains.

John Renton, a school principal who was in charge of one shelter, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press that it had plenty of masks and other personal protective equipment but needed more cots.

While talking, he was interrupted by a phone call from a government official asking about the state of things. 'We're over capacity,' he responded, noting that the shelter could hold 75 people and was already filled up.

Government officials tweeted that the dome of the volcano located on the island's northern region could be seen glowing by nightfall.

The alert issued on Wednesday follows days of seismic activity around La Soufriere.

Gonsalves urged people to remain calm and orderly.

'I don't want you panicked,' he said. 'That is the worst thing to do.'

Evacuee Zen Punnett, who lives on the 18-mile long island, said people panicked Thursday night as the evacuation orders came out but things were calmer Friday.

He said: 'I can feel and hear rumbling here in the green safe zone. We can see a huge ball of smoke. Keeping calm as much as possible and praying.'

Scientists alerted the government about a possible eruption after noting seismic activity at 3 a.m. on Thursday. It indicated 'magma was on the move close to the surface,' Joseph said.

'Things are escalating pretty quickly,' she said of the volcanic activity, adding that it was impossible to provide an exact forecast of what might happen in the next hours or days.

An image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the eruption of La Soufriere

Philmore Mullin, director of Antigua and Barbuda's National Office of Disaster Services, said the twin island nation was ready to receive evacuees from Saint Vincent.

He said: 'I know for sure they will be scared out of their wits. The question is, what will happen after they move? Volcanoes don't tell you what they are thinking.

'If it continues to erupt for a long time, it will be life-changing for them. And, depending on the type of eruption, they might not be able to get back home for years.'

A team from the seismic center arrived in St. Vincent in late December after the volcano had an effusive eruption.

They have been analyzing the formation of a new volcanic dome, changes to its crater lake, seismic activity and gas emissions, among other things.

The eastern Caribbean is home to other active volcanoes. Seventeen of the region's 19 live volcanoes are located on 11 islands, with the remaining two underwater near the island of Grenada, including one called Kick 'Em Jenny that has been active in recent years.

The region's most active volcano in recent years has been Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which has erupted continuously since 1995, destroying the capital of Plymouth and killing at least 19 people in 1997.
New Delhi, April 9 : The mega sporting event -- IPL 2021 -- is expected to give an added support to the in-house consumable, advertisement as well as e-commerce segment this season.

The BCCI-backed IPL draws its financial muscle from millions of fans and followers along with franchises who invest handsomely on players and branding.

It is counted as one of the most watched sporting events in the world. The IPL 2021 will be played in April-May 2021 in India.

Not surprisingly, mobile handset maker VIVO returned after a gap of one year to replace Dream11 as the title sponsor for IPL 14.

The company had signed a deal worth Rs 2,199 crore with BCCI for IPL's title sponsorship.

Besides, this time around, the resurgence of Covid-19 infections, night curfews and localised lockdowns will add more significance to the sporting event for its fans and business opportunities for the select segments.

Notably, Technopak Advisors' Chairman Arvind Singhal said the viewership of the IPL is expected to be much higher this year which will benefit franchisees and advertisers.

"Because of penetration of smartphones, high-speed internet, that has dramatically improved since the last IPL was held, we will see much better traction from the viewers," he told IANS, adding that, it will add to the revenue of BCCI and the franchisees.

In terms of increase in consumer demand, he said that as food delivery demand has always been high during IPL, the uptick this time would be healthy as people would not be able to watch matches sitting at bars and restaurants.

Talking of the restrictions and the night curfews across cities and states, Singhal said: "All the restrictions put together are indirectly going to benefit IPL." According to Suman Chowdhury, Chief Analytical Officer at AcuitA Ratings and Research: "While the resurgence of Covid cases has increased the risks of disruption to IPL 2021, online viewership is likely to remain high and may continue to benefit the online food delivery platforms which have been permitted to make deliveries despite containment measures taken in some states." Additionally, India and RCB Captain Virat Kohli expects a healthy IPL viewership this season due to the teams playing at neutral venues which will make the tournament more competitive like last year, when it was played in the UAE.

The IPL 2020 was the most watched sporting event last year in India.

Latest updates on IPL 2021
An argument between two women sparked a series of events in a Victorian neighbourhood, before one man fatally stabbed another.

Troy Taylor painted himself as the hero - rushing to his partner's aid when his neighbour held a knife to her throat.

He fatally stabbed his neighbour Michael 'Willy' Wilson in Hastings, southeast of Melbourne, two years ago, claiming later that he did so to protect his partner.

But a Victorian Supreme Court judge has partially rejected the 48-year-old's version of events in sentencing him to eight-and-a-half years behind bars for manslaughter.

Troy Taylor fatally stabbed his neighbour Michael 'Willy' Wilson (pictured) in Hastings, southeast of Melbourne

Justice Michael Croucher said Mr Wilson was described as more aggressive than usual on the evening of January 7, 2019.

A relatively high level of steroids found in his system likely was a partial explanation, he said.

An argument had broken out between the men's partners, Kim Wilson and Tracey Taylor, and Mr Wilson became involved.

Taylor said he had gone to his neighbour's home and found Mr Wilson holding Ms Taylor while armed with a knife.

He said he went back home and armed himself, before returning and stabbing Mr Wilson once in the upper back, fatally injuring him.

'I'm prepared to accept you heard something that caused you to go to the premises and to do so armed to protect Tracey Taylor,' Justice Croucher said on Friday.

'I am not prepared to accept your version that Michael Wilson still had hold of Tracey Taylor when you entered the yard.'

Despite challenging the basis of the prosecution case, Taylor pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

With time served, he'll be eligible for parole in a little over four years.
A traffic police officer in Hanoi has been caught on camera grabbing a man by the hair and punching him before escorting him to the local police station.

The video clip, which lasts about 40 seconds, went viral after being uploaded to social media by a local resident on Wednesday.

In the footage, a traffic police officer grabs a man by his hair and repeatedly punches him before taking him to the police station on his police vehicle.

During an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday, an official of the traffic police division under the municipal Department of Public Security verified some information regarding the incident.

According to the official, a team of traffic police officers was on duty along a section of National Highway No. 32 in Bac Tu Liem District on Wednesday afternoon.

At around 4:00 pm, the officers pulled over two men on a motorbike after they violated traffic regulations.

Tong Van Chua, 29, who rode the motorcycle, failed to present his vehicle registration paper, while a test revealed that his alcohol concentration was 0.705 milligrams per liter of breath, rendering him to break the drunk-driving law.

The motorbike did not have a left rear-view mirror in accordance with regulations.

Chua was booked for the three violations and his vehicle was impounded.

Vu Khac Viet, 22, who was riding pillion, began insulting the officers and prevented them from taking the motorcycle away.

He kept refusing to cooperate despite the policemens explanation.

Viet was eventually apprehended and escorted to the local police station.

He then apologized to the officers for his wrongdoing and wrote a commitment promising not to repeat such an action.

The traffic police division is reviewing and clarifying the procedures and manner of the traffic policemen during the incident.

A suitable penalty will be imposed if any wrongdoing is detected.

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India on Friday conveyed its concerns to the US over an American warship transiting through the countrys exclusive economic zone (EEZ) without prior consent in what was described by the US Navy as a freedom of navigation operation".

Though the US Navy has conducted similar operations in Indian waters in recent years, these were not publicized -- unlike the latest operation on 7 April. The US Navys 7th Fleet issued a press release that said the freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) by the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones upheld the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging Indias excessive maritime claims".

The strongly worded US Navy release didnt go down well with the defence ministry or the external affairs ministry, especially at a time when the US and India are working jointly to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific through forums such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, people familiar with the developments said, asking not to be named.

The USS John Paul Jones was continuously monitored transiting from the Persian Gulf towards the Malacca Straits. We have conveyed our concerns regarding this passage through our EEZ to the government of USA through diplomatic channels," the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

Indias stated position on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is that the convention does not authorize other states to carry out in the exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf, military exercises or manoeuvres, in particular, those involving the use of weapons or explosives, without the consent of the coastal state", the statement added.

The US Navys release said USS John Paul Jones asserted navigational rights and freedoms approximately 130 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands, inside Indias exclusive economic zone, without requesting Indias prior consent, consistent with international law".

The release noted that Indias position on prior consent for military exercises or manoeuvres in its EEZ or continental shelf was inconsistent with international law". It further said the US Navy conducts routine and regular FONOPs and will continue to do so in future, and that such operations are not about one country, nor are they about making political statements".

The 7th Fleet is the largest of the US Navys forward-deployed fleets. The US had sent elements of the 7th Fleet to the Bay of Bengal to pressure India during the 1971 war with Pakistan that ended with the liberation of Bangladesh.

Every coastal countrys EEZ extends to 200 nautical miles (370km) from its shores, and the country has exclusive rights to all resources in the water, including oil, natural gas and fish. Any military activity in the EEZ requires Indias permission, navy officials said, asking not to be named.

If you have to do anything in our EEZ, you have to notify us and take permission," Indian Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh said in 2019 after a Chinese vessel was repelled following an intrusion into Indian waters near Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Former navy chief Admiral (retd) Arun Prakash tweeted: FoNops by USN ships (ineffective as they may be) in South China Sea, are meant to convey a message to China that the putative EEZ around the artificial SCS islands is an excessive maritime claim. But what is the 7th Fleet message for India?"

He added in another tweet, There is irony here. While India ratified UN Law of the Seas in 1995, the US has failed to do it so far. For the 7th Fleet to carry out FoN missions in Indian EEZ in violation of our domestic law is bad enough. But publicizing it? USN please switch on IFF (Identification friend-or-foe)!"

The development comes soon after the navies of India and the US concluded multilateral drills in the eastern Indian Ocean. France, India, the US, Japan and Australia carried out complex maritime drills in the region to enhance interoperability among their navies during 5-7 April.

The US defence departments annual freedom of navigation reports posted online show that US warships conducted freedom of navigation challenges" in Indias EEZ in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. These operations were conducted mainly to challenge Indias excessive maritime claims", the reports said. However, no press releases were issued at the time to publicize these operations.

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Rapper and actor DMX has died.

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The star's family confirmed Friday that DMX , born Earl Simmons, died at White Plains Hospital in New York after being placed on life support last week. He was 50.

"Earl was a warrior who fought til the very end. He loved his family with all of his heart and we cherish the times we spent with him. Earl's music inspired countless fans across the world and his iconic legacy will live on forever," the family said in a statement.

"We appreciate all of the love and support during this incredibly difficult time. Please respect our privacy as we grieve the loss of our brother, father, uncle and the man the world knew as DMX," the family added.

DMX's reps confirmed Saturday that DMX was hospitalized and put on life support after having a heart attack at home. TMZ said the heart attack was triggered by a drug overdose, which the star's reps have not confirmed.

DMX started performing in the 1980s and released his debut studio album, It's Dark and Hell is Hot, in 1998. He helped establish the Ruff Ryders record label, which also featured such artists as Eve and Swizz Beatz

DMX was a three-time Grammy nominee known for such singles as "What's My Name," "Party Up (Up in Here)" and "X Gon' Give It to Ya." He released his eighth studio album, Redemption of the Beast, in 2015.

As an actor, DMX appeared in such films as Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds and Cradle 2 the Grave.

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The President's Office plans to hold a trilateral conversation between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva said.

"Now we are also planning a trilateral conversation: Zelensky, Macron and Merkel. Now the question is only in the schedules," Zhovkva said in an interview with LB.ua, published on Friday morning.

He also stressed that as soon as there was an aggravation in Donbas, Ukraine immediately asked to hold talks with all three representatives of the Normandy Four, but the Kremlin refused. "Now, as I said, we are planning a conversation with the leaders of Germany and France," Zhovkva noted.

Also, the deputy head of the President's Office added that the Minsk and Normandy formats cannot be called blocked, since meetings are held at the level of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), advisers to the leaders of the countries.

"However, it seems that the Russian Federation is deliberately transferring these negotiations into an unconstructive channel. Probably, it does not need them," Zhovkva said.

As reported, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the exacerbation of the situation in Donbas via a videoconference late in the evening on March 30. Macron and Merkel called on Russia to commit itself to stabilizing the ceasefire in Donbas.
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MI -- The first local case of new variant of COVID-19 has been reported in Shiawassee County, the county health department said Friday, April 9.

The county said the P.1. variant case was reported by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services after testing by the MDHHS Bureau of Laboratories.

No other information about the case was released.

The P.1. variant was first detected in Brazil and the first case reported in Michigan was identified in Bay County on March 31. Earlier this week, the Genesee County Health Department also reported a case of the same COVID-19 variant.

Shiawassee health officials said in a news release that there are now at least six such cases identified in Michigan.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the P.1. variant was first detected in the U.S. in January. It was initially identified in travelers from Brazil, who were tested during routine screening at an airport in Japan.

Even though the Brazilian variant is more contagious than the original COVID-19 virus, the measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are the same, health officials in Genesee and Shiawassee counties have said. Those precautions include wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing, following state directives related to coronavirus, avoiding large gatherings, and getting vaccinated.

For more information about COIVD-19 and how to get a vaccine in Shiawassee County, visit http://health.shiawassee.net or www.michigan.gov/coronavirus.

Related:

Michigans second case of new COVID-19 variant discovered in Genesee County

With cases rising, Genesee County health officials push for vaccine sign-ups

Michigans first case of Brazilian COVID-19 variant in found in Bay County
Swazi-born South African actress, model and TV personality Amanda du-Pont has ventured into the beauty business, launching a skincare brand that's community-driven, made in South Africa and harnesses clean ingredients sourced from the African continent.

Credit: Lelive

Credit: Lelive

Congrats on the launch of Lelive. Is this your first foray into skincare? What inspired the move?

How would you describe the typical Lelive customer?

Credit: Lelive

Tell us about the ingredients that have gone into Lelive products and where/how theyre sourced?

You tapped into your social media community quite a lot to help develop this product. Why this approach, and what was some of the key feedback you incorporated into the range?

Can you share a bit about the inspiration behind the first Lelive campaign, 'Made in Africa', that just launched?

How do you think more consumers can be encouraged to support more local beauty brands?

#ConsciousLiving: Ashaki driving purpose-led beauty through impact sourcing Through her natural haircare brand Ashaki, Nthabiseng 'Joy' Duff has set out to prove that the beauty industry can be a positive force for change...

What is your ultimate vision for the Lelive brand?

Where can we shop the range?

Dubbed Lelive (pronounced leh-lee-veh), the name was inspired by du-Pont's unofficial Swazi name, and means 'of the nation or world'. This is fitting as the brand's social media community played a important role in product development, helping to decide everything from the ingredients to use, product packaging and the values to uphold.The Lelive range has been formulated with natural ingredients, and is designed to be kinder to one's skin and the environment. It's reef safe, vegan, cruelty-free and dermatologist-tested, and packaged in predominantly aluminium due to its recyclability.Currently, there are seven unisex products in the Lelive range - two cleansers, a serum, an exfoliator and three moisturisers. Hero African ingredients like Rooibos, and Kalahari melon, marula and mongongo oils feature in the range, and despite Lelive's luxe minimalistic look, Du-Pont has kept the products relatively affordable, with price points ranging between R259 and R329.In light of the recent launch of Lelive, and its first brand campaign ' Made by Africa ', we caught up with Du-Pont to find out more about her move into skincare.Thank you! It's my first time creating a skincare range, but my journey into natural products started with my hair and slowly infiltrated re-looking everything I put into my body, including what I eat.Skincare was therefore a natural progression and is something I'm really passionate about because when we started there wasn't a brand out there that was giving me and what the community that we built on social media were wanting, so the only option was to do it ourselves.While the entire range has been created with the help of an African community on social media, we worked hard to make it work for everyone. We also worked hard to make sure that we gave people the quality they deserve at prices they can afford, because great skincare shouldn't only be for people who have lots of money.Our entire range is 95% natural and up to 5% plant-identical. We work with amazing local formulators who specialise in producing clean skincare that only uses the best suppliers that provide the highest quality ingredients.We also wanted there to be a common thread of African ingredients like ahea, aloe, Rooibos and marula (to name a few), that's blended with really amazing active ingredients like Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin C and Niacinamide so that it was uniquely African while also being able to stand up to what the big brands internationally were offering.From the start, it was incredibly important to us to create a product that wasn't dictating to the customer what they should buy, but instead reflected exactly what they wanted and what their concerns actually were. Gone are the days of brands forcing people to buy stuff that they don't need, so our development process needed to address this change.Some of the key feedback included the ingredients they wanted, the skin concerns they had (a lot of which was experienced by an African market), as well as more fundamental things like the fact that we needed to be clean, vegan and cruelty-free and be packaged in aluminium which is a lot kinder to the environment.Lelive is, and will always be about being community-first. Our first campaign is a thank you letter to everyone that gave their feedback to us and helped us develop our range, and a thank you to Africa itself for giving us such amazing ingredients to work with.It's about access. Consumers need to be given access to local brands, from a brand recognition point of view but also in terms of price and what people locally can afford.A lot of the time these two things don't align, you have an affordable brand, but local retailers aren't supporting them and helping them grow and get in front of more customers, or you have a local brand that everyone knows about but can't afford.With the grace of God, we hope to become the number one African skincare brand, not just in Africa, but worldwide. This might sound like a big thing to achieve, but God has already been abundant in His blessings towards us, so the time for it is now, and in my opinion, it's long overdue.Pre-orders opened on 25 March on leliveafrica.com . And we'll also be coming to a few major retailers very soon (but to find out where you'll have to stay tuned).
MTN Nigeria is engaging with local banks to discuss pricing models after it was blocked from selling products and airtime last week after it attempted to reduce commission on transactions.

The operators action resulted in most of Nigerias banks blocking sales of its products, and services were only restored after the government intervened, with MTN promising to reinstate the previously agreed rate of commission until a new agreement is negotiated.

MTN Nigeria issued a statement saying it opened consultations with banks on 6th April in a bid to align on longer term pricing structures that adhered to international standard and best practice, and expressed optimism about reaching a swift agreement with the banks.

The operator added that it was scaling up its sales and distribution network via new partnerships with fintech companies including JumiaPay, KongaPay and Sparkle.

MTN Nigerias commission dispute may be part of a wider conflict first reported by Bloomberg in March, in which several members of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria threatened to block banks from accessing their payment services.

The operators alleged that the banks owed them NGN42 billion ($110.3 million) from end-user billing, prompting Nigerias regulatory authorities to set a fixed commission rate and demand liability resolution.
Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband, has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace has announced.

In a statement shortly after midday, the palace said: "It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

"His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle."

The Duke of Edinburgh, who was the longest-serving consort in British history, had returned to Windsor Castle on March 16 after a month in hospital, said a BBC report.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he "inspired the lives of countless young people". "Prince Philip earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth, and around the world," he said.

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said the duke "consistently put the interests of others ahead of his own and, in so doing, provided an outstanding example of Christian service".

The palace added: "The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss."

Speaking at Downing Street, the prime minister said he received the news of the duke's death "with great sadness".

The flag at Buckingham Palace was lowered to half-mast and a notice was posted on the gates following the announcement of the duke's death.

People also placed flowers outside the palace, while crowds began to gather at Windsor Castle.

The BBC's royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said it was "a moment of real national sadness" and "a moment of sadness, most particularly of course, for the Queen losing her husband of 73 years - a bigger span of years than most of us can imagine".
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  A Rochester woman charged in the U.S. Capitol insurrection last January has been released from custody.

FBI agents arrested 39-year-old Victoria White Thursday and she later appeared before a federal magistrate. Judge Becky Thorson ordered Whites release on the conditions that she remain law abiding, not possess a gun and appear before magistrate judge in Washington, D.C., via Zoom, on April 15. White did not enter a plea.

The Minnesota U.S. Attorneys Office says among the charges White is facing are violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, obstruction of justice and entering a restricted building or grounds.
A top official at Orleans Parish Criminal District Court was disciplined Wednesday for faking a client's signature in a legal document in his separate civil practice.

While the Louisiana Supreme Court spared New Orleans Magistrate Commissioner Albert Thibodeaux a suspension, it did say that he could be benched for six months if he commits further misconduct.

Thibodeaux is one of four part-time commissioners appointed by the criminal courts elected judges who set bail, approve arrest warrants and perform other duties. Hes served in that role since 2014, in addition to a private civil practice.

It wasnt clear whether the Supreme Court discipline will affect Thibodeauxs role at criminal court, where he oversees Tuesday hearings. Chief Judge Karen Herman declined comment.

Thibodeaux referred a request for comment to his attorney, Harry Rosenberg, who didnt immediately respond to a voicemail message.

Thibodeaux was handling a commercial eviction case in Orleans Parish Civil District Court when he signed a client's name to an affidavit in April 2019, which he also notarized with his own name before submitting it to the court, according to a joint stipulation of facts between him and the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

The fake signature caught the other sides attention. During a hearing days later, the opposing lawyer asked Thibodeaux's client if the client had signed the document. Thibodeaux objected to the questions relevance, but he was overruled. The client admitted on the stand that the signature was bogus.

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+8 Robert Jenkins, lawyer for Ray Nagin and Aaron Broussard, receives 6-month law suspension Robert Jenkins, the high-profile defense attorney and TV pundit who represented politicians Ray Nagin and Aaron Broussard in their corruption 

The joint stipulation doesnt explain Thibodeauxs motive for signing his clients name, and it doesn't accuse him of the crime of forgery. In Louisiana, forgery is defined as writing that purports "to be the act of another who did not authorize that act." Thibodeaux continued to represent the client as the case proceeded, according to court records.

The Office of Disciplinary Counsel opened an investigation of Thibodeaux in June 2019 and filed formal charges against him in October 2020.

Thibodeaux was cooperative during the investigation and consented to discipline, according to court records. The state Supreme Court formally imposed a six-month suspension from the practice of law, although it deferred that suspension entirely unless Thibodeaux commits further misconduct.

In a dissent, Justice Jefferson Hughes said he would have gone further and imposed an actual suspension.

In 24 years as a lawyer licensed in Louisiana, Thibodeaux has never previously been disciplined. Thibodeaux is of counsel at the Davillier Law Group, and he was chief deputy city attorney for New Orleans from 2002 to 2010, according to an online biography.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 18:12:56|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on April 9, 2021 shows police officers outside the venue of Iran nuclear deal talks in Vienna, Austria. The Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the Iran nuclear deal, resumed talks here again on Friday, with the lifting of sanctions on Iran and nuclear implementation measures on top of the agenda. (Xinhua/Guo Chen)

VIENNA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the Iran nuclear deal, resumed talks here again on Friday, with the lifting of sanctions on Iran and nuclear implementation measures on top of the agenda.

The European External Action Service (EEAS) said in a press release earlier that participants would "take stock of the discussions held at various levels this week, including the relevant expert groups, in the view of a possible return of the United States and to ensure the full and effective implementation of the JCPOA by all sides."

The joint commission started the talks on Tuesday, which have drawn public attention as representatives from the United States are in Vienna to save the deal.

The Iran nuclear deal was struck in 2015 but paralyzed by the U.S. withdrawal in 2018.

The U.S. and Iranian negotiators are expected not to meet face-to-face, but will hold indirect talks with the intensified help of the coordinators, according to a statement previously released the by EEAS.

The talks are chaired by Enrique Mora, the deputy secretary general and political director of the EEAS, on behalf of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. Representatives from China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Iran are attending. Enditem
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Nigerias Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned capital market operators to stop giving support to online investment trading platforms providing access to foreign securities in Nigeria.

In a statement Thursday, the regulator said those securities were not registered in Nigeria, and platforms providing access to them were acting against the law. It warned capital market operators in partnership with the platforms to desist from providing brokerage services for foreign securities.

The apparent move by the SEC to bar fintechs from selling, issuing or offering for sale foreign securities not listed on any exchange registered in Nigeria, if seen through, will negatively impact thousands of Nigerians who have lately been drawn by technology to investing in foreign securities.

Platforms like Bamboo, Trove, and Risevest that offer Nigerians access to stocks, bonds and other securities in both local and international markets, have in recent years grown in popularity in the Nigerian fintech space, especially amongst young people.

The investment platforms have worked with local and foreign brokerage firms to provide the services, in a way sidestepping the difficult task of obtaining SEC approval.

In December 2020, the SEC tackled Chaka, another investment platform it accused of engaging in investment activities, including providing a platform for purchasing shares in foreign companies such as Google, Amazon, and Alibaba, outside the Commissions regulatory purview and without requisite registration.

In its statement Thursday, SEC said, The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) has been drawn to the existence of several providers of online investment and trading platforms which purportedly facilitate direct access of the investing public in the Federal Republic of Nigeria to securities of foreign Companies listed on Securities Exchanges registered in other jurisdictions. These platforms also claim to be operating in partnership with Capital Market operators (CMOs) registered with the Commission.

The Commission categorically states that by the provisions of Sections 67-70 of the Investments and Securities Act (ISA), 2007 and Rules 414 & 415 of the SEC Rules and Regulations, only foreign securities listed on any Exchange registered in Nigeria may be issued, sold or offered for sale or subscription to the Nigerian public. Accordingly, CMOs who work in concert with the referenced online platforms are hereby notified of the Commissions position and advised to desist henceforth.

The Commission enjoins the investing public to seek clarification as may be required via its established channels of communication on investment products advertised through conventional or online mediums.

The move is coming months after the Central Bank of Nigeria barred banks from allowing cryptocurrency-related transactions in the country.

Nigerians have reacted to the new directive.

I dont understand this SEC memo. Were any capital market operators working with the platforms or are the platforms themselves capital market operators? asked Osaretin Asemota, a Twitter user who describes himself as a retired investor. I dont know why we like making things hard for no reason. Money is going to move elsewhere as they will only go global.

Another user, Prince Humphrey, wrote, I think these folks are genuinely afraid of losing their historical economic power. Young people are just finding ways to break free and they will find a way  I now see the power of crypto enabled global investment opportunities.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The number of daily coronavirus cases in the United States hit the highest in 54 days Thursday. With a whopping 81303 new infections, the U.S. total increased to 31002572, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.



This is far higher than the 7-day average of 66118. And this is the highest figure recorded in a day in the country since February 13.



Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said the number of new Covid-19 cases is at a 'disturbingly high level' in the United States, and warned that the country is at risk of a new surge.



With 995 additional deaths reporting nationwide on Thursday, the national total reached 560116.



As usual, most number of new cases was recorded in New York - 8,731. California accounted for the highest number of COVID fatalities - 139 - in the country.



The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the number of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine shots allocated to states by the federal government is expected to drop 84 percent next week. However, allocations of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for next week will remain steady.



The Pentagon said it is rapidly administering COVID-19 vaccines in a tiered priority process to service members, DOD contractors and civilians and their families who are stationed overseas. Lt. Gen. Ronald J. Place, director, Defense Health Agency, said at a news conference that defense personnel deployed abroad face shortage in vaccine supply because of the loss of about 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Those doses were reportedly contaminated at a Baltimore factory about a week ago and are therefore unusable.



Meanwhile, new COVID cases continue to break record every day in India. On Friday, nearly 132,000 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the country, the highest single-day rise since the pandemic broke out. India is only the third country in the world to cross the 13 million mark in total cases, behind the United States and Brazil. Several Indian states have declared strict lockdown in the wake of the second wave.



Brazilian Supreme Court ordered the Senate to investigate the government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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(Alliance News) - Half of the pharma giant AstraZeneca PLC's vaccine shipments to the EU will be delayed this week, a company spokesman told AFP Friday.

"We communicated to the European Commission and member states last week that one of the two batches for delivery this week would require testing and will be delivered soon," the spokesman said.

Hong Kong on Friday confirmed it has requested Astra suspend delivery of its Covid-19 vaccine amid fears of severe side effects and concerns over its efficacy against new variants of the coronavirus.

Europe's medicines regulator said this week the Astra vaccine could cause very rare blood clots in some recipients, prompting a cascade of countries to pull the plug on giving it to people under a certain age.

Britain sought Thursday to quell fears over the jab, saying the potential side effects were extremely rare a and the risk of falling seriously sick from Covid-19 was far greater.

On Friday Hong Kong's health chief Sophia Chan said the city has asked AstraZeneca not to deliver as planned later this year.

"We think it is not necessary for AstraZeneca to deliver the vaccines to the city within this year," she said, adding Hong Kong wanted "to avoid any waste as vaccines are in short supply globally".

Wealthy Hong Kong has already secured a good supply of vaccines for its 7.5 million residents.

It has signed deals for 7.5 million shots each with BioNTech SE-Pfizer Inc and China's Sinovac, both of which have begun deliveries.

Chan said Hong Kong was also keen to look at other vaccines that may have stronger results against newer strains of the coronavirus.

Astra closed 0.6% higher in London on Friday at 7,287.00 pence each.

source: AFP

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The department will open vaccination sites to those 16 and up beginning Monday, when its website, willcountyhealth.org, will update to include a click here button for people to make an appointment. Department spokesman Steve Brandy said residents no longer need to complete a survey and can simply make an appointment themselves at one of the countys five vaccination sites.
California spent most of the last four years as a target, the object of continual presidential resentment from Donald Trump because he lost here in 2016 by almost a 62-38 margin, the states differential providing all 3 million votes by which Hillary Clinton defeated him in the popular vote that fall.

But with the end of successor Joseph Bidens first 100 days in office drawing near, things look very different for California today.

First, a look back at Californias background with Trump.

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The popular vote numbers against Trump were somewhat higher last fall than in 2016, but the percentage was virtually the same, this time slightly more than 64-34 percent, suggesting few minds changed over four years.

Trump took out his resentment in myriad ways, refusing to come here for almost anything but visits to his vaunted border wall and a couple of fundraising dinners. More substantially, his presidency meant less money for California schools than before, and less funding for police, highways, parks, and almost anything else the federal government helps pay for.
An Instagram-worthy stretch of Highway 1 in Northern California is scheduled to reopen ahead of schedule, just in time for summer.

That portion of highway in Monterey County winds through rugged coastal cliffs, showing off sweeping Pacific Ocean views. It was forced to close in late January, after heavy rain triggered a mudslide so powerful that a chunk of the roadway was swept away, leaving a huge gap in one of the country's most popular road trip routes.

Work on Highway 1 wasn't expected to be completed until late June, but is now scheduled to wrap up at the end of April, according to California's State Transportation Agency. Favorable weather helped accelerate reconstruction efforts, Caltrans officials said.

On Jan. 28, both lanes of Highway 1 sank into the Pacific Ocean, about 15 miles south of Big Sur, as the area  already more susceptible to mudslides because of increasingly intense wildfires  was again being hammered by heavy rains. "The heavy rainfall is always a challenge, but when you've got the fires and the rainfall within a few months of each other, even a few years of each other, you generate a whole new category of risks," Stanford University environmental studies professor Chris Field told NBC News at the time.

A different section of Highway 1 collapsed into the ocean near Big Sur in 2017, forcing the roadway to close for several months. This year's reopening of Highway 1 comes not just in time for summer, but also as an increasing number of Californians are receiving COVID-19 vaccinations and as pandemic restrictions are loosening across the state.

Meena Thiruvengadam is a Travel + Leisure contributor who has visited 50 countries on six continents and 47 U.S. states. She loves historic plaques, wandering new streets and walking on beaches. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.
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Demi Jones has thanked fans for their support after she revealed on Thursday she has to have a lump in her neck removed which doctors fear could be cancerous.

The Love Island star, 22, took to Instagram on Friday to tell her followers that she was 'overwhelmed with support' and had received 'thousands of kind messages'.

Demi also said the emotional video she had posted hours earlier had encouraged social media users to 'chase appointments for their lumps'.

Kind: Demi Jones has thanked her Instagram fans for their support after she revealed on Thursday she has to have a lump removed which doctors fear could be cancerous

Posting a gorgeous snap of herself sporting a full face of glam and wearing an off-white sweatshirt, the reality star penned: 'I'm so overwhelmed with support.'

'I had thousands of kind messages yesterday.'

She added: 'I'm so glad people have told me it's made them get/chase appointments for their lumps.'

Signing off her post on a happy note, Demi added: 'I feel positive today. Thank you.'

A day earlier, Demi emotionally shared the news with her followers on her Instagram Stories after receiving some test results.

Demi wiped away tears as she revealed she will have the lump removed in the next few weeks so that medics can determine whether it is cancerous.'

Emotional: Demi emotionally revealed she has to have a lump removed which doctors fear could be cancerous

Sat in her car after receiving the results, Demi told fans: 'I went to get my results today for my lump. And they think it could be cancerous so I have to have it operated on and removed in the next couple of weeks.

'Nothing is for certain but I'm really worried. I'm sure it'll be fine. It's a shock because you don't think, I was sat there in this waiting room and it was full of old people and I was the only young one there. I thought I'm so young for god's sake.

'I know loads of women go through this,I'll be fine. It might not even be cancer but they've got to cut it out to find out. I'm shocked at the moment.

Love Island star: The reality personality shared the news with her followers on her Instagram Stories on Thursday afternoon after receiving some test results

'I'll be ok, when I get it removed it'll be fine.'

Demi then shared a post which encouraged her followers to get any lumps checked if they are worried.

She wrote: 'Please don't put off getting lumps checked, if appointments keep getting cancelled then you need to chase it up. I was supposed to have this appointment six months ago.

Tearful: Demi wiped away tears as she revealed she will have the lump removed in the next few weeks so that medics can determine whether it is cancerous

News: Sat in her car after receiving the results, Demi told fans: 'I went to get my results today for my lump'

'At my scan they said 'everything looks fine' and went to send me on my way. I challenged it and asked if they could do more, in which they said 'oh well we can test the fluid if you want us to?'

'Thank god I asked as it was the fluid that can be potentially cancerous. Always push!'

In January 2020, the auburn beauty entered the Love Island villa as a bombshell, initially embarking on a romance with Nas Majeed.

But once the hopefuls were put to the test with a trip to Casa Amor, Demi was left heartbroken when she discovered her love interest returned with Eva Zapico.

Demi later enjoyed a romance with Luke Mabbott, 25, however their relationship was short lived once they left the Cape Town villa.

While Demi has remained publicly single since, Luke is now dating Love Island alum Lucie Donlan, who appeared in the previous series.
THOMPSONVILLE, MICH. -- The new distillery in town hadnt even opened its doors yet when its founders came calling on Scott Griner, fifth-generation steward of a maple syrup farm a few miles away.

The folks at the then-nascent Iron Fish Distillery had a request for Griner: They wanted to purchase 45 gallons of maple syrup, which they planned to use in the creation of a special bourbon whiskey.

That was a pretty great sale for the Griner Family Sugar Bush at the time, and the long-running partnership that ensued has turned out to be pretty great, too.

In the five years since the two businesses connected, Iron Fishs Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Maple Syrup Barrels has become the distillerys most popular spirit, and Griner has pumped up syrup production at his familys 131-year-old sugar bush to meet the ever-increasing demand.

His most recent maple syrup delivery to Iron Fishs facility was quadruple that first 45-gallon order.

What a connection, Griner says, a smile in his voice. Its working out good.

The creation of Iron Fishs flagship product is a multi-step process that starts with Griners syrup steeping in empty bourbon barrels, infusing the wood with a kiss of maple sweetness while simultaneously absorbing flavors of maple, oak, and bourbon whiskey.

The syrup is then drained from the barrels and bottled as Iron Fishs Bourbon Barrel-Aged Maple Syrup, a specialty product whose flavor shines not only atop pancakes but also in craft cocktails like the distillerys popular Salted Maple Old Fashioned.

Finally, the emptied barrels are filled with an aged high-rye bourbon whiskey, which marinates in the maple-infused wood for a minimum of six months before bottling.

The result is a nuanced spirit that took Griner by surprise the first time he tasted it.

You think in the back of your head, maple syrup bourbon, this is going to be a real sweet whiskey, but thats not where it goes at all, of course, he says. All the flavors are pulled out of the wood, and with the syrup, together ... it was awesome.

Griner says the collaboration has helped him keep doing the work that he loves: tapping trees and making maple syrup, not only at his familys historic sugar bush but also at the Iron Fish property, where sugar maples line the dirt road leading to the distillery.

For their part, the Iron Fish team is glad and grateful to have such a reciprocal relationship with a legacy farm just a stones throw away.

Its been an amazing collaboration, especially having them as neighbors, says Jesse Den Herder, Iron Fish Distillerys creative marketing director. Scott Griner is just a very creative guy. Its been a pleasure working with him. We couldnt do it without him.

Learn more at ironfishdistillery.com and watch a video about the Iron Fish Distillery/Griner Family Sugar Bush collaboration here.

Scott Griner uses more modern means of maple sap extraction at his family's sugar bush, including tubing lines such as this. For the few hundred sugar maples he taps on Iron Fish Distillery's property, however, he does things the old-fashioned way, with metal buckets. | Photo provided by Iron Fish Distillery

Both Griner's maple syrup and Iron Fish's bourbon whiskey are aged in the same barrels, complimenting each other's flavors. | Photo provided by Iron Fish Distillery

Scott Griner holds a bottle of Iron Fish's bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup, made with syrup produced from Griner's family farm. | Photo provided by Iron Fish Distillery

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Patna, April 9 : A Transfer Certificate issued by a Bihar school shows that a three day-old student passed Class 8 exams. As per the TC, the student was born on March 20, 2007 while he passed the exam on March 23, 2007.

The student identified as Prince Kumar told the mediapersons, "I passed Class 8 on March 23, 2007 from Gosaidas Tengrari Government School in Muzaffarpur. The school provided the TC with my date of birth as March 20, 2007. Interestingly, the principal of the school also signed it without noticing the error." "When I reported the matter to the school and went there to meet the principal, the school authorities threw me out of the school," the student claimed.

My father approached the district education officer (DEO) regarding the matter who admitted the clerical mistake, he said.

Muzaffarpur DEO said, "It was a clerical mistake and we will rectify it soon. We have also initiated departmental action against school administration." Earlier also a similar error appeared when Muzaffarpur's Bhim Rao Ambedkar University issued an admit card to a BP second year student with father's name as Emraan Hashmi and mother's name as Sunny Leone.
Spring is a popular time for home improvements  but when youre doing up a property, it can be all too easy to end up with regrets.

Across the UK, three-fifths (59%) of people have made changes to their home during the pandemic  but nearly half (44%) were unhappy with the results, a recent survey from Aviva found.

Shawbrook Bank meanwhile, found that a quarter (25%) of people who managed to make some savings last year intend to spend on home improvements in the coming months.

Paul Went, managing director for consumer at Shawbrook Bank, says: You should be prepared for any unexpected costs, and avoid stretching your finances to the limit by not having set aside some money to cover all eventualities.

If youre thinking about borrowing money to help fund your project, then explore all of your options and dont rush into any decisions. If you want to maximise the return on your investment, its important to try and minimise any unnecessary costs, Went adds.

Want to ensure your money is being well spent before getting stuck into new projects? Shawbrook Bank teamed up with DIY expert Chris Rice to share the following tips

1. Call your builder early

Rice says: A mistake people often make is assuming a tradesperson will be available the next day, when some of us will be booked up a year in advance during peak seasons. Its better to call as far in advance as you can to avoid missing out.

2. A good builder is worth waiting for

Id say up to six weeks is a reasonable amount of time to wait for someone to come in in off-peak periods, says Rice.

3. Recommendations are worth their weight in gold

If you have friends or family who rely on someone, theyll probably be your best bet, adds Rice. Before getting started with any new builder, its also worth trying to look at what theyve done previously. I often let new clients know where they can go locally to get an idea of my work.

4. Safety first

As the pandemic is still with us, youll need to factor this in when making any arrangements. Rice urges people to stay mindful of social distancing guidelines as lockdown restrictions are eased.

5. Make sure a cheap quote isnt a foot-in-the-door price

If youre tempted by a cheap quote, consider how much any extras may cost. Rice explains: For jobs like kitchen re-fits in particular, it can be hard to give a truly accurate estimate. For example, you may uncover a whole load of rotten plaster that needs to be redone once the old units have been torn out.

If a price seems too good to be true, ask your builder to provide a list of what it covers, and any added extras they think may come up. This acts as a good indicator of how honest the tradesperson is, and could avoid you getting into financial difficulty.

6. Get several estimates

A general rule of thumb is to aim for three quotes per job, but Rice says getting as many as possible will increase the chances of finding someone you like.

With the pandemic in mind, you may want to consider doing some thorough research online first, to minimise your visitor numbers.

Rice says: If youre able to get a few quotes, youll get a much better sense of the sort of person you want to have working on your home and what a fair price looks like.

7. Set a clear budget and plan for any potential overspend

Rice says: Typically, I try to price for a worst-case scenario and if it doesnt come to that, I can take money off. Its very unlikely that I have to say something is going to cost extra, and I know those are the words that any client hates to hear.

8. Let the builder handle materials

Rice says many builders will get preferential rates on materials  so buying them yourself may not actually save money.

9. Communicate if youre unhappy

If you let a contractor know youre are not 100% happy with the work, they may well go straight back and fix it to a high standard.

To help guard against rogue traders, Rice adds: The best precaution anyone can take is ensuring they have a legitimate home or office address for someone, so that they are able to find them if something goes wrong. Be careful if someone is only offering a telephone number or email address.

10. Leave it to the experts

Rice adds: Find someone you get along with and trust their expertise. Having that chemistry feeds into the whole client/builder relationship.
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.
Shalima Motials Dream Catchers celebrates its 10th anniversary

Photo courtesy: Dream Catchers

On April 4, 2021 Shalima Motial celebrated the 10th anniversary of her company Dream Catchers. Founder and CEO of Dream Catchers, Motial started the company with the aim to promote local performing artists in Singapore.

I moved to Singapore from India 18 years ago and felt the need for a platform for artists to showcase their singing, acting, and dancing talents. The initial idea was to have a global online platform where artists could showcase their talent, said Shalima. We ran multiple online contests and events and built a community of thousands of artists. After the first couple of years, we started focussing more on our home country, Singapore.

Shalima Motial, founder and CEO of Dream Catchers. Photo courtesy: Dream Catchers

Dream Catchers partnered with local organizations like NUS, MTV, Zee TV, Colors TV, Radio Masti, Teamworks and De Ideas to execute multiple concerts and contests. These collaborations provided an opportunity to local artists to perform on stage with major artists like Farhan Akhtar, Salim Sulaiman, Harshdeep Kaur, Javed Ali etc.

About 5 years ago, I started expanding the platform to promote Women and Entrepreneurs of all age groups and backgrounds. Under the Dream Catchers banner, we started producing and co-producing our own events like Runway Mom and IVenture. Many of these were done in partnership and close collaboration with our co-producers Zee TV Singapore, Shalima added.

Dream Catchers has co-produced 5 events with Zee Tv, the latest one marking their 10th anniversary celebrations, called Superstars Singapore - a platform for performing artists and visual artists across age groups. The show will be telecast on Zee Tv across 18 countries.

Dream Catchers also produced 3 short films last year based on domestic violence and mental health awareness. The films which were covered on platforms like Pocket Films and Touching Hearts.

In recent years, the company has ventured into Theatre Productions and Short Films production, said Shalima. Over the last years, in partnership with ArcLight Productions, we created Timeless Tales, a Theatre Production aimed at families to watch age old timeless stories retold to modern settings.

The Dream Catchers community is now 20,000 strong with many artists and supporters. The company has also received recognition for its work over the years, including Most Promising Entrepreneur from the Singapore Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (SICCI), Top 20 Entrepreneurs in Singapore from Zee Tvs She Ventures, Woman Leadership Award and Pioneering Woman Leadership Award by CMO Asia and Global Inspiring Woman Award.

I am grateful to God and to our community of artists and supporters for all that weve accomplished. Our best years are ahead of us. For me, the biggest recognition is putting a smile on the faces of our artists, said Shalima.
President Joe Biden put on a modest White House ceremony Thursday to announce a half-dozen executive actions to combat what he called an "epidemic and an international embarrassment'' of gun violence in America.

AFP

But he said much more is needed. And while Biden had proposed the most ambitious gun-control agenda of any modern presidential candidate, his moves underscored his limited power to act alone on guns with difficult politics impeding legislative action on Capitol Hill.

Gunman Kills 1, Injures 6 In Shooting At Texas Cabinet Business

A gunman opened fire on Thursday at a cabinet-making plant in Texas where he worked, killing one person and wounding six others before he was taken into custody in the latest of several mass shootings in the United States over the past three weeks.

AFP

Four of those wounded in the shooting rampage at Kent Moore Cabinets, a warehouse-sized facility at an industrial park in Bryan, Texas, were rushed to area hospitals in critical condition, the police department said on Twitter.

Brazil Sets Record Daily COVID-19 Deaths, Senate To Probe Bolsonaro's Response

Brazil on Thursday set a daily record of 4,249 COVID-19 deaths, with overwhelmed hospitals running low on supplies and the Senate about to open an investigation into the response of the government of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has played down the pandemic from the start.



AP

Brazil is nearing the single-day record that the United States registered on Jan. 20 of 4,405 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Brazil's outbreak is spiraling out of control, with vaccines in short supply and Bolsonaro fighting lockdowns.

11 Killed As Myanmar Protesters Fight Troops

Anti-coup demonstrators in Myanmar fought back with handmade guns and firebombs against a crackdown by security forces in a town in the northwest but at least 11 of the protesters were killed, domestic media reported on Thursday.

AFP

Initially, six truckloads of troops were deployed to quell protesters in the town of Taze, the Myanmar Now and Irrawaddy news outlets said. When the protesters fought back with handmade guns, knives and firebombs, five more truckloads of troops were brought in.

UK COVID Cases Dropped 60% Due To Vaccine, Curbs

Britains vaccination programme is beginning to break the link between infection and serious illness or death, according to the latest results from an ongoing study of the pandemic in England.

AFP

Researchers at Imperial College London found that Covid-19 infections dropped about 60% in March as national lockdown measures slowed the spread of the virus. People 65 and older were least likely to be infected as they benefited most from the vaccination programme, which initially focused on older people.

Australia Halts AstraZeneca Vaccine For Under 50s Over Blood Clot Concerns

Australia on Thursday joined a growing number of countries halting the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for younger people over fears it can cause serious blood clots.

AFP

In a further setback for Australia's already halting coronavirus vaccine rollout, officials said the AstraZeneca shot should no longer be given to people under the age of 50, unless they had already received a first dose without any ill effects.
Jimmy Kimmel was last night blasted for joking about Hunter Biden's drug addiction in a light-hearted interview on his show.

Social media users branded the pair 'dumb and dumber' after they laughed together about how the president's son used to smoke crack cocaine and then take his clothes off.

'Pants were the problem,' the 51-year-old told Kimmel during the interview to promote his new memoir.

But some viewers were less than impressed by their attitude towards cocaine and, more broadly, how the late night host failed to grill Hunter on his role on the board of Ukrainian gas firm Burisma or the infamous contents of his laptop.

'You know what's worse than Hunter's stupidity? It's Jimmy Kimmel's stupidity. He's talking to Hunter about Burisma and the laptop as if it was a lie. Dumb and dumber 2,' one user tweeted.

Another wrote: 'Jimmy Kimmel why are you having a criminal on your show. I have no respect for you or your show. I understand you are serious liberal but there are fact this guy done something shady and you bring him to hunter Biden makes you looks like an idiot.'

A third tweeted: 'Watching the media and Democrats trying to humanize him has been something to behold. Hunter was on f****ing Jimmy Kimmel last night. The stuff we know about how alone is awful but what we don't know is likely so much worse.'

'Pants were the problem,' the 51-year-old told Kimmel during the interview to promote his new memoir

Some viewers were less than impressed by their attitude towards cocaine and, more broadly, how the late night host failed to grill Hunter on his role on the board of Ukrainian gas firm Burisma or the infamous contents of his laptop

Biden appeared on Kimmel's show to promote his new memoir, Beautiful Things

Kimmel did touch on topics including Burisma and the laptop but he never pressed Hunter for an answer and gave any controversy a wide berth, allowing the president's son to steer their conversation back to his book.

The laptop became a source of interest during the presidential campaign, not just for the salacious contents including Hunter having sex with women and smoking drugs, but there were also claims it had dossiers which showed that Joe Biden was inextricably linked to his son's business dealings.

'I saw you talking about the laptop in interviews and it became a big thing and when you are asked if it's your laptop, you say, you don't know,' said Kimmel.

'And that is hard to believe unless you read the book and then I'm surprised you have shoes on.'

Biden, who writes in graphic detail about his crack addiction, replied: 'Yeah, I made it today. Pants were the problem.'

The flippant remark was all the more ironic because one of the photos found on the abandoned laptop shows Hunter standing in his underwear.

One Twitter user commented: 'Bravo. This is late night comedy alright. The fact Hunter Biden is on @JimmyKimmelLive joking and laughing about his laptop shows us how much of a joke everything and everyone is out there in make believe land.'

Another user wrote: 'Does Kimmel ask about the Burisma payments? 50k/mo?'

This tweet refers to Hunter's salary while working for Ukrainian gas firm Burisma, up to $50,000 per month, despite no experience in the energy sector.

He later told Kimmel that he was an exemplary candidate for the board, which he was invited to join in 2014 while his father was in charge of US policy in Ukraine while serving as vice president.

Donald Trump famously bashed Joe Biden during the campaign with phrases such a 'quid pro Joe,' to claim that the former VP and his family had profited from his office.

One twitter user last night wrote: 'Many people are calling Hunter Biden an American Hero for advancing our energy interests in the Former Soviet Union.'

Another said: 'I hate it when comedians think they are reporters - I guess a huge percentage of Americans get their news from late-night comics.'

A third wrote: 'Jimmy Kimmel is cool, but man I wish someone serious wouldve done this interview. Hunters saying some interesting stuff.'

Kimmel later returned to the subject of the laptop, which was handed in to a repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware, and never collected.

Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani then shopped it around to different newspapers.

'I really don't know,' he said.

'And the fact of the matter is, it's a red herring. It is absolutely a red herring.

'I absolutely think within my rights to question anything that comes from the, from the desk of Rudy Giuliani. And so, I don't know. Is the answer.'

Biden, seen in a photo which was found on his laptop, joked on Thursday night that 'pants were a problem' when he was on crack

Kimmel asked: 'Do you ever wish you had Apple Care?'

Biden conceded: 'That would have been a good idea.'

Biden also spoke about his controversial appointment to the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings, which critics have claimed he was unqualified for and was only given because his father was Vice President at the time.

He said: 'Go to the beginning. I went to Yale law school. I served on a dozen boards before Burisma, I was a vice chairman of the board in Amtrak, and chairman of the board at the World Food Program U.S.,supporting the largest humanitarian organization in the world.

'I had an expertise in corporate governance and I was a lawyer. Which was how I was first approached. However, what I didn't take in to account was the way in which they would use the perception against my dad.

'I would not do it again for that reason.'

The California-based father of five spoke after DailyMail.com confirmed that the laptop was indeed his.

DailyMail.com commissioned top cyber forensics experts Maryman & Associates to analyze its data and determine whether the laptop's contents were real.

The firm's founder, Brad Maryman, is a 29-year FBI veteran Supervisory Special Agent who served as an Information Security Officer and founded its first computer forensics lab.

Maryman and his business partner Dr. Joseph Greenfield used the same forensic tools to pick apart the drive as federal and state law enforcement use in criminal investigations, and prepared a report for DailyMail.com.

The report said the data on the drive 'appear to be authentic', and that after an extensive search of its contents for any tell-tale signs of tampering, Maryman and Greenfield found 'no evidence' of fabrication  by Russians or anyone else.

'The data on the system before April 2019 appears to be related to Mr. Biden, with timestamps appearing to be between 2016 and 2019,' the Maryman and Associates report said.

Hunter on Thursday night thanked his father Joe for loving him and wanting him to get well

'The operating system timestamps appear to be authentic, and no evidence was found to suggest that the timestamps or data were altered or manufactured. No indications were found that would indicate the data was manufactured.'

Hunter's new memoir, Beautiful Things, came out Tuesday and promised to give a candid account of the president's son's addiction

In a presidential debate in October, Joe Biden referred to the leaks of Hunter's emails as 'a bunch of garbage.'

But in an interview with CBS on Sunday to promote his new book, Beautiful Things, Hunter said the laptop 'could be' his.

'There could be a laptop out there that was stolen from me. It could be that I was hacked. It could be that it was the  that it was Russian intelligence. It could be that it was stolen from me or that there was a laptop stolen from me,' he said.

On Thursday DailyMail.com exposed the secrets of Hunter's abandoned laptop.

Among the 103,199 text messages on the hard drive dating from 2016 to March 2019 are fraught conversations between President Joe Biden and his son.

The bombshell cache of 103,000 text messages, 154,000 emails, more than 2,000 photos and dozens of videos are packed with revelations conveniently missing from the memoir, including:

How he begged his father to run for president in 2019 to salvage Hunter's own reputation

How he repeatedly dodged police action against him, despite constantly dealing with drug pushers and prostitutes and having multiple run-ins with law enforcement

Hunter was guarded by a Secret Service agent while on a 2018 drug and prostitute binge in Hollywood, despite not being entitled to protection at the time and amid denials from the federal agency

Joe Biden was afraid his text conversations with Hunter were being hacked even as they discussed his White House bid

How Hunter's laptop is brimming with evidence of apparent criminal activity by Hunter and his associates including drug trafficking and prostitution

On Hunter's laptop he had his own profile on porn site Pornhub where there was content of him in bed with two woman with a small dog nearby. Hunter photographed and filmed himself, often with two prostitutes at a time, in explicit videos

Hunter's laptop is brimming with evidence of apparent criminal activity by him and his associates including drug trafficking and prostitution. This photo of him grabbing a woman's hair was recovered from his laptop

AUTHENTICATING THE LAPTOP DailyMail.com commissioned cyber forensics experts at Maryman & Associates to examine the hard drive to determine its authenticity. The firm's founder, Brad Maryman, was a 29-year veteran of the FBI, served as a Chief Information Security Officer and founded the bureau's cyber forensics unit. His partner, Dr. Joseph Greenfield, is an associate professor at the University of Southern California and helped write their degree program in intelligence and cyber operations. After an extensive analysis of the hard drive, Greenfield and Maryman produced a report for DailyMail.com detailing their findings. Using the same forensic tools as federal and state law enforcement in criminal investigations, they found a total of 103,000 text messages, 154,000 emails and more than 2,000 photos. - They found emails for multiple accounts on the laptop dating back to 2009, and other data which 'appears to be related to Mr. Biden' between 2016 and 2019. - The report's findings were consistent with the known timeline for the hard drive. A Wilmington, Delaware computer store work order with Hunter's signature shows he left his 2017 MacBook Pro laptop there on April 12, 2019. - The Maryman & Associates report said the original 'Macintosh HD' drive was created on March 28, 2018 - Hunter's iCloud email address was added to the laptop's system on October 21 2018, as well as his work email at his firm Rosemont Seneca on February 2 2019. - The same day, a Gmail address he used to log onto sex cam sites, and another personal Gmail address belonging to Hunter, were also added. - Beau Biden's old Gmail account was added on February 7 2019. - Emails addressed to Hunter's various email addresses dating from December 2009 to December 2020 were found on the system. - An iPad with the name 'Hunter's iPad' and three email addresses associated with the Biden family was backed up on the laptop and on iCloud in January 2019 and again a month later. - Greenfield found 818 call logs in this iPad backup with timestamps from June 2016 to February 2019. - There were 8,942 entries in the iPad's contacts book, created between April 2016 and January 2019. - In February 2019 an iPhone XS was also synced with the laptop. Its serial number was consistent with the timestamps of the data on the phone. In conclusion, 'The operating system timestamps appear to be authentic, and no evidence was found to suggest that the timestamps or data were altered or manufactured,' the report said. 'No indications were found that would suggest the data was manufactured.' Advertisement

The texts reveal how Joe was sucked into his son's torrid love life, became a punching bag for Hunter's drug-fueled rants, and paid his grandchildren's bills when Hunter had drained his bank accounts from his spending on prostitutes and crack cocaine.

When the former Delaware senator was elected Vice President in 2008, it put an end to Hunter's lucrative career as a lobbyist to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest.

Hunter then embarked on a series of controversial business ventures and fell into a cycle of crack and prostitute binges, scandal and rehab.

By 2019 his texts appeared to be seething with resentment.

When Joe texted him a typically doting message 'Good morning my beautiful son. I miss you and love you. Dad' on February 24 that year, Hunter raged at his father for 'having made clear to the world that the only reason for not [running for president is your] family problems im glad to be the f***ing bullseye you painted on my back.'

Hunter complained that his father's advice to not defend himself in the media over stories about his expensive divorce from his ex-wife Kathleen Biden or his affair with his brother's widow Hallie had backfired, and added sarcastically: 'Oh good morning from f***ing rehab.'

'Your team just made me the uncontrollable troubled tax cheat philanderer sex and drug addict that you tried so hard to fix but couldn't yt. They just totally wrote my life away,' he wrote.

'If you dont run ill never have a chance at redemption.'

Joe replied, promising his son he would run for President but adding that he was worried his texts were 'a target' for hacking.

The president's continued forgiveness and offers of money via text to his son after his crack binges  are at odds with his long history of tough stances against drug users and suppliers.

Joe criticized George Bush Sr's 1980s War on Drugs for being 'not tough enough' and wrote punitive laws with harsher sentences for drug crimes when he was head of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

His son's drug-fueled calamities have resulted in multiple run-ins with law enforcement that would usually result in criminal charges or investigation, but Hunter has so far avoided the dock.

A shocking photo obtained from Hunter's laptop shows his badly damaged and worn down teeth - also known as 'meth mouth' - as he sits in a dentist chair

MORE BOMBSHELLS TO COME FROM HUNTER'S LAPTOP ON DAILYMAIL.COM Hunter's laptop is a pandora's box of shocking revelations, explicit photos and intimate communications.In the following days, DailyMail.com will publish more shocking stories from Hunter's laptop, including: How Hunter blew hundreds of thousands on prostitutes, drugs and luxury cars, leaving him scrambling to avoid jail for $320k in unpaid taxes

How five members of the Biden family have been to rehab for drug or alcohol abuse  and a stunning admission by Joe to his son

The OTHER Biden family member planning to buy and cook crack, after falling into the disastrous addiction with Hunter

Hunter's unconventional and unlikely relationship with his well-known psychiatrist

The whispered bedroom conversation with a prostitute caught on Hunter's webcam, in which he confesses he had a previous laptop stolen  by Russians for blackmail Advertisement

His laptop, which was handed over to the FBI in 2019, is brimming with evidence of apparent criminal activity by Hunter and his associates including drug trafficking and prostitution.

Photos also show Hunter with cracked and badly damaged teeth - known as 'meth mouth' - as he sits in a dentist chair, and another photo showing him visibly balding.

Hunter appeared to be obsessed with making and starring in porn films with prostitutes, videos and photos on his laptop show.

The hard drive contains hundreds of pictures of naked women and naked selfies of Hunter, as well as dozens of videos.

Hunter photographed and filmed himself, often with two prostitutes at a time, in explicit videos that he then posted on adult website Pornhub under the username 'RHEast'.

Hunter filmed himself with the women from his laptop webcam, sometimes shooting at different angles using an iPad and cell phone.

The sex tapes and shots with hookers are mixed in with family photos, business documents and selfies from his then-lover and brother's widow Hallie in his laptop's photos folder.

Texts show he would often order drugs to hotel rooms and take them with the women before or after sex  and photos include bottles of 100mg Viagra pills, the highest dose prescribed by doctors.

His Pornhub account had 66 award badges, including a badge for reaching 50 subscribers, watching 500 videos, and watching porn in high definition.

Hunter would sometimes leave on the webcam after filming his sex scenes, and captured himself hunched over his computer, intently watching back through the footage.

In one video on the laptop, Hunter recorded his screen and can be heard speaking to a woman about his favorite porn stars as he browsed an adult website with her.
A previously undocumented malware downloader has been spotted in the wild in phishing attacks to deploy credential stealers and other malicious payloads.

Dubbed "Saint Bot," the malware is said to have first appeared on the scene in January 2021, with indications that it's under active development.

"Saint Bot is a downloader that appeared quite recently, and slowly is getting momentum. It was seen dropping stealers (i.e. Taurus Stealer) or further loaders (example), yet its design allows [it] to utilize it for distributing any kind of malware," said Aleksandra "Hasherezade" Doniec, a threat intelligence analyst at Malwarebytes.

"Furthermore, Saint Bot employs a wide variety of techniques which, although not novel, indicate some level of sophistication considering its relatively new appearance."

The infection chain analyzed by the cybersecurity firm begins with a phishing email containing an embedded ZIP file ("bitcoin.zip") that claims to be a bitcoin wallet when, in fact, it's a PowerShell script under the guise of .LNK shortcut file. This PowerShell script then downloads the next stage malware, a WindowsUpdate.exe executable, which, in turn, drops a second executable (InstallUtil.exe) that takes care of downloading two more executables named def.exe and putty.exe.

While the former is a batch script responsible for disabling Windows Defender, putty.exe contains the malicious payload that eventually connects to a command-and-control (C2) server for further exploitation.

The obfuscation present in each stage of the infection, coupled with the anti-analysis techniques adopted by the malware, allows the malware operators to exploit the devices they were installed on without attracting attention.

Besides performing "self defense checks" to verify the presence of a debugger or a virtual environment, Saint Bot is designed to not execute in Romania and select countries within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine.

The list of commands supported by the malware include 

downloading and executing other payloads retrieved from the C2 server

updating the bot malware, and

uninstalling itself from the compromised machine

While these capabilities may seem very small, the fact that Saint Bot serves as a downloader for other malware makes it dangerous enough.

Interestingly, the payloads themselves are fetched from files hosted on Discord, a tactic that has become increasingly common among threat actors, who are abusing legitimate functions of such platforms for C2 communications, evade security, and deliver malware.

"When files are uploaded and stored within the Discord CDN, they can be accessed using the hardcoded CDN URL by any system, regardless of whether Discord has been installed, simply by browsing to the CDN URL where the content is hosted," researchers from Cisco Talos disclosed in an analysis earlier this week, thus turning software like Discord and Slack into lucrative targets for hosting malicious content.

"Saint Bot is yet another tiny downloader," Hasherezade said. "[It is] not as mature as SmokeLoader, but it is quite new and currently actively developed. The author seems to have some knowledge of malware design, which is visible by the wide range of techniques used. Yet, all the deployed techniques are well-known and pretty standard, [and] not showing much creativity so far."
The United States is determined to promote accountability for the human rights abuses taking place in Xinjiang, China. To that end, and in coordination with the European Union, Britain and Canada, the United States announced sanctions against officials of the Peoples Republic of China in connection with serious human rights abuse occurring in Xinjiang.

Chinas abuses in Xinjiang include mass detention in internment camps, forced labor, forced sterilization, severe restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, and severe restrictions on Uyghurs exercise of their linguistic and cultural identities.

Amid growing international condemnation, the PRC continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, wrote Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement. The United States reiterates its calls on the PRC to bring an end to the repression of Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang, including by releasing all those arbitrarily held in internment camps and detention facilities.

Under the Global Magnitsky sanctions program, the United States designated two Chinese officials in connection with the Peoples Republic of Chinas appalling abuses in Xinjiang, Secretary Blinken wrote. The officials are Wang Junzheng, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and Chen Mingguo, Director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau. The designation means that any assets of these individuals that are in or come within the United States are frozen, and Americans cannot engage in transactions with them.

The action by the United States was taken in solidarity with the actions of its partners in the European Union, Britain and Canada, who imposed sanctions on the same two officials and others.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, and the United States said their coordinated measures, in parallel with measures taken by the European Union, send a clear message about the human rights violations and abuses in Xinjiang. They called on China to end its repressive practices and to allow independent investigators from the United Nations as well as journalists and foreign diplomats unhindered access to the region.

We will continue to stand together to shine a spotlight on Chinas human rights violations, the foreign ministers declared. We stand united and call for justice for those suffering in Xinjiang.
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/09/2021 -- The Global EMI Shielding Market research report added by Reports and Data is a comprehensive and all-encompassing analysis of the EMI Shielding Market and its latest trends. The report offers a concise summary of the market size, market share, revenue growth, current and emerging trends and demands, profit margins, along with a comprehensive overview of the competitive scenario and business strategies enforced by the key companies operating in the industry.



The principal points of competition in this industry are product performance, reliability and innovation, application expertise, product life cycle cost, timeliness of delivery, proximity of service centers. Maintaining and improving the competitive position will require successful management of these factors, including continued investment by us in manufacturing, research and development, engineering, marketing, customer service and support, and our distribution networks. Germany is the major market in Europe and accounting for more than 35% of market share in in 2016. The presence of large number of end use industries coupled with technological innovation is driving demand in this industry. However, slow demand in end  use industries in Europe is anticipated to result in stagnant demand over the forecast period. The rising imports from Asia countries is anticipated to benefit industry growth



Get a sample of the EMI Shielding Market report @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/sample-enquiry-form/1173



The research report offers key insights regarding market players along with their gross earnings, profit margins, product portfolio, research and development activities, business strategies, market valuation, revenue contribution, market position, and strategic alliances. The report also focuses on the alliances occurring in the market, such as mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations, partnerships, licensing and manufacturing agreements, and product launches and brand promotions, among others.

The report covers in detail the competitive hierarchy of this industry vertical.



Some of the key players profiled in the report include:

Chomerics (U.S.), Laird Plc. (U.K.), PPG Industries Inc. (U.S.), Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Germany), and RTP Company (U.S.). The other players in this market include 3M Company (U.S.), Schaffner Holding AG (Switzerland), ETS-Lindgren (U.S.), Kitagawa Industries Co., Ltd



The report further covers the details related to the production and manufacturing facilities of the market behemoths, their regional expansion

on, and the industry and revenue share. It also covers crucial data regarding the product portfolio and the application scope of the manufacturers.



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The research report on the global EMI Shielding Market offers an extensive analysis of the product spectrum and application scope of the business landscape.

Based on the product type, the EMI Shielding Market is split into

- EMI Shielding Tapes & Laminates

- Conductive Coatings and Paints

- Metal Shielding Products



Based on the application, the EMI Shielding Market is split into

- Consumer Electronics

- Telecom and IT

- Automotive

- Healthcare

- Defense and Aerospace



Furthermore, the report covers a thorough analysis of the geographical landscape of the EMI Shielding Market. The report broadly assesses the regional terrain of the EMI Shielding Market while splitting the market into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.



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The research report is equipped with significant information regarding the industry share and revenue share generated by each key region. It also provides key details about trends, growth drivers, regional presence, production and manufacturing capacity, industry share, and market size, along with import/export analysis. It also estimates revenues for leading regions during the projected period.



Key Regions Analyzed in Report:

- North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

- Europe (U.K., Italy, Germany, France, Rest of EU)

- Asia Pacific (India, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, Rest of APAC)

- Latin America (Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of Latin America)

- Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., South Africa, Rest of MEA)



Highlights of the TOC:

- 1. Report Overview

- 1.1 Research Scope

- 1.2 Key EMI Shielding Market segments

- 1.3 Major players

- 1.4 Market analysis by product

- 1.5 Market analysis by application

- 1.6 Report timeline

- 2. Global Growth Trends

- 2.1 Global EMI Shielding Market size

- 2.2 Latest EMI Shielding Market trends

- 2.3 Key growth trends

- 3. Competitive Landscape

- 3.1 Global EMI Shielding Market key players

- 3.2 Global EMI Shielding Market size by manufacturers

- 3.3 Products of major players

- 3.4 Entry barriers in the EMI Shielding Market

- 3.5 Mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic alliances



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Narelle Warren has resigned from the role and the board expresses its thanks for her contribution which included the successful dual listing on the London Stock Exchange in February.

The company has also made market appropriate changes to its equity incentive structures.

( ) ( ) ( ) has made a change of company secretary with the appointment of Nadine Barry to work alongside Rachel Kerr.

This follows the resignation of Narelle Warren from the joint company secretary role effective on April 7, 2021.

The MGC Pharma board expresses its appreciation to Mrs Warren for her contribution to the company during her tenure which included the successful dual listing on the London Stock Exchange in February.

Corporate secretary experience

New joint company secretary Nadine Barry has three years of experience working as a corporate secretary for Chieftain Securities Pty Ltd, a boutique corporate advisory, equity capital markets and venture capital firm.

In this role, she has been working with small to mid-cap listed companies in the biopharma, resources and energy sectors.

Chief financial officer Daniel Kendall will also assist Ms Barry in the joint company secretary role.

Equity incentive changes

Following the recent dual LSE listing and in conjunction with key advisors in the United Kingdom, the company has agreed to market appropriate changes to the remuneration and equity incentive structures of the executive directors and key management personnel.

This includes a new performance rights program structured to retain the services of key personnel managing the companys business and to bring in line with similar listed companies in the biopharma sector in the United Kingdom.

Product offering

MGC Pharma is a European-based bio-pharma company developing and supplying affordable standardised phytocannabinoid derived medicines to patients globally.

The company has a robust product offering targeting two widespread medical conditions  epilepsy and dementia  and has further products in the development pipeline.

Employing its Nature to Medicine strategy, MGC Pharma has partnered with renowned institutions and academia to optimise cultivation and the development of targeted phytocannabinoid derived medicines products prior to production in the companys EUGMP Certified manufacturing facility.
Reporter

Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey).
A man whose kayak sunk Thursday off a Longport beach was rescued by the Coast Guard, officials said.

Egg Harbor Township 911 dispatch called Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay and stated that there was a person in the water calling for help in the vicinity of Longport Dog Beach, according to a statement from the Coast Guard.

A rescue boat arrived, found the man who was clinging to a submerged kayak and helped him out of the water and into the boat, authorities said.

Crews brought the man to shore where he was met by local EMS and was taken to Shore Memorial Hospital, the Coast Guard said.

The quick response of Station Atlantic City was a vital role in the outcome of this case, Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Castonguay said in a statement. Consistent training provides Coast Guard members to be able to respond quickly and efficiently to cases no matter when they occur.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
New York is looking for volunteers as one way to help deal with the crush and negative impacts of new and inexperienced hikers on popular trailheads of hiking trails in the Adirondacks and Catskills.

Introduced in Gov. Andrew Cuomos 2021 State of the State address, the Adopt-a-Trailhead program will be managed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC is currently in the process of identifying those trailheads that will benefit most from the new program.

In recent years, particularly in 2020 as New Yorkers eagerly pursued safe outdoor recreation experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, the state has seen an increase in the number of visitors to parks, lands, and trails. This trend is expected to continue this year.

While this uptick provides an opportunity for more New Yorkers to explore the states scenic natural areas, many of these new users are inexperienced in back-country recreation, leading to mistakes that are potentially harmful to themselves and the environment, according to a press release from the governor.

Last year saw record crowds, particularly in the popular areas of the Adirondack High Peaks. The number of hikers and increase in the numbers of hiker rescues left state and local officials wondering whether its finally time to limit the numbers of hikers through paid permits for parking areas to popular trailheads.

The number of people parking along roadways apart from the designated lots at many of the popular Adirondack High Peak trail heads is growing.

The situation also emphasized the need to hire more state Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers and other staff to help deal with things, some said.

Recently, the DEC announced a pilot program, in partnership with the Adirondack Mountain Reserve, for a pilot parking reservation system to provide reliable access and address public safety at a particularly crowded corner on Route 73 in the town of Keene in the Adirondack High Peaks region. The reservation system, effective May 1, will be operated by AMR.

Under the new Adopt-a-Trailhead program, volunteers will be asked to bolster ongoing efforts to eliminate litter problems and educate trail users about hiker preparedness, thus eliminating the amount of trash left at trailheads and encouraging proper disposal of human waste while in the woods.

Groups interested in volunteering for the program should submit an Adopt-a-Trailhead volunteer application to volunteer.stewardship@dec.ny.gov (emailed applications are preferred), or via mail to: NYSDEC, Division of Lands and Forests, Attn: Adopt-a-Trailhead Coordinator, 625 Broadway, 5th Floor, Albany, NY 12233.

After applications are approved, groups and individuals will be assigned to a trailhead in their area.

Participation in the Adopt-a-Trailhead program will include:

* A series of online training courses focused on Leave No Trace principles, visitor interaction, and visitor education;

* Virtual meetings with DEC program staff to answer questions and share suggestions;

* Spending time at assigned trailheads during weekend mornings, including holiday weekends and some Friday afternoons, depending on the location; and

* Monthly reports highlighting statistics such as number of volunteers that participated and number of hours spent at the trailhead.

Meanwhile, volunteers and DEC will continue to encourage hikers to Hike Smart NY and follow the seven principles of Leave No Trace while hiking. LNT is a set of outdoor ethics developed to educate recreationists on how to best enjoy the outdoors while minimizing their impact.

In addition, DEC continues to encourage visitors to the Adirondacks to seek out nearby alternative hikes that provide an experience similar to a High Peaks hike, including great scenic views, but with fewer people.

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ROME, APR 9 - Italy's COVID-19 Rt reproduction number has fallen to 0.92, down from 0.98 last week, sources said Friday ahead of the publication of the weekly coronavirus monitoring report of the health ministry and the Higher Health Institute (ISS). The nationwide incidence has fallen to 185 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants, down from 232 last week, the source said. A Rt number of over 1 indicates that the virus is in expansion. Franco Locatelli, the president of the Higher Health Council (CSS), said that some of the regions that are currently facing strict restrictions because they are considered high-contagion-risk red zones will be bumped down to medium-high-risk orange zones, where restrictions are looser, next week as a result of the improved data "The Rt index has improved ans some regions will pass to being orange zones," Locatelli told Sky TG24. Among other things, shops selling non-essential items must close in red zones but they can stay open in orange zones. (ANSA).
One killed, five injured in U.S. shooting

13:36, April 09, 2021 By ( Xinhua

HOUSTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed and five others injured in a shooting in U.S. Texas Thursday afternoon, according to local police.

The police said that the shooting happened at an industrial complex around 2:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) in the small Texas town of Bryan and four of the five wounded victims were in serious condition.

One of the injured victims has been identified as a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Trooper who was shot during man hunt. According to Texas DPS, the officer remained in serious but stable condition.

Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske told reporters he believed the suspect is an employee at the cabinet-making business where the shooting happened. He said the man was believed to be solely responsible for the shooting.

According to police, the shooter was arrested later in Bedias, a tiny community about 40 km northeast of Bryan.

The reason for the shooting is unclear immediately. Several law enforcement agencies are investigating the shooting.

After the shooting, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a statement, praising law enforcement's swift act of arresting the suspect. "The state will assist in any way needed to help prosecute the suspect," said the statement.

Bryan is about 160 km northwest of Houston, Texas.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Bianji)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 03:38:58|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations and humanitarian partners are deeply concerned about allegations of beheadings and unverified reports of the use of child soldiers in Mozambique, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.

The allegations in reports of violations against civilians by non-state armed groups and clashes in Cabo Delgado's Palma District said they occurred since March 24, said Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"It is extremely difficult to verify information on these incidents at this time for us, but we are concerned about the situation of civilians who fled the violence and those who remain in Palma," Dujarric told reporters in a regular briefing. "Nearly 12,800 people - 43 percent of those 12,800 people are children - have arrived in the districts of Nangade, Mueda, Montepuez and Pemba."

Many more are believed to be on the move in search of safety and assistance.

Displaced people have reportedly been hiding in the bush from attackers after fleeing Palma beginning March 24.

Humanitarian partners of the world organization in Mozambique are assisting the displaced people and scaling up the humanitarian response in Cabo Delgado.

More than 500,000 people in the province have received humanitarian assistance this year, the spokesman said. "The United Nations calls on all parties to the conflict in Cabo Delgado to protect civilians."

The crisis is stretching humanitarians in Mozambique. In the first months of this year, before the Palma crisis erupted on March 24, the humanitarians dealt with multiple climate emergencies and the Cabo Delgado conflict, he said. "Yet, the humanitarian appeal for the Cabo Delgado crisis is currently just 1 percent funded. More resources are immediately required to meet the needs of people fleeing the violence in Palma." Enditem
- By GF Value





The stock of Monmouth Real Estate Investment (NYSE:MNR, 30-year Financials) is believed to be 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 $17.98 per share and the market cap of $1.8 billion, Monmouth Real Estate Investment stock appears to be modestly overvalued. GF Value for Monmouth Real Estate Investment is shown in the chart below.





Monmouth Real Estate Investment Stock Gives Every Indication Of Being Modestly Overvalued

Because Monmouth Real Estate Investment is relatively overvalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be lower than its business growth, which averaged 2% 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. Monmouth Real Estate Investment has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.16, which is better than 73% of the companies in REITs industry. The overall financial strength of Monmouth Real Estate Investment is 4 out of 10, which indicates that the financial strength of Monmouth Real Estate Investment is poor. This is the debt and cash of Monmouth Real Estate Investment over the past years:

Story continues

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Stock Gives Every Indication Of Being Modestly Overvalued

It is less risky to invest in profitable companies, especially those with consistent profitability over long term. A company with high profit margins is usually a safer investment than those with low profit margins. Monmouth Real Estate Investment has been profitable 9 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $170.1 million and loss of $0.28 a share. Its operating margin is 49.20%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in REITs industry. Overall, the profitability of Monmouth Real Estate Investment is ranked 7 out of 10, which indicates fair profitability. This is the revenue and net income of Monmouth Real Estate Investment over the past years:

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Stock Gives Every Indication Of Being Modestly Overvalued

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. Monmouth Real Estate Investment's 3-year average revenue growth rate is in the middle range of the companies in REITs industry. Monmouth Real Estate Investment's 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is -21.3%, which ranks worse than 81% of the companies in REITs industry.

Another method of determining the profitability of a company is to compare its return on invested capital to the weighted average 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. When the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it implies the company is creating value for shareholders. For the past 12 months, Monmouth Real Estate Investment's return on invested capital is 4.62, and its cost of capital is 5.75. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of Monmouth Real Estate Investment is shown below:

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Stock Gives Every Indication Of Being Modestly Overvalued

In conclusion, Monmouth Real Estate Investment (NYSE:MNR, 30-year Financials) stock is believed to be modestly overvalued. The company's financial condition is poor and its profitability is fair. Its growth ranks worse than 81% of the companies in REITs industry. To learn more about Monmouth Real Estate Investment 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.


Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 14:39:45|Editor: huaxia

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QUITO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A cloud of uncertainty lingers over Ecuador's upcoming presidential runoff with political analysts being cautious about the bets.

Andres Arauz, a left-leaning economist endorsed by ex-president Rafael Correa, won 32.72 percent of the vote in the first-round election in February, and will face three-time candidate Guillermo Lasso, a former banker who secured 19.74 percent, in the runoff scheduled for next Sunday.

"I don't think there are certainties about who could win, but certainly there has been a polarization in the population facing the two candidacies," said Katalina Barreiro, professor of political science at Ecuador's Institute for Higher National Studies (IAEN).

The tension created by a mudslinging presidential campaign could dissipate on election day, but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will remain, according to Barreiro.

The electorate is uneasy due to a lack of solutions to urgent problems such as unemployment, strained healthcare and insecurity amid the pandemic, she told Xinhua.

"That is going to have a great repercussion on the voting decision," said the professor.

Polls showed that Arauz, 36, who served in Correa's cabinet, has a 7-point lead over Lasso, 65, whose career as a banker prompted his opponents to cast him as a member of the elite and out of step with the working class.

Ecuadorian political consultant Decio Machado said marginal preference between the two leads him to "reserve prognosis."

"The polls indicate that there is more or less a technical tie at this point, and everything that is going to happen in the final stretch of the (election) season will be decisive," Machado said.

One thing is certain, he said, the vote will be a litmus test for Correa's political influence.

The former president, who lives abroad and was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for corruption, is backing Arauz to continue the "Citizen Revolution," a political movement Correa spearheaded over a decade in power.

"I don't see that there is capacity for illusion or generating hope in Ecuadorian society on the part of the two candidates," Machado said, "it is evident that we are in a situation of uncertainty."

Many people will simply vote for the candidate they consider least bad, said Machado.

"If voting was not compulsory in Ecuador, we would possibly have a very high abstention rate," he said.

However, polls showed that the number of undecided voters, which was around 35 percent in the first round, has dropped to 8-17 percent.

Some observers say the race is shaping up as a contest between opposite political and economic models -- Arauz proposed strengthening the state's role in economic and social sectors, and Lasso is more of a laissez-faire approach.

The runoff follows a politically tense first-round, as third-placed candidate Yaku Perez, an indigenous activist, lost his runoff chance to Lasso by 32,600 votes.

Claiming voter fraud, Perez mobilized protests for widespread recounts and is calling on supporters to null their votes.

"The scenario is complicated," political analyst Xavier Flores told Xinhua, noting that fraud suspicion has prevented Lasso from altering Perez's supporters, who are largely leftists, while voting null will only have a "marginal" impact on the runoff.

"Voting null not only displaces the voter from a key decision, but can make him responsible, by action or omission, for a government that least represents the interests of the great majority," said Santiago Basabe, political scientist at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, Ecuador.

Throwing away your vote would be particularly unfortunate in a race "where there is close competition between the finalists and markedly different ideological positions," Basabe said. Enditem
A mother-of-two claims she suffered a blood clot in her lungs after having the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine - and doctors have told her not to take the second jab.

Beckie Wilson, 35, from Stoke-on-Trent, had her first dose on March 11 but says she quickly began to experience a shortness of breath.

She went to see her GP and was initially put on a course of antibiotics, but when this didn't work she was referred for blood tests and a CT scan.

And on Wednesday last week, Beckie says she received a phone call from the Royal Stoke University Hospital asking her to go to in immediately, where she says medics told her a blood clot was discovered in her lungs.

Now the warehouse operative has been put on blood thinning medication and is off work for three weeks.

Her comments come as the UK's vaccine advisers this week recommended healthy Britons under-30s should be offered an alternative Covid vaccine to AstraZeneca due to the evidence of linking it to extremely rare clots.

A small number of other patients have reported similar problems, including Mohammed Choudhury, a fit and healthy 34-year-old, who told this week how a freak reaction to the vaccine left him in intensive care, fearing for his life.

And on Easter Sunday, lawyer Neil Astles, 59, became the UK's first named victim after passing away following 10 days of severe headaches and a steady loss of vision.

However, his sister, Dr Alison Astles, a pharmacist at the University of Huddersfield, was keen to encourage people to continue taking up the jab and said: 'My brother was just extraordinarily unlucky'.

Beckie Wilson, 35, from Stoke-on-Trent, had her first dose on March 11 but says she quickly began to experience a shortness of breath

AstraZeneca jab may also be restricted for under-40s AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine may also be restricted for under-40s when Britain's immunisation drive moves down to younger age groups, it was claimed today. Medical watchdogs will assess data on the jab's links to extremely rare blood clots in 'scrupulous detail' in order to paint a clearer picture on the exact risk-benefit ratio. They have already advised 18 to 29 year olds are given an alternative to the UK-made jab because their odds of falling seriously ill with Covid are so small that the benefits of AstraZeneca's do not clearly outweigh the potential clot risks. Analysis of the UK vaccine rollout has found that younger people appear more prone to clotting after vaccination but there is no set cut-off age. Experts told MailOnline there is a 'gradual age gradient of risk'. Professor Jeremy Brown, a member of the JCVI, which advises No10 on jabs, told the Daily Telegraph: 'We're going to start vaccinating phase two healthy adults, starting with the 40 to 50-year-olds, and then we'll go to the 30 to 40-year-olds. 'When we are approaching that point we'll need to think about this a little bit more to be absolutely sure at what point in that age cut-off  given the situation we are facing at that time, and any more data that comes through on this rare complication, because more data will come through  then that might alter the age range.' Statisticians insist the risk of under-30s developing blood clots from AstraZeneca's jab is so tiny that if Wembley stadium was filled with people in the age group, only one would be struck down. For older adults, the risk of blood clots is even smaller - but their risk of dying from Covid is much higher, meaning the risks versus benefits swings heavily in favour of vaccination. The move to recommend under-30s get a different jab does not mean it is unsafe for young people, with neither the UK's drug regulator or the EU's ordering the jab to be banned for certain age groups. But both acknowledge cases of blood clots from the life-saving jab appear to be occurring slightly more often in younger adults. Advertisement

Mother-of-two Beckie, from Burslem, said: 'I went and had the vaccine through work. I couldn't do much and I was getting out of breath just moving around.

'I went to the doctors about a week later and was put on a course of antibiotics, but when this had no affect they sent me for blood tests and a CT scan at Royal Stoke.

'The results from those came back last week and I received a phone call asking me to go in where the consultant was waiting for me.

'I rushed there and the consultant told me I have got quite a few blood clots in my right lung.

'It's a really dangerous situation to be in. You can die from these blood clots.

'The hospital has now put me on blood thinning tablets for three months to try to get rid of the clots and I've been told to stay off work. Without the blood thinning medication I'd probably be dead.

'I've been referred to the respiratory clinic. I've then got to go back in three months for another CT scan to check the blood clots on my lung. Then we will go from there.'

It comes as it was claimed today the AstraZeneca jab may also be restricted for under-40s when Britain's immunisation drive moves down to younger age groups.

Medical watchdogs will assess data on the jab's links to extremely rare blood clots in 'scrupulous detail' in order to paint a clearer picture on the exact risk-benefit ratio.

They have already advised 18 to 29 year olds are given an alternative to the UK-made jab because their odds of falling seriously ill with Covid are so small that the benefits of AstraZeneca's do not clearly outweigh the potential clot risks.

Analysis of the UK vaccine rollout has found that younger people appear more prone to clotting after vaccination but there is no set cut-off age. Experts told MailOnline there is a 'gradual age gradient of risk'.

Professor Jeremy Brown, a member of the JCVI, which advises No10 on jabs, told the Daily Telegraph: 'We're going to start vaccinating phase two healthy adults, starting with the 40 to 50-year-olds, and then we'll go to the 30 to 40-year-olds.

'When we are approaching that point we'll need to think about this a little bit more to be absolutely sure at what point in that age cut-off  given the situation we are facing at that time, and any more data that comes through on this rare complication, because more data will come through  then that might alter the age range.'

But despite experts voicing concerns, the the British public still backs vaccine - as 75 per cent tell pollsters they consider it to be safe.

While the results by YouGov show a drop of two percentage points since March, it ranks close to opinions of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine which 78 per cent dubbed safe, The Times reports.

Nearly two thirds of those aged 18 to 24 felt the vaccine was ok to use, while just 13 per cent of all people polled deemed the AstraZeneca jab unsafe.

Beckie says clinicians at the hospital informed her that blood clots usually form through prolonged sitting or after having an operation.

But as this did not apply to Beckie, she believes the likely explanation for the cause was the jab.

She says she has now been advised by her doctor not to have the second dose.

Doctor Julie White (R) administers an injection of AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 vaccine to a patient at the vaccination centre set up at St Columba's church in Sheffield

75% of Britons still consider AstraZeneca jab to be safe Britons still back the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine - as 75 per cent tell pollsters they consider it to be safe. Officials have launched a campaign to maintain confidence in jabs after medical regulators advised that under-30s should be offered an alternative to the Oxford inoculation amid blood clot fears. And, as the Health Secretary looked to dispel concern by insisting that spotting rare side effects shows 'the safety system' is working, a poll revealed that 75 per cent of Britons think the vaccine is safe to use. While the results by YouGov show a drop of two percentage points since March, it ranks close to opinions of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine which 78 per cent dubbed safe, The Times reports. Nearly two thirds of those aged 18 to 24 felt the vaccine was ok to use, while just 13 per cent of all people polled deemed the AstraZeneca jab unsafe. Advertisement

She said: 'The hospital said the blood clots were caused by the vaccine.

'They explained that you can get blood clots through not moving around or through having an operation, but other than that the only other thing was the vaccine.

'The doctor has advised me not go for the second vaccine because it could lead to more blood clots. I've never had any issues with clots before.'

Beckie says she was not aware of the possible link and wishes there had been more awareness of the risk at the time of her jab.

She said: 'I was looking forward to having this vaccine because I work as a warehouse operative where there have been quite a few cases of Covid-19 and I wanted to help keep everyone safe and get back to normal.

'But now I've ended up with this. It's had a big impact on my life. I get up to go to the kitchen to make a cup of tea and I'm getting out of breath.

'I wish I hadn't had the vaccine now. I didn't know anything about blood clots possibly being linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

'I'm angry about it. We were told that this vaccine was fine and that there were no issues but now new advice has come out.

'There needed to be more awareness of the risk when I was having my jab.

'Something that was supposed to keep me healthy has made me ill.'

The recommendation to stop using AstraZeneca in the under-30s came after a review by the UK drugs regulator found that, by the end of March, 79 people had suffered rare blood clots accompanied by low blood platelet count after vaccination - 19 of whom had died.

The regulator said this was not proof the jab had caused the clots, but it said the link was getting firmer. The figures suggest the risk of dying from one of the clots following vaccination is about one in a million.

Dr June Raine, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, said: 'Over 37 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19 have now been administered in the UK, saving thousands of lives through the biggest vaccination programme that has ever taken place in the UK.

'No effective medicine or vaccine is without risk. We continually monitor safety during widespread use of any vaccine. This is to ensure vaccines are performing as expected, to identify any new side effects that may arise, and to ensure the benefits continue to outweigh the risks.

'The public's safety is always at the forefront of our minds and we take every report of a suspected side effect very seriously indeed.

'We thoroughly analyse each and every report as we receive it and although the number of reports of CVST and other thromboembolic events has increased over the last week, so has the overall number of vaccinations administered, therefore these blood clots remain extremely rare and unlikely to occur.

'We ask anyone who suspects they have experienced a side effect linked with their COVID-19 vaccine to report it to the Coronavirus Yellow Card website.

'It is still vitally important that people come forward for their vaccination when invited to do so.'

Anyone who suffers symptoms such as a persistent headache, blurred vision or confusion for four days or more after vaccination or who experience unusual skin bruising, shortness of breath or chest pain are being asked to seek medical advice.
Its been a buzzy year for Pabst. The company, which owns Texas staple Lone Star Brewing, has recently rolled out a series of new art initiatives, including a Southtown gallery and a series of fun new brews featuring local art.

Everything we do, we want to regionalize it and localize it as much as possible and celebrate the artistry and beauty that Texas has to offer, said Lone Star brand manager Daniel Crawford.

After moving their headquarters to San Antonio in October 2020, Pabst opened an art gallery in Southtown last month, and is about to launch the first in a series of art walks (the first, "The Mural Connection," will be held April 24 at 1 p.m. with the San Antonio Street Art Initiative).

This week, through a collaboration with Wide Awake Creative, Pabst is bringing a new interactive art pop-up to the Aztec Theater. In Living Pixels features seven San Antonio-based artists, and will run April 9 through April 15.

What were realistically trying to do is create a creative space to allow cool San Antonians to demonstrate just how cool the city is. And give a platform to the community to amplify its voice, Pabst CEO Matt Bruhn told the San Antonio Report in November. We want to create canvases and spaces for the existing talented people to be revealed.

The CEO also told the Report that theyre looking to attract professionals from other major cities to relocate to San Antonio to work for the company.

The better the city is perceived, the more successful well be as a company recruiting people to come to the city to work, he said.

Given concerns about gentrification, and jobs going to non-locals, it feels fair to be wary of this community investment in the San Antonio art scene for the sake of a companys brand. Still, the fact the company is investing in Texas artists both in their pop-ups and in their beers is notable and exciting - especially if it continues.

READ MORE: Pabst Brewing Co. pops into Southtown with new art gallery

As part of its Lone Star Creative Series, the company collaborated with Olivia and Cruz Ortiz, the team behind San Antonio creative studio Burnt Nopal. The duo was tasked with designing Lone Star's dazzling turquoise-and-cream label for Rio Jade a limited-edition, Mexican-style lager that launched last summer, but by popular demand is now available year-round.

The series has additionally included several seasonal selections, including Das Bier Yall, a German-style Kolsch, designed with Austin-based artist Lauren Dickens.

According to Crawford, Lone Star lovers and fans of the recent series can look forward to a collaboration with another Texan artist, with a new launch expected for late spring and early summer. But for now, the new styles are currently locked tight.

Originating in San Antonio in 1884, Lone Star is an iconic Alamo City brand acquired by Pabst in 1999. Though it remained largely untouched for two decades, Pabst has been modernizing the Lone Star brand as of late. Just this week, they joined the leagues of hard seltzer competitors, like Topo Chico, with the launch of Lone Star Agave Seltzers in watermelon and lime  exclusively sold within the confines of the Texas border.

READ MORE: Pop-up exhibition bringing trippy art to Aztec Theatre

The seltzers, which are separate from the brand's creative series, still include some of the fresh trappings of those recent launches.

Every little detail and pattern, like the bandana and colors were inspired by local and regional flavors and by Texas mythology, said Crawford.

While a big company is always looking to cut a profit, one cant help but admit the charm of holding a locally produced, well-designed beer can. While it's right to cautiously monitor this major corporation's expanded presence in our city, on the hottest of days, not much is better than an ice-cold Lone Star, condensation running down that beautiful can and all.



Camille Sauers is a freelance writer based in San Antonio. Follow her on Twitter @camillesaccount, send her emails to camillefrancissauera@gmail.com
Bus services were hit in



for the third consecutive day on Friday, as the stalemate between the employees of the corporations, who are on an indefinite strike on wage related issues, and the state government continued.

With the government on Thursday evening reiterating that it was not possible to fulfil their demand for the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission report, RTC employees have decided to continue with the strike.

As employees belonging to all the four transport corporations did not attend duty, continued to remain off the roads across the state, including Bengaluru, affecting daily commuters.

Passengers travelling to and from distant areas and office-goers were the most affected.

Private buses, mini buses, maxi cabs and other passenger transport vehicles were seen providing services to stranded passengers in different parts of the city and the state.

However, the number of passengers using private continued to remain scarce in the city, as people were using their own vehicles or were seen using cabs, Metro and auto rickshaws, especially in the city areas, private operators said.

Metro has increased the frequency of its services between 7 AM and 9 PM.

Amid threats of ESMA and "no work no pay", very few RTC workers have returned to work and are said to be operating on some routes in the city along with police escort, sources said, adding that there are similar reports from few other places in the state.

Transport Department Principal Secretary Anjum Parvez on Thursday had said as a temporary arrangement, employees who have retired in the last two years have been requested to come back to service.

"They should be physically fit, medical and eye tests will be done."



Also requesting employees to get back to work, as the government has fuliffed 8 of their 9 demands and has decided for 8 per cent salary increase as an interim relief, he had said that per day loss because of the strike is about Rs 20 crore.

RTCs that have been warning employees about continuing with the strike, have started taking action against trainee employees and are issuing notice for absence from work.

(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.)
(CNN) -- A renowned pulmonary critical care doctor testified Thursday morning that George Floyd died from a "low level of oxygen" when former police officer Derek Chauvin pinned him to the street and restricted his ability to breathe.

"This caused damage to his brain that we see, and it also caused a PEA arrhythmia that caused his heart to stop," Dr. Martin Tobin of Chicago testified, referring to pulseless electrical activity, a type of cardiac arrest.

"The cause of the low level of oxygen was shallow breathing," he added. "Small breaths. Small tidal volumes. Shallow breaths that weren't able to carry the air through his lungs down to the essential areas of the lungs that get oxygen into the blood and get rid of the carbon dioxide."

He identified four main reasons why Floyd died: the handcuffs and the street acting as a "vise," Chauvin's left knee on his neck, Floyd's prone position and Chauvin's right knee on Floyd's back, arm and side. Combined, these limited Floyd's ability to expand his lungs and narrowed his hypopharynx, a part of the throat that air passes through.

Floyd's preexisting health conditions were not relevant to his death, Tobin said.

"A healthy person subjected to what Mr. Floyd was subjected to would have died," he said.

The doctor highlighted several still images from the police body-cam footage that showed Floyd pressing his knuckles against the squad car's tire, pressing his knuckles against the ground, lifting his right shoulder and even digging his face into the street. These images indicated that Floyd was using every possible way to try to lift up his chest and breathe, Tobin said.

"It's a very poor way of breathing. But it's what you have to do when everything else is failing," he said.

Prosecutors also played disturbing slow-motion video of what Tobin said was Floyd's final moment alive, as his eyes flickered and then closed.

"You can see his eyes, he's conscious, and then you see that he isn't. That's the moment the life goes out of his body," Tobin said.

With the demeanor of a kindly old professor, Tobin spoke directly to the jury and encouraged them to feel parts of their own neck and chest as he described how breathing works. Almost all of the jurors did as the doctor asked and closely engaged with the testimony, according to a pool report from inside the courtroom.

Tobin's testimony comes on the ninth day of the trial as prosecutors shifted into the third phase of their case, focusing on the medical analysis of Floyd's cause of death.

The first week of the trial focused on Floyd's last moments on May 25, 2020, particularly the harrowing bystander and body-camera footage that showed his final breaths. Over the last few days, a series of police experts and training coordinators have testified that Chauvin violated police policy and used excessive force on Floyd.

The most important medical testimony could come Friday when Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker is expected to testify. Baker performed the autopsy on Floyd and determined his death was a homicide, listing the cause of death as "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression."

The medical analysis is important to the prosecution's case that Floyd died because Chauvin put his body weight on Floyd's neck and back for over nine minutes -- causing death by "positional asphyxia." Chauvin's defense attorney Eric Nelson has argued that Floyd died of a drug overdose and preexisting health conditions.

Prosecutors have sought to show Chauvin used excessive and unreasonable force on Floyd and had a "depraved mind" without regard for human life.

Chauvin, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, third-degree murder and third-degree manslaughter. The trial, now in its second full week of testimony, is expected to last about a month.

Fentanyl did not play a role in Floyd's death, doctor says

Chauvin's knee was on Floyd's neck for over 90% of the time, Tobin said. The doctor calculated that this constituted about 91.5 pounds on Floyd's neck when his feet came off the ground.

By observing Floyd's condition in video and calculating the rate of decline in his blood-oxygen level, Tobin deduced that Floyd eventually had no oxygen left in his body. Chauvin remained kneeling on him for another three minutes and two seconds after that point, he said.

He highlighted a moment in the body-camera footage when Floyd's legs lift into the air. This involuntary movement, also known as an anoxic seizure, is evidence of a fatal brain injury due to lack of oxygen, Tobin said.

Further, Tobin explained that fentanyl did not play a role in Floyd's death. After observing body-cam footage, Tobin calculated Floyd's respiratory rate at 22 breaths per minute, within normal range. People who overdose on fentanyl generally have a respiratory rate of about 10, so Tobin concluded that fentanyl was not affecting Floyd's breathing.

"Basically it tells you that there isn't fentanyl on board that is affecting his respiratory centers. It's not having an effect on his respiratory centers," Tobin said.

At the scene, former officer Tou Thao told the concerned bystanders that "if you can speak, you can breathe." Tobin testified that comment is true but misleading and "gives you an enormous false sense of security."

"Certainly, at the moment that you are speaking, you are breathing. But it doesn't tell you that you're going to be breathing five seconds later," the doctor said.

Floyd's suspected drug use

In Wednesday's testimony, the special agent who led the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigation into Floyd's death struggled to make sense of a short phrase Floyd said as Chauvin kneeled on him.

Senior Special Agent James Reyerson was shown a clip from Minneapolis Police body-camera footage of Floyd saying something while handcuffed and in a prone position on the ground. He initially agreed with Chauvin's defense attorney that it sounded like Floyd said, "I ate too many drugs."

After a short break, the prosecution played for Reyerson a longer clip of the video. Reyerson then changed his mind. "I believe Mr. Floyd was saying, 'I ain't do no drugs,' " he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Los Angeles Police Department use-of-force expert hired by the prosecution testified that Chauvin had used excessive and deadly force on Floyd when none was needed.

Further, several white pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine were found in Floyd's vehicle, and a smaller pill with Floyd's saliva on it was found in the back of the police squad car, three forensic scientists said Wednesday.

BCA investigator McKenzie Anderson searched the vehicles involved in May and then again months later after initially failing to collect some of the pills.

In Floyd's vehicle, she found two packets of suboxone, a drug that treats opioid addiction, three white pills, and bills stuffed between the seat and the center console, she said.

Inside the police squad car, she initially recovered Floyd's shoes and a strap and noted eight bloodstains that matched Floyd's DNA. On her second search of the car, she recovered a pill with a rough texture that did not appear whole as well as several small pieces that she thought might be pill fragments. Tests confirmed the smaller pill had Floyd's saliva on it, she testified.

Breahna Giles, a BCA forensic scientist, testified that she analyzed the white pills. They had the markings of a pill that would contain oxycodone and acetaminophen, but upon testing they actually contained methamphetamine and fentanyl, she said.

In addition, a glass pipe recovered from the vehicle contained THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, but no plant material, Giles told the court.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "George Floyd died of a low level of oxygen as Derek Chauvin pinned him to the street, doctor says"
BRANSON, Mo., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A new website has launched dedicated to creating greater awareness of sexual abuse that occurred at the popular, faith-based Kanakuk Kamps over many years, and the failures of Kanakuk leadership to protect minors from abuse by the organization's staff.

The website, www.factsaboutkanakuk.com, includes an online petition calling for the Kanakuk organization and its leaders to release dozens of sexual abuse victims and families from confidentiality agreements that bar them from disclosing details about their abuse, publicly or privately. The petition says that such a move would allow victims to effectively network and provide support for each other. The petition has already received more than 4,000 signatures in less than a week. The website is supported by No More Victims, a movement organized by a group of survivors and victim advocates.

Included on the website are a timeline of arrests, criminal convictions and civil litigation that followed the camp's failures to properly screen employees and report sexual assault to law enforcement, as well as Kanakuk's efforts to minimize or conceal the crimes. Also included on the website are profiles of six convicted sexual predators employed by Kanakuk organizations from the late 1980s through at least 2012, although Kanakuk disputes whether some of these individuals committed their offenses while employed at Kanakuk.

Several news reports during the past 10 days have examined the questionable practices of Kanakuk leadership, which include ignoring the serial sexual abuse of campers by Pete Newman, who was employed by Kanakuk for more than 14 years as a counselor and later as director of Kanakuk Kamps.

"The true dimensions of the worst Christian sex abuse scandal you've never heard of have long been largely unknown. Newman's initial arrest and sentencing received little media attention," write co-authors David and Nancy French in a 5,200-word article titled "They Aren't Who You Think They Are" published online in The Dispatch on March 28. "The resulting civil lawsuits received little attention, and nondisclosure agreements silenced victims and kept evidence under seal."

The article claims that since Newman was considered a "rock star" by campers and Kanakuk leadership, including longtime CEO Joe White, the camp declined to fire him or report known incidents of sexual abuse to law enforcement, as required by state law. Newman is believed to have abused at least 60 campers prior to his arrest and conviction in 2010. He is now serving two life sentences plus 30 years in a Missouri state prison.

A follow-up article by David French posted on April 6 details the measures taken by Kanakuk leaders to force a nondisclosure agreement on a victim and family despite their attempted refusals. The victim's mother states that although their legal battle was successful, the efforts by the camp "left us crippled by fear and pure exhaustion."

The author also responds to criticism from Kanakuk about the initial article, presenting emails from victims alerting the camp to the sexual abuse by Newman as much as a decade before he was fired. The article concludes: "Kanakuk has not produced any evidence that our report is inaccurate, nor has it provided meaningful new evidence that alters the substance of our story."

Another article, published online by MinistryWatch investigates questionable financial reporting by Kanakuk organizations. The article details a "suspicious pattern of self-dealing" in the organization's budget, including compensation to members of Mr. White's family, which controls the organization's annual budget. "The individual numbers vary from year to year, but between 2014 and 2017, Kanakuk paid the Whites or entities owned by the Whites about $2.62 million. Such payments may not be illegal, but they are unusual," according to Smith.

Additional news and opinion columns about the scandal have been published recently by Christianity Today, The Christian Report, AL.com and the Denison Forum.

No More Victims, LLC seeks greater public acknowledgement by Kanakuk leadership of the lack of proper screening and training of counselors and staff, its awareness of the history of abuse at the camp and its failures to report the crimes as mandated by state law.

For further information, No More Victims may be contacted through its legal counsel, W. Scott Hastings, at Locke Lord LLP, [email protected] / 214-740-8537.

SOURCE No More Victims LLC
By Denis Slattery | New York Daily News

Albany, N.Y.  Charlotte Bennett, a former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who has accused him of sexual misconduct, says the detailed allegations reported this week by a current staffer who says the governor groped her demonstrate clear-cut and abhorrent predatory behavior.

Bennett, 25, issued a scathing statement Thursday after an unnamed Cuomo staffer described in detail the alleged incident that took place late last year at the Executive Mansion in Albany.

In an interview with the Albany Times Union, the woman also laid out how the governor made a series of sexually explicit comments and touched her inappropriately several times in a way that she believed was intended to groom her for sex.

Bennett has described similar behavior on the part of the embattled Democratic governor.

The Governors pattern of predatory behavior is clear-cut and abhorrent, and the similarities between my allegations and the allegations of my anonymous former coworker are nauseating, she said in a statement. His predatory behavior must stop, and those who enable him must be brave enough to hold him accountable.

Bennett went public early last month with claims that Cuomo, while alone with her in his office last year, had asked whether she would date older men and whether she was monogamous in her relationships. He also suggested that he was open to having relationships with women in their 20s, she said.

Bennett said she believes if staffers in the office had taken her complaints about the governors behavior more seriously, it could have prevented the later alleged groping.

His heinous behavior was normalized and enabled by the senior staff who failed to report my allegations, she said.

The other woman, who still works in the Capitol, says she was summoned to Cuomos office at the Executive Mansion during a weekday in November under the pretext that the governor needed help with his cellphone. She told The Times Union that the governor slammed the office door closed and groped her breast under her blouse.

He pulled me close, and all I remember is seeing his hand, his big hand, she told the newspaper. It was pretty much like What are you doing? she said, adding, He said, I dont care.

The governors lawyer, Rita Glavin, said in a statement Wednesday that Cuomo has repeatedly made clear that he never made inappropriate advances or inappropriately touched anyone.

Bennett and the unnamed staffer are among several current and former employees and other women who have lodged sexual harassment allegations against the 63-year-old Democrat in recent months.

Attorney General Letitia James is overseeing an independent investigation into the governors conduct.

Both women have spoken to investigators about their allegations.

Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing, saying he never touched any woman inappropriately and apologized last month for making anyone feel uncomfortable. He has repeatedly called on New Yorkers to await the results of the independent probe and the Assembly impeachment inquiry that began last month.

The alleged groping is by far the most aggressive accusation against Cuomo, but Debra Katz, Bennetts attorney, said investigators should look at those around the governor who she says have enabled his alleged behavior.

Predators develop patterns of abuse and the similarities between this accusers experience and Charlottes experience make clear that Gov. Cuomo had a clear pattern of who he would target and how he would go about targeting them, Katz said. If not for Charlotte Bennett speaking up early to protect herself, her experience could very well have ended like this womans, and it is absolutely sickening to see that so many enablers were willing to allow that to happen.
An New York Times visual journalist admitted to working for one of China's major state-run media outlets and even "enjoyed" his time with the communist nation.

A shocking revelation came about when old tweets of New York Times Director of Cinematography Jonah M. Kessel resurfaced, in which he talked about working for the Chinese Communist Party, the National Pulse reported.

According to the Pulse, Kessel tweeted back in June 2009 about starting a new job at the state-run publication China Daily in Beijing, which he was thoroughly "psyched" for. Kessel mentioned in his tweets from 2009 to 2010 that he was the Creative Director of China Daily.

Kessel boasted on Twitter about how another publication mentioned his "redesign" of China Daily. After leaving China Daily, he became a China-based photographer and cinematographer for the Ministry of Information of the People's Republic of China.

The Economist reported in 2010 that China Daily had its "biggest makeover since the newspaper was launched in 1981 as China's first English-language daily" and was also "boosting the number of its foreign correspondents," including the New York Times's Kessel.

During his time working at China Daily, Kessel often gushed about "working for" and "getting paid" by the Chinese Communist Party, going as far as sharing that "Sometimes working for the PRC has its benefits." The New York Times cinematographer also shared in 2009, "You know you work for the PRC when the first word that comes to your mind when asked to describe your workplace is 'harmonious.'"

Kessel's New York Times profile says that he is a "visual journalist" who in 2011 to 2016 "covered Asia for the video desk, working out of the Beijing and Hong Kong bureaus." He was also part of the team awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for an investigation into Apple's business practices, as well as a team who covered "the Trump administration's war on science," whose work became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

In October 2009, Kessel praised China's "National Day," which celebrates the takeover of the Chinese Communist Party, calling the event "very cool." But Kessel isn't the only pro-China New York Times staff.

In fact, a Staff Editor by the name of Diarmuid McDermott also served as an Editor and Designer at Beijing's China Daily from 2012 to 2020. Meanwhile, New York Times reporter Alex Marshall was a China Daily editor from 2003 to 2004. Marshall is a self-proclaimed "China apologist" who often took to Twitter to praise Chinese leader Xi Jinping's speeches.

The New York Times is reportedly backing companies that are against the new election law of Georgia, a state that had, for the first time in 25 years, voted Democratic, the BBC reported.

Companies that have spoken out against the controversial voting law in Georgia include Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, American AirLines, Citigroup, Apple, Facebook, Google's parent company Alphabet, Viacom CBS, Merck, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, the UPS, and more. Reuters reported on these companies' official statements condemning the new Georgia election law.
Amazon appears to have beaten back its biggest challenge from organized labor in more than a decade, following the union vote at its Bessemer fulfillment center.

At 10:25 a.m., the no votes against unionization have reached 1,798. Yes votes for the union are at 738, unofficially. The unionization effort has been defeated.

There were 505 challenged ballots and 76 voided ballots. Challenges are not sufficient in number to affect the results of this election, an NLRB official said at the end of the count.

The no votes account for more than half of the total of 3,215 ballots that were received by the National Labor Relations Board in the election. According to the NLRB, 5,867 ballots were sent out to workers in early February.

Today was this second day of the count conducted by officials with the National Labor Relations Board at its Birmingham office.

Here is full coverage of the Alabama Amazon unionization effort

In a statement, Amazon thanked its Bessemer employees for participating in the election. Theres been a lot of noise over the past few months, and were glad that your collective voices were finally heard. In the end, less than 16% of the employees at BHM1 voted to join the RWDSU union, the company said.

Its easy to predict the union will say that Amazon won this election because we intimidated employees, but thats not true. Our employees heard far more anti-Amazon messages from the union, policymakers, and media outlets than they heard from us. And Amazon didnt winour employees made the choice to vote against joining a union. Our employees are the heart and soul of Amazon, and weve always worked hard to listen to them, take their feedback, make continuous improvements, and invest heavily to offer great pay and benefits in a safe and inclusive workplace. Were not perfect, but were proud of our team and what we offer, and will keep working to get better every day.

According to the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union about 55 percent of the ballots that went out were returned. The union is now calling for an investigation into Amazons conduct during the union drive, accusing Amazon of unlawfully interfering with the right of employees to engage in union activity.

Amazons behavior during the election cannot be ignored and our union will seek remedy to each and every improper action Amazon took, RWDSU president Stuart Appelbaum said. We wont let Amazons lies, deception and illegal activities go unchallenged, which is why we are formally filing charges against all of the egregious and blatantly illegal actions taken by Amazon during the union vote. Amazon knew full well that unless they did everything they possibly could, even illegal activity, their workers would have continued supporting the union.

The union has already called for an investigation into a mailbox installed at the fulfillment center in February.

Its unclear how many ballots were contested by the union and Amazon. Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, reported Thursday night there are approximately 500 contested ballots. It does not appear those votes would be enough to change the outcome.

Election terms stipulate that workers who quit or are discharged for cause after a payroll period ending Jan. 9 are ineligible to vote. Its unclear how many of those workers received ballots.

The union said in a statement Wednesday night that hundreds of challenged ballots mostly by the employer will be addressed after the public count.

The union needed a simple majority of yes votes to represent workers at Amazons Bessemer fulfillment center.

The RWDSU telegraphed after yesterdays early count that it expected the majority to be no.

Our system is broken, Amazon took full advantage of that, and we will be calling on the labor board to hold Amazon accountable for its illegal and egregious behavior during the campaign, union president Stuart Appelbaum said Thursday afternoon. But make no mistake about it; this still represents an important moment for working people and their voices will be heard.

The public portion of the count began after more than a week of preparations, as NLRB staffers went through each ballot with observers from Amazon and the RWDSU watching and contesting some ballots.

How the count works

The media is able to view the count through a Zoom link.

There are three observers each for Amazon and the RWDSU, along with members of the NLRB staff who are conducting the vote count.

Each individual ballot is displayed for observers, and yes or no is called out. When either side reaches 100 votes, the ballots are then recounted to verify the total, then counting continues.

The union election is the largest overseen by the NLRB since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NLRB chose a mail-in election because of COVID-19 levels back in January in the Jefferson County area.

What led to this moment

Talk of an unionization drive at the Bessemer Amazon fulfillment center was first reported in November 2020, about eight months after the 855,000-square-foot facility opened with more than 1,500 full-time employees.

On Nov. 5, BAmazonUnions Twitter account shared a video of Allen Gregory, secretary of the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union Council of Alabama, addressing Amazon workers in the state.

Your authorization card, it tells the federal government that you would like the opportunity to organize in your workplace, he said. When you see an organizer in a shirt that looks like this, give this card to them. Support your co-workers. This card is about dignity, respect and fair treatment in your workplace. It gives you the opportunity to say, Hey, Amazon, we would like a seat at the table.

In December, the NLRD rejected Amazons bid to delay until January a hearing on the union drive and the RWDSU agreed to include thousands more of the facilitys over 5,000 workers to vote in the unionization election.

The NLRB in January set Feb. 8 as the date ballots would go out and March 29 as the date they must be returned. Amazon that month unsuccessfully tried to pause the vote, citing serious and systemic flaws with the board process for conducting the vote amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the election date neared, arguments on each side intensified.

We face outrageous work quotas that have left many with illnesses and lifetime injuries, a pro-union website reads in February.

Amazon said that since the warehouse opened it had created thousands of full-time jobs in Bessemer, with average pay of $15.30 an hour, including full healthcare, vision and dental insurance.

This was a point the company stressed when a delegation of Democratic members of Congress visited the center in March, arguing they had abandoned a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour as Amazon was offering one.

As the contingent arrived at the center, they were greeted by two large digital signs - Welcome to Bessemer Members of Congress - Please match Amazons $15/hour minimum wage.

President Joe Biden weighed in, saying: There should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no anti-union propaganda. No supervisor should confront employees about their union preferences. The union also got support in visits from Sen. Bernie Sanders, rapper Killer Mike and the actor Danny Glover, who made two trips to Alabama.

What will happen after the vote

If the union wins, it would be the first in Amazons 26-year history. But the vote also has wide-reaching implications beyond Amazon, which is now the second-largest private employer in the U.S. after retailer Walmart.

Whatever the outcome, labor organizers hope Bessemer will inspire thousands of workers nationwide  and not just at Amazon  to consider unionizing. For Amazon, which has more than 950,000 workers in the U.S. and has fought hard against organizing attempts, a union loss could chill similar efforts around the company.

Even if theres a clear winner, the battle may be far from over.

If workers vote against forming a union, the retail union could file objections accusing Amazon of tainting the election in some way, which could lead to to a redo of the election if the labor board agrees.

Amazon could file its own objections if the workers vote to form a union.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The tank of helium allegedly used to kill Walcha grazier Mathew Dunbar was ordered for him over the phone by a woman claiming she was from the local newspaper and needed it for an event, a Sydney court has been told.

Mr Dunbars partner Natasha Darcy is on trial for his murder, accused of drugging him with multiple sedatives on the night of August 1, 2017, before wrapping his head in a plastic bag and filling it with helium gas. Ms Darcy, who was the sole beneficiary of his estate, has pleaded not guilty to murder, but admits she assisted Mr Dunbar to commit suicide.

Walcha sheep grazier Mathew Dunbar with partner Natasha Beth Darcy, who has been charged with murdering him.

On Friday, the NSW Supreme Court heard evidence from retail assistant Emma Worrell, who took the order for the helium tank hire on July 31, 2017.

Ms Worrell said she recalled the phone conversation with a woman, who ordered a 3.5 cubic metre helium cylinder for an event she was holding.
More than 8 of every 10 Illinoisans live in a community where the toxic metal was detected in at least one home during the past six years, the newspaper found. Dozens of homes had hundreds and even thousands of parts per billion of lead in tap water  just as extreme as what researchers found during the same period in Flint, Michigan, where mismanagement of the public water system drew a world spotlight to a scourge that remained largely hidden for decades.
Pavel Veksler Wins the Irish Open Main Event at partypoker (266,000)

April 09 2021 Jason Glatzer

Ukraine's Pavel Veksler outlasted a field of 1,880 entrants to ship the 2021 Irish Open 1,100 Main Event for 266,000 after agreeing to a heads-up deal with Bulgaria's Stoyan Obreshkov (second - 224,769).

The event was another massive success at partypoker with the prize pool reaching a whopping 1,880,000 to smash the generous 1 million guarantee.

Read on to learn more about Irish Open Main Event at partypoker.

2021 Irish Open Main Event Final Table Chip Counts

Place Player Country Prize 1 Pavel Veksler Ukraine 266,000* 2 Stoyan Obreshkov Bulgaria 224,769* 3 Franco Spitale Argentina 135,483 4 Robin Andreas Berggren Sweden 89,896 5 Eduards Kudrjavcevs Estonia 61,229 6 Julian Edward James Adamson Germany 46,743 7 Victor Hugo Bonifacio Brazil 36,241 8 Justin Ouimette Canada 28,776 9 Justus Held Austria 22,481

*Reflects heads-up deal at the final table.

Irish Open Main Event Final Table Recap

Stoyan Obreshkov entered the final table with a big lead on the field with eventual winner Pavel Veksler near the bottom of the chip counts in seventh place.

The entire final was broadcasted live at the partypokerTV Twitch and YouTube channels with James Dempsey and Henry Kilbane commentating the action from beginning to the end with a handful of guests joining the virtual booth including Fintan Gavin, Louise Butler, and Sven McDermott.

It took more than two hours for the first elimination to take place during which time Justus Held, who entered the action in sixth place, got short on chips. Justus (ninth - 22,481) then became the first casualty at the final table when he called off for less than one big blind with king-four and couldn't hold against Obreshkov's jack-ten suited.

partypoker MILLIONS Online Mini Main Event winner Justin Ouimette had high hopes entering the action in second place with more than 100 big blinds. He lost most of this during the first two hours of play before hitting the rail in eighth place for 28,776. He put most of his short-stack in preflop with queen-ten and then coming up short despite pairing the board against Veksler and Victor Bonifacio, who both held ace-jack.

A break took place before a quick trio of eliminations of Eduards Kudrjavcevs (fifth - 61,229), Julian Adamson (sixth - 46,743), and Victor Bonifacio (seventh - 36,241) brought the action down to just four players. Veksler was in first place when four-handed action began with Obreshokov close behind.

Four-handed action lasted for more than an hour until Robin Andreas Berggren was ousted in fourth place for 89,896. It was a huge hand where Berggren three-bet jammed with sixes and didn't get there against Veksler's nines. Veksler held a massive chip lead after the hand with approximately double the stacks held by both of his opponents combined.

Spitale then followed Berggren to the rail to collect the third-place prize when his treys were no match to Obreshkov's pocket rockets.

Heads-Up Action

Runner-up Stoyan Obreshkov collected nearly 200K as part of a heads-up deal.

Veksler began heads-up play with a 2:1 chip advantage. Players agreed to a deal while playing heads-up to reduce the pay jumps between the top two prizes and Veksler increased chip advantage to leave Obreshkov with just 15 big blinds.

Obeshkov then jammed his short-stack with jack-nine and was ousted in second place after he didn't get there against Veksler's ace-four. Thanks to the deal, Obreshkov collected 224,769 instead of the originally scheduled runner-up prize of 198,511, while Veksler collected 266,000 instead of the originally scheduled top prize of 292,256.

Meanwhile, congrats to Pavel Veksler for forever etching his name in the Irish Poker history books with a massive Main Event victory!

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The closely watched vote count at Amazons Bessemer, Ala., facility has gone in favor of the e-commerce giant.

But the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, the union seeking to represent thousands of workers at the plant, has spotlighted what it argues was a vigorous antiunion campaign by Amazon, which it said had created an atmosphere of confusion, coercion and/or fear of reprisals. The union issued a statement Friday morning saying it plans to file objections to the National Labor Relations Board, the agency that oversees the union election process.

More from WWD

Roughly 3,215 ballots were cast among the 5,800 workers in the BHM1 Amazon facility, where the workers organizing drive has sparked widespread media coverage and public messages of support from lawmakers including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, Amazon workers have raised concerns about having to meet arduous quotas and being exposed to the virus at crowded facilities thrumming with employees as the company brought on some some 400,000 workers last year around the country, according to its third-quarter earnings release in October.

The union intends to file its Unfair Labor Practice charges over Amazons conduct in the lead-up to the vote that concluded last month, in which the union has alleged the company subjected workers to lecture after lecture against voting for the union, a common practice by employers where they bring in their attorneys and consultants to discourage workers from unionizing.

Amazon knew full well that unless they did everything they possibly could, even illegal activity, their workers would have continued supporting the union, the union said. Thats why they brought in dozens of outsiders and union-busters to walk the floor of the warehouse. Thats why they bombarded people with signs throughout the facility and with text messages and calls at home.

Story continues

The RWDSU is seeking an NLRB hearing over these allegations, the union said in a statement Friday.

Amazon responded in a blog post Friday that, Its easy to predict the union will say that Amazon won this election because we intimidated employees, but thats not true. Our employees heard far more anti-Amazon messages from the union, policymakers and media outlets than they heard from us. And Amazon didnt win  our employees made the choice to vote against joining a union. Our employees are the heart and soul of Amazon, and weve always worked hard to listen to them, take their feedback, make continuous improvements, and invest heavily to offer great pay and benefits in a safe and inclusive workplace. Were not perfect, but were proud of our team and what we offer, and will keep working to get better every day.

Hundreds of contested ballots were continuing to be counted Friday morning, but the outcome of those votes couldnt bridge the gap between the yes and no votes that had run away in favor of Amazon by as early as Thursday, when the public portion of the vote count began.

Labor experts observing the process have described what they see as disparities in the law between employers and unions that can help influence the outcome. While employers are not allowed to retaliate against unionizing employees under the National Labor Relations Act, they can bring in outside lawyers and consultants to inundate staff with messaging against the union during the weeks between when workers have gone public with their vote and ahead of an election before the NLRB.

In addition, violations of the NLRA, and unfair labor practice charges, even if affirmed by the NLRB, dont necessarily come with consequential penalties, said Kate L. Bronfenbrenner, a lecturer and director of labor education research at Cornell Universitys School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Under the NLRA, there are no real penalties for employer violations, Bronfenbrenner said. Employers can threaten, intimidate, interrogate, spy, harass, and maybe the worst penalty they get is a piece of paper saying, We wont do that again, she added, referring to a poster that employers may have to put up in the wall of the workplace.

The PRO Act, which passed the House last month, seeks to change this dynamic and restrict employers from such efforts. But the bill is a long shot in the Senate, where it is certain to face the filibuster.

The National Retail Federation, which also opposes the PRO Act, issued a statement Friday hailing the outcome. With reports that a majority of employees at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., have voted to reject representation by a union, the results are clear. The process works and employees can make an informed decision despite the enormous scrutiny under which this campaign was conducted.

Bronfenbrenner said Fridays outcome was also a mark of the difficulty of succeeding on the first try in such a large workplace.

I think something important happened in this campaign, which is that we havent had a campaign that inspired so much solidarity from workers all over the world, from workers in other unions, more media coverage than weve seen, she said.

Amazon should not rest easy after this election, she said, going on to claim that, There will be a union in Bessemer. Not today, but there will be one.

In a post-vote press conference, RWDSU and workers at the facility struck an optimistic note and affirmed their plans to defend their campaign. Apart from the objections the union intends to file, the workers and the union indicated plans to continue organizing efforts and build on the momentum of this drive. Workers who led the organizing efforts acknowledged the disappointment among coworkers anticipating a win as their drive garnered a national profile in recent months, but said they were not dissuaded by the outcome.

Moving forward, I would say, keep the faith, said Amazon worker Linda Burns. Were just gonna keep fighting. Just think of this as a test.

Im proud of how they have laid the foundation, RWDSU president Stuart Appelbaum said. Were not going away. This is the first phase of the campaign, and were going to stay engaged.
Berlin, April 9 : Preschool and school children in Germany have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, three to four times more than reported via PCR testing during the second wave, a study has revealed.

Preschool children showed an antibody frequency of 5.6 per cent from October 2020 to February 2021. Among school children who were tested between November 2020 and February 2021, the figure was as high as 8.4 per cent.

Overall, the antibody frequency at the end of the second wave (January and February 2021) was about eight times higher compared to the end of the first wave (April to July 2020), revealed the study published in the journal Med.

"Children are often said to be less likely infected compared to adults. However, the data for this assumption is sparse. The results of our study clearly show that both preschool and school children are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection," explained Anette-Gabriele Ziegler, from Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Munich-Neuherberg, Germany.

"To better control infections in this population group, adequate measures to contain the spread of the virus in kindergartens and schools could be helpful," Ziegler said.

The significant increase is the result of higher exposure to the virus in the fall and winter, school openings and novel more infectious virus variants, said the researchers, adding that more infections compared to reported cases "may be due to asymptomatic cases in childhood".

Among the 446 children who tested positive in the second wave, the proportion of antibody-positive children without symptoms was 68 per cent among pre-schoolers. Among school-aged children, it was 51.2 per cent.

The children were part of the screening study "Fr1da", led by Ziegler in Bavaria, to identify early stage of Type-1 diabetes. No association between Type-1 diabetes and Covid-19 was found in the children.

During the first wave in Germany in spring 2020, the team detected a SARS-CoV-2 antibody frequency of 0.87 per cent in the children who took part in the study. This means that six times more children in Bavaria were infected with the coronavirus than reported via PCR tests, the researchers stated.
Randi Weingarten, leader of the AFT (American Federation of Teachers union) has made a malicious smear against the Jewish community that would normally be characterized as anti-Semitic, but it may get a pass because she happens to be Jewish.

She was asked a very appropriate question: "Why are the teachers across the nation in major cities still refusing to go back and teach children in the classroom in public schools?" Instead of acknowledging the problem, she strangely shifted into a tirade against the Jewish community. She castigated Jews by saying, "American Jews are part of the ownership class ... who now want to take that ladder of opportunity away from those who do not have it." She took legitimate criticism of her union's refusal to go back to work as a prompt to demonize the Jewish community. Historically, this was labeled "scapegoating." Scapegoating is the practice of dodging and deflecting a legitimate concern by parlaying each issue against the Jewish people or the hard-work result of Jewish financial success and ownership.

Ms. Weingarten is tragically another example of someone denouncing her own people and inciting others against Jews in order to be the darling of the left, thereby climbing the ladder of political power. She understands that today, power in leftist and minority circles is achieved by those who blame Jews. This has become the left-wing formula.

If anything, those from the Jewish community, who have been critical of teachers being the last holdouts to return to work while still drawing their salary and full benefits, are acting as plaintiffs for the students in public school who will fall behind as a consequence of their school activities being shelved. Indeed, they've been acting to keep the rungs of the ladder intact. Thus, one would think there would be significant blowback from the "race police" against Weingarten's obvious smear of Jews.

But it has not happened. That is because the laws of "wokeness" on behalf all minorities do not include Jews. Jews have been excluded from the victimization monopoly; they are not in the pecking order. You can say anything you want against Jews, just as with whites and Christians, if the accusations can be parlayed into an indictment against those pre-perceived as oppressors of the intersectional officialdom. No doubt, as part of the "ownership class," Jews are not victims...even when they are. It's similar to how, conversely, LeBron James is not part of the ownership class, even though he is.

Even more awkward is the silence among the establishment Jewish organizations, those normally entrusted to defend Jews against malicious and false smears intended to incite. Part of the silence is because Weingarten is a card-carrying member of Jewish left-wing politics that most of these organizations admire. She is a darling and big-time operative in the Democrat party and personal friend of the biggest names in the Democrat ruling class. They protect their own first.

Also, by invoking class struggle  "ownership class"  Weingarten gets a free pass as a child of the class-struggle ideology dear to the hearts of so many Jews raised in the mindset and teachings of the left-wing New School of Social Research in Greenwich Village.

Disturbingly, the most prominent reason for silence is that in today's left-wing woke Jewish community, defending Jewish interests has become secondary to advancing the woke cause. Worse, defending Israel or Jewish interests is considered tawdry, tribal. For instance, establishment Jewish organizations here in America have not vigorously or even openly condemned attacks in Brooklyn and Manhattan against Jews when those attacks were perpetrated by blacks, Muslims or hispanics. Wokeness supersedes all, even physical Jewish security.

So obsequious to wokeness are many progressive Jews nowadays that the very purpose of American Jewishness is to sacrifice itself on the altar of woke social justice. It's head-spinning how, for leftist rabbis, to be Jewish is to, in principle, continually castigate Israel on behalf of the Muslim Palestinian cause and to indict Jews, as Weingarten did, to promote the goals of Black Lives Matter or other minority causes. In short, one shows Jewishness today precisely by condemning Israel and condemning Jews for caring about Jews. Yes, this is sick stuff  the stuff of people so uninterested in the organic value of Torah observance and Jewish peoplehood as an imperative unto itself that Jewish is no longer about Judaism.

Very often today, the big-time wealthy on the left and in Hollywood condemn capitalism and "ownership" and scold us for not being "inclusive." They do this from their guarded high-rise apartment buildings and gated mansions. Their scolding us regulars frees them from the spotlight of being so very rich and exclusive. Living like a capitalist while preaching socialism and Marxism is their shield of protection  as if to say to the angry masses: Gee, we wish we didn't have all this capitalist wealth.

It turns out the matron of scolding against "ownership", Randi Weingarten, just so happens to have lived in East Hampton, the toniest of America's towns, and in glitzy and fashionable digs in Manhattan. For many years, she earned above $600,000. Just sayin'.

Rabbi Spero is president of the Conference of Jewish Affairs and author of Push Back: The Battle to Save America's Judeo-Christian Heritage.

Image: US Department of Education via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
SAGINAW, MI  The Saginaw County Health Department is hosting two walk-in COVID-19 vaccination events Friday, April 9, and Saturday, April 10.

The two events are open to Saginaw County residents and feature two types of the vaccine. The first, which features the Pfizer vaccine, began at 9 a.m. and goes until 3:15 p.m. Friday, April 9, at UAW Local 699, 1911 Bagley St. in Saginaw.

Anyone 16 or older is welcome to attend. Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

We have plenty of doses to put in arms, health department staff stated in a press release. If youve been waiting, if you feel like youve been skipped over, if you want a vaccine quickly, come and meet the great vaccination team from the Saginaw County Health Department.

The second event is to take place from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 10, at Mt. Olive Institutional Missionary Baptist Church, 1114 N. Sixth St. in Saginaw. This one will see personnel distributing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only one shot.

The minimum age for those seeking this vaccine is 18.

We will have limited doses available for the morning, staff said. Be prepared to wait.

No registration or insurance billing is required for either event. All that is required is a form of identification.

Those with questions may call 989-771-1010.

As of Wednesday, April 7, Saginaw County has had 17,216 positive COVID-19 cases resulting in 531 deaths. Find more Saginaw County COVID-19 data here.

Read more on MLive:

Saginaw County Health Department offering post-spring break COVID-19 testing

Trials in Saginaw County adjourned again due to spike in COVID-19 numbers

Saginaw County Health Department launches online scheduling for COVID-19 vaccine appointments
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun / Korea Times photo by Hong In-kee



Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun will visit Iran next week for talks on bilateral ties and other issues, his office said Friday, amid lingering tension over Tehran's call to unlock its funds frozen here under U.S. sanctions.



Chung's visit to Iran from Sunday to Tuesday -- the first such trip by a South Korean premier in 44 years -- follows Tehran's release this week of a Korean oil tanker and its captain about three months after its seizure over alleged oil pollution.



"Through this visit, Prime Minister Chung will create an opportunity to enhance traditional friendly relations between South Korea and Iran, and develop them in a future-oriented manner," his office said in a press release.



It did not elaborate on whom he would meet, but he is expected to hold talks with senior Tehran officials on an array of issues, including Iran's funds -- worth $7 billion -- frozen at Korean bank accounts.



The two countries have been consulting over how to release part of Iran's funds through a Swiss humanitarian trade arrangement designed to facilitate the flow of humanitarian goods to the Iranians.



The release of the oil tanker this week raised speculation that Seoul and Tehran might have made some headway in their consultations on the frozen money issue.



In August 2017, Chung visited Iran as then speaker of the National Assembly. A South Korean prime minister last visited the country in 1977. (Yonhap)
About 20% of Pennsylvanians are now fully vaccinated and the state ranks 19th nationally for first dose COVID-19 vaccines administered by percentage of population.

Thats steady progress for what was initially a troubled vaccine rollout. Pennsylvanias given 36% of its eligible population first doses, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health also reported 5,048 new COVID-19 cases and 35 new deaths in its Friday daily report, brining the statewide total to 1.06 million people infected and 25,362 lives lost.

(Cant see this map? Click here.)

Friday marked the second time in a week Pennsylvania recorded more than 5,000 new cases.

This brings the average daily case rate to 4,384 over the last seven days, a 23% increase over two weeks ago. A month ago, Pennsylvania was averaging 2,472 new infections per day.

Hospitalizations are rising again, with the majority of those sick over 65, but deaths remain relatively stable.

Locally, Lehigh County reported 195 new cases and one death Friday, bringing it to 35,433 total infections and 812 lives lost. Northampton County recorded 171 new cases and one death for a total of 31,882 infections and 684 deaths.

This growth in cases coincides with the spread of the more infectious B.1.1.7 variant  first identified in the United Kingdom. There are currently 672 confirmed UK variant cases in the state now, compared to 168 on March 22.

The share of Pennsylvania cases caused by the more infectious B.1.1.7 variant is rapidly growing, but hard to quantify due to limited genomic surveillance testing.

About half of recent coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania stem from the UK variant, according to data from testing company Helix. Gene sequencing to confirm variants is slow and costly. To speed up the process, Helix is checking positive samples for the viruss S gene, when its not present this deletion mutation is a shorthand for B.1.1.7.

About 49% of Helixs Pennsylvania cases for the week ending April 1 showed this S-Gene Target Failure, an accepted marker for the B.1.1.7 variant.

It is tough to say how much of the recent jump in Pennsylvania cases stems from variants that spread more easily and how much is due to peoples behavior. Pandemic fatigue is high and people are relaxing precautions before theyre fully vaccinated.

Current vaccines are very effective against the UK variant, and widespread vaccination should help halt virus spread. The danger is that the more people the virus infects the more opportunities it has to mutate into new variants that might better evade vaccines.

Vaccination campaign

(Cant see this map? Click here.)

Nearly 7 million vaccines doses have gone into arms in Pennsylvania since the vaccination rollout began in late December, according to state and Philly health department data.

Pennsylvania currently ranks sixth among all 50 states for total vaccine doses given, according to the CDC.

More than 83,800 people a day are currently getting vaccinated. About 2.5 million people are fully vaccinated, while another 2 million have received their first shot.

Pennsylvania expanded its vaccine eligibility pool to about 1 million essential workers in Phase 1B on Monday and it will expand to Phase 1C on April 12. All Pennsylvanians will become eligible for vaccination starting April 19.

Many Lehigh Valley providers have begun scheduling appointments for workers in both phases in recent days, an encouraging sign that demand is catching up with supply.

That includes students at Lehigh University, who live in congregate settings. The South Bethlehem college is strongly encouraging all eligible community members to get a shot, but has not required it.

Getting vaccinated is the most impactful action and tool we have to protect ourselves and one another against the virus and to ensure we can resume a more normal living, learning, and working environment, the university said in an alert.

But Pennsylvania will see a massive drop in its Johnson & Johnson allocation next week from 192,700 this week to just 22,800 single-dose vaccines. The New York Times reports that overall the company is allocating 86% fewer doses across the nation next week, according to CDC data.

Johnson & Johnson ultimately expects to be able to deliver eight million doses weekly, if a Baltimore plant making the majority of its U.S. shots receives Food and Drug Administration approval, the Times reports. But a mix-up at the factory contaminated about 15 million doses and delayed that authorization.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services on Friday announced a partnership with Walgreens to get COVID-19 vaccinations to staff in department-licensed congregate care settings left out of the federal pharmacy partnership program.

This partnership with Walgreens is expected to vaccinate approximately 2,200 people living at 100 facilities currently scheduled through mid-April.

(Cant see this chart? Click here.)

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Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.
Vote counting in the union push at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, is underway but a winner may not be determined until Friday.

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 30, 2021 file photo, a banner encouraging workers to vote in labor balloting is shown at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. Vote counting in the union push in Bessemer is expected to start as early as Thursday, April 8, but hundreds of contested ballots could muddy the outcome if its a close race. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves, File)

Vote counting in the union push at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, is underway but a winner may not be determined until Friday.

By Thursday evening, the count was tilting heavily against the union, with 1,100 workers rejecting it and 463 voting in favour. The count will resume Friday morning.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which is organizing the Bessemer workers, said that 3,215 votes were sent in  about 55% of the nearly 6,000 workers who were eligible to vote. The union said hundreds of those votes were contested, mostly by Amazon, for various reasons such as the voter didnt work there or doesnt qualify to vote. The union would not specify how many votes were being contested.

The National Labor Relations Board is conducting the vote count in Birmingham, Alabama. In order to determine a winner, the margin of victory must be more than the number of contested votes, otherwise a hearing would be held on whether or not to open the contested votes and count them toward the final tally.

RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum struck a grim tone Thursday in a statement ahead of the results: "Our system is broken, Amazon took full advantage of that, and we will be calling on the labour board to hold Amazon accountable for its illegal and egregious behaviour during the campaign. But make no mistake about it; this still represents an important moment for working people and their voices will be heard."

Amazon could not be reached for immediate comment.

The vote itself has garnered national attention, with professional athletes, Hollywood stars and even President Joe Biden weighing in on the side of the union.

If the union wins, it would be the first in Amazon's 26-year history. But the vote also has wide-reaching implications beyond Amazon, which is now the second-largest private employer in the U.S. after retailer Walmart.

Whatever the outcome, labour organizers hope Bessemer will inspire thousands of workers nationwide  and not just at Amazon  to consider unionizing. For Amazon, which has more than 950,000 workers in the U.S. and has fought hard against organizing attempts, a union loss could chill similar efforts around the company.

The labour board has already reviewed each vote, reading names and signatures on the envelopes with representatives from Amazon and the retail union, both of which had a chance to contest those votes. Contested votes were put to the side and not opened.

Now the board is opening the uncontested votes from their envelopes and counting "yes" or "no" votes.

Even if there's a clear winner, the battle may be far from over. If workers vote against forming a union, the retail union could file objections accusing Amazon of tainting the election in some way, which could lead to to a redo of the election if the labour board agrees. Amazon could file its own objections if the workers vote to form a union.

_____

Follow Joseph Pisani on Twitter: @ josephpisani
Samsung launched the Galaxy A52 smartphone in the A Series in India last month as the successor to last years Galaxy A51. This comes with huge improvements compared to the predecessor, including a 90Hz refresh rate AMOLED screen, quad rear cameras with support for OIS in the main camera, slightly bigger 4500mAh battery, and IP67 ratings for water resistance. Specifications look great on paper. Is the phone worth the price? Let us dive into the review to find out.

Box Contents

Samsung Galaxy A52 smartphone 6GB RAM, 128GB storage version in Awesome Blue colour

2-pin 15W fast charger

USB Type-C Cable

SIM ejector tool

Quick Start Guide and Warranty information

Display, Hardware and Design

The phone comes with a 6.5-inch Full HD+ Infinity-O Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 10802400 pixels at about 407PPI, aspect ratio of 20:9. The display looks bright, thanks to 800 nits brightness, offers good color reproduction and the sunlight legibility is good as well. Since it has an AMOLED panel, it offers true blacks. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

Since it has a 90Hz refresh rate screen that offers a fluid user experience since it offers smoother animations, scrolling and gaming. Similar to the other Samsung phones, there is Blue light filter, which is now called Eye comfort shield. This is said to reduce eye strain by limiting the amount of blue light emitted by the screen, You can set it for sunrise to sunset and also set a custom schedule. You can change font size and style and select apps that you want to use in the full screen aspect ratio. There is also dark mode, which looks great on the AMOLED screen. You can choose from Vivid or Natural screen modes based on your preference or set the white balance manually. The phone doesnt have DC dimming or low brightness anti-flicker mode that is present in some AMOLED screen phones in the price range. I didnt notice any screen flicker issues in low brightness on the phone.

It doesnt have notification LED, but there is Always on display with tap to show option that shows the AOD screen for 10 seconds after you tap the screen. You can also set a schedule. There are a lot of options to choose from such as clocks, GIF or you can download any AOD from Themes section.

On the top, there is an 32-megapixel camera in the tiny punch-hole and the earpiece is present on the top edge. The punch-hole is smaller than the F62, and it is not intrusive. It has gyroscope and magnetic sensor, otherwise known as magnetometer for VR.

There is a small chin below the screen. The phone has an in-display fingerprint sensor which is fast to unlock the phone, but it is not as fast as the side or rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.

The phone has a glossy plastic frame which is prone to scratches and smudges, but it is not slippery. Coming to the button placements, the power button and the volume rockers are present on the right side. There is nothing on the left side. The hybrid dual SIM slot and the secondary microphone are on the top. The 3.5mm audio jack, primary microphone, USB Type-C port and the loudspeaker grill are on the bottom. Since the sides have a glossy finish they attract fingerprints easily.

On the back, there is a quad camera module arranged in a rectangular array. There is single LED flash. Even though the phone has a 6.5-inch screen, it is compact to hold. It is 8.4mm thick and weighs 189 grams. The phone has a plastic back with a matte finish that doesnt attract fingerprints or smudges and is also not prone to scratches with day-to-day use compared to the Galaxy M51 and the F62. This might not feel premium, but the design looks attractive, and you can use the phone without a case.

In addition to the Blue colour variant that we have, the phone also comes in Black, White and Violet colours. This comes with dust and water-resistant to a depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes with IP67 certification that you rarely see in phones in the price range.

Camera

It has a 64-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX682 sensor, 0.8m pixel size and f/1.8 aperture and it also supports OIS. The secondary camera is 12-megapixel Samsung S5K3L6 f ultra-wide sensor, and there is a 5-megapixel depth sensor and a 5-megapixel macro sensor with f/2.2 aperture. The phone has a 32-megapixel camera on the front with Sony IMX616 sensor with f/2.2 aperture. There is Live Focus that makes use of the 5-megapixel depth sensor. You can also adjust the bokeh effect before or after the shot. There is selfie portrait option for the front camera that uses software to blur the background. There is also a wide-angle option for the front camera.

It has Auto mode, Food, Night, Panorama, Macro, Live Focus, Super Slow-mo, Slow motion and Hyperlapse as well as Pro mode to adjust ISO, shutter speed, focus, white balance and exposure manually. You can choose 64MP option from the aspect ratio settings on the top. It also has AR stickers that lets you add stickers. It also has scene optimizer, which is AI mode that automatically detects modes, and you can also enable auto HDR option. The Single Take feature can now capture footage, up to 15 seconds of it, and then use AI to produce up to 14 different outputs  10 photos and 4 videos.

The phone has Cam2API support with RAW support since it uses a Snapdragon SoC.

Coming to the image quality, daylight shots are good, and the camera captures a good amount of detail, creates well exposed photos with good dynamic range and detailing, and dynamic range can further be improved enabling HDR mode from the settings, which automatically turns on HDR when needed. Even though the phone has a 64-megapixel sensor, the final output has 16-megapixel resolution, which is common in phones with large sensors. Autofocus speeds are fast and accurate. Ultra-wide shots from the 12MP camera is good in daylight. Even though the edges look a bit curved due to the ultra-wide lens, Shape Correction is automatically applied that automatically crop the edges, still some images look a bit curved at the corners, which is common in wide-angle lenses.

Macro shots from the main camera is good, and there is a dedicated macro camera mode which is decent, but there is no touch to focus option in this mode since it is fixed focus, so you have to keep it in 5cm distance. Live focus is good at detecting the edges. Low-light performance is good, which can be improved further with Night mode that offers more details, but you need to keep your hand steady, since it takes two to three seconds to process. Night mode shots are zoomed in and the output is 12MP in resolution instead of 16MP. 64-megapixel shots have good amount of details, but the colours are not vibrant, and the images are about 18MB in size. Images with flash is good and is not overpowering.

The 32-megapixel front camera is good in most cases. Wide-angle mode takes images in 12-megapixel resolution after pixel binning, while the normal mode takes images in 8-megapixel. Software blur in the live focus mode has average edge detection.

Check out some camera samples.

It can record videos at maximum 4K resolution at 30 fps from both front, rear and ultra-wide cameras. The rear camera can also shoot 1080p 60fps videos, but the stabilization works only in 30fps when its enabled in the settings. The normal stabilization works with both ultra-wide and main camera, but only the main camera has OIS. There is a separate Super steady mode which uses the ultra-wide camera to capture the video in 1080p 30fps. This is smooth, but you dont see a huge difference between this and the normal stabilization from the main camera. You can switch bewteen normal and ultra-wide cameras when video recording is in progress, but it doesnt have option to switch between the front and rear cameras when recording a video, which was a nice feature that was available in Galaxy F62.

It can shoot slow motion at 720p at 480fps and there is also super slow motion, which shoots an 8-second video with 6 seconds of slow motion, and also lets you add custom music for the slow motion part. Video quality is good, and the audio crisp since it has a secondary microphone. Check out the video sample below.

Software, UI and Apps

Coming to the software, the phone runs on Android 11 with Android security patch for February 2021. On the top of Android 11, it has the latest Samsung One UI 3.1, which brings several new features.

The advanced features option has Games Launcher that gathers your games downloaded from Play Store and Galaxy Apps into one place for easy access, smart pop-up view, Screenshots, direct share, motion gestures like lift to wake, double tap to wake, smart stay, smart alert that vibrates when you pick the phone up after missing calls or receiving messages, easy mute by putting your hand over the screen or turning your phone face down, one-handed mode that lets you use the phone easily with one hand, finger sensor gestures to open and close the notification panel using the fingerprint sensor, palm swipe screenshot capture, swipe to call or send messages. Dual messenger lets you sign in to a second account of social media apps and the Panic mode lets you Send SOS message by pressing the Power key three time.

The Device maintenance option lets you manage your devices battery life, storage, RAM usage, and security all in one place. Out of 128GB (UFS 2.1) in our unit, 106.4GB is free. Out of 6GB LPDDR4x RAM, about 5.4GB is usable and 3GB is free when default apps are running in the background. Since this has UFS 2.1 storage, we got sequential read speeds of about 511MB/s.

Apart from the usual set of utility apps and Google Apps, the smartphone comes with Facebook, Netflix and Microsoft apps such as OneDrive. There is also Samsung Max, My Galaxy and other Samsung apps. You get the option to install apps when you are setting up the phone, which you can choose not to. It also has Samsung Pay via NFC, but the Indian version doesnt have MST support. It also has Samsung Pass, Secure Folder, Bixby Voice/Vision, Samsung Cloud, Easy Mode and Samsung Knox support.

Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock

The phone has an in-display fingerprint sensor that immediately unlocks the phone even when the phone is locked. It is good, but not as fast as a physical fingerprint scanner. You can add up to 3 fingerprints, and adding fingerprint is easy. It has support for Face recognition, which doesnt work well if the lighting is poor in the room, if you are hats, or use heavy makeup. Both these are protected by Knox security.

Music Player, FM Radio and Multimedia

YouTube Music is the default music player. It has equalizer, Dolby Atmos, UHQ upscaler, Surround and Tube Amp Pro sound effects that can be enabled from the settings. All these improve the audio when listening through earphones. It has FM Radio support with support for recording. That said, audio through third-party headphones is good. Loudspeaker output from the stereo speakers is good, but not as good as other phones that offer better stereo speakers in the price range.

The phone comes with Widevine L1 support out-of-the-box so that you can enjoy HD content on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar and other streaming apps.

Dual SIM and Connectivity

The connectivity options include, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), with VoWiFi for Jio and Airtel, Bluetooth v5.0 and GPS with GLONASS. It has support for USB OTG and NFC that works with supported payment apps. It has 4G connectivity with support for a lot of bands and has Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) and WiFi-Calling or Vo-WiFi support for Reliance Jio, Airtel and more, and also has support for LTE-A or Carrier Aggregation which the Galaxy M51 and F62 lack. The dialer and messaging have familiar UI. Since this is a dual SIM phone, you get the option to select either SIMs when calling or sending a text message. Moving on, the call quality is good, and we did not face any call drops and the earpiece volume was loud. Speaker output during calls were good as well.

The Galaxy A52s head SAR is 0.460 W/Kg, which is less than 1W/kg, even though the limit in India is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g). This is less than the F62 which was 0.739 W/Kg.

Performance and Benchmarks

Coming to the performance, this is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 720G 8nm Mobile Platform, which has 2 x Kryo 465 Performance CPUs (A76-based) clocked at up to 2.3GHz and 6x Kryo 465 Efficiency CPUs (A55-based) at up to 1.8GHz. It has Adreno 618 GPU with support for Open GL ES 3.2, Open CL 2.0, as well as Vulkan 1.1 graphics, up to 8GB LPDDR4x RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage.

Thanks to the slightly higher clocked larger Kryo 465 cores based on new Cortex A76, this is faster than the Snapdragon 730G that uses Kryo 470 cores. The Snapdragon 720G also features select Snapdragon Elite Gaming features including Game Anti-Cheat Extensions and Game Fast Loader, True HDR Gaming featuring 10-bit color depth and aptX Adaptive audio provides high-quality synchronized sound. We did not face any issues or frame drops in the graphic-intensive games. It gets a bit warm on intensive gaming and 4G data use, but it doesnt get too hot to handle. That said, check out some synthetic benchmark scores below.

Battery life

The 4500mAh battery offers good battery life that lasts for a day with heavy use. With average use it should last for two days. I got 6 hours of screen on time with camera, videos and apps like Instagram, Strava, YouTube playback, Chrome browsing etc. mostly on Wi-Fi and occasionally on 4G for close to 2 days. Adaptive battery saving and other options will let you increase the battery life, but the performance might be affected.

In our One Charge rating, the Samsung Galaxy A52 scored 17 hours and 12 minutes, which is good. We tested in 90Hz, so it will be better in 60Hz. Samsung has offered 15W fast charger in the box. Charging with the bundled charger takes about 2 hours for 0 to 100%, and 0 to 50% took about 45 minutes. You can get the 25W charger separately since the phone supports 25W superfast charging which takes about 1 and half hour for 0 to 100%, and 0 to 50% took about 30 minutes. Wish the company had added a 25W charger in the box since the M51 and the F62 coming with one.

Conclusion

Overall, the Galaxy A52 is the best mid-range smartphone from Samsung in the A series for the price. It has a 90Hz Infinity-O AMOLED display, 64MP camera with OIS, stereo speakers and also comes with IP67 ratings. It doesnt have a premium glass back, but the plastic matte back looks attractive and doesnt attract fingerprints. Some might prefer a dedicated SIM slot, and the Snapdragon 720G is not a powerful SoC considering the price.

Alternatives

Samsungs own Galaxy F62 is a solid phone for the price if you need a bigger battery and a powerful SoC. The latest Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is another option if you need 120Hz refresh rate AMOLED screen and better cameras at a cheaper rate. The iQOO 3 after the price cut is a good deal.

Availability

The Samsung Galaxy A52 comes is priced at Rs. 26,499 for the 6GB RAM with 128GB storage and Rs. 27,999 for the 8GB RAM with 128GB storage version, and is available from Amazon.in, Flipkart and Samsung.com online as well as offline stores. As a part of launch offer buyers get Rs. 2000 instant cashback with HDFC Bank credit cards, debit cards and EMI transactions, so the effective starting price of the phone is Rs. 24,999 which is a good deal.

Pros

90Hz AMOLED display is good

Capable cameras with OIS in main 64MP camera

Smooth performance

Good design

IP67 water-resistant

Stereo speakers

Good battery life

Cons

No 25W charger in the box

Not a powerful SoC for the price

Hybrid SIM might not be preferred by everyone
Scottsdale, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - Sibannac, Inc. (OTC Pink: SNNC), a Nevada corporation (the "Company"), announced the following:

Acquisition

Sibannac, Inc. and Eric Stoll, founder of Lifetime Branding Collaborative LLC ("Lifetime"), a California limited liability company, have executed a binding term sheet giving Sibannac the option to acquire the agency and immediately appoint Mr. Stoll as Vice President of Marketing. As the transition begins, the parties will determine the ultimate purchase price of the acquisition, but have agreed on the valuation parameters. Mr. Stoll will receive shares in a newly created class of preferred stock, which is convertible to common upon achievement of pre-determined revenue benchmarks and will have further compensation under an employment agreement with the Company.

The acquisition will result in Sibannac assuming all of Lifetime's revenues and have the unique opportunity of having a nationally renowned, full-fledged branding and marketing agency in-house. Sibannac will then enjoy unprecedented economy of scale and cost savings while having some of best branding talent under the corporate umbrella.

Sibannac's CEO, David Mersky, said, "Sibananc is very lucky to have the opportunity to bring Eric aboard and fully dedicated to our brands. He's a unique talent and one of the best in the business and now he'll be able to run the show. We've worked together on our new concept for a year now and we'll be announcing shortly. The work so far is unparalleled and the whole team is incredible. The best part is that Sibannac will reap huge savings by leveraging Lifetime's clients to offset our development costs, which are huge for a new brand."

Eric Stoll

Mr. Stoll and his team are career brand builders with extensive experience in the nutrition space, including herbal supplements and candy. Over more than 30 years, Eric has created marketing and ad campaigns for some of the country's most notable brands and has been engaged by Sibannac to create a Delta-8 brand called RaD8, as well as the company's core brand, focused in the alternative wellness space.

Eric has an impressive track record not only advancing already established brands for some of the Fortune 500, but also creating new brands from the ground up. Mr. Stoll and his team of marketing professionals and formulators are set to launch Sibannac's wellness brand into key market segments, including wholesale, retail and direct-to-consumer.

Mr. Stoll brings both client side and agency experience to Sibananc and the Lifetime team is comprised of not only design and creative talent, but sales and operations as well, with deep experience in merchandising and distribution. He built the Super Candy brand to 25,000 doors in three years and was carried in Walmart, Target, Costco, Whole Foods and leading pharmacies. "This is a perfect match at the perfect time. What motivates me every day is creating and supporting emerging brands and helping create a strategy for long term sustainability. The brands that we are creating are very exciting and my team is elite. I work with some of the best talent, but also the very best people in the industry. Bringing this all together under with David under Sibannac is going to be something to see", said Eric Stoll, Lifetime's founder.

NOHO, INC. (OTC Pink: DRNK)

While Eric and his team will continue to build the brand architecture and roll-out for Sibannac, they will also begin to provide branding and marketing services for NOHO, Inc. (OTC Pink: DRNK) where the majority of products will be manufactured in Sibannac's facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. NOHO is currently negotiating an equity arrangement with Mr. Stoll as well, paving the way for Lifetime to lead the relaunch of the NOHO product line and expand into new market segments.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements appear in a number of places in this release and include all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Noho, Inc. (the "Company"), its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things: (i) financing plans; (ii) trends affecting its financial condition or results of operations; (iii) growth strategy and operating strategy. The words "may," "would," "will," "expect," "estimate," "can," "believe," "potential" and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control, and actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements as a result of various factors. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.

Media Contact:

Info@SNNCINC.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/79919
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The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) have killed 68 Taliban terrorists and wounded 74 others in Afghanistan. The operations were carried out on April 7 in Herat, Faryab, Farah, Badakhshan, Kunduz and Kandahar provinces amid the peace talks. The deputy spokesman for the Ministry of Defence Fawad Aman on his Twitter handle shared the news.

ANDSF carries out operations

Fawad Aman in his post informed that 68 Taliban terrorists were killed and 74 were injured by an operation conducted by ANDSF. They operations were carried out for 24 hours in various provinces of Afghanistan. The Afghan National Army(ANA) also defused the 211 IED's that were placed by the Taliban on public roads.

68 #Taliban terrorists were killed and 74 others were wounded in Herat, Faryab, Farah, Badakhshan, Konduz and Kandahar provinces in #ANDSF operation during 24 past hours. Also, 211 IEDs which were placed by #Taliban on public roads were discovered and defused by ANA.  Fawad Aman (@FawadAman2) April 7, 2021

The Defence Ministry in another statement indicated that the operations carried out by National Defense and Security Forces were backed by air support. The operations that were carried out in Arghandab and Zherai district of Kandahar province were backed by air support, reported ANI quoting The Khaama Press News Agency. 19 Taliban terrorists and 12 others were wounded in the operations. The armed forces also destroyed the arms and ammunitions of the terrorists. Afghan National Army discovered and defused 59 Taliban planted bombs in both of the districts. The Taliban has not released any statement about the casualty figure published by the Ministry of Defense.

The Ministry of Defense Spokesman Fawad Aman informed that 37 Taliban terrorists were killed and 6 others were wounded. The ANDSF arrested 3 others were in Arghandab, Shahwali-Kot and Zheria district of Kandahar province on March 8. The armed forces also detected and defused 50 IEDs which were placed by Taliban on roads. The Taliban and the United States in February 2020 have signed the Doha Agreement. According to the agreement, US will withdraw from Afghanistan if the terrorist group follows counter terrorism commitments.

37 #Taliban terrorists were killed, 6 were wounded and 3 others were arrested in Arghandab, Shahwali-Kot and Zheria district of #Kandahar Prov. during ANDSF operation last night. Additionally, 50 #IEDs which were placed by Taliban on roads to kill innocent Afghans were defused. pic.twitter.com/xsVZX5fdjR  Fawad Aman (@FawadAman2) April 9, 2021

(Inputs from ANI)

(Image Credits: FawadAman/Twitter/PTI)
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Thursday's coronavirus updates: 'Vaccine doses will be arriving more quickly than ever before,' Pritzker vows; Champaign County reports 46 new cases
SEATTLE, April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Climate Commitment Act (CCA), SB5126, is one step closer to becoming the first climate legislation in the country to pave the way to net zero carbon emissions by the year 2050. The Washington State Senate passed the historic and carefully crafted cap-and-invest legislation today, which now heads to the Washington State House of Representatives to continue through the process of becoming law.



Senator Reuven Carlyle introduced the bill that both puts a decreasing cap on carbon and on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while making significant investments in new infrastructure, transit, agriculture, forestry and shipbuilding projects. These investments will catalyze a resilient recovery towards a productive, low-carbon future, spurring statewide job-growth. Importantly, the Climate Commitment Act includes several provisions to prioritize historically overburdened communities, including establishment of an Environmental Justice & Equity Advisory Panel.



In March, a diverse group of supporters, including business leaders, social justice and equity advocates, environmental groups, labor unions, local employers, energy companies and more joined together to call on the Washington State Legislature to pass the Climate Commitment Act, saying, "Despite some notable progress in addressing climate change and ushering in a clean energy economy, carbon emissions in the state are still growing. To meet the state's climate goals and those of the Paris Climate Accords, more needs to be done."

"The Act is modeled after the only solution proven to ensure the state not only meets its carbon emissions goals, but also stimulates economic returns and generates substantial investments for overburdened communities," said David Giuliani, founder of Washington Business Alliance, inventor of Sonicare, and an early backer of the legislation. "By implementing a Cap-and-Invest system, Washington will kick off a cycle that can benefit everyone across the state."

Integrated with a transportation funding package, Senate Bill 5126 will also be the state's largest investment in mobility and climate protection, generating billions of dollars of investments into a transition to a low-carbon economy.

Business supporters include Vulcan Inc., Vigor, Puget Sound Solar, McKinstry, MacDonald Miller Facility Solutions, Microsoft and bp America along with business associations like Northwest Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC), Tabor 100 and American Institute of Architects (AIA) Washington Council. A list of supporters can be found here .

Additional information on the bill, supporters and other updates can be found at Clean & Prosperous Washington as well as this DropBox Link .

More About Clean & Prosperous Washington, a project of the Washington Business Alliance

The Washington Business Alliance launched Clean & Prosperous Washington (CaPWA) in support of the Climate Commitment Act legislation. The bill was recently introduced by Governor Inslee and sponsored by Senator Reuven Carlyle (D-Seattle). We are calling for the broad participation of individuals, organizations, and businesses in shaping this legislation, and collecting signatories for a declaration of support for the policy .

SOURCE Clean & Prosperous Washington
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has disclosed that the country has vaccinated 599,128 Ghanaians with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, April 5, 2021.



In an update on its website, the GHS said the country took delivery of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra.



Subsequently, the country has also taken delivery of other consignments of the vaccines from other institutions.



Death toll



Meanwhile, the country's death toll from the illness has also increased to 752 as of Monday, April 5, after eight more deaths were recorded.



It said the country has recorded 65 new cases bringing the active cases to a total of 1,386.



The cumulative number of confirmed cases now stands at 91,109.



Out of the total confirmed cases, 58,084 were from Enhanced Contact Tracing, 31,659 from General Routine Surveillance and 1,366 from International travellers at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).



Also, out of 1,020,874 tests conducted, 498,452 were from enhanced contact tracing, 306,650 from routine surveillance and 215,772 from international travellers arriving from KIA. The positivity rate is now 8.9 per cent.



The country also has 88,971 recoveries from the illness with 31 persons in severe condition and 11 others in critical condition.



Regional Breakdown





Greater Accra Region - 50,282



Ashanti Region - 15,394



Western Region - 5,736



Eastern Region - 4,136



Central Region - 3,304



Volta Region - 2,385



Northern Region - 1,644



Bono East Region - 1,421



Bono Region - 1,336



Upper East Region - 1,307



Western North Region - 854



Ahafo Region - 704



Upper West Region - 491



Oti Region - 406



North East Region - 223



Savannah Region - 120

Source: Daily Graphic









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Rising Sun Pictures, one of the worlds best-known visual effects companies, has been acquired by FuseFX, a U.S. effects company owned by EagleTree Capital. The move comes at a time when Australian film and production services sectors are booming due to the countrys response to the COVID-19 crisis.

The agreement was announced on Rising Suns website. Deal terms were not disclosed.

Rising Sun Pictures, which is based in Adelaide and Sydney, and has worked on films including Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, Thor: Ragnarok and Chinese blockbuster The Eight Hundred, said that there will be no operational changes to its business. Rising Sun co-founder Tony Clark will continue to lead the studio and it will still operate under the Rising Sun Pictures brand. The combined FuseFX and Rising Sun companies have nearly 800 artists at eight locations across the globe.

Our vision for Rising Sun Pictures is to be a cornerstone component of the next generation global full-service visual effects company, and with the FuseFX partnership, we can achieve this vision to ensure that we stay at the forefront of visual effects production and remain a trusted creative partner to our clients, said Clark in a statement. RSP will embark on an expansion plan over the next few years, and were grateful to be partnering with (FuseFX founder and CEO) David Altenau and the team at FuseFX to help fully realize RSPs potential.

The move was welcomed by the South Australian state government. South Australia is enjoying a golden age in the production of film, television and streaming services, and the decision by FuseFX to invest in Adelaide vindicates the Marshall Governments ambitious strategy, said minister for innovation and skills, David Pisoni.

Australia has recovered from the coronavirus far ahead of other parts of the world. International film and TV production and post-production work are being drawn to the country by generous government incentives, which were expanded last year. Australias offset scheme currently provides a 30% rebate for post, digital and visual effects production. That is further enhanced by an additional 10% incentive on South Australian PDV work and by the still weak Australian dollar.

To accommodate the inflow, Rising Sun Pictures recently took over a renovated building next door to its main Adelaide facilities. That added 480sq m (5,167sq ft) of space, enough for 80 artists, a cinema-style screening room, and sound-proofed meeting and review facilities.

FuseFX was founded in 2006 by Altenau, Tim Jacobsen and Jason Fotter. It now provides full-service visual effects for episodic television, feature films, commercials, virtual and VR productions. The company has seven studio locations: its flagship studio in Los Angeles, as well as New York, Atlanta, and Vancouver. The companys studios in Montreal, Toronto, and Bogota are serviced by Folks VFX.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 18:48:01|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations refugee agency said Friday it has shared with Kenya a proposed set of sustainable and rights-based measures aimed at identifying solutions for refugees living in camps in Kenya.

The Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps, located in northern Kenya, host some 430,000 refugees and asylum-seekers of more than 15 nationalities.

Fathiaa Abdalla, the UNHCR representative in Kenya, said the UN agency has proposed enhanced voluntary repatriation in safety and dignity, while taking into account the movement restrictions related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"We have heard the concerns expressed by the government of Kenya and hope that these measures will be a significant step forward in accelerating sustainable solutions for all those concerned," she said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

The UNHCR supports speeding up the issuing of national identity cards to more than 11,000 Kenyans who have previously been identified as registered in the refugee database, and continuation of the vetting process for others in similar circumstances, Abdalla said.

She said the UNHCR recognizes the tremendous generosity that the people and Kenyan government have demonstrated towards refugees for many decades and the need to resolve situations of longstanding displacement.

The UNHCR has suggested the provision of alternative-stay arrangements to refugees from the East African Community (EAC), which groups Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.

This would represent a major opportunity for refugees to become self-reliant and contribute to the local economy, the UNHCR said.

The UN agency also proposed resettlement to third countries for a small number of refugees who are not able to return home and face protection risks.

"We believe that through joint renewed actions we can put in place measures that respect refugee rights and lead to sustainable solutions," Abdalla said. "We look forward to continuing our dialogue and collaboration with the Kenyan authorities and partners on this important matter."

On March 23, the Kenyan government announced its intention to close the two major camps, creating uncertainty for more than 400,000 refugees.

Nairobi told the UNHCR said that there is no room for further negotiations on the closure of Dadaab refugee camp, which mainly hosts refugees from Somalia, and Kakuma camp, which hosts refugees from South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.

However, the High Court on Thursday temporarily blocked the closure of two refugee camps for 30 days pending the hearing and determination of a petition filed by a local politician.

Kenya, which hosted protracted negotiations that culminated in the formation of the transitional federal government of Somalia, says the refugee situation continues to pose security threats to Nairobi and the region, in addition to humanitarian challenbges. Enditem
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The police in Delta State have arrested 32- year-old Joshua Oghenenovo and 29-year-old Kingsley Gbeneku for an alleged attempt to rob a bank in Ughelli, Delta.

The acting spokesperson of the police in Delta State, Bright Dafe, disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Asaba.

He said the arrest was a major breakthrough by the command, under the watch of the Commissioner of Police, Ari Mohammed, which foiled the attempt to rob the bank.

Mr Dafe said Mr Oghenenovo was the alleged robbery ring leader, while Gbeneku, a staff member of the bank, was the informant.

He said the suspects have confessed to the crime.

The police spokesperson thanked the general public for volunteering information that led to the arrest of the suspects.

According to Mr Dafe, the police on Wednesday, based on intelligence, gathered that a robbery syndicate was planning to attack and rob one of the new generation banks in Ughelli.

The commissioner of police, he said, directed a special squad to trace and fish out the criminals.

The commander, Eagle Net squad, detailed his patrol teams leader, DSP Yunusa Danyaya, on a sting operation in one of their hideouts in a hotel in Isiokolo Town, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta.

This led to the earlier arrest of the ring leader, Oghenenovo of Uduphori town, Patani LGA, who was caught with one pump action and 20 live cartridges.

ALSO READ: MTN airtime sales resume as Nigerian govt intervenes in bank feud

It was the confessional statement of Oghenenovo that led to the arrest of Gbeneku of Akwuofor Asaba, Oshimili South LGA, a staff member of the new generation bank they were intending to rob.

Gbeneku has confessed to being their informant and had already provided the police with a clue on the modus operandi of the gang, Mr Dafe said.

He said efforts were on to arrest other members of the gang, while urging members of the public to avail the police of any useful information that could help to arrest them.

(NAN)
[April 09, 2021] AppSwarm to Launch Blockchain Research Lab in Tulsa and New York in Partnership with AI Venturetech

Tulsa, OK, April 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- AppSwarm, Corp. (OTC: SWRM), a software development company and aggregator of mobile applications, announces plans to launch a blockchain research lab in Tulsa, OK and New York City to develop new applications utilizing different blockchain protocols.

The Company announces plans to launch a Blockchain Research Lab and consulting firm in Tulsa, Oklahoma focused on the development and utilization of current blockchain protocols in partnership with AI Venturetech. Blockchain is a decentralized transaction and data management technology. We will endeavor to partner with both commercial and academic partners to explore how this emerging industry can be deployed in real-world commercial applications. Some areas of exploration will be in Decentralized finance ("DeFi"), non-fungible tokens ("NFT"), and smart contract development. DeFi are financial services with no central authority. It involves taking traditional elements of the financial system and replacing the middleman with a smart contract, most commonly on the Ethereum blockchain. NFT is a unit of data on a digital ledger called a blockchain, where each NFT can represent a unique digital item, and thus they are not interchangeable. NFTs can represent digital files such as art, audio, videos, items in video games, and other forms of creative work. Research Lab in Tulsa A coalition of Tulsa business, education, government, and philanthropists are working to foster a startup ecosystem in a city thats better known for its aerospace and energy companies. Tulsa Remote provides workers a financial incentive and soft landing in a new city, as well as a thoughtful community-focused approach to attracting talented remote workers to Tulsa. AppSwarm plans to work within Tulsas commuity to build on the foundation of the citys current high-growth opportunities in technology and blockchain and attract top talent from around the country organically and through partnerships with local academic institutions.



The lab will embark on application research, seminars, blockchain workshops, and will utilize its video conferencing capabilities to bring together global minds and insights to Tulsas surging tech community. New York Research Lab

The Company will also work in providing support to AI Venturetech for the launch of its blockchain research lab in the heart of New York City. The New York lab will work with local academic institutions and with commercial partners in both the financial and healthcare industries. Thomas Bustamante, the Founder and CEO of AI Venturetech, Inc., commented, "We are pleased to be working with AppSwarm in the development of blockchain research labs in both New York, and especially Tulsa, which is one of the fastest-growing technology hubs in the Midwest. We feel real-world applications of blockchain could harness the growth potential of what the Internet was in the mid-1990s, and we want to establish our labs now to take advantage of this rapid change." The Company will offer blockchain consulting advisory services to companies looking to integrate blockchain technology. These consulting services, along with low overhead costs to maintain the lab could quickly provide a profitable operation if executed properly. Request More Information For more updates on our blockchain research project visit https://aiventuretech.com/investors/signup/ About APPSWARM AppSwarm is a technology company specializing in accelerated development and publishing of mobile apps and other software platforms for gaming and business applications and seeks to acquire symmetric business opportunities. AppSwarm partners with and assists other development firms in technology development, business management, and funding needs. For more information, follow us on www.app-swarm.com FaceBook www.facebook.com/AppSwarm Twitter https://twitter.com/AppSwarm or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/appswarm/ Forward-Looking Statements: "Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risk and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the impact of competitive products, product demand, market acceptance risks, fluctuations in operating results, political risk, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with OTCMarkets.com and as required to the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks could cause SWRM's actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. Investor and Media Contacts: AppSwarm, Corp.

888-886-8583

info@app-swarm.com AI Venturetech

212-206-0984

info@aiventuretech.com



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Voters across the New Orleans metro area, along with Baton Rouge and several southeastern parishes, can begin casting early ballots Saturday in the April 24 runoff election to fill a vacant U.S. House seat that will remain firmly in Democratic hands.

Two Democratic state senators from New Orleans  Troy Carter and Karen Carter Peterson  are competing for the congressional position, after they were the top two vote-getters among 15 candidates in the March primary.

The job is open because Democratic congressman Cedric Richmond left to work for President Joe Biden after winning reelection in the fall. The majority-Black district is centered in New Orleans and extends up the Mississippi River into Baton Rouge.

The weeklong early voting period for the 2nd District race and other elections opens Saturday and continues through April 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., except on Sunday, at parish registrar of voters' offices and other early voting locations around the state.

Richmond is backing Carter to follow him into the U.S. House.

Carter and Peterson differ more in style than policy positions, though Peterson has positioned herself as the more progressive candidate. Carter, a former New Orleans City Council member, is known more for his ability and willingness to work across party lines. Peterson, a one-time chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party, is more overtly partisan in her approach.

Both have made previous unsuccessful bids for Congress.

Peterson squeaked into the runoff, narrowly edging out Gary Chambers Jr., a Baton Rouge community activist and local publisher who raised less money and has thrown his support to Peterson. If Peterson wins, she'd be the first Black woman elected to Congress from Louisiana.

Also on the ballot are special runoff elections for a seat on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education representing northwestern Louisiana and a seat in the state House of Representatives covering Jefferson Parish.

Several parishes also have elections for local positions and tax issues. The secretary of state's office said 23 parishes have no elections on the April 24 ballot.

There are, however, a number of tax measures and local races in the New Orleans area.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

In the city itself, French Quarter residents will be voting on whether to resurrect a .245% sales tax to fund police patrols in the Vieux Carre.

The tax was initially put in place in 2015 but voters shot down a plan to renew it late last year, after Mayor LaToya Cantrell's administration clashed with the French Quarter Management District over how much of the money it raised should go toward police and how much could be spent on other quality of life issues.

The new sales tax proposal was put on the ballot by the City Council over the Cantrell administration's objections and would dedicate the first $2 million brought in by the tax to beefing up police patrols.

In Jefferson Parish, voters will decide between Republicans Edwin "Eddie" Connick and Laurie Schlegel, who are running to be the state representative for the 82nd District that covers parts of East Jefferson, including portions of Metairie and Elmwood. Connick took 40% of the vote in the March 20 primary, while Schlegel received 36% of the vote.

The two are running to replace former Rep. Charles Henry, who resigned earlier in the year.

In Kenner, voters will decide whether to renew property taxes for fire, garbage and sewer services. The renewals would extend each tax for another 10 years. And Westwego voters will pick between Republicans Robert "Bobby B" Bonvillian and Johnnie Lyn Thibodeaux for the District 5 seat on the City Council.

St. Bernard Parish residents will decide whether to approve a new 8-mill property tax for drainage and whether to renew a separate 20.85-mill property tax for fire services. Each of those propositions would put their respective taxes in place for 10 years.

In St. Charles, a $17-million bond issue for the St. Charles Parish Hospital will be on the ballot.

A $23.11-million bond issue is on the ballot in St. Tammany Parish for Slidell Memorial Hospital. Voters in the Lacombe area will also decide whether to renew a 20.01-mill property tax for Fire Protection District No. 3.

Staff writer Jeff Adelson contributed to this report.
Governance Analyst, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah has called on parents to monitor the behaviour of their children.



According to him, the laxity in disciplining children is the reason for the bad habits that children exhibit in society.



He was commenting on the gruesome murder of a young boy at Kasoa in the Central Region.



A 11-year old pupil was murdered by his friends aged sixteen and eighteen in an uncompleted building last Saturday.



The murder suspects allegedly used a rod and brick to strike the 11-year old boy to his death, buried his body and planned to later exhume the body for money rituals.



The suspects were arrested by the Police, arraigned before the Ofankor Circuit Court and have been remanded into police custody.



Addressing the issue on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme, Dr. Otchere-Ankrah was utterly shocked that teenagers could harbour thoughts of killing human to enrich themselves.



However, to him, just as the teenagers' act is condemnable, so should their parents take a blame for their children's attitude.



He believed the parents and family of the suspects cannot be left off the hook.



"What training did the parents give to the children?", he asked.



To him, the parents must play their roles effectively by taking keen interest in their children's acquisition of material things and disciplining them.



"If you wake up at 4/5 am and toil for your money, you won't misuse money", he stated.



"If we have bad children, then we equally have bad parents. How did the parents bring these children up? . . . where are their parents? Where are their siblings? What is their moral upbringing? . . . What is the role of rewards and punishment?" he queried.



Dr. Otchere-Ankrah also charged the society to play its key role in shaping the behavior of the youth.



''If we say future leaders, then we have to train up our children well to become good children'', 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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MASON CITY, Iowa  A man accused of resisting arrest after being kicked out of two bars is pleading not guilty.

Gary Alan Beach, 51 of Clear Lake, is scheduled to stand trial beginning June 22 on a charge of interference with official acts resulting in injury.

Court documents state Beach was thrown out of two Clear Lake bars on January 24 and when law enforcement arrested him for public intoxication, Beach struggled and left one officer with injuries to their hands and knees.
Reporter

Stephanie Earls is a news reporter and columnist at The Gazette. Before moving to Colorado Springs in 2012, she worked for newspapers in upstate NY, WA, OR and at her hometown weekly in Berkeley Springs, WV, where she got her start in journalism.
Ion channels play an indispensable role in cellular physiology, and understanding the physical features that affect ion channel functions is a matter of considerable interest to biologists.

Given that mechanosensitivity is an intrinsic feature of cells, the complex set of mechanical stresses acting on a cell at any time represents an important consideration in the field of cellular physiology. In fact, stretching forces created by mechanical stress are sometimes necessary to activate ion channels.

As Professor Masayuki Iwamoto and Professor Shigetoshi Oiki of the University of Fukui explain:

Mechanical stresses change the level of cell membrane tension, and stretch-activated ion channels in the membrane mediate tension-related electrical transduction."

Recent experiments have shown that tension sensitivity is a property of ion channels other than those historically classified as "mechanosensitive" channels, and biophysicists are coming to see tension sensitivity as an intrinsic property of ion channels in general. However, efforts to elucidate the physiological relevance and molecular mechanisms of such tension sensitivity depend on the establishment of experimental methods that allow experimenters to evaluate dynamic changes in membrane tension in real time.

To meet this growing need, Professors Iwamoto and Oiki focused their efforts on developing a novel time-lapse system for measuring membrane tension. In their experiments, they formed a bilayer by docking two monolayer-lined water bubbles and evaluated tension using the Young-Laplace principle to measure intra-bubble pressures lower than 100 pascals.

This novel experimental method has the advantage of relying on a straightforward model system consisting of purified channels and a simple lipid bilayer. This model allows experimenters to avoid the unmanageable complexity of real cell membranes, which feature a wide variety of ion channels and accessory proteins. The experimental setup permits real-time monitoring of membrane tension.

The KcsA ion channel is the prototypical ion channel used to understand ion channel structure-function relationships. The channel functions in the bilayer, and this is an important advantage given the rapid variability in membrane tension that occurs during actual cellular activity while recording the dynamic responsiveness of the KcsA ion channel. These experiments revealed a novel mode of action for tension sensitivity without precedent in the existing literature. Their results appear in a paper recently published in the peer-reviewed journal JACS Au.

Interestingly, the KcsA ion channels exhibited sensitivity to membrane tension and responded quickly to its fluctuations. One notable observation was that the ion channels' responses to increasing membrane tension differed substantially from their responses to decreasing membrane tension.

During the stretching phase, the channels started to activate only when the membrane tension reached high levels. In the tension decreasing phase, they remained active for a while even after returning to a low level of tension. This feature is called hysteresis, and it implies that the channel molecules can "memorize" their active state for a short period.

In conclusion, Professors Iwamoto and Oiki have developed a time-lapse system for measuring membrane tension while recording the dynamic responsiveness of a prototypical ion channel. Their findings revealed a process of hysteresis, which they note "extends existing knowledge of the mechanisms of the tension-sensitive channels that play key roles in various cellular activities."

The present study is thus important both as a demonstration of a new method for fundamental ion channel research and as basic research into ion channel mechanisms. The insights into hysteresis as a functional feature of KcsA ion channels could be valuable for drug discovery research.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  The Department of Health said the first batch of antigen test kits procured by the government has arrived in the country.

These will now be set for distribution to local governments in Metro Manila and four nearby provinces as the country scales up efforts amid the spike in COVID-19 cases.

"I think the other day dumating na iyong first batch nitong rapid antigen (test kits), so as soon as ma-distribute iyan sa ating mga local governments they will start (implementing it)," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told a virtual briefing Friday. However, she did not specify the number of kits that arrived.

[Translation: I think the first batch of rapid antigen test kits arrived the other day, so as soon as these are distributed to local governments, they will start implementing it.]

This is part of the 500,000 kits public authorities are planning to purchase to augment the country's testing capacity.

Vergeire explained only those who will fit their guidelines in the use of antigen tests will be counted in the tally, like suspected or probable cases, and close contacts in communities from the NCR Plus. Their inclusion in the total count will start once LGUs receive their supply, she said.

RELATED: Only antigen results from NCR Plus bubble included in COVID-19 case tally

Local authorities will be going house-to-house to look for possible COVID-19 patients to test them, Vergeire added.

Meanwhile, antigen tests conducted by private companies will not be included in the case count, the Health spokesperson said. This is to ensure accuracy and firmness of data and to prevent the total from ballooning, she noted.

The DOH earlier said antigen testing, which detects the presence of a specific viral antigen, is effective in detecting infections in areas with high virus transmission, making Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna ideal for its use.

The government said 30,000 antigen tests will be conducted in areas with high COVID-19 transmission. However, this cannot be used for certain situations like screening employees heading back to work, allowing people to enter establishments, and border control, among others.

To date, total number of COVID-19 infections in the country has breached the 840,000 mark, with over 178,000 currently ill patients.
Abel Liu captures 81.2 percent of votes in landslide student election win

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In an unprecedented election, the University of Virginia student body has elected Abel Liu as its Student Council president. Liu is the first university student government president who was openly transgender upon election in the nation (on record). Liu also sets a milestone as University of Virginias first Chinese-American Student Council president in its 202-year history. Capturing more than 81 percent of the votes, Liu is focused on fundamentally reforming student government and running his platform based on equity, empowerment, and renewal.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210330005926/en/

Abel Liu is the first University student government president who was openly transgender upon election in the nation. Liu also sets a milestone as University of Virginias first Chinese-American Student Council president in its 202-year history. He won the election with more than 81 percent of the student ballots. (Photo: Business Wire)

We are excited to announce that Abel Liu is the first University of Virginia openly transgender and first Chinese-American Student Council president in the history of the school, said Blair Smith, president of The Queer Student Union at U.Va. He is a fierce leader and a testament to change, equity and inspiration to all.

Liu is a third-year Echols Scholar majoring in Sociology and Economics and has been an active member of the schools political landscape. He currently serves as chair of the Student Council representative body, where he oversees representatives from all undergraduate and graduate schools. Liu has also held positions in various Student Council and University Board committees including the Financial Accessibility Committee and the Ad-Hoc Committee to Support Student Workers.

I facilitate change at the university level that centers on empowerment, radical compassion, and the redress of historical injustices, said Liu. These themes align with our national conversation, so I hope to champion a model of student government that can drive equitable reform across the country. Im proud to be part of this change, to get things done, and to make a real impact in peoples lives.

Building Student Morale & Change During Pandemic

During the pandemic, Liu has been instrumental in building student morale and equity for students. He co-founded the U.Va. Mutual Aid network, which has since distributed over $70,000 to support over 650 students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Liu also successfully lobbied for the credit/general credit/ no credit option for this academic year alongside the Young Democratic Socialists of America and the First-Generation Low-Income Partnership at U.Va. As a result, the University adopted the grading change for the entire 2020-2021 academic year. The policy eases educational inequities exacerbated by COVID-19 and allows UVAs 17,000 undergraduate students to prioritize their mental health.

Additionally, Liu said his work as the co-creator of an equity-oriented COVID-19 reopening working group helped to secure pay for student workers during operating freezes and ensure wellness days this semester.

This is an important and overdue step toward full participation and representation of all students, said Julie Caruccio, assistant vice president of student affairs and associate dean of students. The fact that Abel earned a landslide victory in the face of multiple instances of transphobia should be understood for what it is: a clear message that ideas and effort prevail here."

A native of San Francisco, a city known for political change and LGBTQ rights, Liu attended Redwood High School in Marin County and was captain of the Speech and Debate Team, president of Gay, Transgender, Straight Alliance Club, and was salutatorian. While at Redwood High School, he founded Elix Incubator LLC, an internationally acclaimed impact incubator program for student entrepreneurs. Additionally, in the summer of 2020, Liu interned as a Cisco business analyst, where he consulted for Global Partner Readiness and Central Partner Operation teams on strategic growth and positioning.

For more information on Abel Liu, visit:

About The Queer Student Union at the University of VA

QSU organizes at the University of Virginia around three central pillars. By educating ourselves and others about queer identity, we are cultivating an empathetic community that understands and respects us. By building community through social activities and special events, we are bringing LGBTQ students together for friendship and solidarity. And by pursuing activism on behalf of UVAs queer community, we are helping to ensure that we have a united voice with which to work toward a more accepting University.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210330005926/en/

Queer Student Union at the University of VA

Name Blair Smith (he/they)

Phone (703) 338-7044

Email bas6hc@virginia.edu



Donna Loughlin Michaels

LMGPR

donna@lmgpr.com

(408) 393-5575

Source: The Queer Student Union at the University of Virginia
THE owner of a building in the medieval core of Limerick city is facing the prospect of having to remove a roofing structure which was constructed without planning permission.

An Bord Pleanala has refused an appeal by Philip Conway against the decision of Limerick City and County County Council to refuse permission for the retention of the unauthorised structure.

The planning dispute relates to works which were carried out last year at a building at the junction of Nicholas Street and Athlunkard Street  known locally as Nellys Corner.

The three-story building incorporates a business premises at ground level with residential accommodation in the floors above.

In a report, recently published by An Bord Pleanala, senior planning inspector Kevin Moore recommends that the appeal be refused.

It may reasonably be ascertained that this new addition is visually intrusive on the streetscape and is incompatible with the historic building, he stated.

The removal of part of the north-eastern elevation at the upper level and the replacement of the roof by a blocky new roof structure to accommodate the changes at the upper level have significantly distorted the presentation of the building on all approaches to this junction, he added.

The planning inspector also agreed with council planners that the proposed installation of an exterior fire escape on a wall at the rear of the building should not be allowed,

This will add substantially to the incongruity of what is being developed at this site. This will be a visually prominent component of the development also from Athlunkard Street. There can be no masking of the visibility of this structure at the upper levels. This is visually incompatible along with the intrusive modern balcony and the bulky block of the roof structure, stated Mr Moore.

I consider that the proposed development is wholly misplaced, distinctively out of character with the historic building and the streetscape, and is visually intrusive, he added.

The planning report also notes that the proposed fire escape would abut Bourkes Castle which is a protected structure and a recorded monument.

Having considered the planning inspectors report and submissions, members of the board refused the appeal.
The General Assembly Judiciary Committees 3 oclock deadline came and went Friday afternoon without action on two pieces of coronavirus legislation that would have made it easier to sue hospitals and nursing homes for lapses in public health protocols, and harder to file lawsuits against other entities for similar shortcomings.

Two months from the end of the legislative session on June 9, the committees inaction means that prospective plaintiffs will have to depend on so-called common law rights to pursue - and defend - lawsuits. Both bills are unlikely to be revived this session.

Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said after the meeting that there seemed to be little need for either bill because 13 months after the states first COVID case, there is no noticeable number of liability cases emerging.

There are a lot of well-meaning bills that just run out of time in the legislative process, Stafstrom said, noting that neither of the bills resulted in much public-hearing testimony. Some of them really didnt rise to the level of priority bill. There has really not been a wave of liability lawsuits filed in Connecticut, so there wasnt an urgency in passing these bills.

One bill was aimed at making it easier to sue hospitals and nursing homes, which Gov. Ned Lamont protected from liability lawsuits under executive orders, which were lifted on March 1.

The other bill, supported by Republicans including Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, ranking member of the committee, would have given liability protections to companies, non-profit agencies and other entities including condominium complexes that maintained good-faith efforts to protect people from COVID.

There was not a lot of love for either of those bills, Fishbein said after the Judiciary Committee finished its legislative initiatives for the session. He said the Republican bill would have forced claimants to succeed in proving through expert testimony that someones COVID infection was directly related to exposure at a particular location.

Fishbein said that while he could possibly revive the bill in the amendment process on the floor of the House, and force a parliamentary question on whether it was appropriate, he doesnt intend to pursue such action.

Both bills could possibly create more confusion and could be seen as redundant of existing common-law protections, Stafstrom said. I dont know if they were necessary to take up this legislative session.

While the committee finished its historic virtual public hearings and meetings on its own bills, more meetings are ahead, as other pieces of legislation that require scrutiny of the law-writing panel get referred to the panel.

Earlier in the day, Lamont, speaking during an unrelated event in Barkhamsted, said he believes that current law has adequate protections for both plaintiffs and defendants. I think right now we have a pretty good balance there, is my instinct, Lamont said.

For folks who pick up COVID and they want to sue the employer or (file for) workers comp(ensation), I think a lot of that may be figured out by vaccinations, Lamont said. I mean if I dont want to get vaccinated and I pick up an infection somewhere, whos responsible? I would like to think were going to make vaccinations widely available to everybody that wants it, and theyre accountable. Id like to think that our restaurants and our bars and our stores have done this very carefully. They knew what the rules of the road are when it comes to opening up your store safely. I think thats the key requirement we need to keep people safe.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
Chief Minister Uddhav



Thackeray will hold an all-party meeting on April 10 to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the state, a BJP leader said on Friday.

Talking to reporters, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Pravin Darekar said the decision to organise the all-party meeting was taken this afternoon.

"This decision was taken during the meeting held today to decide the postponement of MPSC exams scheduled for Sunday," he said.

When asked about the weekend lockdown that comes into force from Friday night, Darekar said the state government should take a decision on financially supporting small businesses.

(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 7th Executive Programme in Customs & Business Administration (EPCBA) at SNU, funded by CCF-Korea, was launched on Tuesday 6th April 2021. The first component of the EPCBA Programme has been organized taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. It will be conducted through a web conference platform and a face-to-face Programme will be determined at a later stage.

The EPCBA Programme targets management-level officials of Customs administrations from developing countries. It seeks to provide international trade and business management theoretical frameworks to address Customs matters in a more holistic and systematic manner. It also includes practical information and knowledge regarding Customs affairs, such as the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), Authorized Economic Operator (AEO), and Free Trade Agreements (FTA). The participants will also benefit from the Leadership and Management Development (LMD) course and data analytics sessions facilitated by experts from the WCO. Domain experts have been invited to deliver lectures on Customs-related matters.

This Programme brought together 12 participants who were welcomed during the opening ceremony by Dr. Taeil KANG, Director of Capacity Building Directorate at WCO and Ms. Jinseon KIM, Deputy Director of External Relations Division at Korea Customs Service.

The participants will be required to participate and discuss topics through an online platform coordinated three times a week by SNU until 29TH April. The following countries are participating in the 7th EPCBA Programme: Azerbaijan, Bangladeshi, Bhutan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Botswana, Cambodia, Guinea Bissau, India, Jordan, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan.

The WCO plans to continue providing this Programme for officials from developing Member administrations.

For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.
A US police officer who stuffed snow into the mouth of a man being arrested for domestic violence has resigned, a police chief said during a news conference.

The officer, John Turnure, submitted his resignation on March 30.

FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) Akron Lodge 7 issued a statement on Thursday defending the actions of Mr Turnure, who is white, during the arrest of Charles Hicks II, who is black in the US state of Ohio.

The statement said Mr Turnures resignation was for various personal and professional reasons but it was not an admission of wrongdoing.

Hicks had alleged on Wednesday that an officer placed his knee on his neck during the arrest, but no body camera footage shows that.

An internal investigation had already been under way, as officers had previously reported that they did use force during the arrest.

Up until the time snow was used, it was textbook, interim Akron police chief Mike Caprez said of the arrest.

We did everything right up to that point.

At Thursdays news conference, police showed reporters two body camera videos that show police interaction with Hicks.

They show the 26-year-old standing shirtless on the front porch of an Akron home on February 7.

His girlfriend had called 911 from outside the residence to say Hicks had threatened her with a knife and had mentioned a gun.

She told the dispatcher she was worried about the safety of her children, who were still inside the home.

Hicks resisted officers attempts to handcuff him, repeatedly telling officers to kill him before and after he was taken to the ground on the snowy front lawn.

The video from Mr Turnures body camera shows him forcing snow into Hicks mouth.

This image from an Akron Police Department officers body camera shows Charles Hicks II, centre, being arrested (AP)

Hicks then told officers he could not breathe before they stood him up.

We disrespected a citizen and for that I apologise, Akron mayor Daniel Horrigan said at the news conference.

Hicks was charged with domestic violence/menacing and resisting arrest in Akron Municipal Court.

He has a court hearing on April 27.

During an interview on Wednesday with his lawyer, Eddie Sipplen, Hicks told the Akron Beacon Journal: I just felt like they was trying to kill me.

It was one of the scariest moments of my life.

Mr Sipplen said he wants Mr Turnure to face criminal charges.
NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Energy Consulting market will register an incremental spend of about USD 6.2 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 5.94% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Energy Consulting 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:

Energy Consulting 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 KPIs 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 Energy Consulting market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Energy Consulting 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 5.00%-8.00%.

Identify favorable opportunities in Energy Consulting 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 Energy Consulting suppliers listed in this report:

This Energy Consulting procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.

Ernst & Young Global Ltd.

KPMG International Cooperative

Accenture Plc

General Electric Co.

Capgemini Services SAS

Boston Consulting Group Inc.

Bain & Co. Inc.

McKinsey & Co.

To get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment, Subscribe Now for Free.

Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

Appendix

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AG Nessel Announces Findings in Two In-Custody Death Investigations

AG Nessel Announces Findings in Two In-Custody Death Investigations

April 9, 2021 Editors & Reporters Please Note: A link to AG Nessels statement and video clips from the Lansing investigation can be found here. LANSING--Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today announced the findings of investigations conducted by her department into the in-custody deaths of Paul Bulthouse and Anthony Scott Hulon.

Paul Bulthouse, 39, died while being held at the Muskegon County Jail and Anthony Scott Hulon, 54, died at the Lansing Police Department Detention Center. In-custody deaths are those that occur while individuals are in the custody of law enforcement.

The loss of human life is a tragedy, said Nessel. It is the responsibility of my office to determine whether that loss was the result of an unfortunate set of circumstances or because of a criminal act. While there is little the Department of Attorney General can do to provide comfort to the families of these two men, it is our duty and responsibility to perform a thorough investigation of each instance and pursue criminal charges, where appropriate.

On April 10, 2020, Mr. Hulon was arrested by officers of the Lansing Police Department for erratic behavior and assaulting his roommate. He was taken to the Lansing Police Department Detention Facility where his erratic behavior continued after he was in custody. Mr. Hulon was ultimately transported to Sparrow Hospital for a medical evaluation, where the treating physician found he was positive for methamphetamines and ecstasy, before medically discharging Mr. Hulon.

Video footage showed Mr. Hulon was agitated throughout his interactions with officers. He was reportedly an experienced methamphetamine user, and evidence reviewed supports the notion that Mr. Hulon may have unknowingly ingested a dangerous substance laced in the drugs that affected his behavior.

Video evidence shows officers worked to restrain Mr. Hulon in his cell, but Mr. Hulon did not cooperate and fell to the floor, struggling with officers before going limp. With a restraint in place, officers attempted to sit Mr. Hulon up but found him to be unresponsive and without a pulse. Officers immediately administered life-saving measures, including CPR and the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED), in an attempt to revive him. Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) were called and Mr. Hulon was transported to Sparrow Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:12 AM on April 11, 2020.

Michigan State Police conducted a complete and thorough investigation into Mr. Hulons death and submitted their findings to the Department of Attorney General for review and to determine what, if any, charges might be appropriate as a result of Mr. Hulons death. Mr. Hulons autopsy revealed high levels of amphetamines and methamphetamines in his system at the time of his death. According to the medical examiner, he also suffered from hypertensive and atherosclerotic disease, which contributed to his death.

Assistant Attorneys General reviewed the Michigan State Police investigator report, all available Lansing Police Department police reports, the autopsy report and photographs, the medical records from Sparrow Hospital, a toxicology report, and over 40 hours of video. The Department of Attorney General found insufficient evidence to justify criminal charges against the officers involved.

The officers in this case did what they were supposed to do under the circumstances, said Nessel. I realize that fact provides little comfort to Mr. Hulons family as they grieve the loss of their loved one. Our job is to determine whether the officers actions constituted a criminal act, and we have found no evidence to support criminal charges.

Paul Bulthouse, 39, was arrested by the Norton Shores Police Department on March 22, 2019, and brought to the Muskegon County Jail on a probation detainer. Mr. Bulthouse was classified as suicidal, which required he be monitored by officers every 15 minutes. His cell was always in close proximity to the county jail booking center and he was always visible on video monitors. Thirteen days later, Mr. Bulthouse died in custody at 5:30 am on April 4, 2019, after suffering many visible seizures in a five-and-a-half hour period.

The Department of Attorney General conducted a thorough and comprehensive review of all evidence presented  including more than eight hours of video, and extensive amounts of police reports and medical records. As a result of that investigation, five individuals have been charged with one count each of Involuntary Manslaughter  Failure to Perform a Legal Duty, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, for their willful neglect of duty in caring for Mr. Bulthouse. Those charged are:

Deputy Sgt. David Vanderlaan

Deputy Jeffrey Patterson

Deputy Crystal Greve

Deputy Jamal Lane

Former Wellpath Registered Nurse Aubrey Schotts

The Department of Attorney Generals thorough investigations of each tragedy revealed significant differences between Mr. Bulthouses death in the Muskegon County Jail and the death of Mr. Hulon in the Lansing Police Departments Detention Center. Mr. Bulthouse died of gross neglect and due to complete disregard for human life by five individuals who were within feet of him but never acted to assist him, said Nessel. The safety of an individual in the custody of law enforcement is their responsibility. The lack of action taken to address Mr. Bulthouse in his time of medical need was criminal.

The defendants were arraigned in the 60th District Court in Muskegon before Judge Harold Closz and released on personal bond. The probable cause conference is scheduled for April 15th and the preliminary examination will be April 22nd.

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Please note: A criminal charge is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Kelly Rossman-McKinney 517-512-9342 Attorney General
Pemba, Mozambique (PANA)  Hundreds of people displaced by recent attacks in Palma, northern Mozambique, have found temporary shelter this week in a transit centre established in Pemba town by the Government of Mozambique with support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and partners
It's no secret that the real estate market in the U.S. at large and at home in Connecticut has become something of a full-contact sport. Buyers are competing with hundreds of others for a single home, spurring bidding wars with some coming to the table with full cash offers. Realtors, however, also face some competition  the hunt for clients.

There are over 17,000 individual members of the Connecticut Realtors professional trade association, and it has 16 local associations and boards. With so many agents available for prospective buyers to choose from, standing out and building name recognition may be as difficult for realtors as finding their clients the perfect house. But there are a few Connecticut agents who are trying to make a name for themselves, and they are doing so with the help of social media.

Judi Lake, one half of Westport-based Lake Videler Homes at The Riverside Realty Group, a recently-created partnership with fellow Riverside Realty Group in Westport member Liz Videler, uses Facebook to actually list and sell homes.

"Every year, I have a few listings that are not on MLS and depend completely on social media and word of mouth," she said. Actually, we did a few virtual transactions earlier last year where homes were sold, sight unseen. Our clients get to know us through these social platforms  it makes the whole process so much easier."

Instagram

Having the capability to close deals and the brand awareness to continue business on social media was important in 2020 for realtors who had to adapt quickly to the onset of COVID-19 last March  and to the market that ensued. Lake said she and Videler used Instagram and Facebook to give live home tours and showings.

Kamil Andrukiewicz, broker and owner of New Haus Group LLC in New Britain, has over 13,000 followers on his personal realtor Instagram account. In accruing followers on both his personal account and his company account, he said he has made some changes to accommodate potential buyers that are browsing social media.

We get new buyers from Instagram [and] Facebook all the time, he said. They watch our videos, see our listing and message us asking for price, location or sometimes a viewing on a specific property. We realized that most homes now sell online, people look for real estate on their phones, so we had to adapt to that.

Instagram

In the height of COVID-19, Andrukiewicz made another pivot: adapting to virtual home showings. Not only did his company host video tours on social media, he said they even held personal video calls with clients based in New York. Also incorporating boosted advertisements on social media, Andrukiewicz said he has found that their strategy helped the New Haus Group generate new and even first-time business from clients.

In this booming market that has followed the pandemic, Lake said she and Videler continue to use their social media channels now to help expedite the home sale process, even to promote new constructions like the home they currently have listed at 15 Salem Road in Weston. In fact, vice president of brand strategy and business development at Riverside Realty Group, Jody Peters, said that with new builds, promoting the construction process might be all it takes to make the sale.

Jonathan Sanchez

"We incorporate that into our social strategy by teasing with a rendering and work-in-progress shots but ultimately, we work to get things neat and tidy before we go all out on a social blitz," she said. "In this market though, homes are selling so quickly. Lately, we haven't even had the time to post finished projects before they sell."

But gauging interest on homes and building relationships with clients on social media is something at the disposal of every realtor in the state, which makes competition for business extend into the virtual space, as well. For Andrukiewicz, this means making longer-term connections.

Many new clients that contact us strictly through [Facebook] messenger [and] through [Instagram], some have followed us for a long time and liked what we do and now they are in the market to sell or buy and want to use us as their realtor, he said. It's been honestly one of the best lead sources for us for new business.

Now that life is settling into a new normal and the real estate market is stacked with competition, Andrukiewicz said his group is beginning traditional forms of advertising again, including billboards, newspapers and the sponsorship of a youth soccer team. But make no mistake: his presence on social media will be maintained. For Andrukiewicz, its far too valuable.

Social media is not going away, he said. It's the best way to market anything.
For Maine South to not put up the sign when Maine East and West have is communicating that our school does not support the message of inclusivity and acceptance that the other two schools are portraying, the Wenings statement read. Additionally, it has reinforced to anyone who has experienced racism, homophobia, sexism, or any other type of oppression that Maine South does not value them. This further isolates students who are already being treated disrespectfully and its actively harmful to those students.
A new study has sequenced the genetic remains of the oldest modern humans in Europe. The humans lived around 45,000 years ago in Bacho Kiro Cave in Bulgaria. The researchers have found that the early human group in Europe contributed genes to the later people.

The researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany found that the early humans genetic related to present-day East Asians. The study has been published in the journal Nature. The researchers also identified Neandertal DNA in the genes of the Bacho Kiro Cave people. It showed that they had Neandertal ancestors about five to seven generations back.

The research is based on an analysis of several ancient humans remain including a whole tooth and bone fragments found in a cave in Bulgaria last year. The researchers found the genetic remains of five individuals found at the Bacho Kiro Cave. Four individuals who were found in the cave were between 43,000 to 46,000 years old.

They were found with stone tools belonging to the Upper Palaeolithic age. Another individual found in the cave was around 35,000 years old and was found with stone tools of a modern times. The researchers found that the oldest people had contributed genes to people in the present time. The contribution is found particularly in East Asia and the Americans. Mateja Hajdinjak, the author of the study said,

We found that the Bacho Kiro Cave individuals had higher levels of Neandertal ancestry than nearly all other early humans, with the exception of a 40,000-year-old individual from Romania. Crucially, most of this Neandertal DNA comes in extremely long stretches. This shows that these individuals had Neandertal ancestors some five to seven generations back in their family trees.

The researchers found that modern humans frequently intermixed with Neandertals. Svante Paabo, who coordinated the genetic research found that the modern humans from Eurasia even absorbed into the residents of the Neandertal population. It was after years when the modern humans arrived and replaced them.

The results suggest that the first modern humans that arrived in Eurasia mixed frequently with Neandertals. They may even have become absorbed into resident Neandertal populations. Only later on did larger modern human groups arrive and replace the Neandertals.

(Image Credits: ShutterStock)
David Cameron has admitted to friends that it was a mistake to try and lobby Chancellor Rishi Sunak on behalf of his employer Greensill Capital.

The former Prime Minister is under scrutiny for attempting to gain lender Greensill further access to taxpayer-backed Covid loans schemes.

Greensill went bust last month, and Cameron has refused to speak publicly about his role at the company since. But a friend of the ex-leader told the Financial Times: 'I think he would agree it could be argued that a formal letter would have been more appropriate.'

Claim: It has also emerged Lex Greensill (pictured) exaggerated his connections with David Cameron in an attempt to win over the Australian prime minister

In a sign that Cameron was beginning to fight back, his friends added that he had only met Lex Greensill, the firm's Australian founder, twice while he was in No 10. The Greensill scandal has also put Sunak under the spotlight, after he replied to Cameron's texts saying that he had 'pushed the team' to find a way to give Greensill increased access to the Covid loan schemes.

It also emerged Lex Greensill exaggerated his connections with Cameron in an attempt to win over the Australian prime minister.

As the shamed financier tried to whip up more business for his firm Greensill Capital in late 2019, he lobbied Scott Morrison to set up a lending scheme for government workers. In a WhatsApp message seen by the FT, intended for Morrison but accidentally sent to the wrong number, Greensill said: 'David Cameron, who is on our board and a material shareholder, speaks most highly of you.'

In fact, his description of Cameron was not correct. The former PM was an adviser rather than a board member and is understood to have stock options which would have given him a stake of around 1 per cent in Greensill Capital.

During Cameron's time as prime minister, he signed off on a multi-billion-pound lending scheme for NHS-linked pharmacies proposed by Greensill  despite an official report which rejected the idea.

During Cameron's time as prime minister, he signed off on a multi-billion-pound lending scheme for NHS-linked pharmacies proposed by Greensill

In his messages to Morrison, Greensill was pitching an idea similar to a separate scheme used for NHS workers in the UK, where the lender would pay cash-strapped nurses their wages daily rather than monthly and would receive a fee from their employer for offering the service.

He continued to push the idea at the World Economic Forum's meeting in Davos the next January.

But briefing notes from the meeting, put together by Australian officials, showed their suspicion of Greensill's ideas as they described his flexible pay scheme as 'economically similar to payday lending'.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - David H. Brett, President & CEO, EnGold Mines Ltd., (TSXV: EGM) ("EnGold" or the "Company") reports that the previously reported non-brokered private placement of 10,000,000 flow-through units at a price of $0.06 per unit for gross proceeds of $600,000 will now consist of 12,000,000 units at $0.05 per unit, subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance. The units consist of one flow-through common share and one half of one warrant, whereby each whole warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one non-flow-through common share at a price of $0.075 per share for a period of two years. The proceeds will be used to explore the Company's Lac La Hache Project in the Cariboo region of BC.



About EnGold

EnGold is a Vancouver-based copper, gold, silver, magnetite exploration company focused solely on its 100% owned Lac La Hache property in the Cariboo region of BC which hosts the Spout Copper Deposit, the Aurizon Gold Deposit and the G1 Copper Deposit and other targets within a large porphyry mineralizing system. With world class infrastructure at its doorstep, Lac La Hache is a great location to be exploring.

EnGold Mines Ltd.

David Brett

President & CEO

For further info contact David Brett, 604-682-2421 or david@engold.ca

This news release may contain "forward-looking statements". Readers are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual development or results may vary materially from those in these "forward looking statements." Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/80008
Feng Bilong, a medical worker once worked at Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital, poses for a portrait at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, April 1, 2021. One year after Wuhan lifted its 76-day lockdown to curb the spread of novel coronavirus, the city has resumed its daily life and economic activities. During the one-year time, people who sticked to their ordinary posts made their own contribution. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  On her final day to act on bills passed during this years 60-day legislative session, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed off on a $7.4 billion budget plan that will boost state spending and provide 1.5% pay increases to state employees and teachers.

However, the Democratic governor used her line-item veto authority Friday to strike down legislative earmarks for more than $1 billion from a federal stimulus plan for various state programs  including a largely depleted state unemployment fund, a popular college scholarship program and highway repairs.

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Specifically, Lujan Grisham said in an executive message to top-ranking lawmakers that legislators attempt to appropriate the funds were an infringement into her executive authority. She said a state Supreme Court ruling has upheld the Legislatures power of the purse strings does not apply to federal dollars. This budget is responsible and responsive to the needs of New Mexicans right now and in the future, Lujan Grisham said in a statement Friday after signing the budget bill.

While the line-item vetoes do not mean New Mexicos state government will lose its $1.6 billion under the latest federal pandemic relief package, they could set off another tug-of-war between the Governors Office and legislators.

Lujan Grishams use of an emergency declaration to access federal funds last year prompted some lawmakers to question the legality of the action, and Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington, on Friday described the governors latest line-item vetoes as irresponsible and possibly unconstitutional.

We are the ones directly responsible to the citizens for how taxpayer dollars are spent and I am disappointed in what appears to be yet another power grab by this governor, Sharer said.

Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, the chairwoman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, said its likely lawmakers will once again vote to appropriate the federal dollars during next years 30-day legislative session.

We think its our responsibility to make sure that all funds are budgeted responsibly, Lundstrom told the Journal.

And Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, disputed the governors contention the Supreme Court has given the governor authority over spending federal funds.

He also expressed concern about Lujan Grishams veto of a proposed $600 million appropriation of federal dollars to shore up the states unemployment fund that has been under strain during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That veto could lead to an increase in the unemployment tax rate for businesses that pay into the fund, Munoz said.

But a Lujan Grisham spokeswoman suggested some of the federal dollars could, in fact, end up being funneled into the unemployment fund once the state gets clear guidance from the federal government on how the infusion of federal funds can be spent.

The state has not yet received guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department on how the federal funds may be used, and allocating those funds before knowing exactly how they are permitted to be used may in fact not be legal, Lujan Grisham spokesman Nora Meyers Sackett told the Journal.

Revenue swings

The budget bill signed Friday will take effect July 1, which is the start of the states new fiscal year.

Under the final version, state spending will increase by 4.8%  or roughly $373 million  over current levels, with funding increases slated for college financial aid and mental health and substance abuse programs.

With New Mexico weathering huge revenue swings in recent years due to fluctuating oil prices and the pandemic, the budget plan also calls for about $1.7 billion  or about 24% of state spending  to be set aside in cash reserves in case of a revenue shortfall.

Some lawmakers have also called for more sweeping changes to the states tax code in an attempt to reduce the year-over-year revenue volatility.

Im tired of the roller coaster, Munoz said Friday.

Currently, New Mexico is awash in short-term money, as increases in oil production and market prices, along with the federal stimulus funds, have improved the states revenue outlook.

That allowed legislators to approve a pandemic relief package during this years session that included $600 rebates for low-income workers, a four-month tax holiday for restaurants and creation of a new $200 million small business grant program.

But Munoz and some other lawmakers have cautioned the state could face difficult decisions in future years, when the federal funds are no longer available.

Capital outlay

The governor also signed two other spending measures Friday  a $511 million capital outlay package and a supplemental appropriations bill.

The latter bill, Senate Bill 377, includes $110 million to fund efforts to improve broadband connectivity  theres also more money for broadband included in other measures  and up to $300 million to repay a federal loan that was used last year to keep paying jobless benefits out of the states unemployment fund.

As for the capital outlay bill, it includes funding for a new multi-use event center and soccer stadium in Albuquerque and new facilities to assist homeless individuals, among other projects.

For the first time, lawmakers individual capital outlay appropriations for this years session will be published later this month.

Thats because legislators overwhelmingly approved a separate disclosure bill that was also signed by Lujan Grisham this week.

Meanwhile, the governor still has until April 20 to act on cannabis legalization and expungement bills passed by lawmakers during a two-day special session last week.
Toyota has launched Advanced Drive, a new driver assistance technology, with the latest Toyota Mirai and Lexus LS vehicles. Advanced Drive is capable of Level 2 autonomy and can free the driver from operating the accelerator, brakes and even the steering wheel  under certain traffic conditions and with the driver's supervision, that is. It was designed for highway driving only, and like other available assistance technologies today, it doesn't have full self-driving capabilities yet.

Advanced Drive uses data from the vehicle's telescopic camera and LiDAR, as well as information from high-precision maps to detect other vehicles in the same lane. So long as a driver sets the destination in the navigation system, the technology will be able to assess situations and make decisions when it comes to changing lanes, maintaining distance from other vehicles, navigating lane splits and overtaking other vehicles. It can make sure to maintain a larger distance from trucks and other big vehicles, for instance, and decelerate early when merging lanes. When changing lanes, it confirms the status of nearby vehicles and the road conditions first before asking for the driver's approval to move to its destination.

Toyota

The system also uses a camera to check on the driver. A buzzer would issue a warning, the seatbelt would vibrate and the heads-up display would flash if the system detects signs of sleepiness or inattentiveness. If there's a lack of response from the driver, the system can gradually slow the car down, open the doors and call for assistance. In case there's a possibility of collision, the technology can warn the driver using the heads-up display and the buzzer. However, it can also apply the brakes and assist evasive action if there's a high likelihood that the collision would occur.

Advanced Drive makes it debut with the new Lexus LS that came out in Japan on April 8th, 2021 and the new Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicle that'll be available on April 12th. Toyota has also confirmed that the 2022 Lexus LS will be the first vehicle in the US lineup with the Advanced Drive technology. As Autoblog notes, these are the first Toyota models that are capable of receiving over-the-air updates, which the automaker will use to deliver new features for the driver assistance tech.
14:00 | Lima, Apr. 9.

New York





The Consul General of Peru in New York, Marita Landaveri, told Andina news agency that 42,287 Peruvians residing in that state will be allowed to exercise their right to vote this Sunday.





Landaveri pointed out that the sanitary restrictions for these elections are the same as those valid in the national territory and those established by U.S. authorities to avoid the spread of COVID-19.





These are: measuring the temperature of voters, disinfecting hands with alcohol-based sanitizer, maintaining social distance (1.5 meters), and wearing a face mask on a mandatory basis.





Added to this are the suggestions for wearing a face shield and brining an own pen to the polling station, so as not to share the pen for casting a vote.









Concerning fines, the diplomat mentioned that these will be issued only if the Peruvian citizen has been selected as a polling station member. In the event that he/she cannot attend the event, a dispensation may be submitted to the National Elections Board (JNE) justifying the absence.





Landaveri stressed that the 2021 general elections will be totally different, since for the first time in history Peruvians abroad will elect two direct representatives to Congress, who will be in charge of ensuring the well-being of all compatriots residing abroad.





New Jersey





Meanwhile, Peruvian consul in New Jersey Yvan Solari affirmed that said state has the largest number of Peruvian residents in the United States. Thus, over 53,000 voters are registered in the electoral roll.





"Sanitary measures are all those that have been issued by the Federal Government of the United States, the local government of New Jersey, and the locality where the electoral process will take place, that is, in Secaucus," he said.









There will be 173 polling stations open from 08:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The consul stressed that polling members are 519 people in addition to the consulate and support staff lead to 600. Thus, 300 to 400 citizens will be allowed to enter as voters.





Like the New York-based consul, he emphasized that fines will only be given to polling station members who do not attend the event, not to voters.





Regarding the election for the first time of two Congress members to represent Peruvians abroad, Solari said it is a good opportunity to elect those who represent them and ensure their rights outside the country.





He also invited all Peruvian citizens in New Jersey to fulfill their civic duty and arrive early at the polling place, respecting all the established measures.




Message from Francis to the global symposium "Faith and Flourishing: Strategies for Preventing and Healing Child Sexual Abuse." May the initiative contribute "to a greater awareness of the gravity and extent of child sexual abuse".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - A significant moment in the journey of the fight against abuse, even if "there is still a lot of work to do". It is in this perspective that - from 8 to 10 April  a global online symposium is being held on the theme: "Faith and Flourishing: Strategies for Preventing and Healing Child Sexual Abuse", promoted by the Pontifical Commission for the protection of Minors, by Harvard Divinity School and the Catholic University of America, in collaboration with international organizations such as Unicef and the World Health Organization.

In a message signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis hopes that the initiative will contribute "to a greater awareness of the gravity and extent of sexual abuse of minors" with a view to promoting "more effective cooperation at all levels. of society to eradicate this profound evil ".

At the same time he expresses his gratitude "for the continuous efforts that are being made to ensure the well-being of all the children of God and to restore dignity and hope to survivors of abuse".

Opening the meeting, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, President of the Pontifical Commission, thanked the victims of abuse who continue to come forward. It is thanks to your courage - he said - that the protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults and victim assistance programs are becoming central components in every aspect of our lives. But as the program of this symposium makes clear, there is still a lot of work to be done.

Speaking at the meeting, Reverend Denis Mutwege, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2018, spoke about his experience as a doctor in a hospital in Bukavu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in front of many victims of rape used as a weapon of war, underlining the importance of the commitment of leaders of all religions to end rape as a weapon of war and to combat the sexual abuse of children, in particular. "Rather than being ostracized - he said in this regard - these survivors should feel supported and respected. Instead of feeling helpless, they should have the power to change things. Instead of being silenced, they should have the opportunity to break the silence and speak".
Tree planting ceremony marks 40th anniversary of sister relationship between China's Guangdong and Australia's NSW

09:50, April 09, 2021 By Quanjiao Wang ( People's Daily Online

The Tree planting ceremony marks the 40th Anniversary of Guangdong- NSW Sister State relationship. (Photo/Ji He)

SYDNEY, April 8 (People's Daily Online) A Ginkgo tree was planted in the lawn at Government House Sydney on Thursday to mark the 40th anniversary of the sister relationship between China's Guangdong Province and Australian State New South Wales.

The tree was jointly planted by Zhou Limin, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Sydney, and Margaret Beazley, Governor of New South Wales.

Established in 1979, the Guangdong-New South Wales Sister Province/State relationship is New South Wales' first Sister State relationship.

Zhou Limin said there is a long history of exchanges and affection between the two peoples. The local Chinese community has served as a bridge and bond for mutual understanding and friendship. Today, the ginkgo tree to be planted at Government House demonstrates the Governors friendly feelings towards the Chinese people and reflects our good wishes for a much stronger friendship between Guangdong and NSW.

"We hope that the two sides will make full use of their respective advantages and expand mutually beneficial cooperation, with a view to bringing more benefits to the two peoples and injecting more positive energy into China-Australia relations," he added.

Beazley said the beautiful Ginkgo tree has a deep historical and cultural significance. This revered tree originated in China and, as one of the oldest unchanged trees on the planet, is a symbol of friendship, resilience, and longevity in the relationship between New South Wales and Guangdong. New South Wales has been home to generations of Chinese-born migrants, many of whom came from Guangdong.

"The bridges between NSW and Guangdong Province - personal, government to government and trade - are essential parts of our respective global relationships," she said.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)
Complete and utter crap. Thats how Bill Michael, until recently UK chair of global accountancy firm KPMG, described the concept of unconscious bias to his apparently stunned staff. There is no such thing as unconscious bias, he elaborated. I dont buy it. Because after every single unconscious-bias training that has ever been done, nothings ever improved. As is the custom nowadays, Michael issued a public apology before tendering his resignation. This is a shame because his comments were not that far wide of the mark. As I explore in a new report for Civitas, the anti-racism training industry does little to improve outcomes for BAME people and, worse, breathes new life back into racial thinking.
As South Sudan starts vaccinating some of its health workers, Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mula of Juba Archdiocese has been reflecting about Easter and Covid-19.

Paul Samasumo -Vatican City

Forgiveness is Easter itself, and Easter is forgiveness, Archbishop Ameyu told Vatican News correspondent, Mbikoyezu John Gbemboyo, in the countrys capital, Juba. The Archbishop spoke about the forgiveness that Jesus gave to the repentant thief on the cross. We can only access paradise through the forgiveness of others. This forgiveness must begin with us. We must forgive each other from the bottom of our hearts. Forgiveness is complete when we have forgiven others. Through the cross and the resurrection of Christ, we too can experience paradise here in our lives, said Archbishop Ameyu.

Covid-19: Lack of food and spiritual nourishment

Regarding Covid-19, the Archbishop said the situation was such that people in South Sudan were facing not just spiritual deprivation, but it was also difficult for ordinary people to make ends meet and provide food for their families.

Covid-19 has impacted our lives. It has changed our lives. It has upset our traditional ways of parish life. We have had to put aside some important activities because we had to attend first to Covid-19. We are unable to serve our faithful as we have done in the past. The faithful are going without spiritual nourishment. But it is not only about spiritual nourishment. In fact, many of our people are going without food. Nevertheless, I really would like our priests to continue to serve people as best as they can, even if sometimes this means from a distance through radio and other electronic means. When a priest celebrates Mass behind closed doors of the parish, he remains in communion with the people, said the Juba prelate.

Pope Francis carries the people of South Sudan in his heart

Asked about Pope Francis visiting South Sudan, Archbishop Ameyu expressed confidence that Pope Francis will visit South Sudan when the time is ripe.

The Holy Father already expressed his intention to come to South Sudan maybe two years ago. In fact, when he came to Kenya, Uganda, and the Central African Republic (2015), he wanted to visit South Sudan and then proceed to the Central African Republic. Unfortunately, at the time, the situation in South Sudan was not conducive (because of the war). The Pope has been very close and mindful of the people of God in South Sudan. The Holy Father is eager to see his people in South Sudan, and we are ready to receive him. I have no doubt that in his heart, Pope Francis is carrying the people of South Sudan, the poor people of South Sudan, who have suffered so much.
gettyimagesbank




England's Covid testing blitz began today, with everyone in the country now able to get swabbed twice a week in the aim of getting life back to normal.

Boots and local pharmacies are now offering lateral flow tests that adults can go in and pick up for free, even if they don't have any symptoms of the virus.

Matt Hancock credited the scheme as being 'one of our most effective weapons in tackling this virus' and the Health Secretary said the campaign would cut the spread of asymptomatic Covid, which is a huge driver of the pandemic.

But experts today warned the scheme - which is entirely reliant on rapid tests - could be 'a huge waste of money' unless more support is given to people to self-isolate.

Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (Spi-B) which advises ministers, said more financial and practical support is needed or people will chose not to take part in the testing.

Ministers say the programme is an essential part of the easing of restrictions, helping identify variants and thwarting outbreaks. But critics say the rapid kits could wrongly label tens of thousands of people a week as having Covid when used at such large scale  muddying the water over whether the disease is making a comeback.

It comes as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps ordered 'profiteering' private testing companies to slash the cost of laboratory-based PCR checks to make international travel more affordable.

Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (Spi-B) which advises ministers, said more financial and practical support is needed for people who have to self-isolate

Ed Cockroft receives a rapid Covid test at Express Test in Cabot Circus car park in Bristol

The lateral flow kits available on the new scheme are free of charge and dished out at approved testing sites, more than 5,000 pharmacies and by post. People can collect tests for up to four household members at a time.

Boots  where the scheme is being rolled out in 1,500 pharmacies across the country  told MailOnline today people can turn up to the pharmacy today and do not need to pre-book their tests in advance.

In an effort to kick-start the huge testing blitz, a major public information campaign featuring NHS staff is launching which will run across TV, radio and social media.

Mr Hancock said: 'Around one in three people have coronavirus without any symptoms, so getting tested regularly is one of the simplest and easiest ways we can keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.

Grant Shapps says people CAN 'start to think' about booking holidays abroad as he orders 'profiteering' Covid testing companies to slash the cost of PCR checks Grant Shapps has ordered 'profiteering' private testing companies to slash the cost of laboratory-based PCR checks to make international travel more affordable as he said people can now 'start to think' about booking a summer holiday abroad. The Transport Secretary today set out more details of the Government's new traffic light scheme which will see countries rated green, amber or red based on criteria like vaccination levels and case numbers when international travel resumes, potentially as early as May 17. Travel from 'green' countries will be quarantine-free and people will have to take one test after flying home, rather than the current two, while ministers are also said to be considering giving travellers free lateral flow tests to take abroad to be used before they start their return journey. However, the requirement for people to take a PCR test when they get back to Britain has sparked a furious backlash from airline bosses who said it 'makes no sense' and could restrict foreign holidays to only the rich. The tests can cost around 120, leaving an average family of four with a potential bill of nearly 500 on top of flights and accommodation. Mr Shapps admitted this morning that 'costs are definitely a concern' and people 'have to accept we are still going through a global pandemic' which means the checks cannot currently be abandoned. But he vowed to 'drive down the costs' of the PCR tests as he warned companies who charge too much will be removed from the Government's recommended provider list. The unveiling of the traffic light system included the promise of a review at the end of June which could see quarantine and testing requirements slashed for a number of popular locations in time for summer holidays. One Whitehall source said Greece could make it on to the so-called 'green list' next month despite a recent rise in cases, while the USA, Gibraltar, Malta and much of the Caribbean are also tipped for green status. Some airlines want the testing requirement for travel from 'green' countries to be ditched entirely or replaced with cheaper lateral flow tests. Others want the UK to adopt the same policy as in France, where travellers can get free, government-subsidised PCR tests at some airports if they show their plane ticket. Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said the proposed PCR testing requirement risked making international travel 'just something for the wealthy'. EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said the sector is being held to a different standard than other parts of the economy. He said: 'They are opening up the UK economy with lateral flow tests that are much cheaper, and much more accessible, so I can see the argument if they wanted to have some type of test that do a cheaper lateral flow test and if you tested positive you could then go on an do a PCR test'. Today's Global Travel Taskforce report will not commit to a concrete start date for the resumption of non-essential foreign trips, which are currently banned, but ministers are still hoping that some flights can resume from the target roadmap date of May 17. Advertisement

'I'd encourage everyone to take up the offer and test twice a week.

'Alongside the successful rollout of the vaccination programme, rapid testing will be one of our most effective weapons in tackling this virus and ensuring we can cautiously reopen our economy and parts of society that we have all missed.

'The British people have made a tremendous effort throughout the pandemic and I am confident they will do the same now by taking up this offer of free, rapid tests.'

Around one in three people with Covid do not experience any symptoms and may be spreading the virus unwittingly.

The Hands, Face, Space, Fresh Air campaign will be updated to remind the public of the need to use the NHS Covid-19 app to check in to premises including outdoor hospitality, hairdressers and gyms from Sunday.

Improvements to the venue check in journey mean all members of a party will either have to check in using the app or leave manual contact details.

Users who have been at a venue where multiple people tested positive will now be encouraged to book a test, as well as monitoring their symptoms to further prevent asymptomatic transmission.

TV doctor and practicing NHS GP Dr Zoe Williams said: 'Twice weekly testing will be crucial in helping us manage the spread of the virus as society starts to reopen.

'The tests are quick and easy to do, and results come back in 30 minutes. Key workers such as myself and my colleagues have been carrying these out for the last few months, and it's amazing how quickly they have become second nature to us.

'However, it's important to remember that there is not one silver bullet in the fight against Covid-19, and even with a negative test result, we must still follow social distancing guidelines  hands, face, space, fresh air, and go for our vaccines when called.'

But critics say the programme risks wasting huge amounts of money because of the number of false positives produced by rapid lateral flow tests.

Today Professor Reicher, a professor of social psychology at the University of St Andrews, told Sky News the main reason for offering the public two lateral flow tests per week was to get them to self-isolate if infected.

He said: 'The problem is that, at the moment, we're concentrating on that one piece of the system without thinking about the other parts.

'And the consequence is not only that people don't self isolate. It also suggests that because people can't afford to self-isolate, they don't get tested in the first place.

'That was very clear last year when mass testing was done in Liverpool, where in deprived parts of the city only half as many people came forward for testing as in more affluent places.'

Professor Reicher said that, for some people, self-isolating is impractical or they lose pay and 'the way out of that is just simply to avoid a test'.

The solution is 'something that has been suggested for months now, actually probably since the beginning of the pandemic a year ago, which is that we need to give more support to self-isolation,' he added.

'To test people without thinking about what you're going to do with those tests, making those things possible, is wasting a huge amount of money.

'We're spending 37billion on testing. It makes neither public health sense, nor economic sense, to waste that money for want of spending on giving people the support they need to self-isolate.'

The tests are being rolled out across at over Boots pharmacies in England today.

Chief Pharmacist at Boots UK Marc Donovan said: 'Regular rapid Covid testing using lateral flow devices is a fast and easy way to find out if you have Covid.

'It's a vital part of the government's road map to cautiously ease restrictions. Around one in three people who have Covid have no symptoms and could be spreading it without knowing.

'Testing regularly will help identify people who have the virus so they can self-isolate to help prevent the virus spreading, keeping your family, friends and colleagues safer and helping us all to keep life moving.

'The tests are easy to do and the result is provided in around 30 minutes.

'The more of us that take part the more we can hep protect each other. If you think you have Covid symptoms, you should self-isolate immediately and head over to the government website to arrange a free PCR test, and follow the guidance depending on your result.'

Earlier this week, health minister Edward Argar told BBC Breakfast he expected the lateral flow tests to be used by people returning to work in the coming weeks as the 'economy starts opening up again'.

He said fewer than one in 1,000 lateral flow tests gave a false positive result and refused to set an 'arbitrary' date for when testing would end.

Mr Argar said the tests would be paid for as part of NHS Test and Trace's funding of 37billion over two years, with 80 per cent of that expected to be used for testing.

But last week Professor Deeks warned mass testing of secondary school pupils is costing 120,000 for every case it detects.

He told the Telegraph the 'vast majority' of positive results from rapid Covid tests used at secondary schools are likely to be wrong.

Cases have fallen rapidly among children since the start of the year, with just 0.05 per cent of youngsters thought to infected at the moment  just one in 2,000.

Professor Deeks, head of the university's Biostatistics, Evidence Synthesis and Test Evaluation Research Group, warned it becomes harder to distinguish the true size of outbreaks using lateral flow tests when cases plummet to such low levels.

A gold-standard Cochrane review last month authored by co-authored professor Deeks found lateral flow tests were prone to giving false positives, when a test says someone is infected but they aren't.

Dr Ann Van den Bruel, associate professor of primary care at KU Leuven in Belgium, and an author of the review, said: 'The risk of the false positives in the screening setting is very high.

'You may end up having the opposite effect of what you want to achieve and you may have to close more workplaces, more classes.'

The review found one of the kits being used in the UK failed to meet international standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Massachusetts reported another 27,379 COVID-19 cases over the last two-week period, up from 24,984 reported the prior 14 days, according to the latest data from the Department of Public Health.

Percent positivity also rose over the last 14 days, from 2.36% the prior two weeks to 2.54%.

But when looking at cases week-over-week, after three consecutive weeks of rising infections, they dipped last week. And while cases have been rising for a number of weeks, COVID deaths continue to decline in Massachusetts, data shows.

Mobile users: If you are having trouble viewing this chart, click here.

The number of cities and towns designated high risk for community spread of the virus increased again this week, from 55 last week to 77, marking four straight weeks of increases.

After several weeks of increasing case counts in Massachusetts schools, Thursdays updated tally on newly infected students and staff members showed a decline. A total of 978 new cases were reported in schools this week as in-person learning for elementary students resumed. Last week, the state reported 1,045 total new cases among students and staff, which was up from 910 the week before.

Amid a shift in the average age of the newly infected, the Department of Public Health added new data showing the number of infections confirmed among children younger than 15. Over the last two weeks, 1,116 cases were confirmed in children younger than 4; 1,396 infections were confirmed in children between the ages of 5 and 9; and 1,722 infections were confirmed in children between the ages of 10 and 14, according to the data.

The state says 2,748 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 came down with COVID over the last two weeks, and 7,205 cases were confirmed among young adults in their 20s.

There have been a total of 4,204,152 COVID vaccine doses administered in Massachusetts as of Thursday, and 1,617,249 residents are now fully vaccinated.

Here is a list of the cities and towns at high risk by county:

Barnstable County: Barnstable, Brewster, Chatham, Dennis, Mashpee, Sandwich, Yarmouth

Berkshire County: Adams, Williamstown

Bristol County: Dighton, Fall River, Freetown, Mansfield, New Bedford, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea, Taunton, Westport

Dukes County: Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury

Essex County: Hamilton, Lawrence, Lynn, Methuen, Peabody, Saugus, Wenham

Franklin County: Orange

Hampden County: Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Hampden, Holyoke, Ludlow, Monson, Palmer, Springfield, West Springfield

Hampshire County: Granby, Southampton, Ware

Middlesex County: Ayer, Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Everett, Framingham, Littleton, Lowell, Tyngsborough

Nantucket County: Nantucket

Norfolk County: Plainville

Plymouth County: Abington, Brockton, Carver, Halifax, Hanson, Hull, Lakeville, Middleborough, Plymouth, Wareham, West Bridgewater, Whitman

Suffolk County: Revere

Worcester County: Athol, Blackstone, Hopedale, Milford, Paxton, Southborough, Sutton, West Boylston, Winchendon

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NEW HAVEN  Mayor Justin Elicker and other city officials Friday were to welcome two new restaurants to downtown and launch the New Haven Eats Outdoors 2021 initiative, as well as spread the word about grants available for small businesses.

Elicker, Interim Small Business Administrator Michael Piscitelli, Avangrid President and CEO Frank Reynolds, Alder Abby Roth, Alder Carmen Rodriguez and Economic Development Corp. of New Haven CEO Ginny Kozlowski were to help ceremonially open Somos Handcrafted Arepas and Bark & Vine as part of the gathering, according to city spokesman Gage Frank.
Shanghai, April 9 : The Shanghai Disney Resort celebrated the 10th anniversary of its ground-breaking, with president and general manager Joe Schott expressing his great confidence in its future.

"We believe in the long-term benefits of the China market. That's what you'll see us continue to do," Xinhua news agency quoted Schott as saying on Thursday.

Since its opening on June 16, 2016, the Shanghai Disney Resort has set many records, including welcoming more than 11 million guests in its first year of operations.

Among the main features of the resort's story is the rapid expansion of its operations.

The first major expansion, DisneyAPixar Toy Story Land, opened on April 26, 2018, making the resort the fastest Disneyland in the world to expand after opening.

The second major expansion is the Zootopia-themed land, which is currently under construction in Shanghai, and is the first-ever Zootopia-themed land at any Disney park in the world.

Shanghai plans to double the number of scenic spots and tourist projects each with more than 10 million visits annually in 2025, compared with 2020.
South Africa: Mpumalanga man gets life sentence for raping niece

A Mpumalanga mans name will be added to the National Register for Sex Offenders after he was handed a life sentence for raping his 10-year-old niece on Christmas eve of 2019.

The 35-year-old man was sentenced by the Kwaggasfontein Regional Court on Thursday.

In a statement, Mpumalanga SAPS spokesperson, Colonel Donald Mdhluli, said the court sentenced the accused after details were heard on how the young girl became a victim in the hands of a man who was supposed to have protected her unconditionally.

It is said that on 24 December 2019 in Kwaggafontein, he preyed on a little girl during a time when her mother and grandparents were not around. As her uncle, he was trusted to look after her, said Mdhuli.

He said the girl was playing in the veranda when the man summoned her to his room, which was at the back of the main house.

She reportedly refused to go to her uncle's room. He then dragged her to his room and tied her with a rope before raping her repeatedly. She later escaped after begging him to let her go and get food.

Her mother came back and was worried when she could not find her daughter in the main house, as well as the uncle. The mother then went to her neighbours to look for her but without any success. The mother came back to the house and was shocked to see her daughter walking in a strange way. The girl then narrated her story to her mother, said Mdhluli.

He said the girl was then taken to the doctor and it was confirmed that she was raped.

The man tried to convince the girl's mother not to lay charges against him but the matter was eventually reported to police. Meanwhile, he went into hiding at one of his family members [home]. However, his family instead sought justice for the girl and they handed him over to police where he was brought to court, and hence the sentence, he said.

The accused's particulars will be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders. The court found him to be unfit to work with children and his particulars will also be recorded in the National Child Protection Register.

Police management in the province has noted with much concern the moral decay in society, where adults, entrusted with a responsibility to protect and care for children, instead break that trust and abuse children.

The management has further thanked the family for handing him over and applauded the excellent work done by members of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS), the prosecution as well as the judiciary for their resilience in this case, which saw him getting a well-deserved sentence, said Mdhluli.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Over a conservative judges angry dissent, a federal appeals court refused Thursday to let a group of Republican-led states try to revive a Trump administration rule that denied legal status and work permits to noncitizens who accept public benefits, such as food stamps and Medicaid.

The 2019 public charge rule was challenged in lawsuits by San Francisco and Santa Clara County, joined later by California, 17 other states and the District of Columbia. A federal judge in Oakland and courts in other states halted enforcement of the rule, but the Supreme Court reinstated it in January 2020 while the legal challenges continued.

But President Bidens administration announced March 9 that it was repealing the rule, and the Supreme Court rescinded its order. The action was challenged, however, by 14 states with Republican leaders, who argued that the administration had failed to follow procedures for changing federal rules or to allow any time for public comment on the turnaround.

On Thursday, a panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco voted 2-1 to refuse to let the 14 states intervene in the case. The majority, Judges Mary Schroeder and William Fletcher, issued a one-sentence order without stating reasons, but drew a strongly worded 28-page dissent from Judge Lawrence VanDyke, an appointee of former President Donald Trump.

Calling the Biden administrations attack on the former rule a synchronized blitzkrieg, VanDyke said the governments actions were apparently intended to make sure not only that the rule was gone faster than toilet paper in a pandemic, but that it could effectively never, ever be resurrected, even by a future administration.

Now that the federal government has abandoned the field, only the states themselves can present their arguments in favor of the rule, he said, accusing the new administration of colluding with Democratic-led local and state governments that opposed the Trump administrations changes.

But VanDyke said the Supreme Court could use its authority to revive the case and require the Biden administration to go through the normal rule-making process, reinstating the former rule for many months if not longer. Proper legal procedures will be restored, he said, once the Supreme Court makes clear that our dirty slate must be wiped clean.

Schroeder was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, and Fletcher by President Bill Clinton.

The dispute involves the meaning of a 19th century law denying legal residency to immigrants who were a public charge or likely to become one.

Previous administrations defined the term to cover a relatively small number of immigrants who drew a certain portion of their income from government sources, such as welfare or Social Security, or who received long-term care at government expense.

Trumps administration reinterpreted the law to cover anyone who has received non-cash benefits, such as food stamps, Medicaid or a low-income housing voucher, for at least a year. In addition, federal officials could consider a variety of negative factors  low income, old age, a large family, the inability to speak English or the acceptance of benefits for any period  to classify immigrants as public charges.

Out of 544,000 legal immigrants who apply for green cards each year, the Trump administration said 382,000 would be covered by the new rule and would have to submit forms showing their ability to support themselves. The policy also allowed immigration officials to prevent noncitizens from entering the United States on visas issued to students, employees or tourists if they decided the newcomers were likely to use public benefits.

In one of the decisions blocking the rule, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton of Oakland said the use of public benefits improves public health and welfare and noted that congressional Republicans had dropped plans to add identical restrictions to a 1996 immigration bill.

But VanDyke said Thursday that most people would believe that being overly reliant on the government to meet your needs ... makes one a public charge.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
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The nation is in mourning today with a huge outpouring of grief for Prince Philip after his death was announced by the Queen.

Thousands of tributes were posted online with heartfelt words for Her Majesty - who was described by one well-wisher as having 'lost the brightest jewel in her crown'.

Flags were flown at half-mast across the country while thousands flocked to Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle to leave flowers and mourn.

But Palace officials and No10 encouraged the public not to congregate in large groups amid coronavirus restrictions, as mounted police asked people to obey socially distancing measures.

Philip spent his final days at the family's Berkshire home with the Queen after a 28-night stay in hospital for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

As the longest serving consort in British history, the Prince was a popular but often misunderstood figure in the eyes of the public.

Some found his gaffes and outbursts offensive while most believed he was comical - but millions across the country united in grief at his death today.

Hundreds revealed the heartbreaking news had left them in tears while others could not believe the Duke had died having been a figure throughout their lives.

Tributes continued to be placed into the evening, as piles of flowers were left on the ground outside Windsor Castle

A candle is seen among flowers outside Windsor Castle. Bouquets were left in tribute to Prince Philip

A view of Windsor Castle, as people gathered to bring flowers after Britain's Prince Philip passed away

The tributes left by flocks of mourners were lit up by candlelight outside Windsor Castle

People were seen gathered outside Windsor Castle this evening. Tributes continued to be laid after the sun set

A man takes a photograph of a balloon and floral tributes left outside Buckingham Palace, London

Floral tributes and candles are left outside Buckingham Palace following the announcement of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh

Floral tributes are left outside Buckingham Palace, following the announcement of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99

A young child holds a floral tribute as well-wishers take photographs at the gates of Buckingham Palace

People react as they gather outside Buckingham Palace in central London on April 9 after the death of Prince Philip

Flowers were scattered on the ground outside Windsor Castle today in tribute to Prince Philip

Mourners look on as flowers are left at the gates of Windsor Castle at the top of the long walk

Black London taxi cabs line The Mall near Buckingham Palace, London, to pay tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh who has died at the age of 99

The sun sets behind the flag which is at half mast at Buckingham Palace. Mourners rushed to lay flowers in tribute

Blackpool Tower has been illuminated in red, white and blue in tribute to Prince Philip, who died today

Players during a minute's silence at the Fulham v Wolverhampton Wanderers match after Prince Philip died

Flowers at Cambridge Gate at Windsor Castle, Berkshire. It was today announced that Prince Philip had died aged 99

Hundreds of bouquets were left outside Buckingham Palace today. Prince Philip was the longest-serving consort in British history

Flowers at Cambridge Gate at Windsor Castle, Berkshire. A police officer laid the bouquets offered by mourners

A young boy laid flowers at Cambridge Gate at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, following the announcement of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh

Two women hug outside Buckingham Palace on Friday afternoon after the passing of Britain's longest serving consort Prince Philip

Mourners stand outside Buckingham Palace in central London today following the death of the Duke on Friday morning

A boy leaves flowers next to a Union flag in front of the gate at Buckingham Palace in London, after the announcement of the death of Prince Philip

A mourner cries outside Buckingham Palace after the heartbreaking announced on Friday afternoon

A woman wearing a Union flag face covering wipes away tears as she sits outside Windsor Castle on The Long Walk in Berkshire

A mourner shed a tear outside Buckingham Palace after it was announced that Prince Philip had passed away

Windsor Castle saw children praying for the late Duke of Edinburgh today as crowds started to gather outside

A lifelong supporter of the Royal Family comes to lay some flowers in memory of Prince Philip as members of the press stand around him

People gather outside Buckingham Palace, London, following the announcement of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99

People gather outside Windsor Castle in Berkshire after the announcement regarding the death of Prince Philip on Friday

A young boy lays flowers in front of the gate of Buckingham Palace in London after the heartbreaking announcement today

Windsor Castle is pictured as crowds start to gather outside following the announcement that HRH Prince Philip has died today

A Union Flag lies next to flowers outside Buckingham Palace in central London today as crowds gather to pay tribute to the late Prince

A woman arrives to lay a bunch of flowers outside Buckingham Palace in central London on Friday afternoon after the announcement of the death of Prince Philip

A woman lays a bunch of flowers at the gates of Buckingham Palace in central London on Friday afternoon after the announcement of the death of Philip

A police officer stands next to bouquets of flowers outside Buckingham Palace after the announcement on Friday at lunchtime

The scene outside Windsor Castle in Berkshire as the announcement of the death of The Duke of Edinburgh becomes public

People prepare to leave flowers in front of the gate of Buckingham Palace in London, on Friday. Buckingham Palace officials say Prince Philip died this morning

Two men are pictured preparing to leave flowers in front of the gate of Buckingham Palace in central London on Friday afternoon

Two women are pictured preparing to leave flowers in front of the gate of Buckingham Palace in central London this afternoon

People are pictured gathering outside Buckingham Palace in central London on Friday afternoon after the announcement of his death

Flags were lowered across the country today as a sign of respect to the Duke, with Buckingham Palace (pictured) and Downing Street leading the way

The Union Flag flies at half-mast from Victoria Tower over the Houses of Parliament in central London

The Union flag flies half mast at The Tower of London on April 09 following the death of Prince Philip

The flag also flew half mast over Edinburgh Castle after the announcement of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh

The flag flew half mast at Buckingham Palace after Prince Philip died. Visitors laid floral tributes

Flags are lowered to half mast following Prince Philip's death. The silhouette of the Houses of Parliament can be seen

Union Flags fly at half-mast on top of Downing Street after it was announced Prince Philip died on Friday morning aged 99

Flags at half mast at Balmoral (left) Holyrood Palace (right) in Scotland where they changed to a larger Lion Rampant on the announcement of the death of Prince Philip

A flag flies at half mast over the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh after the announcement of the death of the Duke

The Union Flag flies at half-mast over the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in central London

The Union Flag flies at half mast to mark the death of the Duke Of Edinburgh at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland on Friday

A flag flies at half mast behind the stands in honour of the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, ahead of Ladies Day of the 2021 Randox Health Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse

The Duchy of Cornwall flag flies at half mast at their headquarters in Poundbury on Friday afternoon as the nation mourned

An official notice announcing the death of Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is placed on the gates of Buckingham Palace in central London

Britons expressed their sorrow at the loss of the Duke of Edinburgh and passed on their good wishes to the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family

MINISTER OF CHURCH AT BALMORAL SAYS PHILIP WILL BE REMEMBERED WITH AFFECTION The minister of the church used by the royal family when at Balmoral Castle has expressed the community's sadness at the Duke of Edinburgh's death. Reverend Kenneth MacKenzie is the minister of the Parish of Braemar and Crathie and domestic chaplain to the Queen, who visits the church for Sunday services when staying at the castle with members of her family including Prince Philip. They were previously in the area last summer during lockdown, but had not returned due to recent restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic. Rev Mackenzie, minister of the parish since 2005, told how highly regarded Philip's work and interest in the community was. He said: 'I think up here there are lots of people who have had the opportunity over the years to see the duke around and he's so much part of this place. 'Everybody has favourite memories of the duke, he was just a very interesting man and took a real interest in this area. 'He knew a lot of people and a lot of families who have multi-generational interest in this area so some folk he knew not just their parents but grandparents. 'Everyone will remember him with respect but also a degree of affection, he was really highly thought of around here.' The reverend admitted the Covid-19 pandemic had caused 'difficult times for everybody' including the royal family. However, he added: 'Until very recently the duke was going out and about when he would come up. 'Through the late summer and the autumn he would be getting around the estate and take an interest on what was going on. 'He's known to be someone who was sharp-witted and very funny but he was a thinking man and had a lot of ideas about how best to look after this part of the world, it's a beautiful area. 'He was part of that family for all those years and it was such a dutiful role that he played that he was as involved in this community in some ways as almost anybody else and that family's been involved for many generations in this place. 'A lot of what goes on around here is testimony to some of his thinking.' Advertisement

Many brought bunches of daffodils, tulips, lilies and roses to pay tribute to Prince Philip.

Some left cards with poignant messages and poems.

Others simply wanted to reflect on the royal's life and achievements, their heads bowed in thought.

Mourners were seen in tears outside both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, where bouquets began piling up from early afternoon.

There were similar scenes at Balmoral and Sandringham in Norfolk.

A royal official stationed outside Windsor Castle said the floral tributes which had already been left would be moved inside the grounds where the Royal Family could look at them.

In view of current pandemic restrictions on large gatherings, officials are desperate to prevent crowds from forming on the scale of those seen when Princess Diana died in 1997.

Then, tens of thousands of bouquets were left at both Buckingham Palace and her former home, Kensington Palace.

An emotional Sheila Reddicliffe, 78, from Windsor, laid flowers at the castle gates, saying: 'I'm so upset. It's very sad he didn't reach 100. He had such a wonderful life. He's been an absolute rock for this country.'

Some children left handmade cards with drawings and messages.

One, from seven-year-old Haarys, read: 'Dear Queen Elizabeth I'm sorry about your husband.'

Tayla Lawrence, Aroosa Hussain and Alayna Ismail, all 20, went on a three-day hike as part of the Duke of Edinburgh's bronze award they completed while at Windsor Girls' School together.

Miss Lawrence said the scheme was 'inspiring' and helped her gain 'map and directions skills' she otherwise wouldn't have learnt.

The University of Surrey student said the duke's legacy

'will live on through the award and all the students that do it'.

British Airways employee Jan McMackin, 57, said: 'We came here when we heard the sad news. We felt that they are quintessentially what Britain is all about, it is about duty and honour, we really wanted to come and pay our respects to both the Queen and Prince Philip.'

Outside Buckingham Palace, crowds gazed on the floral tributes lined up against the low wall.

Maximilien Roesner, 24, who laid a bouquet of red roses by the front gates, said: 'I'm absolutely saddened. He lived a life dedicated to service to the United Kingdom, and I think he is one of the strongest men and a truly inspirational person.'

At Sandringham, well-wishers left flowers at the foot of the wrought-iron Norwich Gates.

Youngster Skyla Bates, who was accompanied by her grandmother Marlene Overson, 48, from nearby West Lynn, said: 'I wanted to put flowers down for the Queen because she might be crying.'

Julie Hallifax, of Clenchwarton, Norfolk, who took her four children aged four to 11, to lay flowers, said of the duke: 'He was just a lovely guy. I just remember him as a good old character who made everyone laugh.'

Flowers too were left outside the gates of Balmoral Castle.

One bunch was wrapped in brown paper with the words: 'May you rest in peace Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh. Thank you for your legacy.'

The sporting world also paid tribute with a two-minute silence at Aintree racecourse. Premier League footballers will wear black armbands this weekend.

Outside of Windsor Castle is pictured as crowds start to gather outside following the announcement that HRH Prince Philip has died

People gather outside the gates of Buckingham Palace in London after the announcement regarding the death of Prince Philip

People stand in line to leave flowers and view an announcement regarding the death of Prince Philip in front of the gate of Buckingham Palace

People paused for a moment of reflection outside the royal household in London today

Queen 'was at Philip's bedside when he died': Prince Charles leaves Windsor Castle hours after his father's death The Queen is thought to have been at the bedside of her 'beloved husband' of 73 years Prince Philip when he passed away 'peacefully' at Windsor Castle yesterday. The Duke of Edinburgh, the nation's longest-serving consort, died in his private apartment just two months and a day before what would have been his 100th birthday. Though palace officials declined to 'go into any specifics' about the nature of his passing, it is understood his frail condition worsened overnight on Thursday and that insiders had warned he was 'gravely ill'. However, any talk of whisking the elderly duke to hospital was reportedly quickly dismissed by the Queen. Philip, who recently spent a month being treated for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition, is thought to have died suddenly and unexpectedly, but peacefully in the company of his dear 'Lilibet'. The Telegraph reported the duke had wanted to pass away 'in his own bed' and 'on his own terms'. One well-placed source told the paper: 'He spent most of the four weeks he was in hospital trying to get home. 'They operated on his heart in a bid to give him a little longer, maybe with the 100th birthday in mind. But he didn't really care about that.' They added: 'There is no way he would have wanted to die in hospital.' Advertisement

A woman called Charlotte captured the mood when she posted on Twitter: 'What a life you led. I don't think the Queen could have done it without you. You were the brightest jewel in her crown.'

Corra Linn wrote: 'To give you an idea of my emotional state right now, I spent the morning crying to Fearless and it looks like I'll be spending my afternoon crying about Prince Philip.'

A woman called Elizabeth posted: 'Am not embarrassed to say I'm crying, and have poured a glass of Fizz to toast his amazing life of service Rest in Peace, Prince Philip.'

Andy Oddy put: 'Politics aside you have to feel for the Queen as a human being. I recall when my own grandfather died aged 94 - it devastated my Gran after 72 years together.'

A man called Henry added: 'Love is forever Red heart. No matter what your views are on the #RoyalFamily at this time Queen Elizabeth has just lost her soul mate of 73 years.

'I can't begin to imagine how devastated she must be feeling inside right now. Broken heart. Rest in eternal peace #PrincePhilip.'

A former butler to Princes Charles tweeted: 'I am saddened to learn of the death of HRH Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh. A gentleman who I was proud to have served during my time in the Royal Household. I send my condolences to the Royal Family.'

Royal biographer Ingrid Stewart posted: 'A very sad day indeed. Sending condolences to Her Majesty The Queen on the passing of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He has been a constant strength and guide during her reign.'

Kate Jamieson put: 'So, very sad to hear that Prince Philip has died. A man dedicated to Queen and Country in more ways than one. Fair winds and following seas.'

Emma Webb wrote: 'No words can describe how sad I am to hear of Prince Philip's death. The absolute model of duty, kindness and good humour. The longest serving consort in British history.

'When I met him as a nervous child, he made me laugh and I've adored him ever since. A truly Great Man.'

Rebekha Fox said: 'So desperately sad to hear that Prince Philip has died. Surprised to find myself in tears.' Matt Dukes wrote: 'Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh.' He added: 'Our thoughts & prayers are with the Queen & the Royal Family at this very sad time.'

Royal household staff placed then removed a framed plaque announcing the Duke of Edinburgh's death on the front gates to Buckingham Palace at midday.

Crowds queued to read the sign, as four police officers on horses stopped people from gathering.

The Duke and the Queen were married for more than 70 years and Philip dedicated decades of his life to royal duty, serving the nation at the monarch's side.

A woman lays flowers in front of the gate of Buckingham Palace in London after an announcement regarding the death of Prince Philip

A man uses his mobile phone to photograph a tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, which will be shown for 24 hours at the Piccadilly Lights in central London

The scene outside Windsor Castle in Berkshire as the announcement of the death of The Duke of Edinburgh becomes public

Windsor Castle draw huge crowds today as they started to gather outside following the announcement that Prince Philip had died

A woman carries a dog as a man carries some flowers towards Windsor Castle in Berkshire today as they pay tribute to the Prince

Emotional tributes to Prince Philip are written on flowers outside Buckingham Palace (left and right)

A Windsor family left a heartbreaking message on a card to the castle today as they left flowers outside the iconic landmark

Left: A man lays a floral tribute with a horse balloon outside of Windsor Castle today. Right: A woman takes flowers to the castle in Berkshire

Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool. Jockeys, owners and trainers stand during a minutes silence after Buckingham Palace announced Prince Philip died

People queue to take pictures and look at a sign hanging on Buckingham Palace after the news Prince Philip had died

LEADERS PAY TRIBUTE TO 'MUCH-LOVED' PHILIP Tributes have been paid by political and religious leaders to the 'much-loved' Duke of Edinburgh after his death at the age of 99. Speaking on a podium outside Downing Street on Friday, Boris Johnson said Philip would be remembered for his 'steadfast support' of the Queen, as well as his awards scheme which 'inspired' countless young people. The PM said: 'He was an environmentalist, and a champion of the natural world long before it was fashionable. 'With his Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme he shaped and inspired the lives of countless young people and at literally tens of thousands of events he fostered their hopes and encouraged their ambitions.' Australian prime minister Scott Morrison said the duke 'embodied a generation that we will never see again'. 'Australians send our love and deepest condolences to her Majesty and all the Royal family. The Commonwealth family joins together in sorrow and thanksgiving for the loss and life of Prince Philip. God bless from all here in Australia,' he tweeted. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said Philip was an 'outstanding example of Christian service'. In a statement, he said: 'On the occasions when I met him, I was always struck by his obvious joy at life, his enquiring mind and his ability to communicate to people from every background and walk of life. 'He was a master at putting people at their ease and making them feel special. The legacy he leaves is enormous.' Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the UK has 'lost an extraordinary public servant in Prince Philip'. He said: 'He will be remembered most of all for his extraordinary commitment and devotion to the Queen.' The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, highlighted the Duke of Edinburgh's Award as 'an enormous part of Prince Philip's legacy'. First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon said she was 'saddened' by the news and sent her 'personal and deepest condolences, and those of the Scottish government and people of Scotland, to Her Majesty the Queen and her family'. Irish premier Micheal Martin tweeted: 'Saddened to hear of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with Queen Elizabeth and the people of the United Kingdom at this time.' Advertisement

He officially retired from public engagements in the summer of 2017.

The Palace said in a statement: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.

'Further announcements will made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.'

The death of the duke comes in the midst of the worst public health crisis for generations as the UK and countries around the globe reel from the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

It has also taken place in the aftermath of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's bombshell Oprah interview which left the monarchy in crisis after Meghan accused an unnamed royal of racism and the institution of failing to help her when she was suicidal.

Philip had returned to Windsor Castle on March 16 to be reunited with the Queen after spending a month in hospital - his longest ever stay.

He initially received care for an infection but then underwent heart surgery for a pre-existing condition.

Sam Flemming wrote: 'Sad news today. Prince Philip served this country in WW2 and continued to serve with various charities and initiatives in peacetime.'

Dr Renier Palland put: 'I am so shocked. Prince Philip passed away aged 99. Jeez. He lived an insane life. Philip was a world milestone no matter who or what he was/did. My heart is broken.'

Romana Tabak said: 'I am truly sorry to hear this sad news. May God give him eternal rest.' Tamma Simpson added: 'My heartfelt prayers to Queen Elizabeth for the death of her husband Prince Philip.'

One man posted: 'Long live his royal highness. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, husband of the Queen. Rest in Peace.'

Another posted: 'I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Prince Philip this morning.

'My thoughts are with the whole Royal Family.'

A woman added: 'Rest well Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Philip, you will be forever remembered in the nation's hearts.'

The duke had looked gaunt as he was driven away from King Edward VII's Hospital in central London, having been pushed in a wheelchair to the waiting car.

Philip - father to the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex - was just two months away from his 100th birthday in June.

He spent much of the Covid-19 crisis staying with the Queen at Windsor in HMS Bubble - the nickname given to the couple's reduced household of devoted staff during lockdown.

Children add to the floral tributes outside the Henry VIII Gate of Windsor Castle, in Windsor, west of London

Two young girls prepare to leave flowers in front of the gate at Buckingham Palace in London, after the announcement

Members of the public lay floral tributes outside Buckingham Palace on Friday afternoon as they wish their best to the Queen

A message on a bouquet of flowers is seen outside Buckingham Palace, after it was announced that Prince Philip had passed away

Children lay floral tributes outside Buckingham Palace in central London

England captain Joe Root wearing a black arm band as the players take part in a two minute silence in remembrance of His Royal Highness Prince Philip

A member of the public leaves flowers outside Buckingham Palace

Parents took their children to the palace to leave flowers in tribute to the Duke

The mood was sombre outside Buckingham Palace this afternoon, as floral tributes were left at the gates

Scores of roses were left outside the palace gates in London by well-wishers

Flowers were left at the entrance to Windsor Castle in the aftermath of the news

The gathering outside Buckingham Palace was a socially-distanced affair today

Will Harry and Meghan come back to the UK after Prince Philip's death? Couple's bombshell Oprah interview aired while he was in hospital Prince Harry is preparing to return to the UK for the first time since leaving Royal duties after the death of Prince Philip - but questions remain over whether Meghan will join him. Harry's grandfather's death comes weeks after they gave an interview to Oprah alleging racism in the Royal Family which aired while Philip was in hospital. The Sussexes, who faced calls to postpone the interview because Philip was unwell, accused an unnamed royal, not the Queen nor the duke, of raising concerns about how dark their son Archie's skin tone would be before he was born. Since then, they have launched a charity, accepted lucrative business deals with Netflix and Spotify, given public talks, appeared on Zoom conferences, and on March 7, they criticised the Royal Family in a sit-down interview with Oprah that was viewed around the world. Meghan is now pregnant with their second child and due to give birth sometime in the summer but she has not disclosed exactly when. The couple has not commented on any plan to return to the UK. A source close to the family told DailyMail.com today: 'Harry will absolutely do his utmost to get back to the UK and be with his family. 'He will want nothing more than to be there for his family, and particularly his grandmother, during this awful time. 'Meghan is obviously pregnant so she will need to take advice from her doctors about whether it is safe for her to travel, but I think Harry will definitely go.' Advertisement

Philip briefly stepped out of retirement in July 2020 when he carried out a rare official public engagement at Windsor.

The duke looked in fine form as he made his way down the steps to the Castle's quadrangle for a socially distanced ceremony to hand over his Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles role to the Duchess of Cornwall, who was almost 100 miles away at Highgrove.

He showed he had lost none of his mischievous sense of humour when he joked with one of the soldiers about their fitness levels.

Social media tributes continued to pour in throughout Friday. Eddie Webbe posted: 'RIP. Prince Philip! I'm devastated that he didn't reach 100 years old. He was an incredible man with full of life.

'My condolences go to The Queen, The Royal Family and The British Public who loved him. Prince Philip's legacy lives on. Thank you Prince Philip!'

Jen Son put: 'My condolences to all of his legitimate & illegitimate children, Grandchildren & of course to HRH Queen Elizabeth, who must be absolutely devastated, after a lifetime together. No matter how expected this may have been, still sad to lose a loved one.'

A woman called Freya wrote: 'Omg i'm absolutely devastated about prince philip, i think i need a week off of work to mourn.'

Another said: 'Prince Philip has died-I don't care about the monarchy, etc, as such-I'm just thinking of Elizabeth losing her husband of >70 years. I know I'd be devastated to lose hubs.

'Death is something that comes to all of us-but I don't know what I'd do if he went before me!'

One man tweeted: 'My heart goes out to Queen Elizabeth, I remember when my grandpa died, my grandma was devastated, and they'd been together 49 years. Elizabeth and Prince Philip were married 74 years.'

Amy Lowe put: 'Very sad to hear Prince Philip has died at 99. RIP x also the queen must be devastated I hope she will be okay.'

Kirsten posted: 'With the heaviest heart and genuine tears this is the saddest news. Thinking of my beloved Queen and her family at this time. Wonderful husband - may you rest in peace Prince Philip.'

Daisy Churchill added: 'The Queen has always been a remarkable example, alongside her always Prince Philip, Her Rock. Always been Proud to say 'This is My Country', through tears now I repeat them.'

The Queen and Philip spent a quiet Christmas in 2020 at Windsor alone, except for their staff, and Buckingham Palace announced on January 9 2021, during England's third national lockdown, that they had both received their Covid-19 vaccinations. Pictured: Buckingham Palace today

A man prepares to leave flowers in front of the gate of Buckingham Palace in London on Friday afternoon

Windsor Castle as crowds start to gather outside following the announcement that HRH Prince Philip has died today

BBC newsreader is left close to tears over Prince Philip's death A newsreader was left close to tears announcing the death of Prince Philip this afternoon as the BBC, along with rivals ITV and Sky, interrupted their broadcast schedules to break the news. The National Anthem accompanied the announcement from Buckingham Palace, while journalists across TV networks switched to black outfits as a mark of respect. At 12.09pm on BBC One, an episode of Paramedics on Scene was abruptly paused as the screen faded to black, before being replaced by silence and a screen reading 'News Report'. Presenter Martine Croxall then told viewers: 'We are interrupting our normal programmes to bring you an important announcement.' The newsreader appeared to choke up with emotion as she began reading the official statement from the Palace and the scores of tributes that flooded in subsequently. Eagle-eyed viewers noticed Ms Croxall donned a black cardigan for the announcement, which she had not been wearing on the BBC's rolling news channel just minutes earlier when she first broke the news. She also removed a piece of jewellery she was previously wearing around her neck for the BBC One statement. The corporation's Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell was also wearing a black suit and tie as he appeared in the studio, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson also in the same colour as he made a statement outside Downing Street. The special programme was broadcast across both BBC One and BBC Two, while ITV cut short This Morning and cancelled an episode of Loose Women at 12.30pm. Channel Four and Channel 5 also halted their planned run of lunchtime programmes to announce the news. Advertisement

In April 2020, the duke released his first major statement since his retirement, praising key workers including refuse and postal staff, for keeping essential services running during the pandemic.

He was also pictured with the monarch at the Berkshire castle to mark his 99th birthday on June 10, at the secret lockdown wedding of his granddaughter Princess Beatrice on July 17 and with the Queen to mark their 73rd wedding anniversary in November.

On December 18, Philip released a rare public message praising teachers and school staff for their efforts teaching the nation's children during the pandemic.

The Queen and Philip spent a quiet Christmas in 2020 at Windsor alone, except for their staff, and Buckingham Palace announced on January 9 2021, during England's third national lockdown, that they had both received their Covid-19 vaccinations.

But the duke was hospitalised for a month from the middle of February, eventually having heart surgery. The royal family has experienced troubled times in recent years.

They had to deal with Megxit, when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit as senior royals in order to earn their own money in the US, following frustrations with their role within the monarchy and Harry's rift with his brother, the Duke of Cambridge.

Then on March 7, 2021, Harry and Meghan's explosive two-hour televised Oprah Winfrey interview was aired.

Meghan accused a member of the royal family, not the Queen nor the duke, of raising concerns about how dark their son Archie's skin tone would be before he was born.

Meghan also told of how she begged for help when she was suicidal, but said the institution gave her no support.

The Queen said the issues were concerning, but that 'some recollections may vary' and the matter was a family one that would be dealt with privately, but the royal family was left reeling at the claims.

In November 2019, the Queen and Philip's second son the Duke of York stepped down from public duties, following his disastrous Newsnight interview about his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Philip survived a car crash when he was 97 near the Sandringham estate early in 2019, emerging unscathed when his vehicle flipped over after colliding with another carrying two women and a baby.

He was initially trapped and had to to be helped out of the sunroof by a passing motorist. Shortly after, he was pictured driving on the estate without a seat belt.

He voluntarily surrendered his driving licence and the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed he would face no further action.

A family look at flowers outside the Cambridge gate of Windsor Castle in Windsor after the announcement

Flags fly at half-mast outside The Scottish Parliament, Holyrood in Edinburgh, to mark the passing of Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh

Mourners were seen laying flowers at Buckingham Palace after the announcement that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, passed away age 99

Operation Forth Bridge begins: Queen enters 'eight days of mourning' The Queen has entered an eight-day period of mourning following the death of Prince Philip today aged 99 - as arrangements for his funeral, codenamed Operation Forth Bridge, have begun. The Duke of Edinburgh drew up the plans himself and in character with his no-nonsense attitude will eschew usual state formalities. Philip will lie at rest in Windsor Castle for a period of days ahead of his funeral at St George's Chapel, which is expected to be socially distanced. Royal fans have been told not to attend any part of the events that make up the funeral die to Covid restrictions, or lay flowers. The Duke of Edinburgh is expected to then be buried in Frogmore Gardens, in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The Queen will not carry out any duties even in private under Covid restrictions, laws will not be given the Royal Assent and affairs of state will also be paused. Following these eight days, a further period of official Royal Mourning is expected to continue for 30 days. Scores of people will be involved in the days ahead, from military guards and the clergy, to staff at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, who will be making sure the household continues to run smoothly during this traumatic time for the Queen. Advertisement

TV presenter Matt Barbet wrote on Twitter: 'I'm sad to hear of the death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. I met him once at Buckingham Palace and having been introduced to him already I later found myself standing next to him.

'Not knowing protocol I put my hand out. 'I'm not shaking your bloody hand again!' was his response.'

Another social media user wrote: 'RIP Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. What a life you've led. I don't think the Queen could've done it without you. You were the brightest jewel in her crown.'

Radio presenter Rachel Chew tweeted: 'Is it just me crying reading the Prince Philip tributes?'

Natasha Brown, from Leeds, added: 'I'm crying my eyes out, it feels like its your own granddad that has passed. RIP Your Royal Highness Prince Philip. My heart breaks for Her Majesty.'

The duke was the oldest serving partner of a reigning monarch. He and the Queen celebrated a poignant personal milestone in November 2017 - their platinum wedding anniversary.

They marked the rare occasion - a first for a British monarch - surrounded by family and friends at a special black tie dinner in Windsor Castle.

In 1997, in a speech to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary, the Queen touchingly paid tribute to her husband, summing up his far-reaching influence.

'He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments,' she said. But he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.'

The duke had a profound effect on the development of the British monarchy and was a moderniser of The Firm.

He founded The Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme in 1956 and before his retirement was patron or president of 785 organisations and charities.

No10 asks mourners not to gather or lay flowers for Prince Philip outside royal residences due to Covid risk Downing Street has today asked mourners not to gather or lay flowers for Prince Philip outside royal residences due to the risk of Covid. It comes as hundreds of tributes pile-up at palace gates, including Buckingham, Windsor and Balmoral, following the Duke of Edinburgh's death this morning, at the age of 99. However Number 10 has insisted people avoid gathering outside royal palaces today, instead urging mourners to stick to Covid guidelines and 'avoid meeting in large groups.' A Cabinet Office spokesperson told MailOnline, said: 'The sad death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh has been announced by Buckingham Palace. 'Although this is an extraordinarily difficult time for many, we are asking the public not to gather at Royal Residences, and continue to follow public health advice particularly on avoiding meeting in large groups and on minimising travel. We are supporting the Royal Household in asking that floral tributes should not be laid at Royal Residences at this time.' Advertisement

He could sometimes appear rude and insensitive and he became famous for his 'gaffes' but others found him witty and fun and he was accomplished at breaking the ice on royal visits.

Bouquets of flowers were also spotted outside the gates of Kensington Palace in west London today. One card next to a bunch of lilies and daisies tied to the gate read: 'To the Queen, your children, your grandchildren and your great grandchildren. God bless. Thinking of you all. RIP Prince Philip.'

Penny Wilson, a 63-year-old retired teacher from Hammersmith, said: 'It's very sad, particularly for the Queen. 'It's a great loss that the entire nation will feel.

'A lot of people have lost loved ones this year, and this one will hurt those closest to Prince Philip now he's gone. I feel very sad for the whole family. I can't imagine what the Queen is going through. They are an iconic couple and they have worked for the nation for the majority of their entire lives.'

Maria and Ivan Zvirarovich, 23 and 28, were with their children Olga, six, and Fedor, two, a Romanian family who live in west London, who said they had decided to pass by Kensington Palace today to pay their respects.

Maria said: 'It's of course very sad. Anyone who's lost someone knows how hard it can be. He was very old, he was 99 and had health problems, and he lived a very full life. We have a saying in Romania, and this is for the Queen: may God grant her peace and health.'

Kathleen King, 84, a retired teacher from Kensington, said: 'I think his death is a great loss and I am very sorry for his family.

'I have no bad feelings towards him. He lived a full and active life but at 99 it was probably his time to go. You don't want to stay beyond your time.

'I feel sorry for all the people who knew him. We've been very lucky this year that we have not lost anyone close to us, considering the circumstances, so I am sorry to those who have not been quite so lucky.'

A police officer speaks to members of the public holding floral tributes outside of Windsor Castle on Friday afternoon

Mounted police are seen as media and members of the public arrive in front of Buckingham Palace in central London today

The electronic billboard at Piccadilly Circus displays a tribute to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in central London

Maria and Ivan Zvirarovich, 23 and 28, were with their children Olga, six, and Fedor, two, a Romanian family who live in west London

Alan Whiting, 71, is sad for the Queen and thought the Duke wasn't afraid to say his opinion. HE is worried how Prince Harry will be dealing with the news. Helen Ordish, 52, wasn't too suprised by the news, she was sad he didn't make it to 100. She thought he was loyal to the Queen

Shada Kosir, 53, said she was surprised and saddened by the news. She thought the Duke was a character and came out with some great one liners

Parliament will be recalled from its Easter recess to allow MPs and peers to pay tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh as Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle says he 'served his country with distinction' Parliament will be recalled from its Easter recess to allow MPs and peers to pay tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh. Downing Street and parliamentary officials confirmed the move to reconvene the House of Commons on Monday, a day earlier than had been scheduled. The House of Commons is expected to meet from 2.30pm on Monday. The House of Lords was already scheduled to return from recess on Monday at 1pm, but officials said they were finalising arrangements and any adjustments to business. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: 'This is obviously a very sad day for Her Majesty, the royal family and the whole country. 'The Duke of Edinburgh has given his unwavering support to the Queen, both as a husband and as a consort. Described by Her Majesty as 'my constant strength', he served this country too, first with distinction during the Second World War and selflessly throughout eight decades during peacetime. 'Prince Philip has performed wide-ranging official roles, carrying out thousands of engagements and overseas visits on behalf of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. He will be remembered for his loyal devotion to service and his leadership of hundreds of ideals and causes close to his heart. 'Most notably, of course, is the Duke of Edinburgh's Award which helps millions of young people around the world to achieve their full potential as team members and future leaders in their chosen fields. His was a long life that saw so much dedication to duty. 'Today we must pause to honour him and to offer our sincerest thanks for the prince's devout faithfulness to our country  and all the nations shall miss him greatly.' Advertisement

Philip was the youngest child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece, an officer in the Greek army, and Princess Alice of Battenberg.

Although he was a Prince of Greece, he had no Greek blood and his complex background was in fact Danish, German, Russian and British. He was born on the Greek island of Corfu on June 10 1921.

In the early 1920s, Greece was politically unstable and Philip's family fled in exile. King George V ordered that a Royal Navy ship should evacuate them, and 18-month-old Philip was carried to safety in a cot made from an orange box in December 1922.

The family settled in Paris but Philip later went to stay with relatives in Britain, where he attended boarding school.

Although they had met previously, the 18-year-old Philip, and 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth - both great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria - had their first publicised meeting in July 1939 at Dartmouth Naval College.

The tall, blond, good-looking and athletic prince impressed Lilibet by jumping over the college tennis nets.

Philip was a dashing naval officer in the Second World War and saw active service against German, Italian and Japanese forces.

He married Princess Elizabeth in a fairytale wedding in the austere world of post-war Britain in November 1947.

Their idyllic life as a Royal Navy husband and wife was shattered when King George VI's health began to fail.

He died in 1952 and the Queen acceded to the throne.

The royal couple had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward.

When the duke celebrated his 90th birthday in June 2011 he insisted on no fuss, but the Queen bestowed on him a new title - Lord High Admiral, titular head of the Royal Navy.

He was at the Queen's side when she became the nation's longest-reigning monarch in 2015, and when she marked her own 90th birthday in 2016.

In May 2017, it was announced that the duke was preparing to retire from public duties and tributes were paid to his decades of service.

On the day he retired, August 2 2017 at the age of 96, he rounded off his lengthy royal service with a trademark quip during his final official public engagement.

Chatting to Royal Marines who had just completed a gruelling trek, he told them, on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace: 'You all should be locked up.'

He underwent a hip replacement operation in April 2018, but was well enough to walk unaided when he attended Harry and Meghan's wedding in Windsor just over a month later.

Standing across the road from Windsor Castle a charity worker said: 'I came today because I live locally, but also because I've met Prince Philip before'

The Norwich Gates at Sandringham is very sombre on the day it is announced that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, has passed away

A child lays flowers outside of Windsor Castle in Berkshire on Friday afternoon and the youngster paid tribute to the late Prince

Taxis queue on The Mall towards Buckingham Palace following the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip on Friday morning

Jeremy Corbyn is hit with furious backlash for posting tweet about event celebrating election in Bolivia just 40 minutes after Queen announced death of Prince Philip Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has posted a tribute to Prince Philip hours after he was slammed for the 'dreadful' timing of a Tweet and for staying silent on the news of the royal's passing. The politician responded to the news by talking about the 'heartbreak' of losing a loved one. He wrote: 'Losing a loved one, as so many families have this past year, is always heartbreaking. My thoughts are with Prince Philip's family and all who loved him.' It comes only hours after in a now-deleted Tweet, the MP posted a link to an event inviting people to 'support the Bolivian people' less than 40 minutes after the news of his death was announced. Celebrities and public figures have all paid tribute to the Prince, described as the Queen's 'strength and guide' throughout their 73-year marriage and her 69-year reign. But around half an hour after the news of his death broke, instead of commenting on the Prince's passing, Mr Corbyn chose to share his support for the Bolivian people. He posted on his official Twitter page: 'The people of Bolivia have chosen a path of social change, which puts people and planet before private private. Join me, @BoliviaFriends and Bolivian speakers on April 19th to show our solidarity.' The post lead viewers to a link to an event to mark six months since the Left's election win in the country. But his post was met with a furious backlash online as people slammed him for his poor timing of the Tweet and criticised his silence over the death of the Prince. One person said: 'A man died who did some much for this nation and Jeremy would rather tweet about Bolivia..... speaks volumes.' Another slammed his 'great timing', while others told him to 'read the room Jeremy' and 'Put the news on mate'. 'Bro said no to Philip and yes to Bolivia,' one person on the social media platform said. Some people defended Mr Corbyn, MP for Islington North, and said it was likely a timed Tweet that was organised prior to its posting and the death of Prince Philip. 'Whoever managing your socials needs to pull further scheduled tweets boss,' one person joked. Advertisement

Standing across the road from Windsor Castle was charity worker James Elliott who said: 'I came today because I live locally, but also because I've met Prince Philip before.

'I was part of the 12th Windsor Scout group and he came to visit our hall. It was the personal touch which was quite nice. I was about 15 but this news has hit me quite hard.

'It's a sad day for the whole nation but for me because I grew up doing his Duke of Edinburgh programme. My parents are at work but they will come down this evening to see the flowers and pay their respects,' the 23-year-old added.

Rebecca Gittins, whose two children had just laid flowers at the Castle gates, said: 'It is really sad, more so at the moment with what they are all going through.'

The 42-year-old said she believed Prince Philip's role in supporting the Queen had helped to preserve the monarchy in the UK, something that 'makes us different and sets us apart. It also brings in a lot of money from tourism for this country'.

Jason, a soldier in the Household Cavalry who was reluctant to give his surname, said: 'The Duke took his attitude for service from World War II into the rest of his life. He was a role-model for a lot of military people.'

He added: 'He had a fantastic job and was successful in his own right. He made an immense sacrifice for the Queen, it was such a large sacrifice for him personally.'

Several of the people gathered at the castle said that they felt Prince Philip's death put into perspective the Queen's age.

Lucy Childs, 36 years, said: 'I just hope the Queen is okay. It really puts into perspective her age. He lived such a varied and eventful life with so many different facets. He always dressed smartly and worked hard.'

The Hart family praised the Duke for his outspoken views. One of them said: 'He was such a character. We loved that he was outspoken and a bit of a rebel.

'He stood by the Queen and made a real difference. It is really sad.'

Paul Chapman and his children, one of whom had recently embarked on the Duke of Edinburgh Award's scheme, were just passing-by when they heard the news. The 52-year-old father said: 'It is huge for the family.

'He has just always been there really. He was always discreet but he was right behind the Queen and doing his job. I am sure it must be really hard for the Queen.'

Mr Chapman, who works with children in care, added: 'What about Megan and Harry, will they be able to come back?'

Tammy King, who was with her family, at the castle said: 'It is tragic. He stuck by the Queen and he did his duty, he really brought some charm to the monarchy. He will be much missed.'

Aubrey, 90, a retired teacher who was walking in Kensington with her friend Jean, said: 'I don't personally feel sad. He's not one of my relatives.

Prince Philip's incredible bond with his grandchildren - supporting Harry and William after their mother's death and coming out of retirement for Eugenie and Beatrice's weddings Described by Prince William as a 'legend' and Princess Eugenie as 'incredible', the Duke of Edinburgh was a much-loved grandfather to his ten grandchildren. Looked up to as the patriarch of his family, Prince Philip - who has died aged 99 - became a mentor for younger royals who continued to turn to him over the years. Among the Duke's key involvements in Prince William's life was when he convinced him to walk in the funeral cortege at his mother Princess Diana's funeral in 1997. And it is no doubt a source of huge sadness to new mother Princess Eugenie that he is not thought to have been able to meet her newborn son August  his great-grandson  after describing her grandfather as the family's rock. The same will be true of Zara and Mike Tindall who on March 21 welcomed their baby son Lucas Philip Tindall - with Philip in honour of both Mr Tindall's father as well as Zara's grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh. He retired from public life in 2017 and has rarely been seen at major events since, but has made exceptions for his beloved granddaughters Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice. Advertisement

'He was old. He was 99. I feel sad for her. For her, it's a great sadness.

'It would have been nice for him to have reached 100. It would have only been June, I believe, for him to reach that milestone. I think Harry and Meghan should come back for the funeral. I presume they will, but if they don't.

'I had a brother-in-law that knew him [the Duke] because he was at a naval college with him. They used to come up to London and have great parties together.

'So he was invited to the wedding, but my sister was pregnant so she couldn't go. My mother went and she said it was absolutely wonderful. They had great seats just off the aisle to the left.

'He wrote on and off, Philip to my sister, because of the connection. He was a very kind man. I know he's known for jokes and off-colour comments, but he was a great man and a very kind man. Considering the childhood he had, he did very well in life.'

Peter Campbell, 72, an illustrator from Chiswick, west London, said: 'At the end of the day, an old man of 99 has died. Not being a royalist, I'm not anti-royal, it just doesn't affect a lot of people. It's inevitable.

'I think of him as okay. He had a lot of criticism for his semi-racial jokes at times, but as a person I thought he was fine.

'He was in the Navy, he had a military career. Not being a royalist, he was an old man and vulnerable to lots of issues. It could be any man.

'To be honest, I know a publisher and they had books ready six, seven, eight months ago. I'm sure obituaries were written 10 years ago.

'He was royal, he was a man of his time. It's no great shock. I'm sure a lot of publishers are pleased they can finally sell the books.'

Alex Maughan, a 35-year-old construction worker from Kingston, said: 'You've got to feel sorry for the Queen, don't you? She's a tough bird, but it's going to be hard for her.

'She's had a lot of problems this year with Harry and Meghan chatting to the press running down the family any chance they get. I watched The Crown with the missus and didn't realise how much he went through.

'Anyone who's gone through that is going to have a dark sense of humour. You've got to respect that he's a man who came from a certain time and lived in a certain way and that's just how it went.

'It doesn't effect me, personally, but I'm sure people close to him will be upset.'

'A very sad day for our country': Susanna Reid, Piers Morgan, Amanda Holden and Phillip Schofield lead stars paying a heartfelt tribute to Prince Philip after his death was announced at the age of 99

Stars including Phillip Schofield, Piers Morgan and Eamonn Holmes took to social media to share their sympathies to the Royal Family after the Duke Edinburgh's death was announced on Friday

Her Majesty announced death of her husband of 73 years at midday and joins 'the world in mourning'

Philip was in Windsor after being treated for an infection and pre-existing heart condition for 28 nights

After retiring, Philip spent much of his time at Windsor and at Queen's private Sandringham estate in Norfolk

Duke was the longest-serving consort in British history and the oldest serving partner of a reigning monarch

Piers Morgan has joined a slew of stars paying tribute to His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, after his death was announced on Friday at the age of 99.

After Buckingham Palace announced his passing on Friday, celebrities took to social media to reflect on Prince Philip's life and offer their sympathies to his wife, Queen Elizabeth II.

Leading the pack was Piers who described it as 'a very sad day for our country,' while Eamonn Holmes, who had been presenting This Morning when the news broke, simply wrote: 'HRH Prince Philip has died #RIP.'

Piers tweeted: 'RIP Prince Philip, 99. A truly great Briton who dedicated his life to selfless public duty & was an absolute rock of devoted support to Her Majesty, The Queen, as the longest-serving royal consort to any British sovereign. A very sad day for our country. Thank you, Sir.'

Moving: Piers Morgan has joined a slew of stars paying tribute to His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh , after his death was announced on Friday at the age of 99

Tragedy: After Buckingham Palace announced his passing on Friday, celebrities including Phillip Schofield took to social media to reflect on Prince Philip's life and offer their sympathies to his wife, Queen Elizabeth II

Tragic: Buckingham Palace announced the death of Prince Philip at just after midday on Friday - and described the Queen's 'deep sorrow'

Phillip Schofield shared an image of his own experience meeting Philip, writing on Instagram Stories: 'Farewell to a remarkable man, terrifying to attempt to interview but great fun to be with.'

The Apprentice star Karren Brady tweeted a snap of the Duke, writing: 'Very sad to hear that the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip has passed away. My thoughts are with HRH & the Royal Family.'

Countdown presenter Carol Vorderman reflected on her own experience meeting Prince Philip several years earlier, tweeting: 'I went for a private lunch with The Queen at Buckingham Palace quite a few years ago. They were both in their 80s and Prince Philip and she were flirting with each other madly and laughing. Theirs was a love and a marriage of more than 73 years. Deepest condolences Ma'am.'

Geri Horner, who had Philip's son Prince Charles in the past, also tweeted: 'Very sad news about Prince Philip. He was a character. Like a very naughty grandfather. RIP. God Bless The Queen!'

Sad: His death plunges the nation and the Royal Family into mourning, and brings to an end Philip's lifetime of service to Britain and to Elizabeth, the Queen who adored him since her teens

Upset: Eamonn Holmes, who had been in the midst of presenting This Morning when the news broke, tweeted the news

Upsetting: Stars including Carol Vorderman, Geri Horner and Dan Wootton also tweeted their own tributes to His Royal Highness following the news of his death

BBC Sport presenter Gabby Logan shared an image of Philip to her Instagram Stories, writing: 'Whatever you think of the instituaton you can still recognise a decent husband. The definition of backbone, support and selflessness. Rest in peace Prince Philip.'

80s singer Boy George tweeted: 'Very sad news about Prince Philip. He was a character. Like a very naughty grandfather. RIP. God Bless The Queen!'

Defiant: Gabby Logan shared her own post for Philip on Instagram Stories, saying he can always be recognised as a 'decent husband'

Alison Hammond wrote: 'RIP Prince Philip, our thoughts are with the Queen and family!!'

Myleene Klass shared a snap of her experience meeting Prince Philip while she was a member of the band Hearsay, writing: 'Just had to cross over to the newsroom to deliver the sad news of the passing of Prince Philip.'

On Instagram Georgia Toffolo wrote: 'I am so sad to hear that Prince Philip has died. Married to our Queen for more than 70 years, what a wonderfully special union they had. He kept up his public service well into his 90s, showing the world the true definition of duty. RIP.'

Her Majesty The Queen announced her husband's death at midday on Friday. Buckingham Palace said in a statement: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss'.

His death plunges the nation and the Royal Family into mourning, and brings to an end Philip's lifetime of service to Britain and to Elizabeth, the Queen who adored him since her teens.

Her Majesty is now expected to enter an eight-day period of mourning. She will not carry out any duties, even in private, while laws will not be given the Royal Assent and affairs of state will also be paused. A further period of official Royal Mourning is expected to continue for 30 days.

Officials at Buckingham Palace are now preparing for a royal ceremonial funeral at Windsor Castle in Berkshire in keeping with Philip's wishes, with a military procession also expected in London - Covid laws permitting.

The Queen is in 'deep sorrow' following her husband's death.

'He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years,' Her Majesty said at their Golden Wedding banquet in 1997. 'I and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.'

The quizzical, witty, faithful - and often controversial - the Duke was the Queen's greatest source of support, her confidant and the man she relied on above all others.

Until his death, Philip was the longest-serving consort in British history and the oldest partner of a reigning monarch, who despite his ill health took part her first royal engagement of 2021 last week.

He was a great-grandfather of ten, with the most recent addition to his wider family being Zara and Mike Tindall's baby son Lucas Philip Tindall on March 21 - soon after Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's son August, who was born on February 9.

Philip's lifelong role was to ensure that he never let The Queen down and their long-lasting marriage was one of the world's best known relationships.

Reflecting their love in her Diamond Jubilee speech to Parliament in 2012, the Elizabeth said: 'During these years as your Queen, the support of my family has, across the generations, been beyond measure. Prince Philip is, I believe, well-known for declining compliments of any kind. But throughout he has been a constant strength and guide.'

The couple married in November 1947 - she a 21-year-old sheltered princess, he a swaggering Royal Navy officer with Greek and Danish royal blood, who had only recently seen active service during World War Two.

From that moment, the day Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten became the Duke of Edinburgh, Philip - a private, enigmatic man of strong character - was always there, one step behind, ready to lend the Queen a helping hand.

Following his retirement from public life in August 2017, he kept a low public profile.

In recent months the couple have lived through the coronavirus pandemic together, at Sandringham in Norfolk, during a summer break at Balmoral Estate in Scotland and latterly in what was dubbed 'HMS Bubble' at Windsor Castle from October 2020.

The pair received their coronavirus inoculations together at Windsor in January, and the virus was quickly ruled out as the cause of his admission to London's King Edward VII hospital on February 16.

Buckingham Palace had initially said it was a precautionary measure because the Duke was feeling unwell, and his grandson Prince William said after a week of treatment that he was 'OK' but doctors were 'keeping an eye on him'.

The palace then revealed the Duke was being treated for an 'infection', with his youngest son Prince Edward adding that the Royal Family were 'keeping our fingers crossed'.

But concerns grew when, after two weeks at the private King Edward VII, Philip was transferred to St Bartholomew's NHS hospital in central London with the palace saying he would 'undertake testing and observation for a pre-existing heart condition'.

He then underwent a heart operation and was transferred back to King Edward VII's, before eventually leaving on March 16 and returning to Windsor Castle by car following 28 days in hospital.
The House Ethics Committee is opening an investigation into several allegations, including sexual misconduct, against Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz.

'The Committee is aware of public allegations that Representative Matt Gaetz may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct,' the committee wrote in a statement Friday.

'The Committee, pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a), has begun an investigation and will gather additional information regarding the allegations,' it continued.

The committee, chaired by Democratic Florida Congressman Ted Deutch, said that the existence of a probe does not mean any conclusions of potential violations have been drawn.

'No other public comment will be made on this matter except in accordance with Committee rules.'

Gaetz's office immediately responded with a statement denying the allegations, according to Forbes.

'Once again, the office will reiterate, these allegations are blatantly false and have not been validated by a single human being willing to put their name behind them.'

The House Ethics Committee announced Friday it opened an investigation into several allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz

The statement says it is looking into allegations he 'may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift'

At the same time, the committee announced it is also investigating sexual misconduct allegations against Rep. Tom Reed of New York.

In a joint statement from Chairman Deutch and the panel's Ranking Member Jackie Walorski , said they "will gather additional information regarding the allegations."

Reed said last month he wont seek reelection or pursue a gubernatorial campaign following the report detailing former lobbyist Nicolette Davis's allegations that he sexually harassed her in 2017.

Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick was tapped on Wednesday to replace Reed in his capacity as co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus with Democrat Josh Gottheimer.

The Ethics Committee also announced Friday a probe against Rep. Tom Reed, who was accused of sexual harassment

The announcement of the probe against Gaetz comes just as a new report indicates Gaetz discussed throwing in a third-party candidate to a Florida state Senate race in a bid to help his associate win the seat.

Federal investigators are also looking into the 2020 Florida state Senate race, the New York Times reported, in which Gaetz's associate Jason Brodeur, a Republican, ran for the open seat.

It is the latest in a string of allegations against the Trump loyalist who has been accused of having sex and trafficking a 17-year-old girl and showing naked photos of women to his Congressional colleagues.

Gaetz and Florida lobbyist Chris Dorworth talked about putting a third party or 'ghost' candidate into the contest to siphon votes from the Democratic opponent to help Brodeur.

The latest allegations surfaced as Gaetz retained two prominent New York attorneys as he faces the Justice Department investigation.

Marc Mukasey and Isabelle Kirshner will lead the Florida Republican's legal team, a Gaetz spokesperson said in a statement Friday.

'Matt has always been a fighter. A fighter for his constituents, a fighter for the country, and a fighter for the Constitution. Hes going to fight back against the unfounded allegations against him,' the statement said, adding that the lawyers 'will take the fight to those trying to smear his name with falsehoods.'

Gaetz discussed putting a third-party candidate into a Florida state Senate race to help an associate of his who was running for the seat in latest allegation. His associate Jason Brodeur ran for the open seat and Florida lobbyist Chris Dorworth allegedly talked with Gaetz about putting a third-party candidate on ballot to help Brodeur

Recruiting a third-party candidate, even to funnel votes from another contender, is generally legal, but secretly paying the 'ghost candidates' - who are usually paid to make a third-party bid, is usually a violation of campaign finance laws.

In that Florida state Senate race, a third party candidate did appear on the ballot: Jestine Iannotti.

She did little campaigning and raised few funds but fliers depicting her as a Democrat were sent to voters. One featured a stock photo of a Black woman and read: 'Jestine Iannotti will always be there for us.' Iannotti is white.

Brodeur, through a spokesperson, told The New York Times he knew nothing about the fliers and had nothing to do with them. Gaetz didn't comment.

Dorworth told the newspaper that he did not recall a conversation with Gaetz about running a third candidate and that 'there would be nothing illegal about it if we had,' so long as they did not pay that person to seek office.

'I never met the woman who did run,' Dorworth said. 'Never spoke to her, communicated by any written device, gave her any money or anything else.'

Brodeur ultimately defeated his Democratic opponent, Patricia Sigman, by 7,600 votes - a sound victory. Iannotti received about 6,000 votes in the contest.

The detail is the latest to emerge in the investigation of the Florida congressman, who is battling an series of allegations, including that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz has denied all the charges.

The latest comes as a second senior member of Gaetz's staff quit.

On Thursday Devin Murphy quit his job as Gaetz's legislative director, sources told The New York Times.

He told associates that he wanted to write bills, and that working with Gaetz was now similar to working for a tabloid news publication, the Times reports.

Murphy had worked for Gaetz since he came to Congress in 2017.

A source told the paper that Murphy's departure had not been contentious, and a statement from Gaetz's office said the two parties agreed 'it would be best to part ways.'

It came just days after the resignation of Gaetz's press secretary, Luke Ball.

Also on Thursday night Adam Kinzinger, a Republican congressman for Illinois, became the first member of the Republican Party to call for Gaetz to step down.

Kinzinger has frequently clashed with the pro-Trump wing of his party.

Gaetz was friends with Joel Greenberg who was the tax collector for Seminole County until his arrest in June on a litany of charges, including creating fake IDs and sex-trafficked a minor. He is now being sucked into the drama, and is reportedly being investigated for sex trafficking of a minor and prostitution

Gaetz is facing rapidly-escalating problems stemming from his friendship with fellow Floridian Joel Greenberg, 36.

Greenberg was the tax collector for Seminole County until his arrest in June on a litany of charges, including allegations that he stalked a political opponent, illegally used a state database to create fake IDs and sex-trafficked a minor.

Gaetz has now been sucked into the drama, and is reportedly being investigated for sex trafficking of a minor and prostitution.

It was alleged on Thursday that he paid Greenberg $900 in May 2018, and the following day Greenberg paid three women - none of whom were underage - $900 between them.

Gaetz, a stridently pro-Trump politician, insists he has never paid for sex, and never as an adult had sex with a 17-year-old.

Kinzinger on Thursday night tweeted a link to The Daily Beast story about the $900 payment, saying: 'Matt Gaetz needs to resign.'

Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger, pictured, has clashed with several pro-Trump figures

Matt Gaetz paid 'sex trafficker' Joel Greenberg $900 via Venmo who then forwarded money to three women: Auditors find $300,000 in suspicious or unjustified expenses between the 'arrogant' duo

Matt Gaetz made a late-night transaction to accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg in May 2018, with Greenberg then transferring the exact same sum to three women, it was reported on Thursday night.

The $900 transaction, made via the app Venmo, was reported by The Daily Beast.

Greenberg, early the next morning, transferred $900 in total to three different women - one of whom is now reportedly working as a porn actress. None of the three were under the age of consent - 18 in Florida - at the time.

Gaetz named one of the women in his reference for the transaction to his friend, using her nickname.

Greenberg's three transfers to the women were labeled as 'tuition' and 'school'.

Greenberg, currently in jail, is said to be cooperating with prosecutors - in what his lawyer said was bad news for Gaetz.

Auditors also flagged $300,000 in suspicious expenses claimed by Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector.

The pair were described by one auditor as being incredibly arrogant.

On Thursday a statement was issued by the 'women of the office of Congressman Matt Gaetz'

Joel Greenberg (right) is photographed hanging out with Rep. Matt Gaetz (center) and former President Donald Trump's longtime political adviser Roger Stone (left) in a post from Gaetz's Facebook account from 2017

Greenberg used his taxpayer-funded credit card for some of the Venmo transactions, The Daily Beast reported.

Greenberg has been federally indicted on 33 counts, including sex trafficking crimes involving a 17-year-old.

Court documents say Greenberg was 'engaged in 'sugar daddy' relationships.'

Gaetz has vehemently denied being involved in sex trafficking, and said he has never paid for sex.

He is yet to respond to questions as to why he paid Greenberg $900, and why that sum was transferred by Greenberg to women.

'That's incredibly powerful evidence,' said David Bear, an attorney who worked for the Orange County State Attorney's office before setting up a private practice.

'If you operate through an intermediary you are just as responsible - whether it's a financial crime or whatever.'

He told CNN's Chris Cuomo that there was no 'insulation' from the charges.

The Daily Beast was able to obtain Greenberg's credit card data through a public records request, which showed how he used his taxpayer-funded card for unexplained transactions.

'No one has any idea what he was doing. Zero,' said Daniel J. O'Keefe, an accountant who conducted a forensic audit for the county.

'The arrogance of these guys. They just felt they were above the law.

'I've never seen it this bad.'

O'Keefe was particularly puzzled by weekend expenses, hotels, unspecified high-dollar 'consulting' fees, and cash advances that Greenberg made to himself and others, he told the site.

Gaetz and Greenberg share two direct Venmo connections with women who received payments from Greenberg.

In 2018, Greenberg paid one of those women several thousand dollars using his Seminole County-issued Wells Fargo Visa card, according to county financial records obtained by The Daily Beast.

Auditors flagged the transactions, saying that, despite having a contract and invoice from the company, they 'do not know what it was for.'

The bombshell revelations came after Gaetz's office issued a statement in his defense from who they claim are women working in his office - although not one of the character witnesses has put her name to the testimony.

The 38-year-old Florida congressman, who is fighting off accusations of sex trafficking and prostitution, is pushing back with every means at his disposal.

On Thursday that included a press release signed by the 'women of the office of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz' - who said they felt 'morally obligated' to speak out.

'At no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect,' the release said.

'During Congressman Gaetz's time in office, we have been behind the scenes every step of the way. We have staffed his meetings. We have planned his events. We have traveled with him. And we have tracked his schedule.'

They described him as a 'principled and morally grounded leader,' added that none of them had 'experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect. No hint of impropriety. No ounce of untruthfulness.'

The letter continued: 'In our office and under Congressman Gaetz's leadership, women are not only respected, but have been encouraged time and time again to grow, achieve more, and ultimately, know our value.'

The nameless women concluded by saying that they 'uniformly reject these allegations as false' and that Gaetz has always treated every woman in his office with respect.

The 'women' spoke out, as it emerged Gaetz's associate is cooperating with prosecutors and will likely take a plea deal - which will put more legal pressure on the embattled Florida Republican.

'All of these stories we keep hearing are trouble for Matt Gaetz,' said Preet Bharara, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Bhrarara told Wolf Blitzer on CNN that Gaetz could potentially be facing questions about federal law infringements, sex trafficking and campaign finance violations.

CNN reported from court on Thursday that Joel Greenberg's lawyers and prosecutors told the judge that a plea deal was in the works and could be finalized within weeks.

With Greenberg cooperating with the Justice Department, prosecutors may be able to determine if Gaetz broke any sex trafficking or prostitution laws.

Greenberg's lawyer Fritz Scheller told reporters outside the hearing: 'I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today.'

Scheller was also asked if Greenberg introduced Gaetz to any underage girls for sexual relations.

'I apologize, I just can't answer that question,' Greenberg's attorney said.

CNN's Paula Reid captured Joel Greenberg's lawyer Fritz Scheller outside the courthouse Thursday

Greenberg is the former tax commissioner of Seminole County, Florida and has been charged with 33 counts ranging from sex trafficking of a minor to identity theft.

Gaetz, a third-term congressman from Florida, has not been charged with a crime, and he has vehemently denied the various accusations against him, among them that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

He called them a 'lie.'

But the unsettling series of allegations - including that he may have broken federal sex trafficking laws and been involved in a scheme to recruit and pay women for sex - has put the 38-year-old conservative's political future in doubt, just as he was being seen as an increasingly potent force in the Republican Party.

On Thursday it further emerged that Donald Trump, who counted Gaetz as among his most fervent supporters, had to be talked out of issuing a whole-hearted exoneration of his fellow Floridian.

'His first impulse was that he wanted to defend Gaetz, you know: 'He's one of our people,'' said Maggie Haberman, who covered Trump for The New York Times while he was in the White House.

'They have been very close, and it's been because Gaetz is a presence on television, he's from Florida, and he's willing to defend Trump vocally no matter what happens.'

Trump, pictured with Gaetz, had to be talked out of issuing a strongly-supportive statement

Some former White House officials reportedly described Gaetz as 'meanest person in politics'

Trump on Wednesday issued not a full endorsement, but rather a carefully-worded statement saying that Gaetz never sought a pardon from him, personally. The New York Times reported that Gaetz asked the White House for a pre-emptive pardon.

'Several of his advisors had told him that's a very bad idea, that the nature of what Gaetz is being investigated for is so serious that this is not something that former President Trump should be out there on a limb' for, Haberman told CNN.

She said that Trump had been 'staying away from this, and I think it will continue.'

Some within the former president's orbit even celebrated the controversy, with one former White House staffer telling Insider last month: 'He's the meanest person in politics.'

On Wednesday, CBS News reported that federal agents were investigating a trip the Florida congressman took to the Bahamas with a marijuana entrepreneur in late 2018 or early 2019.

Gaetz reportedly traveled with Dr. Jason Pirozzolo, a hand surgeon and co-founder of The American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association.

Pirozzolo paid for the travel and accommodation and also for female escorts, according to the report.

Investigators are probing whether the escorts were trafficked across state or international lines for the purpose of having sexual relations with the congressman.

'Traveling across state lines is what creates a federal hook for a prosecution,' Arlo Devlin-Brown, a former prosecutor and partner at Covington & Burling, told CBS.

'It doesn't matter that [Gaetz] personally paid them as long as he knows someone is doing that,' he added.

Investigators are also looking into whether Gaetz was trading political access for the sexual rendezvous.

The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, last week acknowledged the allegations were 'serious' and could lead to severe repercussions, but said he wanted to see more of the facts.

Joel Greenberg was captured leaving the federal courthouse in Orlando in June 2020 after making his first court appearance

'If it comes out to be true, yes, we would remove him,' McCarthy told Fox News.

Gaetz has pushed back forcefully against the allegations and sought to divert attention from the DOJ investigation by insisting he and his family have been victims of an extortion scheme.

He says two men, including former Air Force officer Robert Kent, approached Gaetz's father seeking $25 million to fund their bid to locate and free American Robert Levinson, who disappeared 14 years ago in Iran.

Kent acknowledged texting the congressman's father Don Gaetz, a former Florida Senate president, telling him he knew of an 'indictment' soon to be filed against his son, and that 'I have a plan that can make his future legal and political problems go away.'

Speaking to CNN, Kent said mentioning Gaetz's legal trouble was merely a 'teaser,' and he explained to the father 'that this was not an extortion attempt,' but a legitimate offer to help rescue Levinson while potentially showing Representative Gaetz in a positive light.

Levinson's family said in 2020 that US officials had told them that the ex-FBI agent had died while in Iranian custody.

Brash and combative, Gaetz has taken controversial steps in Congress, wearing a gas mask on the House floor last year during a vote on an early coronavirus response package.

In 2019 he delayed impeachment proceedings against Trump when he led dozens of Republican lawmakers who burst into closed-door witness depositions and refused to leave for several hours.

And in January Gaetz traveled to Wyoming to help stir up opposition to senior congresswoman Liz Cheney, one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump.

He had volunteered to leave Congress and defend the ex-president during Trump's second Senate impeachment trial, over the January 6 MAGA riot.

Salacious details of Gaetz's behavior have emerged.

According to CNN, Gaetz bragged about his sexual escapades to fellow lawmakers, showing them nude photographs of women he claimed to have slept with.

Gaetz has dug in, penning a column in Monday's Washington Examiner.

'The swamp is out to drown me with false charges, but I'm not giving up,' he wrote.

And earlier this week another ex-staffer came held a press conference in Florida, defending the congressman after speaking with the FBI.

But the DOJ investigation - which was launched while Trump was still in office and not by Gaetz's political opponents - could halt the ambitious Republican's rise.

It centers on Gaetz and Greenberg, who was indicted last year on a federal child sex trafficking charge.

According to the Times, people close to the investigation said they believe Greenberg met women through websites and introduced them to Gaetz, who had sex with them.

The DOJ is also investigating whether Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old.

Most Republicans meanwhile, except Kinzinger, have withheld comment on Gaetz's scandal.

He is scheduled to speak Friday at the Trump National Doral Miami, during the 'Save America Summit' sponsored by a pro-Trump women's group.
H-E-B CEO Charles Butt is getting lots of praise on social media for his letter to Gov. Greg Abbott regarding public school funding, including from Texas Representative Vicente Gonzalez.

The congressman, who represents District 15 in Texas (covering Seguin and McAllen area), tweeted on Thursday Butt's letter is "spot on." The letter, which was sent on Tuesday, urges Abbott to send all federal dollars intended for Texas schools as quickly as possible.
A NASA astronaut said the cooperation between Russia and the United States in space exploration will contribute more than the competition between two countries during the cold war era.

Mark Vande Hei spoke at a news conference at Baikonur cosmodrome together with Russian crew members of the ISS-65 expedition, ahead of the Soyuz launch on 9 April.

The main crew was represented by Commander Oleg Novitskiy (Roskosmos), flight Engineer Vande Hei (NASA) and flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov (Roskosmos).

The crew have been vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of the launch - Dubrov and Novitskiy with Russian jabs and Vande Hei with Morderna.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
New Delhi: Kannada Bigg Boss contestant and actress Chaitra Kotturu on Thursday attempted suicide by consuming phenyl at her residence here. Soon after the incident, Kotturu was rushed to a local hospital where her condition is stated to be stable.

Kotturu was married to Mandya-based businessman Nagarjuna a few days back, the police said.

The actress' marriage was soon called off after the businessman's family refused to accept their ties, while of late Nagarjuna himself has alleged that he was being "forced" by some groups to marry her even though he was not interested in the wedlock.

On March 28, a photograph of Kotturu marrying Nagarjuna at a temple had gone viral, among other pictures of the marriage. She was reportedly in a relationship with Nagarjuna for the past couple of years, the police said.

She tied the knot in a simple ceremony at the Byatarayanapura Ganapathi temple in the presence of her family members. However, the groom's family accused her of forcefully marrying Nagarjuna by issuing threats.

"The matter reached the police station in Kolar. We had called both the families to the station for their statements," the police added.

Soon after the marriage, when the actress went to Nagarjuna's ancestral house, she was reportedly not allowed inside while the latter's family had allegedly asked the couple not to enter the house, terming the marriage as "invalid", the police said quoting Kotturu's statement.

The police added that Kotturu had accused Nagarjuna of constantly delaying the wedding. Later they decided to tie the knot with the support of the former's family and community leaders.

"His family had bad-mouthed me, my job and even issued death threats to me if I did not let him go. So we requested to hold talks in Kolar instead of discussing the issue in public," the actress told the police.

Kotturu was a contestant in Bigg Boss Kannada Season 7. She was a scriptwriter for TV serials before entering the show hosted by Kiccha Sudeep. She had also acted in a supporting role in Haripriya's "Soojidaara".
A 31-year-old pedestrian died after being hit by a bus in Hanoi on Thursday morning.

Bus No. 14, driven by Pham Van Tuong, 48, from Phu Xuyen, Hanoi was traveling on the Mai Dich - NamThang Long section of Ring Road 3 at around 6:10 am on Thursday when the accident occurred, according to initial information.

As per a report from the scene, the driver suddenly lost control of the vehicle and jumped the curb onto the sidewalk while making a U-turn in front of the Ciputra urban area.

L.X.B., 31, from Thai Binh Province was struck by the bus and declared dead on the spot later on.

The passenger bus was on its side and had uprooted a tree during the accident.

Traffic officers blocked the scene for safety purposes, divided traffic stops, and are cooperating with local police to further investigate the cause of the crash.

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A file photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): India and China held another round of military talks on Friday to take forward the disengagement process in the remaining friction points such as Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang in eastern Ladakh, people familiar with the development said.



The 11th round of the Corps Commander-level talks began at around 10:30 am at the Chushul border point on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, they said.



The 10th round of the military dialogue took place on February 20, two days after both militaries concluded the withdrawal of troops and weapons from the North and South banks of the Pangong lake. The talks lasted for around 16 hours.



The Indian delegation at Friday's talks is led by Lieutenant General PGK Menon, the Commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps.



One of the people cited above said India will insist on completing the disengagement process at the remaining friction points at the earliest.



Late last month, Army Chief General MM Naravane said the threat to India has only "abated" following the disengagement in the Pangong lake areas, but it has not gone away altogether.



The border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on May 5 last following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.



As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the withdrawal of troops and weapons from the North and South banks of the Pangong lake in February, in line with an agreement on disengagement.



India has been insisting that the resolution of the outstanding issues, including at Depsang, Hot Springs and Gogra, is essential for the overall ties between the two countries.


SPRINGFIELD  Carol Stamatakis may be stepping down from her role as executive director of Senior Solutions but she plans to stay active in advocating on behalf of the same clientele shes serving now.

Ive always been very much an advocate at heart, she said. And I wanted to dedicate as much time and effort to really advocating for older adults and advocating for systemic changes because I feel, in particular, the pandemic has really highlighted just so many of the shortcomings in our communities and just our ability to support and include older people.

Society tends to deny aging and death, she said, therefore it denies people the ability to fully live.

Over the summer, Stamatakis attended a spiritual retreat, which highlighted for her a desire to be actively involved and engaged in changing that philosophy and advocating for older populations. She said she wants to use what shes learned over the years to help make a difference and support promising initiatives.

Stamatakis has been director of Senior Solutions, also known as the Council on Aging for Southeastern Vermont, for more than five years but has spent more than 20 years in the field of aging and disabilities. Previously, she was executive director at the New Hampshire Council on Developmental Disabilities. Prior to that, she was legal counsel for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services for programs for older adults. She also served as a state representative in New Hampshire for three terms.

Her last day with Senior Solutions is slated for May 1. Her successor, Mark Boutwell, started Monday, allowing some overlap for Stamatakis to offer advice and support.

Boutwell named executive director for Senior Solutions Mark Boutwell, who for almost seven years has served as director of social services at Senio

Stamatakis has already picked up some consultant work. While she lives in New Hampshire, she plans to stay active in aging issues in both Vermont and New Hampshire.

Having worked within the service systems in both states, Stamatakis believes there are ways in which they can be improved. She said in Vermont, far more resources are made available but the Green Mountain State also has its challenges.

Vermont exerts enormous control over who can be a provider and New Hampshire has a much more free market for that, she said, adding that more flexibility with regulatory barriers might better serve people.

Stamatakis expects to take on a combination of volunteer and paid work. She said she loves teaching, workshops and presentations but I really have the strongest passion or calling for being an advocate.

Its her belief that older people should have more opportunities to be involved in deciding what the service system should look like. She wants to educate policymakers on issues related to aging.

At this agency, Ive just been ridiculously inspired by the older adult volunteers who Ive met, she said. Thats been the most inspirational aspect of this work. People have really shown me whats possible as I age and just for all ages.

Stamatakis called her mother a phenomenal role model for me. She said her mother found a lot of meaning in being a teacher of adult literacy in her later years.

That inspired Stamatakis to be extremely supportive of expanding volunteer programs within Senior Solutions. The programs, she said, benefit the people being served and the volunteers themselves.

Stamatakis described being particularly proud of the Vet to Vet program, which started with the American Legion Post 5 in Brattleboro and connects military veterans who might be resistant to meeting with others.

Its just made such a difference in peoples lives, she said. Its also inspired volunteers to get involved in the legion or in veteran issues.

Stamatakis said volunteer programs have grown dramatically over the years and since the COVID-19 pandemic, more volunteers are joining the ranks. She commended Vicki Mastroianni, coordinator of the volunteer programs, and credited her for connecting with other organizations and helping other agencies grow their own programs.

Stamatakis also is proud of how outreach efforts have been expanded to include regular newspaper columns and a show on Brattleboro Community Television. When she first started at Senior Solutions, she recalled, complaints most often had to do with a lack of awareness of the agency and its programming. She commended Joann Erenhouse, community relations director, for her role in spreading the word.

Senior Solutions always played a leadership role in addressing elder abuse, Stamatakis said. She hopes that work conducted over three years with the aid of a grant in Windsor County  to create a model of entities that might be involved in elder neglect or financial exploration  might inform efforts in other parts of the state. The project included training law enforcement and community professionals on how to recognize signs of abuse and support victims.

After recent community meetings in Windham and Windsor counties, Senior Solutions staff identified transportation as a big challenge. They also recognized the need for collaboration among agencies and having the workforce necessary for providing services needed in the communities.

Asked what the biggest assets of Seniors Solutions are, Stamatakis listed its dedicated staff and partnerships in the communities. Together, she said, they create a safety net.

Its really part of of the web, she said.

Stamatakis said her group played an instrumental role in developing many of the local Cares groups such as Dummerston Cares and Marlboro Cares. The groups are loose affiliations of grassroots organizations that help link people to resources to promote health, wellbeing and socialization.

Theres a lot of strength in the local communities, Stamatakis said. I would say those strengths became very clear when COVID hit. Its unbelievable just the mutual aid societies that immediately activated and even developed in some instances. They didnt exist before. I wasnt in Vermont when Tropical Storm Irene happened but I heard it was a similar experience. Maybe that experience is what made our region and Vermont so uniquely prepared.

Stamatakis said her group highly values person-centered planning, or the idea that older adults have the right to make decisions and choose lifestyles that someone else might not want for them. A strategic plan adopted in 2017 says the agency should honor and respect the life experience and autonomy of Vermonts older adults.

I think, in a way, everything kind of springs from there, Stamatakis said.

If shes being brutally honest about what shell miss most, its being able to spot opportunities and take advantage of them to accomplish something beneficial. She said the position allowed her to turn ideas into reality, expand the number of funding sources and get the agency into some new focus areas. She still plans to be involved in some of the initiatives.

Stamatakis said she wishes Boutwell and the agency all the best.

I feel very hopeful for the future for older adults in southeastern Vermont, she added.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 05:13:32|Editor: huaxia

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RIYADH, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi-led coalition involved in a war in Yemen intercepted on Friday a missile launched by the Houthi militia toward the Saudi border city of Jazan, Al Ekhbariya TV reported.

The coalition accused the militia of "committing war crimes by targeting civilians and civilian sites."

This was the second attack from Houthis on Friday, as the coalition earlier intercepted a bomb-laden drone launched by Houthis toward the border city Khamis Mushait.

Both cities are among districts in southwestern Saudi Arabia that are frequently targeted by Houthis with drones and missiles.

The Houthi attacks increased after Saudi Arabia proposed an initiative on March 22 to end the Yemeni crisis. The initiative includes a comprehensive cease-fire across Yemen under the supervision of the United Nations.

The coalition completed last month its sixth year of war in Yemen against the Houthi militia in support of the Yemeni government. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 23:58:31|Editor: huaxia

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KATHMANDU, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Hong, a 46-year-old visually impaired Chinese climber is attempting to summit Mt. Qomolangma this spring, a company organizing his expedition said.

"If he manages to reach the top of Mt. Qomolangma, he will be the first Asian blind person to scale the world's tallest peak," Dawa Steven Sherpa, chief executive officer of Asian Trekking, one of the leading expedition organizing companies in Nepal, told Xinhua on Friday.

Earlier, two mountaineers -- Erik Weihenmayer, an American mountaineer and Andy Holzer, an Austrian climber, both visually impaired, had reached the top of the Mt. Qomolangma in May 2001 and May 2017 respectively.

According to Sherpa guides, the Chinese mountaineer who arrived in Nepal on March 30, set out for Mt. Qomolangma on April 3. He has been trekking to the base camp of the mountain and is expected to reach it on Sunday.

"His team includes six Chinese and six sherpas. During the ascent of Mt. Qomolangma, four sherpas will directly support him," said the CEO Sherpa.

The world's tallest peak has been a dream for many people with disabilities and some of them have already achieved their dreams by scaling the mountain.

Its height was slightly increased to 8848.86 meters when Nepali and Chinese surveyors measured and jointly announced the new height in December last year.

Sherpa said that the Chinese climber had been training hard with the aim of scaling the Mt. Qomolangma for the last three years. According to the Asian Trekking, he has already conquered Muztagh Ata, a 7,509 meter peak in China's Xinjiang autonomous region two years ago.

Zhang is one of the 244 climbers who got climbing permits for Mt. Qomolangma from Nepali authorities.

Bhisma Raj Bhattarai, mountaineering section officer at department of tourism confirmed to Xinhua that the Chinese blind climber and his team were given a permit this week.

According to the Department of Tourism, which issues climbing permits, a total of 244 climbers representing 26 groups have taken climbing permits for the Mt. Qomolangma as of Friday.

In January 2017, the Nepali government had decided to ban double amputees, persons without arms and legs and blind persons from attempting to climb the world's tallest peak. But, in March the same year, the Nepal's Supreme Court ordered not to implement the government's restriction on people with disabilities to summit Mt. Qomolangma.

By taking the advantage of court order, Chinese climber Xia Boyu, who lost both legs to frostbite on Mt. Qomolangma over four decades ago, reached the summit of the world's highest peak in May 2018. Enditem
ALBION, MI  Starr Commonwealth is opening its Albion campus to house up to 240 unaccompanied migrant children in response to what officials said is an urgent request from the U.S. government.

Starr Commonwealth signed a facilities agreement to allow the Administration for Children and Families to utilize its 350-acre campus as a safe haven, officials said in a news release. ACF will provide temporary shelter for the children, age 12 and younger, as it works to unite them with their family and sponsors, officials said.

When asked by our federal government if we could help and provide a safe refuge and haven for those children, we enthusiastically said yes, Starr Commonwealth CEO Elizabeth Carey said in a statement. It matches our mission perfectly, and we are excited to be able to create a place for healing for some of those children.

Starr Commonwealth has 17 cottages that can house the children and caregivers, and its campus includes a gym, cafeteria, school building, chapel, ball field, track and lakeside park, officials said.

Each cottage is set up for two or three children in a bedroom, a kitchen, dining room and rec room, as well as multiple bathrooms and showers, according to Derek Allen, Starr Commonwealth executive vice president and COO. Each cottage can house about 12 to 15 children, Allen said.

ACF is providing bilingual caregivers with backgrounds in child welfare or development to care for the children, officials said.

Nearly 19,000 unaccompanied minors were stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border in March, according to reports.

The children coming to Starr Commonwealths Albion campus are expected to stay on campus for 30 days or less, officials said. The children will be screened for COVID-19 before and after they arrive in Michigan, and those who test positive will quarantine in one of two cottages on campus, officials said.

To protect the safety of the children, Starr Commonwealth officials said they have been asked not to share details about their arrival and care.

Our expertise in healing trauma and building resilience can truly benefit the children who will be coming to our campus, Carey said. Many of us have all watched the heartbreaking pictures on the nightly news of children who have been abandoned in the desert, far away from home and without their families, and wondered how we can help. Starr has safe beds, secure cottages and a campus of caring people  this is how we can, and must, help.

Officials were not available for further comment because they are preparing for the childrens arrival.

Starr Commonwealth was founded in 1913 as a home for runaway boys and has evolved to provide community-based programs, education and behavioral health services for children. While it ended its residential treatment program last summer, Starr Commonwealth has retained its licensing with the state of Michigan while determining the next chapter for campus.

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Lyra McKee was shot dead by the New IRA at a riot in the Creggan area of Londonderry in April 2019, called on the mobs to withdraw

The sister of killed Northern Ireland journalist Lyra McKee called on rioters last night to end the violence in west Belfast before someone dies.

Nichola McKee Corner spoke after water cannon were used for the first time in six years.

They were deployed on Thursday after police were attacked with petrol bombs, fireworks and rocks in a seventh night of violence.

Police faced attacks with missiles including stones and bottles in the Loyalist Tiger Bay area on Friday night as the violence continued for an eighth night.

Nineteen police were injured on Thursday, on top of the 55 hurt over the previous six nights, as crowds rioted on both sides of the gates that separate nationalist and loyalist areas.

It was also revealed that young people were being lured into joining the rioting through social media.

Miss McKee Corner, whose 29-year-old sister was shot dead by the New IRA at a riot in the Creggan area of Londonderry in April 2019, called on the mobs to withdraw.

She said: 'I would encourage anyone involved in riots and other disturbances to stop and engage in conversations with community leaders and politicians before it is too late.

'Destroying property and attacking people does not do anything to further a cause of any kind. In fact it does the opposite.'

Yesterday, details were revealed of how Facebook and other social media platforms have been used by agitators.

Scroll down for video

Riot police are seen looking on as a hijacked car is set alight in the Tiger Bay area. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill voiced her concern that the violence of recent days will continue throughout the weekend

Fireworks are seen exploding on police vehicles after being fired at police officers during clashes with nationalist youths in the Springfield Road area of Belfast on Thursday

A Loyalist rioter is seen holding a paint bomb amid rioting in the Tigers Bay Area. He is seen above with white paint splatters over his balaclava and his outfit

More fireworks are seen exploding by the closed peace gate in Lanark Way in West Belfast. Young people were being lured into joining the rioting through social media

A rioter is seen spraying a substance towards police lines. Miss McKee Corner, whose 29-year-old sister was shot dead by the New IRA at a riot in the Creggan area of Londonderry in April 2019, called on the mobs to withdraw

A rioter, holding what appears to be a brick or rock, is seen above looking towards police lines amid the unrest in Northern Ireland

A police officer is seen using a water cannon as they clash with nationalist youths in the Springfield Road area of Belfast on Thursday night

A car is seen burning in Belfast amid the unrest. Yesterday, details were revealed of how Facebook and other social media platforms have been used by agitators

On Friday night PSNI officers attended the scene at Tiger Bay, a loyalist area in north Belfast with riot vans and police dogs in tow

Postings list dates and times of protests where hundreds of rioters  some as young as 12  have gathered to attack each other and police.

Hours before some of the worst violence on Wednesday, a Facebook post urged people to 'join the fight and keep us British'.

That night, a bus was set alight and a burning car was driven at the 'peace walls' dividing loyalist and nationalist areas.

Inflammatory online posts include phrases such as 'no surrender' and 'f*** the PSNI'  Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Loyalist paramilitaries  suspected of smuggling drugs  are allegedly behind some of the violence, which has also broken out in Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus, Ballymena and Londonderry.

Ulster Unionist Doug Beattie, a Northern Ireland assembly member, said: 'The South East Antrim Ulster Defence Association is nothing more than a criminal drug gang who put kids on the streets to cause violence on their behalf.'

Loyalist parades planned for the coming days are thought to have been cancelled following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.

On Friday night PSNI officers attended the scene at Tiger Bay, a loyalist area in north Belfast with riot vans and police dogs in tow.

Some officers have come under attack, with missiles such as stones and bottles thrown at them, and reports of petrol bombs being used.

A police officer is seen trying to put out a fire during protests in the Loyalist Tigers Bay Area of Belfast. Loyalist leaders had urged the community not to participate in protests on Friday after the death of the Duke of Edinburgh

Riot police are seen protecting themselves with a riot shields amid the unrest. The street is seen above covered with debris

Debris thrown by some of the rioters is seen on the streets of the Tigers Bay Area. There were sporadic incidents of unrest in Northern Ireland on Friday evening

Officers are seen standing behind riot police lines. Some officers have come under attack, with missiles such as stones and bottles thrown at them, and reports of petrol bombs being used

Police officers arrived in riot vans on Friday following more arrest in Belfast. Debris was left in the middle of the road on North Queen Street

Police arrived with riot shields on Friday night as unrest took place again. The cause of the unrest has been attributed to frustration over a decision not to prosecute members of Sinn Fein over alleged coronavirus regulation breaches at the funeral of republican Bobby Storey

Loyalist paramilitaries  suspected of smuggling drugs  are allegedly behind some of the violence, which has also broken out in Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus, Ballymena and Londonderry

Inflammatory online posts include phrases such as 'no surrender' and 'f*** the PSNI'  Police Service of Northern Ireland. Objects are seen being thrown towards PSNI officers

There is a heavy police presence in the area, with reports that stones were also thrown at police in the nearby, nationalist area New Lodge.

PSNI Chief Superintendent Muir Clarke said: 'We would appeal for calm in the area and ask anyone who has any influence in communities, please use that influence to ensure young people do not get caught up in criminality and that they are kept safe and away from harm tonight.'

There were sporadic incidents of unrest in Northern Ireland on Friday evening, with reports of a road blocked off with a barricade which was then set alight in Coleraine, Londonderry.

Loyalist leaders had urged the community not to participate in protests on Friday after the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.

Signs posted in Lanark Way, the scene of much of the unrest of recent days, read: 'We would ask all PUL (Protestant, Unionist, Loyalist) protests are postponed as a mark of respect to the Queen and the Royal Family.

'The continued opposition to the NI protocol and all other injustices against the PUL community will take place again after the period of mourning.'

Meanwhile, two men are due to appear in court on Saturday after being charged charged in connection with the rioting that took place in Lanark Way, west Belfast on Thursday night.

Detectives investigating the disorder have charged a 24-year-old man and a 32-year-old man with riot.

The 32-year-old was also charged with possession of a petrol bomb in suspicious circumstances. They are due to appear before Belfast Magistrates' Court at around 10.30am.

As is usual procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.

Earlier, deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill voiced her concern that the violence of recent days will continue throughout the weekend.

The Sinn Fein vice president said: 'I'm worried about the weekend ahead. We all need to be very careful and very consciously try to do all we can to prevent this happening.

'I hope and I urge all young people to not engage, do not allow yourself to be used or manipulated in any sort of way, and to stay off the streets, stay home and stay safe.'

She added: 'I think there's a strong role here for the two governments, as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement. I made that point to (Secretary of State) Brandon Lewis this morning.

'It's really, really important that we stand shoulder to shoulder and say no to this type of criminal behaviour, and that we don't allow our children to be sucked in by criminal gangs who are orchestrating some of what we see on our streets.'
Marilyn Hartman, who has become notorious for sneaking on to at least 30 flights, will stay in jail for another month following her latest court hearing.

The 69-year-old, nicknamed the "Serial Stowaway", was arrested three weeks ago after she left the transitional-housing facility en route for Chicago O'Hare Airport, according to the Cook County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities were tipped off that Ms Hartman was attempting to sneak on a flight at the airport because she was being electronically monitored. Her presence at O'Hare violated her terms of probation, which were set in 2019 after she was arrested at the Chicago airport for attempting to get through security without a boarding ticket.

"An alarm siren was activated on Hartman's device, and she was taken into custody by Chicago Police," the Sheriff's Office said in a statement about her latest attempt. "Hartman did not enter any secure areas."

She faces charges of criminal trespassing and felony escape and appeared in court on Friday. Since her arrest, Ms Hartman has remained in Cook County Jail.

Lawyers for Ms Hartman asked for more time to request a pre-trial release from the judge in order to get her out of jail. Her next trial date would be 3 May.

Ms Hartman has become notorious for her ability to sneak onto flights without a boarding pass or passport.

In an interview with CBS2 Chicago released in March, Ms Hartman estimated she has boarded at least 30 flights without a boarding pass. "The first time I was able to get through, I flew to Copenhagen. The second time, I flew into Paris," she said.

The ruse was not as well thought out as one might expect. Ms Hartman revealed that she was able to get through security simply by walking through.

"I was always let through. I mean I was able to go through the security line without a boarding pass," she told the local publication.

"I got by them, this is the thing that is so crazy, by following someone they would be carrying like a blue bag. And the next thing I know, I get into the TSA line and TSA lets me through, and they think I'm with the guy with the blue bag," she added.

Sneaking on flights first started for Ms Hartman in 2002 when she boarded a flight from Chicago to Copenhagen. That same year she travelled on another flight to Paris.

Ms Hartman avoided all security detection until August 2014 when she was caught attempting to board a flight from San Jose, California, to Las Vegas. At the time, a judge let her off with a warning, but then seven months later Ms Hartman was back to sneaking on flights.

The last international flight Ms Hartman attempted to board was a British Airways flight to London, costing $3,428. She boarded the flight but was already on the radar of TSA agents, so she was arrested and apprehended.

The CBS2 Chicago interview was the first Ms Hartman has done. She decided to do the interview after she "was confident that I wouldn't take an illegal flight again." But after the interview aired, she was found attempting to get through security at O'Hare.

Her lawyers have claimed the trip to O'Hare was spurred by a mental illness Ms Hartman suffers from, and it was triggered after the release of the CBS2 Chicago interview.

"She has a mental illness that was triggered by something out of her control," her lawyers told the judge, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Ms Hartman is currently being treated for bipolar disorder.

"When I took the plane ride, I wasn't happy. I wasn't 'Oh, I'm going here or there'  I was actually in a depressed state of mind," she told CBS2 Chicago. "I'm bipolar. And this is something I've rejected for years."
Kim Jong Un has warned that North Korea is facing a famine comparable with one in the 1990s during which millions of people are thought to have died.

The despotic leader said his country is in its 'worst ever' situation due to natural disasters last summer that devastated farmland, the Covid pandemic which has halted trade, and US-led sanctions over its missile programme.

Speaking at a party conference on Thursday, Kim drew parallels with the 'Arduous March' of the 1990s - calling on party cadres to prepare for a 'more difficult' crisis.

Kim Jong Un has warned party cadres in North Korea to prepare for a 'more difficult' crisis than the 1990s economic collapse and famine that killed up to 3.5million people

The 'Arduous March' is a term used by North Korean propagandists to refer to a crisis between 1994 and 1998 which saw the country's economy collapse and led to widespread famine.

The fall of the Soviet Union - which North Korea relied on for aid - combined with drought, natural disasters and general mismanagement led to widespread deaths from hunger and related diseases.

While estimates of the death toll vary widely, it is thought that up to 3.5million North Koreans perished.

The country's economy and food security has improved since, but the Hermit Kingdom is still hugely reliant on overseas supplies to feed its people.

North Korea is a mountainous nation, meaning suitable land for farming is in short supply and many of its farmers lack access to tools such as tractors, combine harvesters and threshers.

As a result, it is thought that North Korea relies on foreign imports and aid to feed around a third of its population.

Even with those imports, a 2017 UN report concluded that two fifths of the population are undernourished - meaning they don't have access to the number of calories needed per day to maintain a healthy weight.

A third of North Korea children are also thought to be stunted, meaning they did not get enough calories during the early years of their life.

Starving North Korean children are pictured during the 1990s famine, which King Jong Un referenced in his most-recent speech

Imports and aid into North Korea have all-but stopped after the country closed its borders to stop it importing Covid cases.

Meanwhile a series of typhoons that hit last summer led to widespread devastation on farmland just before harvest season.

North Korea monitoring groups have not yet detected any signs of mass starvation or a humanitarian disaster.

But Mr Kim's comments still suggest how seriously he views the current difficulties, which foreign observers say are the biggest test of his nine-year rule.

'There are many obstacles and difficulties ahead of us, and so our struggle for carrying out the decisions of the Eighth Party Congress would not be all plain sailing,' Mr Kim told lower-level ruling party members on Thursday.

'I made up my mind to ask the WPK (Workers' Party of Korea) organizations at all levels, including its Central Committee and the cell secretaries of the entire party, to wage another more difficult 'arduous march' in order to relieve our people of the difficulty, even a little,' he added.

The speech came at the closing ceremony of a party meeting with thousands of grassroots members of the ruling party, called cell secretaries.

During his opening day speech on Tuesday, Mr Kim said improving public livelihoods in the face of the 'worst-ever situation' would depend on the party cells.

During the party congress in January, he ordered officials to build stronger self-supporting economy, reduce reliance on imports and make more consumer goods.

But North Korea's problems are the result of decades of mismanagement, self-imposed isolation and sanctions over its nuclear program, analysts say.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge will star in the fifth Indiana Jones film alongside Harrison Ford, Disney has revealed.

In a tweet shared on Friday, the Fleabag star, 35, was officially announced as part of the cast for the adventure franchise's much-anticipated next chapter.

Disney announced: 'A new #IndianaJones adventure begins July 29, 2022. Phoebe Waller-Bridge joins the cast alongside Harrison Ford in the fifth installment of the iconic franchise.'

Exciting: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, 35, will star in the fifth Indiana Jones film alongside Harrison Ford, Disney has revealed (pictured in 2020)

The tweet continued: 'The inimitable John Williams will also return to score the film.'

Director James Mangold will take over from Steven Spielberg - who has directed all four Indiana Jones films so far - however, Spielberg has signed on as a producer, and will still be closely involved in production.

Deadline reports that filming will begin this summer, with Mangold currently 'meeting with other talent for other roles in preparation for production'.

Phoebe's forthcoming film won't be her first with LucasFilm. The Emmy-winner voiced L3-37 in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Big names: The Fleabag star has officially joined the cast of the blockbuster franchise's much-anticipated next chapter, with John Williams returning to score the movie

Disney tweeted on Friday: 'A new #IndianaJones adventure begins July 29, 2022. Phoebe Waller-Bridge joins the cast alongside Harrison Ford'

Phoebe's hectic schedule is reported to have made her almost 7 million in 2020 alone, according to reports.

The star has reportedly seen an increase in reserves in her production company - PMWB Limited - from 520,000 to 7.25 million.

These figures, which span between the end of March 2019-March 2020, are said to include Phoebe's fees for her work in the BBC series Killing Eve, according to The Mirror.

The publication added that the figures may also include fees stemming from various projects.

It pointed to the success of Fleabag - a series which Phoebe both wrote and starred in - as well as her work on the upcoming Bond film, No Time To Die.

PMWB Limited is reported to have assets of 8.9 million, although its creditors are said to be owed 1.65 million, reducing Phoebe's reserves to 7.25 million.
The prosecution in the Derek Chauvin murder trial had a comeback moment Thursday in whats been an occasionally foundering week. For its surge, the state can thank formidable medical experts who convincingly testified that the police actions last Memorial Day were substantially responsible for George Floyds death. Ironically, that is the inverse of what the state suggested in prosecutor Jerry Blackwells opening statement (which I wrote about here).

Besides the powerful audio and video evidence presented through the testimony of eyewitnesses, Blackwell asserted that the states case would be cinched by testimony on the use of force: The jury would learn that Chauvins methods of physical restraint were totally beyond the pale. The prosecutor was not entirely dismissive of the medical experts, but he did downplay their anticipated contributions.

That is another irony in a case that teems with them. Blackwell himself has been principally responsible for the medical proof in the prosecutors presentation, and he has done a masterful job of it. In the opening, though, he cautioned jurors not to worry so much about the abstruse legal mumbo-jumbo; instead, trust your eyes, and trust what you see and hear on the recordings.

Some of this is understandable. The state realized that defense counsel Eric Nelson had plenty to work with on the medical front: Floyds drug use and underlying cardio-pulmonary conditions. But prosecutors clearly overestimated the strength of their use-of-force testimony. In fact, there were times during the testimony of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) witnesses, particularly that of Lieutenant Johnny Mercil, the MPDs top defensive-tactics trainer, that an observer could be forgiven for forgetting that prosecutors, rather than Nelson, had called them to the stand.

Nelson not only established that Chauvin had not choked Floyd and had not used an improper neck hold, he also emphasized video images from police body-cam recorders, which showed that police did not constantly press all their weight on Floyd, and that Chauvin was not perched on Floyds neck for the nine crucial minutes  he put some pressure on the neck, but he was coming up from between the shoulder blades.

Story continues

Ironically (theres that word again), this is not as exculpatory as the defense may have hoped  indeed, not exculpatory at all. That is because Floyd did not really die in the way weve been led to believe that he died during most of the last year. It is not that his airways were closed near his throat; it is that his chest was pressed to the point that his lungs could no longer function.

Of the nine minutes and 29 seconds of recorded footage that the state has hyped as the plinth of its case, it has concentrated most on the final four minutes. They are indeed ghastly, and they represent the part of the case that, to my mind, is hardest for Chauvin (and the other three cops, who will be tried in August) to explain away: Floyds breathing stopped, he had no pulse, and yet the police did nothing to help him other than wait for the ambulance theyd called. In particular, they never even started chest compressions, which they are trained to administer when a person in their care is pulseless.

In reality, though, it turns out that these last four minutes may be the least important. For all intents and purposes, Floyd was already dead due to the first five minutes. This was made convincingly clear by Dr. Martin J. Tobin, a renowned pulmonologist from Ireland, who was a scintillating witness  amiable, authoritative, and accessible.

Dr. Tobin explained that Floyd died because of intolerably low oxygen intake, principally due to his being kept in a prone position on the asphalt street while Chauvin and two other since-fired MPD cops exerted physical pressure on his back, as well as the base of his neck. The neck pressure is what looks most awful, but it was the detention aspect of least consequence.

Over the first five minutes of detention on the street, Floyds lungs were gradually failing, and his oxygen level dropped dangerously. He showed classic signs of it  robust, coherent chatter at the start, then low, slurred speech and patently labored breathing at the end. His squirming and the way he pressed his own face into the ground were not signs of being strangled; they were desperate efforts to move his chest into a position where he could draw breath.

Chillingly, Dr. Tobin identified the precise moment when he could detect the moment the life goes out of [Floyds] body. It happened just after one of Floyds legs jutted out wildly, a telltale sign of anoxic seizure. Theres a flickering and then it disappears, Tobin remarked as, on the video screen, jurors saw deaths gaze fall over Floyds face. The four minutes that followed were horrifying, but even if the former policemen had tried, there was no saving Floyd at that point.

For Chauvin, the most damaging part of Dr. Tobins account may be his conclusion that even a perfectly healthy person would have had pulmonary failure under the physical restraint Floyd endured. What wasnt as immediately obvious Thursday, but will come clear this summer at the next trial arising out of Floyds death, is that this was a devastating day for the three other former police involved in the detention.

This is especially so for Thomas Lane and Alexander Keung, who were helping Chauvin hold Floyd down. The medical testimony moves the center of attention from Chauvins infamous neck hold down to Floyds shoulders and back, and the lower body restraint that made it impossible for him to move into a better breathing position. That is, it makes Lane and Keung every bit as responsible as Chauvin for the physical restraint; and it further highlights that Tou Thao, the fourth officer standing nearby and focused on crowd control, took no action as Floyd slowly faded.

Nelson, who has been very effective using the states police witnesses to advance Chauvins case, never laid a glove on Dr. Tobin.

Yesterdays medical testimony also included Louisville police surgeon Bill Smock and forensic toxicologist David Isenschmid. Like Dr. Tobin, they discounted defense theories that drug abuse, arterial blockage, or other cardiopulmonary conditions could have caused Floyds death.

Keep in mind that the states presentation on this score is not dispositive. The defense will also have an opportunity to elicit testimony from medical experts  and to examine Hennepin County medical examiner Andrew Baker, who is expected to testify Friday and has been less condemnatory of the police actions.

Significantly, the cause of death testimony does not settle the matters of Chauvins knowledge and intent. As a police officer, he is not expected to be a medical expert. Moreover, proof that he caused Floyds death is not proof that Chauvin intended to cause Floyds death, intended to cause him real injury, or acted in a manner that was criminally irresponsible. That will have to be established to the jurys satisfaction.

But suffice it to say, Thursday was a very bad day for the defense. The prosecution has gotten its bearings back as it nears the end.

More from National Review
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - Waraba Gold Limited (CSE: WBGD) (FSE: ZE0) ("Waraba" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into convertible loan agreements (the "Loan Agreements") with two arm's length lenders (each a "Lender", and collectively, the "Lenders") to borrow from each Lender USD$500,000 (the "Loan"), with the Company paying a facility fee of USD$150,000 to each Lender (the "Facility Fee") capitalized into the Loan, and payable on the Conversion Date (as defined below).

The principal amount advanced under the Loan plus the Facility Fee, less any Cash Repayment Amount, if elected by a Lender, is convertible into new shares in the capital of Waraba (the "Conversion Shares"), on the earlier of (i) October 31, 2021; and (ii) the Company completing an equity financing of CAD$2,000,000 (the "Conversion Date"). The number of Conversion Shares is to be calculated at the prevailing exchange rate at the Conversion Date, divided by the lower of (i) CAD$0.20; and (ii) the price per share at which the equity financing is completed (the "Conversion Price"). No interest to be charged on the Loan.

The Company further announces that Mr. Brent Hahn has resigned as a member of the Board of Directors (the "Board"). The Company would like to thank Mr. Hahn for his time serving as a director and wishes him well in his future endeavours.

The Company further announces that the Board has appointed Mr. Binyomin Posen as a director of the Company effective immediately.

Mr. Binyomin Posen is a Senior Analyst at Plaza Capital Limited, where he focuses on corporate finance, capital markets and helping companies to go public. After three and a half years of studies overseas, he returned to complete his baccalaureate degree in Toronto. Upon graduating (on the Dean's List), he began his career as an analyst at a Toronto boutique investment bank were his role consisted of raising funds for IPOs and RTOs, business development for portfolio companies and client relations.

About Waraba Gold Limited

Formerly Zenith Exploration Inc., the Company changed its name to Waraba Gold Limited on October 23, 2020. The Company is a resource exploration company that is acquiring and exploring mineral properties. The Company is a reporting issuer in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. The Company trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "Exchange") under the trading symbol "WBGD". On March 12, 2021, the Company was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (also known as the Deutsche Boerse AG) under the symbol, ZE0. The Corporation's common shares continue to be listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol, WBGD.

Company's Contact Information:

For further information relating to the Company, please refer to the Company's profile on SEDAR which can be accessed at www.sedar.com or contact:

Carl Esprey

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Telephone: +1 312 235 2605

Email: cesprey@warabagold.com

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Corporation's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Corporation's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein may include, but are not limited to, information concerning the Corporation closing the Private Placement according to the terms indicated in this press release and the participation of insiders in the Private Placement. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/80005
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In the initial days of the COVID-19 outbreak, early studies had suggested that those who got the infection once were unlikely to be infected again due to the presence of antibodies.

However, later it emerged that those who have been infected by the virus once can be reinfected, though the chances for this are less.

The same has been told about vaccines - once you take the two doses and develop antibodies against the virus, you are immune to the virus.

AFP

Worrying developments

But in a worrying development, there have been reports of medical professionals who had taken the two doses of COVID-19 vaccines testing positive for the virus.

The most notable of this is at the King George's Medical University in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

On Wednesday, six staffers working in the office of the KGMU vice-chancellor tested positive for Covid-19 despite having received both shots of the vaccine.

With this, a total of 45 fully vaccinated people at KGMU have tested positive for COVID-19.

BCCL

In the last three days, 39 KGMU doctors, including its medical superintendent, Prof D Himanshu, have tested positive for the infection.

This includes KGMU's vice-chancellor, Lieutenant General (Retired) Dr. Bipin Puri, who tested positive for the second time in nine months.

"KGMU Vice-Chancellor Lieutenant General (Retired) Dr Bipin Puri tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, while medical superintendent, Prof D Himanshu, tested positive for Covid-19 a day earlier, a doctor said on Tuesday.

"In the last three days, 39 doctors of KGMU have tested positive for Covid-19. Both the vice-chancellor and medical superintendent have got both the doses of anti-Covid vaccine," he had said.

BCCL

On Wednesday, KGMU spokesperson, Dr Sudhir Singh said, "The administration of the KGMU is extremely serious to stop the spread of the infection and in this regard, screening has already started.

Similar cases have also been reported from Bihar, where fully inoculated doctors have tested positive for COVID-19.

Though the exact circumstances for the infections are still being studied in detail, one of the reasons could be that they had not developed antibodies yet.

According to the CDC, it typically takes a few weeks for the body to build immunity (protection against the virus that causes COVID-19) after vaccination. That means its possible a person could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 just before or just after vaccination and still get sick. This is because the vaccine has not had enough time to provide protection.
Prime Minister Florin Citu on Friday said that his and the Government's goal remains to vaccinate 10 million Romanians against COVID "as soon as possible," adding that once this threshold is reached, the authorities will be able to consider giving up the protective mask, agerpres.ro confirms.

"My goal and that of the Government I lead is to vaccinate as many as 10 million Romanians as soon as possible. For this we have two goals: until June 1, the immunisation of 5 million people; until August 1, the immunisation of 10 million people. When we reach the threshold of 10 million vaccinated Romanians, we can consider giving up the protective mask. Until then, I call on each of you to respect the protection measures and go to the vaccination," wrote Citu, on his page from Facebook.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A judge on Friday ordered an aide to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson held on $100,000 bond during his arraignment on charges that accuse him of sexually abusing a woman for two years beginning when she was 17 years old.

Alexander Lackey, 35, is charged with rape, sexual battery and domestic violence in the case. He must wear an ankle monitor and have no contact with the woman, who is now 19 years old, if he posts bond, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Dick Ambrose ordered.

Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Isabella Almaro told Ambrose that Lackey groomed the woman when she was underage to later take advantage of her sexually, and the state considered him a flight risk because he has connections to Mexican consulates.

Lackeys attorney, Henry Hilow, pleaded not guilty to the charges on Lackeys behalf.

Lackey appeared via a video feed from the Cuyahoga County Jail, where he has been held since turning himself in to sheriffs deputies Wednesday at the Justice Center.

Hilow pointed out that Lackey turned himself in to authorities when he asked for a low bond and a provision that would allow Lackey to be released if he could post 10 percent of the amount to the court. Lackey would have fled already if he was a flight risk, Hilow said.

Ambrose denied Hilows request for a 10-percent provision, meaning Lackey must post the full $100,000 in bond through cash, surety or property. Ambrose also said the GPS ankle monitor should quell the states concern about Lackey being a flight risk.

The case was assigned to Judge Kelly Anne Gallagher.

Lackey, a special assistant to Jackson, is currently on paid leave from his $67,000-per-year job as the citys government and international affairs manager, the city said this week.

The indictment accuses Lackey of sexually abusing the woman at his home on Broxton Avenue in Clevelands Kamms neighborhood from October 2018 through January 2019.

Prosecutors have released few details about the abuse. The investigation began after a Jan. 6 report of domestic violence at Lackeys home.

Police reports show Lackey and the woman, by then 19 years old, gave police conflicting claims against one another.

The woman told Cleveland police that Lackey slammed a door shut on her, stomped on her bare feet, dragged her around the house, sprayed her with air freshener and poured water on her after they got into an argument. She also told police that Lackey told her she would have to leave the country if she called police because her immigration papers would be expired, and that he could have killed her if he had a gun in the house, according to the report.

Lackey told police that the woman attacked him by punching and kicking him several times, the report said.

Lackey was originally charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, unlawful restraint and aggravated menacing in the Jan. 6 incident. Detectives who investigated the incident uncovered the sexual abuse, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael OMalleys spokesman, Tyler Sinclair, said.

City prosecutors filed the misdemeanor charges against Lackey in Cleveland Municipal Court, but dismissed them the day after a grand jury secretly indicted him.

Read more stories

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POMONA, Calif. (AP)  The Los Angeles County fairgrounds will be used to temporarily house unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said Friday.

County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis said the campus in Pomona could be used to house as many as 2,500 young people once the contract is completed. She said the site will not be a detention facility and expects the county and local organizations will provide educational, mental health and legal services.

The soul of our country is often put to the test. This is one of those moments, Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval told reporters. This is the right thing to do.

Fairplex is a 487-acre (197-hectare) site that hosts the annual county fair and has an array of facilities for year-round business. It will be the second site in Los Angeles County to house the children after Long Beach earlier this week agreed to use its convention center.

The Biden administration has opened a series of sites to house migrant children until they are reunited with family or sponsors in the United States following an increase in arrivals on the border.

Bonnie Preston, acting regional director for the Department of Health and Human Services region covering California, said the children in Pomona would likely range from 12 to 17 years old.

Were looking to the county to help in this humanitarian mission in the way that California usually does it, she said. They step up, and they go big.
Odesa Court of Appeal changed the measure of restraint from detention to round-the-clock house arrest for activist Serhiy Sternenko and Ruslan Demchuk on the case of the abduction of deputy of Lyman village council Serhiy Scherbych.

"Sternenko and Demchuk were charged with round-the-clock house arrest!"

Later, Sternenko, on his telegram channel, thanked for the support and wrote that "this is not a victory yet, the most important thing is in a week, when the appeal will be considered and the decision on the merits will be." He added that "the change in the preventive measure does not mean anything, so we are not relaxing."

Earlier, with reference to Sternenko's Telegram channel, it was reported that on April 9, Odesa Court of Appeal would consider an appeal against the arrest of Sternenko and Demchuk on the case of the abduction of deputy of Lyman village council Serhiy Scherbych, and the decision, as a measure of restraint, "will be a signal" before considering an appeal against the verdict of Sternenko and Demchuk, the hearing on which is scheduled for April 16.
Amy Adams plays an agoraphobic woman who believes she saw a new friend get murdered in the new trailer for Netflix's The Woman in the Window.

Adams portrays Anna Fox, a woman suffering from agoraphobia who never leaves her New York City home, who thinks she saw a new friend Jane Russell (Julianne Moore) get stabbed to death.

As it turns out, she may have been gravely mistaken, as the woman tries to determine what's real and what's all in her head.

New trailer: Amy Adams plays an agoraphobic woman who believes she saw a new friend get murdered in the new trailer for Netflix's The Woman in the Window

Agoraphobia: Adams portrays Anna Fox, a woman suffering from agoraphobia who never leaves her New York City home, who thinks she saw a new friend Jane Russell (Julianne Moore) get stabbed to death

The trailer begins with an introduction to Anna Fox, who reveals through voiceover that she's agoraphobic and she, 'can't go outside.

She adds that she's been 'slipping' and 'getting into a really dark frame of mind' as she clutches the door to her apartment.

Anna tells her therapist (Tracey Letts, who also wrote the screenplay based on A.J. Finn's bestselling novel) that her new neighbor Jane has become a friend.

Not outside: The trailer begins with an introduction to Anna Fox, who reveals through voiceover that she's agoraphobic and she, 'can't go outside

Dark: She adds that she's been 'slipping' and 'getting into a really dark frame of mind' as she clutches the door to her apartment

Jane asks Anna if she wants to go outside, and she counters with, 'You know I have a shrink of my own,' as Jane playfully backs off.

But one night while taking a bath, she hears a woman screaming, and she rushes to her window and sees Jane stabbed to death.

She calls 911 and tells the operator, 'My neighbor Jane, she's been stabbed' and later she's visited by NYPD Detective Little (Brian Tyree Henry), along with Alistair Russell (Gary Oldman), who believes Anna made a mistake.

Jane: Jane asks Anna if she wants to go outside, and she counters with, 'You know I have a shrink of my own,' as Jane playfully backs off

Bath: But one night while taking a bath, she hears a woman screaming, and she rushes to her window and sees Jane stabbed to death

Mistake: She calls 911 and tells the operator, 'My neighbor Jane, she's been stabbed' and later she's visited by NYPD Detective Little (Brian Tyree Henry), along with Alistair Russell (Gary Oldman), who believes Anna made a mistake

Alistair claims that Anna has never met her wife, though Anna insists, 'I know Jane, Jane has been in my house,' when another woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) arrives stating she is Jane Russell.

Anna claims that she is 'not crazy' and that they are 'all hiding something,' as we also get glimpses at Jane's sons, David (Wyatt Russell) and Ethan (Fred Hechinger), the latter of whom insists, 'You have never met my mother.'

Anna is seen taking photographs through her window at the Russell's apartment across the street, though she's caught by the 'new Jane' who tells her, 'Stop watching our house.'

Another Jane: Alistair claims that Anna has never met her wife, though Anna insists, 'I know Jane, Jane has been in my house,' when another woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) arrives stating she is Jane Russell

Son: Anna claims that she is 'not crazy' and that they are 'all hiding something,' as we also get glimpses at Jane's sons, David (Wyatt Russell) and Ethan (Fred Hechinger), the latter of whom insists, 'You have never met my mother'

Detective Little says that he heard the medication Anna is on, 'can cause hallucinations,' as she sees a car crash inside her own apartment.

Anna insists she's not hallucinating, when she receives a photo of her sleeping while holding a wine glass.

The trailer winds down with a number of terrifying shots before ending with Anna seeing someone inside her home.

The Woman In the Window, directed by Joe Wright (Darkest Hour) and also starring Anthony Mackie, debuts on Netflix May 14.

Meds: Detective Little says that he heard the medication Anna is on, 'can cause hallucinations,' as she sees a car crash inside her own apartment
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The lead actress Oscar race is competitive, so theres no guarantee that Andra Day will win for her socko performance in The United States vs. Billie Holiday. But Day has the kind of backstory that Oscar voters love: She (and the movie) appeared with little advance fanfare, and she makes a huge impact in only her second feature (after a tiny role in Marshall). Plus, she and director Lee Daniels are succeeding where many have tried but failed: a biopic on Holiday.

In 1956, Variety quoted a Doubleday press release shortly before the publication of Holidays autobiography Lady Sings the Blues, saying, This is a powerful, often shocking and immensely saleable book.

It was indeed sale-able. The book sold 1 million copies in 16 languages, and rights were sold to producers many times in the next few decades.

In 1957, Lester Cowan announced he had rights, and he said among those interested in filming it were Darryl F. Zanuck and Otto Preminger. Those plans went nowhere and in 1959, shortly after Holidays death at age 44, producer Philip A. Waxman announced a film, saying he had a verbal agreement with Dorothy Dandridge to star.

The following year, Albert Zugsmith  a producer whose credits range from Orson Welles Touch of Evil to the Mamie Van Doren comedy Sex Kittens Go to College  announced a West Coast stage version of Lady Sings the Blues, which would then move to Broadway, followed by a film; Dandridge was again named to star. Nothing came of these plans.

Chaton Prods. acquired rights in 1967; the following year, Variety wrote about three competing biopics: one based on the book, the second tapping into tales from Holidays heirs, and the third relying on newspaper stories and public records.

In 1969, Jay Weston announced a project that was eventually made. Paramount in 1972 released Lady Sings the Blues, the first feature from Motown Prods. Diana Ross, like Andra Day, was Oscar-nominated.

Daniels film gives glimpses of Holidays early life, but focuses on her battles with drugs and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics starting in 1947. Garrett Hedlund plays Harry Anslinger, the real-life FBN agent who explains his attitude by saying, This jazz music is the devils work.

Since generations have embraced jazz, its easy to forget that it was once considered dangerous because of its Black origins and because it was synonymous with people having a wild time. Variety first used the term jazz in 1916, and 1920s America was described as the Jazz Age. But every movement has a backlash, and in 1933 Variety reported on the Nazi Partys very outspoken anti-jazz attitude, which was shared by some Americans.

That repressive attitude cropped up in the 1940s via people such as Anslinger, who also obsesses over the song Strange Fruit, by saying, Youve heard those lyrics. They provoke people in the wrong way.

The song, written by Harold J. Rome and Lewis Allan (a pseudonym for Abel Meeropol), debuted in 1939, when the biggest hit records included Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland, Glenn Millers Moonlight Serenade and God Bless America by Kate Smith. So protest songs were not exactly popular at that point, but Holidays Strange Fruit recording was a big hit.

When she performed at New Yorks integrated Cafe Society in 1939, Variety stated that the anti-lynching song has an undefined appeal, though its basically a depressing piece. Theres no compromise with Miss Holidays stuff.

Theres no compromise in Days work either. As Varietys Owen Gleiberman wrote in his review, Billie Holiday is a must-see for the glamorous, blowsy and dagger-eyed force of Days performance.

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on April 9, 2021

2021/04/09

CCTV: Presidential Spokesperson of the Philippines Harry Roque said that China and the Philippines will resolve the issues concerning Niu'e Jiao "through diplomatic channel and through peaceful means". He also said that "whatever differences we have with China will not define our bilateral relations and will not be an obstacle to the overall positive trajectory of our bilateral friendly relations". What is your comment on this?

Zhao Lijian: China and the Philippines are friendly close neighbors with far more friendly cooperation than maritime differences. China is consistently committed to properly resolving differences through friendly consultations with the Philippines, advancing cooperation, enhancing mutual trust and safeguarding the bigger picture of the bilateral relations and maritime peace and stability.

The Paper: According to reports, the Japanese government plans to hold a Cabinet meeting on April 13, when the decision is expected to be made to discharge nuclear waste water into the sea. Do you have any comment?

Zhao Lijian: The radioactive leak caused by the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant has had profound impact on marine environment, food safety and human health. We hope the Japanese government will act with a high sense of responsibility towards its own people, neighboring countries and the international community, conduct thorough assessment of the possible effect of treatment process for tritium-contaminated waste water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, disclose relevant information in a voluntary, timely, strict, accurate, open and transparent manner, and make prudent decisions after full consultation with neighboring countries.

China News Service: The parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are conducting negotiation in Vienna on bringing the deal back to life. How does China evaluate the current Iranian nuclear situation and the prospect of the negotiation? What role is China playing in the negotiation?

Zhao Lijian: The Iranian nuclear situation is now at a critical juncture. As we speak, the JCPOA parties are discussing in Vienna issues of lifting sanctions by the US side and compliance by the Iranian side. Meanwhile, parties are keeping interaction with the US in a proper way. China hopes all parties will consolidate and continue the current positive momentum, and reach an early consensus on bringing the US and Iran back to the deal at an early date.

The root cause of the persistent tension in the Iranian nuclear situation can be traced to the withdrawal of the previous US administration from the JCPOA and the maximum pressure it exerted on Iran. Whoever tied the knot is responsible for untying it. The US is expected to return to the agreement unconditionally as soon as possible and lift all relevant sanctions, including the long-arm jurisdiction over any third party, while Iran should resume its compliance reciprocally on this basis. All parties should tell right from wrong, urge the US side to take practical measures to lift sanctions, guide Iran to move towards the same direction, and get the JCPOA back on track without delay.

China firmly upholds the authority and effectiveness of the JCPOA, the international nuclear non-proliferation system as well as peace and stability in the Middle East. China had made important contributions to the conclusion of the JCPOA, and fulfilled its obligations to the agreement despite difficulties. China has been keeping intensive communication and coordination with parties concerned to promote the full and effective implementation of the agreement. As we speak, China is actively participating in the negotiation on bringing the US and Iran back to the deal. China will continue to play a constructive role in promoting the process of political and diplomatic settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue. At the same time, we will firmly safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.

AFP: A local Myanmar media report said the Chinese embassy in Myanmar spoke for the first time with lawmakers from the ousted National League for Democracy government. Can you confirm this?

Zhao Lijian: China and Myanmar are "pauk-phaw" brothers connected by the same mountains and rivers, and share weal and woe as a community with a shared future. China's friendship policy towards Myanmar is for all people in Myanmar. China maintains longstanding friendly exchanges with all parties in Myanmar. And developing friendship with China has also been a consensus across all sectors of Myanmar.

China is concerned about the current situation in Myanmar, and hopes that all parties in Myanmar will start dialogue as soon as possible to seek political understanding within the constitutional and legal framework, and continue to advance the hard-won democratic transition process that suits Myanmar's national conditions. China will continue to maintain contact and communication with Myanmar parties in its own way to deescalate the situation and reduce the temperature.

Bloomberg: The US added seven Chinese supercomputing firms to a list of entities banned from receiving exports from American companies. Does the foreign ministry have any comment on this?

Zhao Lijian: The US government, driven by a desire to maintain its scientific monopoly and hegemony and to contain China's development, has time and again abused the national security concept, its state power and "entity list" to unscrupulously and maliciously suppress Chinese high-tech companies. China firmly rejects this.

Despite the long-existing US technology blockade on China in supercomputing, China has become a front runner in this field with itsindependent innovation. US containment and suppression won't be able to stop China's scientific progress, but will only make China more determined in advancing independent innovation. As to the US measures, China will take necessary countermeasures to resolutely safeguard Chinese companies' legitimate rights and interests.

Beijing Youth Daily: According to reports, the 30th BASIC ministerial meeting on climate change was concluded on April 8 with a joint statement on climate change released. Could you give us more information on the meeting and the outcomes reached?

Zhao Lijian: The 30th BASIC ministerial meeting on climate change was held via video conference on April 7 and 8. It was hosted by India, the rotating chair, and attended by environment ministers of India, Brazil, South Africa and China. From the Chinese side, Mr. Huang Runqiu, Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment and Mr. Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy on climate change attended and addressed the event. The meeting reviewed and adopted a joint statement, sending out a strong signal of strengthening solidarity among developing countries to actively deal with climate change.

The ministers reiterated their support for multilateralism and the full and effective implementation of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. They stressed that the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities should be upheld in international cooperation to address climate change, and that countries should be able to determine their own intended emissions reduction contributions. They called on advanced countries to earnestly fulfill their reduction obligations, take stronger actions, bridge the pre-2020 reduction divide, honor financial pledges and step up support for developing countries in capital, technology and capacity building. They also expressed serious concern over discriminatory trade measures such as carbon border adjustment.

BASIC is an important cooperation mechanism established by China, India, Brazil and South Africa to deal with climate change. The group speaks for developing countries in negotiations and plays an important constructive role in advancing the multilateral negotiation process. Faced with the daunting tasks of fighting COVID-19 and promoting sustainable socioeconomic development, developing countries including China have been doing their best to address climate change, demonstrating their strong sense of responsibility. We hope the international community can take concerted efforts to promote an equitable and reasonable climate governance mechanism for win-win cooperation to create a better future for our posterity.

AFP: US Senators recently presented a bill that proposes tougher action on alleged Chinese intellectual property theft and the bill says the US should use "the same nomenclature and protocol" for dealing with Taiwan as with foreign governments. What's China's comment on this?

Zhao Lijian: China's position on China-US relations, intellectual property rights and Taiwan-related issues is clear. The relevant US lawmakers should look at China and bilateral relations in an objective and rational light, abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, reject Cold-War and zero-sum mentality, stop pushing negative bills that interfere in China's domestic affairs and harm Chinese interests, and act in ways beneficial to the sound and steady development of bilateral relations.

Reuters: The US Secretary of State and Foreign Affairs Secretary of the Philippines said that they were concerned about Chinese militia vessels in the South China Sea recently. Do you have any comment?

Zhao Lijian: We have made clear China's position on this issue many times in recent days. The Niu'e Jiao is part of China's Nansha Islands. It is perfectly normal and irreproachable for Chinese fishing vessels to fish in the waters and take shelter during rough sea conditions. In total disregard of the facts, the US side obstinately refers to the Chinese fishing boats as "militia vessels", and repeatedly invokes the illegal and invalid the South China Sea arbitration award in an attempt to deny China's sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea. Its ill intention is doomed to fail.

At present, the situation in the South China Sea is generally stable, and China maintains close communication with the Philippines on relevant issues. We note that President Duterte of the Philippines said a few days ago that the Philippines will continue to resolve relevant issues peacefully through diplomatic channels. China urges the US side to respect the efforts of regional countries to properly address differences and maintain stability in the South China Sea, and refrain from trying to sow discords.

RIA Novosti: Two members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday introduced a bill, laying out the principles and proposing some initiatives for the United States' strategic competition with China. The bill also accuses China of leveraging its political, diplomatic, economic, military, and ideological power to become a strategic competitor of the United States. The Committee is expected to consider this bill on April 14. I wonder if China have any comment?

Zhao Lijian: China is firmly opposed to the bill introduced by relevant members of Congress. Our position on China-US relations and issues relating to trade, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan are clear and consistent. I reiterate that China is committed to developing a relationship with the US featuring non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation. At the same time we will continue to firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests. Relevant individuals on the US side should view China and China-US relations in an objective and rational light and stop pushing the negative bill concerning China.

Bloomberg: Twitter appears to be supporting the Milk Tea Alliance by introducing an emoji on Thursday and bringing more attention to this global pro-democracy movement. How does China view Twitter's decision to create this emoji?

Zhao Lijian: I already answered this question yesterday. The so-called alliance you mentioned is entrenched in its anti-China position and would make some noise on issues relating to China every now and then. As to the relevant social media platform's attitude towards this so-called alliance, I suggest you ask the company directly.

Cyberspace is not a place beyond the law. Rumors, disinformation, pornography, violence and terrorism online are common scourges. All social media operators have the responsibility to remove such illegal information online.

*******************************************************************************

With the Foreign Ministry Special Promotion Event for Hubei Province to be held on Monday, April 12, our press conference will be adjourned for that day and resumed on Tuesday, April 13. In the meantime, you can still reach the spokesperson's office by fax, Wechat or email.
In desert, profits grow from modern factories

From:ChinaDaily | 2021-04-09 09:13

Building three processing plants for agricultural goods on the edge of the Gobi Desertwhere electricity, water and other infrastructure is in short supplyhas been a 10-year battle for Ren Changyan.

However, the factories have brought dramatic changes to the lives of people in Zepu and Yarkant counties in Kashgar prefecture, Xinjiang Ugyur autonomous region.

With modern processing plants, the abundant agricultural crops in the remote counties no longer end up rotting in the fields along with lost profits. The three factories have provided job opportunities for about 1,000 individuals, while produce is bought from 20,000 households for processing, resulting in stable incomes for farmers.

"For many locals it was their first time as part of modern industries, which has altered their lives, their way of living and their ideas about the importance of education for future generations," Ren said.

The 51-year-old is general manager of Shanghai Minlong, an enterprise established in 1995 specializing in processing agricultural products. In 2010, she was part of a group of businesspeople from Shanghai who volunteered to help modernize the agricultural industry in Kashgar.

In February, Ren was recognized as a national outstanding individual in the country's poverty alleviation cause.

"I devoted my best years to the national strategy of poverty alleviation and witnessed local people's lives improve step by step over the years," she said."I've helped them in a practical way and that rewards me with joy and pride."

Foundations

The first processing plant was built in Zepu in 2010. Ren said her company overcame problems such as clearing rocks to lay the foundations of the factory, an unstable electricity supply and access to clean water.

"We built the factories from scratch," Ren said. "Before we arrived there were only small workshops and few job opportunities. People lived in adobe dwellings, which needed repair when it rained, and children walked barefoot all year round."

There was also a mountain of administrative hurdles to get over."Officials in Kashgar didn't know how to cope with food-processing license applications and I went to Urumqi (the regional capital) to make inquiries several times," Ren said.

The lack of sealed roads was also a problem, with nothing more than desert tracks for passenger vehicles and heavy trucks."I clearly remember a middle-aged man driving me to the airport. It took more than five hours and my luggage kept bumping in the back of the vehicle as we traveled through the desert without a proper road. I don't know how he figured out the direction in the desert," she said.

The first factory used advanced freeze-drying technology to process fruit, including apples, Hami melons and jujube to maximize their preservation.

The second factory, established in Yarkant in 2018, processes a number of products from badam (almonds). The county boasts the world's second-largest production area of the almond variety, which in the past had struggled to find markets.

Ren's product designers used the almonds to make cooking oil, candies, and meal replacement powder. The Shanghai company's mature offline and online sales channels were also utilized to sell the Xinjiang products.

"We even invited internet celebrities to promote these products from Xinjiang in their online live broadcasts, which has become a popular way of marketing to young people nowadays," Ren said.

Last year, a third plant began operations in Yarkant despite the COVID-19 outbreak, processing products from quinoa, a crop high in protein and low in calories.

"We receive regular visits from other local enterprises and government officials and share our food-processing technologies so that more locals become confident in the agricultural and industrial development," Ren said.

Brighter futures

Job stability has allowed many of the factory workers to plan for their children's futures, she said.

"At first, many workers disappeared after getting a salary for a week or two," Ren said."They were satisfied with having a little money to buy themselves some good food. But now, after acquiring food-processing techniques, they are more ambitious and want to work hard.

"Working in a factory after graduation has become normal and children's education has become a priority for a family."

As an added benefit, Ren said she witnessed schoolteachers from more developed provinces and cities dispatched to the counties to boost primary education over the years.

Abudurexiti Yibila, 31, has been working in the Zepu factory for six years, and oversees the freeze-drying equipment.

Before joining the factory, he had done random jobs in various factories in East China owing to the limited job opportunities in his home county.

"I'm deeply grateful for the modern enterprise built from scratch in my home county that has created an opportunity of self-realization and contributes to Xinjiang's development," he said.

He said he earns more than 5,000 yuan ($773) a month, second only to the factory managers, which has improved the quality of life for him and his family.

Ren said that a lot of the women are more energetic and vibrant after joining the workforce.

"Many lived a frugal life and there was no spare money. But today, they've become more self-confident and are more willing to spend on clothing and cosmetics," said Ren, adding that women account for roughly 70 percent of the factories' workers.

Ren said she wants to develop more production lines for local specialties, such as flour and naan bread. "In the long-term, I hope to continue to contribute to rural vitalization and retire in Kashgar," she said.
(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 09th Apr, 2021) NEW YORK  9th April 2021 (WAM)  In its briefing to the Group of Arab Member States (Arab Group) to the UN, the UAE stressed the importance of representing the Arab voice during its membership in the Security Council, as well as addressing the various issues relating to the Arab region on the Councils agenda in line with the Arab consensus.

During a virtual briefing by Minister of State Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar to the Arab Group, he reviewed the UAEs priorities on the Security Council for the term 2022-2023, focusing on how they will also contribute to achieving stability in the Arab region.

He reaffirmed that the UAE would continue to build on the tireless efforts of previous Arab Members that served on the Council. He also underscored that the UAE would seek to break deadlocks on political processes and amplify a firm Arab voice that does not compromise in defending its causes.

Al Marar addressed the myriad of challenges facing Arab countries, including severe humanitarian crises, rising extremism and terrorism, and the economic and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added: "We are all aware that finding permanent, comprehensive, and just political solutions to Arab crises is not an easy task, and there are many challenges that impede reaching such solutions. However, we also realize that we can work together to incentivize the Security Council to assume its responsibilities to seriously work towards finding real solutions to Arab crises."

He also outlined the main pillars of the UAEs "Stronger United" campaign, which are securing peace, advancing inclusion, building resilience, and spurring innovation. He emphasized that the UAE would work tirelessly to add new perspectives to the Council, including promoting innovative and practical solutions to advance progress on current issues.

Furthermore, Minister Al Marar said that he looked forward to receiving the support of the Arab Group at the election, as well as during the UAEs membership on the Council. He reaffirmed that the UAE will continue to work with the Arab Group, consult its members, and keep them apprised of the latest developments in the Security Council.
Dentistry is all about people. Happier teams mean happier patients, which is why weve built our whole organization around the mission of delivering Smiles for Everyone.

Smile Brands Inc., one of the nations leading Dental Support Organizations, has been named one of the top three Best Places to Work in Greater Los Angeles for 2021. The coveted list is based on anonymous employee feedback coupled with information collected by Comparably on company policies, practices, philosophy, systems, and demographics. View the full list here.

Smile Brands supports over 650 affiliated dental offices across 30 states. Over 1,000 of the companys 8,000 employees are located in Southern California at the companys Orange County headquarters and its 55 dental offices throughout greater Los Angeles. Smile Brands is frequently recognized as a top workplace and has previously been named a Best Company for Happiness, Culture, Women, Diversity, and Professional Development by Comparably.

Smile Brands takes workplace culture very seriously, explains Claudia Perez, Vice President of Southern California Operations. Dentistry is all about people. Happier teams mean happier patients, which is why weve built our whole organization around the mission of delivering Smiles for Everyone. Being ranked near the top of all LA-area employers is a great honor and an amazing validation that were providing our teams the support they need.

Ratings are derived from employee feedback on Comparably.com within the past 12 months. Nearly 20 different workplace culture categories were measured, from compensation, leadership, and work-life balance to professional development opportunities, and perks and benefits. All ratings were given during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 through March 2021), making this list especially relevant for anyone looking for a great place to work in the greater Los Angeles area.

About Smile Brands:

Smile Brands Inc., based in Irvine California, is one of the largest providers of dental support services in the United States. The company supports over 650 affiliated practices, with more than 8,000 Team members across 30 states. Smile Brands supports a portfolio of over 60 brands including well-known regional brands; Bright Now! Dental, Castle Dental, Merit Dental, Midwest Dental, Monarch Dental, and Mondovi Dental. The company provides comprehensive business services through exclusive long-term agreements with affiliate dental groups, allowing affiliated practices to spend more time caring for patients and less time on the administrative, marketing, and financial aspects of operating a dental office. The organization receives frequent recognition for its award-winning culture and has been on Glassdoors Best Places to Work for three straight years. Smile Brands is a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors, a leading middle-market private equity firm based in San Francisco, CA. Visit smilebrands.com for more information.
Im certain that Erdogan and Aliyev will give Nikol Pashinyan money ahead of the elections, and he will distribute the funds. This is what former Prime Minister of Armenia Hrant Bagratyan said during todays press conference.

There must not be any election. Pashinyan must resign before the elections. If these elections are held, they will imply the end of Armenia since there will be confusion after the elections. Aliyev or Erdogan might bring in troops here in order to stabilize the situation. There will be horrible events, he said.

Touching upon the war, Bagratyan said the government didnt let the army fight. Aliyev agreed to a ceasefire when it seemed that Stepanakert was already Azerbaijans. He didnt even have armored vehicles. Armenian soldiers destroyed 500 of the 1,200 units and killed 18,000 Azerbaijani soldiers, he added.
To Summit Station regarding Mr. Halcovage, this man was found to break county policy on sexual harassment and abuse and would have been terminated if he was not an elected official. Also, every top Republican in the county, after seeing the 74-page federal lawsuit against him, are now calling for his resignation or impeachment. The man has got to go. Wake up.

Pottsville



I would like to thank Don Snowell and RiteAid for organizing the COVID shot clinic in Pottsville. Mr. Snowell did an outstanding job. God bless him.

Pottsville



I have been reading all the negative reports concerning President Biden. Please remember President Trump and his daily silly updates on the coronavirus and lets not forget about injecting Clorox and Lysol into your body. Trump was a complete idiot.

Frackville



Hey, Todd Zimmerman, if anyone should be apologizing to the American people, it is you Democrats. The guy you have in the White House is a shell. He has no clue what he is doing. The border is a mess. The economy is going to be destroyed but, other than that, things are going pretty good, Todd. You want to apologize to the American people? We are ready to hear it.

Frackville



President Trumps strong border wall is falling down because of strong winds. So much for a strong wall, Donald.

Pottsville



If there is anything we have learned about Trumpers over the last five years it is not to try to tell them they dont know right from wrong because we know you know right from wrong. And so do we. Thats why we voted for the right guy in November.

Pottsville



Whether you had your shot or not, when you are serving food to public people, you have to wear your mask.

Mahanoy City



I wonder how many of the people who denounced socialism returned their stimulus check to the government.

Mahanoy City



The Republicans are a very foolish organization. They think that we are not aware of their wanting to push voter registration because that helps them out by everybody having to have a card for ID. But yet, because they are not getting the coronavirus shot, especially the politicians, they dont want to have to say that you have to get a card to prove they got the shot. You cant have it both ways. Either you want ID for voting and ID for COVID ,or you dont want an ID for either one.

Shenandoah



The people of New Philadelphia should find out what is going on with the police. These people are upset about this.

New Philadelphia



I know why so many criminals commit crimes with guns. When the police arrest them, the judges and magistrates turn them back loose on the street. Lets enforce the laws we have, not write new ones.

Gordon



The Democrats called their last bill the COVID relief bill while less than 10% is going to COVID relief. Now they have their infrastructure bill. It looks like less than 10% will go to infrastructure. In reality, a great percentage of these bills will go to more socialist, welfare programs that will probably become permanent. Next will be new irresponsible voting laws, then the great gun grab. All this right before our eyes.

Minersville



I saw a caller was wondering when they are getting their stimulus check. My husband and I never got ours and we never got the last one of $600. We are wondering, too. Where are they going to and why are we not getting them?

Shenandoah



The Democratic Partys plan to create a voting bloc of minority voters is in full swing and, if they are successful, white working-class people will have no voting influence anymore, which the Democrats believe is necessary to ensure they control all elections. So, white working-class people voting Democrat are doing so at their own demise. Unbelievable.

Hegins



I wholeheartedly approve of Governor Kemp in Georgia, voting for the Voting Integrity Law and for standing up for that. If we dont have voting honesty, America will crumble. I am very disappointed in Coca-Cola for not standing with him.

Pottsville



In reference to Halcovage, I feel he deserves due process. However, Halcovage has embarrassed the courthouse and the Republican Party. Yes, he deserves to have a hearing and be heard in court, however, I feel, as a taxpayer, if found guilty, he should pay all court costs and all fees back to the county and taxpayers and he should give up his retirement and pension.

Pottsville



Its about time we got off politicians. Lets talk about Schuylkill County. The paving job on the Heights Hill coming down from Ringtown, it hasnt been down five months and it is cracking. Whats going on? Was the mixture bad? Or wasnt the right depth of blacktop put down? Years ago, they took core samples.

Ringtown



Hey, Biden, something to ponder: When we all die and meet our maker at Heavens gate, he will not ask about what your neighbor did to you. No. He will ask what did you do to your neighbor.

Ringtown
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  A legislative committee has overhauled a contentious proposal to require Indiana voters to submit identification numbers with mail-in ballot applications.

Changes to the bill approved Thursday by the House elections committee will only require submission of a voters Indiana drivers license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number with online mail ballot applications.

The panel deleted provisions that Republicans had pushed through the Senate making voters put such numbers on paper applications. Some election officials and voting rights advocates argued that would create a hurdle for voters since they likely wouldnt know which number is on file with county election officials and could lead to applications being rejected.

Committee Chairman Rep. Tim Wesco, a Republican from Osceola, said he believe the step would improve security for online ballot applications.

It would make it more difficult for someone to request an absentee ballot for another person without their consent, because they would have to have that personal information, Wesco said.

Democratic Rep. Tonya Pfaff of Terre Haute proposed the change, saying the ID numbers werent needed on paper applications since state law already required election workers to check the voters signature from registration records before sending out a mail-in ballot.

Republican sponsors of the bill, which now goes to the full House for consideration, argued it was aimed at preventing voter fraud by having similar voter ID requirements for mail voting as the state has for in-person voting at polling sites.

The proposal also drew opposition from Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co., with a top executive telling the committee Tuesday that the company believed the bill wasnt needed and that it stoked false claims of widespread voting fraud during the 2020 election.

The committee also voted to drop a provision that would prohibit the state election commission from changing an election date or expanding mail-in voting options as it did by delaying the 2020 primary by a month with the support of Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and Indiana GOP and Democratic state party leaders during the early weeks of the states COVID-19 outbreak.

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Democratic Rep. Matt Pierce of Bloomington said the state needed a mechanism to adjust elections in the event of a natural disaster without waiting for the Legislature to meet and approve changes.

Some committee members, however, still believed the state election commission, which is appointed by the governor, shouldnt have that authority.

I think it is proper for the Legislature to choose the time, date, manner of elections, said Republican Rep. Ethan Manning of Logansport. While I understand there are emergencies, I still think its important for the Legislature to be the primary driver of those policies.
A total of 978 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Massachusetts schools as elementary students across the state have started learning in-person five days a week, education officials said.

Those cases, among 821 students and 157 staff members, were detected from April 1 to 7, according to a weekly report from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The report includes positive cases among students and staff members who have tested positive for the virus within seven days of being inside a school building. This means students learning remotely are not included.

After several weeks of increasing case counts in schools, this weeks report shows a dip in new positives. Last week, the state reported 1,045 total new cases. The week before that, there were 910 new cases of the virus.

Many elementary school students across the state started fully in-person learning this week. As of Monday, there are roughly 610,000 students and 115,000 staffers in public school buildings.

Of the positives in this weeks report, 815 student cases and 152 staff cases were at local school districts, 3 student cases and 3 staff cases were at education collaboratives, and 3 student cases and 2 staff cases were at approved special education schools, per DESE data.

Boston, the states largest school district, reported 31 student cases in the past week. Worcester had 23, Pittsfield had 20, Framingham had 17, Plymouth had 16 and Andover had 15, according to the report.

Staff cases among districts included 12 in Boston, 8 in Worcester, and 6 each in Lawrence and New Bedford.

Dozens of other districts reported varying numbers of staff and student cases.

Among education collaboratives, there was one student case each at the Collaborative for Regional Educational Service and Training (CREST), LABBB Collaborative and Valley Collaborative. There was one staff case each at South Coast Educational Collaborative, Northshore Education Consortium and Shore Educational Collaborative.

At approved special education schools, there was one student case each at the Springdale Education Center School, Cotting School and Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health School. There was one staff case each at Hillcrest Educational Centers School and New England Center for Children School.

While officials have said that in-school spread of the virus has been very low, the state is monitoring some COVID-19 clusters.

There are 25 new clusters identified from March 7 to April 3, according to DPH data. There are 19 ongoing clusters identified before March 7.

School clusters include cases associated with a school where in-school transmission cannot be completely ruled out, officials have said, though other transmission settings are considered more likely. A cluster is considered closed after 28 days have passed since the last confirmed case.

Evidence of possible in-school transmission includes two or more cases that share a classroom or other school setting; timing between cases, as the average time between exposure and development of disease for COVID-19 is 5 days; and ruling out of other exposure settings, officials said.

On Monday, 90% of districts started full-time in-person learning at elementary schools. All elementary schools in the state will have full-time learning by May 3, officials have said. On April 28, most schools will start offering five days a week of in-person learning for grade 6-8 students. Sometime this month, DESE is expected to announce a return date for high schoolers.

Parents can opt to keep their children home for remote learning through the rest of the academic year.

Related Content:
Amid a row over vaccine shortage in India, the ministry of external affairs has clarified that the government will not stop the supply of made-in-India vaccines to other nations but at the same time, it'll also ensure the country's domestic needs are taken care of. The MEA asserted that there's no ban on the export of vaccines. "We have always said the supply of made-in-India vaccines abroad would continue taking into account our domestic requirements," said Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

He said the ministry is consistently updating the website to reflect the supply of vaccines that are being exported to other nations. "Let me reiterate that there is no ban on the export of vaccines. In fact, the website of our ministry is being regularly updated to reflect the supply of vaccines that are happening on a periodic basis," he said.

Also read: Govt panel to probe side effects of Covishield, Covaxin vaccines

Bagchi, commenting on AstraZeneca sending a notice to the Serum Institute of India for not fulfilling its international commitment under 'GAVI' and 'COVAX', said only Serum would be in a better position to answer that. He also said the issue of procurement of raw material from the US had also been taken up with the Biden administration.

The MEA's clarification comes amid an ongoing debate over the export of vaccines with some states, mostly non-BJP ruled, flagging the issue of shortage of vaccines. Maharashtra was the first state to send SoS to the Centre, saying many vaccination centres have to be shut because of a vaccine shortage. Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Odisha also joined Maharashtra, asking the Centre to release more vaccines and allow vaccination of younger people as cases continue to rise at an unprecedented pace.

Also Read: Coronavirus vaccine: How India will prevent black marketing of COVID-19 cure

In response, health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan in a strongly worded statement slammed the states, saying these were "deplorable attempts by some state governments" to distract attention from "their failures and spread panic among the people". Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, interactedwith the chief ministers of various states on the COVID-19 situation virtually on Thursday.

"I told you that you shouldn't worry a bit if the number of cases is high. Don't be under any kind of pressure that your performance is bad because your numbers are high. You just focus on testing, I'm telling you even now. There is no reason to think you are doing badly if your numbers are high...There will be more positive cases if you do more testing," he told the CMs of various states. India reported 1,31,968 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. A total of 61,899 patients were discharged from hospitals and 780 succumbed to the virus in the past 24 hours.

Also read: Covid-19 update: Two arrested for Remdesivir black marketing in Mumbai
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During the early days of his public life in Britain, the Duke of Edinburgh's nickname  waspishly repeated by Private Eye  was 'Phil the Greek'. But he had no Greek blood, and he intensely disliked the country of his birth.

Hounded out of a nation where his grandfather and uncle had once reigned as kings, he was born just as the Greek royal family fell to a military dictatorship. His childhood was spent on the run, and there was never a place he could call home.

Yet it was these uncertainties and vicissitudes in his young life that tempered and strengthened him, turning him into the rock the Queen could cling to.

In time, he would channel his experiences into a single driving force, to make sure that what happened to his family in Greece  assassination, ignominy, exile  could never happen in Britain.

A day at the beach: A young Philip with his father, Prince Andrew of Greece, and mother, Princess Andrew of Greece, formerly Princess Alice of Battenberg, circa 1925

During the early days of his public life in Britain, the Duke of Edinburgh's nickname - waspishly repeated by Private Eye - was 'Phil the Greek'. But he had no Greek blood, and he intensely disliked the country of his birth. (Above, Philip contorts his face during a biscuit-eating competition at school)

Prince Philip of Greece being held by Princess Alice of Greece in 1921. Legend has it that she gave birth to him on the kitchen table

When Philip was born, Andrew and Alice were living in a house called Mon Repos on the Greek island of Corfu. Philip's grandfather had been assassinated in a typically Greek reaction against their royalty, but after a period of exile the royal family had been allowed back into the country

But while he was born a prince, by the time he wed Princess Elizabeth in 1947 he had little more than the clothes he stood up in and a handful of change in his pocket.

The Greeks had always been ambivalent about the idea of monarchy, but by the mid-19th century they felt in need of a king.

They approached William, the 17-year-old son of King Christian of Denmark  itself a branch of a German royal house  and thus Philip's grandfather ascended the throne of Greece as King George I.

The new king's fourth son, Andrew, married Princess Alice of Battenberg and together they produced four daughters  Margarita, Theodora, Cecile and Sophie  before finally, in 1921, an heir, Philip, was born.

Legend has it that his mother gave birth to her son on the kitchen table.

By this time, Andrew and Alice were living in a house called Mon Repos on the Greek island of Corfu. Philip's grandfather had been assassinated in a typically Greek reaction against their royalty, but after a period of exile the royal family had been allowed back into the country.

However, Philip's father Andrew's indolent performance as a military officer during the Greco-Turkish conflict, which followed World War I, caused him to be sentenced to death by a military court.

Having temporarily established his young family in France, Philip's father, Andrew (above), took off for the Cote d'Azur and they rarely saw him again

By the time Philip was eight, a strain of madness which visited his mother (above) occasionally had taken a firmer grip. A doctor diagnosed her as a paranoid schizophrenic and she was committed to an insane asylum in Switzerland

He was reprieved, escaping to Italy with his family on a British cruiser sent by King George V.

The infant Prince Philip spent the voyage to Brindisi lying in an orange box aboard the ship, and then travelled in a sooty steam train to Paris. For his father, the experience proved too much.

Having temporarily established his young family in France, he took off for the Cote d'Azur and they rarely saw him again.

By the time Philip was eight, a strain of madness which visited his mother occasionally had taken a firmer grip. A doctor diagnosed her as a paranoid schizophrenic and she was committed to an insane asylum in Switzerland.

By then, Philip had already been bundled off to a prep school in Berkshire. He did not see his mother again for many years.

His father was living it up in Monte Carlo with a smart mistress in blue eyeglasses, the Comtesse Andree de la Bigne.

To all intents and purposes, nine-year-old Philip was an orphan  even though both his parents still lived.

Later, he recalled: 'The family broke up. My mother was ill, my sisters were married, my father was in the South of France. I just had to get on with it. You do. One does.'

Blond-haired and dazzlingly blue-eyed, he was arrestingly handsome in his teenage years.

But the lack of parental love and protection took its toll: in the school holidays he was shuttled between various relations  his maternal grandmother, the Marchioness of Milford Haven, and her son, the second Marquess, among them.

When Philip was at Gordonstoun, the homeless, parentless child threw himself into being as successful a schoolboy as he could be

But his cousin, Lady Kennard, recalled: 'As a little boy, he was very happy. Very jolly, very lively. As he grew older he became more thoughtful and introspective. He never saw his parents. Never. And he minded that.

'He was happy at boarding school but he said to me: 'Everybody has a family to go back to. I don't.' ' The school he was sent to  paid for by his uncle the Marquess  was Cheam, the oldest prep school in England, where he was a popular boy thanks to his good looks and sporting prowess.

He was then sent to Salem, a boarding school in Germany, near the family home of his sister Theodora's father-in-law Prince Max of Baden, which had been founded by Kurt Hahn, an eccentric Jewish German educationalist.

Shortly after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Hahn was arrested.

After his release, thanks partly to the personal intervention of the British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald, he fled to Britain, where, on the shores of the Moray Firth, he started a boarding school called Gordonstoun.

Prince Philip was also appalled by the Nazis. He found the Nazi salute ridiculous because it reminded him of the Cheam custom of raising one's hand whenever one wanted permission to go to the lavatory.

Andrew and Alice of Battenberg produced four daughters - Margarita (right), Theodora (left), Cecile and Sophie  before finally, in 1921, an heir, Philip, was born. The eldest, Margarita, wed Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Langenburg in 1930. The next, Theodora, married the Margrave of Baden. Cecile married the Grand Duke of Hesse, and Sophie married first Prince Christoph of Hesse, then Prince George of Hanover. They were all Nazis. (Also pictured, centre, is Lady Louise Mountbatten)

Once, when a Jewish schoolmate had his head shaved by Nazi sympathisers, Philip loaned him his Cheam cap so he could cover his head.

His anxious relations decided that Germany was unsafe for him and so, in 1934, he joined Hahn in Scotland. Hahn exercised a profound influence on the young prince and was the guiding spirit behind Philip's later educational adventures, including the Outward Bound Schools and The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme.

At Gordonstoun, the homeless, parentless child threw himself into being as successful a schoolboy as he could be.

'Philip is universally trusted, liked and respected,' wrote Hahn in a glowing report. 'He has the greatest sense of service of all the boys in the school.'

He went on to note his pupil's 'intelligence and spirit', his 'recklessness' and added, for good measure, his 'determination not to exert himself more than was necessary to avoid trouble'.

Undoubtedly he had learned to live on his own, to become self-sufficient. Indeed, the headmaster was sufficiently impressed by Philip to make him 'Guardian', or head boy.

As his character developed, he learned when to button his lip, despite having a fearsome temper and a range of opinions which came from time spent alone, thinking.

He was courageous, charming  two aspects of his personality which won over his future wife but also chameleon-like. This latter attribute, as much as any other, was to stand him in good stead in later years as he learned to withstand the pressures of life at Court.

By the time Philip was 18, Britain was preparing for war. His family name was Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg, but despite speaking four languages, including German, and having spent many of his school holidays in Germany, the young man was more British than anything else. Not only British, but anti-Nazi.

One of the great tragedies of Philip's life occurred when Cecile (above), the sister to whom he had been particularly close, was killed with her husband and children in a plane crash in 1937

These were strongly held feelings, despite the fact that his four sisters all married Germans.

The eldest, Margarita, wed Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Langenburg in 1930. The next, Theodora, married the Margrave of Baden. Cecile married the Grand Duke of Hesse, and Sophie married first Prince Christoph of Hesse, then Prince George of Hanover. They were all Nazis.

Margarita's husband was a corps commander during the Nazi invasion of Austria in 1938 and had considerable contact with Nazi party leaders in the run-up to the outbreak of war.

Theodora's husband had provided the buildings for Kurt Hahn's fledgling school, Salem, but allowed the school, which remained after its founder's flight, to become pro-Nazi in its teachings.

Cecile's husband joined the Nazi party in 1937, while Sophie's husband Christoph von Hesse was a member of the SS.

A photograph exists of a family funeral in Darmstadt in 1937, when Philip was 16, with members of his extended family parading in their military uniforms. Hermann Goering is a guest of honour.

Philip is there, too, stern-faced, aloof, already distanced from the pseudo-military flummery which turns what should be a private occasion into a Nazi Party rally. There can be no question, given his body language, about the degree of discomfort he is suffering.

(One of the great tragedies of Philip's life occurred when Cecile, the sister to whom he had been particularly close, was killed with her husband and children in a plane crash in 1937.)

When war came, Philip joined the Royal Navy and fought with distinction against the Nazi threat. For the duration of hostilities, he had no contact with the surviving sisters who adored him, but of whose choices of husband he could not approve.

Yet in April 1946 he finally met up with them again. Nevertheless, they were barred from attending his 1947 wedding to Princess Elizabeth  the fear of anti-German sentiment was too great.

When war came, Philip joined the Royal Navy and fought with distinction against the Nazi threat. For the duration of hostilities, he had no contact with the surviving sisters who adored him, but of whose choices of husband he could not approve

Instead, they were treated to a 22-page account of the proceedings written by their mother, Princess Alice, who had almost recovered from her period of insanity.

By the time of the Coronation in 1953, a decision was taken that bygones should be bygones and the sisters were given prominent seats at Westminster Abbey, yet still Philip felt it best not to remind the nation too often of his close German relations.

Though he corresponded regularly with them, and paid private visits to them in Germany, when they returned his visits they were mostly invited to Balmoral, away from the public gaze.

His father, the feckless Prince Andrew, had died in 1944 without Philip ever seeing him again. He left behind a few books and pictures, a pair of hairbrushes and a signet ring.

His mother Princess Alice lived on until 1969, spending her last days privately and unannounced at Buckingham Palace.

Her clothing was a grey nun's habit, though she 'smoked like a chimney', according to a servant. She was 84 when she died. Philip described her life as one 'of wars, revolutions, separations and tragedies'.

In his life, the Duke of Edinburgh was often criticised for his straight-talking. But that directness was born of his upbringing  first exile, then the loss of his parents, followed by the estrangement of his sisters.

From the age of one until he married Princess Elizabeth, he had no home to call his own, no close family to whom he could turn. But through adversity he developed an inner strength on which, for the duration of their long marriage, the Queen came to rely.
US Special Presidential Envoy on has welcomed India's ambitious goal of generating 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 and said that Washington will help New Delhi achieve it by helping mobilise international funding.

Rounding up a three-day visit to India on Thursday, Kerry told reporters: "That's a terrific goal, we think that's a powerful goal," and "we want to make sure that we're facilitating the ability to reach that goal".

Kerry said "that's part of the partnership that we reached" in discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Indian leaders

Last year, Modi set the target of 450 GW by 2030 as India, which now heavily coal-dependent marches towards an ultimate goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Modi tweeted after their meeting on Wednesday: "Had an excellent discussion with US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate His passion and commitment to expedite climate action are commendable."

"We intend to work very closely together, focusing on the deployment of 450 GW, on technology and on the finance components of that," Kerry said.

"There are lots of countries that would be willing to invest -- obviously with the right investment conditions," in India's projects, he said.

He said that the United Arab Emirates, which he visited before coming to India, is interested in partnering with the US on the endeavour and that he had spoken to some countries in Europe and North America "who are prepared to try to be helpful".

Kerry's visit to India comes ahead of the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate convened by President Joe Biden on April 22 and 23, and the UN Conference in Glasgow in November.

Biden has made one of his top priorities and appointed Kerry, a former Secretary of State, to be the point person for it.

The President sees an important role for New Delhi in his global climate agenda as the two countries draw closer together strategically while India is the third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China, although in per capita terms it is a much smaller polluter.

Although Biden seeks cooperation with China on climate change, unlike with New Delhi, political and strategic relations with Beijing are hostile.

Kerry said that "India is a key partner" of the US fighting climate change.

"It's not only the largest democracy in the world, but it is by values a country that hugely cares about the relationship of all of us to the planet, to the environment, the surroundings around us," he said.

"Prime Minister is hugely seized by a sense of responsibility which we feel provides the capacity for a very important partnership."

About the scope of the climate change partnership between India and US, Kerry said: "We have, both of us, innovative, entrepreneurial populations that are always trying to push the limits of discovery -- research and development, the creation of new products, new solutions.

"Having a partnership really links a country that has enormous development challenges with a country that is developed but still has major transitional infrastructure and other types of challenges, so there's a lot in common and we very much look forward to working with our friends here."

During his India visit, Kerry also met Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Power and Renewable Energy Minister Raj Kumar Singh, Commerce and Industry Miinister Piyush Goyal, and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

"Officials of the two countries will pursue ways in which they can deepen their partnership on climate and clean energy in this critical decade," the State Department said in a statement.

During his interaction with reporters, Kerry said that former President Donald Trump had damaged Washington's standing on climate by pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, but "we come back with humility. We come back knowing the last four years were a disappointment to people".

"He shot America's credibility in the head and turned his back on science and became the only leader of a nation who decided to withdraw from the agreement.

"We get hurt by him getting out but the truth is the American people continued to fight. And people need to know that because that will help us restore our credibility.

"I hope people in India and elsewhere in the world will recognise that Donald Trump is Donald Trump... He lost the race," he added.

Kerry is scheduled to begin a visit to Bangladesh on Friday.

While in New Delhi, Kerry also met with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Serger Lavrov who was on a separate mission to India and talked about climate.

Russia's TASS News Agency reported that the meeting took place in the lobby of the hotel where they were both staying.

It noted that Biden has invited Russia's President Vladimir Putin to the Climate Summit and said that according to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, "the details are now being worked out through diplomatic channels".

--IANS

al/ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sensex and Nifty are likely to open flat today amid mixed global cues. Nifty futures were trading 13.50 points or 0.09 per cent down at 14,932.50 on Singaporean Exchange, suggesting a weak start for the Indian benchmark indices. On Thursday, benchmark indices ended higher in choppy trade as rising coronavirus cases and restrictions across the country kept investors on the edge. Sensex closed 84.45 points higher at 49,661 and Nifty gained 54 points to 14,873. Top Sensex gainers were UltraTech Cement, Titan, Tech Mahindra, Nestle India, TCS, Bajaj Finserv and L&T rallying up to 4.24 per cent.

Here's a look at stocks that are likely to be in news today.

JK Tyre Industries: India Ratings and Research has assigned a long-term issuer rating 'IND A- / Stable' to Cavendish Industries Ltd, a unit of JK Tyre and Industries Ltd.

Muthoot Finance: The gold loan non-banking financial company has launched its 25th issue of secured public non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and plans to raise up to Rs 1,700 crore through the issue. The NCD is offering a yield in the range of 6.60% to 8.25% per annum.

Vodafone Idea: The telco has launched internet of things (IoT) solutions comprising connectivity, hardware, network, application, analytics, security and support for enterprises that seek to digitise their businesses.

Escorts Finance: The company has agreed to transfer its entire shareholding of 10.81% in Escorts Securities to Choice International unit Choice Equity Broking, Escorts Finance said.

Srei Equipment Finance: The company's unit Srei Equipment Finance has received expression of interest for up to $250 million capital infusion from private equity funds, namely, US-based Arena Investors LP and Singapore's Makara Capital Partners, Srei Equipment Finance.

Mahindra and Mahindra Financial: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has increased its stake in Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services Ltd by acquiring 12 lakh shares in the company. The insurer acquired 12 lakh shares, representing 0.097 per cent stake, of Mahindra Finance through open market transactions, LIC said.

JSW Steel: The company said it clocked crude steel output of 4.19 million tonnes in Q4FY21, a rise of 2% quarter-on-quarter and 6% year-on-year. The company's average capacity utilisation rose from 91% in Q3FY21 to 93% for Q4FY21. However, the capacity utilisation during the month of March 2021 was 96%.

Infosys: The IT firm said ArcelorMittal has chosen it to help accelerate the companys digital transformation journey and enable next- generation application management and business process management (BPM) services for ArcelorMittal Europe.
[April 09, 2021] GigNet Signs Agreement with Grupo RosaNegra of Quintana Roo, Mexico to Provide Broadband and Managed Services to Enhance Fine Dining Experiences

GigNet, a Digital Infrastructure company with an extensive regional fiber optic broadband network from Costa Mujeres, North of Cancun, through the Hotel Zone of Tulum, announced today it is providing broadband for fast and reliable Internet to Grupo RosaNegra in Quintana Roo. Grupo RosaNegra operates many popular and renowned restaurants in Quintana Roo and Mexico City, each of which are recognized for their excellent cuisine, impeccable service, and an unrivaled atmosphere. The group plans on doubling the number of restaurants by the end of the year. GigNet will provide Managed Services for multiple locations for Grupo RosaNegra including existing and planned restaurants in Cancun and Tulum such as Rosa Negra, Tora, Taboo, Parole, Funky Geisha, Tantra, and Chambao. "We cater to a client with an educated palate who demands quality and service. We aim to meet their expectations in every way we can," said Eduardo Beaven, Founding Partner of Grupo RosaNegra. "GigNet has exceeded our expectations with regards to connectivity and we are going to partner with GigNet in all of our locations in Cancun and Tulum. High speed, reliable Internet has allowed our customers to share the experience of dining at any of the Grupo RosaNegra restaurants in real time on social media with their friends and loved ones, which is an asset especially for those who are celebrating special occasions. Secure high-speed Internet andWiFi are also critical for our operations and staff as we achieve the highest levels of efficiency and customer experience at our restaurants."



"We now rely on Internet to socialize, communicate and connect when we travel. We are excited about helping residents and visitors to the Mexican Caribbean to share the wonderful experiences that are available here, including the incredible cuisine," said Mark Carney, OBE, President of GigNet Mexico. "We will be supplying our GigNet enterprise solutions for fast, reliable broadband services to Grupo RosaNegra, enabling simultaneous use of cloud and streaming applications that will not only enhance their already superior customer service, but will also improve communication, automation, and the decision-making process for the group's administrative team - essentials for a growing company such as Grupo RosaNegra. We look forward to partnering in their growth and continued success." About Grupo RosaNegra

Grupo RosaNegra restaurants in Quintana Roo and Mexico City offer an exquisite experience that embraces fine dining coupled with a romantic and memorable atmosphere filled with flavor, music, and color. At Rosa Negra Cancun, customers enjoy the excellent cuisine as they watch the elegant yachts come and go from the pier as well as the light and water show that are accompanied by delightful music choreographed by the resident DJs. https://gruporosanegra.com.mx/en ABOUT GIGNET GigNet is the Mexican Caribbean brand of GigNet, Inc., a U.S. based international Digital Infrastructure company. Through its Mexico operating subsidiaries, GigNet, S.A. de C.V., and Sanalto Redes Peninsular, S.A.P.I. de C.V., the Company is a fully licensed telecommunications provider in Mexico. GigNet is actively adding customers to its extensive regional broadband network in the Mexican Caribbean, one of the largest and fastest growing tourism destinations in the world, with over 25 million annual airport visitors. GigNet is a leader in the digital transformation of the region. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005441/en/

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Both the Biden administration and the Israeli government are concerned about a potential Hamas victory in the upcoming Palestinian elections, but neither will say so publicly so as not to be blamed for trying to sabotage the vote, Israeli officials tell me.

Driving the news: In a call last Friday with Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi stressed that Israel wouldn't put any obstacles in the way of the vote, but raised concerns that divisions within President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah party could pave the way for a Hamas win.

Blinken said the U.S. would not object to the May 22 elections.

Between the lines: Israeli officials say both the U.S. and Israel would be relieved if the vote were postponed.

The state of play: There will be 36 electoral lists in the upcoming elections, with just one united list for the Islamist Hamas movement and several separate lists for the secular Fatah.

As in the 2006 elections, infighting inside Fatah led to a rift between some of the party's most prominent officials.

Marwan Barghouti, a popular Fatah leader who is currently in an Israeli prison, decided to support a list headed by Nasser al-Qudwa, a former foreign minister who was expelled from Fatah over his criticism of Abbas.

Mohammed Dahlan, the former leader of Fatah in Gaza, will support a separate list of ex-Fatah activists.

Behind the scenes: The Blinken-Ashkenazi call was the first high-level discussion between Israel and the U.S. about the Palestinian elections, but it was relatively short part of the conversation.

Israeli officials tell me they are concerned that the election, and Israel-Palestinian issues in general, is a low priority for the Biden administration.

What they're saying: The State Department's public line on the Palestinian Elections appears to be a holdover from previous administrations.

The exercise of democratic elections is a matter for the Palestinian people to determine," a State Department official told me, adding that it's important for participants in the democratic process to accept previous agreements, renounce violence and terrorism and recognize Israels right to exist.

Worth noting: This is the third time I have received the exact same response from the State Department about the Palestinian elections.

Whats next: A key question is whether Israel will allow Palestinians in East Jerusalem to vote. Israeli officials note that they agreed to do so in 2006, hinting it won't be an obstacle.
SALACIOUS details have emerged of how the former first familys elite schools and orphanage nestled in a vast estate in Mazowe  40km north of Harare  were rocked by an alleged child sexual abuse scandal that was kept under wraps.

Investigations revealed the shocking scandal at Grace Mugabe Orphanage and Amai Mugabe Junior and High schools after 10 children were allegedly caught up in the scandal from late 2018 to 2019.

The names (supplied) of the minors cannot be revealed to protect their identity. The matter was reported to Grace Mugabe in 2019, but it was kept a closely guarded secret for fear of investigation by authorities.

The scandal erupted, according to high-level officials, after an Advanced Level student allegedly abused a minor at the orphanage in 2018.

At the time of the abuse, school pupils in the boarding school were using the same facilities as the 94 orphans adopted by the former first lady.

This then sparked a series of cases which came to the fore after four children sustained injuries related to the sexual abuse and were rushed to Concession Hospital.

Medical personnel at the hospital confirmed to the Zimbabwe Independent that such cases were handled at the institution.

Mashonaland Central provincial medical director Clemence Tshuma did not respond to questions.

However, it is understood that Grace set up an investigating team led by the orphanage resident pastor Miriam Chigiga, Amai Grace Mugabe Foundation administrator Misheck Muchimwe and Amai Mugabe Junior School headmaster Stephen Zulu.

What was heart-wrenching was that two of the abused boys are HIV positive, they were born with the condition. This is why its important that the matter should be brought to light to make sure it is dealt with thoroughly, an official close to the matter said.

To cover up the scandal, the Amai Grace Mugabe Foundation, then made recommendations to Mugabe to employ a resident nurse named Susan Sunhwa, who would look into the health affairs of the children to plug any information leakages about the goings-on at the orphanage and schools.

Chigiga denied that there was once a sexual abuse scandal at the orphanage and school, saying she was nurturing the children in Christian values.

These children have responsible caregivers who are widows and single mothers who always keep an eye on them. There is no way the children can be involved in such abuse cases because we teach them Godly ways. We dont tolerate that; we are an openly Christian school, Chigiga, a Zaoga ordained pastor, said.

Muchimwe chipped in: Nothing of that sort ever happened at the schools. But sources insisted that the scandal unfolded.

If they (school authorities) deny that there was such a case then we can surely produce the names of the children who were involved. Grace was informed about the issue; Bona Mugabe-Chikore is also aware of it. Evidence is available to that effect, an impeccable source said.

Repeated efforts to get a comment from Grace Mugabe were futile. Her daughter, who oversees family businesses, Mugabe-Chikores phone went unanswered several times. The Independent has also established that Grace Mugabe is keeping children at the Mazowe orphanage far above the stipulated 70 granted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.

According to a Grace Mugabe Childrens Home certificate, registration number SW/10/111 signed by the then Labour and Social Welfare minister Paurina Mpariwa, the orphanage has a cap for 70 children taken from birth to 18 years.

The certificate was issued on February 3, 2012 under the Childrens Act (Chapter 5:06) for the establishment of a childrens home at Iron Mask Farm in Mazowe.

Mugabe, according to some of her employees, sources food like mealie-meal and meat from her farms to cater for the children.

They dont buy a lot of things. Most of the food comes from her farms. But the problem is that she violated the law by taking in more children than is allowed by the certificate she got from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, an official at the orphanage said.

Chigiga said the children were well taken care of and there were no issues of overcrowding. During the Mugabe reign, teachers at the Amai Mugabe Junior and High Schools were mostly drawn from government and seconded to the private institution.

Government teachers from the high school resigned from government after Mugabe was removed from power in November 2017 and were absorbed as full-time private employees while those at the junior school remained in the civil service.

Half of the teachers at the junior school are still government employees. The government employees also receive allowances from the private school.

Amai Mugabe schools are upmarket learning institutions which charge US$1 800 per term. Primary and Secondary Education ministry spokesperson Taungana Ndoro said government workers could be seconded to private schools if private schools request for additional staff.

There are government teachers in schools that are run by councils and churches; all these are private schools. Even in some trust schools there are teachers who are on government payroll, Ndoro said. Zimbabwe Independent
Topics ranging from catalysts and visual communication to main memory technologies; approximately 82 million for three years

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is establishing 13 new Priority Programmes (SPP) for 2022. This was decided by the DFG Senate at a meeting that was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 13 new consortia were selected from 47 submitted initiatives and will receive a total of approximately 82 million for an initial three years. In addition, there will be a 22-percent programme allowance for indirect project-related costs.

The programmes now approved cover the entire breadth of subjects, including the humanities and social sciences, engineering sciences, life sciences and natural sciences. The diverse range of topics include an analysis of the interaction between societies and pre-industrial floodplains in Central Europe "on the way to the fluvial anthroposphere", a study of how European society has treated Jewish cultural heritage and the development of machine learning for molecular applications. The programmes each reflect the generic theme of the respective SPP. In the coming months, the DFG will announce the consortia individually before going on to review the incoming funding proposals in terms of scientific quality and their contribution to the overriding theme in each case.

The aim of Priority Programmes is to investigate the scientific foundations of particularly topical or emerging research areas. All programmes have a clear interdisciplinary orientation and use particularly innovative methods. The promotion of early career investigators is a central element of the SPP; in addition, all new consortia are organised according to an equal opportunities concept. Priority programmes are funded for six years. A total of 89 SPPs are currently being funded.

The new Priority Programmes in detail

(in alphabetical order of the coordinators' HEIs)

Priority Programme "Linking catalysts, mechanisms and reactor concepts for the conversion of dinitrogen by electrocatalytic, photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical methods ("nitroconversion")" (Coordinator: Professor Dr. Roland Marschall, University of Bayreuth) Priority Programme "Resilience in networked worlds - Managing failures, overload, attacks and the unknown" (Coordinator: Professor Dr.-Ing. Falko Dressler, TU Berlin) Priority Programme "Local and peripheral factors of microglial diversity and function" (Coordinator: Dr. Susanne Wolf, Charite - FU Berlin and HU Berlin) Priority Programme "One Hundred Plus - Extending the life of complex building structures through intelligent digitalisation". (Coordinator: Professor Dr.-Ing. Steffen Marx, TU Dresden) Priority Programme "Emergent functions of bacterial multicellularity" (Coordinator: Professor Dr. Thorsten Mascher, TU Dresden) Priority Programme "Visual communication. Theoretical, empirical and applied perspectives (ViCom)" (Coordinator: Professor Dr. Cornelia Ebert, University of Frankfurt) Priority Programme "Jewish cultural heritage" (Coordinator: Professor Dr. Sarah M. Ross, Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media) Priority Programme "Autonomous processes in particle technology - Research and testing of concepts for model-based control of particle technology processes" (Coordinator: Professor Dr.-Ing. Hermann Nirschl, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) Priority Programme "On the way to the fluvial anthroposphere" (Coordinator: Professor Dr. Christoph Zielhofer, University of Leipzig) Priority Programme "The genomic basis of evolutionary innovations (GEvol)" (Coordinator: Professor Dr. Erich Bornberg-Bauer, University of Munster) Priority Programme "Use and development of machine learning for molecular applications - Molecular machine learning" (Coordinator: Professor Dr. Frank Glorius, University of Munster) Priority Programme "Disruptive main storage technologies" (Coordinator: Professor Dr.-Ing. Olaf Spinczyk, University of Osnabruck) Priority Programme "Daring to use more intelligence - Design assistants in mechanics and dynamics" (Coordinator: Professor Dr.-Ing. Peter Eberhard, University of Stuttgart)

###

Further Information

Media contact: DFG Press and Public Relations, Tel. +49 228 885-2109, presse@dfg.de

Information is also available from the coordinators of the new Priority Programmes.
Retail brokerage Robinhood Financial did not report a certain type of stock trade it executed for customers last year to a public data feed, according to regulatory data analyzed by Reuters and a source familiar with the matter.

So-called fractional shares are offered by many brokerages. They let investors buy a slice of a share instead of the whole thing, so rather than forking out more than $3,000 on a share of Amazon.com Inc, an investor can buy as little as $1 worth.

Also Read | Why insolvency pros are living on the edge

Brokerages are required to report all their trades to trade execution facilities (TRFs), according to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and US Securities and Exchange Commission rules. FINRAs enforcement has fined other brokerages, including Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank AG's US securities division, for violations of its reporting and supervisory rules in the past.

Robinhood launched its fractional share service in December 2019, according to its website, but only began publicly reporting trade executions the week of Jan. 25, 2021, FINRA data relating to over-the-counter transactions show. Data before then does not show any trades reported by Robinhood.

Robinhood's lack of reporting to a trade execution facility was confirmed by a person familiar with the company who asked not to be identified in order to discuss a matter that is not public.

Reuters could not determine how many trades Robinhood failed to report. As of Dec. 31, Robinhood users held $802.5 million in shares bought through its fractional share program, the brokerage said in a regulatory filing.

A spokeswoman for Robinhood, which had 13 million customers as of November, confirmed that the "vast majority" of the fractional shares purchased through its platform were executed by wholesale brokers, who would have reported those trades.

Robinhood only executes a "very small percentage of its fractional orders from its own inventory," the spokeswoman said.

A spokesman for FINRA, which polices brokerages, declined to comment.

When stocks trade on exchanges, everyone can see the activity. But when stocks trade over-the-counter, as is the case with Robinhood, investors rely on brokers to report the trades to the TRF. The information helps determine share prices.

When certain trades are not publicly reported, it diminishes the amount of information available to market participants, and could create an unlevel playing field, FINRA says.

NOT A MAJOR LAPSE

Still, some experts said that while the omission was sufficiently serious to warrant fines to keep it from happening again, it was not a major lapse. Thats because the number of trades that went unreported would be a small fraction of the overall trading, these people said.

"Should they deserve to get a parking ticket for it? Yes. Should it be painful enough that they dont do it again? Yes," said James Angel, finance professor at Georgetown University who specializes in market structure, when Reuters presented the data to him. "Should it be so overwhelming that it puts them out of business? Heck no."

The reporting lapse came as the company, which last month filed for an initial public offering that sources told Reuters values it at around $30 billion, was expanding rapidly and legions of new retail traders were entering the market.

FINRA rules state that all trades have to be reported - including trades of less than a share - in the name of transparency, since market participants may base decisions on understanding not just prices but who is trading what and when.

Unlike orders for full shares, which Robinhood sends en-masse to wholesale brokers to execute, Robinhood says its clearing broker arm, Robinhood Securities, executes fractional trades from its own account, which it is licensed to do by FINRA.

Robinhood executed around 1.86 million tier-one shares during the week of March 15, and around 3.51 million tier-two shares the week of March 1, the latest FINRA data show.

Tier-one securities include stocks in the S&P 500 Index, the Russell 1000 Index, and exchange-traded products, while tier-two includes smaller companies.

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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I was completely confused at first  not even surprised, Ily, 18, said of his immediate reaction. I was not expecting this at all and was still trying to process what was going on. It took me some time to realize what had just happened.
The great British High Street is dusting off the cobwebs, restocking the rails  and in some cases clearing away a few sad-looking Christmas decorations, after three long months.

But what awaits eager shoppers as non-essential stores roll back into action on Monday? BETH HALE has the lowdown on what to expect:

RINGING THE CHANGES

Going into and out of lockdown must feel all-too-familiar to retailers, but for shoppers there is one element of this latest reopening that is significantly different: changing rooms are back!

When stores reopened last summer, the cubicles had to stay closed so the only way to put on the clothes was to buy and try at home.

Stores were told fitting rooms should be closed wherever possible because of challenges in operating them safely.

But the Government has given the green light to open them again for the first time in a year  so now customers can try before they buy.

Not all stores are planning to reopen their fitting rooms, though.

The great British High Street is dusting off the cobwebs, restocking the rails  and in some cases clearing away a few sad-looking Christmas decorations, after three long months. Stock image

Stores were told fitting rooms should be closed wherever possible because of challenges in operating them safely. But the Government has given the green light to open them again for the first time in a year  so now customers can try before they buy

Social-distancing rules are still in place, with stores required to limit numbers of people allowed in at any one time so, yes, there might be a short queue outside

SARAH RAINEY'S SHOPPING INDEX From panic-buying toilet roll, hand sanitiser and a rush on garden furniture, life in a pandemic can be tracked via our shopping baskets. SARAH RAINEY presents the ultimate  and surprising  index of spending in the past 12 months HAIR DYE KITS Up 76 per cent WEBCAMS Up 179 per cent COFFEE MACHINES Up 412 per cent GARDEN FURNITURE Up 222 per cent JIGSAWS AND BOARD GAMES Up 240 per cent SHOE POLISH Down 75 per cent ALARM CLOCKS Down 38 per cent HANDBAGS Down 58 per cent IRONING BOARDS Down 26 per cent Advertisement

This is unsurprising given requirements to minimise transmission of the virus that include regular cleaning, breaks between the use of cubicles, and ensuring doors and curtains are kept open when not in use.

Stores are also advised to deploy a member of staff to control entry to changing areas and allow only one person at a time into a cubicle.

Among those stores reopening at least some of their changing rooms are John Lewis, H&M and River Island.

Next said it was undecided whether to reopen fitting rooms while both Marks & Spencer and Primark have said they will not do so, initially.

M&S, however, said that shoppers would be able to book appointments for no contact bra fittings in stores, where a member of staff will advise customers on how to measure themselves.

In some branches, people will also be able to pay for their bra at the changing room, using pay-with-me hand-held devices first trialled by M&S in its food stores during the Christmas period.

Shoe fittings are also back  to the relief of parents struggling with paper DIY foot measures.

John Lewis is among retailers preparing to get back to sizing up tiny (and bigger) feet.

Customers will be asked to use socks or pop socks when trying on shoes, which will be sanitised after.

Some shoe shops will have Perspex screens through which children can poke their feet to be measured.

WILL I HAVE TO QUEUE?

Social-distancing rules are still in place, with stores required to limit numbers of people allowed in at any one time so, yes, there might be a short queue outside. However, we are all experts at that, right?

Footfall is forecast to soar by 50 per cent in the first week of reopening, but still be more than 60 per cent below what it was in 2019, so sale-like scrums to push through the door arent thought likely.

Now open all hours If you missed your shopping fix, theres plenty of time to make the most of reopening. Stores have been given special dispensation to open their doors from 7am to 10pm, Monday to Saturday. The extension is intended to help reduce footfall, ease transport pressures and make social distancing easier while buying and browsing. Quite how many stores will make use of the extension remains to be seen. Primark, one of the few retailers which does not have an online arm, has already confirmed it will initially open for an extra two hours a day (an hour earlier in the morning and an hour later in the evening) in most of its shops nationwide. But times will vary between stores, so customers should check their local opening hours. Advertisement

Expect the now-usual floor markings setting out where to stand when waiting to get into store or to pay, and arrows to show the one-way systems in place.

Another familiar sight will be hand sanitisation stations at key points such as entrances, tills and changing rooms, as well as Perspex screens at any customer service contact points.

MASCARA AT THE READY

Theres not been much call for a bulging make-up bag during lockdown, nor is lipstick much of an option with our faces obscured by face masks, but now restrictions are easing and social activity is on the cards again, it might be time to refresh those beauty basics.

With hairdressers and nail salons soaring back into action in England from Monday, what about those beauty samples?

Dont expect to be able to deploy testers in the supermarket aisles, but John Lewis has announced its beauty counters will be open and testers will be available in a socially distanced, heavily sanitised way.

The department store is anticipating its busiest week ever for its BeautyCycle service, which rewards customers for bringing back empty beauty product packaging, which is often hard to recycle.

To reward those who have held on to their empty containers, the retailer is doubling the amount theyre giving to people for returning them.

This means that for every five items of beauty packaging returned, customers will be given 10 off their next beauty purchase until the end of April.

Dont expect to be able to deploy testers in the supermarket aisles, but John Lewis has announced its beauty counters will be open and testers will be available in a socially distanced, heavily sanitised way

Best of the sales Jumpsuit, was 275, now 220, lkbennett.com (left). Right, Monsoon floral print satin dress, was 99, now 49.50, debenhams.com Classic trench coat, was 259, now 181, tedbaker.com (left). Right, Square neck midi dress, was 199, now 119, tedbaker.com Monsoon floral print satin dress, was 99, now 49.50, debenhams.com (left). Right, Classic trench coat, was 259, now 181, tedbaker.com Dune clutch bag, was 145, now 58, debenhams. com Advertisement

ITS OUT WITH THE OLD ...

If youre worried that the shops will be full of all of last years stock, fear not.

Unlike after the first lockdown, when stores had mountains of merchandise to shift that had been ordered in expectation of a normal year, retailers were far more prepared for lockdown 3.0, ordering more cautiously.

The scenes of last year, with UK warehouses near capacity and retailers stashing container-loads of clothes in railway sidings and on disused industrial sites are gone.

More likely is worrying about containers carrying new stock being delayed (Covid, Brexit etc).

The major fashion retailers all have Summer 2021 in their sights, albeit a summer that may be geared up to adventures on home, rather than far-flung, shores.

For many Britons, the local shop has been a lifeline since the pandemic struck. An army of small business owners have adapted and innovated, not just to survive but to help those living nearby

If you missed your shopping fix, theres plenty of time to make the most of reopening. Stores have been given special dispensation to open their doors from 7am to 10pm, Monday to Saturday

The huge surge in online shopping has helped. Take the non-bricks-and-mortar outfit Asos as an example  it has put on one and a half million customers over the past six months, with profits jumping to 106.4 million, up from 30.1 million a year earlier.

According to retail expert Clare Bailey, founder of the Retail Champion, businesses that have embraced online operations have been able to move old stock through click-and-collect services  which significantly werent able to operate during the first lockdown.

More businesses have realised the need to mix the physical and digital experience, she says.

Those who embraced digital can now enhance that with the physical experience, too.

What about cafes and toilets? Not all store cafes and restaurants will be open, given that the rules still dont allow for dine-in services. But takeaway is allowed. M&S is planning to open most of its cafes for a takeaway service, with a small number of stores with outdoor space opening for dine-out refreshment. And if you need to spend a penny after spending at the till, customer toilets are back open in most department stores. Advertisement

As for stock left sitting in stores, John Lewis, which saw its online sales increase by 73 per cent last year moved much of its store stock over to its online operations, as did H&M.

An H&M spokesman says: Despite the pandemic we managed to keep inventory levels under control with limited increase compared to last year.

Retailers managed stock by deferring supply and buying less strongly-seasonal items (such as partywear).

Traditional New Year sales may have been curtailed, but online sales have continued to take place, clearing old items.

The usual Next mid-season sale, for instance, went live online the weekend before Easter, meaning by the time stores re-open, the retailer expects that most sale goods will already have been cleared.

As for lines that have been left out on display, it has needed to be carefully covered to protect from dust.

At John Lewis some items of clothing, such as lingerie, were shrink-wrapped.

Even Primark, which hasnt had an online operation to help it shift stock, has reassured shoppers they can expect to see new items on display in store.

Although it has also revealed it expects to sell 150 million of spring and summer lines that were stored in warehouses from last year.

Given we never got to see them, its all going to feel up to date anyway.

BACK YOUR LOCAL INDEPENDENTS

For many Britons, the local shop has been a lifeline since the pandemic struck. An army of small business owners have adapted and innovated, not just to survive but to help those living nearby.

So as the High Street as a bigger entity reopens, spare a thought for those other independent businesses who have striven to keep the nation going in the crisis.

Retail expert Graham Soult, of the retail consultancy CannyInsights, says: In Durham, where I do a lot of work, five new retailers opened in early December  away from the big names there is a lot of exciting stuff happening; people who maybe lost their jobs and decided to give their dream a go.

With customers, understandably, nervous about how retailers are readying for the reopening, one band of shopkeepers preparing for crowds are those in coastal locations and tourist hotspots.

Earlier this month Roo Cross, founder of North Cornwall-based fashion independent Roos Beach, said: We are bracing ourselves for the busiest summer weve ever seen.

Were doubling the size of our store, so well be well placed to take advantage of all the extra visitors.

DAME HELENA MORRISSEY: Let's spend for Britain

At long last our dormant High Streets, poised for their glorious spring awakening, are ready to burst into new life.

From Monday, after months condemned to dreary online clothes shopping, we can once again enjoy browsing racks of summer styles. We can feel the fabrics and appreciate the nuances of colour.

We can take an armful of different sizes into a changing room and try on clothes again before we buy, as we did pre-Covid.

Im excited. Who would have thought clothes shopping could become such a treat? But thats what happens when, for months, weve bought everything from websites and taken delivery of items that often dont live up to expectations.

Im excited. Who would have thought clothes shopping could become such a treat? But thats what happens when, for months, weve bought everything from websites and taken delivery of items that often dont live up to expectations, says Dame Helena Morrissey

Its either the cut thats wanting or the fit, the fabric thats cheap-looking or the colour isnt what it seemed online. Then, of course, theres the bother of parcelling it up and returning it.

So, Im celebrating the great re-opening. My husband and I live in Londons Notting Hill with seven of our nine children, and High Street Kensington is nearest for clothes shopping.

Our youngest Bea, 12, and Cecily, 13, are already plotting our first girls day out. I expect Westfield shopping centre will be involved, then Ill visit the Zara store in Kensington to look for jeans: the only pair I have left has a giant hole in the knee.

Im also planning to browse in Harvey Nichols luxurious designer floors and see what my favourite British label Roksanda has in store. Plus a visit to M&S for underwear then Brora, the Scottish fashion house, as three of my beautiful cashmere cardigans have succumbed to moths.

Im celebrating the great re-opening. My husband and I live in Londons Notting Hill with seven of our nine children, and High Street Kensington is nearest for clothes shopping

Its no coincidence that so many of us regard shopping as retail therapy: studies show it causes your brain to release more serotonin, the feel-good chemical. Were social creatures, and a visit to a thriving High Street will allow us to chat to people and feel were really living again.

An outing to the shops is an experience, not just a transaction. If theres a buzz in our High Streets, people will be attracted to them, shops will feel confident about hiring, entrepreneurs will think about opening up new businesses.

The industry has been hit hard: the British Retail Consortium says UK stores are down 27billion in lost sales during the three lockdowns, while the Centre for Retail Research this month revealed 188,685 retail jobs have gone between the start of the first lockdown and March 31 this year.

Shops might celebrate their re-opening with discounts or treats. We dont need to splurge excessively, just to get back out there and spend our pounds in the shops rather than online.

My message is unequivocal: we need our High Streets just as much as they need us.

It's Bounce Back Monday! Seven million Britons will hit the High Street in 4.5billion spending spree as the next step on our road to freedom starts

A multi-billion-pound spending spree is to begin on 'Bounce Back Monday' as shops reopen in the next step towards freedom.

Up to seven million shoppers are expected to flood the high street and take advantage of extended hours and price cuts on the first day of opening after lockdown.

Analysts predict 4.5billion will be splurged in the first week amid enormous 'pent-up demand'.

Fashion chains, hairdressers, nail bars, electrical retailers, department stores, gyms and other 'non-essential' outlets are chasing a share of the spree.

Crowds of shoppers are seen on Oxford Street on December 2, 2020 in London, England

Pubs, cafes and restaurants will also open again for outdoor food and drink  and alcohol takeaways  on what some have dubbed the 'Glorious Twelfth'.

Economists say households are sitting on 159.5billion in 'excess savings' as a result of missing out on holidays, eating out and cutting spending in other areas such as clothing and commuting.

As much as 45.5billion of this will be set aside for spending, with a large proportion splashed out this summer, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

But the damage of the past year will be irreversible for some high street outlets. Debenhams will be opening its stores on Monday but only to host a closing-down sale with discounts up to 70 per cent on fashion and homeware, and 50 per cent on beauty products.

Currys PC World is opening 249 outlets with extended hours and a clearance sale promising savings of up to 70 per cent.

Christmas shoppers on The Hayes on December 19, 2020 in Cardiff, Wales

Lisa Hooker, head of consumer markets at PwC, said: 'You will see a big bang, particularly if the weather is good. There is enormous pent-up demand.

'Retailers were quite cautious when we came out of lockdown last year but this time there is far more excitement.'

Many retailers are extending their trading hours in line with new Government guidelines. Primark plans to open stores for an extra two hours a day, while Next and Fenwick have also indicated stores could stay open later.

John Lewis executive director Pippa Wicks said: 'It's a real party atmosphere when we reopen.

'There is definitely a burning desire to buy things to head out and meet friends and family with  it's the return of retail therapy. Now we've got immunisations, there will be an increased confidence compared with last year.'

Marks & Spencer's Alison Grainger said: 'We know lots of customers are excited about dressing up for picnics and alfresco dining with friends and family and our stores will be bursting with tiered dresses, pretty tops and new seasonal denim.'

Dragons' Den retail guru Theo Paphitis, who owns Ryman, Robert Dyas and Boux Avenue, anticipates an initial rush, saying shoppers are 'chomping at the bit'.

Analysis by the Centre for Retail Research predicts spending of 600million on Monday, with seven million shoppers on the streets.

It estimates spending for the week at 4.5billion based on more than 50million shopping visits.
Rounding up a three-day visit to India on Thursday, Kerry told reporters: "That's a terrific goal, we think that's a powerful goal," and "we want to make sure that we're facilitating the ability to reach that goal".

New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) US Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry has welcomed India's ambitious goal of generating 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 and said that Washington will help New Delhi achieve it by helping mobilise international funding.

Kerry said "that's part of the partnership that we reached" in discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Indian leaders

Last year, Modi set the target of 450 GW green energy by 2030 as India, which now heavily coal-dependent marches towards an ultimate goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Modi tweeted after their meeting on Wednesday: "Had an excellent discussion with US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. His passion and commitment to expedite climate action are commendable."

"We intend to work very closely together, focusing on the deployment of 450 GW, on technology and on the finance components of that," Kerry said.

"There are lots of countries that would be willing to invest -- obviously with the right investment conditions," in India's green energy projects, he said.

He said that the United Arab Emirates, which he visited before coming to India, is interested in partnering with the US on the endeavour and that he had spoken to some countries in Europe and North America "who are prepared to try to be helpful".

Kerry's visit to India comes ahead of the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate convened by President Joe Biden on April 22 and 23, and the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November.

Biden has made climate change one of his top priorities and appointed Kerry, a former Secretary of State, to be the point person for it.

The President sees an important role for New Delhi in his global climate agenda as the two countries draw closer together strategically while India is the third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China, although in per capita terms it is a much smaller polluter.

Although Biden seeks cooperation with China on climate change, unlike with New Delhi, political and strategic relations with Beijing are hostile.

Kerry said that "India is a key partner" of the US fighting climate change.

"It's not only the largest democracy in the world, but it is by values a country that hugely cares about the relationship of all of us to the planet, to the environment, the surroundings around us," he said.

"Prime Minister is hugely seized by a sense of responsibility which we feel provides the capacity for a very important partnership."

About the scope of the climate change partnership between India and US, Kerry said: "We have, both of us, innovative, entrepreneurial populations that are always trying to push the limits of discovery -- research and development, the creation of new products, new solutions.

"Having a partnership really links a country that has enormous development challenges with a country that is developed but still has major transitional infrastructure and other types of challenges, so there's a lot in common and we very much look forward to working with our friends here."

During his India visit, Kerry also met Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Power and Renewable Energy Minister Raj Kumar Singh, Commerce and Industry Miinister Piyush Goyal, and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

"Officials of the two countries will pursue ways in which they can deepen their partnership on climate and clean energy in this critical decade," the State Department said in a statement.

During his interaction with reporters, Kerry said that former President Donald Trump had damaged Washington's standing on climate by pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, but "we come back with humility. We come back knowing the last four years were a disappointment to people".

"He shot America's credibility in the head and turned his back on science and became the only leader of a nation who decided to withdraw from the agreement.

"We get hurt by him getting out but the truth is the American people continued to fight. And people need to know that because that will help us restore our credibility.

"I hope people in India and elsewhere in the world will recognise that Donald Trump is Donald Trump... He lost the race," he added.

Kerry is scheduled to begin a visit to Bangladesh on Friday.

While in New Delhi, Kerry also met with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Serger Lavrov who was on a separate mission to India and talked about climate.

Russia's TASS News Agency reported that the meeting took place in the lobby of the hotel where they were both staying.

It noted that Biden has invited Russia's President Vladimir Putin to the Climate Summit and said that according to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, "the details are now being worked out through diplomatic channels".

--IANS

al/ksk/
Leaders in Northern Ireland on Thursday jointly condemned days of rioting stemming from the territory's pro-UK community, including a petrol-bomb attack on a moving bus, as police said they were probing possible paramilitary involvement

Belfast, April 8 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Apr, 2021 ) :Leaders in Northern Ireland on Thursday jointly condemned days of rioting stemming from the territory's pro-UK community, including a petrol-bomb attack on a moving bus, as police said they were probing possible paramilitary involvement.

The British and Irish governments also denounced what was the worst unrest in Belfast in recent years, which erupted amid anger over apparent economic dislocation due to Brexit and existing tensions between the pro-UK unionist and pro-Irish nationalist communities.

"Destruction, violence and the threat of violence are completely unacceptable and unjustifiable, no matter what concerns may exist in communities," said the Northern Ireland executive -- made up of unionist, nationalist and centrist parties.

"While our political positions are very different on many issues, we are all united in our support for law and order." The UK province's devolved legislative assembly interrupted its Easter break to pass an emergency motion condemning the unrest.

Meanwhile Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis visited Belfast to meet leaders from the main parties, including unionist First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Fein, as well as faith and community advocates.

"All communities in Northern Ireland must work together to resolve the tensions that we are currently facing," he said ahead of the meetings.

- 'Sectarian violence' - In the latest disorder Wednesday, gates were set alight on a "peace line" -- walls separating pro-Irish nationalist and pro-UK unionist communities -- and police said crowds from either side broke through to attack each other with petrol bombs, missiles and fireworks.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) temporary assistant chief constable Jonathan Roberts said the scale and nature of the violence was unprecedented in recent years.

"The fact that it was sectarian violence and there was large groups on both sides... again is not something we have seen for a number of years," he told reporters.

The six nights have left 55 police injured, he noted, as well as a press photographer and the driver of the bus fire-bombed Wednesday.

Roberts said children as young as 13 were suspected of involvement following encouragement from adults, and the large volume of petrol bombs used suggested "a level of pre-planning".

The PSNI is probing if Northern Ireland's notorious paramilitary groups were involved in the unrest.

"Whether or not paramilitary groups were involved remains an active line of investigation," Roberts added.

- 'Deep rooted' - Northern Ireland endured 30 years of sectarian conflict that killed 3,500 people.

Unionist paramilitaries, British security forces and armed nationalists seeking to unite the territory with the Republic of Ireland waged battle until a landmark peace deal in 1998.

The accord let unionists and nationalists coexist by blurring the status of the region, dissolving border checks with fellow European Union member Ireland.

But Britain's 2016 vote to quit the EU revived the need for border checks. A special "protocol" was agreed that shifted the controls away from the land border to ports trading with the UK mainland, prompting many unionists to accuse London of betrayal.

There was also recent outrage among unionists after Northern Irish authorities decided not to prosecute Sinn Fein leaders for attending a large funeral last year of a former paramilitary leader, in apparent breach of Covid restrictions.

Few people in central Belfast on Thursday wanted to discuss the sensitive situation.

"It's deep rooted, it's not just about Brexit," said Fiona McMahon, 56, before adding Britain's EU withdrawal had had a "massive impact".

"The British do whatever the hell they want to do and we get landed with everything afterwards," she told AFP.

- 'Fantasy' promises - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted overnight that he was "deeply concerned", saying "the way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or criminality".

Irish premier Micheal Martin also condemned the unrest, calling on "all sides to work together to defuse tensions and restore calm".

At Thursday's Northern Irish Assembly debate Naomi Long, justice minister for the centrist Alliance Party, spoke of feeling "some sympathy to those people out there who feel betrayed" by the British government's Brexit policy.

She charged that Johnson had made "fantasy" promises of "sunlit uplands" after Britain quit the EU.

Meanwhile, with some unionist leaders demanding the EU protocol be scrapped, European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer also condemned the unrest "in the strongest possible terms".
Washington, April 9 : A Russian Soyuz capsule with a manned spacecraft named after Yuri Gagarin blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan on Friday for the International Space Station (ISS).

Nearly nine minutes after a successful launch of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos safely reached orbit, the US space agency said.

They launch started a two-orbit, three-hour flight to reach the International Space Station and join the Expedition 64 crew.

"The crew aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft were given the go for final approach to the @Space_Station, and final approach has started. They are scheduled to dock to the station at 7:07am ET," NASA tweeted.

"Welcome to the @Space_Station! Docking is confirmed at 7:05am ET for the Soyuz spacecraft. On board are Mark Vande Hei (@Astro_Sabot), and Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of @Roscosmos," it added a few minutes later.

This is the second spaceflight for Vande Hei, the third for Novitskiy, and the first for Dubrov.

The spacecraft carrying the three space travellers honours the 60th anniversary of Gagarin becoming the first person in space.
Lucknow, April 9 : After the Samajwadi Party announced that it would celebrate 'Dalit Diwali' on Ambedkar Jayanti, the Uttar Pradesh BJP has declared that it would celebrate the occasion as the 'Samrasta Diwas' ( Social Harmony Day) at the booth level.

State BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh said the party would be holding two-day celebrations -- on April 13 and April 14 - to mark the occasion.

State BJP general secretary, Govind Narain Shukla said that on April 13, office bearers and workers of party's Scheduled Caste Morcha will organize a 'Deepotsav' programme by lighting up lamps on Ambedkar's statue.

This will be followed by party workers paying tribute to the Dalit icon in nearly 1.6 lakh booths in the state on April 14.

The event will be attended by party MPs, MLAs and ministers.

The party functionaries would also pay tributes to the father of Indian Constitution by garlanding his statues at various intersections and other public places.
DJ Pauly D really can do it all. Not only is he a world-famous DJ and reality TV star. The Jersey Shore: Family Vacation roommate also runs a ghost kitchen operation and he stars in a zombie movie. Heres everything you need to know about DelVecchios role in Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie.

DJ Pauly D | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

DJ Pauly D is still part of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation

Unlike Nicole Snooki Polizzi, DelVecchio remains part of the Jersey Shore: Family Vacation cast. When Showbiz Cheat Sheet spoke with DelVecchio in March 2021, he teased the forthcoming half of season 4, which theyre calling 4B.

The second half of season 4 should be airing pretty soon, DelVecchio told us. We just filmed in the Poconos. Many fans think the roommates were at the Woodloch Resort in Pennsylvania, but theyll have to wait for episodes to air for confirmation.

DelVecchio said fans can expect a different flavor in the next half of season 4. It was us in cold weather for once, he elaborated. Normally we film in the summertime, and there is a beach. This time there was snow, and we were outdoors with coats on. It was weird.

DelVecchio admitted he wasnt sure what to pack for the trip. Normally Im packing tank tops  this time I was packing hoodies and big bubble jackets. Regardless of what he wore, DelVecchio definitely had a good time.

Pauly DelVecchio has a sandwich company, Pauly Ds Italian Subs

DelVecchio has been busy during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The reality star partnered with Chef Eric Greenspan to create a ghost kitchen offering specialty subs and salads. Fans can have Pauly Ds Subs delivered right to their door.

Subs Are Hereeeeeeee!!!!! https://t.co/xe83Moh3uv  DJ Pauly D (@DJPaulyD) March 18, 2021

RELATED: Nicole Snooki Polizzi Explains All of Her Most Iconic Jersey Shore Looks

I wanted to help out some restaurants right now [and] give them an opportunity to actually build some revenue and help them stay afloat in these times, DelVecchio told us.

Together with Greenspan and Virtual Dining Concepts, Pauly Ds Italian Subs operates out of established restaurants, using their kitchen equipment and staff to cater to a local market. Whatever sales the sandwich company makes, 30% of the profits go directly back to the local establishment.

DJ Pauly D stars in a zombie movie

Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie, which released Apr. 6, 2021 on-demand, is a documentary following Sam Suchmann and Mattie Zufelt on their 10-year quest to storyboard, cast, produce, and star in the 2016 horror movie Spring Break Zombie.

As Rhode Island natives, Suchmann and Zufelt worked with another local, Peter Farrelly, who executive produced the documentary. The duo also called on another Rhode Island native to be in their film  DelVecchio.

I am so impressed with Sam and Mattie, DelVecchio told MTV. I am honored to be a part of such a special project.

Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie follows Suchmann and Zufelt, who play bionic half-brothers fighting against all sorts of evil after a demon kills the respective mothers. This movie is about facing fears, Suchmann told Today. I faced my fear of the dark. I faced my fear of heights. Now I am facing my fear of the devil and it is really big.

Suchmann is a huge fan of DelVecchio and was star-struck when he agreed to be part of the film. But more than that, Suchmann and Zufelt want viewers to know their movie is about one thing  never giving up.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 13:56:25|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia registered 714 new COVID-19 cases, taking the national count to 13,494, the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said Friday.

Meanwhile, one more death and 382 more recoveries were reported, taking the nationwide counts to 23 and 8,522 respectively, the center said.

The Asian country launched a national vaccination campaign in late February, with the aim of vaccinating at least 60 percent of its 3.3 million population. Over 584,000 people have been vaccinated in the country so far.

The country reported its first imported COVID-19 case in March 2020 and confirmed its first locally transmitted case in November last year. Enditem
Samsung has launched an interactive website called iTest to allow iPhone users to experience a Galaxy device on their handset. The company is currently advertising the website in New Zealand.

When one visits the iTest website in New Zealand on their iPhone, they are prompted to install a web app on their Home Screen. Tapping the web app will then provide users with an experience similar to what one would get on a Galaxy device. You can also simulate phone calls, messages, etc., to get a proper experience of using a Samsung Galaxy device. Samsung also shows tips throughout the UI to further enhance the user experience.

The Settings app does not work fully though, with Samsung only listing all the available options. Tapping on any of them shows a message that this is where you can find all the options to adjust all your settings.

All Samsung apps like Samsung Kids, Samsung Health, Smart Switch are also available to try for the full experience. Samsung does note that the web app cant replicate every function, but you are still going to find enough reasons to switch to the other side.

The entire experience of using the web app to simulate a Galaxy device on an iPhone works really well and gives a very immersive experience. If you are thinking of switching from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy device, you should definitely try out the iTest website from Samsung.
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The story of the Duke of Edinburgh's family is as fascinating as it is tragic.

Born a Prince of Greece and Denmark, Philip - who passed away peacefully at Windsor Castle this morning aged 99 - was the fifth child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and his wife, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who welcomed her son on the dining table of a villa in Corfu.

Shortly after Prince Philip's arrival, the royal family were exiled and, aged just 18 months, the future Duke of Edinburgh was bundled into a makeshift cot  an orange crate  as the family escaped on a British warship.

Owing to his age, and status as the only son, Philip grew up apart from his sisters, three of whom - Margarita, Cecilie and Sophie - married German aristocrats who became members of the Nazi party.

Indeed his youngest sister Sophie and her husband Prince Christoph of Hesse were so well regarded they joined Hitler for private lunches and even named their first son in his honour.

Only son: Born a Prince of Greece and Denmark, Philip was the fifth child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and his wife, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who welcomed her son on the dining table of a villa in Corfu. Pictured, Philip and his mother in 1960

Four daughters: Prince Philip was raised separately from his four older sisters, pictured left-right: Sophia, Margarita, Cecilie, known as Cecile, and Theodora. The girls are pictured ahead of the 1922 wedding of Louis Mountbatten and Edwina Ashley, where they were bridesmaids

Royal ties: Princess Alice was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. It means Prince Philip and the Queen were distantly related through their great-great-grandmother

When Prince Philip's third sister Princess Cecile, then eight months pregnant with her fourth child, was killed in a plane crash in 1937 alongside her family, relatives donned distinctive Nazi uniforms for the funeral.

Philip broke a 60-year public silence about his familys Nazi ties in 2006, saying that, like many Germans, they found Hitlers early attempts to restore Germanys power and prestige 'attractive' but stressed he was never 'conscious of anybody in the family actually expressing anti-Semitic views'.

Prince Philip's family Born a Prince of Greece and Denmark, Philip was the fifth child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and his wife, Princess Alice of Battenberg. He survived his sisters: Princess Margarita (1905-1981)

Princess Theodora (19061969)

Princess Cecilie (1911- 1937)

Princess Sophie (1914-2001) Advertisement

Philips opposition to the Nazis has never been in doubt. He fought valiantly for Britain during the war, seeing action in the Battle of Crete, the Battle of Cape Matapan in Greece and the Allied invasion of Sicily.

However there were questions about his German blood when he and the Queen first met and, unsurprisingly, none of Prince Philips sisters were invited to the Queens wedding in 1947.

The German connection was still too shaming, only two years after the end of the war.

The siblings' mother Princess Alice was largely absent from Prince Philip's childhood.

She survived revolution and exile, mental breakdown and religious mania, evincing great personal courage to protect a Jewish family during the war  before turning her back on the trappings of royal life to become a nun.

Alice was a loving mother but enforced separation from her young son helped to forge Prince Philips self-reliant, sometimes cussedly independent spirit.

Here, a closer look at the women who shaped Prince Philip's early life...

His mother, Princess Alice: Queen Victoria's Greek great-granddaughter born at Windsor Castle who survived revolution, exile and an asylum before becoming a nun

Newlyweds: In 1902, at the Coronation of King Edward VII, Princess Alice fell head over heels in love with Prince Andrew, a younger son of the King of Greece. Pictured, the couple in 1903

Elegant: Alice was congenitally deaf but she could speak clearly. Photographs show how beautiful she was, with her upswept hair and lace gowns. Pictured, circa. 1945

Absent but loving: Alice was a loving mother but enforced separation from her young son helped to forge Prince Philips self-reliant, independent spirit. Pictured, in 1957

The Duke of Edinburgh's mother was born Princess Alice of Battenberg in 1885 at Windsor Castle, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and raised as an English princess, although both her parents - Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine and Prince Louis of Battenberg - were German.

She was one of four siblings. Her sister Louise became Queen of Sweden and her brother was Louis 'Dickie' Mountbatten, later Lord Mountbatten, Prince Philip's beloved uncle.

Alice was congenitally deaf but she could speak clearly. Photographs show how beautiful she was, with her upswept hair and lace gowns.

How Princess Alice protected a Jewish family from Nazis during the Holocaust Princess Alice of Battenberg was famed for saving a Jewish family from the Holocaust during the Second World War by sheltering them in her Athens home. Alfred Haimaki Cohen, head of a prominent family with ties to Greek royalty, sought out the royal as their only hope of refuge from the Nazis. By chance Alfred, a prominent member of the community of 8,000 Jewish people in Athens, came across Alice's lady-in-waiting, and the royal quickly offered the family refuge on the top floor of her house, only yards from Gestapo headquarters. When the Gestapo became suspicious, Alice made her deafness an excuse for not answering their questions. Speaking last year, Mr Cohen's daughter explained she wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for the actions of Princess Alice. Advertisement

Then in 1902, at the Coronation of King Edward VII, she fell head over heels in love with Prince Andrew, a younger son of the King of Greece.

With the advent of the Balkan Wars, Prince Andrew was reinstated in the army, and Princess Alice, assisting at operations and setting up field hospitals, work for which King George V - the current Queen's grandfather - awarded her the Royal Red Cross in 1913.

By 1914 Alice had four daughters. But in Greece, revolution was brewing, and shortly after Prince Philip was born in 1921, the Greek royal family were exiled.

Aged 18 months, the future Duke of Edinburgh was bundled into a makeshift cot  an orange crate  as the family escaped on a British warship.

They arrived in Paris as refugees, living on handouts from relatives. The strain took its toll on Alice, and her impassioned religious beliefs became steadily more eccentric.

By 1930 she was hearing voices and believed she was having physical relationships with Jesus and other religious figures.

She was diagnosed as schizophrenic, and when treatment in a Berlin clinic failed  on the advice of Sigmund Freud her womb was blasted with X-rays to cure her of frustrated sexual desires  she was admitted to a Swiss sanatorium.

On the day she left, the nine-year-old Prince Philip was taken out by his grandmother for a picnic. When he returned, his mother had gone.

She remained a prisoner there for two and a half years.

Although the couple never divorced, Alice was effectively abandoned by her playboy husband Prince Andrew, who went to live on the French Riviera with his mistress. He died in 1944 in Monaco.

Prince Philip was by then homeless, spending boarding school holidays with various relatives, including his uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten.

When Alice was eventually released from the sanatorium in 1932, she became a lonely drifter, staying in modest German B&Bs. Mother and son were not to meet again until tragic circumstances forced them together, reuniting in 1937 at the funeral of Philips sister Cecilie, whod died in a plane crash at the age of 26.

Wedding day: Princess Alice of Battenberg (fifth from left) with her son and daughter-in-law on their wedding day in 1947. None of Prince Philips sisters were invited to the Queens wedding in 1947. The German connection was still too shaming, only two years after the end of the war

Alice wanted Philip, now 16, to live with her in Athens (the Greek monarchy having been restored in 1935). But Philips future lay in the Royal Navy. And by 1941, Alice was stranded in Nazi-occupied Greece.

Her brother, Lord Mountbatten, sent food parcels  which she gave to the needy.

Then, for more than a year, she hid a Jewish family on the top floor of her house, only yards from Gestapo headquarters. When the Gestapo became suspicious, Alice made her deafness an excuse for not answering their questions.

After the war, diamonds from Alices tiara were reset so Philip had an engagement ring to present to Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen.

Alice sold the rest of her jewels to found her own religious order, the Christian Sisterhood Of Martha And Mary, in 1949 and built a convent and orphanage in a poor suburb of Athens.

Final days: Princess Alice died at Buckingham Palace in 1969, where she lived for two years as a guest of her son and daughter-in-law. Pictured, mother and son in 1957

How The Crown fictionalised a 'tell all' interview with a journalist The third series of The Crown claims Princess Alice gave a tell-all interview with the Guardian, stepping in to take the place of publicity shy Princess Anne. In the scene Anne feigns a cold and excuses herself from the interview and sends her grandmother (Jane Lapotaire) out into the hallway where journalist John Armstrong (played by Colin Morgan) is waiting. Princess Alice, the mother of the Duke of Edinburgh, proceeds to give the journalists details about her tragic life, including her time spent in mental institutions. This was all fictionalised, although Princess Alice did live at Buckingham Palace from 1967 until her death in December 1969. Seen in The Crown: Jane Lapotaire as Princess Alice in Netflix's The Crown Advertisement

When there was a Greek military coup in 1967, Alice refused to budge from Athens until Prince Philip sent a plane, along with a special request from the Queen, to bring her home.

Princess Alice spent her final years living with her son and daughter-in-law the Queen at Buckingham Palace before her death in December 1969 at the age of 84.

Her final months were fictionalised in the third series of Netflix's The Crown, with Jane Lapotaire playing the role. The series wrongly suggested she gave a tell-all interview with the Guardian, covering sensitive topics including her mental health condition.

Shortly before Alice died in 1969, she wrote to her only son, whose childhood had been so scarred by her absence, Dearest Philip, Be brave, and remember I will never leave you, and you will always find me when you need me most. All my devoted love, your old Mama.

HIS FOUR SISTERS, MARGARITA, THEODORA, CECILIE AND SOPHIE: THREE MARRIED NAZIS AND ONE DIED IN A TRAGIC PLANE CRASH WHILE EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT

Margarita, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1905-1981)

Royal connection: Prince Philip's oldest sister Princess Margarita (standing) after the birth of Princess Anne (pictured in the Queen's arms). Also pictured: Lord Mountbatten (left), Andrew Elphinstone, a cousin of the Queen, Alice Countess von Athlone and the Queen Mother

Prince Philip pictured (2nd right in the first full row), in a funeral procession in 1937. On the right, in the uniform of the SA (Hitler' militia that was known as the 'storm division' or 'Brownshirts'), walks Prince Philipp von Hessen, brother of Philip's brother-in-law, Prince Christoph, who is next in line in full SS regalia

The oldest of Prince Philip's four sisters was Margarita, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, born in 1905 at the Royal Palace in Athens.

In 1931 Margarita married Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a German aristocrat who went on to become a Nazi.

Gottfried was a son of Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria through her second son, Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and his wife, Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, a daughter of Alexander II of Russia.

During the Second World War, Prince Gottfried fought for the Germans on the Russian front, where he was badly wounded.

But he turned against the Fuhrer, and was among the aristocratic officers implicated in the plot to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944  which led to Prince Gottfried's dismissal from the army.

In 1950 Gottfried succeeded his father as Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

The couple had six children together, five of whom survived into adulthood.

Princess Margarita remained in contact with her brother and visited the UK shortly after the birth of Princess Anne. She died in 1981.

Theodora, Margravine of Baden (19061969)

Young beauty: Princess Theodora of Greece, who was the last of the four sisters to marry

Brotherly love: Prince Philip with his sister Princess Theodora in 1960. She died in 1969

Born in 1906 at Tatoi Palace, the summer residence of the Greek royal family, Theodora was the only one of Philip's four sisters whose husband wasn't involved in the Nazi party.

In August 1931 she married her second cousin Berthold, Margrave of Baden.

They had three children together: Princess Margarita, who later married Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia; Prince Maximillian, who married Archduchess Valerie of Austria; and Prince Ludwig, who married Princess Anna Maria Henrietta Eleonora Gobertina of Auersperg-Breunner.

Theodora died on 16 October 1969 at Budingen, Germany, having survived her husband by six years. Her mother, Princess Alice, died five weeks later.

Cecilie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse (1911-1937)

Tragic death: Prince Philip enjoyed a close relationship with his sister Princess Cecilie, known as Princess Cecile by the family. She died in a plane crash in 1937 while eight months pregnant with her fourth child, who was delivered shortly before the crash. Pictured right, with her sons Alexander and Ludwig, who also died in the crash, and daughter Johanna

In The Crown: Cecile's death features in the penultimate episode of entitled Paterfamilias  of the second series of The Crown which explores Prince Charless unhappy school days at Gordonstoun, interwoven with flashbacks to his fathers time there. She was played by Leonie Beseech, pictured alongside a young Prince Philip, played by Finn Elliot

How The Crown wrongly blamed Prince Philip for the death of his sister Cecile Cecile's death features in the penultimate episode of entitled Paterfamilias  of the second series of The Crown which explores Prince Charless unhappy school days at Gordonstoun, interwoven with flashbacks to his fathers time there. It is suggested  wrongly  that in November 1937, Philip, then 16, was due to spend half-term with 26-year-old Cecile, married to Grand Duke George Donatus of Hesse. This arrangement is said to suit his sister, apparently terrified of flying, because it will enable her to avoid travelling to London for a wedding. But Philip then punches a fellow pupil and as punishment is forced to remain at school during the holiday, leaving Cecile no choice but to accompany her family to London. Philip rings his sister hoping she will support him. Speaking from a German airport, she tells him she agrees with the heads decision and says she is now obliged to fly to the wedding. The camera then cuts to her boarding the plane. It is true that Philip travelled to Germany for the funeral. But what happens next in The Crown, say Royal experts, is pure fiction. Young Philip, played by Finn Elliot, is presented to his mother Princess Alice and father Prince Andrew at the funeral. His father says: 'Had it not been for Philip and his indiscipline she would never have taken that flight. Its true, isnt it boy? Youre the reason were all here burying my favourite child. Get him out of here.' Advertisement

Prince Philip enjoyed a close relationship with his sister Princess Cecilie, who was born in 1911.

Known to affectionately as 'Cecile' godfather was King George V, the current Queen's grandfather.

In 1931, she married Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, her first cousin once removed.

They are both thought to have joined the Nazi party in May 1937.

A few months later in November Cecile, eight months pregnant with her third child, was killed in a plane crash while flying from Germany to London for a wedding.

Her plane crashed after hitting a factory chimney in fog near Ostend.

Also killed were her mother, her husband, their sons aged six and four, a lady-in-waiting and the best man.

Firemen found the remains of an infant, prematurely delivered when the plane crashed, lying beside Ceciles body, suggesting the pilot tried to land because she had begun to give birth.

Prince Philip, then 16, was particularly close to Cecile and being called into his headmasters study at Gordonstoun to be told of her death was one of the worst moments of his life.

Years later he wrote: I have the very clearest recollection of the profound shock with which I heard the news of the crash and the death of my sister and her family.

Cecilie was buried with her husband and three of her children, including her stillborn son, in Darmstadt at the Rosenhohe, the traditional burial place of the Hesse family.

Photos from their funeral shows Prince Philip flanked by grieving relatives, all wearing distinctive Nazi uniforms.

One is clad in the uniform of the Brownshirts; another wears full SS regalia.

The street in Darmstadt, near Frankfurt, is lined with crowds  many giving the 'Heil Hitler' salute.

Cecile and Georg's surviving daughter Johanna was adopted by Prince Ludwig and Princess Margaret but died two years later from meningitis.

Princess Sophie of Hanover (1914-2001)

Close ties with the Nazis: Although the youngest of four sisters, Sophie was the first to wed, marrying her second cousin-once-removed Prince Christoph of Hesse in 1930, at the age of 16. Prince Christoph was a director in the Third Reich Air Ministry, an SS colonel and the chief of Luftwaffe commander Hermann Goering's secret intelligence service  responsible for spying on anti-Nazis. Pictured, Sophie with Philip and her second husband in 1960

Although the youngest of four sisters, Sophie was the first to wed, marrying her second cousin-once-removed Prince Christoph of Hesse in 1930, at the age of 16.

Son of Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse and Princess Margaret of Prussia, Christoph was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria through her eldest daughter Victoria, Princess Royal, wife of Frederick III, German Emperor.

Prince Christoph was a director in the Third Reich Air Ministry, an SS colonel and the chief of Luftwaffe commander Hermann Goering's secret intelligence service  responsible for spying on anti-Nazis.

A photo taken in 1935 shows Sophie sitting opposite Hitler at the wedding of Goering and his bride Emmy. In a diary she wrote of a private lunch with Hitler and how she thought he was a 'charming and seemingly modest man'.

Indeed couple were such devoted Nazis that they named one of their five children Karl Adolf in honour of Hitler.

Prince Christoph was killed in October 1943 in a plane accident over Italy. Sophie went on to marry Prince George William of Hanover in 1946, and the couple had three children together.

Princess Sophie remained in contact with her brother and sister-in-law the Queen until her death in 2001 in Munich. She attended the Royal Windsor Horse Show and was godmother to Prince Edward.




Kakao's logo / Korea Times file



By Kim Hyun-bin



Kakao, the country's leading instant messaging company, is seeking to acquire the top female apparel shopping application, Zig Zag.



According to the industry, Kakao is in talks to become the largest shareholder of the apparel shopping app.



"There have been discussions on both sides over the matter, but nothing has been finalized yet," an industry source said.



Zig Zag was launched in 2015, starting off by listing fashion items purchased in Seoul's Dongdaemun shopping district, becoming hugely popular among female users ranging from their teens to their 30s. It eventually became Korea's leading apparel shopping app among these age groups.



Sales have continued to rise since its launch, reaching 750 billion won last year, up sharply from 600 billion won in 2019. Around 3 million people use the application monthly, while cumulative downloads of the application to date have reached 30 million.



Zig Zag has been widely evaluated as making shopping more convenient for millennials by enabling them to scroll through local shopping malls in just one application.



"We have been contemplating ways to secure our competitiveness in the e-commerce sector, and we have been reviewing several different ways for doing that, but nothing is set at this point," a Kakao official said.



In recent weeks, Kakao was one of the companies favored to acquire Ebay Korea, but it backed out at the last minute.



Some industry watchers believe that the 5 trillion won price tag might have been a burden, while others say that Kakao was focusing on an acquisition in the live commerce sector  where shopping and live-streaming are fused  in order to enhance synergy with the company.
Norways $1.3 trillion wealth fund may be forced to exclude a number of stocks as the government seeks to adjust the portfolio to impose the same ethical and environmental standards across its investments.

The worlds biggest sovereign investment vehicle should follow a revamped set of guidelines that could result in a 25-30 per cent reduction in the number of it holds, Finance Minister Jan Tore Sanner said in a speech on Friday. That includes not adding any more emerging markets to the index it tracks.

Emerging markets are a complex group that are often characterised by weaker institutions, less openness and weaker protection of the interests of minority shareholders, Sanner said.

The proposal from Oslos finance ministry would affect sovereign debt and corporate credit sold by issuers in a wide range of countries, including South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Thailand and Malaysia, Financial Times reported.

Its debt still accounts for 8.2 per cent, or roughly NKr208bn ($24bn), of the NKr2.5tn basket of bonds.

While EM debt will be removed from the benchmark, active managers will still be able to allocate funds to EM assets, with a 5 per cent cap, under the proposal, according to Financial Times.

The proposal, which still needs to be approved by parliament, marks the latest step in the funds shift toward an increasingly sustainable portfolio. In a strategy update earlier this week, the fund said it intends to become a global leader in sustainable investing.

In an accompanying white paper also published on Friday, Norways finance ministry said the combined market value of the reduction in stocks will be small, even though the number of is significant.

The benchmark that Norways wealth fund uses, now built on the FTSE Global All Cap index, needs to be adjusted to ensure the investor doesnt end up holding stocks that dont live up to its criteria, according to the white paper.

The proposal is based on guidance from a government-appointed ethics commission, which has previously flagged concerns about the benchmark. Last year, the commission pointed out that FTSE doesnt consider certain ethical challenges, such as human rights, when classifying countries. It also highlighted increased market and political risks in emerging economies.

The finance ministry has already decided that based in Saudi Arabia and Romania, which are included in FTSE, shouldnt be part of the funds benchmark, according to the white paper.

The fund held stocks in 24 Saudi companies worth 1.6 billion crowns ($188.1 million) as of the end of last year, according to fund data. The fund did not take part in the IPO of Saudi Aramco. The financial impact will be negligible, said a banker in the Gulf who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. The fund's management, Norges Bank Investment Management, can still invest in Saudi Arabia if it so decides.

with inputs from Financial Times


Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - District Copper Corp. (TSXV: DCOP) ("District Copper" or the "Company") is pleased to provide this update on progress at the Company's Copper Keg project, located in the Kamloops Mining District, central BC. The acquisition reported by the Company on February 9, 2021 included 11 claims covering an area of 1329 hectares. The Company has since acquired, by staking, two additional claims bringing the total area of the property to 1759 ha.

The company is now moving ahead with plans for an initial exploration program. A geological crew will be mobilized to the property in early May to complete prospecting and mapping coverage of the entire claim block. This will be followed by a deep penetrating Induced Polarization (IP) survey. A Notice of Work for this survey has been filed with the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources for the IP program.

District Copper President & CEO, Jevin Werbes comments, "Adding to our land package on this highly prospective property substantially improves our coverage of the target area. The upcoming field program is designed to expedite a thorough assessment the potential of the property."

About the Copper Keg Property:

District Copper can acquire a 100% right, title and interest in and to the Property for an aggregate payment of $105,000, the issuance of 7,500,000 fully paid and non-assessable shares and expenditures of no less than $200,000 on the property (see Company release dated February 9, 2021 for details). The agreement has been accepted for filing by the TSX Venture Exchange.

The property is underlain by Kamloops sediments, Nicola Group volcanics and intrusive phases of the Guichon Creek Batholith. These rocks have been intruded by several phases of late-stage quartz feldspar porphyry and mafic dikes. The Nicola Group volcanics are reported to be in fault contact with the Guichon Creek batholith, although there are indications from historic assessment reports that an intrusive contact is also a possibility.

The central portion of the Guichon Creek Batholith hosts the large porphyry copper deposit located in the Highland Valley currently being mined by Teck Resources Limited. This property is located at the northern boundary of the Guichon Creek batholith, and District intends to explore the property using the porphyry style copper deposits in the Highland Valley as its exploration model.

The property was explored intermittently between 1970 and 2012. The exploration work was mostly repetitive and sporadic in nature restricted to limited outcrop sampling, small scale soil sampling and geophysical surveys, mapping and prospecting focused mainly on two large zones of clay alteration. Several short diamond drill holes are reported to have been completed for which results are not available.

A preliminary interpretation of historic assessment data is indicative of the surface footprint of a buried porphyry copper system. The combination of Nicola Group volcanics and intrusive phases of the Guichon Creek Batholith intruded by late multi-phase dikes along with sporadic geochemical anomalies, hydrothermal clay alteration and primary and secondary copper mineralogy supports the interpretation of a leach cap resulting from the weathering/oxidization supergene enrichment process of primary copper sulphides. Limited rock and soil sampling has returned copper concentrations within the interpreted leach cap that range from 0.025 to 0.76%. The copper mineralogy, weakly anomalous copper-silver-molybdenum soil anomalies, alteration assemblage (ranges from argillic to potassic) and intense post intrusive hydrothermal clay alteration suggest a buried porphyry copper system at depth. The Nicola Group and Guichon Creek rocks exhibit intense hydrothermal clay alteration whereas the late-stage dikes appear to be relatively fresh; not affected by the hydrothermal clay alteration.

Chris Healey, P. Geo., a Director of District Copper, is the Company's non-independent, nominated Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release.

About District Copper:

District Copper is a Canadian company engaged in the exploration for porphyry-style copper deposits in British Columbia. The acquisition of the Copper Keg project allows the Company exposure to an early-stage copper exploration project with excellent infrastructure in central British Columbia.

For further information, please visit www.districtcoppercorp.com to view the Company's profile or contact Jevin Werbes at 604-620-7737.

Jevin Werbes, President & CEO

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 sell any of the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described in this news release 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. This news release is not for distribution in the United States or over United States newswires.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statement

Certain information contained in this news release, including information as to our strategy, projects, plans or future financial or operating performance and other statements that express management's expectations or estimates of future performance, constitute "forward-looking statements". Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such statements. All statements, other than historical fact, included herein, including, without limitations statements regarding future production, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding gold mineralization being traced in outcrop over a horizontal distance of 6,000m, the areas of anomalous to low grade gold mineralization being outlined; comments related to sediment hosted intrusion related orogenic gold deposits and the approximate dimensions of the mineralized zones.

In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, District Copper has made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things: the geological advice that District Copper has received is reliable and is based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards and the reliability of historical reports. While District Copper considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies.

Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause District Copper's actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: the dimensions and shape of the mineralized areas may not be as estimated; the mineralization may not represent sediment hosted intrusion related style gold mineralization; uncertainties relating to interpretation of the outcrop sampling results; the geology, continuity and concentration of the mineralization; the financial markets and the overall economy may deteriorate; the need to obtain additional financing and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals.

A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing District Copper is disclosed in District Copper's continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and District Copper disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events, or developments, except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/79869
An 18-year-old Southeastern Louisiana University student has been charged after stabbing her date eight times while in her dorm room over the weekend.

Elizabeth Grace Jones was arrested by university cops in Hammond after they received a call pertaining to a disturbance in the building.

WAFB 9 News reports that the responding officers discovered Draven Upchurchan LSU student who had been visiting the campusin critical condition, with five of the stab wounds injuring his lungs, stomach and colon. The news station further reports how it was confirmed that Jones and Upchurch had been dating partners, and that Johnson appeared to be worried during the incident.

The two of them were then taken to North Oaks Medical Center, where Upchurch received surgery to close his abdomen. His mother, Angie D. Autin-Fasullo, confirmed the procedure had gone successfully on Friday via her businesss Facebook page, and that her son no longer needs oxygen support.

I am ready to bring everyone out of the dark on Dravens incident. I refuse to use the word accident because what happened was not an accident, reads the post. The intake surgery lasted 4+ hours. During this time all of his blood, and then some, was put back into his body, 3 small portions of one of his lungs was removed, his stomach was repaired, and a small section of his colon removed.

Draven coded twice. His heart was held in the most amazing surgeons hand and massaged back to life along with internal shocking.

Autin-Fasullo continues to confirm how, although doctors say her son isnt out of the woods yet, Dravens condition is now stable and continues to improve.

Why Jones stabbed Upchurch remains unknown. The New York Post reports that the woman had been taken into custody after the stabbing took place, and has since been charged with aggravated battery.

Southeastern Louisiana University additionally confirmed via Facebook that Jones has been put on interim suspension with a chance of expulsion.
New Delhi, April 9 : The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to a businessman who was accused of paying money to the operatives of Maoist terror group Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) for smooth running his coal transport business in Jharkhand.

A bench comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat said: "A close scrutiny of the material placed before the court would clearly shows that the main accusation against the appellant is that he paid levy/extortion amount to the terrorist organisation. Payment of extortion money does not amount to terror funding." Allowing bail to businessman Sudesh Kedia, the bench observed that giving protection money cannot be equated with raising funds for promoting the banned organisation. Kedia was engaged in business of transporting coal on behalf of GVK Power and Godavari Commodities.

The top court said it is clear from the supplementary charge sheet and the other material on record that other accused who are members of the terrorist organisation have been systematically collecting extortion amounts from businessmen in Amrapali and Magadh areas.

It was alleged that Kedia paid money to the TPC for smooth running of his business. "Prima facie, it cannot be said that the appellant conspired with the other members of the TPC and raised funds to promote the organisation," the bench noted.

It was also alleged that Kedia was meeting members of the terror organisation and he was in constant touch with them. However, Kedia, in a statement before the magistrate, said he was summoned by members of the organisation in connection with the payments.

The court said: "Prima facie, we are not satisfied that a case of conspiracy has been made out at this stage only on the ground that the appellant met the members of the organisation" as it set aside the Jharkhand High Court order of February 14, 2020, which declined to grant bail to Kedia, in the case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other laws.

The top court also did not agree with prosecution submissions that Rs 9.95 lakh recovered from the house of the accused was "terror fund", taking into account Kedia's version that the amount was meant for salaries to his employees.

"At this stage, it cannot be said that the amount seized from the appellant is proceeds from terrorist activity. There is no allegation that appellant was receiving any money. On the other hand, the Appellant is accused of providing money to the members of TPC," it said.
The U-turn came after the European Medicines Agency on Wednesday said the benefits of AstraZeneca jabs are far greater than the risk of blood clots.

Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said, "I believe that the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency will resume inoculations" after reviewing the opinions of experts.

After announcing on Wednesday that it is suspending AstraZeneca jabs for over-60s, the government on Thursday seemed to suggest that the original schedule is back on track.

The government is in disarray over growing evidence that AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine is linked to rare blood clots in younger recipients.

The government relies entirely on the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines until June. It planned to give AstraZeneca shots to 7.7 million out of the 12 million target recipients from April to June, and a big hole would open up in its plans if it cannot be used for under-60s.

Eleven European countries have now introduced age limits for AstraZeneca vaccination.

The U.K. has decided to limit AstraZeneca jabs to people over 30, Germany and Italy to over-60s, and France to people over 55. Spain will only give it to people between 60 and 65 and Belgium to over-55s for four weeks.

In Korea, there are slim hopes of securing enough Janssen and Moderna vaccines in the second quarter, and Novavax vaccines are not expected until June.

In the U.S., Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, "My general feeling is that... we have enough vaccine to fulfill all of our needs without invoking AstraZeneca."

But Korea has no other option amid growing distrust of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Chun Eun-mi of Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital said, "The government should even now make all-out efforts to secure more vaccine supplies."

Kim Woo-joo of Korea University said, "If the government is resuming AstraZeneca vaccination only a day after suspending it for over-60s, there's going to be even more confusion."
Apple will be paying $3.4 million to settle a lawsuit in Chile that accused the company of throttling some of its products to force consumers to upgrade. Over 1.5 lakh iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus and SE owners sued Apple in Chile which the company has been battling since 2017. Registered participants in Chile can get a maximum of $50 in compensation after the lawsuit was settled.

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Apple released the iOS 10.2.1 update in 2017 with a feature that throttled the performance of older iPhones. The throttling occurred to prevent device shutdown at peak usage times due to degraded batteries. Apple did not clarify in the update that mitigating these shutdowns would require scaling down the performance of older iPhones. This upset many iPhone users which resulted in a series of lawsuits that are currently still active.

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Since then, Apple has released updates that introduced measures to improve battery life and are aimed at making iPhones last longer even when battery health is at a decline. Apple also offered a battery replacement program all over the world for iPhones that have degraded batteries. Apple wanted to offer affordable battery upgrades/replacement for users who werent necessarily looking to buy a new iPhone anytime soon.



This is not the first time Apple is facing lawsuits for throttling the performance of older iPhones. Apple faced similar lawsuits in other countries such as Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium and the United States. Apple settled the lawsuit in the United States and shelled out between $310 and $500 million. It was determined that Apple had concealed this problem that forced users to buy a new iPhone altogether. Apple denied these claims but agreed to settle outside of court.

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Other companies such as Samsung have taken a dig at Apple previously with an ad that showed an iPhone user recommending her mom to upgrade to a newer model of the iPhone as it started to slow down.


New Delhi: A Varanasi court has granted permission to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to carry out a survey of the Kashi Vishwanath temple and Gyanvapi Mosque complex.

The courts decision has left several intellectuals, liberals, and fundamentalists of the country rattled.

Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Friday (April 9) took on the secular lobby who have shown intolerance towards this decision.

The Gyanvapi masjid shares a boundary wall with the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The petition filed by lawyer Vijay Shankar Rastogi claims that the mosque was built by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb after demolishing a portion of the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The petitioner has demanded that the land on which Gyanvapi Mosque stands be transferred to Hindus.

The court order for the survey is a very important decision.

Key points of the court order

Firstly, the court has asked ASI to form a five-member committee for survey. It will have two Muslims members.

Secondly, the purpose of the survey is to determine whether the mosque was built over the temple or by demolishing or modifying it.

Thirdly, the team must find out the structure, its shape, the type of craftsmanship and if there is any idol of a deity.

Fourthly, the team will have the right to explore any part of the Gyan Vapi campus.

Lastly, mediapersons would not be allowed during excavation and the whole procedure would be recorded.

There are three parties to the case - Swayambhu Jyotirlinga Visvesvaraya that is, Lord Shiva himself, the Sunni Central Waqf Board and Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee.

Why is the 'secular' lobby upset?

In an earlier edition of DNA last year, we presented an in-depth analysis on the issue. We had shown evidence of the existence of the temple on the site of the mosque.

When the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb built a mosque here after breaking the temple, no one objected. No one said anything for hundreds of years. But now when justice is being sought in the matter, the so-called intellectuals, liberals and fundamentalists of our country are getting upset.

The Muslim parties have expressed resentment after the court's decision in the matter. The Sunni Central Waqf Board has decided to move the High Court in this matter.

The Gyan Vapi mosque management has also opposed this decision and Iqbal Ansari, who is a party in the Babri Masjid case, has also expressed displeasure over the decision.

Clearly, the courts decision has upset some people.

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New Delhi [India], April 9 (ANI): has expressed hope that will expeditiously send COVID-19 vaccines to the country amid a surge of infections in both countries.

Tehran is in talks with New Delhi for the second consignment of COVID-19 vaccines, for which it has already paid money.

"Given the cordial relations with and understanding the rise of the new wave of coronavirus in both countries, we are doing the necessary talks with Indian authorities to kindly expedite sending the rest of the consignment which has already been paid for," the Embassy in New Delhi tweeted.

COVID-19 cases have been increasing substantially in and The focus is on vaccinations and the second dose is mandatory under the vaccination protocol.

Iran had received the first consignment of Bharat Biotech vaccines but is now seeking the second consignment of vaccines from the country and the manufacturer.

"In reply to media queries on purchase of vaccines from India, Iran has reflected its needs to the Government and the Bharat Biotech. Happily, we have received the first consignment of 125,000 doses," the Iran Embassy said in a tweet.

Earlier this year, India had sent 1,25,000 doses of vaccines to Iran. These Indian COVID-19 vaccines named Covaxin were manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech.

As far as COVID-19 vaccines are concerned, India has exported vaccines to 85 countries by way of grants, commercially and via the COVAX facility. India had begun exporting vaccines in the month of January 2021 just days after it began its mega domestic vaccination programme.

In the past, India has also sent Iran pesticides when it was in the midst of locust attack last year. India is also developing the Chabahar port that will increase connectivity to Afghanistan and beyond.

(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.)
Betty Mutekhele Barasa, a senior video editor and television producer working for the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), was assaulted and shot dead at her home in Nairobi, on 7 April by unidentified gunmen. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Kenyan Union of Journalists (KUJ) in condemning this heinous crime and urging the Kenyan authorities to launch a thorough investigation into this killing to ensure justice for Ms Barasa.

Betty Mutekhele was shot twice while her family was held hostage by the assailants. According to her family, three men had been waiting for her to arrive from work and two of them were armed with AK-47 rifles.

The assailants stormed the house, ransacked it and killed the journalist with two shots in the head. According to local media reports, her husband who was in the house at the moment of the assault said that, while in their house, one of the attackers made a call saying they had completed their mission.

After the shooting, the gang stole her laptop and her mobile phone.

The KUJ called on the investigators to dig deeper to find out the reasons behind the crime, warning that the murder is a reminder of dark times in the past when journalists were targeted because of their work.

The IFJ joins the KUJ in calling on the Kenyan Government to launch an urgent and independent investigation of the killing to ensure that both the gunmen and the master minders of this crime are brought to justice.

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: We mourn the death of our colleague and send our deepest condolences to her family, friends and colleagues. The Kenyan authorities must identify those involved in this heinous crime and hold them accountable for their acts. The culture of impunity for crimes against journalists must stop.
Dnes za ina platit novela zakona o zbranich, ktera dava drzitelom nelegalnich zbrani moznost je beztrestn odevzdat na jakemkoli utvaru policie anebo jejich drzeni zlegalizovat. Blizsi info na https://t.co/eeHHl2WTod#policiepp#platiiprojelena pic.twitter.com/jm0L34cd2x  Policie R (@PolicieCZ) January 30, 2021

Kdyz jsme to ili video ke zbraHove amnestii, ve kterem jsme pouzili nadsazku v podob odevzdaneho tanku, tak jsme netusili, ze tim inspirujeme veYejnost. Dalsi z odevzdanych "perli ek" - samohybne dlo SD-100 a Tank T 34/85. #policiepp pic.twitter.com/5qjbFRD4FH  Policie R (@PolicieCZ) April 7, 2021

At the end of January this year, the Czech police announced that, under an amendment to the Weapons Act, anyone who had illegal weapons or ammunition could turn them in to the authorities or take steps to have them legalized, if possible. The holders would face no punishment, the announcement said. The campaign started right away and will continue until the end of July this year.With the announcement, the police released a video that was, more or less, an exaggerated take on what they expected to have people turning in. More specifically, it showed someone driving a tank into the police HQ parking lot, handing it over to two very amazed cops, and then walking away. The idea was that anyone could turn in any weapon they had that did not comply with EU and national regulation, as long as it wasnt explosives. Even a tank.The other day, the police announced that, to their surprise, someoneturn a tank in. Actually, two tanks were surrendered: a self-propelled gun SD-100 (SU-100 tank destroyer) and a medium T34/85 tank, which, for whatever reason, is now rocking a faded Pepto-Bismol pink layer of paint. The stories this machine could tell, we can only imagine.Always on social media, the police say that both machines were handed over in the Hradec Kralove region, they have devalued weapon systems, however, this devaluation does not meet current requirements and period documents are missing. Both belong to the same owner, who is now hoping to apply for a downgrading permit under the current legislation.Both the SU-100 (Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 100) and the T-34 were used extensively in WWII , and then went on in service in the armies of Soviet allies. The SU-100 is a 4-crew machine with a maximum operational range of 250 km (155 miles), and a top speed of 48 kph (30 mph). The T-34/85 tank, introduced in 1940, is a 5-crew machine with heavily sloped armor, a maximum operational range of 300 km (186 miles), and a max speed of 53 kph (33 mph). Now also in pink.
An early morning ATV accident on Flatwoods Road entering North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area at Caryville, Tn., seriously injured a Knoxville man.

TWRA Wildlife Officer Joel Hyden reported that sometime around midnight on Thursday, Cameron Hickey, 31, of Knoxville, was operating a Yamaha Kodiak 4-wheeler on Flatwoods Road entering NCWMA when he hit a rock and lost control. Mr.

Hickey was ejected from the ATV, thrown over 80 feet, and knocked unconscious. A friend of the victim who was following Mr. Hickey in a sport utility vehicle witnessed the incident and dialed 911.

Officers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Campbell County Sheriffs Office responded to the scene and the victim was airlifted to UT Medical Center where he remains in intensive care.

The incident is under investigation by TWRA.
But high conflict, the subject of her book, is very different. Once they get drawn into high conflict, people become certain of their own righteousness, make negative assumptions about those who have a different position and come to believe that the only acceptable solution is total victory. Like Friedman, they become willing to go to war over trivial disputes.

That kind of conflict, Ripley warns, is an alluring trap. Once we enter, we find we cant get out.  More and more of us get pulled into the muck, without even realizing how much worse we are making our own lives. This helps to explain the persistence of zero-sum conflicts in all aspects of social and political life, from messy divorces to decades-long civil wars.

Nobody is altogether invulnerable to this trap. But even conflicts that appear intractable, Ripley points out, often attenuate over time. Individuals, sometimes even whole societies, can reach a breaking point. As the costs of conflict mount, so does the desire to overcome endless fights.

In her search for solutions, Ripley shows that the process of escaping these situations usually involves five steps. Participants in the conflict, she suggests, need to investigate the understory that made them so invested in the first place. They should reduce the binary, recognizing that they may share more values and interests with their adversaries than they realize. They must marginalize the fire starters, ceasing to listen to those who seem to get a thrill out of the fight. They should buy time and make space, stopping themselves from escalating when they feel triggered. Most important, they need to complicate the narrative, recognizing that any story in which one side consists of pure heroes and the other of cartoonish villains is unlikely to be altogether accurate.

Ripleys book is not overtly political. Though she discusses the deep divisions now tearing apart the United States, her main motivation is to show that the dynamics pushing us into high conflict  as well as the techniques that can help to pull us out again  are universal. Whether she describes private clashes or political battles, the same themes emerge.

This universal approach only further reinforces the books implicit upshot. In most deep conflicts, the hope of winning a definitive victory over your opponent turns out to be a dangerous chimera. The only way out if youre stuck in the trap is to recognize that you will have to find a way to work together despite your differences. For those of us who despair of our fellow citizens, giving up hope that we might achieve the kind of country to which we aspire without vanquishing them, that is an important lesson.

In his own small way, Gary Friedman has started on the path out of high conflict. A few years after he was first elected, he finally recognized the heavy cost he was paying for falling into the trap. The community that once felt like a magic retreat from the world was losing its charms. Even his relationship with his wife and children was suffering.
Three Birmingham brothers have been indicted in the shooting death of a man during a robbery in Kingston.

Robert Earl Scroggins III, 28, Corderious Scroggins, 26, and Clarence Scroggins, 25, have been indicted in the Jan. 6, 2020 slaying of 34-year-old Douglas Paige Jr. All the were initially arrested on charges of capital murder, at a preliminary held last year, Jefferson County District Judge Teresa Pulliam bound the cases for Corderious and Clarence over to a grand jury for indictment consider on the lesser charge of felony murder.

Robert Earl remains charges with capital murder and remains held in the Jefferson County Jail. The two younger brothers are out on bond.

Court records allege Robert Earl Scroggins was identified through testimony as the suspect who actually pulled the trigger.

Douglas Paige was shot to death Monday, Jan. 6, in Birmingham's Kingston community. His family is seeking answers, and justice, in his death. (Special to AL.com)

The shooting happened at 11:15 a.m. that day in the 4400 block of Ninth avenue North. Police responded to the scene that Monday morning after Shot Spotter indicated gunfire in the area. While en route, they received another call of a person shot.

Paige was found unresponsive inside his vehicle and pronounced dead on the scene at 11:20 a.m. Police said the preliminary investigation showed that there was an altercation between four people, including Paige. The victim retreated to his car when someone fired shots into the sedan. At least two shots were fired.

A man was shot to death Monday, Jan. 6, 2020 in Birmingham's Kingston neighborhood. Police responded to shots fired and found the adult black male victim wounded in his vehicle. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Paiges girlfriend of nine years, Jacqualyn Williams, said they learned that Paige was beaten by the suspects, and money stolen from his pocket. The assailants, she said, had pulled him out of his vehicle and he was trying to flee when he was shot in the chest and killed. The couple had an 8-year-old son.

Paige had attended West End High School and later earned his GED. He was a good person to be around,' Williams said. He had a heart of gold. He spread love everywhere.

He had a good spirit,' she said, and was very kind.

A trial date has not yet been set.
Ecommerce platform Amazon India has finally unveiled a brand new store on its platform as it plans to help people in shopping for their regional new year celebrations.

The company launched the Regional New Year Shopping Store, which brings a wide variety of products to select from and caters to the needs of shoppers who are planning to celebrate their regional New Year.

As part of the offer, Amazon India is selling products by companies such as Pigeon, Fossil, boat, HP, OnePlus, and Samsung among others. Along with that, the company is giving up to 50% discount on the purchase of products from international companies, up to 60% on products from Amazon brands, and up to 40% off on home appliances among others.

Check out the top offers:

Amazon devices: Amazons 4th gen Echo Dot smart speaker is sold for Rs 3,999 and the third-generation Fire TV stick is sold for Rs 3,999.

Smartphones & accessories: Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is sold for Rs 19,999. While the boAt Airdopes 441 TWS earbuds are sold for Rs 2,499, the JBL Flip 3 Stealth waterproof portable Bluetooth speakers are available for Rs 5,499.

Smartwatches: Apple Watch SE is sold for Rs 32,897 while the Amazfit GTS2 mini super-light Smart Watch is available for Rs 6,999.

Laptops: The HP 15 (2021) Thin and Light laptops are sold for Rs 38,490. Meanwhile, Mi Notebook Horizon Edition 14 is available for Rs 54,999.

Home appliances: Samsung 1.5-ton 5-star inverter split AC is available for Rs 38,990, Samsung 198 L 4-star inverter direct-cool single door refrigerator is sold at Rs 16,340 and the Crompton Ozone 75-litres desert air cooler with honeycomb pads are sold at Rs 9,695.

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EPRINT Group will create a new website for its affiliated companies, which will be supported by BINGO, a leading web design agency based in Hong Kong, to create a new B2B platform.

Hong Kong and Macao are unique places with their own cultural differences. The people here visit websites that are different from the mainland and overseas. They have their own favourite ecosystem.

To build a successful platform, EPRINT needs a strong partner who is familiar with the Hong Kong region.

According to ICANN, HKIRC, and World Domain Traffic Rankings, BINGO (HK) is currently managing more than 180 of the Top 1000 websites in Hong Kong.

And according to the website of BINGO(HK), more than 8000 websites have been produced.

Besides, they are among the few companies with data analytics in addition to Google, Facebook, and other Internet giants in Hong Kong.

In 2020, Tsinghua University also signed a five-year cooperation plan with BINGO to design a new internet platform of the Asia Research Institute, mainly focusing on AI, chip research and development, and artificial intelligence, etc.

After the Covid-19, enterprises will pay more attention to internet cooperation, and the most important aspects of which are user experience and efficiency.

EPRINT will leverage BINGOs exclusive data analytics to create a localized platform 2.0.

The new platform of EPRINT will strengthen the self-service part and thus provide a one-stop service of online product status enquiry. It will become the Amazon of the printing industry in

Hong Kong and even in Asia.

There is also a report showing that companies in recent years have higher requirements for printed matters and they hope to provide more types of design to highlight their companys identity.

For EPRINT, it has been committed to providing a self-service ordering platform in the past. Since self-service platforms cannot provide solutions for complex designs, EPRINT wants to build a more user-friendly network.

BINGOs B2B will provide a powerful solution for EPRINT.
Turkmen Railways agency hosted an investment forum that brought together representatives of the ministries, departments, private sector and experts from Turkmenistans transport and communication complex.

The forum aimed at establishing a dialogue between the country's commodity producers, customers of transport services, developing public-private partnerships, creating new production facilities through the use of investment potential of the country's private sector.

During the forum, experts of the transport and communication complex presented information on the industry potential. It was noted that most of the materials for production activities of this industry as well as spare parts for repair work come from abroad. In this regard, the forum reviewed proposals on establishment of relevant industries and provision of modern services in Turkmenistan.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021
Capitol Police Officer William 'Billy' Evans, 41, who was rammed by a car at the Capitol last week, died from multiple blunt force injuries to the head.

The Washington D.C. medical examiner has also ruled Evan's death a homicide.

A vehicle rammed into Evans and another officer at a barricade just 100 yards from the Capitol.

The driver, Noah Green, 25, came out of the car with a knife and was shot to death by a third police officer after he lunged at him.

Investigators believe Green had been delusional and increasingly having suicidal thoughts.

Evans was a veteran with the force for 18 years.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced earlier this week that Evans will lie in honor in the United States Capitol Rotunda on April 13, a tribute reserved for the nation's most eminent private citizens.

'In giving his life to protect our Capitol and our Country, Officer Evans became a martyr for our democracy. On behalf of the entire Congress, we are profoundly grateful,' Schumer and Pelosi said.

Capitol Police Officer William 'Billy' Evans, 41, (pictured with his two children, Abigail and Logan) had his death ruled as a homicide

Capitol Police Officer William 'Billy' Evans (right) 41, who was rammed by Noah Green's (left) car at the Capitol last week, died from multiple blunt force injuries to the head

The U.S. Capitol Police also released a statement from Evans family, saying: 'His death has left a gaping void in our lives that will never be filled.'

Pelosi called Evans 'a martyr for our democracy' in a statement, adding that his death was 'tragic and heroic.'

President Joe Biden and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who offered their condolences to Evans' family.

'Jill and I were heartbroken to learn of the violent attack at a security checkpoint on the U.S. Capitol grounds, which killed Officer William Evans of the U.S. Capitol Police, and left a fellow officer fighting for his life,' Biden said in a statement.

'We send our heartfelt condolences to Officer Evans' family, and everyone grieving his loss. We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there, and those who protect it,' he added.

The U.S. Capitol Police Headquarters entrance in Washington, is draped in black

Noah Green was shot and killed by Capitol Police following the attack, which happened shortly after 1pm on Friday

Capitol Police officers stand near a car that crashed into a barrier on Capitol Hill last Friday

U.S. Capitol Police officers and members of the National Guard keep watch at the Constitution Avenue entrance to the East Plaza of the Capitol where an officer was killed last Friday

Evans, a father of two, grew up in North Adams, Massachusetts, a close-knit town of about 13,000 in the northwest part of the state.

The death of Evans came nearly three months after the January 6 rioting at the Capitol that left five people dead, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. He died a day after the insurrection.

Barbed wire fencing had surrounded the Capitol for months after pro-Trump rioters stormed the building.

The fencing has since been removed and thousands of National Guard troops who had been deployed in response to the January insurrection have since returned home, although thousands remain in Washington in response to last Friday's attack.

Evans was the fourth Capitol police officer to die this year.

Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died a day after the Capitol riot on January 6 'due to injuries sustained while on-duty,' the Capitol Police said in a previous statement. Two other officers died by suicide after responding to the riot, one from the Capitol Police and another from Washington's Metropolitan Police Department.

It remains to be seen how the most recent attack might impact longer-term plans regarding security at the Capitol, a topic that has come under increasing scrutiny as many lawmakers and staff hoped to reclaim some sense of normalcy despite ongoing congressional investigations into the failures around the January's attack.
Buoyed by the success of its foray into high-end student housing, Ashley Development Corp. plans to build a 7-story mixed use development at Third and Polk streets.

Plans call for two floors of retail and then a mix of 80 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments on the upper floors built on a parking lot at 404 E. Third Street. The property sits between Third and Mechanic streets and bounded by Polk Street to the west.

Developer Lou Pektor told the Bethlehem Planning Commission during a Thursday night site plan review that he bought the property in 2003 and has been waiting for the perfect opportunity to develop it.

Ashley recently had great success converting office space in an adjacent building at 322 E. Third St. into 52 high-end apartments targeting Lehigh University students and young professionals, Pektor said.

We are really trying to push the market to a high-end, higher quality product, Pektor said. Weve learned that students, graduate students and staff people will pay for high-quality units and they will pay to be close to convenience... The more foot traffic and more residential units we can put in that approximate area I think is good for everyone.

Pektor wants to capitalize on his success with a mixed-use development of more housing next door. Hes also in negotiations with two high-end, local restauranteurs who would occupy the first and second floors, he said.

The more students developers can draw down to the business district the more the city can preserve the integrity of its original neighborhoods and create a more vibrant commercial district, Pektor said. And it creates a boon of foot traffic for local businesses, he said.

The planning commission ultimately signed off on several variances it has the power to approve under city zoning and made them contingent on developers nailing down where tenants will park.

There are new plans proposed for this parking lot at 404 E. Third St. in South Bethlehem.Courtesy Google Maps

The biggest unknown for the project  estimated at a $16 million to $18 million investment  is where its residents and visitors will park. The coronavirus pandemic and unexpected emergency repairs at the Walnut Street parking garage have derailed plans for the Polk Street parking deck across from Pektors project. He is prepared to lease 114 spaces in the Betlehem Parking Authority deck if it is built.

Without it, he might require tenants to provide proof of parking elsewhere or have to redesign the project, Pektor said.

Polk Street is projected to include 593 spaces and was supposed to wrap up construction in the fall of this year. The authority has selected Peron Development and J.G. Petrucci Co. to construct a five-story building to front the parking garage. It will include 32-luxury apartments on the top floors and a Factory LLC retail store on the first floor.

Planning Commission Chairman Rob Melosky pressed city Planning Director Darlene Heller on where Polk Street stands. The parking authority is currently awaiting a condition and repair report on the Walnut Street garage as it weighs fixing and overhauling or razing the structure.

Those decisions are still being made, Heller said. Bethlehem is estimated to get almost $34 million in stimulus funding and there may be infrastructure dollars coming too, she said.

There is a lot of moving parts here, Heller said.

Bethlehem Mayor Bob Donchez on Friday echoed Heller, saying much hinges on the forthcoming Walnut Street garage condition report and clearer federal guidelines on how the stimulus funding can be used.

Polk Street is basically shovel ready and now we have more (lease) commitments today than we had for the garage a year ago, Donchez said. That puts the parking authority in a stronger position. The key is what does the Walnut Street report say and what are the guidelines and regulations for how we should use the stimulus money? I am very bullish on Polk Street.

Other developers, Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts and Northampton Community College already have committed to spaces in the Polk Street deck.

Pektors plans call for 25 studios, 35 one-bedroom units and 20 two-bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. The studios will be large at about 540-square-feet.

Ashley hopes it could begin construction in 2022 if it gets approvals in hand quickly. The property current generates $499 in city, county and school district property taxes. Once built, it is projected to generate $180,000 in real estate taxes.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.
Blue is the world's most popular color but the hue rarely appears in nature, so manufacturers have had to resort to artificial dyes and chemicals to create blue food.

That could soon change, now that a naturally occurring blue pigment has been discovered in red cabbage.

Scientists with the Mars candy corporation found traces of anthocyanin - a pigment that gives red, purple, blue and black foods their color -' that was coded blue.

They were able to increase that amount by treating the cabbage's red-colored anthocyanins with a designer enzyme that turned them blue.

To test it out, researcher used their 'new blue' to make cyan-colored ice cream and other products, which all kept their color for at least a month.

A naturally occurring blue pigment has been discovered in red cabbage. To test it out, researcher used their 'new blue' to make cyan-colored ice cream (pictured) and other products, which all kept their color for at least a month

In 2016, Mars Wrigley announced it would fully stop using artificial colors in its food products by 2021.

But researchers with the company have been searching for a natural 'blue' pigment for products like M&Ms and Skittles for more than a decade with limited success.

'Blue colors are really quite rare in nature,' said Pamela Denish, a graduate student in UC Davis' Innovation Institute for Food and Health, who worked on the project. 'A lot of them are really reds and purples.'

That's because a number of complex molecular structures are needed to absorb the right wavelengths of light to give something a blue appearance, according to New Scientist.

Researchers found small amounts of blue pigment, or anthocyanin, in red cabbage. Using a designer enzyme, they converted the cabbages' dominant red anthocyanin to cyan

Denish collaborated with scientists at the Mars Advanced Research Institute, Ohio State University, Nagoya University, the University of Avignon and the International School for Advanced Studies to isolate the blue anthocyanin in red cabbage.

Red cabbage is widely used as a natural food dye, especially to create robust reds and purples.

But the amount of blue pigment in the vegetable is too small to make a practical food coloring.

The most dominant anthocyanin in red cabbage is, unsurprisingly, red.

The researchers realized if they could use an enzyme to convert the red anthocyanin to blue, they'd have plenty to work with.

But finding the right combination of proteins to design that enzyme was no mean feat.

Using computational methods, the team scanned 'a huge number of potential protein sequences  10 to the power of 20, [or] more than the number of stars in the universe,' to develop the right enzyme.

The scientists scanned 10 to the power of 20 potential protein sequences, or more than the number of stars in the universe, to develop an enzyme that would turn the cabbage's red anthocyanin to blue

The result is a 'cyan blue,' according to a report published April 7 in the journal Science Advances, that can be used as a viable alternative to synthetic blue food dyes.

They tested their pigment by making blue ice cream, candy-coated lentils and donut frosting.

The products all kept their vibrant color for 30 days, according to the report, which didn't indicate how they tasted.

While it still has to be approved by the FDA, the anthocyanin in the cabbage 'provides a natural alternative to artificial colorants, and a solution to the long-standing blue dye challenge facing the food industry,' said Rebecca Robbins, a senior researcher at Mars Wrigley.

Depending on their pH levels, anthocyanins can appear red, purple, blue or even black.

They're abundant in foods like cherries, blueberries, Concord grapes, black beans and blue corn.

The most common artificial blue coloring is Brilliant Blue FCF, also known as 'Blue No. 1.'

It's used in soft drinks, cotton candy, ice cream, cereals, and even Blue Curacao liquor, as well as a variety of soaps, shampoos and cosmetics.

The correct shade of blue is also important for creating other colorsif it's not right, you'll end up with muddy brown instead of green or purple.

According to the FDA, Brilliant Blue FCF is not harmful to the body, but since it's made from petroleum products, it's not exactly environmentally friendly, either.

And it's not absorbed by the body it inevitably makes its way back into the soil and wastewater.

Last year, scientists at Cambridge discovered a plant that has a technique for generating blue similar to the one used by birds, beetles and butterflies.

Viburnum tinus is an evergreen shrub that uses fats in its cell walls to turn its fruits a striking metallic blue, rather than pigments. Scientist hope to recreate that technique to create a natural blue food coloring

Viburnum tinus, a common European evergreen shrub, uses fats in its cell walls to turn its fruit a striking metallic blue.

Most colors in nature are due to pigments but some of the brightest - such as peacock feathers, butterfly wings and opals - come from their internal makeup.

This is known as structural color and the way the structures are arranged determines which colors they are able to reflect.

V. tinus is the first time structural color has been observed in a planet, the researchers said.

They hope to mimic the shrub's technique to create a 'true blue' food dye.
Asian American community advocates urged San Francisco officials on Thursday to fill gaps in public safety and victim services, especially for non-English speakers, amid a rash of violence.

Supervisor Gordon Mar held a hearing Thursday to discuss the alarming attacks over the past year that have left Asian Americans injured and traumatized  and in one case resulted in the death of an 84-year-old Thai man. Mar said he was committed to funding public safety, such as victim services, in the upcoming budget. Using his power as chair of the committee that held the hearing, he tasked multiple departments with creating a citywide violence prevention plan by the end of May before another hearing in June.

Our communities remain traumatized and fearful following the surge of incidents of hate and discrimination against us fueled by former President Trumps racist and xenophobic rhetoric, said Mar, whose father immigrated from China. Like all people of color, our communities have struggled against racism in our history in this country, over 150 years, but the breadth and brazenness of the recent violence and racism directed at Asian Americans has been shocking.

The five-hour hearing brought together community leaders and city departments including police, the district attorney and immigrant affairs to untangle complicated dynamics behind recent attacks, seek solutions ranging from community patrols to anti-racism training, and better serve multilingual victims.

In response to violence, police have increased foot patrols, launched a community liaison unit to help victims and a monolingual anonymous tip line. The district attorney is working to prosecute hate crimes and said he wants more resources to support victims. The city also plans to use grant money to hire staff who speak Asian languages for a team dedicated to preventing street violence.

But officials acknowledged efforts among departments can be disjointed. Advocates argued more coordinated, rapid and culturally sensitive responses are needed.

We are very concerned about how limited-English-speaking community members are able to access resources and information, that they get support navigating across government systems, and that we have a citywide plan that does speak to the ways in which violence and crime manifest in the Asian community, Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, told The Chronicle.

Challenges include the need for more multilingual city staff, easier access to mental health services and immediate victim compensation instead of being required to submit for reimbursement, advocates said. On Thursday, leaders from the Coalition for Community Safety and Justice, a group of four Asian Pacific Islander organizations, urged the city to create a rapid response network for victims covering mental health, financial and legal support. They also called for immediate public safety programs, including street outreach and community escorts, and investment in racial healing among impacted communities.

During the pandemic, the national coalition Stop AAPI Hate documented 931 hate incidents in the Bay Area, including 359 in San Francisco. In San Francisco, violent crimes against Asian Americans actually decreased from 2019 to 2020, and have not yet outpaced last year to date in 2021, said SFPD Acting Deputy Chief Commander Raj Vaswani. The exception is one homicide this year, compared to none last year.

The number of Asian American hate crime victims also dropped slightly, from 9 in 2019 to 8 in 2020. This year, there are already 15 victims. Police have charged four hate crimes and are investigating three more.

Hate crimes require a high level of proof to establish an attack was motivated by bias, so data doesnt capture all prejudice-based incidents, Vaswani said. On Wednesday, the department changed its policy to better report and track those incidents.

Weve seen some horrific crimes, particularly against our senior members of the AAPI community over the last two years in our city, Police Chief Bill Scott told supervisors during the hearing. We are very sensitive to these cases right now.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench
The La Soufriere volcano erupted on St. Vincent early Friday, with plumes of ash spewing above the tropical Caribbean island. According to the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI-SRC), the "explosive eruption" began at 8:41 a.m.

That was just hours after residents were ordered to evacuate their homes, as the government warned of the imminent eruption.

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No deaths or injuries have been reported, but experts say there's the potential for property damage, which could persist for weeks or even months to come.

Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said people living in so-called red zones in the northwest and northeast of the island needed to leave immediately as the volcano pumped out more smoke and steam. Emergency management officials had issued a "red alert" Thursday, after scientists observed the heightened threat with magma on the move close to the surface.

"There is now in the country an evacuation order," Gonsalves said in a message broadcast on social media Thursday.

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Cruise ships were also helping to evacuate people, as the volcano's lava dome became visible as darkness fell on the area Thursday night. The nearby islands of Barbados and Antigua, among others, had agreed to take in evacuees. Roughly 5,000 to 6,000 people live in the affected areas.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which has a population of just over 100,000, has not seen volcanic activity since 1979. An eruption by La Soufriere in 1902 killed more than 1,000 people.

With files from Reuters.
For Subscribers Mom shares story of son's suicide, shines light on teen mental health

After Aiden Alexander's suicide, his family wants to break the stigma associated with suicide so more youths can be helped.
The national, independent nonprofit FAIR Health is unveiling three new enhancements to its platform of online resources to support consumers as they navigate the healthcare system.

FAIR Health has added a shoppable services tool to its free, award-winning website, fairhealthconsumer.org; created a free website for providers about shared decision making to complement the consumer resources on that subject at FAIR Health Consumer; and launched a free mobile app, FH Consumer Classroom, to deliver health insurance education to consumers in a user-friendly, consolidated format.

Shoppable services tool

Shoppable services are nonurgent healthcare services that a patient can schedule in advance, such as cataract surgery, colonoscopies and CT scans. Beginning in 2021, federal regulation requires hospitals to list their prices for 300 shoppable services. While patients can go from hospital to hospital looking for these price lists, formats may differ, making comparisons difficult.

FAIR Health Consumer's shoppable services tool takes a different approach. It allows consumers to browse through more than 300 shoppable services or search for a specific service, then get an estimate of the average cost of that service in the consumer's geographic area or surrounding areas.

Both in-network and out-of-network, geographic-specific costs are given. With this information, consumers can plan and budget for the service--especially important for those with high-deductible health plans. If consumers are uninsured or going out of network, they can use the cost estimate to negotiate with hospitals. For more on the new tool, see the article Shopping for Shoppable Services.

Shared decision-making website for providers

Shared decision making is the discussion between patients (and/or their caregivers) and clinicians to decide on care based on clinical evidence, balancing risks and outcomes with patients' preferences and values.

FAIR Health has now launched an educational website, fairhealthprovider.org, that supplies providers with free resources and tools to facilitate shared decision making. Funded by a generous grant from The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the new site complements FAIR Health's consumer-facing tools, which launched last year on FAIR Health Consumer.

The tools combine clinical and cost information to support seriously and chronically ill patients and their caregivers in shared decision making with clinicians.

Materials on the new site include:

An explanation and overview of shared decision making;

Guidance and resources for shared decision-making implementation, such as provider- and consumer-facing checklists;

Guidance for engaging in "triadic decision making" when a caregiver or family member is involved;

Discussion prompts and conversation guides;

Suggestions for further reading and resources, such as advance directives and tools to improve health insurance literacy; and

Decision aids that combine clinical treatment options and associated costs for three palliative care scenarios: Dialysis for people who are seriously ill; Nutrition options for people who are seriously ill; and Ventilator for people who are seriously ill.



The Samuels Foundation is proud to support FAIR Health's new provider-oriented website that offers educational content and tools aimed at supporting providers and clinicians in shared decision-making discussions with seriously ill older adults and their caregivers in New York City. This initiative is particularly relevant as patients, caregivers and providers are navigating difficult decisions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic." Lauren Weisenfeld, Deputy Director, Healthy Aging Program, Samuels Foundation

FH consumer classroom mobile app

Health insurance literacy and health literacy are more important now than ever, due to the impact of COVID-19 on the healthcare delivery system and the need to turn to alternative venues of care such as telehealth. FH Consumer Classroom, FAIR Health's new mobile app, equips the consumer with critical information at this time of notable change.

Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play, FH Consumer Classroom provides easy access to the educational materials also available on FAIR Health Consumer. The app offers FAIR Health's award-winning consumer content on a new educational platform in a concise, user-friendly format.

FH Consumer Classroom enables users to learn about health insurance and healthcare quality through articles, videos and a glossary, and access key resources and interactive puzzles to support learning. Among the educational topics covered is shared decision making. The app also links to FAIR Health's nationally recognized FHMedical and Dental Cost Lookup tools, which enable consumers to estimate the typical costs of medical and dental procedures.

FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd stated: "Now more than ever, consumers are hungry for resources that enable them to navigate the complex world of healthcare and health insurance. FAIR Health has created these three enhancements to its consumer platform to support consumers as they make crucial decisions regarding their health and finances, and the providers who are assisting them."
The Secretariat for Catholic Education and the Church Schools Association, together with other organizations, including Caritas Malta, express concern over the possible legalization of the production, commercialization and use of cannabis.

By Lisa Zengarini

The Maltese Government recently launched a public consultation on the legalization of marijuana, based on a White Paper in which it explains its proposal with background information.

Contents of the proposed law

The proposed law would allow the possession by an adult of a maximum of 7 grams of cannabis for personal use, while people caught in possession of quantities between 7 and 28 grams would be liable to a fine.

Fines would also apply to people caught consuming it in public areas and minors. This means that, while cannabis trafficking will continue to be illegal, its possession for personal use will no longer be a crime in Malta.

The law would also allow the cultivation of a maximum of four cannabis plants for personal use at home, while its sale would be regulated by specific provisions. Moreover, people with criminal records for possessing marijuana would be cleared.

Negative consequences on young people

In light of the "White Paper", the Secretariat and the CSA have called on members of Parliament to safeguard the wellbeing of young people.

They emphasize that priority should be given to the effect of cannabis on mental health and on the way it will promote and strengthen a cannabis culture among younger generations.

They express their full support to the arguments put forward in a joint statement by Caritas Malta, OASI, and the Malta Psychiatry Association (MPA),which describes the negative consequences that the proposed law would have on young people and children in Malta and Gozo.

Link between cannabis and mental illness

The statement disputes the idea conveyed by the Paper that cannabis can be used more freely as it has no relevant side effects, reminding that, on the contrary, it is indeed particularly harmful to a developing brain and can cause mental illness.

It also points out that the law would facilitate drug traffickers' activities. Moreover, people with drug addiction problems would be less likely to have public assistance for help.

The depenalization of its use would also encourage the consumption of this drug, and therefore increase the need for more public health services to assist people with mental illnesses caused by cannabis.



Need to study social impact of proposed legalization

Caritas, MPA, and OASI finally point out a number of questions unanswered by the Paper, including the overall social impact the proposal would have, on which no research has been conducted by the relevant authorities.
Tech for Early Learning

Renaissance Adds Early Literacy Web App

Education technology company Renaissance has acquired Lalilo, an early literacy company that was started in Paris in 2016 by three graduates of Ecole Polytechnique with a goal of ending illiteracy. Terms of the deal were not made public.

Lalilo produces a web-based literacy app for K-2 teachers and students. The program offers "visually engaging" activities to help students develop their phonological and phonemic awareness, letter and word recognition, comprehension and fluency, vocabulary, writing and social literacy. Teachers get data tracking and planning tools. The basic service is free for teachers; a premium edition adds extra features, including additional data reporting functionality.

"Lalilo is designed to work as a complement to any teacher's instructional method and curriculum, and supports students in elements that are critical to success in literacy learning," said Laurent Jolie, co-founder of Lalilo, in a press release. "Together, Renaissance and Lalilo share a similar mission of accelerating learning for all children  no matter where learning happens. We are excited to join Renaissance and expand the reach of Lalilo to help children worldwide develop essential skills for literacy success."

"Reading to learn has been our area of expertise for 35 years," added Todd Brekhus, chief product officer at Renaissance. "With the addition of Lalilo, we will deliver an exceptional solution to our most common customer request  that we provide a powerful early learning solution to support students who are learning to read."
EDWARDSVILLE  After meeting with Madison County, state and federal law enforcement officials, Madison County States Attorney Thomas Haine said a new Cross-River Crime Task Force should have some ideas and plans within the next 90 days or so.

The group met Friday at the Madison County Administration Building. After the meeting Haine spoke to the media. Although he was flanked by a number of local and federal law enforcement officials, he was the only speaker.

We had over a dozen local police chiefs in attendance, with their deputies, Haine said. We had representatives from multiple federal agencies in attendance.

Also attending was Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelley, a former St. Clair County States Attorney.

It was a broad spectrum of the law enforcement community, Haine said. The chorus of citizen complaints in Madison County regarding crimes occurring in their community from individuals coming across the river from Missouri is being heard.

In recent months there have been complaints of criminals coming over from Missouri, committing crimes, and then heading back across the river  many times before victims realize the crimes have been committed.

Auto thefts and burglaries have been very common, but there have also been retail thefts, strong-arm robberies, shootings and murders. Felony charges against St. Louis or St. Louis County residents are an almost daily occurance.

Our law enforcement community is doing a great job right now, Haine said. But with a united effort I think we can do better.

He said one concern was that because the criminals are not from the local area, they dont have any buy-in with the community, meaning they have little concern about victims.

The potential for violence in this kind of crime is very high, and happens all the time, he noted. Individuals who are not part of the community will be more likely to heighten the violence level of each individual crime, and thats what weve seen.

One of the things to come out of the meeting are two different working groups, he said. One will focus on data collection and developing a plan to combat the criminals. The other will focus on the efforts organization, structure and funding.

Haine said one issue is the lack of some types of solid data.

What is the extent of the problem? he said. Everyone has a sense of the problem in their own municipalities. Then to use our federal partners and our state partners to come up with some idea about how this kind of problem has been attacked by jurisdictions across the country.

He said part of the issue is that in some types of crimes they are not solved in terms of theyre not charged, but well find the car over in St. Louis.

There is a sense of the magnitude of the problem, but theres not good data that we can call upon to get a true sense, he added. Ive visited every police chief in Madison County in the past four months. Every single one of them said it was a major problem, but they werent sure how major.

He added that all of them said that dealing with Missouri criminals is taking up a significant amount of their time.

The second group will look at organization: What will the task force look like? How will it be designed? What will be the organizational structure? How will it be funded?

Haine added that they have an aggressive time frame.

We want to have something operational within the next month and a half, he said. That we can at least get this effort off the ground, united, and make an impact.

Were not willing to wait, he added, saying Missouri law enforcement officials will be brought into the discussion later.
(TNS)  In a year when the world conducted much of its business online and Internet speeds have become a closely watched commodity, one local professional with insider knowledge of the Internet industry is taking his business to space.After 32 years working on Internet networks, University of Idaho Network Manager Brian Jemes abandoned his land-based service for his home to join the beta-test of Starlink, Elon Musk's bid to beam satellite Internet directly to American rooftops. While he was somewhat skeptical at first that the service could deliver the speeds Starlink claimed would be possible, Jemes said he's only been impressed thus far.While there are occasional service interruptions that can last as long as 10 seconds, Jemes said the speeds he's clocked for his home Internet use rival fiber-optic Internet lines. He said Starlink promised interruption issues will be resolved as the program progresses and more of its satellites are sent to space.Inclusion in the program can be pricey  Jemes said he paid $99 just to be put on the waitlist to join the beta program. Once he was accepted into the program, this was followed by another $500 down payment for an antenna, router and other equipment, and $99 monthly payments to maintain the service. Thankfully, installation was pretty simple, he said."It ships with the Wi-Fi router so if you have a home that can be covered with one wi-fi router, it comes with everything you need to (set it up) out of the box," Jemes said. "You plug it into power, set the antenna outward so it's got a clear view to the north, it automatically orients itself and you're up and running in less than an hour."SpaceX's Starlink is one of many programs seeking to create satellite-based Internet systems in the coming years  another prominent contender to create such a service is Amazon. Jemes said these efforts remind him of a Motorola-backed program to create reliable satellite cellphone service in the late 1990s through its collection of satellites.While Jemes said that program worked well for cellphone service, its low bandwidth made it poorly suited to deliver high-speed Internet. However, he said, in many ways it was a precursor to Starlink and programs like it. "That was a crazy number of satellites  66 satellites  that was a huge number," Jemes said. "Well, now, the last article I read (said) Starlink's got 1,000 satellites in orbit and they're adding more all the time."With its roughly 1,000 satellites in orbit, SpaceX now owns about one-third of all active satellites and this is just the start  the FCC has cleared the company to launch almost 11,000 more. Jemes said Starlink and other satellite-based Internet programs present a promising solution for the problem of bringing high-speed Internet to remote regions  but it is just one of an array of options. He said many land-based services including DSL, cable and especially fiber can deliver some amount of broadband to their customers and, in a lot of cases, they're more than sufficient.DSL, cable and others often don't offer the same speed or reliability that fiber and now satellite Internet appears to offer, but many customers don't need that level of capability. Fiber-optic lines deliver formidable speeds but building that infrastructure out to homes can be costly and time consuming. Prior to his acceptance into the Starlink beta test, Jemes said he'd been a customer of First Step Internet for 20 years and for many, it's a better value. He said satellite Internet is a promising new solution for broadening access to high-speed Internet around the world, but it's not the only solution."There's not one answer, there's not one best solution (but) I think it plays a big role for places where the economics just aren't there or where it's going to be so much more costly to put in fiber," Jemes said. "To me, I kind of feel like it's twice as expensive as my First Step service but I get 20 times the bandwidth, so that's a pretty good trade if you want it or if you need that."
Ask Dr. Land: Should President Biden be described as 'devout' Catholic?

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Question: Should President Biden be described as a devout Catholic and should he receive communion?

I have decided to rush into territory where angels often fear to tread  commenting on a dispute in another faith tradition that is different than my own. Let me state for the record that I am not a Roman Catholic. Since the age of six and a half I have been a member of the Southern Baptist denomination and an ordained Southern Baptist minister since the age of 23. Clearly, Baptists came out of the left-wing of the Reformation starting in Switzerland in the 16th century (circa 1525).

However, I do believe the question of whether President Biden should describe himself, or be described by others, as a devout Catholic when he is such an aggressive pro-abortion proponent is a valid and important one. An even more important question is whether being such a pro-abortion proponent, he should be denied communion by a priest when he presents himself for communion.

The most recent iteration of this controversy was ignited when Archbishop Joseph Naumann, the Chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Pro-Life Committee issued a statement declaring that President Biden should not describe himself as a devout Catholic because of his militant pro-abortion stance and agenda and made it clear that he believed that the President should not receive communion.

Those of us in Protestant traditions need to remember that Catholicism is a sacramental faith and not being served communion has much more significance than in our traditions which view the Lords Supper as a memorial meal and an act of obedience, rather than conferring sacramental blessing.

Perhaps it is best to let an undeniable expert on Roman Catholic doctrine address the issue. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that abortion is gravely contrary to the moral law. In 2004 then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later to become Pope Benedict XVI) sent a memo to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington D.C., delineating the issues that determined a persons eligibility to receive communion. The soon to be Pope Benedict writes:

Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a persons formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Churchs teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist."

In the memo the then Cardinal Ratzinger explains that when these measures have not had the desired effect, the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it.

Archbishop Naumann explained that President Biden is acting contrary to church teaching... and the Bishops need to correct him, as the president is acting contrary to Catholic faith.

Predictably, this has caused intense debate among American Catholics with competing petitions. More liberal Catholics (Faithful America) are calling for Archbishop Naumanns removal, while more traditional Catholics (Catholic Vote) are circulating a petition commending Archbishop Naumanns actions. The petition declares [i]n publicly noting that the Presidents unequivocal advocacy for abortion on demand makes him ineligible to receive Holy Communion, you have followed St. Pauls directive to Timothy: Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient, convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For whether it is convenient or inconvenient, convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine (2 Tim. 4:2-3). We thank you for your courage in transmitting sound doctrine and for your commitment to defending the most vulnerable among us.

Pew has been polling Catholics on this issue. Interestingly, the results are broken down along party lines, either Democrat or leaning Democrat vs. Republican, or leaning Republican. Among the first group, 87% believe that President Biden should receive communion and among the latter group 55% of Republicans think he should not.

Perhaps far more important for the future of Catholicism in the U.S., the Pew poll found that among Roman Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week, 42% believed Catholic politicians who disagree with the Churchs official position on abortion should be disqualified from the Eucharist.

It appears that the more devout a Catholic is, at least as defined by faithful church attendance, the more likely he or she is to agree with Archbishop Naumann. This result is not surprising.

While there is considerable diversity of opinion among American Roman Catholics on the subject of abortion, the Churchs clear teaching on the issue is unequivocally pro-life and the magisterium of the Church would clearly see a pro-abortion position as out of sync with Church teaching.

And it must always be remembered that Roman Catholicism is not a democracy. It has an ecclesiastical hierarchy that has real authority.

This debate over President Bidens fitness to receive communion and whether he is a devout Catholic accentuates the hierarchical nature of Catholic authority, an authority the church leadership, at least in America, is to varying degrees uncomfortable exercising. After all, Catholic bishops have openly disagreed with Archbishop Naumann.

As I was reading of this controversy, I was reminded of a conversation I had back in 1992 with Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, at the time Archbishop of Chicago and the Chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops committee on fighting pornography. In conjunction with that effort several of us met with the Cardinal. As we were sitting down to lunch at the Cardinals residence, he turned to me as I was seated immediately to his right. He said Richard, cant you do anything about Clinton and Gore on abortion? At that time both Clinton and Gore were Southern Baptists. I replied, No Joe I cant. The only ecclesiastical authority in our tradition is the local church, and only their respective local churches could discipline them or take corrective action. I then added, Cant you do anything about Cuomo and Kennedy on abortion? At least you have the ecclesiastical authority and machinery to do it. The Cardinal smiled a slight smile and said, Touche Richard, touche. To me, this illustrated the Catholic hierarchys ambivalence about disciplining two of the most prominent Catholic politicians in the land, Senator Ted Kennedy and Governor Mario Cuomo, both of whom were way off the reservation of what was considered orthodox Catholic doctrine on the abortion issue.

It also brought back memories of when Pope John Paul II first became Pope and he told the sisters to wear their habits and instructed Catholic priests who had strayed into political office to return to their priestly duties. Shortly after that I ran into my good friend George Weigel who would later write a compelling biography of Pope John Paul II. I said, George, you guys finally have a Pope who knows how to pope, meaning he took his authority seriously and used it to enforce traditional Catholicism." George told me later that when he related this story to the Pope, John Paul II threw his head back and gave a hearty belly laugh.

Seriously, one of the things that has in the past, and continues in the present, to attract to Catholicism is its emphasis on tradition in our ever changing world, with so many religious traditions trying their hardest to reflect changing values in society in chameleon-like fashion. By contrast Roman Catholics remain the same

One of the highlights of my three year sojourn in Oxford in the mid-1970s was getting to spend an entire Sunday afternoon with Malcolm Muggeridge, the British journalist, essayist and general curmudgeon of British intellectual life for much of the last half of the 20th century. Muggeridge had been an agnostic and libertine as a young man and a profound admirer of communism until he lived in the Soviet Union for a brief period in the 1930s which disimbued him of admiration for communism. After the second World War Muggeridge became a Christian and a well-spoken, witty and sharp tongued defender of the faith much influenced by Mother Teresa.

In 1982, at the age of 79, Muggeridge rocked the Christian world by leaving the Church of England and becoming a Roman Catholic. He had obviously become frustrated with the ever changing face of modern Anglicanism. When asked why he would join the Roman church at this late stage in his life he replied, they dont change! This stability, this staunch loyalty to the ancient teachings of the Catholic church have tremendous appeal to many people. As a Baptist, I reject many of their teachings. But I do understand the appeal of long traditions that dont change and the comforting stability it provides many of its adherents.

The modern Roman Catholic Church should thus be wary of introducing any genuflections to majority views in a particular culture lest they lose the appeal of their never changing traditions and the fact that they dont change.

The cautionary tale for those who would be tempted to change traditional teaching to accommodate the modern zeitgeist is contemporary Methodism, which has pursued social relevance to the point of being so amorphous that they defy meaningful theological definition. I would challenge anyone to give a one paragraph definition of Methodist theology that is both accurate and comprehensive. Trying to define contemporary Methodism is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree. Those tempted by the enchantment of cultural relevance should be wary of the stark example provided by modern Methodism.
HMD Global is the home of Nokia phones, and its new G-series phone has launched, the G10, billed as "the hero" of Nokia's mid-range smartphone portfolio.

With a tag-line of love it, trust it and keep it, HMD Global is pushing hard for consumers globally to choose a Nokia for their next smartphone, with the Nokia G10 to be joined by the Nokia G20, the C10 and more phones to come later this year.

The "love it" factor is because of the (up-to) three-day battery life "giving you the freedom to do more in a single charge".

The "trust it" factor is because there are a guaranteed three years of monthly security updates with an "ioXT" cyber security certification and HDM's data centre in Finland, while the "keep it" factor is thanks to two years of Android OS upgrades and an "industry-leading" three year warranty in Australia.

HDM says it is "delivering the quality Nokia phones are known and trusted for", suggests "the Nokia G10 is set to be the pack leader within the brands mid-range smartphone portfolio."

The company claims the G10 unlocks the potential of Android 11, with "a clean, easy-to-use and customisable pure Android experience thats free from bloatware and third-party apps, plus guaranteed monthly security updates for three years as well as two years of OS upgrades."

The three year warranty is backed by what HMD says is "the quality and craftsmanship behind the device, combined with the continued security and software support", which "allows for one of the longest manufacturers warranties available for a smartphone in Australia."

Stephen Taylor, Chief Marketing Officer, HMD Global said: The Nokia G10 heroes everything we love, and even some of those things we take for granted in our smartphones; battery for days, peace of mind security updates and the latest software, for longer. Our mission is to make high quality, long-lasting technology that is accessible to all whilst still bringing purposeful innovation to the mid-range segment.

The Nokia G10 is a hero of our mid-range smartphone portfolio. With the extended battery, now you can spend less time searching for a charging point and more time making memories - its a tool to help you make the most of your life, Taylor adds, potentially being the first person on the planet to use the word "heroes" as if it were the word "champions".

James Robinson, A/NZ Country Manager, HMD Global said: Regardless of its price point, a Nokia mobile is a device that is built to last. We want Australians to love their phones, keep them for longer which is why we offer leading Android OS upgrade promises and superior durability, and trust that theyll be kept safe and secure with our monthly security updates.

"But our value doesnt stop there. Im thrilled to announce, for the first time, with the Nokia G10 were offering a three year warranty. Australians can now love, keep and trust their Nokia mobile for even longer.

Here's the official Nokia G10 video, the articles continues thereafter, so please read on!

So, what are some details on the Nokia G10?

We're told the Nokia G10 is "a hard worker for its attractive price point. With a 5050mAh battery, it powers through three days on a single charge2. Aided by AI technology which manages the phones power sending it only where its needed, it doesnt let unwanted apps drain battery power.

"The generous 6.5 display is big enough for the whole family to gather around and enjoy and the triple rear camera boasts a 13MP camera with a Macro and Depth lens for added flexibility when taking photos."

HMD's promise that you can "rely on a phone you can trust"

Here, we're told that "safety and security is part of Nokias DNA and the Nokia G10 stands proudly with three years of monthly security updates and two years of software upgrades at no cost.

"With phone activation and performance data stored in Finland and protected by European laws, Nokia users enjoy extra peace of mind when it comes to data privacy and security. Plus the easy to use, pure Android experience on Android 11 means the phone is user friendly straight out of the box."

Keep it for longer

"Form certainly doesnt lose out to function with the Nokia G10. Nordic design is renowned for both its refined minimalist aesthetic and sophistication and this device is no exception - available in a Night or Dusk iridescent colourway.

"While its look might earn it pride of place in any social setting, the conscious design elements means its user friendly and feels good in the hand - with the option to unlock the phone using face recognition or the side fingerprint sensor. Plus the polycarbonate body is tough enough to withstand everyday knocks - all rigorously tested to meet the built-to-last quality Nokia phones are known for."

So, what will it cost and where can you get it?

The Nokia G10 in Night and Dusk (3 GB/32 GB variant) will be on sale from Thursday, 29th April at JB Hi-Fi, Officeworks, The Good Guys, Big W and online at the Nokia mobile website, from $199 RRP.

The in-box additions include a pre-applied screen protector, Jelly Clear Case Cover and USB-C charger, which saves consumers the trouble of having to buy a case or screen protector at an additional cost.

More detail is here along with the full specs here.
The United States is "increasingly concerned" by escalating tensions in eastern Ukraine, as well as the large-scale concentration of Russian troops on Ukraine's border, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said.

"The United States is increasingly concerned by recent escalating Russian aggressions in eastern Ukraine, including Russian troop movements on Ukraine's border. Russia now has more troops on the border with Ukraine than at any time since 2014," she said at a briefing in Washington on Thursday, April 8.

Psaki also recalled that five Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the last week alone. "These are all deeply concerning signs," she said.

She also stressed that the U.S. side continues to cooperate with NATO allies and discusses tensions in the region due to Russia's aggressive actions.

In addition, Psaki stressed that Russia's troubling actions were being studied in detail by the U.S. intelligence community. The result will be Washington's response, which is expected in the coming "weeks, not months," she said. In that regard, Psaki stressed that there would be consequences against Russia  "seen and unseen."

"And we hope to have more on that soon," she said.

Photo: Getty Images
Rome, April 9 : Italy recommends the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine only for people aged over 60 from now on, an ordinance by the Health Ministry showed.

The decision came after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Wednesday stated possible links between this vaccine and rare cases of blood clots, following a safety review on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The ruling was issued over the night after a meeting between Health Minister Roberto Speranza and the country's top health experts counselling the government in the coronavirus emergency.

The note contained a recommendation, not a ban on the AstraZeneca vaccine (now renamed Vaxzeria) for specific groups of age.

"A preferential use (of the vaccine) is recommended in people aged over 60. On the basis of the data available so far, those who have already received a first dose of the Vaxzevria vaccine can complete the cycle with the same drug," it said.

The ministerial note also said the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) in cooperation with the EMA "will continue a thorough evaluation of any safety signal, also in order to provide further recommendations." On Wednesday, the European drug regulator's safety committee said that "unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be listed as very rare side effects of Vaxzevria (formerly Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca)." They came to this conclusion after a safety review on 86 cases (18 of which fatal) that occurred in continental Europe and in the UK, mostly in people under 60 years of age and especially in women, within two weeks from the first jab.

However, the EMA also noted that "the reported combination of blood clots and low blood platelets is very rare, and the overall benefits of the vaccine in preventing Covid-19 outweigh the risk of side effects." Up to April 8, Italy has administered 11.7 million doses of the vaccines authorized in the country, including 3.9 million doses of AstraZeneca, according to government data. Some 3.6 million people have received both vaccine jabs.

Globally, 269 candidate vaccines are still being developed -- 85 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 April 2.
BEIRUT (AP)  They are boisterous, argumentative and at times downright hilarious.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the Arab world are turning to Clubhouse, the fast-growing audio chat app, to mock and vent against longtime rulers, debate sensitive issues from abortion to sexual harassment, or argue where to find the best and cheapest shawarma sandwich during an economic crisis.

The discussions are endless as they are breathless.

More than 970,000 people from the Middle East have downloaded the new platform since it launched outside the U.S. in January. It has offered space for in-person conversations in an age where direct contact is at the mercy of the pandemic and its brought together those at home and the many in exile or abroad.

But mostly, it has offered a release for bottled-up frustration in a region where violent conflicts and autocrats have taken hold and where few, if any, avenues for change  or even for speaking out  seem tenable.

It is an open coffeehouse that pierces through what is forbidden by the political regimes in the region, said Diana Moukalled, a Lebanese journalist who closely follows social platforms. Clubhouse has made people go back to debating one another.

The Middle East accounts for 6.1% of the 15.9 million global downloads of Clubhouse, which launched in the United States a year ago. Saudi Arabia ranks no. 7 globally for the invitation-only downloads, with over 660,000, just after Thailand and before Italy, according to San Francisco-based mobile app analytics firm Sensor Tower.

One reason for its popularity seems to be the no-holds-barred atmosphere, fueled by the liveliness of group conversation.

Saudis organized rooms to discuss who could replace their aging king instead of his ambitious son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. They argued with Egyptians over what they considered democracy and with Lebanese and Jordanians over their kingdoms perceived meddling in their affairs.

Other rooms tackle taboo topics ranging from atheism to homosexuality. A Saudi woman discussed whether abortions should be allowed in the kingdom, prompting a heated back and forth.

Story continues

The platform also became a place to exchange information, challenging the regions largely state-dominated media.

Minutes after reports of an attempted coup in Jordan last week, Jordanians inside and outside the country congregated in a room to share information on the confusing reports released and controlled by the government. Families of those arrested in the ensuing sweep shared their news. Some users defended King Abdullah while backers of the brother prince accused of the coup vowed to rally behind him.

Previously unimaginable debates took place among parts of society who would otherwise shun or block each other on other social media.

Opponents debated supporters of Lebanons powerful Hezbollah group. Elsewhere, Lebanese railed against private banks they blame for their countrys economic meltdown  with bankers in the room.

In another room, Iraqis  mainly exiles  criticized how their countrys many religious militias impacted their lives. The moderator, a woman from the southern Shiite city of Najaf now living in Europe, told how her conservative family tried to mold her into being like them and opposed sending her to universities where men and women mingle. She fended off one man who suggested she was exaggerating, telling him he hadn't experienced what she did.

The moderator went on and named figures from powerful Shiite militias and religious leaders, saying shed seen how they flout the rules they set for others. In the free-flowing conversation, militia supporters frequently interrupted, sparking a torrent of expletives from the moderator and others until they were forced to leave.

They controlled the ground with their muscles, the moderator said of the militias. But social media need brains. This (space) is ours.

Among the hundreds of rooms discussing the war in Syria, some users decided to lighten the mood. Opposition activists organized a spoof interview with someone posing as President Bashar Assad.

It drew laughs but also poignant reminders of how the 10-year conflict devastated the country. I ran away from you and still you follow me to Clubhouse, one exiled Syrian told the fake Assad.

But concerns are mounting that the open space could quickly come under the same government surveillance or censorship as other social media.

A decade ago, activists in the Arab Spring protests flocked to Twitter and Facebook, which offered a similar free space. Since then, authorities have come to use the sites to target and arrest critics and spread their own propaganda.

Oman has already blocked the Clubhouse app. In Jordan, it is obstructed on certain mobile networks, while in the United Arab Emirates, users have described unexplainable glitches.

Pro-government commentators have railed against Clubhouse in TV shows and newspapers, accusing it of helping terrorists plan attacks, spreading pornography or undermining religious and state figures.

First, Clubhouse drew rights defenders and political activists. Then came the government backers.

This room has grown because Salmans people are here to defend him, shouted a participant in a room featuring opponents of the Saudi crown prince.

A discussion of the release of imprisoned Saudi womens rights activist Loujain al-Hathlouls devolved into panicked mayhem when a few participants threatened to expose attendees and report them to authorities. The chat soon cut off.

Recordings surfaced online from Clubhouse conversations deemed offensive, such as about homosexuality becoming acceptable, fueling fears that pro-government Saudi users were keeping tabs on critics. One participant asked to leave a chat among Lebanese when it was discovered she was Israeli, in part because some users feared they could be prosecuted under Lebanese laws banning mixing with Israelis.

Some fear security agents are secretly in the rooms.

Most participants in the app, which remains exclusive to iPhone users, use real names and sometimes put detailed bios. But growing numbers use fake names.

Without anonymity, Clubhouse disagreements could turn into violence in real life, said Ali Sibai, a consultant with Beirut-based digital rights group Social Media Exchange, SMEX.

Clubhouses vague policies also raise concerns, he said. The company says it temporarily stores conversations for investigating abuses. But it doesnt say for how long or who reviews the Arabic content, raising questions whether unknown third parties may be involved, endangering participants security, he said.

Moukalled, editor of Daraj, an independent online media, said it would be no surprise if authorities impose surveillance on Clubhouse.

But, she said, something else would come along.

So long as people dont feel they are part of the decision-making process, they will find these platforms.

___

AP writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Isabel Debre in Dubai and Kelvin Chang in London contributed to this report.
The international climate talks, an annual affair run by the United Nations, are scheduled to take place in November in Glasgow. They were canceled last November because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Formally known as the Conference of the Parties, to be attended by the countries that signed the United Nations climate change pact, these talks are designed to forge agreements among countries to slow down global warming. At or before the next talks, countries are expected to announce how they plan to strengthen their own climate action targets.

Ms. Thunberg announced her misgivings about attending the climate talks first in an interview with the BBC. Her remarks drew attention to a central question nagging at the organizers of these talks: Should they go ahead in person, even if everyone who wants to attend is not vaccinated by then? Britain, the host country, has said the conference will be held as planned, in person.

Ms. Thunberg, in a Twitter thread, said the meeting could be put off until later, but that doesnt mean we have to delay the urgent action required.

We dont have to wait for conferences nor anyone or anything else to dramatically start reducing our emissions, she wrote.
A founding father of the European Union has moved another step closer to becoming a saint.

Robert Schuman, known as the 'Father of Europe', was instrumental in forging close economic ties across the Continent after the Second World War.

Pope Francis could recognise the former French prime minister for these 'heroic virtues' as early as June, a top Vatican official revealed today.

This recognition that he led a holy life is a key step towards beatification, although that requires the attribution of a miracle.

Robert Schuman, known as the 'Father of Europe', was instrumental in forging close economic ties across the Continent after the Second World War (pictured: Schuman reads his resignation letter to journalists on the steps of the Elysee Palace in Paris in 1948, left, and entering the Elysee Palace to tender his resignation to President Vincent Auriol, on the same day)

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, gives his famous V for Victory sign alongside the French minister of finance Robert Schuman in the town of Metz, France, on July 14, 1946, to take part in Bastille Day celebrations

A second miracle validated by the Vatican is needed before he can become a saint.

Schuman, a Christian democrat, was France's foreign minister when in 1950, five years after the end of World War II, he unveiled proposals for an economic union between former enemies France and West Germany.

This became the basis of what is now the European Union.

The process of elevating Schuman towards sainthood began more than 30 years ago, launched by the diocese of Metz where Schuman died in 1963.

The politician's elevation may surprise some, but Father Bernard Ardura, who is in charge of French canonisations in Rome, defended his candidacy.

'Schuman dedicated his life to serving the common good, seeking peace and reconciliation with Germany to create a community of European states,' Ardura told AFP.

'Schuman's work involved putting an end to the infernal cycle of war, the humiliating defeat, the desire for revenge and more war', which began when France was beaten by the Prussians in 1870.

'It was the work of a Christian, which serves as an example', even if Schuman 'remained very discreet about his personal life and his faith', Ardura added.

Schuman, during the third U.N. General Assembly at the Chaillot Palace, Paris, in 1951

Schuman pronouncing a statement during the inauguration ceremony of the UN third General Assembly in Paris in 1951

Popes have supported the idea of a European project since Pius XII - the pontiff during World War II - while criticising its secularism.

In his first general audience in St Peter's Square in 2005, German Pope Benedict XVI highlighted Europe's Christian roots.

The year before, the Vatican regretted the absence of an explicit reference to the EU's Christian history in the draft European constitution that was dropped after referendum rejections in France and the Netherlands.

Argentine Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff in history and the son of Italian immigrants, prefers to emphasis Europe's multicultural identity and has championed the rights of migrants.
Residents of Krowor Municipal Assembly in Accra have asked President Nana Akufo-Addo to appoint Enoch Nii Afotey Mensah as their new Municipal Chief Executive (MCE).



According to them, the former MCE, Joshua Bortey, should not be reappointed.



The residents made up of traders, traditional leaders and fisherfolks, said Mr Bortey failed the Assembly in terms of development.



They described Mr Bortey as a divisive character who has helped to cause a deep crack in the NPP.



Nuumo Botwe Atiakpeh, Osabu Wulomo; Asafoatse Akuaku Laryea II, Nii Mantse Adzinwe Asafoatse; Nii Afotey Adzin, Osabu Laabia, are among the residents and traditional leaders calling for Mr Afotey Mensah to be appointed as MCE for Krowor.



They described Mr Afotey Mensah as a unifier and an NPP loyalist who will help develop the Municipality.



According to them, under Mr Bortey, Krowor did not record any sound developmental projects.



Addressing the media on Tuesday, April 6, 2021, the residents pointed out that they needed Mr Afotey Mensah as MCE for Krowor Municipality to come and rescue our cherished party and sinking Krowor from the quagmire of divisiveness, disunity and lack of progress!



They recounted the humiliating defeat which NPP suffered during the 2020 General Elections, a defeat which they say could have been avoided if the party leadership at the constituency had a united front.



According to them, there was therefore the need for them to take a retrospective view of what might have caused the NPP to lose its MP seat to the opposition NDC.



As a result, it came to light and it was obvious, that the constituency leadership lacked a united front, a situation which among other things led to our downfall, they said.



Going forward, it is only natural and fair that we get a party stalwart who is neutral and yet committed to the ideals of our party and in line with President Nana Akufo-Addos vision of ensuring development and prosperity for all Ghanaians through free education, according to them.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Ghaziabad: A businessman was arrested in Uttar Pradeshs Ghaziabad district in connection with a GST fraud worth Rs 101 crores.

On the basis of specific intelligence, the officers of CGST Commissionerate had conducted a series of searches at 16 places in Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, and Delhi related to Vishal Steel Suppliers and his supplier firms on March 23.

(The searches) led to unearthing of GST fraud involving taxable value of Rs 101.33 crores (approximately) and availment and utilization of fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 14.25 crores (approximately) involving more than 44 firms, Alok Jha, Commissioner, Central GST, Ghaziabad, said in a statement.

The Commissioner said that the quantum of fraud and number of firms involved are likely to go up as further investigation is conducted.

The accused Vishal Khandelwal was initially not found during searches after which the officials issued summon to him. He appeared on Thursday (April 8) and recorded his statement in which he admitted GST liability of the firm in question.

Following this, he was arrested on Friday under the CGST Act, 2017 and was produced before the court of Special CJM, Meerut who ordered for judicial custody.

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This isnt the first time Kinzinger has taken aim at Gaetz, a Trump ally who heads to Florida today to speak at a pro-Trump womens event, Politico reports. After announcing hed formed his anti-Trump PAC to raise money for Republican candidates not aligned with the former president. Asked by The Washington Post which Republicans hed like to see face a challenge, Kinzinger said Oh, theres a huge list but quickly pointed to Gaetz and Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, also a Trump devotee.
A New York man was arrested in Hoboken after driving what was later determined to be a carjacked vehicle, late in the morning Thursday, police said. He had four others in the car, including two teenagers.

Police spotted Juan Murillo-Herrera, 19 of Elmhurst, New York, driving a white Volkswagen at a high rate of speed with no front or rear license plates, and a cracked windshield, southbound in the area of 12th and Hudson streets, Hoboken Lt. Danilo Cabrera said.

The vehicle was pulled over in the area of 500 Sinatra Drive, where, after running the vehicle identical number, it was discovered the car was reported carjacked out of Nassau County, New York the day before, Cabrera said.

Also in the car were two male teens, 17 and 15, both from Queens, and two adult males, 18 and 19, also from Queens.

The vehicle was towed, and all five occupants were taken to police headquarters. Murillo-Herrera was charged with receiving stolen property (motor vehicle), received a motor vehicle summons for improper display of plates and was released on a summons. The two teens were released to a parent or guardian without being charged, and the two adults were also released without charges, Cabrera said.
The world's media has paid tribute to Prince Philip today after it was announced the Duke of Edinburgh has died at the age of 99.

News websites across the globe - from Europe to North America, Australia and Asia - all ran the story at the top of their pages as a fitting tribute to a man whose life and legacy meant so much to so many.

In Germany, newspaper Bild paid tribute to him as 'the Queen's greatest support' while broadsheet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted The Queen saying Prince Philip was her 'Strength and Support' at the top of its homepage.

Italy's La Repubblica referred to him as 'the Queen's discreet shadow', and the 'only one who could say to the Queen "Shut Up"'.

French daily newspaper Le Parisien quoted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in its headline, writing: 'Death of Prince Philip: Boris Johnson hails the "extraordinary work of the Duke of Edinburgh"'.

Germany newspaper Bild wrote its website's front page: The Queen mourns her husband. Prince Philip is dead. The 99-year-old fell asleep peacefully at Windsor Castle

Farewell to Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth's discreet shadow for over 70 years. The only one who could say to the Queen "Shut up" - the headline on Italy's La Repubblica

France's Le Parisien wrote: 'Death of Prince Philip: Boris Johnson hails the 'extraordinary work of the Duke of Edinburgh"'

Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted The Queen saying Prince Philip was her 'Strength and Support' at the top of its homepage.

France's Le Monde, a daily afternoon newspaper, had the news on its homepage, writing: 'Philip Mountbatten, husband of Queen Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh, who died on Friday at the age of 99, marked his time with a complex personality to say the least'

News of Philip's passing made its way around the world after Buckingham Palace issued a statement on Friday afternoon saying that Prince Philip had died 'peacefully' that morning at Windsor Castle.

The duke had spent his final days at Windsor with his wife after a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

News of Prince Philip's passing was prominent on the home pages around the world, with many praising his years of service to the Crown, his loyalty and devotion to The Queen, or referencing his reputation for being somewhat of a firebrand.

France's Le Monde, a daily afternoon newspaper, had the news on its homepage, writing: 'Philip Mountbatten, husband of Queen Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh, who died on Friday at the age of 99, marked his time with a complex personality to say the least.'

Meanwhile in Spain, newspaper El Pas featured a black and white picture of Prince Philip with The Queen in their younger years, announcing: 'Prince Philip of Edinburgh dies at 99' on it website.

'None of the attempts to write a biography of Philip of Edinburgh that would unravel his personality succeeded in the endeavour,' the Spanish newspaper wrote.

He 'remained until the last moment as an enigma and a wild card that served supporters and detractors of the Monarchy to represent an eternal institution or to deplore the haughtiness and arrogance of a caste far from the reality,' El Pais said.

Austria's newspaper Die Presse featured the story following the news, saying Prince Philip was 'the man at the Queen's side on his last journey'.

'Elizabeth was forever the center of his life, and he was the proverbial rock,' Die Presse's article read. 'There were more than enough crises in a life together of more than seven decades.'

In Israel, the Jerusalem post also placed the sad news at the top of its page. 'Britain's Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth, dies aged 99,' the headline read, later changing to focus on a tribute from Israel's President Reuven Rivlin.

'My deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathy to HM Queen Elizabeth II, HRH The Prince of Wales, the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom,' Rivlin tweeted, adding: 'May his memory be a blessing' - the focus of the headline.

In the United States, Fox News, the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe were among those to feature the news on the front page of their websites.

Fox News announced 'Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, passes away at age of 99', accompanied by a picture of Prince Philip, The Queen and their four children - Prince Charles, Prince Edward, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew.

CNN led with a picture of Prince Philip with the headline: 'Prince Philip has died at age 99', while The Washington Post shared the same black and white picture used on Spain's El Pais' website, writing: 'Royal consort to Queen Elizabeth II dies at 99'.

The Boston Globe's headline read: 'Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, dies at age 99', and on the New York Times' website used similar language.

The Time's also nodded towards the Prince's more controversial moments. 'The Duke of Edinburgh, who married the future queen in 1947, brought the monarchy into the 20th century, but his occasional tactless comments hurt his image,' it said.

For its headline, The Los Angeles called Prince Philip 'Queen Elizabeth II's husband and closest confidant and adviser,' and called Philip the 'undisputed master of the royal household for more than seven decades.'

America's Fox News wrote: 'Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, passes away at age of 99'

US news CNN wrote: 'Prince Philip has died at age 99'

The New York Times: 'Prince Philip, Husband of Queen Elizabeth II, Is Dead at 99'

The Boston Globe's headline read on the news story read: 'Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, dies at age 99'

The Washington Post: 'Royal consort to Queen Elizabeth II dies at 99'

USA Today: 'Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip dies at 99'

Los Angeles Times: Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband and closest confidant and adviser, dies at 99'

New York Post, USA: 'Britain's Prince Philip dead at 99'

Many newspapers in the commonwealth also lead with the story on their web pages.

In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald wrote: 'The Duke of Edinburgh, who went where the storm carried him,' while Canada's Toronto Sun shared the news with a picture of the Duke boarding a plane with The Queen, waving to a crowd.

New Zealand's NZ Herald had three different stories following the news of Prince Philip's passing. One looked at the world's reaction while another had the headline 'Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's extraordinary love story.

The third looked at Prince Philip's 'line of duty', charting his life through the years.

In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald also had the news at the top of its page. 'The Duke of Edinburgh, who went where the storm carried him' it wrote

New Zealand's NZ Herald had three different stories following the news of Prince Philip's passing. One looked at the world's reaction while another had the headline 'Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's extraordinary love story. The third looked at Prince Philip's 'line of duty', charting his life through the years

In Canada, the Toronto Sun wrote: 'Prince Philip, Husband of Queen Elizabeth, dies age 99

In Canada, the Vancouver Sun's headline read: 'Britain's Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth, dies aged 99

Montreal Gazette: Prince Philip (1921-2021): Duke of Edinburgh visited Quebec more often than the Queen

Her Majesty announced her husband's death at midday. Buckingham Palace said in a statement: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss'.

His death plunges the nation and the Royal Family into mourning, and brings to an end Philip's lifetime of service to Britain and to Elizabeth, the Queen who adored him since her teens.

Her Majesty is now expected to enter an eight-day period of mourning. She will not carry out any duties, even in private, while laws will not be given the Royal Assent and affairs of state will also be paused.

A further period of official Royal Mourning is expected to continue for 30 days.

Officials at Buckingham Palace are now preparing for a royal ceremonial funeral at Windsor Castle in Berkshire in keeping with Philip's wishes, with a military procession also expected in London - Covid laws permitting.

In Israel, the Jerusalem post also placed the sad news at the top of its page. 'Britain's Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth, dies aged 99,' the headline read

The Japan Times: Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, dies at 99

Spain's El Pais newspaper had a picture of Prince Philip with The Queen in their younger years, announcing: 'Prince Philip of Edinburgh dies at 99'

Germany's Die Welt: 'Farewell to a royal provocateur'

The Suddeutsche Zeitung, published in Munich, wrote: 'On the death of Prince Philip. At your service'

Die Presse, Austria: 'Prince Philip is dead: The man at the Queen's side on his last journey'

Tributes also poured in from leaders around the world, with Commonwealth leaders leading international reaction to the Duke of Edinburgh's death at the age of 99.

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison tweeted that the duke 'embodied a generation that we will never see again. Australians send our love and deepest condolences to Her Majesty and all the Royal family.

'The Commonwealth family joins together in sorrow and thanksgiving for the loss and life of Prince Philip. God bless from all here in Australia,' he tweeted.

Canada's prime minister Justin Trudeau described Philip as a 'man of great purpose and conviction' in a tribute posted on the social media platform.

'A man of great purpose and conviction, who was motivated by a sense of duty to others, Prince Philip contributed so much to the social fabric of our country - and the world,' he wrote.

'Prince Philip will be remembered as a decorated naval officer, a dedicated philanthropist, and a constant in the life of Queen Elizabeth II.'

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi recalled Philip for his 'distinguished career in the military" and work "at the forefront of many community service initiatives'.

'May his soul rest in peace,' he added.

De Telegraaf, the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper, wrote: 'British Prince Philip passed away'

Dagens Nyheter, Sweden: 'Britain's Prince Philip dead'. The Swedish newspaper quoted the country's own king. King Carl XVI Gustaf called Philip 'a good friend of our family [and] a friendship we have placed great value on. 'His contribution to his country is an example for all of us. We extend our condolences to Her Majesty the Queen, the Royal Family and the people of Great Britain.'

Russian news agency TASS wrote: Queen Elizabeth II's husband Prince Philip dies

France's La Voix du Nord, shared a photograph of Prince Philip in uniform, with the headline: 'Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, dead at 99'

Poland's Gazetta Wyborcza wrote: 'Prince Philip is dead. Queen Elizabeth II's husband was 99 years old'

Other world leaders also offered their respects, with Irish President Michael D Higgins expressing his condolences to the Queen.

'On behalf of the people of Ireland, I wish to convey my condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her children, her extended family and the people of the United Kingdom,' he said in a statement.

He added: 'For over 60 years, and as husband to Britain's longest serving monarch, Prince Philip served the British people with an unfailing commitment and devotion to duty.

'In the course of his long service he frequently brought an air of informality to otherwise formal occasions.

'His distinctive presence and unique sense of humour put participants at ease and always engaged those who encountered him."

President Higgins added in Irish 'Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis', meaning may his holy soul be on the right side of God.

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the duke would be "missed in Israel and across the world".

He wrote on Twitter: "I express my deepest condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom on the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh.

"Prince Philip was the consummate public servant and will be much missed in Israel and across the world."

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf also paid tribute, calling Philip 'a good friend of our family [and] a friendship we have placed great value on.'

'His contribution to his country is an example for all of us. We extend our condolences to Her Majesty the Queen, the Royal Family and the people of Great Britain,' he added.
People lucky enough to have the option are looking forward to working from home more after the pandemic, polls suggest  provided theyre not schooling from home at the same time. And polls also suggest employers are looking forward to offering that flexibility. Momentum is building for a hybrid workplace, according to experts, which would most likely allow for two to three days per week at home.

Still, as vaccine rollouts gather pace and economies reopen, there doesnt seem to be much daylight between the concept of office-first hybrid and simply getting staff back to their desks.

Google parent Alphabet Inc. last week told staff to prepare a return to their desks by Sept. 1 and that anyone wanting to work remotely would have to get prior approval. Amazon.com Inc. also called for an office-centric return to work. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bankers are dutifully trooping back to headquarters after scathing comments from Chief Executive Officer David Solomon, who called working from home an aberration that was bad for innovation and collaboration and said it was not the new normal.

Of course some big companies have said they will embrace at least some remote work. And there are creative ideas on how to do so, including plans by European startup Revolut to allow people to work overseas up to two months a year. But for many the future is starting to look a lot like the pre-pandemic days.

Although office-space demand has been crushed by the worst global recession since World War II, with excess capacity put back on the market and vacancy levels rising, demand is expected to start picking up this year. Net absorption of office space, the difference between the total occupied by tenants and the total vacated, is expected to cross back into positive territory next year in the U.S. and Europe, says Kevin Thorpe, chief economist at real-estate company Cushman & Wakefield. In Asia, where the virus was better kept under control, the metric never went negative.

Whether because of attachment to company culture, old-style management techniques or the brand power of the office itself, firms took a wait-and-see approach rather than give up their lease or flee major cities for good. Corporate bean counters do see real estate as a future cost saving, and executives talk up the need for employee flexibility, but change will be gradual.

Watch what companies do, not what they say, says Thorpe. He expects working from home to rise to 10% of the U.S. labor force from 5% over the next decade.

Obviously, executives should tread carefully when prodding people back to work  the pandemic isnt over and variants may delay the economic reopening process. Over-confident messaging might confuse or demoralize employees if theyre forced to reverse course.

And yet, judging employees by what they are doing, rather than what they say, shows the joy of working from home has faded. The pandemic has cut out the daily commute, but were working an hour longer every day as a result. We are anxious to be seen to be available, eroding the barriers between work and home. Our work-life balance hasnt improved.

With plenty of stress, fatigue and distractions at home, its not surprising that a recent survey found people choosing to work in the office to be more productive. Praising water-cooler moments is groan-inducing, but there are benefits to collaborating with colleagues or meeting clients in person. The dark side of office life, such as bullying and harassment, has in some cases been harder to tackle from behind a keyboard.

Even some residential data suggests people are starting to cool on the pandemic dream of escaping to the countryside. Knight Frank research for the U.K. shows urban areas close to London are back in demand, with the popularity of rural idylls dying down. All of which takes us back to the so-called hybrid model. Will it come to pass if going back to the way things were is proving hard to resist? The omens arent great.

Executives are already grumbling that picking just two days a week for remote work, seen as the bare minimum, is complicated. If Monday and Friday are likely to be overwhelmingly popular, what then? What happens to productivity if the office is packed three days a week and empty the rest of the time? If employees are told to pick different days, when will they collaborate with colleagues face-to-face? This will take time, effort and investment to manage.

No wonder some have warned that hybrid work looks like the worst of both worlds. The complexity of managing hybrid roles will be too much for some firms, and the inevitable productivity losses will be pinned on remote work  resulting in a generalized shift back to the office. When Marissa Mayer banned working from home at Yahoo in 2013, she said it had sacrificed speed and quality.

Is this too pessimistic? Maybe. But the quicker offices reopen, the steeper the climb gets for the more ambitious work-from-home advocates. People have short memories: Covid-19 has been a bonfire of many vanities, and the WFH revolution might yet be one of them.

Lionel Laurent

: bloomberg.com
The World Socialist Web Site received the following letter from an Ontario teacher explaining why they will participate in the inaugural meeting of the Cross-Canada Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee this Sunday (April 11), and why all education staff and working people should attend. The online meeting will begin at 1 PM Eastern Time. You can register to attend here.

Protest by teachers at Montreal high school against the Quebec government's reckless push for in-class instruction. (Photo Credit: Robert Green)

***

Dear Teachers, Educational Assistants, Caretakers, Education Support Staff, and workers across Canada,

Whether you work at a high school, a university, an elementary school, or a middle schoolthis letter is an appeal for you to acknowledge what you know is true, and to implore you to act and join with your colleagues in education across Canada in a struggle to make our schools safe for work and learning. Events over the past year have brought much into focus for education workers. At different times we have been exhausted, worried, anxious, hopeful, angry, and have felt uneasy. We worry about our children, loved ones and our parents.

New COVID-19 variants are having a transformative impact not only on Canadians, but on workers all over the world. Despite what governments led by Conservatives, Liberals or the New Democrats are telling us, deep in our heart of hearts and in our minds, we have discovered truths that are forcing us to reconsider the way we look at the world. Schools are not safe, our leaders have failed miserably, and we are left with little choice but to organize ourselves.

We work in buildings that are not safe places for our children to learn in, or for us as individual teachers to do the work that we derive so much joy in doing. This has been demonstrated shockingly to all of us in Ontario as a healthy 47-year-old teacher is now fighting for his life in hospital, intubated, after contracting the disease from a student. In the past four days ending April 7, more than 25,000 people have been infected by the virus. Our emergency rooms are on fire. A growing chorus of medical professionals like the courageous Dr. Michael Warner, director of critical care at Michael Garron hospital in Toronto, are practically begging the province to enact serious measures to safeguard our healthcare system and prevent needless deaths.

The response from the provincial government has been a mix of either criminal indifference, or a complete lack of reason or rationality in developing a plan that puts people before profits. The ineffectual stay-at-home order announced by Ford this week is totally inadequate, because it allows schools and workplaces, the two main sources of transmission, to remain open.

Another painful truth that we have learned is that our unions were practically nowhere to be seen over the past year. Mega unions like CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees), OECTA (Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association), ETFO (Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario), and OSSTF (Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation), some of whose leadership makes more than 220K per year, have simply been missing in action. Educators have begun to ask the question, At what point will my union intervene and say No? At what point will the unions order workers to not go into unsafe workplaces? At what point will the unions grow a spine and stand up to Doug Fords endless attacks on education workers health and safety? At what point will all the unions join forces and unleash the power of millions of people in the educational services industry across Canada?

The answer is never. The truth is that power lies in the hands of the workers alone. Our education unions have been unmasked and have lost so much legitimacy in the eyes of their membership. Their silence and invisibility has spoken volumes to all of us who make a living working in a school.

By the time you read this letter, Government, school board, media, and union talking heads will have spun events in a million different directions. They will tell you that they are doing everything they can to keep you safe. They will tell you that they are watching the situation closely. The pressure to act may even push some school boards to close. As some local health units reach their breaking points, they may have no choice but to take emergency measures and close schools unilaterally for a few days. None of that matters to us. We have learned many valuable lessons over the past year. The education sector, for one, has become the frontline in a much greater struggle. We have begun to internalize that this is above all else a political struggle. In households around the country and at kitchen tables from coast to coast, people are having conversations. When we speak to our friends and family candidly about what is happening, we realize that so much of this is about money. We need to work because nothing must be allowed to interfere with the profits of the elites. Come hell or high water, children need to be sent into dangerous and crowded schools not because anyone in government cares about their mental health, but because their parents need to work. The economy and profits come before everything.

The pandemic has revealed some harsh truths about education in Canada. The schools we work in are not safe, our leaders have indeed failed us, and we are left with no other choice but to look to each other and organize ourselves for the safety of our families, loved ones, and communities we live in. Join with your colleagues in education and struggle to make our schools safe! The emergence of the third wave and the new dangers posed by more lethal variants have revealed that urgent action is necessary. This may seem like a daunting task, but we are not alone. This is not a local struggle. It is both national and international in scope.

Our courageous colleagues in Europe, Australia and the United States have already formed independent rank and file safety committees in defense of their right to work in safe spaces. Be heartened by their example, and join the struggle for the end of all in-class instruction until the third wave is brought under control. To this end, the Cross-Canada Educators Rank and File Safety Committee is holding our first public meeting on Sunday April 11 at 1 PM Eastern Time. Please join us online.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 21:32:01|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Iran will not stop parts of its current nuclear activities until the United States lifts anti-Iran sanctions and returns to the 2015 nuclear deal, commonly known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday.

His country will not halt or even reduce the pace of its current nuclear activities in particular its uranium enrichment, including the 20-percent enrichment, Araqchi was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

This will continue until an accord is reached under which the United States will be obliged to lift all of its sanctions against Iran, he said, adding that the whole U.S. sanctions should be lifted in one step.

Araqchi, who also represents Iran in the ongoing talks with the remaining parties of the nuclear deal, noted that there are signs that Americans are considering the removal of all sanctions.

On Friday, the diplomatic representatives of Iran, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany, resumed talks in Vienna with the lifting of sanctions on Iran and nuclear implementation measures on top of the agenda.

On Tuesday, the senior diplomats held the first round of their meetings to discuss the current standoff in the JCPOA implementation in Vienna.

Under the deal, Tehran agreed in 2015 to roll back parts of its nuclear program in exchange for decreased economic sanctions.

Washington under former President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and tightened sanctions on Iran.

The United States and Iran are at a stalemate over reviving the nuclear deal. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said that if Iran returns to full compliance with the JCPOA, the United States would do the same. But Iran insisted that its compliance would only take place once U.S. sanctions are removed. Enditem
Paris goals still long way off, says President of UN climate conference

April 09,2021 | Source: UN News

The world is a long way off from meeting the goals of the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the President of the crucial upcoming UN climate conference, COP26, said on Thursday.



British politician Alok Sharma was speaking during a global discussion on the green transition in sectors such as energy, transport and food systems, held as part of the 2021 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).



Oceans are warming, storms are intensifying, and yet we are a long way off meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, he told the virtual meeting. Unless we act now, the human, economic and environmental cost will dwarf anything that humanity has seen before.



COP26, which will be held this November in Glasgow, Scotland, aims to accelerate action towards the Paris treaty goals, which centre around limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels by curbing greenhouse gas emissions.



John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, called the conference the last best opportunity we have to get real and serious. He particularly urged developed countries to step up efforts to reduce emissions.



It is essential we raise ambition; we make Glasgow the next step in defining not what were willing to do but what we really need to do in order to be able to get the job done.



For Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, COP26 represents an opportunity to put nature at the heart of the climate fight. He called for banks to invest in nature, noting that spending so far has been minimal.



We cannot recover sustainably from coronavirus, eradicate global poverty, achieve net-zero emissions, or adapt to climate change, without investing in nature, he said.



Energy access must also be part of the green transition, according to Damilola Ogunbiyi, Chief Executive Officer at Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), a UN partner.



Globally, nearly 800 million people do not have access to electricity, while 2.8 billion lack access to clean cooking sources, she said, which is equivalent to the populations of Africa, Europe and China combined.



To change their lives, she recommended that governments focus on policies in the areas of promoting renewable and sustainable energy, and on ease of doing business and regulations. Again, financing here is needed, together with commitment.



We all see that globally, when we come together, just the amazing work we can do, and the COVID vaccine is a perfect example, said Ms. Ogunbiyi, who is also the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All.



We literally have to have a COVID vaccine response to help a lot of developing countries because its not that they dont want to transition, or they dont want to do the right thing. Its a fact that if you do need to transition, there is a lot of funding that is needed.

 United Nations

Theme(s): Others.
Our phones have been integral in the fight against COVID-19 through test and trace systems that helped to contain the virus in places like South Korea and Taiwan. Now, scientists are harnessing smartphones again to identify coronavirus particles on surfaces as an additional line of defense against the pandemic, alongside more robust treatments such as vaccines and antiviral drugs. Researchers at General Electric have been awarded a National Institutes of Health grant to develop tiny sensors that can be embedded in mobiles to detect the presence of COVID-19 nano-particles.

The team behind the miniature tech claims that it boasts the same detection capabilities as far larger analytical instruments that you'd typically find in a lab. Following a decade of experiments, they claim they can fine-tune the tiny widget to isolate virus particles without interference from other elements.

Our sensors are sort of like bloodhounds, said Radislav Potyrailo, a principal scientist at GE Research. We train them to detect a specific thing, and they are able to do that well without being thrown off the trail by something else."

With the help of the grant, the team will now spend the next two years refining their fingertip-sized sensor in the hopes of placing it inside devices  ranging from phones to smartwatches to wall-mounted gadgets  in the future. Though there's no guarantee the tech will actually make it into iPhones and Android handsets, it's easy to envision how it could be used as an extra layer of protection against nasty viruses. The hope is that one day we'll all be able to whip out our phones to scan for COVID-19 or flu particles at airports, stores, ATM machines and at home.
Chelsea Crowder stood several feet from a dart board hanging on the wall of a Sacramento bar in December 2017. She was on a first date with Emerson Luke, who held a drink in one hand and a dart in the other.

If I get a bulls-eye, Mr. Luke, 33, said to Ms. Crowder, 28, you will have to let me come visit you in New York, show me around a bit, and then let me take you out on a date.

Ms. Crowder, now a vice president at J.P. Morgan in Los Angeles, agreed, prompting Mr. Luke, the chief deputy of legal affairs and justice initiatives for Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas in Los Angeles, to toss his dart.

We had both been playing darts all night, and let me tell you, we werent playing very well, Ms. Crowder said. I mean, what were the odds?
2 Florida Deputies Pause Their Wedding Photoshoot to Help Save a Man Hit by a Car

Two Florida police officers have been commended by their department for halting their wedding photo shoot to render aid to a victim of a road traffic accident.

Detention Deputy Taylor Rafferty and her now-husband, Deputy Chris Rafferty, were taking group photos with their wedding party on Dec. 12, 2020, when a man was hit by a car on the square in Downtown Ocala, Florida. The Raffertys, both law enforcement officers with the Marion County Sheriffs Office (MCSO), didnt hesitate to halt proceedings and step in, even though they were off the clock.

Detention Deputy Taylor Rafferty and her husband, Deputy Chris Rafferty. (Courtesy of Marion County Sheriffs Office)

Both the bride and groom had expected a typical wedding day, MCSO posted on Facebook. Unfortunately, the department continued, danger and tragedy dont take breaks, so even on your days off a law enforcement officers duty is to protect and serve.

The entire wedding party, many of whom were law enforcement officers and were dressed to the nines in wedding attire, stepped in to help. The team who rendered assistance comprised of members from MCSO and one officer from the Ocala Police Department. The group consisted of Deputies Dustin French, Samantha Horne, and Ryan Murphy, Detention Deputy Danielle Donely, and Officer Kyle Kern.

(Illustration  Mateusz Liberra/Shutterstock)

Horne stepped up to support the injured mans head while the bride herself stood in the road, in her wedding dress and white sneakers, directing traffic.

Luckily, the victim was not severely injured as the Raffertys intervention helped things along. Medics then arrived to transport him to a hospital, and the wedding photo shoot continued.

Later, the MCSO voiced high praise for the selfless newlyweds, stating their greatest admiration for both the Raffertys and every member of their wedding party, who helped without hesitation. Thank you for dedicated service to our community in every way you know how! they posted.

Netizens echoed the same sentiments, with thousands reacting to the social media post and hundreds of them leaving comments.

Marion County Sheriffs Office, Ocala, Florida. (PauloAlmeidaPhotography/Shutterstock)

Thats awesome and truly dedication to your calling, wrote one netizen. God puts his angels in the right spot at the right time.

A day to remember (and tell their grandkids about), wrote another.

Whilst a third one chimed in: Its not a job, but a calling. A first responder is never truly off duty. Uniform or not, its in their blood. Its what they do.

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
BRUSSELS, APR 9 - Premier Mario Draghi was right to call Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a dictator in the so-called 'sofagate' case, European People's Party (EPP) chief Manfred Weber said Friday. "Prime Minister Draghi is right, under President Erdogan's lead Turkey has moved away from the rule of law, democracy and fundamental freedoms in the last decade," Weber said in a statement sent to Italian media. Turkey, Weber said, "is not a free country for all its citizens. "If Europe wants to build a constrcutive partnership with countries like Turkey, and it is in our strategic interest to do so, we ought to speak clearly and honestly about the actual facts. "This is also the reason why we have been asking the (EU) Council for years to finally close the procedure of enlargement of the EU to (include) Turkey. We are categorically against a prospect of accession of Turkey to the EU and as long as it is on the table it hinders a franker and more realistic relationships with the country". Turkey recently pulled out of the 2011 Istanbul Convention on violence against women, dismaying activists who say gender violence is on the rise there. Draghi angered Ankara by calling Erdogan a dictator in a press conference on Thursday. The Turkish government rapidly summoned the Italian ambassador to Ankara to express its disapproval of the comments, which Draghi made in relation to the 'sofagate' case regarding the failure to provide a seat for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a meeting on Tuesday. "I am really sorry about the humiliation that the commission president had to suffer with these, let's call them for what they are, dictators," Draghi said. The Italian premier said the EU had to be frank with figures like Erdogan, stressing the differences in outlook while at the same time being ready to cooperate. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the comments "ugly and unreasonable" and said they should be taken back. (ANSA).
Well, we opened on August 22, 1958.

When Virginia Ali and her husband Ben first started brainstorming about the dream of opening their own little restaurant, the first thing they had to do was decide what kind. A full-service ordeal was off the table for them, and Virginia says that hamburger places were a dime a dozen: We thought we could try the old American hot dog.

One of the many elements that has continued to distinguish Bens Chili Bowl over the past 60-some-odd years is Bens special chili recipe, of course. Virginia says that it was Ben who first came up with the idea to make their own play on the concept of the half-smoke, a special local breakfast-sausage-turned sandwich. He was the one who came up with the idea of a breakfast sausage going into a nice steamed hotdog bun, cutting it and dressing it with mustard, onions and homemade chili sauce, says Virginia.

The rest was history, literally. Since they first opened their doors on 1213 U Street, Bens Chili Bowl has served customers including Barack Obama and Martin Luther King, Jr.  all while playing an integral part of the history of the city and serving as a community pillar of DC for decades. Ben died in 2009 at the age of 82, a passing mourned by the city at large, with Mayor Adrian Fenty celebrating the soul of a neighborhood and the pride of our city.

Virginia tells InsideHook that when she and her husband were scouting for the perfect location, Washington was a segregated city. That meant, as a young Black couple, they were only able to consider certain parts of the city for their opening, and Virginias first choice was finding a venue on what was once called Black Broadway. They did  and opened Bens in what was built originally a silent movie theater that was being operated as a pool hall.

Ben and Virginia in 1958 Bens Chili Bowl

From the start, it was obvious Bens would become a welcomed part of the community, as Virginia proudly shares how she and her husband enlisted everyone from the architect and cabinet maker to the plumber and electrician right there in the neighborhood. They opened with a small menu  just half-smokes, hot dogs, burgers and milkshakes. Their introduction to the neighborhood was also embraced thanks to now-notoriously long operating hours  in those days, opening at 11 in the morning and closing up shop at 3 or 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. DC was a kind of nightclub town, with theater and jazz clubs always going on, Virginia says.

She also remembers history playing out through the decades from inside the Chili Bowl, including the night it was announced that one of her regulars, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been shot.

People were in tears, just openly crying in the restaurant, she says, and then that sadness turned to frustration and the frustration turned to anger, and an uprising began and lasted three, four nights. A curfew was put in place, and Bens was the only place that was allowed to remain open during those three nights. We were not touched, but the community was literally destroyed.

After those heavy nights, many of the businesses that had been destroyed did not reopen. People began to move away from the area following the end of segregation, and Black Broadway was no more. Virginia says the area took a turn for the worst. The turning point came in 1988 with the construction of the green-line subway system. By the time the station opened there were only three remaining businesses on the entire street, including Bens.

Thats when the neighborhood began to grow again, and of course, now that neighborhood is a fabulous one, she says.

A new kind of civil rights movement



Virginia was happy to reminisce about the days Dr. King would come into Bens Chili Bowl  and even remembers when he came in to discuss plans for his famous I Have a Dream speech. That history has given her a unique perspective on more recent cultural movements, like the Black Lives Matter protests of the past year.

The difference for me was that back then we had these strong leaders: Dr. Martin Luther King, Philip Randolph, John Lewis. In todays movement, we have young people just coming out on their very own, she says. They didnt need a leader to realize that injustice was taking place. They came out on their own, from all backgrounds, all races, all cultures  and I thought that was pretty tremendous.

When the coronavirus pandemic first struck in March 2020, Virginia says she tried to stay home because her children, whod inherited some of the day-to-day running of the business, didnt want her going out. Well, after two or three weeks of that I just couldnt take it anymore, she says. She went right back to work at the Chili Bowl, helping to prepare and pass out hundreds of sandwiches, chili dogs and hamburgers to both demonstrators and hospital workers on the front lines.

Virginia, now 87, attributes her vitality to staying on her feet and loving what she does each and every day. Shes also proud of the culinary legacy Bens has created with their simple fare, helping to put the chili-laden half-smoke on our national menu.

Below, she shares her famous recipe.

Bens Chili Bowl at its original location Bens Chili Bowl

The Bens Chili Bowl Half-Smoke



Its the DC signature dish, Virginia says. I think we kind of popularized it with that mustard, onions and homemade spicy chili sauce on it. Its thrilling, its satisfying, its delicious.

What makes it special, she says, is that its the kind of dish you could eat in the afternoon or into the wee hours of the night  for anyone whos been dancing and drinking cocktails, Virginia maintains that a good sandwich is necessary before you tuck into bed. We wholeheartedly agree.

What you need:

A pack of half-smokes sausages, which fortunately is sold nationwide by Bens

Yellow mustard of your choice

Raw white onion, chopped

Your favorite chili recipe, or Bens secret recipe chili, which can be purchased con carne or vegan

A pack of soft split-top hot dog buns

How to half-smoke:

Heat your grill or grill pan over high heat.

Grab your half-smokes and butterfly cut them, splitting them in half but leaving a seam that connects those two halves. Bens prefers to keep theirs whole, so you can do so too if youd like.

Grill your half-smokes until theyre cooked through with a good brown on them. In the meantime, gently warm your hot dog buns up and get your condiments ready.

Lay your sausage, seam side down, onto the hot dog bun, then top with mustard and a generous scoop of chili, finishing off with a sprinkling of raw onion for some bite.

Best served with a cold beverage and a side of potato chips.

The post Learn How to Make a Half-Smoke From the Person Who Made Them DC-Famous appeared first on InsideHook.
FORMER retail staff in Limerick have marked the grim milestone of 365 days on the picket-line this Friday.

Workers who up to Easter 2020 were employed by Debenhams Ireland met at the former store in OConnell Street to mark the first anniversary of the closure here.

More than 110 workers in Limerick lost their jobs when Debenhamss British arm pulled support for its Irish operation, with liquidators from KPMG appointed a short-time later.

This sparked a round-the-clock picket outside Debenhams stores across the State with former workers left awaiting redundancy payouts.

They feel by clocking the exit of stock from the Limerick store, they are using their final bargaining chip with the liquidator.

Mike McNamara, who worked for more than 40 years in Debenhams and its predecessor Roches Stores, said: After 365 days, we certainly do not want to be here in the way we are here, in the way weve been left here. It seems like there is no end. And we want an end. Id call on governments, unions and KPMG to get their act together and give us what we are entitled to.

His colleague Aishling OGorman added: Weve still not been allowed inside to get our belongings, its quite sad. We shouldnt be marking 365 days on a picket. Its 365 days we shouldnt be here. We should have been looked after from the start.

She said there has been a good atmosphere among the former colleagues, and thanked the public for the support theyve given.

Bakehouse 22, based in Nicholas Street, delivered sandwiches and a cake adorned with a picture of the workers on it today.

The support weve had is overwhelming, Aishling added, Weve been through so much in the past 12 months and Im so proud of them all and it just shows the dedication that everyone has put in.

In December, Solas offered the 1,000-or-so former Debenhams workers across Ireland a share in a 3m training fund, something they decisively rejected in a ballot organised by their union Mandate.

Other than this, there has been no offer of an enhanced redundancy payout.

Local Sinn Fein councillor John Costelloe, who has been a constant presence on the picket line, said: The protesters are very resolute. The fact is they havent got what they need or deserve.

We have people down here 12 months 24/7. Grandmothers, mothers away from their loved ones. I dont think government fully realise the anguish people are going through, he concluded.

The Limerick Leader has contacted KPMG for comment.
04/08/2021

Brianna Williams, RAMP '19, a Bachelor of Science student at University of Massachusetts Lowell, was awarded the Department of Defense Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship.





This award provides students with full tuition for up to five years, summer internships, a stipend and full-time employment with the Department of Defense after graduation. This unique opportunity offers students hands-on experience at one of over 200 of the nations most innovative laboratories across the Army, Navy, Air Force and larger Department of Defense. During summer internships, SMART Scholars work directly with an experienced mentor, gaining valuable technical skills. After graduation Williams will work at U.S. Army DEVCOM Armaments Center in Watervliet Arsenal, N.Y.





Williams is currently studying Biomedical Engineering, with a special focus in Biomechanics. Williams said, I am excited for all the opportunities coming my way in the not so far future about the award.





The Department of Defense is the largest employer of scientists and engineers in the nation with nearly 300,000 STEM professionals. For over a decade, SMART has trained a highly skilled STEM workforce that competes with the evolving trends of industry to support the next generation of science and technology for our nation.





For more information on the SMART Program or to learn how students can apply, please visit www.smartscholarship.org . The application is open annually from August through December.





ABOUT THE SMART PROGRAM

The SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program is a combined educational and workforce development opportunity for bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. students to gain technical skills in critical STEM fields and support the national security mission of the Department of Defense. Contact: Outreach@smartscholarship.org




JACKSON, MI  Retail pharmacies are updating their websites weekly with available COVID vaccine appointments in Jackson County.

Kroger, CVS, Meijer, Walmart and Rite Aid are offering vaccinations to eligible residents as the supply allows.

Several local pharmacies are also offering appointments, including Genoa Health Care Pharmacy, Grass Lake Community Pharmacy, Weatherwax Pharmacy, Browns/Country Market Pharmacy and Hometown Pharmacy. Clinics are also being held at Napoleon Fire Station and HFAH at Keely Park. Appointments are required for vaccinations.

Jackson officials are encouraging residents to find updated information on locations and vaccine availability using vaccinefinder.org.

Health officials encourage residents to check for available appointments from multiple sources as allocations from the federal government continue to increase.

As of April 5, all Michigan residents age 16 and older can get vaccinated.

Even with the increased eligibility, residents are advised to be patient in getting vaccination appointments, Jackson County Health Department officials said.

People seeking vaccinations through the health department must pre-register for an appointment through the Online Vaccine Interest Survey at mijackson.org/2442/COVID-Vaccine. Those without internet access, or who need assistance with the survey, are asked to seek a friend or family member to help.

Updates about vaccine scheduling are available on the health departments COVID-19 vaccine information line at 517-817-4469.

Jacksons Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center hosts vaccine clinics in partnership with Henry Ford Allegiance Health on Thursdays. Eligible residents should call 517-788-4067 to schedule an appointment.

Henry Ford Allegiance Health and the Jackson County Health Department also have partnered to open a mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Jackson County Fairgrounds American 1 Credit Union Event Center, 128 W. Ganson St., on Saturdays and Sundays, beginning April 17-18.

To sign up, residents should use Henry Fords MyChart patient portal or contact their primary care provider.

COVID-19 vaccination clinic to open at Jackson County Fairgrounds

As of April 8, 75,939 vaccine doses have been given to county residents by the Jackson County Health Department, Henry Ford Allegiance Health, pharmacies and other providers, state data shows. 32,272 residents within the county are fully vaccinated, according to the health department.

READ MORE FROM THE JACKSON CITIZEN PATRIOT:

Health officer leaves Jackson County post as COVID-19 cases rise

Health officials push back on reports Jackson has highest COVID rates in nation

Jackson courts return to stricter access due to growing county COVID infection rate
For months, Michigan House Democrats have used secret funding sources to pay an outside public relations firm to run communications while leaving key internal positions unfilled, an unusual arrangement that some say raises ethical red flags.

Under the Michigan Legislatures current structure, each of the four legislative caucuses  the majority and minority parties in both chambers  has a publicly-funded budget for a central communications staff that answers to caucus leadership.

Leadership roles on the House Democrats communications team have remained unfilled for months. The caucus last press secretary left that role on Oct. 2, 2020.

In lieu of staffing those positions, House Democratic Leader Donna Lasinksi, D-Scio Township, has contracted out communications services using an outside funding source with Byrum & Fisk Advocacy Communications, a firm led by former Michigan House Democratic Leader and current Michigan State University Board of Trustees Chair Dianne Byrum and Mark Fisk, a former political and communications director for the Michigan House Democratic Caucus.

Under the current arrangement, Stephanie Cepak  a former Gongwer News Service reporter who returned to Byrum & Fisk last year after working as a communications manager for Michigan State Universitys Honors College  is serving as Lasinskis de facto spokesperson, setting up news conferences regarding legislation and policy issues with Lasinski and other Democratic lawmakers, fielding questions from journalists and sending out caucus press releases. She currently lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to her Byrum & Fisk biography.

Cepak has also sent out news releases on behalf of other groups  some with pending interests in legislative issues  in recent months, including the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, the National Wildlife Federation, the Great Lakes Business Network, the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council and others.

On Feb. 17, one such release included comments from business groups who testified in support of a bill before the House Energy Committee, House Bill 4236, that would eliminate a cap on rooftop solar. In March, Cepak sent releases on behalf of environmental and business groups criticizing how House and Senate hearings on the Line 5 pipeline were conducted.

Nearly a dozen sources with knowledge of Michigan legislative communications told MLive that while its common for lawmakers to work with public relations firms on their political campaigns or to consult on specific policy issues, the scope of Byrum & Fisks work with the House Democratic Caucus over the last several months is not the norm.

Its also unclear how House Democrats have been paying for the contract, as its not coming from the House budget. In a response to a request from MLive, the Michigan House Business Office confirmed the funds did not come from the allotment available to the House Democratic Caucus to hire communications officials.

In a brief statement issued through Cepak in response to several questions about the nature of and funding sources behind the contract, Lasinksi declined to say how much it cost or where the money was coming from  only that it wasnt paid for with taxpayer dollars.

Lasinksi said in the statement she believed the caucus needed to hit the ground running to effectively advance our message after staff turnover following the last election, and said the Byrum & Fisk contract has helped the caucus increase bandwidth, field media requests and advance the caucus message while they continue the hiring process. She said both Republican and Democratic caucuses have employed outside experts for decades.

But the lack of publicly available knowledge about the agreement between the caucus and an outside firm that also represents a number of special interest groups is cause for deep concern, said Simon Schuster, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.

What makes this situation unique is that these are communications being paid for on behalf of the caucus, Schuster said. We want to know whos funding our politicians communications, especially if theyre coming out on an official level for a broad number of politicians.

House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Clare, agreed, saying in a statement provided to MLive that people deserve to know whether partisan activists and lobbyists are setting priorities for the House Democrats.

Everyone knows people are losing faith in government. This is a problem we all need to fix, Wentworth said. But secret deals like this take us in the wrong direction. The people deserve to know who their government answers to.

As recently as last week, the House Democratic Caucus had job listings posted for openings for a communications director, press secretary and communications advisor, offering maximum annual salaries of $90,000, $65,000 and $48,000, respectively. As of this week, the press secretary position had been removed from the available job postings.

Lasinksi said in the statement provided to MLive that the caucus expects to make several new hire announcements in the coming days, adding, I look forward to our continued partnership with Byrum & Fisk.

We have been intentional throughout our hiring process to ensure we have a talented and diverse group of candidates to interview, Lasinskis statement read.

A former House Democratic Caucus staffer with direct knowledge of the situation said the Byrum & Fisk contract was initially described to communications staff as a limited arrangement while caucus leadership conducted candidate searches for open positions.

But the relationship quickly evolved into Byrum & Fisk acting in the capacity of communications director, the former staffer said, with the firm calling the shots on caucus messaging, requiring final approval on social media posts and sending government-paid staff press release templates to distribute. Staffers were also directed not to take press inquiries for lawmakers and pass any that came through to Byrum & Fisk, they said.

The former staffer said the arrangement, combined with the lack of progress on hiring internal communications staff, was part of the reason they left, calling the delay in hiring for those positions really bizarre.

Byrum & Fisk started directing our own staff within our office, which I obviously had an issue with, the former staffer said. Things had to go through them for final approval before anything could be posted, which obviously was not terribly conducive to a smooth working operation.

In previous sessions, another former House Democratic Caucus staffer said even in instances where lawmakers worked with Byrum & Fisk on messaging for issue-specific press events, the caucus press secretary was the point of contact for reporters and coordinated media requests that came through for lawmakers.

While its not unusual for Byrum & Fisk or other firms to work with lawmakers, it is unusual for a caucus to be so light on internal communications staff, said Adrian Hemond, CEO of the firm Grassroots Midwest and a former chief of staff for the House Democratic Caucus under then-Democratic Leader Tim Greimel. Those unfilled positions could make it harder for House Democrats to advance their message in competitive regions of the state, he said.

Other than what individual members are doing, it doesnt appear to be a sort of broad statewide strategy around elevating a message for the House Democrats right now, he said. It would be tough to do under the best of circumstances, considering the messaging environment right now with COVID, national politics and everything thats going on, but being light on staff doesnt help.

One big distinction between internal legislative staff and an external vendor is the lack of rules about what political activities an outside firm can engage in while working for the Legislature, Schuster said. Hiring an outside firm to assist with communications isnt inherently problematic  but using one instead of making internal hires for day-to-day communications on policy matters, particularly when they have other clients, is troubling, he said.

A lack of clarity about who or what is ultimately funding the arrangement adds additional ethical concerns and suggests that the line between politics and policies is becoming increasingly porous, he continued.

If we dont know whos underwriting the operations of a public body, whether its for political or policy purposes, I think that that is a little bit unsettling, simply because we trust on a basic level of transparency that our politicians are working on a day-to-day basis in a public way, Schuster said.

In the statement provided to MLive, Lasinski said both partners have been transparent and forthright in disclosing other client work so we can remain focused on the task at hand, but did not elaborate further on what steps were being taken to prevent conflicts of interest between the House Democratic Caucus and Byrum & Fisks other clients.

John Truscott, CEO of the firm Truscott Rossman and former communications director and press secretary for then-Gov. John Engler, said having a firm come in to be involved in consulting is perfectly appropriate, but said its unusual for an outside firm to be running day-to-day operations and assuming communications control for an indefinite amount of time.

He said caucus leaders should be concerned about the appearance of the current arrangement, adding that not revealing the source of the funding raises a lot of unnecessary red flags.

Ive seen it where caucuses would hire somebody to consult or assist or provide an outside viewpoint, but not to be, well, the eyes and ears and mouthpiece of a caucus, he said. I would think that there are some real ethical concerns with somebody acting as an employee, basically, but also working on the outside of the system.

Greater government transparency has been a hot topic in the House of late, with the chamber voting unanimously to subject the governor, lieutenant governor and their staff to the states Freedom of Information Act and establish a separate Legislative Open Records Act for lawmakers  albeit with an array of broad exemptions on what types of documentation could be requested by the public.

Similar legislation is pending in the Senate, although previous proposals to change open records laws to include the governor and Legislature havent made it through the chamber.

Several House Democrats were lead sponsors on the package. Following the legislations passage, Lasinski and other House Democrats, in a Zoom press conference organized by Byrum & Fisk, urged Wentworth and House Republicans to consider amending House rules to subject their chamber to the proposed legislative open records rules immediately.

Even if lawmakers records and communications were currently included in open records laws, its possible internal Byrum & Fisk records regarding the House Democratic Caucus account would not be subject to them, as Byrum & Fisk is a private entity and the contract is not being funded by taxpayer dollars.

Everybody these days talks about transparency  I guess its not really being practiced, Truscott said.
New Book from Word on Fire Celebrates the Writings and Influence of St. Ignatius of Loyola The "Ignatian Collection" features Ignatius' "Spiritual Exercises," poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins, and letters by St. Francis Xavier



NEWS PROVIDED BY

Word on Fire Catholic Ministries

April 9, 2021



IRVING, Texas, April 9, 2021 /



Ignatius is best known for establishing the Society of Jesus (or the Jesuit order), which even in his lifetime had become a powerful force in Europe and beyond and which today spans the globe, as well as for his masterpiece, the Spiritual Exercises. An introduction by Bishop Robert Barron draws readers into the Spiritual Exercises, the central work in the collection. This classic of Ignatian spirituality is followed by a selection of poems from Gerard Manley Hopkins, introduced and annotated by Dr. Holly Ordway, and a selection of letters by the great Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier, introduced by Bert Ghezzi.



"The little band of brothers that Ignatius formed in the student dormitories of the University of Paris grew eventually into a religious family that has served the mission of the Church across the world," Bishop Barron writes in his introduction. "But he was first a man who fell completely in love with Jesus. The Spiritual Exercises are conditioned, in every detail, by that intense friendship with the Lord. And this document, originally designed to guide a handful of Ignatius' disciples, continues to set on fire the hearts of Christians around the world."



"Ignatian Collection"

Introduction by Bishop Robert Barron

April 5, 2021

Hardcover | 367 pages

Word on Fire Classics

wordonfire.org/ignatius



SOURCE Word on Fire Catholic Ministries



CONTACT: Will Sipling, Communications Director, 866-928-1237,



Related Links



https://www.wordonfire.org/



Share Tweet NEWS PROVIDED BYApril 9, 2021IRVING, Texas, April 9, 2021 / Christian Newswire / -- The "Ignatian Collection," a distinctive new volume from the Word on Fire Classics series from Bishop Robert Barron's apostolate, offers a wide-ranging look at the writings of St. Ignatius of Loyola and those inspired by his movement.Ignatius is best known for establishing the Society of Jesus (or the Jesuit order), which even in his lifetime had become a powerful force in Europe and beyond and which today spans the globe, as well as for his masterpiece, the Spiritual Exercises. An introduction by Bishop Robert Barron draws readers into the Spiritual Exercises, the central work in the collection. This classic of Ignatian spirituality is followed by a selection of poems from Gerard Manley Hopkins, introduced and annotated by Dr. Holly Ordway, and a selection of letters by the great Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier, introduced by Bert Ghezzi."The little band of brothers that Ignatius formed in the student dormitories of the University of Paris grew eventually into a religious family that has served the mission of the Church across the world," Bishop Barron writes in his introduction. "But he was first a man who fell completely in love with Jesus. The Spiritual Exercises are conditioned, in every detail, by that intense friendship with the Lord. And this document, originally designed to guide a handful of Ignatius' disciples, continues to set on fire the hearts of Christians around the world.""Ignatian Collection"Introduction by Bishop Robert BarronApril 5, 2021Hardcover | 367 pagesWord on Fire ClassicsSOURCE Word on Fire Catholic MinistriesCONTACT: Will Sipling, Communications Director, 866-928-1237, communications@wordonfire.org Related Links
Beetles - a group of insects also known as Coleoptera - make up more than a quarter of all known animal species on our planet. Many of these insects play important roles in their ecosystems.

While we may often think of beetles, such as ladybirds, as relatively small, there are some species that are truly enormous.

What is the longest beetle in the world?

There are two species that could be considered the world's longest beetle.

If you take total length into account, the Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules) is the longest species of beetle in the world. Male Hercules beetles reach up to 19 centimetres long, about the same length as a new pencil and nearly 20 times the size of the common seven-spot ladybird that is found in the UK.

More than half of its length comes from exceptionally long, plier-like horns. These are used in battle against other males for access to females.

Hercules beetles are found from southern Mexico to Bolivia, as well as on some Caribbean islands. Adults mainly feed on rotten fruits that have fallen to the floor of their rainforest homes, while the larvae feed on dead wood.
A Union City landlord has filed a lawsuit against the city of Union City in an attempt to overturn the citys rent control ordinance.

Limited liability corporation 528 28th St., which owns a building at the same address, is asking a judge to void the citys rent control ordinance because it denies landlords procedural due process, the suit claims.

The complaint, which was filed yesterday in Hudson County superior court, stems from a dispute between the tenant and a landlord over the proper amount of rent for the 28th Street building.

Its unclear who exactly owns the property. A lawyer for the plaintiff could not immediately be reached for comment.

In 2017, after the Union City rent leveling board issued a ruling about the proper amount of rent for the building, the landlord appealed. Since then, the complaint alleges, the board has not heard or ruled on the landlords case, but the tenant has been paying the same rent since 2017.

Because the ordinance allows the board to make determinations without providing landlords any notice or opportunity to respond and provides no timeframe in which appeals must be heard and decided, according to the complaint, it is unconstitutional as it violates Plaintiffs due process rights, the landlord argues.

The suit is the latest legal challenge to Union Citys rent control laws from a property owner. Landlords in the North Hudson municipality have long chafed at the citys strong tenant protections; in May, a landlords group sued the city over a rent increase and eviction moratorium.

A Union City spokeswoman declined to comment, saying the city had not been served with the suit.
Border guard officers in the northern Vietnamese province of Lao Cai on Thursday broke up a ring that assisted people to illicitly cross border to China.

The border guard command at the Lao Cai international border gate has decided to start criminal proceedings against Di Hoi Seng, 29, Ly Seo Phin, 29, and Po Chai Thang, 28, in Muong Khuong District for organizing illegal entry from Vietnam to China.

Seng, Phin, and Thang are people of three different ethnic minorities.

They grew up and are living near the Vietnam  China border in Muong Khuong, thereby knowing the terrain there well like the back of their hand.

They used social media networking apps like Zalo and WeChat to keep in touch with their Chinese connections without attracting Vietnamese authorities attention.

The group admitted to the Vietnamese functional forces that they had taken advantage of dark nights and the rough terrain to successfully help a total of 19 people walk three kilometers across the forest for more than three hours to illegally enter China since September 2020.

They charged each person they had assisted 700 yuan (US$106) after each trip.

By the time of their arrest in the most recent affair, the trio claimed that each of them had received 2,500 yuan ($381) in total from the border jumpers.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
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The Duke of Edinburgh retired from public life in 2016, but since then avid royal watchers have been able to get a glimpse of the man behind the public persona thanks to the hit Netflix series The Crown.

Indeed, since he stepped back from public life, people have seen more of the fictionalised version of the Queen's late husband, who passed away this morning at Windsor Castle aged 99, than they have of the real man himself.

Portrayed as a reluctant consort in his 20s, played by Matt Smith during the first two series of the show, the series depicted the Duke as an assertive and formative character who was determined to modernise the royal family, and find his position in the role of dedicated consort to the Queen.

In striking moments within the series which showcased the Duke's determination, the royal is shown insisting that Charles and Anne keep the Mountbatten surname and that the family continues to live at Clarence House rather than move into Buckingham Palace.

Tobias Menzies takes over the role in series three, which shows the Duke as more settled into his role, and portrayed a softer side of the royal when he was shown bonding with his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg.

And in the most recent series, his bond with his children was revealed, from his close friendship with Princess Anne to his attempts to help Prince Charles and Princess Diana with their marriage.

Despite criticism of the accuracy of the show's protrayals, earlier this year, Prince Harry said the show is 'loosely based on the truth' and captures the feeling of being expected to put 'duty and service above family and everything else'.

But how accurate was The Crown's portrayal of the Prince Philip, who the Queen described today as her 'strength and guide' throughout their 73-year marriage and her 69-year reign?

The Duke of Edinburgh, who retired from public life in 2016 and died today aged 99, was portrayed by Matt Smith (left) in the first two series of The Crown before Tobias Menzies took over the role in series three (right)

But how accurate was The Crown's portrayal of the Prince Philip, who the Queen described today as her 'strength and guide' throughout their 73-year marriage and her 69-year reign? (pictured, in 2018)

Season 1: New husband torn between loyalty to the Queen and frustration over end of his army career and battles with palace aides

Season one deals with the early years of the then Princess Elizabeth's marriage to dashing Philip of Greece, from their wedding day to their honeymoon period trip to Malta and subsequently Kenya, where she learns of her father's death.

Elizabeth and Philip return to London for the funeral - and Philip is tasked with planning the Queen's coronation ceremony.

With his wife on the throne, Philip has a number of requests about their new life, including wanting their children Charles and Anne to keep the Mountbatten surname and for the family to continue living at Clarence House rather than move into Buckingham Palace.

Queen Elizabeth drops the matters, which leaves Philip increasingly frustrated.

Elizabeth soon regrets her decision to place Philip in charge of preparations after he upsets her by suggesting he should forgo kneeling to pay homage when she is crowned, and irritates the committee by insisting that they televise the event.

The Crown viewers were introduced to a dashing Prince Philip of Greece, played by Matt Smith, in the first ever episode of the hit series

Just as in the hit Netflix series, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip married on November 20 1947 (pictured waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace)

Elizabeth II was crowned during a ceremony on June 2, 1953, with the couple departing on a six-month Commonwealth tour shortly afterwards.

Philip grows frustrated with his wife using him as a 'prop', resulting in a confrontation that is recorded by photographers.

While Elizabeth convinces them to surrender their recordings, she and Philip are unable to resolve their argument.

Later in the series, the relationship between the Queen and Prince Philip is plagued by more tension as they struggle to find the right balance between royal duties and family life.

Elizabeth and Philip later travel to Kenya, where they spend the night in an incredible treetop look-out and encounter elephants, but their trip is cut short by the death of the King

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip were in Kenya when her father died, and rushed back to England immediately (pictured during the trip)

Philip begins spending more time away from the Palace, while Elizabeth fills the void by enjoying the company of her horse-racing manager and friend Porchey.

Tension escalates between the pair, and the Queen Mother complains about Philip's domineering attitude towards Charles.

She suggests that Elizabeth asks Philip to open the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne so that he can adjust to life in her shadow.

A five-month royal tour is later added to the itinerary, with Elizabeth suggesting her husband be thankful that everyone is helping him find a public role.

VERDICT: Mostly true

While elements of Prince Philip's depiction in The Crown are inaccurate and overly dramatised, many scenes indicating his frustration over his position within the family and his ambition to modernise the monarchy ring true.

When Philip and Elizabeth married, they expected to be able to live most of their young lives as duke and princess, and spent several happy years in Malta.

But Philip quickly found himself forfeiting his naval career to support his wife - an uncomfortably advanced spousal dynamic, especially for a headstrong officer in the 1950s.

In 1992, he told an interviewer: 'I'd much rather have stayed in the navy, frankly.' He later called his resignation 'naturally disappointing'.

The Duke of Edinburgh faced particular opposition when he pushed for the coronation of the Queen to be televised to the masses in 1953

The Netflix series sees Prince Philip challenging courtiers over televising the Queen's coronation and he remains keen to modernise the monarchy

As depicted in the series, the couple were in Kenya at a treetop hotel on February 6, 1952, when they heard of the death of Elizabeth's father, and rushed back to the UK.

The Duke of Edinburgh faced particular opposition when he pushed for the coronation of the Queen to be televised to the masses in 1953, according to Antonio Caprarica. Speaking to TV 2000's show Siamo Noi, Mr Caprarica said: 'This was a young prince with many ambitions for reform.

'Among these, the idea of the televised coronation, which all courtiers, Prime Minister Churchill, the Queen's mother, fiercely opposed. In short, he had everyone against him.'

The royal commentator said the Queen ultimately acted as a broker for peace and agreed that showing the coronation on television would help the Royal Family.

He continued: 'To once again praise Elizabeth's political sense, she was the one who in the end said "well no, let's try it. Let's do it. We must adapt and get used to this extraordinary means of mass communication".'

However, elements of the coronation storyline are likely fabricated, including Prince Philip's refusal to kneel in front of his Queen at her coronation.

'I doubt Prince Philip ever spoke those words to his wife, because he came from a royal house which had borrowed so much of its ritual and protocol from the British Royal Family,' expert Christopher Wilson said, referring to the tense scene in The Crown. 'He knew full well what was expected of him in public, and was prepared to go along with it.'

But the royal's desire for Elizabeth and his children to have the surname Mountbatten was said to have been a sore-point for him.

Just as portrayed in the series, the royal's desire for Elizabeth and his children to have the surname Mountbatten was said to have been a sore-point for him

The series depicts Prince Philip's frustration over his lack of dynamic role, as well as his annoyance that his children didn't share his last name

In Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage, biographer Gyles Brandreth reports the Duke's private remark: 'I am nothing but a bloody amoeba. I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children.'

As in The Crown, courtiers were wary of Prince Charles and Princess Anne taking on Philip's chosen last name of Mountbatten. The palace aides feared that this gave too much weight to the Mountbatten family over the Windsors, and in 1952, Elizabeth announced that her children would use the last name of 'Windsor'.

However, after the death of the Queen's grandmother Queen Mary and Winston Churchill, the Queen issued an Order in Council in 1960 declaring that her descendants not bearing royal styles and titles (i.e. Prince or Royal Highness) may use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.

Philip's ideas and drive to modernise the Royal Family continued after he was forced to accept he would have to relocate to Buckingham Palace despite having demanded his family be allowed to stay at Clarence House after the coronation.

The Duke ultimately agreed to the move, but set out to bring not only the Royal Family into the new era but also the royal residence. His focus on revolutionising the system left him open to clashes with his mother-in-law.

Last year a documentary claimed the Queen Mother initially didn't approve of Prince Philip as a match for her daughter, then Princess Elizabeth, because she saw him as a 'dangerously progressive' man.

According to the documentary, The Private Lives of the Windsors, as a newlywed, Philip wanted to move away from his in-laws and pave the way for his future with his new wife, which created distance in the family.

The Queen Mother and Prince Philip continued to clash, notably over the direction of the Firm and the education of the future king, Prince Charles.

'The Duke of Edinburgh was determined to make a man of his first born son,' Piers Brendon explains, 'but very early on, Charles was a wimp and the Duke of Edinburgh never really understood his son.

Shortly after the birth of Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip depart on a six-month Commonwealth tour

The couple did in fact travel across the world in 1954, months after the Queen gave birth to her daughter (pictured in New Zealand)

'Indeed, his son became a source of considerable irritation to him as he grew up, whereas the Queen mother reported what he needed was delicate nurturing, sympathy and understanding'.

And it wasn't all smooth sailing for the Queen and Prince Philip - the scene in which the couple storm out of their home after arguing and are caught on camera is widely considered to be accurate.

Members of the media saw the Duke of Edinburgh storming out of the door during their royal tour of the Commonwealth in 1954, with the Queen following behind him shouting and visibly angry. Reportedly, just as on The Crown, the monarch emerged a few minutes later and politely spoke with the press, who quickly handed over the footage to the royal couple. It has never been seen publicly.

Season 2: A restless consort who drives the Queen to breaking point as she fears he's been unfaithful

The second series opens with the Suez Crisis of 1956 - a time of political turmoil which the drama uses to reflect a tumultuous period in the Queen and Prince Philip's marriage.

During a tense discussion aboard the royal yacht in Lisbon in the opening episode, Philip brands their union a 'prison' while the Queen asks her husband what would make it 'easier on him' to remain together.

The second series opens with the Suez Crisis of 1956 - a time of political turmoil which the show uses to reflect a tumultuous period in the Queen and Prince Philip's marriage

The drama heavily implies the prince was unfaithful; before Philip departs for a tour of the Commonwealth with his male entourage (described as a 'five-month stag do'), the Queen is seen finding a photograph of ballerina Galina Ulanova in his briefcase. Viewers then watch Elizabeth torturing herself by attending a Bolshoi ballet to see her perform.

During the tour the Duke dances with a new woman in every port and enjoys drinking games and banter with his chums - fellow members of the Thursday Club held at a restaurant in Soho, where more debauchery takes place.

This season also delves into Prince Philip's childhood, which is portrayed as particularly tough. In one scene, Philip is accused by his father of being responsible for his sister's death. After he punches a boy at school he's forbidden from visiting Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark in Germany as planned.

This season also delves into Prince Philip's childhood, which is portrayed as tough (pictured at the funeral of his sister)

When Cecilie finds out, she decides to fly to England instead - however the plane in which she's travelling hits a factory chimney and crashes, killing her. When Philip's father sees him at her funeral, he cruelly declares: 'It's because of you boy that we are burying my favourite child.'

Verdict: Mostly false

In 1957, a statement from the Queen's spokesman denied a rift between her and Prince Philip.

There was never a suggestion of an affair between the Duke of Edinburgh and Ulanova, though it is possible he was admirer of her from afar as she did perform to a sell-out crowd in London in 1956. The Queen was among those who secured a ticket and apparently saw her perform.

The dancer who was linked to Philip was Pat Kirkwood, whom he met in 1948 when he visited her dressing room and took her out to dinner, sparking gossip and headlines including 'The Prince and the Showgirl'.

The dancer who was linked to Philip was Pat Kirkwood (pictured), whom he met in 1948 when he visited her dressing room and took her out to dinner

However Pat always strenuously denied any rumours of impropriety. Philip also once famously responded to a question about his alleged infidelity by arguing: 'How could I? I've had a detective in my company, night and day, since 1947.'

Philip's sister did die in a plane crash in 1937, along with her husband and their two children, but it wasn't Philip's fault. Royal historian Hugo Vickers criticised the makers of The Crown for suggesting that his father, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, blamed him for Cecilie's death, claiming it was 'the worst thing' they did in the second series.

'They cook up the reason... why his sister was forced to attend a family wedding, hates flying, gets into an aeroplane and her plane hits a chimney in Ostend and she and all her family are killed,' The Express reported.

In 1957, a statement from the Queen's spokesman denied a rift between her and Prince Philip (pictured in August 1956 on a visit to South Mist And Benbecula, Scotland)

'That did happen. But... it had nothing to do with Prince Philip whatsoever. They then show her funeral with Nazis marching about the Swastikas and that sort of thing. Fair enough, that was what Darmstadt was like then.

'They then have a disgraceful scene where Prince Philip's father is shouting at him. So, they attribute the death of his sister to him.'

Season 3: Enters a mid-life crisis which manifests as an obsession with the moon landing in 1969

Tobias Menzies takes up the role of Prince Phillip in series three - now a father-of-four who has come to accept his royal role and is fully supportive of the Queen.

He has come to be a key member of the Firm and one of the main drivers of its modernisation. In episode four, he insists they take part in a documentary showing their day-to-day lives in a bid to make them appear more normal and improve their public image.

The same episode suggests Philip wants to hide his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, from the public, due to her mental health issues.

She travels from Greece to the UK after leaving her convent, and takes up residence at Buckingham Palace.

Tobias Menzies takes on the role of Prince Philip in the third season of the Netflix series, which claims the Duke of Edinburgh went through a mid-life crisis

The Duke of Edinburgh attending a polo match with the Queen in Windsor Park on August 6 1967

Philip asks the Queen to give her a small room in a remote wing, arguing she's spent much of her life in mental institutions and shouldn't be seen. He claims Alice is only 'technically' his mother because she gave birth to him.

He is reluctant to speak to Alice directly, and spends most of the episode avoiding her.

As part of his plan to make the Firm more relatable and prove it's 'good value for money', Philip urges his daughter Anne to give an interview to the Guardian.

However the rebellious young royal organises for her grandmother, Princess Alice, to speak to the reporter instead. The subsequent feature praises Alice as having 'done more good' than most people and calls her a 'blessing' - and is credited with saving the Royal Family's reputation in the eyes of the British taxpayer.

Having read the story, Philip later apologises to his mother for his lack of faith in her.

Princess Alice of Battenberg portrayed in The Crown. The show suggests she gave an interview about her mental health issues

Prince Philip with his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg in June 1957, at the marriage of Princess Margeritha of Baden and Prince Tomislavof Yugoslavia

Now in his forties, Phillip begins to ponder his purpose in life and is seen becoming disillusioned. He admits to going through a kind of 'crisis' - explored in detail during the episode Moondust.

It coincides with the Prince's growing interest in the July 1969 Moon landing, which borders on an obsession. He appears riveted by the coverage of the event, following every report on the team of astronauts attempting the feat.

He barely talks of anything else, and likens Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to gods.

The episode culminates with Philip privately meeting with the trio, where his fantasy is shattered when he sees them all battling colds and realises they are ordinary humans.

Philip also meets the new Dean of Windsor, Robin Woods, who asks him whether he can use one of the Palace's empty rooms as a centre for burnt-out men of faith - an initiative that the Duke of Edinburgh initially ridicules.

However, it later becomes St George's House Trust, an organisation based at Windsor Castle committed to effecting change by nurturing wisdom through dialogue.

VERDICT: Mostly false

It's difficult to verify many of the claims made in the third series, but some of Philip's key storylines appear to be largely fictional.

There's no evidence Philip went through a midlife crisis, or that he was obsessed with the moon landing. Sally Bedell Smith, a royal historian and author of Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, told NBC News: 'I don't think he would've known a midlife crisis if it slapped him in the face.'

Smith went on to say that the idea Philip would be so engrossed in the moon landing was 'preposterous', adding: 'He wouldn't have been sitting around brooding about not being an astronaut.'

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh pictured in 1974 in Badminton. The Crown series three claims that Prince Philip went through a 'midlife crisis' but there is not evidence he ever did

Olivia Coleman as the Queen and Menzies as Prince Philip in the third series of The Crown, which sees the couple struggling with ageing

The suggestion Philip was the driving force behind the 1969 Royal Family documentary, a collaboration between the BBC and ITV, is also mostly false.

The idea came from the Palace's new royal press secretary William Heseltine, an Australian public relations expert. He wanted to encourage public support for a monarchy that was increasingly seen as out-of-touch.

The programme was met with widespread praise and proved so popular that it was aired again that same year and once more in 1972. It hasn't been broadcast in full since, but clips were made available as part of an exhibition for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee 2012.

Princess Alice did live with the Royal Family in Buckingham Palace from 1967 during her later years and stayed with them until her death in 1969. However, she did not give an interview to the Guardian and did not speak of her mental illness publicly.

There is no evidence the Duke of Edinburgh was trying to hide his mother in any way, but he did spend most of his childhood away from her. The family fled Greece in 1922 for Paris after being court martialled by the new military government. At the time, the Duke of Edinburgh was just one year old.

When he was six, in 1928, Philip was sent to the UK, where he studied at Cheam School and lived with his maternal grandmother Victoria Mountbatten, Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven at Kensington Palace.

Princess Alice, who was admitted to a sanitarium in 1930, reportedly did not see her son again until 1937, at the funeral of her daughter Princess Cecilie. She attended Philip's wedding to the Queen at Westminster Abbey in 1947 and photographs show them attending events together on several occasions.

As for the creation of what would become St George's House, the dates don't match up; it was co-founded by Robin Woods and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1966 - three years prior to the moon landing.

Season 4: Meddling father who tried to influence Charles' marriage to Diana and later pushed him to get a divorce

Season 4 of The Crown is the most liberal with the truth, and its release even called for 'fiction warnings' from royal circles, campaign groups and MPs.

The series focused on the Eighties, with Charles' marriage to Diana the main storyline. It portrayed the Duke of Edinburgh as a meddling figure who pressured his son to marry - and then later divorce - Lady Spencer.

Philip is showed as pro-Diana, after meeting her for the first time at Balmoral, where the Royal Family spend the summer.

Season 4 of The Crown is the most liberal with the truth, and it's release even called for 'fiction warnings' from campaign groups and MPs. The series focused on the Eighties, with Charles' marriage to Diana being the main storyline, and shows the Duke of Edinburgh (right) as a meddling figure who pressured his son to marry and then later divorce the Princess of Wales

Lady Diana and the Duke of Edinburgh are successful in killing a stag, a moment that seemingly cements their relationship, and the pair delight in recounting the killing to the family.

Philip later calls Prince Charles to the hanging room where he tells his son that he should marry Diana.

In a later scene set in 1990 at Sandringham, by which point Charles and Diana are at breaking point, Philip is seen wading into his son's marriage by telling the Princess that her husband will 'come around eventually when he realises he can never have the other one' - referring to Camilla.

He adds: 'Would it help you to realise we all think he's quite mad?'

The series ends with Prince Philip issuing a warning to Princess Diana after the royal says she might have to 'officially break away' from the family

But Philip's jovial demeanour switches when Diana tells him she feels she has 'no option but to break away, officially'.

Philip warns: 'I wouldn't do that if I were you let's just say I can't see it ending well for you,' to which Diana replies: 'I hope that isn't a threat, sir?'

The series depicts Philip as jealous of his son's father-son relationship with Lord Mountbatten, whom he had also thought of as a paternal figure.

The Duke of Edinburgh (Tobias Menzies) opens up to Prince Charles about Lord Mountbatten in an emotional scene

'I barely knew my own father,' Philip tells Charles. 'Dickie understood that and stepped in as a surrogate. That meant the world to me... Then he switched horses and started caring for you. I was no longer the priority.'

The Duke's close relationship with his daughter Anne is also explored in more depth. In one episode, the Queen appears thrown by the idea that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher could so openly confess to having a favourite child.

However Prince Philip tells her that 'any honest parent' would admit to having a favourite, and says it is 'obvious' which one is hers, while revealing without hesitation that his is Anne.

Verdict: Mostly false

The Balmoral test has been revealed to be real by royal insiders, with Princess Diana impressing her future in-laws on her first trip to the Scottish castle.

The amount of time Diana spent with Philip, and whether or not she 'gained his approval', is more up for debate.

In reality, Diana stayed with her sister Jane and brother-in-law Robert Fellowes, who had a cottage on the estate on her visit, which was only her third date with Charles.

According to Andrew Morton's biography on the late royal, every day Charles would call on Diana to do an outdoor activity while there.

Later, in the series, Philip argues that Charles will come to love Diana the older and 'more confident and beautiful' she gets, although there's no evidence of this being true.

In The Crown, Philip argues that Charles will come to love Diana the older and 'more confident and beautiful' she gets, although there's no evidence of this being true (pictured: Charles and Diana after announcing their engagement in 1981)

Royal experts have cast doubt on the validity of the Sandringham scene between Philip and Diana, with many seeing it as a thinly-veiled reference to conspiracy theories surrounding Diana's death.

According to Ingrid Seward, the Duke did try to wade in and help the unhappy couple. Writing in the Daily Mail, she claims he tried to talk to Charles about his marital difficulties and the effect they were having on the royal institution.

'It was meant as fatherly advice, but because of the distant nature of their relationship, the conversations usually ended with Charles looking at his watch and making an excuse to leave the room,' Ingrid said.

'He also tried reaching out to his unhappy daughter-in-law by writing her dozens of letters. In one of these, he told her that he wished "to do my utmost to help you and Charles to the best of my ability. But I am quite ready to concede that I have no talent as a marriage counsellor!"

'His suggestions included trying to find things Diana could do together with Charles - and he listed common interests that they shared, which is a tried-and-tested method favoured by marriage guidance counsellors.

'To start with, the letters  which he signed "Pa"  were very sympathetic. He said that he knew first-hand the difficulties of marrying into the Royal Family and seemed to place much of the blame for her marital problems on Charles.'

The Duke of Edinburgh undoubtedly enjoyed a very close relationship with Lord Mountbatten (pictured in 1978). However, Philip spoke out on several occasions to make it clear they did not have a father-son relationship

Writing in November 2020, one of Philip's biographer's, Hugo Vickers, said the Prince 'deserves better than to be the target of the cruellest lie of all' in the Peter Morgan drama, alluding to the explosive Sandringham scene with Diana.

Writing for the Mail on Sunday last year, he argued the Duke of Edinburgh 'deserved better' than his portrayal in the Crown.

Speaking of the now-infamous 'Is that a threat?' line, he wrote: 'Who can be in any doubt that this fictional conversation is a thinly veiled and chilling reference to Diana's impending death?

'It supports the scarcely credible rumours, still fuelled by the internet, that Diana's fatal car crash in a tunnel in Paris in 1997 was a murderous "hit" ordered by Prince Philip and designed to look like an accident. It's hard to imagine a more hurtful allegation than painting Philip as a mafioso bent on bumping off a fragile daughter-in-law.

'And to hint at this in such a convincing way, with the multi-million-pound budgets, extravagant sets and convincing actors at Netflix's disposal, makes it all the more egregious.'

He added that Philip had 'a good bond' with Diana, who affectionately called him Pa, and he worked hard to see if there was a way that Charles and she might be reconciled.

The Duke of Edinburgh undoubtedly enjoyed a very close relationship with Lord Mountbatten. However, Philip spoke out on several occasions to make it clear they did not have a father-son relationship.

In her biography, Prince Philip Revealed, Ingrid Seward quotes Philip as saying: 'Mountbatten certainly had an influence on the course of my life, but not so much on my ideas and attitudes. I suspect he tried too hard to make himself a son out of me.'

Another time, he said: 'One impression I think needs to be corrected is that the whole of my life has been spent here [in the UK] and that I was brought up by Lord Mountbatten, neither of which is true.'

One thing the series does gets correct is Princess Anne being Philip's favourite child. Upon her birth he reportedly called her 'the sweetest girl', and as she grew into a 'confident extrovert', wrote royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith in 2017, she could respond in kind to some of the Duke's blunter comments.

In the biography Prince Philip Revealed, Ingrid Seward wrote: 'Philip's relationship with his more robust daughter, Anne, was completely different. He paid more attention to her than he did to his son simply because she was more responsive.

'He laughed with Anne in a way he never did with Charles. He made acerbic remarks to tease her but she could deal with them, cheerfully braving his ridicule, saying anything she wanted and laughing back at him.

'Anne is as like her father as Charles is unalike. She and Philip are energetic, brisk and efficient and both try to fit as much into a day as they possibly can.'
Though there is much political theater in the negotiations on the U.S. getting back to Obama's "deal" with Iran, it is a foregone conclusion that America will fall back in line. Yes, we are told that the outcome is uncertain. Yes, the Iranians loudly play up their indignation at Trump's withdrawal from the deal and his imposition of further sanctions on Iran. Yes, they heighten the drama by refusing to be in the same room with the Americans and insisting that Europeans act as go-betweens. Yes, we witness a debate on who should make the first conciliatory step  Iran wanting the US to remove its sanctions first and Biden's negotiators insisting that the uranium enriched by Iran while it violated its side of the deal be shipped out of the country first, and extra centrifuges that Iran installed dismantled. Yes, diplomats make much fuss and create extra suspense by warning us that the task in front of them is complex and the effort required titanic. But political posturing and bazaar-style haggling tactics aside, given that Biden wants the U.S. back in the Obama "deal," it will happen.

Each side gets something out of it. The "deal" grants the ayatollahs the legitimacy for their nuclear project: by 2030, the limits of the deal will expire, and they will be able to legally enrich all they want. They have the ability to sell oil in the interim, giving them money to finance their armament program and arm terrorist allies like Hamas, Hezb'allah, and the Shia groups in Iraq. In exchange, Biden (like Obama before him) will get a huge breather  nuclear-armed Iran won't be his problem.

So this is settled. The "deal" will get us all the way to 2030. But what happens then?

We were just given a foretaste of that. As a pressure tactic, in January 2021, Iran adopted a law that "required Iran to start enriching to 20% and stipulated that at least 120 kg (265 pounds) of uranium refined to that level be made each year, which amounts to 10 kg a month. Iran's production rate is already 'up to 40%' faster than that, Atomic Energy Organization spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi indicated. 'In less than four months we have produced 55 kg of 20% enriched uranium ... in around eight months we can reach 120 kg,' Kamalvandi told state TV."

That's quite an impressive dry run for 2030. Mind you, this was not even a sprint for the bomb  under the Obama "deal," Iran will have to wait for that for another ten years  but this quick ramping up of the pace of enrichment is a stark warning to all believers in "diplomacy"  like Representative Alan Lowenthal, who tweeted (and was re-tweeted by the Iran apologist Joe Cirincione of the Quincy Institute), "I strongly applaud renewed engagement with Iran. Only diplomacy can build a path to peace."

Really? We do have some experience with "diplomacy." The 193339 diplomacy with Hitler didn't exactly work out Rep. Lowenthal's way, if I remember history correctly. The gentleman from California should admit that 85 million dead in WW2 is no great diplomatic triumph. Nor, if I recall, did diplomacy with North Korea do much good. In the 1990s, Ms. Wendy Sherman charmed North Koreans into abandoning their drive for nuclear weapons  yet somehow, for all her skillful diplomacy, that country now possesses a frightful missile-mounted nuclear arsenal capable of reaching the U.S. In both instances, diplomacy indeed triumphed  for the Nazis and North Koreans, that is.

The U.S.'s re-entry into Obama's Iran "deal" promises to be yet another suchlike diplomatic triumph  the triumph of Iranian diplomacy.

Yes, diplomacy works. The question is  for whom?

Image: Chickenonline via Pixabay, Pixabay License.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Colombian doctors say a 104-year-old woman has beaten COVID-19 for a second time.

Doctors gave Carmen Hernandez a standing ovation on Monday, celebrating her recovery after 21 days of hospitalization.

Dr. Yamit Noe Hurtado, Manager of San Rafael De Tunja University hospital, said doctors classified the case as "re-infection" after she first tested positive last June.

Despite her advanced age, Carmen did not require a bed in the intensive care unit to defeat the virus.

In June 2020 - the first time she was infected - she overcame the disease in the nursing home where she has lived for 25 years, according to medical staff.

In March 2021, she was cared for in the San Rafael University Hospital's intermediate care area in Tunja, the capital of the department of Boyaca, two hours from Bogota.

Carmen left the hospital in a capsule made of plastic as a protective measure against the virus and was transferred by ambulance to the San Jose geriatric home, where she lives with 83 other women and one man.

Carmen was born on July 14, 1916 in Tunja and has not only survived COVID-19, but also a nose cancer more than 25 years ago.

In Colombia, the oldest people who have survived the latest coronavirus are women.

According to the National Institute of Health, 94 other patients between the ages of 100 and 101 have also survived the pandemic.

According to the Ministry of Health, confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Colombia exceed 2.4 million and 2.6 million people have been vaccinated.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Sunstone Management awards two innovative startups seed funding and professional resources

LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The 11th annual Sunstone Innovation Challenge announced the 2021 winners after its final pitch presentations Wednesday, April 7 over livestream. Sunstone Management, an international investment firm based in Long Beach, partnered with California State University Long Beach (CSULB) to sponsor the universitys annual startup competition.

Four teams of students from the colleges of health and human services, business and engineering participated in the finals to present innovative ideas and full business plans. Each team also benefitted from independent professionals and university mentors. The finalists were judged by a panel of successful entrepreneurs and investors in the local startup scene.

According to Dean Michael Solt, Even though the competition was held virtually this year due to the pandemic, we had excellent submissions from our students. I am very proud that all of the preparation and mentoring that occurred online was beneficial to the teams competing in the Sunstone Innovation Challenge. It is heartwarming to know that the creativity and innovativeness of our students was not diminished in the virtual world.

The 2021 winning startup was VITALINK, a biotech smartwatch accessory that utilizes existing monitoring and a dermal caffeine dosage system to manage users energy levels. Second place went to UNWIND, an affordable, personalized meditation program that grows with you. The other finalists included PPLE, a platform that offers group experiences hosted by locals to provide on-demand experiences as well as income for hosts and QMMUNITY, a healthcare app aiming to make care more equitable, accessible and transparent for the LBGTQ+ community.

The competition, first launched in 2009 by the Colleges of Business and Engineering and soon after joined by the College of the Arts to encourage college entrepreneurship, has grown significantly since Sunstone signed on in 2019. This year Sunstone presented the first place VITALINK with $15,000 in seed funding as well as wraparound support in the form of co-working space, marketing, legal and accounting services totaling up to $35,000. The runner-up, UNWIND, received $10,000 in seed funding as well.

Sunstones partnership with CSULB to support young entrepreneurs is a cornerstone of our efforts to invest in high-impact, innovative programs, said John Shen, Sunstone's founding partner. We are proud to fund this meaningful program and promote next-generation ideas.

"The structure, support and financial resources were able to provide through the Sunstone Innovation Challenge supports entrepreneurs of the future as they look to move forward into the business innovation space and successful commercialization, said Wade Martin, CSULBS director of the Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

About Sunstone Management

Sunstone Management, with subsidiary Sunstone Venture Capital Fund, is a diversified private capital management and investment firm offering comprehensive wealth management solutions worldwide. Focusing on investments in U.S. based small businesses and lower middle markets, its offerings are carefully structured to meet targeted investor goals ranging from short term senior debt products to longer term, equity, growth capital, and venture capital investment strategies. Sunstone is also extremely active as an investor in tech startups as a founding member of the Long Beach Accelerator.

About CSULB

Founded in 1949, California State University, Long Beach is among the top 1% of all public universities, best-value four-year colleges and universities, and those institutions that are "Most Transformative" in the country. The 322-acre campus enrolls more than 39,000 students and boasts more than 325,000 alumni, who positively impact the community, state and nation.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210408005933/en/

Dana Doran

ddoran@rasky.com

202-207-3650

Source: Sunstone Management
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) today announced that it is nominating the following six individuals to stand for election to its Board of Directors at the Companys Annual Meeting of Stockholders on June 9, 2021: Alan Attal, Larry Cheng, Ryan Cohen, Jim Grube, George Sherman and Yang Xu.

The Company also shared updates that include:

Following the Annual Meeting, the Board intends to elect Mr. Cohen as Chairman;

Following the Annual Meeting, all directors will be compensated 100% in equity;

Following the Annual Meeting, individual director compensation will be reduced approximately 28% from the prior year, and

Effective immediately, the Board has appointed Mr. Grube to serve on the Strategic Planning and Capital Allocation Committee.

New Director Candidate Biographies

Larry Cheng is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Volition Capital, a leading growth equity investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts and the first investor in Chewy. He has more than two decades of venture capital and growth equity investing experience based on time at Volition Capital, Fidelity Ventures, Battery Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners. He presently leads the Internet and Consumer team at Volition, focusing on disruptive companies in e-commerce, internet services, consumer brands, and digital media and gaming. He received his bachelor's degree from Harvard College where he concentrated in Psychology.

Yang Xu is Senior Vice President of Global Finance and Treasury at The Kraft Heinz Company. She has more than 20 years of broad experience across the capital markets, finance, strategic planning, transactions and business operations in the U.S., Asia and Europe. Prior to The Kraft Heinz Company, she held roles with Whirlpool Corporation and General Electric Healthcare. She has a bachelors degree in Finance from Wuhan University, a masters degree in management from the HEC School of Management and a masters in business administration from the London Business School.




NEW DELHI: Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth, has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.

Below is the statement from the palace:

"It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss."

Philip spent a month in hospital earlier this year before being released on March 16 to return to Windsor Castle.

(Queen Elizabeth II with her husband Prince Philip)

Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, married Elizabeth in 1947 and was the longest-serving consort in British history. He retired from public engagements in 2017 after carrying out more than 20,000 of them. Philip was a member of the Greek royal family and was born on the Greek island of Corfu in 1921. He was an avid sportsman who loved country pursuits. He had four children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

A Greek prince, he married Elizabeth in 1947 playing a key role in modernising the monarchy in the post-World War Two period, and behind the walls of Buckingham Palace being the one key figure the queen could turn to and trust. The Duke of Edinburgh, as he was officially known, had been by his wife`s side throughout her 69-year reign, the longest in British history, during which time he earned a reputation for a tough, no-nonsense attitude and a propensity for occasional gaffes.
Millions of Americans are currently receiving coronavirus vaccinations as the U.S. works to restore some sense of normalcy from the pandemic.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 33 percent of the US population has received at least one dose and 19.4 percent are fully immunized, either from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson.

However, some people have been wary of being vaccinated due to fears of experiencing side effects such as fever or headache while others have heard anecdotal reports of more extreme reactions including large rashes on the arm or going into anaphylaxis.

Doctors say that severe reactions are rare, and that common side effects, such as pain at the injection site, are a sign that your immune system is building up a response.

DailyMail.com spoke to three infectious disease experts about what side effects to expect from each COVID-19, why some people get them and what it means.

PFIZER-BIONTECH

The most common symptoms of the Pfizer vaccine are pain or swelling at the injection site, headache, fatigue, fever, chills and muscle pain.

'Somewhere between 20 to 80 percent of people will experience that,' Dr Richard Kennedy, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and co-director of the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group, told DailyMail.com.

'They're mostly mild to moderate symptoms and they last about a day or two.'

Dr Thad Stappenbeck, Chair of the Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio, said that, in his experience, headache is the most common side effect.

'Headache is probably the most common and, anecdotally, from people I know who have been vaccinated,' he told DailyMail.com

Then, there are rarer side effects, such as nausea, vomiting and swelling of the lymph nodes and armpits.

Kennedy says less than one in 10 people will experience these side effects.

Finally, there are the rare allergic reactions to the vaccine, which can includes hives, itching and swelling and even anaphylaxis.

The most common symptoms of the Pfizer vaccine are pain or swelling at the injection site, headache, fatigue, fever, chills and muscle pain. Pictured: Bials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Pfaffenhofen, southern Germany, January 15

Anaphylactic shock is a severe and potentially life-threatening reaction to an allergy from food, medicine or even a type of material.

The immune system releases chemicals that flood the body, blood pressure suddenly drops, and airways narrow, which prevents someone from breathing normally.

Kennedy said that about one in 100,000 people who get the vaccine will experience such a reaction.

However, the good news is that 'it's fairly rare and fairly treatable,' he said.

For this reason, the CDC requires vaccination sites to monitor everyone for 15 minutes after receiving their shot and those with a history of severe allergies for 30 minutes.

The doctors also add that people are more likely to experience stronger reactions after the second dose because the immune system has been primed to fight the virus and mounts a response after getting the final shot, only to realize it's a false alarm.

MODERNA

Similar to the Pfizer vaccine, the most common side effects of the Moderna vaccine include pain at the injection site, fever, chills, headache and tiredness.

'Low-grade fever, aches and pain, difficulty sleeping on night one, they're flu-like symptoms,' Dr Robert Murphy, an infectious diseases specialist at Northwestern Medicine, in Chicago, Illinois, told DailyMail.com.

'They're self-limited and gone within 48 hours.'

Another rare reaction, but only in Moderna patients, is 'Covid arm,' in which people experience itchy and swollen skin, sometimes accompanied by red lumps

Also like Pfizer, people are more likely to have stronger side effects after the second dose.

A very small number of Moderna patients have also reported suffering anaphylaxis following their first dose.

'This is a well-documented phenomenon,' Murphy said. 'They can have hives and swelling, but it's a very small number.'

Some recipients - but only of the Moderna shot - have reported experiencing 'Covid arm,' in which people have itchy and swollen skin, sometimes accompanied by red lumps or hives.

But the splotch is a harmless response from the immune system to the shot that fades from the arm within a week.

The official term used by dermatologists and allergists to describe the side effect is 'delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity.'

'The vaccine attracts immune system cells to the injection site, which is why you see a rash, then it dissipates and within a day or two,' said Stappenbeck.

'It's a little troubling at first, but not significant and there are no long-term effects.'

Similar to the Pfizer vaccine, the most common side effects of the Moderna vaccine include pain at the injection site, fever, chills, headache and tiredness. Pictured: Boxes containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the McKesson distribution center in Olive Branch, Mississippi, December 2020

JOHNSON & JOHNSON

The Johnson & Johnson single-dose coronavirus vaccine has noticeably milder side effects than either of the vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna.

'Almost across the board fewer people are reporting side effects,' Kennedy said.

'They are more mild. The most common ones are pain at the injection site, which is not surprising since it's a needle entering your arm, which about 50 percent will experience.'

He said about one-third of recipients report fatigue and muscle pain, 10 to 15 percent report nausea, and about 10 percent report swelling and redness at the injection site.

So why does J&J's shot produce fewer side effects? Murphy said it's because this vaccine is different from the other two.

J&J's vaccine combines genetic material from the new virus with the genes of the adenovirus - which causes the common cold - to induce an immune response.

Comparatively, Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines use a newer platform, part of the pathogen's genetic code called messenger RNA, or mRNA, to get the body to recognize the coronavirus and attack it if a person becomes infected.

'They're very different mechanisms and different manufacturing processes,' Murphy said.

There have not been reports of anaphylaxis among J&J recipients, but Stappenbeck said that may be because fewer people have received the shot.

'It could just be a numbers game at this point,' he said.

Side effects are much rarer among those who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, potentially due to the fact that it uses a different platform than Pfizer and Moderna. Pictured: Vials of the J&J vaccine at a vaccination operation organized by St John's Well Child and Family Center in Los Angeles, California, March 25

WHY ARE YOUNGER PEOPLE HAVING MORE SEVERE SIDE EFFECTS?

As more vaccines have been administered, there have been reports of younger people have more severe side effects compared to younger people.

The doctors say this because immune systems evolve as we age.

'As we get older, everything about or bodies doesn't work as well and the immune system is no exception,' Kennedy said.

Clinical trial data showed that young people reported more side effects after receiving vaccine doses than older people.

'The reality is that younger people have stronger immune systems and when you're older, you don't mount as big of a response,' Murphy added.

However, it does not mean older people aren't protected and that the vaccines are still just as protective in senior citizens as in young adults.

ARE WOMEN MORE LIKELY THAN MEN TO HAVE A REACTION?

Also reporting more side effects are women.

Women are more likely to report worse side effects after receiving COVID-19 vaccines then men are, CDC data reveal.

Last month, officials looked at nearly 7,000 reactions reported to the agency's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

They found that nearly 80 percent of the reactions were reported by women, making them four-time more likely to report a side effect than men.

Kennedy said that the reason behind this is a mix of biological and behavioral.

'Women's immune systems behave a little differently, they have a more robust antibody response,' he explained.

'They're also more likely to go to the doctor if something is wrong whereas men are more likely to try and tough it out.'

SHOULD I GET A VACCINE?

All three physicians say that the unequivocal answer is: yes, you should get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it becomes available to you.

'The efficacy of these vaccines have been remarkable,' Stappenbeck said.

'Less than one percent of fully vaccinated people are later infected. That's better than the numbers we've gotten in the trials. that's what we call real-world data.'

Stappenbeck also encourages to prepare for the possibility of having side effects, such as being able to take off work the next day just in case and having an adequate supply of water and Tylenol.

However, he suggests not taking the medication as a prophylactic.

'Wait until you have symptoms, if you have symptoms, and then then take it,' Stappenbeck said.

'The limit is four grams per day, and you don't want to overdose on Tylenol.'

The group also adds that any potential side effects you may are less worse than the possibility of getting COVID-19.

'You don't know how sick you will be until you get infected,' said Kennedy.

'You may be asymptomatic or you might be on a ventilator. Then you'll say I wish I had gotten the vaccine and, by then, it is too late

Reporting by Mary Kekatos, Senior Health Reporter for DailyMail.com
There is a reason why many of us still remain petrified at the thought of stepping up on the stage and speaking directly to a bunch of people sitting in the audience.



You can be speaking on important matters at hand like woman empowerment, gender equality, global warming, or saving dolphins, however, there is still a high chance of there being one or two individuals in the audience who will stop at nothing to make things hard.

Well, just to reassure you that you are not alone, something of a similar nature happened with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a recent event.

Amid the recent surge in Coronavirus cases across India, PM Modi on Thursday (April 08) held a virtual meeting with the chief ministers of all states in order to address the immediate situation at hand.

 ANI

People had just begun to resume their normal day-to-day lives in the pandemic, with the economy also showing signs of slow recovery, however, with Covid-19 cases breaching the one lakh mark for the third time in the last four days, PM Modi decided to finally huddle up.



It was the 70-year-old leader's second interaction with the heads of the state in a span of a month, with the previous meeting focusing on there being a need for "quick and decisive" actions to check the "emerging second peak".

While chairing the new meeting, PM Modi said, "A challenging situation is emerging again. I request you all to give your suggestions to tackle the COVID19 situation."

However, while PM Modi spoke on the need of setting up micro-containment zones to tackle the grave danger at hand, Arvind Kejriwal and Uddhav Thackeray, the Chief Ministers of New Delhi and Maharashtra, probably the worst-hit Covid-19 states, could hardly pay attention.

Arvind Kejriwal just couldn't control it.  pic.twitter.com/q4JGU6BFx6  Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) April 8, 2021

While the Delhi CM could be seen slouching on a chair, stretching his hands, and sharing a laugh, Thackeray was busy checking his mobile phone on a number of occasions and also happened to attend a call during the virtual conference.

 Twitter

Many viewers watching the reactions of the duo labeled their antics to be similar to that of backbenchers sitting in a boring school or college lecture and we dont blame them either.



Here are some of the reactions and memes posted by viewers on microblogging website Twitter:

When you realize that you are an IITian and a school dropout is giving tips to you :P pic.twitter.com/LNDujkZSYO  Saurav Jain  (@souravjain540) April 8, 2021

Presently I am watching our PM Modi discussing on Covid pandemic.



All the Indian state CMs are being seated in this virtual meet.



I was shocked to see Delhi CM Kejriwal seated in a very objectionable poses. He is proudy



All the CMs are seated in a decent & are showing respect.  Sunil (@BSunilKumar17) April 8, 2021

In a high profile meeting being chaired by the Honourable PM @narendramodi ji to review COVID-19 situation & vaccination progress, the Chief Minister of the most affected state in the country is busy on his phone!! pic.twitter.com/ri5JW9kO53  Priti Gandhi -   (@MrsGandhi) April 8, 2021

Boring* Modi Ji- Pay attention listen to me.

Arvind Kejriwal-Life is very short nanba,Always be happy...#Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/FAw2d5k7Bt  RamRKothale (@iamram2398) April 9, 2021

The non serious attitude. Glimpse of todays PM Modi meeting with CMs. Kejriwal gets the toast. pic.twitter.com/HLa3yD8O3H  ROHIT CHAHAL (@rohit_chahal) April 8, 2021

Explain this #YoModiSoBoring with a single pic



Kejriwal to Modi- pic.twitter.com/ahanFUcor9  Abhishek Dhadi (@Dharrific) April 9, 2021

Kejriwal is fully geared up for Next lecture by Modi #YoModiSoBoring pic.twitter.com/Uq63lJ8Dco  Dilip Verma (@Dilipverma91) April 8, 2021

If you watch whole video, Kejriwal started laughing and gave this reaction when Modi said that CMs are sometimes too busy so Governors can lead in COVID awareness too.



Kejriwal is probably saying to person next to him that isko bolo dilli mein to Governor kaam ni karne deta  https://t.co/bQZKtp20sh  Hathi (@UdtaHathi) April 8, 2021

As the COVID cases are gradually rising in the country, Hon'ble Shri PM @narendramodi reviewed the situation with all the Chief Ministers today. Take a look at the key highlights! #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/5fkWj8XTrg  MyGovIndia (@mygovindia) April 8, 2021

This pic is enough to show how CM of state with most corona cases is concerned about people of state



While others in the meeting talking about how to control corona, Uddhav Thackeray can't leave his mobile phone pic.twitter.com/oiRaj9aToB  Scar (@YourRishbh) April 8, 2021

Maharashtra is badly soaked in coronavirus crisis, still the Best CM is always seen in the phone during the meeting with PM Modi. #UddhavThackeray #MahaVasooliAghadi pic.twitter.com/bIArLrYhX7  PoliticsSolitics (@IamPolSol) April 8, 2021

Clearly, people were not happy about the lack of attention given by the two leaders during the video conference. Luckily, PM Modi did not fumble while speaking like many of us would have had we witnessed people not paying attention.
MINNEAPOLIS - The chief medical examiner who ruled George Floyds death a homicide testified Friday that the way police held him down and compressed his neck was just more than Mr. Floyd could take, given the condition of his heart.

In this image taken from video, prosecutor Jerry Blackwell questions witness Dr. Bill Smock, a Louisville physician in forensic medicine, as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides Thursday, April 8, 2021, in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn. Chauvin is charged in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. (Court TV via AP, Pool)

MINNEAPOLIS - The chief medical examiner who ruled George Floyds death a homicide testified Friday that the way police held him down and compressed his neck was just more than Mr. Floyd could take, given the condition of his heart.

Dr. Andrew Baker, the Hennepin County medical examiner, took the stand at the murder trial of former Officer Derek Chauvin for pressing his knee on or close to Floyds neck for what prosecutors say was as much as 9 1/2 minutes as the 46-year-old Black man lay on the pavement last May.

Asked about his finding that police subdual, restraint and neck compression caused Floyd's heart to stop, Baker said that Floyd had severe underlying heart disease and an enlarged heart that needed more oxygen than normal to function, as well as narrowing of two heart arteries.

Baker said being involved in a scuffle raises adrenaline, which asks the heart to beat even faster and supply more oxygen.

And in my opinion, the law enforcement subdual, restraint and the neck compression was just more than Mr. Floyd could take by virtue of that, those heart conditions, the medical examiner said.

Other medical experts, including a leading lung specialist, have gone further, testifying that Floyd died of asphyxia  or insufficient oxygen  because his breathing was constricted as he lay on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back, his face jammed against the ground and Chauvin's knee on his neck.

Baker has not ruled asphyxiation as a cause of Floyds death. And at one point, he said he is not an expert on lack of oxygen because he doesnt treat living people, and he would defer certain questions to experts on breathing.

A family security personnel, left, talks to a reporter as Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, listens as Floyd family members arrive at the Hennepin County Government Center, Friday, April 9, 2021, in Minneapolis where testimony continues in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin is charged with murder in the death of George Floyd during an arrest last May in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Baker also said that based on his viewing of the video, he believed Chauvins knee was primarily on the back, or the side or the area in between on Mr. Floyds neck. And he said that in his opinion, the placement of Chauvins knee would not have cut off Floyds airway.

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyds death May 25. Floyd was arrested outside a neighbourhood market after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.

Bystander video of Floyd crying that he couldnt breathe as onlookers yelled at the white officer to get off him sparked protests and scattered violence around the U.S.

Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson has argued that the now-fired officer did what he was trained to do and that Floyd's illegal drug use and underlying health conditions killed him. An autopsy found fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd's system.

Ted Sampsell-Jones, a law professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, said evidence about Floyds cause of death is shaping up to be the biggest weakness for prosecutors. He said that with Bakers testimony, the jury is starting to see that the prosecution has been forced to distance itself from its own medical examiner.

It could possibly raise a reasonable doubt about cause of death," he said.

However, Sampsell-Jones said the legal standard for establishing causation is quite low. The state has to show only that Chauvins conduct was a substantial contributing cause.

If the state had to show that Chauvins conduct was the sole or even primary cause of death, the case would be in real trouble, he said.

In this image from video, defendant, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, listens as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides Friday, April 9, 2021, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn. Chauvin is charged in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. (Court TV via AP, Pool)

In his testimony, Baker said that neither Floyds heart problems nor drugs caused his death. Under cross-examination, though, he agreed with Nelson that those factors played a role in the death.

A medical expert who testified Thursday said a healthy person subjected to what Floyd endured would also have died.

Nelson asked Baker whether he has certified deaths by fentanyl overdose at levels lower than that seen in Floyds blood, and Baker said yes. But Baker also noted that levels of fentanyl must be considered in the context of how long someone had used the drug, any tolerance built up to it, and what other substances may be involved.

The medical examiner said that he did not watch the harrowing video of the arrest before examining Floyd so that he would not be unduly influenced by what he saw.

I did not want to bias my exam by going in with any preconceived notions that might lead me down one pathway or another," he said.

Other medical experts called as prosecution witnesses have likewise blamed Floyds death on the way he was pinned down on the ground.

Dr. Lindsey Thomas, a forensic pathologist who retired in 2017 from the Hennepin County Medical Examiners Office and did not work on Floyds case, testified earlier Friday that she agreed with Bakers findings, but appeared to go further, saying the primary mechanism of death was insufficient oxygen.

She said she reached that conclusion mostly from video that showed Floyd struggling to breathe.

During cross-examination, Nelson noted that Floyds bigger heart needed more blood and was working hard in a moment of stress and adrenaline, and that one of his arteries had a 90% blockage.

The defence attorney pressed Thomas by posing a hypothetical question.

Lets assume you found Mr. Floyd dead in his residence. No police involvement, no drugs, right? The only thing you found would be these facts about his heart. What would you conclude to be the cause of death? Nelson asked.

In that very narrow set of circumstances, I would probably conclude that the cause of death was his heart disease, Thomas replied.

In response to another hypothetical posed by Nelson, she agreed that she would certify Floyds death as a drug overdose if there were no other explanations.

But during re-questioning, prosecutor Jerry Blackwell ridiculed the defence attorneys hypotheticals.

Arent those questions a lot like asking, Mrs. Lincoln, if we take John Wilkes Booth out of this ...' Blackwell began, before Nelson objected.

For the first time, a seat designated for Chauvins family was occupied Friday, by a woman. She wasnt immediately identified. Chauvins marriage ended in divorce in the months after Floyds death.

Also on Friday, Judge Peter Cahill called in a juror and questioned her about whether she had been subject to any outside influences. She replied that she briefly saw TV coverage with the sound off and said that her mother-in-law had texted her, Looks like it was a bad day but that she didnt reply.

The judge allowed her to remain on the jury.

Find APs full coverage of the death of George Floyd at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd

Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan.
Ilfov remains the county with the largest incidence rate, 8.5 cases per thousand inhabitants, dropping from the previous day (8.58), followed by Bucharest, with 6.67 cases per thousand inhabitants, from the previous day of 6.81, according to the data communicated on Friday by the Strategic Communication Group (GCS).

The county of Teleorman has entered the red scenario, registering an infection rate with SARS-CoV-2 of 3 cases per thousand inhabitants, rising from the previous day (2.96), according to the GCS.

The following counties are also in the red scenario: Cluj - 6.48, Brasov - 4.81, Timis - 4.67, Hunedoara - 4.37, Constanta - 4.11, Arad - 3.92, Alba - 3.78, Sibiu - 3.31, Galati - 3.30, Bihor - 3.28, Valcea - 3.06.AGERPRES
A construction company plans to turn a longtime vacant Harrisburg building and nine vacant lots into a 12-unit apartment building.

Philadelphia-based Radon Construction plans to convert the industrial warehouse building that once housed Central Publishing House and Church of God Central Publishing House at 100 N. 13th St., and the vacant lots at 112 N. 13th Street and 109-119 Linden Street into an apartment building.

The building will include one-bedroom units and will range in size from 504 square feet to 752 square feet. The building sits on 0.20 acres while the nine vacant lots sit on 0.16 acres. The parking lot for the building is northwest of the site on Linden Street.

READ MORE: These 28 construction projects are planned for Harrisburg

The two-story, 11,580-square-foot building was constructed in 1922. The Central Publishing House was the main publishing location for the Church of God. The presses were removed from the building in the 1960s.

Before the press building was built, the site was the headquarters for the Motorcycle Club of Harrisburg. After its use as a printing press up into the 1960s, it was used as a warehouse until it was eventually abandoned. In 2003 it was donated by the city of Harrisburg to Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Harrisburg Area for their use. Habitat for Humanity sold the property in 2016 and Gregory Radon of Radon Construction purchased the property last year.

The structure is in very good shape, Gregory Radon said at Wednesdays virtual Harrisburg Planning Commission meeting said.

Radon submitted variance and special exception applications to the city for the site to request relief from the off-street parking requirements, and to request relief from several aspects of the development standards relating to the accessory off-street parking area.

The Planning Commission recommended the request be approved. It will next go before the Harrisburg Zoning Hearing Board. Radon Construction still has to submit a land development plan for the site that will ultimately have to be approved by Harrisburg City Council.

I think it is a great project, Joe Alsberry, chairman of the Harrisburg Planning Commission said.

--Business Buzz

You can follow Daniel Urie on twitter @DanielUrie2018 and you can like him on Facebook.
Wells Fargo

Bank of America

Duke Energy

TIAA

Lowes

Fidelity Investments

Amazon

(TNS)  Have you gone online to shop for paint and ended up with a few other home improvement items in your cart?Thats at least, in part, artificial intelligence at work.How about wandered the electrical wares aisle and realized you really need an expert opinion?At Lowes, an employee in a blue vest may be just around the corner to help  thanks again, in part, to artificial intelligence or AI.On Tuesday, Lowes and UNC Charlotte jointly announced a $1.5 million gift for the schools College of Computing and Informatics. The donation will establish an endowed faculty position at UNCC, filled by someone whose research will focus on AI and machine learning.And the gift will support student research in high-demand technology applications  strengthening an existing pipeline for graduates going to work in a variety of fields.Computing is really ubiquitous in everything ... Every business is a technology business, says Fatma Mili, dean of the College of Computing and Informatics at UNCC.The college has seen a nearly 200-percent increase in its student enrollment over the last decade for degrees in computer science, covering areas like cybersecurity, robotics and software engineering.Lowes says its looking to have the best tech team in retail and is building a 23-story tower in South End to further expand its technology workforce.Lowes Chief Information Officer Seemantini Godbole told thethe company scouted a number of cities and colleges where it may have invested, but chose Charlotte because of the university and regions growing reputation as a technology hub.UNCC graduates close to a quarter of all computing students in North Carolina  and boasts the largest representation in its programs of students of color and women, both populations woefully under-represented in industry.Those with computing and informatics degrees are in high demand, too.Mili says students often complete multiple internships before graduation. The vast majority of our students get job offers before they graduate.Recent figures from the university show close to eight of 10 alumni are employed full-time soon after graduating from the College of Computing and Informatics. Another 12 percent of recent grads went on to pursue a higher degree.And the universitys statistics on placement show at least 61 percent of its alumni find a job in Charlotte, commanding an average starting salary of $76,000.Top employers include:At Lowes, headquartered in Mooresville, Godbole heads up the work of using innovation and technology  like artificial intelligence  to transform both the customer experience and that of workers.A complex set of factors, like the weather, a stores busiest hours and details on which items sell most on a given day, dictate what expertise is needed for customers, especially do-it-yourself shoppers.Leaning heavily on innovation, she said, means we are there to help our customers at the right time.Lowes already uses machine-learned artificial intelligence as a tool in managing its workforce, Godbole said. Similar technology underpins how the company changes its offerings and sales approach for contractors or pros.For example, a DIY customer looking online could benefit from a variety of personalized product recommendations and suggestions. A pro or business shopper, on the other hand, Godbole says, typically knows what items they need and sales applications need to work differently.With the financial gift to UNCC, Mili says it enables students to work directly with Lowes as one of the universitys partners to innovate and problem-solve with real-world applications. Students, the dean said, also research and learn about the social implications and ethical quandaries related to rapidly evolving technology.Inside Woodward Hall on campus, where the College of Computing and Informatics is housed, the second-floor atrium will be named in Lowes honor, university officials said.
Proposed mortgage changes would make it more difficult to qualify for a mortgage (Getty)

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is proposing changes to the qualifying rate on uninsured mortgages.

"The new proposal for the qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages is the higher of the mortgage contract rate plus 2% or 5.25% as a minimum floor," said OSFI in a release on Thursday.

"Additionally, OSFI announced a proposal to revisit the calibration of the qualifying rate at least once a year to ensure it remains appropriate for the risks in the environment."

The recommendations are part of ongoing consultations. The banking regulator says the move will help promote post-pandemic financial stability, especially considering how red-hot many Canadian real estate markets have been.

"The current Canadian housing market conditions have the potential to put lenders at increased financial risk," said OSFI. "OSFI is taking proactive action at this time so that banks will continue to be resilient."

The regulator says the move will help protect the financial system in the event of a drop in income or rise in mortgage rates.

Ron Butler, a broker at Butler Mortgage, says the proposed increase will have minimal effect.

"This is a naked move to reduce mortgage qualification to stifle mortgage lending and that's 100 per cent OSFI's purview if they think lending is overheated, it's just good they have to wear it now instead of pretending it's fake consumer protection," he told Yahoo Finance Canada.

"This is an attempt to slow down the price growth in the Canadian real estate market plain and simple."

According to Ratehub.cas online mortgage calculator, a family with an annual income of $100,000 with a 20 per cent down payment and 5-year fixed mortgage rate of 1.78 per cent amortized over 30 years would qualify for a home valued at $651,000 under todays 4.79 per cent qualifying rate.

Under the proposed stress test rate of 5.25 per cent, the family's maximum affordability would decrease to $618,000 for a difference of $33,000.

Story continues

Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland said the federal government is committing to housing affordability.

"Maintaining the health and stability of Canadas housing market is essential to protecting middle-class families and to Canadas broader economic recover," she said in a release.

"We will continue to monitor housing market conditions across the country. To inform potential steps the government may take, we will closely examine the results of the consultation announced by the Superintendent of Financial Institutions."

Interested stakeholders can submit their input to OSFI by emailing B.20@osfi-bsif.gc.ca before May 7. Amendments will be communicated by May 24, 2021, and come into force on June 1, 2021.

Jessy Bains is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jessysbains.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
Mercedes-Benz has registered a healthy 34 per cent growth in sales with 3,193 unit sales in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021 as compared to 2,386 unit sales in the same period last year. The E-Class LWB has been the highest selling model for the company in the first quarter this year followed by the C-Class. Speaking of the SUV segment, the GLE has emerged as the bestselling SUV for the company in Q1 of 2021. Interestingly, the sedan portfolio comprised 53 per cent of sales over the SUV portfolio.

The E-Class facelift was introduced in mid-March and continues to receive a strong response. The company claims to have received an overwhelming market response for the newly launched A-Class Limousine and its deliveries are full for the month of April and May. Moreover, 19 per cent of new cars sold in country were through online bookings.

Volume models including the A-Class Limousine, C-Class, E-Class sedans, and GLC, GLE, and GLS SUVs have witnessed very high customer demand. As a part of the employee welfare initiative, Mercedes-Benz will offer free vaccination to all employees and their family members. The company has also collaborated with reputed hospitals in Pune to support this initiative.

Maruti Suzuki
(@FahadShabbir)

St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, April 9 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Apr, 2021 ) :A volcano that has been dormant for decades erupted Friday on Saint Vincent, darkening skies over the Caribbean island and forcing thousands of panicked locals to flee to safety.

The blast from La Soufriere, the highest peak in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sent plumes of hot ash and smoke 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) into the air, the local emergency management agency said.

Video posted on the website news784.com showed a tower of ash being belched out and expanding into a ball shape as it rose upwards. No deaths or injuries have been reported.

"Please leave the red zone immediately. La Soufriere has erupted. Ash fall recorded as far as Argyle International Airport," the National Emergency Management Organization said. The airport and volcano are at opposite ends of the 18-mile long island.

The 4,049-foot La Soufriere -- French for "sulphur mine" -- had not erupted since 1979 and its largest blow-up happened over a century ago, killing more than 1,000 people in 1902.

It had been rumbling for months before it finally blew.

It is now likely to keep erupting for days or weeks, scientists at the University of the West Indies, in Trinidad and Tobago, tweeted.

"Once there is one explosive eruption it is likely others can occur," the university's seismological research center said.

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves started issuing evacuation orders late Thursday for residents in so-called red zones, home to some 16,000 people on the biggest island in the archipelago. The total population of the chain is about 100,000.

"Persons living in the 'Red Zones' are strongly advised to pack a quantity of personal items, secure your homes and animals; and be ready to be evacuated immediately," police said in a statement after the eruption.

Zen Punnett, who lives on the island, said people panicked Thursday night as the evacuation orders came out but things were calmer Friday.

"I can feel and hear rumbling here in the green safe zone. We can see a huge ball of smoke. Keeping calm as much as possible and praying," Punnett said Friday.

Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises said in a press release they were sending two ships to assist the evacuation effort.

- 'Scared out of their wits' - Gonsalves said two more ships from cruise liner company Carnival were also on their way.

Those evacuated would be taken to shelters elsewhere in the island chain or other Caribbean territories that have offered assistance, such as Barbados and Saint Lucia, according to local media.

Philmore Mullin, director of Antigua and Barbuda's National Office of Disaster Services, told AFP the twin island nation was ready to receive evacuees from Saint Vincent.

He said between 12,000 and 15,000 people had already moved out of the red zones.

"I know for sure they will be scared out of their wits. The question is, what will happen after they move? Volcanoes don't tell you what they are thinking," said Mullin.

"If it continues to erupt for a long time it will be life-changing for them. And, depending on the type of eruption, they might not be able to get back home for years." The Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) said in a statement quoted by local media that all officers had been told to report for duty immediately.

"All members of the (RSVGPF) and its auxiliary forces who are currently on vacation leave are hereby informed that all leave has been canceled with immediate effect," the release said.

Sirens sounded out on one side of the island of as traffic became gridlocked on the other in the rush to escape, local news portal Searchlight reported.
Hong Kong: Oman offers visa-free access

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport holders may visit Oman without a visa for up to 10 days, the Immigration Department announced today.

The department received notification from the Honorary Consulate of the Sultanate of Oman in Hong Kong.

Noting that Oman is along the Belt & Road, the department said the visa-free arrangement will bring greater travel convenience to Hong Kong travellers after the COVID-19 epidemic and strengthen the tourism, cultural and economic ties between the two places.

Including Oman, 168 countries and territories have granted visa-free access or visa-on-arrival to Hong Kong SAR passport holders.

Meanwhile, the Red Outbound Travel Alert issued by the Hong Kong SAR Government on March 17 last year is still in force given that the COVID-19 situation around the world is evolving rapidly.

People are strongly urged to avoid non-essential travel outside Hong Kong.

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
A woman who served as Chambers Countys human resources director has been charged in federal court after falsely claiming to have cancer and duping the federal government of military benefits, according to a newly unsealed indictment and the countys top prosecutor.

Toccara Greene, 39, of Wallisville, was charged with one count of false statements to obtain federal employees compensation and two counts of false statement, according to the indictment filed in federal court in Houston. Shes accused of receiving benefits of more than 240 hours of leave  valued at more than $17,000  from the U.S. Department of the Army from May 2017 to September 2019.

A lawyer representing Greene said Friday that he had no comment on the charges. Attempts to contact Greene, whos identified as a former Army employee in court documents, were unsuccessful on Friday. She pleaded not guilty to all federal charges at an arraignment, records show.

Greene also faces charges in Chambers County, where sheriffs deputies arrested her last week and the Commissioners Court launched an independent audit of the department she was hired to lead in early 2020.

It remained unclear Friday whether the county continued employing Greene. A spokeswoman said she could not comment and shared a statement from county officials about the investigation.

The purpose of the audit is to address all areas of the departments responsibilities, including but not limited to: employee data security, payroll, unemployment claims, personnel issues, workers compensation claims, pension funds and any other related functions of this department, county officials said in the statement.

District Attorney Cheryl Lieck told the Chronicle on Friday that her office and federal authorities were conducting simultaneous investigations into Greene, unbeknownst to each other until they were closing in on an arrest.

It was just serendipitous, Lieck said.

Lieck described Greene as a con artist who had also told colleagues she had cancer. A county employee approached Lieck with what appeared to be evidence of a falsified government record, prompting Lieck to investigate further, she said.

When Lieck pulled up Greenes personnel file and tried contacting references, she said, she learned some of the listed individuals did not exist or were the names of people who popped up on internet searches but had no apparent connection to Greene.

If her resume was true and correct and not fictitious, she should be working in the Pentagon, Lieck said, listing credentials that included being a lawyer for matters involving the military. Im not convinced that this was her only act.

The county arrested Greene on suspicion of the falsified document, which Lieck said was a misdemeanor, and filed a request for a temporary restraining order to block Greene from having access to county property and records.

County employees have constantly been calling Lieck with concerns about their personal information, such as bank accounts, she said.

People are frantic, Lieck said. Its a huge deal.

Federal court records accuse Greene of making phony statements for a program meant to give benefits and advanced sick times to government employees suffering from cancer and needing chemotherapy. Federal prosecutors also alleged Greene made and used fake documents purported to have been prepared by a physician at MD Anderson Cancer Center named Dr. Jason Sable.

When in truth, the defendant did not receive cancer treatments at M.D. Anderson and Dr. Jason Sable is not a physician at M.D. Anderson, prosecutors wrote in the indictment.

The third charge was in connection to another document  in support of Greenes application for reasonable accommodation  purported to have been prepared by another physician who did not prepare the document or sign it, prosecutors alleged.

It remained unclear Friday what prompted federal authorities to launch their investigation.

Special agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, which investigates felonies and violations of military law, have an open and ongoing investigation, said spokesman Chris Grey, who referred additional questions to prosecutors.

alejandro.serrano@chron.com
Vietnamese doctor Le Thuy Oanh first introduced catgut embedding acupuncture to Hungary in the 1990s.

Doctor Le Thuy Oanh treats a patient who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control.  Photo courtesy of the doctor

Since then, she has become one of the most sought after therapists because of her success rate in treating patients.

Catgut is made from the natural fibres found in the intestines of animals. Oanh applies this to key acupuncture points on a persons body and after a week the fibre is absorbed into the patient.

Oanhs methods have been used to help treat people with autism, Down syndrome, infertility problems and even cancer.

Although similar to traditional acupuncture, this method is seen as more effective as it increases the level of protein and carbohydrates as well as strengthening muscles.

This particular form of treatment may have been new to Hungary when Oanh introduced it, but in Vietnam, it has been common practice for decades.

It was first used in 1972 in many military hospitals and in the 1980s it helped treat asthma, numbness, lameness, allergies, epilepsy and people with hearing difficulties, all with great success.

Oanh, 62, said: After introducing catgut embedding to Hungary in the early 1990s, the method has been applied in several medical facilities and has gained acceptance and recognition from many patients.

People came to us not only from Hungary but from abroad too. We also travelled once a month to France to help children who are disabled or have speech or hearing problems.

There are many methods based on stimulation of acupuncture points. Inserting needles into key areas is the oldest and simplest.

Other techniques including pressing the points, massage and cupping techniques near the points.

During the 1950s, many studies were conducted to further develop the traditional acupuncture method. Hundreds of new points were discovered.

Oanh added: The mode of action points was investigated using modern techniques and is now further understood.

Different types of equipment have been developed for treatment such as electrical acupuncture devices and devices to locate the best pressure points.

Laser treatment is also used combining this traditional medicine with modern technology.

For the last 30 years using the catgut embedding method, Oanh has helped hundreds of women with infertility problems, extended the lives of cancer patients and help treat people with epilepsy, diabetes and allergies.

Albert Laszlo, a 58-year-old Hungarian man has been a regular patient of Oanh for the last 21 years.

Before visiting Oanh, he was paralysed for 18 years with an inflammatory disease affecting his whole membrane nerve midline.

But just a year after his first treatment, his condition eased, and now with regular sessions he can lead a normal life.

Do Tan Khoa, director of HCM City Traditional Medicine Hospital said that hundreds of patients went to the hospital daily to receive catgut embedding acupuncture.

The method has proved to be highly effective in treating degenerative spine issues, knee joint pains, as well as musculoskeletal, neurological and vestibular disorders

It is also used to help people with immune system deficiencies.

Khoa said: Tiny needles that have been inserted into the patient's points have been successful. When the doctor pulls out the needles, the threads remain and continue to have a lasting effect.

Compared with other methods such as acupuncture, the catgut embedding method has advantages with efficiency, convenience, speed and significantly reduced costs for patients."

VNS

Late acupuncturist devoted his life to helping others Professor Nguyen Tai Thu, a leading Vietnamese acupuncturist, used to tell his students: To be a physician, first of all, you must have a heart that can easily be touched by the pain of others.
Counter-terror police have renewed an appeal for information into the mysterious death of a Russian dissident, hours before his inquest is due to resume.

Head of the Met Police's counter-terrorism command Richard Smith said questions remain about the death businessman Nikolay Glushkov, 68, in New Malden, south-west London, three years ago.

Police launched a murder investigation after the father-of-two and Kremlin critic was found apparently strangled at his home on March 12, 2018.

It was a week after the Novichok poisoning of the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

Mr Smith said he was keen to hear from residents of Clarence Avenue, where Mr Glushkov lived for two years, after sightings of a black van in the area at the time.

Head of the Met Police's counter-terrorism command Richard Smith said questions remain about the death businessman Nikolay Glushkov (pictured), 68, in New Malden, south-west London, three years ago

Mr Glushkov's body was discovered in his London home by his daughter, Natalia Glushkova (pictured)

He said: 'This has been a hugely complex, challenging investigation from the outset.

'Officers have taken hundreds of statements and collected a large amount of evidential material, but so far no arrests have been made.

'Three years have passed and we are again asking the public, particularly people who live in or visit the New Malden area, to cast their minds back to March 12 2018.

'Did you see a black Volkswagen van in or around Clarence Avenue that day? Did you see anything that in retrospect was unusual or suspicious?

'Anything you can recall might be crucial to our investigation.'

Mr Glushkov fled Russia after being accused of fraud during his time as deputy director of the Russian airline Aeroflot.

In 2017, during a trial in absentia, he was sentenced to eight years in a Russian prison, convicted of stealing 87million from the airline.

He was due to attend the commercial court in London to defend himself on March 12, the day his body was found.

Mr Glushkov was also a close friend of oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who was found hanged at his Berkshire home in 2013.

Ms Glushkov said in 2019: 'I still live with the same pictures and it's hard. It's hard to remember... what you've seen on that day, rather than him smiling'

Police (pictured, Commander Richard Smith) launched a murder investigation after the father-of-two and Kremlin critic was found apparently strangled at his home on March 12, 2018

An inquest into his death recorded an open verdict. Mr Glushkov's body was discovered by his daughter, Natalia Glushkova.

She said in 2019: 'I still live with the same pictures and it's hard. It's hard to remember... what you've seen on that day, rather than him smiling.

'It's something you can never imagine. It's something you see in the movies. And you can never believe it is something that can actually be, not filmed, but rather happen in life.

'We all, I guess, think that it will never happen to us, and when it does it hurts a lot.

'I don't think it's even possible to describe all the feelings and emotions that go through your system when something like this happens.'

The inquest into Mr Glushkov's death is due to resume on Friday at West London Coroner's Court.
San Antonio and Bexar County officials reported a modest number of newly diagnosed coronavirus cases Thursday, along with two more deaths from COVID-19.

Only 144 new cases of the virus were reported. The local areas risk level continues to be classified as low and holding steady.

As of Wednesday, 77 percent of Bexar Countys population 65 and older had received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 41 percent of residents in that age group had been fully vaccinated, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said.

A full quarter of eligible Bexar County residents of all ages have been fully vaccinated.

The vaccines that we are getting here in Bexar County are going into arms a lot faster than weve seen in other cities, Nirenberg said.

University Health, the countys hospital system, has now given more than 300,000 coronavirus vaccinations to people, including 6,747 doses on Wednesday alone, said Bexar County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores.

As the health system continues to vaccinate people 16 and older at the Wonderland of the Americas mall, its now partnering with local colleges to give the public easier access to the shots, Clay-Flores said.

This includes a new vaccine site that operates on weekdays at St. Philips College Library on the East Side, which is expected to vaccinate 5,000 people per week. Another site soon will be launched in conjunction with Texas A&M University-San Antonio on the South Side, Clay-Flores said.

As far as Texas allocations, the federal government will be sending about 8,000 more Pfizer shots next week than we received this week, she said. But the amount of Moderna vaccines are the same for next week. Johnson & Johnson is still limited  and we continue to try to get more of those.

As the local area receives more vaccines, it can schedule more appointments, Nirenberg said.

To this point though, we have not been receiving the share of doses that we think this region is justified, he said.

The citys seven-day rolling average of new cases stands at 187  close to the average of 190 new cases reported one week ago and far below the average of 1,361 new cases reported just two months ago, on Feb. 5.

In mid-January, the citys and countys seven-day rolling average of new cases stood above 2,000, while the local areas risk level was classified as severe.

The two latest Bexar County residents to succumb to the virus died within the past 14 days. They were a white man in his 60s and a Hispanic woman in her 40s. Both died at Methodist Hospital.

Bexar County currently has more than 2,000 active cases of the virus, according to Metropolitan Health District statistics.

On ExpressNews.com: Where and when Bexar County residents can get COVID vaccinations

On Thursday, 199 patients who tested positive for the virus were being cared for in San Antonio hospitals  an increase of four since Wednesday.

Among those hospitalized, 84 were being monitored in intensive care units, while 26 were on ventilators to help them breathe.

The number of local residents who have been vaccinated against the virus continue to climb steadily. As of Wednesday, 341,895 people had been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 in Bexar County, while 558,995 people had received their first dose.

Since the pandemic began more than a year ago, 208,606 Bexar County residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, while at least 3,222 of them have died. Metro Health is still investigating 144 more deaths of local residents that have been reported by the state health department.

More than 200,000 Bexar County residents have recovered after being infected.

On ExpressNews.com: At 34 years old, he needed new lungs after COVID wreaked havoc

In nearby Comal County, public health officials reported five new coronavirus cases Thursday, but no new deaths.

Comal County currently has 176 active cases of the virus. Eight Comal County residents sick with COVID-19 are currently hospitalized.

Since the pandemic began, 9,815 Comal County residents have tested positive for the virus, and 9,328 have recovered, a recovery rate of 95 percent. Public health officials report that 311 of them have died.

Across Texas, state health department officials reported 3,177 new COVID-19 cases Thursday and 92 more deaths.

Nearly 2,900 people confirmed to be sick with COVID-19 are currently being cared for in Texas hospitals.

pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: Peggy_OHare
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have led US tributes to Prince Philip following his death at the age of 99.

In addition to a formal statement released by the White House on Friday morning, Mr Biden made some brief comments to reporters during an Oval Office meeting in the afternoon.

He said: Jill and I and the entire administration send our condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the loss of Prince Philip. He was a heck of a guy.

The president noted his bravery, serving in World War Two, as well as his being champion of the environment as well as the charitable things he set up.

He added: I think hes going to be missed, particularly in the United Kingdom. 99 years old and never slowed down at all, which I admire the devil out of.

The formal statement says the Duke of Edinburgh dedicated himself to the people of the UK, the Commonwealth, and to his family.

On behalf of all the people of the United States, we send our deepest condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the entire Royal Family, and all the people of the United Kingdom on the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, the statement reads.

Over the course of his 99-year life, he saw our world change dramatically and repeatedly. From his service during World War II, to his 73 years alongside the Queen, and his entire life in the public eye  Prince Philip gladly dedicated himself to the people of the UK, the Commonwealth, and to his family.

It continues: The impact of his decades of devoted public service is evident in the worthy causes he lifted up as patron, in the environmental efforts he championed, in the members of the Armed Forces that he supported, in the young people he inspired, and so much more.

His legacy will live on not only through his family, but in all the charitable endeavors he shaped, Mr Biden says. Jill and I are keeping the Queen and Prince Philips children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in our hearts during this time.

Vice President Kamala Harris conveyed her and her husband Doug Emhoffs condolences to the royal family. She hailed the dukes service in the Royal Navy; marriage and partnership with the Queen; and the profound sense of purpose he brought to all he did, whether promoting environmentalism or the wellbeing of military families.

Statements of condolence were also issued by former presidents. Donald Trump described Prince Philip as defining British dignity and grace, and personifying the quiet reserve, stern fortitude, and unbending integrity of the United Kingdom.

Mr Trump called his death an irreplaceable loss for all who hold our civilization dear.

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama met the Duke in London during both terms in office. Mr Obama wrote a personal recollection of a kind and warm man with a sharp wit and unfailing good humour who alongside the Queen had put them at ease with grace and generosity.

In a further message, the former president said: Through his extraordinary example, His Royal Highness Prince Philip proved that true partnership has room for both ambition and selflessness  all in service of something greater. Our thoughts are with Her Majesty the Queen, the Royal Family, and the British people.

President George W Bush and his wife, Laura, who hosted the Queen and the Duke at the White House in 2007, offered condolences to the monarch and the entire royal family.

He represented the United Kingdom with dignity and brought boundless strength and support to the sovereign, Mr Bush said in a statement.

Laura and I are fortunate to have enjoyed the charm and wit of his company, and we know how much he will be missed.

Former president Bill Clinton said: Hillary and I mourn the passing of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, and we join people from all around the world in giving thanks for his remarkable life of service. We enjoyed every opportunity we had to visit with him through the years, and will always be deeply grateful for the kindness he showed us.

A statement from former President Jimmy Carters presidential library accompanied a photo of the two meeting at an event: We are sorry to hear that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, has passed away. President Carter and other heads of state dined with His Royal Highness and other members of the Royal Family on May 7, 1977, while attending the G7 Summit in London.

President George W Bush, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and First Lady Laura Bush wave after an arrival ceremony at the White House in May 2007 (AFP via Getty Images)

News of the death of Prince Philip broke in the US with morning news shows on air or just beginning their broadcasts on the east coast. On CBS This Morning, anchor Gayle King read the contents of the bulletin from the palace before cutting to a prepared video package.

Ms King was later criticised for awkwardly asking a London-based reporter whether the 99-year-old duke had died of natural causes.

A special report cut into programming on NBC with Today hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb in place behind their studio desk to read the statement from Buckingham Palace. The network later cut live to Prime Minister Boris Johnsons statement from outside of 10 Downing Street.

George Stephanopoulos, the anchor of ABCs Good Morning America, called on the networks London correspondent Maggie Rulli to provide details from her position outside of Buckingham Palace. Similar scenes played out beyond the major networks and on cable news channels as London-based reporters, royal correspondents, and experts appeared on air to share their thoughts.

Much of the focus was on the Duke of Edinburghs long marriage to the Queen, constant support of the monarch, his position at the heart of the family, and his efforts to modernise the institution in the last century.

Most broadcasters and publications also noted his occasional frank comments, as The New York Times described them, had tarnished the dukes image.

Jostling with a number of other major stories  the trial of Derek Chauvin, gun control, the Matt Gaetz scandal, and coronavirus vaccines and variants  the news nevertheless led on most bulletins and websites for the morning.

With the Oprah Winfrey interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle fresh in the minds of many Americans, current tensions within the royal family were also noted in US media coverage.

There is much speculation about the practicalities of funeral arrangements and the potential for family reconciliation, with tabloid The New York Post leading with a story that Harry would return to the UK for the funeral.

On Fox News, host Brian Kilmeade caused a storm online after linking the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs statements in the interview with the death of Prince Philip  comments echoed on the same show shortly afterward by the UKs former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage.
Burma KIA Ambushes Myanmar Military Convoy in Kachin State

Kachin Independence Army soldiers at their headquarters in Laiza, Kachin State, in 2014. / The Irrawaddy

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) attacked a military convoy in Mogaung Township, Kachin State, on Thursday evening.

The Kachin armed group said the attack was targeting reinforcements in the township.

KIA information officer Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy that the group used mines against two military trucks near Loili Yang village.

He said: We are carefully observing how the Tatmadaw [Myanmars military] has been reinforcing troops and supplies. We attack if they are sending more troops and ammunition to fight us. We have to take the upper hand before they attack us.

Naw Bu said he was unsure about the details of the attack and he did not confirm reports of prisoners and seized ammunition from the trucks.

A villager told The Irrawaddy he heard loud explosions and at least 10 bursts of gunfire on Thursday evening.

We saw the aftermath of exploded mines in the morning. Some houses were hit by the bullets but no villagers were injured, he said.

Following the KIAs refusal to recognize the military regime, fighting has been reported across Kachin State and northern Shan State since March 11. The KIA has attacked military and police outposts, threatening to step up attacks if the regime continues to shoot peaceful protesters across the country.

In response, the military launched airstrikes on KIA Battalions 11 and 14 in Namtu in Shan State and Tanai Township in Kachin State in March.

On Thursday night, the Tatmadaw fired at least 10 artillery rounds near the KIA headquarters in Laiza. No casualties were reported.

Naw Bu said: They have been shooting randomly near the Laiza recently. They appear to be warning shots.

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Kachin State Land Confiscated by Myanmar Military Crony Taken Back by Local Farmers

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New Delhi: Reigning Mrs World Caroline Jurie was released on bail after being arrested earlier on Thursday after a fracas at the Mrs Sri Lanka pageant over the weekend, a police spokesman said.

The winner of the Mrs Sri Lanka pageant, Pushpika De Silva, filed a complaint against Jurie, according to local media reports, after she forcibly removed De Silva`s crown saying she was a divorcee and not qualified to win the title.

Jurie was arrested when she came to a police station to record her statement, deputy inspector general Ajith Rohana, said, adding that she was later released on bail.

The winner of the Mrs Sri Lanka contest goes on to compete in the Mrs World contest. Jurie, who won that competition in 2020 in Las Vegas, told media she will speak later.

De Silva clarified in a Facebook post on Monday that she was not divorced but separated.

The prize was returned to her on Tuesday at a news conference, after pageant organisers confirmed she was not a divorcee and apologised to her.

The official Mrs World Instagram account acknowledged De Silva`s victory in a brief post with her photo on Tuesday.
Romania's Embassy to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Friday sent a message of condolences to Queen Elizabeth II and the British Royal Family, after the demise of Prince Philip aged 99.

"We are deeply saddened by the news of the demise of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Sincere Condolences to the Queen and the Royal Family," reads a post on the Facebook page of the Romanian Embassy in the United Kingdom, agerpres.ro confirms.

The Buckingham Palace on Friday announced that Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain has died at the Windsor Castle.

His death came after three weeks since he was released from the hospital where he was treated for an infection and a heart condition. After his released from the hospital, Prince Philip came to the Windsor Castle, in Western London, where he spent his isolation period with his wife, aged 94.
[April 09, 2021] INALSA Robot Vacuum Cleaner launched in India through Flipkart

- The Vacuum Cleaner will be available at an introductory price of Rs 9,999 - INALSA Robot Vacuum Cleaner Smart Cleaning Solution for All NEW DELHI, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- INALSA is launching its Robot Vacuum Cleaner in India on 10th April 2021 and it will be available through Flipkart. The brand has also bundled a number of offers and deals for customers who purchase the Robot Vacuum Cleaner. If consumers/buyers are planning to purchase an automatic smart vacuum cleaner to get their home spick and span, now seems like a great time to get one. Here is all one needs to know about the INALSA Robot Vacuum Cleaner. The Robot Vacuum Cleaner is a smart all-in-one cleaning solution for homes. The Robot cleaner features 2-in-1 sweeping and mopping functionalities and 6 cleaning modes. This cleaning Robot is controlled via remote. The Elegant Move technoogy of this appliance comes with a proximity sensor which enables an effective navigation system. The robotic floor cleaner's anti-shock and anti-fall sensors protect it from any damage due to the appliance's sudden fall and shock. Plus, its Dirt Detect technology provides additional cleaning of the dirt-concentrated areas that this robotic floor cleaner automatically recognizes.



INALSA Robot Vacuum Cleaner Price and Availability The INALSA Robot Vacuum Cleaner will be available for purchase on Flipkart.com at an introductory price of Rs 9,999. The cleaner is also available on No-Cost Emi for a period of 9 months. As part of the launch offer, every customer purchasing the INALSA Robot Vacuum Cleaner will get a discount to purchase another INALSA product.

INALSA's growing presence in India's Vacuum Cleaner space INALSA claims the Robot Cleaner, its latest offering in the vacuum cleaner space, is specially designed for Indian homes. With a vision of providing world class products and technology to Indian homes, INALSA had also earlier launched other products. These include Hand Blenders, Stand Mixers, Pressure Washers and more. The new Robot Vacuum Cleaner will help the brand further strengthen its foothold in the segment. About INALSA Home Appliances INALSA is a subsidiary of Taurus Group, headquartered in Spain, which is one of the most popular brands in Europe with its innovative product range of appliances since 1962. Taurus Group's operational activity is already spread across 100 countries and is managed by a team of 3000 committed, motivated and dynamic young people coming from diverse backgrounds. INALSA has been making every effort to offer high quality products and professional services to its customers. At INALSA, as products comply with stringent GS, CE, RoHS, ISI test standards and are manufactured under ISO quality systems at different production centers, the strict quality testing norms makes us accomplish the best in class material and product designs. Quality and innovation has always been the hallmark of INALSA ever since its inception. INALSA is the pioneer in food processors and launched it in India around thirty years ago and still enjoys the leadership position in this category. Currently, its range expanded to over 30 product categories with more than 200 SKUs. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1483858/INALSA_Robot_Vacuum_Cleaner.jpg Media Contact :

Annie Sharma

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Tuareg Marketing Pvt. Ltd ( INALSA Home Appliances )

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Just weeks after officials celebrated the soaring numbers of bald eagles in the United States, a new study suggests the majestic raptor is being threatened by poison used to eradicate rats.

More than 80 percent of dead bald and golden eagles examined between 2014 and 2018 were found to have rodenticide in their system.

The heavy-duty poison is an anticoagulant that thins the blood of mice and rats after being eaten, eventually killing them.

It's designed to stay in its victims' bodies longer, and can enter the system of a bird that preys on the dead rodent.

Only a small percentage of the birds had succumbed to anticoagulant poisoning, but the ones that did showed signs of heavy internal bleeding and were unable to form scabs or clots.

Experts said the widespread presence of this toxic substance in a species only recently brought back from the brink of extinction was 'alarming.'

More than 80 percent of eagles carcasses analyzed by researchers had detectable levels of rodenticide. The substance is designed to prevent clotting in mice and rats, causing lethal internal bleeding, but can unintentionally have the same affect on the birds who eat the rodents

Researchers examined the remains of 303 bald eagles and golden eagles and found measurable amounts of rat poison in 82 percent of them.

The poison is designed to prevent its target's blood from clotting, causing fatal internal bleeding.

The birds were collected by 18 different wildlife management agencies all across the country, meaning the problem is not localized.

'These are food webseverything is connectedand the eagles are likely getting exposed to these compounds through ingestion of much more natural prey that have, in turn, eaten something else in order to be exposed,' Mark Ruder, a wildlife disease expert at the University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine told Gizmodo.

The birds infected with anticoagulant rodenticide came from more than a dozen regions across the US. Bald eagles don't traditionally prey on the rodents farmers and others would targeting with rat poison, so it's possible its getting into their system some other way

Most of the infected birds examined from 2014 to 2018 were found in 2016

Although most eagles can be treated when rat poison is found in their system, a bald eagle in Cape Cod, Massachusetts was not so lucky. The eagle was taken into care in 2018 (pictured) and did no survive

Although most eagles can be treated when rat poison is found in their system, a bald eagle in Cape Cod, Massachusetts was not so lucky.

The eagle was taken into care in 2018 when it was determined to have heavy bleeding and its blood failed to clot due to the toxin - a nearly sure sign of anticoagulant poisoning.

And sadly, the majestic creature did not survive.

Ruder, whose findings were published this week in the journal PLOS One, said researchers have studied the impact of these poisons in other predator birds before, like barn owls and hawks, but not eagles.

The first generation of anticoagulant rodenticides were less potentmice and rats would have to eat a lot of it for it to have an effectso manufacturers made a stronger version that would stay in their system and kill them faster.

But that also means it can enter the bodies of predators that feed on creatures that eat the poison.

'It's the ability to persist in those tissues for a long time that creates the problem,' Ruder told Gizmodo.

'Being efficient predators and scavengers, eagles are more at risk for accumulating this toxin through their system, basically just by being eagleseating dead stuff or killing things and eating them.'

Only 4 percent of the birds were killed as a direct result of the poison, Ruder said.

Most were killed by something elseelectrocution, collisions with automobiles, or gunshots wounds.

But the widespread presence of the dangerous poison is worrisome, especially since its not known if it affect reproduction or causes other health issues.

The Environmental Protection Agency bans the use of these rodenticides by consumers, only making them available in commercial markets.

'This really suggests that despite the best efforts to use these compounds wisely and minimize the opportunity for the raptor species to be exposed, they're still somehow getting exposed,' Ruder told New Scientist.

And since bald eagles don't traditionally prey on the rodents farmers and others would be targeting with the rodenticide, Ruder said, it's possible the poison is getting into their system some other way.

Pictured is the liver of a bald eagle infected with the toxin, which shows the outside wall spilling out. The toxin caused hemorrhaging inside the eagle

Rat poison isn't the only environmental threat facing our national bird: Scientists have recently determined bromine  a chemical used in insecticides, dyes and pharmaceuticals  is killing off hundreds of bald eagles in the southeastern US.

From 1994 to 1998, 59 birds living near artificial lakes in Arkansas died as a result of avian vacuolar myelinopathy (AVM).

Since then dozens more birds, all living near artificial lakes in the Southeast, have succumbed to the condition, which eats away at the brain and spinal cord.

As a result, the birds become disoriented and clumsy, and can appear drunk  crashing into cliffs or simply starving to death as their hunting instincts abandon them.

In a March report in the journal Science, researchers pointed a finger at water-thyme, an underwater weed that flourishes in the lakes the birds habituate.

Fish and water birds became weak and uncoordinated after ingesting the plant, making them easy prey for the eagles.

It turns out toxic levels of bromine in the water-thyme were feeding a cyanobacterium that grows on its leaves.

Bromine is a naturally occurring chemical but the weeds contained nearly 1,000 times more of the chemical than the surrounding water.

'We now know who is the killer, the cyanobacteria, and we know its weapon, the toxin, but now we need to find out where the bromide comes from, and the molecular mechanism of this toxin,' Timo Niedermeyer, a natural product chemist at Martin Luther University in Halle, Germany, told Chemistry World.

He theorized it might be coming from weed killers used by park rangers or wastewater from area power plants.

The good news is the number of bald eagles in the United States has more than quadrupled in the last dozen years, according to a recent survey by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

There are more than 316,000 bald eagles in the continental US, including over 70,000 nesting pairs.

That's more than four times the 72,434 individuals and 30,548 pairs recorded in 2009and over seven times as many as when the bird was taken off the Endangered Species Act protection list in 2007.

At that time, the FWS reported about 9,800 breeding pairs.

Dedicated preservation efforts have helped the species, which was on the brink of extinction as recently as the 1960s.

DDT, a popular insecticide introduced after WWII, was contaminating fish and plants eaten by bald eagles, resulting in birds' producing shells that were so thin they'd crack during incubation.

In the early 1960s, the bald eagle population reached an all-time low of 417 breeding pairs, according to the FWS.

DDT was banned in the US in 1972, and the bald eagle was placed on the Endangered Species Act passed the following year, beginning the bird's long road to recovery.
Circle in the Square The set for American Buffalo. The production was originally set to open on April 14, 2020, but has been closed since the pandemic shut down theaters last year.
Dr. Michaela Dodge is a Research Scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy and received her Ph.D. from George Mason University in 2019.

This article is adapted from the Guide to Nuclear Deterrence in the Age of Great-Power Competition (2020), edited by Adam Lowther, and reprinted here with the permission of the Cyber Innovation Center and Louisiana Tech Applied Research Corporation.

Introduction

Debates regarding how much the United States should spend on nuclear weapons are as old as the nuclear deterrent itself. While an overwhelming majority of people involved in nuclear modernization decisions during the Cold War, including members of Congress, understood the need for funding U.S. nuclear deterrence, the consensus on the need to fund the nuclear mission got much more fragile after the fall of the Soviet Union collapsed, largely as a consequence of a diminished threat perception.

Arguments about how much the United States needs to spend on nuclear deterrence, are with increasing frequency, heard alongside arguments about whether the United States should fund a nuclear deterrent at all. The expectation in the early 1990s was that nuclear deterrence will lose relevance because we have reached the end of history, a state in which all international conflicts will be solved through diplomacy and international institutions rather than through brute force. The first post-Cold War Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), written in 1994, pursued a lead but hedge strategy, and while the United States massively decreased the number of its nuclear weapons to lead, it let its nuclear infrastructure atrophy as if forgetting about the hedge.[1] Needless to say, U.S. nuclear modernization efforts grinding to a halt had no appreciable effect on U.S. adversaries and competitors who did not share American assumptions about the state of the postCold War world.

Today, China and Russia continue to modernize their nuclear forces, including reportedly conducting low-yield nuclear weapon experiments the United States stopped in 1992.[2] The United States has not deployed a new nuclear warhead design since the late 1980s, stopped a large majority of its warhead design activities in the early 1990s, let its nuclear weapon complex atrophy, and took a procurement holiday from modernizing its nuclear delivery systems. As a consequence of this largely unilateral restraint (also pursued by France and the United Kingdom), it is likely that Americas adversaries are narrowing the gap in nuclear warhead technologies, if not surpassing the United States in some areas.

Lagging behind in this class of ultimate weapons could incur political and diplomatic penalties for the United States and its allies that are dependent on U.S. nuclear weapons for their own security. Many American allies possess the technology to develop their own nuclear forces should they feel the United States assurances are no longer credible. There are some indications of increasing doubt in the minds of some allies. For example, two-thirds of South Koreans support a domestic nuclear weapons program according to a poll from 2013.[3] To make matters more complicated, North Korea emerged as a nuclear-armed state since the end of the Cold War, increasing the complexity of interactions among nuclear-armed players and their allies. North Korea continues to invest tremendous wealth to advance its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs at the expense of meeting the basic population needsand its programs are causing significant concerns in both the United States and South Korea.

U.S. nuclear delivery systems are on average older than the airmen and sailors who operate them. These systems are often in service decades past their original service lives. The B-61 gravity bomb and the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) are two examples. So far, the United States has managed to extend their service lives, but further extensions are only possible assuming unacceptable risk to the crucial mission they perform.

Nuclear warhead infrastructure is often a less considered component of the nuclear enterprise. Every NPR since the end of the Cold War emphasized the importance of a flexible and resilient nuclear weapons production complex. Yet, despite public statements to the contrary, investing in infrastructure and pursuing policies that would provide for flexibility and resilience has not been a priority of successive administrations. Consequently, the nations nuclear weapon infrastructure is underfunded and faces myriad challenges that span from an aging workforce and the inability to retain and train the next generation of scientists to the modernization of aging facilities. More than half of the National Nuclear Security Administrations (NNSA) facilities are more than 40 years old, nearly 30 percent date to the 1940s Manhattan Project, and 12 percent are considered excess or no longer needed.[4] The NNSA reported $2.5 billion worth of deferred maintenance as of February 2019.[5] The NNSA is facing an ambitious warhead sustainment and modernization schedule in the coming decades and its potential inability to deliver on time could negatively impact delivery system modernization.

Why the Cost of Nuclear Deterrence Matters

The U.S. Air Force operates two of the three legs of the nuclear triad: intercontinental ballistic missiles and bombers.[6] David Trachtenberg, former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, testified in March 2019, saying, A robust and modern U.S. nuclear deterrent helps ensure the United States competes from a position of strength and can deter nuclear attack and prevent large-scale conventional warfare between nuclear-armed states for the foreseeable future.[7]

Our nuclear weapons and infrastructure supporting them are old, which translates into commensurate maintenance bills. Even more worrisome is that the net result of trends described above is that the United States must replace all its delivery systems simultaneously and that nuclear weapon modernization will compete against other force modernization priorities in the coming decades. And because the United States punted nuclear weapons modernization for so long, it has very little margin to replace the systems without creating gaps in U.S. nuclear capabilities and potentially nuclear deterrence.

Nuclear weapons modernization is a top priority of the Department of Defense, according to the 2018 NPR.[8] In fact, it is so important that a majority of U.S. nuclear force modernization efforts started under the Obama administration.[9] In his remarks announcing his commitment to creating conditions for a nuclear-free world, President Obama stated, As long as these weapons exist, the United States will maintain a safe, secure, and effective arsenal to deter any adversary, and guarantee that defense to our allies.[10] Nuclear weapon modernization is an essential component for keeping nuclear weapons safe, secure, and effective, but it is not free.

Technically speaking, the United States is planning on modernizing only its nuclear weapon delivery systems and nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) network supporting the nuclear mission. For now, it is not planning entirely new nuclear warheads. Even the W-93, a new Navy warhead announced in February 2020, will be based on existing designs and components that are currently in the stockpile.[11] U.S. nuclear warheads are sustained through life-extension programs, meaning that rather than designing new nuclear warheads with new military characteristics, the United States tries to replicate existing warhead designs to the best of its ability and without underground nuclear weapon testing.[12]

If it is to retain todays capabilities, the United States will have to build at least twelve Columbia-class strategic submarines to replace the current force of fourteen Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines. The Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) is scheduled to replace the Minuteman III ICBM beginning in 2029. The B-21 Raider will initially supplement and eventually replace the current nuclear-capable force of 46 B-52H and 20 B-2A bombers. These systems will carry Long-Range Stand-Off (LRSO) nuclear cruise missiles, a follow-on to the more than 25-year-old Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM). The LRSO will increase the bombers strike capabilities, particularly in situations in which adversaries possess advanced anti-access and area denial systems. The forward-deployable and nuclear-capable F-35 will replace F-15Es and perhaps allied dual-capable aircraft in Europe.

Are Nuclear Weapons Too Expensive?

Estimating nuclear weapons modernization costs is difficult because some delivery systems perform conventional and nuclear missions (B-21) or have non-nuclear variants that share much of the research and development costs (F-35). It also means that cost estimates have considerable range depending on how their authors account for multiple missions. Therefore, it is important to closely examine assumptions any cost analysis makes about dual-use categories. To make matters more complicated, nuclear weapons modernization involves long time frames, which makes initial cost estimates unreliable. Analysts often adjust their estimates over time as they learn more and refine assumptions. Lastly, nuclear warhead modernization activities are funded by the NNSA and are often lumped together with non-nuclear activities like nonproliferation or environmental clean-up. Since budget categories occasionally change year-to-year, it makes assessing their cumulative value over time even more difficult.

In the recent past, discussions about U.S. nuclear forces costs were made particularly salient by concerns over the 2011 Budget Control Acts (BCA) impact on the Department of Defenses budget. The law mandated caps on discretionary spending (of which defense spending is a part) and instituted a mechanism (sequestration) to cut discretionary spending across the board should these caps be topped. The law required the Department of Defense to bear half of these cuts.

Perhaps the clearest budget estimate in terms of clarifying underlying assumptions up-front is the Congressional Budget Offices (CBO) Projected Costs of U.S. Nuclear Forces. The latest publicly available iteration of the document from January 2019 estimates the 10-year costs of nuclear forces between the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy at $494 billion.[13] The breakdown of the costs are as follows: $234 billion for strategic nuclear delivery systems and weapons; $15 billion for tactical nuclear delivery systems and weapons; $106 billion for nuclear weapons laboratories and their supporting activities; and $77 billion for nuclear command, control, and communications. Because bombers are used both for nuclear and conventional missions, CBO attributes 25 percent of the costs of the B-52 and the new B-21 to the nuclear mission and 75 percent to the conventional mission. CBOs budget numbers are perhaps the most authoritative and are often used by members of Congress.

Since nuclear forces take decades to develop and deploy, some oft-cited estimates tally their costs over a 30-year time frame. The longer the time frame, the more uncertainty estimates they entail. These estimates also tend to suggest a more expensive nuclear deterrent. The BCA presented opponents of nuclear modernization an opportunity to portray it as wasteful and argue that resources spent on new nuclear forces would be better spent on other government programs.[14] Similar arguments continue to be made in todays fiscally challenging environment. However, cutting nuclear weapons modernization costs cannot cure this countrys fiscal woes.

The Stimson Center 2012 report estimated costs of strategic offensive nuclear forces at $352 billion to $392 billion in 20132022. The report broadly attributes all funding having to do with nuclear weapons to the nuclear mission, which is a questionable approach given that many nuclear systems primarily perform conventional missions.[15] The January 2014 report by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies estimated a 30-year cost of U.S. nuclear forces between $872 billion and $1,082 billion.[16] The report attributes all bomber costs to the nuclear mission and accounts for some NNSA costs.[17]

Another authoritative estimate of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (2015) used somewhat different assumptions and projected cost of nuclear forces during 20152039 at $704 billion in then-year dollars.[18] The report noted that potential nuclear force cuts would not significantly contribute to meet caps mandated by the BCA. Indeed, Congress repeatedly admitted that the Pentagons budget caps, set to expire in 2016, are unworkable and changed the BCA several times after 2011 to permit higher levels of defense spending than the BCA permitted.

Nuclear Weapons Provide a Good Value

The Trump administrations fiscal year (FY) 2021 budget request includes $15.6 billion for NNSAs nuclear weapon activities account and $28.9 billion for the Department of Defenses nuclear weapons modernization effort and operations and maintenance.[19] The Department of Defenses top five research, development, testing, and evaluation programs are the Columbia-class submarine ($4.4 billion); nuclear command, control, and communications modernization ($4.2 billion); the B-21 Raider ($2.8 billion); the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent ($1.5 billion); and the Trident II missile life-extension program ($1.2 billion).[20]

While this is a significant sum of money, U.S. nuclear forces are not a large budget line in the Department of Defenses budget in real or value terms. Today, nuclear forces take up about 5 percent of the Pentagons budget, which itself has been a declining part of the federal budget.[21] Even at the peak of modernization, nuclear forces will consume about 6.4 percent of the budget.[22] Nuclear force maintenance and operation takes another 2 or 3 percent of the budgetand is a recurring cost that will not disappear.

In other words, it is important to keep nuclear force costs in perspective. Long-term estimates tend to give an impression that nuclear forces are unaffordable and that opportunity costs of funding them are too high. But they are misleadingand not only because of the uncertainty involved in long-term estimates in general. Consider that when any major defense program is costed-out over a long enough time frame, its total cost will seem significant. This is true of airplanes, tanks, personnel, and even office equipment.

Moreover, over the period between 2004 and 2019, the government paid out $1.2 trillion in improper payments (waste, fraud, and abuse).[23] Should the government conduct its financial business in a similar fashion to responsible Americans, the amount saved would more than cover the cost of nuclear force modernization over the next 30 years.

The American response to the Wuhan-origin coronavirus and massive government spending the crisis facilitatedmore than $6 trillion in various capital infusionsare likely to impinge on defense spending in the years ahead.[24] For some, the crisis is an opportunity to continue to call for reductions in U.S. nuclear forces. But a closer look at the numbers tells a familiar story; the United States cannot balance its budget on the back of nuclear weapons modernizationand the Department of Defense, more generally. For example, as the Hudson Institute analyst Tim Morrison points out, Cancelling the GBSD entirely this year would amount to .002% of the defense budget for fiscal year 2021 and .0003% of projected federal spending and .0002% of spending to date on the pandemic.[25] Most important is the benefit Americans receive from the nuclear deterrent, which is foundational to the peace the nation has enjoyed for seven decades. In the words of former Secretary of Defense James Mattis, America can afford survival.[26]

Conclusion

As operators and maintainers of two legs of the strategic triad and American tactical dual-capable aircraft, Airmen have a special duty to understand the context in which the nuclear force is funded so that they can make logical and persuasive arguments for continued support to these forces. The nuclear force is in need of recapitalization and it is up to Airmen to explain not only how deterrence works but why American taxpayers are served well by their investment in nuclear modernization. This is not only an obligation for the corporate Air Force as its leadership explains the Services needs to Congress, but the American people have a right to know how their taxes are spent and for what purpose

This article appeared originally at National Institute for Public Policy.

Notes:

[1]. Celeste Drewien, Doug Lawson, The Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), April 9, 2010, available at https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1325698.

[2]. U.S. Department of State, Executive Summary of the 2020 Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments (Compliance Report), April 2020, available at https://www.state.gov/2020-adherence-to-and-compliance-with-arms-control-nonproliferation-and-disarmament-agreements-and-commitments-compliance-report/.

[3]. Barbara Demick, More South Koreans Support Developing Nuclear Weapons, Los Angeles Times, May 18, 2013, available at https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2013-may-18-la-fg-south-korea-nuclear-20130519-story.html.

[4]. U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, Prevent, Counter, and RespondA Strategic Plan to Reduce Global Nuclear Threats, FY 2017FY 2021, March 2016, available at https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=792375.

[5]. U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, Infrastructure Modernization, February 2019, available at https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2019/02/f59/2019-02-14-FACTSHEET-Infrastructure-Modernization.pdf.

[6]. U.S. Navy operates strategic submarines, the third leg of the triad.

[7]. David J. Trachtenberg, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, statement in hearing, Fiscal Year 2020 Priorities for Department of Defense Nuclear Priorities, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Committee on Armed Services, U.S. House of Representatives, March 28, 2019, p. 1, available at https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings?ID=FA8DBDAB-5585-4437-AF88-61FBB1B7D428.

[8]. U.S. Department of Defense, Nuclear Posture Review 2018, February 2018, available at https://media.defense.gov/2018/Feb/02/2001872886/-1/-1/1/2018-NUCLEAR-POSTURE-REVIEW-FINAL-REPORT.PDF.

[9]. Obama Wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, BBC, October 9, 2009, available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8298580.stm.

[10]. Remarks By President Barack Obama in Prague as Delivered, White House, April 5, 2009, available at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-barack-obama-prague-delivered.

[11]. Aaron Mehta, Inside Americas Newly Revealed Nuclear Ballistic Missile Warhead of the Future, Defense News, February 24, 2020, available at https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nuclear-arsenal/2020/02/24/inside-americas-newly-revealed-nuclear-ballistic-missile-warhead-of-the-future/.

[12]. Atmospheric nuclear weapons tests are prohibited by the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

[13]. Congressional Budget Office, Projected Costs of U.S. Nuclear Forces, 2019 to 2028, January 2019, p. 1, available at https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2019-01/54914-NuclearForces.pdf.

[14]. See, for example, Adam Mount, The Case Against New Nuclear Weapons, Center for American Progress, May 4, 2017, available at https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/reports/2017/05/04/431833/case-new-nuclear-weapons/.

[15]. Russell Rumbaugh and Nathan Cohn, Resolving Ambiguity: Costing Nuclear Weapons, The Stimson Center, June 2012, available at https://www.stimson.org/wp-content/files/file-attachments/RESOLVING_FP_4_no_crop_marks_1.pdf.

[16]. Jon Wolfstahl, Jeffrey Lewis, and Marc Quint, The Trillion Dollar Nuclear Triad, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, January 2014, available at http://www.nonproliferation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/140107_trillion_dollar_nuclear_triad.pdf.

[17]. Ibid.

[18]. Todd Harrison and Evan Montgomery, The Cost of U.S. Nuclear Forces from BCA to Bow Wave and Beyond, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, 2015, p. 30, available at https://csbaonline.org/uploads/documents/CSBA-NCS_Resize_FINAL_WEB.pdf.

[19]. Aaron Mehta, Trump Seeks $46 Billion for Nuclear Weapons Programs in Budget Request, Defense News, February 10, 2020, available at https://www.defensenews.com/smr/federal-budget/2020/02/10/trump-budget-requests-46-billion-for-nuclear-weapons-programs/.

[20]. Ibid.

[21]. Nuclear Posture Review, 2018, op. cit., p. III.

[22]. Ibid., p. 52.

[23]. Adam Andrzejewsky, Federal Agencies Admit to $1.2 Trillion in Improper Payments Since 2004, Forbes, March 23, 2019, available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2019/03/23/federal-agencies-admit-to-1-2-trillion-in-improper-payments-since-2004/#5537550c352a.

[24]. Tim Morrison, Not the Time to Recycle Bad Ideas, The Hudson Institute, June 9, 2020, available at http://www.hudson.org/research/16124-not-the-time-to-recycle-bad-ideas.

[25]. Ibid.

[26]. Rebecca Kheel, Mattis on Defense Budget Boost: America Can Afford Survival, The Hill, March 22, 2017, available at https://thehill.com/policy/defense/325210-mattis-argues-for-defense-budget-boost-america-can-afford-survival.

The National Institute for Public Policys Information Series is a periodic publication focusing on contemporary strategic issues affecting U.S. foreign and defense policy. It is a forum for promoting critical thinking on the evolving international security environment and how the dynamic geostrategic landscape affects U.S. national security. Contributors are recognized experts in the field of national security.

The views in this Information Series are those of the author and should not be construed as official U.S. Government policy, the official policy of the National Institute for Public Policy or any of its sponsors. For additional information about this publication or other publications by the National Institute Press, contact: Editor, National Institute Press, 9302 Lee Highway, Suite 750 |Fairfax, VA 22031 | (703) 293- 9181 |www.nipp.org. For access to previous issues of the National Institute Press Information Series, please visit http://www.nipp.org/nationalinstitutepress/inf
Jurors viewed one propaganda video found on Schimentis computer showing terrorists clad in all black standing behind six captured Kurdish fighters whispering prayers while on their knees. Prosecutors stopped the video as the terrorist narrating it in English held a large knife up to the throat of one of the captives. The charges did not allege Schimenti or Jones participated in any violence.
YEREVAN, 9 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 9 April, USD exchange rate down by 4.58 drams to 532.78 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 4.00 drams to 633.58 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.07 drams to 6.90 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 8.32 drams to 729.96 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 42.98 drams to 30070.44 drams. Silver price up by 2.23 drams to 433.88 drams. Platinum price down by 491.07 drams to 20949.1 drams.
NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The family of Ghislaine Maxwell today announced the launch of RealGhislaine.com, a website developed and maintained by her brothers, sisters, family & friends, the people who have known the real Ghislaine all her life, not the fictionalized, one-dimensional character created by the media.

The website features on its Home Page a video message from Ghislaine's brother Ian, filmed in response to the court's recent rejection of her third bail application, detailing the "cruel and unusual" conditions of her detention and confirming her decision to appeal this latest ruling.

Visitors will find biographical information, interviews and articles, as well as answers to frequently asked questions, legal resources, and links to important bail reform initiatives. The site also details the punishing regime Ghislaine is being subjected to during her extraordinary pre-trial detention

"Because of the continuing misinformation, misrepresentation and mischief in much of the media, Ghislaine's family started this website, an important resource for the public," said David Oscar Markus, an attorney for the family and Ms. Maxwell. "Ghislaine is innocent and her treatment by the press and the prison is unconscionable."

Ghislaine is currently a pre-trial detainee at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York facing allegations by anonymous accusers that date back 25 years. She has been held in this American prison in effective solitary confinement without bail for 280 days and counting, locked in a six-foot by nine-foot cell sometimes for 12 hours a day. She has a light shone in her face every 15 minutes during the night and endures multiple privations that are impacting her health and ability to properly prepare her defense and all this in the middle of the pandemic.

Like anyone else, she has the right to be presumed innocent, a constitutional right which is fundamental to the fairness of the American system of justice.

Ghislaine is a wife, a stepmother, a friend to many and a sister to a family that loves her very much. They believe in her innocence and that she will be exonerated at trial.

Pending the opportunity for Ghislaine to be able to defend herself in a court of law, RealGhislaine.com will be updated frequently with exclusive content, news, commentary and useful resources to help visitors form a more balanced view about the real Ghislaine Maxwell. Members of the news media and anyone else interested in following her status are encouraged to register for email updates.

For more information:

Visit RealGhislaine.com

Follow @GMaxFacts on Twitter

Subscribe to the family YouTube channel

SOURCE The Maxwell Family

Related Links

https://www.realghislaine.com/


A man reacts as a healthcare worker collects a swab sample, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a railway station, in New Delhi, India, on April 7, 2021. (Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters)

Indias Record COVID-19 Surge Continues

India reported a record 126,789 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday as several states struggled to contain a second surge in infections.

Daily infections surpassed 100,000 for the first time on Monday and have now exceeded that mark three times, the biggest daily rises in the world.

The spike, much faster than last years first wave, has caught authorities by surprise. Deaths rose by 685the most in five days to 166,862, data from the health ministry showed.

New Zealand on Thursday suspended entry for all travelers from India, including its own citizens, for about two weeks.

In Indias far off Andaman Islands, authorities said they would conduct random testing at the airport in the capital Port Blair, due to a sudden surge in cases and complaints over passengers carrying fake test reports.

Some of the big states, including Maharashtra, have imposed stricter curbs including night curfews and shut down malls, restaurants and places of worship. The federal government has refused to impose another national lockdown.
Bengaluru, April 9 : Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt Ltd (Manipal Hospitals) on Friday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to divest its hospital business at Klang, Malaysia to healthcare provider Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care (RSDH).

In a statement, Manipal Hospitals said that the transfer of ownership shall take place post completion of closure obligations.

Set up in 2016, Manipal Hospitals, Klang is a high-end tertiary care hospital accredited by the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH), it said.

Dilip Jose, MD & CEO, Manipal Hospitals said: "We are proud of having created and grown a strong healthcare franchise in Malaysia, modelled on providing high quality, affordable and comprehensive healthcare services. We wish our team at Klang and RSDH the very best as they together take the hospital through its next phase of growth." The divestment comes at a time when Manipal Hospitals gears up for a smooth integration of Columbia Asia Hospitals India as that acquisition is nearing completion, said the company statement.

The hospital group is also scouting to expand its footprint in eastern India which is presently underserved and further enhance its presence in the existing geographies, it added.
A look at social media hashtags of #PehleJaanFirExam and #cancelboardexams2021 will suffice to figure out on which side of the line students stand. For a while now, CBSE Class 10, 12 students appearing for board exams have been demanding cancellation of the exams that are just a month away. Over 1 lakh students of Class 10 and 12 signed petitions urging the government to cancel the exams or conduct them online. But the CBSE board has said that exams will be conducted as per the schedule.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has also joined the students and said it is pretty irresponsible of the board to conduct exams in such a scenario. "It is downright irresponsible of boards like the CBSE to force students to sit for exams under the prevailing circumstances. Board exams should either be cancelled, rescheduled or arranged in a manner that does not require the physical presence of children at crowded exam centres," said Gandhi.

Class 10 board exams are scheduled to be held from May 4 and June 7, while Class 12 exams will be held from May 4 to June 15, as per the date sheet.

WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING

Students have taken to social media to say that cases have been on a sharp rise and as such, it is not a good idea to conduct the nationwide exams. Some have suggested that since classes were mostly conducted online, exams too should be. Some said that students should be graduated on the basis of internal assessment. And then some pointed out that their lives are more important than an exam.

"The situation in India is getting worse day by day. When there were only a few cases in the country, they cancelled the remaining board exams and now when the cases are at a peak they are planning to open schools. We urge the education minister to look into this matter and cancel all examinations to be held this year as students are already under a lot of stress," a petition on Change.org stated.

"The students have already faced a lot of problems till now in this pandemic. Classes were held online so the exams should also be held online or students should be promoted via internal assessment marks (sic)," said a student on Twitter, while another said, "Dear Government, How can u be so irresponsible? How can u do injustice to students? How can u take exams after online studies? How can you give priority to exams and not to our important life? (sic)"

"Even countries like Kuwait, Mexico, Saudi Arabia have cancelled the exams which has very few cases of covid. So, why can't India which has cases more than 1.15lakh daily (sic)," said a student, while another said, "Studying is very much an important aspect of life and we can't deny it. But life is much more important than that (sic)"

WHAT CBSE IS SAYING

The board has said that exams will be conducted as per schedule. It said that arrangements have been made to ensure the safety of students.

"Adequate arrangements are being made to ensure the students are safe and all COVID protocols are followed. The number of exam centres has been increased by 40-50 per cent to ensure social distancing. The staff at exam centres is being sensitised to ensure all guidelines are followed," a senior CBSE official said.

CBSE had also announced previously that if a student fails to appear for the ongoing practical exams after testing positive, then schools will retest them at an appropriate time. However, it is unclear if the same relaxations would be allowed for theory exams.

Gerry Arathoon, Chief Executive and Secretary at Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), said the schedule for exams "will remain the same".

Also read: CBSE responds as 1 lakh students sign petition to cancel board exams
Hello Charlie Movie Review: Except For A Few Funny Bits The Aadar Jain Starrer Does Not Have Much To Offer

Movie: Hello Charlie Rated: 1.5/5.0 Cast: Aadar Jain, Jackie Shroff Director:

When the teaser of Hello Charlie released, fans were quite impressed. The hero, our very handsome Aadar Jain, looks out of a trucks window in style while listening to Ambarsariya. His co-passenger changes the song and it is revealed that his road-trip partner is a gorilla. The teaser gave us Fukrey vibes and we eagerly waited for the film to premiere on Amazon Prime Video. Well, the wait is finally over. Also starring Jackie Shroff, Shhloka Pandit, Elnaaz Norouzi, Bharat Ganeshpure and Rajpal Yadav, Hello Charlie is a comedy which has been directed by Pankaj Saraswat.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aadar Jain (@aadarjain)

It begins with a brief introduction of a wanted fraudster named Makwana, portrayed by Jackie, and Chirag Rastogi aka Charlie, played by Aadar. While one is trying his best to escape from Mumbai after duping banks, the other arrives to the city in hopes of earning money to pay his fathers debt. Well, he gets the perfect job from a model named Mona, played by Elnaaz, who offers him lots of money to transport a gorilla named Toto to Diu. Little does he know that its actually Makwana in a gorilla suit. By then we know a few details about the businessman-- he hates bananas and feels at ease when he plays chess.

They begin their road trip and on the way meet many new characters. Theres Shhloka as a circus dancer, Rajpal as ranger Soli Topi, a drunk veterinarian named Dr Ganatra played by Bharat Ganeshpure and a real gorilla transported from Uganda! Thus begins a journey which offers us funny bits and some really entertaining charactesr. Bharat and Rajpal are the true heroes of this comedy as they are the only ones who have done justice to the genre. Their performances are bang on and their dialogues will leave you in splits.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aadar Jain (@aadarjain)

However, thats all you can expect from Hello Charlie. The two characters have really small roles and we wish we could get more of them. Its pleasant to see Aadar on-screen and his dialogue delivery is quite impressive. He has definitely put in a lot of effort and has improved tremendously, but his acting is a little over the top. His character looks overly enthusiastic about everything. Meanwhile, Elnaaz and Shhloka have very less screen time, but they are convincing as their characters. The story line, on the other hand, is confusing and we wish it had more funny sequences to offer. In fact, we wish the film was more like the teaser, which left us with high expectations.

So thats our review of Hello Charlie. Did the film succeed at entertaining you during these troubled times?
BAY CITY, MI  For the second time, a Bay City man has received a prison sentence for sharing child pornography online. This time, though, he will be spending his time in a federal prison rather than a state one.

U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington on Thursday, April 8, sentenced 28-year-old Brandon S. Parsons to 12 years in prison. Once Parsons has served his time, he is to be under supervision for an additional five years, Ludington ordered.

Parsons in December pleaded guilty to one count of possessing and accessing child pornography involving a prepubescent minor younger than 12. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed a count of distribution of child porn.

This sentence should serve as a warning for those who target and prey on children, said Acting U.S. Attorney Saima Mohsin. The aggressive investigation and prosecution of child predators remains among the highest priorities for our office.

The Department of Homeland Security began investigating Parsons in March 2020 after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the distribution of child porn on the social media platform MeetMe, court records show. The tip suggested that two MeetMe users discussed topics including the exploitation of a 4-year-old child, incest, and bestiality.

One of these users IP address uploaded images of child porn. After receiving the tip, DHS determined the IP address belonged to Parsons and that in July 2019 he had distributed eight illegal images of children on social media.

A subsequent search of Parsons residence in March 2020 led investigators to seize a cellphone that contained five more illicit images, some of which depicted an exposed minor wearing a collar and ropes tied around her wrists, documents state.

Parsons was already a sex offender at the time, having pleaded guilty to indecent exposure, using a computer to commit a crime, and possessing child sexually abusive material in Bay County Circuit Court in January 2015. Circuit Judge Harry P. Gill in February 2015 sentenced Parsons to concurrent terms of 38 months to seven years and 23 months to four years in prison, with credit for 316 days already served.

The Michigan Department of Corrections discharged Parsons in April 2019, three months before he committed his latest offense.

Read more:

Bay City man gets prison time for indecent exposure, having child pornography

Michigan man killed by police during raid told fiancee he did not want to go back to jail, reports show

Siblings ages 5, 8, and 13 break-in and damage, steal marijuana from Gladwin County homes, police say
Julia Szlakowski never signed a non-disclosure agreement so when her alleged sexual harasser got a massive promotion with uncapped bonuses, she didnt need to keep quiet.

So far, companies have used non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to keep everything silent. That trick may be coming to an end now the government has agreed to the development of new guidelines around NDAs in its response to Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins Respect@Work report.

Julia Szlakowski and AMP Capital's Boe Pahari. Credit: Supplied

The response was the usual Coalition confusion - just a few elements of the reports 55 recommendations accepted without argument, others in parts, others just noted. At least NDAs got a look in, which is a glimmer of hope in an otherwise lacklustre and laggardly response. New guidelines might just be the undoing of all those workplace sexual harassers out there, particularly now big institutional investors are backing cultural change.

In Szlakowskis case, AMP paid her out over claims AMP Capital senior executive Boe Pahari repeatedly sexually harassed her over several months in 2017. It was only when Pahari was promoted last year that news of the harassment claims emerged. Pahari was a rainmaker but that didnt save him. As Szlakowskis lawyer, Maurice Blackburns Josh Bornstein, pointed out: When her case attracted public attention, she was able to speak publicly about what happened.
A former Florida tax collector linked to the Justice Department's investigation into Congressman Matt Gaetz is expected to plead guilty, lawyers in the case said in court on Thursday. Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois on Thursday night became the first Republican to call on Gaetz to resign after new allegations surfaced in The Daily Beast, the details of which CBS News has not independently confirmed.

Joel Greenberg is expected to strike a deal by May 15, though the deal has not yet been finalized, his attorney, Fritz Scheller, said Thursday.

Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector, has been charged with dozens of offenses, including sex trafficking, stalking, bribery and defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program. CBS News has confirmed that the ongoing investigation into Greenberg is what spurred the investigation into Gaetz.

Greenberg's trial has been pushed to July, although the prosecutor said at the onset of Thursday's hearing that "we believe this case is going to be a plea."

According to CBS Orlando affiliate WKMG, Scheller was asked whether the possible involvement of Gaetz in the investigation gave his client an advantage in plea negotiations. Scheller answered that if Greenberg accepts a plea agreement, "it will show his sense of remorse  which he does have  a sense of acceptance of responsibility. Number 2, I think he's uniquely situated."

Scheller also told reporters after the court appearance "I'm sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today." He later clarified that given the focus on the connection between Gaetz and Greenberg, it "wouldn't be obvious to assume that he would be concerned, you know, some."

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) (2nd R) leaves a GOP meeting at the U.S. Capitol on February 03, 2021 in Washington, DC. Ten House Republicans voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. / Credit: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images

Gaetz, a close ally of former President Trump, has has been accused of having a relationship with a 17-year-old and is believed to be under investigation for violations of sex trafficking laws. He has denied all the allegations and has so far not been charged with any crimes.

Story continues

One of Gaetz's aides, Devin Murphy, resigned in recent days, a source familiar with the situation confirmed on Thursday. The source was told that it was due to the Justice Department investigation, but also that Murphy was looking to leave before it became public. Gaetz's communications director resigned last week.

On Wednesday, CBS News reported that as part of the inquiry into whether Gaetz violated sex-trafficking laws, federal investigators are looking into a Bahamas trip he allegedly took in late 2018 or early 2019.

In a statement to CBS News on Wednesday, Gaetz's office said he "has never paid for sex, nor has he had sex with an underage girl. What began with blaring headlines about 'sex trafficking' has now turned into a general fishing exercise about vacations and consensual relationships with adults. Yesterday, we even learned of some nonsense 'pardon' story that turned out to be false, and today it's just more euphemism. It's interesting to watch the Washington wheels grinding so hard every time one of their falsehoods gets knocked down."

CBS News has also confirmed that Gaetz asked the White House for a preemptive blanket pardon before Mr. Trump left office. The former president said in a statement Thursday "Congressman Matt Gaetz has never asked me for a pardon," though he did not address whether the White House had fielded such a request from Gaetz.

The Florida congressman is expected to give his first public remarks since the news of the investigation on Friday at a Women for America First event.

We All Smile in the Same Language

The Healthcare Company With A Global Reach

GEODIS: Leading Sustainable Logistics
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 22:09:04|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- There is a role for the British technical universities to engage with China and support the development of the next phase of China's higher education environment, a British university principal has said.

David Andrew Phoenix, vice chancellor of London South Bank University, told a higher education webinar Thursday that as China has pledged vigorous efforts for high-quality development of technical and vocational education, there will be great benefits ahead, through partnership development, for those British institutions with the skills and experience.

As a higher education professional who worked extensively overseas, developing and leading on a research institute in China, Phoenix realized that while China's economic success fulled further expansion of the studying abroad trend which has brought obvious benefits to the country, the Chinese government foresaw the limitations of such a policy.

"There is a revolution in China particularly around technical education and this will only accelerate," he said.

China is dealing with three major challenges in the new phase, including to make the higher education student population better suited for the workplace in terms of skills at the end of their education, to reform higher education curricula to increase the applied science proportion, and to improve access to technical education which would allow China to expand industrial base by being more self-reliant and improve the distribution of wealth across the population, he noted.

"The response to these three challenges will dramatically change the shape of Chinese education and also changes the landscape for the opportunities for UK universities in China," he said, noting that for many British universities, collaboration with China is still the top of the internationalisation agenda.

China is committed to ensuring high-quality development throughout various stages and the entire process of education during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period, with robust efforts being made for advancing industry-education integration in vocational education, making higher education accessible to more people and providing more resources for life-long learning.

Phoenix, who in 2016 was given China's national Friendship Award for his outstanding contribution to the country's economic and social development, said he believes that Chinese government's growing emphasis on job skills training could open "a new path for UK-China educational cooperation."

"There is therefore a role for those UK universities with reputation as technical universities to engage with China and support the development of the next phase of China's higher education environment," he said.

However, it is not really possible to "make progress without spending time in China" because of the way communication works, he warned.

"There is no substitute in China for sitting down with partners and talking things through to build trust and understanding. China is not going away and is set to be an industrial and educational giant for decades to come and having an engagement strategy China would be extremely prudent for any institution," the vice chancellor concluded.

Minister Counsellor Zhang Jin, who is responsible for education affairs at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Britain, agreed that there is great potential for UK-China vocational education collaboration and China is welcoming foreign enterprises and institutions to build joint schools in China.

She introduced at the online conference the latest development of China's higher education reform, highlighting that China has taken a brave step to create 23 vocational universities at the undergraduate level, and is going to shift half of its local colleges from traditionally academic oriented to applied technology oriented.

"China is very open to international cooperation in education at all levels, including the vocational education. We are welcoming your initiatives, new ideas, and new models of partnerships to China," she said.

The webinar, attended by more than 120 people from both countries' educational, business and political circles, was organized by Britain's 48 Group Club.

The club chair Stephen Perry, whose father "icebreaker" Jack Perry helped establish one of the first modern-day trade links between China and the outside world 68 years ago, awarded Phoenix the club fellowship during the webinar for his long engagement with China and contribution to building mutual understanding. Enditem
Let me recite some history for you.

At times in our past, when we have overcome something difficult, or when the economy has been strong for a few years, we have taken to partying with wild abandon.

This happened after the Civil War during the Gilded Age party known as the Gay Nineties (1890s). After our success in World War I, we partied it up royally in the Roaring Twenties.

After we saved the world from Hitler and Nippon (Japan), we settled down to get our bearings and then threw the biggest party the planet has ever seen, remembered today as the 60s.

Now, on the verge of coming out of the 2020 Pandemic, we are poised to party again like never before. And we believe with all our shrunken hearts, dilapidated minds, and portly bodies, that things will be back better than ever before. They wont.

We have lost all sight of our civic values. Americas messy decay and torrid decline is only just beginning.

Kimball Shinkoskey

Woods Cross, Utah

CHECK OUT THE WEEK IN CARTOONS
Gurugram, April 9 : In a bid to raise the income of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced on Friday that from now the money earned from External Development Charges (EDC) will be deposited in the GMDA. Similarly, the EDC payments from Faridabad district will be made to the FMDA.

Both the development agencies will now have full control on the deposits received from the EDC.

Khattar was in Gurugram on Friday to chair GMDA's annual meeting.

In another major step, it was decided that half of the stamp duty will now go to the GMDA.

Out of 2 per cent stamp duty, which is the registry amount of land or plot, 1 per cent will go to the GMDA, which is expected to earn Rs 250 crore in a year.

In the meeting, the Budget proposal of GMDA for the year 2021-22 was also passed. As per the proposal, authorisation will be received from various items to the tune of approximately Rs 1,213.79 crore.

In the current financial year, the authority has estimated an expenditure of about Rs 1,848.24 crore on various development works and services.

In this regard, a Budget of losses of about Rs 634.45 crore has been presented.

Besides, there was also a discussion on connecting the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), Gurugam Rapid Metro and Dwarka Expresway Metro lines. It was informed that a proposal has been sent to the Centre to connect Gurugram Metro to Rapid Metro near Cyber city.

"In the meeting, the progress of the current development works were also discussed. The Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) will be developed as Model Road. Also a construction of a flyover was also approved on Bakhtawar chowk which will cost about Rs 68 crore," said GMDA CEO Sudhir Rajpal.

He added that the proposal to transfer about two-and-a-half acre of free transfer was approved in Sector 92 for the construction of Fire Station to Manesar Municipal Corporation (MCM).

The official also informed that, the new Geographic Information Systems (GIS) project was also discussed in which the GMDA will develop the live monitoring system with the help of the drone camera under this project. Not only this, where the activities of developing illegal colonies can be monitored, the level of environmental pollution will also be monitored.

CCTV based public safety and traffic management system in Gurugram city was also discussed in the meeting.

"About 1000 CCTV cameras have been installed in Gurugram city. These are now being linked to the e-challan system. So far, 28 cameras have been connected with the police so that the automatic challan reaches to the traffic violator if they break traffic rules. This will also help in reducing the crime rate.

"Also, intelligent traffic light control system is also being installed in Gurugram city. Under this, traffic light will be operated in such a way that traffic gets diverted from that place and traffic jam does not arise due to the accident. Not only this, traffic lights will continue to work smoothly even when electricity goes out," Rajpal added.
A 26-year-old man was killed and two 18-year-olds were hurt in a shooting in Pleasantville, authorities said.

Maurice Hampton, who is also known as Abdul Hamid, was found dead when police arrived on the 100 block of Linden Avenue around 3 p.m. Thursday, the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office said on Friday.

An autopsy on Hampton, of Pleasantville, will be performed Friday, officials said.

The injured men were brought to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City.

No arrests have been made. The Atlantic County Prosecutors Office and Pleasantville police are investigating.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
A bill to give Oregon employers a significant break on their unemployment insurance taxes advanced out of a House committee on a 7-0, bipartisan vote Thursday.

That signals House Bill 3389 is on a glide path through an otherwise contentious legislative session, saving employers $100 million in taxes this year and a projected $2.4 billion over the coming decade.

I just want to emphasize how good this process was, Rep. Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, said at a committee hearing earlier this month. He said Democratic and Republican lawmakers found common ground and compromised to come up with a bill that spares employers an unnecessary tax burden without draining the states ability to pay jobless benefits.

We didnt even come close to putting this in jeopardy of insolvency, Bonham said.

Oregon funds its unemployment insurance trust fund with taxes on employers. Those that lay off workers pay the highest rates, the reasoning being that employers who draw the most from the fund should pay the most to replenish it.

During the pandemic, though, the formula triggered a steep increase in taxes for businesses that laid-off workers when COVID-19 forced their businesses to close. That meant that the businesses hardest hit by the pandemic were the ones facing the steepest tax increases.

The Oregon Employment Department forecast that 20% of Oregon employers would have to cover nearly all the projected $183 million increase in unemployment taxes this year. And taxes would go up again the following two years because the states funding formula allocates cost increases over a three-year period.

Some employers forecast they would have to pay an average of several hundred dollars more, per employee, in each of the next three years.

The employment department initially resisted changes, warning that any tax breaks risked depleting the fund. If it runs out of money then the state would have to borrow from the federal government and pass those borrowing costs on to employers.

Oregons unemployment insurance reserves are the best-funded in the nation, though, with $3.8 billion in savings. While thats down about $1.3 billion from the start of the pandemic, the trust fund has largely withstood the steepest, sharpest economic downturn in Oregon history.

Pressed by lawmakers and businesses, the employment department conceded in January that the fund was in good shape and there was ample leeway to give employers a break.

HB 3389 would allow employers who faced a tax hike of at least 0.5 percentage points this year to defer up to a third of this years tax obligation until June 2022. Those with higher increases can have a portion of this years increase forgiven.

The bill would also exclude layoffs that took place in 2020 and 2021 when calculating employers unemployment insurance tax rate, meaning their rate will be set based on any layoffs they had in prior years. And it would change the time period used to determine whether the fund is solvent from 10 years to 20 years.

Altogether, the changes stand to save Oregon employers $2.4 billion over the next decade, according to legislative estimates.

Thats also $2.4 billion less for the unemployment insurance trust fund, but lawmakers and the employment department have concluded that the fund can easily withstand that lost revenue.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway |
Positioned to become a leader in the multi-billion-dollar nuclear services and waste treatment market

Operates in regulated industries with high barriers to entry

Business consists of two operating segments: Treatment and Services.

What does:

Inc ( ) (FRA:PFX1) is a nuclear services company and a leading provider of nuclear and waste-management services. The Atlanta-based company also offers engineering-consulting services to the industrial and commercial sectors.

Perma-Fixs business consists of two operating segments: Treatment and Services.

The companys Treatment Segment handles a magnitude of contaminated wastes for economic and compliant disposal in its permitted and licensed operating facilities. It has expanded its low-level radioactive waste treatment capacity with the addition of an 8.7-acre facility in Tennessee. The division also serves the commercial nuclear industry.

Perma-Fixs Services Segment, meanwhile, employs innovative technology professionals that are trained to provide radiological protection and environmental remediation services.

Its core nuclear waste services business manages and treats radioactive and mixed waste for hospitals, research labs and institutions, and federal agencies, including the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Department of Defense (DoD).

As well, the companys nuclear services group handles the heavy work of environmental restoration, decontamination and decommissioning while providing radiological protection, safety and industrial hygiene services.

is led by CEO Mark Duff, who has 34 years of experience in the DOE & DOD environmental and construction markets, and was previously responsible for the successful completion of more than 70 performance-based projects at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky.

How is it doing:

In May 2021, Perma-Fix reported first-quarter revenue of $23.1 million, compared to $24.9 million in the same quarter of 2020. The decrease came entirely from the Treatment Segment, which saw revenue decline year-over-year to $7.5 million from $9.6 million as a result of reduced volume from coronavirus (COVID-19) related waste shipment delays.

Revenue from the Services Segment increased year-over-year to $15.6 million from $15.3 million.

In 2020, Perma-Fix was awarded a series of contracts, including two federal deals valued at $3.7 million to separate and treat radioactive materials from over 100,000 tons of soils, debris and dredged materials.

As well, the company inked a new contract in its Services Segment valued at about $7 million over eight months. It was also selected by the US DoE as part of a team to participate in a 10-year waste management contract, making it eligible to compete for up to $3 billion in task orders.

The work under this multi-award contract vehicle supports sites across the US, including at the Office of Environmental Management, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Office of Naval Reactors and the Office of Science.

And, the company noted it had achieved a milestone target by completing the development of its new Perma-SortSM material sorting and segregation process system. It is a customized, conveyor-based radiological assay system designed to provide 100% characterization of material efficiently with industry-leading measurement quality.

Inflection points:

Revenue resurgence as pre-pandemic shipping rates return

Accelerating sales from its Treatment Segment initiatives

Market expansion into the power, municipal and oil & gas industries

What the boss says:

Perma-Fix CEO Mark Duff commented on the companys outlook for the second half of 2021, when the company posted first-quarter results in May.

We anticipate a stronger second half of 2021, given our robust pipeline within the services segment and significant pent-up demand within the treatment segment, Duff said. In terms of the services segment, we have an unprecedented number and combined value of bids currently submitted and awaiting awards. We also expect to benefit from the governments fiscal 2020 carryover funds, in addition to 2021 allocations that have been delayed and should help fund an acceleration of projects within the treatment segment.

He continued: We are rapidly advancing several initiatives within the treatment segment that we believe have the potential to enhance our revenues at each of our treatment facilities. The foundation of our growth strategy is based on the addition of experienced technical talent in waste management and health physics over the past two years. We believe this foundation, coupled with new technology launches in both services and treatment will continue to provide our clients value and support our growth goals once COVID is behind us.

Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel
A filmed presentation from a Republican official in Texas and obtained by a voting rights advocacy group reveals a push for an army of poll watchers in the greater Houston area where the fraud is occurring.

The 49-minute video published by Common Cause Texas shows a map of Harris County voting precincts, as a voice tells supporters to muster the confidence and courage to come down here as part of an election integrity brigade to combat alleged voter fraud, pointing to areas in Houston that include large Black and Latino populations.

Release of the video, which was created in March, follows passage of a sweeping bill to restrict ballot access by cutting early voting hours and banning drive-through voting sites that proved popular in 2020 elections for one of the largest counties in the US.

The Texas bill, if signed into law, would also make it illegal for local elections officials to mail out absentee ballots to voters who did not request them, even if they qualify, and would give partisan poll watchers more power to potentially intimidate voters at the ballot box.

What we see in this video is a concrete, real-world example of why it is a downright dangerous idea to expand poll watcher powers while removing the ability of election workers to kick a disruptive poll watcher out, Common Cause executive director Anthony Gutierrez, said in a statement.

Read more:

Volunteer poll watchers who have no ill intent and who do not plan to disrupt voting would have no need to be courageous about going into predominantly Black and Brown communities, he continued. When I hear someone say he needs courageous volunteers to be part of an army that will keep an eye on voters in minority neighborhoods, I hear all the same old dog whistles with a slightly updated harmony.

Texas Democrats, voting advocacy groups and civil rights organisations have warned lawmakers that the latest GOP proposal  among dozens of similar bills in state houses across the US  revives and enshrines the legacy of Jim Crow-era voter suppression that disproportionately targets voters of colour.

In the video, the person speaking reveals a plan to recruit and disperse more than 10,000 people across voting precincts in Harris County to monitor polls and perform other tasks.

At one point, he specifically names Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, a voting precinct with a majority Black congregation and a storied history in Houstons civil rights legacy.

Mr Gutierrez said proposals in Texas legislation would weaponise poll watchers and empower them to disrupt and delay voting at any poll site in Texas.

In a statement to The Washington Post, the Harris County Republican Party accused Common Cause of blatantly mischaracterizing a grassroots election worker recruitment video and attempting to bully Texas Republicans.

Proposed legislation in Texas mirrors dozens of similar bills in nearly every state  at least 361 GOP-sponsored bills aimed at restricting access to ballots and making it more difficult to vote have been filed in 47 states.

Last month,. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that the bills are aimed at restoring trust and confidence in the outcome of the states elections, although he also admitted that he is not aware of any elections altered by fraud. Voting advocates argue that persistent lies of a stolen election have emboldened lawmakers to pursue restrictive elections bills.

Election officials across the country  as well as former president Donald Trumps attorneys, the Justice Department, FBI and a federal elections commission that he disbanded  have failed to produce any evidence that such widespread fraud exists.

Right now, I dont know how many, or if any, elections in the state of Texas in 2020 were altered because of voter fraud, Governor Abbot said on 15 March.
As students filled classrooms Thursday morning at Best Elementary School, four second-graders gathered in a tucked-away corner of the Alief ISD campus, using plastic coins to learn how to count money.

The specialized, small-group instruction is an important tool for catching up students struggling academically  a group whose numbers are growing amid the pandemic. Alief officials hope to tap some of the billions of dollars in federal stimulus money in the next few years to hire additional staff that would allow them to give students more one-on-one attention.

The need for this type of intervention has been magnified because of the academic losses were going to have here, said Best Elementary Principal Renee Canales, who estimated 30 percent of her students remain in online-only classes.

As state legislators haggle over how to spend roughly $18 billion in stimulus funds allocated to Texas schools, education and nonprofit leaders are starting to identify ways they want to spend the money with the end of the COVID-19 pandemic potentially in sight.

Precise needs will vary by school district, but several top education officials identified similar spending priorities in interviews and public statements. They include hiring new staff, extending the school day and year, adding tutoring services and addressing students psychological needs.

Texas public school leaders still have no clue how much federal stimulus money they will get, when the funds will start flowing or what strings will be attached to the cash. Nonetheless, the tight deadline for spending billions  either late 2023 or 2024  combined with the expected onslaught of hiring and buying, makes early planning important, education administrators said.

Federal lawmakers have passed three stimulus packages containing nearly $20 billion for Texas public and private schools, equal to roughly one-third of annual spending on all public school operating costs in the state. Districts serving higher percentages of lower-income students  such as Houston, Alief, Aldine and Pasadena ISDs  will receive a bigger chunk of the money.

State leaders delivered the first batch of funds, totaling roughly $1 billion, to schools in mid-2020, but they withheld a similar amount of state funds to fill other education budget holes. Texas legislators are expected to take a similar approach with at least part of the remaining $18 billion. They also could dictate how some of the money must be spent, to the frustration of many educators.

We have what we want to do, but its all going to be based on how the state releases those dollars to school districts, said Houston ISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan, whose district is in line to receive more than $1 billion.

For many school leaders, the money meets the need. District officials have reported higher class failure rates, enrollment declines in lower grades and heightened mental health issues, among other concerns. Preliminary standardized test scores also suggest significant losses in math achievement, with smaller slippage in reading.

Priority items

While disagreements about how to spend the money abound, education leaders have found some common ground.

First, they generally acknowledge the need for more teachers, support staff and outside helpers, such as tutors. The extra bodies will help cut down on class sizes, increase opportunities for small-group instruction, give teachers more planning time and reduce caseloads for employees tackling students non-academic needs.

Alief ISD Superintendent HD Chambers said he would want to use the vast majority of stimulus money to add employees. Chambers said some of those would be retained long-term, ultimately filling positions held by employees who retire between now and 2024, while others would stay for a short, predetermined amount of time.

The most important component of our plans is identifying children and their needs, then using district resources to shrink the number of students that adults are responsible for, Chambers said. With a lot of our students, particularly our English-language learners, even five or six students with one adult can be a bit much.

Another top priority: giving students more time with school staff. Several of the states largest districts have added or proposed adding optional days to the 2021-22 school year, including Houston and Dallas ISDs. Other districts may tack on minutes to the bell schedule or add days in 2022-23, when the funding and public health outlook becomes clearer.

I think the issue of time is going to be part of the long-term solution for us, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath told lawmakers last month.

Some districts also could tap the federal funds to offer retention bonuses, aiming to reward staff and stave off retirements and resignations after an exhausting year. While fears about massive employee losses amid the pandemic have not come to fruition, some administrators worry about losing top staff members in the coming months and years.

I think retention stipends would mean a lot to our staff, and I think it would have a true impact on our students, Pasadena ISD Superintendent DeeAnn Powell said. The longer we can keep (employees) engaged in the classroom and firing on all cylinders, thats what we need.

Education leaders have floated numerous other methods for spending stimulus money: buying more technology, purchasing new learning programs, reimbursing more COVID-related costs from the past 13 months, and upgrading heating, cooling and ventilation systems, among others.

A tough test

Each idea carries some risks, raising fears about whether the money will be well-spent.

A sudden influx of cash will require fast, drastic changes in public school districts, which are not renowned for their nimbleness. Matthew Kraft, an associate professor of education at Brown University who has proposed multibillion-dollar investments in tutoring, said he expects to see mixed results.

Im optimistic that there will be some bright examples of successes, but whether those are able to be replicated is, frankly, not something theres a lot of history or evidence of in education reform in this country, Kraft said.

Already, some educators are sounding alarms about a potential labor shortage complicating efforts to scale up. They fear the demand for retired teachers, tutoring providers and part-time job seekers will outpace the supply.

Anne McClellan, who oversees the University of Houstons Cougar Tutors initiative, said most of the regions largest districts already have contacted her about availability. About 100 undergraduates and graduate students perform part-time tutoring at Houston ISD campuses through the program. McClellan said she hopes to add another 200 to 300 tutors soon.

We know how to do teaching and leading, we have expertise in that, McClellan said. During this time, were just really making sure weve built our infrastructure and documented everything so we could scale fast.

The push to extend the school year also could face resistance from burned-out teachers and reluctant parents.

When Dallas ISD gave staff and families at nearly 100 schools the option to add days to the 2021-22 calendar, about 60 campus communities shot down the idea.

In addition, the prospect of using stimulus money on staff bonuses could stoke political hand-wringing, particularly among state lawmakers who prefer tying increased pay to employee performance metrics.

While money and policy battles loom, the stimulus potential for major impact carries excitement. Sangeetha Ranadeeve, who serves with Cougar Tutors at Houston ISDs Sterling High School, said adding more adults to classrooms will prove vital for students.

You see kids who feel like theyve been bashing their head against the wall, and the moment they understand something and make progress, its like joy comes over them, said Ranadeeve, a senior at the University of Houston. I absolutely think this kind of work will make a difference.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com

twitter.com/chronjacob
Gunmen numbering about eight struck at a petrol station at Isan Ekiti in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State on Thursday evening and ab...





Gunmen numbering about eight struck at a petrol station at Isan Ekiti in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State on Thursday evening and abducted its manager, Mr Itakorodo Adebayo.

Sources said the gunmen, who rode on motorcycles, invaded the petrol station, shot sporadically, and forcibly took away the victim.

The Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Police Command, Tunde Mobayo, who confirmed the abduction, said that the law enforcement agents had begun the search for the victim and the abductors.

Mobayo, in a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer for the Command, Sunday Abutu, titled, Isan Abduction: Ekiti State Police Command Deploys Rescue Team, said, A team of police operatives and detectives including the Amotekun Corps and the local hunters have been deployed to rigorously comb the bushes and the forests across the state to ensure the rescue of the victim.

The Ekiti State Police Command, in addition to the rescue teams deployed, has contacted all the states bordering Ekiti State for possible assistance towards the rescue of the victim and the arrest of the perpetrators.

The Commissioner of Police implored anyone with useful information that could assist the police to rescue the victim and apprehend the culprits to inform the nearest police station or call 08062335577.

Adebayo was abducted at Isan Ekiti at about 7pm on Thursday by unknown gunmen numbering about eight who stormed the filling station through the bush on about six motorcycles and started shooting sporadically before whisking the victim away, the police added.
Google workers are asking the company to change its policies to bar employees who have been censured for harassment from managing others.

A petition posted online Friday and signed by more than 500 workers also asked Google parent Alphabet to institute mandatory team changes for employees who have harassment complaints against them that have been verified by human resources. The petition is being circulated by the Alphabet Workers Union, a group of workers and contractors that formed last year.
LONDON, ENGLAND / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2021 / Love Hemp Group PLC (AQSE: LIFE) (OTCQB: WRHLF), one of the UK's leading CBD and Hemp product suppliers, announces that as part of the equity fundraise announced yesterday, Antony Calamita and Andrew Male, Directors of the Company, subscribed for 285,714 Ordinary Shares and 1,428,571 Ordinary Shares respectively. The subscriptions are at a price of 3.5 pence per ordinary share for a total of 60,000. Following these subscriptions, Antony Calamita is now interested in 54,385,714 Ordinary Shares, representing 8.61% of the Company's share capital as increased by the fundraising, and Andrew Male is now interested in 6,138,196 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.97% of the Company's issued share capital as increased by the fundraising.

Further, the timetable for receipt of applications under the Broker Option, which was also announced yesterday, has been extended until 5:00 pm 9 April 2021 to capture additional interest which was unable to be completed yesterday.

Application will be made to the Aquis Stock Exchange for any shares issued under the Broker Option ("Broker Option Shares") to be admitted to trading on the AQSE Growth Market ("Broker Option Admission"). Broker Option Admission is expected to become effective, and trading in the Broker Option Shares is expected to commence, at 8.00 a.m. on 13 April 2021.

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them

1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated a) Name: Antony Luigi Calamita 2. Reason for the notification a) Position/status: Director b) Initial notification/Amendment: Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name: Love Hemp Group Plc b) LEI: 213800ERYVHIGFSPMM75 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument: Identification code: Ordinary shares of 0.01 GB00BMDY1P48 b) Nature of the transaction: Issue of Ordinary Shares c) Price(s) and volume(s): Ordinary Shares: Price(s) Volume(s) 0.035 285,714 d) Aggregated information: Aggregated volume: Price: Ordinary Shares: Price(s) Volume(s) 0.035 285,714 e) Date of the transaction: 2021-04-08 f) Place of the transaction: AQSE Growth Market (AQSE)

1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated a) Name: Andrew Male 2. Reason for the notification a) Position/status: Director b) Initial notification/Amendment: Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name: Love Hemp Group Plc b) LEI: 213800ERYVHIGFSPMM75 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument: Identification code: Ordinary shares of 0.01 GB00BMDY1P48 b) Nature of the transaction: Issue of Ordinary Shares c) Price(s) and volume(s): Ordinary Shares: Price(s) Volume(s) 0.035 1,428,571 d) Aggregated information: Aggregated volume: Price: Ordinary Shares: Price(s) Volume(s) 0.035 1,428,571 e) Date of the transaction: 2021-04-08 f) Place of the transaction: AQSE Growth Market (AQSE)

-ENDS-

For further information please contact:

Andrew Male

Chairman & Director

+44 (0) 7926 397 675 andrew@lovehempgroup.com AQSE Corporate Adviser Mark Anwyl/Allie Feuerlein Peterhouse Capital Limited +44 (0) 20 7469 0930 ma@peterhousecap.com af@peterhousecap.com Financial PR Tim Blythe Alice McLaren Madeleine Gordon-Foxwell +44 (0) 207 138 3205 lovehemp@blytheweigh.com

Financial Advisor

Rupert Fane

H&P Advisory Limited

+44 (0) 20 7907 8500

rf@hannam.partners

For more information on Love Hemp Group please visit: www.lovehempgroup.com

www.worldhighlife.uk

About Love Hemp Group

The Company, previously World High Life plc, was incorporated on 30 January 2019 as an Investment Vehicle. Originally intended to identify opportunities in the CBD and Medicinal Cannabis space, it quickly acquired Love Hemp Ltd., the UK's most recognisable CBD brand. The listed company recently changed its name to Love Hemp Group plc as part of its evolving strategy to purely focus on supporting the "best in class" CBD brand as it embarks on a wider expansion of its core business and offering.

Love Hemp produces and supplies more than 40 product lines, comprising of oils, sprays and tinctures and a variety of edible and water-based CBD products. Love Hemp has established relationships with over 2,000 stores in the UK, including leading retailers such as Sainsbury's, Boots, Ocado and Holland & Barrett.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

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: Love Hemp Group PLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/639635/Love-Hemp-Group-PLC-Announces-Directors-Dealings-and-Extension-of-Broker-Option
In 1952, like a bolt from the blue, came UP chief minister Govind Ballabh Pants order abolishing zamindari. The abrupt drop in prestige and lifestyle caused a relative across the Ganga to hide his arsenal of a few rifles and 12-bore shotguns along with boxes of Eley cartridges.

Whenever courtiers in rags, with some previous pique, stoked his fragile ego with stories of rampant lawlessness in villages because huzoors power had ended, huzoor would come out with his preferred shotgun. This sad, fake dadagiri lasted as long as the boxes of Eleys did.

This trans-Ganga tragic hero came to mind when my eye fell on a bold headline of a piece by Graham E. Fuller, formerly of the CIA, on the aggressive style of Joe Bidens and Anthony Blinkens early outings in Foreign Affairs: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Superpower in Decline.

The subsequent utterances are subdued and moderate but the initial knee-jerk reaction was revealing. Fuller writes: The US leadership must have set some kind of new record in managing to personally insult the powers of the world within 48 hours of each other in these early days of the Biden administration. President Biden called Vladimir Putin a killer and lacking a soul. Blinken was equally insulting on China.

This country has some grounds for pride in its own imperfect democratic order. Still, how much reflection does it take to acknowledge what the Chinese Communist Party has accomplished in the past 30 years? Is it more worthy to bring half a billion people out of poverty into middle-class life in a mere generation? Or more worthy to maintain intact an American electoral system in which mediocre or bad leaders emerge as readily as good ones?

Fullers invective is focused on the Biden-Blinken opening salvos at Russia and China. I would have scoured anything Fuller wrote on the tenth anniversary of the Syrian crisis. Five Western powers observed the occasion with all the fire and brimstone of the past. Fuller knows the area backwards.

A key policy document advising the Reagan administration in 1983 on military action against Syria for strategic reasons was his handiwork. I have had this document ever since it was released in 2008, having been in secret vaults for 25 years.

After visiting Damascus and almost all the trouble spots in Syrias neighbourhood, I had written a paper The Storm in the Arab Spring, the eye of the storm being Syria. I feel qualified to take a critical look at the statement the foreign ministers of the US, France, Germany, Italy and UK issued on the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the tragedy.

One allegation the ministers repeat is straightforward: President Bashar al Assad started the ghoulish operation against his own people who were rebelling against misrule, corruption, economic distress. Not true. I was in Damascus at the outset.

There were reports fairly early in the Obama administration leading the global effort to deploy shadow Internet and mobile systems which dissidents can use to undermine repressive governments that seek to silence them by shutting down communications network. James Glanz and John Markoff of the New York Times described one operation in a fifth-floor shop at Washingtons L Street, where a group of young entrepreneurs, looking like a garage band, are assembling deceptively innocent-looking hardware into a prototype Internet-in-a-suitcase. It was all part of the big push for the Liberation Technology Movement, and how comprehensively it was applied against the Syrian regime.

In Syrias case, the moderate operation the free world was busting its guts to help, in many cases, turned out to be cover for extreme Islamists like Jabhat al Nusra. One such instance defence secretary Lloyd Austin admitted before the Senate Armed Services Select Committee: A $500 million project to train moderates to fight Assad turned into an embarrassment for Washington. Most trainees disappeared, along with the lethal equipment. Mr Austin mumbled four or five of the moderates trained were still with us.

Among the trick sentences in the foreign ministers statement was one on Daesh (Islamic State). Preventing Daeshs resurgence remains a priority, the statement says. Hadnt Daesh, in the administrations words, been destroyed? So why is possible resurrection posed as a threat? Because the threat, when live, can justify airstrikes and other forms of intervention? In Americas sole superpower moment, countries were averse to calling the US names: how can it be accused of nurturing terrorists as possible assets in future contingencies?

The free run the US and regional allies like Saudi Arabia had to alter the ground realities in Syria ended when the Russians arrived in 2015, boots on the ground.

A brief background to place Baghdadi in perspective. President Barack Obama was livid with Iraqi PM Nouri al Maliki for not signing the status of forces agreement before the US troops departure. Washington wanted him out.

Just about this time, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi puts out a video from Mosuls main mosque on July 4, 2014, declaring the formation of an Islamic Caliphate. In August 2014, Mr Obama gave a significant interview to Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times. Asked why he didnt order airstrikes against ISIS when it reared its head in June-July 2014, Mr Obama admitted that airstrikes on Baghdadi in July would have taken the pressure off Nouri al Maliki, Iraqs stubbornly anti-American Shia PM. In other words, the rapid march of ISIS from Mosul to Baghdads outskirts was facilitated to keep the pressure on the PM. In September 2014, Mr Maliki was shown the door. Moral: Terrorists can be assets in certain circumstances!
Last week, President Joe Biden introduced a $2 trillion plan to invest in American infrastructure.

The plan includes money for housing, electric vehicles, roads and bridges, schools, the electrical grid, public transit, railways, high-speed broadband, and more.

It's a huge investment, and it's unlikely to pass Congress in its current state. Still, whatever is finally passed will be a huge boost to jobs and the economy--in addition to improving our daily lives.

Over the last few years, we've seen what happens when the electrical grid is overwhelmed, or roads and bridges crumble. COVID-19 taught us how important high-speed broadband is to basic participation in school and work in today's world, and why modern ventilation in school buildings is not a want but a must.

These issues have been put off time and time again, because this is such a huge endeavor. But the problem is, if you don't take the first step, the big problems not only remain, they continue to get worse as time goes on.

In one sense, it doesn't matter where we start to improve on infrastructure, just that we actually get started. With as many building blocks as possible.

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HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Poseidon Water today announced that the Third District California Court of Appeal issued a decision denying the petition by seawater desalination opponents to overturn the Sacramento County Superior Court's 2019 ruling upholding the California State Lands Commission's 2017 approval of an amended lease for the proposed Huntington Beach Desalination Project ("Project"). The Court of Appeal decision reaffirms that the State Lands Commission correctly analyzed the Project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and that the Project protects the state's Public Trust resources.

The California Appeal Court decision marks the seventh time since 2005 that Huntington Beach Desalination Project approvals issued by local and state agencies have withstood legal challenge by opponents of seawater desalination. (see below Chronology of Legal Challenges to Poseidon Water's Huntington Beach Seawater Desalination Project)

In 2010, the State Lands Commission (SLC) first approved a Lease Agreement allowing Poseidon to build and operate the Project. In 2016, Poseidon submitted an application to the SLC to modify the Project by adding technological enhancements to the facility's seawater intake and discharge facilities that would further minimize marine life impacts and comply with the State Water Resources Control Board's Ocean Plan Amendment for desalination facilities. The facility's technological enhancements were analyzed in a robust Supplemental Environmental Impact Report and were approved unanimously by the SLC on October 19, 2017. The California Coastkeeper Alliance, California Coastal Protection Network and the Orange County Coastkeeper chapter then filed a lawsuit against SLC and Poseidon, challenging this approval, which the Sacramento County Superior Court denied on January 8, 2019. The appellants then chose to appeal the Superior Court's ruling.

The Court of Appeal rejected all of the appellants' arguments, affirming the Superior Court's January 2019 decision and upholding the SLC's actions in approving the Project and its amended lease. Notably, the Court of Appeal found that the evidence Poseidon presented demonstrated a need for the Project to meet Orange County's water demands.

"The desalination facility will provide Orange County with a new, drought-proof drinking water supply that will protect public health and safety in the face of changing climate conditions," said Scott Maloni, Poseidon Vice President and Huntington Beach Project Manager. "We're pleased with the California Court of Appeal's thoughtful validation of the State Lands Commission's approval of the Project and we look forward to obtaining the remaining permits and approvals necessary to build the plant."

The Project is in the final phase of its permitting process. Prior to commencing construction, the facility requires an amendment and renewal of a permit first issued by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2006 and approval of a Coastal Development Permit by the California Coastal Commission. These remaining state approvals are anticipated before the end of 2021 starting with the amendment and renewal of the Regional Board's permit, which is scheduled for Friday, April 23rd. The dismissal of the Coastkeeper groups' lawsuit is important in that it allows the Regional Water Board and Coastal Commission to rely on the Project's environmental analyses as part of their respective permitting processes.

About Poseidon Water

Poseidon Water is a private company that partners with public agencies to deliver water infrastructure projects. The company's primary focus is developing large-scale reverse osmosis seawater desalination plants implemented through innovative public-private partnerships in which private enterprise assumes the developmental and financial risks. For more information on Poseidon's Carlsbad Desalination Plant, visit the plant website at www.carlsbaddesal.com. For more information on Poseidon's Huntington Beach desalination plant, visit the project website at HBfreshwater.com.

Chronology of Legal Challenges to Poseidon Water's Huntington Beach Seawater Desalination Project

Legal Challenge #1: November 2005 - Surfrider Foundation Huntington-Seal Beach Chapter and Sierra Club Angeles Chapter v. City of Huntington Beach (Case No. 06CC00063). Petitioners filed a lawsuit challenging the City of Huntington Beach's September 6, 2005 approval of the project and its certification as lead agency of the Environmental Impact Report for the project under the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"). On January 5, 2007, the California Superior Court rejected the appeal of the certified Re-circulated Environmental Impact Report (REIR).

Legal Challenge #2: March 2006 - Surfrider Foundation, Orange County Chapter of Coastkeeper and Residents for Responsible Desal (R4D4) appeal the City of Huntington Beach's February 27, 2006 approval of the project's Coastal Development Permit (CDP 02-05). The Commission accepted the appeal and the permit was stayed.

Legal Challenge #3: September 2006 - Surfrider Foundation and Orange County Chapter of Coastkeeper filed a petition with the State Water Resources Control Board appealing the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board's August 25, 2006 approval of Order No. R8-2006-0034 [NPDES CA8000403]. On August 28, 2007 the State Board denied the appeal ruling that it "failed to raise substantial issues."

Legal Challenge #4: October 4, 2010  Surfrider Foundation, Orange County Chapter of Coastkeeper and Residents for Responsible Desal (R4D4) appeal the City of Huntington Beach's September 2010 approval of the project's Coastal Development Permit (CDP 10-014), which replaced the previously appealed CDP 02-05. On November 17, 2010, the Commission accepted the appeal and the permit is stayed.

Legal Challenge #5: March 12, 2012 - Surfrider Foundation, Residents for Responsible Desalination (R4D4), Orange County Coastkeeper and Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation (CERF) file a petition with the State Water Resources Control Board appealing the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board's February 10, 2012 approval of Order No. R8-2012-0007 [NPDES CA8000403]. The petition was not filed in a timely manner within the 30-day period required by statute, and there was never any confirmation from State Board that the Petition was accepted. On July 31, 2015  over three years after filing the petition during which no action was taken by the State Water Board - the appellants formally withdrew their petition.

Legal Challenge #6: November 17, 2017  California Coastkeeper Alliance, California Coastal Protection Network and Orange County Coastkeeper file a petition with the California Superior Court Sacramento County challenging the California State Lands Commission's October 19, 2017 approval of the Huntington Beach project's lease amendment (No. 1980.1) and certification of the project's Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) evaluating the technology enhancements proposed by Poseidon in order to comply with the requirements of the State Water Board's Ocean Plan Amendment pertaining to desalination facilities. January 8, 2019, California Superior Court Judge Richard Sueyoshi denied the lawsuit.

Legal Challenge #7: February, 2019 - California Coastkeeper Alliance, California Coastal Protection Network and Orange County Coastkeeper appealed Sacramento Superior Court's January 8, 2019 denial of their challenge to the State Lands Commission's approval of the Project. On April 8, 2021, the California Court of Appeal denied the petition's arguments in full and affirmed the Superior Court's decision.

Contact: Scott Maloni, [email protected]

SOURCE Poseidon Water
Washington's approach toward Beijing under President Donald Trump was a "recipe for American failure" and the Biden administration needs to "seriously rethink" that approach, former Singapore diplomat Kishore Mahbubani said recently.

The Trump administration's China policy hardened a consensus among both Republicans and Democrats that "China is at root an adversary that must be thwarted," Mahbubani wrote in an essay published in March on Global Asia, a quarterly publication of the Seoul-based East Asia Foundation.

Mahbubani, currently a distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore, said the United States will head toward a disaster if the Biden administration continues Trump's policy on China.



Relations between China and the U.S. have sharply worsened since the Trump administration launched a trade war in 2018. Tensions have also escalated over the case of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, COVID-19, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan and the South China Sea.

"The reality is that the Trump administration's policies on China damaged America's standing, did no real harm to China and did not arrest China's growing trade and economic links with the rest of the world," Mahbubani said in his article "Was Trump Right or Wrong on China? Biden's Answer Will Shape the Future."

He suggested for the Biden administration to "first stop and do a cool, dispassionate analysis of U.S.-China relations and then work out a coherent, credible and comprehensive long-term strategy toward Beijing."

Many in the world would agree with the assessment of the Harvard Kennedy School that support for the Communist Party of China (CPC) among the 1.4 billion Chinese grew from 86.1 percent in 2003 to 93.1 percent in 2016, Mahbubani said, calling on Washington to understand and respect that fact.

The Biden administration should acknowledge Trump's failure on China and "chart an alternative path toward Beijing," he said. The administration should press the "pause" button on the geopolitical contest with China, "give a quiet wink to the Canadian government" to release Meng Wanzhou, develop a realistic understanding of China and stop insulting it, he added.

It would be a big mistake for the U.S. to underestimate China and view their ties with arrogance, Mahbubani stressed.

"At the end of the day, what most of humanity would like to see is a rational understanding and a rational discourse between the world's two leading powers, America and China," he wrote.

Face-to-face dialogue in Alaska

Last month, senior Chinese and American officials met face to face for the first time after Biden took office.

CGTN,

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-04-08/Singaporean-scholar-urges-Biden-to-reassess-U-S-policy-on-China-ZhI4C2YshO/index.html






KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.  Senior leadership at the Oregon Institute of Technology said Friday that they are "disappointed" in the actions of the faculty union as tensions at the public university come to a head.

Oregon Tech - American Association of University Professors (OT-AAUP), the faculty union, said Thursday that it has delivered notice of its intent to strike. If the strike does materialize, it is set to commence "no earlier than Monday, April 26."

We could have gone on strike as early as April 19th, but we hope with this additional week the administration will offer a proposal that respects the work of faculty so that a strike can be averted, said Dr. Mark Clark, former president of OT-AAUP.

According to the union, the two sides have been bargaining for 16 months, with mediation ongoing for almost six months  but agreements on salary, benefits, and working conditions are still far from settled.

If OT-AAUP does strike, it will be the first time that a public university faculty has done so in Oregon's history.

Oregon Tech's administration released a statement on Friday, expressing dismay at the union's declaration. The senior leadership said that it believes the parties are making progress on an agreement.

According to OIT, the university pays full-time professors more than comparable institutions, and meeting the union's demands for salary increases would result in a significant jump in tuition while potentially reducing student instruction time.

Oregon Tech places emphasis on student instruction, and this has always been a point of pride for faculty and the University, said OIT's president, Dr. Nagi Naganathan. Oregon Tech remains committed to working collaboratively with OT-AAUP to achieve a sustainable first faculty contract that meets the interests of all of Oregon Tech and in particular, our students.

OIT's leadership said that the unions demands would cost the school roughly $9 million over the next three years.

Parallel to the faculty union's push for better compensation, the university's Faculty Senate has been leading an effort to oust Dr. Naganathan  most recently culminating in a "no confidence" vote circulated among full-time faculty. According to a statement from the Faculty Senate this week, the vote returned a clear repudiation of the president's leadership, with 92 percent of respondents affirming the vote of no confidence.

We have attempted in various forums and over multiple years to communicate our faculty's concerns with his leadership style to Dr. Naganathan, said Faculty Senate vice-president Dr. Christopher Syrnyk. However, the results provide a statistically clear statement of the facultys position: 92 percent of faculty have expressed their lack of confidence in the president.

Dr. Clark, also a member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, said that public comments made by Naganathan made matters worse after the Faculty Senate delivered its concerns.

He has said that faculty dissatisfaction is overstated, and that any visible discontent is the result of agitation by a small number of individuals, Clark said. I think this vote is a definitive refutation of his position  he has clearly alienated the vast majority of faculty members and should be removed from his position.

The results of the vote are being presented to the Oregon Tech Board of Trustees.
Mumbai, April 9 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has nabbed two Income Tax Department officials for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 15 lakh, an official said here on Friday.

The arrested officials were identified as Dilip Kumar and Ashish Kumar, both attached as Inspectors of the ITD Investigation Unit-I in Ballard Pier, Mumbai.

Third accused, Inspector S.N. Rai, has been named by the CBI and further investigations are underway.

According to the CBI, following a complaint, a case was registered against the accused trio who demanded the bribe amount from the complainant for helping him out during a probe by the ITD.

The agency sleuths set up a trap and nabbed the two inspectors, while accepting the bribe of Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh from the complainant.

The CBI also raided two places in Mumbai and one in New Delhi comprising official and residential premises of the accused duo.

It led to the recovery of Rs 700,000 cash and incriminating documents relating to investments in the realty sector by one of the accused. The two will be produced before a Special CBI court later.
Khartoum, April 9 : West Darfur Governor Mohamed Abdalla Al Doma announced that 132 people were killed in the recent armed clashes in El Geneina, the conflict-hit Sudanese state's capital city.

"According to the medical reports, so far, the number of the people killed is 132," Al Doma said at a press conference here on Thursday.

He said the security situation in the city is calm and the armed clashes have ceased, pointing to acts of looting at the outskirts of the state capital, reports Xinhua news agency.

He added that the militias which attacked the civilians came from outside the city and from some countries neighbouring Darfur.

"These are cross-border militias. Some came from Chad, and some from Libya, but they infiltrated without the knowledge of those countries," he noted.

The armed clashes broke out on April 3 between the Al-Massalit and Arab tribes.

Two days later, Sudan's Security and Defence Council declared a state of emergency in the state and authorised forces to adopt all necessary measures to end the armed clashes.

Sudan's Darfur region has been mired in a civil war since 2003.

On December 31, 2020, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution that ends the mandate of the UN-African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) in the region.

The around 16,000 UNAMID soldiers, who have been deployed in Darfur since 2007, are set to complete their exit in July.

Meanwhile, a UN Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) will deploy during 2021 to support the transitional period in the country.

The transitional government in Sudan is trying to fill in the security gap in Darfur by forming a special force from the security and military institutions and armed groups which signed a peace agreement with the government in October 2020.
Armenia ex-Ambassador to Vatican on Armenians' emigration and reasons

Catholicos of All Armenians takes remains of St. Gregory the Illuminator to Artsakh

Armenian ballet master Vilen Galstyan dies at 80

Scientists create virus-resistant cells with artificial genome

Spain and Portugal tie match 0-0

Putin shares expectations from upcoming meeting with Biden

Armenia 2nd President: Number of people who emigrated without returning has grown, only solution is shift of power

EU bans flights of Belarusian airline companies in its airspace

US deals blow to major Chinese companies

Armenia acting PM: 62% of weapons obtained were obtained between 2018 and 2020

Armenia acting PM: Meghri corridor issue and transfer of villages of Kazakh region were a topic in November 2020

Armenia ruling party MP drops mandate

Citizens of Armenia's Artashat greet acting PM by chanting 'Turk' and 'traitor'

Yura Movsisyan on positive changes in Armenia national football team

Armenia Ombudsman reminds PM's ex-chief of staff about shortcomings in activities during war

Armenia 3rd President: We must start bringing back people who know everything about troops

Armenia MOD hosts consultation with deputy commanders and battalions' commanders

Armenia Ombudsman says acting PM's plan won't ensure restoration of Armenian citizens' rights

Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijan's failure to return POWs is equivalent to war crime

Armenia 3rd President receives Netherlands Ambassador

Armenia Prosecutor General speaks at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum

Boxer Narek Abgaryan to face off against Joe Ham in Dubai

Caparros and Armenia national team member giving press conference (LIVE)

"Armenia" bloc: We plan to meet with residents of Shirak Province

Armenian water resources come under Azerbaijani control, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, Jun. 4 digest

Armenia acting PM: Health insurance is inevitable

Armenia Investigative Committee launches criminal case regarding keeping of bodies and remains of deceased servicemen

Opposition "Armenia" bloc representative: Authorities are actually busy bribing voters

Armenia legislature passes law to help ease requirements for future teachers

Russia ambassador visits Meghri, Armenia border checkpoint (PHOTOS)

Armenia ruling party's candidate for anti-corruption commission member not elected

Armenia acting premier: There will be statement in coming days about exposure of high treason

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Armenia acting PM: Our task is to support our farmers so that engaging in agriculture is planned activity

China Daily: Water tribe prospers ashore in Fujian

Why does blood oxygen drop during COVID-19?

Kate Winslet named Global Ambassador for LOreal Paris

China calls for closer security, economic cooperation with Afghanistan

Yura Movsisyan arrives in Stockholm

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: There was proposal from Azerbaijans Aliyev on Meghri issue

CIS Observation Mission continues to monitor snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Nepal reports first death from 'black fungus'

Armenian analyst: High-ranking US delegation's visit to Armenia can't be viewed as support to incumbent authorities

"Armenia" bloc: Things can't get any worse in the country from the perspective of censure

Arthur Abraham building park in his hometown

Edmon Marukyan calls on people to vote for Bright Armenia Party to establish unity in the country

Armenia Ararat Province deputy governor sacked

Failed marriage: Kim Kardashian burst into tears, calling herself a loser

Russian Ambassador says Russia makes significant contributions to ensuring of Armenia's security

Azerbaijan reports 3 deaths from mine explosion in Karvachar

Sarkissian to Nigmatulin: Armenia, Kazakhstan have lot in common

ECHR fails to accept Azerbaijan's application against Armenia Government as new and separate case

Sandra Bullock breaks up with her boyfriend because of child

Head of Armenia's Verin Shorzha: Azerbaijanis operating equipment to move from one military post to the other

Why are pickles dangerous?

Iran produces trial batches of Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

President welcomes Catholicos of All Armenians who has arrived in Artsakh

Netherlands Ambassador to Armenia visits Specialized Children and Youth Cycling School

Armenia PM chief of staff: Possibility of full-scale war still exists in region

Tigran Hamasyan wins 2 Deutscher Jazzpreis awards

Alaska offers free COVID-19 vaccines to everyone

Two Azerbaijan reporters die in landmine explosion in Artsakhs Karvachar

Over 120 Nobel laureates urge G7 countries to step up efforts to tackle climate change

Downtown Yerevan murder solved, murder suspect is foreigner

Armenia former President Kocharyan: These authorities really have nothing to say

Armenia parliament holding 2nd special session in one day

Armenia ruling party MP unexpectedly admits that member candidate for anti-corruption commission is his wife

Court fines 12 Australian media outlets 1.1 million for reporting on Cardinal George Pell

Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan instrumentalizes captured people as political hostages, tools to pursue other goals

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: These authorities have not kept any of their promises in 3 years

Brazilian fans 'attack' Neymar

UN Security Council will make a recommendation on the next Secretary-General on June 8

Armenia ombudsman: Water resources have come under Azerbaijan army control

Turkish actress faces 2 years in prison for 'insulting' rapist

US lawmakers call for Turkey to be held accountable for repeated religious freedom violations

Mkhitaryan transfer value reduces by 5mn

Man gets poisoned by homeopathic remedy

72 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Candidate for post of Head of State must undergo psychiatric evaluation

Armenia legislature continues special sitting

Israel defense minister changes tone over Iran nuclear deal during US visit

Armenia parliament to convene 2 special sessions Friday

University of Nevada new School of Medicine to be named after Kirk Kerkorian

World food prices reach highest level in 10 years

Newspaper: Armenia ruling party to hold fundraiser Saturday

Newspaper: Russia does not manifest very active efforts in trilateral talks with Armenia, Azerbaijan

Most COVID-19 patients don't need antibiotics, study claims

US to donate 25mn doses of coronavirus vaccine

Armenia is elected UN World Tourism Organization Executive Council member for period of 2021-2025

Ice hockey World Championship: USA vs. Canada, Finland vs. Germany in semifinals

Armenia national team hold first training in Stockholm

National squads preparing for Euro 2020 play their next friendly matches

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

Armenia ombudsman: Any persecution, trial of captives is gross violation of international law

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

Manchester City have eye on Andre Silva

Catholicos of All Armenians leaves for Armenia's Syunik Province and Artsakh on pontifical visit
Losing personal items is a part of life. Now, there is one more thing you have to worry about misplacing  your vaccination card.

The informational card provides your COVID-19 immunization chart and space to record potential future booster shots.

Health officials recommend taking a photo of the front and back of the vaccination card but not to post it on social media. Officials say to then store it in a safe place such as where you keep important documents.

While Texas doesn't require individuals to show proof of vaccination, some places out of the state may require it like cruises and businesses in California

If you end up losing it, however, it's not the end of the world.

RELATED: Despite COVID-19 protocols, Spurs games are still a slam dunk

Texans can request a new record by calling 800-252-9152 or by submitting a form on the Texas Department of State Health Services website, which keeps a registry designed to consolidate immunization records.

You can also return to your original provider, who can print out a copy from the registry or fill out a new one, according to Douglas Loveday, a spokesman for DHS.

San Antonians who received their vaccine through the Metropolitan Health District can call 311 for guidance.

If your shot was administered at a pharmacy like H-E-B, CVS or Costco, customers will be given a new one with a photo ID.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention runs two programs  v-safe and VaxText  that are designed to track the side effects from the vaccinations. Texans can also contact either of the CDC programs to access their vaccination information.

taylor.pettaway@express-news.net
WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI  New appointments are becoming available weekly throughout Washtenaw County at the health department, as well as health systems and pharmacies.

While COVID-19 vaccine supplies are increasing, the Washtenaw County Health Department still does not have enough vaccine supply to meet demand, officials said.

The health department is still vaccinating some residents 65 and older, and those who became eligible on March 22, officials said. As of April 5, all Michiganders age 16 and older are eligible for vaccination.

People can make appointments online with the health department themselves as they become available.

Some appointments may become available at other times if individuals cancel after securing an appointment elsewhere, officials said. Residents should check the website late on Friday or Monday mornings for appointments to open.

Eligilbe residents should fill out the individual vaccine appointment request survey at https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6276235/COVID19VaccineScheduling. Those who cannot complete the survey online can call 734-544-6700.

The health department has a vaccination clinic at Chelseas Pierce Lake Elementary School and at Eastern Michigan Universitys Convocation Center.

County health officials also are encouraging residents to check retail pharmacies, such as CVS, Meijer, Walmart, Kroger and Rite Aid, who may have more supply.

Michigan Medicine and IHA are currently vaccinating patients based on supply.

There is also an ongoing mass vaccination site at Ford Field in Detroit. To register at this site, Michigan residents can sign up online at https://clinic.meijer.com/register/CL2021, call 888-535-6136, or text EndCOVID to 75049.

As of April 7, the Washtenaw County Health Department has reported 81.9% of people age 65 and older and 43.2% of people age 16 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

As of March 30, 133,567 people have received at least one dose of vaccine in Washtenaw County between its various health systems, state data shows. The Washtenaw County Health Department is responsible for administering 55,250 of those doses, according to county data.

READ MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS:

St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Ann Arbor nears capacity as Michigan sees COVID-19 hospitalizations rise

Michigan ranks highest in COVID-19 hospitalizations amid surge as model predicts further worsening

Washtenaw County residents can now self schedule for COVID vaccine appointments
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge - Victoria Jones/AFP

The Duke of Cambridge has urged banks to invest in nature to preserve the planet for future generations.

Speaking at an International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meeting, he warned that such investment accounted for only a fraction of the money spent fighting climate change and said investing in reforestation and sustainable agriculture were among the most "cost-effective and impactful" ways to tackling the issue.

His comments echo those of his father, the Prince of Wales, who is working with the private sector to convince some of the world's biggest companies to make ethical investments.

In January, Prince Charles launched the Terra Carta agreement  Earth Treaty  his most ambitious project to date, which aims to create a 7.5 billion fund to save the planet from destruction.

Prince Charles launched the Terra Carta agreement in January - Samir Hussein/WireImage

Addressing central bankers and finance ministers at the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, the Duke warned that the world's natural habitats were continuing to decline at an "alarming rate".

"We cannot recover sustainably from coronavirus, eradicate global poverty, achieve net-zero emissions or adapt to climate change without investing in nature," he said.

"Because doing so is one of the most cost-effective and impactful ways of tackling climate change. It removes carbon from the atmosphere, helps build more resilient communities, tackles biodiversity loss and protects people's livelihoods. This is crucial if our children and grandchildren are to live sustainably on our precious planet.

"The evidence is clear. Nature continues to decline at an alarming rate. And in the short-term, it is the world's most vulnerable communities who are most affected."

The decisions taken at the next UN climate change summit, the COP26, in Glasgow later this year will be a "vital step" in putting nature centre stage, the Duke said.

Banks have come under increasing pressure to help fight climate change.
Indias largest bank hasnt decided whether to help finance an Australian coal mine following mounting pressure from climate activists and investors, including BlackRock Inc.

Two senior State Bank of India executives, who asked not to be identified, said the bank was dragging its feet on extending part of a funding line of as much as $1 billion to , which plans to use the money for the controversial Carmichael mine. The banks executive committee, which will make the final decision, hasnt had discussions about the loan this year, the officials said.

The Carmichael mine has been the focus of environmental protests since it was proposed in 2010. SBI shareholders have joined the opposition. BlackRock and Norways Storebrand ASA raised their objections over the past year, and Amundi SA divested its holdings of SBIs green bonds because of the banks ties to the Carmichael mine.





ALSO READ: Adani Enterprises becomes third group firm to hit Rs 1-trn market cap

SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara, who took charge in October, is reticent to disburse the funds to Adani given the opposition to the Australian project, bank officials said. Still, no decision has yet been made about the loan, they said.

Adani said in a statement that construction of the Carmichael Mine is well underway and we are on track to export coal in 2021. The company added that its mine and rail projects are fully funded.



Spokespeople for SBI havent responded to emails seeking comment.

The Adani loan has left SBI, which is majority-owned by the Indian government, in a bind. While foreign investors are increasingly restricting support to involved in extracting or consuming coal, since its the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel, 70% of Indias electricity comes from coal plants. The bank has to balance its clean-energy lending policy with the power supply needs of the country, the SBI executives said.





ALSO READ: Adani Enterprises bags Rs 1,169 cr highway project from NHAI in Odisha

The Carmichael mine is located in the Galilee Basin in the northeastern Queensland province. The mines license was officially approved by the Queensland government in 2019 and if fully developed, the mine could contribute to an eventual doubling of Australias coal exports. While that may provide a fresh boon for the countrys economy, it would be detrimental to efforts to limit global warming and follows a year when Australia suffered record temperatures and widespread wildfires.

SBI drafted an in-principle agreement with Adani in 2014 for a $1 billion facility and brought in several banks from across the world to provide the funding as part of a consortium. The plan has had several iterations since then as the project became more politically controversial. The memorandum of understanding between SBI and Adani for disbursing the loan included several covenants covering environmental clearance, viability of the project and timelines.

While environmental clearance was granted by the Queensland government, the disbursal is subject to meeting other conditions including funding visibility from other lenders, the two officials said.

(With assistance from Rajesh Kumar Singh.)
(CNN) - The World Health Organization continues to believe that the benefits of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risk of rare side effects, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing in Geneva on Friday.

Even as we work to expand access to vaccines, were continuing to keep a close eye on vaccine safety, Tedros said.

All vaccines and medicines carry a risk of side effects, he said, adding that:

In this case, the risks of severe disease and death from COVID-19 are many times higher than the very small risks related to the vaccine.

Earlier this week European and British medicines regulators announced a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare cases of blood clots, with the UK announcing it would offer people under 30 an alternative vaccine. Later on Wednesday, WHO released a statement saying that a causal relationship between the vaccine and the occurrence of blood clots with low platelets is considered plausible but is not confirmed.

Tedros reiterated this point Friday.

The COVID-19 subcommittee of the WHO Global Advisory Committee on vaccine safety has reviewed available information from Europe and other regions and has said that a causal relationship between the vaccine and the occurrence of blood clots with low platelets is plausible, but more investigation is required, he said.

WHO, EMA and MHRA continue to recommend that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risk of this very rare side effect.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "WHO: Risks from COVID-19 much higher than AstraZeneca vaccine related risks"
WASHINGTON  Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday ordered new steps to tackle the threat posed by extremism in the ranks of the military, including updated screening questionnaires for recruits, a review of the departments definition of extremism and efforts to prevent veterans from being drawn into violent movements.

The move follows a 60-day stand-down across the armed services that Austin ordered to allow commanders and troops in every unit to discuss how to confront the problem of white supremacist or other extremist ideology within the military. The Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump thrust the issue into the spotlight, as some of the mob were former or current members of the military with links to ultra-rightwing groups.

In a memo Friday to top officials and commanders, Austin said the department was still reviewing the results of the stand-down but he had decided to move ahead with several immediate steps.

Under Austins instruction, the Pentagons top lawyer and other officials will review and update the departments definition of prohibited extremist activities for all service members. Critics have said the Pentagon needs to take into account how extremism has evolved in the digital era, and how some adherents engage in more loosely formed networks.

The secretary also called for updated screening questionnaires for potential recruits to gather information about current or previous extremist behavior to ensure that only the best qualified recruits are selected for the services, according to the memo.

The questionnaires, which would be standardized across the armed forces, would also clarify any demonstrably false answers that could later hold a service member accountable and form the basis for punitive action for fraudulent enlistment, it said.

The secretary ordered the department to provide training to troops preparing to retire to make them aware they could be targets for recruitment by extremist groups and to work with federal agencies to enable veterans the chance to report any potential contact with an extremist group should they choose to, the memo said.

Story continues

Image: (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Pool via AP)

Experts say the Department of Veterans Affairs, not the Pentagon, is the key agency when it comes to preventing or tracking extremism among veterans.

Austin also commissioned a Pentagon study of extremism in the force that would seek to gain a better understanding of the scope of the problem.

In his memo, Austin said a countering extremism working group would oversee the new measures and look at further steps to confront the problem, including possible changes to the militarys legal code, how to track potentially concerning behavior by troops, screening social media or other publicly available data for security background checks, and other reforms.

"The vast majority of those who serve in uniform and their civilian colleagues do so with great honor and integrity, but any extremist behavior in the force can have an outsized impact," Austin wrote in the memo.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters that the defense secretary learned during the stand-down that service members were eager for clearer guidelines on the whole issue.

"One consistent thing he heard is the force wants better guidance," Kirby said.

Kirby said the new working group will weigh whether membership in some militant groups would be prohibited.

Under current regulations, a service member can belong to an extremist group as long as they do not actively raise money for or engage in another activity with the organization.

Kirby said the effort launched by Austin was not aimed at curtailing free speech or targeting anyone for their religious beliefs.

This is not about being the thought police, Kirby said. It's about the behavior and the conduct that is inspired by or influenced by this kind of ideology.

Kirby added, Obviously, without a question, we would want and expect that anybody who raises that right hand and takes that oath, and joins the military ... that they are going to live by that oath.
NEW LONDON -- The Coast Guard barque Eagle has secured priority docking at City Pier that will allow it to call New London's waterfront home for at least 20 years.

The City Council on Monday approved a license agreement with the Coast Guard that provides a berth for the Eagle adjacent to the future National Coast Guard Museum -- the $100 million facility to be built behind Union Station.

Mayor Michael Passero said having the Eagle, known as America's Tall Ship, as a feature of the city's waterfront was always part of the long-term vision for the city and museum. "That's been our goal for many years and goes hand in hand with development of the Coast Guard museum. We expect that area of the waterfront to be transformed over the next couple of years," he said.

An iconic view of the Eagle from the downtown, Passero said, fits in with the city's economic development and branding efforts.

The license agreement with the Coast Guard grants the ship docking privileges, preferably on the south side of City Pier, whenever it is in the city. In the event another ship is docked there, it will use the north side of the dock.

The agreement is for 20 years, at $1 per year, with provisions to extend Eagle's stay for an additional 10 years. The city acknowledges that the Coast Guard may take steps to provide security during its stay, along with any necessary upgrades to the infrastructure.

While the Eagle has called New London its home port for many years, its permanent location has been at the state-owned Fort Trumbull.

Coast Guard Capt. Michael Turdo, commanding officer of the Eagle, said Fort Trumbull has been a wonderful host but he looks forward to being in a more visible and accessible location in coming years.

Turdo was executive officer of the Eagle from 2011 to 2014 and recalls that, during a two-week stay at City Pier, he observed more visitors than in the entire two years he had spent at Fort Trumbull.

"I think it will be a great draw for the city. We're excited for the move," Turdo said.

He said the plan is to have the Eagle on the city's waterfront as early as the end of 2022.

The Eagle typically offers regular topside tours open to the public, though all tours have been halted during the coronavirus pandemic. It's unclear when tours might resume.

The 295-foot Eagle, which is used as a training vessel for cadets at the Coast Guard Academy, has a sailing season from mid-February or March through September. During that time, it is out on various excursions often lasting two weeks. Maintenance occurs in the winter.

The Eagle is the only active-duty sailing vessel in military service.

The ship's privileges at City Pier are not exclusive and the city maintains a right, as per the new agreement, to permit other vessels to dock there. But the city agrees that with 72-hour notice from the Eagle, it will make efforts to ensure the Eagle has first priority on the south side of the pier.

Dockmaster Barbara Neff said the south side of the dock currently is occupied by the supply vessel "Go Pursuit," which has a three-year lease with the city at $3,333 per month for the first two years and $3,500 per month for the third year.

She said the move to bring in Eagle as a permanent fixture was always expected and she expects other vessels that might have docked throughout the year at City Pier could be accommodated in other spots along the waterfront. The Amistad, for example, uses Custom House Pier when it visits the city.

Neff said docking for a ship similar in size to the Eagle would run about $800 per day but the city has never charged any of the Coast Guard vessels to dock in New London. She agreed with Passero and said seeing the "million-dollar view" of the Eagle at the waterfront is a special sight and brings in foot traffic.

The lack of payments to the city was one of the reasons Councilor John Satti said he voted against the agreement. He was the only dissenting vote and said the city's revenue, had the city charged for docking fees, would top $1.6 million over the 20 years of the agreement. He also said the city should have factored in depreciation of the pier, a valuable city asset, as part of the negotiations with the Coast Guard.

Turdo said he expected the Coast Guard to make some improvements at the pier to help accommodate the Eagle -- things such as larger bollards and infrastructure upgrades to water, sewer and phone lines. Upgrades to the pier would be paid for by the Coast Guard and owned by the city.

Drew Forster, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard Museum Association, said having the Eagle next to the future museum will add to the overall experience for visitors. While there is no timeline for the start of construction of the museum, he said the fundraising for the museum has passed the halfway point, with over $75 million in funding secured, "an important milestone for us."

"We're happy donors have responded even during the pandemic," he said.

Built in 1936, the Eagle originally operated as a training ship for cadets in the German Navy. The ship was handed over to the U.S. as a reparation after World War II and sailed from Germany to New London in 1946.

This article is written by Greg Smith from The Day, New London, Conn. and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
SEOUL, April 9 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged ruling party officials to wage another "Arduous March" of work and sacrifice, state media reported on Friday, linking the current economic crises to a period in the 1990s of famine and disaster.

"Arduous March" was a term adopted by officials to rally citizens during a famine that killed as many as 3 million North Koreans after the fall of the Soviet Union, which had been a major backer of Pyongyang's communist founders.

The period is often talked about as a historic event, but Kim's apparent comparison to current problems comes after he earlier in the week said the country faces the "worst-ever situation."

His comments were made in a speech on Thursday at the closing of a conference for low-level Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) officials, where he had urged them to be more proactive and responsible in carrying out the country's new five-year economic plan, adopted at a party congress in January.

"I made up my mind to ask the WPK organizations at all levels ... to wage another more difficult 'Arduous March' in order to relieve our people of the difficulty, even a little," Kim said, according to a report by state news agency KCNA.

The party must reward the people's loyalty and become a genuine "servant" to them, he was cited as saying.

North Korea has not reported a single confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, but American and South Korean officials have cast doubt on the notion that it has escaped COVID-19.

The country ended almost all cross-border travel, restricted trade to a trickle, and imposed other restrictions to prevent an outbreak.

Those measures, combined with ongoing international sanctions imposed over North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, have taken a toll on the country's economy and raised concerns of humanitarian crisis.

An independent panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions recently reported that international aid groups were struggling to reach vulnerable women and children inside North Korea because of the pandemic lockdowns, leaving potentially hundreds of thousands without access to needed nutrients.

An official at North Korea's Ministry of Public Health released a statement on Tuesday denying that any children face malnutrition, and that such reports aim to tarnish the country's image. (Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
National cabinet will have discussions about the reopening of Australia when it meets on Friday, in light of new advice regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the issue of border closures will be discussed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and state and territory leaders, along with a rethink of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout timeline, which was for all Australian adults to receive their first vaccine dose by October.

Professor Paul Kelly said national cabinet will discuss the issue of border closures on Friday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

There will be specific discussions about the reopening of Australia at the national cabinet today, he told ABC News on Friday morning.

I will not pre-empt those discussions, only to say that the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, with the chief health officer group that I chair, has had really strong and meaningful and very good discussions about our reactions to outbreaks and so forth, including the issue of border closures.
New Delhi, April 9 : In a paradox of sorts, tax collections have significantly improved in the past few months despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the economy.

Experts said the reasons for the surging tax collections have been a combination of improving economic activities and coercive actions by the authorities.

In an ideal situation, tax collection should be in tandem with the GDP growth rate, but currently tax mop-up has been growing at a much faster pace, said Rajat Mohan, senior partner at AMRG & Associates.

Direct tax collection for the financial year 2020-21 stood at Rs 9.45 lakh crore, as per the provisional data. The net collection was around 5 per cent higher than the revised estimates for 2020-21.

"The net direct tax collections represent 104.46 per cent of the revised estimates of Rs 9.05 lakh crore of direct taxes for FY 2020-21," said a Finance Ministry statement.

Ved Jain, former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), told IANS that a major reason for direct tax collections having surpassed the revised estimate for FY21 was because the estimate was "conservative".

"Budget estimates for FY21 were quite high, as the pandemic was not anticipated. In April, May and June, there was no collection... September onwards the economy started picking up and when the revised estimates were prepared, the government was not so hopeful that the economy will revive to this extent. Now that the economy has done well in the months of January, February and March, the collection has surpassed the estimates, which were too conservative," he said.

Jain also said that the direct tax amnesty scheme of 'Vivad Se Vishwas' has helped the government increase its tax collection.

"The Vivaad Se Vishwas scheme also must have helped the government get direct tax revenue. The government says its has been able to collect around Rs 50,000 crore on the basis of the scheme," he said.

According to Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA: "As expected, the government of India's direct tax collections have modestly overshot the revised estimates for FY2021. The collections appear to have contracted by a modest 3.5 per cent in March 2021, suggesting the back-ended release of refunds." Noting that the FY21 provisional direct tax collection numbers are better than the revised estimates, Devendra Kumar Pant, Chief Economist, India Ratings and Research, said that the economy is slowly recovering and with 3QFY21 registering positive growth after two consecutive quarters of negative growth, the numbers are more on the expected lines.

"The sharp recovery in Q3 and Q4 of FY21 is validated by the GST and direct tax numbers. It is a welcome move on the part of the Finance Minister to project conservatively and beat the estimates... If we manage to contain the second wave without much damage, we are in for an extremely robust growth in fiscal 2022," said Ravi Vishvanathan, CFO, PayMate.

Apart from direct taxes, the government has also been able to reach record levels in terms of Goods and Services Tax (GST), the indirect tax regime. India's gross GST revenue collection reached a record high of over Rs 1.23 lakh crore in March 2021.

The GST revenues recorded last month are the highest since the introduction of the tax regime. Also, it was the fifth consecutive month when GST collections have topped the Rs 1 lakh crore landmark.

Experts said that detection of frauds and bogus input credit claims along with stringent action by authorities have played a major role in the improvement in compliance and increased tax collection.

Rajat Mohan noted that notices, summons, attachment of bank accounts and properties, survey and detentions have played a major role in tax collections.

The tax expert also told IANS that the government has uncovered a number of frauds that were going on, which has also boosted tax collection.
(Natural News) Dr. Michael Yeadon, Pfizers former Vice President and Chief Scientist for Allergy and Respiratory Disease, warns that governments will continue to deceive populations and lie to people about infectious disease diagnosis, transmission and risk. The governments perpetual deceit and authoritarianism during the covid-19 scandal has been used to control, discriminate, oppress, harass, divide and segregate people using discriminatory lockdowns, DNA swabs, mask mandates and other medical edicts that falsely imprison people, deprive people of due process and civil liberties. This authoritarianism, unaccountable to the law, provides a pathway for governments and pharmaceutical companies to enslave people, kill people and cover up their crimes.

The medical tyranny put in place during the covid-19 scandal will allow for continual mass murder

In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Dr. Yeadon said, Look out the window, and think, why is my government lying to me about something so fundamental? Because, I think the answer is, they are going to kill you using this method. Theyre going to kill you and your family. Dr. Yeadon spent 32 years in the pharmaceutical industry leading new medicines research, and knows how Pfizer and other drug companies manipulate, coerce and control media and governments to essentially maim people for profits.

During the covid-19 scandal, dozens of governments converged in unison to push the same lies about asymptomatic transmission which has been thoroughly investigated and debunked by scientists around the world. Yet, all the authoritarian policies enacted by governments around the world hinge on convincing the masses that this lie is true. This conspiracy is so powerful, it has deprived human rights and threatened longstanding medical rights such as informed consent, body autonomy, power of attorney, medical privacy, medical discrimination, due process, and basic civil liberties.

Dr. Yeadon addressed the most recent propaganda and tyranny surrounding the covid-19 scandal, including the terror of new covid variants, a fear tactic that is broadcast to justify the need for new lockdowns and travel restrictions. He also spoke out against Vaccine Passports, a digital surveillance and tracking system that uses QR codes to grants permission to only the vaccinated to be free in society. He said these authoritarian, coercive and discriminatory vaccination procedures would put the world on path to slavery and human carnage that far exceeds the massacres of the 20th century.

The arrival of these new covid variants provides opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to continue developing mRNA booster vaccines. Under a Vaccine Passport system, pharmaceutical companies would require perpetual compliance to new boosters and mRNA inoculation updates in order for people to participate in society. This level of totalitarianism would fall under the definition of crimes against humanity, especially when the experimental technology comes with its own set of risks and inevitably maims and kills a set percentage of the population. (Related: Pfizers vaccine studies are based on FRAUD and put lives in danger, warns former Pfizer vice president.)

Science and medicine are quickly being replaced by totalitarian authorities that facilitate medical fascism

Dr. Yeadon said the world is in dangerous territory because all the media outlets and Big Tech platforms are pushing the same propaganda on the covid-19 scandal, censoring the truth and brainwashing the masses with lies upon lies.

Companies like Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson are already getting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, to manufacture billions of new booster shots that will also be approved for emergency use authorization and pushed onto the perpetual lab rat populations of the world. Under this insane new precedent, drug companies will not be required to perform any clinical safety studies and can forcibly experiment on and abuse the population with new vaccine campaigns and perpetual permission-seeking through the Vaccine Passport app surveillance systems.

Yeadon warned that this new scientific dictatorship will be able to push out unregulated vaccines, and victims will have no recourse when they are injured or killed because these vaccine companies contract with governments to have immunity from prosecution. This will allow drug companies and medical fascists to come up with new mRNA sequences, which will go from the computer screen of a pharmaceutical company into the arms of hundreds of millions of people, [installing] some superfluous genetic sequence for which there is absolutely no need or justification.

Yeadon said everyone should fight like crazy to make sure that system never forms. Because if it does, it will introduce a system of human slavery and segregation that installs a permanent form of medical fascism and genocide that makes the evils of Stalin, Mao, and Hitler appear mild.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had an online conversation with president Odile Renaud-Basso of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Prime Minister's press service informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Pashinyan said in particular: "Armenia highly appreciates the partnership with the EBRD (...). I would like to emphasize the importance of the ongoing dialogue between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the EBRD."

The PM noted that the amount of the EBRD investment portfolio in Armenia in 2020 was 160 million euros, which is the largest annual package during the entire period of the partnership.

Pashinyan stressed that Armenia spares no effort to resolve the humanitarian issues in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) due to the military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan, but no less important is the response of the international community and financial institutions to this humanitarian crisis.

The EBRD president, in turn, noted that the Bank attaches importance to a reliable partnership with Armenia and is interested in deepening cooperation and funding new programs in this regard. Also, Odile Renaud-Basso considered their work with the Ministry of Finance of Armenia effective.

The interlocutors exchanged views on the current agenda of cooperation, as well as future programs.

Infrastructure projects were also discussed. In this connection, Pashinyan reflected on the unblocking of regional communication channels, noting that the reopening of communication infrastructure can be promising for joint projects.

Also, the Prime Minister reaffirmed Armenia's support for the EBRD's 5-year strategy, and added that the country would be happy to host the EBRD annual meeting in 2024.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 13:49:25|Editor: huaxia

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CANBERRA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The opening of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) to international scientists could enhance collaboration of scientists from different countries, said Australian astrophysicist Naomi McClure-Griffiths.

"The telescope is brand new. Many people want to use it, and there's a lot of competition to use the telescope," said McClure-Griffiths in an interview with Xinhua. "As we move into the future, I hope to be able to use it more."

FAST is in southwest China's Guizhou province. As world's largest filled-aperture and most sensitive radio telescope, it officially opened to the world starting March 31.

Professor McClure-Griffiths, an astrophysicist and radio astronomer, works at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics in the Australian National University.

She told Xinhua that she had been to the FAST twice. "I was working in collaboration with a scientist who was the project scientist for FAST, professor Li Di ... and he took me to the telescope to show me how it works. And we've been discussing scientific projects that we could do there."

She hailed the telescope as an "amazing feat of engineering." "It's absolutely phenomenal," said the professor. "It's big beyond belief and an incredible structure."

McClure-Griffiths discovered a new spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy in 2004, and was awarded the Pawsey Medal from the Australian Academy of Science in 2015.

"I'm interested in how galaxies form and how they evolve, and I think the FAST, with its sensitivity as well as its ability to see fine detail, can image very small areas and will allow us to look at our own galaxy, for example, and study how it is interacting with the medium around it."

She compared the FAST to a bucket, and said it was good for studying hydrogen in the universe, which is the dominant element that makes up galaxies and shows how they work. "The reason FAST is so good for studying hydrogen is because it's a very big bucket and allows you to see the really weak bits of hydrogen that are in between galaxies."

FAST could also be used to discover pulsars. To date, FAST has found more than 300 pulsars, and the number is expected to reach 1,000 in the next five years.

"Pulsars are very compact stars that rotate very quickly," said Professor McClure-Griffiths. "They produce just a very weak signal of radio emission. So the bigger your telescope is, the more likely you are to find them."

Applications submitted by domestic and overseas scientists to use the FAST will be evaluated by top international experts, which the professor said was good for international study and cooperation.

Already established in her career, she has had collaborations with Chinese scientists, and had opportunities to visit and understand the telescope. "But for the younger scientists who don't necessarily have the collaborations yet with Chinese astronomers, this (FAST's opening to international scientists) is offering them the opportunity to access the telescope and start to build those collaborations and expand their network."

McClure-Griffiths said she knew some teams in Australia that look forward to chances when they could access the FAST.

"It's going to be really exciting to see the results from FAST in the upcoming years," she said. Enditem
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Its just outrageous and extremely petty, Hart said Thursday. The fact that people are picking up on that, instead of the fact that she came to Chicago to make sure that we can get vaccinated and that theres vaccination equity in our city.
[April 08, 2021] LONGi to supply modules for projects in Malaysia's latest LSS3 tender

XI'AN, China, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LONGi, the world's leading solar technology company, announced that it will supply its high-efficiency modules to two of the five awarded projects under the Large Scale Solar (LSS) 3 tender in Peninsular Malaysia for commercial operation in 2021. The two projects, totalling 190MW, are located in Kerian, Perak state (100MW) and Kuala Muda, Kedah state (90MW) and contribute to the Malaysian government's target of achieving 20% renewable energy by 2025. The LSS3 auction round attracted 112 bids for more than 6.73 GW of generation capacity, with five successful bidders securing a total of 490MW of capacity. The lowest solar energy price offere in the tender was MYR0.17777/kWh ($0.042). Due to the keen competition, developers were required to present exceptional levels of financing and proven system design ability as well as stringent selection of components.



LONGi's Hi-MO5 monofacial and Hi-MO4 bifacial modules were selected for the two projects. Given scarcity of land in Malaysia, LONGi's high efficiency in P-type mono technology and outstanding compatibility in system design played an important role in the winning strategies of the successful bidders. Dennis She, Senior Vice President at LONGi Solar, commented, "We greatly appreciate the trust placed in us by our customers and Malaysia is a key market for LONGi in the Asia-Pacific region, one to which we have always been fully committed. We will continue to ensure the timely delivery and reliability of our premium, high-quality products for these LSS projects, supporting Malaysia's renewable energy targets."

About LONGi LONGi, founded in 2000, is a world leading solar technology organization. The company has had a long-term, unswerving commitment to monocrystalline technology, convinced, rightly, that its general adoption would bring about significant technological change for the whole PV industry. With 15 manufacturing bases and more than 30 branches around the world, LONGi produces monocrystalline silicon wafers and modules, delivering solutions for distributed and ground mount power station systems, promoting the development of the global PV industry and driving energy transformation. The company's shipments have been among the industry's highest for a number of years and, in 2020, it became the first manufacturer to ship more than 20GW of modules in a year. LONGi's ongoing high investment in R&D is a significant contributory factor in its success and the company has been rapidly applying new technologies and processes to large-scale production, making important advances in cost control and efficient product innovation. In 2020, LONGi became the first Chinese solar energy company to join the RE100, EV100 and EP100 initiatives, set up to promote zero-carbon solar and sustainable development. SOURCE LONGi Solar

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Sri Lanka on Friday lodged a claim for $17.38 million with the Greek owners of an oil tanker that caught fire and left a spill stretching 40 kilometres (25 miles) off the South Asian island.

The New Diamond vessel was travelling from Kuwait to India with 270,000 tonnes of crude oil on board in September when a fire broke out as it passed Sri Lanka's east coast.

The crude being carried as cargo was unaffected by the blaze but some of the tanker's fuel leaked into the Indian Ocean.

Its skipper was in October fined $65,000 for causing the spill and failing to inform local officials of the environmental damage left behind.

Authorities are now seeking compensation from Greek firm Porto Emporios Shipping Inc for the damage.

"The Attorney-General forwarded the marine pollution claim for 3,423 million rupees ($17.38 million) to lawyers of the owners of MT New Diamond in respect of the oil spill caused in September," the office of Sri Lanka's state prosecutor said in a statement.

Officials said about 400 to 480 tonnes of fuel had leaked from the Panamanian-registered ship.

Firefighters led by India's coastguard as well as the Indian and Sri Lankan navies succeeded in putting out the blaze before the vessel was towed to the United Arab Emirates.

Porto Emporios paid Sri Lanka $2.38 million for extinguishing the fire.

The blaze started after an engine room boiler exploded, killing one crew member. The remaining crew of 22, including the skipper, were rescued.

aj/axn
Photo: COFI conference screengrab

Addressing a timber shortage in B.C. is going to require some give and take, and the taking could include the government taking back tenure from some of the large tenure holders, warns Premier John Horgan.

There is too little fibre and we need to do something about that, Horgan said Thursday in a keynote address at a virtual Council of Forest Industries (COFI) conference.

Even as Horgan and forestry company CEOs were discussing the problem of a shrinking timber supply Thursday, a mini War in the Woods was brewing in the background in Horgans own riding of Juan de Fuca.

Earlier this week, Teal Jones received a court injunction against protestors that have been blockading logging operations in the Fairy Creek watershed near Port Renfrew.

Environmentalists say the area should be off-limits to logging due to the dwindling amount of coastal old growth forest.

But forest company CEOs at Thursday's conference said more than 50% of the coastal forest is already off limits to logging in some way, through parks and conservation areas.

Jeff Zweig, CEO, Mosaic Forest Management, pointed out that policies for managing old growth forests have been in place for 30 years and have been subject to revisions.

"The restrictions on harvesting have only grown," he said.

He pointed to a newly released COFI study that estimates the forest industry in B,C, employs 100,000 people directly or indirectly, and urged caution in making changes that could affect the industry.

"Before we make changes to the way in which we manage old forests in B.C., we need to understand what the soci-economic impacts will be," Zweig said.

Horgan did not mention the ongoing opposition to logging in old growth forests, including in his own riding, but his forestry minister did.

"This issue has historically divided British Columbians," said Katrine Conroy, minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. "Today it's no different. We've seen protests in our communities and blockades of our forests, and we've heard from forest dependent communities concerned about their fate.

"One thing both sides have agreed on is that the old way of protecting old growth forests just wasn't working," Conroy said.

Though the industry is currently enjoying a bonanza of high lumber prices, they will eventually come down again, and high operating costs and a shrinking annual allowable cut (ACC) could result in the resumption of a rationalization that saw several sawmills permanently shuttered.

B.C.s forest industry has been through two years of bust and boom. In 2019, forestry companies were reporting net losses, permanently shuttering sawmills and curtailing shifts in B.C. They blamed high operating costs  stumpage rates being a big factor  falling lumber prices and an ever-shrinking supply of fibre.

In the Interior, the Mountain pine beetle and forest fires have reduced the available timber supply. On the coast, the timber supply has shrunk partly due to conservation, with more than 50% of the forest land base being made off limits through parks and protected areas  the largest being the Great Bear Rain Forest.

Despite a pandemic, 2020 proved to be a banner year for B.C. forest companies, as a demand for lumber  through new housing starts and repairs and renovations in the U.S. and Canada  dramatically increased the demand for lumber, pushing lumber prices to record highs.

"Record lumber prices, they've helped bring dozens of mills back online and thousands of people back to work," Conroy said

Horgan urged the industry to use any windfalls wisely.

We all know that this is a cyclical business, he said. And we all need to make sure that we're taking advantage of these extraordinarily high prices so when the market starts to stabilize again we're not looking back to governments, or our workers, to make concessions to make sure that the companies can continue to be profitable.

He reiterated a mantra that B.C.s forest sector needs to move from high volume to higher value, and cited engineered wood and mass timber as an example. On Wednesday, the Horgan government announced $4.2 million in grants to support a dozen mass timber demonstration projects in B.C.

Secondary manufacturers need access to fibre to get into the promising businesses like mass timber and other high value products, Horgan said. We need to make sure they can access fibre.

Much of the Crown forest tenure in B.C. is concentrated largely in the hands of just a few big players.

Horgan wants to see some of that tenure freed up to smaller opersators that stuggle to access logs. Two years ago, he wrote to the CEOs of B.C.s forestry companies urging them to work with each other, First Nations, workers and communities to try to free up some of that tenure.

Horgan said there has been a lack of progress in the voluntary redistribution of tenure, adding "I'm disappointed about that.

He said Conroy has been given a mandate to revise B.C.s forestry policies. The new policies are expected to be made public in the coming weeks.

There's no magical solution to the lack of fibre, Horgan said. But I do believe there's work that we can do, business to business, to encourage companies and indigenous nations to work together.

And those who do have tenure and do not want to share it, well we'll have to step in and ensure that there's fair compensation as we move to a more equitable distribution of access to forest products so that we can continue to have the diversity that we all want to see.

Horgan added that, despite calls to reform the way stumpage rates are charged, the system will not change.

Stumpage rates in B.C.  a fee charged for each tree cut on Crown land  is based in part on the prices established through B.C. Timber Sales, a provincial government agency.

Forestry companies have called for reforms in the way stumpage rates are calculated. But the B.C. government has said moving away from a market-based system for setting prices would only arm the American lumber lobby with stronger arguments that Canadian lumber production is subsidized, which has resulted in American anti-dumping and countervailing duties.

B.C.s market based system will remain unchanged, Horgan said. BC Timber sales will continue to do the good work that they're doing.
Former Limestone County Schools Superintendent Tom Sisk pleaded guilty in a student enrollment fraud scheme.

Sisk went before a federal judge Thursday in a virtual hearing to enter his plea agreement. The judge allowed him to remain free on bond until his sentencing hearing.

Sisk is one of six people indicted in the fraud scheme. Two others also pleaded guilty Thursday.

He will be a witness for prosecutors in his remaining co-defendants trial, including that of former Athens City Schools Superintendent Trey Holladay.
He was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries as a result of the shooting and ultimately died, police said. He was the only person in his vehicle, police said.
Two staffers have quit their jobs with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) as he faces allegations of sex trafficking and sex with a minor.

The New York Times reports Gaetzs legislative director Devin Murphy left the Republican congressmans office on Thursday, days after Luke Ball resigned as Gaetzs communications chief.

Murphy told associates that he was interested in writing serious legislation, not working at TMZ, one source told the Times.

Gaetz, a 38-year-old conservative and a close ally of former President Donald Trump, is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old, possibly violating federal sex trafficking and prostitution laws while paying her to travel with him. The age of consent in Florida is 18.

Gaetz has denied the allegations and vowed to remain in office. He also claimed a former DOJ official is attempting to extort him for $25 million and accused the FBI of threatening his friend.

But Gaetzs political future may be in further jeopardy as his associate Joel Greenberg, is reportedly working on a plea deal in a federal sex trafficking case. Greenberg could potentially serve as a witness in the Justice Departments investigation into Gaetz.

The Daily Beast reports Gaetz paid Greenberg $900 via Venmo in May 2018, and then Greenberg transferred the same exact amount to three women, who were all under 18 at the time.

Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex, his office said in a statement. Matt Gaetz refutes all the disgusting allegations completely. Matt Gaetz has never ever been on any such websites whatsoever. Matt Gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life.

Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger became the first GOP congressman to call for Gaetz to resign Thursday.

Matt Gaetz needs to resign, tweeted Kinzinger, with a link to the Daily Beast story.

CNN reports no other Republicans have called for Gaetz to resign, but few allies are speaking out in his defense.

Gaetz has not been charged with any crimes and the investigation is ongoing.
Where there is a will, there is a way, and villagers in India's southwest Karnataka state have chosen to take it quite literally.

Ever since FASTag, an electronic toll collection system in India, was implemented by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) in the state, it has been met with mixed reactions.

 Tribune India

The system was seen as a significant step in overcoming barriers in toll collection as it employs Radio Frequency Identification technology for making toll payments directly from the prepaid or savings account linked to it directly to the toll owner.



While it may indeed have been the right step, considering the current risk of spread of the Coronavirus through the exchange of currency notes, there has been disagreement between locals and toll companies with regard to concessions.

With the economy still in shambles and employment opportunities hard to come by, some locals would rather choose to pay less or not at all while passing through toll booths.

In fact, there has been an increasing demand for a toll-free route altogether in order to completely eradicate any such charges.

Exhausted from paying toll tax, the residents of Hejamadi village, which lies on the busy Mangaluru-Udupi highway in the state, made a series of pleas to the authorities.

On the local gram panchayat's request for a concession on buses from the village, the authorities later promised the matter to be resolved in accordance.

However, the concessions never came in, which forced the locals to take matters into their own hands.

After an emergency meeting held by the gram panchayat, the locals resorted to using an earth excavating machine or bulldozer to carve out a parallel, temporary 'toll-free' road right next to the toll booth.

 IndiaTimes

As the news of the developments broke out to the authorities, a representative of the concessionaire rushed to the spot to request the locals to stop the construction and negotiate a middle ground.



However, the villagers stood firm, and only when they were given a written assurance of their demands being met, that they decided to stop the bulldozing procedure.

If this wasn't quite an example of "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India), we dont know what is?
Alabama is getting $147 million in federal aid to screen students and staff in K-12 schools for the coronavirus, but it isnt clear how or when testing might begin or even if all schools will choose to participate.

The money comes from a $10 billion allocation to all states from the American Rescue Plan and is administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends screening as part of an overall COVID-19 mitigation plan for schools.

Testing would be voluntary, said Michael Sibley, a spokesman for Alabamas Department of Education, and local school officials will need to opt into the program. It also is not clear at this time which test officials will use.

COVID-19 testing is essentially the same for children as for adults, and the Food and Drug Administration has approved both PCR tests, which use the long swab, and rapid-result antigen tests, for children.

Most Alabama children now are back in in-person learning, but with just roughly 22% of the adult population vaccinated, the virus may linger for months and continue to impact schools.

School Superintendents of Alabama Executive Director Ryan Hollingsworth said he has heard some superintendents express interest in voluntary testing, but the devil may be in the details  he said he is not sure if schools have the staff to conduct the tests, as many schools still dont have a nurse on staff.

Its unclear who would do the actual testing, but it might not fall to school employees. Sibley said outside health contractors might be hired to collect samples, run tests and do paperwork.

I just dont think a school person outside of a health professional  meaning a nurse  would be comfortable inserting that up a childs nose, Hollingsworth said, of long swabs sometimes used for COVID tests.

Related: Some schools are still deciding whether to keep masks

Many schools already conduct random drug tests for athletes, he said, so its not unheard of for schools to give medical diagnostic tests, but those tests are typically given by medical personnel.

As a grandparent, Hollingsworth said, I dont want anybody except a health professional sticking that up my grandkids nose.

Alabama Education Association President Sherry Tucker told AL.com the organization supports COVID-19 testing by schools.

School COVID-19 testing sites, if adopted by a local school system, provide a convenient service for the school community and voluntary testing is another tool in the toolkit to keep Alabama students and educators safe, Tucker said.

A spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Public Health told AL.com they are working with the education department on details of how the testing program could roll out and will share more information when plans are finalized.

Alabama school superintendents have until the end of day Friday to respond to a survey State Superintendent Eric Mackey sent Wednesday.

According to the survey, testing could begin in the spring and continue through the summer and into next year. It asks superintendents whether they want to participate in testing this spring, this summer, this fall or all of the above.

Get in-depth education news and follow The Alabama Education Lab by signing up for its newsletter, Ed Chat. See more recent stories here.
Industrial Bank of Korea CEO Yoon Jong-won speaks during an online meeting with new employees of the lender at its headquarters in Seoul, on Mar. 24. Yonhap



By Lee Min-hyung



Financial institutions in Korea will face a tougher time appointing labor-recommended outside directors after the Financial Services Commission (FSC) blocked a much-anticipated move by the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK).



The labor-recommended outside director system was one of President Moon Jae-in's election pledges to enhance the influence of labor against management. The government pledged to introduce the initiative starting in the public sector, and then widen it to private firms.



IBK CEO Yoon Jong-won recommended to the FSC a number of candidates for two outside director seats, but the financial regulator ended up appointing two of IBK's management-backed figures, including Dankook University professor Kim Jung-hoon and Hanyang University professor Jung So-min. They will serve for three years as outside directors of the lender.



Yoon also included labor-backed candidates on the shortlist, but they failed to be appointed to the positions.



The appointment of labor-recommended outside directors was a major issue in the domestic financial industry, amid hopes that IBK might set an example by being the first to do so. Last year, KB Financial Group failed to appoint a labor-recommended outside director.



"If IBK had become the first financial institution to implement the initiative, other financial players, particularly state-run lenders such as the Export-Import Bank of Korea, or commercial lenders, would have aggressively resumed internal discussion over the issue, but that appears unlikely for the time being, after IBK failed to do so," a financial industry source said.



Now, chances have grown slimmer for other financial firms to pursue such steps in the foreseeable future.



"Despite the much-hyped pledge, it will be virtually impossible to make private institutions adopt the system unless state-run organizations embrace it first," the source said.


The question now, of course, is how to offset the loss of those oil and gas jobs.

A shift to low carbon or carbon free energy sources may help, although Ms. Caranci said the number of jobs they are likely to create is difficult to predict. They also have another problem: Its not likely that many of them will be in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland, the three provinces with the most oil and gas jobs. Plants making batteries for electric cars are likely to be built  if theyre built in Canada  near auto plants in southern Ontario rather than in northern Alberta.

The more than 450,000 jobs that are expected to disappear wont go away immediately, so theres still time for planning. Canadas experience with retraining those who lost factory jobs can give the country an example to avoid, Ms. Caranci said. Those retraining programs largely failed to prepare people for new work or help employers looking for people with new skills.

In the report, Ms. Caranci suggests that Canada replace what she describes as a patchwork of retraining programs and income support programs with something more like the system Singapore uses. It works with employers to first identify specific jobs and specific skills they are looking for in workers, then sets up training programs to build skills for those jobs.

I think what happens is that for governments, the path of least resistance is to throw money at the problem: Heres money to retrain, heres money to help for a year, she said. Weve got to throw out what we were doing before and just start over cleanly, thoughtfully with these workers in mind and not try to have programs for every worker in the economy  just the ones who are most impacted.
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U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell on Friday asked Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to deploy New Mexico National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border as more migrant families and unaccompanied children arrive, but the Democratic governors office suggested that she redirect her concerns to the federal government.

Herrell, the states sole Republican member of Congress, wrote in a letter to the governor that the state is on the front lines and the influx amounts to a public health threat that could compromise the progress New Mexico has made in curbing the coronavirus pandemic. She said that since President Joe Bidens election, the situation at the border has worsened due to both perception and the policies of his administration.

The U.S. Border Patrol is overworked, undermanned and under-supplied, Herrell wrote. It is your duty as the governor of our great state to protect our citizens from both COVID-19 and the cartels that cross our border.

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The governors office said the National Guard has been busy with efforts to keep New Mexicans safe during the pandemic by staffing COVID-19 testing sites, delivering food, water and other supplies to communities and helping with the vaccination campaign.

We encourage the congresswoman to most effectively address her own concerns by directing them to the federal agencies working on the issue, Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett told The Associated Press in an email.

The Governors Office had no comment about the recent cases of children being abandoned along the border in southern New Mexico.

The U.S. Border Patrol on Thursday reported nearly 170,000 encounters with migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border in March, marking a 20-year high. That includes nearly 19,000 children traveling alone across the border, which was the largest monthly number ever recorded. Marchs count was roughly double the number of unaccompanied children encountered by the Border Patrol in February and more than five times the number in March 2020.

Border Patrol agents earlier this week located a group of migrants near Lordsburg after getting a call for assistance from a resident. A woman in the group who had an 8-year-old boy with her said she had found the child walking alone in the desert and took him in as they made their way to the border.

The unaccompanied boy was transferred to a processing center pending placement with the Health and Human Services Department, which has been struggling to find temporary housing for tens of thousands of migrant children.

The number of people attempting to cross our southern border is unprecedented and something must change in order to deter migrants from making that life-threatening journey, Herrell wrote the governor. I believe that change is deploying National Guard troops to the border, and I again call on you to do so.

In neighboring Arizona, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has accused the Biden administration of ignoring the situation along the southern border.

Ducey has been pushing for the administration to fund a border deployment. When asked Thursday whether he would be willing to use state funds to send National Guard troops to the border, Ducey said the state would use every tool, authority and resource that we have to be successful on the southern border but noted that Arizona would need to work together with the federal government.
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (R) presents the decisions to Truong Thi Mai (Photo: VNA)

Mai is the first female head of the commission in its history, the local media reported.

Mai, 63, born in Quang Binh Province, holds a Master's degree in public administration and Bachelors degrees in history and law.

Before serving as head of the Commission for Mass Mobilization, she was head of the National Assemblys Committee for Social Affairs.

Between August 1994 and 2002, she held the post of secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union's Central Committee. From March 1998 to February 2003, she was president of the Vietnam Youth Federation.

In related news, the NA has relieved two deputy chairpersons---former NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong and former Vice State President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh---and eight members of the National Election Council.

Do Van Chien, secretary of the Party Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, and Vice State President Vo Thi Anh Xuan have been elected to replace Phong and Thinh.

The eight new members of the council comprise Mai, Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang, NA Vice Chairmen Nguyen Duc Hai and Nguyen Khac Dinh, head of the NA Standing Committees Board for Deputy Affairs Nguyen Thi Thanh, head of the NA Office Bui Van Cuong, Minister of Home Affairs and deputy head of the PCCs Commission for Organization Pham Thi Thanh Tra and first secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union's Central Committee and president of the Vietnam Youth Federation Nguyen Anh Tuan.
A celebrity seafood chef has offered a unique spin on the classic cheeseburger by using tuna instead of beef patties.

Josh Niland, the 32-year-old owner and head chef behind Saint Peter and the Fish Butchery in Paddington, New South Wales, shared a snap of the mouthwatering creation describing it as one of the 'favourites' on the Fish Butchery menu.

The pricey $20 takeaway burger includes charcoal grilled Mooloolaba Yellowfin tuna fillets, cheddar cheese, 'lacto-fermented' cucumber, trimmed iceberg lettuce leaves and optional 'swordfish bacon' for $8.

A celebrity seafood chef has offered a unique spin on the classic cheeseburger by using tuna instead of beef patties

Josh Niland (pictured), the 32-year-old owner and head chef behind Saint Peter and the Fish Butchery in Paddington, New South Wales, shared a snap of the mouthwatering creation describing it as one of the 'favourites' on the Fish Butchery menu

A similar dish is on the menu at Saint Peter for $38.

It's not the first time the masterful young chef has wowed with his creations, with Niland recently coming up with an epic gourmet sandwich - complete with ocean trout 'salami', kingfish 'mortadella' and swordfish 'belly bacon'.

Niland, who's known for cooking with every part of a fish, unveiled the 'Muffuletta', which looks remarkably similar to a deli-style sandwich, except the 'sliced meats' are made entirely from different types of fish.

The pricey $20 takeaway burger includes charcoal grilled Mooloolaba Yellowfin tuna fillets, cheddar cheese, 'lacto-fermented' cucumber, trimmed iceberg lettuce leaves and optional 'swordfish bacon' for $8.

Italian muffuletta sandwiches are usually made with layers of thin-sliced cured meats such as salami, capocollo, soppressata and mortadella.

His deli-inspired sandwich consists of an ocean trout salami, kingfish mortadella, albacore tuna nduja, swordfish belly bacon and pickled tommy ruff, topped with dried tomatoes, olives, sorrell and pesto and provolone.

Niland said his sandwich was inspired by top chef Clayton Wells, who created the A1 Canteen's muffaletta press sandwich, which comes with sourdough, Italian provolone, ham, mortadella, salami, olives, sun-dried tomatoes.

Niland, who's known for cooking with every part of a fish - unveiled the 'Muffuletta', which looks remarkably similar to a deli-style sandwich, except the 'sliced meats' are made entirely from different types of fish

He also previously added a 'kingfish ham' to the menu, which wowed with its remarkable similarity to a traditional ham

He also previously added a 'kingfish ham' to the menu, which wowed with its remarkable similarity to a traditional ham.

The kingfish version was made with crispy, glazed skin and pink flesh.

'I don't think fish has ever looked tastier. In the entire history of humans eating fish for food, no one has made fish look this tasty,' one customer wrote.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 17:39:17|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for more trade and investment among members of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), according to a statement issued by the presidency in Nairobi on Friday.

The OACPS needs to leverage on its past successes such as the existing Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), a trade and development deal between the European Union and OACPS, to become a more influential actor in the global economic arena, Kenyatta said.

The Kenyan leader is now the president-in-office of the Summit of OACPS Heads of State and Government.

"With a combined population of over 1.1 billion people and a gross domestic product (GDP) of about 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars, the transition from ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific group) to OACPS presents enormous opportunities for intra-OACPS trade and investments; and the achievement of greater shared prosperity for all our people," Kenyatta told a virtual town hall meeting of the OACPS on Thursday night.

The event was to commemorate the first anniversary of the revised Georgetown Agreement, which came into force on April 5, 2020. The agreement, adopted during the ninth OACPS summit in Nairobi in December 2019, introduced several reforms, including changing the name of the bloc from ACP Group of States to the OACPS.

The OACPS should aim for a transition that supports structural transformation to foster industrialization, diversification of economies and an increase in value addition of primary products, Kenyatta said.

He called for a multi-pronged approach to resource mobilization and welcomed the various debt relief mechanisms that "have created the needed fiscal space to reduce the negative effects of the pandemic."

"However, we seek a continuation of the debt suspension initiative; and debt cancellation, for the most severely affected countries," Kenyatta said. "The prolonged pandemic requires continuous mitigation measures."

He welcomed the completion of a new agreement between the OACPS and the EU, saying the pact will be signed later this month. Enditem
Ithaca, N.Y.  Campus police at Cornell University are asking the public for help finding a missing student.

Cornell University Police said Thursday that a parent reported freshman Shawn N. West, 18, as missing. He was last seen in his residence on the Ithaca schools north campus on the morning of April 6 and has not been seen since.

West, whose family lives in New York City, is described as 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. There is no description of what clothing he was wearing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Cornell University Police at (607) 255-1111 or by email at CUP-inv@cornell.edu.

CNYCentral reports Cornells Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi asked everyone to keep Shawn and his family in your thoughts during this difficult time.
John Cox knows that from a percentages standpoint, he fared worse against Gavin Newsom in 2018 than California's previous two Republican gubernatorial candidates fared against Jerry Brown. But he says it's the raw vote count that really matters.

"It's a little unfair to look at percentages," Cox said. "In 2018, you had Democrat turnout supercharged by [Tom] Steyer, [Mike] Bloomberg and [George] Soros with all the ballot harvesting, so it was a tough environment for any Republican. What's important is I received more votes than any GOP candidate in state history other than Arnold Schwarzenegger."

For the record, while Steyer, Bloomberg and Soros did fund Democratic candidates or voter registration drives, they did not spend money on "ballot harvesting," a term for the collection of completed ballots by a third party. Cox is right about the fact that 2018  a typical "wave" midterm election where the party out of national power enjoyed strong turnout  was a tough environment for Republicans, specifically ones running in blue states with an energized Democratic base driven to the polls by a loathing of then-President Donald Trump.

But Cox's 23.8 percentage-point defeat represents the state's most lopsided gubernatorial race since 1950, when Republican Gov. Earl Warren won re-election over Democrat James Roosevelt by a margin of 29.7 percentage points. Cox ran proudly under the endorsement of Trump, while advertising himself as a similar outsider and businessman-turned-political-novice who could take on the California political machine.

His bid fell well short, and yet Cox is back for the recall election likely to take place in the fall.

Why?

"Im clearly the best known Republican in the state  other than Kevin McCarthy  so I have fairly robust name recognition, but I'm not going to rest on that," Cox said. "People need to understand we're here because Mr. Newsom is the ultimate insider. The Gettys, Browns, Pelosis and Newsoms have been the power behind everything in California over the last 60 and 70 years, and I think thats something that makes you detached from what people are going through every day, especially with the pandemic."

In September 2018, the Los Angeles Times published a long article exploring how "a coterie of San Franciscos wealthiest families" backed Newsom "at every step of his political rise." The Times story notes that Newsom "wasnt born rich," but rather "born connected."

"I didnt grow up with wealth, I didnt have the Gettys financing my lifestyle," Cox said. "Newsom's background is not shared by 99.99% of Californians. Life hasnt been difficult at all for Gavin. He cant understand how tough life is, but I do. I grew up without my father, and I struggled to open businesses and support my family all along. I eventually got wealthy, but it wasn't handed to me."

It sure sounds a lot like his 2018 message.

In the time since, Cox has not received as much attention as other GOP candidates hoping to unseat Newsom. In fact, a straw poll taken among recall organizers in March found Cox in sixth place behind former Trump Cabinet official Ric Grenell and former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, among others. Faulconer has formally announced his bid, while Grenell has strongly hinted at a run.

Cox has also experienced staff turnover and knows what the landscape around him looks like. But he believes he can convince GOP voters to stay away from Faulconer and Grenell in a recall election, where voters will be presented with an assortment of options at the bottom of the ballot. In the 2003 recall of Gray Davis, there were more than 100 candidates at the bottom of the ballot.

Allen J. Schaben/TNS

"I actually helped Kevin get elected," Cox said of Faulconer. "But I think that 20-story building transaction is a disqualifying transaction."

Cox is referring to the 101 Ash St. debacle, an incident where the city of San Diego purchased a downtown high-rise for renovation, only for it to be revealed later that the building contained substantial amounts of asbestos, amid other problems. Cox accused Faulconer of making the purchase to reward a political donor, a claim its previous owner disputes.

"[San Diego] owes millions," Cox said. "Thats my beef with Kevin Faulconer. I find him unqualified from that alone. He's a politician who favored major donors, which we've got with Gavin, and we dont want another."

As for Grenell, who served as Trump's ambassador to Germany and acting director of National Intelligence?

"He doesnt have the name recognition I have," Cox said. "I know Ric personally, but his interest, I believe, is primarily foreign policy. He specialized in that to some degree, and to my understanding, he has never run a business outside of consulting work. I have 40 years of business experience and while I welcome anyone in the race, the voters are looking for people who fix problems and solve issues."

Cox seems to be hoping that his outsider, business-friendly message will resonate better post-pandemic than it did in 2018.

And why not take that chance? He's correct to point out that he has high name recognition stemming from his 2018 bid, and he has the means to self-fund a campaign through the summer and fall.

Furthermore, he believes the problem-solving outsider persona he's trying to build will serve him well amid what's expected to be a grim wildfire and power outage season right before the recall election.

"I know Newsom hasn't done what he needs to do to prepare," Cox said. "He hasnt taken my suggestion of building an air armada of jumbo jets to fight fires." However, in the wake of the Camp Fire in 2018, some state officials questioned the effectiveness of firefighting airplanes.

"It's not only the fires, but electricity, too," Cox said. "We're also probably going to have water rationing even though we had unbelievable snows and rains a couple years ago. It's not just Gavin but Jerry Brown, too, no one in Sacramento or California politics has paid attention to our infrastructure."

But while California saw rainier seasons a few years ago, the state has now had two drier years in a row. For water year 2020-21, California saw 50% of its average precipitation, making it the third driest year on record.

"Over the summer, we're going to have more power blackouts if it gets hot and humid. People are not going to tolerate another blackout with the continuing high cost of living, and these are the issues Im going to be talking about all summer long. By the time we get to October or November, I think Californians are going to say, 'We cant live with this anymore, we have to get someone who can fix problems.'"
Skyhook announces that it has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with Microsoft. Under the agreement, Skyhooks Precision Location solutions will now be utilized by Microsoft to augment and improve the delivery of geolocation services to Microsoft products and services.

Skyhook offers a global hybrid positioning service called the Precision Location solution that combines Wi-Fi, cell, GPS, IP address and other location information to provide accurate, available and efficient location positioning services around the world.

The deal enables Microsoft to use Skyhooks solution to provide customers with accurate and user-controlled location-based experiences in Microsoft products and services. Leveraging Skyhooks Precision Location services will provide Microsoft with network-based Wi-Fi and Cellular positioning.

Skyhooks Precision Location solution is a leading independent positioning service, said Craig Waggy, CEO, Skyhook. We are proud to support Microsoft through the delivery of superior location services.

We are continuously improving our user experiences, said Kristian Andaker, vice president of program management for CSX Services and Fundamentals at Microsoft. Adding Skyhook as a partner will enhance Microsofts location-based products and services.

About Skyhook

Skyhook is the worldwide independent leader in location technology, operating the world's largest independent location network, consisting of 5.1 billion geolocated Wi-Fi hotspots, 200 million cell towers, and 20 million actionable venues. Skyhook processes tens of billions of location transactions, serving devices, apps, wearables, brands and advertising platforms with precise and accurate location data and intelligence. Skyhook, through its parent company Skyhook Holding, Inc., operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Broadband Corporation. To learn more visit www.skyhook.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210408005022/en/
The Social Network, the film that depicts the founding of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard friends, is a compelling drama that also causes viewers idly to speculate: 'If I'd been able to back this university start-up in 2004, how rich would I be now?'

Facebook is now an $880bn giant. The share price has risen from $42 in 2012 to $309. Yet its early performance was disappointing, a point to note amid the buzz over Oxford Nanopore, the DNA sequencing technology business spun out from the university that is set to make a stock market debut this year.

For savers in the failed Woodford equity income fund, Oxford Nanopore's move has been a fresh source of chagrin, as the stake was sold by the administrator Link at a fraction of its current value.

A shot in the arm: A number of companies and trusts have selected ventures set up by academics that could provide brilliant share price appreciation

This has reminded people of the risks involved in backing innovation, at a time of heightened nervousness about tech company valuations. Founders such as Sergey Brin and Larry Page who created their web search algorithm at Stanford University are very much the exception, rather than the rule in becoming billionaires, thanks in their case to the success of Alphabet, the owner of Google.

Most bright ideas hatched at universities  like brainwaves that occur anywhere else  come to nothing. And even if the idea is marvellous, there is still the issue of how to commercialise it - something the UK has not always succeeded at in the past.

Richard Penny of the CRUX UK Special Situations fund comments: 'The winner tends to be the company with the better business model. For example, IBM brought out the first PC in 1981, but the biggest beneficiary has been Microsoft with its Windows operating system.'

Penny continues: 'You have to be careful of falling in love with a science. You have to focus on how brilliant science can scale up to produce brilliant share price appreciation.'

If you are still keen this year to allocate some of your cash to backing ideas from the brightest minds, and perhaps play a role in Covid recovery and the fight against cancer and other illnesses, there are ways to lessen the gamble.

A number of companies and trusts have selected ventures set up by academics that could, with good fortune and great management, provide that brilliant share price appreciation. The stakes held by the AIM-listed Draper Esprit, for example, include Riverlane, a quantum computing spinout from Cambridge.

The IP Group forms intellectual property partnerships with universities, owning about 100 such stakes. It was a seed investor in Oxford Nanopore in 2005 and its 15 per cent holding is now valued at 340.3m, thanks in part to the use of its system in spotting and tracking coronavirus mutations.

IP Group is recovering from its association with Woodford who was a shareholder until September 2019 when he disposed of his shares at 53.5p in a fire sale.

The shares are now 131p, thanks to the flotation  on a sevenfold return on the original investment  of Ceres Power, a specialist in fuel cell technology that converts hydrogen and natural gas into electricity.

Syncona, the investment trust that was known as Battle Against Cancer, focuses on life science companies, such as T cell therapy group Autolus (another former Woodford holding) which was spun out from University College London in 2014.

At present, the trust is at a 21 per cent premium. This may be due, in part, to factors such as improvements in clinical trial processes that have been made during Covid-19, which, as the trust has suggested this week, could boost its holdings.

Henderson Opportunities, another trust, has a small holding in Oxford Sciences Innovation which invests in Vaccitech, the business co-founded by Professor Sarah Gilbert who led the development of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. Vaccitech  which owns the biotechnology behind the vaccine  is set to go public in the US this month. The Treasury is said to have a stake.

Schroder UK Public Private has a stake in Inviata, a Cambridge spin- off whose liquid biopsy platform identifies amounts of cancer DNA in cancer patients' blood.

The complexity of the science behind all these innovations will be, for many private investors, a very good reason to steer clear of university spin-offs.

Some people prefer to commit their savings only to things they understand or can research themselves with relative ease. Of course, the teams at the trusts and companies that back spin-offs subject them to huge scrutiny, but this does not guarantee success.

Being prepared for a substantial degree of risk is not the only quality necessary for investors in this area. If you want to make the leap of faith required to back technological and other advances, you need a particular mindset.

As Saul Klein of venture capital group LocalGlobe puts it: 'You have to be able to focus on how significant the opportunity is and how significant the upside.'

Good advice, but only feasible if you can afford to take a long-term view and lose your cash.

If this is not the case, be reassured that you are, as a taxpayer, already a backer of all sorts of start ups through the government's Future Fund which has lent 1.2billion to about 1,200 ventures. May they include names that will provide us a decent return on our money, and inventions that will improve our health and our lives.
A chimpanzee named Mogli has been found dead at Sydney Zoo after fears he escaped from his enclosure sparked panic.

Visitors who called in to radio stations claimed they were locked in buildings and told to stay in their cars on Friday morning amid reports an animal escaped the zoo in Blacktown, Sydney's west.

Sydney Zoo said the reports of an animal on the run were incorrect and revealed a chimpanzee had actually died.

A chimpanzee named Mogli was found dead in his habitat at Sydney Zoo on Friday

A photo of Mogli who the zoo said was a a beloved member of its chimpanzee troop

Pictures from the enclosure showed a man in a scuba suit and snorkels in water as he was assisted by zookeepers

'Sydney Zoo is sad to announce the death of Mogli a beloved member of our chimpanzee troop,' the zoo said.

'Mogli was found in the chimpanzee habitat this morning by our team.'

Sydney Zoo said it was investigating the circumstances of Mogli's death.

'Once more information is known we will make a further statement,' the zoo said. 'We would like to confirm that media reports of an escaped animal are false.

'The team are in a state of deep shock and grief.'

Mogli was remembered by hundreds of Facebook users who offered their condolences to the zoo.

'I am so sorry for your loss. Sending my love to the troop, keepers, staff, and volunteers. Go easy on yourselves,' one person commented.

'How terribly sad. We were there yesterday and my kids had such great time. Our thoughts are with the keepers and the staff,' another wrote.

A third person commented from outside the zoo: 'So sorry to hear this. We're still happily waiting in the very long queue to come in - many new friendships have been made in cars around us while we all sit and wait!'

Visitors were told to stay in their cars on Friday morning amid reports an animal escaped the zoo in Blacktown, Sydney's west. Pictured: Crowds in the car park

A birds eye shot of Sydney Zoo in the western suburbs on Friday morning

Sydney Zoo said it was investigating the circumstances of Mogli's death

Pictures from the enclosure showed a man in a scuba suit and snorkels in water as he was assisted by zookeepers.

Another shot from the scene showed four men carrying a green bag.

In the car park, hundreds of animal lovers were huddled together in a line as they waited.

One woman asked Sydney Zoo for information before they announced Mogli's death.

'There's a lot of us that have been out here in your parking lot with frustrated toddlers since before 9am with no updates or info on what's going on,' she wrote on Facebook.

Sydney Zoo was founded in 2015 and is home to more than 1,000 animal species.
Israel on April 8 said that it would formally reject the International Criminal Courts decision to launch a war crimes investigation into the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. According to Associated Press, back in February, a panel of judges at the ICC ruled that the court does have jurisdiction and further allowed the investigation to proceed. The ICC had also sent a deferral notice, giving Israel and Palestinian Authority (PA) a month to inform judges whether they are investigating crimes similar to those being probed by the ICC.

However, just ahead of the deadline, Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahus office issued a statement saying that the government had agreed to not cooperate with the ICC. Israel said that the court is biased and has no right to investigate. The middle-eastern country also cited the fact that the Palestinians have neither a state nor defied borders.

The Israeli government said, In addition to totally rejecting the claim that Israel commits war crimes, Israel reiterates its unequivocal position that the Hague Tribunal has no authority to open an investigation against it.

The statement added, Israel is committed to the rule of law and will continue to investigate any charges against it regardless of the source, and it expects the tribunal to refrain from violating its authority and sovereignty.

Probe into possible war crimes during, after Gaza war

The ICC, on the other hand, is expected to look at possible war crimes committed by Israeli forces and Palestinian militants during and after the 2014 Gaza war. The court is also expected to investigate Israels establishment of settlements in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem that now houses more than 700,000 settlers. It is worth noting that international law prohibits the transfer of civilians into occupied territory.

Meanwhile, experts have said that Israel might have succeeded in deferring investigations into possible war crimes by citing its own investigations into alleged misconduct by its soldiers. However, the establishment and continuing expansion of settlements has been an official state policy for decades and is allowed under Israeli law. Israel is not a member of the ICC, but the countrys officials could be subject to arrest in other countries if the court issues a warrant against them.

(Inputs & image: AP)


Running out of content to watch?

Dont worry, weve got you covered!

If you are done binging on heartland dramas, crime thrillers, and typical desi murder mysteries, weve discovered new content thatll keep you entertained through the boring weekends.

While we cant travel international, MX Player has decided to bring the best of international flavours home with its new MX VDesi content category. Under this, you can watch Korean, Turkish, French, Russian, and Spanish shows for Free in your local language. MX VDesis large catalogue of international shows is dubbed in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Whats more, the platform will be dropping 2 new shows every Wednesday for your weekly fix of content from across the globe.

Weve put together a list of their newly launched K-Dramas that we think are a must-watch.

Dr. Romantic Season 1





The Korean wave has hit us all hard and if youre still wondering what the hype is all about, get started with the hospital drama Dr Romatic. The show revolves around the lives of 3 famous surgeons. Our main lead, Dr. Romantic aka Kim Sa Bu, is a famous surgeon who gives it all up to live in seclusion and work as a neighbourhood doctor in a small town by the name of Teacher Kim. Second doctor is Kang Dong Joo, an ambitious professional who seeks out VIP patients to achieve success. The third doctor is our young protagonist Yoon Seo Jung, who is haunted by the mistakes of her past and is consciously trying to cover it up. The captivating drama takes off when Kang Dong Joo and Yoon Seo Jung meet the Romantic Doctor from the neighbourhood.



You can start streaming the show in Hindi for free on MX Player.

Doctor Stranger





This award-winning K-Drama is creating quite a stir worldwide and introduces us to the king of K-dramas: Lee Jong Suk. Hes known to be the Shah Rukh Khan of Korean dramas and he has the style and the talent to match this comparison! He has proved his mettle each time with dramas that are not only constant hits but also award-winning, including Doctor Stranger that follows the story of a father-son duo who were conned into settling in North Korea, despite being from South Korea.

Watch the show in Hindi for free on MX Player.



Pinnochio





The idealistic Choi In Ha has her work cut out for her when she becomes a broadcast journalist, especially when she suffers from a condition known as Pinocchio syndrome, which makes her breakout into hiccups whenever she tells a lie. Her rookie colleagues include Choi Dal Po, whose shabby appearance masks his true eloquence and sharp memory; Seo Bum Jo, a wealthy heir who has had everything handed to him in life; and Yoon Yoo Rae, whose fangirl knowledge comes in handy in covering the news. The 20-something newbie reporters pursue justice as they try to discover themselves in the process.
The Slovak State Agency for Medicines Control (SUKL) said yesterday that it did not receive the data needed to evaluate the Sputnik V vaccine from either the manufacturer or Hungary.

Zuzana Batova, director of the agency, said inconsistencies and a lack of data made it impossible to take a position on the risk-benefit balance of the vaccine.



The SUKL turned to Hungarys National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (Ogyei), as Hungary is the only EU country where Sputnik is used. However, the Ogyei refused to release the information, citing the confidentiality agreement with the manufacturer.



Eventually, the SUKL obtained the Sputnik V documents sent to the European Medicines Agency (EMA).



It emerged that the Sputnik V vaccines sent to Slovakia are not the same as those sent to the EMA for examination, according to the SUKL.



Moreover, the Slovakian authority states that Sputnik is used in approximately 40 countries, but these vaccines are the same only in name, as a different vaccine with this name is used in each country.





MTI Photo: Zsolt Szigetvary
The properties of carbon-based nanomaterials can be altered and engineered through the deliberate introduction of certain structural "imperfections" or defects. The challenge, however, is to control the number and type of these defects. In the case of carbon nanotubes - microscopically small tubular compounds that emit light in the near-infrared - chemists and materials scientists at Heidelberg University led by Prof. Dr Jana Zaumseil have now demonstrated a new reaction pathway to enable such defect control. It results in specific optically active defects - so-called sp3 defects - which are more luminescent and can emit single photons, that is, particles of light. The efficient emission of near-infrared light is important for applications in telecommunication and biological imaging.

Usually defects are considered something "bad" that negatively affects the properties of a material, making it less perfect. However, in certain nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes these "imperfections" can result in something "good" and enable new functionalities. Here, the precise type of defects is crucial. Carbon nanotubes consist of rolled-up sheets of a hexagonal lattice of sp2 carbon atoms, as they also occur in benzene. These hollow tubes are about one nanometer in diameter and up to several micrometers long.

Through certain chemical reactions, a few sp2 carbon atoms of the lattice can be turned into sp3 carbon, which is also found in methane or diamond. This changes the local electronic structure of the carbon nanotube and results in an optically active defect. These sp3 defects emit light even further in the near-infrared and are overall more luminescent than nanotubes that have not been functionalised. Due to the geometry of carbon nanotubes, the precise position of the introduced sp3 carbon atoms determines the optical properties of the defects. "Unfortunately, so far there has been very little control over what defects are formed," says Jana Zaumseil, who is a professor at the Institute for Physical Chemistry and a member of the Centre for Advanced Materials at Heidelberg University.

The Heidelberg scientist and her team recently demonstrated a new chemical reaction pathway that enables defect control and the selective creation of only one specific type of sp3 defect. These optically active defects are "better" than any of the previously introduced "imperfections". Not only are they more luminescent, they also show single-photon emission at room temperature, Prof. Zaumseil explains. In this process, only one photon is emitted at a time, which is a prerequisite for quantum cryptography and highly secure telecommunication.

According to Simon Settele, a doctoral student in Prof. Zaumseil's research group and the first author on the paper reporting these results, this new functionalisation method - a nucleophilic addition - is very simple and does not require any special equipment. "We are only just starting to explore the potential applications. Many chemical and photophysical aspects are still unknown. However, the goal is to create even better defects."

This research is part of the project "Trions and sp3-Defects in Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes for Optoelectronics" (TRIFECTs), led by Prof. Zaumseil and funded by an ERC Consolidator Grant of the European Research Council (ERC). Its goal is to understand and engineer the electronic and optical properties of defects in carbon nanotubes.

"The chemical differences between these defects are subtle and the desired binding configuration is usually only formed in a minority of nanotubes. Being able to produce large numbers of nanotubes with a specific defect and with controlled defect densities paves the way for optoelectronic devices as well as electrically pumped single-photon sources, which are needed for future applications in quantum cryptography," Prof. Zaumseil says.

###

Also involved in this research were scientists from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology. The results were published in the journal "Nature Communications".
Voting

Regarding Debate over states election bill heats up (A3, April 7): Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blasts American Airlines for not reading the bill before speaking out against it. How many state senators read the entire bill before voting on it in the middle of the night? If he wants support for this bill, present it to the voters of Texas, showing what each provision will prevent, along with evidence that any of this is even a problem. After all the court cases across the country last year, all the hours the Texas attorney generals office spent searching for voter fraud, what proof is there that election security is such an emergency? Is this really more important than preventing more deaths in the next power grid catastrophe?

The fact that Patrick refuses to discuss the reward he promised for anyone uncovering voter fraud and the cases that Pennsylvanias Lt. Gov. John Fetterman presented, all cases of illegal attempts to vote for the GOP candidate, is telling. It shows that Patrick doesnt really care about election security, only job security. He doesnt want to win more voters, only block the wrong voters.

When I go to the polls, I will not forget that Patrick felt voter suppression was more important than fixing the power grid and protecting the lives of the people hes supposed to represent.

Jean Tanner, Houston

Regarding Tomlinson: Thats rich. Party of big business wants CEOs out of politics, (B1, April 7): It seems that voter ID is one of the main complaints of all those who wish to rework voting laws. My question is why? Shouldnt a citizen be required to show proof that he is, indeed, the person listed on the register and that he is a citizen of the precinct in which he is voting? And why does such a requirement disenfranchise a given portion of the population? How do they survive if they have no ID? Over the past few months I have been required to present a photo ID to cash a check, rent an apartment, be admitted to the hospital, sign in for a visit to the doctors office, sell an automobile and other personal property, have some papers notarized and even pick up a book that I had checked out from the library. And there are those who oppose the same requirement for voting?

That doesnt make sense.

Kent Marshall, Sugar Land

Forward thinking

Regarding Biden plan jump-starts Hobby rail focus, (A1, April 3): It is sad that we continue to miss opportunities to look forward in our transportation solutions by overlooking rail while we pour more concrete. Comparing Houston to New York City and Paris, and their density and transportation needs, is without merit. Lets compare Houston to another large city with similar density that has embraced rail, Dallas, Texas. Even Los Angeles is building rail.

As high-rise residential buildings continue to fill our skyline and density, we ignore rail at our peril. Has anyone noticed that most all promotional pieces on Houston show our glossy trains running down Main Street to make us look forward-thinking? Where is our leadership on this issue?

George W. Hawkins, Houston
Formosa began pre-construction this year on a plastics chemical complex on 2,400 acres of former agricultural land in northwestern St. James Parish. After pausing operations during the coronavirus pandemic, it had restarted construction but later decided to halt activities until the widespread availability of a vaccine.
Many conservatives are pushing back hard against a series of executive orders on firearms that the Biden administration announced on Wednesday. I dont doubt that Biden would ban or severely limit private gun ownership if he could, but what is striking about these specific orders is how trivial they are.

Biden frames his actions in terms of gun violence being a public health epidemic. He refers to the recent Boulder and Atlanta shootings, and says that cities across the country are in the midst of a historic spike in homicides. Ironically, that is true. But why? Not because of any lack of firearms laws and regulations, which are legion. Rather, because of the incessant and demagogic attacks on law enforcement that the Democrats themselves have perpetrated. And of course, none of the measures that Biden proposes to take would have any effect on urban violence.

So what are the actions being taken via executive order?

1) The Department of Justice will issue a proposed rulecontent unspecifiedto limit the sale of ghost guns, i.e. firearms that are bought as a kit and assembled by the user. This is supposedly a problem because such guns lack a serial number, which makes them harder to trace.

2) DOJ will issue another rule clarifying when a device marketed as a stabilizing brace effectively turns a pistol into a short-barreled rifle subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act. Keeping a firm grip on your pistol will also, as the White House release puts it, make a firearm more stable and accurate. But a rifle is a rifle and a pistol is a pistol.

3) DOJ will publish a model red flag law for states. Such laws establish court procedures whereby individuals who are deemed dangerous can be deprived of firearms even though they have not actually done anything wrong. I believe several states have passed such legislation. In any event, DOJ publishing a model law will not have any practical effect.

4) The federal government will [invest] in evidence-based community violence interventions. In other words, slide billions of dollars to Democratic Party constituencies. This will have little or effect on violence, via firearms or otherwise.

5) DOJ will issue an annual report on firearms trafficking. Trafficking is undefined, but I assume it refers generally to illegal gun sales, e.g. to felons.

6) Biden will nominate David Chipman to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. This has incensed some gun rights advocates, as Chipman apparently has a history of supporting extreme and unconstitutional gun control measures. But who else would anyone expect Biden to appoint to run ATF?

As I said, the striking thing about these proposed measures is how trivial they are. No one seriously expects that they will do anything to reduce violence. If the Democrats were serious about reducing the homicide rate, they would support law enforcement instead of undermining it, and they would run district attorneys who would imprison criminals rather than letting them go. But they would rather engage in symbolic posturing on guns than take effective action to protect Americans who are suffering at the hands of violent criminals.
Firefly Aerospace Inc., a U.S. developer of orbital launch vehicles for the small to medium satellite market owned by Ukrainian businessman Maksym Polyakov, has received the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) award from NASA to develop a solar electric transfer stage capable of taking payloads from the Earth to the moon  the Space Utility Vehicle (SUV).

The new SUV will be able to deliver payloads into orbits that are difficult to reach with conventional rockets, the company's press service said on Thursday.

The Firefly Aerospace's SUV will become a link between the Firefly Alpha launch vehicle and the Blue Ghost lunar module, thus creating a complete payload delivery chain from Earth to the lunar surface for NASA missions.

The development and implementation of the Space Utility Vehicle in the Firefly Aerospace space services system is the next logical step and an important link in the payload delivery chain to the Moon. Since Noosphere Ventures are vertically integrated space companies, each of them can operate independently and still provide a full range of services for partners and clients, Polyakov said.

The company said this vehicle serves as a solar electric transfer stage, offering enough Delta-V to transfer more than 500 kg of payload from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to Low Lunar Orbit (LLO) after launch on a small lift launch vehicle, and further services as a communications relay throughout surface mission.

Previously, Firefly Aerospace Inc. was awarded with a contract for $93.3 million to deliver a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon, which is part of NASA's Artemis program, using the Blue Ghost lunar lander.
China sets role model for global poverty reduction

People's Daily) 09:09, April 09, 2021

Farmers pick strawberries in a greenhouse of a strawberry plantation in Guangshan County, Xinyang, central China's Henan Province, Jan. 24, 2021. (People's Daily Online/Xie Wanbai)

Poverty is a chronic affliction of human society and a common challenge faced by the whole world. China had long been plagued by poverty at a scale and a level of severity that has rarely been seen anywhere else in the world. As a result, the challenge of poverty alleviation in China almost defies imagination.

Over the past century, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has united and led the Chinese people in the battle against poverty with unwavering faith and will, making great historic achievements in eliminating extreme poverty, an issue that had bothered the Chinese nation for thousands of years. It is a great accomplishment that bears important significance for both the Chinese nation and the human society.

On April 6, the State Council Information Office released a white paper titled "Poverty Alleviation: China's Experience and Contribution", which records the course of the Chinese people's great fight in eliminating extreme poverty from five areas, introduces China's approach, and shares its experience and actions in poverty alleviation.

The white paper mirrors the firm conviction and practical actions of China to bring a better life to its people with a people-centered philosophy, and fully demonstrates the country's responsibility to take an active part in global poverty management and make greater contribution to building a better world.

Governance of a country starts with the needs of the people. To eliminate poverty, improve livelihood and achieve common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism and an important mission of the CPC.

Since 2012, China has fought a decisive battle against poverty that is unprecedented in scale and intensity, and has benefited the largest number of people in human history.

At the end of 2020, through eight years of hard work, China achieved the goal of eliminating extreme poverty  a key goal for the new era of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. The 98.99 million people in rural areas who were living below the current poverty threshold all shook off poverty; all the 128,000 impoverished villages and 832 designated poor counties got rid of poverty. China has eliminated poverty over entire regions and eradicated extreme poverty  an outstanding and historic achievement.

This great victory shows that the CPC has held fast to its original aspiration and mission, and demonstrates its ability to lead politically, to guide through theory, to organize the people, and to inspire society. It has given the people trust in their ability to build a better life.

A will to unite as one, do its best, set targets, adopt a pragmatic approach, be pioneers, innovate, tackle tough issues head-on, and live up to the people's trust, has formed in the great endeavors of poverty alleviation. It has fostered a Chinese ethos and a readiness to respond to the call of the times, and will continue to inspire its people to create a better future.

China is home to nearly one fifth of the world's population. Its complete eradication of extreme poverty  the first target of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development  10 years ahead of schedule, is a milestone in the history of the Chinese nation and the history of humankind, making an important contribution to the cause of global poverty alleviation.

Poverty eradication has always been a tricky problem bothering global development and governance. With its own practice, China has set a role model in reducing poverty. Bearing in mind its prevailing reality and understanding the nature of poverty and the status of poverty alleviation, China has adopted a series of bold policies and measures, established a whole set of effective policy, work and institution systems, and embarked on a path of poverty alleviation and designed an approach with Chinese characteristics.

China's successful practice and valuable experience in eliminating extreme poverty have deepened human understanding of poverty alleviation trends, enriched and extended the theory of international poverty alleviation, and boosted the confidence of other countries, especially developing ones, in eradicating extreme poverty. They serve as reference for other countries to choose a suitable path of poverty alleviation, and offer China's approach to solving the problem of modern national governance and creating brighter prospects for social progress.

The world today is experiencing a scale of change unseen in a century. The Covid-19 pandemic is still spreading around the world, and poverty, hunger and disease are undermining people's pursuit for a better life. Everyone has the right to a decent life. All countries need to shoulder their responsibilities and work on poverty reduction, so that the sunshine of equity and justice can break through the haze of poverty and backwardness and illuminate a future of prosperity and development. China is ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with other countries on poverty reduction, support international poverty reduction, and act as an advocate, facilitator of and contributor to the international cause of poverty alleviation.

Facing the future, the CPC will always put the people before everything else, continue to work for people's all-round development, and common prosperity and a better life for all, and closely link China's future with that of the rest of the world, so as to make a greater contribution to building a global community of shared future that is free from poverty and blessed with common prosperity.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)
Friday, April 9, 2021

Join the Conversation in the Next Death Cafe!

The next Albuquerque Death Cafe will take place ONLINE on Sunday, April 18, 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time. Due to self-distancing imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, we will meet through Zoom. RSVP to Gail [at] AGoodGoodbye.com to receive the link for the meeting.

The objective of the Death Cafe is to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives. Its an interesting, unstructured conversation with no specific agenda. The Death Cafe offers a relaxed, confidential and safe setting to discuss death. We drink tea (or your favorite beverage) and eat delicious cake or cookies.

Please provide your own refreshments. Have a cup of tea or coffee and a cookie or other snack handy.

The Death Cafe concept was started in the United Kingdom by Jon Underwood. He was influenced by the ideas of Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz, who started holding Cafe Mortel events in France and Switzerland. Albuquerque was the first city in the U.S. west of the Mississippi to hold a Death Cafe. Gail Rubin hosted it in September, 2012.

For more information about Death Cafes, visit this page at AGoodGoodbye.com or visit www.DeathCafe.com. Join the Albuquerque Death Cafe Meetup group to be kept apprised of upcoming events. Click here to go to the Meetup page.

Your Death Cafe Host

Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist, hosts the Albuquerque Death Cafe. She is a pioneering death educator. Rubin is a public speaker, a published author of three books, host of a TV interview series and podcast, a blogger, a funeral industry trade journalist, a Certified Funeral Celebrant, and an innovator in the funeral business. She created a conversation-starting game called The Newly-Dead Game, introduced the Death Cafe movement in the United States, and held the first Before I Die Festival west of the Mississippi in 2017. Albuquerque Business First named her one of their 2019 Women of Influence.

Related
NORTH CHARLESTON  A container terminal built to strengthen South Carolina's economy got its first visit April 9 from a ship that fittingly was hauling cargo for one of the state's biggest industries.

The Yorktown Express docked at the Leatherman Terminal at about 3 p.m. to become the debut vessel at the Port of Charleston's newest facility.

A trio of ship-to-shore cranes towering 169 feet tall unloaded about 1,000 containers, many of them containing parts for BMW and other companies in an automotive sector that generates more than $27 billion a year in economic activity for the Palmetto State.

It's one of the reasons the Yorktown Express was chosen to inaugurate the $1 billion terminal named after state Sen. Hugh Leatherman, one of the port's biggest benefactors.

"It showcases South Carolina as being a juggernaut in the automotive sector," said Barbara Melvin, chief operating officer for the State Ports Authority.

The Yorktown Express also exhibits something that's in short supply in the shipping industry these days  reliability.

The Leatherman Terminal was the first U.S. East Coast stop for the Yorktown Express following its departure last week from London. Without a stop in between or a Suez Canal blockage to slow it down, the vessel was true to its name and berthed slightly ahead of schedule.

That sends a signal, Melvin said, that Charleston's port is working to solve the supply chain disruptions that are becoming more common as shipping lines and seaports struggle to keep up with demand.

"I think delivering this type of project at a time when it couldn't be more needed is almost overwhelming to us, and really exciting for South Carolina," she said.

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Jim Newsome, the SPA's president and CEO, said the new terminal "will enhance the fluidity of cargo" through the port, giving South Carolina an advantage in recruiting employers that need efficient logistical networks.

"I believe that's the consideration of businesses deciding where they're going to locate their facilities," he said.

It was expected to take about eight hours to unload the cargo earmarked for the Leatherman Terminal before the Yorktown Express pulls out of North Charleston at about 5 a.m. Saturday bound for Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Built in 2002, the U.S.-flagged Yorktown Express is much smaller than many of the ships that will be visiting the Leatherman Terminal. Operated by German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd, it measures about 797 feet in length and can carry the equivalent of about 3,200 20-foot containers. The terminal was built for 1,200-foot-long ships capable of hauling up to 20,000 containers.

"It was a soft opening," Melvin said of Friday's visit. "We did that on purpose. With the supply chain today, you can't cause any hiccups. There's enough going on without that."

The terminal has been in the works for nearly 20 years, with the Army Corps of Engineers issuing the first construction permits in 2003. Site preparation began four years later but construction was put on hold when the U.S. economy tanked during the Great Recession and the port's cargo numbers shrank by about a third.

The port has since recovered and in March set a monthly record for the amount of cargo moving through its terminals.

The Leatherman Terminal is expected to help Charleston's port keep up with growth for at least another 20 years. Its first phase has one 1,400-foot berth and five cranes able to move cargo containers to and from the biggest ships visiting the East Coast.

Eventually, two more berths and 10 more cranes will be added, giving the Port of Charleston  between the Leatherman Terminal and the Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant  the ability to handle six fully loaded container vessels at the same time, doubling the ports annual cargo capacity.
A childcare worker has been charged after she allegedly assaulted a toddler under her care on 'multiple occasions' in the space of a week.

Police allege the 26-year-old woman assaulted the two-year-old boy between March 11 and March 17 at the daycare centre in Castle Hill in Sydney's north-west.

She was arrested at her home in The Ponds about 1.30pm on Friday.

A childcare worker has been charged after she allegedly assaulted a two-year-old boy under her care on 'multiple occasions' (stock image)

She was taken to Castle Hill Police Station where she was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The woman was also charged with seven counts of common assault.

She was given bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court on April 27.
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DUDLEYVILLE, Ariz.  A small community in south-central Arizona remained under an evacuation notice Friday after crews and air tankers stopped the growth of a wildfire that burned at least 12 homes, officials said.

The fire burned through thick vegetation at the bottom of the Gila River in Dudleyville, a census-designated place with a population of about 1,000 located about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Tucson.

Officials said the fire continued on Thursday to an estimated 500 acres (2 square kilometers) with containment around 20% of its perimeter as of Friday.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

The county Sheriffs Office said approximately 200 residents were evacuated and that the evacuation notice might be lifted Friday evening or Saturday morning.

Crews on Friday continued to build fire lines to keep the fire from spreading into Dudleyville if winds gust again but utility crews also needed to check for damage to power lines that were deenergized Thursday, said state Department of Forestry and Forest Management spokeswoman Tiffany Davila.

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Approximately 40 people spent the night at a shelter at a high school in a nearby community, Red Cross spokesman Mike Sagara said.

There was no immediate report of injuries. Approximately 100 people were assigned to fight the fire.

Arizona had one of its worst wildfire seasons in nearly a decade in 2020 according to state Forestry and Fire Management Department officials.

Officials have warned there is a potential for widespread, statewide fire activity by June.

Among the factors for last years severe wildfire season was unseasonably warm conditions, a lack of moisture, an overabundance of fuels across Arizonas central region and within the Sonoran Desert, and increased recreational traffic across the state.
A pasta dish made to order, crafted in front of your eyes inside a giant wheel of fine Italian cheese. Where can you find this slice of heaven? Right here in Connecticut.

The sensational tableside preparation is available at a few Italian restaurants across the state. Keep these in mind the next time youre looking for an extra-special pasta experience.

Adrianas Restaurant & Wine Bar, New Haven

Adrianas offers a wide variety of pasta options with the cheese wheel preparation, said manager Adrian Gjonbalaj, with both red and white sauces. Predominantly, its the ones you finish off with cheese, he said, noting options like Bolognese and carbonara.

While other restaurants often douse the wheel with high-proof liquor and set it ablaze to soften and melt the cheese, Adrianas does not, Gjonbalaj said. Instead, they just rely on the heat of the freshly cooked pasta to do the melting.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Sometimes some people use grain alcohol, and then once that starts burning with the cheese, it changes the complexity of the sauce, he said.

Since the portions are usually prepared for parties of two, they range from about $35 to $55, Gjonbalaj said. With larger parties, they may have two cheese wheels at the table, with chefs preparing more than one type of pasta.

As the wheel presentation is popular, its good for diners to ask for it with advance notice, he said.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

771 Grand Ave., New Haven, 203-865-6474, adrianasnewhaven.com.

DAmelios Italian Eatery, Waterbury

Courtesy of DAmelios

Every Wednesday night, DAmelios rolls out a wheel of fine Parmigiano Reggiano for a spaghetti carbonara special. Diners not only get dinner and a show, but a history lesson from chef and co-owner Giuseppe DAmelio.

We come to the tableside with the wheel, I give you the entire history and how they make the cheese, where it comes from all the details. I spend about 10, 12 minutes giving you a nice little story, he said.

The chef uses grappa to ignite the wheel and prepares the pasta inside of it, incorporating the warmed cheese, he said.

DAmelios has offered the specialty for four years, turning Wednesday into a great night at the restaurant. The carbonara is $15 (appetizer portion) or $30 (entree).

718 Highland Ave., Waterbury, 203-755-0261, damelios.com .

BALLO Italian Restaurant, Mohegan Sun

Courtesy of BALLO Italian

Courtesy of BALLO Italian

The flaming mac and cheese, an off-menu specialty item ($25) at BALLO, is prepared tableside in an 80-pound wheel of authentic Italian Grana Padano, and topped with real, freshly-shaved black truffle. Chefs use grain alcohol to light the wheel and melt the cheese.

The prized cheese is a favorite at BALLO  the team can go through more than one wheel in a week, said Charisse Huff, a public relations specialist for Mohegan Sun.

1 Mohegan Sun Blvd, Uncasville, 860-862-1100, balloitalian.com .

Caputo Trattoria, Foxwoods

Melissa Hom /

Caputo has temporarily paused the offering because of COVID-19, but in the past, the coastal Italian-inspired restaurant has offered cacio e pepe prepared tableside. Chefs pour Italian grappa into a wheel of genuine Pecorino Romano and set it aflame to soften the cheese.

As the alcohol cooks off, we slowly scrape the wheel to soften the cheese. We then add in our spaghetti with a not-so-traditional ingredient: cream. (This allows all the ingredients to melt together), said executive chef Gary LaMothe.

The dish ($32) gets about four ounces each of freshly grated 24-month-aged Parmigiano Reggiano, imported from Italy, and more Pecorino Romano, and the chef twists in 15 cracks of fresh black pepper and mixes everything until smooth. Once plated, the pasta is finished off with more freshly ground pepper and a few grates of Parmesan.

350 Trolley Line Blvd, Ledyard, 860-312-2788, caputotrattoria.com .

Note: Other Connecticut restaurants, including The Painted Lemon in Sherman and DeNovellis in Rocky Hill, have offered a cheese wheel presentation in the past. Both restaurants have temporarily discontinued this because of COVID-19 concerns and the pandemics impact on imports from Italy.
Osage Advisors, a leading mergers and acquisitions firm providing sell-side advisory services to business owners, is pleased to announce the acquisition of its client Tier ONE, LLC by ARCH Medical Solutions Corp.

Based in Newtown, Connecticut, Tier ONE is a leading contract manufacturer of high-precision assemblies and other devices serving various segments of the life science research, and medical diagnostic and laboratory equipment markets.

ARCH Medical Solutions is comprised of 35 production facilities in 19 states that collectively manufacture high-quality cutting tools, precision-machined components and products.The company is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and serves the medical, aerospace, defense, and progressive industrial markets.

"This is the right decision for our employees and especially for our customers.The AMS model that broadens our offerings will be very beneficial to our customers, and a larger company that offers financial stability and expanded resources will help accelerate our growth, said Joe Young, Tier ONEs former principal and continuing president. Joining forces with Arch Medical Solutions was not a decision we took lightly. Arch follows the same core values for their employees and customers that we do at Tier ONE.They also have an industry reputation for excellence.This is why we felt Arch was the perfect fit."

Tier ONE's Newtown facility adds capabilities to ARCH in milling, mill-turn, Swiss machining, and other manufacturing operations.The additional capacity and resources will enable ARCH to meet the needs of its growing customer base and medical device contract manufacturing service offerings.

Osage Advisors is a trusted advisor to owners of privately held companies who are planning or ready to sell their business to the right buyer. Osages clients operate in diverse industries and have annual revenue of $5 million-$100 million. The firm has closed domestic and cross-border deals with privately held companies, private equity firms, and public companies.

Contact:

Keith Dee, President

Osage Advisors

860-767-3273

kdee@osageadvisors.com

Certain Members of Osage Advisors are Registered Representatives of and conduct securities transactions through StillPoint Capital, LLC, Tampa, FL. Osage and StillPoint are not affiliated.
A French historian who compiled a damning report that found France turned a blind eye to the genocide in Rwanda, on Friday handed the document to President Paul Kagame in Kigali.

Vincent Duclert, chaired a historic commission which concluded there had been a failure on the part of France over the 1994 genocide that saw around 800,000 people slaughtered, mainly from the ethnic Tutsi minority.

Kagame and Duclert met for an hour discussing the findings of the investigation after the president was handed his own copy of the thick report.

Duclert repeated the reports findings of the overwhelming responsibilities of France, which did not understand anything, which did not measure the seriousness of its action in Rwanda, and which contributed to the genocidal process without knowing it.

He added: This is precisely what Paul Kagame and the Rwandans know.

Basically we spoke the same language, we spoke of the same facts.

The genocide between April and July of 1994 began after Rwandas Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana, with whom Paris had cultivated close ties, was killed when his plane was shot down over Kigali on April 6.

Extremist Hutu militias went on rampage, killing Tutsis and moderate Hutus, in a bloodbath that came after decades of tensions and violence between the two communities.

French President Emmanuel Macron ordered the report after years of accusations France did not do enough to halt the massacres and was even complicit in the crimes.

The issue had long poisoned relations between France and Rwanda under Kagame.

Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta said the most important thing was that historial truth has been re-established.

On this basis we can build a new relationship.
Threats to Taiwan, the self-governing island only slightly bigger than Maryland, are sending shivers through the global tech industry.

Why it matters: Taiwan is home to 92% of the world's leading-edge chip manufacturing operations and a vital center for producing other tech components, including laptops and PC motherboards.

Driving the news:

Just this week, the U.S. military warned that China could be accelerating its longstanding efforts to regain control of Taiwan.

A global semiconductor shortage has highlighted the world's dependence on chips, as well as the increasingly vital role that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) plays in the industry.

That's because most companies that design chips today  Qualcomm, Nvidia and Apple among them  don''t actually do the manufacturing, instead relying on companies like TSMC.

What they're saying: This is the most important 14,000-square-mile island in the world, says Stephen Ezell, VP of global innovation policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

Catch up quick: Ever since China's Nationalists were defeated by the Communists in 1949 and fled to Taiwan, Beijing has viewed the island as part of China's sovereign territory. But it operates independently, with its own elections, military, and currency.

Around a dozen countries have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei and many others, including the U.S., maintain informal relations.

The U.S. consumed more than $63 billion worth of Taiwanese tech exports throughout the first eight months of last year, or 32 percent of the island's output. China accounted for 30% and Europe about 22%, per Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute.

If Taiwan's chip production were permanently disrupted, the Semiconductor Industry Association estimates it would take three years and $350 billion in investment to build enough capacity to replace it.

The big picture: Foreign policy experts and tech trade groups have been sounding alarms about the consequences if Taiwan were to come under tighter Chinese control.

The threat is manifest during this decade  in fact, in the next six years, Admiral Philip Davidson, the top military leader in the Asia-Pacific region, told a Senate hearing last month, per AP.

Between the lines: The recent crackdown in Hong Kong following passage of a strict "national security law" is seen as a wake-up call with regards to Taiwan.

"Until Beijing changes its current policy, its critical to point out that the PRCs formula for unification with Taiwan is still based on 'One Country, Two Systems'  the model that it applies to Hong Kong," says Russell Hsiao, executive director of the Global Taiwan Institute. "And its clear as day for people to see how thats going for the people of Hong Kong."

That's why many in the industry are calling for the U.S. to be clearer about its support for Taiwan and, at the same time, to encourage investment in domestic chip production.
Angela Cole, Lisa Hall and Chris Moultrup shared heartfelt stories this week of neighbors helping one another after the mid-Michigan dam failures last May, during a one-hour Long-Term Recovery Group Zoom meeting.

Midland Area Community Foundation, in conjunction with the Long-Term Recovery Group, hosts these monthly meetings, and the theme of this one was "Neighbors Helping Neighbors."

Cole is an attorney who lived in Sanford for more than 40 years and raised her children there.

When the dams broke last May 19, she initially had no idea what her response would be.

"Right after the floodwaters went through, it looked like a bomb went off (in Sanford)," Cole said. "People had that look of 'Where do we even begin?'

"But then people started to show up (to help)  hundreds of people. I was thinking, 'How am I going to help?' I have some physical limitations. But it turned out I didnt need to figure out how to help. It turned out that ways to help found me."

Cole started getting call after call from people who needed help and from others who wanted to help. Before she knew it, she had spent an entire day connecting people with resources or with ways they could help.

"The next day, I went to Sanford to take lunch to volunteers and people affected by the flooding," Cole recalled.

And steps unfolded rapidly from there.

"We coordinated trips back and forth to Midland,. We coordinated trips around the lake (because of the road and bridge closures at the time). We had people on the ground walking the neighborhoods. A couple Facebook groups were set up. We connected volunteers to where they were needed. We had groups of a hundred volunteers show up who needed to know where they should go.

"It went from utter hopelessness and disbelief and shock, to having some hope," Cole explained.

As the year went along, the needs met became meals being served to hundreds of people each week.

The State Police, Consumers Energy, the Elks Club, and many other groups got involved in providing food baskets at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Just recently, Easter baskets were put together for 60 children.

Cole said discouragement can't be allowed to seep into your consciousness during a long-term recovery effort like this one is.

"When the snow melts, you see all the work that still has to be done and the green Xs (on buildings that indicated that everyone inside had survived the flooding)," she said. "Instead of looking at it as a sad thing, I chose to think of it as a reminder of the blessing that no lives were lost.

"So many businesses reopened, so many miracles. It reminds me how far weve come from those first days. I just want to thank everyone who has helped us."

Lisa Hall is the director of Midland County 911 and has spent 32 years in that field.

"In my 911 career I never thought I would be part of a world pandemic and a double dam failure (at the same time)," Hall said. "But I love working in this community. We press forward and we are bold.

"I have worked with many communities and many agencies. So I know we're spoiled because we have such positive working relationships (in Midland County)."

Hall noted that only a few months before the dam breaks, Midland County 911 had worked with Emergency Management Director Jenifier Boyer on disaster preparedness.

"You think that (kind of disaster) will never happen," Hall said.

Many difficult decisions had to be made by 911 in the hours leading up to and after the dam breaks.

"We started lining up resources and we started notifying the community," she said. "These were not easy decisions but they were not made alone.

'Neighbors' include anyone from schools to dam operators to public safety to emergency management.

"We got people out. People listened. Not everyone wanted to leave, but people did listen," Hall continued. "We had one family reach out to us that said, 'Thank you so much.' They got everything out of their house and they were very grateful they had time to do that. Their house was completely destroyed."

Chris Moultrup, of Three Rivers Corporation, said his company has been active with flood relief and recovery in Sanford since last June.

"I received a phone call from Rep. (Annette) Glenn. She said, 'The equipment is gone, we need more help. Can you call (Village President) Dolores (Porte)?'

Once Moultrup got a gauge on the scope of need in the community, he started making all kinds of calls.

"I started calling everyone I know in the (construction) business to see who could donate," he said. "We started to mobilize to help the village and keep the cleanup moving. We had nine companies donate all sorts of equipment and things."

For example, Greater Midland North Family Center needed a refrigerated trailer, and Fabiano Brothers said they could take as many as they needed.

"That (trailer) stayed there for seven months free of charge," Moultrup said.

He also called J.W. Fisher of Fisher Contracting, who came to Sanford to survey the damage with Moultrup.

"As we walked onto South Cedar, he said, 'Im going to give $50,000 in in-kind services.' By the time we got back to Saginaw Road, he said, 'You guys need $150,000 in in-kind services."

Eventually, more than 20 builders and contractors donated their services, Moultup said.

In August, former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette reached out to Three Rivers with a desire to speed up the process of rebuilding in Sanford.

Eventually, $1 million was raised by Dow, Corteva, and three different foundations for the Sanford-Gladwin Rebuild Project.

As a result, three families have moved back into their homes, Stryker's Marina and Red Oak Restaurant have reopened, and Sanford Hardware will reopen in May.

In December, Sanford Shines, an all-hands-on-deck Christmas celebration in Sanford, came together with the help of Sanford Strong, Village of Sanford, three township fire departments, and many others.

The next Long-Term Recovery Group session is on May 13 and will focus on what "well-being" means one year after the dam failures.

Residents were also reminded at the meeting that 989-374-8000 is the number to call for the disaster case management team.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has posted a tribute to Prince Philip hours after he was slammed for the 'dreadful' timing of a Tweet and for staying silent on the news of the royal's passing.

The politician responded to the news by talking about the 'heartbreak' of losing a loved one.

He wrote: 'Losing a loved one, as so many families have this past year, is always heartbreaking. My thoughts are with Prince Philips family and all who loved him.'

It comes only hours after in a now-deleted Tweet, the MP posted a link to an event inviting people to 'support the Bolivian people' less than 40 minutes after the news of his death was announced.

The Queen announced with 'deep sorrow' the death of her husband this morning at the age of 99 at midday today.

The Royal Family said in a statement: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Celebrities and public figures have all paid tribute to the Prince, described as the Queen's 'strength and guide' throughout their 73-year marriage and her 69-year reign.

But around half an hour after the news of his death broke, instead of commenting on the Prince's passing, Mr Corbyn chose to share his support for the Bolivian people.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been slammed for the 'dreadful' timing of a Tweet following the news of Prince Philip's death

Buckingham Palace announced the death of Prince Philip this morning at midday today

He later deleted the Tweet in question and it was followed hours later by a tribute to the departed Prince

He posted on his official Twitter page: 'The people of Bolivia have chosen a path of social change, which puts people and planet before private private. Join me, @BoliviaFriends and Bolivian speakers on April 19th to show our solidarity.'

The post lead viewers to a link to an event to mark six months since the Left's election win in the country.

His death plunges the nation and the Royal Family into mourning, and brings to an end Philip's lifetime of service to Britain

But his post was met with a furious backlash online as people slammed him for his poor timing of the Tweet and criticised his silence over the death of the Prince.

One person said: 'A man died who did some much for this nation and Jeremy would rather tweet about Bolivia..... speaks volumes.'

Another slammed his 'great timing', while others told him to 'read the room Jeremy' and 'Put the news on mate'.

'Bro said no to Phillip and yes to Bolivia,' one person on the social media platform said.

Some people defended Mr Corbyn, MP for Islington North, and said it was likely a timed Tweet that was organised prior to its posting and the death of Prince Philip.

'Whoever managing your socials needs to pull further scheduled tweets boss,' one person joked.

The former Labour leader posted a link to encourage people to attend an event to mark six months since the Left's election win in the country

Another commented on the poor timing of the post on his official Twitter page

Ryan Durham commented that Mr Corbyn had 'said no to Philip' in his post in support of Bolivia

Others supported his well-meaning message but again criticised his timing

Some people defended Mr Corbyn and said it was likely a timed Tweet that was organised prior to its posting and the death of Prince Philip

Another called Mr Corbyn's silence 'deafening' in their post on the social media platform

The news of the Prince's death was announced at midday after he passed away this morning.

His death plunges the nation and the Royal Family into mourning, and brings to an end Philip's lifetime of service to Britain and to Elizabeth, the Queen who adored him since her teens.

Boris Johnson led the tributes and addressed the nation outside No 10 Downing Street shortly after the announcement. He said: 'We give thanks, as a nation and a kingdom, for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh'.

Among the slew of celebrities paying tribute to the Prince was Piers Morgan who described it as 'a very sad day for our country,' while Eamonn Holmes, who had been presenting This Morning when the news broke, simply wrote: 'HRH Prince Phillip has died #RIP.'

Piers tweeted: 'RIP Prince Philip, 99. A truly great Briton who dedicated his life to selfless public duty & was an absolute rock of devoted support to Her Majesty, The Queen, as the longest-serving royal consort to any British sovereign. A very sad day for our country. Thank you, Sir.'

Boris Johnson led the tributes and addressed the nation outside No 10 Downing Street shortly after the announcement

Moving: Piers Morgan has joined a slew of stars paying tribute to His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh , after his death was announced on Friday at the age of 99

Tragedy: After Buckingham Palace announced his passing on Friday, celebrities including Phillip Schofield took to social media to reflect on Prince Phillip's life and offer their sympathies to his wife, Queen Elizabeth II

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, also said: 'As we recover and rebuild after the terrible trial of the coronavirus pandemic, we will need fortitude and a deep sense of commitment to serving others. Throughout his life Prince Philip displayed those qualities in abundance, and I pray that we can take inspiration from his example'.

Phillip Schofield shared an image of his own experience meeting Phillip, writing on Instagram Stories: 'Farewell to a remarkable man, terrifying to attempt to interview but great fun to be with.'

Her Majesty is now expected to enter an eight-day period of mourning.

She will not carry out any duties, even in private, while laws will not be given the Royal Assent and affairs of state will also be paused.

A further period of official Royal Mourning is expected to continue for 30 days.

Mr Corbyn was contacted by Mail Online for comment.
Texas Republicans are building an election integrity brigade to deploy on Black and minority communities in Harris County.

In a video released by the government accountability group Common Cause Texas, a man who identifies himself as a GOP official in Harris County said the party needs 10,000 volunteers to monitor polls across downtown precincts in Harris County, erroneously citing widespread voter fraud in the county, per Teo Armus and Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post.

TAKE THAT DAN: Houston is, in fact, the unofficial capital of Texas. And we don't care who disagrees.

The unidentified official proceeds to pull up a map of the areas voting precincts and specifically points to mostly Black and Hispanic areas, saying the party needs volunteers with the confidence and courage to come down here during elections, adding, this is where the fraud is occurring," per the Washington Post.

It's important to note that there has been no documented voter fraud in Harris County, and according to Common Cause Texas, such an act as the one described by the GOP official could intimidate and suppress voters.

Its very clear that were talking about recruiting people from the predominantly Anglo parts of town to go to Black and Brown neighborhoods, said Common Cause Texas executive director Anthony Gutierrez, per The Washington Post. This is a role thats supposed to do nothing but stand at a poll site and observe, Gutierrez added. Why is [the official] suggesting someone needs to be courageous?

The Texas state Senate has long been upset about Harris County's drive-thru voting and just last week approved Senate Bill 7, which largely limits mail-in voting, early voting hours and also completely eliminates drive-thru voting. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick deemed the bill a priority, claiming it as "voter security."

The bill also allows party-appointed volunteers to record videos and take photos inside polling locations to be sent to the Texas secretary of states office.

OPINION: Corporations stepping up to save voting accessibility in Texas feels pretty hopeless

The Harris County Republican Party said in a statement that Common Cause was blatantly mischaracterizing" a recruitment video and trying to bully and intimidate Republicans," as reported by the Washington Post.

The goal is to activate an army of volunteers for every precinct in Harris County and to engage voters for the whole ballot, top to bottom, and ensure every legal vote is counted," said party chair Cindy Siegel, as reported by the Washington Post.
The spheres of business and industry are always shifting. Innovations that were once revolutionary and exclusive are becoming the status-quo, and the needs of the market are evolving to both reflect the desire for greater sustainability, and to take advantage of the potential of ever-developing technologies.

The potential for invention is present across multiple sectors, each with their own unique needs: Industry must be made greener, and businesses must become more sustainable  with the decrease in carbon emissions a priority  through innovative methods and styles of leadership. Models and solutions for wellness and healthcare must be optimised using the very latest in technological advances. Similarly, attention must be given to the potential of technology when working to combat life threatening conditions such as cancer, and when engaging in initiatives to ensure a liveable world in the future. The companies exploring these diverse and crucial concerns are being featured in the Global Thought Leaders campaign; with focus given to the leadership that such organisations are demonstrating to the rest of their respective sectors, and how their work will change the world as we know it.

With high-quality and bespoke documentary films, this campaign offers an exclusive glimpse into the new and transformative methods and innovations of the leading organisations working to change the global conversation about the key issues affecting our world.

TBD Media Group CEO, Paolo Zanini says, "The world always faces problems of one kind or another. But, when looking back through history, leaders and pioneers always emerge with the bravery and skills necessary to make their mark on the world and offer solutions. Today is no different, and it is our privilege to give such trendsetters the opportunity to engage with the global conversation in a meaningful way."

Companies featured in this launch:

Tungsram Operations , Telemecanique Sensors , Jesa SA , Elekta , Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH) , Evercare Group, GEODIS , Ivoclar Vivadent

About Global Thought Leaders:

The Global Thought Leaders project showcases the businesses of today shaping the world of tomorrow. From digital transformation to industrial innovation, this thoughtful and insightful documentary series is educating the business community on how to use innovation to transform and grow. Businesses that wish to get involved should contact [email protected] .

About TBD Media Group:

TBD Media Group is an international, purpose-driven, media developer that helps companies, organisations and governments tell their brand stories in a human and direct way. Learn more at https://www.tbdmediagroup.com/ .

Media Contact:

Jenna-Leigh Soobramoney

Head of Marketing

TBD Media Group

[email protected]

SOURCE TBD Media Group

Related Links

https://www.tbdmediagroup.com/


Irvine, Calif., April 9, 2021 -- Adriana Darielle Mejia Briscoe, an acclaimed biologist known for her work on the evolution of vision in butterflies, has been awarded a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship. The University of California, Irvine professor of ecology & evolutionary biology is among a diverse group of 184 artists, writers, scholars and scientists worldwide to receive the prestigious award this year from a pool of almost 3,000 applicants.

Briscoe will use her fellowship to support a project titled "Light, Heat and Butterflies: Adaptations of Insects to a Warming Planet." She will conduct field research and write a book weaving together the biophysics, genetics, physiology and evolution of butterflies' visual and thermal adaptations to climate change.

"I am pleased to congratulate Professor Briscoe on being awarded a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship," said Hal S. Stern, UCI interim provost and executive vice chancellor. "Her recognition and her proposed research on the impacts of climate change exemplify the academic excellence of our UCI faculty."

Created in 1925 by Sen. Simon and Olga Guggenheim in memory of their son John Simon Guggenheim, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation provides fellowships to exceptional individuals in pursuit of scholarship in any field of knowledge and creation in any art form, under the freest possible conditions.

"In accepting this honor, I gratefully recognize the Mexican American- and Indigenous-descended women who came before me and who will come after me," Briscoe said. "My hope is that the award will encourage others, especially Latinas, to aspire to the highest levels of creativity and achievement. Receiving a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation will give me the time to research and write about a subject I love: butterflies, humans and their intertwined relationship on this beautiful planet."

Briscoe's research focuses on the molecular evolution and genomics of sensory physiology, color vision, coloration and animal behavior. She is highly regarded for her work on the evolution of vision in butterflies. She is particularly well-known for the discovery of new opsins, her exploration of the links between genetic expression of these proteins and functional behavior, and her application of functional approaches in the study of light-sensitive pigments that led to color vision.

For her research contributions, Briscoe has been recognized as an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the California Academy of Sciences and the Royal Entomological Society. She is also a Distinguished Scientist of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science.

UCI now has 38 Guggenheim Fellows from various backgrounds and fields of study.

###

About the Guggenheim Fellowships: Since its establishment in 1925, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has granted nearly $400 million in fellowships to over 18,000 individuals, among them more than 125 Nobel laureates; members of all the national academies; and winners of the Pulitzer Prize, the Fields Medal, the Turing Award, the Bancroft Prize, the National Book Award and other internationally recognized honors.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation's top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 222 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UCI, visit http://www. uci. edu .

Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists.

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The Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office continues to effectively work towards establishing business and friendly relations in the fight against crime with a number of international and regional organizations, as well as with prosecutors offices and other criminal prosecution bodies of foreign countries, according to the Prosecutor General's Office.

Prosecutor General of Russia Igor Krasnov arrived on an official visit to Baku on April 8 at the invitation of Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan Kamran Aliyev.

The prosecutor's general will discuss various aspects of bilateral cooperation, prospects for joint work on the most pressing issues of prosecutorial activity. A number of bilateral documents are also expected to be signed.

The public will be regularly informed about the details of the visit.
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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.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un admitted that his country is in its "worst-ever situation" at a massive political conference in Pyongyang. He addressed thousands of grassroots members of his ruling party.

Kim Jong-Un: North Korea is facing 'worst-ever situation'

As he completes a decade in power, experts believe Kim Jong-Un is facing his hardest challenge yet. North Korea's coronavirus lockdown causes more shock to an economy already battered by decades of mismanagement and punishing US-led sanctions over Kim Jong-Un's nuclear weapons program.

Kim made the remarks during an opening speech at a meeting of the Workers' Party's cell secretaries on Tuesday, North's official Korean Central News Agency said. He encouraged members to follow through on decisions taken at a party congress in January. At the time, he pledged to strengthen his missile defense in the face of US opposition and unveiled a new five-year national development strategy.

The congress came months after Kim expressed unusual candor by admitting that his efforts to boost the economy were failing at another political gathering, CBS News reported. During his speech on Tuesday, Kim Jong-Un also mocked the party's grassroots units for "shortcomings" that he said needed to be addressed right away to ensure the party's "stable and sustainable" growth.

Party cells, which are made up of five to thirty members and manage activities and reside in factories and other locations, are the smallest party authority units. The Workers' Party relies heavily on the network to maintain its influence. The previous cell secretaries' meeting was held in 2017.

The economic losses have left Kim Jong-Un with little to show for his ambitious diplomacy with former President Trump, which ended in a stalemate on sanctions relief in exchange for the North's denuclearization efforts.

Pyongyang has so far refused the Biden administration's overture for negotiations, claiming that Washington must first abandon its "hostile" policies, and has ramped up the pressure by resuming ballistic missile tests after a yearlong halt last month.

How North Korea's Leader Kim Jong Un Keeps Advancing With His Nuclear Missile Plans

North Korea stole $1B over past the decade, study reveals

According to a recent report, North Korea is linked to more than half of the world's top ten financial-hacking cases and may have stolen more than $1 billion since 2011. In a recent study, Britain-based Traders of Crypto said that North Korea has been stealing bitcoin exchanges and engaged in other types of cyber fraud consistently, as per UPI.

Five of the top ten financial heists from 2011 to 2020 were linked to North Korea, said the report. North Korea's cybercriminals carried out the attack on the Japanese exchange Coincheck in January 2018. They stole $534 million in NEM, an open-source cryptocurrency token.

The New Economic Movement is abbreviated as NEM. The heist is one of the most important in the history of virtual currencies.

North Korea Stresses US Contact's 'Cheap Trick,' No Intention To Hold Talks

Other cybercrimes perpetrated by North Korean hackers include a $390 million breach of Malaysia's central bank, $170 million stolen from the Union Bank of India, and $110 million stolen from Mexico's Export-Import Bank system in January 2018. North Koreans are "military-trained hackers who conduct their cryptocurrency swindles with military skill," Ondrej Krehel, CEO of cybersecurity company Lifars, told Fortune Magazine.

North Korea is also claimed to be the source of "almost all" cryptocurrency thefts, said the analyst. Cryptocurrency moves from "cold" to "hot" wallets during virtual currency transactions, equivalent to transferring cash from bank vaults to ATMs. According to Fortune, hackers "pounce" during those transactions.

The Korean Workers' Party cell conference began for a second day on Thursday, North Korean state media said, adding that it is expected to last one or two days. North Korean hackers were arrested in February in a cyber scheme to steal money from banks. North Korean hackers may be financing the regime's nuclear missile program, analysts previously claimed.

North Korea Sends Warning to Biden Administration

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Denton, TX (76205)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Fashion icon Carla Zampatti will be farwelled at a public state funeral in St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney next week.

The 78-year-old epochal designer died on Saturday April 3 after a fall at an event on Sydney Harbour a week earlier.

'Carla was a trailblazer in every respect and a role model for generations of Australians,' NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

Fashion icon and businesswoman Carla Zampatti (pictured) will be receiving a state funeral

It will be held at St Mary's Cathedral (pictured) in Sydney on Thursday April 15 at 10.30am

CARLA ZAMPATTI FUNERAL DETAILS Date and Time: April 15 at 10.30am Location: St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, near Hyde Park Doors will open at 9.30am and guests will need to be seated by 10.15am General public welcome to attend and will be accommodated inside the Cathedral where possible Funeral will be livestreamed Advertisement

The general public will be able to attend Ms Zampatti's funeral or watch over a livestream, and doors will open at 9.30am.

She spent a week in a coma at St Vincent's Hospital after falling unconscious when she slipped down Macquarie Point stairs.

She was attending the opening night of the La Traviata opera on Sydney Harbour when she fell and hit her head.

Ms Zampatti was known not just for timeless fashion pieces, but her generosity towards up and coming designers and as a role model for young women and migrants.

Ms Berejiklian said 'the world will never be the same' when she died.

'Talented, generous and inspiring. A true trailblazer in every respect.'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the fashion mogul 'kind, strong, elegant and sincere.'

'Carla was an icon to the fashion industry, a pioneer as an entrepreneur and a champion of multicultural Australia,' he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the fashion mogul 'kind, strong, elegant and sincere'

The 78-year-old fashion designer died after falling down stairs at the Sydney Opera House

She was given a Member of the Order of Australia in 1987 for service to the fashion industry

Carla Zampatti's daughter Bianca Spencer (pictured right) shared a gutwrenching tribute after her mother's death

Droves of other celebrities celebrated the high-end designer.

'Classy, sophisticated, smart and an incredible mother and business woman,' supermodel Megan Gale wrote after Ms Zampatti's death.

'A trailblazer for the Australian fashion industry and an absolute icon. You will be missed but not forgotten.'

Ms Zampatti's daughter Bianca shared a tribute after her mother's death.

'Today I lost my mother, my inspiration, my mentor and my friend,' the fashion designer wrote alongside family photos on Instagram.

'I am lost for words and totally heartbroken.'

The high-end designer was born in Italy and immigrated to Western Australia in 1950 at eight

Ms Zampatti was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1987 for service to the fashion industry as a designer and manufacturer.

She was also made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2009 for her service through leadership in the fashion, multicultural broadcasting, and as a role model and mentor to women.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) called Ms Zampatti a 'trailblazer'

In 1980 Ms Zampatti was Australian Businesswoman of the Year, and in 2008 she was awarded the Australian Fashion Laureate Award by the NSW Government.

The high-end designer was born in Italy and immigrated to Western Australia in 1950 when she was about eight years old.

She previously said her desire to prove herself to her adopted country was the driving force behind her successful career.

'Economically, socially, lifestyle - migration has been a huge benefit for this country,' she said.

'This country today is an economic force and I do believe it's primarily because of the wonderful contributions that hardworking ambitious [immigrants bring].'
While si and no are both two-letter words in Spanish, they are a world apart. When San Antonio community health workers recently distributed 130,000 door hangers in East, West and South Side neighborhoods, these two words got lost in translation.

In its translation from English to Spanish, the door hanger incorrectly stated that people without immigration documentation cannot get the COVID-19 vaccine.

It was an awful mistake, and we feel really terrible about it, said Colleen Bridger, San Antonio assistant city manager and lead on the pandemic response.

I feel for the humans who made the error, and as a journalist and former teacher, I understand how easy it is to make them  and why editors are essential.

But how does this happen in our countrys seventh-most populous city? In a city filled with so many progressive leaders? How do people with advanced educations make blunders like this during a pandemic?

Here is what happened:

Bridger said health workers asked the citys Community Response and Equity Coalition to review the door hanger, and for clarity, the group decided to change the question Do I need to show proof of citizenship? (The answer is no.) The group changed the question to Can I get the vaccination if I am undocumented? But when they changed the question, they didnt update the answer from no to yes.

Bridger  and everyone else  found out about the mistake during a San Antonio City Council virtual meeting last week about COVID-19 vaccines when District 4 City Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia described how her 82-year-old father, a naturalized citizen with a first-grade Mexican education, was confused when he saw the door hanger. He encourages others to get vaccinated, and he was panicked. He wanted to know why the flyer said, in Spanish, that undocumented people could not get the vaccine.

As she sat in the meeting, Bridger texted her staff to alert them to the mistake and begin correcting it. They started with Univision and Telemundo, which they work closely with to communicate important information.

It was a human mistake, but a serious error that could cost lives. San Antonio has a substantial immigrant community. According to 2019 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, of the 1.5 million total San Antonio population, 14.3 percent were immigrants.

Fear is already ingrained in minority populations  especially undocumented immigrants, who worry about deportation. Undoing this mistake will be challenging, if not impossible, and measuring its impact is impossible.

We know people of color and low income are among those with the highest risk of death from COVID-19. And fewer people getting vaccinated affects everyone. If COVID-19 has taught us anything, its that the health of our neighbors can affect our health.

Correcting this door hanger mistake also cost money  doubling the price of the printing to a total of $24,960 for the two distributions. The new door hangers will be distributed this week.

Mistakes happen  and we are all guilty of typos. Bridger said the departments intentions were good, and I believe her.

Its admirable city health care workers use door hangers to remind people that the fight against COVID-19 is not over, so they should wear a mask, social distance and get vaccinated. They know information must be shared in ways that may reach those who may not have access to internet, newspapers, TV or radio.

Its also admirable the city is purposeful about communication, not only consistently working with Telemundo and Univision, but also making sure to provide specific guidance for immigrants that is informed by an equity-focused coalition.

New American Economy, a nonprofit, bipartisan research group, ranks San Antonio 27 out of the 100 largest U.S. cities  and No. 1 in Texas  for immigrant integration efforts, and this kind of effort to communicate is proof.

Bridgers transparency and vow to do better are commendable. A bilingual staff member will now do a final review of materials.

Rocha Garcia, who is also a marketing professor at Our Lady of the Lake University, said she will use this real-life example to teach her students about the importance of translating materials  correctly.

When Rocha Garcia shares this real-life error with her students, she will not only be speaking as a professor or a city councilwoman but also as a daughter in a family that lost six San Antonio members to COVID-19 in the span of six weeks this past summer, and later, her closest uncle, who lived in Coahuila, Mexico. She will explain why its critical to get every word right.

Nancy.Preyor-Johnson@Express-News.net
YEREVAN.  As of Friday morning, 1,029 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 201,158 in the country, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Also, 22 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 3,697 cases.

Four more cases of coronavirus patients dying from some other illnesses were recorded in Armenia in the past one day, and the corresponding overall death toll in the country is 944 now.

The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 1,117, the total respective number so far is 180,160, and the number of people currently being treated is 16,357which is a drop by 114 in one day.

And 4,589 COVID-19 tests were conducted in Armenia over the past one day, while 894,461 such tests have been performed to date.
RSV Respiratory Virus Cases Quadruples in Far North Queensland Children

A serious respiratory illness called Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) has seen a massive spike since the start of the year, affecting children across the Far North Queensland region.

Since Jan. 1, Queensland Health said the Cairns and Hinterland region had seen 182 presentations to the emergency room, compared to just 33 for the whole of last year and 27 for the whole of 2019.

In total, the region recorded 378 cases of RSV since the start of the year, compared to just 88 for the whole of 2019 and 70 in 2020.

Over 70 percent of the RSV cases have been found in children under the age of 10 between January and April.

Cairns Hospital clinical director of paediatrics, Dr. Neil Archer, said RSV was a common virus that generally caused a minor cold-like illness in older children and adults. Still, in younger children, it was a common cause of bronchiolitis.

The symptoms of RSV may include a runny nose, cough, fever, sore throat, and headache, but in infants, they also may not feed as well, breath more quickly or with more effort, he said.

A person with RSV is normally infectious from when they start to show symptoms to 7-10 days after symptoms develop, he said.

He said good hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette were important measures to prevent RSV.

This includes washing hands regularly with soap and water after touching surfaces or after coughing or sneezing and covering the mouth and nose with an elbow when sneezing, he said.

He said that people should already be practising good hygiene to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Good hygiene also reduced the number of RSV cases during 2020, he said.

Its particularly important not to send your child to day-care if they are unwell to protect the other children, he said.

Although this was frequently a mild illness, Archer said it could cause severe respiratory illness, particularly in infants under 3 months or in children who already had a significant medical diagnosis.

He said there were particular increases in RSV cases in settings such as childcare centres, as it was easy to transmit.

Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Services executive director of medical services, Dr. Don Mackie, said the RSV outbreaks had led to record amounts of presentations at the hospitals Emergency Department in recent weeks.

We have been able to cope with the increased demand in the short term, but we are still asking for Far North Queenslanders to be mindful of the pressure on local health services.

If you have an emergency, please come to the EDthats what its there for.

But if you have a non-urgent medical issue, please consider calling 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) or seeing your local GP, he said.

Mackie told ABC that RSV usually peaks in winter and said it was unusual to see a surge at the end of summer.

It may be a consequence of the changing way that people are behaving over the winter and through into the summer because of COVID, he said.
Kiev, April 9 : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid a working trip to Donbas in eastern Ukraine due to the escalation of tensions in the region, his press service said in a statement.

Zelensky inspected the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the frontline, where the largest number of ceasefire violations were recorded, where got acquainted with the situation, reports Xinhua news agency.

The President noted that 26 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the conflict in Donbass, which comprises the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, since the beginning of this year.

He thanked the soldiers for their service and presented them with state awards.

The latest ceasefire was announced in eastern Ukraine on July 27, 2020.

However, the situation worsened after the armed confrontation between the Donbas insurgents and Ukrainian government forces escalated at the beginning of the year.

The ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, which began in April 2014, has claimed some 14,000 lives and left as many as 40,000 wounded.

This year, the conflict has claimed the lives of 20 Ukrainian servicemen and injured 57 others so far.

Insurgents have controlled parts of Donbas along the Russian border for almost seven years.
In a bid to steer clear of Beijing-Taipei row, Prime Minister Narendra Modis government on Thursday said that India had supplied the Covid-19 vaccine doses to Paraguay following a request from the South American nation without any involvement of a third party.'

New Delhi subtly contradicted Taipeis claim that it had persuaded India to provide vaccines to Paraguay after Beijing had sought South American nations to sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan if it wanted the shots from China.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had a discussion with his counterpart in Paraguay, Eladio Loizaga Caballero, who requested him for supply of the Covid-19 vaccines. Jaishankar responded positively and a consignment of Covaxin, a Made-in-India vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, was sent to Asuncion. I would like to confirm that no third party was involved in this, Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said.

Read: War of words erupts in Maharashtra over Covid-19 vaccine shortage

India shipped 100,000 doses of Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech Limited to Paraguay. His statement contradicted the claim made by Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. Wu recently said that Beijing had tried to make Paraguay sever its diplomatic relations with Taiwan in lieu of Covid-19 vaccines from China.

The One-China policy recognises only the People's Republic of China, which came into existence in 1949 after the communists defeated the nationalists in the civil war of China. It does not recognize the existence of Taiwan (or the Republic of China), where the nationalists retreated to and based the seat of their government after losing to the communists. India, like most of the other nations, has been adhering to One-China policy since 1949, recognising only the People's Republic of China.

Also read: Covid-19 vaccine war erupts between Centre and Maharashtra

India, like most of the other countries, does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. India-Taipei Association, which is headed by a diplomat, functions as a de facto embassy of India in Taipei. Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre (TECC) in New Delhi is the de facto diplomatic and consular mission of Taiwan in India.

Paraguay is one of the few countries having formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Wu said that Taipei had got in touch with the US, Japan and India after Beijing had sought to make Paraguay sever its diplomatic relations with Taiwan with the offer of supplying Covid-19 vaccines made in China to the South American nation.

India already sent 100,000 vaccines to Paraguay and another consignment of similar numbers of doses would be sent later, sources in New Delhi said.
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Australia, Philippines, African Union ban AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot

Australia and the Philippines limited use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, while the African Union dropped plans to buy the shot amid global shortages, dealing further blows to the company's hopes to deliver a vaccine for the world. The vaccine - developed with Oxford University and considered a frontrunner in the global vaccine race - has been plagued by safety concerns and supply problems since Phase III trial results were published in December.

European data suggests 'very small risk' of blood clotting due to Covishield vaccine in India: Gagandeep Kang

India should have reported 320 cases of blood clot associated with administering of Covishield vaccine by now if the European levels of risk calculated for AstraZeneca were to apply to the country, according to eminent scientist Gagandeep Kang who termed it a "very small risk" with absolutely no need for apprehension.



Iran's Chabahar port likely ready by May as India speeds up work: US report

After a brief halt, India accelerated the work on Chabahar Port early this year and the strategic Iranian port is expected to be operational by next month, a Congressional report has said. In 2015, India agreed to help develop Iran's Chabahar Port and an associated railway that would enable India to trade with Afghanistan unimpeded by Pakistan



Will have to prioritise COVID-19 vaccination as per availability: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the country will have to prioritise COVID-19 vaccination as per the availability of vaccines. The prime minister said the vaccination criteria in India is not different from that in rich countries of the world. He also asked states to make efforts to achieve 100 per cent vaccination in the age group of above 45 years, which is currently eligible for vaccination.



Mukesh Ambani to challenge SEBI's Rs 25 crore fine in SAT

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) CMD Mukesh Ambani will challenge in the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) the SEBI order imposing Rs 25 crore fine for violation of takeover regulations. On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India had fined Ambani, Anil Ambani, Nita Ambani, Tina Ambani and other individuals and entities for non-compliance with takeover norms in a case dating back to 2000.

RBI announces open market purchase of Rs 25,000 crore govt securities on Apr 15

Following RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das' announcements on Wednesday, the apex bank notified on Thursday that it would conduct open market purchase of government securities of Rs 1 lakh crore under the G-sec Acquisition Programme (G-SAP). The first purchase of the government securities for an aggregate amount of Rs 25,000 crore under G-SAP 1.0 will be conducted on April 15.


North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivers a closing address at a three-day conference of cell secretaries of the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, Thursday, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency, Friday. Yonhap



By Kwon Mee-yoo



North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has announced his impoverished state will embark on an "Arduous March" as he strives to navigate prolonged economic difficulties amid global sanctions.



This was the first time for Kim to use the term, "Arduous March," which his father and former leader Kim Jong-un referred to during periods of hardship from 1994 to 1998 to overcome economic crises and serious famines. As a result, Pyongyang watchers predict the North will resort to further belt-tightening rather than seeking negotiations with the U.S. or the international community for sanctions relief.



According to the North's Korean Central News Agency, Friday, Kim announced the decision at the closing of the cell secretaries' conference of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) the previous day.



"I made up my mind to ask the WPK organizations at all levels, including its Central Committee, and the cell secretaries of the entire party to wage another more difficult Arduous March in order to relieve our people of difficulties," Kim was quoted as saying.



"Our party never expects that there will be any fortuitous opportunity for us in paving the road for our people and in realizing their great aim and ideals to build socialism and communism. There is nothing we could depend on or look to," the North Korean leader said.



A cell is a basic unit of the WPK, generally consisting of five to 30 members. A cell secretary is the leader of each unit. Kim's speech mentioned the 10 duties of a cell secretary, emphasizing the importance of indoctrination of the party's statements.



Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said North Korea's decision to be self-reliant was already made when it announced the "frontal breakthrough" drive last year.



"North Korea already declared that it will go into a long war against the sanctions. Kim Jong-un's remarks at the cell secretaries' conference is a repetition of the message," the professor said. "This was the first grassroots-level meeting after North Korea announced the breakthrough and Kim aimed to tighten discipline of the cell secretaries during the hard times."



The Kyungnam University professor interpreted the return of the term, "Arduous March," from a similar perspective.



"It was to emphasize the tough times, comparing them to the Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il era, and warning and pressuring low-level members to abide by the party's decision. It could be understood as the North Korean version of the 'Saemaul Undong,'" he said.



"Saemaul Undong," or new community movement, was an initiative launched by former South Korean President Park Chung-hee in the 1970s to modernize the rural economy.



A unification ministry official said it was the first time for Kim Jong-un to mention the term, "Arduous March."



"We believe he used the term while encouraging cell secretaries to carry out efforts to overcome economic hardships," said Cha Deok-cheol, vice spokesman at the ministry.



"We need more time to analyze what influence his use of the term will have on inter-Korean relations or its foreign policy."



Meanwhile, the United States has not declared its North Korea policy yet, taking a cautious approach.



U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said, Thursday (local time), that the North Korea policy review is in the final stages, adding that careful consideration requires time.



"North Korea's nuclear program, North Korea's ballistic missile program, of course, is a profound challenge not only, again, for the United States, but also for our allies in the Indo-Pacific and our partners as well," he added. "So, of course, we want to make sure we do a number of things," Price said.


Eight days of sectarian rioting in Belfast and other areas of Northern Ireland has solicited an outpouring of hypocritical condemnation from the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont and Boris Johnsons Conservative government in Westminster.

Riot police block a road near the Peace Wall in West Belfast, Northern Ireland, Thursday, April 8, 2021 (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

On Thursday evening, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) used water cannonfor the first time in six yearsand dogs to quell rioting in west Belfast. Riot police were deployed alongside Armoured Land Rovers at the Lanark Way interface separating the Irish republican nationalist Springfield Road from the British loyalist Shankill Road.

Other areas of Northern IrelandLondonderry, Derry and Tyronewere also locations of violent scenes over the last week.

On Thursday, following discussions between Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheal Martin and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, all five parties in Northern Irelands Assembly in Stormont condemned the rioting.

After ministers at a special meeting of the Northern Ireland Executive were briefed on the situation by PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne, a joint statement on the violence and unrest from the devolved government of Northern Ireland read, Attacks on police officers, public services and communities are deplorable and they must stop. Those who would 'seek to use and abuse our children and young people to carry out these attacks have no place in our society'. It concluded, 'While our political positions are very different on many issues, we are all united in our support for law and order and we collectively state our support for policing and for the police officers who have been putting themselves in harm's way to protect others.

The Executive is led, based on a power sharing arrangement, by First Minister Arlene Foster from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill, representing the Republican movement, Sinn Fein. The other parties signing the statement were the Ulster Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

Jen Psaki, Press Secretary of the US Biden administration, said Thursday, We are concerned by the violence in Northern Ireland and we join the British, Irish and Northern Irish leaders in their call for calm.

These statement are rampant hypocrisy. The conflicts of the past week are the deliberate outcome of a campaign led by the DUP with the active support of large sections of the Tory government.

Two issues are routinely cited as the cause of the latest outbreaks: Britain exiting the European Union (EU) and the fallout from the funeral last year of former Irish Republican Army intelligence chief Bobby Storey.

The relationship between Northern Ireland and Britain was a central area of conflict in the fractious Brexit negotiations with the EU. Both sides were anxious to prevent the return of a hard border between the six counties of Northern Irelandwhich is part of the UKand the Republic of Ireland, which remains an EU member.

But this outcome was inevitable given Britains separation from the EUs Single Market. After two years of negotiations an agreement was reached for Britain to leave the EU, including a component part known as the Northern Ireland Protocol. The Protocol displaces external EU customs checks on trade from the North/South border into the Irish Sea, with ports in Northern Ireland and the UK functioning as the EUs external trade boundary. Johnson and then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, ignored the Northern Ireland Assembly, only allowing Stormont the opportunity to reverse the protocol after four years.

To seal agreement with the EU, Johnson had to override opposition to the Protocol from the DUP, which had been the Tories coalition government partners after the 2017 general election after Johnsons predecessor, Theresa May, lost the Tories their majority. The Protocol was denounced by hardline Brexiteer Tories and the DUP as drawing a border down the Irish Sea.

As soon as Britains EU withdrawal began, conflicts erupted over the Protocols stipulation, involving everything from vaccine supplies from the EU to the impact of the measures on supermarkets and supply chains.

Johnson and the Tories gave tacit support to the campaign waged by the DUP to disrupt the new border arrangements, and even sanctioned a unilateral delay in implementing the arrangements. Many of Johnsons most bellicose statements criticising the EU were made during a visit last month to Northern Ireland to mark the centenary of its foundation. Johnson was met by Foster, while Sinn Fein refused to attend.

Staunch Unionists on the Torys backbench 1922 Committee were even more overt in backing the DUP. Jacob Rees-Mogg declared that Britain still had an intertest in Northern Irelanda position that was denied by the Blair Labour government in their drawing up of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which established power sharing government at Stormont.

The willingness of Johnson and other senior figures in the Tory and Unionist parties to call into question of the Good Friday Agreement is indicative of the dangerous political brinksmanship being engaged in. The Good Friday Agreement ended three decades of sectarian armed conflict known as The Troubles during which over 3,500 people died, including over 1,800 civilians. Nearly 48,000 people were injured during the conflict.

Brexit is fuelling never fully suppressed sectarian divisions, with the DUP declaring that any concession to the EU is a threat to the 1800 Act of Union that abolished Irelands existing parliament and cemented the rule of the wealthy Protestant Ascendancy, of which todays weakened unionists are the heirs.

These divisions are being accelerated by Sinn Feins insistence that Britains exit from the EU reinforces their case for a united Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the vote to remain in the EU won a significant majority, as a significant number of Unionist voters rejected the DUPs pro-Brexit stance.

Recent tensions flared as the DUP seized on a March 30 report by Northern Irelands Public Prosecution Service announcing that it would not be pursuing any prosecutions over breaches of Covid-19 regulations at Storeys funeral. The funeral, held on June 30, 2020, saw about 2,000 mourners line the streets, prompting accusations that Sinn Fein had flouted rules it was involved in creating. Among those attending was Sinn Feins deputy First Minister ONeill and 23 other Sinn Fein politicians.

The DUP, through their agencies in the Loyalist former paramilitary groups, staged protests in a number of Loyalist strongholds in west Belfast including the Shankill Road. None of this was spontaneous, with the mainly young people involvedas evidenced in the arrest of teenagers as young as 13copiously supplied with petrol bombs and fireworks.

Sinn Fein mounted a counter-protest.

There is no indication that there is widespread support for such a return to sectarian conflict among Catholic or Protestant workers. But given the tensions being ramped up in ruling circles, this could change were anyone to die as a result of violence, including that meted out by the police.

The Good Friday Agreement did not resolve the sectarian tensions which are the result of British imperialisms centuries long occupation of Ireland, but made them the basis of a political set-up based on supposed Republican-Catholic and Unionist-Protestant 'communities.'

These tensions can only be overcome based on a perspective of working class unity in the fight for socialism. The struggle against British imperialism must be combined with opposition to all sections of the bourgeoise, including the government in the Irish Republic, the EUs major powers and the Biden administration in the US. This struggle must be fought for by workers in Ireland and Britain as part of the fight for the United Socialist States of Europe.
Page Content

With the forever fluctuating fuel prices, Soweto residents demand for the extension of Rea Vaya bus services and new routes is urgent than ever before to save on transport costs.







The situation is exacerbated by high unemployment especially among young people. This is what emerged during the virtual Integrated Development Plan (IDP) consultation meeting for Region D on Thursday, 8 April 2021.





This comes as studies show that many households living in the periphery spend more money on public transport.





The City is holding IDPs across the seven regions, which are employing virtual, physical or hybrid approaches. This is due to the current Covid-19 restrictions which has put limitation on the number of people allowed to gather.





Officially opening the first consultation meeting, for communities to have inputs in the IDP, Budget and Tariffs, the Speaker of Council in the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Nonceba Molwele, encouraged the participants to have robust discussions.





Responding to the residents comments, the Acting Executive Mayor in the City of Johannesburg and the MMC for Group Corporate and Shared Services, Cllr Loyiso Masuku, said the Government of Local Unity (GLU) in the City is seriously looking into the youth development with the planned youth structure in the pipeline.





The GLU has realised the cry of the youth in the City. As a result the City has approved the youth directorate structure, which will be looking specifically into the youth issues. Joburg is a youthful City, which makes sense for young people to be part of developments, said Cllr Masuku.





Cllr Masuku challenged the youth to raise their hands and partner with the City in the developmental projects and programmes.





The Ubusha Foundation called on the City to host the youth conference. The Foundation said the youth is absent from many developments and many positions of influence.





Cllr Masuku announced that the City is in fact planning a Youth Summit which is scheduled for May and called on all the young people to be part of it.





The MMC for Finance in the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Jolidee Matongo, said in the current financial year the City has set aside about R50 million for youth development across all the Citys departments.





Xolani Mkhaliphi from Elias Motsoaledi asked what the Citys plan is to fast-track the building of RDP houses in his area.





The Regional Director for Region D, Salome Mogotsi, said the City was running against the clock to complete many projects ahead of the end of the financial year. She said the City is on the ground fast-tracking major projects like the Lufhereng Mixed Housing Development, the construction of RDP housing in Elias Motsoaledi which is schedule to start in April, upgrading and installing of storm water infrastructure among others.





Mogotsi said the City has set a target to issue over 400 title deeds by June.









By Nkosana Lekotjolo


NORTH CHARLESTON  When construction of the Leatherman Terminal languished more than a decade ago, Butch Weber considered all his options and decided he might as well stick it out.

Now, more than a decade later, the first ship is scheduled to dock at the port's new container terminal on April 9. And Weber will be the only member of the State Ports Authority's engineering team to have been with the project at this city's former Navy base since the first shovel of dirt was moved in 2007, first as a contractor and then as an authority employee.

"I can remember when things started slowing down, my boss at the time was moving to another job and he was like, 'Man, I don't know if you should stick around, you might want to find something else,'" Weber recalled just days before the Yorktown Express containership was due to become the terminal's debut visitor.

"I remember telling him I really wanted to see that first ship come in," Weber said. "I thought it would be pretty cool. And, man, I finally made it."

That deep exhale of a long-awaited accomplishment is shared by many ports authority workers these days as the terminal's completion was not always a sure thing.

"If this terminal was a Beatles song, it would be 'The Long and Winding Road,'" said Jim Newsome, the authority's president and CEO, whose hiring in 2009 kicked off the revival of a Charleston port that had reached its nadir. "We've been at this a long time."

From 'war' to welcome

The port's newest container terminal was originally planned for Daniel Island, but the proposal  boldly termed the Global Gateway  ran into a brick wall of political, residential and environmental opposition. So the terminal's footprint was moved to the former Navy base, which closed in 1993, and the Army Corps of Engineers issued the first permits for the new facility in 2003.

Not everyone was happy with the move.

North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey used the term "war" to describe his negotiating stance with the authority, and he once staged a protest of the new terminal from an armored military vehicle while gripping a machine gun for dramatic effect. At the time, Summey said the container terminal clashed with the city's long-term plans to convert the site into a waterfront park. And he threatened lawsuits to stop the terminal, citing its impact on traffic in neighborhoods near the old naval yard.

On Thursday, Summey told The Post and Courier "the war is over," adding the city's relationship with the authority "is much greater than it was in the early days."

Many of the traffic concerns have been addressed with promises that an overpass will be built over Durant Avenue so local vehicles won't get stuck by 3-mile-long trains running to and from a rail yard near the terminal site. Other overpasses could be built if needed, although funding hasn't been secured for any of them.

"My job is to make sure that the people of North Charleston are not overly burdened by what's going to transpire, and we feel that with the agreement we've made that, at least in this phase of growth, it's going to work for us," he said.

Political quarrels weren't the only thing working against the terminal's completion early on. The Great Recession took hold just as site work was getting started in 2007. Of even greater concern in Charleston was the port's decline. Once the nation's fourth-busiest seaport, cargo took a 33 percent nosedive by 2009 and Charleston was about to lose its biggest shipping line customer, Maersk, before a management shakeup brought Newsome on board.

It took years to recover, and while site-preparation work never stopped in North Charleston, development of the terminal didn't begin in earnest until 2018.

In hindsight, the delay worked to the authority's favor because the Leatherman Terminal would not have been built to handle today's vessels carrying up to 20,000 containers at a time. When the terminal was originally scheduled to open in 2012, the biggest containerships were hauling fewer than half that number.

"The delay, in a very perverse way, helped us to do the right thing," Newsome said. "What is really heartening is that it's all coming together at sort of the right time."

Choreographed engineering

The Leatherman Terminal  named for state Sen. Hugh Leatherman, one of the port's biggest benefactors  is an engineering marvel on par with the Ravenel Bridge that spans the Cooper River just a little to the south.

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At a cost of $1 billion, the terminal's first phase will have one 1,400-foot berth and five 169-foot-tall cranes able to move cargo containers to and from the biggest ships visiting the East Coast. Eventually, two more berths and 10 more cranes will be added, giving the Port of Charleston  between the Leatherman Terminal and the Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant  the ability to handle six fully loaded container vessels at the same time, doubling the port's annual cargo capacity.

Newsome said the terminal was built on what amounts to 286 acres of pluff mud. The authority's engineers call it compressible clay. The foundation was so wet, in fact, that engineers had to drive more than 6,300 miles of wick drains into the ground. Those wick drains acted like big straws, sucking the water to the surface. Then, more than 6 million yards of fill material  equivalent to 236 million 5-gallon buckets  was placed on top of the ground to compress the site and make it stable enough for construction.

With several companies fulfilling more than 15 contracts at the site, the construction has been compared to a well-choreographed dance routine.

"I've done this for almost 40 years and I've never seen coordination like this," said Walter Lagarenne, the authority's senior director of engineering and facilities. "These guys helped each other, they didn't get in each other's way; there was no squabbling."

That's all the more impressive, he said, because other key projects were taking place near the site at the same time. The Army Corps of Engineers was dredging the river so big ships could navigate to the wharf and the state's Department of Transportation was building a road to link the terminal to Interstate 26.

While the engineering and construction teams didn't cut corners, they also weren't given a blank check. Lagarenne said there was constant attention to ways money could be saved without sacrificing quality, ultimately shaving $40 million off the project's final cost.

For example, less-expensive asphalt was used to pave most of the site except those areas where concrete is needed to accommodate heavy trucks and equipment, such as rubber-tired gantry cranes. Instead of the original plan to have short streetlights for illumination, the decision was made to build fewer high-mast lights.

Structural components for the 581 concrete-and-steel pilings that support the wharf  measuring as long as 240 feet and 30 inches in diameter  were built offsite and then barged to the dock to improve quality, efficiency and safety, said Lucy Terza, the authority's project manager for engineering.

"Everyone was open to collaborating and changing and improving on the fly," Lagarenne said.

Just in the nick of time

In the end, the Leatherman Terminal's success will be measured by the amount of cargo it handles and the economic boost it brings to South Carolina.

At buildout, the terminal will be able to handle 2.4 million cargo containers a year, doubling the port's capacity and putting the Charleston area in a position to attract new businesses  such as the 3 million-square-foot Walmart distribution center under construction in Ridgeville  for at least the next two decades, adding to the $63.4 billion in annual economic impact the port already brings statewide, according to a University of South Carolina study.

Nearly 20 years in the making, Newsome said the Leatherman Terminal is opening "just in the nick of time."

The port is regularly setting cargo records  it handled the most cargo containers ever in a single month in March  and the berths at Wando Welch are almost always full unless a ship is coming or leaving the dock.

"Ships are big and they're staying a longer time and there's a lot of cargo," Newsome said. "The industry needs this extra berth capacity to enhance fluidity."

Newsome said he can "sense a great excitement in the community" about the terminal's opening. He hears the enthusiasm from people he meets while shopping, speaking to community groups and even walking his dog. That enthusiasm extends to a place no one would have expected when the terminal was first announced  North Charleston City Hall.

"We're excited about it opening," Summey said. "We know at the end of the day it will help to create more jobs, and I think a fair share of our people will get those jobs."
As a New Haven resident, I had grown accustomed to weekends of jam packed bars and restaurants and everybody out in the streets. COVID-19 as we know put a stop to this, but the families that own these bars and restaurants still have to make ends meet. In the last year, Connecticut has seen the closing of over 600 restaurants, devastating tons of families. Local businesses suffered astronomical losses because of the COVID-19 precautions. Even though restaurants have returned to 100 percent capacity, that does not help make up a year of lost wages.

These restaurants need our help before its too late, by donating to a relief fund, such as The Barstool Fund, you can do your part to help a struggling restaurant, more importantly, a struggling family. The best part about The Barstool Fund is the money isn't going to some faceless corporate structure, its going to the mom and dad trying to pay for their childs dance lessons.
Interview: Hungary has leading vaccination rate in EU thanks to Chinese, Russian jabs, says official

Xinhua) 15:48, April 09, 2021

BUDAPEST, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Hungary has a leading vaccination rate among European Union (EU) countries thanks to Chinese and Russian COVID-19 vaccines, a Hungarian official has said.

About 2.6 million of Hungary's some 9.8 million population have been inoculated, Zoltan Kovacs, international spokesman for the Hungarian government, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview Thursday, adding "we are basically second on the European list of ranking."

"Without the Chinese and Russian vaccines, it would not have been possible," said Kovacs, who is also the secretary of state for international communication and relations.

On Hungarian government's position on vaccines, Kovacs said: "vaccines are not a political question. All vaccines that are reliable should be used as soon as possible to be able to fight the coronavirus."

That is why Hungary has decided to look to the East besides the European way of purchasing and developing vaccines, according to the official.

Hungary is the first EU member state to buy and authorize the use of Chinese vaccines.

Noting the vaccines' origins have no meaning, Kovacs said, "all that matters is the reliability of the effectiveness of the vaccines available."

The official said like Hungarian President Janos Ader and Prime Minister Viktor Orban, he was also inoculated with a Chinese vaccine.

"So far, that is completely safe and reliable, if it's on my behalf," said Kovacs.

"We basically doubled the speed of the European (Union's) vaccination program because of the Chinese and Russian vaccines," Kovacs added.

"It is a double dose of success and relief, because as I suggested, these vaccines are effective and reliable, and at the same time help Hungary and the Hungarians to restart their normal lives," said the official.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Bianji)
The South African music landscape is vibrant, varied and full of talented songwriters. Often when musicians hear the term 'music publishing', it can create a lot of confusion. Some may seek a publisher - who can administer their rights on their behalf - and some may chose to self-publish. Since music publishing has a lot to do with how you make your money, it's important to know the ins and outs of the business, from protecting the use of songs to collecting royalties.

Could you perhaps elaborate on the current state of music publishing in South Africa?

#BehindtheBrandManager: Terri Verhoeven of Big Concerts on navigating the new events, entertainment space This month, we uncover the heroes behind the brands that millions of South Africans take into their homes and hearts every day. We find out more from Terri Verhoeven, senior operations manager at Big Concerts...

What are the biggest challenges facing musicians and performers?

4 easy ways to help your friendly neighbourhood musician survive Covid-19 Here are a few ways you can put your hard-earned randelas to good use by helping your favourite musicians.

What can be done to overcome these challenges?

Musicians and performers have been hit hard by Covid-19. What advice do you have going forward?

Sony Music Publishing signs global deal with Gallo Music Publishers Sony Music Publishing South Africa announced the signing of Gallo Music Publishers to a worldwide agreement...

As newly appointed chair of The Music Publishing Association of South Africa. How is MPA-SA assisting musicians?

The Copyright Amendment Bill has also thrown a spanner in the works. What's the current status around this?

I think it is a mixed bag  many of the larger publishers were already working online  so a move to work-from-home and online meetings was not a huge change. The smaller publishers have had to adapt to an online environment or outsource their administration to a larger publisher that has the necessary facilities.The revenue sources that were disrupted during the hard lockdown have started to flow again  but at a much lower level. Advertising spend is down across all traditional media and TV production has only recently restarted and as publishers and songwriters rely on a share of advertising revenue this has become a critical issue for us.There was an increase in uptake of legal digital music subscriptions  but the value per stream of these services is very low and a song needs to have millions of streams before a songwriter can receive meaningful money. So while there is more money in the pot it is also spread more thinly than ever before.The impact of the closure of live music events and the re-opening of only small events has had a significant impact on the musicians (many of whom are also songwriters) and there has been anecdotal discussion about a large scale exit from the profession of musicians and songwriters who can no longer support themselves and their families through their craft.As music publishers, we represent songwriters  the people behind the musicians/performers that you hear on radio or television. Songwriters are the storytellers that narrate the critical events on our behalf and our feelings around these events that run throughout the soundtrack of our lives.Our biggest challenge is the pandemic and how it has shattered income streams and potentially forced Creators to look at other jobs to support themselves and their families. The relief that was promised by the Department of Arts and Culture has been poorly delivered and was too little at the outset to make a meaningful difference over the last year.Global relief funds have been made available in billions of US$/EUR/AUS$ because their governments understand the critical role that the creative industries play in the fabric of our society.The first prize is a vaccinated society where live events are open again and musicians and songwriters can earn at pre-Covid levels. In addition, film, advertising and TV production returns to full scale operations including international co-productions and they continue to utilise the music of commissioned composers, or commercial and library music bringing back some of the money that was lost during the lockdown.From now till then there needs to be an urgent intervention in the form of a cash injection into this industry and I would suggest that it be administered by the well-established and trusted collective management organisations who are in a position to deal with members nationwide.It is hard to stay positive, but we are all in this together  the whole world. There is a unique opportunity that has been created by the pandemic to work online with musicians and songwriters around the world. Everyone is in the same storm and has more time on their hands to collaborate with a global industry.Services exist to facilitate the global online release of songs and the playing field is more level now than it has ever been for the DIY artist. Put yourself out there as a creator and join the many forums for collaboration or work through your publisher or label to get in touch with others who are keen to collaborate.Note that we represent publishers who represent songwriters  many of whom are musicians. Initially our work has been mainly through the CMOs that we work with  ensuring that they distributed royalties more frequently and released money that had been held back in reserve for occasions like this. There are also a number of funds that can be applied for directly by members of the CMOs.We continue our advocacy work with National Government and Arts & Culture and hope that they will make more relief funds available. We are also working to improve the financial wellbeing of our members by providing workshops that can offer insight into better financial management and estate planning for the long-term  please join up via our website and we will keep our members informed about these events.The last action by the President was to refer the Bill back to Parliament. What needs to happen is that there should be proper engagement by the committee with the creative industries broadly and more specifically with the Music Publishers Association.We agree that the Copyright Act is in desperate need of reform and that the last amendment predated the introduction of many of the digital services for music and video that are a seamless part of our lives. What is illegal in the real world needs to be illegal online and the language of the law needs to cater for the various forms of delivery that music follows between the creator and the consumer. We will support positive legislation that has had our input.
The Atta-Mills Institute (AMI) for Civic Education and Public Policy Advocacy, has once again been invited by ECOWAS to join a Team of Elections Observers which will be in, Benin, between 8th - 14th April, 2021, to observe the countrys Presidential elections scheduled to take place on the 11th of April, 2021.



The elections, which will elect the President of the Republic of Benin for a five-year term, have the incumbent, President Patrice Talon, seeking a second term in office.



It would be recalled that between the 14th  20th October 2020, the AMI was in Guinea, Conakry, as part of an ECOWAS Observer Team to observe the Presidential and Provincial elections of that country.



In a statement signed by the director and chief of staff of the institute, Mr. Andy Kankam he explained that they were most grateful to all Individuals and Groups for the unrelenting support towards seeing us grow from strength to strength.



Later in 2020, the AMI was accredited as one of the 27 Local and International Observer Groups mandated to observe Ghanas December 07, Presidential and Parliamentary elections which were deemed to have been free and fair by all the Teams.



The AMI remains humbled by the local and international recognition that God is bringing our way, and we appreciate the ECOWAS invitation.



The AMI Team is being led by, the Founder and CEO, Samuel Koku Anyidoho, and he are being accompanied by, Maxwell Okamafo Addo, a Technical Director at the AMI.



Ipso facto, the presence of Koku Anyidoho and the AMI Team in Benin, will further enhance the international image of the Institute.

Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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New Delhi:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his country was not involved in the Kurdish referendum. Apart from denying Turkish claims of covert involvement in the issue, he reiterated his "sympathy" for the Kurdish people.

On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Israel's intelligence agency played a role in the September 25 referendum, citing as proof the waving of Israeli flags during celebrations for the overwhelming "yes" victory."

This shows one thing, that this administration (in northern Iraq) has a history with Mossad, they are hand-in- hand together," Erdogan said in a televised speech.

Speaking at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu noted Turkey's support for the Islamist Hamas movement which rules Gaza, before denying Erdogan's charge.

"I can understand why those who support Hamas want to see the Mossad wherever things don't work out for them," Netanyahu said in remarks relayed by his office.

"But Israel had no part in the Kurdish referendum, aside from the deep, natural and years-long sympathy of the Jewish people to the Kurdish people and its aspirations," he said.

Israel has been the only country to openly support Kurdish independence, with Netanyahu backing "the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to attain a state of its own."

Netanyahu did not specify how and where such a state should come into being. Turkey fiercely opposed the referendum and has threatened sanctions against the region, reflecting its worries about its own sizeable Kurdish minority.

With PTI inputs

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Jordan will mark 100 years of survival Sunday as a resource-poor country in a war-ravaged neighbourhood, but the worst palace crisis in decades and the coronavirus pandemic threaten to overshadow any celebrations.

"Nobody would have bet a dinar on the survival of the state, created in the desert and with almost no natural resources," said Jalal al-Husseini, a researcher at the French Middle Eastern studies institute IFPO in Amman.

On April 11, 1921, Abdullah became ruler of the newly created Emirate of Transjordan.

Read more: Jordan's Prince Hamza says he will disobey army orders to keep silent

The territory accorded him by colonial power Britain had little oil and severely lacked water, and it has since seen repeated wars on its borders, prompting three waves of refugees -- yet has managed to survive.

But there was palace turmoil barely a week before the anniversary, as a former heir to the throne was suddenly confined to his palace, accused of plotting to "undermine the security" of the kingdom.

Days later, under family pressure, Prince Hamzah signed a statement pledging loyalty to his half-brother, King Abdullah II, who had stripped him of the title of crown prince in 2004.

But even before the palace crisis, plans for centenary celebrations were muted due to Covid-19.

"Economic and social conditions, the health situation and day-to-day life are very difficult, so there's not much enthusiasm to mark this as we should," said Oraib al-Rantawi, head of Al-Quds Center for Political Studies.

"We are talking about a state that was born on the fault lines of all the struggles and wars in the region, so its emergence and survival for 100 years with few resources is quite an achievement."

Read more: Jordan's King Abdullah says palace crisis 'over'

Transjordan, formed alongside Palestine during British mandate, declared full independence in 1946 and became the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan under Abdullah.

Along with Iraq, it was one of two independent kingdoms that Britain established under the rule of the Hashemite dynasty, whose support it had enlisted in the Arab revolt against Ottoman rule during World War I.

In a show of the fragility of the arrangement, the Iraqi arm of the dynasty was overthrown in a republican coup in 1958, in which King Faisal II and nearly all of his family were killed.

In 1948, Jordan faced its first major crisis with the establishment of the state of Israel next door, a move that sent hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing into its territory.

Abdullah imposed his rule over both sides of the Jordan River after Israel won the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948.

In 1949, he annexed what is now the West Bank, gave its inhabitants citizenship and one year later declared unity of the two banks under his crown.

Abdullah was assassinated by a Palestinian in July 1951, and his grandson Hussein, father to both the current king, Abdullah II, and to Prince Hamzah, ruled from 1952-99. He survived several attempts on his life.

Read more: Timeline: Jordan's battered but enduring dynasty

The kingdom aimed to integrate the Palestinians and have them take part in modernising Jordan, but the emergence of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in 1964 and birth of a Palestinian national identity brought an end to this "unity".

Three years after Israel's occupation of the West Bank in its crushing victory over Arab armies in the Six-Day War of 1967, tensions burst onto the streets in a 10-day conflict known as Black September, when King Hussein deployed troops to crush the PLO's growing power.

Almost two decades later, in 1988, Jordan officially cut administrative ties with the West Bank and withdrew citizenship from Palestinians in the West Bank.

"In 1950, overnight, we had become Jordanians, then overnight in 1988 we lost our citizenship," said one West Bank Palestinian who declined to be identified.

In 1994, a year after the PLO signed the Oslo autonomy accords with Israel, Jordan inked its own peace deal with the Jewish state.

Abdullah II took the throne in 1999 under the mottos "Jordan first" and "We are all Jordanians", to cement a national identity.

His wife Queen Rania, like nearly half the kingdom's 10 million residents, is of Palestinian descent.

The right, which has grown to dominate Israeli politics over the past decade and a half, has long dreamed of making Jordan a replacement Palestinian homeland to avoid having to partition historic Palestine.

Read more: How the world has reacted to security developments in Jordan

"The kingdom is obsessed with survival, stability -- and most of all preventing the country from becoming a substitute Palestinian state," IFPO's Husseini said.

Soon after, strife elsewhere in the region created new challenges for the kingdom.

When a US-led coalition toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, Jordan saw an influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees from its eastern neighbour, and at least 700,000 Syrians have followed since their country's civil war broke out in 2011.

Yet the state has weathered those storms too.

Mansour al-Mualla, a farmer and political activist with the Jordanian National Movement, said the kingdom's role in "preserving security and stability in the region", as well as counter-terrorism operations, were key to its survival.

"Iraq sees Jordan as an important tool for it to escape Iranian influence, Syria sees it as a partner in its future reconstruction, and the Palestinians see it as essential to their nation-building project," the 41-year-old said.
Draghi slams Erdogan for humiliating von der Leyen in Ankara.

Italy's prime minister Mario Draghi has sparked a diplomatic spat with Turkey after referring to the country's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a "dictator."

Draghi made the remark on the evening of 8 April during a press conference about Italy's covid-19 vaccination programme at Palazzo Chigi in Rome.

Speaking in relation to the so-called "sofagate" saga, the Italian premier accused Erdogan of humiliating European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen earlier this week.

Von der Leyen, the first female president of the EC, was left without a chair when she and European Council president Charles Michel met Erdogan in Ankara on Tuesday.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was left without a chair during her meeting with European Council president Charles Michel and Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on 6 April.

I absolutely do not agree with Erdogans behaviour towards President von der Leyen. ... I think it was not appropriate behaviour and I was very sorry for the humiliation von der Leyen had to suffer, Draghi told journalists.

With these, lets call them what they are - dictators - one must be frank when expressing different views and visions of society, but also ready to collaborate, to cooperate, to ensure the interests of one's country," he added.

Draghi's remarks led to the Italian ambassador to Turkey being summoned to the foreign ministry in Ankara last night, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

"We strongly condemn the appointed Italian Prime Minister Draghis unacceptable, populist discourse and his ugly and unrestrained comments about our elected president, Turkey's foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter.
RTHK: Rapper DMX dies aged 50 after collapse

American rapper and actor Earl Simmons, known by the stage name DMX or Dark Man X, died on Friday, People magazine said, after suffering a heart attack during what media reports said was a drug overdose. He was 50 years old.

The chart-topping artist's songs included "Party Up (Up in Here)" and "X Gon' Give It To Ya." His career had been marked by legal troubles and prison time.

"We are deeply saddened to announce today that our loved one, DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, passed away at 50 years old at White Plains Hospital with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days," his family wrote in a statement quoted by the magazine.

DMX collapsed at home, his family had said, and was taken to a New York hospital where his former manager said he had been placed on life support with no brain activity.

Celebrity publications TMZ and Billboard said he overdosed on drugs triggering a heart attack.

Growing up in Yonkers, New York, DMX took his moniker from the name of a drum machine used in rap songs. When he was 14, an older rapper who had been a mentor tricked him into smoking crack, DMX said in a documentary series broadcast on BET.

"He created a monster," he said. "Cocaine almost took my life on a few occasions."

His debut album in 1998, "It's Dark and Hell is Hot," was the first of five in a row to top the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. He was the only rap artist with such a streak, according to a 2019 profile in GQ magazine.

He studied the Bible and prayed before and after every show, he told GQ.

DMX earned more than 40 film and television credits, including "Belly," "Romeo Must Die," and action films "Cradle 2 the Grave" and "Exit Wounds," also contributing music to their soundtracks.

He had 15 children, according to media reports.

Before he died, his ex-wife Tashera Simmons, with whom he had four children, attended a vigil outside his hospital, where hundreds of fans danced to DMX songs. "The love is real," she posted on Instagram.

The rap stars prior arrest record included charges of animal cruelty, reckless driving, drug possession, weapons charges and probation violations. He served prison time in Arizona and New York.

In the 1998 song "Slippin'," DMX rapped: "To live is to suffer, But to survive, well, that's to find meaning in the suffering." Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The sordid life of of a suspected killer is under consideration by a jury as circumstantial evidence continues to mount.



The freaky-deaky highlight so far this week . . .

"Audio transports the listener to the beginning of a seance in a field near Grandview. Yust and Kaitlyn Ferris spent the day collecting items to try and communicate with the spirit of Kara Kopetsky, who he's now charged with killing.

"What Yust didn't understand is that a slew of FBI agents were listening instead . . .



"In the recording, they can be heard trying to decipher different letters on a Ouija board.

"Yust responds to the different words she's forming and at one point acts as though he feels Kopetsky's presence. "Oh my God," he says. "I just, like, felt her hand on my shoulder."

Like or not, if jurors are the least bit skeptical about this bit of bad theater, that doesn't bode well for the prosecution.



Further reading as the trial continues this morning . . .



Fox4: During FBI wiretap, fake seance brings out confessions

KMBC: THE TRIAL OF KYLR YUST - Defense focuses on 'mismanaged investigation' in opening statement

KSHB: 5th day of Yust trial to continue with Jessica Runions case

Developing . . .
German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently caused protests with the call for a five-day lockdown over the Easter holiday to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

She reacted to the opposition by apologizing to members of the German parliament: "The mistake is my mistake alone. I ask both the public and you for forgiveness. "

In an apology, someone takes responsibility for making a mistake. Today, we will look at how we use the verb "apologize" with prepositions and gerunds.

Apologize for (verb +ing)

The most common sentence structure we find with the word "apologize" is: "apologize for (verb +ing)." For example, after an argument with a friend, you might say:

I apologize for being angry last night. Will you forgive me?

It is easy to change this sentence to talk about something you did not do by simply adding the word "not."

I apologize for not coming to your party last weekend. My relatives came to visit.

Apologize for (noun)

The -ing form of a verb is called a gerund. It acts like a noun. We can also use the word "apologize" before a noun, as in this sentence structure: "apologize for (noun)."

Imagine you had to go into a meeting in progress. Then you would say,

I apologize for the rude interruption.

Apologize to (noun)

The third structure you will see with the word "apologize" is "apologize to (noun)." Parents often need to tell their young children to apologize to a friend after a fight.

You should apologize to Sasha. You should not take her toys.

Apologize

Finally, we can use the word "apologize" alone. An internet company made a mistake and sent out this message to their customers:

There has been an error on our part and we apologize.

Do you believe every apology?

Sometimes people say they are sorry but we do not believe they really feel bad for saying or doing the wrong thing. Here is an example from a popular movie of an apology that may not be sincere.

In the comedy film, A Fish Called Wanda, John Cleese plays Archie Leach, and Kevin Kline plays Otto. Otto becomes angry with Archie for saying Otto is crazy. As Otto holds Archie by his feet upside-down from a window, Archie must apologize.

Otto: Now, apologize!

Archie: What me, to you?

Otto: Apologize.

Archie: All right, all right, I apologize.

Otto: You're really sorry.

Archie: I'm really really sorry, I apologize unreservedly.

Otto: You take it back.

Archie: I do and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.

Otto: OK

Now, do you really believe Archie means what he is saying?

Im Jill Robbins.

Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

lockdown  n. a state of restricted movement put in place as a security measure

sincere  adj. having or showing true feelings that are expressed in an honest way

rude  adj, not having or showing concern or respect for the rights and feelings of other people; not polite

unreservedly  adv. in an unlimited way

slander  n. the act of making a false spoken statement that causes people to have a bad opinion of someone

Have you or someone you know had to apologize lately? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has described the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, as a worthy partner of the federal government headed by her husband, President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Osinbajo spoke at the launch of a book on Mrs Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.

The book titled Aisha Buhari  Being Different was written by the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Women Affairs and Administration, Hajo Sani.

The 46-page book with 10 chapters is a memoire of the first lady from childhood to date.

Mr Osinbajo said the First Lady was associated with values of courage, integrity and selflessness.

History has shown that it doesnt matter how many degrees you have or how many titles precede or honours follow your name, or how high the position you hold, he said.

The rare privilege of public service can only be justified by courage, integrity and selflessness. To these, Aisha Buhari adds being yourself, being different.

Hajo Sannis book seeks to document the practical work she has done in the past five years, but it begins with a detailed and sensitive chronicle of childhood years and her growth as a woman, wife and mother, he said.

It also highlights her evolution from a silent supporter of her husbands political adventures to an active mobilizer and campaigner that played a major role in selling him to the Nigerian electorate.

Then we also read in the book, how as First Lady, she founded the Future Assured initiative, promoting the welfare of women, youth and children and driven by the Aisha Buhari Foundation.
Baker also said that based on his viewing of the video, he believed Chauvins knee was primarily on the back, or the side or the area in between on Mr. Floyds neck. And he said it didnt appear from the video that his knee would have blocked one of the carotid arteries in the neck that supply blood to the brain.
In Ladakh standoff, India-China to hold 11th round of talks on April 9

Seeking to resolve the ongoing issues along with the friction points in Gogra, Hot Springs ad Depsang plains in Ladakh, India and China will hold the 11th round of military talks on Friday. Sources from the Indian Army said that India has made clear that it would agree to de-escalation only if it is simultaneous and the withdrawal is equal from both sides and addresses mutual security concerns. After having successfully disengaged with China in the Pangong lake area, Armies of India and China are likely to discuss further disengagement from Gogra heights and Depsang plains.

Read full story here

India gifts 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines to Bangladesh army

Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane on Thursday handed over 1,00,000 Covid-19 vaccines to his Bangladeshi counterpart Gen Aziz Ahmed who thanked India for its commendable cooperation in helping his country tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Gen Naravane is visiting Dhaka at the invitation of his Gen Ahmed. The visit comes less than two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to the neighbouring country.

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Temple attack conspirator terrorist sent to NIA custody for 8 days

Special NIA Court Jammu on Thursday sent arrested JKGF (Jammu and Kashmir Gaznavi Force) terrorist Shahid Naveed to eight days custody to National Investigation Agency. Sources placed in NIA told Republic Media Network that this is the seventh arrest, in this case, earlier six arrested were made by Poonch Police before Union Government handed over the case to NIA on March 15, 2021. This is the seventh arrest in this case; the rest six arrested earlier in this case by Poonch Police are in Judicial Custody, Official said.

Read full story here

US hints at assisting Ukraine with warships amid Russia's military movement

In a move to support Ukraine which is facing the military presence of Russia in its Eastern border, the United States is planning on sending warships into the Black Sea in near future, hinted US officials on Thursday. Moreover, the US navy is already keeping a close watch on Russia's military movement through surveillance aircraft in international airspace over the Black Sea. The US, for now, has not seen any aggressive activity, however, they added that any action will be responded to.

Read full story here

BJP candidates allege attack by TMC goons

Ahead of phase-4 of West Bengal polls, the BJP candidate from Bhawanipore, Rudranil Ghosh, alleged that he was attacked by the TMC goons on Thursday night, while he was campaigning for Bengal elections. Sources have informed Republic Media Network that at least 15 BJP workers and supporters have been injured during the clash. It is important to note here that Rudranil Ghosh is contesting for West Bengal polls from CM and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's former constituency Bhawanipore.

Read full story here
A woman accused of stealing money from Alabama ceremonies in 2019 is charged with doing the same thing in Mississippi.

Sandra Henson of Alcorn County, Mississippi, faces grand larceny charges in connection to recent thefts of money and gifts from wedding ceremonies in Marshall County, Mississippi, Fox13 Memphis reported

We were able to identify this woman and actually watch her remove the property from the gift tables which is very sad. Thats real sad you know, Major Kelly McMillen with Marshall County, Mississippi Sheriffs Office said.

Hensons arrest report was not yet available.

In 2019, Henson was charged with one misdemeanor count of theft and one felony theft charge in connection to thefts at a wedding in Florence, Alabama. Henson was identified after police released a photo on social media in connection to thefts reported at an earlier wedding in the Owens community.

The charges in Alabama are still pending.

Henson has been identified as a suspect in other similar incidents in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.
India on Friday reported a net increase of 69,289 in active cases, the most in a day so far, to take its count to 979,608. That is over 96 per cent of the September 18 peak of 1,017,754. Indias share of global active cases now stands at 4.96 per cent (one in 24). The country is 4th among the most affected countries by active cases. On Friday, it added 131,968 cases, the most in a day so far, to take its total caseload to 13,060,542. And, with 780 new fatalities, its Covid-19 reached 167,642, or 1.28 per cent of total confirmed infections.

With 3,691,511 more people getting Covid-19 vaccine shots on Thursday, Indias total count of those inoculated reached 94,334,262. The count of recovered cases across India, meanwhile, reached 11,913,292  or 91.22 per cent of total caseload  with 61,899 new cured cases being reported on Friday.
Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services appointed by President Donald Trump celebrated their efforts to block or alter scientists' reports on the coronavirus, a stunning new report revealed on Friday.

'Yippee!,' one official wrote after being able to alter a report to fit with Trump's more optimistic messaging on the COVID-19 pandemic, The Washington Post reported.

The report, released by congressional investigators, found that as career scientists worked to combat the disease, a group of Trump-appointed officials were attempting to blunt the scientific messaging with their own set of alternative facts.

At the Department of Health and Human Services, then-science adviser Paul Alexander wrote to then-public affairs chief Michael Caputo on Sept. 9, 2020, pointing to a report where CDC leaders allegedly changed the opening sentence about the spread of the virus among younger people after Alexander pressured them.

In his email, Alexander called it a 'small victory but a victory nonetheless and yippee!!!'

Alexander, who was not a doctor but a former part-time health profession, also targeted Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious-disease expert, for Fauci's earlier calls to close schools.

'Dr. Fauci has no data, no science to back up what he is saying on school reopen, none  he is scaring the nation wrongfully,' Alexander wrote to 11 senior HHS officials on Aug. 11.

Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services appointed by President Donald Trump celebrated their efforts to block or alter scientists' reports on the coronavirus

At the Department of Health and Human Services, then-science adviser Paul Alexander (not pictured) wrote to then-public affairs chief Michael Caputo (left) and Dr. Scott Atlas, a White House adviser, (right) about the efforts

President Trump repeatedly pushed for schools to reopen early during the pandemic, before a vaccination had been discovered and without offering a plan to help the schools reopen safely.

Alexander also pointed to a change he got to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR), which offers public updates on scientists' findings. For decades, the MMWR had been considered sacrosanct and untouchable by politics.

Alexander enlisted then-White House adviser Scott Atlas to help him interfere with the document in relation to data on children's death, which came about as the Trump administration was pushing schools to reopen.

'Can you help me craft an op-ed,' Alexander wrote to Atlas on Sept. 11, alleging the CDC report was 'timed for the election' and an attempt to keep schools closed even as Trump pushed to reopen them. 'Let us advise the President and get permission to preempt this please for it will run for the weekend so we need to blunt the edge as it is misleading.'

Alexander also praised Nina Witkofsky, the acting CDC chief of staff, after numbers in the MMRW dropped. Witkofsky had previously been a contractor helping plan events for Seema Verma, the Trump administration's Medicare and Medicaid chief.

'The last 2 MMWR reports have been more positive than usual and I find [that] encouraging,' Alexander wrote to Witkofsky on Aug. 30. 'Maybe you are having a huge impact and this is tremendous. Well done!'

Then-CDC Director Robert Redfield told CNN last month that Trump officials had requested changes to reports, including the MMWR.

One email from Alexander to Atlas on Sept. 3 proposed an 'op-ed on possible damage to children immune systems with lock downs and masks,' arguing to Atlas that 'I do think locking down our kids (and healthy adults) and masking them can dampen their functional immune systems.'

There is no scientific evidence that wearing masks harms the development of children's immune systems.

Trump eschewed mask wearing during his White House tenure and down played the virus' effect as it raged across the country. He praised Republican governors who opened their states and accused Democrats of election politics. More than 554,000 Americans have died from the disease.

The emails also targeted Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert

The officials also worked to help Trump with his push to reopen the economy. Trump was staking his bid for a second term on a strong American economy. Before the election he was pushing for a return to normal as health experts warned migratory measures were still needed to stop the spread of the virus.

'I know the President wants us to enumerate the economic cost of not reopening. We need solid estimates to be able to say something like: 50,000 more cancer deaths! 40,000 more heart attacks! 25,000 more suicides!,' Caputo wrote to Alexander on May 16, 2020.

The three men did comment to the Washington Post about their emails. Atlas was reported to have fought with Dr. Deborah Birx during his tenure in the White House as Birx questioned his medical advice. Atlas, a neuroradiologist, came to the White House's attention after defending Trump's handling of the pandemic on Fox News.

Caputo, a GOP political communications consultant and longtime Trump ally, had not worked in public health before Trump assigned him to HHS. Alexander, the science adviser, was not a doctor but a part-time health professor at Canada's McMaster University.

The revelations came from the House's Select Committee on the Coronavirus, a panel established by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to investigate the government response to the pandemic.

'Our investigation has shown that Trump Administration officials engaged in a persistent pattern of political interference in the nation's public health response to the coronavirus pandemic, overruling and bullying scientists and making harmful decisions that allowed the virus to spread more rapidly,' Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the subcommittee chairman, noted.

He requested that Alexander and Atlas sit for interviews with his subcommittee's investigation by May 3.
New Delhi, April 10 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said that it has attached properties worth Rs 77.65 crore of Sunlight Housing Development Private Ltd and its directors in connection with its money laundering probe into the Mack Star bank fraud case of HDIL promoters Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan, and others.

An ED official said that the agency attached movable and immovable assets in the form of five commercial properties admeasuring approximately 32,300 square feet area in Kaledonia building, Andheri (East), Mumbai and two residential flats admeasuring approximately 3,960 square feet area each, located at Atlantis Building, Andheri (W), Mumbai and movable assets in form of seized cash of Rs 1.40 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED registered a case of money laundering on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI for siphoning off the loan to the tune of Rs 200 crore sanctioned by Yes Bank to Mack Star Marketing Pvt Ltd, by showing it for fictitious purpose.

Earlier, the ED initiated a probe against Housing Development Infrastructures Ltd (HDIL), the Wadhawans, and Joy Thomas, who is CMD of PMC Bank Ltd, and others on the basis of FIR registered by Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai Police. The ED has already attached properties worth Rs 366.3 crore along with seizure of Rs 63.78 crore.

The official said that during investigation, it was revealed that the seven commercial properties in Kaledonia building, owned by Mack Star, were fraudulently sold or transferred to Mukesh Doshi through his company, Sunlight Housing Development Pvt Ltd(SHDPL) at wrongful loss to Mack Star worth Rs 77.65 crore approximately by Wadhawans in connivance with SHDPV and its Director.

"Thus, Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan cheated the Mack Star Marketing Pvt Ltd. by illegally selling above said properties without consent of the majority shareholder (DE Shaw Group which holds 83.36 per cent shares) of Mack Star Marketing Pvt Ltd and without receiving any consideration causing loss to Mack Star," he said.

The official said that further to make the transactions look genuine, HDIL, in connivance with SHDPL, made 223 transactions, totally amounting to Rs 994 crore with each other's associate companies, each amounting to approximately Rs 5 crore, on a single day for layering monies as to show monies have been paid for purchases of said properties.

The official highlighted that at the end, Rs 5 crore also came back and thus, SHDPL received this property free of cost.

The ED till date has now attached properties to the tune of Rs 147.49 crore in the case.
Horatiu Tepes, Bilka CEO, was named on Thursday evening as the winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year - Romania 2020.

According to a press release from EY, he competed for the grand title with 38 other business leaders and will represent Romania in the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year World Final on June 10, 2021.

Bilka is a 100 pct Romanian company, from central Brasov, market leader in Romania in the field of roofing, specializing in the production and development of complete systems for roofs (metal tile, rain system and accessories) for residential and industrial constructions. In his 14 years of presence on the Romanian market, entrepreneur Horatiu Tepes has transformed the business from a roofing supplier into a European brand. Today, Bilka has the largest roofing systems factory in Eastern Europe and its products are increasingly known in the foreign markets.At the 5th edition of EY Entrepreneur of the Year Romania, Mihai Ivascu, founder of Modex, was awarded the title EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year in Technology, and the award of excellence granted to a successful family business, Family Business Excellence Award, went to the Serban family, which heads the Serban Group Holding.Modex company has patented its own technology (Modex Blockchain Database), which makes blockchain adoption very easy and interoperable with any traditional systems. Founded in 2017, Modex is present in four countries globally and has offices open in Bucharest, London, Silicon Valley and Washington.The Serban Holding Group currently operates six companies, employs more than 400 employees and owns more than 12,500 hectares of land cultivated with cereals, oil plants and vegetables, three chicken farms and five groceries.Edition 2020 of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Romania included two special categories dedicated to entrepreneurs who have been involved in the community and those who have demonstrated flexibility and adaptability to new business realities in the global health crisis.The Social Responsibility in the context of COVID-19 award went to Iulian Nedea, Simtel. In the pandemic, Simtel supported the application 9SOS, the first integrated private telemedicine system in Romania, which provides assistance and support services to people affected by COVID-19.The prize The most successful business transformation during the COVID-19 period went to Mihai Filip, Techtex. In 2020, Techtex, which specializes in the production of non-tissue synthetic material (spunbond), used in the manufacture of upholstered furniture, but also in the manufacture of medical protective materials, including the masks, quickly adapted to the global demand for medical textiles and began to produce surgical and protective masks. As a result of the investments made in mid-2020, the production of protective masks increased to 50 million masks per month, and that of robes and protective suits to 1.5 million, becoming the largest Romanian producer of such equipment.This edition brought into the competition 39 entrepreneurs, from more than 15 business sectors, together with a turnover of almost 500 million euros and a total of over 5,000 employees.The six finalists in the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year category were: Horatiu Tepes, Bilka - the winner of the title EY Entrepreneur of the Year, Radu Savopol, 5 to Go, Mihai Pohontu, Amber Studio, Adrian Cocan and Madalina Cocan, Laptaria cu caimac, Vlad Popescu, Norofert, and Ioan Cocan and Marius Hanganu, Tremend.The three Emerging Entrepreneur of the year in Technology were awarded to entrepreneurs: Mihai Ivascu, Modex - winner of the emerging Entrepreneur of the year in Technology, Raul Popa, TypingDNA and Teodor Blidarus, FintechOS.AGERPRES
LANSING, MI  Officers involved in the custody of Anthony Scott Hulon, whose heart stopped they were attempting to restrain him in his cell, have been cleared of wrongdoing.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today announced the findings of the investigation into the death of 54-year-old Hulon, of Lansing, who died at the Lansing Police Department Detention Center on April 11, 2020.

Nessels office determined that the officers did what they were supposed to do under the circumstances, and that Hulons death was related to hypertensive atherosclerotic disease from which he suffered, and amphetamines and methamphetamines in his system at the time of his death, according to a news release.

The loss of human life is a tragedy, Nessel said in a statement. It is the responsibility of my office to determine whether that loss was the result of an unfortunate set of circumstances or because of a criminal act.

Hulon was arrested on April 10, 2020, by Lansing Police officers for alleged erratic behavior and assaulting his roommate, the release states. The erratic behavior allegedly continued while he was in custody at the detention facility.

That day, Hulon was transported to Sparrow Hospital for a medical evaluation, the release states. He was found to be positive for methamphetamines and ecstasy. He was later medically discharged.

Hulon continued to be agitated during his interactions with officers, video footage shows. It is believed that he was an experienced meth user. Evidence supports that Hulon may have unknowingly ingested a dangerous substance laced in the drugs that affected his behavior, the release states.

Surveillance video shows officers working to restraint Hulon his cell. He did not cooperate, fell to the floor and continued to struggle with officers before going limp. Officers quickly restrained Hulon and attempted to sit him up. At that point, he was found to be unresponsive and lacking a pulse, the release states.

Officers immediately administered life-saving measures, including CPR and the use of an automated external defibrillator, to revive him, video shows. EMTs were called to the scene and Hulon was transported to Sparrow where he was pronounced dead at 2:12 a.m. on April 11, 2020, the release states.

An autopsy revealed that Hulon had high levels of amphetamines and methamphetamines in his system at the time of his death, the release states. According to the medical examiner, he also suffered from hypertensive atherosclerotic disease, which contributed to his death.

The officers in this case did what they were supposed to do under the circumstances, Nessel said in a statement. I realize that fact provides little comfort to Mr. Hulons family as they grieve the loss of their loved one. Our job is to determine whether the officers actions constituted a criminal act, and we have found no evidence to support criminal charges.

Michigan State Police conducted the investigation into Hulons death and submitted findings to the Attorney Generals Office for review. Assistant attorneys general reviewed the MSP report, LPD reports, the autopsy report and photographs, medical records from Sparrow, a toxicology report, and more than 40 hours of video, the release states. They found insufficient evidence to justify criminal charges against the officers involved.

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FLINT - Hamilton Community Health Network will be administering COVID-19 vaccinations to residents of Flints north end on Saturday, April 10.

Its primarily (targeted) for the residents of North Flint, said Matthew Frierson, communications and outreach specialist for Hamilton Community Health Network.

Its going to be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Frierson said that although its targeted at North Flint residents, anyone is able to come to the event, no appointment necessary. The event will start at 9 a.m. and will continue while supplies last. The drive-thru vaccination will take place at the North Pointe Clinic parking lot, at 5710 Clio Rd, Flint.

Hamilton Community Health Network will be administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is a one-time one-shot procedure.

Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which require two shots several weeks apart, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires a one-dose shot. In its clinical trials and federal analysis, the vaccine reported being about 66% effective overall at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19.

Earlier this week, Genesee County announced the first positive case for a variant that was first detected in Brazil. The positive test was reported to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and contact tracing has been done for the patient.

Since the start of April, Genesee County has seen a 20% change in cases, reporting 1,705 new cases since April 2. This follows a statewide increase in daily cases and the highest since December. Michigan is averaging 6,249 cases per day in the last two weeks, a seven-day positive rate at 16.5%.

This is the one (event) that were doing right now, and as time moves forward, especially with Michigan being high risk right now, we just want to get the shots to whomever we can, Frierson said. As supplies become available to do these different types of events, we definitely would like to do that.

Genesee County Health Department has administered 116,589 COVID-19 vaccinations as of April 8.

Frierson added that Hamilton is doing what they can, such as looking at the logistics of holding events and acquiring supplies, to prepare themselves to be able to do more vaccination events.

We definitely would like to do more, Frierson said.

Details on vaccination event:

Who: Hamilton Community Health Network

What: Hamilton will be offering no appointment, drive-through COVID-19 vaccinations

Where: Hamilton  North Pointe Clinic @ 5710 Clio Rd, Flint, MI 48504  vaccines will be administered in parking lot

When: Saturday, April 10th from 9:00 am until supplies run out

Why: As cases in Michigan spike, Hamilton Community Health Network is committed to alleviating barriers for those needing a COVID19 vaccination so that all in the community who needs a COVID19 shot can have one.

Read more on MLive:

Michigans second case of new COVID-19 variant discovered in Genesee County

We cant let up: U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee tours COVID-19 vaccination clinic as cases rise in Genesee County

With cases rising, Genesee County health officials push for vaccine sign-ups




WASHINGTON (PTI): The US Navy carried out a freedom of navigation operation in the Indian waters near Lakshadweep Islands on Wednesday without New Delhi's prior consent to challenge India's "excessive" maritime claims, according to an official statement.



The operation was conducted by the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones on April 7, a statement issued by the Commander of the US seventh fleet said.



"On April 7, 2021 (local time) USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) asserted navigational rights and freedoms approximately 130 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands, inside India's exclusive economic zone, without requesting India's prior consent, consistent with international law," the statement said.



India requires that other countries should take prior consent from it to conduct military exercises or manoeuvres in its exclusive economic zone or continental shelf, which the US Navy statement claimed was inconsistent with international law.



"This freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law by challenging India's excessive maritime claims," it said.



US forces operate in the Indo-Pacific region on a daily basis. All operations are designed in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, the statement said.



"We conduct routine and regular Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs), as we have done in the past and will continue to in the future. FONOPs are not about one country, nor are they about making political statements," it added.



It is not the first time that the US Navy has conducted such an operation in India's Exclusive Economic Zone. The US Department of Defence publishes an annual Freedom of Navigation Report "identifying the excessive maritime claims that US forces operationally challenged.



The last time the US Navy conducted such an operation was the fiscal year 2019, according to the Department of Defence.



In an unclassified report to the US Congress in July 2020, the US Navy said it conducted an operation in the Indian Ocean region during the period of October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2019, to preserve the rights, freedoms, and uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations by international law.


One of China's tallest buildings, the $470 million Longxi International Hotel, touted by Chinese officials as a symbol of China's economic growth, stands at 328 metres (1,082-feet) high in Huaxi, Jiangsu province, on Sept. 25, 2011. (AFP via Getty Images)

Huaxi Village: The Failed Communist Experiment

For anyone who dreams of and pursues absolute equality and common prosperity for all, Huaxi Village in China came close to being that utopian dream; the only problem is, after enjoying world renown as the richest village in China for decades, Huaxi is now facing bankruptcy.

In late February, a short video of hundreds of people lining up in rain in front of a building in Huaxi Village was circulating on the internet. It looked like a run on banks by worried villagers seeking to withdraw their savings.

Chinese language media confirmed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) branch in Huaxi Village said the video was authentic but claimed that the village had no problem paying its debts and had sufficient funds.

However, one villager, Mr. Li, who lined up in the rain, told the local media outlet that the reason why villagers were panicked was because from Feb. 24, Huaxi Groups share dividends dropped sharply from 30 percent to 0.5 percent. No explanation was provided by the company. People who made withdrawals after Feb. 24 could only get a dividend of 0.5 percent instead of the 30 promised percent when they bought shares of Huaxi Group.

According to Chinese media Tencent, Huaxi Village is already bankrupt, with debts totaling more than 40 billion RMB ($6.1 billion). Villagers villas are all mortgaged but no one dares to take them over.

Steel Loan Leads to Bankruptcy

How did Huaxi Village go from the No. 1 village in the world to bankruptcy?

Huaxi Village is located in Jiangyin City, Jiangsu Province, and was founded in 1962.

Like many other villages in China then, its annual per capita income was less than 20 yuan ($3.03); and villagers struggled to make a living.

However, it had a different CCP secretary: Wu Renbao, who once worked for the government as a state cadre, and was assigned to the village to act as the party secretary.

Unlike other village officials, Wu Renbao had a very keen political sense and business acumen, as well as contacts in government agencies.

In 1992, right after the then CCP leader Deng Xiaoping finished his famous southern tour and reinforced his Reforms and Opening-up policy, Wu Renbao immediately realized that there could be a good chance that Chinas economy would take off soon.

He called an emergency meeting with key village cadres, and announced his judgment that economic development would inevitably lead to an increase in the price of raw materials.

So he decided on a strategy of borrowing money to take maximum advantage of the situation.

The village borrowed more than 80 million yuan ($12.2 million) and bought a large number of raw materials such as steel.

After Deng Xiaopings speech spread throughout China, the price of raw materials did rise a lot, and Huaxi Village was thus able to earn its first bucket of gold for further development.

However, a person close to Wu Renbao recently told the BBC that what helped Huaxi Village get off the ground was not Deng Xiaopings southern tour speech, but the insider trading in steel raw materials.

The fact that Wu Renbao was able to borrow 80 million yuan ($12.2 million), including 60 million yuan ($9.1 million) from banks, also showed that he had a very good relationship with both the government and the bank, which ordinary farmers didnt have.

A Socialist Revolution and a Flawless Place of Dreams

With the vast wealth accumulated from steel, Wu Renbao started a socialist revolution in Huaxi Village in the 1990s.

He pooled the villagers land and built villas in a uniform style for each household, and established a free medical and educational system in the village. So everybody seemed to be enjoying a dream lifestyle of living in beautiful houses, driving luxury cars, and having free food, medical coverage, and education.

However, the villagers only have the right to use the villas, but do not own them, which means that the villas cant be sold.

Wu Renbao also expropriated farmers land and built a large number of factories, including sock and textile plants. He encouraged villagers to work in the factories and set up the Huaxi Group, which is controlled by the Village Committee and gives villagers dividends at the end of each year.

Public information shows that the annual per capita wage of Huaxi villagers reached 122,600 yuan ($18,691) in 2004, which was 41.76 times the average wage of Chinese farmers and 13.01 times the average wage of urban residents.

However, only 20 percent of the groups annual dividends to the villagers are paid in cash, and the rest is deposited directly into the Huaxi Village Committee. Villagers can only submit applications to the Village Committee to receive the necessary funds when they need to deal with important events such as marriages, and sometimes the amount of payment will be reduced by the Village Committee with the excuse of austerity.

Under Wu Renbaos iron fist rule for more than 40 years, Huaxi Village developed its economy in a collective totalitarian mode, which is building fields in the 1970s, factories in the 1980s, and cities in the 1990s.

By 1996, the entire village was living in a unified villa.

A general view of Huaxi Village from the Golden Pagoda on Dec. 10, 2004. (Goh Chai Hin/AFP via Getty Images)

A promotional film The Road to Huaxi for visitors to Huaxi Village claims that the village has achieved a perfect status with many nos: no gambling, no superstitious activities, no major criminal offenses, no petitions, no complaints, and no backstabbing, etc.

In the film, Huaxi Village is portrayed as completely cut off from the dark side of society and as a flawless place of dreams.

As a result, Huaxi Village has been regarded as an advanced model that grew up under the guidance of Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and the important thought of Three Represents of Jiang Zemin, and a banner of rural development in China.

As the person who was responsible for all the achievements, Wu had participated in many national and party congresses and had been received by all the CCP General Secretaries including Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping.

In 2005, Wu was featured on the cover of Time Magazine, and in August 2011, Huaxi Village bought the rights to broadcast an advertisement in Times Square in New York for $1 million, promoting itself as a world-renowned village.

Common Prosperity Becomes One Familys Kingdom

However, in 2008, Huaxi Village hit the ceiling of its development and started to decline. The main industries that Huaxi Village had relied on, including textile and steel, began to go downhill.

Another big problem is, while Wu Renbao was the one who created the Huaxi miracle, his family also became the sole ruler of the village. All the important posts have been taken by Wus family members.

According to the study in 2004 by Zhou Yi, a professor of sociology at Fudan University, the funds at the disposal of Wu Renbaos four sons accounted for 90.7 percent of the total amount of Huaxi Village, while ordinary villagers were only given about one thousand yuan per month.

It was also revealed that the gorgeous appearance of Huaxi Village is by no means real. Huaxi villagers are called the richest farmers, but they actually cannot even meet the standards of normal people, because they are centrally monitored and managed, strictly forbidden from contacting outsiders. They even have to ask for permission if they want to leave the village.

In addition, villagers only have limited pocket money at their disposal. All other expenses have to be approved by the village.

Once villagers choose to leave the village, they must leave behind all their assets and wealth.

In the meantime, while villagers are only able to use items rather than own their luxury items, such as Mercedes-Benz cars, they are actually trapped into being actors and propagandists for the village. Visitors see them driving a Mercedes-Benz car.

In other words, although Huaxi Village claims that common prosperity is its ultimate mission, it has in fact become a kingdom for the Wu family only.

A Symbol of the Decline of Socialism and Collectivism

The news about Huaxi Village being nearly 40 billion yuan ($6.1 billion) in debt came out as early as 2019. However, Huaxi Village has never admitted it.

Recently a document from the Wuxi Municipal Government Office surfaced online, showing that the issue discussed at the 9th mayors meeting in 2019 was hearing a report on the liquidity difficulty relief situation of Huaxi Group in Jiangyin City.

Public financial reports show that as of the third quarter of 2018, Huaxi Group had liabilities of 36.93 billion yuan ($5.63 billion), a debt ratio of 67.4 percent compared to its total assets.

According to Chinese scholar Wen Kejian, Huaxi Village has become a symbol of the decline of socialism and collectivism.

He writes, The existence of Huaxi Village was originally a consolation for those old souls who still have illusions, and now this consolation symbol is no longer reliable, and people must make a choice about the future.

Another Chinese financial analyst Caijinglengyan said that it is not at all surprising if Huaxi Village is crushed by debt and completely bankrupt. This fake, man-made miracle of the collective economy will have to collapse one day, together with the ideology once touted by the CCP, he said.

This day is getting closer and closer, he said.
Airlines suspended the use of dozens of 737 Max jets on Friday after Boeing warned them of a possible electrical fault in the production of some planes.

The glitch is the latest problem to beset Boeing's most-sold model -- but is not related to cockpit safety issues that led to an almost two-year worldwide grounding, lifted five months ago.

That grounding followed two crashes that killed 346 people in October 2018 and March 2019.

Boeing told airlines that repairs for each plane could take a matter of hours or a few days, according to a notification seen by Reuters.

Airlines suspended the use of dozens of 737 Max jets on Friday after Boeing warned them of a possible electrical fault. Above, Southwest 737 Max planes are seen grounded in 2019

The top three U.S. 737 Max operators - Southwest Airlines , American Airlines and United Airlines - said they had removed more than 60 jets from service following the notice from Boeing.

The issue affects about 90 planes globally, sources briefed on the matter said.

The chief operating officer of American Airlines, which said the issue affected 17 of its most recently delivered 737 Max aircraft, told employees that Boeing has traced the issue to a production change made in the installation process.

'(This) occurred after our last aircraft was delivered before the fleet grounding in March 2019,' David Seymour said in the memo.

The status of Boeing deliveries was not immediately clear, with one source saying they too could be disrupted by the new checks.

'Because the problem is understood and the fix looks relatively straightforward, it's unlikely to be a show stopper, although it's unclear if it might have any impact on the expected MAX delivery ramp,' Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr wrote in a note.

Boeing shares were down 1.8 percent in Friday trading.

A United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX airliner is pictured on the ramp at Renton Airport in November. The plane resumed service last hear

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Boeing had notified it late Thursday of its recommendation to temporarily remove some planes from service to address a manufacturing issue that could affect the operation of a backup power control unit.

The FAA said it was in contact with the airlines and the manufacturer, and would ensure the issue was addressed.

Boeing said in a statement that it wants 16 Max operators to check and verify that a 'sufficient ground path' exists for a component of the electrical power system.

Southwest, the largest 737 Max operator, said it was swapping out 30 of its 58 planes but did not expect a major disruption to its operations.

Boeing managed to get the 737 Max back in the skies late last year after it was grounded for 20 months following two fatal crashes, and recently announced an order for 100 of the aircraft as the airline sector begins to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The manufacturer discovered the latest issue on a plane in production 'during normal build activity,' a Boeing spokeswoman said.

It is 'premature' to discuss the time needed to address the issue, and 'could take a matter of hours or a few days' before planes are returned to service, she said.
A 19-year-old has been charged in a shooting in Shelby County that left one dead.

Santrez Kashwan ONeal White, of Marion, was taken into custody Friday. The U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested White about 7 a.m. a The Links at Tuscaloosa apartments.

The task force had been searching for White at the request of the Shelby County Sheriffs Office. White is charged with murder in the March slaying 29-year-old Brandon Trenell Patrick of Montevallo. He is also charged with first-degree assault in the wounding of a second person.

Sheriffs officials said Shelby County 911 received multiple reports of shots fired in the 500 block of County Road 203 in the Aldrich community. The call came in at 12:24 a.m. that Saturday.

Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the scene and found the man unresponsive. Life-saving measures were unsuccessful, and Patrick was pronounced dead at the scene.

Those agencies who assisted Shelby County are officers from Montevallo, University of Montevallo, Calera, Alabaster and Clanton police, as well as deputies from Bibb and Chilton counties. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency also responded.

Authorities said the shooting happened at a large gathering and multiple rounds were fired. No additional details have been released and no arrests have been announced. Investigators said the investigation, however, is progressing.

My heart goes out to the family members and victims of this incident,' Sheriff John Samaniego said at the time of the killing. We want you to know that this sheriffs office is working hard day and night to bring justice and closure to those effected by this crime. We have zero-tolerance for violent crime in Shelby County. This type of violent altercation was avoidable and unnecessary.
In one of Houstons industrial parks where landlords promote the properties as well planned for efficiency and business flexibility, even an enormous 114,400 square feet building is just another lookalike warehouse in the area.

Like many of the built-to-suit commercial facilities in the park north of downtown, the well-kept boxy building features a contemporary front entrance to the lobby and loading docks for trucks to get into the building from the back. And just like the others in that designated foreign trade zone, business developers like to highlight the privilege of George Bush Intercontinental Airport being less than 3 miles away an added convenience for moving cargo.

Unlike the other warehouses in the park, however, this one is not housing cargo. It is a new emergency intake facility in Houston for unaccompanied immigrant girls. But the facility, opened last week in Houston, is raising concerns among immigration advocates and lawyers who have track records doing this type of work. They question the shelter conditions as well as the religious organization managing it.

Immigration: Surge in unaccompanied minors at border hits all-time high

From overcrowding to the heat that these children may experience, (these) are just a few questions that linger in my mind after witnessing for myself the conditions in which these children are currently being stored in at a warehouse that once housed dry goods, said Cesar Espinosa, executive director of the nonprofit immigrants advocacy organization FIEL Houston.

Espinosa was allowed into the facility Thursday afternoon after the organization in charge, the National Association of Christian Churches, abruptly rejected him on an April 1 visit.

The movement of the girls is limited to their cot spaces except to go to the portable toilets and showers that were brought to the facility, Espinosa said Friday during a press conference on Zoom.

They dont even have a place to eat The food is brought to their cots, he said.

The FIEL executive said he is also worried about whether NACC is following appropriate protocols to let people enter the facility, particularly young individuals who seemed to be volunteers.

We saw a lot of confusion we saw people coming and we didnt see any protocol being followed, Espinosa said. It looked like having kids taking care of other kids. To me that is unacceptable.

Instances of inappropriate social distancing were also evident, he said.

Concerns related to the new shelter for unaccompanied children in Houston are not limited to FIEL.

About a dozen organizations and lawyers reached by the Chronicle expressed concern or surprise about the shelter and NACC, an organization without a track record sheltering or working with unaccompanied children or immigrants in general.

On the border: Photos provide a glimpse inside Texas border facility where migrant children are held

As of Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement told the Chronicle that 452 children were being housed at the shelter. The facilty has girls aged 13 to 17.

The federal government created emergency shelters like the one in Houston to manage the influx of unaccompanied minors coming primarily from the Central American Northern Triangle of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Those three countries are impacted by poverty, violence, and two hurricanes displaced hundreds of thousands of people late last year.

The minors arrive at the southwest border and are in U.S. Customs and Border Patrol facilities until they can be placed in emergency shelters while waiting to be connected with relatives in the United States.

We understand that this is an emergency, Espinosa said. But I know that with the resources and with the correct partners the ORR and HHS could have done a better job at setting up a more humane place for these vulnerable children who have already gone through so much.

*This is a developing story and will be updated.

olivia.tallet@chron.com

Twitter.com/oliiviaptallet
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Care Capital Inc. (CSE: HLTH, FRANKFURT: L6V1) (the Company or Global Care), a global investment company which engages in early-stage investment opportunities in private and public companies, is pleased to announce an update for its 100% owned portfolio company, ASIC Power Company (ASIC). Further to the press release dated February 4th, 2021, ASIC has entered into its first royalty streaming agreement to finance 208 ASIC miners from MicroBT and equivalents generating 16,640 TH/s. It is anticipated these miners will be plugged in and start mining in the first week of May 2021. Full mining capacity of the machines is anticipated to be reached by the end of May 2021.

The expected revenue is based on a prior return profile of ASIC machines installed by the machine host eight weeks ago. One ASIC machine produces ~ 0.0092 BTC per month in royalty payments. Therefore the 208 machines of the same type are expected to generate a total of 1.92 BTC which results in USD $108,000 based on a BTC price of USD $56,200 (Source: www.asicminervalue.com) The ASIC chips will act as collateral until the principal amount is paid back and the Company expects to collect a royalty from the installed miners beginning in Q2, 2021. Management believes this will have a positive impact on cash flow generation for the Company however management cautions that actual revenue from the royalty streaming agreement could differ materially, either downward or upward from projections based on fluctuations in the price of BTC. According to the Hashrate Index by Luxor Technologies, the current CAPEX prices per hashing power for the ASIC machines is approximately 110 $/TH. Through its network, ASIC financed this equipment at approximately 35 $/TH, a ~70% discount to current prices.

Daniel Novak, Co-Founder and CEO of ASIC, stated, The 208 miners are capable of generating a royalty stream of approximately ~USD $108,000 per month under current market conditions which will be used to fund further streaming contracts.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7c31aaf6-8019-41b8-af5c-6bb72f520425

About ASIC Power Company

ASIC gives mining companies access to its innovative cryptocurrency mining streaming contracts and chip pipeline through its partnerships with leading hardware producers. It intends to identify low cost, renewably powered mining operations to implement new financing strategies in the form of royalties and stream contracts globally.

For more information and to register to ASICs mailing list and follow @asicpower on Twitter.

Website: https://asicpower.com/

About Global Care

Global Care Capital is a global investment company which specializes in providing early-stage financing to private and public companies. The Company engages in new, early-stage investment opportunities in previously underdeveloped assets and obtaining positions in early-stage investment opportunities that adequately reflect the risk profile.

Website: https://globalcarecapital.com/

GLOBAL CARE CAPITAL INC.:

Company Contact:

Alex Somjen, President & CEO

604-687-2038

info@globalcarecapital.com

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note

All information contained in this news release with respect to ASIC was supplied by ASIC for inclusion herein, and Global Cares directors and officers have relied on ASIC for such information.

Forward-Looking Information: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words anticipate, continue, estimate, expect, may, will, would, project, should, believe and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this News Release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Companys disclosure documents which can be found under the Companys profile on www.sedar.com
Barings Emerging EMEA Opportunities PLC (the 'Company')

Statement re Inside Information under MAR

The Company advises that it enter into a closed period on Monday, 12 April 2021 (in accordance with the provisions of the EU Market Abuse Regulation) in relation to the announcement of the Company's half year results.

The Company confirms that all inside information (as defined in the EU Market Abuse Regulation) which the Directors and the Company may have held to the date of this announcement has been notified to a Regulatory Information Service. Accordingly, in the absence of any new undisclosed inside information arising, the Company is not prohibited from dealing in its own securities leading up to the announcement of the half year report for the period ended 31 March 2021.

9 April 2021



About Barings Emerging EMEA Opportunities PLC

"Finding quality companies from Emerging Europe, the Middle East and Africa."

Barings Emerging EMEA Opportunities PLC (the "Company") is a UK based investment trust that was launched on 18 December 2002 and is managed by Baring Fund Managers Limited.

In November 2020, the Company broadened its investment policy to focus on growth and income from quality companies in the Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa ("EMEA") region. It also changed its name from Baring Emerging Europe PLC to Barings Emerging EMEA Opportunities PLC at the same time.

For more information, and to sign up for regular updates, please visit the Company's website: www.bemoplc.com

LEI: 213800HLE2UOSVAP2Y69
New Delhi: Popular television actress Sayantani Ghosh hit back at a troll who asked her about bra size and made her uncomfortable. The telly star wrote a long post on social media smashing haters and questioning people on body-shaming.

Sayantani Ghosh captioned her post: A thread to end the size mentality! I found out today is #WorldHealthDay but you know Mental Health has now become the most important aspect of Health! Yes be FIT with your bodies but dont forget your MIND!!! Its high time we Normalise all body types, I am here for this change, are you? Drop a if you agree with me!

She also wrote: Yesterday in one of my interactive sessions someone asked me my bra size! Though I gave the person a befitting reply (which btw a lot of you appreciated) still I felt there is so much more I want to talk about.. Any form of BODY SHAMING is BAD!! Period. But particularly, I struggle to wrap my head around the fact that what is this fascination towards female BREASTS ?? As to what size it is ?? A cup, B, C or D etc ?? And it's not only the boys, even us girls have this sort of a conditioning!

Sayantani was first seen in 2002 daily soap Kumkum  Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan.

She went on to star many shows like Ghar Ek Sapnaa, Naaginn, Banoo Main Teri Dulhann, Sabki Laadli Bebo, Comedy Circus 1 and 2, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 3, Adaalat, Bigg Boss 6, Meri Maa, Nach Baliye 6, Mahabharat, Sanjivani 2 and Naagin 4: Bhagya Ka Zehreela Khel to name a few.
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A YouTuber posted a video of himself as he trespassed SpaceX's Starship rocket facilities in south Texas, The Verge reported on Thursday, Apr. 8.

The now-deleted video, which was uploaded on the YouTube channel called Loco VlogS, showed the creator named Caesar freely wandering around the site without any security stopping him.

Trespassing SpaceX

The video, which was reposted on Mar. 31 by YouTuber Mortally Challenged, shows Ceasar entering the site and moving around the facility without security intervening.

He was able to record close-ups of the prototype rocket SN11's Raptor engines before running away and shouting, "Guys, I think I broke the law!"

The video garnered at least 100 dislikes before Ceasar took it down and replaced it with an apology video on Apr. 2.

He explained that he understood that what he did was wrong and illegal, but thought at that moment that he will never get another opportunity and decided to go for it.

Ceasar was not the first who managed to enter SpaceX, although he was lucky enough not to be caught.

In Oct. 2019, Business Insider told the story of SpaceX fan JB Wagoner who spent the night in jail after taking close-up photos of the rocket prototype Starhopper.

According to the report, the aspiring space-technology entrepreneur said he did not see any "no trespassing" sign and found large sections of the chain-link fence had been detached.

Hours after taking the photos, the Cameron County Sheriff's Department contacted Wagoner and advised that he turn himself in on suspicion of criminal trespassing.

"I get arrested, I get taken to jail, and spent the night with seven other guys in a 12-by-16 concrete cell, sleeping on the floor," he shared.

Also Read: SpaceX Starship Prototype SN11 that was Successfully Launched Last Week was Destroyed During Landing

Security Surrounding SpaceX Facilities

SpaceX's facility in Texas, which is located just a few miles north of the Rio Grande, has been regarded by space enthusiasts as a museum of rocketry.

For a facility housing millions of dollars worth of tech used for space exploration, it lacks any advanced security measure one might expect from a multi-billion dollar company safeguarding sensitive and potentially dangerous hardware.

"NASA takes safety and security very seriously," said spokesperson Monica Witt, adding that both NASA and SpaceX are aware of the incident and have launched an investigation.

The Federal Aviation Administration, the agency tasked to ensure public safety by regulating launches and launch infrastructure, also confirmed that they are aware of the incident.

The spokesperson for the agency assured that keeping the public safe by maintaining the physical security of the launch facility is of utmost importance.

Meanwhile, SpaceX remained tight-lipped about the incident and did not respond to a request for comment.

Starship SN11 prototype launched on a test flight on Mar. 30 and ended up in bits after a "relatively small" methane leak caused a fire in one of its Raptor engines.

The next prototype rocket in line, Starship SN15, was rolled to the launch site nine days after SN11's crash.

Related Article: Elon Musk: SpaceX Aims for 'Full Reusability' of Rocket Boosters, Have No 'Max Limit' to Re-Fly in Missions

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Lee Mercado

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Boris Johnson today led the UK's political leaders in paying tribute to Prince Philip as the Prime Minister said the country 'gives thanks' for the Duke of Edinburgh's 'extraordinary life and work'.

Addressing the nation outside No10, Mr Johnson said 'our nation's thoughts must turn' to the Queen and her family after Buckingham Palace announced the duke's death at the age of 99.

Downing Street lowering its flags to half-mast before the Prime Minister told his Cabinet that the nation will have the opportunity to reflect on the duke's 'life, work and legacy' in the days after his death.

Mr Johnson said the royal family 'have lost not just a much loved and highly respected public figure but a devoted husband and a proud and loving father, grandfather and in recent years, great grandfather'.

After the Prime Minister assembled his top ministers to pay tribute to Philip this afternoon, Downing Street said: 'He noted this was a sad day for the country and that His Royal Highness would be remembered with great fondness and affection for generations to come.

'He referenced the duke's long and devoted public service, noting he had known 16 prime ministers. Cabinet shared recollections of meeting Prince Philip and praised his work, including as an environmentalist and for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award which the Prime Minister said had benefitted the lives of countless young people.

'Ministers said they had already received thousands of messages of condolence from all over the world.'

Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Britain had 'lost an extraordinary public servant'. He said the duke had 'dedicated his life to our country' and that 'he will be remembered most of all for his extraordinary commitment and devotion to The Queen'.

Former prime ministers Sir John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May were among the senior figures to pay tribute to the duke, who passed away this morning.

His death prompted political parties to suspend campaigning ahead of elections in May, while Parliament will be recalled from its Easter recess on Monday, a day earlier than its scheduled return, for further tributes.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh'

Boris Johnson said 'our nation's thoughts must turn' to the Queen and her family who have 'have lost not just a much loved and highly respected public figure but a devoted husband and a proud and loving father, grandfather and in recent years, great grandfather'

Boris Johnson's address to the nation in full It was with great sadness that a short time ago I received word from Buckingham Palace that His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh has passed away at the age of 99. Prince Philip earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and around the world. He was the longest serving consort in history, one of the last surviving people in this country to have served in the second world war at Cape Matapan, where he was mentioned in despatches for bravery and in the invasion of Sicily, where he saved his ship by his quick thinking and from that conflict he took an ethic of service that he applied throughout the unprecedented changes of the post war era. Like the expert carriage driver that he was he helped to steer the royal family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life. He was an environmentalist, and a champion of the natural world long before it was fashionable. With his Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme he shaped and inspired the lives of countless young people and at literally tens of thousands of events he fostered their hopes and encouraged their ambitions. We remember the Duke for all of this and above all for his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen. Not just as her consort, by her side every day of her reign, but as her husband, her 'strength and stay', of more than 70 years. And it is to Her Majesty, and her family, that our nation's thoughts must turn today. Because they have lost not just a much-loved and highly respected public figure, but a devoted husband and a proud and loving father, grandfather and, in recent years, great-grandfather. Speaking on their golden wedding anniversary, Her Majesty said that our country owed her husband 'a greater debt than he would ever claim or we shall ever know' and I am sure that estimate is correct. So we mourn today with Her Majesty The Queen we offer our condolences to her and to all her family and we give thanks, as a nation and a Kingdom, for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.' Advertisement

Speaking on the steps of Downing Street, Mr Johnson said the Duke had 'earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and around the world'.

The PM said Prince Philip had 'helped to steer the royal family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life'.

He concluded: 'It is to Her Majesty, and her family, that our nation's thoughts must turn today.

'Because they have lost not just a much-loved and highly respected public figure, but a devoted husband and a proud and loving father, grandfather and, in recent years, great-grandfather.

'Speaking on their golden wedding anniversary, Her Majesty said that our country owed her husband 'a greater debt than he would ever claim or we shall ever know' and I am sure that estimate is correct.

'So we mourn today with Her Majesty The Queen we offer our condolences to her and to all her family and we give thanks, as a nation and a Kingdom, for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.'

Chancellor Rishi Sunak tweeted: 'For your humour and positivity, your years of military service, for all the young people you inspired and for the dedication to your duty, the whole nation thanks you.'

Sir Keir said in a statement: 'The United Kingdom has lost an extraordinary public servant in Prince Philip.

'Prince Philip dedicated his life to our country - from a distinguished career in the Royal Navy during the Second World War to his decades of service as the Duke of Edinburgh.

'However, he will be remembered most of all for his extraordinary commitment and devotion to The Queen.

'For more than seven decades, he has been at her side. Their marriage has been a symbol of strength, stability and hope, even as the world around them changed - most recently during the pandemic. It was a partnership that inspired millions in Britain and beyond.

'My thoughts are with The Queen, the Royal Family and the British people as our nation comes together to mourn and remember the life of Prince Philip.'

Tony Blair, the former prime minister, said in a statement that the 'whole nation will be united in sadness at the passing of Prince Philip'.

'He will naturally be most recognised as a remarkable and steadfast support to the Queen over so many years,' Mr Blair said.

'However, he should also be remembered and celebrated in his own right as a man of foresight, determination and courage.

'He was often way ahead of his time in protection of the environment, in reconciliation between religious faiths and of course in the creation of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which remains one of the most innovative and effective programmes for the betterment of young people anywhere in the world.

'My condolences and prayers and those of my family are with Her Majesty the Queen and all the Royal Family.'

Fellow former prime minister, Sir John Major, said: 'It is impossible to exaggerate the role that the Duke of Edinburgh has played in his lifetime of service to the monarchy and to the United Kingdom.

'A distinguished naval officer, he was  for over 70 years  the ballast to our Ship of State. Modest to the core, and hating any kind of fuss or bother, he epitomised the British spirit and remained true to himself right up to the very end.

'The outpouring of affection and sadness that will follow his loss would both surprise and embarrass him, but it will be real and heartfelt.

'Our hearts go out to Her Majesty The Queen  and all members of the Royal Family  who have lost a much beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.'

Former prime minister Theresa May tweeted: 'All my thoughts and prayers are with Her Majesty and the whole Royal Family today on the loss of a devoted husband, father, grandfather & great grandfather.

'The nation and the entire Commonwealth owe Prince Philip an extraordinary debt of gratitude for a distinguished life of service to the Queen, our country and so many around the world.'

David Cameron said that Prince Philip had 'showed true dedication to our country, with unstinting service stretching back to his courageous naval duty in the Second World War'.

'It was an honour and privilege as Prime Minister to see up close what a powerful advocate The Duke was for the causes he believed in,' Mr Cameron said.

'He leaves an incredible legacy having supported so many British charities, institutions and good causes, not least pioneering his very own Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, which millions of young people have participated in and benefited from all over the world since 1956.

'Our hearts go out to Her Majesty The Queen and all members of the Royal Family today. The country has lost an extraordinary public servant; and the Royal Family have lost a dedicated and loyal father, grandfather, great grandfather  and a devoted husband.

'My sincere and heartfelt condolences are with Her Majesty The Queen at this time of great sadness.'

Gordon Brown said that Prince Philip 'will be mourned in every continent', adding: 'My condolences go to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal family who will be in everybody's thoughts at this time of grief.

'Like the whole of our country, I am grateful not just for the public service he gave but for his dedication of his life to our country.'

Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: 'Prince Philip dedicated his life to our country. We will always be grateful for his amazing service, not least the powerful legacy he leaves to millions of young people who have taken part in his unique Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.

'His quiet and steadfast counsel and support of The Queen, is perhaps his greatest if unquantifiable contribution to our nation's history.

'At this sad time for millions, we should never forget Prince Philip was a much-loved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. So our thoughts must be with the whole Royal Family, but in particular with The Queen at this difficult time.'

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, said: 'This is obviously a very sad day for Her Majesty, the Royal Family and the whole country.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle (pictured left), the Commons Speaker, said Prince Philip's life 'was a long life that saw so much dedication to duty' while Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said 'his quiet and steadfast counsel and support of The Queen, is perhaps his greatest if unquantifiable contribution to our nation's history'

Tony Blair, the former prime minister, said in a statement that the 'whole nation will be united in sadness at the passing of Prince Philip'

'The Duke of Edinburgh has given his unwavering support to The Queen, both as a husband and as a consort. Described by Her Majesty as 'my constant strength', he served this country too, first with distinction during the Second World War and selflessly throughout eight decades during peacetime.

'Prince Philip has performed wide-ranging official roles, carrying out thousands of engagements and overseas visits on behalf of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. He will be remembered for his loyal devotion to service and his leadership of hundreds of ideals and causes close to his heart.

'Most notably, of course, is the Duke of Edinburgh's Award which helps millions of young people around the world to achieve their full potential as team members and future leaders in their chosen fields.

'His was a long life that saw so much dedication to duty. Today we must pause to honour him and to offer our sincerest thanks for the Prince's devout faithfulness to our country  and all the nations shall miss him greatly.'

Arlene Foster, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, said: 'It is with deep sadness that I have learned of the death of His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh.

'It is a sadness that I know will be shared by countless others in Northern Ireland and right across the world.'

Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Wales, offered his condolences to the Queen and Royal Family on behalf of the Welsh Government.

He said in a statement: 'It is with sadness that we mourn the death of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. Throughout his long and distinguished life, he served the crown with selfless devotion and generosity of spirit.

'We offer our sincere condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, his children and their families on this sad occasion.

'He will be missed by the many organisations that he supported as Patron or President over many decades of service.'

Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, tweeted: 'I am saddened by news that the Duke of Edinburgh has died. I send my personal and deepest condolences  and those of @scotgov and the people of Scotland  to Her Majesty The Queen and her family.'

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted: 'Today, we mourn the loss of an extraordinary man, who devoted his life to public service and helping others. I extend my deepest sympathies to Her Majesty The Queen and the entire Royal Family at this sad time.'

The Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nicholas Carter, said: 'His candour and his humour made many a serviceman and servicewoman chuckle on the countless visits that he made to the Armed Forces.'

World leaders also paid tribute to Prince Philip. US president Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden said: 'On behalf of all the people of the United States, we send our deepest condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the entire royal family, and all the people of the United Kingdom on the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

'Over the course of his 99-year life, he saw our world change dramatically and repeatedly. From his service during World War II, to his 73 years alongside the Queen, and his entire life in the public eye  Prince Philip gladly dedicated himself to the people of the UK, the Commonwealth, and to his family.

'The impact of his decades of devoted public service is evident in the worthy causes he lifted up as patron, in the environmental efforts he championed, in the members of the armed forces that he supported, in the young people he inspired, and so much more. His legacy will live on not only through his family, but in all the charitable endeavours he shaped.

'Jill and I are keeping the Queen and Prince Philip's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in our hearts during this time.'

Germany's president Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: 'Prince Philip was popular and highly respected in Germany. I had the pleasure of personally experiencing his astute humour during our meetings in London and Berlin.'

A Kremlin spokesman said: 'The Duke of Edinburgh, great-great-grandson of Russian Emperor Nicholas I, was admired and will be mourned by many Russians... May his soul rest in peace.'

French president Emmanuel Macron tweeted: 'I wish to express my sincere condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Royal Family and the British people upon the death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip who lived an exemplary life defined by bravery, a sense of duty and commitment to the youth and the environment.'

Scott Morrison, the Australian Prime Minister, said the Duke 'embodied a generation that we will never see again'.

Mr Morrison said in a statement: 'Australians send our love and deepest condolences to her Majesty and all the Royal family. The Commonwealth family joins together in sorrow and thanksgiving for the loss and life of Prince Philip. God bless from all here in Australia.

Nicola Sturgeon sent her 'personal and deepest condolences' to the royal family while London Mayor Sadiq Khan said 'we mourn the loss of an extraordinary man'

Scott Morrison, the Australian Prime Minister, said Prince Philip 'embodied a generation that we will never see again'

'Further details about Australia's remembrance of Prince Philip will be announced over coming days. Flags will be lowered in honour of His Royal Highness.'

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: 'My thoughts are with the British people and the Royal Family on the passing away of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'He had a distinguished career in the military and was at the forefront of many community service initiatives. May his soul rest in peace.'

Ireland's Taoiseach Micheal Martin posted on Twitter: 'Saddened to hear of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with Queen Elizabeth and the people of the United Kingdom at this time.'

Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, described the Duke of Edinburgh as a 'man of great purpose and conviction'.

He said on Twitter: 'It was with deep sadness that I learned of the passing of The Duke of Edinburgh today.

'A man of great purpose and conviction, who was motivated by a sense of duty to others, Prince Philip contributed so much to the social fabric of our country  and the world.

'Prince Philip will be remembered as a decorated naval officer, a dedicated philanthropist, and a constant in the life of Queen Elizabeth II.

'The thoughts of all Canadians are with her and the entire Royal Family as they mourn this significant loss.'

United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted: 'The US Congress extends condolences over the passing of Prince Philip, whose life was distinguished by an inspiring ethic of dedicated service.

'May it be a comfort to Her Majesty & the Royal family that so many mourn with & pray for them at this sad time.'

Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, tweeted: 'I am saddened to hear of the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip. I would like to extend my sincere sympathy to Her Majesty The Queen, the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom on this very sad day.'

Mark Rutte, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, tweeted: 'On behalf of the government I have sent my condolences to prime minister @BorisJohnson on hearing the sad news of the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip.

'Our thoughts and sympathy are with Britain's Royal Family and the British people at this time of mourning.'

Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, described the Duke of Edinburgh as a 'man of great purpose and conviction'

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz tweeted: 'I extend my sincere condolences to Her Majesty The Queen, the @RoyalFamily and the people of the United Kingdom after the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.'

Former US president Barack Obama tweeted: 'Through his extraordinary example, His Royal Highness Prince Philip proved that true partnership has room for both ambition and selflessness  all in service of something greater.

'Our thoughts are with Her Majesty the Queen, the Royal Family, and the British people.'

Prince Philip was the longest-serving consort in British history. The Duke and the Queen were married for more than 70 years and Philip dedicated decades of his life to royal duty, serving the nation at the monarch's side.

He officially retired from public engagements in the summer of 2017.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will made in due course.

'The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.'
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Prince Charles received the devastating news his father had died on the day he was due to mark his wedding anniversary to Camilla.

The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall married back in 2005 so would have been celebrating 16 years together.

Instead they will be mourning the loss of Royal Family patriarch Phillip, who died this morning aged 99.

His and Camilla's portion of their website was unavailable, with a tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh instead in its place.

Just two weeks ago they had been in Greece on a two-day visit celebrating the 200th anniversary since the start of the Greek war of independence against the Ottoman Empire.

At the time Charles had mentioned his father, telling an official state dinner: 'My wife and I could not be more delighted to be back in Greece, which has long held the most special place in my heart.

'After all, Greece is the land of my grandfather; and of my father's birth, nearly one hundred years ago, in the centenary year of Greek Independence.

Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Prince Charles on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after they took part in the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony in London in June 2007

Prince Philip with Prince Charles at the unveiling of a statue of the Queen Mother, Poundbury, Dorset, back in October 2016

Queen Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh holding their first child Prince Charles, aged just six months old, in April 1949

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at a parade in Athens on a visit to mark 200 years of Greek Independence

'Later, it was in Athens that my dear grandmother, Princess Alice, during the dark years of Nazi occupation, sheltered a Jewish family - an act for which in Israel she is counted as 'Righteous Among The Nations'.'

Phillip had been at Windsor Castle after returning following weeks in hospital. It is not yet clear which other members of the family other than the Queen were there.

Charles was pictured teary-eyed in February as he arrived at King Edward VII's hospital in London to visit his father as he was admitted for treatment.

The Prince of Wales went in at the back of the London hospital at around 3.30pm on February 20 where Philip had been staying.

It had been a 200-mile round trip to make the visit, was pictured wearing a face mask as he walked from his car into the hospital.

Philip was the longest-serving consort in British history.

The duke and the Queen were married for more than 70 years and Philip dedicated decades of his life to royal duty, serving the nation at the monarch's side.

He officially retired from public engagements in the summer of 2017.

The Prince of Wales arrived at King Edward VII's hospital in London to visit his father Philip in February as he got treatment

Prince Charles was said to be teary-eyed at his 99-year-old father the Duke of Edinburgh's bedside in February. He made a 200-mile round trip to sped half an hour at Philip's side

The Palace said in a statement: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.

'Further announcements will made in due course.

'The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.'

The death of the duke comes in the midst of the worst public health crisis for generations as the UK and countries around the globe reel from the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

It has also taken place in the aftermath of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's bombshell Oprah interview which left the monarchy in crisis after Meghan accused an unnamed royal of racism and the institution of failing to help her when she was suicidal.

Philip had returned to Windsor Castle on March 16 to be reunited with the Queen after spending a month in hospital - his longest ever stay.

He initially received care for an infection but then underwent heart surgery for a pre-existing condition.

The duke had looked gaunt as he was driven away from King Edward VII's Hospital in central London, having been pushed in a wheelchair to the waiting car.

Philip - father to the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex - was just two months away from his 100th birthday in June.

He spent much of the Covid-19 crisis staying with the Queen at Windsor in HMS Bubble - the nickname given to the couple's reduced household of devoted staff during lockdown.
Danny Zaragoza, Staff Photographer / Laredo Morning Times

A protest on the Mexican side has caused the partial closure of the Gateway to the Americas and the Juarez-Lincoln international bridges on Friday morning, authorities said.

A group of people protested against the Mexican National Guard for the alleged killing of an unarmed man and a woman in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 05:37:15|Editor: huaxia

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RABAT, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita on Thursday discussed during a teleconference meeting with French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian the bilateral ties and regional issues.

The two officials lauded the excellent relations between Rabat and Paris, and their will to consolidate this exceptional partnership, the official news agency MAP reported.

Le Drian praised the France-Morocco security cooperation, especially in the fight against terrorism, the report said.

He welcomed the recent political advances in Libya and reiterated his country's support for the political process leading to the general elections on Dec. 24.

Le Drian reaffirmed Morocco's strategic role as a partner of the European Union.

The two sides also reiterated their willingness to continue consultation and coordinate their actions within multilateral and international bodies, the report said. Enditem
New Delhi, April 9 : Top Indian and Chinese military officials met at Chushul on Friday to discuss the next phase of disengagement on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, and the dialogue that started at 10.30 a.m. is still on.

The 11th round of Corps Commander talks at Chushul is happening after a nearly two month gap. The Indian military delegation was led by Leh-based 14 Corps Commander, Lt Gen P.G.K. Menon.

The focus of the talks is disengagement on other friction points. After the Pangong disengagement, both countries planned to carry out disengagement on other friction points like Gogra, Hot Springs and Depsang.

"The military dialogue is still on and it is important that before the onset of summer, de-escalation takes place at the Line of Actual Control. Both sides need to retreat to original positions for things to ease," said a senior Indian Army officer.

On February 20, Indian and Chinese military held the 10th round of military dialogue to de-escalate tension at the LAC and for disengagement at friction areas like Hot Springs, Gogra and 900 square km Depsang plains.

The build-up in Depsang was not being considered part the current standoff that started in May last year as escalations here took place in 2013. However, India has insisted during the recent military commander meetings to resolve all issues across the LAC.

"The initial attempt will be to resolve Gogra and Hot Springs. Finding a solution to Depsang might be tricky and take longer," said the officer.

So far, disengagement process at both banks of the Pangong Lake has taken place. It was on February 10 that China made an announcement that New Delhi and Beijing had agreed to disengage at Pangong Lake.

An Indian Army team, along with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) team, physically verified and re-verified disengagement at Pangong Lake.

As per the agreement, Chinese troops moved back to Finger 8 and Indian troops pulled back to the Dhan Singh Thapa post between Finger 2 and 3 of the lake's north bank.

The mountain spur jutting into the lake is referred to as 'Finger' in military parlance. The north bank of the lake is divided into 8 fingers, and India has claimed its territory till Finger 8 but China disputes it, claiming it stretches only till Finger 4.

A temporary moratorium on military activities, including patrolling in traditional areas, has come into place.

India and China are engaged in a year-long standoff at the LAC. The confrontations began on the north bank of Pangong Lake, both in the waters and the bank as Chinese incursions increased in early May last year.
BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - Governor Gavin Newsom announced more than $500 million dollars was approved by the state legislature for California to begin wildfire prevention and preparation.

Cal Fire Butte County says that money is a huge boost in many ways, but one of the biggest helps they say it brings is more boots on the ground.

"We'll be drawing down $536 million dollars to get these projects moving," said Newsom in a press conference announcing the funds on Thursday.

"The fact is with these projects we have going we're gonna be able to remove some fuels in some areas that could potentially stop a fire from growing," said Rick Carhart, a spokesman for Cal Fire.

Projects like fire breaks and fuel reductions, if all approved and done in the coming months, could equal more than 24,000 acres of land management just in Butte County.

"As we move into fire season," he said. "The little bit of rain that we had is going to disappear and the vegetation is going to be extremely dry."

And that's why crews got a head start.

"All of it with the goal of creating a safer place in the area where we have heavy fuels and the danger for a potential big fire is there," said Carhart.

"So we're prepared for this upcoming wildfire season," said Newsom on why the funds are needed.

And it's not just fire breaks and fuel reduction projects the money will be used for, it's also to keep equipment like these helicopters behind me here ready to fight fires at any moment.

The money could bring more air tankers just like the ones they have at the Chico Air Attack Base.

It could also be used to increase firefighter staffing which would help in case fires do break out.

"Adding firefighters, we would have more people on our fire stations and on our engines," he said. "Every person we add is another person to help control a fire and that's the goal of all this."

The $536 million dollars is all part of $1 billion dollars Newsom says the state is budgeting for fighting fires this season throughout the state.

To help prepare for fire season around homes, Cal Fire is encouraging control burns, only in towns and cities it's allowed and with proper precautions before burning, like having water and shovel ready.
Highlights Redmi Note 9 Pro models may get Android 11 update soon.

Xiaomi had stopped the roll out because of issues.

The roll out is expected by the end of April.

Xiaomi is expected to roll out the Android 11 update for last year's Redmi Note 9 Pro and Note 9 Pro Max by the end of this month. The software update on many major Xiaomi smartphones, including the Note 9 series was delayed after few bugs were reported on company's custom MIUI 12 based on Android 11. To recall, Xiaomi had started introducing Android 11 based MIUI 12 in December last year.

The operating software had first arrived n Mi 10 and Redmi Note 9. However, further rollout to other devices was stopped due to a range of bugs reported on the MIUI version. This was followed by the rollout of MIUI 12's beta version to several Xiaomi devices including Redmi K30 and POCO's F2 Pro.

In January 2021, the Android 11 update made its way to the likes of the Redmi K30 series, Mi Note 10 Lite and the Mi A3 in company's western markets. Even the Redmi Note 9 Pro smartphones were expected to receive the same in first quarter of 2021. However, that window has also passed.

Now, a Mi Community mod responded to a user query by suggesting that the update is set to release for the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max by the end of April 2021. Another user inquired about the Android 11 update for the Redmi Note 9 Pro to which the same moderator gave out the same approximate release date.

Xiaomi has also hinted at a larger roll out of the operating system.

MIUI 12 comes with few improvements to the UI, making it cleaner than ever before. The update also features a reworked appearance throughout, with new animations for several system actions, new live wallpapers, new Always On Display designs and more. The upgrade also promises big on privacy.

Meanwhile, the company is gearing up to launch its flagship Mi 11 Ultra in India later this month. The smartphone will be unveiled during an online event on April 23 and the smartphone maker might reveal more details about its software updates on the same day as well. The Mi 11 Ultra will compete against the OnePLus 9 Pro, Vivo X60 Pro+ and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra in the country.
New Delhi, April 9 : Delhi Agriculture Minister Gopal Rai on Friday accused the Food Corporation of India (FCI) of not procuring farmers wheat crop on Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Rai, who had conducted an inspection at the Narela mandi, also slammed the FCI officials for not attending the review meeting.

"For the last few days, farmers have been complaining that the FCI has not started procurement of crops on MSP in Narela mandi. On the contrary, the FCI had claimed that the procurement was started from April 1. After asking for a report from the mandi, we got to know that there was no counter here," he said.

"One official said that a counter was put up in the godown. We asked if the procurement is on, he replied 'no'. Every year, the procurement process is conducted in the mandi. It is unfortunate that the farmers were being harassed this time." His allegations came in the midst of the ongoing protest by farmers against Centre's three farm laws.

Rai had on April 7, demanded the Centre to direct the FCI to set up counters in Narela and Najafgarh markets and start procuring wheat from farmers on MSP.

"I request the Centre that the farmers should not be harassed. There should be a counter in the mandi where government officials will sit for verification so that the farmers will not have to run here and there and they get the MSP. On Monday, I will call senior FCI officials for a meeting," he added.
Samuel Adams is just as ready as you are to get back to your local bar. In fact, theyll even buy your first beer.

Sam Adams hopes drinkers will get back to supporting the bars and restaurants they love, the Boston company said on its website. So if you get vaccinated against COVID-19, well buy your first beer back!

The companys Shot for Sam promotion is for the first 10,000 people that post their vaccination sticker or bandage. Then theyll send those people $7 through the Cash App for a beer at your favorite bar.

The photo doesnt have to be of the vaccination card so people arent publicly posting their personal information.

Even Your Cousin From Boston got vaccinated! Cause hey, we all wanna get back together at the bars we love.



Starting April 12th, post your vaccine sticker or bandage w/ #ShotForSam & get $7 for a beer on us at your favorite local bar or restaurant. pic.twitter.com/zIKLgGA0Dh  Samuel Adams Beer (@SamuelAdamsBeer) April 7, 2021

To be included, social media users need to include the hashtag #shotforsam and tag @samueladamsbeer on Twitter or Instagram.

Then look out for a DM from Sam, the company said. Make sure you have a Cash App account and dont forget to tip your servers!

Those without social media can also email their photo to samadamssocial@bostonbeer.com.

The promotion starts April 12.

Sam Adams isnt the only one offering deals to those who have received their vaccine. Krispy Kreme is offering a free doughnut for those who are vaccinated.

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Rebecca Roberts and her partner struggled with infertility for more than a year, so when they got a positive result with an at-home pregnancy test, they were overjoyed.

But the news did not feel real until the first ultrasound appointment, when the couple saw their baby on a sonogram screen and listened to the calming cadence of a steady heartbeat.

On Roberts's medical chart, her obstetrician wrote: singleton.

"I remember walking away from the very first scan so happy," said Roberts, 39, who lives in Wiltshire, England.

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But her excitement abruptly shifted to shock five weeks later at the 12-week ultrasound appointment, when the sonographer spotted something astonishing: It appeared as though Roberts was suddenly carrying two babies - one of which was considerably less-developed than the other. The room fell silent.

"I thought something awful had happened," Roberts said. "The sonographer looked at me and was like, 'Do you know you're expecting twins?' "

But this was not a typical set of twins, Roberts learned. Her pregnancy was diagnosed as superfetation, a rare condition in which a woman who is already pregnant conceives another baby.

Roberts's pregnancy is one of few superfetation cases recorded in medical literature, said her obstetrician, David Walker.

Superfetation is so uncommon that Walker struggled to diagnose it. In his 25 years as an obstetrician, it was something he had never seen before.

"It just doesn't happen," Walker said, adding that it took several scans before he could confidently diagnose the condition.

"We were concerned because the second twin was much smaller. It was only by regularly scanning and seeing that the rate of growth was consistently three weeks behind that we realized it was superfetation," he explained.

The true number of superfetation cases is not known, but according to a report published in 2008 in the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, fewer than 10 instances of the phenomenon had been recorded at the time.

Ordinarily, hormonal and physical changes during pregnancy prevent another conception from occurring. That was not the case for Roberts.

"Instead of stopping ovulation, she released another egg about three or four weeks after the first one, and the egg somehow miraculously managed to fertilize and implant in her uterus," Walker said.

Although Roberts was taking a fertility drug to stimulate ovulation, Walker said he's "not convinced" that the medication - which can increase the chances of having multiples - is what caused the superfetation.

"She didn't release two eggs at the same time, which is what the medication normally does," Walker said. "But we have no way of proving it one way or another."

While Walker was initially concerned about how the pregnancy would progress, he said, "the rate of growth for both of the babies was good, which was reassuring."

When he gave Roberts and her partner, Rhys Weaver, 43, the diagnosis, "it was a massive shock," said Roberts, who also has a 15-year-old daughter. "We went home and got straight onto Google."

SORRY, AUSTIN: Houston is, in fact, the unofficial capital of Texas. And we don't care who disagrees.

Surfing the Web, she said, proved mostly futile because there is minimal research and there are few examples of successful superfetation pregnancies. The condition is so rare that alleged cases are sometimes met with cynicism.

"There is very little information, because this is not supposed to happen," Weaver said. "It was just crazy news."

Over time, though, the notion of carrying two separately conceived babies began to normalize, Roberts said. While it might not have been the pregnancy she expected, after years of longing for another child, she was thrilled to have not just one but two on the way.

Given the rarity of the condition, coupled with Roberts's age and the common risks associated with carrying twins, the pregnancy brought some challenges, particularly during the third trimester. The couple were told that the younger baby might not survive.

"Anything that can go wrong with a pregnancy is more common with twin pregnancies," Walker said. "But with a three-week difference, you don't want to compromise the smaller twin by delivering too early. You have to keep a really close eye. The delivery was crucial in this case."

Roberts knew preterm labor was probable, so ensuring that the smaller baby was far along enough before birth "was a really massive worry for us," she said.

At just over 33 weeks into the pregnancy, the smaller fetus's umbilical cord was not functioning normally, which started to affect the baby's growth. Doctors decided it was time to deliver.

Although Roberts's children had different due dates, she had a Caesarean section and gave birth to both babies on Sept. 17. Noah came first, weighing 4 pounds, 10 ounces. Two minutes later, his younger sister, Rosalie, arrived, weighing 2 pounds, 7 ounces.

"We got to see both of them as soon as they were born," Roberts said. "It was absolutely beautiful."

"One of the best feelings I've ever had," Weaver said.

The family's initial bonding time was short-lived, as both babies were whisked away to the neonatal intensive care unit. Noah remained in the hospital for just over three weeks, while Rosalie stayed for 95 days.

The couple drove to the hospital every day to visit their children until just before Christmas, when they were given the go-ahead to bring Rosalie home.

"We could finally get on and start our lives. It felt like we were on hold having them in the hospital," said Roberts, who designs children's clothing.

Taking care of twins, who are now almost 6 months old, has been a whirlwind, especially during the pandemic lockdown and while working from home. But Roberts said it has made her heart full to watch the babies grow and develop over the past few months.

"Even though they were born on the same day, there's definitely an age difference between them," she added. "It's noticeable."

Rosalie is much smaller and less advanced than her brother, "but she's catching up to him fast," said Weaver, a mortgage adviser.

Regardless of their developmental differences, the twin bond is unmistakable, the couple said.

"When we lay them down next to each other on their play mat, they look at each other, reach out and touch each other, and talk to each other as well," Roberts said. "It is so beautiful to watch."

Roberts and Weaver have been documenting the twins' growth over the past few months on an Instagram page, and thousands of people around the world, fascinated by their story, are following along.

"We want people to be able to continue to watch as they grow up," said Roberts. "Miracles can happen, and my children are proof of that."
When the electorate of Trinity College Dublin cast their ballots for a new provost, this Saturday, one of the three candidates in the history-making election will be from Callan.

Professor Linda Hogan is Professor of Ecumenics, and she has also served as Trinitys Vice-Provost/ Chief Academic Officer.



This election will make history for Trinity as all three candidates are female, so it will be the very first time a woman will be elected to the post of provost.

The Provost is the Chief Officer of the university responsible to the Board and ultimately to the State for the performance of the university.



Originally from Callan, Prof. Hogan is the daughter of the late Bea and Patsy Hogan of the Steppes Bar, and a former student of St. Brigids College, Callan.



A Fellow of Trinity College, Prof Hogan is an ethicist with extensive experience in research and teaching in pluralist and multi-religious contexts. Her primary research interests lie in the fields of inter-cultural and inter-religious ethics, social and political ethics, human rights and gender.

She studied at NUI Maynooth before moving to Trinity where she was awarded a PhD. Prof Hogan worked as a lecturer at the University of Chester and University of Leeds before joining the staff of Trinity College.



The electorate for provost is made up primarily of full-time members of Trinity academic staff.

Votes will be cast this Saturday, April 10, and will take place in two rounds. The name of the elected candidate will go to the Board for appointment on 21 April, and the new Provost will take up office on 1 August.



Ordinarily the election and count are conducted in a venue on campus with all members of the electorate eligible to attend.

Due to Covid-19 it has been decided to conduct the 2021 Provost Election by electronic means.

The winner of the election will be known by lunchtime on Saturday.



Prof. Hogan is one of three candidates, all of whom hold senior academic roles at the university and have come through the interview and nomination stages. The three candidates are all women, so for the first time in its 429-year history Trinity will be led by a female academic.



Interviews took place in January after which each successful candidate proceeded to the second stage and was asked to seek 12 nominations from the electorate.

The other two candidates are Professor Linda Doyle, Professor of Engineering and The Arts, who has previously held the role of Dean of Research, and Professor Jane Ohlmeyer, Erasmus Smiths Professor of Modern History, who was Trinitys first Vice-President for Global Relations.

Current Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast, will complete his term of office on July 31 and the new Provost will take office on August 1. The new term of office runs for ten years to 2031.
Dr. Anthony Fauci thanked America's health care workers, who "every single day put themselves at risk" during the pandemic, even as he acknowledged that PPE shortages had contributed to the deaths of more than 3,600 of them.

"We rightfully refer to these people without hyperbole  that they are true heroes and heroines," he said in an exclusive interview with The Guardian. The deaths of so many health workers from covid-19 are "a reflection of what health care workers have done historically, but putting themselves in harm's way by living up to the oath they take when they become physicians and nurses," said Fauci.

KHN and The Guardian have tracked health care workers deaths throughout the pandemic in the "Lost on the Frontline" database. More than 3,600 health worker deaths have been tallied in the database, considered the most authoritative accounting in the country.

Personal protective equipment  including gloves, gowns and critical masks  have been in short supply since the pandemic began and heightened the toll. The U.S. is the world's largest importer of PPE, which made it especially vulnerable to the demand shock and export restrictions that hit the global market last spring.

"During the critical times when there were shortages was when people had to use whatever was available to them," said Fauci. "I'm sure that increased the risk of getting infected among health care providers."

Shortages were compounded by the federal government's failure to maintain a national stockpile of personal protective equipment, and the Trump administration's refusal to order more domestic manufacturing of PPE. That left health workers to use trash bags as gowns, reuse N95s for weeks and, at times, go totally without gloves.

The shortages led to protests by health workers, who said working amid the pandemic without equipment left them like "sheep going to slaughter." Nina Forbes, a nurse at an assisted living facility, was forced to wear a trash bag at times, according to her daughter, and later died. A year into the pandemic, gowns and gloves remain in short supply, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Nearly 560,000 Americans have died in the covid pandemic, with many more experiencing long-term symptoms of covid.

Health workers have been especially vulnerable through the pandemic, as they have treated patients through early waves when the lack of personal protective equipment was especially acute, through summer surges and a disastrous peak in the winter.

A study of health workers in the U.S. and the United Kingdom in The Lancet found health workers are three times more likely than the general public to become infected with the covid virus, with disproportionate impacts on minority health workers.

"It's very clear when you just go to the media and see the images on television  the stress and the strain on the faces of health care providers, nurses, doctors, other people involved in the health care enterprise," said Fauci.

Nevertheless, the U.S. government has failed to systematically count health worker deaths. Members of Congress, the Health and Human Services Department and academic reports have cited The Guardian and KHN's reporting as the most comprehensive. A growing chorus of policy experts and unions have called for a comprehensive count of health worker deaths.

"We certainly want to find an accurate count of the people who die," said Fauci, without noting when the government should undertake such an effort. "Certainly, that's something I think would fall under the auspices of the federal government."

Even as the vaccine rollout picks up speed, health workers continue to be imperiled. More than 400 died between the time the rollout began and late February. Infections among vaccinated health workers have steeply declined, but because deaths are a lagging indicator of the spread of covid, some health workers will have been sickened before widespread vaccination.

At the same time, immunity to coronaviruses generally wanes over time and variants may blunt the efficacy of some vaccines. A global shortage of vaccines means dozens of poor nations have not inoculated a single person. Advocates argue this has led to a global "vaccine apartheid," which will contribute to the continued emergence of variants. Both scenarios could imperil health workers anew and necessitate a new round of adult mass vaccination.

Studies into the duration of immunity for vaccines, and variants' impact on vaccines, are ongoing. "If we're going to need to do boosting with a variant-specific boost, [we] will be prepared for it because we're already doing a study," Fauci said, with such research taking place at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which he leads. Even so, "it looks like our ability to protect against variants with the standard vaccine might be better than we anticipated."

Regardless of how future vaccination campaigns play out, Fauci said, U.S. policymakers should learn from what has transpired over the past year.

"We better make sure the lesson we will learn is that we will never again be in a situation where people who are putting their health and their safety on the line don't have the appropriate equipment to protect themselves safely," he said.
Russia has more troops on Ukraines eastern border than at any time since 2014, when it annexed Crimea and backed separatist territory seizures, and the United States is concerned by growing Russian aggressions, the White House said on Thursday.

The United States is discussing its concerns with its NATO allies, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told a briefing.

The Russian buildup has become the latest point of friction in icy relations between Moscow and U.S. President Joe Bidens administration, adding to disputes over arms control, human rights and other issues.

Biden last week expressed unwavering support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in his confrontation with Russia, which in 2014 annexed the Crimea peninsula and backed separatists who seized large parts of the eastern Donbas region.

Russia has said its troops are no threat and are defensive, but they would remain as long as the Kremlin sees fit.

Psaki said that the United States is increasingly concerned by recent escalating Russian aggressions in eastern Ukraine, including Russian troop movements on Ukraines border.

Russia now has more troops than at any time since 2014, Psaki added, saying that five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the past week.

Psaki did not elaborate on the number of Russian troops deployed on Ukraines border. But it was the first time that the Biden administration has given a description of the scale of the buildup.

In March 2014, as the conflict in eastern Ukraine escalated, Western estimates put the number of Russian troops, militia or special forces on Ukraines border at 25,000 to more than 30,000.

Psakis comments followed by hours a telephone call in which Chancellor Angela Merkel of NATO member Germany demanded that Russian President Vladimir Putin pull his troops back to de-escalate the situation.

SOURCE: REUTERS
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Documents filed in the federal case of a former therapist for the Cleveland schools reveal the sweeping scope of the investigation into the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Federal prosecutors Thursday asked for a two-month continuance in the case of Christine Priola of Willoughby because of the sheer volume of the work involved in the hundreds of cases stemming from the Capitol riots. Her attorneys did not oppose the request.

Already, prosecutors said more than 300 people have been arrested across the United States, with charges to be filed against at least 100 more. Investigators have received more than 210,000 tips, wrote more than 80,000 reports and viewed more than 15,000 hours of surveillance and body cam video. They also seized about 1,600 electronic devices, documents say.

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, federal prosecutors wrote in a filing Thursday in Priolas case.

Prosecutors said they will prioritize the cases. Defendants who were arrested and detained will be the first to receive documents and investigative reports on their cases. Those like Priola, who was released on bond, will have their cases handled immediately afterward.

Priola has yet to be indicted. A two-month continuance means she could face charges by early June. She was arrested Jan. 14 and accused of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building; violent entry; and unlawful activities on Capitol grounds.

Authorities said she was among scores of rioters who broke through barricades and entered the Capitol while Congress was in session to certify Joseph Biden as the winner of the presidential election.

The protesters initially attended a rally outside the Capitol, where then-President Trump spoke. Many described the storming of the building as an insurrection to support Trumps attempts to stay in power. Four rioters and a Capitol police officer died in the attack.

Priola became a suspect after a photographer for Getty Images took a picture in the chamber of the U.S. Senate of protesters reveling and trespassing. The photograph showed a woman, at the front of the chamber, carrying a sign that said, The Children Cry Out For Justice. Several people on social media identified the woman as Priola.

The FBI and U.S. marshals searched her home and seized a laptop, two desktop computers and several thumb drives, according to court documents. Agents also recovered clothing, the sign that she held and other materials consistent with the photographs of Priola taken Jan. 6, the records show.

The day after the rally, Priola submitted her resignation from the Cleveland schools in a conspiracy-laden letter to officials. In it, she said refused to take a coronavirus vaccine to return to classes and planned to expose the global evil of human trafficking and pedophilia, including in our government agencies and childrens services agencies.

She began working as an occupational therapist for the district in August 2000.
The fifth and final season of The Bold Type will screen on Stan in late May.

The comedy / drama, which stars Aisha Dee, Meghan Fahy and Katie Stevens, centres on young women working for the fictional Scarlet Magazine in New York, balancing career and personal lives.

After five empowering seasons, Kat, Jane, and Sutton will bid farewell to Scarlet Magazine. A worldwide hit, the farewell episodes of the fan-favorite series will celebrate the trios journey into becoming who they were each meant to be. Nikohl Boosheri will also recur as fan favourite character Adena El-Amin.

Season 4 of The Bold Type left Kat, Jane and Sutton at their limits both personally and professionally at Scarlet Magazine. In the final season, our trio is on the brink of defining who they really are and how to best leave their mark on the world. Their futures are bright, and their love and support for each other will never change.

The Bold Type stars Katie Stevens, Aisha Dee, Meghann Fahy, Stephen Conrad Moore and Melora Hardin. The series is executive produced by Wendy Straker Hauser, Matt McGuinness, David Bernad, Joanna Coles, Brian Madden, Ruben Fleischer and Sandrine Gros dAillon. The series is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and The District.

Thursday 27 May on Stan.

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China refutes U.S. "intimidation" accusations

Xinhua) 09:06, April 09, 2021

Photo taken on April 2, 2021 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday refuted U.S. accusations of the country conducting "intimidation actions" in the Taiwan Strait and said that the label of "intimidation" or "coercion" can never be pinned on China.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked to comment on U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price's allegations against China.

"China has never intended to intimidate others, but it is not afraid of any intimidation. China does not want to coerce anyone, but it is useless to coerce China," said Zhao.

He stressed that it is a fact recognized by the international community that there is only one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory, and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.

"The one-China principle is the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, a commitment made by the U.S. side in the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques, and a red line that cannot be crossed," said the spokesperson.

He noted that the U.S. warships have repeatedly showed off "muscles" in the Taiwan Strait recently, sending out gravely wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" forces and threatening the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

The United States has fought no war for only 16 of its nearly 250 years of history and runs over 800 overseas military bases globally, Zhao said, adding that with the highest military expenditure in the world for years in a row, the United States accounts for about 40 percent of the world's total military spending.

The United States also frequently imposes illegal unilateral sanctions on other sovereign states.

"China has the firm will and the ability to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zhao said.

He said the United States should understand that Taiwan question is highly sensitive and that it should abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques.

The United States should also stop its dangerous practices, prudently and properly handle Taiwan-related issues, and should not send wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" forces, to avoid damaging its own interests as well as the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Bianji)
Jacobson said that her appointment as a special assistant to the president and as the border coordinator in the White House was always intended to last for only about 100 days  a period that will expire at the end of April, when she intends to leave government.
A U.S. delegation led by Senior Defense Official and Defense Attache Colonel Brittany Stewart has visited the Joint Forces Operation area in eastern Ukraine, the press service of the Defense Ministry reports.

The U.S. representatives visited the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which carry out tasks on the contact line with the enemy, talked to Ukrainian defenders, and once again made sure of the presence of Russian occupation forces in eastern Ukraine.

"The U.S. government is deeply concerned about the situation developing around the borders of Ukraine, and in every possible way supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," Colonel Stewart said.

The foreign delegation also visited the memorials to the fallen soldiers. During the flower-laying ceremony, they honored the memory of the heroes who died defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Major General Eduard Moskaliov, Deputy Commander of the JFO, briefed the American delegation on the current security and operational situation at the front.

ish
(Newser)  Big news out of Egypt, where a 3,000-year-old lost city has reportedly been found buried under the sand untouched. The "lost golden city of Luxor," as Egyptologist Zahi Hawass dubs it, was uncovered in September and dates to the reign of Tutankhamun's grandfather, Amenhotep III, who ruled from 1386 BC to 1353 BC during a period of peak power and wealth. That's evidenced by mud brick walls up to nine feet high and various buildings where administration work, metal and glass production, and tomb-building would've played out. More on the find:

The AP reports on how it was unearthed: In 2020 archaeologists descended on this area on the western bank of the Nile River hoping to find King Tutankhamun's mortuary temple. It was only a matter of weeks before they uncovered the mud bricks formations.

Homes still holding utensils that would have been used in everyday living were said to be found. "It's very much a snapshot in timean Egyptian version of Pompeii," and it's "mind-blowing," Salima Ikram, an archaeologist with the American University in Cairo, tells National Geographic.

The team says it's found a cemetery and "expects to uncover untouched tombs filled with treasures," per the Guardian.

story continues below

Experts still have a lot to learn about the royal city. One big mystery: why Amenhotep III's son abandoned it after his father's death. After briefly ruling with his father, Akhenaten renounced the name Amenhotep IV, moved the capital from Thebes (modern-day Luxor) to a new city called Akhetaten, and began a new religion worshipping the sun god Aten alongside his wife Nefertiti.

Following his 17-year reign, "Akhenaten's capital, his art, his religion, and even his name was dismissed and systematically wiped from history," per NatGeo. His son, Tutankhamun, and Tutankhamun's successor, King Ay, both appear to have made use of Amenhotep III's city, though it looks to have been finally abandoned during the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century.

Betsy Brian, Professor of Egyptology at Johns Hopkins University, called it the most important archeological discovery since King Tut's tomb was found in 1922. Indeed, Hawass noted that "many foreign missions searched for this city and never found it."

(Read more discoveries stories.)
The US Air Force has plans of putting a flying car to the test in a bid to ascertain its abilities and capabilities in a conflict zone. According to multiple reports, the country's air force is mulling the possibility of deploying these still-under-development aerial cars for wide-ranging application areas. According to Defense News, the US Air Force plans to start testing the viability of having electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) machines in military missions. Such vehicles have the potential of being dispatched for missions ranging from rescuing troops, conducting surveillance operations or even delivering cargo. While the tests are slated to begin sometime in May, it isn't likely that such vehicles would be deployed in the real world anytime soon. (Also read: US military may soon use electric combat vehicles for stealth operations) The so-called flying car in focus is the eVTOL Hexa from Lift Aircraft. Equipped with 18 electric motors, it claims to be compact enough to be packed and dispatched through a transport aircraft for deployment in far-flung areas. @VTOLsociety exclusive: "@LIFTAircrafts HEXA Gets a Boost," #eVTOL news, Aug 24:

"The five new production aircraft are now under construction, with two to be allocated to @usairforce flight test and evaluation activities."https://t.co/U7bvAx6DRx pic.twitter.com/RHwTeA6Ef2  eVTOL News by The Vertical Flight Society (@ElectricVTOL) August 24, 2020





The need to harness the developments in the world of mobility is being widely recognized by forces around the world. While unmanned drones have brought future to the present, security analysts say that the focus on carrying out sensitive operations while also reducing the possibility of loss of lives is only going to increase in coming times.

Then there is the challenge of varying terrain and weather conditions that have often prevented certain operations from being carried out, or at least made it challenging. With several key players working on developing flying cars for commercial use, it could well see military application, sooner rather than later.
China's communist government is once again diverting attention from the numerous issues being thrown at it on an international level. From the Uyghur genocide to the legitimacy of the WHO report that aimed to uncover COVID-19's origins in Wuhan, China is now trying to save face. This is why it is now calling for an investigation into a U.S. bioweapons lab that they claim is located near the China-Russian border.

A report from a Chinese state-run publication Global Times called for a "probe into U.S. bio-labs after Russian claim...in order to better understand coronavirus origins," the National Pulse reported. This comes after the CCP withheld crucial information about COVID-19 from WHO investigators who came to investigate where it came from.

According to the Pulse, the new CCP propaganda is demanding an international investigation into U.S. bioweapons labs. This comes as timely as ever after several scientists penned an open letter demanding an independent investigation into COVID-19's origins in Wuhan following several discrepancies discovered in the official WHO report.

The highly anticipated WHO report, which was finally released last week, was the result of a two-week visit to China by China-vetoed scientists who were merely taken on what former U.S. National Security Council Jamie Metzl called a "study tour" and not an actual "investigation."

Displeased, China is turning the tables and accusing the west of harboring some U.S. bioweapons lab along the border of Russia. The report read, "Experts said that investigation of US bio-labs may offer clues to the virus origins; however, the US continues to ignore the international community's questions over its mysterious bio-labs."

"There is good reason to believe the US is developing biological weapons in those labs, and that outbreaks of non-typical diseases have been reported around them," the unnamed "experts" said, as per the Chinese report. It also quoted Li Wei of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, who insisted that an investigation into the U.S. labs will shed light into COVID-19's origins.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian added on to China's argument that COVID-19's origins may have been from a U.S. bioweapons lab, saying that America must "respond to concerns and make comprehensive clarifications on biological militarization activities within and outside the US, and stop blocking the establishment of a verification mechanism under the Biological Weapons Convention."

All these demands are coming from China, a country that has been proven to not only participate in genocide but also promote misinformation campaigns. An Associated Press report in February revealed that "it was China-not Russia-that took the lead in spreading foreign disinformation about COVID-19's origins, as it came under attack for its early handling of the outbreak."

The comprehensive report also showed how China vilified a Mongolian man for spreading misinformation about COVID-19, saying it was a "biological weapon engineered by the U.S." He was detained by China and was made the poster boy for what happens when one gets caught spreading lies in China.

Ironically, just six weeks later, China used the same COVID-19 conspiracy that the virus originated from a U.S. bioweapons lab, was spread by China's foreign ministry, at least 30 of its diplomats, and missions, and resounded in the communist state's globally-reaching network of state-run media outlets.
New Delhi, April 9 : India Inc needs to introduce and adopt a 'digital ethics framework' to ensure a holistic view of ethics and govern every digital intervention in the transformation journey of a business, according to a study.

The study by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP (DTTILLP) and Bangalore Chamber of Commerce (BCIC) noted that an accelerated pace of digital transition, consumption of goods and services through app-based interface, and proliferation of data bring numerous risks such as biased decision-making processes being transferred to machines or algorithms at development stage by humans.

These biases can be a threat to the reputation and trust towards stakeholders, as well as cause operational risks, it said.

"Digital ethics are inter-personal, social, organisational, national norms that govern how people/digital users should conduct and behave in the digital world. It is a paradigm in which digital transformation is immune to the moral biases of those running the transformation," it said.

It also means that machines are not allowed to discriminate and upturn the ethical values in our society. Digital ethics works both ways from humans to machines and from machines to humans.

Vishal Jain, Partner, Deloitte India said: "The pandemic compelled businesses and consumers to embrace digital technologies like artificial intelligence, big data, cloud, IoT and more in a big way." He, noted that the need of the hour, however, is to relook at the business operations layered on digital touchpoints with the lens of ethics, given biases might arise in the due course, owing to a faster response time to an issue.

Jain said that societal pressure to do "the right thing" now needs a carefully consideration of the trade-offs involved in the responsible usage of technology. Its interplay becomes vital to managing data privacy rights while actively adopting customer analytics for personalised service.

Manas Dasgupta, Chair of Young BCIC Expert Committee said that technology is advancing at a neck-break speed.

Certain areas related to possible misuses of technologies such as privacy and security are fairly well-regulated both from legal as well as corporate governance aspects, Dasgupta said.

However, inadvertent fallouts of technologies like autonomous machines that use AI and robotics are yet to be fully understood, he added.

"It is the need of the hour that the Industries start meaningful conversations and note sharing around good governance on these technologies and ensure that we are within our limits to stay fair to everyone in the society, remain transparent and responsible in our digital endeavors." The steps in forming a framework include creation of a committee which is a cross functional team with business, technology, and community experts collaborating to address all ethical concerns and drafting the policy on digital ethics.

Among other measures education should be imparted on the need for the right ethics. Individuals involved must be assessed and reinforced with the knowledge from time to time, the report said.
Developing worlds first commercially viable and scalable coal dehydration technology that creates stable, dust-free coal

The University of Wyomings School of Energy Resources has validated the companys Pristine-M technology

It has signed several license agreements for its coal upgrading technology

What Clean Coal Technologies does:

Clean Coal Technologies Inc ( ) is developing the worlds first commercially viable and scalable coal dehydration technology that creates stable, dust-free coal.

The Madison Avenue, New York-based companys patented Pristine-M technology puts low-quality coal through a mild gasification process, removing moisture as well as coals worst pollutants. Along with producing more energy than untreated coal, the refined product also produces fewer harmful emissions when burned, including carbon dioxide, sulfur and mercury. The technology, developed over ten years, has undergone rigorous testing.

The technology applies controlled heat to extract pollutants and moisture from low-rank coal, transforming it into a cleaner-burning fuel. The coal cleaning process ensures the carbon in coal maintains its structural integrity during the heating process, while the volatile matter  often polluting heavy metals  turns into liquids and gas and escapes the coal.

The technology is handy as deposits with high moisture coal emit less energy than low moisture coal. Think about trying to burn wet logs to warm a room. You need more logs and it takes longer. The same applies to coal. The higher the moisture content of coal, the more coal power plants need to consume.

On the other hand, the processed stabilized coal reduces the carbon footprint on the environment by burning efficiently and averts dust pollution during transport. According to the company, tests show a 33% increase in heating value which means a coal power plant will need to consume less coal to achieve the same energy output.

In addition to Pristine-M, the company has a portfolio which includes its legacy technology, Pristine, which is designed to remove moisture and volatile matter, as per client-specified requirements, rendering cleaner thermal coal. Similarly, Pristine-SA is a technology designed to remove volatile matter in coal feedstock to achieve stable combustion by co-firing it with natural gas.

A sophisticated rotary kiln will be used across all three of the companys patented coal dehydration technology processes  Pristine, Pristine-M, and Pristine-SA. The company said the rotary kiln has been designed in a manner that will enable the company to automatically extract by-products from coal.

The new kiln will enable the companys test facility to double its heating capability to in excess of 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. This will enable the company to access all the very valuable chemicals in the coal as well as many other important bye-products potentially adding an entirely new revenue stream for the coal industry.

The sophisticated rotary kiln will now be used across all three of the companys patented coal dehydration technology processes  Pristine, Pristine-M, and Pristine-SA.

How is it doing:

Clean Coal Technologies has been quiet so far in 2021.

The company's last statement was in September 2020 when it announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) formalizing its partnership with Energy Capital Economic Development in Gillette, Wyoming. The ECED enables legislative, local and state economic development in order to encourage private sector growth of companies to therefore stimulate economic benefit, the company said.

A month earlier, Clean Coal announced that it had received the delivery of its $1.4 million rotary kiln which will be used with its patented coal dehydration technology to create stable, dust-free coal at its Fort Union test facility near Gillette, Wyoming.

The company said the fabrication of the rotary kiln was completed in Canada and finally arrived at the facility on August 6 and had been installed.

In October 2019, Clean Coal said it had begun the assembly of their test facility at their Fort Union site. The 2nd generation facility will incorporate new features and designs following the successful testing of its process in Oklahoma.

The changes were the result of close collaboration between the company's engineers and the University of Wyoming's (UofWY) School of Energy Research, who partnered with the company in 2017 to help optimize its technology for coal beneficiation and for the extraction of coal byproducts - critical issues facing the PRB coal-producing region.

The UofWY's School of Energy Research is one of the world's leading research institutions in energy technology, particularly in the development of coal beneficiation and byproduct extraction.

Inflection points:

Establishing Pristine-M technology commercially in the Powder River Basin

Upside potential in manufacturing valuable byproducts as a consequence of the coal-beneficiation process

Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Australia have granted full patents to the Pristine technology enabling work on partnerships with government institutions and commercial entities in the countries

What the boss says:

In the September 2020 statement, Clean Coal COO Aiden Neary commented: "We are very proud to announce that CCTI has formally signed an MOU with ECED who are the owner and operator of the Wyoming Innovation Center based at the Fort Union location in Gillette, Wyoming."

He added: "This partnership will provide us with infrastructural support when necessary as we advance our first-of-a-kind technology at our Fort Union location, Neary said. The Innovation Center is a very unique initiative and reflects the continued support by Wyoming in advancing the use of Wyoming PRB coal through technology.

"With the arrival of our $1.3 million Rotary Kiln at our site last month this partnership will provide our ability to supply processed coal feedstock to other businesses in the Industrial park and enable us to share infrastructure as we move towards being fully operational at our new facility, Neary said.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
CLEARWATER, Fla., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- True Connection Communities ("TCC") announced today that it has expanded its operating platform with the addition of Skye Luxury Senior Living, a 156-apartment independent senior living community located in Leander, Texas, a northwestern suburb of Austin. The community is part of TCC's high-quality portfolio of active adult and independent senior living communities designed to meet the growing needs of Americans age 55 or older who are seeking an active and engaged lifestyle.

Relying on its value-add expertise, TCC will upgrade the nearly four-year-old community by improving design elements in select apartments, modifying the dining room to accommodate more dining tables, and enhancing the pool deck to create a more inviting space for residents. The renovations will position the property to be one of the most attractive independent senior living communities in the greater Austin market. The community will be rebranded as Verena at Leander.

Jim Pusateri, Chief Executive Officer of TCC, said, "Skye Luxury Senior Living is a strong addition to our rapidly growing independent senior living portfolio and expands our footprint in the Texas market. Leander has been one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S., and we are excited to bring TCC's innovative approach and exceptional resident experience to a vibrant, growing city like Leander and to the greater Austin market."

About True Connection Communities

True Connection Communities operates a high-quality portfolio of 13 active adult/independent senior living communities, containing over 2,125 apartments and located in seven states, to meet the growing needs of Americans age 55 or older who are seeking an active and engaged lifestyle. True Connection Communities provides an exceptional resident experience by focusing on five key offerings: custom-designed fitness and wellness programs, creative chef-prepared meals made with the freshest seasonal ingredients, social activities uniquely designed for a life on the move, innovative educational programs that promote lifelong learning and personal growth, and state-of-the-art technology that keeps residents in touch with their families, friends, and an evolving world. To learn more, please visit www.TrueConnectionCommunities.com.

SOURCE True Connection Communities

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https://trueconnectioncommunities.com/


Russia has surrounded Ukraine's border with tanks, missiles and thousands of men as it threatens 'full-scale combat operations.'

The United States is to dispatch two warships to the Black Sea next week in response to Vladimir Putin's colossal build-up of military hardware close to the front.

Footage has emerged of tanks, missile trucks and howitzers being freighted to the Crimea and the border of the disputed Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, which has been occupied by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.

Satellite and social media images have revealed new Russian encampments and artillery batteries in the provinces of Voronezh and Krasnodar which lie to the east of Donbass.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said today the situation in eastern Ukraine was 'very unstable' and warned it risked leading to 'full-scale combat operations.'

Footage has emerged of tanks, missile trucks and howitzers being freighted by train to the Crimea and the border of the disputed Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, which has been occupied by Russian-backed separatists since 2014. Satellite and social media images have revealed new Russian encampments and artillery batteries in the provinces of Voronezh and Krasnodar which lie to the east of Donbass

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy walks along a trench during a visit to the frontline on Thursday where Kiev's troops have been locked in conflict with Russian-backed separatists since 2014

The notorious Buk missile system, left, was spotted being transported in the Voronzeh region close to the Ukrainian border, as other footage showed military trucks being freighted to the region

Nuclear-capable 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled mortar system moved in Krasnodar region

Railway workers on the line as tanks and trucks are transported close to Russia's border with Ukraine

A truck is seen on its way to the Ukrainian border amid a massive build up of hardware from Moscow

Satellite pictures show a field camp for Russian forces in Vorenzh, in the same region as the Buk missile launching truck was sighted. The Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) highlighted the base which has appeared in recent days

Thousands of Russian troops have been dispatched to the Ukrainian border, some of them are believed to be staying at this field camp in the Voronezh region

Putin insists that his actions are purely defensive, but Washington has said it is 'increasingly concerned' by the largest Russian military presence at the border since the conflict began.

Amid soaring tensions, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy donned body armour and a helmet to tour trenches along the frontier on Thursday.

One of Putin's top aides yesterday warned that any assault by Kiev on Russian 'citizens' in the region would be 'the beginning of the end of Ukraine.'

Deputy head of Russia's presidential administration, Dmitry Kozak, said that Moscow would not act first, but if Kiev did move against it, the response would be 'not a shot in the leg, but in the face.'

It was announced today that the United States will dispatch two warships to the Black Sea in an attempt to head off Russian aggression.

Joe Biden sought permission from Turkey to transport vessels through the Bosphorus after his press secretary said the US is 'increasingly concerned' by Russian movements at the border.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed the American ships will pass through the narrow strait on April 14 and April 15.

The official said the US notified Turkey 15 days prior to the ships' passage in line with a convention which gives Ankara control of the straits.

Such visits by the US and other Nato ships have vexed Moscow, which has long bristled at Ukraine's efforts to build up defence ties with the West and its aspirations to eventually join Nato.

Washington is also continuing to fly reconnaissance planes over the sea to monitor Russian activity and flew two B-1 bombers over the Aegean Sea earlier this week.

It comes after Russian artillery boats and landing craft were transported from the Caspian to the Black Sea.

Landing craft are of particular concern because they are used for offensive action and Putin has claimed his actions are solely defensive.

Among other hardware which has seen being freighted to the border with Ukraine are tanks, howitzers, BUK anti-aircraft missile launchers and support vehicles.

Putin's senior aide Kozak was yesterday asked if Russia would protect its people in eastern Ukraine if they come under attack from Kiev.

Referring in his reply to Srebrenica, where about 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war, he said: 'It all depends on the scale of the fire. If there is, as our president says, Srebrenica, apparently we will have to step in to defend (them).'

Putin has made previous analogies to a 'second Srebrenica' if Ukraine does not submit to an amnesty on new border lines which have emerged since the conflict started in 2014.

The Russian president yesterday accused Ukraine of 'provocative actions' in a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

His words reflect the masses of military hardware which has been seen being ferried for thousands of miles to the border region.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits positions of armed forces near the frontline with Russian-backed separatists in Donbass on Friday

Zelenskiy tours trenches on the frontlines today in a new show of strength as Russia masses its forces on the border

Trucks and tanks are transported close to the Ukrainian border amid a massive build up of military hardware

A Russian howitzer is seen being transported, left, along with a tank

Russian president Vladimir Putin is massing forces at the borders of Ukraine (pictured at the Kremlin during a meeting on March 24)

Footage emerged on Thursday of a Buk missile system in the in Voronezh region which borders Ukraine, amid new fears that Moscow could be massing an invasion-capable force.

The weapons system was used in rebel-held Donetsk region in 2014 to down a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 killing 298 people.

More footage shows the nuclear-capable 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled mortar system being moved on a military train in Krasnodar region.

New satellite images have also revealed a field camp for Russian forces in the same region as the BUK was seen.

The Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) highlighted the base which has appeared in recent days.

Ruslan Leviev, from CIT, told BBC Ukraine: 'We notice the movement of all the units.

'These are both 'Pskov paratroopers' and motorised infantry units - they are for example, from the Kemerovo region of Siberia, and from Dagestan.'

The downing of Malaysian flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur by a BUK missile in July 2014 caused a major international scandal.

Russia denied responsibility but Western investigators found Moscow had provided the BUK system that blew the passenger plane out of the sky.

Merkel has advised Putin to pull his forces back from Ukraine's eastern border amid escalating violence along the frontier.

'The Chancellor demanded that this build-up be unwound in order to de-escalate the situation,' Berlin said in a readout of yesterday's call.

Russia has said its forces pose no threat and were defensive, but that they would stay there as long as Moscow saw fit.

The Kremlin said in its readout of the Merkel phone call that 'Vladimir Putin noted provocative actions by Kiev which is is deliberately inflaming the situation along the line of contact.'

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy flew to eastern Donbass in a show of support on Thursday. He is pictured shaking hands with officers after landing by helicopter

A Ukrainian soldier walks along a trench at the frontline close to the rebel-held city of Donetsk in the pro-Russian Donbass region

Various videos and photos have emerged on social media in recent weeks purporting to show a build up of Russian military hardware close to the border with Ukraine

Kremlin spokesman Peskov yesterday said those living in eastern Ukraine would not tolerate Nato membership, and that the Ukrainian president's rhetoric could further destabilise the Donbass region.

'So far we're not seeing an intention by the Ukrainian side to somehow calm down and move away from belligerent topics,' he said.

The rouble hit a five-month low on Wednesday after Russia said it had begun a planned inspection of its army's combat readiness involving thousands of drills.

The standoff has also pushed Ukrainian sovereign bonds to their lowest level since November.

Ukraine and Western countries say Donbass separatists have been armed, led, funded and aided by Russians. Moscow has denied interfering.

While a ceasefire halted full-scale warfare in 2015, sporadic fighting never ceased.
Tokyo, April 9 : Japan is set to extend a semi-state of emergency over the Covid-19 pandemic to Tokyo and two other prefectures due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus, the government said on Friday.

Tokyo, which will host the Olympic Games in less than four months, confirmed more than 500 new infections on Thursday for the second straight day, reports dpa news agency.

Japan adopted the measure in Osaka, Miyagi and Hyogo prefectures earlier this week.

It is expected to come into effect in Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa on April 12.

Under the semi-state of emergency, bars and restaurants are asked to close by 8 p.m. and attendance at large events is limited to 5,000 people.

The move comes just three weeks after the government lifted a state of emergency in Tokyo and its neighbouring three prefectures which had been imposed in early January.

The roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines has been extremely slow since its launch in mid-February. Only 0.3 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

The western prefecture of Osaka declared a state of medical emergency on Wednesday as hospitals were overwhelmed by the pandemic.

Osaka reported 905 new cases on Thursday, marking the highest daily rise for the third day in a row.

The surge is attributed to more contagious variants of the coronavirus, Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told a news conference.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
In the first 100 days of every administration, theres always lots of discussion about executive orders and unilateral presidential action. President Joe Biden is no exception, and any evaluation of his first few months in office will include a conversation about his executive orders. Yet, the history of the executive order isnt a story of consistent expansion, and understanding its role in some of the biggest moments of our nation is essential to evaluating the presidency.The Constitution does not articulate a presidential right to issue proclamations or executive orders. Indeed, they arent even mentioned. But almost from the very beginning, George Washington understood that presidential authority had to include activities that werent specifically defined in the Constitution in order to lead the nation. On June 8, 1789, President Washington issued his first directive . Congress had not yet established the new executive departments, so the secretaries of the existing Confederation departments had remained in office in acting fashion. Washington asked John Jay, acting secretary of foreign affairs, to provide a clear account of the Department at the head of which you have been, as may be sufficient  to impress me with a full, precise and distinct general idea of the United States.Over the next eight years, Washington issued seven additional proclamations or orders, such as a proclamation declaring a day of thanksgiving on Nov. 26, 1789, and the Neutrality Proclamation on April 22, 1793, declaring the United States neutral in the war between France and Great Britain. In the 21st century, we wouldnt necessarily consider letters requesting information or proclamations of thanksgiving to be executive orders, but they established an important precedent for Washingtons successors.Executive orders have precipitated many of the most significant events in our nations history. For example, on Jan. 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln officially issued the Emancipation Proclamation , which ordered all persons held as slaves in the Confederate states shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free. On July 26, 1948, President Truman also used executive orders to expand citizenship and civil rights for Black Americans by ordering the desegregation of the military in Executive Order 9981 While Presidents Lincoln and Truman utilized executive orders for good, Executive Order 9066 undermined citizenship rights for minorities. After Japan attacked the American naval base in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the internment of over 120,000 Japanese Americans living in western states.Finally, on Sept. 8, 1974, President Gerald Ford issued a full, free and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed while serving as president of the United States. While many Americans are familiar with Fords pardon, not many know that it technically counts as an executive order, officially classified as Proclamation 4311 Although executive orders have played a central role in these key moments and many others, not all presidents have relied on this tool equally. In fact, contrary to our current political narrative, there has not been a steady increase in the reliance on executive orders. A brief statistical overview actually shows that executive orders have declined since the mid-twentieth century.After Washington issued eight orders during his presidency, the next five presidents made little use of this presidential tool. In fact, Andrew Jackson was the first president to issue executive orders in the double digits. In the 1850s, executive orders began a steady uptick and accelerated during President Ulysses S. Grants administration, when he relied on unilateral executive action to enforce Reconstruction measures.Perhaps unsurprisingly, executive orders peaked during Franklin D. Roosevelts unprecedented 12 years in office. Roosevelt issued 3,721 orders to tackle the Great Depression, implement New Deal programs and wage World War II. After FDR, Woodrow Wilson came in second with 1,803 orders and Theodore Roosevelt in third with 1,081 orders.While FDR relied on executive orders more heavily than any other president, he also issued the highest number of orders per year with an average of 307. Analyzing executive orders per year can be a more interesting and helpful way to get a better sense of pace. For example, Reagan issued 381 orders and Carter issued 320, but that number is much more revealing when we consider that Reagan served for two terms, and thus issued an average of 48 orders per year, whereas Carter issued an average of 80 orders per year.Critically, since President John F. Kennedys administration, the annual average has actually continued to decline, with two exceptions. Carter issued an unusually high number of orders per year (80) and Trumps presidency represented a significant uptick as well. He issued 220 orders total, for an average of 55 orders per year. While Trumps pace did not match Carter, it far surpassed the 35 orders per year for Obama, 36 per year for George W. Bush, 46 per year for Clinton and 42 per year for George H.W. Bush.In his first week in office, President Joe Biden issued 22 executive orders  more than any other president issued in their first week. Although many of Bidens early orders overturned his predecessors actions, and hes issued far fewer in recent weeks. We will have to wait and see whether he will overturn recent precedent by relying heavily on executive orders in order to govern, or whether he will follow his predecessors' examples and try to work with Congress to pass legislation.
Australia and the Philippines limited use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, while the African Union dropped plans to buy the shot amid global shortages, dealing further blows to the company's hopes to deliver a vaccine for the world.

The vaccine - developed with Oxford University and considered a frontrunner in the global vaccine race - has been plagued by safety concerns and supply problems since Phase III trial results were published in December, with Indonesia the latest country forced to seek doses from other drugmakers.

The Philippines suspended the use of AstraZeneca shots for people under age 60 after Europe's regulator said on Wednesday it found rare cases of blood clots among some adult recipients, although it still believes that the vaccine's benefits outweighed its risks. Australia recommended people under 50 should get Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in preference to AstraZeneca's, a policy shift it warned would hold up its inoculation campaign.

AstraZeneca's shot is sold at cost, for a few dollars a dose. It is by far the cheapest and most high-volume launched so far, and has none of the extreme refrigeration requirements of some other COVID-19 vaccines, making it likely to be the mainstay of many inoculation programmes in the developing world.

But more than a dozen countries have at one time suspended or partially suspended use of the shot, first on concerns about efficacy in older people, and now on worries about rare dangerous side effects in younger people. That, coupled with production setbacks, will delay the rollout of vaccines across the globe as governments scramble to find alternatives to tame the pandemic that has killed more than 3 million.

'EXTREMELY RARE'

Italy on Wednesday joined France, the Netherlands, Germany and others in recommending a minimum age for recipients of AstraZeneca's shot, and Britain said people under 30 should get an alternative. South Korea also suspended use of the vaccine in people under 60 this week, while approving Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine.

AstraZeneca has said it is working with British and European regulators to list possible brain blood clots as "an extremely rare potential side-effect". South Africa also paused AstraZeneca vaccinations last month after a small trial showed the shot offered minimal protection against mild-to-moderate illness caused by the dominant local coronavirus variant.

AstraZeneca is grappling with production issues that have led to shortfalls of its vaccine in several countries. Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Thursday the country was in talks with China on getting as many as 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to plug a gap in deliveries caused by delays in the arrival of AstraZeneca shots.

India has put a temporary hold on all major exports of AstraZeneca's shot made by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's biggest vaccine-maker, as domestic infections rise. That has affected supplies to the GAVI/WHO-backed global COVAX vaccine-sharing facility through which 64 poorer countries are supposed to get doses from SII, the programme's procurement and distributing partner UNICEF told Reuters last month.

GAVI and the World Health Organisation said in a statement on Thursday that the facility had delivered nearly 38.4 million doses to more than 100 countries and economies across six continents, and expects to deliver doses to all participating economies that requested vaccines in the first half of the year.

AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot was quoted in the statement as saying more than 37 million doses of the company's vaccine had been delivered through COVAX. "We continue to work 24/7 to deliver on our unwavering commitment to broad, equitable and affordable access," he said.

The African Union is exploring vaccine options with Johnson & Johnson, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said. It dropped plans to buy AstraZeneca's shot from SII to avoid duplicating efforts by COVAX, which will continue to supply the vaccine to Africa.

Britain is slowing its vaccine rollout due to delays in a shipment of AstraZeneca shots from India and is at loggerheads with the EU over exports of the vaccine. Australia has also blamed delays in its immunisation campaign on supply issues in Europe. AstraZeneca has cited reduced yields at a European factory for the supply shortfall to the European Union.

Also read: COVID-19 vaccine: Australia to continue using AstraZeneca shot despite blood clot case
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Leaked emails reveal how Hunter Biden was desperate to avoid jail for unpaid taxes  after blowing hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury cars, prostitutes, drugs and designer clothing.

The bombshell cache of 103,000 text messages, 154,000 emails, more than 2,000 photos and dozens of videos from Hunter's laptop and authenticated by experts retained by DailyMail.com are packed with revelations conveniently missing from his newly published memoir, Beautiful Things.

The pictures, documents, emails and texts reveal that despite reporting more than $6 million of income from 2013 to 2016, Hunter's bacchanalian expenses left him with huge debts to credit card companies and the tax man.

When his ambitious business deals fell through and federal investigations began to close in on the President's son, he wrote in an email he was concerned he 'could go to jail' and even threatened to take money out of his daughter's education savings account.

The documents show that as well as keeping luxury cars including a 2014 Porsche, an Audi, a 2018 Ford Raptor Truck, an $80,000 boat, a Range Rover, Land Rover, BMW and Chevrolet Truck, Hunter also spent thousands of dollars on strippers and suspected prostitutes.

Pictures, documents, emails and texts obtained by DailyMail.com from Hunter Biden's laptop reveal nude photos of the president's son and how Hunter spent thousands of dollars on strippers and prostitutes

Leaked emails and photos from Hunter's laptop reveal he was desperate to avoid going to jail for unpaid taxes after blowing tens of thousands of dollars on luxury cars, prostitutes, drugs and designer clothing

Among the photos on Hunter's laptop was this photo of a woman leaning on what's believed to be his silver Porsche

In a March 2017 email exchange with Schwerin, Hunter asked how much money he could make in a frantic scramble to pay for his mounting delinquent taxes. 'What is my 110% absolute income now. And projection of what it could be based on the reality that if I don't hit it I could go to jail,' he wrote

Pictures found on the laptop show what appears to be thousands of dollars worth of crack on a Cheech and Chong branded scale, and Hunter naked and in bed with women

Hunter texted a woman called 'Vicky' in April 2018, calling her 'sweetheart', 'love', and offering to pay her mother's rent in Donetsk, Ukraine, buy her plane tickets and pay her a salary.

Texts from February 20, 2019 appear to show Hunter coordinating with a woman called Dianna Pagano to transport other women in Ubers to his hotel room in New Haven, Connecticut.

A month later Pagano texted Hunter offering to 'hang' with him for '100 or 200 for the night', as well as appearing to offer him drugs, saying 'My guy is giving me 2500qorrh of work cuz he is going on vacation. I just gotta give him 200$; and 'I got some good work if u need anything hun its fire'.

Pagano was charged in November that year with violating her probation by allegedly running a drug ring out of her home in East Haven.

Police told the New Haven Register that items 'believed to be the fruits of a narcotics and prostitution operation, [were] found within the residence.'

Pagano was not charged with a prostitution-related offence.

The President's son texted a woman named in his contact book as 'Oxana Russki' about a $2,000 payment for her and another woman who spent the night with him, and two Russian women, 'Kristina Matveeva and Rimma Elmeeva' also texted him asking for money.

And in one text exchange with a stripclub manager at 1am in May 2018 Hunter accused a stripper of stealing his 'Gucci $8,500 bomber jacket that was given to me by Alessandro herself'  an apparent reference to male Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michelle.

In February 2019 Hunter received a thank you message from 'lovegenie', a user on the sex camera site Glass Cams, for 'spoiling me' and 'makeing [sic] my bday special yesterday and making it so fun!!'

Pictures found on the laptop show Hunter naked using a laptop and another shows him on a bed straddled by two naked women with a small dog nearby.

Another photo shows what appears to be thousands of dollars worth of crack bagged up on a 'Cheech and Chong' branded scale, and Hunter with a crack pipe in his mouth.

The numerous expenses left him strapped for cash when it came to supporting his new family.

A photo of Hallie Biden - Hunter's late brother Beau's wife - was found on his laptop showing the widow in a fur coat

In a January 2017 email Eric Schwerin, the president of Hunter's company Rosemont Seneca, wrote that the profligate businessman struggled to live on $550,000 a year and had to borrow money from one of his companies to keep himself solvent  despite earning at least $6,070,150 from 2013 to 2016

A spreadsheet breaks down Hunter's bills for 2018-2019, including payments for a 2014 Porsche, Audi and Ford Raptor

And in one text exchange with a strip club manager at 1am in May 2018 Hunter accused a stripper of stealing his 'Gucci $8,500 bomber jacket that was given to me by Alessandro herself'  an apparent reference to male Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michelle

In 2019 Hunter was hauled in front of an Arkansas judge for failing to pay child support for his young daughter he fathered with stripper Lunden Roberts, and told the judge he didn't have the money  despite renting a $12,000 per month home in Hollywood and driving a Porsche Panamera at the time.

After the judge ordered him to produce financial records, he settled the case with Roberts out of court.

His financial situation appeared to drastically improve in 2020, allowing him to pay off a $453,890 tax bill just six days after it was issued by the District of Columbia.

But in a January 2017 email Eric Schwerin, the president of Hunter's company Rosemont Seneca, wrote that the profligate businessman struggled to live on $550,000 a year and had to borrow money from one of his companies to keep himself solvent  despite earning at least $6,070,150 from 2013 to 2016.

'Since you couldn't have lived on approximately $550,000 a year you ''borrowed'' some money from RSB in advance of payments,' the law firm president wrote.

As his finances descended into disarray and his assistants begged him to pay his mounting bills, the President's son lashed out threatening to cut staff pay, take money from his daughter's educational savings and complained about his alimony bills.

In an April 2017 email, Rosemont Seneca Vice President Joan Mayer wrote to Hunter detailing how despite being due to net a healthy $13,144 after taxes from his next paycheck from Ukrainian gas company Burisma, he only had $8,976 left in one bank account and faced total bills of $476,231.60, including $60,467 on three credit cards and $320,417.85 in unpaid federal taxes, Illinois and Washington DC state taxes.

Another list of monthly bills compiled by his office include two private club memberships to DC insiders' 116 Club  also frequented by Jeff Sessions  and the Yale Club in New York City.

A spreadsheet breaks down Hunter's bills for 2018-2019 showed Hunter was making payments of $1,380 on a Ford Raptor

Included in Hunter's car collection is this decked out Chevrolet pick-up truck

The President's son texted a woman named in his contact book as 'Oxana Russki' about a $2,000 payment for her and another woman who spent the night with him, and two Russian women, 'Kristina Matveeva and Rimma Elmeeva' also texted him asking for money

Texts from February 20, 2019 appear to show Hunter coordinating with a woman called Dianna Pagano to transport other women in Ubers to his hotel room in New Haven, Connecticut

In February 2019 Hunter received a thank you message from 'lovegenie', a user on the sex camera site Glass Cams, for 'spoiling me' and 'makeing [sic] my bday special yesterday and making it so fun!!'

Hunter texted a woman called 'Vicky' in April 2018, calling her 'sweetheart', 'love', and offering to pay her mother's rent in Donetsk, Ukraine, buy her plane tickets and pay her a salary

According to the list the natural gas businessman had $37,000 monthly payments to his ex-wife Kathleen, tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt, and hundreds of thousands in unpaid state and federal taxes.

The bill list shows Hunter paid $1,200 per month to keep 13 cell phones active: three used by his children, five by him, and five others unaccounted for.

In one 2014 email to his business partner Devon Archer, Hunter recommended they both buy cell phones from a 7/11 to continue their discussion of controversial Ukranian and Chinese investments on a less traceable medium.

In a March 2017 email exchange with Schwerin, Hunter asked how much money he could make in a frantic scramble to avoid prosecution for his mounting delinquent taxes.

'What is my 110% absolute income now. And projection of what it could be based on the reality that if I don't hit it I could go to jail,' he wrote.

Schwerin replied that although Hunter netted $225,000 from Ukranian gas company Burisma, he could potentially earn '$62,500 a month by mid-2017', or $750,000 annually.

On Hunter's laptop he had his own profile on porn site Pornhub where there was content of him in bed with two woman with a small dog nearby

In December 2018 bankers at Wells Fargo emailed him to warn that a $780 check was trying to clear from his account which only had a balance of 44 cents. Hunter responded asking to transfer $20,000 from his daughter's educational savings account, and when the bank staff declined he wrote a barely comprehensible reply, telling them 'liquidate what you can' and 'Live [love] you both'

As several of Hunter's multi-million dollar business deals collapsed or failed to materialize and federal investigators began to close in on him, the lawyer and businessman appeared to become increasingly desperate.

In December 2018 bankers at Wells Fargo emailed him to warn that a $780 check was trying to clear from his account which only had a balance of 44 cents.

Hunter responded asking to transfer $20,000 from his daughter's educational savings account, and when the bank staff declined he wrote a barely comprehensible reply, telling them 'liquidate what you can' and 'Live [love] you both'.

An October 2018 email from Hunters accountant shows that by that year his tax debt had ballooned to an eye-watering $804,000, including $600,000 in personal taxes and $204,000 for one of his businesses that received money from Ukrainian gas company Burisma.

The accountant, Bill Morgan, asked hunter to file a tax return to stave off the impending financial demands from the government.

The taxes owed are substantial  about $600,000 personal and $204,000 for Owasco, he said. IRS will start sending you collection notices but we will have about 60 days to file any needed amended returns before trying to work out a payment schedule with them.

AUTHENTICATING THE LAPTOP DailyMail.com commissioned cyber forensics experts at Maryman & Associates to examine the hard drive to determine its authenticity. The firm's founder, Brad Maryman, was a 29-year veteran of the FBI, served as a Chief Information Security Officer and founded the bureau's cyber forensics unit. His partner, Dr. Joseph Greenfield, is an associate professor at the University of Southern California and helped write their degree program in intelligence and cyber operations. After an extensive analysis of the hard drive, Greenfield and Maryman produced a report for DailyMail.com detailing their findings. Using the same forensic tools as federal and state law enforcement in criminal investigations, they found a total of 103,000 text messages, 154,000 emails and more than 2,000 photos. - They found emails for multiple accounts on the laptop dating back to 2009, and other data which 'appears to be related to Mr. Biden' between 2016 and 2019. - The report's findings were consistent with the known timeline for the hard drive. A Wilmington, Delaware computer store work order with Hunter's signature shows he left his 2017 MacBook Pro laptop there on April 12, 2019. - The Maryman & Associates report said the original 'Macintosh HD' drive was created on March 28, 2018 - Hunter's iCloud email address was added to the laptop's system on October 21 2018, as well as his work email at his firm Rosemont Seneca on February 2 2019. - The same day, a Gmail address he used to log onto sex cam sites, and another personal Gmail address belonging to Hunter, were also added. - Beau Biden's old Gmail account was added on February 7 2019. - Emails addressed to Hunter's various email addresses dating from December 2009 to December 2020 were found on the system. - An iPad with the name 'Hunter's iPad' and three email addresses associated with the Biden family was backed up on the laptop and on iCloud in January 2019 and again a month later. - Greenfield found 818 call logs in this iPad backup with timestamps from June 2016 to February 2019. - There were 8,942 entries in the iPad's contacts book, created between April 2016 and January 2019. - In February 2019 an iPhone XS was also synced with the laptop. Its serial number was consistent with the timestamps of the data on the phone. In conclusion, 'The operating system timestamps appear to be authentic, and no evidence was found to suggest that the timestamps or data were altered or manufactured,' the report said. 'No indications were found that would suggest the data was manufactured.' Advertisement

The President's son became testy under the pressure, responding to an email about unpaid bills from his Rosemont staffer Katie Dodge later that month telling her to cut her pay in half.

'Pay the health care. Pay the Porsche. Pay yourself 1500 not 3000,' Hunter told her.

'If you haven't noticed Katie my business partner is now a prisoner on death row in China,' he added, referring to the arrest in China six months earlier of his partner in a giant investment partnership, oil tycoon Ye Jianming.

Jianming's top lieutenant, Patrick Ho, had also been convicted by a US federal court earlier in December 2018 of bribery over African energy contracts.

Hunter's dealings with Jianming and his company, CEFC, have been scrutinized by a Senate committee concerned over Chinese influence over Joe Biden's son.

The numerous expenses left him strapped for cash when it came to supporting his new family - a son with new wife Melissa Cohen

DailyMail.com obtained a copy of Hunter's laptop hard drive from former Steve Bannon podcast co-host Jack Maxey.

John Paul Mac Isaac, the owner of the computer store where Hunter abandoned his laptop, gave a copy of its hard drive to Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani in September last year.

Giuliani reportedly leaked documents and photos from the drive to the New York Post, and also gave a whole copy of the drive to Trump's former advisor Bannon and his podcast co-host Maxey.

DailyMail.com commissioned cyber forensics experts Maryman & Associates to authenticate the data on the hard drive.

In a report compiled for DailyMail.com, the experts concluded the drive 'appear to be authentic', and that after an extensive search of its contents for any tell-tale signs of tampering, they found 'no evidence' of fabrication.

DailyMail.com also obtained documents from cyber analytics company XRVision. Yaacov Apelbaum, the firm's New York-based chief technical officer, said he was asked to analyze the laptop's hard drive by the repair store owner's father after he became concerned its contents showed criminal activity and undue Chinese influence on the then-presidential candidate's son.
Jilin Province enjoys bustling trade with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and four other Asia-Pacific economies, all of whom signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement together with China last year, creating the largest free trade bloc in the world.



Since then, the customs authorities at Changchun, the provincial capital, have been closely monitoring the development of the agreement's ratification process, anticipating greater import and export traffic. At a press conference on March 19, Xie Bin, Deputy Director of Changchun Customs, said the agency is ready to help enterprises make good use of the policies and tariff reduction the RCEP will bring.

In 2020, Jilin's foreign trade was worth 128.01 billion yuan ($19.57 billion), of which 26.69 billion yuan ($4.08 billion) came from trade with other RCEP member states, accounting for nearly 21 percent of its entire volume.

Northeast China, where Jilin is located, is a traditional industrial base and major agricultural producer in the country. But its development has lagged behind other parts due to slow industrial transformation and declining investment. As efforts to revitalize the region have been stepped up, Jilin has planned 13 cross-border trade routes in all directions to promote connectivity and widen its opening up.

"With the official implementation of the RCEP, Jilin will accelerate building a new development paradigm and promote high-quality economic growth," Xie said.

RCEP update

China has already ratified the RCEP agreement. At a policy briefing held by the State Council Information Office on March 25, Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce, said, "China has taken the lead in ratifying the RCEP, which shows the Chinese Government attaches great importance to the agreement and fully supports it to enter into force at an early date."

Wang also said a special taskforce has been created for implementing the RCEP. The participating economies have agreed to hold a joint committee meeting every two months for updates on their domestic ratification progress. All of them have made it clear that they are pushing to ratify the agreement before the end of this year. The goal is to make it come into force on January 1, 2022. At least six ASEAN members and three non-ASEAN members have to ratify the pact for it to come into force.

The Ministry of Commerce and other authorities have sorted out 701 binding obligations for China under the RCEP, and have completed preparations for implementing 613 items, or 87 percent of its obligations, Wang said. They range from tariff concessions to simplification of customs procedures and commitment to drawing up negative lists to clarify the areas out of bounds for investors.

Preparations for the remaining items will be completed before the agreement enters into force, according to Wang.

"In the future, trade in services will be an important growth point for the Asia-Pacific region. The RCEP has commitments to open up the sector, which will promote its significant growth," Wang said.

The service industries of various countries are accelerating their recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, which will boost regional economic growth. Wang said the RCEP's commitments to openness in trade in services involve more than 100 sectors such as finance, telecommunications, transportation, tourism, as well as research and development.

RCEP members have also promised to convert the positive list-based management approach for investment into a negative list-based one within six years after the agreement takes effect. This will clarify which areas are restricted for investors.

All this means the opening up of trade in services will be more stable, which will promote the post-pandemic development of transportation, tourism, education and other service industries in RCEP member states, facilitate people-to-people exchanges and boost economic growth in the region, Wang said.

Seizing opportunities

On March 9, the Port of Xiamen in Fujian Province opened a new Maritime Silk Road route connecting with Ho Chi Minh City Port in Viet Nam, adding another sea channel for its trade with ASEAN members.

"On this route, container vessels embarking from Xiamen every Tuesday arrive at the Ho Chi Minh City Port in three days," Chen Yun, General Manager of the Marketing Department of Xiamen Port Holding Group, which manages the Port of Xiamen, told China News Service.

Chen said the operating efficiency of the new route is 30 percent higher compared with conventional routes, highlighting the competitiveness of the Port of Xiamen and attracting more cargo orders.

Fujian will benefit greatly from the RCEP. According to the Fuzhou Customs of Fujian, in the first two months this year, the coastal province in southeast China realized double-digit growth in trade with all its major trading partners, ASEAN being the largest one. It exported 46.71 billion yuan ($7.14 billion) worth of goods to the bloc, a year-on-year increase of 44.2 percent.

The RCEP will specifically benefit China's automobile and cross-border e-commerce, according to a report released by the China Macroeconomy Forum (CMF) at a seminar on March 10.

Wang Xiaosong, a professor at the School of Economics at Renmin University of China, said at the event that the automobile industry will enjoy important opportunities after the RCEP comes into effect. "China will reduce duty to zero on around 65 percent of imported auto parts, which currently pay 6-10 percent tariff," he said.

In the past decade Asia has become the world's largest regional automotive market, and the Southeast Asian market in particular has maintained robust growth. According to the professor, the reduction in tariff on auto parts due to the RCEP will integrate the automobile supply and industrial chains in East Asia. This will reduce production costs and further release the advantages of Chinese enterprises in the industrial chain.

According to the CMF report, the trade facilitation provisions of the RCEP will also improve the efficiency of customs clearance and logistics, unleash potentials in the regional consumption market and promote the optimization of supply chains and resources.

Wang Xiaosong called on local governments to avail of the possible industrial transfer opportunities the RCEP might bring. Regions with sound industrial foundation should encourage upstream industrial chains of higher added value to stay in the regions; regions with advantages in labor costs could cooperate with those needing industrial transfer to host labor-intensive industries and promote local economic growth, according to him.

"In general, the RCEP will promote the stability of China's foreign trade and investment, help improve the standards of Chinese products, advance industrial upgrading and promote high-quality development of the Chinese economy," Wang Shouwen said.
The city of San Antonios $75 million job-retraining program for people thrown out of work during the pandemic is off to a slow start.

Since its September launch, Train for Jobs SA has helped 124 area residents land new jobs.

But experts and city officials say the program is just getting started.

It takes time  at the scale were talking about, you dont expect it to happen overnight, said Paul Osterman, professor of human resources and management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I know of no other city thats been this ambitious with its workforce development programs.

Last year, city officials created Train for Jobs SA to provide training for jobs in construction, cybersecurity, health care, manufacturing, aerospace and other industries.

2 1 of 2 Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer Show More Show Less



So far, nearly 6,300 people have expressed interest in the program, but the numbers trail off quickly from there, according to statistics from the citys Economic Development Department.

About 4,600 people completed the intake process, which includes confirming eligibility for participation as well as collecting background and demographic information. But only half, about 2,330, have enrolled and started training.

So far, 214 people have completed their training programs.

Participants can receive weekly stipends of up to $450.

The program, which the city funded last year with a one-time allotment of $75 million, ends in September. The city will replace it with SA Ready to Work, to be paid for with the 1/8-cent sales tax that San Antonio voters approved in November.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio unemployment rate edges up, but Dallas Fed optimistic on continued recovery

City Economic Development Director Alejandra Lopez said that many of the applicants need time to decide which career they want to pursue.

Because a lot of times, we simply dont know enough about the type of skills, and the type of opportunities, and the type of work thats associated with it, she said. So were really helping people do that career exploration component and giving them the time to do that.

A team of nonprofits, service organizations and educational institutions m including Alamo Colleges, Chrysalis Ministries, Family Service, Project Quest, Restore Education, Workforce Solutions Alamo and SA Works  have partnered to support the Train for Jobs SA program.

Interest in the program is increasing, according to Lopez.

We expected an initial rush, and there was, but then it kind of plateaued a little bit, and now were starting to see that steady stream coming in, she said.

As of Feb. 1, women made up 72 percent of the programs enrollees. About 63 percent of applicants identified as Hispanic, 17 percent African American and 13 percent white. About 2 percent identified as Asian.

On ExpressNews.com: Rocky start for citys job retraining program; unemployed face phone tie-ups, website confusion

More than a third of enrollees came from industries hit hard by the pandemic, including the hospitality and retail sectors. And more than 60 percent earned incomes at or below the poverty line.

People arent going through the pipeline as quickly as we thought they were going to, Lopez said. Theres a lot more interest in taking the longer-term training and  a lot more career exploration.

Lopez said applicants are more interested in academic training and certification courses than on-the-job training.

The current retraining program is effectively a dry run for the sales tax-funded effort that starts in September. The 1/8-cent tax is expected to generate as much as $40 million per year.

The tax set-aside thing is really distinctive, M.I.T.s Osterman said. Thats unique to San Antonios credit, and I dont know how youd compare it to anything.

One of the lesson city officials have learned centers on childcare.

We had allocated $10 million specifically for childcare, Lopez said. However, participants werent really interested in sending their children to childcare while they were in training, so those funds City Council has redirected already.

Also, due to the pandemic, some training opportunities are virtual, meaning some applicants need laptops and internet access.

Those are things that may not necessarily have been the case if they were in in-person training, but right now, were having to make sure that we also address those challenges that they may experience, she said.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas pegged the areas unemployment rate at 6.5 percent in February, up from Januarys 6.3 percent.

Yet, the jobless rate is still less than half of April 2020s record-high 14.1 percent.

Nearly 18,000 people in the region filed for unemployment benefits in February, the third highest number in the state, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. Most applicants lost jobs in elementary and secondary schools, temporary employment firms and full-service restaurants.

More than 82,700 people are currently unemployed in the San Antonio area, according to the TWC.

Brandon Lingle writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. brandon.lingle@express-news.net
The following excerpt is from Debbie Allens book Success Is Easy. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | IndieBound or click here to buy it directly from us and SAVE 60% on this book when you use code LEAD2021 through 4/10/21.

Successful people have many of the same characteristics in common. The following are seven characteristics that highly successful people have that are critical in both business and life.

1. The disrupter mindset

Successful people passionately seek out opportunities for change or ways to disrupt their industry altogether. So, learn how to break the rules to stand out in your industry. Always look for the chance to profit from change and/or an innovative way to adjust how business is done so you can stand out and succeed. Dont get me wrong  you need to start with a useful idea. But when you think you have one, dont hold back. Take the core concept and turn up the disruption dial to the highest volume.

For example, Sean and Thora Dowdell are the owners and founders of Club Tattoo, a chain of tattoo studios in Arizona and Nevada. They turned the tattoo business model on its head by avoiding the unapproachable atmosphere of typical tattoo parlors. Instead, they took a high-end, modern, customer service-focused approach to the studios and retail stores, which brought the tattoo business into the mainstream and built a multimillion-dollar business for them in the process.

2. A vision for opportunity

Successful people seek out opportunities everywhere. But finding good business opportunities isnt going to mean anything if you cant recognize them. Recognizing good opportunities takes talent  you have to know what to look for and you need to be able to envision the future of that opportunity.

Understanding the type of opportunity youre looking for and having a few goals in mind is crucial and will help determine which factors make it a good opportunity for you. The first step is to remain on high alert to spot opportunities while remaining ruthlessly disciplined about limiting the number of projects you pursue. Go after a tightly controlled portfolio of opportunities in different stages of business development. Link your strategy with your choice of projects rather than diluting your efforts in many areas. Make quick decisions instead of over-analyzing new ideas, and execute a plan of action.

Related: 5 Beliefs About Success That Are Going to Help You Fail

3. Shared belief system

Successful people build a great support team. One characteristic of a strong supportive team is a shared belief in the same set of values, which helps create a bond so the team works and supports one another. Shared values serve to connect team members at a core level, and this, in turn, serves to validate and strengthen their support for you as their leader. Their support continues to level up your success.

Begin to engage the energies of everyone inside and outside your organization in the pursuit of good opportunities. Successful people create and sustain powerful networks and business relationships rather than go it alone. You know how to best leverage the wisdom of experts and other resources to help achieve your goals. Business associates and joint venture partnerships can help move you miles ahead of your competitors.

4. Common business sense

Successful people have good common business sense and are always looking for ways to continue educating themselves. Developing good business sense is about continually seeking to understand the ever-changing business environment. Its not a skill you can learn from a book. Its something you acquire through hands-on experience and trial and error, but it can also be fostered through the wisdom of others. Brainstorming with seasoned business professionals can give you insight into how successful people with good business sense think and make decisions.

5. Motivation to learn

Successful people continue to learn throughout their lives with great enthusiasm and motivation. When you learn more about your business and successfully implement the strategies you discover, you become enthusiastic about learning even more.

Successful people become sponges to absorb anything that can help take their business to the next level. Its almost as if they cant get enough! Call them engaged, devoted, enthusiastic, or even obsessed  successful people believe in their mission so much that its contagious to everyone around them, who marvel at their commitment and dedication. This energy can fuel you to remain focused on your mission and help you persist through difficulties.

Related: Using 'Shameless' Self-Promotion to Grow Your Business

6. Ability to adapt

Successful people keep moving forward and adapt as needed. Theyve learned to change and reinvent their business often as the world and their industry change around them. If you fail to adapt, youll simply get left behind.

To keep growing, you must continuously think of ways to improve. Allow time in your busy schedule to learn new things and come up with new ideas. Successful people remain in constant motion by investing in learning because theyre eager to pursue knowledge. They understand the world is always changing, so they need to adapt to avoid getting stuck in a rut. Successful people keep moving forward and reinvent themselves when required.

7. Observant communicators

Successful people are observant communicators who pay close attention to how other people react. Communication is an activity, skill, and art that incorporates lessons across a wide spectrum of human knowledge.

One of the most likable characteristics of successful people is how observant they are. They give their full, undivided attention to others. Those whove mastered this are great communicators who go far in business. Successful people learn this skill by being more self-aware. Being observant requires practice to perfect.

These seven key characteristics will move you forward every day, keeping you in constant pursuit of a creative purpose that inspires you. Youre more likely to get three to 10 times more accomplished in a day than the average person because youll stay focused on what empowers you the most.

Did you enjoy your book preview? Click here to grab a copy todaynow 60% off when you use code LEAD2021 through 4/10/21.

Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
In words laden with affection and warmth, Prince Philip told the then Princess Elizabeth how he had fallen in love with her 'unreservedly'.

The letter, written in 1946 - a year before their wedding - was among several revealed in Philip Eade's 2011 book Young Prince Philip: His Turbulent Early Life.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who has died aged 99, told the Princess how falling in love with her so 'completely' had made his personal troubles and even those of the world 'seem small and petty'.

He also found it difficult to put his feelings into words, describing in another message after they had spent time together how he felt incapable of 'showing you the gratitude that I feel'.

And he told the Queen Mother in the year of her daughter's wedding to him how 'Lilibet' was the 'only thing in this world which is absolutely real to me'.

In words laden with affection and warmth, Prince Philip told the then Princess Elizabeth in 1946 how he had fallen in love with her 'unreservedly'

The letter, written in 1946 - a year before their wedding - was among several revealed in Philip Eade's book 2011 Young Prince Philip: His Turbulent Early Life

Love letters

Philip served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and saw active service against German, Italian and Japanese forces.

The Greek prince's early life was also marked by upheaval - he escaped his home country as a baby by being hidden in a makeshift cot made from an orange box.

So his words were filled with meaning when he told Princess Elizabeth in 1946 how his love for her made all his past struggle - and the horrors the world had just been through - seem trivial by comparison.

He wrote: 'To have been spared in the war and seen victory, to have been given the chance to rest and to re-adjust myself, to have fallen in love completely and unreservedly, makes all one's personal and even the world's troubles seem small and petty.'

Three years earlier, Philip had spent Christmas at Windsor Castle.

Princess Elizabeth was said to be animated in a way 'none of us had ever seen before', her governess, Marion Crawford, wrote.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who has died aged 99, told the Princess how falling in love with her so 'completely' had made his personal troubles and even those of the world 'seem small and petty'

Philip told the Queen Mother in the year of her daughter's wedding to him how 'Lilibet' was the 'only thing in this world which is absolutely real to me. Pictured: The Queen and the Duke wave from the Buckingham Palace balcony following her coronation in 1953

Writing to her after seeing her again in July, Philip wrote of the 'simple enjoyment of family pleasures and amusements and the feeling that I am welcome to share them.

'I am afraid I am not capable of putting all this into the right words and I am certainly incapable of showing you the gratitude that I feel.'

The same year, he apologised for the 'monumental cheek' of turning up to Buckingham Palace uninvited.

'Yet however contrite I feel, there is always a small voice that keeps saying "Nothing ventured, nothing gained",' he wrote.

'Well did I venture, and I gained a wonderful time.'

Princess Elizabeth photographed in Clarence House in July 1951, with the Duke of Edinburgh

Princess Elizabeth and Philip enjoying a walk during their honeymoon at Broadlands in Hampshire in November 1947

Princess Elizabeth dancing with her then fiance, Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, at the Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, in 1947, when a ball was held to welcome the royal family to Scotland

Princess Elizabeth with Prince Philip just after their engagement was announced

Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth walking in the grounds of Broadlands, the home of the Duke's uncle Earl Mountbatten on their honeymoon, November 1947

The then Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh with their baby daughter, Princess Anne, after her christening at Buckingham Palace in October 1950

And in a letter to the Queen Mother two weeks after his wedding to Princess Elizabeth in November 1947, Philip expressed his vision for their time together.

He said: 'Lilibet is the only thing in this world which is absolutely real to me and my ambition is to wield the two of us into a new combined existence that will not only be able to withstand the shocks directed at us but will also have a positive existence for the good... Cherish Lilibet?'

'I wonder if that word is enough to express what is in me. Does one cherish one's sense of humour or one's musical ear or one's eyes?

'I am not sure, but I know that I thank God for them and so, very humbly, I thank God for Lilibet and us'.

Public speeches

The pair's wedding, attended by an array of foreign kings and queens, captured the public imagination in the austere post-war days of November 1947.

The newly-weds were called the Fairy Princess and Prince Charming.

After honeymooning at Broadlands, Hampshire, home of Lord Mountbatten, and at Birkhall on the Balmoral estate in Scotland, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh stayed at Buckingham Palace until renovation of their new home, nearby Clarence House, was completed in 1949.

And in the years since then, both Philip and the Queen have spoken of each other with affection in public.

Princess Elizabeth and the Duke at Buckingham Palace after their marriage at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947. The wedding, attended by an array of foreign kings and queens, captured the public imagination in the austere post-war days

Mischievous Philip, is said to have joked to his wife on the day of her coronation in 1953 - when she was wearing the 17th century St Edward's Crown -'where did you get that hat?'

The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke pictured against a platinum-textured backdrop in recognition of their special anniversary in 2017. The Queen is wearing a cream day dress by Angela Kelly and a 'Scarab' brooch in yellow gold, carved ruby and diamond, designed by Andrew Grima, and given as a personal gift from the Duke to The Queen in 1966

In a 1997 toast during the couple's 50th wedding anniversary, he said: ' I think the main lesson that we have learned is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage'.

'It may not be quite so important when things are going well, but it is absolutely vital when the going gets difficult.

'You can take it from me that the Queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance.'

She said on the same evening that Philip had been her 'strength and stay all these years'.

'I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know,' she added.

Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, on honeymoon, photographed in the grounds of Broadlands looking at their wedding photographs, on November 23, 1947

The Queen and Philip visit the mining village of Aberfan in South Wales, eight days after the disaster that claimed 144 lives in October 1966

In 2002, at her Golden Jubilee Speech, the monarch said of her consort: 'The Duke of Edinburgh has made an invaluable contribution to my life over these past fifty years, as he has to so many charities and organisations with which he has been involved.'

And, during her Diamond Jubilee address to Parliament in 2012, the Queen said to her husband: 'During these years as your Queen, the support of my family has, across the generations, been beyond measure.

'Prince Philip is, I believe, well-known for declining compliments of any kind. But throughout he has been a constant strength and guide.'

Private moments

Philip was there for the Queen when her father, King George VI, died in February 1952.

Only six days before her father's death, the then Princess and Philip had embarked on their tour of Australia via Kenya.

According to Eade in his book, Philip said of the days following the King's death that 'there were plenty of people telling me what not to do'.

The Queen and Prince Philip wave from a vehicle to onlookers at Clifford Park at Nassau in the Bahamas on February 28, 1966

The Queen and Prince Philip dance at a state ball in Valletta during a Commonwealth visit to Malta on November 16, 1967

The Queen and the Duke shared an irreplaceable bond - united at key moments of history, witnessed from the viewpoint of a monarch and her consort. Above, on a farm at their Balmoral estate while celebrating their silver wedding anniversary in 1972

He added: 'I had to try to support the Queen as best I could without getting in the way.

'The difficulty was to find things that might be useful.'

And according to an anecdote told by Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia, Philip is said to have told the Queen when recalling their first meeting - in 1934 - that 'you were so shy.

'I could not get a word out of you.'

Mischievous Philip, is also said to have joked to his wife on the day of her coronation in 1953 - when she was wearing the 17th century St Edward's Crown -'where did you get that hat'.
This morning, areas on the outskirts of the city of Ariha, south of Idlib, witnessed missile strikes carried out by the Damascus government forces, in addition to other places in Al-Bara in Jabal Al-Zawiya.

After midnight, the Damascus government forces shelled areas in Al-Fateera, Sufuhn, Al-Bara, outskirts of Kansafra and Falifel in the southern countryside of Idlib, without receiving information about casualties, according to what was reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

On Thursday, the Damascus government forces carried out violent missile strikes on areas in Jabal Al-Zawiya and the southern countryside of Idlib, coinciding with Turkish mercenaries twrgeting their gatherings in the region.

J,O
"The Great Lakes region is near and dear to APC, as four of our locations are within close proximately to the lakes," APC Director of Corporate Purchasing Jeff Huber said. "This local initiative closely aligns with our core values and commitment to sustainability, enabling us to share ideas and recommendations on how to better support the environment by moving from single-use and disposal to formats that can be collected and reused."

Circular Great Lakes will work with partners to develop a circular economy strategy for plastics in the region, setting the stage for targeted actions and partnerships over the next five years. The initiative's priorities include driving systemic changes necessary to close the loop for plastics in the region, shifting away from a linear take-make-dispose economy and materials management mindset.

"We're looking forward to working alongside industry partners to drive meaningful change as the industry tackles the critical challenges of combating plastic waste and pollution into the environment," APC Manager of Innovation & Sustainability Jeff Travis said. "Through our collaboration, we're hopeful that the roadmap and ideas we create will inspire other organizations to reduce waste across North America, leading to a more sustainable and environmentally conscious future."

Additional founding corporate activation partners and funders of Circular Great Lakes include Dow Inc., Charter Next Generation, Imperial, Pregis Corporation and Rothmans Benson & Hedges. More than 20 knowledge partners from government, academia and the nonprofit sectors are supporting the initiative and uniting to actively combat plastic waste and pollution in the Great Lakes.

"Plastic waste and pollution are serious issues in the Great Lakes," CGLR President & CEO Mark Fisher said. "Circular Great Lakes will be the catalyst for identifying the transformational projects, forming the partnerships and mobilizing the public-private sector investments required to ensure this valuable material never becomes waste in this region, North America's economic engine."

APC continually works to develop new materials and improve processes that reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, improve package-to-product ratio, and create more environmentally friendly products and materials.

About American Packaging Corporation

Founded in 1902, American Packaging Corporation is a recognized leader in the flexible packaging industry. Independently owned, APC is committed to innovation, sustainability and customer delight from a talented family of packaging professionals. Today, APC operates five Centers of Excellence in the United States and employs approximately 1,200 talented, motivated professionals, including nationwide sales reps and field technical support. For more information, please visit americanpackaging.com.

About the Council of the Great Lakes Region

CGLR is a binational network of organizations comprised of CGLR Canada, CGLR USA and the CGLR Foundation. It is dedicated to deepening the United States-Canada relationship in the Great Lakes economic region, and focuses on creating stronger, more dynamic cross-border collaborations through dialogue, policy research and advocacy in order to find new ways of harnessing the region's economic strengths and assets, improving the well-being and livelihoods of the region's 108 million citizens and protecting the environment for future generations. Through its work, CGLR is striving to turn the binational Great Lakes economic region into the most prosperous, innovative, sustainable and welcoming region in the world. Visit CGLR at councilgreatlakesregion.org.

Media Contacts

American Packaging Corporation

Meghan Harding

585-537-4630

[email protected]

Visuals:

Interview videos from partners: youtu.be/sYuZq4W79nQ

Quick Facts:

It's estimated that 81% of the Great Lakes post-consumer waste is lost to landfills, including valuable materials like plastic, according to a recent report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

An estimated 22 million pounds (10,000 tonnes) of plastic waste could be entering the Great Lakes every year from the U.S. and Canada , according to models developed by Rochester Institute of Technology .

SOURCE American Packaging Corporation

Related Links

http://www.americanpackaging.com/


Seoul, April 9 : North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called on the ruling Workers' Party to wage a tougher "Arduous March" against sanctions imposed on the country in an effort to relieve people of economic woes, state-mdia reported on Friday.

According to Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim made the remarks as he concluded a conference of the party's grassroots leaders.

Kim warned the cell secretaries and members of the party to brace themselves for the many "obstacles and difficulties" that lie ahead, pointing to the harsh period of the Arduous March in the 1990s, when the country suffered from extreme poverty and massive starvation, Yonhap News Agency quoted the KCNA report as saying.

"I made up my mind to ask the WPK organisations at all levels, including its Central Committee, and the cell secretaries of the entire party to wage another more difficult 'Arduous March' in order to relieve our people of the difficulty," the North Korean was quoted as saying in the report.

He then laid out 10 major tasks for the party cells, urging the cell secretaries to educate and train their members into "fighters boundlessly faithful".

Kim's call for belt-tightening, including his mention of the term "Arduous March," appears to be aimed at intensifying discipline among party officials as the North suffers from economic challenges amid prolonged sanctions, said the Yonhap report.

"He appears to have mentioned it to stress and encourage efforts to achieve the tasks put forwardat the eighth party congress and the plenary Central Committee meeting," Cha Deok-cheol, deputy spokesperson at South Korea's Unification Ministry, told reporters.
A man in Vienna who was fined 425 for breaking wind loudly in front of police has had his fine reduced to 85 after an appeal.

The unidentified culprit was fined for 'offending public decency' after farting provocatively at police on June 5, 2020.

The man successfully challenged the hefty fine by arguing his flatulence was a 'biological process'.

A man in Vienna who was fined 425 for breaking wind loudly in front of police has had his fine reduced to 85 after an appeal (pictured, police patrol Vienna over the Easter holiday)

He also claimed that breaking wind should be seen as a right under freedom of expression, even if he had done so deliberately.

Freedom of expression in Austria is not limited to communication and can take other forms, such as noises, according to the administrative court.

However, the sound or communication must have 'communicative intent', which, the court said, was not the case with a fart.

The judge decided that wind, though a communication, was a 'form of expression that transcends the boundaries of decency', the Local AT reported.

The court branded the man's actions 'ridiculous' but concluded the culprit only had 'average' culpability for the fart and as it was his first offence, reduced the fine.

City police wrote on Twitter that 'of course no one is reported for accidentally `letting one go' once.' They added that the man had behaved 'provocatively and uncooperatively' during an encounter with officers that preceded the incident (pictured, Austria police guard the Hotel Imperial in Vienna)

At the time, city police wrote on Twitter that 'of course no one is reported for accidentally `letting one go' once.'

They added that the man had behaved 'provocatively and uncooperatively' during an encounter with officers that preceded the incident.

He apparently got up from a park bench, looked at officers and 'let go a massive intestinal wind apparently with full intent,' after being asked to confirm his identity.

Defending the fine, police said: 'Our colleagues don't like to be farted at so much.'
Senegal, Spain leaders seek to encourage legal migration View Photo

DAKAR, Senegal (AP)  Senegal and Spain signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday to discourage illegal migration that has been increasing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Spain wants to order migratory flows through legal channels, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said after meeting with Senegals President Macky Sall while visiting the West African coastal nation.

More than 41,000 people from Morocco and West Africa crossed to Spain in 2020, and more than half of them did it by embarking on flimsy boats to the Canary Islands, the Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, off the northwestern African coast. Hundreds died last year after embarking on the deadly water route.

Spanish authorities are holding thousands of migrants, including potential asylum seekers, in camps set up on the islands, hoping to return as many of them to their home countries either voluntarily or through agreements with African governments. Part of that solution is to resume flights of forced returns to Senegal, a program that has been halted since 2018.

While the president did not mention a resumption of flights or the return of illegal Senegalese migrants, he did discuss the memorandum of understanding that would see seasonal migration trips to Spain.

We can organize seasonal departures since Spain needs manpower, Sall said. We are working with the Spanish government so that those who have to return will be given priority.

More than 71,000 Senegalese live and work in Spain, according to the two leaders.

The solution for Africa is not to see children die in the ocean, he said.

Sall said the government would create 65,000 jobs in Senegal, as well as promote enter entrepreneurship, vocational training and cooperation.

This is how we can resolve the issue of migration. Its not about leaving organized gangs that exploit these young people and let them die on the ocean floor, he said.

The Spanish Prime Minister insisted on the fight against migrant smugglers.

We discussed the importance of sending a clear message to traffickers. We need to send a clear message to fight human trafficking and illegal migration. We must give the opportunity for there to be a regular migration which could be beneficial for our countries, Sanchez said.

The visit by Sanchez to Senegal ends his mini-tour to two African nations that are key in the European countrys new push to bolster ties with the neighboring continent and mitigate the migration flows.

He visited Angola before his stop to Senegal.

Sanchez is also scheduled to pay a visit to Spanish police working with Senegalese counterparts to crack down on human trafficking across the West African coast. The contingent comprises 57 members of Spains Civil Guard and National Police, two patrol boats, and a helicopter based on the port of Dakar.

Africa has proportionally reported fewer coronavirus cases and deaths than Europe. But officials in Madrid fear that the fallout of lockdowns in jobs and the shockwaves of the global economic slump could send even more Africans on the perilous journey to European shores, many of them via Spain.

Spain also hopes to increase its limited investment and trade exchanges with the neighboring continent as a way to lift African economies and dissuade potential migrants. Nearly one-fifth of Spains exports in 2019 went to Africa, amounting to 19 billion euro ($22 billion). Spain imports from the continent were worth 27 billion euros in the same period.

Sanchez, a Socialist leading a left-wing coalition, has said that he wants to turn 2020-2030 into Spains decade in Africa.

He will wrap his tour in Senegal on Friday by visiting a military base for Spanish and other international forces fighting extremism in the Sahel region and the center in Dakar that will host the first Cervantes Institute in sub-Saharan Africa for studies of the Spanish language and culture.

By BABACAR DIONE

Associated Press
The choice is clear: Fair climate policy or no climate policy

Posted on 9 April 2021 by Guest Author

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Richard Richels, Henry Jacoby, Ben Santer, and Gary Yohe

President Biden has expressed a commitment to making equity a guiding principle in domestic policy formation. When applied to climate policy, it may help eliminate major obstacles to getting our own house in order. But equity concerns may be a greater barrier when it comes to international negotiations: Poorer countries are demanding that it be an overarching consideration in evaluating policies not only within but across national boundaries.

The first image gets to the nub of the problem. Equality should not be confused with equity. Equality means that we all have access to the same tools and opportunities (ladders of equal height). This approach would be fine if all parties were to have the same access to the same underlying foundations: healthcare, education, jobs, shelter, and the other trappings of wellbeing. The higher ladder corrects for inequality. It gives the disadvantaged a step up, in effect leveling the playing field.

Domestically, one need look no further than the plight of coal miners or autoworkers for examples of what the President has in mind. Moving away from coal and oil will eliminate traditional jobs in these and related industries. The communities where workers live will also be adversely affected. Does America not owe some debt to those who helped power the post-World War II economic boom?

Facing up to past recalcitrance

Then there are the negative impacts from rising energy prices on disposable income. These impacts will be particularly hard-felt by those who are but one paycheck away from poverty. Through no fault of their own, they will bear a disproportionate burden from our past political recalcitrance.

The issue is how to cushion the blow. Policymakers have a number of tools at their disposal, ranging from market-based instruments to so-called command-and-control approaches. These can be used not only to discourage fossil fuel use, but also to address ensuing issues of equity. For example, with market-based instruments (e.g., carbon taxes, and cap and trade), the resulting revenue can be recycled back into the economy in a manner that compensates those most disadvantaged.

A command-and-control approach is more prescriptive. In this case, redress would lie in the hands of government agencies to fashion programs to retrain affected workers, compensate impacted communities, and help those most harmed by higher prices at the gas pump and in their monthly utility bills.

Most likely a combination of the two approaches will be needed. Addressing issues of equity will not be easy, however, and there are many political third-rails. Matching the supply and demand for jobs will entail careful coordination between the private and public sectors. The effects on surrounding communities will be complex. And even a small redistribution of income will likely be met with fierce resistance. Bipartisan leadership, sorely missing in recent years, will be required. But the alternative is unacceptable  inaction on the climate change problem, a lose-lose situation for all.

Global needs raise complex challenges

The meaning of fairness is further complicated at the international level. The first wave of the industrial revolution was powered by cheap and abundantly available fossil fuels, with planetary warming an unintended by-product. Now those aspiring to a standard of living similar to their wealthier neighbors are being asked to abandon fossil fuels in favor of cleaner but perhaps more expensive alternatives.

Again, the issue is how to cushion the blow. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has called upon wealthier countries to help their poorer neighbors in the transition to a carbon-free future. This action would require transfers of capital (financial and technological) to other countries. Unless agreement can be found on what constitutes equitable burden-sharing, international negotiations may grind to a halt.

For those who say we will just wait them out, bear in mind that climate change may not be as high on some countries lists of priorities. Particularly, the poorest who understandably are likely to be concerned with more pressing worries such as immediate survival.

Then there is also the issue of our access to adaptation possibilities.

Moreover, there is sufficient warming baked into the climate system to cause considerable harm. In adapting to these inevitable changes, how should the pain from past procrastination be distributed? Many countries lack access to adaptive capacity that the wealthier can muster. For example, they cannot build multi-billion-dollar sea walls to safeguard against rising oceans in order to protect life, property, and valuable ecosystems. Nor do they have the resources to ensure widespread deployment of vaccines and needed therapeutics to guard against climate-sensitive diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, and dengue and Zika viruses.

Furthermore, many people live in countries where the political leadership is struggling to maintain civil order. Only limited resources are available to meet the most basic needs of the population of a failing state. Climate change can significantly exacerbate such existing political instability, potentially leading to the development of regional conflicts and hundreds of millions of environmental refugees. In these circumstances, controlling greenhouse emissions falls even lower on national priorities.

So, whether it is reducing global warming or ameliorating the harm inflicted by past intransigence, we face daunting challenges. Equity must be a primary concern not only in domestic, but also in international policy formation. The expression helping thy neighbor is usually reserved for our fellow citizens, but if developed countries fail to help poorer countries, the global effort to control warming will falter. Close attention to this issue by the administration and the Congress is essential. Equitable climate policies are not only the right thing to do  they are also in our own national self-interest.

Richard Richels served as lead author for multiple chapters of the IPCC in the areas of mitigation, impacts and adaptation from 1992 through 2014. He also served on the National Assessment Synthesis Team for the first US National Climate Assessment.

Henry D. Jacoby is the William F. Pounds Professor of Management, Emeritus in the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management and former Co-Director of the M.I.T. Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, which is focused on the integration of the natural and social sciences and policy analysis in application to the threat of global climate change.

Benjamin Santer is an atmospheric scientist who has worked on all five previous Scientific Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Gary Yohe is the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He served as convening lead author for multiple chapters and the Synthesis Report for the IPCC from 1990 through 2014 and was Vice-Chair of the Third US National Climate Assessment.
French winemakers have suffered the worst frost damage to their crops since the 1990s as fears grow that grape vines could yield the smallest harvest for 40 years.

The damage done by several nights' of frost this week threatens to destroy grape harvests in some of the country's best-known and prestigious wine-producing regions.

Farmers across the country lit thousands of small fires near their crops this week in a bid to protect vines and fruit trees from frost and prevent freezing.

French winemakers have suffered the worst frost damage to their crops since the 1990s (Pictured: A farmer lights a small fire to protect his vineyard from frost damage)

The government is already readying an emergency rescue package after the unusual freezing temperatures left the country's winemakers 'shattered' and 'desperate'.

French farmers, from the Bordeaux region in the southwest to the Burgundy and Rhone valley in the east, were out in their fields on Friday inspecting the destruction to their crops following the cold snap.

'It breaks like glass because there's no water inside,' Dominique Guignard, a wine maker in the Graves area near Bordeaux, told AFP as he rubbed the first shoots on his vines.

'It's completely dried out, there's no life inside,' said Guignard, who heads a group of producers in Graves, which is known for its robust red wine.

The damage done by several nights' of frost this week threatens to destroy grape vines and could lead to the smallest French wine harvest in 40 years. (Pictured: French winemaker Remy Nodin looks at his vine buds damaged by the frost the night before in Saint-Peray on April 8)

French farmers, from the Bordeaux region in the southwest to the Burgundy and Rhone valley in the east, were out in their fields on Friday inspecting the destruction to their crops

Many industry experts say the frost damage may be the worst since the 1990s.

'It's a national phenomenon,' said Jerome Despey, secretary general of the FNSEA farming union and a winemaker from the Herault region.

'You can go back in history, there have been (freezing) episodes in 1991, 1997, 2003 but in my opinion it's beyond all of them.'

In the Rhone valley area, the head of the local wine producers' body, Philippe Pellaton said that it would be 'the smallest harvest of the last 40 years' with losses of 80-90 percent compared with normal.

Winemakers are 'shattered, desperate,' he said, with the famed Cote-Rotie area particularly badly hit.

In Burgundy, which produces some of the finest white wines in the world, the head of the local producers' association estimated that 'at least 50 percent' if this year's harvest had been lost.

The government is already readying an emergency rescue package after the unusual freezing temperatures have left the country's winemakers 'shattered' and 'desperate'

In a bid to ward off the frost overnight on Tuesday and Wednesday, farmers across the country lit thousands of small fires and candles near their crops to prevent freezing.

The burning was so intense in the southeast that it led to a layer of smog over the region, including over the city of Lyon, and a pollution warning.

As well as vines, fruit trees have also been badly hit along with other crops like beet and rapeseed.

French Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie told Franceinfo radio late Thursday that the cold snap had been 'particularly difficult' for the sector with 'significant losses' registered.

'We are completely mobilised so that the accompanying measures can be put in place as quickly as possible,' he said.

The practice of lighting fires or candles to prevent frost forming is a long-standing technique used in early spring when the first green shoots are vulnerable to the cold

'Specifically, we will implement a regime of agricultural disaster,' saying tax breaks could be envisaged as well as help from banks and insurance and warning that more cold weather could be on the way.

Many wine growers are not insured against frost because of the cost of the coverage, and the industry as a whole has been hit in recent years by tariffs imposed by former US president Donald Trump on French wine as well as Brexit.

The practice of lighting fires or candles near vines or fruit trees to prevent frost forming is a long-standing technique used in early spring when the first green shoots are vulnerable to the cold.

Some winegrowers use wind machines to keep frost from setting in.

Others use water sprinklers to deliberately create ice which acts like a mini-igloo around branches, preventing the frost from drying out the leaves.
For cable outlets including CNN, ratings are a kind of deity. Every day, producers receive viewer numbers. What people have watched previously determines their coverage. If immigration and climate change dont rate, they dont get covered.

I decided to dig into this basic issue. I found that using ratings to determine news value is riddled with potential problems. Basing todays content on what people wanted to watch yesterday means you inherently lose the new in news. Whats worse is that the ratings, at least the way theyre used by TV news producers, might not even present an accurate picture.

First, a quick explainer. CNN, and most other networks, use a company called Nielsen, which has been measuring TV audiences since 1950. They do so using volunteers who are demographically representative. Its a form of survey, not a literal picture of who is actually watching.

Across the nation, there are 40,000 homes that participate in what is called the Nielsen panel. In the largest markets, representing about half of US households, Nielsen knows who is watching, how old they are, their race, what they watched, and for how long. Additionally, a company representative will visit in person periodically. It is somewhat of an intrusion and a commitment, which makes it likely the pool of participants is skewed toward the types of people who have the time and inclination. In smaller markets, Nielsen only knows what is playing on TV in the homes with monitors, which it then matches with demographic data for the initial results.

(During the pandemic, Variety reports, networks are increasingly wary of the audience numbers since members of the panels may not be replaced when they have moved or died, and Nielsen is not sending staff into peoples homes to test the technology. That could result in a significant undercounting of audience, according to a trade rep for the networks.)

Every morning Nielsen delivers a raw breakdown of the audience numbers for the day before, known in the industry as the overnights. Those numbers are based on the large markets where the numbers are relatively easy to turn around quickly. At 4pm eastern, Nielsen delivers a more comprehensive set of numbers that include smaller markets, and those results are fairly detailed, broken down by quarter-hour. They also present the numbers by age range, and each of the four news networks (FOX, CNN, MSNBC, and HLN) get a side-by-side comparison.

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Based on those 4pm numbers, just in time for the biggest audiences of the day in primetime, shows often make changes to their rundowns to reflect what seemed popular the night before. Interestingly, the 4pm numbers often change significantly from the earlier overnight Nielsen numbers. CNN and MSNBC tend to do better in the early count based on urban households, but Fox pulls ahead by the time smaller markets are included in the totals.

The numbers change in the same way early and mail-in votes differed from election day votes in 2020. And this means producers are making decisions based on flawed informationtheyre constantly, in my metaphor, calling Georgia for Donald Trump. And on top of that, its uncertain to what extent data from digital devices is being included in those 4pm reportsthe ones that CNN producers are using to make editorial decisions.

What if someone is watching Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC on their phone? They cant integrate that data, says Howard Shimmel, who was chief research officer for Turner Broadcasting from 2014 to 2018 and now is president of Janus Strategy and Insights.

In February 2020, Nielsen reported that about 20 percent of TV time is spent streamingand that was before the pandemic when many people started cutting the cord. As of three years ago, two-thirds of people aged between 18 and 29 watched TV primarily online. And of all of those streaming, nearly 80 percent live in urban or suburban areas, according to a 2019 study. So if you arent counting digital use day-after, then those younger, more urban views arent being counted.

There are a couple of reasons its so challenging to integrate that data. A major factor is the needs of advertisers. They want to make sure their ads are being viewed as aired, and they also want to make sure that a single user is not being counted multiple times if they watch on multiple devices. The results, to use the jargon, need to be deduplicated.

The company says it does include some of the digital data too, but its not clear how much. It also says it has a plan for resolving these problems more fully. With a single, deduplicated number from Nielsen ONE, you will have visibility into audiences by platform, as well as the unique demographic profile of each publisher, it says on the Nielsen web site. Please note the use of the future tense.

I asked the company three key questions: what digital data is Nielsen capturing; of that data, how much is being integrated into the figures generated the next day at 4pm; and how do those next day figures change over time as they are fully able to integrate the data. A representative would only talk off the record, and had not provided formal responses by the time of publication.

I would prefer, personally, that CNN just allowed its excellent journalists to make editorial decisions, instead of desperately seeking the false certainty of numbers. But as that is never going to happen, it is worth noting that even under the current system CNN is horribly under-counting younger viewers in cities, as opposed to older, more rural ones. So thats who the journalists at CNN are conditioned to produce for.

It might explain why the issues of yesterday are always favored over the issues of tomorrow. And why the younger, more urban parts of America might be better-served by CNN.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Ariana Pekary is the CJR public editor for CNN. She was an award-winning public radio and MSNBC journalist for two decades. Now she focuses on the systemic flaws of commercial broadcast news. She can be contacted at publiceditors@cjr.org.
An NGO alliance has called in France for an investigation of four multinational clothing manufacturers, accusing them of profiting from forced labour of the Uyghur minority in China, they said Friday.

The complaint targets the clothing giants Inditex, Uniqlo and SMCP as well as footwear manufacturer Skechers, who it charged concealed forced labour and crimes against humanity in the production of the goods.

The complaint was filed by anti-corruption group Sherpa, the Ethique NGO which is the French branch of the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Uyghur Institute of Europe, as well as an Uyghur woman who had been held in a camp in Xinjiang in China.

In a statement, the NGOS said the complaint aimed to furnish the French authorities with evidence that the companies were implicated in the forced labour that they said Uyghurs have been subjected to in the China camps.

It denounces the impunity of these actors in the face of violations committed within the context of economic globalisation, they said.

They accused the four companies, as well as other entities, of continuing to market goods using cotton produced in the Xinjiang region and of thus being complicit in the serious crimes committed there.

The statement said the complaint was the first in a number of such petitions that would be filed in European countries in the months ahead.

Rights groups believe at least one million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been incarcerated in camps in the Xinjiang region, where China is also accused of forcibly sterilising women and imposing forced labour.

The United States says genocide has been inflicted on the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the region, while Beijing has denied all allegations of abuses and has insisted its policies in Xinjiang are necessary to counter violent extremism.

bl-sjw/jz/wai

GROUPE SMCP

INDITEX  ZARA

FAST RETAILING
Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission (MAPAAC) proud of resolutions denouncing anti-Asian hate

Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission (MAPAAC) proud of resolutions denouncing anti-Asian hate

Contact: Camara Lewis, 517-930-4928

LANSING, Mich.-As the country continues to see a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission (MAPAAC) and its' 21-members are proud to announce the passage of several local municipal resolutions further condemning anti-Asian hate, discrimination and rhetoric.

According to Stop Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Hate report, 3,795 anti-Asian incidents were reported between March 2020 and February 2021, from all 50 states, including 16 in Michigan.

The following municipal leadership groups denounce all forms of anti-Asian sentiment and the rise of hate crimes directed at Asian Americans:

On March 25, 2021, the 21-member Oakland County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution .

On April 1, 2021, the 15-member Wayne County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution .

On April 7, 2021, both Washtenaw and Macomb County Board of Commissioners passed resolutions.

On April 6, 2021, the Ann Arbor City Council passed a resolution.

"We are glad that elected officials and bodies across the state are unifying to pass similar resolutions mirroring Sen. Chang and Rep. Puri Senate Resolution 30 and House Resolution 61 condemning anti-Asian American sentiment," MAPAAC Chair Ayesha Ghazi Edwin said. "These statements send a clear message to our Asian Pacific American (APA) community that hate has no place here, and that we see you, hear you and stand with you."

MAPAAC fully supports the adoption of these resolutions and encourages Asian Americans and all Michiganders who experience hate crimes to report such incidents to local law enforcement or the Michigan Department of Attorney General's Hate Crimes Unit at 313-456-0180, and those who experience discrimination to file a complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

MAPAAC encourages all elected officials, city, and county bodies across the State of Michigan to consider approving similar resolutions to support our Asian American residents and condemn the rising hate crimes and racial discrimination against residents of Asian and Pacific Islander decent. Contact MAPAAC@michigan.gov for further guidance.

To learn more about MAPAAC visit Michigan.gov/MAPAAC.
(Natural News) Ever since the Austin City Council voted unanimously back in August to cut the budget of the citys police department by roughly a third, officers throughout the Texas capital city have been quitting in record numbers.

Austins new district attorney has also implemented a policy allowing for police officers suspected of engaging in misconduct to be reinvestigated even for cases that have already been closed. This is expected to drive even more of them to quit.

In January 2021, sources reportedly told PJ Media that 20 officers retired from the Austin Police Department (APD), while another eight resigned.

One month later in February, another five officers resigned while six retired. Then again in March, 24 more officers left the force and a whopping 20 retired. Three additional officers resigned and one was terminated that same month.

To put this into perspective, 2019 was the last non-pandemic year and the year before the city council cut APDs budget, writes Bryan Preston for PJ Media.

APD averages about 50 retirements or separations in a calendar year, and replaces them with cadets who have graduated from the police academy or officers who join APD from another force.

In the entirety of 2019, 46 officers retired from APD and another 22 resigned. The year 2020 saw a dramatic increase after the George Floyd riots, prompting 78 officers to depart or retire after they began, bringing the total that year to 89 separations.

This mass exodus is being attributed by conservatives to the nationwide police defunding efforts that seek to reapportion some monies from police departments to other rehabilitation programs for low-level offenders that aim to help them rather than just incarcerate them.

Austin already seeing 60% fewer tickets being written thanks to partial defunding of APD

Just in the first quarter of 2021, a whopping 63 officers left APD in response to these changes. By the end of the year, that number could balloon to around 252 officers, which is roughly five times the average number of separations in a year.

This will impact public safety across the board, and according to the APRS, can impact retirees benefits as well, warns Preston.

March 2021s retirements hit all over the department, including tactical intelligence, gang crimes, narcotics enforcement, investigations, and the bomb squad, he adds.

One good thing that has come from all the departures is that revenue-generating tactics like speed traps are on the decline. Both warnings and citations for traffic enforcement plummeted by more than 60 percent just in the first two months of 2021.

APD, however, is bemoaning the changes as being anti-police, even though the department is still being funded, just at a lesser rate.

In Austin, Tex., the city council has fallen under the influence of hard-line anti-police activists, contends Charley Wilkison, executive director of Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT). They dont reflect the mainstream in Austin but they have been very loud.

Wilkison further says these activists have disrupted the way APD is used to doing business, which upsets him and others who say the local city council cratered to protesters rather than siding with the police.

Preston points to increased homicides in 2020 versus 2019 as proof that defunding APD was a mistake. However, APD had not yet been defunded at that time, and those increases in deaths probably had more to do with the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdowns and George Floyd mayhem than anything else.

APD chiefs say they will be meeting soon to figure out which units will need to be cut further to shore up patrols under the new budgeting guidelines.

More related news about how police reforms are impacting law enforcement can be found at PoliceState.news.

Sources for this article include:

PJMedia.com

NaturalNews.com
For the first time in approximately 60 years, archaeological excavations have uncovered fragments of a biblical scroll. The scroll, which is written in Greek, includes portions of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets, including the books of Zechariah and Nahum

The verses, from Zechariah 8:1617, were discovered in a cave where Jewish refugees hid almost 1900 years ago. They read:

"These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another, render true and perfect justice in your gates. And do not contrive evil against one another, and do not love perjury, because all those are th...
GROSSE POINTE PARK, MI  Dateline is set to feature the shocking 2012 murder-for-hire killing of Michigan resident Jane Bashara.

The episode of the long-running NBC show will premiere at 9 p.m. on Friday, April 9.

It's one of the most salacious murder investigations that #Dateline has ever covered...



And @Dateline_Dennis will tell you all about it, Friday at 9/8c on @NBC. pic.twitter.com/ITG4WOe2yu  Dateline NBC (@DatelineNBC) April 9, 2021

Bashara, then 56, was attacked and strangled in her Grosse Pointe Park garage after her husband Bob Bashara ordered his handyman, Joseph Gentz, to do so at gunpoint. Her body was later found in her Mercedes-Benz in a Detroit alley.

Bob Bashara was convicted of first-degree murder in 2014 and sentenced to life in prison in December 2015. He died in custody in 2020.

Gentz is serving a 17-year prison sentence for his role in the shocking crime. Datelines Sex, Lies & Murder will revisit the case, which includes a look at Bob Basharas motivations and his secret sex life that included bondage, domination and sadomasochism (BDSM).

When Jane Bashara is found dead in her SUV, the investigation into her murder reveals a tangled web of sex and lies, the episodes description reads. Dateline goes inside the case with new details and interviews about the prominent familys dark secrets. The two-hour broadcast also features the informant who helped the FBI expose a hit-for-hire plot in the case, all caught on tape, speaking out for the first time.

Dennis Murphy serves as the lead reporter in the episode, which will feature Grosse Pointe Park and several key players such as Detective Mike Narduzzi, Steve Tibaudo, Judge Vonda Evans and more.

You can see a preview of the episode below.
Lewiston - On Saturday, April 24, 2021, the Nez Perce County Sheriff's Office will host an Idaho Boat Safety Course in Lewiston for boaters. The course will be held at the Sheriff's Office Training Room, 1150 Wall St., from noon to 6:00pm.

Boaters, regardless of experience, are encouraged to take a boating safety class to learn about Idaho boating laws and pick up some boating safety tips. Many families take the course together so both kids and adults can safely operate their boat. Some insurance companies even offer a discount to those boat owners that successfully complete the 'Boat Idaho' boat safety course. Check with your insurance agent to see if you are eligible.

For more information on how to sign up, contact Deputy Derick Wilkinson at derrickw@co.nezperce.id.us.
Nepal's primary opposition party, the Nepali Congress has begun talks with the Nepal Communist Party-Maoist Centre and the Janata Samajbadi Party to unseat Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and form a coalition government under its leadership.

Nepali Congress President, Sher Bahadur Deuba, had called a meeting of the opposition parties on Friday which ended on a positive note, according to party leaders.

PM Oli is under pressure to resign after his decision to dissolve the house on December 20 and call for fresh elections was overturned by the Supreme Court on February 23. In wake of the verdict, opposition parties had been demanding his resignation on moral grounds but he has been holding fast.

PM Oli is also facing problems inside his own Nepal Communist Party-UML as a huge section of senior party leaders have started forming parallel party structures while challenging his "authoritarian" way of running the party and the government.

NCP-Maoist Centre spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha told media that both his party and the Nepali Congress are almost on the same page but are waiting the decision of the Janata Samajbadi Party, the fourth-largest party in the legislature, and still undecided on whether to lend support Oli or Deuba.

Two senior Janata Samajbadi Party leaders, Chairman Mahantha Thakur and Rajendra Mahato are separately negotiating with Oli to extend support to his government in case it falls into a minority.

Meanwhile, the NPC-Maoist Centre that had lent support to Oli in February 2018 has not withdrawn its support so the government still enjoys a majority in the house. It, however, assured that as soon as opposition parties decide to unseat Oli, it will withdraw its support.

As soon as it withdraws support, the Oli government will be reduced to a minority and need to seek vote of confidence. Opposition parties are, however, inclined to register a no-confidence motion to bring down the government.

On Friday, as soon as the meeting began, Deuba told that they have decided to unseat Oli and take a lead to form a new government under the party's leadership, Shrestha said.

"We have made clear our position that we are ready to support the new government to be led by Deuba and we also asked the Janata Samajbadi Party leaders to make their position clear whether it will support Deuba or not. But Janata Samajbadi Party leaders said that they need some time to discuss Deuba's proposal inside the party."

Thakur said: "We have received the formal proposal to form a new government from the Nepali Congress. We will first discuss the proposal inside the party and will communicate to the Nepali Congress at earliest."

During the meeting, Nepali Congress and NCP-Maoist Centre leaders had assured the Janata Samajbadi Party that once the new government will be formed, they will look into its demands and grievances.

The party has also forwarded some demands to both Oli and the Nepali Congress.

"We will wait until Janata Samajbadi Party takes the decision on whether they will support Deuba or not," Nepali Congress spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma said.

"We will wait for the response from the Janata Samajbadi Party... once they come up with their position, we will move on accordingly," he added.
RICHMOND, Va., April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Moments ago, the Virginia Chamber Foundation announced the Blueprint Virginia 2030 Regional Tour, with virtual meetings scheduled in every GO Virginia region. As part of the Blueprint Virginia 2030 development process, the Virginia Chamber Foundation has announced it will host a series of virtual meetings throughout Virginia, in partnership with its network of local, regional, and other chambers of commerce; and GO Virginia.

These meetings will serve to foster greater regional collaboration by bringing together leaders in business, economic development, workforce, education, housing, and other community representatives from across the Commonwealth to provide input for Virginia's next statewide strategic plan.

"As Virginians prepare to elect a new Governor in November, we believe that the time is right to update Blueprint Virginia and set even more ambitious policy goals to achieve long-term economic growth," said Virginia Chamber President & CEO Barry DuVal. "We must be pro-active and remain vigilant as our Commonwealth works to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the coming months, we will call upon Virginia's regional leaders and industry experts to analyze state and regional economies and identify specific economic drivers."

Registered attendees will be invited to participate in the Blueprint Virginia 2030 Regional Tour survey and the initial survey results will be reviewed during each meeting. Participants will also have the opportunity to hear directly from Virginia Chamber President & CEO, Barry DuVal, and representatives of GO Virginia for an economic update presentation from both the statewide and regional perspectives.

The full schedule of the Blueprint Virginia Regional Tour can be found below. More information on these meetings and the registration links for each can be found here.

More information on GO Virginia and each of its nine regions can be found here.

MAY 5, 2021  12:00PM  1:00PM

GO Virginia Region 1

MAY 12, 2021  12:00PM  1:00PM

GO Virginia Region 2

MAY 26, 2021  12:00PM  1:00PM

GO Virginia Region 3

JUNE 24, 2021  12:00PM  1:00PM

GO Virginia Region 4

JUNE 30, 2021  12:00PM  1:00PM

GO Virginia Region 6

JULY 21, 2021  12:00PM  1:00PM

GO Virginia Region 7

JULY 28, 2021  12:00PM  1:00PM

GO Virginia Region 8

AUGUST 4, 2021  12:00PM  1:00PM

GO Virginia Region 9

AUGUST 11, 2021  12:00PM  1:00PM

GO Virginia Region 5

The Virginia Chamber Foundation tracks Virginia's economic competitiveness, conducts research and analysis, and hosts programs  connected to the priorities of Blueprint Virginia 2025. In December 2017, the Chamber released an update to its long-term strategic economic development plan, Blueprint Virginia 2025, which engaged over 6,000 business and community leaders to lay out a plan to getting Virginia back to the top of national business climate rankings. In December of 2020, the Virginia Chamber officially began the development process for the next update, Blueprint Virginia 2030. Learn more at https://www.vachamber.com/foundation/

Contact:

Nicole Bunce

[email protected]

SOURCE Virginia Chamber of Commerce

Related Links

www.vachamber.com


Copperas Cove, TX (76522)

Today

Thunderstorms this evening with a few showers possible overnight. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms this evening with a few showers possible overnight. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday rejected 17 bills passed by lawmakers, blocking bipartisan proposals that sought to raise utility fees and reshape the training of law enforcement officers.

But, overall, she continued to use her veto powers sparingly.

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................................................................

Altogether, the governor vetoed just 18 of the 158 bills sent to her by the Legislature in the regular session  a rejection rate of 11%.

Nonetheless, Lujan Grisham clashed with the Legislature this year on a host of bills, many of which had passed with bipartisan support.

Supporters of a proposal to revise law enforcement training in New Mexico objected strongly Friday to one of the vetoes. The measure, Senate Bill 375, would have required annual training in de-escalation techniques, crisis intervention and responding to people in a mental health crisis, among other changes.

Lawmakers had passed it without a dissenting vote.

Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, said the proposal was a response  at least in part  to the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed a knee onto his neck.

We thought we were doing something there to make sure our police had extra training, Ingle, a co-sponsor of the bill, said Friday.

In her veto message, Lujan Grisham didnt object to the extra training. Instead, she said she couldnt support the bill because it would have changed the composition of the Law Enforcement Academy Board, weakening civilian oversight.

The proposal, the governor said, called for eliminating some members of the board, including two citizen representatives unaffiliated with law enforcement.

Eliminating these members would insulate the board from any civilian oversight, a necessary accountability measure, Lujan Grisham said in a message to legislators.

AJ Forte, executive director of the New Mexico Municipal League, a group that represents cities, said he hopes a revised version of the measure can win Lujan Grishams support in time for the 2022 legislative session.

The governors approval would be needed to take up the matter next year. In New Mexico, a governor has some control over the legislative agenda in even years, when lawmakers meet for just 30 days.

This was really a holistic approach to law enforcement reform for us, Forte said of the bill.

In addition to training changes, Senate Bill 375 also called for establishing a database to share information among agencies about excessive use of force.

It was a lifeline

The governors veto of a proposal aimed at bringing a 24-hour emergency health care facility to Valencia County also drew strong opposition.

The measure  House Bill 240, passed by lawmakers without dissent  would have allowed certain property tax revenue in Valencia County to be dedicated to the effort.

This was not just a piece of legislation  it was a lifeline for a community in need, Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca, R-Belen, said in a written statement. Our community has been working on this for almost 15 years and we hoped this was the year the Governor would look beyond the city and see the needs of her rural constituents.

County voters approved a property tax to support a hospital in 2006. The legislation passed this year would allow the revenue to be used for a 24-hour emergency health care facility in the county, even if it doesnt precisely meet the definition of a hospital.

Lujan Grishams veto message cited the discrepancy in rejecting the bill.

To now use the mill levy funding for a purpose that was not presented during the election would abuse our democratic process and render the communitys decision irrelevant, she said.

Veto rate about 9%

The 18 vetoes issued by Lujan Grisham this year continue a trend for the Democrat in her first term. She has generally rejected fewer bills than her recent predecessors.

Lujan Grisham has vetoed about 9% of the bills sent to her during the first three regular legislative sessions of her tenure. Her rate has ranged between 5% and 11%.

By contrast, Republican Susana Martinez, who served from 2011-18, vetoed about 28% of the bills passed during regular sessions of her administration, and Democrat Bill Richardson, who served from 2003-10, rejected about 15%, according to legislative records.

Democrats have controlled both chambers of the Legislature for all but two years since 2003.

Friday was the signing deadline for Lujan Grisham.

Any outstanding bill she didnt sign by noon was automatically rejected, a procedure known as a pocket veto.

In total, she vetoed 12 bills this year, with messages outlining her objections, and she pocket vetoed six more bills without taking action.

Seventeen of the vetoes came Friday. One was issued earlier.

Rejected

Among the bills Lujan Grisham rejected at the deadline:

n House Bill 103, which sought to raise about $179,000 in revenue through changes to fees paid by water and sewer utilities. Lujan Grisham described the fee increases as unreasonable.

n Senate Bill 328, which would have allowed for the extension of a water and sanitation gross receipts tax beyond the initial six years approved by voters. Lujan Grisham said voters should decide whether to extend the tax.
The 2022 primary elections in Texas could be pushed back to April or May under a bill moving through the state Legislature.

Because of delays in U.S. Census Bureau data needed to redraw the states congressional and legislative districts, the Texas Senate passed a bill on Thursday that could push the states primary to April 5, or if the delays persist, to May 24.

State Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican, said at this point Texas might not have the needed census data until deep into the summer. If they get the maps drawn up and passed into law fast enough, the March 1 primary would go on as planned. But if the maps arent put into law until after Nov. 22, the primary would shift to April 5.

If the maps are not done until after Jan. 3, the primary would shift to May 24.

The Texas Legislature was scheduled to redraw all of the states congressional and legislative districts during their regular session this spring. But delays in census data have made it certain the Legislature would at least need a special session to redraw the maps.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Texas currently has 36 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and could be getting three more because of the states population growth over the past 10 years. States are required to redraw lines every decade to ensure equal populations in each district.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced in February that it would deliver redistricting data to all states by Sept. 30. Officials pointed to COVID-19-related delays as a key reason for the disruption.

Texas has been here before. In 2012, a legal battle around redistricting forced Texas to move its March primary to late May. It was that primary in which Ted Cruz, who had never held elected office, finished in the top two in the primary for the U.S. Senate and won the seat in a runoff election.

Neither of the two U.S. senators from Texas are up for re-election in 2022, but most of the statewide elected officeholders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both Republicans, are up.

Huffman said shes trying to put the Legislature in the best position possible in light of the census data delays.

The bill will serve as a signal that the Legislature fully intends to complete the redistricting task once the census data is received, she said.

The bill passed the Senate on Thursday and now heads to the Texas House for consideration. If they agree to the bill, it would go to Abbott for final approval.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com
Dancehall stars Sean Paul, Mr. Vegas, Shaggy, Beenie Man, and Mavado are among scores of fans, celebrities, and music world personalities reacting to the death of American rapper DMX.

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, had been in a critical condition in a New York hospital after suffering a heart attack on April 2. The legendary rapper, who had issues with substance abuse, died at age 50 today according to a statement from his family.

The family said, We are deeply saddened to announce today that our loved one, DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, passed away at 50 years old at White Plains Hospital with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days. Earl was a warrior who fought till the very end.

Sean Paul and Mr. Vegas collaborated with X on Top Shotter (also known as Here Comes The Boom) for the classic Hype Williams-directed movie Belly in 1998. DMXs gritty bars paired well with Vegas and Seans deejaying for one of the best Hip-Hop/Dancehall crossover collabs ever.

Sean Paul, in an Instagram post today, said R.I.P big g. Tnx u 4 all u have given us. Condolences 2 ur fam frenz an fanz. U are missed. @dmx

Mr. Vegas followed with an Instagram photo of the star and wrote in the caption, We all have our struggles! They see the glory, but they dont know the story. Walk in peace great one!!!!! #herecomestheboom #dmx

Shaggy, Mavado and Beenie Man were also among those paying tribute to the rapper.

My Brother, this one is hefty, but we are going to stay strong. Blessings for the impact, the hard work, the friendship, and GREAT MUSIC. Rest up @dmx, Beenie Man said in an Instagram post.

Shaggy offered, R.I.P. to the G.O.A.T. @dmx Rest well my brother!! Condolences to the family! while Mavado said, RIP to a real dog. 

In the year 2000, the rapper visited Jamaica for Supreme Promotions famous Sting event and reportedly had such a great time that he stayed in hills two weeks longer than his scheduled three days, along with half a million dollars worth of jewellery that was burrowed from a Fifth Avenue designer.

Everything was returned when he got back to the US, Writer and music industry expert Dave Rodney related to the Jamaica Gleaner, now being able to laugh at the memory.

DMX is also famous for once saying: Reggae lost me; music is music. I respect it as an art form, I respect the people who do it as being talented artistes, I just dont like the music, after he felt snubbed by Sean Paul for a remix of Gimme The Light.

The song was instead released with Busta Rhymes, two weeks after DMXs request was ignored. X said he refused to work with Sean on other projects that followed because of how the situation played out. Sean explained his side last year, saying he didnt even know DMX had beef with him.

DMX made his rap debut in 1998 and is a three-time Grammy-nominated artist. His first studio album, Its Dark and Hell is Hot, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Chart with several hits including Ruff Ryders Anthem, Get At Me Dog, and Stop Being Greedy. Its Dark And Hell Is Hot was followed by three more albums over the following three years, marking the peak of the artists career.

At the time of his death, he was working on his first album in nine years, which was rumored to feature Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys, Usher, Bono from U2 and more, according to Stereogum.
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We 'Owe Him a Debt Greater Than ... We Shall Ever Know'

A look at the long life of Prince Philip
Ammo Grrrll considers TRUTH IN ADVERTISING FOR POTENTATES NAMES. She writes:

Evidently in the past, the masses had more intestinal fortitude and pitiless honesty than our current citizenries. They picked some doozies of monikers for their leaders, names that got into the history books. Some of them were either just descriptive or benign  Leif the Lucky, Eric the Red come to mind. Others were downright complimentary: Good Queen Bess, and Catherine the Great, not to mention Thelma the Terrific, a minor princess in Bohemia, or possibly, a woman I just made up.

But my favorites are the unflattering nicknames. The French seem to be especially good at this, which figures. Nobody can do a peevish, sour look like the French. For example, there is Louis the Fat. As someone who has routinely been 10-20 pounds overweight for at least 50 years, I have a certain amount of sympathy for a king whose most salient feature is his blubber.

By the way, slightly off topic, but I had a great idea the other day while standing in the checkout line at Walmart. And I use THE checkout line advisedly and with great annoyance. Despite making billions hand over fist during the lockdowns, God forbid there should EVER be a sufficient number of checkout persons to handle the customers. I would hate for the Walmart scions to lose even a penny of what they get annually, if it meant paying another two or three checkout persons minimum wage to staff those counters.

So I was behind several people with overflowing baskets and I noticed that they were all severely overweight, which is unusual for Walmartians (heavy sarcasm). I thought it would be marketing genius to make the checkout lines into treadmills so we could all walk in place for the time it takes to get to the front of the line. Youre welcome, Walmart. You would win a prize from Mrs. Obama, had she not recently retired from public life.

But, moving along with historical names. In the parade of Loser Louies, theres my favorite, Louis the Feeble. As America is quickly discovering, thats about the worst thing you could call a head of state who doesnt want that state to be trampled by enemies and overrun by invaders.

We are currently witnessing a vast horde of non-white people who are willing to throw their babies over a high fence and risk life and limb  just to get into what is routinely described by Democrats and Chinese Commies as the most racist hellhole on Planet Earth. Odd fact, that. People of color are racing to get into White Supremacy Central. Even the Chinese get to call out our putative racism. The Uighurs have yet to weigh in, being too busy as professional organ donors, often before they were finished using the organs.

Then theres not just the dissed, but the disgusting: Take Ivan the Terrible. Please. Rim shot!

When you ponder the wretched parade of despicable, evil Czars, to say nothing of Tsars (both are popular crossword spellings), exactly how bad do you have to BE to merit the nickname of the Terrible? Thats some high czar bar. The Jews in particular in Mother Russia would pray for the health and long life of their current murderous, despotic czar in the realistic fear based on generational experience that, bad as he was, the next guy would probably be even worse.

How fortunate then, are we Americans, that we have finally scraped the absolute bottom of the barrel? We have Joe the Feeble, Terrible, Obviously Demented, Hair-Sniffing Cipher who is also a Pathological Liar, Influence-Peddler AND a wholly-owned subsidiary of China!

And waiting in the wings, oh happy day, the First Tannish-Beige Person of Unwhiteness Who Is Also A Person Without A Penis. At least for now. Which, let me clarify lest I get kicked off social media, is NOT AT ALL to suggest that SOME women dont have penises. I know several women who own phallus equipment. Batteries sold separately.

The Diverse Diverseness of all that Sacred Diversity has me all a-quiver. Remember: Diversity is our Strength, though not a single babbler of that inane phrase can offer one reason why that is true. From the Roman phalanxes to the Radio City Rockettes, there has also been Strength in Uniformity. Also for a few centuries in America, there has been Strength in Excellence, no matter what color or gender that excellence came in.

I dont know if Kamala is also the first co-President (in the Biden-Harris Administration) to fail the Bar Exam or not. But who needs to ace a written exam when youve done so well on your Orals? And how excited was America to have her chosen with virtually no qualifications other than being a Woman of Some Vague Non-White Color, and the only woman in America with a worse laugh than Hillarys?

Well, she garnered upwards of 2-3% of the votes in the DEMOCRAT Primary, so even other people of color clearly rejected her in favor of the demented old white time-server with the crack-head son. Democrats had the opportunity to vote for a rich fake Native American, a rich young man married to another man, a rich fake Mexican with a made-up Spanish nickname, just to name a few of the special kinda sorta Diverse folks that were on offer. And, instead, they stunned the world by picking Joe Biden, a rich old white kleptocrat.

During the Basement Campaign, Joe the Stair Master (and Blank Stare Master) came out like Punxsutawney Phil to nibble on his wifes hand, to confuse her with his own sister, and to fail to guess the number of his own grandchildren. Hey, grandpas out there, I would bet the ranch (if I had a ranch) that theres not ONE of you who cant tell us the number, sex, and probably even the birthdays of each and every one of your grandkids. Not to mention their preferred pronouns! (When very young, its mostly just me, my, and mine.)

As we begin our eighth year together, let us fervently pray that Joe the Feeblest soon resigns to spend more time with those grandchildren until such time as he can accurately count them. No, Kamala the Kackler will not be any better, but maybe at least she might not try to start a war with Russia over the Ukraine. To the best of my knowledge, she doesnt have any offspring who pretend to work for and are lavishly paid by any industries in the Ukraine.

And seeing President Kamala cackling away in the Oval Office would be like a dagger in Hillarys heart. So theres thatand she would obviously do such a terrible job that even cheating on a scale never seen before could not re-elect her in 2024.
Six employees at Lucknow's King George's Medical University (KGMU) vice chancellor's office have tested positive for COVID-19 even after receiving both shots of the coronavirus vaccine. All of them are on non-medical posts.

Over the last three days, as many as 39 doctors including the vice chancellor Lieutenant General (Retired) Dr Bipin Puri and medical superintendent Professor D Himanshu have tested positive for the infection. Infected doctors include 20 from the general surgery department, 9 from urology department and 3 from department of medicine.

A senior KGMU doctor said, "In the last 3 days, 39 doctors of KGMU have tested positive for COVID-19. Both the vice-chancellor and medical superintendent have got both the doses of anti-COVID vaccine."

Also read: Night curfew in UP's Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur and Prayagraj; weekend lockdown in MP

The hospital's spokesperson Dr Sudhir Singh said that the administration is taking all the necessary precautions to stem COVID-19 spread.

Dr Singh said, "The administration of the KGMU is extremely serious to stop the spread of infection and in this regard, screening has already started. The administration is making every effort to stop the infection in the initial stage itself."

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh has reported 31,987 active COVID-19 cases with 4,478 new infections in the last 24 hours. India's most populous state has reported more than 6.04 lakh recoveries, with 1,484 people getting discharged on Thursday. Uttar Pradesh's COVID-19 death toll has reached 8,964 with 40 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Also read: Ghaziabad hospitals post 'Vaccines Out Of Stock' notice at gates

More than 81.45 lakh people have been inoculated against COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh as of April 9, i.e., Friday. Of these, more than 69.51 lakh people received the first dose whereas more than 11.93 lakh got the second dose of the life-saving jab.

Edited with PTI inputs; by Mehak Agarwal

Also read: 'Don't worry if Covid numbers are high, focus on testing more': PM Modi amid Centre-Maha row
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 03:46:17|Editor: huaxia

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ROME, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Italy will be able to meet the targets planned for the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Thursday.

"The availability of vaccines has not declined, the numbers (of daily jabs) are back again to the level we had before Easter, and following an expected rising trend," he told a press conference.

"I have no doubt the targets will be achieved."

However, the prime minister stressed the campaign must remain focused on the elderly, the high-risk group in the coronavirus pandemic.

"We need to concentrate on these age groups, and the availability of vaccines should allow us to cover all people over 80 in every region and partially also those aged 75 in April," Draghi said.

He acknowledged this might require slowing down vaccinating people aged under 60 momentarily but stressed that it was time "to make a choice."

Italy's COVID-19 vaccination campaign kicked off at the end of December with a slow start. It reached an average of 300,000 jabs per day by the end of March, according to Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, the Extraordinary Commissioner for the Coronavirus Emergency.

The next target would be to administer 500,000 doses daily by the end of April.

He did not give a specific date for lifting the current restrictions, but hoped it would be a matter of weeks, not months.

"I do want to see reopening in the next weeks, but this must be done safely. The faster the vaccination takes place, the sooner we can reopen."

As of Thursday, Italy has registered over 3.7 million coronavirus cases, including 544,330 active infections, according to the Health Ministry.

Recoveries have exceeded 3 million by this week, and added an additional 20,229 on Thursday. A total of 487 new deaths were also recorded over the last 24 hours, bringing the toll to 112,861.

A total of 12 million doses of vaccines have been administered so far, with 3.6 million people immunized with both doses, according to the government.

Some 4.1 million people aged over 80 have received the vaccine (at least one dose). Enditem
Starbuck farmer Chuck Fossay says education property taxes have been a hot-button issue in the agriculture community for many years, and he's happy the government is addressing it.

Starbuck farmer Chuck Fossay says education property taxes have been a hot-button issue in the agriculture community for many years, and he's happy the government is addressing it.

In Wednesday's budget, farmers and homeowners were among the biggest beneficiaries, as the Progressive Conservative government announced rebates of 25 per cent on the education portion of property taxes.

Fossay's education tax bill on the 1,000 acres he farms in the RM of Cartier is about $12,000. The average homeowner in his area pays about $2,000 in education taxes, he said.

An existing provincial farmland school rebate program refunds 80 per cent of education taxes, up to $5,000. That program has become less and less helpful as farmland prices and taxes have soared.

An average-sized Manitoba grain farm is 2,000 acres or more. On 2,000 acres in Fossay's municipality, one of the higher taxed in the province, the education tax bill is about $24,000.

"I've got neighbours that farm 10,000 acres of land. That's $120,000 in education tax," said Fossay, a director of the Keystone Agricultural Producers lobby group.

According to the government's budget documents, a farmer with a $5,600 education tax bill will pay $840 this year, after the old and new rebates are deducted, compared with $1,120 last year.

While farmers will receive the 25 per cent tax rebate this year, their previous farmland school rebate is being reduced. This year, it will cover up to 60 per cent of school taxes to a maximum of $3,750.

But under the new rebate program, which has no cap, the bigger the farm, the bigger the rebate.

So, that farmer with 10,000 acres who pays $120,000 in education taxes will receive combined provincial rebates totalling $33,750 this year. Last year, that same farmer would have received a rebate of $5,000.

Fossay said funding education on the basis of income rather than property is much fairer.

"Some years, you get a great crop and prices are good and you do really well," he said. "And in another year, you've got a drought and prices are terrible and yet you still have to pay the (education property) tax even though you may not have the cash to do that."

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  Richard Cambe, a former staff member of Senator Bong Revilla, died of natural causes while serving jail time in the multi-million peso pork barrel scheme, the Bureau of Corrections said on Friday.

Cambe suffered a stroke on Thursday and was brought from the New Bilibid Prison to the Ospital of Muntinlupa where he was declared dead, it said.

BuCor spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag said there were no signs of foul play in Cambe's death based on initial investigation.

Cambe and co-accused businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles were found guilty of plunder in 2018 for amassing 224.5 million worth of Revilla's Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Cambe was sentenced to reclusion perpetua or a maximum of 40 years in prison, while his boss was acquitted but ordered by the Sandiganbayan to return 124.5 million to the government.

RELATED: Acquitted but ordered to return money? The 'odd' case of Bong Revilla
We saw the pandemic accelerate the digital transition process of businesses last year. A year later, the implications of this transition have been significant and wide-ranging  from creating consumer experiences & engagements, to e-commerce, online education, e-payments, online medical consultations  almost all off-line activity is now done in the digital space.

Digital spends have gone up manifold, and brand strategies now incorporate reaching out to consumers in the online space. With this, there has also been the need for upskilling the workforce to tackle the business operational requirements in the new normal.

In the run-up to DIGIXX MEDIA SUMMIT 2021, Adgully will be bringing a series of interactions with Indias leading Digital evangelists as part of our series on DIGITAL DIALOGUE.

Keeping a sharp eye on all the Digital developments and disruptions is Adgullys industry leading premier property  DIGIXX. Like in the previous years, DIGIXX MEDIA SUMMIT 2021 is all geared to discuss, analyse, crystal-gaze and explore the world of Digital trends in a day-long event comprising Panel Discussions, Master Classes, Keynote Addresses and Fireside Chats.

In conversation with Adgully, Sapna Arora, Chief Marketing Officer (India), OLX Autos, speaks about how the pandemic crisis has helped businesses explore unconventional tangents in addition to the traditional processes. She also talks about how digitisation has expanded the landscape of business and affirms that a digital ready culture is the key to success.

With the accelerated transition to digital due to the pandemic crisis, how has this helped businesses scale up their operations? How do you see this shift to digital panning out over the next 5 years?

There is no gainsaying that digital platforms have helped many businesses amplify themselves during the year gone by. The crisis helped businesses explore unconventional tangents in addition to the traditional processes. Today, businesses of all sizes and shapes, and across the spectrum, are looking to improvise their bandwidth with the effectiveness of their digital operations. Not only are these digital platforms helping to redefine brand marketing, they are also expanding and experiencing a new wave of functioning. Digitisation has expanded the landscape of business and a digital ready culture is the key to success. Democratisation of innovation, composable enterprise, API security, data divide and data analytics are some popping trends that help businesses in scaling up their operations. These trends form the building blocks of digital transformation. The digital transformation will help to revolutionise the company culture, replace the legacy monolith with advanced tech and pump the business model.

Consequently, the next 5 years is all about transformation. The replacement of pencil-and-paper style of business to a landscape of digitisation is the predicted future. According to Darwins theory, survival of the fittest is significant for evolution; similarly, the adaptation of this digital era is the key to survival and growth. For their growth and to remain in competition, all levels of businesses must comprehend how to reap the benefits of the bounty that digitisation has to offer.

Digital and performance go hand in hand. How are brands evaluating and measuring their performance on digital as a medium?

Businesses that gain greater visibility into audience growth, audience interactions and brand penetration, consistently find ways to measure their performance. Two metrics, hinging on user behaviour, highlight how people understand a brand: time on site and bounce rate; while later throwing light on brand awareness, brand familiarity, brand consideration, purchasing stages and advocacy. Companies with strong legacies like Apple, Samsung, Coca-Cola, and more, are consistently leveraging digital platforms to strengthen brand performances. With timely evaluation of digital performances, businesses find opportunities to grow.

Talent has always been a challenge when something new disrupts the media world. How are digital companies scaling their knowledge and imparting training to people?

According to a report by talent mobility provider Randstad RiseSmart, India is implementing programs for upskilling and/or reskilling in order to meet changing business needs. With digitalisation becoming a necessity for every organisation and business, Indian companies are leading worldwide in terms of offering training programmes to their employees.

Since skills will be the new currency across the globe in the post pandemic world, big tech companies like Microsoft are partnering with governments to help roll out training programs. Companies with blue collar staff have embraced digital training, even as digital skills continue to see an uptick for functional roles, knowledge of platforms like application tracking systems, invoicing through the use of RPAs, collections through bots and more.

What kind of investments digital companies need to plan to face the future challenges both in terms of skill and technology?

Companies must learn to keep pace with the rapid evolution of technology and ascertain what works best for them so they can identify the right products to invest in. Brands should direct investment toward training programs for employees that enable them to work hand in hand with the newly introduced technologies. The importance of digital marketing in expanding reach is well known, and a significant amount of investment must also be reserved for it to ensure that the right audience is targeted and to keep consumers engaged with the brand. Additionally, to ensure consumer satisfaction, companies should invest in scaling their customer service, and as they rely more on digital technologies, they must also invest in cybersecurity to protect their data.
TORONTO, March 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blueberries Medical Corp. (CSE: BBM) (OTC: BBRRF) (FRA: 1OA) the Canadian parent of Blueberries S.A.S., the premier Latin American licensed cultivator and producer of medicinal cannabis and medicinal-grade cannabis extracts, (together the Company or Blueberries), today announced that it has signed a Framework Agreement with Mechelen S.A., a subsidiary of YVY Life Sciences (YVY) for mutual development of strains and genetics in Colombia and potentially exporting dry cannabis flower of mutual strains from Uruguay.



This is Blueberries first agreement in Uruguay and the next step in Blueberries international growth strategy under way. In December 2013, Uruguay, became the first country in the world to legalize recreational cannabis, starting a ripple effect throughout the world and particularly in Latin America, which continues to this day. With this agreement, Blueberries will expand its reach to a new jurisdiction, and through the Mercosur Regional Free Trade Bloc, will gain access to Brazil. Latin America, which includes Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay, is a highly populous potential market, with countries that have recent or pending legislation permitting access to cannabis and CBD oils for medicinal use.

YVY is dedicated to the production of dried flowers of medicinal cannabis with their focus on sustainable and high-quality cannabis and hemp cultivation, harvesting their first sustainable crops in April 2020.

We are incredibly pleased with the concept of co-developing new cannabis genetics in collaboration with YVY, and with the opportunity to replicate their unique cultivation model that will bring multiple benefits to our operations in Colombia, said Jose Forero, Blueberries President of Latin American Operations, Likewise, we are excited with the opportunity to register our top genetics in other countries. Uruguay is the perfect jurisdiction to start our expansion into new geographies and potentially export dry flower, something that is not yet allowed in Colombia.

The Framework Agreement, dated March 24, 2021, has an initial term of five years, with customary renewal clauses and no consideration paid by neither party. It is intended as the first step in the relationship with specific accessory agreements to follow in the coming months. Under the Framework Agreement, Blueberries and YVY will structure collaborative plans, initially starting with mutual development of strains and genetics in Colombia, and consequently registration of those cultivars both in Colombia and Uruguay. This will provide a fast-track opportunity to register Blueberries proprietary genetics in Uruguay, thus allowing the partners to cultivate and export dry flower of Blueberries strains from Uruguay.

We are thrilled with this strategic alliance with Blueberries as we venture beyond Uruguay. Our goal is to work closely with Blueberries to replicate YVYs unique cultivation model with small producers in Colombia, producing high-quality and natural products while generating scalable social and environmental impact, said Andrea Krell, Chief Executive Officer of YVY. Our vision is to use the Framework Agreement as the first step in a long-term strategic partnership which will help us quickly take practical steps in developing collaborative projects both in Colombia and Uruguay.

About YVY Life Sciences

YVY is a cannabis lifestyle brand comprising of natural and high-quality products, powered by an innovative and unique cultivation model. YVY operations are currently in Uruguay with expansion plans underway in Colombia and Argentina with potential distribution in Latin America and Europe. YVYs focus and expertise is the cultivation of high-quality cannabis flower, biomass and seeds incorporating genetics R&D and strict quality control. YVY works with strategic partners to manufacture, formulate, and distribute YVY branded products targeting the wellness segment.

For more information about the YVY visit www.yvylifesciences.com, or please contact:

Andrea K Krell, Chief Executive Officer

andrea@yvylifesciences.com

Tel: +598 92 151 456

About Blueberries Medical Corp.

Blueberries is a Latin American licensed producer of naturally grown premium quality cannabis with its primary operations ideally located in the Bogota Savannah of central Colombia. The Company is led by a specialized team with proprietary expertise in agriculture, genetics, extraction, medicine, pharmacology and marketing, Blueberries is fully licensed for the cultivation, production, domestic distribution, and international export of CBD and THC-based medical cannabis in Colombia. Blueberries combination of leading scientific expertise, agricultural advantages and distribution arrangements has positioned the Company to become a leading international supplier of naturally grown, processed, and standardized medicinal-grade cannabis oil extracts and related products.

Additional information about the Company is available at www.blueberriesmed.com. For more information, please contact:

Jose Forero, President, Latin American Operations

jforero@blueberriesmed.com

Tel: +57 310 345 8808

Ian Atacan, Chief Financial Officer

iatacan@blueberriesmed.com

Tel: +1 (416) 562 3220

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward looking statements) within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as expects, or does not expect, is expected, anticipates or does not anticipate, plans, budget, scheduled, forecasts, estimates, believes or intends or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results may or could, would, might or will be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward looking statements relate, among other things, to: commencement of commercial production of CBD-dominant oils and products, successful implementation of full GMP standards at its extraction facility to allow for additional export potential to international markets, achieving additional milestones is contemplated, or at all, ability to expand distribution networks, ability to expand and upgrade the Companys cultivation facilities in Colombia, internal expectations, expectations regarding the ability of the Company to access new Latin American and international markets, the ability to attract and retain new customers, and future expansion plans including development of the cultivation, production, industrialization and marketing of cannabis for commercial and scientific purposes.

These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; expectations regarding the size of the Colombian and international medical cannabis market and changing consumer habits; the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business objectives; plans for expansion; political and social uncertainties; inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; and the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on cultivation, production, distribution and sale of cannabis and cannabis related products in Colombia, Argentina and elsewhere; and employee relations. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

Additional information regarding the Company, and other risks and uncertainties relating to the Companys business are contained under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys Listing Statement dated January 31, 2019 filed on its issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (REGN) said the newly updated National Institutes of Health COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines strongly recommend that REGEN-COV be used in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients at high risk of clinical progression. Also, the NIH COVID-19 Treatments Guidelines Panel recommended that REGEN-COV use should be considered for persons with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who are hospitalized for a reason other than COVID-19 but who otherwise meet the EUA criteria. The company noted that the new guidelines are based in part on robust clinical data involving more than 4,500 outpatients showing that REGEN-COV significantly reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 70% compared to placebo. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The micro-exhibition "Roupel 1941. The battle for Greece's defence", organized on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Marita Operation, will be open, as of Friday, April 9, until Saturday, May 9, at the National Museum of Romanian History (MNIR).

"Roupel 1941. The battle for Greece's defense" presents a significant moment during the Second World War, which took place on the Balkan Peninsula, the history of a confrontation between the troops of Wehrmacht and the Greek defenders who maintained an important defensive position for several days, despite being in a disadvantageous military situation. Not very known to the Romanian public, the battle of Fort Roupel (6-10 April 1941) represents in Greece a page of rare heroism, an example of will for overcoming obstacles and a proof of the desire to fight to the supreme sacrifice in order to defend one's country," MNIR informs through a press release sent to AGERPRES.

Within the exhibition, visitors will be able to see objects with historical value and uniforms and military equipment replicas which were borrowed from Khaki Depot, Military Uniforms, Quality Reproductions for Exhibits and Reenactments (Greece).The main piece of the exhibition is a helmet model 1934/1939, a protective element which was part of the equipment of the Greek Royal Army during the period of 1939-1945. The helmet comes from the area of Fort Roupel, which is in Northern Greece, the province of Central Macedonia and was used by a soldier during the battle for conquering the military objective during the period of April 6-10, 1941.Among the objects which come from the area of the fort, the exhibition shelters a fragment of concrete, barbed wire, metal signs, cartridges and soil.The arrangement is completed by two military uniform replicas with the specific equipment, representative for the Greek Royal Army and the Wehrmacht, so that visitors can better know the equipment differences between the two armies.Fort Roupel was the most important strategic reinforced point on the Metaxa Line, its military value being given due to its proximity to the Bulgarian border.Understanding the historical and memorialistic importance of the fort, the Greek authorities rehabilitated a segment which was introduced in the tourist circuit. Fort Roupel is part of the Salonic War Museum and is visited by a significant number of students, teachers, military history enthusiasts, as well as numerous tourists.Starting with 2016, the Sintiki Municipality of the Central Macedonian Region, at the initiative of SOC. C. BU. Agkistro Action, is organizing "Roupel 1941. The Revival", the most important event of the historical-military re-enactment in Greece, dedicated to the period of the Second World War.AGERPRES
VALLETTA (Reuters) - Aiming to revive its tourism industry and get ahead of rival destinations, Malta plans to offer foreign visitors a handout of up to 200 euros ($238.10) each if they stay at least three days on the Mediterranean island this summer.

Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo announced the scheme on Friday, saying that with most COVID restrictions expected to be lifted by June 1, tourists booking summer holidays directly through local hotels would receive the handout.

World Travel and Tourism Council data show the tourist industry directly and indirectly accounts for more than 27% of Malta's economy, but the sector has been hammered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country attracted more than 2.7 million foreign visitors in 2019 but figures have fallen by more than 80% since the virus was detected in March 2020.

Bartolo said tourists booking accommodation at a five-star hotel will get 100 euros from Malta's Tourism Authority, which will be matched by the hotel for a total of 200 euros.

In a similar arrangement, those opting for a four-star hotel will receive a total of 150 euros and those booking a three-star hotel will receive 100 euros.

The grant grows by 10% when bookings are made with hotels on the smaller Maltese island of Gozo, three kilometres (two miles) north of the mainland.

"The scheme is aimed at putting Malta's hotels in a very competitive position as international tourism restarts," Bartolo said.

It is expected to benefit some 35,000 visitors.

Malta has the highest virus vaccination rate in the European Union, having given at least one dose to 42% of adults.

It has seen a sharp drop in new COVID-19 cases, with the positivity rate - the percentage of tests that show a positive result - down to 2.6%, and the government has been urging the EU to introduce vaccine passports to facilitate travel.

Bartolo said he was also having talks to encourage travel between Malta and Britain, whose inhabitants account for a third of tourists in the former British colony.

($1 = 0.8400 euros)

(Reporting by Christopher Scicluna, editing by Gavin Jones and Susan Fenton)
(JTA)  Steven Spielberg is donating his Genesis Prize earnings to Jewish and non-Jewish groups working to promote racial and economic justice.

The prizes foundation on Thursday announced that the film director would double the $1 million prize with his own money and split it among 10 organizations, including Black Voters Matter and the Jews of Color Initiative.

Judaism and Jewish history begin with two narratives: Genesis and Exodus, stories about creation and liberation from oppression, about the discovery of the moral voice and of human dignity, Spielberg said in a statement....
The military operation in Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State to flush out miscreants has created a new challenge  a refugee crisis  in the state.

The operation was launched in Ntak Ikot Akpan community after some hoodlums attacked and killed three police officers in the local government area a few days ago.

Four officers are still missing after the attack, the police in Akwa Ibom said.

Several people were killed during ground operation and an aerial bombardment by troops.

The Nigerian Army said on Wednesday that those killed during the military operation were hoodlums. It did not, however, mention the number of people killed.

The operation was successfully executed and resulted in the dislodgment of the criminals while fleeing hoodlums were neutralised by the Air Component, the army spokesperson, Mohammed Yerima, a brigadier general, said in a statement.

Mr Yerima said normalcy has been restored in the area, and that people could now go about their businesses.

5,000 people registered in displaced people camps

The Chairperson of Essien Udim, Anthony Luke, said in a statement that nine communities were seriously affected by the security crisis in the local government area.

They are Ntak Ikot Akpan, which is the epicenter of the crisis, Ukana Uwa, Ikot Udo Ekpat, Ikot Otu, Ikot Afanga, Ikot Nsek, Ikot Abia, Ikot Ankan, Ikot Ukpon Etor.

Several people, including women and children, who fled because of the military operation, are yet to return to their homes. They are currently taking refuge in four locations, including St. Anns Catholic Cathedral in the neighbouring Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area.

The other camps are in Civic Centre, Atan, Ikot Okoro and St. Bridget Parish, Urua Akpan.

About 5,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have been registered so far in the four camps, the man in charge of registration said.

Sunday Gabriel, 60, is among the people in St. Anns Cathedral. He said his house and business were destroyed during the military operation.

Mr Gabriel, a poultry farmer and father of six, narrated to PREMIUM TIMES, how he lost his house, poultry and goats farm, his only source of livelihood.

The whole compound was totally burnt, including the poultry farm with 500 birds and a farm of 12 goats, he said.

He appealed to the government to assist him with funds to rebuild his house and business.

Two other persons in the camp said their homes were also destroyed during the military operation.

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Others who said they lost properties to the bombings refused to talk to the press. They were apprehensive of what would happen to them if the hoodlums returned to the communities in Essien Udim.

The displaced people looked hungry. They scampered for food brought to the camp.

One of them, who said she was hungry, begged this reporter for money to enable her buy food. It was her third day in the place, she said.

It is uncertain when they would return to their homes.

We are not Biafrans

The Commissioner for Trade and Investment in Akwa Ibom State, Ukpong Akpabio, on Thursday visited the IDPs at the Catholic Cathedral with some relief materials.

Mr Akpabio, who hails from Essien Udim, expressed shock at the number of IDPs in the camp, and ordered for more materials to be added to the initial five bags of garri and three bags of beans he brought.

The Chair of Essien Udim, Anthony Luke, was present during Mr Akpabios visit.

Mr Akpabio told the IDPs that the government was aware of what they were going through.

I am extremely sad as an indigene of Essien Udim, Mr Akpabio told the IDPs. Government does not want what is happening in Borno State to occur here. We are not Biafrans, we are Nigerians, the commissioner said.

He appealed to the IDPs to volunteer information to authority to assist in addressing the security challenges bedeviling the area.

Some media reports said the gunmen that attacked security officials in Essien Udim were members of the pro-Biafra group, IPOB.

PREMIUM TIMES has, however, not been able to find any link between the proscribed group and the attack.

More so, neither the police nor the military authorities have accused IPOB of being responsible for the attack.

Essien Udim, which shares a boundary with neighbouring Abia State, has been notorious for cult-related violence and killings.

About five weeks ago, some gunmen attacked a police station in the area and set fire on parts of the station and some old vehicles which were parked as exhibits inside the stations premises.

The attack was the second on police officers and police facilities in the area in less than one week.

The Akwa Ibom State Government, on March 26, banned the use of motorcycles and tricycles from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. in Essien Udim and two other nearby local government areas, in order to check criminal activities.
Health Minister Rajesh



Tope on Friday rejected the Centre's claim that more than five lakh vaccine doses were wasted in the state, the worst hit by COVID-19 in the country.

Tope contested the figure put out by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on vaccine wastage, saying it was not correct.

"Wastage quoted is actually national average wastage percentage. State wastage is lesser than half of the national average wastage percentage," Tope tweeted.

On Thursday, Javadekar had saidthe government should not play politics over vaccination.

Giving figures, Javadekar had said the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses supplied to the state till date was 1,06,19,190.

"Theconsumptionwas 90,53,523 (of which 6% per cent wastage - over 5 lakh), Vaccine in pipeline - 7,43,280 andDosage available - nearly 23 lakhs," the Union Minister had tweeted.

Maharashtra, reeling under a spurt in COVID-19 cases, has sought more vaccine supplies from the Centre.

(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.)
Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Chris Boyle Published: April 09 2021

Mark Corrado, 28, of West Babylon, is charged with Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting Resulting in Death.

Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini has announced the indictment of a West Babylon man for leaving the scene of a fatal crash with a pedestrian in Amagansett.

Mark Corrado, 28, of West Babylon, is charged with Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting Resulting in Death, a class D Felony, and Tampering with Physical Evidence, a class E Felony.

This was a horrible tragedy that has left two young children without their mother, District Attorney Sini said. In addition to allegedly fleeing the scene, the driver took even further steps to avoid being identified and taking responsibility for his actions. We will seek to hold him accountable and obtain justice for the victim and her family.

At approximately 11:42 a.m. on Jan. 13, Corrado was driving a 1997 Dodge pickup eastbound on Montauk Highway in Amagansett when he allegedly struck Yuris Cruz Murillo, 36, of Amagansett, who was pushing her two children, ages one and four, in a stroller on the east bound shoulder. Cruz Murillo was transported to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The children were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Corrado allegedly continued driving east and abandoned the vehicle in a wooded area on Gilberts Path in Amagansett. He also allegedly removed the license plates from the vehicle, scratched the registration off the windshield, and took the insurance and registration documents out of the glove compartment. Corrado then called an Uber to drive him back to his residence in West Babylon.

Corrado surrendered himself to East Hampton Town Police Detectives at the Suffolk County Police Departments First Precinct that afternoon.

Corrado was arraigned on the indictment before Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice John Collins today and was released on supervised release with alcohol and narcotics conditions. He is also subject to a 9 p.m. curfew and is prohibited from leaving New York State. His license has been suspended since his arraignment on the felony complaint on January 14. He is being represented by the Legal Aid Society and is due back in court on May 6.

If convicted of the top count, Corrado faces a maximum sentence of two and one-third to seven years in prison.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Daniel Cronin, of the Vehicular Crime Bureau.
Overnight reports from Jacksonville police:

 David R. Harris, 59, homeless, was arrested at 5:53 p.m. Thursday on a charge of criminal trespass to a vehicle after police said he was found sleeping in a vehicle in the 400 block of South Main Street without permission.
An empty Hollywood High hallway is seen in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sept. 8, 2020. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Parents Sue School District, Ask for Immediate Full Reopening

A group of parents in Los Angeles sued the countys school district this week, asserting that each day schools remain closed, students and families are suffering irreparable harm.

California Students United and four parents say in the April 7 suit that all schools in the county could have reopened based on updated statewide criteria but the district kept its schools closed, despite the districts superintendent, Austin Beutner, confirming the district had completed a retrofit of schools and done everything else necessary for a safe reopening.

Both Beutner and the Los Angeles teachers union focused on getting teachers COVID-19 vaccines before reopening, despite vaccinations not being required by law or the districts bargaining agreement with the union, the lawsuit says.

As of April 2, the district had still not reopened any schools, despite mounting evidence that students can safely be in schools without a significant increase in spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, according to the lawsuit. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month said schools could safely reopen and later adjusted its recommendation of six feet of social distancing largely to three feet.

Plaintiffs each shared details about the negative impact that continued closures have had on their children. One said his younger son loved school and was popular among both his peers and teachers. That boy has shown a lack of will to keep up with his studies and complains that he hates remote learning.

Another child, a junior in high school, was a straight-A student. But nowadays, she does not want to get out of bed and would often nap between online classes. Her grades have slipped. And she has stopped eating and told her parents she was depressed.

Plaintiffs asked a judge to order the district to reopen schools for full-time, in-person instruction to the greatest extent possible within seven days.

The suit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Los Angeles school officials declined to comment.

The districts website says some elementary schools will begin reopening on April 12 and the rest will welcome back students on April 19.

Middle and high schools are slated to reopen the week of April 26.

Students do not have to return to school in-person for the remainder of the school year.

A different lawsuit (pdf) was filed last month against the district and the teachers union by four parents, who argued their children have variously become suicidal, isolated, depressed, addicted, clinically obese, and had their future prosperity needlessly imperiled due to the continued school closures.

The suit also asserted that the closures violate Californias Constitution and asked the court to order the union to cease preventing LAUSD from safely returning to in-person instruction for the benefit of Plaintiffs children.
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BRYAN, Texas  One person was killed and five others were wounded Thursday in the wake of a shooting at a cabinet-making business in Bryan, Texas, that resulted in a manhunt and eventual capture of a male suspect who also shot a state trooper, authorities said.

Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske told reporters he believes the shooting suspect is an employee at the Kent Moore Cabinets location where the shooting happened about 2:30 p.m. inside plant bays where employees make cabinets.

The gunman apparently acted alone using a handgun, but a motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, Buske said. He said the suspect, who has not been identified, was gone by the time officers arrived.

Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell said the suspected shooter was arrested in the tiny town of Iola, about 30 miles away from the cabinet plant.

A state trooper who was shot while pursuing the suspect was is in serious but stable condition, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on Twitter.

When Kent Moore Cabinets employees were interviewed, witnesses identified a suspect, Bryan Police Lt. Jason James said before the suspects capture.

At this site, when law enforcement showed up, it was already over with, James said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent agents and dogs to the shooting scene, said spokesman Deon Washington. Police asked people to stay away from the business during the investigation.

Bryan is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Houston and sits on the doorstep of Texas A&M University. The city of more than 86,000 residents is a market, industrial and medical center for the middle Brazos River valley with an economy centered on the university in adjacent College Station and its related agribusiness; computers, research and development. It also is the seat of Brazos County.

According to the companys website, Kent Moore Cabinets is headquartered in Bryan and employs more than 600 people statewide. The company makes custom cabinets and has design centers in neighboring College Station and nearly a dozen Texas cities.

Police responded to a shooting at Kent Moore Cabinets on Thursday, April 8, 2021, in Bryan, Texas. One person was killed and several people were wounded Thursday in the wake of a shooting at a cabinet-making business in Bryan, Texas, authorities said, and a state trooper was later shot during a manhunt that resulted in the suspected shooter being taken into custody. (Cassie Stricker/College Station Eagle via AP)AP

A person who answered the phone Thursday at Kent Moore Cabinets headquarters said she could not provide any information on the shooting.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott offered prayers for shooting victims and their families.

I have been working closely with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers as they assist local law enforcement on a swift response to this criminal act. Their efforts led to the arrest of the shooting suspect.
YEREVAN.  Prior to that, there was no official information that captives were being transferred to us; there were rumors or expectations. Edmon Marukyan, chairman of the opposition Bright Armenia Party and head of its faction in the National Assembly (NA), on Friday told this to reporters in the NA.

"There has been such information for about a month that a group of prisoners of war may be returned to us [from Azerbaijan], but so far there has been no such solution. Yesterday the government media already talked about it, tried to do PR on that topic, which turned out to be the opposite," he added.

According to Marukyan, when a plane carrying POWs departs from Azerbaijan, the Armenian services already know how many people are coming. "If they knew that there was no such thingand I am sure they knew, giving such information and putting our society in stress in such a way (). They tried to do PR on the tragedy, but it did not work out," he said.
More countries pause AstraZeneca vaccine

A day after European regulators described a possible link between AstraZenecas vaccine and rare blood clots, the vaccine faced increasing hurdles as countries around the world moved to restrict its use in younger people. South Korean officials said they would decide this weekend whether to resume administering the shot to people 60 and younger. Others, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark and Norway, have suspended use of the vaccine altogether until more information about the clotting risk is available. Health officials in the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal are also limiting the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over 60. Read more

Let's look at the global statistics Global infections: 133,963,482 Global deaths: 2,902,328 Nations with most cases: US (31,002,264), Brazil (13,279,857), India (13,060,542), France (5,000,155), Russia (4,563,026). Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Thai cabinet becomes Covid hot spot as ministers quarantine

Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's cabinet is becoming the latest hotspot of third wave of infections after a minister fell ill with the virus. Transport Minister tested positive for Covid-19, after developing a fever and being admitted to a hospital. Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is on a 14-day self-quarantine. All members of the party will be absent from parliamentary sessions until they have tested negative for Covid. Read more

Thousands of Australians left in the lurch amid AstraZeneca vaccine fears

States and territories have been left scrambling to respond to government advice recommending against vaccinating anyone under 50 with the AstraZeneca vaccine, leaving tens of thousands of people in the lurch. New South Wales halted its AstraZeneca rollout entirely for several hours while patient consent forms with the latest information about the rare risk of severe clotting associated with the vaccine were added. Meanwhile Western Australia has barred anyone under the age of 50 from getting the AstraZeneca vaccine. Read more

UK Covid cases could rise again despite vaccine progress: WHO official

The success of Britains vaccine programme is not enough to protect it from another wave of unconnected to rising cases in Europe, a senior World Health Organization expert has said. Dr Catherine Smallwood, a senior emergency officer at WHO Europe, also said confidence in vaccines may have dipped after changes to the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab rollout, with under-30s to be offered alternative options amid concerns over rare blood clots. Boris Johnson said last month that the effects of a new wave of on the continent would wash up on our shores, urging the public to get vaccinated to build our defences against the surge when it comes. Read more
The US Department of Labor reported historically high job losses for the 55th week in a row as another 744,000 people filed first-time state unemployment claims last week, an increase of 16,000 from the week prior. The report also showed an additional 152,000 claims filed under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.

The nearly 900,000 combined claims between state and federal programs are nearly four times the pre-pandemic average and demonstrate the reality of economic conditions for millions of workers across the United States.

Mother and daughter prepare to wash dishes at an apartment complex without water, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

The total number of people receiving some form of unemployment benefit remained unchanged from the week prior, with a reported 18.2 million continuing claims filed across all programs. A majority of unemployment benefits are being paid through the federal programs with more than 13 million enrolled in either the CARES Act-created PUA, designed for self-employed, contract or gig workers, or the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, created for workers who have exhausted their state benefits. Pending legislation, both programs will expire in less than five months, on September 6, 2021.

While bourgeois economists and the Biden administration hailed the release of last months jobs report, which showed that employment overall rose by 916,000 in March, the fact is a majority of the low-wage jobs created were in sectors that rely heavily on high COVID-19-risk face-to-face interactions, with some 280,000 of the returning jobs concentrated in the leisure and hospitality sector. The second largest industry that showed significant job growth was in the similarly low-paying, and highly prone to infection, bars and restaurant sector, which added 176,000 jobs.

What the report also revealed was that over 4.2 million people have been out of work for at least six months, representing 43.4 percent of all the unemployed. Even more significant is the fact that nearly 2.4 million Americans have remained unemployed for at least a year.

This number is likely an under-count, since the department does not factor into its calculations workers who have left the labor force entirely and are not looking for a new job, possibly due to well-founded fears of getting infected or after accepting an early retirement or buyout from their employer. Since the report is based on figures from mid-March, it is possible that the number of long-term unemployed will rise even more dramatically next month.

While Democratic and Republican governors alike eschew any restrictions on economic activity in order to halt the unchecked spread of the more contagious and deadlier B.1.17 variant of the virus, which is spreading like wildfire throughout Michigan and has become the dominant strain in the US, millions of workers and their families continue to practice social distancing by abstaining from returning to deadly work sites, avoiding public gatherings and travel.

Reticence by millions of workers to sacrifice their health and well-being for menial, low-paid, and dangerous work has bolstered calls from politicians to impose work-search requirements for those claiming unemployment in an effort to blackmail workers back on the job.

This week, the Virginia Employment Commission announced the resumption of work-search requirements with commissioner Ellen Marie Hess stating that increased vaccination accessworkplace safety regulations, and a robust demand for workers from businesses means that Virginia will resume collecting and reviewing work search activity of customers in the near future.

Nearly 10,500 people have died from COVID-19 in Virginia. Despite demanding that workers return to work, only those with an underlying health condition and people over 65 are currently eligible for the vaccine in Virginia.

In Tennessee, lawmakers are considering legislation that would eviscerate the already poverty-level unemployment benefits offered by the state, reducing the number of weeks a jobless worker would be eligible from the current 26 weeks down to only 12 weeks. Tennessees miserly weekly benefit, capped at $275 a week, or roughly $1,100 a month, is already the fourth lowest in the country.

As states impose new restrictions for thousands of unemployed workers, the struggle just to get benefits that are owed has continued more than a year into the pandemic. In Wisconsin, an emotional Toni Matis of West Bend told TMJ4 that she had been dealing with unemployment for 11 months now and have not received a nickel.

In an experience that is being felt by millions of jobless workers, Matis said through tears that her mental health has completely diminished. This is the most devastating thing I have ever gone through. Im behind on my rent, Im behind on my car payment, I cant pay my electric bill.

Matis is one of the estimated 10 million people in the US who are behind on rent according to the last estimate from Moodys Analytics. While the Biden administration at the last minute renewed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction moratorium in March through June 30, it refused to update the language in the order. This allowed known loopholes to remain, setting the stage for mass evictions, and death, in the coming weeks.

Demonstrating the Swiss-cheese-sized legal holes in the moratorium, Palmer Heenan, an attorney with the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, told the Washington Post that almost 11,700 actual eviction judgements were made across Virginia just between September 2020 and December 2020.

I think a lot of tenants say, Oh theres a moratorium, that means they cant evict me right now, but the reality is far more complicated, said Heenan.

As with the previous order signed under former President Donald Trump, the renewed moratorium still allows for eviction for reasons other than non-payment. Dipti Pidikiti-Smith, director of advocacy at Legal Services of Northern Virginia, told the Post that her office has seen a rise in eviction cases in which the landlord is simply choosing not to renew the leases.

They are using the lease expiration as a pretext. So if a tenant owes a balance, instead of giving a 14-day failure-to-pay-rent notice, which requires landlords to help apply for rent relief, they are just giving a 30-day notice that the lease is expired, said Pidikiti-Smith.

In Texas, legal aid attorney Mark Melton recently told NPR that he expects tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Texans becoming homeless in relatively short order. Melton leads a team of 175 pro bono volunteer lawyers in Dallas.

The expected wave of evictions is due to the March 31 expiration of an emergency order that had previously been issued by the Texas Supreme Court. The order had required judges to enforce the CDC moratorium. However, after the Court refused to extend the directive, an advisory body to the Texas courts, the Texas Justice Court Training Center, NPR reported, issued guidance essentially telling judges its not their job to enforce the CDCs order.

Courts are no longer authorized by the Texas Supreme Court to abate (put on hold) cases based on the CDC eviction moratorium, the directive reads. While landlords could still technically face fines for violating the CDCs rules, Melton told NPR that there has been virtually no enforcement for landlords who violate the order.

In essence, the Texas Supreme Court and the states leaders are abdicating their powers and moral obligation to protect renters from homelessness. Meanwhile, the $1.3 billion state-run rental assistance program has stumbled. As of less than two weeks ago, fewer than 130 payments had been made, said Christina Rosales, deputy director of the advocacy group Texas Housers, in a statement reported by the Texas Tribune.

I think we just stepped off a cliff that we really didnt want to step off, added Melton.

The more-than-year-long mass jobless crisis, like the housing crisis and the ongoing spread of the coronavirus, is not primarily an economic, material or biological problem, but a political problem. At every step of the way, the profit interests of the capitalist ruling class stymie readily knowable and available, scientific solutions. The only way to end poverty, the pandemic and inequality requires the independent intervention of the working class based on a socialist program that prioritizes the health and safety of all rather than that of a privileged few.
A Belfast man has been charged with causing extensive damage to a flat in Derry yesterday.

Daniel Cooper, 25, from Devenish Drive in Newtownabbey, appeared before Derry Magistrates Court today.

He is charged with damaging a large TV, doors, a fire extinguisher, wardrobe, sofa bed, TV bracket, internet router and walls at a flat at Kennedy Place yesterday, April 8.

He is also charged with threatening to kill a woman on the same date.

There was no bail application made on Cooper's behalf.

He was remanded in custody to appear before the local c urt on May 6.
President Joe Biden's top official for the Mexican border, where US authorities are struggling to stop a huge flow of undocumented migrants, will step down, the White House said Friday.

Roberta Jacobson, officially known as coordinator for the Southwest Border at the National Security Council, will leave "at the end of this month," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement.

According to Sullivan, Jacobson had committed to serving only for Biden's first 100 days, which expire on April 30.

However the departure comes as the administration is struggling to handle waves of migrants -- and to fend off criticism that it has lost control of the situation.

Jacobson was tasked with dealing with the governments in the Northern Triangle area of Central America, where most of the migrants come from. That role, however, was passed to Vice President Kamala Harris last month.

Sullivan said Jacobson succeed in "having shaped our relationship with Mexico as an equal partner, having launched our renewed efforts with the Northern Triangle nations of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and having underscored this administration's commitment to reenergizing the US immigration system."

The entry of Harris into the politically tricky issue is "a testament to the importance this administration places on improving conditions in the region," Sullivan said.

On Thursday, official data showed that apprehensions of undocumented migrants on the US border with Mexico soared 70 percent in March to 172,331, hitting the highest level in 15 years.

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BOISE - 25-year-old Alvin Willie George, of Cross City, Florida, has been sentenced to 51 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for cyberstalking Idaho residents, Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael M. Gonzalez, Jr. announced today. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered George to pay $525.31 in restitution to one of the victims.

According to court records, in December 1999, in Texas, two female children were attacked in a bedroom. During the attack both children had their throats slit. One child survived the attack, but her friend was killed. The perpetrator of these crimes was convicted. Beginning in or around November 2016, and over the next several months, George began sending photos from the 1999 crime scene to the surviving victim and her sisters, all of whom live in Idaho. George did not know the surviving victim or her sisters, rather he researched the 1999 murder on the internet and used various Facebook accounts he created to send harassing and intimidating messages to these women, as well as threatening to rape and kill them.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Boise Police Department.
New Delhi: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday (April 9) voiced her support in favour of the students, who want CBSE either to conduct the board exams 2021 in online mode or postpone it in the view of rising COVID-19 infections.

Congress leader said that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) cannot force the students to sit for exams when the COVID-19 situation across the country is this bad.

On Friday, Priyanka Gandhi tweeted: It is downright impossible for boards like the CBSE to force students to sit for exams under the prevailing circumstances. Board exams should either be cancelled, rescheduled, or arranged in a manner that does not require the physical presence of children at crowded exam centres.

It is downright irresponsible of boards like the CBSE to force students to sit for exams under the prevailing circumstances. Board exams should either be cancelled, rescheduled or arranged in a manner that does not require the physical presence of children at crowded exam centres  Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) April 9, 2021

She also put emphasis upon the fact that students of classes 10 and 12 are being pressured during these uncertain times. She also added that this can affect the mental health of the students.

She said via Twitter, While corona is ravaging our country again, the added pressure of exams is bound to affect the mental health of children. Our education system needs to drastically alter its attitude.

While corona is ravaging our country again, the added pressure of exams is bound to affect the mental health of children. Our education system needs to drastically alter its attitude and start reflecting sensitivity and compassion towards children rather than just talk ..1/2  Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) April 9, 2021

She also added that the education system of India should start showing some sensitivity and compassion towards the candidates rather than just talk about it at their conclaves and rallies.

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She has, of course, been preparing herself for some time for the day Philip would no longer be there, but that doesnt make it any easier. To her, they have spent an entire lifetime together.

Lilibet was, after all, only 13 when she first properly met him, and from that very moment, in the words of her oldest and closest friend Mrs Margaret Rhodes, she was a one-man woman.

So today, one can only try to imagine the depth of loneliness of the queen without the man she married in 1947 and who, as she lovingly declared on their golden wedding anniversary, has been my strength and stay all these years.

It will be daunting for her to continue her reign without his companionship and advice, but reign she will. Nor is there any question of her withdrawing from public life in the manner of Queen Victoria after she lost her beloved Albert  the stricken Victoria was only 42.

How will she cope? She has, of course, been preparing herself for some time for the day Philip would no longer be there, but that doesnt make it any easier. To her, they have spent an entire lifetime together

Obviously there will be a gap while she is getting over it, says a lady-in-waiting, but she has faced the possibility in her own mind and the vows she made at the Coronation (my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service) are still with her.

'The real Elizabeth is a very humble person. Her secret, that she divulged to me a very long time ago, is acceptance.

What is likely to happen is that after the eight days of official mourning, with flags on major public buildings and military establishments  especially Naval ones given the Princes service in the Royal Navy  flying at half mast, the Queen will spend a further 30 days mourning in private.

After that  with that characteristic acceptance  she will quietly resume her official life.

But how will she cope? Philip, after all, may have been a dutiful step behind her in public, but in private he was head of the family.

He wore the trousers. Through the arduous round of official and often boring duties, there was always the energising Philip to return to.

One can only try to imagine the depth of loneliness of the Queen without the man she married in 1947. Pictured: Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in a wedding photograph

Lilibet was, after all, only 13 when she first properly met him, and from that very moment, in the words of her oldest and closest friend Mrs Margaret Rhodes, she was a one-man woman. Pictured: The couple during their honeymoon in Malta in 1947

She was never bored in his company, whether they were watching the Antiques Roadshow or re-runs of The Two Ronnies, as they increasingly did in recent years, or dining together, just the two of them, on simple fare at Buckingham Palace when they were free of their engagements.

Philip was the one who paved the way for her at so many functions when  surprisingly, really  she still often has to gather herself before plunging into a room full of people, knowing all eyes will be on her.

Philips role, when he recognised the signs, was to take over and make sure everything went off smoothly. His method was simple: he made people laugh.

Indeed, he told the distinguished artist Michael Noakes, who has painted the Queen several times, that he could make people laugh in 15 seconds. That made them relax, and that relaxed the Queen. He was the ice-breaker.

But the fact is, in the four years since Philip stepped back from official duties, she has become accustomed to fulfilling official life on her own. What is perhaps more surprising is how, when off duty, she has equally grown used to life without Philip.

The Queen waves from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, with the Duke by her side, after her Coronation in June 1953, with their children Prince Charles and Princess Anne

It will be daunting for her to continue her reign without his companionship and advice, but reign she will. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh smile as they arrive at Baldonnel Airport in 2011 for their historic trip to Ireland

Philips role, when he recognised the signs, was to take over and make sure everything went off smoothly. His method was simple: he made people laugh. Pictured: Philip and the Queen at the Royal Highland Games at Braemar in September 2003, in front of Tony and Cherie Blair

In recent times, he had preferred to remain at Wood Farm, the couples bolthole on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, which he has turned into a homely retreat. What we can be certain of is that Philips death has not come as an immense shock to the Queen.

She has been prepared for it, said an old friend. She also has her faith to sustain her. It is central to her life and it means she looks confidently forward to the time when she and he are reunited.

But in these early months, the Queen will need someone to take on that warm-up role when she returns to work. For only a Queen can understand that peculiar kind of regal loneliness.

If anyone can fill that void it will be Princess Anne, so like her father, sharply focused and sharing his confident manner, and witty in a way seldom displayed in public. She has always been closer to the Queen than most people realise, and will now spend more time by her mothers side.

In recent years, the Queen has increasingly turned to her only daughter, especially since suffering the double blow of losing her closest confidantes  her mother, and her sister Margaret  in the space of six weeks in 2002.

But for his humiliation over the Epstein scandal, Prince Andrew might have found his role enhanced alongside a mother who has always indulged him. But until the shadow of the allegations surrounding his involvement with Virginia Roberts are lifted, that seems very unlikely.

But the fact is, in the four years since Philip stepped back from official duties, she has become accustomed to fulfilling official life on her own. Pictured: The monarch at her last engagement on March 31

Then theres Prince Edward. At a time of such sadness, how consoling it must be for the Queen to know that her husbands title Duke of Edinburgh  given to Philip by George VI on their wedding day  will, in time, settle on her youngest child. Fitting, too, as Edward has taken over the running of the Duke of Edinburghs Awards.

The youth achievement scheme that Philip founded in 1956 has become a world leader, operating in 140 countries, and for some years leading up to Philips retirement, Edward had been playing a shadow role alongside his father.

As for Prince Charles, in recent years, as his parents moved towards and into their 90s, he had already assumed a chief executive role in the Firm, and the Queen will look to him more than ever now for leadership.

She has been prepared for it, said an old friend. She also has her faith to sustain her. It is central to her life and it means she looks confidently forward to the time when she and he are reunited. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in November 2020

The last photograph of Philip with the Queen was in November 2020, where the Duke and Queen looked at their homemade card, given to them by their great-grandchildren Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis for their 73rd wedding anniversary

He will take on even more of his mothers official duties, dispensing honours at Palace investitures, receiving ambassadors and perhaps even reading the Queens Speech at the State Opening of Parliament  a task performed by the Lord Chancellor on the only two occasions of her reign when she couldnt do so because she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and later Prince Edward.

Talk of a regency, however, are premature. In the months before Philips death it was being suggested that when the Queen reaches the age at which Philip retired  95  she, too, would stand down, allowing Charles to assume the role of Regent.

Yet friends insist that unless she is incapacitated by ill health she will not. As for the immediate future, the Queen will spend less time at Buckingham Palace and base herself increasingly at Windsor Castle, the place where she has always felt most at home. She is bound also to want to spend more time at Balmoral, a place of many happy memories of family barbecues presided over by Prince Philip.

Memories, of course, are everywhere, many of them noted in the diary that she has kept since she was a girl, updating it every day, last thing at night.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex and wife of Prince Edward will now assume a greater significance in the Queens life. She is the companion of choice when the Queen rides, so gently these days, mainly at Windsor (pictured together in 2019)

Whatever private thoughts and observations, fears and expectations she puts in it, we do know that it is so detailed in assiduously recording events and incidents that friends such as the late Mrs Rhodes, when writing their own memoirs, have turned to her for help with facts, and been sorted out.

Two other women, neither of them born royal, will also now assume a greater significance in the Queens life.

One is Sophie Wessex, the middle-class former PR girl daughter of a tyre company salesman who became Edwards wife. The other is three-times-married Angela Kelly, whose father was a crane operator at Liverpool docks.

Sophie is a very good listener. Angela, the Queens former dresser turned all-powerful personal assistant, is her ears below stairs. She tells her things.

Now 56, the Countess of Wessex has become the easy company to whom the Queen turns for a quiet chat about nothing in particular. She is the companion of choice when the Queen rides, so gently these days, mainly at Windsor.

This is a very special relationship, especially since Sophies mother, Mary, died in 2005.

As for Angela Kelly, who makes the clothes the Queen wears, it became clear that preparations for the future were being made when her grace-and-favour house was changed several years ago from London to Windsor, where it soon became a frequent refuge for the Queen. More than ever now.
Hyderabad: The much-hyped Vaccination Utsav, a four-day vaccination drive announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday may end up more of symbolic due to acute shortage of both Covaxin and Covishield vaccines, particularly in Andhra Pradesh.

Against the required 24 lakh doses for four days, the state as of now has only one lakh doses and the Centre has assured to dispatch two lakh more doses before the launch of the vaccination drive from Chennai. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials to send an SOS to the Centre seeking adequate doses at the earliest.

Official sources told this correspondent that the Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan recently replied to the states request for adequate supplies stating that the Centre would provide one crore doses to cover all the 45 plus in the state. But in reality, the Centre with great difficulty may be able to arrange 10 lakh doses by end of April.

The Chief Minister held a review meeting with officials after the videoconference with the Prime Minister. During the four days, the Chief Minister wanted that at least 24 lakh people should be vaccinated, and directed authorities to arrange for enough vaccine supplies by coordinating with the Centre.

Home minister Mekathoti Sucharita, Chief Secretary Adityanath Das, DGP Gautam Sawang, special chief secretary Anil Kumar Singhal (medical and health) and Secretary Muddada Ravichandra (Covid-19 management and vaccination), health and medical commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar and other senior officials were present at the meeting.

Earlier, the Chief Minister urged the Union government to facilitate quick supply of more doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Andhra Pradesh as the existing stocks will exhaust soon. At present, the State machinery is vaccinating 1.4 lakh every day.

At the meeting that discussed Covid control measures and the Nadu-Nedu in the health department, the Chief Minister said all those aged above 45 have to be vaccinated in the next 30 days. He directed the authorities to take up the vaccination drive in rural areas too with same vigour.

The Chief Minister asked officials to take stern action against private hospitals fleecing the public in the name of Covid treatment. Implement price fixation for the treatment and have strict supervision over the private hospitals, he told the officials.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said the officials must focus on the three-pronged strategy of tracing, testing and treatment to check the pandemics spread. Take action on those who are not wearing masks. Any infected person calling 104 for assistance should be provided with the necessary information, the bed status etc, and assist him/her with medical help. He said sanitation, doctors, paramedics, oxygen as well as medicines should be made available along with infrastructure facilities in every hospital.

The officials said 66 Covid-19 hospitals and 22 Covid-care centres are functional in the state. Besides these, over four lakh home isolation medicine kits were made available.

The Chief Minister said giving weightage in recruitments to those who worked during the Covid-19 spread season would be an encouraging gesture.
iPhone and Mac repairers should carefully consider whether they would benefit from joining Apples Independent Repair Provider (IRP) programme, which will be launching in South Africa soon.

According to Apple, the idea of the IRP programme is to give third party repair shops access to genuine Apple parts, tools, repair manuals, and diagnostics to offer safe and reliable repairs for out-of-warranty Apple products.

To qualify, repair providers need to commit to have an Apple-certified technician perform the repairs at a walk-in shop.

This individual will be required to pass exams through an online Authorised Testing Centre.

Following a successful application, qualifying repair providers can buy certain genuine Apple parts and tools at the same prices as Apple Authorised Service Providers (AASPs).

Membership for the Independent Repair Provider programme is completely free, which may lead repair shops to believe they have nothing to lose by joining.

However, according to reports from the US where the IRP programme has already been introduced, it appears to be of little value to independent repairers.

Currently, there are only two of AASPs in South Africa  iStore and Digicape.

This means that any person who wishes to have their Apple device repaired with a genuine component would have to visit one of those shops.

At face value, the introduction of the IRP would provide consumers with greater choice for high-quality repairs of their Apple devices  including iPhones and MacBooks.

MyBroadband spoke to a popular third party repair shop in Johannesburg who fixes Apple devices like iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and iMacs, to hear whether they would be joining the programme and if they believed it would be of benefit.

The company said it has already applied to become an IRP programme partner and was hoping to start using it as soon as possible.

We feel the need for Apple to acknowledge third party repairs in South Africa. This would add a lot of value to our clients, the repairer said.

We wanted to join this programme as it would allow us to be competitive and offer an even better service to our insurance clients.

This would also enable us to repair the iPhone 12 without error messages.

The company told MyBroadband while it was currently unable to buy parts from Apple, it imported them directly from the same manufacturers which made the components for Apple.

It therefore did not have to use counterfeit products for repairs, even without IRP programme membership.

In addition, it offered a lifetime warranty on all parts replaced, with the exception of batteries and buttons that carry a 3 to 6 month warranty.

While the IRP programme was initially viewed as a step in the right direction from Apple, right-to-repair electronics advocates in the US have since grown sceptical of it.

In February 2020, Vices Motherboard obtained a copy of the contract businesses were required to enter into before being admitted to the IRP programme.

Lawyers have labelled the terms in this contract as crazy and onerous, stating that it would give Apple substantial control over partnering businesses.

Among these, Apple would be allowed to conduct unannounced audits and inspections of the partner businesses with the aim of identifying the use of prohibited repair parts.

In the case that it finds that more than 2% of a repair businesss transactions involved these products, it could impose a $1,000 (around R14,550) fine per transaction which occurred during the audit period.

Since the IRP programme only covers batteries, displays, cameras, speakers, and taptic engines, this introduces a problem for certain repairers who offer repairs of other components.

Since numerous other parts cannot be bought directly from Apple, they would have to be sourced elsewhere and would likely be labelled as prohibited due to being considered counterfeit products or service parts or parts that infringe on Apples intellectual property.

In addition, the contract implied that Apple would have the right to seize any of these components.

IRP programme members would therefore either have to severely limit repairs outside of Apple smartphones and the included genuine components, or risk significant fines.

Even if a company decides to leave the programme, the contract stated that Apple reserved the right to continue inspecting repair shops for five years.

In addition to the concerns around the contract, the expensive prices and elaborate processes involved in acquiring parts under the programme have also been slammed.

Prominent independent repair technician Louis Rossman has explained the predicament of one business owner who joined the programme.

The repairer claimed that Apple makes it extremely difficult to join and use the resources in the first place, and that membership itself was effectively useless.

Aside from a complicated sign up process, which involved numerous emails being sent back and forth between the repairer and Apple, another major caveat was the expensive pricing.

When replacing the battery, for example, partners need to provide the IMEI number of the pack to Apple.

This requires that they open the customers iPhone to check the battery to confirm if it is original or an aftermarket unit.

If the customer approves the repair, the shop can order the part. They then have to wait one or two weeks for it to arrive at a US repairer.

In a market where many consumers rely on their devices for day-to-day activities, having to wait for a repair can cause significant frustration and will likely turn customers to other shops which can perform faster fixes.

In addition, the component prices are expensive.

A Reddit post with a leaked price list of components from 2019 showed a replacement iPhone XR battery cost around $43.51 (R633) when returning a genuine battery.

However, without the genuine battery, a repairer would pay $127.00 (R1,847) for a new pack.

The repairer would also have to add a mark-up to make profit from the repair.

Several independent repairers in the US told Fox Business that this would make the asking price far more expensive than current rates, which is why they dropped their attempts to become members.

While its possible to buy stock in bulk for faster fixes, the repairer will have to put down the full amount for all the units without the refunds for sending back the original components.

This is a risky financial option, since the repairer has no way to know how many of his upcoming customers would actually have genuine components.

It should further be emphasised that IRPs are still classified differently from AASPs, which are able to carry out more repairs with access to Apple parts and diagnostic tools.

MyBroadband contacted Apple for comment on how its programme would work in South Africa in particular but did not receive comment by the time of publication.

The video below from Louis Rossman details several of the issues with the Apple IRP programme, as experienced by a business who became a member.

Now read: iPhone maker warns of component shortage until 2022
[April 09, 2021] A Contact Tracer Uses Soil and Data to Create A Set of "Mortality Paintings" Which May Be Too Big to Fit Into a Single Exhibition Space

LOS ANGELES, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ayzay Ukwuoma, a Los Angeles-based artist has completed a set of paintings that speak to the human condition of mortality. Sourcing the actual city landscape, Ukwuoma collected soil from various city locations, where deaths occurred one year before the advent of Covid-19. He used that soil to create a collection of landscape paintings, each of which he hopes will serve to construct a space for contemplations on mortality. Since the Summer of 2020, Ukwuoma has been a contact tracer in constant dialogue with Covid-19 patients. In strict adherence to the comfort and privacy rights of each person spoken with, Ukwuoma never released patients' stories about the ordeals of sickness and mortality, which had been told to him in confidence. Yet, hearing the testimonials of patients and their contacts; families and friends, made Ukwuoma begin to consider mortality, and how it is revealed and reported in contemporary society. He recalled a Los Angeles Times website, where mortality data was publicly available, a resource which he'd encountered in 2015, upon hearing of a fatal shooting. There, on the LA Times web page, he'd found a large set of data, which related to a particular form of mortalitytragic homicides. Ukwuoma recognized that in its online form, this data lacked the substance of physicality, which he believed could bring about a more visceral understanding of what it means to be mortal in the current times that we live. Using data that he'd found on the website as a guide, Ukwuoma visited multiple locations throughout Los Angeles in approximate closeness to poits on a map where homicides occurred during March of 2019, one year before Covid-19 lockdowns began. At these locations, he collected soil, which he later transformed into a painting medium, and applied to the creation of nearly sixty large landscape paintings, which are now complete and ready for display.



According to the artist, "As a material tied to life and death, soil has a very strong sensibility. It is a point of entry and exit. All life rises from it and returns to it in death. Each of us, as mortals are subject to this passage. Yet, when we read reports of mortality in terms of numbers on pages, or data on screens, it is not the same as sharing a physical space with the substance of mortality. I wanted to offer a stronger impression, and was compelled to make a set of paintings that operated as a physical announcement, a kind of non-textual 'press-release' that would carry the gravity of life in a space shared with death. That is partly why this collection of mortality paintings are entitled 'Press Release from a Fatal Landscape'." There is an inherent 6-foot distancing within the display that the artist envisions for these paintings. Each of the paintings was created on an equally-sized canvas, fashioned in the shape of a golden rectangle, with ratios proportioned to an average American height of approximately 67 inches, by 41 inches. The paintings are to be exhibited together, each laying flat, while dispersed on the floor of a space through which viewers may walk, physically navigating the subject of mortality.

Currently, without a large exhibition space for public viewing, Ukwuoma resolves that he is considering a number of options for showing the paintings, including a distribution of them across multiple exhibition spaces and galleries, or even placing them in public spaces for them to be seen outdoors, individually. Media contact:

Ayzay Ukwuoma

306987@email4pr.com

+1-323-451-2514 www.ayzay.com

www.instagram.com/ayzayukwuoma View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/a-contact-tracer-uses-soil-and-data-to-create-a-set-of-mortality-paintings-which-may-be-too-big-to-fit-into-a-single-exhibition-space-301265659.html SOURCE Ayzay Ukwuoma

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Boxes containing 100,000 doses of the Covaxin vaccine against COVID-19 donated by India are unloaded from a Tam airplane by workers upon their arrival at the Silvio Pettirossi International Airport, in Luque, Paraguay, on March 29. Paraguay received its first batch of 100,000 doses of Covaxin vaccines developed by Bharat Biotech pharmaceutical company, half of the total donated by India. (Norberto Duarte/AFP via Getty Images)
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - Dynasty Gold Corp. (TSXV: DYG) (FSE: D5G) (OTC Pink: DGDCF) ("Dynasty" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that subject to Exchange approval, it has completed the first tranche of an oversubscribed non-brokered private placement of 3,026,176 units for gross proceeds of $514,450. Each unit consists of one common share at $0.17 and one common share purchase warrant at $0.25 for a period of two years. The Company shall have the right to call the outstanding Warrants for expiry upon 20 days notice in the event that the closing price of the common shares of the Company on the TSX-V is above $0.35 for 10 consecutive trading days. The units issued under the private placement are subject to a four-month hold period from the date of closing.

The proceeds from the private placement will be used to advance the company's gold projects and for general corporate purposes.

A drill permit was recently received for the Thundercloud project in Ontario. The Golden Repeat project in Nevada has a current drill permit. Exploration program planning is in progress and details will be announced in due course.

About Dynasty Gold Corp.

Dynasty Gold Corp. is a Canadian exploration company currently focused on gold exploration in North America with projects located in greenstone belts in Ontario and the Midas gold camp in Nevada. Currently, the 70% owned Hatu Qi2 gold mine in the Tien Shan Gold belt, Xinjiang, China, is in legal dispute with Xinjiang Non-Ferrous Industrial Metals Group and its subsidiary Western Region Gold Co. Ltd.. For more information, please visit Company's website www.dynastygoldcorp.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DYNASTY GOLD CORP.

"Ivy Chong"

_________________________________

Ivy Chong, President & CEO

For additional information please contact:

Vancouver Office:

Ivy Chong

Phone: 604.633.2100. Email: ichong@dynastygoldcorp.com

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/80007
Export billet prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) were supported by rising buying prices for the material in Asia, particularly China this week.And the suppliers in the CIS region were offering billet to Turkey at $600-605 per tonne cfr, while the bids from the Turkey were at $590 per tonne.

A CIS...
Russian security agents have searched the home of one of the country's most prominent investigative journalists and brought him in for interrogation, in what his lawyer and editorial team said was related to coverage of one of country's most powerful men.



The raid by Federal Security Service (FSB) agents on April 9 targeting Istories editor-in-chief Roman Anin drew swift condemnation from international investigative-journalism organizations, which described it as the latest assault on media in the country.



After FSB agents searched his Moscow apartment on April 9, Anin was taken to the Investigative Committee in connection with inquiries into "violation of privacy by abusing his professional functions," his lawyer Anna Stavitskaya said. He was later released after refusing to testify and is expected to be interrogated further on April 12.

Istories said on its Telegram channel that its offices had been searched as well.



Anin's lawyer and his editorial team say the investigation is related to a previous case opened in 2016, after the investigative journalist published an explosive report in Novaya gazeta newspaper suggesting state-owned oil giant Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin had links to a yacht valued at $100 million.



The raids also come just weeks after Anin published an investigative piece suggesting the new deputy head of the FSB, Sergei Korolev, has ties to the leaders of several Russian organized criminal groups.



Anin had previously worked for Novaya gazeta, Russia's most prominent opposition newspaper. The publication was found guilty of defamation after Sechin filed a complaint about Anin's report.



In a statement, Novaya gazeta's editorial board said the case was reopened in March, this time against Istories.



"Everything that is happening now with Roman Anin is revenge," the editorial board said. "We will by all legal means and publicly protect our friend and colleague."



Gerard Ryle, director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), said his organization was "closely monitoring the treatment of our cherished member, and partner in investigative reporting, Roman Anin."



"On the face of it, this appears to be a dark day for freedom of the media in Russia," Ryle said. "We stand fully behind Anin's fearless exposure of figures from the criminal and political underworld."



The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) also expressed concern about Anin.



"Anin is one of the best journalists in the world and has led numerous groundbreaking investigations into organized crime and corruption in Russia," OCCRP publisher Drew Sullivan said.



"This is another step in the ongoing squeeze on the remaining independent media in Russia by the authorities," Sullivan said. "Roman is truly an independent voice whose work serves the people of Russia. We are watching the situation closely."



Established last year, Anin's Istories specializes in investigative reports. Among its recent articles are a report on FSB officers surveilling imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and an expose into the wealth of Kirill Shamalov, the former son-in-law of President Vladimir Putin.

With reporting by AFP, RFE/RL's Russian Service, and Novaya gazeta
Damascus, April 9 : The Syrian Foreign Ministry has urged the UN Security Council to take "decisive and immediate measures to prevent the repetition of Israeli attacks on the Syrian territory".

In a statement on Thursday, the Ministry highlighted the need to hold Israel accountable for its "terrorism and crimes committed against the Syrian and Palestinian peoples and its continuous support for terrorist organisations", reports Xinhua news agency.

Israel has yet to respond to the accusation from the Syrian government.

The statement comes as Israeli warplanes fired missiles on Wednesday night against Syrian military positions in the countryside of the capital Damascus.

Pro-rebel activists said four pro-government fighters were killed in the attack while a weapon depot was destroyed.

The Ministry also slammed the Israeli attack as a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, principles of international law and relevant Security Council resolutions that demand respect for the sovereignty of Syria.

According to reports, Israel in recent years has carried out numerous airstrikes against Iranian-linked targets in Syria.
Seoul, April 9 : The Foreign Ministry in Seoul said on Friday that Tehran has released a South Korean oil tanker that was detained at an Iranian port since January 4.

The ship and its captain's 's release came after the remaining 19 sailors of the MT Hankuk Chemi were set free on February 2, according to the Ministry.

The captain had remained in the vessel for the tanker's management, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Ministry said in a statement that it had called for the rapid release via close communications with the Iranian foreign authorities after the South Korean Vice Foreign minister's visit to Tehran in January.

It noted that the captain and the sailors were healthy with the vessel being in a good condition.

The South Korean ship was seized by Iran's military in early January due to an alleged chemical pollution.

On board the vessel were 20 sailors, including five South Koreans, 11 Myanmar nationals, two Indonesians and two Vietnamese.
Chinese ferrous scrap buyers are considering higher bids for imported heavy scrap, with steel mills in both east and northeast China looking to purchase more quantities in the coming weeks.

Buyers in the northeast can bid as high as $485-500 per tonne cfr China, a trader in China told Fastmarkets.



A buyer source at a south China-based steel mill said he was willing to purchase at $480-500 per tonne cfr China for small quantities of trial cargoes.



Other buyers in east China maintained bids at $470 per tonne cfr, while those in northeast China bid at $480-490 per tonne cfr. There have even been bids heard at $495 per tonne cfr China by traders.



Offers remained at $500-505 per tonne cfr China, with Japanese and South Korean scrapyards unwilling to give discounts.



A Chinese seller with port inventories of HRS101 is also holding firm.



I expect a positive environment for the rest of April and in May, so I will wait to sell, he said.



Fastmarkets price assessment for steel scrap, heavy recycled steel materials, cfr China was $475-480 per tonne on Friday April 9, unchanged day on day.



Higher domestic prices have supported the bullish sentiment in the import markets.



Some Chinese steel mills have raised their purchase prices for domestic scrap because of low inventories and a high steel production rate. There remains a few mills that have maintained their purchase prices after seeing the weakening steel price trends over the past few days.



Domestic scrap prices may rise further next week because mills have strong demand and April is a peak month for steel production, a trader in eastern China said.



Fastmarkets assessment for steel scrap heavy scrap domestic, delivered mill China was at 3,290-3,470 yuan ($502-530) per tonne on April 9, widening upward by 80 yuan per tonne from 3,290-3,390 yuan per tonne a week earlier, due to a mill raising its price by 100 yuan per tonne to 3,470 yuan per tonne on Thursday April 8.



In Asia, the higher April Kanto Tetsugen auction results have supported prices in Asia.



Four 5,000-tonne parcels were sold to traders at an average of 43,380 (396.38) per tonne fas, with all of them bound for Vietnamese buyers.



Sellers offered bulk Japanese H2 at $455-460 per tonne cfr Vietnam, refusing to give discounts.



Sellers have also increased offers for bulk Japanese H1&H2 (50:50) cargoes to $460-465 per tonne cfr Taiwan, up from $443-450 per tonne cfr Taiwan in the earlier part of the week.



Taiwanese buyers have secured sufficient containerized heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) cargoes at $413-415 per tonne cfr this past week.
Over the past day, April 8, the armed formations of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire in the Joint Forces Operation area in eastern Ukraine 15 times.

"Over the past day, April 8, the armed formations of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire in the Joint Forces Operation area 15 times, including 11 attacks on the positions of Ukrainian defenders, 2 attacks on civilian infrastructure, 1 remote mining with POM-2 mines and 1 case of equipping fortifications by the enemy," reads the report.

In particular, in the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group East, the enemy opened fire from 122mm artillery, 82mm mortars, heavy machine guns and small arms near Pisky (11km north-west of Donetsk) and Vodiane in the Sea of Azov area.

In addition, Russian occupiers fired heavy machine guns outside Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol), and easel anti-tank grenade launchers  near Nevelske (18km north-west of Donetsk).

In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group North, the invaders opened fire from automatic easel grenade launchers near Luhanske (59km north-east of Donetsk).

A Ukrainian serviceman received fatal injuries in the enemy shelling.

The Joint Forces Command expresses its sincere and deep condolences to the family and friends of the deceased defender.

Ukrainian soldiers returned fire in response to the enemy's shelling.

The Russian-occupation troops twice carried out artillery shelling of civilian infrastructure in the area of Vodiane.

The Ukrainian side of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) informed the OSCE SMM about the violations committed by the armed formations of the Russian Federation.

Today, April 9, no ceasefire violations have been recorded.

Ukrainian military continue to control the situation in the JFO area and adhere to the ceasefire.

ish
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 19:52:16|Editor: huaxia

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KATHMANDU, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Indra Dhakal, 41, a garment trader involved in Nepal-China trade, was waiting for his turn to be inoculated with a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine after already spending three hours in a queue at a Kathmandu-based hospital on Thursday.

"It may take an additional 30-45 minutes before my turn arrives," Dhakal, a resident of Budhanilkantha, at the northern end of the Kathmandu Valley, told Xinhua on the premises of the Civil Service Hospital which had been built with Chinese assistance.

Around 300 people were in the queue waiting for their turn to receive the jab, when Xinhua visited the place on Thursday morning.

The Nepali government has been administering the COVID-19 vaccines donated by China amid resurging COVID-19 cases starting from Wednesday.

A total of 2,655 people aged 18-59 were injected with the vaccine on Wednesday, according to Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population. A batch of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm were delivered to Nepal late last month.

"This vaccine has got global recognition including from the World Health Organization and is being administered across the world. So, I am confident it will keep me safe from the novel coronavirus," said Dhakal.

The Chinese vaccines are being administered at 23 hospitals located in seven districts including Kathmandu, most of which are in the country's capital and its adjacent areas.

Sanitation workers engaged in medicine, water and milk distribution, students studying in China but currently stuck in Nepal due to the pandemic, Nepali students prepared to leave for China for higher education and people involved in cross-border trade between Nepal and China as well as people from certain institutions are being inoculated with the Chinese vaccines, according to the health ministry.

Likewise, people working in postal and telephone services, hotels and restaurants, public transport services, electricity supply, storage and transportation of consumer goods are also among those to be vaccinated, the ministry added.

"People started to stand in a queue from early morning to get Chinese COVID-19 vaccines at the premises of our hospital," Sagar Kumar Rajbhandari, director of the Kathmandu-based Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, told Xinhua on Thursday.

"Around 300 got vaccinated on Wednesday and around 500 are expected to get their first jab on Thursday," the director added. The Nepali government plans to give the second dose of the vaccine after 28 days.

Long queues were observed in many hospitals selected for giving out the vaccination, Jhalak Sharma Gautam, chief of the National Immunization Program under the health ministry, told Xinhua on Thursday.

"There is no hesitation among people to take the Chinese vaccines," he said. The Chinese vaccines arrived when Nepal was struggling to get enough vaccines from other sources to continue its vaccination drive. Nepal had started its vaccination campaign from Jan. 27.

"I am a pharmacist and a medical representative for Cipla, a multinational pharmaceutical company, and I have full trust in the Chinese vaccines because of their efficacy ratio," Nirmal Sherpali, 32, told Xinhua while standing in the queue at the Civil Hospital.

Sherpali, who is also a member of the Nepal Medical Representatives' Association, said that about 1,700 medical representatives with the association will be taking the Chinese vaccines.

Teachers and other staff of some colleges have also received the Chinese vaccines. Badana Tiwari, 26, a lecturer at the Advanced Engineering College in Kathmandu, said she was confident about the Chinese vaccines not only because of their worldwide acceptance, but also due to China's fast recovery from the pandemic.

She was studying at a Shanghai-based university when COVID-19 hit China. She had returned home after completing her studies in June last year. "I saw how China recovered from the pandemic. The Chinese vaccines have also been accepted globally due to their efficacy. So, I have come to get a dose of this vaccine," she said. Enditem
China in Focus (April 8): Chinese Media Blur Western Brand Logos on TV

New reports say Chinese authorities are blurring out the logos of some American brands on TV after the targeted companies commented on forced labor camps in Chinas Xinjiang region.

The U.S. trade blacklist is getting longer. Seven Chinese companies have been added and are now blocked from using American technology. At the same time, the New York Stock Exchange is set to delist a Chinese real estate firm for failing to report its finances.

A Chinese airport is secretly collecting foreigners informationon everyone from celebrities to everyday visitors. The data includes their names, photos, and dates of birth.

A Chinese truck driver commits suicide after getting a $300 ticket. Now, social media users are outraged over authorities indifference toward workers struggles.

The UK is pledging tens of millions of dollars to help people relocate there from Hong Kong. The action offers refuge to those fleeing the city amid Beijings draconian national security law.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China.

For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - Golden Independence Mining Corp. (CSE: IGLD) (OTCQB: GIDM) (FSE: 6NN) (the "Company" or "IGLD") announces it completed the previously-announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $2,800,000 (the "Private Placement").

The financing resulted in the issuance of 11,200,000 units (each a "Unit") at a price of $0.25 per Unit. Each Unit is comprised of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.42 per share for a period of two years from the date of issuance.

In connection with the Private Placement, the Company paid aggregate cash finders' fees of $59,285 and issued an aggregate of 263,040 finder warrants (the "Finder Warrants") to eligible finders, with the Finder Warrants having the same terms and conditions as the Warrants.

Insiders of the Company purchased an aggregate of 304,200 Units in the Private Placement. The Company has relied on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") contained in sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 in respect of such insider participation.

All securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a four-month hold period from the date of issuance. Completion of the Private Placement is subject to the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

None of the Shares or Warrants have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any state of the United States, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would require registration or otherwise be unlawful.

About Golden Independence Mining Corp.

Golden Independence Mining Corp. is an exploration company currently focused on exploring the advanced-stage Independence Gold Property located in the Battle Mountain-Cortez Trend, Nevada and the Champ precious metal property near Castlegar, British Columbia. The Independence Gold Property benefits from over US$25 million in past exploration, including over 200 holes drilled, and is located adjacent to Nevada Gold Mines' Phoenix-Fortitude mining operations in the Battle Mountain-Cortez trend of Nevada.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Christos Doulis, Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: 1.647.924.1083 Email: christos@goldenindependence.co

Forward Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation) that involves various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information includes statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance of the Company, and include, without limitation, statements regarding completion of the Private Placement. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information in this news release, including without limitation, the following risks and uncertainties: (i) the risk that the Canadian Securities Exchange will not accept the terms of the Private Placement; (ii) the risk that the Company will not be able to locate suitable purchasers for the Private Placement; and (iii) management's discretion regarding the use of proceeds. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. This forward-looking information is based on estimates and opinions of management on the date hereof and is expressly qualified by this notice. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada at www.sedar.com. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by applicable law.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION INTO THE UNITED STATES OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/80012
Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek and Senate President Peter Courtney each sent all members in their respective chambers a two-question survey recently.

The questions: What would you like to spend money on? And how much?

The source of the cash is the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, signed into law last month by President Joe Biden.

Oregons share of the ARPA money is $2.6 billion. Legislative budget-writers said they will need roughly $1.3 billion of that to fund existing programs and services, and they also plan to set aside $520 million in a reserve fund for future budget cycles.

That leaves a hefty $780 million unallocated. No one expects the 90 lawmakers to struggle to suggest ways to spend it.

There are a number of needs out there, whether its wildfire or infrastructure or housing, said Kotek, a Portland Democrat.

The survey asks lawmakers to define a problem and propose a solution. The follow-up question asks them to estimate the cost. Ranges are ok, says the form.

Officials in Kotek and Courtneys offices said Thursday they were not immediately able to provide examples of lawmakers responses.

Legislative budget-writers acknowledged last month that using ARPA funds to create new programs could create a budget crunch in 2023-25, as Oregonians are likely to expect those programs to continue. Using the cash for one-time investments would prevent that problem.

Still, Kotek encouraged lawmakers to think expansively.

We are really looking for bigger and bolder ideas to invest that money for the future, for one-time things and some ongoing needs to move our state forward, she said.

The pitch for ideas could result in an oversized version of the traditional Christmas Tree bill at the state Capitol. Thats the term that lawmakers and lobbyists apply to a measure that usually surfaces during the final days of the legislative session in odd-numbered years.

It gets that name because its stuffed with cash to pay for presents in lawmakers districts around the state. It is rumored to be used as leverage to secure votes on other policy and spending bills.

With Republicans having staged several quorum-killing walkouts over the past few sessions, the prospect of getting to divide up nearly $800 million in federal cash could be a way to keep the GOP lawmakers in the building.

Kotek said theres no limit to the number of funding pitches lawmakers can make.

They can submit as many forms as they want, she said.

Chris Lehman clehman@oregonian.com
The restrictions will be relaxed for those with health issues and their attendants and those into essential services, delivery of goods and e -commerce.  Representational image/DC

ANANTAPUR: The night curfew that has been imposed by the Karnataka government will have an impact on border areas of Andhra Pradesh and also travellers from Telangana State.

In the wake of the alarming rise of corona positive cases, the Karnataka government imposed night curfew in six districts, including Bengaluru, Udipi, Mangaluru and Tumkuru from Saturday night.

The night curfew will be imposed from 10 pm to 5 am and will be in force until April 20, sources revealed.

Karnataka has already made it mandatory for travellers to carry Covid-19 negative reports. The night curfew will in particular affect farm labourers, and the business class, among others.

However, the restrictions will be relaxed for those with health issues and their attendants and those into essential services, delivery of goods and e -commerce.

While industrial employees working in night shifts must reach their work station by 10 pm, those adversely hit would be skilled and unskilled labourers from border areas of Anantapur district, including Madakasira, Hindupur, Kadiri, Kalyanadurgam and Rayadurgam.

Raghu from Hindupur admitted his wife at a private nursing home in Bengaluru. He said he needs to collect all necessary documents from the hospital to avoid trouble from police. Lakshmamma, labourer from Rolla mandal closer to Tumkur said she would now have to stay at home.
ALACHUA, Fla., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Concept Companies, a national real estate development firm based in Gainesville, FL, has announced the first facility for its new venture, Momentum Labs. The flagship location will be based in the heart of North Florida's bustling biotech cluster in Alachua, FL. Momentum Labs' will provide turnkey facilities for promising early-stage biotech companies through the development of fully-furnished and equipped laboratories with flexible lease terms. Launching Momentum Labs is a sign of tangible progress in the region, as the area continues to build credibility and leadership for bolstering critical research and innovation, particularly in the biotech space.

"Momentum Labs is the natural next step for companies graduating from incubators like the Sid Martin Biotech that need a little more time before making a significant investment into custom lab space and equipment," stated Brian Crawford, CEO of Concept Companies. Momentum Labs will provide a much-needed interim step for Sid Martin graduates as their growth progresses, also allowing Sid Martin to rotate business in and out more quickly, and promoting a stronger life science ecosystem in the region."

Momentum Labs will be a state-of-the-art facility with dedicated staff who provide service similar to what companies in biotech incubators have become accustomed to while concurrently tailoring services to better fit recent incubator graduates moving toward commercialization.

"Momentum Labs is perfectly positioned to support research organizations during an important period in their growth cycle," Mark Long, Director of Incubation Services at University of Florida. "We look forward to collaborating with Momentum Labs in the years to come."

Momentum is movement that is being propelled forward, and Momentum Labs is aptly named as it represents the rapid progression that is occurring within North Florida's vibrant research community.

Phase One of Momentum Labs new flagship facility is expected to be between 50,000 and 60,000 square feet, with potential expansion up to 120,000 in Alachua and the potential for additional locations critical to the ecosystem in North Florida. The building is expected to reach completion by Summer 2022.

About Concept Companies, Inc.

Concept Companies is a national full-service real estate development firm headquartered in Gainesville, Florida. With a proven portfolio of success in projects ranging from single-tenant net lease and corporate build-to-suit to community-enhancing mixed-use projects, their dedication to excellence is evident. Its diverse experience results in the development of effective solutions for its clients' real estate and facilities needs. Concept is committed to providing state-of the art solutions for science and technology companies in the Southeast. For more information, visit www.conceptcompanies.net.

SOURCE Concept Companies
(TNS) - A huge surge in demand to gobble up available Johnson & Johnson vaccine blanketed Cal State Los Angeles' mass immunization site on Thursday, April 8, forcing site managers to turn away people who caught word that the scarce serum was available without an appointment.Through the morning and into the afternoon, hundreds of people lined up early at the site, run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the California Office of Emergency Services. Bumper-to-bumper lines of vehicles stretched for blocks to and from the university campus for a one-dose chance to be immunized.The governor's Office of Emergency Services said Wednesday that many appointments for the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine were going unfilled at the federally run site, and as a result, the site planned to offer shots for anyone 18 or older on a walk-up basis between Thursday and Sunday.It was essentially a blanket invitation to come get a shot, provided recipients could attest to eligibility. In response to that invitation, people began lining up at the site hours before it opened at 9 a.m. Things appeared to be going smoothly initially, but by 10 a.m., people were being turned away.And even those who came from clear across L.A., with appointments, were in for a mammoth wait  including Ramon Lopez, of Woodlands Hills, who said he had been in line for about an hour and a half, followed by another 30-minute wait just ahead of the injection.The site accommodates drive-ups and walk-ups, but operators shut down the walk-up portion on Thursday due to the surging demand.Officials encouraged people waiting in line without appointments, or those who want to be vaccinated at this site in the coming days, to make an appointment through visiting the state's MyTurn.ca.gov website or by calling prior to coming to Cal State LA. Officials stressed that the only way to guarantee an appointment at the site was to register ahead of time through the state's MyTurn system."The enthusiasm and interest from the public has been overwhelming and positive today and demand has far outnumbered the limited supply of 7,000 vaccines per day that we are able to administer, " according to a statement from CalOES.It was unclear why there was a glut of appointment slots, especially as local public health officials expect the most intense demand yet as eligibility widens.The Federal Emergency Management Agency's partnership with the governor's office to operate the site ends on Sunday, and the city of Los Angeles will take over management of the site on Monday.As of Wednesday, the East L.A. site  and its associated mobile vaccination clinics  had administered more than 313,000 doses. By the time officials put out the invitation, they said there was enough vaccine to reach a goal of 350,000 doses by the time the federal/state partnership ends on Sunday at the site, and on Saturday among the mobile clinics.In contrast to sites run by local counties and their affiliated vaccine networks, the Cal State site  and its sister site in Oakland  got their vaccine batches directly from the federal government. County PODS and networks get their allocations from the state, which gets them from the federal government. Vaccines following that supply line have been sporadic and difficult to plan for.The Cal State location was opened in February as an eight-week pilot project. It marked a cooperative effort between the state and federal government targeting lower-income areas hard hit by the pandemic. A team of more than 200 soldiers, deployed from Fort Carson in Colorado, were deployed to Southern California to help establish and staff the complex.More than 68 percent of doses have been administered to people in underserved and at-risk communities. Between the two sites, more than 650,000 doses were distributed in California.The site had been set to close on April 11, but L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said his city will take over on April 12.The issue of open vaccine slots early in the week was happening not only at the federal/state site.COVID-19 vaccination appointments at county-operated venues also appeared widely available on Wednesday, but the county's public health director, Barbara, Ferrer, said it was likely the result of scheduling issues, not a sign of dwindling demand.Ferrer also said that even if there is a sudden wide availability of appointments, it doesn't mean the county should immediately expand eligibility to everyone aged 16 and over, which is scheduled to occur April 15."There's 5.5 million people in (currently) eligible groups, and all of them have not received their first dose," Ferrer said. "... We only opened for people 50 and older a few days ago, so we're going to continue to make sure there's good access."Appointments were also readily available at many Los Angeles city-operated sites, and county Supervisor Janice Hahn took to Twitter to say there were slots waiting at a vaccination center in San Pedro.The county Department of Public Health even announced online the availability of vaccination appointments for Thursday at its county-operated vaccine sites, particularly the large-scale site at Six Flags Magic Mountain.But Ferrer noted that appointment slots often open in waves, since sites can't list available appointments until they are assured of their supply of doses."One of the dilemmas here is that we're still struggling to be able to actually release appointments ahead of time, and many of us really are still only able to release appointments a couple days in advance of when ... people can go and get vaccinated," she said. "We're really trying to work hard to get a smoother forecast moving forward."Often when people go online and find a wealth of available slots, "it's because somebody just opened up a host of appointments," Ferrer said.She said health officials monitor activity at the various vaccination sites, and if appointments aren't filled, capacity is increased at other sites with higher demand. She said the county is "looking into what might explain why at some sites we have more availability this week," but she said vaccine doses are not going unused. She noted that the county generally administers about 95% of the doses it receives within seven days."The goal here is always, and we've been great about this ... (to) get vaccine into people's arms within a seven-day period, and we are never carrying over a vaccine one week to the next," she said. "And we've always met that goal."She said she did not foresee a reversal of that trend this week, despite a sudden surge in appointment availability."Until we start seeing a problem this week with actually filling appointments for the rest of the week, I would say we're on a pretty good path to making sure those doses are actually administered," she said.Photographer Brittany Murray and City News Service contributed to this report.___(c)2021 the Daily News (Los Angeles)Visit the Daily News (Los Angeles) at www.dailynews.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
New Delhi, April 9 : The CBI on Friday carried out searches at premises of Alka Rajvanshi Jain, Commissioner of Income Tax Appeals in Udaipur, and her husband, Amit Jain, the Group General Manager (S&T), Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd in Jodhpur and recovered Rs 13.2 lakh in cash besides several documents of properties worth crores in connection with a disproportionate asset case.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official said that the agency sleuths carried out searches at the residential and office premises of the couple and her brother Vikas Rajvanshi in Rajasthan's Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur.

The official said that during searches, incriminating documents including about acquisition of immovable assets worth Rs 7.96 crore, bank balance/FDRs of Rs 70.4 lakh, Rs 13.20 lakh in cash, jewellery, were seized, while the teams also found some lockers in various banks at Jodhpur, Jaipur and Udaipur.

The CBI had registered a case on the allegations that a Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), Udaipur, while working in different capacities in Income Tax department, and her husband acquired huge movable and immovable assets during the period from April 2010 to June 2018 in their names, which were disproportionate to their known sources of income to the tune of Rs 5.53 crore.
The activists are slowly and safely departing the area on their way to free hotel rooms thanks to Mayor Q, City Hall largess paid for by federal stimmy.

Still according to local restaurants and neighbors . . .



AN INFLUX OF RATS NOW SCURRIES NEAR HOMELESS CAMP SITES DESPERATELY SEARCHING FOR LEFTOVER FOOD!!!



Given reports of public defecation and volunteers providing a bevy of burrito bowls and other goodies, the public health crisis was alerted by city hall.

Sadly, the topic of rats was avoided given that KCMO typically has a hard time controlling these critters and the rainy springtime weather usually pushes them up from the depths of the sewers.

A quick message from a friend of the blog in Westport . . .

"Get a look at the camp sites now. Really disgusting. I'm glad these people have somewhere more suitable to go and I hope the leave it in better condition. This place is trash, there's literally sh*t everywhere and the rats are out in broad daylight. Drove by the mess this morning, not going to be walking by that place anytime soon."



Accordingly . . .



As city hall is busy cleaning up the mess today, we post this story if only to remind locals that pest control might also be a concern now that protesters and homeless are now occupying nicer digs.



Developing . . .


As more Americans line up to receive their COVID-19 vaccines, theres confusion over just how protective the shots are against the disease.

Clinical trials showed the Pfizer and Moderna shots, for example, had efficacy rates of about 95% against symptomatic COVID-19 in lab settings.

So, that means 5% of people who get vaccinated could still get sick, right?

No  it also doesnt mean vaccinated people have a 5% chance of getting COVID-19 or that 95% of people are protected from the disease. Data suggests risk of infection after vaccination is actually much lower.

Efficacy tells us about risk reduction, so people who get vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna shots benefit from about a 95% lower risk of developing COVID-19 compared to those who are not vaccinated.

Still confused? Think of it this way.

If you could clone yourself and you had one version of you that was vaccinated and then one version of you that was unvaccinated, then the vaccinated one is 95% less likely to get sick, Natalie Dean, a biostatistician specializing in infectious diseases at the University of Florida, told Bloomberg.

Breaking the math down helps

About 36,000 people were involved in Pfizers late-stage vaccine trial in which about half received the shot and another half a placebo. In total, 170 people developed symptomatic COVID-19  162 in the placebo group and eight in the vaccine group.

So, in reality, the odds of getting symptomatic COVID-19 after vaccination is really 0.04% (not 5%) after you divide the number of vaccinated people who got sick to the total number of vaccinated people.

But even this explanation is misleading, according to Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, a virus expert at Yale University.

If you were to ensure that the 18,000 people all got exposed to the virus, then yes, the vaccine efficacy would be incredible, right? But theyre not, Iwasaki told Business Insider. Thats why we have to compare the vaccine arm with the placebo arm, because the placebo arm is what tells us how much exposure and infection there would have been, if they werent immunized with the vaccine.

Story continues

Its more helpful to compare the eight people who got infected after vaccination to the 162 people who got sick without a vaccine. Scientists do this by finding the difference between the fractions of people who got sick in the placebo and vaccine group.

Thats where the 95% comes from, Iwasaki said.

The same process applies to the Moderna and one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

That makes the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines one of the most effective vaccines that we have, Brianne Barker, a virologist at Drew University in New Jersey, told Live Science.

For comparison, the flu vaccine is between 40% and 60% effective, depending on the version of the virus thats circulating in a given year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Yet, the flu vaccine prevented an estimated 7.5 million flu illnesses, 105,000 hospitalizations and 6,300 deaths during the 2019-2020 season.

The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 shot is just as effective at preventing severe COVID-19 infections compared to the other coronavirus candidates, experts say. But its easy to not understand why given late-stage trials showed the shot had a lower efficacy rate (72%) compared to Pfizer and Moderna among Americans.

Thats because it had a very different clinical trial than those of the Pfizer and Moderna shots; Johnson & Johnson was up against the new coronavirus variants that appear to be more contagious and evade vaccines to a small degree. Pfizer and Moderna completed their clinical trials before the variants emerged from the U.K., Brazil and South Africa.

While clinical trials give us the vaccines efficacy rates, they do not reveal the shots effectiveness, which is how well the vaccines protect against COVID-19 in real-world settings outside of the lab. However, emerging evidence suggests the vaccines are performing just as well now that millions in the general population have been vaccinated.

A CDC study posted last week found that risk of coronavirus infection dropped by 90% two weeks after receiving a second and final dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, and by 80% two weeks following a single dose among nearly 4,000 health care workers, first responders and other essential workers across six states.

Overall, it suggests vaccines can prevent both asymptomatic  without symptoms  and symptomatic infections among vaccinated people.

How soon  and how long  could you feel side effects of COVID vaccines? What to know

Can you donate blood after getting a COVID vaccine? What to know about eligibility

Is it OK to drink alcohol before or after COVID vaccination? What to know
Sky Lakes Collaborative Health Center in Klamath Falls is offering an invitation today: Help end the pandemic: Get a vaccination.

Sky Lakes Medical Center is asking Klamath County adults to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at one of its three vaccination clinics this month, with appointments available for all Klamath County adults.

Sky Lakes says it will administer vaccinations to people 18 years old and older April 22nd and April 23rd at the Sky Lakes Vaccination Clinic on the fourth floor of the original medical center. Sky Lakes Collaborative Health Center on the medical center campus will be the site of an April 24th vaccination clinic also for adults.

Oregon Health Authority is making all Oregon adults eligible for coronavirus vaccination starting April 19th.

Sky Lakes recommends securing a vaccine dose and minimum wait times by making a COVID-19 vaccination appointment by calling 1-833-606-4370 weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. as, No walk-in slots or on-site appointments are available.

Sky Lakes expects to announce additional vaccination clinics for people 16 and 17 years old after confirming an adequate supply of vaccine by Pfizer, which is the only vaccine approved for the younger age group.

Sky Lakes says when enough people are immunized against COVID-19, the virus will be less able to spread and less able to dilute medical resources for people needing them.
In the runs: Pakistan's Fakhar Zaman celebrates after scoring his second successive century in the third ODI against South Africa

Many of South Africa's best cricketers will be involved in Twenty20 matches on Saturday  but only some of them will be playing for their country in the first of four T20 internationals against Pakistan at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.

The series is being played at the same time as the early stages of the Indian Premier League and the juxtaposition provides a clear illustration of the relative standing of the two international teams.

As the first innings in Johannesburg draws to a close on Saturday, Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals will take the field in the IPL.

Former South African captain Faf du Plessis, fast bowler Lungi Ngidi and leg-spinner Imran Tahir are in the CSK squad, while fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje are contracted to Delhi.

Although they may sit out the first round of IPL games because of quarantine restrictions, all three of South Africa's pace battery in the first two one-day internationals against Pakistan last weekend  Rabada, Nortje and Ngidi  will be in Mumbai instead of playing in Johannesburg.

Also in India after playing in the first two games against Pakistan are batsmen Quinton de Kock and David Miller, while IPL stars AB de Villiers and Chris Morris appear to have been lost to international cricket.

Pakistan, by contrast, have not lost any players to the IPL.

The non-participation of Pakistan players in cricket's richest league owes more to politics than playing ability because the likes of Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman and Shaheen Shah Afridi would slot comfortably into any IPL side.

South Africa's situation is one of pragmatism.

Cricket South Africa want to stay on the right side of their Indian counterparts by releasing their stars and in any case cannot afford to pay the sort of money that would persuade their leading players to put country ahead of club, especially for a tournament that was arranged less than two months ago.

South Africa head coach Mark Boucher put a positive spin on the loss of key players to the IPL, noting that they will be sharpening their skills against world-class opponents in the country where the T20 World Cup will be played later this year.

Story continues

And the holes left in the national side provide opportunities for fringe players to push longer-term claims.

There are four uncapped men in the South African squad.

Pakistan won the one-day series that finished on Wednesday and will start favourites to win the T20 games as well.

They appear to be stronger in both batting and bowling, with South Africa's batting further weakened by the likely absence through injury of captain Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen.

Pakistan, though, will be looking for bigger contributions from their middle order batsmen after the bulk of their runs in the one-day games came from their top three, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam.

Imam is not in the T20 squad but Fakhar, not originally in the squad, has been added, while Sharjeel Khan and Haider Ali will be vying for game time.

Fixtures:

April 10, Johannesburg

April 12, Johannesburg

April 14, Centurion

April 16, Centurion

str/dj
Technology innovation gives government leverage to drive down emissions fast  heres how

To avert the worst effects of climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions should fall at faster rates than they have risen for over a century. Economies must essentially turn on a dime and then move quickly toward a carbon-free future.

In the U.S., the Biden-Harris administration has recommitted the country to this goal and recently announced plans for major investments in clean energy infrastructure and research. To succeed, they should use their most powerful tool for amplifying the benefits of each investment: technology innovation.

As my research on technology innovation shows, government policies can kick off fast progress. The examples of solar energy, wind energy and lithium-ion batteries show how the process works. All three technologies improved at exponential rates alongside swiftly growing markets.

These trends were triggered by government policies in a handful of countries that drove global innovative activity and competition for market share, enlisting the creativity of companies and researchers to solve difficult problems, all while creating new businesses and jobs. The innovations occurred from early technology concept to adoption at scale, in engineering and science labs, on manufacturing floors and at construction sites.

Importantly, these examples demonstrated that the choice wasnt between government intervention and competitive markets; the two together drove progress. Intentionally employing this combined effect is governments best bet for accelerating progress on climate change going forward.

Lessons from renewable energy and batteries

Heres how the process unfolded for solar energy. Starting in the 1970s and extending until the present day, countries including Japan, Germany, the U.S. and China began offering incentives for solar energy. The policies varied, but they all created financial incentives for energy project developers to build solar power facilities. In response, private companies around the world innovated to compete for market share. They improved manufacturing to waste less material and built bigger plants to increase productivity.

Government research funding was also instrumental, with the U.S. making the largest overall contribution. Research discoveries informed new solar cell materials and panel designs that were more efficient at converting sunlight into electricity.

The resulting exponential trends in solar energy market expansion and cost reduction exceeded the projections of many experts. These trends were mirrored by those in wind energy and, a bit later, lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and other energy storage applications. The details of each technologys process are different, but in all three cases, government policy was an igniting spark for rapid advancement.

The innovation still needed

Past developments in solar energy, wind energy and batteries are encouraging. But other technologies are needed for a clean energy transition, including those that can help fully decarbonize heating, electricity, industry and transportation. Progress must be faster and be more comprehensive (covering all energy services) than what has come before.

In one decarbonized future scenario, nearly all cars are electric, charged using carbon-free electricity. Across U.S. cities, residents use clean energy-fueled public transit for travel on most days, simply because it is convenient. People walk and bike along safe and enjoyable routes. Goods are delivered in electric vans, and people and products are transported longer distances by planes, rail, ships and trucks, all running on carbon-free fuels. It is easier for households and office buildings to opt into energy efficiency improvements and electrified heating than to opt out. Heavy industry runs on low-carbon fuels and captures any carbon dioxide before it is emitted.

To get there quickly, innovation is needed in physical technologies and infrastructures, like ultra-low-cost batteries, carbon-free jet fuel and resilient power grids, but also in software and business models. Better software could help predict and manage shortfalls and excesses in variable renewable energy. New business models are needed to enable a more integrated energy system, where excess renewable electricity is used to produce carbon-free fuels, such as hydrogen, and electrified industrial processes can turn on and off, acting as storage for the power grid.
[April 09, 2021] CUBIC INVESTOR ALERT By the Former Attorney General of Louisiana: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Investigates Adequacy of Price and Process in Proposed Sale of Cubic Corporation - CUB

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 yo, e-mail or call KSF Managing Partner Lewis S. Kahn (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) 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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005435/en/

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Position Objective: Contributes to the provision of high-quality, cost-effective healthcare as a provider of direct and indirect patient care and by effective of the health care team. Functions as a competent member of the health care team. Essentional Job Duties: Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 1. Clinical Decision Making/Judgment Demonstrates clinical nursing knowledge and skill in the specialization of the unit.

Demonstrates the ability to apply the nursing process effectively in the care of culturally diverse patients and families. Demonstrates the ability to utilize all applicable laws, policies, standards, guidelines and evidence-based practice in the provision of patient/family care.

Organizes and reprioritizes patient care activities based on subtle and overt and/or environmental changes.

Consistently and thoroughly assesses patients to collect data and identify learning needs according to established standards and policies.

Utilizes a systematic, continuous and complete analysis of assessment data to develop individualized problem lists for assigned patients.

Develops and individualizes a plan of care for each patient in accordance with established standards, appropriate prioritization of problems/needs, and mutually agreed upon goals.

Efficiently implements the patient's plan of care in accordance with applicable standards, policies, procedures and guidelines.

Demonstrates proficiency in medication administration, pain management and other unit or initiative specific skills.

Continuously evaluates the effectiveness of the plan(s) of care, making revisions and recommendations based on analysis of patient responses to interventions. 2. Nurse-Patient Family Relationships Demonstrates the ability to assess the patient's/family's learning needs, readiness to learn, learning style, and presence of barriers to learning.

Demonstrates the ability to develop, implement and evaluate teaching plans for patient populations in unit specialty in accordance with applicable standards.

Demonstrates the ability to apply knowledge of growth and development across the life span to the care of patients.

Provides direct patient care to patients and families in a culturally, developmentally and ethically appropriate manner.

Plans of care address the physical, psychosocial, spiritual and learning needs of the patient/family. 3. Clinical Scholarship Participates in QI, CPI and risk management activities at the unit, department or organizational level.

Demonstrates the ability to effectively perform and improve all processes in order to achieve excellence with regard to AAMC's quality standards and benchmarks.

Supports the use of evidence based guidelines and organizational policies and procedures to promote safe patient care and a safe practice environment. 4. Clinical Leadership Participates in unit shared governance according to departmental standards.

Participates in the education and orientation of new staff.

Delegates patient care activities as appropriate; evaluates delegated activities for expected patient care outcomes.

Employs real time computer documentation when completing patient record. Educational/Experience Requirements: Graduate of an accredited school of nursing

Adherence to the credentialing requirements of AAMC as stated in the nursing bylaws. Required License/Certifications: Current licensure as a registered nurse by the Maryland Board of Nursing.

BLS - American Heart Association Healthcare Provider certification Working Conditions, Equipment, Physical Demands: There is a reasonable expectation that employees in this position will be exposed to blood-borne pathogens. Physical Demands - Medium work. Exerting up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 30 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 10 pounds of force constantly to move objects. The physical demands and work environment that have been described are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The above job description is an overview of the functions and requirements for this position. This document is not intended to be an exhaustive list encompassing every duty and requirement of this position; your supervisor may assign other duties as deemed necessary.


GILLETTE  Fossil fuels have been targeted by environmental groups and political policy for years, and things could get worse as President Joe Bidens administration works through its priorities. Thats why its important that lawmakers, the state of Wyoming and fossil fuel industries work together and push back.

That was the message Republican U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney and Bruce Westerman, who represents Arkansas 4th Congressional District, had for representatives from the energy sector during a roundtable discussion at the Integrated Test Center this week.

We know what a war on...
It looked like a gorgeous day in Old Town, the Washington district that Vicky Phelan is calling home as she receives treatment from Dr Julius Strauss at the National Institute of Health in Maryland.

The women's health advocate paused by the Potomac river to update followers on her health following round six of treatment and the Covid vaccine.

Phelan has been very unwell following earlier rounds of treatment, but a new medication regime appears to be keeping the worst symptoms at bay.

"So I am one-day post-Covid vaccine and two days post-treatment and I am flying it," she said. "It looks like my body is finally getting used to the treatment so I didnt have any nausea or vomiting - I was a little bit groggy but not as groggy as I was two weeks ago. I am very happy to be the way I am today."

Phelan received the Johson & Johnson vaccine, delivered in one injection, and said on Thursday morning "I am both delighted and relieved to now be vaccinated as the constant worry of catching Covid was weighing heavily on me.

"Because if I were to catch Covid, I would have to come off my clinical trial and that was simply something that I did not want to happen."

She says that the vaccine will allow her to be a tourist in Washington now.

"It will take about two weeks to kick in (as far as I know, from what I have read) so I will continue to wear a mask because I have to here, but it means I will have a bit more freedom to do more touristy things and Ill be able to go into busier shops and busy areas which I have kind of been avoiding to be quite honest.

First on the list is a visit to Washington DC.

"Im really pleased that I can do a little bit more here - Ive only been into Washington DC once and Im here just over three months now. Its literally less than six miles away. You can see the monuments - the Lincoln memorial and the Capitol building from Old Town - its literally that close."

She signed off her update with a message of thanks and hope for those of us at home.

"I hope everyone is doing ok at home. I wish you all the best and please God well be opening up countywide next week and that will make a huge difference to a lot of people. Youll be able to get out of your five-kilometre limit which I know you must be going crazy over. Thank you again for all your support."
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.
U.S. "increasingly concerned" by Russian military buildup along Ukraine border

Xinhua) 15:55, April 09, 2021

Photo taken on Jan. 20, 2021 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order returning the United States to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Russia currently deployed more troops along the border with Ukraine than any time since 2014, when the conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out.

WASHINGTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on Thursday that the United States is "increasingly concerned" by Russian troop movements on its border with Ukraine, noting Russia now has more troops along the border than any time since 2014.

"The United States is increasingly concerned by recent escalating Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, including Russian troop movements on Ukraine's border," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during the daily briefing.

"Five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed this week alone. These are all deeply concerning signs," she added.

She also noted that Russia currently deployed more troops along the border with Ukraine than any time since 2014, when the conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out. The ongoing conflict has killed some 14,000 people and left as many as 40,000 wounded.

Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak said Thursday that Russia would be forced to defend residents in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region if there is a need to do so.

Such a decision will depend on the scale of violence in the region, Kozak said, adding that the "armed formations" in Donbas are experienced and currently able to defend themselves without external assistance.

He reiterated that Russia does not want to violate Ukraine's sovereignty or seize its territories.

President Joe Biden affirmed U.S. "unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity" to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call last Friday.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has been escalating since February and the clashes between the Donbas insurgents and Ukrainian government forces intensified despite the ceasefire secured in July last year.

(Web editor: Shi Xi, Bianji)
A court in Moscow has sentenced a man to 3 1/2 years in prison on a criminal charge of attacking a police officer during January 31 rallies in support of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.

The Meshchansky district court on April 9 found Pavel Grin-Romanov guilty of using pepper spray against a police officer during the dispersal of the demonstrators.

Grin-Romanov pleaded "partially guilty" admitting he sprayed the pepper spray in the direction of the riot police but did so to protect his wife who was with him.

Prosecutors sought eight years in prison for the defendant.

Grin-Romanov is one of several people who were handed prison terms or suspended sentences in recent weeks for attacking police during the nationwide demonstrations held on January 23 and January 31 against the arrest of the Kremlin critic.

Navalny was detained at a Moscow airport on January 17 upon his arrival from Germany, where he was recovering from a poisoning, which several European laboratories concluded was a military-grade chemical nerve agent, in Siberia in August 2020.

Navalny has insisted that his poisoning was ordered directly by President Vladimir Putin, which the Kremlin has denied.

In February, a Moscow court ruled that while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an old embezzlement case that is widely considered as being politically motivated. Navalny's 3 1/2 year suspended sentence from the case was converted to a jail term, though the court said he will serve 2 1/2 years in prison given time he had been held in detention.

More than 10,000 supporters of Navalny were detained across Russia during and after the January rallies. Many of the detained men and women were either fined or handed several-day jail terms. At least 90 were charged with criminal misdeeds and several have been fired by their employers.

With reporting by Novaya gazeta, Meduza, and Mediazona
The National Assembly has approved the appointment of Senior Lieutenant General Phan Van Giang as the Minister of Defense.

Minister of Defense, Senior Lieutenant General Phan Van Giang.

Defense Minister Phan Van Giang, 61, a native of Nam Dinh province, participated in the border war in 1979 and worked at many military agencies.

Giang holds a doctoral degree in military sciences. He was a member of the Political Bureau in the 13th tenure, a member of the Party Central Committee in the 12th, 13th tenures, Senior Lieutenant General, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army.

Giang joined the army at the age of 18. He held various positions in the army before being appointed as Deputy Minister of National Defence in May 2016.

8/1978 - 11/1979: A soldier of the Battalion 4, Regiment 677, Division 346 (stationed in Cao Bang Province).

12/1979  4/1980: Study at the Culture School of Military Region 1.

5/1980 - 8/1983: Join the Party (12/1982), a student of the Tank Technical Commanding School.

9/1983 - 9/1984: Lieutenant, Head of Company 3, Battalion 1037, Division 312, Army Corps 1.

10/1984 - 4/1986: Member of the Party Cell, Senior Lieutenant (6/1985), Vice head of Company 1 in charge of techniques, Battalion 1037, Division 312, Army Corps 1.

5/1986 - 3/1989: Deputy Secretary of the Party Cell, Captain (6/1988), head of Company 1, Battalion 1037, Division 312, Army Corps 1.

4/1989  8/1990: Deputy Commander, Chief of Staff of Battalion 1037, Division 312, Army Corps 1.

9/1990 - 9/1993: Captain, Major (7/1992), a student of the Academy of Ground Forces.

10/1993 - 3/1996: Major, Assistant to the General Staff, Division 312, Army Corps 1.

4/1996  8/1997: Major, Lieutenant Colonel (8/1997), Deputy Chief of Staff of Regiment 141, Division 312, Army Corps 1.

9/1997 - 11/1999: Deputy Regiment Commander - Chief of Staff of Regiment 209, Division 312, Army Corps 1 (10/1998- 6/1999: Student of the Logistics Academy).

12/1999  7/2001: Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Commander of Regiment 209, Division 312, Army Corps 1.

8/2001 - 5/2003: Lieutenant Colonel, Senior Lieutenant Colonel (9/2001), Deputy Chief of Staff of Division 312, Army Corps 1 (9/2001-7/2002: studying at the Academy for Defence).

6/2003 - 10/2003: Deputy Head - Chief of Staff of Division 312, Army Corps 1.

11/2003 - 7/2008: Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Division, Senior Lieutenant Colonel (9/2005), Commander of Division 312, Army Corps 1 (9/2006  8/2007: study at the Academy for Ground Forces).

8/2008 - 01/2009: Colonel, Deputy Commander of Army Corps 1.

2/2009  5/2010: Deputy Commander - Chief of Staff of the Army Corps 1.

6/2010 - 9/2011: Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Army Corps, Colonel, Major General (8/2010), Commander of the Army Corps 1 (9/2007-12/2011: Post-graduate trainee at the National Defense Academy).

10/2011  2/2014: Major General, Lieutenant General (9/2013) Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the People's Army of Vietnam.

3/2014 - 3/2016: Member of the 12th Party Central Committee; Member of the Central Military Commission; Lieutenant General, Commander of Military Region 1.

4/2016 - 5/2016: Member of the 12th Party Central Committee; Member of the Standing Committee of the Central Military Commission, Lieutenant General, and Deputy Minister of Defense.

From 5/2016: Member of the 12th Party Central Committee; Member of the Standing Committee of the Central Military Commission; Lieutenant General, Senior Lieutenant General (September 2017), Chief of Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, Deputy Minister of Defense. At the 13th National Party Congress, he was re-elected to the Party Central Committee and elected to the 13th Politburo.

April 8, 2021: At the 11th session, 14th National Assembly, he was elected as the Minister of Defense.

Thoi Su
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With supply of the COVID-19 vaccines still on track to outstrip demand in Connecticut by the end of the month, the state is thinking up creative ways it can target those who are reticent or who may not have easy access to getting a shot.

Nearly every pharmacy in the state, including those located in supermarkets, are administering the vaccines.

Right now, you need an appointment to get vaccinated at those sites. But very soon, people will be able to stop in to get vaccinated without an appointment while out doing their grocery shopping, said Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer.

This week, the state started to deploy supply of the vaccine to larger primary care physician practices. By the end of next month, the state expects to expand that effort to more of these practices, so when someone is in for their regular check up, they can get vaccinated on the spot, Geballe said.

Nearly half the states residents aged 16 and older have received their first doses of the vaccine, Gov. Ned Lamont reported Thursday. The state is currently vaccinating between 40,000 and 50,000 people per day, Geballe said.

While the percentage of older residents who are fully vaccinated continues to increase, with those 65 and above at 82%, the most recent age group to be eligible for the vaccine, those between the ages of 16 and 44, is at 23%.

A lot of young people tend to feel invincible or immune to COVID-19, said Sen. Will Haskell, D-New Canaan, who joined the governor at his virtual coronavirus briefing Thursday.

Haskell and dozens of his peers showed up at a vaccination clinic in Stamford this week to roll up their sleeves.

Young people might not feel the same sense of urgency as other populations to get vaccinated, Haskell said, but we also know that this virus, it uses young bodies.

Even if we dont get sick ourselves, it travels through us to reach our more vulnerable family members, our parents, our grandparents, he said. It reaches the students and the teachers in our classroom who maybe cant get vaccinated due to an underlying condition.

Haskell and Ed Ford Jr., Republican councilman in Middletown, called on their peers to sign up for appointments, and when they do, to tell their friends to do the same, and to post on social media about their experiences.

We need to do our part and play our role and we need to get vaccinated, said Ford.

Ford said his experience contracting COVID-19, which resulted in him spiking a fever of 103 and losing his sense of taste and smell for three weeks, was one of the main reasons he got vaccinated this week..

On Thursday, the state reported a 2.41% positivity rate on new COVID-19 tests. Hospitalizations increased by a net of one patient to 515 statewide. An additional five deaths were reported for a total of 7,940.

Lamont said the state is seeing COVID-19 hot spots along the Naugatuck Valley including in Waterbury, Bethlehem, and New Milford, among other places.

The governor said hes not sure whats causing the spikes in those areas but said the state would be sending in its mobile vaccination vans, starting with Waterbury, which has 69.3 cases per 100,000 residents. Geballe said the state is still conducting contract tracing for every positive case that is reported.
A family who were trapped in their rainforest cabin without power or reception for four days were forced to hike their way to safety with a three-month-old baby and two sons, aged four and two.

James and Lauren Archer knew it was time to pack up and leave their home in Upper Lansdowne, on the NSW mid-north coast, when catastrophic floods swept through the region in late March, washing away houses and roads.

The father-of-three told Daily Mail Australia that the only way out of the property was via a bridge he crafted from stray planks during the deluge.

When conditions finally eased on the fourth day, the couple told four-year-old Jack and two-year-old Kai that they were 'going on an adventure', strapped three-month-old Liam into a baby carrier, gathered their belongings and began to walk.

Pictured, left to right: James Archer with three-month-old Liam, Jack, four, Lauren Archer, 31, and Kai, two

Pictured: Mrs Archer with bags of her belongings on her back, Liam on her front, and two-year-old Kai during their evacuation

Pictured: Water piling into the property in Upper Landsdowne on the NSW mid-north coast

When asked whether they were scared they wouldn't make it out alive, Mr Archer said: 'Yeah, for three whole days.

'I was worried I'd put my whole family in danger.

'I'm their source of water, power, and warmth in winter, and the generator was out and we had no reception, and I was scared I'd put them all in unnecessary danger - maybe I'd put them in a position they couldn't get out of.'

The sawmill worker spent days preparing for the evacuation - navigating harrowing conditions to clear a path and get his family to safety.

Pictured: Four-year-old Jack standing on the bank of an overflowing river during their hike out of the property

Pictured: A brideg Mr Archer crafted from spare planks after the original was washed away

His 31-year-old wife packed dry clothes for the children, baby bottles, toys, small plastic bikes and enough for for three days into bags, which she carried using a stick balanced across her back and baby Liam on her front.

The family-of-five hiked away from their home in the rain and wondered whether they would ever make it back, or whether the cabin would still be standing upon their return.

Mr Archer said he had never seen his boys behave so well, even when crossing the raging floodwaters of what is normally a pristine creek.

'We often go off on adventures in the forest and they love it,' he said.

Pictured: Lauren and James Archer with Liam. The family were forced to abaondon their home amid floods

The floods caused landslides, sent trees crashing to the ground and caused rivers to overflow (pictured)

'I think they could sense this one was a bit stressful, but they were so well-behaved the whole time, they listened to us and they weren't scared.'

They finally arrived at a neighboring property after an hour-long hike, which was owned by family friends, dropped the children off and began the hike back to collect more of their possessions.

'The relocation lasted days,' Mr Archer said.

'We had to pack up our whole lives - it was exhausting.'

After a few days at their friend's home, conditions eased and flood waters dropped enough to allow safe passage back to the cabin, but with no roads, each trip had to be done on foot.

The couple decided that Mrs Archer would fly to Queensland with the children to stay with her family while her husband cleared a path back to the cabin.

Pictured: Four-year-old Jack standing on the property during normal weather conditions

Mr Archer has been working tirelessly to ensure the property is safe for his young family to return (pictured: Mrs Archer with Jack, Liam and Kai)

Pictured: The Archer family's log cabin. They have added extensions since having three children

'We were lucky that there's no real damage,' he said.

'A few leaks in the roof and the whole place smells like mould, but it's nothing that can't be fixed.'

He has been working tirelessly to ensure the property is safe for his young family to return, and credits Mrs Archer for her strength and perseverance during the stressful period.

'She's a super mum,' he said. 'She's the hero here and she was amazing.'

To help with the repairs, a family friend created a Go Fund Me campaign.

'We want to make life easier for James and his family, and give them funds to rebuild their lives,' the fundraiser read.
In a move that will upset some on the left wing of his party, President Joe Biden is requesting $753 billion for national defense, a 1.7 percent increase over President Donald Trumps military budget last year.

However, as Bidens Republican critics are bound to complain, he is requesting a 15.9 percent increase in non-defense spending. In fact, while Trumps last budget cut everything but defense, Bidens first budget gives the Defense Departmentin percentage termsthe smallest increase of any federal agency except for the Department of Homeland Security, whose budget remains about the same as last year.

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In short, Biden will sell the defense budget as a middle-of-the-road compromisewhich may mean it satisfies many in Congress but may also mean it satisfies few. Some Republicans have called for a 3 percent increase in the defense budget. Some Democrats have called for a substantial reduction. Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has said that annual defense spending could be cut by as much as $100 billion, if smartly done.

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Bidens budget, released on Friday, contains only top-line numbers (noting only how much he is requesting for each federal department and agency, with little in the way of detail) and only for discretionary spending (omitting mandatory programs such as Social Security and Medicare). This is normal for a new administration, which, barely two months into its term, has had little time to plunge into every item in the federal budget. The full, detailed request will be submitted to Congress later in the spring.

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Ideally, a budget debate should be less about how much we spend than what we buy. But in another sense, the theatrics about how much we spend are appropriate.

The document does provide a few clues on where Biden wants to take the military. For instance, it cites the need to counter the threat from China as the Pentagons top challenge. So U.S. Pacific Command can expect hefty funding for new combat planes, ships, and submarines.

The budget also puts a premium on research and development into breakthrough technologies for next-generation defense capabilitiesand says these investments will be paid for by retiring old, costly-to-maintain weapons that dont address emerging threats. Many military analysts foresee a much-transformed battlefield in future wars between major powersone featuring hypersonic missiles, pilotless planes, cyberattacks, and systems powered by artificial intelligence. Some of these analysts now work in the Biden administration, and, to some degree, the budget reflects their concerns.

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There is also a hint that Biden will cut spending on nuclear weapons, but not as deeply as some Democrats would prefer. In the words of the budget document, the administration is reviewing the U.S. nuclear posture, but it supports ongoing nuclear modernization programs while ensuring that the efforts are sustainable. In plain English, this means Biden will fund some new nuclear weapons on the drawing board, but not all of them, as many analysts, hawks and doves, have concluded that funding all of theman array of missiles, bombers, and submarines estimated to cost $300 billion over the next 30 yearsis not sustainable.

The budget states that Biden will fund new nuclear-missile submarines, a program that even most pro-disarmament groups support, since submarineswhich roam beneath the oceans surface, undetectable, and therefore invulnerable to attackdeter adversaries from even contemplating, much less launching, a nuclear first-strike. Even if an attack wiped out our land-based missiles and bombers, the submarine-launched missiles could deliver a devastating counterpunch.

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Nor will Biden be shutting down the production of nuclear warheads or materialswhich the Department of Energy handles. That section of the budget assures there will be money for recapitalization of the nuclear weapons labs and other facilities to ensure the [nuclear] deterrent remains viable. This is also fairly uncontroversial: Most legislators, as well as all the presidents in the past 75 years, believe that, as long as nuclear weapons exist, they should be kept safe and reliable. (Of Bidens $753 billion request, $715 billion goes to the Department of Defense; the rest is allocated to the Energy Departments National Nuclear Security Administration and a few other agencies doing military work.)

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It is a tossup which part of the budget will spark the most intense debates: the slight increase for the military or the much heftier increases for everything else. For instance, Biden is requesting a 23 percent increase for the Department of Health and Human Services, a 15 percent increase for Housing and Urban Development, a 16 percent increase for Interior, a 14 percent increase for the Department of Labor, a 12 percent increase for the State Department, a 14 percent increase for Transportation, a 26 percent increase for the Environmental Protection Agency, and a 20 percent increase for the National Science Foundation, to name a few.

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Either way, the budget debate in Congress has always been more theatrics than substanceand this year, with the drastic shifts in spending, the theatrics will be more dramatic than usual. Already, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that Biden has to spend much more on defense in order to confront the threat from Chinathis, before Biden has revealed how much of the budget is devoted to confronting China.

Nor will the debate take much note of the National Intelligence Councils Global Trends report, released on Thursday, which concludes that national security depends at least as much on how well the U.S. adapts to climate change, global migration, the rise of tribalism, and other social, economic, demographic, and environmental phenomena as on precise measurements of the military balance.

Ideally, a budget debate should be less about how much we spend than what we buy. But in another sense, the theatrics about how much we spend are appropriate. The top-line budget released on Friday expresses Bidens prioritieswhich is what budgets are supposed to do. (Every federal department could make a case that it requires more money than its getting.) So lets have a debate on priorities, on what kind of country we want to beand need to be, to survive and thrive in the decades ahead.
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Canadians with serious or progressive chronic illness are feeling especially vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has underscored how quickly circumstances can change.

Talking about a serious illness diagnosis and the impact on life expectancy is difficult.

Many Canadians are uncomfortable having these conversations, even though they know it is important.

Surveys have uncovered this paradox: while 93 percent of Canadians think it is important to have discussions about goals and values related to their health, only 36 percent have done so, and only 18 percent have documented them.

As a doctor and a patient, we know these conversations can make a difference to ensure that patients get the care that they want and avoid what they do not. Research shows that early discussions about goals, values, and wishes can improve the quality of life and reduce pain and suffering for a seriously ill person.

The tools that health care can offer to prolong life, like CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) or a feeding tube, often do not contribute to improved quality of life, especially for those who are frail and have reached the end of curative treatment options for serious illness.

While most Canadians do not want aggressive medical interventions in these situations, many still receive them because their wishes were not known. They may even become unable to speak for themselves, either because of physical or cognitive impairment. Knowing what patients would want can help guide medical decisions that respect their wishes.

Knowing what to say and how to say it can help people get started.

Thats why Choosing Wisely Canada, a national campaign to engage clinicians and patients about what they need and what they dont when it comes to medical tests, treatments, and procedures, is sharing resources to help support this conversation.

So, as a doctor and a patient, we urge you to have these conversations with your care providers and your loved ones.

Receiving a serious illness diagnosis is life-changing for patients. Their plans and ideas of what the future holds suddenly become uncertain. Too often, patients are unprepared for what comes next. Serious illness conversations can help patients plan for the future and better understand what to expect.

Doctors and other primary care providers are often the ones who initiate these conversations after the diagnosis of a serious illness or when they are concerned that their patients have a life-limiting condition.

Here are three things you should know about these important conversations:

First, talk about your understanding of the illness. Having a sense of what a patients disease trajectory looks like can help set health priorities to better deal with the uncertainty that accompanies it.

Second, discuss your goals and wishes. In the context of serious illness, this can be things like exploring sources of strength and support and fears and worries. Patients often express concerns about how certain medical interventions will impact their independence and possible outcomes from tests or treatments.

Third, explore your values that can inform decision-making and talk about trade-offs. For example, we talk about how much someone is willing to go through for the sake of added time. Discuss what to expect from treatments that might prolong life at the expense of quality.

These conversations take time, and we strongly encourage people to start talking with their health care providers as well as their loved ones. Having a trusted person who knows your wishes means that they will be honored and communicated, even if you can no longer speak for yourself.

Dont wait until its too late. Its time to talk.

Allan Grill is a family physician in Canada. Cindy Dumba is a patient advocate.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center investigational pharmacy technician Sara Berech is reflected in the glass of a fume hood as she prepares a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for a clinical trial in Aurora, Colo. on Dec. 15, 2020. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

No Cause for Concern After J&J Vaccine Causes Site to Shut Down in Colorado

Colorado health officials said there is no cause for concern after a mass vaccination site in Commerce City was shut down following reports of adverse reactions to the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Officials shut down the site Wednesday at Dicks Sporting Goods Park after about a dozen people out of 1,700 experienced reactions such as dizziness and nausea.

Two people were taken to the hospital as a precaution, authorities said. On-site EMTs treated the other nine people with juice and water, officials told the Denver Post.

After reviewing each patients symptoms, analyzing other vaccinations from the same lot of the vaccine and speaking with the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to confirm our findings, we are confident in saying that there is no reason for concern, said Dr. Eric France, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environments chief medical officer, in a statement on Thursday. He was responding to the reports of adverse reactions.

We are committed to making sure every community clinic is well-staffed with medical professionals who take patient safety with the utmost seriousness, just as they did at yesterdays clinic, he added.

The health department also noted that the symptoms of the 11 people who experienced adverse reactions appear to be typical.

In most cases, discomfort from fever or pain after getting the vaccine is not unusual. These symptoms show that your bodys immune system is responding to a vaccine. Other routine vaccines have similar side effects, the Colorado Department of Public Health said.

Symptoms such as feeling anxious or faint can be common when receiving a vaccination or any kind of medical procedure, like a blood draw, said Dr. Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist, in the release. When you go to your vaccine appointment, bring a beverage and a snack or a friend or family member to help offer some reassurance.

Meanwhile, a vaccination site in Wake County, North Carolina, was also shut down Thursday following reports of 18 adverse reactions to the Johnson & Johnson CCP virus vaccine, officials said. About 2,300 vaccines were administered in two hours.

Fourteen of the 18 people had minor reactions and were treated on-site, while four others were taken to the hospital for further examination, officials said.

Wake County made the decision to pause today in partnership with the NC Department of Health and Human Services and after consulting with the manufacturer, Wake County officials added. Together, these teams continue to investigate the issue.
Britain's Prince Philip arrives to attend the international D-Day commemoration ceremony on the beach of Ouistreham, Normandy, on June 6, 2014. (Damien Meyer/AFP via Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeths Husband Prince Philip Passes Away at Age 99

Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth, died early Friday, the royal family announced.

The prince, 99, passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle, the family said in a statement.

Windsor Castle is the familys residence in Berkshire, England.

The queen, 94, announced the death of her beloved husband with deep sorrow, the family said, adding, The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.

No cause of death was given. The family plans on making further announcements regarding the death later.

The prince last month was discharged from a hospital in London after being treated for an infection. During the month of treatment, he was moved to a cardiac care hospital where he underwent a heart procedure.

Philip received treatment for various ailments at other times in recent years, including hip surgery in the spring of 2018.

The prince gradually stepped back from public life. In 2017, he said he would not be participating in royal engagements any longer. Shortly after, he appeared for the last time in a formal role during a parade.

Tributes poured in from around the world for the prince.

Prince Philip earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and around the world, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said during a press conference, adding that the prince was one of the last surviving people in the country to have served in World War II.

The impact of his decades of devoted public service is evident in the worthy causes he lifted up as patron, in the environmental efforts he championed, in the members of the Armed Forces that he supported, in the young people he inspired, and so much more. His legacy will live on not only through his family, but in all the charitable endeavors he shaped, U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden said in a statement.

An official photograph of Britains Princess Elizabeth and her fiance, Lieut. Philip Mountbatten in London on July 10, 1947. (AP Photo/File)

Britains Queen Elizabeth II with Prince Philip arrive by horse-drawn carriage in the parade ring on the third day, traditionally known as Ladies Day, of the Royal Ascot horse race meeting at Ascot, England, on June 16, 2011. (Alastair Grant/AP Photo)

Philip was identified as the source of a car crash in Norfolk on Jan. 18, 2019. In a letter to the woman riding in the other car, he said he was sorry for what happened.

The sun was shining low over the main road, Philip wrote in the letter, which was published by news outlets. In normal conditions I would have no difficult in seeing traffic coming from the Dersingham direction, but I can only imagine that I failed to see the car coming, and I am very contrite about the consequences.

The woman emerged with a broken arm while the driver suffered minor injuries. A baby boy in the vehicle was not hurt.

The prince agreed to surrender his drivers license and prosecutors decided against charging him, the Guardian reported.

Philip was born on the Greek island of Corfu but his family was escorted from the country while he was young because his familys rule was overthrown.

The family moved to France and the prince was sent to England for his schooling. He met Elizabeth when he gave her a tour of the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.

They were married in 1947.

The couple had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward. Prince Charles, 72, is the first in line to reach the throne if his mother leaves, followed by Prince Charles eldest son, 38-year-old Prince William.
Regulatory News:

CARMAT (Paris:ALCAR) (FR0010907956, ALCAR), the designer and developer of the world's most advanced total artificial heart, aiming to fulfill an unmet medical need by providing a therapeutic alternative to people suffering from end-stage biventricular heart failure, today announces the issuance of a second tranche of 650,000 equity warrants within the framework of the contingent equity line with Kepler Cheuvreux.

On September 27, 2018, CARMAT put in place a contingent equity line contract with Kepler Cheuvreux for a maximum amount of 25 million for a duration of 3 years.

The first tranche of 400,000 equity warrants, issued in September 2018, has, to date, enabled the Company to benefit from 9.1 million in financing within the framework of this contract.

The issuance of the second tranche of 650,000 equity warrants will enable Kepler Cheuvreux, on its own initiative and subject to contractual conditions being met, to subscribe to a maximum of 650,000 new shares for a maximum potential amount of 15.9 million.

Based on the number of shares comprising the Company's share capital (15,352,502 as of March 31, 2021), the maximum dilutive impact of this issuance is 4.23%. The equity warrants may be exercised until September 27, 2021, and their exercise price will be the lowest daily volume-weighted average share price of the two trading days preceding each exercise, minus a maximum discount of 6%.

The exercise by Kepler Cheuvreux of all or a portion of the equity warrants thus issued will allow CARMAT to extend its financial visibility beyond mid-2022.

About CARMAT: the world's most advanced total artificial heart project

A credible response to end-stage heart failure: CARMAT aims to eventually provide a response to a major public health issue associated with heart disease, the world's leading cause of death: chronic and acute heart failure. By pursuing the development of its total artificial heart, Aeson, composed of the implantable bioprosthesis and its portable external power supply system to which it is continuously connected, CARMAT intends to overcome the well-known shortfall in heart transplants for the tens of thousands of people suffering from irreversible end-stage heart failure, the most seriously affected of the 20 million patients with this progressive disease in Europe and the United States.

The result of combining two types of unique expertise: the medical expertise of Professor Carpentier, known throughout the world for inventing Carpentier-Edwards heart valves, which are the most used in the world, and the technological expertise of Airbus Group, world aerospace leader.

The first physiologic heart replacement therapy: given the use of highly biocompatible materials, its unique self-regulation system and its pulsatile nature, the CARMAT total artificial heart could, assuming a successful clinical development, potentially save the lives of thousands of patients each year with no risk of rejection and with an enhanced quality of life.

A project leader acknowledged at a European level: with the backing of the European Commission, CARMAT has been granted the largest subsidy ever given to an SME by Bpifrance; a total of 33 million.

Strongly committed, prestigious founders and shareholders: Matra Defense SAS (subsidiary of the Airbus Group), Professor Alain Carpentier, the Centre Chirurgical Marie Lannelongue, Truffle Capital, a leading European venture capital firm, ALIAD (Air Liquide's venture capital investor), CorNovum (an investment holding company held 50-50 by Bpifrance and the French State), the family offices of Pierre Bastid (Lohas), of Dr. Antonino Ligresti (Sante Holdings S.R.L.), of the Gaspard family (Corely Belgium SPRL and Bratya SPRL) and of M. Pierre-Edouard Sterin (BAD 21 SPRL), Groupe Therabel as well as the thousands of institutional and individual shareholders who have placed their trust in CARMAT.

For more information: www.carmatsa.com

Name: CARMAT

ISIN code: FR0010907956

Ticker: ALCAR

Disclaimer

This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe to, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe to, shares in CARMAT ("the Company") in any country. This press release contains forward-looking statements that relate to the Company's objectives. Such forward-looking statements are based solely on the current expectations and assumptions of the Company's management and involve risk and uncertainties. Potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, whether the Company will be successful in implementing its strategies, whether there will be continued growth in the relevant market and demand for the Company's products, new products or technological developments introduced by competitors, and risks associated with managing growth. The Company's objectives as mentioned in this press release may not be achieved for any of these reasons or due to other risks and uncertainties.

No guarantee can be given as to any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements, which are subject to inherent risks, including those described in the Universal registration document filed with the Autorite des Marches Financiers on February 24, 2021 under number D.21-0076 as well as changes in economic conditions, the financial markets or the markets in which CARMAT operates. In particular, no guarantee can be given concerning the Company's ability to finalize the development, validation and industrialization of the prosthesis and the equipment required for its use, to manufacture the prostheses, satisfy the requirements of competent authorities, enroll patients, obtain satisfactory clinical results, perform the clinical trials and achieve commercial objectives.

Aeson is an active implantable medical device commercially available in Europe ONLY, CARMAT SA., CE0344. The Aeson TAH is intended to replace ventricles of native heart and is indicated as a bridge to transplant in patients suffering from end-stage biventricular heart failure (INTERMACS classes 1-4) who are not amenable to maximal medical therapy or LVAD and are likely to undergo heart transplant in the 180 days following device implantation. The decision to implant and the surgical procedure must be executed by Health Care professionals trained by the manufacturer. Carefully read the documentation (clinician manual, patient manual alarm booklet) for characteristics and information necessary for patient selection and good use (contraindications, precautions, side effects).

In the USA, Aeson is currently exclusively available within the framework of clinical trials.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005290/en/

Contacts:

CARMAT

Stephane Piat

Chief Executive Officer

Pascale d'Arbonneau

Chief Financial Officer

Tel.: +33 1 39 45 64 50

contact@carmatsas.com

Alize RP

Press Relations

Caroline Carmagnol

Tel.: +33 6 64 18 99 59

carmat@alizerp.com

NewCap

Investor Relations

Strategic Communication

Dusan Oresansky

Quentin Masse

Tel.: +33 1 44 71 94 94

carmat@newcap.eu


BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Germany's industrial production decreased unexpectedly in February mainly due to the weak capital goods output, figures from Destatis revealed on Friday.



Separate data showed that exports continued to rise in February but the pace of growth slowed amid a rebound in imports resulting in a fall in trade surplus.



Industrial output dropped 1.6 percent month-on-month in February, while economists had forecast an increase of 1.5 percent. Production had decreased 2 percent in January.



Excluding energy and construction, industrial output was down by 1.8 percent from the previous month.



The unexpected fall in industrial production in February means that German GDP will almost certainly have contracted in the first quarter, Andrew Kenningham, an economist at Capital Economics, said.



With severe restrictions likely to remain in place until well into the second quarter, a sustained recovery is unlikely until the second half of the year, the economist added.



Within industry, the production of capital goods dropped 3.2 percent and that of intermediate goods by 1.0 percent. On the other hand, consumer goods output grew 0.2 percent.



Outside industry, energy production was down by 1.0 percent and construction output decreased 1.3 percent.



The economy ministry said that the improvement in the ifo business confidence as well as the positive development in incoming orders are in favor of a positive outlook for the industrial economy in the coming months.



However, the ministry said uncertainties remain due to the further development of the pandemic.



Separate data from Destatis showed that exports increased 0.9 percent on month, but slower than the 1.6 percent rise in January. This was also slightly weaker than the economists' forecast of 1 percent.



Meanwhile, imports rebounded 3.6 percent after falling 3.5 percent in January. Economists had forecast a moderate growth of 2.4 percent for February.



The trade surplus fell to a seasonally adjusted about EUR 19.2 billion from EUR 21.3 billion a month ago. The expected level was EUR 20 billion.



Year-on-year, exports slid 1.2 percent, following a 7.9 percent decrease in January. Imports were up 0.9 percent versus a 9.2 percent fall a month ago.



The trade surplus totaled unadjusted EUR 18.1 billion compared to EUR 20.3 billion in the same period last year.



The current account surplus declined to EUR 18.8 billion from EUR 21.6 billion in the last year.



Germany's exports to the UK dropped by 12.2 percent and imports from the UK were down 26.9 percent.



Shipments to China rose by 25.7 in February. Most imports to Germany came from the China. Imports surged 32.5 percent. Meanwhile, exports to the United States fell by 0.6 percent and imports from the US declined 12.6 percent.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Prince Philip's final weeks saw him visited by an emotional Prince Charles in hospital before being returned to the comfort of Windsor where his son enjoyed an Easter walk with the Queen - as the stoic monarch carried on with her public duties throughout.

The Queen, 94, today announced with 'deep sorrow' the death of her husband at the age of 99, calling him her 'strength and guide' throughout their 73-year marriage and her 69-year reign.

The Duke of Edinburgh spent his final days at Windsor Castle with his wife after a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

Philip's eldest son Prince Charles, 72, paid him a half-hour visit during the first week of his treatment, making a 100-mile journey from Highgrove in Gloucestershire to the capital. Charles appeared emotional when he left.

The Queen spent the Easter Weekend at Windsor, and was seen on a socially-distanced walk with Charles on March 23, in an image released on Good Friday. It is unclear if the Prince of Wales saw his father on the day and whether he has seen him since.

Despite all the personal turmoil, which included Meghan and Harry's bombshell Oprah interview while Philip was still in hospital, the Queen has continued carrying out her duties, mainly over video call due to Covid restrictions.

She last appeared in public March 31 to mark the centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force, and she has also held several meetings over video call.

The Queen spent the Easter Weekend with her family, and was seen on a socially-distanced walk with Prince Charles on March 23 in a photo released on April 2. It is unclear if the Prince of Wales saw his father on the day and whether he has seen him since

The Duke of Edinburgh, seen arriving home at Windsor Castle on March 16 - the final picture of him in public

Prince Charles appeared to be teary-eyed at his 99-year-old father the Duke of Edinburgh's bedside on February 20

Charles made a 200-mile round trip to spend half an hour at Philip's side. Philip had been admitted to hospital several times in his final years

The monarch at her last engagement on March 31. Today she announced with 'deep sorrow' the death of her husband Prince Philip at the age of 99

The Queen was seen bowing her head in prayer at the service to mark the Centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force at the CWGC Air Forces Memorial in Runnymede on March 31

How the Queen carried on her duties throughout Philip's illness February 16 - The duke is admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital on a precautionary basis after feeling unwell. Four days later he is visited by the Prince of Wales. February 20 - Charles pays Philip a half-hour visit during the first week of his treatment, making a 100-mile journey from Highgrove in Gloucestershire to the capital. Charles appeared emotional when he left February 23 - Seven days after the duke was admitted, the Palace say he is being treated for an infection and is 'comfortable and responding to treatment', but is not expected to leave hospital for several days. The Earl of Wessex says the duke is a 'lot better' and looking forward to getting out. March 1 - Philip is transferred in an ambulance to St Bartholomew's Hospital for treatment for an infection and testing and observation for a pre-existing heart condition. March 1 - Queen speaks to the Governor of South Australia, Hieu Van Le, and Steven Marshall, Premier of South Australia, to watch the unveiling of a statue of herself in Adelaide. March 3 - The duke has heart surgery. March 5 - Philip is moved back to King Edward VII's Hospital to recuperate. March 7 - Meghan and Harry give their bombshell interview to Oprah. March 16 - The duke leaves hospital after a month-long stay and reunites with the Queen at Windsor Castle. March 16 - On a video call, the Queen hails the 'wonderful' work of the army of volunteers who stepped forward during the pandemic, telling them they have been a 'great, great help over this difficult year'. March 23 - Queen and Charles go on a socially-distanced walk at Windsor. March 31 - Queen visits the Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial in Runnymede, Surrey, for the centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force. Advertisement

Until his death, Philip was the longest-serving consort in British history and the oldest partner of a reigning monarch.

Despite his ill health, the Queen remained resolutely stoic in Prince Philip's final days and took part in her first royal engagement of 2021 last week.

On March 1, the Queen spoke over Zoom to the Governor of South Australia, Hieu Van Le, and Steven Marshall, Premier of South Australia, to watch the unveiling of a statue of herself in Adelaide.

On March 16, the Queen hailed the 'wonderful' work of the army of volunteers who stepped forward during the pandemic, telling them they have been a 'great, great help over this difficult year'.

The monarch, who has been patron of the Royal Voluntary Service for almost 70 years, held a video call with the Duchess of Cornwall, the organisation's president, and RVS volunteers.

Her Majesty, calling from Windsor Castle, appeared thrilled to see her daughter-in-law, starting the call with a cheery: 'Ah good morning. Hello Camilla! '

On her last public appearance on March 31, the Queen visited the Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial in Runnymede, Surrey, for the centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force.

While she had been seen in video calls this year, it was the first time the Monarch has been seen in public since December, when she welcomed the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge back to Windsor after their whistle-stop tour of Britain.

It was her first in-person official engagement of 2021 - and the first since last October, when she visited the Defence Laboratory at Porton Down alongside her grandson Prince William.

It was also the first time she has been seen since Harry and Meghan's bombshell Oprah interview.

But at the event, the Queen quizzed one Australian serviceman about his work with Typhoon jets and asked if they were 'being sent off to chase the Russians?' and was told, 'That's correct, ma'am, it's a lot of fun for us!'

The Queen, who had her Covid vaccine in January, did not wear a face covering but donned a bright spring-inspired ensemble; an ivory Angela Kelly dress, green coat and matching hat adorned with faux daffodils and orchids, and the Australian wattle brooch presented to her on her first tour of the country in 1954.

She joked: 'It's a very long time since I've been here,' as she arrived at the memorial - which she had opened in her coronation year, on October 17, 1953.

The Queen's equerry Major Tom White laid a wreath on her behalf in honour of fallen airmen and women during the event

She chatted to the Honourable George Brandis (left), High Commissioner for Australian at her last royal appearance

On March 1, she spoke to the Governor of South Australia, Hieu Van Le, and Steven Marshall, Premier of South Australia, to watch the unveiling of a statue of herself in Adelaide

On March 16, the Queen appeared on a video call to thank members of the Voluntary Service volunteers for their contribution during the pandemic

The Queen has continued carrying out her duties throughout her husband's illness before her 'peaceful' death today

After spending the morning chatting with members of the Australian Air Force and taking part in centenary celebrations, the Queen made her way back to Windsor Castle, where Philip passed away 'peacefully' today

Her Majesty announced her husband's death at midday. Buckingham Palace said in a statement: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss'.

His death plunges the nation and the Royal Family into mourning, and brings to an end Philip's lifetime of service to Britain and to Elizabeth, the Queen who adored him since her teens.

'He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years,' Her Majesty said at their Golden Wedding banquet in 1997. 'I and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.'

The quizzical, witty, faithful - and often controversial - the Duke was the Queen's greatest source of support, her confidant and the man she relied on above all others.

Her Majesty was pictured leaving Windsor before the event on March 31, which took place at the War Memorial at Runnymede

The Queen at the memorial, which commemorates more than 20,000 Commonwealth airmen and women who died during operations in north and west Europe and have no known grave

She said at the time: 'It's a very long time since I've been here,' as she arrived at the memorial - which she had opened in her coronation year, on October 17, 1953 (pictured here)

Philip was a great-grandfather of ten, with the most recent addition to his wider family being Zara and Mike Tindall's baby son Lucas Philip Tindall on March 21 - soon after Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's son August, who was born on February 9.

Philip's lifelong role was to ensure that he never let The Queen down and their long-lasting marriage was one of the world's best known relationships.

Reflecting their love in her Diamond Jubilee speech to Parliament in 2012, the Elizabeth said: 'During these years as your Queen, the support of my family has, across the generations, been beyond measure.

'Prince Philip is, I believe, well-known for declining compliments of any kind. But throughout he has been a constant strength and guide.'

The event was the head of state's first public engagement outside Windsor Castle this year and was held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Her Majesty was last seen out in public last December, when she welcomed the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge back to Windsor after their whistle-stop tour of Britain. Pictured, the Queen leaving Windsor on March 31
Hotels in the South-East are beginning to see an uplift in bookings for July and August, the latest industry survey from the Irish Hotels Federation shows.

With booking levels nationally averaging 23% for July and 21% for August, the South-East appears to be out in front of other regions, with booking levels here averaging 38% and 33% for those months respectively. It follows the Governments recent announcement that it will look at the reopening of hotels and guesthouses in June.

Colm Neville, Chair of the South-East branch of the Irish Hotels Federation, is encouraging people to plan their holidays and breaks early while there is plenty of choice and availability around. Mr Neville says the positive developments around the vaccine roll-out coupled with the Taoiseachs announcement around the reopening of hotels have allowed hotels in Kilkenny and across the country to start planning towards reopening.

However, as the latest IHF survey shows, there is still a long way to go before hotel occupancy reaches even last summers levels. Recovery will be a challenge for the hotel sector this year, requiring continued Government support through to 2022, when the tourism industry should start to recover in earnest," he said.

Staycations were a real positive last summer and we expect booking levels to continue to rise over the coming weeks. Not surprisingly, as indicated by our latest survey, we would expect to see stronger demand in coastal areas, popular tourism destinations and hotels offering packages and facilities for families. This is reflected in the South-East, where occupancy levels at 38% for July are slightly ahead of the national average. There is excellent value available. Guests should contact hotels directly to find out what special offers are available and shop around.

While the extensive availability across the country may be good news for consumers, it highlights the ongoing challenges facing the hotel sector.

Tourism supported some 6,200 livelihoods in Carlow and Kilkenny before Covid-19 restrictions, contributing 163 million to the local economy," said Mr Neville.

"Hotels are focused on restoring employment levels as quickly as possible. While employment and business supports to date have been very welcome, it is essential that the Government now provides greater clarity and certainty now around supports into 2022 and beyond.

Specifically, we are seeking increases in payments under the Covid Restrictions Supports Scheme (CRSS), enhanced employment subsidies, extension of the local authority rates waiver until the end of March next year. We also ask the Government to intervene with the banks to ensure they have appropriate supports and engagement processes in place for hotels and their team members until Covid-19 has been suppressed.

Mr Neville said hotels also require a clear commitment from the Government to retain the 9% tourism VAT rate to assist recovery and secure a viable and sustainable future for the industry. Wait and see is not a sustainable business strategy, Mr Neville added.

The IHF survey was carried out on April 6-8 and the results are based on the response of 330 properties with 32,850 guest rooms spread across the country.

Breakdown of occupancy results for July / August/ September 2021:

National room occupancy: 23 % July/ 21% Aug / 18% Sept

Dublin City and County: 11 % July/ 12% Aug / 15% Sept

Other Cities: 18 % July/ 17% Aug / 11% Sept

Border region: 30% July/ 28% Aug / 20% Sept

Mid-West: 21 % July/ 18% Aug / 16% Sept

Midlands / Mid East: 21% July/ 20% Aug / 21% Sept

South-East: 38 % July/ 33% Aug / 26% Sept

South West: 35 % July/ 33% Aug / 23% Sept

West: 29 % July/ 22% Aug / 16% Sept
Fidel, whose real name is Gilberto Morales, is also known as the Boss. For more than five years, this is how he was referred to in police wiretaps. But it was not until a year ago, when Operation Ferro was launched, that Spains National Police began to piece together his long career as a drug trafficker, culminating in the design of the first semi-submersible drug-smuggling vessel to be manufactured in Spain.

A semi-rigid Zodiac with a cabin, the craft was located inside a warehouse in Monda, a town of 2,500 in the southern province of Malaga in the Sierra de Las Nieves mountains. At first glance, officers took the sky-blue boat for a carnival float or a fairground attraction. But on closer inspection, they realized it was an ingenious nautical creation whose main objective was not to arouse suspicion while transporting thousands of kilos of cocaine, with its maiden voyage planned for the Strait of Gibraltar.

The boat was designed and made by none other than Fidel, a 55-year-old Cuban who worked for years for notorious Spanish drug lord Jose Ramon Prado Bugallo, aka Sito Minanco. Like many other drug traffickers, Fidel moved to the south of Spain in 2010 when business dried up on the Galician coasts with the fall of the main drug lords.

He was arrested  not for the first time  last February in his mansion in Marbella, a vast, luxurious villa where, according to a source from the investigation, he had been living for several years with his wife. Fidel also has a son, who was not present at the time of the arrest, according to sources from the investigation.

Meanwhile, a few dozen meters from his villa, his Cuban crony and assistant Marcos, 51, was also being handcuffed in his villa where he lived with his wife and two children.

Two newspaper clippings found in one of the rooms in Marcoss villa recounted the long journey Fidel and Sito Minanco had taken together: A Galician network of drug traffickers has fallen due to a lack of work and moved to the Strait of Gibraltar. Among the 18 arrested is its ringleader, a Cuban resident of Santiago, says one report, published on May 29, 2010.

We came across the narco vessel behind scaffolding at the back. Even we thought it was a carnival float Source from investigation

Just over seven years later, on August 3, 2017, the newspaper La Voz de Galicia published a report stating: The UDYCO [Drugs and Organized Crime Unit] implicates Sito Minanco in an international drug-trafficking operation led by an organization from Ribeira.

The Cuban resident of Santiago was Fidel; and again it was Fidel who allegedly rented the Seat Toledo in which Sito Minanco was intercepted by the Civil Guard, on May 4, 2017, at 4am in Queiruga in Porto do Son during a routine stop.

The police suspect that Fidel and Sito collaborated for years in Galicia and that the nautical knowledge of the former was inevitably be applied to the latters business. In fact, on one of the occasions Fidel was arrested, police seized a boat that had previously belonged to Sito Minanco, according to investigators.

No one knows exactly how or where Fidel learned to adapt boats to transport tons of drugs. He may have worked in a shipyard or in a shipping company, though investigators are leaning more toward the theory that he learned his skill from the Colombians who build all kinds of narco vessels in clandestine shipyards in the jungle, such as the narco-submarine intercepted off the coast of Pontevedra, Galicia, in November 2019.

Now the Spanish navy is preparing a study on Fidels nautical feat: the first semi-submersible drug boat that was made in Spain. Though it never set sail on its maiden voyage, investigators say that everything points that it is apt for sailing.

The vessel measures nine meters long, three across and three deep. On the keel, a source from the investigation describes a structure of frames and reinforcements made from plywood and fiberglass panels imported from the Netherlands to provide the necessary structural strength.

The narco vessel must have taken Fidel months of work and cost approximately 1 million, according to investigators

The result, beyond its ingenious appearance, is a vessel with a cabin for two crew members, whose interior is accessed through a hatch in the deck. The cabin has a control console and a wheel for the rudder. Next to it is a bed for one crew member to rest while the other one steers. The cabin provides the only standing space. The rest of the vessel is designed to store packages of drugs, with a capacity of up to 2,000 kilos, according to sources from the investigation.

A source from the investigation adds that the aim of the vessel, which was powered by two 200-horsepower Volvo engines, was not speed, but to go unnoticed. The idea is that it would lie level with the water, which is why it is that [sky blue] color  to be better camouflaged. But it also has a structure made from poles to transform it into a sort of yacht, if necessary.

Fidels brainchild must have taken him months of work and cost approximately 1 million, according to investigators, who also point out that it was well concealed in the back of an industrial building in Monda, a low-key town with little police surveillance.

From the outside, the building looked like a wholesale warehouse for grocery products  there was everything from cleaning products to fresh vegetables inside, says a source from the investigation, who adds that the last thing anyone expected to find was a drug boat when a search was carried out on the premises. We had that place under surveillance, says the source. The day before, they took a shipment of 550 kilos of hashish out in trucks, and when we raided the warehouse at dawn, we came across the narco vessel behind scaffolding at the back. Even we thought it was a carnival float.

Fidels gang was made up of five people, one of whom acted as a link with other Colombian, Portuguese and Dutch organizations with which they collaborated. Along with Fidel and Marcos, 49 others were arrested in Operation Ferro while the unused narco vessel awaits its fate in a judicial warehouse in San Roque, in Cadiz province.

English version by Heather Galloway.




This famous National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) has brought no progress, on the contrary, it brought a decrease in business allocations, from EUR 3.8 billion in the first version, to EUR 2.28 billion, in the version approved in the government, Florin Jianu, president of the National Council for Small and Medium Private Enterprises of Romania (CNIPMMR), said on Friday in an online debate.

"The economy has, however, been slowed down, because we are in a period of deep pandemic. A period that aggravates inequalities among countries that can afford to invest, among Euro and non-Euro countries, but also within countries. There are whole sectors, such as the small and medium-sized enterprises sector, which are extremely affected. Social categories extremely affected. I was looking at some data at European level, where the unemployment rate has increased by almost 2 pct, i.e. four million people are in unemployment. From here, from these realities we must set off towards what recovery and resilience mean. We get to this famous PNRR [National Plan for Recovery and Resilience, ed.n.] which, in our opinion, has not led to any progress, on the contrary: from EUR 3.8 billion as it was allocated in the first variant for the business milieu, in this last variant approved through Government Memorandum and which is going to the European Commission for negotiations, the business environment has EUR 2.28 billion. In an intermediary variant given by the government there were EUR 2.4 billion...," Jianu said.

According to the Private SMEs representative, at the moment, Economy Minister Claudiu Nasui has problems in communicating with the business environment and avoids having a meeting to discuss issues that "are so serious and so pressing".Jianu has been "moderately optimistic" about the growth of the economy, as "consumption is falling, SMEs say they will not increase wages and that this year is one of survival".DC News Media Group organizes the online debate on Friday on "Upgrade Romania: Investments, "Lifeline" of the economy".AGERPRES
The issue of prisoners of war is a very painful issue, and Azerbaijan may demand lands in exchange of captives. This is what ex-Prime Minister of Armenia Hrant Bagratyan stated during todays press conference.

No land can be exchanged for people. There is no such case in history, he said.

Touching upon the issue of Meghri, Bagratyan said the following: I dont think Meghri only concerns Armenia. Russia and Iran wont let Armenia transfer Meghri to Azerbaijan. Recently, a perverse meeting ended in Almaty where Erdogan and Aliyev were joined by Nazarbayev and Uzbekistans incumbent president and congratulated each other. It wouldnt be bad to warn the Armenians living in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to be careful. Aliyev declares that Zangezur is Azerbaijans historic land and is starting an anti-Armenian campaign. Im certain that Armenias foreign minister had to make a statement on this anti-Armenian campaign and had to summon the ambassadors of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, but Pashinyan cant do this. He has no time for this since hes busy telling lies.
Janesville, Wisconsin - Despite the challenges of 2020, Helicopter Specialties, Inc. (HSI) is pleased to have finished their 21st year in business on a strong note. 2021 is proving to be a strong year for HSI, with helicopters arriving at a steady pace at the Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport from air medical organizations, government, corporate, private and international customers. Jim Freeman founded Helicopter Specialties in 1999 in a hangar on 
Athens, GA (30605)

Today

Cloudy skies during the morning hours followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 88F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

An isolated thunderstorm possible during the evening, then occasional showers overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said he will never pay ransom to bandits even if they kidnap his son.

The governor said this in a radio chat on Friday in Kaduna to underscore his governments policy of not negotiating with bandits.

Mr El-Rufai has consistently said government should only apply force in dealing with bandits and other violent criminals, reiterating the stand on Thursday by stressing that bandits do not deserve to live.

In his current remarks on Friday, Mr El-Rufai said he had warned his family members to be careful to avoid being abducted. He said he also told them he would never pay a ransom for their freedom, should any of them get into the hands of bandits.

I mean it and I will say it again here. Even if my son is kidnapped, I will rather pray for him to make heaven instead, because I wont pay any ransom.

Asked what his government was doing to secure the release of the students kidnapped at the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Kaduna, in March, the governor said the government would keep exploring other ways to get them back to their families but stressed that the government is absolutely not paying ransom.

He said the state government will keep exploring those other means until the students are released.

Mr El-Rufai has been under pressure from the parents of the students, other concerned persons and groups to negotiate with the bandits for the release of the students.

The state governments of Katsina, Niger and Zamfara were believed to have negotiated with the abductors for the release of hundreds of students kidnapped from schools in the states.

The federal government too was also believed to have negotiated with the abductors of students from a girls school in Dapchi, Yobe State in an incident in which the terrorist-kidnappers withheld one of the students, Leah Sharibu, allegedly because she refused to renounce her faith, one of their conditions for the release of the students.

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara is a promoter of dialogue with bandits that have been attacking rural communities, abducting for ransom and stealing cows in many states in the Nigerian Northwest and Northcentral.

Governor El-Rufai had publicly decried that policy of the Zamfara governor and blamed it for the failure of the affected state governments to coordinate actions to flush out the bandits from their forests hideouts in the states.

On the radio chat on Friday, the Kaduna governor also spoke on the ongoing staff retrenchment in local government councils in the state.

 It is an exercise that is necessary. We have made it clear that any persons working with a certificate below a diploma should not be part of our civil service, except junior workers who are essential workers.

 Another thing we learnt also is the lesson we got from COVID-19 lockdowns. We have less workers coming to work and still getting work done. It is obvious that majority of the workers, especially in the middle cadre are actually not doing anything. Some dont even go to work and yet get their salaries. We cant be wasting government money to pay salaries of people who are not needed. We need money to work for the people of Kaduna because that is what we swore to do.

On developmental projects going on in the state, Mr El-Rufai said his government hoped to complete all its major works before the end of 2023.

The government will soon begin the light rail project, which will be the first in Nigeria. The first phase will commence soon. It is going to run through Ahmadu Bello way from Maraban Jos, all through to KRPC. We are at the final stage of completing the paper work with the federal government and work will begin soon.

The governor thanked the people of Kaduna for their support to his government since its inception.

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Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg has been fined for breaking COVID-19 social distancing norms when she organised a family gathering to celebrate her birthday, police confirmed on Friday.

According to Reuters, she was slapped with a fine of 20,000 Norwegian crowns (Rs 1.75 lakh).

Reuters

The prime minister had issued an apology last month for organising an event to ring in her 60th birthday with 13 family members attending the celebrations in late February, despite a government ban on gatherings of more than 10 people.



The police have said that would not have issued a fine in most such cases, but given the fact that prime minister has been at the forefront of the government's work to impose restrictions, they are simply following protocol.

"Though the law is the same for all, all are not equal in front of the law," police chief Ole Saeverud said, justifying the fine.



"It is therefore correct to issue a fine in order to uphold the general public's trust in the rules on social restrictions," he told the news conference.

Reuters

Police said Solberg and her husband, Sindre Finnes, made the decision together to hold a celebration and picked the restaurant, with Finnes taking care of the practical arrangements.



Though police said he had broken the law as well, he was not fined. The restaurant where the celebration took place was also found to have violated the law but it was not fined.

Solberg has issued another apology after the police made the news of the fine public.

Id like to say again that Im sorry for breaking the coronavirus rules, she told Norways TV2 News.

Solberg, who faces elections for parliament in September, has championed strict rules to curb the spread of the coronavirus, resulting in some of Europe's lowest rates of infection and deaths.



But the country saw a rapid rise in infections in the first quarter of 2021, led by more contagious variants of the virus, forcing the government to tighten restrictions in late March, Reuters reported.


Burma Malaysian Ambassadors Meeting With Junta Member Not Recognition: Kuala Lumpur

Representatives of Malaysia and the Myanmar military regime meet in Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar, on Wednesday. / Global New Light of Myanmar

The Malaysian Foreign Ministry said a meeting between the Malaysian ambassador to Myanmar and a member of the military regimes cabinet did not constitute recognition of the junta as the legitimate government of its fellow ASEAN member.

Wednesdays meeting between the regimes electricity and energy minister, U Aung Than Oo, and Ambassador Datuk Zahairi Baharim prompted criticism among democracy supporters in Myanmar that Malaysia had recognized the junta.

Myanmar regime-controlled newspapers claimed the two sides discussed further cooperation in the electricity and energy sector and bilateral investment opportunities.

In response to the criticism, Malaysias Foreign Ministry on Thursday said the meeting was held to convey Malaysian company Petronass decision to temporarily suspend the upstream operations of the Yetagun gas field in the Andaman Sea off Myanmar.

In early April, PC Myanmar (Hong Kong) Ltd (PCML), a subsidiary of Petronas, invoked force majeure at the Yetagun project, citing the depletion of gas production at the field.

The Malaysian Foreign Ministry said that the meeting does not construe a recognition or otherwise of the State Administration Council (SAC), the military regimes governing body formed by the coup leaders after their power seizure on Feb. 1.

Malaysias position on Myanmar is clear and consistent, it said.

We have persistently called for an immediate end to violence, unconditional and immediate release of political detainees, and resumption of an inclusive dialogue involving all concerned parties for a political transition and peaceful settlement of the ongoing crisis in the interest of Myanmar and her people, the ministry said.

Malaysia will continue its constructive engagements with all concerned parties towards this end, it added.

Malaysia, a key member of ASEAN, has called on other member countries to get more involved in resolving the crisis in Myanmar, which has witnessed increasingly deadly crackdowns on anti-regime protesters. Recently, Malaysia and Brunei announced that the bloc had agreed to convene an emergency meeting in Jakarta to address the crisis in Myanmar.

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(CNN) -- The death of Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, on Friday has set in motion a carefully orchestrated, days-long event that will culminate with his funeral.

Plans for a major royal death are made years in advance, though details are kept fiercely private and the coronavirus restrictions currently in place across the United Kingdom mean some aspects of the strategy will have to be altered.

CNN understands that the Queen must sign off on any proposals and it's not known whether this has already happened. It is also unclear how much of a hand Philip himself played in the plans for his funeral.

But some notable parts of the arrangements for Philip's death -- understood to be codenamed "Forth Bridge" by government ministers, royal staff and media partners -- have been announced, and will take place as follows.

Remains

Philip's remains are at Windsor Castle, the royal residence just west of London, where he and the Queen have been living in recent months.

Philip returned to the castle in mid-March for his final weeks, after being discharged from a hospital in London following heart surgery.

His body will lie in rest within the castle, ahead of his funeral at St. George's Chapel, also on site. That arrangement is in line with royal custom and with Philip's wishes, according to the College of Arms, the royal corporation that plays a key role in planning.

Tributes

A major royal death prompts expressions of mourning from many Britons. The deaths of Princess Diana and the Queen Mother in recent decades saw thousands fill streets across the country to commemorate their lives.

On Friday, Britain's Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said: "We mourn today, with Her Majesty the Queen. We offer our condolences to her, and to all her family, and we give thanks, as a nation and a Kingdom, for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh."

Flags on royal buildings will be flown at half-staff until 8 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) on the day following Philip's funeral. That includes all of the UK's "official" flags -- the Union Jack, the flags of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus ensigns and ships' colors.

Flags above most governmental buildings, including 10 Downing Street, have also been lowered.

Public tributes were included in the plans for Philip's death, though they are likely to be disrupted by coronavirus-related restrictions on gatherings. Currently, outdoor gatherings of more than six people or two households are banned in England, with similar restrictions elsewhere in the UK.

On Friday, the College of Arms "regretfully requested that members of the public do not attempt to attend or participate in any of the events that make up the funeral."

Similar advice was given by the government. "Although this is an extraordinarily difficult time for many, we are asking the public not to gather at Royal Residences, and continue to follow public health advice particularly on avoiding meeting in large groups and on minimising travel," a Cabinet Office spokesperson said in a statement.

"We are supporting the Royal Household in asking that floral tributes should not be laid at Royal Residences at this time," the spokesperson added.

Gun salutes will be fired across the UK at noon on Saturday, the UK Ministry of Defence wrote in a statement. "Across the United Kingdom, in Gibraltar and on HM Ships at sea, saluting batteries will fire 41 rounds at one round every minute for 40 minutes," it wrote.

"The public are encouraged to observe the gun salutes from home, they will take place behind closed doors but broadcast online and on television," the statement added.

The funeral

The current coronavirus situation threatens to make the duke's funeral unrecognizable from those held for most senior royals before.

It will take place at St. George's Chapel within Windsor Castle, and unlike the one that will take place when the Queen dies, it will not be a state funeral.

Even a so-called 'ceremonial' funeral through would normally be televised and would feature some public elements, but any military ceremonies or processions are likely to take place behind castle walls, to discourage members of the public from gathering.

Usually, such a funeral would be attended by heads of state from around the world.

But only up to 30 people are currently allowed to attend a funeral in England, with social distancing measures in place. This will not change on Monday, despite the country entering its second stage of "unlocking," so Philip's funeral is likely to involve just family members and his closest friends and aides.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "What happens next? The plan for Prince Philip's mourning period and funeral"
Drew Bisping "Moving into this new role will bring Drew's strategic expertise to the entire company." ~Kent Stemper, BluSky CEO

BluSky Restoration Contractors, LLC, a leading national restoration company, has appointed Drew Bisping as its company president. Bisping currently serves as BluSkys chief corporate development and strategy officer. In his new role as president he will oversee the firms sales and operations functions while continuing to lead selective merger and acquisition efforts. He will continue reporting to Kent Stemper, BluSkys chief executive officer.

Drew took over our mergers and acquisitions in late 2019 and has done a remarkable job. In addition to merging with two outstanding restoration firms in the past 16 months, he led BluSky through the complex integration of those firms, said Stemper. Moving into this new role will bring Drews strategic expertise to the entire company.

Bisping joined BluSky in 2007 and quickly advanced through the organization. He served as chief operating officer for six years prior to becoming chief corporate development and strategy officer. His ongoing focus has been guiding the firms operational growth while fostering strong corporate values.

I am truly excited to help lead our people through the next chapter of what is already an amazing BluSky story, Bisping said. Were bringing a new and fresh offering to the entire restoration industry while protecting the BluSky family culture that makes us unique. Im honored to be part of that and Im very grateful for our team.

Bisping will be based at BluSky corporate headquarters outside of Denver, Colorado where he lives with his wife and three children.

About BluSky Restoration Contractors LLC

Denver, Colorado-based BluSky Restoration Contractors, LLC is a full-service national restoration, renovation, environmental and roofing provider for properties damaged by water, fire, storms and other disasters across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. BluSky has merged with four restoration firms in the past three years and has grown its national presence, with over 800 employees in 36 locations throughout the United States. For more information about BluSky Restoration Contractors, please visit GoBluSky.com or call (800) 266-5677.
A bill backed by the Florida insurance industry and other stakeholders aimed at addressing the states insurance market woes was passed in the Senate chamber this week but faces an uncertain future as the companion bill in the Florida House greatly differs from the Senate proposal.

Senate Bill 76, sponsored by Florida Senate Banking & Insurance Committee Chair Jim Boyd, also an insurance broker, was passed 27-13 by the full Senate Wednesday.

We want to make certain that Floridians have access to property insurance that is both reliable and affordable. Right now we have a situation in our state where homeowners are paying more for their property insurance, and yet insurance companies are suffering massive losses, said Boyd. One of the biggest drivers of rate increases is the extraordinary number of roofing claims in Florida. This bill provides a needed update to roofing policies to both protect homeowners and prevent the abuse of claims by predatory attorneys and contractors.

The bill allows property insurers to only offer homeowners policies that adjust roof claims to actual cash value if the roof is older than 10 years. The bill also allows property insurers to offer homeowners the option of purchasing a stated value limit for roof coverage. A homeowner that is offered such a policy would receive a disclosure that their insurance policy does not provide replacement cost coverage insurance for the roof. In a total loss of the primary structure, a reimbursement schedule and stated value sublimit do not apply and the insurers liability will be for the total amount of insured property as provided in the policy. The bill also creates a uniform 2-year period for filing a property insurance claim, supplemental claim, or reopened claim.

The bill also target excessive litigation facing insurers by requiring detailed notice of property insurance claims prior to litigation and changes how attorney fees are awarded. Before a lawsuit is filed, the insurer must be notified of the claim in detail and be given sufficient time to inspect the property before a lawsuit is filed.

Currently, an insurer must pay a reasonable attorney fee to the insureds attorney, even if the insured only recovers a small amount in the litigation. Under this legislation the insurers obligation to pay the insureds attorney fees will be directly related to how successful the insured was in recovering the amount demanded in the litigation. If the claimant recovers at least 80 percent, the insurance company must pay all reasonable attorney fees. If the claimant recovers 20% or more of the demand but less than 80%, the insurer will be required to pay the same percentage of fees related to the recovery that the claimant recovered in the action.

The bill also adopts the federal court standard for awarding attorney fee multipliers in claims arising under property insurance policies and directs courts to presume that the Lodestar fee is reasonable and provides that multipliers will only be awarded in rare and exceptional circumstances.

This legislation ensures there is a clear understanding between homeowners and their insurance companies regarding when a roof replacement will be covered in full and establishes a clear and reasonable two-year time period for filing a claim, said Senate President Wilton Simpson. These reforms seek to reduce frivolous claims by those who take advantage of areas that were affected by hurricanes when claims spike at the end of the three-year claim window and often have no damage related to the hurricane.

The bills companion, House Bill 305 was equal to SB 76, except for the requirement that claimants provide notice of intent to initiate litigation. However, the original version was substituted last month by the bills sponsor, Representative Bob Rommel, for a different version that changed significantly from when it was first introduced, Rommel told a House Committee in March.

The proposed committee substitute instead:

Places salary limits on Citizens employees.

Includes presuit notice requirements for all residential and commercial property suits not brought by an assignee, including written notice of intent to initiate litigation that specifies the amount of attorney fees and costs incurred by the claimant. The costs would be calculated by multiplying the number of hours a claimants attorney actually worked on the claim as of the date of the notice by a reasonable hourly rate.

Clarifies that the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has the same authority to examine MGAs that it has to examine insurers.

Establishes that insurers doing business in Florida must provide specific pieces of data regarding litigation of personal and residential property insurance claims to OIR on a quarterly basis.

Allows Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to raise rates a further 1% per year for the next five years, up to 15%, if OIR determines the financial need to raise rates.

Revises the eligibility for residential property owners to obtain coverage from Citizens so that they are not eligible for coverage from the residual market if a policy can be obtained from the private market that is less than 20% greater than the premium for comparable coverage from Citizens. The current amount is 15%.

Prohibits a court from awarding attorney fees to a claimant for services rendered if a suit is dismissed.

The amendment also adds several provisions targeting contractor schemes against homeowners and insurers.

Specifically, it would establish that contractors may not:

Solicit a residential homeowner to file an insurance claim;

Offer an incentive to a residential homeowner for allowing the inspection of the residential property owners roof or for making an insurance claim for roof damage;

Offer or accept any compensation or reward for referral of services for which property insurance proceeds are payable.

Interpret policy provisions, advise an insured about policy provisions, or adjust claims on behalf of an insured unless licensed as a public adjuster.

Provide an insured with an agreement authorizing repairs without providing a good faith estimate of the cost of the repairs.

Enter into a contract with a residential property owner to repair or replace a roof without including notice that the contractor is prohibited from engaging in certain acts.

The reduction of the claims filing deadline from three years is included in both HB 305 and SB 76.

House Bill 305 is now in Florida House Commerce Committee.

Related:

Topics Florida Property Politics
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexican prosecutors say they have detained one of the leaders of the Gulf Cartel, and in a related raid at a different house found a local politician with three guns.

The federal Attorney Generals Office said late Wednesday that the raids took place earlier this week in the town of Salinas Victoria, just outside of Monterrey in the northern border state of Nuevo Leon.

Agents detained Evaristo Cruz, alias El Vaquero (The Cowboy), at one house with two other men, guns, cash and radios, prosecutors said. Cruz is reputedly a leader of the Cyclones faction of the splintered Gulf Cartel, based in the neighboring state of Tamaulipas.

Working on the same search warrant, agents detained local politician Raul Cantu at another home, where three guns and possible marijuana were allegedly found. Cantu is running for mayor of the town on the ticket of the small Citizens Movement Party.

The party said in a statement that the guns at Cantus house were apparently hunting weapons owned by his father. But it also said that if he had committed any crime, the party would cooperate in the investigation.

On Cantu's Facebook page, a statement posted by his lawyers claimed that agents had made a mistake in raiding his house, saying it was not mentioned in the search warrant. The legal team also said the hunting guns were legally registered to Cantu's father, who is deceased.

Prosecutors alleged that Cantu attempted to bribe the agents into releasing him.
Days after OPEC+ greed to gradually ramp up production, adding some 2 million bpd to global supply by July, the Saudi energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has hinted that the cartel could change course if necessary.

Bloomberg quotes the official as saying there was nothing in oil markets that was bothering the cartel but the oil ministers will continue to meet every month and stand ready to change tack if this is called for.

It may well become called for at some point unless the pandemic situation changes drastically for the better. Infections are flaring up in many parts of Europe, new case numbers are still high in Brazil and India, and vaccine rollout on a global scale is not as fast as many would have liked.

On the flip side, the U.S. economy is soon about to be firing on all cylinders, according to most economists and analysts, thanks to the generous federal stimulus program and fast progress with vaccinations.

Yet demand concerns remain, including in OPEC, as evidenced by bin Salmans suggestion that the cartel may change course if necessary. When OPEC+ agreed to start raising production, it did so on strong expectations that demand will rebound globally in a few months.

Even if it does, there is more oil coming into the global market from Libya, and if the U.S. and Iran reach an agreement on the nuclear deal, there will be a lot more Iranian oil also flowing in.

Oil prices have already been constrained by the pandemic-related uncertainty bout the global economy, and any additional pressure would push them lower, prompting OPEC to act, which it will likely do.

In a bit of good news for the cartel, the Energy Information Administration has revised down its forecast for U.S. oil production this year, from 11.15 million bpd last month to 11.04 million bpd, because of the fallout from the Texas Freeze.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
WATERVLIET  An Australian man accused of ripping off real estate developers, charities, business partners and his own mother has been quietly living in the Capital Region for several years under an assumed name, according to federal law enforcement officials.

He now faces visa fraud charges after allegedly lying about his old name and a past arrest.

Federal agents charged Paul Carter, 55, on Wednesday with making false statements in connection with a visa renewal application. The complaint against Carter does not say what brought him to the attention of federal agents.

Carter, who was born Paul Cristallo and has been going by the name Paul Hamilton, gained the "Casanova Conman" moniker in the Australian press after a splashy September 2019 series in the Herald Sun and other news outlets. Carter allegedly posed as a multi-millionaire developer and would woo women into turning over to him control of their financial assets, according to the news reports. The stories include allegations that he hired a hitman to kill Katherine DuBois, his then-fiancee, after she found out his wife, whom he said died of bone cancer, was alive and well in the United States.

When an Australian television reporter tracked him down at an Albany-area construction site, Carter denied all the allegations against him.

DuBois later wrote a book about her experiences. Carter was never charged with any crimes in connection with his alleged fraud in Australia. His now ex-wife Brooklin Carter is still alive and runs a business in Rensselaer County. She declined to speak with the Times Union when contacted in October 2019.

The Carters entered the country in 2014 under E-2 investor visas, initially living in Boston, according to a copy of Paul Carter's visa application obtained by the Times Union and court documents. It's unclear what kind of business they were trying to create or invest in. At some point, Paul Carter traveled back to Australia and became engaged to DuBois. The occasion was celebrated with a lavish party that she described in her book and which also chronicled on social media.

But Paul Carter's activities in the U.S. are what got him in trouble with the federal government. He came back to the U.S. and continued to live with his wife and, in 2018 when their visas were set to expire, they traveled to Toronto to apply for their second E-2 visas. They were denied by the U.S. State Department. However, the pair allegedly took advantage of an immigration law loophole to buy themselves two more years of legal status in the U.S., until May 2020, court records show.

The couple divorced in August 2019. Carter, who never married DuBois, later became engaged to the Troy-based attorney who handled his divorce, according to Australian press reports.

That second visa application is the focus of the criminal case pending against Paul Carter.

In the complaint, a Homeland Security Investigations agent says that Carter wrote that he had never gone by any other names and that he had never been arrested. In 2002, he was arrested in Australia for growing 12 marijuana plants and received a conditional discharge, according to the federal complaint.

When agents interviewed Carter on Wednesday, he admitted he had overstayed his visa and was in the process of changing his name to Paul Hamilton, according to the complaint.

Carter is scheduled to appear in federal court for a detention hearing on Friday.
The Batkivschyna party starts organizing referendums on five issues, including the sale of agricultural land.

"Today we announce that we are starting to organize referendums on five issues. The first question is the most important  whether the Ukrainian people agree to sell agricultural land," Leader of the Batkivschyna faction Yulia Tymoshenko said at a press conference on Friday.

According to Tymoshenko, it is planned to put the question to the second referendum: "whether people agree today that all the strategic property of Ukraine was sold."

She recalled that currently 120 research institutes, research stations are put up for sale, "just like premises and pieces of land."

Tymoshenko said that the third question that Batkivschyna intends to bring up for a nationwide discussion is whether the Ukrainian society supports Ukrainian gas, which is the property of the Ukrainian people and is produced by a state-owned company, to be supplied to citizens of Ukraine at a price of 30% of the profit for household needs  "just at the price of production, at cost 'plus' 30% of the profit."

"The fourth question that we want to put to the referendum is whether people support the legalization of the gambling business," Tymoshenko said.

According to her, Batkivschyna also proposes to bring up to a referendum the issue of legalizing marijuana.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is set to expand its Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program to include all HRSA-funded health centers. This will increase the total number of health centers that have been invited to join the program to 1,470 nationwide from the earlier 950.



This expansion will be made through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).



This move is part of President Joe Biden's National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness to ensuring that all of the nation's underserved communities and those disproportionately affected by COVID-19 are equitably vaccinated.



The vaccine program began on February 9 with 250 select health centers and was expanded to an additional 700 health centers on March 11. The latest expansion includes an additional 520 health centers that operate over 2,500 service delivery sites.



Approximately 70 percent of those who have received a vaccine through the program are racial or ethnic minorities.



Health centers across the nation are playing vital roles in supporting local community responses to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Over 91 percent of health center patients are individuals or families living at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines and nearly 63 percent are racial or ethnic minorities.



The addition of more community health centers to the vaccine program will ensure that the vaccine is accessed by those who need them most and those hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.



The HRSA-funded health centers are community-based and patient-directed organizations that deliver affordable, accessible, quality, and cost-effective primary health care to nearly 30 million patients each year.



In later March, HHS had expanded access to COVID-19 vaccines for older adults and people with disabilities. It provided nearly $100 million in grants to aging and disability networks in every state and territory to boost vaccinations to this group.



A week prior to that, the Biden Administration also announced a series of actions to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines to the hardest-hit and highest-risk communities across the country. President Biden announced a target of administering 200 million COVID vaccine shots in people's arms by his 100th day in office.



In mid-March, the Biden Administration announced an investment of $150 million to expand access to COVID-19 monoclonal antibody therapeutic treatments for patients in vulnerable or underserved communities across the country to prevent hospitalizations and deaths.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Tebogo Ditshego appointed Prisa president

The Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (Prisa) has announced the appointment of Tebogo Ditshego as its new president, taking over from Kesagee Nayager, who has decided to step down. Ditshego has a wealth of experience and previously served as the institute's vice-president and president-elect.



Ditshego is an award-winning entrepreneur and renowned public relations specialist whose achievements earned him international recognition.
My family and I just spent two weeks in the United Kingdom, so that my parents could see their two grandchildren. Now before we get into it, please spare me the outrage for having taken the trip. Were all grown-ups, we know the risks, and we opted to travel anyway. We followed all of the rules and had to have four PCR tests over the space of the journey, so as safe as could be  plus my folks had their first dose of AstraZeneca a while ago now. And anyway, with all of Spains regions locked down, what else could we do?! Were still bearing the scars of being locked down in our apartment last year with two kids under the age of six...

Before we left, me and the missus needed a clean coronavirus test to present at the UK border. Unlike in Spain, this can be an antigen test, which has the advantage of being cheaper  45  and the results come back very fast, meaning you have more of a margin in terms of getting it done before you fly.

One side note here  make sure you get your passport or ID number completely correct before you take one of these tests. As we were signing in to get ours, I left my wife alone for one minute and she managed to give a number on her passport to the receptionist that wasnt her passport number but actually her DNI A lot of frantic calls were required to sort out that snafu afterward.

Before you can fly to the UK you need to complete a passenger locator form for the UK government and you need to book your home testing

So, off to Madrids Barajas Airport we went. There were a surprising amount of people in the airport considering all the restrictions. And quite a few people not being allowed to check in to our AirEuropa flight due to not having the right documentation. Before you can fly to the UK you need to complete a passenger locator form for the UK government and you need to book and pay for your home testing: PCR kits will be dispatched so you can do a test on day two and day eight of your 10-day quarantine. Expect to be turned away at the airport if you cant produce all the documents you need, including the negative coronavirus test result. I would also suggest taking them as a hard copy as well as on your cellphone.

Annoyingly the border police in Spain stamped my British passport on exit  under the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, this is not supposed to happen for residents.

Arrival at Gatwick was slightly surreal, first given the lack of travellers but also due to a huge number of armed police all over the place. Also, very surprising to see that the UK border officers do not wear masks  theyre just sat behind a plastic screen, which is pretty useless in terms of protection (according to the experts).

Also of particular note is that once in the UK border officers are responsible for everything: checking your passports, checking your PCR result and checking your passenger locator forms. Quite a tall order for the few staff that were there. We didnt have to wait at all, but there have been horror stories recently of up to seven-hour delays at the border in Heathrow due to all the requirements (people arriving in the UK from red-list countries, for example, currently have to isolate in a hotel).

Once in England you can quarantine with family, and they are free to come and go from their home as they like. You cannot leave the house of course, and have to stay put until 10 days have passed and you got your day-eight PCR result back clean. The UK government called me and my wife every single day of the quarantine  which was particularly impressive  to check we were staying in quarantine, to enquire about the test results, and to give us information about Covid symptoms. You can also opt for the test to release scheme, which involves another test  and more cost  to get you out of quarantine slightly earlier.

The UK government called me and my wife every single day of the quarantine  which was particularly impressive  to check we were staying in quarantine

As for the home PCRs, the UK government has a series of suppliers for this  I randomly opted for one called DNA Workplace. You have to record a video of yourself taking the tests, and my six-year-old was also required to do them. (I really hope that the staff at DNA Workplace enjoyed the video of him firing snot out of his nose as I attempted to get the swab in there.)

Despite the difficulty of doing a PCR test on a small child and a reluctant wife, fortunately they were all valid and came back negative. DNA Workplace were particularly brilliant given the Easter weekend and actually sent a courier to our house on Good Friday to collect the samples to avoid delays with the postal system, and thus get us out of quarantine on day 10.

Passport stamping update  April 15, 2021 Since the publication of this article, the British Embassy in Madrid has responded to a request for confirmation as to whether UK nationals with residency in Spain should have their passports stamped when entering or leaving the country. A spokesperson for the British embassy said UK nationals who hold a valid residence document (TIE or green EU residence certificate) will not need a visa, should not have their passport stamped or be subject to routine intentions questioning, nor be required to prove sufficient means of subsistence at the Schengen border. If you have had a stamp placed in your passport, this will be null and void once you are in Spain/the EU as your residence permit negates its effect. If you are resident in Spain, you should always travel with your valid passport and residence document. Showing your residence document should negate any stamp in your passport when entering or exiting the external Schengen Border in the future.

On day 12, we had to go get our PCR tests for our return, again for me, my wife and my six-year-old. At this point, its probably time to talk about the cost. This was a hugely expensive trip, with all of the testing coming in at about 1,400 all in all. If things stay like this, for now, travel is going to be the preserve of only those who can afford it. My six-year-old had to do all tests apart from the one before we flew to England. My three-year-old was exempt, as are all children under the age of six. But if he had been a bit older, the cost would have been more like 1,800 in testing for a family of four. (I have since been reliably informed that we could have opted for a cheaper, quicker LAMP test for return to Spain  I wish Id known that before...)

Gatwick was very weird on our return journey. The check-in area and departures lounge were almost completely deserted, and again there was strict examination of your documents before you can check in. The requirement that seemed to catch most people out was another UK government one: its currently against the law to fly out of the UK apart from a series of exceptions (ours was Ending a temporary visit [Non-UK resident]), and you must complete a form specifying what your reason for travel is at risk of a hefty fine should the information be false.

If this situation continues, and the requirements remain so costly, the days of hopping back and forth between European countries are going to be on hold

Everything was pored over before we could check in  I had to present my passport and TIE Spanish residency card  and there were even armed police at the entrance to security checking again that you were eligible to travel and had filled out the necessary forms.

Once through security, it was eery in Gatwick  everything shut and just a handful of travelers. My wife said it was dystopian and it really was... just another of these weird scenes that have become normal sights during the pandemic.

Its worth pointing out that the behavior of the other passengers was exemplary, apart from a few masks slipping down from time to time. Thats with the exception of one woman in the check-in line, who refused to put her mask on when I asked her to, and her even more moronic younger companion who actually took his off given their collective outrage at my request that they follow the rules. As luck (or misfortune) would have it he was sat right behind me on the plane, still with his mask off, and pretended he couldnt hear me when I demanded he put it on. Eventually a member of the cabin crew had to come over and sort him out. At this stage of the pandemic I really cant understand why people cant just be civil and follow the rules on masks

Back in the capital

On our return to Madrid, they tried to stamp my passport again, even though Id presented it along with my Spanish TIE residency card. The officer said that they will be stamping them in the future as it is obligatory, which could be problematic for long-term residents, and is not what the Spanish authorities are supposed to be doing, according to the British Embassy in Madrid. I am fortunate enough to have an Irish passport too, so in the future it might be better to travel using that.

Once we were through the border, in Barajas they have a completely separate line for passport control and the health checks. They scan the QR code you get when you complete Spains passenger locator form, and then a separate team of healthcare staff had a very long hard look at our PCR test results, and made sure that all the details tallied up with our passports, and so on. But of course thats it  no quarantine, no follow-up, no nothing. Relatively lax, perhaps, given the fears over the spread of the more-contagious strain of the coronavirus that was first discovered in England.

As a family, weve been very lucky to have not lost any income during the pandemic, and my parents were also kind enough to help out with the cost of the trip. But obviously, if this situation continues, and the requirements remain so costly, the days of hopping back and forth between European countries are going to be on hold.

Ah! And before I finally sign off, what on Earth is happening to the weather in England?! One day I was barbecuing in the sun and the next it was snowing. Perhaps our next trip can wait until August 2022 and some slightly more clement weather...

Useful information
The Western Iowa Journalism Foundation was formed amid the pandemic to try to address the decline of journalism in the region. The foundations goal is to funnel philanthropic aid toward local publications with ever-decreasing margins so that those outlets can surviveand also plan for the future. It looks to do the work of connecting donors and grants to local outlets in western Iowa, so that news publishers can focus on the work of reporting. After a century plus of the drain out of rural America, maybe theres a way to claw back, to maintain critical mass, Kyle Munson, the boards president said. A healthy newsroom can be part of that.

CJR spoke to two of the foundations board members, Munson, a former reporter at the Des Moines Register, and Andrea Frantz, a longtime journalism professor, about the last decade in local news, the destabilizing effects of the pandemic, and their hopes for the foundation model. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

CJR: Youve both been involved in journalism in your region for a long time. When you think about the journalism scene in western Iowa a decade ago, and compare it to now, what are the most significant changes?

Kyle Munson: A decade ago, there were so many more community newspapers throughout Iowa. Circulation was better for so many of them. We were just starting to go off the cliff, but we didnt know it. I think there was still the euphoria around Big Tech at that time, the way the news business was going to interact with it, that it was going to be our bridge to the future.

I worked in a newsroom that was sort of a nerve center for the entire state. Now, the diaspora of the colleagues that I worked with a decade ago in that one newsroom is so diffuse: a former colleague at the Capital Dispatch, one at the Axios newsletter, one at The 19th. That one newsroom has spread out into all these other digital startups, which is not inherently bad. Its just a much different landscape. AndI think its harder for the average news consumer to navigate.

Andrea Frantz: Ive been teaching for thirty years. So my experience in the newsroom is long past. My dad was the editor of a small family-owned newspaper in Grinnell throughout my childhood, and throughout his entire career. At the most basic level, I just remember a lot of people employed by that newspaper. There were two families running it, there were people from the community who ran the press in the back, who ran the front desk, who ran the advertising department. There were people. Now, there arent nearly so many.

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CJR: What led you to decide to launch this foundation?

KM: The problem is more urgent than ever, because the pandemic has eroded publications funding even more drastically; we have newsrooms on the verge of closing. Our foundation got its start with Doug Burns, publisher at the Carroll Times Heraldone of the publications were trying to savea community, local, independent news source. Doug has always been very interested in making connections nationwide as well as in trying to find different new funding models to maintain his core legacy news business, but its never been quite enough. He started having conversations with many peopleincluding me and Andreaand this organization started to form, the intent being to find a more permanent nonprofit structure that could actually save these for-profit family and independent local news sources in rural communities. And so were trying to do our work as aggressively and proactively as fast as possible to get that funding to them when they need it the most, right now. Early this year, we got that final IRS approval, which started our work in earnest.

AF: First and foremost, many communities out here dont even have access to local news at all. And Doug saw that his own paper was in deep trouble, having to let people go, having to shut down his own internal printing press. Hes also connected with a semi-regional Spanish-language newspaper, La Prensa. One publisher runs the entire publication herself; she does all the reporting. I live in Storm Lake, and Ive known the local newspaper owners, the Cullen brothers, since they started the paper here, and Ive watched that newspaper go from a semi-weekly to trying to go daily, and then having to back off, and now struggling desperately for money.

One of our primary goals is to preserve the local reporting voice, because its so important to a community: having that in-depth perspective of a local press reporting on us.

KM: Healthy newsrooms are the nucleus of a healthy community. Some communities still have enough of a critical mass where they can maintain a vibrancy, but some of these communities were talking aboutwhether they have no news source, or they have a new source thats on the bubblelosing a local newsroom is as critical as losing a good grocery store, or anything else.

CJR: How did you settle on this model? And what about this model makes you think its the right fit for your region?

AF: Basically, our goal is to pay for reporters, to keep newsrooms sustainable. That just seemed like the best possible way to go, given where we are. Western Iowa isnt hugely populated. And this is an opportunity for us to reach out to foundations, seek out grants, cultivate individual donors who already have an investment in the communities and care about sustaining this local reporting. Its part of really how communities self-define; their community identity is articulated in local news. And if you dont have that, it feels like a huge vacuum. There are people in these communities, or connected with these communities, or who have history with these communities, who truly do care about the future of articulating that community identity.

KM: Its not a major metro area. This is rural and small town America. And if we can have a proof of concept here, thats pretty powerful. Its also a very diverse population. We want to be an agent for sustainability and transformation. Were not out to maintain print newspapers, necessarily. We want to help these news organizations find that future, find that path. And even Doug Burns himself would say that the ship has sailed. He prints two days a week now, and he doesnt see any way that hes going to go back to printing more days per week. What were saying is these publications being for-profit, independent businesses thats not the problem. We want to preserve these places that have served communities for generations. We just have to find the better funding mix around them to make it work.

AF: Part of our mission is also to elevate underrepresented voices. In Storm Lake, there are about twenty-seven different languages spoken in the public schools. We have a unique opportunity to make La Prensa robust and sustainable. If this works, maybe we have other opportunities to support a news outlet for the Southeast Asian community, which is also burgeoning here.

KM: I wonder if we could be a force in the turning of the corner for some of these rural communities. With people wanting to stay close to families, after a century plus of the drain out of rural America, maybe theres a way to claw back, to maintain critical mass and a healthy newsroom can be part of that. On the political or philosophical side, I really think the healing of this polarization were all just morbidly fascinated with is going to have to happen on the local level too, and I think the local media plays a huge role. And everything weve been talking about has exacerbated that splitthe time were all spending now streaming to national outlets instead of arguing with our neighbors.

CJR: I think one challenge that a lot of places are facingparticularly over the past yearis they just dont have the margins to be able to reimagine how their newsroom works, even though thats so necessary. If everyones in survival mode, that healthy evolution isnt really happening.

AF: Theres no time. You dont have enough staff. I mean, I think about La Prensa, with one person running an entire news organization. How do you ever find time to go out and try to raise money beyond whatever advertising sales come your way? Its impossible. Art Cullen at the Storm Lake Times has said that he wants to be able to spend his time reportingor investing in those who are doing the reportingbut the financial management is a full time job in and of itself.

CJR: Down the road, if you were to say, Wow, this really went where we hoped it would, what would that look like?

AF: It would be very gratifying to be able to see the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation funding positions within as many local news organizations as possible, especially people doing public affairs reporting. Id like to see that were lifting some of the burden off of the shoulders of those who are worried about the finances of their organizations, so they can concentrate on doing what they should be doing.

KM: And then if were able to make these community newsrooms sustainable for another generation and more. And if were able to do that around a different model that enables them to do good work for their communities, to stave off the loss in newsrooms or newsrooms being hollowed out as part of a larger chain.

AF: I have hopes that could open up opportunities for local people who want to stay local and do this kind of work. Students want to be able to pay back their student loans. With current salaries right now, thats tough. Theres an opportunity to offer up a little bit of hope. Our goal is permanence, sustainability, people putting down roots and investing in these communities as vital members, as well as reporters.

The Journalism Crisis Project aims to train our focus on the present crisis, tallying lost jobs and outlets and fostering a conversation about what comes next. We hope youll join us (click to subscribe).



EXPLORE THE TOW CENTERS COVID-19 CUTBACK TRACKER: Over the past year, researchers at the Tow Center have collected reports of a wide range of cutbacks amid the pandemic. Now theres an interactive map and searchable database. You can find it here.



CONTRIBUTE TO OUR DATABASE: If youre aware of a newsroom experiencing layoffs, cutbacks, furloughs, print reductions, or any fundamental change as a result of COVID-19, let us know by submitting information here. (Personal information will be kept secure by the Tow Center and will not be shared.)

Below, more on recent media trends and changes in newsrooms across the world:

JOURNALISM JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES: Poynter has put together a list of places to search for journalism jobs and internships. MediaGazer has been maintaining a list of media companies that are currently hiring. You can find it here. The Deez Links newsletter, in partnership with Study Hall, offers media classifieds for both job seekers and job providers. The Successful Pitches database offers resources for freelancers. The International Journalists Network lists international job opportunities alongside opportunities for funding and further education.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Lauren Harris is a freelance journalist. She writes CJR's weekly newsletter for the Journalism Crisis Project. Follow her on Twitter @LHarrisWrites.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (April 9) approved the creation of a Bachelor of Arts degree in music, ratified two faculty positions and the promotion and tenure of faculty, and issued a resolution of appreciation for friends of the university.

The B.A. in music will be part of the Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Design, Art, and Performance in the College of Liberal Arts on the West Lafayette campus. The degree  designed to accommodate interest in a second major  will consist of 42 to 46 credits, boasting a strong academic and practical focus with concentrations in music technology and general music studies, which align with Purdues strengths in engineering, science, technology and the liberal arts.

Interest in music is growing at Purdue. Over 2,000 students enroll in music classes and ensembles each semester. From 2013 to 2018, the band and orchestra program saw a 65% increase in participation. In 2018, 71% of students in the program (812 of 1,336) were enrolled in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines. Of those, 482 came from engineering. Additionally, Purdue has a large number of students in bands and musical organizations who have expressed interest in a music credential to complement their first major.

The anticipated start date for the music degree is fall 2022, contingent upon final approval from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

In other action, the board ratified the appointment of Satish Ukkusuri as the Reilly Professor in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering and Danzhou Yang as a Distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology.

Ukkusuri joined the Purdue faculty in 2009 as an associate professor and was promoted to full professor in 2014. He is an internationally renowned expert in the areas of data-driven mobility solutions, disaster management, resilience of interdependent networks, connected and autonomous traffic systems, and smart logistics. His research bridges social science, engineering and computing methods to develop novel tools for making complex decisions that save lives. He has published more than 320 peer-reviewed publications and has mentored more than 40 graduate students and postdoctoral associates. His recognitions include University Faculty Scholar (2017-present), Fulbright Fellow (2015-16), and a selectee of the National Academy of Science Arab American Frontiers of Science, Engineering and Medicine conference (2017). He is a member of multiple professional organizations, serves on the editorial boards of several journals, and has served as chair of numerous national and international committees.

Yang joined the Purdue faculty in 2016 as the Martha and Fred Borch Endowed Chair in Cancer Therapeutics. She is an internationally recognized leader in DNA molecular targets for cancer therapeutics, particularly DNA secondary structures known as G-quadruplexes. Yang uses NMR spectroscopy to study high-resolution molecular structures, and is regarded as an outstanding collaborator and educator. Her accomplishments in graduate education were recognized in 2017 with her appointment as associate dean for graduate programs in the College of Pharmacy. She has published 89 peer-reviewed papers in top-rated journals, and submitted seven patent applications and 22 Protein Data Bank structures. Yang has lectured extensively on her research, and her laboratory program has been funded continuously by peer-reviewed NIH grants since 2000. Her service to the scientific community is also noteworthy, with membership on numerous editorial boards and leadership in scientific organizations, including the American Association for Cancer Research.

The board also ratified the promotion and/or tenure of 203 faculty across the West Lafayette, Northwest, Fort Wayne and IUPUI campuses.

Additionally, trustees approved a resolution of appreciation for those who recently have contributed $1 million or more to the university. Appreciation goes to the estate of Gregory Rein, for student support in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and for one anonymous gift, for university student and program support.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.

Sources: Jay Akridge, akridge@purdue.edu

Satish Ukkusuri, sukkusur@purdue.edu

Danzhou Yang, yangdz@purdue.edu

Journalists visiting campus : Journalists should follow Protect Purdue protocols and the following guidelines:
Accordingly, Dong will serve as an officer in charge of military training for the management board of the Policy, Evaluation and Training Divisions Integrated Training Service under the UN Department of Peace Operations in a tenure from 2021-2023.

He is the third Vietnamese military officer to qualify for working at the UN headquarters Department of Peace Operations, following Lieutenant Colonel Luong Truong Vinh and Lieutenant Colonel Tran Duc Huong.

To secure a post at the United Nations headquarters, Vietnamese officers need to compete against between 150  200 candidates from other UN member nations to pass four qualification rounds.

At the ceremony, Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen Hoang Xuan Chien asked Dong, in his new position, to offer effective consultations to Vietnam during the countrys participation in the UN peacekeeping activities.
Walmart is slated to offer coronavirus vaccines at dozens of Massachusetts locations starting next week, news outlets reported.

The companys vaccination scheduling system went live Friday morning.

Appointments will be available at 43 stores across Massachusetts: Abington, Avon, Bellingham, Brockton, Chelmsford, Chicopee, Danvers, Fairhaven, Fall River, Falmouth, Framingham, Gardner, Hadley, Halfiax, Hudson, Leicester, Leominster, Lunenburg, Lynn, Methuen, Northampton, North Attleboro, Northborough, North Dartmouth, North Reading, Orange, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Raynham, Salem, Saugus, Seekonk, Springfield, Sturbridge, Swansea, Tewksbury, Ware, Wareham, West Boylston, Westfield, Weymouth, Whitinsville and Worcester.

While some Walmart locations will receive shipments of Modernas two-dose vaccine, others are expected to offer the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to WBZ.

Only those currently eligible to get immunized per the states phased vaccine rollout will be able to book an appointment on Walmarts website.

The company had already been administering the vaccine at more than 3,800 locations in 48 other states and jurisdictions since April 2, according to Walmart.

More than 80% of the shots administered at Walmart pharmacies and 60+ dedicated community events were in what the federal Health Resources and Services Administration designates the most medically underserved areas in the United States, the company said.

For example, in Jackson, Mississippi, we partnered with the Jackson Housing Authority to set up in a community center for a low-income senior housing unit where we administered nearly 2,000 vaccinations to vulnerable seniors, Walmart said in a statement.

Walmart said it hopes to expand vaccine administration to all 5,400 Walmart and Sams Club pharmacies. The company noted it has partnered with dozens of community organizations to host off-site clinics across the country and is planning to expand its efforts with Walmarts Mobile Wellness Fleet.

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Guwahati, April 9 : To avoid "possible horse-trading by the BJP", the Congress and its ally AIUDF on Friday sent at least 22 of their candidates in the just held Assembly polls to Congress-ruled Rajasthan in a chartered plane, party sources said.

The leaders of the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) unofficially told the media that so far 22 candidates of the two parties have been sent to Jaipur and they are now lodged in a private hotel there. "More candidates of the Congress and the AIUDF would be dispatched in the coming days as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party might try for horse-trading after the declaration of the results (on May 2) to remain in power," a Congress leader said in Guwahati on condition of anonymity.

He said Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has been looking after the arrangements for their stay in protected places. However, no senior leader of the Congress and AIUDF accompanied the candidates.

AIUDF sources said that their candidates would visit Ajmer Sharif during their stay in Rajasthan. "The party candidates while staying in Rajasthan would be provided new mobile phones so that others cannot contact them on their known numbers," an AIUDF leader said refusing to be quoted. He said: "In view of the previous experience, we are not taking any chances. In the last Manipur elections in 2017, the Congress had bagged 28 of the 60 seats and the BJP had won 21 but the saffron party managed to cobble up the numbers as some Congress MLAs defected and formed the government." The BJP had managed the support of some Congress MLAs besides four National People's Party (NPP) members, four Naga People's Front MLAs and the lone Trinamool Congress MLA and an Independent member to reach the magic figure of 31 in the 60-member House. The NPP is headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma.

In Assam, to take on the ruling BJP in the three-phase elections, the Congress, which governed Assam for 15 consecutive years (2001-2016), formed a 10-party 'Mahajot' (grand alliance) with three Left parties -- CPI (M), CPI and CPI (ML) -- and six regional and local parties -- AIUDF, the Anchalik Gana Morcha, BPF, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Jimochayan (Deori) People's Party and Adivasi National Party.

The three phases of voting for the 126-member Assam assembly were held on March 27, April 1 and April 6. The results will be declared on May 2.
The much-anticipated report from a police citizens group on the protests in Huntsville last June will be presented to the city council and the public on April 22.

Council President Jennie Robinson made the announcement at the outset of Thursdays council meeting.

The report from the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council has been in the works for several months and the city council as well as Mayor Tommy Battle has been awaiting the report to help chart a path forward to address relationships between Huntsville citizens and the police. The council and mayor have intentionally distanced themselves from the work of the citizens council to preserve its independence and have postponed any actions as a result of the protests until the report was completed.

The HPCAC has been working with Birmingham attorneys Elizabeth Huntley and Jack Sharman. They attorneys are being paid by the city of Huntsville.

Protests on June 1 and June 3 occurred at the same time protests were taking place across the country in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd while in custody of Minneapolis police in what became a national flashpoint of racial unrest.

Related: One city in Alabama is quietly dropping arrests made during last summers racial justice protests

Related: Huntsville protesters want police held accountable for tear gas, rubber bullets

The Huntsville protests on those days, which occurred on the downtown courthouse square, were ended with law enforcement releasing tear gas and rubber projectiles to disperse the crowd. Madison County sheriffs department and Alabama state troopers were among other law enforcement agencies at the protests.

Other protests took place in Huntsville that week ended peacefully.

There were no serious injuries as a result of the Huntsville protests and little property damage.

Huntsville Police Chief Mark McMurray and Madison County Sheriff Kevin Turner have defended the tactics employed to end the protests just before darkness set in.

Robinson described it Thursday as the long-awaited report. The report will not be available to the council nor the public prior to the meeting but it will be uploaded to the city of Huntsville website when the meeting begins, Robinson said.

We will have citizens comments that night, Robinson said. We anticipate there will be a number of people who will have an interest. This will probably be a long meeting.

The meeting, which will be at 5:30 at the city council chambers at 308 Fountain Circle in Huntsville, can also be viewed live on Facebook as well as on the citys website at huntsvilleal.gov.

The most important part of that report for all of us will be the recommendations, Robinson said.

Robinson said the city council will also have a work session on April 28 at 5 p.m. in city council chambers to give an in-depth focus on the report.

It will be a work session designed for the administration to share their plans to take next steps as a result of those recommendations, Robinson said. It will also give the council an opportunity to discuss those next steps from the citizens advisory report.

Weve also asked the administration to address at that meeting the recommendations made by the various advocacy groups. We will fold that in because those groups have overlapping interests. We need to move forward, we need a plan of action thats been asked for and were going to talk about what it looks like to do something.

Updated today, April 8, 2021, at 6:23 p.m. with new information throughout.
Mumbai, April 9 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday continued the questioning of arrested Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze for the second consecutive day in connection with the preliminary enquiry it registered for a probe into allegations of corruption against former state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

A CBI source related to the probe told IANS: "The agency sleuths are recording the statement of Vaze, who is presently in NIA custody." The CBI team arrived at the NIA office, where Vaze was kept.

He was questioned by CBI on Thursday for several hours. Besides Vaze, the CBI also recorded the statement of former city Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, who dropped a letter bomb on March 20, accusing Deshmukh of asking Vaze and other Mumbai Police personnel to extort Rs 100 crore monthly from bars, hotels and restaurants.

Besides the two, the agency also recorded the statement of ACP Sanjay Patil and petitioner Jayshri Patil and Raju Bhujbal in connection with its Preliminary Enquiry (PE).

The names of Sanjay Patil and Bhujbal were taken by Singh in his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

The CBI had registered a PE on Tuesday night. Two teams of CBI-led by SP level officers have arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday and Wednesday to probe the matter.

The Bombay High Court directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary probe against Deshmukh on Monday. Soon after the ruling, Deshmukh stepped down from his post.

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the pleas of the state government and Deshmukh challenging the High Court order.

The NIA arrested Vaze on March 13 after taking over the case of the explosive laden SUV found outside Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani's residence. Vaze is also being probed in the mysterious death of businessman Mansukh Hiran.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
A large snake believed to be a Black Rat Snake was seen hanging from a tree Frick Park trail, and now Pittsburgh park rangers are searching for the creature.

A witness stated the snake did not appear to be a native species. It is not yet verified as to what type of snake it is, the citys Public Safety Department said earlier Thursday afternoon.

Since then, PPG Aquarium and Pittsburgh Zoo repitile specialists identified the snake as most likely a Black Rat Snake, according to CBS Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Parks also tweeted a clarification on species of snakes on Frick Park trail. Lots of snake news happening in Frick Park today! Frick Park is home to several snake species, the largest of which is this eastern black rat snake. It can be surprising to find these amazing snakes that can be up to seven feet long, but dont let their size fool you!

Rat snakes can only eat things that fit in their mouth, Pittsburgh Parks added on Twitter. This is primarily rodents, eggs, and frogs. Rat snakes arent venomous and pose no threat to humans. They love to climb trees to find food and bask in the sun.

Both Animal Care and Control officers as well as Pittsburgh park rangers are searching for the snake on the loose.

Public Safety is warning the public, if you come across a large snake you are not familiar with, stay way and immediately notify police, the Public Safety Department continued.

READ MORE:
[April 09, 2021] Facedrive Announces Changes to Board of Directors and Executive Team

Facedrive Inc. ("Facedrive" or the "Company") (TSXV:FD), (OTC:FDVRF), a Canadian "people-and-planet first" tech ecosystem, today announced changes to the composition of the Company's board of directors (the "Board") and the Company's executive team. On April 7, 2021, the Company appointed two new members to the Board, each of whom bring a wealth of experience and talents. The new members of the Board are Susan Uthayakumar (a member of Facedrive's Advisory Board and the Global Leader of the Sustainability Business Division at Schneider Electric) and Suman (News - Alert) Pushparajah (a member of Facedrive's senior executive team). Concurrent with these appointments to the Board, Mr. Jay Wilgar resigned from the Board. The new appointments are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Susan Uthayakumar joined Facedrive's Advisory Board in January 2021. Susan is a proven and accomplished sustainability expert and management consultant. In her current role at Schneider Electric (News - Alert) , Susan is responsible for managing the Global Sustainability Business Division to deliver climate mitigation action to enterprise customers. Having served in a number of senior leadership capacities throughout her 16 year tenure with Schneider Electric, Susan has been instrumental in transforming Schneider Electric to a digital power and automation technology company driving sustainability, efficiency and resiliency. Susan also held various leadership positions with McCain Foods Limited, an international leader in the frozen food industry, and Deloitte (News - Alert) , a global advisory firm. Susan has extensive board experience with both for-profit and industry boards, where she is dedicated to driving reduction in carbon emissions using technological solutions, enhancing electrical grid innovation, safety and operational efficiency Suman Pushparajah initially joined Facedrive in 2018 to lead the marketing division, and has played a key role in the operational growth of Facedrive from building its driver network to enhancing its technology platform and expanding the rideshare operations across the Province of Ontario. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Suman introduced the Facedrive Foods and Facedrive Heath verticals and initially led the development of TraceSCAN, Facedrive's proprietary contact tracing solution which was created to combat the spread of COVID-19 through innovative technology. Under Suman's leadership, Facedrive successfully transitioned from an eco-friendly rideshare business to a multi-faceted ESG platform with multiple verticals. Prior to joining Facedrive, Suman was the Director of IT at Housing Services Corporation where he developed and implemented a number of SaaS (News - Alert) solutions such as property and resident management software and province-wide data warehouse. Previously, Suman led the Business Efficiency Unit at Toronto Community Housing where he oversaw the development of various technology solutions to streamline the processes and improve efficiencies across multiple divisions within the organization. During his tenure at Toronto Community Housing, Suman gained extensive expertise managing teams and workng with marketing, communications and IT projects. Suman's varied experience and hands-on leadership style have been crucial to the operational success of the Company.



"We are very excited to have Suman and Susan join our Board of Directors. Suman has been a critical member of our senior executive team and lead our growth and transition into a multi-faceted ESG ecosystem. He will bring key operational insights to our Board. Susan is an accomplished sustainability executive. Facedrive will benefit tremendously from her vision and experience in leading major companies through impressive ESG transitions," said Sayan Navaratnam, CEO and Chairman of Facedrive. "Together Suman and Susan bring decades of operational and leadership experience, outlook and vision to our board. I look forward to working with both very closely in continuing to pursue Facedrive's goals." The Board will be adding Paul Zed as a member of the Company's Audit Committee. The Audit Committee will be made up of William A. Kanters, Dr. Hamilton Jeyaraj and Paul Zed.

# # # About Facedrive Facedrive is a multi-faceted "people-and-planet first" tech ecosystem offering socially-responsible services to local communities with a strong commitment to doing business fairly, equitably and sustainably. As part of this commitment, Facedrive's vision is to fulfil its mandate through a number of verticals that either leverage existing technologies of the Company or project synergies with existing lines of business (the "Facedrive Verticals"). The Facedrive Verticals include its rideshare business ("Facedrive Rideshare"), sustainable e-commerce platform ("Facedrive Marketplace"), food-delivery service ("Facedrive Foods"), e-social platform ("Facedrive Social") and its contact-tracing and health services business ("Facedrive Health"). Facedrive Rideshare was among the first to offer a wide variety of environmentally and socially responsible solutions in the Transportation as a Service (TaaS) space, planting thousands of trees based on user consumption and offering choices between electric, hybrid and conventional vehicles (including, more recently, electric and hybrid vehicles on a subscription basis through Steer). Facedrive Marketplace offers curated merchandise created from sustainably sourced materials. Facedrive Foods offers contactless delivery of a wide variety of foods right to consumers' doorsteps, with a focus on doing so in a socially and environmentally-conscious manner. Facedrive Social strives to keep people connected in a physically-distanced world through its HiQ and other e-socialization platforms that invite users to interact based on common interests and by offering gamification and mutual community support features. Facedrive Health strives to develop and offer innovative technological solutions to the most acute health challenges including its proprietary TraceSCAN wearable technology for contact tracing. Facedrive envisions changing the ridesharing, food delivery, e-commerce, social and health tech narratives for the better, for everyone, and is currently operational in Canada and the United States. For more about Facedrive, visit www.facedrive.com. Facedrive Inc.

100 Consilium Pl, Unit 104, Scarborough, ON (News - Alert) , Canada M1H 3E3

www.facedrive.com Forward-Looking Information Certain information in this press release contains forward-looking information. This information is based on management's reasonable assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to us and are made as of the date of this press release. Actual results and the timing of events may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information as a result of various factors. Information regarding our expectations of future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities or the markets in which we operate is forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not facts but instead represent management's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances. Many factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. See "Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" in Facedrive's Filing Statement dated August 28, 2019 for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions associated with these statements. Readers are urged to consider the uncertainties, risks and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information. We have no intention and undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005095/en/

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A physicist has used the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to solve the age-old debate about whether Jaffa Cakes are biscuits or cakes.

Dr. Heloise Stevance, an astrophysicist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, trained algorithms with nearly 100 recipes of traditional cakes and biscuits.

She then ran two Jaffa Cakes recipes through the algorithms, which recognised them unambiguously as cakes 'without a doubt'.

Jaffa Cakes, which are made by Edinburgh-based manufacturer McVitie's, consist of a disc of orange-flavoured jelly, milk chocolate and a mysterious spongy base.

But fans of the popular British snack have passionately debated whether they're biscuits or cakes due to their unique texture and appearance.

It's not a trifling matter: Scottish firm McVitie's have been making Jaffa Cakes since 1927 - but are they biscuits or cakes?

WHAT IS AN ALGORTHM? An algorithm is a specific procedure for solving a well-defined computational problem. The development and analysis of algorithms is fundamental to all aspects of computer science, like artificial intelligence (AI), databases, graphics, networking, operating systems and security. Algorithms underpin computerised tasks and have direct application across a range of settings. For example, text-mining algorithms support reviews of medical literature, while image analysis algorithms assist pathologists to identify atypical samples. Algorithms do not currently have a legal definition and their exact nature is a point of contention in computer science. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica/University of Cambridge Advertisement

Dr Stevance has authored a mock research paper about her investigation, which was published as a pre-print on April Fool's Day  but she confirmed to MailOnline that she really did run the experiments.

The debate over whether Jaffa Cakes are cakes or biscuits is 'one of the greatest causes of arguments amongst British families,' Dr Stevance said.

'Some argue that their size and host environment  the biscuit aisle  should make them a biscuit in their own right,' she says in her paper.

'Others consider that their physical properties  e.g. they harden rather than soften on becoming stale  suggest that they are in fact cake.'

According to Wikipedia, citing an obsolete link to the Food Standards Agency, the base of a Jaffa Cake is made of Genoise  a type of Italian sponge.

But the unusual consistency of the base is arguably not soft and spongy enough to compare with other cakes.

Additionally, they are sold in the biscuit aisle, measure only 2.125 inches in diameter and are eaten alongside (or in place of) the biscuits like Digestives and Rich Teas.

Among those in the biscuit camp are cookery writer Nigel Slater, who once said, 'Jaffa Cake is a biscuit through and through' and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who said, 'In my humble opinion a Jaffa Cake is definitely a biscuit'.

The disagreement over whether they're biscuits or cake even reached the courts back in 1991.

McVitie's, which has been making the orange-flavoured delicacy since 1927, was challenged for labelling their chocolate orange treats as 'cakes' by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.

But the court found in McVitie's favour that Jaffa Cakes should be considered cakes for tax purposes  but still the debate rages on.

In an attempt to finally put it to rest, Dr Stevance used two classification algorithms  random forest, which consists of multiple decision trees, and a support vector machine.

The algorithms were trained with 51 recipes of biscuits and 41 recipes of cakes, including all their different ingredients, defined as either 'wet', 'fat' and 'dry'.

Dr Stevance trained two classifiers on 100 recipes of traditional cakes and biscuits. Visual examples of the cake and biscuit class. Dr Stevance said: 'It is important to note that scones are not biscuits'

Two Jaffa Cakes recipes taken from the internet  one of which was by Mary Berry  were then fed to the algorithms.

Both algorithms predicted them to have the label 'cake', Dr Stevance found.

The random forest and support vector machine classifiers have a 95 per cent and 91 per cent accuracy, respectively  almost unequivocally showing that Jaffa Cakes are in fact, as their name suggests, cakes.

Dr Stevance acknowledged that her experiments did not take into account the size of Jaffa Cakes or its host environment (biscuit aisle).

But, she points out, many Mr Kipling cake products are also sold in the biscuit aisle and enjoyed with tea, without having their nature debated  while 'size does not the biscuit make'.

Those who have claimed Jaffa Cakes are biscuits have pointed out that they are sold in the biscuit aisle, measure only 2.125 inches in diameter and are eaten alongside (or in place of) biscuits like Digestives and Rich Teas

One of the main differences between Jaffa Cakes and a traditional cake product, whether it be a cupcake or a slice of a whole cake, is that the Jaffa Cake can be held and dipped without leaving much residue on the fingers, she admits.

'Most cakes will be sticky  as a result, the eating experience of the Jaffa Cake will be more similar to that of a traditional biscuit.'

However, this does not in any way detract from the treat's 'true nature'  and the fact that Jaffa Cakes are cakes, she concludes.

MailOnline has contacted United Biscuits, which owns McVitie's, and the Jaffa Cakes social media team for comment.

One of the limitations to the study is that Dr Stevance did not use the official McVitie's Jaffa Cakes recipe in her experiments.

Dr Stevance confirmed she would perform follow-up experiments with the official recipe if it can be provided to her by McVitie's, for the sake of science.

Emma Stowers, Brand Director for McVities UK and Ireland, told MailOnline that the firm has always classified their Jaffa Cakes as cakes.

'They are made with sponge after all,' she said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 23:53:12|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- At Nairobi's Nyayo roundabout in Kenya, massive pillars holding heavy concrete slabs that are part of the expressway built by a Chinese company, stretch for about a kilometer.

On both sides of the roads, safety walls have been erected to protect motorists.

The same scenario is replicated at Bellevue, not far away, where heavy slabs seemingly hanging in the air give one a glimpse of what a suspended road would look like.

It is slightly over a year since China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) started building the road but works are already at an advanced stage. The road has been constructed at a faster rate, which is hardly witnessed before in the east African nation.

The fast construction of the road has not only created buzz among Kenyans but also given thousands of commuters hope that soon traffic jams on the major artery would be a thing of the past.

"When construction started, I had thought of relocating from where I stay off Mombasa Road since I believed it would take up to four years to finish the road, but I was mistaken," Joseph Nzambia, a banker in Nairobi said recently. He discarded the idea when he saw the first pillars erected at Bellevue.

"Soon I know tarmacking would start and the road would be complete and we would forget about traffic jams," he said.

His sentiments are shared by hundreds of other commuters using the road.

The Chinese contractor has not only been lauded for fast work, but also for working to ensure minimal traffic disruption.

"In places where the firm has partially blocked the road, there is good diversion to ensure traffic flows. What causes traffic jams is bad behavior by Kenyan motorists," noted Nzambia, adding there is good road signage and safety walls to protect motorists and pedestrians.

James Macharia, cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, while on a tour of the expressway on March 31 said the Chinese contractor is on track.

"We expect the elevated highway, which is progressing at 60 meters per day from both ends to be completed by early 2022," Macharia said in a statement issued in Nairobi after touring the project.

The project being done links the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to Nairobi-Nakuru highway.

Ernest Manuyo, a lecturer at Pioneer Institute in Nairobi, said faster completion of the highway would boost economic activity as the road is expected to start to be used sooner than planned.

The project has opened massive opportunities for local businesses as well as individuals, according to Kenya National Highways Authority, a state corporation.

More than 1,800 local youths have been employed by the contractor. Enditem
Rating: Worth a drive

Shops that make their own bagels are rare enough. Food trucks that make their own bagels are unicorns.

Meet Wild Barley, a trailer making Montreal-style wood-fired bagels plus bread and pizza in the same Broadway News food truck park as Carnitas Don Raul, another worth a drive star in this series.

Mike Sutter /Staff

It wasnt even supposed to be a bagel truck. When Holland Lawrence and Marc Fogelsong launched Wild Barley in 2019, it was a pizza operation. They only made bagels on Sundays, something to fill out the menu because they already had the sourdough process in place for pizza. But the bagels took off.

I was surprised that San Antonio took to the bagel market like it did, Lawrence said. And now they make pizza just one day a week, on Fridays from 4 to 8:30 p.m.

Their sideways fall into the bagel business began when Lawrence and Fogelsong were attending Texas A&M University, where they hatched plans to start a brewpub. But life took them other directions. Lawrence brewed beer at Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling for nine years, and Fogelsong grew the franchise operations of the sandwich chain Pita Pit for 10 years before they started Wild Barley.

Lawrence compares the sourdough process to brewing beer, a game of fermentation and timing. Thats a handy thing, because he and Fogelsong plan to grow the business into a brick-and-mortar brewpub called Wild Barley Kitchen & Brewing Co. by the end of the year or early 2022.

On ExpressNews.com: 52 Weeks of Food Trucks: Carnitas Don Raul on Broadway kicks off series with a Worth a Drive rating

Mike Sutter /Staff

Best dish: Wild Barley is open Thursday through Sunday, and so the care and feeding of the oak-burning oven means building the fire on Wednesday, then stoking and distributing the coals and reviving the fire in the wee hours for the next three nights to accommodate the different temperature demands of bagels, sourdough bread and pizzas.

The bagels that come from that oven are some of the best in the city, with a balance of density and aromatic yeastiness. Stout and strong, theyre enough all by themselves, from the stick-to-your-teeth chaos of an everything bagel to the more restrained white and black sesame varieties to the all-day breath of toasted garlic and finally the poppyseed bagel so armored with the tiny black pellets that youre sure to fail your drug test.

Bagels cost $2 each, and cream cheese schmears  they come in fresh, cool plain; lemon-dill; black garlic and herb; jalapeno-onion; or a sweet, golden blend of pistachio and honey  cost $1.50 to $2.50.

On ExpressNews.com: 3 new Asian restaurants include some of the citys best sushi

Other dishes: With great bagels come great bagel sandwiches. The most sophisticated of them is the Perfect Pear ($8.50), built on a multigrain white sesame bagel with slices of fresh pear that complement fatty-funky slices of prosciutto, with honey-pistachio cream cheese as a lush bonding element.

Mike Sutter /Staff

For the traditionalist, Wild Barley offers the Lox ($10), a smart combination of silky, brined salmon with lemon-dill cream cheese, capers, red onion and tomato on a perfectly matched rosemary sea salt bagel that radiates herbs like a fireworks display.

Wild Barley Kitchen Co. Location: 2202 Broadway, Instagram: wildbarleykitchenco Hours: 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, plus to 8:30 p.m. Friday Takeout/delivery: Patio dining and takeout available See More Collapse

For the more breakfast-forward side of things, Wild Barley turns to two local providers for the fatty magic. A thick patty of spicy breakfast sausage from Smoke Shack animates the Sausage Party bagel sandwich ($9), built out with bacon, fried egg, jam and cream cheese. The Texas Pork Roll features lunch meat from Swine House that brings to mind bologna and Taylor ham, a salty and bouncy launching pad for fried egg, salsa, avocado, jalapenos and cheddar ($9.50).

Sourdough pancakes were sold out by the time I got there. Take a tip from the couple after me and put in an order for the next day, or preorder online at wildbarleykitchen.com.

msutter@express-news.net | Twitter: @fedmanwalking | Instagram: @fedmanwalking
LEXINGTON, Ky.  As he pleaded with Kentuckians to sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Andy Beshear announced 645 new cases of the virus, along with 16 deaths from as far back as July, October, September and December.

We are in an absolute race with variants to prevent any type of fourth surge, the governor said in a live update. We need you to sign up for whichever vaccine is available.

The positivity rate is 2.81%.

After an 11-week decline in cases, the number of new infections across the state plateaued last week. Its cause for concern, Beshear said earlier this week, warning Kentuckians that a fourth surge is possible, even though more than a quarter of the adult population is at least partially immunized.

More than 1,510,000 Kentuckians have gotten at least their first dose  125,510 of whom got their first shot last week. The state has the capacity to vaccinate more than 200,000 people a week, which is achievable, since our overall [weekly] allocation is getting bigger, Beshear said.

But demand hasnt quite met the increasing supply yet, Beshear said. While we vaccinated 125,510 new Kentuckians, we received about 214,000 new doses, which means tens of thousands of doses were not immediately claimed. The state expects to receive 278,810 new doses this week.

What that means is there are open appointments, not because were not vaccinating still at a steady pace, he said, but because were getting more vaccine.

Several of Kentuckys larger vaccination sites have reported having thousands of open vaccine slots this month, including the University of Kentuckys site at Kroger Field. Additionally, next week, the Kentucky Horse Park has 1,800 openings; Louisvilles Cardinal Stadium has 11,000 openings; Greenwood Mall in Bowling Green has 2,000; and both the Pikeville Medical Center and Christian County Health Department have 1,000 openings, each.

This week, the federal government shipped 600,000 of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines across the country  only 7,800 of which were allocated to Kentucky, Beshear said, as he asked Kentuckians not to shop for vaccines.

We cant have people waiting for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. We are not getting near the amount we expected by this point.

______

Alex Acquisto of the Lexington Herald-Leader wrote this story.

2021 Lexington Herald-Leader. Visit at kentucky.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The hyphenation of India and Pakistan for a high-profile Russian visit is a first of its kind

Russias long-standing foreign minister Sergey Lavrov was in New Delhi and then proceeded to Islamabad earlier this week in a quest to build on Moscows interests-based diplomacy in the wake of the emerging global reset in 2021, which has seen it very active over Afghanistan. Strangely, the hyphenation of India and Pakistan for a high-profile Russian visit is a first of its kind and symbolises the changes that the world order and alignment is seeing. This was the old world way the United States used to run its foreign relations in South Asia, but Indias tearaway progress and enhanced comprehensive national power led to a de-hyphenation.

In the last 12 months, Russia may have remained comparatively less significant except in the brief period of the SCO meetings in September 2020, leading up to the summit in November 2020. Chinas belligerence at the Ladakh border with India saw India being pushed further into the American camp. The United States aims at keeping Russia out of the Indo-Pacific order of nations as an influential player so that its intended countering of Chinas rise remains without the complexity of any Russian involvement.

The Russian foreign minister may have been a tad late in his engagement of India because the subcontinent has witnessed the visit of the former US secretaries of state and defence for the 2+2 Dialogue in end of October 2020 and a visit by Americas new defence secretary Lloyd Austin in March 2021.

Russia has been observing the rising strength of India-US ties which in recent months have received a spurt as a result of China raising the ante in the Indo-Pacific. The Russians cannot afford to be insignificant in the manoeuvres which are taking place at this stage without any definitive terminal status in mind. The Russian concerns, however, are not pegged to just the immediate area of South Asia. They go far and wide commencing from East Europe where the former Soviet Union held sway through the Warsaw Pact in the Cold War era. The US and the Western Europe effectively neutralised Russian influence there by the inclusion of the former Soviet vassal states into Nato and the European Union.

Russia resisted the eastward march of Nato by contesting this in Ukraine, setting up one of the most effective hybrid campaigns in recent times. Russias influence in the Middle East, however, was enhanced through its support to Syria in the civil war, to Iraq in its post-war dispensation and to Iran in the quest to partially overcome the pariah status that the United States imposed on the latter. The alignments have been effective to achieve balance even as the Middle East stabilises and the isolation of Iran is under reversal. Russia also maintains balance in its relationship with Turkey, with which it has had several run ins; both sense their mutual interests and despite being on opposite sides in many theatres continue to maintain cooperation.

That brings us to Central Asia, the reputed soft belly to which Russia remains hugely sensitive. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was launched when a threat was envisaged to the Central Asian republics (CARs), then a part of the Soviet Union. Later, Russia remained mindful of the threat potential to the CARs and has made every effort to retain its hold, including the presence of Russian troops in Tajikistan and now in Kyrgyzstan. It is improving its foreign military bases in the region and supporting the militaries of the CARs with activities ranging from arms sales and joint military exercises to training and assistance programmes, both in bilateral and Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) frameworks. Russia perceives the region as a source of political instability, organised crime, and a pathway for extremists into Russian territory from there, or Afghanistan. It has an 11 per cent Muslim population existing in regions such as Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Dagestan and Chechnya, which have witnessed separatism and efforts at the cultivation of extremist practices. Russias interest in Afghanistan and Pakistan stems from this perceived future threat, especially in the aftermath of a US withdrawal. It therefore maintains a pro-Taliban stance and in the hugely complex Afghan international power game it is seeking to remain aligned with Iran, which has its differences with the Taliban but linkages too. In Afghanistan, every nation is in projection of power play and the alignments are not fixed; no one enemy and no one friend, multiplicity is the policy.

This is what has brought Russia to Pakistan, a nation with which it has traditionally not had friendly relations and that goes back also to the 1980s, when Pakistan became the US-Saudi frontline state to contest the Soviet push into Afghanistan.

Even before that the Soviet Union had aligned with India, and the 20-year Indo-Soviet Frienship Treaty acted as a balance to the Cold War alliances of Pakistan with the US. After the Cold War ended, India has attempted to maintain a balance between the US and Russia. While it needed US cooperation to enhance its economic development, security and technological threshold, India has also continued to rely on Russia for diplomatic support and defence supplies; its Russian-origin military equipment being in abundance. The policy of multilateralism was really at the fore with Indias decision to spend $5 billion to buy the S-400 air defence system, at the risk of application of the US legislation -- Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). Russia now realises that the core centre of international politics is shifting from the Middle East and Afghanistan to the Indo-Pacific. Chinas coercion of its Asian adversaries, particularly India, and the wolf warrior diplomacy that China has adopted is changing the equations of alignment internationally. The Quad is being seen to be transforming from the confused and benign platform to something more substantial, with India moving closer to the US. Russia cannot afford to see the carpet being swept from under its feet and is making efforts towards retaining its alignment with India to enable a more proactive role in Asia. Simultaneously, it cannot consider Pakistan a basket case because the geostrategic location and its linkages with the Taliban promise higher security to Russia. The promise of weapons to Pakistan for counter-insurgency operations may not, however, immediately materialise.

Mr Lavrovs visit to South Asia may have come slightly late but it helps reveal Russian interests and the additional complexities that the Indo-Pacific is likely to witness in the future.
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Prince Philip's death this morning marked the end of an extraordinary life that saw him dedicate more than 70 years to public service.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who would have turned 100 in June, was a decorated war hero in his younger days before winning the heart of a young Queen Elizabeth and becoming the longest-serving royal consort in British history.

Now, a poignant video tribute by the Daily Mail's Robert Hardman has revealed unseen footage of Prince Philip's distinguished royal career.

The Duke retired from public duties in 2017 after seven decades of dedicated service and more than 22,000 engagements.

His work as royal consort saw him travel all over the UK and the world, both with the Queen and alone, and charm the public, Hollywood stars and foreign dignitaries.

As a former captain in the Royal Navy, his devotion to the armed forces was well-known. The newly-released footage shows Prince Philip looking on with pride at his final engagement as Royal Marines parade outside Buckingham Palace in 2017.

Other clips show him in his younger days, including his wedding to the Queen in 1947 with shots of crowds celebrating the big day while their vows play on a backing track.

The obituary also looks at his upbringing in Greece - from which he escaped war-torn in a cot crafted from a fruit box after his family escaped after his father was charged with high treason.

There is also footage of him serving in the Navy, as well as clips from his many engagements alongside the Queen.

We see him enjoying his time with his children, as well as with Prince William, who delivers a poignant statement about his love for his grandfather.

The touching obituary concludes with Prince Philip laughing off questions about his legacy - instead saying: 'I'd rather other people decide my legacy.'

The touching video obituary can also be seen here: https://www.mailplus.co.uk/

The Queen and Prince Philip's wedding, attended by an array of foreign kings and queens, captured the public imagination in the austere post-war days of November 1947

A young Prince Philip is pictured here being greeted by war time Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1955. The Duke retired from public duties in 2017 after seven decades of dedicated service and more than 22,000 engagements

The Greek prince's early life was marked by upheaval. As an infant (pictured), Philip was smuggled out of Greece in a fruit crate, while his father eluded execution before finding refuge for his family in Paris

He was born on the Greek Island of Corfu on June 10, 1921, to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg

His family fled Corfu in December 1922 after his father, in the Greek army, was arrested and charged with high treason

Prince Philip's childhood would get no easier, moving around until finally finding a place at Gordonstoun School - where he learnt many of the principles he would carry with him throughout his life

Together for more than 73 years, the Duke of Edinburgh has supported the monarch through the ups and down of her life and reign - giving up a promising career in the Navy to support the woman he loved dearly

The handsome young Duke excelled in his military career and was mentioned in despatches for his service during the Second World War. He was a midshipman aboard HMS Valiant off the southern coast of Greece when he earned his honourable citation

His work as royal consort saw him travel all over the UK and the world, both with the Queen and alone, and charm the public, Hollywood stars and foreign dignitaries

Following the end of the Second World War, Philip ended his active naval career in July 1951 and then started to focus on his work in supporting the Queen following her accession to the throne in 1952. Philip was keen on sports - with a particular love for cricket and polo. His enthusiasm for outdoor activity led him to create the Duke of Edinburgh awards

Prince Philip was devoted to his wife of more than 70 years. He affectionately called her 'Lillibet' - a contraction of the name Elizabeth

Prince Philip famously knelt before his wife as she was crowned Queen during her coronation ceremony in June 1953

Philip played a prominent part in various aspects of British life through his role as consort or companion to the Sovereign, accompanying the Queen on most of her Commonwealth tours and State Visits overseas as well as trips around the UK. Here he is pictured on the royal balcony with the Queen in 1953

Prince Philip and the Queen travelled the globe together, endured state visit after state visit, and thousands of engagements over the years

The Queen and Prince Philip married in the 1940s and saw together the rapid advances in modern life from man walking on the moon for the first time to the invention of the internet. The pair are seen here on a boat as they wear matching shirts

Prince Philip relinquished his roles in the military and put country first to join Her Majesty and remain steadfastly by her side through thick and thin, for some 73 years. Here he is pictured during the pair's 1961 visit to India

Together the pair toured the Commonwealth, attracting huge and adoring crowds wherever the went. Prince Philip was always dutiful in his support

The Duke also spent much of his life involved in charities and organisations working within environmental conservation, sport, the military and engineering  with a particular interest in scientific and technological research. He had wanted to train as a fighter pilot - and later trained as a pilot (pictured) - before following in his family footsteps in joining the Navy - where he excelled

Alongside mention of his impeccable national service, tributes to the Duke also mentioned his role as a father and grandfather. Here he is walking daughter Princess Anne down the aisle in 1973

Many courtiers feel that since Philip, who used to rule his family with an iron fist, retired from public life, 'discipline' within the royal family has not been what it should be. Here he is wearing the traditional ostrich feather hat for the annual Order of the Thistle service in Scotland

Philip spent 65 years supporting the queen, retiring from his public role in 2017 and staying largely out of the view since.
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A group of Vancouver moms are racking up the views on social media, thanks to their groovy moves.

The House Wives of Hip Hop (the name also acknowledges their love of house music) have garnered over three million views on TikTok since they started posting short dance videos last summer.

The group comprises seven local women and was formed six years ago when the ladies realized their kids were having a blast at dance class and they wanted in on the action.

After receiving some lessons from Boogaloo Academy co-owner Jheric Hizon, the team honed their skills and were eventually winning medals and performing at the West Coast Women's Show and Victoria Women's Expo.

"We really try and respect the artists and the people who founded hip hop and the reasons for why they started doing these dances in the first place," explains member Kerrie Everitt.

COVID-19 has forced the troupe to get creative. Three members, who live near each other, have started dancing in alleys, carports, parks, and various other East Vancouver locations.

Not even a global pandemic can stop this ensemble from spreading joy; in fact, it's actually helped their popularity.

"If we could encourage somebody to dance in their living room or try to learn a TikTok and just enjoy themselves, try something new that they might find scary, that just makes us really happy as a group," says co-founder Alexa Uhrich.
A drunk and drugged driver who killed four children after mowing them down on a Sydney footpath has been jailed for at least 21 years.

Samuel William Davidson was driving erratically and speeding when he struck Veronique Sakr, 11, and her cousins, Sienna Abdallah, eight, and her siblings Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13.

The children had been walking to buy ice-creams when the 31-year-old ploughed into them after his ute mounted a kerb at Oatlands, in Sydney's northwest on February 1 last year.

Judge James Bennett sentenced Davidson in Parramatta's District Court on Friday saying the menacing, dangerous and aggressive driving sustained over a significant period leading up to the tragic event showed all responsibility to the road safety of others was abandoned.

The tragedy was inevitable, but the magnitude of the tragedy extended to the unimaginable, Judge Bennett said.

Davidson was sentenced to a maximum term in prison of 28 years.

Immediately after Samuel William Davidson mowed down a group of children on a Sydney footpath, killing four of them, he was resigned to being jailed

Davidson, a professional truck driver, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Veronique Sakr, 11, and her cousins, Sienna Abdallah, eight, and her siblings Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13

Danny Abdallah (left) and Leila Abdallah arrive at Parramatta District Court for Davidson's sentencing

Danny Abdallah (right) said he forgave Davidson 'for your sake, for my sake, and most importantly for my family's sake' in a victim impact statement the court heard in March

The professional truck driver was afforded a 25 per cent discount on sentence after pleading guilty to manslaughter for the children he killed and also pleading guilty to three charges relating to the injuries caused to three other children.

One boy has suffered permanent brain damage.

Davidson had been sitting poolside with his housemates drinking Vodka Cruisers and beers, having his first drink about 7am before consuming drugs and driving on February 1.

He was observed by witnesses speeding through a red light, swerving anti-clockwise around a round-about, and driving at a maximum speed of 133km/h in a 50km/h zone.

After the crash, Davidson appeared distressed and was heard saying: 'What have I done? ... I have killed people ... I am going to jail.'

Judge Bennett acknowledged Davidson suffered from ADHD but did not accept impulsivity that day caused him to drive, seen in his consciousness of guilt immediately after the crash.

Bridget Sakr (centre) and Craig Mackenzie (right) arrive at Parramatta District Court for Davidson's sentencing

In a statement Leila Abdallah (pictured) said she, her husband and the parents of Veronique had forgiven Davidson, referring to their Christian faith and their hope he will find God and repent

Danny Abdullah, the father of three of the children killed, said no sentence can ease the broken-hearted pain he feels forever.

But Danny Abdallah's main disappointment lies in the way our culture loves drugs and alcohol, he said.

'That's where my frustration is, more than the driver.'

Mr Abdallah thanked Prime Minister Scott Morrison, his wife Jenny, and Premier Gladys Berejiklian for their ongoing support throughout the grieving months, and acknowledged Davidson's parents had also lost a child on Friday.

Judge Bennett acknowledged Davidson suffered from ADHD but did not accept impulsivity that day caused him to drive, seen in his consciousness of guilt immediately after the crash.

Davidson's letter of apology stated that he is heartbroken to have hurt such beautiful families by his horrid actions and that he would do anything to relive that day sober and never leaving the house.

Leila Abdallah (pictured) lost three of her six children in horrific circumstances and told Davidson in court in March: 'You've killed us all. I'm no longer living. Just existing.'
Authorities have recovered a Confederate monument that had been stolen in Alabama and was the subject of a ransom note threatening to convert it into a toilet, New Orleans police confirmed Friday.

A spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department wrote in an email that 'we can confirm that we recovered the chair' and more information would be released later.

District Attorney Michael Jackson of Selma, Alabama, said Stanley Warnick and Kathryn Diionno were both arrested while Stanley Pate remains on the run.

The chair has since been returned and found to be undamaged despite the toilet humor

Stanley Warnick, left, has been arrested along with. Kathryn Diionno. Stanley Pate, right, is still on the run and wanted in connection to the theft of the chair. All three are facing possession of stolen property charges in New Orleans

All three are linked to the theft of the chair and are facing possession of stolen property charges in New Orleans.

During the investigation, detectives received a tip that the chair was at a location in the St. Claude area of New Orleans. The chair was found and recovered on Thursday, seemingly undamaged.

The strange saga began March 19 when a representative of the United Daughters of the Confederacy reported to police that the $500,000 stone 'Jefferson Davis Memorial Chair' had gone missing from Old Live Oak Cemetery in Selma, Alabama.

The Jefferson Davis Memorial Chair was first noticed missing on March 19 after it was taken from the Old Live Oak Cemetery in Selma, Alabama

The image above shows the chair being stolen by vandals sometime between midnight and 3am on March 19

The chair stands at 3ft tall and weighs several hundred pounds

The group posted pictured online of themselves turning the seat into a toilet but New Orleans police say the item has actually been returned unharmed

Pictures shows the chair being painted to look like stone in a stunt put on by the group

'White Lies Matter' released a ransom note demanding that a banner be displayed by a pro-Confederate group on Friday

The monument has no direct connection to Davis but is shaped like a chair and sat in a private section of the cemetery with other Confederate monuments.

Someone sent an email signed 'White Lies Matter' to news outlets Monday claiming responsibility and saying the chair would be returned only if the United Daughters of the Confederacy agreed to display a banner at their Virginia headquarters bearing a quote from a Black Liberation Army activist, who killed a state trooper.

The banner would say: The rulers of this country have always considered their property more important than our lives.'

The banner, which White Lies Matter wants displayed and claims was already delivered to the UDC, bears a quote from Assata Shakur, a Black Liberation Army terrorist who was convicted of murdering a New Jersey state trooper in 1973.

Selma police are investigating an odd 'whodunit' after alleged thieves made off with a piece that had been quietly sitting for more than a century in a historic cemetery until March 19

Photos of the chair  seemingly being used as a toilet  accompanied the newest statement

The White Lies Matter group tried to display some toilet humor regarding the chair's theft

The above image is a Photoshopped picture showing the banner that White Lies Matter wants displayed outside the headquarters of United Daughters of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia on Friday

The banner, which White Lies Matter claims was already delivered to UDC, bears a quote from Assata Shakur, a Black Liberation Army terrorist who was convicted of murdering a New Jersey state trooper in 1973. Shakur escaped prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba, where she was granted political asylum. She remains wanted by the FBI

Shakur, 73, escaped prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba, where she was granted political asylum. She remains wanted by the FBI.

The same email address later sent photos of someone wearing Confederate garb posing on a chair, that looked like the missing one, with a hole cut out.

A later email said that chair was fake and the real chair was being returned unscathed.

The chair was dedicated to Davis by Ladies of Selma in 1893, more than 20 years after he last visited Selma.

It once showed detailing of ferns, tree trunks and branches before it became weathered, the Advertiser reports. A dedication to Davis was once visible on the seat.

Selma police said that the chair was likely stolen sometime between midnight and 3am on March 19.

'Obviously, we had always intended to return the chair,' the email read, saying the entire caper was intended to make a point.

'Because the common thread between now and then is the criminal justice system. That's where the racial caste system is preserved today, much like these monuments. Why did we steal a chair? To make a point. To redirect the conversation back to what matters, people, not property. '

The chair was dedicated to Davis by Ladies of Selma in 1893, more than 20 years after he last visited Selma

Jackson said a man and a woman, both white, were arrested in New Orleans for being in possession of stolen property. He said they were continuing to investigate who took the chair.

The stunt comes as a debate has raged around the country in recent years over monuments to historical figures who were involved in the Confederacy, with Black Lives Matter advocates pushing to remove them and others saying history shouldn't be erased.

More than 160 monuments and statues were removed nationwide last year, though some 2,000 remain standing due to legal protections put in place primarily by southern state governments.

The symbols - from monuments to building names - appear in public spaces nationwide, more than a century and a half after the Civil War ended slavery, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The undated file photo above shows the chair dedicated to Davis

While many of the monuments, a majority of which went up in the early Jim Crow era, have been removed or torn down by protesters - it has proven difficult to remove those that remain.

Who was Jefferson Davis? Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) was the president of the Confederate States of America throughout its existence during the American Civil War (186165). Before the Civil War, he operated a large cotton plantation in Mississippi, which his brother Joseph gave him, and owned as many as 113 slaves. Although Davis argued against secession in 1858,he believed that states had an unquestionable right to leave the Union. After the war he was imprisoned for two years and indicted for treason but was never tried. In the last year, several statues and monuments honoring Davis were torn down. The movement to remove Confederate monuments and depictions of historical figures who mistreated Native Americans became part of the national reckoning over racial injustice following George Floyd's death last year in Minneapolis. Advertisement

At least six southern states have policies protecting monuments, the law center said, while historical preservation boards and Republican legislative majorities have slowed the momentum, saying it's important to preserve America's past.

Texas boasted more than 180 public symbols of the Confederacy including monuments and school names, the Texas Tribune noted in 2017.

It remains unclear how many of them total are still standing in 2021 but the Dallas Morning News reported in 2018 that Texas had removed more Confederate symbols than any other state at the time.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Virginia led the US in removals in 2020 taking down 71 Confederate symbols in total.

The state was followed far behind by North Carolina with 24 and Alabama and Texas with 12 each.

Thirty states didn't take down any symbols at all, according to SPLC's count.

Among the most frequent names on the list of removals were Davis and General Stonewall Jackson.

The men are seen as top figures of the Lost Cause, a term referring to a belief that fighting on the side of slaveholders in the Civil War was just and heroic.

Davis, who served as president of the Confederate States of America before becoming a US senator from Mississippi, had his name and likeness removed 11 times.

Jackson, a top confederate general, was on the list eight times, with his name removed from five different schools.

But by far the most frequent was Lee, who showed up more than 15 times.

His removals included a statue which represented the state of Virginia as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection in the US Capitol for 111 years.
When Marvena Alstons alternator went out on her car back in the fall, she only had to rely on D.C.s buses to get her groceries for about a week. It wasnt ideal, but it wasnt an extended inconvenienceunlike when she got two flats in March. That time, her car was out of commission for three or four weeks, which kind of took me for a loop.

Alston, who is in her early 60s, lives in Southeast D.C., and the closest full-service grocery store is the Giant on Alabama Avenue, which is about a mile away from her on a straight line but twice that far by the available foot route. Its too far for Alston to walk, and the wait for the bus, when shes had to rely on it, is frustrating. On a normal trip, she would wait for 30 to 45 minutes just to catch the bus to the store. But there were days when Alston would wait an hour.

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Ive been outside when two buses have passed me by because they were crowded, she said. Sometimes they stop a little further up and let people off if they want to get off. And sometimes if they dont have anybody that wants to get off, they just dont stop.

Sometimes the ride home is about 15 minutes shorter, but typically it takes her just as long to get back home. The 60- to 90-minute round trip doesnt include the time spent in the store. When the bus did show up, sometimes Alston couldnt get on it because it was jampacked. There were times when she just didnt feel comfortable hopping on a crowded bus due to the close contact with otherssome of whom werent wearing a mask. (I have gotten off the bus before because two or three people didnt have a mask on, she said.)

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In order to get her groceries home, Alston uses two big plastic shopping bags. She puts one bag on each shoulder and she can only carry so much, which means she has to go back to the store at least two more times.

Researchers define a food desert in D.C. as an area where there is no full-service grocery store within a half-mile and where 40 percent of the households dont have a car. Median income in these areas must also be less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level for a family of four. A 2017 data analysis from the D.C. Policy Center found that more than half of those affected live in Ward 8 while 31 percent reside in Ward 7. More than 91 percent of the residents in both wards are Black.

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Desert, however, doesnt adequately explain the issue. It focuses too narrowly on whats missing from an area versus what is intentionally inaccessible to the residents who live there. Wards 7 and 8 arent barren lands with no food sources. There is a plethora of fast-food options and corner stores. The problem is that fresh, nutritious foods are not available, nor are they accessible, a result of deliberate, exclusionary policy decisionssuch as supermarkets consciously avoiding neighborhoods they consider unprofitablethat have placed Black residents in Wards 7 and 8 within a system of food apartheid.

Theres something illogical to me about putting three or four grocery stores around people who are so affluent they could get to any distance they wanted to go, and yet not doing that for people who we know have transportation challenges, said George Jones, the CEO of Bread for the City, a local organization that works to fight poverty and the burden that systemic racism places on people of color.

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While there are some communities that have a few corner stores where residents can get fresh fruits and vegetables from, the overall lack of access to full-service grocery stores is a symptom of a much larger problem. We just havent dealt with the root of this issue, which is the long history of oppression and disadvantage thats created this extreme poverty, added Jones.

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Food apartheid coincides with other structural inequalities, and they all play a role in creating disparate health outcomes. The same residents have been hit hard by the coronavirus. Seventy-five percent of those who have died in D.C. from COVID-19 are Black, despite Black people making up 46 percent of the citys total population, based on the most recent mortality data from the city. Ward 8 has seen the highest death rate, with 206 residents dying since the city began tracking data last year. Despite the disparate impact, city data shows that Wards 7 and 8 have the lowest percentage of residents who have been fully vaccinated (9 and 7 percent, respectively).

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All of this compounded during the pandemic. Lack of retail options, the burden of unreliable transportation, and not having the extra income to pay for a ride-share collided with loss of income and reduced bus schedules and extended wait times, making it even more difficult for residents to meet their food needs. There was also the fear of catching COVID-19.

D.C. has a robust network of nonprofits and mutual aid groups that work to combat food insecurity, including D.C. Central Kitchens Healthy Corners initiative, D.C. Greens, Dreaming Out Loud, D.C. UrbanGreens, and Kyanite Kitchen, to name a few. Bread for the City quickly realized that people were going to have a harder time accessing food. So the organization started to deliver groceries.

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It was common for us to serve some 5,000 households a month before the pandemic, but we had weeks where we were reaching over 5,000 people, said Jones. I dont know that we ever hit a month where we ended up with 20,000, but we were well over 10,000 households in some of the busiest months.

Radha Muthiah, the president of Capital Area Food Bank, reported a similar story. Prior to the pandemic, the food bank was providing food to up to 400,000 people who were food-insecure in their coverage area, which includes parts of Maryland and Virginia. After the pandemic started, the food bank was providing food to 600,000 people at some points. (Up until June 30, Capital Food Bank partnered with Lyft to offer rides to 24 grocery stores in and around Wards 7 and 8 for the price of bus fare.)

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Michael G. Wilkerson isnt supposed to carry more than 10 pounds. The 59-year-old, who lives in Ward 8, is disabled, and taking the bus to the grocery store limits what hes able to get home. When the pandemic threw the bus schedule out of whack, Wilkerson had to figure out a new way to get food. So he contacted Bread for the City, which hes relied on since 2008, to get the supplemental groceries delivered to his door each week. It was easier than him going out himself, because while he could take the long, four-hour trip to the storetwo hours of which he said was spent on the bushed have to rely on his brother or daughter to pick him up.

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And they live in Maryland, he said. Ive had to catch a cab from the grocery store when I dont have those rides available. The buses dont help because Id have to transfer three timesthree times!and pretty much go all the way around my house just to get to my house.

At times, its easier for Wilkerson to go to the Giant at the Eastover Shopping Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland, because at least it takes just one bus. If he wanted to go to the Giant or the Safeway inside the district lines, hed have to deal with the transfers and the unmanageable distance between the next bus stops.

I have to think about me doing one-stop shopping, he said. If Dollar Tree has my pricing and they have a Giant over there [at Eastover], I can hit two stores and get all everything I want. But then I need that ride because I cant carry that stuff. Trying to get it on the bus myself is cumbersome. But that would be the easiest route for me. Ive tried it before, but know I cant do that all the time.

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Without assistance, Wilkerson would need to go to the store two or three times a week as well. And when he does get there with help, he tries to shop for the month.

Food apartheid in D.C. spans decades, according to Dominique Hazzard, a Ph.D. candidate in history at Johns Hopkins University who studies racism and food history. Shes lived in Ward 8 for seven years and worked with several food justice organizations in the city.

Hazzards research looks at how communities aided one another to mitigate food injustices in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in Southeast D.C., where structural issues such as segregation and racialized poverty created the issue and gentrification magnified it. When Black residents were facing displacement, the loss of grocery stores, and other food injusticeslike price gougingthose stores were boycotted, she explained. People in the community saw food access as a human right; they demanded policy changes and that the city intervene to ensure everyone could eat.

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A similar push occurred in the late 1980s and the 1990s, during the HIV/AIDS crisis. One complication of the disease was wasting syndrome, which refers to someone losing more than 10 percent of their body weight because they needed more calories to sustain themselves. (This complication is less common now due to antiretroviral therapy.) Hazzard found during her research that part of the protests on the local and federal level were about guaranteeing the food people needed in order to be as healthy as possible.

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Both movements resulted in a mutual aid boom. When the coronavirus pandemic started last year, Hazzard recalls that the D.C. Mutual Aid Network blew up overnight and became a visible, organized way of helping residents survive.

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Were seeing the same thing today during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the movement around the grocery gaps in the city has really been hot since 2015, said Hazzard. The pandemic really put a spotlight on it and amplified what Black people in D.C. who experience food insecurity have been saying for years and years. And everybody else experienced the food system breaking down and experienced not being able to get the food that they wanted.

Sometimes, Marvena Alston helps an elderly neighbor of hers get groceries. Shes also on Capital Food Banks Client Leadership Council. There are days when a walk to the corner store will suffice, but the options are limited.

Wilkerson said subpar groceries are a general problem in Southeast: Just imagine a truck dropping off the good food in Northwest and then coming over to Southeast and dropping off the bad foodand knowing its bad. The meat is not good. None of it is good. He added that he does prefer the Giant on Alabama Avenue because of its initiative to increase access to nutritious foods, but theres no direct route from his house, so he doesnt go regularly.

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But even when nutritious items are available, that doesnt change the fact that a key factor in food access is pricing. Muthiah shared an anecdote about a client who explained why even if there is a neighborhood grocer with fresh kale in the produce section for $4, its just not going to go as far as three boxes of pasta and a bottle of sauce.

Ive got many mouths to feed. Obviously Im going to choose the pasta and the sauce. I cant choose that tiny bunch of kale. Although I know how nutritious that kale is going to be, its just not going to fill anyones stomach, Muthiah recounted. When this client said that theyre not real choices  Ill never forget that because thats absolutely true when youre put in that circumstance. Even though thats the healthier choice, it just doesnt make sense for you.

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Muthiah added that shes also had clients who bemoan the idea that Black people experiencing food apartheid dont know how to eat healthy or wont make that choice if it were available and affordable.

For the funds that they do have, they just dont have great choices, said Muthiah.

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When Alston has her car, the grocery trips are much quicker and more robust. She can get more stuff and get her groceries back home in the time it takes her just to get to the store on the bus. Alston can also go to multiple stores in order to maximize savings and product quality. But the fact that she has to run around to different stores to find the best prices and adequate produceand those stores being located farther from her homeincreases the chances of her being exposed to COVID-19. Plus, its time-consuming.

If there was a grocery store in my community that offered a lot of fresh produce, because that is something that we want our kids to eat instead of a lot of candy, sweets, potato chips and things like that  it would definitely be a big benefit to our community that we could definitely use, said Alston.
Suspect in Texas Cabinet Business Shooting Identified as Larry Bollin, 27

Police have identified the suspect they have in custody related to the gunfire reported at a cabinet business in Bryan, Texas, on April 8 that left one person dead and five others injured.

The suspect was identified as Larry Bollin, 27, of Grimes County.

He has been charged with murder and booked into the Brazos County Detention Centre, according to the Bryan Police Department.

WPVI-TV reports that he is currently being held on $1 million bond.

Bollin is believed to be an employee at Kent Moore Cabinets where the shooting took place, according to Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske. Police also suspect he acted as a lone gunman.

In a Facebook post, officials said the Bryan Police Department responded to the premises of the cabinet-making business on 350 Stone City Drive after reports of a shooting at approximately 2:30 p.m. local time.

Initial reports stated there were several injured individuals. Officers arrived on scene and provided medical attention to victims and searched for the suspect. But the suspect had fled before officers arrived.

Brazos County Sheriffs Office, College Station Police Department, Texas A&M University Police Department, and local constables all assisted in securing the scene.

Bryan Fire Department transported a total of six patients to area hospitals. Four patients were in a critical condition, one patient sustained non-life threatening injuries and an additional person was also transported for an asthma attack.

First responders work at the scene of the apprehension of a suspect at a residence in Bedias, Texas, on April 8, 2021. (Michael Miller/College Station Eagle via AP)

One victim was found deceased at the location.

The suspect was later apprehended in Grimes County by Texas Department of Public Safety.

The victims name has not yet been released. Authorities said the name would be shared on Friday.

One of the injured victims has been identified as a trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). Texas DPS said on Twitter that the officer was while pursuing an individual suspected of being involved in the shooting in Bryan when he was shot.

He remains in serious but stable condition, Texas DPS said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives sent agents and dogs to the shooting scene, said spokesman Deon Washington. Police asked people to stay away from the business during the investigation.

At a 6 p.m. press conference, Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske said they do not have a motive for the suspect in the shooting. Bollin used a handgun during the incident.

An employee at the business told KBTX that around 100 people work inside the building where the shooting occurred. Witnesses also said the shootings appeared to be targeted.

Shortly after the shooting, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a statement offering condolences to the victims and their families.

I have been working closely with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers as they assist local law enforcement on a swift response to this criminal act, Abbott said.

Their efforts led to the arrest of the shooting suspect. The state will assist in any way needed to help prosecute the suspect. Cecilia and I are praying for the victims and their families and for the law enforcement officer injured while apprehending the suspect.
The domestic equity benchmarks reversed early losses and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. Auto stocks rose for the fourth day. The Nifty was trading above the 14,900 mark.

At 10:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 105.7 points or 0.21% to 49,851.91. The Nifty 50 index added 28.90 points or 0.19% to 14,902.70.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.32% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.88%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1589 shares rose and 857 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 133,808,161 with 2,901,072 deaths.

India reported 979,608 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 167,642 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index rose 0.34% to 9,993.20. The index has added 2.31% in four sessions.

Tata Motors (up 2.60%), Bharat Forge (up 1.39%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.52%) and Eicher Motors (up 0.47%) advanced.

TVS Motor Company (down 0.55%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.31%) and Maruti Suzuki (down 0.28%) declined.

Ashok Leyland rose 0.16% to Rs 123. Switch Mobility, the company's subsidiary, and Siemens entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) towards building a co-operative technological partnership in electric commercial mobility segment and execute eMobility projects in India. The MOU is aimed at delivering efficient, cost-effective and sustainable E-Mobility solutions to various commercial vehicle customers in India.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Torrent Power shed 0.41% to Rs 420.85. Sanjay Dalal will retire from the position of chief financial officer (CFO) of Torrent Power from close of working hours of 30 April 2021. The company's board approved the appointment of Lalit Malik as CFO of the company from 1 May 2021.

Thyrocare Technologies rose 3.05% to Rs 1039.70. The company said that Arindam Haldar, who had joined the company as a chief executive officer (CEO) in September 2020, expressed his intention of resigning from his current post for personal reasons.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The governments stance on addressing eating disorders and poor body image is dangerous and health professionals use of the Body Mass Index must be axed now, MPs say.

A report by the Women and Equalities Committee found the coronavirus crisis has had devastating repercussions for people who have or are at high risk of eating disorders as well as exacerbating body image anxieties.

Caroline Nokes, the committees chair, said BMI has turned into a justification for weight shaming and noted body image anxiety will be compounded by gyms and beauty salons reopening their doors on Monday as lockdown eases.

BMI was intended as a way to look at the whole population but it has been used as a health risk indicator in specific patients who are then placed on weight loss or weight gain programmes after scoring either too high or too low.

The committee warned BMI, instead, plays a role in triggering or exacerbating eating disorders by making people feel stigmatised for their score, as it called for a health at every size approach to emphasise healthy choices over simply focusing on weight.

Read more:

It is estimated that 1.25 million people in the UK have an eating disorder such as bulimia or anorexia nervosa  most are female. The figure includes those who binge eat, which can lead to being overweight.

Ms Nokes said: Anyone can suffer with body dissatisfaction. Over the past 10 years, there has been a wealth of research and recommendations on how to tackle negative body image but government action in this area is limited  we need to see urgent action.

The use of BMI as a measure of healthy weight has become a kind of proxy or justification for weight shaming. This has to stop.

We are particularly alarmed by the rise in eating disorders and concerned that the obesity strategy and data collection of obesity levels in kids make things worse by failing to promote healthy behaviours. The government must ensure its policies are not contributing to body image pressures.

Ms Nokes, the Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North, noted that advertising and social media can trigger poor body image if users are inundated by ads which lack diverse representation.

It is paramount that people are protected from viewing consistently pressuring content online and that companies advertise their products responsibly, she added.

The report comes after The Independent recently revealed demand for leading eating disorder charity Beat has tripled during the pandemic with the service experiencing record levels of people coming forward to seek help.

Overall helpline demand soared by 173 per cent in around a year rising from 4,277 contacts in February 2020 to 11,686 contacts in January this year.

Jess Griffiths, the charitys clinical head, previously told The Independent eating disorders tend to come from feeling out of control and people are feeling more out of control than ever during the public health crisis. The psychotherapist, who has specialised in eating disorders for 16 years, also noted there is increased focus on food and fitness during the pandemic.

Colleague Tom Quinn agreed with the Women and Equalities Committees recommendations on eating disorders and says the past year has been particularly difficult for people with eating disorders.

He added: We believe further measures urgently need to be taken to protect those at risk. We welcome the committees call for an urgent review into eating disorder rates and to ensure that there is sufficient support available for those affected.

BMI should never be used as the sole factor in diagnosing eating disorders, or for determining who is unwell enough to access treatment. This can lead to potentially dangerous delays and can drive people deeper into eating disorders in order to be taken seriously.

The governments obesity strategy must be immediately reviewed, as it includes measures known to be dangerous to those unwell or vulnerable, such as listing calories on menus. We believe that none of the measures that poses risk should be implemented until this review has taken place.

He supported the committees calls for increased, ring-fenced funding for research into eating disorders due to them being, one of the most poorly understood mental illnesses.

The report recommends funding for research into eating disorders to be the same as the 9 per person for individuals suffering with their mental health after finding that only 96p is spent on studies into eating disorders for each person who has them.

The report argues the governments obesity strategy is dangerous for people with poor body image, adding that it can spark eating disorders in the very individuals it is intended to aid.

It suggests the National Child Measurement Programme which records the weights of primary schoolchildren was likely to cause harm. MPs note body image anxieties affect children aged only five.

Doctored pictures of unobtainable or unrepresentative bodies damage mental health and lead to negative body image and MPs called for the government to restrict and even ban such photographs in advertising.
Hyderabad, April 9 : Y.S. Sharmila, the sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Friday announced that she will be floating a new political party in Telangana.

Announcing her political foray into Telangana at a public meeting at Khammam, she vowed to bring back the golden rule of her late father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, late Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh (2004-09).

She said she will unveil the name, flag and agenda of the new party on YSR's birth anniversary (July 8).

Sharmila's mother Y.S. Vijayamma shared the dais with her and appealed to people to bless Sharmila with their support.

Sharmila said she is taking a small step with 'Sankapa Sabha' to follow into the footsteps of her late father. She recalled that it was on this day (April 9) 18 years ago that YSR "sowed the seeds of his golden rule with 'Praja Prasthanam' padyatra".

YSR's daughter said she was launching the party to question those in power and to fulfil the aspirations of Telangana movement and for the self-respect of Telangana. She also slammed opposition Congress and BJP, saying they have failed in their duty to question the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government.

While paying tributes to those who laid down their lives to achieve statehood to Telangana, Sharmila wanted to know why suicides were continuing even after the formation of Telangana.

She alleged that the TRS government has not issued a single new ration card or sanctioned a new pension. She said the government also failed to give land to poor.

Sharmila reminded Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao about his promise of KG to PG free education. She also hit out at BJP-led government at the Centre for going back on the promises made to Telangana.

She also lashed out at those who are questioning her roots. Sharmila said whether somebody accepts or not, she is daughter of Telangana and will remain so. "I grew up on this land. Is it wrong if I want to pay back to this land," she asked.

Earlier, Sharmila left Hyderabad for Khammam on Friday morning in a big convoy of vehicles.

YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), led by Jagan Mohan Reddy, has already admitted that there is difference of opinion between the brother and sister over the latter's political ambitions in Telangana.

'Sankalpa Sabha' was the first public meeting of Sharmila ever since she announced that she plans to float a political party in Telangana.

For more than a month, Sharmila has been holding meetings with YSR loyalists from various districts in Telangana to take their feedback before announcing her political plans.

She vowed try to bring back 'Rajanna Rajyam' (a reference to pro-poor and welfare regime of YSR) in Telangana.

Composite Khammam district is considered politically significant. Sharmila had extensively toured the district during her "Maro Praja Prasthanam", a state-wide walkathon, in 2013 to mobilise support for her brother who was then in jail in disproportionate assets case.

The YSRCP had won one MP's and three MLA's seats in the old undivided Khammam district in the maiden Assembly elections in Telangana in 2014.

However, it became inactive in Telangana after its MP and all three MLAs joined the ruling TRS.

Jagan Mohan Reddy, who led the YSRCP to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, decided to stay away from Telangana politics. His party did not contest 2018 Assembly elections and subsequent polls in Telangana.
Golden Ghetto incentive finally gets to the point and tacitly confirms that holding out a bit for a better offer usually pays off.

Read more . . .

Johnson County Community College is paying its employees to get COVID-19 vaccinations in the hopes of getting more students on campus this fall.Getting students back on campus is a top priority at Johnson County Community College."Fatigue is there and it's fatigue of staring at a screen constantly," said Chris Gray,
The company has operated its 100%owned Kvanefjeld rare earth project effectively under all successive Greenland Governments since commencing operations in 2007.

The development strategy for Kvanefjeld is focused on the production of rare earth elements

( ) ( ) (FRA:G7P) is looking forward to working with the new Greenland government, which is to be formed following a national election on 6 April.

The company has operated its 100%owned Kvanefjeld Rare Earth Project effectively under all successive Greenland Governments since commencing operations in 2007.

New coalition government

The Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) Party received the largest number of votes, giving it the right to negotiate with other parties to form a coalition government.

The Siumut Party that led the previous coalition government received the second largest number of votes.

Statutory public consultation

As a cornerstone in the exploitation (mining) license application process, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) reports were formally accepted by the Greenland government as meeting the requirements for public consultation on 17 December 2020, after a multiyear reviewrevision process.

Kvanefjeld is currently in a statutory public consultation period that is scheduled to conclude on 1 June 2021.

The Greenland Government initiated the public consultation on 18 December 2020.

In progressing Kvanefjeld, the company has at all times operated in strict accordance with Greenlands Minerals Act.

Its EIA for Kvanefjeld was formally accepted as meeting the Greenland Guidelines in September 2020.

The EIA and the SIA, draw on the work of a crosssection of leading independent, highly accredited consultants.

Kvanefjeld development strategy

GGGs application for an exploitation licence for Kvanefjeld follows a development strategy that was shaped by extensive Greenland stakeholder engagement at a community and government level, captured in the projects Terms of Reference, which went through a public consultation process in 20142015.

A follow-up whitepaper was approved by the Greenland Government in late 2015, which shaped the impact assessments that are now in public consultation.

Uranium

The development strategy for Kvanefjeld is focused on the production of rare earth elements but also incorporates the byproduction of zinc, uranium and fluorspar.

Uranium at Kvanefjeld occurs at relatively low grades compared to most primary uranium mines, however, it can be recovered at low incremental cost during rare earth production.

It is not of great economic significance to the Kvanefjeld Project, however, revenues along with those from other byproducts would serve to reduce rare earth production costs.

IA Partys position

In the lead up to the election, the IA Party leadership expressed an antiuranium position and has reaffirmed this position since the election win.

The company, which looks forward to engaging with the new government once it has been established, will update the market as further information relating to the status of the Kvanefjeld Project is available, and the forward strategy.
A Victorian man who was sexually abused by Australias most prolific paedophile priest has reached a $1.5 million settlement with the Catholic Church, one of the largest payouts of its kind.

The now 58-year-old was abused by paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale as well as Christian Brothers teachers Gerald Leo Fitzgerald and Stephen Farrell while a student at St Alipius Boys School in Ballarat in the 1970s.

Ribbons tied to the fence at St Alipius Presbytery, church and old boys school in Ballarat pay tribute to the victims and survivors of child abuse. Credit: Simon O'Dwyer

On Friday he reached a $1.5 million settlement, plus costs, with the Christian Brothers and Catholic diocese of Ballarat. He is among hundreds of survivors who have sought compensation in the wake of landmark legislation that allows victims to sue the church.

While the victim went on to have a successful career as the executive of a multinational company, he has always struggled to trust men and has no male friends.
AUSTIN, Texas, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TCJL applauds Senator Kelly Hancock and members of the Texas Senate for the 29-1 vote today approving Senate Bill 6, the Pandemic Liability Protection Act.

SB 6 by Hancock represents an agreement by stakeholders on the best way to move forward in this crisis and is the product of months of negotiations among all sides.

As Senator Hancock noted on the Senate floor, SB 6 isn't blanket immunity and doesn't protect bad actors, but instead provides much-deserved protection from litigation for businesses that have acted in good faith during the pandemic. These businesses and providers have kept our economy running, and they should not be subjected to lawsuits for trying to do the right thing.

Senate Bill 6 is one of Lt. Governor Patrick's legislative priorities and was declared an emergency item by Governor Greg Abbott. SB 6 was reported favorably out of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee on April 6 where the bill received more than 125witness cards in favor of the bill.

Texas Civil Justice League commends Senator Hancock for his leadership on this issue over the past year. The Senator worked tirelessly with countless stakeholders to craft legislation that protects Texans and allows our state to move forward with broad support for SB 6.

Senate Bill 6 now moves to the Texas House of Representatives where Chairman Jeff Leach is the author of House Bill 3659.

Contact:

George S. Christian

Sr. Counsel, TCJL

512-791-1429

[email protected]

SOURCE Texas Civil Justice League
[April 09, 2021] National Engineering Industries Ltd. and Amsted Seals announce Joint venture to manufacture railway bearing seals in India

JAIPUR, India, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- National Engineering Industries Ltd. (NEI), part of USD $2.4 billion diversified CK Birla Group and Amsted Seals today announced a joint venture (JV) to manufacture railway bearing seals in India. Amsted Seals is a global leader in sealing solutions and cutting-edge metal fabrication. With installed capacity of two million seals per year, the company will be supplying products in India as well as to international markets. The JV will be a big step towards supporting the vision of self-reliant India to set up best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure in the country. NEI and Amsted Seals will collaborate their diverse expertise and experience to develop a Greenfield project located in Solitaire Industrial Park Bagru, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The site is spread across 2350 square metres and will host best-in-class manufacturing techniques and equipment. The JV entity will market its products with the brand name NBC-Brenco and also plans to add automotive seals and products with metal fabrication in the future. Speaking on this development, Rohit Saboo, Director of NBC-Brenco and President and CEO of NEI, said, "Our joint venture with Amsted Seals is a significant step towards diversifying our product range and offering complimentary products to our customers in railways around the world. We have a very long association with Amsted Rail that dates back 35+ years, and this joint venture is a testament of synergy in our long-standing relationsip."



Michael Carter, Director of NBC-Brenco and President of Amsted Rail Company, said, "We are looking forward to developing localized India seal manufacturing capabilities with our long-time partner NEI. Our newly constructed seal facility in Jaipur, India, will be state-of-the-art with the ability to serve both the domestic India market, as well as the world rail seal market." Both the brand names NBC and Brenco are known in the industry for quality and reliability. NEI will be leveraging its rich experience of 75 years in manufacturing of bearings and allied products with its partner Amsted Rail for making railway bearing seal.

With the commitment to provide sustainable solutions for its stakeholders and the communities they operate in, NBC-Brenco will be a zero-discharge facility that will be contributing towards building a greener economy. About National Engineering Industries Ltd (NEI) Founded in 1946, National Engineering Industries Ltd (NEI) is India's leading bearings manufacturer and exporter, renowned for excellence in quality and delivery. Headquartered in Jaipur, NEI is an integral part of the US$ 2.4 bn CK Birla Group. Having started with 30,000 bearings in 19 sizes in 1946, NEI has evolved to manufacture over 200 million bearings each year offered in more than 2300 sizes to serve a host of customers across India and 30 other countries across five continents. NEI acquired, Kinex bearings in 2020 through its wholly owned European subsidiary. Leading customers from US, South Africa, Russia Germany, Brazil, Japan and Australia, etc. have entrusted NEI with their critical product requirements. NEI also serves the Indian aftermarket through a countrywide network of 550 authorized stockists. With an employee strength of over 2,800 and five manufacturing plants in Jaipur, Newai (Rajasthan), Manesar (Haryana) and Vadodara (Gujarat), NEI is equipped with global manufacturing and process technology and one of the best R&D centres in the country. About Amsted Seals Amsted Seals is a global leader in the fabrication of high-performance, high-quality, precision sealing solutions and metal fabrication for rail, commercial vehicle, and other industrial applications. Amsted Seals brings together the seal fabrication experience and capabilities of the Amsted Industries portfolio of companies all under one platform. The Amsted Industries core companies are leaders in process innovation, experts in metals and polymers, and share a proven track record of success. Lokesh Dhamija

lokesh.dhamija@nbcbearings.in

Head- Brands and Communication

National Engineering Industries Ltd.

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THE continued imposition of illegal sanctions will not stop Zimbabwes economic transformation as the country is building robust internal capacities to create wealth and expand job opportunities for its citizens, Vice-President Dr Constantino Chiwenga said yesterday.

The rollout of the National Development Strategy (NDS1 2021-2025), which builds on the milestones achieved under the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), marks the march towards realisation of this transformation, with the ultimate goal being to achieve an upper middle-income economy by 2030, he said.

Guided by this vision, the Vice-President said Zimbabwe has no reason to sit back and cry foul, but must deliver broad-based transformation, create capital and expand the horizon of economic opportunities for all Zimbabweans.

Delivering his keynote address to mark the official launch of the Zimbabwe Leather Sector Strategy (2021-2030) in Bulawayo Dr Chiwenga said the disruptive impact of sanctions could be successfully reversed through revitalising domestic value chains, cutting on imports and expanding prospects for inclusive growth.

Before the imposition of sanctions Zimbabwe used to be one of the most sophisticated leather industry destinations in the region, exporting its shoes and upholstery leather to lucrative markets in the European Union, among others.

This (sanctions) is now behind us. We no longer talk of sanctions; the land has been reunited with its people and the people with their land and that is now over. We now move on, said Dr Chiwenga.

That period has given us the chance, the time to think outside the box and we now have to rebuild our livestock and leather products. We want all of us, not in the too distant future, to talk about the best leather in Zimbabwe globally. Zimbabwean leather has to be the best and that way we will rebuild our glorious past.

In that regard, the VP said the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa was prioritising crafting and implementation of sectoral-policies and strategies such as the new Zimbabwe Leather Sector Strategy to achieve renewed industry efficiency and foster inclusive growth.

When it comes to the leather industry, Zimbabwe is better positioned than its regional peers since the leather value chain is well structured, starting from input suppliers, livestock farmers, abattoirs . . . and manufacturers of leather products and retailers, he said.

Cabinet approved the new leather policy last November as part of measures to position the sector for increased domestic value addition and beneficiation under the export-led industrialisation programme. The comprehensive document sets out priority programmes and reforms aimed at driving increased output and energising value chains.

These will be implemented over the next 10 years and reflect the concerns of stakeholders in the leather industry, and are anchored under the countrys Vision 2030.

Despite the frustration being inflicted by sanctions since the turn of the millennium when the country embarked on the successful fast-track land reform programme, Dr Chiwenga said Zimbabweans have exhibited resilience with the productive sector also retaining its vibe.

He said Zimbabwe remains better positioned ahead of regional peers in terms of the opportunity to boost industrial activity, and scaling up capacity towards export-led production is the missing link. Chiwenga said the beef and leather industry, in particular, which has been heavily crippled by the adverse impact of sanctions in recent years, was among the key sectors earmarked to drive the turnaround of the countrys economy.

The Government, working with the private sector leather players led by the Zimbabwe Leather Development Council and development partners such as the African Development Bank and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) has set the ball rolling by implementing beef and leather value chain projects targeting small to medium enterprises.

Already 10 leather sub-clusters have been set up in Matabeleland North province with the intention of creating 10-mini factories capable of making school shoes and other leather products. Under the project, 10 sets of four different machines have been bought for training and capacitating trainees. More interventions are being worked on to enhance quality and standards.

Dr Chiwenga acknowledged concerns and propositions by the industry players who have identified 26 policies and pieces of legislation to be reviewed by the Government. He said this will ensure the business environment is streamlined and will go a long way in advancing the sector.

The VP urged all economic support agencies to play their part to ensure successful implementation of the leather strategy and paid tribute to development partners for supporting the Government.

In her remarks Industry and Commerce Minister, Dr Sekai Nzenza, said the synergy between industry and commerce and the agriculture sector was critical as these need each other to ensure a successful turnaround of the leather industry value chain. She said leather producers must strive for efficiency and competitiveness that will be felt by consumers who buy their products.

Chairman of the Zimbabwe Leather Development Council, Mr Clement Shoko, gave a synopsis of the state of the leather value chain in the country and highlighted numerous challenges it faces. These include inadequate financing, poor marketing intelligence, absence of sector specific policies, poor infrastructure and lack of technology and skills, which he hoped will be addressed by the new strategy.

Bulawayo Provincial Minister of State and Devolution Judith Ncube said the implementation of the new leather strategy would transform the citys economy through increased industrial output going forward.

Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement Minister Dr Anxious Masuka, emphasised strengthening of linkages between farmers and industry saying Vision 2030 must be anchored on households.

Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister, Raj Modi, Minister of State in VP Chiwengas office, Evelyn Ndlovu, leather sector captains of industry and senior government officials also attended the event. Chronicle
During the coronavirus crisis, vaccine researcher Peter Hotez has become one of the countrys most trusted explainers of science  and so beloved in Houston that Antones recently named a poboy after him. At the Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, he and his team have developed a COVID-19 vaccine set to be manufactured in India. Hes also dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

Could you give us an overview of the situation now with COVID-19, the variants and the vaccines?

In the U.S., were seeing a mixed picture. In some parts of the country, were seeing what some are calling the fourth wave. Its hitting the upper Midwest pretty hard. Michigan is the worst-affected state. Also up in the northeast  New York, New Jersey, New England  those numbers are starting to go up. We might be beginning to see that in Florida now. Theres been about a 20% increase in cases over the last 14 days.

Most of that is due to one of the variants of concern, the B.1.1.7 variant that first arose in the United Kingdom. We all predicted this was going to happen; we just didnt know how extensive its going to be.

The good news is were also vaccinating the American people. I think well be vaccinated fully or close to it by the summer. So we know theres an end to this fourth peak. Its just a matter of how big the amplitude is  whether the peak is a small hill or whether its a mountain.

With the B.1.1.7 variant, weve heard alarming news lately about children. Could you talk about that?

The B.1.1.7 variant first arose in southeast England in September. By December it dominated the British Isles. Its a bad actor. Its more transmissible than anything weve seen before, with higher hospitalization rates and higher mortality rates.

To make things worse, were starting to see now, in the upper Midwest, a number of young adults getting very sick. The COVID-19 narrative has always been that it affects older individuals. That was never entirely true, especially among African American and Hispanic populations. But were seeing now a lot of young adults get sick. That gives me pause for concern  as does its transmissibility among young people.

We have to think of B.1.1.7 like a different virus. There are similarities to the one we know, and the good news is the vaccines work really well against the B.1.1.7 variant.

Well get to the other side and be in good shape by the summer, but I am worried about what happens to the country over the next two months.

So far, no vaccine has been approved for children. Is that of concern with the B.1.1.7 variant?

It it does concern me. We now have safety data and even some efficacy data showing that the the PfizerBioNTech, could be used in 12- to 15-year-olds, but that vaccine has not been released yet for emergency use for that age group.

MORE COVID NEWS: Houston teens join COVID vaccine trial in hopes of returning to normal

I think it will be. So probably pretty soon were going to start vaccinating adolescents, and I think by the fall school year, middle schools, junior high schools, high schools are going to have a very high percentage of both the students and the teachers and staff vaccinated. So were looking at a great fall school year, at least for the middle schools and high schools.

But I am concerned right now  until we halt transmission by the summer  about how we navigate everything from from now until the end of May.

The CDC recently said that people who have been vaccinated can think about flying again, that its that they dont need to fear for their own safety, as far as COVID goes, if they are masked and vaccinated. But is the equation going to be very different for parents traveling with small children? How would you advise a parent whos making plans for summer vacation?

So heres what we know. We know most of the vaccines that have been approved for release in the U.S. give very high levels of protection against symptomatic illness  as much as 95 percent  and new data shows that they seem to dramatically reduce asymptomatic infection. Thats because were stopping the shedding of virus in people who are vaccinated, even if theyre exposed to the virus. Based on the performance features of the vaccines, Im optimistic we can vaccinate our way out of this epidemic.

That means that if youre vaccinated, you can do normal things. The problem now is, until we get a high percentage of the U.S. population vaccinated, theres still going to be a lot of transmission. That transmission is going to continue at least until the end of May.

So even though youve been vaccinated and can fly safely, theres still a lot of transmission. I would avoid bringing the kids on a flight at this point. As we move into the summer and transmission goes way down, then its going to be a lot easier to think about doing family events and family travel.

So youre feeling good about where we are with COVID now?

We are going to be in a much better place by the summer. Our quality of life is going to improve dramatically. I dont know that itll be completely normal, but its going to be pretty damn close to it by the summer.

Its just a matter of being mindful for the months of April and May  not being reckless, having that situational awareness and trying to get everybody to the other side.

I actually thought we would be here, at this place, sooner. But then the B.1.1.7 variant really accelerated. And as I said, in terms of transmissibility and severity of illness, its like a different virus.

Could you tell us more about those new studies showing that people who have been vaccinated dont seem to be getting infected or shedding virus?

The first hint of this came from a study in Israel that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It was the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and by the way, it was going out in an area where the B.1.1.7 variant was dominant. So now we have a pretty good glimpse into what its like to vaccinate a population where you have the B.1.1.7 variant, which is our situation currently.

Number one, it confirmed the high levels of protection seen in the Phase Three trials in a real-life situation. So that was that was exciting.

MORE FROM LISA GRAY: Dr. Peter Hotez's battle against the 'anti-science confederacy' is a lifetime in the making

But also, it was highly effective  92 percent  in stopping documented infection, PCR positivity from both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection, and roughly about 90 percent from asymptomatic transmission. So its everything youd hope for in a vaccine  really outstanding performance characteristics.

Im guessing the Moderna and the Johnson & Johnson will be similar. That means that if you can achieve high levels of vaccine coverage  upwards of 80 percent  you can start looking at halting virus transmission.

Were not there yet. Were still in the early stages of vaccination. But now were vaccinating 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 people a day in this country. Do the math: Within two months, we should be able to get a really, really high percentage of people vaccinated. Thats good news, at least for the U.S.

The news is not so good from our neighbors to the north and south. Canada is not doing well in terms of rates of vaccination, and Mexico is doing even worse.

Europe is very spotty. The U.K. is doing the best, but theres a lot of variability across Europe right now.

What about the rest of the globe? How are we doing with things like new vaccines coming online and the ability to deliver them?

The rest of the globe is in bad shape. In Africa essentially nobody is vaccinated. Latin America is not doing a lot better.

As good as the vaccines are in the U.S. program, theyre very innovative in their design. That was great in terms of getting early vaccines out there for the American people. But because theyre innovative in their design, our ability to make lots of them is slowed. Its still a young technology, and we dont have capacity to produce the number of doses that we need.

And the number of doses is daunting. Look at sub-Saharan Africa: You have 1.1 billion people. You have 650 million people in Latin America. So just in Africa and Latin America alone, thats 1.7 billion people times two doses. Youre talking close to 4 billion doses of vaccine.

We dont have that capacity for mRNA vaccines, and I dont think we have that capacity for adenovirus vaccines. Thats not their strength. The science policymakers didnt put enough attention into expanding that portfolio to make available simple, durable, low-cost vaccines.

Thats where we come in at Texas Childrens Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. Weve done just that: We use an older technology, the same one used to make hepatitis B vaccine, and theres no upper limit to the amount you can make. You can make lots of it.

In fact, our collaborators at Biological E are now making 1.2 billion doses of this vaccine. Its finishing Phase One/Phase Two clinical trials and going to move into Phase Three trials soon. We hope itll be released for emergency use in India no later than the summer. Then assuming that it does well in performance and Phase Three trials internationally, potentially it could be released by the World Health Organization for pre-qualification as we head into the fall. Were really excited about making that contribution.

What do you think the world will look like as we begin moving out of this hunkered-down phase? Will the floodgates just suddenly open and well be back to normal?

Lets look at the U.S. By later in the summer, I think quality of life is going to look something thats close to normal. We may not need masks. I think well have restaurants and bars fully open. I think well be able to do sporting events and concerts. I think flying domestically will not be an issue.

As people start flying and using using cars, I think youre also going to see the oil and gas industries pick up. Thats important because my youngest son is in the oil and gas industry, and we want him to do well. [Laughs.]

I think were gonna see all of those things pick up, but with some asterisks, right?

Were going to be a bit isolated because Canada and Mexico are proceeding at a much slower rate. Israel will be fully vaccinated. The U.K. will be fully vaccinated. But I dont know where else in Europe  maybe some of the Western European countries. Africa will still be treacherous to travel to, and Latin America as well. That will have an impact on our economy  especially here in Houston, which is such an important gateway city.

What else is important? What should we be thinking about now?

Theres a few things. We still have some vaccine-hesitant groups. A poll came out of PBS NewsHour that shows that vaccine hesitancy is changing.

In the fall, when we were looking at this with colleagues in Texas A&M and with the Kaiser Family Foundation, we identified two major vaccine hesitant groups. That was African American population and what some people call Trump voters; others call them Republicans or white Republicans  you get the idea?

BY THE NUMBERS: How vaccine skepticism in Texas' Trump country threatens herd immunity

Now the vaccine hesitancy rates in Black and brown communities has declined. Thats still higher than it should be, but it has declined. I was on a podcast last week with with one of the Baptist churches in Richmond, Va., that serves the Black community. It was hosted by a pediatrician there, but he had the pastor on as well. I was asking him, before and after the podcast, Does that sound right? Are you seeing vaccine hesitancy declined?

He said, Absolutely. There are still some issues, but its gotten a lot better.

I said, What do you attribute that to?

And he goes, Part of that is docs like you reaching out. I think thats helped.

But the other thing he said, which I thought was really interesting, is that a lot of the clergy in the Black churches have created an informal network and said, Weve got to do something about this. And they did a lot of advocacy. I give them a lot of credit for that.

Now, we still have the high rates of vaccine hesitancy among what the PBS NewsHour recalls white Republicans. This comes out of this health freedom movement thats been so awful here in Texas over the last few years around childhood vaccinations.

Were going to have to work on that. Ive been trying to go back on conservative news outlets, reaching out to them. The big concern that I hear from them is theres this kind of obsession about vaccine mandates. Weve kind of got to get around that.

I say to them, Look, we dont even have the vaccines here to mandate. So except for a couple of specific examples, I dont see vaccine mandates as a big issue. And then they still get really worked up about vaccine passports.

So Im of the opinion now, lets not press on that yet. One, we dont have the vaccines here. And by pressing on this issue, its just going to make people dig their heels in about not getting vaccinated. I think as we move through the summer, a lot of this will will improve and go away. But lets not poke that bear right now.

There are two exceptions that I see that warrant mandated vaccines. First of all, college campuses. When my youngest son went off to college, he had to be vaccinated against meningococcal infection  meningococcal B, and meningococcal ACWY.

Why? Because thats a deadly bacterial infection that could be transmitted in dorms and in institutional settings. So I think its going to be very reasonable for universities and colleges to mandate that the kids be vaccinated, with maybe some exceptions. Rutgers University has already done this. Cornell has already done this. I think others will follow suit.

The other place where vaccine mandates will probably become necessary are hospitals. Last week Houston Methodist became, I think, the first hospital to mandate vaccinations for the simple reason that people need to know that when they go to a hospital, the person taking care of them is not going to infect them with with COVID-19  especially because hospitals settings have so many immunocompromised individuals or people with debilitating underlying illnesses. Thats going to be very reasonable.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Why the COVID vaccine inspired a boom in volunteering across Houston

But beyond that, we have to proceed slowly because it could have a backlash. These conservative groups are really getting jazzed up about this. You see it on Fox News: Some of the anchors are just really revving this issue up. You see it on social media outlets like Twitter as well.

So when you appear on conservative outlets like Fox, are they asking you to weigh in on vaccine passports?

They have been  although Laura Ingraham really went after me last week on Fox News, so I dont know that theyre invite me back anytime soon. But well see. I dont know what that was about.

What did she say?

She had my picture up with Tony Fauci and Vivek Murthy and called us  I dont know  the merchants of something or other  medical merchants of doom or something like that. Its ridiculous.

The problem is that its a QAnon dog whistle. It gets people worked up. After that, I got a couple of hate emails that were very QAnon-like. [Laughs.] As if my jobs not hard enough.

I dont know whats going on with Fox News these days. Even the Wall Street Journal, which is owned by the Murdochs and News Corp has been putting out some outrageous stuff  not so much the main paper, but the Wall Street Journal opinion section. I dont know why theyre doing it. Its hurtful to the country.

Any closing thoughts?

Im extremely optimistic for the country. I cant say this enough. I think that by the summer, were gonna have something that resembles a normal quality of life. Its really a blessing to live in the United States, where we use science to get our way out of this. Thats a lesson too.

When the U.S. has been faced with a crisis, time and time again, science and scientists have come through for this country. The invention of radar and the Manhattan Project helped get us out of World War II. Science got us out of the Cold War. Its what put humans on the moon. When weve needed to do big things, science and scientists came through.

Its important for the American people to continually hear that, especially now. When you get someone like Laura Ingraham demonizing and targeting scientists, it shows a lack of awareness of American history. My response was, You know what? Im going to send her an American history textbook so she can understand what what the greatness of this country is built on. Science and scientists are a component of that.

We know that here in Houston. I think thats something very special about Houston, Texas. Yes, the oil and gas industry is critical for our economy, but guess what thats built on too? Its built on the backs of petroleum engineers and geologists. Its an evidence-based endeavor.

And then theres our Texas Medical Center and NASA! I mean, this is the greatness of our city. Its built on science, scientists and engineers. When we think about moving forward as a city  you know, what should this city look like over the next 50 years?  I think we need to continue in that spirit.

Do you have plans to celebrate when the pandemic is over?

I dont have plans to celebrate. Ill tell you what I do have plans to do: sleep. I havent had a good nights sleep in 14 months, so thats what I look forward to more than anything.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

lisa.gray@chron.com
President of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Arayik Harutyunyan today sent a condolence telegram to the family of Armenian American benefactor Hirair Hovnanian. The telegram reads as follows:

I was deeply saddened by the news about the death of Armenian American entrepreneur, benefactor, public figure, member of the Board of Trustees of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund and Chairman of the Armenian Assembly of America Hirair Hovnanian.

Hirair Hovnanian is worthily one of the great sons of the Armenian nation who dreamed of seeing Armenia among the powerful and developed countries in the world and did everything he could to turn this dream into a reality.

Several vital projects were carried out in Artsakh under his direct patronage and with his active participation, and his contributions to international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and just presentation of the Artsakh issue are invaluable.

Hirair Hovnanian received high state awards for his exceptional services for the welfare of Artsakh.

At this dire moment of irreversible loss, on behalf of the people and authorities of Artsakh and myself, I express deep condolences and support to the family and close ones of the deceased and wish endurance and tenacity. The life and career of Hirair Hovnanian serve as a brilliant example of patriotism which will go down in the history of the Armenian people.
The pandemic could continue to impact global oil demand until 2024, while the decarbonization plans in major European economies could arise as a new threat to Russias oil industry, according to a draft document of Russias government seen by Reuters.

According to the estimates in the document about the prospects of Russias oil industry through 2035, global oil demand could continue to suffer through 2023 or 2024.

This year, global oil demand is expected to rise by 5.9 million barrels per day (bpd) compared to last years demand of 90.4 million bpd, as per OPECs estimates in its March Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR). Before the OPEC+ ministerial meeting last week, the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) forecast in its latest base-case scenario demand growth of 5.6 million bpd for 2021, or 300,000 bpd lower than the estimate in the OPEC monthly report.

Russias Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak also sees this years demand growth at around 5.6 million bpd.

There are still many uncertainties on the global oil market, especially in Europe, Russias top oil diplomat said at the OPEC+ meeting last week. Yet, there is currently a deficit of 2 million bpd on the market, Novak said.

Related Video: Irans Oil Exports Render Sanctions Irrelevant

Apart from the fallout from the COVID pandemic, Russias oil industry could also be affected by the low-carbon push in many developed economies, including in Europe, which is a key export market for Russias oil, according to the document seen by Reuters.

The plans of many European capitals, including Rome and Paris, to restrict the circulation of diesel-fueled vehicles could start to affect demand for Russias crude and oil products as early as 2024, according to government estimates.

Earlier this week, Russia slashed its estimates for domestic crude oil, gas, and coal production for 2021 and 2022, according to the latest amendments in the governments program for energy development. The estimates for the oil production for 2023 and 2024 remain unchanged, according to the document approved by the government.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads from Oilprice.com:
Imperial Valley News Center

Bidder Pleads Guilty to Rigging Bids at Online Auctions for Surplus Government Equipment

Washington, DC - A Missouri man pleaded guilty Wednesday to rigging online bids submitted to the General Services Administration (GSA).

According to court documents, Alan Gaines pleaded guilty to the one-count indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis on Jan. 30, 2020. According to the indictment, Gaines conspired with others to rig bids at online public auctions of surplus government equipment conducted by the GSA from about July 2012 until as late as May 2018. Gaines is the third individual charged and the third individual to plead guilty in the investigation.

For years, the defendants self-serving scheme stole from the government and robbed American taxpayers, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard A. Powers of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. I commend the team of GSA Office of Inspector General (OIG) agents and Antitrust Division prosecutors and paralegals for their dedication to safeguarding online auctions from collusion.

Competition is a fundamental component of any fair auction, said Inspector General Carol F. Ochoa of the GSA. GSA OIG will continue to investigate allegations of collusive activities that undermine the integrity of GSA Auctions and short-change the taxpayer.

The GSA operates GSA Auctions, which offers the general public the opportunity to bid electronically on a wide variety of federal assets, including computer equipment that is no longer needed by government agencies. GSA Auctions sells that equipment via its online auctions, and the proceeds of the auctions are distributed to the government agencies or the U.S. Treasury general fund.

According to the indictment, the primary purpose of the conspiracy was to suppress and eliminate competition. The indictment further alleges that Gaines and his co-conspirators obtained the equipment by agreeing which co-conspirators would submit bids for particular lots offered for sale by GSA Auctions and which co-conspirator would be designated to win a particular lot.

Gaines pleaded guilty to a violation of the Sherman Act. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine for individuals. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The GSA Office of Inspector General Great Lakes Regional Investigations Office in Chicago is investigating the case.

The Antitrust Divisions Chicago Office is prosecuting the case.
Advertisement

The Crown is facing some of its 'gravest challenges' after the death of Prince Philip - 'a future thinker' and passionate environmentalist who embraced new technology

A proud man but not too proud to put his wifes work first.

An outsider who embraced new technology and allowed the mass media in to share a little of the private lives of our royals with the wider public.

A passionate environmentalist who encouraged folk to think about the planet during their daily lives.

A proponent of a less stuffy monarchy, streamlined and in touch with its subjects.

Not Prince Harry, but the Duke of Edinburgh, perhaps the greatest force behind the modernisation of the British Royal Family this century.

Without Prince Philip, it's not impossible to think that the monarchy may not have even survived into 2021.

His influence, especially in the early days of the Queens reign, cannot and should not be underestimated in history.

As he leaves this earth at 99-years-old, the Crown is facing some of its gravest challenges.

Sixty-eight years ago, as the Queen prepared for her coronation, aged just 27, the future was also less than certain.

The trauma of the Abdication was still a raw memory for a nation that had been at war barely seven years earlier.

Backward royal courtiers at the time were stupidly opposed to such an important and historic event being televised.

It was Prince Philip, a future thinker very much aware of the coming revolution of new media, who insisted his wife would be crowned on camera.

Nearly three decades before the launch of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Prince Philip helped make the Royal Family the first ever stars of what we now know as reality TV

Prince Philip had made the British Royal Family the biggest stars on the planet and its that star power that has kept the Royal Family so consistently loved by the British public and brought in so much money in tourism to the UK thanks to the consistent interest from abroad

That decision would change the shape of the publics relationship with royalty forever more  we demanded access to our monarchy in ways that were previously unthinkable.

Nearly three decades before the launch of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Prince Philip helped make the Royal Family the first ever stars of what we now know as reality TV.

A 1969 BBC film gave unprecedented access to the private lives of the Queen, Philip and their children, even showing them around the dining table.

Thanks to Philips decision, our royals were no longer remote ceremonial figures, but human beings with a normal family life.

We wanted to be a part of their lives, so the royal soap opera was born.

Granting so much access was a decision that Prince Philip soon came to regret, realising it opened up his younger offspring and their partners to a new scrutiny as the 24/7 broadcast media environment exploded.

In his later years, he attempted to pull back somewhat, with largely cantankerous and combative media appearances. His ITV special with Phillip Schofield in 2016 was particularly difficult to watch.

But for all the problems the overwhelming interest may have caused, Prince Philip had made the British Royal Family the biggest stars on the planet.

Thanks to Philips decision, our royals were no longer remote ceremonial figures, but human beings with a normal family life. Pictured: The Queen with Prince Philip and their children

The 94-year-old Queen was able to spend so much quality time with Philip at Windsor Castle over the past few months

Its that star power that has kept the Royal Family so consistently loved by the British public and brought in so much money in tourism to the UK thanks to the consistent interest from abroad.

Despite retiring from public life in 2017 due to his increasing ill health, at the time of his death today, Prince Philip remained the fifth most popular royal, according to YouGov, following Prince William, The Queen, Kate and his beloved daughter Princess Anne.

Now I pray that it is Philips devastating death that will finally bring the warring Windsors together.

The 94-year-old Queen needs resolute unity during what will be her darkest days in the coming weeks as she grapples with the fact her self-proclaimed rock is no longer by her side.

As traumatic as the coronavirus pandemic has been for the monarch, who has struggled being physically cut off from her people for over a year, it brings me some delight that she was able to spend so much quality time with Philip at Windsor Castle over the past few months.

Despite retiring from public life in 2017 due to his increasing ill health, at the time of his death today, Prince Philip remained the fifth most popular royal, according to YouGov

There are hopes Philips devastating death will finally bring the warring Windsors together. Pictured left: Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Prince Philip, right, Prince Andrew

Now its time for her family  all senior royals  to step up.

The dramatic fallout sparked by Prince Harry and Meghans incendiary and ill-timed interview with Oprah Winfrey must be put to one side.

Prince Charles, William and Harry need to put on a united front for the Queen and country, securing the international reputation of the monarchy.

The public will also have to accept the presence of scandal-plagued Prince Andrew, who remains a key confidante of his mother.

This pandemic has provided another strangely ironic gift for Prince Philip in death.

His worst nightmare was a massive fuss for his funeral. Covid regulations will now mean that his final farewell will be relatively small and family-focussed.

But no matter how many people are allowed into the church or to line the streets, over the next week the British public will remember a vibrant Duke who lived his life to the full, was wonderfully un-PC, and provided our Queen with the unwavering support she needed to serve us.

Thank you Prince Philip. I will remember you the monarchys great moderniser of the 20th century.
Mumbai Police's crime branch on Friday arrested two people with 284 Remdesivir injections meant for black marketing. This comes at a time when coronavirus cases are surging in Maharashtra at an alarming rate and people are not getting the antiviral medication.

Remdesivir is a key medicine, used in the treatment of coronavirus, and with the spurt in COVID-19 cases in the state, its injections are in high demand. Taking advantage of the shortage, some people have been selling the medication at high prices in the black market.

Remdesivir injections are sold at a high price of over Rs 5,000-6,000 per injection in the black market.

Also Read: Zydus slashes COVID-19 drug Remdesivir price by over two-third; now costs Rs 899

The crime branch nabbed a person with 12 Remdesivir vials on Thursday. Following this, several late-night raids were carried out, during which the cops seized more than 272 Remdesivir injections from one GR Pharma shop.

After the raids, the crime branch confiscated 284 Remdesivir injections and arrested two people in connection with its black marketing.

On Thursday, the Maharashtra government capped the price of Remdesivir between Rs 1,100-1,400 per vial and warned against hoarding and black marketing.

State Health Minister Rajesh Tope also called for slashing the MRP of the key COVID-19 drug. He made it clear that the price of a Remdesivir injection should not cross Rs1,400.

Tope said that with a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases, the state may need 1.5 lakh Remdesivir injections daily which would require ramping up of production.

He said the COVID-19 drug should be available at a rate anywhere between Rs 1,100 and Rs 1,400.

Also Read: Remdesivir selling at Rs 60,000; drug regulator warns against black marketing

Tope also warned of a crackdown against stockists hoarding the medicine and asked doctors to be judicious in the use of the injection.

He said Remdesivir manufacturers should supply the stock directly to government hospitals.

Stocks sent to district collectors will be given to private hospitals as such a system will help stop black-marketing and hoarding, Tope said.

The state health minister also sought setting up of flying squads in every district to check malpractices in the sale of the injection.

He said at present 50,000 vials are being supplied and used on a daily basis in hospitals.

As of Thursday, Maharashtra registered 56,286 fresh coronavirus cases and 376 deaths, taking the state's total count to 3,229,547 and toll to 57,028. Active COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra have now touched 521,317.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may meet with French President Emmanuel Macron next week to discuss escalation in Donbas and reforms in Ukraine, the KyivPost newspaper has said.

"The main purpose of the visit is to have a one-on-one meeting with Macron," French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins told KyivPost.

"For sure, two of the biggest subjects on the presidential agenda are Russia's military build-up near Ukraine's eastern border and the status of Ukraine's reforms, particularly in creating an independent and trustworthy judiciary. There will be a lot to talk about," the newspaper's article said.

According to the journalist of KyivPost, "the French ambassador to Ukraine plans to accompany Zelensky on the plane, and the meeting of the presidents of Ukraine and France, is likely to take place by the end of next week."

The article also notes that "France is concerned about the Russian moves [in Donbas and Crimea], which are significantly different than what we have seen in previous years."

As reported, the President's Office plans to hold a trilateral conversation between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
New Delhi, April 9 : Actress Swara Bhasker, who is currently shooting in Goa, celebrates her birthday on Friday. She was in for a surprise when she walked into a decorated hall to realise that a surprise midnight birthday party had been arranged by her parents from Delhi.

Swara, who is in Goa to shoot for the film "Jahaan Chaar Yaar", was greeted by decorations and three cakes at the beach side venue. It seems her parents took help of her industry colleague and friend Shikha Talsania and other colleagues to put up the surprise party.

Swara posted an Instagram video on Friday to give fans a glimpse of the birthday celebration, which was carried out following Covid guidelines.

"My parents & colleagues organised a celebration, on the eve of my birthday, in advance so I get surprised! And boy was I surprised!! I'm the luckiest person in the world to have these parents, this family & these friends," she captioned the video.

In the video, Swara is seen getting emotional as her parents join her through a video call.

Swara is currently shooting "Jahaan Chaar Yaar", also featuring Meher Vij and Pooja Chopra. The first schedule of the Kamal Pandey directorial took place in Lucknow.
An article published by the China Society for Human Rights Studies on Friday lashed out at the US for severe humanitarian disasters and aggressive wars against foreign countries since the end of World War II, stripping Washington of the human rights highland as the Biden administration tries to wield weapons of human rights violation to crack down on Beijing.

The US has waged wars on foreign countries and regions such as North Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria under the banner of "humanitarian intervention," causing a massive loss of military lives, serious civilian casualties, as well as property damage, said the article titled Severe Humanitarian Disasters Caused by US Aggressive Wars against Foreign Countries.

Since the end of WWII to 2001, roughly 248 military conflicts occurred in 153 regions around the world, of which the US waged 201, accounting for 80 percent of all wars worldwide, according to the article.



The large number of wars has devastated numerous lives and families. For example, in Afghanistan alone, there were an estimated 11 million who have become refugees as a result of the US-initiated war.

The humanitarian crisis caused by military actions stems from the hegemonic mentality of the US, the article read, noting that it is ridiculous to expect a hegemonic country to defend the human rights of other countries.


It all started as a lark.

Austin-based film director Terrence Malick was on the hunt for a young boy to cast in his 2011 film The Tree of Life to play alongside Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain. One of the schools casting agents visited was a small public school in Elkhart, south of Palestine, where fourth-grader and baseball fan Tye Sheridan was a student.

Sheridans parents encouraged him to attend the audition. They said, Oh, you should go. Youll be able to tell people you got to audition for a movie one time, Sheridan, 24, recalls now in a Zoom call from Boston. I went and was excited for the opportunity but had no interest in really becoming an actor.

Merie Wallace / Twentieth Century Fox

That decision proved to be a turning point. He got the part, a move that would launch a career that landed him major roles in such other lauded indie movies as Mud with Matthew McConaughey, Joe opposite Nicolas Cage and The Stanford Prison Experiment, an ensemble production with other young actors such as Michael Angarano (This Is Us), Moises Arias (The King of Staten Island) and Nicholas Braun (Succession).

Then Big Hollywood came knocking. He was cast as Cyclops in the 2016 blockbuster X-Men: Apocalypse (and subsequently X-Men: Dark Phoenix in 2019) and then nabbed the lead in Steven Spielbergs 2018 science fiction adventure, Ready Player One. Now, he stars in the science fiction film Voyagers, opening April 9, a film set in a future where a group of young people is sent across the galaxy to an Earth-like planet to keep humanity, on the brink of extinction at home, alive.

It sparked a trajectory in my life and I followed it, he says of Tree of Life. Ive always loved storytelling, in any form, in any medium, even if its just standing around the campfire and listening to people talk about things that happened in the past.

Jim Bridges, HOEP / Associated Press

The big leap

But Sheridan, who started out playing parts as a sort of everyboy, says hes not specifically seeking out blockbuster films these days. It all depends on the opportunities that come your way, says Sheridan, who was recently cast opposite Tom Hardy in The Things They Carried, a Vietnam War drama based on Tim OBriens celebrated bestseller.

Its a story that speaks to you, no matter if the budget is $200,000 or $200 million, you can still have the same passion for a story, no matter the scale, he says. I was really influenced by directors like Malick and David Gordon Green (Joe).  They were all Texas-based, and these guys were telling stories that I loved, that I could relate to as a young guy growing up in a small town in Texas. Those experiences will stay with me forever.

Warner Bros.

He looks up to actors who can nimbly navigate Hollywood and the indie world.

I think you have to make decisions based on the what you feel for yourself, he says. Theres a handful of actors out there who have the ability to kind of cross genres and do something really intimate and then they do something on a grand scale  Ive always admired those types of actors.

Still, he admits he was a little nervous when he made that leap from the world of indie movies to franchise filmmaking. I was more nervous that this was a preexisting franchise, where different actors had played the same character that I was going to play. So theres the thing about filling someone elses shoes, he says. But I think I was mainly just excited, and excited to learn and be on the set of a film that was a very different environment for me.

Beyond acting

Jaimie Trueblood, HO / McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Sheridan, who now calls Austin home, is no longer just involved in front of the camera. With his friend Nikola Todorovic, he co-founded Wonder Dynamics, a company that he says takes artificial intelligence and machine learning models and applies them to the film production process.

Its something that been in the making for a long time, he explains. Weve been working on the startup for several years. But we just recently announced our advisory board, which includes Steven Spielberg, (director) Joe Russo and Antonio Torralba, the head of the AI department at MIT, and Angjoo Kanazawa, a Google research scientist and assistant professor at (UC) Berkeley.

He says this doesnt mean hes looking for an exit out of acting. I love acting and I love telling stories.  The advent of certain technologies, theyre only as valuable as much as they help push this door to create more opportunities for storytelling and new ways of tackling a narrative, he says. I dont know if I would ever stop acting. I think film is always going to be a part of me, working in film and making movies. Its what I love to do, and its my biggest passion.

Despite his rising profile, Sheridan says he hardly ever gets recognized on the street (Im glad that Im kind of in a place where I dont have to worry about that) and he has no plans to relocate to LA or Silicon Valley.

I can definitely stay in Texas and do what I want to do, he says. I mean, look at this past year, if anything that its taught us is how we can connect virtually.  I love Texas and all my family is there. Being a three-hour drive away from them, you cant beat that.

cary.darling@chron.com
Turkey has notified participants of the Montreux Convention about the passage of US warships from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea and back, the Russian embassy in Ankara told Sputnik on Friday

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) Turkey has notified participants of the Montreux Convention about the passage of US warships from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea and back, the Russian embassy in Ankara told Sputnik on Friday.

Earlier in the day, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the United States has noticed Turkey about the passage of two warships to the Black Sea, where they will remain from April 14-15 until May 4-5.

"The United States, as a party to the Montreux Convention, has complied with the procedures stipulated by the convention for the passage to the Black Sea. Turkey, in accordance with the convention, sent its participants a notification about the passage of warships from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea and vice versa," the embassy said.
As more Americans get vaccinated and stores across the country loosen their COVID-19 restrictions ever so slightly, Costco has some exciting news for fans of the store's popular food courts.

In an interview with CNN Wednesday, Costco's Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti confirmed the store's food courts are indeed set to make a comeback and said he believes they will eventually return to normal operations.

"God willing. But it's going to take some time," he said.

As many Costco devotees will recall, the store shut down seating areas in its food courts at the beginning of the pandemic. In May, the store reopened its food courts, but began offering a very limited menu for takeout only. Over the summer, shoppers began spotting a few additional items, like the chicken bake had returned to the menu, as reported by Delish.

Costco has brought back ice cream, churros and smoothies to the food court menu and, according to CNN, customers can soon expect to see tables and chairs in stores with outdoor seating areas. As time goes on and COVID-19 safety protocols are relaxed, indoor food court seating will also return.

Related: Costco shoppers must still wear masks, but the big-box retailer is updating some of its COVID-19-related policies.

As for a timeline for the release of outdoor/indoor seating, that's still unknown. TODAY Food reached out to Costco for a comment and didn't hear back. However, the store's website still has the following message for shoppers listed on its COVID-19 updates page: "A limited menu is available at Costco Food Courts. Orders are only available for takeout & seating is not available. Please ask Costco Food Court employees for available condiments."

With change on the horizon, Galanti told CNN he's excited for customers to be able to once again enjoy Costco's popular food court offerings.

"The food courts work. They're one of the things we're known for," he said. "We're pleased that they're coming back."

Story continues

Related: Those $1 churros, hot dogs and giant pizza slices will soon only be available to members.

The in-store dining areas have several fan-favorite items, like that ultra popular $1.50 hot dog that the company's co-founder Jim Sinegal appears to be quite fond of. In September 2020, a 2018 Mental Floss article reported that Sinegal threatened the company's current CEO, W. Craig Jelinek, when he suggested raising the price of the bargain hot dog-and-soda combo.

I came to (Sinegal) once and I said, Jim, we cant sell this hot dog for a buck fifty," Jelineck said, according to 425 Business. "We are losing our rear ends. And he said, If you raise (the price of the) effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out. Thats all I really needed."

Hot dogs have always been a bestseller at Costco, and in 2018, the store experienced the wrath of many customers when it removed its popular Polish hot dog from the menu.

Related: The deal has been $1.50 for decades  and it sounds like it's not going away anytime soon.

Food courts cannot claim all of Costco's appeal, though. The store's popular free samples have always been a major perk for members and those had to disappear for a while when the pandemic hit. In May 2020, the store announced that it would reintroducing samples to stores in mid-June, with a few new safety protocols in place.

In August, some shoppers spotted sample stands back in stores with plexiglass barriers. But they weren't actually able to sample any food, since they seemed to be display-only.

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At the time, Costco management provided the following statement to TODAY via email: "Club Demonstration Services is in the process of returning to our warehouses around the world. This process will be managed with CDC and local health department guidance in each region where we do business. Based on these guidelines, product demonstrations may look different in different regions."
STAMFORD  A 23-year-old Norwalk man accused of shooting a man in the stomach claims he did so in self-defense, and asked a judge for some leniency and a lower bond.

But Marcus Bonapartes plea fell on deaf ears Wednesday.

Bonaparte, who has been held on $650,000 bond since his arrest in June, and his public defender Barry Butler asked Judge Gary White to consider lowering the bond to $100,000 during a remote hearing held at Stamford Superior Court Wednesday.

Butler argued that his client had acted in self-defense when he shot a man in the stomach during a dispute over an unpaid debt at Norwalks Roodner Court public housing complex.

But White was unswayed by the argument. Self-defense, he said, is not a reason to carry a pistol without a permit.

Its just apparent to me that this defendants conduct, if what I read is true, represents a danger to the public, White said before denying the motion to lower Bonapartes bond.

Bonaparte was arrested in June after he led police on a high-speed car chase that started in Norwalk and ended at Central High School in Bridgeport.

Portions of that chase exceeded 80 mph, Senior Assistant States Attorney Maureen Ornousky said, and Bonaparte allegedly tossed a pistol out of his car in the middle of it.

Bonaparte has since pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a firearm.

He is next scheduled to appear in court May 19.
Chandigarh, April 9 : With the 'arhtiyas' announcing a boycott of wheat procurement in Punjab beginning on Saturday owing to direct payment to farmers on the purchase of food grains, the state's Mandi Board Chairman Lal Singh said they were fully geared up to accomplish the challenging task of procurement amid the pandemic.

He told IANS the government is fully committed to procure every single grain of wheat from the 'mandis' and also to ensure the safety of farmers, labourers, 'arhtiyas' and officials of procurement agencies.

Earlier in the day, 'arhtiyas' association state president Vijay Kalra said they would boycott the markets from April 10 if the balance of Rs 131 crore was not paid to them by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

After holding a meeting with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Kalra told the media here that they were opposing the direct payment to farmers on the purchase of food grains.

A day earlier, the Centre rejected Punjab's demand for continuation of payment through 'arhtiyas' and exemption from the direct benefit transfer (DBT) system.

The Centre, however, agreed to give the state a six-month extension to integrate land records with the national e-procurement portal.

The grudge of the 'arhtiyas' is that as per the past practice the entire procurement from the farmers is done through them and in return they are entitled to get 2.5 per cent commission.

The arhtiyas feel that if the farmers get money directly into their accounts, they will lose their hold on the farmers who normally take loans from them and return the money in lieu of wheat procurement.

State Food and Civil Supply Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu told IANS the direct payment transfer will be made to the farmers and they would take the 'arhtiyas' as part of the procurement system.

Meanwhile, the state government said it has set up Covid vaccination camps in all 154 market committees to inoculate the people above the age of 45 years visiting grain markets during the current Rabi marketing season.

During the last Rabi season, the state had procured 127.13 lakh metric tonnes of wheat.

This time the state estimates to procure 130 lakh metric tonnes.

Food and Civil Supply Minister Ashu said procurement agencies, including the Food Corporation of India (FCI), would procure it on the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,975 per quintal.

He said the state has increased procurement centres from 1,872 to 4,000 to check the spread of coronavirus.

Responding to the Central government's decision to reject Punjab's demand for continuation of payment through 'arhtiyas' and exemption from the direct benefit transfer system, the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) asked the Chief Minister to tell why he had kept the farmers and the 'arhtiyas' in the dark.

Asserting that implementation of the new scheme would increase social strife, SAD leader Prem Singh Chandumajra said "relations between farmers and 'arhtiyas' would be poisoned and it would cause immense problems for those who leased out land." Slamming the Centre and the state government, the main opposition and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and Amarjeet Singh Sandoa said that both the governments were working together and were fooling the farmers and 'arhtiyas'.

They said it was unfortunate that during the meeting of three Punjab ministers with Union Minister Piyush Goyal, they had not taken a firm stand for Punjab.

"Like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amarinder Singh is also lying on every step," they added.
Credit unions have more liquidity than usual right now and there arent many good opportunities to invest those funds in the current rate environment. What if you could maximize your philanthropic giving while at the same time provide an additional source of income for the credit union? You can do both with a Charitable Donation Account (CDA)! Credit unions have now invested over $875 million in CDAs.

A CDA is a designated account that is a hybrid charitable giving and investment vehicle. The CDA allows the credit union to invest in assets beyond their traditionally allowable options. In return for the higher return potential, credit unions must donate a minimum of 51% of the investment profit to a registered 501(c)(3) organization.

Using CDAs, credit unions have the potential to fund charitable contributions through investment returns rather than operating income, while also diversifying investment risk. Think of it as another tool you can use in your asset/liability management strategy.

Consider this example. Say you invest $1 million for one year in a CDA that earns a 5% return (the sum of interest, dividends, and capital gains) and $1 million in a traditional credit union bond investment that earns 1%.

At the end of a year with the CDA, you have $50,000 in income and improved ROA. You can contribute the entire $50,000 to a 501(c)(3) charity. You can choose to contribute a minimum of $25,500 to a charity from the CDAand retain $24,500.

Either way, it exceeds the traditional investment earnings. At the end of the year, your income from the bond investment is only $10,000 with less ROA improvement and charitable support.

Who you donate that $25,500 to also makes a difference. A CDA allows you to donate more to any 501(c)(3) charity, but a donation to the National Credit Union Foundation is particularly impactful and can support your local state credit union foundation at the same time.

As the charitable arm of Americas credit unions, the Foundations mission is to be a catalyst to improve peoples financial lives through credit unions. The Foundations work impacts our movement by igniting credit union leaders understanding and passion to place consumer financial well-being at the heart of their strategy; by educating and inspiring all levels of credit union leaders to leverage cooperative values; and by responding in times of need to get credit union employees back on their feet to serve members in times of disaster.

The Foundation helps credit unions to meet their members where they are in life, providing them with the knowledge to make solid financial decisions along every step of lifes journey. When you invest in the Foundation through a CDA, you invest in a better financial future for credit union members, their employees and the communities they serve.

Key requirements for CDAs include: the aggregate annual investment in a credit unions CDAs is limited to 5 percent of its net worth; assets in a CDA must be held in a separate custodial account or special-purpose trust; a CU must distribute a minimum of 51 percent of the CDA total returns to charities at least every five years; donations must be to tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charities; and accounting for CDAs must follow GAAP principles.

A CDA offers a win for your charitable giving and a win for the credit union. Consider investing in one today.



Have questions? Want more information on how to fund your philanthropy with a CDA? Reach out to Danielle Brown Danielle Brown at the Foundation or Jason Ritzenthaler Jason Ritzenthaler at Members Trust Company.

Co-author: Jason Ritzenthaler
A LIMERICK school has raised a whopping 3,541 for charity by rowing over 200km as part of a fundraising initiative.

The staff of St Pauls Secondary School in Dooradoyle took it upon themselves to raise money for two great causes in March 2021. The first cause was Milford Hospice, which holds a special place in the hearts of the staff,

Weve lost two or three staff to cancer and Milford Hospice had been very good to them. We wanted to give something back, said principal John Tuohy.

Some of the money will also be going towards an expedition that past pupil Thomas Gomes is embarking on in the summer. Thomas, a current Trinity student studying conservation, will be going to Honduras in July where he will be helping in the conservation efforts of endangered species. St Pauls aims to support past pupils with their projects, with similar fundraising events taking place in recent years.

It was St Pauls teachers Shona Francis and Anna Gloster who came up with the idea of the rowathon,

We were trying to think of something that would garner team spirit without breaching Covid-19 guidelines, explained Shona, the rowathon just seemed like the best option and we could have a laugh with it.

The rowathon took place over the course of a week, with a member of staff always on the rowing machine.

Thirty members of staff took part, with the rowing ongoing from the beginning of the school day until it ended.

It was tough going, laughed Mr Tuohy, but very enjoyable and Im glad I got it done.

The teachers, with their combined kilometres, managed to row the distance from Limerick to Dublin,

The staff were delighted to work together and there was a great joy throughout the school as we were doing it, Mr Tuohy added.

The staff raised 3,541 over course of the week.

I was overwhelmed by the amount of money, explained Mr Tuohy.

The aim was 1,000, which I thought was a bit ambitious, but to then come out with 3,500 shows the generosity of people.

St Pauls is delighted with the amount of money raised and Mr Tuohy extends his thanks to everyone who supported the cause.

For a cause like Milford, its great to give back, especially to a cause you know is worth it, concluded Shona.
Every community has strange traditions, customs and stories that pass down through generations.

And those who have embraced their local legends have shared the various myths and legends famous in their hometown, using #FolkloreThursday on Twitter.

The folktales range from spoon-stirred porridge bringing bad luck in Scotland to the ghost of a witch living in a hollowed out tree in the Midlands and bad fortune after eating an entire Cornish pasty.

Another old Irish tradition suggests the cross on the top of soda bread is to let fairies out of the bread while it rises, while in Cornwall a famous tale involves giants roaming the moors to create their famous granite tor on Stowes hill.

People from across UK and Ireland have shared various myths and legends famous in their hometown using the FolkloreThursday hashtag on Twitter

One Scottish user wrote: 'Porridge stirred with a spurtle which has a ring of wood around it will never stick. Porridge must always be stirred clockwise.'

A user from the Midlands told the story of a murdered woman yet to be identified after her remains were found in 1943 by four children inside an elm tree in Hagley Wood.

A year later, graffiti appeared on the nearby Wychbury Monument reading: 'Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?' - prompting locals to speculate that the girl inside could have been a mythical being.

She wrote: 'Here in the Midlands. During WW2 a female skeleton was discovered in a hollowed out tree by local children. She was nicknamed named Bella. Today mystery & folklore surround her. Who was "Bella"? Was she a witch? A victim of human sacrifice? A Spy? Fascinating.'

The folktales include; spoon-stirred porridge bringing bad luck in Scotland and the ghost of a witch living in a hollowed out tree in the Midlands

An Irish user explained that soda bread always traditionally has a cross cut into its top, but it's not to help it bake evenly. He claimed the Church once said that the cross was a way of warding off evil, while older traditions suggest it was an attempt to 'let the fairies out of the bread as it rose'.

Another Twitter user wrote: 'In Cornish mines it was unlucky to eat the whole of a Cornish pasty. You should instead leave the crust for the Knockers, who were mischievous spirits.

'Practically this was so miners didn't eat the crust "handle" of the pasty which got dirty from their hands.'

Another Cornish folktale tells the story of The Cheesewring, a famous landmark in Stowe's Hill in the parish of Linkinhorne. The Twitter user explained: 'Cornwall's biggest and strongest giants roamed the moors. They were challenged to a rock throwing contest with a saint. The granite slabs were piled high forming The Cheesewring.'

In Cornwall a famous tale involves giants roaming the moors to create their famous granite tor on Stowes hill and bad fortune after eating an entire Cornish pasty

Another folklore fanatic wrote: 'The village of Cheddar in Somerset is, of course, most famous for its cheese! According to legend, a milkmaid forgot her milk pail in one of the Cheddar caves and when she returned, she found it had transformed into the golden cheese we know and love today.'

And a Scottish user added: An ancient Scottish tradition was for a bride, before entering her new husband's home, to have a currant bun broken over her head on the doorstep by the groom's closest female relative.

'This ritual was a wheat blessing to bring fertility and prosperity.'
On Fletcher Street one summer morning in 2019, Ricky Staub was asked to walk the plank.

For decades, Fletcher Street  a slice of North Philadelphias Strawberry Mansion neighborhood  had been home to urban horse stables, and a hub for Black equestrians, and Staub had started spending time there after befriending a local rider.

Thats how Staub found himself struggling to push a wheelbarrow up an angled wooden beam as a group of stable regulars watched his every wobble. Staub was eager to prove himself. Hed shown up for a day of dirty stable work wearing clean, bright sneakers (like an idiot) and couldnt afford another rookie flub. Also, the wooden plank was teetering atop a colossal pile of horse manure.

Im literally going to be thigh-deep if I fall, Staub said.

Lucky for him (and his sneakers), Staub kept his balance. And when he successfully finished his task, dumping the contents of the wheelbarrow  also full of manure  onto the growing pile, the spectators erupted in applause.

That daring maneuver is one of several firsthand experiences that Staub, 37, recreated in Concrete Cowboy, his first feature, which is now streaming on Netflix. In this coming-of-age tale, a Detroit teenager (Caleb McLaughlin) is sent to Philadelphia to live with his estranged father (Idris Elba, also a producer of the film), who ekes out a modern-day cowboy existence on Fletcher Street, where small stables sit modestly among rowhouses.
French far-right politician Marine Le Pen said on Friday she would stand in the 2022 presidential election and that she thought victory was entirely 'plausible'.

'I am once again standing as a presidential candidate, before you,' Le Pen, 52, who heads up the far-right Rassemblement National party, told a news conference.

President Emmanuel Macron defeated Le Pen by 33 per cent to 66 per cent in the 2017 vote.

Opinion polls again put Macron and Le Pen as the likely two candidates to make it through to the last round in the April 2022 election, with Macron seen as the eventual winner.

French far-right politician Marine Le Pen said on Friday she would stand in the 2022 presidential election and that she thought victory was entirely 'plausible'

President Emmanuel Macron defeated Le Pen by 33 per cent to 66 per cent in the 2017 vote. Experts predict a similar runoff in the April 2022 elections, returning Macron to the top job

Nevertheless, concerns about his government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and worries about terrorism, violent crime, and immigration, have dented Macron's standing.

Le Pen has vowed to hold a national referendum on immigration as her first presidential act if she wins the 2022 race.

Speaking to national radio station France Inter, the leader of Rassemblement National (RN) - National Rally - said her 'first decision would be the organisation of a referendum on immigration'.

'It has been decades since the various governments made decisions on immigration with the French people ever being listening to or questioned on the subject,' she said.

Concerns about Macron's government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and worries about terrorism, violent crime, and immigration, have dented his chances of re-election

Le Pen outlined her three upmost priorities as the potential French president, adding that her second most important concern would be defending French national borders and sovereignty within the European Commission.

'Secondly, I would go to the European Commission to explain to them what I consider to be non-negotiable in the area of national sovereignty and in particular the control of our borders, because I consider border control a matter of national sovereignty,' she said.

Her third act would be the sweeping reforms of the French tax system, as she claims the country's middle class is under 'unsustainable pressure'.

Le Pen has vowed to hold a national referendum on immigration as her first presidential act if she wins the 2022 race

Those in power have already said they are wary Le Pen could take the country's top job next year.

In February, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire warned a Le Pen victory was a 'possibility' that must be 'fought'.

Additionally a leaked Harris Interactive poll found the right-wing candidate could secure up to 48% of the vote in a new duel with the incumbent.

Le Pen has been a rising figure in French politics even since taking over leadership of the Rassemblement National Party from her father in 2011.

In 2017 she ran with a manifesto of 144 proposals including plans to leave the euro currency and hold a vote on European Union membership.

Last month, Xavier Bertrand, a conservative politician who previously served as health minister in 2005-07, also declared his candidacy for the 2022 presidential election.
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That was one of the questions Bennett and Winslow had as they prepared to discuss their villages opting out.

They had more rhetorical questions, too. Bennett, for instance, wondered if it would be better for her village to have a dispensary for its residents, Wells College students, Inns of Aurora visitors and more. That might help keep people under the influence of marijuana off the road, which she said is one of her biggest concerns  especially considering the amount of teenagers who rely on driving in a rural area like hers. But at the same time, Bennett could see how not having a dispensary in the village might decrease the temptation of the drug.

Those questions, not money, will be on Bennett's mind as Aurora decides whether to opt out.

"I don't think it's a decision that ought to be made on revenue. It feels like much more of a safety issue to me than any revenue we would get," she said. "You have to think about the consequences."

In Weedsport, Winslow described a similar dilemma. He feels certain someone will try to open a dispensary in the village given its name, he said with a laugh, so he wants to make the right decision.
With support from the likes of the BBC, Pitchfork, Line Of Best Fit and NPR, Francis of Delirium released their second EP Wading on Dalliance Records on 9 April. Prep yourselves for some genuine and energetic grunge rock made in Luxembourg.

For most artists, 2020 was a pretty miserable year: cancelled concerts, recordings and releases postponed, dwindling royalty revenues and little fan interaction. Some were thrown out of their jobs completely. Then there are those who plough on through the pandemics obstacles. Francis of Delirium have been doing just that, providing a music-craving world with great songs.

Born out of a bedroom, Francis of Delirium was created by then 18-year-old Jana Bahrich (originally from Vancouver, Canada) who later invited drummer/producer, Chris Hewett (originally from Seattle, WA) into the fold.

Last year, Francis of Delirium provided an exclusive live set for RTL Today.

Based in Luxembourg, together they synthesize grunge and Gen Z indie rock to deliver a powerful sound that works to reinforce Janas high energy, unsparing vocal delivery and her genuine passion to connect; intimacy and vulnerability lie at the heart of her lyrics.

Bahrich stormed onto the scene during Screaming Fields Festival 2018, a battle of the bands style talent programme organised by Rocklab and Rockhal, the countrys largest music venue. Since then, shes been gearing up to perform international showcases and tours abroad, and has signed to UK-based Dalliance Records (home to Common Holly and Gia Margaret).

Stunning turn-around

Wading comes only nine months after their debut EP All Change, a stunning turn-around time given that most artists will need a few years in between releases to get enough material (and the financial means) together before putting out new songs.

Speaking to RTL Today, Bahrich explains that it had never felt rushed: It kind of happened naturally. We finished the first EP in December of 2019. We already had a set to play live, so the songs were already written. We took our time for four songs, probably five months. I feel like we take a long time to finish songs, but apparently its not perceived that way. As one might expect, Bahrich is speaking to us from the studio where shes currently working on material for her next album.

The first two EPs were fully recorded at Hewetts home studio: His son moved out so we made it into an upstairs studio, she laughs. Bahrich and Hewett have known each other for many years (she went to school with his daughter), and eventually met each other at a live show.

Even though Hewitt rarely joins on extensive tours, he plays a fundamental role in Francis of Deliriums sound and production. Chris home studio was five minutes away from where I lived, so I would just bike over here - I still bike over - and work on the songs. We probably finished recording in July.

"It's always an experimentation game. So it was a lot of messing around."

But, for the sake of challenging themselves, they could be looking to move out of the place in the near future and work with other producers in a different environment.

So have the songs developed in that time? They were relatively set in stone, weve been playing them live a long time. But as we have so much time in the studio, its always an experimentation game. So it was a lot of messing around.

Francis of Deliriums Wading EP was mixed by Gabe Wax (Adrianne Lenker, Palehound, Squirrel Flower) and mastered by Joe Lambert (The National, Sharon Van Etten, Dirty Projectors).

Global recognition

Bahrich is currently in her second gap year. Its strange because we cant tour, and thats where the only actual income comes from. I was also, like, maybe I should go to school this year? But its all online, and to then pay such a huge amount of money also seemed like a waste. Her parents are supportive and have got her back in the choices shes making. For the time being, at least, it will be all music.

There is a certain feeling you get in the middle of the set, its a moment of clarity."

A fruitful PR collaboration with a US-based agency has resulted in rave reviews in industry magazines and sites, ranging from Pitchfork to NPR music to a play on BBC One. He was super excited about the music and has done an incredible job, its insane. And our UK label has PR in-house. So which of the features shocked her the most? Probably Pitchfork. I was like: no, theres no way, thats not going to happen. I didnt even mention it, so that was pretty crazy.

When it comes to live performing, Bahrich is expecting to tour the UK in October, crossing fingers that the vaccination rollout will allow for a return to live music. There is no official release show in Luxembourg, but Francis of Delirium are performing at Kulturfabrik on 24 April. Many artists will identify with the feeling of standing on stage in front of real human beings: There is a certain feeling you get in the middle of the set, its a moment of clarity. Sometimes its only a second, but I really miss that.

After Luxembourg shes surely headed to New York, where shes already been invited to play a gig.

For all of Francis of Delirium's music and videos, head over to their website, stream on Spotify or purchase on Bandcamp.
Housatonic: A 'simmering' village on the cusp ... of what? Villagers aren't sure yet.
All travellers coming to Kashmir by road shall undergo tests in Kulgam district, an official said on Thursday.

Srinagar Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Aijaz Asad chaired a meeting to review the situation, a spokesperson said.

Asad said the testing for travellers coming by road shall be started in Lower Munda area in a couple of days as this would help in containing the spread of virus in the Valley.

The deputy commissioner said mass vaccination of hotel staff, drivers, houseboat staff and others shall be started across all tourist destinations.

A special training programme shall be conducted for the staff members to ensure that all standard operating procedures are followed strictly while dealing with the tourists, he said.

Asad urged the tourism stakeholders to ensure proper sanitation and hygiene in all hotels.

The deputy commissioner asked the hoteliers to keep two rooms available for isolation of tourists in case they test positive.

Dr Gazalla, the incharge COVID-19 testing at Srinagar Airport, deliberated on the importance of vaccination.

Various tourism stakeholders from Srinagar, Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg also attended the meeting.

The tourism players raised various demands, including hiring of separate hotel accommodation for isolation of infected tourists, permission to tourists to the valley only after their RT-PCR test reports, improvement in testing facility at the Airport and sanitation of hotels.

(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.)
Venezuela's Vice President announced on Wednesday that the nation will stand by a decision to not authorise the use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine in the country.

Delcy Rodriguez said that the country's presidential scientific commission had "decided not to include it" as an approved vaccine.

However, the vice president stated that she expected Venezuela would choose which vaccines it would receive from COVAX, a mechanism setup by the United Nations to facilitate equitable access to immunisation.

She also said that she had told representatives of the Pan American Health Organization on March 15 that Venezuela did not want to be given the Astrazenenca vaccine.

Rodriguez's statement came a day after Ciro Ugarte, PAHO's Director of Health Emergencies, indicated that the vaccines planned for Venezuela are AstraZeneca's.

Venezuela - which has expressed its willingness to consider "all the vaccine candidates they have" and that it will choose the vaccine "based on the scientific sovereignty" of the country - had previously declined to authorise the use of AstraZeneca, citing reports of negative effects in some people after being inoculated.

It was not clear whether the decision will represent a new obstacle for Venezuela to have access to COVAX vaccines.

During her address on Wednesday, Rodriguez also demanded that Venezuela be given access to more than 7 billion dollars of its funds which remains blocked in foreign banks.

She said the money would help pay "for vaccine supply for the Venezuelan people."

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Watch: Prince Philip death - The Duke of Edinburgh dies, aged 99

The Duke of Edinburgh has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The Palace said in a statement: It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

"His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.

The Palace said more announcements would be made and added: "The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss."

Prince Philip, husband and consort to Queen Elizabeth II, recently spent four weeks in hospital where he underwent a procedure for a pre-existing heart condition, his longest stay ever.

A notice announcing the death was placed outside Buckingham Palace, and mourners came to place flowers at the gates.

The government has issued a reminder about the current COVID guidelines to people who are thinking of gathering in the wake of the Duke's death.

Harry and Meghan, who are in now in California having stepped back from their senior royal roles, updated the website of their non-profit to reflect the news.

It now reads: "In loving memory of the Duke of Edinburgh" and the dates 1921-2021.

The website also said: "Thank you for your service...You will be greatly missed."

The Royal Family website was updated to reflect the sad news, with a note adding: "The official website of the Royal Family is temporarily unavailable while appropriate changes are made."

The official notice of Philip's death placed on the gates of Buckingham Palace. (Ian West/AFP)

Harry and Meghan's foundation, Archewell, added this short tribute on its website. (Archewell)

Read more: What happens next after Prince Philip's death?

Tributes have poured in from around the world, led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson who said he had "helped to steer the Royal Family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life".

He said: "He [Philip] was an environmentalist, and a champion of the natural world long before it was fashionable.

Story continues

With his Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme he shaped and inspired the lives of countless young people and at literally tens of thousands of events he fostered their hopes and encouraged their ambitions.

We remember the duke for all of this and above all for his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen.

Not just as her consort, by her side every day of her reign, but as her husband, her strength and stay, of more than 70 years.

And it is to Her Majesty, and her family, that our nations thoughts must turn today.

Because they have lost not just a much-loved and highly respected public figure, but a devoted husband and a proud and loving father, grandfather and, in recent years, great-grandfather.

The official Royal announcement of the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is seen on the gates of Buckingham Palace. (John Phillips/Getty Images)

Princess Anne in the arms of Princess Elizabeth, with the Duke of Edinburgh, holding Prince Charles, in the grounds of Clarence House, in August 1951. (PA Images)

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said in a statement: The United Kingdom has lost an extraordinary public servant in Prince Philip.

Prince Philip dedicated his life to our country  from a distinguished career in the Royal Navy during the Second World War to his decades of service as the Duke of Edinburgh.

However, he will be remembered most of all for his extraordinary commitment and devotion to the Queen.

For more than seven decades, he has been at her side. Their marriage has been a symbol of strength, stability and hope, even as the world around them changed  most recently during the pandemic. It was a partnership that inspired millions in Britain and beyond.

My thoughts are with the Queen, the Royal Family and the British people as our nation comes together to mourn and remember the life of Prince Philip.

The Royal Family website has been changed to allow updates to be made. (Royal Family)

Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh arrive in an open carriage on Ladies Day at Royal Ascot in 2011. (Anwar Hussein/WireImage)

Read more: Prince Philip: The story of a devoted husband to his beloved 'Lilibet' Queen

Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey tweeted: "Prince Philip dedicated his life to our country. We will always be grateful for his amazing service.

"We shouldnt forget Prince Philip was a much-loved husband, father, grandfather & great grandfather. So our thoughts are with The Queen and the whole Family at this difficult time."

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said in a statement: "He consistently put the interests of others ahead of his own and, in so doing, provided an outstanding example of Christian service. During his naval career, in which he served with distinction in the Second World War, he won the respect of his peers as an outstanding officer.

"On the occasions when I met him, I was always struck by his obvious joy at life, his enquiring mind and his ability to communicate to people from every background and walk of life. He was a master at putting people at their ease and making them feel special."

US president Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden said: "On behalf of all the people of the United States, we send our deepest condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the entire royal family, and all the people of the United Kingdom on the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

"Over the course of his 99-year life, he saw our world change dramatically and repeatedly. From his service during World War II, to his 73 years alongside the Queen, and his entire life in the public eye  Prince Philip gladly dedicated himself to the people of the UK, the Commonwealth, and to his family.

"The impact of his decades of devoted public service is evident in the worthy causes he lifted up as patron, in the environmental efforts he championed, in the members of the armed forces that he supported, in the young people he inspired, and so much more. His legacy will live on not only through his family, but in all the charitable endeavours he shaped.

"Jill and I are keeping the Queen and to Prince Philips children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in our hearts during this time."

Watch: Prime Minister: 'We mourn with the Queen'

Flowers at the railings at the front of Buckingham Palace. (Tolga Akmen/AFP)

Mark Drakeford, first minister of Wales, said: "Throughout his long and distinguished life, he served the crown with selfless devotion and generosity of spirit.

We offer our sincere condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, his children and their families on this sad occasion."

Irelands Taoiseach Micheal Martin posted on Twitter: Saddened to hear of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Queen Elizabeth and the people of the United Kingdom at this time.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted: Today, we mourn the loss of an extraordinary man, who devoted his life to public service and helping others. I extend my deepest sympathies to Her Majesty The Queen and the entire Royal Family at this sad time.

Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister of Australia, said in a statement: For nearly 80 years, Prince Philip served his Crown, his country and the Commonwealth.

His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was, in the words of Her Majesty, her strength and stay.

He embodied a generation that we will never see again."

Prime minister of Canada Justin Trudeau said: "A man of great purpose and conviction, who was motivated by a sense of duty to others, Prince Philip contributed so much to the social fabric of our country  and the world.

"Prince Philip will be remembered as a decorated naval officer, a dedicated philanthropist, and a constant in the life of Queen Elizabeth II.

"The thoughts of all Canadians are with her and the entire Royal Family as they mourn this significant loss."

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh walk at Broadlands, Hampshire in an image to mark their diamond wedding anniversary in November 2007. (Fiona Hanson/AFP)

Former US president Barack Obama reflected on meeting him during a state tour, and said: "The Queen and Prince Philip immediately put us at ease with their grace and generosity, turning a ceremonial occasion into something far more natural, even comfortable.

"Prince Philip in particular was kind and warm, with a sharp wit and unfailing good humor. It was our first introduction to the man behind the title, and in the years since, our admiration for him has only grown. We will miss him dearly."

It was confirmed on Friday afternoon that Philip would not have a state funeral, nor would he lie in state.

Philip will lie at rest in Windsor Castle ahead of a funeral at St George's Chapel, the same place where his grandson Prince Harry married in May 2018, as well as his granddaughter Princess Eugenie in October of that year.

The College of Arms confirmed: "The funeral arrangements have been revised in view of the prevailing circumstances arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and it is regretfully requested that members of the public do not attempt to attend or participate in any of the events that make up the funeral."

Prince Philip - who was often said to keep a firm grip over Royal Family affairs - retired from royal duties in 2017 aged 96.

Philip, who once described himself as the "world's most experienced plaque unveiler", was the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch.

He was the oldest-ever male member of the British Royal Family.

He made his final solo public engagement on 2 August 2017 when he met the Royal Marine Corp.

Born into the Greek and Danish royal families, Philip Mountbatten's education included a spell at Gordonstoun School.

He went on to join the Royal Navy and served with the Mediterranean and Pacific fleets in the Second World War.

He married the then Princess Elizabeth in 1947 and gave up his promising naval career when she became Queen in 1952, following the unexpected death of her father, King George VI.

Since then he has served tirelessly alongside the Queen, who was aged 27 at the time, carrying out thousands of appearances and engagements over nearly seven decades.

He also set up the Duke of Edinburghs Award scheme, which in the 1950s was designed to bridge a gap between leaving school and beginning national service.

Over the decades its been completed by millions of teenagers and operates in many different countries.

Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Imperial State Crown, and the Duke of Edinburgh, in the uniform of Admiral of the Fleet, waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Queen's Coronation in June 1953. (PA Images)

Philip stepped down from his public duties in August 2017 with the full support of the Queen. He did attend the weddings of his grandchildren Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie, in May and October 2018.

He also attended his granddaughter Princess Beatrices royal wedding in July 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, and Lady Gabriella Windsor's in May 2019.

Philip and the Queen spent more time together than they had for some time during the coronavirus pandemic, living together at Windsor Castle for most of the year.

He had retired to Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate but moved to be with his wife.

The Duke had faced a number of health scares in recent years after suffering from a bladder infection and a blocked coronary artery.

He also had abdominal and hip surgery in recent years.

Then Princess Elizabeth and Lieut. Philip Mountbatten, after their engagement was announced in 1947, at Buckingham Palace. (PA Images)

He spent four days at King Edward VII hospital in London just before Christmas 2019, on the advice of his doctor and was discharged in time for the usual family celebrations in Sandringham.

In February 2021, he was admitted to the same hospital, on his doctor's advice, after feeling unwell.

It came after the duke had received the first coronavirus vaccine, and the palace said it was not linked to COVID-19.

He ended up spending four weeks in hospital, which was his longest ever stay, and included a procedure on his heart.

The duke was sent home from the private hospital to recuperate at home, but died in Windsor Castle about three weeks later.
The needs arent hard to understand. Take this one example. Victor (not his real name) today is a thriving student in a central Indiana high school. But when he and his siblings arrived from a refugee camp, fleeing war in central Africa, they needed everything from clothes to translation help to a tablet and internet access. Because they got what they needed, Victor is now studying health sciences, and could be contributing one day as a doctor or nurse. His little sister is planning to become a teacher. But giving them that start required extra resources  more than some students require.
Hyderabad, April 9 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's sister Y.S. Sharmila left Hyderabad for Khammam on Friday in a big convoy of vehicles to address a public meeting, where she is likely to announce her political plans.

Sharmila, daughter of former chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, began the journey from her residence Lotus Ponds in Banjara Hills along with dozens of vehicles of her supporters.

She stopped at Panjagutta in the city to garland the statue of YSR, as her late father was popularly known. YSR loyalists have planned grand welcome to Sharmila at eight places enroute Khammam.

She will reach the venue of the meeting in a huge rally in the evening. She is expected to announce the name of her political party and future plans at the meeting titled 'Sankalpa Sabha'.

The police have given permission for conducting the meeting on the condition that the organizers will ensure adherence to Covid-19 rules.

Sharmila's mother Y.S. Vijayamma will also attend the meeting. Her participation will be significant as Jagan Mohan Reddy is not in favour of his sister floating a political party in Telangana.

YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) led by Jagan Mohan Reddy has already admitted that there is difference of opinion between the brother and sister over the latter's political ambitions in Telangana.

'Sankalpa Sabha' will be the first public meeting of Sharmila ever since she announced that she plans to float a political party in Telangana.

For more than a month, Sharmila has been holding meetings with YSR loyalists from various districts in Telangana to take their feedback before announcing her political plans.

She vowed to try to bring back 'Rajanna Rajyam' (a reference to pro-poor and welfare regime of YSR) in Telangana.

YSR loyalists believed that Khammam meeting will prove to be a turning point in Telangana's politics as Sharmila is expected to make some key announcements.

Composite Khammam district is considered politically significant. Sharmila had extensively toured the district during her "Maro Praja Prasthanam", a state-wide walkathon, in 2013 to mobilize support for her brother who was then in jail in disproportionate assets case.

YSRCP had won one MP and three MLA seats in the old undivided Khammam district in the maiden Assembly elections in Telangana in 2014.

However, YSRCP became inactive in Telangana after its MP and all three MLAs joined ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Jagan Mohan Reddy, who led YSRCP to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, decided to stay away from Telangana politics. His party did not contest 2018 Assembly elections and subsequent polls in Telangana.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 9, 2021 - 17:47 | All, Japan

Japan scrambled fighter jets against aircraft approaching its airspace 725 times in fiscal 2020, down 222 times from a year earlier, the Defense Ministry said Friday, as the country seeks to shift its policy from reactively mobilizing planes to proactive surveillance.

Government sources have said Japan has restricted the scrambling of such jets against Chinese military aircraft to only those threatening to violate its airspace, with this policy shift aimed at freeing up resources to concentrate on more high-level training using its latest F-35 stealth fighters.

By country, the largest number of scrambles by Air Self-Defense Force jets came in response to Chinese aircraft, with 458 in the fiscal year that ended in March, down 217 from a year before.

But the ministry said it remains on alert over China's growing military assertiveness.

The ASDF frequently scrambles fighter jets against Chinese aircraft, while China's maritime assertiveness continues to be a source of concern for Japan.

Chinese coast guard ships have repeatedly intruded into Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. China claims the Japanese-controlled, uninhabited islands and calls them Diaoyu.

Against Russian aircraft, jet scrambles was down by 10 to 258 times in fiscal 2020, the ministry said.

In fiscal 2019, Japan scrambled fighter jets 947 times in response to feared intrusions by aircraft into its airspace.

Scrambling is conducted to deter foreign aircraft from entering a nation's airspace.
In most cases involving scams, its easy to feel sympathy for consumers.

In this case, however, consumer is not the same as victim.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has joined counterparts across the nation to try to thwart the sale of faux COVID-19 vaccination cards being sold across the country.

Its not a con akin to someone posing as a lottery official, or long lost relative, or foreign government official.

This is more like a high schooler buying a fuzzy drivers license in the hope of scoring some booze. But even that comparison doesnt leave countless people vulnerable to being victimized.

Tong and 44 other attorneys general signed a letter to chief executives at Twitter, eBay and Shopify pressing them to block advertisements for the faux cards. They gave them an April 9 deadline to remove links that sell the cards and preserve records.

It might seem relatively harmless, but this isnt like someone pretending to participate in democracy by wearing an I Voted sticker.

The cards may not mean much right now, but in the months to come, they could be used to pass through entrances that might otherwise remain closed to the unvaccinated as restrictions are lifted.

Getting vaccinated is one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself and your family from COVID-19, but its also an open door for scammers, Tong wrote in a statement. We need big companies like Twitter, eBay, and Shopify to take immediate action to stop the sale of fraudulent vaccination cards. These cards pose a threat to the health and safety of people in Connecticut and unchecked could extend the length and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FBI connected the dots in a statement, pointing out that users would be misrepresenting themselves in using the cards to enter schools, mass transit, workplaces, gyms, or places of worship.

Not only would such action put others at risk, the FBI statement noted, but it would represent illegal use of an official government seal, as the bogus cards bear the logo of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The FBI was even more blunt in stressing that if you make or buy a fake COVID-19 vaccination record card ... you are breaking the law.

They are doing much more than that. The painful irony is that consumers of the cards are paying for something they can get for free. All they have to do is get a shot.

But the act of bearing fake cards while avoiding shots by COVID deniers or people fearful of needles is much more vile than refusing to wear a mask in a supermarket. The absence of a mask reveals them. Pretending to have gotten the shots is a license to share COVID.

If you have a legitimate card, this is a good reminder to keep it secure. If youre still tempted to order a fake one, keep in mind that con artists cant be counted on to deliver the goods.
The chair of the Covid-19 vaccine task force, Dr Willis Akhwale, spoke to the Nation about the ongoing vaccination drive in Kenya.

1. Are there official Covid guidelines for pregnant and/or lactating women?

Its important to note that indications on usage for any pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, depends a lot on what happens during trials. As you know, trials begin with animals before moving to humans and in the first instance, only a handful of individuals participate. From the information we have, the vaccines were not tried on pregnant and lactating women and, therefore, there was no information available for this demographic by the time we got emergency use authorisation. As a precaution for this group therefore, vaccination is not advised.

2. How many private hospitals have been issued with the vaccines?

Our health care system, as you know, is mixed with faith-based, private and public facilities working side by side. Because of the complexity of the rollout, we started our Covid-19 vaccination programme with few facilities overall and every week, we add to this number across the different players in the Health sector. Ultimately, we expect that most of our facilities in the health service mix will participate in the exercise once they have been prepared for it accordingly. In this first phase, we are targeting to have 300 private facilities participating. By the end of next week, 50 per cent of these will already be engaged. Training that has been undertaken by the ministry has included staff from these facilities.

3. India is now circling the wagons and restricting exports, the impact is beginning to be felt worldwide, particularly in poorer countries. Will this delay our plans to get the AstraZeneca vaccine in April as anticipated?

We have been informed that our consignment, which was due in early April, is now delayed but due in early May. Incidentally, this is the time that Kenyans who started receiving their first doses are due for their second dose. According to WHO recommendations, the second dose for Astrazeneca vaccine, which is what we are administering, can be given up to 12 weeks after the first dose. We have put in place plans to ensure everyone who got the first dose of AstraZeneca receives the second dose on time.

4. What arrangement is made for the priority workers who have not received the first dose and those who will get the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine?

As noted, second dose can be administered anywhere between 8 and 12 weeks after the first dose. Given that many are still yet to get their first dose, we expect that by the time we receive our next consignment, we shall still be within the correct window for administering the second doses. The global market is experiencing supply shortages due to the high demand for vaccines, but we are confident we shall be in schedule to administer the second doses and quickly make a transition to our second phase of deployment and vaccination.

5. What other vaccines is the government considering bringing to the country and at what stage are we on this front?

We are confident that vaccines present a good mitigation against Covid-19. The global community has moved with a lot of speed in developing viable vaccines to use against the disease. Many have already been produced and are already in the market while many others are in different stages of research and approvals by regulatory authorities. Our policy now is to only use vaccines which have approval by the World Health Organization and are registered by our Pharmacy and Poisons Board. Currently these include AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna. Several others like Johnson and Johnson, Novavax, and Sinovac are currently under review. We are open to bringing any vaccines that become available through the Covax facility, Africa CDC platform, and where necessary, what we get through bilateral arrangements, but which satisfies the criteria already set.

6. Explain the confusion around Sputnik vaccine, is it authorised or not?

Sputnik V is a Russian-manufactured vaccine, which like most others, has received emergency use authorisation in many countries across the world. Our own Pharmacy and Poisons Board did also give it emergency use authorisation. But remember, in addition to our regulatory approvals, our criteria include receiving emergency use authorization by WHO. At the moment, the WHO is still reviewing the data submitted on this vaccine and it is yet to conclude the exercise and give its recommendations. Some private distributors, however, did bring the vaccine into the country and started administering it on Kenyans before this, and some other conditions, were met.

These other conditions include registration of vaccination sites with the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council. In its meeting held on April 2, the National Emergency and Response Committee on coronavirus chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Health reviewed emerging issues and concerns surrounding this vaccine and the overall participation of the private sector in the importation, distribution and administration of vaccines. The meeting resolved to ban the participation of the private sector in the importation, distribution and administration of vaccine until further notice. Could Sputnik be brought in by the government at a future date? absolutely, especially if it fulfills the criteria set.

7. In your assessments what is the progress of the vaccination drive countrywide?

We have made very good progress in our vaccination programme. Since this was a new vaccine, we ensured that even as we started the roll-out we had in place all regulatory requirements, including the monitoring of side effects. To ensure the quality of the vaccinations process, we ensured staff from all vaccination posts were adequately trained. The training was progressive. We started with 47 posts (one in each county) and have now trained staff of 658 posts who can now safely administer the vaccine. Indeed, during our first week of vaccination, our average daily vaccinations was 3,000, during the second week it was 5,000, the third week it was 12,000 and as of end of last week, we did some 40,000 vaccinations on Friday.

8. Will the ministry institute an equalisation model among counties especially those that exhausted their vaccines and those that have excess supply?

Distribution of vaccines followed analysis of frontline workers in all the counties. Remember these were our target. Now that the 58-year-olds and above were added to the first phase, we have to revise our matrix to cover these as well. Fortunately, our country has very robust population indicators to be relied upon. Beyond the initial distribution, however, our plan is to have a pull supply system in the end. Meaning you get replenishment upon adequately reporting utilisation through the Chanjo Ke system.

9. Comment on the fact that people who are not in the targeted groups jumped the queue?

We want to discourage this absolutely. I urge Kenyans to understand that we have global constraints in the supply of Covid-19 vaccines and the priority is to protect those at risk of infection (frontline workers) and those at risk of severe disease (those with underlying conditions and the elderly). After that, we plan to cover the general population. If one is not among the target population in our phased approach, they should understand and wait for their turn.

10. How long will it take before commercial vaccines are allowed?

At the moment this has been banned until when the necessary regulatory and accountability mechanism has been put in place. At the moment, we do not want to open a second window prone to abuse, for example, where the free of charge vaccines are sold by the private sector. Its important to note that in a pandemic, its very easy for people to be taken advantage of. The government has a duty to protect the safety of its people and those resident in the country.
Russian President prefers to establish good relations with the United States despite Washington's "aggressive policy," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"In general, despite Washington's harsh and hostile statements, President Putin remains a strong advocate of building good relations with the United States, at least in those fields that are beneficial to us," Peskov told a daily briefing on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

He noted that Washington's unpredictable and unfriendly policy requires to stand prepared for any scenario, including an expulsion of diplomats and new sanctions.

"We have never posed a threat to anyone. However, of course, we will never allow anyone, including the United States, to threaten us, dictate its terms and infringe on our interests," he said.

Commenting on the prospects for US- cooperation in the fields of culture and science, Peskov expressed regret that the United States is attempting to "artificially hinder" contacts between the two countries.

--IANS

int/

(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.)
Mercedes Cordero/Midland Reporter-Telegram

WASHINGTON, D.C.  Thursday, Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) sent a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris, the appointed lead to the Biden Administrations border response, regarding condemning the administrations dangerous border policies, calling attention to the recent allegations of criminal activity at the Midland HHS facility, and imploring the Vice President to visit the Midland HHS immediately.

The letter reads, in part: In the past 24 hours, there have been multiple reports of allegations of abuse, sexual assault, insufficient staffing and reporting protocols, and numerous COVID infections at facilities in Texas, including the Midland location. These reports have prompted an investigation by Governor Greg Abbott. Additionally, our office has reported these allegations to the HHS Inspector General (IG).
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

A Bahraini court yesterday turned down an appeal filed against a verdict issued in a Traffic in women and forced prostitution case. Four suspects, all Asians by nationality, were found guilty of forcing a woman, a Thailand national, into prostitution. A trial court awarded the suspects five years in prison and deportation after serving the prison terms.

Following this, an appeal against the verdict at the High Appeals Court was filed, which the court rejected yesterday.

The court files say the suspects trapped the woman by placing an advertisement in a Thailand-based publication seeking waitresses for a restaurant. Unsuspecting the foul play, the woman applied for the post and got selected for an interview.

The suspects, following a discussion, sent her air tickets and a Bahraini work permit. They told me to pay BD1,300 towards expenses, which they said would deduct from my monthly salary, the victim told the court. I accepted the offer, and a woman (the first defendant) welcomed me at the airport.

She escorted me into a building, where I met another woman (the second defendant), who took my passport. She told me that I should work as a prostitute, the victim told prosecutors.

Investigators told the court that the woman was locked up in the building, and police freed her following a raid. The raid followed a tip-off received from the Thai Embassy in the Kingdom.

Public Prosecution charged the defendants with human trafficking and forcing a woman into prostitution


LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto (RTNTF, RIO, RIO.L, RTPPF) Friday announced a binding Heads of Agreement or HoA with Turquoise Hill Resources for an updated funding plan for the completion of the Oyu Tolgoi Underground Project in Mongolia.



The funding plan addresses the estimated remaining known funding requirement of around $2.3 billion, building on and replacing the arrangements established in the companies' previously signed Memorandum of Understanding.



The HoA is subject to securing approval by Oyu Tolgoi LLC and any required support from the Government of Mongolia, and subject to timing, availability, and terms and conditions being acceptable to both parties



Under the deal, Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill will pursue re-profiling of principal debt repayments up to $1.4 billion with lenders under the existing project finance arrangements to better align with the revised mine plan, project timing and cash flows.



They will also seek to raise up to $500 million in senior supplemental debt or SSD under the existing project financing arrangements from selected international financial institutions.



Rio Tinto has committed to address any potential shortfalls from the re-profiling and additional SSD of up to $750 million by providing a senior co-lending facility on the same terms as OT's project financing. Further, Turquoise Hill agreed to complete a rights offering or placement of common shares for up to $500 million to satisfy any remaining funding shortfall within six months of the Co-Lending Facility becoming available.



Oyu Tolgoi is expected to become one of the world's largest copper mines and a significant contributor to the Mongolian economy for years to come.



Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill have agreed to jointly obtain an order dismissing the current arbitration on a without prejudice basis, including an order vacating the interim measures order.



Rio Tinto currently beneficially owns 102.20 million shares of Turquoise Hill, representing approximately 50.8% of its issued and outstanding common shares.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

RIO TINTO-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de
Jeffrey MacDonald will not receive compassionate release from prison, another setback in the ex-Green Berets struggle to step away from the notorious Fort Bragg murders of his family.

U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle rejected the 77-year-old inmates request Friday, which his lawyers urged last month due to his age, failing health and decades behind bars.

In 1970, Army investigators found MacDonalds wife, Colette, and their two daughters, Kimberley and Kristin, beaten and stabbed to death inside their Fort Bragg home.

MacDonald, both a medical doctor and Green Beret, had a lung-puncturing stab wound in the chest. He told investigators he and his family had been slain by hippies who broke in chanting, Acid is groovy. Kill the pigs.

Murder charges against MacDonald were dropped that same year, but Colettes family urged the federal courts to take up the case, resulting in his indictment, three guilty verdicts and three life sentences.

After years of legal wrangling and a brief release, MacDonald has long insisted on his innocence and sought release. The case famously unwound in Joe McGinness 1983 book Fatal Vision, based on the writer agreeing to embed with McDonald during his legal fight but ultimately becoming convinced of his guilt.

Attorneys for the ex-Green Beret doctor, now 77, argued in U.S. District Court that their client has roughly three years to live if he starts kidney dialysis. That chronic condition, coupled with skin cancer and hypertension, qualify him for release from a prison environment where COVID-19 remains a threat, his lawyers said.

MacDonalds attorneys filed a motion in federal court in November citing staff shortages at the western Maryland prison that houses MacDonald, noting that inmates there continued making license plates even after COVID-19 cases appeared. As one factory worker there, MacDonald was placed under quarantine last year.
This was the chaotic scene in Pakistan last night as thousands of travellers raced home to the UK to beat today's hotel quarantine deadline as cases spiked in the country.





Airline staff were forced to stand on check-in desks and urge people to form in orderly lines with one person in the scrum as 'the worst experience ever'.





Others thought it was 'odd' that nobody was having their temperatures checked before flying, although they needed to show evidence of a negative Covid test and must take further tests on days two and eight after arrival.

But crucially those who flew in to the UK before 4am today will not have to fork out 1,750 for eleven nights of quarantine in a Government-approved hotel - and can self-isolate from home.

One family from Buckinghamshire were refused their seats on a flight back to the UK despite arriving at check in three hours early.

Imran Khan from Aylesbury was at Lahore Airport for a British Airways flight with nine children, including three babies and one disabled lady in a wheelchair.

They were told that it was closed even though they said they arrived at 11pm for their flight which took off at 1.45am on Thursday.

There were 15 family members from Kotli Kalan, SalehKhana, District Nowshera and also Aylesbury who spent 15,000 to get back to the UK.

This was the chaotic scene in Pakistan last night as thousands of travellers raced home to the UK to beat today's hotel quarantine deadline as cases spiked in the country

Airline staff were forced to stand on check-in desks and urge people to form in orderly lines with one person in the scrum as 'the worst experience ever'

A man stands up with a face covering on in the airport as he tried to catch a flight to the UK

More than 20 flights are understood to have been chartered to return to the UK from Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore in the past 24 hours.

But with thousands more still in the country, Labour MP for Bolton South East, Yasmin Qureshi, urged Boris Johnson to lay on chartered flights for stranded citizens in Pakistan.

Her intervention came following reports of large groups of British Pakistanis, many of them from the Greater Manchester area, were flying to the south Asian country for family weddings.

The British Pakistani population numbers more than one million and people travelling for the celebrations have been blamed for spreading infection there.

More than 5,300 new Covid cases were recorded in Pakistan on Wednesday and a third spike is being driven by the variant first detected in Kent.

Thousands of travellers were yesterday facing a race home from Pakistan to beat today's hotel quarantine deadline. (Above, the last Pakistan flight from Islamabad, into Manchester, before the new quarantine regulations are implemented)

Airlines laid on extra flights after Pakistan was added to the travel ban 'red list' of countries last week. It means all arrivals landing in the UK from there after 4am today will have to pay 1,750 for 11 nights of quarantine in a Government-approved hotel. (Above, Manchester arrivals)

Polish-registered carrier Enter Air was among the airlines cashing in on the surge in demand, laying on three Boeing 737s which flew from Islamabad via Moscow to Birmingham yesterday.

British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have also laid on extra direct flights in recent days.

According to data from the website FlightRadar24, five flights were scheduled to land in England direct from the Pakistani capital Islamabad yesterday.

Two BA flights were due at Heathrow along with a Virgin Atlantic flight, while two PIA services were scheduled to land in Manchester. A BA service also flew direct from Lahore.

Bulgarian airline GullivAir laid on an Airbus A330 from Islamabad, via Bulgarian capital Sofia, to Birmingham.

A Boeing 767 was flown by Icelandair from the Pakistani capital to Heathrow and Spanish carrier Wamos Air was scheduled to charter a flight from Islamabad to London Stansted.

Thousands of British Pakistanis have been flying to the country for family weddings. They have been blamed for a third Covid spike there, driven by the variant first detected in Kent. (Above, a Pakistani security official seals a restaurant for violating Covid rules)

Dozens of Labour and Tory MPs, many of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage, have signed a letter to Boris Johnson raising 'major concerns' about Pakistan being added to the red list. (Pictured, a vendor sells protective masks on a road in Peshawar)

Some of the last-minute seats were going for more than 1,400.

Analysis shows at least 30 extra flights from Pakistan have been laid on over the last week, with up to 7,000 arrivals on top of the normal numbers.

According to a recent BBC North West Tonight report, around 32,000 travellers flew from the UK to Pakistan in January alone.

Of these, nearly 15,000 are said to have flown from Manchester, almost half the number that flew last January before the pandemic began.

Many are thought to have travelled for weddings, including a woman from Manchester featured in the BBC programme who posted a video of herself online apparently attending a wedding in Lahore.

According to a translator, in the clip she said that people had become stressed out by Covid in the UK and that she thought 'I'll get away from all of that by coming here to enjoy myself'.

Foreign travel is currently illegal in Britain but is allowed in special circumstances such as for work or to study.

Travelling to get married or to attend the wedding of a close relative is allowed under exceptional circumstances.

After the ban was announced last week, Rukhsar Ahmed tweeted: 'Too many UK people including my own relatives travelled for weddings but it has caused a third wave of coronavirus in Pakistan.'

Sohail Anjum posted: 'Should have put this ban in ages ago. A friend travelled to Pakistan last year for a family wedding and came back infected.'

The Philippines, Kenya and Bangladesh also joined the red list at 4am this morning.

Dozens of Labour and Tory MPs, many of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage, have signed a letter to prime minister Boris Johnson raising 'major concerns' about Pakistan being added to the red list.

They claim there's a 'lack of available data and evidential and scientific reasoning' behind the move and that countries with higher infection rates have not been added.

They wrote: 'The vast majority would have travelled to visit family, including elderly relatives, whom they have not seen for over a year.

'They would already have paid for return flights but are now in a position where they will have to pay for new flights in order to return before the ban is put in place.'

It was co-authored by Yasmin Qureshi MP, Chair of the all-Party Parliamentary Group on Pakistan.

Countries are added to the list, which consists of 39 countries mostly in south America and southern Africa, due to their links with concerning Covid variants.
Hong Kong: HK opposes harbouring of criminals

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today made a solemn statement to oppose and express strong disapproval of the harbouring of criminals in any form by any country, region, organisation or individual.

In the statement, the Hong Kong SAR Government emphasised that any society that upholds the rule of law should not accept anyone being above the law or having the privilege to break the law without facing legal consequences.

It pointed out that following a series of riots and illegal acts advocating Hong Kong independence since June 2019, a number of criminals who committed serious offences in Hong Kong have absconded to evade legal responsibilities.

The offences include serious wounding, arson, making petrol bombs or explosives, criminal damage, rioting and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.

These criminals made up numerous excuses, including lying to the court for approval to leave Hong Kong and alleging that they were prosecuted for political reasons, to deliberately escape justice, the statement said, adding that these are shameful and cowardly acts.

The Hong Kong SAR Government stressed that in Hong Kong, any arrest and prosecution is directed against the criminal act and has nothing to do with the political stance, background or thought of the person or people concerned.

Arrests and prosecutions are based on facts and evidence and conducted in strict accordance with the law.

It noted that the Department of Justice controls criminal prosecutions, free from any interference and that Hong Kong has an independent judiciary with the power of final adjudication. Everyone shall receive a fair and just trial, it added.

The statement pointed out any country, region, organisation or individual that harbours Hong Kong criminals in any form shows contempt for the rule of law, grossly disrespects Hong Kong's legal systems and barbarically interferes in the city's affairs. The Hong Kong SAR Government said it strongly opposes and deplores such acts.

They harbour these criminals who set fires, wounded others, made explosives, engaged in riots and endangered public safety, and shelter them in their country or region, the statement said.

They shall eventually bear the consequences of what they have done as they turn a blind eye to the offences committed by these criminals and disregard the potential security threats posed to the local community and residents, it noted.

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 9, 2021 - 20:08 | All, Japan

The Japanese government is poised to release treated radioactive water accumulated at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea despite opposition from fishermen, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.

It will hold a meeting of related ministers as early as Tuesday to formally decide on the plan, a major development following over seven years of discussions on how to discharge the water used to cool down melted fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The treated water containing radioactive tritium, a byproduct of nuclear reactors, is said to pose little risk to human health because even if one drinks the water, so long as the tritium concentration is low, the amounts of tritium would not accumulate in the body and would soon be excreted.

There is also no risk of external exposure even if the water comes in contact with skin.

Still, concerns remain among Japan's fisheries industry and consumers as well as neighboring countries such as South Korea and China.

The government has said it cannot continue postponing a decision on the disposal issue, given that the storage capacity of water tanks at the Fukushima complex is expected to run out as early as fall next year.

It asserts that space needs to be secured on the premises, such as for keeping melted fuel debris that will be extracted from the damaged reactors, to move forward with the decades-long process of scrapping the complex.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. says it will take around two years for the discharge to start.

The government had initially hoped to make a decision on the discharge of the treated water in October last year but later decided it would need more time for discussions amid concerns about reputational damage to marine products.

But Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday his government will decide "in a few days" whether to release the water after meeting with Hiroshi Kishi, head of the national federation of fisheries cooperatives, who conveyed his organization's continued strong opposition to the plan.

On media reports that Japan is poised to discharge the water into the sea, China and South Korea responded by calling on Tokyo to consider it carefully and with transparency.

China urged Japan to make a cautious decision on the matter, saying, "The radioactive material leakage caused by the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan has had a profound impact on the marine environment, food safety and human health."

The Japanese government should disclose adequate information and "make a careful decision based on full consultation with neighboring countries," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, "Our government has always emphasized that the Japanese government needs to transparently open up information over how it deals with contaminated water."

The ministry added it wants to continue to have close discussions on the issue with Japan and other countries concerned as well with international organizations like the International Atomic Energy Agency.

China and South Korea are among 15 countries and regions that continue to restrict imports of Japanese agricultural and fishery products more than 10 years after the Fukushima nuclear crisis, caused by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

In February last year, a government panel proposed various options for disposing of the water, including releasing it into the ocean as well as evaporating it.

The following month, TEPCO drafted a plan to dilute the water to below the legal limit for concentration of radioactive materials before releasing it in the sea.

The Fukushima Daiichi plant, which suffered core meltdowns following the natural catastrophe in March 2011, continues to generate massive amounts of radiation-tainted water after it is used to cool melted fuel.

The water is treated using an advanced liquid processing system, or ALPS, to remove most contaminants and stored in tanks on the complex premises. The process, however, cannot remove tritium, a radioactive byproduct of nuclear reactors.

The IAEA has backed the Japanese government's plan to dispose of the water, saying releasing it into the sea meets global standards of practice in the nuclear industry.

The Geneva-based body's Director General Rafael Grossi, during his visit to the Fukushima complex in February, said it is a common way to release water at nuclear power plants, even when they are not in emergency situations.

Japan's industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama said to Grossi in a videoconference last month that Japan wants the IAEA to conduct a scientific and objective review of the method of disposal of the water and openly convey its view to the international community.

Kajiyama said at the time that the IAEA's message is vital in dispelling concerns and reputational worries over the safety of the water that exist domestically as well as in the neighboring countries.
The trial has enrolled 56 patients, each of whom will receive eight weekly doses of CytoDyn's flagship drug Vyrologix (leronlimab-PRO 140) or placebo

The final treatment with Vyrologix for the last enrolled patient will be in early June with results expected in July

CytoDyn Inc ( ), a biotechnology company developing its flagship drug Vyrologix (leronlimab-PRO 140) for multiple indications, revealed that its coronavirus (COVID-19) long-haulers study (CD15) is now fully enrolled.

The Vancouver, Washington-based biotechnology company noted that enrollment was faster than expected because of the high number of patients wanting to participate, which now includes 56 patients in the trial.

This is a multicenter Phase 2, two-arm, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Vyrologix in the treatment of patients with prolonged COVID-19 symptoms, a condition now known as Post-Acute COVID Syndrome (PACS).

Patients will be given eight weekly doses of Vyrologix or placebo, said the company. The final treatment for the last enrolled patient will be in early June, with results expected in July.

In a statement, CytoDyn Chief Operating Officer Chris Recknor said: These patients have been suffering from COVID-19 symptoms for more than 12 weeks, many for more than six months. After reviewing the results from our earlier CD10 trial involving patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, we recognized Vyrologix may be a solution to PACS and have since developed a better understanding of the mechanism of action and how Vyrologix works in PACS.

We believe CytoDyn is now well-positioned to potentially be the first to offer an effective treatment for this condition, where no other therapy is currently available, he added.

Meanwhile, Scott Kelly, who is the chief medical officer and head of CytoDyns business development, noted that PACS is rapidly evolving into a global health emergency.

At the current rate of COVID-19 infections, global cases are expected to exceed 200 million by the end of 2021. It is estimated 10-30% of those infected will have persistent symptoms, leaving 20 to 60 million patients without effective treatment options, added Kelly.

Kelly noted that coronavirus long-haulers complained of similar symptoms as people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, where the fatigue worsens with activity but doesnt improve with rest.

PACS is devastating to patients quality of life, and its economic impact is ruinous. PACS shares many features of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), and approximately 50-75% of CFS/ME patients are unable to work or attend school, added Kelly. If Vyrologix is successful in treating PACS, then trials in other post-viral syndromes will be the logical next step.

CytoDyns flagship drug Vyrologix also 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 in COVID-19 patients.

Aside from COVID-19, the US Food & Drug Administration (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
MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2021 / Victory Marine Holdings would like to take this opportunity to provide an update on our recent activities.

After the disruption caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic, we have finally been able to publish our Financials and other Disclosures with the OTC Markets and are now current in our reporting requirements and are Pink current.

In the near future, Victory Marine Holdings will be focusing on the following items in order to help move the Company forward:

1. Hiring an accounting firm to undertake an audit of the company's books.

2. Retaining a new Public Relations firm, with experience in Investor Relations as well, to efficiently keep the public informed about our Company.

3. Seeking new, larger office space to accommodate the company's growing team.

4. We are in the process of interviewing several prospects with military backgrounds to spearhead our line of ArmaCraft Defense Vessels into key government officials.

"In the near future, we plan to be positioned on a clear path for Victory Marine Holdings to continue to grow its operations in the exciting marine industry. The marine industry has not stopped breaking records in manufacturing and sales, and we envision it will continue on this course and expect to continue to be a part of it," said Orlando Hernandez, the CEO of Victory Marine Holdings Corps.

About Victory Marine Holdings

Victory Marine Holdings (OTC:VMHG) is a recreational marine provider seeking to bring the best product and best service in different areas of this amazing industry. We are focused on providing our client a one-stop experience in all their recreational marine needs, from new and used boats to financing, insurance, documentation, and accessories. To view our inventory, please visit https://www.victoryyachts.com/

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-Looking Statements certain statements in this release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may be identified using words such as "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "future," "may," "will," "would," "should," "plan," "projected," "intend," and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company's future operating results are dependent upon many factors, including but not limited to the Company's ability to: (i) obtain sufficient capital or a strategic business arrangement to fund its expansion plans; (ii) build the management and human resources and infrastructure necessary to support the growth of its business; (iii) competitive factors and developments beyond the Company's control; and (iv) other risk factors. We assume no obligation to update the information contained in this news release.

Contact Information:

Orlando Hernandez

Victory Marine Holdings

www.VictoryYachts.com

(800) 317-2441

SOURCE: Victory Marine Holdings Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/639695/Victory-Marine-Holdings-Shareholders-Update
If the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is completed, Ukraine will be irreparably weakened, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for the Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksiy Reznikov said.

"Ukrainians therefore are bewildered by the continuing construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2. Unlike the attack on Crimea, which came as a surprise, the pipeline's completion will have entirely predictable consequences for our national security. Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany," Reznikov said in an article for The Wall Street Journal released on Thursday.

The deputy prime minister said that with the Nord Stream 1 and Turk Stream pipelines already operational, Nord Stream 2 will complete the encirclement of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states, decoupling our energy security from Western Europe.

"The Kremlin has demonstrated time and again its willingness to use energy trade to advance its geopolitical ambitions. It would be unwise, if not reckless, for Europe to increase its dependence on Gazprom, Russia's state-owned energy company, and give Moscow direct control over which countries are supplied gas, and which can be cut off," Reznikov said.

He said that the current contract between Gazprom and the Ukrainian gas transmission operator guarantees the flow of export supplies to the west through Ukraine until the end of 2024.

"But make no mistake: on the day of the end of Nord Stream 2, this promise will be useless. Even if some transit through Ukraine continues, Ukraine will depend on the whims of the Kremlin. The fighting in Donbas, where Russia acts through its henchmen, mercenaries and even regular troops have been continuing at the same pace for more than seven years. The pipeline has not been shelled, Russia needs uninterrupted gas flows through Ukraine no less than we do. This mutual dependence is a deterrent that Nord Stream 2 will eliminate," Reznikov said.

The Ukrainian deputy prime minister said that while Germany will gain little, Ukraine could lose billions of dollars in transit revenues if a second pipeline across the Baltic Sea is constructed. According to him, this is a fact that Nord Stream 2 advocates often present as the only basis for Ukrainian resistance.

"The economic effect will be significant, but the statement is deliberately misleading. Ukrainian soldiers will risk their lives if Russia decides to escalate the conflict in Donbas after it no longer needs to consider the impact on gas exports," Reznikov said.

He said that Russia can and should stop hostilities in Donbas, withdraw its troops from the Crimean peninsula and restore Ukraine's sovereignty.
Alabama lawmakers passed a bill today to allow people to purchase lifetime permits to carry concealed handguns and to standardize the background checks for permits across 67 counties.

The Alabama Uniform Concealed Carry Permit Act, by Sen. Randy Price, R-Opelika, and Rep. Proncey Robertson, R-Mount Hope, also sets up a database of people who are prohibited from carrying a firearm because of a state or federal criminal conviction or because of a mental illness adjudicated by a court.

The two lawmakers have been working on the bill for three years.

It would require the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to develop the database. Robertson, a retired police officer, said theres no efficient way now for police to determine if someone they encounter is prohibited from having a gun.

A lot of people believe that an officer can do that from the side of the road right now, and they really cant, Robertson said. It takes some time to dig into that background. They can see arrests. But to know what the conviction was, the adjudicated case, is a completely different thing. And thats what this new system will allow them to do.

The information in the database would be confidential and only used for law enforcement except when a person is charged with a felony involving the use of a firearm.

The House passed the bill today by a vote of 69-18. The Senate had passed 25-6 a week ago. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey, who could sign it into law.

One of the reasons when we started this process was the safety, Price said. The men and women that go out across this state every day to make sure that you and your families are safe, to give them some tools to work with.

Under current law, people can purchase one-year or five-year pistol permits from their county sheriffs. The bill would create the new option of a lifetime permit. It would cost $300, or $150 for people 60 and older.

Eighty percent of the revenue from lifetime permits would go to the sheriffs office where the permit is bought. The other 20% would go to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to support the cost of the database.

For one-year and five-year permits, Robertson said the cost and funding distribution would not change because of the bill.

State law requires sheriffs to do background checks before issuing pistol permits. But Robertson said the law is vague and all sheriffs dont necessarily do them the same way. Robertson said the bill would mandate specific steps in the background check and make them uniform across the state.

For those who get lifetime permits, sheriffs would conduct background checks at least every five years to make sure the permit-holder is still eligible to have a firearm.

But Robertson said for practical purposes, the database provides an ongoing background check. Courts would report the information to update the database for those prohibited from having firearms, which could lead to revocation of permits. The bill sets up a way for a person to appeal a revocation, denial, or listing in the prohibited persons database.

Alabama and national politics.
Judge strikes down Kansas ban on dismemberment abortions

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A judge has struck down a Kansas law that banned a common abortion procedure known as a dilation and evacuation abortion or a dismemberment abortion.

Shawnee County District Court Judge Teresa Watson issued the ruling on Wednesday, granting a permanent injunction against the enforcement of the law, which was passed in 2015.

According to Watson, the dismemberment abortion ban was problematic due in part to the lack of alternative abortion procedures that are considered safer for the woman.

Banning dismemberment abortion is not narrowly tailored solution to the compelling state interest Defendants seek to address because, according to the evidence before the Court, it would leave no alternative for second trimester abortions other than more complicated, less reliable, less tested, and higher risk procedures, wrote Watson.

 tearing a living unborn child apart and removing the pieces is a horrible death, but so is death by induced labor or cesarean section prior to viability, cutting the umbilical cord, or injecting lethal chemicals into the womb or into the heart of the unborn child.

Watson also cited a ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court, which concluded that the state constitution guaranteed a fundamental right to an abortion.

Under the Kansas Supreme Courts interpretation of Section 1 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights, and requisite application of the strict scrutiny standard to the uncontroverted facts as found by this Court, the Act is unconstitutional and unenforceable, concluded Watson.

Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, a pro-abortion group that helped to represent the plaintiffs, celebrated the ruling in a statement released Wednesday.

The Kansas Supreme Court was loud and clear in 2019: abortion is protected as a fundamental right under the Kansas state constitution, Northup said. Todays decision reaffirms that ruling and ensures that Kansans have access to the best abortion care. This ban made it a crime for doctors to use their best medical judgment. This is not about medicine, its purely political.

Pro-life activists, among them Brittany Jones of the Family Policy Alliance of Kansas, viewed the decision as evidence that the state needs to pass the Value Them Both Amendment.

Slated for the state ballot in 2022, the amendment declares that the Kansas state constitution does not recognize a right to abortion or the taxpayer-funding of abortion.

Value Them Both is the option, it is our only option, stated Jones, as reported by LifeNews.com. Were not surprised in any way shape or form. This is what weve been telling legislators for two years now, and we had legislators who doubted us. Now we have proof that we were exactly correct.

In April 2015, then Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed the dismemberment abortion ban, known as Senate Bill 95, into law after it was overwhelmingly passed by both chambers.

"SB 95 bans a particularly gruesome abortion method in which a living unborn child in her mother's womb is ripped apart into pieces by an abortionist using sharp metal tools," said Kathy Ostrowski, Kansans for Life's legislative director, back in 2015.

Pro-abortion groups denounced the new law and in June 2015, abortionists Herb Hodes and Traci Nauser of the Overland Park Center for Women's Health filed a suit against Kansas over the new law.

"A woman seeking an abortion affected by the Act would be unable to effectuate her choice without submitting to more complex and risky procedure," read the lawsuit in part.

"The Act violates the rights of Plaintiffs' patients guaranteed by the Kansas Constitution by infringing on their rights to bodily integrity, access to abortion and equal protection, and further violates Plaintiffs' rights to due process and equal protection."
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation carried out searches on Friday (April 9) at the premises of 1989-batch civil service couple Alka and Amit Jain after registering a case against them for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 5.5 crore.

The CBI registered the case on the allegations that Alka Rajavanshi Jain, IRS 1989 Batch, Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), Udaipur, while working as a public servant in different capacities in the Income Tax Department and her husband Amit Jain, Group General Manager (S&T), Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), Jodhpur acquired huge movable and immovable assets during the period from April 2010 to June 2018 in their names, said the CBI statement

The central probe agency conducted searches at residential and office premises of the accused at Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur which resulted in the recovery of incriminating documents.

The documents included the acquisition of immovable assets worth Rs 7.96 crore (approx); Bank balance/FDRs of Rs 70.4 lakh (approx); the cash of Rs 13.20 lakh (approx), jewellery, and also found some lockers in various banks at Jodhpur, Jaipur and Udaipur, the agency statement added.

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NEW DELHI: In view of the second wave coronavirus COVID-19 across the country, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University, New Delhi, held a meeting of Deans of Faculties and other officials and issued a statement releasing fresh guidelines for its students and staff members. The university has advised all its students to stay home and continue their academic work online amid rising COVID-19 cases across the country. It also stated that students should avoid making a physical presence for their academic work, library, laboratory etc. unless it is very essential.

According to reports, the JMI has decided to constitute a corona control committee and a monitoring committee to keep a check on the COVID-19 situation at the campus. The monitoring committees will take stock of the situation at the campus and advise the university administration of taking necessary steps if required. The university stated that wearing a face mask by all students and staff member is mandatory and no entry would be given to anyone, found without a mask, to the campus.

"All students are advised to stay at home and avoid physical presence for their academic work, library, laboratory etc. unless it is very essential. All COVID- 19 Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has to be followed to enter campus for academic activities and essential work which includes thermal screening at gates, wearing of mask, social distancing, no spitting in public places and entry with only valid identity proof along with the purpose of visit to the University Campus etc," a statement released by Jamia Millia Islamia stated.

Meanwhile, the university has also announced cancellation of booking of conference halls, auditorium and seminar halls shall remain cancelled for indefinite period of time. "The university has asked all concerned to remain vigilant to handle the present COVID-19 pandemic situation, follow the guidelines and SOPs issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Ayush to prevent the spread of the disease and take appropriate steps for the benefit of students and staff," the statement released by JMI said.
The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has been asked to release funds to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to enable it expand infrastructure in Senior High Schools (SHS). Infrastructure remains the greatest challenge that the government's Free SHS policy has faced since its introduction in 2017 and this has been worsened by the failure of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration to pay contractors despite receiving Parliamentary approval for a loan to do so, according to the Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Mr Peter Nortsu-Kotoe.



Mr Nortsu-Kotoe, who is the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Akatsi North in a press statement issued Wednesday also warned of a looming crisis under the Free SHS Programme in Ghana.



"In 2018, Parliament approved a loan facility of 1.5 billion dollars for the payment of contractors owed by GETFund towards the provision of new facilities for senior high schools in the country. One would have asked why this money was not disbursed to pay contractors owed from years before the 2017 era as well as the contractors on the 1119 projects in 2017," the statement said.



"The truth is that the Minister of Finance has put a number of impediments in the way of GETFund such that access to the facility has become very difficult. The Minister of Finance also appointed a Special Purpose Vehicle such that, all certificates due for payment and were duly vetted by the Technical and Accounts Units of GETFund have to be vetted again by an audit firm solely appointed by the Minister, causing so much delay in the payment of over 800 million Ghana Cedis to contractors with the money being locked up with the Bank of Ghana. It is worrying to say that if nothing urgent is done regarding infrastructure challenges in our schools, we would be confronted with a bigger catastrophe in this era of the COVID-19 pandemic".



Infrastructure challenges



The statement contends that although the mass introduction of the 2017/18 academic year was not a bad idea, its implementation was not well thought through and fell short of achieving the desired goals. "Thus, the programme since its introduction has been plunged into chaos and glaring challenges that were foreseen by many other stakeholders. These challenges have largely hindered the provision of quality education as required by the Constitution and Sustainable Development Goal Four".



It further argues that the current infrastructure challenges were foreseen by the NDC government led by President John Dramani Mahama which is why it began the building of 200 E-Block facilities as Community Senior High Schools.

The statement adds that by December 2016 a number of the projects were ongoing in over 400 senior high schools across the country but have since stalled following the failure of the NPP government to pay the contractors to complete work.



"Till date, many of these projects are at a standstill. It is also instructive to note that, the delayed payments have also eroded the gains of the contractors as some have become indebted to financial institutions". It also mentioned that the infrastructure deficit in the educational sector led to the introduction of the Double-Track system to deal with the challenges.



Funding



Mr Nortsu-Kotoe noted that the release of funds to finance the implementation of the Free SHS policy had become a major hurdle to its success.

It also mentioned that funding for the Free SHS programme had been reduced from about 2.4 billion Ghana Cedis to 1.9 billion Ghana Cedis.



"What is more interesting is that management of the programme has been transferred from the Jubilee House to the Ministry of Education; a situation very difficult to comprehend. As the number of students increases, funding must also rise and this can only be explained by the Jubilee House as to what accounted for the reduction. Unfortunately, officials of the Ministry of Education were unable to explain this when they appeared before the Select Committee on Education".



Poor feeding



The statement also bemoaned the quality of food served to students under the Free SHS Policy. Mr Nortsu-Kotoe said investigations by the Minority in Parliament had uncovered that the food served did not meet the nutritional standards adding that near-expired food items were also used in preparing dishes for beneficiaries of the policy.



"These happenings have forced parents to provide their wards with extra food items when they leave home for school to avoid the issue of malnutrition which in itself can affect the academic progression of these school children".

The statement further urged the government to take the necessary steps to not only improve the living conditions of students in schools across the country but also to ensure access to quality education.

Source: graphiconline.com









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Regulatory News:

The Vicat Group (Euronext Paris: FR0000031775 VCT) (Paris:VCT) announces today that the Group's Combined Annual General Meeting was held today.

All the resolutions presented to the Annual General Meeting were adopted, including the resolution to maintain the dividend at 1.50 per share, in accordance with the recommendations of the Board of Directors.

In order to respect the measures taken by the government to limit the risk of COVID-19 contamination, this meeting has been held behind closed doors. In this context, and in order to allow shareholders to follow the Meeting remotely, it has been broadcasted live. A replay is available on the Company's website (www.vicat.fr).

The detailed report of the 2021 Annual General Meeting, with the voting results, will soon be posted on 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/20210409005337/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
In Uttar Pradesh, three elderly women get anti-rabies injections instead of COVID jab.

The condition of Saroj began to deteriorate and she complained of nausea. Her family members took her to a private doctor who was aghast to see that she had been given the anti-rabies vaccine instead of the Covid vaccine.The families have lodged a complaint with the Chief Medical Officer Sanjay Agarwal. Brijendra Singh, in-charge of the health centre has said that an inquiry would be conducted into the incident. He said that strict action will be taken against those found guilty.Source: IANS
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Archaeologists announced the discovery of a 3,500-year-old 'lost golden city' that was built by King Tutankhamun's grandfather and may be the most significant find since the boy-pharaoh's lavish tomb was unearthed nearly a century ago.

The ancient pharaonic city, known as Aten, was constructed by King Amenhotep III, who ruled around 1390 BC, and was later used by King Tutankhamun.

The settlement, discovered in Luxor, is the largest ancient city to be discovered in Egypt, and is complete with neighborhoods, streets and a security system.

Excavations uncovered bakeries, workshops and burials of animals and humans, along with jewelry, pots and mud bricks bearing seals of Amenhotep III.

The team initially set out to discover Tutankhamun's Mortuary Temple, where the young king was mummified and received status rites, but they stumbled upon something far greater.

Within just weeks of digging, they uncovered 'mud brick formations in every direction,' Egyptian mission directed Zahi Hawass said in a statement.

'Many foreign missions searched for this city and never found it,' Hawass continued.

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Archaeologists announced the discovery of a 3,500-year-old 'lost golden city' that was built by King Tutankhamun's grandfather and may be the most significant find since the boy-pharaoh's lavish tomb was unearthed nearly a century ago

Luxor is famously known for its oldest and most ancient Egyptian sites, along with being home to the Valley of Kings. Pictured: tiny statuettes dating back around 3,000 years that were found in the 'Lost Golden City' of Luxor

Archaeologists unearthed the well-preserved city that had nearly complete walls and rooms filled with tools used in daily life along with rings, scarabs, colored pottery vessels (pictured) and mud bricks bearing seals of Amenhotep's cartouche

Archaeologists unearthed the well-preserved city that had nearly complete walls and rooms filled with tools used in daily life along with rings, scarabs, colored pottery vessels and mud bricks bearing seals of Amenhotep's cartouche, Luxor Times shared on Facebook.

'The city's streets are flanked by houses ... some of their walls are up to three meters high,' Hawass said.

Luxor is famously known for its oldest and most ancient Egyptian sites, along with being home to the Valley of Kings.

This area was once called the 'Great Necropolis of Millions of Years of Pharaoh,' as a number of mummies and massive structures have been discovered in Luxor since the 1800s.

Excavations uncovered bakeries, workshops and burials of animals and humans, along with jewelry, pots and mud bricks bearing seals of Amenhotep III

The ancient pharaonic city, known as Aten, was constructed by King Amenhotep III (left), who begin his rule around 1391 BC, and was later used by King Tutankhamun (right)

Luxor is famously known for its oldest and most ancient Egyptian sites, along with being home to the Valley of Kings. This area was once called the 'Great Necropolis of Millions of Years of Pharaoh,' as a number of mummies and massive structures have been discovered in Luxor

Some of the rooms inside the structure show stunning hieroglyphics that could hold clues about the early inhabitants

Betsy Brian, Professor of Egyptology at John Hopkins University in Baltimore USA, said 'The discovery of this lost city is the second most important archeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun'.

'The discovery of the Lost City, not only will give us a rare glimpse into the life of the Ancient Egyptians at the time where the Empire was at his wealthiest but will help us shed light on one of history's greatest mystery: why did Akhenaten & Nefertiti decide to move to Amarna.'

The city sits between Rameses III's temple at Medinet Habu and Amenhotep III's temple at Memnon.

Excavations began September 2020 and within weeks, archaeologists uncovered formations made of mud bricks.

After more digging, archaeologists unearthed the site of the large, well-preserved city with almost complete walls, and rooms filled with tools once used by the city's inhabitants.

The first goal of the mission was to date the settlement, which was done using hieroglyphic inscriptions found on clay caps of wine vessels. 'Historical references tell us the settlement consisted of three royal palaces of King Amenhotep III, as well as the Empire's administrative and industrial center,' archaeologists shared in a statement

They unearthed the well-preserved city that had almost complete walls and rooms filled with tools of daily life along with rings, scarabs, colored pottery vessels and mud bricks bearing seals of Amenhotep's cartouche

WHAT IS EGYPT'S VALLEY OF THE KINGS? The Valley of the Kings in upper Egypt is one of the country's main tourist attractions and is the famous burial ground of many deceased pharaohs. It is located near the ancient city of Luxor on the banks of the river Nile in eastern Egypt - 300 miles (500km) away from the pyramids of Giza, near Cairo. The majority of the pharaohs of the 18th to 20th dynasties, who ruled from 1550 to 1069 BC, rested in the tombs which were cut into the local rock. The royal tombs are decorated with scenes from Egyptian mythology and give clues as to the beliefs and funerary rituals of the period. The majority of the pharaohs of the 18th to 20th dynasties, who ruled from 1550 to 1069 BC, rested in the tombs which were cut into the local rock. Pictured are statues of goddesses at the site Almost all of the tombs were opened and looted centuries ago, but the sites still give an idea of the opulence and power of the Pharaohs. The most famous pharaoh at the site is Tutankhamun, whose tomb was discovered in 1922. Preserved to this day, in the tomb are original decorations of sacred imagery from, among others, the Book of Gates or the Book of Caverns. These are among the most important funeral texts found on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs. The Valley of the Kings in upper Egypt is one of the country's main tourist attractions. The most famous pharaoh at the site is Tutankhamun, whose tomb was discovered in 1922 Advertisement

The first goal of the mission was to date the settlement, which was done using hieroglyphic inscriptions found on clay caps of wine vessels.

'Historical references tell us the settlement consisted of three royal palaces of King Amenhotep III, as well as the Empire's administrative and industrial center,' archaeologists shared in a statement.

Most of the sandy landscape was cleared from the area in just seven months, which showed neighborhoods with different facilities.

There was a bakery in the southern part of the city, with a kitchen complete with ovens and storage pottery.

'From its size, we can state the kitchen was catering a very large number of workers and employees,' archaeologists explained.

The team is still working on a second part of Aten and although partially covered, they believe it is the administrative and residential district, with larger and well-arranged units.

This area is surrounded by a zigzag wall and has only a single access point that leads to internal corridors and residential areas.

'The single entrance makes us think it was some sort of security, with the ability to control entry and exit to enclosed areas, researchers shared.

The team is still working on a second part of Aten and although partially covered, they believe it is the administrative and residential district, with larger and well-arranged units

A number of bricks still litter the landscape that bear seals of King Amenhotep III

Along with structural elements, there were burials found inside the city's walls. Pictured is either a cow or bull that was found buried in a room of a buildin

The remains of a person found with their arms stretched to the side and tattered rope wrapped around their knees

'Zigzag walls are one of the rare architectural elements in ancient Egyptian architecture, mainly used towards the end of the 18th Dynasty.'

Bricks were found with the name of a built by King Akhenaten at Karnak (pictured), who was King Tutankhamun's father

The third area appears to be workshops were located that constructed the mud bricks used to build the massive city.

A number of bricks still litter the landscape that bear seals of King Amenhotep III and others with inscriptions that can be read: 'gm pa Aton' that can be translated as 'The domain of the dazzling Aten', this is the name of a temple built by King Akhenaten at Karnak, who was King Tutankhamun's father.

In this part of the site, experts also uncovered large casting molds for making amulets and delicate, decorative objects.

'This is further evidence of the extensive activity in the city to produce decorations for both temples and tombs,' archaeologists said.

'All over the excavated areas, the mission has found many tools used in some sort of industrial activity like spinning and weaving.

'Metal and glass-making slag has also been unearthed, but the main area of such activity has yet to be discovered.'

Along with structural elements, there are also burials found inside the city's walls.

Two animal burials were unearthed of either a cow or bull, along with remains of a person found with their arms stretched to the side and tattered rope wrapped around their knees.

'As history goes, one year after this pot was made, the city was abandoned and the capital relocated to Amarna. But was it? And why? And was the city repopulated again when Tutankhamun returned to Thebes,' said the team in a statement.

A number of artifacts have been discovered inside the city, including ancient pots, jewelry and other trinkets

There are also large casting molds for making amulets and delicate, decorative objects

'This is further evidence of the extensive activity in the city to produce decorations for both temples and tombs,' archaeologists said.

Most of the ancient pottery is still intact after being hidden under the sand for thousands of years

'Only further excavations of the area will reveal what truly happened 3500 years ago.

To the north of the settlement a large cemetery was uncovered, the extent of which has yet to be determined.'

Tutankhamun's successor, King Ay, built his temple on a site which was later adjoined on its southern side by Rameses III's temple at Medinet Habu.

Egyptologists believe Ay's temple may formerly have belonged to Tutankhamun as two colossal statues of the young king were found there. The northern part of the temple is still under the sands.

Aten is said to be more significant than King Tutankhamun's tomb. In 1907, Lord Carnarvon George Herbert asked English archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter to supervise excavations in the Valley of the Kings. On 4 November 1922, Carter's group found steps that led to Tutankhamun's tomb and spent several months cataloguing the antechamber

King Tutankhamun's tomb is one of the most lavish to be discovered in history, filled with precious objects to aid the young Pharaoh on his voyage to the afterlife. The trove of grave goods included 5,000 items including solid gold funeral shoes, statues, games and strange animals

Amenhotep III inherited an empire that stretched from the Euphrates to Sudan, archaeologists say, and died around 1354 BC.

He ruled for nearly four decades, a reign known for its opulence and the grandeur of its monuments, including the Colossi of Memnon -- two massive stone statues near Luxor that represent him and his wife.

'The archaeological layers have laid untouched for thousands of years, left by the ancient residents as if it were yesterday,' the team's statement said.

Bryan said the city 'will give us a rare glimpse into the life of the Ancient Egyptians at the time where the Empire was at his wealthiest'.

The team said they were optimistic that further important finds would be revealed, noting they had discovered groups of tombs reached through 'stairs carved into the rock', a similar construction to those found in the Valley of the Kings.

'The mission expects to uncover untouched tombs filled with treasures,' the statement added.
Pennsylvanias 16-year-long beleaguered effort to modernize its unemployment compensation computer system is said to have reached the final stage with the plan to go live on June 8.

Acting Labor & Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier announced on Thursday that is the target date when Pennsylvanians will begin using the new web-based system that is billed as user-friendly for unemployed individuals and employers alike.

It will be accessible on mobile and tablet devices, she said. And it will allow for claimants and employers to receive and respond to alerts from UC staff, file claims, and check the status of a payment, among other features.

But Berrier made it clear that the transition from the antiquated mainframe system that has been in use for nearly half a century to the new web-based one will cause a disruption in services.

Over the course of two weeks while information from the old system is moved to the new one, Berrier said bi-weekly claims for unemployment benefits will not be able to be filed and that will lead to a delay in the payments benefits.

The department is still working out the logistics of that transition but Berrier said the department intends to inform claimants of the pause on payments so they can prepare for it.

On a more reassuring note, she said, The data that were transferring over is the most up-to-date data so that we wont have any problems resuming payments on benefits.

The department has been working on modernizing the backbone of its unemployment compensation computer system since before the Great Recession but hit many roadblocks along the way.

IBM was hired in 2005 to develop the new system. They were expected to take three or four years to complete it. By 2013, it was still not completed and the project was $60 million over budget and nearly four years behind schedule. Then-Gov. Tom Corbetts administration decided to pull the plug on that contract.

By then, the state had spent $170 million on the project. Litigation to try to recoup some of that money is still ongoing, Berrier said.

In 2017, the state hired Florida-based Geographic Information System to develop a modern computer system for the unemployment compensation program at a cost of about $35 million, not counting the more than $850,000 spent monthly to keep the old mainframe operational.

GIS initially was expected to complete the project in 18 to 24 months but obstacles were encountered pushing back the go-live date. Last October was the most recent date when it was supposed to be up and running. But then-Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak told lawmakers in September the system wasnt ready.

He said staff members that had been working on it got diverted to assist with the record pandemic-related unemployment claims and building from scratch new information technology systems to implement four new pandemic-related jobless benefit programs the federal government created.

Further, he said the system hadnt been fully tested, staff hadnt been trained, and the public had not been educated on how it works.

The series of delay for the systems implementation makes Sen. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson County, skeptical that come June 8, the new system will finally be up and running.

I dont believe it, said Dush, who has been following the projects progress since he first began serving in the House in 2015. Every time they tell us [its ready to go] they end up rolling it back.

But Berrier said with the decrease in the number of initial claims being filed for unemployment benefits these days, We feel right now with the progress that weve made, were very confident that we can go live on June 8.

She said the next two months will be spent educating the public and groups that work with unemployed workers on how to use the new system through training materials, user guides and live workshops.

Whats more, she said with the departments recently announced customer service initiative of doubling its staff in its call center from 500 to 1,000 employees, this will help with the potential influx of calls that come in once the new system is implemented.

While we believe that most Pennsylvanians will intuitively understand how to use the system, we also recognize that any time you make a change of this magnitude people will need help, Berrier said.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.
MOSCOW -- "I have trouble breathing. I can't catch my breath and have trouble understanding things," said businessman Boris Shpigel, who is suspected of bribing the former governor of Russia's Penza region, at a court hearing on April 6. "I'm in great pain. My stomach hurts and I can't catch my breath."



"I don't have long left, a few days," Shpigel, 68, predicted. "I haven't slept for six days because I can't find a comfortable position. I hurt all over and my right leg is numb. Every day is torture for me. I can't take anymore. I can't stand it."



Such allegations are nothing new for Russia's opaque prison system. For years, activists, lawyers, and former prisoners, have drawn attention to the poor quality of medical care in Russian prisons and pretrial detention centers and have alleged that, in many cases, medical treatment is withheld to pressure suspects, to extract false confessions or accusations, or simply as a form of punishment.



"As for medical care overall, often a prison will only have a paramedic and no real schedule for when specialists will visit," said Asmik Novikova, director of research at the nongovernmental legal aid organization Public Verdict. "This is, of course, a very serious problem."

'Deliberate Campaign'



Now attention across Russia and around the world has turned to the plight of opposition political leader Aleksei Navalny, who is serving 2 1/2 years at a prison in the town of Pokrov in the Vladimir region based on a conviction that he says was politically motivated. Navalny and his attorneys have alleged that he is being subjected to a "deliberate campaign" to undermine his health.

He has said he has two herniated disks and is losing sensation in his arms and legs. His lawyers have said Navalny has not fully recovered from a nerve-agent poisoning that nearly killed him in August and that he blames on Federal Security Service (FSB) operatives working at the behest of President Vladimir Putin.



Navalny has lost 13 kilograms since his imprisonment and continues a hunger strike aimed at forcing prison officials to allow him to be treated by his own doctor.



In addition, Navalny has said at least three prisoners in his ward have been diagnosed with tuberculosis and he himself was moved to the prison sick ward on April 5 with symptoms of respiratory illness.



Prison authorities have said they were monitoring Navalny's health, which they evaluated as "satisfactory."

Novikova said there is no real way of finding out what the real situation is in the prison where Navalny is being held because "all information about what goes on in prisons is monopolized" by the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).



"We have to settle for whatever they indicate from time to time in public records," she said. "But from what I am seeing, it's clear there is basically no medical help there."



Despite Navalny's high public profile, his story is all-too-familiar to prisoners' rights advocates, said Oleg Dubrovkin, who spent 24 years in Russian prisons and now works at the Prisoners' Rights Defense Foundation. He says assisting prisoners who complain of health and health-care issues is one of his main duties.

'Mechanism For Pressuring Inmates'



The prison system, he said, has strict rules for the provision of medical care, but they are applied chaotically.



"Whether or not they are applied in the institution where Navalny is being held, I don't know," he told RFE/RL. "To me all the prisoners are the same, whether it is Navalny or just some average Petrov. It doesn't matter."



Sergei Shunin is a lawyer for the NGO Committee Against Torture who formerly served on a public oversight commission (ONK) that theoretically is able to inspect and monitor prisons, agrees that the opacity of the prison system is a major problem that could conceal many others.



"In my experience, I have seen many complaints from prisoners who say that people suffering from tuberculosis have been placed in their wards," Shunin said. "They often believe that this is done to pressure them and that the refusal to provide medical care is often a mechanism for pressuring inmates."

"It's impossible for me to evaluate the situation with Aleksei Navalny," he added. "As a lawyer and as a former ONK member, I have to proceed from facts. The first thing I would do would be to examine his medical file and speak with the doctors. As far as I understand, the members of the Vladimir region ONK have not done this and that itself is rather strange."



Shunin adds that a persistent problem for Russia has been the lack of qualified medical personnel in the prison system, which he argues is caused primarily by the low wages they are paid.



"A doctor in a prison, as I have been told, earns about 10,000 rubles ($130) a month, including bonuses," he said. "With wages like that, this problem isn't going to go away and, unfortunately, no one is doing anything about it."

Shunin said the most common complaint he dealt with during his ONK service from 2016 to 2019 was about the lack of medical care.



Yevgeny Yenikeyev served on an ONK commission in Moscow and he told RFE/RL that the prison's refusal to allow Navalny to consult a private physician was illegal.



"Under the law, any civilian doctor can come to a prison at the request of an inmate," Yenikeyev said. "However, only a prison doctor can order an inmate's transfer to a civilian hospital, since that requires a special escort and additional labor. But when the doctor is ready to come to the prison at his or her own expense and there are no additional costs, then it must happen if the prisoner desires it."



"In the case of Aleksei Navalny, the refusal to allow him to be examined by a doctor is illegal," he added. "We can talk forever about the motives for the prison administration's refusal. It is very hard to know what is going on in their heads."



On March 26, when Navalny's health complaints were becoming increasingly serious, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed them out of hand and added: "We don't know about any systemic problems in the Federal Penitentiary Service."



The same day, Navalny posted on Instagram that he had once been given prison tips from former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who served a decade in Russian jails and prisons from his arrest in 2003 to his release under pardon in December 2013.



"He told me the main thing is not to get sick," Navalny wrote. "No one is going to treat you. If you fall seriously ill, you will die."

Written by RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson based on reporting from Moscow by Current Time correspondent Igor Sevryugin and RFE/RL Russian Service correspondents Lyubov Chizhova and Alya Ponomaryova.
A congressional ethics committee has begun an investigation following public allegations that US Rep Matt Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use as well as reports that the Republican congressman allegedly shared inappropriate images and videos on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The House Ethics Committee also is responding to allegations that the congressman misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use or accepted bribes, the committee announced on Friday.

The committee also announced a probe into US Rep Tom Reed following allegations that the Republican congressman may have engaged in sexual misconduct after accusations surfaced in March.

The committee will gather additional information regarding the allegations in both cases.

Mr Gaetz, who has not been charged with any crimes, has adamantly denied allegations surrounding a federal investigation reportedly extending from a trafficking case involving Florida politician Joel Greenberg, who was indicted in 2020 on several charges, including stalking a political opponent, using a state database to create fake IDs, and sex trafficking a minor.

His lawyers told a Florida court on Thursday that he is expected to enter a guilty plea.

The Florida congressman  a rising GOP figure and ally to former president Donald Trump  is reportedly the focus of a Justice Department investigation over an alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl, and whether he violated federal sex trafficking laws by allegedly paying her to travel with him.

Federal investigators are reportedly scrutinising an alleged trip to the Bahamas and whether he was provided with travel expenses and women in exchange for political favours, according to reports.

Mr Gaetz has claimed that his family has been targeted as part of an organised criminal extortion scheme that alleges a former Justice Department sought to relieve federal pressure on Mr Gaetz by sending millions of dollars to fund an effort to locate Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent kidnapped in Iran. His family has presumed he is dead.

Following initial reporting in The New York Times about the federal investigation, Mr Gaetz claimed that the story was intended to thwart a separate investigation into the extortion attempt.

In a statement responding to the ethics probe, Mr Gaetzs office reiterated that these allegations are blatantly false and have not been validated by a single human being willing to put their name behind them.
The luxurious mansion is 10,770-square-foot and has eight bedrooms, high ceilings and a rooftop terrace

The property is located on the Venetian Islands, a chain of man-made islands in Biscayne Bay

Kenneth Lerer, who is also the co-founder of The Huffington Post, was approached by a real-estate agent whose client was moving to the area

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The former chairman of Buzzfeed has sold his Miami mansion in an off-market deal for $25million.

Kenneth Lerer, who is also the co-founder of The Huffington Post, bought the land in 2014 for $7million and demolished the existing building to put up his eight-bedroom house.

The property is located on the Venetian Islands, a chain of man-made islands in Biscayne Bay.

Kenneth Lerer, the former chairman of Buzzfeed has sold his Miami mansion in an off-market deal for $25million

Lerer, who is also the co-founder of The Huffington Post, bought the land in 2014 for $7million and demolished the existing building to put up his eight-bedroom house

Real-estate agent Dina Goldentayer of Douglas Elliman told The Wall Street Journal that she approached the media mogul about selling the property because she had a client relocating to the area from California.

She did not comment on the buyer's identity, but said this type of off-the-market deal reflected the 'intense' Miami property market in which agents have begun knocking on people's doors to convince them to sell in a bid to meet demand.

'I would have hopped the fence if I could,' Goldentayer told the paper.

The 'neo-classical modern' property is located on the Venetian Islands, a chain of man-made islands in Miami's Biscayne Bay

With its high ceilings, wall-to-ceiling windows and white oak floors, the bright home makes the most of its sunny location

Lerer, who stepped down as Buzzfeed chairman in 2019, is currently a managing partner at a venture capital fund.

He bought the property in 2014 from Miami developer Robert Zangrillo, records show.

The luxurious home is 'neo-classical modern' in style, Goldentayer told The Washington Post.

The 10,770-square-foot property has eight bedrooms and a rooftop terrace.

With its high ceilings, wall-to-ceiling windows and white oak floors, the bright home makes the most of its sunny location.

The 10,770-square-foot property has eight bedrooms as well as a rooftop terrace overlooking the bay (pictured)

Lerer (left) is pictured with Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington at an event in New York City in 2010. The media mogul works at a venture capital fund, having stepped down from Buzzfeed in 2019 [File photo]
04/08/2021





May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, celebrating the achievements and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Since many students will be away in May, the celebration has been moved up so more students can be involved in the activities.

The Jacksonville State University Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Asian/Pacific American Employee Support Group, International House and Programs, International Student Organization, and Office of Housing Operations and Residence Life invite faculty, staff and students to the following free events to commemorate the month.

Origins of American Anti-Asian Attitudes: Images from the 11th to the 21st Centuries

April 13, 2 p.m., Microsoft Teams

The sudden increase in US anti-Asian racial incidents in 2020 is a symptom of a larger problem affecting many aspects of American society: widespread discrimination. Mr. Richard Cheu, public historian of St. Johns University, will illustrate the context of racism with images from the 11th to the 21st centuries.

Movie Night: "The Farewell" (2019)

April 13, 7 p.m., TMB Auditorium

Nominated for the Golden Globes Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language, the film "The Farewell" depicts a Chinese family discovering their grandmother has only a short time left to live. They decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to so they may gather before she dies. The movie is in Chinese with English subtitles.

Taste of Asia

April 14, 2-4 p.m., Quad

Enjoy an afternoon of cultural performances, presentations, music, board games, a cultural photo prop booth and authentic Asian snacks.

Understanding Culture and Consumer Behavior

April 15, 2:30 p.m., Houston Cole Library, Room 10B

Learn about the geographic features, lifestyles, processions, and consumer behaviors of three countries in Asia: China, India and Bhutan. The lecture is hosted by Dr. Jianping Huang, assistant professor of management and marketing, and Dr. Mark Sciuchetti, assistant professor of geography.

Asian Culture Food Lunch Day

April 16

A variety of Japanese foods will be served at Jack Hopper Dining Hall at lunch.

All events are subject to change due to COVID-19 restrictions or inclement weather.
Lindsay Simpson has Colorado to blame for becoming a beer snob.

And she has a breakup to blame for starting an Instagram page about beer.

When Simpson, 36, moved to Colorado Springs five years ago from Charleston, S.C., she didnt care for the sudsy stuff. Ciders were her go-to drink.

A local beer festival changed her mind.

I realized how many good beers there were, Simpson said. I remember thinking, I actually kind of like this.

Specifically, she found a taste for coffee stouts. That was her gateway beer, as they say. And that began a quest familiar to many craft beer lovers, filled with sampling and comparing and seeking out different styles.

Youre always trying to find more things you like, she said. One thing leads you to the next.

Simpsons searches went deeper than the average sipper. But she never intended to tell people beyond her friends about her beer adventures. Besides, her job as a physical therapist kept her busy enough.

Then she went through a breakup in 2019. Simpson knew she needed to take her mind off the heartbreak but wasnt sure what that should be.

I was looking for something different to think about, she said. And something else to put my energy into.

A friend who runs a Instagram devoted to wine had a suggestion. Why not share her love of beer with the world  or at least the Instagram world?

So, in 2019, Beers with a Blonde was born. Hey there! Simpson wrote in her first post. Im Lindsay and I love beer.

And she shared about one of her favorite brews, a peanut butter hazelnut ale called Deez Nuts, from 105 West Brewing Co. in Castle Rock.

A peanut butter beer is one of my favorites and few breweries can do it right, Simpson said. This beer is perfection.

Other posts followed, featuring visits to local breweries with her dog and reviews of camping beers. She revealed an obsession with unique beer taps. When she had a health scare, she shared about the beer she ordered to calm her nerves before a hospital visit. She shared an ideal Saturday activity: pairing a local beer with a local doughnut.

She found a blend of beer talk and personal talk that drew followers in.

Its just kind of taken off, Simpson said.

It helps that she knows her stuff. Shes often one of the first people to check out a new local brewery or beer release. And when she ventures out to try a new beer, shes not just mindlessly sipping.

We are definitely analyzing it, she said.

She smells and takes tiny tastes to uncover what flavors and ingredients are inside. Like a true beer nerd, as she calls herself, Simpson will often try to guess what hops were used without looking at the beers description.

Ill sit there for a long time to try to figure it out, Simpson said. The challenge of it is really fun.

Theres also the challenge of finding the next best beer. That way, she can confidently recommend it to her 2,000 followers.

So many beers end up being alike, she said. Its almost like a little scavenger hunt to see who can make the best one.

When she tastes a winner, thats when Simpson can truly sit back and enjoy a beer.

I dont drink beer just to drink a beer, she said. I want a good beer.

Good beers pair with good moments in her life. Like when she recently celebrated a milestone at the rock climbing gym. Or when she built a beer advent calendar for Christmas. Or, the simpler things, like taking a bath or playing a game of cards.

Recently, shes taken another step in her beer journey. She and her boyfriend have started homebrewing.

Just like she has so far, Simpson will share it all with her followers.

Who knows, she said. Maybe one day I may have my own brewery.
Burma Myanmar Junta Using Prison Courts to Try Political Prisoners

An unarmed protester being kicked by a baton-wielding policeman. / The Irrawaddy

The military regime has set up temporary courts inside prisons in Yangon, Mandalay, Bago and Ayeyarwady regions to hear the cases of political prisoners.

So far, temporary courts have been set up in Obo Prison in Mandalay, Insein Prison in Yangon, Pyay Prison in Bago and Hinthada and Pathein prisons in Ayeyarwady Region.

A court was set up inside Hinthada Prison at the end of March to hear political cases. Another court was opened in Pathein Prison on Wednesday. The court consists only of a civilian judge and a law officer, a source close to the Ayeyarwady Region judicial department told The Irrawaddy.

In Pathein Prison a temporary court has been opened in a hall within the prison compound. People from Pathein, Ngapudaw, Thabaung and Kangyidaunt townships arrested by the junta since the militarys Feb.1 coup will be tried there.

Only the judge, the law officer, and the defense lawyer are allowed to attend trials inside the prison. Outsiders and even the family members of the accused are not allowed to attend the trials. People who have been detained for allegedly committing political offences will be remanded, tried and sentenced at the court inside the prison, said the source.

Similar courts have been set up in Insein and Obo prisons since mid-March, according to family members of those detained for allegedly committing political offences.

U Myint Naing, director of the Pathein-based Association of Human Rights Watch and Defense, is one of the people arrested by the military regime. His wife Daw Khin Htet Htet Myo said: I havent been allowed to see my husband since he was arrested. He was not allowed to see a lawyer either. And we are very concerned that he will be tried at a court inside the prison. I would like to call for an open trial at the township court on the grounds of human rights.

In the immediate aftermath of the coup, the junta prosecuted anti-regime protesters under the Natural Disaster Management Law for violating COVID-19 regulations and Section 188 of the Penal Code for violating curfew orders. But since March, the regime has been filing sedition charges against the protesters under Section 505 of the Penal Code.

The military has detained over 2,800 people between February 1 and April 7 and 38 of them have been sentenced to prison terms, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Nearly 600 people have been killed by the juntas security forces in the same period.

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Weekend Bloodshed Continues to Push Myanmar Death Toll Higher
April 09 : Deepika Padukone has recently launched her own website. While the Chhapaak actress is actively promoting it, her husband Ranveer Singh has written a note for his wife that has been published on the newly launched website. A proud husband, Ranveer wrote how Deepika is born for greatness.

Deepika launched her new website on Thursday. Ever since she has been promoting her website and sharing glimpses of it on social media. The website contains elements that are an extension of my personality, the 35-year-old-actress said about her website. The biography section on the website is full of good words shared by the celebs of Bollywood. Starting with Farah Khans heartfelt note on Deepika, who debuted in Bollywood with Farahs film Om Shanti Om, there are many other notes written about her. One of them is also written by Ranveer Singh.

Deepika is the most amazing person I've met in my life. And I'm not just saying this because she's my wife, Ranveer wrote. Ranveer and Deepika got married in Italy in 2018.

Ranveer further wrote, Deepika nurtures a universe within herself: of love, compassion, kindness, intelligence, beauty, grace and empathy. These qualities make her a true and authentic artisteshe's one of the finest actors in the world. She's got inner strength, resilience, grit, and an iron will. A woman so righteous and full of virtue, that she commands respect. I sometimes stop and admire her, aware that she is a special soul, born for greatness. I am the proudest husband in the world.

Filmmaker Kabir Khan and ace fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee also wrote testimonials for her. Farah wrote, There was an innate dignity and poise that I saw in her, that I haven't seen in too many girls that age. 13 years later, these 2 very qualities, remain intact. We also often speak about her evolution as an actor and her craft, but what I truly admire about her, is how she has managed to keep her head above it all! I love her, I am proud of her and she will always be my baby.

Deepikas website showcases her work, her photoshoots, magazine covers, and also her mental health organisation, The Live Laugh Love Foundation. The actress has also launched a new YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Deepika will be next seen in Kabir Khans 83. She also has Fighter, Baiju Bawra, Sanki, Pathan, and Hindi adaptation of The Intern. Recently, the actress completed shooting for Shakun Batra's upcoming film along with Ananya Panday and Siddhant Chaturvedi.
Friday starts quiet but the next 24-hours will include the possibility of several rounds of thunderstorms with the threat of all types of severe weather: damaging winds & hail as well as tornadoes. On top of the severe threat flash flooding and flooding of creeks and rivers will be possible for North Alabama.

This afternoon warms to 80 which should be warm enough to generate a few showers and storms for parts of North Alabama. This is well ahead of the main severe window. That Window is roughly 9:00 pm Friday(arriving in the Shoals) through about 9:00 AM Saturday(exiting Sand Mountain)

SPC's Outlook reflects the threat of a sustained thunderstorm complex with a long-lasting damaging winds threat. This could be strong enough to acquire the "derecho" label. It is possible that both of the thunderstorm complexes miss North Alabama to the south tonight and overnight. The thunderstorms that will eventually form the thunderstorms complexes will not even begin to develop in Texas, Oklahoma until this afternoon. What happens between Texas and North Alabama the next 12 hours will have major impacts on the track and severity of the thunderstorm complexes. Continue to check back in with the WAAY-31 StormTracker Weather Team for updates on timing and track throughout the day today.
GENEVA, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CS Victims, a group of Credit Suisse Wealth Management clients who are victims of an estimated $1 billion fraud perpetrated by the bank's personnel, have demanded the immediate return of funds.

At the conclusion of the trial of the Relationship Manager in February 2018, the judgement of the Geneva Criminal Court ordered Credit Suisse to repay more than $120m which had been stolen from the victims' accounts. Despite Credit Suisse being legally and factually responsible for the fraudulent transfers, the Bank has refused to comply with the Court's judgement for over three years.

The demand follows extensive recent media reporting of the scandal and FINMA's investigation. FINMA itself has also publicised its findings that Credit Suisse did little to prevent the fraud and mismanagement of client funds, choosing to ignore repeated warning signs, and failed to adequately supervise the Relationship Manager's activities.

The demand comes as Credit Suisse continues to struggle with multiple scandals despite CEO Thomas Gottstein's much-vaunted vow to start 2021 with a 'clean slate.' In recent weeks, the collapse of Greensill Capital has led to a possible loss of $3bn for the Bank against net income last year of $2.9bn. It has also been reported that Credit Suisse faces significant losses following the collapse of Archegos, which compounded risk management and compliance concerns evident in the CS Victims fraud. The scandals have led to credit agencies downgrading their outlook for Credit Suisse and analysts warning the much-publicised share buyback may be put on hold, dealing another blow to Gottstein and Urs Rohner, who retires this year after a contentious tenure as Chairman.

"These funds were stolen from the clients and Credit Suisse is defying the decision of the Geneva Court by refusing to return the full amount," a spokesman for CS Victims said. "Credit Suisse has not provided any reasonable explanation for over three years and we demand that repayment is made immediately."

For further information, please contact [email protected] or visit https://csvictims.com/

Information for editors

CS Victims was established by the representatives of certain clients of Credit Suisse.

They are victims of an estimated $1 billion fraud perpetrated by the Bank's personnel over seven years. At least one of Credit Suisse's employees has been convicted of fraud and FINMA has highlighted failures in Credit Suisse's systems and controls which led directly to crimes being committed.

SOURCE CS Victims

Related Links

https://csvictims.com


The promoter group of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has informed the company that there has been no violation of SEBI Takeover Regulations and it has complied with the applicable laws.

The RIL promoter group has also said that an appeal will be referred to the Securities Appellate Tribunal and it remains confident of vindicating its position, as per an RIL filing.

As per a regulatory filing, RIL had issued debentures with convertible warrants in the year 1994 and allotted equity shares against the warrants in the year 2000.

SEBI had issued a show cause notice in February 2011 (more than 11 years after acquisition of shares) to the then promoter and promoter group (as in the year 2000) alleging violation of Regulation 11(1) of SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997.

The show cause notice has now been adjudicated (21 years after acquisition of shares) and a penalty in the sum of Rs 25 crore has been levied on the then promoter and promoter group.

"The promoter and promoter group have informed RIL: a) that there has been no violation of Regulation 11(1) of the SEBI Takeover Regulations and they have complied with applicable laws; and b) an appeal will be preferred to the Securities Appellate Tribunal and they remain confident of vindicating their position," the filing said.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
 A story on March 25 about the City Councils rejection of a symbolic resolution celebrating Indias Republic Day and condemning violence against certain castes and religious groups incorrectly characterized the aftermath of a 2002 train fire in India. The train fire in Gujarat, which was reported an accident by one commission but later reported by another commission to be a preplanned conspiracy, killed more than 50 Hindu people. More than 30 Muslim men were convicted for setting fire to the train and were sentenced to life imprisonment. The aftermath of the train fire saw communal riots that left more than 1,000 people, the majority of them Muslim, dead.
On one of his last visits, he was a guest of then-governor-general Quentin Bryce at Yarralumla. She showed Philip a photograph of Ilfracombe, her beloved home town, waxing lyrical about the wide horizon and the grassed plains; only to hear him say, If you ask me, it looks ready for development. The Queen talks to governor-general Quentin Bryce and Prince Philip after she toured the Government House gardens in Canberra and planted a tree, in October 2011. Credit:Andrew Meares From where had this extraordinary prince sprung? He was born on a table at Mon Repos (ironic for one so restless), the summer royal residence on the Ionian island of Corfu, the fifth child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg. Andrew was the son of George I of Greece and descended from Nicholas I of Russia and Christian IX of Denmark. Alice was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, niece of the last tsarina, and sister of the Queen of Sweden. An intelligent, forceful, amusing and brave woman, Alice was congenitally deaf and could not communicate with her children until they could speak when she could lip read. Within 18 months the family had to flee (baby Philip in an orange box) as a death warrant was passed on Andrew by a Greek revolutionary court for a botched military operation. They settled at St Saint-Cloud, just out of Paris, in a house provided by Philip's aunt, Marie Bonaparte. The family kept in touch with their royal kin. As a small child Philip had taken tea with Queen Mary who described him as "a nice little boy with very blue eyes". Those eyes were to stand him in good stead.

Their years in exile took their toll and by 1930, Philip's parents had separated. Alice had suffered a mental breakdown, later diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia, and was confined to a Swiss sanatorium. Andrew soon drifted off to Monte Carlo where he died in 1944. Philip retained a devotion to him and would wear his father's signet ring for the rest of his life. Philip left the American school at Saint-Cloud for the English prep school Cheam and then to Salem in Baden, a school owned by a brother-in-law and run by the legendary Kurt Hahn. Prince Philip of Greece, later the Duke of Edinburgh, as a toddler in July 1922. Credit:Getty When in 1934 Hahn moved to Scotland to escape Hitler and established Gordonstoun, Philip followed him. He thrived in this Spartan environment  early starts, freezing showers, cross-country runs (and would submit his three sons to the same). Holidays from school were spent in the schlosses and castles of his adoring sisters (all of whom married German princelings in 1930 and 1931), while in England both his maternal uncles, George, Marquess of Milford Haven, and Lord Louis Mountbatten, took him in. As Ben Pimlott, the Queens best biographer, put it, There was a confusion: uncertainty, neglect, and the feeling of being special mixed together. One cousin said he gave the impression of a huge, hungry dog, perhaps a friendly collie who... had never had a basket of his own. A few years later, he recorded in a visitors book in Australia, Whither the storm carries me, I go  a willing guest. In 1938, George Milford Haven died and his brother, Louis (Uncle Dickie), like the First Sea Lord he would become, steered his nephew resolutely towards eminence. In 1939, Philip joined the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, as a Special Entry Cadet. His first significant encounter with his future wife came two months later, in July 1939, just before the outbreak of war, when the princess and her parents visited Dartmouth.

He made quite an impression, certainly among the princesss circle who would sing, Oh come to my arms, thou bundle of charms, Philip Mountbatten RN. Prince Philip at dinner with then-prime minister Robert Menzies. The duke was in Melbourne to open the Olympic Games in 1956. Credit:Fairfax He had a distinguished war. Not long ago at a Buckingham Palace reception, Philip, in a truculent mood, asked Labour MP Andy Burnham what he had done before entering Parliament. Burnham confessed he had been a political adviser. Philip shot back with, So, bugger all then? Burnham then impudently asked, What did you do before your marriage, sir? Philip replied: I fought in the Second World War. After escorting contingents of troops from Australia to the Middle East, he was involved in several engagements in the Mediterranean. In the battle of Matapan, he controlled the searchlights of his ship and was mentioned in dispatches. His captain reported, Thanks to his alertness and appreciation of the situation, we were able to sink in five minutes two eight-inch-gun Italian cruisers. In October 1942, at 21, he was made a First Lieutenant and second-in-command of a destroyer. By mid-1943 he was aboard HMS Wallace off the coast of Sicily, possibly bombarding one of his German brothers-in-law. In July 1944, his ship was sent to the Pacific, where he remained until the Japanese surrender. Meanwhile, as Pimlott observed, It is hard to think of an experience further removed than that of the Heiress Presumptive, in her castellated classroom.

Despite being the Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia, Uncle Dickie found time to pledge his nephews troth. He did not need to and Philip at least once remonstrated with his uncle to ease off. There is no doubt of the princess feelings. By 1946, her governess, Marion Crawford, reported that Elizabeth was incessantly playing People Will Say Were in Love from the musical Oklahoma. Princess Elizabeth, now Britains Queen Elizabeth II, and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, now Prince Philip, at Buckingham Palace after their wedding on November 20, 1947. Credit:AP Not so enamoured, the Queen Mother had apparently drawn up a cricket 11 of possible husbands  suitable members of Britains high aristocracy. Philip was not among them. But the princess was determined and love won out. In March 1947, Philip shed his embarrassingly German family name of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksberg (and his not-so-distant claim to the Greek throne) and became naturalised as Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. It seemed the naturalisation was completely unnecessary  according to a later Lord Chancellor, Lord Dilhorne  as a descendant of the Electress Sophia of Hanover, Philip had been British from birth. By November 20, 1947, the wedding day, Philip had become Baron Greenwich, Earl of Merioneth, Duke of Edinburgh, a Knight of the Garter; hed converted to Anglicanism and acquired a detective, a valet and a wardrobe to replace his few, meagre much-darned hand-me-downs. The government of Queensland gifted the bride and groom 500 cans of Golden Circle pineapples. Seven decades of service as consort were before him. The young couples two years in Malta, where Philip had his first - and last - command, would be remembered as idyllic. Here they felt almost like any other naval officer and his wife. The princess had produced an heir, Charles, within 12 months of marriage and a daughter, Anne, less than two years later. But by 1951, George VIs health meant a return to England and an end to Philips dream of being First Sea Lord. In February 1952, in their first major deputation, they set off for Australia via Kenya when the King died in his sleep at Sandringham. Elizabeth now found herself  in the words of another biographer, Gyles Brandreth  married not only to Philip but also to those infinitely more demanding spouses, Britain, the Commonwealth and the Empire.

Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, husband of then princess Elizabeth resumes his attendance at the Royal Naval Officers School at Kingsmoor in Hawthorn, Wiltshire, in 1947. Credit:Getty Images The first few years of Elizabeths reign were challenging ones for her consort, who would never be Prince Consort. They had to abandon Clarence House, which he had made home  in fact the first home he ever had  for the chilly grandeur of Buckingham Palace. Neither an Old Etonian nor a Guardsman, he also had to contend with the suspicion and disdain of the Queens courtiers: Is he Greek? Is he Danish? Is he German? Bemused, he would remind them that his mother had been born at Windsor Castle (as had his grandmother). He was also wounded by the governments decision to deny his children their fathers name. Im just a bloody amoeba, was his response; but his suggestion that the House of Windsor (which only about 30 years earlier had been Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) should become the House of Edinburgh, was curious. And so he carved out a life and career in parallel. Yet his mantra was, and remained, that his role was to support the Queen. At every key moment in her reign, he was beside her. Well, three paces behind her  but the fact is that he was always there. He is estimated to have made seven speeches a month for 60 years. He was founder, fellow, patron, president, chairman or member of about 837 organisations. Perhaps his most spectacular achievement is The Duke of Edinburghs Award, established in 1956 and now in 140 countries with more than 8 million young participants  700,000 of them Australians. Other notable associations included the World Wildlife Fund, the National Playing Fields Association and the Commonwealth Study Conferences. Brandreth says the only way Philip could stay alive and interested in the endless audiences, unveilings, walkabouts and line-ups  his life measured out in handshakes and small talk  was to stir and challenge those he met. He did not have his wifes extraordinary control. In her Good Weekend profile, Sally Vincent put it differently. Walking with his hands clasped behind his back and his neck thrust forward like a schoolmaster parading the classroom aisles looking for trouble. There was always someone or something to pick on.

The gaffes  those one-liners that sustained him  cannot be overlooked. The Nigerian Secretary-General of the Commonwealth arriving at the Palace in full, splendidly colourful national dress was greeted with, You look as if youre ready for bed. He said to an Ulsterwoman, So, you managed to get here without having your knickers blown off? And he greeted a wheelchair-bound woman wrapped in a foil blanket, And now theyre going to put you in the oven? And his clanger to Aboriginal leader William Brin at the Aboriginal Cultural Park in Cairns, Do you still throw spears at each other? Prince Philip enjoying a beer at the Boags brewery in Launceston in 2000. Credit:Fairfax There was a relentless need to be one up, especially with men, and he would never countenance losing an argument. Yet, he was never acquisitive. The only land he owned was a few acres at Wood Farm at Sandringham; and three cars  a Lagonda coupe, a converted London cab and a Land Rover Discovery. The last of these was at the centre of his final public calamity  a car crash as the 97-year-old Prince hit another vehicle in January 2019 as he emerged from a driveway on the Sandringham estate. The driver and a passenger in the other car were injured, though not badly; the Prince was unscathed but shaken. It appeared to be HRHs fault and a few weeks later he surrendered his drivers license. Vigorous and fiercely independent, he was always slow to surrender. He did not retire from polo until he was 50 and was 76 when he gave up flying. Brandreth summed up the royal relationship as, She wears the Crown; he wears the trousers. Sovereignty aside, the Queen would leave it to Philip to make the decisions for the family. It was he who corresponded closely with prime minister Robert Menzies over the choice of Geelong Grammar for Charles.

And, years later, the mediation role the duke played as the first Wales marriage disintegrated was a revelation. His letters to Diana were direct, of course, but always signed Pa and full of sympathy, insight and affection. He expressed his amazement that Charles would prefer Camilla to Diana but reminded her that she, too, had had affairs. There was no sign here of the insensitive brute. He even tried a number of times with his second daughter-in-law, Sarah Ferguson, (the family appears to prefer correspondence to direct contact) but she proved incorrigible and he gave up. His position on the monarchys future was stoic. Understandably perhaps  his Russian relatives were murdered three years before he was born; his cousin Constantine II of Greece had to flee his country in 1967. In Ottawa in 1969, as premier Pierre Trudeau chipped away at Canadas royal connections, Philip bluntly observed, I think its a complete misconception to imagine that the Monarchy exists in the interests of the Monarch  it doesnt. It exists in the interests of the people: in a sense  we dont come here for our health, so to speak. We can think of other ways of enjoying ourselves  I think that the important thing about it is that if, at any stage, people feel that it has no further part to play, then for goodness sake lets end the thing on amicable terms without having a row about it. He had said the same thing of Australia in 1967. If the monarchy is of value, retain it ... If not, get rid of it. Robert Lacey claims that Prince Philips immediate response to the outcome of the 1999 republic referendum was, Whats the matter with these people? Cant they see whats good for them? This frankness might have annoyed monarchists but it must have appealed to many Australians as an admirable quality, the sort of trait we value  realistic, no-nonsense  quintessential Philip. And yet when then-prime minister Tony Abbott made the  admittedly anachronistic but surely harmless  gesture of making Philip a knight of the Order of Australia, the howls of outrage in the press and in Parliament were extraordinary. How mean-spirited and churlish they now appear. Mark McGinness
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. A stable operational situation with no incidents has been maintained along the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact of the Armenian state border overnight April 8-9, the Defense Ministry of Armenia told ARMENPRESS.

According to the information provided by the Armenian National Security Service, no border incidents were registered in Vorotan-Davit Bek section of the Goris-Kapan inter-state road which is under the responsibility of the NSS border troops.

The Armed Forces of Armenia and the NSS border troops confidently control the border situation along the entire borderline.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 03:03:55|Editor: huaxia

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by Zhang Qi

DUBLIN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus has already claimed over one million lives in the European region, where the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage.

As cases rise, virus variants are taking hold in the population, the vaccine rollout is slow and shaky, the countries' health care systems are overwhelmed and fatigue is spreading. Europe is struggling to find balance between managing the pandemic and relaunching the economy.

SHOCKING STATISTICS

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) showed that the first and second coronavirus waves in Europe peaked around the end of March and the beginning of November last year, respectively. The weekly infection numbers have been steadily growing since the middle of February, each week averaging over one million.

Some European countries, among them Poland and Romania, reported record high daily or weekly infection numbers. For the week ending on March 22, France, one of the worst affected countries in Europe, reported more than 250,000 confirmed cases, its highest tally in 19 weeks.

Several governments reacted by tightening their public health restrictions, announcing new lockdowns, closing schools and curtailing business hours.

According to the WHO Europe Office, at the end of March, 27 European countries were in partial or full nationwide lockdown and 21 of them imposed curfews.

NEW VARIANTS FUEL INFECTIONS

The emergence of COVID-19 variants has also fueled the increase in infections across Europe.

Lu Mengji, professor of virology at the University Hospital of Essen in Germany, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the new variants are unlikely to make the current vaccines ineffective, but they are more transmissible and can make people sicker, and can thus lead to an increase in hospitalizations, which in turn would increase pressure on the already stretched health systems across Europe.

The challenge is to protect Europe from further waves of infection or, even worse, from variants that are resistant to the currently used vaccines, said Andrea Crisanti, director of the Molecular-Microbiology Department at Italy's Padua University Hospital.

"If we want to tackle this problem worldwide, we need to think for a vaccine that is affordable and can also be used in resource-poor countries," he said, adding that Europe needs to always be prepared to introduce new vaccines should the virus change.

Professor Lu also warned that any premature relaxation of the public health restrictions could lead to a surge in infections and deaths.

Lu's warning was echoed by Miklos Hargitai, a columnist at a daily newspaper in Hungary. He said that the temptation to reopen too fast may be politically popular but could result in a fresh wave of infections before most people are fully vaccinated.

VACCINE ROLLOUT PARAMOUNT

Alongside safety and efficacy, the speed of vaccine rollout is paramount. Arguably, what matters most for the young, the elderly and the vulnerable across the region, and even the world, is how quickly they can receive at least the first vaccine shot.

Europe launched its large-scale voluntary vaccination program against COVID-19 in December 2020.

However, by the end of March, only ten percent of the region's total population had received one vaccine dose and four percent had completed a full vaccine series, according to the WHO Europe Office.

Furthermore, none of the European Union's (EU) 27 member states had managed to meet the jointly set target of having 80 percent of healthcare workers and 80 percent of over 80-year-olds vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of March, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported.

The slow speed of vaccine rollout in Europe is mainly due to supply shortages and delays in delivery and distribution.

Paul Reid, chief executive officer (CEO) of Ireland's Health Service Executive, a state agency responsible for the country's vaccination program, said that the Irish government's vaccination program had been disrupted at least 15 times by delivery delays.

Vaccine safety concerns have also arisen and have caused further delays.

Since the middle of March, several European countries have temporarily halted the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine over reports of blood clots in some recipients.

COOPERATION THE KEY

The old adage "no one is safe until everyone is safe" highlights the importance of cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, which is increasingly accepted by European citizens and politicians alike.

At present, cooperation at the international level, especially in the field of vaccine research and development, production and distribution, is of extreme importance, said Leon Laulusa, executive vice president of the Paris-based ESCP Business School, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Laulusa cited medical experts as saying that at least 75 percent of the world's population or nearly six billion people must be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, adding that this means that nearly 12 billion doses are needed to perform full vaccination.

Lyazid Benhami, vice president of the Paris Association of French-Chinese Friendship, told Xinhua that French President Emmanuel Macron had proposed to transfer to Africa some of the vaccines the EU had ordered.

"We know the role China plays in supplying its own vaccines to countries in Africa and other areas in the world," he said. "All these actions must converge to make vaccines a global public good ... If the virus continues to circulate in some countries, the threat to the whole world will remain."

Hungary has been the first EU member state to approve the use of China-made vaccines. Other European countries, such as Serbia, have also included China-made vaccines in their vaccination programs.

"The Hungarian government's position on vaccines and vaccination is very simple and very pragmatic: vaccines are not a political question, all vaccines that are reliable should be used as soon as possible to be able to fight coronavirus," said Zoltan Kovacs, Hungary's state secretary for international communication and relations, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Thursday.

With more vaccines available and further cooperation at individual, state and international levels, there is reason to believe that Europe will eventually beat the virus and bring the pandemic under control. Enditem
(Alliance News) - ITM Power PLC said on Friday that it is the "preferred supplier" of electrolysis equipment at a new hydrogen fuelling station in Germany.

Linde Engineering won the bid on Thursday for the construction of the green hydrogen project in Herten, Germany, and will receive funding of up to EUR6.2 million from the German Federal Ministry of Transport & Digital Infrastructure.

Each of the electrolysers delivered by ITM Power to Linde Engineering will have an annual capacity of 440,000 kilogrammes of hydrogen, helping provide green electricity and environmentally friendly heat into public grids.

"Municipalities and local authorities across Europe, and the UK, are becoming more and more interested in green and circular economy initiatives," said ITM Power Chief Executive Graham Cooley.

"This innovative project is just the latest example and we are pleased to be working with partner Linde Engineering on what will be an important reference site for the municipality market."

Shares in ITM Power were quoted at 484.00 pence in London on Friday afternoon, up 0.8%.

By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Starting April 19, New Hampshire will allow everyone, regardless of which state theyre from, to book an appointment to receive their coronavirus vaccine, the governor of the Granite State announced this week.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu made the announcement New Hampshire would be doing away with the vaccine residency requirement for those 16 years of age and older over Twitter on Thursday.

With all states expanding eligibility on April 19, we have confidence that there will not be a run on the system that will cause delays for NH residents, he said in his tweet.

BREAKING: On April 19 New Hampshire will expand eligibility to all individuals 16+ years old, regardless of residency. With all states expanding eligibility on April 19, we have confidence that there will not be a run on the system that will cause delays for NH residents. pic.twitter.com/DMtGAGEuEw  Chris Sununu (@GovChrisSununu) April 8, 2021

New Hampshire already expanded vaccine eligibility to residents 16 years of age or older on April 2. Massachusetts will do so for its residents on April 19, the same day the Granite State is set to allow residents of all states to book vaccination appointments.

Democrat President Joe Bidens administration is pushing for 90% of all Americans to be eligible for the vaccine by April 19, which happens to be Patriots Day.

Sununu said this weekend, the Granite State will host a by-appointment only mass vaccination site at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. In total, the state hopes to vaccinate 12,000 individuals at the location Saturday and Sunday.

Following a historic week of registration and scheduling for vaccine appointments which expanded eligibility to all NH residents 16+ last week, New Hampshire continues to move forward in getting doses into arms at a record pace, Sununu said in a statement. This weekend is another opportunity for thousands of Granite Staters to be vaccinated as quickly as possible.

The governor noted over Twitter on Thursday that between now and Memorial Day, there are still roughly 240,000 first-dose appointments available to schedule, allowing plenty of opportunity for Granite State residents to schedule an appointment, or move up their appointments to an earlier date if they choose to.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4.252 million total doses of the vaccine have been administered in Massachusetts as of, while 858,460 have been administered in New Hampshire. In terms of doses administered per capita, though, the Granite State is leading the Bay State at 63,135 and 61,692 doses administered per 100,000 residents, respectively.

Related Content:
McConnell-Aligned Super PAC Endorses Sen. Murkowski Amid Primary Threat

A top Republican super PAC endorsed Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) if she runs for reelection in 2022after former President Donald Trump and Alaskas GOP said they would work to primary her.

The Senate Leadership Fund, which is aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said Murkowski has shown conservative values and noted that she voted for Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. The group added that Murkowski also voted for Trumps landmark tax bill.

Alaska needs the kind of experienced representation that Lisa Murkowski provides in the United States Senate. Whether fighting for Alaskan interests like expanding energy production and protecting fisheries, or advancing conservative priorities by confirming judges and cutting taxes, her strong leadership is vitally important to Alaskas future. Many politicians put themselves first, but Lisa Murkowski always puts Alaska first, said the Funds president, Steven Law, in a statement on Friday.

Murkowski was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial following the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

Trump, since then, has criticized the Alaska senator and said he would primary her. The Alaska Republican Party, meanwhile, censured Murkowski over the impeachment vote and other actions she took as senator.

Trump in March said he will not be endorsing Murkowski under any circumstances, and he vowed to campaign against her in Alaska. Trump also called out the Alaska senator during his speech in late February at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida.

The Republicans do not stick together. The RINOs that were surrounded with will destroy the Republican Party and the American worker and will destroy our country itself, he said, using an acronym that means Republican in name only. Trump then went on to list the names of senators and House members who either convicted him or impeached him.

Last month, Alaska Commissioner of Administration Kelly Tshibaka, a Republican, announced she would run for Murkowskis seat in 2022. Tshibaka described Murkowski as a Washington insider.

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 stated. 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.

Tshibaka, in the meantime, has hired several former Trump campaign officials, including former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien and Trump communications director Tim Murtaugh.

Murkowski has not yet confirmed whether she will run for reelection. Her office at the time did not respond to a request for comment following Tshibakas announcement.

The Senate Leadership Fund was established in 2015 by several of McConnells allies. Law, who also serves as the groups CEO, was McConnells chief of staff from 1991 until 1997.

McConnell last month told CNN that he and other Senate Republicans will absolutely back Murkowski if she runs.
By Pei Li and Julie Zhu

(Reuters) - China's antitrust regulator is ready to clear tech giant Ltd's plan to take the country's no.3 search engine Sogou private, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, a move that signals the watchdog is willing to wave some deals through even as it ratchets up sector scrutiny.

The regulator, State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR), has no objection to the $3.5 billion deal for the 60% of U.S.-listed Sogou that Tencent doesn't already own, the people said, as long as Tencent is willing to set up a special mechanism to ensure data security - a first for SAMR deal approvals.

Tencent must also pay a comparatively small fine - 500,000 yuan ($76,000) - for not reporting deals properly for antitrust reviews, two of the people said, in line with past cases for similar violations.

The move highlights Chinese regulators are still looking to approve merger and acquisition deals in the tech sector, but now with strict conditions after years of a laissez-faire approach. The green light for the closely watched deal will come as a relief for China's tech sector, reeling from Beijing's antimonopoly crackdown on home-grown internet giants that culminated weeks after the shelving of fintech firm Ant Group's $37 billion IPO in November.

"What SAMR wants is enforcement ... it is not in their interest to kill or actively block a deal," said one of the people. "They are fine with companies' actual market-leading status as long as it doesn't prevent new entry into the market."

The people with knowledge of the matter declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Sogou trails only Baidu and Qihoo 360 in China's enormous internet search market, according to analytics firm SpeedTest, and is the sole search engine on Tencent's all-in-one mobile app WeChat, a must-have in everyday life in Tencent, China's biggest video game and social media company, first announced plans to take it private last September.

Tencent and SAMR did not immediately respond to requests for comments when contacted by Reuters.

Sogou declined to comment.

DATA CONCERN

One of the areas of heightened scrutiny has been M&A deals in the sector in the recent past, with the regulators taking a dim view of the violation of antitrust rules and, in some cases, data privacy laws.

The linchpin of the deal approval conditions is meeting the regulator's requirement on data security - defining who can have what kind of access to the bulk of users' data and personal information, and how to use that, said the three people.

A merger of China's two leading video games streaming sites - Huya and Douyu, both backed by Tencent - is also under review and will need to satisfy similar requirements on data security, said the sources.

Reuters reported last month that Tencent was having to offer concessions to get approval for its plan to merge the two sites, including giving up exclusivity on some of its content rights.

After the merger, Huya and Douyu will need to set up a firewall in-between and cannot share user data and information to each other, two of the people said.

SAMR would also approve the merger soon after a final touch on the concessions are made, they said.

($1 = 6.5468 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Pei Li and Julie Zhu; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Kenneth Maxwell)

(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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Amazon.com Inc. supports an increase in the U.S. corporate tax rate as part of an infrastructure overhaul, Jeff Bezos, chief executive of the largest U.S. retailer, said on Tuesday after facing withering criticism from the White House, Congress and on social media.

"We support the Biden Administration's focus on making bold investments in American infrastructure," Bezos said in a blog post. "We recognize this investment will require concessions from all sides -- both on the specifics of what's included as well as how it gets paid for (we're supportive of a rise in the corporate tax rate)."

The largest online U.S. retailer, which has been widely criticized in recent years for paying little or no U.S. federal income tax, did not endorse raising rates to a specific figure. The White House did not immediately comment.

Biden's infrastructure plan proposes increasing the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent and would revise the tax code to close loopholes that allow companies to move profits overseas.


Global Nematicides Market was valued US$ 1.14 Bn in 2017 and is projected to reach US$ 1.52 Bn at a CAGR of 3.66 %.

Biotechnology innovation has increased the value of some field crop seed by introducing new traits, end user has demanded better protection of the seedling to maximize their return on investment posing an opportunity to nematicides market.

Growing need to increase crop yield and quality due to reduction in arable land coupled with the benefit of higher crop quality and yield with the use of nematicides is driving the global nematicides market. Increase in the cost of high-quality seeds, like the hybrid, and genetically modified seeds, cost efficiency of seed treatment systems, the temperature on the product of crop protection chemicals limitations linked to soil structure, and encouraging government regulations are driving the market growth for nematicides. However, environmental and human hazards with the use of chemical nematicides, strict government regulations on pesticides, and the development of transgenic crops are the factors restraining the market growth. New active ingredients have been introduced that present new opportunities for seed protection. New insect protection genetics in corn and cotton have changed the spectrum of pests to protect against, resulting in the need to rethink crop protection strategies.

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Fumitant dominated the market in 2017 due to the advantages like no residue leftover, no resistance development, and excellent activity. While the bionematicides segment is projected to grow rapidly during the forecast period, owing to growing environmental and public health concerns with the use of chemical nematicides. Increasing demand for organic farming, demand for chemical residue free agricultural products, and government support to use biological nematicides across the globe further impels the growth of biological nematicides market.

Solid form dominated the nematicides market. Air contamination disadvantage of solid form overcomes by liquid-based nematicides also are cost-effective in terms of material and handling. Nematicides in the liquid form have the flexibility for more accurate and direct placement of the nematicides to the target crop.

North America dominated the global nematicides market in 2017 followed by Europe and Latin America. North America is blessed with large arable land. Increasing demand for crop yield & efficiency and growing organic farming thus drives the nematicides market growth. Asia Pacific region registers the fastest growth during the forecast period due to the growing population in the region which increases the use of nematicides to control the losses due to nematodes and enhance crop yield.

The report covers total market for nematicides has been analyzed based on Porter's five forces model. The impact of the different market factors, such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities, challenges key issues SWGet Sample PDF Pages now with Some Benefits!! OT analysis, and technology forecasting is also illustrated in the report. This gives an idea about the key drivers, such as high growth and demand in emerging economies countries. Highly reliable and independent assessment of the competitive positions of the major suppliers of nematicides in terms of product sales and market share within each country is provided in the report.

The Dow Chemical Company, Syngenta, FMC Corporation, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., Monsanto Company, Bayer CropScience AG, AMVAC Chemical Corporation, Brandt Consolidated, Inc., Isagro S.p.A., Marrone Bio Innovations Inc., BASF SE, Nufarm Limited, ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd., and Certis USA are major players operating in the global nematicides market.



Scope of the Global Nematicides Market

Global Nematicides Market, by Product:

Fumigant

Carbamate

Organophosphate

Bionematicide

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Global Nematicides Market, by Form:

Liquid

Solid

Global Nematicides Market, by Region:

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

South America

Middle East & Africa

Key Players analysed in the Report:

Bayer CropScience AG

BASF SE

The Dow Chemical Company

Syngenta

FMC Corporation

Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.

Monsanto Company

Nufarm Limited

ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd.

AMVAC Chemical Corporation

Brandt Consolidated, Inc.

Isagro S.p.A.

Marrone Bio Innovations Inc.

Certis USA L.L.C.

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Getty Images/AARP

This remarkable three-day drive starts and ends in Cody, Wyoming, and includes the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (Wyoming Highway 296); an overnight in Cooke City, Montana, at the edge of Yellowstone National Park; then a cruise along the Beartooth Scenic Highway  one of the few drives in the U.S. that could impress more than the previous day's stunner. Both are National Scenic Byways and All-American Roads.

Day 1: Cody, Wyoming, to Cooke City, Montana (76 miles)

Before leaving this rodeo-happy town founded by Col. William F. Buffalo Bill Cody in 1896, fill up your gas tank and grab breakfast at the Station, a former gas station transformed into a cafe, with sweet and savory breakfast crepes. Now you're ready to hit the road  specifically, the 46-mile Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, which you can catch 16 miles north of Cody.

It passes through ranchland, tops out at 8,061-foot Dead Indian Pass, and then drops into one of the Cowboy State's most remote valleys.

A little history will help you appreciate the miles ahead of you. The road gets its name from the Nez Perce chief who used this route in 1877 to lead about 700 of his people to Canada to escape being confined on a reservation by the U.S. government. In what historians have described as a brilliant military maneuver, Chief Joseph outwitted the U.S. Army at Dead Indian Pass. (The group had to surrender to the Army a month later when it was cornered about 40 miles from the Canadian border.)

A peak and a creek here also bear the name Dead Indian, and you hear two different accounts of where this name came from. According to one, in 1877, the U.S. Army killed a Nez Perce near here. The other says that in 1878, Crow Indian scouts working with the U.S. Army killed and buried a Bannock Indian near here.

Before you top out at Dead Indian Pass, pullouts offer bird's-eye views to the east of working ranches, rare evidence of any human presence in this area. At the pass itself, looking west into Sunlight Basin, you'll marvel at rugged, 1,200-foot-deep Clarks Fork Canyon, which winds through the basin, and the snaggly, glaciated Beartooth Mountains in the distance.

From Dead Indian Pass, as you descend 3,000 feet to enter the eastern side of Sunlight Basin, you'll cross the area's defining man-made feature, a bridge 280 feet above Sunlight Creek. About 21 miles down the road, you can take a moderate 5-mile out-and-back flat hike along the edge of Clarks Fork Canyon. Just turn right onto Forest Service Road 407, about a mile past Painter's Outpost; in less than half a mile, you'll see the trailhead. Backpackers take this trail deep into the Shoshone National Forest, but you can turn around at the wooden bridge that crosses Beartooth Creek (or do an even shorter portion of the hike, if you wish).

At Sunlight Basin's far (western) side, the byway ends at the Beartooth Highway (U.S. Highway 212). There, head northeast for 13 miles to Cooke City, Montana, at the edge of Yellowstone National Park and home to only a couple of hundred people, even during the busiest summer months of July and August. There's also a general store and the Beartooth Cafe, where you can sit on a flower-filled patio facing the town's main street for a dinner of bison meatloaf.

Where to stay: Handmade quilts, some featuring local animals and scenery, cover most beds at the basic but homey Cooke City Alpine Motel.
[April 09, 2021] KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. Announces Launch of Public Offering of Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. ("KREF") (NYSE: KREF) today announced the launch of a public offering of shares of its Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (the "Preferred Stock") with a $25.00 per share liquidation preference. KREF intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to acquire its target assets in a manner consistent with its investment strategies and investment guidelines and for general corporate purposes. KREF intends to file an application to list the Preferred Stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "KREF PRA." Raymond James & Associates, Inc. and KKR Capital Markets LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. Shelf registration statements on Form S-3, including a prospectus, related to the Preferred Stock have been filed by KREF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (" SEC (News - Alert) ") and have become effective. The offering will be made only by means of a preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus filed today by KREF with the SEC. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, and the final prospectus supplement, when available, may be obtained from Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Attn: Syndicate, 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, FL 33716, by telephone at (800) 248-8863, or by email at prospectus@raymondjames.com, or from KKR Capital Markets LLC, 30 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001 or by telephone at (212) 230-9433, or by visiting the SEC's website at www.sec.gov under KREF's name.



This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. About KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. is a real estate finance company that focuses primarily on originating and acquiring senior loans secured by commercial real estate properties. KREF is externally managed and advised by an affiliate of KKR & Co. Inc. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "outlook," "believe," "expect," "potential," "continue," "may," "should," "seek," "approximately," "predict," "intend," "will," "plan," "estimate," "anticipate," the negative version of these words, other comparable words or other statements that that concern KREF's operations, strategy, projections or intentions. These "forward-looking" statements include statements relating to, among other things, the proposed offering of the Preferred Stock, the expected use of the net proceeds from the offering, and KREF's expectations concerning market conditions for an offering of the Preferred Stock. By their nature, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, are not statements of historical fact or guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify, in particular due to the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the projected impact of COVID-19 on KREF's business, financial performance and operating results. The forward-looking statements are based on KREF's beliefs, assumptions and expectations, taking into account all information currently available to it. These beliefs, assumptions and expectations can change as a result of many possible events or factors, not all of which are known to KREF or are within its control. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described under Part I-Item 1A. "Risk Factors" in KREF's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC, as such factors may be updated from time to time in KREF's periodic filings with the SEC. Accordingly, actual outcomes or results may differ materially from those indicated in this release. All forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the date of this release. KREF undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005185/en/

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Matt has always been a fighter. A fighter for his constituents, a fighter for the country, and a fighter for the Constitution. Hes going to fight back against the unfounded allegations against him, the statement said, adding that the lawyers will take the fight to those trying to smear his name with falsehoods.
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March 29, 2021 by Flannary Collins

Category: Court Decisions and AGO Opinions , Courts and Criminal Justice System



On February 25, 2021, the Washington State Supreme Court in State v. Blake declared unconstitutional Washingtons strict liability drug possession statute, which criminalized unintentional, unknowing possession of controlled substances without a prescription. This decision is having a massive impact on counties and cities throughout the state, with the state legislature and some local governments considering next steps.

Overview of the Case

RCW 69.50.4013(1) made it a felony to possess controlled substances, even if the person had no knowledge of the drug possession. The basic problem with the statute was that it found strict liability even if the person was possessing drugs unknowingly. Prior to the State v. Blake decision, Washington courts read a knowledge element into the statute, but the Blake Court stated it could no longer take that approach:

To be sure, at one time, it might have been possible for this court to avoid this constitutional issue by interpreting RCW 69.50.4013 as silently including an intent element and thereby saving it from unconstitutionality. But that time has long since passedGiven the interpretive principles of legislative acquiescence and stare decisis, only the legislature, not the court can now change the statutes intent.

Holding that the law exceeds the states police power and violates the due process clauses of the state and federal constitutions, the Court found that,

[a]ttaching the harsh penalties of felony conviction, lengthy imprisonment, stigma, and the many collateral consequences that accompany every felony drug conviction to entirely innocent and passive conduct exceeds the legislatures powers.

The end result is that the state law criminalizing possession of controlled substances has been struck down as unconstitutional; in other words, it is no longer a crime for someone to possess controlled substances, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

Repercussions

As explored in a March 18, 2021, Seattle Times article and a Department of Corrections March 12 press release, the repercussions are significant, and include:

Invalidation of simple drug possession convictions for nearly 100 individuals incarcerated and nearly 7,000 individuals who have been sentenced to community supervision on a simple possession conviction.

Potential resentencing for nearly 2,600 individuals incarcerated and nearly 3,900 individuals who are serving community supervision on a simple possession and an additional conviction(s).

Some matters remain unclear including:

Whether the opinion applies retroactively to old drug possession cases. A motion for reconsideration has been filed, which may give the Court an opportunity to clarify this uncertainty.

Whether Legal Financial Obligations (LFOs) that were paid by those convicted of simple possession must be reimbursed.

The expected monetary impact of the ruling is significant, with the Washington State Association of Counties calling it a $100 million issue, as quoted in this Crosscut article. This is no doubt in large part because of two factors: (1) the potential LFO repayment  which, according to Crosscut, could be as much as $47 million  and (2) the potential resentencing  which is landing at a time when courts are already backlogged because of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

State Legislative Response

Two bills (Senate Bill 5468 and Senate Bill 5475) were introduced earlier this legislative session, both providing a simple remedy for prospective drug possession matters by reenacting RCW 69.50.4013 and inserting the word knowingly prior to the word possess. Neither of those bills have progressed at this point. Instead, a third bill (Senate Bill 5476), just introduced on March 24, 2021, significantly departs from previous policy by focusing more on public health rather than criminal justice. The highlights of the bill are:

For those aged 21 and over, it allows possession of a set personal use amount of controlled substances (e.g., 40 grams of oxycodone, 1 gram of heroin). Knowing possession of any amount above the personal use amount is a Class C felony.

For those under 21, it makes possession of any amount of controlled substance a gross misdemeanor.

It makes it unlawful to open a package containing a counterfeit or controlled substance or consume those substances in view of the general public or in a public place. This is punishable by a civil infraction with a maximum penalty of $125 and will be deposited in the State v. Blake reimbursement account (described below).

It decriminalizes the injection, ingestion, inhalation, or introduction of a controlled substance into the body.

It expands the role of forensic navigator to be used by law enforcement to provide evaluation, treatment, and recovery and support resources for those who possess controlled substances, counterfeit substances, or legend drugs within the personal use amount.

It creates a State v. Blake reimbursement account in the state treasury, to be used only for state and local government costs resulting from State v. Blake and to reimburse LFOs paid for invalidated simple possession charges.

Local Government Response

Meanwhile, some local governments are taking matters into their own hands by considering local ordinances on drug possession. Both the City of Marysville and Grant County adopted an ordinance making it a gross misdemeanor to knowingly possess a controlled substance unless pursuant to a valid prescription, order of a practitioner, or as otherwise authorized by chapter 69.50 RCW. Lewis Countys proposed ordinance criminalizes knowing possession of controlled substances and mirrors the state penalty by making it a felony.

While the state fully occupies and preempts the entire field of setting penalties for violations of the controlled substances act pursuant to RCW 69.50.608, the crime of simple possession has been struck down and preemption arguably no longer applies for this type of crime. If the legislature passes a new law addressing the Blake decision, preemption will once again be in effect.

MRSC is a private nonprofit organization serving local governments in Washington State. Eligible government agencies in Washington State may use our free, one-on-one Ask MRSC service to get answers to legal, policy, or financial questions.
Sophie Newman, daughter of Stacey and Burt Newman of St. Louis, and Zach Legenzoff, son of Terri and Kevin Legenzoff of Wildwood, have announced their engagement.

Sophie is the granddaughter of the late Bessie and Marcel Newman of St. Louis, and the late Grace and Jack Harvey of Kansas City, Kan.

Zach is the grandson of Linnie and Curtis Porter of Lees Summit, Mo., and the late Elizabeth and Kenneth Legenzoff, of Erie, Pa.

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Sophie is a Clayton High School graduate who received a bachelors degree in psychology from University of Missouri-Columbia and a masters degree in counseling and guidance from University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is currently a school counselor at Guadalupe Centers Middle School in Kansas City.

Zach is a Lafayette High School graduate who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from University of Missouri-Columbia, and a masters degree in electrical engineering from University of Missouri-Rolla. He is currently an electrical engineer at Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies in Kansas City.

Sophie and Zach first met on a Mizzou spring break trip in Panama City, Florida in March 2013. After taking each other to their spring sorority and fraternity formals, they have been inseparable since.

Zach proposed to Sophie at her middle school with the help of her principal and co-workers. Sophie was told a TV camera crew would be interviewing at school that day to distract her while staff smuggled Zach in and helped him decorate the school gym.

At the end of the day, Sophie thought she was walking into her TV interview in the gym, but found Zach down on one knee with a handmade sign that said, Will You Marry Me?, with photos of them throughout their six years together. Staff hid behind the gym curtain and FaceTimed her parents so they could watch the proposal live. They celebrated that weekend in Kansas City with close family and friends.

A June 2021 wedding is planned.
India and China held another round of military talks on Friday to take forward the disengagement process in the remaining friction points such as Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang in eastern Ladakh, people familiar with the development said.

The 11th round of the Corps Commander-level talks began at around 10:30 am at the Chushul border point on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, they said.

The 10th round of the military dialogue took place on February 20, two days after both militaries concluded the withdrawal of troops and weapons from the North and South banks of the Pangong lake. The talks lasted for around 16 hours.

The Indian delegation at Friday's talks is led by Lieutenant General PGK Menon, the Commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps.

One of the people cited above said India will insist on completing the disengagement process at the remaining friction points at the earliest.

Late last month, Army chief General MM Naravane said the threat to India has only "abated" following the disengagement in the Pangong lake areas, but it has not gone away altogether.

The border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on May 5 last following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the withdrawal of troops and weapons from the North and South banks of the Pangong lake in February, in line with an agreement on disengagement.

India has been insisting that the resolution of the outstanding issues, including at Depsang, Hot Springs and Gogra, is essential for the overall ties between the two countries.
A German museum broke a Guinness World Record by using a model train and nearly 3,000 glasses of water to play 2,840 notes of classical music.

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Frederik Braun, founder of the Miniatur Wunderland museum in Hamburg, said he and his team spent their time during the museum's COVID-19-mandated closure to set up a model train with 2,840 wine glasses filled with varying amounts of water.

Mallets attached to the train strike the glasses as it passes, creating musical notes. The train plays 2,840 notes of classical music, including Johann Strauss's Radetzky March and Ludwig van Beethoven's Fur Elise.

The project's result was a Guinness World Record for the longest melody played by a model train.

"Had there not been a lockdown, we would have thought about the project for a minute and then buried it as impossible," Braun told Guinness officials.
Desperate to return to jobs in Russia, Tajiks face sky-high airfares Russia relies on migrants from the ex-Soviet states of Central Asia to fill jobs as construction workers, street cleaners, farm labourers and delivery people

Tajik workers desperate to return to Russia have been forming long queues at the country's state air ticket agency -- but eye-watering prices are leaving many out in the cold.

There was joy across Tajikistan, a Central Asian state of 9.5 million people, when on April 1 regular flights were resumed with Russia, a country that thousands of Tajiks were forced to leave after job opportunities dried up with the first coronavirus lockdown in March last year.

But the elation was followed by disappointment as affordable tickets were swiftly bought up until mid-summer, leaving Tajiks to choose between extortionate charter flights to Russian cities or months idling at home where jobs are virtually non-existent.

"I came here to buy a ticket to go to Irkutsk, but tickets are expensive," complained Makhmodovud Ismoilov, a 36-year-old who said he had been quoted a price equal to $745 for a one-way charter flight from the capital Dushanbe to the Siberian city.

That is nearly four times what a ticket to the same city cost before the coronavirus pandemic began.

"If I can buy a ticket and go, I will have to work two or three months to pay off this money," Ismoilov said.

With its own population declining, Russia relies on migrants from the ex-Soviet states of Central Asia to fill jobs as construction workers, street cleaners, farm labourers and delivery people.

President Vladimir Putin's press chief Dimitry Peskov said this week that the Russian construction industry "really, really" needs migrant workers at present.

"We need to build more," Peskov said. "And we need those same hands at work in agriculture."

Vadim Kozhenov, head of the Federation of Migrants of Russia, a lobby group that works closely with the Russian government, said Tuesday that up to a million migrants are expected to return "in the near future", but admitted the lack of regular flights with Central Asian cities was a problem.

Story continues

In Tajikistan, there are only two flights weekly from Dushanbe to Moscow, one run by a Tajik carrier, the other by a Russian company.

- 'There is no work here' -

Prices for those tickets have been set at around $350, although in recent days there have been complaints that even these tickets are being repriced upwards.

Many Tajik citizens had put down roots in provincial Russian cities that were ripped up by the sudden chaos the pandemic unleashed.

Karim Zarifi, a 65-year-old welder, told AFP he wanted to return to Vladivostok in Russia's Far East where he worked for 15 years.

But the $840 airfare is out of his price range, he said.

"Where would I find money like that?" Zarifi asked.

Tajikistan is the poorest of the five countries in ex-Soviet Central Asia, a region which sends several million migrants to Russia most years.

Along with neighbouring Kyrgyzstan it is one of the countries in the world most dependent on remittances sent home by migrants working abroad, equivalent to 30 percent of GDP in both countries in 2019.

Kyrgyzstan, as a member of a Russia-led trade bloc called the Eurasian Economic Union, did not face the same interruptions in air services as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, where regular flights also resumed this month.

Kyrgyz migrants also do not have to buy patents to secure work, another cost Tajiks must consider as they invest in newly exorbitant airfares.

But for 39-year-old Abdurauf Kurbonov, queuing at the air ticket agency in Dushanbe, there is simply no option of staying in Tajikistan -- where he has earned around $100 per month as a cameraman for local television in the past.

"In Russia, I can earn 70,000 to 80,000 rubles ($900-$1,000)" per month in haulage, said Kurbonov, who sends part of his salary home to his wife and two children.

"I might sell a cow or a car for this, but what else can I do? There is no work here."

kd-cr/mm/bp
Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is the 2021 World Car Person of the Year.

The honor was bestowed by the World Car Awards jury, a panel of more than 90 distinguished international journalists.

The World Car Awards announced: Akio Toyoda is the charismatic President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation, where he has spent years successfully remaking his company. In 2020, under his leadership, Toyota remained profitable, despite COVID-19, thus protecting jobs worldwide. He has maintained Toyotas steady pace of development for the Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric (CASE) era and has initiated construction of the Woven City, an exciting, real-life prototype city of the future. All while actively participating in motorsports himself, as a driver.

Responding to the World Car Awards, President Toyoda said: On behalf of all 360,000 Toyota Team members around the world, thank you for this tremendous honor. If you dont mind, however, I would like to change this award from car person of the year to car people of the year, because its the collective effort of all our global employees, retailers and suppliers that has truly made Toyota what it is today. And I for one could not be a luckier, or more grateful CEO.

Thanking and recognizing the contributions of the entire automotive industry, he continued: At Toyota we are very fortunate that we were able to protect the employment of our team members during COVID-19 and continue our work to meet the future challenge of our industry. As a company we are committed to creating new ways to support the well-being of our planet and people everywhere.

This has been a difficult period in the history of the world. But it has also reminded us that people are what matters most. And if we at Toyota can contribute some measure of happiness to their lives, it will be my never-ending goal to do just that.

Akio Toyoda joined TMC in 1984, having graduated from Keio University with a degree in law and a masters degree in business administration from Babson College in the USA. After working in many different areas of the business in Japan and overseas, he joined the TMC board of directors in 2000. Subsequently he held further senior and executive vice president roles before becoming TMC President in 2009.

The World Car Person of the Year award was created in 2018 to acknowledge and celebrate an individual who has made a significant contribution to the global automotive industry during the preceding year. It is one of six awards presented annually by the World Car Awards program, established in 2003.
Call for fire: ONR tests virtual training systems for JTACs, fire support marines

ARLINGTON, Va.--The Marine scanned the open field and spotted an enemy tank approaching. Using a handheld tablet, he called for an air strike. A helicopter quickly flew in and launched a rocket, destroying the tank.

Removing his goggles, the Marine saw the field remained peaceful and undisturbed. No burning wreckage. The tank was actually a virtual target overlaid onto the landscape, within the viewing display of the Marine's goggles.

The exercise occurred at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, during a demo of two different Office of Naval Research (ONR)-sponsored training systems. Both systems--JTAC Virtual Trainer (JVT) and 3D Warfighter Augmented Reality (WAR)--are designed to make it easier for Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) and Fire Support Marines to train.

JTACs and Fire Support Marines support infantry forces by observing the ground situation and calling for necessary air, artillery, mortar or naval gun fire.

Their work requires hours of training and practice to stay proficient. However, getting regular practice time is challenging, since JTACs and Fire Support Marines have to book time in large indoor simulators or participate in live-fire exercises involving expensive ordnance and aircraft.

To make training more mobile and convenient, ONR sponsored the development of JVT and 3D WAR. Both systems come in portable kits and are simple to carry. They use sophisticated, video game-style virtual- and augmented-reality software. And they're made with commercially available equipment.

"When you look at live-fire training, nothing will replace that," said Timothy Parker, a Fires subject matter expert supporting ONR's Warfighter Performance Department. "Unfortunately, ordnance is very costly; you have to schedule time in advance; and, in the case of air, it becomes extremely expensive when you add up that any hour flown means at least two hours of maintenance.

"When you look at other simulators, there are fixed-location sites that provide great training," Parker continued. "But they also require scheduling, a building, a staff. With a system like JVT or 3D WAR, units can train any time and place--within diverse virtual scenarios involving multiple targets."

JVT, developed by tech company Virbela, has video game software in a commercial gaming computer. It features a virtual-reality, head-mounted display that allows JTACs to operate in a fully immersive environment. Hand controllers enable users to interact with virtual equipment and tools used for calling various types of strikes.

"ONR has been fantastic," said Matthew Sedgwick, director, Military and Government, Virbela. "They've sponsored this development effort from pretty much the get-go and allowed us to connect with the Marines to get fast feedback on JVT--what they like and what can be improved."

3D WAR, developed by Lockheed Martin and SRI International, uses augmented-reality (AR) technology to enable Fire Support Marines to see virtual targets, such as vehicles and aircraft, amid real-world settings. It comprises an AR backpack; a head-mounted viewing display with goggles; navigation sensors that track location and feed video to the head-mounted display; and a handheld tablet.

"The advantage of 3D WAR is it allows us to train outdoors in an actual environment using virtual fires," said Colin Sullivan, a Lockheed Martin software engineer. "With most other simulations, you're indoors, you're limited by screens and you don't get as much of an immersive experience as being out in an actual field, working as a team."

"The purpose of developing JVT and 3D WAR is to make training more immersive and engaging," said Dr. Peter Squire, a program officer in ONR's Warfighter Performance Department. "Future training systems need to be easily accessible and useable to Marines--and complement the type of activities they perform during live-fire exercises."

###

JVT and 3D WAR will undergo more testing before being distributed into the fleet and force. Learn more about both systems at https:/ / youtu. be/ Bp36MelcjfQ .

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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Two-term Assembly Member Colin Schmitt has been a young man in a hurry for quite a few years. The 30-year-old Republican staged a press conference on his 18th birthday when he registered to vote. He won a seat in the state Legislature on his third try. A late-2019 self-funded trip to the U.S.-Mexico border demonstrates just how far he was willing to go to build a political profile. So does promoting the idea of mass voter fraud in the making  or a little speech he gave to a busload of constituents headed to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6 to protest the 2020 presidential election results. This last move is already complicating the lifelong Hudson Valley natives newly announced challenge against incumbent Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney.

Schmitt said in an interview that he did not discuss the election that morning even though he could hardly be unaware of their little role in former President Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Instead, Schimitt talked about another conspiracy spreading at that time. He declined to directly say whether he believed Joe Biden was the legitimately elected president at the time when he wished his constituents a good trip down to Washington, D.C. Three months later, he says his appearance that morning was no big deal. I have one of the more bipartisan voting records in the state legislature, he said. I'm willing to work with anybody.

Schmitt has established a record in right-wing politics that belies the bipartisan record that he is claiming as launches his challenge against Maloney, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. It is a race with national implications considering his prominence and Democrats slim majority in the U.S. House. And if Schmitt somehow beats the odds and flips the seat, it would say a lot about Republicans ability to win in a left-leaning state despite the ongoing influence of former President Donald Trump over New York Republicans.

Whatever, Schmitt really thinks about the 2020 election  he has called for Jan. 6 insurrectionists to be criminally prosecuted  an April 8 appearance with MAGA star Tucker Carlson demonstrates that reaching diehard Republicans is very much on Schmitts mind as his campaign begins. The former president certainly will continue to have a role in the political process in the Republican Party, Schmitt. He activated a new set of voters. I've seen it. People who are not previously involved in the political process, have been activated and decided to vote, decided to volunteer. Independent and Democratic voters, however, will be key to winning a district that Biden won by nearly five percentage points in 2020. The upcoming round of redistricting suggests the 18th Congressional District could become even more left-leaning once Albany Democrats approve new maps next year.

It is not easy to get things done as a Republican in the state Capitol. Schmitt points to the dozens of bills that he has co-sponsored with Democratic colleagues. That has added a touch of bipartisanship to efforts to lower barriers to HIV treatments, increase tax incentives for organ donations and create a registration system for vintage snowmobiles. Even his political opponents concede that he was key to securing funding for a park in his Assembly district, which covers a good chunk of the Congressional district straddling the Hudson Valley below Poughkeepsie.

Yet, the idea that he got much done as a junior member of the Assembly minority strikes many Democrats as very much exaggerated. In the first year he sponsored the funding for a park in the district ... that's about it, Orange County Democratic Committee Chair Brett Broge said in an interview. While Democratic State Sen. James Skoufis, who Schmitt unsuccessfully challenged in a 2016 Assembly race, has teamed up with Schmitt on a few parochial issues, Skoufis spokesperson Jessica Gulotta said that their shared efforts for constituents only means so much. "If theres one thing that unites most elected Democrats and Republicans in the Hudson Valley, its their inability to effectively work with Assemblyman Schmitt given his total self-interested, self-promoting, megalomaniac dispositions, Gulotta said in a statement.

The odds are indeed stacked against Schmitt. Campaign finance disclosures from the 2020 cycle show he can raise money from construction trades and law enforcement unions. His track record with bail reform shows that he can perform for the cameras. Service as an active member of the National Guard is a pretty solid asset in politics  as is having a reputation as a young go-getter whatever your politics may be. He has a lot of energy, Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay said in an interview. He is passionate and aggressive about representing his district. Barclay pointed to Schmitts advocacy for clean water as one example of how his legislative work has impacted people in an area where that issue is a notorious problem.

Still, the idea that a 30-year-old member of the Assembly is going to take down a nationally known Democrat strikes many as too far-fetched even at a time when many longtime incumbents have fallen to insurgent candidates. Still, Republicans got little to lose by supporting Schmitt, according to Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf. He's the head of the DCCC and if they were able to nail him it would be a big feather in their cap, he said in an interview. It would also get Republicans one seat closer to retaking Congress in the midterm elections, which typically favor the party that is out of the White House. A spokesperson for Maloney did not respond to a request for comment on the race by publication time.

However, Schmitt  despite youthful energy and the lack of any big name challenger for the GOP nomination for Congress  faces one unprecedented problem for a congressional candidate: His association with the Jan. 6 insurrection. Its delusional, Democratic consultant Evan Stavisky said in an interview. That doesn't make him a serious candidate. Voters are too smart to reward someone who aided and abetted people seeking to violently overthrow the government of the United States. But if Schmitt somehow figures out this political equation, how much further might he want to go?

Asked whether Congress was just one more stepping stone to something bigger like the presidency, Schmitt sidestepped the question. Im sure if that ever were to happen it would make my mom very happy, he said.
Nicky Hilton Rothschild tries to be a more conscious shopper.

The socialite - who has designed a sustainable shoe collection with French Soles - does her bit every day by trying to lead a "more sustainable life".

She said: "I try and lead a more sustainable life every day. I consider myself a pretty eco-conscious personIm not perfect, but I try and do my part. Even doing small things: like bringing reusable bags to the market, turning lights off when I leave the room, buying sustainable products."

The Hilton hotels heiress makes sure to read the labels to check the ingredients going into the products she buys and likes to know how they've been made.

She added to The Daily Front Row: "Absolutely! I think now, more than ever, people are shopping with a purpose and theyre really looking at the labels, ingredients, where its made, whats in it, and if its organic. Im always interested in the backstory of a company and interested in learning where its made, whats in it, and whos making it."

Nicky joined forces with her longtime friend Amanda Hearst Rnning - the great-grandaughter of business mogul William Randolph Hearst Sr. - on the French Sole's line, which includes ballet flats made from vegan microfibre.

Nicky said recently : I know that the word sustainable has become such a buzzword, and I made it very clear to French Sole that the shoes were to be 100 percent sustainable, not partially.

During the summer, I live in cotton dresses, silk dresses, cut-off jean shorts, a button down, so I really wanted something easy, fun and comfortable to pair with that."

The footwear is named after influential women in Nicky's life.

She added: When Im designing collections, I always name pieces after women that I admire."
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/09/2021 -- Transparency Market Research (TMR) has published a new report titled, "Lithotripsy Device Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 20182026". According to the report, the global lithotripsy device market was valued at US$ 705.5 Mn in 2017. It is projected expand at a CAGR of 3.8% from 2018 to 2026. Increase in the prevalence of kidney stone and a rise in awareness about kidney health are anticipated to augment the global market between 2018 and 2026.



Lithotripsy is a non-invasive procedure that is utilized to break stones present in various organs such as kidneys, liver or gallbladder, and pancreas. Lithotripsy compromises products such as intracorporeal and extracorporeal lithotripter. Rise in the prevalence of kidney stones and an increase in the awareness of kidney health are key factors that are anticipated to drive the global market for lithotripsy device. Additionally, favorable reimbursement policies are likely to propel the global lithotripsy device market. However, availability of alternatives for stone management is anticipated to restrain the global market. Moreover, the high cost of lithotripsy procedure is a major factor restraining the market.



Request a PDF Brochure - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=19094



The report offers detailed segmentation of the global lithotripsy device market based on product and application. The market has also been segmented based on region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa). Favorable reimbursement policies and an increase in the prevalence of kidney stone are likely to drive the global lithotripsy device market.



Extracorporeal lithotripsy segment to account for leading share, while intracorporeal lithotripter segment to expand significantly



In terms of product, the extracorporeal lithotripsy segment accounted for a leading share of the global market in 2017, and the trend is anticipated to continue during the forecast period. Increase in prevalence of pancreatic, biliary, and ureteral stone cases across the globe is projected to boost the segment during the forecast period. Increase in demand for lithotripsy devices, due to inclination toward minimally invasive procedures, is a key factor that is anticipated to drive the market during the forecast period.



Emerging technologies in laser lithotripsy to propel market



Emerging technologies in lithotripsy are projected to boost the global lithotripsy market during the forecast period. Mosses technology is a new technique of laser lithotripsy that is employed to separate water between laser tip and stone. Lumenis, Moses Holmium technology is a combination of fiber and Holmium laser that is utilized to treat stones present in difficult to reach locations. Dusting technique is used to remove stones without using the basket, while the pop-dusting technique is used to remove multiple stone fragments. Thulium laser is a new technology of laser lithotripsy. Its advantages include smaller fibers, increase in stone ablation, and higher flexibility. RevoLix DUO is a combination of Holmium and Thulium laser, offered by LISA Laser Products GmbH, and is used for urological application for lithotripsy.



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North America to be highly lucrative lithotripsy device market



North America has a large number of lithotripsy products approved for the treatment of various stone diseases. In the U.S., significant increase in prevalence of kidney stone diseases is likely to propel the region's leading share of the global market during the forecast period. Additionally, product launches and approval for lithotripsy devices are anticipated to drive the market in the region.



Product launches by key players and patent approvals to boost market



The report also provides profiles of leading players operating in the global lithotripsy device market. These include Boston Scientific Corporation, Olympus Corporation, C. R. Bard, Inc., (Becton, Dickinson), EDAP TMS, Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Dornier MedTech, Cook, KARL STORZ, Richard Wolf GmbH, and EMS. Launch of new products, focus on development of technologically advanced products by companies, and product approvals are expected to drive the global market during the forecast period. In May 2018, Dornier MedTech launched a new product Dornier Delta III and SmartLitho lithotripter system. In July 2018, Dornier MedTech received approval from Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Agency for the Delta III product in Japan. In April 2018, Olympus Corporation acquired Cybersonics, Inc. for lithotripsy system design and production technology.



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BETHALTO  Two people were taken into custody following a police pursuit that ended in a construction zone.

Information was not available on what prompted a traffic stop by police on a Chrysler 300 just before noon Friday on Illinois 111 at Airline Drive, but the vehicle fled the scene pursued by law enforcement authorities from Roxana, South Roxana, Hartford, Wood River and Bethalto.
Dublin, April 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Baby Care Packaging Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The baby care packaging market was valued at USD 208.75 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 313.75 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 5.5% over the forecast period 2021 - 2026. According to numbers generated by a Harris Poll chartered by the Flexible Packaging Association, 83 % of all brand owners are currently using flexible packaging of some type. This supports the growth of the baby care packaging market which includes pouches, plastics bags, packaging.

According to ALPPM, transparency of the packaging of baby food products is becoming a popular trend. The baby products when packaged in transparent packaging allows the parents to see through and verify what the product looks like before making the purchase and this enhances the trustworthiness of the product.

Further, thin materials with microwaveable characteristics are expected to drive the packaging demand as it caters to parents' requirement for simplifying the baby meals preparation. Growing demand for these materials is expected to steer the sachets and thin plastic containers for baby food over the forecast period. However, environmental concerns about plastic packaging are limiting the market during the forecasted period.

Key Market Trends



Baby Food Industry Offers Potential Growth

The Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) survey of 2,120 consumers, consumers placed a high value on the packaging that is "easy to store," "easy to reseal," and "easy to open." Consumers in the survey also said they are willing to pay more for benefits like "ability to reseal," "ability to extend product life," "easy to store" and "easy to open."

Among the flexible packaging, stand-up pouches with sprouts are becoming very popular for the packaging of baby food. These are lightweight and have very high barrier properties that keep the baby products safe and fresh for longer. Additionally, they offer the ease of squeeze the baby food which avoids wastage of food.

Further, according to the World Bank, the percentage of women in the workforce grew more than 4% in the last decade. As many working mothers return to their jobs shortly after giving birth, prepared baby foods and formulas provide an appealing alternative for working mothers, bridging their desires for healthy, nutritious food with their need for convenience. This creates huge market opportunities for the baby food packaging industry.

Nowadays, even mothers are feeding their babies food from squeezable pouches that eliminate the need for spoons, bowls and even bibs.

With the growth of baby food sales in developing nations like India, it can be inferred that the globally the baby food industry will flourish. The increasing population and rising birth rate are aiding the growth of the baby food market which in return will help in flourishing the baby food packaging industry.

Therefore, the above factors are expected to help in the flourishing of the baby food packaging market.

Asia- Pacific to Witness the Fastest Growth

Asia Pacific region is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period owing to the increased use of packaged baby food products by the urban population. Also with the rising disposable income of people in the emerging economies and their busy lifestyles are also boosting the growth of the baby food packaging market in the Asia Pacific region.

Further, the Government 's initiatives help in increasing awareness among new parents regarding child hygiene also help in the increase of the baby personal care industry. For instance, in January 2019, in one of the Indian states i.e. Maharashtra State Government started distributing baby-care kits to curb infant deaths. Such initiatives create awareness about infant's health among the new parents and thus have a positive impact on the baby care products market. In return, it will create a market for baby care packaging industry as well.

Moreover, in China, the two-child policy which was effective from 2016, created a huge opportunity for child care products. With increasing purchasing power and rise in the number of working women in China, it is expected that child care product market will flourish which in return will create a market for baby care packaging market

Therefore, the above factors are expected to help in the growth of baby care packaging market in the Asia-Pacific region

Competitive Landscape



The baby care packaging market is fragmented and competitive. The companies are entering into the developing regions because of the rise in the purchasing power of the consumers and the increasing lifestyles of the citizens. Some of the key players are Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., Mondi, Sonoco Products Company, Tetra Laval Pvt. Ltd, Amcor Limited.

May 2019 - Sonoco signed a definitive agreement to acquire Corenso Holdings America, a leading U.S. manufacturer of uncoated recycled paperboard (URB) and high-performance cores used in the paper, packaging films, tape, and specialty industries for approximately USD 110 million.

July 2018 - AVON announced the launch of the baby care products like Lavender Baby Wash and Shampoo and Moisturizing Lotion in India. They don't have any harmful chemicals like alcohol, dye, etc. which is not good for the baby.

May 2018 - Johnson & Johnson decided to relaunch its baby- care products. The new products had more natural products and avoided chemicals like sulfates, parabens, phthalates, artificial fragrances which is harmful to the children.

Reasons to Purchase this report:

The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format

3 months of analyst support

Key Topics Covered:



1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Deliverables

1.2 Study Assumptions

1.3 Scope of the Study



2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



4 MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Introduction to Market Drivers and Restraints

4.3 Market Drivers

4.3.1 Attractive and Highly Appealing Display

4.3.2 Innovations in Food & Beverages Packaging

4.4 Market Restraints

4.4.1 Environmental Concerns About Plastic Packaging

4.5 Industry Value Chain Analysis

4.6 Industry Attractiveness - Porter's Five Force Analysis

4.6.1 Threat of New Entrants

4.6.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers/Consumers

4.6.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

4.6.4 Threat of Substitute Products

4.6.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry



5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 By Material

5.1.1 Plastic

5.1.2 Paper

5.1.3 Metal

5.1.4 Glass

5.1.5 Other Materials

5.2 By Product

5.2.1 Bottles

5.2.2 Can

5.2.3 Tube

5.2.4 Pouch

5.2.5 Other Products

5.3 By Application

5.3.1 Food

5.3.2 Apparel

5.3.3 Health and Personal care

5.3.4 Other Applications

5.4 Geography

5.4.1 North America

5.4.1.1 United States

5.4.1.2 Canada

5.4.2 Europe

5.4.2.1 Germany

5.4.2.2 United Kingdom

5.4.2.3 Rest of Europe

5.4.3 Asia-Pacific

5.4.3.1 China

5.4.3.2 Japan

5.4.3.3 India

5.4.3.4 Rest of Asia-Pacific

5.4.4 Latin America

5.4.4.1 Brazil

5.4.4.2 Argentina

5.4.4.3 Rest of Latin America

5.4.5 Middle East & Africa

5.4.5.1 UAE

5.4.5.2 Saudi Arabia

5.4.5.3 South Africa

5.4.5.4 Rest of Middle East & Africa



6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Company Profiles

6.1.1 Amcor PLC

6.1.2 Johnson & Johnson's

6.1.3 Mondi PLC

6.1.4 Nestle SA

6.1.5 Sonoco Product Co.

6.1.6 Tetra Laval Pvt Ltd

6.1.7 Benison (Thailand) Co., Ltd

6.1.8 Ameri-Pac Inc (Wilbur-Ellis Holdings Inc)

6.1.9 Ball Corp. (Rexam PLC)

6.1.10 Winpak Ltd

6.1.11 RPC Group Plc ( Berry Global Group)



7 INVESTMENT ANALYSIS



8 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/y7v74n
Despite Michigan leading the nation in new COVID-19 cases per capita, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Friday that Michigan is not shutting down restaurants again.

But Whitmer and Michigans Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun are strongly discouraging indoor dining  leaving restaurant industry leaders feeling bittersweet.

Infectious disease and public health experts across the country have been quite clear that indoor dining is one of the riskiest things you can do during this pandemic, Khaldun said. And with the numbers that we are seeing now, we simply do not recommend it.

Outdoor dining, takeout and drive-thrus are the best options for now, Khaldun said.

But restaurant leaders dispute theyre the problem. There are 43 active COVID-19 outbreaks in bars and restaurants, far fewer than places like schools, retailers and manufacturing/construction settings. There were 54 restaurant/bar outbreaks in November just before the winter dine-in ban was announced.

We believe her suggested recommendation around indoor dining is misguided and doesnt track with available data, said Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association.

RELATED: Whitmer asks high schools, youth sports to pause for two weeks  but doesnt order it

Whitmers comments Friday is a continuation of the scapegoating of the restaurant industry, Winslow said.

The total number of restaurant/bar outbreaks is likely much higher than the numbers show, Khaldun said, because contact tracing has become more difficult as the numbers escalate.

The status of Michigan

Michigan leads the country with 72 new cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people in the past week  and its not even close. New Jersey has the next most, with 45 cases per 100,000, per the New York Times.

More than 15% of the states hospital beds are filled with COVID-19 patients and some hospitals are starting to cancel elective surgeries again to handle the new surge in virus patients, Khaldun said.

Michigan still has many restrictions in place, like 50% capacity limits at restaurants. But no new mandates were handed down Friday.

It is less of a policy problem that we have and more of a compliance and (COVID-19) variants issue, Whitmer said. Policy change alone wont change the tide. We need everyone to step up and to take personal responsibility here.

Many health experts have criticized Whitmer for not taking action.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Michigan may have eased restrictions too soon and needs to add restrictions to quell the wave of infections.

But the strategy shift has been welcomed by Republicans and business leaders.

For the better part of a year, Republicans have insisted this would be more effective than trying to mandate healthy behaviors, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, tweeted Friday. Im encouraged that the governor seems to have come to this realization as well.

Rich Studley, president and CEO of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, also commended Whitmer on social media for resisting pressure to reimpose a shutdown.

RELATED: Whitmer asks Biden to implement surge strategy, send Michigan more vaccines

The governors office spoke with the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association on Thursday to give a heads up on Fridays news, MLBA Executive Director Scott Ellis said. There were no threats of future shutdowns and he said the communication was encouraging.

Anytime theres no shutdown, its a win, Ellis said.

Ellis isnt concerned about Whitmers announcement causing a drop in demand. Thats already happening, as Ellis has noticed a swift drop in demand in tandem with higher COVID-19 rates.

Many restaurants have closed voluntarily, Ellis said, to give their staff a break and to protect employees and customers.

We need the consumer to feel comfortable, regardless of mandates, Ellis said. Its all about getting consumers to want to come out and employees feeling safe. Thats what were hoping to get to very soon.

That could come sooner than expected, Whitmer hinted Friday. If there are no hiccups in delivery or slowdowns in demand, Michigan could get 70% of its adults vaccinated by mid-May  the mark many health experts have targeted for herd immunity.

There is light at the end of this tunnel, Whitmer said. But the recent rise in cases is a reminder that we are still in the tunnel. The only way out is forward and together.

RELATED STORIES

2020 was a good year for Michigan billionaires  the richest gained $45 billion

$28.6B in stimulus aid for restaurants could run out almost instantaneously, leaders say

Michigans COVID-19 surge is the worst in the nation. Whitmer is focused on vaccines, not restrictions.
After a typhoon in November, the A Luoi hydropower plant was damaged by a landslide, stopping its operations, Photo: Dr. Greg Nagle

Dr. Greg Nagle took several eye-opening photographs during his March 21 trip near the National Road No.49 between A Luoi and Hong Ha areas. I think that this is unusually erosive terrain here, commented Dr. Nagle, adding that most often, the worst erosion comes from logging and roads changing hill slope hydrology.

However, some of the visible erosion in the area could also be the result of deforestation by Agent Orange over 50 years ago, or by bombs as there are also landslides in some areas which were not directly impacted by roads or logging, he added.

Although the war ended nearly half a century ago, the footprints of the war in some of Vietnams areas remain visible today. The rural district of A Luoi was one of the places that saw some of the heaviest fighting and bombing. The area around the infamous Hamburger Hill was the theatre of massive US bombing with the A Luoi valley hit with spray runs with Agent Blue, Agent White, and Agent Orange, as research by David Biggs portrayed.

However, the war is not the only reason for deforestation in Vietnam and wider Southeast Asia, which saw its forest cover fall from 66 to 49 per cent between 1960 and 1990, as research by Rodolphe De Koninck pointed out. As Vietnam was the country that lost most of its forest cover during this period, social and economic consequences for farmers greatly increased as they tried to support their livelihoods.

Other studies have shown that deforestation in Southeast Asia has not occurred because of a single factor, but instead a host of economic and ecological causes.

For instance in 2000, Vietnam started a massive programme around the country to grow hybrid Acacia mangium, an evergreen fast-growing tropical tree which is now one of the countrys main exports for wood for chips and in the manufacturing of furniture, offering a serious cash flow for remote mountain communities. These trees are grown in about five years and are small enough to be mostly harvested and moved by hand in many places, explained Nagle.

However, some scientists have pointed out that inappropriate management practices can cause soil erosion in the area. A number of current practices have the potential to degrade these sites in several ways, said Sadanandan E.K. Nambiar from the The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in a paper with two other scientists. They also argued that a number of current practices have the potential to degrade these sites in several ways.

After harvest, tops and branches may be removed for fuel and the remaining biomass burned, which exposes the soil. Together with bulldozing and windrowing operations, the bare soil surface is exposed to rains, leading to serious soil erosion.

Nagle explained, Some of what we are seeing here is serious soil damage with a loss in long-term productivity. Forestry cannot be sustained with such damage, he added. This is some of the worst forestry-related erosion I have ever seen anywhere in the world, although there were places as bad as this on very erosive soils in the Redwood region of northern California which were logged in the 1950s-1970s.

Although there is a multitude of reasons for the areas soil erosion and not a single action or entity to blame for, the pictures taken a fortnight ago show that the soil condition poses serious challenges to the local populace and economy.

Local media reported last October and November that several national highways in Central Vietnam were ravaged by landslides, which also destroyed parts of the National Road No.49 running through Thua Thien-Hue.

In an interview in November, Trinh Xuan Hoa, deputy head of the Vietnam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, argued that deforestation and construction projects among many other factors were the cause of the landslides in the region. Human activities including deforestation and road construction have hastened geological changes in the area, he explained.
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 09.04.21:

The situation has escalated in Armenia over the POWs issue.

There were reports that POWs should have arrived to Armenia on Thursday. The PMs spokesperson has confirmed the reports. The relatives gathered near the airport waiting for their sons, however, the plane has landed empty.

A reporter from Armenias Hraparak.am on Friday spoke in Yerevan with Rustam Muradov, commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent that is stationed in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict zone to monitor the ceasefire there. Muradov noted that It was a false provocation. They are misleading the population.

According to Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan's office, their return has been postponed since Azerbaijan isnt implementing the trilateral statement signed on November 9, 2020. "The Russia-brokered talks continue," he added.

The relatives of the captive Armenians on Friday morning blocked the Yerevan-Gyumri motorway at an intersection in Shirak Province of Armenia.

They demand from the authorities a clear answer as to why the POWs did not return to Armenia.

Demanding a meeting with the Armenian defense minister, the protesters also joined the relatives of the missing servicemen who were protesting since Thursday near the Armenian defense ministry building. They have closed all the enters since Thursday so some of the employees could not get out of the building. Footage has also been shared capturing how some defense ministry employees were being taken from the defense ministry building by helicopter as the protesters have closed all the entrances.

Today, at some point, the relatives of the missing servicemen started pulling the gates of the MOD grounds, and a light scuffle ensued between them and the police.

Later Chief of Police Vahe Ghazaryan approached the relatives of the missing servicemen who blocked the entrances of the defense ministry building demanding to meet the defense minister.

The father of the missing soldier later told reporters that the police chief offered them to hold talks - but in separate groups, 10 people each time. They rejected the proposal, demanding to have a meeting altogether.

Remains of 7 Armenian servicemen have been found in Jrakan (Jabrayil) in Nagorno-Karabakh [Artsakh]. And remains of 2 have been transferred by Azerbaijanis.

A forensic medical examination will be designated to identify the Armenian servicemen.

Since November 13, 2020, the remains of a total of 1,539 servicemen have been found or transferred by Azerbaijan.

Members of the US House of Representatives have begun collecting signatures under a bipartisan letter urging President Joe Biden to join the Congress in recognizing the Armenian Genocide clearly and directly in his April 24 statement.

Earlier, 38 US senators also called on Biden to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

And in 2019, both houses of the US Congress had passed resolutions on recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

As of Friday morning, 1,029 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 201,158 in the country.

Also, 22 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 3,697 cases.

The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 1,117, the total respective number so far is 180,160.

Hirair Hovnanian, the renowned American Armenian entrepreneur, philanthropist, and member of the Board of Trustees of the Hayastan All Armenian Fund, has died at the age of 91.

Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, has passed away aged 99.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed information about the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said that His Royal Highness passes away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.
[April 09, 2021] PEMCO Mutual Insurance Welcomes New Director, Data Governance

PEMCO Mutual Insurance recently welcomed Arif Arain as its new Director, Data Governance. Arain joins the Seattle-based insurer with a wealth of experience in Data Governance, Data Management, Data Warehousing and solutions in other data related disciplines, developed and delivered throughout his career successfully, leading teams in the Insurance, Investments and Banking sectors. As PEMCO's Director, Data Governance, Arain and his team will collaborate with other teams in Information Technology and the Business to create a new Data Governance discipline, establishing a foundation for robust data provisioning, information delivery and data quality management. As part of this work, Arain's team will provide the forum for PEMCO's business areas to monitor data quality, take ownership of data definitions and establish processes, procedures, controls and practices that improves the organization's reporting and business decision making capabilities. "Arif is a proven leader in the data management domain and his experience delivering and managing complex business and technology solutions involving data makes him an incredibly valuable asset to our PEMCO team," said Chris Purcell, vice president and chief information officer at PEMCO Insurance. "Ari's strong tech background, industry experience and leadership will help bring the right people together throughout the organization to make the right decisions about the information that matters to PEMCO."



Prior to joining PEMCO, Arain led Data Governance and Information Management initiatives for highly regulated institutions, including Allstate Investments, SunTrust Bank, Key Bank and others, where he created core Data Management related functions including Data Governance, Data Warehousing, Business Stewardship, Data Quality Management, Data Controls and Policies and Functional Lineage standards etc. Arain hails from the Chicago area and is excited to explore all the Pacific Northwest has to offer. In the coming weeks, he is looking forward to understanding, evaluating and refining business capabilities across PEMCO as part of its company-wide Data Governance program implementation.

To learn more about PEMCO Insurance, please visit www.pemco.com. About PEMCO Mutual Insurance PEMCO Mutual Insurance is the Defender of Your Northwest, providing auto, home, renters and boat coverage. We are consistently recognized for outstanding service, employee expertise and social impact. Our Mutual Good programs raise the achievement levels for youth in education; build stronger, greener environments; and increase safety at home, on the road and at play. Our mission: Free our communities to worry less and live more. To learn more, visit www.pemco.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005060/en/

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Having a hard time getting a vaccine appointment in Connecticut? Go to Kentucky. Or Oklahoma.

Officials in those states and others say that people who were excited to be vaccinated have already done so. Now the hard work begins of trying to convince people who may be more hesitant.

Here's a quick rundown of a few states in which there are far more doses than there are people who want to get vaccinated.
The former president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan said in his interview to Vladimir Pozner that the biggest threat for Armenia came from Turkey. Vestnik Kavkaza talked to Turkish political scientist and economist Aydin Sezer about a reaction of Turkey to such nationalist statements by Armenian politicians and prospects of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.

- Do you think that Robert Kocharyans statements about Turkeys threat to Armenia have grounds?

- During his presidency in 1998-2008 in Armenia, unlike his predecessor Levon Ter-Petrosyan and his successor Serzh Sargsyan who implemented a relatively soft policy toward Turkey, Kocharyan followed a stricter position. Kocharyan pursues the policy of classic hostility. He is close to Russia however Russia wants peace in the South Caucasus. Kocharyan must review his hostile views on Turkey.

- Can the Armenian-Turkish relations normalize while nationalist elements are becoming popular in Armenia again?

- Of course, they cant. Unfortunately, due to influence of the Diaspora and nationalists, many citizens of Armenia perceive their ethnic identity through hostility toward Turkey. Today, we can see attempts to preserve the dangerous tendency in the Armenian society. Due to this hostility, many have built their political career in Armenia; and it is the biggest obstacle on the way toward peaceful relations with Turkey. However, I would like to say that such radical nationalist movements are typical not only for Armenia. Turkey also has elements similar to Kocharyan, who are not happy with opening of the border with Armenia and dont want peace.

- What prospects for Armenia do you see today?

- There is a good opportunity to build peace in the region after the Second Karabakh War. Turkey broke up with Armenia because its army occupied Azerbaijans districts. Now, the problem is out of agenda. I think if relations are going to improve today, Turkey can greatly contribute to solving problems in the South Caucasus, including Nagorno-Karabakh. Probably, Turkey will be the major guarantor of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Robert Kocharyan worries about the fact that Turkey allegedly wants to turn Armenia into Adjaria [which is Turkeys colony, according to the former president]. Its a primitive approach.

- What can be benefits for Yerevan from opening of Nakhichevan transport corridor?

- For sure, opening of Nakhichevan-Azerbaijan corridor will be an important event for all countries of the region. At the moment, these processes will be under control of Russia but in case of normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations necessity of Russian control over the corridor will decline. Its interesting that about 60 thousand citizens of Armenia illegally seek for a way to work in Turkey. Thus, economically, Armenia needs the corridor and peace more than Turkey.
APPROX 800 METERS DRILLED

VISIBLE GOLD INTERSECTED IN HOLE 4

MULTIPLE TARGETTED ZONES INTERSECTED

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - PORTOFINO RESOURCES INC. (TSXV: POR) (OTCQB: PFFOF) (FSE: POTA) ("Portofino" or the "Company") is pleased to report that a total of 798 meters ("m") of diamond drilling has been completed through four (4) holes on it's Gold Creek Project located 65 kilometers ("km") west of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

The Phase 1 drill program tested targets at the 'New Road Zone' and 'S1 Zone' where 2020 fall sampling programs confirmed the presence of anomalous to high grade gold in grab samples. Two holes were completed at each zone. Drill hole statistics are presented in Table 1. All intervals reported are downhole.

"We are very pleased to have completed our initial drill program on the Gold Creek Property and are excited about the overall results of this program, notwithstanding the intersection of visible gold in hole 4," said David Tafel, CEO of Portofino. "Our field team and drilling crew worked extremely quickly and efficiently. Due to unseasonably warm temperatures and resulting early spring breakup, the program was limited to 4 holes. Our crew will revisit Gold Creek subsequent to receipt of core assay results as we have a number of additional drill targets to test once the ground conditions dry up."

Hole GC-2021-01 was drilled at the 'New Road Zone'. It was designed to target the 2020 surface grab sample of 4.07 grams/tonne ("g/t") Au, investigate the Crayfish Creek Fault zone with an historical grab sample of 6.51 g/t Au, target the anomaly outlined in a 2007 IP survey and investigate the nature and significance of a high magnetic feature. The New Road Zone was intersected from 27.53m to 47.14m (19.61m), consisting of gabbro to diorite bleached with potassic alteration and silicification, containing 0.5-3% blebby pyrite overall with minor quartz stringers. Schistose mafic volcanics were intersected at the Crayfish Creek Fault Zone. The hole ended in iron formation explaining the high magnetic signature.

Hole GC-2021-02 was also drilled at the 'New Road Zone'. This hole was field fitted and redesigned to intersect altered felsic intrusive uncovered while making the drill road, investigate the Crayfish Creek Fault zone with an historical grab sample of 6.51 g/t Au, target the 2020 surface grab sample of 4.07 g/t Au and investigate the anomaly from the 2007 IP survey. A wide hematized feldspar porphyry dyke was intersected from 26.65m to 37.74m (11.09m), with minor pyrite and quartz stringers. Locally strongly bleached gabbro was intersected from 55.2m to 62.7m (7.5m), with 0.5-1% pyrite overall, locally up to 3-4%. The Road Zone gabbro/diorite was intersected from 131.64 to 153m (21.36m), with 0.5-3% blebby pyrite and locally strong bleaching. From 190.77 to 217.79m (27.02m) a broad zone of moderately to strongly silicified metasediments (including conglomerate from 208.51m onwards) was intersected, containing locally up to 2-3% pyrite with ~0.5-1% overall, as well as minor quartz veining with pyrite.

Hole GC-2021-03 was drilled at the S1 Zone. It was designed to target an historical grab sample of 55 g/t Au and a grab sample from the 2020 fall sampling program which assayed 5.12 g/t Au collected from a quartz monzonite with quartz veining and disseminated pyrite. This hole intersected a series of mineralized, bleached and silicified intermediate dykes with variable quartz veining up to 60cm wide and 0.5-1% pyrite overall with 2-3% locally. The dykes were intersected from 30.65m to 33.41m (2.76m), 37.4m to 39.3m (1.9m), and 44.05m to 49.6m (5.55m). Trace galena was noted in the quartz veining.

Hole GC-2021-04 was also drilled at the S1 Zone. It was designed to target an historical grab sample of 175 g/t Au and a grab sample from the 2020 fall sampling program which assayed 1.13 g/t Au collected from a quartz monzonite with quartz veining and disseminated pyrite. A strongly bleached (potassic alteration and silicification) intermediate dyke with moderate quartz veining and 0.5 to 2% blebby to disseminated pyrite with trace galena and chalcopyrite was intersected from 74.47m to 80.43m (5.96m) (Photo 1) within a mafic tuff unit. A few fine grains of visible gold were noted in the quartz veining.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3751/79871_f6eaf2abb4ae29af_001full.jpg

Photo 1. Bleached and quartz-veined intermediate dyke with fine to coarse pyrite in drill hole GC-2021-04 from 74.47m to 80.43m (5.96m).

Multiple quartz-veined, hematitic quartz monzonite intrusive intervals with disseminated pyrite were encountered in the drilling characteristically similar to those historical zones recently mapped and sampled. Further intersections of bleached gabbro with blebby and disseminated pyrite were intersected proximal to the Crayfish Creek Fault. The widespread deformation and mineralization support our belief that the Crayfish Creek Fault is a prominent yet poorly explored crustal scale feature intimately associated with gold mineralization in this area.







Table 1. Hole summary of the Phase 1 drilling program at the Gold Creek Property.

To view an enhanced version of Table 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3751/79871_table1.jpg

The selected samples referenced above are surface grab samples and are not necessarily representative of the true grade of mineralization on the Property.

Logging and sampling of the drill core has been completed and core samples have been submitted to AGAT Laboratories in Thunder Bay, Ontario for analysis. Results will be reported as they are received.

Qualified Person

Mike Kilbourne, P. Geo, an independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of the Company.

About Portofino Resources Inc.

Portofino is a Vancouver-based Canadian company focused on exploring and developing mineral resource projects in the Americas. Its South of Otter and Bruce Lake projects are in the historic gold mining district of Red Lake, Ontario, Canada proximal to the high-grade Dixie gold project owned by Great Bear Resources Ltd. In addition, Portofino holds three other northwestern Ontario gold projects; the Gold Creek property located immediately south of the historic Shebandowan Nickel-Copper mine, as well as the Sapawe West and Melema West properties located in the rapidly developing Atikokan gold mining camp.

The Company also holds the right to a 100% interest in the Yergo lithium salar property located within the world-renowned "Lithium Triangle" in Argentina.

For further information on the Company, its projects and its management please visit our website:

https://www.portofinoresources.com/

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"David G. Tafel"

Chief Executive Officer

For Further Information Contact:

David Tafel CEO,

Director 604-683-1991

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 may contain forward looking statements concerning future operations of Portofino Resources Inc. (the "Company"). All forward- looking statements concerning the Company's future plans and operations, including management's assessment of the Company's project expectations or beliefs may be subject to certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual performance and exploration and financial results may differ materially from any estimates or projections.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/79871
Weve suffered from Zoom fatigue. Weve hit the pandemic wall.

And now, many Canadians are grappling with a new COVID-19 co-morbidity: vaccine envy.

Over the past few days, there has been no shortage of stories about how Canadians are turning various shades of green as we watch our neighbours to the south quickly and efficiently get injections while most of us continue to wait.

Perhaps its the stunning comefrombehind pandemic response story currently playing out across America thats tugging on our sense of fairness.

Tom Petty knew whats up; waiting "is" the hardest part. And it feels a bit like weve all been sequestered in the worlds most glacially paced waiting room, with nary a 10-year-old Canadian Living to flip through. According to Manitobas vaccine queue calculator, there are 347,536 people in front of me if 70 per cent of qualified people get vaccinated.

But perhaps its the stunning come-from-behind pandemic response story currently playing out across America thats tugging on our sense of fairness. After all, as Tracey Lindeman points out in The Atlantic, Canadians have been good. Weve been compliant. Weve worn the masks and weve stayed apart and weve stayed home.

"And what do we get?" she writes. "Per capita vaccination numbers lagging behind those of 50 other countries, including Brazil, Chile, Turkey and much of Europe, according to Johns Hopkins Universitys immunization tracker."

Well, when you put it that way...

Canada is now in a race against the variants of concern taking hold in this country  a race we cannot possibly expect to win if we dont start running faster.

Manitobas sluggish vaccine rollout has been frustrating, to put it mildly. Just over the border in North Dakota  the state that only a few months ago had the worst per-capita COVID-19 morbidity numbers in the world  35 per cent of the population now has had at least one shot, and 23 per cent are fully vaccinated. North Dakota has used 87 per cent of its vaccines. Manitobas usage rate is about 58 per cent.

Canadians tend to be a smug lot. Online, whenever an American woman shares her hospital bill after giving birth, some Canadian will inevitably burst in there like the Kool-Aid Man to say, "I only paid for parking." We share footage of a raccoon stealing a cruller in a Tim Hortons and caption it "meanwhile in Canada..." as if to say, look how quaint. Look how pure. Look how good. Look how much better we are.

The late, great Robin Williams once said Canada was like "a really nice apartment above a meth lab." Are we upset that the proverbial meth lab is cleaning up its act  or, at least, polishing up the beakers a little? Or, are we upset that we have absolutely nothing to be smug about when it comes to the vaccine rollout in this country? We are not exactly the envy of the world on this file.

Canada is now in a race against the variants of concern taking hold in this country  a race we cannot possibly expect to win if we dont start running faster. Things change quickly in a pandemic; Manitoba was the envy of the country once, remember. Everyone looked on our blissful patio selfies with seething jealousy last summer. And then a second wave came crashing down on us.

And lets remember that while its difficult to resist making comparisons between Canada and the U.S., we are different countries with different resources.

Some tips for dealing with low-grade vaccine envy  or its pithier cousin, jab jealousy: lets resist the temptation to look at a vaccine as a reward for good behaviour, or something one "deserves." Lets instead try to be happy for a nation that was absolutely rocked by a raging virus and finally did what the rest of the world has been imploring it to do all along: respond. And lets remember that while its difficult to resist making comparisons between Canada and the U.S., we are different countries with different resources. Vaccines are getting into arms here  but we need to pick up the pace.

Besides, a vaccine is a bit of a passport to nowhere, at least for now. As Globe and Mail columnist Ian Brown put it: "What you can do, after you have been vaccinated  besides not die of COVID, and hang out with other vaccinatees  is this: You can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household (that is, who all live together) without a mask, unless someones at risk for severe illness. Thats the big thrill that awaits us in the medium term."

Waiting ones turn is never easy  especially when it feels as though it will never, ever come.

But it will. And so, we wait.

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @JenZoratti
Update Friday: Motorcyclist in crash in Clay has died.

Original report:

Clay, N.Y.  A man suffered life-threatening injuries Thursday night after a motorcycle he was riding collided with a car on Morgan Road in Clay, according to the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office.

Deputies and rescue crews responded to the accident at about 6:10 p.m. in the southbound lanes of Morgan Road, deputies said.

A man driving a Saturn SUV was attempting to make a left turn from the northbound lane of Morgan Road onto Avon Parkway when the two vehicles collided, deputies said.

The motorcyclist was taken to Upstate University Hospital, deputies said. The man driving the SUV was also taken to Upstate University Hospital with minor injuries, deputies said.

The two men were not immediately identified by deputies.

Staff writer James McClendon covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach him at 914-204-2815 or jmcclendon@syracuse.com.
MOSCOW - A trio of Russian and American space travellers launched successfully and reached the International Space Station on Friday.

In this image provided by NASA, from left, U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, members of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS), attend a news conference in the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, April 8, 2021. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP

MOSCOW - A trio of Russian and American space travellers launched successfully and reached the International Space Station on Friday.

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov blasted off as scheduled at 12:42 p.m. (0742 GMT, 3:42 a.m. EDT) aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.

In this image provided by NASA, a fox walks around the Soyuz rocket launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad, Thursday, April 8, 2021 in Kazakhstan. Astronaut Mark Vande Hei and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitskiy are scheduled to launch aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft Friday, to rendezvous with the International Space Station. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)

They docked at the station after a two-orbit journey that lasted just over three hours.

It is the second space mission for Vande Hei and the third for Novitskiy, while Dubrov is on his first mission.

The launch came three days before the 60th anniversary of the first human flight to space by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and the 40th anniversary of the first launch of NASAs space shuttle.

In this photo released by the Roscosmos Space Agency, from left, U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, members of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS), waves near a bus with portraits of the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin prior to the launch at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Friday, April 9, 2021. A Russian-U.S. trio of space travelers have launched successfully, heading for the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov blasted off as scheduled at 12:42 p.m. (0742 GMT, 3:42 a.m. EDT) Friday aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. (Roscosmos Space Agency via AP)

"When we started, we were competing with each other and that was one of the reasons we were so successful at the beginning of human space flight," Vande Hei said at a pre-flight news conference Thursday. "And as time went on, we realized that by working together we can achieve even more. And of course, thats continuing to this day and I hope that it will continue into the future."

The three will work on hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science.

On the International Space Station, they are joining NASAs Kate Rubins, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, Russians Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

Rubins, Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov arrived in a Soyuz ship in October; Hopkins, Glover, Walker and Noguchi  the crew of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience  joined them in November.
(JNS)  Iran announced this week that the severe economic sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump will force it to close the long-running Bushehr nuclear power plant, which produces electricity. The official explanation noted U.S. banking restrictions, which have made it difficult for Iran to transfer money and procure necessary equipment from Russian suppliers.

Under normal circumstances, this announcement, which is essentially Tehrans first public admission of the efficacy of U.S. sanctions, should have made officials in Washington happy. Indeed, if the Iranians are a...
They (Naxals) treated me well when I was in their custody, said Manhas.  ANI

Raipur: The CRPFs CoBRA commando Rakeshwar Singh Manhas walked free on Thursday evening after spending five days in Maoists' custody.

The jawan of 210 CoBRA battalion who was abducted by Maoists after the April 3 Naxal ambush on security forces in Terram on Sukma-Bijapur border in Chhattisgarhs south Bastar region was handed over to a four-member emissary team, constituted by the Chhattisgarh government to negotiate his release, at an undisclosed location.

The jawan, with his hands tied, was produced before a "jan adalat" or kangaroo court of Maoists in the presence of scores of armed rebels, local villagers and mediapersons before being set free at 4 pm.

The jawan has been released by Maoists. He has reached Basaguda camp (of CRPF), Bijapur district superintendent of police Kamal Lochan Kashyap said.

He was scheduled to be flown to Raipur after his medical checkup, police said.

As soon as we learnt that the jawan was held hostage by Maoists, we contacted eminent people in the region, social activists and mediapersons to secure his release from Maoist custody, Mr Kashyap said.

Earlier in the morning, the four-member interlocutor team headed by Padma Shri Dharam Pal Jain left for an undisclosed location in the forest on Sukma-Bijapur border to negotiate the release of the jawan with the Maoists.

I was contacted by the government to become an interlocutor to negotiate release of the jawan. I left for the appointed place in the morning along with other members of the team and some media persons to secure release of the jawan. I am happy that Naxals kept their promise to release the jawan if approached by government-appointed emissaries, Mr Jain said.

The other members of the emissary team were local tribal community leader Telam Boraiya, retired teacher Rudra Kere and sarpanch of Surkunda panchayat in Bijapur district, Rukmni Ekka.

With relief writ large on his face, the jawan after his release told reporters, They (Naxals) treated me well when I was in their custody.

As soon as he was handed over to the emissaries Mr Manhas contacted his family members in Jammu through the cell phone of a journalist present and informed them that he had been set free and was coming home very soon, a journalist who accompanied the delegation told this newspaper from the spot.

Sources disclosed to this newspaper that the jawan was spotted by local villagers after the April 3 encounter who handed him to the Maoists.

Maoists had grilled him to extract information on the strength of the security forces deployed in the region and the kinds of weapons they use, sources said.

Maoist guerillas led by commander of PLGAs battalion number one Madvi Hidma ambushed a search party of security personnel in Terram area on April 3 killing 22 jawans and injuring 31 others.
SILVER SPRING, Md., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized marketing of the GI Genius, the first device that uses artificial intelligence (AI) based on machine learning to assist clinicians in detecting lesions (such as polyps or suspected tumors) in the colon in real time during a colonoscopy.

"Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform health care to better assist health care providers and improve patient care. When AI is combined with traditional screenings or surveillance methods, it could help find problems early on, when they may be easier to treat," said Courtney H. Lias, Ph.D. acting director of the GastroRenal, ObGyn, General Hospital and Urology Devices Office in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. "Studies show that during colorectal cancer screenings, missed lesions can be a problem even for well-trained clinicians. With the FDA's authorization of this device today, clinicians now have a tool that could help improve their ability to detect gastrointestinal lesions they may have missed otherwise."

According to the National Institutes of Health, colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. Colorectal cancer usually starts from polyps or other precancerous growths in the rectum or the colon (large intestine). As part of a colorectal cancer screening and surveillance plan, clinicians perform colonoscopies to detect changes or abnormalities in the lining of the colon and rectum. A colonoscopy involves threading an endoscope (thin, flexible tube with a camera at the end), through the rectum and throughout the entire length of the colon, allowing a clinician to see signs of cancer or precancerous lesions.

The GI Genius is composed of hardware and software designed to highlight portions of the colon where the device detects a potential lesion. The software uses artificial intelligence algorithm techniques to identify regions of interest. During a colonoscopy, the GI Genius system generates markers, which look like green squares and are accompanied by a short, low-volume sound, and superimposes them on the video from the endoscope camera when it identifies a potential lesion. These signs signal to the clinician that further assessment may be needed, such as a closer visual inspection, tissue sampling, testing or removal, or ablation of (burning) the lesion. The GI Genius is designed to be compatible with many FDA-cleared standard video endoscopy systems.

The FDA assessed the safety and effectiveness of the GI Genius through a multicenter, prospective, randomized, controlled study in Italy with 700 subjects 40-80 years old who were undergoing a colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening, surveillance, positive results from a previous fecal immunochemical (fecal occult blood) test for blood in the stool or gastrointestinal symptoms of possible colorectal cancer. The primary analyses from the study were based on a sub-population of 263 patients who were being screened or surveilled every 3 years or more. Study subjects underwent either white light standard colonoscopy with the GI Genius (136 patients) or standard white light colonoscopy alone (127 patients).

The primary endpoint of the study compared how often colonoscopy plus GI Genius identified a patient with at least one lab-confirmed adenoma (precancerous tumor) or carcinoma (cancerous tumor) to how often standard colonoscopy made the same identifications. In the study, colonoscopy plus GI Genius was able to identify lab-confirmed adenomas or carcinomas in 55.1% of patients compared to identifying them in 42.0% of patients with standard colonoscopy, an observed difference of 13%.

While use of this device led to more biopsies being performed, there were no adverse events reported with the additional biopsies, such as perforations, infections or bleeding. However, there was a slight increase in the number of lesions biopsied that were not adenomas.

The GI Genius is not intended to characterize or classify a lesion, nor to replace lab sampling as a means of diagnosis. The device does not provide any diagnostic assessments of colorectal polyp pathology, nor does it suggest to the clinician how to manage suspicious polyps. GI Genius only identifies regions of the colon within the endoscope's field of view where a colorectal polyp might be located, allowing for a more extended examination in real time during colonoscopy. It is up to the clinician to decide whether the identified region actually contains a suspected lesion, and how the lesion should be managed and processed per standard clinical practice and guidelines.

The FDA reviewed the GI Genius through the De Novo premarket review pathway, a regulatory pathway for some low- to moderate-risk devices that are novel and for which there is no legally marketed predicate device to which the device can claim substantial equivalence.

The FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health's Digital Health Center of Excellence is looking to the future of AI-based technology, including in its Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML)-Based Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) Action Plan.

The FDA granted marketing authorization of the GI Genius to Cosmo Artificial Intelligence, Ltd.

Additional Resources:

Media Contact: Alison Hunt, 202-308-5496

Consumer Inquiries: Email or 888-INFO-FDA

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation's food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

SOURCE U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Related Links

http://www.fda.gov


The Bank of Russia presented a new concept for the digital ruble, a central bank digital currency the regulator has been contemplating since late last year, at a press conference on Thursday.

A prototype of the digital ruble will be created by this December, said Bank of Russia First Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova. The regulator also published a fresh report on the current state and future plans for the project.

The digital ruble will live in a hybrid technological platform combining distributed ledger technology (DLT) and centralized control by the Bank of Russia. The regulator hasnt picked any particular DLT platform yet, Skorobogatova said, adding that the Bank of Russia will likely use open-source code to build its own proprietary product.

Related: Asian Markets Lead Trends in Crypto, DeFi

In 2022, the Bank of Russia will draft the necessary regulatory norms for integrating its version of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) into Russias financial system, as well as pilot the prototype with banks and other financial institutions, according to the report.

Weve been looking at many projects, and many would like to say they have a ready-to-use product, but [they dont] work for the digital ruble, Skorobogatova said.

One thing is clear: The Bank of Russia wants smart contracts on its platform to allow users to program settlement of their transactions based on certain conditions, according to the report.

The updated CBDC concept, following the first analytical report published in October, is based on feedback the Bank of Russia received over the autumn and winter of 2020. Most significantly, the regulator chose to give commercial banks a more important place in the CBDC architecture.

Role of banks

Related: New DeFi Tool to Help Governments Spot Crypto Wallet Addresses on Their Watchlists

In a two-tier model similar to the concept of the digital yuan, the Bank of Russia will open digital wallets for commercial banks and give them digital rubles in exchange for the money they keep on their corresponding accounts with the regulator.

Story continues

The banks, in turn, will open wallets for their clients. Bank of Russia will provide its own platform for the digital ruble, which the banks will be able to build into their own digital banking apps, the report says.

Unlike bank deposits, digital ruble accounts will not earn interest but there is a security bonus: If a bank goes bankrupt, all digital ruble accounts it opened will still be available to users via other financial institutions participating in the network, the report says.

Read also: Bank of Russia Chair: Digital Ruble Is No Threat to Banks

Another notable point is that person-to-person money transfers in digital rubles will be free of commissions while the payments to vendors of goods and services will incur commission fees. The rules and tariffs will be established by the Bank of Russia, Skorobogatova said.

Previously, the central bank considered a more centralized version of the digital ruble, where the regulator would be managing the entire system itself. That version worried banks that thought they would have to compete against the regulator for peoples deposits. After consultations, the Bank of Russia reconsidered the role of banks in the project.

Offline goals

The Bank of Russia is determined to make digital ruble payments available offline. Although, Skorobogatova claimed, there are currently no known technologies in the world that could support an offline mode for a project like the digital ruble, the Bank of Russia believes a way can be found.

For offline transactions, users will need to open a second digital wallet on their mobile devices and transfer digital rubles from their online wallet to the offline one. Users will be able to transfer funds offline between their devices using technologies like Bluetooth and near-field communication (NFC), the report said.

The Bank of Russia is also planning to allow the restoration of lost funds in offline wallets in case the device gets lost. Its not yet clear how such a feature for the CBDC will be implemented technologically.

Financial institutions that sent their feedback on the digital ruble concept to the Bank of Russia also supported the idea of an offline mode, Skorobogatova said. However, considering the risks of such a novel idea, the respondents suggested limiting offline transactions in size and time of execution.

Read also: Digital Ruble Can Help Track Government Spending, Bank of Russia Says

One of the key risks of the digital ruble that concerned the banks is a potential outflow of liquidity from banks if people start pulling their money from bank accounts and putting them into digital ruble wallets. The Bank of Russia might need to limit the size of such operations to prevent a shock for the market, said Deputy Chairman Alexei Zabotkin during the press conference.

Skorobogatova said the digital ruble is a mega-project for Russia, and the Bank of Russia believes that now is the right time to start the project. The final decision on when the digital ruble will be launched, however, will be made after the piloting work is done.

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Protesters gather outside of the Georgia State Capitol to protest HB 531, which would place tougher restrictions on voting in Georgia, (Photo : REUTERS/Dustin Chambers/File Photo)

Airlines are bracing for challenges to tax breaks they receive from U.S. states as a result of wading in to a political debate over voting rights, rekindling a domestic tug of war between politics and profits.



A Republican backlash faced by Delta Air Lines in its home state of Georgia after it called new restrictions unacceptable is spreading to Texas as some corporations clash with Republican lawmakers there.



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Democrats say the tighter regulations are undemocratic and will hurt Black voters in particular.



American Airlines and United Airlines have spoken out against measures that restrict voting access, sparking a furious response from Republicans who say the bills counter fraud.



After Delta blasted Georgia's Republican-backed voting bill last week, some lawmakers attempted to end its jet-fuel tax breaks.



Now airlines are concerned that tax breaks that allow them to reduce fuel costs could be singled out by lawmakers in Texas in retaliation for opposition to new voting laws, people familiar with their thinking said.



"We have an eye on that as a possibility and I think it goes without saying that we wouldn't like that," one person said, asking not to be identified.



On Tuesday, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick ripped companies for opposing the bill and accused American's chief executive of failing to read it, something the airline denied.



The clashes shed new light on the reliance of some U.S. carriers on state tax breaks to shave their fuel costs, airlines' second-largest expense after labor and one that weighs on razor-thin profit margins.



"There's one thing that you consume a lot of in the airline business and that is fuel," said U.S. airline analyst Bob Mann.



"So they spend a lot of time trying to avoid taxation or eliminate taxation where they can. It's a competitive weapon."



Airport and fuel costs can influence airlines' decisions on where to add flights, and most states "really want more air service, not less," an executive at a small U.S. airline said.



RECURRING THREATS



It is not the first time airlines have seen tax breaks fall under the microscope after they became involved in political topics.



In 2018, Georgia temporarily struck down a tax exemption after Delta ended its relationship with the National Rifle Association following a school shooting in Parkland, Florida.



The exemption would have saved Delta $40 million a year, a small sum compared with its $9 billion total fuel bill but enough to impact marginal routes. Eventually it won the tax break.



Delta is the largest employer in Georgia and its Atlanta hub generates significant revenue for the state.



North Carolina threatened to repeal a fuel tax exemption for American Airlines, with a hub in Charlotte, after it opposed a state law on transgender bathrooms, but ultimately backed down.



As hot-button national issues have gained force after the Trump presidency, business calculations are shifting.



Leaders of large U.S. airlines have decided that taking decisive stands on issues like civil rights is increasingly important to protecting their brand and appeasing employees and customers, the sources said.



For now, that overshadows concerns about whether those decisions could imperil items like tax breaks, they added.



Prolonged attention to tax breaks could, however, reopen wounds between U.S. carriers and rivals over what constitutes unfair aid.



In 2015, Delta, American and United - the so-called Big 3 - accused Gulf airlines of benefiting from $42 billion in public subsidies including fuel hedging concessions and tax policies.



Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad rejected the complaint, saying U.S. carriers themselves received support.



"Airlines are not immune from two-headed behavior. They decry government involvement in anything until it's something that benefits them, at which point they're all for it," said Mann.



U.S. airline industry sources rejected any comparison with the Gulf trade dispute.



"Talking about state-subsidized airlines versus some tax exemptions is much different in size and scope than whether or not a particular state chooses to tax jet fuel," one said.



U.S. airlines have struggled to act in unison on either the earlier trade dispute or the recent domestic political conflict.



That adds a layer of complexity in Texas, where analysts say it would be difficult for lawmakers to punish the Big 3 without also harming Southwest Airlines Co, which has not directly opposed the voting bills.



"Southwest's biggest imperative right now is to win customers and survive the pandemic without alienating 50% of the population," one person familiar with its thinking said.


Employees of Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) say they have were blindsided with a 33 1/3 per cent pay cut in their salaries.

While some workers were under the impression the cut was supposed to occur next fortnight, many were unprepared for managements move.

One employee told the Express yesterday while talk was being bandied about a few days ago with regard to the pay cut, she thought more notice would have been given to staff since globally theres a pandemic. I am hurt and disappointed.
A total of 164 state-owned and private enterprises in the steel, coking coal and ferro-alloy industries in Inner Mongolia have been ordered to cut their capacities through 2023. Photo: IC Photo

Inner Mongolia is set to slash the regions production capacity of steel, coking coal and ferro-alloys as part of a broader crackdown on emissions in energy-intensive industries by Beijing, which is aggressively pushing to fulfill its ambitious carbon reduction pledges.

Authorities have ordered 164 state-owned and private enterprises in the three industries in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in northern China to cut their capacities through 2023, according to a notice from the regions Department of Industry and Information Technology that was made public Tuesday.

The move targeting existing capacity came after the region banned new coking coal, steel and ferro-alloy projects as well as cryptocurrency mining last month as it aims to curb energy consumption by reining in power-guzzling industries. Inner Mongolia was criticized by Chinas top economic planner in February for failing to control its energy consumption last year.

Beijing has set ambitious goals for reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, the implications of which have rippled through the countrys energy sector.

Reducing energy consumption is key to lowering emissions, Li Xiaochen, a ferro-alloy analyst at SDIC Essence Futures Co. Ltd., told Caixin. Inner Mongolia accounts for over one-third of Chinas total ferro-alloy capacity, but its steel capacity makes up a marginal 3% of nationwide capacity.

A total of 76 ferro-alloy manufacturers in Inner Mongolia are required to shutter 3.14 million tons of capacity by 2023, while nine steel mills, including state-owned Baotou Iron & Steel Group Co. Ltd., must eliminate some 6 million tons of capacity within the same time.

The relatively low cost of shutting down ferro-alloy manufacturing facilities and the simplicity of their operation made them a prime target for this round of crackdowns, said Li, adding that nearly half of the regions ferro-alloy manufacturers have already been subject to production curbs.

However, the impact on the ferro-alloy industry could be mitigated due to its existing overcapacity problems. A report by Sinolink Securities Co. Ltd. showed that China has an annual production capacity of 16 million tons of silico-manganese, an ingredient in ferro-alloy, while demand stands at just 10 million tons a year.

The notice also orders 17 coking coal producers in the region to slash 17.05 million tons of capacity, and another 59 companies to wind down 4.18 million tons of calcium carbide capacity by 2023.

Contact reporter Lu Yutong (yutonglu@caixin.com) and editor Flynn Murphy (flynnmurphy@caixin.com)

Support quality journalism in China. Subscribe to Caixin Global starting at $0.99.

Follow the Chinese markets in real time with Caixin Globals new stock database.
The two dozen new, free cover letter templates at CoverLetterExamples.net bring the number of sample letters at the site to 327. Each is free to download and customize for personal use.

"The site's letters aren't limited to career-related cover letters," said Kevin Savetz, the site's creator. "There are templates that serve as jumping-off points to craft letters related to education, applications, donations and other pursuits."

CoverLetterExamples.net also has articles with tips on cover letter writing.

The new resume cover letters are intended for jobs such as: an essential worker, a graphic designer or an agricultural worker. Other new letter templates address a job gap, previous incarceration and other special circumstances. Rounding out the new additions in this category is a sample cover letter for a student seeking a work study position.

The academic letter samples, including some that are especially relevant during the coronavirus pandemic, deal with: transfers of records, delayed college start dates, financial aid, scholarship applications, fee waivers and grading.

Also new are: a performance callback cover letter, a gym membership cancellation letter, a project extension request, a literary revisions note and letters related to medical records. There are also new cover letters for donations and deposits.

"Simply find a letter that's close to your situation and type into it to customize the wording for your situation," Savetz explained.

Some of the letters visually match the resumes at sister site InstantResumeTemplates.com.

Each letter at CoverLetterExamples.net is free. Users can download a DOC to edit using Microsoft Word or another compatible program, or just cut and paste the text directly from the site.

There are more than 100 sites in the FreePrintable.net family of free printables sites created by Savetz Publishing, Inc., a company devoted to creating useful and informative web sites of interest to consumers and small businesses.
(CNN) - Doctors have published new details on a handful of people who, after receiving AstraZenecas COVID-19 vaccine, developed what they describe as a rare immune response that caused blood clots and low platelets.

In two reports published Friday, an analysis of 16 patients in Germany, Austria and Norway describe a number of clots in unusual sites like the brain and abdomen. These events occurred roughly a week or two after receiving the vaccine, and some of these cases resulted in death.

Both reports in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest naming the diagnosis vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, or VITT. The diagnosis refers to the underlying cause: platelet-activating antibodies that cause a cascade of clotting and falling platelets.

These reports come two days after the European Medicines Agency said "unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be listed as very rare side effects of AstraZenecas vaccine. However, the agency affirmed the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of COVID-19. That statement also said an abnormal immune response could be one plausible explanation, adding that it wasnt possible to identify specific risk factors at this time.

Doctors say this resembles an autoimmune phenomenon known to be triggered by the blood-thinner heparin, which none of these patients had previously received. In that disorder  known as heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, or HIT  platelets are similarly activated by antibodies that attach to heparin, when bound to another protein found in platelets.

On Friday, the European Medicines Agency announced it was also reviewing possible links between blood clots and another COVID-19 vaccine, Johnson & Johnsons. The company said in a statement that while "no clear causal relationship has been established, it is working with experts and regulators to take a closer look at the data.

AstraZeneca made similar comments Wednesday, stressing that its vaccine offers a high-level of protection against all severities of COVID-19 and that these benefits continue to far outweigh the risks."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Doctors describe how the AstraZeneca vaccine resulted in a rare, immune response causing blood clots"
OTTAWA - Thousands of federal Liberals gathered online Thursday night for the start of a three-day national convention that promises to be downright dull compared to similar events held by the Conservative and New Democratic parties.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduces new Member of Parliament Marci Ien before Question Period in the House of Commons Wednesday November 25, 2020 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Thousands of federal Liberals gathered online Thursday night for the start of a three-day national convention that promises to be downright dull compared to similar events held by the Conservative and New Democratic parties.

And that suits Liberals just fine.

They hope Canadians will see a governing party focused on the serious policy issues of the day  the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy, climate change, the social safety net, systemic racism  without any of the infighting or controversy that beset the Conservatives' convention last month and that threatens to similarly dominate the NDP's convention this weekend.

Priority policy resolutions up for debate and votes at the Liberal gathering include calls for a universal basic income, enforceable national standards for long-term care homes and a green economic recovery.

While some of the ideas are relatively bold and not all Liberals agree on them, nothing on the agenda is as potentially damaging as the Conservatives' internal squabbling over the place of social conservatives in their midst or their refusal to accept a resolution that climate change is real.

Nothing is as potentially divisive as New Democrats' incipient fight over the definition of anti-Semitism or as radical as their proposed resolutions calling for abolition of the military and nationalization of major automakers.

The biggest buzz at the virtual Liberal event is likely to be around Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, and whether his appearance at the convention signals an intention to finally take the plunge into partisan politics.

"It looks pretty tame, doesn't it?" rookie Toronto MP Marci Ien, one of the convention co-chairs, said in an interview.

"But I have to say tame isn't a bad thing."

Whereas the Conservative convention featured an attempted takeover by anti-abortion forces within the party, Ien said the Liberals will be talking about how the pandemic has hit women hardest and how to ensure an economic "she-covery."

They got their first taste of that Thursday night, during a conversation between Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and former Liberal minister Ken Dryden, who managed to get all provinces to sign onto a national child care deal back in 2005, only to see it abandoned by the subsequent Conservative government.

Freeland telegraphed once again that funding for an early learning and child care program will be a centrepiece of her first budget, which she will deliver in just over a week.

"I really think, Ken, that now is the moment," she said. "We really need to get this done."

The pandemic has graphically demonstrated the cost of not having affordable child care, with the "incredibly dangerous drop" in women's participation in the labour force, she said.

"I am finance minister and I believe in (child care) because it is a surefire way to drive jobs and economic growth."

While the Conservatives voted against a resolution recognizing that climate change is real, the Liberals will hear from Carney, now the United Nations special envoy on climate action and finance, and multiple times from Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, a prominent environmentalist before jumping into politics, on what more needs to be done to combat the environmental crisis.

"It is nice to be part of a group that not only does not question the reality of climate change but also keeps pushing the envelope to do more, even faster," Guilbeault said in a speech Thursday, the first of several events he's scheduled to take part in.

Liberals also heard Thursday from Social Development Minister Ahmed Hussen, who reminded them of the hundreds of billions of dollars the government has spent to keep Canadians and businesses afloat during the pandemic.

He questioned whether the Conservatives under Erin O'Toole would have been equally willing to spend whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to see the country through the crisis.

"My question to you again is: Who do you trust to have your back?" Hussen said, posing the ballot-box question Liberals undoubtedly hope would be on voters' minds should the minority Liberal government fall or provoke an election later this year.

Over the next two days, registered Liberals will hear about how to organize and fundraise for an election and how to run a campaign safely during the pandemic. Most of that advice, from various panels and workshops sprinkled throughout the convention, will not be for public consumption, except for one open session about running a virtual campaign with two Democrat organizers of last fall's U.S. presidential campaign.

The convention itself is entirely virtual, testing the party's ability to appeal to Canadians without the normal visuals or hoopla that are part of in-person conventions.

Opening night did not go off without a hitch. On the chat line on the convention website, many Liberals complained about technical problems: frozen screens, interrupted internet connections, audio that cut in and out.

One of the co-chairs hosting the opening events, British Columbia Liberal MP Terry Beech, was seen at one point on his mobile phone. He explained later that he was checking to see what was going on after hearing a commotion in the next room of his home.

He later appeared with his two young daughters sitting in his lap.

A number of Liberals on the chat line commented that they were attending their first convention, not having been able to afford the travel and hotel costs involved in previous in-person gatherings.

At least partly as a result of the virtual format, the party is boasting that this is the largest policy convention in its history, with more than 4,000 Liberals registered to take part.

It has also forced convention organizers to find innovative ways to engage the virtual delegates. Ien, who will host a conversation Friday evening with Carney, said she intends to use Instagram to solicit questions to put to the former central banker.

One question is undoubtedly top of mind with most Liberals: Will Carney run for the party in the next election?

"I'll ask him and let him know that there are many people inquiring, including you," Ien said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2021.
The Spanish government has blocked the auction of a 17th-century oil painting on suspicion it could be a lost Caravaggio masterpiece worth millions.

Titled 'Coronation with Thorns', the canvas shows the Christ figure, blood dripping from his crown of thorns, just before his crucifixion and was set to have been sold off at Madrid's Ansorena auction house.

Listed as the work of a follower of Jose de Ribera, a 17th century Spanish artist, the painting was marked with an opening price of just 1,300 (1,500 euros).

But just hours before it went under the hammer, Culture Minister Jose Manuel Rodriguez Uribes said the painting had been declared 'not for export... on suspicion it may be a Caravaggio'.

Spain's culture ministry have stopped the biblical oil painting 'Coronation with Thorns' from going to auction with an opening price of just 1,300 after growing suspicious it could be a lost Caravaggio

'We are going to see if it is indeed a Caravaggio,' he told reporters, saying the decision to withdraw the canvas from auction was made 'within hours'.

'Anyway, the decision (to ban export) was right because the painting is valuable,' he added. The ministry intervened after some experts expressed doubts about the attribution.

Ansorena confirmed it would not go under the hammer on Thursday, saying the ministry's decision meant it could not be removed from Spain.

'As to who painted it, different experts are studying the work and right now we have no further information,' a spokeswoman said.

Experts were divided over whether it was a work by the Renaissance master.

'It's him,' Maria Cristina Terzaghi, an Italian art history expert at Roma Tre University, told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper.

She said the canvas had a 'deep connection' with the works done at the start of Caravaggio's Neapolitan period, and that the cloak worn by Jesus in the painting was the same as the red used in Caravaggio's painting of 'Salome with the head of John the Baptist'.

Caravaggio was a master of using the chiaroscuro technique of lighting to make his subjects seem to come alive. Pictured: His work Crowning with Thorns, made at some point between 1602 and 1607

The image of Pontius Pilate in the foreground was 'reminiscent of the martyred St Peter in 'Madonna of the Rosary'' at Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum, she added.

But French old masters specialist Eric Turquin disagreed.

'I have not seen the painting, but I was not convinced at all by the photo of it. We can't be sure but I don't think this is by Caravaggio,' he told AFP.

'I don't see Caravaggio's hand in this painting. The subject is certainly Caravaggio, and it was probably painted between 1600 and 1620 by a good painter, but not Caravaggio.'

Spain's culture ministry was first alerted on Tuesday, a ministry source said, indicating Prado Museum had been in touch to say there was 'sufficient documentary and stylistic evidence to consider that the painting... may be an original work by Caravaggio'.

Following emergency talks, the painting was withdrawn from sale and declared 'not for export'.

'It is now necessary to carry out an in-depth technical and scientific study of the painting and engage in academic debate as to whether its attribution to Caravaggio is truly plausible and acceptable to the scientific community,' the source said.

The Ansorena auction house in Madrid confirmed it would not go under the hammer on Thursday, saying the ministry's decision meant it could not be removed from Spain

The ministry was also expecting Madrid's regional authorities to declare it a work of cultural interest to extend further protection under legislation governing Spain's heritage.

'We have asked the Madrid government to declare it an asset of cultural interest and with that double guarantee, we can ensure the painting stays in Spain,' the minister told reporters.

Now Spanish authorities have to determine if the Italian baroque painter, who died in 1610 in his late 30s after a turbulent life, is the real painter.

Caravaggio was a master of using the chiaroscuro technique of lighting to make his subjects seem to come alive.

Very few of his works, which are worth millions, are in private collections.

It is not the first time a possible Caravaggio has been unearthed.

In 2014, a lost masterpiece by the artist called 'Judith and Holofernes' was found under an old mattress in an attic in the French city of Toulouse. The biblical-style canvas depicted a beautiful Jewish widow beheading a sleeping Assyrian general.

Worth up to an estimated $170 million, the painting was due to go under the hammer in June 2019 but was snapped up by an anonymous foreign buyer just two days before auction.
Now in its third season, its safe to say that Israeli drama Shtisel is the runaway Netflix hit no one saw coming.

The series following the lives of the ultra-Orthodox Shtisel family in Jerusalem has gathered fans from diverse backgrounds. Its also put its star, Michael Aloni who portrays youngest Shtisel son Akiva, on the map.

Heres how Aloni says he prepared for the role that immersed him in a community he knew nothing about.

Shtisel star Michael Aloni | Jim Spellman/WireImage

Akiva for Michael Aloni was a completely new role

For Aloni who was born in Tel Aviv in a secular Jewish upbringing, his portrayal of the youngest son in an ultra-Orthodox family was an education in itself. We meet Akiva in the shows first season and discover hes an old bachelor at 26 and an artist. He is constantly sketching, drawing, and painting to the disappointment of his father, who wants him to get a real job and get married.

Akiva is so far from my world, the actor told The Jewish Chronicle in 2019. Only 30 minutes away in distance, but a whole world away in our lives. It was exciting as an actor to step into a world that you dont know, to be exposed to a whole new totally different culture.

The power of the show is that it takes something secret and closed and shows that its not so shut off from the rest of us. As an artist, I relate to the dreams and hopes that Akiva has, that we all have.

We hope everyone is enjoying a beautiful day! Maybe you're working on your garden; to be prepared . As Shulem says, there is no argument in the world that a plant can't solve.  To all our fans who celebrate, we hope you have a Happy Easter! #shtisel #michaelaloni #Easter pic.twitter.com/rHs2Ouo2Rc  @ShtiselOfficial (@shtiselofficial) April 4, 2021

Aloni didnt think anyone would watch the show

The Shtisel actor is known for more than the Netflix series. Hes also starred in the 2012 Israeli film Out in the Dark and the 2018 television series When Heroes Fly.

When it came to the drama about the Orthodox family living in a cramped Jerusalem neighborhood, however, the actor was convinced it would have a very limited audience.

It suddenly hit me that in this day and age, people expect shows to have sex scenes and action, he told The Jewish Week in 2019. All Shtisel has is a bubbe, he said. I called the producer and told her, Lets just make a great fking series, pardon my language, that no one will watch. And then it became a hit in Israel. We won 11 of the 12 Israeli Television Academy awards and were renewed for a second season. Everyone was watching it.

RELATED: Unorthodox: Real-Life Esty Shares Aftermath and Truth of Her Life

How Aloni prepared for his role on Shtisel

Completely unfamiliar with the Haredi life, Aloni  to hear him tell it  practically went undercover to understand that population of Israeli society that is so visible yet so unknown to those outside of it.

I spied, he said. Before we started shooting, we had months of preparation. We had to learn Yiddish [and] had a rabbi teach us the prayers and the rules. We also went undercover in Meah Shearim. I stayed with a family there. It was a great experience.

In a 2019 interview with educational Jewish television channel JBS, Aloni described the oddity of being recognized while walking down the street after Shtisels second season.

For the first season, no one recognized me, he said. For the second season, people were like, Akiva, come here I want you to meet my daughter.

This world for them, coming from a lot of people from that community that I spoke to, was represented for the first time and in the most authentic way possible, and not judging. It enriched me with knowledge that I didnt have before about the culture.
The LSU community will be able to weigh in on the finalists for a new president during the first week of May, chair elect Remy Voisin Starns t
Domain names administrator and registrar auDA has a new Licence Review Panel designed to provide an external point of escalation for complaints under the new .au licensing rules, which come into effect on 12 April 2021.

The members of the Licence Review Panel are drawn from Australias legal profession and have extensive experience in dispute resolution and have been appointed by the auDA Board after a comprehensive selection process.

The Licence Review Panel updates and replaces the Registrant Review Panel under the previous licensing rules, with an expanded remit.

It is the final point of escalation in the complaints process under the new .au licensing rules. Complaints must first be lodged with the registrar who issued the domain name licence. Complaints can be escalated to the panel once the registrar and auDA complaints procedures have been exhausted, and once escalated to the panel, the complaint will be assigned to a panel member for review.

The members have been appointed to the panel for a one-year term, commencing on 1 March 2021, and comprise:

Phillip Davies (Chair) is a lawyer with over 30 years experience, including 24 years at King Wood Mallesons, 13 of which as a partner. He has worked in intellectual property law, as a member of several professional tribunals, and holds extensive executive management and corporate governance experience. Presently, Mr Davies is a member of four tribunals including the Building Appeals Board and the Disciplinary Appeals Board, and is the national Tolling Customer Ombudsman.

Bernadette Day is a solicitor who has operated her own practice for over 13 years. She has served on the South Australia Civil and Administrative Tribunal as a presiding member as well as on several Boards. Prior to private practice, Ms Day was a legal officer for the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and at the Australian Communications and Media Authority, where she provided legal advice regarding radiocommunications, telecommunications and the Internet.

Angela Flannery is currently a partner at Holding Redlich, specialising in technology, media and telecommunications. Ms Flannery has more than 20 years experience in both private practice and in the Commonwealth Government, having previously been First Assistant Secretary and General Counsel within the Commonwealth Department of Communications and the Arts.

Melissa Marcus is a barrister specialising in intellectual property and defamation law. Ms Marcus has also acted as an independent auditor in relation to undertakings to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and has represented clients in Royal Commissions. Prior to joining the Bar, she worked for many years at Mallesons Stephen Jaques, managing their Trade Marks Group and at Linklaters in London.

Andrew Sykes is a barrister with a dedicated practice in intellectual property and information technology, including issues of branding (trade mark law, domain names and passing off). Mr Sykes is an arbitrator with the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre and the Czech Arbitration Court in Prague. He also is the author of Australian Trade Mark Opposition Law (2nd ed.) and co-author of Trade Marks and the Internet in Lahores Patents, Trade Marks & Related Rights.

auDA Chief Executive Officer, Rosemary Sinclair AM, welcomed the appointments, noting that, The Licence Review Panel ensures procedural fairness and a robust avenue for complaint resolution by an experienced, independent individual.

Im pleased to welcome Phillip Davies as the Chair of the Panel. He is joined by four eminent members whose experience in law, governance and technology will support Internet users with transparent and accessible recourse in the event they need to escalate concerns about .au domain compliance.

I am pleased to join the .au Licence Review Panel, which will assist applicants in resolving complaints and contribute to ensuring .au remains a secure, trusted domain, Phillip Davis said.
The Engineering Council of Ghana says it will soon clamp down on engineers and engineering firms operating in the country without registration and licence.



This is to weed out unqualified and unregistered persons and firms in the industry to promote quality service delivery.



This follows the passage of the Engineering Council Regulation, Legislative Instrument L.I. 2410 (2020) by Parliament in October last year, which seeks to regularise engineering practice in the country to attain the highest professional standards and ensure efficient and quality work.



Mr Kwesi Abbey Sam, the Chairman of the Board of the Council, at a news conference in Accra, said the Council had given practitioners up to November 2021 to register and obtain the licence after, which it would crackdown on practitioners who failed to do so.



The Chairman said the Council had, therefore, licenced the Ghana Institute of Engineers and the Institution of Engineering and Technology to process the registration of all categories of engineering practitioners, firms and educational units, including expatriates and international companies to ensure easy regulation.



The L.I. was passed by Parliament on 30th of October, 2020, which means all engineers and engineering firms have a grace period from the day it was passed to November to register and obtain their licence to operate, failure of which will mean one cannot practice in the country after the deadline, Mr Sam said.



Regulation 38(i) of the L.I. stipulates that An engineering practitioner or an engineering firm that is not registered with a licenced body on the coming into office of these Regulations shall, within 12 months of coming into office of these regulations register and obtain a licence in accordance with these Regulations.



The conference, organised by the Council and the Ministry of Works and Housing, was to bring out issues regarding the implementation of the Engineering Council Act, 2011 (Act 819) and the Engineering Council Regulation, Legislative Instrument, L.I. 2410 (2020) to facilitate effective operation of the Council.



It was on the theme: Regulation of Engineering Practice in Ghana using ACT 819 of 2011 and L.I. 2410 of 2020.



Mr Sam said the Council would not hesitate to proffer punishment to any person or firm found culpable of breaching the Regulation, which, among other things, included a fine of not less than 2500 penalty units and not more than 5000 penalty units or a term of imprisonment of not less than one year and not more than two years, or to both.



He cautioned the public against soliciting the services of unregistered practitioners to avert unforeseen disasters.



Where an engineering practitioner, contractor or consultant is contractually engaged with a client before the coming into force of these regulations, it is required that both parties take steps to be compliant with the law in the 12-month window of opportunity provided, he added.



Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, the Minister of Works and Housing, urged engineers to prioritise the life of humans over their economic gains in the discharge of their mandates.



He bemoaned the poor execution of some projects in the past resulting in the loss of human lives, a situation he attributed to engineering challenges.



He assured the Council of the Ministrys commitment to resourcing it to strengthen its monitoring and evaluation activities.



Professor Charles Adams, President of GhIE, said as an institute mandated to enforce the Regulations on behalf of the Council, it would ensure that all practitioners operated within the highest professional standards.

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




Haiti - Agriculture : 15 million euros for the revival of the coffee sector





Thursday April 8, at Baptiste's agricultural farm (Central Dept.), Patrix Severe the Minister of Agriculture, accompanied by the First Lady Martine Moise, Marie Ghislaine Monpremier, the Minister of Social Affairs of the French Ambassador in Haiti, Jose Gomez, a representative of the French Development Agency (AFD) Gaelle Letilly, the Departmental Agricultural Directors of the Center and members of agricultural cooperatives and networks of coffee producers, launched "Leve Kafe" a support project for agroforestry in coffee basins.



The purpose of the project, according to Agriculture Minister Patrix Severe, is to strengthen the resilience of family farming by developing economically efficient agroforestry systems in coffee terroirs.



According to project coordinator Maxo Duclona, the Project has three specific objectives. He spoke of support for agroforestry based on coffee trees in suitable terroirs and support for diversification towards agroforestry based on cocoa trees; the creation of an institutional and structural environment favorable to the development of agroforestry systems at the level of the areas in which the project is located and the creation of a favorable institutional environment at the national level.



Financed by the French Development Agency to the tune of 15 million euros, this project, which will be carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture in the Communes of Baptiste de Thiotte (South-East Dept) and Dondon (North Dept. ) through the Haitian National Coffee Institute (INCAH), should contribute to the revival of the coffee and cocoa sectors in the country.



Of the 5,000 beneficiaries targeted, the project provides for a minimum quota of 30% of women. Martine Moise invited farmers to play their part in effectively relaunching the coffee sector, stressing that [] each coffee tree planted is an investment. And this investment will contribute to the economic recovery of communities, the creation of jobs and the sustainable development of the country. "



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32645-haiti-agriculture-cocoa-from-haiti-makes-its-mark-internationally.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-31368-icihaiti-agriculture-relaunch-of-the-coffee-sector-in-the-commune-of-kenscoff.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30054-haiti-kenscoff-revitalization-of-the-culture-of-coffee.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-17756-icihaiti-agriculture-$46m-for-the-relaunching-of-the-coffee-sector.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17239-haiti-agriculture-the-louis-g-lamothe-foundation-give-high-priority-to-haitian-coffee.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17134-haiti-agriculture-haiti-from-producer-to-exporter-of-coffee.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-16091-icihaiti-agriculture-the-coffee-sector-of-haiti-in-crisis.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-14303-icihaiti-agriculture-the-coffee-sector-an-opportunity-for-returnees.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-13397-haiti-agriculture-coffee-sector-development-plan-2015-2025.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3378-haiti-economy-the-us-embassy-in-haiti-is-interested-in-the-coffee-sector.htm



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Peru's Congress voted on Thursday, banning the former President Martin Vizcarra of taking any public office after a scandal uncovered a network of privileged people who received the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of health workers.

Vizcarra is running for a seat in Congress in the national elections on April 11.

Representatives will vote again on Saturday, one day before the elections, to confirm sanctions against the politicians that would ban Vizcarra from holding public office for 10 years.

Former Health Minister Pilar Mazetti would receive an eight-year ban, and former Foreign Minister Elizabeth Astete would be banned for one year.

Last November Vizcarra was removed from the presidency by Parliament for a previous corruption scandal.

In February it became known that, in October, while he was still president, he was secretly vaccinated against the coronavirus using doses of a vaccine candidate from the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm.

Along with Vizcarra, those favoured included his family, then standing foreign and health ministers, Pope Francis' diplomatic representative and several Peruvian diplomats.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) will resume flights on the Kyiv-Split-Kyiv and Kyiv-Pula-Kyiv routes from June 2, 2021, the airline's press service reports.

In particular, flights on the Kyiv-Pula-Kyiv route will be operated on Wednesday and Saturday according to the following schedule: Kyiv (KBP) - Pula (PUY): departure 06:30 (local time) - arrival 08:00 (local time); Pula (PUY) - Kyiv (KBP): departure 09:00 (local time) - arrival 12:25 (local time).

Kyiv-Split-Kyiv flights will be operated according to the following schedule: on Thursday: Kyiv (KBP) - Split (SPU): departure 15:30 (local time) - arrival 16:45 (local time); Split (SPU) - Kyiv (KBP): departure 17:45 (local time) - arrival 21:05 (local time); on Sunday: Kyiv (KBP) - Split (SPU): departure 05:15 (local time) - arrival 06:30 (local time); Split (SPU) - Kyiv (KBP): departure 07:25 (local time) - arrival 10:45 (local time).

The airline reminds that there are currently some epidemiological restrictions on crossing the borders of different countries. From April 1, entry to the territory of Croatia is allowed for citizens of Ukraine for tourism purposes if there is a payment for accommodation and provided negative result of a PCR test / or rapid test, which was taken no more than 48 hours before departure, or a document confirming vaccination.

As Ukrinform reported, UIA will resume regular flights to 14 destinations as part of the 2021 summer navigation.

ish
Washington  Saab says it will expand its East Syracuse plant and add 50 new jobs after the U.S. Navy selected the company to help upgrade its fleet of small, fast combat ships.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said today the Navy will move forward with a plan that could result in the installation of Saabs radar and sensor systems on all of the Navys littoral combat ships.

Littoral combat ships are part of the Navys new fleet of small, fast and stealthy ships built to operate in shallow, coastal waters.

Saabs Ceros 200 system helps ships defend against sea-skimming missiles and other incoming threats by identifying, tracking and locking-on to targets for a ships guns and surface-to-air missiles.

Schumer, D-N.Y., secured $7 million in funding for an initial test phase that includes a land-based demonstration program at a Navy testing facility along the Potomac River in Dahlgren, Va.

Saab officials said the initial tests would be followed by sea-based demonstrations that, if successful, could lead to Navy contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars for the plant in East Syracuse.

This radar will be a tremendous asset for our armed forces and will help create 50 good-paying jobs here in Syracuse, with potential for more jobs in the future, Schumer said.

Erik Smith, the East Syracuse-based president and CEO of Saab in the U.S., said in a statement that the deal with the Navy could turn into a multi-year partnership that will help grow the company in Central New York.

Saab, Inc., part of the Swedish defense and aerospace firm, employs about 700 people in the United States, including about 500 at its North American headquarters in East Syracuse.

In addition to the 50 new manufacturing jobs, Saab is hiring to fill 35 open positions in East Syracuse, said Chelsea Bishop, a company spokesperson.

The open positions are in engineering, information technology, manufacturing, and production. Saab declined to provide a pay range.

Saabs missile and fire-control system, the Ceros 200, has already been installed on more than 200 naval ships operated by Canada and countries in Western Europe.

If Saabs initial testing program with the U.S. Navy is successful, it could replace the Navys current air surveillance radar system, Schumer said.

Rep. John Katko, R-Camillus, also helped secure a second round of appropriations for the Navy and Saab to complete the initial testing phase with littoral combat ships.

The Freedom-class of littoral combat ships have been plagued with design flaws in their transmissions, prompting the Navy to temporarily halt deliveries of new ships. All told, the Navy has ordered 35 of the ships from two manufacturers.

During the ships development, the Pentagons testing office questioned the ships cost and potential vulnerability in combat.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
HONG KONG (Reuters) -Several Hong Kong lawmakers on Friday raised concerns that proposals to restrict public access to information about directors of companies could make it harder for trade unions, journalists and lawyers to do their jobs.

The proposals, which would allow companies to withhold information such as directors' addresses and full ID card numbers, were being discussed for the first time by a committee of Hong Kong's Legislative Council (LegCo).

Some business groups, corporate governance activists and journalist associations oppose the plans, which they say could make due diligence more difficult, potentially facilitating fraud.

The Hong Kong International Chamber of Commerce wrote to the Legco committee this week saying the eagerness to push through the measures was "in disregard of the adverse consequences to Hong Kong's business environment and to maintaining Hong Kong as an attractive city for investment and trade".

However, at the meeting, other lawmakers and Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services Christopher Hui, who was appearing before the committee, said the changes were necessary to prevent a practice known as doxxing, which has surged since anti-government protests in 2019.

Last year, there were 1,036 cases of doxxing - publicly releasing private or identifying information about an individual or organisation - official figures showed.

Hui added the proposals were only a minor change to existing arrangements.

The government will introduce the legislation next month. It is almost certain to become law as all of Hong Kong's opposition lawmakers, bar one, resigned last November.

Under the proposals, companies would be able mask the residential addresses of their directors and only provide directors' partial ID numbers, though full details could be obtained with the consent of the individual or by certain individuals such as liquidators.

Directors' full ID numbers and residential addresses are currently accessible to the general public on Hong Kong's Companies Registry.

Story continues

Michael Tien, a pro-establishment lawmaker, said the changes could mean directors with similar names to others could be wrongly identified, adding even newspapers supportive of the government had raised concerns.

In Hong Kong, individuals often use English first names alongside their Chinese surnames, and different systems for writing Chinese characters in the Latin alphabet mean the same Chinese name can be written differently.

Other lawmakers said employees should be able to access information about company directors in the case of labour disputes, and lawyers should have access to full details of individuals to ensure they have the right person when filing lawsuits.

Hui, the government minister, said the chance of misidentifying a director was exceptionally low.

(Reporting by Alun John, additional reporting by the Hong Kong newsroom and Clare Jim; editing by Barbara Lewis and Angus MacSwan)
The relentless coronavirus pandemic has caused high levels of anxiety and burnout in health care workers across the country, according to a new UCSF study that is among the first to look closely at mental health in the nations emergency rooms during this unprecedented year.

The study, done before the arrival of vaccines, offers a critical snapshot of medical personnel at the helm of a national emergency when little was known about the deadly disease that dominated their lives.

The study also serves as a guidepost for hospitals to help frontline workers reduce the effects of such stress now, its authors say. That includes doing a better job of stockpiling safety equipment and preparing for the next, inevitable disaster  whether an earthquake, a mass shooting or another pandemic.

Of the 1,600 doctors, nurses, social workers and other emergency room employees surveyed between May and July, half reported at least one symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder  including emotional exhaustion, insomnia or nightmares  because of their pandemic work, according to the study published Friday in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. One in 5 of those employees was found to be at high risk of PTSD.

This is a call to action for institutions to recognize, and start developing ways to mitigate against widespread post-traumatic stress disorder in frontline health workers, said Dr. Robert Rodriguez, a professor of emergency medicine at UCSF and lead author of the study.

If this aspect is not considered, youre going to lose more and more providers, and you wont have the workforce necessary to deal with the pandemic and future emergencies, said Rodriguez, who served on the COVID-19 task force appointed in November by then President-elect Joe Biden.

The study surveyed emergency department employees in 16 cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans, Miami, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Denver, Baltimore, Birmingham, Iowa City and Dallas. The research was sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and funded through a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Throughout the spring and summer, health care workers feared becoming infected and bringing the virus home to their family, the study found. They worried that their co-workers would get sick, and they expressed strong concern that undiagnosed patients might be carrying the virus and spreading it around.

We went from a place where people were already stretched thin, then layered on top of that a global pandemic, said Dr. Jahan Fahimi, a UCSF emergency department doctor who works with COVID patients but wasnt involved in the study.

Fahimi said that emergency workers are accustomed to dealing with stress, and that its what theyve trained for. What was different about the pandemic in the earlier months was that doctors and nurses werent sure yet how the disease could be transmitted  through droplets, contact, aerosol or all three methods. This meant that while simply doing their jobs, they could be putting their lives at risk.

Youd go into work with a whole lot of anxiety, though over time we figured it out, he said.

Rodriguez said, It had a profound effect on all of us. Theres not a frontline provider that I know who hasnt been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said he knows colleagues who spent much of the pandemic living in a hotel rather than risk infecting their family. Rodriguez himself would go home and duck into a bathroom by the front door to scrub before greeting his family.

Workers often found relief from taking an antibody test that told them whether they had previously been infected by the coronavirus and therefore might have some natural immunity, the study found.

Health care workers say some anxiety remains today, even after most of them have been vaccinated and much more is known about the coronavirus and how it spreads.

The vaccine does not provide compete immunity, said Tamara Hinckley, a night nurse in Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospitals intensive care unit, who was not part of the study.

Hinckley, who takes off every other week from work to recover from the emotional effects of her job, told The Chronicle in December that she cried more during the pandemic than at any other time in her career.

I still find myself crying, she said Thursday. Maybe not as frequently. But there just are not enough words in the human language to convey this past year.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov
From todays Down in Alabama podcast:

Colorado State University has released its annual and popular early-season hurricane forecast for the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Also, I talked to weather reporter Leigh Morgan, and she said to tell yall that no matter what anybody predicts, it takes only one hurricane to make it a really bad season where you live. So now is the time, if you live anywhere near the coast, to make sure your insurance is up to date and that you have an evacuation plan come fall.

Ill add my own pro tip to that: During the late summer and fall, try to top off your gas tank every week. Dont get caught with an empty tank the day before landfall.

Hotel rooms and 87 octane can go quickly and get expensive before a big storm.

On todays briefing well talk about the CSU early-season hurricane predictions, the Bessemer Amazon union vote totals after one day, lifetime pistol permits and a big elephant statue headed to Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The Down in Alabama podcast is short and free. Listen to it by clicking on the player above or subscribe by looking for Down in Alabama on the device of your choosing. Get this and other AL.com newsletters here.

Click here for the Spotify podcast page

Click here for the Alexa skill page on Amazon

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Click here for the iTunes podcast page

Click here for the Google podcast page
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong authorities said on Friday they had seized nearly 9,000 Thai cleaning products suspected to have wrong labelling from a shop founded by a pro-democracy activist facing charges under the city's contentious national security law.

Customs officers on Thursday raided 25 shops belonging to the chain, AbouThai, and arrested a 33-year-old male director of the group, the government said in a statement.

The suspect had been released on bail and further arrests had not been ruled out, it added.

"The product information marked on the packages of the products involved failed to bear Chinese and English bilingual warnings or cautions," it said, adding the estimated market value of the 8,805 products seized was about HK$400,000 ($51,400).

Under Hong Kong's Consumer Goods Safety Ordinance, warnings or cautions on products must be in both English and Chinese and are required to be "legibly and conspicuously shown on the goods".

Customs chiefs said the raids were carried out in connection with missing safety warnings on cleaning products, with some only having warnings or cautions in Thai, while others bore warnings or cautions in Thai and English.

The company's founder, Mike Lam, is among 47 democrats charged under the city's national security law on a charge of conspiracy to commit subversion and is currently on bail.

Crowds queued outside branches of the shop across the city on Friday to show support for Lam, with some saying they believed the raid was politically motivated.

"I find it unreasonable that the Customs targeted AbouThai. That's why I come here to support. I am quite touched that many people come," said Chris, who declined to give his full name due to the sensitivity of the national security law.

The legislation punishes what Beijing broadly defines as secessionism, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in jail.

Local broadcaster RTHK quoted Vincent Chan, from the customs consumer protection bureau, as saying the department condemned any "false accusation" that the raid was an "act of repression".

Story continues

Hong Kong anti-government protesters have queued outside businesses that openly support the democracy movement since anti-government protests flared in 2019.

The former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with a promise of safeguards for its wide-ranging autonomy. Democracy activists say authorities are chipping away at those freedoms, accusations which officials in Beijing and Hong Kong reject.

(Reporting by Jessie Peng, Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Nick Macfie)
As recovery from the coronavirus pandemic continues, Bloomberg Opinion is running columns looking at crisis-inspired innovations that promise better living over the long run  from more resilient economies and healthier offices to five-star meal kits and less unnecessary business travel.

People have been predicting the ascent of telemedicine since the 1920s, but even mass broadband use wasnt enough to make it catch on. Doctors were too worried about losing income, privacy restrictions limited the utility of software and people were just too accustomed to the old ways of doing things.

Then Covid-19 arrived and everything changed. In-person doctor visits became dangerous for both patients and medical staff. By April 2020, half of U.S. physicians had adopted some version of telemedicine, up from 18% in 2018. Mount Sinai Faculty Practice in New York City reported that it had more telehealth visits on an average day that month than in all of 2019.

As the pandemic wanes, some of those visits will no doubt go back to being face to face. But many wont  and shouldnt. Telemedicine is too convenient for both patients and doctors.

Consider surgeons. They dont immediately come to mind as candidates for virtual visits. But much of their time is taken up with pre- and post-operative care that could be done over the internet. It doesnt take an in-person visit to prescribe imaging for an upcoming operation or to check in to see how a patients knee replacement is doing. Patients can spend less time going to and from visits and sitting in waiting rooms. (I once spent four hours waiting for a busy surgeon to see me for a post-operative checkup.)

Telemedicine is also a convenient way to offer after-hours care, particularly when theres a time-zone difference. And that suggests another potential positive legacy of the pandemic: loosened regulations to let licensed medical professionals cross state lines.

Almost half of U.S. states have laws allowing out-of-state health-care practitioners to work during emergencies. Others used executive actions to enable medical practitioners from elsewhere to help out during the pandemic. But why limit such waivers to emergencies? Its not as though human health is different in Arizona and Missouri. State-by-state license requirements serve mostly to limit competition. (The same might be said for limits on internationally trained medical personnel.)

Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia already belong to a compact that allows licensed nurses to practice in any of the member states. Telemedicine services that, for example, provide after-hours triage are able to cover most of the country by hiring nurses who live in compact states. When Covid-19 hit, compact members found it much easier to keep their hospitals staffed. New Jersey, which had just joined the group, sped up implementation to let out-of-state nurses pitch in as Covid cases soared.

Expediting the process has absolutely enabled us to move people appropriately where theyre needed, said Mary Beth Russell, vice president at the Center for Professional Development, Innovation & Research at RWJBarnabas Health, the states largest health-care system. That sort of flexibility  for hospitals, health care professionals, and patients  shouldnt require emergency conditions.

Virginia Postrel

: bloomberg.com
Area Baseball: Hamlin, Clark win EDL amateur slugfests

BRYANT  Hamlin knocked off the Milbank Firechiefs 13-8 in an Eastern Dakota League amateur baseball slugfest on Friday.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 20:17:18|Editor: huaxia

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HARARE, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Zimbabwean government has said that it will not accede to the transferability of land because its ownership and farming are two distinctive items that should be separated.

Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Anxious Masuka said farming is a business enterprise where one does not need to own land to be productive, the Herald newspaper reported Friday.

Masuka, who was giving oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands and Agriculture, said the viability of farming is determined by project proposals and not whether one owns the land or not.

The committee wanted the minister to outline his vision to transform agriculture and asked him what the government would deal with title on land as requested by financial institutions that refuse to recognize 99-year leases arguing they are not bankable.

"Land is vested in the President and cannot be transferred because its ownership is not a measure of productivity. I think the issue of title deeds is taken out of context.

"I have often said you do not need to own a building to operate it. If you want to do business you can rent, you don't need to own a house. Everyone seems to be saying I need to own the land to farm. That is a wrong approach to farming. The land is vested in the President for the right reasons.

"Land ownership and farming are different. Farming is a business that happens on land, so the two are separate, and we often think they are not," Masuka said. "There is not necessarily a link between land ownership and the transfer of land."

He said the government believes that the 99-year leases are bankable despite the decision by the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe to reject them, insisting on the title that would result in the transferable title on the land.

Masuka said negotiations with financial institutions would continue, but the government has also revived the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) to provide funding to agriculture.

"We have taken this deliberate step to ensure that the agriculture space can be adequately funded. In fact, in terms of the construction of AFC, we are saying the viability of any entity depends on the project proposal's viability, not on who is on the piece of land or tenure document," he said. "That is where we are going and I hope that banks will join us."

Since financial institutions regard land as being of no value because of lack of title, they are opting for houses and other personal property as collateral when giving out loans to farmers. Enditem
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
Lao Christian leader Sithon Thippavong is shown with his wife after his release from detention in Savannakhet province.

A Lao Christian leader held for more than a year in the southern province of Savannakhet in violation of a national law protecting religious practice has been released from jail, Lao sources say.

Pastor Sithon Thippavong, 35, was released on Friday after being convicted by the Provincial Peoples Court on April 6 on charges of disrupting unity and creating disorder, an official of the provincial prosecutors office told RFA.

He was sentenced to one year in jail and fined a total of four million kip [U.S. $426], with two million kip paid for each charge, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"He has already served a little more than one year in jail, so he has been released," the official said.

Speaking to RFA, a member of Sithons church confirmed the pastor had been released, saying the church leader had been freed on Friday after his conviction and sentencing three days before.

He is now traveling back to his home in [Xonnaboury districts] Kaleum-Vangkae village, the source said.

Im glad, very glad, that he has been released, another Lao Christian told RFA, saying he would tell other church members that Sithon had been released from jail and would organize a thanksgiving ceremony celebrating the pastors freedom.

We prayed for Pastor Sithon for more than a year now, he said. Were very excited that hes still alive and was finally saved by God.

He may have been sick and frail in prison, but now hell be very happy to be able to serve God again, he said.

"Pastor Thippavong's release is an answer to prayers worldwide," said U.S.-based religious freedoms group Christianbeyondborders in an email to RFA. "We are thankful for his release, and that he is at home with this family."

"We are thankful for the step towards religious freedom in Laos that has been taken with this news," the group added.

Pastor Sithon 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.

On the day of his arrest, Sithon was preparing to conduct a service when seven police officers arrived and demanded that the pastor cancel the proceedings and sign a document renouncing his Christian faith, sources said.

When Sithon refused to sign the document, he was taken into custody, with his family never formally informed of his arrest or the charges made against him.

Disrespect, discrimination

Lao Christians are allowed by the countrys Law on the Evangelical Church, approved and signed in Laos on Dec. 19, 2019, to conduct services and preach throughout the country and to maintain contacts with believers in other countries.

But in practice, the law appears 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 and translated by Max Avary for RFAs Lao Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
SBI Mutual Fund (MF) on Thursday said its asset base has crossed Rs 5 lakh crore-mark in the March quarter, becoming the first fund house in the country to achieve such a feat. The fund house's average asset under management (AAUM) rose to Rs 5.04 lakh crore in 2020-21 from Rs 3.73 lakh crore in the preceding fiscal, recording a growth of 35 per cent, SBI MF said in a statement.

In the December quarter, SBI MF had an asset base of Rs 4.56 lakh crore. The AAUM growth has been achieved on the back of a robust increase in the SIP (systematic investment plan) book and penetration in T30 and B30 locations, the fund house said.

The fund house's SIP book increased to Rs 1,382 crore from Rs 1,180 crore over the last year, registering a growth of 17 per cent. Apart from SBI MF, other top players also saw growth in their respective asset base in the March quarter compared to the preceding three months.

HDFC MF, which is at the second position, saw its asset base rising to Rs 4.15 lakh crore during the period under review from Rs 3.89 lakh crore in the December quarter. ICICI Prudential MF at the third position recorded an average AUM of Rs 4.05 lakh crore in the three months ended March 2021, compared to Rs 3.8 lakh crore in the previous quarter.

Aditya Birla Sunlife MF, the fourth largest fund house, has seen its average AUM growing to Rs 2.7 lakh crore from Rs 2.55 lakh crore. The asset base of Kotak Mahindra MF soared to Rs 2.33 lakh crore at the end of the March quarter, as against Rs 2.16 lakh crore in the three months ended December 2020.

Nippon India MF's average AUM rose to Rs 2.28 lakh crore in the March quarter from Rs 2.13 lakh crore in the preceding quarter. Overall, the asset base of the 43-player mutual fund industry rose to more than Rs 32 lakh crore at the end of March quarter from Rs 29.71 lakh crore at December-end.

Also read: Equity MFs see Rs 9,115 crore inflows; debt funds record Rs 52,528 crore outflows
Buckingham Palace has announced that Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, has died at the age of 99.

A statement on the official Royal Family Twitter account said: It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.

Following the announcement, the profile pictures on various official Royal Family social media accounts have been updated in order to honour Prince Philip.

The Royal Family Instagram and Twitter accounts now feature the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, where there was previously a smiling picture of the Queen.

The official Instagram account for Clarence House now has its official crest as its profile picture, as a way for the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to show their respects.

Kensington Royal, the official Instagram account for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is now displaying the couples official monogram. It was previously a photo of the couple with their children.

The profile pictures of Kensington Royal and Clarence House have been updated in the same way on Twitter too.

On all three royal Twitter accounts, the header images now feature a black and white image of Prince Philip.

On Instagram, all three accounts  The Royal Family, Clarence House and Kensington Royal  have shared a black and white photo of Prince Philip with the official statement which was shared on Twitter too.

The statement continued: The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.

Further announcements will be made in due course.
The Redmi Note 10s' imminent global debut has effectively been confirmed through a new certification issued by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). The new document registers the phone by name, and also specifies multiple variants that might be destined for different regions. They may include India and the EU.

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Xiaomi has already announced the Redmi Note 10s, although its availability is thin on the ground at present. However, it seems it will soon launch in a number of markets. This new leak comes courtesy of the Bluetooth SIG, and provides fairly concrete evidence that it will launch soon.

In fact, it seems the Note 10s has a number of variants: M2101K7BI, M2101K7BG, M2101K7BNY and M2101K7BL. They may denote market specificity rather than different RAM/storage configurations: for example, the first of them as listed is now thought to be destined for India.

The Note 10s might also be headed to Europe soon. However, this new phone will land there with an SoC that is far from novel. The phone runs on the 4G/LTE-only MediaTek Helio G95, which has been around for some time now.

Then again, this detail might keep the Redmi Note 10s' starting cost nice and low at its putative new launch events. Similarly, it makes do with an increasingly repetitive 64+8+2+2MP rear camera array, especially next to its 108MP main sensor siblings.

Pick a Redmi Note 10 up from Amazon
The Canary Islands have been facing double the number of irregular migrants arriving by boat from North Africa compared to a year ago, proving a headache for the Interior ministry amid tensions in the immigrant holding camps.

After a surge late last year, the figures are still high. More than half the immigrants that have arrived in Spain without the correct paperwork in the first three months of this year have come in via the Canary Islands, according to government data.

Compared to January to March 2020, 95 boats arrived on the islands, up from 54 - a total of 3,436 people, up from 1,582.

Spain overall saw 6,496 migrants without proper paperwork entering by land or sea in the first quarter of this year.

Disturbances

Tensions are growing in the centres used to accommodate the migrants while they are being processed by the authorities. On Tuesday this week, National Police fired rubber bullets in the Las Raices camp on Tenerife after disturbances started. Media reported that the cause was complaints over a lack of food. Eight people were arrested and several injured.

Meanwhile, data has shown the number of migrants arriving by boat on the coast of Malaga province fell in 2020 overall compared to 2019, with 49 boats intercepted compared to 79.

This has been put down not just to Covid-19 but also stricter controls by Moroccan coastal authorities, forcing the smuggling gangs to focus on the longer and more dangerous Canaries sea route.
Days after he responded to Meghan, Duchess of Sussexs claim that he married her and Prince Harry before the actual ceremony at Windsor Castle, the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that theres something he doesnt think Harry will ever be able to escape.

Justin Welby, who not only officiated the Sussexes wedding but also baptized their son, compared being a royal to serving a life sentence without parole and has a warning for the Duke of Sussex.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stand facing each other in front of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby during wedding ceremony | Owen Humphreys / POOL / AFP via Getty Images

Archbishop warns Prince Harry will never be able to escape this

Speaking to the Financial Times, Welby opined that although Harry has stepped down as a senior royal and moved abroad, he will never escape his celeb status.

Its life without parole, the archbishop said about being royal and compared Harrys situation to the abdication. If you go back to the 1930s, Edward VIII  he was still a celeb and followed everywhere once hed abdicated. We expect them to be superhuman.

This is not the first time Welby spoke about his feeling that royals have a life sentence. In 2019, prior to Meghan and Harrys decision to quit royal duties, he told BBC Radio5: They [the royal family] are born into it and one of the things, with the great privilege of meeting some of them, that Im most aware of is their sheer sense of duty and commitment, which means they know this is a life sentence.

He added: Even if they decided to withdraw from public life and never take any public money and disappear, they would still be pursued because theyd be the ex-royal. It is genuinely a life sentence without any let-up.

Welby said he did not secretly marry the couple before the royal wedding

Justin Welby arriving for his enthronement as Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013 | Bethany Clarke/Getty Images

In late March, Welby denied a claim Meghan made in her interview with Oprah Winfrey in which she told the media personality that the archbishop married her and Harry three days before their royal wedding.

If any of you ever talk to a priest, you expect them to keep that talk confidential. It doesnt matter who Im talking to. I had a number of private and pastoral meetings with the duke and duchess before the wedding, he explained to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. The legal wedding was on Saturday.

I signed the wedding certificate, which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offence if I signed it knowing it was false. So you can make what you like about. But the legal wedding was on the Saturday. But I wont say what happened at any other meetings.

Sussexes responded after Meghans marriage claim was debunked

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exit the West Door of St Georges Chapel following royal wedding | Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images

RELATED: Prince Philip Distraught Over Claims Made in Prince Harry and Meghan Markles Interview With Oprah, According to Royal Expert

In addition to the archbishop, the former chief clerk at the Faculty Office Stephen Borton also stated that Meghan and Harry were not married before May 19, saying that the duchess was obviously confused and clearly misinformed.

Borton told The Sun: They did not marry three days earlier in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Special License I helped draw up enabled them to marry at St Georges Chapel in Windsor and what happened there on May 19, 2018, and was seen by millions around the world was the official wedding as recognized by the Church of England and the law.

The Daily Beast noted that in response to Meghans claim after what Welby and Burton revealed, the Sussexes spokesperson said: The couple exchanged personal vows a few days before their official/legal wedding on May 19.
Morning Briefing: Matt Gaetz's Venmo, Gun Reform, Amazon's Union, and Dad Bods

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | April 9, 2021 |

Good morning. The Daily Beast is reporting that in 2018, Matt Gaetz sent his friend (and indicted sex trafficker) Joel Greenberg $900; the next morning, Greenberg paid that $900 out to three teen girls, one of whom was an 18-year-old at the time. The memos for the transactions were school, school, and tuition. There are some suggestions that Greenberg could plead guilty and cooperate (i.e., roll over on Gaetz).

Gaetz and Greenberg are both connected through Venmo to this then-18-year-old womanwho now works in the porn industry, according to a friend of the girl. And on Thursday, Greenbergs attorney and prosecutors indicated during a court hearing that they expect Greenberg to strike a plea deal, likely meaning he plans to cooperate with investigators. That could be potentially disastrous for Gaetz, as investigators look into the connections between these two men. And one particularly damning connection is their financial transactions.

In fact, Greenbergs attorney strongly suggested as much. From Reuters:

Asked by reporters whether Gaetz should be worried about a Greenberg plea, Greenbergs attorney Fritz Scheller replied, Im sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today. Scheller may have been referring to media reports that Greenberg may cooperate with federal investigators in their probe of Gaetz.

Meanwhile, there is another matter involving Gaetz. Hes being investigated for potentially running a ghost candidate to siphon off votes from a friends political opponent.

Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger is the first GOP Congressional Rep. to call on Gaetz to resign (Kinzinger was one of the few GOP Reps. who also voted to impeach Trump after the insurrection).

Elsewhere, Joe Biden took executive action on gun reform yesterday. The moves were pretty modest. He placed new restrictions on pistol modification (the recent Boulder shooter used a modified pistol), and he also brought in an anti-gun advocate to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The ATF will now also be charged with writing annual reports on gun trafficking, which is weirdly something that hasnt been done. Biden will also encourage states to adopt red-flag laws that would bar people from carrying guns if they present a danger to others or themselves. Hes also banned the sale of ghost guns, or those guns made from kits or 3D printers, which would not have serial numbers.

This appropriately sums up the response in Texas:

Governor Greg Abbott started the day tweeting he wants to make #Texas a sanctuary state for gun ownership.



He ends the day tweeting condolences to victims of a mass shooting in Bryan, TX. pic.twitter.com/7aYz5a8WJK  Chris Sadeghi (@chrissadeghi) April 8, 2021

Alas, America may be close to hitting a vaccine wall, which is to say: In some places, there is now more supply than demand. You will not be surprised to learn that almost all of those places are in the South (and Wyoming). In Mississippi, for instance, there are 73,000 shots available and few takers. It looks like America may see a patchwork of herd immunity, too. I look forward to the Mississippi variant wiping out mankind.

I got my first shot yesterday, by the way. A breeze.

It looks like there was some shady-ass sh*t going down with the Amazon union vote, but also it looks like the union effort is, unfortunately, going to be defeated in Alabama. The early vote is 2-1 against. On the bright side, at least, the writers and producers at Gimlet Media and The Ringer ratified their first collective bargaining agreements. They are two of the first podcast production companies to unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East.

Finally, according to some survey of folks on Tinder, 75 percent of single women apparently prefer men with Dad bods. I am 75 percent confident that this is a lie, because otherwise, Bridgerton would be casting a lot more Seth Rogen types, and Ive seen the traffic numbers on Rege-Jean Page articles. Yeah, I know why you clicked on this article, and it wasnt because of Matt Gaetzs Venmo receipts.





 Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, Dies Aged 99 | New Study Shows that Amazon Rainforest Now a Net Contributor to Climate Change 

Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.

Header Image Source: Netflix
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The record-setting population of Lake Erie walleye has lured more than 90 two-angler teams to sign up for the Masters Walleye Circuit (MWC) tournament on Friday and Saturday, April 16-17, in Port Clinton. Dont be surprised if many of the fishermen investigate making long runs to the Lorain and Cleveland areas in search of trophy fish.

There is no doubt that Port Clinton, with its massive spawning reefs and Lake Erie Islands habitat, is a haven for walleye right now. Huge numbers of the toothy fish are being caught. With the balmy weather this week, many fishing guides are reporting the hefty Western Basin female walleye have already deposited their eggs and are feeding heavily.

The majority of the walleye around the Central Basin are just starting to spawn, said Craig Lewis of Erie Outfitters in Sheffield Lake. The females are full of eggs, and will generally be a lot heavier  as much as five to eight pounders heavier  than a limit of spawned-out females to the west.

The strategy will be fascinating, said Lewis. Should tournament fishermen waste a lot of time and fuel racing from downtown Port Clinton to the Central Basin of Lake Erie? Or should they change their walleye fishing tactics from trolling open water to jigging the productive reefs located in shallow waters off Port Clinton and Camp Perry?

Tournament record possible: Record-setting catches are more than possible for Lake Erie walleye tournaments, and new MWC tournament director Jeff Kelm is hoping it happens again next week. The MWC mark was set on Lake Erie in 2018 with more than 89 pounds over two days. Kelm doesnt think one tactic will rule, either. While trolling diving plugs off side planer boards can dominate, the traditional standard of the jigging the reefs and rocks could produce the catch needed to win.

It will take a strong five-fish limit of walleye to place high in the standings, but the winner will need at least one 11- to 12-pounder, said Kelm. We expect to see good numbers of 8- and 9- pounders both days, but that double-digit walleye, for two, will probably be the key.

Kelm thinks that those big female walleye will be hanging around the reefs, and fishermen working lead-head hair jigs, blade baits or Jigging Rapalas could tempt a real trophy walleye to bite. But there are also hordes of smaller, hungry walleye ready to hit a lure before the big ones can strike.

Takasaki remembers tournament record: The heaviest five-fish limit ever weighed in a walleye tournament was recorded by Ted Takasaki of Sioux Falls, S.D. in a Professional Walleye Trail event on April 27, 2002 on Lake Erie at Port Clinton. The tournament veteran, now in his early 60s, remembers the catch well.

I was lucky to troll a lure past some extremely big walleye, fish who were really hungry, said Takasaki, with a laugh, during a phone interview this week. The 53.20-pound catch averaged better than 10 pounds per fish. No tournament catch has been able to match that one-day total almost two decades later.

Takasaki also remembers that he didnt win the tournament. The late Tommy Skarlis, 55, who died last September of cancer, won the three-day tournament with a limit of 15 walleye weighing 138.28 pounds.

No tournament lead is safe on Lake Erie, said Takasaki, who will return to Lake Erie for the National Walleye Tour event on June 24-25 in Huron.

MWC weigh-ins in downtown Port Clinton: The daily MWC weigh-ins will be held at the Jefferson Street pier in downtown Port Clinton on Friday and Saturday. They will begin at 3:30 p.m. both days. Weigh-ins will also be live online at masterswalleyecircuit.com or on Facebook at MastersWalleyeCircuit.

Anglers praying for rain: This is the time of year when spawning walleye and steelhead trout are making their runs to spawning areas in the Lake Erie tributaries. A lack of rain, however, has slowed the walleye action on the Maumee and Sandusky rivers in Northwest Ohio and the steelhead runs on the rivers and streams of Northeast Ohio.

All of the rives and streams are low and clear, and waters are unseasonably warm this week after temperatures in the 70s. A cool front is coming, as well as some rain this weekend. Fishermen will be hoping that is enough to perk up the spring river fishing.

Reports in the Cleveland area have smallmouth bass making their move into the rivers. Sandusky River fishermen say white bass runs, which follow the walleye action, are starting this week.
The fight over House Bill 1232, the so-called public option bill, has been waged in newspapers and TV ads over the past several months, and Friday, the fight heads inside the state Capitol as the bill goes before the House Health and Insurance Committee for its first hearing, scheduled for noon.
SALT LAKE CITY, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pure Capital Solutions (OTC Ticker symbol: PCST) a Utah corporation, announced the acquisition of Nova Corps, LLC, a Minnesota limited liability company through a merger with PCST in exchange for the issuance of 87,779,000 shares of restricted common stock. The shares issued will represent 80% of the issued and outstanding shares of PCST, with Nova Corps becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of PCST under the new name Nova Space  a Wyoming Incorporation (Nova Space).

PCST latest move combines a highly experienced management team and world class subject matter experts with the acquisition of Nova Corps. Under the new banner of Nova Space Inc, the organization is set to develop extraordinary digital offerings for Space Operations and Astronautics training, education, and professional development. The new management team will be led by CEO/President Joseph Horvath and COO/Vice-President Christopher Allen.

The Space industry is experiencing rapid growth, investment, and technological change. One of the keys to helping this industry reach new milestones is providing a standardization of knowledge through better training and professional development. By supporting and enabling the growth of the performers, rather than just technologies, the industry will improve communication, performance, and business outcomes, said Joseph Horvath, President and CEO.

The space economy is quickly providing immense opportunities for career growth, wealth creation, and participation in meaningful human endeavors. There are hundreds of thousands of people willing to participate today, who need development opportunities to achieve confidence and competence in the space industries best practices. By leveraging the best in adult learning design, digital learning experiences have the power to rapidly install durable new skills and competencies for individuals and organization at scale, said Christopher Allen, Vice President and COO.

As a result of this transaction, Todd Marshall and Daren Wright of PCST resigned from their positions as officers and directors of the Company. Tyler Rainey will remain with the Company in the role of Secretary.

Forward-looking Statement :

This release contains forward-looking statements, which are inherently uncertain as they are based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or future performance of the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in this release. These risks and uncertainties could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Pure Capital Solutions
Turners Falls High School in Montague is launching an additional program in manufacturing that will serve 20 students.

Atlantis Charter School in Fall River is launching a program in information technology that will serve 50 students.

Bartlett High School in Webster is adding programs in health care and social assistance and manufacturing that will serve 120 students.

Carver Middle-High School offers a program in manufacturing that will serve 75 students.

Chelmsford High School is launching two programs in business and finance and information technology that will serve 40 students.

Dearborn STEM Academy in Roxbury is launching a program in health care and social assistance that will serve 120 students.

Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School is launching a program in health care and social assistance that will serve 40 students.

Excel High School in South Boston is launching a program in information technology that will serve 150 students.

Swampscott High School is launching a program in manufacturing.

Uxbridge High School is launching a program in business and finance that will serve 100 students.

Worcester Public Schools is launching a program in environmental and life sciences at its six comprehensive high schools that will serve 45 students.

(TNS)  In an effort to further prepare students for careers after high school, the state has recognized 18 schools offering Innovative Pathway programs in everything from business and finance to manufacturing and health sciences.These early career programs provide students tremendous opportunities for future success in and out of the classroom by building partnerships with local employers to equip students with experience and knowledge in a growing field, Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement.In October 2019, Baker and Lt. Gov. Karen Polito announced the availability of $1.8 million in grants over three years from American Student Assistance, a national nonprofit based in Massachusetts. The grants helped high schools across the state develop programs that prepare students for college and careers.We are very excited about this opportunity for our students and the continued expansion of our offerings, said Patrick Danby, principal of West Springfield High School.West Springfield High School is one of the schools recognized by the state for its three new programs in business and finance, health care and social assistance, and information technology. The programs will serve 280 students.With the expansion of our Innovation Pathways program well focus on bolstering our new career pathways, Danby said. The pathways are designed to create strong partnerships with employers in order to expose students to career options and help them develop knowledge and skills related to their chosen field of study before they graduate high school.Other selected schools will incorporate the following programs:Schools that apply for an Innovation Pathway designation are required to follow five design principles including equitable access for all students; guided academic pathways relating to one of five broad industry sectors; enhanced student supports; relevant connections to careers; and partnerships between high schools, employers, and workforce development boards.Schools that apply for an Innovation Pathway designation are required to follow five design principles including equitable access for all students; guided academic pathways relating to one of five broad industry sectors; enhanced student supports; relevant connections to careers; and partnerships between high schools, employers, and workforce development boards.It is a testament to the success and importance of these programs that despite the challenges of the last year, high schools moved forward with creating more early career opportunities for students, said state Education Secretary James Peyser. These programs give students relevant and valuable experience that helps them think about their future career paths, something that may have been sidetracked during the health crisis.More than 600 students are expected to enroll in the programs. With these new designations, there are now 49 high schools in Massachusetts with Innovation Pathway programs, with a total of 121 pathways. More than 4,000 students are projected to be enrolled in an Innovation Pathway program by the fall of 2021.
Oil switched between gains and losses after Saudi Arabia said it was confident that OPEC+ was right in agreeing to raise output, while India posted its strongest oil consumption in 15 months.

West Texas Intermediate fluctuated, though prices remained within the $5 range theyve been holding since around mid-March. Indias oil-products demand in March was the strongest since late 2019 -- with gasoline use jumping the most since 2013 -- even as the country saw Covid-19 cases soar.
Turkey's daily count of coronavirus cases reached a new high on Thursday with infections topping 55,000, the Turkish Health Ministry said.

A total of 55,941 cases, including 2,316 symptomatic patients, were confirmed across the country, the data showed.

Turkey's overall case tally is over 3.68 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 33,201, with 258 fatalities over the past day.

As many as 37,914 more patients in the country won the battle against the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to over 3.23 million.

More than 40.6 million coronavirus tests have been done in Turkey to date, with 304,492 done since Wednesday.

The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition have risen to 2,615, Anadolu Agency reported.

Since its vaccination campaign began on Jan. 14, Turkey has so far administered over 18.2 million coronavirus vaccine jabs nationwide, according to official figures. Over 10.7 million people to date have received their first doses of the vaccine against coronavirus, while second vaccine doses were given to nearly 7.49 million.
Four women have accused Dominic Foppoli, a wealthy winemaker and mayor of Windsor, California, of sexual misconduct spanning 16 years

The mayor of a small, affluent town in California's wine country has been accused of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others, prompting local authorities to launch a criminal investigation and leading to widespread calls for his resignation.

Dominic Foppoli, 38, who has been mayor of Windsor in Sonoma County since 2018, has found himself under fire after the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday published a bombshell expose, which recounted in graphic detail the up-and-coming politician's suspected sexual misconduct between 2003 and 2019.

In the article, a former campaign volunteer accused Foppoli of raping her twice in one night after a boozy New Year's Eve celebration in 2003. She was 18 at the time, and told Foppoli she was saving herself for marriage.

Another accuser claimed that Foppoli brought her to his home after drinking at a nightclub in 2006, and then tried to pull off her pants. The woman said she locked herself in the bathroom for hours before escaping.

Foppoli is a scion of a prominent family that has been producing wines in Sonoma County for five generations

In 2015, Foppoli (circled) took part in a Mr California contest hosted by Steve Harvey

A third accuser shared with the Chronicle that in 2012, she and Foppoli were attending a convention together when she got drunk, and he allegedly brought her to his hotel room and had oral sex with her, even though she was semi-conscious and too inebriated to give her consent.

The most recent accusation dates from 2019, when a 21-year-old intern at a winery said Foppoli groped and forcibly kissed her, despite her telling the mayor 'No.'

An attorney representing Foppoli told the newspaper that he 'categorically denies having engaged in any of the abuses described.'

Just hours after the publication of the expose, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office released a statement, announcing that the agency had opened an investigation into the allegations against Foppoli, and asking additional potential victims to come forward, reported CBS San Francisco.

'This is a developing situation as we attempt to gather information and interview potential victims,' Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said. 'At this point I am not able to provide additional information as I do not want to jeopardize the integrity of the investigation.'

As of Friday afternoon, Foppoli has not been arrested or charged with any crime.

In 2016, Foppoli boasted in a Facebook post about sharing multiple bottles of wine with Rudy Giuliani, whom he called 'a role model'

Windsor town officials released a statement on its official website overnight, calling the allegations made against the mayor 'shocking and horrible.'

'The conduct described in the article published by the San Francisco Chronicle is not acceptable nor does it reflect the values or standards we hold ourselves to as a community,' the statement read.

'The Town has referred the allegations to the Windsor Police Department for further investigation and is in the process of evaluating its duties and options under the circumstances. We ask for the communitys trust that the allegations are being taken seriously and that appropriate actions will be taken in response.'

Meanwhile, the mayors of eight nearby towns nestled in the wine country joined forces and issued a statement condemning Foppoli's alleged behavior and calling on him to step down.

'In response to the credibility and significance of the allegations, Sonoma County Mayors of Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol and Sonoma demand Dominic Foppoli resign immediately from the Windsor Town Council and all other elected and appointed positions and roles held with special districts and regional boards,' the authors of the letter demanded.

Foppoli (2nd L), was first appointed mayor of Windsor in 2018, and then voted into office in 2020. He is pictured with fellow mayors in 2019

On Thursday, the mayors of eight Sonoma County towns issued a joint statement, demanding that Foppoli resign

Foppoli was first appointed mayor in 2018, then voted into office last year. His term ends in 2022.

Also in 2021, Foppoli was elected second vice president of the Mayors and Council Members Department at the League of California Cities.

Just days before the revelations, Foppoli was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District.

A high-ranking official said that steps are being now taken to rescind Foppoli's appointment.

Foppoli, who is not married, is a scion of a wealthy family that has been producing wines in Sonoma County for five generations, beginning with his great-grandfather, Italian immigrant Giuseppe Foppoli, a century ago.

Dominic has operated Christopher Creek Winery in Healdsburg, California, since 2012, all the while pursuing his political ambitions, first as a Republican and then as a Democrat. He also owns two other wineries and a brewing company in the area.

According to the Chronicle expose, it was during his 2003 unsuccessful run for the California State Assembly that Foppoli, then a 21-year-old Dominion University student running as a Republican, allegedly raped his 18-year-old campaign volunteer after she broke up with him.

The accuser, who did not wish to be named, said her family knew Foppoli from church, and she was drawn to his image as a Catholic and a conservative businessman.

The woman became Foppoli's personal assistant on the campaign and started dating him in November 2003.

The woman said she told Foppoli at least on two separate occasions that she was waiting for marriage to have sex because of her faith, but she claimed her candidate boyfriend disregarded her wishes, undressed her, fondled her and digitally penetrated her without her consent.

The woman wrote in a journal entry, which she shared with the newspaper, about her anguish afterwards, and a short time later she ended her relationship with Foppoli.

Then on December 31, she said Foppoli called and begged her to go out on one final date with him to celebrate New Year's Eve.

The revelry entailed a dinner and several house parties with Foppoli's friends. At their last stop, around midnight, the woman said Foppoli and the others pressured her to drink Champagne, which marked her first time consuming alcohol, and then continued plying her with shots of hard liquor.

Foppoli though his attorney denied all the allegations of sexual misconduct

After the woman became severely intoxicated, she said Foppoli led her into a dark bedroom, closed the door behind them and proceeded to undress her as she begged him to stop.

'I asked him not to pull off my skirt & nylons when he tried,' the woman wrote in her journal later, as reported by the Chronicle. 'I clutched my skirt trying to hold it at my waist line and even told him I was on my period only to have him feverishly reply he didnt care.'

Foppoli then allegedly raped his inebriated date. The woman said she threw up over the side of the bed and fell asleep, only to be awakened later by Foppli raping her a second time.

'I felt sick mentally, emotionally, physically, and especially spiritually,' she reportedly wrote in her journal. 'I wanted to go somewhere deserted and just run as fast as I could, fall on my knees and scream ... Why? And cry my heart out!'

The woman said when Foppoli drove her home the next morning, he did not apologize for what had happened and chucked up the entire episode to his being drunk.

The alleged rape victim did not pursue legal action against Foppoli, telling the paper she did not know at the time it was an option in a situation involving someone you know.

In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, the woman posted a message on a Facebook group of Windsor residents, writing: 'I can tell you firsthand Foppoli is not a man of integrity.'

Foppoli, who was vice-mayor of Windsor at the time, sent the woman a private message, begging her to take down her post, which he said had made his mother cry.

'We were young and made poor decisions together all of those years ago and I regret that we let things go as far as they did,' he wrote.

He went on: 'I strive to now be a strong catholic man for my nephews and nieces to look up to and I dont want them to be upset about things they read online about their uncle.'

Three years after the alleged rape, in 2006, Foppoli was campaigning for a spot on the Windsor Town Council when he took a dance class in Santa Rosa and met then-21-year-old Sophia Williams.

One night after a group outing to a local nightclub, Williams and Foppoli shared a cab together. Williams said instead of letting her out at her address, Foppoli brought her to his apartment, where he offered her to take his bedroom, while he slept on the couch.

But according to the woman, Foppoli got in bed with her, pinned her to the wall with his body, pressed his groin against her buttocks and tried to kiss her neck, even though she told him to leave.

After Foppoli allegedly wrapped his arm around her waist and put his finger down her pants, Williams jumped up and ran into the bathroom, where she locked the door and slept on the floor for several hours, before a friend came to pick her up.

She said she did not press charges against Foppoli because she considered him a friend, but from then on she made an effort to avoid him.

In June 2012, as Foppoli's political star in Sonoma County continued rising, he ran into Allison Britton at a civic convention in Reno, Nevada.

Britton, then aged 27, said she had been drinking heavily that night while playing poker at a casino. A friend who was with her told the paper she was visibly inebriated.

The friend said she asked Foppoli to escort Britton to her hotel room, but he allegedly took her to his room instead.

Britton said she was drifting in and out of consciousness, and at one point found herself kneeling on the hotel bathroom floor. She was topless and Foppoli's penis was in her mouth.

'It scared the f***ing hell out of me,' she told the paper.

Britton said she allowed Foppoli to ejaculate on her chest, then passed out on his bed, and eventually slipped out of the room unnoticed.

Foppoli continued expanding his business empire and racking up political victories, including being appointed to the Windsor Planning Commission, overseeing the towns development projects, winning a seat on the Windsor Town Council, at age 32 the youngest person to do so, and being elected vice mayor in 2016.

Around that time, Foppoli shared a photo of himself posing with Rudy Giuliani in Ohio. He boasted in the caption: 'just got to spend a couple of hours having dinner and sharing several bottles of wine with a true American icon. Mayor Giuliani gave me some great advice and he's an inspiration and a role model as to how I can do even more to serve the constituents I'm so blessed to represent.'

Accuser Rose Fumoso said she attended location and grope her a party at Foppoli's Christopher Creek Winery in 2019. She claimed that he drove her to another location and groped her

Rumors about Foppoli's conduct with women were circulating in the community, including specific allegations that surfaced in 2017, accusing him of trying to undress two women during a party four years prior, but that did not stop him from being appointed mayor of Windsor in 2018.

Seven months later, Rose Fumoso arrived in Sonoma County from her native France as part of a winemaking internship.

In September 2019, Fumoso said she was invited to a party at Foppoli's Christopher Creek Winery. There, she said Foppoli engaged her in conversation and invited to see his Tesla.

Fumoso said she got into the car and Foppoli drove away. She said she began feeling strange, moving slowly and slipping in and out of consciousness, and did not know how she ended up in the living room of a home, where she said the mayor of Windsor proceeded to grope her buttocks and attempt to kiss her.

Fumoso said she pushed Foppoli away and told him, 'No,' but he persisted.

Frightened, Fumoso told Foppoli to take her back to the winery. She said she does not remember what happened later.

Suspicious that she had been drugged, Fumoso had her blood tested in the wake of the encounter, but no narcotics were detected.

She said she considered going to the authorities, but given Foppoli's prominent status in the community, and her being a foreign intern, she did not think her allegations would be taken seriously.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mine Wars Museum has only been open for guided tours by appointment. Plans are to reopen to the public April 16 on Fridays and Saturdays. For the latest information, go to wvminewars.org. Robert Saunders can be reached at bsaunders@hdmediallc.com.
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(8 April 2021) Telenor Group and Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata) are in advanced discussions regarding a potential merger of its Malaysian mobile operations Digi and Celcom, in which the parties will have an equal ownership of 33.1 percent each. The new company will be a leading provider of telecommunication services in the country, with competence and scale to meet increasing expectations and demand from a digitally connected society.

The parties aim to create a leading telecommunication service provider in Malaysia with the capabilities to drive research and innovation and facilitate a platform for accelerated digital growth in the local ecosystem. A progressive digital economy is important to Malaysias future economic resilience and competitiveness, and the merged company will be well positioned for delivering industry innovation, high-quality connectivity and a diversified value proposition to the customers.

The proposed merger represents an important milestone in Telenor Groups strategy to strengthen its Asian presence and create value in the region. The new entity will have size and financial capabilities to support Malaysias digital aspirations and lead industry development in a connected society. We look forward to partner with Axiata to realize the potential of the new company, says Jrgen C. Arentz Rostrup, Executive Vice President and Head of Telenor Asia.

Both parties have agreed to nominate Dato Izzaddin Idris as Chair, Jrgen C. Arentz Rostrup as Deputy Chair, Idham Nawawi as CEO and Albern Murty as deputy CEO of the merged company which will be named Celcom Digi Berhad.

As part of the transaction, Axiata will receive newly issued shares in Digi which represents 33.1% of the merged company. a transaction will realize synergies and provide value for shareholders in line with our strategy of developing value from core telco assets. Celcom Digi will continue to be listed on Bursa Malaysia and will be amongst the top stocks in terms of market capitalisation and contribute to the attractiveness of the local capital market.

Telenor Group and Axiata will work towards finalizing agreements in relation to the proposed transaction within the second quarter of 2021 following due diligence.

The transaction will be subject to approval by Digi Board and Celcom shareholder, receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary terms and conditions. The parties acknowledge that there is no certainty that these discussions will result in any agreement.



Press contact:

Tormod Sandst, Director Media Relations, Telenor Group

+47 90 94 32 15 | Tormod.Sandsto@telenor.com




The world is in shock as the royal family has just announced that Queen Elizabeth IIs husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh has passed away. When any royal or celebrity passes away, fans often look back over their accomplishments. Philip accomplished a great deal in the British Royal Navy, as well as alongside the queen. What was Prince Philips net worth when he died?

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, smiles after unveiling a plaque at the end of his visit to Richmond Adult Community College | Matt Dunham  WPA Pool / Getty Images

Prince Philips age at time of death

Today, the royals announced the death of Philip.

It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the royal familys official Instagram account announced.

His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle, the post continues. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss. Further announcements will be made in due course.

Philip was 99.

Prince Philips early life

Philip was born on June 10, 1921 on the Greek island Corfu to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, and Princess Alice of Battenberg. After Philips uncle was forced to give up the Grecian throne, Philip and his family ran away to Paris. Philip made the trip in an orange box that was turned into a crib for him.

It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.



His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/XOIDQqlFPn  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 9, 2021

RELATED: Prince Edward Was Once Prince Philips Greatest Disappointment, Insider Says

When his parents separated in 1930, Philip was sent to England to live at Kensington Palace. At 18, he joined the Royal Navy.

Like Prince Harry, Philip saw great success in the military and served with great honor.

Its easy to look at the military career of a royal male and see it as a rite of passage, but with Philip one needs to look beyond that, Ashley Jackson, a professor of imperial and military history at Kings College London said, according to NBC News. He joined when he wasnt anywhere near marrying the future queen. This was a career path for a Greek prince. This wasnt a brief dalliance in the military. Its important to note that hes clearly an exceptional officer.

Philip served in the Royal Navy from 1939-1953.

In 1947, he became a naturalized British citizen by using the surname Mountbatten, according to CNN. In order to do this, he had to renounce his claims to titles in Greece and Denmark. At the time he was sixth in line for the throne in Greece.

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth

Philip and Elizabeth are actually third cousins. They are both the great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria.

In July of 1947, King George VI announced Philip and Elizabeths engagement. In November of that year, the two were married and Philip became the Duke of Edinburgh.

What was Prince Philips net worth at his time of death?

Though Philip and Elizabeth were rich, they did not live as lavishly as they could have.

Although Philip was married to the worlds richest woman, and accustomed to the highest levels of royal service, he did not live sumptuously, author Kitty Kelly wrote in the 1997 book The Royals, according to Evening Standard. His wife was frugal and accustomed to scratchy tweeds and sensible shoes.

RELATED: Is the Pandemic Impacting Prince Harrys Ability to Visit Prince Philip In the Hospital?

Queen Elizabeth II is the richest member of the royal family. According to Forbes, the crown holds nearly $28 billion in assets through the Crown Estate ($19.5 billion), Buckingham Palace (est. $4.9 billion), the Duchy of Cornwall ($1.3 billion), the Duchy of Lancaster ($748 million), Kensington Palace (est. $630 million) and the Crown Estate Scotland ($592 million), though none of those can be sold. The outlet also estimated the queen has $500 million in personal assets.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Philip was worth $30 million when he died.
[April 09, 2021] PG&E Contributes $500,000 to Restaurant Resilience Fund to Strengthen Businesses for the Long-Term

Beginning next week, restaurants in six Northern and Central California counties can apply for a $3,500 grant to help them rebound from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The California Restaurant Foundation's (CRF) Restaurants Care Resilience Fund is accepting applications April 11-18, 2021. Pacific Gas and Electric Company ( PG&E (News - Alert) ) contributed $500,000 to the fund to assist small restaurants struggling in the wake of stay-at-home orders and other pandemic restrictions that have affected their businesses. Grants are available to California resident-owned restaurants with 50 or fewer employees in these Northern and Central California counties: Alameda, Fresno, Kern, Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Joaquin. The Restaurants Care Resilience Fund is focused on long-term resilience for small restaurants that have struggled the most during the pandemic. Special consideration will be given to minority- and women-owned businesses. In addition to the $3,500 grant, restaurants will receive one year of small business support services. "What's really unique about our Resilience Fund is that it supports the business as well as individual restaurant workers," said Alycia Harshfield, Executive Director of the California Restaurant Foundation. "A portion of the funds raised will provide grants for cooks, servers, dishwashers and more who face unforeseen hardship and have nowhere else to turn. So yes, we're helping restaurants keep their crew on payroll, while also offering a safety net for when things get tough." To qualify, restaurants must be currently open and have had a revenue loss of more than 20% from 2019 to 2020. Funding is intended to be used on payroll and related expenses such as increasing hours and bringing on new hires. "Many local restaurants are cornerstones of their towns and communities, and they have suffered tremendously during the COVID-19 pandemic. These small businesses provide jobs, help families celebrate important milestones, and fuel local economies. PG&E is supporting the Restaurants Care Resilience Fund to help restaurants keeptheir doors open, and we're continuing to help these and our other business customers recover from the financial effects of the pandemic," said PG&E Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Marlene Santos.



Assisting Small and Medium Businesses PG&E remains committed to serving its Small and Medium Business customers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic began, PG&E has:

Implemented a moratorium on service disconnections for non-payment for all business and residential customers.

Offered flexible payment plans to support customers.

Suspended all collection activities including notices and calls. Customers who are currently on payment plans will continue to receive courtesy reminders.

Launched Time-of-Use rate plan outreach, contacting customers who would benefit from the new rate plan and save money.

Provided resource information to all business customers, including PG&E resources and external support for businesses including the U.S. Small Business Paycheck Protection Program and California state support programs.

Provided newsletters and direct mail information on COVID-19 resources.

Conducted outreach to eligible customers to enroll in a discounted rate for businesses struggling to stay open. For more information on PG&E Small and Medium Business customer support, visit pge.com/smbsupport. Supporting Nonprofits Battling COVID-19 PG&E's $500,000 contribution is part of the $1.25 million it is contributing in 2021 to nonprofit organizations assisting vulnerable individuals, families and communities, as well as small businesses, as they cope with the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Contributions are focused on nonprofits addressing food insecurity, minority- and women-owned small businesses, general community relief, utility bill assistance and youth programming. PG&E's continuing support for the customers and communities it serves builds on the $1 million in funding provided to nonprofits supporting COVID-19 relief in 2020 from PG&E and The PG&E Corporation Foundation. These charitable contributions are shareholder-funded, not funded by PG&E customers. About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005362/en/

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04/09/2021

Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu





LOWELL, Mass.  A biotech startup that aims to transform how intravenous medications are administered to patients is the top winner in the 2021 Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) $200K Challenge.





Now in its 10th year, the annual pitch contest drives innovations in health care by showcasing the pioneering work of early-stage medical device, diagnostic and biotech companies. Entrepreneurs competing in the contest present their novel products and technologies before expert judges, venture capitalists, clinicians, researchers, government and industry leaders and the public to win a share of $200,000 in sponsored services and seed money to advance their inventions.





The contest is the largest event of several programs and services for medical-device and biotech startups offered by the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2), a joint venture of UMass Lowell and UMass Medical School in Worcester. The center assists entrepreneurs with all aspects of moving new products and technologies from the drawing board to the marketplace.





This years grand prize winner is Acoustica Bio, a Cambridge-based company that has developed a means to reformulate intravenous medications so they can be administered via an injection under the skin. The startup will receive $50,000 in seed funding to advance the invention from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), the events top sponsor and founding sponsor of M2D2, along with $27,000 of in-kind services from M2D2 and Amgen, another event sponsor.





One cannot tell the story of how successful Massachusetts has been as the global hub for the life sciences without telling the story of M2D2, the UMass Lowell campus and the broader Merrimack Valley cluster, said MLSC President and CEO Kenn Turner. Were grateful to continue our support and partnership with M2D2 and the $200K Challenge. I applaud this years winners and all those who participated in shining a bright spotlight on Massachusetts, on the life sciences and on their potential to improve health outcomes.





For the first time in the competitions history, M2D2 announced it would award $25,000 in funding to help advance the innovation of one of the competitions finalists. The recipient of that prize was BioSens8, which is developing an at-home fertility test.





Entrepreneurs from around the world entered the competition, vying for the chance to present their innovations in the contests finals, which were held virtually on March 24. The winners were announced during an online event hosted by Mintz in Boston on Wednesday, April 7.





M2D2 is proud to help grow the medical device and biotech ecosystem through the $200K Challenge and the centers many programs and services for startups in these sectors. Once again, this years contest featured remarkable innovations that are poised to energize the market and transform the landscape of health care, said Steven Tello, UMass Lowells vice provost of graduate, online and professional studies. A founder and director of M2D2, Tello is a key leader of UMass Lowells many entrepreneurship initiatives, which assist students and startups around the world.





Along with Acoustica Bio and BioSens8, nine other finalists were awarded a share of $200,000 in in-kind support, including use of M2D2s research facilities, lab and meeting space, access to engineering and product development assistance, and legal, regulatory, clinical and business services from the competitions sponsors.





Medical-device and biotech startups assisted by M2D2 benefit from the partnership between UMass Medical School and UMass Lowell, through the co-location of labs in Worcester and Lowell and our world-class faculty and researchers who share their expertise to advance companies innovations, said M2D2 Co-director Dr. Nathaniel Hafer, director of operations in the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science at UMass Medical School, where he is an assistant professor of molecular medicine.





Other top winners include:

Weill Cornell , which will receive $29,000 in in-kind services from Hologic and Asahi-Intecc in support of the companys new 3D MRI technology;

, which will receive $29,000 in in-kind services from Hologic and Asahi-Intecc in support of the companys new 3D MRI technology; SaluTech Limited , which will receive $25,000 in in-kind services from M2D2 and Boston Scientific to advance a new method to treat atrial fibrillation;

, which will receive $25,000 in in-kind services from M2D2 and Boston Scientific to advance a new method to treat atrial fibrillation; General Prognostics, which will receive $25,000 in in-kind services from M2D2, Argenta Advisors and Johnson & Johnson in support of a remote technology to monitor blood biomarkers.

Winners that will receive in-kind support from the companies that sponsored their prize include:

Aidar Health , which will receive $20,000 in in-kind services from MPR and Mintz toward the development of its non-invasive, hand-held, home monitoring device;

, which will receive $20,000 in in-kind services from MPR and Mintz toward the development of its non-invasive, hand-held, home monitoring device; Kalia Health , which will receive $17,500 in in-kind services from Kohler and Argenta Advisors for a new test to detect preeclampsia;

, which will receive $17,500 in in-kind services from Kohler and Argenta Advisors for a new test to detect preeclampsia; D&P Bioinnovations , which will receive $5,000 in in-kind services from Argenta Advisors toward the development of a new organ regeneration platform;

, which will receive $5,000 in in-kind services from Argenta Advisors toward the development of a new organ regeneration platform; Breegi Scientific, which has invented a portable biocontainment head chamber; Theromics Inc., which has created a new substance for the ablation of soft tissue; and Tremedics Medical Devices, which has developed a new type of stent, will each receive $5,000 in in-kind support from Mintz.

Other sponsors of the competition include the Deshpande Foundation, Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre, RQMIS, Sarepta Therapeutics and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures (DRIVe).





M2D2 is grateful for the support of these medical-device and biotech leaders who foster the next generation of innovators as we work to solve some of societys toughest health challenges, said M2D2 Director of Operations Mary Ann Picard.





M2D2 operates lab-based incubators in Lowell and Worcester and offers networking opportunities and other programs for startups. Since the center was founded in 2007, M2D2 has vetted more than 250 medical-device and biotech ventures for inclusion in its programs and provided support to more than 100 startups. In total, M2D2 resident companies have secured more than $150 million in external funding for their innovations.





About M2D2
Cory Watson Attorneys Welcomes Associate Attorney Akira Watson It is apparent that the love and respect of the law is in Akiras DNA, said co-founder Leila Watson. Im certain he will be a great lawyer.

Cory Watson Attorneys, a national personal injury law firm with offices in Birmingham, Alabama; Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, is proud to welcome R. Akira Watson as a new associate attorney.

Akira Watson earned his undergraduate degree in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland before going on to earn his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Alabama School of Law. Akira enjoys giving back to the Birmingham community where he grew up, and he dedicates his legal practice to advocating for those who have been wrongly injured.

As an associate attorney at Cory Watson, Akira focuses his practice on product liability, consumer protection and personal injury litigation.

It is apparent that the love and respect of the law is in Akiras DNA, said co-founder Leila Watson. Im certain he will be a great lawyer.
A family photo archive reveals life behind the public facade of Romania's notorious communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu.

These images are some of nearly 6,000 photos released online in a photo archive created by Romanias National Archives and the countrys Institute for the Investigation of the Crimes of Communism.

The archive focuses largely on the period from 1965, when Romania was ruled over by the Ceausescus, until their overthrow and execution in 1989.

Hundreds of photos in the archive were sourced from the Ceausescus personal photo collection and feature the notorious couple and their inner circle in candid moments.

The archive also features thousands of official photos from Ceausescus reign.

Ceausescus rule began hopefully after he lifted restrictions on freedom of speech, and staunchly opposed the Soviet Unions 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, a stance that won him widespread support at home and from the West.

By the 1970s, Ceausescu and his communist regime began steering the country into an era of oppression and near-medieval hardship for ordinary Romanians, who were then forced to cheer their tormentors.

The most unsettling images in the archive are from the Ceausescus personal collections, made as they enjoyed themselves between official engagements, sometimes in bizarre and disturbing ways.

The archive features several images of this humiliating ritual, which was dubbed the "hunter's baptism." According to witnesses, no hunting companions escaped the rite, not even Ceausescus own son. One official recalled the ruler announcing that "Nicu needs to remember his baptism all his life" before beating his son forcefully with a stick.

Some pictures from the Ceausescus collection capture the couples younger days as left-wing radicals before their ascent to power.
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Hunter Biden has joked in a Jimmy Kimmel interview that 'pants were the problem' while he was on crack and also doubled down on his claim that he doesn't know if the infamous abandoned laptop belongs to him - despite it being verified by top forensics experts for DailyMail.com.

The President's son, who appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live Thursday night to promote his new memoir Beautiful Things, insisted that he didn't know if the laptop was his because he was so detached from reality while on drugs - and went on to say that the scandal around the computer is a 'red herring'.

Kimmel asked the 51-year-old about his laptop - which became a source of intense interest in the run up to the election, amid claims that Joe Biden had been in business with China and was compromised.

'I saw you talking about the laptop in interviews and it became a big thing and when you are asked if it's your laptop, you say, you don't know,' Kimmel said. 'And that is hard to believe unless you read the book and then I'm surprised you have shoes on.'

Biden, who writes in graphic detail about his crack addiction, replied: 'Yeah, I made it today. Pants were the problem.'

His flippant remark was all the more ironic because one of the photos found on the abandoned laptop shows Hunter standing in his underwear.

Social media users immediately lashed out over the light-hearted interview and slammed both Biden and Kimmel as 'Dumb and Dumber' for joking about his drug addiction.

Hunter Biden on Thursday night said he still had no idea whether the laptop which sparked so much controversy was his

Biden appeared on Kimmel's show to promote his new memoir, Beautiful Things

During the Kimmel interview, Biden returned to the subject of the laptop, which was handed in to a repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware, and never collected. Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani then shopped it around to different newspapers.

Biden, seen in a photo which was found on his laptop, joked on Thursday night that 'pants were a problem' when he was on crack

'I really don't know,' Biden said.

'And the fact of the matter is, it's a red herring. It is absolutely a red herring.

'I absolutely think within my rights to question anything that comes from the, from the desk of Rudy Giuliani. And so, I don't know. Is the answer.'

Kimmel asked: 'Do you ever wish you had Apple Care?'

Biden conceded: 'That would have been a good idea.'

Elsewhere in the interview, Biden also hit out at Donald Trump Jr. after the former first son repeatedly trolled him in recent days over his crack addiction.

'Does it make you crazy when you hear someone like Donald Trump Jr. say the only reason [you're able to get away with things] is because you're a Biden and because of your last name?' Kimmel quizzed.

'It is wildly comical - that's putting it lightly,' Biden said. 'But I don't spend too much time thinking about it.'

Biden claimed he had 'never met' Trump Jr. despite having been in 'rough places'.

He also spoke to Kimmel about his controversial appointment to the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings, which critics have claimed he was unqualified for and was only given because his father was Vice President at the time.

He said: 'Go to the beginning. I went to Yale law school. I served on a dozen boards before Burisma, I was a vice chairman of the board in Amtrak, and chairman of the board at the World Food Program U.S., supporting the largest humanitarian organization in the world.

'I had an expertise in corporate governance and I was a lawyer. Which was how I was first approached. However, what I didn't take in to account was the way in which they would use the perception against my dad.

'I would not do it again for that reason.'

The California-based father of five spoke after DailyMail.com confirmed that the laptop was indeed his.

DailyMail.com commissioned top cyber forensics experts Maryman & Associates to analyze its data and determine whether the laptop's contents were real.

Hunter on Thursday night thanked his father Joe for loving him and wanting him to get well

The firm's founder, Brad Maryman, is a 29-year FBI veteran Supervisory Special Agent who served as an Information Security Officer and founded its first computer forensics lab.

Maryman and his business partner Dr. Joseph Greenfield used the same forensic tools to pick apart the drive as federal and state law enforcement use in criminal investigations, and prepared a report for DailyMail.com.

The report said the data on the drive 'appear to be authentic', and that after an extensive search of its contents for any tell-tale signs of tampering, Maryman and Greenfield found 'no evidence' of fabrication  by Russians or anyone else.

Hunter's new memoir, Beautiful Things, came out Tuesday and promised to give a candid account of the president's son's addiction

'The data on the system before April 2019 appears to be related to Mr. Biden, with timestamps appearing to be between 2016 and 2019,' the Maryman and Associates report said.

'The operating system timestamps appear to be authentic, and no evidence was found to suggest that the timestamps or data were altered or manufactured. No indications were found that would indicate the data was manufactured.'

In a presidential debate in October, Joe Biden referred to the leaks of Hunter's emails as 'a bunch of garbage.'

But in an interview with CBS on Sunday to promote his new book, Beautiful Things, Hunter said the laptop 'could be' his.

'There could be a laptop out there that was stolen from me. It could be that I was hacked. It could be that it was the  that it was Russian intelligence. It could be that it was stolen from me or that there was a laptop stolen from me,' he said.

On Thursday DailyMail.com exposed the secrets of Hunter's abandoned laptop.

Among the 103,199 text messages on the hard drive dating from 2016 to March 2019 are fraught conversations between President Joe Biden and his son.

The bombshell cache of 103,000 text messages, 154,000 emails, more than 2,000 photos and dozens of videos are packed with revelations conveniently missing from the memoir, including:

How he begged his father to run for president in 2019 to salvage Hunter's own reputation

How he repeatedly dodged police action against him, despite constantly dealing with drug pushers and prostitutes and having multiple run-ins with law enforcement

Hunter was guarded by a Secret Service agent while on a 2018 drug and prostitute binge in Hollywood, despite not being entitled to protection at the time and amid denials from the federal agency

Joe Biden was afraid his text conversations with Hunter were being hacked even as they discussed his White House bid

How Hunter's laptop is brimming with evidence of apparent criminal activity by Hunter and his associates including drug trafficking and prostitution

Hunter left his MacBook Pro laptop at a Wilmington, Delaware computer repair shop in April 2019 and never returned for it. The report said the data on the drive 'appear to be authentic', and that after an extensive search of its contents for any tell-tale signs of tampering, Maryman and Greenfield found 'no evidence' of fabrication  by Russians or anyone else

The texts reveal how Joe was sucked into his son's torrid love life, became a punching bag for Hunter's drug-fueled rants, and paid his grandchildren's bills when Hunter had drained his bank accounts from his spending on prostitutes and crack cocaine.

When the former Delaware senator was elected Vice President in 2008, it put an end to Hunter's lucrative career as a lobbyist to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest.

Hunter then embarked on a series of controversial business ventures and fell into a cycle of crack and prostitute binges, scandal and rehab.

By 2019 his texts appeared to be seething with resentment.

When Joe texted him a typically doting message 'Good morning my beautiful son. I miss you and love you. Dad' on February 24 that year, Hunter raged at his father for 'having made clear to the world that the only reason for not [running for president is your] family problems im glad to be the f***ing bullseye you painted on my back.'

Hunter complained that his father's advice to not defend himself in the media over stories about his expensive divorce from his ex-wife Kathleen Biden or his affair with his brother's widow Hallie had backfired, and added sarcastically: 'Oh good morning from f***ing rehab.'

'Your team just made me the uncontrollable troubled tax cheat philanderer sex and drug addict that you tried so hard to fix but couldn't yt. They just totally wrote my life away,' he wrote.

'If you dont run ill never have a chance at redemption.'

Joe replied, promising his son he would run for President but adding that he was worried his texts were 'a target' for hacking.

AUTHENTICATING THE LAPTOP DailyMail.com commissioned cyber forensics experts at Maryman & Associates to examine the hard drive to determine its authenticity. The firm's founder, Brad Maryman, was a 29-year veteran of the FBI, served as a Chief Information Security Officer and founded the bureau's cyber forensics unit. His partner, Dr. Joseph Greenfield, is an associate professor at the University of Southern California and helped write their degree program in intelligence and cyber operations. After an extensive analysis of the hard drive, Greenfield and Maryman produced a report for DailyMail.com detailing their findings. Using the same forensic tools as federal and state law enforcement in criminal investigations, they found a total of 103,000 text messages, 154,000 emails and more than 2,000 photos. - They found emails for multiple accounts on the laptop dating back to 2009, and other data which 'appears to be related to Mr. Biden' between 2016 and 2019. - The report's findings were consistent with the known timeline for the hard drive. A Wilmington, Delaware computer store work order with Hunter's signature shows he left his 2017 MacBook Pro laptop there on April 12, 2019. - The Maryman & Associates report said the original 'Macintosh HD' drive was created on March 28, 2018 - Hunter's iCloud email address was added to the laptop's system on October 21 2018, as well as his work email at his firm Rosemont Seneca on February 2 2019. - The same day, a Gmail address he used to log onto sex cam sites, and another personal Gmail address belonging to Hunter, were also added. - Beau Biden's old Gmail account was added on February 7 2019. - Emails addressed to Hunter's various email addresses dating from December 2009 to December 2020 were found on the system. - An iPad with the name 'Hunter's iPad' and three email addresses associated with the Biden family was backed up on the laptop and on iCloud in January 2019 and again a month later. - Greenfield found 818 call logs in this iPad backup with timestamps from June 2016 to February 2019. - There were 8,942 entries in the iPad's contacts book, created between April 2016 and January 2019. - In February 2019 an iPhone XS was also synced with the laptop. Its serial number was consistent with the timestamps of the data on the phone. In conclusion, 'The operating system timestamps appear to be authentic, and no evidence was found to suggest that the timestamps or data were altered or manufactured,' the report said. 'No indications were found that would suggest the data was manufactured.' Advertisement

On Hunter's laptop he had his own profile on porn site Pornhub where there was content of him in bed with two woman with a small dog nearby. Hunter photographed and filmed himself, often with two prostitutes at a time, in explicit videos

A shocking photo obtained from Hunter's laptop shows his badly damaged and worn down teeth - also known as 'meth mouth' - as he sits in a dentist chair

Hunter's laptop is brimming with evidence of apparent criminal activity by him and his associates including drug trafficking and prostitution. This photo of him grabbing a woman's hair was recovered from his laptop

MORE BOMBSHELLS TO COME FROM HUNTER'S LAPTOP ON DAILYMAIL.COM Hunter's laptop is a pandora's box of shocking revelations, explicit photos and intimate communications.In the following days, DailyMail.com will publish more shocking stories from Hunter's laptop, including: How Hunter blew hundreds of thousands on prostitutes, drugs and luxury cars, leaving him scrambling to avoid jail for $320k in unpaid taxes

How five members of the Biden family have been to rehab for drug or alcohol abuse  and a stunning admission by Joe to his son

The OTHER Biden family member planning to buy and cook crack, after falling into the disastrous addiction with Hunter

Hunter's unconventional and unlikely relationship with his well-known psychiatrist

The whispered bedroom conversation with a prostitute caught on Hunter's webcam, in which he confesses he had a previous laptop stolen  by Russians for blackmail Advertisement

The president's continued forgiveness and offers of money via text to his son after his crack binges  are at odds with his long history of tough stances against drug users and suppliers.

Joe criticized George Bush Sr's 1980s War on Drugs for being 'not tough enough' and wrote punitive laws with harsher sentences for drug crimes when he was head of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

His son's drug-fueled calamities have resulted in multiple run-ins with law enforcement that would usually result in criminal charges or investigation, but Hunter has so far avoided the dock.

His laptop, which was handed over to the FBI in 2019, is brimming with evidence of apparent criminal activity by Hunter and his associates including drug trafficking and prostitution.

Photos also show Hunter with cracked and badly damaged teeth - known as 'meth mouth' - as he sits in a dentist chair, and another photo showing him visibly balding.

Hunter appeared to be obsessed with making and starring in porn films with prostitutes, videos and photos on his laptop show.

The hard drive contains hundreds of pictures of naked women and naked selfies of Hunter, as well as dozens of videos.

Hunter photographed and filmed himself, often with two prostitutes at a time, in explicit videos that he then posted on adult website Pornhub under the username 'RHEast'.

Hunter filmed himself with the women from his laptop webcam, sometimes shooting at different angles using an iPad and cell phone.

The sex tapes and shots with hookers are mixed in with family photos, business documents and selfies from his then-lover and brother's widow Hallie in his laptop's photos folder.

Texts show he would often order drugs to hotel rooms and take them with the women before or after sex  and photos include bottles of 100mg Viagra pills, the highest dose prescribed by doctors.

His Pornhub account had 66 award badges, including a badge for reaching 50 subscribers, watching 500 videos, and watching porn in high definition.

Hunter would sometimes leave on the webcam after filming his sex scenes, and captured himself hunched over his computer, intently watching back through the footage.

In one video on the laptop, Hunter recorded his screen and can be heard speaking to a woman about his favorite porn stars as he browsed an adult website with her.

Hunter takes a swipe at Don Jr. saying 'he's never met him despite visiting some rough places' - as Trump's son trolls him over confession he smoked parmesan cheese like crack

The feud between Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden is escalating, with the pair publicly hitting out at one another on Thursday.

While Trump Jr. has been trolling Biden on social media in recent days, the new first son finally retaliated during an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote his new memoir, Beautiful Things.

Biden claimed he had 'never met' Trump Jr. despite having been in 'rough places' - seemingly referencing his years of hard partying and his heavy drug abuse.

Trump Jr.'s name came up in conversation after Kimmel asked Biden about the former first son.

'Does it make you crazy when you hear someone like Donald Trump Jr. say the only reason [you're able to get away with things] is because you're a Biden and because of your last name?' Kimmel quizzed.

'It is wildly comical - that's putting it lightly,' Biden replied.

'But I don't spend too much time thinking about it,' he added.

While Trump Jr. has been trolling Biden on social media in recent days, the new first son finally retaliated during an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote his new memoir, Beautiful Things

Trump Jr. took to social media to share several memes mocking Biden for about his past crack addiction

Meanwhile, Trump Jr. took to social media to share several memes mocking Biden for about his past crack addiction.

In a separate interview to promote his new memoir, Biden earlier this week claimed he had once been so desperate for crack that he smoked parmesan cheese.

'I spent more times on my hands and knees picking through rugs smoking anything that even remotely resembled crack cocaine. I probably smoked more parmesan cheese than anyone that you know,' Biden stated on CBS Sunday Morning.

Trump Jr. mocked that revelation on Wednesday by sharing a meme of the first son seemingly high while holding a wheel of cheese.

'Make America Grate Again,' he captioned the image.

On Thursday, Trump Jr. shared a photo to his Instagram stories of a bowl of pasta with parmesan sprinkled over the top.

'Help me out here guys. Is this parmesan or crack?' he wrote, allowing his Instagram followers to vote in a poll.

He also shared another meme about parmesan cheese and stated below: 'Imagine the field day the media would have if I said I tried to smoke Parmesan cheese because I thought it was crack???'

Meanwhile, Trump Jr. took to social media to share several memes mocking Biden for about his past crack addiction

Trump Jr. shared a photo to his Instagram stories of a bowl of pasta with parmesan sprinkled over the top. 'Help me out here guys. Is this parmesan or crack?' he wrote, allowing his Instagram followers to vote in a poll

Trump Jr. also shared another meme about parmesan cheese and stated below: 'Imagine the field day the media would have if I said I tried to smoke Parmesan cheese because I thought it was crack???'

Trump Jr. isn't the only member of his famous family to blast Hunter for his drugs troubles and checkered past.

During the first presidential debate last year, then-President Donald Trump attacked Joe Biden about Hunter.

'Hunter got thrown out of the military. He was thrown out, dishonorably discharged for cocaine use,' Trump stated.

'He didn't have a job until you became vice president, and once you became vice president, he made a fortune in China, in Moscow and various other places,' he said.

Jimmy Kimmel is blasted for joking about Hunter's drug addiction in their light-hearted interview as they are branded Dumb and Dumber by social media

Jimmy Kimmel was last night blasted for joking about Hunter Biden's drug addiction in a light-hearted interview on his show.

Social media users branded the pair 'dumb and dumber' after they laughed together about how the president's son used to smoke crack cocaine and then take his clothes off.

'Pants were the problem,' the 51-year-old told Kimmel during the interview to promote his new memoir.

But some viewers were less than impressed by their attitude towards cocaine and, more broadly, how the late night host failed to grill Hunter on his role on the board of Ukrainian gas firm Burisma or the infamous contents of his laptop.

'You know what's worse than Hunter's stupidity? It's Jimmy Kimmel's stupidity. He's talking to Hunter about Burisma and the laptop as if it was a lie. Dumb and dumber 2,' one user tweeted.

Another wrote: 'Jimmy Kimmel why are you having a criminal on your show. I have no respect for you or your show. I understand you are serious liberal but there are fact this guy done something shady and you bring him to hunter Biden makes you looks like an idiot.'

A third tweeted: 'Watching the media and Democrats trying to humanize him has been something to behold. Hunter was on f****ing Jimmy Kimmel last night. The stuff we know about how alone is awful but what we don't know is likely so much worse.'

Some viewers were less than impressed by their attitude towards cocaine and, more broadly, how the late night host failed to grill Hunter on his role on the board of Ukrainian gas firm Burisma or the infamous contents of his laptop

Kimmel did touch on topics including Burisma and the laptop but he never pressed Hunter for an answer and gave any controversy a wide berth, allowing the president's son to steer their conversation back to his book.

The laptop became a source of interest during the presidential campaign, not just for the salacious contents including Hunter having sex with women and smoking drugs, but there were also claims it had dossiers which showed that Joe Biden was inextricably linked to his son's business dealings.

'I saw you talking about the laptop in interviews and it became a big thing and when you are asked if it's your laptop, you say, you don't know,' said Kimmel.

'And that is hard to believe unless you read the book and then I'm surprised you have shoes on.'

Biden, who writes in graphic detail about his crack addiction, replied: 'Yeah, I made it today. Pants were the problem.'

The flippant remark was all the more ironic because one of the photos found on the abandoned laptop shows Hunter standing in his underwear.

One Twitter user commented: 'Bravo. This is late night comedy alright. The fact Hunter Biden is on @JimmyKimmelLive joking and laughing about his laptop shows us how much of a joke everything and everyone is out there in make believe land.'

Another user wrote: 'Does Kimmel ask about the Burisma payments? 50k/mo?'

This tweet refers to Hunter's salary while working for Ukrainian gas firm Burisma, up to $50,000 per month, despite no experience in the energy sector.

He later told Kimmel that he was an exemplary candidate for the board, which he was invited to join in 2014 while his father was in charge of US policy in Ukraine while serving as vice president.

Donald Trump famously bashed Joe Biden during the campaign with phrases such a 'quid pro Joe,' to claim that the former VP and his family had profited from his office.

One twitter user last night wrote: 'Many people are calling Hunter Biden an American Hero for advancing our energy interests in the Former Soviet Union.'

Another said: 'I hate it when comedians think they are reporters - I guess a huge percentage of Americans get their news from late-night comics.'

A third wrote: 'Jimmy Kimmel is cool, but man I wish someone serious wouldve done this interview. Hunters saying some interesting stuff.'
Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Chris Boyle Published: April 09 2021

These new Deputy Sheriff Recruits will begin a rigorous six-month training program.

The Suffolk County Sheriffs Office recently held a swearing in ceremony for 20 new Deputy Sheriff Recruits at the Maxine S. Postal Auditorium in the Riverhead County Center. These new Deputy Sheriff Recruits will begin a rigorous six-month training program that includes instruction in firearms, emergency vehicle operations (EVOC), EMT training, and individualized field training. The recruits will graduate in the early fall, joining a force consisting of 230 Suffolk County Deputy Sheriffs.

Sheriff Toulon welcomed these new deputies to the Sheriffs Office, reminding them that they now hold a position of authority in Suffolk County, and with that authority comes great responsibility.
Right now, CPS biggest priority is to give students and their parents the opportunity to return to some degree of in-class instruction, and begin to repair damage to academic growth that the pandemic  and remote learning  inflicted. The extent of that damage is disturbing. Students have been failing at greater rates than last year. Overall attendance has dropped, and preschool enrollment is down. For Black and Latino students, the trends are only worse.
In the wake of this week's deadly shooting, Fort Detrick personnel are extending support services and assessing how to better prepare for the future, should another crisis occur.

On a normal day, Rodger Knepper serves as a financial readiness specialist and U.S. Army emergency relief officer for the military installation in Frederick, Maryland, but during a catastrophic event, he becomes manager of the Emergency Family Assistance Center (EFAC). The EFAC is activated by the post's commander during an emergency, which happened Tuesday when authorities say a 38-year-old U.S. Navy lab tech with a gun, Fantahun Girma Woldesenbet, breached a gate at Fort Detrick around 8:45 a.m. Fort Detrick's civilian police department fatally shot the gunman about a half-mile into the grounds, police said.

The shooter came to Fort Detrick after reportedly firing at two fellow sailors in a storage warehouse that is rented by the Naval Medical Research Center's Biological Defense Research Directorate off post, according to the U.S. Navy and police.

As of Thursday evening, police did not release any updates on the investigation. A Frederick Police Department spokesman said one of the victims, 36-year-old Navy lab tech Carlos Portugal, was still in critical condition at the hospital. The other victim, Casey Nutt, a 26-year-old Navy lab tech, was released from the hospital Tuesday night.

Within two hours of the commander's call, Knepper said staff on post were ready to open a hotline. Ten phones and staff to answer them are on standby for anyone in the Fort Detrick community, he said.

Those who call the 24/7 hotline can be connected to a wide array of resources, including chaplains, family advocacy, military family life counseling, the legal department, housing services, children and youth services, insurance information and the American Red Cross. The hotline is set up in response to an emergency, so the number won't be effective forever, but Army Community Services (ACS) Director Chris Watson said staff are exploring the possibility of setting up a permanent phone number.

Watson said Thursday they've received two calls to the hotline so far. The callers asked questions about the incident itself, he said.

"We're here for them. We're here to meet their needs. We're here to assist the family members," Watson said.

He's been at Fort Detrick since 2013, but said Tuesday marked the first time he'd seen the EFAC activated at the post, though they've trained for active shooter scenarios.

"Those practices were very beneficial," Watson said. "I think that played a big piece in also limiting the fear."

Coincidentally, there was a plan to run an active shooter training exercise in the next few weeks, Public Affairs Supervisor Lanessa Hill said.

"Everybody did exactly what they were all trained to do," she said.

However, that doesn't mean Fort Detrick staff aren't finding ways to improve.

A "very small number" of people on post said they did not hear the public announcement warning amplified from towers across Fort Detrick on Tuesday, according to Hill, which was resolved quickly by increasing the volume.

"We heard people were outside and didn't hear the towers going off," Hill said.

While Fort Detrick does not rely solely on the PA system to warn residents of an emergency, Hill acknowledged it's important to address any gaps in their emergency response.

"The safety and well-being of everybody on this installation is a priority," she said.

Another way those living or working at Fort Detrick can stay updated is through a Department of Defense (DOD) alert system, Hill said, but not every person on post is affiliated with DOD and able to receive those alerts. After the shooting, Hill said Fort Detrick is working to change that and also to spread the word about the mobile phone application, Digital Garrison. Anyone with a smart phone can download the app and use it to receive notifications about various Army installations, including Fort Detrick. Updates also are posted to Fort Detrick's social media pages.

Fort Detrick serves as a military biological defense lab and has several federal civilian biodefense labs. About 10,000 military personnel and civilians work on the base in the city of Frederick.

Hill said Fort Detrick staff will be better able to evaluate its emergency response once the investigation is complete.

This article is written by Mary Grace Keller from The Frederick News-Post, Md. and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
The White House's border coordinator will resign at the end of the month amid a historic surge in migrants at the southern border.

Roberta S. Jacobson, the former ambassador to Mexico who was Biden's border 'czar' on the National Security Council, announced the move in an interview with The New York Times.

She praised Biden's efforts to 'repair and recast' the nation's immigration system and slammed Donald Trump.

'They continue to drive toward the architecture that the president has laid out: an immigration system that is humane, orderly and safe,' she said in a brief interview. 'I leave optimistically. The policy direction is so clearly right for our country.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called Jacobson's work 'an invaluable contribution.'

'Consistent with her commitment at the outset to serve in the Administration's first 100 days, Ambassador Jacobson will retire from her role as Coordinator at the end of this month,' he said in a statement Friday.

Jacobson's resignation comes amid growing pressure for Vice President Kamala Harris to visit the border, 16 days after the White House said she would be leading the effort.

Sullivan said Harris continues to lead efforts related to the border, showing the importance the administration places on the issue.

'President Biden has asked Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Administration's work on our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle, a testament to the importance this administration places on improving conditions in the region. The Vice President is overseeing a whole-of-government approach supported by outstanding public servants,' he said.

Customs and Border Protection revealed yesterday that March saw the highest number of migrant children crossing the border in history.

Jacobson has argued that the migration problem needs to be addressed at the source, in Central America, while many have suggested that Biden's reversal of Trump policies has caused a flood of new arrivals.

She briefed reporters in March, where she echoed the administration's message the U.S. border with Mexico.

But when she tried to translate that message into Spanish, she reversed its meaning, saying, 'La frontera no esta cerrada,' which in English means 'the border is not closed.'

Later in the briefing, she corrected herself and translated the message correctly.

White House border coordinator Roberta Jacobson on the National Security council will resign at the end of the month amid a historic surge in migrants at the southern border; above she attends in meeting with Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard on the border last month

Jacobson announced the move in a New York Times interview on Friday

Meanwhile, Arizona's Republican attorney general said Thursday that Harris has not responded to his requests to visit the crisis-hit border, as Republicans released video of migrants crossing the Rio Grande just a few feet behind them.

'I guess if you were a philosopher you would say no response is a very loud response because we've not received any response,' Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in an interview with Fox.

Harris was named border czar last month by President Joe Biden as the administration faces a growing emergency with record numbers of illegal immigrants arriving in the U.S. and border facilities quickly becoming overcrowded and understaffed.

Jacobson praised Harris in her interview with The New York Times.

'I briefed and worked in support of the vice president's leadership on this issue,' she said. 'Nobody could be more delighted to see the vice president take on that role. It didn't have anything to do with my decision.'

In the 16 days since she was given responsibility, the vice president hasn't visited the southern border or addressed the crisis in any way - despite mounting pressure.

During a trip spearheaded by Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan on Wednesday, Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana said: 'Forty percent of our Border Patrol agents are busy processing people and changing diapers.'

'It means that they cannot do their job protecting the border. It means that Mexican cartels are controlling the border. This is a national security and humanitarian crisis,' she continued during a press conference at the border.

Data released Thursday shows the number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is vastly higher in 2021 compared to 2020, which saw a decrease in crossings. Crossing have reached an all-time high under Biden

Here, families wait to board a bus to a processing facility. Biden claims he is sending the vast majority of adults and families back to their home countries as his administration pushes the message: 'The border is closed'

Republican House Whip Steven Scalise led a group of 10 GOP lawmakers to the border. He released a video where migrants can be seen in the background being apprehended by border patrol

Hundreds more migrants arrived over the southern border overnight from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador

Republican lawmakers have been flooding to the south to assess the situation  holding two separate group trips to the border this week.

GOP House Whip Steve Scalise released a video on Twitter around 1:30 a.m. Friday morning where, in the background, children migrants were seen apprehended and escorted to processing facilities by border patrol agents after they ran across the U.S. border from Mexico.

Scalise led a group of 10 GOP lawmakers to McAllen, Texas Thursday evening to tour holding facilities and assess the growing border crisis.

'LIVE from the border,' the Louisiana representative wrote on Twitter at 1:37 a.m. 'This is out of control. It's the middle of the night. We've seen dozens of children flow freely across the border in just the past few minutes.'

'This is the reality of Joe Biden's disastrous amnesty agenda,' Scalise said.

Vice President Harris has jetted all over the U.S. without visiting the U.S.-Mexico border, despite being named border czar last month

In the video, Scalise said he witnessed about 100 migrants cross in one hour.

The trip comes as the number of unaccompanied migrant minors arriving at the border has reached its highest number ever in U.S. history.

Ranking Member of the House Administration Committee Rodney Davis of Illinois, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul of Texas, Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes of California and House Republican Conference Secretary Richard Hudson of North Carolina joined Scalise on the trip.

Also in two are Reps. French Hill and Steve Womack of Arkansas, Bob Latta of Ohio, Nicole Malliotakis of New York, Steve Stivers of Ohio and Ann Wagner of Missouri.

Scalise said before departing Thursday that the trip was also to find out what Biden is 'hiding' in regards to the emergency at the southern border  as his administration continues to largely block media from touring the overflowing facilities.

And GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, who also led a group of Republican lawmakers to the border for a two-day trip this week, slammed the scenes during a Wednesday press conference as a 'catastrophe'.

'In all my years in Congress, this has been the most disturbing field tour that I've ever taken,' California Rep. Tom McClintock told reporters.

During that round table, the lawmakers recounted seeing crying children  including one girl who has not spoken following trauma from gang rape.

The border crisis shows no signs of abating for Biden, with the number of unaccompanied children arriving in the US soaring.

Some facilities are running low on food, and there are reports of children going hungry and sleeping on the floor.

In one facility, human rights lawyers say children only have access to showers intermittently.

The Biden administration opening up two more emergency intake sites for migrant kids 12 years old and under in Pennsylvania and Michigan which together will be able to hold nearly 900 kids, according a government statement.

A lost migrant child, crying and scared, was found by a Border Patrol agent on his way home. The boy said he was abandoned by the group he was with

And it was also revealed on Thursday that Biden's Department of Health and Human Services is spending $60million a week to house the child migrants in 10 shelters across the country.

Figures seen by The Washington Post show the cost of caring for one of these youths is $290 a day, and the 7,700 available beds have already been completely overwhelmed.

President Joe Biden also tried to characterize the influx as normal seasonal upticks during his late March press conference.

'It happens every single solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March - it happens every year,' Biden said at the time.

However, top House Republican, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, tweeted Thursday: 'President Biden said the surge was seasonal. But the #'s don't lie  172k migrants were taken into custody last month, a two-decade high.'

However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Republicans are actually to blame for the spike, and conditions are improving under President Biden.

'The fact is that we're on a good path at the border under the leadership of President Biden,' Pelosi insisted during an event in California on Thursday.

She added: 'It's about restructuring how we do what is happening there, because we were in a very bad situation under the Trump administration.'

The House speaker is helping push the Democratic narrative that former President Donald Trump and Republicans are to blame for the growing crisis at the southern border.

Other critics claim the situation has been exacerbated by Biden rolling back Trump-era policies and vowing not to turn away any unaccompanied minors who arrive at the border.
VinBus Ecology Transport Services Limited Liability Company has officially put the first smart electric bus in Vietnam into operation. The first electric bus lines will operate in Vinhomes Ocean Park (Gia Lam) while waiting for finishing the procedures to connect with the citys public passenger transport system.





VinBus is an electric bus model manufactured and assembled by VinFast at the Automobile Manufacture Complex in Hai Phong.

VinBus has a battery capacity of 281 kWh, capable of 220 - 260 km of range (137 - 162 miles). Buses can be quickly fully charged after only 2 hours at VinBuss 150kW fast charging station system with charging technology provided by StarCharge.

All VinBus buses will be managed and operated through centralized monitoring, charging, safety inspection, maintenance, repair, and automatic cleaning at depot stations arranged according to VinBus primary lines. Depot stations are built on a campus of more than 1 hectare, with a roof equipped with solar panels to ensure energy supply and contributing to reducing the load on the grid.
Prince Philip, who died this morning at the age of 99, was the son of a Greek prince and was born on the idyllic island of Corfu.

The youngest of five children, the prince was born at the family home, Mon Repos, on 10 June 1921 to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg.

At his birth, Philip was sixth in line to the Greek throne, as Prince Andrew was the son of King George I of Greece.

King George was in fact originally a Danish prince, known as Prince Wilhelm of Denmark, and was elected to be king of Greece in 1863 following a protocol signed by England, France and Russia.

The Greek king was later assassinated in 1913 and Philips uncle Constantine took over the throne.

However, in 1922 King Constantine I was forced to abdicate and flee the country when Greece lost the Greco-Turkish War of 19191922.

Philips immediate family were also forced to leave the country and escaped to Paris in December 1922 when his father, Prince Andrew was accused of treason, imprisoned, and sentenced to death.

The 18-month-old prince was evacuated by a Royal Navy ship in a makeshift cot which had been constructed from an orange box.

Prince Philips official title was Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, until he later renounced his Greek royal title in 1947 to become a naturalised British subject and marry the Queen, who was then Princess Elizabeth.

Instead, Philip took on the new surname Moutbatten which was an Anglicised version of his mothers family name of Battenberg.

The prince was also related to the kings of Prussia, the Romanovs from Russia and was, like the Queen, a great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.

Although born in Greece and related to Greek kings, it would appear that the prince did not feel much attachment to the country, once remarking: I certainly never felt nostalgic about Greece. A grandfather assassinated and a father condemned to death does not endear me to the perpetrators.

The Duke of Edinburgh spent more than seven decades supporting his wife as her consort, before retiring from public life in 2017.

On Friday morning, Buckingham Palace released a statement announcing his death. It reads: It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, left shake hands before the meeting at the Great Hall of the People on April 1, 2019 in Beijing, China. (Kenzaburo Fukuhara - Pool/Getty Images)

New Zealand Wont Criticize China Over WHO Virus Inquiry

New Zealand have announced they would hold off on criticising the World Health Organisations (WHO) COVID-19 investigation in China despite thirteen nationsincluding New Zealands Five Eyes partners Australia, the UK, U.S., and Canadapointing to a lack of access, transparency, and timeliness of data provided to investigators.

Governments have expressed concerns that Chinese authorities interfered with the process by creating significant delays, and failing to provide data.

The Ardern government said they were unwilling to join Australia and other allies, as they needed more time to examine the 319-page document by the WHO, although the report has been distributed among WHO members for several days.

New Zealand is pleased that the report has been released, a spokeswoman for New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta told The Australian. As this is a scientific report, we want to make sure we understand the science before making any comment.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta speaks at a Labour press conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand on November 02, 2020. (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

However, their failure to condemn China comes as WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, shared his own concerns over the validity of the inquiry.

Tedros claimed that some data was withheld from the WHO-led team who came to China in January and February to look into the origins of the pandemic.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as he arrives for a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, on July 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

In my discussions with the team, they expressed the difficulties they encountered in accessing raw data, Tedros said.

I expect future collaborative studies to include more timely and comprehensive data sharing.

Other governments who have signed the joint statement include the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Republic of Korea, and Slovenia.

Five Eyes Alliances Soft Underbelly

The Ardern governments reluctance to condemn the controversial investigation has drawn attention to its relationship with Beijing. The country previously refused to sign a joint statement by fellow Five Eyes nations decrying Beijings arrest of Hong Kong democracy activists.

In January, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece The Global Times praised the signing by New Zealands government of an upgraded free trade agreement with China, calling it a wise move.

The Global Times went on to say the signing should serve as a model for Australia, who challenged the regime in April last year by calling for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

Concerns were also raised in May after New Zealand became the first Five Eyes nation to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, a trillion-dollar infrastructure scheme that has been accused of being a vehicle for expanding Beijings global influence.

Tiny New Zealand may seem like a strange target for Communist party infiltration, but the country is attractive to Beijing as the soft underbelly of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing arrangement with Australia, Canada, the UK and, most importantly, the US, according to an opinion piece published last year on the British Financial Times.

Presumably out of fear Beijing would respond with economic sanctions, Ardern has gone out of her way to avoid even mentioning the topic of Chinese political interference, it said.

In January, New Zealands Trade Minister Damien OConnor infuriated the Australian federal government by suggesting Australia could make amends with the CCP by granting the regime more respect, adding that New Zealand had a mature relationship with China.

If [Australia] were to follow us and show respect, I guess a little more diplomacy from time to time and be cautious with wording, they too could hopefully be in a similar situation [with China], he said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (R) holds a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (2nd,L) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China April 1, 2019.(Kyodo News/Naohiko Hatta/Pool)

OConnor later apologised for this statement and made in-person calls to members of the Morrison government.

From 2000 to 2020, New Zealand exports $16.7 billion worth of goods to China, over double that of Australia, its next biggest export market. At the end of 2019, China was also New Zealands largest goods market and the second-largest source of tourists and international students.

New Zealand has been criticised for its perceived reluctance to join with other states and speak up on matters of concern with China, University of Canterbury China specialist Professor Anne-Marie Brady wrote last year in The Diplomat magazine.

It is practicing deliberate ambiguity in its China policy, and so far, it seems to be getting away with it.
The West Australian government is being urged by the federal government and the legal profession to update its discrimination legislation to bring it in line with the rest of the country.

As the Morrison government announced an overhaul of the federal Sex Discrimination Act, the WA government declined to comment on potential changes to the equivalent state-based legislation while it awaits the outcome of a review that remains in a pre-consultation phase more than two years after it was commenced.

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash and Prime Minister Scott Morrison released the governments response to a report on ending workplace sexual harassment. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

WAtoday revealed in March that people sexually harassed in WA workplaces needed to meet an outdated disadvantage test in order to make a claim under the states Equal Opportunity Act.

It was also revealed members of Parliament and parliamentary workers in WA were not clearly protected from, or liable for, sexual harassment in the workplace under the Act.
For many, cemeteries are spooky and perhaps even frightening, a common narrative being that theyre filled with the vengeful spirits that just wont rest. But for one San Antonio man, cemeteries are the forever home of individuals worth remembering.

Joe A., who chose to remain partially anonymous, has made it his mission to not only clean up the grave sites of those buried at both San Fernando cemeteries and learn more about each individual, but also share his work and findings with others. A history professor at Palo Alto College, Joe originally meant for his students to join him in cleaning and researching the deceased, but  like many things  the COVID-19 pandemic threw off his plans.

Instead, he decided to do the work solo and share the process through a dedicated Instagram account, @sanfernando2stories.

Though the historical aspect is intriguing, Joe said his commitment to cleaning up the headstones is part of his spirituality.

Im not a preachy kind of guy, the 44-year-old said. Im just a Catholic whos trying to do this work. This stuff is important.

Saying a rosary before getting to work, Joe said the process itself isnt overly complicated. After selecting a particular resting place, Joe gets a bucket of water, a brush, and D2, a non-toxin, non-acidic chemical strong enough to remove the natural elements, but gentle enough to not damage the headstone. Once the headstone is legible, Joe begins researching the individual.

sanfernando2stories/Instagram

Joe likens the process to a scavenger hunt, though he admits it can also be frustrating. Since many of the individuals buried at San Fernando were born in the late 1800s and early 1900s and many of their immediate relatives are not alive anymore either, theres limited information available to him. Still, Joe utilizes public records online and subscribes to services that compile archived newspaper clippings to find out as much as he can. Even though he is unable to access information and has dead ends at times, he makes it a point to compile a solid summary of what he does find out to share with his followers.

Every single stone is a story, Joe said. Every single one.

Every soul and their story is important, but Joe said certain individuals strike a deeper chord with him. The fallen  and now forgotten  heroes, veterans who died in a variety of wars, are particularly meaningful to him. Some died in action while a few were able to return home, one only after being a Prisoner of War for two years.

Just as impactful are the children, many of whom Joe said passed away from a lack of access to healthcare or not having funds to pay medical expenses. From complications of strep throat to an ear infection, he said they wouldnt have died if they had lived in todays day and age.

While all his work is meaningful, one particular headstone hit close to home. Joe explained that he once took his daughter with him to the cemetery and let her choose which headstone for him to work on. Out of the thousands of headstones out there, Joe said she had randomly chosen his uncle by marriage, his grandfathers sisters husband. Like many of those buried at San Fernando, Joe said he had died of tuberculosis.

sanfernando2stories/Instagram

In the future, he hopes family members of those resting at San Fernando will be able to reconnect with their loved ones. Even if not, he says a big part of his work is helping San Antonians realize that the buried individuals  and their stories  matter. Much of Joes research has led him to realize that many of the homes where the deceased once lived have since been torn down to make way for other purposes. From the University of Texas at San Antonio downtown campus to Hemisfair, the lives once lived have been further erased by development in the city center and West Side.

He noted that back then the West Side was home to a large number of immigrants who had come to San Antonio during the Texas Revolution. As a result, many of the headstones have Spanish text on them, often spelled phonetically. San Fernando No. 2, however, is more commonly the resting place of people from all walks of life. Joe said hes seen and cleaned headstones of Arabic, Czech, German, Irish, Lebanese, Russian, and Spanish immigrants so far.

Most people had the same struggle, he said. Im learning more and more everyday.

sanfernando2stories/Instagram

Locals and tourists alike may recognize the Historic Pearl, Riverwalk, Hemisfair Park, and surrounding areas as places that define San Antonio, but Joe says that its the people of past generations that helped make San Antonio what it is today.

[Hemisfair] was an entire neighborhood, filled with homes, with people. This is my way of doing social justice, he said. This community really matters. It matters to remember it. The more and more people die, the less youre going to hear these stories.

Though he may not be able to prevent further development that erases certain aspects of the citys rich history, Joe said hes dedicated to doing his part in remembering the souls of long-gone San Antonians through @sanfernando2stories.

This isn't my page, Joe said of the deceased. This is their page.
That is very welcome news, particularly in the light of the information that we received from ATAGI last night, Mr Morrison said on Friday afternoon. The news allowed a reset of the countrys troubled vaccine rollout, which was on the precipice of falling apart given the reliance on the Melbourne-produced AstraZeneca to vaccinate the majority of the country. But how did it get to that point? Europes early signs

The first hints there might be problems was in early March when Denmark reported cases of clotting, and put its use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on hold. Two hospital staff members had fallen ill with blood clots and cerebral haemorrhage within two weeks of their jab. One of them had died. A number of European countries responded by pausing their use of the vaccine. At the time, the Australian government and medical experts remained cautiously confident there was no direct link between the vaccine and the clots. Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Kelly said blood clots happen in Australia fairly commonly, with about 17,000 cases every year, and health officials expected to see clots for some people around the time of vaccination. He said at that time there was no hard evidence of any specific link between AstraZeneca and blood clots.

On April 2 - Good Friday - a 44-year-old man was admitted to Box Hill Hospital in Melbournes eastern suburbs for blood clots. He had been vaccinated on March 22 - 11 days earlier. ATAGI and the Therapeutic Goods Administration were advising the government to continue the vaccine rollout as there was still no concrete evidence linking the clotting disorders to the vaccine, but ATAGI did ask people to be alert for potential severe side effects, particularly severe, persistent headaches that occurred between four and 20 days after their vaccination. Federal Health Department secretary Dr Brendan Murphy said the government would continue to listen to the independent expert health advice. Health department secretary Dr Brendan Murphy. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

If ATAGI or TGA recommends a change well act accordingly, but at the moment theyre not making that recommendation, he said at the time. Murphy said in Britain, where more than 18 million people had been given the AstraZeneca vaccine, there were only a few probable cases of blood clots. Britain was also continuing its rollout as the risk from COVID-19 remained far greater. Loading We are talking about extremely rare events, perhaps one to two per million if you look at the UK, and the risk of dying of COVID is one to two per 100, he said. But more cases of the rare disorder were discovered across Europe and the UK.

At this stage, Australias medical regulators were in almost daily contact with their overseas counterparts as medical experts looked for links between the clotting and the vaccine. Professor Kristine Macartney, who heads the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance and is also part of ATAGI, said there had been continuous meetings with Australian expert groups and international regulators. It was late nights, early mornings, she said. By Wednesday evening, Health Minister Greg Hunt said they were just starting to get an impression from Europe that there may be causation. Health Minister Greg Hunt began talks with the head of Pfizer once the rare AstraZeneca blood clot link started to become clearer. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Hunt immediately hit the phone to call the head of Pfizer. It was the surest bet, with Novavax deliveries still months away and without regulatory approval. He told the company Australia might need to acquire more vaccines. We worked out the figure wed need would be about 20 million to cover any additional under-50s, and to cover [children] if they did move to paediatric [vaccination] at some stage, he said. Loading Hunt, flew from his home in Melbourne to Canberra on Thursday to prepare for potentially major changes to Australias vaccine program. Before he arrived, European regulators changed their advice on AstraZeneca. The European Unions medical regulator decided to list blood clots as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and the UK regulator decided to offer an alternative shot for those aged under 30, after a review of data around a rare blood-clotting condition in a small number of patients was linked to the vaccination.

ATAGI made the government aware on Thursday morning they were also now considering an aged-based recommendation. Acquiring more vaccines That was when the question of purchasing more Pfizer vaccines was raised with the Prime Minister. We put it to the Prime Minister ... look, we dont know how this will go, but we want to prepare on a what-if basis and be ahead of the curve, Hunt said. Thats been our mantra together since January of 2020 ... move fast, move early on the basis of medical advice. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video

By mid-Thursday morning, funding for the 20 million doses was approved by the government on an if-needed basis, subject to the advice of ATAGI. On Thursday night, ATAGI made its recommendation. Loading We really did not get the final advice until literally, just a couple of minutes after seven oclock, Hunt said. In a matter of minutes Morrison, Kelly and Murphy joined him to face the media and the nation. In the background, the government had been working for two days on a new contract with Pfizer and by midday on Friday, the deal for more doses was struck.

That meant announcing massive changes to the vaccine program. The new rollout plan Besides recommending the Pfizer vaccine for people under the age of 50, ATAGI also recommended adults under the age of 50 should only be given AstraZeneca where the benefits clearly outweighed the risks. It also advised adults under 50 who had already received their first doses without experiencing serious side effects could safely be given their second dose. Loading Hunt said for now, phases 1a and 1b could continue mostly as they were, although provisions would have to be made for some.

For those who may be immunocompromised or front-line workers who are under 50, then right now we are working with the states and territories and the medical authorities to revise that part of the program so they have access to Pfizer. That will take time, he said. General practitioners, lauded as the cornerstone of the rollout, were only meant to provide AstraZeneca shots. And pharmacies, from phase 2b, were going to be on hand to vaccinate many younger people who were less likely to have a regular GP. Loading Murphy said the GP program would be able to continue as planned for now. The GP program right through 1a and 1b will continue as it is. As we get to 2a, there are people over 50 and over 60 who will also be able to go to their GPs to get vaccinated, he said.

Its true we planned in phase two to roll out pharmacies. Were looking at how well do that now. We need to recalibrate to see how we may get more Pfizer and how we deal with the under-50s as we get to phase 2b. What exactly these changes mean for phase 2b, and when the rollout will be completed, remains unclear. The government is unwilling to commit to any timeline for completing the vaccine rollout so close to the major change in direction, and wont say for sure how it will be fixed. The reluctance to commit to a hard timeline with so much uncertainty is understandable. Less than two months into the countrys vaccine rollout, weve already faced supply delays, communication trouble, and fallen well behind initial targets. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said the government failed in not securing deals for more vaccines from the outset. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the rollout was now a debacle that could have been avoided with more work to obtain other vaccine options.

Labor was warning for a long period of time that we needed to do what international best practice told us we should do, which is to have access to five or six vaccines, he said on Friday morning. He said getting the rollout right was critical not just for the countrys health but also the economy. Loading If we dont get the health response right, then we wont be able to return our economic activity and our normal way of going about our lives, back to what it was before this pandemic. Hunt says the government has tried to be open with the public.
This time, Festival Acadiens et Creoles is going with Plan A.

Festival organizers decided this week they would plan for a live festival, typically on the second weekend of October in Girard Park, adjacent to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where it was first held in 1976. Last years event went virtual because of the pandemic.

Festival founder Barry Ancelet said organizers will monitor the health risks carefully in case things change: For example, if vaccinations slow or if theres an unexpected rise in COVID-19 cases. But for now, it looks like a live event.

For now, given the movement on the vaccination front and other issues, we feel like it will be OK, Ancelet said. The last thing we want to do is be unsafe.

What pandemic? Lafayette Parish shatters retail sales record for February Consumer spending continued to climb in February in Lafayette Parish as the total retail sales recorded was the highest ever for that month.

Pat Mould, the festivals vice president for programming and development, said the line-up will be close to last years line-up  leading Cajun and Zydeco musicians who have suffered financially during the pandemic because of the loss of live engagements. The festival is contacting the musicians and offering contracts this week.

The goal is to go live if we can. We want to be in the park. We want musicians on stages, crafts people selling their goods, food vendors serving food, he said.

Restaurants are pretty stable, Ancelet said. Some may have gone out of business. One of the things we are keen to do this year is to give a chance to participate to restaurants and musicians, who have been hardest hit by the pandemic. We want to give them a bump.

Restaurants that stayed afloat during the pandemic or did well were those who figured out how to do takeout and curb service. When people have eaten outside of their homes, they have eaten outside, mostly. Thats what you do.

Ancelet said the festival will also assume the theme it had intended for last year, when, instead of designating a Cajun or Creole music for honors on the festival poster, as was usually done, the festival opted instead to celebrate the link between musicians and local cuisine. The festival includes booths representing many leading Acadiana restaurants. Celebrations of music, food and art are always part of the event.

Mould said livestreaming the event, as was done during the 2020 virtual festival, will continue to be part of presenting the festival. He said the virtual festival was very popular, and digital consultants were shocked by how well the communitys demonstrated its connection to the virtual event by following it online.

The virtual event last year was a huge success for Festival Acadiens, Mould said. It was a massive success. We need to point cameras at stages. We are prepared and ready for both plans right now: a live event and the working possibility of streaming event. Plan A and Plan B.

The choice the festival faced this year was similar to last years: Plan A was to host a live event, Plan B was for a virtual event. But COVID-19 vaccines were not available and there were concerns that it might be difficult to socially distance at a live event.

In 2020, Festivals Acadiens et Creoles studied the lead shown by Festival International, the springtime, downtown music event. The spring festival went virtual in the wake of the pandemic; it will be a virtual event his year, too.

Ancelet said the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Oct. 8-17, will be live this year. So will the French Quarter Festival, Sept. 30-Oct. 3. Jazz Fest, which was moved to the fall this year, will conflict with Festival Acadiens et Creole on one weekend, but Ancelet said that shouldnt prove to be a problem for attendance. Typically, Jazz Fest lines up against Festival International in Lafayette, but the events are different enough that it doesnt seem to affect attendance.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas will argue that it has governmental immunity that protects it from the at least 35 lawsuits that have been filed against the operator after February's disastrous winter storm which killed dozens of people and created millions of dollars of damages.

ERCOT has and will continue to assert that it is entitled to sovereign immunity due to its organization and function as an arm of State government, the organization wrote in a Wednesday court filing requesting to consolidate several of the lawsuits its battling.

NOT A SURPRISE: Texans really hate ERCOT after winter storm, UH survey confirms

Sovereign immunity grants protections for state agencies against lawsuits, with some exceptions. And this isnt the first time ERCOT has made the argument  with some success  that it should be shielded from lawsuits due to its role acting upon the directives of state agencies and lawmakers.

In 2018, an appeals court in Dallas ruled that ERCOT, despite the fact that it is a private nonprofit, has sovereign immunity after Dallas-based utility Panda Power sued the operator over allegations of flawed energy projections.

That immunity was challenged at the Texas Supreme Court last month. However, the high court refused to rule on the issue, claiming it lacked jurisdiction because the original case that posed the question was dismissed  a hotly contested opinion with four of the nine justices dissenting.

A flurry of lawsuits were filed against ERCOT following the late-February winter storm that caused almost 70% of its customers to lose power in subfreezing temperatures. At least 111 people died, mostly due to hypothermia, according to state records. The Houston Chronicle reports the number of dead is nearly 200.

The grid operator is asking the Texas Supreme Court to merge the nearly three dozen lawsuits filed against it as a result of the February storm into multidistrict litigation, meaning the cases would be handled in a single court.

A spokesperson for ERCOT said in a statement it requested the move to more efficiently resolve common questions of law and fact.

ICYMI: The heads of ERCOT's board of directors don't even live in Texas

Attorneys for ERCOT detailed the lawsuits filed against it over the last couple of months in the request. Two dozen include families accusing the operator of causing the deaths of family members, who they say died from sickness, cold or lack of power for oxygen machines, according to court filings. One of these cases include the death of an 11-year-old boy in Conroe.

In some lawsuits, ERCOT is named alongside Texas power companies, such as CenterPoint Energy, NRG Energy, Oncor and CPS Energy  which do not have sovereign immunity. Two of the cases are proposed class action lawsuits.

ERCOTs insurance provider, Cincinnati Insurance Co., asked the U.S. district court in Austin on Tuesday to excuse it from covering storm damages or damages from lawsuits, according to the Houston Chronicle. It argues that the damages should not be defined as an accident because ERCOT should have been prepared for the storm.

Disclosure: CenterPoint Energy, CPS Energy, NRG Energy and Oncor have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks about vaccinations, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on April 6, 2021. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

Bidens Border Czar Is Resigning: White House

President Joe Bidens border coordinator will leave the administration at the end of April after a surge of illegal immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The White House confirmed that Special Assistant to the President and Coordinator Roberta Jacobson, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, will step down.

Biden knew there was no person better to usher in a more safe, secure, and just approach to our Southern Border. Consistent with her commitment at the outset to serve in the Administrations first 100 days, Ambassador Jacobson will retire from her role as Coordinator at the end of this month, according to the White House.

Last month, Biden said that Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the administration in dealing with Central American countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. An increasing number of Central American nationals have attempted to illegally enter the United States in recent months.

The Vice President is overseeing a whole-of-government approach supported by outstanding public servants across the interagency including Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, who were tasked by the President at the beginning of the administration to rebuild our immigration system, according to the White Houses statement.

Special Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Southern Border, Ambassador Roberta Jacobson, speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on March 10, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Jacobsen praised how Biden has handled the U.S. immigration system.

They continue to drive toward the architecture that the president has laid out: an immigration system that is humane, orderly, and safe, Jacobsen told the New York Times. I leave optimistically. The policy direction is so clearly right for our country.

During the month of March, Border Patrol agents apprehended 172,000 illegal immigrants, according to statistics released on April 8 by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). An additional 1,000 per day are evading capture. In February, border agents apprehended 101,000 people.

Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said this week that the increase is not new. Encounters have continued to increase since April 2020, and our past experiences have helped us be better prepared for the challenges we face this year, he said.

But Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, disputed Millers claim in saying, This surge is unlike anything weve ever seen before.

Republicans have said that it was because of Bidens executive orders in January that rescinded Trump-era immigration rules that there is now a surge in people entering the United States. illegally, including unaccompanied minors. Democrats and Biden have said Trump dismantled the U.S. immigration system.

Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report.
Seoul/Tehran, April 9 : Iran has released a South Korean-flagged tanker seized three months ago in the Gulf, the Foreign Ministries in Seoul and Tehran confirmed on Friday.

"The ship left safely today," the South Korean Foreign Ministry said, adding that the captain of the Hankuk Chemi chemical and oil tanker has also been freed, reports dpa news agency.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard seized the tanker in January and escorted it to the port of Bandar Abbas.

Authorities in Tehran claimed the vessel was leaking oil and polluting the Gulf.

Iran said previously it had released all crew members, aside from the captain, in February.

"After completing the legal investigations, the public prosecutor's office ordered the tanker to be released," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Friday.

Khatibzadeh reiterated that the tanker was seized due to marine pollution.

Tehran has asserted several times in recent weeks that a violation of environmental regulations in Iranian waters was the reason for the detention of the tanker and that there was no political motivation behind it.

The incident occurred amid tensions between the two countries over Iranian bank accounts frozen in South Korea as a result of US sanctions against Tehran.

According to South Korean media reports, $7 billion are at stake.

The Gulf has been at the centre of a smouldering dispute between Iran and several Western states, especially the US.

There have been several incidents, especially in the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It is one of the most important shipping routes worldwide.

Almost a third of global oil exports are shipped through this strait.
Portland, OR, April 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the Europe Pilates & yoga studios market garnered $26.99 billion in 2019, and is expected to generate $49.44 billion by 2027, witnessing a CAGR of 13.05% from 2021 to 2027. The report offers an extensive analysis of changing market trends, key segments, top investment pockets, value chain, competitive landscape, and regional scenario.

Increase in health awareness, rise in obese population, influence of digitalization, and health benefits associated with yoga and Pilates drive the growth of the Europe Pilates & yoga studios market. In addition, rise in number of fitness enthusiasts and initiation of international yoga day and other government initiatives further fuel the growth of the market. However, presence of other alternatives such as multi-specialty gym, fitness centers, and therapy classes hinder the market growth. On the other hand, promotion of yoga for male participants and surge in disposable income present new opportunities in the coming years.

Get Detailed Covid 19 Impact on Europe Pilates & yoga studios Market @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/11215?reqfor=covid

Covid-19 Scenario:

The outbreak of the pandemic led to increase in the trend of digital classes for yoga and fitness. Owing to this, many studio owners have shifted toward digital options.

Fitness club owners, yoga studios owners, and boutique fitness operators, who experienced decline in their memberships have started to offer on-demand and live stream group workouts.





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The report offers detailed segmentation of the Europe Pilates & yoga studios market based on activity type and country. Based on activity type, the market is categorized into yoga classes, Pilates classes, Pilates & yoga accreditation training, and merchandise sales. The yoga class segment contributed to the largest market share in 2019, contributing to nearly half of the total share in 2019, and is projected to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. Moreover, this segment is projected to maintain the highest CAGR of 14.0% from 2021 to 2027.

Based on country, the market across Germany accounted for the highest share in 2019, holding nearly one-fifth of the Europe Pilates & yoga studios market, and is projected to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period. However, the UK is expected to witness the largest CAGR of 14.0% from 2021 to 2027. The market is further studied in France, Italy, Spain, and Rest of Europe.

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Leading players of the Europe Pilates & yoga studios market discussed in the research include Body & Soul Yoga Club, Core Pilates, Cheltenham Pilates & Yoga, Fitness Unlimited, Flex Studio, Hummingbird Pilates & Yoga, LV Yoga, Fareham, M Pilates+Yoga, Pilates Plus LLC and Sandstone Yoga & Pilates.

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Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Mark Wilson said Friday no major outbreaks of COVID-19 occurred at schools that held in-person classes during the pandemic in or near Birmingham.

Wilson provided a recap of the fight against COVID-19 during the Annual Public Health Address for Jefferson County. Last summer, he consulted with school officials across the district and issued recommendations that students in primary grades could attend school in person while older students attended hybrid or virtual classes.

By October, Wilson said it became clear that many older students and their families had begun to suffer during virtual learning. At the same time, public health workers detected no major COVID outbreaks at schools offering in-person classes, Wilson said. So he revised the recommendations to encourage more in-person learning for middle and high school students.

We did have outbreaks of COVID among school students, Wilson said. But they were mostly associated with extracurricular activities or team sports.

Overall, schools have been successful from an infectious disease standpoint, Wilson said.

Public schools have been a flashpoint of debate during the pandemic. While most Alabama schools have offered in-person classes throughout the year, some districts only recently returned to school buildings. Many Birmingham City Schools students just returned to school four days a week on Monday, more than a year after schools closed in March 2020.

Many schools in other parts of the country still offer mostly virtual instruction. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urged districts on Friday to consider pausing in-person classes at high schools as the state grapples with a COVID surge. Critics of school closures have said they offer little public health benefit while causing great harm to kids educational and mental well-being.

Wilson said mask requirements played a key role in keeping students and staff safe during in-person classes. The mask ordinance ends Friday at 5 p.m., but some districts will continue to require them on campus.
A photo included in the U.S. Department of Justice's statement of facts shows a man appearing to be Jeffrey Sabol  identified by his teal backpack, tan jacket and black helmet  holding a baton across the lower neck of a police officer during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
UTICA, NY  Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was at the Resource Center for Independent Living in Utica Thursday to discuss a bill package that would reduce the cost of prescription drugs.

There are three bills in the package, which aim to address medication pricing and the importation of more affordable prescriptions.

As a member of the Aging Committee, reducing prescription drug prices for our seniors is one of my top priorities. That is why I am proud to announce my support for this legislative package that will help us reduce the cost of prescription drugs and make sure that everyone can access the medications they need, said Gillibrand.

The bills include:

The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act

Would peg the price of prescriptions in the United States to the median price in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.

The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act

Directs the secretary of health and human services to negotiate lower prices under Medicare Part D. Under current law, the secretary is prohibited from negotiating prices on behalf of Medicare Part D recipients.

The Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act

Allow patients, pharmacists and wholesalers to import safe and affordable medicine from Canada and other countries.

Gillibrand also says nearly one-third of adults say they have not taken prescribed medicine in the past year because they could not afford it, while five of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. made $44.9 billion in profits in 2020.
Recap of Xi's remarks on China's crucial battle against COVID-19 in Wuhan, Hubei

Xinhua) 08:20, April 09, 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits patients who are being treated, by video calls at the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- On April 8, 2020, the city of Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province ended a 76-day lockdown, after it achieved initial success in putting the coronavirus under control.

Wuhan and Hubei were where China fought a crucial battle against the COVID-19 epidemic. Following the lift of the lockdown, people around the world have witnessed how China, as a major world economy, has taken the global lead in both virus control and economic recovery.

In 2020, President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made a series of remarks on Wuhan and Hubei's fight against the virus.

The following is a selection of his remarks.

-- The positive trend in preventing and controlling COVID-19 could not have been achieved without the sacrifice, devotion, perseverance and strong efforts of the people of Wuhan.

-- The epidemic prevention and control in Hubei and Wuhan not only matters to the province and the city, but also to the whole nation.

-- All prevention and control measures that the CPC Central Committee has taken against the virus are intended to prevent more people from being infected and to save more lives.

-- China has achieved another heroic feat in humanity's fight against diseases by securing major strategic achievements in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

-- The Chinese people and the Chinese nation, with their resolution to fight and win, have created a great spirit to fight COVID-19. This spirit involves putting people's lives first, nationwide solidarity, sacrifice, respect for science, and a sense of mission for humanity.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Bianji)
The company plans to progress preparatory desktop and fieldwork at its Alotta and Lorraine projects in Quebec, Canada, prior to possible further drilling.

The directors acquired a combined total of 3.5 million shares in the company.

Chase Mining Ltd ( ) executive chairman Dr Leon Pretorius, non-executive director Julian Atkinson and non-executive director Charles Thomas have shown support for the companys exploration strategy by participating in a share placement.

Dr Pretorius acquired 2 million shares and now holds a total of 20,400,000 shares in the company.

Atkinson acquired 500,000 shares and now holds 500,000 shares. Thomas acquired 1 million shares for a total of 10,440,000 shares.

Placement to fund exploration

The share placement raised about A$821,000 from sophisticated investors and directors at A$0.016 per share.

Proceeds will be used to carry out additional preparatory desktop and fieldwork at its Alotta and Lorraine projects in Quebec, Canada, prior to possible further drilling and for working capital.
Inspired after being deep down the YouTube rabbit hole watching music videos and hearing the line afterparty, meet me at the afterparty, he thought hed give it a short & sharp rework.

Kick Ons was the go-to, being synonymous with the afterparty scene of Aotearoa it was only fitting. Keeping it authentic, the vocals were recorded on an iPhone and then the rest of the track was built around that.



Calverts been on the DJ scene for over 5 years now, but it wasnt till late 2018 where he started at MAINZ that his passion for production really ramped up. Working alongside tutors like Tom Lee of Lee Mvtthews, it wasnt long before production sessions turned into mastering sessions.



Chris Lake brought out my love for House, but I'm constantly listening to Disclosure, Oliver Heldens, Dom Dolla or old Garage and Disco records. Number one inspiration for me, and why I love music: the mood, feelings and memories that it brings out. Currently, my tunes are for festivals and the club, so it's those emotions and memories that are associated. - Johnny Calvert

2021 is set to be a ripper for Calvert, with releases waiting in the wings to drop, gig bookings ramping up and having his eye on a New Years festival run, it looks like itll definitely be one big party.

Leaving you on a couple words of wisdom from the producer of Kick Ons, Johnny reckons a few must haves for the late night antics are More Drinks, a pepperoni pizza with peri-peri sauce from Dominos and of course just some quality tunes



- Brook Gibson
Avelo Airlines

The Founder

Andrew Levy is Founder, Chairman and CEO of Avelo Airlines. Andrew was previously a co-founder and president of Allegiant Air and chief financial officer at United. He is a board member of Copa, the leading Latin American airline. Andrew is fluent in Spanish, due to his Argentine roots. When hes not running a brand-new airline, he enjoys playing tennis, traveling and spending time with his family.

Avelo COO

Greg Baden has more than 40 years of commercial airline experience, and 20,000+ hours as a commercial airline pilot. He led flight operations at Allegiant Air, Delta and Northwest. He did everything from establishing the Flight Ops Safety Department to managing the flight operations for nine operational bases to conducting more than 5,000 flight instruction hours at one airline.

Source: www.aveloair.com
A former Oklahoma City attorney and her boyfriend are charged with the premeditated murder of his ex-girlfriend and her parents after newly discovered evidence tied them the triple homicide.

Keegan Kelly Harroz, 37, and Barry Titus, 39, are accused of shooting the three victims with at least two different caliber weapons after kicking in the front door of the home of Titus's ex-girlfriend's family in September 2019.

Tiffany Eichor, 43, and her parents, Jack Chandler, 65, and Evelynn Kaye Chandler, 69, were found shot dead in Beggs, Oklahoma after a family member discovered their bodies.

Harroz and Titus, who were suspects early on in the case, have been in federal custody on unrelated charges.

Authorities were able to charge them on Thursday with the triple murder after new evidence, including shell casings from the gun used, was found.

Keegan Kelley Harroz (left) and her boyfriend Barry Titus (right) are charged with the premeditated murder of his ex-girlfriend and his parents

The Okmulgee County district attorney's office announced the charges in a statement saying: 'This was a very lengthy investigation that spanned numerous jurisdictions in both Oklahoma and Texas.'

Harroz and Titus were considered suspects in the triple homicide early on due to Titus' connection to Eichor and several discoveries that pointed to the couple.

Before her death, Eichor had reported that Titus had assaulted her, and she had an active protective order against her ex-boyfriend. His attorney and girlfriend, Harroz, was representing him in a domestic assault and battery case.

Video surveillance at the house captured the moments leading up to the September 2019 murders, including a vehicle belonging to Harroz pulling up to the scene.

The bodies of Titus's ex-girlfriend and her parents were found in their home after Harroz and Titus reportedly shot them dead

The video revealed two individuals exiting the vehicle including one individual who was 'obviously male and very tall' while the other was 'much shorter and smaller.'

The video stops after the perpetrators approached the house on foot, and it was later determined that they 'pulled the electric meter prior to forcing entry into the residence.'

When investigators restored power to the house, the clock on the stove read 3:04am, leading authorities to believe the murders occurred in close proximity to that time.

Investigators discovered a ball cap near the area where the vehicle had parked, and DNA on the hat matched DNA samples taken of Titus while incarcerated.

Jack Chandler, 65, and Evelynn Kaye Chandler, 69, and their daughter, Titus' ex-girlfriend Tiffany Eichor, 43, were shot dead

Harroz and Titus allegedly planned their first 'act of revenge' in January 2019 after one of the deceased had 'testified against one of her clients.'

One of Harroz's defendants in an unrelated drug trafficking case in Oklahoma City, Jose Uribe, admitted to planting a suspicious package outside of the home where Eichor and her parents were killed, eight months ahead of the murders.

Harroz planned the 'act of revenge' after one of the deceased testified against her boyfriend in a protective order case

Uribe told investigators that Harroz had asked him to plant what he believed to be methamphetamine outside the house and advise his handler at the Drug Task Force that there were drugs there.

Harroz was arrested and charged on September 13, 2019 with witness intimidation after Uribe came forward that he had followed her instructions in an attempt to obtain a lighter sentence.

On the same day as Harroz's 2019 arrest, her brother turned over an AR15 rifle he believed was used in the triple homicide to law enforcement.

The rifle was traced to its original owner, who has a shooting range on their property. This witness was interviewed and they revealed that the rifles were sold to Barry Titus and a female, who was later confirmed to be Keegan Kelley Harroz.

Titus and Harroz had fired the rifle during the sale negotiation, leading investigators to find shell casings from that rifle on the shooting range.

Those shell casings matched the shell casings found at the crime scene, leading the District Attorney to file new charges. Both Harroz and Titus face three counts of premeditated murder and one count of burglary in the first degree.

The former Oklahoma City attorney and her boyfriend were served the latest arrest warrants while in federal custody (File photo)

Harroz was previously sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm while subject to victim protective order in relation to an August 4, 2019 violation.

Titus was previously sentenced to serve 36 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm while using illegal substances. He admitted to illegally possessing a firearm on or around November 25, 2015, while he was an unlawful user of a controlled substance.

Okmulgee County District Attorney Carol Iski said 'I understand that this is a high profile case of great interest to many. However, it's a case that needs to be tried in a court of law and subject to the rules of evidence, not a court of public opinion.'
(CNN)  Police arrested a Brooklyn, New York, resident on assault and reckless endangerment charges after he allegedly struck a 7-Eleven worker in the face multiple times while making anti-Asian statements, according to the NYPD.

The alleged assault occurred at a 7-Eleven in midtown Manhattan early Saturday morning, police said.

Gregory Jacques, 33, was later arrested Wednesday morning and charged with assault, along with attempted assault and reckless endangerment, both in the second degree, the NYPD said in a statement.

A seven second clip of surveillance footage sent by police appears to show a man striking an individual once before the video ends.

The victim was a 26 year old Asian male, an NYPD spokesperson told CNN via email.

Prior to the arrest an NYPD spokesperson told CNN that the incident was being investigated by the NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force.

CNN is inquiring with NYPD why no specific hate crime charges were recommended. CNN is reaching out to the district attorney's office for comment and clarity on what charges ultimately will be pursued.

It was not immediately clear whether an attorney is representing Jacques at this time.
WASHINGTON  Roberta S. Jacobson, the former ambassador to Mexico whom President Biden chose as his border czar on the National Security Council, will step down at the end of the month, she said on Friday, even as the administration struggles to confront a surge of migrants at the nations southwestern border.

Ms. Jacobson, who had been described as one of the Biden administrations key players in dealing with the governments in the Northern Triangle area of Central America, praised what she called Mr. Bidens efforts to repair and recast the nations immigration system after four years under President Donald J. Trump.

They continue to drive toward the architecture that the president has laid out: an immigration system that is humane, orderly and safe, she said in a brief interview. I leave optimistically. The policy direction is so clearly right for our country.

Ms. Jacobson said that her appointment as a special assistant to the president and as the border coordinator in the White House was always intended to last for only about 100 days  a period that will expire at the end of April, when she intends to leave government.
Paducah Man Faces Marshall Burglary Charge

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MARSHALL COUNTY - A Paducah man is facing burglary and other charges in Marshall County.The Marshall County Sheriff's Offices said deputies were dispatched to Redbird Lane Wednesday afternoon after receiving three different reports about a suspicious vehicle.One person told police the vehicle followed them up their driveway, then turned around in their lawn and left. Another person reported that they saw the vehicle and a male driver in someone's shed, and then the vehicle left that area. A third person said the same vehicle was wrecked on a nearby railroad bed.Deputies found the vehicle and identified the driver as 33-year-old Warren Thomas Brown III of Paducah. Thomas was arrested and lodged in the Marshall County Detention Center. He's charged with 3rd degree burglary and leaving the scene of an accident.
The insurance industry nonprofit Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) gave insurance industry leaders an opportunity to talk about their philanthropic initiatives at a recent media event. Leaders from AIG, Amwins, AXA XL, EY, Lloyds and The Hartford discussed their efforts to make a difference in various communities over the past year.

During the event, IICF released the 2020 COVID-19 Crisis: IICF Childrens Relief Fund Impact Report, which detailed the industrys giving to its 2020 Relief Funds in the U.S. and UK and how the funds supported those in need, including by providing more than 2.5 million meals to children.

IICF positioned the event as a way for the industry to help itself attract new talent while also helping others.

Increasingly, our industry is using its philanthropic voice to initiate and support the development of new talent from communities not previously aware of the career possibilities we offer, said Hank Watkins, regional director and president of Lloyds, Americas and chair, of the IICF International board of directors.

Watkins said through IICF initiatives such as the IICF IDEA Council and its Inclusion in Insurance Forum, the organization is introducing the next generation of industry leaders to our many colleagues whove committed themselves to building career paths everyone can join us on.

The COVID-19 Crisis: IICF Childrens Relief Fund Impact Report, released at the roundtable, shared statistics from the industrywide campaign, including that $1.3 million was raised to combat food insecurity, educational disruption and that more than 1,500 individual insurance professionals contributed personally to help those in need. IICFs five divisions across the U.S. and in the UK worked together with 26 nonprofit partners, awarding more than 60 grants.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing food insecurity and societal inequities across the U.S. and UK, said Bill Ross, CEO of IICF. With the Childrens Relief Fund, we were able to quickly offer essential support to children and families in need and we are very grateful to work with an industry that immediately stepped up to embrace our relief efforts.

The 2020 IICF Philanthropic Showcase highlights the charitable programs, volunteerism and inclusion initiatives of IICF and its key companies.

Some of the showcased initiatives included:

Throughout 2020, AIG has donated more than $22 million in charitable contributions and matching grants. The AIG Foundation has directed $4.5 million toward organizations leading COVID-19 relief efforts: International Medical Corps, Feeding America, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. To support the Black community and racial equity, the AIG Foundation made $500,000 in grants allocated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. and the Equal Justice Initiative.

The Amwins initiative to improve diversity and opportunity in the industry includes its partnership with Tuskegee University, supporting the creation of curriculum focused on core risk management, data science and analytics. The company has committed $1 million to help further the development and awareness of risk management programs in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and careers in wholesale, specialty and surplus lines insurance.

AXA XLs Valuing Water initiative is helping its clients and communities build resilience to water-related risks. Actions include partnerships with nonprofits, academia and other actors in the water space, as well as leveraging AXA XLs own risk expertise.

In 2020, EYs Entrepreneurs Access Network supported Black and Latinx founders and built coalitions to bridge the digital divide distance-learning gap for underserved students. EY has committed to investing $3 million to the National Urban League, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, and a collection of local community organizations. EY has also contributed $4 million collectively to four Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Last year, Lloyds committed 15 million to support the pandemic relief efforts of charities in the United Kingdom, United States and other countries. Lloyds also donated $500,000 to the COVID-19 Crisis: IICF Childrens Relief Fund. This was the largest single contribution received by IICF to date.

In addition to the $1 million The Hartford committed to COVID-19 relief efforts across the country, the company provided $1.5 million to support U.S. small businesses in partnership with Main Street America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preservation-based economic development. Nearly 100 businesses nationwide received grants to help with acute business needs or to implement steps to address COVID-19-related challenges. More than 50% of recipients were diverse-owned.

Other IICF partner companies joining in the discussion included Aon, Chubb, CNA, Hub International, Munich Re, Swiss Re and Zurich.

IICF has served as a philanthropic foundation of the insurance industry for more than 25 years, contributing $42 million in community grants along with 300,000 volunteer hours by more than 110,000 industry professionals. IICF reinvests locally where funds are raised, serving hundreds of charities and nonprofit organizations, for maximum community impact.

Source: IICF

Topics COVID-19 Market
As demonstrated by multiple studies over the years, women who breastfeed have a lower risk for developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes when compared to those who don't or can't. However, the mechanisms by which these risks are reduced for lactating women are still not fully understood.

Duke Appiah, Ph.D., an assistant professor of public health at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and director of the university's master's program in public health, said the presence of excess fat, specifically visceral and pericardial fat could help explain this finding. Using that hypothesis, Appiah and a team of researchers recently completed a study titled, "The Association of Lactation Duration with Visceral and Pericardial Fat Volumes in Parous Women: The CARDIA Study." The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism published the results in its February issue.

The Appiah team included Cora E. Lewis, M.D., and James M. Shikany (University of Alabama at Birmingham); David R. Jacobs, Jr., Ph.D., and Myron Gross, Ph.D., (University of Minnesota); Jeff Carr, M.D., (Vanderbilt University Medical Center); and Charles P. Quesenberry, Jr., Ph.D., Stephen Sidney, M.D., and senior research scientist Erica P. Gunderson, Ph.D., (Kaiser Permanente Northern California). The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases provided funding to Gunderson, the study's senior author, for creating the pregnancy-related derived variables, and for the analysis of lactation and the development of cardiometabolic diseases in Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study women.

Visceral fat, often referred to as active fat, potentially can increase the risk of developing dangerous health issues such as cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, Type 2 diabetes, stroke, breast and colorectal cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Though it can build up in the arteries, visceral fat typically is stored within the abdominal cavity near critical organs such as the stomach, liver and intestines.

Pericardial fat, a deposit of fatty tissue located on the outside of the heart, also may influence certain cardiovascular conditions.

"We know these two organ-related fats contribute to diabetes as well as cardiovascular disease, so we wanted to see how breastfeeding influences these types of fat," Appiah explained. "If breastfeeding does affect these fats, then it means it could provide a physiologic mechanism by which we can understand how breastfeeding actually affects these two main diseases. That was basically the motivation for this study."

Because these fats are related to insulin production and other cardio metabolic factors, Appiah said weight change could influence the relationship between breastfeeding and these fats. For instance, the visceral fat that builds up around the abdomen tends to also include adipokines, which are cytokines produced by fatty tissue. Adipokines also secrete hormones, which influence the insulin sensitivity of the muscles. When the amount of visceral fat increases, so too does the competition for insulin binding sites, which increases the risk of developing insulin resistance or glucose intolerance.

An increase in pericardial fat also puts additional weight on the heart and can affect its contractivity, or how it beats, which also could influence other cardiovascular diseases. Though many studies have looked at visceral fat, or abdominal fat, and its influence on cardiometabolic health, Appiah said not as much is known about pericardial fat.

"However, there is still enough science showing that the more pericardial fat you have, the more likely you are to get cardiovascular disease," Appiah said. "What this really means is that breastfeeding affects weight gain, and so women who breastfeed typically will not gain more weight, which will also influences less fat buildup in the abdomen or around their heart."

Gunderson said previous studies on women in the 30-year CARDIA study have shown lactation duration is associated with a 50% lower relative risk of progression to Type 2 diabetes in women, independent of their metabolic profiles and body size before pregnancy, social factors and lifestyle behaviors. Lactation also may prevent future development of cardiovascular disease in women by reversing hypertriglyceridemia during pregnancy through the removal of excess fatty acids in the production of breast milk and by preventing the lowering of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol after delivery.

"This lower pericardial fat was mediated only partially by subsequent weight gain, indicating that there are powerful systemic metabolic changes independent of overall adiposity," Gunderson said. "Thus, lower fat deposition in the heart and other organs might potentially explain the protective benefits of lactation to prevent cardiovascular disease in women."

To generate data for his research, Appiah used the CARDIA study, with which he also is affiliated. CARDIA, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health-National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, is a long-term study of cardiovascular disease that includes more than 5,000 Black (48%) and white (52%) adult women who were aged 18 to 30 years when the study began in 1985-1986.

As one of the longest and continuous studies of its kind, the CARDIA study has continued to monitor these participants for more than 30 years and has aided researchers in understanding how factors that appear in early adulthood can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease later in life.

"There are not many studies out there which actually have followed young women all through their birth years and measured cardiovascular risk factors on all of them," Appiah said. "It also includes cumulative measures of lactation, which made CARDIA more unique to address this research because it's not just one episode of breastfeeding that is important. We wanted to look at the entire reproductive lifespan and CARDIA was the best study to do that."

Gunderson, who also is a professor of health systems science at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, said the CARDIA data enabled the research team to account for biomarkers and metabolic risk factors before pregnancy that might influence future adiposity and cardiovascular health.

"After accounting for lifestyle behaviors and other risk factors across the life course, the lower visceral and pericardial fat among women with longer lactation persisted," Gunderson said. "This indicates lactation may have effects that persist many years through midlife."

After their initial enrollment in the study in 1985-1986, women in the CARDIA study update their measurements and other history approximately every five years, giving investigators a clearer picture of a woman's entire reproductive lifespan. The results, as Appiah discovered in his research, show that women who breastfed more over the duration of their reproductive years experienced less weight gain and tended to have less fat buildup around the abdomen or around the heart.

Appiah said these results support some of the findings made by the American College of Pediatricians (ACP), which recommends breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months of a child's life, and then combining breastfeeding with age-appropriate food between six months and 12 months the food can be mixed. However, ACP also recommends that women should breastfeed for two years or longer if they are able.

"Now we are showing that, yes, breastfeeding more is actually beneficial to a woman's health and can help to prevent cardiovascular disease," Appiah added. "This study is providing more proof for some of these recommendations that have been given previously."

Appiah said there are other issues related to lactation that his team is investigating, including looking at how lactation influences cytokines and other hormones.

"We know that these fats produce adipokines and other cytokines that are associated with plaque buildup in the arteries," Appiah said. "Therefore, we want to look at how these cytokines may be influenced by lactation. We also want to look at how lactation may affect left ventricular structure and function independent of pericardial fat. Those are the next steps for this project."

###
Jakarta, April 9 : Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Friday visited the East Nusa Tenggara province, where cyclone-related disasters have left at least 165 people dead and 45 others missing.

Soon after the presidential aircraft landed at Sikka airport, Joko took a helicopter ride to Lambata island, where heavy rains triggered an avalanche of volcanic debris on Sunday, reports dpa news agency.

"We will spare no effort to make sure that those still missing are found," Joko said.

"But I'm seeing for myself that rocky terrain is making things difficult," he said.

He promised survivors that they would be relocated to safer locations, where homes would be built "as soon as possible." "I personally and on behalf of the government would like to express my deep condolences for the loss of lives and may those left behind be given fortitude," he said.

In comments before departure, Joko said he wanted to make sure regional heads have access to and monitor weather forecasts so they know what is happening and can alert citizens about threats.

The National Disaster Management Agency said landslides and floods triggered by the cyclone killed at least 165 people, while 45 others were still missing.

Badly hit areas include Adonara island, Lembata, Alor, Malaka, and the provincial capital, Kupang.

The severe weather has also killed at least 27 people in neighbouring East Timor, the country's government said.
SHENZHEN, China, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- 7 years ago, Creality(https://www.creality.com/) was established on Apr.9, the 7th anniversary celebration of it will be held in Shenzhen, which can also be regarded as the industry summit.

New blockbuster products will be released on set and the 3D printing industry giants will gather on this day to explore the printing future and development of this industry.

Creality has always been focused on the research and development of 3D printer, leading the consumer-grade 3D printers as a pioneering brand. It is the birthday of Creality on Apr.9, as well as its annual branding day, and even the 3D printing industry gala. New launches including DIY, fully-enclosed and resin 3D printers, and printing accessories will be released on that day.

It is known that the DIY new product, CR-10smart can realize intelligent wireless 3D printing through innovation of function and appearance design while the fully-enclosed new blockbuster, sermoon V1 embraces high cost-effectiveness, high performance, simplified design and multiple case applications. HALOT-SKY will be launched as the HALOT resin printing series, which unprecedentedly innovate the integral light source and guide the LCD resin 3D printing development.

Multiple outstanding highlights will also be characterized in this anniversary day, except these new releases.

The 3D printing giants leaders will be invited to attend the round-table conference and discuss the 3D printing industry development from all range of the industry chain.

Creality 3D printing communities were created and sponsored by Creality since its appearance, and it matches to over 200 by far. The "Top Ten Printing Communities" rewards for it will be awarded at this time, so as the "Creality Modification Masters Contest" winners will be revealed in this event.

Centered in Shenzhen with the global coverage of programming, this celebration welcomes the witness from not only spot audiences, but also the world users through live broadcast.

Count down to this celebration, let's meet on Apr.9, stay tuned.

Contact us: info@creality.com

Creality

https://www.creality.com/activity-news/creality-7th-anniversary-celebration

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1482341/Creality_HALOT_SKY.jpg
On March 23 Israelis went to the polls to elect a new parliament. The states 6.4 million voters are treated as a single constituency, with each individual voting for a pre-determined party list in a system of proportional representation. Once the members of the single chamber of parliament (known as the Knesset) are established, it falls to them to negotiate a coalition that can govern.

For decades this system has been a source of national pride, but last months election was the fourth in two years and already its inconclusive result has pundits forecasting a fifth. At the centre of this impasse is Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest serving prime minister in the nations short history.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, leaves court during his corruption trial. Credit:AP

Who is he?

Netanyahu was born in 1949, the year after Israel declared its independence, into a family dominated by his father, Benzion, a history professor and key figure in Zionisms right-wing Revisionist movement. An Israel dominated by the left-wing Labour movement offered the elder Netanyahu little hope of political or academic advancement, so he and his family migrated to the United States. His middle son, Benjamin, would attend high school and university there, equipping him with fluent American-accented English.
For four months in 1961 the barbarism of Nazi Germany was focused on the gaunt bespectacled figure of Adolf Eichmann, standing alone in a dock in Jerusalem.

His trial, one of the most charged in history, became a focus for the Jewish people to mourn the Holocaust while also raising difficult questions about the nature of evil and individual responsibility in war crimes.

Here we look back at AFPs reporting of the trial, which began on April 11, 1961 and concluded with Eichmanns hanging a year later.

 Caught and caged 

The rather unprepossessing 55-year-old, who had organised the logistics of the Final Solution that sent some six million Jews to their deaths, appeared behind bulletproof glass following proceedings through headphones.

His dramatic journey to Jerusalem had already been played out in the worlds media. He had been abducted a year earlier by Mossad agents in Argentina, where he had lived under a false name like many other Nazis.

For 316 days after his capture Eichmann was held in secret in a special prison in the north of Israel, before he was transported to Jerusalem where the world press had flocked to cover the trial.

 So many crimes 

The accused was dressed in a black suit his eyes looking off into the distance behind big glasses, AFP journalists reported.

His complexion was grey, his lips shut shut as he listened impassively to the German translation of the 15 charges against him.

Crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity, war crimes, looting, deportations, forced abortions, sterilisations, exterminations

 Engineer of death 

Every one of the 700 seats in the huge courtroom was occupied.

Observers, diplomats and some 450 journalists had gathered to see Eichmann, dubbed the engineer of death, who had been responsible for organising the flow of convoys and distribution of deportees to the death camps across Europe.

We expected a kind of monster, giveI n the scale of his crimes, but Eichmann just looked like some little civil servant, Marcelle Joseph, who recorded the whole trial and then typed up the translation, told AFP in 2011.

But for her the real horror did not come from the man in the glass cage  mediocre, pathetic even  but from the harrowing testimonies.

In all 111 witnesses took the stand one after the other over the four months and three days of the trial, each delivering terrible personal accounts to the worlds cameras, including renowned writers like Elie Wiesel and Joseph Kessel.

 Banality of evil 

One survivor told how he was led with more than a thousand Jews to a pit in Poland where a Nazi officer told them to kneel down.

They were all ordered to undress and then shot, right on the edge of their open grave.

A survivor from the Treblinka death camp described the agony of the gas chambers where victims were so tightly packed that even the dead remained standing up and families died clutching each others hands.

Eichmann insisted he was being sentenced for the deeds of others and did not take personal responsibility for the crimes.

He was just following orders, he said.

For the philosopher Hannah Arendt who sat through the trial, Eichmann was a disturbingly underwhelming war criminal  the epitome of the banality of evil as she later put it in an acclaimed book.

On December 15, 1961 the verdict fell. Death by hanging.

Eichmann was guilty of terrifying crimes, different from all crimes against individuals insofar as it was the extermination of a whole people, Supreme Court President Moshe Landau told the packed courthouse.

For many years, he carried out these orders with enthusiasm.

 I dont feel myself guilty 

Eichmanns lawyer Robert Servatius appealed the sentence but it was rejected.

And so too was a request for a reprieve, which Eichmann wrote in a letter to the Israeli president Yitzhak Ben-Zvi in May 1962.

I was not a responsible leader, and as such do not feel myself guilty, he wrote.

A few days later on May 31, 1962 Eichmann was hanged at Ramleh prison near Tel Aviv. His ashes were scattered in the sea, beyond Israels territorial waters.
The Department for Emergency Situations, through the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, as the national authority for international assistance in civil protection, will provide on Friday a transport with 310,000 FFP 2 protective masks to the Republic of Serbia, in support of the authorities, to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a post on DSU's Facebook page, the European Commission, through the European Emergency Response Coordination Center (ERCC), has ordered the provision of personal protective equipment from the rescEU reserve, set up in Romania, to be distributed to Serbia.

The rescEU reserve of medical countermeasures for the COVID-19 epidemic, established in Romania, was purchased by our country on the basis of a grant worth 10 million euros, signed with the European Commission, through the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations - DG ECHO, states the cited source.The aid is transported by a convoy belonging to the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations of Arad County.Eligible transport costs will be 100% reimbursed by the European Commission, through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.AGERPRES
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:
White blood cells play an important role in the defense against pathogens. Credit: MPI f. Developmental Biology/ Jurgen Berger

Early in the pandemic, a team of immunologists from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg and physicians from the University of Freiburg Medical Center joined forces to learn more about immunity in people recovering from COVID infections. The study revealed a yet unknown involvement of Interleukin 33, an important alarm-signal, when immune cells get exposed to SARS-CoV-2 for a second time.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists and physicians worldwide undertook enormous efforts to understand the disease caused by the virus. In their latest collaborative study, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg and physicians from the University of Freiburg Medical Center unveil a novel feature of COVID-19 immunity, which could have implications for future therapies. The study points to the involvement of Interleukin 33, an important danger signal, when immune cells encounter SARS-CoV-2 for a second time.

"We started the study at a very early stage of the pandemic in 2020 when not much was known about the immune response post-infection," says Erika Pearce, group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics. "Our aim was to examine the development of immunity in people recovering from COVID-19."

Antibodies stick around

An infection with SARS-CoV-2 triggers a complex immune response necessary for the development of immunity to the virus. In simple terms, two linked branches of our immune system need to remember the virus to prevent reinfection, namely antibody-producing B cells and memory T cells. Understanding how this happens in SARS-CoV-2 infection is key for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic and critical for the success of the vaccination efforts.

For the study, the team examined blood samples of 155 individuals who mostly had mild disease. They measured the amount of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and found that patients maintain high levels of antibodies more than two months after infection, indicating that they will likely be protected from re-infection. "We thought this was very encouraging, but we also wanted to understand better how the immune system would react to a second encounter with the virus," says Petya Apostolova, physician and researcher in the lab of Erika Pearce.

When the virus hits the second time

Effective immunity to a virus is reached when sufficient antibodies and memory T cells are present in the blood of a person who has recovered from the disease or has been vaccinated. To test how this happens after COVID-19, the team exposed blood cells from participants who had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 to a portion of the virus. They observed that memory T cells had developed and quickly responded to viral proteins. "We measured a broad panel of molecules that our immune cells use to communicate with each other. It was most fascinating to us that of all these measurements, the amount of Interleukin 33 was the closest match to the amount of antibodies people had, and to the activation of their memory T cells," explains Apostolova. Interleukin 33 (IL-33) is released by cells that sense danger in their environment and has been previously linked to chronic lung disease. IL-33 can have beneficial effects by activating T cells and inducing antibody production, but it can also promote inflammation of the lung. For the first time, this study has linked IL-33 production to immunity to SARS-CoV-2.

"We believe that Interleukin 33, which is normally produced as an alarm-signal, could be an important link between protection and disease severity," says Cornelius Waller from the University of Freiburg Medical Center. Indeed, by analyzing public data of lung cells taken from patients during SARS-CoV-2 infection, the researchers were able to show that Interleukin 33 was produced in their lungs. However, identifying the implications of these findings also in the context of lung tissue damage after severe COVID-19 infections will require more investigation.

The group of researchers hopes this collaboration will continue. Waller said, "We were able to discover this much so quickly through this fantastic synergy between clinicians experienced in the care for COVID-19 patients and experts in the immunology field." The researchers hope that this study might pave the way to better understanding immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and other viral infections.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

More information: Michal A. Stanczak et al. IL-33 expression in response to SARS-CoV-2 correlates with seropositivity in COVID-19 convalescent individuals, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications Michal A. Stanczak et al. IL-33 expression in response to SARS-CoV-2 correlates with seropositivity in COVID-19 convalescent individuals,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22449-w
In recognition of Earth Day, the Abington Area Joint Recreation Board invites volunteers to a cleanup at Hillside Park in South Abington Twp.

Groups that use the park will participate in beautification projects and a general cleanup April 17, and all park visitors are welcome to join. Some tools and bags will be available, but volunteers are encouraged to bring more, along with wheelbarrows, shovels and rakes.

Officials will be on hand to sign off on community service hours for students.

For more information, visit hillsidepark.net.
Border Patrol agents apprehend illegal immigrants who have just crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States near McAllen, Texas, on April 18, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Border Agents Rescue 8-Year-Old Unaccompanied Minor Abandoned in New Mexico Desert

U.S. Border Patrol agents (CBP) said on Wednesday that they had rescued an 8-year-old boy who had been abandoned in the New Mexico desert.

The boy is the third unaccompanied migrant child to be abandoned in New Mexico in a week. Two toddlers were dropped over a border barrier at a height of about 14 feet in the middle of the New Mexico desert by human smugglers last week. The children have since been rescued by border patrol.

The 8-year-old was found by a group of migrants who took him in as they made their way through the desert to the U.S. border. Agents from the Lordsburg Border Patrol station were alerted to the group from a concerned citizen who requested assistance. The group and the child were located more than seven miles from the nearest road or residence, CBP said.

A woman in the group told agents that they had found the child walking aimlessly through the desert by himself.

Thankfully, a mother found the unaccompanied minor and took him in as they made their way through the desert to the border, El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez said in a statement.

We find that Transnational Criminal Organizations routinely attempt to smuggle people in groups but often end up abandoning the women and children in remote areas where they are left in great danger and to fend for themselves when they cant keep up with the group. They are often left with no food or water. I am very relieved to know they are all safe now.

All individuals were examined by medical staff at the Lordsburg station and the child was sent to the El Paso Sector Central Processing Center and will eventually be transferred to Health and Human Services care.

Amid a burgeoning humanitarian crisis at the U.S. southern border, border patrol agents and local authorities have reported appalling incidents of human smugglers leaving unaccompanied children at the border or in the Rio Grande river, and other devastating events.

CBP said that a 9-year-old girl had drowned while she tried to cross the Rio Grande River illegally into the United States last month. She was traveling with an adult woman and her 3-year-old child.

Similarly, a special tactical team operating along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas said that agents rescued a 6-month-old baby who had been thrown off a raft into the Rio Grande River by smugglers also in March.

For the month of March, CBP agents encountered over 172,000 illegal immigrants, according to statistics released on April 8. This is up from just over 101,000 individuals encountered in February.

Among those who crossed illegally into the United States last month were over 18,800 unaccompanied minors, which is double the number of minors who illegally arrived in the United States in February at over 9,300 encounters.

The Biden administration has been opening up emergency holding facilities to address the significant surge of illegal border crossings in recent weeks. It is seeking to build capacity for 13,500 beds, with the potential for additional capacity in order to meet what has been a continuous flow of unaccompanied minors coming across the border.
Sandbags block the entrance to the Tinhorn Flats restaurant in Burbank. The son of the owner has been repeatedly arrested, and the restaurant has been ordered closed for violating health and safety orders during the pandemic. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

When Danny Rocha pulled up to Tinhorn Flats, a bar and grill in Burbank that's been at the center of a battle over required restaurant closures during the pandemic, he was looking to get a burger  with a side of solidarity.

But the 30-year-old Glassell Park resident found the eatery's swinging doors boarded up Wednesday, a spray-painted message of "Open 4 BIZ" nullified by a stack of orange sandbags propped against the plywood.

The governments coming between us and our stomach, and its an invasion of privacy, he said.

The day before, Lucas Lepejian, the son of the restaurants owner, was arrested by police for the third time in six days. He had started to remove the sandbags from the exterior of the Western-themed establishment, placed there by city officials to prevent entry into what Burbank has deemed an unsafe environment. The 20-year-old was released a few hours later.

The Burbank Police Department "vehemently condemns" the restaurant operators' "persistent unlawful behavior, Chief Scott LaChasse said in a statement last week.

Less than 24 hours after his release, Lepejian said he was considering a plan to reopen.

Its the latest in a saga that has pitted Burbank officials against the family-owned restaurant, which has consistently bucked county health orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Late November is when things really hit the fan, said Lepejian, whose father, Baret, owns Tinhorn Flats. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health ordered restaurants to close outdoor dining the day before Thanksgiving.

After offering only takeout and delivery for a little while, Baret Lepejian said the restaurant was taking too much of a financial hit. It reopened outdoor service.

On Jan. 8, the city of Burbank issued a notice of violation, calling out Tinhorn Flats' violation of the health order.

By the end of the month, the county stripped the restaurant of its health permit, making it illegal for Tinhorn Flats to sell food. Even as other restaurants were permitted to reopen for outdoor dining in late January, Tinhorn Flats was required to keep its doors shut.

Story continues

A sort of war broke out.

City officials revoked the restaurant's conditional use permit in late February.

Power to the restaurant was shut off March 13 after the city received permission from a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to do so. The Lepejians soon brought in a generator to provide limited electricity.

Several days later, the city padlocked the restaurant's doors, which also was court-sanctioned. Lucas Lepejian sawed the lock off. Before his arrest Tuesday, he had been arrested April 1 and again April 2 after he was seen leaving the restaurant.

The Burbank city attorney's office is reviewing the cases. No determination has been made about what, if any, charges will be brought, but a criminal misdemeanor is a possibility, Assistant City Atty. Anita Clarke said.

Burbank has an entire page on its city website dedicated to updates on the battle with the rogue restaurateurs.

"This has been a challenging situation that may not be easily understood and resolved, especially when you are dealing with persons who willfully disobey the law," the city said in a recent release. "This is a very divisive issue within our city and its at a time when we should be focusing on our recovery from the pandemic, but instead it is being overshadowed by this one defiant actor in our community."

Burbank city officials declined through a spokesperson to comment beyond their public statements.

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The restaurant, in the heart of Burbanks funky shopping district, has become one of many points of contention pitting business owners against public health officials during the pandemic. Other restaurateurs have fought closures, including a Sherman Oaks bar and grill owner whose tearful viral video decrying the orders shows a film shoot's large craft-services setup operating nearby.

A statewide restaurant industry group, along with a downtown L.A. restaurant, fought the outdoor dining ban in L.A. County Superior Court. After a sympathetic judge limited the county's restrictions in early December, the 2nd District Court of Appeal on March 1 upheld the county's right to implement the closures in the name of public health.

We now hold that courts should be extremely deferential to public health authorities, particularly during a pandemic and particularly where, as here, the public health authorities have demonstrated a rational basis for their actions, Justice Brian Currey wrote in a unanimously supported opinion at the time.

Since then, many of the arguments have become moot as Los Angeles County's coronavirus case counts dipped low enough for it to advance through multiple tiers of the state's reopening blueprint.

On March 15, L.A. County entered the red tier of California's four-step color-coded reopening road map, allowing indoor dining to resume at restaurants at 25% capacity. Less than a month later, after L.A. entered the orange tier, indoor dining capacity was allowed to increase to 50% this week.

But not at Tinhorn Flats.

Baret Lepejian, who lives in Thailand while his children operate the restaurant, said he received letters from all over the world. Some write they want to kill him; others offer glowing praise of his defiance.

Before buying Tinhorn Flats 17 years ago, Lepejian worked in the nearby photo lab his parents opened in the early 1970s. Though hes thousands of miles away, he said he supported his son's actions. Hes vowed never to pay the fines  roughly $50,000  the restaurant has racked up.

Despite the appellate court ruling, he insists L.A. County's restaurant closures are not lawful.

Show me one shred of evidence how I am endangering the public, Lepejian said by phone. This has never been about safety or the public. It's never been about that. This whole thing is about fear and control.

Mark Geragos, an attorney representing the restaurant, said he believed the city had exceeded the court's order. With the barricades and arrests, "it basically looks like the siege of Fallujah over there  over outdoor dining," said Geragos, who has been involved in several similar suits, including one on behalf of his own restaurant.

A few dozen supporters of the restaurant gathered outside the locked premises Friday afternoon. Some carried bullhorns to project their message of perceived oppression. Others carried signs bearing such messages as "Small Businesses Matter" and "Freedom Over Tyranny." No one appeared to be wearing a mask.

At times, attendees' passion boiled over into aggression.

A news photographer was swarmed by several people who accused her of wanting to "dox" them, or expose their personal information online. Some made disparaging remarks about her being pregnant.

The police interceded and defused the situation. But once they left, the crowd gathered again. A man who said he supported the restaurant but disagreed with the bullying tactics of some of the attendees told them to stand down.

Dennis Napolitano, a Burbank resident who organizes the recurring rallies, apologized for the incident.

"This is about our freedom," he said of the gatherings. "Since everything is opening up, why are they still persecuting this place?"

Valley Village resident Patsy Walker pulled over to join the rally when she saw the multitude of U.S. flags. She said she disagreed with the angry rhetoric espoused by some attendees but thought that the business should be allowed to open. Through tears, Walker related how her daughter and son-in-law's gymnastics studio was closed because of the pandemic.

"This poor guy," Walker said of the owner, "I feel like I know him because of my daughter's situation."

Heather, 23, who lives near the restaurant, pushed back on the characterization of the owners as victims.

"They didn't follow the law and they didn't follow the closure orders, and these are the consequences for their actions," said Heather, who declined to give her last name out of fear of retribution from the rallygoers. She was wearing a gray mask and walking her dog as the gathering could be heard down the block.

Last weekend, she said, she saw a fight break out, and she is grateful for the police presence that's arrived since then. Besides the looming threat of violence, supporters leave trash strewn about and urinate in nearby alleyways, she said. When the owners were asked to take measures to clean up, she said, they brushed her family off.

"So the fact that he's trying to play the victim in this situation is just really uncalled for, considering the fact that he hasn't done anything for the neighborhood," she said, "and he hasn't done anything for this community in a positive way."

Lucas Lepejian was at the rally carrying a sign that read "Fight Real Crime," ostensibly referring to his belief that police were misdirecting their energy by monitoring the restaurant.

He's framed his defiance of the closure as opposition to government overreach. He said he didn't wear a mask and would not require employees or customers to either. He said he didn't pass judgment on those who masked up, noting before the event, Were pro-freedom, not anti-mask."

A court hearing on the restaurant closure was held Friday. Geragos said that the matter wasn't settled and that he planned to file a motion to dissolve the mandated closure.

Like his father, Lepejian has also promised to keep fighting.

We will never back down, he said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The Delhi BJP on Friday accused Agriculture Minister of making "false" statements on by the Food Corporation of India, and challenged him to prove the charges or resign.

The Delhi minister earlier alleged that the (FCI) was harassing farmers by not procuring their wheat crop on minimum support price.

Speaking to media after visiting Narela mandi in north Delhi, he claimed that no counter had been set up at the mandi and no procurement was happening, as claimed by the FCI.

BJP MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri accused Rai of making baseless charges in the matter.

"The FCI started procuring wheat at minimum support price from April 1 and despite this, gave false statement that there was no such procurement by the corporation," he said in a joint press conference along with other party MLAs.

Bidhuri, who is the Leader of Opposition in Delhi assembly, said he will resign from his post if proved wrong by the agriculture minister.

He said BJP MLAs and party's Kisan Morcha leaders will meet Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at his residence over the issue.

"If he will refuse to meet us, we will sit on a dharna outside his residence, he said.

The BJP leader also claimed that it was only after the AAP government failed to respond to FCI's request to verify the details of farmers (like Aadhaar or land revenue records), the body decided that the procurement would be done at FCI godowns in Narela, Najafgarh and Mayapuri.

Verification of the documents is important to eliminate middlemen or dubious people from the records, and ensure that only genuine farmers get MSP price for their produce, he said.

BJP MLA Vijender Gupta said there were video and photographic evidence to show that the FCI counters at Narela, Mayapuri and Najafgarh were functioning.

(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.)
Associated Press

The short segment, which was never aired, showed Koepka doing an interview with Golf Channel when DeChambeau walks behind him, the sound of his spikes on the pavement. Koepka rolled his eyes and said he lost his train of thought hearing that bull. The security detail following the group of DeChambeau, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay removed at least two groups of spectators from the tournament on Friday for referring to DeChambeau as Brooksy.
So where's Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's border crisis project manager?

Looks like she's in Chicago, getting "a snack," according to White House spokesweasel Jen Psaki.

Such is the simplified summary of the state of things, based on a snapping, flippant reply by the latter to a question from a New York Post reporter. According to the Daily Mail:

New York Post reporter Steven Nelson acknowledged during Wednesday's press briefing: 'As we discussed here today, Vice President Harris is put in charge of addressing the root causes of the border crisis.' 'She hasn't visited the border or Central America or spoken with leaders of El Salvador or Honduras,' he noted. 'She was traveling this week, took time to visit a bakery in Chicago. I'm wondering, is she still working on this and can you address the perception that she's sort of quietly backing off while Secretary Mayorkas is pursuing some Trump-era policies?' He is referencing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appearing to take a hard-line lead on the border crisis despite Harris' role. Psaki replied: 'The vice president was visiting Chicago, actually, to talk about COVID and the importance of communities getting the vaccine when it's available and accessible to them.' 'So, while she was there, like many Americans, she got a snack.'

Which is a crap answer. For a vice president to "get a snack" (food police note: a non-nutritional one she probably wouldn't eat in private) takes a lot of pre-planning and time coordination from the Secret Service, the White House schedulers, the limo drivers, the press and other organs of administration. She can easily 'get a snack' just by commanding one of her aides to procure it as is normally done, just ask Amy Klobuchar about that one.

It was obviously done for the cameras, given that it was a South Side Chicago bakery, which was likely black-owned. The idea, of course, was to demonstrate that Harris, far from being a rich elitist scion of a Jamaican-origin Stanford professor dad, and an India-born professor/researcher mom who moved her from rabidly leftist fever-swamp Berkeley, California, to spend the other parts of her childhood in Canada, was actually a down-with-it African-American who always eats sugar-bomb treats same as much of the rest of the community (but somehow doesn't get fat). It was Potemkin theatre to whip up black voters, same as she did with those pork things campaigning in lily-white Iowa, and apparently little else.

In light of what's on her plate, it seemed rather low-priority, actually, given that the presidential campaign won't start until 2023. But as has been famously said of Kamala, she's always campaigning for her next job.

Being busy with that, she's AWOL on the job she's actually being paid to do.

Last March 24, Biden named Harris as his point person to lead the effort to stanch the human waves flooding the U.S. border.

The flood is getting very big indeed, with some 50,000 unaccompanied minors now in the U.S., the highest rate in nearly 20 years, and illegal migrant arrests hitting 170,000 in March alone, with even more expected for April as this Wall Street Journal report noted. Catch and release is back, migrants with COVID are being released to walk about the country, often without court dates, and Biden has incentivized the smuggling of children with the sweetener that no child will ever be sent back (to starve, as he falsely claimed), which has triggered a huge wave of small children traveling alone, many dumped and abandoned in the desert by smugglers as inconvenient baggage. Families are being smashed to smithereens in monster border crashes on remote California and Texas highways, the recent mass-death incidents in overstuffed trucks and trailers not even chases with lawmen hot on their tail. Border detention facilities, formerly known as 'cages' on the left, are at 1,600% capacity.

Biden's blundering policy also stripped the U.S. of its treaties with Central American countries which had significantly halted the human waves earlier. A flood began in November, and has yet to crest.

Meanwhile, cartels and professional human smuggling rackets have flooded Facebook with ads targeted at would-be illegals promising "guaranteed" entry for a $8,000 or so price, ads that have yet to be ripped down as they violate Facebook's claimed policies against facilitating human trafficking. I found some and wrote about them here. Team Biden has focused on radio ads for dissuading illegal migrants, another useless policy which has had no effect as most migrants are using Facebook and its subsidiary, WhatsApp, for information about how to migrate illegally, as this study found here. And day after day, the sad stories about migrants abandoned, brutalized, raped, blackmailed, or callously killed by this inhuman trade continue.

Arizona's attorney-general says that Kamala Harris hasn't responded to his invitation to tour the border.

You'd think any one of these things might just keep Kamala focused on her big task as border czar. You'd think at least some of that topic would be in her team's purview.

Nope, she's all about diplomacy, as the Biden administration has since hastened to add, looking for all those "root causes." After all, she does take Joe's calls from foreign leaders. But apparently, not the Central American ones where the migrant waves are coming from.

Taking phone calls to negotiate with Central American or Mexican officials? Nope, no record of any so far, as it happens.

We have heard about her leaked concerns about the slow pace of her home-decorating at the White House vice-presidential mansion, and the rigors of living at Blair House, where she was stationed despite having her own condo near Dupont Circle, with all its beauty parlors and swimming pools.

Her schedule, according to the New York Post, shows no meetings scheduled on the border surge.

And her 'diplomacy'? Well, thus far, the Biden administration has left U.S. diplomats with little with which to persuade their Central American counterparts with. I wrote about the insipid tools they were reduced to using, basically, lecturing Central American states about 'democracy' as reported in the untranslated Central American press here. They're heard it a million times.

Unlike Kamala, though, these nations certainly haven't been doing nothing.

Mexico, for one, is pinning the blame for the border surge right where it belongs, on the Biden/Harris administration. How's Kamala going to negotiate that one?

Or how's Kamala handling this bunch, from Honduras, which already has its hand out for U.S. aid to eliminate all those the "root causes" of why Hondurans can't stand living in Honduras? They're claiming that showering the Honduran government, (whose president has been accused by prosecutors in New York of taking big bucks from a drug dealer), will end all the "root causes" of why Hondurans want to get the hell out of Honduras. Will giving these particular foreign bureaucrats cash end all the root causes? Don't count on Kamala to figure out any of the potential problems with showering likely corrupt governments with big U.S. bucks. Notice that nobody from Honduras, based on the reporting seen, has bothered with contacting Kamala in any case. They go where they might actually get some money, correctly reading that she's AWOL.

How's Kamala going to explain the shifts and surges and backtracks in Joe Biden's inchoate border policies to these counterparts? One can just imagine.

What this lazy, disgraceful scenario, of a vice president more preoccupied with home decorating, snacks, and photo ops, is the Biden administration in action. Joe didn't want the problem pinned to him, so he fobbed it off to the inept Harris. Harris has talked dreck on the matter, and carried on with her priorities, which mainly amount to camera photo shoots, like some celebrity influencer with politics added. Neither cares in the least what goes on at the border, what they want is for the illegals to roll in, the money to flow, and the problem to go away. Holding Kamala at least accountable, as Fox News and the New York Post are doing, is a pretty good way for voters to get a whiff of the real agenda here. The Bidenites, particularly Harris, are feathering their nests. The border can do what it is going to do, to paraphrase their ally, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That's "who they are."

Image: Official Senate photo, filtered with FotoSketcher.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Thousands of passengers have arrived into Ireland from countries which are set to be added to the hotel quarantining list.

It is expected that France, Italy and Germany and possibly the US will be among the states added to the mandatory quarantining list when the Government meets next week.

The latest figures released by the Department of Transport show almost 3,000 people arrived into the State from France, Germany, Italy and the United States.

A total of 1,246 people arrived from France between March 29 and April 4, a further 733 passengers arrived from the US, 707 people came in from Germany and 245 from Italy.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said he expects that Germany and France will be among the states added to the mandatory quarantine list and wants to see the list expanded. Picture:Gareth Chaney/Collins

Overall 15,422 passengers came in through Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports during this time.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said he expects that Germany and France will be among the states added to the mandatory quarantine list and wants to see the list expanded.

While senior officials continue to discuss the extension of mandatory quarantining, those in Government believe that fewer than 10 extra countries will be added by the Cabinet next week.

Hotel quarantining system

Mr Ryan defended the current hotel quarantining system by claiming that the Government is following health advice.

"The Government next week is to to meet to consider the advice of the health authorities who are saying we should be looking at countries like France and Germany, and including them on a quarantine list now because of the very high incidence and the concern about variants in those countries," he told RTE's Today with Claire Byrne show.

But he said countries will be added and taken off that list as the rate of the virus changes.

"The requirements for quarantine will change, and this is not going to be a permanent fixture. This cannot be designed as a way that's going to be there forever in a day. We need connectivity we need the ability for people to come home and travel and so on," the Green Party leader said.
A Vietnam Airlines aircraft seen at Narita, Chiba, Japan in February 2020. Photo by Shutterstock/Kittikun Yoksap.

Setting floor fares for air tickets will rob customers of opportunities to get discounted tickets and also create unfair competition, experts say.

The floor price will exclusively create advantages for Vietnam Airlines, eliminating competition and forcing passengers to select the national flag carrier in the mid- and high-end segments, said aviation expert Nguyen Thien Tong.

He was referring to a Vietnam Airlines proposal to apply a floor price of VND414,0001.4 million ($1861) for all flights depending on distance.

The national flag carrier said having minimum fares would ensure fair competition among airlines and help them overcome hardships caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that they could be scrapped once the aviation industry recovers.

However, Tong said that in recent years, the aviation market has become vibrant with the entrance of private companies offering competitive prices, giving more people a chance to fly.

With the Transport Ministry only having fixed ceiling prices and not floor prices, low cost airlines like Vietjet and Pacific Airlines often offer ticket prices as low as zero dong or under VND100,000, excluding taxes and fees.

Vietnam Airliness minimum fare proposal will likely put an end to such promotions. With the proposed floor prices, a two-way ticket between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will see prices up by at least 20 percent to VND2.4 million.

Economist Bui Trinh also said the proposal would hurt customers.

"The tourism sector expects a recovery post-pandemic, but higher air fares will increase tour prices, which goes against the governments intentions to boost travel," he said.

Another economist, Ngo Tri Long, also said minimum fares should not be applied. However, authorities should consider Vietnam Airliness request to up ceiling fares by VND50,000250,000 to help carriers recover from Covid-19 impacts, he added.

Nguyen Tien Thoa, chairman of the Valuation Vietnam Association, said to increase ceiling prices, the carrier needs to prove that its costs have increased and pushed up the final price.

The government has already supported airlines with a 30 percent reduction on fuel tax from mid-2020 till the end of this year, and Vietnam Airlines alone has received a VND4 trillion loan from banks for zero interests, therefore the minimum fare proposal should be considered carefully, he added.

Vietnam Airlines had made in similar proposal in 2017, but it was rejected by the transport ministry. Budget carrier Vietjet had said then that such a provision would go against market competition regulations and create unfair competition for low-cost carriers.

A VnExpress survey of nearly 3,800 readers on April 5 and 6 showed that 93 percent did not support the floor price proposal.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The EU is about to start negotiations with a single pharmaceutical company to secure up to 1.8 billion doses of a "second generation" mRNA vaccine to combat future variants, a European Commission source said.

The upcoming deal aims to have deliveries made on a monthly schedule starting late this year and going into 2023, the source told AFP.

It is part of the commission's preparedness plan to handle "the next stages" of the pandemic as the coronavirus continues to mutate, said the source, who is familiar with the approach taken by commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

The source would not say which "sole supplier" would be tapped, but did not demur asked if it was BioNTech/Pfizer, which has already agreed to bring forward deliveries to the EU of its first-generation mRNA vaccine.

"We want a big volume" of doses, "we want a firm contract for 900 million doses and an option for the same again", the source said, confirming information first reported by the German newspaper Die Welt.

The extra doses would greatly increase the EU's access to vaccines to fight the coronavirus pandemic by going beyond the 2.6 billion doses of various "first-generation" vaccines already secured for this year and next.

They would address growing concerns globally that the current vaccines deployed can have their effects dampened by some variants, as appears to already be the case with strains first detected in South Africa and Brazil.

"There will be a delivery obligation" for the extra doses, the source emphasised.

That implicitly pointed to problems the commission has had with AstraZeneca, which has come up short in delivering contracted doses of its vaccinean adenovirus vaccine different from the mRNA types produced by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna.

'Priority for Europe'

The next-generation mRNA vaccine the commission is looking to buy "has to cover all the variants that could emerge"and "with a production within Europe and a priority for Europe", the source said.

The new contract to be worked out would fix the problems that came to light with the contracts for the first lot of vaccines, "based on the experience of the past eight months," the source said, again implicitly raising the row that has festered with AstraZeneca.

The total population of the European Union is 450 million. The commission's goal is to have 70 percent of the adult population fully inoculated with current vaccines by the middle of September.

According to data collated by AFP from official health sources, nearly 90 million jabs have so far been given in the EU, covering 14.4 percent of the total population. At least 5.8 percent of the population have received two jabs.

The 27-nation bloc has trailed the US, Israel and Britain in its vaccination rollout, mainly because of supply constraints in the first three months of this year. Jabs have greatly accelerated since with boosted deliveries, particularly of BioNTech/Pfizer doses.

Several EU countries have restricted the use of AstraZeneca jabs to the older segments of the population because of increased concernscrystallised by the EU drug regulatorthat they are linked to a very rare form of potentially fatal blood clotting affecting the brain.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
U.S. must pay up its arrears to the UN: former UN Ambassadors

09:01, April 09, 2021 By Dennis Meng ( People's Daily Online

Photo taken on Sept. 14, 2020 shows the outside view of the United Nations headquarters in New York, the United States. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

The United States must pay the United Nations what it owes: thats the title of an article in Foreign Policy co-authored by former U.S. Ambassadors to the United Nations (UN) Madeleine Albright, John Negroponte, and Thomas Pickering, who are jointly calling for the U.S. to clear its more than $1 billion arrears to the UN.

Published on March 29, the essay pointed out that despite the Biden administrations swift move to rejoin the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement, from which the Trump administration abruptly withdrew, the dues the country owes to the U.N. peacekeeping budget are still unpaid, and have been accruing for four years and total more than $1 billion.

The 905-word argumentative article outlined the record of U.S. struggling to pay its portion of the UN budget. In 1999, the article pointed out, Americas vote at the UN General Assembly was endangered because of lack of payment as the country appeared hypocritical to advocate for robust multilateral action while also withholding the dues to support such activities. In 2009, whilst dealing with the aftershock of the financial crisis, the Obama administration agreed to the payment of all U.S. arrears after a bipartisan debate on Congress.

Then came the year 2021. Citing such gloomy statistics as more than 2.5 million dead from the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, an estimated 3.5 percent drop in global GDP growth, and some 100 million people living under the poverty line due to the pandemic, the article concluded that the challenges facing the world have grown in size and complexity.

Against this backdrop of instability, this kind of practice is not helpful for those top troop-contributing nations, including India, Pakistan, and Ethiopia, which are not being fully reimbursed for their peacekeeping personnel and equipment. These countries have been forced to withstand shortfalls in the tens of millions of dollars. When countries risking the most troops bear the burden of U.S. arrears, it should challenge the United States notion of fair play, said the authors.

Apart from that $1 billion-plus peacekeeping budget the U.S. owes the U.N., the country has also failed to deliver more than $630 million in outstanding payments to the United Nations core budget, and its arrears to the World Health Organization amounts to $203 million, according to the Better World Campaign, an organization that works to strengthen the relationship between the United States and the United Nations.

A screenshot of U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield's Twitter page

On April 1, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield shared a link to the article on Twitter and commented, I said it once and Ill say it again: We need to pay our bills to have a seat at the table, echoing a speech she made at her confirmation hearing.

Article 19 of the Charter of the United Nations stipulates that a Member State in arrears in the payment of its dues in an amount that equals or exceeds the contributions due for two preceding years can lose its vote in the General Assembly.

At the end of the article, the former ambassadors exclaimed that paying U.S. arrears was the right thing to do in 1999 and in 2009, and it is the right thing to do now. There are few better ways for the United States to reclaim its credibility and moral authority on the world stage than by paying the dues it owes, the trio remarked.

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Bianji)
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Everyone who has been concerned about the danger that insecurity has posed to national cohesion will appreciate the importance of securing a collective understanding of the problems and the solutions.

No one who is in a position of responsibility can deny the necessity of firm action in the form of proactive and sustained offensives against the criminals who menace us. Such security operations will not only cripple the outlaws, but will also reassure ordinary citizens, bolster the morale of the security agencies and provide an alternative focus for the energies that are being dissipated on fractious endeavours.

The situation in which the security agencies mostly only react to cases of banditry and abduction is unacceptable. We are in a war with these terrorists, who are challenging the sovereignty and monopoly of the instruments of coercion of the Nigerian state and its territory. Our security forces must collaborate to take the war to them, recover and restore the un-governed forests these terrorist occupy, and enable our law-abiding citizens to engage in their legitimate pursuits, including farming and livestock production, without fear. These bandits have lost their rights to life under our Constitution and must be wiped out in their entirety. There is no other way to approach the current situation of insurgency in Nigeria today as far as governmental action is concerned.

But action and discourse are not mutually exclusive. The theme of this townhall meeting speaks to that function of informed discourse as an enabler of more effective action. Setting benchmarks for enhanced security and national unity is an important imperative in ensuring that there is a common understanding of the two concepts and that across this country and its diversity, there is a common register for talking about them and assessing them.

Everyone who has been concerned about the danger that insecurity has posed to national cohesion will appreciate the importance of securing a collective understanding of the problems and the solutions.

Our national level security response to these challenges has been uncoordinated and ineffective in wiping out the threats. None of the military services nor other security agencies has been suitably expanded in numbers and equipment for over a decade since the insurgency in the North-East pushed things to a new low.

In my view, we require, at the minimum, national consensus on the key issues that confront us and on the most efficient remedies for our weaknesses. At a public meeting in Lagos in February, I shared some lessons we have picked up from our efforts to manage our situation in Kaduna State, and I think it bears repeating here:

The Nigerian state has not jealously and consistently protected its prerogatives and status as the leviathan, the ultimate guarantor of security, the protector of rights and the promoter of the rule of law. That is why its power is being challenged, in a frighteningly sustained manner by a phalanx of armed non-state actors;

Our national level security response to these challenges has been uncoordinated and ineffective in wiping out the threats. None of the military services nor other security agencies has been suitably expanded in numbers and equipment for over a decade since the insurgency in the North-East pushed things to a new low. This country does not have enough soldiers, uniformed police and secret police to project state power across its vast swathes, particularly the forests. The limited number of boots on the ground are not well equipped and are significantly lacking in the technology that can make their limited numbers matter a lot less;

The justice system operates with ethos and at a pace that do not reflect the fragility of the situation and the urgency to demonstrate that the rule of law is meaningful. Prosecutions take so long that many citizens assume that the criminals have long been released, encouraging criminal conduct, and raising the dangerous appeal of illegal self-help. The delays in the dispensation of justice in Nigeria has made criminals to fall more in love with our courts than the innocent. This is unsustainable and unacceptable;

The subnational levels  that is the states and local governments combined  have limited hard power but considerable options and scope for the exercise of soft-power using the traditional institutions, community and political leaders at the grassroots  but which require for its effectiveness the looming shadow of credible coercive power. Unless our state governments, local governments, emirs, chiefs and community leaders know that the State can protect them and deal with criminal elements decisively, the exercise of soft power is reduced to weak appeals to behave well. Too many carrots without sticks lead to the near-anarchy we are witnessing;

Notions of a common humanity, not to talk of a common citizenship are not as widely or deeply shared as it would appear. Identity politics holds sway. This reflects the absence of an elite consensus about who we are and how we should live together. To attain this consensus, we must, as leaders and citizens, approach organising and governing our country as a deliberate task, beginning with a collective decision regarding what sort of society we intend to be and the means of attaining it.

to address the banditry prevalent in the North-West and North-Central, we must implement the National Livestock Transformation Plan already produced four years ago to enable accelerated investment in modern animal husbandry, incorporating the rapid sedentarisation of herders in known locations.

In conclusion, I wish to suggest that this country requires urgent action, as follows:

Identify, focus on and deal decisively with all state and non-state actors engaged in conduct that amounts to challenging the supremacy of the Nigerian state and our Constitution, without ethnic profiling or discriminatory treatment;

Provide immediate and enhanced funding to acquire advanced equipment, armament and ordinance for the armed forces, police, security and paramilitary agencies;

Centralised policing in a federation is not only a contradiction in terms. The state governments today bear most of the burden of the running costs of the Federal Police anyway, so why not allow the sub-nationals to have the state police now. So, I repeat my persistent call for State Police as soon as possible;

We should also devolve more responsibilities and duties to the states to enable greater accountability and minimise the habit of blaming the Federal Government for every ill in Nigeria. We should therefore expeditiously amend the Constitution to vest all on-shore minerals, including petroleum, in the states now;

A unitary and dysfunctional judiciary that is so slow in dispensing justice that it amounts to being on the side of the criminals need to be decentralised and reformed. The Constitution should be expeditiously amended to remove the unitary control of the superior courts and federalise our judiciary now;

Be emphatic about the right of every citizen to security, freedom of movement and rights of residence, and that the choice of livelihoods must conform to the laws of the land;

Finally, to address the banditry prevalent in the North-West and North-Central, we must implement the National Livestock Transformation Plan already produced four years ago to enable accelerated investment in modern animal husbandry, incorporating the rapid sedentarisation of herders in known locations.

Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, OFR, is Governor of Kaduna State.

This is excerpted from the welcome remarks made at the Federal Government Townhall Meeting on National Security, held at the Main Lecture Theatre of the Kaduna State University (KASU) on Thursday, April 8a.
NORWALK  The next time residents hear a knock at their door, it could be canvassers offering to help sign them up for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Norwalk was one of 10 Connecticut cities identified by the state Department of Public Health to receive door-to-door canvassing informing and signing residents up for the shots. Other cities chosen for the program were Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford, Hartford, Waterbury, Danbury, New Britain, Bristol and Meriden, according to a statement from Gov. Ned Lamont.

Lamont first announced the program, a partnership with Access Health CT, on March 26. The initiative specifically targets regions high on the Center for Disease Control and Preventions social vulnerability index, which weighs factors including poverty, employment, housing, access to transportation, education and other variables.

South Norwalk has an overall social vulnerability index rating of 0.8 as of 2018, with the highest rating being 1.0. SoNo marked highest in the minority population factor with a rating of 0.9.

While no start date has been announced, as the program is yet in the planning stages, canvassing is expected to take place this summer and run until about Aug. 31, according to a canvasser job posting.

While we are awaiting more details from the state, we are optimistic these efforts will make a difference in getting more residents vaccinated, said city spokesperson Josh Morgan said. Canvassers will help register residents for appointments and inform them of walk-up or pop-up clinics in Norwalk and surrounding areas.

Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling and his COVID-19 task force comprised of community leaders and educators will be collaborating with the DPH and canvassers, Morgan said.

Access Health CT will hire the canvassers through Grossman Solutions and support a COVID-19 vaccine call center through Faneuil, Inc., according to the governors statement.

The budget for call center support is $5.3 million and the budget for outreach, including door-to-door canvassing in the 10 identified municipalities most in need, is a maximum of $2.9 million, according to the statement.

Door-to-door canvassers will be hired on a rolling basis and will receive $23 per hour and mileage stipends, according to the job posting.

The campaign will prioritize Black and Latino neighborhoods, as those populations are vaccinated at a lower rate.

As of April 1, more than 26,800 Norwalk residents have received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, or 30 percent of the citys population, according to DPH data.

Statewide, nearly 1.5 million people, or 40 percent, in Connecticut have received the first vaccine dose, according to DPH data. About 23 percent of Black Connecticut residents have received the first vaccine dose and 12 percent are fully vaccinated.

We know not everyone is on social media, has an internet connection, or checks the newspaper, so the canvassers will help meet people where they are, Morgan said. Its going to make a real difference for Norwalk.

abigail.brone@hearstmediact.com
With more than 9,200 families applying to New Orleans public schools this year, the school district is boasting higher match rates to charters than in years past, with 82% of all applicants getting at least one of their top three choices.

But despite the good news, one constant remains the same: Many of the city's highest-graded public schools remain extremely difficult to get into, in some cases with thousands of parents applying for just a few dozen spots in a single grade level.

NOLA Public Schools released data Wednesday showing the 2021-22 results for OneApp, an algorithm-based school placement system used for all but a handful of the city's public charter schools. In keeping with the promise of "school choice," OneApp allows parents to apply anywhere within city limits, no matter where they live.

How hard has the pandemic hit Louisiana's day cares? They've lost more than $245 million A year after coronavirus shut down most offices last March, decimating business models for day cares and early learning centers, a series of "

But when it comes to some of the city's most in-demand schools, critics say the algorithm makes for less choice and far more chance, with most families ending up on a waitlist for the schools that have the best ratings from the Louisiana Department of Education.

As in past years, Hynes Charter School in Lakeview -- the only recently A-rated public elementary school in New Orleans that currently uses OneApp for its admissions -- saw the most applicants for kindergarten this year, with 545 families seeking entry. The match rate was just 16%.

For 9th grade admissions, the A-rated Warren Easton High School drew the most applicants, with 2,009 students applying. There, the match rate was 26%.

The lowest match rate of any school was at Audubon Gentilly, a new school that doesn't yet have a grade from the state, where only 10% of eligible applicants got in.

In calculating match rate, the system doesn't take into account students that might be ineligible -- if they don't have an address within New Orleans, for example -- or if they have already been matched to a higher-ranked choice.

In a statement, NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. said the OneApp system "empowers our families to select and apply to the schools that best meet the needs of their children."

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"While not every school has enough seats, we know that everyones application was treated fairly," Lewis added. "I remain committed to working towards providing options and expanding access within our district that meet the needs and interests of all of our students and families."

+4 How New Orleans high schools are planning in-person graduations, parties as restrictions ease By the first week of school in mid-August, it had already become clear at Lusher Charter School that the pandemic would make for another rough

Parents can rank up to 12 schools on the application, in order of preference. Most schools have some kind of priority, such as sibling preference, seats reserved for students living within a half-mile of the school or parents who work in a partnering university. Everyone else goes into a lottery, and some don't get placed at all and move into a second round where kids are funneled into leftover spots.

A new study from the Education Research Alliance of New Orleans found the half-mile priority was more likely to benefit White and higher-income applicants, since their families were more likely to afford the rent or mortgage closer to a higher-performing school.

Regardless, OneApp data did look more hopeful this year than in years past, even for some the most applied-to schools. For example, families' 82% success rate bettered last year's 70%.

Looking just at kindergarten and 9th grade, the two biggest entry points to New Orleans public schools, the statistics were even better. In those grades, 91% of families got their top three choices this year, compared to 82% last year.

Public feedback period for renaming New Orleans schools extended as alumni push back After NOLA Public Schools solicited the public's input in the district's process to rename those schools and buildings that honored "racist le

Some schools were more coveted than others. Half of the most applied-to programs for kindergarten had match rates above 50%, and seven of the 10 most-coveted high school programs had 100% match rates for 9th grade.

Some selective schools -- Lusher Charter School, Lake Forest Elementary School and Benjamin Franklin High School -- still use their own admissions process.

Last November, the state didn't release it's annual grades or performance scores because COVID-19 closures impacted state testing. But the latest grades, released in November 2019, showed there were only 18 schools rated A or B. Of the nearly 80 schools in New Orleans, 35 scored a D or F, meaning they were considered failing or close to it.

On Thursday, parents on social media expressed mixed emotions at their OneApp results, ranging from delight at getting into a coveted spot to dejection at getting no placement at all in the 1st round, and wondering if they'd be on the hook for private school or home schooling.
NPP Ashanti Regional Secretary, Sam Pyne has charged the Bank of Ghana to clamp down on money doublers in the country.



Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme, Sam Pyne reminded the Central Bank authorities of their duty in ensuring no person or entity apart from them produce money to Ghanaians.



Therefore, if a person claims to have the power or ability to double money, he should be dealt with by the Bank of Ghana.



He called on the Bank of Ghana to disallow any person from engaging in the act of money-doubling.



Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' programme, Sam Pyne reminded the Central Bank authorities of their duty in ensuring no person or entity apart from them produce money to Ghanaians.



Therefore, if a person claims to have the power or ability to double money, he should be dealt with by the Bank of Ghana.



He called on them to disallow any person from engaging in the act of money-doubling and further entreated the bank authorities to take legal actions against money doublers.



"If Bank of Ghana is the entity that manufactures our money and we call something 'legal tender', so if you say you will let a dwarf produce money for someone, is it a legal tender? It's fake. So, Bank of Ghana also has a huge responsibility."



"Giving the public a warning signal isn't enough. It should be followed by action," he emphasized.



The Regional Secretary made these comments while discussing the Kasoa murder.



Two teenagers murdered a 11-year old boy at Kasoa in the Central Region on Saturday for money rituals.



The teenagers were arrested by the Central Regional Police, arraigned before court and remanded into police custody.



Peace FM's News Bulletin at 6pm on Thursday reported that the fetish priestess who caused the teenagers to commit the murder has also been arrested.







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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Israel will tell the International Criminal Court it does not recognise the authority of the tribunal, which is planning to investigate possible war crimes in the Palestinian territories, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu, after meeting with senior ministers and government officials ahead of a Friday deadline to respond to an ICC notification letter, said Israel would not cooperate with the inquiry, but it will send a response.

It will be made clear that Israel is a country with rule of law that knows how to investigate itself, he said in a statement. The response will also say Israel completely rejects the assertion that it was carrying out any war crimes.

Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC and therefore by definition not a party to the court, Reuters reported.

ICC prosecutors, who named groups on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides as possible perpetrators, said letters had been sent on March 9 to all parties concerned, giving them a month to inform the court if they were conducting their own investigations of the alleged crimes and want an ICC inquiry deferred while that is ongoing.

The Palestinians said they would cooperate with the ICC, whose inquiry pertains to alleged war crimes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian Islamists took control after Israel withdrew in 2005.
Some 3.1 million stock investors in Korea have put all their eggs in one basket by investing in a single company, the Korea Securities Depository said Thursday.

Analysis of shareholdings in 2,352 listed companies showed that 33.8 percent of investors own shares in only one company, whereas experts urge investors to diversify their holdings.

Another 1.53 million investors or 16.7 percent own shares in just two companies and one million or 10.9 percent in three.

Most or 87 percent invest in fewer than 10 companies. But a savvy 14,091 investors own stocks in more than 100 companies, which would make even hedge-fund managers jealous, and 104 in more than 1,000 companies.

"An investor with billions of won at their disposal could invest in more than 100 companies, but retail investors will find it hard to manage scores of different stocks," an industry insider said.

But owning shares in a single company need not be a risky, high-yield investment. One retiree owns stocks in his old company where he was employed for 30 years. "I know the company's history very well and I can also see where it's headed, so I don't get nervous over short-term stock price fluctuations," he said.


PARK RIDGE, Ill., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- (AANA) A new law signed April 6 by Maine Governor Janet Mills requires Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) services to be covered and reimbursed by insurers, consistent with other advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) in the state. The law also states that insurers may not prohibit CRNAs from participating in provider networks, offering patients across the state greater access to high-quality care.

Health insurance carriers are now required to provide coverage for services within the CRNA scope of practice that are covered under a health plan. The law affects policies that go into effect or renew on or after Jan. 1, 2022.

Susan DeCarlo-Piccirillo, DNP, CRNA, APRN, president of the Maine Association of Nurse Anesthetists (MEANA), applauded the provision, "This will alleviate a burden on patients and facilities that previously faced an onerous process to be reimbursed for CRNA services. By ending billing discrepancies for CRNAs in Maine, patients have greater access to anesthesia care, with less risk of out of pocket cost and at no cost to the state of Maine."

There are more than 350 CRNAs and student registered nurse anesthetists in Maine. Approximately 60% of anesthetics in Maine's rural and critical access hospitals are delivered by CRNAs. CRNAs comprise 64% of the state's anesthesia care providers. "CRNAs are proven providers, and removing the many barriers to their practice will only increase their ability to respond to the pressing need for basic anesthesia health," DeCarlo-Piccirillo said.

"Patients benefit the greatest from a healthcare system where they receive easily accessible care from an appropriate choice of safe, high-quality, and cost-effective providers, such as CRNAs and other APRNs," said DeCarlo-Piccirillo. "By passing this legislation and with Gov. Mills' signature, Maine is protecting care for the most vulnerable by strengthening network adequacy and helping to ensure all patients have access to quality care from the provider of their choice."

In December 2020, the U.S. Congress passed the "No Surprises Act" with a critical nondiscrimination provision that prohibits insurance health plans from discriminating against qualified licensed healthcare professionals, such as CRNAs and other non-physician providers.

SOURCE American Association of Nurse Anesthetists

Related Links

www.aana.com


Tributes have been paid by the farming and rural sector to Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband, who has died aged 99.

Buckingham Palace announced today that the Duke of Edinburgh passed away just weeks after he spent a month in hospital.

"It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband," the palace said on Friday.

"The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Prince Phillip, who was the longest serving consort in British history, 'inspired the lives of countless young people.'

The Duke was a staunch supporter of British farming, attending numerous prominent agricultural and rural events over the decades.

He was also involved in over 750 organisations - many of them countryside based - serving as a patron, president or member.

After his retirement in 2017, he pent a lot of his time at the secluded Wood Farm in Wolferton, Norfolk, which sits on the western edge of Sandringham Estate.

The 20,000-acre estate consists of arable, livestock and horticultural farms, as well as a country park.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) paid its tributes, describing Prince Philip as a 'passionate supporter of rural Britain'.

"Through his Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme many thousands of young people from all walks of life were taught to respect and enjoy the countryside," CLA President Mark Bridgeman said.

"We express our sincerest condolences to the Royal Family, and will remember with gratitude the Dukes outstanding commitment to farming communities everywhere."

The NFU added that Prince Phillip was a 'great champion' of British farming and rural communities.

On behalf of the NFU and its members, our President @Minette_Batters offers her condolences following the death of HRH Prince Philip. He was a great champion of British farming and rural communities. https://t.co/nlhPnv1gal  National Farmers' Union (@NFUtweets) April 9, 2021

Elsewhere, flags at JCB's factories around the world were today flying at half-mast in honour.

Lord Bamford, chairman of the agri-machinery firm, led tributes on behalf of the company, calling the Duke a 'tremendous ambassador' for the UK.

He said: We had the pleasure of welcoming Prince Philip to JCB on three occasions over the past 40 years, most recently in 1998 when he officially opened the new JCB Transmissions factory in Wrexham.

"He has been a tremendous ambassador for this country, for business and for engineering in particular.
Joanne Iskiwitch has received the 2020 Coldwell Banker Presidents Elite Award, given to top Coldwell Banker real estate agents locally and internationally. Iskiwitch also recently was awarded the Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist (CHLMS) designation and the Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES) designation. She is a member of Temple Emanuel.

St. Louis Public Radio is honoring Diane Katzman with its Lifetime Achievement Award for 2021 at its virtual Talk Taste Toast event at 7 p.m. April 9. Katzman, an artist and jewelry designer, founded Diane Katzman Jewelry Design, which she sold last year to focus full time on Corporate & Non-Profit Art. She belongs to Central Reform Congregation.

Philip Taxman, senior vice president wealth adviser at Merrill Lynch, has been named a Forbes magazine Best-in-State Wealth Advisor for 2021. Forbes recognized 30 top wealth advisers in Missouri. Taxman, who has received this recognition in the past, just celebrated his 30th anniversary with Merrill Lynch in the Clayton office. He is a member of Congregation Shaare Emeth.

The Arts and Education Council of St. Louis will honor Amy Kaiser, director of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus since 1995, with its 2021 Lifetime Achievement award at the St. Louis Arts Awards on May 24. Kaiser is one of the countrys leading choral directors and has been in that role for 50 years. She is also a regular preconcert speaker for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and has presented the Symphony Lecture Series, promoting SLSO concerts, for the past 15 years. Her popular classes for Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Illuminating Opera, are being broadcast this season on Classic 107.3.

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The National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis (NCJWSTL) has been recognized by the Womens Foundation of Greater St. Louis as a top place for women to work, in the fourth annual Women in the Workplace: Employment Scorecard. NCJWSTL was recognized as one of 21 St. Louis employers demonstrating excellence in workplace gender equity in leadership, compensation, flexible work policies, recruitment and retention.

In addition, NCJWSTL announced its 2021 Section Awards recipients, who exemplify the values of the organization through their community service, advocacy work, leadership and volunteer efforts. They are Arlene Baer and Patti Teper, community service; Andrea Powers Schankman and Debbie Gilula, theFritzi Lainoff Advocacy Award; Susan Witte, leadership; Terry Cox, volunteer service; and Hillary Hinz, emerging leader. The NCJWSTL board installation and section awards ceremony will be held virtually Thursday, May 27.

Jan Baron and Ryia Ross Peterson were recently elected to serve two-year terms on Cultural Leaderships board of directors. Peterson, who is a pediatrician at Mercy Ladue Pediatrics and belongs to CRC, was elected to serve as board chair. Baron teaches and belongs to Congregation Bnai Amoona. Cultural Leadership strives to create a more just and equitable community by educating middle and high school students to recognize and resolve issues of privilege and injustice through the lens of the African American and Jewish experience.

Lynnsie Kantor and her partner Craig Burfield of the Burfield Kantor Group received the 5 Year Legend award at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices 2021 national convention. The award honors agents who ranked in the Chairmans Circle for 5 years in a row. In addition, their 2020 production placed them in the top 2% of the entire BHHS network nationwide. They are affiliated with BHHS Alliance in St. Louis. Kantor attends Bnai Amoona and CRC.

Norman S. Newmark, a partner in the law firm of McCarthy, Leonard & Kaemmerer in Town and Country, has been elected as a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel. His practice focuses on business tax planning, tax controversies, estate planning and probate, and fiduciary litigation. He attends United Hebrew Congregation.

Scott Lefton and Doug Goldenberg are opening Leftys Bagels, which will offer freshly baked bagels from Leftons recipe. They plan to open by the end of the month and sell plain, poppy, sesame and everything bagels on Saturdays and Sundays at Bakers Hub, 67 Forum Shopping Center in Chesterfield. The bagels cost $1.65 for one, $8 for a half-dozen and $14 for a bakers dozen. Lefton and Goldenberg belong to Temple Israel.
Central American asylum seekers rest in a public park after they were apprehended and sent back to Mexico when trying to cross the border from Mexico (Photo : REUTERS/Daniel Becerril)

U.S. border agents expelled roughly a third of migrant parents and children traveling together and caught crossing the southwestern border in March, according to U.S. government data, undercutting a claim by President Joe Biden that most families are being sent back to Mexico.



About 17,000 of the nearly 53,000 parents and children caught at the border in March were expelled under a COVID-related public health order known as Title 42, an administration official said during a background briefing with reporters on Wednesday.



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The rest were placed in U.S. immigration proceedings, in keeping with the practice before Title 42, which was implemented under former President Donald Trump in March 2020.



"We're sending back the vast majority of the families that are coming," Biden said during a March 25 news conference. "We're trying to work out now, with Mexico, their willingness to take more of those families back."



Commenting on the apparent disconnect between Biden's statement and the latest figures, White House spokesman Vedant Patel said the administration's policy is to expel single adults and families to Mexico under Title 42 if they are caught crossing the southwest border illegally, but he added that does not always happen.



"In the event that Mexico is not able to receive an individual or a family, they are placed in immigration proceedings in the United States," he said in a statement.



Biden has defended his administration's handling of a rise in border crossings in recent months. Republicans have criticized Biden, a Democrat, for easing some Trump-era restrictions, arguing his policies have encouraged illegal immigration. Biden and his top officials have blamed Trump for dismantling systems to receive asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors.



Overall, more than 172,000 migrants were caught at the U.S.-Mexico border in March, according to the administration official. Of those arrests, roughly 168,000 people were picked up by border patrol agents between ports of entry - the highest monthly tally since March 2001, when nearly 171,000 were caught.



Reuters reported similar preliminary border arrest figures last week.



For much of last year, unaccompanied children arriving at the border were expelled to Mexico under Title 42, but Biden exempted them from the expulsions in February.



Since then, a rising number of unaccompanied children have been taken into custody at the border and allowed into the United States to pursue immigration cases. The increase has caused crowded conditions in border stations and processing centers.



In March, border agents caught about 19,000 unaccompanied children attempting to cross the border, the administration official said on Wednesday, up from roughly 6,000 in January.



The administration official, who requested anonymity to discuss the border figures with reporters, said the expulsion of families back to Mexico is limited by Mexico's ability to receive them in the state of Tamaulipas, which sits across from Texas' Rio Grande Valley, where many families have been arriving.


(JTA)  PBS has decided to postpone airing the documentary Til Kingdom Come, which examines the close relationship between American evangelicals and Israel, in the light of accusations that the film misleadingly spliced together two separate parts of a speech by former President Donald Trump.

The film, which was directed by the Russian-Israeli documentary filmmaker Maya Zinshtein, was released as a rental for in-home viewing in late February ahead of a planned broadcast premiere on March 29 as part of the Independent Lens series on PBS. It garnered significant media coverage,...
Australia has ordered 20million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine after the AstraZeneca vaccine was linked to potentially deadly blood clots.

The vaccines - taking Australia's Pfizer jab total to 40 million - are due to arrive in the final three months of 2021.

On Thursday night the government received advice from its scientists that the Pfizer vaccine was preferred in adults under 50 because of evidence from Europe that the AstraZeneca vaccines causes blood clots in extremely rare cases.

Australia has ordered 20million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine after the AstraZeneca vaccine was linked to potentially deadly bloodclots

Australia had relied heavily on the AstraZeneca vaccine with 53.8million doses ordered. It is also the only jab that it can manufacture onshore at the CSL factory in Melbourne.

Australia's Pfizer vaccines were due to arrive at a rate of 130,000 from April, but Health Minister Greg Hunt said this will now hugely expand and double by July.

The government did not reveal how much the extra vaccines cost or which country they will come from. Australia's told spend on vaccines is about $4billion.

I want my mum to get it, and that's why I want your mum to get it Scott Morrison on AstraZeneca jab

Mr Morrison said Australians can still choose to take the the AstraZeneca jab if they want.

'It is not a ban on the AstraZeneca vaccine, it is not a prohibition on the AstraZeneca vaccine, it recommends and notes that the risk of these side effects are remote.

'They are very rare. We are talking in the vicinity of five to six per million which is a rather rare event. But it must be acknowledged,' Mr Morrison said.

'It's important so Australians can make informed decisions about their vaccination and their health care with their medical professionals, with their doctor.

'So there was no instruction not to take that vaccine. There is an acknowledgement of the risk that is there but as is the case always with these matters these are decisions for Australians.'

The prime minster encouraged Australians over 50 to have the AstraZeneca jab because they are less at risk of the clotting events and more at risk of getting seriously sick from Covid-19.

'You would be putting yourself at risk if you didn't get the vaccine, because you would be exposing yourself to the more likely event of a COVID contracted condition that could result in serious illness,' he said.

'That's why I want my mum to get it, and that's why I want your mum to kept get it, and your dad, your uncle, your aunt, your brother, your sister. That's a life-saving vaccine.'

In March more than a dozen countries suspended the AstraZeneca jab after a handful of European patients suffered brain blockages that can cause strokes

Australia has advised citizens aged under 50 against receiving AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine (pictured, a vaccine vial)

The government received its advice late on Thursday from vaccine advisory group ATAGI which promoted the health alert after European authorities confirmed a link between the AstraZeneca jab and rare blood clots.

The United Kingdom also offered people under 30 an alternative vaccine due to the risk, with health experts in that country saying evidence suggested young people are more susceptible to the blood clots following vaccination than older people.

Experts revealed people in their 20s had about a one in 90,000 chance of developing the side effect after receiving the AstraZeneca jab compared to one in 500,000 in the over 60s.

Their increased risk, combined with the fact younger people are statistically very unlikely to fall severely ill with Covid, led to the UK's restriction of the vaccine in healthy 18-to-30-year-olds.

One person in Australia so far has developed the clots after receiving the AstraZeneca jab, a man in his 40s who was admitted to hospital in Melbourne.

But Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said the adverse reaction to the jab was so rare it was not picked up in clinical trials.

'At the moment, it seems to be around four to six per million doses of vaccine. It's only been found in the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, usually within four to 10 days after that vaccine,' he said.

'But it is serious and it can cause up to a 25 per cent death rate when it occurs.'

Your two-minute guide to changes in Australia's Coivd vaccine rollout New AstraZeneca recommendations: - The use of the Pfizer vaccine is preferred over AstraZeneca in Australian adults under 50 who have not already received their first AstraZeneca dose - Australian immunisation providers should only give a first dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to adults under 50 where the benefit clearly outweighs the risk - Australians who have had their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine without any serious adverse events can safely be given their second dose, including those under 50 - Australians who have had blood clots associated with low platelet levels after their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be given a second dose - Australia's Department of Health further develop and refine resources for informed consent that clearly convey the AstraZeneca vaccine's benefits and the risks How will this affect Australia's Covid-19 vaccination rollout? - Rollout plan will be recalibrated and re-evaluated - End of October timeline for every Australian to receive first vaccine dose in doubt - Phase 1b - which includes younger adults with a medical condition or disability and frontline health workers among others - may be delayed - Pfizer vaccine will be reprioritised for under 50s once phase 1a finishes - Australia's vaccine purchases under review How often do AstraZeneca blood clots occur? - Four to six cases per million AstraZeneca vaccine doses - One known Australian case found in a 44-year-old man admitted to hospital in Melbourne - 25 per cent death rate in known cases - More common among younger people - Cause unknown How the AstraZeneca vaccine works: - Adenovirus vaccine  To make the vaccine, the common cold virus is genetically modified to trigger it to make the Covid spike protein - which the virus uses to invade cells. - When the vaccine is administered the patient's immune system attacks the spike protein by building antibodies, priming it to fight off Covid before it leads to an infection. Advertisement

The recommendations provided by ATAGI were made under an 'abundance of caution' of the rare but serious side effects mostly associated with younger people, Mr Morrison said.

'We've been taking the necessary precautions based on the best possible medical advice. It is not our practice to jump at shadows,' he said.

Professor Kelly said the use of the Pfizer vaccine is now preferred over the AstraZeneca vaccine in adults aged under 50 who have not already received a first dose of that vaccine.

ATAGI did recommend those under the age of 50 who have received their first AstraZeneca jab should proceed with their second, as the medical advice indicates the rare blood clots only develop after the first dose.

Only where the benefit clearly outweighs the risk should an initial AstraZeneca dose be administered to someone under the age of 50.
(Global Times) Multiple branches of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) are continuing large-scale military exercises near the island of Taiwan, at a time when Taiwan secessionists insisted on making provocative statements and holding drills, and the US sent a warship through the Taiwan Straits on Wednesday and voiced support to "Taiwan independence" forces, even as the PLA was exercising around the island with an aircraft carrier task group and warplanes.





Taiwan secessionists and the US are leaving the Chinese mainland and the PLA with no choice but to enhance war preparedness in case of "Taiwan secessionism," analysts said on Thursday.

Some 15 PLA aircraft, namely eight J-10 and four J-16 fighter jets, a Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft and two KJ-500 early warning aircraft entered Taiwan's self-proclaimed southwest air defense identification zone on Wednesday, the defense department of Taiwan authorities said on Wednesday.

A combined arms battalion affiliated with the PLA 73rd Group Army has been holding a series of amphibious landing exercises in recent days in waters off the southern part of East China's Fujian Province, with several types of amphibious armored vehicles participating in beach assault drills, China Central Television reported on Wednesday.

Taking the ongoing drills by the Liaoning aircraft carrier task group, the PLA Army, Navy and Air Force are conducting exercises near the island of Taiwan, observers said.

The PLA exercises come as Taiwan secessionists and the US are ramping up the rhetoric to provoke the Chinese mainland on the Taiwan question, which analysts said increases the risk of conflict.

Taiwan would fight to the end if the Chinese mainland attacks, and the US can see a danger that this could happen amid mounting PLA pressure, including aircraft carrier drills near the island, claimed the head of the external affairs department of Taiwan authorities, Joseph Wu, on Wednesday, Taipei News reported on Thursday.

In a separate event, the defense department of Taiwan authorities announced it would run eight days of computer-aided war games simulating a PLA attack this month, and live-fire drills in July, forming the two phases of Taiwan's largest annual Han Kuang war games, the report said.

Citing another Taiwan official, Reuters reported Wednesday that Taiwan may shoot down Chinese mainland drones near the Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday that many officials in Taiwan, like Wu, are laymen who do not understand the military, while others who do understand the enormous power gap between the island's military and the PLA are lying and talking big to deceive people on the island, trying to show the money they used in arms purchase is worth it.

Another military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities are seeking secession at the cost of ordinary people in Taiwan by tying them onto the chariot of the "Taiwan independence" forces and dashing to a war that they cannot win.

The PLA exercises are not only warnings, but also show real capabilities and pragmatically practicing reunifying the island if it comes to that, the analyst said. "The island's military won't stand a chance."

The US on Wednesday sent the USS John S. McCain destroyer through the Taiwan Straits, which was tracked and monitored by the PLA Eastern Theater Command, Senior Colonel Zhang Chunhui, the command spokesperson, said in a statement on the day.

The US move sent a wrong signal to "Taiwan independence" forces, Zhang said, noting that the command troops will stay on high vigilance to deal with any provocation.

The US Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group also entered the South China Sea on Thursday, Beijing-based think tank the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative said on Thursday.

Taiwan secessionists' hype of PLA threats is crying for help from countries like the US and Japan, since they know they are powerless and want to make the Taiwan question an international one, Shi Hong, Executive Chief Editor of the Chinese mainland magazine, Shipborne Weapons, told the Global Times.

PLA's exercises from all directions of the island showed that mainland forces can isolate the island's troops and cut off foreign intervention, and the US will not be able to come to Taiwan secessionists' aid if a situation arises, Shi said.

The reason behind the tensions and large-scale PLA exercises around Taiwan is the collusion of Taiwan secessionists and the US, which has been challenging the one-China principle, Song said. "It is the US and DPP authorities that have been changing the cross-Straits status quo, and the PLA had to respond."

In extreme circumstance when Taiwan secessionists act to trigger the secessionism button, a large-scale confrontation or even war could break out, and such situation is to be forcefully imposed on the people on both sides of the Straits by the US and Taiwan secessionists, Song said, noting that that is why the PLA must effectively deter them and maintain peace.




is a critical part of the solution to the climate crisis and an important partner in this fight, a top American lawmaker has said.

House Science Space, and Technology Committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson in a tweet on Thursday welcomed the visit of Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry to

"I am so pleased that Kerry visited to discuss how to tackle the climate crisis," she said.

"As one of the world's largest economies and a global leader in science and innovation, India is a critical part of the solution and an important partner in this fight," Johnson added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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(AP)  Norwegian Cruise Line is putting three of its ships back in the water after a one-year pandemic hiatus, with plans to resume sailings in the Greek islands and the Caribbean in late July and August.

The cruise line expects that the limited re-openings announced Tuesday will attract many Americans, even if the ships can't stop at U.S. ports.





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The global telepsychiatry market size is expected to reach USD 39.90 billion by 2028 according to a new study by Polaris Market Research. The report Telepsychiatry Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Product (In-home solutions, Forensic solutions, Routine solutions, Crisis solutions, Others); By Age Group (Adult, Pediatric & Adolescent, Geriatric); By End-Use; By Regions; Segment Forecast, 2021  2028 gives a detailed insight into current market dynamics and provides analysis on future market growth.

The current ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 has impacted several market sectors, including healthcare apps. Governments all across the globe have responded to this with all essential initiatives such as lockdowns, large-scale quarantine, and social distancing, to contain the infection. This has resulted in employee layoffs, which impacted the mental health of people driving the market for telepsychiatry.

As per the KFF poll, more than 47 percent of U.S. citizens have reported mental health issues and it is being reported that around 21 percent was due to job loss. Moreover, according to the statistics published by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, around 43.3 percent of the U.S. population had received treatment for mental disorders, in 2018.

Request for a sample report : https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/telepsychiatry-market/request-for-sample

Market participants such as InSight Telepsychiatry, MDLIVE Inc., e-Psychiatry, SOC Telemed, Advanced Telemed Services, Telemynd, American Tele-psychiatrists, Iris Telehealth, innovaTel Telepsychiatry, and Encounter Telehealth, LLC. are some of the key players operating in the market for telepsychiatry. The companies in the market are introducing innovative apps and services to perform well in the crowded market.

For instance, in December 2020, the U.S.-based telehealth company, MeMD introduced telepsychiatry services to manage employees mental health issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes the Healthy minds first program providing employers and their employees to assess critical mental health behaviors. The launch is on the backdrop of the report published by the Center for Prevention and Health Services, which states that mental problems and drug abuse cost employers between USD 79 to 105 each year, collectively in the form of productivity, employee absence, and disability.

Previously, in October 2020, Teladoc Health introduced its new service Mental Health Care, enabling its employees to access the best lot of sleep therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists through their phones, via mobile app. This new service will expand the companys telehealth services, particularly into niche offerings, such as telepsychiatry.

Have Any Query Or Specific Requirement? Feel Free to Ask Our Industry Experts at : https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/telepsychiatry-market/speak-to-analyst

Polaris Market research has segmented the telepsychiatry market report on the basis of product, age group, end-use, and region:

Telepsychiatry, Product Outlook (Revenue  USD Million, 2016  2028)

In-home solutions

Forensic solutions

Routine solutions

Crisis solutions

Others

Telepsychiatry, Age Group Outlook (Revenue  USD Million, 2016  2028)

Adult

Pediatric and Adolescent

Geriatric

Telepsychiatry, End Use Outlook (Revenue  USD Million, 2016  2028)

Community Mental Health Centers

Specialty Care Settings

Skilled Nursing Facilities

Homecare

Others

Read More : https://www.medgadget.com/2021/03/telepsychiatry-market-size-is-projected-to-reach-39-9-billion-by-2028-cagr-24-9-polaris-market-research.html
Indianas chief executive still has the power and responsibility to manage the day-to-day operations of state agencies and to engage with the federal government. We need future governors to be able to exercise the authority they have been given, not have their hands tied. We do not need a full-time legislative body to micro-manage all aspects of state government, like some legislators have tried to do this year with the City of Indianapolis. The state constitution did not make it their job and we do not want it to be their job.
Evidence is mounting that a tiny subatomic particle seems to be disobeying the known laws of physics, scientists announced Wednesday, a finding that would open a vast and tantalizing hole in our understanding of the universe.

The result, physicists say, suggests that there are forms of matter and energy vital to the nature and evolution of the cosmos that are not yet known to science.

This is our Mars rover landing moment, said Chris Polly, a physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, or Fermilab, in Batavia, Illinois, who has been working towards this finding for most of his career.

The particle celebre is the muon, which is akin to an electron but far heavier and is an integral element of the cosmos. Polly and his colleagues  an international team of 200 physicists from seven countries  found that muons did not behave as predicted when shot through an intense magnetic field at Fermilab.

The aberrant behaviour poses a firm challenge to the Standard Model, the suite of equations that enumerates the fundamental particles in the universe (17, at last count) and how they interact.

This is strong evidence that the muon is sensitive to something that is not in our best theory, said Renee Fatemi, a physicist at the University of Kentucky.

The results, the first from an experiment called Muon g-2, agreed with similar experiments at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in 2001 that have teased physicists ever since.

At a virtual seminar and news conference Wednesday, Polly pointed to a graph displaying white space where the Fermilab findings deviated from the theoretical prediction. We can say with fairly high confidence, there must be something contributing to this white space, he said. What monsters might be lurking there?

Today is an extraordinary day, long awaited not only by us but by the whole international physics community, Graziano Venanzoni, a spokesperson for the collaboration and a physicist at the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics, said in a statement issued by Fermilab. The results are also being published in a set of papers submitted to several peer-reviewed journals.

The measurements have about one chance in 40,000 of being a fluke, the scientists reported, well short of the gold standard needed to claim an official discovery by physics standards. Promising signals disappear all the time in science, but more data are on the way. Wednesdays results represent only 6 per cent of the total data the muon experiment is expected to garner in the coming years.

For decades, physicists have relied on and have been bound by the Standard Model, which successfully explains the results of high-energy particle experiments in places like CERNs Large Hadron Collider. But the model leaves many deep questions about the universe unanswered.

Most physicists believe that a rich trove of new physics waits to be found, if only they could see deeper and further. The additional data from the Fermilab experiment could provide a major boost to scientists eager to build the next generation of expensive particle accelerators.

It might also lead, in time, to explanations for the kinds of cosmic mysteries that have long preoccupied our lonely species. What exactly is dark matter, the unseen stuff that astronomers say makes up one-quarter of the universe by mass? Indeed, why is there matter in the universe at all?

On Twitter, physicists responded to Wednesday's announcement with a mixture of enthusiasm and caution. Of course the possibility exists that its new physics, Sabine Hossenfelder, a physicist at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Study, said. But I wouldnt bet on it.

Marcela Carena, head of theoretical physics at Fermilab, who was not part of the experiment, said, Im very excited. I feel like this tiny wobble may shake the foundations of what we thought we knew.

Muons are an unlikely particle to hold centre stage in physics. Sometimes called fat electrons, they resemble the familiar elementary particles that power our batteries, lights and computers and whiz around the nuclei of atoms; they have a negative electrical charge, and they have a property called spin, which makes them behave like tiny magnets. But they are 207 times as massive as their better-known cousins. They are also unstable, decaying radioactively into electrons and super lightweight particles called neutrinos in 2.2 millionths of a second.

What part muons play in the overall pattern of the cosmos is still a puzzle.

Muons owe their current fame to a quirk of quantum mechanics, the non-intuitive rules that underlie the atomic realm.

Among other things, quantum theory holds that empty space is not really empty but is in fact boiling with virtual particles that flit in and out of existence.

You might think that its possible for a particle to be alone in the world, Polly said in a biographical statement posted by Fermilab. But in fact, its not lonely at all. Because of the quantum world, we know every particle is surrounded by an entourage of other particles.

This entourage influences the behaviour of existing particles, including a property of the muon called its magnetic moment, represented in equations by a factor called g. According to a formula derived in 1928 by Paul Dirac, the English theoretical physicist and a founder of quantum theory, the g factor of a lone muon should be 2.

But muons are not alone, so the formula must be corrected for the quantum buzz arising from all the other potential particles in the universe. That leads the factor g for the muon to be more than 2, hence the name of the experiment: Muon g-2.

The extent to which g-2 deviates from theoretical predictions is one indication of how much is still unknown about the universe  how many monsters, as Polly put it, are lurking in the dark for physicists to discover.

In 1998 physicists at Brookhaven, including Polly, who was then a graduate student, set out to explore this cosmic ignorance by actually measuring g-2 and comparing it to predictions.

In the experiment, an accelerator called the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron created beams of muons and sent them into a 50-foot-wide storage ring, a giant racetrack controlled by superconducting magnets.

The value of g they obtained disagreed with the Standard Models prediction by enough to excite the imaginations of physicists  but without enough certainty to claim a solid discovery. Moreover, experts could not agree on the Standard Models exact prediction, further muddying hopeful waters.

Lacking money to redo the experiment, Brookhaven retired the 50-foot muon storage ring in 2001. The universe was left hanging.

The big move

At Fermilab, a new campus devoted to studying muons was being built.

That opened up a world of possibility, Polly recalled in his biographical article. By this time, Polly was working at Fermilab; he urged the lab to redo the g-2 experiment there. They put him in charge.

To conduct the experiment, however, they needed the 50-foot magnet racetrack from Brookhaven. And so in 2013, the magnet went on a 3,200-mile odyssey, mostly by barge, down the Eastern Seaboard, around Florida and up the Mississippi River, then by truck across Illinois to Batavia, home of Fermilab.

The magnet resembled a flying saucer, and it drew attention as it was driven south across Long Island at 10 mph. I walked along and talked to people about the science we were doing," Polly wrote. "It stayed over one night in a Costco parking lot. Well over a thousand people came out to see it and hear about the science.

The experiment started up in 2018 with a more intense muon beam and the goal of compiling 20 times as much data as the Brookhaven version.

Meanwhile, in 2020 a group of 170 experts known as the Muon g-2 Theory Initiative published a new consensus value of the theoretical value of muons magnetic moment, based on three years of workshops and calculations using the Standard Model. That answer reinforced the original discrepancy reported by Brookhaven.

Reached by phone Monday, two days before the announcement, Aida X. El-Khadra, a physicist at the University of Illinois and a co-chair of the Muon g-2 Theory Initiative, said they had been waiting for this result for a long time.

I have not had the feeling of sitting on hot coals before, El-Khadra said.

On the day of the Fermilab announcement, another group, using a different technique known as a lattice calculation to compute the muons magnetic moment, got a different answer than El-Khadra's group, adding a new note of uncertainty to the proceedings.

Yes, we claim that there is no discrepancy between the Standard Model and the Brookhaven result, no new physics, Zoltan Fodor of Pennsylvania State University, one of the authors of a report published in Nature on Wednesday, said in an interview.

El-Khadra called it an amazing calculation but added that it needed to be checked against independent work from other groups.

Into the dark

The team had to accommodate another wrinkle. To avoid human bias  and to prevent any fudging  the experimenters engaged in a practice, called blinding, that is common to big experiments. In this case, the master clock that keeps track of the muons wobble had been set to a rate unknown to the researchers. The figure was sealed in envelopes locked in the offices at Fermilab and the University of Washington in Seattle.

In a ceremony on February 25 that was recorded on video and watched around the world on Zoom, Polly opened the Fermilab envelope, and David Hertzog from the University of Washington opened the Seattle envelope. The number inside was entered into a spreadsheet, providing a key to all the data, and the result popped out to a chorus of wows.

That really led to a really exciting moment, because nobody on the collaboration knew the answer until the same moment, said Saskia Charity, a Fermilab postdoctoral fellow who has been working remotely from Liverpool, England, during the pandemic.

There was pride that they had managed to perform such a hard measurement and then joy that the results matched those from Brookhaven.

This seems to be a confirmation that Brookhaven was not a fluke, Carena, the theorist, said. They have a real chance to break the Standard Model.

Physicists say the anomaly has given them ideas for how to search for new particles. Among them are particles lightweight enough to be within the grasp of the Large Hadron Collider or its projected successor. Indeed, some might already have been recorded but are so rare that they have not yet emerged from the blizzard of data recorded by the instrument.

Another candidate called the Z-prime could shed light on some puzzles in the Big Bang, according to Gordan Krnjaic, a cosmologist at Fermilab.

The g-2 result, he said in an email, could set the agenda for physics in the next generation. If the central value of the observed anomaly stays fixed, the new particles cant hide forever, he said. We will learn a great deal more about fundamental physics going forward.
This story was originally published by Undark and has been republished here with permission.

Jimmy Bernot watched with interest as the nurse carefully transferred a small amount of liquid containing dozens of hookworm larvae onto a piece of gauze, and then placed it on his wrist. Bernot couldnt see the larvae  at just about half a millimeter long, they are all but invisible  but he could soon feel them: a tingling, itchy sensation as the worm larvae wriggled through his skin and into his bloodstream.

From there, Bernot knew, the hookworms would travel to his lungs. Eventually, they would make their way up from his lungs, slip down his esophagus, pass through his stomach, attach themselves to the lining of his small intestine, and begin to suck his blood.

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Hookworms infect more than half a billion people worldwide. In severe cases, they can cause anemia in adults and stunt growth and mental development in children. But in March 2020, Bernot, an evolutionary biologist who was then a graduate student in genomics and bioinformatics at George Washington University, was infected with some voluntarily  part of a trial to test an experimental hookworm vaccine.

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Bernot was participating in a human challenge trial: a kind of study in which researchers infect participants with a pathogen, often for the purpose of testing a new vaccine or treatment. Over the years, challenge trial volunteers have been bitten by malaria-infected mosquitoes, drunk water contaminated with typhoid-causing bacteria, and inhaled various strains of influenza. They have been given whooping cough, cholera, parasitic worms, and even gonorrhea.

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Now, after months of debate, Covid-19 has joined that list. On Feb. 17, the United Kingdom approved the worlds first Covid-19 human challenge trial. Researchers will expose up to 90 young, healthy people to the virus in order to study how it affects the human body; as of March 25, the first three volunteers have been exposed. As novel variants arise, some experts say, future human challenge trials could hasten development of new vaccines and treatments for a disease that has killed more than 2 million people worldwide. But critics caution that there are ethical pitfalls to any research that intentionally sickens healthy people  and that even the best-planned trials may involve a small risk of serious complications.

Human challenge trials do have a troubling history. In the past, many involved coercion or deception of patients. Sometimes, participants died. Even in their current, highly-regulated form, proposed trials for emerging diseases like Zika or Covid-19 have been controversial.

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In general, challenge trials are conducted with diseases that are well understood and have established cures. In cases where no cure exists, as with dengue virus, scientists use a weakened form of the virus that is intended to cause only mild symptoms.

In general, challenge trials are conducted with diseases that are well understood and have established cures.

Thats why the Covid-19 challenge trials are so contentious. In Covid, theres much less known, says Sean Murphy, medical director of the Malaria Human Challenge Center at Seattle Childrens Research Institute. The full effects of Covid-19 on the body remain mysterious, and there are still no known drugs that reliably treat severe cases. Were on a thinner amount of evidence than we are for some of the long-standing challenge trials, Murphy says.

Ultimately, researchers and ethicists are not the ones putting their bodies on the line. The experiences of human challenge trial volunteers like Bernot offer unique insights into the ethical issues at stake, including acceptable levels of risk, the potential influence of high payment for trials, and the personal agency of participants.

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In typical clinical trials, participants receive an experimental vaccine or treatment, but nobody actually gives them a disease. In some cases, though, researchers say that challenging participants with a pathogen offers advantages over a traditional trial.

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For example, challenge trials can be done with much smaller numbers of people in a much more controlled way than standard vaccine trials, says Euzebiusz Jamrozik, a bioethicist at the University of Oxford who has published extensively on the ethics of human challenge trials. Standard vaccine trials require tens of thousands of people, he says. For comparison, human challenge vaccine trials may involve only around 100, or even fewer, participants.

Challenge trials also allow researchers to study a vaccine in places where the disease does not generally occur. Thats why the hookworms ended up in Bernots arm, in a lab in Washington, D.C., far from hookworm hotspots.

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After undergoing health screening and receiving three injections of the trial vaccine or the placebo  he still doesnt know which  Bernot received a modest dose of 50 hookworm larvae, too little to cause a serious infection. The worms remained his companions for the following six months, during which the research team collected symptom reports, vital signs, and blood samples. They also regularly collected his poop to monitor it for hookworm eggs.

At the end of the study period, the researchers cured Bernot with an anti-worm medication. Besides an itchy rash where the worms had crawled through his skin, he says he didnt feel any different than usual.

Other human challenge trial participants havent been so lucky. When Andrew Prendergast, then a graduate student at the University of Washington, volunteered for a malaria human challenge trial there in 2012, he says, it was probably the sickest Ive ever been in my life.

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"Youd leave the trial center just itching like crazy.  Andrew Prendergast

The researchers gave Prendergast malaria the old-fashioned way: via mosquito. They had infected mosquitoes, and they put them into this little, like, ice cream tub with a wire mesh over it, Prendergast recalls. You would come in and put your arm on top of it and just get bitten up by mosquitoes for, I think, like two or three minutes, which was very unpleasant. Youd leave the trial center just itching like crazy.

Bill Wood, who was also a University of Washington graduate student, participated in a different malaria trial, testing an experimental vaccine, at around the same time. He remembers feeling exhausted, feverish, out of it. Wood and Prendergast both said their symptoms quickly disappeared after researchers gave them an established anti-malarial medication.

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The risks of unpleasant side effects depend on the trial, but also, to some extent, individual luck. In 2016, Nick Crang, then a graduate student at the University of Oxford, volunteered for a typhoid challenge trial there. After a thorough health screening, some volunteers received an experimental typhoid vaccine. But not Crang. Although he didnt know it at the time, Crang was in a placebo group that received a meningitis vaccine, which, while good to have, offers no protection against typhoid.

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After the vaccination, it was time for the challenge. Volunteers first drank a baking soda solution to neutralize their stomach acid. That solution was disgusting, just incredibly bitter, says Crang. By comparison, the typhoid bacteria Crang and the other volunteers drank afterwards went down easy. You know the aftertaste, that you have in yogurt? It was a little bit like that, says Crang. Not nearly so bad as youd have thought.

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While typhoid can be effectively treated with antibiotics, the disease still kills over 100,000 people per year, and even milder cases can involve fever, stomach pain, and diarrhea. Many volunteers in the placebo group experienced the unpleasant effects of the typhoid bacteria, but, Crang says, he stayed healthy. He figures hes among the small group of people who have a natural resistance to typhoid.

The trial, which had been funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was a success. The vaccine significantly reduced the likelihood of developing the disease. Soon after, the World Health Organization recommended it for use in regions where typhoid is prevalent.

In interviews, former challenge trial participants described motives for their participation that ranged from the light-hearted  several imagined it would be a fun story to tell at scientific conferences and parties  to the serious. Some spoke of altruistic motives, often shaped by personal experiences. I spent a couple years in Africa; I was in the Peace Corps, says Amelia Priesthoff, who was in Seattle completing prerequisite coursework required to apply for medical school when she participated in the same malaria trial as Prendergast. While abroad, she had many friends who suffered from regular and debilitating bouts of the disease. I think for me, seeing that firsthand, and knowing that there might be some way that maybe I can be a part of figuring out whether or not we can make a vaccine for malaria, she says, definitely played a big part in it for me.

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I thought it would be an interesting tale to tell as a parasitologist, says Bernot, who studies parasitic crustaceans. But, he says, he was also aware of the harm hookworms cause. Five-hundred million people are infected with these things, not by choice, in very uncontrolled circumstances. So, if theres something that I can do willingly to potentially help hundreds of millions of people, he says, sure, Ill give it a try.

Other kinds of medical trials involve unpleasant procedures and health risks, and, sometimes, serious accidents occur. In 2006, for example, six healthy people in London volunteered to be the first humans to receive a drug called theralizumab, which researchers thought might be useful for treating certain kinds of lymphoma or autoimmune disease. Within hours, all six had gone into multiorgan failure and had to be hospitalized, although all survived.

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The idea of doctors intentionally infecting participants with pathogens can make medical ethicists squirm.

But even if typical trials carry some degree of risk, the idea of doctors intentionally infecting participants with pathogens can make medical ethicists squirm. The potential influence of money often adds to that discomfort. Challenge trial participants are paid, and some ethicists and researchers worry that compensation might have an undue influence on individuals decisions to participate or remain in a trial.

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People worry that high payment might distort peoples judgment, says bioethicist Jamrozik. Some people say it might interfere with their personal assessment of the risk, he adds, although hes not sure there is sufficient evidence that this actually happens. Ethicists also worry that people who need the money might lie about medical conditions or certain behaviors in order to participate in the trial, which could ultimately put them at greater risk.

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At the same time, Jamrozik says, many bioethicists would likely agree that it makes sense to compensate participants, since the trials are time intensive. Even if you just pay people minimum wage for their time, it potentially adds up to thousands of dollars, says Jamrozik.

Some challenge trial participants acknowledge that money shaped their decision to participate. It felt like I was doing something to further scientific knowledge, says Prendergast, one of the malaria trial participants, noting the diseases devastating global toll. But, he added, I cant deny that there was a huge financial motivation for us to do that.

At the time, he was completing his Ph.D., receiving only a small stipend for long hours of work in the lab. We were grad students. We were really poor. They pay you, like, $3,000 to get malaria, he says. When youre making $25,000 a year, its really hard to say no to that.

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Crang recalls that graduate students seemed to make up a substantial portion of the volunteers in his typhoid trial. Oxford, he notes, has a high cost of living, especially relative to graduate students stipends. We definitely appreciated the fact that our participation would help improve people[s] lives further down the line, but the money was the key to getting us to take the plunge, he wrote in a follow-up email.

In a survey of 16 human challenge volunteers, published in 2018, most said they were at least partially motivated by the compensation provided. While only one participant said that the payment helped them overlook some of the risks of the trial, most participants thought it was possible that people would lie to qualify for the study, especially about things like drug and alcohol use, if they needed the money.

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I think theres some concern with these human challenge trials as to what kind of subjects youre going to get if youre offering financial incentives, says Prendergast. You really are sort of putting this burden on people who really need that money.

But other former participants questioned whether people should be protected from making an informed choice about a risk. Nick Escobar, who participated in a malaria challenge study in 2014 and now works as a nurse manager in Seattle, points out that society allows people to make many choices that could end in harm: If we let people volunteer to go to wars, you know, it seems strange that we wouldnt let people volunteer to do a medical trial.

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Research institutions require researchers to inform participants of the procedures and risks involved in any trial. And, in interviews with six challenge trial volunteers, all said that the informed consent process was very thorough.

Even researchers who regularly run human challenge trials say that the ethics of a Covid-19 human challenge trial arent necessarily clear-cut.

With Covid, you have to balance the risk that youre exposing someone to a virus that we dont understand very well, versus the benefit of using the challenge, says Kirsten Lyke, director of the Malaria Vaccine and Challenge Unit at the University of Maryland. She notes that the relatively quick development of Covid-19 vaccines demonstrated that progress on vaccines, at least, is possible without human challenge trials.

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Whether something is ethical or not isnt just up to experts, says Jamrozik, who has argued in favor of Covid-19 challenge trials. The community in which the research is being conducted  and especially those community members who participate in the trial  must also find the trials to be ethically acceptable, he adds.

The government-funded U.K. challenge trial will study the coronavirus effects on the body from the first moments of infection, rather than test a specific vaccine. Like the ethicists who have debated this topic, previous challenge trial volunteers are conflicted about the initiative.

Escobar believes that as long as the risks to participants are clearly explained, people should be free to make their own choices. I saw my experience in the malaria trial as being for the good of humanity, and I find restrictions on peoples choices from paternalistic experts to be insulting, he wrote in an email. Experts shouldnt get in the way of people volunteering to take on risk for the good of humanity.

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Others are more hesitant. Bernot says that he was comfortable taking part in the hookworm study, in part, because he knew that there was an established cure. If the disease had progressed, I could have been cured in days with a single dose, he wrote in a follow-up Twitter message. Clearly, that is not the case for a Covid challenge, and so the ethical considerations there are much more complex.

Prendergast is concerned that the pandemic-related financial insecurity many people are experiencing could impact peoples decision to participate in such a trial. The financial incentive of it kind of perverts the idea of informed consent a little bit, he says. Especially in a world thats being ravaged by pandemic, a lot of people are unemployed, and then you go to someone, like, Hey, Ill pay you, whatever, $5,000, $10,000 to get Covid. Are you really making an informed and fully consensual decision at that point? Youre under financial duress. (The U.K. volunteers will receive 4,500 pounds  around $6,240  for their participation.)

But, Prendergast says, he sees research trials as an important tool. And he was happy to be a data point in research aimed at reducing the global burden of disease. Im glad to participate in that way, says Prendergast. Mostly I feel proud that I could contribute in this small way.
Observers say fair trials dont exist in Xinjiang and that the punishments do not fit the crimes.

Sattar Sawut, former director of education of the XUAR, shown in a documentary detailing his 'crimes' on Chinese state television, in an undated photo.

Chinas recent sentencing of two high-level Uyghur officials to death has stunned critics who have questioned the legality of the decision given the lack of evidence against them and say the move shows that even Uyghurs loyal to the Communist Party cannot escape persecution in Xinjiang.

On April 6, authorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) announced that Shirzat Bawudun, former director of the justice in the XUAR High Court and deputy secretary of the XUAR Political and Legal Committee, and Sattar Sawut, former director of education of the XUAR, had been given two-year suspended death sentences for separatism and terrorism.

Additionally, they announced that the court sentenced both of them to permanent deprivation of political rights and confiscation of all personal property.

While several other prominent Uyghurs have been given death sentences since authorities in the region launched a campaign of extralegal incarceration that has seen up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities held in a vast network of internment camps beginning in early 2017, this marks the first occasion on which high-ranking government officials have been given the death penalty.

Though the High Court announced the verdicts on April 6, they released no additional information about when and where the trials took place, how they proceeded, and when the verdicts were actually decided.

The sentences, which come as the U.S. government and several Western parliaments have designated rights abuses in the XUAR as part of a state-backed policy of genocide, have led observers to further question the severity of the situation in the region, where the legal system has long been used as a tool of oppression by the state.

Sophie Richardson, China director at New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), told RFAs Uyghur Service that there is no such thing as a fair trial in the XUAR and called on the government to release its evidence against the two officials.

Let me be very clear: Human Rights Watch is utterly and totally opposed to the use of the death penalty in many circumstances, because it is fundamentally cruel and unusual, she said.

We also know very well that most people in Xinjiang do not get anything even remotely resembling a fair trial.

In particular, she pointed out the absurdity of how harsh Sawuts punishment was, given that he was accused of including extremist content in childrens primary school books that had previously been approved by censors. He had overseen publication of textbooks, all government approved.

The idea that somebody should get a life sentence for a textbook that was published 13 years ago is crazythere's no other word to describe it, she said.

And I think it's imperative that the Chinese government make all of the evidence available. I'd like to know whether these two men had lawyers of their own choice, whether they had any ability to see the evidence that was presented against them, or really contest the charges.

Separatism and terrorism

According to the limited information shared by the High Court, Bawudun was accused of long-term planning to split the country, participating in the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and betraying the interests of the people and the country, and providing illegal intelligence to people outside the borders [of China].

ETIM, which was formerly on the U.S. State Departments list of terrorist organizations, was removed late last year because there was no credible evidence that the group continued to exist.

Sawut was also described as being two-faceda term applied by the government to Uyghur cadres who pay lip service to Communist Party rule in the XUAR, but secretly chafe against state policies repressing members of their ethnic groupand having hidden in key a position for a long time.

In his previous post prior to his arrest, Sawut oversaw the Bureau of Educations work in compiling and publishing Uyghur language and literature textbooks for primary and secondary students. He has been accused of insisting on the inclusion of content that promoted ethnic separatism, violence, terrorism, and religious extremism in these books, as well as of attempting to break up the country through de-Chineseification.

Teng Biao, a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer in the U.S., told RFA that the crime of splittism is a tool China has long used to crack down on opposition. In this case, however, the tool is being deployed against cadres within the very system of government itself.

The Chinese government often uses the charges of splitting the country or subverting state power or inciting division or inciting subversion of the country to combat dissidents, and increasingly as a way of achieving its political goals, he said.

Teng also noted that although Bawudun and Sawut were previously in favor as part of the state apparatus, they are now paying the price for being Uyghur in a period when China appears to be working toward eradicating that distinct identity through genocidal policies.

On the one hand, theyre political and legal cadres within the Communist Party system, but on the other hand, theyre Uyghurs and they identify with the religious and cultural identity of their ethnic group, he said.

These two roles are in complete conflict with one another. It must be very painful for them. So, I think its in this context that the Communist Party used some of their practices, statements, and opinions as grounds for the crime of splittism.

A sketched portrait of former editor-in-chief of the XUAR Education Press and renowned Uyghur literary critic Yalqun Rozi. Yette Su/RFA

Attack on Uyghur language and culture

The Uyghur language and literature textbooks Sawut oversaw, which the Chinese government has claimed are terrorist, separatist, and poisoning to young students, were published in 2003 and used in literature classes until 2016.

U.S.-based Kamalturk Yalqun, the son of editor-in-chief of the XUAR Education Press and renowned Uyghur literary critic Yalqun Rozi, told RFA that if there were actually any problems in these textbooks, they would have been discovered and dealt with in the authorities annual reviews of educational materials.

Whereas other books might be published after going through the censors once or twice, [authorities] established special committees for the textbooks and censored them over and over again, at the Bureau of Education, at the XUAR [government] level, he said.

These textbooks were used for more than a decade and no major problem was discovered in them. That they were suddenly, in 2016, as soon as Chen Quanguo became Party Secretary [of the XUAR], made out to be problematic books doesnt actually prove that anything was wrong with them. If there had been problems, they would have emerged in the multiple rounds of censors the books went through every year.

Yalquns father Rozi was arrested in 2016, an early target of what would go on to become a mass incarceration campaign targeting allegedly two-faced members of the Uyghur intellectual and cultural elite, and later sentenced to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the publication of these textbooks.

He said he believes that the Chinese governments real intention in arresting and sentencing textbook compilers, including his father, is to eliminate the Uyghur language and culture.

Reported by Erkin for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by the Uyghur Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
by Francis Khoo Thwe

Tin Moe was a dumpling seller from Kyaukpadaung, he was very active in demonstrations and was killed. The protests continue amid attempts to evade military repression and shooting soldiers. Fiber internet service blocked and satellite dishes confiscated, possession of which has become illegal. The UN special envoy, traveling to the ASEAN countries, hopes to meet Aung San Suu Kyi and the deposed president U Wint Myint.

Yangon (AsiaNews) - At least 16 people were killed yesterday in Myanmar, where demonstrations continue despite threats from security forces to use lethal weapons.

The Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP) has released the updated toll: as of April 8 there are 614 victims and 2,857 prisoners. The AAPP warns that the data is those documented by the association and almost certainly many more were killed and are prisoners.

Among those killed yesterday is Tin Moe, a dumpling vendor from the city of Kyaukpadaung, near Mandalay. He was about 50 years old and was very active in anti-dictatorship demonstrations (in the photo, Tin Moe is the one with the blue shirt). Witnesses say he was first shot in the leg, then in the back while trying to escape. The soldiers loaded his body onto a truck and cremated it by evening, delivering only ashes to the family.

Yesterday there were also protests in Launglone, in the south, with the inhabitants who played, sang and marched before dawn by candlelight. In Dawei, engineers, teachers and students demonstrated. The anti-coup demonstrations try to evade the soldiers by often changing the route, the timetable, or dividing into small groups.

To hinder the organization of the marches, the military government has blocked fiber internet service and is confiscating satellite dishes for a communications blackout. In Laputta and other cities of the Irrawaddy delta, local government cars have announced over loudspeakers that it is now illegal to own satellite discs and that they must be handed over to the police. The police also carried out raids on shops to confiscate the satellite dishes for sale.

On the diplomatic front, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, said yesterday that the special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener is about to begin a trip this week in the countries of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), starting with Thailand.

Last week, Schraner Burgener presented the countrys situation on the brink of a civil war and called for a joint effort from the countries in the area to push Myanmar towards stability. The special correspondent also hopes to receive permission to enter Myanmar and visit Aung San Suu Kyi and deposed president U Wint Myint, both of whom have been detained since the first day of the coup.
(Newser)  A volcano on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent erupted Friday, just hours after the government ordered the mandatory evacuation of an estimated 16,000 people. Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies Seismic Center (UWI-SRC), described a 6-mile high column of ash extending from La Soufriere volcano, per the AP. "More explosions could occur," Joseph adds. The county's National Emergency Management Organization had raised an alert level from orange to redmeaning an eruption is imminenton Thursday following days of increased seismic activity. A mandatory emergency evacuation order followed for an estimated 16,000 residents of the island's northeast and northwest areas, per NPR. NEMO said the evacuations were being carried out "by land and by sea."

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Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity Cruises lent ships to aid in evacuations. At least some were to take evacuees to Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, and St. Lucia, reports the Washington Post. Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalvez said Thursday that those hoping to take shelter on the ships would first need to receive coronavirus vaccinations. It's unclear if that requirement delayed efforts. A glowing lava dome had been observed from one side of the island early Friday, following bands of volcanic tremors on Thursday. The volcano last experienced an explosive eruption in 1979. An effusive eruption in 1971-72 created a lava dome that lasted until that time. Other eruptions came in 1902-03, 1814, 1812, and 1718. (Iceland's volcanic eruption may be entering a second stage.)
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Estonia's industrial production declined in February, data from Statistics Estonia showed on Friday. Industrial production fell a working-day adjusted 9.0 percent year-on-year in February. Manufacturing output decreased 10.0 percent annually in February. Production in mining declined 33.0 percent, while those of energy sector grew 36.0 percent. 'Among the activities with larger shares, production fell in the manufacture of food products, electrical equipment and in the manufacture of computers and electronic products,' Helle Bunder, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said. On a seasonally adjusted basis, industrial production remained unchanged monthly in February. 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.
Opening

Having covered nearly 1,000km after plenty of driving, shuffling between my colleague Siddharths playlist and relishing the picturesque coastline of Karnataka and Goa, Im back in Mumbai and less than an hour from home. Although settled quietly in Hondas hugely capable WR-V, the rush hour traffic and the typically dug-up roads werent doing any favour and soon enough I found myself recollecting instances from the tenth edition of Hondas Drive to Discover.

As a reminder, Honda India has their annual Drive to Discover road trip with the media folks, which for years has had us motoring enthusiasts let loose in some of their cars, in search for memorable and truly great locations. For the tenth edition that took off from Bangalore, the idea was pretty clear: fly to Bangalore and from thereon drive through the stately coffee land of Chikmagalur, the incredible western coastline of India, try out the local delicacies and finally, get to the countrys top getaway destination  Goa. Now, when it comes to kicking off a few days worth of driving, a sunny Monday afternoon isnt the best of times. More so considering how heavy Bangalore traffic can get even during a pandemic. Fortunately, the flag off point was right next to the Bangalore airport which, as we know, is nowhere near the actual city. The fact that its on the outskirts helped us big time in avoiding the congested areas early into the route and making a quick getaway from the city.

Having bypassed the whole of Bangalore city, we headed onto the National Highway 75  a very smooth and fast stretch of road that connects the city with adjacent smaller towns such as Hassan and Belur. For this leg, we had a petrol powered Honda Jazz to trundle us along. Running in the midst of a fleet of more powerful cars including the City and the diesel powered Amaze and WR-V, the little Jazz showed enough gusto to get past slow moving traffic and maintain triple-digit speeds all day long. Quick overtaking manoeuvres, however, did require a little planning as well as a few downshifts. All in all, day one was pretty much straightforward as we moved along in small convoys, stopping only to get a load of the local filter coffee. That said, in the evening we did visit Yagachi dam, an earthen gravity damn near Belur, as we neared our overnight stay. Though its a very small reservoir it makes for a beautiful stopover for anyone travelling between Bangalore and Chikmagalur. We happened to visit it on a clear, crisp evening and witnessed the sun going down over the horizon with the bright orange sky reflecting itself onto the still waters.

Day 2 of the Drive To Discover 10 began with an early photo-op in the cold and breezy hills of Chikmagalur. So while some of us jumped on this opportunity to take beauty shots of the Honda cars in the picturesque coffee estates and the Hirekolale lake, which is a popular tourist spot in Chikmagalur, rest of the folks decided to wait for everyone to return to the hotel and get on with the drive to Kundapura. While there are several truly great driving roads in this country with minimal traffic and a smooth flowing tarmac, the one leading towards Kundapura from Chikmagalur is full of gorgeous, lush hills and buttery smooth winding roads. We are talking about NH173 which is a recently approved stretch of road that runs across the Chikmagalur district and it is such a brilliant piece of tarmac. As we moved away from the hilly region we gradually saw the landscape change as we made our way to the lunch spot in Mangalore and then eventually to Kundapura to complete this leg of the journey. Speaking of which, for this leg we switched to the Amaze diesel and things were pretty much the same as they were in the Jazz in terms of comfort and ease of driving. However, the car packed in a lot more poke under the hood. Predictably, the 1.5-litre i-DTEC motor in the Amaze made a lot more noise than the petrol powered Jazz but what it lacked in refinement it more than made up for it with its phenomenal pulling power and highway performance. Also, the smooth-shifting 5-speed manual made for quick gear changes, allowing us to make quick progress. Naturally, miles and miles of smooth tarmac and small villages blurred by as we headed towards Mangalore where our lunch stop was in order. Now when you are in Mangalore, you will not be falling short of incredible non-vegetarian and sea food restaurants, however, it doesnt mean that vegetarians will be disappointed. As a matter of fact, the vegetarian delicacies (read: veg crispy and paneer butter masala) that we were served at Gajalee sea food restaurant were beyond belief. Nonetheless, we couldnt stop drooling over their sea food specialities including masala fish fry, ghee roast prawns and king fish fry.



For the final day of the Drive To Discover 10, it was time to switch back to another petrol-powered Honda. This time it was the supremely practical WR-V and as much as we loved the Amazes strong surge of power and torque, its the former that turned out to be more fun during this final leg which mostly ran in parallel to the incredible western coastline of India. The petrol-powered WR-V, in fact, ran just as well as others and followed the more powerful fleet of City and Amaze everywhere like a snappy little terrier. It, of course, ended up squeezing every ounce of horsepower out of its engine to blast past oversized trucks that are a common sight on the national highways. Moving ahead, we left most of our planned route behind and agreed to cut down a few roadside stops and stick to the tarmac instead. As for the route itself, this was perhaps the smoothest, least busy stretch of the entire road trip and thats saying something because we had only encountered great roads until that point.



Driving alongside the utterly beautiful coastline and through the bustling city streets, we headed out to NH66 which heads North from Kundapura and takes you past half of Karnatakas coastline and straight to Goa where our overnight halt was in order. By early afternoon, we reached Karwar to feast on some even more delicious local sea food and non-vegetarian delicacies, not at all worn-out and at our halfway point of the day. Following a sumptuous lunch, we left Karwar behind and headed for the KA-Goa border as the sun made its leisurely passage overhead. Now if anyone wants to visit South of Goa they should definitely take this route from Kumta to Agonda via Karwar because the entire route is filled with incredible lush green scenery and the roads are mostly empty and pothole-free. Speaking of beautiful surroundings and greenery, no matter how many times you visit Goa it always feels refreshingly good, especially for city dwellers like us. Theres a whole different level of serenity and calmness that you get to experience as you drive along the quiet, narrow by lanes of Margao or Ponda. The extremely refined 1.2-litre i-VTEC petrol motor in the WR-V ensured that we maintained the tranquillity as we trundled along the streets of South Goa on what was a lazy Thursday afternoon.

The concluding day of Drive To Discover 10 had us all packing our stuff and leaving for our respective hometowns. It also marked the end of my first road trip since the world went upside down last year, and what a trip this has been! We may not have had as much time as we would like to be at peace in Goa but there is no denying that, overall, Drive To Discover 10 has been yet another reminder of how road trips are so good for the soul. For many of us a cross-country drive may not be the most adventurous thing to do but it is certainly therapeutic and when you get to do it in something as comfortable and capable as the Honda Jazz, Amaze or the WR-V, it can be such a soothing experience.

Honda WR-V  8.77 Lakh Onwards

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President Moon Jae-in had a flunkey read a brief statement on his behalf Thursday after the ruling Minjoo Party's humiliating defeat in the mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan. "I will solemnly accept voters' chastisement and govern more humbly," it said. "I will devote my efforts to overcoming the coronavirus epidemic, stabilizing the livelihood of the people and rooting out corruption in the real estate market." And that was it. There was no mention of replacing any inept Cheong Wa Dae officials or of changing any of his harebrained policies.

In Seoul, the Minjoo Party lost in all 25 districts and was defeated by more than 18 percentage points, and in Busan it lost all 16 districts by more than 28 percentage points. That is how unpopular it is. No ruling party has been trounced by such a margin since its predecessor, the Uri Party, in the dying days of the Roh Moo-hyun administration in 2006.

But the president seems to think that his humiliation was only a matter of disappointment over soaring apartment prices and windfall gains made by public servants through land speculation. That is naive. The problem is that pent-up frustration during the four years of Moon's term is finally boiling over. The MP is pinning the blame on different causes, but they are all ignoring the elephant in the room, which is the president's total failure to govern effectively.

Since he was elected on a platform of fairness, reform and justice, Moon has paddled furiously in the opposite direction. He appointed as justice ministers, of all positions, Cho Kuk, Choo Mi-ae and Park Beom-kye who have become symbols of corruption and shamelessness. He meddled in elections so that an old friend could be elected mayor of Ulsan in 2018, and although he ordered prosecutors to make "no exceptions" in investigating high-ranking government officials, he desperately tried to oust the prosecutor-general he himself had appointed when the investigations got too close to his own office for comfort. When public frustration and anger mounted over his failed "income-led growth" policy, nuclear phase-out and disastrous real-estate policies, he did not bat an eyelid, and he has yet to apologize for his government's dismal failure to secure enough coronavirus vaccines.

The ruling party was only able to win elections because the opposition was in hopeless disarray. But this time voters had enough. "Anyone but Moon," could have been their desperate slogan. They cast their votes to express their anger at the president, and the MP would have lost no matter which candidates it fielded.

And still Moon shows no sign of relenting. He hid behind the curtains and let his chief secretary read two sentences on his behalf. Any decent person would at least have the guts to stand in front of the people and bow down to the ground.


New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to mostly cloudy skies after midnight. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to mostly cloudy skies after midnight. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
Nay Pyi Taw, April 9 : The Myanmar military's spokesman Zaw Min Tun said the one-year state of emergency imposed by the junta during its February 1 coup could be extended, thereby pushing back potential elections.

He did not give a clear timeline for elections, but said the state of emergency could be extended for six months or more, in excerpts from an interview with CNN published late Thursday, reports dpa news agency.

He said a free and fair vote would have to be held within two years under the country's constitution, but also told the broadcaster "the standard of democracy in Myanmar will not be the same as from Western counties".

Zaw Min Tun also said there is "solid evidence" of the voter fraud which the army has used to justify seizing power, but did not present any proof to CNN.

Civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained by the military in the February coup after her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won an election by a landslide.

Local observers have said the vote was credible.

The military's actions have prompted widespread protests, to which soldiers have responded with a violent crackdown on the population.

Nearly 2,850 have been arrested, and at least 598 have been killed, including 48 children, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a non-profit organization.

Zaw Min Tun said the security forces were using "minimum force" against protesters.

"There will be deaths when they are cracking down (on) the riots, but we are not shooting around without discipline," he said.
Los Angeles will pay nearly $1.6 million to settle three lawsuits involving alleged wrongdoing by the citys police department, a newspaper reported.

The City Council voted 12-1 this week to approve the payouts, which include $1.15 million for the shooting of a man from a police helicopter, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Police Department and the city attorneys office declined to comment on the settlements, which allow the city to resolve the claims without admitting liability.

Two of the lawsuits stemmed from fatal shootings by police.

In one case, the mother of Anthony Soderberg sued over the killing of her son, who was shot to death by SWAT members after an armed standoff at a home he had broken into.

Police fired dozens of rounds at Soderberg, including some from a SWAT helicopter, which was a first in LAPD history.

The Police Commission found that officers opened fire on Soderberg when they were not in imminent danger or were too far away to distinguish a threat.

Soderbergs family argued that police knew he was a mentally ill and/or mentally disabled person with no intention to harm anyone.

A Times analysis of city records found that over the past 51/2 years, Los Angeles has paid out more than $245 million to resolve legal claims involving police.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Law Enforcement
RICHMOND HILL, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2021 / Helix BioPharma Corp. (TSX:HBP)(FSE:HBP) ("Helix" or the "Company"), an immuno-oncology company developing innovative drug candidates for the prevention and treatment of cancer, today announced that it has received conditional approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") to extend the exercise period of a total of 2,837,000 outstanding common share purchase warrants (the "Warrants"), all of which are held by arm's length parties. The Warrants were issued pursuant to a private placement of the Company completed on April 27, 2016 and represent approximately 2.0% of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares.

Each Warrant currently entitles the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at an exercise price of $1.98 at any time until April 27, 2021. Subject to TSX approval, the expiry date of the Warrants will be extended by two years to April 26, 2023. The exercise price of the Warrants will remain unchanged at $1.98. If approved by the TSX, the effective date of the amendment will be April 27, 2021.

About Helix BioPharma Corp.

Helix BioPharma Corp. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing unique therapies in the field of immune-oncology for the prevention and treatment of cancer based on our proprietary technological platform DOS47. Helix is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "HBP".

For more information, please contact:

Helix BioPharma Corp.

9120 Leslie Street, Suite 205

Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4B 3J9

Tel: +1 (905) 841-2300 x 233

Frank Michalargias, Chief Financial Officer

ir@helixbiopharma.com

Investor Relations

Alpha Bronze, LLC

Mr. Pascal Nigen

Phone: + 1 (917) 385-2160

helix@alphabronze.net

Forward-Looking Statements and Risks and Uncertainties

This news release contains forward-looking statements and information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements and information that are not historical facts but instead include financial projections and estimates, statements regarding plans, goals, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to the Company's future business, operations, research and development, including the Company's activities relating to DOS47, and other information in future periods. Forward-looking statements can further be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "ongoing", "estimates", "expects", or the negative thereof or any other variations thereon or comparable terminology referring to future events or results, or that events or conditions "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved, or comparable terminology referring to future events or results.

Forward-looking statements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that are also uncertain. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Forward-looking statements, including financial outlooks, are intended to provide information about management's current plans and expectations regarding future operations, including without limitation, future financing requirements, and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Certain material factors, estimates or assumptions have been applied in making forward-looking statements in this news release, including, but not limited to, the safety and efficacy of L-DOS47; that sufficient financing will be obtained in a timely manner to allow the Company to continue operations and implement its clinical trials in the manner and on the timelines anticipated; the timely provision of services and supplies or other performance of contracts by third parties; future costs; the absence of any material changes in business strategy or plans; and the timely receipt of required regulatory approvals and strategic partner support.

The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the risk that the Company's assumptions may prove to be incorrect; the risk that additional financing may not be obtainable in a timely manner, or at all, and that clinical trials may not commence or complete within anticipated timelines or the anticipated budget or may fail; third party suppliers of necessary services or of drug product and other materials may fail to perform or be unwilling or unable to supply the Company, which could cause delay or cancellation of the Company's research and development activities; necessary regulatory approvals may not be granted or may be withdrawn; the Company may not be able to secure necessary strategic partner support; general economic conditions, intellectual property and insurance risks; changes in business strategy or plans; and other risks and uncertainties referred to elsewhere in this news release, any of which could cause actual results to vary materially from current results or the Company's anticipated future results. Certain of these risks and uncertainties, and others affecting the Company, are more fully described in the Company's annual management's discussion and analysis for the year ended July 31, 2020 under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" and Helix's Annual Information Form, in particular under the headings "Forward-looking Statements" and "Risk Factors", and other reports filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com from time to time. Forward-looking statements and information are based on the beliefs, assumptions, opinions and expectations of Helix's management on the date of this new release, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statement or information should those beliefs, assumptions, opinions or expectations, or other circumstances change, except as required by law.

SOURCE: Helix BioPharma Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/639794/Helix-BioPharma-Corp-Extends-Period-to-Exercise-Warrants
ROME, APR 9 - Some 46 inmates of Rome's Rebibbia Prison were indicted Friday for a March 2020 riot against COVID restrictions at the jail. Another four inmates opted for a fast-track trial. They face charges of criminal damages, abduction, robbery and devastation. The riot took place on March 9, 2020. It was part of a wave of unrest in 27 Italian jails that killed seven people with many inmates asking for an amnesty due to the virus emergency. Serious riots took place at San Vittore in Milan and Rebibbia in Rome where, as well as burning mattresses, some inmates attacked the infirmaries. The protesters were angry at the restriction of face time with visiting relatives due to the coronavirus. Jails had been ordered to stop all visits and limit day releases. Rights campaigners warned of mass revolts over the new measures, and families gathered outside prisons to protest the restrictions, and to get news of their loved ones. The Italian jail system is designed to hold some 51,000 inmates, but has upwards of 61,000, leading to chronic overcrowding. Most of the ihe inmates who died did so after overdosing on drugs raided from prison pharmacies. One was also killed by smoke inhalation. Riots took place in Naples, Foggia, Prato, Mantua, Frosinone, Pavia, Modena and other places. (ANSA).
There is no doubt that Janhvi Kapoor is a great actor. However, these days actress is in the Maldives and from there she is constantly sharing photos of her vacation. She is currently seen in a swimsuit in these pictures. You must be aware that the Maldives is the favorite vacation destination of many Bollywood celebrities. The list includes Sara Ali Khan, Ananya Panday, Tara Sutaria, Taapsee Pannu, Disha Patani. So far pictures of many such stars have surfaced from here. However, nowadays Janhvi Kapoor is holidaying in the Maldives with her friends.

She shared several pictures from the time on his social media account. Which you can see. However, Janhvi Kapoor is seen smiling on the beach in a sky-colored swimsuit in these pictures. You can see many pictures of her in different shades shared on Instagram. Well, if you talk about Janhvi's work, she was recently seen in the horror-comedy film 'Ruhi.' You must be aware that Rajkumar Rao and Varun Sharma were also seen in lead roles along with her in the film. Janhvi Kapoor will now be seen in the film 'Good Luck Jerry' which she recently shot for. According to reports, apart from this film, she will also be seen in several other films.

However, Janhvi herself had shared the details of the shooting of Good Luck Jerry on her Instagram account. According to reports Janhvi Kapoor will also be seen opposite Kartik Aaryan in 'Dostana 2.'

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The Nicaraguan army said Thursday that since the start of the year it has detained and expelled 1,166 migrants from various countries who had apparently entered the country from Costa Rica at clandestine crossing points.

Nicaragua, whose leaders face extensive U.S. sanctions, has actually become a bulwark against migrants who travel north from South America through Panama and Costa Rica, seeking to reach the United States.

Most migrants making the hike through the dangerous Darien Gap are from Haiti or Cuba, with smaller numbers from African nations such as Cameroon and Congo and South Asian countries India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Darien Gap is a 60-mile (97-kilometer) stretch of roadless jungle that provides the only land route north out of South America. There is little food or shelter on the week-long trek and bandits and wild animals prey on migrants.

Because Nicaragua does not allow the migrants to cross its territory toward Honduras, to the north, some have tried more dangerous water routes.

In March, Nicaraguan authorities found the bodies of six people, apparently migrants, in a small boat drifting off the Caribbean coast. A Republic of Guinea passport belonging to a 31-year-old man was found on one of the bodies. The passport had no Nicaraguan entry stamp in it.

An initial examination indicates all those aboard apparently died of dehydration or heatstroke, and that they probably died about a month ago.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 20:28:38|Editor: huaxia

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VIENNA -- The U.S. promise on lifting unilateral sanctions against Iran must be put into action immediately, Wang Qun, Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, said Friday.

"Regarding the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States (against Iran), China and the parties concerned clearly expressed their concerns at the meeting, and they must be lifted immediately," Wang told Xinhua after the Iran nuclear deal talks.

- - - -

BUDAPEST -- Hungary has a leading vaccination rate among European Union countries thanks to Chinese and Russian COVID-19 vaccines, a Hungarian official has said.

About 2.6 million of Hungary's some 9.8 million population have been inoculated, Zoltan Kovacs, international spokesman for the Hungarian government, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview Thursday, adding "we are basically second on the European list of ranking."

- - - -

WASHINGTON -- In a bid to tamp down gun violence in the United States, President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a new package of executive orders on gun control as any gun violence legislation appears to face slim prospects in a divided Senate.

In a speech from the White House, Biden, calling gun violence an "epidemic" and an "international embarrassment," said he would "use all the resources at my disposal" to "keep the American people safe from gun violence."

- - - -

WASHINGTON -- The United States and China need to continue to "play ping pong" with each other and invest more in the foundation of their consequential bilateral relationship, a leading U.S. expert on China has said.

Talking about the "Ping-Pong Diplomacy" that helped break the ice between China and the United States, and referring to it as "one of the powerful breakthroughs in the early 1970s," Daniel B. Wright, founder, president and CEO of GreenPoint Group said in a recent interview with Xinhua that both sides have benefited from "that vision as a way to pierce through the wall by playing ping pong together." Enditem
An Accra Juvenile Court C will, on April 29, commence trial of the final year student of the Nungua Kroma Two Junior High School, accused of assaulting a teacher who punished him for failure to do his homework.



He has denied conspiring with 15 other men to assault the teacher and is currently on remand.



The Court on Thursday completed its Case Management Conference after witness statements and disclosures were filed.



The prosecution is expected to call five witnesses during the trial.



It earlier told the Court that the accused (name withheld) refused to do his homework and after he was punished, he dashed home to call 15 other young men who allegedly stormed the school in a Sprinter bus and attacked the teacher, inflicting wounds on his face.



The teacher, Mr Moses Onyameasem, was rescued by his colleagues and rushed to the LEKMA Hospital, Accra, where he was treated and discharged.



After the attack, the mother of the pupil was also alleged to have gone to the school and verbally assaulted the teacher, prosecution said, adding that the development led to the closure of the School.



On Monday, February 22, at about 1215 hours, the teacher, accompanied by Mr Roger Asempa, the Head Teacher, went to the Police Station to report the assault.



The teacher reported that earlier at about 1200 hours, a student in his class and 15 other young men from the Nungua town came to the School in a bus to physically assault him.



Prosecution said a medical form was issued to the complainant to seek medical attention, whilst a joint stakeholder meeting was held over the incident.

Source: GNA









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DARIEN  The towns schools will go remote the week after spring break after a survey revealed too many staff members will require to be quarantined due to travel plans over the vacation, the superintendent said.

Superintendent Alan Addley said the results of the survey showed the number of staff members needing to quarantine would results in a shortage to hold in-person classes the week of April 19.

The results of a similar family survey are expected Friday.

The purpose of the staff survey was to determine how many staff would be traveling, and the purpose of the family survey was to anticipate and plan for the number of students who will need remote learning on the Monday after the spring recess, Addley said.

As we await the final submissions of the family surveys, it is clear from the staff feedback that we will not be able to provide class coverage for the number of teachers and support staff that will need to quarantine the week after the spring recess, he said.

Though staff members have received both doses of the COVID vaccine, they will not be considered fully vaccinated until April 17  14 days after the second shot, Addley said.

Addley also pointed out the district is going into spring break with rising COVID infection rates in the schools, town, state and across the country.

Addley said the rising trends coincide with the spring break recess and planned domestic and international travel plans of families and staff.

The exception in the remote learning plan are the special education DLC programs at Hindley and Ox Ridge elementary schools. The DLC programs will be in person from April 19 to April 23. Lunch and transportation will be provided.

Sports will continue the week of April 19-23 except for students who need to quarantine due to travel.

As we have done throughout this pandemic, protecting the health and safety of our schools has always been our top priority, Addley said in his message to families.

As cases continue to increase, Addley said, now is not the time to change course from following the recommendations of federal, state and local health professionals.

Addley said after the week of April 19, requests for remote learning due to travel plans will not be approved.

The Darien Health Department will conduct contact tracing for any reported cases. School families should continue to report positive cases to the schools reporting line at 203-656-7440.

Darien Schools have been fully in person since mid-March, but some were closed on Monday due to staff illnesses related to the teachers second vaccine dose last Saturday.
An ambitious entrepreneur has revealed on social media how his proposed European-style beach club would look on the sands of Bondi Beach.

Janek Gazecki, the man behind the controversial Amalfi Beach Club, lodged a proposal with Waverley Council last year to erect luxury cabanas roped off from the public on Bondi Beach, in Sydney's ritzy eastern suburbs.

While the development application is still yet to be approved, Gazecki, who also founded the popular Urban Polo series, has taken to Facebook to offer a teaser of how the venue would appear on the iconic stretch of sand.

'We are proud to reveal our Amalfi Beach Club bar design, as a teaser for the DA lodgement,' he posted on Friday.

How the Amalfi Beach Club would appear on Bondi Beach - if the controversial development application is approved by Waverley Council

Mr Gazecki was said to be inspired by the paid-entry clubs along Italys picturesque Amalfi Coast (stock image)

Ambitious entrepreneur Janek Gazecki (pictured left) wants Bondi Beach to have a European feel

'To ensure Bondi Beach has the best Beach Club in the country, we have spared no expense in retaining a top Production Designer.

'The designer in question has previously won Sculpture by the Sea and designed sets for none other than Star Wars, Cirque du Soleil and the 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, among other impressive achievements.

'The Mediterranean design celebrates the heritage of Bondi Beach by paying tribute to our very own Pavilion, and is also inspired by inter-war Italian architecture, while complimenting the sandstone hues of Bondi's headlands.'

Gazecki's plan would see two per cent of the beach near Roscoe Street transformed to serve food and cocktails to 'high net worth' customers - who would pay $80 for a two-hour slot.

He was said to be inspired by the paid-entry clubs along Italys picturesque Amalfi Coast.

His 'vision' has not been welcomed by large sections of the Bondi community, with a change.org petition to 'Stop Amalfi Beach Club taking over space on Bondi Beach for Financial Gain' gathering more than 34,000 signatures.

On the Bondi Local Loop Facebook group, Gazecki's DA lodgement also attracted plenty of criticism.

'S**t idea. Leave Bondi Beach as it is,' one community member wrote.

'Yea...nahh,' another said.

A third wrote: 'I am definitely against this. The beach should be all inclusive. Instead of setting it for profitable gain to the elite, why not give back to the community and provide mobi-mats for people with disabilities, wheelchairs and walking aids.

'Give the public beach back to the people without any cost.'

Waverley Council rejected Gazecki's initial proposal on the grounds they do not support events on the sand during peak season over summer and the fact the beach is an alcohol free zone.

The Council is yet to confirm when it will make a decision on the latest proposal.

A number of locals are against the idea, with a petition to ' Stop Amalfi Beach Club taking over space on Bondi Beach for Financial Gain' gathering more than 34,000 signatures (stock image)
MANISTEE  Without question, Manistee native Jen Masengarb has made a name for herself in the world of architecture.

The 1991 Manistee High School graduate has written books and earned accolades for her work. Architecture has taken her all the way to Denmark.

After serving more than three years at the Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen, Masengarb started her new gig last week as the executive director of American Institute of Architects Chicago.

The AIA is the professional body of architects, which advocates for the the value of architecture and gives architects the resources they need to do their best work. The AIA strives to create positive change through the power of design by encouraging greener and safer building standards.

Looking back, Masengarb believes Manistee helped cultivate her love of architecture and led to her making a mark in the field.

I think Manistee plays a big role in my career path. The people there who were mentors played a really big role in that career path," she said. "I had an interest in architecture from childhood. Maybe I didnt know what an architect did exactly, but I knew I wanted to do something with buildings and designing buildings from like third grade.

Masengarb said there was no shortage of people in Manistee willing to nurture her interest in architecture.

As a kid growing up I spent a lot of time after school at the museum with Steve Harold. He was very generous with his time and very kind to answer my questions about old buildings in Manistee and entertain my sort of endless fascination with the citys history," she said. "... There are pretty significant Chicago architects that have designed buildings in Manistee  that salt and lumber money was big in funding the big architects to come from Chicago.

"For Manistee to have such a rich collection is also a part of my understanding of architecture. We had these significant buildings and Steve was really influential in that.

Masengarb also credits former MHS drafting teacher Ken Jilbert for playing a significant role in her development.

To this day, Jilbert still remembers his standout pupil.

"I had heard about her way before she came in because she wanted to take architectural drafting and she wanted to be an architect," he said. "Sometimes you wonder if they're just dreaming or not, but she did it: She became a historical architect. ... She was an excellent student."

Masengarb is also grateful to Kendra Thompson, owner of Kendra Thompson Architects, for not only giving Masengarb her first job in the business, but also serving as a shining example that women could make it in architecture.

"I worked for (Thompson) through most of the summers of high school, and in college a couple summers as well. As a woman architect ... 30-plus years ago or so she really blazed a path and a trail for what that looked like," Masengarb said. "When I graduated from architecture school it was about 20% women and 80% men. Now its closer to 50/50, or slightly more women than men in schools of architecture.

I graduated from MHS in 1991 and there werent a lot of women in the field, so she was a good mentor and a good trailblazer in that way.

Masengarb said working for AIA Chicago has additional significance because Thompson is also a member of the AIA.

Watching Kendra as a 15, 16, 17-year-old, she was the only architect in the county at the time. The only one," Masengarb said. "Her link to this professional body for education, for professional development, for just whats happening in the world of architecture, for contract documents  that was really strong.

"I watched and observed her, so now its just really special to be on the other side of that working for the AIA."

Thompson said she started Masengarb out with non-architectural tasks, but as time went on the protege was exposed to more and more, eventually producing drawings and construction details.

As Masengarb credits Thompson for her success, so too does Thompson credit Masengarb for some of hers.

"She kept me organized  as much as she could," Thompson said. "Then she was drawing construction details and very much contributing to the success of my practice in the early years."

Masengarb said her parents, who both taught at Trinity Lutheran School, were more than happy to help her pursue her early interest in architecture. Masengarb's mom, Ginny, said it was great watching her daughter follow her passion.

"My husband and I really enjoyed feeding her early childhood and teen interest in architecture with books from the Manistee County Library and visits to the Manistee County Historical Museum," she said. "She also spent time sketching and talking about Manistee's historic buildings, which was always lots of fun.

"... I am very proud of her and it's exciting to see how those childhood interests in Manistee have shaped her career path."

Masengarb's return to Chicago will be a homecoming of sorts, as she previously served for 18 years at the Chicago Architecture Center.

Masengarb will be heading up a staff of seven as executive director of AIA Chicago, which has 4,000 members, and helping the public better understand what an architect does, the value an architect provides and how buildings are designed.

"My role will be to advocate for these architects and in some ways also be the face toward the public for the profession," she said. "It could look like many different things. It could be on a podcast, it could be in a newspaper article or a magazine article, it could be at an event. I'll kind of be a translator of architecture to the public."

Masengarb said she will also work to partner with other organizations in the city, advocating for both the profession and issues important to architecture, while also helping AIA members in their professional development.

Thompson said she's enjoyed seeing the teenager who once helped her move into a new office over 30 years ago go on to find tremendous success as an architect.

"It's incredible, and it's not my doing. I like to think I maybe provided a few bits of fertilizer to the seed, but Jennifer is incredibly well-informed, loves learning, loves teaching, loves guiding people to be the best they can be," she said. "... She does it with the greatest of kindness, thoughtfulness and consideration of people. ... She's just one of the best of the best."

Whether in Virginia, Chicago, or even Denmark, Masengarb will always consider Manistee home.

"A place like Manistee is really special," she said. "I mean, how many people are still in contact with their high school drafting teacher, or the museum director that showed them the museum's collection in fifth grade, or the person who gave them that first job, you know? That's the real special part of Manistee: You can have those ties and connections, and you can still go back and say hello."


Army Chief General MM Naravane inspects a guard of honour at Shikha Anirban in Dhaka, Thursday, April 8, 2021. Photo: ADG PI/ PTI

DHAKA (PTI): Indian Army Chief Gen MM Naravane on Thursday met Bangladesh's Army, Air Force and Navy chiefs, and discussed issues of mutual interest and matters on bilateral defence cooperation besides bolstering the strategic ties between the two neighbours.



Naravane also paid tributes to the fallen heroes of Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War after arriving in the country on a five-day visit to further strengthen the close and fraternal ties existing between the Armed Forces of the two nations.



The visit of Naravane, who is in Dhaka at the invitation of his Bangladeshi counterpart Gen Aziz Ahmed, comes less than two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to the neighbouring country.



The Indian Army's Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADG PI) said on Twitter that Gen Naravane called on Admiral M Shaheen Iqbal, Chief of Naval Staff, Bangladesh Navy and discussed issues of mutual interest.



After his interaction with Admiral Iqbal, the Indian Army Chief met the country's acting Chief of Air Staff of Bangladesh Air Force.



General MM Naravane COAS interacted with Air Vice Marshal M Abul Bashar, Acting Chief of Air Staff of Bangladesh Air Force and discussed matters on bilateral defence cooperation, the ADG PI said in another tweet.



It said that the Indian Army Chief called on his Bangladeshi counterpart Gen Aziz Ahmed.



During the meeting between the two Chiefs of Armed Forces, strengthening of bilateral defence cooperation and strategic ties between two countries were discussed, the ADG PI said.



The Indian High Commission in Dhaka said that Gen Naravane called on his counterparts and other senior officers to discuss matters of mutual cooperation.



The visit by Indian Army Chief will strengthen the close and fraternal ties existing between the Armed Forces of the two countries, it said.



During the day, Gen Naravane gifted a replica of T-55 Tank and a picture of 75/24 mm Howitzer, a field artillery.



The original equipment are being gifted for museums of Bangladesh. Both T-55 Tank and 75/24 mm Howitzer played a stellar role in the 1971 War of Liberation, the ADG PI said on Twitter.



Gen Naravane also handed over 100,000 Covid vaccine jabs to Bangladesh Army Chief Gen Ahmed.



Meanwhile, a multi-national military exercise is in progress at Bangabandhu Senanibas in Bangladesh.



The contingents of Indian Army and other participating nations conducted counter-insurgency drills at Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operations Training (BIPSOT), the Indian Army's Western Command tweeted.



Exercise #ShantirOgroshena2021: Indo-Bangladesh troops strengthening bonds of friendship through sports & professional competitions. Felicitated by Commander Army Training & Doctrine Command & GOC 19 Infantry Division of #BangladeshArmy, it said in another tweet.



After his arrival in Dhaka, Gen Narawane paid tribute to the fallen heroes of the 1971 Liberation War by laying a wreath at the altar of Shikha Anirban in Dhaka Cantonment.



"Gen Narawane on 1st day of his 5-day visit to #Bangladesh paid tributes to the martyrs of the Liberation War at the #ShikhaAnirban today," the ADG PI said.



He was welcomed with a guard of honour at Senakunj.



He will also be visiting various military stations in Bangladesh.



The Indian Army Chief will share his experience during the seminar on United Nations Peace Support Operations. He will also witness the culmination exercise, hardware display and closing ceremony of the joint military exercise 'Shantir Ogroshena', a multilateral UN-mandated counter-terrorism exercise from April 4 to 12.



The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh, the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan and the birth centenary of 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.


*Mattan Segev-Frank is a man with a mission. And while he has singlehandedly already begun making an impact, he knows that the issues he is concerned about are much larger than any single person. They require governments and international authorities to take decisive steps.

My first encounter with Mattan, a genealogy researcher and an MA student of the History of the Jewish People at the Tel Aviv University, was in a Jewish genealogy Facebook group when he shared his dismay at stolen historic and vital records from Hungary's Jewish community being auctioned off online to the highest bidder....
New research has identified unusual antibodies that appear to have caused, in rare cases, serious and sometimes fatal blood clots in people who received the Covid vaccine made by AstraZeneca.

Exactly why the rare reactions to the vaccine occurred is still a mystery.

Scientific teams from Germany and Norway found that people who developed the clots after vaccination had produced antibodies that activated their platelets, a blood component involved in clotting. The new reports add extensive details to what the researchers have already stated publicly about the blood disorder.

Younger people appear more susceptible than older ones, but researchers say no pre-existing health conditions are known to predispose people to the rare reaction. That is worrisome, they say, because there is no way to tell if an individual is at high risk.

Reports of the clots have already led a number of countries to limit AstraZenecas vaccine to older people, or to stop using it entirely. These cases have dealt a crushing blow to global efforts to halt the pandemic, because the AstraZeneca shot  easy to store and relatively cheap  has been a mainstay of vaccination programs in more than 100 countries.
Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center investigational pharmacy technician Sara Berech is reflected in the glass of a fume hood as she prepares a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for a clinical trial in Aurora, Co. on Dec. 15, 2020. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

Second Vaccination Site Halts Operations After Adverse Reactions to Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

Four people were taken to hospital for further observation

A vaccination site in Wake County, North Carolina, paused operations on Thursday after 18 adverse reactions to the Johnson & Johnson CCP virus vaccine were reported, officials said.

Officials confirmed that the immunization site at the PNC Arena in Raleigh paused vaccine operations out of an abundance of caution, after 18 adverse reactions were seen out of more than 2,300 Johnson & Johnson CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus doses administered in less than two hours of appointments.

Of the 18 people evaluated by EMS, 14 had minor reactions and were treated at the vaccination site. Four others were transported to local hospitals for further examination.

Wake County made the decision to pause today in partnership with the NC Department of Health and Human Services and after consulting with the manufacturer, Wake county officials said. Together, these teams continue to investigate the issue.

The remainder of people who were scheduled to receive their Johnson & Johnson vaccines at the site Thursday were able to either reschedule their appointments or receive the Pfizer vaccine.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a one-dose vaccine, while the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines need two doses. All three are approved for emergency use in the United States.

County officials sought to reassure residents that the adverse reactions seen in the 18 people were consistent with known common side effects from receiving the vaccine.

We know it can be alarming to hear about or see people having reactions to vaccinationthis is why we closely monitor those we vaccinate in case of reaction, Wake County Public Healths Medical Director Kim McDonald said.

Right now, we are working with NCDHHS and the CDC to further evaluate the situation to assure everyone is confident in the continued safety of our vaccine operations.

According to the New York Post, the county will hold off from administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine until it collects additional information.

It comes a day after a mass vaccination site at Dicks Sporting Goods Park in Colorado was shut down after 11 people suffered adverse reactions to the same vaccine, out of more than 1,700 administered shots.

Johnson & Johnson told FOX 31 in a statement that it was collecting the necessary information, including from the local vaccination center, to assess these reports.

There is no greater priority than the safety and well-being of the people we serve, and we carefully review reports of adverse events in individuals receiving our medicines and vaccines, it said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 19:07:53|Editor: huaxia

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COPENHAGEN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Stolberg has been handed a fine of 20,000 Norwegian kroner (2,348 U.S. Dollars) for breaking assembly restrictions against COVID-19, informed the police during a virtual press conference on Friday.

The fine was imposed after police determined that a gathering of the Solberg's family and guests in February contravened state regulations. The gathering, including more than ten people over two consecutive days, was to celebrate the prime minister's 60th birthday in the mountain village of Geilo, southern Norway.

"There are four too many. We should not have had it like that, and I should have stopped it. I did not do that, and can only say sorry," said Solberg to Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) at the outset of the police investigation.

The police believe that a fine for Solberg is justified in maintaining the Norwegian people's confidence in the rules that will prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"The law is equal for all, but not all are equal. Solberg has in many situations represented the government's decisions on measures to counter the epidemic. It is therefore considered right to react with a punishment to maintain the public's trust in the infection control rules, " said Ole B. Saeverud, police chief in the South-East police district to the Norwegian newspaper VG on Friday. Enditem
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On his 90th birthday in 2011, the Queen gave her husband a very special, and rather poignant, gift  she appointed him Lord High Admiral of the Navy.

This ancient title dating back to the 14th century was one that she herself held as monarch. Passing it on to Philip was her unique way of saying thank you for sacrificing his own career nearly seven decades ago when he was barely 30, in order to concentrate fully on hers.

Philips life was the Royal Navy. He had reached the rank of Commander with a scintillating past and a potentially brilliant future  the right material, perhaps, to have become a Rear Admiral.

In the estimation of his peers he was a top-notch naval officer and seemed set for a distinguished career at sea. Lord Lewin, later an Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord, always used to say that if things had panned out differently, it would have been Philip, and not he, who would have got to the top of the Navy.

On his 90th birthday in 2011, the Queen gave her husband a very special, and rather poignant, gift  she appointed him Lord High Admiral of the Navy

The Duke of Edinburgh, who has died at the age of 99, joined the Royal Navy in 1939  the year the Second World War broke out - when he was still a teenager. By 1942, he had risen to the rank of first lieutenant after bravely fighting in the Battle of Crete and the conflict at Cape Matapan. Left: Philip in 1946. Right: Phlip in 1945, when he was serving on HMS Valiant

While serving on HMS Whelp, the future Queen's consort was even there in Tokyo Bay to witness the historic surrender of Japanese forces in September 1945. Pictured: Philip (front row, second from left) with his fellow officers on HMS Whelp

It wasn't just on water where Philip put his military credentials to good use  he trained to be a pilot with the RAF and by the time he gave up flying in 1997, at the age of 76, he had completed 5,986 hours of time in the sky in 59 different aircraft

Philip was very touched by his wifes gesture, and for her part, she knew how much it meant to him. As he confessed in a letter to his official biographer Tim Heald in 1990, in dedicating his life to supporting the Queen there had never been an if only except perhaps that I regret not having been able to continue a career in the Navy.

That career began on an uncertain note. The prince of Greece had gone straight from Gordonstoun to officer training at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, winning the Kings Dirk as the best all-round cadet of his term.

He was amusing and popular, a man easily able to laugh at himself, though some fellow cadets felt he was a bit of a bully with a certain German arrogance of command. But with the outbreak of war in September 1939 came complications. The instinct of this grandson of Queen Victoria was to go on active service.

But Greece, at that time, was not in the war and the Admiralty refused to risk a royal neutral under their command being killed or being taken prisoner by the Germans. Nor, it was decided, could his wish to become a British citizen be decided in wartime.

The compromise early in 1940 was to allow him to serve away from the firing line as a midshipman in the elderly battleship Ramillies, escorting convoys of Australian and New Zealand troopships to Egypt. His duties included making the captains cocoa.

After this he was transferred to the cruiser Kent, still on escort duty, amid groans from the ships company, who had been on a trying tour of duty, that they now had to cope with royalty on board. But Philips eagerness and enthusiasm won them over.

Then he was posted to Kents sister ship Shropshire, for yet more convoy duty, down the East Coast of Africa.

What changed Philips thus-far rather dull war was Greece being invaded by Italy in October 1940. From that moment he was no longer a royal neutral who had to be kept out of harms way. At last Midshipman Prince Philip could be involved in the hot war that he wanted.

Before Christmas he learned he was to join the battleship Valiant in the Mediterranean Fleet, and early in 1941 he was at last at action stations.

It was after leaving Gordonstoun school that Philip joined the Royal Navy. His training began at Britannia Royal Naval College, in Dartmouth, in May 1939  three months before Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. Pictured: HMS Whelp, which Prince Philip served on

The then Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, prior to his marriage to Princess Elizabeth, working at his desk after returning to his Royal Navy duties at the Petty Officers Training Centre in Corsham, Wiltshire, August 1st 1947

Philip (fifth from left, front row) at the Royal Navy Petty Officer's School in Corsham, Wiltshire, in 1947. Philip distinguished himself in his service in the Second World War

While serving as First Lieutenant on HMS Whelp, Philip was present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese signed the surrender agreement with Allied forces. Speaking in 1995, Philip said: 'Being in Tokyo Bay with the surrender ceremony taking place on a battleship which was what? 200 yards away. You could see what was going on with a pair of binoculars'

His own journal records how, off Sicily, he saw the British cruiser Southampton blowing up in a cloud of smoke and spray and the destroyer Gallant hitting a mine with the result that her bow was blown off.

As for Valiant, he recorded that two torpedo bombers attacked us but a quick alteration of course foiled their attempt, their fish [torpedoes] passed down the port side  then the [dive] bombers concentrated on us and five bombs dropped fairly close.

Barely three weeks later came the Battle of Matapan in the Mediterranean, south-west of Greece, that was to earn the 20-year-old midshipman a Mention in Despatches.

The Fleets brilliant commander, Admiral Andrew Cunningham, boldly decided to engage the Italian fleet at night, a tactic with which he knew the Italians were unfamiliar. Philips role was to operate Valiants midship searchlight which, as he recorded later, picked out the enemy cruiser and lit her up as if it were broad daylight.

Before long, one target was blazing, and he trained the light on a second, focusing on its bridge at such close quarters that the light did not illuminate the whole ship.

Broadsides were fired and, when the enemy had completely vanished in clouds of smoke and steam, we ceased firing and switched the light off.

In the fierce engagement in the dark, three Italian heavy cruisers and two destroyers were sunk and its one battleship severely damaged. The Italian Navys morale never fully recovered from this substantial defeat in the war.

In 1947, two years after the end of the war, Philip married the then Princess Elizabeth. They moved to Malta in 1949 and lived there for two years  a period which they saw as among the happiest of their lives. Pictured: The couple during their honeymoon in Malta in 1947

While in Malta, Philip was First Lieutenant on the destroyer HMS Chequers, while Princess Elizabeth was a happy naval wife and mother  first to Charles in 1949 and then Anne in 1950

Prince Philip pictured on board HMS Magpie in the Mediterranean, in the summer of 1951, when he was in command of the ship

The Duke of Edinburgh and Captain John Edwin Home McBeath DSO, DSC, RN (left), pose with Queen Elizabeth for a photograph on HMS Chequers, where Philip served as First Lieutenant

Admiral Cunningham, in mentioning Philip in despatches, praised his skill with the searchlight. Valiants captain had reported that the successful and continuous illumination of the enemy greatly contributed to the devastating results achieved in the gun action, and thanks to his (Philips) alertness and appreciation of the situation, we were able to sink in five minutes two 8in-gun Italian cruisers.

Philip is said to have later just shrugged when congratulated by his mother, Alice, and told her: It was as near murder as anything could be in wartime. The cruisers just burst into tremendous sheets of flame.

The morning after the battle Philip counted 40 rafts containing survivors and noted there must have been a good many empty ones as well.

Some weeks after this battle, Valiant was among the ships ordered to intercept German landings on Crete. Philips journal notes that she was hit by two bombs, one ... exploded just aft of the quarterdeck ... the other within twenty feet of it ... blowing a hole in the wardroom laundry ... there were only four casualties (one killed, three injured).

After this Philip took a troopship home to Portsmouth in order to take his sub-lieutenants courses and examinations.

When the vessel put in at Puerto Rico  forced to make a detour because of U-boat activity  its Chinese stokers jumped ship. The call went out for volunteer stokers and Philip now found himself shovelling coal in the Caribbean heat. It earned him a certificate, which he always kept, acknowledging him as a fully qualified coal-trimmer.

After leaving the Navy, Philip held many honorary titles, including Admiral of the Sea Cadet Corps, Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Cadet Force, Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Air Training Corps, Admiral of the Fleet and Field Marshal and Marshal of the Royal Air Force. Pictured: Philip in 1969 visiting the Queen's Royal Hussars regiment in Dorset

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, drinks whales teeth kava while watching traditional dancing on October 30, 1982 in Suva, Fiji, during a royal tour of the South Pacific

His next posting was to the destroyer Wallace, on coastal convoy work, and within three months he was promoted to lieutenant, with responsibility for discipline, a difficult role that required tact in its cramped quarters. The men liked him.

M ore than that, they came to see him as a hero who saved their lives, though, astonishingly, this did not emerge until 60 years later in 2003, when  as a prelude to the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings  the BBC invited people to share their personal stories on a website it called Peoples War.

The revelation came from former yeoman Harry Hargreaves, then 85, who disclosed how Philip foiled a Luftwaffe bomber that seemed certain to destroy the ship during the Allied invasion of Sicily.

As first lieutenant, Philip was second in command at the age of 21  the youngest in the war. The ship had been under fierce attack from a bomber they knew would return for a second go at them, when Philip came up with an ingenious ploy to deceive its aircrew.

Having survived the planes first bombing run, they knew they had no more than 20 minutes to come up with something before it returned.

In November 2006, pictured, Prince Philip shared a joke with a war veteran

As Harry Hargreaves recalled: The first lieutenant went into hurried conversation with the captain, and the next thing a wooden raft was being put together on deck. Within five minutes they launched the raft over the side  at each end was fastened a smoke float.

As the raft hit the water, the floats were activated and billowed clouds of smoke and flame, looking just like the burning debris of a ship that had been hit.

Hargreaves takes up the tale again: The captain ordered full ahead and we steamed away from the raft for a good five minutes and then he ordered the engines stopped.

The tell-tale wake [visible from aircraft at night] subsided and we lay there quietly in the soft darkness and cursed the stars, or at least I did. Quite some time went by until we heard aircraft engines approaching.

The next thing was the scream of bombs . . . the ruse had worked and the aircraft was bombing the raft, said Hargreaves. He thought he had hit us in his last attack and was now finishing the job. Prince Philip saved our lives that night.

After the war, Philip had known no career but the Navy, and so at first his engagement, and marriage, to the then Princess Elizabeth in 1947, changed nothing.

When two years later he was posted to serve in the destroyer Chequers in the Mediterranean Fleet, based in Malta, he took his wife with him.

For two years they lived happily away from palace pressures in the Villa Guardamangia. He was given his first command as captain of the sloop Magpie, with the rank of commander.

Philip had gone from naval college to his own command in just 12 years, but by 1951 George VI was so ill that it was clear Princess Elizabeths life was about to undergo a fundamental change. She would need her husbands full-time support.

But Philip couldnt bring himself to quit the Navy completely. When he gave up active service in July, 1951, it was called indefinite leave. He was still on it at his death.

Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, refuelling his Harvard training aircraft during his flying training at White Waltham airfield in Berkshire on May 4, 1953. Prince Phillip had to complete three solo circuits and landings, or 'bumps' as they are called, at White Waltham airfield in Berkshire in order to qualify for his wings

Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh (C) preparing to fly a Turbulent ultra-light aircraft, as the first and possibly, only member of the Royal Family to fly solo in a single-engine aircraft

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (C-R), Queen Elizabeth II (2-R) and Prince Edward (R) covering their ears to protect them from the noise of a Harrier demonstrating it's ability to deploy away from traditional airfields during the Silver Jubilee of the RAF at Finningley

Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, (C) in conversation with Wing Commander LH Bartlett, Wing Commander Flying at Wattisham, during an official visit to the station in Wattisham, Britain, 21 May 1953

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (C) watching a display by Meteors from 203 Advanced Flying School with a group of cadets who have just graduated from the RAF College Cranwell
The United Nations has called on donors to fully fund humanitarian aid to Ukraine, according to Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric.

He said at a press conference on April 7 that this year the UN, along with its humanitarian partners, requires $168 million to help 1.9 million of the most vulnerable 3.4 million people in the east, but only 5.5 per cent of this funding has been received, according to the Voice of America.

Dujarric said that the recent shelling had damaged a power line near the main lift pumping station of the South Donbas Waterway, in eastern part of Ukraine. This interrupted the safe water supply for over 1.1 million people in 50 nearby settlements on both sides of the contact line.

"While repair teams were able to quickly fix the damaged power lines today, we reiterate the call for all involved to avoid targeting critical water infrastructure in eastern Ukraine. [] We also urge all concerned to provide unconditional access to those in need," Dujarric said.

At the same time, Vladyslav Rashkovan, Alternative Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund, said that Ukraine could receive additional funding of more than $2.5 billion.

This amount is part of the commitment of the world's most powerful economies to increase the resources of the International Monetary Fund by $650 billion to provide more assistance to developing countries to overcome the effects of the pandemic.

Rashkovan said that the proposal must first be approved by the IMF's Executive Board, and member countries must allocate the funds. The IMF should also decide on how the states will be able to use the funds. According to Rashkovan, a meeting on the allocation of funds may take place in the summer.

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This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
BRYAN, Texas  One person was killed and four people were wounded Thursday in a shooting at a cabinet-making business in Bryan, Texas, police said, and the shooter was not in custody.

Bryan Police Chief Eric Buske told reporters he believes the shooting suspect is an employee at the Kent Moore Cabinets location.

By the time officers arrived, the shooter was gone, Buske said. The shooting took place in the bays in a plant where employees make cabinets.

Here's video of the scene from Travis L. Brown of TheEagle:

Employees were being interviewed, Bryan Police Lt. Jason James said earlier, and witnesses had identified a suspect. Police were looking for the suspected shooter, James said, but he could not describe that person.

At this site, when law enforcement showed up it was already over with, James said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has sent agents and dogs to the scene of the shooting, said spokesman Deon Washington. He could not provide more detail on what happened and said its a pretty rapidly evolving situation.

Police asked people to stay away from the business.
You are here: Arts

Ten Chinese content providers, including online video platforms Youku, Kuaishou, Mango TV and iQiyi, signed a joint declaration on Thursday to step up Internet copyright protection and encourage creativity in the digital age.

The declaration was signed at the 2021 Malanshan Copyright Protection and Innovation Forum, which opened Thursday in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province and a city recognized as a UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts.

Guests from the copyright industry, research institutes, and Internet companies attended the two-day forum, discussing the latest trends in China's copyright protection mechanism and practices.

The crackdown on pirated works and plagiarism can be an inspiration for the original creators to create and develop, said Deng Qian, deputy secretary-general of the Hunan Network Writers Association.
Rapper and founder of Revolt, Sean Diddy Combs, has gone viral after accusing Americas biggest corporations of failing to support the black community.

Mr Combs, in an article on Thursday, said brands were standing with the community with the same feet they use to stand on our necks.

The Revolt founder also argued that corporations failed to adequately support black-owned businesses, and that advertisers often failed to carry black-owned brands.

It followed the recent listing of Revolt by car manufacturer General Motors (GM) as one of a number of black-owned businesses that it worked with.

GM also accused a number of black businesses owners  not including Mr Combs  of paying to advance a narrative of factual inaccuracies and character assault against our CEO.

Read more:

That followed a full-page advert by black businesses owners in the Detroit Free Press on 28 March, accusing GM CEO Mary Barra of racism for failing to discuss advertising with their brands.

GM denied the allegations in a number of statements to the Detroit Free Press, and said last week it was increasing spending with black-owned brands.

On Thursday, Mr Combs wrote that although Revolt does receive advertising revenue from GM, our relationship is not an example of success.

Instead, Revolt, just like other black-owned media companies, fights for crumbs while GM makes billions of dollars every year from the black community, wrote the Revolt founder.

Exposing GMs historic refusal to fairly invest in black-owned media is not an assassination of character, Mr Combs added, its exposing the way GM and many other advertisers have always treated us.

Mr Combs scathing response to GM was widely shared and supported on Twitter, although many commentators mentioned the 51-year-olds reported millionaire status.

Others accused Mr Combs of failing to fairly pay black artists and creators he historically worked with, and for being a part of the system he was criticising on Thursday.

I was recently approached to host a show for Revolt and it came without pay, wrote Jessica Fyre. We cannot keep knocking white folks for their disrespect towards minority creators while doing the same thing to each other.

She added I encourage you to be the change we need, while another commentator wrote: Does ethical consumption exist under Diddy?

The Independent has approached Revolt for further comment.
A Lafayette Parish public school employee who had sex with a 16-year-old foreign exchange student at a French Quarter hotel is now facing statutory rape charges in New Orleans, according to criminal court records.

Police this week booked Kimberly Wellman-Rich, 36, as part of an investigation into her alleged abuse of the teen, whom she and her husband were hosting in their home in Youngsville. After she was arrested in Lafayette Parish on similar counts in February, Wellman-Rich was fired from her job as a special education paraprofessional at Edgar Martin Middle School.

Jeffrey Rich, 35, was also arrested in Lafayette Parish in February for allegedly knowing about the child sex abuse and failing to report it to law enforcement authorities. Authorities jailed the couple in Lafayette Parish for related crimes there.

While the initial arrests made international headlines, New Orleans police documents filed in court this week provide a more complete picture of a case in which scarce details had emerged.

The newspaper is not identifying the student, a European native whose name matches that of a student at a Lafayette area school, because of a policy against naming victims of alleged sex crimes in most instances. Attempts to contact the Riches were unsuccessful Friday.

According to the court documents, the couple began hosting the 16-year-old boy in their home in August.

They would often smoke marijuana with the student, court records say. Then, on the boy's 16th birthday, Wellman-Rich had sex with the student. The police narrative describes the boy as a virgin at the time of the encounter.

Wellman-Rich went on to have sex with the teen multiple times over the next several months, mostly on her couch, in her bed and in the guest room, police added, citing an account that the teen provided during a forensic interview. At times, police said, her husband was home but in another room.

The woman told her friends about the relationship but pleaded with the boy to keep quiet about what she was doing, police alleged. The legal age of consent in Louisiana is 17.

Then, on January 15, Wellman-Rich took the boy on a trip to New Orleans with three of her girlfriends, police wrote in court filings.

The two went out drinking at bars, and at one point, she kicked the other women out of the groups hotel room in the 100 block of Royal Street so she could have sex with the student, police alleged.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

When they returned home, Jeffrey Rich confronted the student. The teen told Rich about the numerous sexual encounters he had with his wife, who eventually joined the conversation, police said.

According to (the boy), Mr. Rich was angry, but not as angry as he thought Mr. Rich would have been after he was told (the student) was having sex with Mrs. Wellman-Rich, investigators wrote in a summary of the high schoolers forensic interview. (The boy) stated that if it were him receiving that type of information, he would have been very angry.

Jeffrey Rich ultimately asked the boy to keep the encounters with Wellman-Rich a secret from everyone except him, police added.

+2 Destrehan teacher not guilty in sex trial after judge finds teen untruthful, evidence lacking Former Destrehan High School teacher Shelley Dufresne was acquitted by a Jefferson Parish judge Wednesday on two counts of carnal knowledge of

The boy said that Wellman-Rich had sex with him one more time after that. Then, on Jan. 22, an anonymous caller reported Wellman-Rich to the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services.

Authorities removed the teen from the couple's house, and interviewed him on Feb. 4 at Hearts of Hope Center for Sexual Trauma in Lafayette.

Youngsville police booked Wellman-Rich on Feb. 11 with carnal knowledge of a juvenile, Louisianas technical term for statutory rape. She was also booked with indecent behavior with a juvenile, contributing to the delinquency of minors and encouraging child delinquency.

Officers booked Rich with being an accessory after the fact to felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Both were released from jail after posting bail. Wellman-Rich on Monday was booked into the New Orleans jail on counts mirroring the ones she is facing in Lafayette Parish. She was released after posting $35,000 bail.

The most serious crimes Wellman-Rich is accused of committing are carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior with a juvenile, both felonies. In her case, if convicted, the former could carry up to 10 years in prison, and the latter would allow a maximum of seven years.

Former Slidell High substitute teacher arrested for carnal knowledge of juvenile Joshua Brewer, a 28-year-old Slidell man who had been working as a long-term substitute teacher at Slidell High School, was booked into St. Ta

Katie Gagliano contributed to this report.
U.S. Capitol Police officer William Billy Evans, an 18-year veteran who was a member of the department's first responders unit, was killed on April 2, 2021. (U.S. Capitol Police via AP)

Capitol Police Officer William Billy Evans Died From Multiple Blunt Force Head Injuries

A police officer who was killed after a car rammed into a barrier at the U.S. Capitol died from multiple blunt force injuries, a medical examiner said April 8.

Officer William Billy Evans died from injuries he sustained after 25-year-old Noah Green drove a blue car into him and another officer at a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol just after 1 p.m on April 2.

That officer left the hospital Saturday. Authorities identified him as Ken Shaver.

Dr. Francisco Diaz determined the death of Officer Evans was a homicide, noting the 18-year USCP veteran had multiple blunt force injuries to the head, WJLA-TV reported.

Evans was a member of the departments first responders unit. The 41-year-old died last Friday, shortly after the attack.

Green was shot and killed by police after he crashed the car before emerging from the vehicle and allegedly lunging at police with a knife.

Officers were guarding the Capitol grounds at the time the incident occurred.

U.S. Capitol Police officers stand near a car that crashed into a barrier on Capitol Hill in Washington, on April 2, 2021. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

Multiple outlets reported that social media accounts belonging to Green suggested he was a follower of the Nation of Islam and its leader, Louis Farrakhan.

Investigators were digging into Greens background and examining whether he had any history of mental health problems as they tried to discern a motive. They were working to obtain warrants to access his online accounts

Evanss family released a statement on Tuesday honoring him.

Billy was the best father, son, brother, and friend anyone could ever hope for, his family said. Billy was proud to be a United States Capitol Police Officer. His colleagues from the North Barricade were the people he spent so many hours with, and their friendship was one of the best parts of his job.

Earlier this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that Evans will lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda on April 13.

In giving his life to protect our Capitol and our Country, Officer Evans became a martyr for our democracy. On behalf of the entire Congress, we are profoundly grateful, the Democrat leaders said in a statement.

It is now the great and solemn privilege of the House of Representatives and the Senate to convey the appreciation and the sadness of the Congress and Country for the heroic sacrifice of Officer Evans with a lying-in-honor ceremony in the U.S. Capitol.

May this tribute also be a source of comfort and an expression of gratitude to the U.S. Capitol Police force, which has awed our nation with their courage and resilience during this devastating time.

A ceremony will begin on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol at 10:30 a.m. and a congressional tribute will be held at 11:00 a.m. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony will be open to invited guests only.

It will be the second time this year that a Capitol Police officer will be recognized in the Rotunda.

Six people have been laid to rest in the Rotunda who were not a public official or military leader.
Buckingham Palace has confirmed Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has died at 99 years old.

The duke had suffered failing health in recent years, and retired from royal duties in 2017.

Last month, Prince Philip was released from Londons King Edward VII hospital, after being admitted a month before as a precautionary measure.

A week later the Palace said he was battling an infection.

It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, a statement read from Buckingham Palace, per The BBC. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.

The royal familys official website, Royal.uk, is now a memorial page and temporarily unavailable while appropriate changes are made.

The prince married Princess Elizabeth in 1947, and the couple have four children, eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

On March 1, Prince Philip was transferred to St. Bartholomews hospital, also in London, where tests were carried out on a pre-existing heart condition. A procedure for that condition was successfully carried out on March 4.

The prince retired from public life in August 2017.

Here are more stories of those we have lost in 2021
Stephanie Hill is a freelance writer and a teacher at St. Joseph Catholic School in Huntington. She is also a lifelong resident of Lawrence County. She can be reached at hill992@zoominternet.net. Or you can check out her website, stephsimply.com.
An Interstate 10 motorist was wounded in a road-rage shooting in New Orleans on Friday, closing the highway for about an hour, police said.

The man, 21, was eastbound in the right lane near Morrison Road around 12:30 p.m. when police say an "incident of road rage" occurred with the shooter. Authorities did not say what caused the issue.

The person, presumably in another vehicle, pointed their gun out of the vehicle and shot the 21-year-old several times, police said. The injured man went to a hospital for treatment and then was taken via EMS to another hospital.

While investigating, police closed eastbound I-10 at Chef Menteur Highway, backing up traffic on the high rise bridge over the Industrial Canal, according to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. All lanes of traffic reopened at about 2:45 p.m.

Police did not provide more information.

It was the second interstate highway shooting in New Orleans in less than 24 hours. Two people were wounded Thursday night on I-610.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect new information from authorities.
 Flash

Ecuador has received the first batch of vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac to protect against the novel coronavirus disease.



The vaccine arrived Wednesday on a commercial flight at Mariscal Sucre International Airport in the capital Quito, where the plane was received with a water salute, a time-honored tradition in aviation to greet or send off important flights and express gratitude.

Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno welcomed the arrival of the CoronaVac vaccine, along with Foreign Affairs Minister Manuel Mejia and Chinese Ambassador to Ecuador Chen Guoyou.

Wednesday's cargo marked the largest shipment of COVID-19 vaccine received by the South American country to date to boost its national immunization campaign.

"This fills us with optimism and it fills us with hope," Moreno expressed his joy at the cargo's arrival.

Ecuador is one of the Latin American countries hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with about 340,000 cases of infection and 12,158 deaths from the disease.

Mejia told Xinhua this "is a historic day" for Ecuador, since it began to receive large quantities of vaccine to move the national vaccination plan forward.

"We are very happy because it is the beginning of the recovery, so it is a really important day," Mejia said, noting that the ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries have made the arrival of vaccine possible.

Ambassador Chen said it was a very special and important day in bilateral ties, anti-epidemic cooperation, and the nationwide vaccination drive, noting that since the outbreak of the pandemic, leaders of the two countries had sent each other letters and messages, and spoken by phone to show mutual support in the fight against the coronavirus.

Bilateral cooperation "has seen new advances and fruits" in the framework of the pandemic, in which China has supported Ecuador with health supplies such as negative-pressure ambulances, ventilators and face masks, Chen added.
MINSK -- Belarusian lawmakers have approved several amendments to legislation that severely restricts civil rights and the free flow of information amid a crackdown on protests challenging the official results of a presidential election that handed authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka his sixth consecutive term.

The texts of the controversial amendments to the laws on extremism and mass media -- which come amid an ongoing crackdown on opposition groups who have said a presidential election last August was rigged in favor of Lukashenka -- were approved in the first reading on April 2 and placed on the official website for legal documents on April 9, marking the first time much of the information has been made public.

According to the amendments, any activities by individuals, political parties, or domestic or international organizations defined as damaging independence, territorial integrity, sovereignty, the basis of the constitutional order, and public safety will be considered "extremist."

In the wake of the August vote, thousands of Belarusians have taken to the streets in what has become the largest and most persistent show of opposition to Lukashenka over the nearly three decades he has held power.

More than 33,000 people have been arrested for participating in the demonstrations. Many have been beaten by police, while some have said they were tortured while in custody.

The European Union, the United States, and other nations have refused to recognize the declared results of the election.

Several Western nations, as well as the European Union, have slapped sanctions on Lukashenka and other senior Belarusian officials and the new amendments are likely to spark an outcry for further sanctions.

If approved and signed into law, the amendments would ban individual lawyers and private firms from defending people in some criminal and administrative cases. Most of the lawyers who work with Belarusian journalist associations and have defended RFE/RL reporters in recent months have already been stripped of their licenses.

The amendments also state that along with the violent seizure of power, the creation of illegal armed groups, and terrorist activities, the following actions will be considered as extremist activities: the distribution of false information; insulting an official; discrediting the state and governing organs; impeding the activities of the Central Election Commission and other state organs; the active participation and organization of events of so-called mass disorder; and making calls to take part in unsanctioned public events or financially supporting such events.

Media Crackdown

Amendments to the law on media will allow authorities to shut down media outlets after two written warnings regarding their activities during one year if the activities of such media outlets pose a "threat to the country's national security."

The amendments also mandate that state bodies can limit access to online publications if the Information Ministry finds that materials of such publications carry information that has been banned.

Belarusian state media reported earlier this week that lawmakers also approved amendments to the Criminal Code and laws on public assembly, state security, and the Internet, the full texts of which have not been made public yet.

Another amendment would make it mandatory to obtain preliminary permission from local authorities before holding public events, instead of preliminary notification to the authorities. It would also be illegal for media and social-network users to publish information about the dates, locations, and times of such public events. Live coverage of these events would also be illegal.

The amendments would also allow prosecutors to limit access to Internet publications that "distribute information that can damage the national interests of Belarus."

Amendments to six existing laws dealing with extremism would give law enforcement officers the right to use firearms at their own discretion without waiting for a command from supervisors. Police would also be allowed to ban taking photos or video. They would also be allowed to collect personal data of social-network users without court decisions or prosecutors' warrants.

Police would also be given the right to create lists of individuals they feel are inclined to participate in extremist activities. Once on such a list, a person would be banned from certain activities, including journalism, publishing, teaching, and their financial activities would be put under surveillance.

The amendments also allow the central bank to monitor cash withdrawals through foreign-issued debit cards and limit such withdrawals, as well as to freeze the bank accounts of "suspicious individuals."

With reporting by BelTA
Cooperation between the United States and China, the world's two largest economies, would be vital for a faster global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.



"What we see today is the U.S. and China being the two engines that are powering up the world economy. They are the first to be able to reach their pre-COVID levels among the large economies," Georgieva told Xinhua at a virtual press conference after a meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the policy-setting body of the IMF.

"Like the engines on a plane on which we are all passengers, it is important that they work in sync. Then we can fly faster, and we can get farther," she said.

Georgieva noted that she was "very encouraged" to see a very consistent view expressed by the United States and China on prospects for the recovery and their recognition of the responsibility they have for positive spillover impacts, as well as to recognize their significant roles.

"Other economies are also coming up, and that global cooperation, paying attention to who may be falling behind, is what has been at the center of our meetings," she said.

The IMFC also pledged to work together to end the pandemic everywhere and "strengthen multilateral cooperation" to ensure an inclusive and resilient global economy.

In its latest World Economic Outlook released Tuesday, the IMF projected that the global economy will grow by 6 percent in 2021, 0.5 percentage point above its January forecast.

The U.S. economy is expected to grow by 6.4 percent this year after a 3.5-percent contraction in 2020, while the Chinese economy is projected to expand by 8.4 percent in 2021 following a growth rate of 2.3 percent last year, according to the IMF.
Second wave of Covid-19 infections poses risks for banks: Fitch



on Friday said the second wave of Covid-19 infections poses increased risks for India's fragile economic recovery and its banks. The rating agency expects a moderately worse environment for the Indian banking sector in 2021, but headwinds would intensify if rising infections and follow-up measures to contain the virus further affect business and economic activity. READ MORE...

dies at 99



The husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II,  the Duke of Edinburgh, passed away on Friday aged 99, Buckingham Palace said. In a statement issued on behalf of the 94-year-old monarch, the palace said that the country's longest-serving royal consort died peacefully at Windsor Castle on Friday morning. READ MORE...

Dose shortage hits vaccination drive in Mumbai

Seventy-five of the 120 vaccination centres across Mumbai, including a jumbo COVID-19 facility in business district BKC, suspended inoculation on Friday morning due to a shortage of doses, BMC sources said. The remaining centres are likely to suspend the vaccination drive by afternoon or evening as the available stock is fast depleting. READ MORE...

J&J says in talks with Indian govt for trial of single-dose vaccine



Johnson & Johnson is in talks with India's government to begin a clinical trial of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in the country, the company said on Friday. The US drugs and healthcare giant's vaccine is currently approved for use in the United States, the European Union and other nations including Thailand and South Africa. READ MORE...
New Jersey health officials on Friday reported another 3,523 cases of the coronavirus and an additional 43 deaths as nearly half of the states adult population has received at least one COVID-19 vaccination dose.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced the latest numbers on the outbreak on social media before he is expected to be vaccinated along with his wife Tammy Murphy at the Atlantic City mega-site

New Jerseys seven-day average for confirmed cases is 3,360, down 18% from a week ago, but up 20% from a month ago.

The states 71 hospitals reported 2,358 patients as of Thursday night, down 20 people from a day earlier. Hospitalizations had been rising this week, but remain well below the recent high of 3,873 on Dec. 22.

New Jersey health facilities and vaccine centers have now administered more than 5.1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine since the states first shot was given Dec. 15. That includes more than 3.2 million people with at least one dose, about 47% of the states adult population, according to state data. Nearly 30% of New Jerseys adult population has been fully vaccinated.

The states rate of transmission declined again Friday to 1.01, following a steady drop through the week from 1.07 on Monday. Any number over 1 indicates that the outbreak is growing, with each new case leading to at least one other case. A declining transmission rate means the spread is slowing.

In all, New Jersey has now reported 831,260 coronavirus cases out of more than 12.5 million PCR tests since the state reported its first case on March 4, 2020. There have also been 115,244 positive antigen tests. 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 24,826 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19  22,253 confirmed deaths and 2,573 fatalities considered probable. The probable deaths, which are revised weekly, increased by five on Wednesday.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY

ATLANTIC COUNTY - 164,853 doses administered

BERGEN COUNTY - 577,382 doses administered

BURLINGTON COUNTY - 271,452 doses administered

CAMDEN COUNTY - 306,948 doses administered

CAPE MAY COUNTY - 68,766 doses administered

CUMBERLAND COUNTY - 70,959 doses administered

ESSEX COUNTY - 394,076 doses administered

GLOUCESTER COUNTY - 185,634 doses administered

HUDSON COUNTY - 296,602 doses administered

HUNTERDON COUNTY - 73,556 doses administered

MERCER COUNTY - 201,556 doses administered

MIDDLESEX COUNTY - 440,966 doses administered

MONMOUTH COUNTY - 382,466 doses administered

MORRIS COUNTY - 361,635 doses administered

OCEAN COUNTY - 310,408 doses administered

PASSAIC COUNTY - 234,378 doses administered

SALEM COUNTY - 32,896 doses administered

SOMERSET COUNTY - 209,752 doses administered

SUSSEX COUNTY - 80,801 doses administered

UNION COUNTY - 274,730 doses administered

WARREN COUNTY - 52,553 doses administered

UNKNOWN COUNTY - 21,286 doses administered

OUT OF STATE - 128,215 doses administered

COUNTY-BY-COUNTY NUMBERS (sorted by most new)

Middlesex County: 80,250 confirmed cases (408 new), 1,983 confirmed deaths (245 probable)

Essex County: 80,639 confirmed cases (365 new), 2,528 confirmed deaths (291 probable)

Bergen County: 83,471 confirmed cases (350 new), 2,464 confirmed deaths (294 probable)

Monmouth County: 63,384 confirmed cases (310 new), 1,384 confirmed deaths (137 probable)

Hudson County: 74,732 confirmed cases (307 new), 1,948 confirmed deaths (203 probable)

Ocean County: 62,049 confirmed cases (268 new), 1,870 confirmed deaths (155 probable)

Passaic County: 60,380 confirmed cases (247 new), 1,622 confirmed deaths (194 probable)

Union County: 56,644 confirmed cases (242 new), 1,661 confirmed deaths (216 probable)

Camden County: 44,731 confirmed cases (155 new), 1,137 confirmed deaths (97 probable)

Morris County: 39,621 confirmed cases (153 new), 946 confirmed deaths (241 probable)

Burlington County: 35,624 confirmed cases (144 new), 742 confirmed deaths (63 probable)

Somerset County: 22,586 confirmed cases (107 new), 705 confirmed deaths (105 probable)

Mercer County: 29,752 confirmed cases (105 new), 868 confirmed deaths (43 probable)

Atlantic County: 23,138 confirmed cases (100 new), 596 confirmed deaths (35 probable)

Gloucester County: 24,244 confirmed cases (58 new), 555 confirmed deaths (30 probable)

Hunterdon County: 8,069 confirmed cases (45 new), 117 confirmed deaths (54 probable)

Sussex County: 10,508 confirmed cases (45 new), 221 confirmed deaths (66 probable)

Warren County: 7,970 confirmed cases (41 new), 204 confirmed deaths (25 probable)

Salem County: 4,915 confirmed cases (24 new), 158 confirmed deaths (13 probable)

Cumberland County: 13,483 confirmed cases (23 new), 375 confirmed deaths (36 probable)

Cape May County: 4,265 confirmed cases (14 new), 169 confirmed deaths (30 probable)

HOSPITALIZATIONS

There were 2,358 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jerseys 71 hospitals as of Thursday night  20 fewer than the previous night.

That included 460 in critical or intensive care (four more than the night before), with 266 on ventilators (two more).

There were also 324 COVID-19 patients discharged Thursday.

By comparison, hospitalizations peaked at more than 8,300 patients during the first wave of the pandemic in April.

SCHOOL CASES

New Jersey has reported 240 in-school coronavirus outbreaks, which have resulted in 1,070 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. But Murphy clarified Tuesday that students and teachers who have health issues that could put them at greater risk of a serious coronavirus case will have a virtual option.

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 (22.9%), 18-29 (19.8%), 65-79 (10.4%), 5-17 (9.4%), 80 and older (4.6%) and 0-4 (1.9%).

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 (46.87%), followed by those 65-79 (32.89%), 50-64 (15.78%), 30-49 (4.05%), 18-29 (0.39%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0.03%).

At least 7,989 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 225 facilities, resulting in 3,676 active cases among residents and 4,366 among staffers. Those numbers have been slowing as vaccinations continue at the facilities.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of Friday, there have been more than 134 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.9 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications.

The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 31 million, and the most deaths, at more than 560,100.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com.
She revealed this week that she was set to to move into her brand new 'dream home' with beau Ercan Ramadan.

And Vicky Pattison appeared to celebrate the big move a little too much on Friday as she got drunk on three glasses of champagne, smashed a glass on her driveway and ended up in bed by 6pm.

Taking to her Instagram, the TV personality, 33, documented her moving day as she and Ercan prepared to start afresh in their new abode.

Tipsy: Vicky Pattison celebrated her house move a little too much on Friday as she got drunk on three glasses of champagne, smashed a glass on her driveway and ended up in bed by 6pm

Moving home certainly appeared to be thirsty work for Vicky as she shared a video of herself reaching for the bubbly after settling in.

She also shared a snap of herself holding up a glass of champagne as she celebrated the big moment in her life.

But Vicky appeared to take the celebrations a little too far as she shared a hilarious snap to her stories revealing she was now 'drunk' after one glass too many and not enough food.

Alongside a bare-faced selfie, she wrote: 'Who got drunk off 3 glasses of champagne, accidentally smashed a glass on her new drive way and is now in bed by 6pm because all she ate was a mini sausage roll?!!'

The big day: Taking to her Instagram, the TV personality, 33, documented her moving day as she and beau Ercan Ramadan prepared to start afresh in their new abode

She then added an arrow pointing to her face alongside the reply: 'This p***k'.

The I'm A Celebrity star then shared a snap of herself and Ercan with the moving van outside their home as they enjoyed a celebratory drink.

Captioning the snap, Vicky penned: 'WE MOVED!!!!! What a crazy 48 hours it has been... we are now all snug and sorted in our new home (albeit a little bit tipsy! Serves me right for having 3 glasses of champagne on nothing but a mini sausage roll and 3 wine gums).

Bottoms up! Moving home certainly appeared to be thirsty work for Vicky as she shared a video of herself reaching for the bubbly after settling in

Oh dear! Vicky appeared to take the celebrations a little too far as she shared a hilarious snap to her stories revealing she was now 'drunk' after one glass too many and not enough food

After thanking the moving company, she added: 'We are now off to collapse into bed, pour over our new deliveroo options and be really happy drunk little bears!!

'Oh and Thankyou so much for all the nice things you guys have said to us about the move- youre all so lovely. Me and @ercan_ram are overwhelmed with your kindness. Ps home account pending... WE PROMISE.'

Vicky had earlier taken to her stories where she, Ercan and a neighbour helping them moved celebrated their last night in their flat with a takeaway pizza.

New start: The I'm A Celebrity star then shared a snap of herself and Ercan with the moving van outside their home and penned a caption about their exciting (and tipsy) moving day

The Geordie Shore alumni then filmed herself in bed as she prepared to go to sleep ahead of an early start the next day.

Next up, Vicky addressed her fans as she sat in their car as they drove away from her flat for the very last time.

She said: 'That is us all packed up and officially on route to our new house. The flat looked so lovely without all of our s**t in it, I almost didn't want to say goodbye but we have.

'I said goodbye to my neighbour Hannah, I nearly cried saying goodbye to her but we're dead excited.'

Goodbye for now: Vicky had earlier taken to her stories where she, Ercan and a neighbour helping them moved celebrated their last night in their flat with a takeaway pizza

Big day ahead: The Geordie Shore alumni then filmed herself in bed as she prepared to go to sleep ahead of an early start the next day

After sharing a glimpse of their packed car, Vicky exclaimed 'this is it gang!' before turning to Ercan, who was driving, to ask if he was excited.

Earlier in the morning, the media personality also shared a make-up free selfie amid a sea of cardboard boxes ahead of the big move.

It comes after she gave fans a glimpse inside her 'dream home' with boyfriend Ercan on Thursday.

The beauty shared photos and videos of her stylish new house, revealing she had 'debated posting this' as she didn't want to appear 'smug'.

Showing off the property's smart exterior and plush interiors, Vicky explained in a lengthy Instagram caption: 'Proper pinch me moment today,' before sparing a thought to those for whom 'this year has presented so many hardships'.

New beginnings: It comes after she gave fans a glimpse inside her 'dream home' with boyfriend Ercan on Thursday

Sharing a snap of herself throwing her arms into the air outside her new doorway, the brunette beauty began: 'SNEAK PEEK. Proper pinch me moment today as I went to see our new home & have a little walk through with our designer!

'It is just as beautiful as I remembered & I'm so excited to get our teeth in to decorating it & turning it in to our dream home.'

She then explained that she didn't want to appear to be 'showing off' but added: 'I've always been super honest on Instagram.'

Vicky continued: 'I've debated posting this as the last thing I want to do is come across as smug or bloody showing off- especially in a year that has presented so many hardships for so many people.

'But I've always been super honest on Instagram, showing the good as well as the bad- & it's important for us to celebrate our wins as much as it is for us to own our losses. So here goes.'

Happy: The Geordie Shore star inundated her fans with photos and videos of her stylish new house, revealing she had 'debated posting this' as she didn't want to appear 'smug'

Stylish: Taking to her Instagram Stories later in the day, Vicky proudly showed off various rooms in her new abode

The former I'm a Celebrity star emphasised that she wasn't a 'flashy person' but explained having a 'nice house' has always been a goal of hers.

'I am not a flashy person, I don't have fancy cars (predominantly because I can't drive to be fair), expensive watches don't interest me & ostentatious shows of wealth have never been my cup of tea,' Vicky told fans.

'I grew up understanding the importance of hard work & subsequently I respect what i earn & my goal has always been the same- I wanted to look after my family & friends & have a nice house.'

Vicky then revealed that for years she has been told she 'wouldn't amount to anything', adding: 'If you are told anything enough, you start to believe it.'

Candid: The brunette beauty began: 'SNEAK PEEK. Proper pinch me moment today today as I went to see our new home & have a little walk through with our designer!'

She elaborated: 'For years I was told that I wouldn't amount to anything, I had agents tell me not to leave geordie shore- I'd be a fool to walk away- as there was nothing for me outside of that show.

'I had people tell me I'd never be in the jungle- they'd never put someone like you in there, boyfriends tell me I wasn't good enough, I was told I'd never be able to do shows on channels like the BBC.

'I have been doubted, put down & told to stay in my lane- & the sad things is- If you are told anything enough, you start to believe it.'

Concluding her post on an inspirational note, Vicky said: 'This is a post for anyone that has ever been doubted or put down or told their dreams were too big- it doesn't matter what anyone else is saying- all that matters is how you talk to yourself.'

Chic: Elsewhere in the beautifully-designed kitchen was an island, funky lighting and a white circular table

She continued: '& you best make sure every day you tell yourself that you are worthy, you are strong, you are smart & you WILL achieve whatever it is you want out of life.

'If you work hard, be kind & put good things out there.. There is only one way your life will go guys. Remember, that little girls with dreams become women with vision.

'And there is no way you can stop a woman who knows what she wants in life & isn't afraid to go for it. Here's to all the dream chasers.'

Lots to do: Showing off more rooms in the home, Vicky revealed that there is plenty of unpacking to get through, with some spaces full of cardboard boxes

Taking to her Instagram Stories later in the day, Vicky proudly showed off various rooms in her new abode, including a beautifully-designed kitchen that featured an island, funky lighting, an enormous neon sign that read: 'You're the gin to my tonic' and a circular dining table.

Vicky soared to fame on Geordie Shore, which she appeared in from 2011 until 2014.

The reality star went on to win I'm A Celebrity in 2015 and co-hosted the spin-off show, Extra Camp, in 2016.


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Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/09/2021 -- A new business intelligence report released by HTF MI with title "Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Market Growth (Status and Outlook) 2021-2026" is designed covering micro level of analysis by manufacturers and key business segments. The Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Market survey analysis offers energetic visions to conclude and study market size, market hopes, and competitive surroundings. The research is derived through primary and secondary statistics sources and it comprises both qualitative and quantitative detailing. Some of the key players profiled in the study are Qualys (US), Rapid7 (US), DXC Technology (US), AttackIQ (US), Cymulate (Israel), XM Cyber (Israel), Skybox Security (US), SafeBreach (US), Firemon (US), Verdoin (FireEye) (US), NopSec (US), Threatcare (US), Mazebolt (US), Scythe (US), Cronus-Cyber Technologies (Israel) & Pcysys (Israel).



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Key Applications/end-users of Global Internet Breach and Attack SimulationMarket: Enterprise, Data Centers & Service Providers



Top Players in the Market are: Qualys (US), Rapid7 (US), DXC Technology (US), AttackIQ (US), Cymulate (Israel), XM Cyber (Israel), Skybox Security (US), SafeBreach (US), Firemon (US), Verdoin (FireEye) (US), NopSec (US), Threatcare (US), Mazebolt (US), Scythe (US), Cronus-Cyber Technologies (Israel) & Pcysys (Israel)



Region Included are: Americas, United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, APAC, China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, India, Australia, Europe, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Middle East & Africa, Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Turkey & GCC Countries



Important Features that are under offering & key highlights of the report:

 Detailed overview of Internet Breach and Attack Simulation market

 Changing market dynamics of the industry

 In-depth market segmentation by Type, Application etc

 Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value

 Recent industry trends and developments

 Competitive landscape of Internet Breach and Attack Simulation market

 Strategies of key players and product offerings

 Potential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growth

 A neutral perspective towards Internet Breach and Attack Simulation market performance

 Market players information to sustain and enhance their footprint



Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/3207684-global-internet-breach-and-attack-simulation-market-growth



Major Highlights of TOC:

Chapter One: Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Market Industry Overview

1.1 Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Industry

1.1.1 Overview

1.1.2 Products of Major Companies

1.2 Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Market Segment

1.2.1 Industry Chain

1.2.2 Consumer Distribution

1.3 Price & Cost Overview



Chapter Two: Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Market Demand

2.1 Segment Overview

2.1.1 APPLICATION 1

2.1.2 APPLICATION 2

2.1.3 Other

2.2 Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Market Size by Demand

2.3 Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Market Forecast by Demand



Chapter Three: Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Market by Type

3.1 By Type

3.1.1 TYPE 1

3.1.2 TYPE 2

3.2 Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Market Size by Type

3.3 Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Market Forecast by Type



Chapter Four: Major Region of Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Market

4.1 Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Sales

4.2 Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Revenue & market share



Chapter Five: Major Companies List



Chapter Six: Conclusion



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Key questions answered

- How Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation Market Growth & Size is Changing with Years to Come?

- Who are the Leading key players and what are their Key Business plans in the Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation market?

- What are the key concerns of the five forces analysis of the Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation market?

- What are different prospects and threats faced by the dealers in the Global Internet Breach and Attack Simulation market?

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?



Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.



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BOISE  Idaho Republicans want the state to no longer collect adults vaccine records and to destroy any information they have collected, potentially putting in jeopardy state officials efforts to track progress on administering COVID-19 vaccines.

GOP legislative leaders on Friday accused the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare of violating Idaho law by collecting adult records on immunization status. They called on state officials to immediately stop collecting information and destroy any registration information held by the department.

This practice goes beyond simple regulatory overreach. This has the potential to be an abuse of the peoples trust, House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said in a news release. We believe Department of Health and Welfare has no statutory authority to collect immunization data on Idaho adults.

In a letter, Bedke urged Attorney General Lawrence Wasden to direct the department to stop its collection efforts. All eight GOP leaders on the House and Senate signed the letter. Bedke and Majority Caucus Chair Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, did not respond to a question about whether they want the department to stop collecting records on COVID-19 vaccines.

Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen said state officials have followed the law.

I am confident the Department of Health and Welfare has complied with state and federal law for many years and currently is in compliance with regard to collecting adult and childrens immunization data, Jeppesen said in a released statement Friday. In fact, we have worked closely for many years with the office of the Idaho attorney general on this issue, and we look forward to their opinion on the matter.

Republicans allege that Idahos code allows immunization records to be collected only about children against childhood diseases.

Several legislators requested their personal records reported to Idahos Immunization Reminder Information System, the states vaccine health record, and found multiple reports listing adult vaccination records for different vaccines over the years, according to the House Republicans press release.

Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday signed an executive order banning the use of COVID-19 vaccine passports by the state. The order explicitly did not bar the normal operation of Idahos existing Immunization Reminder Information System.

Providers are required to report administered vaccines to IRIS within 72 hours, according to the health department. State health officials use IRIS to remove names off Idahos COVID-19 pre-registration system to reduce duplicate attempts to schedule people for vaccines.

Jeppesen encouraged Idaho residents to continue to be included in IRIS to help health care providers stay informed about their patients, but pointed out that anyone can opt out of IRIS. Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Lukes, said health officials can benefit from detailed collected information on immunization to recognize gaps in the public health system and help them target their efforts  for example, in a certain geographic area or demographic.

What weve seen recurrently from the Legislature is absolutely no commitment to public health, period, Pate told the Statesman on Friday. Add this to the list of the things that the Legislature right now is doing that is just putting more Idahoans at risk now and in the future.

Scott Graf, spokesperson for the attorney general, in a statement said Wasden received the letter from legislative leadership.

The office takes seriously the concerns raised and is analyzing the issue, Graf said.

CEOs Advocate for Vaccines in Back-to-the-Office Push
SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ACL Digital, a design-led Digital Experience, Product Innovation, Engineering R&D services, and Consulting offerings leader, announced today that it has received TI's highest level of supplier recognition, the 2020 Supplier Excellence Award for demonstrating commitment to the highest level of ethical behaviour, as well as meeting and exceeding expectations for cost, environmental and social responsibility, technology, responsiveness, assurance of supply and quality (CETRAQ).

TI is a global semiconductor design and manufacturing company that develops analog integrated circuits (ICs) and embedded processors. TI recognizes ACL Digital as one of its top suppliers to serve its customers through quality, innovation, and performance.

ACL Digital, a global provider of semiconductor design services & solutions, has expertise in spec-to-silicon-to-system designs of complex System-on-Chips (SoCs) and Embedded Systems to help customers transform their ideas into designs and devices for Automotive, Data Center, High Performance Computing, AI/IoT and 5G markets.

Gerald Attia, Deputy CEO of ALTEN Group and Chairman Board of Directors, ACL Digital, said, "We are honoured to receive the prestigious '2020 Supplier Excellence Award' from Texas Instruments. The award recognizes our efforts on our commitment to quality, flexibility and competitive pricing. Working with TI has been an enriching experience and this award is a testament of our commitment and delivery capabilities that we have demonstrated to our customers across the globe. We look forward to continued collaboration with TI with a deep focus on quality and customer satisfaction."

About ACL Digital

A pioneer in delivering Business Innovation, Integration and Transformation through disruptive technologies, ACL Digital brings in competitive advantage, innovation, and fresh perspectives to business challenges. With a multi-cultural and transnational talent and as part of the ALTEN Group comprising over 37,000 employees spread across more than 25 countries, it promotes a collaborative knowledge-building environment. The company's semiconductor service portfolio has a strong focus on R&D initiatives that are aligned with the market requirements and embraces the complete process from concept to physical design.

For further information, please visit https://www.acldigital.com/offerings/embedded-and-semiconductor

SOURCE ACL Digital
Enabling rioting would additionally become a Class B misdemeanor. The charge applies to anyone present while members of an unlawful assembly are committing a felony, knows that the action is criminal and fails to leave the area or report the act to police. Currently, it carries no penalty.
Denmark-based Everfuel A/S has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with an undisclosed German-Norwegian shipping company for collaboration on hydrogen supply to a new zero-emission shipping solution.

The two parties are exploring a cooperation whereby Everfuel will be responsible for delivery of hydrogen, including planning, installation and operation of an optimized, scalable fueling solution. The intent is to establish firm contracts for long-term hydrogen supply and offtake to projects under development by the undisclosed partner which aims to become a leading zero-emission shipping company in Europe.

Targeted start of operation is early 2023 with an initial ship, which is expected to consume approximately 1,000 kg of hydrogen per day.

The two parties are currently developing technical and commercial information and maturing the commercial and operational framework, including identification of potential fueling sites and permitting processes required for investment decision.

Everfuel is well-positioned to provide maritime fueling solutions across Scandinavia and Europe. The company plans to initially supply hydrogen from its HySynergy facility in Fredericia using a new inhouse developed fueling solution.

The purpose of the HySynergy project is to establish phase I of large-scale production and storage of green hydrogen that will support the reduction of the carbon footprint within the existing Shell Fredericia refinery processes as well as establish a competitive supply of green hydrogen as zero emission fuel for heavy-duty transportation. The plan is to expand the scope of the PtX (Power-to-X) plant up to 1 GW before 2030 and thereby contribute significantly toward the Danish government goal of 70% CO 2 reduction.





In HySynergy a large-scale production of green hydrogen will demonstrate how fluctuating renewable energy sources can be converted and stored effectively to balance the time-difference between production and use of energy. Throughout the project, technology, regulation and business models, to enable hydrogen production, will be adapted and influenced to ensure that green hydrogen production based on fluctuating renewable energy sources (offshore wind/solar) will compete on fully commercial terms.

Several strong partners from the local energy industry are involved in the HySynergy project besides Everfuel:

The Shell Refinery as off-taker of the green hydrogen

Aktive Energi Anlg (AEA) as EPC partner for the construction

Trefor Elnet as the power DSO

Energinet as the power TSO

TVIS for incorporating surplus heat in the district heating system

EWII as power grid analyst

The project is supported with 6.5 million from the Danish Energy Agency. When constructed Everfuel will be the operator and owner of the hydrogen facility.
Biden to rush vaccinators to Michigan as gov urges limits View Photo

WASHINGTON (AP)  Washington will rush federal resources to support vaccinations, testing and treatments, but not vaccines, to Michigan in an effort to control the states worst-in-the-nation COVID-19 outbreak, the White House said Friday.

The announcement came as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer strongly recommended, but did not order, a two-week pause on face-to-face high school instruction, indoor restaurant dining and youth sports. She cited more contagious coronavirus variants and pandemic fatigue as factors in the surge, which has led some hospitals to postpone non-emergency procedures.

Statewide hospitalizations have quadrupled in a month and are nearing peak levels from last spring and fall.

Policy alone wont change the tide. We need everyone to step up and to take personal responsibility, Whitmer said Friday, while not ruling out future restrictions. Michigans seven-day case rate was 506 per 100,000 people, well above second-worst New Jersey, with 314 per 100,000 residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Joe Biden outlined the federal actions late Thursday in a call with Whitmer to discuss the dire situation in the state, according to senior administration officials. The response will not include a surge of vaccine doses, a move Whitmer has advocated and which is backed by Michigan legislators and members of Congress.

Instead, Biden talked about how the federal government was planning to help Michigan better utilize doses already allocated to the state, as well as to increase testing capacity and provide more medications used to treat the sick.

Whitmer, a Democrat, confirmed that she asked Biden on the call to send more vaccine doses to Michigan, particularly the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot.

I made the case for a surge strategy, she said. At this point, thats not being deployed, but I am not giving up.

Today its Michigan and the Midwest, she added. Tomorrow, it could be another section of our country. I really believe that the most important thing we can do is put our efforts into squelching where the hot spots are.

Doses are allocated to states proportionally by population, but Whitmer has called for extra doses to be shifted to states, like hers, that are experiencing a sharp rise in cases. The Biden administration isnt ready to make such changes.

Were going to stick with the allocation system of allocating by state adult population, said White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients, calling it the fair and equitable way to distribute vaccines. He said the administration was looking to help Michigan administer more of its vaccines efficiently.

When Whitmer began calling for more doses from Washington, the state had not maxed out its orders for vaccines from the federal government, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the situation.

Gen. Gustave Perna, the top federal official overseeing vaccine distribution, raised the issue of gaps between states allotments and their orders on Tuesday in a White House call with the nations governors. On Thursday, Biden administration officials huddled directly with the Michigan health department to discuss the states ordering strategy and ensure that it uses its entire allotment.

We actually met with the White House team yesterday and walked through our entire ordering strategy, and when we ordered what and when, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, a top state health official, said Friday. Its very clear. They agreed with us that we are ordering all of the vaccines that are available to us.

Federal officials said providing more doses would not be as immediately effective in curbing Michigans virus spike as increasing testing, restoring measures like mask wearing, and foregoing high-risk activities. Thats because vaccines take at least two weeks to begin providing immunity.

Biden told Whitmer that his administration stands ready to send an additional 160 Federal Emergency Management Agency and CDC personnel to Michigan to assist in vaccinations, on top of the 230 federal personnel already deployed to the state to support pandemic response operations.

Hes also directing the administration to prioritize the distribution of doses through federal channels, like the retail pharmacy program and community health centers, to areas of the state Whitmer identifies.

We are at war with this virus, which requires leaders from across the country to work together, said White House spokesperson Chris Meagher. Were in close contact with Gov. Whitmer, who is working hard to keep Michigan safe, and working in close coordination through a range of options that can help stop the spread of the virus.

Michigan ranked 35th among states in its vaccination rate. About 40% of Michigan residents ages 16 and older have gotten at least one vaccine dose.

The governors recommended high school closure drew mixed reaction in education circles. Her administration closed high schools for a month during the states second surge late last fall.

Research has shown schools can be safe places for in-person learning, so long as community spread is under control  but with higher risk in our communities comes higher risk in classrooms, said Michigan Education Association President Paula Herbart, whose union urged a similar two-week suspension of in-person learning at elementary and middle schools and colleges.

Restaurants, meanwhile, questioned Whitmers recommendation not to eat inside but welcomed the call for more vaccines.

We trust our operators to continue to provide a safe environment indoors or out in the coming weeks and we trust Michiganders to do their part to act responsibly and respectfully to help us all achieve that outcome, said Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association.

___

Eggert reported from Lansing, Mich.

By ZEKE MILLER and DAVID EGGERT

Associated Press
Appointment

9 April 2021

International luxury hospitality leader Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts announces the addition of Marc Speichert to its executive leadership team in the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, effective May 3, 2021.

Speichert joins Four Seasons in this newly created role at a critical time in the hospitality industry. He will oversee the development and execution of the company's integrated commercial strategy with a mandate that includes the identification of new products and markets; revenue growth across the company; brand marketing, global public relations and social media; data analytics, market insights and customer engagement; the brand's extensive digital ecosystem; and global distribution and worldwide reservations.

In collaboration with other members of the executive leadership team, Speichert will be involved in all touchpoints of the Four Seasons guest experience, from the brand's hotels and resorts, restaurants, bars and spas, to the growing Four Seasons residential portfolio and product extensions including the Four Seasons Private Jet and online retail program, as well as digital engagement through social media and the Four Seasons App.

Prior to joining Four Seasons, Speichert was Global Chief Digital Officer at GSK Consumer Healthcare for four years, where he led the digital transformation of its marketing functions, and more recently added supply chain, research and development, and the company's broader marketing transformation to his scope of work.

Previously, Speichert was a senior executive at Google on its global clients and agency solutions team, partnering with major global brands including Estee Lauder, Johnson & Johnson, Pepsi, Microsoft and Apple. Prior to Google, he was the first Chief Marketing Officer at L'Oreal, spearheading the brand's digital strategy to global recognition as a leader among packaged goods companies. He began his marketing career with a progressive twelve-year tenure at Colgate-Palmolive.

Speichert holds a Masters in Marketing Management from ESCP Business School in Paris, and has many industry accolades to his credit, including being named among the World's Top 25 Most Influential CMOs by Forbes Magazine as well as being recognised as a top healthcare influencer and transformer by MM&M (Medical, Marketing & Media).

Speichert currently serves as Chairman of MMA Global's Chief Digital Officer Board (CDO Board), helping member organisations re-think the ever-evolving needs of consumers and customers in an increasingly digital world. He also sits on the advisory board of Glasswing Ventures, a VC fund focused on funding entrepreneurs harnessing the power of AI and frontier technologies.

Speichert will initially be based in London, England with plans to relocate to Four Seasons offices in New York City.
WATERVLIET  Police said they arrested a 17-year-old from Troy after a gunshot was fired through several apartments late Wednesday, the bullet ending up embedded in in the wall of a bedroom where a six-year-old was sleeping.

When Watervliet police went to Joslin Apartment Complex on 2nd Avenue for the 10:13 p.m. call they found a bullet entry hole in an outside building wall which had traveled through several interior apartment walls, including the bedroom where the child was sleeping. No injuries were reported, and authorities dont believe the shots targeted any specific person or residence.
The Royal Family of Romania on Friday expressed their "unspeakable sadness" at the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain.

"Her Majesty the Crown Custodian and His Royal Highness the Prince Consort, along with the entire Royal Family, learned with great sadness the news of the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The Consort of the British Sovereign passed away this morning at Windsor Castle," reads a post on the Facebook page of the Royal Family of Romania, agerpres.ro confirms.

According to the same source, Prince Philip and King Mihai I, born in the same year, were cousins and maintained "a lifelong friendship."

"The Duke of Edinburgh baptized Her Majesty Margareta the Crown Custodian and cared for her in school, high school and college. Prince Philip, along with Queen Elizabeth, was always present in the life of the Romanian Royal Family. After the passing of King Mihai I, for Her Majesty Margareta, the Duke of Edinburgh was a father figure. All generations in the Romanian and British Royal Families have been close, but for today's generation, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip remain as spiritual models, fundamental sources of inspiration," also shows the message.

Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, has died at the age of 99, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday, Reuters reports.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference where he provided an update to Texas's response to COVID-19 in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 17, 2020. (Eric Gay/AP Photo)

Abbott Urges Legislation to Make Texas a Second Amendment Sanctuary State

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on April 9 publicly denounced the Biden administrations planned actions on gun control and called for legislation to make Texas a Second Amendment sanctuary state.

Biden is threatening our 2nd Amendment rights, Abbott said on Twitter. He just announced a new liberal power grab to take away our guns.

The Republican governor added, We will NOT allow this in TX. Its time to get legislation making TX a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary State passed and to my desk for signing.

Abbott commented on Arizona Gov. Doug Duceys signing of legislation on April 6 that would ban state law enforcement from enforcing federal gun control laws that infringe upon the Second Amendment.

This is what Im seeking for Texasa law to defy any new federal gun control laws, he wrote. It will make Texas a Second Amendment Sanctuary State. Legislation is moving in the Texas House and Senate. I look forward to signing it.

The Texan governors statement comes after President Joe Biden announced several gun control measures on April 7. Biden in his announcement cited two recent high-profile shootings that took place in Boulder, Colorado, and Atlanta, Georgia, calling the events part of a gun violence public health epidemic.

On April 6, the Texas House State Affairs Committee approved a billthe Texas HB 2622that would make Texas a second amendment sanctuary state. Abbott in March signalled his support for the legislation, saying the bill would forbid Texas state agencies & local governments from enforcing new federal gun laws or rules.

Texas state Rep. Justin Holland, who is an author of the bill, said at a committee hearing last week that it does not and cannot prevent federal government from enforcing their new laws, regulations, and restrictions, reported The Texan News.

We just wont enforce or allow their policies, or direct state resources to any federal efforts in Texas, Holland added.

A similar billTexas SB 541is being considered in the state senate.
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FARMINGTON  A project designed to provide clean drinking water to thousands of people living on tribal lands took a big step forward this month.

Tribal, state and federal officials have signed a memorandum of understanding that clarifies regulatory roles and responsibilities, including those for drinking water regulations, for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project.

Drinking water jurisdiction across northwest New Mexico is incredibly complex, involving a mix of federal, state, tribal and private entities. The MOU clarifies government oversight and regulatory roles and responsibilities of the parties involved, a joint news release from several agencies stated.

The project consists of approximately 280 miles of pipeline, pumping plants and two water treatment plants. When completed in 2027, it will deliver water from the San Juan River Basin to Gallup, the southwestern portion of the Jicarilla Apache Nation and to 43 chapters on the Navajo Nation.

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The Navajo Nation, New Mexico Environment Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Regions 6 and 9 announced the memorandum of understanding April 7. The project is being completed by the Bureau of Reclamation.

The 15-page document was signed on various dates in March and April by officials, who commented in the joint news release about its implementation.

With the signing of this MOU, we as current leaders, are moving forward together on the path to providing clean drinking water to thousands of Navajo people. Many families will soon have access to running water in their homes thanks to the work being done with our state and federal partners, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said.

The water supply project is a major component of the settlement agreement between the Navajo Nation and the state of New Mexico for the use of waters in the San Juan River Basin in the northwest part of the state.

State Environment Secretary James Kenney said the memorandum of understanding respects the jurisdiction of each agency and its purpose adds to the success of water delivery throughout this massive project.

Public health agencies can rarely solve complex problems alone, Kenney said.

The collaboration between the government entities advances the project and assures the delivery of a safe and sustainable water supply, said Deborah Jordan, acting regional administrator for the EPAs Region 9.

Construction of the project was authorized in a federal measure passed by Congress and signed into law by former President Barack Obama in 2009.
The International Center for Interdisciplinary Science and Education (ICISE) in Binh Dinh Province, central Vietnam. Photo courtesy of ICISE.

Part of a science-education center founded by Vietnamese French physicist Tran Thanh Van in central Vietnam will be exempt from rent payments over a period of 10 years.

The exemption applies to an area of 17 hectares (42 acres) of the International Center for Interdisciplinary Science and Education (ICISE) in the coastal town of Quy Nhon of central Binh Dinh Province from 2011 to 2020.

The center will also be freed from late rental payment fees in accordance with the land lease exemption.

The decision was made by the government in response to a proposal by the physicist.

Professor Van is a leading physicist at France's National Center for Scientific Research who founded Meeting Vietnam, an association for local and international scientists to collaborate and exchange expertise.

The association has been organizing international seminars in Quy Nhon since 2000 and became an annual event in 2011, with support from local authorities and Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology.

In 2008, Van chose Quy Nhon to build a center where Vietnamese and global scientists could gather for conferences and research to boost local exposure.

For procedures to invest in this project, Meeting Vietnam established a legal entity called ICISE Co. Ltd.

In August 2011, Binh Dinh authorities gave ICISE a land plot of more than 21 hectares in Quy Hoa Valley of Ghenh Rang Ward in Quy Nhon Town to build the center.

Of the plot, more than 4.3 hectares have been used to build hotels and restaurants, with ICISE having paid rent for 50 years.

The 17-hectare area will host an observatory, research facilities, and those serving international conferences and seminars, with Binh Dinh authorities having promised to a land lease exemption while the project was still on paper.

However, as the project was a first for Vietnam, the province had no authority to apply for exemption.

In 2013, the center was completed and put into use, though the land lease continued to remain a problem. By mid-2020, the center owed more than VND7 billion ($303,225) in land rental.

Given the situation, the Ministry of Science and Technology had last year proposed the prime minister to grant the exemption for the 17-hectare area over 50 years.

The ministry argued that ICISE served the development of science, education, and training and did not operate for profit. The center also contributed to Vietnam's scientific development, connecting the nation to the world.

However, the Ministry of Finance said ICISE operated as a company in the field of science and education and did not belong to the group exempted from all land use fees.

But then the center kept reporting losses, with a sum of VND16 billion in the 2011-2018 period.

To support the center, the Finance Ministry then asked the then Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to apply the exemption for the center in the period from 2011 to 2020 instead of 50 years as originally proposed.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets with Professor Tran Thanh Van (R) at the International Center for Interdisciplinary Science and Education (ICISE) in Binh Dinh Province, 2019. Photo courtesy of ICISE.

Tran Thanh Son, deputy director of ICISE, said: "We're really glad the PM had eventually agreed to exempt the land lease for the first 10 years, though the project still has 40 years more to go. We wish the government would make adjustments to existing regulations so the center could continue to operate without having to worry about money."

Such a move will not just help the center financially but will also show the government's support for scientific research, encouraging overseas Vietnamese scientists to contribute to the country's scientific development.

Professor Tran Thanh Van left Vietnam in 1953 when he was 16 to study in France.

His initial intention after graduating from high school was to become an engineer, but a meeting with professor Maurice Levy, one of the founding fathers of atomic physics in France, influenced him to switch.

At the age of 27, he successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on basic particle physics, pointing out the proton was not the smallest particle. Scientists later said it was the quark.

In 1958, Van started working at the French National Center for Scientific Research and received the Legion of Honor, or Ordre national de la Legion d'honneur, the highest French order of merit for military and civil personnel, in 1999.
A shipping container full of furniture, doors, beds, mattresses and 27,000 pounds of metal departed Brandon on Thursday morning for a journey that will take it to Canadas east coast and beyond.

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A shipping container full of furniture, doors, beds, mattresses and 27,000 pounds of metal departed Brandon on Thursday morning for a journey that will take it to Canadas east coast and beyond.

All of the items are destined for Haiti, contributing to a transitional housing complex being built by Brandon-based charity Live Different.

The metal, which will be used for the cladding in the complex, was donated by Behlen Industries for the project.

Also donated was the use of Behlens east end facility to package the Haiti-bound goods and prepare them for shipment.

Originally loaded onto a detached flat-bed trailer, several Behlen workers worked together Thursday morning to slide the package into an empty shipping container on a trailer hooked up to a truck.

Live Different CEO Charles Roberts said Behlens donation started to materialize in 2018, when he encountered Behlen owner Russ Edwards at the charitys annual gala at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Edwards made a commitment to help with the project.

Formerly based in Toronto, Live Different closed its office at the beginning of the pandemic and started to have its employees work remotely. Roberts and some of the staff live in Brandon, which has become the charitys official address.

"Our mission is to empower and engage youth into a lifestyle of compassion and service," said Roberts. "Its about getting outside yourself and serving other people and caring for other people. Holistically, our organization does motivational assemblies and work with high school students all across Canada. We do a lot of work in Indigenous communities and northern Manitoba."

They also arrange for trips to foreign countries. To this point, Roberts said Live Different has built more than 500 homes and a dozen schools in four different countries: Haiti, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Thailand.

Loaded up, the shipping container is ready to begin its long journey from Brandon to Haiti, where the materials will be used by charity Live Different to build a freedom village for trafficked girls. (Colin Slark/The Brandon Sun)

The charity has already built a school in Haiti, which has been operating since 2010.

Roberts calls the transitional housing being built a "freedom village" for girls in Haiti who have been trafficked. He said theres a significant cycle of poverty in the country, especially among people referred to as "restavecs."

Translated literally from French, it means "stays with." People referred to by this term are children who have been sent by their parents to work as domestic servants in another household.

Roberts categorizes this as a form of slavery, with the children being used for these purposes having limited access to education and subject to physical and sexual abuse.

"This freedom village is a transition home for young girls who have been caught in this restavec system," he said. "The village consists of five different homes, and each home has room for six girls and one house mother."

He said Behlen was "really incredible" during the process and also thanked the local Home Hardware and Windsor Plywood locations for their help in acquiring other needed materials. According to him, things like doors are hard to buy in Haiti. Everything being bundled and shipped together will also help simplify logistics and reduce costs.

Behlen project manager Andreas Riffel told the Sun that the hard work started in January, when estimations for the donations started to be made and materials started to be gathered.

"It makes differences in peoples lives," said Behlen manager of estimating and major projects Brian Miller. "Particularly in countries like Haiti, where people arent doing so well. Every little bit makes a difference."

From Brandon, the container will make its way to Winnipeg, where it will be put on a train bound for Saint John, N.B. Then it will be put on a ship destined for Haiti.

The container will arrive in Haiti in approximately 35 days, and then the goal is to have the freedom village completed by July.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
A new online tool contains the phone numbers of thousands of Facebook users, a new report finds.

VICE's Motherboard found that the tool lets customers pay to uncover the numbers of users who have liked specific pages on the social media platform.

What's more, the data is completely completely separate from the 533 million Facebook users' personal details, including addresses and phone numbers, that were posted to a hacking forum on Saturday.

A bot on Telegram (pictured), an encrypted messaging service, allows customers to access phone numbers of Facebook users

To use the bot, users type in the unique code of a Facebook page, which includes store pages and celebrity accounts, and the bot provides phone numbers of those who liked the page for a fee (file image)

According to Motherboard, the tool is a bot on Telegram, an encrypted messaging service.

A description allegedly reads: 'The bot give [sic] out the phone numbers of users who have liked the Facebook page.'

To verify phone numbers were true, Motherboard contacted people within thee dataset for comment.

'Hello, can you tell me how you got my number?' one person told the site.

Another person, who verified his or her name, said: ''If you have my number then yes it seems the data is accurate.'

FACEBOOK WILL NOT NOTIFY USERS WHOSE NUMBERS WERE STOLEN Facebook has no intention to notify the more than 530 million users whose details were hacked and posted online, the social media giant has said. Facebook said in a blog post on Tuesday that 'malicious actors' had obtained the data prior to September 2019 by 'scraping' profiles using a vulnerability in the platform's tool for synching contacts. Among the victims were CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose cell phone number was among the leaked personal data posted online by hackers. A Facebook spokesman told Reuters the social media company was not confident it knew which users had been hacked and would need to be notified. Advertisement

Motherboard says that none of the people they contacted had Facebook profiles that publicly displayed phone numbers.

To access the phone numbers via the bot, a user is first required to enter the unique code of a Facebook page, according to Motherboard.

The pages are wide-ranging and can be of any business. such as a restaurant or a store, or an official celebrity page used to interact with fans.

After entering the code, the bot will provide users with the cost of buying the dataset, which is filled with the phone numbers of people who liked the page.

If the page has fewer than 100 likes, the bot will offer the data at no charge. For a page with hundreds of thousands of like, the dataset could cost hundreds of dollars.

According to Motherboard, if someone were to access the phone numbers of people who like their own Facebook page, it would give more than 100,000 numbers and cos $539 to buy.

To see if the numbers were among the breach of 530 million Facebook users, they were run under the site Have I Been Pwned, which checks if email address or phone number have been compromised.

None of the numbers that Motherboard contacted appeared to be connected to the large data breach.

Facebook and Telegram did not immediately respond to the websites request for comment.

VICE's Motherboard says the numbers are separate from the data breach that saw the personal details of more 530 million users posted online. Pictured: Computer servers that store users' photos and other data at Facebook's data center in Pineville, Oregon, October 2013
The commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Azerbaijan, Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov, speaking with Armenian journalists, denied the fake report that he was supposed to bring a group of Armenian citizens, arrested by the Azerbaijani security forces for terrorist activity in Nagorno-Karabakh, from Baku to Yerevan yesterday.



Initially the fake news was just a common rumor, but then it was "confirmed" by Nikol Pashinyan's press secretary Mane Gevorgyan and the office of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, becoming the Armenian government's official statement: General Muradov is bringing Armenian citizens from Baku, arrested for international terrorism. When they were not on the plane, it was used as a pretext for accusing Azerbaijan and Russia of violating the agreements.



Today General Muradov revealed that the Armenian authorities lied, no return of Armenian citizens from Baku was planned on this flight.



"It was a false provocation. Ask them. They mislead the population," he stressed.



"It was not planned [the return of Armenian citizens]. It was a regular working visit [to Baku]," the commander of the Russian peacekeepers explained.



On Thursday and Friday, the relatives of the Armenian terrorists arrested in Azerbaijan blocked the roads in the Shirak region and the approaches to the Armenian Defense Ministry. Defense Ministry employees were locked in the building for at least 14 hours. Head of the General Staff of Armenia Artak Davtyan had to change his car for a helicopter. The deceived parents demand a meeting with Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan and Chief of the General Staff Dakvtyan. The situation at the department remains tense at the moment. Law enforcers have not yet used force, but the number of police officers outside the building is increasing.
San Francisco resident David Wang really wanted to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible. But at 42 years old, he wasnt eligible for it yet in San Francisco County.

He joined the Bay Area vaccine hunters Facebook group after reading about it online, hoping to find a place where he could be vaccinated sooner than April 15. In the information-filled online forum, members share stories on everything from appointment availability to how they lucked into a leftover dose to offering help to seniors and those without internet access book appointments.

While monitoring the group daily, Wang noticed that many people began to write about getting vaccines easily outside the Bay Area  in places like Sacramento or Fresno or even as far as Bakersfield. One recent location that many members were talking about was Tulares International Agri-Center, a Curative-run site in Tulare County that was accepting people from any county in California.

Still, Wang was hesitant because he didnt want to take away a vaccine from someone who needed it or contribute to the county running out of supply. Luckily, other Facebook members had allegedly called and emailed to ask these questions and the resounding answer was to come on down to Tulare  they had plenty.

He booked an appointment for his girlfriend, his sister and her boyfriend and the group made a road trip out of it, traveling 237 miles each way to reach the vaccination site. Wang said it was almost a four-hour drive each way, but it was so worth it.

It was really important for me and my family to find ethical shots, Wang said. We were not going to cheat or lie or exaggerate medical conditions to get a shot.

He said the whole experience was extremely positive  they were greeted by a friendly and helpful staff and he received his shot within five minutes of arriving. Finally, he felt relief. It was like walking through a portal and coming out on the other side where things start getting better instead of stagnation, Wang said. It was worth it.

It's not entirely clear why there's excess vaccine in rural counties outside the Bay Area, but whether its vaccine hesitancy, difficulty booking vaccine appointments or other factors, some rural counties  Tulare County has slightly more than 466,000 residents according to the most recent census data  have a rate of vaccine adoption that remains far lower than in urban areas.

Mountain View resident Neil Pomerleau said he also learned of the Tulare site through the vaccine hunters Facebook group and hed been monitoring it for a few weeks when he saw the posting. He said he and two friends also made a road trip of the 3.5-hour drive, even stopping to enjoy some local dining in Tulare while they were there.

Theres been this careful balance of wanting to get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect myself and others, but also wanting to wait my turn and make sure those who need it are able to get it, he said. Because the Tulare site opened up to healthy adults without risk factors, I felt confident that I wasnt taking a dose away from someone who needed it more.

Sparshith Gowda had been looking through the vaccine hunters Facebook group for just four days when he read that the UC Davis health center in Sacramento was offering vaccines to all California residents ages 16 and up. He traveled from Cupertino, driving about two hours each way.

Pamela Wu, director of media relations at UC Davis Health, said the site is happy to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to California residents. We expanded eligibility ahead of schedule because we had lots of appointment availability  as many as 1,500 open appointments per day. We decided it was better to fill those appointments with people eager to be vaccinated, rather than leave slots unfilled as we waited for the calendar to turn to April 15, she said. This effort complements another one of our programs that reaches out directly to underserved communities for equity purposes. Every vaccination is a step closer to ending this pandemic.

The biggest hurdle people like Wang face is having to return to the county where they received their first shot to get their second, if they got Pfizer or Moderna. Wang has an appointment for his second dose in Tulare, but he hopes to find a vaccination location much closer since hell be eligible in San Francisco County on April 15.

Wang said he feels grateful to Tulare County and that hes lucky to have the resources to make a long trip like that for a vaccine shot. Lots of people don't have the means to do what I did, with a car, with a job that let me take a day off on a whim, he said.
These rankings powerfully demonstrate that the universitys deep-seated beliefs in diversity and inclusion require no compromise of our pursuit of excellence in every field, said Watts College Dean Jonathan Koppell.

The Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, the nations largest comprehensive public service college, was recognized recently with elite rankings for its schools of public affairs and criminology. With highly rated programs in all of its four schools, Watts College presents vivid evidence for the core claim of Arizona State University: excellence and inclusion go hand in hand. Indeed, half of the 14 ASU graduate-degree programs ranked in the top 10 are found in Watts College, ASUs most diverse unit.

In the prestigious 2022 Best Graduate Schools rankings by U.S. News & World Report, which considers 282 eligible universities nationwide, the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (SCCJ) was rated No. 2 in the United States, up from No. 5 in 2021. ASUs program in public administration and public policy, offered by the School of Public Affairs (SPA), was placed at No. 13 in the nation, tied with Columbia and the University of Chicago.

The school was also ranked in the top 10 in seven specialized fields of study, up from six in 2021. The only school in the country with more top 10 rankings (eight) than ASU was Indiana University, which was ranked No. 2 in the U.S.

ASUs School of Social Works impressive No. 25 standing holds as those rankings were not updated for 2022. Watts program in nonprofit management was ranked No. 5 nationally and other programs in the School of Community Resources and Development  tourism, parks and recreation, and community development  that are not ranked by U.S. News have been rated as among the top in the world by international assessments focused on these disciplines.

These rankings powerfully demonstrate that the universitys deep-seated beliefs in diversity and inclusion require no compromise of our pursuit of excellence in every field, said Watts College Dean Jonathan Koppell. This represents recognition by our peers that Watts College offers an unparalleled place to prepare for a successful career in public service.

The majority of Watts College undergraduates identify as first-generation college students with more than half of students coming from underrepresented populations. The college also leads the university in percentage of students who are veterans, Native students, returning students and more. We take great pride in the ability of students from all backgrounds to achieve their potential in Watts College, Koppell said. Access without achievement would be a hollow accomplishment, however, so the improvement in our graduation rates and provision of opportunities beyond the classroom to all our students is critical. This includes engaging our highly respected and knowledgeable faculty.

The School of Criminology and Criminal Justices No. 2 ranking is higher than those at the University of Cincinnati, Penn State, State University of New York at Albany, Florida State, Rutgers, Michigan State and George Mason universities.

Foundation Professor Jon Gould, SCCJs director, credited the ASU programs high ranking to the schools diverse faculty of 30 tenure or tenure-track research professors and 16 year-to-year lecturers and instructors, as well as its focus on excellence, access, impact and adaptability.

This is wonderful and fitting recognition for the excellence of our faculty, staff and students, Gould said. Our school has worked hard for many years to build a world-class program, and I am delighted to see the efforts of so many realized.

Gould said the school maintains its superior position by concentrating on excellence in several areas, including policing, youth justice, race and justice, violence and victimization, corrections, law and courts, and neighborhoods/community/crime.

The School of Criminology and Criminal Justice blends scholarly excellence with real-world application, Gould said. As the U.S. News rankings confirm, this is just the place for students to receive a top-ranked education.

Gould said the school recently embarked on several initiatives designed to improve its offerings, including:



Actively recruiting diverse faculty during the last three years

Relaunching its Center on Public Criminology

Engaging with the public and practitioners in reimagining the criminal justice system

Actively promoting the transformation of police and police accountability

SPAs overall No. 13 ranking puts it into a tie with Columbia University, UCLA and the University of Chicago, and ahead of Duke and Carnegie Mellon universities.

SPA was ranked No. 3 in the U.S. in three fields of specialization:



Information and technology management

Homeland security and emergency management

Local government management

SPA was ranked No. 5 in the U.S. in four fields of specialization:



Public management and leadership (up from No. 6 in 2021)

Environmental policy and management. (up from No. 8 in 2021)

Nonprofit management (up from No. 9 in 2021)

Urban policy

SPA was also ranked No. 16 in the U.S. in public finance, No. 20 in public policy analysis and No. 22 in social policy.

These rankings reflect the enormous breadth and depth in quality of our world-class faculty and students, said Foundation Professor and SPA Director Donald Siegel. We remain committed to sustaining this upward trajectory and maximizing the return on a students ASU degree.

Siegel identified several points of pride underlying SPAs high national rankings: Editorial leadership, as several faculty members are editors of prestigious scholarly public affairs journals; a world-class faculty that includes seven members who are Fellows of the National Academy of Public Administration; world-class research, as the school was ranked No. 2 in research in the U.S. by the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities; and excellence in local government through unique partnerships with the Alliance for Innovation and the International City/County Management Association.

Koppell concluded by noting that the rankings also reinforce the power of Watts Colleges interdisciplinary model. The high rating in nonprofit management reflects our strong program in the School of Community Resources and Development and its Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership," he said.

"Similarly, our master's program in Emergency Management and Homeland Security draws upon talent in both SPA and SCCJ. The interaction among our schools, centers and faculty makes the whole even greater than the sum of the parts!

Watch Watts College's video, "Rise to the Solution," at https://youtu.be/dtZ-F3tsNcU
Appointment

9 April 2021

Best Western Hotels & Resorts today announced that Jay Hubbs has been appointed Vice President of Advertising, Marketing, Innovation and Analytics. In the newly created role, Hubbs will leverage his extensive experience to lead the brand's digital advertising, media buying and co-op marketing efforts.

Hubbs brings an immense wealth of category experience to his new role with Best Western Hotels & Resorts. He was most recently with Remington Hotels where he led the company's digital marketing efforts and headed up all revenue responsibilities for the company's independent hotels. Prior to his time at Remington, Hubbs was a Senior Director with Expedia Partner Services, and a Vice President of Sales at ReviewPro. During the early part of his career, Hubbs worked for Starwood, overseeing revenue management strategy for the company's key New York City hotels, as well as held various revenue management and operational roles for management companies at hotels across the country.

Hubbs joins Best Western Hotels & Resorts at an exciting time for the company as it celebrates its 75th anniversary, a significant milestone in the brand's rich history. To learn more about Best Western Hotels & Resorts, visit www.bestwestern.com.
American culture is a grand mix of the old and the not so old, as we all know. As is true in other cultures, including the island culture here Read more
Lord Owen branded Margaret Thatcher 'disgusting' for breaking from tradition and taking the salute from the returning soldiers in the Falkands victory parade and claimed the Queen would've thought the lesser of the 'Iron Lady.'

Royals Declassified: Queen Elizabeth: Politics, Power and Prime Ministers, which airs on Channel 4, Sunday, 9pm, examines how the Queen has dealt with personalities as varied as Winston Churchill, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and Margaret Thatcher.

It also looks into how the balance of power shifted back and forth over the years - particularly when Thatcher became a war leader and saw herself as the symbol of Britain.

'Disgusting,' says ex-health minister Lord Owen, speaking of the moment the 'Iron Lady' took the salute from the returning soldier in June 1982. 'Shabby is probably a better word than disgusting.

'I think the Queen would've raised more than an eyebrow. I doubt she ever said anything about it, but she would've thought the lesser of Margaret Thatcher, it was outrageous.'

Lord Owen (pictured) branded Margaret Thatcher 'disgusting' for breaking from tradition and taking the salute from the returning soldiers in the Falkands victory parade and claimed the Queen would've thought the lesser of the 'Iron Lady.'

The documentary looks into how the balance of power shifted back and forth over the years - particularly when Thatcher became a war leader and saw herself as the symbol of Britain. Pictured,

In series four of The Crown, Gillian Anderson, who plays Margaret Thatcher, can be see recreating that moment

By 1979, the Queen had been on the throne for 27 years - yet her eighth Prime Minister would test her like no other - forcing her to draw on all of her political experience and patience.

Thatcher set about revolutionising Britain in 1979.

Edwina Currie, who was Under Secretary of State for Health 1986-88, comments: 'In most of the photographs, she's the only woman, surrounded by men. She never had another woman in the Cabinet and she became Queen bee.'

Meanwhile, biographer Penny Junor adds: 'She was able to flirt - and she was very good at that. She used her femininity very cleverly - but you can't flirt with the Queen.'

Two strong women of similar age in the top jobs, but that posed the question - who held the balance of power?

'I suspect Her Majesty would start off by saying, "it's been a very interesting week Prime Minister, hasn't it?" As an opening gambit,' notes Edwina. 'And Margaret would use that as cue to talk, and talk and talk.'

But in July 1979, Thatcher had her first run-in with the Palace. With the Commonwealth heads of meeting due to be held in Lusaka the following month, Thatcher, while in Australia, publicly stated she had the right to advise the Queen whether it was safe to visit Zambia.

In series four of The Crown, Gillian Anderson, who plays Margaret Thatcher, can be see recreating that moment

Margaret Thatcher pictured with the British forces visiting the Falkland Islands in January 1983

It was a move which declassified documents now reveal showed Thatcher's ignorance of the Queen's friendship with Zambia's president Kenneth Kaunda.

Dean Palmer, author of The Queen and Mrs Thatcher, comments: 'As soon as the queen got wind of it, she announced independently she was going to go to the Commonwealth conference and Mrs Thatcher, who was flying back from Tokyo at the time got off the plane and found the Queen trumped her in the press.'

A week or so later, another declassified briefing document reveals Thatcher's embarrassing U-turn - now she would no longer be advising the Queen not to go to Zambia.

Left to right: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, French President Francois Mitterrand (1916 - 1996) and Queen Elizabeth II during an EEC summit in London, 6th December 1986

Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher attend a ball to celebrate the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting hosted by President Kenneth Kaunda on August 01, 1979 in Lusaka, Zambia

However, in July 1986, any private divisions between Thatcher and the Queen were thrown in the public spotlight after The Sunday Times plashed an article which claimed the Queen was at odds with No.10.

It reported the Queen was disturbed by the lack of compassion of Thatcher-right policies and that the Thatcher government was jeopardising the consensus that underpinned British domestic politics.

Never before had there been such a public rift between Monarch and First Minister.

Thatcher never spoke publically about the incident and a recently released letter reveals she intended to maintain a 'dignified silence' over the matter.

The documentary, which explores the contents of recently declassified documents that record the events of the Queen's meetings with various prime ministers throughout her reign, also takes a look at Winston Churchill - the Queen's sixth monarch.

The Queen at 10 Downing Street to celebrate 250 years of it being the official residence of the British Prime Minister, with leaders past and present (l to r) James Callaghan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Margaret Thatcher, Harold Macmillan, Harold Wilson and Ted Heath

British statesman Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) speaks at the opening of the International Youth Centre at Chigwell, Essex, in the presence of Princess Elizabeth, who performed the opening ceremony, 12th July 1951

Devastated by the death of King George VI, Churchill worried how the inexperienced young monarch would bear the weight of responsibility.

However, a recently declassified letter reveals that almost since birth, Churchill had speculated on Elizabeth's destiny.

In 1928, he wrote to his wife Clementine about the young Princess, aged just two: 'She has an air of authority and reflectiveness - astonishing in an infant.'

On November 4, 1952, the astonishing infant came of age - and Churchill's early sceptism quickly faded.

And the real test for the relationship was on the weekly audience - although little is said about them, the diary of the Queen's private secretary - Tommy Lascelles, is revealing.

He penned: 'When Winston had his weekly audience in the Bow room, I could not hear what they talked about, but it was more often than not, punctuated with peels of laughter, and Winston genuinely came out, wiping his eyes.'
[April 09, 2021] Grain Management Announces Sale of WANRack to CBRE Caledon

Grain Management ("Grain" or the "Firm"), a leading private investment firm exclusively focused on broadband technology and the global communications sector, announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its controlling interest in WANRack LLC ("WANRack") to CBRE Caledon Capital Management Inc. WANRack is a high-bandwidth, fiber-based communication network provider helping schools and libraries close the connectivity gap by realizing the potential of the most promising, highest capacity broadband technology available. The company is currently operating 68 networks across 23 states, with a robust fiber-optic networks traversing the nation from Florida to Washington state, and from Arizona to Connecticut. "In close partnership with Grain, WANRack was able to grow more than fourfold over the last thre years and extend its reach to nine new U.S. states," said Raghav Nayar, Principal at Grain. "With Grain's support, WANRack enjoyed a particularly strong 2020 - closing more than $30 million in new contracts - as the year served to highlight the importance of affordable, high-speed broadband connectivity to the success of K-12 students."



"We are thrilled to have worked with WANRack's leadership team to catalyze transformational growth and deliver substantial value realized by this sale," said Michael McKenzie, Managing Director at Grain. "We are also proud that WANRack has grown to connect more than 450 schools in underserved communities to affordable high-speed broadband." The acquisition is subject to confirmatory diligence and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. TD Securities served as exclusive financial advisor to Grain and WANRack in connection with this transaction. Alston & Bird LLP served as legal counsel to Grain.

About Grain Management Grain Management, LLC is a leading private investment firm that focuses on broadband infrastructure and technology companies that connect the world to the information economy. Founded in 2007, Grain invests exclusively in the telecommunications sector, employing a rigorous, data-based process buoyed by deep industry expertise to identify investment opportunities in key areas of telecommunications infrastructure, including fiber networks, wireless spectrum, and cell towers. For more information visit www.graingp.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005088/en/

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Review: Gay Coming-of-Age Drama 'Moffie' Is An Epitaph, One Among Many, From The Tragedy Of Apartheid

By Jason Adams | Film | April 9, 2021 |

Apartheid, which was the official state-sanctioned policy of racial segregation in South Africa from 1948 through the mid-90s, literally translates to aparthood in Afrikaansas in, the state of being apart. Existence in the place split down its own center. And thats as good as any descriptor for the state of being at the turbulent heart of Moffie, writer-director Oliver Hermanus gorgeous and arrestingly sad gay coming-of-age drama, set near the tail-end of that period. A segregated self, unstitching at fresh seamsa society that tears you apart to make you back up in its own image is a doomed one, never fondly recalled. Heartbroken stories like Moffie are their only true remembrances, harsh scrawls written across historys tombs.

Adapted from the memoir of novelist Andre-Carl van der Merwe, Moffie begins in 1981, a cruel whisper too early for true change. Television had only been allowed into the country five years earlier, lest the sinful indoctrinations of the British take hold. Two years later, people of color would finally get some limited representation in government, a small concession to the majority from the minority-rule that cracked the system open just a decade later. Still, 1981 might as well be 1961 for Nicholas van der Swart (Kai Luke Brummer), a fresh-faced but terrified teenager whos being sent off to do his two year stint of compulsory military service. We meet him in a daze, and it only gets worse from there.

As in the way of most military stories, the sergeants immediately terrorize their young charges. The cadets are starved, beaten, driven to the edge of physical collapse, and berated with dehumanizing obscenities. The worst of these would be the films title, a homophobic slur that separates the decent from the beasts. When asked why theyre there, the young men register indifference, shell-shocked from the startwho knows? They started drinking on the train-ride to the barracks. Theres a heroin epidemic among them on the front-lines, and everybodys talking about feeling nothing, time and time again. Even worse though is the unspoken, not who knows why theyre there but who even cares. A system existing in a vacuum will crumble the second outside air gets in, and this place is pre-desiccated, just waiting for the shove.

Masculinity in itself doesnt have to be a prison, but the toxic sort that was foundational to this (and every) white supremacist society eats itself from within; even the cogs that adjust best to the machinery do so with a widening dullness to their eyes. This sort of system has no place for individuals or the quirks of full personhood. So, we watch these two years carve the jagged edges off every boy, pooping out meat-cubes on its far end. All the better to not question, march in lock-step, beat generation after generation down into depressed submission, hating anything not so square its edges wont reject mere touch with aggression, violence.

Violence is the order of the day, both physical and mental. Moffie takes place in an endless series of public private spaces: changing rooms, the barracks, the toilets, where everybody individually sits in their locked boxes, jerking off or puking. Early in the film two boys find something else to do in there, not so alone, and are summarily beaten with pillow-sacks of gun-parts for their repugnant behavior. Theres nothing pointed about that choice of a weapon. And when our boy Nicholas later finds a moment of tenderness with a fellow soldier of his own, its inside the trench theyve just dug for themselves. Nothing pointed about a spark of love only finding its life inside a grave, for that matter.

Point being there is no place to hide, not really, especially not for people whose selfhood doesnt fit into the pre-ordained molds. They stick out, all the better for succinct brutalization. What starts as an outward force quickly worms its way in. Before you know it, the boys are all dutifully beating the shit out of one another, because god forbid they kiss instead. Hermanus is ruthless in his depiction of this corrupting process, but somehow does so with a soft poetry. Humanity being steamrolled never looked so pretty. Dirty water, dead bodies in the grass, everything hangs here in a beautiful, terrible suspense. A collapsing star looks like rainbows right before it turns your eyes to ash.

Moffie comes to select theaters and On Demand on April 9.

Epidemiologists do not think its safe yet to go to theaters even with social distancing and safety measures in place. This review of a theatrical release is not an endorsement or suggestion otherwise. This film was reviewed via a screening link.

 'Real World: Homecoming' Season Recap: The World Ain't Got No More Patience for Karens | The Pajiba March 2021 Book Recommendations Superpost! 

Header Image Source: IFC Films
Our gun ownership rate eclipses that of other industrialized nations, and unless you want to posit that Americans are wildly more violent and murderous than everyone else and that without guns wed all just be stabbing the bejesus out of each other, the prevalence of guns is the ONLY explanation for the  say it with me  embarrassing number of shooting deaths.
By Dalila Ouerghi, Susan Zou

"Thanks to the preventive measures we have taken, many of which were agreed upon by the communities near our Salar de Atacama Plant, we continue to operate normally at our sites in Chile with no impact to our production or shipments, and always maintaining the...
If youre interested in the future of remote work, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has been a boss to watch.

His company is, after WeWork, the largest tenant of office space in New York City, where workers have yet to return to their cubicles in any significant numbers. Hes a revered Wall Street executive whose every remark is widely read and taken seriously. And he has been, up to now, relatively pessimistic about working from homea phenomenon that, if it persists at current levels after the pandemic subsides, would eventually mean the end of the American city as we know it. (The bank employs 37,000 people in the New York metro area.)

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So when Dimon delved into the topic again on Wednesday in his annual letter to shareholders, it was instant news. Heres what he said:

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 Generally speaking, we envision a model that will find many employees working in a location full time. That would include nearly all of the employees in our retail bank branches, as well as jobs in check processing, vaults, lockbox, sales and trading, critical operations functions and facilities, amenities, security, medical staff and many others.  Some employees will be working under a hybrid model (e.g., some days per week in a location and the other days at home).  And a small percentage of employees, maybe 10%, will possibly be working full time from home for very specific roles.

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If that sounds like a moderate change for the banks vast office portfolio, which underpins Manhattan property tax rolls, think again: We will quickly move to a more open seating arrangement  for every 100 employees, we may need seats for only 60 on average. This will significantly reduce our need for real estate.

But wait  think again, again: JP Morgan is still committed to building a whole brand-new, 2.5 million square foot skyscraper in Midtown, with 12,000 to 14,000 employees. (They better, having committed an act of civic and environmental vandalism by demolishing the 52-story, LEED Platinum, Natalie de Bloisdesigned, high-modernist skyscraper that once occupied the site.) That amounts to almost 200 square feet per worker, give or takea ratio that would buck a decade-long trend toward less office space per employee.

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And in fact, Dimon does not sound like he particularly likes remote work in and of itself. He writes:

 Performing jobs remotely is more successful when people know one another and already have a large body of existing work to do. It does not work as well when people dont know one another.  Most professionals learn their job through an apprenticeship model, which is almost impossible to replicate in the Zoom world. Over time, this drawback could dramatically undermine the character and culture you want to promote in your company.  A heavy reliance on Zoom meetings actually slows down decision making because there is little immediate follow-up.  And remote work virtually eliminates spontaneous learning and creativity because you dont run into people at the coffee machine, talk with clients in unplanned scenarios, or travel to meet with customers and employees for feedback on your products and services.

So: Is Manhattan dead or what? The New York Times used Dimons letter as Exhibit A in a top-of-website article warning shrinking office space needs could crush landlords. The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, took it the other way: Jamie Dimon Says JPMorgan Wont Go Remote After the Pandemic.

In conclusion: Some things will change, others not so much.
Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media

A man was sentenced this week to more than six years in federal prison for trafficking cocaine through the mail from his home in Puerto Rico to Connecticut, according to federal prosecutors.

Luis Collazo-Rivera, 40, of Caguas, Puerto Rico, was sentenced by Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 75 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
[April 09, 2021] Food contact materials: Expert webinars by TUV Rheinland

SHENZHEN, China, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Before food is consumed, it has often been in contact with many different materials and articles, for example with packaging, kitchenware and household goods, food electrical appliances and food and packaging processing lines. Those materials and articles need to be developed and manufactured in a responsible way so that they do not release hazardous substances into the final food. Newly developed sustainable materials are more and more used in food contact materials (FCM) with a limited understanding of their compliance status and safety behavior with regards to migration into the food. The respective industry needs to comply with food contact legislation and is facing a wide range of challenges - both nationally and internationally. This concerns, for exmple, restaurants and retailers as well as food, transportation and food contact material industries together with raw material and product developers. Complex, constantly updating legislation must be observed, and implemented in product design rules and in migration and hygienic testing of the product requirements that must be met. Local authorities use more and more sophisticated analytical untargeted screening methods to measure compliance when monitoring products at borders and through market surveillance.



TUV Rheinland webinars: key to understanding FCMs TUV Rheinland is a leading global provider of recognized FCM regulatory and compliance services and testing in 11 state-of-the-art laboratories worldwide. The company is now offering webinars that address topics and regulations of great importance to food contact materials professionals. With targeted insights, FCM webinars help ensure safety and regulatory compliance. TUV Rheinland experts explain facts clearly "in the virtual classroom" and answer individual questions from seminar participants.

For further information on the webinar and for registration, please visit

www.tuv.com/fcm-webinar-series Additional webinar events will be held on the following topics: April 29, 2021 : Food Contact Material - FCM Recall Cases & Statistics.

: Food Contact Material - FCM Recall Cases & Statistics. May 27, 2021 : Food Contact Material - Overview of New Indian and UAE Food Contact Legislation and route to compliance

: Food Contact Material - Overview of New Indian and UAE Food Contact Legislation and route to compliance June 24, 2021 : Food Contact Material - Overview of Mercosur Food Contact Regulations and route to compliance Food Contact Materials Landing Page: https://www.tuv.com/landingpage/en/food-contact-materials/index-2.html SOURCE TUV Rheinland Greater China

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Britons still back the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine - as 75 per cent tell pollsters they consider it to be safe.

Officials have launched a campaign to maintain confidence in jabs after medical regulators advised that under-30s should be offered an alternative to the Oxford inoculation amid blood clot fears.

And, as the Health Secretary looked to dispel concern by insisting that spotting rare side effects shows 'the safety system' is working, a poll revealed that 75 per cent of Britons think the vaccine is safe to use.

While the results by YouGov show a drop of two percentage points since March, it ranks close to opinions of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine which 78 per cent dubbed safe, The Times reports.

Nearly two thirds of those aged 18 to 24 felt the vaccine was ok to use, while just 13 per cent of all people polled deemed the AstraZeneca jab unsafe.

Britons still back the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine - as 75 per cent tell pollsters (pictured) they consider it to be safe

Chief Executive of the National Health Service Sir Simon Stevens receives his Covid vaccine in London

It comes after ministers urged Britons to 'do the right thing for their country' and get vaccinated - as figures revealed the jab has saved 10,400 lives.

Tens of thousands turned up at 'heaving' vaccine centres, calming fears that uptake could be dented by concerns over rare blood clots.

Mr Hancock said that, while getting Covid-19 could 'essentially ruin your life', the small risk of developing a blood clot from the jab was the same as from taking a long-haul flight.

Elle Taylor, 24, an unpaid carer from Ammanford, receives an injection of the Moderna vaccine

Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a thumbs up gesture whilst holding an ice cream during a visit to Haven Perran Sands Holiday Park in Perranporth, Cornwall

... and there's fewer than 100 cases a day in the over-70s By ELEANOR HAYWARD AND STEVE DOUGHTY FOR THE DAILY MAIL Fewer than 100 virus cases a day are now occurring in the over-70s as almost all have immunity to Covid, official figures show. Public Health England found that 93.5 per cent of people aged 70 to 84 tested positive for antibodies by mid-March  up from 41 per cent a month earlier. Department of Health data found infections in the over-70s have fallen below 100 for the past two days  down from more than 6,000 cases a day in January. The number of adults in their 60s with antibodies has trebled to 61 per cent in a month, PHE said. Across all age groups, 46 per cent of the population in England now have antibodies to Covid. Antibodies are made by the body following vaccination or infection and they protect against reinfection and serious disease. The PHE report found weekly case rates and hospital admissions are falling in all regions and age groups. They are lowest among 70 to 79-year-olds at just 7.2 per 100,000. They are highest in children aged 10 to 19, at 54.3 per 100,000, but notably they have not increased since schools reopened. Dr Yvonne Doyle, medical director at PHE, said: 'We have come a long way since the start of the year, and the terrible peak we saw during the winter. 'Whatever your plans next week, please remember to follow the rules and take up your vaccine when offered one. Let's not blow it now.' Yesterday another 3,030 cases and 53 deaths were recorded. Data from the Office for National Statistics revealed the number of weekly coronavirus deaths has fallen 92 per cent from the second wave peak. There were just 719 deaths from Covid-19 registered in the week ending March 26, down 24 per cent from the previous week and down from 8,433 in the final week of January. Advertisement

And a new study by Public Health England found the rollout has prevented 10,400 deaths in over-60s since the first jab was given to Margaret Keenan on December 8.

PHE compared the number of Covid-19 deaths until the end of March with the expected number had millions of over-60s not been immunised.

They estimated the vaccine had stopped 9,100 deaths in those aged 80 and over, 1,200 in 70 to 79 year olds and 100 in 60 to 69s.

Mr Hancock said: 'That's more than 10,000 families who haven't suffered the loss of a loved one.

'The science is clear  vaccines save lives. All three of our approved vaccines have been deemed safe and effective by our world-class independent medicines regulator.

'The figures published today show why it's so vital people get their second dose too. When people get the call, they should get the jab.'

On Wednesday UK medical regulators concluded the AstraZeneca vaccine was a 'reasonably plausible' cause of 79 cases of unusual blood clots, including 19 deaths.

The NHS has now cancelled thousands of appointments for those aged 18-29 who were booked in to get their first dose of the AZ jab.

Most under-30s are not yet eligible but those who are, such as unpaid carers, will be rebooked with a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

The new advice from medical regulators has led to fears younger adults could shun the jab.

However, Mr Hancock said vaccinations are 'the right thing for them, and the right thing for their loved ones, and ultimately the right thing for the country'.

Professor Jeremy Brown, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, urged the young to get vaccinated so they can go on holiday and see relatives again. Despite the setback with the AstraZeneca jab, the Government is on track to meet its target of offering all over-50s their first dose by April 15.

Yesterday NHS data revealed 90 per cent of people in their 50s have now been vaccinated. So far 31.8 million people in total have had at least one dose of the vaccine, and six million both doses.

More than 500,000 jabs were delivered on Wednesday, despite concerns over a squeeze on supplies.

Officials are trying to ensure those who have had their first AZ dose still come forward for their second. Regulators have found no reports of clots after second doses.

Yesterday, there was little sign that warnings over the blood clots have knocked vaccine confidence. Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the JCVI, insisted 'the vaccination programme is going full steam ahead'.

A volunteer at the Tessa Jowell vaccination centre in East Dulwich, south-east London, said it had been 'heaving'. She added: 'It's been constant all day. We have had really good turnout.'

Those getting their jab yesterday largely rejected fears over blood clots, although some younger adults did reject the AZ jab.

Husband and wife Sue and Eddie Styring received their second Pfizer dose together at Ealing, west London.

Mr Styring, 76, said: 'The benefits of any jab outweigh the risks by a long way. I wouldn't be concerned about the AstraZeneca. It's a tremendous relief to be vaccinated. We'll celebrate by hugging our grandchildren in a short while.'

Health chiefs announced another 53 deaths, which was two more than the same time last week

Pharmacists transport the Moderna vaccine at the West Wales General Hospital in Carmarthen

However, one 39-year-old woman walked away from her appointment in Ealing after seeing the only jab was from AstraZeneca.

Veronica, a finance administrator who did not want to give her surname, said: 'I'm scared after seeing the possibility of what could happen. Many of my friends think the same. They are a bit worried.'

And one GP in Surrey, Dr David Triska, said some patients are now cancelling their AZ jab.

He said: 'We have been inundated with consultations relating to headaches and people defaulting their AstraZeneca appointment to try to get another vaccine. We are reassuring them the balance of risk is in favour of receiving the vaccine.'
Indonesian men look for salvageable items amid debris and damaged boats following a storm at a port in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, on April 7, 2021. (Armin Septiexan/AP Photo)

Indonesia Landslides Death Toll Rises to 140, Dozens Missing

LEMBATA, IndonesiaThe death toll from mudslides in eastern Indonesia has risen to 140 with dozens still missing, officials said Wednesday, as rain continued to pound the region and hamper the search.

East Flores district on Adonara island suffered the highest losses with 67 bodies recovered so far and six missing. Mud tumbled down from surrounding hills early on Sunday, catching people at sleep. Some were swept away by flash floods after overnight rains caused rivers to burst their banks.

On nearby Lembata island, the downpour triggered by Tropical Cyclone Seroja sent solidified lava from a volcanic eruption in November to crash down on more than a dozen villages, killing at least 32 and leaving 35 unaccounted for, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Hundreds of police, soldiers and residents dug through the debris with their bare hands, shovels and hoes searching for those buried. Relatives wailed Wednesday as they watched rescuers pull out a mud-caked body, place it on a bamboo stretcher and take it away for burial.

Please find my father and mother who are still buried  whatever their condition, Suzanna Tasoin cried to rescuers struggling to dig up tons of volcanic materials and rocks with farm tools at Waimatan village on Lembata island, We want to bury them with the respect they deserve.

Residents inspect the damage at a village hit by flash flood in East Flores, Indonesia, on April 4, 2021. (Ola Adonara/AP Photo)

In all, landslides and flooding have killed at least 140 across several islands in Indonesia as well as 27 people in neighboring East Timor. Thousands of homes have been damaged and thousands of people displaced by the weather, which is expected to continue until at least Friday as the storm moves south toward Australia.

Rescue efforts were being hampered by the rains and the remoteness of the area, where roads and bridges were damaged in many places.

Rescue personnel with excavators and tons of food and medicine were being deployed from Makassar city on Sulawesi island, but were hindered by bad weather and extremely high waves.

Five helicopters were helping to reach isolated areas of the islands, National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Doni Monardo told reporters late Wednesday.

He said evacuees were in dire need of basic necessities such as blankets, mats, tents, baby food and medical services.

The government provided tens of thousands of anti-coronavirus masks, and Monardo said authorities would set up health posts at refugee camps to test people for the virus.

He said six navy ships, including a hospital ship, carrying more goods were expected to arrive on Friday to relieve overwhelmed hospitals and clinics in East Nusa Tenggara, one of Indonesias poorest provinces.

By Ricko Wawo and Niniek Karmini
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
A serving police officer has been charged with assault over the arrest of a man in Sydney's northwest.

Professional Standards Command have been investigating the alleged incident, which occurred on September 5 last year, and on Thursday charged a male senior constable.

The officer, attached to a command in the city's northwest, was issued with a court attendance notice on Thursday for the offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.

He is due to appear before Parramatta Local Court on Thursday May 20.

The man's current employment status is under review, NSW Police said in a statement.
Government imposes restrictions on imports of beans and other agricultural products during harvest season.

Video Transcript

NARRATOR: Iraq's bean harvest is in full swing and to support local farmers, the government has imposed restrictions on imports of beans and 23 other agricultural products during harvest season. The absence of cheap competition from Iraq's neighbors Iran and Turkey has allowed farmers to get better prices, but that's not enough to scale up production to meet local demand.

- [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH].

- Because a lot of buy fertilizers, tractors, and to irrigate, we need to use water pumps. If the government wants to support us, they should provide greenhouses which are too expensive for me to buy.

NARRATOR: Farmers should be entitled to subsidized seeds and fertilizer but in reality, they can be difficult to obtain if you don't have good connections with the government. There's also no proper irrigation system, which means these farmers struggle during the summer.

- [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH].

- There's one water park from the Tigris River. But recently, everyone just comes and taps the pipe to divert the water. When we go and complain nothing happens.

[BEEPS]

NARRATOR: Productivity the Ministry of Agriculture wants to attract investment.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH].

- Lack of stability in Iraq has affected the agricultural sector. Investment has been slow. We'd like to rely on investment and technology to improve and develop production in terms of quality and quantity.

NARRATOR: But the government's protectionist policies risk further alienating current and potential investors. Turkey imports around $2.5 billion worth of agricultural produce each year. But it also has direct investments in the sector.

FAITH YILDIZ: The potential investors will look into a variety of requirements and as we conditions in the market, but first and foremost, of course, they will look into the inflow of goods. They will need some inputs still. So I don't think that any potential investors would like the idea of, let's say, facing some bans or raising of tariffs in an unpredictable manner.

NARRATOR: But in the markets of Baghdad, you can find some imported vegetables, highlighting the government's limited ability to control its own borders.

SIMONA FOLTYN: Produce is still being smuggled in from neighboring countries. These carrots for example, have been brought in illegally from neighboring Iran at triple the usual price. Traders say the price hikes have reduced demand of many people struggling to afford basic necessities. Simona Foltyn, Al Jazeera Baghdad.
VENTURA, Calif., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Next week, Barna Group will launch Barna Cities, a new initiative that will provide localized social data and live forums for church leaders. This new program is the result of an innovative partnership between Barna and Gloo that will empower pastors and Christian leaders to be more informed about the cities and regions where they minister.

Specifically, the initiative will begin on Tuesday, April 13 with four metropolitan areasKansas City, Dallas-Fort Worth, Columbus and South Florida. Barna Cities will include social, cultural, economic and religious insights and data for these communities. This initiative will also include a series of interactive forums featuring new Barna city research and commentary from local leaders on the various issues that matter most to that community.

"For several decades, we have provided credible knowledge and clear thinking that enables church leaders to navigate a complex and changing culture," said David Kinnaman, President of Barna. "All cities aren't the same, so not every ministry should operate the same. In order for Christians to effectively engage culture, we need research that is localized and relevant for the community. This new Barna Cities program will help pastors see clearly and lead confidently during this pivotal time in our country."

"Gloo's platform is designed to support the assessment, data visualizations, and access to resources that the Barna Cities initiative requires," said Scott Beck, CEO and co-founder of Gloo. "Additionally, our cooperative promotion in these cities will benefit from Barna's research as we run donor-funded ads, helping these communities see that churches care about the real needs of people, have real programs and resources to help, and stand ready to serve."

In 2020, Barna and Gloo launched an effort to equip the Church to be more informed, better connected and fully equipped through the State of the Church research and toolkits. As a result of that effort, over 25,000 church leaders from across the country came together on one platform to benefit from State of the Church resources during the disruption caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. This year, Barna and Gloo are partnering again for this Barna Cities initiative. Barna Cities can be accessed by visiting www.barnacities.com.

About Barna

In its 35-year history, Barna Group has conducted more than 2 million interviews over the course of hundreds of studies and has become a go-to source for insights about faith and culture, leadership and vocation and generations. Barna Group has worked with thousands of businesses, nonprofit organizations and churches across the U.S. and around the world. Barna is an independent, privately held, nonpartisan organization based in Ventura, California, with offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Nashville, Tennessee.

David Kinnaman is the author of the bestselling books Faith For Exiles , Good Faith , You Lost Me and unChristian .

About Gloo

Founded in 2012, Boulder-based Gloo, LLC is a trusted technology platform provider for organizations that champion personal growth, including addiction recovery, mental health counseling, family programs, churches and other providers. Gloo is obsessed with revolutionizing personal growth through technology. Its SaaS-based Personal Growth Platform gives providers access to a uniquely integrated ecosystem of advanced data, analytics and a marketplace for organizations dedicated to improving people's lives.

In addition, Gloo's platform grants access to personal growth resources, tools and innovations, including growth plans and assessments from respected research partners and professional associations. As importantly, the standards and capabilities of Gloo's Data Trust Infrastructure ensure a world-class level of personal information privacy and security across the company's technology, processes and governance. Accordingly, Gloo is committed to CCPA, GDPR and HIPAA compliance.

For more information please visit www.gloo.us .

SOURCE Barna Group
Providence, Rhode Island: Nations around the world have set new records for COVID-19 deaths and new coronavirus infections, and the disease surged even in some countries that had kept the virus in check. In the United States, Detroit leaders began making a plan to knock on every door to persuade people to get shots.

Brazil this week became just the third country, after the US and Peru, to report a 24-hour tally of COVID-19 deaths that exceeded 4000. It reported 4190 deaths on Thursday, the second consecutive day over 4000. India hit a peak of almost 127,000 new cases in 24 hours, and Iran set a new coronavirus infection record for the third straight day, reporting nearly 22,600 new cases.

Globally, the number of confirmed cases has exceeded 133.6 million, causing nearly 2.9 million deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Institute.

A healthcare worker administers the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to an aged care resident in Michigan. Credit:Bloomberg

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to get vaccinated, writing in a tweet: Vaccination is among the few ways we have to defeat the virus. If you are eligible for the vaccine, get your shot soon.
U.S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand has called sexual assault in the military an epidemic. The Pentagon says it is working to tackle the issue, starting with an independent review of the problem. Maxim Moskalkov has the story.
Manitoba has now invited a total of 1,870 Canadian immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination this year.

Manitoba PNP draw: 243 candidates invited Manitoba has now invited a total of 1,870 Canadian immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination this year.

Manitoba PNP draw: 243 candidates invited Manitoba has now invited a total of 1,870 Canadian immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination this year.

Manitoba PNP draw: 243 candidates invited Manitoba has now invited a total of 1,870 Canadian immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination this year. Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Manitoba invited 243 Canadian immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination on April 8.

Invited candidates can now apply for a provincial nomination through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP). If they receive it, the nomination will support their final application for Canadian permanent residence.

Manitoba regularly invites immigrants to apply through one of the following three Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams: Skilled Workers in Manitoba, International Education Stream, and Skilled Workers Overseas. The Skilled Worker streams require that candidates have previously submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI) profile.

Here are the results from the latest draw:

Skilled Workers in Manitoba 208 invitations with a minimum EOI score of 456;

Skilled Workers Overseas 14 invitations with a minimum EOI score of 708; and

International Education Stream 21 invitations with no EOI score requirement.

A total of 15 invitations, also known as Letters of Advice to Apply (LAAs), went to Express Entry candidates.

Find Out if Youre Eligible for Canadian Immigration

Manitoba immigration programs

Manitoba has a number of immigration programs dedicated to attracting international talent to settle in the province. The provincial government manages its immigration through the MPNP, which supports immigration applications to the federal government. Canadian provinces do not have the ability to give out permanent residency status, but they can help an application along by issuing provincial nominations.

If you want to benefit from a nomination from Manitoba, you need to register an Expression of Interest with the MPNP. This puts you in a position to receive an LAA through the Skilled Workers in Manitoba and Skilled Workers Overseas streams.

Manitoba then ranks candidates out of 1,000 points for their human capital factors, as well as their connections to the province.

The Skilled Workers Overseas Category and Skilled Workers in Manitoba streams are designed to allow the province to identify candidates who meet its labour market needs.

Candidates overseas need to demonstrate connections to Manitoba through the likes of close family ties, previous experience in the province, or an invitation through one of Manitobas Strategic Recruitment Initiatives. You do not need to be living in Manitoba at the time of your application to be eligible.

In order to receive an invitation under the Skilled Workers in Manitoba category, you need to have a full-time job offer from a provincial employer.

International graduates who complete education in Manitoba can receive an LAA under the International Education Stream if they demonstrate that they have in-demand skills.

Manitoba invites Express Entry candidates

Express Entry is the main way Canada manages skilled worker applications. It is possible to skip the PNP process and receive a permanent residence invitation by applying through Express Entry directly. However, having a provincial nomination effectively guarantees that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will invite you to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

Express Entry is an application management system for three federal immigration programs. When you submit your profile, you are then ranked based on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), which considers factors like your age, work experience, education, and language skills.

The highest-scoring candidates receive invitations to apply for permanent residence through regular Express Entry draws.

You gain an additional 600 CRS points if you receive a provincial nomination from a PNP, such as Manitobas. This award is high enough to allow you to receive an Invitation to Apply in an Express Entry draw.

Find Out if Youre Eligible for Canadian Immigration

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
[April 09, 2021] BlackRock Launches Two New Carbon Transition ETFs Underpinned by Proprietary Climate Analytics

BlackRock launched two active sustainable ETFs this Thursday for the transition to a low-carbon economy. The two funds raised more than $1.5 billion, highlighting the increased focus on climate-aware strategies from global institutional investors. The BlackRock U.S. Carbon Transition Readiness ETF (LCTU) and the BlackRock World ex U.S. Carbon Transition Readiness ETF (LCTD) invest in large- and mid-cap companies, tilting toward those companies that BlackRock believes are better positioned to benefit from the transition to a low-carbon economy. The day-one investments into LCTU make it the largest ETF launch ever. "The energy transition is central to all companies' growth. Winners and losers will emerge in every sector based on each company's ability to adapt, innovate and pivot their strategies toward the low-carbon economy," said Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock. "Many of our clients share this conviction and we are helping them be at the forefront of the energy transition through next generation climate analytics and sustainable strategies. We believe that this combination will lead to better outcomes for them and society as a whole." The new ETFs seek to outperform their benchmarks over the long term by investing in companies that may be better positioned for the transition to the low-carbon economy. To capitalize on the energy transition, BlackRock's Sustainable Investing unit developed and managed a proprietary strategy with institutional investors since 2018. The funds leverage a range of structured and unstructured data sources, advanced analytics and research-driven insights across five "pillars" (Fossil Fuels, Clean Technology, Energy Management, Waste Management, and Water Management) to derive a unique low-carbon economy transition readiness score for each company. For the two new funds, BlackRock systematically overweights or underweights individual companies relative to a benchmark based on their low-carbon economy transition readiness score. LCTU is benchmarked to the Russell 1000 Index and LCTD is benchmarked to the MSCI World ex USA Index. Investors Leading the Transition A consortium of global institutions invested in the funds, including the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS), Temasek, Sura Asset Management, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Profuturo Group, FM Global and RenaissanceRe. More than $1.2 billion flowed into LCTU making it the largest ETF launch of all time. Additionally, approximately $500 million was invested in LCTD, making it one of the largest ETF launches in history. "Our allocation to this strategy furthers CalSTRS's goal to position our portfolios for the low-carbon transition," said Chris Ailman, Chief Investment Officer at CalSTRS. "Identifying and supporting opportunities that move CalSTRS and the global economy to a low-carbon future helps ensure we can continue to provide a secure retirement for California's educators." "Better data and analytics have catalyzed climate investing. We are at a pivotal moment in the history of investing and it is now essential to incorporate climate risks and opportunities into asset allocations and portfolio management," said Timo Sallinen, Head of Listed Securities, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company. "Our purpose is to obtain the highest possible pensions for our clients, but we also are committed to the conservation of the environment and the fight against the effects of climate change so that we can all live in a more sustainable world. We firmly believe that these vehicles will help us achieve our goals," said Juan Pablo Noziglia, CIO, Profuturo AFP. Kevin O'Donnell, President & CEO of RenaissanceRe said, "As a global reinsurer, we are uniquely aware of the long-term risks of climate change due to our central role in protecting communities from its impact. Investing in transition-ready companies furthers our leadership in risk management, while advancing the sustainability of our own investment portfolio." "At FM Global, we're committed to advancing global resilience to climate change and natural catastrophe risks. We are also committed to investing in strategies and companies focused on the energy transition, reducing the carbon footprnt, and dedicating capital and talent towards developing breakthrough solutions that advance climate resilience. We believe such investments will generate positively differentiated returns, strengthening our long-term stability and profitability. As a commercial property insurer, this strategy aligns well with our efforts to put our capital to work to help increase the resilience of our clients and collective communities," said Sanjay Chawla, Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, FM Global.



Taking Action on Climate Change In a paper published today, 'A Sea Change in Global Investing', BlackRock illuminates how the transition to a low-carbon economy will affect every investor and how successfully navigating the shift will require the nimbleness to embrace new strategies, especially those that consider the threat of disaster, regulations, technological innovations, and shifts in consumer preferences.

"Leading global institutions recognize that climate risk is investment risk, and they are increasingly using ETFs as transparent and efficient vehicles to integrate this insight into their portfolios," said Salim Ramji, Global Head of ETF and Index Investments at BlackRock. "These ETFs provide an accessible way for millions of investors to invest in the climate transition for the long term and potentially benefit from this tectonic shift." BlackRock has taken action to advance sustainable analytics and data quality with new tools and partnerships with leading data providers. Last year BlackRock launched Aladdin Climate as the first software application for investors to measure both the physical risk of climate change and the transition risk to a low-carbon economy on portfolios with climate-adjusted security valuations and risk metrics. BlackRock also expanded and strengthened its data offerings with 1,200 new sustainability metrics through partnerships with Sustainalytics, Refinitiv, Rhodium and Clarity (News - Alert) AI. BlackRock manages a broad array of sustainable investment strategies, including many new sustainable solutions added in the past year across active, index, and alternative asset classes. BlackRock believes there are three approaches to climate-oriented strategies that help investors, which are to Reduce exposure to carbon emissions or fossil fuels, to Prioritize companies based on climate opportunities and risks or to Target (News - Alert) key themes or asset classes. BlackRock's latest carbon transition ETFs fit into the framework, helping investors prioritize investments in companies that may be better positioned to benefit from the transition to a low carbon economy. About BlackRock

BlackRock's purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well-being. As a fiduciary to investors and a leading provider of financial technology, we help millions of people build savings that serve them throughout their lives by making investing easier and more affordable. For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com/corporate Carefully consider the Funds' investment objectives, risk factors, and charges and expenses before investing. This and other information can be found in the Funds' prospectuses or, if available, the summary prospectuses which may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com or www.blackrock.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. A fund's strategy of investing in securities of companies with low carbon exposure limits the type and number of investment opportunities available to the fund and, as a result, the fund may underperform other funds that do not seek to minimize carbon exposure. A fund's low carbon exposure investment strategy may result in the fund investing in securities or industry sectors that underperform the market. Funds that concentrate investments in specific industries, sectors, markets or asset classes may underperform or be more volatile than other industries, sectors, markets or asset classes and the general securities market. The BlackRock funds are actively managed and their characteristics will vary. Actively managed funds do not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. Actively managed funds may have higher portfolio turnover than index funds. International investing involves risks, including risks related to foreign currency, limited liquidity, less government regulation and the possibility of substantial volatility due to adverse political, economic or other developments. These risks often are heightened for investments in emerging/developing markets and in concentrations of single countries. This material represents an assessment of the market environment as of the date indicated; is subject to change; and is not intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results. This information should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding the funds or any issuer or security in particular. The strategies discussed are strictly for illustrative and educational purposes and are not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy. There is no guarantee that any strategies discussed will be effective. This material contains general information only and does not take into account an individual's financial circumstances. This information should not be relied upon as a primary basis for an investment decision. Rather, an assessment should be made as to whether the information is appropriate in individual circumstances and consideration should be given to talking to a financial professional before making an investment decision. The Funds are distributed by BlackRock Investments, LLC (together with its affiliates, "BlackRock"). Investors who invested certain amounts in the Funds on or around the Funds' launch date (also referred to as "anchor investors"), including those investors quoted or listed in this communication, were provided the opportunity by BlackRock to participate, including as a featured speaker, in certain BlackRock-sponsored publicity events relating to the Funds and their investment strategies. Any investor's opinion may not be representative of other investors in the Funds and is not a guarantee of the future performance or success of the Funds. There is no guarantee, obligation or assurance that any anchor investors will maintain any specific level of investment in the fund, and such anchor investors have the ability to withdraw their investment at any point in time like any other shareholder of a mutual fund or ETF. 2021 BlackRock. All rights reserved. BLACKROCK is a registered trademark of BlackRock. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005295/en/

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Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases

By Chris Boyle Published: April 09 2021

As an Air Force veteran, Ms. Bonacasa proudly served in the United States Air Force from 2002 through 2006.

Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker recently joined the Bonacasa family at Mount Sinais Heritage Park to honor and recognize Deborah and Lily Bonacasa for their outstanding and impactful work within the community. This year, Deborah Bonacasa was Legislator Ankers nominee for the Suffolk County Woman of Distinction Award. As established by Resolution 786-2002, every year in celebration of Womans History Month, each Suffolk County Legislator nominates a woman from their district to be considered to receive the county-wide Woman of Distinction Award. The recipient of the award is decided by the Suffolk County Womens Advisory Commission and must be a woman who lives or works in Suffolk County and has a profound impact on the community through active volunteer work and leadership.

As an Air Force veteran, Ms. Bonacasa proudly served in the United States Air Force from 2002 through 2006, including a deployment to Balad AB, Iraq. In 2015, she and her daughter Lily, lost her husband, Lilys father, while he was serving overseas in Afghanistan. Through her experience with grief and receiving support from her loved ones and her community, Ms. Bonacasa was inspired to create the SSgt Louis Bonacasa Memorial Foundation in honor of her beloved husband, SSgt Louis Bonacasa. The foundation seeks to raise money to donate to various organizations that support and empower local veterans. Under Ms. Bonacasas leadership, the SSgt Louis Bonacasa Memorial Foundation has been able to raise over $10,000 that has been donated to organizations like the Long Island ABATE. In addition to her work with the foundation, Ms. Bonacasa has also worked closely volunteering time and resources to a number of organizations including Gold Star Families, Tunnels to Towers, local food pantries, Veterans of Foreign Wars, fire departments, and civic organizations.

It was my distinct honor to nominate Deborah Bonacasa for the 2021 Suffolk County Woman of Distinction award in recognition of her outstanding leadership and tireless volunteer efforts toward improving her community and supporting our local veterans, said Legislator Anker. She has deeply committed herself to providing support to veterans, those in active duty, reservists, Gold Star/Blue Star families, and other families and children in need. It is because of her passion for helping those in need who bravely served our country and her ability to move others to compassion and action, that I was pleased to nominate her for the Suffolk County Woman of Distinction award.

In addition to honoring Deborah Bonacasa, Legislator Anker presented a proclamation to Deborahs daughter, Lily Bonacasa, in recognition of her philanthropic work in the community through the holiday toy drive, Lilys Toy House. The establishment of Lilys Toy House was inspired by a conversation that Lily had with Santa when she was a second grader. Lily told Santa that she wanted to give a toy to a child who would not get one that year. That thought and Lilys compassion led to the creation of the toy drive that since its establishment in 2019 has donated over 1,000 new unwrapped toys to children aged 1 to 17 years old in need in the community and has donated $1,000 to a Soldier's Child Foundation. A Soldier's Child Foundation honors the children of our countrys fallen veterans by celebrating their birthday every year through the age of 18.

It is my honor to recognize Lily Bonacasa along with her mother, Deborah, said Legislator Anker. Lily has brought joy to so many children in need in our community during the holiday season. As a bright, dedicated and compassionate young woman, I know that she will continue to positively impact our community.
Experts say Vietnam should strengthen its laws and enforce them very strictly to improve the worsening problem of water pollution in the country.

Their comments were made in the hue and cry that followed a water retention basin in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province turning pink-purple late last month, exuding a foul smell and disrupting life in the area.

The basin is supposed to hold treated wastewater from nearby seafood processing factories, and to help regulate flooding during the rainy season. When its floodgates are opened, the water would typically flow towards the Rach Van and Cha Va rivers before reaching the sea, where hundreds of families engage in fishing and aquaculture.

The change in water color is being investigated. One company that discharged wastewater has been fined VND372 million ($16,160).

However, this is not the first time that such an incident has occurred. In 2017, an algae bloom triggered by pollution also changed the water color.

"It is not just a question of foul smell and strange color. We do not know what chemicals are discharged, which of these are creating the problem, and how dangerous they are," said Professor Asit Biswas of Scotlands Glasgow University.

He suggested that authorities investigate this issue thoroughly to determine what the chemicals are and assess their long-term impacts on human and aquatic life.

Professor Hans Schreier of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, said that to deal with water pollution problems, proper wastewater treatment is a must. Companies should be forced to send their effluents to a community treatment plant first for processing.

Biswas said water pollution is a problem in nearly all developing countries. There are often laws and regulations to control water pollution, but these are seldom enforced, he noted. Consequently, all water bodies near and within urban centers in all developing countries are heavily polluted with known and unknown pollutants.

Regarding the situation in Vietnam, he said that if the laws are not strong enough to prevent such practices, they should be strengthened. Vietnamese regulatory authorities should heavily fine seafood processing factories, especially their owners, including awarding long-term prison sentences. Corruption is another issue that needs serious attention in this context, he said.

"Unless sanctions allowed under law are strictly enforced, not much long-term improvements can be seen," he said.
China sold and donated some 80 million doses to 60 countries. Its lead was facilitated by export controls by the European Union and India. Chinese vaccines have not yet been licenced by the World Health Organisation. Beijing will have trouble producing enough vaccines for itself and others. As a geopolitical tool, vaccines might flop.

Beijing (AsiaNews)  China ranks first in COVID-19 vaccine exports, with some 80 million doses sent to 60 countries, various sources report. The European Union and India follow with 77 and 64 million respectively.

China's lead is due to other governments imposing export controls or reducing exports to focus on domestic vaccination.

Millions of Chinese vaccines have been delivered under trade agreements with less than 100,000 doses donated to poor countries. Before the pandemic, China did not export vaccines in great quantities, covering only 1 per cent of the global market.

As reported by AsiaNews, by early March the Chinese had distributed almost eight million doses to Latin America. Chinese companies also delivered bulk ingredients for some 90 million doses to be turned into vaccines in Mexico, Indonesia and Brazil.

Chinese vaccines (Sinopharm, Sinovac Biotech and CanSino Biologics) however have not yet been licenced by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and cannot be included in COVAX, the global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for developing countries.

As a result of export controls by India and the EU, COVAX is currently lagging behind in distributing anti-COVID vaccines, whilst the World Health Organisation said it needs more data to licence Chinese vaccines

While UN health agency will have completed its revie by the end of April, the Chinese are moving forward with exports authorised by foreign governments. Nonetheless, some analysts note that China will have problems producing enough vaccines for domestic use if it fulfils foreign commitments.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that by the end of June 40 per cent of the Chinese population (about 560 million people) will be vaccinated. So far Chinas own vaccination campaign has been slow, at least compared to countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.

As of yesterday, more than 155.15 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered across China, the National Health Commission said today; that is 11 doses out of 100 residents, far lower than in the United Kingdom (56 doses per 100 the United States) and the United States (52), but better than in India (almost 7).

Some countries that have signed deals with China have complained about non-deliveries. Reuters and other media have reported that Turkey was supposed to receive 50 million doses by the end of February, but only 16 million reached their destination by March.

Overall, according to the South China Morning Post, only six countries have received more than three million doses of Chinese vaccines.

Critics note that China is using vaccines as a tool to gain geopolitical influence to the detriment of the United States and its allies.

Taiwan recently warned that China is offering the vaccine to Paraguay in exchange for diplomatic recognition. The South American nation has formal relations with Taipei, but not with Beijing, which considers the island a rebel province.

Many point out that such a policy might flop, as the world offer will be more than sufficient once the United States, the European Union and India have vaccinated a large part of their own populations.
By Lynn Parramore, Senior Research Analyst at the Institute for New Economic Thinking. Originally published at the Institute for New Economic Thinking website

President Bidens $2 trillion infrastructure and climate proposal has a lot of people excited, and no wonder. Americans are sick of being stuck with frazzled electric grids, foul drinking water, falling bridges, far too many left out of prosperity, and feeling that the countrys global status is suffering.

On March 31st, President Biden described his vision to carpenters at a training facility in Pittsburgh: Its going to boost Americas innovative edge in markets where global leadership is up for grabsmarkets like battery technology, biotechnology, computer chips, clean energy, the competition with China in particular.

Sounds great! But according to economist William Lazonick, a leading expert on business innovation, we cant get there without first dealing with how Wall Street billionaires are allowed to call the shots for American businesses. Right now, large, capable companies like GE and Intel  companies that could be mobilized to help achieve the laudable goals of Bidens plan  are getting their marching orders from hedge fund predators looking to make a quick buck. The interests of these financiers dont align with what firms need to be doing to achieve large-scale, long-term goals, like competing with China on clean energy.

In Lazonicks view, any company that gets taxpayer-funded subsidies to partner with the Biden administration on an infrastructure and climate plan should be focused on ramping up its capabilities and delivering the products America needs, not playing Wall Street casino games for the benefit of wealthy hedge fund managers and executives.

Shaking Off Shareholder Value Ideology

First, a little history. Back in the 1980s, a very bad idea took over America, so bad that Jack Welch, the famous CEO of GE from 1981 to 2001, called it the dumbest idea in the world.

Shareholder value theory held that the sole purpose of a company is to make money for its shareholders. Never mind its products, customers, or employees. Forget about the firms long-term health, or heaven forbid, contributing something useful to society. Nopea company existed only to shovel money to shareholders as fast as possible. Full stop, end of story.

This myopic mentality resulted in big firms losing interest in doing things like investing in R&D, building manufacturing plants, or using profits to attract and retain the best talent. Nowadays, whenever they try these things, a set of Wall Street predators stands poised and ready to attack them.

These predators are known as shareholder activists and theyre the descendants of the corporate raiders of yesterday. Usually they are hedge fund managers seeking high yields for clients. Their modus operandi is to buy up shares of a companys stock, pressure the management to jack up the stock price by any means necessary, then dump the stock, make a cool profit on the turnaround, and move on to the next target. Its quick and dirty.

Certainly these hedge fund activists arent interested in a CEOs dreams to build technology for the future. They are fixated on the short-term, and their favorite way to inflate a companys stock price quickly is to force it to buy outstanding shares of its own stock  a trick known as a stock buyback. When a company does this, the number of shares is reduced and the price of each individual share goes up  not because the company has announced a great new product or a good business plan, but simply because there are fewer shares. Its an illusion, but it can make certain people rich in the short-term. Hint: you and I are not those people.

The use of stock buybacks for stock price manipulation used to be unlawful. But in 1982, enter Ronald Reagan and his Wall Street-friendly cohorts. They handed companies what Lazonick calls a license to loot. The 80s was the time when people started accepting the Greed is Good mentality reflected in Oliver Stones iconic movie, Wall Street  an attitude that has helped stoke many societal and economic problems, including the worst rates of inequality the country has ever seen.

Stock buybacks are as dated and ugly as neon Spandex, and should have been left behind in the go-go 80s. But instead, they are still happening everywhere and taking an increasingly alarming toll on American firms ability to do anything useful.

The reason this matters to Bidens proposal is that the government cant make things like batteries for electric cars or semiconductors out of thin air. It has to collaborate with companies that have the deep know-how and the substantial resources to develop these complicated and cutting-edge technologies.

Take, for example, GE. Now, heres a company that knows all about producing electric power systems. A venerable American firm like this should be ready to team up with the Biden administration, to make batteries for the electric vehicle market, for example, one of the Presidents stated priorities. But thats unlikely because of a billionaire hedge fund manager named Nelson Peltz, who started to buy shares of GE back in 2015. GE was already doing stock buybacks at that time  the practice had become so expected that companies were doing them preemptively just to keep hedge fund activists from targeting them  and the senior executives didnt mind the boosts to their stock-based pay. But GEs longstanding CEO Jeffrey Immelt still wanted to invest in technology and renewables that would pay off in the future.

Peltz wasnt having it and told Immelt to do even bigger stock buybacks so Peltz could double his money. GE was prevented from focusing on its current businesses, much less investing in the technologies of the future. Today, the company is limping along, selling off pieces of itself instead of investing in climate change-fighting batteries or other renewable-energy technologies.

Then theres Intel, the designer and manufacturer of semiconductor chips  those amazing chips that sit inside almost every electronic product these days, from cell phones to cars. They are particularly critical for clean technology, critical to computers used for clean energy grids and to electric vehicles.

California-based Intel is a hugely important company, a pioneer in chip fabrication and still one of the few firms in the world that not only designs chips, but makes them, too.

Manufacturing chips is extremely expensive, so Intel has been making huge capital investments to stay in the chip fabrication game. Unfortunately, it has gotten caught up in the stock buyback game, too, doing $39 billion in buybacks in 2018-2020, in large part to keep hedge fund activists off its back. But they came anyway, seeing Intels use of cash to upgrade its fabrication capabilities as a waste of money. Billionaire Daniel Loeb, head of Third Point, a New York-based hedge fund, bought about $50 billion in Intel stock on the market0.02% of the companys outstanding sharesand pushed Intels board to split off the chip manufacturing operation from its design business. This would basically be the end of Intels proud claim of being Americas leading integrated semiconductor maker.

Loeb is continuing to pressure Intel to do more buybacks, so, just like GE, Intel may lose its status as a world industry leader. Lazonick predicts that its fabrication business may very well end up getting bought by a Taiwanese company. And theres no American company that can replace it.

Guess which country is not hampered by stock buybacks? That would be China. Companies like Huawei dont do buybacks and are able to spend billions in profits on cutting-edge technology instead of making sure some guy on Wall Street can buy a superyacht.

As Lazonick sees it, Bidens goal of competing with China for leadership in industries like computer chips or clean energy is a non-starter as long as stock buybacks continue.

Biden is open to the buyback issue, Lazonick notes, but with the exception of a few people, like Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, who has called for a ban on stock buybacks, few advisers around him truly understand the problem. Lazonick adds that the Biden administration ought to put down some rules for companies it partners with on any infrastructure and climate plan. As he sees it, if they are going to get taxpayer money, then they shouldnt be doing buybacks while they have a government contract, period. Furthermore, there should be a ban on company insiders selling their stock as long as they are getting subsidized, because it creates conflicts of interest. You dont get to cash out during the duration of the contract, Lazonick explains.

Large government projects face plenty of hurdles moving from conception to construction and operations. Making sure that the taxpayers get their moneys worth out of the large companies the government must partner with to design, produce, and implement various parts of the plan is one of them. In Lazonicks view, its time to blow the whistle on stock buybacks that waste resources and do not reflect sound business practices.

You cant achieve a great leap into the future with billions in buybacks dragging you down.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said it hopes that the New Zealand government's temporary ban on travellers coming from India due to a surge in COVID-19 cases among visitors to that country would be lifted after April 28 so that an attempt to move towards normalcy in movement can be made.

This is the first time that New Zealand has imposed a temporary ban on the entry of travellers coming from India, including its citizens. The ban, from April 11 to 28, was announced by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

The travel restriction comes after New Zealand recorded 23 new positive COVID-19 cases in managed isolation on Thursday, of which 17 came from India, reports said quoting the country's Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield.

Asked about the issue during an online briefing, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "We have got to know from the New Zealand government that it has imposed the ban from April 11-28. They have said it is a temporary ban."

"It is applicable not just to Indians but also New Zealand nationals. We hope that this ban will be removed after April 28 so that we can attempt to move towards normalcy in movement," he said.

To a question on the situation in Myanmar, Bagchi said, "I think last week I had outlined in detail our position, and how we see the situation in Myanmar. Let me reiterate today our condemnation of the violence and our support for restoration of democracy in Myanmar."

Asked about the Canada-based New Democratic Party (NDP) raising issues of Kashmir and farm laws during its convention, the MEA spokesperson said he cannot specifically comment on the issue.

"But, I would like to remind that we have said earlier that these are internal issues," he added.

To a question seeking clarity on which foreign dignitaries would visit the country in the wake of the Raisina Dialogue going completely digital, Bagchi said some dignitaries were planning to come and some of them are still expected to come to India.

The details are still being worked out, he said.

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The Immigration and Customs Enforcement signed last month an $87 million contract for the housing of migrant families in Arizona and Texas.

It was considered a no-bid contract after the Biden administration did not solicit bids for the said housing contract, and awarded it to one organization whose leadership has Biden ties.

This includes one official from the Biden transition team, according to a Washington Examiner report.

The contract was given to the nonprofit organization named Family Endeavors, which is based in San Antonio, Texas. The said organization has no history of being an ICE contractor.

Family Endeavors has a senior official on the Biden transition team in its leadership, former ICE official Andrew Lorenzen-Strait.

Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia identified Lorenzen-Strait as a potential broker in the deal.

In an outline by Federal Acquisition Regulation, government contracts should be awarded through an open competitive process. ICE never opened the contract to outside companies and organizations.

One person who is familiar with the matter said that the bid was not advertised for competition.

"Unless certain exceptions apply, an agency must compete for the contract," said Carol Thompson was quoted in a report.

Thompson is a partner with the Federal Practice Group law firm based in Washington.

Clyde said in a letter that he finds it hard to believe that there were no other vendors vying for the contract despite the situation at the border.

ICE did not address questions related to Lorenzen-Strait but noted that the hotels are intended to be short-term to house migrant families.

READ ALSO: Biden Admin May Have To Restart Border Wall Construction To Fill Holes



Migrant Families Housing

Some migrant families arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border will be housed in hotels under a new program that will be managed by nonprofit organizations, according to The Guardian report.

Sources said Family Endeavors will oversee "family reception site" at hotels in Texas and Arizona. In addition, they are set to provide up to 1,400 beds in seven different brand-name hotels for migrant families that are deemed vulnerable.

Phase two of the housing will start on Apr. 30, with 600 beds being made available in Pecos, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; and Cotulla, Texas.

The Holiday Inn will accept more than 200 people starting on Friday, while WoodSpring Suites will be opening its rooms for families with 107 beds made available.

WoodSpring Suites will reportedly have in-room kitchens and living rooms rather than just bedrooms, according to another Washington Examiner report.

The Hilton brand's Hampton Inn would house around 338 people combined, while Phoenix's Sure Stay Best Western motel rooms will open its rooms for 142 people.

Best Western in El Paso will start accepting families on Friday and making at least 186 beds available for families. Comfort Inn will also be making 158 beds available for migrant families.

The Department of Homeland Security has started conducting COVID-19 rapid tests on families in other parts of Texas. However, it has not discussed whether families placed on the said hotels will be tested before or during their stay.

READ NEXT: Defense Department Halts Border Wall Building as It Reviews Biden's Order

WATCH: President Biden Tells Migrants: 'Don't Come' To Border - from TODAY






Barring a crazy spike in new Covid cases and with an indefinite mask mandate in place, the State of California plans to fully reopen the economy in mid-June.



Plus, Fantastic Negrito will support Bay Area artists and businesses via his new Oakland-based Storefront Records; SFO bans the sale of plastic bottles; and one local nanny is about to make some serious bank.

Local cannabis chef Victor Aguilera to appear on Food Network's 'Chopped 420,' Hoodline



On April 20th, catch Victor Aguilera, of the food delivery service Arepas en Bici, as he attempts to impress celeb judges his THC-infused creations. Read more.





San Francisco Airport extends plastic-free policy to tackle use of plastic bottles, Airport Review

Remember back in 2019 when SFO replaced their plastic water bottles with reusable aluminum versions? In an effort to move towards zero waste going towards landfill, the airport will no longer allow teas, sodas, or juices sold in plastic or aseptic paper packaging. Read more.



Help Fantastic Negrito launch Storefront Records, Do The Bay

The three-time Grammy Award winner has plans to support Bay Area talent, spotlight small businesses, and launch an internship program for local students by creating an artist-operated record label in West Oakland. Read more.





California to lift most COVID restrictions; economy to reopen June 15, SF Chronicle

If all goes as planned, almost all businesses and activities across the state will be able to operate at normal levels by mid-Junebut with an indefinite mask mandate. Read more.





Only in the Bay Area: This San Francisco Nanny Job Pays $100K a Year, The Bold Italic

Pretty soon one nanny, who checks all the boxes on a long list of other qualifications and has a Bachelor's or Master's in Early Childhood Education, will be making up to $120,000 per year. The new hire will be just one of three full-time nannies! Read more.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 02:27:46|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council on Thursday called on member states to comply with international treaty obligations related to mine action.

"The Council also calls upon member states to comply with their respective international treaty obligations related to mine action, and their relevant obligations under international humanitarian law," according to a statement of the Security Council.

The Security Council, in this context, reiterated its call for all parties in armed conflicts to end immediately and definitively any indiscriminate use of explosive devices in violation of international humanitarian law, it said.

"The Security Council recalls its Resolution 2365 (2017) on mine action, and as well as its relevant resolutions which mandate United Nations mine action related activities in relevant peacekeeping operations and special political missions, as applicable in line with their mandates and calls on member states and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen their efforts to implement Resolution 2365 as well as other relevant resolutions on mine action," said the statement.

"The Security Council underscores the importance it places on the safety and security of peacekeepers on the ground and the need for troop- and police-contributing countries to ensure where appropriate, that all peacekeepers in the field are equipped, informed and trained to mitigate the threat posed by landmines, ERWs (explosive remnants of war) and IEDs (improvised explosive devices)," it added.

"The Security Council, in commemoration of the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, reiterates its commitment to mine action with a view to contributing to the protection of civilians and supporting stabilization and peacebuilding efforts in armed conflicts and post-conflict situations," said the statement.

On Dec. 8, 2005, the UN General Assembly declared that April 4 of each year shall be observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

It called for continued efforts by states, with the assistance of the United Nations and relevant organizations, to foster the establishment and development of national mine-action capacities in countries where mines and explosive remnants of war constitute a serious threat to the safety, health and lives of the civilian population, or an impediment to social and economic development at the national and local levels.

The Security Council held a ministerial open debate on mine action on Thursday. Enditem
A team of scientists recently conducted an online survey to examine the changes in sleep duration among adult US citizens during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The survey findings identify a strong association between COVID-19-related alteration in sleep duration and mental health conditions, such as anxiety, depression, and loneliness. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

Background

Sleep is a vital physiological process required for maintaining physical and mental homeostasis. It is well-established in the literature that there is a bidirectional association between sleeping behaviors and psychiatric disorders. The negative impact of sleep deprivation on mental health conditions further increases during stressful events, such as natural disasters and epidemic/pandemic conditions.

During previous pandemic conditions, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) pandemic in 2003 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) pandemic in 2015, significantly high rates of anxiety disorders, depression, insomnia, and post-traumatic stress disorder have been observed among individuals affected by the pandemic.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has put a lot of burden on the healthcare and socioeconomic structures of many countries globally. In addition to pandemic-related restrictions, fear of economic deprivation has considerably impacted the mental wellbeing of many individuals, especially young adults.

Given the strong association between sleep and mental health, the current study has been designed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sleep duration and its association with sociodemographic and mental health factors among US citizens.

Study design

The scientists searched for participants on various social media platforms, including Facebook. The participants were at least 18 years of age and residing in the USA. After a successful recruitment process, the participants were asked to complete the survey questionnaire, which was designed to collect information about demographic details, participants behaviors, attitudes and beliefs about the COVID-19 pandemic, and participants current mental status. Moreover, the survey included a question about changes in sleep duration throughout the pandemic.

Based on the sleep-related information, the scientists made three categories: sleeping less than usual, sleeping more than usual, and no change in sleeping. To assess the mental health status of participants, a specialized questionnaire was included in the survey, which specifically examined COVID-19-related anxiety, depression, and loneliness.

Important observations

A total of 5,175 participants completed the survey. About 54% of them reported experiencing changes in sleep duration due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The younger participants and women were more affected by the pandemic. Moreover, the highest level of sleep alterations was observed among participants who lived in urban areas, had children at home, being single, or being employed.

In general, about 17% of the participants reported having less sleep during the pandemic, whereas about 37% reported having more sleep. An inverse correlation was observed between age and sleep duration, with older participants reporting less sleep duration. Regarding other sociodemographic factors, a positive correlation was observed between sleeping more and being female, being divorced/separated, or being single. Similarly, the participants with higher education degrees reported having more sleep.

Regarding COVID-19-related beliefs, the participants who feared more about acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection and its severity reported having less sleep than usual. In contrast, the participants who strongly believed that COVID-19 is associated with severe symptoms reported having more sleep.

Most importantly, the statistical analyzes of unadjusted and fully-adjusted models revealed the both sleeping less than usual and sleeping more than usual behaviors were strongly correlated with tested mental conditions, including anxiety, depression, and loneliness.

Study significance

The study reveals that most US citizens have experienced either an increase or a decrease in sleep duration during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the changes in sleep duration are associated with various sociodemographic factors and beliefs about the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The strongest association between alteration in sleep duration and mental health conditions observed in the study highlights the need for monitoring psychosocial aspects of individuals directly or indirectly affected by the pandemic.

*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.
Google started an initiative in 2019 which was called Privacy Sandbox, what this basically dose is that it proposes a bunch of privacy-preserving APIs to support business models that can fund the open web without the need of certain tracking mechanisms like third-party cookies. The work on this initiative and the updates were brought in from January and October of last year. It has been reported that now Google is in the process of taking full control from websites and advertisers to move everything into its own Google browser.With whatever Google has come up with till now, the privacy concerns from the users have been the most frequent, because of the way Google is always ready to take risks, but as always Google too promises to ensure that there will be no breach of privacy. However, around 15 attorney generals have accused the company of using its Chrome browser as means of tracking and targeting its users, and that too by a large number. The Google Chrome over the years has used several methods to make sure that their users are not being the target for un-wanted product or service information (which is often done during political or marketing campaigns via emails) and to ensure more privacy and security of their users. So for Google being accused of something like that, that too by 15 attorney generals is something out of order, but recent reports confirm that Google has also shown some behavior in the past which might support the accusations.It was reported that the tech giant has started hosting a FLOC trial , where the websites who dont opt-out and those who get detected to be the sites that load ads-related resources will be added into the FLOC calculations. For this trial, the company has started tracking its users including their browsing history as well and then grouping them accordingly.Google has included 0.5% of its Chrome users from different regions of the world including the United States of America into its trial. The users were picked out for the trial randomly regardless of whatever privacy settings that they might have added into their accounts and to believe that Google will stop this is a mistake because the company is now planning onto include 5% of its Chrome users into the trial which basically makes up to 100 million Chrome users worldwide.The international non-profit digital rights company, The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) does not at all approves of all of this, as it wants Google to be more transparent in its practices.Read next: Google Chrome Is Finally Getting New Versions and Updates on iOS After Four Months
It placed fourth on the 16th season of The Block.

And the house renovated by Luke and Jasmin Neuwen on Nine's renovation show last year has just been rented out for $2,700 per week, reports Domain.

The five-bedroom property in Brighton, Melbourne, was sold for $3.856million at auction in November.

Famous digs: The house renovated by Luke and Jasmin Neuwen during last year's season of The Block has just been rented out for a whopping $2,700 per week, reports Domain

The Perth couple took home $506,000 after the sale smashed the $3.35million reserve.

The 1910s Federation home was offered for rent fully furnished and was snapped up last Thursday after just one showing.

It boasts a main bedroom with bay window, a home office and a curved timber and stone kitchen.

Profit: The Perth couple took home $506,000 after the sale smashed its $3.35million reserve

Fleeting: The 1910s Federation home was offered for rent fully furnished and was snapped up last Thursday after just one showing

Outside is an entertainer's backyard complete with plunge pool, pizza oven and fire pit.

Belle Property South Melbourne's Stefan Joannides told Domain: 'This one felt like a home, the colour scheme, and the brightness.'

He denied the house was rented for so much because of its television fame, saying: 'Regardless of the show, the property speaks for itself.'

Landscaping: Outside is an entertainer's backyard with plunge pool, pizza oven and fire pit

Meanwhile, two other properties from the show's same season were advertised for rent back in February, with similar price tags.

Sarah and George's house at 362B New Street was listed for $2,500 a week, while Harry and Tashs bungalow at 364 New Street was asking $2,700 a week.

Both have since been leased.

Jimmy and Tam Wilkins won the 2020 season of the home improvement series with their project yielding $966,000 profit.
A view of an abandoned oil well in Olean, New York, U.S., February 26, 2020. (Photo : REUTERS/Lindsay DeDario)

A U.S House of Representatives Democrat introduced a bill on Thursday authorizing $8 billion to plug and clean up abandoned oil wells nationwide, a measure aimed at creating jobs for oil and gas workers and reducing climate-warming emissions.



More than a century of oil and gas drilling has left behind millions of abandoned wells https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-drilling-abandoned-specialreport/special-report-millions-of-abandoned-oil-wells-are-leaking-methane-a-climate-menace-idUSKBN23N1NL, many of which are emitting methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Oil and gas companies are likely to abandon many more wells as demand for clean energy replaces that for fossil fuels.



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The bill, sponsored by Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez, comes a week after President Joe Biden's administration unveiled a $2 trillion infrastructure proposal - dubbed the American Jobs Plan - that called for a $16 billion investment to plug orphaned wells and clean up abandoned mines.



The Biden initiative is aimed in part at providing work for oil and gas employees likely to be displaced by a move away from fossil fuels because of climate change.



Leger Fernandez said in an interview that her bill "does the two things that the American Jobs Plan is looking at, which is both create jobs and address some of the pressing national problems we have."



Her bill would provide $7.25 billion in grants for well cleanups on state and private lands and $700 million for plugging on public and tribal lands.



State eligibility for the grants would be tied to various metrics, including the ability to put people to work quickly, a state's oil and gas job losses, the number of abandoned wells and efforts to tighten plugging regulations, reduce methane emissions and boost spending on cleanups.



Leger Fernandez's home state of New Mexico is a major oil and gas producer.



The bill would also raise bonding amounts, the money that drillers must pay to cover cleanup costs if they go bankrupt, for companies with wells on public lands. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has said that existing levels are not sufficient, leaving taxpayers on the hook for cleanups.



Bonds for wells on a single lease would rise to $150,000 from $10,000, while bonds for all of a driller's wells in a state would go to $500,000 from $25,000. Companies would also be required to pay new fees for idle wells on public lands.


Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announces that Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa will be applied for pre-emergency status under a new prevention law during a government task force meeting at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on April 9, 2021. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

Japan Imposes New Virus Measures in Tokyo Ahead of Olympics

TOKYOJapan announced Friday that it will raise the coronavirus alert level in Tokyo to allow tougher measures to curb the rapid spread of a more contagious variant ahead of the Summer Olympics.

The raised status announced by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will allow Tokyos governor to mandate shorter opening hours for bars and restaurants, along with punishments for violators and compensation for those who comply. The measures are to begin Monday and continue through May 11.

Many of Tokyos cases have been linked to nightlife and dining, though they have recently spread to offices, elderly care facilities and schools, experts say.

Suga also raised the alert level for Kyoto in western Japan and the southern island prefecture of Okinawa, where cases have surged in recent weeks. The new status there is to continue through May 5, the end of Japans Golden Week holidays, to discourage traveling.

We will do everything to contain infections within the affected areas and prevent them from spreading across the country, Suga told reporters.

Under the measures, people are urged to avoid nonessential travel outside their cities, health officials will patrol bars and restaurants to ensure safety measures are observed, and testing will be increased at elderly care facilities, Suga said.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike asked residents to avoid nonessential trips and practice social distancing. She asked bars and restaurants in many areas of the prefecture to close at 8 p.m.

In order to protect the medical systems in Tokyo, we have to work much harder to further reduce the movement of people, Koike said. We must curb the infections so we dont have another resurgence at the time of the Olympics.

We must endure this difficult time until vaccines are widely available, she added.

The alert status was also raised on Monday for parts of three other prefecturesOsaka, neighboring Hyogo and Miyagi in the north. They have had sharp increases in daily cases since early March.

With Fridays additions, 15 cities in the six prefectures, including downtown Tokyo, are designated for elevated virus measures.

The new alert status come with binding orders but only for businesses to close early while measures for the residents are only requests.

Osaka has declared a medical emergency after its hospitals became overwhelmed with new cases and has moved next weeks Olympic torch relay there off public roads.

The celebration cauldron is seen lit on the first day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay in Naraha, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 25, 2021. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool Photo via AP)

Just over 1 million people in Japan, or less than 1 percent of the population, have received the first of two vaccine doses, and the surge in cases may cause further cancellations of Olympic-related events.

Inoculations started in mid-February for medical workers. Elderly people are scheduled to get their shots starting next week through late June. The rest of the population is likely to have to wait until about July.

By Mari Yamaguchi
Detailed results to be presented at AACR 2021 Annual Congress

- Intravenous administration could allow oncolytic viruses from Transgene's Invir.IO platform to be used to treat a broad range of solid tumors

Regulatory News:

Transgene (Paris:TNG) (Euronext Paris: TNG), a biotech company that designs and develops virus-based immunotherapeutics against cancer, today announces initial promising results from a Phase I study combining intravenous (IV) oncolytic virus TG6002 and oral 5-FC in patients with advanced gastrointestinal carcinomas. These data provide a clinical proof of concept for Transgene's double deleted VVcopTKRR patented virus backbone: after IV administration, TG6002 reached the tumor, multiplied within tumor cells, and induced the local expression of its payload (the FCU1 gene).

These results will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) virtual meeting taking place from April 10-15, 2021.

DATA CONFIRM THAT THE CHEMOTHERAPY AGENT 5-FU IS PRODUCED IN PATIENTS' TUMORS AFTER INTRAVENOUS ADMINISTRATION

TG6002 is a novel oncolytic virus that has been engineered to combine multiple mechanisms of action. It has been designed to:

selectively replicate within cancer cells. This is due to the deletion of the viral genes encoding TK and RR, which reduces the virus's ability to grow in normal cells. This selective viral replication leads to the breakdown of the infected tumor cells in a process called oncolysis,

prime an immune response against the primary tumor and metastases,

and to induce the local expression of a biologically active enzyme able to convert 5-FC into its active cytotoxic metabolite 5-FU, directly in the tumor.

The data demonstrate that high concentration and continuous production of 5-FU chemotherapy can be obtained within the tumors through the local conversion of the pro-drug 5-FC (administered orally). This mechanism of action is based on the in-tumor expression of the proprietary FCU1 gene that has been integrated within the genome of TG6002.

In this study, extensive analyses are being performed including metastasis biopsy with synchronous blood sampling, assessment of virus presence, quantification of 5-FC and 5-FU and assessment of neutralizing antibody titers.

These analyses have allowed Transgene to document TG6002's pharmacokinetics (PK) and biodistribution, and the functioning of the FCU1 gene when given by IV administration.

Detailed results:

TG6002 infects tumors after intravenous administration, remains active and effectively express FCU1 gene selectively in tumor tissue;

? Absence of widespread virus distribution in the body and association of FCU1 activity with high virus concentration in tumor tissue suggest that the replication of TG6002 is concentrated in tumor cells;

? None of the patients presented clinical signs of extra-tumoral dissemination of the virus suggesting a high tumor specificity of the viral replication;

? The study is continuing with escalating dosing of TG6002.

CLINICAL PROOF OF CONCEPT OF THE FEASIBILITY OF THE IV ADMINISTRATION OF TRANSGENE'S PROPRIETARY ONCOLYTIC VIRUS

To-date, the only oncolytic virus that has received regulatory approval is only approved for intra-tumoral administration, restricting its use to superficial lesions.

Transgene aims to enlarge the number of solid tumors, such as gastro-intestinal tumors, that could be addressed by an oncolytic virus, by developing oncolytics that can be administered intravenously.

The findings that will be presented at AACR demonstrate the relevance of intravenous administration of Transgene's next generation oncolytic viruses including TG6002.

These data also suggest that candidates derived from Transgene's unique Invir.IO platform could also be given intravenously, extending the use of these therapies to a broad range of solid tumors.

Title of the poster: "Oncolytic virus TG6002 locates to tumors after intravenous infusion and induces tumor-specific expression of a functional pro-drug activating enzyme in patients with advanced gastrointestinal carcinomas"

"Oncolytic virus TG6002 locates to tumors after intravenous infusion and induces tumor-specific expression of a functional pro-drug activating enzyme in patients with advanced gastrointestinal carcinomas" Authors : Kaidre Bendjama, Philippe Cassier, Victor Moreno, Bernard Doger, Emiliano Calvo, Maria De Miguel, Christiane Jungels, Philippe Erbs, Damien Carpentier, Alain Sadoun.

: Kaidre Bendjama, Philippe Cassier, Victor Moreno, Bernard Doger, Emiliano Calvo, Maria De Miguel, Christiane Jungels, Philippe Erbs, Damien Carpentier, Alain Sadoun. Abstract/Poster Number : LB179

: LB179 Session: PO.IM02.11 Vaccines

The e-poster presentation will be available on the AACR website beginning at 8:30 am US EDT on Saturday, April 10, until Monday, June 21. The text of this abstract will be posted at 12:01 am US EDT on Friday, April 9 on the AACR website.

About the trial (NCT03724071)

This trial is a single-arm open-label Phase I/II trial evaluating the safety and tolerability of multiple ascending doses of TG6002 administered intravenously in combination with oral 5-FC, a non-cytotoxic pro-drug that can be converted in 5-FU, its active metabolite. Based on the safety profile of TG6002, several dose levels have been added to the initial Phase I clinical protocol. At the end of this Phase I part, Phase II patients will receive the recommended dose of TG6002. The trial has safety as primary endpoint for the Phase I part and efficacy for the Phase II part. The trial also evaluates pharmacokinetic properties and biodistribution of TG6002, along with immune modulation of the tumor micro-environment. This European study will enroll up to 40 patients suffering from advanced gastrointestinal carcinomas who have failed and/or are intolerant to standard therapeutic options in the Phase I part. Patients with colon cancer and liver metastases will be enrolled in the Phase II part.

Dr. Philippe Cassier, M.D., PhD, head of the early-phase trials unit at Centre Leon Berard (Lyon, France) is the principal investigator of the trial.

About TG6002

TG6002 has been engineered to directly kill cancer cells (oncolysis), to enable the production of a chemotherapy agent (5-FU) within the tumor, and to elicit an immune response by the body against the tumor cells. In preclinical experiments, TG6002 has been shown to induce the shrinkage of the primary tumor as well as the regression of distant metastases (Foloppe, et al., Molecular Therapy Oncolytics, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omto.2019.03.005).

The production of 5-FU directly in the tumor aims to achieve a better anti-tumoral effect with limited chemotherapy-induced side effects.

TG6002 induces the production of 5-FU in the cancer cells it has infected, by enabling the local conversion of the pro-drug 5-FC (administered orally) into 5-FU. 5-FU is a common chemotherapy agent for patients with gastro-intestinal cancers. This mechanism of action is based on the in-tumor expression of the proprietary FCU1 gene that has been encoded in the genome of TG6002, taking advantage of the virus selective replication in the tumor cells.

When administered systemically, 5-FU is associated with side effects that can lead to treatment discontinuation. With TG6002, 5-FU is produced within the tumor where it is expected to be present at a high concentration level in contrast to the very low levels anticipated in the rest of the patient's body.

About Transgene

Transgene (Euronext: TNG) is a biotechnology company focused on designing and developing targeted immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. Transgene's programs utilize viral vector technology with the goal of indirectly or directly killing cancer cells.

The Company's clinical-stage programs consist of two therapeutic vaccines (TG4001 for the treatment of HPV-positive cancers, and TG4050, the first individualized therapeutic vaccine based on the myvac platform) as well as two oncolytic viruses (TG6002 for the treatment of solid tumors, and BT-001, the first oncolytic virus based on the Invir.IO platform).

With Transgene's myvac platform, therapeutic vaccination enters the field of precision medicine with a novel immunotherapy that is fully tailored to each individual. The myvac approach allows the generation of a virus-based immunotherapy that encodes patient-specific mutations identified and selected by Artificial Intelligence capabilities provided by its partner NEC.

With its proprietary platform Invir.IO, Transgene is building on its viral vector engineering expertise to design a new generation of multifunctional oncolytic viruses. Transgene has an ongoing Invir.IO collaboration with AstraZeneca.

Additional information about Transgene is available at: www.transgene.fr

Follow us on Twitter: @TransgeneSA

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. The occurrence of any of these risks could have a significant negative outcome for the Company's activities, perspectives, financial situation, results, regulatory authorities' agreement with development phases, and development. The Company's ability to commercialize its products depends on but is not limited to the following factors: positive pre-clinical data may not be predictive of human clinical results, the success of clinical studies, the ability to obtain financing and/or partnerships for product manufacturing, development and commercialization, and marketing approval by government regulatory authorities. For a discussion of risks and uncertainties which could cause the Company's actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors ("Facteurs de Risque") section of the Universal Registration Document, available on the AMF website (http://www.amf-france.org) or on Transgene's website (www.transgene.fr). Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and Transgene undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210408005698/en/

Contacts:

Transgene:

Lucie Larguier

Director Corporate Communications IR

+33 (0)3 88 27 91 04

investorrelations@transgene.fr

Media: Citigate Dewe Rogerson

David Dible/Sylvie Berrebi

+ 44 (0)20 7638 9571

transgene@citigatedewerogerson.com
One person was killed and eight others were injured in an explosion and fire on April 8 at a paint manufacturers plant in Ohios capital city, firefighters said.

Authorities in Columbus were investigating what caused the explosion shortly after midnight at the Yenkin-Majestic Paint facility. They said some of those hurt were able to get out of the plant. Others were rescued and taken to the hospital.

All of the injured were in stable condition later in the day, including two initially listed in critical condition, according to the Columbus Division of Fire.

The fire was eventually extinguished and the deceased employee was found in the rubble of the collapsed building, Battalion Chief Steve Martin said. The employee was identified as 44-year-old Wendell Light, a press room supervisor for the company, which makes paints, resins and other coatings.

The company hired environmental contractors to ensure that runoff from the firefighting efforts is contained and removed, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agencys Emergency Response section is overseeing that work, Ohio EPA media coordinator Anthony Chenault said in an email.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Ohio
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2021 / FIORE GOLD LTD. (TSX.V:F)(OTCQB:FIOGF) ("Fiore" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that at the annual general meeting of shareholders held on April 8, 2021 (the "Meeting") the shareholders re-elected Mark H. Bailey, Anne Labelle, Peter Tallman, Matthew Manson, Peter T. Hemstead, Tim Warman and Kenneth A. Brunk as directors of the Company for the forthcoming year. Each Director was elected by a majority of votes at the meeting and the table below presents the votes represented by proxy in respect of the election of each Director:

Nominee Votes For Votes Withheld / Abstain Mark H. Bailey 23,939,461 (98.77%) 298,159 Anne Labelle 20,850,019 (86.02%) 3,387,601 Peter Tallman 23,922,389 (98.70%) 315,231 Matthew Manson 23,905,061(98.63%) 332,559 Peter T. Hemstead 23,907,666 (98.64%) 329,954 Tim Warman 23,934,184 (98.75%) 303,436 Kenneth A. Brunk 23,928,805 (98.73%) 308,815

In addition, shareholders at the Meeting approved setting the numbers or directors at seven, the re-appointment of the Company's auditor and reauthorizing Company's Stock and Incentive Plan.

Corporate Strategy

Our corporate strategy is to grow Fiore into a 150,000 ounce per year gold producer. To achieve this, we intend to:

grow gold production at the Pan Mine while also growing the reserve and resource base;

advance exploration and development of the nearby Gold Rock project; and

acquire additional production or near-production assets to complement our existing operations.

On behalf of FIORE GOLD LTD.

Tim Warman

Chief Executive Officer

CONTACT:

info@fioregold.com

1 (416) 639-1426 Ext. 1

www.fioregold.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward looking information" (as defined under applicable securities laws), based on management's best estimates, assumptions and current expectations. Such statements include but are not limited to, corporate strategy, goal to become a 150,000 ounce producer, growing gold production at the Pan Mine while also growing the reserve and resource base, advancing exploration and development of the nearby Gold Rock project, goal to acquire additional production or near production assets, and other statements, estimates or expectations. Often, but not always, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "expected", "budgeted", "targets", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "scheduled", "estimates", "aims", "will", "believes", "projects" and similar expressions (including negative variations) which by their nature refer to future events. By their very nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Fiore Gold's control. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, as well as a number of assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company concerning, among other things, anticipated geological formations, potential mineralization, future plans for exploration and/or development, potential future production, ability to obtain permits for future operations, drilling exposure, and exploration budgets and timing of expenditures, all of which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievement of Fiore Gold to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from results anticipated by such forward looking statements include, but not limited to, risks related to the Pan Mine performance, risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including government restrictions impacting the Company's operations, risks the pandemic poses to its work-force, impacts the virus may have on ability to obtain services and materials from its suppliers and contractors; risks related to the company's limited operating history; risks related to general economic conditions, actual results of current or future exploration activities, unanticipated reclamation expenses; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; fluctuations in prices of metals including gold; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; increases in market prices of mining consumables; possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results, test results and the estimation of gold resources and reserves; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the possibility that capital and operating costs may be higher than currently estimated; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in the work programs; availability of financing; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry; delays in the completion of exploration, development or construction activities; the possibility that required permits may not be obtained, renewed or amended in a timely manner or at all; changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations, and other factors identified in Fiore Gold's filings with Canadian securities authorities under its profile at www.sedar.com respecting the risks affecting Fiore and its business. Although Fiore has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are made as of the date hereof and are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Fiore disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as require by law. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information.

SOURCE: Fiore Gold Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/639593/Fiore-Gold-Announces-Results-of-Annual-General-Meeting
 North Carolina Gov creates "Juvenile Sentence Review Board" to make clemency recommendations | Main | Latest American Journal of Bioethics issue takes hard look at "War on Drugs" 

April 9, 2021

Might new "Commission on the Supreme Court" perhaps consider recommending creating a sentencing supreme court?

The question in the title of this post is my sentencing-addled reaction to this news today from the White House: "President Biden to Sign Executive Order Creating the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States."

President Biden will today issue an executive order forming the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, comprised of a bipartisan group of experts on the Court and the Court reform debate. In addition to legal and other scholars, the Commissioners includes former federal judges and practitioners who have appeared before the Court, as well as advocates for the reform of democratic institutions and of the administration of justice. The expertise represented on the Commission includes constitutional law, history and political science. The Commissions purpose is to provide an analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform, including an appraisal of the merits and legality of particular reform proposals. The topics it will examine include the genesis of the reform debate; the Courts role in the Constitutional system; the length of service and turnover of justices on the Court; the membership and size of the Court; and the Courts case selection, rules, and practices. To ensure that the Commissions report is comprehensive and informed by a diverse spectrum of views, it will hold public meetings to hear the views of other experts, and groups and interested individuals with varied perspectives on the issues it will be examining. The Executive Order directs that the Commission complete its report within 180 days of its first public meeting. This action is part of the Administrations commitment to closely study measures to improve the federal judiciary, including those that would expand access the court system.

Long-time readers know I spend a good bit of time in this space complaining about the fact that SCOTUS does not take up enough sentencing issues (see one recent example here). Though I seriously doubt that this new Commission will focus on the need I see for a supreme court that takes more sentencing cases, I am always serious in my view that there are many, many important sentencing issues that need more attention.

April 9, 2021 at 02:08 PM | Permalink

Comments

Changes in the lifetime tenure of the Justices (or any Federal Judge) or any kind of term limits on non-lifetime terms would require a Constitutional Amendment. The last amendment to the U.S. Constitution took 23 years to pass and adopt. That is a daunting task. This issue about expanding the number of Justices is strangely complicated by the fact that the Constitution fails to specify the number of Justices who shall serve upon the Supreme Court. Arguably, it would take at least an Act of Congress, signed by the President, to increase the number of Justices on the Supreme Court. This would be the easier and quicker path for President Biden and a Democratic controlled Congress to take.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Apr 10, 2021 8:29:18 PM

The commission is intended to provide political cover for expanding the Court. It's not likely to happen, for a host of reasons. Manchin probably wouldn't go along. And surely the Democrats recognize that if they were to expand the Court in order to appoint more justices to their liking, the Republicans would respond in kind the next time they have the opportunity.

Posted by: William C Jockusch | Apr 12, 2021 7:22:30 PM

Post a comment
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 11:23:16|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The China Society for Human Rights Studies on Friday released an article titled "Severe Humanitarian Disasters Caused by U.S. Aggressive Wars against Foreign Countries."

Please see the attachment for the article. Enditem
Local broadcasting legend Ernie Tetrault, known for stepping out from behind the news anchor desk to make personal connections with the people he covered - from local fire scenes to around-the-world assignments during the Vietnam War - has died at the age of 94.

It helped that he grew up in Troy, had a curious nature and a sense of humor, said those who knew him, including those at television station WRGB, Channel 6, the Niskayuna-based CBS affiliate where he served for years as lead anchor and which reported his death. In ill health recently, he died on Thursday evening.

Tetrault's passing comes a little over a year after his long-time on-air partner, Ed Dague, died. He is survived by his wife, Ann, two children and a grandchild, the station reported.

Tetrault started out in radio during World War II as an announcer on WTRY. In 1951, he moved to WRGB , hosting an early morning show called "Home Fare" and serving as the commercial announcer for "Teen Age Barn."

In the 1970s he moved to the newsroom, becoming one of the most respected anchors in the market. He retired as a newsman in 1993, but has been seen on television as a pitchman and in other roles since.

"I'm really very grateful to the broadcast industry," Tetrault told the Times Union in 2006. "It provided for me and my family."

During his 42 years at WRGB, Tetrault became a familiar presence in Capital Region homes. Tetrault was such a fixture that WRGB asserted he was the longest-tenured anchor in the nation.

The Times Union reported in 1992, "We've been claiming that for three or four years, and no one has ever disputed it," Tetrault said at the time with a trace of pride in his voice. "I don't think there's any question about it."

Tetrault spent years working with Dague before Dague left for television station WNYT's anchor desk. In his later years at the CBS affiliate, Tetrault teamed with anchor Liz Bishop for the station's 6 and 11 p.m. news broadcasts which scored high ratings for years. Bishop remains at the station, now known as CBS 6.

"My greatest admiration was for the work that he put on the air. He had this incredible commitment to what he was doing and a lot of it was because he came from this area and he really loved this area. He wanted to see it prosper. Over time, everybody knew him," Bishop said in an interview Friday regarding Tetrault whose roots went back to Watervliet.

"He was not just aware of the responsibility of being that person who was in everybody's home every night, but he really tried to enhance that by doing his best work and reaching out to people," Bishop said.

When Bishop sat down for the first time to co-anchor the evening news with Tetrault, she realized she wasn't sitting next to just any anchor.

"He was an icon at that point. He could have been so resentful or annoyed that they would place some rank beginner next to him in that chair. He was so gracious and so generous and so funny and smart," Bishop recalled.

Tetrault taught his new partner at the anchor desk about the importance of curiosity in chasing a story and passion for listening and learning from the people in news stories.

Tetrault covered the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars, interviewed presidents and won acclaim for an investigative series on the homeless in which Tetrault lived on the streets.

Tetrault was one of the co-founders of the Empire State Aerosciences Museum at the Schenectady County Airport in Glenville. He was also instrumental in raising the funds required to get the Concorde, a supersonic airplane, to fly into the airport and land.

Jack Aernecke, a former WRGB colleague, recalled how Tetrault loved the history of flying and had a pilot's license. During World War II, Tetrault served in the U.S. Navy in the Naval Air Corps. Aernecke joined WRGB in 1972 but remembered that Tretault had historic ties with the nation's oldest television station and came aboard when families were tuning in for the first time ever.

"Ernie started up there in 1951 and that was the year my parents bought the first TV for our home when I was six years old. Then I ended up working with him for 21 years. It was quite a thrill," Aernecke said.

"He was the veteran. He was helpful, mentoring, always ready to lend a hand. He believed if the team did well, we all did well," Aernecke said.

Aernecke and Bishop each said Tetrault had a keen sense of humor. Bishop said at times it was hard not to giggle on the set during broadcasts. Then-news director Don Decker even called the anchor duo in to tell them to cut out the laughs. But they quickly returned and never faded.

"When he laughed, his entire body laughed," Aernecke said. "He had a great sense of humor. He loved planning a joke. He loved a good laugh."

It was Tetrault's work that led him to be among the first inductees into the New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame, in 2006. His curiosity helped make him a good reporter, Bishop and Aernecke said. Tetrault would ask question after question seeking to learn as much as he could from each experience or interview subject.

We are proud and honored to have had such a news pioneer working his craft, and mentoring so many other fine journalists, for over four decades here at CBS 6 News, said Vince Nelson, vice president and general manager of WRGB.

In the years after he retired as a news anchor, Tetrault was the spokesman for the 21 Upstate Ford Dealers. For years, his face and voice were synonymous with Ford vehicles.

Tetrault also starred in at least one movie, playing a news anchor in 1992's "Sneakers." The film starred Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd,

Information about funeral arrangements was not available Friday.
RTHK: Myanmar junta sentences 19 to death

Nineteen people have been sentenced to death in Myanmar for killing an associate of an army captain, the military owned Myawaddy TV station said on Friday, the first such sentences announced in public since a February 1 coup and crackdown on protesters.

The report said the killing took place on March 27 in the North Okkalapa district of Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city. Martial law has been declared in the district, allowing courts martial to pronounce sentences.

The military rulers who overthrew an elected government said on Friday that a protest campaign against its rule was dwindling because people wanted peace, and that it would hold elections within two years, the first timeframe it has given for a return to democracy.

Troops fired rifle grenades at anti-coup protesters on Friday in the town of Bago, near Yangon, witnesses and news reports said. At least 10 people were killed and their bodies piled up inside a pagoda, they said.

Junta spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told a news conference in the capital, Naypyitaw, that the country was returning to normal and government ministries and banks would resume full operations soon.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group has said 614 people, including 48 children, had been killed by security forces since the coup, as of Thursday evening. More than 2,800 were in detention, it said.

"We are humbled by their courage and dignity," a group of 18 ambassadors in Myanmar said of the protesters in a joint statement.

"We stand together to support the hopes and aspirations of all those who believe in a free, just, peaceful and democratic Myanmar. Violence has to stop, all political detainees must be released and democracy must be restored."

The statement was signed by the ambassadors of the United States, Britain, the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland and several other European nations.

"The suggestions from neighbouring countries and big countries and powerful people in politics, we respect them," Zaw Min Tun said. He also accused members of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy of arson and said the protest campaign was being financed by foreign money, but gave no details.

Suu Kyi and many of her party colleagues have been in custody since the coup. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Iran has freed South Koreas Hankuk Chemi tanker and its crew after the vessel was stopped in January in the Persian Gulf, Yonhap News Agency reported Friday, citing the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

According to the agency, the ship with 13 crewmembers onboard has already left the Iranian port.

The Iranian coast guard detained the South Korean vessel on January 4. Western media outlets cited Seouls freezing of $7 billion Iranian assets carried out under the US request as a possible reason behind the move. In turn, Tehran claims that the tanker was detained for polluting the gulf waters.
You didnt have to actually have to come down with COVID-19 to have felt its impact, as well as that of the social and political upheaval over the last 12 months. This month Midlothian Public Library is wondering, how do we as individuals and communities make it through and rebound from times of hardship?
South Africa: SADC commits to finding solution to Mozambique attacks

SADC Heads of State have reiterated commitment to contribute towards the efforts of bringing about lasting peace and security, as well as reconciliation and development in the Republic of Mozambique.

This amid a spate of attacks in the country's Cabo Delgado Province in the last two weeks.

The leaders condemned the violence during this weeks Extraordinary Double Troika Summit in Maputo, in Mozambique. During the meeting, the Heads of State expressed concern over the security attacks in what have left dozens murdered and thousands displaced.

During the meeting, the Heads of State and Government received a report on the situation.

[They] noted with concern, the acts of terrorism perpetrated against innocent civilians, women and children in some of the districts of Cabo Delgado Province of the Republic of Mozambique; condemned the terrorist attacks in strongest terms; and affirmed that such heinous attacks cannot be allowed to continue without a proportionate regional response, reads the statement.

They expressed heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the Government and people of the country, particularly the bereaved families, on the loss of their loved ones.

The leaders conveyed the regions full solidarity with Mozambique and reaffirmed SADCs continued commitment to contribute towards the efforts to bring about lasting peace and security, as well as reconciliation and development in the Republic of Mozambique.

The Summit directed an immediate SADC Organ technical deployment to the country and the convening of an Extraordinary Meeting of the Ministerial Committee of the Organ by 28 April 2021. The Committee is expected to report to the Extraordinary Organ Troika Summit to be held in Mozambique on 29 April 2021.

Double Troika Summit, commended H.E. President Dr. Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, of the Republic of Botswana, and Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation for spearheading the work of the Organ, reads the statement.

The Summit also commended Mozambique President Jacinto Nyusi, and Chairperson of SADC, for his leadership and for convening the Summit.

During the meeting, the heads of state and government also paid tribute to late Tanzania President, Dr John Pombe Joseph Magufuli, who was the out-going Chairperson of SADC, by observing a minute of silence.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
New unemployment claims across Louisiana dropped to 11,818 from 12,845 one week before, according to U.S. Department of Labor data released on Thursday.

But it's still about double the number of new claims than in the past several months.

There were another 3,272 new claims filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a special federal program for the self-employed such as independent contractors, compared to 3,195 claims one week before.

There were 40,226 continuing existing unemployment claims for the week ending March 27 and 110,660 more pandemic unemployment assistance claims, according to the latest data available. The state administered $102 million in unemployment benefits for the week ending March 27.

Accommodation and food services led both new unemployment claims and existing claims in Louisiana with 3,052 new jobless claims and 8,020 individuals already out of work, according to Louisiana Workforce Commission data updated on Friday.

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

There was a big drop in how much the state paid to jobless individuals, $55 million for the week ending April 3, down from $102 million one week before. That coincides with a decline in what's known as weekly certifications received by the agency, basically individuals confirming they are still without a job. There were 243,864 individuals without jobs seeking benefits in late March, then 154,199 seeking benefits one week later.

It was not immediately clear whether a large number of individuals had benefits exhausted and were still out of a job or whether unemployed individuals did not continue seeking benefits. March 14 was the last day for the extra $300 federal benefits approved through the coronavirus pandemic relief bill.

Meanwhile, the pool of money used to pay unemployment benefits ran dry at the end of March while the number of new unemployment claims during the same time frame increased. Federal law requires states to pay all eligible claims no matter how much is in the unemployment trust fund. In Louisiana it's been replenished by federal grant money, federal loans and business taxes.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Expert testimony continued Friday on day 10 of the trial of the former Minnesota police officer charged in George Floyds death.

On Wednesday, April 7, more than 20 people from three churches stood along a busy, downtown Grand Rapids street holding signs at a monthly Black Lives Matter vigil.

The Rev. Colleen Squires, a vigil organizer and the pastor of All Souls Community Church of West Michigan, said the trial of Derek Chauvin, the white officer that pressed his knee into the Black mans neck for about nine minutes while handcuffed on the ground, is yet another opportunity to remind the community that Black lives matter.

She said some people think the trial is a clear-cut case, but she doesnt think many people are confident in a verdict convicting the ex-officer facing murder and manslaughter charges in Floyds May 25, 2020 death.

Thats really the issue, is how hard it is to see a case that is so clear-cut as a senseless act of murder, when help could have been provided throughout the event and (Chauvin) chose not to, he chose to slowly and painfully, take the life out of a human being,' Squires said.

So, its not a clear-cut case, and it just shows the herculean task of trying to get justice. So, thats exactly why Black lives matter. We need to start valuing everyones life.

Floyds death prompted nationwide protests calling for an end to police brutality and systemic racism, including in Grand Rapids.

Greta Jo Seidohl, the minister of Belonging and Engagement at Fountain Street Church, says the vigil serves as a regular reminder for church members and the community to continue to remain committed to racial justice.

Its important to recognize that this is an ongoing issue and while things like the trial or particularly publicized murders bring it into closer attention, this is an ongoing thing that requires ongoing commitment and long-haul work, said Seidohl, noting the vigils are a reminder to the community that we are all in this together.

Members of Plymouth United Church of Christ, Fountain Street Church and All Souls Community Church are at the corner of Monroe Avenue and Monroe Street the first Wednesday of every month for the vigil. Regardless of what Floyd was accused of doing (using a fake $20 at a store), church members say he deserved to be treated like a human being.

11 Monthly Black Lives Matter Vigil in downtown Grand Rapids

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[April 09, 2021] NASA Astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Crewmates Arrive Safely at Space Station

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and two Russian cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station Friday, bringing its number of residents to 10 for the coming week. The Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft carrying Vande Hei and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos docked to the station's Rassvet module at 7:05 a.m. EDT. Docking occurred two orbits and about three hours after a 3:42 a.m. launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Vande Hei, Novitskiy, and Dubrov will join the Expedition 64 crew when hatches open about 9 a.m. Expedition 65, with NASA astronaut Shannon Walker as commander, will begin Friday, April 16, upon the departure of NASA's Kate Rubins, Roscosmos' Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and departing station commander Sergey Ryzhikov. The trio will land in Kazakhstan following a six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.



The change of command ceremony with all crew members is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. Thursday, April 15, and will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website. This marks the second spaceflight for Vande Hei, the third for Novitskiy, and the first for Dubrov. During a six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory, the trio will work on science and research in technology development, Earth science, biology, human research, and more.

During Expedition 65, the arrival of Crew-2 aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon will bring four more members to the International Space Station. Crew-2 is currently scheduled for launch on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22. Crew-1, the first long-duration commercial crew mission, will return to Earth on April 28. In November 2020, the International Space Station surpassed its 20-year milestone of continuous human presence, providing opportunities for unique technological demonstrations and research that help prepare for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars while also improving life on Earth. To date, 243 people from 19 countries have visited the orbiting laboratory that has hosted nearly 3,000 research investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas. Follow Vande Hei on Twitter throughout his mission and get the latest space station crew news, images and features by following @space_station, and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts and the space station blog. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-astronaut-mark-vande-hei-crewmates-arrive-safely-at-space-station-301265803.html SOURCE NASA

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Thousands of people displaced by the rebel attack in northern Mozambique have sought safety in the town of Pemba, with some among them hoping to be reunited with their relatives.

Hundreds of families were separated when trying to escape from the insurgents that attacked the port city of Palma in Cabo Delgado province at the end of March.

"I don't know where my family is", said 31-year-old Alue, who was working on the day of the assault and forced to flee.

He has been looking for his mother, his wife and his brothers since his arrival at a shelter in Pemba.

The head of the UN Refugee Agency in the region said those arriving at the shelter had been left "exhausted" by their experiences.

"They are highly traumatised by what they have seen, by what they have experienced, seeing their families, their friends being killed, seeing their houses being completely destroyed", said Margarida Loureiro.

More than 2,600 people have been killed and 670,000 displaced since the rebel insurgency started in 2017, creating a massive humanitarian crisis, according to UN agencies.

The recent escalation began when more than 100 of the well-armed rebels attacked Palma on March 24 and held more than half of the strategic centre for more than 10 days.

At least 50 people were killed, including several who were beheaded, in the assault.

Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi announced Wednesday that government forces had regained control of Palma after a prolonged battle.

(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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Hands of the Week: Crash & Burn for Malinowski, Dzivielevski Hits Miracle King

April 09, 2021 Chad Holloway

PokerNews is known throughout the world for our industry-leading live updates for both live and online events. In fact, right now we're offering various updates right here.

Over the years, weve captured memorable hands, many of which have become a part of poker history. In this new column, we will bring you some of the biggest hands of the week as reported in the PokerNews Live Updates.

Remember, if youre playing an event PokerNews is covering, you can get in the updates via the MyStack App. You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.

Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.

Gottliebs GGPoker Heater

Lev Gottlieb wins!

One series taking place right now  which you can follow here  is the 2021 GG Spring Festival. One of the biggest headlines to come out of the festival thus far was Lev LevMeAlone Gottlieb winning two events on the same day. One of those tournaments was Event H-05: $10,300 Super MILLION$, and one big hand helped propel him to victory.

It happened in Level 34 (40,000/80,000/10,000) when Gottlieb opened for 160,000 in middle position, Samuel "vivaegipto" Bernabeu called on his left, and Simon "FiestaPagana" Mattsson all but shoved for 1,131,587, leaving 40K back. Gottlieb called and Bernabeu shoved for about 3 million. Gottlieb called.

Lev LevMeAlone Gottlieb:

Samuel "vivaegipto" Bernabeu:

Simon "FiestaPagana" Mattsson:

The board left the aces best. Bernabeu was left with crumbs and went bust a short time later, while Gottlieb went on to win the tournament for $586,074.

Wiktor Malinowskis Chips Arent Limitless

Wiktor Malinowski

In the 2021 GG Spring Festival Event H-06: $25,500 Sunday Five Million, Wiktor Malinowski, who recently squared off against Fedor Holz in a heads-up challenge, became the tournaments first casualty.

It happened in Level 2 (300/600/75) when Malinowski made it 1,500 to go on the button and was three-bet to 7,500 by Thomas Muehloecker out of the big blind, which he called. On a flop, Muehloecker's small bet worth 3,975 was called and both checked the turn.

Muehloecker checked the river and Malinowski simply jammed for 63,733, which was snapped by Muehloecker with for the flush with the queen. Malinowski had just and crashed out.

Malinowski Busts; Dzivielevski Hits a Miracle

Yuri Dzivielevski

That wasnt the only big hand played by Malinowski in the GG Spring Festival.

In Event H-23: $25,500 Super High Rollers, a big hand went down in Level 23 (8,000/16,000/2,000) when Yuri Dzivielevski raised to 32,200 and Malinowski three-bet jammed for 132,355.

Joakim Andersson called on the button only for Bert Stevens to jam over the top. Dzivielevski called it off as the second shortest stack and Andersson folded.

Wiktor Malinowski:

Yuri Dzivielevski:

Bert Stevens:

The flop gave Dzivielevski a miracle set and he held onto the lead on the turn and river. Malinowski was gone and Stevens was left with a below-average stack.

Dzivielevski went on to finish runner-up to Dario Sammartino in the tournament, good for a $391,973 payday.

You Dont Want to See It

John Bretzel

At the end of March, the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) held a record-setting event at Riverside Casino in Iowa. The $1,100 Main Event attracted a stunning 862 entries  well ahead of the previous record of just over 500 runners  and saw Daniel Sepiol claim victory to the tune of $162,781. It was a behemoth of a tournament, and it comes as no surprise some big hands were reported in our live updates.

One hand took place in Level 12 (1,500/2,500/2,500) on Day 1b of the tournament when, after an early open to 5,500 and a call from John Bretzel in middle position, Missy Bartelme made it 16,000 on the button. Both players called her and they saw a flop. Action checked to Bartelme and she bet 21,000. It stayed three way for that price to the turn, which checked through.

On the river, the preflop opener counted his stack then checked. Bretzel bet 41,000 and Bartelme folded pretty quickly. The other player took some thinking time but folded as well.

Someone told Bretzel to show the bluff.

"You don't wanna see it," he teased. "Do you wanna see it?"

The other players said they did and Bretzel tabled his . Bartelme said she folded an overpair.

"How could I put him on anything but a flush?" she said.

Pupillo Scores Double KO

Nick Pupillo

In the same MSPT tournament, albeit deep on Day 2 in Level 27 (40,000/80,000/10,000), Nick Pupillo opened under the gun for 190,000 and Phil Mader jammed in the small blind for 680,000. Kevin Berthelsen thought a long time then called for around 430,000 in the big blind. Pupillo counted his stack then called.

Nick Pupillo:

Phil Mader:

Kevin Berthelsen:

Pupillo flopped the best of it when hit and he held on the and to bust both Nebraskans. Mader was eliminated in 12th place for $11,685, while Kevin Berthelsen took 13th place for $10,016. Pupillo went on to finish in sixth place for $31,716.

From April 29-May 9, 2021, the tour will be at Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego for 11 trophy events being deemed the MSPT Showdown Series. It marks the MSPT's first-ever stop in California. The series will be bookended by two premier events. Kicking things off is a $360 buy-in, $100K GTD MSPT Regional Event, which will feature three starting flights. The following weekend, the series will culminate with a $1,100 buy-in, $200K GTD MSPT Main Event, which will also feature three starting flights. PokerNews will be on hand to offer live updates from both events.
Iran insists that it will only start complying with its obligations under the nuclear deal after the United States removes all the sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Irans Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said.

World powers, including the United States, started talking about the deal in Vienna this week.

Iran will return to its JCOPA obligations once the US fully lifts its sanctions in action and not in words or on paper, and once Iran verifies the sanction relief, Iran Press News Agency reported, citing the Ayatollah as saying.

On Thursday, Irans deputy foreign minister for political affairs, Abbas Araqchi, also said that Tehran would resume full compliance with the so-called nuclear deal only after the United States lifts all sanctions, including those on Irans oil exports.

The US must lift anti-Iran sanctions [and only] then Tehran would resume compliance with [the] JCPOA, Araqchi told Irans Press TV from Vienna on Thursday.

The United States, under the Biden Administration, is seeking to revive the nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as it is officially known, after the Trump Administration pulled out of the agreement in 2018 and imposed sanctions on Irans oil, shipping, and banking industries.

The Biden Administration, however, has set Irans return to compliance with its nuclear activities as a condition before it would consider lifting the sanctions.

Despite the fact that the United States and Iran are now indirectly talkingvia the European, Russia, and Chinese signatories to the nuclear dealpositions remain apart. Both the United States and Iran are demanding that the other make the first concession.

Analysts see the start of indirect talks as a positive sign toward lifting the sanctions on Irans oil exports at some point in the future. However, most analysts also see the return of Iranian barrels legitimately on the oil market as a move that would be taken into account by the OPEC+ group so that oil prices would not sink.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The Burmese military continues its violent suppression of those peacefully protesting the February 1 overthrow of Burmas civilian-led government under Aung San Suu Kyi.

President Joe Biden condemned the absolutely outrageous crackdown by Burmas junta on March 27 that left more than 100 people  including more than a dozen children  dead in the bloodiest day since the coup began.

Burmese soldiers and police have killed more than 450 people in an effort to suppress mass protests demanding a restoration of democracy, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group.

In response to the latest bloodshed, Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted, We are horrified by the bloodshed perpetrated by Burmese security forces, showing that the junta will sacrifice the lives of the people to serve the few. I send my deepest condolences to the victims families. The courageous people of Burma reject the militarys reign of terror.

The United States chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Mark Milley, joined fellow chiefs of defense around the world in condemning the use of lethal force against the people of Burma.

"As Chiefs of Defense, we condemn the use of lethal force against unarmed people by the Myanmar Armed Forces and associated security services," the statement said. "A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting  not harming  the people it serves. We urge the [Burma] Armed Forces to cease violence and work to restore respect and credibility with the people of [Burma] that it has lost through its actions."

United Nations envoys Alice Wairimu Nderitu and Michelle Bachelet issued a joint statement regarding the recent massacre: 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.

The United States condemns in the strongest terms possible the Burmese security forces deadly actions. The regime must stop governing through terror.
Wrexham Plaid Cymru candidate slammed for ad board with similarities to infamous racist Smethwick election slogan

This article is old - Published: Friday, Apr 9th, 2021

A Plaid Cymru candidate has been slammed by opponents over a campaign billboard targeting the Conservatives.

Carrie Harper, who is standing for the party in Wrexham, shared a video on Twitter last night of a digital advert displayed opposite the towns main railway station which read: Dont want a Tory for a neighbour? Vote Plaid, not Labour.

The post was later deleted after it was widely condemned by other parties due to its similarity to a notorious racist slogan used in Smethwick in the West Midlands during the 1964 General Election.

Welsh Labour said: Either Plaid are naive and dont know what this sounds like or its a dogwhistle and they dont care. Riffs on Smethwick 1964 slogans should stay in the past.





The politician, who represents Queensway on Wrexham Council, said she deeply regretted that the advert had caused offence and it has since been removed.

However, opponents have called for an investigation into how the message was signed off by the party.

A Welsh Conservative spokesman said: This is an insult to over a half million people who voted Welsh Conservative in 2019.

If the people of Wrexham want change after 22 years of Labour Government in Wales, and a decent, hardworking local MS, they should vote for Jeremy Kent.

Meanwhile, Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething posted on Twitter: I cant see that the candidate @CarrieAHarper or @Plaid_Cymru have posted anything to explain or apologise for yesterdays political message inspired by the racism of Smethwick.

Pretending it hasnt happened wont make it go away.

In a statement responding to the criticism, Cllr Harper said: Plaid Cymru in Wrexham is campaigning to win and the local team has been trialling messages on the new Mold Road billboard.

One of those included the word neighbour to reference the fact that the billboard was next to the office of the Conservative MP.

We will continue to make our case directly to the people of Wrexham. I realise that the language used has unintentionally caused offence, I deeply regret that, and it was in no way the intention.

I want to focus on a positive campaign aimed at delivering real change for the community where I grew up and live.

The advert in question has now been withdrawn.

By Liam Randall  BBC Local Democracy Reporter

Video capture from Wrexham.com and provided to the BBC and LDRS partners.
A police officer checks IDs as people enter a courthouse before the trial of 497 defendants, in Sincan, outside the capital Ankara, Turkey, on April 7, 2021. (Burhan Ozbilici/AP Photo)

Turkey Sentences Dozens to Life Terms Over 2016 Failed Coup

ANKARA, TurkeyA Turkish court sentenced dozens of people, including former soldiers attached to the presidential guard regiment, to life imprisonment on Wednesday over their involvement in the 2016 failed coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

A total of 497 defendants had been on trial since 2017 for attempting to seize the military headquarters in Ankara, occupying the headquarters of the state broadcaster TRT, and of forcing a television broadcaster to read out a statement on behalf of the coup-plotters.

The massive trial was one of hundreds of trials against suspected members of a network led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the failed attempt. Gulen, a former Erdogan ally, denies the accusation.

The court in the outskirts of Ankara sentenced 38 defendants to life, including six who received aggravated life terms without the possibility of parole, Anadolu reported.

Among those sentenced to the aggravated life term is a former lieutenant colonel who forced the anchorwoman to read the statement, a former colonel accused of giving the order for the takeover of the TRT building and a former major who led a team that attempted to take over the military headquarters, the agency said.

The court also sentenced one person to 61 years in prison while 106 defendants received terms ranging from six to 16 years. Other defendants were either acquitted or were not given prison terms, Anadolu said.

People wait outside a courthouse prior to the start of the trial of 497 defendants, in Sincan, outside the capital Ankara, Turkey, on April 7, 2021. (Burhan Ozbilici/AP Photo)

On July 15, 2016, factions within the Turkish military used tanks, warplanes and helicopters in an attempt to overthrow Erdogan. Fighter jets bombed parliament and other spots in Turkeys capital. Heeding a call by the president, thousands took to the streets to stop the coup.

A total of 251 people were killed and around 2,200 others were wounded. Around 35 alleged coup plotters were also killed.

The government has designated Gulens network a terrorist group, another claim he denies. He lives in the United States.
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In the summer of last year, I packed up my things and moved across town to a quaint apartment with high ceilings and an abundance of light.

How To Participate Since June 2020, we've asked for your stories about how race and ethnicity shape your life and and published as many of these stories as we can. We call this year-long effort Race in LA. Click here for more information and details on how to participate.

After years of being house rich but cash poor, having spent my life savings on a condo I struggled to afford, I sold my home in Van Nuys to start fresh. Mid-pandemic might not have been the best time to move, but it felt like the right decision for where I was in my life.

It wasn't that hard to decide where to move. I missed the Asian flavors I grew up with, and I wanted to have more grocery stores to choose from than the single 99 Ranch Market on Sepulveda. The way I saw it, the San Gabriel Valley was too far, and the Westside was too expensive, so I landed on Koreatown. The local H Mart has a lot of ingredients for Chinese cooking, I figured, and I love Korean food in its own right!

There was another reason I chose Koreatown, though, which I told very few people at the time: I thought I would be safer here.

Last year opened my eyes to the ways that racism is threaded into our collective experiences of space. It isn't as though I wasn't aware of it to some degree in the past, but I didn't understand how subtle it could be, and how some of the most endemic parts of racism were the hardest to see and fight.

Participants in a recent #StopAsianHate rally marching in Koreatown. (Brian Feinzimer)

I started experiencing more overt racism in my old community after Trump was elected in 2016, like having "Go home, chinky!" shouted at me by angry men in trucks in nearby Sherman Oaks. Then last year, like many people, I felt the tension increase thanks to rhetoric like "Kung-flu" and blaming Chinese people for causing the coronavirus by eating bats.

On a couple of occasions, I overheard conversations about conspiracies like how the virus was coming in on shipping containers from China, not American travelers abroad. The sentiment was that they needed to avoid things from China. There were a few Trump 2020 signs in the windows around my old neighborhood, and this made me feel uneasy and worried about potential bad interactions. From what I saw in the media, I got the impression that Trump supporters were often the ones spreading this hateful rhetoric.

It felt like the anti-Asian sentiment was growing, and I didn't want to be cornered by racism. So when it came time to decide where I wanted to call my new home, I wanted to be near other Asian people -- safety in numbers, I thought.

'I ACCEPTED THIS AS NORMAL'

In this past year, as anti-Asian hate has escalated, I've also begun to own the part I played in fueling the system.

One piece of my complicity is in accepting the objectification of Asian women, and thinking that the "good" racial stereotypes were worth holding onto, because it seemed better than just experiencing hate. These are things I'm only now finding words for.

In many ways, I was just playing along because I was taught that this is how you survive in a hostile world. The subconscious thought was, If I accept this reality, it will cause me less pain. But that's not true.

I'm an immigrant, born in China, and raised in Canada since the age of 3. I have an English name, given to me by my parents when I started school and, eventually, I associated more with my English name than the one I was born with.

Yiming circa 2008, on a road trip. (Courtesy of Yiming Amy Hua)

My name is a form of armor, and the first way that I assimilated into this new culture. It has protected me and offered the privilege of entry to spaces I may have felt less welcome in without it.

There is a kind of relief I see on some faces when I say, "You can call me Amy." I long accepted this as normal.

The reality is that assimilation happens gradually, and it's not just a way that immigrants like me try to fit into a new country. We are all asked to assimilate to the dominant beliefs and customs of an environment.

For example, as a girl, I was taught that women need to work twice as hard as men to be successful, and at the same time, that we should ultimately submit to their needs first. No one said this explicitly. It was learned through experience and consequence -- or lack of consequence, as it pertained to the way I was treated by men and boys.

I have more painful memories around this than I know how to share, and I'm not alone in this trauma. As an Asian woman, I also do not know how to disentangle my experience of race and gender.

I remember one early taste of harassment at the age of 12, by a sleazy group of businessmen in Shanghai, where my family was vacationing. They wanted me to take a picture with them. "Come on, it's just a picture," they cajoled, "we think you're pretty, just come over here. It'll be quick." Strange hands on my hips. Strange hands on my shoulders.

A painting by Yiming, who is an artist, titled "I See You, Love." It is "about our ongoing search to understand ourselves, and how vulnerable it is to make those self discoveries." (Courtesy of Yiming Amy Hua)

That's what you get when you're a pretty girl, a family member later told me. I internalized that.

There was the college party in L.A., after I moved here, where one guy spent the whole night trying to get me to sit in his lap. Eventually, I gave in. It's just a laugh, right? He thinks I'm pretty and just wants to get a picture with me. Oh, and the guy who told me, "I like dating Asian girls, but I know I'll end up marrying a white one." Sure, he thinks we're attractive, but naturally, he'll want to marry someone with a relatable cultural background. This is all normal, right? I repeated this to myself so many times, I grew numb to it.

It's impossible to parse the motivations of my aggressors. All I know is that I built a twisted kind of protection around my heart to survive the aftermath. If I believe this is normal, it's going to be okay.

I'm writing this shortly after six Asian women were murdered in Atlanta by a white man who called himself a sex addict, reportedly patronized the spas where they worked, then shot them and others there to eliminate his "temptation." He objectified them and used that as an excuse for his violence.

A recent vigil in Alhambra for victims of the March 16 shootings in Atlanta. (Josie Huang/LAist)

My friends are posting on social media about how Asian women need to be aware of their surroundings and be careful when they move through public spaces. But I've been living this way for years, constantly aware of dark corners, assessing strangers' body language, assessing threats, and even learning self-defense. I built this vigilance because I wanted to feel safe. I did this after moving to L.A.

WHERE IS SAFE?

I moved to L.A for college. I was more than excited to ditch the six-month winters of Canada for palm trees and the kind of December where you can wear a skirt with boots. About a month into this new life, I found myself cornered by two big men in an alley, who demanded my purse.

They were probably disappointed to only find five bucks in my wallet, but it taught me my first concrete lesson in situational awareness. If two random men are waving you over, they're not asking for the time, your help, or friendly conversation -- even in daylight.

There is a thought I often had in those early days: Is there something about me that makes people think I'm an easy target? Do I have it written on my face? In a way, the answer is yes. I'm a woman and I'm Asian.

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At this point, I've lived in neighborhoods all across the city, from a comfy apartment in a sleepy area in Palms to an affordable space in Echo Park, at a time when gunshots at night were common. I remember going for a morning run one day to find the park sign riddled with bullet holes. I'm not sure what happened the night before, but the sight of it was a shock to a girl from a place where guns were for deer hunters.

Over time these things shocked me less as I became more guarded, and the everyday violence was woven into my definition of normal.

A recent selfie at the Wilshire Colonnade, near home in Koreatown. (Courtesy of Yiming Amy Hua)

When I moved to the Valley, I hoped it would be quieter than in some of the other neighborhoods I'd lived in. In many ways, it was. I made some good friends, and had some fantastic neighbors that I still keep in touch with. I definitely didn't find bullet holes on park signs.

But I began feeling unsafe nonetheless. When I sold my condo, the decision to move away wasn't just about feeling elevated racial tensions, but a lifetime of conditioning that's taught me to run when I feel there might be danger.

I've come to since understand that I'm no safer in Koreatown than I was in Van Nuys. My instinct to find and be closer to people who look like me will not protect me from the damages of racism or sexism.

Yiming with her dog, Marty. (Courtesy of Yiming Amy Hua)

Since moving here, I've experienced a few more incidents of hateful remarks being shouted at me or muttered as I pass by.

There was a casual slur tossed at me by a stranger as I walked my dog. One morning, a woman shouted "F*** you!" at me from her window, then quickly closed the blinds. Then there was the horror of learning a young Korean American man was assaulted and beaten a few blocks from my home.

I now understand that vigilance and self-defense are woefully limited, and that I can't keep running away. To be truly safe someday, we have to fight for greater equality for everyone. I want to live in a world where men stop objectifying women, so we can break the cycle of violence and misogyny. I want to live in a world where racism is dismantled in our hearts and our systems of governance. That would be a world where people love and respect each other for their diversity.

It doesn't matter where I move. This is reality: I'm not going to be safe from hate until we all are.
It is easier, of course, to do nothing. Doing nothing carries costs too. Among them: Families, especially women, forced to drop out of the workforce. Children already behind by kindergarten who never fully catch up, despite a school districts best efforts. Nearly half the states early educators continuing to receive wages so low they qualify for public assistance. Provider payments so delayed that small businesses operating on thin margins are forced to shutter. Employers who lose productivity because their employees unstable, low-quality child care disrupts work. Young children with special needs who continue to go without therapy, even though it could mitigate delays if caught early enough. Whole counties without a single quality child care center because low capacity or wherewithal to even apply for funding.
Superyacht painting and repairs firm GYG could fall into private equity hands after it received a 43million takeover offer.

London-based Harwood Capital said it was considering a 92.5p per share bid for the Spanish-based firm.

The move was announced just minutes after markets closed, but came as GYG's shares rose 4.2 per cent, or 3.5p, to 87p.

GYG provides painting and maintenance services for superyachts in the Mediteranean, Northern Europe and the US.

In demand: GYG provides painting and maintenance services for superyachts in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe and the US

Harwood is already its second-biggest shareholder with 20.5 per cent of shares, after it took out a position last month.

It said that Lombard Odier, the leading investor with 26.2 per cent of shares, had signalled its support for the deal in a letter of intent.

That means investors controlling 47 per cent of GYG are behind the deal. Harwood has until 5pm on May 7 to make a firm bid under City 'put up or shut up' takeover rules.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the superyacht industry had enjoyed several years of uninterrupted growth.

But GYG's revenues fell 12 per cent to 29million last year, tipping the business from an 87,000 profit into a 430,000 loss. The company said sales had been hit by the pandemic but that its order book for 2021 was 'strong'.
The federal government is racing to increase domestic production and reorganise later stages of the countrys COVID-19 vaccination program despite doubling its order of Pfizers vaccine.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Friday the government had signed contracts for another 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which will arrive from October. But the government acknowledged changes to medical advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine would further delay the national immunisation program, forcing millions of Australians to wait longer for a vaccination.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison: We want to open up more, we want to do it safely, we want to ease restrictions. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Morrison said the government could not yet outline a timetable for the recalibrated rollout. Until Thursday, the government had been confident all first doses would be completed by the end of October.

Were not in that position, he said when asked to give people certainty that all adult Australians would have at least one dose by Christmas.
John Woodard: Above.

Create conditions for a Stake Holder Economy. An economic model where corporates move toward social welfare model rather than the profit maximizing model, which is already being widely used. Build a more resilient, equitable and sustainable manner of growth. The suggested way is based on environmental, social, and governance metrics which would incorporate more green public infrastructure projects for a cleaner approach for a greener and sustainable future. Harness the innovation of the Industrial Revolution for public good.

There are great many problems that we face in this country today that have a direct bearing on the survivability of the United States and the freedoms of its people. There are forces at work, behind-the-scenes to most people but out in the open to many others that have the goal of changing the United States from a capitalist society where everyone has an equality of opportunity, to a more structured society where everyone has the same outcome no matter how hard they work and that is known as socialism. A good example of this last statement was when candidate Barack Obama said that he was five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States. Everyone shouted and cheered and were overjoyed with what he was saying but clearly none of them knew the meaning of the words he was using. Now, Pres. Biden appears to be on track to make his first term as president a third term of the Obama presidency. It is not unusual for an incoming president to change legislative priorities established by the prior administration. We saw that with Pres. Trump who made wholesale changes to the legislative priorities of his predecessor. Each president has his view of the world which is reflected in the legislative agenda and cabinet nominations that they make. But Pres. Biden has been particularly obvious in his attempt to overthrow all Trump era legislation and change it for the worse in what appears to be a furtherance of his attempt to transform the United States in the Obama model.So, in the context of trying to evaluate who and what are behind the decisions that Pres. Biden is making, we have reviewed available information about the World Economic Forum and their plans for the Great Reset, COVID-19 and the resulting loss of individual freedoms that are being taken away from us, day by day. We have also sought to evaluate elements of the governmental response to the virus and whether there is any relationship between these elements of societal change.The World Economic Forum has annual meetings the most recent of which was in June 2020. The theme of this meeting was The Great Reset. There were three core principles that were established at this meeting as we will note below:A speech by Prince Charles at the launch in June 2020 was very similar in wording and intent to the core principles stated above. The annual meeting for 2021 has already been given the same theme as the 2020 model, The Great Reset.It is all set to connect global leaders in Davos with a multi-stakeholder network in 400 cities around the world.Critics have claimed that these proposals are the means of bringing about socialism and an excuse to spend the wealth of the public on climate change. There are some who believe that this is partly true, but is it the entire story?The views of proponents and opponents alike have differing views of what the impact of The Great Reset will be. Some see it as mere diplomatic rhetoric while others see it in more dire terms. However, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a speech 2 months after the annual meeting in June 2020, saying the pandemic has provided an opportunity for a reset.In a video, also in August, the view was stated that Donald Trump was the only leader that could thwart such a plot of socialism which uses Covid-19 to bring the United States economy to its knees so that the reset can begin and that people are left to beg for vaccines. Prime Minister Trudeau says we are in a time of anxiety where people are looking for reasons for what is happened and fall prey to misinformation. What misinformation he is referring to is unclear but his original statement was clear enough for most people.It has been predicted that forced vaccines would become the norm and that these coercive measures would be initiated by private corporations, not by government. For insight into what the new globalist administration in Washington has planned for America, all we need to do is look across the ocean and see what Europe's globalist are already doing.From an article in Technocracy News, it says no matter the country, all globalist elites share a trifecta of traits; they are sneaky, intrusive and abusive in their lust for power and control over the masses. These governments want to make the vaccines mandatory, but to get around the laws and the bad optics of forced government injections, big government will collude with big business to get the job done, letting business be seen as the "bad guy" that is forcing people to get the shot. So, when Pres. Trump initiated operation warp speed with Big Pharma companies, was he doing that in order to reduce the number of cases and deaths or was he following the optics that we just mentioned? I tend to believe that Pres. Trump knew that he had a large-scale problem on his hands and that following traditional methods of vaccine approval would take so long that the death toll would be astronomical and that he compromised in order to save lives. We will never know what specifically was in his mind unless he tells us someday but clearly Technocracy News has been right on with their assessment of globalist elites and their methods and means.Big Pharma is orchestrating the largest criminal syndicate in the history of the world as it knowingly supplies experimental drugs without "informed consent" of the patient's according to Patrick Wood, an expert in the global technocracy. Informed consent is enshrined in law everywhere, including the Nuremberg code. But with the COVID-19 vaccines, nobody is given the proper information to consent. They are merely told that this vaccine will lessen or minimize the effects of the virus, but they have never said that the vaccine would be a permanent cure as is the case with most vaccines.Companies in Britain have been tasking law firms to craft "no jab, no job" contracts that would bar prospective employees from being hired unless they have been vaccinated against the Chinese coronavirus. While the government has publicly claimed that it has no intentions of requiring domestic vaccine passports, ministers have admitted that private businesses may take up the mantle of imposing that on the British public.The Financial Times states that law firms have said they have already been contacted by companies, including care homes and multinational corporations, which are looking to draw up contracts that would require employees to be inoculated against the virus. No distinction has been made that these vaccines are still considered experimental and that they will not even offer lifelong protection from the virus, offering only 90 to 95% protection for up to a year, after which another injection will be required annually for the rest of your life! This doesn't even meet the legal definition of a vaccine!A British newspaper has been told that such requirements could be risky as they might trigger discrimination claims from people who refused to take the vaccine on religious grounds, pregnant women, or those who have health conditions, such as allergies, which prevent them from taking the vaccine. It was noted that in sectors in which employees are surrounded by at-risk people, such as in care homes, so-calledcontracts may ultimately be defensible. It has been further reported that businesses have already begun to inquire about how to mandate that those already employed receive the vaccine. Companies seeking to change the contracts of people already employed would need to gain the consent of the worker. One chief executive of a human resource firm had the observation that since the government has not made the vaccine compulsory, neither can employers.While millions are immersed in the side show that in the Impeachment of Pres Trump #2, the globalist elites at the World Economic Forum and their supporters at the United Nations, the IMF and the European Union, The British Royal Family and the Vatican are plotting behind closed doors with China and the new regime in Washington DC on how to implement their reset of the global economy.Theis really about the destruction of the American middle-class. They want to make everything more expensive from the fuel that powers your automobiles and trucks that haul your food, to utility rates and all manufactured goods. Food prices are sensitive to fuel prices and so you can count on your food bill rising with the rest of the items you need for survival. These are things that you can see happening right before your eyes every single day with cheap labor being imported into the United States and the cut off of domestic oil production which will cause oil prices to rise therefore giving rise to the gasoline costs that go in your car's gas tank.The designers of the Great Reset openly boast that under their planned new system you willFossil fuels will be eliminated, except for in China, which gets to use them for another 30 years, per the Paris Climate Accord, which Biden just signed us back into. If these people are successful, you will be so poor that you will be forced to rent what they call anfrom the government or some government-supported corporate crony capitalist. If you have wondered why states like California and New York and Washington and Oregon have been allowing businesses to be burned to the ground, perhaps this is the answer. These are high density cities and, people will have to find some other way to get into town to go to work instead of living in the suburbs. Is that the big scheme of things? I don't know and neither does anybody else right now but as you read this, it sure makes sense that small residential structures will be built in the place of big ones for renting and not for owning.If you were watching the congressional testimony of America's Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, the son of a communist, you would hear him say that we needed to have a national conversation on whether the government should mandate airlines to require a negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination for people boarding all flights, foreign and domestic.The next step after requiring Americans to show their papers before boarding flights will be to require the same for them to renew their driver's license. It's coming. If the momentum towards health tyranny is not slowed, it's coming.It comes as no surprise that the Biden administration announced that it wants to launch a $1 billion vaccine awareness campaign, otherwise known as propaganda.Assuming the industry is able to ramp up production, you should expect to be propagandized, coerced, incentivized, bribed and lied to by people who want to get this experimental biological agent into your veins by the end of this year. That in itself should make you very leery. Why are they so desperate to get this unknown biochemical agent injected into everyone, even kids? It is certainly doubtful that they are concerned about the health of older people, who are most susceptible to the Wuhan virus. We know the CDC and is supporters who are media liars, greatly exaggerated the death count and under-emphasized the fact that there are several very effective therapeutic treatments for the virus. But they can't let the virus fade from the realm of scary things that keep you distracted and in fear. As long as you are distracted and in fear you will continue to be uninformed about the things you should legitimately be concerned about-permanently life-altering things that will soon be coming down the pike with the Green New Deal and Great Reset, which are planned to work hand-in-hand to destroy her jobs, your savings your health and your way of life.Remember, they need you to be mentally and emotionally off your game, totally desperate, weary, confused and depressed in order to get you to accept the horrific plans they have concocted for your future. That includes a life in a tiny apartment in a city where you don't own anything and conduct most of your life's basic functions in a virtual online world. There will be no cash, meaning every transaction is trackable, and every expression of your individuality is watched and listened to in order to make sure it's approved by the Big Brother overseers in Big Tech. Cashless transactions are already in use in Europe. They claim that they want your input into the new system. They say this, will be more, than the old capitalist system. Is that the reason why conservatives can't stay on social media and those who do manage to keep their accounts are having them censored and fact checked when leftist can get away with saying whatever they want on those platforms?
I cant have anyone to dinner, because I got so excited about inviting everyone to dinner that I went out and bought all this alcohol and then DRANK IT MYSELF before everyone came to dinner, because Im not even sure who can come to dinner, my friend Jane confided to me, all in one breath, last Thursday night.

Thus commenceth our post-vaccine vortex.

I got my first vaccine in a gym at Brunswick School on Saturday morning, surrounded by National Guard members wearing Army fatigues and holding machine guns. Nothing says, Everything is going to be fine like stationing the National Guard at a vaccine center. The fact that I had to be observed for 15 minutes after getting my shot on a chair exactly 6 feet from the National Guard did not improve the situation.

What if someone freaks out? I asked the guy next to me.

File / Patrick Sikes / For Hearst Connecticut Media /

They get shot, he said, smiling at his pun.

By the time I got home, my thoughts had begun spiraling out of control.

I think the vaccine has had an adverse effect on me, and something is very wrong, I told my husband, Ian.

What do you mean? he asked.

I think my arm is going to fall off, I told him. What did they put in me, why was the U.S. Army watching, and why Brunswick, anyway?

Ian told me that a sore arm is common, and that it probably had nothing to do with the Army  or Brunswick. He reminded me of my shot issues in the past, which have not always been favorable. Ian is convinced that I am the reason our daughter, Selma, demands general anesthesia whenever her pediatrician gives her a shot.

To make matters worse, I suddenly felt exhausted and completely drained. Ian said maybe it was because I had stuffed 132 Easter eggs the night before  but he doesnt get to say that because he didnt help.

A further complication: No one seemed to know the post-vaccine rules of engagement. Like, how was I supposed to exist in the world?

I dont think you need to make it metaphysical, Claire, Ian told me.

But it is. Because if you go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, metaphysical takes on a whole new meaning; turns out there are lots of complicated caveats for your post-vaccine existence.

For example, if two weeks have passed since your final vaccine shot, and you want to be with other fully vaccinated family members or friends, you can be indoors without a mask and outdoors hanging out, biking, running  even primal screaming.

I mention primal screaming because the toll-free hotline set up by a NYC elementary teacher that lets you call and just scream into the phone was recently shut down. Over 130,000 people had screamed into that hotline since October, and now the hotline has transitioned into a repository for words of hope which just doesnt have the same ring.

Let me tell you why.

Turns out, even if youre fully vaccinated you cant engage in primal screaming outdoors around other unvaccinated people, people with one shot only, or people with their second shot taken less than two weeks ago. In fact, you cant primal scream inside around anyone  which means you really just cant primal scream at all  which makes the hotlines shutdown spectacularly ill-timed.

Oh, you also cant be indoors without a mask, or less than 6 feet apart from other unvaccinated people, no matter what other primal things you feel called to do.

Furthermore, the CDC suggests that if you want to visit family you havent seen in over a year and who are not vaccinated, you can do so AND be indoors as long as its one household at a time (NOT TWO), thus creating family dynamics that further encourage primal screaming (with no hotline).

If possible, the CDC goes on, you should drive alone  but if you must use public transport, insist on high ventilation and masks. Returning to the office should be fine, although high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) fan/filtration systems are highly recommended  along with masks and 6 feet of separation.

Meanwhile, the bioethics of COVID-related disclosure requirements between employer and employed are getting super-metaphysical  but lets not even go there.

Which vaccine, you ask? If you live here in the United States, you will most likely be offered the Moderna or the Pfizer two-dosage vaccines, even though you kind of want that Johnson & Johnson vaccine because it means you only have to get one shot (even though its efficacy rates arent as good).

So, what is in these vaccines? Moderna and Pfizer require two shots and use single-stranded mRNA, while J&J uses double-stranded DNA (which wont alter YOUR DNA, BTW  even with an NDA).

Are these vaccines effective against all the new variants, one of which just caused over 4,000 Brazilians to die in one day? Unclear.

So here we are vaccinated and yet still in the weeds. We are inching toward some kind of finish line, I think. But its a murky out there, and just when you think everything is good to go, you realize that its not.

Too bad about that hotline.

Claire Tisne Haft is a former publishing and film executive, raising her family in Greenwich while working on a freelance basis on books and films. She can be reached through her website at clairetisnehaft.com.
Mumbai, April 9 : In view of the massive Covid-19 spread, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government has decided to postpone the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exams scheduled for April 11, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced on Friday.

"The government has decided to postpone the MPSC's pre-service non-gazetted Group B Joint Pre-examinations, 2020. The fresh dates of these exams shall be announced later after a review of the Covid situation in the state," he said.

The decision followed a high-level overview of the pandemic situation with Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil, Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil, Relief & Rehab Minister Vijay Wadettiwar and others.

Also present was Leader of Opposition in the Council, Pravin Darekar of the BJP, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray, besides top government officials.

Thackeray added that the postponement would not be detrimental to the students in any manner, and they would be given age-protection while filling up the forms.

He sought the opinions of all the alliance partners comprising Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party, Congress, the Opposition parties and students representatives, many of whom demanded putting off the exams in view of the pandemic and the infections shooting up phenomenally since last month.

Currently, the state Covid-19 tally stands at 32,29,547 with 57,028 deaths and 521,317 active cases, as per official figures.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
A hunt for twin sisters who vanished from their home has been stood down today after the girls were found 'safe and well'.

Police had been frantically searching for twins Poppy and Lily Myers, aged 13, who disappeared five days ago.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed the pair had been found this morning.

A desperate search was launched for sisters Poppy and Lily Myers, who were found safe and well today

The girls were found safe and well this morning, by officers from the South West Missing Persons Unit

The pair were though to have travelled from their home in Twickenham, south-west London, to Hillingdon on April 3.

The Met Police confirmed today that the girls were found this morning.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'The girls were found safe and well in the past hour by officers from the South West Missing Persons Unit.'

The force said it would not be releasing any further details about where and in what circumstances the sisters were found.
India reported 1,31,968 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours as several states struggle to contain a second surge in infections. Daily infections, which crossed one lakh for the first time on Sunday (April 4), this year, have now exceeded that mark four times in a week--April 6, April 7, April 8 and April 9.

Active cases have continued to scale up to 9,79,608 which comprise 7.5 per cent of the total infections. Likewise, coronavirus-related deaths are also accelerating as hospitals get overwhelmed. The country reported 780 deaths - the most in five days. Total deaths due to Covid-19 have touched 1,67,642. Recovery rate has fallen to 91.22 per cent of total cases, data from the health ministry showed.

Several states in the country have taken measures like lockdown and night curfew in order to break the chain of coronavirus infections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 8 urged chief ministers to strengthen their efforts for the next 2-3 weeks to check the spread of the virus. He also called for observing a vaccine festival between April 11-14 to inoculate the maximum number of eligible beneficiaries.

But several states, including Odisha and Maharashtra, have complained about the shortage of vaccines.

However, the centre has denied states' claims and said there is no shortage. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that 9.1 crore vaccine doses have been utilised, while 2.4 crore is in stock and 1.9 crore vaccines are in the pipeline, indicating there are sufficient doses available for all states.

Vardhan also said the allegations of vaccine shortage are baseless and the states, including Maharashtra, need to improve the implementation of their testing and containment strategies and vaccination drive.

So far, India has administered 9,43,34,262 COVID-19 jabs--the highest in the world.

Also read: Govt panel to probe side effects of Covishield, Covaxin vaccines

Also read: 37 doctors test COVID-19 positive at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital as cases rise in Delhi
Paris:

An Air France A380 superjumbo carrying more than 500 people made an emergency landing in Canada after suffering "serious damage" to one of its engines, with passengers recounting hearing a loud bang followed by violent shaking.



Video and photos posted on social media showed extensive damage to the outer starboard engine, with part of its external cowling apparently sheered away.



The double-decker wide body aircraft carrying 496 passengers and 24 crews had taken off from Paris bound for Los Angeles and was several hours into the flight when the incident occurred.



Passenger Sarah Eamigh told Canadian broadcaster CBC News she heard a "boom" followed by a sudden drop in altitude.



"The cabin started vibrating. Someone screamed, and from there we knew something was wrong," she said.



"We saw the cabin crew walking through the aisles quickly, and we heard an announcement from the captain that said one of our engines had an explosion."



The plane was diverted as it passed over Greenland and landed safely at a military airport in Goose Bay, eastern Canada, at 1542 GMT, a spokesman for Air France said.



"All of the 520 people on board were evacuated with no injuries," the spokesman told AFP.

Here's a video of the landing. pic.twitter.com/aLUoM5avLH  Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) September 30, 2017



The cause of the problem was not immediately clear, but David Rehmar, a former aircraft mechanic who was on the flight, told the BBC that he thought a fan failure may have been to blame.



"You heard a loud 'boom', and it was the vibration alone that made me think the engine had failed," he said.



Rehmar said that for a few moments, he thought "we were going to go down".



Another passenger, John Birkhead, told the New York Times that he and his wife had just stood up to stretch when they heard an explosion.



"We were just stretching and talking, and suddenly there was an enormous bang, and the whole plane shook," Birkhead, 59, said. "We were lucky we weren't tossed to the ground."



Passenger Miguel Amador posted video footage apparently filmed from a window of the plane showing the damaged engine.



"Engine failure halfway over the Atlantic ocean," he wrote.



Passenger Pamela Adams said everything on the flight had been normal "and suddenly it felt like we had run into a jeep in the middle of 35,000 feet high", she told CBC News.



She said she was "jostled" and the plane dipped slightly "but the pilots recovered beautifully".



"There wasn't the panic that I would've expected," she said, praising the pilots for the way they handled the incident.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Adrian Mateos opted to raise for all but his last 12,500 chips while in the cutoff. He was called by Christian Rudolph on the button as hand-for-hand play had just commenced. The flop brought and Mateos got the last of it in the middle, Rudolph instantly called.

Adrian Mateos:

Christian Rudolph:

The turn made sure that the kicker would play and the river ended Mateos' run in 10th place.
Protocol not followed with council's tribunal statement



By Chris Cave- Local Democracy Reporter

Protocol was not followed when Douglas Council issued a press release in relation to a recent employment tribunal.

The authority was ordered to pay one of its workers more than 5,000 for unlawfully deducting his pay.

A statement sent out said the council did not accept or agree with the ruling, prompting criticism on social media and from some of its own members.

However, Council Leader David Christian says he did not see the press release before it was made public.

The tribunal came about after the council stopped paying a gully operative of 36 years who had got stuck in Cyprus amid coronavirus restrictions.

An unattributed statement issued on Monday 29th March said the council does not agree with the decision reached by the tribunal or the reasoning behind the decision, however, no official appeal was lodged.

Mr Christian has now spoken out to clarify his position on the matter, following accusations the statement was either authored or approved by him.

Although Im leader of the council, I was not even aware that we had a tribunal taking place.

The first time I was aware of it was when the findings came out when another councillor sent a link to the findings.

I then contacted the chief executive and I had a greater explanation given to me during the course of the next 24 hours, Mr Christian said.

Despite being advised there were no legal grounds for an appeal, he was then told that the authority had serious concerns in relation to the findings, with quotes being attributed to the wrong members of council staff.

Mr Christian called for a press release to be issued to put an end to online attacks aimed at council staff, and to confirm that they would be writing to the tribunal for answers.

However, the statement  which the council leader says he was not shown before it was published  went further and appeared to dismiss the ruling.

Manx Labour member Devon Watson called the contents of the press release completely unacceptable, claiming the council had wasted tens of thousands of pounds of ratepayers money by going to a tribunal.

It is not yet known how much the tribunal cost.

Mr Watson, who serves Derby Ward also questioned whether the correct procedures were followed and suggested the statement may have come from Mr Christian.

This is something strongly denied by the council leader.

Mr Christian added: I had made it very clear to all members of the council last week that I had not even seen the press release before it was made public, it was some seven hours later when I saw it.

Had I seen it beforehand, if the proper protocol been followed which is that I should see all press releases along with the chief executive and all members of the council should get it 24 hours before they are made public.

This did not happen. I dont agree with all aspects of the press release that went out.

Mr Christian insists he does accept the ruling of the tribunal and criticised Mr Watson for not checking the facts before speaking to the media.

Hes called for Mr Watson to publicly apologise at the next council meeting and says an independent review will now take place into the authoritys handling of the matter.
Weaknesses in the framework conditions for private sector development and foreign direct investment have contributed to the over-reliance of Central Asian economies on a narrow range of often volatile growth drivers, principally exports of primary commodities and labour. Despite recent reforms across the region streamlining legislation or introducing new digitalisation programmes  the business environment in Central Asia remains challenging. Even where policy formal settings have improved considerably, uneven implementation and enforcement, as well as frequent policy changes, create a significant gap between de jure protections and the de facto operational environment for firms. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this problem and reinforced the need to address long-standing barriers to business development that could help the region transition to a more dynamic, private sector-driven growth model. The Improving the Legal Environment for Business and Investment Central Asia project, part of part of the ongoing EU-financed Central Asia Initiative, looks to address one set of such barriers: the legal and regulatory frameworks for business and investment in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The project report, discussed at a ministerial meeting in September 2020 and launched in April 2021, presents the findings of an assessment of ten dimensions of the legal environment that are crucial for a healthy business climate. The report discusses priority areas for reform identified for each country from among a range of policy dimensions studied in the report, with the most frequently occurring being related to investment legislation and enforcement, trade facilitation and the local operational environment for SMEs. The report offers specific policy recommendations on these priorities for each of the five countries. Read the reflections of OECD Global Relations Director Andreas Schaal on why improving legal and regulatory framework conditions are so important to recovery in Central Asia here.
2021-04-08

Maeci

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, met with the Prime Minister of Mali, Moctar Ouane. The agenda included the relaunch of bilateral relations between Italy and Mali, the cooperation to achieve peace and stability in the Sahel region and the fight against terrorism thanks to the Italian participation in the Takuba Task Force.
THE European Union (EU) says it is currently engaging opposition parties and other stakeholders as it gears up for formal dialogue with President Emmerson Mnangagwas administration. Zimbabwe and the bloc last formally engaged in 2019 at ministerial level as the two parties sought to normalise relations after more than a decade of frosty ties.

The dialogue followed years of informal engagements, opening a new page in relations between the two parties.

The dialogue framework is based on Article 8 of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries which outlines the specific modalities for regular, comprehensive and balanced political dialogue between the two sides.

EU ambassador to Zimbabwe Timo Olkkonenn recently told NewsDay that a follow-up meeting with Harare was disrupted by the COVID 19 pandemic.

So far, two political dialogue sessions have been held. The next edition will go ahead once the EU and the Foreign Affairs ministry can find a mutually suitable date, Olkkonenn said.

The EU is engaging political parties and a wide range of other stakeholders in the Zimbabwean society. An engagement with civil society and youth are something that the EU particularly values.

He, however, said formal dialogue would only take place between the EU and the government and there were no pre-conditions set.

Of course, we are in continuous contact with the government, particularly through its Foreign Affairs ministry, he said.

The EU has been demanding reforms from the Zimbabwean government as well as the upholding of human rights and return to constitutionalism as Mnangagwas government has been accused of shrinking the democratic space.

The government has been under EU and the United States spotlight for allegedly using State institutions to clamp down on dissent, especially opposition supporters and human rights defenders.Last month, the EU condemned the continued incarceration of MDC Alliance MP Joanah Mamombe and MDC Alliance activist Cecilia Chimbiri, saying the selective application of the law in their case was a violation of human rights.

Last week, the US adjudged Mnangagwas government as one of the worst administrations in terms of human rights violations in the world alongside China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag

It's the latest social media trend: posting a photo of yourself with your vaccine card after you've been jabbed in the arm with the COVID-19 vaccine.

People are celebrating their vaccines with selfies and the Better Business Bureau warns you should think twice before sharing a photo of it in a public forum.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

France on Friday said under 55s who received a first injection of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine should be given a second jab from a different producer, but the WHO warned there was not sufficient data to recommend the practice.

France's national health authority HAS last month said the AstraZeneca vaccine should only be given to those aged 55 and over because of reports of potentially deadly blood clots in a very small number of younger people vaccinated.

Officials in France initially said that those given the AstraZeneca jab in a first dose should go ahead with the second jab even if aged under 55.

But in a ruling affecting over half a million people, the HAS said that those aged under 55 who had been given the AstraZenaca as their first dose would now get the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine as their second.

France has been injecting health workers as a priority group meaning that many younger people have already received the AstraZeneca jab.

But the World Health Organization (WHO)which has recommended the same product be used for both dosessaid Friday there was "no adequate data" on switching COVID-19 vaccines between doses.

"There is no adequate data to be able to say whether this is something that could be done, so... interchangeability of vaccine was not something that we could give a recommendation on," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters.

Some 533,000 people are affected by the decision, the HAS said.

They include Health Minister Olivier Veran, a 40-year-old neurologist, who was given the AstraZeneca vaccine live on television on February 8.

"It is completely consistent to say that we do not recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine to people under 55 years of age while we learn more," the minister told RTL radio.

"Therefore, if you have received a first injection and are under 55 years old, you will be offered another vaccine 12 weeks after the first injection."

'Records to be broken'

Europe's medicines regulator said this week the AstraZeneca vaccine could cause very rare blood clots among some recipients, prompting several countries to scale up restrictions on the jab.

Several clinical trials are looking at the efficacy of combining two types of vaccine.

"Based on previous studies which combine different vaccine types, a combination of the AZ and Pfizer vaccines is likely to be safe but it's important that this is tested in the context of a clinical vaccine trial," said Helen Fletcher, professor of Immunology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

After a sluggish start, France's vaccine campaign is now gaining pace and Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday over 10 million people in the country had now received at least their first dose.

Veran said a record 437,000 people had been injected in France on Thursday alone.

"Records are made to be broken and we will go beyond that in the next days," he said.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2021 AFP
The New York Racing Association says Saratoga Race Course will open for spring training at 6 a.m. on Saturday, April 17. The barn area at the Oklahoma Training Track will open to horsemen on Thursday, April 15. To accommodate the completion of a major renovation of the Oklahoma Training Track facility, training will begin on the main track at Saratoga Race Course.

The 40-day summer meet opening July 15, will feature 76 stakes worth $21.5 million in total purses. New York COVID-19 protocols do not currently allow for spectators at racetracks. NYRA is working with the state state to secure the approvals needed to welcome fans back to Belmont Park this spring and to Saratoga Race Course this summer.
The GHMC head office on Tank Bund is under the grip of Covid as more than 15 employees working in different wings tested positive.  Representational image

HYDERABAD: After banning the entry of visitors and mediapersons in the GHMC offices, the civic body has decided not to allow its staff if they are not vaccinated for Covid-19. The corporation has erected hoardings in its Kukatpally zonal office to that effect.

According to official sources, GHMC commissioner D.S. Lokesh Kumar has instructed all zonal commissioners not to allow visitors and staff if they are not vaccinated.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Kukatpally zonal commissioner V. Mamatha said that instructions have been given to all zonal commissioners not to allow staff inside the corporation offices if they do not produce the vaccination certificate. The rule would be strictly implemented and with immediate effect, she said,

The GHMC head office on Tank Bund is under the grip of Covid as more than 15 employees working in different wings tested positive a few days back. Visitors are now not allowed entry, and if they wish to lodge complaints or appeals, they should use the MyGHMC app or hand over the application at the grievance cell located at the entrance during visiting hours.

The corporation has decided to vaccinate all its employees from Saturday till April 15. The vaccination facility would be provided at the Urban Health Care centres.

Taking a cue, the HMWS&SB and the HMDA have also imposed restrictions on visitors. At the HMWS&SB head office in Khairatabad, visitors are being asked to call the 24x7 customer care number 155313 or post their grievances via the social media handles. A written complaint can be given at the centralised section on the ground floor.
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For more than five weeks now, Lagos State University, Ojo, has been in darkness. The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) reportedly cut off power supply to the institution because of N29m electricity bill that the chairman of the universitys governing council considers to be too high. Although the council gives the impression that it is not paying because the bill is outrageous, to an average worker in LASU, the university is broke. It was lamentation galore the last time I visited LASU, a university whose sobriquet is Citadel of learning that produces professionals and great students. It is impossible not to pity the workers- from the non-academic to the academic staff. The hot weather compounds the problem. To worsen the situation, the lack of electricity on the campus also translates into lack of water. So, the whole place was messy. Imagine a university community without power and water. The library was not only empty but dark.

The university has been trying to run on generator, but this is not sufficient. For now, it rations power. Each faculty or section gets a two-hour electricity supply daily. The situation has become so bad to the extent such that some departments are pleading for helps from people outside the campus. This is the situation of things in Nigerias second best university going by the 2021 Times Higher Education Ranking, and in a university owned by the state of Excellence, located right within Lagos, Nigerias economic nerve centre. This says a lot about Lagos as a state and Nigeria as a country. In normal climes, LASU wont just be a citadel of learning, but a representation of excellence that Lagos State claims to stand for. This is called branding, reputation building or image management. Branding, among other things, helps in shaping what others think about a product. How can a university community be off power supply for more than five weeks? Aside being absurd, it sends wrong signals to the outside world? How does Lagos think others will perceive the state and how can a university like this attract foreign students?

Honestly, Nigeria is a bundle of paradox. Otherwise should this be the time that a university recently listed among the 501-600 brackets in a global ranking be showing the world that it cannot manage an ordinary power problem? If, indeed, LASU and its management truly understood the worth of the institutions current position in world university ranking; it would have done everything possible to manage its reputation and refrained from washing its dirty linen in public. As it is, I doubt if a ranking body like THE World University Ranking reputed for assessing hundreds of universities across over 90 countries and regions around the globe, would love to be identified with LASU in its current precarious situation. It is bad enough that the university is struggling to appoint a new vice chancellor which shouldnt be so in a normal circumstance, adding the problem of lack of power to the cup is pretty mouthful.

Lets even forget about global rating and consider the functions of a university. I will refer to the words of Professor Eric Thomas, Vice-Chancellor, University of Bristol, in this regard. According to him, the main functions of higher education and universities are predominantly two-fold. One is as educational establishments and the second as generators of knowledge and technology. As educational establishments, they are to provide able, self-directed, independent and confident learners who could take leadership roles and as research institutions, they are there to provide new knowledge, to change paradigms, to aid society in its development and in meeting new challenges as they come along.

Which of these functions can LASU perform under its present circumstances? How can teaching and learning take place without power and water? How can any teacher think not to talk of focusing on any research in their current predicament? Is anybody even thinking about its 35,000 student population now? I guess a jeleosimi (sub-standard) private primary or secondary school operator will show more concern for their students. After all, we see what some private primary and secondary schools do to make their students comfortable.

Imagine this save our soul note sent to a group of alumni of the institution. The notes reads: The school is passing through a tough time. For the past one month, weve not had light and water. Each faculty has been trying to fix its water problem personally as the university is grounded financially. We need N78, 100 to fix the water. There are other important and expensive needs the faculty is trying to also fix. Thus, I want to suggest that we assist. Other sets have also been consulted. This is the kind of problem that a university alumni are being asked to solve!

Compare this to the robust support that institutions like the California State University, a publicly funded university in the US gets from its own alumni. The CSUs more than 3 million alumni are reputed to be a powerful force within California. They shape the states future through teaching, agriculture, business, and sciences. Approximately one in ten workers in the state is said to have a CSU degree, including more than half of California teachers and more than half of its state legislators. There, the alumni are involved in campus programmes that support students and system initiatives. They are also actively engaged in marketing the institution; they send their own children there, so many of the CSUs financial supporters are themselves alumni and parents. How many alumni would want to send their children to LASU if they have a choice?

Seriously, things are upside down in this country. Sometimes I hear overwhelmed Nigerians say things like: Who did we offend? Who cursed us? How did we get here? I often smile because I know that Nigeria is not under any curse; the country is just in a wrong course. What we see is a simple case of planting and reaping. You cant plant orange and reap pineapple. We all understand this principle very well. So, why are we expecting good from bad? We keep planting mediocrity and expecting excellence. It cant work! Alumni in other countries make donation towards mentoring students, research, etc. They help in building and growing their institutions brand. They provide internships and career opportunities to students. Here we are asking our own alumni for donations to buy petrol to fuel generators and buy water. Is that normal?

I want to assume that Governor Babajide Sanwo- Olu of Lagos State is not aware of what is presently happening in LASU. I wont blame him if he is not. As a governor, he should have his hands full. Besides, the university has an acting vice chancellor who ordinarily should be able to handle its affairs. It also has a governing council that ought to have put things in order. However, since the situation has obviously degenerated to this ugly and unpardonable level, I think its time for the governor to act. He also needs to do so fast enough to recover the universitys battered image. The governor should also consider the plight of the students and the workers and release the funds required to offset this electricity bill. He needs to put an end to this public embarrassment. The university alumni should be involved in more serious things that could lead to greater impact on the university not this kind of mediocre contribution.

Olabisi Deji-Folutile is the Editor-in-Chief, Franktalknow.com and member, Nigerian Guild of Editors. Email: bisideji@yahoo.co.uk.
The Duke of Edinburgh has died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 99, leaving the Queen and her family mourning his loss.

Philip, famously described by the Queen as her constant strength and guide, died on Friday morning at Windsor Castle, a few months before his 100th birthday.

Buckingham Palace announced the dukes death just after midday on Friday, issuing a statement that spoke about the royal family joining with people across the globe to grieve.

A man known as much for his keen interest in engineering and science as his outspoken comments and gaffes  he was central to the monarchs life.

Philip became an international figure when he married the Queen more 70 years ago, and his death was marked with tributes from world leaders, foreign royal families and charities he supported.

The palace said in a statement: It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty the Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.

Further announcements will be made in due course.

The Queen and Philip were married for more than 70 years (Chris Radburn/PA)

The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.

No further details were released about the circumstances of his death.

The Queen may give a televised address in memory of her late husband but details of any possible broadcast have yet to be confirmed.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex paid tribute to Philip on the website of their foundation Archewell, replacing its homepage with a memorial site and the words: In loving memory of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh 1921-2021

Thank you for your serviceYou will be greatly missed.

In a tribute recorded for ITV News before Philips death, the Princess Royal said about her fathers legacy: Without him life will be completely different.

But from societys perspective he was able to keep pace with the kind of technological changes that have such an impact but above all that its not about the technology its about the people.

The Prince of Wales visited his mother the Queen during Friday afternoon travelling from his Gloucestershire home to Windsor Castle, sources have said.

The announcement of Philips death reflected tradition and modern times, with the statement tweeted on the royal family account and also a framed notice attached to the railings of Buckingham Palace for a short period.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was one of the first national figures to pay tribute to the duke  the longest-serving consort in British history.

Speaking from a podium in Downing Street, Mr Johnson said: He was an environmentalist, and a champion of the natural world long before it was fashionable.

Flowers left outside Windsor Castle (Victoria Jones/PA)

With his Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme he shaped and inspired the lives of countless young people and at literally tens of thousands of events he fostered their hopes and encouraged their ambitions.

We remember the duke for all of this and above all for his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen.

US President Joe Biden highlighted the dukes decades of devoted public service, Second World War service and environmental efforts in remembering his legacy.

He said in a statement: Over the course of his 99-year life, he saw our world change dramatically and repeatedly. From his service during World War II, to his 73 years alongside the Queen, and his entire life in the public eye  Prince Philip gladly dedicated himself to the people of the UK, the Commonwealth, and to his family.

(PA Graphics)

During the lockdowns, Philip stayed at Windsor Castle with the Queen for their safety, alongside a reduced household of staff dubbed HMS Bubble.

The couple are thought to have spent more time together during the past 12 months, shielding from coronavirus, then they would in a normal year  a throwback to the early years of their marriage.

Windsor has become the focus of royal fans wanting to pay their respects but they are being encouraged by Buckingham Palace to donate to a charity they support or one Philip was associated with, rather than leave flowers or gather in groups at royal homes.

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An online book of condolence has been opened on the royal familys official website so the public can post their personal tributes.

Philip helped draw up the details of his funeral and was determined there should be a minimum of fuss.

It has long been known the Queen has final approval of the plans, which are expected to be announced in the coming days.

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Harry, who laid bare his rift with members of his family during his Oprah Winfrey interview, is likely to attend his grandfathers funeral, but it is not known if he will be joined by wife Meghan  who is pregnant.

Buckingham Palace has said Covid will affect any funeral plans: During the coronavirus pandemic, and in light of current Government advice and social distancing guidelines, modified funeral and ceremonial arrangements for His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh are being considered by Her Majesty The Queen. Details will be confirmed in due course.

With the safety and wellbeing of the public in mind, and in accordance with Government guidelines, members of the public are asked not to gather in crowds. Those wishing to express their condolences are asked to do so in the safest way possible, and not to gather at Royal Residences.

A tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, which will be shown for 24 hours, on display at the Piccadilly Lights in central London (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

Philips funeral is expected to take place at St Georges Chapel, Windsor, but during Englands national lockdown, services can only be attended by a maximum of 30 people.

Union flags have been flying at half mast at all royal residences as a mark of respect and Westminster Abbey  where the Queen and Philip married on November 20, 1947  tolled its tenor bell once every 60 seconds, 99 times, during Friday evening.

A period of mourning is expected and any planned official royal events that fall within this period are likely to be postponed.

Tributes have flooded in from around the world, including from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Irish Premier Micheal Martin, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

European royal families remembered Philip as a great friend who never ceased to leave an unforgettable impression, with King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden hailing the duke as an inspiration to us all.

Philip waving to the crowds on the Queens coronation day (PA)

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said Philip was an outstanding example of Christian service, adding: On the occasions when I met him, I was always struck by his obvious joy at life, his enquiring mind and his ability to communicate to people from every background and walk of life.

He was a master at putting people at their ease and making them feel special.

The Cabinet met at 5pm on Friday to pay tribute to the duke and Parliament will be recalled from its Easter recess on Monday, a day earlier than its scheduled return.

The death of the duke comes in the midst of the worst public health crisis for generations as the UK and countries around the globe reel from the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

It has also taken place in the aftermath of Harry and Meghans bombshell Winfrey interview which left the monarchy in crisis after Meghan accused an unnamed royal of racism and the institution of failing to help her when she was suicidal.

The Queen once described the duke as her constant strength and guide (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Philip had returned to Windsor Castle on March 16 to be reunited with the Queen after spending a month in hospital  his longest ever stay.

He initially received care for an infection but then underwent heart surgery for a pre-existing condition.

The duke had looked gaunt as he was driven away from King Edward VIIs Hospital in central London, having been pushed in a wheelchair to the waiting car.

Philip  father to the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex  was just two months away from his 100th birthday in June.

He briefly stepped out of retirement in July 2020 when he carried out a rare official public engagement at Windsor.

The Queen and duke were married for more than 70 years (PA)

The duke looked in fine form as he made his way down the steps to the castles quadrangle for a socially distanced ceremony to hand over his Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles role to the Duchess of Cornwall, who was almost 100 miles away at Highgrove.

He showed he had lost none of his mischievous sense of humour when he joked with one of the soldiers about their fitness levels.

In April 2020, the duke released his first major statement since his retirement, praising key workers including refuse and postal staff, for keeping essential services running during the pandemic.

He was also pictured with the monarch at the Berkshire castle to mark his 99th birthday on June 10, at the secret lockdown wedding of his granddaughter Princess Beatrice on July 17 and with the Queen to mark their 73rd wedding anniversary in November.

The Queen and Philip spent a quiet Christmas in 2020 at Windsor alone, except for their staff, and Buckingham Palace announced on January 9 2021, during Englands third national lockdown, that they had both received their Covid-19 vaccinations.
The returnees complained about subpar conditions, including poor hygienic conditions and being crammed in small spaces. However, the authorities ignored the situation and the health risks it posed to those in quarantine.

by Anwar A. Khan

Bangladesh has a health crisis. The daily Covid-19 deaths reach all-time high in Bangladesh.

The lack of preparation in the United States and Europe that has spawned the ongoing crisis there still exceeds the preparedness of developing countries, such as, Bangladesh, which will have to battle the COVID-19 pandemic with limited financial resources and a legacy of poor healthcare infrastructure, especially for the urban poor.

Already one of the most densely populated countries in the world, Bangladesh also has thousands of stateless Rohingya housed in sprawling refugee camps in the southeastern region of the country, in conditions prime for rapid spread. Given its proximity to China and a large migrant population living in severely affected countries, such as, Italy, Bangladeshs Ministry of Health and Family Welfare should have taken preventative measures when the Chinese government first shared news of the deadly virus. Unfortunately, precious time was squandered.

After the first reported death in Bangladesh from COVID-19, there was a mass religious gathering in the southern part of the country attended by tens of thousands of people. Such events have been discouraged by authorities, but communications need to be clearer and more forceful to be effective. There are several potential policies the Bangladeshi government can use in its response strategy to blunt the COVID-19 pandemics health and economic impact on Bangladesh.

The current situation

The Bangladeshi research institute spearheading the fight to test and detect coronavirus is the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), a body under the Ministry of Health. The IEDCR has recommended that citizens avoid mass public gatherings.

Unlike in neighboring Nepal where the army set up a quarantine facility in Kathmandu as per the World Health Organizations (WHO) recommendation upon the first positive COVID-19 test, the handling of quarantine measures in Bangladesh was inadequate.

The returnees complained about subpar conditions, including poor hygienic conditions and being crammed in small spaces. However, the authorities ignored the situation and the health risks it posed to those in quarantine. Subsequently, when the second batch of foreign returneesover a hundred and forty Bangladeshis evacuated from Italyarrived, confusion ensued when they were taken to the same inadequate quarantine spot. These returnees protested and were ultimately allowed to leave with the promise of home quarantine.

Such contradiction in policy guidance and lack-luster enforcement has wasted precious time for the government to shore up its limited public health system and to implement best practices for maximizing social distancing and minimizing community transmission of the novel coronavirus. The impact on Bangladeshs economy due to these missteps is significant.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates that export industries will suffer and the country will lose 1.1% of its gross domestic product (GDP) growth due to the pandemic. The ready-made garments sector which accounts for more than 80 percent of Bangladeshs manufacturing income has already suffered a loss of US$3 billion as major export destinations, such as, the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union are cancelling orders.

In addition, foreign remittances representing over 5 percent of GDP (close to US$17 billion in fiscal year 2019) has affected as half a million migrant workers who have returned home since the outbreak. The majority of these migrant workers were based in Middle Eastern countries which have been hit by declining oil prices.

Furthermore, daily wage labourers, such as, rickshaw-pullers, are the hardest hit as the closure of schools and colleges have led to lower demand for their services. For these workerswho survive hand to mouth dailythe consequences of quarantines and lockdowns, however, medically necessary, are dire without robust government provision of food and supplementary income.

Some encouraging news

Bangladeshs government is hardly alone in not tackling the pandemic early enough. Fortunately, after a slow start, the government has begun to show signs of urgency. Following the mass religious gathering in southern Bangladesh, the government started enforcing social distancing measures.

The government encouraged low-income people to return to their villages where they would be provided with government aid or to take refuge in Bhashanchar, an island in the Bay of Bengal originally built to houseRohingya refugees. On March 20 last, the government authorized the Bangladesh Army to run two quarantine centers in Dhaka. One quarantine facility remains the same Ashkona Hajj Camp that has proved inadequate before. The other is a new one at Rajuk Apartment Project near Diyabari in Uttara.

In the medical arena, there has been progress as well. Isolation wards to treat COVID-19 patients have been set up in district-level hospitals across the country. Students and teachers of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Dhaka have started making low-cost hand sanitizers due to market shortages in the wake of coronavirus fears.

Recommendations for tackling the situation

Policymakers in Bangladesh should gear up in anticipation of a deterioration of the situation. While the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has promised a US$6.5 billion package to address the immediate needs of developing member countries (DMCs), and Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged US$10 million toward a special emergency fund to set up a rapid response team for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Bangladesh will have to face this battle largely on its own. Over the past several days, the South Asia Center has consulted broadly with public health professionals and social scientists who study Bangladesh. Those conversations lead us to offer the following healthcare, social, and economic recommendations:

Health Care

Support initiatives to increase the local production of medical gloves, masks, and other medical kits for health care practitioners who, as the front line defenders, are the most vulnerable.

According to Health and Family Welfare Minister ZahidMaleque, as of now, Bangladesh has adequate testing kits and personal protective equipment (PPE), numbering around two hundred thousand units. On March 26, a large consignment of emergency medical supplies provided by the Chinese government arrived. This shipment included 10,000 testing reagents, 15,000 surgical masks, 10,000 medical protective equipment, and 1,000 infrared thermometers. But, as the grim lessons from other countries make clear, in the case of a mass outbreak, even more PPE will be required and more testing needs to be done.

COVID-19 testing facilities should be made available across both public and private medical centers with immediate effect. Once locally produced full-scale standardized and accurate kits are available, testing capabilities should be distributed to other locations in Dhaka and across the country.

Bangladesh should commit to mass testing on about one percent of its population to identify community spread of COVID-19. As of March 29, Bangladeshs official COVID-19 tracker confirms forty-eight cases and five deaths. A press conference that day stated that 1,185 tests have been conducted thus far. This number is much lower in comparison to India and Pakistan, who as of March 29, have tested 27,688 and 14,336 cases respectively.

Implement awareness campaigns for the general public. Unless an individual is over sixty-five and/or has pre-existing health conditions, symptoms should be followed by a six to seven-day quarantine period and individuals should not go to health care facilities. If an individuals health condition continues to deteriorate, they should then go for COVID-19 testing.

Emotional and mental health services, as well as financial support, should be provided for health workers. The medical community of the nation at this point are severely at high risk and are fearful.

Social

There must be tougher self-quarantine norms and if needed lockdown measures in certain areas of the country with higher concentrations of Bangladeshs expatriates. Sri Lanka had instituted a stay-at-home curfew in eight districts of the country, where violation of this measure has led to the arrest of over 1,600 people. Now that the army has been summoned in Bangladesh, certain districts across the country can be asked to impose curfew-like restrictions, with violations leading to strict punishment and fines.

The government must utilize television, radio, and social media to counter the spread of fraudulent treatment methods through disinformation channels, and to raise appropriate awareness of COVID-19s dangers for even otherwise healthy victims.

Village community leaders such as village elders should be involved in spreading information on countering COVID-19. Local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and government officials have a list of such leaders and can centrally coordinate their response.

Private universities should be mobilized to provide premises for quarantine facilities and temporary hospitals, given that many of them have campuses located right outside Dhaka. Similar initiatives have been taken by higher educational institutions in the United States.

-The End 

The writer is an independent political analyst based in Dhaka, Bangladesh who writes on politics, political and human-centred figures, current and international affairs
Trinity International University of Ambassadors (TIUA) has denied awarding a Degree to renowned UK-based musician, Sonnie Badu in a four-month period.



no student cannot obtain any major degrees including a PhD in four months, said TIUA on Friday.



This comes on the back of the backlash Sonnie Badu received after he claimed that he has been awarded three degrees in a space of four months.



Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghanas Political Science Department, Prof. Ransford Gyampo described as an absurdity Sonnie Badus claim of acquiring three separate degrees in four months.



PhD enterprise has no room for miracles; God does miracles but not PhD miracles, Prof. Gyampo said on Starr Chat on Wednesday.



The celebrated musician had said that apart from his two honorary doctorate degrees, he also has a PhD, a masters degree, and a bachelors degree.



But TIUA in its Press Statement issued by the Legal Department stated: Our institution prides itself in the quality of education tailored for each of our students i.e. including their extensive body of work in ministry.



The University further noted: TIUA makes no claims, implied or otherwise, that our educational programs, courses, or curricula are the same as offered by secular state colleges and universities. TIUA is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education. Credits and Degrees earned at TIUA are for those in Christian service.



It added:Therefore, any degree that has been earned by our students (Including Dr. Sonnie Badu), are in alignment with the State of Georgia religious exemption authority to receive degrees from associates to doctoral degrees.



About TIUA



Trinity International University of Ambassadors (TIUA) is a private corporation in the State of Georgia and legally authorized by the Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission (GNPEC) as a postsecondary educational institution with a religious exemption authority to offer degree programs that are designed solely for religious education.



Trinity I.U.A is an accredited member of the World-Wide Accreditation Commission of Christian Education Institutions, and National Association of Private Theological Institutions (NAPTI).



TIUA are members of the National Bible College Association (NBCA), The Adult Higher Education Alliance (AHEA), and Academic Council for Educational Accountability (ACEA).







Source: kasapafmonline.com









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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 8) A suspected COVID-19 patient who received treatment inside a car on the premises of a Cavite hospital is still waiting to be admitted  almost a week after being rushed to the facility because of breathing difficulties.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Doctor Jamie Amposta revealed that as of Thursday morning, the 66-year-old woman they first treated inside the sedan remains on queue at the outdoor tents.

The patient and her family first drove to the private hospital in Dasmarinas on Saturday.

The last update [that] was given to me, nasa tent pa din po ang patient (the patient is still in the tent), Amposta told The Source.

Amposta added the patient was advised to use a higher kind of oxygenation, but noted the family had to defer the treatment due to financial constraints.

The makeshift isolation room  which went viral on social media earlier this week  was the lone option Amposta and her ER team could offer the patients family, since beds and tents in the hospital were full amid the spike in COVID-19 cases.

Amposta said the patient brought with her a negative COVID-19 test result, but noted the hospital staff could not consider her a "clean case" as she was showing related symptoms.

'Lesser evil'

In an earlier interview with CNN Philippines, Amposta recalled how she and her staff had to improvise their emergency treatment for the patient, who was suffering from low oxygen levels at the time.

The team brought out a towering oxygen tank to the familys car, and built temporary IV fluid stands using tubes and medical tape to stabilize the patient.

READ MORE: Patient gets COVID treatment inside car pending hospital admission

While it was her first time to encounter such treatment in her six years of ER practice, Amposta admitted the situation is not ideal, adding this is not something she would recommend to her fellow practitioners.

I just thought of the lesser evil somehow, Amposta said.

At least, I tried to give something, she pointed out. Because a lot of people are really left to die in their cars because of the situation, because wala na po talaga silang mapuntahan (they cant go anywhere else).

Ampostas hospital is just one of the several facilities that have been reporting critical and full capacity for patients amid the continuous surge in coronavirus infections in the country, which reached over 819,000 on Wednesday.

CNN Philippines' Alyssa Rola and Melissa Lopez contributed to this report.
After its members were charged in the Capitol riot, one group says it is more popular than ever
A Denver bar is enforcing a controversial new policy that requires people to show proof they have had a COVID-19 vaccine before they can drink inside.

Bar Max, which reopened last week for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic hit a year ago, is enforcing the vaccine policy for those who want to drink inside.

The policy will not apply to those who buy takeaway drinks and sit outside on the bar's patio.

Marshall Smith, the owner of the craft cocktail bar, told CBS4 that he knows the policy is controversial and said people shouldn't come if they don't feel comfortable with it.

'We are not refusing service to anyone. We still have takeout options, we still have a patio, what we are saying is in order to sit down and enjoy a cocktail, we're asking that you be vaccinated,' Smith said.

Marshall Smith, the owner of the craft cocktail bar Bar Max in Denver, said he knows the policy is controversial but people shouldn't come if they don't feel comfortable with it

Indoor dining is currently permitted in Colorado at 50 percent capacity but masks must be worn inside and social distancing adhered to.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki insisted this week that the US government would not be putting in place a federal vaccine passport system that would require Americans to carry proof of their shot.

'The government is not now, nor will we be supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential. There will be no federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential,' Psaki said.

Smith said he decided to reopen for indoor dining after a year-long hiatus only after he had been vaccinated.

He said he has underlying health conditions, has elderly parents who have health concerns and is his brother's caretaker.

The policy, in part, stemmed from concerns about keeping them safe, Smith said.

'To be in a position where I don't have to decide, 'Am I risking someone getting sick and possibly dying in order to pay my bills?' That's a huge relief,' he said.

'I'm not an essential service. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, don't come.'

The bar was immediately slammed over the new policy with its Yelp page inundated with negative reviews as a result

The bar was immediately slammed over the new policy with its Yelp page inundated with negative reviews as a result.

Yelp was forced to disable comments on Bar Max's page and put out an 'unusual activity alert' warning.

Some have accused the bar of discrimination with its new policy.

'I used to support this business. Not anymore. Denver has plenty of places where they don't discriminate. Go elsewhere!' one Yelp review read.

Another read: 'Heil! Must have papers to present yourself, comrade. This place is a colossal mess and poorly managed. Cant fix stupid.'

One reviewer said they still have COVID-19 antibodies so there wasn't an immediate need to get vaccinated.

'Guess they are not getting my business. I had Covid and still have Covid antibodies, so there is no need for me to get vaccinated now. Even if I didn't have antibodies, some who have a very painful facial nerve issue, Trigeminal Neuralgia, that I also have are having worse pain after being vaccinated.

'I can't take that risk. I'm already on strong pain medication. First it will be that I'm banned from bars and restaurants. Then, it will be grocery stores, gas stations and then I'll lose my job. Think about what you are doing here. Big brother will use this technology to control all of us eventually.'
Chennai, April 9 : Siemens Limited and the Hinduja group's Switch Mobility Automotive Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to play in the electric commercial vehicles segment.

Siemens also said Siemens Financial Services (SFS), the financing arm of Siemens AG, would consider a minority investment in OHM Global Mobility Private Limited, another Hinduja group company.

While Switch Mobility would bring in its electric commercial vehicles into India, Siemens would provide the charging infrastructure technology and charging infrastructure management software solution to enhance the energy-efficient operations of the chargers, Siemens said.

According to Siemens, it would also collaborate with Switch Mobility on new business models such as eMobility-as-a-Service (eMaas), integrated depot energy management, Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) as well as on-site/off-site renewable energy sources by leveraging batteries from commercial vehicles.

"With our experience of more than 230 electric vehicles already in operation successfully in India and the UK, we see immense growth opportunities for Switch's expansion in India, Europe and many global markets," said Dheeraj Hinduja, Chairman, Switch Mobility.

"Siemens is a global leader in e-mobility solutions for commercial vehicles. We have been implementing projects for electric commercial vehicles across the globe. Together with Switch Mobility, we intend to implement high-quality techno-commercial solutions to address the needs of the growing e-mobility market in India," said Sunil Mathur, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Limited.

Switch Mobility Automotive and OHM Global Mobility are two Indian subsidiaries of commercial vehicles major Ashok Leyland Limited.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, April 9 : Reacting to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that after failing as a part-time politician, Gandhi has switched to full-time lobbying.

In a series of tweets, Prasad said, "After failing as a part-time politician, has Rahul Gandhi switched to full-time lobbying? First he lobbied for fighter plane companies by trying to derail India's acquisition programme. Now he is lobbying for pharma companies by asking for arbitrary approvals for foreign vaccines." In his letter to Modi, Gandhi had urged the government to open vaccination for all.

"Fighting a pandemic is not a one-trick game. Apart from vaccination, there needs to be adequate focus on testing, tracing and treating. Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't understand all this and his ignorance is compounded by his arrogance," Prasad said.

Prasad said, "Rahul Gandhi must know that the shortage in Congress-ruled states is not of vaccines but of basic commitment towards health care. He should write letters to his party's governments to stop their vasooli ventures & concentrate on administering the lakhs of vaccines they are sitting upon." Referring to claims that the country is facing "vaccine starvation", Prasad said, "India is not facing vaccine starvation but Gandhi is facing attention starvation. Why has Rahul Gandhi not yet taken the vaccine? Is it an oversight or he doesn't want it or has he already taken one in many of his undisclosed trips to foreign locations but doesn't want to disclose?"
"Language of Ocean" (2018) by Lee Tae-kang / Courtesy of Suwon Museum of Art





By Park Han-sol







Striking a balance between art and livelihood is a lingering issue for people seeking a career in the arts until they establish a solid reputation.







The Suwon Museum of Art (SUMA) exhibition "The Right Way to Be Right Now" at Art Space Gwanggyo features the works of five creators born in the 1980s, who have pondered what it means to live as an artist for nearly a decade and now stand at a critical crossroads in their careers, along with the visual archives of their livelihoods.







The exhibition's Korean title "Be Jeongsang" contains multiple layers of meanings that give viewers a glimpse into the drifting realities of young present-day artists  "Be" can mean "to be" in English or "not" as a Chinese character, while "jeongsang" can be the Korean word for "top" or "normal." Hence, when combined, it can either represent "artists who want 'to be' at the top but who are currently 'not'" or "artists who must grapple with the 'not' normal system that forces them to take up second jobs to finance their passion."







"Flyers" (2013) by Seo Yu-jin / Courtesy of Suwon Museum of Art





Some of the featured creators have directly incorporated their means of livelihood into their displayed artwork.







Kim Yang-woo makes a stark contrast between her day job and nights spent on artistic contemplation and creation. The brightly lit "Cargo Transportation Office Work" and "Online Shopping Mall Marketing Work" (2021) are audiovisual records of her office part-time job. A mix of busy telephone dialogues, tapping sounds of computer mice and keyboards and Microsoft Excel running on the computer screen portrays life as a cog in the commercial machine.







Meanwhile, "67.32km" (2019) and "20190227-20210128" (2019-2021) are works born at night. Kim covers the distance of 67.32km from Seoul to Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, in her daily commute, and has compiled multiple video shots of her journey back home into the piece. Through such juxtaposition of day and night, she explores the double life that many artists are compelled to lead.







For Seo Yu-jin, her visual archives of livelihood contain the seemingly endless rows of flyers on the entire wall advertising her arts and crafts class, titled "Flyers," as well as a set of handmade stools that she made and sold, titled "Stool." Within the same space, short clips are played on loop of her preparing for the crafting class with sorghum straw, clay and origami paper. The videos capture her concern that such uniform education can wear down one's artistic creativity but at the same time, become a new artwork itself.







Lee Tae-kang, who materializes poetic language and stories into sculptures, tells the fantastic adventure of one extraordinary man in his new series "Extraordinary Clothes" (2021). The fairy tale-like space, created along with soft lighting, colorful and abstract sculptures of clouds and ocean, as well as music, is juxtaposed with archival records that capture the traces of his job as a drawing class instructor and illustrator that he had to take for a living. By displaying them side by side, Lee suggests that these secondary jobs have served as the basis of his life as well as the driving force to construct his own artistic worldview.







"Division" (2011) by Jeong Deok-hyeon / Courtesy of Suwon Museum of Art





Other artists have showcased moments of creative processes required for the birth of an artwork through everyday objects alongside the finished version.







Jeong Deok-hyeon, who has continued to portray the message of human labor being consumed and thrown away in the commercial factory setting, has depicted metal bolts, bricks, computers and cigarettes  objects symbolizing the struggles Jeong has had to endure as he has lived, labored and worked as an artist  in his "Drifting Diary" (2021).







These everyday objects occupy not only the space within the artwork but also the physical space of the exhibition as they are strewn about in front of each of his canvases. As pencils, beer, instant noodles, gloves and coffee beans are brought forward to viewers along with the finished work, the artist puts the reality of his creative efforts on public display.







For an artist, it often becomes necessary to constantly be on the move. Kwon Hye-kyoung turns the records of her series on migration into an installation. On a white wall, there are seven addresses, both overseas and domestic, that she has occupied in the past. On the other side of the wall, there is a large wooden cargo crate, whose surface is inscribed with the address of the new residency that she will exhibit at in the future. Through such work she depicts the life of an artist in motion  physically, if one is partaking in residency programs, and figuratively, when one embarks on a journey to artistically explore new concepts and topics.







The exhibition will run until June 6.


A second senior member of Matt Gaetz's staff has quit, it emerged on Thursday, as the Florida congressman faced his first call from a Republican colleague to resign.

Gaetz, 38, is mired in allegations of sex trafficking of a minor and prostitution, which he has denied.

On Thursday Devin Murphy quit his job as Gaetz's legislative director, sources told The New York Times.

He told associates that he wanted to write bills, and that working with Gaetz was now similar to working for a tabloid news publication, the Times reports.

Murphy had worked for Gaetz since he came to Congress in 2017.

A source told the paper that Murphy's departure had not been contentious, and a statement from Gaetz's office said the two parties agreed 'it would be best to part ways.'

It came just days after the resignation of Gaetz's press secretary, Luke Ball.

Also on Thursday night Adam Kinzinger, a Republican congressman for Illinois, became the first from within the party to call for Gaetz to step down.

Kinzinger has frequently clashed with the pro-Trump wing of his party.

Matt Gaetz, 38, is facing calls to resign from within his own party amid a sex trafficking scandal

Gaetz is facing rapidly-escalating problems stemming from his friendship with fellow Floridian Joel Greenberg, 36.

Greenberg was the tax collector for Seminole County until his arrest in June on a litany of charges, including allegations that he stalked a political opponent, illegally used a state database to create fake IDs and sex-trafficked a minor.

Gaetz has now been sucked into the drama, and is reportedly being investigated for sex trafficking of a minor and prostitution.

It was alleged on Thursday that he paid Greenberg $900 in May 2018, and the following day Greenberg paid three women - none of whom were underage - $900 between them.

Gaetz, a stridently pro-Trump politician, insists he has never paid for sex, and never as an adult had sex with a 17-year-old.

Kinzinger on Thursday night tweeted a link to The Daily Beast story about the $900 payment, saying: 'Matt Gaetz needs to resign.'

Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger, pictured, has clashed with several pro-Trump figures

Matt Gaetz paid 'sex trafficker' Joel Greenberg $900 via Venmo who then forwarded money to three women: Auditors find $300,000 in suspicious or unjustified expenses between the 'arrogant' duo

Matt Gaetz made a late-night transaction to accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg in May 2018, with Greenberg then transferring the exact same sum to three women, it was reported on Thursday night.

The $900 transaction, made via the app Venmo, was reported by The Daily Beast.

Greenberg, early the next morning, transferred $900 in total to three different women - one of whom is now reportedly working as a porn actress. None of the three were under the age of consent - 18 in Florida - at the time.

Gaetz named one of the women in his reference for the transaction to his friend, using her nickname.

Greenberg's three transfers to the women were labeled as 'tuition' and 'school'.

Greenberg, currently in jail, is said to be cooperating with prosecutors - in what his lawyer said was bad news for Gaetz.

Auditors also flagged $300,000 in suspicious expenses claimed by Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector.

The pair were described by one auditor as being incredibly arrogant.

On Thursday a statement was issued by the 'women of the office of Congressman Matt Gaetz'

Joel Greenberg (right) is photographed hanging out with Rep. Matt Gaetz (center) and former President Donald Trump's longtime political adviser Roger Stone (left) in a post from Gaetz's Facebook account from 2017

Greenberg used his taxpayer-funded credit card for some of the Venmo transactions, The Daily Beast reported.

Greenberg has been federally indicted on 33 counts, including sex trafficking crimes involving a 17-year-old.

Court documents say Greenberg was 'engaged in 'sugar daddy' relationships.'

Gaetz has vehemently denied being involved in sex trafficking, and said he has never paid for sex.

He is yet to respond to questions as to why he paid Greenberg $900, and why that sum was transferred by Greenberg to women.

'That's incredibly powerful evidence,' said David Bear, an attorney who worked for the Orange County State Attorney's office before setting up a private practice.

'If you operate through an intermediary you are just as responsible - whether it's a financial crime or whatever.'

He told CNN's Chris Cuomo that there was no 'insulation' from the charges.

The Daily Beast was able to obtain Greenberg's credit card data through a public records request, which showed how he used his taxpayer-funded card for unexplained transactions.

'No one has any idea what he was doing. Zero,' said Daniel J. O'Keefe, an accountant who conducted a forensic audit for the county.

'The arrogance of these guys. They just felt they were above the law.

'I've never seen it this bad.'

O'Keefe was particularly puzzled by weekend expenses, hotels, unspecified high-dollar 'consulting' fees, and cash advances that Greenberg made to himself and others, he told the site.

Gaetz and Greenberg share two direct Venmo connections with women who received payments from Greenberg.

In 2018, Greenberg paid one of those women several thousand dollars using his Seminole County-issued Wells Fargo Visa card, according to county financial records obtained by The Daily Beast.

Auditors flagged the transactions, saying that, despite having a contract and invoice from the company, they 'do not know what it was for.'

The bombshell revelations came after Gaetz's office issued a statement in his defense from who they claim are women working in his office - although not one of the character witnesses has put her name to the testimony.

The 38-year-old Florida congressman, who is fighting off accusations of sex trafficking and prostitution, is pushing back with every means at his disposal.

On Thursday that included a press release signed by the 'women of the office of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz' - who said they felt 'morally obligated' to speak out.

'At no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect,' the release said.

'During Congressman Gaetz's time in office, we have been behind the scenes every step of the way. We have staffed his meetings. We have planned his events. We have traveled with him. And we have tracked his schedule.'

They described him as a 'principled and morally grounded leader,' added that none of them had 'experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect. No hint of impropriety. No ounce of untruthfulness.'

The letter continued: 'In our office and under Congressman Gaetz's leadership, women are not only respected, but have been encouraged time and time again to grow, achieve more, and ultimately, know our value.'

The nameless women concluded by saying that they 'uniformly reject these allegations as false' and that Gaetz has always treated every woman in his office with respect.

The 'women' spoke out, as it emerged Gaetz's associate is cooperating with prosecutors and will likely take a plea deal - which will put more legal pressure on the embattled Florida Republican.

'All of these stories we keep hearing are trouble for Matt Gaetz,' said Preet Bharara, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Bhrarara told Wolf Blitzer on CNN that Gaetz could potentially be facing questions about federal law infringements, sex trafficking and campaign finance violations.

CNN reported from court on Thursday that Joel Greenberg's lawyers and prosecutors told the judge that a plea deal was in the works and could be finalized within weeks.

With Greenberg cooperating with the Justice Department, prosecutors may be able to determine if Gaetz broke any sex trafficking or prostitution laws.

Greenberg's lawyer Fritz Scheller told reporters outside the hearing: 'I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today.'

Scheller was also asked if Greenberg introduced Gaetz to any underage girls for sexual relations.

'I apologize, I just can't answer that question,' Greenberg's attorney said.

Lawyers for Joel Greenberg (pictured) and prosecutors told a judge Thursday that Greenberg was cooperating with the Justice Department and they were working on a plea deal

CNN's Paula Reid captured Joel Greenberg's lawyer Fritz Scheller outside the courthouse Thursday

Greenberg is the former tax commissioner of Seminole County, Florida and has been charged with 33 counts ranging from sex trafficking of a minor to identity theft.

Gaetz, a third-term congressman from Florida, has not been charged with a crime, and he has vehemently denied the various accusations against him, among them that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

He called them a 'lie.'

But the unsettling series of allegations - including that he may have broken federal sex trafficking laws and been involved in a scheme to recruit and pay women for sex - has put the 38-year-old conservative's political future in doubt, just as he was being seen as an increasingly potent force in the Republican Party.

On Thursday it further emerged that Donald Trump, who counted Gaetz as among his most fervent supporters, had to be talked out of issuing a whole-hearted exoneration of his fellow Floridian.

'His first impulse was that he wanted to defend Gaetz, you know: 'He's one of our people,'' said Maggie Haberman, who covered Trump for The New York Times while he was in the White House.

'They have been very close, and it's been because Gaetz is a presence on television, he's from Florida, and he's willing to defend Trump vocally no matter what happens.'

Trump, pictured with Gaetz, had to be talked out of issuing a strongly-supportive statement

Some former White House officials reportedly described Gaetz as 'meanest person in politics'

Trump on Wednesday issued not a full endorsement, but rather a carefully-worded statement saying that Gaetz never sought a pardon from him, personally. The New York Times reported that Gaetz asked the White House for a pre-emptive pardon.

'Several of his advisors had told him that's a very bad idea, that the nature of what Gaetz is being investigated for is so serious that this is not something that former President Trump should be out there on a limb' for, Haberman told CNN.

She said that Trump had been 'staying away from this, and I think it will continue.'

Some within the former president's orbit even celebrated the controversy, with one former White House staffer telling Insider last month: 'He's the meanest person in politics.'

On Wednesday, CBS News reported that federal agents were investigating a trip the Florida congressman took to the Bahamas with a marijuana entrepreneur in late 2018 or early 2019.

Gaetz reportedly traveled with Dr. Jason Pirozzolo, a hand surgeon and co-founder of The American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association.

Pirozzolo paid for the travel and accommodation and also for female escorts, according to the report.

Investigators are probing whether the escorts were trafficked across state or international lines for the purpose of having sexual relations with the congressman.

'Traveling across state lines is what creates a federal hook for a prosecution,' Arlo Devlin-Brown, a former prosecutor and partner at Covington & Burling, told CBS.

'It doesn't matter that [Gaetz] personally paid them as long as he knows someone is doing that,' he added.

Investigators are also looking into whether Gaetz was trading political access for the sexual rendezvous.

The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, last week acknowledged the allegations were 'serious' and could lead to severe repercussions, but said he wanted to see more of the facts.

Joel Greenberg was captured leaving the federal courthouse in Orlando in June 2020 after making his first court appearance

'If it comes out to be true, yes, we would remove him,' McCarthy told Fox News.

Gaetz has pushed back forcefully against the allegations and sought to divert attention from the DOJ investigation by insisting he and his family have been victims of an extortion scheme.

He says two men, including former Air Force officer Robert Kent, approached Gaetz's father seeking $25 million to fund their bid to locate and free American Robert Levinson, who disappeared 14 years ago in Iran.

Kent acknowledged texting the congressman's father Don Gaetz, a former Florida Senate president, telling him he knew of an 'indictment' soon to be filed against his son, and that 'I have a plan that can make his future legal and political problems go away.'

Speaking to CNN, Kent said mentioning Gaetz's legal trouble was merely a 'teaser,' and he explained to the father 'that this was not an extortion attempt,' but a legitimate offer to help rescue Levinson while potentially showing Representative Gaetz in a positive light.

Levinson's family said in 2020 that US officials had told them that the ex-FBI agent had died while in Iranian custody.

Brash and combative, Gaetz has taken controversial steps in Congress, wearing a gas mask on the House floor last year during a vote on an early coronavirus response package.

In 2019 he delayed impeachment proceedings against Trump when he led dozens of Republican lawmakers who burst into closed-door witness depositions and refused to leave for several hours.

And in January Gaetz traveled to Wyoming to help stir up opposition to senior congresswoman Liz Cheney, one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump.

He had volunteered to leave Congress and defend the ex-president during Trump's second Senate impeachment trial, over the January 6 MAGA riot.

Salacious details of Gaetz's behavior have emerged.

According to CNN, Gaetz bragged about his sexual escapades to fellow lawmakers, showing them nude photographs of women he claimed to have slept with.

Gaetz has dug in, penning a column in Monday's Washington Examiner.

'The swamp is out to drown me with false charges, but I'm not giving up,' he wrote.

And earlier this week another ex-staffer came held a press conference in Florida, defending the congressman after speaking with the FBI.

But the DOJ investigation - which was launched while Trump was still in office and not by Gaetz's political opponents - could halt the ambitious Republican's rise.

It centers on Gaetz and Greenberg, who was indicted last year on a federal child sex trafficking charge.

According to the Times, people close to the investigation said they believe Greenberg met women through websites and introduced them to Gaetz, who had sex with them.

The DOJ is also investigating whether Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old.

Most Republicans meanwhile, except Kinzinger, have withheld comment on Gaetz's scandal.

He is scheduled to speak Friday at the Trump National Doral Miami, during the 'Save America Summit' sponsored by a pro-Trump women's group.
A jury of nine women and three men has allowed convicted murderer Michael Bridges to apply for parole slightly earlier than he was originally sentenced to.

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A jury of nine women and three men has allowed convicted murderer Michael Bridges to apply for parole slightly earlier than he was originally sentenced to.

The jury found Bridges should be allowed to apply for parole in June 2026, three years earlier than the 2029 date he was originally sentenced to. The courtroom was silent when the lead juror announced the decision at the conclusion of the faint hope clause hearing.

The jury deliberated for four hours, returning with a verdict at approximately 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Bridges was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder for the killing of 18-year-old Erin Chorney by Justice John Menzies  the same judge overseeing the hearing  in 2005.

Over the course of nearly two weeks, the court heard how an argument broke out the night Bridges killed Chorney.

He choked her before putting her head underwater in a bathtub.

Bridges then buried Chorneys body in another persons grave. He wasnt arrested until police set up a "Mr. Big" sting operation in 2005 when he confessed the crime to an undercover police officer while under the impression he was about to join a criminal organization.

He has served 17 years in prison at Stony Mountain Institution.

Speaking outside the courtroom after the verdict was read, Cynthia Chorney, Erins aunt, said there is nothing that can make up for the loss of Erin in their lives.

"Obviously, there is nothing one can do to make up for what happened. No sentence would ever be adequate," she said

"Erin is always and will be missed."

She said the family would also like to thank the Crown attorneys, Brandon Police Service, victim services and the RCMP.

The court heard from a range of people over the course of the hearing, including Bridges himself.

Bridges told the jury he is deeply sorry for the killing and has made significant changes in his life since being imprisoned in his early 20s. Defence lawyer Ryan Amy said Bridges is now 40 years old.

On the night he killed Erin and buried her in another persons grave, he said he was experiencing "pure rage" and his bottled up emotions all came out at once, he testified.

He apologized to the Chorney family during an emotional round of questioning on Monday afternoon.

"I just want to tell her family how sorry I am, sorry that I robbed you of the chance of having Erin in your lives," Bridges said through tears. He spoke with his head down but looked at Chorneys family seated in the courtroom periodically.

"I saw how much she cared about you. She did not deserve to die. She was supposed to be here  to share her experiences with you."

"You prayed for answers, you asked for help and you received none because I was too much of a coward to admit to what I did," he told the court at the time.

Members of Erins family also testified earlier this week. Darcy Chorney, her father, said his daughters murder was the familys worst nightmare.

Lesli, Erins sister, said her loss still felt to this day.

"Erin was more than the tragedy that happened to her. She was my sister and she was a daughter and a cousin and a niece," she said.

Before being allowed full parole, Bridges would likely have to go through years of escorted temporary absences and day parole sessions from the prison, he testified. He told the court inmates are typically gradually reintroduced to society before full parole  if they get it.

The jurys decision doesnt mean Bridges will get parole in June 2026, just that he can make an application for it.

In the defences closing statement, lawyer Ryan Amy argued Bridges is a changed man since the night he killed Erin Chorney.

"Mr. Bridges has shown he is changed as a person, understands the harms he has caused and is ready for the next step, which cannot be completed while in custody," Amy said while gripping the sides of the podium in front of him.

Bridges has undergone years of counselling in the federal institution and held down jobs in a number of roles.

While Bridges committed a horrible crime, Amy said he has paid the price and will continue to do so for the rest of his life. Bridges was sentenced to life in prison, so will be under conditions imposed by Correctional Services Canada until the day he dies.

"He was 21 when the murder occurred and 23 when he entered jail. He described himself as "an a--hole" when he entered the correctional system. That immature, selfish person no longer exists. the man before you today is very different than the boy who committed the crime and tried to cover it up," he said.

Crown attorney Mark Lafreniere argued instances where Bridges acted poorly in prison or had conflicts are examples of how he has not learned to control his behaviour after 17 years.

In one example, he was defensive with a facilitator asking him about the crime.

"The best prediction of future behaviour is someones past actions or comments  what they have actually done  while Mr. Bridges has completed a number of things in custody, we cannot lose sight of that, its all while hes been in custody, while hes been under almost complete control.

It is "guesswork" if Bridges has learned better ways and can keep himself from offending in the future, the Crown argued.

"We dont know what hell do upon return to society, thats the great unknown."

Bridges will still serve more than five years in prison before he is eligible to apply for parole.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
By Stephanie Lam

Bay City News Foundation

It is not every day that high school students are publicly interviewed by a U.S. congressman about their accomplishments, but that's exactly what happened to two Marin County students on Wednesday.

Beck Lorsch and Amrit Beveja spoke with Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, about their creation of a nationally recognized app to help schools detect COVID-19 transmission among students.

The app, called MarinTrace, was named the winner of the 2020 App Challenge for California's Second Congressional District. The App Challenge is considered the most prestigious prize in student computer science.

"I am always impressed by the students who submit their apps in the Congressional App Challenge, and Beck and Amrit are no exception," said Huffman, following his 20-minute video interview with the Marin County students. "I look forward to seeing what these students do next."

Under a pilot program, MarinTrace in being introduced in select Marin County schools. Students can use the self-reporting tool to catalogue their symptoms, aiding teachers and administrators in their contact tracing efforts.

"The smart phone and computer are so accessible . . . it can help spread good messages about public health, help people stay safe in times when they need it." Baveja said in the Zoom interview. "I think MarinTrace is a great example of how that can be done."

"One of the great things about the App Challenge is it really made us figure out how we can best explain what the app does," Lorsch said. "What was helpful to us is seeing and communicating what MarinTrace does to parents at the schools."

More than 6,500 students registered for the 2020 Congressional App Challenge, and 308 Members of Congress hosted challenges in their districts across the nation.

Apps are judged based on the quality of the idea, including creativity and originality; implementation of the idea, including user experience and design and demonstrated excellence of coding and programming skills.

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NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, continues to investigate potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Champignon Brands Inc. (OTC: SHRMF) resulting from allegations that Champignon may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.

SO WHAT: If you purchased Champignon securities you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the prospective class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2057.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action.

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT: On February 17, 2021, Champignon announced that "the Company has determined to withdraw and refile its condensed interim consolidated financial statements and management's discussion & analysis ('MD&A') for the three and six month periods ended March 31, 2020". Further, the Company stated that "management determined that the financial statements needed to be restated to correct the accounting for the Acquisitions as the assets do not meet the definition of intangible assets for the purposes of international financial reporting standards and as result will be recorded as transaction costs in the Company's statement of loss and comprehensive loss." The Company also announced that "it was determined that a shareholder and contracted consultant (the 'Consultant') of the Company was a related party with respect to the Acquisitions."

On this news, Champignon's stock price fell 11% per share on February 17, 2021, damaging investors.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience or resources. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 3 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020 founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.

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The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

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New York, NY 10016

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The first turkey that ever came to me on the ground did it a long time ago. I sat there with my hands shaking and my breath short and my heart hammering so hard I could not understand why he could not hear it. The last turkey that came to me last spring had exactly the same effect, and the day that this does not happen to me is the day that I quit. - Tom KellyThe turkeys eyes are such that he can see a bumblebee turn a somersault on the verge of the horizon. - Archibald RutledgeThe opening morning of Tennessee turkey season inevitably brings some amount of relief.After what feels like too much of a long layoff with the double barrel and a string of flash floods constantly interrupting crappie fishing, sitting in the early spring woods brings respite and a time for introspection.With time spent on the ground in budding spring, comes a fair chance at a dance with a Meleagris Gallopavo feeling the urges that make the majestic and colorful ground eating birds vocal and amorous.By the time I parked the jeep it was obvious that the flashlight was no longer necessary to get where I needed to sit and squirm. No good excuse was to be had and when this sort of tardiness is evident, (which seems to happen more frequently with every passing spring), I seem to quite often blow the whole affair. This is an easy excuse when the birds, from their roost in the big woods, manage to spot me on a clumsy approach in the grayness of the predawn light.On this cold morning, Im almost confident that I somehow managed to reach a big oak undetected when finally settled on the edge of a freshly planted strip of clover.Hard labor equity might finally pay off. Thinking positive seems to come with any opening morning of every new season.The sun filtered through the gray hardwoods and the dense brown mat of last falls leaf litter making the Privet and Cedar light up in vibrant shades of green that only early spring can bring. The clover matched the bright green hues, glistening with frost. Small birds in the hardwoods made calls I couldnt seem to connect to the species until I actually saw the creature making the calls.After so many years of doing this sort of thing I wondered why some little feathered songbird calls were still a mystery to me. I vowed that it was once again time to work on this particular problem.Time drifted by, as time seems to drift, when you plant your yourself with your thoughts at the base of an Oak in the spring woods. Waiting for turkeys to address the early light with their distinctive voices leaves you time to worry about ticks, snakes and chiggers. It also seems to cleanse the mind of things that managed to keep you awake through the long winter nights.Thats about the time you start hearing things. Was that a gobble? Was that a fly down cackle? Was that scratching in the leaves just over in the next hollow?Sitting under a big Oak on a cold opening morning somehow makes an expensive hearing aide worth the trouble. More importantly; which direction did it come from? Maybe it was just another auditory hallucination, but it surely results in a decent pump from the old adrenal gland.The adrenal gland may be the whole reason some of us hunt turkeys to begin with. Not too may birds that I can think of have the ability to result in a decent shot of adrenaline. Bald Eagles and road-rage birds aside, dont even seem to do it like they used too.Two hens show up first, and as they peck away frantically at the young clover, two or three unseen male birds begin to gobble at them from the edge of the field.The adrenal gland slips effortlessly into high gear. Time flies out the window.Shoulder to shoulder, wing tip to wing tip, two males strut up in neon red, white and blue, slowly entering the fields edge.The big birds remind me of British officers from the war of 1812. Tails spread, wings dragging the ground. Huge and in charge, festooned in military finery, gaudy and stiff like they were on some palace parade ground strutting like grand soldiers for some British King. The birds were doing all they could do to look all majestic, like warriors on a foreign parade ground before they ship off to the Americas to reclaim another land that they expect to conquer.This parade is mesmerizing.Its a glorious sight that only a spring morning can deliver.Suddenly this precession renders my bifocals with double vision. They close the distance into range for the side by side 10 gauge. Two big birds become four huge birds as I squint to make sense of whats happening. This double vision thing has never happened before.At least Ive never had the occasion to use double vision as an excuse for missing before.Slowly sliding the glasses from my nose, I realize that this fumble of a move was a huge mistake.The closest hen, at about twenty yards, sees something she feels she needs to investigate and its me. She slowly investigates to within ten feet of my quaking position .She suddenly cocks her grey head to one side and decides its time to let everyone in the world know that I appear to look stupid and all hardwood creatures in hearing distance should take immediate notice.The whole procession, unfolding in my lap, jams to an abrupt halt, heads erect. All eyes are immediately on me and the hen at my feet.Show time!This sort of ludicrous phenomenon replays itself every spring I think to myself as the safety is slowly eased off of the old double barrel.The echo of the shot reverberates across the mountain like a cannon in the first salvo of every war ever fought with big guns and black powder.All but one out of the ten or so birds take flight, and spring returns to the hardwoods, quiet and calm, following one brief and chaotic moment.The greens become more intense as I step into the clover and retrieve the Tom and admire the finery of another opening day and the end of winter as we know it.The parade, the march of the majestic birds, the hardwoods, with their grey and brown hues, soon to be renewed with budding green shoots of another season growing old, seems to bring solace and more introspection each year.Some call it hunting. Some call it other things that arent so charitable.Spring magic seems to me to be the best I can come up with.
When Sharon Berry was reviewing her emails in July 2018, she paused at one from the organization that oversees a memorial at the former Buchenwald concentration camp and thought, This must be a sick joke, she recalled recently.

It was about a bracelet that contained her fathers prisoner identification number. It did not turn out to be a sick joke, but rather just the opposite.

Amidst the sickness of the Holocaust, the artifact appeared to be an example of an inmate, Ben Fainer, trying to find something to raise his spirits.

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On Thursday, which was Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Berry delivered the bracelet to the focal point of the community that invigorated him later in life: the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum.

He suffered so much and to have the light stolen from your soul and from your life, Berry said of her father who survived five concentration camps. This community here gave him back his light.

Fainer, who was born in Bedzin, Poland, near Polands border with Germany, was liberated by the U.S. Army from a death march near Buchenwald in 1945. But his mother, three siblings and hundreds of relatives were killed.

After the war, Fainer did not discuss the trauma he suffered for six decades.

He moved to St. Louis in 1957. Once he started to share his story here, he spoke to thousands of visitors to the museum who were all really amazed and drawn to him. He had been in five concentration camps and yet he had this great appreciation for life and was funny and charming and really showed what resilience looked like, said Dan Reich, the museums curator and director of education.

Some might say that resilience also looks like the silver bracelet that not only had one of the ultimate markers of depravity, the prisoner ID numbers, which were often tattooed on inmates arms. It also had decorative notching and dots shaped like a starburst effect.

It clearly wasnt just a piece of jewelry, Reich said. Fainer had worked in a metalworks factory while at Blechhammer, a satellite camp of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Did he make it himself and add those [decorative] elements? Reich wondered.

But Fainer, who spent his career in the garment industry and died in 2016 at age 86, never spoke about the bracelet, so Reich and Berry dont know the answer.

It was discovered on an archaeological dig at the Buchenwald site in the 1990s and turned over to the memorial organization, Berry said. Decades later, Dr. Sven Bayer, the German doctor who discovered the artifact, found a photo of the bracelet in his office and reached out to the Buchenwald memorial organization and asked: what happened to that?

After that long lull, the next steps happened rather quickly.

Prompted by the call, staff at the memorial unpacked the bracelet and started to do some research. The bracelet contained a variation on Fainers name and his mother maidens name, Beniek Urman, so using that and the ID number, the staff found a YouTube video that Erich Vieth, a St. Louis attorney, had produced telling Fainers story. They were eventually able to reach Berry, who lives in Philadelphia.

In October 2019, Berry traveled to Germany to retrieve the bracelet and learn more about her fathers story. Bayer, the German physician who discovered the bracelet, also traveled several hours to Buchenwald to meet Berry.

Being on the grounds of Buchenwald where my father was imprisoned was very emotional, recalled Berry, who with two of her sisters founded the Hannah Ida Urman Foundation, which in memory of their grandmother sponsors Holocaust education programs.

After acquiring the bracelet, Berry, who lives in Philadelphia, knew where to bring it: the Holocaust museum in St. Louis.

To see how he devoted himself to this community, and all the speaking that he did, how that healed him and what that did for his life  his soul is there, Berry said.

As Reich put it, If this is where part of his spirt dwells, its appropriate that the bracelet will now be there as well.
Dogs being used for campaign in UP panchayat polls.(Photo:IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Lucknow, April 9 : Campaigning in the Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections is going to dogs -- literally so.

At least two candidates -- one in Rae Bareli and another in Ballia district -- are using stray dogs to campaign for them.

These candidates are sticking their posters and pamphlets on the dogs and letting them roam around.

One of the candidates who pleaded anonymity, said: "There is no rule in the model code of conduct which prevents us from using stray dogs in the campaign. We are not harming the animal in any way. In fact, we feed the dogs every day. It is a novel idea and the voters are attracted to such innovations." The photographs of the dogs with campaign material stuck on them, are going viral on the social media and have evoked strong protests from animal lovers who feel this should be a severely punishable offence.

Reena Mishra, an animal activist said, "How would a man feel if similar stickers are stuck on his face during the election? Just before a dog cannot protest, we have no business to treat them in such a manner. The police should immediately take action against candidates who are resorting to this manner of electioneering." Meanwhile, the panchayat polls seem to have brought an unlimited supply of goodies for the voters and liquor - a staple in polls - is not included in the list.

This time, candidates are opting for other goodies.

A village panchayat candidate Sohanveer in Amroha was booked two days ago for preparing to distribute 100 kg of 'rasgullas' to his voters. The rasgullas were seized by the police.

In Baghpat, ten persons, including the candidate Mohd Jabbar, have been booked for getting spades and an earth mover machine to mix ingredients for 'laddoos' that were being made in huge quantities for distribution among voters.

A video clip of spades and the earth mover being used to mix gram flour, sugar and other ingredients went viral after which action was taken.

Baghpat circle officer Anuj Mishra, said "Investigations have revealed that Mohd Jabbar, a candidate for the post of village head, along with his supporters had made huge quantity of sweets and distributed them among the villagers, which is a violation of the model code of conduct. A video has also come to our notice, in which he has deployed an earthmover and spades for making laddoos. Jabbar and his nine associates along with a dozen others have been booked under IPC 171[E] (bribery) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant)." In Sultanpur, a zila panchayat candidate is distributing mobile phones to 'influential persons who can turn votes in my favour'.

The candidate, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said mobile phone were an 'useful items' since children require them for online classes.

"This is the least that I can do for them in the pandemic," he said.

Liquor, of course, is a staple part of campaigning in Uttar Pradesh in almost every election.

This time, however, voters are no longer accepting 'desi daru'.

"Campaigning is becoming increasingly expensive and voters are now very specific in their demands. They are even listing their favourite brands and we have to comply if we wish to get their votes," said a candidate in Kanpur Dehat district.
Leader Kim Jong Un describes "the worst-ever situation in which we have to overcome unprecedentedly numerous challenges."

In this Tuesday, July 16, 2019, photo, North Koreans hold cards to make an image depicting a worker and a farmer during a mass game performance of "The Land of the People" at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea.

Authorities in North Korea are warning residents to prepare for economic difficulties as bad as the 1994-1998 famine which killed millions, RFA has learned, but experts say the situation is dire, but not that extreme.

The 1990's famine was the result of economic mismanagement and the sudden collapse of North Korea's patron the Soviet Union. As much as 10 percent of the North Korean population lost their lives, according to some estimates, while hundreds of thousands of people fled to China.

The warning came as leader Kim Jong Un was quoted by the Norths official Korean Central News Agency as saying the country faced grim challenges.

Improving the peoples living standards ... even in the worst-ever situation in which we have to overcome unprecedentedly numerous challenges depends on the role played by the cells, the grassroots organizations of the party, Kim said during an opening speech at a meeting of cell secretaries of the ruling Workers Party on Tuesday, KCNA reported.

Sources in the countrys northwestern North Hamgyong province told RFA that authorities warned residents during special discussion sessions hosted by neighborhood watch units to prepare for a situation worse than the Arduous March, North Koreas official depiction of the famine a quarter century ago.

The current economic situation in North Korea is dire by most accounts. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Jan. 2020, Beijing and Pyongyang closed the entirety of the 880-mile Sino-Korean border and suspended all trade.

North Korea was already pinched by U.S. and UN nuclear sanctions, but the border closure killed a major part of North Korean commerce: the purchase and sale of imported Chinese goods. Economic activity in entire towns came to a full stop, leaving people with no way to support themselves.

U.N Special Rapporteur on North Korean Human Rights Tomas Ojea Quintana warned in a report last month that the closure of the border and restrictions on the movement of people could bring on a serious food crisis.

Deaths by starvation have been reported, as has an increase in the number of children and elderly people who have resorted to begging as families are unable to support them, said the report.

Sources told RFA that attendees at this weeks special discussion sessions expected that the government would tell them to stay the course and be patient as the plans laid out during the congress went into effect.

Today, each district held a discussion session for the women of each neighborhood watch unit about the Eighth Party Congress but they were all shocked when the speaker said, our economic difficulties are only beginning, a resident of North Hamgyong told RFAs Korean Service April 5.

Most of the attendees were women who are responsible for the livelihood of their families. The speaker was an official of the Propaganda and Agitation department, who emphasized that our current economic difficulties pale in comparison for what lies ahead. How would these women feel? said the source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.

At the Eighth Congress of the ruling Korean Workers Party held in Jan. 2020, Kim Jong Un pushed the countrys founding Juche ideology of self-reliance as the solution to economic troubles  indicating that there were no plans to open the border with China any time soon.

The source said a wave of anxiety spread among all the attendees when the speaker said that even the Arduous March was nothing compared to what lies ahead the country.

Attendees began to panic, wondering how many would starve to death if the Arduous March, where millions of people died from hunger, was nothing, the source said.

The authorities have tried to push on us their propaganda that the lives of the people will be in full bloom, referring to the full development of our style of socialism, but the residents are blaming the authorities, saying that the government has only prepared extreme hunger for us, said the source.

Residents who lived through the 1990s famine were the most fearful of the news.

They said we cant just do nothing but starve to death if there is another Arduous March and vowed to come up with ways to stop it.

Another source, also from North Hamgyong, confirmed the special discussion session to RFA on April 6.

The speaker did not say a word about the improvement of the peoples lives like authorities had promised. Once again, they said we need to tighten our belts and carry out the decision of the Eighth Party Congress. This made the residents angry, said the second source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.

They told us in the session to memorize and follow the directives laid out in the congress unconditionally, and to discuss them in a question-and-answer format. But as the session continued, the attendees were unable to hide their disappointment and resentment, said the second source.



The attendees were furious that they were being asked to be patient and to consent to sacrifices without specific details on how this would get them through the tough situation, according to the second source.

So now the people are all saying that a second Arduous March is imminent. On the surface, the authorities are saying that everything will be fine once the five-year economic development plan laid out in the party congress is completed, said the second source.

But since they are not hiding the fact that the current economic crisis could lead to a situation more difficult than the Arduous March of the 1990s, the anxiety of the people is increasing,

International observers were skeptical that the current situation in North Korea was anything at all like the famine of the 1990s.

This is not the famine of 1996-97. There is barely adequate food supply, but not what North Korea hoped it would be. And I dont see North Korea to be in the midst of a demonstrable health crisis about COVID, Mark P. Barry, associate editor of the International Journal on World Peace quarterly, told RFA.

Although things are very difficult economically and not good for food security, the greatest danger for North Korea is progressive loss of sovereignty through dependence on one country  China. This is an opportunity in the tenth year of Kim Jong Uns leadership to not only internally strengthen his power but to reduce dangerously rising dependency on China, Barry said.

Barry said that Kim had hoped to achieve economic independence from China by striking a deal with the U.S.

Because [former U.S. President ]Trump left office without a deal Kim could accept and [U.S. President] Biden shows little promise to change long-held U.S. policy toward the DPRK regarding denuclearization, Kim is even willing to put his country through a possible second Arduous March as a preferred alternative to succumbing to Chinese economic and political pressure, said Barry.

Troy Stangarone of the Washington-based Korea Economic Institute (KEI) said the situation was indeed dire in North Korea, but added that it was unclear if it was comparable to the 1990s.

In the last month or two, trade between North Korea and China, its primary trade partner, and even Russia has either fallen to zero or fallen to levels so low that it is essentially nonexistent. We've seen indications that prices for goods are beginning to rise as food and other key items become scarcer, Stangarone said.

As long as North Korea continues to maintain these tight border controls, it's very hard to see the situation improving and instead its most likely to continue to deteriorate, he said.

Stangarone said Pyongyang would have a difficult time addressing the challenges ahead and recommended the government loosen border controls and more readily accept international aid.

The Arduous March was particularly devastating for North Koreas children. At the end of the famine in 1998, a nutritional survey conducted by UNICEF and the World Food Program found that among children in 3,600 North Korean households, 62.3 percent were stunted, and 60.6 percent were considered moderately or severely underweight.

RFA reported in Nov. 2020 that a national literacy survey revealed that many of North Koreas illiterate were of school age during the famine and could not attend school at the time. This led to fewer economic opportunities later in their lives.

Reported by Jieun Kim and Albert Hong for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Billionaire Leon Black's shocking exit from his executive roles at Apollo Global Management last month came just days after several directors at the private-equity firm learned of sexual assault allegations against him.

Last month, Black stepped down as chairman of Apollo, which he co-founded 31 years ago, months after relinquishing his position as chief executive officer of the company in January following a report by law firm Dechert.

An independent review by Dechert revealed that Black had paid late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein $158 million for advice on tax and estate planning and related services between 2012 and 2017. He even lent the disgraced pedophile $30million after his conviction, the New York Times reports.

Last month, Black stepped down as chairman of Apollo, which he co-founded 31 years ago, months after relinquishing his position as chief executive officer

An independent review by Dechert revealed that Black had paid late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein $158 million for advice

When announcing his departure, Black cited his wife's ailing health as his own health for motivation behind the decision. The allegations, first posted on Twitter and seen by at least four board members, weren't mentioned in the decision, the New York Post reports.

On March 17, former model Guzel Ganieva took to the social media platform to allege that she was sexually harassed and abused by the billionaire for years.

'Although I am a private person, in light of the recent media coverage, I think I have an obligation to make a statement regarding Apollo Global Management's CEO and Chairman, Leon Black. I was sexually harassed and abused by him for years,' she said in the post, that did not gain much traction on Twitter.

Ganieva - who emigrated to the U.S. from Russia - added that the behavior started in 2008 when she met with him to 'discuss work.' She was 25 at the time.

'While he understood my career aspirations, he could not understand me when I refused his sexual advances. I was bullied, manipulated, threatened, and coerced,' she added. 'Similarly, under duress, I was forced to sign an NDA in 2015.'

On March 17, former model Guzel Ganieva took to the social media platform to allege that she was sexually harassed and abused by the billionaire for years - starting in 2008

She concluded: 'I am breaking my silence now because I do not want this type of predatory behavior to continue happening to other women. #MeToo #LeonBlack'

Black acknowledged knowing but claimed that the two had a 'consensual affair' that ended 'more than seven years ago.'

'I foolishly had a consensual affair with Ms. Ganieva that ended more than seven years ago,' Black said in a statement. 'Any allegation of harassment or any other inappropriate behavior towards her is completely fabricated.'

He also denied that the allegations from the former model motivated his decision to step away from the company.

'This is entirely a personal matter; this matter has nothing to do with Apollo or my decision to step away from the firm,' he added.

Black said that he believes he was being 'extorted' by Ganieva because he allegedly 'made substantial monetary payments to her, based on her threats to go public concerning our relationship, in an attempt to spare my family from public embarrassment.'

He added that the matter had been referred to 'the criminal authorities' and that he welcomes 'a thorough investigation.'

There is no indication that any charges are being considered are being brought up against the former model.

While Ganieva declined to provide copy of the NDA, a second source did agree that the document had been signed.

Although the review from Dechert cleared Black of any wrongdoing, a series of corporate governance changes triggered by the review forced Black to step down from his executive positions at Apollo.

He announced four days later that he would not stand for re-election as chairman of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the New York Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the decision.

'The relentless public attention and media scrutiny concerning my relationship with Jeffrey Epstein - even though the exhaustive Dechert report concluded there was no evidence of wrongdoing on my part - have taken a toll on my health and have caused me to wish to take some time away from the public spotlight that comes with my daily involvement with this great public company,' Black said in a letter to Apollo's board of directors.

Epstein was found dead at age 66 in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges for allegedly abusing dozens of underage girls in Manhattan and Florida from 2002 to 2005.

New York City's chief medical examiner ruled Epstein's cause of death was suicide by hanging.

Apollo appointed Clayton, 54, who was SEC chairman from May 2017 to December 2020, as lead independent director in February to improve corporate governance after the review.
Should a convicted killer who murdered a 21-year-old Steelton man in cold blood in 1974 be freed from his life prison term so he can die at home from terminal cancer?

The answer to that question in the eyes of the family and friends of slaying victim John JB Mueller III is, No.

Absolutely, positively and without reservation, No.

At issue now is whether, after hearing three hours of testimony Friday, Dauphin County Judge William T. Tully will agree with them or will instead grant a petition for compassionate release allow 74-year-old Earl Box to leave the infirmary of the state prison at Phoenix and move into his daughters Berks County home to spend his final days.

Box, whose release is opposed by District Attorney Fran Chardo, was part of a gang that committed a string of violent armed holdups of businesses in Dauphin and Cumberland counties during the summer of 1974. On Sept. 14 of that year, the gang hit the business of the Mueller family, Muellers Tavern.

Box shot and killed JB Mueller when the young man went to investigate the commotion. He was sentenced to serve life-plus-20 years behind bars after a Dauphin County jury convicted him of second-degree murder and robbery.

The passage of nearly 47 years hasnt eased the pain of JBs family and friends. That was evident as they spoke in opposition to Boxs release bid during Fridays proceeding.

Kathy Mueller, JBs youngest sister, was 13 when he was killed. She heard the fatal shot and saw the aftermath. She wept as she spoke to Tully.

I saw my brother lying there with blood all over his chest, she said. I was with my dad the night before he died. The last thing he talked about was my brother.

I ask that you give (Box) the same consideration and courtesy that he gave my brother, she said.

JBs other sister, Maryann, was just as emphatic. She said she still has nightmares because of what Box did. The tragedy never left her family. My parents were never the same after her brothers murder, she said. My father had a twinkle in his eyeMy mother had an infectious laugh, she said, adding that after the murder, That was all gone.

Attorney Samuel Stretton, who represented Box at the behest of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, questioned a prison doctor by video. The physician said Box has inoperable Stage 4 colon cancer and likely has less than six months to live. We are treating him as a hospice patient, Dr. Stephen Wiener testified.

Wiener said Box is being housed in a private room in the prisons infirmary. He said Box is bed- and wheelchair-bound and continues to get weaker.

The doctor said Box is so frail, I dont think hes a threat to anybody at this point.

I have a lot of pain. Right now, Im having a hard time breathing, Box said via a video feed from the prison. He had the emaciated physique of a scarecrow and said he has lost about 75 pounds in the last few months. He slumped in his wheelchair and sometimes bent completely over.

Earl Box

Stretton said Department of Corrections officials arent opposing Boxs release, which is being sought under an act the state Legislature passed in 2009. Boxs daughter, Emma Stewart, said she is prepared to have her father live with her as he dies. My dad is a kind-hearted manI never thought of him as a danger, she said.

Steelton Mayor Maria Romano Marcinko, a cousin of JB, told the judge how his murder upset not only her family, but her entire town. The borough of Steelton wasnt used to any armed robberies back then, let alone murders, she said.

She read a letter by the boroughs fire chief, Gene Vance III, a good friend and comrade of JB at the firehouse, where a memorial to her cousin still graces the lobby.

Earl Box sentenced JB Mueller to death, Vance wrote. A jury of his peers sentenced Earl Box to life in prison. And that is where he should die.

Marcinko agreed.

For me and my family, its like were being revictimized over and over again, she said of the frequent appeals Box has filed over the years. JB never had a chance to die with his family and friends around him.

Her opinion was seconded by John Belsak Jr., a friend of JB. JB wasnt allowed to go home. Hes been in a cemetery for the last 45 years, Belsak said. Compassion for (Box)? Im sorry, I dont see it  There was no compassion for (JB). Why should this guy have it?

Stretton called the law that allows Box to seek a compassionate release is a humane act that is applicable given Boxs condition.

Tully questioned whether Box would receive better care in his daughters home than he already is receiving in prison. He speculated that former county Judge Richard Wickersham, who sentenced Box for the murder envisioned him dying alone in prison.

Everyone deserves some right to mercy and compassion, Stretton said.

Chardo stressed that Box logged repeated disciplinary charges while in prison, the latest a sexual harassment count from June 2019.

I believe people can change, Chardo said. This is not a fellow who did.

Tully pledged to rule on Boxs petition within a week.
Federal investigators say employees at Turkey Point nuclear power plant in Homestead falsified records and deliberately recorded inaccurate information on maintenance reports in 2019.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommended Thursday that Florida Power & Light, which operates the power plant on south Biscayne Bay, be fined $150,000 for the violations.

The utility said Friday that it will pay the civil fine, and that it had also conducted its own investigation, which resulted in the firing of the employees involved in the inquiry.

Turkey Point does not compromise when it comes to safety. As soon as we became aware of these situations, which occurred in 2019, we conducted a thorough investigation and the individuals involved no longer work for Florida Power & Light, Megan Murphy Salyer, FPL spokeswoman, said in an email.

The NRC said in a press release that two of its investigations in 2020 determined FPL employees engaged in deliberate misconduct the year before.

The first investigation confirmed that three mechanics falsified information on a work order associated with the inspection and maintenance of a safety-related check valve, the agency said.

The second probe found that two technicians provided inaccurate information on maintenance records related to a mispositioned plant component, the NRC said in the release.

The NRC also found that a supervisor and a department head influenced others in the department to conceal this maintenance error, the release states.

Federal investigators said that the violations they found did not result in an increased risk to the public, and FPL has initiated corrective actions to prevent a recurrence of the events leading to the violations.
An Afghan woman wearing a burqa gives roses to Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers during a ceremony in a military base in the Guzara district of Herat Province on Feb. 28, 2019. (Hoshang Hashimi/AFP via Getty Images)

EXCLUSIVE: Afghanistans Security Is Linked to World Security, Says Senior Afghan Diplomat

NEW DELHIAhead of the May 1 troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, the countrys ambassador to India told The Epoch Times in an exclusive interview that the withdrawal of troops shouldnt be time-bound, as the Afghans are fighting international terrorism, not a civil war.

The May 1 deadline needs to be revisited, needs to be considered thoroughly, and any decision on the withdrawal of international forces needs to be based on ground realities and fights, Ambassador Farid Mamundzay, who formerly served as a senior political adviser to the Afghan National Security Council.

Its not a conflict of Afghanistan, its a conflict that the Afghans are fighting on behalf of the internationals and on behalf of this region.

Mamundzay said that under the Taliban regime, global terrorist networks including al-Qaeda were given the opportunity to grow bigger and stronger, and that the U.N. was aware of this growing threat.

The Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the U.N. Security Council [in its February 2021 report] expressed concerns about the continued relations between the Taliban and international terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, Mamundzay said.

The United States and the Taliban brokered a deal in February 2020 for a permanent ceasefire, stating that all foreign troops should withdraw from the country by May 1. However, the Biden administration has yet to announce its next steps of action. There are currently about 2,500 American troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Mamundzay spoke with The Epoch Times ahead of a peace conference currently being planned between the Afghan administration and the Taliban, after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken proposed holding the talks under the U.N.-led peace process, in a letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

During the talks, to be held in Turkey, Ghani reportedly will present a three-phase roadmap to peace. However, renewed violence between Afghan forces and the Taliban has already strengthened doubts about the success of such a conference.

Mamundzay said that a failing Afghanistan is in no ones favor.

The withdrawal of the forces  should be conditions bound, considering if the condition in Afghanistan improves, he said.

There should be consideration of the strength and capability of the Afghan national defense and security forces. Those forces should be fully prepared to take on international terrorist organizations.

A man reads a local newspaper showing a photograph of newly elected U.S. President Joe Biden, in Kabul on Nov. 8, 2020. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images)

Growing Democratically

Afghan broadcaster Tolo News reported that Ghanis peace roadmap would include making peace or holding talks with the Taliban, building peacewith language that hints at a transitional government, and sustaining peace, which indirectly refers to a post-transitional government situation.

However, the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi told The Epoch Times that theres nothing official yet on the peace proposal.

Mamundzay, who previously served as deputy director general at the Independent Directorate of Local Governance in Afghanistan, said the country has been working over the past two decades to grow into a full-fledged democracy, and that the Afghan people have the will to continue building on the gains the country has made.

Afghanistan is still a very new democratic state.  We need to give some time to our institutions to grow and get to the stage where they would be fully matured, he said.

While the countrys democratic institutions are structured at the national and the provincial level, theres an increasing demand for district assemblies. The will of the people is there. The need is felt and the demand has increased for these bodies over the years, he said.

For the first time, the sense of accountability and transparency has come into existence together with civil society organizations across the country at the grassroots level, these bodies are making a great contribution to the overall democracy in Afghanistan.

Strengthening inclusive and democratic institutions and promoting the rights of women and children would remain our top priorities in the years ahead under President Ghanis rule.

Afghanistans Ambassador to India and the former senior political advisor to the Afghan National Security Council, Farid Mamundzay along with women in local governance in Kabul. (Picture courtesy Farid Mamundzay)

Mamundzay said the young men and women of Afghanistan are a beacon of hope, helping to bring people together and build a modern nation.

The new generation of young leaders, both men and women, are taking charge to transform the war-torn country into a modern society, a society based on pluralism, a society based on democratic values, a society thats fair and just, he said.

First, most of them have seen the brutalities and oppression of civil war and Taliban. Second, these people have achieved an unprecedented [level] of education and capacities, and they want to contribute through those experiences to improve the living conditions of the Afghan people. Third, [they are working] to represent a larger demographic part of the country, not limiting themselves to one particular region, one particular ethnic group.

Mamundzay said the country has changed the way it thinks. As governance structures were established and living conditions improved, people started to dream of things they couldnt do before.

Two decades ago, the conflict-torn country was so vulnerable that survival was all anyone could hope for, whereas today, as people are better connected with the outside world, parents wanting the best opportunities for their children are sending them to study in educational institutions around the region and across the world, he said.

He gave the example of India, where currently 20,000 Afghan students are studying, an unprecedented number.

Growing Geopolitically

Though Afghanistan is dependent on support from the international alliance, Mamundzay said, it has an important geopolitical role to play, given its location at the juncture of South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East.

It provides an excellent opportunity to the region for economic cooperation, regional connectivity. It serves as a bridge between continents, within continents, within this part of the world, he said, adding that if theres peace in Afghanistan, itll be easier to ensure peace and economic development for the entire region.

With some wonderful initiatives, pipeline initiatives like Chabhar, Lapis Lazuli, TUTAP, TAPI, and others, we think that we wouldnt require foreign aid for years to come.

Chabhar is a strategic seaport on the Gulf of Oman in Iran that is likely to be inaugurated by May. The India-led project will be linked with the International North-South Transport Corridor, which currently involves 10 central Asian countries.

U.S. soldiers stand guard near the site of a car bomb in the Afghan capital Kabul on May 31, 2017. (AWAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Lapis Lazuli is another international corridor linking Afghanistan to Turkey via Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia; TUTAP (TurkmenistanUzbekistanTajikistanAfghanistanPakistan) is an electricity project; and TAPI (TurkmenistanAfghanistanPakistanIndia) is an international natural gas pipeline project.

Mamundzay said Afghanistan also expects that the Quadthe quadrilateral security alliance between the United States, India, Japan, and Australiawill contribute to regional peace. It contributes to the security of the region by working closely with other states of the region, i.e., tackling terrorism financing, combating terrorists networks, narco-trading, and other organized crimes, he said.
Humane Society International has partnered with Hollywood filmmakers and stars to produce Save Ralph, a stop-motion animated short film that aims to end cosmetic testing on animals around the world. Taika Waititi, Ricky Gervais, Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, Pom Klementieff, Tricia Helfer and others are providing the voices for the #SaveRalph film.

Animals still suffering for cosmetics

Meet Ralph. Hes had a tough life, which isnt surprising given hes used as a cosmetics tester. Lets work together to help animals just like Ralph by signing @HSIGlobals petition. Link in bio. #SaveRalph pic.twitter.com/ognxTCAsZN  Zac Efron (@ZacEfron) April 7, 2021

Companies a vital part of the solution

No animal should be used for cosmetic testing!! This is cruel, sick, and inhumane. we have to be the voice they dont have ! lets help put a stop to animal testing by supporting @HSIGlobal with their #SaveRalph campaign and sign the petition at https://t.co/iTaF0b5c4e pic.twitter.com/tOrmbBpyFW  kesha (@KeshaRose) April 8, 2021

Writer and director Spencer Susser () and producer Jeff Vespa () teamed up with the Arch Model studio of puppet maker supreme Andy Gent on the production to bring Ralph to life. The film is also being launched in Portuguese, Spanish, French and Vietnamese with Rodrigo Santoro, Gad Elmelah, Denis Villeneuve, George Lopez and others voicing the characters in those languages, and Maggie Q providing a video message of support.Jeffrey Flocken, Humane Society Internationals president, says: is a wake-up call that animals are still suffering for cosmetics, and now is the time for us to come together to ban it globally. Today we have an abundance of reliable, animal-free approaches for product safety assurance, so theres no excuse for making animals like Ralph suffer to test cosmetics or their ingredients.Director Spencer Susser says: One of my favourite things about stop-motion animation is that every frame is a choice. Sadly, animals don't have that choice but the magic of stop-motion gives us the tools to give Ralph a voice. It's so important that Ralph feels real because he represents countless real animals who suffer every day. We hope that audiences will be moved to get behind Humane Society Internationals campaign to ban animal testing of cosmetics once and for all.Ricky Gervais says: Animal testing just makes me angry. Theres no justification for dripping chemicals in rabbits eyes or force-feeding them to rats just to make lipsticks and shampoo. Science has evolved enough to give us non-animal solutions to end this terrible cruelty  its time for our humanity to catch up.The campaign is focused on 16 countries including Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, and 10 Southeast Asian nations, with partner organisations, the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund, focused on legislation in the US.Joseph Mayson, HSI-Africas campaign manager, says: Sadly, theres no happy ending for animals like Ralph, but by working together we can ensure that no animal is ever again made to suffer in the name of beauty. Its easy to assume that companies are the problem, but the truth is they are a vital part of the solution. Its laws that need to be changed, and industry leaders like Lush, Unilever, P&G, LOreal and Avon are working with us to secure meaningful animal testing bans in many of the worlds most influential beauty markets. Weve recruited Ralph as our spokesbunny to help get these laws over the finish line."Over 90% of South Africans support a ban on animal testing for cosmetics, so with industry and the public on our side, we believe it is only a matter of time before South Africa joins the 40 countries that have already banned this practice.The #SaveRalph short film and educational materials on the current status of animal testing, as well as information about how you can help, are available at hsi.org/save-ralph
Nigel Farage launched a scathing attack on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in an appearance on Fox News shortly after the announcement of Prince Philips death.

Asked for his thoughts on the death of the Duke of Edinburgh by the hosts of Fox & Friends, the former MEP and leader of the Brexit Party did not hold back.

He claimed that the couples decision to go ahead with the broadcast while Prince Philip was in hospital will see their standing with people drop very, very fast.

It was well known that Philip only had a few weeks to live and yet despite that, despite the fact the Queen must have been in a state of deep distress, they proceeded to do an interview at which they attacked, effectively, the older members of the royal family, said Mr Farage.

He added that he thought the Duke and Duchess of Sussex indeed did their best to threaten the very institution itself.

Continuing, he said: Given that today is the day that Philip has died, I wont use the words about Meghan and Harry that I would like to, but I think it was deeply disrespectful.

A little later in the broadcast, when pressed again on the fallout of the interview and the way in which it had called into question the future of the royal family, Mr Farage said he felt that the Dukes death would draw a line underneath that.

When people see the tributes pouring in from all over the world, especially from our Commonwealth, which the Queen is the head of and which Philip played such a big role in, Mr Farage said. People will realise what a big deal the British monarchy is.

Returning to his attack on the Harry and Meghan, he added: When people realise, as I have just said to you, that it was known for the last many weeks that he was at deaths door, when people realise that Meghan and Harry went ahead with that interview regardless, throwing around unjustified allegations, I have a feeling public opinion in terms of Meghan and Harry is going to go down very, very fast.

Oprah Winfreys bombshell interview with Harry and Meghan was broadcast in the US on 7 March and in the UK the following evening.

The Duke of Edinburgh retired from public life in 2017, having spent more than seven decades supporting the Queen as her consort.

In March he spent a month in hospital for a heart condition and an infection. He left hospital in the middle of the month, returning to Windsor Castle where he passed away on Friday morning.
Canada has one of the slowest vaccine dissemination among developed economies. It is now imposing new lockdowns to mitigate a surge in infections. On the other hand, its neighbor's economy, the United States, is opening up, and COVID-19 vaccines are increasingly accessible.

Canada's Slow Vaccination

As of April 8, 2021, over seven million doses of the novel coronavirus vaccine have been received in Canada. An estimated 17 percent of the population has been administered at least one dose. Most Canadians are still awaiting their dose, with only 12 percent of them not intending to get inoculated.

Canada has lagged behind other rich nations in immunizations even though it ordered adequate doses to vaccinate the population five times over late 2020. However, such procurement deals guaranteed relatively few shots in the initial quarter of 2021 with a sharp surge in the second quarter, reported Reuters.

According to the White House on Thursday, the United States sought in March to send millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Canada. The White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated the U.S. was planning to transfer 1.5 million vaccines to Canada, reported The New York Times.

The US vaccine dissemination may be bumpy, but it is the envy of its neighbors. "Meanwhile in Canada" was trending on social media as Canadia's citizens lament their wobbly inoculation program.

Canada has secured the globe's most massive number of potential COVID-19 vaccine doses per capita. However, it is grappling to get its hands on a number of those doses and get shots into arms. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed an "enormous increase" in shots coming to Canada of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, the only two currently permitted for use in the nation, reported BBC.

2 Vaccine Sites Close After Reactions to Johnson & Johnson Dose

Canada was once hailed as having successfully tackled the coronavirus pandemic. It fared much better than the U.S. in fatalities and cases due to how it approached lockdowns. However, the trade-dependent country has lagged in inoculating its population because it cannot produce the vaccine and has had to depend on the world supply chain for the life-saving shots, the same as many other nations.

Hopes raised by the inoculation launch in December -- buoyed by reports that Canada had ordered shots equal to 10 times its population -- have become stale. Production issues at Moderna and Pfizer, developers of the only two vaccines currently authorized in Canada, have led to reduced shipments. These include several weeks in which no vaccine has arrived at all.

Canada's lockdowns arrived as new, more contagious COVID-19 variants have taken hold in the nation. The rapid prevalence of the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, and P.1 variant, which was first detected in Brazil, forced authorities in Canada's largest provinces to introduce new stay-at-home orders and, in several cases, close schools.

To reach herd immunity, when a major portion of the population becomes immune to infection through inoculation or natural infection, 53 to 84 percent of Canadians require immunity. This is taking into consideration the strongest variants and the speed at which one could be prevalent.

Japanese Woman, First COVID-19 Patient to Receive Living Donor Lung Transplant in the World

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
ALBANY  The city is making a push to increase both the size and diversity of its next classes of police and fire department recruits.

The efforts have been complicated by the coronavirus pandemic, forcing both departments to take some unconventional approaches to advertising and recruiting, as well as how they prepare potential candidates for the hiring process.

The fire department, the second-biggest department in the city in terms of expenses with a $36 million budget, has escaped some of the scrutiny the police department has received for its lack of diversity in the past. The police department's budget tops $55 million.

Last year, the only minority supervising officer in the Albany Fire Department sued the city after it rescinded a promotion over a dispute whether the officer was drunk during an off-duty incident. And the departments first female deputy chief, Maria Walker, left the department in 2019 after a 30-year career to take a position at Hudson Valley Community College.

Still, the department has made efforts in recent years to boost the existing numbers of women and people of color in its ranks.

Chief Joe Gregory said this year when the department reached out to area businesses, such as local car dealerships, to asks about posting recruitment signs at their establishments, they were met with enthusiasm.

I think it's a great effort on the part of the city but also I think it shows the community spirit," he said emphasizing the importance of community partners in getting the word out.

"It's critical to get a good, diversified group of candidates to take our exam to represent our fire department, he said.

The department also leaned on social media and billboards to advertise, as well as hosting virtual open houses to answer recruiting questions.

The heavier recruiting push paid off in terms of raw numbers. At the deadline last month, the city had 519 applicants for the fire fighter civil service test, compared to 405 in 2017.

The citys efforts to track the success of its efforts to create a more diverse applicant pool is hampered by the fact that the civil service tests do not collect demographic information. The city has asked applicants to voluntarily include that information but not all applicants do.

Of those who showed up to the firefighter test in 2017, about 29 percent were people of color.

The department hired a new class of 12 firefighters on March 26, including several men of color, according to the city. Mayor Kathy Sheehan pointed to that as a sign that the citys efforts to reach out to a wider pool of applicants can pay off.

I think one of the things that that demonstrates is if we get a diverse pool of candidates applying, we get a more diverse pool of candidates getting hired, she said.

The emphasis on diversity within the citys police department has become more pronounced within the last year after protests ignited nationwide in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota and New York subsequently mandated law enforcement reform on the local level.

The citys police department deadline to apply for the civil service test is April 12.

Police Chief Eric Hawkins acknowledged the departments difficulties in the current environment around policing make it harder to recruit new officers. But he sees opportunities for those who want to make a difference in the citys approach to policing.

There's some exciting reform ideas and exciting ideas that have come up to make this police department more responsive to the community, to make us more effective and efficient, he said.

Todays climate mirrors the one he experienced when he first was hired as a police officer in Michigan, Hawkins said. It was after the riots sparked by the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers in the 1991 brutal beating of Rodney King, which was caught on video. Police departments across the country at that time were also under pressure to change how they operated.

A lot of the same types of frustrations and anger and disconnects between the police in certain communities that we have in our cities were the same back then as they are now, he said. We have people who aren't talking to each other ... and people who were retreating to their corners and their different perspectives and they don't want it to really discuss it.

The department is short 34 officers and roughly 20 more arent available for a variety of reasons, such as medical or military leave. And a large number of officers become eligible for retirement later this year, according to the police officers union.

Its imperative that we do what we can to fill these vacancies so that we can better serve the community, Hawkins said.

The department started a committee tasked with examining its own diversity and equity efforts when it comes to recruiting new officers. And it has been heavily pushing its recruitment message in traditional and social media channels. Many of those television pieces and department-produced advertisements focus on officers of color.

After the class planned for June, the department is hoping to hire as many as 50 additional recruits early next year. The department has also built a new training academy on Washington Avenue Extension which will allow it to train larger classes than it has in the past.

But first, it needs the recruits to fill those classrooms and it is casting a wide net to find them.

We have real concerns, not just with respect to diversity but with respect to the challenges around recruiting police officers in the current environment, Sheehan said.

The city has not lacked people interested in taking the civil-service test in past years. In 2017, 628 people applied to take the test. That number rose to 874 in 2019. But only a portion of those who apply shows up to take the test. And both police and fire recruits must pass background checks along with physical, medical and psychological exams.

As of March 30, 446 people had applied for the police officer test.

The city police department also has a cadet program, a pilot program of four city residents that were hired in December on a part-time basis with the goal of preparing them for the police academy and jobs in the department.

The city is also encouraging other city employees, such as those in the emergency dispatch center, to take the police officer exam as well. The department is also would like people in the community to refer people they think might make good officers, Hawkins said.

Sheehan acknowledged she had heard skepticism from activists and community organizers about whether city residents could change the police department by joining it. She said she understood that thinking and that it was the city's responsibility to prove through its own reform process that it is serious about living up to those expectations.

I think it cuts both ways, I think there is definitely innovation that's happening within the police department and it's a really exciting time to be joining this department, she said. And I think that it is a place for people who want to be part of changing the perceptions that exist within the police department.
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

The World Needs a Renaissance

April 8 , 2021 (EIRNS)We must expose and defeat the anti-human, Malthusian depopulation agenda driving both the Great Reset/Green New Deal and the strategic escalations that could lead to military conflict, including nuclear conflict, between the U.S./NATO and China or Russia.

A chasm separates the realization of worldwide economic development and the suicidal goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Both goals cannot be pursued at the same time, which is precisely why fanciful claims of climate change have been used to frighten people into adopting policies that would destroy the economic productivity required to support the growing world population at higher and higher living standards, and higher and higher capabilities to contribute to the development of the new scientific principles and technologies that are the kernel of wealth creation.

As the IMF offers itself to play the role of umpire, to set such rules as the climate-adjusted price of coalwhich it seeks to increase by nearly two orders of magnitude over the coming yearsgovernment officials in India are making clear statements that any such goals must take a back seat to the right of every country to develop.

The kind of complacency that would allow a static division of the world into developed and underdeveloped sectors, or of people into the haves and the have-nots, is itself a problem to be overcome. As the worlds (financially) wealthiest people see their fortunes expand mightily under the bailout/COVID relief paradigm of the Wests central banks, some 150 million people are being thrown into extreme poverty, and hundreds of millions risk food insecurity.

This must not be tolerated!

In a Thursday appearance on a podcast at China Radio International, Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche responded to a question about the April 7 phone call between Xi and Merkel, by speaking of the need for Europe to develop an independent strategic policy, rather than to see itself as a member of an anti-China or anti-Russia bloc.

NATOs unceasing exercises, continuing even under conditions of general COVID restrictions in Europe, have served to encircle and threaten Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union that NATO was created to defend against. Fighting and provocations in Ukraine are designed to draw Russia into armed conflict, as provocations around Taiwan are intended to exert similar strategic pressure on China.

Meanwhile, the vaccines and health infrastructure required to bring the COVID pandemic to an end are largely unaddressed. The President of Namibia (which neighbors South Africa) has denounced current vaccine distributions as apartheid. Especially with the rise of new variants of concern, the pandemicand vulnerability to future pandemicscan only be brought to a close through an enormous upgrading of vaccine and therapeutic production and of a health and physical infrastructure platform capable of sustaining healthy human life everywhere in the world.

This is the renaissance in human civilization being driven by the Schiller Institute of the LaRouche movement.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland man is accused of kidnapping and raping two women who were waiting on Uber rides in downtowns Warehouse District last year, as well as sexually assaulting two other women in crimes that spanned more than two years.

Christian Burks, 27, pleaded not guilty Friday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to eight counts of rape, seven counts of kidnapping and six counts of gross sexual imposition in connection with the attacks. The charges accuse him of being a sexually violent predator, and he faces several decades in prison if he is convicted.

He is also charged with domestic violence, kidnapping and abduction in a separate incident in which he is accused of forcing a woman he knew into his truck and dragging her by the neck when she tried to escape.

Burks is being held on $250,000 bond. His cases are assigned to Judge Joan Synenberg.

Prosecutors say the spree began in December 2018, when Burks sexually assaulted a 20-year-old woman at a party at an apartment near East 4th Street and Prospect Avenue. Burks and the woman were among several people who went to the party, and the woman at one point went into a separate room to lie down, prosecutors said. Burks went into that room and sexually assaulted the woman, who tried to stop the attack several times, prosecutors said.

The other three incidents took place between May and December of 2020, prosecutors said.

On May 24, a woman and a man, who were both 23 years old, hailed an Uber outside a bar on West 6th Street near Johnson Court. Burks drove up to them and they got into his car because they thought it was their ride, prosecutors said.

Burks drove them to a Lorain Avenue gas station. When the man went into the store to buy water, Burks sped off with the woman still in the car, prosecutors said. Burks stole her credit cards and used them to make several purchases, prosecutors said. Burks is not charged with sexually assaulting the woman, who woke up in her apartment, prosecutors said.

Three days later, Burks got into an argument with a 24-year-old woman after he picked her up near West 38th Street and Vine Court, prosecutors said. He forced her into his truck and drove off, prosecutors said.

Burks got off Interstate 90 at Eddy Road when the woman yelled for help and started to jump out of the truck, prosecutors said. Two people told police they saw Burks stop the truck, get out, grab the woman by the neck and drag her back into the truck, according to court records. One witness followed Burks truck while he called 911, and police eventually tracked down Burks and arrested him, prosecutors said.

Burks was charged with domestic violence and abduction in that case and freed from jail after posting a $10,000 bond.

On Nov. 15, a woman who got separated from her friends when she left a bar on West 6th Street near Lakeside Avenue, prosecutors said. The woman got into Burks car and he sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said.

The final attack came Dec. 14, when Burks sexually assaulted a 24-year-old woman he picked up on West 6th Street, prosecutors said. The woman and a friend ordered an Uber and were waiting outside a bar near Johnson Court, prosecutor said. The womans friend saw the Uber approach and went to get in, but realized the woman had gotten into another vehicle, prosecutors said. Prosecutors say Burks was driving the other vehicle. He sexually assaulted the woman in the vehicle before he took her to a motel in East Cleveland and left her there, prosecutors said.

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On June 15, 2020, the Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed To Survive (RESTAURANTS) Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, co-sponsored by Rep. Susan Wild. It didnt become law, but since then, she and the bills co-sponsors have been fighting to send $120 billion of federal aid to those in the service industry.

When the American Rescue Plan Act was passed in March -- providing federal coronavirus relief to businesses, governments and individuals -- only a little over $28 billion was directed towards restaurants. Thats well shy of the $120 billion goal Wild and her colleagues initially fought for, but its still business-saving, as she called it, for restaurants and service industry establishments across the country, of course including the Lehigh Valley.

Almost 300 days after the RESTAURANT Acts first introduction, the congresswoman made a trip Thursday afternoon to downtown Bethlehem to talk to some of the owners and managers whose businesses were, in many ways, saved by the American Rescue Plan funding.

Wild, sporting a mask emblazoned with #MASKUPLV, made stops at Historic Hotel Bethlehem, Urbano Mexican Kitchen & Bar, Apollo Grill and Twisted Olive on her brief tour, part of a week-long stay in Pennsylvanias 7th Congressional District discussing the importance of the American Rescue Plan. Her visit also included a stop at Neighborhood Health Centers of the Lehigh Valley in Eastons West Ward and a tour of Allentowns newly renovated YMCA.

Wild greeted some of the owners and managers she spoke to with a half-joking congratulations for surviving the pandemic, but she was in awe of the hardiness shown by some of Bethlehems favorite establishments while weathering the effects the pandemic had on the dining experience.

I was struck by how resilient theyve been, she said. I talked to a lot of them at the beginning of the pandemic, and about a month or two in, when things were really dire. To be here a year later talking to them about how they muscled through was clearly a moving experience for Wild.

Rachel Griffith, owner of Apollo Grill, said that when some federal aid came through in the form of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the American Rescue Plan funding, it was like a breath of fresh air.

Steve and Sherri Kershner, owners of Twisted Olive, still have a big sign hanging on the western wall of their building advertising their to-go cocktails, knowing that some people are still more comfortable supporting their local favorites from home rather than dining out. Its been a tough year, Sherry said. Steve added, There were a few dark months, but we made it.

The winter months were especially harsh on restaurants. One of the summers saving graces was outdoor dining and the lengths the Lehigh Valleys cities went to make sure it was available for restaurants that didnt necessarily have patios or sidewalk space for outdoor tables, closing off streets to allow for parklets in some heavy foot-traffic areas. Tammy Wendling, the Downtown Bethlehem Association manager who also accompanied Wild on her walkabout on Thursday, said that Bethlehems parklets will be returning in a couple weeks as the weather makes its way out of a cold and snowy winter.

While restaurants and other venues were allowed to increase capacity to 75% on April 4, a big step in the states reopening, things are still a ways away from normalcy. Todd Pasini, the director of operations for 3PA Restaurant Group that owns Urbano, Tapas on Main and The Flying Egg, said that their restaurants have had some difficulty filling their staff now that theres more demand, and some nights he has to take tables off the main floor of Urbano because he just doesnt have the employees to cover that much right now.

At Hotel Bethlehem, Bruce Haines, owner and managing partner, laid out for Wild some of what he called ludicrous requirements by the states government that are still affecting restaurants. At the hotels 1741 on the Terrace, the 75% capacity allows for exactly 75 people in the restaurant at once, but because of the 25% capacity requirement on an indoor event, if someone wanted to reserve the restaurant for a party, theyd only be permitted 25 people inside. Wild assured Haines she would write Gov. Tom Wolf a letter, agreeing with Haines on the conflicting guidelines. Its not the first time Wolfs indoor restrictions have ruffled some feathers in the service industry.

Despite some of the struggles restaurants are still having, theyre significantly better off than they were 10 months ago, when Wild and her colleagues fought for the RESTAURANTS Act to save an industry that was facing a crisis. There was plenty of reason for optimism on Thursday, as each stop on Wilds tour noted how much the PPP loan had helped and how much they were looking forward to the American Rescue Plan assistance.

And on a day where the sun was shining and thermometers were hitting 70 degrees, there were a number of people having a meal outdoors along Main Street, surely glad to have the opportunity again.

As Griffith bade farewell to Wild after the two had a long conversation at Apollo Grill, she said I think its going to be a very good year. Wild optimistically agreed.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Connor Lagore may be reached at clagore@njadvancemedia.com.
(Natural News) After months of not having a hosting platform due to its largely unmoderated content, alternative social media platform Parler could soon be back in Apples App Store, just so long as the company continues to censor certain topics.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told the world that he hopes Parler comes back now that the company has fixed certain vulnerabilities that previously allowed users to talk critically about off-limits subjects like election fraud, vaccines, abortion and Satanism.

Im hoping that they put in the moderation thats required to be on the store and come back, Cook told reporters. I think having more social networks out there is better than having less.

While formerly a platform that celebrated free speech, Parler is moving in the direction of becoming just another Facebook and Twitter. This means that it will likely be allowed in Apples App Store, which does not allow for any apps that support the First Amendment.

As you may recall, Parler was pulled from Apples App Store not long after the Jan. 6 Capitol false flag invasion, which the mainstream media, leftist Democrats, and RINO (Republican in name only) Republicans condemned as an act of domestic terrorism by Trump supporters.

Parler incurred much of the blame because many Trump supporters had migrated there after the president was banned from Twitter and Facebook. Trump himself, however, never actually joined Parler.

We are happy to hear that Tim Cook believes, as we do, that its better for everyone if there are more social networks available, not fewer, stated Parler Chief Policy Officer Amy Peikoff.

We look forward to working with Apple to get back on the App Store as soon as possible, announced Parler executive Amy Peikoff.

Now that Parler will be just like Facebook and Twitter, Apple has no problem hosting it at the App Store

Cook revealed more specifics as to why he has changed his mind about Parler, noting that the platform was supposedly inciting violence and allow[ing] people to incite violence in its former iteration. The new-and-improved Parler will not have any of that.

You cant allow hate speech and so forth, the proud homosexual explained during an interview with the Sway podcast.

And they had moved from moderating to not being able to moderate. But we gave them a chance to cure that. And they were unable to do that or didnt do that. And so we had to pull them off.

Cook maintains that the App Store works hard to get people on the store, not to keep people off the store.

According to Peikoff, Parler has always prohibited threatening or inciting content on our platform, adding that the company worked directly with law enforcement in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6. The company also claimed this before a recent hearing with the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Prior to Jan. 6, Parler allegedly referred the FBI to violent content and incitement from its platform some 50 different times. It also warned the bureau about specific threats of violence being planned concerning the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Back in November 2020, Parler reportedly formalized its working relationship with the FBI to relay screenshots of unlawful posts to the corrupt agency, which used this information to pursue individuals opposed to election fraud.

Apple now gives you permission to be in the App Store after youve censored yourself  what a joke, wrote one commenter at The Epoch Times about Parler selling out to the deep state.

Nope, they will find another platform that does not censor or discriminate, wrote another about how conservatives and patriots will now move on from Parler to find another truly free speech-oriented social media platform.

More related news stories about Big Tech censorship can be found at Censorship.news.

Sources for this article include:

JustTheNews.com

NaturalNews.com

TheEpochTimes.com
TRINIDAD and Tobago Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) executive director, Nigel Edwards, says the changes the 39-year-old financial institution is undergoing at this time are transformational.

The UTC is now in the middle of a three-year cycle of strategic changes that will culminate in 2023 and beyond, he said.
Were very pleased with how Kristin has fit in so well with the Franklin staff, students and community, said District 64 Superintendent Eric Olson in a statement. She handled herself very well as acting principal on several occasions this past year and were excited to allow her to build on that success.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Feb. 6, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Matt Gaetzs Female Staffers Issue Statement of Support Amid Reported Federal Probe

Women working for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Thursday offered their support for the congressman amid reports hes being investigated.

After the shocking allegations last week in the press, we, the women of Congressman Matt Gaetzs office, feel morally obligated to speak out, the statement, released by Gaetzs office, read.

During Congressman Gaetzs time in office, we have been behind the scenes every step of the way. We have staffed his meetings. We have planned his events. We have traveled with him. And we have tracked his schedule. Congressman Gaetz has always been a principled and morally grounded leader. At no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect. No hint of impropriety. No ounce of untruthfulness, the women added.

In Gaetzs office, women are given every opportunity to advance and utilize our talents to help the country in the best possible way, the statement continued. On every occasion he has treated each and every one of us with respect. Thus, we uniformly reject these allegations as false.

No one signed the statement by name. Instead, it was signed The Women of the Office of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz.

Anonymously-sourced reports allege Gaetz is under federal investigation for possible crimes, including paying a minor for sex. Gaetz has vehemently denied the reports and detailed an alleged extortion scheme against him and his family that involved a group approaching his father and asking for $25 million to make his sons future legal and political problems go away.

Former Air Force officer Bob Kent, who was identified as part of the scheme, acknowledged this week that he did ask Gaetzs father for the money but said describing the effort as extortion was inaccurate.

There is no threat. I dont have anything to do with the indictment. I dont have anything to do with the investigation into Matt Gaetz, Kent said during an appearance on CNN. There were no threats, there were no demands.

Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg, a former Florida county tax collector, appeared in court earlier Thursday and his lawyer suggested he is cooperating with federal officials, Politico reported.

I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today, Greenbergs attorney, Fritz Scheller, told reporters after the meeting. He said that discussions with federal prosecutors are ongoing and would take time to culminate in a plea deal.

Gaetz was not mentioned by name during a brief hearing.
WASHINGTON: A Russian Soyuz capsule with a manned spacecraft named after Yuri Gagarin blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan on Friday for the International Space Station (ISS).

the US space agency confirmed that nearly nine minutes after a successful launch of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos safely reached orbit. The launch started a two-orbit, 3-hour flight to reach the International Space Station and join the Expedition 64 crew.

"The crew aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft were given the go for final approach to the @Space_Station, and final approach has started. They are scheduled to dock to the station at 7:07am ET," NASA tweeted.

"Welcome to the @Space_Station! Docking is confirmed at 7:05am ET for the Soyuz spacecraft. On board are Mark Vande Hei (@Astro_Sabot), and Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of @Roscosmos," it added a few minutes later.

This is the second spaceflight for Vande Hei, the third for Novitskiy, and the first for Dubrov. The spacecraft carrying the three space travellers honours the 60th anniversary of Gagarin becoming the first person in space.

Queen Elizabeth-II's husband Prince Philip has died at 99

Israel government to disallow ICC war crimes probe, says no authority

Syria calls Security Council to prevent Israeli attacks
[April 08, 2021] Hut 8 Files Final Base Shelf Prospectus and Amended Registration Statement

TORONTO, April 8, 2021 /CNW/ - HUT 8 announced today that on April 7, 2021, subsequent to the filing of its preliminary base shelf prospectus on March 10, 2021, it has now filed and obtained a receipt for its final short form base shelf prospectus (the "Base Shelf Prospectus") with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada. It has also filed a corresponding amended shelf registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on Form F-10 under the U.S./Canada Multijurisdictional Disclosure System which is now effective. These filings will, subject to securities regulatory requirements, allow the Company to qualify the distribution by way of prospectus of up to CAD$500 million of common shares, debt securities, subscription receipts, warrants and units, or any combination thereof (all of the foregoing, collectively, the "Securities"), during the 25-month period that the Base Shelf Prospectus remains effective. The specific terms of any future offering of Securities will be set forth in a prospectus supplement to the Base Shelf Prospectus, which will be filed with the applicable securities regulatory authorities in connection with any such offering. Jaime Leverton, CEO of stated: "These filings will provide us with financial flexibility to support our continued growth should we seek to leverage it. It also permits us to act more quickly to take advantage of any future opportunities that may arse."



A copy of the Base Shelf Prospectus can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . A copy of the Base Shelf Prospectus and the registration statement may also be obtained by contacting the Corporate Secretary of the Company at 130 King Street West, Suite 1800, Toronto, Ontario, M5X 2A2. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these Securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

About Hut 8: Hut 8 is one of North America's oldest and largest bitcoin miners. Hut 8 has one of the highest installed capacity rates in the industry and is Top 5 largest holders of self-mined Bitcoin of publicly traded companies in the world. Recently ranked 11th (of 10,000) on the 2021 OTCQX Best 50, the Hut 8 leadership team is continually looking for ways to challenge traditional approaches in order to find innovative, powerful, industry-leading solutions - a mindset now being applied to their Revenue diversification, ESG and carbon footprint reduction strategy. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain information in this press release constitutes forward-looking information. In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology, such as "plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "assumes", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts, but instead represent management's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Hut 8 as of the date of this press release, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to the factors described in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Information Form dated March 25, 2021, which is available at www.sedar.com. These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect Hut 8; however, these factors should be considered carefully. There can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Hut 8 expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements containing any forward-looking information, or the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. SOURCE Hut 8 Mining Corp.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - First lady Jill Biden is set to visit Alabama to promote her husband's pandemic recovery plan.

An announcement from the White House says Biden will land in Birmingham on Friday and visit an early learning center in the city. She's also scheduled to visit a YMCA, where she will speak.

While actor Jennifer Garner was supposed to accompany Biden, she isn't making the trip because of the possibility of severe weather.

The first lady is promoting the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 package as a way to address childhood poverty. President Joe Biden signed the legislation last month.
NEW YORK, April 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via CryptoCurrencyWire -- Produced by Bitcoin Events, the 7th Annual Blockchain Africa Conference was held on March 18-19, 2021. Dating back to its initial iteration in 2015, Bitcoin Events annual Blockchain Africa Conference has rapidly gained a reputation for being a pioneer within its segment, bringing together some of the top thought leaders from across the world. This years Blockchain Africa event shattered all previous records, attracting 5,729 attendees from over 160 countries. The event drew together a diverse group of delegates, featuring attendees hailing from a range of multiple industries and disciplines such as finance, payments, venture capital, government and information technology who were at hand to gain insights from 55+ expert speakers.

The theme of this years event, From Hype to Mainstream, served to illustrate the prevailing sentiment within blockchain technologies, with blockchain participants increasingly shifting away from initial experiments and toward the development of robust, enterprise-ready solutions. The conference featured a series of world-class speakers to help elaborate on the current trends within the sector, including Charles Hoskinson, Founder of Cardano; Sandra Ro, CEO of Global Blockchain Business Council; Ben Zhou, Co-Founder and CEO of Bybit; Mariana Gospodinova, General Manager of EU Operations for Crypto.com; and Stani Kulechov, Founder and CEO of Aave.

In addition to its impressive lineup of speakers and industry luminaries, the Blockchain Africa Conference touched upon several pertinent topics, including a closer look into the rising demand for blockchain-enabled products, the effect of regulation in certain jurisdictions as well as an exciting fireside chat hosted by Peter McCormack, host of What Bitcoin Did, on retail and institutional investment in cryptocurrencies.

A key highlight of the two-day event was a high-level dialogue, hosted by conference organizers Bitcoin Events in conjunction with the Global Policy House, focused on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Delving into topics such as the future of money within a future digital economy, CBDCs as a catalyst for the African Continental Free Trade Area and whether CBDCs could contribute to currency stability on the African continent, the conversation proved to be extremely timely and well received by attendees in light of the various ongoing digital currency experiments taking place by governments around the world.

We were delighted with the response and turnout at our annual flagship Blockchain Africa Conference this year, stated Sonya Kuhnel, Director of Bitcoin Events. Our team are very pleased to have had the opportunity to host a number of engaging and informative discussions during what is proving to be a truly transformative time for the blockchain industry as a whole.

As part of their collaboration as Gold Sponsors of the Blockchain Africa Conference 2021, InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN) and CryptoCurrencyWire syndicated articles throughout its multifaceted network of 5,000+ downstream partners and then further enhanced media exposure through dozens of IBNs investor-oriented brands, which collectively have 2+ million social media likes and followers. The media campaign also included ongoing outreach to crypto-friendly journalists.

About Bitcoin Events

Bitcoin Events is the first events company to host world-class bitcoin and blockchain conferences in Africa. Founded in 2014 by two cryptocurrency and blockchain technology enthusiasts, Bitcoin Events has focused its mission around educating and informing people about the opportunities offered by digital currencies and blockchain technology. To date, Bitcoin Events have hosted seven highly successful Blockchain Africa Conferences in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and most recently online. Bitcoin Events is also host of the annual Crypto Fest and DeFi Conferences . More than 10,000 attendees from 165+ countries have attended the events over the years.

For more information on Bitcoin Events, please visit www.bitcoinevents.co.za .

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The InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN) consists of financial brands introduced to the investment public over the course of 15+ years. With IBN, we have amassed a collective audience of millions of social media followers. These distinctive investor brands aim to fulfill the unique needs of a growing base of Client Partners. IBN will continue to expand our branded network of highly influential properties, leveraging the knowledge and energy of specialized teams of experts to serve our increasingly diversified list of clients.

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By Wang Jin

Although President Biden vowed to help maintain the Iran nuclear deal when he ran for the presidency in 2020, no breakthrough has been made in the US-Iran relations in over two months after he took office. The Iran nuclear issue has become a strategic deadlock and an increasingly grave crisis that will keep simmering unless dialogue channels are rebuilt as soon as possible.

The hostility and mistrust between the US and Iran pose serious challenges to find a solution to solving the Iran nuclear issue

Iran mistrusts the US so that it wont make major concessions to Washington within a short time. The moderates in Tehran that support communication with Washington are out-voiced by the hardliners, who, under the immense pressure imposed by the Trump administration, have called for accelerating the development of Irans national defense capabilities, especially nuclear strength so as to cope with the US-imposed strategic blockade.

The Iran-US relation further deteriorated after the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, Iranian major general and commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and that of Irans chief nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Irans hardliners and the conservatives swept the boards in the 2020 parliamentary elections and are likely to dominate the domestic political landscape in the four years to come. Under such circumstances, Tehran will hardly make any concession to the US, much less to take a pragmatic approach to the negotiations.

The US, on the other hand, mistrusts Iran just as much. In 2021, Iran seems to have taken the upper hand in the Yemen civil war and in sensitive topics over the Middle East, such as Syria and Iraq, and its rising regional influence is accompanied by the advancement of its missile technologies. Over the past few years, Irans missile technologies have made substantial progress, with its Shahab and Sejil missiles developing tremendous strategic deterrence. Irans multitudes of long-range missiles are also a Damocles Sword over the head of Americas Middle East allies like Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Europe has a critical role to play in breaking the deadlock between the US and Iran

Iran has placed high hopes on the EU. On the one hand, Iran needs massive investments and assistance from European countries for its economic and social development. On the other hand, it expects the EU, a signing party of the Iran nuclear deal and a strategic ally of the US, to mediate between Washington and Tehran.

But in reality, Washington expects the EU to understand its concerns over Tehran and help it persuade Tehran to expand the scope of negotiations to include such contents as restricting Irans missile technology development and regional influence. In contrast, the EU, France and Germany all hold that the Iran nuclear deal is an outcome of multilateral efforts, but America's unilateral withdrawal has ruined the foundation for negotiation, so Washington should lift its sanction measures and restart talks with Tehran on that basis.

While Iran hoped European countries could withstand US pressure and faithfully fulfill the deal, European enterprises pulled back from the Iran market around 2018, adding fuel to the flame of Irans economic plight. Iran asked Europe to take steps to help bring their enterprises back. However, European countries insisted that governments cannot decide the enterprises willingness of investment, not to mention that any European enterprise investing in Iran would suffer losses due to American sanctions. As a result, Europeans asked Iran to come back to the supervisory framework of the deal at an early date and relieve the international community of their worries.

Therefore, the US, Iran, and Europe have ground to a stalemate on the nuclear issue that seems impossible to solve once and for all. Due to opposition at home and interference from their allies, its hard for Washington and Tehran to start dialogue directly, and the only way to mitigate their mutual hostility is through the coordination of a third party, especially the EU, so they can resume contacts and negotiation through indirect dialogue. In the meantime, Washington has made a tough attempt to mend bilateral ties by means of reciprocal small concessions, hoping the US would lift sanctions and Iran would return to the nuclear deal.

There is a very narrow window period for solving Iran nuclear issue

The Iran general election will kick off in June, and a new administration will be formed in August. If the hardliners take power, Iran-US relations would probably freeze again, like during the reign of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hassan Rouhanis hawkish predecessor.

Meanwhile, European countries didnt approve of Iran exiting the nuclear deal and beginning R&D of nuclear weapons even though they felt sorry for it being sanctioned. Before 2015, they joined the US in imposing economic sanctions on Iran to force it to stop its nuclear activities.

If no breakthrough is made in the Iran nuclear issue in the next few months and Irans nuclear weapon development is beyond international supervision, a new crisis is likely looming near. Israel has said many times it is closely watching Irans nuclear movements and has recently told the Biden administration that it is considering curbing Irans nuclear R&D through the use of force.

In a few months, a more severe turmoil and crisis may ferment in the more unstable and hostile Middle East  unless relevant parties can realize a substantial step forward on the Iran nuclear issue before that time.

(Wang Jin is an associate professor from the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, senior research from the Syria Research Center of Northwest University of China, and research fellow of Charhar Institute in China.)

Editor's note: This article is originally published on myzaker.com, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
ARLINGTON, Va., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Selective Service System (SSS) was recently recognized by the Web Marketing Association, Inc. (WMA) as winner of the Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) award for Best Government Online Video campaign, Best of Show Online Video campaign for its public service announcements (PSAs).

U.S. Selective Service System

The SSS Awareness Campaign was developed to inform men 18 through 25 about the registration requirement. It includes three English PSAs - Uncle Sam, Stronger America, and Barbershop - and one Spanish PSA, designed to reach out to the nation's young men and their influencers, informing them of their registration requirement and the crucial role Selective Service plays in our national defense. Registration enhances readiness, fulfills a civic duty, and is linked to benefits and opportunities contingent upon compliance with federal law.

"These PSAs are highly entertaining and informative," said Acting SSS Director Craig Brown. "My teenagers and their friends loved them." The campaign was conceptualized by former agency Chief of Staff Wadi Yakhour and developed and produced by Reingold, Inc., of Alexandria, Va., under the direction of Christopher G. Cowen.

The WMA is an independent organization founded with the purpose of evaluating and recognizing the standard of excellence on the World Wide Web. Each year it sponsors the IAC competition. IAC judges represent all aspects of advertising and the internet and have an in-depth understanding of the current state of art in advertising, design, and technology. They represent some of the nation's largest corporations, to include Google, McCann Interactive, IBM Interactive, and Mastercard. This year's IAC winners in other categories include Monster Beverage Corporation, AT&T, Geico and UPS.

Federal law requires all male citizens, as well as male non-citizens residing in the U.S., to register with Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. At 26, a man becomes too old to register. Those who do not comply are ineligible for numerous federally funded benefits, job training, government employment, and U.S. citizenship for male immigrants. Selective Service seeks volunteers to serve on Selective Service boards. Interested citizen-volunteers can submit an application available at www.sss.gov.

For more information about the Selective Service or to download our new Public Service Announcements you may call the Selective Service Public and Intergovernmental affairs office at (703) 605-4100.

Media Contact

Matthew Tittman

703-605-4100

[email protected]

SOURCE U.S. Selective Service System
(JTA)  Matt Gaetz, the Florida congressman known for his firebomb rhetoric, is in big trouble  in part because of the alleged foibles of a Jewish buddy, Joel Greenberg, who has earned criticism previously from his local Jewish community.

The U.S. Justice Department reportedly is investigating Gaetzs alleged sexual relationship with a girl who was 17 years old when the affair took place about two years ago.

The investigation, anonymous officials told The New York Times, stemmed from a federal probe of Greenberg, a friend and political ally of Gaetz. Among an array of charges, Greenb...
The Russian Foreign Ministry has dismissed the claims of former US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Richard Hoagland that even if the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides agreed on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's ideas on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict, the Russian side will not implement them.

"It does not correspond at all. Russia has always been ready for a solution alternative which the parties to the conflict would support. The President of the Russian Federation has said this many times. This position is decisive in the work of the Russian co-chairmanship [in the OSCE Minsk Group].

I'm not going to guess what led Richard Hoagland to make such claims. I would like to emphasize that the package of settlement proposals, in addition to the declaration of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, also included a joint statement by Russia, the United States, and France in support of it. These two documents, plus the UN Security Council resolution approving the package of proposals for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, were the essence of the Russian proposals at the time, of which the other [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairsthe United States and Francewere aware in detail, and they fully supported them," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
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Gas: new phase for East Med Forum, Egyptian amb. Badr, Charter's entry into force is a 'path' to projects

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, APRIL 9 - The entry into force of the Charter of the "East Mediterranean Gas Forum" (EMGF), to which Italy participates with six other countries including Egypt, "constitutes a new page in efforts of Mediterranean countries to create a gas market in the eastern Mediterranean and to establish a cooperation that contributes to strengthen prosperity and well-being in the region", Egypt's ambassador to Italy, Hisham Badr, highlighted in statements to ANSA. The ambassador moreover said that the Charter's entry into force is a "signal" for member States to start "realizing projects of transit" with "corridors" of different energies that will benefit from two Egyptian liquefaction gas stations, the only ones in the eastern Mediterranean. Egypt in fact can receive gas from countries in the region, like Israel and Cyprus, to liquefy it and export it to the EU as it does with its own gas, the diplomat noted.



Egypt, which hosts the headquarters of the forum created in 2019, "has a particular interest in the fact that gas discoveries in the Mediterranean become an engine of development and that countries have the possibility to exploit in an ideal manner their resources and richness through constructive regional cooperation", added the ambassador.



The interest was already "evident when Egypt adopted its strategy to transform into a regional energy center in the eastern Mediterranean", he recalled. The Forum - which also sees the participation of Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Jordan and Palestine - "provides a response to the challenge that preoccupies decision makers of the region: how to create a framework for a constructive cooperation that unites all countries" of the region and that "is based on the fundamentals of international law", avoiding "any political controversy", said Badr.(ANSAmed).




EDWARDSVILLE  Pinwheels, colorful T-shirts and more than 400 cutouts of small boys and girls festooned the atrium of the Madison County Administration Building Thursday.

But the festive appearance fades upon closer look and an understanding of the significance of each little blue boy or tiny pink girl.

The display will continue the rest of the month as a reminder that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The T-shirts are from the Oasis Womens Centers Clothesline Project. It features a clothesline hung with decorated T-shirts. The children and women make the T-shirts as part of art therapy to help them deal with abuse  either to themselves or others. The messages are generally pleas, or demands not to be hit or abused.

More Information Tips for recognizing child abuse General warning signs  Shows sudden changes in behavior or school performance;  Has not received help for physical or medical problems brought to the parents' attention;  Is always watchful, as though preparing for something bad to happen;  Lacks adult supervision; or  Often wears long sleeves or other concealing clothing in warm weather. Physical abuse warning signs  Reports injury by a parent or another adult caregiver;  Has unexplained burns, bites, bruises, broken bones, or black eyes;  Has any bruises or physical injuries but is too young to walk or otherwise injure themselves accidentally;  Has fading bruises or other marks noticeable after an absence from school;  Seems frightened of the parents and protests or cries when it is time to go home; or  Shrinks at the approach of adults. Neglect Warning Signs  Is frequently absent from school;  Begs or steals food or money from others;  Lacks needed medical or dental care, immunizations, or glasses;  Is consistently dirty and has severe body odor;  Lacks sufficient clothing for the weather;  Abuses alcohol or other drugs; or  States there is no one at home to provide care. Sexual Abuse Warning Signs  Reports sexual abuse by a parent or another adult caregiver;  Regresses to bedwetting or suddenly begins experiencing frequent nightmares or night terrors;  Has difficulty walking or sitting;  Demonstrates bizarre, sophisticated, or unusual sexual knowledge or behavior;  Becomes pregnant or contracts a venereal disease; or  Runs away. Mental Abuse Warning Signs  Shows extremes in behavior, such as overly compliant or demanding behavior, extreme passivity or aggression;  Is either inappropriately adult (parenting other children, for example) or inappropriately infantile (frequently rocking or head-banging, for example);  Is delayed in physical or emotional development;  Has attempted suicide or reports suicidal thoughts; or  Reports a lack of attachment to the parent. To report suspected abuse or neglect call the 24-hour Child Abuse Hotline at 800-25-ABUSE 800-252-2873. If a child is in immediate danger call 911 first. For more information visit www2.illinois.gov/dcfs. Source: Illinois Department of Children & Family Services See More Collapse

While sad, none of the shirts are truly frightening. That has not always been the case.

Tina Culp, a representative from Oasis, said one year they had a T-shirt from a child so traumatized that they just smeared black paint on the shirt.

All he could do was scribble black, she said. We kept that, and it really did express how he felt. He was in a very desperate way.

Each pink and blue cutout represents a child dealt with last year by the Madison County Child Advocacy Center, which serves as a safe clearinghouse to interview children in abuse cases. Each figure includes the age of the child.

This year there are about 406. That is down, but thats not necessarily a good thing, according to CAC Executive Director Carrie Cohan.

She said the coronavirus pandemic reduced the number of cases because children were away from teachers and other responsible adults who would report the cases, but the number of abused children appears to have increased.

The Pinwheels for Prevention have a more positive note.

Normally there is a kick-off ceremony, including speakers and representatives from multiple advocacy groups sharing information. Thursdays event was just a brief press conference  sponsored by the 3rd Judicial Circuit Family Violence Prevention Council, Prevent Child Abuse Illinois and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services  with few in attendance.

Chief Circuit Judge William Mudge emceed the event. Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler presented a proclamation. Other speakers were Tarra Winters, director of programs for Prevent Child Abuse Illinois; Derek Hobson, executive deputy director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services; and Madison County States Attorney Thomas Haine.

Many amongst us here are child advocates, Mudge said, noting one in seven boys and one in four girls will be the victim of sex abuse by the time they turn 18.

He spoke extensively about the CAC begun about 18 years ago.

Since then, thousands of forensic interviews have been undertaken, he said.

We ensure child abuse allegations are thoroughly investigated and prosecuted if appropriate, he said. Its our responsibility to ensure that these brave children are heard, supported and connected. Children deserve to be heard and given a voice; the CAC provides them with one.

He referred to the cutouts several times and noted the different roles people can play.

The first, Mudge said, is to talk to children about safety.

Let them know that its OK to say no, and to tell a trusted adult, he said. He also said parents need to spend quality time with their children, to build the trust they need.

The speakers emphasized the need to report abuse to police or the DCFS hotline at 1-800-25-ABUSE.

Winters noted the effect of the pandemic on child abuse.

More than ever, it is important that we raise awareness about child abuse prevention and learn how we can create and sustain great childhoods for all children, she said. Safety must be our main concern. And that safety must stretch throughout their infancy, their childhood, their teen years, and into their adulthood.

Winters said childhood trauma from abuse and neglect can cause life-long consequences.

She said parents, legislators, law enforcement, civic- and faith-based groups and the media all have roles to play.

As adults it is our responsibility to pay attention, to speak up, and to be willing to have the difficult conversations about preventing child abuse and to be part of the solution, she said.

April 9 is Wear Blue Day to promote child abuse prevention. April 28 is Drug Endangered Children Awareness Day.

Hobson said, nationwide, four to seven children die each day from abuse or neglect with an abuse or neglect reported every 10 seconds. In Illinois, he said, there is a death about every three days and a report every five minutes.

Abuse and neglect cases have been increasing the past few years, he said.

This is heartbreaking, he said. Although this tells us that more people are letting DCFS know when they suspect child abuse or neglect, it also tells us we have more work to do to keep children safe and families strong.

He said of the many ways people can help the most important is to report suspected abuse.

Haine called child abuse a great tragedy in America, noting there are more than 3 million child abuse cases reported nationally each year.

We need to do everything we can to do better, he said. That includes recognizing abuse as well as developing connections and bonds with others.

We can provide emotional support for those we know, he said. Its important to work to prevent abusive situations throughout Madison County, but when they occur its important to respond and do justice for those victims of child abuse.

Haine said the CAC was an incredible resource for the county and victims who cant speak for themselves.

We hope everyone does what they can to get the word out about this important effort, he said. We are here to help. We have the resources. We have the professionals. We have the ability to bring justice and to create healing in our communities.

For more information about Child Abuse Prevention Month visit www.preventchildabuseillinois.org.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) The recent onslaught of armed groups on key cities in the troubled Central African Republic has drained the UN peacekeepers of their resources, the head of the MINUSCA mission told Sputnik.

The impoverished nation saw a flare-up in fighting in December after militants, who control two-thirds of CAR, accused President Faustin Archange Touadera of trying to rig a general election. The rebels launched an attack on the outskirts of the capital Bangui in mid-January but were repelled by UN forces and Russia-backed car troops.

"Since mid-December 2020, MINUSCA Force and Police have been involved in several operations in which they expended all their resources," Mankeur Ndiaye said.

He cited the UN Security Council's Resolution 2552 of November 2020, which drew attention to the mission's chronic shortage of military helicopters and troops with the right skills.

These needs were reflected in the draft budget.

"Of course, the financial implications of the deployment of additional peacekeepers were reflected in our 2021/22 budget proposal... The proposed budget takes into consideration the current threat posed by allied armed groups to security situation and MINUSCA mandated tasks," he said.

MINUSCA force has been promised additional resources it needs to perform a wide range of duties, such as civilian protection, securing humanitarian deliveries, support of the peace process and elections, disarmament and reintegration of fighters and others.
[April 08, 2021] SmallRig Releases Innovative Accessories for Sony FX3

SHENZHEN, China, April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SmallRig launches two innovative accessories for Sony FX3 based on the product definition and application scenarios of the new camera. Both the half/modular cage and the full/integrated cage are brought to the market, featuring multiple 1/4"-20 threaded holes, 3/8"-16 ARRI positioning holes, NATO rails and cold shoes to realize diverse creation needs. Built-in Arca-swiss quick release plate at the bottom of the cage allows quick switch between handheld, tripod, gimbal and other shooting scenarios. In addition, the cages support SmallRig power bank holder and lightweight matte box to setup the complete shooting solution. Sony FX3 modular cage: adopts a modular structure while the top NATO rail comes with a detachable design. The cage supports Sony original XLR adapter handl, SmallRig handheld series, microphones, LED lights and other accessories. With built-in cold shoe and 15mm rod clamp, the follow focus can be mounted through the 15mm to 12mm rod to fully improve the shooting mobility of Sony FX3.



Sony FX3 integrated cage: seamlessly fits the camera to enhance the protection. The cage is compatible with SmallRig XLR top handle and various mounting options are provided to support dual-handed cinematic cameras. Official Website:

https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-half-cage-for-sony-fx3-3278.html

https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-cage-for-sony-fx3-cinema-camera-3277.html For Resellers: https://www.smallrigreseller.com/authorized-reseller About Sony FX3 On February 23, Sony officially released the full-frame cinematic camera FX3, which is currently the most compact cinematic camera of Sony. It is equipped with a full-frame back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor that can achieve autofocus and present excellent cinematic texture to creators. About SmallRig Founded in 2009, SmallRig is an innovation-driven manufacturer that designs and builds premium rigs and accessories for all kinds of cameras and gimbals. Our sales network is spreading to over 200 countries and regions while our products are well-supported by over 500k filmmakers and photographers worldwide. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smallrig-releases-innovative-accessories-for-sony-fx3-301265562.html SOURCE SmallRig

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Most of the new developments in spaceflight tech have come from commercial firms, like SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) rapidly developing more effective rockets and satellite launchers. SpaceX inspired European countries, which had already developed some of the tech that SpaceX used to build their novel rockets and SLVs (Space Launch Vehicles). One of these techs was 3D printing of metal components for rocket engines and other major components of SLVs that are needed in small quantities. Use of traditional manufacturing methods like forging, machining and stamping metal are expensive and time consuming and expensive for small quantities. Change has been coming since the 1980s, when the concept of 3D printing tech arrived. Soon it was realized that eventually this tech would evolve to the point where handle metal components and complex objects could be built with a 3D device. For manufacturers, this would be a major revolution for anyone needing small numbers of complex systems or developing prototypes for testing and further refinement. Spacecraft developers and manufacturers were among the first to make very visible use of these new tech. The first decade of the 21st Century saw the appearance of the more effective 3D printers that could handle metal parts of different sizes and complexity.

SpaceX, an SLV design and manufacturing firm, was founded in 2002 with the goal of breaking into a market controlled by long-time suppliers. At the time these older firms had formed a legal cartel that monopolized satellite launch services for the U.S. government. This meant that after 2006 all this SLV business went to a government-approved monopoly called the ULA (United Launch Alliance) which is composed of Lockheed Martin (using Atlas 5 rockets) and Boeing (Delta 4). These two firms have dominated U.S. space launches for over half a century and in 2006 they officially monopolized it. But not for long, as the future arrived unexpectedly.

One of the existing techs that SpaceX applied to their innovative rocket and SLV designs was 3D printing of components, especially for the smaller, liquid fuel rockets used in the final stage of an SLV to put the payload into orbit. These final stage rockets required small thruster engines to maneuver satellites into a specific orbit or maneuver space vehicles when they were docking with space stations, or any chore that required that kind of precision maneuvering in a gravity-free environment.

The new tech SpaceX depended didnt just come from the United States. Pioneering European 3D printing firms like EOS in Germany, developed 4D printing which means not just creating individual components but complex larger components, some composed of several different materials. EOS subsidiary AMCM (Additive Manufacturing Customized Machines) developed a large-volume 3D printer for Orbex, a six-year-old Scottish firm that is building small (19 meter long) SLVs for delivering smallsats into polar LEO (Low Earth Orbit) by launching them from a spaceport in the far north (Scotland). Orbex wanted a 3D printer that could quickly produce complex components for liquid-fuel rocket engines. The 3D printer ordered by Orbex was able to print major components for three SLVs a month. When design or component materials problems are encountered during use of Orbex SLVs, components can be quickly redesigned, manufactured and installed for testing and regular use. This not only speeds up development and production it also reduces costs. These have all been goals of 3D printing (now also called Additive Manufacturing) for decades. All this was being done by young firms. Orbex was founded in the 1990s while AMCM was created in 2017.

By 2012 SpaceX obtained its first contract to launch U.S. military cargo into space. SpaceX had earlier obtained a NASA contract which included twelve deliveries to the International Space Station for $134 million each. What made all this so noteworthy is that SpaceX is the first privately owned space transportation company. SpaceX developed its own launch rockets without any government help. SpaceX also developed the Dragon space vehicle, for delivering personnel and supplies to the International Space Station.

SpaceX has since proved that its innovative rockets work and proved that SpaceX rockets could do the job cheaper. In contrast ULA was receiving a billion-dollar annual subsidy from the government that SpaceX did not require. SpaceX still had to get all the paperwork and approvals done so they could handle classified missions. For SpaceX that was not a problem as they were already prepared to spend a year or so to satisfy all the bureaucrats and regulations.

This all got started because the U.S. was desperate for some innovation in space flight technology and offered to do business with private space flight firms if the new companies could demonstrate their approach worked. Several such firms were formed after 2000 to provide new tech and there have been a growing number of successes. One was a new space engine (SuperDraco) for manned orbital spacecraft that enabled the craft to land or dock with greater ease and accuracy, and also provide an escape option for personnel on a launcher that runs into trouble before reaching orbit.

SuperDraco was a variant on the Draco engines that already powered the SpaceX space vehicles during reentry after trips to the ISS or some other orbital mission. SuperDraco uses a storable liquid fuel which enabled it to more effectively be turned on and off while on a space mission. SuperDraco development encountered an April 2019 mishap. Such catastrophic flaws had to be planned for and handled effectively. SuperDraco quickly overcame problems like this because they had 3D printers that can quickly build new engine components out of high-tech alloys. As a result SpaceX was able to quickly fix flaws, built new SLVs or SLV components and test again. Problems that slowed down ULA and other old-tech firms could be overcome in weeks or months by the new manufacturers using 3D and 4D manufacturing. Since rocket engines were not produced in large quantities, the higher expense of using a 3-D printer was not a factor. SuperDraco was considered the first of a new generation of space flight equipment created using 3D printers as well as silicon prototyping. The computer-based prototyping used high-res computer models to design and test new designs before building and testing a full scale one. That rapid design and fabrication made it possible to quickly develop and manufacture new components to replace those that had failed during testing.

Within a decade of its founding, SpaceX managed to break the decades-old cartel controlling U.S. government satellite launch services. At the time Lockheed Martin had been getting a lot more launch business because the Russian RD-180 engine of the Atlas 5 was a more attractive (in terms of performance and price) option than the rival Delta 4. Unfortunately, because of the 2014 Russian misbehavior in Ukraine and subsequent American threats, the Russians canceled the RD-180 deal. SpaceX stepped up and said it would have an Atlas 5 replacement ready in a few years. This led the Russians to reconsider their RD-180 threats. But even resuming RD-180 shipments did not stop SpaceX.

This SpaceX pledge was not an idle boast. Dragon made its first cargo delivery to the ISS in 2012 and has since made over 21 successful deliveries, including one that carried live animals (mice) for ISS experiments and multiple reuses of Dragon spacecraft. After 2020 all Dragons were the larger and more capable Dragon 2. Dragon was built to be reused and six of the 13 Dragons built made two or three launches and deliveries.

SpaceX quickly proved that its rockets worked and demonstrated repeatedly that SpaceX rockets could do the job cheaper. For example, a ULA rocket launch that cost $420 million could be done by SpaceX for $90 million. ULA quickly became a lot more efficient and less expensive. But not quickly enough because SpaceX kept developing and putting into use cheaper and more effective technologies.

By 2018 it was clear that the ULA monopoly was gone for good and the ULA cartel resigned itself to continued downsizing and efforts to duplicate SpaceX technologies in an effort to stay in business. Even the Russians reluctantly admitted that the SpaceX reusable rockets, which repeatedly returned to earth and landed intact under their own power, had fundamentally changed the launcher business. The ULA, as well as European and Chinese space launcher operations, had to adapt to avoid losing all their commercial (and some of their military) business. New firms, like Orbex in the United Kingdom, are able to move faster than the larger established SLV operations to change. The ESA (European Space Agency) waited until early 2020 before issuing small contracts to three European rocket manufacturers to develop new tech competitive with SpaceX. Thats too slow, because ESAs old-tech SLVs are, like the ULA, not competitive. The Chinese response is not much different the ESA's and Russia realizes that it's fading (before SpaceX) space program is doomed to runner-up status. Russia recently fell to third place in the number of annual SLV launches. During the Cold War Russia was usually first.
New Delhi, April 9 : Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that the Indian scientific community had worked overtime to develop a solution, but their efforts are undermined by the Centre's poor implementation and "oversight".

He also demanded that the government place an immediate moratorium on vaccine export and open up vaccination to everyone who needs it.

In his three-page letter, Gandhi, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Kerala's Wayanad, said, "I write to you with great concern since we are once again at the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic. Over the last year, our country suffered irreparable losses, made tremendous sacrifices, and yet, we are under a renewed attack by this virus." His remarks came amid the record surge in the cases of Covid this month. On Friday, India recorded 1,31,968 new Covid-19 cases and 780 deaths in the last 24 hours. Several states have put curbs and also announced night curfews in several districts. Even several state governments have complained of Covid-19 vaccination shortage.

The Congress leader said that this is "unfortunate" considering our scientific community and vaccine suppliers worked overtime to develop a solution. "But their efforts are undermined by the Centre's poor implementation and oversight," he said.

The Congress leader further said that India had the first-mover advantage in vaccination and yet we are moving at snail's pace.

"Historically, India has achieved abundant experience in designing and executing some of the world's biggest vaccination programmes. Yet in the present case, we have managed to fully vaccinate less than one per cent of the population in three months.

He also pointed out that at our current vaccination rate, it would take years to inoculate 75 per cent of the population. "This will have catastrophic effects and will gravely decelerate India's economy," Rahul Gandhi said.

Taking a jibe at the government over its decision to export the Covid-19 vaccines to foreign countries, he said, "There is no clear reason as to why the government permitted large-scale exports of vaccines. While our nation is facing vaccine starvation, more than six crore doses of vaccines have been exported." He said that the state governments are repeatedly highlighting vaccine shortages only to receive intemperate statements by the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare (Dr Harsh Vardhan) targeting opposition-ruled states, undercutting cooperative federalism which you too have stressed as essential.

"Was the export of vaccines also an oversight, like many other decisions of this government, or an effort to garner publicity at the cost of our own citizens?" he asked.

He also said that our vaccination programme has to move beyond an individual's picture on the vaccine certificate, towards guaranteeing maximum vaccination.

The Congress leader demanded the Prime Minister to provide vaccine suppliers with necessary resources to increase manufacturing capacity, place an immediate "moratorium" on vaccine export, fast track approval of other vaccines as per norms and guidelines.

He further said that the government should open up vaccination to everyone who needs it, double central allocation for vaccine procurement from the existing Rs 35,000 crore, give state governments a greater say in vaccine procurement and distribution.

The Wayanad MP also demanded that the government must provide direct income support to vulnerable sections in the disastrous second wave.

Crediting his party for building the vaccine framework of India and making the country a vaccine hub, Gandhi said the vaccination programme has to move beyond "an individual's picture on the vaccine certificate, towards guaranteeing maximum vaccination".

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Police Chief Michael Wynn walks with a Black Lives Matter rally last summer. Wynn, who was appointed to a new state policing commission, says Pittsfield has been proactive in its policing policies.

Pittsfield Police Chief Wynn Brings 'Unique' Background to State Policing Commission

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Police Chief Michael Wynn is ready to represent Western Massachusetts on the state's new commission for police training.

Wynn's appointment to the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission was announced last week by Gov. Charlie Baker and Attorney General Maura Healey.

"The fact that I'm a Western Mass police chief is something that's been greatly talked about in the last several days," he said. "I don't think anybody expected that the governor's appointed chief would be from this far west."

The independent agency with appointees from the governor and attorney general was established by Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020 signed by the governor in December 2020. It is part of the police reform bill and aims to create conduct standards and be responsible for investigating and adjudicating claims of misconduct, maintaining databases of training, certification, employment, and internal affairs records for all officers, and certifying law enforcement agencies.

Wynn describes himself as having a "fairly unique" training background for a police chief, including serving as a subject matter instructor and drill instructor at multiple police academies, a Leadership Fellow with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's Leadership Development Unit, and an adjunct professor at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

The Williams College graduate recently collaborated with Police Advisory Review Board member Drew Herzig to create a policy for interacting with transgender individuals that was approved earlier this year. This features imperative themes such as gender expression, adopted names, non-removal of gender-confirming items, and detainees being held in a cell corresponding with their gender expression.

The policy aims to make transgender individuals able to access the Police Department without being traumatized in the process.

Wynn also received a Programming Excellence Award in the category of Radio Programming series for his department's "On Patrol with the PPD" radio program on WTBR. The program that was established prior to the COVID-19 pandemic also served as a communication resource to share public health information.

Wynn aims to ensure that smaller Berkshire County communities will be advocated for in policies established by the POST committee, answering questions about what the processes will look like for officers who have gone through the Part-time Police Academy at Berkshire Law Enforcement Council.

"All of my fellow chiefs out here do have part-time officers," he said.

Wynn, who has been with the Pittsfield force since 1995, said there is a lot more external scrutiny now, and people are generally interested in what the department is doing. The police reform bill passed in December reached Gov. Charlie Baker's desk six months after George Floyd died under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer and nine months after Breonna Taylor was fatally shot in her home in Louisville, Ky., by police.

S.2963: An Act relative to Justice, Equity and Accountability in Law Enforcement in the Commonwealth was declared to be an "emergency law necessary for the immediate preservation of the public safety."

Massachusetts law enforcement leaders have been asking for these tools for years, Wynn said, because there's a nationally available database of other states where police departments can find out if an officer was terminated or disciplined for misconduct but nothing similar in the commonwealth.

"So I could have a candidate that's a potential hire that we could check them out nationally to find out if they've had issues with other departments, but I can't find out if they had an issue with another department two counties away," he said.

"Certification, there are questions about it and there are concerns, but everybody who is currently working is going to receive their certification and they know nothing has been done yet to determine what's going to be required for recertification. So again, that's the work that has to be done, regarding recertification," he said. "The concern that I'm hearing from my level officers is they want to make sure that their due process rights are protected, they should be, so whatever happens needs to be based on a thorough investigation and sought with findings, not emotion."

Wynn expressed personal frustration for the lack of questions his department had received in 2020 regarding what they had been proactively working on in the scope of police reform before the bill was passed.

"There was a lot of debate and a lot of discussion about reforming police or improving police but there wasn't a lot of questions about the work that we had already done," he explained. "There are several training topics that are mandated in the reform legislation that the municipal police training committee has already required for several years, so a lot of that work we took upon ourselves and have already either completed or made a lot of progress toward. Nobody took time to pause and recognize."

When asked if Pittsfield Police were committed to the process of engaging in the hard work of building an equitable society at a June rally for Black Lives Matter, his simple answer was "yes."

Though police reform didn't start being an immediate topic of conversation until last spring, Wynn said the Massachusetts Chiefs Police Association recognized that the climate was changing as early as 2014.

He explained that around 2015, the state began proactively changing training topics that are included in the police reform bill such as de-escalation.

"We had already identified national model from the police executive research forum called 'integrated communications assessment and tactics,'" he said. "That's been an in-service topic for several years, we had already incorporated specialized training, dealing with people in crisis and mental illness. And again, you know, that's a topic that's been repeated for several years."

The chief said he is excited to meet his colleagues and find out what the next steps will be for the commission.
Pakistan Navy has launched Mangroves Plantation Campaign 2021 in the Coastal Areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces where the drive was inaugurated by Commander Coast, Vice Admiral Zahid Ilyas who graced the occasion as Chief Guest and planted mangrove sapling at Port Bin Qasim

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Apr, 2021 ) :Pakistan Navy has launched Mangroves Plantation Campaign 2021 in the Coastal Areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces where the drive was inaugurated by Commander Coast, Vice Admiral Zahid Ilyas who graced the occasion as Chief Guest and planted mangrove sapling at Port Bin Qasim.

"Mangroves are vital to coastal ecosystem, prevention of sea intrusion and sustainment of marine life. Being a major stakeholder of the maritime domain and realizing the importance of mangroves for marine life, Pakistan Navy has taken a major initiative to revive mangrove forests all along the coast," said a Pakistan Navy media release.

Realizing the importance of mangroves forests in combating pollution, countering coastal erosion and providing a number of economic and financial opportunities to coastal communities, Mangroves Plantation Campaign is part of PN environmental protection program under which Pakistan Navy has planted 07 million mangroves from Shah Bandar to Jiwani with the collaboration of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Sindh and Balochistan Forest departments.

On this occasion, Chief of the Naval Staff in his message highlighted the challenges of sustainability and existence mangroves forests were facing.

He emphasized that covered area of mangroves forests has decreased significantly over the period due various factors such as reduction in fresh water supply, marine pollution, coastal erosion, mangroves cutting etc. Therefore, requirement of new plantation as well as preservation/ protection of existing mangroves forests needs to be undertaken. Naval Chief in his message underscored the significance of PN Mangroves Plantation Campaign to achieve the goal of developing 'Green Coastal Belt'. He urged that the plantation campaign will have wide reaching and positive outcomes through sustainable efforts. Improving the health of the environment will ultimately contribute to reducing the risk of local and national disasters through better flood management and protection, sustainable livelihood, ensuring food security, impacts of climate change and raising sea levels.

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the mangrove plantation ceremony was attended by limited number of officials from Sindh and Balochistan Forest Departments and representatives of International Union for the Concervation of Nature (IUCN).
First, full disclosure: I have been an unabashed admirer of the acclaimed novelist Philip Roth throughout my long career at the Jewish Light. Roth, the tormented genius of American Jewish letters, who earned every major literary award except for the Nobel Prize in Literature, which many reviewers, including me, long felt he deserved, died at 85 in 2018, his passing forever precluding his trip to Stockholm, because the Prize is not given posthumously.

Throughout his half-century career, Philip Milton Roth (1933-2018) attracted both deep-seated scorn over what some critics thought was Jewish self-hatred as well as admiration for his biting humor, his sparkling Henry James-inspired prose and his unprecedented candor about sex. Some also took exception at his cat-and-mouse game of creating protagonists who are obviously based on himself, while insisting that they are only strictly figments of his fertile imagination.

Roth stopped writing with his last novel, Nemesis, in 2011, and turned his attention to recruiting a writer of his authorized biography. After rejecting a number of candidates, Roth selected Blake Bailey, a non-Jewish author of acclaimed biographies of John Cheever, Richard Yates and Charles Jackson. Roth had rejected longtime friend Ross Miller  a nephew of playwright Arthur Miller  after a dispute over another project.

This week, Baileys hefty 912-page volume Philip Roth: The Biography was published by Norton. The book is both comprehensive and compelling, exhaustive and occasionally exhausting in telling the full story of Roths many lives, loves, gratitude and grudges. Baileys tome deserves to be called definitive and belongs on the shelves of anyone seriously interested in any aspect of Roths complicated and complex life.

The Bailey book comes out shortly after the release of another worthy Roth biography, Philip Roth: A Counterlife by Ira Nadel ( Oxford University Press, March 2021).

Both Bailey and Nadel go into painstaking detail, gleaned from interviews of Roth, his admirers and detractors and a breathtaking inventory of his hundreds of lovers, his two failed marriages and his decades of contending with fellow authors and the Jewish literary establishment.

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We learn from both authors that Roth indeed based many of the characters in his novels on himself, his ex-wives, lovers, friends and adversaries Roth names in interviews with both biographers.

For example, the inspiration for Brenda Patimkin in Roths 1959 debut novella, Goodbye, Columbus is Maxine Groffsky, who is described as unhappy with her character in the novel and was portrayed by Ali MacGraw in the 1969 film opposite Richard Benjamin as the Roth-based Neil Klugman.

Also in 1969, Roths most popular novel, Portnoys Complaint, was released. Its protagonist, Alexander Portnoy, was a nice Jewish Boy who worked on the New York mayors Human Rights Commission. His yetzer ha Tov or the inclination to be good which was at war with his yetzer hara, or evil inclination led him to engage in illicit sexual adventures. The novels flagrant celebration of Portnoys insatiable masturbation fixation prompted intense controversy. Like the real Roth, Portnoy complains that he is trapped in a Jewish joke.

Portnoys psychiatrist, the famous Dr. Otto Spielvogel, says that his divided self results from the narcissism of the artist. After the hapless Portnoy pours out his soul for the entire length of the novel, Spielvogel famously says, So. Now vee may perhaps to begin. Yes?

Bailey is unsparing in his carefully documented descriptions of every aspect of Roths life and work, with the exact addresses of every one of his homes, the real people who inspired the protagonists and every character in his fictional work, his unquenchable need for relationships with scores of women, which suggest that he was as addicted to sex as Ernest Hemingway was to booze.

We learn from Bailey that Roth could be cold and cruel, but also extremely kind to his lovers and friends. Indeed, Bailey documents, Roth continued to be a friend to many of his former girlfriends and lovers, several of whom were at his bedside when he died and others who spoke at his funeral at the Bard College Cemetery, where he was buried.

It is interesting to note that Roth had his worst relationships with the two women he married: Margaret (Maggie) Martinson Williams, whom he met while teaching at the University of Chicago, a blonde non-Jewish woman, with features that attracted Roth, who tricked him into marriage with a fake pregnancy testand the British actress Claire Bloom, who was of Jewish parentage. She also was the ex-wife of film star Rod Steiger with whom she had a child, Anna Steiger, whose presence vexed Roth.

As for Martinson Williams, she had two children by her first marriage, David Williams and Helen (Holly) Williams. Back in 1975, after I reviewed Roths book Reading Myself and Others, a Jewish Light reader informed me that David Williams was living in Soulard. Williams agreed to be interviewed on his relationship with Roth, who mentored him and taught him English literature. He said that Roth helped transform him from being a pretty wild kid into an intellectually curious young man who was admitted to the Morgan Park Academy, a private school similar to the John Burroughs School in St. Louis.

The interview was headlined Papa Portnoy: Philip Roth as a Stepfather, in which Williams said, If it werent for Philip I would probably be in jail right now. The piece was noted and cited in the Bailey and Nadel books, and was mentioned by Roth himself in his non-fiction autobiography, The Facts. Roth also had a close relationship with Helen Williams, who rose from her forlorn waif-like status to become a happily married mother of two, who still keeps a photo of herself with Roth on her nightstand, according to Nadel.

Roth and Martinson Williams were in the midst of a bitter divorce in 1968 when she was killed in a car accident in Central Park. In keeping with her wishes, she had a Jewish funeral officiated by Rabbi David Seligson, who ironically was among the Jewish establishment figures who had denounced Roths work as a bane on the Jews, according to Bailey.

The descriptions of the divorce wars in both of Roths doomed marriages are among the most harrowing chapters in the Bailey book.

Roths marriage to Martinson Williams is retold in Roths novel My Life as a Man, which depicts her as Maureen Johnson Tarnopol, whose husband Peter is one of several Roth-based characters along with David Kepesh, Neil Klugman, Alexander Portnoy and Nathan Zuckerman.

Most of Roths fictional stand-ins were born in Newark and grew up in suburban Weequahic, where he went to high school and lived in a loving middle-class household.

Roths real-life parents, Herman and Bess Finkel Roth, were nothing like the suffocating parents of Alexander Portnoy. Roths older brother, Sandy, was a stabilizing constant in Roths life, and when he died Roth was overwhelmed that he was the lone survivor of his little family.

When Roths friends and adversaries began to grow old and die, when he saw that one of his countless lovers had become a little white-haired woman, and he knew for sure he was finished writing, he secured the dedicated services of Bailey to tell his story.

Bailey has done a truly masterful job.

Philip Roth: The Biography by Blake Bailey, W. W. Norton & Company, 912 pages, $40. Published April 6, 2021
The U.S. Marshals have secured an international warrant for the man suspected of fatally shooting a Yale graduate student, who was also an Army veteran.

The Interpol red notice asks member countries to arrest Qinxuan Pan, 29, on charges of murder and larceny related to the killing of Kevin Jiang.

Pan is accused of shooting Jiang, 26, multiple times on Feb. 6 in New Haven, Connecticut. Jiang was a graduate student at Yales School of the Environment. He was an Army veteran hailing from Washington state who had recently become engaged.

Pan is also accused of stealing a car in Massachusetts that he drove to Connecticut. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose last known residence was in Malden, Massachusetts. Pan was last seen in a suburb of Atlanta in February.

Authorities did not confirm if they thought he had traveled abroad.

Pan is a U.S. citizen who was born in Shanghai, China.
Members of the Worcester School Committee are examining whether MCAS may be a graduation barrier for English Language Learners based on new graduation and dropout rate data.

In 2020, the city saw a decrease in the number of ELL students who dropped out, which happened during the COVID-19 pandemic led the state to offer flexibilities regarding MCAS and competency determinations to graduate.

In general, Worcester has a lower dropout rate compared to other urban cities in Massachusetts. However, Worcester Public Schools officials in explaining the data during a school committee meeting on Thursday night noted that its hard to compare 2020 graduation and dropout data to years prior because the pandemic caused major academic disruptions.

Last year was a unique year, Christina Kuriacose, the districts acting director of school and student performance, told school committee members. When were looking at the graduation rates and dropout rates, we cant necessarily compare them to cohorts before the class of 2020.

Kuriacose noted that the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education last year modified the competency determination requirement for senior students as the pandemic forced students into remote learning. Students are typically required to pass 10th-grade MCAS testing to graduate. As the pandemic continues, education officials again are proposing modified graduation requirements.

School Committee member John Foley pointed out that the dropout rate among English learners had been rising before 2020. But last year, the dropout rate for English learners in Worcester was 3.7% compared to a statewide rate of 5.6%. In 2019, Worcesters dropout rate for English learners was 5.7%, according to state data.

MCAS seems like a significant barrier for a lot of our newcomer [English learners], Kuriacose said. I do think that the modified competency determination could have had a large hand in some of [English learner] data, specifically, for that reason.

Tracy OConnell Novick asked the district if it could compile data that shows students were able to graduate because of the modified competency determination. Kuriacose said the district could.

If we feel that the data is actually there, it would seem to me that we are in a strong position as a district to then advocate to the board that effectively they have created a barrier to graduation that is not really borne out by what we as a district see of these students abilities, OConnell Novick said. Traditionally the argument has been that the MCAS was no longer preventing people from graduating because if you looked at who dropped out predominately students actually already passed the MCAS.

She added that there could be a parallel to what the state saw with the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure. After a waiver was passed because of the pandemic, the state saw an increase in diverse teachers.

Fatima Daffaie, a student representative on the committee, said that as a student who speaks both English and Arabic, she has helped translate for peers, some of whom have remarked that understanding the MCAS could be difficult as they learned English.

They had the skills to do it but they just didnt understand how it worked and the timing and just everything about it, she said.

The topic is going to be discussed further in subcommittee.

Because of the pandemic, the district may not have recorded all dropouts, Kuriacose said. There may be students who were informal dropouts by being chronically absent or who have disengaged in learning while classes were fully remote.

Overall, the Worcester data showed that generally, there was an increase in the four-year graduation rate. However, there was a decrease in that rate among students with disabilities. The percent of students with disabilities who have remained in school instead of graduating has risen, Kuriacose said.

In 2020, the four-year graduation rate for all students was 87.3%, according to data Kuriacose presented. It was 79.7% for English learners, 69.1% for students with disabilities, 84.8% for low-income students, 91.3% for Black students, 91.3% for Asian students, 84.7% for Latino students, 88% for white students and 82.3% for multi-race students.

The four-year graduation rate for all students across the state in 2020 was 89%, according to the data.

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After a brief halt, India accelerated the work on Chabahar Port early this year and the strategic Iranian port is expected to be operational by next month, a Congressional report has said.

In 2015, India agreed to help develop Iran's Chabahar Port and an associated railway that would enable India to trade with Afghanistan unimpeded by Pakistan, the independent Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in its latest report for the members of the US Congress.

Also Read | Why insolvency pros are living on the edge

Prepared for the lawmakers for them to take informed decision, the report, running into nearly 100 pages, said that in May 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Iran and signed an agreement to invest USD 500 million to develop the port and related infrastructure.

Even though the Trump administration gave India the "Afghanistan reconstruction" exception from its punitive Iranian sanctions, India largely stopped work on the project until late 2020.

"It accelerated work in early 2021 and the port is expected to be declared operational no later than May 2021," said the CRS report.

CRS reports are prepared by experts and are not considered as official report of the US Congress.

Iran's economy is highly integrated into those of its immediate neighbours in South Asia, it said, adding that India cites the UN Security Council resolutions as its guideline for policy towards Iran.

During 2011-2016, when UN sanctions were in force on Iran, India's central bank ceased using a Tehran-based regional body, the Asian Clearing Union, to handle transactions with Iran, and the two countries agreed to settle half of India's oil buys from Iran in Indian currency.

India reduced its imports of Iranian oil substantially after 2011, but, after the sanctions were eased in 2016, India's oil imports from Iran increased to as much as 800,000 bpd in July 2018 - well above 2011 levels.

India paid Iran the USD 6.5 billion it owed for oil purchased during 2012-2016. India has not imported Iranian oil since May 2019.

The CRS said Iran's economic relations with Pakistan are less extensive than are its economic ties with India.

One test of Pakistan's compliance with the sanctions was a pipeline project that would carry Iranian gas to Pakistan - a USD 7 billion project that US officials on several occasions stated would be subject to ISA sanctions.

Iran reportedly completed the pipeline on its side of the border but, during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit to Pakistan in March 2016, Pakistan did not commit to complete the line. In 2009, India dissociated itself from the project, it said.

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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Artist Luke Cornish poses for a campaign on Oct. 12, 2018, in Brisbane, Australia. (Chris Hyde/Getty Images for Art Series Hotels)

University Gallery Removes Artwork Critical of Beijing Following Racism Outcry

An Australian gallery has removed three artworks critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after a group of Chinese students complained the pieces were racist.

The Ambush Gallery at the Australian National University (ANU) is hosting the Dont Shoot the Messenger exhibition by artist Luke Cornish which features 54 commentary artworks on injustice and protest around the world.

Some works depicted the injustices of indigenous Australians, while others show the Black Lives Matter movement in America. However, works relating to China received what Cornish describes as a coordinated attack on social media.

I was just getting smashed on Instagram and social media; I think the gallery were getting smashed too, Cornish told the ABC. It was such a bullying mentality, so the gallery made the call to take the artworks down.

One of the removed artworks showed an image of the 10 renminbi (RMB) banknote with former communist dictator Mao Zedong dressed as batman. Another showed Winnie the Pooh strangling Tigger and the final one showed Maos face overlayed with facial recognition software markers.

Cornish apologised for the batman artwork, a satire piece on the theories of the origins of the CCP virus, saying it could be perceived as discriminatory.

However, he questioned the removal of the other two, which were illustrations depicting the genocide of the Uyghur people and the social credit system.

The whole intention of the exhibition is to start conversations, and thats what its done, but I wont apologise for calling out genocide, Cornish said.

The gallery apologised for any hurt displaying the artwork caused after it was notified of student complaints by ANUs International Student Department (ISD).

As a social enterprise, we strive to present art that upholds all communities and are deeply sorry for any offence caused to members of the community, the gallery wrote in an email to ANUISD.

The artists objective was not to feed into destructive narratives, but to call out the racism experienced by the Chinese community and the absurdity of racist stories around the virus origin, they said.

The ISD also noted it had asked the gallery to remove the Batman artwork due to its detrimental nature. However, they had not requested the removal of the other two which were taken down.

A spokesman for the gallery told South China Morning Post that the gallery had taken down the other two works without considering how that might be perceived. They also denied any intention of censorship, saying they also showed several other works which supported Uyghur and Hong Kongs anti-government protests.

Concerns around Chinese students imposing Beijing standards of censorship on Australian education institutions have grown over recent years.

The University of Sydney was recently accused of self-censoring when its student-run newspaper removed an article about the ties of its academics to the CCP.

Last year, student Drew Pavlou was also suspended by the University of Queensland after he attended Hong Kong pro-democracy protests.
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn't saying whether he's trying to recruit former central banker Mark Carney to run for the Liberals.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau removes his mask as he arrives at a news conference in Ottawa, Friday, April 9, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn't saying whether he's trying to recruit former central banker Mark Carney to run for the Liberals.

Trudeau dodged questions Friday about Carney's possible political future just hours before the former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England was set to make a star turn at the federal Liberals' national convention.

Carney's appearance at the convention  in conversation Friday evening with rookie Liberal MP and convention co-chair Marci Ien  marks the first time he's dipped his toe publicly into partisan politics.

The question on all Liberals' minds is whether it signals an intention to finally take the plunge into politics.

But political rivals weren't waiting for an answer to begin trashing Carney as a wealthy, out-of-touch elitist.

"While Liberals continue to court the approval of the ultra-rich and well connected, New Democrats will continue to fight for working people," the NDP said in a statement Friday.

"After getting chased out of the United Kingdom for billing more than $500,000 in travel expenses for 52 trips to exotic places, often on fossil-fuel-powered jets, Carney will preach to Canadians about the need for higher energy prices," predicted Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre in another statement.

"He will also promote trendy new economic experiments that are popular with Davos billionaires."

For his part, Trudeau did not directly answer when asked twice during a pandemic news conference earlier Friday whether he's encouraging Carney to run for the governing party in the next election.

Rather, he characterized Carney's appearance at the convention as a way of tapping into his expertise on economic policy and on climate change. Carney is currently the United Nations special envoy on climate action and finance.

"The Liberal party has a long history of welcoming in expert speakers at our conventions from a range of different backgrounds," Trudeau said.

"We're very pleased to have someone of the stature of Mark Carney who's been working very, very hard on, among other things, the intersection between the global economy and the fight against climate change."

Trudeau said it's another example of how Liberals are listening to "the best and the brightest from around the world" on how to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and "build back better" the ravaged economy.

Trudeau, and all other party leaders, insist they don't want an election during the pandemic. But since the Liberals hold only a minority of seats in the House of Commons, the government could fall or trigger an election at any time and all parties are getting ready for one.

Trudeau announced Friday the co-chairs of the Liberal campaign "whenever it arrives"  Economic Development Minister Melanie Joly and Mississauga MP Navdeep Bains, who resigned from cabinet earlier this year after deciding he won't seek re-election.

While the government's priority remains "doing everything it takes  for as long as it takes" to see the country through the pandemic, Trudeau said in a statement that "at some point in the years ahead, we know that there will be an election with big questions about the kind of future we want to build together."

Whether Carney will be part of the Liberal team on the hustings when the next campaign starts remains an open question.

For a decade, Liberals have dreamed of persuading Carney to run for the party and, maybe one day, even lead it.

Carney quietly flirted with the idea of a leadership run in 2012, courted by Liberals smarting from a historic electoral thumping and desperately searching for a saviour.

But amid criticism that even the smallest whiff of partisanship was undermining the independence crucial to a central banker, Carney eventually squelched the speculation by saying he'd just as soon become a "circus clown" and then left Canada to take over the helm of the Bank of England.

He has been coy about his political ambitions since returning to Canada last summer and releasing a book last month promoting his vision for a new kind of capitalism that combines the pursuit of profit with social purpose.

His view that the COVID-19 pandemic offers an opportunity to reset the way the world works, making it more inclusive, more equitable and more environmentally sustainable, dovetails neatly with the thinking of Trudeau's government.

Carney's appearance at the convention comes little more than a week before Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, herself seen as a potential successor to Trudeau, is to deliver her first budget. It is expected to lay out in detail the cost of the pandemic, which has already sent the national deficit soaring past $380 billion, along with a plan to spend up to $100 billion more to fuel a more equitable, green, inclusive economic recovery.

Even if Carney doesn't tip his hand later Friday about his political ambitions, endorsement of the government's general direction by someone of his stature would be welcomed by Liberals.

In remarks to the convention Thursday evening, Freeland re-emphasized her belief that a national early learning and child-care program is an essential part of rebuilding the economy and getting women, who've been hardest hit by the pandemic, back into the workforce.

Trudeau echoed that view Friday, saying the pandemic has demonstrated that child care "is not simply a social argument or a social program, it's fundamentally an economic program."

He also said the pandemic has "highlighted, and worsened, too many gaps in our society." But he declined to weigh in on a top priority resolution being pushed by his own caucus, among others, calling for a universal basic income.

The idea generated considerable debate in the chat forum and in two workshops at the convention later Friday. While many participants were enthusiastic, others expressed concern that a basic income would replace existing support programs and actually leave some people, like those with disabilities, worse off.

Winnipeg Liberal Gregory Liverpool told a workshop that single mothers and people with disabilities would lose $5,000 in benefits. People with disabilities have not received enough federal support during the pandemic, he added, saying they've been "totally left out by this government and this party."

Another participant with a disability agreed a basic income "would be ableism at its finest," while others worried about the cost and others about the lack of detail.

Toronto MP Julie Dzerowicz countered that a basic income would streamline a multitude of federal and provincial support programs and would be designed on the principle that everyone should be left better off.

Trudeau himself has been lukewarm about the idea, suggesting in the past that now is not the time to contemplate such a major overhaul of Canada's social safety net.

He noted Friday that "challenging" resolutions at past conventions have made their way into the Liberal platform and government policy and said this convention is an opportunity for Liberals to talk about "a wide range of great ideas that will help move Canada forward."

"What they won't be doing this weekend is debating about whether climate change is real. That debate is settled for Canadians," Trudeau added, taking a jab at last month's Conservative convention, where delegates rejected a resolution to acknowledge the reality of climate change.

However, the Liberals' record on climate change came under scrutiny later during a conversation between Laure Waridel and Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault. The pair co-founded the Quebec-based environmental group Equiterre.

Waridel bluntly asked Guilbeault why the Liberals haven't delivered on their promise to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. She urged the government to admit it was wrong to purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project and said it should cancel it, predicting the Liberals would win a lot of votes in Quebec if they did.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2021.
A Sydney woman has been told there is nothing the NSW Building Commissioner can do to help recover her life savings after she bought into a 300-apartment tower that had alleged major defects, despite him reportedly saying an investigation is likely to uphold her concerns.

It comes as the Herald can reveal a sharp decline in fines being handed out to private certifiers for signing off on dodgy buildings in the last 10 months, since the board responsible for policing them was abolished.

Maryam Behrouz stands to lose her life savings. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

The changes were part of an overhaul of the industry following evacuations of the cracked Opal and Mascot Towers, which saw David Chandler appointed NSW building commissioner.

There remain serious questions about whether the new laws give Mr Chandler adequate powers to protect consumers from shoddy operators after the Herald revealed the plight of Maryam Behrouz last month.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 19:25:22|Editor: huaxia

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VIENNA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. promise on lifting unilateral sanctions must be put into action immediately, said Wang Qun, Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, on Friday, after a meeting with other senior diplomats concerning the Iran nuclear deal.

"Regarding the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States, China and the parties concerned clearly expressed their concerns at the meeting, and it must be lifted immediately," Wang told Xinhua after the talks on the resumption of implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by the United States and Iran.

Wang said that "such sanctions problems were all caused by the previous U.S. government's illegal sanctions on entities and individuals that implemented the JCPOA."

He stressed that the lifting of these sanctions is "not only a bilateral issue, but also an important aspect of safeguarding the JCPOA, which is the result of multilateralism."

"We have noticed that the U.S. side recently released some positive messages about the lifting of such sanctions, and we call on the U.S. to take practical actions immediately to facilitate the complete and effective implementation of the JCPOA," Wang added.

The Joint Commission of the JCPOA, known as the Iran nuclear deal, resumed talks here again on Friday, following Tuesday's meeting. The Iran nuclear deal was struck in 2015 but paralyzed by the U.S. withdrawal in 2018.

Wang told Xinhua that Friday's meeting was "constructive in general, as all parties have actively implemented the consensus reached at the joint ministerial meeting last December, and that the parties were moving in the right direction."

Intensive work has been carried out upon the two processes launched in the current meeting, namely, the nuclear implementation and sanction-lifting working groups' work, and the "proximity talks" with the United States, Wang said.

"Through these four days of meetings, the differences between the parties concerned are narrowing, and we have seen the momentum towards gradually forming a consensus among parties concerned. And this has created a beneficial atmosphere for the next step towards a good prospect," he added.

Wang said the parties will continue negotiations here next week. "We hope that the positive and constructive momentum of this week's meeting can be continued."

"Vienna is the place where the negotiations on the JCPOA started and reached," Wang said. "China hopes that Vienna will also witness all parties reaching an arrangement for the United States and Iran to resume the implementation of the JCPOA." Enditem
As scheduled, the third phase of the human trial of the Nanocovax vaccine developed by the HCMC-based Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC, will be completed within May in coordination with the Vietnam Military Medical University under the Ministry of National Defense.

Three months from then, which is August, Vietnam could start the mass production of this vaccine to inoculate its citizens, Major General Nguyen Xuan Kien, head of the ministrys Military Medical Department said a press conference on Friday.

A total of 560 people were involved in the second phase of the Nanocovax human trials that started in February, following the end of the first phase, which commenced last December with 60 volunteers.
Saiber's scholarship encompasses many areas, including Renaissance literature, the history of mathematics, and science fiction

All this makes Saiber the ideal candidate for her latest role as coeditor of a book series exploring the relationship between the humanities, arts, and sciences, and the ways in which disciplinary fields benefit from deep conversation and collaboration. Proximities: Experiments in Nearness (University of Minnesota Press) will feature three monographs a year. The first one, said Saiber, is being written by Gloria Kim from the University of California, Riverside, who will examine the relationship between visualization technologies, microbes, and national security.

Saibers coeditor on the Proximities project is David Cecchetto, associate professor of critical digital theory at York University in Toronto. David and I share a fascination with languaging, that is, the verbal, visual, acoustic, and gestural expressions, lexicons, and strategies humans and nonhumans use to communicate, said Saiber. I love to see what is produced when thinkers from different disciplines get in the room together. What can they create? What seemingly intractable problems might they solve?

The aim of the book series, she explained, is to explore what happens when people think in proximity to one another. By proximities we mean a lot of things, said Saiber. It can mean physical closeness to one anothersomething many of us have lacked lately due to COVID-19 restrictions as well as current social and political polarizations. The term also refers to other types of nearness, she added, such as nearness in time (the urgency for social and environmental change) and nearness of thought and ideas. It all comes from a desire to help humans move more toward inclusivity and unity, away from fragmentation and silo-ization. Its about recognizing the benefits and challenges of being in community with others and with the world. It is not about reducing focused research within fields, said Saiber, but, rather, making time to listen to the diversity of knowledge and experiences around us.

Saiber and Cecchetto are already receiving many submissions for the series. Things are moving fast, said Saiber. People are responding with enthusiasm to our call for thinking with and thinking near to. Were looking for work that is out-of-the box, edgy, and courageous. Work that surprises, wows, and changes how we see the world, ourselves, and our responsibilities to the world and each other.

I love to see what is produced when thinkers from different disciplines get in the room together. What can they create? What seemingly intractable problems might they solve?

Proximities: Experiments in Nearness is being produced in collaboration with the Society for Literature, Science and the Arts, an academic organization with members across disciplines, including the sciences, engineering, technology, computer science, medicine, the social sciences, the humanities, and the arts. The SLSA is an incredible organization, said Saiber. Ive been attending its annual conference since graduate school. Its a place where hundreds of artists, scientists, philosophers, historians, literary scholars, and others dive head-first into cutting-edge discoveries and theories in all fields. Its one of the most stimulating environments Ive ever been in, she added, and I am thrilled and honored to be working with David to continue the work that so many SLSA scholars do with such expertise and thoughtfulness.

A full description of the series can be found here.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists and physicians worldwide undertook enormous efforts to understand the disease caused by the virus. In their latest collaborative study, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg and physicians from the University of Freiburg Medical Center unveil a novel feature of COVID-19 immunity, which could have implications for future therapies. The study points to the involvement of Interleukin 33, an important danger signal, when immune cells encounter Sars-CoV-2 for a second time.

"We started the study at a very early stage of the pandemic in 2020 when not much was known about the immune response post-infection", says Erika Pearce, group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics. "Our aim was to examine the development of immunity in people recovering from Covid-19."

Antibodies stick around

An infection with Sars-CoV-2 triggers a complex immune response necessary for the development of immunity to the virus. In simple terms, two linked branches of our immune system need to remember the virus to prevent reinfection, namely antibody-producing B cells and memory T cells. Understanding how this happens in Sars-CoV-2 infection is key for controlling the Covid-19 pandemic and critical for the success of the vaccination efforts.

For the study, the team examined blood samples of 155 individuals who mostly had mild disease. They measured the amount of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and found that patients maintain high levels of antibodies more than two months after infection, indicating that they will likely be protected from re-infection. "We thought this was very encouraging, but we also wanted to understand better how the immune system would react to a second encounter with the virus," says Petya Apostolova, physician and researcher in the lab of Erika Pearce.

When the virus hits the second time

Effective immunity to a virus is reached when sufficient antibodies and memory T cells are present in the blood of a person who has recovered from the disease or has been vaccinated. To test how this happens after Covid-19, the team exposed blood cells from participants who had antibodies against Sars-CoV-2 to a portion of the virus. They observed that memory T cells had developed and quickly responded to viral proteins. "We measured a broad panel of molecules that our immune cells use to communicate with each other. It was most fascinating to us that of all these measurements, the amount of Interleukin 33 was the closest match to the amount of antibodies people had, and to the activation of their memory T cells," explains Apostolova. Interleukin 33 (IL-33) is released by cells that sense danger in their environment and has been previously linked to chronic lung disease. IL-33 can have beneficial effects by activating T cells and inducing antibody production, but it can also promote inflammation of the lung. For the first time, this study has linked IL-33 production to immunity to Sars-CoV-2.

"We believe that Interleukin 33, which is normally produced as an alarm-signal, could be an important link between protection and disease severity," says Cornelius Waller from the University of Freiburg Medical Center. Indeed, by analyzing public data of lung cells taken from patients during Sars-CoV-2 infection, the researchers were able to show that Interleukin 33 was produced in their lungs. However, identifying the implications of these findings also in the context of lung tissue damage after severe Covid-19 infections will require more investigation.

The group of researchers hopes this collaboration will continue. As Waller pointed out, "we were able to discover this much so quickly through this fantastic synergy between clinicians experienced in the care for Covid-19 patients and experts in the immunology field." The researchers hope that this study might pave the way to better understanding immunity to Sars-CoV-2 and other viral infections.

###
MUKSEGON, MI  Muskegon County officials are again limiting in-person access to the courthouse as cases of COVID-19 rise locally and across the state.

The courts were required, based on the communitys coronavirus data, to enter the most restrictive phase under a four-phase plan created by the Michigan Supreme Court in response to the pandemic.

Muskegon County reports a seven-day positivity rate higher than 20%, and an average of 245 daily cases per million, according to state data.

Hospitalizations at Mercy Health Muskegon increased 150% over the last 10 days.

Muskegon Countys courts had moved into Phase 3 on March 1 but rolled back to Phase 2 on March 24.

Phase 1 went into effect Wednesday, April 7, according to a news release.

RELATED: How Michigan courts determine when to hold jury trials again after pandemic shutdown

The restrictions mean court offices are closed to walk-ins from the general public, nearly all court hearings are conducted on Zoom video conferencing and the Muskegon County Hall of Justice is only allowing people in under specific conditions.

Anyone entering the Hall of Justice is required to complete a health screening and wear a mask.

Additionally, all jury trials have been suspended until they can return on an in-person basis.

RELATED: Plastic sheeting and hockey-style penalty boxes: What jury trials will look like in Michigan courtrooms

The court offices remain staffed during normal business hours. Court-ordered payments can be made over the phone, in the mail, online at www.co.muskegon.mi.us or by depositing a check or money order in the court drop boxes outside the Muskegon County Hall of Justice.

Muskegon County also issued an emergency declaration this week to allow for public meetings to continue to be held online.

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Michigan reports 7,819 new coronavirus cases, 73 deaths Thursday, April 8

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In an unusual move, the has announced that this week it conducted a freedom of navigation operation in Indian waters without prior consent to challenge India's "excessive maritime claims", triggering a reaction from New Delhi, which on Friday said it has conveyed concerns to Washington through diplomatic channels.



The MEA also contested the US Navys 7th Fleet statement of April 7 that the freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) by the guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones "upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses" of the sea recognised in international law by challenging India's "excessive maritime claims".



"India's stated position on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is that the Convention does not authorise other states to carry out in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and on the continental shelf, military exercises or manoeuvres, in particular those involving the use of weapons or explosives, without the consent of the coastal state," the MEA said."The USS John Paul Jones was continuously monitored transiting from the Persian Gulf towards the Malacca Straits. We have conveyed our concerns regarding this passage through our EEZ to the government of USA through diplomatic channels," the MEA said.Announcing about the operation, the statement by the 7th Fleet said, "this freedom of navigation operation upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law by challenging India's excessive maritime claims."On April 7, 2021 (local time) USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) asserted navigational rights and freedoms approximately 130 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands, inside India's exclusive economic zone, without requesting India's prior consent, consistent with international law," the statement said.India requires that other countries take prior consent from it to conduct military exercises or manoeuvres in its EEZ or continental shelf, which the statement claimed was inconsistent with international law.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 00:13:18|Editor: huaxia

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YINCHUAN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Taking photos, tasting delicacies and strolling among the blossoming pear trees in Nanchangtan Village, Yao Changde feels totally immersed in the beautiful scenery.

"It's wonderful for me to travel in such a beautiful village, and I really enjoy the quietness and peace here," says Yao, 80, who came to the village with his wife and two daughters.

Yao is attending an ongoing pear-blossom festival in Nanchangtan, located in Shapotou District, in the city of Zhongwei, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It is a national-level historical and cultural village, with a history stretching back more than 1,200 years.

Surrounded by high mountains and the Yellow River -- China's second longest river -- Nanchangtan is said to have sheltered royals from the Western Xia Dynasty (1038-1227) during a war, providing them with a self-sufficient life in seclusion.

The natural terrain might have protected villagers from invaders, but it also cut them off from the outside world. They didn't have electricity here until the year 2000, and they waited another decade for access to the internet.

According to village Party chief Ta Shouqing, sheepskin rafts were once the only transportation for villagers venturing further afield.

"It was such a poverty-stricken place that all young villagers wanted to escape," said Ta, adding that there was a time when about two thirds of villagers traveled to cities in search of better education and more job opportunities.

However, thanks to China's national campaign against poverty, this ancient village has seen improvements to its infrastructure, and the gradual flourishing of the tourism business has helped.

Nanchangtan has 166 centuries-old pear trees, with the oldest about 500 years old. When the blossom arrives, the village is draped in white.

In 2004, the authorities in Nanchangtan began promoting various tourism festivals, attracting tourists eager to experience rural lifestyles. The villagers saw an increase in their incomes as a result, said Ta.

"Visiting here makes me feel peaceful inside and totally refreshed, escaping from my busy working life for a while," said Yao's daughter, adding that her father was so enchanted that he even wrote a poem about the pear blossom.

With the boom in tourism, many villagers have returned to run homestay businesses. Li Gang used to raise sheep for a living, and he later worked outside the village to make money in order to provide a better education for his three children.

Now he owns a homestay that can accommodate 30 tourists at full capacity. All his rooms were booked for this year's pear-blossom festival, adding more than 20,000 yuan (3,052 U.S. dollars) to his yearly earnings.

"In the period before October, tourists visit our village every weekend, and they love the mountains, the Yellow River and the fresh air," said Li.

According to Ta, 53 families in the village run homestay businesses, and the village can have a tourism income of about 600,000 yuan during the annual pear-blossom festival. Last year, the annual per-capita disposable income of villagers exceeded 13,000 yuan, from only 3,400 yuan in 2013.

Villager Meng Jiangyu is the same age as Yao. He owns four pear trees, under which he spent his childhood. During the tourism festival, Meng sets up a stall to tout specialties like dried pears, dates and Chinese walnuts.

"They sell well, and it's quite convenient to do transactions by scanning QR codes," said Meng. "Life is getting better and better, and I feel happy." Enditem
The boss of Italy's automobile club has played down suggestions Rome might be added to the Formula 1 schedule.

This weekend, the streets of the Italian capital will host Formula E, but Angelo Sticchi Damiani said it is still hard to imagine a grand prix in Rome.

"There was a chance to bring Formula 1 to Rome a few years ago," the president of the Italian automobile club Aci told Corriere dello Sport.

"It was a very ambitious and expensive project and perhaps the situation was not right."

Sticchi Damiani said it is therefore difficult to imagine the project getting kick-started.

"A Formula 1 circuit has greater needs in terms of safety, and the costs are very high," he said. "I think it costs at least three times more than Formula E.

"When the idea was there, Bernie Ecclestone decided everything, but today the decisions are more reasoned," the Italian added. "I think in the future there could be more Formula 1 races in Italy, but not in Rome."

(GMM)
UPDATE, April 14, 4:30pm: H Mart has announced that the forthcoming San Francisco store location will open April 21 at 10 a.m. Membership signups will be available at that time, along with store giveaways to celebrate its grand opening.

Original story below:

After nearly three years of waiting, San Franciscans might finally get to shop at the city's very first H Mart outpost in April.

The popular Korean grocery chain, which is based in New Jersey, told SFGATE that it anticipates opening its new location at 3995 Alemany Blvd. sometime this month, though an official date has yet to be announced. More information about the opening is expected to be shared on its website.

On Monday, H Mart announced that it was looking to hire staff for all positions to service its 42,000-square-foot San Francisco store, an indication that the grand opening could be around the corner.

Plans to debut the new H Mart store were first announced by San Franciscos Office of Economic and Workforce Development in August 2018. At the time, it was said that the grocery chain would spend more than $8.5 million on renovations to the property at 3995 Alemany Blvd., at the Oceanview Village Shopping Center.

The new supermarket will be in the space that was previously the Oceanview Supermarket, which shuttered in 2013.

The loss of a supermarket in Oceanview Village left a noticeable void in this neighborhood for many years. That is why I am excited to see that H-Mart, a supermarket providing diverse, high-quality food, decided to lease this location, Norman Yee, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, said in a statement in 2018.

Oceanview Village Shopping Center might see another popular chain on its property as well. In January, Korean bakery Paris Baguette submitted a San Francisco Planning application to open a new storefront inside the H Mart, and its location map indicates that it will be "coming soon." However, Paris Baguette's application has been on hold since Jan. 27, as it needs to undergo the permitting process required for chain stores and receive a conditional use authorization to operate.

The H Mart location would be Paris Baguette's second location in San Francisco, after another storefront at 550 Market St. The bakery, which offers a wide variety of baked goods, also has locations across the Bay Area.

H Mart is best known for its extensive selection of Asian products in addition to its ready-to-eat meals and food courts at its locations around the country. In 2017, H Mart opened its first Bay Area site in San Jose at 1179 S. De Anza Blvd. A second San Jose store opened later that same year, according to Eater.

The forthcoming H Mart chain is the most recent grocery store to debut to San Francisco. In late March, Trader Joes submitted an application to the San Francisco Planning Department to open a new location at 555 Fulton in Hayes Valley, which is anticipated to open sometime in 2022 or 2023. Local grocery chain Gus's Community Market opened a new location in the Outer Sunset in February.
OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau says Ottawa is looking at expanding the categories of essential workers allowed to travel across the Canada-U.S. border.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau waits for a virtual meeting to begin with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ottawa, Friday February 26, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau says Ottawa is looking at expanding the categories of essential workers allowed to travel across the Canada-U.S. border.

He told a parliamentary committee Thursday that could mean allowing technicians in the integrated auto industry to be considered essential workers for cross-border purposes.

"We are specifically talking about different groups that would be potentially considered to be essential workers, that have the need to cross the border for specific reasons," Garneau said.

The Canada-U.S. border has been closed to people travelling for vacations and other non-essential visits since March 2020 to help limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Garneau told MPs on the special committee on the economic relationship between Canada and the U.S. that the flow of goods across the shared border has slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions.

"The situation is gradually changing and we are very, very sensitive to the need to recover our economies," he said.

Millions of dollars in goods and services still cross the border every day, and roughly three-quarters of Canada's exports go to the United States.

Garneau said the most important factor in evaluating border policy is the health and safety of Canadians, but the government should be sensitive to the need to revive the economy.

"We have to always bear in mind that the No. 1 consideration is the health and safety of Canadians."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2021.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship
Amazonian Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa wrote his 2013 book The Falling Sky: A path of light opened before my eyes and unknown beings came towards me.

They had the appearance of tiny human beings with black saki tails around their foreheads and their hair covered in white down feathers. They approached with slow movements, in a blinding light, waving young palm leaves.

Kopenawa is describing seeing xapiripe, ancestral spirits of the Yanomami indigenous people living deep in the rainforests. Shamans such as Kopenwana reach the xapiripe with a hallucinogenic snuff called yakoana, which brings on a trance-like state. Kopenawa describes the xapiripe as very small and bright like light. There are many, many xapiripe, thousands of xapiripe-like stars.

An outsider wanting to photograph the Yanomami people might find their distinctive black-and-red face paintings, elaborate headdresses and huge communal homes photogenic enough. But after meeting the Yanomami in 1971, photojournalist Claudia Andujar wanted to express something more  the spirit of xapiripe, the close relationship of the people and their environment and the bond that she herself formed with the community.

She began experimenting with double exposures, infrared lights and Vaseline-smeared lenses to evoke the yakoana-tinted reality of the people she was documenting. Filled with hallucinogenic points of light, vivid colours and unconventional compositions, her work with the Yanomami people avoids the construct of an objective reality which is the cornerstone of much photojournalism.

Claudia Andujar (Renato Parada)

Instead, she captures something beyond the lenss reach  an emotional subjectivity which lets any viewer into a culturally remote world (the Yanomami hadnt been regularly been contacted by outsiders until the 1940s). Her empathetic work helped pave the way for the official designation of land for the Yanomami  a protection which is now under threat from Brazils president Jair Bolsonaro.

Read more:

Her five decades of work with the Yanomami is collected in the exhibition Claudia Andujar: The Yanomami Struggle, which is coming to the Barbican in June after being shown in Sao Paulo, Paris and Barcelona. It includes 200 photographs, an audio-visual installation, a film and a series of drawings by the Yanomami.

I started working with the Yanomami in the 1970s and they quickly became a second family to me, says Andujar, 89. When I saw the threats they were facing, I decided to devote my time to helping them obtain the demarcation of the land they occupied so that it would be officially recognised by Brazilian law.

After many years of struggle, we succeeded in our efforts. Sadly, their lands have once again been invaded by gold miners and so I hope that my work will continue to raise awareness of the dangers facing the Yanomami.

The fraught history between the Yanomami and the outside world makes the trusted relationship Andujar has built with the community even more remarkable. According to human rights organisation Survival International, the Yanomami people number around 38,000, living communally under single roof structures called shabonos in autonomous villages of between 50 and 400 people. Their designated land reaches over 24 million acres of rainforest across the border of Brazil and Venezuela and is the largest forested indigenous territory in the world. Its so large that there are believed to be Yanomami villages which are still uncontacted.

Davi Kopenawa (Edouard Caupeil)

The construction of a transcontinental highway in the Amazon in the 1970s brought deforestation and epidemics to the region. In the 1980s, it had been discovered Yanomami land was rich in precious minerals, including gold. Brazilian gold-miners invaded, shooting people and destroying villages and exposing the Yanomami to deadly new diseases for which their immune systems had no defence. In just seven years, 20 per cent of the Yanomami were dead. Global outrage and a successful campaign led by Andujar among others made the Brazilian government agree to legally demarcate Yanomami territory in 1992.

Though not Yanomami, [Claudia] is a true friend, says Kopenawa. She took photographs of childbirth, of women, of children. I did not know how to fight against politicians and non-indigenous people but she gave me the tools to defend our people, land, language, customs, festivals, dances, chants and shamanism. It is important to me and to you to see the work she did and respect the Yanomami people of Brazil who have lived in this land for many years.

Andujar herself experienced the horrors of genocide at an early age. Born to a Hungarian Jewish father and a Swiss mother in 1931, her father and his family died in Auschwitz and Dachau after she and her mother took refuge in Switzerland when Andujar was just 13. The Holocaust, and the trauma from her childhood, deeply informs her work with the Yanomami.

Claudia Andujar: The Yanomami Struggle includes her series of black and white portraits of the Yanomami as part of a vaccination campaign in the early 1980s. The Yanomami, who traditionally dont refer to each other by name but by their relationship to each other, wear numbered labels recalling the tattoos of Holocaust victims. Although the vaccination programme was for the good of the Yanomami, the portraits are a jarring reminder of the continued failure to protect the worlds vulnerable, persecuted people.

Claudia Andujar keeps a book open on a page with portraits of indigenous people (AFP via Getty)

Despite the landmark decision to recognise Yanomami lands in 1992, the long history of exploitation by non-indigenous people continues. Bolsonaro has made gold miners, of which about 20,000 are currently working illegally on Yanomami land, bolder. He has said he wants to legalise this mining in indigenous reserves, claiming that the Yanomami reserve is too big. Deforestation has surged to a 12-year high under him. A report last month from the Hutukara Yanomami Association found that nearly 6,000 acres of land on the Yanomamis reserve has been deforested by illegal miners.

Covid-19 has become another threat to Yanomami life. Spread in part by the illegal miners, it is proving deadly to the indigenous people. Yanomami children are worryingly vulnerable to the disease  ten died from Covid-19 in January alone, in contrast to the low mortality rates of children elsewhere.

The past few years have shown us that the Yanomami struggle is as serious as ever. Claudia Andujars iconic photos allow us to enter the rich, diverse and complex world of the Yanomami, says Fiona Watson of Survival International. Today, they take on a new urgency as a humanitarian catastrophe is rapidly engulfing the Yanomami.

A huge public outcry was fundamental in persuading the Brazilian government to recognise Yanomami land rights in 1992. The exhibition is an urgent call to stand once more with the Yanomami people in their campaign to protect their rainforests and way of life in the face of a mounting threats and genocidal government policies.

Claudia Andujar: The Yanomami Struggle is at the Barbican Centre, 17 June-29 August.

The Hutukara Yanomami Association is campaigning to reduce the spread of Covid-19. They have said: We, the Yanomami, do not want to die. Help us expel more than 20,000 miners who are spreading Covid-19 throughout our lands. The public can donate at https://minersoutcovidout.org and show support on social media: #MinersOutCovidOut
The Girls Next Door alum Holly Madison has admitted that she is 'grateful' that she never got pregnant with the late Hugh Hefner.

The model, now 41, famously had a seven-year open relationship with the Playboy founder when she was in her 20s and he in his 70s. They split in 2008.

Holly has previously admitted that she wanted to have a baby with Hugh, who died in 2017, as she saw it as a way of making all his other girlfriends leave the mansion.

Candid: The Girls Next Door alum Holly Madison has admitted that she is 'grateful' that she never got pregnant with the late Hugh Hefner (pictured in 2003)

Talking on Tuesday's Call Her Daddy podcast, she said: 'I knew it was because of him. I was healthy. He was just too old.

'Yes, thank god, oh my god! When I had first gotten into that situation and something happened in my mind that first night I had sex, where I felt like, "Okay, I did that."

'I like breached my own boundaries and I wasn't comfortable with it. Now I have to make this situation into something. I almost locked myself into this box.'

The NY Times bestselling author went on to have two children - daughter Rainbow, eight, and son Forest, four, from her five-year marriage to Insomniac CEO Pasquale Rotella, which ended in 2019.

Romance: The model, now 41, pictured left, famously had a seven-year open relationship with the Playboy founder when she was in her 20s and he in his 70s. They split in 2008

Baby plans: Holly has previously admitted that she wanted to have a baby with Hugh, who died in 2017, as she saw it as a way of making all his other girlfriends leave the mansion (pictured in 2006)

During the podcast, Holly claimed that she could not even move into the Playboy Mansion in 2001 until she had sex with the then 75-year-old editor-in-chief.

'Nobody ever got asked to move in unless they had slept with him,' Madison, who was born Cullen, noted.

The former Playboy Bunny went on to claim that sex with Hugh was 'boring', 'basic' and monotonous.

Holly added that she now realizes she was suffering from 'Stockholm syndrome' and that she was not in love with him.

Speaking out: Talking on Tuesday's Call Her Daddy podcast, she said: 'I knew it was because of him. I was healthy. He was just too old.'

Looking back: 'Yes, thank god, oh my god! When I had first gotten into that situation and something happened in my mind that first night I had sex, where I felt like, "Okay, I did that."' (pictured in 2008)

Talking about the twice-a-week group sex sessions that happened, she said: 'Imagine having sex with somebody in a room full of women who all hate you. And you know they're all talking s*** about you. Like, how horrible!'

The first three years were particularly 'horrendous' for Madison when there were six other women and they all had strict $1K clothing allowances and 9pm curfews.

Hugh passed away aged 91 in 2017 from sepsis brought on by an E. coli infection.

Looking back: Holly said of the twice-a-week group sex sessions: 'Imagine having sex with somebody in a room full of women who all hate you. And you know they're all talking s*** about you. Like, how horrible!'

In 2015, Holly revealed that she wanted to have a baby with Hugh during their romance in her tell-all memoir Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures And Cautionary Tales Of A Former Playboy Bunny.

She penned: 'I know how absolutely insane it sounds to want to have kids with someone in their 70s. You are basically robbing a child of his or her father before it is even born. Now that I am a mom myself, the idea seems even more unpalatable.'

Holly explained that she saw it as a way of making all his other girlfriends leave.

Claims: During the podcast, Holly claimed that she could not even move into the Playboy Mansion in 2001 until she had sex with the then 75-year-old editor-in-chief

'I suppose I thought of it as a ticket out - in more ways than one. The last time the mansion had been multiple-girlfriend-free was when Hef was married and had two children.'

Holly's plans were squashed when she discovered that none of Hugh's sperm were viable.

She said: 'This was concrete proof slapping me in the face that there was no future for me at the mansion.'

In 2008, following their split, Hugh confirmed to E! that the reason behind them breaking up was his inability to get her pregnant.

Memoir: In 2015, Holly revealed that she wanted to have a baby with Hugh in her tell-all memoir Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures And Cautionary Tales Of A Former Playboy Bunny (pictured in 2008)

He said: 'With my sperm count, its not possible. I was willing, but it was not possibleShed like to be married and have children, but its not in the cards here for me.'

The late Hugh has four children, two with his first wife Mildred Williams, and a further two with second wife Kimberley Conrad. He was married to Crystal Harris until his death in 2017.

Holly went on to have two children - daughter Rainbow, eight, and son Forest, four, from her five-year marriage to Insomniac CEO Pasquale Rotella, which ended in 2019.

Holly will next executive produce Sony TV's limited series based on her 2015 memoir Down The Rabbit Hole starring Bill & Ted Face the Music actress Samara Weaving.

However, as of February, no network is yet attached to the project - according to THR.
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Leslie Kim has been a member of the Albuquerque Museum staff for less than a year.

For the past several months as curator of history, Kim has delved into what she knows best  history.

The result is the exhibit Recent History Acquisitions.

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Kim says that when museum visitors view historical objects on display, they may not be thinking about how those objects came into the museum in the first place.

She says the exhibit explores how the museum acquires, cares for and chooses to present collections.

The exhibit looks at some of the historical objects that the Albuquerque Museum has acquired in the past 2 years.

It considers how the museum decides what to collect and how to place the material of the past within the context of the present moment. These questions are explored through four main themes: the evolving role of women in New Mexico; how the state has crafted its identity, especially throughout the 20th century; the ways in which local and global maps help situate people in space; and how New Mexicans have coped with the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are interested in telling the stories of all New Mexicans, which includes bringing in material to tell the stories of people who have traditionally been left out of the historical record, Kim says. We tell these stories through a multitude of perspectives, including environmental, economic, social, political, religious, and cultural ones. This philosophy guides us as we collect objects for the Albuquerque Museums history collection.

The exhibit features 85 pieces.

Upon entering the exhibit, visitors will see a Jumbo Pakodoper photo printing desk, from the 1940s.

The device, made by the Pako Corp., is made of wood, steel, glass and electric wiring.

This piece is a photo printer that was used by two generations of women who were owners of their own studio in the area, Kim says. In the 1950s, Audrey Myers ran her own photo studio in Edgewood, called Audreys Photo Finishing, where she used this photo printer. Myers previously worked at the Camera Shop of New Mexico, which was located at 414 Central Avenue NE, between Edith and Broadway boulevards. Women business owners were still a relatively new phenomenon in the 1950s. However, Albuquerque has a rich history of women owning photography studios, and Myers fits into this lineage.

The exhibit also features a pressure cooker from around 1940 that was donated to the museum by Kate Padilla.

I love the pressure cooker, Kim says. This pressure cooker was her mothers, and her mom acquired it right after getting married. Her mother had grown up on a farm in Des Montes, so this is a mulitgenerational story. Kate ended up with this pressure cooker, and it has all these wonderful memories about being able to eat everything they harvested. One of the greatest things she said when she gave us the pressure cooker was that Some people say a pressure cooker is a time saver. But for us, it was a lifesaver. They never went hungry, and its a beautiful story about women in rural northern New Mexico.

Kim says part of the exhibit focuses on how New Mexico has marketed itself to the world.

These license plates, we actually collected 75 of them, and we have a third of them on display, she says. But these license plates are fascinating and quirky. They tell interesting stories. Its interesting to note that the Zia makes its appearance in the 1920s. And its remained on our plates ever since. New Mexico was also called the Sunshine State in 1932.

That was a very short-lived experiment. But what better way to promote yourself than on vehicles?

The exhibit features a Fred Harvey cash register, although Kim says it hasnt been dated to the Alvarado Hotel, which was part of the Harvey Hotels.

The donor said, Of course it belongs in Albuquerque,' Kim says. When you think of Fred Harvey, you think of the Alvarado, like, it was the crown jewel on the Rio Grande. This is such a beautiful cash register. I love that when you walk around it, you notice that its far more ornate on the other side, because when you were ringing someone up, thats what the person would see.
Millennial Liu Lurui quit her job and moved to the outskirts of Beijing, where she built a farm on three acres of land to create a healthier lifestyle for herself and five friends. The farm was completed in April 2020, and includes a house, a garden and an organic orchard. They hope that their hobo life can set an example for people looking to lead alternative way of life

Jun 04, 2021 06:31 PM
What would you say if I told you a distraught woman recently came into my counseling office? She explained that her boss threatened that, if she didnt have sex with him, she would be fired. Hed already banned her from all firm social activities and said that hed do what he could to destroy her personal life too. After he was done with her, he said, she wouldnt be able to leave the house. He would take away everything that meant anything to her.

She was crying because her boss had already shown how powerful he was. Even though sleeping with him was the last thing she wanted to do, she saw it as her only option. She needed the job and she didnt want her life ruined.

Would you be screaming sexual harassment? You should because this definitely fits the definition of sexual coercion and abuse. What a disgusting situation!!!

The story I told you is hypothetical. But, if we change the scenario slightly, the government, MSM, big tech, and many other corporate giants are making similar threats against millions of citizens who dont want to take the Covid vaccination. Magazines such as National Geographic have run articles about it. As the magazine puts it, those who refuse to get the vaccine may not be able to go to the office, attend a sporting event, even get a seat at a restaurant.

When people hear my original scenario about this woman whose boss is sexually harassing her, they are outraged. In fact, the #METOO movement is centered around situations like this. But, when people hear that our President is working with private industries to support a vaccine passport that will force many people to get the vaccine against their will, they cheer.

Is it because one only affects the individual, while the other affects all of us? Maybe its for the greater good? Some clearly believe that everyone should be coerced into stopping the spread.

If you agree with any of these reasons, I must ask if youve seen The Handmaids Tale? It takes place in a post-democratic America without guaranteed freedom. Radioactive fallout that left many individuals infertile is such a problem that fertile females are used as baby vessels -- for the greater good, to ensure the human race survives.

These women are forced to have sex with a man who basically owns them. Their rights are already greatly restricted. They have a curfew. They cant go out. They are completely controlled by the governing body. If they manage to get pregnant, they get more privileges, pampering, and extra rights. But if they refuse to cooperate, they face even harsher conditions.

That fictional scenario is eerily like words from Dr. Leana Wen, Public Health professor, at George Washington University. She said Americans need a carrot to incentivize them to get vaccinated. take the vaccine. We need to make it clear to them that the vaccine is the ticket back to pre-pandemic life. If people arent coerced, people are going to go out and enjoy these freedoms anyway. Ironically, she is a former Planned Parenthood president. You know  My body, my choice.

If we allow the government to take away peoples right to choose what to do with their bodies and to incentivize our freedoms based on whether we chose to take a vaccine, how do we know it will stop there? Are we sure that we wont be a vaccine version of handmaids in 10 years? Maybe theyll tell families how many children they are allowed to have, a la Communist China. Its for the greater good.

Dont fool yourself that this TV fiction could never happen in America. In the 1905 case of Jacobsen v. Massachusetts, the Supreme Court ruled that Jacobsen could not refuse the smallpox vaccination.

The Courts Progressive majority held that the Constitution does not always allow freedom for all because there are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subjected for the common good. For that reason, statute legislatures could mandate compulsory vaccinations, enforced by the states police power, to secure the general comfort, health and prosperity of the state.

In other words, for the greater good. (Smallpox, incidentally, had a 30% mortality rate.) Ultimately, Jacobson was fined $1,000 in todays dollars.

Given smallpoxs deadliness, maybe that was aberrant. However, Jacobsons case was later used against a woman named Carrie Buck with another Progressive Supreme Court agreeing that the government could forcibly sterilize her:

In one of the most chilling statements in American jurisprudence, Holmes declared, It is better for the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes . Three generations of imbeciles are enough!

If a case favoring mandatory vaccination could authorize forcible sterilization, why couldnt it be used for forcible impregnation? Or because of climate change, to place a limit on the number of children someone can have?

If you think The Handmaids Tale and Carrie Bucks case sound scary, you should think twice about giving the government and government-allied businesses the power to force people to carry a vaccine passport to resume normal life or to mandate vaccines, all for the greater good. When they use that power to come after something that is important to you, you can no longer say no.

IMAGE: The Handmaids Tale by Bernt Snvisen. CC BY 2.0.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Arizona AG Says Kamala Harris Hasnt Responded to His Invitation to Visit the Border

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said Thursday that Vice President Kamala Harris has not responded to his invitation to tour the southern border, criticizing the lack of response and insisting that the situation along the border is a humanitarian crisis on so many levels.

I guess if you were a philosopher you would say no response is a very loud response because weve not received any response, Brnovich told Fox Business in an interview.

Brnovich said Harris needs to look into the eyes of people being smuggled across the border, being exploited by the cartels and realize this is a humanitarian crisis on so many levels.

Its not fair to the migrants that think theyre being promised things, its not fair to the peoplethe hardworking taxpayers of this country who are going to have to subsidize and pay for health care and child care and other social services for these migrants, he added.

The Epoch Times reached out for comment to Harris spokesperson and the White House, but did not receive a response by publication.

U.S. authorities caught more than 171,000 illegal immigrants along the U.S.Mexico border in March, the highest monthly total in two decades. The surge of people migrating from Central American countries has become one of the biggest political challenges to the Biden administration, with Republicans blaming the wave of illegal border crossings on a rollback of Trump-era immigration policies and on messaging that many would-be migrants and human traffickers are interpreting as an invitation to come to the United States.

President Joe Biden put Harris in charge of the border crisis last month. Harris spokesperson, Symone Sanders, said on March 26 that the vice president had no plans in the near future to visit the U.S.-Mexico border region.

While Harris has not visited the border area, she and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador spoke by telephone on Wednesday to discuss how to address the surge in U.S.-bound migration from Central America.

Lopez Obrador has deployed the military and police to stem the flow of people from Central America to the United States, and during the call, Harris thanked him for his cooperation on immigration issues, according to a U.S. statement.

They agreed to continue to work together to address the root causes of migration from the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Hondurasincluding poverty, violence, and lack of economic opportunity, the statement said.

The Mexican presidency said in a statement the call included discussions to promote orderly, safe and regular migration, as well as protections for minors.

There is a willingness on our part to join forces in the fight against human smuggling and the protection of human rights, especially of girls and boys, Lopez Obrador said on Twitter after his conversation with Harris.

The two sides also agreed to boost cooperation to target human smuggling and human trafficking.

As part of its efforts to reshape U.S. border policies, the Biden administration has sought to address the root causes of migration from Northern Triangle countriesGuatelamala, Honduras, and El Salvadorthe source of most of the illegal immigrant flows into the United States. The administration is looking to provide assistance to those countries in a bid to address the living conditions there that motivate people to leave their homes.

Harris, in her call with Lopez Obrador, updated him on American efforts to surge humanitarian assistance to the Northern Triangle region.

As part of this effort, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced on April 6 that its deploying a disaster assistance response team to respond to what it said were urgent humanitarian needs in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

The United States, through USAID, has provided approximately $112 million in life-saving humanitarian aidincluding emergency food assistance, nutrition services, safe drinking water, shelter, programs to help people earn an income, and disaster risk reduction programs. Of this, $57 million is for people in Guatemala, $47 million in Honduras, and $8 million in El Salvador, the agency said.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation is a group of young working professionals who have come together to pool resources together aimed at alleviating the plight of the poor, the needy and the less privileged in society.



They do these by mobilizing resources both internally from members and externally from benevolent organizations and individuals. They all believe that The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.  Mahatma Ghandi.



The foundation has successfully undertaken 10 major projects since its inception; 5 orphanage projects and 5 other projects.



The five orphanage projects include donations to:



1. The Eye of the Lord Orphanage at Nsawam on March 31, 2018 - Eastern Region

2. City of Refuge Orphanage at Shai Hills on December 22, 2018 - Eastern Region

3. Porters Village Orphanage at Dodowa on April 19, 2019 - Eastern Region

4. Royal Seed Orphanage at Bawjiase - Central Region on December 21, 2019

5. Nector Foundation at Lower Manyo Krobo on May 1, 2020 - Eastern Region - Eastern Region



The five other projects include



1. Free Health screening at Junction Mall in 2019

2. Covid-19 donation at Gallery Slum Area, Accra on April 12, 2020 - a partnership with Axis Pension Trust

3. Face mask distribution at Chorkor and Jamestown on August 8, 2020 - a partnership with Give Me Hope Foundation

4. Feeding of street kids from 37 hospitals to Shiashi on September 11, 2020 - a partnership with Reggie Rockstone (Rockswaakye)

5. Love Feast Project at Takyikrom on December 19, 2020 - Eastern Region







In line with their 3rd Anniversary, they chose to move to Osamkrom to support the prisoners. Their motivation was based on Biblical inference on the following scripture.

a. Hebrews 13:3a

"Continue to remember those in prison as if you were there with them in prison".



b. Isaiah 61:1



"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings onto the meek, he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound"



The theme of the project was Behind Bars but not Bound.

Shedding more light on the theme, the President and Founder of Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation, Mr. Nicholas Cofie expressed his sentiments on the fact that; There is a misconception that, everyone in prison is guilty of a particular crime. The truth is that some prisoners are innocent. Even if they are guilty of a crime, there is the need to show them the love of God and bring them the saving knowledge of Christ. Crime knows no age and most of the cases in prison are because of lack of anger management. Anyone could find himself there.



PROFILE OF OSAMKROM PRISON CAMP



Osamkrom Camp prison, located in the Central Region of Ghana in a town called Osamkrom, started as an open camp and a farming station in the early 90s. It is situated on the main road off Agona-Swedru and Winneba Junction in the Gomoa East District; about 10 kilometers drive from Winneba Junction. It accommodates only male inmates with less sentences below six years. At Osamkrom Camp prison, inmates receive more counselling to be reoriented back into their communities. The prison engages inmates in farming activities, tailoring, and basketry. These inmates were about 250 in number and between the ages of 18years to 56years manned by about 165 officers who run on 3 shifts in a day.

Despite their small number with regards to the population of other prisons in Ghana, Osamkrom Prison had challenges ranging from logistics in the areas of infrastructure, Agriculture and Health.

The facility lacks a properly resourced infirmary to take care of the inmates. In an interview with ADP Justice Essumang, he revealed that there have been instances where inmates had to be transported to Cape Coast or Korle-bu in Accra to receive medical attention.



The Only pumping machine that helped to pump water to server the prison was broken down and they had to go days without taking their bath anytime supply from GWL is interrupted.

He also revealed that the facility lacked a tractor to support their Agriculture projects, yet for the year 2020, they supplied maize to the maximum-security prison at Ankaful, winneba local prison and one other station in Accra.



ACTIVITIES AND DONATION



At the facility, Members of Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation were welcomed by Sergeant Samuel Ofori spelling out the rules of the place.



Members were met by a musical interlude by the Osamkrom Prison Choir.

Formal introduction of prison officers was done by DSP. Delali, Mentioning ADP Justice Essumang (Agyenkwa) as the Director in Charge of Osamkrom prison, DSP Comfort Asuma  Head of Religious Affairs and ASP Kumah  Head of Tailoring.



Minister Jamin Benjamin Debrah and Madam Berlinda Asante led the inmates and delegation in a time of praise and Adoration.



Prophet Joseph Gabriel Obeng had the opportunity to give an exposition on the theme HOPE using Romans 15:12 and John 3:16. He used the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the occasion of the commemoration of Easter together with his own personal life testimonies to encourage the inmates. An altar call led about 27 inmates to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.



Reggie Rockstone (CEO of Rockzwaakye) and his wife, Zilla Limann ( Limann Foundation) , Mr. Ray Yorke Dadzie, Minister Benjamin Debrah and Abena Asante Asare of the myhelp-YourHelp Foundation encouraged the inmates.

4 big boxes of Bibles, a Book by Bishop Dag Heward-Mills (How to be born again and avoid hell) and Gospel tracts were distributed to the inmates.



The dedication of the new Corn Mill presented by Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation was done by Prophet Joseph Gabriel Obeng and the Project Coordinator, Mr Jeff Kwashie and received by ADP Justice Essumang.



Items presented in all include:

1. Corn Mill

2. 4 boxes of assorted drugs

3. 4 bags of gari

4. 2 bags of beans

5. 5 bags of Royal Aroma Rice

6. 400 pieces of branded face mask

7. 5 fully furnished hand washing facilities (5 Veronica buckets, 5 paper towels, 5 bottles of liquid soap, 5 basins for wastewater, 5 trash baskets)

8. 1 bag of sugar (50 kg)

9. 4 cartons of milk

10. 5 boxes of Indomie

11. 25 litres of oil (2 big gallons )

12. 60 cartons of water

13. Soft drinks for everyone- 1500 cedis

14. Food for Prisoners- 300 packs (provided by Rockzwaakye)

15. 11 packs of Toilet Rolls

16. 2 big sacks of Madar Washing Powder

17. 200 pieces of toothbrushes

18. 1 box of toothbrush

19. 3 boxes of Pepsodent toothpaste

20. 3 cartons of Dettol

21. 7 boxes of Savon medical soap

22. 30 wellington boots

23. 30 hoes

24. 20 cutlasses

25. 4 Boxes of YAZZ Toothbrush

26. 10 gallons of Liquid soap (large size)

27. HOW TO BE BORN AGAIN (Book by Bishop Dag Heward Mills) - 270pcs

28. Gospel tracks - 2 Boxes

29. 4 Boxes of Bibles

30. 3 boxes of Disposable masks



The inmates expressed their joy at the items presented and prayed that anyone linked with this gesture may neither find themselves nor their generation incarcerated.

Founder of Rockzwaakye who is also a hip life legend Mr. Reginald Yaw Asante Osei popular known as Reggie Rockstone together with his wife; Dr. Zilla Limann who supported the gesture by providing packs of waakye to feed the inmates, in an interview, promised to do more anytime opportunity beckons.



In a short meeting between the ADP and his vice, together with some executives of Myhelp-Yourhelp foundation, ASP Delali revealed that they were greatly astonished by the gesture of the Foundation. According to him, it is very rare for NGOs to reach out to prisons. Most support they get usually come from Religious settings.



Mr Nicholas Cofie in his closing remarks narrated how a member of the foundation, Mr Ray Yorke Dadzie, had spotted the prison in the bush on his way to Akim Oda a few years back and recommended a visit to the foundation. It had hence been in the plan but was halted by the restrictions imposed by the Covid 19 pandemic.



He further beckoned Government, public-spirited individuals, philanthropists and benevolent organizations as well as other international and local NGOs and the general public to lend a further helping hand to inmates of Osamkrom prisons who have plans to expand their kitchen, infirmary, common room and also fix their water pump and acquire a tractor for farming projects. Organizations may also support plans of building an ICT centre in future to train inmates.



He said the Foundation was unable to do many such projects since it relies mostly on the contributions of its members to undertake its projects. But he believed that, as stated by Hudson Taylor,  "God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply".



He further applauded the following Sponsors; Cocoa clinic, Jodi Construction, Rockzwaakye, Richman Identity, Asante Farms, Delma Foods, D&D Catering, Cake Haven Gh, Randa Cakes and More, Mr Opare of Labianca, Bishop Dag Heward Mills and all others who supported this mission in cash or kind.















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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Statement by Ambassador Flynn at Arria Meeting on the Situation in Myanmar

Statement

Thank you Chair, and I want to begin by joining you and others in expressing our deepest condolences on the passing of Prince Philip.

I also want to thank our briefers, in particular Sai Sam Kham and Daw Zin Mar Aung  thank you for your clear and powerful messages, for your courage in standing up for your fellow citizens and the people of Myanmar. Ireland stands with you.

Madam Chair,

In the 67 days that have passed since the coup, we have witnessed the extraordinary bravery of the people of Myanmar, who have shown that they will not allow their democratic will, their human rights, as well as the gains of a decade, be easily tossed aside.

Sadly, this courage has been met with brutal and escalating repression, with hundreds of innocent people killed. The violence has been indiscriminate, with civil society representatives, members of the media, healthcare workers, minorities, youths, even children, coming under attack.

We have also seen appalling incidents of sexual and gender based violence against women protestors.

This violence must end, and those responsible be held to account.

I also want to repeat again our call for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained, including political leaders.

Madam Chair,

From listening to the briefers, it is clear that the very future of Myanmar is now at stake. Thousands more people have been displaced, including many seeking refuge across neighbouring borders. The countrys economy, already severely impacted by the pandemic, has collapsed, and millions are descending into poverty and food insecurity. Fragile ceasefires with ethnic armed organisations are in danger and the threat of a fully-fledged civil war looms large.

This cannot be considered an internal matter and there can be no doubt that the crisis poses a threat to wider security in the region.

Madam Chair,

The events of the last weeks in Myanmar are an affront to the principles we all champion here at the UN. The international community cannot simply look the other way as the military not only fail to protect their citizens, but actively engage in the brutal repression and killing of unarmed civilians.

We need to send clear messages to the military that their actions will have consequences. Expressions of concern are no longer enough.

We support targeted financial sanctions, such as those imposed by the EU, against those who have seized power and the economic entities that sustain them.

We also have serious concerns regarding the continuing sale and supply of arms to Myanmar. We have seen how such weapons will be used  to gun down innocent civilians, including children. This cannot continue.

The plight of the Rohingya, remains of deep concern, as hopes for safe, voluntary and dignified return once again fade. We need to redouble our efforts to support the Rohingya and other displaced persons.

We recognise the vital support provided by Bangladesh and neighbouring countries. The full implementation of the Rakhine Advisory Commission Report is a fundamental step towards a better future, and we urge support for its work.

We also reiterate our strong support for the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, the ICC and ICJ in seeking to achieve accountability in Myanmar.

Madam Chair,

Ireland reaffirms our support to the Special Envoy of the Secretary General, Christine Schraner Burgener, and calls on the military to facilitate her immediate access to Myanmar. As has been said, that access was once again refused yesterday.

We also strongly support the efforts of our ASEAN partners to find a solution to this crisis and welcome the recent call for an ASEAN summit by its Chair to discuss the situation in Myanmar.

Madam Chair,

We are meeting here virtually, facilitated by the connective capacity of communications technology, while in the past days we have seen a further internet shutdown by the military in Myanmar.

Todays meeting demonstrates that the voices of the Myanmar people cannot be silenced. What we have heard from our briefers underlines the need for us all to work together to urgently find a sustainable and swift outcome to this crisis.

The people of Myanmar depend on it, and surely deserve it.

Thank you.

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I think one of the frustrations we have with the process is just how long the public access (counselor) can take  the request for review process. Weve long suspected that if the state  if the General Assembly and governor  decided to pour more resources into that office, Im sure the efficiency would necessarily improve. I dont know that the political will is there for that. But at the same time when a public body blows a statutory deadline by, you know, a month and a half, two months, I think theres got to be more accountability on that.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Thursday she would ask the central government to impose emergency measures in the capital region to stem a surge of COVID-19 infections.

Koike made the comments after a meeting with medical experts who warned of an explosive surge in cases that could exceed the third and most deadly wave of the pandemic so far. Experts also warned of a rise in more infectious mutant strains of the virus.

This is a very worrisome situation, Koike said. And we need to be more vigilant of the increase in the number of people infected with the mutant strains.

Osaka, Hyogo and Miyagi prefectures started a month of targeted lockdown measures on Monday to rein in a more virulent strain of the virus.

The new measures are based on a revised infection control law and can be applied to a narrower area than a state of emergency that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared for most of the country in early January.

The controls allow regional governments to order businesses to shorten hours and to impose fines of 200,000 yen ($1,820) or publish the names of those that do not comply. Additionally, residents are being asked to work from home and to refrain from activities such as karaoke.

Cases are on an uptrend in Tokyo, which is due to host the Summer Olympic Games from late July, with Wednesdays 555 new infections the highest since early February. On Thursday, the tally was 545.

Japan has also been relatively slow in inoculating its citizens, with just 1 million people having received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine - the only one approved so far - since February out of a population of 126 million.

(REUTERS)
Eamonn Holmes has detailed how a dislocated pelvis started his chronic health battle as he waits for results of an MRI scan because his pain has have escalated.

The TV personality, 61, who co-hosts ITV's This Morning with wife Ruth Langsford, joked an interview with the Irish Independent that his injury is 'nowhere near as erotic as it sounds'.

He told the publication: 'I mysteriously dislocated my pelvis and I dont know how  its not as erotic as it sounds. My back is now out of alignment as a result.'

Source of the pain: Eamonn Holmes has detailed how a dislocated pelvis started his chronic health battle as he continues to wait for results of MRI scan (stock image)

Eamonn first spoke about his dislocated pelvis back in March and had an MRI scan last week to have further tests done after being left in chronic pain. He has not received those results yet.

The Belfast native went on to reveal that since he spoke of his gruelling pain on social media, he found it 'absolutely scary' the number of people who are also living with chronic pain.

'Nobody knows what its like unless they live with someone who has it.' he said. 'Im in huge pain and nobody knows how to stop it.

'This hurts like hell and I need to find a way to overcome it. It has lasted a month and it feels like I cant remember what life was like without the pain.'

Eamonn has since helped alleviate his pain with physiotherapy and ice cold showers, which have left him feeling 'invigorated' amid his health woes.

Hospital visit: Eamonn returned home from having tests in hospital after struggling with chronic 'pain he's never experienced in his life' last Friday

'Though when the physio suggested them I told him to go run and jump,' added the presenter, showing his signature dry wit.

Eamonn was seen putting on a brave face as he returned to front This Morning alongside wife Ruth on Tuesday, after detailing his plight with chronic pain.

The star  who had an MRI scan last week and was waiting on his diagnosis at the time  said his condition was 'too difficult to explain' after Ruth explained that viewers had been asking how he was doing.

Eamonn replied: 'Since the last time I saw you I'm doing very well, thank you for asking.'

He continued: 'It's too difficult to explain. We're not here to talk about my troubles and my pain.'

Candid: The star, 61, who had an MRI scan last week and is waiting on his diagnosis, said his condition is 'too difficult to explain'. Pictured with wife Ruth Langsford

Eamonn returned home from having tests in hospital after struggling with chronic 'pain he's never experienced in his life' last Friday.

The presenter has said he 'needs to find out what's causing' him pain all over his body and has revealed he has no diagnosis as of yet.

And Ruth, 61, admitted it would take longer than the episode's run time to explain Eamonn's condition, as she said: 'We could be here all day. We've only got two-and-a-half hours.'

Eamonn previously admitted his rehab plan included an hour of physio followed by a bracing cold shower.

Sharing a tweet with followers, he wrote: 'Physio just left after second session of the day. He said my body was hot result being that I needed to cool off with my second cold shower of the day. Let's hope it helps me sleep soundly Zzzzz.'

Out of alignment: He told the Irish Independent, 'I mysteriously dislocated my pelvis and I dont know how... My back is now out of alignment as a result'

Treatment: Eamonn previously admitted his rehab plan included an hour of physio followed by a bracing cold shower

Gruelling: The presenter took to Twitter to admit the physical therapy would either 'kill me or cure me' as he joked about getting 'match fit' for his return to This Morning

On Tuesday night, Eamonn revealed he had undergone a second physio session of the day and he was advised to have his second cold shower of the day.

He wrote on Twitter: 'Physio just left after 2nd session of the day . He said my body was hot ... result being that I Needed to cool off with my 2nd Cold Shower of the day.....Let's hope it helps me sleep soundly Zzzzz (sic)'

Earlier in the day, Eamonn admitted he had undergone a physio session at 4.30am ahead of co-hosting This Morning.

He tweeted: 'Hey , busy day so far ..... 1 hour physio at 4.30 am to get match fit for today's #ThisMorning .... followed by the Cold shower routine !

'All this will either kill me or cure me. So far , so good though and remember I'm going to be sharing your #ChronicPain stories & advice. (sic)'

It was on Monday's episode that Eamonn admitted his suffering was due to a back injury.

He said: 'Those of you who follow me on social media will know, about a month ago I did something to my back, I don't know how I did it, getting into the car, getting out of a car, getting out of bed, whatever.

'I've got an MRI scan, but the trouble is, everything closes for Easter, I haven't got it analysed yet, but what I do know is, I can't sleep at night.

'The pain is absolutely worse at night. The humbling thing is when you go on social media and you talk to people who suffer from this, age isn't a barrier, where you live isn't a barrier, how much you earn isn't a barrier.'

Eamonn's situation prompted a phone-in on the show about chronic pain.

Struggles: On Monday's show, the presenter used a walking stick to enter the studio as his wife Ruth admitted it 'takes him so long walking'

He added: 'So many of you have this chronic pain situation, from all different sources. So let's talk about this, let's talk to each other, let's talk to a doctor, we are talking to a pain expert.

'I've had this a month, I hope I won't have this much longer, but there are people who have lived with chronic pain their whole lives.'

Later on the show, the presenter used a walking stick to enter the studio as his wife Ruth admitted it 'takes him so long walking'.

She said: 'Many of you who follow Eamonn on social media know he has been talking a lot about chronic pain. It's ironic actually he's not here as he had to nip to the loo.

'Because it takes him so long walking, he's just on his way back and he will be here any minute. Here he is, it takes him longer to walk.'
Michigans first residents who received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal clinic housed inside Ford Field in Detroit will soon be due for their second doses.

But if youre one of those partially-vaccinated residents, you might have noticed that your vaccine card notes a date for your second shot but no scheduled appointment time.

On Friday, April 9, the state health department announced that Meijer has begun reaching out to the programs first round of vaccine recipients regarding their second appointment.

The vaccine administered throughout the first three weeks at Ford Field was developed by Pfizer and granted emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December. It recommends a second dose spaced 21 days after the first shot for maximum effectiveness.

If you got your first dose of vaccine from Ford Field between March 23 and April 12, you should come back the same day of the week and same time of day as your first appointment. The date should be noted on the back of your vaccine card.

Theres an exception: If you received your first dose at 7:30 p.m. or later, you should arrive for your second dose no later than 7:30 p.m. for your second dose, as the last appointment slots have been moved from 8:30 p.m. up to 7:30 p.m.

Related: Ford Field was supposed to serve Black Detroiters. Instead, the rest of Michigan took advantage.

Meijer will be sending out reminder text messages or calls three days before your appointment, according to the state health department.

As of the end of the day Wednesday, April 8, Ford Fields clinic had administered 79,343 doses of vaccine, according to the states online vaccine dashboard.

The Ford Field vaccination site was selected by President Joe Bidens administration as part of a federal pilot program. It is managed by the state with support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Wayne County, Detroit, Ford Field, Meijer and the Henry Ford Health System and Detroit Lions.

For six weeks, the site will administer first- and second- dose shots of Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine through the end of April. Then the site will open up appointments for two weeks at which it will administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which only requires one dose for maximum efficacy.

As was the case for your first dose, parking and the shot it itself is free. Residents who need assistance obtaining transportation will be able to access free-of-charge ride sharing options, according to the governors office.

Michigan has administered nearly 5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine since mid-December. An estimated 38.7% of residents 16 years and older have gotten their first shot, and 24.4% have completed their vaccine program.

Read more on MLive:

Whitmer asks high schools, youth sports to pause for two weeks  but doesnt order it

Michigan coronavirus data for Friday, April 9: Tuscola, St. Clair counties surpass 30% test positivity

Coronavirus testing is down in Michigan, but its no less important as cases surge

Long Covid continues to stump doctors and exhaust those fighting months-long battles
(CNN)  Two Venezuelan mayors are in hot water after marking the houses of potential Covid-19 patients with warning signs -- a measure that has been harshly criticized by civil rights NGOs and has prompted an investigation by Venezuela's attorney general.

In a video posted on his official Instagram account on Tuesday, Mayor Luis Adrian Duque of Guama, a small village in the central Venezuelan state of Yaracuy, announced the measure as part of the town lockdown policy.

"We are protecting our people, [this sign] indicates a positive case or a potential case, so that people are aware," Duque says in the video, pointing to a red prohibition sign placed on the window of a local house.

People caught removing the Covid-19 signs on their homes would be fined 10 million bolivars, a sum out of reach for many in Venezuela, where the minimum monthly salary is less than a US dollar. Those who were not able to pay the fine would be required to serve days of "voluntary" community services, Duque said.

A photo posted by mayor's office in the neighboring city of San Felipe also showed local officers standing next to a similar "quarantine" sign. The photo, which touted Mayor Rogger Daza's campaign against the coronavirus, has since been removed from social media.

Some users on social media commended Mayor Duque for taking a strong stance against the pandemic, which has piled stress on a health sector already damaged by seven years of economic crisis.

According to figures collected by the Venezuelan government, the country has reported a total of 169, 074 cases and 1,693 deaths. However, health officials and the Venezuelan opposition have questioned the government's capacity to collect and analyze data, and warned the real number of cases could be much higher.

But criticism of the strategy was also fierce. Local Venezuelan NGO "Access to Justice" condemned the signs as harmful to the dignity of the patients, and a civil rights group in Yaracuy has called for a virtual protest on social media, since public gatherings are banned in Venezuela under lockdown rules.

Miguelangel Delgado, 33, of San Felipe, deplored the signs as a way of instilling fear. "People are afraid, there's a lot of rejection towards this way of dealing with the pandemic, but there's also a lot of fear to be singled out."

Henry Narvae, 23, a local resident, told CNN the practice that such extreme containment measures were distraction from an actual lack of health services. "The only solution the authorities put in place is to limit the citizens without providing any assistance," he said.

"Here in Guama, the Mayor has taken to mark houses and terrify the population with the military, which reminds me of the Nazis, while the town only has one ambulance to move patients," he added.

Neither Duque nor Daza responded to CNN's attempts to contact both mayors by phone and messages. A spokesperson from Yaracuy's governor Julio Leon, who's currently in quarantine with coronavirus, told CNN the governor's office was aware of the signs displayed in Guama, but did not elaborate if Duque faced any censure from local authorities. They also said they would get back in touch with a response, but that hasn't happened so far.

Late on Wednesday night, the Venezuelan attorney general Tarek William Saab announced an investigation into Duque's actions, calling them "macabre" and not sanctioned by the Venezuelan government. Saab confirmed to CNN Duque was under investigation but said he could not comment on the ongoing case. The attorney general took several hours to intervene in the situation, and when he did so, social media was in flames around the issue.

The two mayors are not alone in ordering drastic measures in an attempt to contain the virus. Embattled President Nicolas Maduro himself has taken the extreme step of ordering that all potential Covid-19 cases be hospitalized either in local hospitals or quarantined in ad-hoc facilities at hotels and recreation centers.

On Thursday morning, however, at least one of the Covid-19 signs displayed in Guama had been removed Narvae told CNN, describing it as a small sign of defiance. "The mayor wants to give the impression of control, but people are not okay with it," he said.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Backlash after mayors marked homes with Covid-19 warning signs in Venezuela".
Prince Philip, who died on Friday at the age of 99, was a decorated World War II veteran who fought in a number of naval battles, including one bloody exchange in the dead of night.

Allied forces delivered a devastating blow to the Italian navy at Cape Matapan just off Greece on March 28, 1941, sinking several enemy vessels.

Three British Royal Navy battleships closed with Italian warships in the dark, catching the enemy force off guard. It was the kind of close-quarters gun battle that ship radar advancements would make rare. Philip, who was then a 19-year-old midshipman on the HMS Valiant, was manning the searchlights for finding enemies that night.

"I seem to remember that I reported that I had a target in sight, and was ordered to 'open shutter'. The beam lit up a stationary cruiser, but we were so close by then that the beam only lit up half the ship," Philip recalled in the forward of the 2012 history book Dark Seas: The Battle of Cape Matapan.

Philip said that "at this point all hell broke loose as all our eight 15-inch guns started firing at the stationary cruiser, which disappeared in an explosion and a cloud of smoke."

"I was then ordered to 'train left' and lit up another Italian cruiser, which was given the same treatment," he said.

During the nighttime fight, British warships sank three cruisers and two destroyers, some in a matter of minutes. The Italians lost more than 2,000 sailors. One account from the battle said that "thousands of bodies were strung over fifteen miles of sea off Cape Matapan."

For his actions during the battle, Philip was awarded the Greek War Cross, a military decoration for heroism.

Two years later, Philip took part in the allied invasion of Sicily, serving as a first lieutenant and second-in-command aboard the destroyer HMS Wallace, a ship he is credited with helping save from an enemy bomber with a bit of quick thinking.

Harry Hargreaves, a former Royal Navy sailor who served with Philip aboard the Wallace, recalled the events of the 1943 fight in the early 2000s in discussions with British media.

He said that the Wallace was facing almost certain destruction by a German Luftwaffe bomber. "It was obvious that we were the target for tonight and they would not stop until we had suffered a fatal hit," he said.

He said that in that terrifying moment, he saw Philip in a hurried conversation with the ship's captain, presumably trying to come up with a plan of action before the bomber came back around.

"The next thing a wooden raft was being put together on deck," the former yeoman said. "Within five minutes they launched the raft over the side, at each end was fastened a smoke float." Once the raft was in the water, smoke began to billow up, as it might from a wounded warship.

The captain relocated the Wallace and then ordered engines stopped, sitting quietly in the darkness, bracing for the next attack. When the bomber circled back around for another run, it targeted the raft billowing smoke as though on fire. The plan had worked.

"Prince Philip saved our lives that night," Hargreaves told British media. "He was always very courageous and resourceful and thought very quickly. You would say to yourself 'What the hell are we going to do now?' and Philip would come up with something."

Several years after the end of World War II, Philip became admiral of the Sea Cadet Corps, colonel-in-chief of the Army Cadet Force, and air commodore-in-chief of the Air Training Corps. The following year, he was promoted to admiral of the fleet, field marshal, and marshal of the Royal Air Force.

Philip met his future wife of more than seven decades, Queen Elizabeth II, as a young cadet at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth just a few years before the war.

"It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," Buckingham Palace announced Friday. "His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle."

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Britain's the Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away at the age of 99 on Friday morning, made three memorable royal visits to India in his long years of accompanying the 94-year-old monarch during her nearly 69-year reign.

The UK's longest-serving royal consort joined the Queen in India in 1961, 1983 and 1997 during which he made quite an impression with his sense of humour, which often also got him into some controversy.

During his 1961 visit to India, he was pictured with the Queen and the Maharaja and Maharani of Jaipur with a dead eight-foot tiger he had shot while on a hunt. It happened to be the same year he became president of the World Wildlife Fund

He also shot a crocodile and mountain sheep on that trip but it was the photograph of the tiger that caused ripples around the world.

Later in life, he went on to reinvent himself as an environmentalist and champion of the natural world as Prime Minister Boris Johnson referred to him in his tribute on Friday.

During Prince Philip's last visit to India to mark the 50th anniversary of independence in 1997, he joined the Queen on a visit to Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, where the royals laid a commemorative wreath at the site associated with General Dyer's orders to open fire on a large Baisakhi gathering in April 1919.

As someone known for his gaffes, among his many infamous ones includes his query of the death toll at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

"Two thousand? It wasn't, was it," he questioned, as he passed by a plaque at the memorial, which read This place is saturated with the blood of about two thousand Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims who were martyred in a non-violent struggle".

"That's wrong. I was in the Navy with Dyer's son. That's a bit exaggerated it must include the wounded," he is reported to have said.

Among his other gaffes included a quip at Indian-origin entrepreneur Atul Patel during a Buckingham Palace reception for hundreds of successful British Indians in 2009: There's a lot of your family in tonight.

Ten years earlier, while inspecting a factory in Edinburgh and coming across an old-fashioned fuse box, he said: It looks as if it was put in by an Indian.

It had become common practice for the media to regularly compile a list of the Duke's many gaffes, many of which were believed to have been made in a light-hearted vein.

Philip was born on June 10, 1921, on the Greek island of Corfu, the youngest child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg. That heritage made him a Prince of Greece and Denmark, but the following year the family was expelled from Greece after a coup and a British warship carried them to safety in Italy with baby Philip.

His childhood was turbulent and in 1930, when he was eight years old, his mother was committed to a secure psychiatric centre after suffering a nervous breakdown, a story most recently covered in the Netflix series The Crown'.

When Philip left school in Scotland, Britain was on the verge of war with Germany and he joined the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, the UK's naval academy. He went on to serve with distinction in World War II, seeing military action for the first time in the Indian Ocean.

When King George VI paid an official visit to the naval academy in July 1939, Philip was charged with entertaining his young daughters, Princesses Elizabeth later to be Queen and Margaret. He made an impression on the then 13-year-old Elizabeth and the couple were to later get married after a courtship through letters.

The erstwhile Prince of Greece and Denmark became a naturalised British subject, formally joined the Church of England and gave up his foreign titles.

On his wedding day, November 20, 1947, he was made Duke of Edinburgh, aged 26. The couple's marriage was to last 73 years, during which the Queen described him as her strength and stay, and they had four children the eldest and heir to the throne Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. He is also survived by eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

As the Queen's consort, his primary function was to support his wife and he accompanied her extensively alongside his own royal charities and patronages until his retirement from royal duties in 2017.

(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.)
Although the number of COVID-19 patients in German intensive care units has been rising exponentially for four weeks, the federal and state governments refuse to close schools and businesses to contain the pandemic. In recent weeks, medical and scientific experts have been insisting on the implementation of a hard lockdown, as the more infectious and deadly B.1.1.7 virus strain is spreading unhindered and is now responsible for over 90 percent of all new infections, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

Virologist Christian Drosten

I think all virologists agree that we need a hard lockdown immediately in this critical phase of the third wave, Oliver Keppler, a professor of virology at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, told the Tagesschau TV news on Tuesday. Honestly, I ask myself: where is it? It should have been implemented by now. There is no alternative. And we need it now, and preferably uniformly throughout Germany.

The German government, however, is doing absolutely nothing to comply with this demand. Instead, the government plans to expand its vaccination programme as infection incidence figures rise, in what amounts to a recipe for the emergence of vaccine-resistant virus mutants, according to experts such as Max Planck researcher Viola Priesemann.

Only a fortnight ago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel personally reversed the so-called Easter Truce adopted by all state heads to contain the spread of the virus. Yesterday, she announced via an official spokesperson that the call for a short uniform lockdown was correct but that there was currently no discernible majority for early federal-state consultations to decide on further measures.

The declared role model for the latest stage of the contagion policy is that adopted by the government in the state of Saarland. On Tuesday the state coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPU) initiated the opening up of outdoor restaurants, fitness studios, theatres and cinemas, although the number of infections is increasing in all urban and rural districts across the state, and the last meeting of the federal and state governments concluded that the opening up of public facilities should only take place in selected regions.

The Saarland initiative, flanked by unscientific rapid test regulations, is highly controversial even among those who could potentially benefit. According to a survey by the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Saarland, almost 60 percent of all members said they wanted to wait with opening up despite a large loss of income.

As reported by Saarlandischer Rundfunk, the so-called emergency brakewhich consists of largely ineffective measuresis to be pulled only when there is a threat of an overloading of the health system. Such a step-by-step plan, based on the number of free intensive care beds and other parameters apart from infection incidence, has been repeatedly demanded by right-wing advocates of herd immunity during the recent weeks and months.

With regard to Saarland and similar model projects in the states of Lower Saxony, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, virologist Sandra Ciesek (Institute for Medical Virology Frankfurt) told NDR news on Tuesday: If opening up takes place then citizens must be clear that this has nothing to do with health safety. Instead of containing the pandemic based on a scientific testing strategy, responsibility is being shifted to the citizen, she noted. The impression must not be given, Ciesek said, that this is safeany consequences from the current vaccination plan are not yet in sight and, tend moreover, to be overestimated.

Even a four-week lockdown in which contacts are reduced by up to 50 percent is insufficient to reverse the current trend, the virologist noted, referring to recent statements made by the CDU leader Armin Laschet. At the beginning of the week, Laschet, premier in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), spoke of the advisability of a so-called bridging lockdown for two, three weeks, but refrained from making any concrete demands for the closure of schools, day-care centres and businesses.

Although the weekly incidence has exceeded the danger level of 100 (per 100,000 people) in about 30 urban and rural districts of NRW, many areas are not even implementing the emergency brake already decided upon. If we as doctors clearly act against evidence, it has massive consequences, Ciesek recently declared on Twitter, adding, when politicians do, it doesnt matter.

As the World Socialist Web Site reported, this anti-science and inhumane policy is being pursued by all bourgeois parties. In the Left Party-led state of Thuringia, the weekly incidence is higher than 100 in 19 urban and rural districts and exceeds 200 in eight districts (392 in the Greiz district). The statewide average incidence of 217 during past weeks is almost double the national average.

The proportion of intensive care beds occupied by COVID-19 patients is already 35 percent in Thuringia, close to the previous high, when more than 1,000 people died daily on a national basis in January. Although the average age of admitted patients continues to fall, more than half require artificial respiration. Despite this, state Premier Bodo Ramelow and Education Minister Helmut Holter (both Left Party) decided in March that schools in Thuringia would no longer be obliged to close, even though incidence rates were over 200.

What is currently being implemented is a policy of contagion, virology professor Melanie Brinkmann stated on the talk show Markus Lanz on Friday. What is the goal? Not to overload intensive care units? That is pretty stupid and absolutely the wrong goal, she said, struggling for words. We could have had incidence levels in low double figures by now if politicians at the federal-state conference in January had taken seriously the advice we gave them.

She also said that there had been no response to the B.1.1.7 virus, even though medical models had clearly predicted in January the current catastrophic development. Brinkmann concluded, One could have stopped the spread of this more infectious variant if one wanted to.

Politicians and industry chiefs, however, didnt want tojust as they did not want to prevent the global spread of SARS-CoV-2 in March last year. In a recent Twitter post addressing the issue, virologist Isabella Eckerle of Geneva University Hospitals notes:

I have more and more the feeling that containing the pandemic, or even dealing with data objectively, was never the goal among some politicians. Rather, the decisive factor for decision-makers is only the question of how to let it take its course without being held responsible afterwards. According to the researcher, there is no other explanation for the seemingly completely irrational decisions.

In fact, the criminal and deliberate decisions taken by the ruling elite reflect the irrationality of the capitalist world system, in which the pandemic is increasingly turning into a factor in imperialist geopolitics. This was expressed unequivocally by Chancellor Merkel in a government statement in December, when she stressed that the pandemic was reordering the balance of power of the great powers in global systemic competition.

In order to enforce the murderous contagion policy, the German ruling class has from the beginning of the pandemic been able to rely on a well-oiled propaganda machine consisting of the tabloid press, pseudo-scientific careerists and state disinformation. Working together, these forces have driven up profits and the German stock market to its current all-time high of over 15,000 points, while hundreds of thousands have died a painful death across Europe.

In his coronavirus update on Tuesday last week, Professor Christian Drosten referred to the classic motives of science denial in political debate, with which one is familiar from the climate debate. These factors include, among others, various pseudo experts with professorial and doctoral degrees, such as the signatories of the Great Barrington Declaration and the KBV Statement. The main lines of science denial are then topped up by false impartiality in media reporting, ad hominem attacks in leading newspapers, misleading analogies such as comparisons to seasonal flu, along with the claim that one must learn to live with the virusthe notorious credo of the proponents of mass contagion centred on the figure of Bonn virologist Hendrik Streeck.

Taken together, according to Drosten, media and politics in association with certain social groups have made a major contribution to disinformation. In light of the widespread denial of science in political circles, he was not sure whether the necessary measure, i.e., a new lockdown, would ultimately be chosen.

These scathing verdicts on Germanys pandemic policy from leading COVID-19 experts illustrate once again the hostility to science and basic human interests prevailing under capitalism. As a result of the governments ruthless contagion policy, more than 77,000 people have died of coronavirus in Germany alone. The dramatic experience of the last few months shows that the pandemic cannot be defeated by appeals to those in power.

In his podcast contribution, Drosten warned the government that the population could resist its profits-before-life policy by intervening independently: If we get a high incidence wave, then the population will respond in its own way. This will then result in real damage to the economy. Back in March, physicist and government adviser Dirk Brockmann, faced with the refusal of the federal and state governments to impose the necessary lockdown, told Die Zeit, I think people realise they have to fight the pandemic themselves.

It is this programme that must now be put into action. In order for workers to fight the pandemic themselves and bring about a genuine lockdown through a European-wide general strike to close schools and all nonessential businesses, new organisations able to act in an internationally coordinated way are needed. A scientific and rational health programme can only be implemented on the basis of a socialist perspective, against the resistance of nationally organised capitalists.
At age 88, Fred Lorenz, who lives near Cleveland, gave up driving during the past year but wanted a final drive in his beloved 1946 Hudson pickup.

Little did he or his family know hed end up 350 miles away in Kingston.

He was glad people could have a good giggle over it, Lorenzs daughter Ann Garton said, noting her dad has since joked hes now famous.

Lorenz, who was reported missing for hours but found safe here Monday night, had just spent a beautiful Easter weekend in Ohio with family after they all got their COVID-19 vaccinations, Garton said. They all went out for beers at his sons new bar in Cleveland.

Then Lorenz dropped a surprise: He was gifting his prized antique truck to Gartons son  his 17-year-old grandson, Eamon, of Davenport, Iowa.

But first, Lorenz wanted to have the vehicle serviced at a garage near his house in Leroy Twp., a suburb of Cleveland.

That led to a debate with his wife, 80, a retired nurse, about whether he should or could drive.

He wasnt going to give in. My mom thought she could keep him safe and told him to follow her, Garton said.

At some point during the short drive, Lorenz, who has dementia, took a wrong turn and got lost.

Family soon reported him missing, but he wasnt spotted until 10 hours later when a Kingston police officer pulled him over for driving extremely slow and in the middle of a two-lane road.

During those hours, family worried he might have crashed or even died in his beloved truck, named Jethro, yet felt oddly content even if that had happened, Garton said.

If we didnt have such a good outcome, he had a great Easter weekend and what a way to go, Garton said.

After being evaluated at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, Lorenz was picked up by a family member from Philadelphia. His son later traveled to Philadelphia and took him back to Ohio on Wednesday night.

Garton said that while her father has dementia, hes still very with it and knew he was lost.

He kept thinking he could figure it out and wasnt able to. Its very typical of that disease, she said. Its embarrassing to have to go up to people and say, Im lost. Youre recognizing it and admitting it to yourself.

Garton said her fathers driving prowess during the 10 hours and 350 miles should be admired. The vehicle doesnt have power steering and is equipped with the old-school three-on-the-tree manual transmission shifter on the steering column.

She said her son  the trucks soon-to-be owner  is experienced in operating it; in Iowa, kids can start driving at age 14, and Lorenz taught him well.

For now, the car is at Kingston police headquarters, where it was taken for storage until arrangements could be made to transport it back to the Lorenz family in Ohio.

Garton said her father and Officer Tom McTague, who pulled him over, talked extensively and became best buds.

My understanding is Tom was an absolute delight. He was very empathic and looked out for my fathers safety, Garton said. I cant say enough good things about them.
By Dixie Reid

In a few years, motorists traveling along Sacramentos Ramona Avenue will see cutting-edge autonomous and electric vehicles silently traversing hills and curves on a test track outside the California Mobility Center (CMC).

The large-scale track will be the public showpiece at The Hub: Sacramento State Research Park, where CMCs permanent ramp-up factory will sit on 25 acres owned by the University. The site at 3100 Ramona Ave., about a half mile south of the campus, is expected to be developed in five to seven years.

Mechanical Engineering undergraduate Derek Heinemann works to install equipment in the California Mobility Center. (Sacramento State/Andrea Price)

Sac State bought the acreage, once home to a California Youth Authority correctional facility, from the state for a discounted $2.3 million in 2005. The University intended to build student and faculty housing there until the 2008-09 recession put those plans on hold. The University used the land as a remote parking site for students during construction of Parking Structure 5, which opened in 2018.

The Ramona Avenue property is within the Sacramento Center for Innovation, the citys set-aside for innovative business and clean technology industries. The location is ideal for eventual development of CMCs permanent ramp-up factory, promising ready access to technology innovators as well as to Sac State students and faculty, said Jonathan Bowman, the Universitys vice president for Administration and chief financial officer, as well as CMCs secretary/treasurer.

Sac State is involved with the CMC because of the great partnership opportunities, Bowman said. Student interns will get hands-on experience with developing technologies, and CMC clients will benefit from those same students in the commercialization of their products.

This could lead to the creation of Sac State programs specifically geared toward these emerging technologies, giving our students valuable experiences that are difficult to obtain elsewhere, Bowman added.

(Story continues below image)

Currently in Depot Park, the California Mobility Center eventually will be moved to facilities in The Hub: Sacramento State Research Park, which is expected to be completed near campus in the next few years. (Sacramento State/Sam Macapagal)

In the meantime, CMC is setting up in leased quarters at Depot Park in south Sacramento, where activity continues to grow following the centers official launch in March.

Sacramento State is a founding member of CMC, a nonprofit, public-private business acceleration hub that aspires to become a leading global innovation and commercialization center and to set the pace in electric mobility.

Mechanical Engineering graduate student Sarah Moseley attends to a lathe during ongoing work to set up the California Mobility Center. (Sacramento State/Andrea Price)

University President Robert S. Nelsen acknowledges CMCs technological and business importance, while emphasizing the synergy it has with Sac State, as well as the impact it can have on students.

CMC is targeted at creating sustainable transportation, and sustainability is what Sac State has been about for a long, long time, said Nelsen, a member of the CMC board, which includes representatives from SMUD, the Greater Sacramento Economic Council (GSEC), EnerTech Capital, Toyota Research Institute, UC Davis, and Microsoft, among other thought leaders in clean technology innovation. This is exciting from an entrepreneurial standpoint, because it brings start-ups  new companies  to life here.

And our students will have the chance to work in actual manufacturing, in a plant where they will create prototypes of new technology.

Sac State is positioned to play an important role, said Yvonne Harris, associate vice president for the Universitys Offices of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development (ORIED).

(W)hen an innovation hub like CMC is connected to a university, it is in a position to use the universitys resources, talents, and mechanisms to speed that along, Harris said. This has been done in other industry sectors, but Sacramento State is the first in respect to mobility, clean energy, and emerging technologies.

CMCs ramp-up factory occupies a vast warehouse at the former U.S. Army Depot. It is being outfitted with large-scale equipment, ranging from a 13-foot welding table and an electric plasma cutter, to a Dynamic 1340G metal lathe and vehicle lifts embedded in the concrete floor.

Sac State student-interns have been on site for several weeks, validating the machinery and running tests to help ensure readiness when CMCs first client arrives in mid-May.

Mike Bell, a Sac State Mechanical Engineering professor, smiles as efforts continue inside the California Mobility Center. (Sacramento State/Andrea Price)

Its exciting to see how the technology will evolve and to watch this warehouse be brought up from nothing to what it will be, said Sarah Moseley 20 (Mechanical Engineering), now a graduate student in Mechanical Engineering. Her first client project is to retrofit a trailer with clean technology for CleanStart, a Sacramento-based nonprofit.

The first assignment for Derek Heinemann, a Mechanical Engineering undergraduate, is to design an adaptor for the facilitys entrance ramp that will allow oversize vehicles to enter.

Currently, Sac State has five student-interns committed to working at the site. Sierra College and American River College each have one.

The students are mentored by Mike Bell, professor of Mechanical Engineering at Sac State and the ramp-up factorys chief engineer. He also is executive director of Sacramento States newly created Office of Clean Energy and Mobility Technologies (OCEMT), which is within ORIED.

OCEMT connects Sac State and CMC.

The University is where the human capital is in place, Harris said. Given the emerging clean-energy and mobile technologies that CMC is focused on, we have the College of Engineering and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics that will all work together based on specific projects where CMC clients need that level of expertise.

CMCs clients will pay a fee for business consultation and may rent use of the factorys growing collection of equipment. When the clients need help with testing and reaching viable commercialization, Bell can provide student-interns and Sac State faculty to work with them.

Jonathan Bowman.

Bowman, the Sac State administrator, offers a simple outline of the centers purpose and methods:

Say that someone wants to build a new electric scooter and has an idea for the battery, Bowman said. Instead of this new company buying manufacturing equipment and hiring business people to help them strategize, they come to CMC.

They will get early-stage advice on how to build their business and are walked through all the processes that can help them have that battery and scooter commercially viable and ready for production.

With that anticipated success, CMC and other organizations such as GSEC look for the newly viable companies to set up their manufacturing operations in Sacramento, Bowman said, And we hope that our student-interns would get jobs with them.

CMC is targeted at creating sustainable transportation, and sustainability is what Sac State has been about for a long, long time. This is exciting from an entrepreneurial standpoint, because it brings start-ups . . . to life here." - President Robert S. Nelsen

The vast spaces of the California Mobility Center, in its current Depot Park location before an eventual move to The Hub: Sacramento State Research Park, are meant to facilitate critical transportation innovations and advancements. (Sacramento State/Andrea Price)

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Climate groups have criticised the appointment of former Origin Energy chief executive Grant King to lead the Climate Change Authority, the independent body that advises the government on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In making the appointment, Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor described Mr King as a thought leader with 40 years of experience in energy, finance, infrastructure and sustainability who had already contributed to the governments emissions reductions policy.

The newly appointed chairman of the Climate Change Authority, Grant King. Credit:Philip Gostelow

Also appointed to the board were Susie Smith, chief executive of the Australian Industry Greenhouse Network, and banker John McGee.

Mr Taylor said, due to his industry and policy advisory experience Mr King was perfectly suited to the role.
The Ministry of Finance is working on a state aid scheme for strategic projects, worth over 100 million euros, Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare told an online event on Friday.

"It is an extremely important development resource [National Resilience And Recovery Plan - editor's note]. Obviously, we are all waiting to close negotiations with the European Commission and have a document agreed at the European level. All Member States are now in the process of negotiations. We, for instance, the Ministry of Finance, we are starting discussions next week, on Tuesday, on this model that we presented to the public last week, which involves 850 million euros per total ministry, of which about 280 million will be only for digitalisation projects. It is a significant addition to the previous version of the PNRR, which had around 100 million for digitalisation, so we tried to come up with some important additions, especially in terms of reforms, but also investment projects. So, besides 280 million euros for digitalisation we intend to finance including the project on cash registers, for which we have over 150 million euros, but at the same time we need an additional amount for the state aid schemes area, for we need to create a state aid scheme for strategic projects," Alexandru Nazare told an online conference called "Upgrade Romania - Investments, the Lifeblood of the Economy," organized by DC News, agerpres.ro confirms.

He mentioned that these are projects larger than 100 million euros, meant to attract large investors and create jobs.
Matt Gaetz discussed putting a third-party candidate into a Florida state Senate race in bid to help his associate win the seat.

Federal investigators are looking into the 2020 Florida state Senate race, the New York Times reported, in which Gaetz's associate Jason Brodeur, a Republican, ran for the open seat.

It is the latest in a string of allegations against the Trump loyalist who has been accused of having sex and trafficking a 17-year-old girl and showing naked photos of women to his Congressional colleagues.

Gaetz and Florida lobbyist Chris Dorworth talked about putting a third party or 'ghost' candidate into the contest to siphon votes from the Democratic opponent to help Brodeur.

The latest allegations surfaced as Gaetz retained two prominent New York attorneys as he faces the Justice Department investigation.

Marc Mukasey and Isabelle Kirshner will lead the Florida Republican's legal team, a Gaetz spokesperson said in a statement Friday.

'Matt has always been a fighter. A fighter for his constituents, a fighter for the country, and a fighter for the Constitution. Hes going to fight back against the unfounded allegations against him,' the statement said, adding that the lawyers 'will take the fight to those trying to smear his name with falsehoods.'

Matt Gaetz discussed putting a third-party candidate into a Florida state Senate race to help an associate of his who was running for the seat in latest allegation

Gaetz associate Jason Brodeur ran for the open Florida state Senate seat and Florida lobbyist Chris Dorworth allegedly talked with Gaetz about putting a third-party candidate on ballot to help Brodeur

Recruiting a third-party candidate, even to funnel votes from another contender, is generally legal, but secretly paying the 'ghost candidates' - who are usually paid to make a third-party bid, is usually a violation of campaign finance laws.

In that Florida state Senate race, a third party candidate did appear on the ballot: Jestine Iannotti.

She did little campaigning and raised few funds but fliers depicting her as a Democrat were sent to voters. One featured a stock photo of a Black woman and read: 'Jestine Iannotti will always be there for us.' Iannotti is white.

Brodeur, through a spokesperson, told The New York Times he knew nothing about the fliers and had nothing to do with them. Gaetz didn't comment.

Dorworth told the newspaper that he did not recall a conversation with Gaetz about running a third candidate and that 'there would be nothing illegal about it if we had,' so long as they did not pay that person to seek office.

'I never met the woman who did run,' Dorworth said. 'Never spoke to her, communicated by any written device, gave her any money or anything else.'

Brodeur ultimately defeated his Democratic opponent, Patricia Sigman, by 7,600 votes - a sound victory. Iannotti received about 6,000 votes in the contest.

The detail is the latest to emerge in the investigation of the Florida congressman, who is battling an series of allegations, including that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz has denied all the charges.

The latest comes as a second senior member of Gaetz's staff quit.

On Thursday Devin Murphy quit his job as Gaetz's legislative director, sources told The New York Times.

He told associates that he wanted to write bills, and that working with Gaetz was now similar to working for a tabloid news publication, the Times reports.

Murphy had worked for Gaetz since he came to Congress in 2017.

A source told the paper that Murphy's departure had not been contentious, and a statement from Gaetz's office said the two parties agreed 'it would be best to part ways.'

It came just days after the resignation of Gaetz's press secretary, Luke Ball.

Also on Thursday night Adam Kinzinger, a Republican congressman for Illinois, became the first member of the Republican Party to call for Gaetz to step down.

Kinzinger has frequently clashed with the pro-Trump wing of his party.

Matt Gaetz, 38, is facing calls to resign from within his own party amid a sex trafficking scandal

Gaetz is facing rapidly-escalating problems stemming from his friendship with fellow Floridian Joel Greenberg, 36.

Greenberg was the tax collector for Seminole County until his arrest in June on a litany of charges, including allegations that he stalked a political opponent, illegally used a state database to create fake IDs and sex-trafficked a minor.

Gaetz has now been sucked into the drama, and is reportedly being investigated for sex trafficking of a minor and prostitution.

It was alleged on Thursday that he paid Greenberg $900 in May 2018, and the following day Greenberg paid three women - none of whom were underage - $900 between them.

Gaetz, a stridently pro-Trump politician, insists he has never paid for sex, and never as an adult had sex with a 17-year-old.

Kinzinger on Thursday night tweeted a link to The Daily Beast story about the $900 payment, saying: 'Matt Gaetz needs to resign.'

Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger, pictured, has clashed with several pro-Trump figures

Matt Gaetz paid 'sex trafficker' Joel Greenberg $900 via Venmo who then forwarded money to three women: Auditors find $300,000 in suspicious or unjustified expenses between the 'arrogant' duo

Matt Gaetz made a late-night transaction to accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg in May 2018, with Greenberg then transferring the exact same sum to three women, it was reported on Thursday night.

The $900 transaction, made via the app Venmo, was reported by The Daily Beast.

Greenberg, early the next morning, transferred $900 in total to three different women - one of whom is now reportedly working as a porn actress. None of the three were under the age of consent - 18 in Florida - at the time.

Gaetz named one of the women in his reference for the transaction to his friend, using her nickname.

Greenberg's three transfers to the women were labeled as 'tuition' and 'school'.

Greenberg, currently in jail, is said to be cooperating with prosecutors - in what his lawyer said was bad news for Gaetz.

Auditors also flagged $300,000 in suspicious expenses claimed by Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector.

The pair were described by one auditor as being incredibly arrogant.

On Thursday a statement was issued by the 'women of the office of Congressman Matt Gaetz'

Joel Greenberg (right) is photographed hanging out with Rep. Matt Gaetz (center) and former President Donald Trump's longtime political adviser Roger Stone (left) in a post from Gaetz's Facebook account from 2017

Greenberg used his taxpayer-funded credit card for some of the Venmo transactions, The Daily Beast reported.

Greenberg has been federally indicted on 33 counts, including sex trafficking crimes involving a 17-year-old.

Court documents say Greenberg was 'engaged in 'sugar daddy' relationships.'

Gaetz has vehemently denied being involved in sex trafficking, and said he has never paid for sex.

He is yet to respond to questions as to why he paid Greenberg $900, and why that sum was transferred by Greenberg to women.

'That's incredibly powerful evidence,' said David Bear, an attorney who worked for the Orange County State Attorney's office before setting up a private practice.

'If you operate through an intermediary you are just as responsible - whether it's a financial crime or whatever.'

He told CNN's Chris Cuomo that there was no 'insulation' from the charges.

The Daily Beast was able to obtain Greenberg's credit card data through a public records request, which showed how he used his taxpayer-funded card for unexplained transactions.

'No one has any idea what he was doing. Zero,' said Daniel J. O'Keefe, an accountant who conducted a forensic audit for the county.

'The arrogance of these guys. They just felt they were above the law.

'I've never seen it this bad.'

O'Keefe was particularly puzzled by weekend expenses, hotels, unspecified high-dollar 'consulting' fees, and cash advances that Greenberg made to himself and others, he told the site.

Gaetz and Greenberg share two direct Venmo connections with women who received payments from Greenberg.

In 2018, Greenberg paid one of those women several thousand dollars using his Seminole County-issued Wells Fargo Visa card, according to county financial records obtained by The Daily Beast.

Auditors flagged the transactions, saying that, despite having a contract and invoice from the company, they 'do not know what it was for.'

The bombshell revelations came after Gaetz's office issued a statement in his defense from who they claim are women working in his office - although not one of the character witnesses has put her name to the testimony.

The 38-year-old Florida congressman, who is fighting off accusations of sex trafficking and prostitution, is pushing back with every means at his disposal.

On Thursday that included a press release signed by the 'women of the office of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz' - who said they felt 'morally obligated' to speak out.

'At no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect,' the release said.

'During Congressman Gaetz's time in office, we have been behind the scenes every step of the way. We have staffed his meetings. We have planned his events. We have traveled with him. And we have tracked his schedule.'

They described him as a 'principled and morally grounded leader,' added that none of them had 'experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect. No hint of impropriety. No ounce of untruthfulness.'

The letter continued: 'In our office and under Congressman Gaetz's leadership, women are not only respected, but have been encouraged time and time again to grow, achieve more, and ultimately, know our value.'

The nameless women concluded by saying that they 'uniformly reject these allegations as false' and that Gaetz has always treated every woman in his office with respect.

The 'women' spoke out, as it emerged Gaetz's associate is cooperating with prosecutors and will likely take a plea deal - which will put more legal pressure on the embattled Florida Republican.

'All of these stories we keep hearing are trouble for Matt Gaetz,' said Preet Bharara, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Bhrarara told Wolf Blitzer on CNN that Gaetz could potentially be facing questions about federal law infringements, sex trafficking and campaign finance violations.

CNN reported from court on Thursday that Joel Greenberg's lawyers and prosecutors told the judge that a plea deal was in the works and could be finalized within weeks.

With Greenberg cooperating with the Justice Department, prosecutors may be able to determine if Gaetz broke any sex trafficking or prostitution laws.

Greenberg's lawyer Fritz Scheller told reporters outside the hearing: 'I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today.'

Scheller was also asked if Greenberg introduced Gaetz to any underage girls for sexual relations.

'I apologize, I just can't answer that question,' Greenberg's attorney said.

Lawyers for Joel Greenberg (pictured) and prosecutors told a judge Thursday that Greenberg was cooperating with the Justice Department and they were working on a plea deal

CNN's Paula Reid captured Joel Greenberg's lawyer Fritz Scheller outside the courthouse Thursday

Greenberg is the former tax commissioner of Seminole County, Florida and has been charged with 33 counts ranging from sex trafficking of a minor to identity theft.

Gaetz, a third-term congressman from Florida, has not been charged with a crime, and he has vehemently denied the various accusations against him, among them that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

He called them a 'lie.'

But the unsettling series of allegations - including that he may have broken federal sex trafficking laws and been involved in a scheme to recruit and pay women for sex - has put the 38-year-old conservative's political future in doubt, just as he was being seen as an increasingly potent force in the Republican Party.

On Thursday it further emerged that Donald Trump, who counted Gaetz as among his most fervent supporters, had to be talked out of issuing a whole-hearted exoneration of his fellow Floridian.

'His first impulse was that he wanted to defend Gaetz, you know: 'He's one of our people,'' said Maggie Haberman, who covered Trump for The New York Times while he was in the White House.

'They have been very close, and it's been because Gaetz is a presence on television, he's from Florida, and he's willing to defend Trump vocally no matter what happens.'

Trump, pictured with Gaetz, had to be talked out of issuing a strongly-supportive statement

Some former White House officials reportedly described Gaetz as 'meanest person in politics'

Trump on Wednesday issued not a full endorsement, but rather a carefully-worded statement saying that Gaetz never sought a pardon from him, personally. The New York Times reported that Gaetz asked the White House for a pre-emptive pardon.

'Several of his advisors had told him that's a very bad idea, that the nature of what Gaetz is being investigated for is so serious that this is not something that former President Trump should be out there on a limb' for, Haberman told CNN.

She said that Trump had been 'staying away from this, and I think it will continue.'

Some within the former president's orbit even celebrated the controversy, with one former White House staffer telling Insider last month: 'He's the meanest person in politics.'

On Wednesday, CBS News reported that federal agents were investigating a trip the Florida congressman took to the Bahamas with a marijuana entrepreneur in late 2018 or early 2019.

Gaetz reportedly traveled with Dr. Jason Pirozzolo, a hand surgeon and co-founder of The American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association.

Pirozzolo paid for the travel and accommodation and also for female escorts, according to the report.

Investigators are probing whether the escorts were trafficked across state or international lines for the purpose of having sexual relations with the congressman.

'Traveling across state lines is what creates a federal hook for a prosecution,' Arlo Devlin-Brown, a former prosecutor and partner at Covington & Burling, told CBS.

'It doesn't matter that [Gaetz] personally paid them as long as he knows someone is doing that,' he added.

Investigators are also looking into whether Gaetz was trading political access for the sexual rendezvous.

The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, last week acknowledged the allegations were 'serious' and could lead to severe repercussions, but said he wanted to see more of the facts.

Joel Greenberg was captured leaving the federal courthouse in Orlando in June 2020 after making his first court appearance

'If it comes out to be true, yes, we would remove him,' McCarthy told Fox News.

Gaetz has pushed back forcefully against the allegations and sought to divert attention from the DOJ investigation by insisting he and his family have been victims of an extortion scheme.

He says two men, including former Air Force officer Robert Kent, approached Gaetz's father seeking $25 million to fund their bid to locate and free American Robert Levinson, who disappeared 14 years ago in Iran.

Kent acknowledged texting the congressman's father Don Gaetz, a former Florida Senate president, telling him he knew of an 'indictment' soon to be filed against his son, and that 'I have a plan that can make his future legal and political problems go away.'

Speaking to CNN, Kent said mentioning Gaetz's legal trouble was merely a 'teaser,' and he explained to the father 'that this was not an extortion attempt,' but a legitimate offer to help rescue Levinson while potentially showing Representative Gaetz in a positive light.

Levinson's family said in 2020 that US officials had told them that the ex-FBI agent had died while in Iranian custody.

Brash and combative, Gaetz has taken controversial steps in Congress, wearing a gas mask on the House floor last year during a vote on an early coronavirus response package.

In 2019 he delayed impeachment proceedings against Trump when he led dozens of Republican lawmakers who burst into closed-door witness depositions and refused to leave for several hours.

And in January Gaetz traveled to Wyoming to help stir up opposition to senior congresswoman Liz Cheney, one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump.

He had volunteered to leave Congress and defend the ex-president during Trump's second Senate impeachment trial, over the January 6 MAGA riot.

Salacious details of Gaetz's behavior have emerged.

According to CNN, Gaetz bragged about his sexual escapades to fellow lawmakers, showing them nude photographs of women he claimed to have slept with.

Gaetz has dug in, penning a column in Monday's Washington Examiner.

'The swamp is out to drown me with false charges, but I'm not giving up,' he wrote.

And earlier this week another ex-staffer came held a press conference in Florida, defending the congressman after speaking with the FBI.

But the DOJ investigation - which was launched while Trump was still in office and not by Gaetz's political opponents - could halt the ambitious Republican's rise.

It centers on Gaetz and Greenberg, who was indicted last year on a federal child sex trafficking charge.

According to the Times, people close to the investigation said they believe Greenberg met women through websites and introduced them to Gaetz, who had sex with them.

The DOJ is also investigating whether Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old.

Most Republicans meanwhile, except Kinzinger, have withheld comment on Gaetz's scandal.

He is scheduled to speak Friday at the Trump National Doral Miami, during the 'Save America Summit' sponsored by a pro-Trump women's group.
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Two siblings, aged five and six, have been found abandoned at the Mexico-California border with their mother's name and phone number written on their arms.

The boy and girl were found by US Border Patrol agents this week after the siblings had been hoisted over the border and abandoned near Jacumba, which is about 70 miles from San Diego.

Agents saw the young children walking with two adults near an area where the border wall ends at the side of a mountain.

The two children were hoisted over some large boulders before being abandoned.

The six-year-old boy and his five-year-old sister were found alone and crying when they were rescued by border agents.

They were taken to a nearby border patrol station to be processed.

The boy and girl were found by US Border Patrol agents this week after the siblings had been hoisted over the Mexico-California border and abandoned. They are pictured being comforted by a border agent after they were rescued

The six-year-old boy and his five-year-old sister were found alone and crying when they were rescued by border agents. The siblings had their mother's name and number written in marker on their forearms

While being processed, the children handed agents a handwritten note that had their mother's name and phone number on it.

The siblings also had their mother's name and number written in marker on their forearms.

The agents managed to make contact with the children's mother. It is not clear if their mother is in the United States.

The children were processed ahead of being transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services.

'It is unconscionable that anyone would abandon these small children and those responsible for smuggling events like this will be aggressively prosecuted,' Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke said.

'Thankfully, our agents were able to quickly rescue these siblings.'

Border patrol agents have rescued a number of abandoned children at the preview in the last week, including an eight-year-old crying boy and two young sisters.

The boy was captured on video walking towards an agent in the desert and asking for help because he had been abandoned by the group he was with.

'I was coming with a group and they abandoned me and I do not know where they are at,' the boy told the agent.

Two young Ecuadorian girls, aged three and five, were also dropped over a 14-foot-high border wall in New Mexico and abandoned by smugglers last week.

The sisters from Ecuador, who are aged three and five, were pictured interacting with El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez after being rescued

Disturbing footage released by US Customs Border and Protection showed the moment the girls were dropped, one after another, over the barrier in the middle of the night

This boy was captured on video walking towards an agent in the desert and asking for help because he had been abandoned by the group he was with

Disturbing footage released by border patrol showed the moment the girls were dropped, one after another, over the barrier in the middle of the night just west of Mt. Cristo Rey, near El Paso.

Immediately after the girls landed on the ground, two smugglers could be seen fleeing on the Mexican side of the border.

The current border crisis is a mounting challenge for President Biden after he reversed the policy of his predecessor Donald Trump by allowing unaccompanied children to stay and be united with relatives living inside the US.

He has put Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of the crisis but she has faced increasing criticism for not yet visiting the border.

In the 16 days since she was given responsibility, Harris still hasn't visited the southern border or addressed the crisis in any way - despite mounting pressure.

Arizona's attorney general Mark Brnovich told Fox News on Thursday that Harris has not responded to his requests to visit the crisis-hit border.

'I guess if you were a philosopher you would say no response is a very loud response because we've not received any response,' he said.

Biden has also yet to visit the border.

Instead, he and Harris have traveled to other parts of the country to promote the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and promote an upcoming infrastructure package.

Data released Thursday shows the number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is vastly higher in 2021 compared to 2020, which saw a decrease in crossings. Crossing have reached an all-time high under Biden

The current border crisis is a mounting challenge for President Biden after he reversed the policy of his predecessor Donald Trump by allowing unaccompanied children to stay and be united with relatives living inside the US

Apprehensions of undocumented migrants on the US border with Mexico soared 70 percent in March to 172,331, hitting the highest level in 15 years, data showed on Thursday

Migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador wait to board the bus after crossing the Rio Grande river from Mexico

Border agents reported that the number of unaccompanied children they detained after crossing the border illegally, or trying to sneak through official entry ports, doubled in March from February to 18,890

The number of migrants showing up as part of families with small children jumped from under 20,000 in February to more than 53,000 last March

The administration has also already attempted to back-off her responsibilities by claiming she is in charge of addressing the root problem in Central American countries where these migrants are fleeing rather than the actual situation at the border.

Despite this claim, Harris has also not visited any of the Northern Triangle countries and has only held one call related to her new role with Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei.

Republican lawmakers have been flooding to the south to assess the situation  holding two separate group trips to the border this week.

GOP House Whip Steve Scalise released a video on Twitter around 1:30 a.m. Friday morning where, in the background, children migrants were seen apprehended and escorted to processing facilities by border patrol agents after they ran across the U.S. border from Mexico.

Scalise led a group of 10 GOP lawmakers to McAllen, Texas Thursday evening to tour holding facilities and assess the growing border crisis.

'LIVE from the border,' the Louisiana representative wrote on Twitter at 1:37 a.m. 'This is out of control. It's the middle of the night. We've seen dozens of children flow freely across the border in just the past few minutes.'

'This is the reality of Joe Biden's disastrous amnesty agenda,' Scalise criticized.

It comes as apprehensions of undocumented migrants on the US border with Mexico soared 70 percent in March to 172,331, hitting the highest level in 15 years, data showed on Thursday, in a mounting challenge for the administration of President Joe Biden.

Border agents reported that the number of unaccompanied children they detained after crossing the border illegally, or trying to sneak through official entry ports, doubled in March from February to 18,890.

The number of migrants showing up as part of families with small children jumped from under 20,000 in February to more than 53,000 last March.

Biden's critics characterize the situation as a 'crisis' with the CBP, the Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies overwhelmed.

Most of the migrants were from Mexico and the Central American countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, many arriving in large groups.



The current border crisis is a mounting challenge for President Biden after he reversed the policy of his predecessor Donald Trump by allowing unaccompanied children to stay and be united with relatives living inside the US

Hundreds of migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador arrives in the U.S. after crossing the Rio Grande river






A good Samaritan in a semi truck put an end to a California car chase the hard way Tuesday by putting his big rig in the path of a fleeing murder suspect. While police officers hung back during the two-hour pursuit, Ahmed Shabaan decided to take matters into his own hands.

"I just thought to get him off the street," Shabaan told Fox 11 in Los Angeles. "If I didn't, and [officers] have been behind him for that long and didn't stop him ... I have the power."

Shabaan said he had heard about the chase and knew the driver was wanted for murder, and merely acted on instinct. Per Fox, the chase lasted two hours and covered multiple counties, generating widespread publicity. The abrupt end was captured by onlookers, as seen in the video embedded above.

It reportedly started with Riverside County deputies attempting to locate the suspect, Michael Caleb Reed, who injured a deputy and fled. Reed is wanted in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred in Oildale (a northern suburb of Bakersfield) in March.

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Managing Editor

Having lived and worked in Indy on and off since 1977, and currently living in Carmel, I've seen the city change a great deal. I love covering the arts in all its forms, and the places where the arts and broader cultural issues intersect.
Oncidium is one of Canadas leading health management companies with a loyal client base of over 500 corporate and public sector clients across various industries



This transformative acquisition expands CloudMDs National footprint to include 5,500 clients, 8,500 direct healthcare providers and over 5 million individual lives touched

The $100 million transaction value (including the full performance-based earnout) represents CloudMDs largest acquisition to date; upfront consideration implies a valuation multiple of ~1.8x last twelve months (LTM) 1 sales

Oncidium has a strong financial profile with LTM revenues of $37 million, Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) 2 margin of 14% and a current 4-month revenue run rate 3 in excess of $40 million annualized

Oncidium has significant growth projections with 3-year revenue CAGR of more than 30% and a blue-chip client base that includes many of Canadas Fortune 500 Companies

The employer market is the fastest growing area in healthcare spending and is expected to grow 130% by 2025 4

This acquisition accelerates the positioning of CloudMD as the leading service provider in the employer market and creates opportunities for synergies and cross sale of existing services

CloudMD will host a webinar today to discuss the acquisition at 11am EST (8am PST)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CloudMD Software & Services Inc. (TSXV: DOC, OTCQB: DOCRF, Frankfurt: 6PH) (the Company or CloudMD), a healthcare technology company revolutionizing the delivery of care, is excited to announce that it has signed a binding agreement to acquire Oncidium Inc. (Oncidium), one of Canadas leading healthcare providers to employers. Oncidium has built a difficult-to-replicate ecosystem of over 500 clients, more than 1,000 health care providers and medical assessors, and its clients with over 2 million employees across the country.

The employer market vertical is the fastest growing area in healthcare and this acquisition makes CloudMD a Canadian leader in the space. Built on over 20 years of experience in the employer health market, Oncidium is one of Canadas leading health management companies with clients from a number of Canadas Fortune 500 Companies. Oncidiums services focus on reducing occupational absence by delivering solutions that improve the health and wellness of employees. Oncidiums services include solutions that support absentee management, short-term and long-term disability, workers compensation claims management, mental health assessment and evaluation services that focus on prevention, accommodation, and recovery. Oncidiums services are delivered virtually, on-demand and on-site through its network of over 1,000 healthcare professionals, assessors and medical centers nationally.

The acquisition of Oncidium aligns with CloudMDs strategy of providing whole-person care and will fit into its connected healthcare platform. Oncidiums solution will be a key component of the Companys Enterprise Health Solutions (EHS) Division and will provide complementary services to the Companys already established employer base. This will enable CloudMD to provide a comprehensive EHS solution to the combined network of over 5,500 clients and 5 million employees across North America. The addition of Oncidium will immediately be synergistic for a number of key reasons:

Instantly accretive to CloudMD with LTM revenues of $37 million and Adjusted EBITDA margin exceeding 14% with current 4-month annualized revenue run rate in excess of $40 million

On a consolidated basis, CloudMD will have an annualized revenue run rate in excess of $120 million, overall gross margin of 35% and achieve positive Adjusted EBITDA

Drives revenue and margin expansion for the Enterprise Health Solutions division 5 with annualized revenue run rate of $53 million, Adjusted EBITDA of +10% and a healthy gross margin of 40%

with annualized revenue run rate of $53 million, Adjusted EBITDA of +10% and a healthy gross margin of 40% Rapidly growing business in the fastest growing segment of the Canadian healthcare space

Cross selling opportunities through a combined network of 5,500 loyal corporate clients and over 5 million lives

Increases CloudMDs capabilities to include additional employer health services

Competitive advantage to industry peers with comprehensive platform, addressing whole-person healthcare through assessment, triage and support across mental health, specialist care, healthcare navigation, short-term and long-term support and educational resources



Dr. Essam Hamza, CEO of CloudMD commented, This transformative acquisition was another highly strategic decision and part of our overall product roadmap and positions CloudMD as a leader in the employer healthcare market. The Oncidium team has built an incredible healthcare offering and the company has become one of the leading health services provider to the employer marketplace. I am incredibly excited for our future growth as we continue building out our healthcare capabilities that now includes: brick-and-mortar clinics, allied care, virtual care, a leading mental health solution, direct-to-consumer offerings and a robust and expansive Enterprise Health Solutions division. We are uniquely positioned to deliver and drive shareholder value.

Karen Adams, Chief Health Innovation Officer & Global Head of Enterprise Health Solutions added, We have already identified immediate synergies which will drive further revenue and margin growth and we will continue to unlock growth opportunities throughout the integration. This acquisition allows us to take the leadership position in the employer market with a fully-integrated product offering which addresses all aspects of employee health and wellness and ensures optimization of employer spend.

Dr. Lu Barbuto, CEO of Oncidium commented, The trend lines in Canada and across the industrialized world are clear: the employer is increasingly absorbing employee healthcare costs and is becoming more engaged in managing the related costs and outcomes. We believe that there will be tremendous opportunities for existing CloudMD services to be delivered to Oncidiums excellent employer client base, so that collectively we can continue to support their growing needs. With the CloudMD team, I look forward to continuing to develop, expand and deliver science based precision health solutions to Employers that will in turn improve the lives of Canadians.

Terms of Acquisition

In consideration for the purchase of 100% of the outstanding securities of Oncidium, CloudMD has agreed to pay shareholders of Oncidium: (i) $30 million in cash, subject to applicable working capital adjustments; (ii) $38 million in common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $2.30 per common share; and (iii) a performance-based earnout of up to $32 million over a 3 year period, which is payable in cash or common shares of the Company, at the sole discretion of CloudMD at the time of the earnout. The common shares will be subject to certain contractual restrictions on trading for a period of up to 30 months from the date of issuance. CloudMD intends to fund the cash portion of the upfront consideration with cash on hand and/or debt.

The upfront portion of the consideration implies a valuation of ~1.8x LTM Sales and ~13.1x LTM Adjusted EBITDA. The total transaction value (including full performance-based earnout) carries an implied valuation of ~1.5x Sales and ~8.1x Adjusted EBITDA.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including TSX Venture Exchange approval. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur during the first half of June 2021.

Echelon Capital Markets (a member of Echelon Wealth Partners Inc.) is acting as exclusive financial advisor to CloudMD in connection with the transaction.

CloudMD Acquisition of Oncidium Webinar

Investors are invited to participate in a live webinar with CloudMD management to discuss the acquisition and ask questions.

Date and Time: April 8, 2021 at 11am EST (8am PST)

Webcast link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/io6nnw2q

If investors would like to participate via telephone, use the dial-in numbers below:

Participant Toll-Free Dial-In Number: (833) 562-0117 Participant International Dial-In Number: (661) 567-1009 Passcode: 1067246

A presentation will be made available on the Companys website following the webinar.



About CloudMD Software & Services

CloudMD is digitizing the delivery of healthcare by providing a patient centric approach, with an emphasis on continuity of care. By leveraging healthcare technology, the Company is building one, connected platform that addresses all points of a patients healthcare journey and provides better access to care and improved outcomes. Through CloudMDs proprietary technology, the Company delivers quality healthcare through a holistic offering including hybrid primary care clinics, specialist care, telemedicine, mental health support, educational resources and artificial intelligence (AI). CloudMD currently services a combined ecosystem of over 7,000 psychiatrists, approximately 4,500 therapists and counsellors, approximately 4,000 psychologists, over 22,000 family physicians, over 34,000 medical specialists, over 1,500 allied health professionals, over 500 clinics, and over 2.5 million individuals across North America. CloudMDs Enterprise Health Solutions Division includes one of the top 4 Employee Assistance Programs in Canada and offers one comprehensive, digitally connected platform for corporations, insurers and advisors to better manage the health and wellness of their employees and customers. For more information visit: www.cloudmd.ca.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dr. Essam Hamza, MD"

Chief Executive Officer

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Julia Becker

VP, Investor Relations

julia@cloudmd.ca

Tel: (604) 785-0850

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding projected revenue, completion of the Oncidium acquisition, future business synergies and cost savings. Such forward-looking statements are based on CloudMDs expectations, estimates and projections regarding its business and the economic environment in which it operates, including the expectations regarding closing of the Oncidium acquisition and the ability of the Company to carry out its business plans. Although CloudMD believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results, including revenue projections, may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and CloudMD undertakes no obligation to update them publicly to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances, unless otherwise required to do so by law. In addition, this news release contains information, including financial information, pertaining to an acquisitions that is at an early stage and which is not codified in a definitive agreement. As a result there is no assurance that any proposed acquisition will be completed upon the terms described.

Non-GAAP and Non-IFRS Measures

This press release refers to Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin which are non-GAAP and non-IFRS financial measures that do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP or IFRS. The Companys presentation of these financial measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. These financial measures are intended to provide additional information to investors concerning the Companys and Oncidiums performance. Adjusted EBITDA reference herein relates to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, financing-related costs, acquisition-related costs, litigation costs and loss provision, loss from discontinued operations and other non-recurring items. Adjusted EBITDA margin is defined as Adjusted EBITDA as a percent of total revenue. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are Non-IFRS measures the Company uses as an indicator of financial health and excludes several items which may be useful in the consideration of the financial condition of the Company and Oncidium, as applicable, including interest expense, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization.

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

__________________

1 LTM represents the period from March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021.

2 Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are non-GAAP measure as described in the Non-GAAP and Non-IFRS Measures section of this news release.

3 4-month revenue run rate represents the period from November 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021.

4 https://www.mercer.ca/en/our-thinking/rising-employee-healthcare-costs.html

5 Enterprise Health Solutions Division plus Re:Function Health Group, a rehabilitation clinic network for enterprise clients, insurers and corporation
A San Antonio police officer who struck and Tased a suspect is charged with assault and abuse of authority  a rare instance of an officer being criminally prosecuted for on-duty use of force.

Officer Marshall Shepard, 29, is accused in a grand jury indictment of knowingly and recklessly injuring a suspect after a traffic-related call on the Northeast Side on May 8.

Shepard allegedly hit the suspect in the face repeatedly. He is also accused of ramming the suspect against a vehicle and using a Taser on him twice.

The San Antonio Police Department launched its investigation into Shepards conduct in May, around the same time as the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is now on trial for murder and manslaughter.

The investigation was later forwarded to a new team of prosecutors created by District Attorney Joe Gonzales to review police use of force.

Police Chief William McManus suspended Shepard, who has been with the department less than four years, without pay Wednesday until the charges are resolved. Shepard had been assigned to administrative duty since May.

It is unclear whether McManus also intends to further discipline or fire the officer.

Shepard turned himself in to authorities Friday morning, police said. He was released on $5,000 bail.

The grand jury indictment lists two counts: official oppression, a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine up to $4,000 or both, and assault bodily injury, also a Class A misdemeanor.

Police officers rarely face criminal charges for using force against civilians. In most cases  locally and nationally  prosecutors and grand juries determine that officers actions were justified. The law gives officers wide latitude to use force on the job.

That was the case in a number of high-profile deaths at the hands of San Antonio police officers, including the killings of Jesse Aguirre, Marquise Jones, Antronie Scott and Charles Roundtree.

In the past several years, a handful of San Antonio police officers have been criminally charged for their on-duty conduct but not for allegations of excessive force.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio police officer accused in bribery case is indicted on child porn charge

Earlier this year, Officer Erik Rodriguez was indicted on charges of bribery and misuse of public information after he allegedly took money to provide an accused domestic abuser with details about his case. (He also was charged with possession of child pornography in an unrelated matter.)

A former San Antonio sex crimes detective, Kenneth Valdez, was charged in 2018 with eight counts of tampering with evidence after allegedly mishandling more than 130 family violence and sexual assault cases.

Rodriguez and Valdez remain free on bail as they await trial.

In another case, Officer Gary Tuli was charged with official oppression in 2018 after prosecutors said he lied about events that led to an altercation with a 14-year-old girl. The charge against Tuli was dismissed by a judge in 2019 for insufficient evidence.

While McManus is known among rank-and-file officers as a strict disciplinarian, it is still uncommon for him to discipline or fire an officer for excessive use of force.

On ExpressNews.com: FBI reviewing actions of four San Antonio police officers fired after accusations of excessive use of force

In June and July, McManus fired four officers  all of whom had been with the department for less than four years  for two separate incidents of use of force.

He also asked the FBIs San Antonio Field Office to investigate the actions of the officers for possible civil rights infractions.

Now Playing: Video: San Antonio Express-News

If the FBI determines that the officers willfully violated the civil rights of suspects while acting under their official governmental authority, the four men could face criminal charges in federal court, though such charges are extremely rare.

The officers could also face charges in state court.

All four officers have denied the allegations and are appealing their firings through the arbitration process outlined in the citys contract with the police union.

Use of force was necessary

The altercation involving Shepard started at 5:15 p.m. May 8 after a woman called police to report a man was walking through traffic on Perrin Beitel.

The man, who is Black, had made movements like he was trying to take something out of his pocket, prompting the woman to call 911, according to a police report.

Shepard arrived first, the report states. Officer Marshall Thomas, who was in the same cadet class as Shepard, pulled up a few minutes later.

Thomas saw the suspect, identified as Anthony Rudolph Robinson, grab Shepards Taser and try to take it away from him, the report states.

Shepard took the Taser back and tried to stun Robinson, but the weapon didnt work properly, the report states. At that point, Shepard took Robinson to the ground and Thomas tried to assist.

I continued to tell (Robinson) to put his hands behind his back, Thomas wrote. (Robinson) refused and was actively pulling against me as I was trying to manipulate his left arm behind his back.

As the two officers struggled to get Robinson to comply, Shepard began to strike Robinson in the face multiple times, the report states.

The use of force was necessary since (Robinson) was being uncompliant with our commands and was at this time under arrest for attempting to take (Shepards) weapon, Thomas wrote.

On ExpressNews.com: Man beaten by San Antonio police officers remains in prison - even after charges against him were dismissed and the officers were fired

After striking Robinson multiple times, Shepard reloaded his stun gun and deployed it again  this time from 6 to 8 feet away, the report states.

Robinson then placed his hands behind his back, at which point he was handcuffed, the report states. A paramedic arrived at the scene shortly thereafter to check Robinson for injuries.

When officers searched Robinson for weapons or contraband, they found 0.7 grams of methamphetamine and 7.8 grams of marijuana in his pockets and shoe, the report states.

Later that evening, Thomas took Robinson to a hospital for a CAT scan. Several times, Robinson allegedly threatened Thomas.

If I had a gun I would shoot you, Robinson reportedly said. He also told Thomas that his family should watch out for him.

Robinson was taken to the Frank D. Wing building on South Frio to be booked on several charges, including attempting to take a peace officers weapon, retaliation and possession of controlled substance.

Two of the charges were dismissed last year. The third charge was dismissed Thursday.

I just want to help'

Shepard was one of about 30 cadets enrolled in the San Antonio Police Training Academy in January 2017 and graduated in September of that year. In 2018, he was featured in a San Antonio Express-News series about training at the academy.

During an interview in 2017, just before his graduation, Shepard said criminal justice classes in high school sparked his interest in policing.

I went to school for this. I always had this in my mind, Shepard said. I just want to help and be a part of something thats not ordinary. This job is different.

Asked about his goal for the future, Shepard said he wanted to join the Crisis Intervention Team, which responds to mental health calls and connects people to services.

I really enjoyed that aspect of training, Shepard said. I had a friend in high school  who committed suicide. Id love to utilize that aspect of training to help anybody who is in that type of situation or need.

eeaton@express-news.net
In the summer of 2017, Joshua Malone, then an undergraduate at Augustana College in Illinois, visited a field research camp in Wyoming and picked up some rocks. Rounded at the edges and the size of small fists, they were out of place amid the fine-grained mudrock that had surrounded them, and Mr. Malone asked his father, David Malone, a geologist at Illinois State University who led the dig at the site, if he knew where the rocks had come from.

Four years later, the two have developed a surprising answer.

In a study published earlier this year in the journal Terra Nova, the Malones with colleagues say the stones came from a rock formation in southern Wisconsin about 1,000 miles to the east of where they were found. Whats even more surprising is their hypothesis for how the rocks made that journey: The researchers say they were carried in the guts of long-neck dinosaurs.

These animals, known as sauropods, reached lengths of over 100 feet and weights of 40 tons, and regularly swallowed stones known as gastroliths, perhaps to help them digest plants, just as some birds and reptiles do today. The hypothesis would explain how the rocks acquired their smooth and rounded textures. But questions remain about whether they really made the whole journey in the bellies of these great beasts.

The gastroliths were found in Jurassic-aged mudstones in a rock formation called the Morrison. A rainbow of pinks and reds, the Morrison formation brims with dinosaur fossils, including those of sauropods, such as Barosaurus and Diplodocus, as well as meat-eaters like Allosaurus.
Benchmark indices snapped three-day gaining streak amid weak Asian cues and a record surge in Covid -19 cases (1.31 lakh) in the last 24 hours. Sensex ended 154.89 points or 0.31 per cent lower at 49,59 and Nifty slipped 38.95 points or 0.26 per cent to 14,834. On Thursday, benchmark indices ended higher in choppy trade as rising coronavirus cases and restrictions across the country kept investors on the edge. Sensex closed 84.45 points higher at 49,661 and Nifty gained 54 points to 14,873.

In today's trade, Bajaj Finance, Ultratech Cement , NTPC and Axis Bank were the top Sensex losers falling up to 3.12%.

Top Sensex gainers were Sun Pharma, HUL, Tech Mahindra and Dr Reddy's rallying up to 3.69 per cent.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "Domestic markets traded in a mild negative territory following weak global cues and increasing covid cases. Fall in the market was led by the private banks as concerns on their asset quality spiked with increasing restrictions across states. Buying interest was seen in PSU Banks in hopes of finalisation of potential privatisation candidates. On the sectoral front, pharma stocks were the top gainers while broader markets continued to perform well."

Financial stocks witnessed profit booking with BSE bankex slipping 304 points to 36,770. Bank Nifty lost 334 points to 32,448.

Top sectoral gainers were pharma stocks with the BSE healthcare index rising 514 points to 22,724 on expectations that the sector will benefit from rising demand for coronavirus vaccines and medicines. Of 19 BSE sectoral indices, 17 closed in the red. Meanwhile, BSE midcap index ended lower by 15.64 points and small cap index higher by 147 points.

Investor wealth increased by Rs 0.19 lakh crore as market cap of BSE listed firms rose to Rs 209.63 lakh crore in trade today against Rs 209.44 lakh crore in the previous session.

Market breadth was positive with 1,656 stocks rising against 1,249 falling on BSE. Total 173 stocks were unchanged. Meanwhile, the rupee fell for the fifth straight session and closed 15 paise lower at 74.73 (provisional) against the US dollar. Rising COVID-19 cases, weak domestic equities and strengthening American currency weighed on investors' sentiment. On Thursday, the rupee had ended at 74.58 against the American currency. In the last five sessions, the Indian currency has plunged 161 paise.
Police have been called to the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs California home nine times in as many months, after the couple expressed concern about the decision to strip them of round-the-clock police protection.

Since the couple moved into the property in Montecito, Santa Barbara, last July, the Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Office has responded to calls listed as phone requests, alarm activations and property crimes.

Satellite image of the Montecito home of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

The data, obtained under Freedom of Information laws, was released after the couple shared their security fears in their television interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Meghan, 39, revealed she had written letters pleading with the royal family not to take away her husbands personal protection officers, warning he was facing death threats.
New Zealand and Chinese Scientists to Share $1 Million in Grants to Study CCP Virus Together

Scientists from New Zealand (NZ) and China will share in a $1 million pool of funding aimed at partnering researchers from each country to collaborate on projects aimed at advancing knowledge and technologies to prevent, diagnose, and manage COVID-19.

The New Zealand Health Research Council (HRC) announced the 2020 NZ and China COVID-19 Collaboration Fund (NSFC) (pdf) in September last year. It offers scientists grants of up to $350,000 from a $1 million dollar funding pool, for the chance to work on two-year projects with Chinese scientists.

The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) have established this funding initiative to address the global threat of COVID-19 and to support the development of collaborative research relationships between the two countries, the HRC said.

According to the Health and Research Council assessment criteria (pdf), each collaboration should be designed to enhance the transfer of new knowledge and/or technologies and build NZs research capacity to address global health research priorities.

The research team will require demonstrated expertise in undertaking health research. New Zealand applicants should have Chinese research partners eligible for the matching NSFC funding, HRC said.

The collaboration will extend the impact and reach of New Zealand research and provide opportunities to advance to higher levels of research excellence, they said.

The HRC currently collaborates with two Chinese government organisations.

The news of the collaboration between NZ and China comes as the NZ government has said they would not join their Five Eyes allies in criticising Beijing over its lack of cooperation with the World Health Organisations (WHO) COVID-19 inquiry.

A spokesperson for NZ Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said that the Ardern government wanted to take their time to examine the 319-page document by the WHO.

New Zealand is pleased that the report has been released, the spokeswoman said. As this is a scientific report, we want to make sure we understand the science before making any comment.

Thirteen other nations, including Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada criticised the WHO report for its lack of access, transparency, and timeliness after a member of the WHO team confirmed that the Chinese regime had delayed and interfered with the team accessing complete, original data and samples needed to complete the inquiry.

WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus also criticised China over the report.

In my discussions with the team, they expressed the difficulties they encountered in accessing raw data, Tedros said. I expect future collaborative studies to include more timely and comprehensive data sharing.

Other governments that have signed the statement include the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Republic of Korea, and Slovenia.
New Delhi: India and China will hold the 11th round of Corps Commander talks on Friday at Chushul to iron out differences for the next phase of disengagement in Eastern Ladakh.

After nearly a two-month gap, the Corps Commander level talk is again happening between the two countries. The focus of the talk would be disengagement on other friction points. After Pangong disengagement, both the countries have planned to carry out disengagement on other friction points like Gogra, Hot Springs and Depsang.

"Important that before the onset of summer, de-escalation is discussed. Both sides need retreat to original positions for things to ease," said a senior Indian Army officer.

On February 20, Indian and Chinese militaries held the 10th round of military dialogue to de-escalate tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Indian military delegates were led by Lieutenant General PGK Menon, Commander of 14 Corps based in Leh.

They had met to discuss disengagement at friction areas like Hot Springs, Gogra and 900 square km Depsang plains. The build-up in Depsang was not being considered part of the current standoff that started in May last year as escalations here took place in 2013, India has insisted during recent military commander meetings to resolve all issues across the Line of Actual Control.

"The initial attempt will be to resolve Gogra and Hot Springs. Finding a solution to Depsang might be tricky and take longer," said the officer.

So far disengagement process at both banks of Pangong Lake has taken place. It was on February 10 that China made an announcement that New Delhi and Beijing had agreed to disengage at Pangong Lake.

Indian Army team along with the Chinese People`s Liberation Army (PLA) team physically verified and re-verified disengagement at Pangong Lake.

As per the agreement, Chinese troops moved back to Finger 8 and Indian troops pulled back to the Dhan Singh Thapa post between Finger 2 and 3 of the north bank of Pangong Lake.

A temporary moratorium on military activities, including patrolling to the traditional areas was placed. The mountain spur jutting into the lake is referred to as Finger in military parlance. The north bank of the lake is divided into 8 Fingers. India has claimed its territory till Finger 8 and China disputes it and claims its own territory till Finger 4.

India and China are engaged in a year-long standoff at the Line of Actual Control. The confrontations began on the north bank of Pangong Lake, both in the waters and the bank as Chinese incursions increased in early May last year.

Live TV
A man being sued for a 2013 shooting that injured another man at a Birmingham bar can argue self defense, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The ruling stems from a shooting outside Black Market Bar & Grill in the morning hours of New Years Day 2013.

The states highest court ordered the lower court to vacate its earlier ruling that the defendant in a civil suit filed after the shooting could not claim self-defense. The case can proceed to trial.

The Supreme Court on Friday held that Dalton Teal presented substantial evidence ... of self-defense.

The trial court erred in entering a partial summary judgment striking Teals affirmative defenses premised on a theory of self-defense, the supreme court ruled.

We express no opinion on the potential merit of Teals affirmative defenses premised on a theory of self defense; instead, we simply hold that Teal is entitled, under the present facts, to present those defenses to the jury for consideration, the ruling stated.

Paul Thomas, then a 29-year-old Tuscaloosa tattoo artist spent 15 days in the intensive care unit at UAB Hospital, as a result of the 12:30 a.m. shooting.

Thomas sued Teal, a Center Point firefighter and Black Market Bar, after the Jefferson County District Attorneys Office ruled the shooting was a case of justifiable self-defense.

Black Market Bar & Grill was dismissed from the lawsuit on April 2 at the request of Thomas and the bar. The case remains pending against Teal.
A downward epidemiological trend is the essential condition for the students' return to school in physical presence, while testing children and vaccinating staff are favoring conditions, the Minister of Education, Sorin Cimpeanu, declared on Thursday, for public TV broadcaster TVR1.

The meeting on Thursday with president Klaus Iohannis took place "in a very responsible note, where the quick return of all students to school being a major objective, as long as there is confirmation of a downward epidemiological trend", the minister added.

"There will be another analysis made towards the end of April, in order to have new data about the evolution of the epidemiological trend. However, on May 4, for all students, apart from the senior classes, the return to school will occur after the known scenarios," Cimpeanu highlighted."I do not understand why students in the fourth grade can physically come to school, the entire class, and that is a good thing, and those in the eighth grade, who have their national evaluation exam and are on the same hallway, during the same timeframe, in identical classrooms, must be halved. It is difficult to logically explain this condition. Epidemiological requirements which surpass the competence and understanding of the Ministry of Education. We are trying to better communicate (with the Ministry of Health, ed. n), in order to communicate in a professional manner, but we are hitting this wall of imposing classes to be halved, without having the competence of breaking down these arguments, because the Ministry of Education does not have a medical direction," Sorin Cimpeanu said.AGERPRES
Scottish farmers are calling for substantive action to be delivered to better protect vulnerable livestock from predators such as white-tailed eagles.

Farmers are frustrated by the lack of progress to date in relation to the management of the birds, with NFU Scotland now calling for an 'urgent delivery' of key actions.

Many producers have experienced a significant year-on-year losses to the birds, particularly in areas where there is a lack of alternative prey.

In a report released in 2019, one farm demonstrated a loss of 181 lambs in the period 2012-2018.

NFU Scotland is a member of the National Sea Eagle Stakeholder Panel, representing farmers who have endured, in some cases, decades of predation.

The union warns that not enough is being done to address the key issues in the White-tailed Eagle Action Plan, led by NatureScot, an environmental public body.

In a letter, NFU Scotland has demanded a 'meaningful suite of actions' to be rolled out across areas that 'continue to be severely impacted by WTE predation'.

A joint agreement was reached between NatureScot and the union in 2014, promising action on white-tailed eagles.

Martin Kennedy, NFU Scotland President said: Most farmers were optimistic that through careful management of the WTE population there would be a balanced, sustainable environment to enable and support both agricultural activity as well as the WTEs.

"Our members are frustrated by the lack of progress to date particularly in relation to the management of the birds  we need urgent delivery and implementation of key actions.

We have learned much about the birds predation behaviour through the WTE monitor farms with NatureScot overseeing mitigation trials to try and reduce livestock loss with limited success.

"NatureScot now needs to apply this knowledge in actively trying to reduce the level of predation on some of the impacted farms and crofts.

In the letter to NatureScot, NFU Scotland raised the key elements of the Action Plan that need to be prioritised under the framework of the revised White-tailed Eagle Action Plan 2021-2024.

It called for more support and control measures to be in place to help disperse or remove birds where failure to maintain population numbers results in preventable loss to livestock or wildlife.

Routine and transparent annual monitoring of population levels of white-tailed eagles - including nesting pairs, mature and juvenile birds - is also needed.

Mr Kennedy added: We are looking to NatureScot to demonstrate genuine commitment to making the necessary progress for farmers living with WTEs and we remain determined to support where we can.
Prince Philip, the lifelong companion of Queen Elizabeth II and the longest-serving consort in British history, died at the age of 99 on Friday.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.

The death of the duke comes after a period of poor health. Philip spent a month in two London hospitals, where he was treated for an infection and underwent heart surgery, before being discharged in mid-March.

Philip's funeral will be held at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, 'in line with custom and with His Royal Highness's wishes,' the College of Arms, which oversees many ceremonial aspects of the royal family's work, said in a statement Friday.

The statement added that the duke would not have a state funeral, and that the funeral would not be proceeded by a lying-in-state.

'The funeral arrangements have been revised in view of the prevailing circumstances arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and it is regretfully requested that members of the public do not attempt to attend or participate in any of the events that make up the funeral,' the statement added.

The bells of London's Westminster Abbey, where Prince Philip married Queen Elizabeth more than 70-years-ago, rang on Friday evening in honor of him.

Gun salutes will be fired across the UK at noon on Saturday, the UK Ministry of Defence wrote in a statement. 'Across the United Kingdom, in Gibraltar and on HM Ships at sea, saluting batteries will fire 41 rounds at one round every minute for 40 minutes,' it wrote.

'The public are encouraged to observe the gun salutes from home, they will take place behind closed doors but broadcast online and on television,' the statement added.

More details on funeral arrangements are expected to be confirmed by Buckingham Palace on Saturday, according to a royal source.

The royal family joined the British government in asking the public to not gather at the royal residences, in light of coronavirus restrictions, and 'make a donation to a charity instead of leaving floral tributes in memory of The Duke of Edinburgh.'

An online condolences book has been launched on the family's official website for those who wish to leave messages, Buckingham Palace said.

The College of Arms also gave details for the period of mourning, stating that all 'official flags, including the Union Flag, will be flown at half-mast from now until 08:00 on the day following the funeral.'

Charles, the Prince of Wales, visited his mother the Queen on Friday afternoon, traveling from his Gloucestershire home to Windsor Castle, a royal source told CNN.

The source also said the Prince of Wales had been in constant contact with his father since his hospitalization in February.

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, said Britain's Prince Philip would be 'greatly missed,' in a statement following the news of the death of Harry's grandfather.

Set on a full-screen dark background, the message, which was posted on the front page of the couple's Archewell charity, simply reads: 'In loving memory of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, 1921-2021. Thank you for your service ... you will be greatly missed.'

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute to the duke, saying that he'd 'earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth, and around the world.'

US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden said in a statement: 'Philip gladly dedicated himself to the people of the UK, the Commonwealth, and to his family. The impact of his decades of devoted public service is evident in the worthy causes he lifted up as patron, in the environmental efforts he championed, in the members of the Armed Forces that he supported, in the young people he inspired.'

Former US President Barack Obama praised the late Prince as 'an extraordinary many' who 'showed the world what it meant to be a supportive husband to a powerful woman,' he wrote on Facebook.

'Yet he also found a way to lead without demanding the spotlight -- serving in combat in World War II, commanding a frigate in the Royal Navy, and tirelessly touring the world to champion British industry and excellence,' he added.

A lifetime of service

Philip, also known by his official title of the Duke of Edinburgh, was the longest-serving British consort. He married the then Princess Elizabeth in 1947 after a courtship that charmed a country still reeling from the ravages of World War II.

In his seven decades of service, Philip often accompanied the Queen on royal engagements, and conducted thousands of his own solo appearances. He once referred to himself as 'the world's most experienced plaque unveiler,' while the Queen lauded him as her 'constant strength and guide.'

The duke was known for off-the-cuff remarks that often displayed a quick wit but occasionally missed the mark, sometimes in spectacular fashion. Philip continued making public appearances well into his 90s, retiring only in August 2017.

He supported a number of philanthropic endeavors and was associated with around 800 organizations. He founded the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme, a youth development program that operates in more than 130 countries and territories around the world.

After retiring, Philip spent much of his time at the Queen's rural Sandringham estate. He was occasionally seen in later years at private family events such as the weddings of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and of Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank, both at Windsor Castle.

Philip's advanced age meant that his health had been the subject of much media focus in recent years. In December 2019, he was taken to hospital as a 'precautionary measure' for what Buckingham Palace described as a 'pre-existing' condition. He had previously been admitted to hospital on multiple occasions for a variety of reasons, including for a hip replacement and for treatment for bladder infections.

The duke was born the Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark on the Greek island of Corfu in 1921. He left Greece aged 18 months with his family when King Constantine was forced to abdicate after a revolt by Greece's war-stretched military forces. The family moved first to Paris and later, in 1928, to England.

Philip had an itinerant childhood, educated variously in the UK, France, and Germany.

He became a decorated naval officer for his service during World War II, and when peace returned, rekindled an earlier friendship with Elizabeth that quickly blossomed into a public romance.

In order to marry, the duke renounced his Greek title, became a naturalized British subject and took the surname Mountbatten, derived from his mother's side of the family. The marriage ceremony was held at Westminster Abbey in 1947. He and Elizabeth had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward.

Tributes for the duke have flooded in from all over the world, including the Commonwealth nations of India, Australia and Canada. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had 'distinguished career in the military and was at the forefront of many community service initiatives. May his soul rest in peace.'

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Philip 'embodied a generation that we will never see again.' Canada's Justin Trudeau said 'Prince Philip was a man of great purpose and conviction, who was motivated by a sense of duty to others. He will be fondly remembered as a constant in the life of our Queen.'
BERLIN, April 9 (Reuters) - The ECB board member Isabel Schnabel has warned against a failure to proceed with the European Union's Recovery Fund, saying such a step would be an "economic disaster for Europe".

The fact that the fund and national aid programs will lead to significantly growing national debt levels was not a problem as long as the spending boosted sustainable economic growth, Schnabel told German magazine Der Spiegel in an interview published on Friday.

"The increase in public debt is inevitable and sensible in the face of this crisis of the century, as long as the expenditures sustainably boost growth," she said.

Germany's constitutional court put the ratification of the EU recovery fund on hold last month, as long as it was looking into an emergency appeal against the debt-financed investment plan. (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle, editing by John Revill)
[April 09, 2021] Creality Presents 'Create the Future' 3D Printing Industry Summit to Celebrate 7th Anniversary on April 9, 2021

SHENZHEN, China, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Creality, the 3D printing industry evangelist, is celebrating its 7 th anniversary in 2021 and to mark the memorable milestone, the company will host a 3D printing industry summit on April 9 at Gems Cube International Hotel in Shenzhen. To register for the Create the Future anniversary event, please visit: https://www.creality.com/ Around a thousand people are expected to attend this unique anniversary celebration event including guests, staff, media and other well-known giants of the 3D printing industry who are focused on the advanced progress and cutting-edge technology of this industry and who regularly lead the way in 3D printing innovation.

General manager and one of the four co-founders of Creality, Chen Chun, is scheduled to give a speech on the day and award winners of the Creality Global Creative Modification Masters Contest will also receive prizes. "As an industry leading company, we always set out to create work that is full of creativity and ingenuity to impress our users all around the world," said Chen Chu. "It is innovation and endless perseverance that has pushed us to be here, driving us to break boundaries in every one of our creations and intelligently guide the future, helping to build the technological innovation ecosystem, because, striving to be the leading global consumer grade printer enterprise is where we aim. It is for these reasons that we will also be launching a new mystery blockbuster product on the day of this special anniversary event."





This celebration event will be simultaneously broadcast on major global platforms including Facebook, Youtube, Netease, Nanjixiong, Bilibili, and others. Creality is looking forward to sharing this special day with everyone on April 9.

About Creality: Founded in 2014, Shenzhen Creality 3D Technology Co., Ltd is a global consumer-level 3D printing leading brand and national high-tech enterprise, focusing on 3D printer research and production. We boast more than 100 patents in consumer, industrial and educational 3D printers. Creality has always been dedicated to the market application of 3D printers and provided efficient and cost-effective, comprehensive 3D printing solutions to individuals, families, schools and enterprises. Headquartered in Shenzhen with branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Chengdu, Creality established an industry-university-research teaching and internship base with multiple colleges and universities, extending our technological strength. The progressive large-scale R&D center, 3D printing laboratory, Creality Academy and modernized production line combined with a 24 hour, non-stop professional testing line and rigid quality system has ensured product quality from its source. Our products have been sold to 192 countries and regions, ranking in the global 3D printer top sales list. Contact us: info@creality.com Creality

https://www.creality.com/activity-news/creality-7th-anniversary-celebration View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/creality-presents-create-the-future-3d-printing-industry-summit-to-celebrate-7th-anniversary-on-april-9-2021-301263783.html SOURCE CREALITY 3D

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Robson was cramped, dehydrated and too weak to walk. Assisted An Immigration department spokesman said Robson arrived in Australia by air from Cardiff, on July 8, 1964, as an assisted migrant recruited by the railways. Due to an unsatisfactory record in his short time in Australia, and as there seemed little prospect of his successful settlement, Robson was to be offered repatriation to Wales, he said. Before this decision was conveyed to him he apparently left Australia.

Had he reported to the department after leaving gaol in Brisbane in April, as he should have done, Robson would now be home in Wales, the spokesman added. It was reported from Brisbane last night that Robson completed a five months sentence for false pretences on April 27. Robsons landlady, Mrs. L. Beeson, of Philipson Street, Albert Park, said yesterday she was not surprised at the news that her former boarder had air freighted himself out of Australia. I did not realise he was leaving until I went into his room on Saturday to collect some board money. Instead, I found two of my blankets and two pillows missing. BOX SEAT IN AIRLINER

Jet Age Stowaway Tells His Story LOS ANGELES, May 17. A 20-year-old Welsh jet-age stowaway today told of his fantastic trip across the Pacific from Australia in a wooden crate. Cardiff-born Brian Robson, homesick after only 10 months in Australia shipped himself c.o.d. airfreight from Melbourne to Cardiff in a crate labelled Ajax computer and measuring only 36 inches by 30 by 38. But instead of being placed on a direct 36-hour Qantas flight from Sydney to London, the crate was shipped by Pan Am. And at Los Angeles airport yesterday, cargo officials heard knocking and saw a flashlight shining out of the crate.

Loading Inside, cramped and too weak to walk they found Robson  92 hours and 8000 miles after he had been nailed into the crate in Melbourne. Robson was taken to the prison ward of Los Angeles County General Hospital. In court today he will face charges of illegal entry into the United States and stowing away. But Sergeant Kenneth Larsen of the airport police said it was likely that he would be deported  to Britain.

Sergeant Larsen yesterday said Robson would have been dead before the crate had completed the next 5500-mile leg of the journey to London. The flight was due to leave Los Angeles at noon local time today, but Sgt. Larsen said: Another 12 hours and he would haw been a goner. He remained in a wheelchair as he talked to reporters today. If everything goes all light I expect to be home in a week, he said. When I get back, Im going to forget all about Australia and America and just settle down.

Robson said he had been dissatisfied with his job with the Victorian Railways, homesick and without funds to go home, when he decided on the unusual manner of travel. Three friends in Melbourne assisted him. Theyre all Pommies, he said. I dont want to give you their names. I dont want them to get into trouble. They nailed me down into the crate and ordered the taxi to take me to the station. If the crate wasnt delivered in London by Monday morning, they were supposed to get after the airlines and find out what happened. I planned to break out of the crate and telephone them in Melbourne but I suppose thats all off now. Robson sipped water and rubbed his bruised legs constantly during the interview. After his crate was left at Melbourne Airport, his biggest fear was whether or not the cargo section of the plane would be pressurised.

I was dead scared, petrified would be more like it, he said. Pan American cargo handler Gary Hatch, who found stowaway Brian Robson, shows just how squeezed he must have been. Credit:AP He had a suitcase and a blanket and several biscuits with him in the tiny box. It was labelled Ajax Computer, he said, adding: That was part of the plan. We had told the airline it had to be handled very gently, that the tubes were very sensitive and to take especially good care of it. His first upset after the flight on an Ansett-A.N.A. plane from Melbourne to Sydney was being left upside down for 22 hours at the Sydney airport.

The suitcase was on top of my head. It was completely dark and I didnt know what was going to happen. Kept Diary On the flight from Sydney Robson managed to sleep for about an hour. I tried to keep a diary of how I felt but I gave it up after about an hour out of Sydney. I was talking to myself quite a bit. You know it was complete darkness and I didnt know what was going to happen. It was very hot and I had spilled my water so I didnt have any.

When he was unloaded in Los Angeles on Saturday night he didnt know where he was. But he said, I could hear an accent that definitely wasnt Pommy. Robson said he decided to break out of the box but was unsuccessful. Finally I knocked on the side of the box. Somebody came over. He wanted to know what was in the box. I said it was a man. The man left and came back later with some more people and they tore the top off the box. Those chaps were more surprised than me. In CARDIFF, Robsons father today criticised the Australian Government over the incident.

The whole root of this trouble is that the boy was homesick, Mr. James Robson said. I honestly think the public are misled by the Australian Government in what they are really offering to young men who wish to emigrate. Mr. Robson described Brian as a good, home-loving boy. A next-door neighbor called him an adventurous lad. Risked Death In SYDNEY, a Pan American spokesman, Mr. Alan Brook, said he believed Robson risked death by air freighting himself overseas.

The chances were that Robson could have been freighted in a piston-engined aircraft and would have frozen to death. He said the computer cargo rate for Robsons crate from Melbourne to London would have been about  140. A first-class air ticket would have cost  500 and a tourist class ticket 321. At Melbournes Richmond Railway Station, where Robson worked for a short time, some of his former colleagues said he was moody and impulsive. He left the Victorian Railways in August 28 last year and was marked away without leave on their records.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic athlete and reality television star, is reportedly "actively exploring" a bid for governor of California.

Axios reported Tuesday that Jenner's interest is very real  so much so that she has been having serious conversations with multiple political consultants. According to Axios, Jenner, a longtime Republican, is being assisted by longtime GOP fundraiser Caroline Wren, who worked to re-elect President Trump in 2020.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Hungary's retail sales continued to decline in February, figures from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office showed on Friday. Retail sales fell a calendar-adjusted 5.9 percent year-on-year in February, following a 1.9 percent decrease in January. Sales of food products decreased 3.5 percent annually in February. Sales of non-food products declined 3.3 percent and those of automotive fuel fell 10.4 percent. The volume of mail order and internet retailing, which accounted for 8.9 percent of all retail sales and involved a wide range of goods, surged by 26.0 percent yearly in February, continuing a multi-year expansion, the agency said. On a seasonally adjusted basis, retail sales volume fell 1.2 monthly in February. On a non-adjusted basis, retail sales fell 5.6 percent annually in February, following a 2.6 percent decrease in the previous month. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
CBS are still promoting The Talk using a clip of Sharon Osbourne defending Meghan Markle against the 'racist' royal family - after firing the TV host when she stuck up for Piers Morgan in a racism row the next day.

The network has been accused of 'hypocrisy' over the incident by industry insiders  and a source close to Osbourne claims CBS is 'exploiting the controversy for ratings'.

The row began when Piers Morgan stormed out of UK chat show This Morning on March 9 after saying he didn't believe Meghan's account of alleged bullying and racist treatment by the royal family in a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The next day Osbourne, 69, took a stand on The Talk, saying although she disagreed with Piers, she supported his right to make the controversial comments on TV.

'I supported my friend with his freedom of speech and his opinions of what he felt about the interview of Meghan and Harry,' she said.

Scroll down for video

Sharon Osbourne lambasted the royal family and the Queen, describing their alleged treatment of Meghan Markle as 'absolute racism at its height' on an episode of The Talk (pictured) that aired two days before her on-air racism row

The four-minute clip remains on The Talk's YouTube page, with advertisements attached, despite CBS firing Osbourne after she defended Piers Morgan's criticism Markle

'Did I like everything he said, did I agree with what he said? No. Because it's his opinion, it's not my opinion.'

In the following days anonymous allegations were posted by a blogger accusing Osbourne of calling her Chinese-American co-host Julie Chen 'Wonton' and 'Slanty Eyes'  claims Osbourne denied vociferously.

Two weeks later, CBS fired her from the show.

But despite giving Osbourne the chop, the channel is still using clips of her to promote the show.

In a four-minute section from the show which aired on March 8, the day before Piers' controversial comments, Osbourne lambasted the royal family and the Queen, describing their alleged poor treatment of Meghan Markle as 'absolute racism at its height'.

She also called out Prince Andrew for not having his military medals stripped over allegations of child sex offences through his friendship with infamous late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

In a March 10 episode of The Talk (above) Osbourne defended Morgan in an on-air debate with co-host Sheryl Underwood, who suggested he was racist for saying he didn't believe Markle's account of alleged bullying and racist treatment by the royal family

CBS said Osbourne's March 10 on-air bust-up 'did not align with our values for a respectful workplace', however, the episode remains available to view online with advertisements attached

Underwood and Osbourne are pictured right at the 41st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in 2014. Osbourne took a stand on The Talk, saying although she disagreed with Piers, she supported his right to make the controversial comments on TV

The clip was posted on The Talk's official YouTube channel to promote the chat show, garnering more than 222,000 views.

And though CBS said Osbourne's March 10 on-air bust-up 'did not align with our values for a respectful workplace', the episode remains available to view online  with advertisements attached.

A source close to Osbourne told DailyMail.com the continued promotion was 'par for the course with CBS, exploiting the controversy for ratings while not understanding how to handle it from a content perspective.'

A Los Angeles TV insider who works as a consultant to CBS says Sharon is unhappy about what are 'essentially double standards'.

'Clearly something is off here,' the source said. 'One minute CBS says that Sharon's comments do not align with their values, but then they keep the whole show up online in its entirety to gain views.

'And those shows have advertising segments built around them too, so they are earning money from these views.

Osbourne (far right) and Underwood (second from left) got into a heated exchange over Osbourne's support for her friend Piers Morgan (third from left), who has come under fire for comments he made about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Morgan posted this photo in February 2020 of the show's former panel from last year. From left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Underwood, Morgan, Marie Osmond, and Osbourne

'The commercial arm of CBS does not appear to align to the moral stance it is taking publicly given its statement about Sharon. It is clear why she would feel wronged here.'

The source added: 'Interestingly the fact that a day before on the show Sharon vehemently defended Meghan and heavily criticized the Royals for their racism, is being used to commercial value too.

'Leaving that clip up there seems like a kick in the teeth. CBS overlooked her measured support for Meghan in the past.'

In her March 8 criticism of the Queen, Osbourne said the royal family had been 'deplorable'.

'How can you be head of an empire, and when somebody of color comes into the Royal family they're not put on a wage, you're not a member of the Royal family, your child is not going to be a prince, because he might have a different colored skin?' she said.

'Now that is deplorable - that is absolute racism at its height.'

DailyMail.com has contacted CBS for comment.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 21:48:08|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan trader, Peter Maina's transport business has abruptly stopped due to insecurity along a major highway connecting northern Kenya to South Sudan.

Peter Maina is a trader in the northwestern Kenyan town of Kitale. Before the militia groups in South Sudan started to waylay and attack foreign drivers on Yei-Juba road, Maina had secured many orders to supply various goods to Juba.

Due to the overflow of orders, he was forced to secure a loan from a microfinance agency to finance the business.

Now Maina is a frustrated man after cargo transportation to South Sudan was suspended following escalating insecurity since the beginning of April.

"The business was going on smoothly until April 1 when attacks against Kenyan drivers intensified. I have been unable to deliver the goods to my clients in Juba after transporters withdrew services," Maina told Xinhua during an interview on Thursday.

He said that he had already run into trouble with his creditor after failing to repay back the loan he had borrowed to support the expansion of his transport business. "I was expected to repay back the money this week but I am yet to deliver the consignment to the client in South Sudan and get paid," said Maina.

He said the lending agency has warned of the possibility of auctioning his property to recover 450,000 shillings (4,190 U.S. dollars) loan that was advanced to him to support the expansion of his enterprise.

Jane Wanjiru, a female trader is also a victim of the insurgency in South Sudan.

The cereal trader supplies the commodities to her customers in Juba but the business has stopped amid rising insecurity. The mother of four has been doing the business for the past seven years.

It was from the proceeds that she has managed to cater to the needs of her two children who are now in high school. "I don't know how I'm going to meet the school requirements for my children now that the business has been hurt by insecurity," said Wanjiru.

Juma Naibei, a trader at Bokwo town located in eastern Uganda shares a similar predicament with his Kenyan counterpart.

The clothes dealer said insecurity along major highways connecting Uganda and South Sudan has disrupted his business. "I deliver clothes to Juba weekly but the business has hit the rock because of the transport crisis caused by insecurity," said Naibei.

"I don't know when normalcy will return in the troubled country to enable me to resume the business." Now Naibei is exploring business opportunities at the Suam border town.

"I have visited many towns in Kenya to see if I can get a cloth business as I wait for security to be restored in South Sudan," said Naibei.

Kenyan transporters have stopped cargo to South Sudan for the second week after the killing of two drivers and burning of trucks. The truck drivers were ambushed along the Juba-Nimule Highway last week. It is one of the arteries linking Uganda and South Sudan and is often used by Kenyan truckers.

The insecurity has since been condemned by the South Sudan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Kenya Transporters Association, Long Distance Drivers and Conductors Association said they had suspended their services to South Sudan until security for its members was guaranteed.

Traders and consumers in the world's youngest nation have also raised concern over rising prices of commodities following the disrupted cargo transportation to the country. Enditem
Moncks Corner, SC (29461)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms in the morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. High 83F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with a few showers later at night. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
April 09 : Like most travellers and other professionals, diva Sonam Kapoor is also stuck overseas due to work commitment and wishes to return home to her family and friends.

The actress took to her social media and penned a heartfelt note with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Sonam Kapoor shared a picture with hubby Anand Ahuja and wrote, I miss India so so much, and Ive been craving to go back home and see my family and friends desperately. But I realise I might by dissing my new home a little bit that has given me so much including my beautiful husband, @anandahuja . A bad day in London is still better than a good day anywhere else

The best bribe which London offers to-day to the imagination, is, that, in such a vast variety of people and conditions, one can believe there is room for persons of romantic character to exist, and that the poet, the mystic, and the hero may hope to confront their counterparts.  Ralph Waldo Emerson, 19th-century American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, and poet #everydayphenomenal #london #mumbai #delhi

On the work front, Sonam Kapoor recently wrapped her forthcoming movie in Scotland. The film is titled Blind, a crime thriller directed by Shome Makhija. A Hindi remake of the Korean film of the same name, it follows the story of a blind police officer who is in search of a serial killer.
Frontline health workers across US faced unique stressors during COVID

During the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency department doctors, nurses and other frontline staff experienced unprecedented levels of stress and emotional exhaustion that included nightmares or insomnia, according to a UC San Francisco-led study of emergency departments across the country.

The study, among the first to assess mental health effects of the pandemic at a geographically diverse sample of emergency rooms, found that nearly one-fifth of the ER staff were at elevated risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The study also reported that regular testing for COVID-19 helped to reduce stress among emergency personnel, particularly for those with previous positive antibody results.

The results are published April 9, 2021, in Annals of Emergency Medicine.

"As the nation moves into what many believe is a fourth wave of COVID, this study is important to our understanding of the impact of the pandemic on the mental well-being of frontline medical personnel," said lead author Robert M. Rodriguez, MD, a professor of Emergency Medicine at UCSF.

"We found that feelings of work-related anxiety, emotional exhaustion and burnout were prevalent across the full spectrum of emergency department staff," Rodriguez said. "Early recognition of the signs of stress, burnout, anxiety is critical. Emergency department personnel serve as the initial hospital caregivers for the majority of critically ill patients with known or suspected COVID-19 infection. Protecting and maintaining the health of the emergency department workforce is imperative in the ongoing battle against COVID-19."

The study was conducted between May and July 2020, using electronic surveys to document self-reported symptoms before and after serologic testing for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

Some 1,600 physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, social workers and other personnel at 20 emergency departments took part. This included hospitals in San Francisco and Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans, Miami and Orlando, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Denver, Baltimore, Birmingham, Iowa City, Dallas.

Participants had not previously been diagnosed with COVID-19. After the initial survey, they underwent serial nasal swab PCR and serum antibody tests, then completed a follow-up survey.

Participants said their greatest concerns included exposing their family members or others in their community. They also voiced strong concerns about the well-being of co-workers diagnosed with COVID-19, and of patients with an unclear diagnosis who might expose others in their community.

"Considering the relatively high levels of burnout symptoms, and that more than half of participants reported experiencing at least one symptom of PTSD and as many as 20 percent were at higher risk, employers should encourage workers to take time off, get adequate rest and utilize available well-being resources," said Rodriguez.

The researchers had previously reported moderate to severe stress levels during the pandemic, but that study was limited to academic emergency medicine physicians in California, New Jersey and Louisiana. In one difference between the studies, researchers found that personal protective equipment (PPE) was no longer among the top five listed worries in the later study, suggesting that PPE became more widely available.

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Authors include Juan Carlos C. Montoy, MD, PhD, of UCSF. For a complete list, please see the study.

Conflicts of interest: None reported.

Funding: The project was funded by a cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U01CK000480) and the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Iowa, through a grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health (UL1TR002537).

About UCSF Health: UCSF Health is recognized worldwide for its innovative patient care, reflecting the latest medical knowledge, advanced technologies and pioneering research. It includes the flagship UCSF Medical Center, which is ranked among the top 10 hospitals nationwide, as well as UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, with campuses in San Francisco and Oakland, Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics, UCSF Benioff Children's Physicians and the UCSF Faculty Practice. These hospitals serve as the academic medical center of the University of California, San Francisco, which is world-renowned for its graduate-level health sciences education and biomedical research. UCSF Health has affiliations with hospitals and health organizations throughout the Bay Area. Visit http://www. ucsfhealth. org/ . Follow UCSF Health on Facebook or on Twitter

Follow UCSF

ucsf.edu | Facebook.com/ucsf | YouTube.com/ucsf

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Washington, April 9 : The US is "increasingly concerned" by the Russian military build-up on its border with Ukraine, the White House said, adding that Moscow now has more troops on that frontier since 2014.

"The US is increasingly concerned by recent escalating Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, including Russian troop movements on Ukraine's border," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during a briefing on Thursday.

"Five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed this week alone. These are all deeply concerning signs," she added.

She also noted that Russia currently deployed more troops along the border than any time since 2014, when the conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out, reports Xinhua news agency.

The ongoing conflict has killed some 14,000 people and left as many as 40,000 wounded.

Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak said on Thursday that Russia would be forced to defend residents in eastern Ukraine's Donbas, which comprises the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, if there is a need to do so.

Such a decision will depend on the scale of violence in the region, Kozak said, adding that the "armed formations" in Donbas are experienced and currently able to defend themselves without external assistance.

He reiterated that Russia does not want to violate Ukraine's sovereignty or seize its territories.

Last week, President Joe Biden affirmed the US "unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity" to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has been escalating since February and the clashes between the Donbas insurgents and Ukrainian government forces intensified despite the ceasefire secured in July last year.

Insurgents have controlled parts of Donbas along the Russian border for almost seven years.

According to UN estimates, more than 13,000 people have been killed since then.

Despite an agreed ceasefire, at least 21 soldiers have been killed on the government side since the beginning of the year.

According to the separatists, about 23 people have been killed in the same period.
My mom instilled the importance of education at a young age, said Diaz. If he was going to play sports, homework had to be done first, he said. I didnt get to do any fun stuff unless school was taken care of.

The truth is, he liked to do well in school, said Diaz.

Im ultra-competitive, he admitted. Getting good grades was a way to show that I was smart and I belonged there, and to prove to myself I had the inner fire to succeed.

And I like to learn new things, which is one of the things he likes about working in his chosen fieldtechnology.

Because he was so set on attending Stanford, he applied for early decision admission from the university. He also planned to apply at Harvard and Yale, but held off because he would have to request a waiver to pay for the application fee. Diaz said he was accepted to every UC he applied to, but his heart was set on Stanford.

On the day he found out hed been admitted at Stanford, I went to the mailbox and pulled out this giant booklet. I started screaming because I assumed if it was a packet itd be good news, instead of a one-page rejection letter.

His mother was ecstatic, said Diaz.
DAKAR, Senegal (AP)  Senegal and Spain signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday to discourage illegal migration that has been increasing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Spain wants to order migratory flows through legal channels, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said after meeting with Senegals President Macky Sall while visiting the West African coastal nation.

More than 41,000 people from Morocco and West Africa crossed to Spain in 2020, and more than half of them did it by embarking on flimsy boats to the Canary Islands, the Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, off the northwestern African coast. Hundreds died last year after embarking on the deadly water route.

Spanish authorities are holding thousands of migrants, including potential asylum seekers, in camps set up on the islands, hoping to return as many of them to their home countries either voluntarily or through agreements with African governments. Part of that solution is to resume flights of forced returns to Senegal, a program that has been halted since 2018.

While the president did not mention a resumption of flights or the return of illegal Senegalese migrants, he did discuss the memorandum of understanding that would see seasonal migration trips to Spain.

We can organize seasonal departures since Spain needs manpower, Sall said. We are working with the Spanish government so that those who have to return will be given priority.

More than 71,000 Senegalese live and work in Spain, according to the two leaders.

The solution for Africa is not to see children die in the ocean, he said.

Sall said the government would create 65,000 jobs in Senegal, as well as promote enter entrepreneurship, vocational training and cooperation.

This is how we can resolve the issue of migration. Its not about leaving organized gangs that exploit these young people and let them die on the ocean floor, he said.

The Spanish Prime Minister insisted on the fight against migrant smugglers.

Story continues

We discussed the importance of sending a clear message to traffickers. We need to send a clear message to fight human trafficking and illegal migration. We must give the opportunity for there to be a regular migration which could be beneficial for our countries, Sanchez said.

The visit by Sanchez to Senegal ends his mini-tour to two African nations that are key in the European countrys new push to bolster ties with the neighboring continent and mitigate the migration flows.

He visited Angola before his stop to Senegal.

Sanchez is also scheduled to pay a visit to Spanish police working with Senegalese counterparts to crack down on human trafficking across the West African coast. The contingent comprises 57 members of Spains Civil Guard and National Police, two patrol boats, and a helicopter based on the port of Dakar.

Africa has proportionally reported fewer coronavirus cases and deaths than Europe. But officials in Madrid fear that the fallout of lockdowns in jobs and the shockwaves of the global economic slump could send even more Africans on the perilous journey to European shores, many of them via Spain.

Spain also hopes to increase its limited investment and trade exchanges with the neighboring continent as a way to lift African economies and dissuade potential migrants. Nearly one-fifth of Spains exports in 2019 went to Africa, amounting to 19 billion euro ($22 billion). Spain imports from the continent were worth 27 billion euros in the same period.

Sanchez, a Socialist leading a left-wing coalition, has said that he wants to turn 2020-2030 into Spains decade in Africa.

He will wrap his tour in Senegal on Friday by visiting a military base for Spanish and other international forces fighting extremism in the Sahel region and the center in Dakar that will host the first Cervantes Institute in sub-Saharan Africa for studies of the Spanish language and culture.


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The life of Philip Roth was a story. So was the writing of his biography.

Blake Baileys Philip Roth, a volume Roth had imagined in some form for more than 20 years, was published internationally this week, and will be released in hardback on June 16 in Australia. Ever willing to provoke or amplify an argument, the author of American Pastoral, Sabbaths Theater and other novels had been thinking of a biography ever since his former wife, actor Claire Bloom, depicted him as unfaithful, cruel and irrational in her 1996 memoir Leaving a Dolls House.

Roth was determined to have his side come out, but wanted someone else to tell it. He first recruited Ross Miller, an English professor and nephew of playwright Arthur Miller, but became so unhappy with what he believed was Millers narrow scope that the two had a falling out. So in 2012, Roth brought in Bailey, granting him full access to his papers, his friends and, the highest hurdle, the author himself. Bailey would have the final say.

When it came to writing for and about women, Roth had his critics. Credit:New York Times

Philip understood what the deal was, Bailey told The Associated Press, and mostly abided by it.
By James Paton, Tim Loh and Todd Gillespie,

Growing worries that AstraZeneca Plcs Covid-19 vaccine causes rare blood clots could hinder immunization campaigns across the world, from London to Seoul.

Reviews by UK and European Union regulators finding potential links to the unusual side effects are another blow for the shot, a cheaper and easier-to-deploy product that many nations are counting on in a bid to end the pandemic.

Safety concerns could shake confidence in the injection, even though regulators reiterated that its benefits outweigh the risks. Many regions are turning their attention to vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and developers in China, Russia and elsewhere, but theyre still in a difficult position with demand for doses far outstripping supply.

CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH

Better Astra than nothing, said Michael Kinch, a drug development expert and associate vice chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis. In an under-vaccinated country, I think you have no choice but to take it.

Scrutiny of the vaccine, developed by Astra and the University of Oxford, has been particularly intense in Europe, where scepticism about shots was already running high in places such as France and Poland. The UK on Wednesday recommended that people under the age of 30 should be offered alternatives, and countries across the EU have also imposed age restrictions.

High stakes

Governments and regulators beyond Europe are watching closely, too, and in some cases taking action. Theres a lot at stake with Astras shot accounting for almost a quarter of the total supply deals signed for 2021, according to Airfinity Ltd., a London-based research firm.

Covax, an initiative designed to level global access thats backed by groups including the World Health Organization, is highly reliant on the vaccine. Shots from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. are more expensive and harder to store. Covax is also leaning heavily on the Serum Institute of India Ltd. as a key supplier, but the country said last month it would slow down exports to focus on its own requirements.

Also read: Rethink Covid-19 vaccine strategy for larger coverage

The bigger dilemma for lower-income countries is they arent getting the supplies they need, said Birger Forsberg, associate professor of international health at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. When is that going to change? he asked.

Even before the results of the latest reviews in Europe, South Korea moved to temporarily suspend Astra vaccinations for people under 60. Now the Philippines is opting for similar age restrictions.

Authorities in Canada, meanwhile, are reviewing the new guidance, as well as information submitted by the drugmaker, and will determine further steps later, federal health ministry spokesperson Anna Maddison wrote in an email. Canada in late March suspended plans to give the vaccine to people below the age of 55, citing blood clot concerns.

Also read: Government panel to review Covid-19 vaccine side effects after blood clotting concerns

Regulators believe the vaccine is safe and effective and are leaving it up to individual countries to make their own decisions, according to Anthony Harnden, deputy chair of the UKs Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization. For many countries, there arent a lot of alternatives.

This is important for the whole world, he said.

Countries in Africa, such as Namibia, Ivory Coast and Senegal, said theyll go ahead with plans to administer the doses as they arrive, pointing to comments backing the vaccine from regulators and the WHO. Cameroon had previously stopped Astra inoculations.

For Namibia this changes nothing, health minister Kalumbi Shangula said. It has not been conclusively demonstrated in clinical settings. We still plan to administer the vaccine when we get it.

Link likely

The UKs move to avoid giving the shots to young adults follows an evaluation by the countrys Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency that evidence of a link between the vaccine and the sometimes deadly clots is stronger, but more work is still needed.

Astra said its studying the individual cases to understand the epidemiology and possible mechanisms that could explain these extremely rare events. Its also working with regulators on their request for new labels on its shots.

Astra shares rose 1.5% in London trading. While the company has pledged not to profit from the vaccine during the pandemic, some analysts have expressed concern that the vaccines woes may be a distraction for its top management.

Also read: Are some Covid-19 vaccines more effective than others?

UK health officials described the clotting syndrome as similar to a rare side effect of treatment with heparin, an anticoagulant, in which the body forms antibodies against blood platelets. How or why the vaccine might be involved in such a process is still under investigation.

The European Medicines Agency said that unusual blood clots with low platelets should be listed as very rare side effects, although the regulator didnt issue any guidelines on age.

The EMAs analysis was based on a review of 86 instances that had been reported as of March 22, including 18 fatalities. Some 25 million people had received the Astra shot in the UK and Europe by that point. On April 4, there had been 222 reported instances of that type of clotting out of about 34 million people, the agency said.

First dose

So far, most of the cases occurred in women under the age of 60 within two weeks of vaccination. The events generally occurred after people received their first dose.

Many countries have populations that are significantly younger than in Europe, potentially pointing to a higher risk of the clotting, even if it remains very rare. For now, its unclear how the data will be interpreted globally, particularly in developing nations that had been banking on widespread use of the shot.

I believe that the epidemiological data show that the natural infection is far worse than the severity of the side effects of the vaccine, Washington Universitys Kinch said.
President Joe Biden appears determined to make good on his campaign pledge to bolster the supply of affordable homes by directing more federal dollars toward housing.

After four years of his predecessor's attempts to take a hatchet to the budget of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Biden seeks to increase HUD's funding by 15.1%, to $68.7 billion, in his first budget proposal. The money would go toward assisting low-income renters and increasing the availability of lower-cost homes.

President Bidens [budget request] turns the page on years of inadequate and harmful spending requests and instead empowers HUD to meet the housing needs of families and communities across the country," HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said in a statement. "I look forward to working with the president to advance HUDs critical priorities.

President Joe Biden's Proposed Housing Budget

While the president's goals are ambitious, the $1.52 trillion partial budget released on Friday must first receive congressional approval. The full budget is expected to be released later this spring.

The HUD funding, if it comes through, would be in addition to the $27.4 billion that was in this year's pandemic relief package. The president's yet-to-be-approved infrastructure plan also sets aside $213 billion to preserve, retrofit, and create more than 2 million affordable housing units for low- and middle-income Americans.

"The increase in HUDs budget represents a wish list of things the president wants to implement. Its also an acknowledgement of the harsh realities facing Americas families today," says realtor.com Senior Economist George Ratiu. "For todays buyers, homeownership is moving further out of reach because of steep prices and rising mortgage rates. Access to affordable housing that allows a family to move up the ladder is also sorely lacking.

However, some housing experts are skeptical that this budget, even with the big funding boost, can tackle the severe shortage of housing and affordability issues that are plaguing each corner of the nation.

"In the past when we've had similar efforts, how really successful have we been?" asked Jim Gaines, an economist at Texas A&M University's Real Estate Research Center in College Station. He pointed out that only a relatively small number of people in the country stand to benefit from the budget increases. "But it sure beats not doing anything."

Affordable housing is one of President Biden's priorities

For years, the nation has suffered from a severe shortage of affordably priced housing, a problem that has worsened drastically during the pandemic. The president plans to address the issue by spending $1.9 billion, a $500 million increase, on constructing and rehabilitating more reasonably priced rental homes. This includes $180 million to put up 2,000 new units for affordable housing for the elderly and disabled.

"That's great," says Gaines. "But when you get down the number of homes that are going to get the benefit of this and then spread it geographically across the United States, the impact is going to be on a relatively small number of housing units."

More low-income renters and the homeless would receive assistance

The president hopes to offer housing vouchers to help an additional 200,000 low-income families pay rent. Priority would go to the homeless and victims of domestic violence.

Currently, about 2.3 million renters rely on housing choice vouchers to afford a roof over their head. The budget calls for $30.4 billion to be added to the voucher program to fund those additional families.

The president also plans to make it easier for lower-income families of color to move into neighborhoods that offer more opportunities, such as better schools or more access to public transportation and jobs.

"Unfortunately, the ZIP code youre born into has an impact on your life expectancy, the kind of education youre going to get, the food thats available to you," says Pam Kisch, executive director of the Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan. Giving people more choices is always a good idea. But its also important to make every neighborhood in the United States a neighborhood of opportunity."

Biden would also attempt to lift more than 100,000 families out of homelessness. The president is aiming for a $500 million increase in homeless assistance grants to move people into stable housing as well as to help prevent homelessness.

This would be in addition to the $5 billion set aside for emergency vouchers that help secure housing for folks who don't have a place to stay or who are at immediate risk of homelessness.

The budget is a step to ensure government protections to many on the margins," says Ratiu.

Environmentalism and health are also covered in the budget

Environmentalism is another priority of this administration. The president is requesting $1.7 billion to retrofit homes, schools, and other government buildings to be more energy-efficient. The budget also sets aside $800 million for retrofitting HUD-supported rental properties to become more energy-efficient, which will save tenants money on their utility bills, as well as making the structures more resilient to natural disasters such as flooding.

The budget also builds on one legacy of the prior administration. Former HUD Secretary Ben Carson was committed to lead paint remediation, as the paint can cause serious health issues in young children. This budget calls for an additional $40 million, for a total of $400 million, to be spent on getting rid of lead paint and other home-based health hazards.

The budget aims to combat discrimination

The president's budget set aside $85 million to combat discrimination. The money would be distributed in grants to local fair housing organizations to fund enforcement. This means when someone is accused of something like refusing to rent, sell, or lend to a qualified applicant, the fair housing organizations can investigate. It would also provide additional education to housing entities to prevent discrimination from happening.

"Housing discrimination and housing segregation color every aspect of our lives," says fair housing advocate Kisch. "Fair housing centers have been woefully underfunded for decades. This is one step in the right direction."

About $900 million would go toward tribal communities to expand the supply of affordable housing, improve current housing stock and infrastructure, and provide additional economic opportunities.

Native Americans are seven times more likely to live in overcrowded homes and five times more likely to suffer from plumbing, kitchen, and heating problems than the rest of the nation, according to the budget.

The post President Biden Takes On Housing Crisis in Proposed Budget; Could It Bring Home Prices, Rents Down? appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
TRAVERSE CITY, MI  A woman who was speaking out about gun violence during a public meeting when a Northern Michigan elected official brought an assault rifle into view plans to file a federal lawsuit on Monday claiming those involved committed unconstitutional actions, her attorneys said.

The expected plaintiff in the case, a 74-year-old Grand Traverse County woman, was speaking about gun violence and concerns about the Proud Boys organization during the Jan. 20 Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners virtual meeting when Vice Chair Ron Clous got up, disappeared off screen and then returned holding a rifle.

RELATED: Northern Michigan official holds rifle during public comment about gun violence concerns

The lawsuit, in which the woman will be referred to as Jane Doe, will ask the U.S. District Court of Western Michigan to deem Clous threatening behavior illegal and unconstitutional and to declare and order that it never happen again, according to a news release from attorneys.

The case is expected to be filed on Monday. It will name Clous and others. A news conference is set for 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 13, at Park Place Hotel in Traverse City.

The woman is represented by attorney Blake Ringsmuth of Ringsmuth Wuori in Traverse City.

The law firm is standing up for the rights she and the rest of us cherish and see that they not be taken for granted, here in Grand Traverse County, or anywhere in this great country, according to a statement in the release.

On Jan. 20, the woman was speaking during the public comment portion of a county board meeting. Her concerns about gun violence were related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Grand Traverse Countys status as a Second Amendment sanctuary and the board allegedly allowing the far-right Proud Boys group to give a presentation at a previous meeting. After acknowledging gun rights, she asked the board to make a public statement denouncing the Proud Boys.

As she spoke, Vice Chair Ron Clous got up, disappeared off screen and then returned holding a rifle. Clous set the weapon on the floor after earning a chuckle from Chair Rob Hentschel. The woman speaking did not react and continued with her statement until her time was up.

The woman has since been subjected to threats from others, according to people who spoke out to condemn Clous actions during a virtual meeting on Jan. 28. Clous also had supporters in the virtual crowd.

RELATED: Northern Michigan official who held rifle during meeting sparks public outcry

View the full Jan. 20 meeting here; the incident occurred about 1 hour and 31 minutes into the meeting. View the full Jan. 28 meeting here.

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The Canadian Network for Modelling Infectious Disease (CANMOD) will inform decisions related to public health threats and better prepare Canada for future pandemics.

Simon Fraser University mathematics professor Caroline Colijn will lead a new, national infectious disease modeling network that will inform decisions related to public health threats and better prepare Canada for future pandemics.

Colijn will oversee the Canadian Network for Modelling Infectious Disease (CANMOD), supported by $2.5 million in funding over the next two years. CANMOD is one of five multidisciplinary infectious disease modelling networks receiving a total of $10 million. The funding, announced today by the federal government, will help to strengthen ties between academia, industry and the public sector and improve response coordination.

The networks will be established through a partnership between the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).

The CANMOD network will increase Canada's capacity for infectious disease modeling to directly support short, medium, and long-term public health decisions. "Our network comprises collaborative teams of modelers, statisticians, epidemiologists and public health decision-makers," says Colijn, who holds a Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematics for Evolution, Infection and Public Health. Her network team will be co-led by McMaster University professor David Earn. "These collaborative teams will coordinate a broader community of modelers and statisticians to contribute to--and benefit from--this collective work."

Colijn, whose modeling and expertise has been central to informing Canada's COVID-19 response, says questions tackled by the network will be grounded in public health needs and generated in partnerships between research investigators and public health leaders, health administrators and policy-makers.

CANMOD will build and coordinate national capacity by sharing research problems, models and estimates, data files and pipelines, and expertise across a broader community of researchers in academia, industry and the public sector.

The new research networks will work with PHAC to create a comprehensive research consortium, complementing PHAC's existing modelling initiatives. Together, the networks will identify gaps to increase more targeted infectious disease surveillance, better understand how diseases spread and identify ways to most effectively manage them.

Committed to increasing equity, diversity and inclusivity in the next generation of infectious disease modelers, the CANMOD network will also train as many as 20 postdoctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students in infectious disease modeling, public health policy and decision making, engaging with a wide community of knowledge users. Trainees will be well-placed for careers in academic, industry and the public sector.

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McNeece appointed 5th Judicial Circuit magistrate judge

A new magistrate has been hired for the 5th Judicial Circuit.
Senator Manchin spoke of keeping the filibuster, not throwing it out as some extreme Democrats want to do. One of the reasons it is not wanted is that it blocks the administration from getting all the bills it wants to be passed on the Senate floor.

Senator Manchin is known as one of the most conservative Democrats and tends not to vote along party lines. For example, the $15 wage hike with a no vote with six other Democrats preferred an $11 per hour wage hike.

Senator Manchin is conservative, keeping the filibuster for check and balances

In a Washington Post article op-ed, Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) explained and quoted why he is against removing the Senate Filibuster.

"The filibuster is a critical tool to protecting that input and our democratic form of government," Manchin wrote in a Washington Post opinion article. "That is why I have said it before and will say it again to remove any shred of doubt: There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster."

What he meant is the senate filibuster is one of the mechanisms to prevent a one-party rule. For example, the Biden administration cannot ram the president's infrastructure plan because the Republicans can vote against it. Without the senate filibuster mechanism to prevent it, the administration can force a bipartisan vote without the Republicans.

When the Democrats passed the $1 Trillion Stimulus Package, it used budget reconciliation, for which Senator Manchin showed an awful distaste. For now, this is their preferred way to push items they want badly. Republicans are fortunate to have the 'Filibuster' to vote for or not on the floor, but not all Democrats want it around.

Bernie Sanders To Press Joe Manchin on Minimum Wage Increase

The Democrats want to pass President Joe Biden's massive multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. There is a 50-50 seat number between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, while a single vote of Vice President Kamala Harris ends a stalemate with 51 votes.

It comes as Manchin's party is attempting to pass President Joe Biden's massive multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. Democrats have a narrow 50-50 advantage in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris being the tie-breaker.

Joe Manchin said on Monday that he finds the infrastructure plan of President Biden uncompromising with a 28% corporate tax from manageable 21%. Many experts say that it can hurt the US economy, but the administration says it will be good for the country.

The West Virginia Democrat was quoted, "We should all be shocked at how both parties are using the budget reconciliation process to stifle discussion about the big issues facing our country today." "Legislation was never meant to be easy. It's difficult to meet the needs of both rural and urban communities in a single bill, but that's what we were elected to do."

He added that attempts by his fellow Democrats disable the senate filibuster by voting to repeal it was a big miscalculation that made Republicans more determined than ever to oppose bills.

Quoting what Democrat Manchin sees is happening on Capitol Hill and making things worse.

"The political games being played in the halls of Congress just serve to fuel the hateful rhetoric and violence we are seeing across our country right now," he said, adding that "political chaos and gridlock have become more severe" since then.

Senator Manchin said doing away with the 'Filibuster' is the wrong thing to do, and partisanship will not work. He added that it's about time that both parties did their jobs.

Joe Biden's $3 Trillion Package to Come Next After Stimulus Bill

Democrats To Approve $1.9T COVID Aid Plan

Biden Approves $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill Ready for Rollout

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Washington: As the Morrison government scrambles to find extra vaccine supplies following its decision to make Pfizer the preferred vaccine for Australians under 50, it has an obvious place to look: the United States.

But securing access to the vast and tightly-held US vaccine stockpile will take patience and diplomatic skill.

Americas vaccine rollout has been accelerating dramatically over recent weeks. Over one in three US adults have received a vaccine shot and a quarter of the adult population is fully vaccinated. President Joe Biden announced this week that all Americans should be eligible to be vaccinated by April 19, moving forward his previous deadline of the start of May.

President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris tour a Pfizer manufacturing site in Michigan. Credit:AP

The US rollout is moving so quickly that it is expected to face a glut of vaccines by the middle of next month. This raises the question of what the Biden administration will do with its surplus doses and how it will deploy Americas vaccine manufacturing facilities once local demand runs dry.
Thirty-seven doctors have tested positive for novel coronavirus at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Out of these, 32 doctors are in home isolation whereas 5 are hospitalised for treatment. The majority of these doctors have mild symptoms.

"Serving COVID patients at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, 37 doctors of the hospital have tested positive for COVID-19. Majority of these corona warriors have mild symptoms. Thirty-two doctors are in home isolation and the rest five are admitted in the hospital," a hospital source told news agency PTI.

The Delhi government has imposed a seven hour-long night curfew from 10:00 pm to 05:00 am till April 30 to contain COVID-19 spread. The development comes on the back of exacerbating COVID-19 situation in the national capital.

The national capital's coronavirus tally crossed the 6.90 lakh mark, with a total of 5,486 cases in the last 24 hours. Out of these, more than 6.90 people have been discharged so far with 3,363 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

Delhi's COVID-19 death toll reached 11,133 with 20 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. Delhi has total 19,455 active cases at present. More than 18.97 lakh people have been inoculated in Delhi as of Friday. Out of these, more than 15.65 lakh received the first dose whereas 3.31 lakh people got the second dose of the anti-COVID shot.

Sir Ganga Ram Hospital is not the only COVID facility where doctors have been infected with the contagion. As many as 39 doctors have tested positive for COVID-19 at Lucknow's King George's Medical University (KGMU) after receiving the coronavirus vaccine shot. These include the KGMU vice-chancellor Lieutenant General (Retired) Dr. Bipin Puri and the hospital medical superintendent Professor D Himanshu, 20 doctors from the general surgery department, 9 from the urology department, and 3 from the Department of medicine.

Edited by Mehak Agarwal

Also read: 6 employees at KGMU vice chancellor's office test COVID-19 positive despite vaccination

Also read: Delhi night curfew: Who can get e-pass for travelling, how to get it?

Also read: Delhi imposes night curfew from 10pm to 5am as Covid-19 cases rise
Burma (also known as Myanmar) troops fired at anti-coup protesters on Wednesday, killing at least 13 people and wounding several, media said, as a series of small blasts hit the commercial capital Yangon and a Chinese-owned factory was set on fire.

The countrys military ruler said the civil disobedience movement was destroying Burma.

More than 580 people have been killed, according to an activist group, in the turmoil in Burma since a Feb. 1 coup that ended a brief period of civilian-led democracy. Nationwide protests and strikes have persisted since then despite the militarys use of lethal force to quell the opposition.

Security forces opened fire on Wednesday on protesters in the northwestern town of Kale as they demanded the restoration of Aung San Suu Kyis civilian government, domestic media said.

A resident of the area and the Myanmar Now news outlet said 11 people were killed and several wounded.

Reuters could not independently verify the toll.

Two protesters were killed in the town of Bago near Yangon, Myanmar Now said.

At least seven small explosions were heard in Yangon, including at government buildings, a military hospital and a shopping mall, residents said. There were no casualties and no claims of responsibility.

The U.S. Embassy in Yangon said it had received reports of handmade sound bombs, or fireworks meant to create noise and cause minimal damage.

A fire broke out in the Chinese-owned JOC Garment Factory in Yangon on Wednesday, the fire department said. There were no reports of casualties and no details on the extent of damage.

In another Yangon neighborhood, activists set fire to the Chinese flag, according to pictures posted on Facebook.

China is viewed as being supportive of the military junta and last month arson attacks were made on 32 Chinese-invested factories in Yangon.

Details of the blasts and the fire were difficult to obtain because of the juntas curbs on broadband Internet and mobile data services.

A spokesman for the junta could not be reached for comment.

Destroy the Country

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the junta, said in a statement on Wednesday the civil disobedience movement, or CDM, had halted the working of hospitals, schools, roads, offices, and factories.

Although protests are staged in neighboring countries and the international community, they do not destroy businesses, he said. CDM is an activity to destroy the country.

According to the Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group, 581 people, including dozens of children, have been shot dead by troops and police in almost daily unrest since the coup, and security forces have arrested close to 3,500 people, with 2,750 still detained.

Among those detained are Suu Kyi and leading figures in her National League for Democracy party, which won an election in November that was annulled by the coup.

The mostly youth-led anti-coup movements ability to organize campaigns and share information via social media and instant messaging has been hamstrung by the Internet curbs.

Myanmar has been subject to a stepwise collapse into the information abyss since February, Alp Toker, founder of Internet blockage observatory NetBlocks, told Reuters.

Communications are now severely limited and available only to the few.

With print media also halted, protesters have sought other ways to get their message across, producing their own A4-sized daily news pamphlets that are shared digitally and printed for distribution among the public.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab discussed how Britain and the international community could support a Southeast Asian effort to resolve the crisis in Burma, Indonesias Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said after meeting him in Jakarta.

Indonesia is among several Southeast Asian countries leading a push for high-level talks on Burma.

Thailand, Burmas neighbor and which has close military ties with the junta, said on Wednesday it did not agree with the violence but the problem had to be addressed carefully.

We cannot really do what we want because we have shared borders and we need to live and rely on each other on many areas, said Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who had himself seized power in a 2014 coup when army chief, before taking on his current civilian role in 2019.

Fitch Solutions said in a report on Wednesday that targeted Western sanctions alone were unlikely to succeed in restoring democracy. It predicted in the medium-term a violent revolution pitting the military against an armed opposition comprised of members of the anti-coup movement and ethnic militias.

Fitch said Burma was heading toward being a failed state.

The escalating violence on civilians and ethnic militias show that the Tatmadaw [military] is increasingly losing control of the country, it said, adding that the vast majority of people backed Suu Kyis ousted government.
The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) sold the countrys entire vehicle registration database to a private Indian company, without any concern for data privacy and security; this company in turn which shared this sensitive information with a German company, says The Wire in a series of reports.

According to one report , "The deal flew completely under the public radar. The government let the deal linger on for a long stretch despite officials in the ministry flagging concerns over lack of price discovery  a bureaucratic phrase to warn that data had been sold cheaply. Put simply, price discovery is a process that involves affixing the price of a security, asset, or commodity. In this case, it is the vehicular data. They concluded that the contract was stacked 'heavily in favour of the customer'."

Quoting from information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the report says, the September 2014 deal, in which vehicle registration data was sold to an auto tech solutions company called Fast Lane Automotive Pvt Ltd (FLA), faced several objections from government officials. "Yet, it took the ministry nearly two years to put an end to the controversial deal. Till date, FLA continues to have commercial access to the data that was sold under this rescinded contract with the government," says the report.

A second report from The Wire is more shocking and became known only when the German company refused to delete data that it had received from Fast Lane Automotive after the deal between the two went downhill.

Documents obtained by Srinivas Kodali, an independent researcher on data governance, and The Reporters Collective through RTI queries show nearly two years after the MoRTH-Fast Lane Automotive contract was signed, officials realised: There [are] security issues and data leakage possibility.

It takes a while to go through the documents and to get things out. But if you want to read more about the @MORTHIndia fast lane systems data sale, read the documents here https://t.co/qCEdUeTfJJ https://t.co/GfO2Lj3Gw7  Srinivas Kodali (@digitaldutta) April 8, 2021

The realisation came after Fast Lane Automotive informed the ministry it was engaging with a German firm  Management Services Helwig Schmitt GMBH (ManServ)  and sample data had been transferred to it along with important documentation of the contract.

Mr Kodali says, "The issue here is government assumes it owns the data it collects from us in a fiduciary capacity. It wants to sell or share it with anyone it wants. But will not share the benefits with states or ask permission from citizens. Also, data trusts are not good."

The issue here is government assumes it owns the data it collects from us in a fiduciary capacity. It wants to sell/share it with anyone it wants. But will not share the benefits with states or ask permission from citizens. Also data trusts are bullshit. https://t.co/l0m8C65m7w  Srinivas Kodali (@digitaldutta) April 8, 2021

"The Indian firm, in a letter to the ministry reviewed by The Wire, informed government officials of this agreement only when the German company refused to delete data it received from the former after the deal between the two went downhill. Months after this revelation, the ministry snapped off data supply over security concerns, show official records," the report adds.

"Before MoRTH announced a bulk data policy in 2018, they already knew the risks of privacy but did nothing. An Indian firm already shared the data with a foreign firm and it was considered a sensitive information to be shared," Mr Kodali says.

Nirmal Singh Saranna, chief executive (CEO) of Fast Lane Automotive, however, had denied any wrongdoing on part of the company to The Wire.

According to the report, while the MoRTH scrapped its bulk data sharing policy and the 2014 deal with Fast Lane Automotive over security concerns, another policy that allows access to the same data but along with personal details continues to be active without any protection against transfer of data or signing any sub-contracting agreement. The Wire says it reached out to the ministry with a specific query about safeguards in the deal with regards to transfer of data but did not receive any response.

Last year, the Internet Freedom Foundation, an Indian digital liberties watchdog, wrote to the government detailing why it should withdraw the policy. In June 2020, ministry officials decided to scrap the policy. They even ruled out the possibility of sharing reports based on data stored in the NR of transport with private entities.

MoRTH has claimed that the policy has been scrapped but the private firms still have access to the data. They have not been asked to delete the datasets shared and the government has not refunded the money earned, Mr Kodali told the Wire.

Mumbai-based Advocate Pravin Wategaonkar, an activist, who has filed several cases against the tolls on highways, feels this data sharing without price discovery is a case fit case to prosecute all those involved.

He says, "If indeed proprietary data available with a government department has been given out without following prevalent price-discovery processes, it amounts to a dishonest act and omission on part of concerned public servants- causing wrongful loss to public exchequer and corresponding gain to private entity. This is a fit case to prosecute those public servants under criminal and anti-corruption laws.

Pune-based Vivek Velankar, an RTI activist, who is also president of Sajag Nagarik Manch, express surprise over the government itself selling citizens data to private parties. On one hand government departments are turning down every RTI applications demanding similar data citing personal information, third party information and fiduciary information. Even banks are refusing to publish names of big loan defaulters whose loans are written off by them, citing the same reasons. And here the government merrily sold citizens' data without their consent. This is day light robbery on privacy of citizens," he says.

Another Pune-based activist Sanjay Shirodkar, who has been working on the toll issue and together with Adv Wategaonkar and Mr Velankar, have filed cases in Bombay High Court, feels those responsible for this data sharing should be prosecuted. Even those who have used the vehicular data, should be made to pay a heavy penalty by the union government, he says.
NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Next Generation Sequencing market will register an incremental spend of about USD 7.08 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 14.18% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Next Generation Sequencing 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:

Next Generation Sequencing 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 Next Generation Sequencing market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Next Generation Sequencing 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 2.00%-3.00%.

Identify favorable opportunities in Next Generation Sequencing 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 Next Generation Sequencing suppliers listed in this report:

This Next Generation Sequencing procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Illumina Inc.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Merck KGaA

Qiagen NV

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd.

Agilent Technologies Inc.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc.

Pacific Biosciences of California Inc.

PerkinElmer 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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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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There is no end...

I am surprised (and delighted) one after another, as I look up famous people and find that they are Jewish! For instance, actress GWYNETH PALTROW, Academy Award and Golden Globe recipient, the daughter of actress BLYTHE DANNER and producer, director BRUCE PALTROW. Her dad was Jewish and she and her younger brother were brought up in the religion. Her ancestry claimed many rabbis.

Of course, comedians Jack Benny and George Jessel ... and so many other comedians were Jewish. (So why couldn't we go through life laughing ... or at least smiling?)

Finally, and hopefully ...

I...
(Natural News) Conservative commentator and Blexit leader Candace Owens called the experimental coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination for children a type of child abuse.

On March 31, Owens tweeted: Experimental vaccines on children who have an approximate 0% chance of dying from the virus for which they are being vaccinated against is a type of child abuse. Zero long term trials conducted. I just cannot understand parents that would allow their kids to be guinea pigs.

Big Tech doing the bidding of Big Pharma

Her tweet caught the attention of Twitter and promptly labeled it as misleading.

However, state-level data report about COVID-19 on children shows that the information in Owenss tweet is accurate. As of April 1, 0.00 to 0.003 percent of all COVID-19 cases involving children in the U.S. resulted in death, with 10 states reporting zero child deaths.

According to the data published in the website of the American Academy of Pediatrics, there are 3,469,500 total child COVID-19 cases reported in the country. Of those cases, only 0.1 to 2.0 percent resulted in hospitalization.

Owens posted two more tweets shortly after Twitter flagged her initial tweet.

She reiterated her stance in the first tweet: Twitter has unnecessarily slapped a label on my entirely truthful tweet. 1) There are no long term studies on the COVID-19 vaccines; 2) Children have an approximate 0% chance of dying from the virus; 3) I stand by my assessment that using children as lab rats is child abuse.

In her next tweet, Owens said Twitter is doing the bidding of large pharmaceutical companies. She wrote: Sticking bulls**t labels on tweets because Big Pharma tells you to is not going to make me get the vaccine. And its sure as hell not going to transform my personal decision not to vaccinate my child. Im not a sheep. (Related: If doctors offered truthful vaccine consent forms, no sane mom would get her child vaccinated.)

COVID-19 vaccine for children is not a one-size-fits-all solution

The scientific community is facing a unique set of challenges in a bid to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe for children.

Children are not involved in the original clinical trials because severe illness from COVID-19 is more common with adults, specifically older adults. Because a childs immune system is much different from an adults, vaccines tend to require different dosage levels or formulations.

Another thing to consider is that childrens immune systems can vastly differ depending on how old they are. Thus, the COVID-19 vaccine for children couldnt be a one-size-fits-all solution. With more things to consider, medical trials involving children undergo stricter protocols than those involving adults.

Pfizer-BioNTech announces successful vaccine trial for children

Pfizer-BioNTech recently announced that phase 3 of the trial for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 years old with or without prior evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections demonstrated 100 percent efficacy and robust antibody responses. The trial included 2,260 children.

From the reports so far, it appears that not only does the vaccine elicit a good immune response, but it was very, very safe for the children and adolescents who received the vaccine, said Dr. Camille Sabella, a pediatric infectious disease specialist who was not involved in the trial.

In the trial, 18 cases of COVID-19 were observed in the placebo group (1,129 children) versus none in the vaccinated group (1,131 children). The results showed that the vaccine was equally effective at producing an antibody response in younger children as compared to the teens and young adults between the ages 16 and 25 years old from an earlier trial.

Dr. Sabella said that the results from the phase 3 trial will need to undergo peer review and be presented to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to get an authorization for emergency use.

Pfizer-BioNTech reported that the side effects were consistent with those reported during their earlier trial with 16 to 25 year old participants. According to the company, all participants in the trial will be monitored for long-term protection and safety for an additional two years after their second dose.

The company also announced that it has started a global study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and effectiveness of their COVID-19 vaccine in children aged 6 months to 11 years old.

Other pharmaceutical companies conducting their own studies

Moderna has also started its study with children under 12 a few weeks ago. The company is expecting around 6,750 healthy children in the U.S. and Canada to participate in the trial.

Earlier in March, Johnson & Johnson said it is likely to have a COVID-19 vaccine for children under 18 by September. The company is also planning to start testing adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 and then down to infants.

Meanwhile, a trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on children has temporarily stopped while the United Kingdoms drug regulator  Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)  investigates the vaccines possible link with rare blood clots in adults.

Oxford University said in a statement that there were no safety concerns in the trial, but acknowledged fears over a potential link to clots by saying that it was awaiting additional data from Britains Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before restarting the study. (Related: SACRIFICE THE CHILDREN: Oxford Vaccine Group recruits children for coronavirus vaccine trials.)

Parents and children should continue to attend all scheduled visits and can contact the trial sites if they have any questions, Oxford stated.

Vaccination should not be a prerequisite to have children back in school

Children have generally experienced milder problems from COVID-19 and most of them dont have significant symptoms. However, some children have become severely ill from acute COVID-19 or from post-COVID-19 Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C).

Health experts also say children can still transmit the virus. Thats why they deem it important to protect the children from the disease.

But Dr. Sabella does not believe that vaccinating children should be a prerequisite to have them back in school.

Weve learned over the last few months that children can be in school safely as long as all the precautions are taken to keep them safe with social distancing, masking and proper hand hygiene. Many school districts have done a wonderful job with this. Vaccination will just be one more step in helping people, especially parents, feel more comfortable with sending kids back to school, Dr. Sabella said.

Its important for kids to do the things that they like doing. Its good for their physical and mental health. However, we still need to take all of the precautions that are in place.

Follow Immunization.news for more news and information related to coronavirus vaccines.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

Health.ClevelandClinic.org

Aljazeera.com
Page Content

Canada is now the most desirable destination for international workers, overtaking the United States for the first time, according to a new study of more than 209,000 people from 190 countries.

The research was conducted in late 2020 by management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group and The Network, a global alliance of recruitment websites. The study on worldwide mobility trends has been conducted since 2014.

"The most striking shift in our survey is the fall of the U.S. from the top spot," said Allison Bailey, senior partner and managing director at Boston Consulting Group. "The U.S. has fallen to second in the rankings  due to an inconsistent pandemic response, the adoption of more nationalistic policies, and social unrest. Canada and Australia [ranked third] are similar to the U.S. in having English as an official language, but Canada and Australia have both done a far better job of pandemic management. They are also seen as having better social systems and more open cultures than the U.S."

Interestingly, the U.S. remains the most desirable destination when respondents are asked about working for a foreign employer remotely versus having to move to a country where the employer is located, suggesting that U.S. employment is still attractive.

"The question then becomes why would workers rather go to Canada than to the U.S.?" asked Lynn Shotwell, SHRM-SCP, president and CEO of Worldwide ERC, the trade association for the global mobility industry, based in Arlington, Va. "One reason is that Canada is making a tremendous effort to reach out to and welcome immigrants. They have expanded the number of high-skilled visas available while the U.S. has not been as welcoming during the past four years. Our system has been painful for immigrants to navigate for many years, but the last four years under President Trump have been particularly tough."

Shotwell said that the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic is surely another factor in the study's results. "The U.S. is now leading the world in vaccinations, but we had a really inconsistent situation in 2020, creating a negative impression around the world. If you add in the social unrest that we have had, and the divisions, it makes people less willing to consider the U.S. as a place to go."

The changes to the list of top destinations largely reflect different countries' success in managing COVID-19. Almost all of the countries that have fallen lower on the list, including the U.S. and several European countries, have struggled with the pandemic, while countries that have managed the public health crisis more effectively, such as Canada and in Asia, have risen in the rankings.

Attitudes toward the world's most attractive cities for work largely corresponded with the country data. London retained its spot as the top city to relocate to, but New York, Rome and Madrid all lost ground, while Tokyo; Singapore; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, gained. Although Canada is the world's current top work destination, no Canadian cities are in the top 10. Canada's highest-ranked city is Toronto, which places 14th in the survey.

"There has been general globalization of the labor marketit's not only Western destinations that are attractive anymore," Bailey said.

Interest in Working Abroad Falls

The other major finding from the report is that the proportion of workers willing to move to another country for work declined from 64 percent in 2014 and 57 percent in 2018 to 50 percent in 2020. Respondents in nearly every country in the world said they were less willing to relocate.

"The drop is rooted in both nationalistic immigration policies and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic," Bailey said. "The travel restrictions that have come and gone during the pandemic have had an impact on people's attitudes. The trend toward remote work has also affected relocation willingness. In some cases, foreign employers have been willing to offer applicants a job without requiring them to work in any company office. To get the benefits of a foreign job without having to relocate may, to some people, be the best option of all."

Shotwell agreed, adding that "people are reconsidering a lot of things about their lives right now. In the same way that we have seen a tremendous amount of relocation within the United Statesfrom cities to more rural areas, to be closer to familymore people around the world may be looking to stay closer to family and community for personal connection. Especially if you can have access to remote work, why wouldn't you want to stay closer to home?"

The Future of Cross-Border Work

Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they are interested in cross-border remote workstaying in one's home country while working for a foreign employer.

"Cross-border remote work is an opportunity for companies to build new talent pools and increase diversity, without having to worry about relocation costs or visas," Bailey said. "For workers, it is an option to improve their careers without having to take the personal risk of relocating."

She added that companies face some challenges in offering remote international employment, including handling regulatory complexity, managing collaboration across time zones, adjusting salary policies, managing data protection and ensuring remote workers are still integrated into the corporate culture.

Shotwell noted that even though remote work is gaining interest, many people will still need to relocate for work, so HR must think about what to offer to entice people to move. "A big issue is what is the extra duty of care that companies will have to provide to the employee and his or her family to give assurances that, if there is another health crisis or national lockdowns, they will be taken care of," she said.


Modern human brain structures emerged later than the first dispersal of the genus Homo from Africa, and were probably in place by 1.7 to 1.5 million years ago in African Homo populations, according to new research led by the University of Zurich.

The human brain is larger than and structurally different from the brains of the great apes, particularly in frontal lobe areas involved with complex cognitive tasks like toolmaking and language.

However, when these key differences arose during human evolution remains poorly understood.

One of the major challenges in tracking brain evolution in early hominid species is that brain tissues rarely fossilize.

As a result, much of what is known is derived from shape and structures on the surface of the brain cases of rare, fossilized skulls.

Representations of these surfaces, or endocasts, can reveal patterned imprints representing the folds and indentations of the brain and its surrounding vasculature.

The problem is that the brains of our ancestors were not preserved as fossils, said co-lead author Dr. Christoph Zollikofer, a researcher in the Department of Anthropology and Anthropological Museum at the University of Zurich.

Their brain structures can only be deduced from impressions left by the folds and furrows on the inner surfaces of fossil skulls.

Because these imprints vary considerably from individual to individual, until now it was not possible to clearly determine whether a particular Homo fossil had a more ape-like or a more human-like brain.

Dr. Zollikofer and his colleagues examined endocasts of early Homo from Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Dmanisi site in Georgia.

They found that the structural innovations in the cerebral regions thought to allow for many of humans unique behaviors and abilities emerged later in the evolution of Homo.

Our findings suggest that modern human-like brain reorganization was neither a requisite trait for genus Homo, nor a prerequisite for early Homos dispersals into Europe and Asia, said Dr. Marcia Ponce de Leon, a researcher in the Department of Anthropology and Anthropological Museum at the University of Zurich.

Our analyses suggest that modern human brain structures emerged only 1.5 to 1.7 million years ago in African Homo populations, Dr. Zollikofer said.

The results appear today in the journal Science.

_____

Marcia S. Ponce de Leon et al. 2021. The primitive brain of early Homo. Science 372 (6538): 165-171; doi: 10.1126/science.aaz0032
Dubai: A South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars seized by Seoul was freed early on Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal.

MarineTraffic.com data showed the MT Hankuk Chemi leaving Bandar Abbas in the early morning hours.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said Iran released the tanker and its captain after seizing the vessel in January. The ministry says the Hankuk Chemi left an Iranian port at around 6am local time (11.30am AEST).

Iran did not immediately acknowledge the ship had been freed. The ships owner, DM Shipping of Busan, South Korea, could not be immediately reached for comment.
New Delhi, April 9 : India has rejected the US contention that its domestic maritime law is in violation of the United Nations convention on the Law of the Sea, and expressed its concerns about a US naval ship entering into Indian waters.

The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement, "The government of India's stated position on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is that the Convention does not authorise other states to carry out military exercises or manoeuvres in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and on the continental shelf, in particular those involving the use of weapons or explosives, without the consent of the coastal state." The ministry also stated that the US naval ship, USS John Paul Jones, was continuously monitored transiting from the Persian Gulf towards the Malacca Straits. "We have conveyed our concerns regarding this passage through our EEZ to the Government of USA through diplomatic channels," the ministry said.

Earlier, the US had announced Freedom of Navigation Operation in Indian waters in Lakshadweep Islands. The US Navy announced that it carried out a Freedom of Navigation Operation inside India's Exclusive Economic Zone without prior consent.

The US Navy statement said, "On April 7, 2021, USS John Paul Jones asserted navigational rights and freedoms approximately 130 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands, inside India's exclusive economic zone, without requesting India's prior consent, consistent with international law." "India requires prior consent for military exercises or maneuvers in its exclusive economic zone or continental shelf, a claim inconsistent with international law," the statement said.

The US statement further said the freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) upheld the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law by challenging India's excessive maritime claims.

US forces operate in the Indo-Pacific region on a daily basis. All operations are designed in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the US will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, the statement said.

"We conduct routine and regular Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs), as we have done in the past and will continue to in the future. FONOPs are not about one country, nor are they about making political statements," it added.

Any activity within 200 km nautical miles, which falls under EEZ or Indian waters, needs prior permission as per Indian laws.

Chinese vessels on the pretext of carrying out research activities in Indian waters have been tracked and sent back in the past.
LONDON/LOS ANGELES  A backlog of container ships carrying consumer goods has grown in some key strategic ports after a near week-long blockage in the Suez Canal, adding to ongoing disruptions to global trade, industry sources say.

Dozens of container ships were stuck when the 400-meter-long (430-yard) Ever Given ran aground in the canal on March 23, with specialist rescue teams taking almost a week to free the vessel.

Related: Reinsurers Will Bear Most of Costs of Container-Ship Grounding in Suez Canal

The suspension of sailings through the waterway left shipping companies  including container lines  with millions of dollars in extra costs, which were not covered by insurance.

The blockage of the Suez Canal will increase the negative impact on global supply chains in the coming weeks, as the availability of empty equipment, particularly in Asia and Europe, will be affected, Reiner Heiken, chief executive of U.S. headquartered Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, told Reuters.

Container shipping companies, carrying products ranging from mobile phones to designer goods, have been contending for months with disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic and a surge in demand for retail goods that led to wider logistical bottlenecks including in top consumer market the United States.

While some transporters of goods have turned to rail, that option has barely made a dent as about 90% of world trade is transported by sea.

European and U.S. retailers have warned about potential supply snags due to the impact from Suez.

Port officials in Europes leading gateways say the impact will be felt in coming days, adding to already stretched supply lines.

Barbara Janssens, with the Port of Antwerp, said the port and terminal operators were already preparing for whats ahead.

The impact on global supply chains is expected to last for several months. There is simply not enough spare capacity across the worldwide container ship fleet to help counter the worst effects of the Suez incident, Janssens said.

Leon Willems, with the port of Rotterdam, said it expected its container traffic to be around 10% higher than normal every day in the coming weeks.

Both the port and container terminals are doing everything they can to minimize disruptions, Willems said.

Maersk, the worlds number 1 container line, said in a customer note that vessels held up in Suez would be delayed for a number of days before they reached U.S. East Coast ports.

In an unusual step, the company urged the ports to take this opportunity to clear cargo from terminals which will allow them to operate more efficiently.

The East Coast Port of Newark did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A source at the southern U.S. port of Savannah said they expected to clear a backlog of ships in the coming days.

Long Waiting Times

While ports on the U.S. East Coast are more exposed to any disruptions in the Suez Canal, the surge in demand for retail goods has overwhelmed West Coast terminals in recent months.

Container ships face longer waiting and discharging times at West Coast ports than in many other ports around the world, analysis from logistics platform project44 showed.

Eugene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said they were making progress whittling down the backlog, which could be cleared by the end of May or early June.

Mario Cordero, executive director of neighboring Long Beach port, also expected their backlog to be reduced by summer.

But for at least the next couple of months, we expect a continuing surge on the volume that were seeing. Cordero said.

German container line Hapag-Lloyd said the obstruction of the Suez Canal had a major effect on a number of their services.

We are in the midst of trying to recover from that crisis, Hapag Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen told a virtual news conference on Thursday.

We are working hard to try and get back to normalcy towards the beginning of the third quarter.

Analysts Sea-Intelligence expected a ripple effect in the coming weeks between Asia and Europe and disruption of container trade.

Hong Kongs Transport and Housing Bureau said the government was monitoring the situation although the disruption had not had a significant impact on shipping operations between Europe and Hong Kong.

Transporters elsewhere have been turning to a rail links between China and Europe to get critical supplies through, although users stressed volumes were still small.

Journey times via the rail routes, which run from China through Kazakhstan or Mongolia to Russia and then on to freight centers across Europe, typically take between 16-18 days compared with four weeks by sea and just under a week by air.

Danish freight forwarder DSV, Dutch freight management company GVT and Maersk all said they were seeing a surge in interest for rail freight between Europe and Asia.

Land transport between Asia and Europe will always be able to cover only a small share of the total transport volume, Hellmanns Heiken said.

(Additional reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard in Copenhagen, Bart Meijer in Amsterdam and Donny Kwok in Hong Kong; editing by Veronica Brown and David Evans)

Photograph: The Ever Given container ship is shown here wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic in the vital waterway on Saturday, March 27, 2021. Photo credit: AP Photo/Mohamed Elshahed.

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POTTSVILLE  Schuylkill County will spend more money on Sweet Arrow Lake Park, as the commissioners voted Wednesday to appropriate almost $8,000 to improve it.

The commissioners approved an appropriation of $7,831.50 for work in the park, which straddles Pine Grove and Washington townships.

It goes for upkeep of the park, Commissioner Gary J. Hess said. Thats a yearly thing.

County Administrator Gary R. Bender said the county acts as a conduit for the money, which was raised by the Schuylkill Area Community Foundation. There is no lack of places on which to spend the money, according to Bender.

There are always projects going on there, he said.

Hess said the new pavilion at the park is one example of how such money has been spent.

He said another possibility this year would be for an engineering study for dredging the lake, a project that has been on the drawing board for a long time.

County Director of Finance Paul E. Buber said the money resulted from higher earnings by the foundation.

Also on Wednesday, the commissioners approved two contracts with McClure Co., Harrisburg, for work at the prison that must be completed by Dec. 30.

One contract, for $45,764, is for duct cleaning and balancing. The other, for $36,671, is for installing circuit setters to heat duct coils.

Bender said the work at the prison that was funded by CARES Act money has been finished. Work under these last two contracts will make sure everything functions properly, he said.

We wanted to tie all (of it) together, Bender said.

In another matter, the commissioners approved the following budget adjustments:

 Administration, $9,989

 Coroners office, $2,010

 Drug & Alcohol, $14,950

 Mental Health/Developmental Services, $10,500

 Planning & Zoning, $5,500

 Prison, $107,079

We are just reallocating budgetary authority between line items, Buber said of the adjustments. We are not increasing overall spending.

Buber said the prison budget adjustment involved the settlement of a labor contract and turnover among part-time corrections officers.

That did involved some back pay, Buber said of the contract settlement.

Also on Wednesday, the commissioners approved changes to the coroners office contract with Riverside Cremation Services LLC, Schuylkill Haven. Bender said each of the fees is $5 higher than last year.

Those fees include the following:

 $320 for cremation up to 350 pounds

 $470 for cremation up to 450 pounds

 $670 over 450 pounds

 $22.50 daily body storage fee

 $50 per body retrieved from coroners office

In other business, the commissioners:

 Approved agreements with Antz Energy Systems, Shenandoah, for $10,175, to install a new air conditioning packaging unit at the Adult Probation & Parole Office, and $11,263 to install a Diakin packaging unit model in the Planning & Zoning Office.

 Voted to move $13,459.40 in West Penn Township Community Development Block Grant money to aid in the work at the township building annex. Bender said the work will involve compliance with Americans With Disabilities Act regulations.

 Bought two additional parking permits from the Pottsville Parking Authority for the Human Services and Children & Youth buildings.

 Authorized Duda Actuarial Consulting to perform actuarial valuation services for the three-year period ending Jan. 1, 2022, for $8,823 per period.

Buber said the evaluation is required by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board for the countys post-employment health care benefits. He said the county was fortunate to get the three-year pact with no price increase.

They were the lowest responsible vendor, Buber said of Duda.

 Appointed Sheila Johnson, of North Union Township, as a field appraiser for the Tax Assessment Office. The salary board approved her hourly salary of $17.5736.

 Held a moment of silence for Chief Probation Officer Neil N. Stefanisko, of Gordon, who died Tuesday.
Labour Party apparatchiks moaned on a WhatsApp chat that the Commons recall for tributes to Prince Philip on Monday will be a 'ninety-minute circle jerk' following the Duke of Edinburgh's death today aged 99.

Screenshots from the Labour MPs' office managers chat published by Guido show party insiders are displeased with the decision to recall Parliament from its Easter recess to pay tribute to the Queen's husband.

The website said the messages show Jay Glover, MP Alison McGovern's office manager, replying to a WhatsApp message thread in which the recall for tributes is called a 'ninety-minute circle jerk of what a great man he was'.

Guido reported that MP Mohammad Yassin's office manager Gen McMahon also messaged the group: 'It's going to be intolerable'.

In a statement, Ms McGovern said: 'As soon as I was alerted to the message I asked the team member to apologise, which he immediately did.' MailOnline has also contacted Labour and the office of Mr Yassin for comment.

No10 and parliamentary officials confirmed the move to reconvene the House of Commons on Monday from 2.30pm, a day earlier than had been scheduled.

The Lords was already scheduled to return from recess on Monday at 1pm, but officials said they were finalising arrangements and any adjustments to business.

Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle called today 'obviously a very sad day for Her Majesty, the royal family and the whole country' after Buckingham Palace announced the duke passed away at Windsor Castle this morning.

In a statement, he said: 'The Duke of Edinburgh has given his unwavering support to the Queen, both as a husband and as a consort.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, said the Duke of Edinburgh served the UK with 'distinction'

'Described by Her Majesty as 'my constant strength', he served this country too, first with distinction during the Second World War and selflessly throughout eight decades during peacetime.

'Prince Philip has performed wide-ranging official roles, carrying out thousands of engagements and overseas visits on behalf of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

'He will be remembered for his loyal devotion to service and his leadership of hundreds of ideals and causes close to his heart.

'Most notably, of course, is the Duke of Edinburgh's Award which helps millions of young people around the world to achieve their full potential as team members and future leaders in their chosen fields.

'His was a long life that saw so much dedication to duty. Today we must pause to honour him and to offer our sincerest thanks for the prince's devout faithfulness to our country - and all the nations shall miss him greatly.'

The most recent House of Commons recall from recess took place on January 6 to enable MPs to debate emergency Covid-19 legislation.

Other recent recalls include June 20, 2016 to allow MPs to pay tribute to their murdered colleague Jo Cox.

It comes as former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also came under fire for staying silent on the news of the duke's passing before posting a tribute to Philip hours later.

The Independent MP had posted a link to an event inviting people to 'support the Bolivian people' less than 40 minutes after the news of the duke's death was announced, in a tweet now deleted.

One social media user said: 'A man died who did some much for this nation and Jeremy would rather tweet about Bolivia..... speaks volumes.' Another slammed his 'great timing', while others told him to 'read the room Jeremy'.

Another Twitter user urged Mr Corbyn to 'put the news on mate', while another alleged: 'Bro [Mr Corbyn] said no to Phillip and yes to Bolivia'. MailOnline has contacted Mr Corbyn's office for comment.

The news of the duke's death was announced at midday by Buckingham Palace after he passed away 'peacefully' this morning.

His death plunges the nation and the Royal Family into mourning, and brings to an end Philip's lifetime of service to Britain and to Elizabeth, the Queen to whom he was married for 73 years and had adored since she was a teenager.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson led tributes to the duke standing on the steps of Downing Street, calling the duke's service to the nation 'extraordinary'.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  A South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars seized by Seoul left port early Friday after the ship and its captain were released, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry said the MT Hankuk Chemi left an Iranian port around 6 a.m. local time after completing an administrative process, and data from MarineTraffic.com showed the tanker leaving Bandar Abbas in the early morning hours.

A spokesman for Irans Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, later confirmed that Iran had released the vessel. At the request of the owner and the Korean government, the order to release the ship was issued by the prosecutor, Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying by the state-run IRNA news agency.

The Hankuk Chemi had been traveling in January from a petrochemicals facility in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when armed troops from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stormed the vessel and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran.
[April 08, 2021] TPG Pace Solutions Corp. Announces Pricing of $250,000,000 Initial Public Offering

TPG Pace Solutions Corp. (the "Company"), a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 25,000,000 Class A ordinary shares at a price of $10.00 per share. The shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trade under the ticker symbol "TPGS" beginning April 9, 2021. The offering is expected to close on April 13, 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The Company is focused on sponsoring the public listing of a company in any industry that is well positioned to thrive in the public markets. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC are serving as joint book runners for the offering, and Northland Securities, Inc. and Siebert Williams Shank & Co., LLC are serving as co-managers. In connection with the offering, the Company has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,750,000 shares at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. When available, copies of the prospectus may be obtained from Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Attn: Prospectus Department, 60 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005, email: prospectus.cpdg@db.com; tel: (800) 503-4611; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, email: prospectus-eq_fi@jpmchase.com, tel: (866) 803-9204; and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attn: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, email: prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com, tel: (866) 471-2526.



A registration statement relating to the securities has been declared effective by the SEC (News - Alert) on April 8, 2021. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements," including with respect to the proposed initial public offering and the anticipated use of the net proceeds. No assurance can be given that the offering discussed above will be completed on the terms described, or at all, or that the net proceeds of the offering will be used as indicated. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company's registration statement and preliminary prospectus for the Company's offering filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Copies are available on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law.

About TPG Pace Solutions Corp. TPG Pace Solutions Corp. is a special purpose acquisition company formed by TPG Pace Group for the purpose of entering into a merger, stock purchase, or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The strategy of TPG Pace Solutions Corp. is to identify and acquire businesses that are better suited to generate strong returns in a public market environment while benefitting from the broader operational knowledge, resources and private equity heritage of TPG. About TPG Pace Group TPG Pace Group is the firm's dedicated permanent capital platform, created in 2015 with the objective of sponsoring special purpose acquisition companies and other permanent capital solutions for companies. Since that time, the platform has successfully listed five SPACs and completed three transactions and has two announced transactions. TPG Pace Group has a long-term, patient, and highly flexible capital base, allowing us to seek transactions across industries and geographies. The creation of TPG Pace Group builds on TPG's efforts to grow its private equity offering by servicing different return profiles and product types. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210408005985/en/

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Mumbai, April 9 : A Mumbai special court on Friday sent suspended Mumbai cop Sachin Vaze, nabbed in connection with the SUV case, to judicial custody till April 23.

Arrested on March 13, Vaze had been in the custody of National Investigation Agency (NIA), and has now been shunted to judicial custody by Special Judge P.R. Sitre after the agency did not seek his further remand.

Vaze was nabbed for planting an explosive-filled SUV near Antilia, the home of industrialist Mukesh Ambani on February 25, and later the case of the mystery death of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran, whose body was found in the Thane Creek wetlands.

Earlier on Friday, Vaze, a suspended Assistant Police Inspector, was questioned by the Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) for third consecutive day in connection with the probe into the 'letter-bomb' of former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.

The NIA has said that during his custodial interrogation over the past around 4 weeks, several critical aspects of the SUV-Hiran cases have emerged including recovery of several luxury vehicles, and cash, and fishing out some of the evidence sought to be destroyed in the Mithi River, etc.

It added that the probe has unearthed a conspiracy hatched by Vaze and the other accused - convicted former cop Vinayak Shinde and bookie Narendra Gor - to eliminate Hiran, who is believed to be a co-conspirator in the SUV planting case.

Vaze sparked another controversy earlier this week after a letter he had written to the Special Court on Apri 3, levelling corruption allegations against former state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, NCP's Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena Minister Anil Parab had come into the public domain.

Following the letter, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leaders had predicted that two more cabinet ministers of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi would be forced to quit soon.


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Some cybersecurity experts agree with a report by Cybersecurity Ventures and expect financial damages from cybercrime to reach $6 trillion by the end of this year. Industry studies show that cyberattacks are among the fastest-growing crimes in the United States.

Cyberattacks are absolutely on the rise. Based on everything we know and every single analyst we have spoken with, there is no doubt that attacks are increasing, according to Robert McKay, senior vice president, risk solutions at Neustar.

"Cybersecurity experts predict that in 2021 there will be a cyberattack incident every 11 seconds. This is nearly twice what it was in 2019 (every 19 seconds), and four times the rate five years ago (every 40 seconds in 2016)," he told TechNewsWorld.

The rapidly growing increase in cyberattacks worldwide comes at a hefty cost for businesses in order to better protect their computer networks from intrusions. Cyberattacks not only are increasing in frequency, but they are costing victims larger financial losses.

The Growing Price of Cyber Risk

Worldwide, cybercrime cost businesses, government agencies, and consumers in general more than $1 trillion in 2020, according to the data analyzed by researchers at Atlas VPN. That is around one percent of the global GDP.

While $945 billion was lost to cyber incidents, $145 billion was spent on cybersecurity. Those costs increased by more than 50 percent compared to 2018, when over $600 billion was spent to handle cybercrime.

But twenty percent of organizations worldwide have no plans on how to protect against cybercrime events, according to the Atlas VPN report. That leaves a gaping hole in networks for cybercriminals to extend their attack strategies to steal even millions of dollars more.

The only sure defense, warn cybersecurity experts, is to step up efforts to pass legislation that bolsters technological defenses. That may be the only way to alter the course of ongoing cyberattacks.

Despite all the efforts into protecting systems and data, cloud breaches are likely to increase in both velocity and scale, said John Kinsella, chief architect at Accurics about his company's 2020 summer research report on the State of DevSecOps.

"This [analysis] comes as cloud breaches have been rampant over the last two years. More than 30 billion records have been exposed as a result of cloud infrastructure misconfigurations," he told TechNewsWorld.

In order to keep pace with an evolving economy that requires more digital transformation, organizations must place cyber resilience and the practice of DevSecOps at the top of their priority list, he added.

Not Just in the Clouds

Much more results in the growing pace of cyberattacks than rampant migration to cloud storage and misconfigured cloud infrastructure. Still, misconfigurations in cloud infrastructure lead to data exposure and are among the biggest concerns for cyberthreats facing business and government agencies today, noted Kinsella.

Nearly 98 percent of all cyberattacks rely on some form of social engineering to deliver a payload such as malware or ransomware. One of the most successful attack formats cybercriminals use regularly to initiate a social engineering attack is through phishing emails. Therefore, threat actors distribute malware via email approximately 92 percent of the time.

Cloud use and the continued stampede to cloud services is not going away. That ongoing shift in computing practices must be managed with more vigilance.

COVID has accelerated organizations' digital transformation. Therefore, the ability to set up workloads in the cloud and get them through compliance and security challenges is in demand, noted Mohit Tiwari, co-founder and CEO at Symmetry Systems.

"Part of the reason is that the workloads that had resisted moving to the cloud were exactly the highly regulated ones, and the forced move out of on-site data centers managed by IT staff is driving up demand for cloud-based compliance and security skills," he told TechNewsWorld.

Thus, cloud-based security techniques will be vital in the fight to curtail the worsening cybersecurity landscape. These include learning to work with cloud-native identity and access management (IAM), he noted.

"Those looking after cloud-based security need to broadly learn to manage infrastructure through structured programs, instead of shell scripts pieced together. As networks and application tiers become ephemeral, the most important persistent asset for any enterprise will likely be their own and their customers' data. So data-security on the cloud will be a major theme going forward," he cautioned.

Providing Cloud Cover

The world pandemic has hastened the cyber intrusions. So has complacency and poor training among office workers and inadequate IT surveillance.

Organizations need to consider a balanced approach to training their employees and investing in automation tools to minimize the risks of cyberattacks, offered Brendan O'Connor, CEO and co-founder at AppOmni. Extensive training and around-the-clock manual monitoring are not necessary when the right automation tools can complement the IT staff as they build up their skill set.

"IT workers specializing in security need to shift their focus to supporting the new model of business many enterprises are adopting. Some enterprises are shifting their business model to focus on virtual workforce, de-emphasizing the need to secure office networks," O'Connor told TechNewsWorld.

In other cases, offices are being eliminated altogether. IT workers need to change their focus from traditional network security of a campus/office to application security of the work-anywhere model, he continued.

"With the employee location and devices under constant flux, organizations will rely on the consistency and security of cloud service applications. IT workers should look to the management and security of these SaaS (software as service) applications as the new skills and technology to embrace," O'Connor said.

Looming Threats

Over the next year, ransomware will continue to be the biggest threat and financial risk to enterprises, observed Joseph Carson, chief security scientist and advisory CISO at Thycotic. Most organizations should be very concerned about ransomware as the biggest cybersecurity challenge and threat, he advised.

"Organizations should prioritize to invest in security solutions that help reduce the risks and also plan and test an incident response plan to help ensure the business is resilient to high-risk attacks," he told TechNewsWorld.

Ransomware continues to evolve into more than just a security incident. Cybercriminals now seek data breaches with organized cybercrime groups to steal the data before they encrypt on corporate servers. Companies are not just worried about getting their data back but also who it gets shared with publicly.

Cybercriminals use ransomware to target anyone, any company, and any government including hospitals and transportation industries at a time when they are under extreme pressure, Carson added.

Another major cybersecurity attack trend focuses on the protective tools and security vendors within the industry, noted Brandon Hoffman, chief information security officer at Netenrich. The tools that the industry relies on and their providers are becoming more targets for attacks.

"It is a big concern because practitioners need tools they can depend on for detection and defense. By crippling or repurposing the very tools meant to thwart these attempts, the adversaries stand to gain a complete upper hand in the ongoing battle to combat cyber threats," Hoffman told TechNewsWorld.

"The attacks targeting security organizations and vendors were always high up on the adversary list, but success begets further success."

Fighting the Battle

The trust factor is an internal battle of sorts between security vendors and the corporations hiring them for cyber protection. That trust must be constantly reassessed, suggested Tim Wade, technical director of the CTO Team at Vectra AI.

"Strategically, security practitioners must continue to pivot away from preventative-based security architecture into resilience-based security architecture," Wade told TechNewsWorld.

That is where the focus shifts to accepting the reality that things will go wrong, but when they do, the impact is minimized through rapid detection, response, and recovery, he added. Vendors and suppliers have always been lucrative targets for adversaries.

Many of the cyberattackers belong to organized criminal gangs that are sanctioned by foreign nations. The best defense such adversaries is acknowledging that you cannot stop them. But then focus on making their lives as difficult as possible, Wade said.

Cybersecurity Higher Education

One of the often unspoken ways of safeguarding against cybersecurity assaults is through education. This approach goes beyond teaching company workers to be better aware of safe computing ideals. Rather, recruiting the next crop of computer specialists to pursue a degree in cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity prospers because so many professionals come from different backgrounds and skill sets, noted Heather Paunet, senior vice president at Untangle.

"Groups who are traditionally marginalized in other industries, when pivoting or starting a career in cybersecurity, can benefit from multiple industry-leading organizations offering certification programs," she told TechNewsWorld.

The emerging field of cybersecurity is a very viable career path, noted Michael Kaczmarek, vice president of product management at Neustar. Industry reports show that the number of unfilled cybersecurity jobs is expected to grow by 35 percent.

"Given the increases in attacks and the changes in tactics used by bad actors and organizations, cybersecurity will most certainly be a career choice that will see net employment for the long term," he told TechNewsWorld.

The demand for cybersecurity jobs has certainly increased in the past year, agreed Dov Lerner, security research lead at Cybersixgill. A career path in the field is a great choice for someone interested in IT and security.

"An increase in the number of tools utilized increases security operations and analytics complexity and requires an increase in personnel. However, according to a recent ESG survey, nearly 70 percent of security teams say it is difficult to recruit and hire additional SOC (security operations center) staff," Lerner told TechNewsWorld.

Security analysts have the opportunity to impact more than just their specific industry. Cybersecurity reaches into the world of politics, economics, and other sectors of the world. While breaking into the field can be challenging, it is incredibly rewarding, he concluded.

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.


Sports stadiums, theatres, and places of worship will be back to 100 per cent capacity in Western Australia and New Zealanders allowed to enter the state without quarantining under sweeping changes to COVID-19 rules.

A review of the changes will be undertaken in a month which could lead to a further relaxation of restrictions in WA.

WA Premier Mark McGowan has announced sweeping COVID-19 rule changes. Credit:Peter de Kruijff

WA will also reduce the amount of time it takes to consider whether other states are low risk enough for quarantine-free travel following community COVID-19 outbreaks from 28 days of no cases to 14.

Restaurants, pubs, and other hospitality venues with sit-down services will be limited to 75 per cent capacity and the 2-square-metre rule will apply to all other facilities which have a mixture of seated and standing layouts under new changes to come into place from 12.01am on Saturday.
Baku continues to claim that the issue of POWs is "already resolved."

"This topic is closed," Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told at a joint news conference with secretary general Yousef Bin Ahmad Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Othaimeen of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

"Azerbaijan has shown its responsible position even after the November 10 statement. Since that day, the Azerbaijani side has transferred more than 70 POWs to Armenia, and Armenia has returned 12 POWs. The issue raised by Armenia now has arisen about a month after November 10," Bayramov said, reiterating that the Armenian captives "committed a crime." "As a result of the operation carried out by Azerbaijan, the group of Armenian servicemen was neutralized and 62 people were arrested. The investigation confirmed that these people were deployed in Azerbaijan territory on November 26. Almost all of them are from Shirak Province of Armenia," the Azerbaijani FM said.
Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (centre) chairs the UNSC open debate on April 8 (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi  Vietnam, as the rotating President of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for April, held a ministerial open debate on April 8, focusing on Mine action and sustaining peace: Stronger partnerships for better delivery.

The event, held both virtually and in person under the chair of Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, was attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, along with ministers, deputy ministers, ambassadors, and heads of missions of the UNSC member states.

Speakers at the debate included Director of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining Stefano Toscano, UNDP Goodwill Ambassador actress Yeoh Choo-Kheng, Manager of Project RENEW All-Women Demining Team in Vietnam Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh, and UN Global Advocate for the Elimination of Mines and Explosive Hazards actor Daniel Craig.

It also saw the presence of officials from Vietnamese ministries, sectors, and localities hit hard by war-left explosives, along with representatives of the embassies of UNSC member states, UN organisations, and domestic and international non-governmental organisations working on unexploded ordnance (UXO) settlement.

Speaking at the debate, participants highly valued Vietnams initiative to organise the event. They voiced support for the humanitarian purpose of limiting the use of bombs and landmines around the world and emphasised UXO consequences in conflict zones as well as areas that used to undergo conflicts. They also advocated national and international efforts to overcome UXO consequences, assist victims, and stabilise the situation for reconstruction and socio-economic development.

Participants highlighted the importance of international cooperation in addressing UXO and underlined the need to enhance cohesion and coordination within the UN system, including the UNSC, so as to contribute more to UXO settlement efforts by the UN and relevant countries.

In his remarks, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son stressed that sustainable peace is secured only when the consequences of wars and conflicts, including UXO consequences, are resolved.

He held that this issue needs more attention in the UNSC agenda and shared Vietnams experience in this regard, including close attention from all-level leaders; investment in capacity building; the close coordination among ministries, sectors, localities, and non-governmental organisations; along with the participation of people of all social strata, especially women.

Programmes and policies need to centre on people while cooperation with international partners should be enhanced, particularly via the settlement of UXO consequences and the healing of the wounds of war, according to the official.

The minister called for closer cooperation among countries to achieve more sustainable outcomes in mine action, via providing financial and technical assistance, improving capacity and awareness, and sharing experience with affected countries.

He suggested the UN and particularly the UNSC should step up measures to ensure safety for peacekeepers, protect civilians, and promote sustainable peace.

On this occasion, the UNSC adopted its first presidential statement, proposed by Vietnam, on mine action.

The statement underlined the connection between UXO settlement and sustainable peace, stability, and development, affirming the UNSCs commitment and highlighting the necessity for international cooperation in mine action.

It also mentioned new important issues like impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, augmenting support for affected countries, establishing specialised mine action units at UN peacekeeping missions, and taking into account special needs of women and children during the performance of related tasks.
Last Wednesday, when President Biden's bipartisan cooperation wanted feedback from 10 Republican Senators on the COVID-19 relief, they said no. The president said the chance of his $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal getting approval was nil based on zero bipartisan support.

Republicans ignore Biden's bipartisan cooperation on bills

One of the bills waiting to be passed is the $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal, which the White House wants to get bipartisan support for. When the Democrats passed the COVID relief bill, it was by budget reconciliation; not all the items they wanted were included. There is little chance that Republicans will even consider supporting the $2.3 trillion infrastructure with a bipartisan approach, as reported by The Epoch Times.

The president is quoted giving this answer when asked about Republican's refusal to work with Democrats.

"I would've been prepared to compromise, but they didn't. They didn't move an inch. Not an inch," -Joe Biden.

The 10 Republican senators are Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Bill Cassidy, Mitt Romney, Rob Portman, Shelley Moore Capito, Todd Young, Jerry Moran, Mike Rounds, and Thom Tillis. All of them attempted to help in drafting the Covid-19 relief package.

After their suggestions on the bill were rejected by the Democrats, they said they collaborated in good faith when drafting their version of the bill. There are disagreements on what items should be added or omitted that both parties consider essential.

Joe Biden's $2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Disguises Socialism

One of the reasons why the Republicans have given bipartisan cooperation is that the Democrats prioritize more. This difference in opinion is crucial for both parties to meet halfway on bills on which they can agree. It did not help that less than 24 hours after discussing it at the oval office, Democrats triggered the reconciliation process to bypass Republican votes.

Republicans added, according to The Epoch Times, that the $618 billion relief plan was was not enough for the Democrats, who pushed for their original version instead. Republicans sent a letter on January 31 that gave an overview of what the COVID relief should include in its coverage.

According to Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), on Feb 28, most of the items in the COVID-19 relief bill are not at all for COVID relief, but a bailout for poorly-managed Democrat states that are essentially requiring Republican states to support.

At the annual conservative conference in Orlando, Florida, Kelly said that Americans need to know that there is already a budget for a trillion dollars already in the budget. The COVID relief bill will add an extra $1.9 trillion on top of that. According to records, the Biden administration is spending on other items that were poorly hidden in the bill.

Rep. Mike Kelly was quoted with the following statement:

"[...] only about 9 percent of that is going to actually go to COVID relief, the other is going to go to backing blue states that have not been able to run themselves the right way."

He added that the government's expenses are taxpayer money and how the Biden administration spends it is crucial when it comes to national debt concerns. Working on bipartisan bills should consider how the money is put to better use.



Joe Biden's $3 Trillion Package to Come Next After Stimulus Bill

Biden Approves $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill Ready for Rollout

Democrats Pass $1.9 Trillion Partisan COVID-19 Relief

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Hours before President Joe Biden accurately called the nations gun violence epidemic an international embarrassment, a gunman in Rock Hill, South Carolina, killed a prominent physician and his wife, their 9- and 5-year-old grandchildren, a man working at the property and, then, himself.

There is no single piece of legislation that would end the gun violence, but the nation finally must meet the urgent need to change the gun culture from anything-goes to safety-first.

Biden took some minor steps in that direction Thursday with executive actions to foster gun safety without impinging on anyones right to own a gun.

He also nominated gun safety expert David Chipman, former policy director for the gun safety advocacy organization founded by former Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona after she was wounded in a mass shooting, as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, where he formerly was an agent.

Biden signed orders requiring ghost guns, those assembled from kits, to be treated like other firearms for regulatory purposes. Because they are not required to have traceable serial numbers, the self-assembled weapons have become favorites for drug traffickers and other violent criminals.

The president also signed an order regulating the use of stabilizing braces, which convert handguns into short-barreled rifles. The man who recently killed 10 people at a Colorado supermarket used such a device.

And, Biden instructed the Department of Justice to develop guidance for state-level red flag laws, by which courts can order the temporary removal of weapons from people who are found, through a legal procedure that ensures due process, to be dangers to themselves or others.

Biden is limited in what he can do. Its time for Congress to become as concerned as he is about the internationally embarrassing gun violence epidemic, and act to move the culture toward safety rather than carnage.
Archeologists in Egypt have recently discovered what is believed to be the largest ancient city in Egypt. Being dubbed the Lost golden city of Luxor", it was initially discovered in the month of September last year. According to the reports by The National Geographic, the site dates back to the era of 18th-dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III, who ruled between around 1386 and 1353 B.C. During his final years, he is thought to have ruled alongside his son, Akhenaten. However, a few years after his death, his son shifted from everything that the man stood for.

Zahi Hawass Announces Discovery of 'Lost Golden City' in Luxor

The Egyptian mission found the city that was lost under the sands and called: The Rise of Aten. The city is 3k years old, dates to the reign of Amenhotep III, and continued to be used by Tutankhamun and Ay. pic.twitter.com/MTsyTZG7MJ  Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (@TourismandAntiq) April 8, 2021

Lost golden citu unearthed

Akhenaten is said to have ruled for a period of 17 years and during his reign, he abandoned all the traditional Egyptian pantheon, except the sun god Aten. Also, he changed his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten. He then moved his royal seat from Thebes north to a new city he called Akhetaten and led an artistic revolution. However, after his death, most of his traces were destroyed. This included his son, the boy king Tutankhamun, Akhenaten's capital, his art, his religion, and even his name was wiped off from history. The newly discovered city could help in giving clues to the archaeologists and help them research further on the pharaohs controversial transformation.

The excavation site involves both old and new archaeological riches. Also, to the north it comprises Amenhotep IIIs 14th-century B.C. mortuary temple, to the south is Medinet Habu, which is a mortuary temple built almost two centuries later for Ramses III. The archeologists have uncovered a zigzagging mudbrick which is nine feet high. They have also discovered piles of ancient artifacts from the era of Amenhotep III.

Various structures include everyday items and many of these relate to the artistic and industrial production that contributed in supporting the pharaohs capital city. With this, the team has discovered homes where the workers might have lived. Other things which have been discovered include a bakery and kitchen, items related to metal and glass production, buildings that might be related to administration. A cemetery filled with rock-cut tombs has also been discovered.

(Image Credits: Twitter/@TourismAndAntiq)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is concerned about the disbarment of Azerbaijani human rights defender Shahla Humbatova, a 2020 International Women of Courage, or IWOC, honoree. Ms. Humbatova is a prominent lawyer who has defended politically sensitive cases, including those of human rights activists, journalists, and members of the LGBTQI+ community who have run afoul of the Azerbaijani government.

The Collegium of Advocates, as the Azerbaijani bar association is called, disbarred Ms. Humbatova on March 5, 2021 purportedly for failing to pay membership dues. But as the State Departments latest report on human rights conditions in Azerbaijan noted, when the Collegium initiated disbarment proceedings against Ms. Humbatova in 2019, the reasons were widely considered to be political.

In addition, the State Department reported that  according to representatives of the legal community and NGOs - a 2018 law, which made membership in the bar association necessary for lawyers, further empowered the government-dominated bar association to prevent human rights lawyers from representing individuals in politically motivated cases by limiting the number who are bar members in good standing.

Shahla Humbatova was disbarred on the eve of International Womans Day, one year after she received the Secretary of States International Womeon of Courage Award. The IWOC award is presented annually to women from around the world who have demonstrated courage, strength, and leadership in the fight for peace, justice, human rights, and gender equality.

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

He declared, The United States is committed to a world in which human rights are respected, their defenders are celebrated, and those who commit human rights abuses are held accountable. We encourage all steps toward systemic reforms in Azerbaijan, especially those regarding the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms  areas that will benefit the Azerbaijani people and create opportunities to deepen our cooperation."
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China on Thursday refuted U.S. accusations of the country conducting "intimidation actions" in the Taiwan Strait and said that the label of "intimidation" or "coercion" can never be pinned on China.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked to comment on U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price's allegations against China.

"China has never intended to intimidate others, but it is not afraid of any intimidation. China does not want to coerce anyone, but it is useless to coerce China," said Zhao.

He stressed that it is a fact recognized by the international community that there is only one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory, and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.

"The one-China principle is the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, a commitment made by the U.S. side in the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques, and a red line that cannot be crossed," said the spokesperson.

He noted that the U.S. warships have repeatedly showed off "muscles" in the Taiwan Strait recently, sending out gravely wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" forces and threatening the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

The United States has fought no war for only 16 of its nearly 250 years of history and runs over 800 overseas military bases globally, Zhao said, adding that with the highest military expenditure in the world for years in a row, the United States accounts for about 40 percent of the world's total military spending.

The United States also frequently imposes illegal unilateral sanctions on other sovereign states.

"China has the firm will and the ability to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zhao said.

He said the United States should understand that Taiwan question is highly sensitive and that it should abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques.

The United States should also stop its dangerous practices, prudently and properly handle Taiwan-related issues, and should not send wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" forces, to avoid damaging its own interests as well as the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
THE Winnipeg Police Service has been panned for deciding to create a space near its headquarters where its members can meet with the public, including those whove protested against police.

THE Winnipeg Police Service has been panned for deciding to create a space near its headquarters where its members can meet with the public, including those whove protested against police.

The police service has issued a tender to produce a 2,200-square-foot room in the skywalk adjacent to police HQ on Smith Street.

Kelly Dehn, manager of public affairs, said the addition would enhance options for community outreach.

"We dont have anything right now that allows us to really connect with our partners as easily. This is (the kind of) area that will allow us to do that It could be for anything from crime prevention to recruiting to engaging with groups that have concerns about anything that we do," said Dehn.

He said the room would make it easier to hold meetings with those who protest against police, when such sessions are requested.

"(This) space that we can use to connect with any community group, even those that have a negative impression of police, would help us try to connect," said Dehn.

He said police have held meetings with members of the public at HQ but doing so required time-consuming security clearances. The process can often take about a week per individual or longer for larger groups, he said.

"Its hard to hold impromptu meetings with our partners, like other city agencies and community groups," said Dehn.

He said the new room wouldnt require security clearance, so police could host everything from citizenship ceremonies to training to recruiting sessions and meetings with members of the public more easily, once pandemic gathering restrictions ease.

The police department has budgeted $120,000 for the meeting space.

The move comes after some Winnipeggers have lashed out publicly against the service.

Protests against police brutality took place in Winnipeg and around the world in recent months, sparking greater public scrutiny and criticism of police forces. Winnipeg city council has also been lobbied by the group Budget for All to divert 10 per cent, or about $30 million, of the annual police budget to recreation and community services.

Some police critics say theyre not interested in face-to-face options to speak with members of the WPS.

"This is just a public ploy to make it seem like they are more approachable in the face of defunding (pressure)," said Chantale Garand, a member of Budget for All.

Garand said she doesnt see a need to invest any money in a police meeting place. She believes the cash would be better spent on 24/7 safe spaces. She noted Winnipeggers can publicly address police at Winnipeg Police Board meetings, which are held in the city council building.

"I flatly dont think that this is what the community has been asking for at all," she said.

An organizer with the group Millennium For All, which has also lobbied to defund police, echoed that view.

"(The) community has been extremely clear about the goal of defunding the police to fund life-sustaining services like libraries, pools, leisure guide activities, safe consumption sites and other things. Theres no need to do further consultation," said Joe Curnow, in an emailed statement.

Bids for the meeting space will be accepted until May 7.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga
Prosecutors in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, have launched a criminal investigation into possible official negligence in the case of a suspected murder-suicide that has mobilized public anger over the ongoing practice of "bride kidnapping."

Relatives of the victim, 27-year-old Aizada Kanatbekova, have described a casually dismissive approach by an investigator at a crucial junction as the tragedy unfolded when Kanatbekova was still alive and able to call them a half-day after the abduction.

The bodies of Kanatbekova and the man who is thought to have abducted her along with accomplices in broad daylight in the capital were found in the getaway car on April 7, two days after the kidnapping.

An investigation oversight agency said on its website late on April 8 that the negligence investigation was handed over to the local office of the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security (UKMK).

The tragedy sparked protests in several cities and calls for dismissals, including that of Interior Minister Ulan Niyazbekov.

After lawmakers demanded on April 8 that Niyazbekov report on the case, the minister said he bears "moral responsibility" for what happened to Kanatbekova.

Bishkek Police Chief Bakyt Matmusaev publicly apologized on behalf of the force for the young woman's death.

Investigators believe 36-year-old Zamirbek Tengizbaev strangled Kanatbekova with a shirt and then committed suicide by cutting a vein.

They also have said that Tengizbaev had three previous criminal convictions in Russia.

Four people have been detained on suspicion of helping abduct Kanatbekova on the street on April 5, an event that was caught by surveillance cameras that also showed passersby failing to help stop the kidnapping.

Kanatbekova's mother, Nazgul Shakenova, and an aunt told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that Kanatbekova phoned them separately almost 12 hours after her abduction.

She told them that her kidnapper, who initially intended to take her to the southern city of Osh, had agreed to release her and that they were on their way back to Bishkek.

The women said they immediately called the investigator assigned to the case -- identified as "Olarbek" -- in hopes that the calls could help locate Kanatbekova, but that the officer responded dismissively.

"Olarbek said: 'Don't worry too much. Everything is OK. You'll celebrate a wedding party soon," the aunt, Baktygul Shakenova, said. I shouted at him, saying, 'What you are talking about?' A decent person cannot snatch a girl and keep her incommunicado for hours!"

Fluent in four languages, Kanatbekova was an only daughter and a graduate of the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University in Bishkek.

Kyrgyzstan sees thousands of bride kidnappings each year despite criminalization of the practice in 2013.

The UN Development Program and rights groups have highlighted the ongoing prevalence in Kyrgyz society of the practice, which they say often leads to marital rape, domestic violence, and other ills.

One of the most notorious cases involved the stabbing death in 2018 of 20-year-old university student Burulai Turdaaly Kyzy by a man who was trying to force her into marriage.

In a statement on April 9, Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch urged the Kyrgyz authorities to enforce existing laws and hold perpetrators [of Kanatbekovas abduction] accountable.

The authorities should also punish the officers responsible for the flawed response to the kidnapping.

Otherwise, women and girls, like Burulai and Aizada, will continue to die, as police laugh on, Sultanalieva said.
Dr. Alok Patel is In The Knows health and wellness contributor. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter for more.

I remember the days of unimaginative kids calling me Aladdin, Mowgli or some other brown-skinned fictional character at school. I brushed it off for years until a family friend was killed in Arizona after 9/11 by a gunman who announced he was going to go out and shoot some towel heads.

Alongside every other brown-skinned person, I constantly worried about my familys safety.

Racial scapegoating, sadly, is a common feature in our world, and fear and ignorance are once again leading to abuse and heinous acts of violence amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reporter Dion Lims Twitter feed rattles me every time I see yet another video of the assault or abuse of an innocent Asian person. Since the start of the pandemic, the culture of fear mixed with racist rhetoric about the origins of the virus has led to nearly 3,800 reported hate incidents. Some feel that this may be an underestimation.

After the recent shootings in Atlanta, in which six Asian women were murdered, the outcry against Asian hate reached a peak with #StopAsianHate trending everywhere. I hope this merely isnt a social trend, but the mark of real change.

Addressing racism starts with a conversation, per rapper and activist China Mac. I took the advice and started a conversation with six of my Asian American physician colleagues. I felt compelled to ask doctors because of the unique position theyve been in over the past calendar year: working on the frontlines in health care during a pandemic while facing increased racist verbal abuse.

I asked if they experienced any racist attacks in the past year, and here were their replies:

Dr. Austin Chiang, a gastroenterologist, said someone yelled racial slurs at him as he walked into the hospital early in the pandemic.

Dr. Nancy Yen Shipley, an orthopedic surgeon, said while dining at a restaurant, an older couple told her family to Go back to China.

Story continues

Dr. Staci Tanouye, an obstetrician-gynecologist, says a user on social media asked her, Why do you eat bats?

Dr. Dagny Zhu, an ophthalmologist, said she received an anonymous phone call in which someone mocked her Chinese name and kept repeating made-up syllables resembling Ching Chong.

None of this surprised me, given the racially-based fear-mongering that has been prevalent throughout the pandemic. A French newspaper used the phrase Le peril jaune? (which translates to Yellow peril?) in headlines. The phrase yellow peril frames Asians as perpetually foreign and threatening to Western civilization, according to Linh Thuy Nguyen, an assistant professor of American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington.

French Asians immediately fired back against the inflammatory headline with #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus (which translates to I am not the virus).

And no one needs a reminder of how many times our national leadership used terms China Virus and Kung Flu to describe COVID-19. Asking politicians to change their speech feels like yelling at a brick wall. We can, instead, change our behavior on an individual level. That being said, I asked my colleagues what the average person can do, on a day-to-day basis, to combat racism.

Its important for all of us to reflect on what motivates prejudice, Dr. Chiang said. Doing so will help inform how to approach others who may be struggling with the concept of equity and race as merely a social construct.

Others added that individuals need to accept responsibility for social change. Remember how Dr. Yen Shipley was told to go back to China at a restaurant? Her family was asked to leave while the family yelling the slurs were allowed to stay and eat. Its no surprise her advice is for onlookers to speak up.

Be an active advocate, whether it be for someone you know or for a complete stranger, she said.

Dr. Staci Tanouye echoed the same sentiment.

Stand up for us when you see and hear people using racial slurs, she said. Dont let your friends and family make racist comments in private, because what happens behind closed doors is what impacts what happens out in the open.

Practice what you preach, because, as Dr. Zhu puts it, challenging these biases starts with yourself, your circle, and ends up going a long way.

Dr. Jennifer Chung, a physiatrist, emphasized the power of cohesiveness, as embodied by her culture: If we each assume the mentality of community-over-self, together, we can erode the hate in those emboldened by racist rhetoric.

Attacking our fellow citizens solves nothing and only further divides us. As comedian and actor Ken Jeong recently said, addressing racism takes listening, learning, loving No single person is going to turn the tide  it takes the community-over-self approach to build a culture of empathy.

Realize that there is more than the neighborhood you live in and that there are so many different cultures that make up our country, Dr. Wang told me. When you put yourself in someone elses shoes, your perspective will grow and change dramatically.

Always remember  we are stronger together when we give each other mutual respect, stand up for one another and band together to fight hate.

If you or someone you know needs support after experiencing race-related bias, discrimination or violence, contact Asian Americans Advancing Justice at (202) 296-2300 or contact the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) at 212-549-2500. You can also connect with a Crisis Text Line counselor at no charge by texting the word HOME to 741741. Find a local therapist prioritizing racial justice and liberation through the Inclusive Therapists directory.

Learn how to donate to and support Asian American organizations here.

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The post How you can fight racism, according to Asian American doctors appeared first on In The Know.
Ueli Steck ascending Annapurna in the Himalayan mountains.

In 1990, Slovenian mountaineer Tomo Cesen claimed to have scaled the south face of Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain in the world. It was declared the greatest feat ever seen in Himalayan mountaineering, but he warned that he had no photos to prove it. Soon afterward, however, he provided some snapshots  stolen from fellow climbers who had tried to conquer this slope years earlier.

In 2015, French researcher Rodolphe Popier managed to reveal a second lie by the Slovenian: photos taken with a telephoto lens by a friend of Cesens were not shot at base camp on the south face of Lhotse but elsewhere.

Then in 2017, a report by Popier on Ueli Stecks solo Himalayan climbs of Shishapangmas South Face and the Annapurna massif confirmed a suspicion that the Swiss climber had lied about his own ascents. In an interview with EL PAIS, Popier discusses his research and mountaineerings lax approach to self-reported feats.

Question: Did doubts about Ueli Stecks 2011 solo ascent of Shishapangma arise before or after his 2013 Annapurna climb?

Answer: Before. In fact, I was only able to question him between 2015 and 2017, with a face-to-face meeting in Kathmandu in the autumn of 2015, and some rather tense discussions in 2016. Eberhard Jurgalski of [mountaineering website] 8000ers.com commissioned me to do the Annapurna study in 2016, but in that case, I ran out of time to chat with Steck because our relationship had already deteriorated after the aforementioned meeting... so the report was published without interviews with him.

Q. What was the reaction of the jury of the annual mountaineering award Piolets dOr when you presented your work on Steck to the award organizers in 2017?

A. Lindsay Griffin felt that there was not enough incriminating evidence to doubt his word. Christian Trommsdorff believed his colleague Yannick Graziani, who had doubts about both ascents after reading my studies. There was division among the committee that gave Ueli Steck the award in 2014 for his solo ascent of Annapurna South [undertaken in 2013]. Catherine Destivelle and Georges Lowe aired their doubts and both congratulated me three years later when I presented my work.

Ultimately I think Steck is a concrete case of the evil that contemporary marketing can do, together with the recurring problem of becoming a media darling

Q. You state that your intention is not to criminalize Cesen or Steck but to force some thinking about the need to ask for conclusive evidence of mountaineers activities?

A. Exactly, that has been the true spirit of my work since I began. In fact, in 2017 I was linked with the Himalayan Database and 8000ers.com [two institutions that document climbs in the Himalayas], and I was already collaborating with the French Alpine Club, as well as with the American Alpine Journal. It was by then very clear to me that there was something missing in the way we approached the issue of summit tests or relevant activities, and its a problem that affects both mountaineers and institutions. When I presented my papers in 2017, a debate was sparked, but it was very disappointing to see that period of reflection quickly die out. When Steck died on [Everests west peak] Nuptse a sort of status quo was reached. Catherine Destivelle received death threats, I was called all sorts of names on social media and it was hinted that I should drop the Steck case if I wanted to continue working on the Himalayan Database. In addition, in 2018 the Groupe de Haute Montagne [organizer of the Piolets dOr] made a slightly incomprehensible announcement in which they diplomatically dismissed the progress of 2017, when we had managed to require award applicants to provide adequate documentation of their activity.

Q. Did Ueli Steck explain why he did not use his GPS watch to demonstrate his summits of Shishapangma or Annapurna?

A. As I mentioned before, I could not question him about Annapurna because he got very angry with me when I asked him uncomfortable questions. Regarding Shishapangma, he told me that his watch only had the capacity to store about 10 activities and that the one for Shisha had since been erased. I dont remember if he still had that watch but if he did, he could have sent it to Suunto, [the watch company that sponsored him], or to other experts. The fact is that he also had an independent GPS with which he recorded a point at the beginning of the route in order to find it again on the descent. By that, I only mean that he could have recorded a point on the summit, which his watch already did, although it would have been redundant. Something to review in the reports....

Q. How much time did you invest in studying the case of Shisha and Annapurna?

A. My studies started in 2015 and ended in 2017. It was long and intense work, although I cant really say how much time I spent. My colleagues at 8000ers.com followed the study constantly and corrected me when necessary, which was very good for me so I didnt lose my way.

Q. Why didnt we hear any critical voices, voices that doubted Ueli Steck. Was there a pact of silence? What about people like Australian rock climber Greg Child or French mountaineer Ivano Ghirardini, who in the 1990s had doubted Tomo Cesen?

A. One of the first to doubt the Steck affair was Andreas Kubin in Germany [former editor-in-chief of the German mountaineering magazine Begsteiger]. Later, there were climbers like Rolo Garibott and the Huber brothers, who made their doubts clear at the 2017 Piolets dOr. Leslie Fuczko, former president of the Groupe de Haute Montagne, also had doubts, and there were others, whose names I have forgotten or who I didnt know felt that way at the time.

But none of those voices were picked up by the media, which was loyal to Superstar Steck. Kubins articles and doubts were known to the organizers of the 2014 Piolets dOr. Aside from that, Steck was not an obscure newcomer, coming out of nowhere like Cesen. Steck was a well-known personality, attractive, approachable; what more could you ask for? In France, everyone called him Ueli, as if he were a friend they all knew personally, or the Swiss Machine, as if his skills were inexhaustible. But behind this was a competition, like the one he had with [Swiss aplinist] Dani Arnold when Arnold broke his record on the Eiger North Face and Steck reminded him that he had not used the fixed rope on the Hinterstoisser Traverse.

Even if Steck sometimes regretted being called the Machine, it only fueled this discourse in which everything he did seemed simple. The very idea of questioning the version of events of a climber at such a high level, and with such a positive public image, seemed ridiculous. Anyone who opposed Steck would pass for an envious, mediocre person incapable of matching him, and I myself was convinced that he was above suspicion until 2015.

When doubts began to surface, Steck used to say that he didnt know he had to provide proof,

When Steck climbed Gasherbrum II, another climber decided to check the proof of summits from expeditions there, but she did not ask the Swiss any questions: that was Ueli, fresh from the rescue attempt of Inaki Ochoa de Olza [who died while trying to climb the peak of Annapurna] and a man beyond any doubt. And when doubts began to surface, Steck used to say that he didnt know he had to provide proof, an incredible thing for a professional mountaineer to say, as someone knowledgeable of the history of mountaineering and aware of the controversies created by [Italian mountaineer Cesare] Maestri and Cesen lying. These are stories that everyone knows because they nestle in a corner of the collective unconscious of mountaineers.

Ultimately I think Steck is a concrete case of the evil that contemporary marketing can do, together with the recurring problem of becoming a media darling. His image was amplified by social media and picked up by the media at such a speed that it preceded the facts. We like to read or listen to nice stories of nice superheroes that life smiles upon. In fact, in his statement issued at the 2017 Piolets dOr, there were two speeches: one for the public where he spoke about his free spirit or transcendent experiences, and another for journalists where he spoke about climbing speeds, to say that he could indeed climb that fast. Since Steck passed away, I find it hard to talk about this subject and a pact of silence seems to have grown. I have retained my position at the Himalayan Database but even this interview may hurt my position.

Q. How did you use photographs in your work?

A. Photographs are the most direct evidence we have, and offer us the most information possible for this type of work. Over the last decade, I have had to analyze several thousand snapshots of ascents and areas near summits. What I try to do is locate where the photo was taken by comparing several of them, and like that, I was able to discover that Tomo Cesens photos on Jannu and Lhotse were not taken where he said they were taken. In Cesens case, analyzing photographs was very interesting because he had a lot of material, which is something I did not have in Stecks case, as for most of his Himalayan ascents he hardly provided any photos (he said that his camera got lost, or the batteries or camera froze). In both cases, the definitive problem is access to the photos of other climbers present at the time, but it would take legal powers that we dont possess to force them to hand them over, which is difficult when they may contradict the word of a friend.

Q. What can mountaineers and the media do in these cases?

A. Everyone has to form their own opinion and act accordingly, both in the practice of mountaineering and journalism, while remembering that we form part of the same community. It is not enough to say I climb for myself when you claim a first-rate feat in public and in the media.

We must ask ourselves how we can organize things so that mountaineering remains a free game where we respect each other. Do we want to contribute to writing history in a fair way, whatever the scale of achievement we are looking at, by establishing clear criteria that we can develop collectively and individually?

It should not be forgotten that the exploits claimed by Cesen and Steck could open a Pandoras Box for potentially dangerous extreme commitment. Do we want to identify with stories designed for mass consumption and to sell more GPS watches or anything else? Or would we prefer to identify with top mountaineers whose exploits we trust even if they set huge leaps in quality? The question is complex, as ever with sensitive issues mountaineering institutions are not defining things clearly. Those responsible for the Piolets dOr had courage in 2017, but it was a pity that in 2018 it had dissipated.

French mountaineering expert Rodolphe Popier.

Q. Do you believe in the possibility that Steck did not lie?

A. We cant know that. Only he knows what happened. What I do know is that both Steck and Cesen were great climbers and mountaineers. Having done my work on both of them, I have no evidence to say that they both lied. The doubt remains, so these types of ascents are defined as disputed or unrecognized. These particular climbs of Steck and Cesen are disputed. What we try to do is to analyze the information we have and contextualize it to fit the facts. From that angle, Steck climbing Shisha in 2011 cannot be rationally accepted and should be labeled as disputed. The same goes for Annapurna because not everyone believes that what he said was possible, and his word alone is not enough in such a case. I personally believe that there is a lie somewhere, but that is not something I can say in my reports because they are based on data only.

The very idea of questioning the version of events of a climber at such a high level, and with such a positive public image, seemed ridiculous

Q. Why would Ueli Steck lie? Pressure from his sponsors?

A. I dont think his sponsors put pressure on him, but as nearly always happens in the history of mountaineering, it was perhaps he who put himself under pressure to make sure his endeavor was at the highest level. We should analyze the media image that Steck broadcast: who would not like to be someone super-strong, nice, who inspires you and for whom everything is simple? But this was both true and false: he trained very hard and his ascents were far from simple, but perhaps, to remain the best... some specialists think you have to identify a traumatic event to explain behavior that leads to lying. That could have been Yalung Kang in 1985 for Cesen [when his friend died during the descent] or the trauma of the incident with Stecks Sherpas on Everest in 2013. You would have to ask psychologists to clarify these hypotheses. I am convinced that at extreme altitudes, people who are reasonable mountaineers at sea level can behave inappropriately, and make a habit of it when nobody exposes them.

Q. Mountaineering has established rules without referees. Should they create referees to certify mountaineering achievements?

A. It is impossible to monitor all mountaineering achievements. At 8000ers.com we try to do it for the 14 eight-thousanders [14 mountains above 8000 meters] and it is a colossal and unpaid task. No, it is up to mountaineers to organize themselves, to take responsibility to preserve the fundamental principle of practicing what they do with freedom.

It should be of interest to them because we live in times when someones word is not worth anything, so it is better to cover yourself with proof thats simple to provide.

Evidence nourishes the individual and collective memory and it would be great if mountaineering institutions would encourage them to provide evidence. Otherwise, the institutions that chronicle mountaineering must make their methodology evolve to deal with disputed cases better. Thats why I asked a university for help, as I am aware of the limits of my empirical experience.

Q. You are in a way the heir of journalist Elizabeth Hawley, who fought almost all her life against lies in Himalayanism.

A. I am an heir of Hawley [whose specialty dealt with the eight-thousanders and Everest in particular] but others also helped to train me: my first mentor was Pierre Chapoutot, then Eberhard Jurgalski and Lindsay Griffin. I would have also liked to have met and learned from Xavier Eguskitza and Ken Wilson. I work on a paid basis for the French Alpine Club, but Im not paid by 8000ers.com, or the Himalayan Database, nor for my own studies. My job is to try to provide as accurately as possible the basic facts and data of an ascent in the most objective way possible. Its nothing like exploring in the spirit of mountaineering, the eternal philosophical and psychological sense of why we climb, but I must say that studies like the one on Steck are infrequent and if we analyze the statistics of the Himalayan Database only 1% of the ascents have an asterisk of disputed or unrecognized.
Ahead of West Bengal's phase IV elections, Union Home Minister will hold four public programs in the state on Friday.

Shah will hold a press conference in Kolkata today at 12 PM. After this, he will carry out a door-to-door campaign in Bhabanipur at 2 PM.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee used to contest from Bhabanipur constituency earlier. This time, she contested from Nandigram.

The third public program will be a roadshow in Jagatdal at 4 PM. The last roadshow for today by Shah in the state will be held in Madhyamgram at 6 PM.

In a tweet by his Office yesterday, Shah informed, "Union Home Minister Amit Shah's public programs in tomorrow, 09th April 2021. 1) Press Conference in Kolkata at 12 PM 2) Door to Door Campaign in Bhabanipur at 2 PM 3) Roadshow in Jagatdal at 4 PM 4) Roadshow in Madhyamgram at 6 PM."

The fourth phase of assembly elections will be held in 44 assembly seats on April 10. The fifth phase of polls in 45 assembly segments is scheduled on April 17. The sixth round for 43 seats would be held on April 22. The seventh phase of polls for 35 constituencies is slated for April 26. The eighth and final round of elections is scheduled for April 29, when the remaining 35 assembly segments would go to the polls.

The Election Commission of India would declare the results on May 2.

Union Home Minister on Wednesday had lunch at the house of a rickshaw puller, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter in West Bengal's Domjur area during his campaign ahead of the fourth phase of the ongoing assembly elections in the state.

Rajib Banerjee, the candidate for the constituency, was also present also along with Shah.After having his meal, Shah said: "I visited only one gram panchayat but with the enthusiasm I saw, I am confident that Rajib Banerjee will win with a majority.

(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.)
Security forces took out 5 terrorists in 2 separate encounters in Jammu & Kashmir, as per a report in Hindustan Times. It happened in the Tral area of Awantipora.

"The operation is still underway," said the Inspector-General of Police as per ANI.

ANI

What happened?

It started around 8 am in Nowbugh. Security officials have cordoned off the area and further details are awaited.

Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (JeM) is among the terrorists in the district of Shopian.

ANI

But the identity of the two terrorists killed is yet to be known.

This is the latest of crackdowns by security forces who have come down hard on terrorists this year so far. The aim to bring peace and stability to the Valley shall only be realised when such elements are taken out of the equation.



More clashes are expected as security forces will continue their efforts to take down those trying to cause unrest in Kashmir. Even as Pakistan backs militant groups this side of the LoC, our forces are ready for the challenge.

One hopes terrorist organisations are nipped in the bud.
The coalition of agitating farmer organisations will block the KMP-KGP highway in the National Capital Region for 24 hours from 8 am on Saturday to press their demands for withdrawal of the contentious farm laws passed by the Centre last year.

While KMP stands for Kundali-Manesar-Palwal, KGP stands for Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal highway.

The coalition has planned a series of protests and demonstrations throughout April and plan to expand the protests to other parts of the country in the coming months. A 'Parliament March' is also planned, though the groups have not yet decided the exact date for the programme.

The senior leaders of the coalition, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), said they will celebrate the foundation day of Khalsa Panth on the borders of Delhi and organise programmes in honour of the martyrs on the anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on April 13. Next week will also see the protestors observe 'Save Constitution Day' and 'Kisan Bahujan Unity Day' on 14 April.

Indicating that the struggle is taking shape of a larger protest, senior SKM leader Darshan Pal said on April 14, all the stages of SKM will be managed by agitators of 'bahujan samaj' and all the speakers will also be 'bahujan'. The farmer groups also called for peaceful protests by people from various walks of life across Haryana against the BJP-led government's approach in the state towards the agitation.

Also read: Specialised studies needed to link blood clot with AstraZeneca vaccine, says WHO

"On this day, the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana is deliberately organising a programme in Kaithal. We appeal to the farmers and Dalit-Bahujan to protest against this event by reaching maximum numbers while remaining peaceful," Pal said. "Honouring the participation and dedication of the local people in this movement, on April 18, local people will be honoured on the stages and the responsibility of managing the stage will also be given to the local people," he said.

On April 20, on the birth anniversary of mystic poet and devotee Dhanna Bhagat, the farmers will bring soil from his village Doha Kalan to the borders of Delhi, and programmes will be held on the Tiki Border in his memory. Similarly, on April 24, on completion of 150 days of the agitation at Delhi borders, the protestors will hold a week-long special programme which will see participation of farmers and labourers, employees, youth, traders, students and other organisations.

"In the last week of April, there will be a national convention of organisations supporting the farmers' movement across the country, in which plans will be made to intensify this movement nationwide", Pal said.

The agitation by farmers against the enactment of three laws to liberalise agriculture trade completed 134 days on April 9.

Also read: Farmers' income won't be doubled by 2022 if new farm laws aren't implemented: NITI Aayog member
Washington, April 9 : The US State Department has warned against high expectations for Vienna talks as parties of the Iran nuclear deal will reconvene on Friday.

"These talks have been described as constructive, as businesslike, as accomplishing what they set out to do and that is true," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters at a daily briefing.

"We would also, however, hasten to not allow expectations to outpace where we are. After all, we have said this will be hard.

"It will be hard because these are indirect engagements... It will be hard because the subject at hand is very technical, it's very complex," he said.

The European Union (EU) said on Thursday that the Joint Commission of the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will reconvene in Vienna on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Negotiators attending the Vienna talks earlier this week formed two working groups to explore what sanctions Washington would need to remove to return to the deal and what steps Tehran would need to take to return to full compliance with the deal.

The State Department noted recently that the US is prepared to lift those sanctions that are inconsistent with the nuclear deal.

"We are prepared to take the steps necessary to return to compliance with the JCPOA, including by lifting sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA," Price said on Wednesday.

"I am not in a position here to give you chapter and verse on what those might be." The JCPOA was reached in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the US, the UK, Russia, France, China, plus Germany) together with the EU.

Tehran agreed to roll back parts of its nuclear weapons program in exchange for decreased economic sanctions.

Washington withdrew from the deal in 2018 and tightened sanctions on Iran under the former Donald Trump administration.

In response, Iran suspended the implementation of parts of its obligations under the deal.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION INTO THE UNITED STATES OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2021 / Westbridge Energy Corporation (TSXV:WEB.H) ("Westbridge" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update with respect to its previously announced proposed business combination (the "Transaction") with Georgetown Solar Inc. ("Georgetown").

As previously announced, it is intended that the Transaction will result in the reactivation of the Company pursuant to the regulations of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"), and the listing of the common shares of Westbridge on Tier 1 or 2 of the TSXV. In furtherance of the foregoing, the Company has completed a series of initial submissions to the TSXV, which are currently under review.

As a condition of the closing of the Transaction, Westbridge shall complete a best efforts private placement (the "Private Placement") of subscription receipts ("Subscription Receipts") at a price of $0.125 per Subscription Receipt to raise minimum aggregate gross proceeds of $2,500,000. Each Subscription Receipt will automatically convert immediately prior to the closing of the Transaction, for no additional consideration, into one unit (a "Westbridge Unit") comprised of one Westbridge Share and one-half of one share purchase warrant (each whole such share purchase warrant, a "Westbridge Warrant"). Each Westbridge Warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to purchase one additional Westbridge Share at an exercise price of $0.20 for a period of two years from the date of issuance of the Westbridge Warrants, provided that in the event that, at any time following the date which is four months and a day following the closing of the Private Placement, the closing price of the Westbridge Shares is equal to or exceeds $0.35 per share for any 10 trading days within any 30-trading day period (which, for greater certainty, includes any period prior to the closing of the Transaction), Westbridge may accelerate the expiry date of the outstanding Westbridge Warrants by providing 10 days' notice pursuant to the dissemination of a press release announcing such accelerated expiry date.

The gross proceeds of the Private Placement will be deposited in escrow at closing of the Private Placement with a mutually acceptable escrow agent and released to Westbridge immediately prior to the closing of the Transaction, provided that if the closing is not completed on or prior to June 30, 2021 (or such other date as may be agreed upon by the parties), the Subscription Receipts will be cancelled and the escrowed proceeds shall be returned to the purchasers thereof. In connection with the Private Placement, Westbridge may pay finder's fees and/or issue broker warrants to qualified registrants, in amounts and upon terms yet to be determined. The Private Placement is presently anticipated to close on or about April 16, 2021.

In addition, as a condition to the closing of the Transaction, Georgetown was required to issue convertible debentures in the aggregate principal amount of $350,000 which shall, as of closing of the Transaction, be automatically converted into Westbridge Units at a deemed price of $0.125 per Westbridge Unit (the "Debenture Financing"). The Debenture Financing was completed effective March 18, 2021.

Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions including, but not limited to, TSXV approval. The Transaction cannot close until all required regulatory approvals are is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. The TSXV has in no way passed upon the merits of the Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Scott Kelly, CEO

Westbridge Energy Corporation

604-687-7767

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements about the Company's expectations regarding the proposed Transaction of the Company and the Private Placement which are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include general business, economic, competitive and social uncertainties; and the delay or failure to receive all applicable regulatory and third party approvals, and availability of financing. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law.

SOURCE: Westbridge Energy Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/639548/Westbridge-Provides-Update-on-Business-Combination-with-Georgetown-Solar
The debate about Joe Bidens executive actions that he believes will curb gun violence isnt likely to get the endorsement of many on the political right. He also might not receive the complete backing of those wanting stricter laws.

Bidens executive actions do appear to have created plenty of questions.

Will the orders be the first step in reining in more guns?

Will the presidents actions force states to pass their own legislation to create so-called second amendment sanctuary states and combat the alleged heavy-handed action from the White House?

Will these orders actually make a difference when it comes to mass shootings?

Will they have an impact in the larger cities where violent crime is on the rise through the first three months of 2021?

What will be the impact be on firearms and weapons sales?

Will these orders survive court challenges that are expected?

Hoss Dugger of Odessa is a lifetime handgun and rifle shooter, hunter and gun rights advocate. The website  absolutepistoltraining.us  also stated he is a certified License-to-Carry (CHL) instructor and Basic Pistol instructor and Home Safety instructor.

Dugger said that the agenda of those like Biden is to disarm Americans, and the orders announced are stepping stones to that outcome. He said there are those who will attempt to classify hunting rifles as assault rifles and then come after weapons with levers and pumps.

Executive actions, according to Bloomberg, include stopping the proliferation of ghost guns, which come in kits and can be assembled in as little as 30 minutes. The weapons cant be traced by law enforcement because they lack serial numbers.

About the ghost guns, Dugger said, it is a made-up term that sounds creepy but that people have the right to build a gun. He also said it is already illegal for me to build a gun and sell it to you.

The White House, according to Bloomberg, also said Thursday that the Justice Department will issue a new rule clarifying that when a shoulder brace is used to effectively turn a pistol into a short-barreled rifle, the gun is subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act.

Danny Anderson of SK Arms in Midland stated the White House picked a niche target in the same way the Trump administration went after bump stocks, the device that allows semi-automatic fire arms to initiate a continuous firing cycle with a single pull of the trigger. He said weapons with the stabilizing brace are popular  as SK Arms has sold hundreds in the past five years  and that those that purchase this weapon dont have to pay $200 fee or experience the eight- to 12-month wait that is required with the sales of shorter-barrel rifles. He also called this order politically expedient.

Anderson also noted it will be interesting to see how these orders hold up in court. Last month, the Supreme Court rejected on appeal of the federal ban on bump stocks.

Anderson said he doesnt expect any drag on weapons sales, which have been gang busters since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. He said he would rather have sustainable business over a period of time rather than a fantastic couple of months that wipes out a stores inventory.

For Kathy Broadrick, chair of the Midland County Democratic Party, her stance on weapons hasnt changed. She wants to see the ban of assault weapons and the elimination of loopholes that allow private sales. She says generally her stance on guns is closer to Beto ORourkes, who during a debate said, Hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47." He has called for the mandatory buy-backs or confiscation of both weapons, according to Politifact.

Broadrick said her nephew was killed in gun violence and wishes leaders would treat gun violence like the pandemic it is or it will continue to happen.

She also said to be a member of Moms Demand Action, which on its website calls for Red Flag laws that would empower law enforcement and family members to petition a court to temporarily restrict a person's access to guns when they show warning signs that they are a threat to themselves or others.

Bloomberg reports that Bidens action will include the Justice Department publishing model red flag legislation for states, which would allow petitions to courts to take away firearms from people who present a danger to themselves and others.

Such measures cant be enacted at the federal level without Congress, the report states, but administration officials have said they hope their move encourages states to pass new laws right away.

Anderson countered saying that a state could nullify any new gun laws that come out if they have the will to do so.

But that has yet to be tested, Anderson said.

Another question is whether White House involvement will have any impact on violent crime which CNN reported last week are up in the largest cities during the first three months of 2021. The website reported homicides are up 33 percent in Chicago year over year, murders increased 14 percent in New York City and homicides are up 36 percent in Los Angeles. Reports on Bidens orders mentioned shootings in Colorado and Georgia, but typically have not indicated how they would impact violence in Americas inner cities.
A proposed increase of $13 billion in defense spending is far too much given its already rapid growth at a time of relative peace, said Representative Mark Pocan, Democrat of Wisconsin. We cannot best build back better if the Pentagons budget is larger than it was under Donald Trump.

While the White House did not hint at how or whether it might pay for the increased spending, the plan does seek $1 billion in new funding for the Internal Revenue Service to enforce tax laws, including increased oversight of high-income and corporate tax returns. That is clearly aimed at raising tax receipts by cracking down on tax avoidance by companies and the wealthy.

In a letter accompanying the proposal on Friday, Shalanda D. Young, who is serving as Mr. Bidens acting budget director, told congressional leaders that the discretionary spending process would be an important opportunity to continue laying a stronger foundation for the future and reversing a legacy of chronic disinvestment in crucial priorities.

The administration is focusing on education spending in particular, seeing that as a way to help children escape poverty. Mr. Biden asked Congress to bolster funding to high-poverty schools by $20 billion, which it describes as the largest year-over-year increase to the Title I program since its inception under President Lyndon B. Johnson. The program provides funding for schools that have high numbers of students from low-income families, most often by providing remedial programs and support staff.

The plan also seeks billions of dollars in increases to early-childhood education, to programs serving students with disabilities and to efforts to staff schools with nurses, counselors and mental health professionals  described as an attempt to help children recover from the pandemic, but also a longstanding priority for teachers unions.

Mr. Biden heralded the education funding in remarks to reporters at the White House. The data shows that it puts a child from a household that is a lower-income household in a position if they start school  not day care  but school at 3 and 4 years old, theres overwhelming evidence that they will compete all the way through high school and beyond, he said.

Bidens 2022 Budget A new year, a new budget: The 2022 fiscal year for the federal government begins on October 1, and President Biden has revealed what hed like to spend, starting then. But any spending requires approval from both chambers of Congress. Ambitious total spending: President Biden would like the federal government to spend $6 trillion in the 2022 fiscal year, and for total spending to rise to $8.2 trillion by 2031. That would take the United States to its highest sustained levels of federal spending since World War II, while running deficits above $1.3 trillion through the next decade. Infrastructure plan: The budget outlines the presidents desired first year of investment in his American Jobs Plan, which seeks to fund improvements to roads, bridges, public transit and more with a total of $2.3 billion over eight years. Families plan: The budget also addresses the other major spending proposal Biden has already rolled out, his American Families Plan, aimed at bolstering the United States social safety net by expanding access to education, reducing the cost of child care and supporting women in the work force. Mandatory programs: As usual, mandatory spending on programs like Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare make up a significant portion of the proposed budget. They are growing as Americas population ages. Discretionary spending: Funding for the individual budgets of the agencies and programs under the executive branch would reach around $1.5 trillion in 2022, a 16 percent increase from the previous budget. How Biden would pay for it: The president would largely fund his agenda by raising taxes on corporations and high earners, which would begin to shrink budget deficits in the 2030s. Administration officials have said tax increases would fully offset the jobs and families plans over the course of 15 years, which the budget request backs up. In the meantime, the budget deficit would remain above $1.3 trillion each year.



There is no talk in the plans of tying federal dollars to accountability measures for teachers and schools, as they often were under President Barack Obama.
New Delhi: BJP has announced the list of candidates for Zila Panchayat polls in five districts of Uttar Pradesh. It includes Sangeeta Sengar, wife of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar who has been convicted for raping a minor woman in Unnao in 2017.

Sangeeta Sengar will contest polls from the Fatehpur Chaurasi Tritaya seat for the post of Zila Panchayat member.

Sangeeta had become the Zila Panchayat chairman from Unnao district in 2016.

Party sources said that her candidature was approved by state BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh and state general secretary (organization) Sunil Bansal.

Sangeeta was made the candidate, keeping in mind the influence that her family wields in the area and the sympathy that they have earned after her husbands arrest in April 2018.

Who is Kuldeep Singh Sengar?

Kuldeep Singh Sengar is an ex-BJP MLA who has been sentenced to life in jail after being convicted for raping a minor woman in Unnao.

He was disqualified as a member of the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly. He was also expelled from the party.

In March 2020, a Delhi court here sentenced Sengar along with all other accused in the Unnao rape case to 10 years in prison in connection with the custodial death of the Unnao rape victims father.

Kuldeep Singh Sengar is presently lodged in Tihar jail.

Live TV
Family of Texas woman killed by police files federal suit View Photo

HOUSTON (AP)  Family members of a Black woman who was fatally shot near her Texas apartment after struggling with an officer over his stun gun filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Thursday, saying they are still seeking justice for her.

Pamela Turner, 44, was killed in May 2019 in the parking lot of her suburban Houston apartment complex after a confrontation with Baytown Officer Juan Delacruz, who also lived at the complex. Delacruz shot Turner after a struggle over the officers stun gun that a bystander captured on video.

Turners family and their attorneys have said Turner, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2005, was suffering a mental health crisis at the time of the shooting.

Named in the lawsuit were Delacruz, the city of Baytown, a Houston suburb, and the apartment complex where the shooting took place.

Greg Cagle, Delacruzs attorney, said Thursday he had not yet seen the lawsuit but reiterated his client was only defending himself.

If you take a police officers Taser, you are going to get shot 100% of the time. There is no doubt about it, Cagle said.

Alice Jauregui, a Baytown spokeswoman, said the city does not comment on pending litigation. Cypress Point Equity Partners, the owner of the apartment complex, didnt immediately reply to emails seeking comment.

Were hurting and were spending so much time trying to fight for her recognition that we havent had a chance to grieve, said Chelsie Rubin, 23, Turners daughter. All I know is right here today, every day is a fight and were going to continue.

Turners family announced the lawsuit at a news conference in downtown Houston on what would have been her 46th birthday. They were joined by Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, a Black emergency medical worker who was shot five times by white Louisville, Kentucky, officers in March 2020 as they served a warrant.

Rubin and Palmer said they were upset that Delacruz was still employed by Baytown police.

We watched him commit a crime. We watched him, Palmer said. We watched George Floyd die to bring attention to Breonna. Breonna died for me to learn about Pamela. Im tired. Im tired. We deserve so much more.

Both Turners family and Taylors family are represented by Benjamin Crump, who also represents Floyds family.

We demand equal justice now for Pam Turner, for Breonna Taylor  for Black womens lives, said Crump, who had come to Houston from Minneapolis, where former Officer Derek Chauvin is currently being tried in Floyds death.

Delacruz was indicted in September 2020 on a charge of aggravated assault by a public servant, a felony that could lead to a sentence of five years to life in prison if hes convicted. Cagle said Delacruz is on administrative assignment within the police department.

After Turners fatal shooting, the city of Baytown created a citizens police advisory committee following criticism for several police involved incidents. In September, a grand jury indicted an ex-Baytown police officer who was accused of kicking a man while another person recorded video of their traffic stop.

At a meeting in February, the committee voted in favor of making issues related to how officers respond to calls and interact with individuals with mental illness as its top priority.

Raphael Montgomery, a pastor and the committee chair, told Baytown Police Interim Chief Mike Holden at the meeting that the relationship between the police and particularly African-Americans in Baytown is not very good.

Those are definitely things we have got to improve upon, Holden said.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

By JUAN A. LOZANO

Associated Press
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 03:08:22|Editor: huaxia

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A woman wearing a face mask walks past the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, on April 8, 2021. Italy on Thursday reported 17,221 new coronavirus cases, bringing the number of active infections to 544,330, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health. (Xinhua/Cheng Tingting)

ROME, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Italy on Thursday reported 17,221 new coronavirus cases, bringing the number of active infections to 544,330, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health.

Also on Thursday, the Ministry of Health reported that another 487 COVID-19 patients have died from the virus, taking the country's total COVID-19 related fatalities to 112,861.

Among the total infections, 511,816 people are isolated at home with light or no symptoms, 28,851 are hospitalized with symptoms and another 3,663 are hospitalized in intensive care.

A majority of currently infected people, or 91,011, are in the southern Campania region whose capital is Naples. The second highest number of active infections, 81,995, comes from the northern Lombardy region whose capital is Milan, where the first domestic cases of coronavirus were identified in early 2020.

In its weekly monitoring report on COVID-19, the Ministry of Health said, "the extremely high incidence...its slow decrease and the heavy overload on hospital services do not allow a reduction of the current restriction measures."

"Furthermore, especially in light of the predominance of viral variants with higher transmissibility, the need to maintain a radical reduction of physical interactions between people and of mobility is confirmed," said the report, referring to the week of March 22-28.

"We stand at 233 cases per 100,000 inhabitants," said Gianni Rezza, Director General of Prevention at the Ministry of Health. "The rate of intensive care unit occupancy is 41 percent, well above the critical threshold of 30 percent."

Also on Thursday, Italy's Extraordinary Commissioner for the COVID-19 Emergency Francesco Paolo Figliuolo and Civil Protection Department chief Fabrizio Curcio attended the inauguration of a new vaccination hub in the central Marche region.

"Our plan has not changed, by the end of the month we must reach our target of 500,000 inoculations a day," Italian news agency ANSA cited Figliuolo as saying.

"Starting today, inoculation with the AstraZeneca vaccine is available for people aged 60-79, and people under 60 who have received the first shot (of AstraZeneca) will receive the second dose as well," Figliuolo added.

"Thirty million doses of AstraZeneca will arrive between this quarter and the next," the commissioner said. "They will be destined for the 60-79 age group, which numbers about 13,275,000 people."

He added that of the people in the 60-79 age group, 2,270,000 have already received their first dose.

Italy has so far vaccinated close to 12 million of its 60 million inhabitants, according to the Ministry of Health data published Thursday. Enditem
BALTIMORE, April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In a time where the health of our planet is critical, CourseArc, a content authoring and management tool, has partnered with EarthEcho International  a nonprofit dedicated to building a global youth movement to protect and restore the planet. Through CourseArc's digital platform, EarthEcho has developed EarthEcho Academy, a resource that provides original content, immersive experiences, and trusted resources free of charge for youth and teachers and mentors who work with young people daily.

"While the month of April is Earth month, we, at CourseArc, believe that focusing on the health and sustainability of our planet should happen year-round," said CourseArc CEO, Katie Egan. "When we had the opportunity to partner with EarthEcho  an organization that has a tremendous global impact  we knew it was imperative to do so. Our platform makes it simple for nonprofits to meet their mission goals, and we are beyond excited that EarthEcho Academy will be available to more people."

EarthEcho developed EarthEcho Academy through CourseArc's course authoring platform using assets created through EarthEcho's proven environmental education programs that provide opportunities for engagement all year long. Since the inception of the organization, EarthEcho's team and network of youth leaders have played a critical role in creating lifelong environmental stewards who drive positive change across the globe. The nonprofit has worked with over 2 million people in 146 countries and launched over 24,000 conservation projects as a result of EarthEcho's youth engagement and environmental education programs throughout their 15 years of diverse programming.

EarthEcho utilized CourseArc to provide online courses both for teacher professional learning and student learning. The courses provide middle school teachers across the United States with fully remote, asynchronous environmental education modules along with support on using those modules and a global community of like-minded peers.

"CourseArc gave our team the ability to create courses with our content and deliver these to teachers ready to use. Using CourseArc has allowed us to increase the number of teachers we reach by providing a user-friendly, asynchronous platform that allows educators to work at their own pace," said Phillippe Cousteau, founder of EarthEcho International.

CourseArc's digital platform is a novel approach in disseminating education and messaging in a sustainable and affordable way. By utilizing virtual content and online learning, CourseArc helps organizations, like EarthEcho, double down on their sustainability efforts and mission.

CourseArc is an intuitive, 100 percent web-based authoring tool that allows easy creation of engaging, interactive, and accessible online training. Content creators love CourseArc's templated design blocks and built-in quality assurance features, which allow control of their organization's branding and ensure instructional design best practices. Integration is straightforward, as CourseArc content seamlessly integrates with any LMS using LTI.

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About EarthEcho International: EarthEcho International is a nonprofit 501c3 organization founded in 2005 by siblings Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau in honor of their father Philippe Cousteau Sr., son of the legendary explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. EarthEcho collaborates with youth around the world to provide knowledge and develop tools to drive meaningful environmental action to protect and restore our ocean planet. EarthEcho's mission is to build a global youth movement to protect and restore our ocean planet. Reaching more than 2 million people in 146 countries, we activate the next generation to become environmental leaders who will transform the future. For more information, visit https://www.earthecho.org/.

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Violence exploded on the streets on the Belfast again last night, forcing police to use a water cannon - as 19 more officers were injured.

It brought the huge numbers of officers hurt in a week of unrest across Northern Ireland to a total of 74.

Parts of the violence focused on gates which separates nationalist and loyalist areas in west Belfast.

Stones, fireworks and bombs were hurled at police in the seventh running night of violence.

Assistant Chief Constable Jonathan Roberts said 'There was sustained violence directed towards police officers on both sides of the interface over a period of hours.

'Two nights ago the disorder was spontaneous, we did not anticipate that such large crowds on both sides of the interface would turn out and would seek to attack each other and to attack police so other tactics such as water cannon were not so readily available,' he told the BBC's Stephen Nolan Show.

'The water cannon is a lesser option, it poses less risk, it is a lesser use of force. Last night then it was our preferred option in the interests of protecting those who engage in disorder. It did not become necessary then to move to the use of AEP.'

Despite cross-party pleas from politicians to stay away, around 100 rioters descended on the area last night and were met with heavily-clad officers with shields and dogs.

They were warned repeatedly they would be targeted with the water cannon if they did not disperse, which most did after the police vehicle started spraying.

Justice Minister Naomi Long tweeted: 'More attacks on police, this time from nationalist youths. Utterly reckless and depressing to see more violence at interface areas tonight.

'My heart goes out to those living in the area who are living with this fear and disturbance. This needs to stop now before lives are lost.'

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and even Joe Biden's White House joined calls appealing to the protesters to end the violence, which has involved children as young as 13, purportedly encouraged by their parents.



Violence flared up in Belfast again tonight as youths hurled petrol bombs at police officers in what has been described as the worst riots 'in years

The PSNI use a water cannon on the Springfield road, during further unrest in Belfast tonight

Fireworks explode on police vehicles after being fired at police officers during clashes with nationalist youths in the Springfield Road

They were warned repeatedly they would be targeted with the water cannon if they did not disperse, which most did after the police vehicle started spraying

A row of riot police officers with shields were seen in Belfast amid clashes with nationalist youths

A fire burns in front of police vehicles in Belfast. Protests have been continuing in the city between officers and youths

Fireworks were seen exploding in front of police vehicles in Belfast on Thursday

A rioter reacts as the police use a water cannon in Belfast amid clashes between officers and youths

Police deployed a water canon tonight in West Belfast to disperse a group of nationalist youths. Officers are seen with riot gear

One rioter is seen lobbing an object into the air during the clashes. The demonstrations continued into the evening

The unrest raging in Northern Ireland has been described as the 'worst in years' and tonight showed no sign of calming as PSNI officers were pelted with petrol bombs, fireworks and rocks

Fireworks explode at police vehicles in Belfast. Clashes continued into the evening

People watch a traffic sign burn as Nationalists attack police on Springfield Road near the Peace Wall

Despite cross-party pleas from politicians to stay away, around 100 rioters descended on the area tonight and were met with heavily-clad officers with shields and dogs

Why has violence flared again on the streets of Northern Ireland? The street disorder that has flared in various parts of Northern Ireland for more than a week can be attributed to a multitude of factors. At its heart is loyalist anger at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between the region and the rest of the UK. For loyalism, Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol has undermined their place in the Union. But it took an event unrelated to the Irish Sea border furore to set a match to resentment that has been simmering since the consequences of exiting the EU became a reality at the start of January. The announcement by prosecutors last week that no action would be taken against 24 Sinn Fein politicians, including deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill, for attending a huge republican funeral during the pandemic sparked outrage among some loyalists. In several loyalist working class areas, many still in the grip of the malign influence of paramilitary gangs, sporadic rioting has since flared. Belfast, Londonderry, Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus and Ballymena have all witnessed scenes of violence that many hoped had been consigned to the history books. There have also been bouts of disorder within republican areas in recent days. In the most stark, youths on both sides of a west Belfast peace line pelted petrol bombs and other missiles at each other through Wednesday night. For loyalists, the funeral of former IRA leader Bobby Storey last June hardened a long-standing perception held by many within their community that the institutions of the state afford preferential treatment to republicans. For apparent confirmation, they pointed to police engagement with the Sinn Fein funeral organisers prior to an event that saw around 2,000 people take to the streets of west Belfast when tight limits on public gatherings were in place. This interaction with the planners was one reason why senior prosecutors concluded any prosecution of Ms O'Neill and her colleagues was doomed to fail - the other being the 'incoherent' nature of Stormont's Covid-19 regulations at the time. Criticism of the PSNI approach was not confined to hard-line elements within loyalism and all the main unionist parties subsequently called for chief constable Simon Byrne to resign, claiming he has lost the confidence of their community. DUP First Minister Arlene Foster has said she will no longer engage with Mr Byrne. Her lack of communication with the region's police chief during a time of escalating street violence, and coming only weeks after she met with representatives of loyalist paramilitaries to discuss the Brexit fall out, has drawn sharp criticism from political rivals. Non-unionist parties have accused Mrs Foster and other unionist political leaders of stoking up tensions, not only in relation to the Storey funeral but also in respect of the Irish Sea border. The DUP leader and other prominent voices within unionism and loyalism insist they are only reflecting genuinely held concerns they say must be addressed - specifically by way of Mr Byrne's resignation and the binning of the Protocol. Amid the current unionist clamour for Mr Byrne's head, and claims of 'two tier' policing, it is worth noting that two months ago the PSNI chief constable was facing similar claims of discriminatory behaviour from within nationalism. Those were prompted by a controversial police operation in Belfast that saw a man badly injured in a loyalist gun massacre during the Troubles arrested at the scene of a commemoration event after officers intervened to probe suspected Covid regulation breaches. Following that incident at the site of the 1992 Ormeau Road betting shop murders, Ms O'Neill claimed there was a 'crisis in confidence' in the PSNI among nationalists, albeit she stopped short of calling for Mr Byrne to quit. The Protocol and funeral controversy have not created the loyalist perception that the system is weighed against them, but have built upon a narrative articulated by an increasing number within loyalism that the peace process - particularly the Good Friday accord of 1998 - has handed them a raw deal. They cite underinvestment and deprivation in loyalist working class areas as further proof that they have missed out on the gains of peace. Nationalists and republicans reject this premise, insisting their communities have experienced just has many problems with poverty and unemployment since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Paramilitary elements are undoubtedly involved in much of the disorder witnessed across the region in recent days - either directly or by orchestrating young people to riot on their behalf. However, in Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus an added factor is at play. In those areas, the PSNI believes paramilitary involvement is less motivated by Brexit or the Storey funeral and more to do with a rogue faction - the South East Antrim UDA - reacting to recent police operations targeting its criminal empire. Advertisement

Tensions over Northern Ireland's Brexit arrangement and an illegal gathering at the funeral of an IRA member had been mounting in the province before finally boiling over last week.

A 'peace wall' separating the nationalist area of Springfield Road from the neighbouring Shankill Road area has been the epicentre of the clashes.

Mr Johnson and Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin spoke over the phone today and, in a statement, the Irish Government said the two leaders stressed that violence was unacceptable.

'The way forward is through dialogue and working the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement,' the statement said.'

President Biden, who is of Irish heritage, also stressed the need to protect the integrity of the Good Friday Agreement, which the United States helped to broker in 1998.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: 'We remain steadfast supporters of a secure and prosperous Northern Ireland in which all communities have a voice and enjoy the gains of the hard-won peace.

'We welcome the provisions in both the EU-UK trade cooperation agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol, which helped protect the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.'

Crisis talks between UK Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis and Stormont's leaders were also held in Northern Ireland.

Mr Lewis pledged to do 'all I can to continue to facilitate further constructive discussions on the way forward over the coming days'.

He said he had full confidence in PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne, who the DUP has urged to resign over a decision by prosecutors not to pursue Sinn Fein politicians over alleged coronavirus breaches at Bobby Storey's funeral last year.

Earlier in the day, ministers in the Stormont Executive condemned the violence and MLAs unanimously passed a motion calling for an end to the disorder.

In a joint statement, the five-party Executive said: 'We are gravely concerned by the scenes we have all witnessed on our streets over the last week, including those at the Lanark Way interface last night.

'Attacks on police officers, public services and communities are deplorable and they must stop.

'Destruction, violence and the threat of violence are completely unacceptable and unjustifiable, no matter what concerns may exist in communities.

'Those who would seek to use and abuse our children and young people to carry out these attacks have no place in our society.

'While our political positions are very different on many issues, we are all united in our support for law and order and we collectively state our support for policing and for the police officers who have been putting themselves in harm's way to protect others.

'We, and our departments, will continue to work together to maximise the support we can give to communities and the PSNI to prevent further violence and unrest.' The Stormont Assembly was recalled from Easter recess for an emergency sitting on Thursday to debate the violence, which has mostly flared in loyalist areas.'

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Jonathan Roberts said the spate of rioting is some of the worst he's seen in years.

He told a press briefing: 'I can't confirm the involvement of paramilitaries but the orchestration of [Wednesday] night's disorder and the previous nights is the subject of investigation.

'The scale of the disorder last night was at a scale that we have not seen in recent years in Belfast or further afield.

'The fact that it was sectarian violence involving large groups on both sides is not something we have seen in recent years. We believe there was a level of pre-planning.'

He revealed that 55 of his officers had so far been injured.

Mr Roberts said multiple petrol bombs and missiles, including fireworks and heavy masonry, have been thrown and it is 'clear there was a degree of organisation' of the violence.

The top officer also lashed out at parents for encouraging their children to engage in the violence.

'We have seen scenes last night of a new generation of young people who have been exposed to scenes that I'm sure we all thought were in generations gone by, and I would encourage anybody in a position of leadership - political representatives, community representatives, parents - take an interest in what young people are doing and to have a united message to prevent further scenes like we witnessed last night.'

DUP First Minister Arlene Foster said the unrest was 'totally unacceptable and had taken the region, which has a history of conflict, backwards.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill, of Sinn Fein, said illegal loyalist paramilitaries and criminal elements were influencing young people and orchestrating the violence: 'They are holding back their own people and they are holding back their own community.'

The violence over the past week erupted after prosecutors said no action would be taken against 24 Sinn Fein politicians - Ms O'Neill - for a huge republican funeral during the pandemic.

They went to the service to Bobby Storey - an IRA terrorist from Belfast who died after a failed lung transplant - on June 30 along with about 1,500 people despite Covid rules.

Loyalists are also angry at post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created economic barriers between the region and the rest of the UK. They see the Northern Ireland Protocol as undermining their place in the Union.

Fifty-five officers have so-far been injured in a week of clashes between nationalists and pro-British loyalists at the so-called 'peace wall' on Springfield Road

Police officers are attacked by nationalist youths in the Springfield Road area of Belfast on April 8, 2021 as disorder continued in the Northern Ireland capital following days of mainly loyalist violence

A PSNI officer with a dog straining at the leash on the Springfield road tonight

PSNI officers with riot shields line the Springfield road, during further unrest in Belfast on Thursday evening. The cause of the unrest has been attributed to frustration over a decision not to prosecute members of Sinn Fein over alleged coronavirus regulation breaches at the funeral of republican Bobby Storey

A rioter throws a burning object at the police on the Springfield Road as protests continue in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 8

A fire burns in front of the police on the Springfield Road as protests continue in Belfast, Northern Ireland on April 8

A rioter reacts towards the police on the Springfield Road as protests continue in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Thursday evening

A fire burns in front of the police on the Springfield Road as protests continue in Belfast this evening

Nationalists attack Police on Springfield Road just up from Peace Wall interface gates which divide the nationalist and loyalist communities on April 8, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Trouble has flared for a second night running in the Springfield Road area of Belfast. US President Joe Biden joined UK prime minister Boris Johnson and the Irish prime minister Micheal Martin in a call for calm

Northern Ireland's Education Minister Peter Weir has confirmed the reopening of some youth services which operate in areas of heightened community tensions.

Mr Weir said the move is hoped to divert young people from becoming involved in 'risk taking and dangerous behaviours'.

'Youth services play a vital role in supporting young people throughout Northern Ireland,' he said.

'As a society we should all be appalled at witnessing young people and even children being involved in the recent violence on our streets.

'At this time it is even more important that youth services are able to meet the needs of young people in these areas.'

Mr Weir added: 'These measures are intended to safeguard and ensure the welfare of our young people and to divert them from becoming involved in risk taking and dangerous behaviours.'

Yesterday the gates of the peace wall on Lanark Way - which separates Shankill Road from Springfield Road - were forced open, leading to clashes between young members of the two communities.

The 'peace walls' are a hangover from the Troubles and separate loyalist and nationalist communities.

Civilians have been caught up in the protests and horrifying footage of a bus being firebombed was witnessed yesterday.

A spontaneous act of solidarity took place place at Belfast City Hall for the driver of the bus.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) assistant general secretary Owen Reidy said it was a demonstration on behalf of the entire trade union movement to support the driver, who has been left shaken by the incident.

He said: 'Theirs is an act of generosity towards their fellow bus driver who was shockingly attacked last evening and towards the brave police officers and journalists who were also assaulted while doing their job and serving the community.

'Workers across Northern Ireland will not accept being the subject of attacks when going about their duties. The Translink workers are standing up and proclaiming this loudly.

'This has to stop and it has to stop now. All public representatives from across the community and every person of goodwill and influence in interface areas have to make clear that all such protests end before we have another night of violence.

'Young people are being treated as cannon fodder. Someone is going to get killed.

'The best public service any decent person of influence can do right now is to prevent the spiral deepening. Politicians need to come together, work together and make politics work in the interest of the entire community.'

Belfast Telegraph photographer Kevin Scott said he was assaulted by two of the rioters.

The newspaper's visuals editor tweeted: 'So much for peaceful - I have just been jumped from behind by two males, masked on Cupar Way.

'One pulled me to the ground and smashed cameras. As I fought this one off I was told to f**k off back to your own area you fenian c**t by the other. Police informed.'

He added 'what happened to me tonight was disgusting, but not on the same level as this' - referring to the bus driver.

PSNI officers with riot shields on the Springfield road, during further unrest in Belfast. Police in Belfast faced a barrage of petrol bombs and rocks on Thursday, an AFP journalist said, as violence once again flared in Northern Ireland despite pleas for calm

Youths pick up stones to throw at PSNI officers on the Springfield road, during further unrest in Belfast. The cause of the unrest has been attributed to frustration over a decision not to prosecute members of Sinn Fein over alleged coronavirus regulation breaches at the funeral of republican Bobby Storey

A police water canon on the Springfield road, during further unrest in Belfast. The cause of the unrest has been attributed to frustration over a decision not to prosecute members of Sinn Fein over alleged coronavirus regulation breaches at the funeral of republican Bobby Storey

Videos circulating online show a bus being pelted with petrol bombs and having its windows smashed where a crowd of people had gathered
In todays bit of random news, Twitter is collectively freaking out that a sexy rocker dude from one of Jack Blacks best comedies is now district attorney in Texas.

Writer Janel Comeau tweeted that Lucas Babin, a former model and actor who played Spider in 2003s School of Rock, is surprisingly not still working in Hollywood.

Nope, Babin has been a district attorney in Woodville, Texas, since 2018.

People who have kept up with Babin may not be too surprised. Sure, he starred in a Brazilian telenovela and in music videos for both Paris Hilton and Alanis Morissette, but it seems a political life was perhaps always waiting for him.

His father, Brian, is a Republican congressman here in Texas. Some predict that Babin, also a Republican, may be setting up his career far to follow in daddys footsteps.

In September 2020, a Tyler County grand jury indicted Netflix for promoting depictions of the lewd exhibition of a child in its 2020 film Cuties. Babin referenced a section of the Texas penal code in his argument, saying that the company promoted visual materials of a childs genitals or pubic area. Following the initial controversy, Netflix clarified to the media that Cuties is intended as a form of social commentary against the sexualization of young children. Babin, however, argued that the film didnt have the artistic merit for such an issue.

Babin told the Tyler County Booster that the indictment was due to his ongoing commitment to cases with underage victims. He also admitted that he had watched the film and determined there was probable cause for indictment.

MORE POP CULTURE NEWS: HOUSTON REMEMBERS RAPPER DMX AFTER NEWS OF HIS PASSING IS MADE OFFICIAL

Seems like Spider has changed a lot. And folks online had lots of opinions about his new life.

Hes making sure there is NO VACANCY at the Tyler County jail, joked Twitter user @callmejoey9, a nod to the fake band Babins character played for in School of Rock.

Man, from modeling and acting to chasing pointless indictments in a bullshit Texas town, commented Reddit user shmoove_cwiminal. What a career trajectory.

He went all [N]ed [S]chneebly, said @SadSpud on Twitter, referencing Jack Blacks best friend in the 2003 film.

Even Sen. Ted Cruz caught wind of Comeaus viral tweet.

Well, thats one way to feel about it.
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has sent a letter of condolences over the death of Armenian-American philanthropist and entrepreneur Hirair Hovnanian, the PMs Office told Armenpress.

With a deep sorrow I learnt about the death of renowned philanthropist and entrepreneur Hirair Hovnanian.

His role in the development of Armenia and Artsakh is invaluable. He will always remain in the bright memories of our people with his patriotic activities both as an entrepreneur and philanthropist.

Dozens of projects have been implemented with the efforts of Mr. Hovnanian aimed at the recovery of the disaster zone, the construction of Goris-Stepanakert highway, the creation of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, the solution of numerous socio-economic problems facing our people and the protection of Armenias and Artsakhs interests abroad.

The renowned benefactor will always remain as a dignified son of the Armenian people, whose activity has been directed for the progress and development of the Homeland.

I extend my deepest condolences to Mr. Hovnanians family, relatives, partners and every Armenian in general.

Rest in peace, dear philanthropist, reads the PMs letter.

Hirair Hovnanian was aged 91. He was the founding benefactor of the Armenian Assembly of America and member of the Board of Trustees of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
The vice president bought the condo in 2017, the year she became a senator. Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Kamala Harris put her Washington, DC condo on the market for $1,995,000 this week, Katherine Clarke reported for The Wall Street Journal.

The listing came a few days after the vice president's spokesperson said Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff would move into the vice president's official residence the week of April 5th. Harris and Emhoff had been living for more than two months at Blair House, the president's official guest house, while the vice president's official residence, One Observatory Circle, underwent renovations.

Harris, whose spokesperson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, bought her DC condo for about $1.775 million in 2017, the year she became a senator, per the Journal. The two-bedroom condo spans about 1,731 square feet and features natural oak hardwood floors and custom Italian cabinetry, according to the listing.

The master bedroom of a unit in Westlight. (Harris' condo not pictured.) Benjamin C. Tankersley/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

The building, called Westlight, offers amenities that include a doorman and 24-hour front desk concierge, a rooftop grilling terrace, a private clubroom with a catering kitchen, and an 82-foot heated rooftop pool. The listing notes that Westlight doesn't have recirculated air; a HEPA air filtration system brings fresh air into each unit directly from outside.

Westlight is in DC's West End, an upscale neighborhood where the median home value is $666,898. The building's director of sales, Mei-Mei Venners, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for this story.

Before she became vice president, Harris and her husband lived in Brentwood, an upscale area of Los Angeles, in a home that's currently valued around $5 million. While the couple still owns their Brentwood home, last month Harris sold another condo in San Francisco that she'd bought in 2004 for $860,000.

Read the original article on Insider
Farmers and crofters in Scotland will receive suckler beef support scheme payments in the coming weeks, it has been confirmed.

The Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS) supports producers breeding beef calves from suckler cows.

The scheme ensures that herds remain at a level that sustains Scotland's commercial beef industry.

In the coming weeks around 7,000 farmers and crofters will benefit from payments worth close to 40m, with some having already received payment.

The 2020 payment rates are 100.72 per animal for SSBSS Mainland and 145.13 per animal for SSBSS Island.

Jimmy Ireland, chair of NFU Scotland Livestock Committee said: Suckler herds form the backbone of quality beef production in Scotland.

"We can confirm that the first of the 2020 Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme payments are being made this week.

These payments will aid farmers cash flow, providing a welcome boost to the rural economy while also helping to support farmers who are producing quality meat that Scotland is globally renowned for.

Claim numbers are up slightly on the previous year with 382,674 animals claimed in 2020 compared to 378,617 in 2019.

However, the figures still show a reduction in claims over the past five years.
Prince Philip has been such a constant and colourful feature of British life for so long its almost impossible to believe hes no longer with us.

Loved and admired in equal measure, his name has been synonymous with duty and public service since his marriage to the Queen 74 years ago.

His sad passing, nine weeks before his 100th birthday, marks the closing of a cherished chapter in our national story.

In a moving statement, Buckingham Palace expressed deep sorrow  a sentiment echoing the profound sense of loss felt across Britain and on every continent

His sad passing, nine weeks before his 100th birthday, marks the closing of a cherished chapter in our national story (Duke of Edinburgh's death is displayed on the large screen at Piccadilly Circus on April 09, 2021)

The Prince has been the Queen's confidant, adviser, comforter, morale-booster and, above all, as she put it, her strength and stay. (Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh watch a flypast of Spitfire & Hurricane aircraft for the 75th Anniversary of The Battle of Britain on July 10, 2015)

Its hard to imagine well see his like again. He was of the Greatest Generation, and he was one of its best.

Doughty and irrepressible to the end, the Duke of Edinburgh died peacefully at Windsor Castle, family close by, fittingly on a beautiful spring morning.

In a moving statement, Buckingham Palace expressed deep sorrow  a sentiment echoing the profound sense of loss felt across Britain and on every continent.

On a day of such unhappiness, it must have comforted the Queen that her beloved husband was back at home after spending a month in hospital.

A distinguished and decorated war veteran, Philip unselfishly eschewed personal ambition  he was tipped for the very top in the Navy  for royal duty.

In public, he has walked a discreet step behind through the 69 years of his wifes reign, content to play the supporting role. In private, though, this was unquestionably a partnership of equals.

He has been her confidant, adviser, comforter, morale-booster and, above all, as she put it, her strength and stay.

His job first, second and last, he would say, was never to let her down. That Her Majesty has reigned so successfully, calmly and faultlessly for such a remarkable span of time is proof he never did.

It would be wrong, however, to pigeonhole Philip as merely the longest-serving royal consort in British history  little more than a monarchical footnote.

He was a brilliant man in his own right, possessing many gifts. He could fly a jet as well as command a ship, was a talented sportsman, a skilled painter and had an excellent grasp of science.

Like so many of his generation, the duke didnt suffer fools gladly and had little truck with political correctness. His plain speaking could cause controversy.

But beyond a brusque exterior, he was a deep thinker and an innovator. Possessing a core of steel and courage in spades (as a young naval officer he was praised for his actions in the decisive sea battle against the Italian fleet), he embodied resilience and fortitude.

These self-same values not only helped Britain navigate the hardship of the Second World War  they spurred, to a very striking degree, our subsequent economic and social renaissance.

Yes, Philip lived a life of incredible privilege. But his personal legacy to the nation is impossible to exaggerate.

Philip embodied self-sacrifice, family values and devotion to duty and stands as a font of inspiration. (Prince Philip, Prince Harry, The Queen, Doria Ragland, Meghan Markle, and baby Archie)

Without his and the Queens steady hand, the shape of Britain in 2021 might be inexpressibly different  and not for the better. (Queen Elizabeth II, left, and Prince Philip walk through the field of ceramic poppies at The Tower of London)

Quite apart from his royal role, which he stepped back from only four years ago at the age of 96, this was a man of vision and substance. (Pictured, Prince Philip leaves the King Edward VII hospital in the back of a car in London on March 18, 2021)

One of the last connections to an era which included the Victorians, he  like a sculptor with clay  helped mould the monarchy to modernity, shoring it up when republicanism seemed to be on the march.

Without his and the Queens steady hand, the shape of Britain in 2021 might be inexpressibly different  and not for the better.

As a result, this 1,000-year-old institution, as Boris Johnson reflected, remains indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life.

Not content to be some mere appendage after his wife came to the throne, the duke carved a niche from which he could help transform our planet and change the lives of individuals.

He paved the way for Greenpeace and other modern conservation groups with his central role in the creation of the World Wildlife Fund, and the Duke of Edinburghs Award scheme remains a torch of achievement for young people in many countries.

His stewardship of the National Playing Fields Association has given millions of children somewhere to play organised sport. As a patron to nearly 800 organisations, his sense of obligation has been unmatched (his wife excepted).

Quite apart from his royal role, which he stepped back from only four years ago at the age of 96, this was a man of vision and substance.

Despite his advancing years, the duke remained a totemic member of the Royal Family. He was not just a national treasure, but a towering father figure to the country.

How else to explain the tsunami of affection and sadness following his passing? Members of all generations  from young children to great-grandparents  laid floral tributes in his memory.

True, his family has known tribulations, not least recently. But through it all he has been a rock of support for his wife and sovereign.

As an invaluable asset to the monarchy, it is a terrible sadness that he didnt reach his centenary (although the abrupt duke would doubtlessly have been nonplussed by such fuss). But his shadow will cast a positive influence lasting well beyond his years.

Philip embodied self-sacrifice, family values and devotion to duty and stands as a font of inspiration. Not just to younger royals, but the whole nation and millions worldwide.

We mourn his passing, but salute his extraordinary life.
GREENWICH  Greenwich Public Schools is seeing the single largest surge in cases of COVID-19 since the start of the scholastic year.

Since Tuesday, the school district has reported 33 new COVID cases. And since last Friday, April 2, there have been 42 new cases. It is both the biggest three-day and week-over-week increase the district has reported.

Driving the uptick is a cluster of cases at Greenwich High School. On Thursday alone, the district reported 16 cases of COVID at the school and more than 100 staff and students in quarantine as a result. According to district health alerts, at least 47 of those in quarantine are student athletes.

The entire boys lacrosse team at GHS is in quarantine and will miss the start of the season. The Cardinals will miss their Monday game scheduled against Brunswick, and will continue their season April 21, according to Gametime CT. The district confirmed Friday that the girls lacrosse team is also quarantined, as are nine members of the GHS baseball team.

Despite the high numbers of coronavirus cases, Greenwich Public Schools is reporting that just one of the districts 51 cases is the result of in-school transmission. Of the 16 cases reported at Greenwich High School on Thursday, eight were purportedly the result of undetermined exposure.

What we are seeing across the state of CT is community transmission, Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones and Head of Nursing Mary Keller said in a statement Friday.  For the most part the bump in cases at GPS seems to be from outside sources, such as family members and social gatherings.

But according to Carol Sutton, president of the Greenwich Education Association, the union representing Greenwich teachers, educators are worried about asymptomatic spread of the coronavirus.

Teachers continue to be concerned about in-school transmission by asymptomatic individuals, Sutton said.

There are 12 schools currently with active cases of COVID-19, according to the districts online tracker.

Friday is the last day of school for the district before spring break. Earlier in the year, the Greenwich Public Schools saw spikes in cases after the holidays in January and winter break in February. After the holiday break, Jones announced a week of remote learning upon returning to class in an attempt to ward off a spread of the virus.

In February, in the week following winter break, Jones opted for staff and students to return in-person to classrooms, to the dismay of some teachers. Darien Public Schools announced Thursday that it will hold a remote week of classes following spring break after a survey revealed too many staff members would need to quarantine as a result of travel plans, according to the districts superintendent.

But Jones and Keller said a remote period likely would not be necessary.

A strong factor of going fully remote is if we do not have the staff to teach our students, they said. Currently, teacher absenteeism is at a normal level and therefore would not require us going fully remote.

Teachers are very concerned about the uptick and the potential impact of travel during April break, Sutton said. Based on the numbers, a post-vacation spike is a distinct possibility. However, GEA has not been told whether a remote week is being considered for GPS.

The surge comes as students and educators are in the process of receiving vaccines. In Connecticut, all residents age 16 and up are eligible to receive the vaccine. And educators have been receiving the vaccinations since last month. Still, new cases and hospitalizations have been on the rise recently in the state.

Recently, Jones said there may be an opportunity to implement some kind of pool testing  a method by which a large sample of individuals can be tested for the virus collectively  that would aid in the early detection of the virus. But whether any such testing will be implemented remains unclear.

Schools impacted by COVID-19 Greenwich High - 19 North Street - 6 Glenville - 5 Hamilton Avenue - 4 Cos Cob - 3 International School at Dundee - 3 Western Middle - 3 Central Middle - 2 Eastern Middle - 2 Julian Curtiss - 2 New Lebanon - 1 North Mianus - 1 See More Collapse

We are working with Yale New Haven Health to see if there is an opportunity to do any sort of testing, Jones and Keller said. We will share more information when we have it.

justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586

Staff reporter Michael Fornaaio contributed to this story.
The humble charity cookbook, Letz Cook - Delicious Dishes from the British Ladies Club of Luxembourg has been recognised by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2020.

Letz Cook won the Best Easy Recipes Book category in Luxembourg and will be participating in the world finals at the end of the year.

The cookbook was published in December and compiled the recipes of BLC members, friends and the local community to raise money for its charities.

The compact, 250-page book contained a foreword by the British Ambassador to Luxembourg, John Marshall and was beautifully illustrated by Wendy Winn. Many of the recipes were accompanied by charming personal tales and insights and not surprisingly, the book sold out within a month of its release.

Dawn Butler, Lara Klemencic and Wendy Casey are the three proud authors. I am so excited! exclaimed Butler who was initially contacted by Edouard Cointreau, President and Founder of the awards, and invited to submit Letz Cook for consideration.

We are now in the running for a Best in World placement, continued Butler who played a key role in the look and feel of the book. It just goes to show that when you put heart and soul into a project, it does not go unnoticed.
Shanghai Through Our Eyesepisode 1: Oscar winner Malcolm Clarke

By:Lu Yukun | From:English.eastday.com | 2021-04-09 12:37

British film-maker Malcolm Clarke, a two-time Oscar winner for Best Documentary Short Subject, explains in the interview why he chose to live in Shanghai and why China is the perfect place for a documentary filmmaker.



"I'm an English documentary filmmaker who has been living and working in China for about 7 years now. To me, what we in the West call the rise of China, I see as the renaissance of China, arguably the biggest ongoing news story of the 21st century."

"For centuries, Shanghai has precisely performed that role in China, a welcoming first port of call for foreigners eager to engage with and learn more about this extraodinary country. It's no different today."








Research

Students Complain: Too Much (Busy) Work in Online Classes

Almost three in five students (59 percent) in a recent survey complained that they are doing more assignments online than they ever did in their in-person classes, and nearly as many (55 percent) protested that much of it felt like "busy work." The survey, sponsored by education publisher Wiley, was done by 1,046 business majors attending four-year colleges and universities as undergraduate or graduate students in the United States.

As one student put it, "I am less than satisfied with my current learning situation as professors are using COVID to assign more work with less payoff, as online learning is less interactive than regular in-session courses. [The situation] would be improved if professors would assign homework that is interactive and meaningful and reflects the lecture rather than just plainly assigning homework assignments for points."

These weren't just idle grumblings, since students also reported that they generally found assignments helpful for preparing for quizzes and tests (81 percent), for understanding concepts covered in class (79 percent) and for familiarizing them with concepts before class (66 percent).

The majority of students said it was more valuable to watch instructors work through problems in real time than any other online learning activities they could choose. Two-thirds (64 percent) expressed a preference for real-time instruction, compared to 49 percent who preferred pre-recorded lectures, 45 percent who liked real-time projects and 40 percent who liked collaboration with other students.

The report sharing the results offered this advice:

Make the online assignments worthwhile by soliciting student input;

Add interactive components and encourage group work and one-on-ones; and

Help students make the connections by showing them how the skills they're developing in the class have "real-world relevance."

The "State of the Student Survey" is openly available online.
Virginia Beach, VA, United States, 04/09/2021 / Barney Law Firm /

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA.  Attorney Scott R. Barney, Esq. and the team at Barney Injury law are pleased to announce the launch of their newly redesigned website, https://www.barneyinjurylaw.com.

The new website was redesigned to help current and prospective clients get the information they need and to connect directly with the firm online. Barney Injury Law represents those whove been injured due to the negligence of others in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and the entire Hampton Roads area. The new website provides helpful information for those whove been hurt in our community. Some of the cases Barney Injury Law handles include:

Car accidents

Truck accidents

Motorcycle accidents

Nursing home negligence

Head and spine injuries

Slip and fall / Premises liability claims

Dog bite injuries

Wrongful death

Attorney Barneys primary focus is on personal injury, and he believes that as a sole practitioner, he can provide more personalized service to his clients. He prides himself on responsiveness and attention to his clients needs. Attorney Barney says of the new website:

We have always thought of our firms website as a place prospective clients can get information about our firm and potentially their case. Now, with this new design, its easy to not only find out information about the firm, but also easier to navigate and find the help and information folks in Hampton Roads deserve when searching for an injury attorney

With the launch of the new site, Barney Injury Law can continue to serve those whove been hurt in Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads. Visitors can immediately see what types of cases the firm handles, and can tell that this law firms approach is different from others. A prospective client can learn more about Scott and his client-first approach, as well as learn about his deep ties to the Virginia Beach community.

Scott is a third-generation attorney, born and raised in Virginia. He attended the University of Maryland, where he obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business in 2002. He then attended Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center, where he earned his Juris Doctor in 2005. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.

Of his connection to the community, Attorney Barney says:

Our new site does a much better job communicating our value proposition being that I am a third generation lawyer born, raised and practicing in Virginia Beach. We think that matters a great deal.

The new website design helps put the experiences of past clients front-and-center, which is important to the firm. With so many real stories from satisfied clients whove recovered compensation for severe injuries, letting them tell their story in their own words was important to Scott. Some examples include:

THESE GUYS ARE GREAT! Both professional and personable, and they definitely keep you informed throughout the process. They called every six weeks sharp! I was so confident in their work, and in the end they didnt disappoint!

J

Mr. Barney and his staff were amazing. They always return calls and emails, and their knowledge made me very confident in the outcome of my matter. Which leads me to the outcomeI was more than pleased!!

A

Attorney Scott Barney and his team at Barney Injury Law have the skills, experience, and resources necessary to handle a wide variety of injury cases. To better serve those whove been hurt, a modern, responsive, and mobile-friendly site is vital for staying connected to current and prospective clients.

If someone has been hurt or lost a loved one in Hampton Roads or elsewhere in the Virginia Beach area, finding the right attorney to handle their case is crucial. With more than 15 years of experience representing those whove been harmed by someone elses recklessness or carelessness, Barney Injury Law is the go-to firm to contact. When visiting the new site, those whove never dealt with an injury lawyer can watch videos of Scott, learn more about their rights and legal options, and quickly contact him by phone, contact form, or live chat.

The team at Barney Injury Law invites you to visit the new website and learn more about us and what we do. If youve been hurt, well be ready to stand up for you and fight for the full and fair compensation that youre owed.

About the Barney Law Firm

For more than 15 years, Attorney Scott R. Barney, Esq and the team at Barney Injury Law have fought for those whove been hurt in Virginia Beach, VA. Visit our new website at www.barneyinjurylaw.com to learn more about our experience, our track record of successful verdicts and settlements, and how we can help you get justice if youve been harmed by someone elses negligence.

Media contact: Barney Law Firm  (757) 241-6491

Source: Precision Legal Marketing

Release ID: 17700

Original Source of the original story >> Barney Injury Law Announces Launch of New Website

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The Biden administration will not send extra vaccine doses to MIchigan which is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases, but it will offer "a set of tools," including more federal personnel, testing capacity and therapeutics. (April 9)

Video Transcript

JEFFREY ZIENTS: There are tens of millions of people across the country in each and every state and company who have not yet been vaccinated. And the fair and equitable way to distribute the vaccine is based on the adult population by state, tribe, and territory. That's how it's been done, and we will continue to do so.

We will be offering the states with significant increases in cases a set of additional tools to help them to stem the spread, including first, working with states to make sure they are using all of the doses they have received. Today, millions of doses have been distributed but have not yet been administered as shots in arms. Second, we're offering to surge federal personnel-- including CDC response teams, FEMA, DoD, and other federal personnel-- to support vaccination efforts and get more shots in arms.

Third, providing additional testing capacity, including increasing the availability of diagnostic testing, as well as screening in schools and other settings. And fourth, offering more therapeutics and treatments.
For only the second time in decades, all of the members of Cleveland City Council might face election challenges this fall, and unless you happen to be one of the 17 incumbents, this is a good development.

Our political system relies on competitive election races to generate spirited debates of issues and to give voters a choice. Yet, in Cleveland, a one-party city with a troublesome tradition of allowing departing council members to name their successors, competition is often the exception.

Yes, Cleveland City Council races are nonpartisan, but in name only. All 17 incumbents are Democrats, and until late 2018, they met periodically as a Democratic caucus. One Green Party candidate did get elected years ago, but felt ostracized and defected to the Democratic Party.

Even in a nonpartisan system, however, competition is possible, and this year is probable. Our City Hall reporter, Robert Higgs, reported earlier this week that 11 of the 17 incumbents already have at least one prospective challenger circulating nominating petitions.

Some of those incumbents could face multiple challengers in the primary. No fewer than 10 prospective challengers have requested nominating petitions to run in Ward 4, where incumbent Ken Johnson is seeking re-election while under indictment, accused of 15 separate crimes.

And time remains for those circulating petitions to get the necessary signatures from 200 registered voters in their wards, and for procrastinators to join a race. The deadline for submitting petitions to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to get on the September primary ballot is June 16.

Thomas Sutton, a political science professor at Baldwin Wallace University and an observer of Cleveland politics, told Higgs one possible explanation for the increased interest in City Council is the home building we have seen in some neighborhoods.

Some of the buyers and renters of those places are newcomers, or first-time homeowners, and might be acting on a new or renewed interest in the governance of their hometown. If so, we salute them for making the effort.

Sutton said other prospective candidates might be motivated by the Black Lives Matter movement, which has raised awareness of crime, policing policies and issues of social justice. If so, we salute them as well.

As this board has stated before, City Council should abandon the long-standing tradition of allowing council members to depart before the end of their term and appoint a successor  an incestuous practice that unfairly grants incumbent status outside of the election process.

The right way to decide who serves, and benefits from a salary of nearly $87,000 a year, will play out this fall. And the incumbents ought to welcome the challenges. They might argue that uncontested races reflect public satisfaction. But a lack of interest is just as likely, and far sadder.

About our editorials: Editorials express the view of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization.

Have something to say about this topic?

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this editorial to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.
New Delhi/Washington: In an unusual move, the US Navy has announced that this week it conducted a freedom of navigation operation in Indian waters without prior consent to challenge India's "excessive maritime claims", triggering a reaction from New Delhi, which on Friday said it has conveyed concerns to Washington through diplomatic channels.

The Ministry of External Affairs also contested the US Navy's 7th Fleet statement of April 7 that the freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) by the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones "upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses" of the sea recognised in international law by challenging India's "excessive maritime claims".

"India's stated position on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is that the Convention does not authorise other states to carry out in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and on the continental shelf, military exercises or manoeuvres, in particular those involving the use of weapons or explosives, without the consent of the coastal state," the MEA said.

"The USS John Paul Jones was continuously monitored transiting from the Persian Gulf towards the Malacca Straits. We have conveyed our concerns regarding this passage through our EEZ to the government of USA through diplomatic channels," the MEA said.

Announcing about the operation, the statement by the 7th Fleet said,"this freedom of navigation operation upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law by challenging India's excessive maritime claims."

"On April 7, 2021 (local time) USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) asserted navigational rights and freedoms approximately 130 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands, inside India's exclusive economic zone, without requesting India's prior consent, consistent with international law," the statement said.

India requires that other countries should take prior consent from it to conduct military exercises or manoeuvres in its EEZ or continental shelf, which the US Navy statement claimed was inconsistent with international law.

Asserting that the US forces operate in the Indo-Pacific region on a daily basis, the statement said "all operations are designed in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows.".

"We conduct routine and regular FONOPs, as we have done in the past and will continue to in the future. FONOPs are not about one country, nor are they about making political statements," it added.
is in talks with India's government to begin a clinical trial of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in the country, the company said on Friday.



The U.S. drugs and healthcare giant's vaccine is currently approved for use in the United States, the European Union and other nations including Thailand and South Africa.



The news comes as some parts of India face a shortage of vaccine supplies just as the country of 1.3 billion battles a second wave of COVID-19 infections. India's government, however, has said there is no shortage of shots.



The Indian Express newspaper reported earlier on Friday that J&J had sent a letter to India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) saying it would "very shortly apply for permission to conduct clinical bridging trials in India".



The CDSCO did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.



"We are in discussions with the (government) with the objective of starting a bridging clinical study of our Janssen COVID-19 vaccine candidate in India, subject to local regulatory approvals," a local J&J representative said via email.



A bridging study tests the safety and immunogenicity of a vaccine, and India has indicated that any vaccine maker must conduct such a trial for a shot to be considered for its immunisation programme.



Separately, J&J has a deal with Indian firm Biological E Ltd to contract-manufacture its vaccine.



India currently has two approved vaccines in use, one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and the other, a shot from local player Bharat Biotech.



There are other vaccine candidates in trials in India including Russia's Sputnik-V and a shot developed by Cadila Healthcare Ltd.



COVID-19 infections in India rose by a record number for a third straight day on Friday, increasing by more than 130,000, while daily deaths hit their highest in five months.
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will preside over an important meeting on Friday attended by several cabinet ministers which will decide the level of relations with India.

"Imran Khan will preside over an important meeting on Pak-India relations tomorrow. The meeting will be attended by the Ministers of Interior, Foreign Affairs, Planning and Human Rights. The meeting will decide the level of relations with India," a Pakistan journalist tweeted.

Also Read | Why Kerala may not swing this time round

The Pakistani journalist added in another tweet, "The high-level meeting will also discuss the matter of constituting a subcommittee on the same issues and whether Pakistan has to start trade or not."

This comes after Pakistan's federal cabinet on Thursday back-tracked on the Economic Coordination Committee's decision to allow the import of sugar, cotton and cotton yarn from India through land and sea routes.

The decision by Pakistan's economic body earlier to allow the import of cotton and yarn from India was likely to improve ties between New Delhi and Islamabad.

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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Amazon appears to have beaten back its biggest challenge from organized labor in more than a decade, following the union vote at its Bessemer fulfillment center.

At 10:25 a.m., the no votes against unionization reached 1,798. Yes votes for the union are at 738, unofficially. The unionization effort has been defeated.

There were 505 challenged ballots and 76 voided ballots. Challenges are not sufficient in number to affect the results of this election, an NLRB official said at the end of the count.

The no votes account for more than half of the total of 3,215 ballots that were received by the National Labor Relations Board in the election. According to the NLRB, 5,867 ballots were sent out to workers in early February.

Today was this second day of the count conducted by officials with the National Labor Relations Board at its Birmingham office.

Here is full coverage of the Alabama Amazon unionization effort

In a statement, Amazon thanked its Bessemer employees for participating in the election. Theres been a lot of noise over the past few months, and were glad that your collective voices were finally heard. In the end, less than 16% of the employees at BHM1 voted to join the RWDSU union, the company said.

Its easy to predict the union will say that Amazon won this election because we intimidated employees, but thats not true. Our employees heard far more anti-Amazon messages from the union, policymakers, and media outlets than they heard from us. And Amazon didnt winour employees made the choice to vote against joining a union. Our employees are the heart and soul of Amazon, and weve always worked hard to listen to them, take their feedback, make continuous improvements, and invest heavily to offer great pay and benefits in a safe and inclusive workplace. Were not perfect, but were proud of our team and what we offer, and will keep working to get better every day.

According to the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union about 55 percent of the ballots that went out were returned. The union is now calling for an investigation into Amazons conduct during the union drive, accusing Amazon of unlawfully interfering with the right of employees to engage in union activity.

Amazons behavior during the election cannot be ignored and our union will seek remedy to each and every improper action Amazon took, RWDSU president Stuart Appelbaum said. We wont let Amazons lies, deception and illegal activities go unchallenged, which is why we are formally filing charges against all of the egregious and blatantly illegal actions taken by Amazon during the union vote. Amazon knew full well that unless they did everything they possibly could, even illegal activity, their workers would have continued supporting the union.

The union has already called for an investigation into a mailbox installed at the fulfillment center in February.

Its unclear how many ballots were contested by the union and Amazon. Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, reported Thursday night there are approximately 500 contested ballots. It does not appear those votes would be enough to change the outcome.

Election terms stipulate that workers who quit or are discharged for cause after a payroll period ending Jan. 9 are ineligible to vote. Its unclear how many of those workers received ballots.

The union said in a statement Wednesday night that hundreds of challenged ballots mostly by the employer will be addressed after the public count.

The union needed a simple majority of yes votes to represent workers at Amazons Bessemer fulfillment center.

The RWDSU telegraphed after yesterdays early count that it expected the majority to be no.

Our system is broken, Amazon took full advantage of that, and we will be calling on the labor board to hold Amazon accountable for its illegal and egregious behavior during the campaign, union president Stuart Appelbaum said Thursday afternoon. But make no mistake about it; this still represents an important moment for working people and their voices will be heard.

The public portion of the count began after more than a week of preparations, as NLRB staffers went through each ballot with observers from Amazon and the RWDSU watching and contesting some ballots.

How the count works

The media is able to view the count through a Zoom link.

There are three observers each for Amazon and the RWDSU, along with members of the NLRB staff who are conducting the vote count.

Each individual ballot is displayed for observers, and yes or no is called out. When either side reaches 100 votes, the ballots are then recounted to verify the total, then counting continues.

The union election is the largest overseen by the NLRB since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NLRB chose a mail-in election because of COVID-19 levels back in January in the Jefferson County area.

What led to this moment

Talk of an unionization drive at the Bessemer Amazon fulfillment center was first reported in November 2020, about eight months after the 855,000-square-foot facility opened with more than 1,500 full-time employees.

On Nov. 5, BAmazonUnions Twitter account shared a video of Allen Gregory, secretary of the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union Council of Alabama, addressing Amazon workers in the state.

Your authorization card, it tells the federal government that you would like the opportunity to organize in your workplace, he said. When you see an organizer in a shirt that looks like this, give this card to them. Support your co-workers. This card is about dignity, respect and fair treatment in your workplace. It gives you the opportunity to say, Hey, Amazon, we would like a seat at the table.

In December, the NLRD rejected Amazons bid to delay until January a hearing on the union drive and the RWDSU agreed to include thousands more of the facilitys over 5,000 workers to vote in the unionization election.

The NLRB in January set Feb. 8 as the date ballots would go out and March 29 as the date they must be returned. Amazon that month unsuccessfully tried to pause the vote, citing serious and systemic flaws with the board process for conducting the vote amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the election date neared, arguments on each side intensified.

We face outrageous work quotas that have left many with illnesses and lifetime injuries, a pro-union website reads in February.

Amazon said that since the warehouse opened it had created thousands of full-time jobs in Bessemer, with average pay of $15.30 an hour, including full healthcare, vision and dental insurance.

This was a point the company stressed when a delegation of Democratic members of Congress visited the center in March, arguing they had abandoned a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour as Amazon was offering one.

As the contingent arrived at the center, they were greeted by two large digital signs - Welcome to Bessemer Members of Congress - Please match Amazons $15/hour minimum wage.

President Joe Biden weighed in, saying: There should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no anti-union propaganda. No supervisor should confront employees about their union preferences. The union also got support in visits from Sen. Bernie Sanders, rapper Killer Mike and the actor Danny Glover, who made two trips to Alabama.

What will happen after the vote

If the union wins, it would be the first in Amazons 26-year history. But the vote also has wide-reaching implications beyond Amazon, which is now the second-largest private employer in the U.S. after retailer Walmart.

Whatever the outcome, labor organizers hope Bessemer will inspire thousands of workers nationwide  and not just at Amazon  to consider unionizing. For Amazon, which has more than 950,000 workers in the U.S. and has fought hard against organizing attempts, a union loss could chill similar efforts around the company.

Even if theres a clear winner, the battle may be far from over.

If workers vote against forming a union, the retail union could file objections accusing Amazon of tainting the election in some way, which could lead to to a redo of the election if the labor board agrees.

Amazon could file its own objections if the workers vote to form a union.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
After Gov. Greg Abbott gave a fiery press conference outside a shelter for unaccompanied migrant children in San Antonio on Wednesday, advocacy groups said they supported his general message.

The Republican governor had called for more oversight and an immediate investigation into reports the state had received of sexual abuse inside the facility holding more than 1,300 children.

READ MORE: Texas investigates allegations that unaccompanied migrant children are being sexually assaulted

But some who have demanded improved conditions in such facilities for years said they couldn't help but question the governor's timing and motivations. Abbott largely remained silent despite reports of widespread abuse in migrant shelters during former President Donald Trumps administration. And while he has pledged to reform a handful of state agencies with long histories of abuse, problems continue to dog the agencies he oversees.

Now that hes speaking out in the early days of a Democratic presidency, some said they couldnt help but view his comments through a political lens.

Gov. Greg Abbott has zero credibility on this or any other issue related to protecting human life, said U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, at a press conference on Thursday. We saw Gov. Abbott's failure to protect his own citizens during the freeze. We saw Gov. Abbott play politics with COVID."

At the press conference Wednesday evening, Abbott said complaints about sexual assault at the Freeman Expo Center in San Antonio were reported early Wednesday to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The governor said he did not know the identities of those who alleged assault, nor could he provide many details about the accusations. He said he was concerned more than one child may have been assaulted. He also said that the Texas Department of Public Safety will investigate the allegations.

But he was clear about who he felt deserved the blame: the Biden administration.

"In short, this facility is a health and safety nightmare, Abbott told reporters Wednesday. The Biden administration is now presiding over the abuse of children."

RELATED: Abbott wants Freeman Coliseum shelter closed amid complaints children were allegedly abused

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on Wednesday echoed Abbotts concern and called on the U.S. Health and Human Services inspector general to investigate.

"Unaccompanied children that arrive at our border have already endured dangerous conditions at home and a treacherous journey to get here, Cornyn said in a statement. The fact that any child would experience abuse in the care of the U.S. government is despicable.

Abbott and many other Texas Republicans have repeatedly criticized the Biden administration as it struggles to address an increase in migrants being apprehended near the U.S.-Mexico border. Almost all single adults are being immediately expelled under a pandemic health order issued by Trump that Biden has kept in place, although the current administration is allowing in unaccompanied minors and some families to await their immigration court hearings in the U.S. But Democrats are also loudly questioning where the compassion was less than two years ago under Trumps watch, when apprehensions hit near-record figures despite his crackdown on the border.

And while the allegations of abuse Abbott highlighted were disturbing, they were by no means rare. Thousands of accusations of harassment and sexual abuse have been leveled against government-run migrant shelters in recent years. From 2014 to 2018  a time that included the Obama and Trump administrations  the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a division of HHS, received more than 4,500 complaints, including instances of inappropriate touching, staff members watching minors bathe and showing children pornography.

After Wednesdays news conference, Abbott toured the facility. Renae Eze, an Abbott spokesperson, accused the Biden administration of [rolling] out the red carpet for what turned out to be a dog and pony show. She said in a statement that staff at the facility provided no information about the allegations of abuse and abruptly cut off a doctor who began to provide information about children with COVID-19.

Because the Biden Administration has failed these children, the state of Texas is taking action, Eze continued. Texas Rangers and DPS have begun their investigation into the very serious complaints about the treatment of these unaccompanied minors and will not stop until theyve uncovered the real truth and these children are safe.

Rebeca Clay-Flores, a Democratic Bexar County commissioner, said she accompanied Abbott on the tour of the facility. She pushed back on Abbotts characterization of the shelter and said that the children are happy and the facility is well-staffed. Abbott on Wednesday claimed that children were not being fed, but Clay-Flores said that the federal government has contracted with three catering companies to provide three meals and two snacks a day. She called the announcement of the abuse allegations really great political timing.

Regardless of your political party or your nation of origin, children should not be politicized, Clay-Flores told The Texas Tribune. You want to talk about a dog and pony show? Politicizing children is a dog and pony show.

An HHS spokesperson in a statement declined to comment on specific allegations, but said the Office of Refugee Resettlement has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and inappropriate sexual behavior at all [unaccompanied child] care provider facilities and acts quickly to address any alleged violations of policy, including initiating employee disciplinary action, termination, or reporting to appropriate investigative entities, such as law enforcement agencies and relevant licensing bodies.

The Freeman Expo Center housed 1,370 unaccompanied teens as of Monday, KSAT-TV reported. It has the capacity to hold up to 2,500 children, according to HHS.

Escobar told reporters at a news conference Thursday that "any allegation around children always should be taken seriously and should be thoroughly investigated." But advocacy groups shared her skepticism about what Abbott was trying to accomplish.

READ MORE: Ted Cruz says Biden staffer stopped him from filming migrant facility in Texas

Jonathan Ryan, CEO of RAICES, a nonprofit that provides legal services to immigrants, said in a statement that the only reason why Abbott is now acting like he cares about the children in these facilities is for political reasons. Still, he doubled down on calls for increased oversight of child detention facilities.

What the governor wants is for the Biden administration to stop allowing children to seek home and safety in this country, Ryan said. That is not the solution to the challenge we have in front of us. We must ensure the children are released as soon as possible and be reunited with their families in the U.S.

Edna Yang, co-executive director of the nonprofit immigrant legal services provider American Gateways, told the Tribune that all allegations of abuse should be investigated. She declined to speculate on the motivations behind Abbotts announcement, but said that if the governor and other state leaders are truly concerned about the wellbeing of immigrants, there are definitely things that our state leaders can do to protect immigrants now who are suffering in our state.

Yang pointed to a Texas House bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver licenses. The bill has not yet received a committee hearing.

There are lots of things like that that can be done to actually protect immigrants here and ensure that their rights arent being violated, Yang said.

Meanwhile, advocates for children have long called for more actions to prevent the abuse of children in the care of the state. Texas Appleseed and Disability Rights Texas, two justice and legal organizations, in October filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice against the Texas Juvenile Justice Department that alleged grievous violations of childrens constitutional rights.

The problems at the agency predate Abbotts tenure as governor. The agency has undergone a series of major reforms that successfully shrank the number of kids in the states lockups and led to the closure of seven facilities. But the complaint alleged widespread sexual assault at the remaining facilities.

How many years is it going to take until were going to realize that we need to throw everything out and start over? Brett Merfish, director of youth justice at Texas Appleseed, said.

In addition, the embattled Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has struggled to implement a long list of court ordered reforms that stem from a decadelong lawsuit over abuse and neglect in the states foster care system. In 2017, Abbott signed a bill to overhaul the foster care system. Still, problems have persisted.

In February, the federal judge overseeing the case again chided state officials for failing to take sufficient corrective action. That same month, Abbott promised to do exactly what the judge ordered to fix the situation.

Earlier this year, the state had a backlog of more than 400 investigations into reports of abuse open for longer than 30 days. Only 38 had valid extensions.

We should all be working together on this, and in that spirit, I'm going to tell you that this is not compliance, U.S. District Judge Janis Jack said in a February hearing.

Disclosure: Texas Appleseed has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
The state Attorney Generals Office has so far failed to prove its case against a massage business with a Decatur location it alleged was involved in prostitution, sexual servitude and human trafficking, but a lawyer for the business said the seizure of the assets of the company and its owner was devastating.

Decatur Massage Therapy and Foot Care, operated by TY Greens Massage Therapy Inc., was closed by Decatur police and state authorities in April 2019. This week the business remained closed. A phone number on the door no longer belongs to the business. Its website includes nothing but a court filing advising that a receiver has full control of its assets.

A judge in Madison County  the county in which three of the four TY Greens massage businesses were located  granted the states request for a temporary restraining order and for a seizure of assets before a hearing was held. The court later ruled against the state, however, upon hearing evidence from TY Greens employees and clients.

After actually hearing evidence from witnesses other than agents of the state, the judge ruled against the state and dismissed the order permitting the seizure of my clients property, Huntsville attorney Chris Messervy said. The state couldnt back up their allegations. We put the evidence out there and the judge dismissed the order without a trial.

State Attorney General Steve Marshall appealed the Circuit Court ruling to the state Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court in February agreed with the Madison County Circuit Courts ultimate conclusion that the state had failed to prove its case, but that was almost two years after the state had seized personal property, homes and vehicles and frozen the financial assets of TY Greens Massage Therapy Inc.s owner Yuping Tang and manager Jiao Liu.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court wrote, The State did not present any evidence to establish that the defendants knew that sexual contact was occurring between some employees and customers, much less evidence that they had induced, coerced or forced the employees to engage in such activity.

It also said the state failed to show the alleged victims were forced to work long hours, give up their salary or live in housing provided by Tang. The court noted that while TY Greens presented testimony from the employees who were allegedly victimized by the defendants, the state presented no victim testimony.

Messervy, who said the lawsuit had more to do with the fact that the owner of the company is Chinese than with any conduct at the business, said Tang may never recover financially from the states action.

After almost two years without access to her home or bank accounts, my client is now permitted to return home (in Huntsville) and resume her life. This is a huge win for due process, limited government and basic fundamental human rights that should exist in any civilized society, he said.

What happened here is stuff that happens in Third World countries. This should never happen in America. The state had no right to seize the property prior to going to a trial. My clients have not been charged with a crime. ... In the meantime, my clients lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in income from their businesses. The state has financially destroyed them.

He said the state is wanting Tangs TY Green business to pay for its investigation and the cases receiver, the Miami law firm of Levine, Kellogg, Lehman, Schneider and Grossman LLP, is requesting Tang to pay about $150,000 for its work in the property seizure.

When asked for a comment on the Supreme Courts ruling, Marshalls office sent The Decatur Daily an email stating: The Attorney Generals Office is disappointed in the decision reached by the Alabama Supreme Court to uphold the lower courts denial of a preliminary injunction against the operators of TY Greens Message Therapy Inc. for violating Alabamas human trafficking laws.

The case has been remanded to the trial court for further proceedings. There is no further information or comment at this time.

Messervy said his clients constitutional rights to due process were violated, and they are seeking options to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars the closed businesses lost in the past two years. He said he didnt know if his clients would reopen the Decatur business.  Seized assets

While the states effort to obtain a preliminary injunction was blocked by the courts, it can still seek a permanent injunction in Circuit Court. It has filed no criminal charges. The only proceedings in the Circuit Court since the Supreme Courts ruling have involved the Miami-based receivership firm that still has control over the defendants assets.

The defendants are fighting to get those assets back.

The defendants had saved approximately $240,000 over their collective lifetimes and the receiver testified he spent approximately $130,000 of that in the past few months. Further, the receiver estimated a legal bill between $60,000 and $80,000 dollars which defendants contend is grossly excessive, Messervy wrote in a motion.

A hearing on the amount the receiver is owed, and who should pay it, is set for April 28.

Messervy said his clients are preparing for a civil jury trial on the human-trafficking issue and he is limited on what he can say.

The case is still open, he said. My clients look forward to their day in court defending themselves against the states allegations.

The state attorney generals 66-page complaint in 2019 listed 41 counts including 13 counts alleging first-degree human trafficking, 26 counts alleging second-degree human trafficking and two counts alleging deceptive trade practices.

Under this business model, the business is presented as a single storefront that offers legitimate massage services from women from China that are in their mid-30s to late 50s. Traffickers use victims cultural background, coupled with psychological and/or financial manipulation, to coerce and/or deceive the victims, the complaint said.

Messervy said he believes Asian massage businesses are targeted, however. How many strip clubs have the state shut down? How many of those businesses have they seized property from? Zero, he said. They went to a seminar that said Chinese massage parlors are fronts for human trafficking.

The state alleged that Tang, a native of China, hired Asian immigrants and then controlled them by making them work long hours for little or no pay and having them live in substandard housing conditions.

(They) actually find themselves under the control of traffickers and being coerced to perform commercial sex acts and labor, the state wrote in its complaint.

In the 2019 complaint, Marshalls office wrote that Tangs employees at the Decatur business as well as massage sites on South Memorial Parkway and University Drive in Huntsville and U.S. 72 West in Madison performed sexual favors for tips, mainly from white, middle-aged customers.

Marshalls office said investigators noticed the male patrons parking in conspicuously distant locations from the business entrance to avoid being seen patronizing the business.

Most of the specific allegations asserted by the state came from multiple undercover operatives sent by the Alabama Board of Massage Therapy to the various locations in 2018 and 2019, including the Decatur business. The allegations were graphic, and included claims that Ty Greens employees removed agents underwear and touched their genitals.

The Supreme Court noted the state produced no evidence that the employees were required to engage in sexual activity, and that the only employees to testify said they were instructed not to do so. Peepholes in the massage room doors were designed so management could make sure no such activity was taking place, according to the testimony.

 mike.wetzel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442. Twitter @DD_Wetzel.

___

(c)2021 The Decatur Daily (Decatur, Ala.)

Visit The Decatur Daily (Decatur, Ala.) at www.decaturdaily.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
American President Joe Biden announced new measures Thursday aimed at decreasing gun violence, which he called an epidemic and an international embarrassment.

Two mass shootings in the United States last month killed 18 people. One attack took place at a food store in Boulder, Colorado. The other happened at three businesses in and near Atlanta, Georgia.

Speaking from the White House, Biden said he learned that five more people were killed just last night in South Carolina. He told families and survivors of gun violence, Were absolutely determined to make change.

The Biden plan

Biden said the Justice Department will issue a rule to stop the quickly increasing number of ghost guns. These guns are often put together from available parts in as little as 30 minutes. They are not registered weapons and often cannot be traced by law enforcement. USA Today reported that ghost guns have been used in at least three recent shootings in California.



The Justice Department is also planning to issue a new rule on a device called a stabilizing brace. The device can make a handgun work more like a rifle, a deadlier firearm. The new rule would make it difficult to register the weapon.

Biden also said the Justice Department will begin issuing yearly reports on illegal sales of firearms.

The president also announced a so-called red flag measure. It permits civilians and local law enforcement to seek legal firearms seizures from people they think pose a threat.

Red flag laws can stop mass shooters before they can act out their violent plans, Biden said.

The president noted that his administration is also investing in local communities to help prevent gun violence. He said that gun violence is severely hurting Americas children, including those who do not experience direct involvement.

And, Biden announced his nomination of David Chipman to serve as Director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, or ATF. Chipman worked at the agency for 25 years and is now an advisor to a gun-control organization.

While at ATF, Chipman worked to stop a gun trafficking group that sent illegal firearms from Virginia to New York. He also served on the ATFs special weapons defense team.

Chipman is a gun owner.

Acting directors have headed the ATF for years. If confirmed, Chipman will become the agencys first permanent leader since 2015.

NRA quick to denounce

The National Rifle Association moved quickly to denounce Bidens gun-control measures. The organization said Thursday, These actions could require Americans to surrender lawful property, adding that states might use the measure to increase firearm seizures. The group said on Twitter, It's time to STAND and FIGHT!

John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, praised the administrations new measures as a starting point for dealing with gun violence. The new laws, he said, begin to make good on President Bidens promise to be the strongest gun safety president in history.

In his speech, Biden noted some limitations of his executive orders. He asked the Senate to immediately pass current bills from the House of Representatives that require background checks and longer waiting periods on gun purchases.

They have offered plenty of thoughts and prayers, but they have passed not a single federal law to reduce gun violence, Biden said. Enough prayers. Time for action.

I'm Caty Weaver.

Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

embarrassment - n. the state of feeling foolish in front of others

absolutely - adv. completely or totally (often used to make a statement more forceful)

determine - adj. certain to do something

trace - v. to find out where something came from
Washington , April 9 : US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Germany next week as part of a foreign tour that will also take him to Israel, the UK and the NATO headquarters in Belgium.

Austin will be the first of US President Joe Biden's cabinet to travel to Germany, reports dpa news agency.

He will meet Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Foreign and Security Policy Adviser Jan Hecker, the Pentagon said in a statement on Thursday.

The talks aim to "reinforce the value the US places on the bilateral defense relationship with one of our closest NATO Allies", the Pentagon said.

There will also be discussions on "combating the malign influence of our shared strategic rivals, and continued dialogue on US force posture in Germany and elsewhere".

The administration of former President Donald Trump had outlined plans to withdraw some of the US troops stationed in Germany, but the project has been halted by Biden.

Austin will also visit US European Command and US Africa Command headquarters in Germany to meet with US troops and senior commanders.

Austin kicks off his tour in Israel on Saturday where he will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Benjamin Gantz.

His trip will also include a stop in Brussels, where Austin will meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

At the close of his tour, Austin will meet British Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace, the Pentagon said.
and the US will pursue ways in which they can deepen their partnership on climate and clean energy, the Biden administration said on Thursday after Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi during which they affirmed that the two countries can creatively collaborate on a 2030 agenda.

Kerry travelled to this week and met with Modi, during which they discussed US- cooperation on addressing the climate crisis and raising global ambition heading into President Biden's Leaders Summit on Climate April 22-23, the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on later this year, and beyond, the State Department said.

Kerry and Modi affirmed that given the two nations' shared desire to combat and complementary strengths, the USt and India can creatively collaborate on a 2030 agenda for clean and green technologies in the service of the planet.

"Officials of the two countries will pursue ways in which they can deepen their partnership on climate and in this critical decade, the State Department said in a readout of Kerry's India travel.

During the meeting, Kerry highlighted Biden's support for the enduring comprehensive global strategic partnership with India and the importance of two of the world's largest economies leading together on climate action.

Kerry shared that the US supports India's ambitious agenda for climate action during the 2020s, particularly the target announced by Prime Minister Modi of installing 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by the end of the decade.

"They discussed the need for ambitious climate action in this critical decade by all countries in line with their national circumstances to keep a Paris Agreement-aligned temperature limit within reach to avoid the worst climate impacts, the readout said.

During his India visit, Kerry laid out Biden's vision for historic US investments to spur a revolution and create millions of good-paying union jobs.

There was broad consensus on the value of enhanced bilateral cooperation across multiple areas, including mobilising finance to support deployment at scale; cooperating on adaptation and resilience; and collaborating on innovation and scaling up emerging technologies for energy storage, green hydrogen, clean industrial processes, and sustainable urbanisation and agriculture, the State Department said.

Kerry conveyed Biden's welcome of Modi's participation at the Leaders Summit on Climate and of the United States and India working constructively to make COP26 in Glasgow a success.

In addition to meeting with Modi, Kerry also met with Indian Minister of Environment, Forest, and Prakash Javadekar; Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman; Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar; and Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan.

He also had meetings with the Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh; Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal; Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Pramod Kumar Mishra; and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

Kerry engaged in roundtable discussions with business and civil society leaders, including a roundtable with women leaders in energy and climate change.

(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.)
Q. If you could meet someone famous, who would that be?

A. Have you ever heard of Maru, aka Box Kitty? Well, he has been quite a famous feline on YouTube for many years now. He has posted over 600 videos to date and we often see him diving into any cardboard box he can find. I guess he's famous, but even if he isn't I would still like to meet him. Google "Maru" and check him out.

Q. Do you have an interesting fact to share?

A. I do! Did you know that some humans believe that if you dream about a white cat, good luck will follow? Well, I am mostly white, and I want you to dream about me tonight. Your good luck will be adopting me! Try it out!

Q. Do you have any advice for our Citizen readers?

A. I do! My shelter people have scheduled the first free rabies clinic of 2021. That would be from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 8, right here at my shelter home. All dogs/cats/ferrets are eligible and they must be at least 3 months old. My people told me to tell you that masks and social distancing are still mandatory. Your next interviewee will provide more specifics. Thank you for letting our good Citizen readers know about this. Much love and many purrs and licks! Bobby and friends.

Pandemic pets: Auburn shelter says adoptions high since March "It's just amazing how people have opened up their homes to these animals."

The Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York is a New York state-registered shelter/rescue, registration No. RR-181. Pursuant to Article 26-A, Section 408 of the Agriculture and Markets Law, the registrant is authorized to operate as a registered pet rescue, in compliance with such law.

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(Alliance News) - A major campaign encouraging people to undergo twice-weekly Covid-19 testing is being launched in England.

The lateral flow tests a which can provide results in around 30 minutes a will be available from Friday, regardless of whether people have symptoms.

The government will use a public information campaign across television, radio, newspapers, websites and social media to encourage people to get into the habit of using the tests twice a week.

Ministers hope regular testing combined with vaccines will result in more restrictions being lifted.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "Around one in three people have coronavirus without any symptoms, so getting tested regularly is one of the simplest and easiest ways we can keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. I'd encourage everyone to take up the offer and test twice a week.

"Alongside the successful rollout of the vaccination programme, rapid testing will be one of our most effective weapons in tackling this virus and ensuring we can cautiously reopen our economy and parts of society that we have all missed.

"The British people have made a tremendous effort throughout the pandemic and I am confident they will do the same now by taking up this offer of free, rapid tests."

source: PA

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Chinese 100 yuan notes and one U.S. dollar notes in Beijing on Jan. 6, 2017. (Fred Dufour/AFP via Getty Images)

Trojan Horse: Kyle Bass Warns China Will Use Digital Yuan to Export Tech Authoritarianism

The Chinese regime is using its new state-controlled digital currency as a Trojan horse against western democraciesand the free world needs to outlaw it, warned hedge fund manager Kyle Bass.

I think that the digital RMB [renminbi] is the largest threat to the world as it exists today, Bass said in an interview with The Epoch Times affiliate NTD on April 8. Bass is the founder and chief investment officer of Dallas-based Hayman Capital Management.

On Thursday, Chinas hawkish state-run outlet Global Times proudly proclaimed that Beijing has taken the lead in the race between governments to roll out their own sovereign digital currency, given its work on relevant standards and legal framework. The article boasted that the digital yuan (also known as renminbi) will help challenge U.S. dollar hegemony.

Chinas version of the digital currency is controlled by its central bank, the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC), which began doing research into digital currency in 2014. In April last year, Beijing launched a pilot to test it in four cities. Most recently, on March 23, Chinas state-run media reported that six state-owned banks in Shanghai began accepting peoples applications for digital-yuan wallets.

Two days later, Mu Changchun, the director-general of PBOCs digital currency institute, made a proposal on global rules for central bank digital currency (CBDC) at a seminar held by the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS), according to Reuters. The BIS, dubbed the central bank of central banks, coordinates regulations in the financial sector.

Currently, PBOC is pushing to become the first central bank in the world to issue CBDC. The Chinese digital currency will be pegged to one yuan.

Threat

Bass said that the digital yuan poses a problem because of its built-in artificial intelligence technology.

Imagine if you or I or anyone was forced to take digital RMB to trade or invest in China, which is probably one of Chinas [future] moves, theyll know where you spend your money, how much you have, [and] they will know all of your proclivities, Bass said.

Moreover, if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) learns that its digital-yuan users fail to toe the Party line on sensitive issues such as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Uyghurs in Chinas far-western Xinjiang region, Tibetans, and Falun Gong adherents, the communist regime could lower these peoples social credit score and take away their digital money, according to Bass.

The Chinese regime enforces a social credit system, which assigns each citizen a score of social trustworthiness. People can have points taken away from their social credit score by committing behaviors deemed undesirable by the CCP such as jaywalking. Those with low social credit scores are deemed untrustworthy, and thus deprived access to services and opportunities. They could be barred from traveling by plane or attending schools, among other things. Critics have slammed the system as a violation of human rights.

While the social credit system is currently limited in mainland China, Bass said Beijing could implement a global social credit system, and foreign investors using the digital yuan would also be at risk if they comment on issues that are taboo to the communist regime.

If you think he [Chinese leader Xi Jinping] is a terrible ruler, all of sudden, your global social credit score gets whacked and the Chinese can actually stop your ability to spend the money [digital yuan], Bass said.

This is a way they can export their digital authoritarianism around the world. And its something that we must stop.

Bass called on the West to make a concerted effort to outlaw the digital yuan since it has no place amongst western democracies.

If you just take time to think about it, it is their Trojan horse of all Trojan horses, Bass concluded.

China has in place an economic blueprint called China Standards 2035, through which it seeks to have Chinas technical standards for advanced technologies chosen and exported to the international market. Doing so allows Beijing to become less dependent on foreign technology, while Chinese companies can earn royalties from licensing their patents.

Being aggressive in setting the international standards for digital currencies was one of the priorities outlined in Chinas latest economic blueprint. The 5-year plan, unveiled in March, is a comprehensive blueprint laying out the regimes social and economic goals for the next half-decade.
She's modelled thousands of looks during her career.

And Kate Moss looked every inch the supermodel as she posed up a storm a skin-tight latex catsuit for a striking shoot with Perfect Magazine.

The British beauty, 47, commanded attention as she licked her bright red lips and worked all her angles in a velvet dress before slipping into a cropped jacket.

Wow! Kate Moss looked every inch the supermodel in a tight latex catsuit during a stylish shoot with Perfect Magazine (Kate Moss wears deadstock velvet dress by Richard Malone, catsuit and hood by Atsuko Kudo, Necklace by Gucci, antique silver ring by Alexander McQueen)

Kate exuded confidence in her first look of a velvet dress by Richard Malone paired with a catsuit and hood by Atsuko Kudo.

She accessorised the statement look by donning a Gucci necklace and antique silver ring by Alexander McQueen.

The star was also seen rocking a cropped Alexander McQueen jacket over the black catsuit and hood.

Adding a touch of colour to her statement looks, Kate donned a touch of red lipstick to make her features pop.

Work it: The model, 47, paired the Atsuko Kudo catsuit and hood with a cropped Alexander McQueen denim jacket for another striking look (Kate wears cropped denim jacket by Alexander McQueen, catsuit and hood by Atsuko Kudo)

Perfect Magazine is the debut issue from Katie Grand's new Perfect Agency and it comes in a hard-backed coffee table book format.

These images are part of a 32-page portfolio called 'WOW WOW WOW' by photographer Rafael Pavarotti.

The shoot saw Rafael Pavarotti as the photographer and Katie Grand as the creative director. Oliver Volquardsen and Katie Grand were the Fashion Editors.

Katie and Kate have worked together for many years and Katie spoke about the new shoot on Perfect Magazine's Instagram account ahead of the launch.

Incredible: Another shot from the magazine shows James Corbin wearing a red fake shearling hooded bathrobe by Balenciaga

She explained that although working the the model for decades, the latest shoot stood out and has become a 'cherish this forever' moment for her.

Talking about Kate in action, she added: 'The music was blaring, she was in latex and nail extensions and she felt like a different character.'

And photographer Rafael Pavarotti added: 'Kate and I were sitting in front of each other taking pictures, smoking calmly and listening to good music. That's it! That was PERFECT!'

The shoot comes after Kate reflected on enduring 'intimidating' photoshoots in her early modelling career and revealed that teen models are often pressured into posing nude in a new interview.

Incredible: Katie and Kate have worked together for many years and Katie spoke about the new shoot on Perfect Magazine's Instagram account ahead of the launch

The supermodel, who was first scouted as a model in 1988 at age 14, admitted she felt 'terribly uncomfortable' during many shoots in her youth, explaining that some photographers will only work with models who agree to 'a nude element.'

Kate told Reader's Digest: 'There were many shoots in the early days where I felt terribly uncomfortable.'

Explaining how it's typical for a model to start their career at a young age, she said: 'That was the case with me, but even so there were some photographers who wouldn't agree to shoot you unless there was a nude element.

'That was very common then and still is now. For a very young woman that could be incredibly intimidating.'

Kate become synonymous with the 'heroin chic' aesthetic of the 1990s due to her skinny frame and pale skin, but branded the term 'awful with no positive interpretation'.

She added that her natural frame meant she was always 'thin and small' no matter what she ate, as she slammed similar criticism of lithe models in the present day.

Kate also said that her frame had changed after welcoming her daughter Lila Grace in 2002.

See the full Kate Moss shoot in Perfect Issue Zero, available now from Boutique Mags, Dover Street Market stores worldwide, and Dover Street Market London from Monday, as well as select Gucci stores and bookshops.
UAE: UN expresses deep concern for princess Latifa No 'proof of life' yet

(ANSAmed) - GENEVA, APRIL 9 - The United Nations human rights office on Friday expressed deep concern for the fate of princess Latifa, one of the daughters of the ruler of Dubai who has claimed that she is held captive and fears for her life. The organization said it hasn't received any proof of life so far, as repeatedly requested.



UN spokesperson Marta Hurtado during a briefing in Geneva expressed concern for the fate of Latifa and her sister Shamsa, responding to a question. "We haven't got any proof of life", she said.



The UN office and UAE were in contact in Geneva, said Hurtado, and a meeting was agreed in principle to discuss the fate of princess Latifa and her sister, but no date has been set yet.



The UN on February 19 said that it had requested to the United Arab Emirates proof of life of the 35-year-old princess, daughter of Mohammed ben Rached al-Maktoum, leader of the emirate of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.



The woman had unsuccessfully tried to flee by boat in 2018 before being taken back.



The BBC broadcast a video in which she said she was being forcibly held in a villa "transformed into a prison" with all the windows barred shut and that she was under police surveillance. According to the British broadcaster, the video was filmed about a year ago after her attempt to flee. On February 19, the embassy of the United Arab Emirates in London released a statement saying that "her family has confirmed that Her Royal Highness is assisted at home, with the support of her family and medical professionals. Her condition is continuing to improve and we hope that she will resume public life in due course".(ANSAmed).




Henry de Bromhead has the Cheltenham Gold Cup trophy sitting in pride of place in his kitchen but will not tempt fate and imagine the Grand National prize will be beside it on Sunday.

The 48-year-old Irishman has three runners in Saturday's race at Aintree including Minella Times, the ride of Rachael Blackmore, who helped him rip up the record books at last month's Cheltenham Festival.

He told AFP he was still "pinching himself" after becoming the first trainer to win the "Holy Trinity" at the event in southwest England.

Honeysuckle triumphed in the Champion Hurdle, with Blackmore becoming the first female jockey to win the race. Put The Kettle On took the Queen Mother Champion Chase and Minella Indo led home a De Bromhead 1-2 in the blue riband Gold Cup.

"Coming to the last I said to myself 'I am not going to win the Gold Cup -- Al Boum Photo will catch my two'," he said.

"But he did not and then I went numb and it was utter disbelief."

De Bromhead marked his success in low-key fashion, travelling back to Ireland alone on the ferry to be reunited with wife Heather and their three children, 12-year-old twins Jack and Mia and Georgia, 10.

That suits the man who defines himself as "unexciting" despite his success in the sport.

"I think like many of us I got rid of my exciting side when I was young," he laughs.

De Bromhead also has some remarkable colour in his family background -- British army officer Gonville Bromhead was awarded the nation's highest military honour, the Victoria Cross, for his role in the defence of Rorke's Drift in 1879.

British soldiers were outnumbered by Zulu warriors in the battle in South Africa and the lieutenant's role was immortalised by Michael Caine in the epic film "Zulu".

- Tough times -

As well as the high points in his career as a trainer, De Bromhead has also gone through tough times.

In 2008 his hot favourite for the Champion Hurdle, Sizing Europe, flopped and in 2017 he watched as Sizing John, a horse who had been removed from his charge by the owners, won the Gold Cup.

Story continues

"I am a natural pessimist," he said. "There are a lot of things that go wrong in racing, especially in National Hunt (jumps).

"One can become too high or get too low so I opt for mid-range and try and take the ups and downs equably.

"Even at Cheltenham this year I had plenty of fallers but that is made easier when you are also having a fair share of winners."

Racing was always De Bromhead's calling. He describes himself as a "racing anorak", saying he collected autographs of racing greats such as Lester Piggott and the late Pat Eddery.

His love of the sport came from watching his father Harry enjoy some success as a trainer, including a winner at Cheltenham, but his parents wanted a secure future for their son.

"Mum and Dad knew how tough the training game was and wanted me to gain other qualifications," he said.

"I tried accountancy but after six months I knew it was not for me and went back to racing."

He tasted instant success when his first runner, Fidalus, won at Tramore in 2000 and has no regrets about the path he took.

"It is an absolutely amazing way of life and you meet really interesting people," he said. "There were many years when it was tough but you work through it.

"You get a break then you get knocked back, then a break and then knocked back again. By no means are we getting there all the time but I do feel really lucky to be a trainer."

Come Saturday evening, if he is sitting on the ferry beside the Grand National trophy he may find a fellow anorak asks him for his autograph.

However, De Bromhead does not waver from the script ahead of the world-famous steeplechase.

"I would not even think about it," he said. "It has to happen first."

pi/jw/mw
The PSNI has ruled out the involvement of loyalist paramilitary groups in orchestrating the violence seen in Northern Ireland in recent days.

It follows a statement from the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), an umbrella group representing the UVF, UDA and Red Hand Commando, that none of its groups were involved in rioting either directly or indirectly.

On Thursday Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Jonathan Roberts said it was clear there was a degree of organisation to the violence.

Although the PSNI did not confirm paramilitary involvement, they said it was a likely situation.

However, Mr Roberts appeared to backtrack on that position on Friday when asked about the LCC statement.

He said: Its our overall assessment that the violence that has taken place over the last few nights is not orchestrated by a group, in the name of that group.

There are certainly people who have been engaged in violence who are nothing to do with any illegal organisation.

There are young people who have gotten involved and for whatever reason that theyve decided to do so.

We feel that there may be some people who could have connection to proscribed organisations, who have been present on the scenes of violence.

But we dont believe its been sanctioned and organised by prescribed organisations for peaceful protests.

Mr Roberts urged parents and community activists to do their part to prevent further unrest, and warned there would be serious consequence for those involved.

It comes after another night of disorder in west Belfast in which a further 19 police officers were injured, along with a police dog.

He said: I would appeal to those who wish to engage in such activity not to.

It serves no purpose.

The police will continue to investigate those who engage in disorder and commit serious offences.

Last night a further vehicle was hijacked.

People can expect if they are convicted of such crimes to receive custodial sentences.

It will change peoples lives forever.

Police dog Daphne was injured during rioting in Belfast on Thursday night.Image released by the PSNI.

Secretary of State Brandon Lewis has met with Stormont political parties to discuss the situation.

Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill said she was worried about the weekend ahead amid ongoing violence on the streets of Northern Ireland.

The Sinn Fein vice president said: As for the last number of days and the violence we have seen on our streets, that has to be condemned by all quarters.

I welcome the fact that there is a unity of purpose across all political leaders to say that this is wrong and it needs to stop.

Im worried about the weekend ahead. We all need to be very careful and very consciously try to do all we can to prevent this happening.

I hope and I urge all young people to not engage, do not allow yourself to be used or manipulated in any sort of way, and to stay off the streets, stay home and stay safe.

We met this morning with the Chief Constable and the Secretary of State, and all the parties were represented. I think its really important to engage.

I think theres a strong role here for the two governments, as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement. I made that point to Brandon Lewis this morning.

Its really, really important that we stand shoulder to shoulder and say no to this type of criminal behaviour, and that we dont allow our children to be sucked in by criminal gangs who are orchestrating some of what we see on our streets.

The PSNI use a water cannon on youths on the Springfield Road, during further unrest in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA)

The violence was at a lower level on Thursday evening than it had been on Wednesday, but officers came under attack with petrol bombs, fireworks and stones.

A water cannon was used by police in Northern Ireland for the first time in six years to quell crowds gathered on a nationalist section of the Springfield Road.

A human chain of community workers was formed to prevent rioters reaching the gates at the peace wall at Lanark Way, the scene of Wednesday nights tensions.

In total, 74 police officers have been injured in more than a week of violence.

A clean up operation has been under way at Lanark Way in west Belfast (Rebecca Black/PA)

Mr Roberts said two arrests were made on Thursday night and a significant criminal investigation is under way.

He described the range of injuries as generally minor to limbs and bodies, and damage to hearing.

Mr Roberts said measures such as AEPs, a type of plastic bullet, and a water cannon were deployed over recent nights when police had exhausted other tactics.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Irish premier Micheal Martin and US President Joe Biden have called for a calming of tensions.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) and Taoiseach Micheal Martin (Brian Lawless/PA)

The Stormont Assembly was recalled from Easter recess on Thursday for an emergency sitting and unanimously backed a motion calling for the unequivocal condemnation of the violence and support for the rule of law.

The violence is unfolding at a time of increasing rancour in the political sphere amid tensions over the post-Brexit Irish Sea trade border and the fallout from the polices handling of the mass republican funeral that took place during pandemic restrictions last year.

Unionists are furious at a decision by prosecutors not to take action against 24 Sinn Fein politicians, including deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill, for attending the funeral of former IRA leader Bobby Storey, a decision partly related to the fact that police had engaged with organisers before the event that drew 2,000 people on to the streets.

Drugs seizures against a dissident faction of the UDA in south-east Antrim have also been blamed.
With the scheduled date of the 2021 Pepsi North America Cup just over two months away, Trot Insider has profiled some of the race's top contenders as horses ready to compete for one of Canadian harness racing's biggest prizes.

At 24-1, Bayfield Beach begins the countdown at #10 in TROT Magazine's 2021 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book.

Bayfield Beach races for connections very familiar to North America Cup success. His breeder, Schooner II Stable, famously campaigned the colt's sire, Somebeachsomewhere, to a victory in the race in 2008, while his trainer Brian Brown won his first "Cup" in 2017 with Fear The Dragon. This Brian Brown trainee, with one win from 13 starts, gathered cheques in the Pennsylvania Sires Stakes and came a half-length from winning the $720,000 Metro Pace.

All in all, Bayfield Beach has banked $301,978 for owners Crossover Racing, Country Club Acres Inc., Richard Lombardo and Joe Sbrocco. Trot Insider caught up with trainer Brian Brown for an update on Bayfield Beach.

Where did he winter and when did you start back with him?

"He was turned out at Spring Run Farm and then I picked him up when we went south. He started late December. I trained him [Wednesday] in [1:]57 and a piece. Hell qualify next Wednesday (April 14) at Miami Valley."

Have you noticed any changes from last year to this year?

"I think the only real change, he probably got a little taller. He doesnt really look a lot different, even if he is a little taller, but he does act a little bit smarter. You know last year, he thought everything was a game. You had to make him do everything. Hed some days train and youd be at the top of the stretch in between a couple of horses to start the mile [and] hed go to bucking...just play all the time. He even did that after he was racing. Youd be out training and hed go to bucking and playing. He has not done that this year. He does act more mature and racier."

What will his early schedule look like leading up to the Pepsi North America Cup?

"I dont know if Ill qualify him twice and then head to Pennsylvania. I dont know if Ill go right into the first sires stake. Itll depend on how he qualifies. I might even qualify once [and] put him in a non-winners of two. I just dont know yet.

"I really would like to have one more week, an extra week between now and the first leg of the sires stake, so I could qualify twice and race once. Then Id really know if I was ready for PA Sires Stake. You know, there was a colt at Pocono the other day that went [1:]50.2 already. I just dont want to hurt the horse [in] his first start. So we have options. We just dont know, until we get at least the first qualifier in, what we do from there. Will we go to the second qualifier, or do we throw him in a non-winners of two? Then we go from there."

Did you get the COVID-19 vaccine / Will you and your team be vaccinated by the time the North America Cup rolls around?

"We havent planned that out yet, but now that youve mentioned it I will talk to his groom tomorrow and see if she is interested in getting the vaccination. I dont know if she can, and I dont know what her feelings are about it. If she didnt want to get the vaccination and the Canadian government says Unless youre an American and dont have a vaccination, youre not coming across, thatd be something we need to start thinking about. If she doesnt want to get it, its fine. Ill either take him up myself if they let me come across because I was vaccinated, or I just send him back up there. Ben [Hollingsworth] did a great job with him last year.

"Beau [Brian's son] is trying to go up there  he was actually planning on leaving this past Monday and going to Canada and drive and try to race some horses up there. If he was up there, Id send him up to Beau. We have options; Teesha [Symes] is there. However it works out, the main thing is we have to get him ready for the race."

What does his tentative schedule look like after the North America Cup?

"Hes staked to everything."

What's his biggest asset / strength?

"I think, sure he has some speed and talent, whatever you want to call it. But the horse, hes good-gaited and he tries. Hes lazy, but you can make him do it. You have to show him what to do and make him do it, but he can do it. You can start him up and leave, and then just take him right off. He can leave; he has left at times last year and put him in spots. But that might be his best attribute, his manners. You can leave hard, take him off and do whatever you want."

At what point last year did you think this horse was North America Cup material?

"We mightve had that in the back of our mind even after his first race. He won his first sire stake in [1:]52 and a piece, that was his first lifetime start. After the Metro, he was second, you probably have a whole lot better idea that he could possibly be that kind of horse."

Any three-year-old stablemates in the barn right now that are paid up and also looking promising?

"I have Thelegend Hanover. He hasnt been paid up yet. He did train much better today than the race Friday at Hoosier. He did finish up the year good; he was second in [1:]51.1 at Pocono in a sire stake, beat about a half length. The horse has ability, but we had to geld him the early fall. He got to where he wasnt trying hard. I didnt even take him to Lexington, I raced him here in Delaware and then I think I quit with him and gelded him. He has come back decent, but he just hasnt been sharp yet. He did train much better today and well see how he races Friday, whether we even make that last payment on him."

As someone who's been to and won the North America Cup before, how does it feel to have another contender in the race?

"I believe Bayfield Beach has an outside shot, lets say it that way. He has a lot of improving to do to even talk in the same breath as Perfect Sting, Summa Cum Laude, Southwind Gendry, those kind of horses. Hes been in races with them. And how much do they improve? Thats going to be the question: how much do you improve and how much do they improve. He has improving to do before we can begin to say that."
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 02:53:05|Editor: huaxia

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by Xinhua writers Xiong Maoling, Hu Yousong

WASHINGTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Widespread vaccination is probably the highest return global public investment project ever, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) official has said, urging policymakers to give a fair shot at vaccination to all people across the globe.

"Vaccination is a light at the end of the tunnel. It really points in the direction that eventually we will have COVID-19 under control," Vitor Gaspar, director of the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department, told Xinhua in a video interview earlier this week.

Noting that vaccination policy is economic policy, Gaspar cited the IMF's latest World Economic Outlook as saying that a faster rollout of vaccination at the global level could generate 9 trillion U.S. dollars in additional economic activity by 2025.

"Clearly if you take into account that according to some estimates, vaccination of one person costs about 30 dollars, you actually realize that the amounts involved make an effort at global vaccination, probably the highest return global public investment project ever," he said.

Looking back, Gaspar said policymakers across the globe acted quickly and decisively with fiscal policy to cushion the impact of COVID-19 in March and April last year, which showed that fiscal policy is powerful.

Moreover, he said, "we see that countries with easier access to financing, stronger fiscal buffers were able to deploy more fiscal support and they're projected to be able to keep it for longer."

"We believe that countries could very well benefit from using credible medium term fiscal frameworks to manage public finance risks and the challenges associated with the conduct of fiscal policy over time," Gaspar said.

According to the newly released Fiscal Monitor, government deficits and debt have risen to unprecedented levels, given major fiscal support, along with a sharp fall in revenues caused by contractions in output.

Global public debt climbed to 97.3 percent of GDP in 2020, a surge of 13 percentage points from the level projected before the pandemic.

Gaspar told Xinhua that many low-income developing countries, in particular, are facing situations of debt vulnerabilities.

The IMF official said these countries had to extend resources and financial support to health systems, vulnerable households, vulnerable firms, but in many cases, they had to do it "at the expense of development expenditure."

"These countries need support from the global community," he said. "They need assistance through grants, concessional lending, and in some cases, debt restructuring may be necessary in line with common framework, agreed by the G20."

The Fiscal Monitor also urged countries to provide flexible and targeted support until the pandemic is under control, as the need and scope for such support vary across sectors and economies.

"The pandemic has had a disproportionately negative effect on poor people, youth, women, minorities, and workers in low-paying jobs and the informal sector," Gaspar noted.

"Policymakers should ensure that social protection is available and spending is sustainable over the duration of the crisis by expanding the coverage of social safety nets in a cost-effective way," he said.

Noting that the pandemic is worsening inequality, the Fiscal Monitor suggested policymakers tackle the issue with "redistribution," such as more progressive taxation, and also "predistribution," which highlights universal access to basic public services like healthcare, education and social security.

In the case of China, the IMF official said a more generous coverage of the social safety net in China would be very important, and a reform of the tax system would be called for, which would assist the transition to the country's new model of growth.

"Going forward, there is room to have a rebalancing of growth from investment to consumption, from exports to domestic demand," he added. Enditem
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Homicide detectives are investigating after a 17-year-old girl was found shot to death Thursday morning at Martin Luther King Jr. Park on Clevelands East Side, police said.

Park personnel found Hershawna Rias lying dead in the grass about 11:40 a.m. at the park on East 107th Street at Elk Avenue, according to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiners Office.

Hershawna suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head, police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

No arrests have been made in the case, Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said Friday. No witnesses or suspects have come forward.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact homicide investigators at 216-623-5464.
Herve Le Corre, trans. from the French by Tina Kover. Europa, $27 (512p) ISBN 978-1-60945-617-7

Le Corre (After the War) brilliantly integrates a mystery plotline into a vivid evocation of a lesser-known period in French history in this enthralling novel, which won the French Voices Prize. For a few months in 1871, Paris was ruled by the Paris Commune, a radical government that controlled the city, until the so-called bloody week in late May, when the French army retook it. The novel opens from the vantage point of three Commune soldiers, led by Sgt. Nicolas Bellec, several days before the start of that combat. As Bellec and his comrades prepare for the ground assault they know is coming, he faces another challenge. A cab driver, covered in hair, like an animal, has been kidnapping young women. Bellecs fiancee, Caroline, becomes one of the unknown abductors victims, and the sergeant searches desperately for her, aided by Antoine Roques, who was with the Surete before joining the Communes efforts. That search continues through the end of the Communes reign, giving Le Corre an opportunity to display his gifts at writing tense scenes, with the outcome of both the bloody week and the quest for Caroline unknown. Fans of Armand Cabasson wont want to miss this one.
The prospect of a fourth wave of the coronavirus, with new cases climbing sharply in the Upper Midwest, has reignited a debate among vaccine experts over how long to wait between the first and second doses. Extending that period would swiftly increase the number of people with the partial protection of a single shot, but some experts fear it could also give rise to dangerous new variants.

In the United States, two-dose vaccines are spaced three to four weeks apart, matching what was tested in clinical trials. But in Britain, health authorities have delayed doses by up to 12 weeks in order to reach more people more quickly. And in Canada, which has precious few vaccines to go around, a government advisory committee recommended on Wednesday that second doses be delayed even longer, up to four months.

Some health experts think the United States should follow suit. Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, a co-director of the Healthcare Transformation Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, has proposed that for the next few weeks, all U.S. vaccines should go to people receiving their first dose.

That should be enough to quell the fourth surge, especially in places like Michigan, like Minnesota, he said in an interview. Dr. Emanuel and his colleagues published the proposal in an op-ed on Thursday in USA Today.
More young people, especially in the 30-50 age bracket who go out for work, are seemingly getting infected by COVID-19 amid its current wave in the national capital, say experts.

While the country is going through the second wave of COVID-19, is reeling under the fourth wave of the pandemic, with cases escalating at an unprecedented rate.

Some doctors say that the reason for a large number of people getting infected this year vis-a-vis last year could be that the "virus has mutated" and the current strain is more infectious that the one in circulation previously.

"The younger population goes out and works, uses public transportation and hence, has more chances of coming in contact with others. Many people are still not wearing masks or maintaining social distancing, which has contributed to the rise in cases," said Suranjit Chatterjee, a senior consultant at Apollo Hospitals here.

The doctor, however, said the number of deaths is still much lower, compared to what was recorded during the previous waves in in June, September and November last year.

Chatterjee, who is a COVID survivor, said doctors in their 40s and 50s and other healthcare workers, much younger, say in 30s are getting infected in the current wave, despite most of them having received the two vaccine jabs.

Thirty-seven doctors at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here have tested positive for COVID-19 and five of them were hospitalised. Many of them had taken both doses of Covishield vaccine, hospital sources said on Thursday.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain had recently told reporters that it seems younger population was getting afflicted more by the in the fourth wave of the pandemic here.

Delhi recorded 7,437 freshcasesof COVID-19 on Thursday, the highest single-day surgethis year, while24 more people died due to the infection, taking the deathtollto 11,157, according to the city healthdepartment.

The positivity rate also mounted to 8.1 per cent from 6.1 per cent a day before, amid a massive spike in cases in the span of the last few weeks.

This is also the first time that over 7,000 cases have been reported in a day this year.

On preceding two days, the cases count had stood above 5,000.

The highest single-day spike in Delhi till date -- 8,593 cases -- was reported on November 11, while on November 19, the city recorded 131 COVID-19 deaths, the highest single-day fatality count till date.

RichaSareen, Consultant, Pulmonologyand Critical Care Medicine, Fortis hospital here, said, "Given the pace of spread, it definitely seems there is a different variant in circulation and it is more infectious than the previous one".

She said more younger people were getting infected as they are going out, socialising, partying or travelling, which increases the chance of getting infectedwhile the elderly are preferring to stay indoors and most of them have been vaccinated.

Delhi governmenton Tuesdayimposeda nightcurfewin the national capital from 10 pm to 5 am till April 30, after reports that many people were holding parties and social gatherings.

A senior doctor at the Delhi government-run Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, which has been turned into a fully COVID-19 hospital again, said about 200 patients are currently admitted, mostly elderly.

"Younger population is getting afflicted too, but as they may be having mild or no symptoms, they are being home isolated. One nurse and a police personnel, who were on COVID vaccination duty at our hospital, have also contracted the virus, and currently home quarantined," he said.

Jainon Wednesday had warned that the new cases "could cross" thelast single-day spike record registered in November, given the pace of the spread of infection.

So far, a UK strain, Brazil and South African variants have been reported in Delhi.

In last week of March, when cases had started to spiral up in the country, the Union health ministry had said the new "double mutant" variant of SARS-CoV-2 was detected in Delhi, Maharashtra and some other places in addition to the three "variants of concern" -- first noticed in the UK, South Africa and Brazil -- that have been found in at least 18 states and union territories.

India registered a record single-day spike of 1,31,968 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, pushing its infection tally to 1,30,60,542, while the death toll increased to 1,67,642 with 780 more fatalities in a day, highest since October 18, the Union Health Ministry data showed.

(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.)
Thousands of residents of the Caribbean island of St. Vincent have been ordered to evacuate their homes due to the imminent eruption at the La Soufriere volcano.

Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said people living in so-called red zones in the northwest and northeast of the island needed to leave as the volcano pumped out more smoke and steam.

Roughly 16,000 people live in the red zones and will need to be evacuated, Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies' Seismic Research Center said.

Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said people living in so-called red zones in the northwest and northeast of the island needed to leave as the volcano pumped out more smoke and steam

Roughly 16,000 people live in the red zones and will need to be evacuated

The location of the volcano on the island of St Vincent is seen on the graphic above

People are seen evacuating in their vehicles

The island's emergency management office switched the alert level to red, which means an eruption is 'imminent'.

People will be put on cruise ships, sent to nearby islands or taken to shelters elsewhere in St. Vincent that are outside the danger zone.

'There is now in the country an evacuation order,' Gonsalves said in a message broadcast on social media.

St. Vincent's National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) said on Twitter there was now a 'substantial prospect of disaster' due to the pick-up in La Soufriere's seismic activity.

The pandemic could hamper evacuation efforts.

Gonsalves said in a press conference that people have to be vaccinated if they go aboard a cruise ship or are granted temporary refuge in another island.

He said two Royal Caribbean cruise ships are expected to arrive by Friday and a third one in the coming days, as well as two Carnival cruise ships by Friday.

Royal Caribbeans Serenade of the Seas is one of the ships heading to the island.

Islands that have said they would accept evacuees include St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Antigua.

This is one of the latest photos of La Soufriere volcano, taken as people flee their homes

'Not everything is going to go perfect, but if we all cooperate... we will come through this stronger than ever,' Gonsalves said.

He noted that he was talking to Caribbean governments to accept people's ID cards if they don't have a passport.

'This is an emergency situation, and everybody understands that,' he said.

Gonsalves added that he highly recommends those who opt to go to a shelter in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an island chain of more than 100,000 people, be vaccinated.

Emergency management teams have been going out to communities in the red zone and providing transportation to safer locations, including prearranged shelters, according to Joseph.

'They know who doesn't have transportation because all of this has been canvassed before,' she said, adding that those who board the cruise ship would not be taken elsewhere but would remain there for an unspecified period of time.

Government officials tweeted that the dome of the volcano located on the islands northern region could be seen glowing by nightfall.

Gonsalves urged people to remain calm and orderly.

'I dont want you panicked,' he said. 'That is the worst thing to do.'

Scientists alerted the government about a possible eruption after noting a type of seismic activity at 3am on Thursday that indicated 'magma was on the move close to the surface,' Joseph said.

'Things are escalating pretty quickly,' she said of the volcanic activity, adding that it was impossible to provide an exact forecast of what might happen in the next hours or days.

Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises said on Thursday night they would send two ships to St. Vincent to help with humanitarian efforts

Royal Caribbean International's Serenade of the Seas (file image) is one of two ships to be sent to help with evacuations

A team from the seismic center arrived in St. Vincent in late December after the volcano had an effusive eruption. They have been analyzing the formation of a new volcanic dome, changes to its crater lake, seismic activity and gas emissions, among other things.

The volcano last erupted in 1979, and a previous eruption in 1902 killed some 1,600 people.

The eastern Caribbean is home to other active volcanoes. Seventeen of the region's 19 live volcanoes are located on 11 islands, with the remaining two underwater near the island of Grenada, including one called Kick Em Jenny that has been active in recent years.

The region's most active volcano in recent years has been Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which has erupted continuously since 1995, destroying the capital of Plymouth and killing at least 19 people in 1997.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which has a population of just over 100,000, has not seen volcanic activity since 1979.

Local media have in recent days also reported increased activity from Mount Pelee on the island of Martinique, which lies to the north of St. Vincent beyond St. Lucia.
Photo credit: CDC/NIAID

New research demonstrates that vaccination with CoronaVac, designed in China, is 50% effective at preventing COVID-19 within Manaus, Brazil.

The study includes a mixture of participants who had received either one or two doses of CoronaVac, which specifies a two-dose regimen for optimal efficacy. Further results are expected in the coming month that will include follow-up of participants who have since received their second dose.

Still, these preliminary findings are encouraging because the city has been ravaged by P.1  which is widely known as the Brazilian variant of SARS-CoV-2. Manauss experience became a global warning regarding the wildcard factor that new variants pose to COVID-19 vaccination and mitigation campaigns.

In the new work, researchers from Brazil, the University of Florida, Yale University and Stanford University performed an observational study among nearly 70,000 health care workers in Manaus from January to March. With 2.2 million residents, Manaus is the countrys seventh-largest city. It lies at the juncture of the Amazon and Negro rivers in the center of the worlds largest rainforest.

This is the first study to evaluate the effectiveness of CoronaVac, developed by Sinovac Biotech, in a population where P.1 is widespread. Data on the vaccines effectiveness will continue to be collected over the next few weeks to determine if there are differences in effectiveness between receiving only one or both doses of the two-dose vaccine regimen.

The study is publicly available on the pre-print server medRxiv and has been submitted for scientific peer review.

These results are very encouraging, says first author Matt Hitchings, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Florida in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Department of Biology. We found that vaccination with CoronaVac is effective at reducing symptomatic COVID-19 disease in a setting where there is a lot of transmission of the P.1 variant.

While the 50% vaccine effectiveness is not as high as other vaccines in other settings, the finding of a protective effect is important given the circulation of the variant.

The majority of people in the study had only received their first vaccine dose. Overall effectiveness may turn out to be higher as more people receive their second dose, says lead investigator, Julio Croda, who is a senior researcher at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, the Brazilian Ministry of Health, and is an adjunct professor at the Yale School of Public Health. This is a critically important finding for it tells us that ramping up vaccination will turn the tide against the devastating resurgence we are experiencing in Brazil due to the spread of the P.1 variant.

UF biology professor Derek Cummings, who was hired under the university's preeminence program, also contributed to the study. Both Hitchings and Cummings are affiliated with UF's Emerging Pathogens Institute.

It has been suggested that these new variants might be able to evade immunity generated by other vaccines, Cummings says. We need to understand how well CoronaVac will work where P.1 is the dominant virus in circulation.

The rise of P.1

The P.1 variant was first identified in several travelers from Brazil, who were tested during routine screening at Haneda airport outside Tokyo, Japan, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It emerged in Manaus in late 2020 and has since spread throughout Brazil and into neighboring countries. In late January 2021, it was detected in the United States.

P.1 is characterized by 17 unique mutations, including three in the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein, that make it more transmissible and potentially more dangerous.

Brazil has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic and variants of the virus. The countrys overall death toll from the disease is close to 337,000, which is second only to the United States. Recently, Brazil recorded more than 4,000 COVID-19-related deaths in a single day. Prior to its current surge, Manaus experienced a massive outbreak where researchers estimate that up to three-quarters of the citys residents were infected, though not all were symptomatic.

Study details

The study was designed to observe outcomes in people who chose whether to receive the CoronaVac vaccine. Called a test-negative case-control study, it is a widely used design for infectious diseases where it would be unethical for researchers to randomly assign certain participants to not receive a potentially life-saving vaccine.

Even though this design controls for a lot of the bias by only picking people who chose to be tested, there is still a lot of potential for bias, Hitchings says. For example, older people may be more likely to get vaccinated than younger people, people with symptoms are more likely to get tested than those without symptoms, and where someone lives can be a proxy for access to healthcare and vaccines.

The researchers used a technique called matching to overcome some of these biases. People who received PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 were selected, and those who tested positive were categorized as cases whereas those who tested negative were categorized as controls. Every case was then matched to a control of the same age, who lived nearby, and who got tested at the same time. (Anyone who had received a COVID-19 vaccine other than the CoronaVac was excluded.)

If a vaccine is working, we expect to find that more of the controls are vaccinated than the cases, Hitchings says. Conversely, we would expect to see lower vaccination rates among the cases, because they are the ones falling ill. And thats what we found in Manaus.

The researchers then compared the vaccination coverage between cases and controls, which provided the estimation of CoronaVacs 50% effectiveness.

Weve seen in every randomized trial that the vaccines are very effective against more severe COVID-19 outcomes, Hitchings says. And this seems to hold true here as well.

Cummings agreed: This shows things are headed in the right direction, he says. Fifty percent is actually pretty good and very encouraging for the situation in Manaus.

Future work is forthcoming that will refine the vaccines effectiveness as more healthcare workers involved in the study receive their second CoronaVac doses and are followed over time. The study authors also plan to evaluate the effectiveness of CoronaVac and the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine among elderly people in the Brazilian cities of Manaus, Campo Grande and Sao Paulo.

Editors Note: Bookmark this article, it will be updated when new results are available.

Adapted and expanded by DeLene Beeland from a Yale University press release.

Read More

Read Derek Cummings EPI bio.
Seventy-three days.

Thats how much earlier every Oregonian 16 and older will qualify for a COVID-19 vaccination than originally planned, the result of President Bidens pronouncement that every state should fully open eligibility by April 19.

The accelerated timeline may be a boon to some Oregonians eager to be vaccinated. But it likely will present new challenges not only for shot-seekers but also state administrators who promised equity in administering doses to racial minorities and vulnerable populations whose vaccination rates lag behind.

Although its not entirely clear, it appears Oregon is not expecting a significant increase in vaccine supplies in the weeks ahead, meaning only the most agile and best-connected may be able to immediately score coveted appointments. Come April 19, the state estimates itll have received only about 2 million first doses even though nearly 3.5 million people will be eligible.

That leaves Gov. Kate Brown once again in a tricky situation, with Oregon frequently a national outlier and under pressure to open vaccine eligibility. Officials are trying to find some middle ground by increasing the pace of inoculations amid concerns over vaccine hesitancy, all without leaving the most vulnerable behind.

Brown originally planned to offer inoculations to everyone 16 and older by July 1, but bumped up the date to May 1 in response to Bidens first deadline. This week Brown moved the date up again, to April 19, in conjunction with Bidens latest direction  making Oregon the second-to-last in the nation to announce it would start universal vaccinations by that date.

Oregon State University Professor Courtney Campbell, who is studying the equity of vaccine distribution, wonders if there has been some real pressure on politicians to get the vaccine out to the general population. That, coupled with the perception that Oregon is already behind many other states in the vaccine rollout, could possibly be a motivator, he said.

I really hope the decisions are not being based on public image, Campbell said.

Campbell is most concerned that communities struck hard by the coronavirus will continue to struggle. State statistics show two groups far behind: Latinos comprise 13% of Oregons population but account for only 6% of people vaccinated with at least one dose. Black Oregonians comprise 2.2% of the population but only 1.5% of those vaccinated.

Opening vaccinations to everyone 16 and older is a pretty remarkable achievement, Campbell said in an email. But, he added, we dont want to give up on equity for communities whove been at a disadvantage during the entire pandemic.

Some observers worry, too, that generally lower-income people who have no internet access or who work frontline jobs and cant go online at the precise times appointments are released will lose out.

We still have people in some areas who have a flip phone, said Carlos Crespo, a professor at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health.

When asked by The Oregonian/OregonLive if the state was bowing to political pressure to follow other states, Charles Boyle, a spokesman for the governor, didnt directly answer in an emailed response.

Rather, Boyle said Brown moved up the general population eligibility date because of concern over the spread of more dangerous variants of the coronavirus. But Boyle also acknowledged that under the governors accelerated timeline the necessary doses wont yet be available .

(T)here is no doubt that not everyone who is eligible on April 19 will be able to immediately get an appointment with the vaccine supplies we will have on hand, he said in the email.

The Oregon Health Authority estimates itll be almost six weeks after April 19 until theres enough vaccine in the state so that 70% of people 16 and older will have had a chance to receive a first dose.

Boyle, the governors spokesman, acknowledged the coming days are important.

Thats why its critical over the next two weeks and beyond that we increase our targeted efforts with community partners to reach the communities that have been hardest hit by COVID-19: Oregons Black, Indigenous, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and communities of color, Boyle wrote.

The sheer demand for vaccines has been obvious this week, since the governor opened vaccinations statewide to a vast number of Oregonians on Monday.

That includes about 1.2 million who are overweight, an unknown number of past smokers, nearly 500,000 current smokers and 1.9 million residents with other underlying conditions ranging from heart disease to asthma. The latest wave also includes hundreds of thousands of others in frontline jobs and their household members.

The Oregon Health Authority cant say exactly how many people that is because some people in one group also are a member of another group, such as someone who is overweight, has asthma and works as a K-12 teacher, a profession that became eligible for vaccinations in January.

Even if Oregon officials are unsure of the precise numbers of those currently eligible, there are clear signs the system is overwhelmed.

Oregon pharmacies within 100 miles of the Portland area Thursday afternoon had booked out all their available vaccination appointments, according to various scheduling websites.

Enormous demand also prompted Oregon Health & Science Universitys vaccination scheduling website to freeze up, slow down or boot out users for four days straight this week. The system has a capacity to handle 4,800 visitors at once but found itself instantly overloaded after releasing new appointments for booking at 9 a.m. each day.

OHSU is expecting to release a total of 23,300 appointments at its drive-thru sites at Portland International Airport and Hillsboro Stadium this week.

Operators of the Oregon Convention Centers mass vaccination site said theyre sending enough electronic invitations out to Portland-area residents this week to fill between 18,000 and 22,000 appointments.

But that leaves another 140,000 currently eligible Portland-area residents still waiting in the queue for an invitation to schedule at the convention center  having registered at getvaccinated.oregon.gov, which the state uses as a pool to randomly select names of people who will be offered appointments each week. At this rate, it could several weeks before everyone who wants an appointment gets one.

And at least nationally, the crunch might even get worse April 19.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki this week warned vulnerable populations -- seniors, in particular -- that they should take advantage of their current eligibility status by getting vaccinated now before the next wave of eligible people hit because the lines are going to become longer.

But Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen told a state legislative subcommittee its possible the competition for appointments might not intensify as much as expected April 19, because Oregon granted eligibility to so many more people this week.

So we may not have as big a wave of eligibility beginning on the 19th as we did with this wave thats currently open, Allen said.

Droves of Portland area residents took to social media this week to grumble about their failed appointment-booking efforts. Some likened it to taking on another full-time job or said they can now sympathize first-hand with the seniors, who faced the same struggles when hundreds of thousands of them overloaded the system when they became eligible week after week in February and early March.

Oregon City resident Pam Degler, 62, said shed gone online every day this week at midnight, just when it appears some pharmacies release their appointments.

Two cellphones in hand, shed tried to book an appointment for a fourth family member, her 23-year-old son, whos eligible because of his job as a wastewater worker. In previous weeks Degler managed to get appointments for her 85-year-old mother, her 67-year-old husband and herself as her mothers caregiver, but this week is the worst Ive ever seen.

You can never get one, Degler said Wednesday, of her efforts to click on and secure an online time slot. It will spin and it will spin and then all of a sudden, it will say, Nope, its gone.

Degler said she repeated the process over and over until about 1 a.m., when all the appointments disappeared and she finally went to bed.

Degler said her family wants to go on a trip with her sisters and their families in May, precious time to spend with her older sister, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer and will soon after start chemotherapy. Their plan only will happen if everyones fully vaccinated, she said.

She was giving up all hope, that is, until Thursday when she achieved success while trying to book in the early evening. Now, the plan to see her sisters depends on other extended family securing appointments, too. Nonetheless, after a series of late nights, she said, she is looking forward to going to bed at a normal time.

Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee
Not long after Kim Kardashian West launched her shapewear brand Skims in 2019, pandemic lockdowns consigned its body-fitting product line to the back of consumers closets.

But Skims survived. Moreover, it has become a billion-dollar business.

The company has raised $154 million in new funding, which Ms. Kardashian West said had lifted its valuation to $1.6 billion. It is a heady amount for a not-quite two-year-old clothing brand, even one led by someone with her star power.

It also cements Ms. Kardashian Wests status as a billionaire in her own right. In announcing her entry into that club this week, Forbes estimated Skims value at much less than that. She will remain Skims biggest shareholder after the deal, and she and her business partner, Jens Grede, will control a majority stake.
Iranian crude could return to global markets sooner rather than later as this weeks start of negotiations between Tehran and the five world powers that, together with the U.S. signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that put an end to Irans nuclear ambitions in 2015.

The Oil and Gas Journal reports, citing oil analytics firm Kpler, that the start of negotiations is a positive sign for things to come: soon, Tehran and Washington could too sit at the negotiating table. If this happens and they reach an agreement on Irans nuclear plans, some 2 million bpd of Iranian crude could be added to OPECs total.

The talks were held in Vienna earlier this week, and Irans President Hassan Rouhani said, as quoted by CNBC, they were a success and that they opened a new chapter in efforts to save the so-called Iran nuclear deal.

Both Tehran and the new administration in Washington have signaled they are ready to start negotiating the lifting of U.S. sanctions and Irans oil industrys return to normal operation. However, both sides insist that the other one makes the first move: Iran wants the U.S. to first lift sanctions before it stops enriching uranium, and the U.S. wants Iran to first stop enriching uranium before it lifts the sanctions.

Related Video: Irans Oil Exports Render Sanctions Irrelevant

Yet not everything has been smooth. An attempt by Washington to offer a sort of an olive branch to Tehran failed earlier this year. The attempt consisted of the U.S. side offering Tehran to unfreeze $1 billion in oil revenues blocked under the sanction regime, but Tehran called the proposal ridiculous.

It is important for both sides to settle their differences sooner rather than later. Iran is preparing for elections, and if the current government is replaced with a more conservative one, negotiations will become a lot harder. If they succeed, however, OPEC will have a problem on its hands, although it may not be as big as some would expect.

Iran is already exporting more oil than official numbers would suggest, mostly to China. This oil will simply come to light once the sanctions are lifted. Perhaps a bigger problem, for U.S. oil producers at least, is that Iranian oil will start flowing to India as well, and may displace some U.S. volumes that India has been taking in after it stopped its purchases from Iran because of the U.S. sanctions.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
[April 09, 2021] Harris Williams Advises DSI Logistics on its Sale to Pilot Freight Services

Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces it advised DSI Logistics, a portfolio company of Headhaul Capital Partners LLC (Headhaul Capital) and Argosy Private Equity (Argosy), on its sale to Pilot Freight Services (Pilot), a portfolio company of ATL Partners (ATL) and British Columbia Investment Corporation (BCI). DSI Logistics is a premier provider of final-mile delivery services. The transaction was led by Jason Bass, Frank Mountcastle, Jeffrey Kidd, Jonathan Meredith and Brett Bordlee of the Harris Williams Transportation & Logistics (T&L) Group. "DSI Logistics is a best-in-class mission critical outsourced logistics provider known for its high levels of client service and execution excellence. The company thrived under the ownership of Headhaul Capital and Argosy, and we are excited to see what DSI Logistics accomplishes in partnership with Pilot," said Jason Bass, a managing director at Harris Williams. "The final-mile has quickly become one of the most critical legs of the supply chain as companies respond to the rapid growth of e-commerce and changing consumer behaviors and expectations. We expect to see continued strong investor interest in final-mile providers such as DSI Logistics with the scale, delivery network and systems in place to service a national customer base," added Jonathan Meredith, a director at Harris Williams. DSI Logistics is a leading third-party logistics firm specializing in final-mile home delivery, distribution and installation of large, non-conveyable goods such as furniture, appliaces and electronics. DSI Logistics is focused on developing long-term, strategic partnerships with local and national retailers, distributors and manufacturers to become an integral part of their supply chains. The company's mission is to provide a professional, safe and successful delivery experience every time to every customer.



Headhaul Capital, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, is a middle market private equity firm focused on acquiring and building businesses in the transportation, logistics and distribution industries. The managing partners have extensive private equity and operating experience, with an average of 20 years of experience specifically in the company's focus industries. This longstanding history of specialization and particular capabilities in these industries offers senior executives a unique opportunity to partner with an investment team that works to create value through a proven combination of an in-depth understanding of niche-trends, experience in delivering operational efficiency, debt and equity capital markets knowledge, and execution of strategic and acquisition driven growth initiatives. Argosy, founded in 1990, specializes in providing capital and operating and financial expertise to lower middle market companies across a broad range of industries. Argosy partners with motivated management teams investing in companies with sustainable competitive advantages and attractive growth prospects. Argosy Private Equity is a division of Argosy Capital Group, Inc. (Argosy Capital) together with Argosy Real Estate Partners, Argosy Credit Partners, Argosy Strategic Partners and Argosy Healthcare Partners. Argosy Capital is an SEC (News - Alert) registered investment adviser with approximately $1.5 billion of assets under management. All of the Argosy Capital funds focus on lower middle market investments.

Pilot is an award-winning full-service transportation and logistics provider with 96 locations throughout North America. Pilot also has several locations in Western Europe and a presence in the Asia-Pacific marketplace. The company's freight forwarding services encompass every mode of transportation, including air, ground and ocean, serving all corners of the globe. Pilot's full-mile and final-mile home delivery solutions for heavy and hard to handle goods include value-added service offerings such as white glove, assembly and installation. Pilot's logistics programs offer a complete line of expedited and time-definite services, international shipping solutions, product warehousing and inventory management. In addition, Pilot's online shipment navigator, CoPilot, makes online shipping fast, convenient and secure. Founded in 2014, ATL is a premier sector-focused private equity firm that invests in aerospace, transportation and logistics companies. ATL brings deep sector expertise to its investment approach with nine investment professionals and seven Executive Board members who have decades of combined operating experience in each of ATL's core sectors. With 171.3 billion Canadian dollars of managed assets as of March 31, 2020, BCI is a leading provider of investment management services to British Columbia's public sector and one of Canada's largest asset managers. BCI generates investment returns that help their institutional clients build a financially secure future. With a global outlook, BCI seeks investment opportunities that convert savings into productive capital that meet their clients' risk/return requirements over time. BCI invests across a range of asset classes: fixed income; mortgages; public and private equity; real estate; infrastructure; and renewable resources. BCI's private equity program, valued at CA (News - Alert) $17.9 billion, is focused on direct investments in industrials, technology, consumer/retail, healthcare, as well as financial and business services. Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across Industry Groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC (News - Alert) Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). The Harris Williams Transportation & Logistics Group serves companies in a broad range of attractive niches, including third-party logistics (3PL), automotive and heavy-duty vehicle, transportation equipment, and truck, rail, marine and air transportation. For more information on the firm's T&L Group and other recent transactions, visit the T&L Group's section of the Harris Williams website. Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 8th Floor, 20 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: hwgermany@harriswilliams.com). Geschaftsfuhrer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. DE321666994). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams & Co. Ltd and Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005276/en/

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MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP)  Former Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that he wasnt sure that he and former President Donald Trump would ever see eye to eye over what happened on Jan. 6 but that he would always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years.
Windows ransomware groups have been devising newer and newer ways of putting pressure on their victims to pay up. The latest tactic seems to be finding digital traces of someone who is looking at porn during office hours - and then embarrassing the organisation in question and forcing a payment.

The BBC reported a case of this kind at the end of March, tactfully avoiding the name of both the company and the individual. The only hints offered were that it was an American company and the individual in question was an IT director.

The ransomware gang in question was REvil, also known as Sodinokibi, though the Beeb did not say so.

Reporter Joe Tidy wrote on 30 March: "The targeted US firm has not publicly acknowledged that it was hacked. In its darknet blog post about the hack last month [February], the cyber-criminal gang named the IT director whose work computer allegedly contained the files.

"It also posted a screen grab of the computer's file library which included more than a dozen folders catalogued under the names of porn stars and porn websites.

"The infamous hacker group wrote: 'Thanks God for [named IT Director]. While he was [masturbating] we downloaded several hundred gigabytes of private information about his company's customers. God bless his hairy palms, Amen!'"

iTWire has come across a second such case, once again at a big American company. The firm was contacted several days ago, but has not written back.

On their dark web site, the ransomware gang  REvil again  behind the attack wrote: "We have a lot [of] private data from [name of firm] corporate. Contracts, Bill's, customers and employers personal data, tech datasheets, confidential projects and many many other.

"We was surprised what one of main corp IT Admin's is dirty wanker lol :) He rub his goose neck at his workspace. So if you very upset by this leak, just ask him - "for the f*** sake, man?"

Screenshots of a Windows machine showing the individual's name and also a screenshot of the password manager LastPass showing the individual's credentials for the well-known porn site PornHub were posted on the REvil site.

One security source told iTWire: "The problem is that, even though these screenshots could easily be faked, they could nonetheless convince a company to pay.

"Besides the embarrassment, you can see something like this pissing customers off so much that they decide to hit the company with a class action: 'Our personal info was exposed because the head of security was too busy wanking to do his job'.

Ransomware gangs started with encrypting data from victims' machines and asking them to pay for the decryption key. Then they started leaking data, which meant that a ransomware attack also became a data breach and provided a second way to threaten victims.

After that there have been cases where the gangs have obtained phone numbers of customers and called them up, in order to again put pressure on the victims.

And now, they have turned to porn viewing habits to help extract their pound of flesh. But then again, perhaps people shouldn't be viewing porn at work...
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 18:25:26|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on March 17, 2021 shows former Nigerian Foreign Minister Aminu Bashir Wali after an interview with Xinhua in Abuja, Nigeria. (Xinhua/Guo Jun)

by Olatunji Saliu and Xinhua writer Guo Jun

ABUJA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the key to China's success, which no other nation has ever achieved in such a short period of time, former Nigerian Foreign Minister Aminu Bashir Wali has said.

The CPC has built an effective governing system that allows the party to know what the majority of the Chinese people want, said Wali in a recent interview with Xinhua, noting that "the CPC represents the sum total of the aspirations of the Chinese people."

Before becoming Nigeria's foreign minister, Wali served as Nigeria's ambassador to China from 2009 to 2014.

The 79-year-old senior diplomat became interested in China as early as in the 1960s when he was studying in London. Gradually, he increased his knowledge about the Asian country by reading reports by Western media until he was appointed as Nigeria's ambassador to China, which presented him with the opportunity to see what the country was really like.

"Any person who arrives in China for the first time will be totally overwhelmed by what they will see. On my way to the airport, I never imagined what I would see, particularly the infrastructure," he said, reminiscing about his first trip to China in 2009.

"China has made a lot of progress from what we had seen or read when I was in London. When I arrived in China physically, my whole perception of China changed," added the former envoy who had traveled to many places in China and made many friends there "both officially and unofficially," whom he described as "open and helpful."

Wali said China's achievements in the past decades, such as the recent eradication of extreme poverty, have proved that there is a system that is worth learning from in the country.

"Countries like ours should reach out to study China, send out their planners to go and work with those in China to find out how best suited it (the system) is," said Wali.

China's success indicated that as long as a country chooses the right development system, it can achieve a lot just like China did, he added.

Speaking Africa-China relations, Wali said that every discussion between African countries and China is based on the principle of win-win cooperation.

As a person who is directly involved in promoting Chinese-Nigeria relations, Wali expects closer relations between the two countries in the future. Enditem
The Charger Blog

In honor of Womens History Month, Martina Ibrahim 21 organized a panel discussion to bring together prominent women in the local law enforcement community and her fellow Chargers for a virtual discussion about womens roles and their experiences in policing. By Renee Chmiel, Office of Marketing and Communications

Martina Ibrahim 21.

When Martina Ibrahim 21 began her work as a community outreach assistant for the University of New Haven Police Department during the fall semester, she and Chief James Gilman 93 discussed how they could help strengthen the University community. She suggested hosting panels that would focus on a variety of issues in policing.

Lisa Dadio, M.S., MSW recently shared her story with the University community.

That vision took center stage as the University Police Department recently hosted a panel discussion focused on women in policing as part of the Universitys celebration of Womens History Month. Ibrahim moderated the discussion, which brought together several prominent women in the field of criminal justice who discussed their careers and what they have learned through their time in the field.

I believe women in policing have a difference experience and perspective that is worth listening to and bringing to the light, said Ibrahim, a criminal justice and national security double major. I hope it helped students become more globally and culturally aware of different perspectives and that they were able to gain more awareness through this dialogue.

The panel included Lisa Dadio, M.S., MSW, a senior lecturer of forensic science and director of the Universitys Center for Advanced Policing, who retired from the New Haven Police Department as a lieutenant after two decades of service. She says she faced significant challenges before entering the field, while in the police academy, and throughout her career, yet she persevered.

I always wanted to work in the field, even though it went against my familys wishes, she said. The mentality was that women dont belong in law enforcement, but it was everything I wanted to do. I had to work double or triple as hard because I was a female. I really wanted to make a difference and have an impact.

Renee Dominguez 20 M.S., acting chief of the New Haven Police Department.

Progress is being made

Renee Dominguez 20 M.S. says she has known since she was six years old that she wanted to be a police officer. Like many in law enforcement, she was attracted to the field by the desire to help others, but she was told repeatedly that shed never make it. She is now acting chief of the New Haven Police Department.

Women definitely have to prove themselves twice as hard just because there is a mentality among some in law enforcement that they dont want to have a woman as a partner, said Dominguez, who earned her masters degree in criminal justice from the University last year.

We have to break down those barriers and those stereotypes again and again. Here I am as the chief of police. Progress is being made.

Gilman, who credits Ibrahim with coming up with the idea for the discussion, says women play a critical role in law enforcement  at the University and across the nation.

Over my 26 years in policing, I have had the honor to serve with many dedicated and professional women in law enforcement, including Officers Sierra and DeRubeis in the University Police Department, he said. Female officers provide a vital role in law enforcement nationwide. Obtaining their perspective and learning about policing through the lens of a female officer will no doubt provide our community with a better overall understanding of the complexities in law enforcement.

It is through these discussions that change begins to occur

Panelists offered advice to current students interested in law enforcement, discussed how they manage their family life and their careers, and how they have handled gender bias they have encountered in their careers.

Martina Ibrahim 21 moderated the recent panel discussion.

I saw myself working harder than my male colleagues, said Christina DeRubeis, a member of the Universitys police department who served as a patrol officer for the Town of Orange and a social worker for the state of Connecticuts Department of Children and Families prior to joining the University in 2018. I sometimes worked harder to prove them wrong.

The discussion was part of an ongoing panel series Ibrahim has been developing that aims to strengthen the University community by bringing Chargers together for important discussions on topics such as the history and future of policing.

Through the planning of this series, I learned how critical it is to have these important conversations, she said. It is important to recognize the flaws in the system of law enforcement. It is through these discussions that change begins to occur.
Were done letting corporations manipulate our culture into believing incremental progress is acceptable action.



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Heres my letter to corporate America.https://t.co/zm0zNtaX7p  Diddy (@Diddy) April 8, 2021

Posted to the Revolt blog, the letter argues that a big chunk of revenue of corporate America comes from the Black community. Yet when it comes to advertising within the same community, with Black-owned businesses, less than 1% of these companies' advertising budgets goes here. Oversimplifying, Diddy says that these companies are profiting off the Black community but hardly spending anything here.He specifically calls out General Motors , saying GM listed his TV network, Revolt, as an example of Black-owned company it supports through advertising. GM didnt technically lie, but it wasnt telling the truth, either.While Revolt does receive advertising revenue from GM, our relationship is not an example of success. Instead, Revolt, just like other Black-owned media companies, fights for crumbs while GM makes billions of dollars every year from the Black community. Exposing GMs historic refusal to fairly invest in Black-owned media is not an assassination of character, its exposing the way GM and many other advertisers have always treated us, Diddy argues.He says GM, like the rest of corporate America, has been exploiting the Black community through behavior of this type. General Motors, for one, spent $3 billion in advertising last year, and only $10 million of that money was invested in a Black-owned company.Unless a change comes aboutand soon!Diddy says, the Black community must weaponize their dollars, the mighty Black dollar, and no longer support GM and like-minded companies.GM did not respond to calls for comment. Meanwhile, reactions from within the community are probably not what Diddy was counting on since his reputation for underpaying Black artists signed to his label is brought up quite a lot. Corporate AmericaDiddy, critics are saying.
-- The megacity of Wuhan on Thursday marked the first anniversary since it ended the 76-day isolation and the 10th month without reporting any locally transmitted infections.

-- Strict quarantines during the lockdown, a citywide nucleic acid testing drive and regular anti-virus measures have contributed to Wuhan's rise as a post-pandemic "city of safety." An ongoing inoculation drive is expected to further beef up the city's defense against the virus.

-- Residents, flight crew and even hot dry noodle shops have testified to the return of economic and social vitality and the end of the "psychological lockdown."

Medical workers who had assisted with the fight against the epidemic in 2020 enjoy the cherry blossom season at Wuhan University in central China's Hubei Province, March 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

by Xinhua Writers Yue Wenwan, Yu Pei, Tian Zhongquan and Yao Yuan

WUHAN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Wuhan resident Yuan Baohua carried a sense of responsibility with her when going for the COVID-19 inoculation, which she believed will help boost the city's collective immunity a year after a COVID-19 lockdown was lifted.

"Though I'm old, I'm in good health, and many of my peers have already taken the vaccine," Yuan said while getting the first of two doses after the city expanded COVID-19 inoculation to include elderly residents in late March.

Accompanying her at the vaccination site was her daughter-in-law Celia Esquivel Salguero, who has lived in Wuhan for over 10 years. "I told my parents in Guatemala about my decision to take the vaccine, and they fully supported me," she said.

Yuan's family has faithfully participated in Wuhan's previous mass mobilization that helped the city triumph over the virus, from months-long home quarantines to citywide nucleic acid testing.

"Now the vaccination will add more defense, and I'm looking forward to the day when we are no longer afraid of the virus," Yuan said.

Photo taken on March 29, 2021 shows a night market in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

CITY OF SAFETY

On Thursday, the megacity in central China's Hubei Province marked the first anniversary since it ended the 76-day isolation and the 10th month without reporting any locally transmitted infections.

Strict quarantines during the lockdown, the citywide nucleic acid testing drive that tested nearly 10 million residents and enforcement of regular anti-virus measures have made Wuhan a post-pandemic "city of safety" and lifted its "psychological lockdown."

Shopping blocks, pedestrian streets and restaurants in the city are again crowded with people. Li Li queued for nearly two hours on the popular Hanjie Street to taste this year's crayfish.

The 26-year-old local resident was comfortable with dining out in a restaurant packed with people. "Why not? I think we are in one of the safest cities in the world," she said.

Wuhan has reported no new local infections since May 18, 2020. As of Tuesday, nearly 3.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Wuhan, according to the municipal health commission.

People visit a commercial street in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

About 2 km from Hanjie Street stands the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, one of the first hospitals in Wuhan designated to treat COVID-19 patients and also among the last to resume normal operation.

Zhang Dongdong, a physiotherapist at the hospital, saw the return of his patients as evidence that the city is back on its feet.

"At first, many patients would not dare come for rehab, as our ward had been used to receive COVID-19 patients, but by last September, our department was once again filled with people," the therapist said.

"My job is to help patients gradually stand up, walk and run through physical training, just as Wuhan recovered with help from across the country," Zhang said.

To defend the victory against the novel coronavirus, Wuhan has been empowering its public health sector since last year. It has built four 1,000-member teams to conduct epidemiological investigations, disinfection, testing and epidemic control respectively.

"I barely had a break at the peak of Wuhan's epidemic. During the day, I was busy with epidemiological investigations, and I had to collect and report related information at night," recalled Tan Yefeng, a doctor at Wuchang district's center for disease control and prevention (CDC).

Epidemiological investigations track the routes and sources of new infections, which is vital for official interventions to contain any further spread.

Tan testified to the substantial improvements in the epidemic response system, including the expansion of the district CDC personnel, whose number has doubled since the outbreak and will continue to increase.

"And now not only the CDC but also personnel from hospitals, civil service, police and communities will join epidemiological investigations," he said.

Zhai Chenfei (C), a pilot of China Southern Airlines, poses with volunteers during his work break in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 22, 2020. (Xinhua)

ECONOMIC RECOVERY

During Wuhan's lockdown that saw outbound flights and trains suspended, Zhai Chenfei, a pilot with China Southern Airlines, piloted his car instead of a plane to help deliver vegetables and medicine for residents and medical workers.

It was not until September that Zhai was able to be back in the cockpit.

"Flying through the blue sky made me feel my life had finally returned to the right track," said Zhai. "Though the number of flights and passengers remained sluggish for a long time, I can see the industry pick up steam these days."

According to the operator of the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, the airport handled a daily average of 536 domestic passenger flights and 65,800 domestic passengers in March, up 14.03 percent and 4.99 percent respectively from the same period in 2019.

As the Chinese city hit hardest by the virus, Wuhan's GDP dropped by a moderately 4.7 percent in 2020, compared with a 40.5-percent contraction in the virus-ravaged first quarter. The investments it received last year even rose 6.7 percent to 930 billion yuan (142 billion U.S. dollars).

The uptrend continued this year, with 215 large projects worth 330.54 billion yuan launched in February, and 112 projects inked with a total investment of 346.2 billion yuan in March. Both hit record highs in Wuhan.

The service sector is also in steady recovery. Running a shop selling Wuhan's signature hot dry noodles, Luo Sisi now gets up at 3 a.m. to prepare the food as customers return in large numbers.

"Our sales are even 10 percent higher than that in the year 2019," said Luo.

Photo taken on April 2, 2021 shows Luo Sisi at his hot dry noodles shop in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Rao Rao)

Reopened on April 15, 2020, Luo's noodles shop also witnessed the city's psychological recovery. He felt relieved, especially when seeing parents taking their children out to eat breakfast.

"People are more tolerant after the epidemic. Everyone is more patient when queuing up to buy noodles, and everything is more orderly," said Luo.

Luo's parent shop operates over 70 branch stores. Although a dozen closed during the epidemic, 27 new shops opened after June 2020.

"The hot dry noodle is not only a popular food but also a spiritual icon of the city," Luo said. "We have not only survived the epidemic, but are now capable of helping more people start a business."

(Video reporters: Yu Pei, Rao Rao, Tu Rui, Yue Wenwan, Tian Zhongquan; Video editor: Hong Ling)

[ Editor: SRQ ]
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame has advised the police to be mindful of the Juvenile Justice Act (2003), Act 653 in handling the case involving the accused persons in the death of the 10-year-old boy at Kasoa.



The A-G particularly related his advice to the interview of juveniles, which is in Section 13 of the Act, the exclusive jurisdiction of a juvenile court and a court of summary jurisdiction, presumption and determination of the age of the person suspected to be a juvenile, remand of a juvenile and the mandated stipulation for an expeditious hearing of the case of a juvenile charged with an offence under Section 33 of the ACT.



A letter dated April 7, 2021 from the A-Gs Office and addressed to the Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) also advised the police to be mindful of the requirements of Section 120 of the Evidence Act, 1975, NRCD 323 relating to confessions.



more to follow...

Source: graphiconline.com









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'Unclaimed winning lottery tickets': Steve Webb has helped three more women get huge state pension payouts from the Government

Around 5,000 women on tiny state pensions of 1 a week could be due backpayments worth tens of thousands of pounds, former Pensions Minister Steve Webb has revealed.

This small group of women might be 'sitting on unclaimed winning lottery tickets', according to Webb who has recently helped three of them get massive payouts from the Government.

Carole Davies, who was on 'pennies a week' when she retired, discovered she was entitled to 56,000 - read her story below.

The other two were owed 33,000 and 60,000.

An estimated 200,000 women have been underpaid state pension in a 3billion scandal uncovered by Webb and This is Money a year ago.

The debacle results from a failure to increase some women's payments when their husbands reached state pension age or died, or when they themselves reached the age of 80, going back many decades.

The Department for Work and Pension has launched a huge trawl of its records and recently began proactively contacting the women affected, but Webb warns many like Mrs Davies are likely to be omitted from the DWPs data search.

Labours Shadow Pensions Minister, Matt Rodda, says the Government must contact all women who have lost pension income they are entitled to and rectify the situation as soon as possible. Read his and Webb's full comments below.

>>>Are YOU being underpaid state pension? Find out here

Why are some women on 1 a week owed huge sums?

Around 5,159 women in the UK receive graduated retirement benefit, earned between 1961 and 1975, and translating to an average 1.24 a week in state pension today, explains Webb.

These women receive zero basic pension, because of a rule which required a 25 per cent contribution record before any was due.

As they never received basic state pension, they also didn't claim on their husband's record when he reached state pension age, which could have triggered a rise to 60 per cent of his basic rate.

It is very important that women on these very small pensions make contact with the DWP as soon as possible to see if they could be entitled to a windfall Steve Webb

But as with other married women affected by the scandal, only some will be proactively contacted and given full payouts by the DWP, where more than 150 staff are now working to assess and manually correct women's state pension records.

And due to a quirk in the rules, those women on very small graduated-only pensions who are not covered by the official 'correction exercise' stand to lose a lot more money than others if they never find out they are owed a backpayment.

Why are only some underpaid women being contacted?

Married women who retired on small state pensions before April 2016 should get an uplift to 60 per cent of their husband's payments once he reaches retirement age too.

Since 17 March 2008, the increases are supposed to be automatic, and these women should eventually be contacted and given full arrears by the DWP under the plans it recently announced.

However, before that cut-off retirement date for husbands, women had to apply to get the full sum they were due. The key date of birth for husbands is 17 March 1943.

These women, if they discover they have been underpaid, still have to come forward and apply now.

They also only receive a one-year backpayment and an increased state pension going forward.

But the women on tiny graduated-only payments are technically regarded as having 'deferred' their basic state pension, so they will get full arrears even if their husbands retired earlier than March 2008.

This is how these women could lose out much more than others if left in the dark about being underpaid.

'We were told I wasn't due anything more': DWP fobbed off pensioner in 2005 - and now owes her 56k Carole Davies, 76, was not entitled to any basic state pension when she retired in 2004, only a small amount of graduated retirement benefit. 'I was told my state pension was so low, pennies a week, that it would be paid once a year,' she says. Carole Davies: Her pension was so low it was paid once a year 'Despite my husband questioning this after he retired in 2005, we were told I wasn't due anything more.' When the scandal broke last year, and it emerged many women had missed out on increases when their husbands retired, she raised the issue with the DWP again. She was initially told she would receive a one-year backpayment. But after Webb looked into her case more deeply, he found that as Mrs Davies was receiving graduated benefit only, she had therefore 'deferred' her state pension since the date her husband retired. She is therefore now entitled to the standard married womans rate, and can choose to either have a lump sum of around 56,000 for the years of deferral, or an extra 114 per week bringing her total state pension up to nearly 200 per week. 'After four months of looking for answers from the DWP we enlisted the help of Sir Steve Webb and, to my amazement, the DWP have now confirmed all my due monies will come to me,' says Mrs Davies. 'I would advise all women in my position to seek advice and push hard for everything they are due as it is their right!'

What does this mean for women on 1 a week 'graduated-only' pensions?

Women in this group are allowed to claim full pension back to before the 2008 rule change rather than be limited to a one-year backpayment, says Webb.

'Because they are not getting a basic pension in their own right they are treated as having not yet claimed their pension and therefore if they do claim now this can be treated as a "deferred" claim all the way back to when their husband turned 65, even if this was before 2008.'

Webb says that simply adding up 52 weeks of married womans pension for the period 2008-09 to 2020-21 gives a figure of 45,604, and if a husband turned 65 earlier than 2008 the backpayment could be larger, as with Mrs Davies above.

'If just the 5,159 women in Britain each received 45,604, the total bill would be 235million. In reality some will be entitled to more than this and some less.

'But in addition, some of the women living abroad, especially those living in non-frozen countries such as the EU would be entitled to similar amounts. The total bill if all these women claimed could easily be a quarter of a billion pounds.'

Webb, now a partner at pension consultant LCP, adds: It is incredible that there are thousands of women getting such tiny pensions, but even more incredible that many could potentially be entitled to tens of thousands in backpayments.

'It is as if they are sitting on unclaimed winning lottery tickets.

'It is very important that women on these very small pensions make contact with the DWP as soon as possible to see if they could be entitled to a windfall.'

Labours Shadow Pensions Minister Matt Rodda says: 'It is unacceptable that yet another group of retired women are being deprived tens of thousands of pounds in their retirement.

'The Government must contact all of those who have lost pension income they are entitled to, not just the post-2008 cohort, and rectify the situation as soon as possible.

'This is yet another example of the Conservatives letting down thousands of pensioners, many of whom will have been unable to live their retirement at the standard they deserve because of Government incompetence.'

What about other 'pre-2008' women who only get a one-year backpayment?

Many elderly women who only received a one-year backpayment are battling with the Government for full arrears. If you want to join them, the complaints process is explained here.

The Government was meant to write to the couples affected before March 2008 and ask them to apply for an increase.

But all the women This is Money have spoken to who missed out are adamant neither they nor their husbands received such a letter, and insist they would have acted on it if they had done so.

Besides being on 'graduated-only' state pension, there are three other 'loopholes' that we know of where women with pre-March 2008 cases might receive a bigger payout. Find out more here.

What does the DWP say?

A DWP spokesperson says: 'The action we are taking now will correct the historical underpayments that have been made by successive governments and anyone impacted will be contacted by us to ensure they receive all that they are owed.'

Married women who are legally required to make a claim for an uplift in state pension because their husband started receiving his state pension before 17 March 2008 will not be covered in the 'correction exercise' and still need to make a claim.

Those whose husbands became entitled to their state pension on or after this date will be identified in the process, and this will include those who are receiving graduated retirement benefit only.

It is understood that in processing cases, the DWP is prioritising errors that are the longest standing and recipients who are older to reduce the time these women have to wait.

Meanwhile, those who contact the DWP themselves to query their state pensions will continue to have them reviewed.

The DWP has confirmed that deceased women who were underpaid will have arrears paid to their estate, so it will go to their beneficiaries.

Read the DWP's full statement on underpaid state pension here.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 21:53:58|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Enterprises from China and Europe in the advanced manufacturing industry will gain new development opportunities amid flourishing cooperation between the two parties stimulated by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), officials said at an online press conference.

More cutting-edge equipment and manufacturing technologies are in high demand across China, as the country is strengthening efforts to modernize its manufacturing industry chain in line with its 14th Five-Year (2021-2025) Plan, said Mao Yufeng, a senior official with the China Machine Tool & Tool Builders' Association, at the press conference on the EMO MILANO 2021, an international trade fair for machine tools.

The remarks were echoed by several European counterparts. "China is currently in the stage of its industrial structure upgrading," said Gianpaolo Bruno, director of the Italian Trade Agency in Beijing, adding that this will significantly drive the demand for high-performance machine tools.

"China, being the world's largest producer and consumer of machine tools, is a top priority of Italy's machine tool builders' internationalization strategy," Bruno said.

In 2019, China absorbed almost 20 billion euros (about 23.8 billion U.S. dollars) worth of global machine tools, accounting for 27.2 percent of the global total, according to Bruno.

Against the backdrop of the struggling global economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of Italian companies, attracted by the huge Chinese consumer market, have decided to attend the China International Machine Tool Show 2021 that will open on April 12, Mao said.

While giving full play to practical cooperation via platforms including the BRI, Chinese and Italian companies in the machine tools field can both enhance their competitiveness in the global market, Mao said. Enditem
The chance to build social housing next to Collingwood Town Hall is all but lost, after Housing Minister Richard Wynne said he would no longer work with the Greens-dominated local council on a housing project, in a fight that foreshadows the 2022 state election in his marginal seat.

Yarra Council  which covers inner-Melbourne suburbs such as Fitzroy and Richmond  this week knocked back a plan to build 100 new social and affordable housing units on council land, a plan the state government had made clear would attract significant funding under its $5.3 billion big build social housing program.

Eddy Court Reserve was part of the area being considered for the affordable housing development. Credit:Justin McManus

Another 100 private units in the development would have offset the costs.

Instead, councillors plan to build a community hub with a library and maternal and child health centre. Council officers say cleaning and rebuilding the site will cost about $21 million, money the council will struggle to find.
"We are seeing real growth as more and more customers experience the entire value of what we bring to the table to any organization of any size," said John Gengarella, CEO of Contract Wrangler.

The days when solely relying on staff or software to manage contracts effectively is over. Contract Wrangler, the leading contract performance platform, is changing how companies manage contracts by providing a unique and patented approach combining technology with human interaction. Since 2016, Contract Wrangler has experienced exceptional growth of 300% and is gaining a reputation for its unparalleled accuracy, crucial to customer satisfaction.

The key to Contract Wrangler's success is its platform's ability to be more than just contract management software but an integral part of business operations. Contract Wrangler gives customers a contract performance and automation platform that works across the enterprise; to help make better decisions involving contacts, bringing forth the realization of a contract, not creating it. Using the best machine learning and data technology bolstered with human verification has helped Contract Wrangler to develop an intuitive platform that uncovers insights otherwise overlooked or forgotten.

"We are seeing real growth as more and more customers experience the entire value of what we bring to the table to any organization of any size. While we are part of contract management, we are really creating a new category that goes beyond the traditional arena with our host of features," said John Gengarella, CEO of Contract Wrangler. "Our software provides the perfect solution to a customer's problems due to our platform's configurability, intuitiveness, and approach to quality control."

It is the only contract performance platform that can extract complex contract information, transform it into proactive alerts and insights, and distribute it across an organization to capture every agreement's full value with unmatched accuracy managing contract data. It does this by extracting and organizing text from commercial agreements into structured data using proprietary augmented A.I., eliminating the hassle of manual annotations in traditional contract management systems and CLM's. The software is built to help companies understand the way terms and obligations actually impact revenue, risk, and cost once the contract is executed.

Deploying the software reduces costs and improves company performance. "With Contract Wrangler, you search by client name, see the folder, click on it, and that's it. It takes you literally 20 seconds to get that information," said Jeremy Gordon, associate general counsel and V.P. at ThoughtWorks. "On average, every single person on the North American legal team saves four hours a week of time they would be spending searching for and reading through contracts," Gordon explains. With seven people on the team, that adds up to roughly 1,400 collective hours in a year, assuming each member takes two weeks off for vacation.

Contract Wrangler gives customers visibility into all contract information and turns it into insights that impact cash flows and productivity. Customers can see what's been agreed to, analyze its effect on business while providing a self-maintaining database. It delivers a single source of truth that takes the guesswork out of and adds value to every contract.

Key features include



Automatic data extraction: Automated extraction of every data-driven event and relevant term, verified by attorneys in real-time.

Powerful, centralized contact database: Unlimited access to an easily searchable and accurate repository of contract data, insights, and upcoming milestones without manual upkeep.

Enterprise-wide insights: Proactive alerts and a large selection of native integrations fuel automated enterprise workflows and help contract stakeholders in every department find more value.

Integrations: Disperse actional contract insights instantly to finance, sales, support, and procurement teams using native integrations.

Veteran industry professionals CEO John Gengarella spearheads the leadership team, along with Founder/General Council Neil Peretz, and CTO Brian Bartell. In the future, the executives will continue to raise the standard of contract management performance by providing customers with ever-advancing technology and that all-important personal human input.

About Contract Wrangler

Headquartered in San Mateo, CA, Contract Wrangler is a contract performance platform revolutionizing how companies manage their contract data. Contract Wrangler's software makes an immediate impact on business; by creating an accurate system that saves time, and saves money for clients. Most of all, it's a single source of truth that takes the guesswork out of contracts, adding value to every contract. To learn more about the company, visit the website at Contract Wrangler.
Lee Delaney, the president and chief executive of BJs Wholesale Club, died unexpectedly on Thursday of presumed natural causes, according to a statement released Friday by the company. He was 49.

We are shocked and profoundly saddened by the passing of Lee Delaney, said Christopher J. Baldwin, the companys executive chairman, said in a statement. Lee was a brilliant and humble leader who cared deeply for his colleagues, his family and his community.

Mr. Delaney joined BJs in 2016 as executive vice president and chief growth officer. He was promoted to president in 2019 and became chief executive last year. Before joining BJs, he was a partner in the Boston office of Bain & Company from 1996 to 2016. Mr. Delaney earned a masters in business administration from Carnegie Mellon University, and attended the University of Massachusetts, where he pursued a double major in computer science and mathematics.

Mr. Delaney led the company through the unexpected changes in consumer demand spurred by the pandemic, with many customers stockpiling wholesale goods as they hunkered down at home. 2020 was a remarkable, transformative and challenging year that structurally changed our business for the better, Mr. Delaney said in the companys last quarterly earnings report.
Head of European operations, Dan Staner, said they were on track with deliveries

Moderna is on track to deliver all the doses Britain has ordered by the end of the year, one of the company's senior officials said today,

Ministers have struck a deal for 17million doses of the two-dose jab - enough for 8.5million people.

The first batch of 100,000 doses have arrived, with Wales and Scotland using the jab already. Supplies are expected to 'significantly increase' from next month.

The jab will be essential for the roll-out moving forward, after the drug regulator ruled under-30s should receive an alternative to AstraZeneca's vaccine.

But should the restriction be extended to under-40s, like health chiefs hinted today, then the drive could be thrown into difficulty.

More than 31.8million Britons - or three in five adults - have already received a first dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine.

Moderna's head of European operations, Dan Staner, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme they would be able to supply all ordered doses this year.

More than 13.8million Britons have already received a first dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine, and the first Moderna dose were rolled out in Wales this week

UNDER-40S COULD ALSO BE GIVEN ALTERNATIVE JABS AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine may also be restricted for under-40s when Britain's immunisation drive moves down to younger age groups, it was claimed today. Medical watchdogs will assess data on the jab's links to extremely rare blood clots in 'scrupulous detail' in order to paint a clearer picture on the exact risk-benefit ratio. They have already advised 18 to 29 year olds are given an alternative to the UK-made jab because their odds of falling seriously ill with Covid are so small that the benefits of AstraZeneca's do not clearly outweigh the potential clot risks. Professor Jeremy Brown, a member of the JCVI, which advises No10 on jabs, told the Daily Telegraph: 'We're going to start vaccinating phase two healthy adults, starting with the 40 to 50-year-olds, and then we'll go to the 30 to 40-year-olds. 'When we are approaching that point we'll need to think about this a little bit more to be absolutely sure at what point in that age cut-off  given the situation we are facing at that time, and any more data that comes through on this rare complication, because more data will come through  then that might alter the age range.' Statisticians insist the risk of under-30s developing blood clots from AstraZeneca's jab is so tiny that if Wembley stadium was filled with people in the age group, only one would be struck down. Advertisement

'The first deliveries are starting in April, and between April and the year's end, we're supposed to deliver to the expectations in the contract with the UK Government of 17million doses, which is enough to cover 8.5million people,' he said.

'We feel very good. Our contracts are usually on a quarterly basis.

'[And] I'm very happy to let you know Moderna, across all of European countries at the end of Q1 (January to March), has been able to deliver on its commitments.

'We have very good hope we'll be able to deliver on our second quarter (April to June) commitments as well.'

The Moderna jab is based on mRNA technology, similar to Pfizer's, which triggers the production of Covid spike proteins that spark an immune response.

The vaccine was shown to be 94 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic Covid in trials, and works just as well against the Kent variant - which is the most dominant strain in the UK.

But concerns were raised it may be less able to fight off the South African or Brazilian strains - with experts at the US company already working on booster shots.

It comes after it was claimed today AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine may also be restricted for under-40s when Britain's immunisation drive moves down to younger age groups.

Medical watchdogs will assess data on the jab's links to extremely rare blood clots in 'scrupulous detail' in order to paint a clearer picture on the exact risk-benefit ratio.

They have already advised 18 to 29 year olds are given an alternative to the UK-made jab because their odds of falling seriously ill with Covid are so small that the benefits of AstraZeneca's do not clearly outweigh the potential clot risks.

Analysis of the UK vaccine rollout has found that younger people appear more prone to clotting after vaccination but there is no set cut-off age. Experts told MailOnline there is a 'gradual age gradient of risk'.

Professor Jeremy Brown, a member of the JCVI, which advises No10 on jabs, told the Daily Telegraph: 'We're going to start vaccinating phase two healthy adults, starting with the 40 to 50-year-olds, and then we'll go to the 30 to 40-year-olds.

'When we are approaching that point we'll need to think about this a little bit more to be absolutely sure at what point in that age cut-off  given the situation we are facing at that time, and any more data that comes through on this rare complication, because more data will come through  then that might alter the age range.'

Statisticians insist the risk of under-30s developing blood clots from AstraZeneca's jab is so tiny that if Wembley stadium was filled with people in the age group, only one would be struck down.

For older adults, the risk of blood clots is even smaller - but their risk of dying from Covid is much higher, meaning the risks versus benefits swings heavily in favour of vaccination.
Genuine tears were shed by Texas senators a few weeks ago as they deliberated over a bill ensuring that family caregivers can visit loved ones in long-term care facilities.

No one begrudges lawmakers for showing emotion, especially during the telling of gut-wrenching stories of spouses, parents and siblings wasting away through nursing home windows due to COVID-19 restrictions.

But wheres the show of sympathy when it comes to Senate Bill 6, an equally emotion-evoking proposal that ought to light hairs on fire around the state Capitol?

Senate Bill 6 raises the threshold for liability for long-term care facilities. It makes it harder for residents and their families to hold facilities accountable for injuries and death that occur due to substandard, negligent care provided during the pandemic. It strips families of their right to legal recourse.

At AARP Texas, weve heard horrifying stories of residents who have starved and faced dehydration, suffered from untended festering wounds and who were injured from a fall because there was not enough staff to provide a safe transfer. These stories are personal and relatable because many of us have had a loved one in a long-term care facility or know someone who will someday.

Residents of long-term care facilities are different than other consumers contemplated in Senate Bill 6. Residents arent capable of leaving these facilities  their homes  if they do not like how the facility is operating. Also, COVID restrictions halted visits from family caregivers, who are often the most informed advocates for residents. State-employed resident advocates were also barred from visiting, and regular inspections and investigations ceased. Senate Bill 6 willfully ignores what residents and their families have had to endure in the past year.

Senate Bill 6 must be revised to protect Texas nursing home residents. Lawsuits by victims and their families not only bring immediate relief to those who have been harmed, they also often lead to systemic changes that can improve care for others well into the future.

Granting immunity to nursing homes contradicts positive steps taken this session by the Legislature in advancing bills that would improve nursing home care. Those measures aim to improve nursing home staffing and quality, ensure visitation for residents, create transparency around federal funds allocated during the pandemic, address emergency power supply needs in facilities and incentivize at-home care to avoid costly nursing home stays.

Senate Bill 6 must be revised to protect nursing home residents. Dont let nursing homes off the hook for abuse and neglect during the public health emergency.

Tran is the state director of AARP Texas, which has 2.3 million members age 50-plus in the state.
Foster care advocate Peter Mutabazi was born and raised in Uganda in some truly unimaginable circumstances. He faced intense poverty, abuse and hopelessness, but decades later he is helping transform at-risk kids lives and perspectives.

LISTEN: HEAR THE JESUS IS ALL WE NEED PODCAST

I didnt really have a good childhood  most kids who were born would die before the age of 2, Mutabazi told Jesus Is All We Need podcast host Jason Sautel of his upbringing in Uganda. I was not given a name until I was 2.

Food was scarce and Mutabazis family could never afford to eat two meals a day, consuming either beans or potatoes  but never both. They also had to trek hours to secure clean water.

Source:The Christian Post
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 09:13:17|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that members of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation should push back against vaccine nationalism and undue export restrictions to let COVID-19 vaccine reach equally to all countries of the world.

Addressing the 10th D-8 Summit, hosted in virtual format on Thursday, Khan said the D-8 should call for COVID-19 vaccine to be treated as a global public good, ensure equity, affordability, enhanced production and timely supply to save lives, according to the Prime Minister's Office.

The Pakistani prime minister said the contemporary global challenges of a changing world are a moving target and no single country can address these complexities in isolation, calling upon D-8 members to mobilize financing and resources to recover robustly from the economic and health crises induced by the pandemic.

He underlined the need to create opportunities for the youth through harnessing technology, promoting innovation, and investing in youth education, skills and training.

The D-8 is an organization for the development of cooperation among the following countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

The 10th summit was hosted by Bangladesh under the theme of "Partnership for a Transformative World: Harnessing the Power of Youth and Technology." Enditem
Increasingly, the world of insurance distribution has become highly specialized, utilizing technology and a multitude of parties to reach customers worldwide. The surplus lines industry is no exception. Surplus lines brokers are not merely intermediaries between insureds and eligible surplus lines insurers that may be interested in servicing a specialty insurance market. Rather, surplus lines brokers increasingly work with retail insurance producers who themselves need not necessarily hold surplus lines broker licenses but nevertheless bring together the insurance customer and the surplus lines broker. Producers will even take over some of the surplus lines brokers duties, such as the collection of premium tax or the completion of the diligent search of admitted insurers on behalf of the surplus lines broker.

Yet, the term surplus lines broker is itself a bit of an oxymoron. Under the laws of every state, any placement of surplus lines insurance must utilize the services of a surplus lines producer, and many states specifically refer to this intermediary as a surplus lines broker. This requirement, of course, will require surplus lines insurers that wish to bring their products to market to engage with a surplus lines broker. This relationship will sometimes begin to look like a traditional insurer-agent partnership. Indeed, a growing number of nonadmitted insurers have been engaging surplus lines brokers in order to legally distribute their products but, perhaps paradoxically, the fiduciary duties owed by these brokers to their customers may cause inherent conflicts of interests. So then, can a surplus lines broker act in an agent capacity on behalf of a surplus lines insurer, notwithstanding being labeled as a broker under applicable law?

The answer is not as simple as putting a label on it. Below we take a look at a few state examples, as well as the role of a managing general agent in a surplus lines transaction.

New York

On June 16, 2020, the Excess Line Association of New York (ELANY) (empowered under New York law to regulate surplus lines business in numerous ways, including stamping excess line insurance documents and reviewing eligibility of unauthorized insurers) published a new issue of ELANY Elaborates, Whats In A Name (the EE) which eloquently discusses New Yorks view on the role of surplus lines agents. The simple rule in New York is that they dont, and cannot, exist. In particular, the EE notes that [i]nsurance agents have no role in excess [surplus] line placements. But the rule comes with pretty big caveats that certainly give surplus lines brokers an agent feel. For example, N.Y. Ins. Law  2118(f) allows surplus lines brokers to be granted binding authority on behalf of a surplus lines insurer, provided that the binding authority agreement is filed with ELANY.

It would seem to follow that if a surplus lines broker can receive binding authority from a surplus lines insurer, the binding authority agreement must then be subject to pretty strict standards in order to avoid an agent classification, correct? Well, not particularly. For starters, the EE and past ELANY guidance suggest that in order to avoid being designated as an impermissible agent under a binding authority agreement, the surplus lines broker needs to . . . not call itself an agent. Moreover, N.Y. Ins. Law  2118(f) expressly deems the surplus lines broker an agent of the insurer for issuing notices of cancellation. The EE plainly recognizes that surplus lines broker activities may, in practice, certainly sound like the duties of an agent.

Nevertheless, there is an important consideration when determining if a surplus lines broker impermissibly acts as an agent. Surplus lines brokers still, first and foremost, owe duties to the insured over the insurance carrier. The EE notes that granting a surplus lines broker binding authority or otherwise allowing it to engage in agency activities facilitates the transaction of excess [surplus] lines business, but does not chang[e] the legal duty of loyalty an excess [surplus] line broker owes to an insured. As such, a surplus lines insurer and its surplus lines broker counterpart should not simply assume that they can act as one, cohesive unit with unified interests as the broker will ultimately owe its fiduciary duty to the underlying insurance customer and, therefore, it may be prudent to identify that the surplus lines broker owes fiduciary duties to its insured customers in an applicable binding authority agreement.

California

California is perhaps the strictest state when it comes to the regulation of surplus lines insurance. For example, a number of states generally allow for the presence of surplus lines insurers, but California expressly prohibits the transaction of any surplus lines in the state except through a surplus lines broker, subject to narrow exceptions under applicable law.

Surplus lines brokers still, first and foremost, owe duties to the insured over the insurance carrier.

But even if a surplus lines broker can transact surplus lines business within California, the activities it can actually perform in the state are themselves limited to many traditional broker functions. The primary guidance is derived from California Bulletin 96-04 (the California Bulletin). While nearly a quarter-century old, the California Bulletin remains mostly in full force and effect and, among other things, largely bars surplus lines brokers from acting in an agent capacity.

For example, the CA Bulletin notes that [t]he ultimate decision as to rate setting and establishing underwriting guidelines must be performed by the nonadmitted insurer outside the State of California. The CA Bulletin also generally prohibits the compilation of surplus lines insurance policy forms in the state or otherwise issuing a surplus lines insurance policy in the state (although the surplus lines broker can of course deliver the policy to the insured when issued by the surplus lines insurer from outside the state). Further, the CA Bulletin bars the performance of certain key management functions by a surplus lines broker on behalf of a nonadmitted insurer, including placing reinsurance, managing investments, handling payroll and personnel matters and adjusting disputed claims (although obtaining a separate insurance adjuster license may permit the surplus lines broker to adjust disputed claims as well.)

If the foregoing sounds like a prohibition on a surplus lines broker acting in an agent capacity, thats pretty much the intent of the CA Bulletin. Indeed, the EE notes that California does not even permit surplus lines risks to be bound within the state by insurers or producers. Yet, like New York, California does allow surplus lines brokers to push the envelope just a little bit.

For example, California also allows surplus lines brokers to be granted binding authority, and the CA Bulletin allows for surplus lines brokers to be affiliated with a surplus lines insurer, provided conflicts of interests are mitigated, specifically the avoidance of having officers and salaried employees of the surplus lines broker also hold similar roles with the non-admitted insurer.

What About Managing General Agents?

As a legal matter, most states do not recognize the term managing general agent or MGA in the context of surplus lines transactions. In particular, MGAs are usually defined under applicable state law as persons who (i) manage all or part of the insurance business of an insurer, (ii) produce premiums more than 5% of the insurers policyholder surplus in any given year or calendar quarter, and (iii) either adjust claims of the insurer or binds reinsurance therefor. Typically, the term insurer is defined as an authorized or licensed insurance company, as opposed to surplus lines insurers that are typically deemed eligible in the state but are neither licensed nor authorized.

Yet, from a practical standpoint, the term MGA is often loosely used to refer to a wholesale agent of an insurer that helps facilitate the underwriting and binding of insurance and its placement through its retail producer counterparts. So then, can these MGA-esque entities be involved in surplus lines transactions? The short answer is yes, but with caveats. First, these entities must also be careful not to trip local laws, such overstepping Californias bar on surplus lines activities occurring within the state other than permissible surplus lines broker activities.

Second, many state surplus lines laws can be interpreted to require wholesale agents themselves hold surplus lines broker licenses in order to facilitate the placement of surplus lines business, even if the retail surplus lines broker completes the legally-required surplus lines procedures for the placement of the policy as they too are engaging in the sale of insurance into the insureds home state.

Lessons Learned

The rise of insurtech and the app-based modes of insurance distribution have resulted in specialized means of reaching consumers and insurance carriers alike. The desire to quickly enter the surplus lines market  one that is largely exempt from state rate and form filing and approval standards  is often efficiently achieved through the utilization of a knowledgeable and connected insurance producer that can use its platform to facilitate binding and distribution of surplus lines insurance policies. But, while some states do recognize the concept of a surplus lines agent, many states do not have a place for agents within their surplus lines frameworks. It is incumbent on insurance producers and surplus lines carriers involved in the placement of a surplus lines insurance policy to study the laws of the state where a policyholder resides to determine how to proceed when establishing a business partnership.

This article is republished from Insurance Journal Magazine.

Topics Agencies Excess Surplus
Alabama allows voters to opt out of So Help Me God oath on voter registration form

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In response to a lawsuit brought by a leading atheist organization, Alabama has decided to allow residents registering to vote to opt out of signing an oath that includes the phrase So Help Me God.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, an outspoken secular group that advocates for a strict separation of church and state, filed a lawsuit against Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, a Republican, last September. The lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of the states mail-in voter registration form, which required applicants to sign a declaration beginning with I solemnly swear or affirm and concluding with So help me God.

FFRF lawyers believed that this provision violated the First and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution. One of the plaintiffs, atheist Randall Crugan, sought to register to vote in Alabama in November 2019 but did not want to sign the declaration that concluded with so help me God.

He was told that there is no legal mechanism to register to vote in [Alabama] without signing the oath as it is stated and If you cross out a portion, the board of registrars in your county will reject the application and ask you to resubmit. Because he refused to sign the declaration, Crugan was unable to vote in the 2020 election.

In the wake of the lawsuit, the Secretary of States office has revised the voter registration form. While it still includes the oath, nonbelievers now have the option to check off a box stating: Because of a sincerely held belief, I decline to include the final four words of the oath above.

Following the introduction of this lawsuit, our office took action to see that an option was provided to voters to either swear a religious oath or opt out when registering to vote, Merrill said in a statement. While the language so help me God has been included on voter registration applications since well before I took office, this issue was just brought to light, and we remain willing to accommodate all voters of Alabama. All registration applications, online or on paper, were updated on March 8, 2021, to include the option to opt out, if interested.

In a press release Wednesday, the FFRF and the plaintiffs cheered the huge constitutional victory for secular voters in Alabama. According to FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor, Millions of Alabamians were being asked to swear a religious oath as a fait accompli. We warmly thank the plaintiffs, without whom we could not have put an end to this unconstitutional mindgame.

Because of this suit, I will finally be able to register to vote in Alabama, Cragun said. It is disappointing that the state prevented me from voting in the 2020 elections, but I am looking forward to participating in the future, and I now have a better appreciation of the value my voice and other individual voices contribute to shaping the state.

The other plaintiffs echoed Craguns gratitude. Co-plaintiff Robert Corker proclaimed that he was proud to have been a part of this effort to secularize voting in the state of Alabama, adding, I relish more opportunities to foster inclusiveness for nonbelievers in this state.

Co-plaintiffs Chris Nelson and Heather Coleman, a married couple, also expressed gratitude that the state has  at least, begrudgingly  made some concessions to support state-church separation, promising that freethinkers in Alabama will continue to push for these reforms.

As a result of Alabamas amendment to the voter registration form, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has dropped its lawsuit challenging the uniquely Alabamian mandatory religious voter registration oath. Even before the voter registration applications were updated, the Alabama Secretary of States office began implementing changes to address FFRFs concerns.

In November, the office adopted a new rule allowing applicants to strike out the phrase so help me God when filling out the voter registration form. The rule directed the Board of Registrars to accept as valid voter registration forms with the phrase so help me God crossed out.

Nearly a year before filing the lawsuit, FFRF sent a letter to Secretary Merrill, asking him to drop the religious oath altogether, describing it as unnecessary and irrelevant to voter registration. According to the letter, Multiple Alabama residents have contacted us over the past decade to complain about the religious oath.
Pennsylvania reported 5,048 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, up from 4,656 last Friday.

The state also reported 35 new COVID-19 deaths, bringing its total to 25,362. The new infections raise the states total to 1,064,092.

As of late Thursday, 2,451 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, up from 2,384 a day earlier and more than 1,000 more than in mid-March.

The hospitalizations include 517 in intensive care, up from 446 the previous day.

Pennsylvania ranks 19th for percentage of residents, 36%, who have received at least one shot, and 33rd for the percentage fully vaccinated, 19%, according to tracking by The New York Times.

Pennsylvania has given about 6.8 million doses, or 75% of the vaccine it so far received. Pennsylvania has 12.8 million people.
Victorias Acting Police and Emergency Services Minister Danny Pearson apologised on Friday morning for any confusion encountered by people aged under 50 at vaccination sites. Josh De Bono, a cardiothoracic registrar at the Epworth hospital, was among a number of under 50s who arrived at the Royal Exhibition Building vaccination centre on Friday morning, only to be refused entry. Josh De Bono, centre, was among those turned away in Victoria. Credit:Jason South The 34-year-old said security guards told him he was too young to proceed. Despite taking the morning off to attend his pre-booked appointment, he said no one from the Health Department had made contact to tell him he should not attend. Timely and effective communication, thats been the biggest let down throughout COVID, Mr De Bono said.

I think this will hurt public confidence in the vaccine, and its already wavering. Athena Stathoulis described it as a mess. Credit:Jason South Athena Stathoulis, a St John Ambulance volunteer, arrived at the same Carlton vaccination site about 10.30am only to be told she also no longer qualified for the AstraZeneca jab. The 20-year-old from Malvern East booked earlier this week, but like Mr De Bono received no notice that her appointment would be cancelled. I knew about the blood clot risk but its low, there is more of a risk taking the contraceptive pill, she said.

Theyre not even taking front-line workers in anymore, I was really confused by it. Now its going to take months. Its a mess. Under 50s trying to go in for their vaccination were being turned away at the Carlton Exhibition center. Seen here Michael Bramhill. Credit:Jason South Michael Bramhall, an immunologist at the nearby Peter Doherty Institute, was less fazed about being turned away from the vaccination centre on Friday morning, saying he would continue to get vaccinated once it was safe to do so. When I arrived they said they were just turning away people under 50. I thought it was still optional, so I was still up for getting the jab but its just one of those things, Ill get vaccinated eventually, he said. Im not super at risk of getting COVID-19, its more about helping shield other people from it.

Loading I know people in my lab who got vaccinated yesterday, but I understand theres not lots of community transmission here like other places, so we can afford to wait a bit longer. Despite the new advice, 27-year-old University of Melbourne student Georg Tamm received the AstraZeneca jab in NSW on Friday. Mr Tamm received a call to check if he still wanted to get the first dose in light of the changed health advice. After some deliberation, he said yes. It was a little scary but the idea of a rich country like Australia buying AstraZeneca supplies and then telling its people not to get vaccinated while there are developing nations grappling with a rampant spread of infections and no ability to access that vaccine supply is just gross, he said.

Others being turned away from the Carlton site were front-line workers, including firefighters, police and paramedics. One police officer aged over 50, who asked not to be named, was permitted to continue with his appointment. He and his wife said others in the force had been discouraged overnight from getting the AstraZeneca vaccine, but had decided to persevere because they felt it was important. Im the only one from my station to come down today, the officer said.

The force is going to be scrambling to vaccinate its members now, his wife said. We really want to see every single Victorian vaccinated as soon as we can, he said, adding that he would be comfortable receiving the AstraZeneca shot as a 48-year-old. Mr Pearson revealed a small group of workers employed to work in quarantine hotels were also refusing to be vaccinated. He said reasons for refusing a jab included being pregnant or having underlying health conditions. Loading

More than 90 per cent of hotel quarantine workers have now received their first dose and about half have received their second. Workers who have not yet received a dose are not permitted to work shifts, meaning they are effectively on leave with pay. If youre not vaccinated you cant work in the hotel, Mr Pearson said. A spokeswoman from COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria said 65 travellers were transported to the InterContinental quarantine hotel and five were taken into a complex care hotel at Element Richmond. No Victorians were taken to the health hotel. She also confirmed that front-line workers, who currently receive the Pfizer vaccine, had been stood down with pay if they refused to be inoculated. Loading
SYDNEY: The Australian Government has launched the $18.8 million third phase of the national campaign to reduce violence against women and their children.

The Stop it at the Start campaign encourages adults to make themselves heard and empowers them to take actions that will have a positive influence on the attitudes and behaviours of young people. Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston said the campaign was critical in our efforts to prevent family, domestic and sexual violence.

Each and every one of us has a role to play in ensuring disrespectful attitudes and behaviours towards women are not learned in childhood, Minister Ruston said. We all need to make ourselves heard when we witness disrespect and turn it into an opportunity to set the standard for what is and isnt acceptable.

Taking action on this issue may seem overwhelming but if we all take small steps, such as reconsidering our own views or talking to our children about respectful relationships, it can add up to a positive change for Australia.

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Women and Acting Minister for Defence, Senator Marise Payne said launching the next phase of Stop it at the Start on International Womens Day on the 8th March sent a powerful message about the role we all must play to ensure all women can fulfil their potential. We have made considerable progress towards gender equality in Australia but challenges remain whether that be in the home or the workplace, Minister Payne said.

As a Government, we see it as our duty to foster a culture in which Australian men grow up respecting the women in their lives.

Stop it at the Start demonstrates to all adults that responding to disrespect can be a constructive, liberating and important way to shape future generations.

The Stop it at the Start campaign began in 2016 as an initiative under the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010-2022. Phase one of the campaign encouraged adults to recognise their own unconscious behaviour and understand the influence such behaviour can have on others, including the next generation. Phase two asked people to take ownership of the issue rather than using arguments to rationalise disrespectful behaviours.

Evaluation research found the campaign is changing attitudes with 42% of adults taking action, such as having a conversation with a young person about respectful relationships or changing the way they behave towards others as a result of earlier phases of the campaign.

Phase three of the campaign launched across television, cinema, online, outdoor, digital and social media on Sunday 14 March.

A suite of in-language tools and resources are available online at https://www.respect.gov.au/translated-resources/cald-materials/to help parents and other adults model positive behaviours and start a conversation about respect with the young people in their lives.

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au.

(This is a featured article and ZMCL doesnt confirm the facts and figures mentioned in this link)

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Amazon's third-party sellers have long had a love-hate relationship with the e-commerce giant. Some have hit their breaking point.

On Tuesday, a coalition of more than 20 independent business groups representing Main Street businesses, including booksellers, office supplies sellers, and hardware stores, kicked off a joint effort aimed at breaking up Amazon. The group--known as Small Business Rising--is pushing lawmakers to enact stricter antitrust laws and enforcement measures, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Specifically, the merchant coalition wants the e-commerce giant to separate its retail business from its marketplace of third-party sellers, says Stacy Mitchell, the co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that advocates for sustainable community development and is a key organizer behind Small Business Rising. She adds that the coalition hopes to achieve this by creating opportunities for independent businesses to speak with lawmakers and the media, share their experiences, and talk about the need for policies to level the playing field.

The effort is the latest sign of increased pressure on Amazon from merchant groups and lawmakers who believe the Seattle company has crushed smaller competitors through unfair tactics. Amazon is currently the subject of multiple antitrust probes by the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and Congress.

A spokesperson for Amazon called the coalition's agenda a "misguided intervention." "Amazon and third-party sellers complement each other, and sellers having the opportunity to sell right alongside a retailer's products is the very competition that most benefits consumers and has made the marketplace model so successful for third-party sellers," wrote the spokesperson in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.

Amazon is far from the coalition's sole target; it is also campaigning against tech monopolies as a whole. On its website, Small Business Rising laid out a list of goals for antitrust enforcement, which includes stopping tech monopolies by breaking them up and regulating them, blocking dominant corporations by making antitrust laws easier to enforce, and banning mergers.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has introduced legislation that would beef up the antitrust divisions of the FTC and DOJ and hold companies to a higher burden of proof when reviewing anticompetitive mergers. The Senate bill, known as the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act, is currently awaiting markup by the Senate Judiciary Committee. On the House side, Representative David Cicilline (D-R.I.) is working on a series of smaller antitrust bills.

Legislation from Congress would be a significant step toward reining big tech in. Amazon's treatment of third-party sellers on its platform has raised scrutiny from both small-business owners who rely on its platform and lawmakers. The tech giant regularly uses data from its third-party sellers to create its own private-label products, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation from last year.

Experts in the e-commerce and antitrust space have cautioned that Amazon's problems won't solely be solved by antitrust enforcement alone. Sucharita Kodali, principal analyst at Forrester, said small-business groups should lay out specific goals beyond merely breaking up big tech.

"Small Business Rising needs to be open to more than just a full breakup. They need to be crystal clear on their goals and open to different ways to achieve those goals," Kodali tells Inc.

She said such goals should include making sure Amazon keeps counterfeit products off its platform, improves the integrity of ratings and reviews, keeps the product detail pages of sellers from being sabotaged by competitors, and ensures rogue products can't compete with authentic products.
Photo: The Canadian Press A Nationalist youth is soaked by a police water cannon near the Peace Wall in West Belfast, Northern Ireland, Thursday, April 8, 2021. Authorities in Northern Ireland sought to restore calm Thursday after Protestant and Catholic youths in Belfast hurled bricks, fireworks and gasoline bombs at police and each other. It was the worst mayhem in a week of street violence in the region, where Britain's exit from the European Union has unsettled an uneasy political balance. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Authorities in Northern Ireland sought to restore calm Thursday after Protestant and Catholic youths in Belfast hurled bricks, fireworks and gasoline bombs at police and each other. It was the worst mayhem in a week of street violence in the region, where Britains exit from the European Union has unsettled an uneasy political balance.

Crowds including children as young as 12 or 13 clashed across a concrete peace wall in west Belfast that separates a British loyalist Protestant neighbourhood from an Irish nationalist Catholic area. Police fired rubber bullets at the crowd, and nearby a city bus was hijacked and set on fire.

Northern Ireland has seen sporadic outbreaks of street violence since the 1998 Good Friday peace accord ended the Troubles  decades of Catholic-Protestant bloodshed over the status of the region in which more than 3,000 people died.

But Police Service of Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Jonathan Roberts said Wednesdays mayhem was at a scale we have not seen in recent years. He said 55 police officers had been injured over several nights of disorder and it was lucky no one had been seriously hurt or killed.

There was a further outbreak of violence Thursday night in the nationalist Springfield Road area of Belfast, where youths threw stones at police, who responded with a water cannon blast.

Britains split from the EU has highlighted the contested status of Northern Ireland, where some people identify as British and want to stay part of the U.K., while others see themselves as Irish and seek unity with the neighbouring Republic of Ireland, an EU member.

Unrest has erupted over the past week  largely in loyalist, Protestant areas  amid rising tensions over post-Brexit trade rules and worsening relations between the parties in the Protestant-Catholic power-sharing Belfast government.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the unrest, saying the way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or criminality. He sent Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis to Belfast for talks with the region's political leaders.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration was concerned by the violence, and we join the British, Irish and Northern Irish leaders in their calls for calm.

Meanwhile, Northern Irelands Belfast-based assembly and government held emergency meetings Thursday and called for an end to the violence.

First Minister Arlene Foster, of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party, warned that when politics are perceived to fail, those who fill the vacuum cause despair. Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill, of Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, called the violence utterly deplorable.

Despite the united message, Northern Ireland's politicians are deeply divided, and events on the street are in many cases beyond their control.

As many predicted it would, the situation has been destabilized by Britains departure from the EU  after almost 50 years of membership  that became final on Dec. 31.

A post-Brexit U.K.-EU trade deal has imposed customs and border checks on some goods moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. The arrangement was designed to avoid checks between Northern Ireland and Ireland because an open Irish border has helped underpin the peace process built.

But unionists says the new checks amount to the creation of a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.  something they fear undermines the regions place in the United Kingdom.

The latest disturbances followed unrest over the long Easter weekend in pro-British unionist areas in and around Belfast and Londonderry, also known as Derry, that saw cars set on fire and debris and gasoline bombs hurled at police officers.

Some politicians and police have accused outlawed paramilitary groups  which remain a force in working class communities  of inciting young people to cause mayhem. They expressed outrage that a new generation was being exposed to, and pulled into, violence.

Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long, from the centrist Alliance Party, said she was horrified to watch video of adults standing by cheering and goading and encouraging young people on as they wreaked havoc in their own community.

This is nothing short of child abuse, she said.

Both Britain and the EU have expressed concerns about how the Brexit agreement is working, and the Democratic Unionist Party wants it scrapped. But any long-term solution will require political commitment that appears in short supply. Britain and the EU are squabbling over the new trade arrangements and show little of the goodwill needed to make their new relationship work. Sinn Fein and the DUP have blamed one another for the deteriorating situation.

Katy Hayward, a politics professor at Queen's University Belfast and senior fellow of the U.K. in a Changing Europe think-tank , said unionists felt that Northern Irelands place is under threat in the union, and they feel betrayed by London.

Unionists are also angry at a police decision not to prosecute Sinn Fein politicians who attended the funeral of a former Irish Republican Army commander in June. The funeral of Bobby Storey drew a large crowd, despite coronavirus rules barring mass gatherings.

The main unionist parties have demanded the resignation of Northern Irelands police chief over the controversy, claiming he has lost the confidence of their community.

You have a very fizzy political atmosphere in which those who are trying to urge for calm and restraint are sort of undermined, Hayward said. Its really easy to see how it could get worse."
China's ambitions have been exposed time and again in various instances in countries like Taiwan and now in the Philippines and India. It is time the world comes together and act against China's belligerence. On the Indian front, senior officers of the Indian and Chinese forces are to have a meeting today i.e. April 9 in the Ladakh region.

China has always sought to be the domineering force in Asia and to exert its influence in other nations, it also launched the Belt and Road program for building infrastructure in developing countries. Although, it also resorts to violence and intimidation to achieve its ends. Chinas ambitions have been exposed time and again in various instances in countries like Taiwan and now in the Philippines and India. It is time the world comes together and act against Chinas belligerence.

China is now trying to threaten Taiwans air space by having deployed fighter aircraft around it. China had earlier also sent naval ships within the maritime borders of the Phillipines as a show of force and they still remain there. Both of these are underhanded tactics meant to serve as a show of force but will only result in more humiliation for China.

On the Indian front, senior officers of the Indian and Chinese forces are to have a meeting today i.e. April 9 in the Ladakh region. This meeting aims to work out the rest of the disengagement process. Although military presence around the Pangong Tso lake had been withdrawn in February with both sides pulling back troops, armour and demolishing fortifications, this not the case in other focal points in Ladakh and the meeting is being held to discuss just that.

The China-Taiwan conflict dates back to the Chinese Communist Civil War in the 1950s wherein the Communist Party defeated the Republicans that followed democracy. These republicans fled to the island of Taiwan off the coast of China and established a democratic regime there. Since then, Taiwan has remained a thorn in Chinas side and though China had attempted to weed it out by launching a few naval invasions around the same time of the Civil War, these were beaten back with Taiwanese shore batteries sinking the landing ships carrying troops before they could make landfall.
Coronation Street star Richard Hawley arrived at Manchester's MediaCity on Wednesday after a charity slammed his character's multiple sclerosis storyline.

Wrapping up in a black coat teamed with jeans, trainers and a stylish flat cap, the actor, 66, kept the chill at bay as he prepared for a day of filming on the iconic set.

Listening to music through a pair of white headphones, Richard - who plays Johnny Connor - flashed photographers a smile, despite his character coming under fire last week.

Casual: Richard Hawley, 66, cut a low-key figure when he arrived at Manchester's MediaCity on Wednesday

One of Johnny's recent plotlines came under scrutiny after writers linked the character's Charles Bonnet Syndrome and multiple sclerosis diagnoses.

Last week, showrunners associated Johnny's CBS with his MS, despite the latter rarely leading to the former.

Ed Holloway, of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, said of the plotline: 'We've been providing extensive information about MS to programme researchers since Johnny Connor first developed MS in 2017.

'When asked for our advice regarding Charles Bonnet Syndrome we said it was highly unlikely someone would develop the condition.

'We've written to the show to express our concerns.'

Cold: Wrapping up in a black coat teamed with jeans, trainers and a stylish flat cap, the actor kept the chill at bay as she prepared for a day of filming on the Coronation Street set

Upbeat: Listening to music through a pair of white headphones, Richard - who is best known for playing Corrie's Johnny Connor - flashed photographers a smile

In February, Richard himself opened up about Johnny's CBS diagnosis after his character experienced hallucinations.

'Once you have a diagnosis of Charles Bonnet syndrome things can get a little better simply because you know what it is,' the actor told Digital Spy.

'What happens is your brain makes up images because it is not getting enough information because of reduced eyesight.'

He added: 'There is no attendant feeling of anything else. It is just simply hallucination, it can be an unpleasant one or it could be a pleasant one or both.'
DMX, the raspy-voiced hip-hop artist who produced the songs Ruff Ryders Anthem and Party Up (Up in Here) and who rapped with a trademark delivery that was often paired with growls, barks and What! as an ad-lib, has died, according to a statement Friday from his family. He was 50.

The Grammy-nominated performer died after suffering catastrophic cardiac arrest, according to a statement from the hospital in White Plains, New York, where he died. He was rushed there from his home April 2.

His familys statement said DMX, whose birth name was Earl Simmons, died with relatives by his side after several days on life support.

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Earl was a warrior who fought till the very end. He loved his family with all of his heart, and we cherish the times we spent with him, the family said, adding that his music inspired countless fans across the world, and his iconic legacy will live on forever.

Memorial plans were not yet set.

DMX built a multiplatinum career as one of raps biggest stars of the late 1990s and early 2000s, but he also struggled with drug addiction and legal problems that repeatedly put him behind bars.

His record label, Def Jam Recordings, called him a brilliant artist and an inspiration to millions around the world.

His message of triumph over struggle, his search for the light out of darkness, his pursuit of truth and grace brought us closer to our own humanity, the label said in a statement describing him as nothing less than a giant.

He made a splash in 1998 with his first studio album, Its Dark and Hell is Hot, which debuted No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The multiplatinum-selling album was anchored by several hits including Ruff Ryders Anthem, Get At Me Dog, Stop Being Greedy and How Its Goin Down.

DMX followed up with four straight chart-topping albums including  And Then There Was X, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, The Great Depression and Grand Champ. He released seven albums, earned three Grammy nominations and was named favorite rap/hip-hop artist at the 2000 American Music Awards.

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DMX arrived on the rap scene around the same time as Jay-Z, Ja Rule and others who dominated the charts and emerged as platinum-selling acts. They were all part of rap crews, too: DMX fronted the Ruff Ryders collective, which helped launch the careers of Grammy winners Eve and Swizz Beatz, and relaunch The Lox, formerly signed to Bad Boy Records. Ruff Ryders had success on the charts and on radio with its Ryde or Die compilation albums.

Along with his musical career, DMX paved his way as an actor. He starred in the 1998 film Belly and appeared in 2000s Romeo Must Die with Jet Li and Aaliyah. DMX and Aaliyah teamed up for Come Back in One Piece on the films soundtrack.

The rapper would later open Aaliyahs tribute music video, Miss You, alongside her other friends and collaborators, including Missy Elliott, Lil Kim and Queen Latifah, after Aaliyahs 2001 death in a plane crash at age 22.

The rapper also starred in 2001s Exit Wounds with Steven Seagal and 2003s Cradle 2 the Grave with Li.

But while DMX made his mark as one of hip-hops most recognizable names for his rap artistry and as an actor, the rapper was personally stifled by his legal battles  he was repeatedly arrested and jailed within a decade  and drug addiction. His addiction first took hold at age 14 when smoked a marijuana cigarette that was laced with cocaine.

DMX pleaded guilty in 2004 after he posed as an undercover federal agent and crashed his SUV through a security gate at New Yorks Kennedy Airport. He was arrested in 2008 on drug and animal cruelty charges following an overnight raid on his house in Phoenix. He tried to barricade himself in his bedroom but emerged when a SWAT team entered his home.

In 2010, he was sentenced to a year in prison for violating terms of his probation. After he was admitted to rehab numerous times over the next year, he said he had finally beat his drug addiction.

First responders helped bring DMX back to life after he was found in a hotel parking lot in New York in 2016. The rapper said he suffered from asthma.

A couple years later, DMX was sentenced to a year in prison for tax fraud. Prosecutors said he concocted a multiyear scheme to hide millions of dollars in income from the IRS and get around nearly $2 million in tax liabilities.

After his release, DMX planned a 32-date tour to mark the 20th anniversary of Its Dark and Hell is Hot. But the rapper canceled a series of shows to check himself into a rehab facility in 2019. In an Instagram post, his team said he apologized for the canceled shows and thanked his fans for the continued support.

Besides his legal troubles, DMX took the initiative to help the less fortunate. He gave a group of Philadelphia men advice during a surprise appearance at a homeless support group meeting in 2017, and helped a Maine family with its back-to-school purchases a couple years later.

Last year, DMX faced off against Snoop Dogg in a Verzuz battle, which drew more than 500,000 viewers.

Survivors include his 15 children and his mother.
American intelligence officials have issued a 150-page report containing their predictions for what will happen to the world in the next two decades.

The Global Trends report is published by the US government's National Intelligence Council, the seventh edition of the document which is issued every four years.



It reveals the coronavirus pandemic has deepened economic inequality, strained government resources and fanned nationalist sentiments.

But its predictions, made up to 2040, say that over the next 20 years the global population growth will slow, resulting in an older world; climate change will worsen; international relations will become 'chaotic and volatile'; and famine will run rife.

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Pictured, people queue up in Pune, India, outside a chemists to get vials of the antiviral drug Remdesevir which has been found to be effective at reducing the risk of death from Covid-19 in seriously ill patients

The last version of the document, published in 2017, imagined there would be a global pandemic in the early 2020s leading to reduced travel to curb its spread.

This prescient prediction appears to have become a reality in the form of Covid-19, which has claimed almost three million lives worldwide.

The document focuses heavily on the impact of the pandemic, calling it the 'most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come.'

'COVID-19 has shaken long-held assumptions about resilience and adaptation and created new uncertainties about the economy, governance, geopolitics, and technology,' the report says.

The last version of the document, published in 2017, imagined there would be a global pandemic in the early 2020s which would result in reduced travel to curb its spread. this came true with Covid-19 which the new report calls the 'most significant, singular global disruption since World War II'

The document finds cause for concern in virtually all aspects of life.

It warns, for instance, that the effects of climate change are likely to worsen the problem of food and water insecurity in poor countries and hasten global migration.

It also states that although health and education have improved in recent decades it will be hard to maintain such progress because of 'headwinds' from the pandemic, an ageing population and 'potentially slower global economic growth.'

Advances in technology have the potential to address problems including climate change and disease, but can also provoke new tensions, the report says.

'State and nonstate rivals will vie for leadership and dominance in science and technology with potentially cascading risks and implications for economic, military, and societal security,' the report says.

The report also warns of eroding trust in government and institutions and of a 'trust gap' between the public and the better informed and educated parts of society.
Mike Pompeo

Fox News hires former secretary of state Mike Pompeo as a contributor. Pompeo, who will provide analysis across all Fox News Media platforms, was scheduled to make his debut on the April 9 edition of Fox & Friends. He joins fellow Trump alumni Larry Kudlow and Kayleigh McEnany at the network. I intend to give viewers a candid, no-nonsense look at geopolitics, international relations and the America First policies that helped chart the course for unprecedented American prosperity and security, Pompeo said in a Fox News release.

News Corp. plans to issue $1B in bonds to fund acquisition drive, according to a report on The Hill. That figure is a hefty jump from the $750 million in bonds that the company previously said it would issue. In March alone, News Corp made two large purchases. On March 25, it announced plans to pick up Investors Business Daily for $275 million, and just days later said it was also buying Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books. The Houghton Mifflin deal will give News Corp. control of J.R.R. Tolkien books including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as George Orwells Animal Farm and 1984.

Jessie Henderson

Apple Studios is beefing up its push into the feature film market with the addition of Jessie Henderson as a feature film executive. Henderson comes to Apple from HBO Max, where she served as executive vice president of original feature films. She was previously co-president of Feigco Entertainment, producing film and TV projects that included the all-female Ghostbusters and Zoeys Extraordinary Playlist. Apple has also recently hired Paramount Pictures feature executive Lejo Pet.
In Marty Rochesters column, Oy Vey: The excesses of identity politics (March 24), he criticizes President Biden for picking a diverse cabinet with the insinuation that because it is diverse, it is not the best cabinet he could have picked.

In that he provides no factual basis for these not being the most capable candidates, the only conclusion I can draw as to why he thinks they are not the best candidates, is because of their diversity.

What does that say about him?

Kenneth Cohen, Creve Coeur

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I would like to compliment the Jewish Light on publishing articles by Professor Marty Rochester. These well-written highly rational discussions provide a good balance to the fact-free emotional diatribes we frequently see in other articles or letters you choose to publish.

I was particularly taken by his recent article (March 24) decrying the selection of cabinet and thousands of other appointments (to say nothing of a vice president) based on ethnic or other criteria rather than provable qualifications. Rochesters analogy to getting on an airplane, the crew of which had been selected based on political correctness rather than competency, was particularly telling. It is a dangerous and difficult world with domestic and international problems which need to be addressed by the best qualified people to achieve solutions beneficial to our nation. Instead, we see those who simply check the diversity-biased identity boxes required by Democrat pressure groups.

Im reminded of an interview conducted with Jesse Jackson in the early years of the President George W. Bush administration, wherein he criticized the president for not appointing a sufficient number of black Americans. When it was pointed out to Jackson that President Bush had in fact appointed a number of such people to high positions  Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and many others  Jackson replied that they should not be factored in, as they had been selected based on merit. The Biden administration need not worry that they will be accused of doing the same.

Steve Finkel, Creve Coeur
SCHENECTADY  What was once a neglected cluster of dilapidated structures at the corner of Craig and Albany Streets is now a strip of sparkling new buildings awaiting tenants.

Development is continuing to ripple across Hamilton Hill with the next phase of an ambitious housing effort on track to be completed this spring as part of a project that has dramatically reshaped the contours of the neighborhood, one of the city's poorest.

Dubbed Hillside Crossing, developers have constructed 85 units across seven buildings on three sites, with the focal point a mid-rise apartment building at the foot of Hamilton Hill.

The five-story structure located at the corner of Albany Street and Germania Avenue has a V-shaped entrance designed to present a symbolic gateway from downtown into the neighborhood, according to the developers.

We wanted to show that development didnt stop at Nott Terrace but continued to flow up Hamilton Hill, said Janis Stewart, real estate development project manager for the Community Builders, referring to the sustained spurt of downtown development. We tried to be transformative.

Murals will later be painted on the edifice based on community feedback.

The 54-unit building is part of a broader effort by the Boston-based developers to revitalize the neighborhood, which has long suffered from disinvestment and urban decay.

Community Builders demolished 19 blighted structures, 11 of them city-owned, as part of the projects second phase, which started in late 2019.

We wanted to take down the worst of the worst, Stewart said, echoing a phase often used by city Mayor Gary McCarthy, who has made eradicating blight and promoting first-time homeownership a focal point of his administration.

The city sold 71 properties in 2020 and demolished 34, work that is on track to continue this year.

Seventy-five percent of the citys housing stock was constructed prior to 1960, according to a 2020 report by Schenectady Community Action Program (SCAP), with 56 percent built before 1940.

Community Builders are also putting the finishing touches on a three-building complex with 21 units just up Albany Street from the mid-rise, and completed construction on a cluster of townhouses at the corner of Stanley Street and Delamont Avenue last fall. Seven of the 10 units are now leased.

All work is scheduled to be completed by June, with construction costs clocking in at $27 million.

Once finished, the developers will have driven investment into an increasingly widening strip of the Craig Street-Main Avenue corridor, which will be complemented by $7.3 million in proposed federally-funded projects by the city, including cosmetic upgrades, park improvements and bicycle and pedestrian lanes.

Theres a lot of money being pumped into this neighborhood that is desperately needed, Stewart said.

The first phase of their effort, Hillside View, was completed in 2018.

That portion included 58 apartments in eight buildings, including two conversions of mothballed schools on Craig Street: Horace Mann, now known as the Electric City Barn, and the former St. Columbas School located nearby.

Construction clocked in at $16 million, with funds cobbled together from state, local and federal funding sources, including historic and housing tax credits.

We generally have 95 percent occupancy, Stewart said.

Converting historic structures, demolishing blighted buildings, remediating industrial pollution (one building occupies the footprint of a former laundry where contaminants leaked into the soil) and building new structures can be tricky and often dissuades other developers, Stewart said.

We dont really do easy, Stewart said.

The new apartments are a welcome addition for a city where 39 percent of households are cost-burdened, according to the SCAP report, a number that climbs to nearly 53 percent of all renters.

Income needed to afford an apartment defined as affordable is no more than 30 percent of gross income spent on housing costs.

Those with incomes at or below 30 percent of the federally-defined Area Median Family Income experience at least one of four housing problems, including incomplete kitchen and plumbing facilities, more than one person per room and a cost burden greater than 30 percent.

Monthly rents at Hillside Crossing will range between $426 and $1,159.

No resident will pay over 30 percent of their income to live here, Stewart said.

Units have been tastefully designed, she said, and developers were careful to avoid the optics of cheaply-constructed housing.

We want to make it look like a market rate apartment, Stewart said. We dont want you to drive by and say, This is for poor people.

Organizations like SCAP are buoyed.

The ability and right of choosing where you want to live is so often limited for households who have a low income, said Elise Martin, director of community services. New affordable housing in the community is a vital step in restoring that choice.

The intersection of Albany and Craig streets hosts several non-profits serving income-challenged residents, including a heavily-trafficked food pantry run by Schenectady Community Ministries.

Yet Hillside Crossing isnt a final panacea.

The fair market rate for a two-bedroom unit in Schenectady County is $1,054, according to a 2019 report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

That means a family would need to earn at least $44,600 annually with an hourly wage of $21.44 to afford a two-bedroom rental unit at fair market rent.

However, the countys hourly mean renter wage is $15.16, which means the units may remain out of reach for some families.

Neighborhood concerns

While Community Builders hailed the transformative nature of their effort, it hasnt come without friction.

Some residents have grumbled about the size of the tower, said city Councilwoman Marion Porterfield.

Ive heard a lot of feedback that people arent happy with the high-rise, Porterfield said. They feel like its more projects as opposed to apartments and two-family houses.

Porterfield also said she has fielded complaints about property maintenance issues at the Electric City Barn and 400 Craig Street.

The mid-rise at 736 Albany St. will have a property manager on site during the week, Stewart said.

Following quality-of-life concerns that reached a boiling point in 2019, Community Builders boosted security measures, including surveillance cameras and security patrols.

Molain Gilmore said the development has the potential to be a major boon for the neighborhood. But the Emmett Street resident is among those who hoped to see more local people offered jobs on the construction crew, which is led by Troy-based contractors UW Marx.

Shes spotted just one kid from the neighborhood.

Along those lines, its a disappointment from a construction point of view, Gilmore said.

The developers shored up community support a half-decade ago by promising to outfit the Electric City Barn with a police substation order to strengthen community engagement efforts and bolster public safety, a presence Gilmore said has since been downgraded to a cubbyhole.

That was downsized, Gilmore said. That was never the intent and it wasnt what we bought into.

Community Builders said as coronavirus restrictions continue to relax, use of the substation will increase.

The cluster of three-story buildings across from the food pantry will contain 1,000-square-feet of ground-floor commercial space.

While theyre eying a laundromat, Community Builders has engaged a number of potential operators to fill the space, including the city Police Department, which said they want to establish substations in Hamilton Hill as part of the recently-adopted package of state-mandated police reforms.

No lease has been signed for the space as of yet, Stewart said.

To date, 50 city residents have worked on the site, Stewart said, and developers worked with Mission Accomplished Transition Services, the citys Affirmative Action Office and the SEAT Center to refer city residents for jobs.

Mission Accomplished were also able to successfully city residents find employment on other construction sites in the Capital Region, Stewart said.

Activist Shawn Young acknowledged there was outreach by Community Builders to attract people of color  and that affordable housing is needed for the neighborhood  but he felt like efforts were delayed and only after concerns mounted.

The project would have provided a better pathway to bring local residents out of poverty if they engaged in those efforts from the beginning, he said.

I felt like it was a missed opportunity, Young said. It was already too late.

Renaissance

The investments are part of a concentrated effort in an area flagged for sustained investment.

The area located within the Hamilton Hill, Eastern Avenue and Vale neighborhoods has been granted a federal designation that allows greater flexibility in the use of federal Community Development Block Grant funding for projects and activities to promote revitalization.

The annual funding stream bankrolls everything from after school programming to homeless shelters.

Seventy-nine percent of the residents in the zone are designed as low- to moderate-income, with 39 percent of families living below the federal poverty level, according to a city report.

Part of the citys five-year housing plan for the area is to take down 30 blighted structures and facilitate 80 new construction and 80 rehabilitation units, among other metrics.

Hillside Crossing is nearing the finish line at the same time as the $20 million Renaissance Square project along Eastern Avenue.

Five new tenants moved into the renovated former St. Marys School on Irving Street last week, a structure that has been rehabilitated and outfitted with 25 new apartments.

Thirty of the units are in a new building across the street on Eastern Avenue, with construction slated to be completed in mid-May.

Developers project full occupancy by July.

Weve had very strong demand already at this point, said Adam Driscoll, development manager at Renaissance Square.

Recruitment for tenants for the two commercial ground-floor spaces is ongoing.

Next on deck for the developers is rehabilitation of the former Elmer Elementary School into a 51-unit senior community, a $20 million undertaking.

That effort will be a partnership between Home Leasing and Better Community Neighborhoods, Inc., the newly-minted entity that is the result of the merger between two non-profits earlier this year.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Children may not be as infectious in spreading SARS-CoV-2 to others as previously thought, according to new University of Manitoba-led research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

"Our findings have important public health and clinical implications," writes principal investigator Dr. Jared Bullard, associate professor, pediatrics/child health and medical microbiology/infectious diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba and associate medical director, Cadham Provincial Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba. "If younger children are less capable of transmitting infectious virus, daycare, in-person school and cautious extracurricular activities may be safe to continue, with appropriate precautions in place, and with lower risk to child care staff, educators and support staff than initially anticipated."

Fourteen researchers from multiple disciplines at the University of Manitoba, Cadham Provincial Laboratory, Manitoba Health and Seniors Care and the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory analyzed samples from 175 children and 130 adults in Manitoba infected with SARS-CoV-2 to see if there was a difference in infectiousness. Using cell cultures of nasopharyngeal swabs, they investigated viral loads in both groups to determine if children were more infectious.

"As an increasing number of jurisdictions consider whether in-school learning, daycares and extracurricular activities should continue or resume, a better understanding of the relative contributions of children and adolescents to SARS-CoV-2 transmission, when compared with adults, is essential," the authors write. "This is particularly important given the increased likelihood of asymptomatic infection in this group."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

More information: Jared Bullard et al. Infectivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in children compared with adults, Canadian Medical Association Journal (2021). Journal information: Canadian Medical Association Journal Jared Bullard et al. Infectivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in children compared with adults,(2021). DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.210263
[April 09, 2021] University of Phoenix Announces Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States 2021 Future Phoenix Scholarship

University of Phoenix and The Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States (EANGUS) We Care for America Foundation, the charitable arm of EANGUS, are accepting applications for the 2021 Future Phoenix scholarship program. Three full-tuition scholarships will be awarded to prospective students for the opportunity to pursue either a bachelor's or master's degree at University of Phoenix. EANGUS is the largest enlisted reserve component association with a mission to give a voice to the enlisted National Guard men and women, their families and retirees on Capitol Hill. University of Phoenix and EANGUS have teamed up since 2011, awarding dozens of scholarships to date, including full and partial tuition, to either current members or immediate family members of EANGUS. "We are pleased to continue this long-standing collaboration with EANGUS providing service men and women, and their families, the opportunity to pursue their educational goals," said Brian Ishmael, University of Phoenix vice president of military and veteran ffairs and strategic government partnerships. "Through these scholarships, we can recognize the dedication and the sacrifice made by EANGUS members in service to our country."



Prospective students must be members of EANGUS or the immediate family of a member. Applications for the scholarship will be accepted through April 23, 2021. Applicants are asked to write three short essays on educational goals, professional development and community service. The recipients of the scholarship are selected by a committee that reviews their essays and will be announced on May 21, 2021. To apply for the scholarship visit: University of Phoenix's Center for Scholarship Excellence - EANGUS Future Phoenix Scholarship 2021 (communityforce.com)

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. About EANGUS

The Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States (EANGUS) is the largest enlisted reserve component association with over 48,000 members. Founded in 1970, EANGUS' mission is to give a voice to enlisted National Guard men and women, their families, and retirees on Capitol Hill. EANGUS is headquartered in Alexandria, VA, with state associations or chapters in every state and territory. EANGUS WCFA is a 501(c)(3) organization and the charitable arm of EANGUS. Its emergency relief fund has approved more than 400 grants to enlisted personnel since 2005. For more information, visit www.eangus.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005086/en/

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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE: UEC) (the "Company" or "UEC") is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced offering of an aggregate of 3,636,364 shares of common stock of the Company (each, a "Share") at a purchase price of $3.30 per Share and for gross proceeds of $12,000,000 in a registered direct offering (the "Offering").

The Company offered and sold the Shares pursuant to a Securities Purchase Agreement, dated April 5, 2021, with certain institutional investors.

UEC anticipates that the net proceeds of the Offering will be used for additional uranium purchases and for general corporate and working capital purposes.

Following the closing of this offering, the Company has over $110 million in cash, equity and inventory holdings.

UEC's physical uranium initiative is fully funded with cash on hand and now includes 2.105 million pounds of U.S. warehoused uranium at a volume weighted average price of ~$30 per pound with deliveries between March 2021 to December 2022.

H.C. Wainwright & Co. acted as the exclusive placement agent for the Offering.

The Shares were offered by the Company pursuant to a prospectus supplement to the Company's effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-236571) previously filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and which became effective March 3, 2020. The Offering was made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus that form a part of the effective shelf registration statement. A prospectus supplement relating to the Offering was recently filed by the Company with the SEC. Electronic copies of the prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the Offering may be obtained from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov, or from H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC, 430 Park Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10022 by e-mail at: [email protected] or by telephone at: (212) 856-5711.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any state or jurisdiction. The securities being offered have not been approved or disapproved by any regulatory authority, nor has any such authority passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the prospectus supplement, the prospectus or the Company's shelf registration statement.

About Uranium Energy Corp

Uranium Energy Corp is a U.S.-based uranium mining and exploration company. As a leading pure-play American uranium company, UEC is advancing the next generation of low-cost and environmentally friendly In-Situ Recovery (ISR) mining uranium projects. In South Texas, the Company's hub-and-spoke operations are anchored by our fully-licensed Hobson Processing Facility which is central to our Palangana, Burke Hollow, Goliad and other ISR pipeline projects. In Wyoming, UEC controls the Reno Creek project, which is the largest permitted, pre-construction ISR uranium project in the U.S. Additionally, the Company's diversified holdings provide exposure to a unique portfolio of uranium related assets, including: 1) major equity stake in the only royalty company in the sector, Uranium Royalty Corp; 2) physical uranium warehoused in the U.S.; and 3) a pipeline of resource-stage uranium projects in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Paraguay. In Paraguay, the Company owns one of the largest and highest-grade ferro-titanium deposits in the world. The Company's operations are managed by professionals with a recognized profile for excellence in their industry, a profile based on many decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining.

Stock Exchange Information:

NYSE American: UEC

WKN: AJDRR

ISN: US916896103

Safe Harbor Statement

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable United States and Canadian laws. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans, "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as "forward-looking statements". Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, market and other conditions, risks that the Offering will not be completed, failure to satisfy the conditions to closing of the Offering, the actual results of exploration activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation or realization of mineral resources, the availability of capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the raising of capital through the sale of shares, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry including, without limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release. Certain matters discussed in this news release and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Federal securities laws. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Many of these factors are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and that could impact the Company and the statements contained in this news release can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

SOURCE Uranium Energy Corp

Related Links

http://www.uraniumenergy.com/


She left little to the imagination when she posed in a revealing for Instagram days earlier.

But Irina Shayk went in the opposite direction on Thursday when she arrived at the Michael Kors Fashion Show as part of New York Fashion Week.

The 35-year-old model was completely covered up thanks to a stylish blue overcoat decorated with wide gold pinstripes.

Blue mood: Irina Shayk, 35, stood out in a blue overcoat while chatting with Helena Christensen, Karen Elson and Bella Hadid at the Michael Kors show on Thursday for New York Fashion Week

Irina's enveloping coat reached all the way down to her ankles as she arrived to wait outside the venue.

Despite the jacket's haute couture origins, it featured a varsity-style letter stitched on the front as it was a high school athlete's coat.

While outside, Irina struck up some conversation with some of her model friends, including superstars Helena Christensen and Karen Elson.

The group had to wait outside of New York City's Booth Theatre as part of its Covid-19 precautions, so they stood and chatted while masked in a fenced-off area just outside the venue.

Covered up: Irina's enveloping coat reached all the way down to her ankles as she arrived to wait outside the venue

Old school: Despite the jacket's haute couture origins, it featured a varsity-style letter stitched on the front as it was a high school athlete's coat

Old pals: While outside, Irina struck up some conversation with some of her model friends, including superstars Helena Christensen, Karen Elson and Bella Hadid

In addition to Irina's long coat, she also wore a flowing white blouse that was untucked.

She contrasted it with simple black leggings that highlighted her toned legs, along with a pair of tall black boots.

She brought some of her own supplies with her in a black tote bag with a floral design on one side, and she also carried an orange creamcolored handbag over her wrist.

The ex of Bradley Cooper wore her brunette tresses tied up and held together with a hair clip.

Conservative: In addition to Irina's long coat, she also wore a flowing white blouse that was untucked

Back in black: She contrasted it with simple black leggings that highlighted her toned legs, along with a pair of tall black boots

Helena opted for a more casual look prior to the show with a brown, blue and white plaid shirt that she left unbuttoned over a low-cut white top.

She paired it with relaxed jeans and olive green flats while carrying a salmon-colored handbag.

She wore her brunette locks down over her shoulders in gentle waves and covered her face with a brown mask.

Karen looked stylish in a cheetah-print dress with a small brown cardigan atop it to stay warm.

She had on a small black handbag and had a black pair of sunglasses perched on her red hair.

Low key: Helena opted for a more casual look prior to the show with a brown, blue and white plaid shirt that she left unbuttoned over a low-cut white top

Comfy: She paired it with relaxed jeans and olive green flats while carrying a salmon-colored handbag

Also joining the group while they waited was Bella Hadid, who layered her loose-fitting ensemble with a milk chocolate leather vest over a pale blue men's dress shirt.

She added an edgier vibe to her look with loose black jeans and wore casual white Adidas trainers.

Like Irina, she had her dark brown hair tied back and held tight with a hair clip.

Fierce: Karen looked stylish in a cheetah-print dress with a small brown cardigan atop it to stay warm

Low key: layered her loose-fitting ensemble with a milk chocolate leather vest over a pale blue men's dress shirt

Later, Irina was spotted inside the venue as she had her makeup professionally applied.

The Russian-born beauty was made up in a modest fashion, and she let her hair down into a tightly slung low ponytail.

Irina has been busy lately as she modeled in the recent Mugler show and posed nude for Chanel behind the fashion house's iconic logo.

Sitting out her work event was her four-year-old daughter Lea, whom she shares with her former partner Bradley Cooper.

The amicable exes have been coming together regularly to co-parent their daughter, and every Thursday they take her out for Russian lessons.

Elegant: Later, Irina was spotted inside the venue as she had her makeup professionally applied
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YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian sent a condolence telegram over the death of Hirair Hovnanian, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President's Office.

''Armenia and the Armenian people lost one of their best offsprings. Famous American-Armenian philanthropist, public figure, businessman Hirair Hovnanian has passed away. He was an example of patriotism.

He was a person for whom Armenia was not a motherland of simple emotions, but an end goal of sincere devotion and loyalty, to which he served until the end of his life, served in the broadest meaning of that word.

Hirair Hovnanian had his contribution to various programs aimed at the development of Armenia and Artsakh, both as an individual and member of the Board of Trustees of ''Hayastan All-Armenian Fund'', and of course, as one of the founders of the Armenian Assembly of America and a long co-chair of the Board of Trustees, later honorable President.

I have had the fortune to personally know Hirair Hovnanian and his family. One should be able speak and think about Armenia like him, invest capacities for the benefit of Armenia and Artsakh like him.

He was loyal to his nationality and origin, memories about historical motherland and programs about the future of the motherland. He was loyal by nature, with deeds and life. He was loyal with his family and children

I offer my sincere condolences and words of sympathy to the Hovnanians'', reads the telegram.
[April 09, 2021] Facts And Figures Of Bob Eco (BOBC Token) After The Successful STO

HONG KONG, April 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The best potential financial aspect in a startup company is always at the very beginning of its journey. However, not all projects have what it takes to become a stable and profitable company. To succeed in letting a startup become a successful business it needs to differentiate from other startups in the same branch by implementing unique ideas into its entire business model and to enhance the effectiveness of its technical solutions and thus to increase its relevance to the market. Based upon above concept, the project of the Hong Kong based for profit Social Enterprise BoB Eco is built. STO Event Progress Using the platform STO-Cap, BoB Eco successfully raised over $12 million at a whopping $146 million valuation without having done any marketing. This caused the share value to rise from $0.005 to $1.46 a share. Mr Ultee foresees a larger growth coming in the next few weeks and months, because various medium sized and larger investors showed interest in this project. Marketing and financial experts valued the company already in a range between $1.2 and $1.5 billion dollars. This makes BoB Eco the first Social for Profit company that could reach the unicorn status. Mr Ultee indicates that he does not give any comment on valuations by third parties but admits that a valuation in that range could be reached rapidly due to the large interest in the company and the variety of investors BoB Eco reaches. The investors portfolio comprises eco investors, social investors, crypto investors and business investment groups. They speculate that the value of every BobCoin could easily rise to $10 - $12 dollars. In order to fully utilize the benefits of an STO, Mr Ultee already announced a limitation per transaction of 20,000 coins. Mr Ultee commented that BoB Eco also wants to grant the possibility to smaller investors to benefit, falling in the hands of large strategic whales is not our objective yet. Although he admits to have been negotiating with several companies and groups but with a limited number of coins per transaction. Mr Ultee explains this is a tactical choice, driven by the potential financial and strategic implications i might have.



Why STO? Mr Ultee assumes that things should be easy and clear for everyone to be able to improve their financial situation. To achieve this goal, BoB's project developers presented a structure that combined the best of two worlds  the worlds of digital and traditional financial instruments.

BOBC Token Holders Mr Ultee gives BoB Coins holders the opportunity to become co-owner and to add BoB to their social investment portfolio, meaning that BoB Coin holders do not need to seek projects for investing on their own. To simplify the process, Mr Ultee tokenised its investment portfolio. By buying BoB Coins (BOBC tokens) of projects in emerging markets, a token holder becomes co-owner of the BoB investment portfolio. The transparency of the entire Bob operation is guaranteed by the STO-Cap Authority. One of the key advantages of the technology is that it is impossible to change transactions in the ledger. As Information integrity guarantees transparency in the communication between a company and its investors. Mr Ultee went beyond offering simplified instruments. According to the project's representations, successful investments are not possible without proactive education. Thus, educational materials are constantly posted on the platform aiming at improving the level of financial literacy among users. About BoB Eco BoB Eco was founded by Bob Ultee, a Dutch serial entrepreneur and philanthropist. Mr Ultee shares the vision of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation concerning financial services for the poor. His goal is to expand access to financial services so the poorest people around the globe, their families and their communities can all prosper. Next to that Bob Eco declared war on pollution. Bob Eco still makes profit in order to create a viable business model, making Bob Eco a Social For Profit Company. Social links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-ultee-00197557 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BobEcoLtd/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr7ea3KYY7UUAD2iWowQGLw Media contact Company: Bob Eco Limited Contact Name: Bob Ultee E-mail: bobcoin@bob.eco Website: https://bob.eco/ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/650ffe74-89e9-4958-bcb3-cc8bebadeb8d



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The Serum Institute of India (SII) is legally compelled to ship coronavirus vaccine to global vaccine sharing facility COVAX, its co-lead Gavi has told Reuters, a provision that could complicate the firm's efforts to boost domestic supplies. India, where infections have surged to 13.06 million, suspended all major exports of vaccines last month to fill demand at home, forcing the world's biggest vaccine maker to divert nearly all its production to the domestic market.

"The agreement is legally binding and served as a basis for the first-round allocation document, which has been communicated to all participating economies," a Gavi spokeswoman said in an email. The pact specified Gavi would receive from SII 1.1 billion doses of either the AstraZeneca vaccine or that of Novavax, with 200 million committed, and the rest on option.

SII partner AstraZeneca has already issued it a legal notice over delays to other shipments, even as many Indian states have complained of a shortage facing priority recipients. Gavi said its pact with SII took effect when the World Health Organization approved the AstraZeneca shot on Feb. 15, after a source said SII had originally been supposed to send doses to COVAX only from May.

"SII has pledged that, alongside supplying India, it will prioritise the COVAX multilateral solution for equitable distribution," Gavi added. COVAX had expected a total of more than 100 million doses from SII between February and May, excluding supplies for India, but has so far received only about 18.2 million.

Serum has sent another 10 million doses to the Indian government through COVAX, Gavi said. Gavi did not respond on Friday to questions about what now lies ahead. SII also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. From an initial August target of vaccine coverage for 300 million of its highest-risk people, or just over a fifth of its population of 1.35 billion, India has upped the figure by about 100 million, adding pressure on SII to crank up supplies.

India could resume vaccine exports by June, the firm's chief executive, Adar Poonawalla, told media this week. The firm has also sought $403 million from New Delhi as a grant to boost monthly output to more than 100 million doses by end-May, from 65 million to 70 million now On Thursday, the foreign ministry said domestic demand would determine the extent of India's exports. It has already shipped 64.5 million doses and given out 92 million at home.

Also read: Australia, Philippines, African Union ban AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot

Also read: European data suggests 'very small risk' of blood clotting due to Covishield vaccine in India: Gagandeep Kang


SoC Power Spec Engineer Austin , Texas , United States Hardware Summary

Posted: Apr 7, 2021 Role Number: 200237358 Do you have a passion for crafting entirely new solutions? As part of our Digital Design Engineering group, you'll take imaginative and revolutionary ideas and determine how to turn them into reality. You and your team will apply engineering fundamentals and groundbreaking efforts, bringing forward-thinking ideas to the real world. Join us, and you'll help design the tools that allow us to bring customers experiences they've never before envisioned! You will be part of an exciting silicon design group that is responsible for designing state-of-the-art ASICs. We have an extraordinary opportunity for Power Spec Engineers. The SoC hardware development team is looking for an expert engineer to lead the implementation of low power architectures, power reduction techniques and methodologies. Key Qualifications We are looking for applicants with experience in low power architecture, ASIC design implementation for low power, ASIC physical design methodology.

Experience with low power logic implementation.

Experience with low power architecture techniques.

Familiarity with ASIC design flows.

Familiarity with physical design tools for power optimization.

Strong communication skills are a pre-requisite since you will collaborate with a lot of different groups. Description Imagine yourself at the center of our SOC design effort, collaborating with all fields, playing a strategic role of getting functional products to millions of customers quickly. You will have the opportunity to integrate and come-up with new ideas, as well as work with a team of hardworking engineers. The main responsibility of this role is to own SOC power specifications, and drive multi-functional teams to improve power efficiency. - Develop new techniques for power efficiency in our products. - Guide design implementation to achieve the power targets. - Create or improve new methodologies to improve power. - Maintain power roll-up and power spec at the chip level - Understand interactions of the product at the architecture and system level. - Drive the multi-functional power estimation and optimization with architecture, design and software teams. Education & Experience BSEE/MSEE or Computer Science required.


Giorgos Karaivaz, a veteran Greek television journalist who specialised in reporting on crime was shot dead on April 9 near his home in Athens. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) have expressed their alarm at the cold-blooded murder of a journalist and urged the authorities to investigate what appears to be a planned ambush and targeted killing.

According to preliminary reports, Giorgos Karaivaz, who worked for private TV station Star and also ran news blog bloko.gr , was shot several times by two men on a motorbike after parking his car near his home, in Athens, at around 2:30 PM.

First local media reports said that the killers may have used silencers as neighbours didnt hear the gunshots. Police have launched a manhunt for the perpetrators, who fled the scene immediately after the attack, and are interviewing potential witnesses in the area.

"The founder and owner of bloko.gr is no longer with us. Somebody chose to silence him, to stop him with bullets from writing his stories," bloko.gr media said.

According to reports , Karaivaz, who was one of Greece's most well-known crime reporters, was married and had a child.

Journalists Union of Athens Daily Newpapers (JUADN) said it is shocked by the murder and deplored the second murder of a journalist since 2010, when investigative journalist Sokratis Giolias, 37, was shot dead outside his home in Athens. Giolias was the director of the radio station Thema. He was lured out of his apartment by three men disguised as security guards who opened fire on him.



IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: "We're appalled by the news coming from Greece, where a journalist has been killed in broad daylight in a targeted attack. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.We will fight alongside our affiliates and all Greek journalists for justice."

EFJ President Mogens Blicher Bjerregard, said: "We are devastated by today's sad news, our deepest sympathy goes to his relatives. We will closely follow the investigation, impunity will not be tolerated."
MoneyTV with Donald Baillargeon television program, Copyright MMXXI, all rights reserved. MoneyTV does not provide an analysis of companies' financial positions and is not soliciting to purchase or sell securities of the companies, nor are we offering a recommendation of featured companies or their stocks. Information discussed herein has been provided by the companies and should be verified independently with the companies and a securities analyst. MoneyTV provides companies a 3 to 4 month corporate profile with multiple appearances for a cash fee of $6,950.00 to $11,995.00, does not accept company stock as payment for services, does not hold any positions, options or warrants in featured companies. The information herein is not an endorsement by Donald Baillargeon, the producer, publisher or parent company of MoneyTV.

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  The Department of Labor and Employment is targeting to hire around 5,000 displaced workers from the informal sector as contact tracers for 90 days under its emergency employment program.

"Inaasahan po natin na maumpisahan ang pagha-hire po next week," Director Ma. Karina Perida-Trayvilla of the DOLE's Bureau of Workers with Special Concern said in a briefing Friday.

[Translation: We expect to start hiring next week.]

They will be deployed to Metro Manila, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, and Bulacan or NCR Plus, which is under the strictest enhanced community quarantine until April 11 to help slow the surge in COVID-19 cases.

Initially, she said they were planning to hire 12,000 to 14,000 workers for 30 days. But upon learning that local governments require contact tracers to provide their services for three months, she said the number of new employees the DOLE could accommodate went down to "roughly 5,000" slots.

She also said the contact tracers' salary will be based on regional wage rates. For example, in Metro Manila, the daily minimum wage is P537.

Trayvilla said aspiring contact tracers can submit their applications to the Public Employment Service Office of their LGUs.

She added they are threshing out details on the hiring of additional contact tracers with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is a part of a coalition encouraging the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to continue letting states regulate insurance and protect residents from fraud, abuse and substandard health coverage.

Raoul is one of 22 attorneys general who filed the brief in connection with U.S. Department of Labor v. Data Marketing Partnership, a case in which the Department of Labor concluded that a program in which users received health insurance in exchange for sharing their internet browsing data failed to qualify as an employee benefit plan.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Greece's consumer prices continued to decline in March, data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority showed on Friday. Industrial production increased in March, separate report from the statistical office revealed. The consumer price index fell 1.6 percent year-on-year in March, following a 1.3 percent decline in February. Prices for housing declined 1.4 percent annually in March. Prices of transport decreased 1.2 percent and those of food and non-alcoholic beverages fell 0.6 percent. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 1.2 percent in March, after a 0.2 percent growth in the prior month. The EU measure of harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, fell 2.0 percent annually in March, following a 1.9 percent decline in the preceding month. On a monthly basis, the HICP rose 1.0 percent in March, following a 0.2 percent increase in the prior month. Separate data from the statistical office showed that the industrial production grew 4.4 percent annually in February, following a 3.5 percent gain in January. On a month-on-month basis, industrial production gained 2.5 percent in February, after a 2.9 percent decline in the prior month. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Enough vaccines have now been administered to fully vaccinate about 5% of the global population  but the distribution has been lopsided. Most vaccines are going to the wealthiest countries.



As of Thursday, 40% of the Covid-19 vaccines administered globally have gone to people in 27 wealthy nations that represent 11% of the global population. Countries making up the least-wealthy 11% have gotten just 1.6% of Covid-19 vaccines administered so far, according to an analysis of data collected by the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker.

In other words, countries with the highest incomes are vaccinating 25 times faster than those with the lowest.

Bloombergs database of Covid-19 vaccinations has tracked more than 726 million doses administered in 154 countries. As part of our effort to assess vaccine access around the world, the tracker has a new interactive tool measuring countries by wealth, population and access to vaccines.

The U.S., for example, has 24% of the worlds vaccinations but just 4.3% of the population, while Pakistan has 0.1% of the vaccine coverage for 2.7% of the global population. The pattern is repeated across the globe and follows efforts by wealthy countries to pre-purchase billions of doses of vaccines, enough to cover their populations several times over, according to a separate analysis of vaccine deals.

The U.S. is on track to cover 75% of its residents in the next three months. Meanwhile, nearly half of countries still havent reached 1% of their populations. The disparity calculations dont include more than 40 countries, mostly among the worlds poorest, that dont yet have public vaccination data. Those uncharted countries represent almost 8% of the global population.





In the U.S., the federal government determines where vaccines are sent. So far, each state has been allocated vaccines based on its population size. While there are differences in access from neighborhood to neighborhood, each state has a fair share roughly proportional to its number of residents.

A World of Difference



Theres no mechanism to ensure equitable distribution worldwide. If all of the worlds vaccines were distributed based on population, the U.S. would have administered nearly six times its fair share. The U.K. would have used up 7 times its population-weighted allotment (outpacing the EUs double-share). Topping the list are the UAE and Israel, with nine and 12 times their population-based share, respectively.

China has vaccinated its people at a rate thats roughly in line with the global average  administering 20% of the worlds vaccinations for 18% of the global population. It has also exported vaccines to less wealthy countries, sometimes at no cost.

The worlds least wealthy continent, Africa, is also the least vaccinated. Of its 54 countries, only three have have inoculated more than 1% of their populations. More than 20 countries arent even on the board yet.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday he will not back bills that would place curbs on transgender athletes and other proposals that would restric
MESSINA, APR 9 - Messina Mafia clans were hit by 33 arrests on Friday, police said. Some 21 were taken to prison, 10 placed under house arrest, and the remaining two ordered to report to police regularly. They were charged with mafia association, extortion, fraudulent transfer of assets, kidnapping, vote buying, grievous bodily harm, possessing and carrying illegal weapons, and drug trafficking. The police probe found that a recently released boss, in prison for 13 years, Giovanni Lo Duca, had taken back control of his clan in the eastern Sicilian port city. It also found that the Messina bosses held summits in a billiard hall. Another arrested boss, Salvatore Sparacio, received some 10,000 euros from local politician Natalino Summa ahead of municipal elections in June 2018. Police said they had found evidence that Cosa Nostra was returning to the lucrative drugs business. Among the clans' other activities, police said, was running protection rackets on nightclubs and discos at the heart of the Messina nightlife scene. (ANSA).
The French army is the latest buyer of Boston Dynamics' robot dog Spot, which it's using for training in combat scenarios.

Images have been shared by France's military school, the Saint-Cyr, of Spot with soldiers during military exercises.

The military school said Spot, and the 'robotisation of the battlefield', is helping 'raising students' awareness of the challenges of tomorrow'.

Spot, which is suited for indoor or outdoor use, can map its environment, sense and avoid obstacles, climb stairs and open doors.

It can undertake hazardous tasks in a variety of inhospitable environments such as nuclear plants, offshore oil fields and construction sites.

The nimble, four-legged robotic dog  which costs a whopping $75,000 (about 60,000)  was under development by Boston Dynamics for years.

It was finally made released in June last year  and one of the first customers was Elon Musk for his firm SpaceX.

The French army is the latest new user of Boston Dynamics' robot dog Spot, which it's using for training in combat scenarios

Spot is one of a number of robots being tested by French military students, according to French news website Ouest France.

'It is a robot which is sold well but especially for civil or police applications since the NYPD is currently testing it under the name of Digidog', said Clement Levilly at European distributor Shark Robotics, told Ouest France.

'It has also been tested for anti-covid decontamination missions.'

Spot is one of a number of robots being tested by French military students, according to French news website Ouest France

Spot, which is suited for indoor or outdoor use, can map its environment, sense and avoid obstacles, climb stairs and open doors

The Ecole speciale militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy located in Coetquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany

Saint-Cyr has applied Spot to three training scenarios  an offensive action with the capture of a crossroads, a defensive action by day and then at night and 'an action of urban combat'.

These actions were performed first without Spot and then with Spot to see the difference the robot dog made to the exercises.

Spot seems to be proving effective among the trainees, according to Ouest France.

A sub-lieutenant called Julien was quoted as saying: 'We are more serene if the robot has passed before to make a recce. But we take more time to act with robots.'

One of his comrades added: 'During the phase of urban combat without a robot, I was killed, but not the time when the robot carried out the reconnaissance.'

'When EMIA goes into battle with ground robots': France's military school, the Saint-Cyr, tweeted a picture of soldiers with Spot

Boston Dynamics told The Verge it was aware that its robots were being used with the French government, including the military.

Spot was announced by Boston Dynamics back in 2016 and underwent various trials before being released commercially on June 17, 2020.

Shortly after its launch last year, footage emerged of Spot patrolling a SpaceX test site in Boca Chica, Texas  suggesting multi-billionaire Elon Musk was one of the first customers.

In footage captured by Texas-based YouTuber LabPadre, the Boston Dynamics dog can be seen trotting through thick clouds of nitrogen next to the wreckage.

Leaked pictures also revealed a bright red dog house for the robot dog to sleep in, showing it has been rechristened 'Zeus' by Musk's firm.

Footage from YouTuber LabPadre emerged of the aftermath from SpaceX's intentional pressrure test. Eagle-eyed viewers spotted dog-like figure trotting through the nitrogen gas cloud

Spot has specifically been designed for business use  in fact, when a business buys a Spot unit, they have to acknowledge a stipulation in the terms and conditions that 'it's not certified safe for in-home use or intended for use near children'.

However, Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert previously said that Spot will soon be available for home use.

'We also have a project that I'm sure many of you are going to be very interested in, and that's cleaning up your house,' he said last year.

'Now, Spot isn't available yet for home use, but someday it will be.

'I think you're going to love the idea that the robot can be put in a room and use its vision system to identify your kids' clothing that's been lying around.'

Boston Dynamics' CEO Rob Playter told TechCrunch that the company had sold around 260 Spot units as of October 2020, but this has climbed to 400, the company revealed at the start of February.

Spot, the quadruped robot has been developed by Boston Dynamics. The firm says all of its sales will be subject to terms and conditions that dictate the 'beneficial use' of its robots

Earlier this year, Boston Dynamics revealed a new product line for Spot, including a self-charging version of the dog, called Enterprise Spot, and Spot Arm  a fifth limb that can grasp, carry and drag different objects.

Also announced was a web-based remote operations software, called Scout, that lets operators control a fleet of Spot dogs from a virtual control room in work-based settings such as storage facilities and warehouses.

The notoriously secretive company said potential customers can purchase Spot Enterprise, Scout and Spot Arm via its sales team, although it did not disclose prices.

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

'Since first launching Spot, we have worked closely with our customers to identify how the robot could best support their mission critical applications,' said Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics.

'Our customers want reliable data collection in remote, hazardous, and dynamic worksites.

'We developed the new Spot products with these needs in mind, and with the goal of making it easy to regularly and remotely perform critical inspections, improving safety and operations.'

Last month, Boston Dynamics unveiled a new machine to work in warehouses that can shift up 800 boxes per hour.

The robot  called 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 said.
Mumbai: In view of the alarming spike in COVID-19 cases in the state, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has called an all-party meeting on Saturday (April 10).

The government will take stock of the COVID-19 situation in the state.

The meeting will be attended by prominent leaders of the three parties involved in the Mahavikas Aghadi government, leaders of BJP, leaders of MNS, API, SP, and others.

The government is said to be mulling a lockdown just like last year.

Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Pravin Darekar said the decision to organise the all-party meeting was taken this afternoon.

"This decision was taken during the meeting held today to decide the postponement of MPSC exams scheduled for Sunday," he was quoted as saying by PTI.

When asked about the weekend lockdown, Darekar said the government should take a decision on financially supporting small businesses.

The state government has announced a 'strict lockdown' over the weekend which will start from 8 pm on Friday (April 9) and be in place till 7 am on Monday (April 12).

A night curfew has also been imposed in the state which will be in effect from 8 pm to 7 am daily. Essential services will be exempted from the restrictions.

As per the notification, essential services including medical, grocery, fruit, milk shops will be allowed to open. Hotels can run the delivery system.

Section 144 has also been imposed prohibiting the assembly of five or more people throughout the day.

Live TV
Hub International Ltd., a Chicago-based insurance broker, announced that it has acquired Wessex Financial Inc. in Canada.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Wessex Financial is an independent employee benefits, life and living benefits firm serving the family and business markets throughout Alberta. They specialize in association benefit planning, individual member services, critical awareness and financial literacy programs.

Wayne Wiebe, president of Wessex Financial, will join Hub International Canada West.

Source: Hub International

Topics Mergers Canada
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Friday that all schools in the national capital will remain shut in light of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar also announced the closure of schools in the state up to Class 8 till April 30.

"Due to increasing cases of Covid-19, all schools, government and private, in Delhi are being closed for all classes till further orders," Kejriwal tweeted on Friday.

     ,     (,  ),             - Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 9, 2021

This announcement comes at a time when COVID-19 cases are surging in New Delhi. The national capital has been registering record new infections daily for the past week. Just on Thursday, New Delhi had registered 7,437 fresh cases of COVID-19. This was the highest single-day spike since November 2020.

Last week, the national capital reported 4,684 COVID-19 cases on average each day. This is the highest seven-day average case count since December 1, 2020.

Meanwhile, in Haryana 2,872 people tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday. This was the state's highest single-day spike in the last four months.

"We are continuously keeping an eye on the situation. Yesterday the prime minister also held a press conference with all chief ministers. Directions have been givenwe will handle this on the basis of different cities. We will definitely have to be strict, a lot of things we have already said before to implement, social distancing, using masks, sanitization, reduce gatherings. We have also decided to close primary and middle schools until April 30," said Khattar, according to The Indian Express.

India reported 1,31,968 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours. Daily infections, which crossed one lakh for the first time on Sunday (April 4), this year, have now exceeded that mark four times in a week--April 6, April 7, April 8 and April 9.

Also Read: 'Was COVID-19 vaccine export an oversight?': Rahul Gandhi asks in letter to PM Modi

Also Read: COVID-19: 35 doctors test positive at AIIMS Delhi
Mexican Foreign Minister To Visit Russia, India, China, and U.S. To Secure Vaccines

April 8 , 2021 (EIRNS)Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced on April 6 that, on instructions of the President, he is preparing visits to Moscow, New Delhi, Beijing, and Washington. The official agenda of the trips is vaccines, but in todays global crisis, vaccine diplomacy can open many possibilities for broader discussions!

Ebrard said his mission is to ensure that the commitments made by vaccine producers in those countries are actually met, and, in the case of the United States, to seek greater commitments, even as the principal vaccine-producing countries are carrying out their own mass vaccination campaigns.

Mexico was the first country in Ibero-America to begin to receive vaccines, and even so, only at a rate that has allowed barely over half of its seniors to be vaccinated so far, along with health care workers. Officials are particularly concerned about vaccine supply over the next three months, as Mexico has the third-highest number of COVID deaths in the world, after only the United States and Brazil.

Ebrard made clear, this is not merely Mexicos problem. He warned that the difficulty of getting access to vaccines is growing. Inequality of access is also becoming more accentuated, and further stated, There are many countries who do not yet have accessincredible at this date.

Ebrard reviewed the agreements Mexico has reached with each country he is visiting.

Russia: Mexico has an agreement for 25 million doses of Sputnik V, of which Mexico has so far received 900,000. He thanked Russia greatly for this, given that Russias vaccination program for its own people is in full-swing right now, and despite that, they have sent us these doses.

China: Mexico has received 8 million doses of the SinoVac vaccine, and 1 million of the 9 million doses agreed on with CanSino. (The latter is interesting: Mexico is the only country where the final stage of the CanSino vaccine bottling is being done at a Mexican plant.)

India: Mexico has received AstraZeneca vaccines from Indias Serum Institute, but Ebrard reported that the Mexican authorities are expected to imminently approve the use of Cofepris, the first vaccine designed and developed by India, something he is very happy about.

United States: The U.S. has sent 2.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine it is holding in storage, as promised. Ebrard said he will thank Washington for that, while observing that the U.S. is its closest neighbor, and is moving at a good pace in their vaccination. It is important to us that they continue to support us.

Ebrard also said that, while he is not thinking of going to Argentina, the first lots of vaccines from the AstraZeneca plant now operating in Mexico as a result of a Mexican-Argentine agreement will be available by the end of April. That initiative, he said, is expected to provide the bulk of the vaccines available in May.
Government representatives must regularly visit the frontline positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donetsk and Luhansk regions to support our defenders, especially when there is an aggravation on the contact line, said President Volodymyr Zelensky during a working trip to Donbas.

"Ukrainian government representatives must be here. At least one by one. It is very important. It is important, above all, for the military. It is important for them to understand that they are supported by the government, that the government is not hiding in offices, but stays where it is really difficult. Where people are really heroes. Where people really determine the fate of Ukraine, defending it. Who will work in high offices if there is no one to defend the country?" the presidential press service quoted Zelensky as saying on Thursday.

The President noted that "today the security situation in the area of the Joint Forces Operation is deteriorating. Enemy snipers are shooting at the positions of the Ukrainian military, which leads to casualties and injuries among our warriors."

"We are visiting all these locations, where over the last period - from January 1 - there is the largest escalation and the largest number of complications with the regime of 'silence', the largest number of wounded and dead," said Zelensky, adding that since the beginning of the year 26 Ukrainians warriors have been killed.

In particular, the Head of State visited the positions of our military located 80 meters from the enemy.

On this section of the frontline, Ukrainian defenders are constantly fired at by enemy snipers, and the surrounding area is mined. The shelling destroyed the surrounding infrastructure.

In another area visited by the President, many soldiers have been killed in the last two weeks of escalation.

"It's a very complicated area. Four of our soldiers were killed by the invaders. Two more were wounded. That is six people. Unfortunately, there was such a situation, one soldier, who helped and rescued them, was killed by the mine explosion," Zelensky said.

He added that the servicemen are doing everything to protect the Ukrainian state and ensure a ceasefire.

"But we understand that when our warriors are attacked and there are casualties, everyone understands that the army is responsible," the president said.
Nambe Pueblo Gov. Phillip Perez, left, hands U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland a formal letter from the All Pueblo Council of Governors celebrating Haalands appointment to lead the federal agency during an April 6 round-table discussion at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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The Abia State Government said it has begun investigation to unravel the source and nature of suspected explosive devices found in Union Primary School, Afaraukwu Umuahia.

The Commissioner for Information, Okiyi Kalu, stated this in a statement issued in Umuahia on Thursday.

Mr Kalu said the state government has started working with relevant security agencies in the state concerning the development.

The statement explained that initial examination of the devices shows evidence of corrosion leading to suspicion of the materials being relics of the civil war era.

We are awaiting definite official report from the Explosives Ordnance Disposal squad of the Nigeria Police, who are currently investigating the incident.

He stated that necessary measures had been taken to protect the pupils and members of staff of the school with security sweeps ongoing.

He further stated that the government had temporarily closed the school.

Mr Kalu added that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu had directed security agencies to embark on proactive checks in other vulnerable locations in the state.

He said the government was grateful to God that no injury to life or property was recorded.

He urged residents to be vigilant and report suspicious situations to security agencies.

Abia State, like several other states in Nigeria, has been battling various security challenges, including gun attacks on police officers and police facilities. The state government has imposed curfew in some major cities as a preventive measure against further attacks.

At least six police officers have been killed by unknown gunmen in Abia in the past one month.

The last attack against police in the state occurred on March 22 when some yet-to-be-identified gunmen ambushed a police patrol team in Abiriba, Ohafia Local Government Area, killed three officers, set the patrol vehicle ablaze, and fled with the rifles belonging to the slain officers.

Two officers were killed on February 23 and some rifles stolen when gunmen attacked a police station in Aba.

Also, some gunmen on February 1 attacked Umuoba Police Station in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of the state and killed a police inspector.

(NAN)
Members of Moldova's parliament greenlighted the establishment of the commission on investigating the disappearance of Nikolay Caus, a former Ukrainian judge accused of corruption, Parliament Speaker Zinaida Greceanii said on Friday

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) Members of Moldova's parliament greenlighted the establishment of the commission on investigating the disappearance of Nikolay Caus, a former Ukrainian judge accused of corruption, Parliament Speaker Zinaida Greceanii said on Friday.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Monday that Caus, who escaped from Ukraine in 2016 to neighboring Moldova to seek political asylum, went missing. According to the Moldovan interior ministry, the ex-judge was kidnapped by foreigners and transported back to Ukraine.

"Most members of the parliament have voted for the initiative to create a parliamentary commission on investigating the circumstances of former Ukrainian judge Nikolay Caus' kidnapping," Greceanii said during a parliamentary session.

The commission includes nine parliamentarians from different fractions who have been charged to look into the situation.

The incident is believed to constitute a threat to the country's internal security, making urgent the need to find out if the security services of Moldova were involved in the disappearance.

Caus was detained in August 2016 in Ukraine when receiving a bribe for adjudication in favor of a defendant. In the following month, the ex-judge left the country before Ukraine's parliament sanctioned his arrest which was earlier impossible due to judicial immunity. Caus' request for political asylum in Moldova was rejected, but he contested the decision. Moldova's court plans to consider the issue in late April.

On Wednesday, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Kiev was not involved in Caus' kidnapping.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):---The Fire Department/Office of Disaster Management, and the Meteorological Department of Sint Maarten (MDS), are closely monitoring developments on the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with respect to the La Soufriere Volcano. The volcano does not pose a threat to Sint Maarten.

According to the St. Vincent National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO), the steaming/smoking at the volcano has increased, however, the alert level remains at Orange.

The La Soufriere Volcano stands 3,864 feet above sea level. According to the Seismic Research Unit (SRU) of the University of the West Indies, there have been five explosive eruptions at the volcano during the following historical period: 1718, 1812, 1814, 1902/03 and 1979.

The most recent dome building (effusive) eruption of the volcano began on December 27, 2020. Visual observations confirmed that high temperatures detected by satellites used to track wildfires were in fact caused by magma reaching the surface.

According to the SRU situation report of Thursday, at this stage, it is unlikely that the volcano will impact other islands, however, should the eruption escalate, volcanic ash may be emitted and may impact neighboring islands. During the 1979 eruption, volcanic ash was reported in southern St. Lucia and Barbados.

The Sint Maarten Fire Department/Office of Disaster Management and the MDS, will continue to monitor the situation and update the general public with respect to any new developments.
From April, 2020, to January, 2020, there were 2360 incidents and issues logged at hotel quarantine sites according to the review. The report states about 3.5 per cent of these incidents were classified as assaults which would translate to about 80 individual cases. The highest frequency of incidents was classified as other, accounting for about a third of all reports, which were in relation to items being left outside of quarantine rooms or the interception of contraband intended for guests. One-fifth of all incidents was in relation to guests not being compliant with quarantine regulations by opening their doors or coming out of their room.

Dr Weeramanthris report said there was limited data available to describe the experiences of quarantine guests and suggested there needed to be a more robust and concerted effort to take on board their feelings and thoughts. A follow-up review of the hotel quarantine environment from the perspective of guest and staff

safety and wellbeing is warranted, he wrote. It could take 2-3 months to include time for detailed consultation with both guest and staff groups to elicit their experience, feedback and ideas for improvement. Such a review would also explore in detail the social and societal factors underpinning employment and workplace relations in the hotel, security, cleaning and catering professions that are at the frontline of hotel quarantine operations. Four hundred and nine out of 37,408 guests to have gone into hotel quarantine since March 2020 became positive cases for COVID-19 while in isolation.

Hotels a collection of workplaces with no single culture Professor Tarun Weeramanthri who reviewed WAs hotel quarantine system. Credit:Peter de Kruijff Dr Weeramanthri found there was a separation of the various workforces  hotel, security, health care, police, and defence staff  who make up each quarantine site with none directly employed by the hazard management authority, who is the current CHO Andy Robertson, and none of its staff stationed on-site. There is no hotel quarantine site in WA which is a single workplace, he wrote. Rather, each site is a collection of workplaces, varying by employer. Neither is there a single culture, which is particularly important when considering workplace safety.

As currently stands, each hotel manager is meant to be responsible in some way for their hotel quarantine site, but cannot direct security or staff from other agencies, even in an incident or crisis. The level of formality for security arrangements is higher than that for hotel management arrangements, as contracts have been issued for the former but not the latter. The report stated external providers involved in the system were told about the State Health Incident Coordination Centres clear expectations for its roles and responsibilities but this were not often formalised or put in writing. Dr Weeramanthri recommended the state hire on-site managers to oversee quarantine sites and provide a distinction from the hotel hired managers who lacked authority. The government has advertised for 15 full-time on-site managers in a job ad which closed on March 23.

The roles are six-month contracts with compensation of $119,725 to $128,033 per annum. Quarantine workers not treated the same The state government came under fire at the start of the year for not mandating weekly testing of quarantine bus drivers who could also work on community routes at the same time. Drivers are now tested weekly but Dr Weeramanthri recommended a further look be taken at protocols given hotel and airport workers were also subject to daily saliva tests when bus drivers were not. The quarantine drivers can operate for extended periods, within relatively confined spaces, and in close proximity to international travellers who potentially have COVID-19, he wrote.

However, the testing protocols differ to other workers within the hotel quarantine arrangements, and it is unclear whether this is based on an assessment of the risk of potential exposure. Should WA even be using hotels? Holes in the hotel quarantine system across Australia have been progressively plugged but WA authorities have maintained it is the best the state can muster with no viable alternatives like the Northern Territorys Howard Springs facility. Dr Weeramanthri said his review had focused on making the existing hotel quarantine model more effective rather than look at the potential for new models. There were many issues that came up, such as hot hotels, new testing strategies and greater use of CCTV and other technologies, that warrant ongoing examination as possible modifications to the existing WA model, he said.

Other more radical changes, such as purpose-built quarantine sites, akin to Howard Springs in the NT, or utilisation of alternate existing sites, could also be examined. Loading Quarantine systems could still be needed for some time to come with Australias post-COVID future set to last years according to Dr Weeramanthri. In any scenario, quarantine will be required in some form, as it will be impossible to confidently exclude COVID-19 in all international travellers until transmission is reduced across the globe, vaccination is widespread in all countries and highly effective against all variants, and we have accurate tools to verify immunity, he said. Surveillance for new strains will need to continue, and proof of vaccination alone will be insufficient to guarantee unrestricted entry to Australia.

In WA, the best defences against COVID-19 will remain borders, vaccination, quarantine, contact tracing and outbreak management (including lockdowns). It may be possible to return to a full state of economic normality with few if any state border restrictions, and an international quarantine system that is optimised to support the return of Australians living abroad, international students, seasonal workers, tourists and business visitors. Government accepts all recommendations Mr McGowan said the state disaster council had endorsed the review on Friday which had prompted its release. The government supports all the recommendations with several already implemented and significant progress made on others, he said.

The large and demanding nature of the hotel quarantine arrangements requires robust processes as ... it is a constantly changing and challenging environment. The review acknowledges the states highly successful response to COVID-19. But given hotel quarantine may be needed for the coming months and possibly years, as this virus continues to mutate, now is the right time to ensure our system is able to evolve, adapt and meet future demand. WA Premier Mark McGowan and Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson. Credit:Peter de Kruijff Dr Robertson said the government had made progress on putting CCTV into a number of hotels so more quarantine staff did not need to be stationed on the same floors as guests at all times. We may still require some security guards on the floor, but we may be able to reduce the numbers or be able to operate more remotely, he said.

Lawyers looking into workers only being allowed at quarantine sites if vaccinated Health Minister Roger Cook said consultation was still ongoing with state solicitors and companies involved in the quarantine system around a model where workers were only allowed on-site if they had been vaccinated. I think last year, during a particularly difficult flu season, that we put in place a model whereby we required all residential aged care workers and visitors to have received the flu vaccine before they entered a residential aged care facility. Thats a similar model were looking at, he said. What we are looking at is a situation whereby we will require people going to certain parts of a quarantine hotel, lets call them a red zone for one of a better description. People in that particular zone will need to have been vaccinated before they can enter that area. So were not telling people they have to be vaccinated, what we are saying if you are going to be in that zone, you need to be vaccinated.
An Air Force commander in charge of the maintenance squadron at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, was removed from her post last month after top leadership at the base determined her performance was inadequate.

Col. Jose E. Sumangil, commander of the 7th Bomb Wing, removed Lt. Col. Kristen Shadden as head of the 7th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron on March 29 for loss of confidence in her ability to lead. Shadden had assumed command of the squadron on June 28, 2019.

"As the commander of the 7th Bomb Wing, I do not take this decision lightly," Sumangil told Military.com in a statement. "At this time, our focus is on taking care of our airmen and ensuring a safe and disciplined work environment."

Related: Charles Coolidge, Medal of Honor Recipient Who Fought Boldly in WWII, Dead at 99

A spokesperson for the wing would not provide additional details on the removal, citing only loss of confidence, a term the military uses to explain a firing without naming a specific reason.

"Lt. Col. Shadden has been temporarily reassigned to a different unit at Dyess while her follow-on assignment is being determined," spokesman Tech Sgt. David C Scott-Gaughan said in an email.

An interim commander has been assigned to the squadron until the new CO can make a permanent change of station move to Dyess, Scott-Gaughan said. He did not disclose the identity of either officer.

The 7th Bomb Wing oversees B-1 Lancer bomber operations from Dyess. The wing is responsible for producing combat-ready aircrews in the Air Force's only B-1B formal training unit.

According to a February service news release, Shadden and her squadron were instrumental in readying the B-1s for a deployment to Norway while also battling effects from winter storm Uri.

The storm crippled dozens of military facilities across Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Louisiana with freezing temperatures and subsequent power grid failures.

"We had to get the aircraft deployed," Shadden said in the release. The bombers and roughly 200 airmen arrived at rland Air Force Station, Norway, on Feb. 24.

"We, as the 7th Bomb Wing, had committed to the combatant commanders that we were going to have four aircraft that deployed to Norway, and that was the goal," she said. "We had to make sure we had all these aircraft, including spares, available so that we could get these aircraft launched out on time."

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Related: Airlift Wing Commander Fired Amid Allegations of Inappropriate Relationship
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-08 20:27:29|Editor: huaxia

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People walk on a commercial street in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A year after Wuhan lifted its lockdown, the Chinese city that witnessed a landmark victory against the coronavirus outbreak continues to inspire the world by shining as a post-pandemic "safe zone."

The megacity in central China's Hubei Province has not reported any locally transmitted COVID-19 cases for the past 10 consecutive months, a remarkable feat considering the raging spread of the virus and its variants globally, and the sporadic cluster infections in some other Chinese cities.

The city has not been vocal against all the groundless and politically motivated mud-slinging, conspiracy theories and scapegoating by the West, but has instead spent its energy on a more pragmatic agenda: building up a long-term defense to protect local people.

What could be the antibodies Wuhan has gained? The answers are not surprising. Building on its initial success against the virus, the city has continued to strengthen its grassroots response system, and the government-led initiatives from mass testing to mass vaccination have received resolute cooperation from the public.

First, by firmly enforcing quarantine rules and offering free testing to the entire city, Wuhan has effectively doused community sources for virus resurgences.

After new infections petered out, the city of 11 million people became the first in the world to test its entire population except for young children in May last year. The drive found only 300 asymptomatic cases, who were immediately quarantined. The swift testing helped lift the city's psychological lockdown and expedited the resumption of life and work.

Second, the city has firmed up its immune cells. In the past year, Wuhan set up teams for epidemiological investigation, disinfection, testing and epidemic control each comprising around 1,000 members, as well as a support group of 10,000 "assistant investigators." The use of big data and other digital technologies helped achieve efficient coordination to nip new threats in the bud.

Third, the city has not lowered its guard since it lifted the lockdown. Wuhan ordered weekly nucleic acid testing on workers handling imported frozen foods after reports of the virus found on cold-chain products. It has conducted daily tests on public spaces including markets, public vehicles and hospitals, with all 760,000-plus environmental samples collected since July 30 testing negative.

Finally, Wuhan residents, who made great sacrifices during their fight against COVID-19, have continued to endorse and cooperate with government initiatives including the ongoing vaccination drive. They have stood in solidarity with the city and showed genuine trust in the Chinese model of epidemic containment.

People take pictures at an old street in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

About 3.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Wuhan and more than 149 million doses nationwide, as China builds a new shield against the virus. Meanwhile, China is helping other countries fight the pandemic with its vaccines and medical supplies, a sharp contrast to certain developed countries' self-centered approach of vaccine nationalism.

The heroic city of Wuhan has shown a strong economic recovery under regular epidemic control, as hefty investments continue to pour in. This reflects the robust and sustained economic recovery of China, which targets a growth rate of over 6 percent in 2021. In its latest report, the International Monetary Fund projected that the Chinese economy will grow by 8.4 percent this year, indicating China will continue to be a major contributor to the world's economic recovery.

Wuhan's victory against the intractable epidemic, along with the strategic outcomes of the entire country in this regard, has heralded a beacon of hope for a world struggling with the pandemic. It also proves that the hard-won success can be maintained through political resolution, social unity and painstaking efforts from every individual.

According to a report on the global tracing of COVID-19 origin recently released by the World Health Organization, "some of the suspected positive samples were detected even earlier than the first case in Wuhan, suggesting the possibility of missed circulation in other countries."

Wuhan has pulled through the epidemic ordeal and suffered so many groundless accusations involving the virus source. Just as the WHO report has indicated, science and time will give the Chinese city its due credit and respect, and its major sacrifice and contribution in the fight against the virus will gain more recognition internationally. 
London: A Welshman who shipped himself home from Australia in a crate has launched an appeal to find two Irish men who helped seal him inside it.

Brian Robson, 75, from Cardiff, was 19-years-old and working in Melbourne for Victorian Railways when he says became homesick.

Robson was in the country on an assisted immigration program in 1964. The Irish Times this week reported he wouldve had to repay around 700 to the government if he returned home early. Thats about 12,000 in todays money - or $21,000.

Stiff and limping, home-sick Welshman Brian Robson, then 19, tried to air freight himself to Cardiff from Melbourne but ended up in Los Angeles in 1965. Credit:Getty Images

It said he was earning just 40 a month and so hatched a plan to send himself home in a wooden crate via Qantas air freight in 1965. He is currently seeking the two Irish men who helped him carry out the plan, the Irish Times said.
The large snake that caused a panic among visitors to Pittsburghs Frick Park on Tuesday and was subsequently identified as a black rat snake, while surprisingly long to some who saw it, is a common and widespread species across most of Pennsylvania.

It is one of the most common snakes in Pennsylvania, noted Chris Urban, nongame, threatened and endangered species coordinator with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

The garter snake is the most common snake species in the state, but after that the most common are the black rat snake, the northern watersnake and the diminutive northern ringneck snake.

The black rat snake, also known as the eastern rat snake, is considered common and doing very well across the Commonwealth, said Urban.

A recent survey of reptiles and amphibians in the state found rat snakes nearly everywhere except the extreme northern tier and some areas in the southeastern and southwestern corners of Pennsylvania. It is believed to be resident everywhere in the state.

The snake photographed on Tuesday likely is not the only one of its kind in Frick Park. It definitely is not the only black rat snake in Pittsburgh.

According to the commission, the species prefers hardwood forests, wooded valleys and hillsides, but might feel just as welcome in an old field, barnyard or active farmland. It is regularly spotted in residential areas.

Although its seen frequently, the black rat snakes length  as much as 100 inches  can be startling to those not familiar with the species.

Its ability to climb into trees and shrubs easily and speedily, in search of both prey and shelter, also can have an alarming impact on unprepared observers. The snake uses small angles protruding from its belly scales to grip the rough bark of a tree or shrub.

The snake hunts on and off the ground. Young of the species may feed on treefrogs, but adults target mice, other small mammals, birds and their eggs.

It is a constrictor that squeezes its prey to death and swallows it whole.

While the black rat snake poses no threat to humans or most of our pets, it will strike when it is cornered. It also will twitch its tail in mimicry of a rattlesnake.

The commission provides the following description of the species.

The black rat snake is plain, shiny black. The skin between its scales may be bluish white, yellow, red or orangish, although this coloration is not always evident. The belly of the black rat snake is an even shade of white or yellow with darker mottling of gray or brown. The belly becomes more slate gray as it approaches the tail. The chin and throat areas are a toneless white or cream.

The head of the black rat snake is clearly defined in relation to the neck and body. A flattened snout seems to emphasize the heads squarish appearance. Also, the black rat snake does not have the rounded or tubular body common to most snakes. Its belly is flat, meeting the sides at an angle. If one could imagine it viewed from the end, it would resemble a loaf of bread rather than appear circular. The black rat snake has a divided anal plate. The scales are only weakly keeled.

The young black rat snake is deeply patterned down the back and onto the tail. The vivid dark-gray or brown blotches contrast strongly at first with the paler gray body tones, but as the snake grows the pattern darkens. By the time the snake approaches 3 feet in length (about 2 years old) these markings are often lost, and it has assumed the uniform black appearance of the adult black rat snake. The pattern, on close examination, can sometimes still be seen.

Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.
There was an outpouring of grief across the country today as news emerged that the Duke of Edinburgh had passed away.

Members of the public congregated outside the gates of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle as they reacted to the announcement that the 99-year-old had died.

There were emotional scenes as mourners gathered to pay tribute and reflect, and queued to leave floral tributes to the Duke outside the royal households in the aftermath of the news.

But the palace encouraged the public not to congregate outside the gates in large crowds amid coronavirus restrictions, as mounted police asked people to obey socially distancing measures.

There were emotional scenes as mourners gathered to pay tribute and reflect outside Buckingham Palace

A mourner shed a tear outside Buckingham Palace after it was announced that Prince Philip had passed away

A woman wearing a Union flag face masks wipes away tears as she sits outside Windsor Castle on The Long Walk in Berkshire

People were visibly distraught after hearing the news this afternoon

People stand in line to leave flowers in front of the gate of Buckingham Palace

A youngster left a bunch of flowers outside the gates of Buckingham Palace after the sad news broke this morning

Members of the public congregated outside the gates of Windsor Castle today

Members of the public laid floral tributes at the gates of Buckingham Palace

The mood was sombre outside Buckingham Palace this afternoon, as floral tributes were left at the gates

People paused for a moment of reflection outside the royal household in London today

People gathered outside the gates of Buckingham Palace in London after the news

People stand in line to leave flowers and view an announcement regarding the death of Prince Philip

A minute's silence also took place at Aintree race course ahead of the Grand National meet this afternoon.

There was a two-minute silence just before the first race at Aintree at 1.45pm, with jockeys invited to wear black armbands and the Union flag above the grandstand flying at half-mast.

People have also taken to social media to praise the Duke's commitment to royal duties, and share their anecdotes of meeting him at official engagements.

TV presenter Matt Barbet wrote on Twitter: 'Im sad to hear of the death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. I met him once at Buckingham Palace and having been introduced to him already I later found myself standing next to him.

'Not knowing protocol I put my hand out. Im not shaking your bloody hand again! was his response.'

Another social media user wrote: 'RIP Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. What a life youve led. I dont think the Queen couldve done it without you. You were the brightest jewel in her crown.'

Radio presenter Rachel Chew tweeted: 'Is it just me crying reading the Prince Philip tributes?'

Natasha Brown, from Leeds, added: 'I'm crying my eyes out, it feels like its your own granddad that has passed. RIP Your Royal Highness Prince Philip. My heart breaks for Her Majesty.'

A member of the public leaves flowers outside Buckingham Palace

Parents took their children to the palace to leave flowers in tribute to the Duke

Scores of roses were left outside the palace gates in London by well-wishers

The nation came together in mourning for Prince Philip this afternoon

The gathering outside Buckingham Palace was a socially-distanced affair today
MIDLAND, MI - Pitmaster Doug Maxon has always had a vision for whats next in BBQ.

He first showed off his skills to us in 2018 while we were on the search for Michigans Best BBQ. He was operating his Maxons Blue Country Barbecue food truck at Four Leaf Brewing Company in Clare, where he was the head brewer at the time.

We loved the sweet rub on his spare ribs, and the heat of his tri-tip tacos, plus creative homemade sides.

We said: We hope he gets a chance to open a restaurant soon because they are an emerging player in the Michigan BBQ scene.

READ: Michigans Best: 15 rising stars of our BBQ scene

READ: 40 of Michigans Best BBQ restaurants you must visit

In May of 2019 that dream came true, and he opened a place on East Remus Road (M-20) west of Mt. Pleasant.

He grew his following, and maintained a steady business during the pandemic.

But his food truck was dormant.

It sat empty the entire past year, Maxon said in a recent interview with MLive. We wanted to find a spot to implement it.

Less than two weeks ago he found a spot in a parking lot in Midland, and in a quick turnaround, he launched a new BBQ concept, and a food truck court to attract others.

We literally designed the concept, idea and menu in less than four days and set it up for the first time last weekend, he said We had our hurdles. But we cant wait to get right back at it.

Smoke in a Bowl

Smoke in a Bowl is the name of his new food truck. It is a build-your-own BBQ bowl.

Customers pick a base, such as rice, smoked potatoes or fire roasted mixed veggies, then pick a protein like chopped brisket, pulled pork, barbacoa, tofu, etc., and pick their toppings. You can also add their traditional house sauces.

We believe in all fresh ingredients, Maxon said. And we hope these bowls display that creative side of BBQ and smoked foods we dont always get to tap into.

He is operating it as a creation of Blue Country Barbecue because we use all our product, employees and licensing, he added. We wanted something cool and fun.

The official debut of the new truck is this weekend at The Crossroads Food Truck Park, located at 37 S. Meridian Road, in a parking lot at the crossroads of M-20 and M-30, just west of downtown Midland.

The food truck court had a soft opening last weekend, but it kicks into high gear for the summer this weekend. It plans to be open seven days a week.

A chili cookoff is scheduled among five food trucks at 4 p.m. Saturday, April 10.

Smoke in a Bowl is open from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday (April 9) and 4-9 p.m. Sunday (April 11) at the Crossroads.

He has invested a lot of time in making the new location an attraction for the local community.

We stumbled upon the lot, and the idea got tossed around to try and make it a community park, rather than just us, he said. We were lucky enough to get the ball rolling, and it hasnt stopped.

Born in Mt. Pleasant, Maxon grew up in Bakersfield, Calif., before moving back and graduating from Chippewa Hills High School. He spent time in the Marines and retired in 2015. He learned to BBQ from a good friends dad in Houston, Texas.

We were stationed together eight years in the military, and his dad would always visit and smoke brisket, he said.

In 2013 he visited them in Houston after a deployment to Afghanistan and stayed for a week.

We sat around and smoked meats all week. I was hooked. Went back to California and bought my first smoker.

Hes excited to launch new products all the time. In fact, he bought a SnoWizard machine in New Orleans to debut Southern-style SnoBalls next month at Maxons Blue Country BBQ.

Most of all hes excited to launch Smoke in a Bowl, as well as the Crossroads Food Truck Park.

With the last year in the restaurant industry, we hope to provide a safe, fun, outdoor alternative with the food truck park, he said.

We went with the concept because we believe in it, and still want to have other traditional BBQ trailers frequent the park.

The crew at Maxon's Blue Country BBQ in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Employee Ryan Ambs, a student at Western Michigan University and graduate of Beal City High School (far left) will run the Smoke in the Bowl Food Truck in Midland for owner Doug Maxon (far right).Photo provided by Doug Maxon

IF YOU GO

Smoke in a Bowl

37 S. Meridian Road at The Crossroads Food Truck Park

More on Facebook page: facebook.com/SmokeInaBowl

Park is open 7 days a week 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Lineup is updated on Tuesdays.

More info on Facebook at The Crossroads Food Truck Park

Maxon's Blue Country BBQ in Mt. Pleasant will remain open with a full menu while owner Doug Maxon launches his new Smoke in a Bowl truck at the new Crossroads Food Truck Park in Midland, Michigan.Photo provided by Doug Maxon

Maxons Blue Country BBQ

20 E Remus Rd, Mt Pleasant, MI 48858

989-317-3051

Open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday-Sunday with a full BBQ menu and sides

More info at https://www.facebook.com/MaxonsBCQue

This is a BBQ platter from Maxons Blue Country BBQ in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Owner Doug Maxon is opening a new Smoke in a Bowl food truck that will operate in Midland this summer.John Gonzalez

If you know of other great food trucks in Michigan or you want to suggest a future search for Michigans Best, email me. John Gonzalez: gonzo@mlive.com

Or you can email Amy Sherman: asherma2@mlive.com

The Hard Knocks Food Truck in Grand Ledge, Michigan, is parked in front of Sanctuary Spirits. It is open this Spring from 4-8 p.m. Fridays. Cash only.John Gonzalez

More Michigans Best

Michigans Best Ultimate Fish Fry Guide 2021

Northern Michigan brewery closes its kitchen: We are all bummed to abandon such a killer menu

The Codfather Part II: Fans waiting up to two hours for fish at this food truck

Michigans first gluten-free brewery to open this summer

Sip these Michigan beers to celebrate spring

MLive reporters Amy Sherman, left, and John Gonzalez laugh as they pose with donuts at Blueline Donuts, located at 605 Garland Street inside of Carriage Town Ministries on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020 near downtown Flint. (Jake May | MLive.com)Jake May | Mlive.com

Follow our Michigans Best adventures on social media:

@mlivemibest on Twitter

@mlivemibest on Instagram

Facebook at MLiveMIBest.

Join in by using the hashtag #mibest. Our most recent search was for Michigans Best Fish Fry.

In addition:

Amy Sherman is on Twitter @amyonthetrail, as well as Facebook and Instagram @amyonthetrail.

John Gonzalez is on Twitter @michigangonzo, as well as Facebook and Instagram @MichiganGonzo.
What classical music conductor Garrett Keast remembers most from his first major international appearance isn't the prestige of the organization (the Opera National de Paris), the size of the crowd (some 3,000 audience members) or the fact that he was a relatively unknown 39-year-old American directing a French opera on a stage that draws the worlds top talent.

Instead, it was the rapid-fire questions orchestra members began peppering him with as soon as the curtain dropped for a set change.

LIVE ARTS RETURN: Houston's Miller Outdoor Theater is finally set to reopen

Maestro, maestro, one musician asked, how do you like the orchestra?

Maestro, maestro, another chimed in, we heard you live in New York City?

But a first violinist piped up with a remark that still makes Keast chuckle a decade later: Maestro! You look like Joey from Friends!

That really broke the ice with that orchestra, Keast says. They were really interested in me, this American conducting this big famous French opera. Its moments like that working internationally where you realize that there are good-natured people everywhere. Ever since then, its felt like this dream career could come true.

In many ways, it has.

Keast, whos originally from Houston and is now based in Berlin, has since become a sought-out guest conductor for major orchestras and operas around Europe and the United States: the Tonkunstler Orchester Vienna, the Finnish National Opera & Ballet, the Atlanta Symphony and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, just to name a few.

The pandemic hasnt slowed him down much, either. When most of his 2020 performances were cancelled, Keast decided to immerse himself into a longtime passion: music from his homeland.

With the help of Rosie Salvucci, another Berlin-based classical musician originally from Texas, Keast founded the Berlin Academy of American Music, a chamber orchestra focused on American repertoire. The initiative features some well-known talent in Europes classical music circles and has already recorded its first CD, which is scheduled to be released in October.

Im always trying to be a cultural bridge between the U.S. and Europe in a more thoughtful way, Keast says. Its important for European audiences to recognize that there is great American music, and that the U.S. is still a beacon for creativity and thought, even through these difficult political times.

On Familiar Turf

Kiran West

Keasts next appearance brings him back to the familiar turf of his home state. On Friday and Saturday, he will guest conduct with the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. Watch a livestream of Saturday's performance here with access starting at $21.

Keast, who doesnt own a car in Berlin, has to get used to Texass notoriously aggressive drivers every time he comes back.

Im going 80 in the left lane and this guy is literally inches from my bumper, he reports while heading west on I-10. Even so, Keast cherishes every trip to Texas  tailgating motorists and all. This is where it all started, he says. Texas is home.

Growing up in Spring Branch, Keast remembers being fascinated by music from a young age. In elementary school, he sang in several musicals and choirs, but his interest soon shifted to instrumental music  and, more specifically, the person on the podium holding the baton.

Keast met two of his most influential mentors in Houston: Stephen Stein, then the Houston Symphonys conductor in residence, and Christoph Eschenbach, its music director from 1988-1999.

I was around this very high level of music making day in and day out, he says. Being around these world-class musicians became normal for me.

Keast then moved to New York in 2000, eventually becoming associate conductor of the New York City Opera and resident conductor of the Queens Symphony Orchestra.

The connections I made in Houston made things like that happen, he says.

Things were happening in his personal life, too. He met his wife, Meghan, while they were both working at an upscale Midtown restaurant: she as a sommelier; he, secretly waiting tables until he could support himself full-time as a conductor.

Meghan recognized early on in our relationship this was going to be a big undertaking with a long time frame, to build a major career, Keast says. I could not be more fortunate or thankful to have Meghan supporting me. I dont think I would have made it this far at all without her.

New Global Goals

Kiran West

Keasts Houston connections continued to elevate his career on a global stage. With Eschenbachs help, Keast secured an assistant conductor position in Paris and then Hamburg. Then, Keast won a full-time conducting position at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In 2011, he and Meghan, newly married, moved to the German capital.

In a normal year, Keast conducts dozens of performances. But when the pandemic hit, Keast used the unexpected free time as an opportunity to dig deeper into his love of American composers.

Over the summer, as the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum in the United States, Keast took a closer look at Songfest, by legendary American composer Leonard Bernstein. Originally commissioned for the 1976 American Bicentennial Year, the work features poems from prominent American writers and poets conveying themes of racial injustice and inequality, which deeply resonated with Keast.

As a white, middle-aged American man, I feel its important for me to step up to the plate and shine a light on these things as well, he says. Its not just about Brahms and Beethoven  it's about highlighting the cultural moments were living.

The performance of Songfest in the fall, when Germanys lockdown restrictions were temporarily lifted, offered a natural segue to Keasts next move. Inspired by its success, he and Salvucci started approaching top musicians around Berlin about the opportunity to play and record together as the Berlin Academy of American Music.

Fortunately, flutist Stathis Karapanos already had a sponsor interested, which meant they could pay musicians and cover studio costs. They also had to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic: spacing musicians out and securing Covid-19 tests before rehearsals and recordings.

We just went for it, and in two and a half months, wed organized an orchestra and recorded a CD, Keast says. Usually that takes six months preparation or more.

Salvucci says beyond the thrill of playing in a group again, the project struck a deeply personal chord. For me, it was a very emotional thing, she says. There had been such a negative vibe about all things American for the past four years. This was a way to say hey, this can be a new beginning.

Keast, too, is hopeful for whats to come. Were just starting to make a name for ourselves, he says. Its just the beginning, but its a great way to start.
Input material prices for Vietnamese wood exporters have risen sharply, but most of them are stuck in the mud as there seems no suitable way to increase their selling prices accordingly.

Vietnamese exporters of wood products have been struggling with rising transport and material costs. Photo: Le Toan/VIR

As global supply chains were affected by the Suez Canal incident, the supply issues for raw materials for Vietnams export wood processing were further exacerbated.

Raw material prices have increased by 10-25 per cent since July last year, depending on the source of imports, said Nguyen Liem, general director of Lam Viet JSC  a manufacturer of wooden chairs, boards, and beds for the US and UK markets.

The Vietnam Administration of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development estimated the import value of wood and materials at $696 million in the first three months of 2021, up 31 per cent on-year. The high value comes from an increased demand as well as increased raw material prices in the first months of the year. Vietnamese businesses are importing raw wood from China, the United States, Cameroon, Thailand, and Chile, accounting for about 55 per cent of the total imported wood and forest products in the past three months.

Many traders and wood processors are concerned that raw material prices will further rise due to the impact of the Suez Canal incident.

Data from TigerWood Co., Ltd., a company specialising in the trading of raw wood imported from the US and Europe with an office in the southern province of Binh Duong, noted many reasons for the recent rise in prices. For instance, fees for logistics, like containers and shipping, have pushed up the selling price of raw pine, poplar, oak, and ash by about $2-3 per cubic metre compared to mid-2020. During the first quarter of 2021, many companies had orders but lacked raw materials for production, and thus had to accept buying raw materials at high prices. Some of the materials are lacking due to supply disruptions in China, and many have currently not found alternative markets.

Large companies with long-term strategies have been increasingly collecting raw materials to produce large orders, pushing smaller companies away and leaving them with insufficient timber and other raw materials for production.

Raw wood from major sources, especially the US and Europe, has decreased due to a significant increase in the domestic demand in these markets. Data compiled by TigerWood shows that the demand for wooden kitchen and bathroom products in Europe and the US increased by 40 per cent from a year ago. Meanwhile, home extensions and repairs increased by 52 per cent, and security concerns seemed to have caused a much greater demand in fences and repairs, resulting in a rise of 166 per cent.

The US consumes half of Vietnams wood products, and Americans increased their purchases of imported products due to lower prices, consistent with a lower per capita income due to the effects of the pandemic  a trend that will continue in 2021 as the health crisis remains complicated, according to industry researcher IBISWorld.

TigerWood stated that the price of imported raw materials has mainly risen because of the slow global trade in goods. Meanwhile, the container demand in China is growing strongly with the recovery of its export industry pushing the demand further. Also, Chinas exporters seem to be willing to spend more money for carriers bringing empty containers back to them.

Currently, the cost of transporting goods from China to the US is almost 10 times higher than in the opposite direction, so carriers want to ship empty containers rather than goods, according to online freight shipping marketplace Freightos.

The increase in input material costs moves many small- and medium-sized manufacturers to also raise the selling prices of their products. However, buyers of Vietnamese wood products, such as in Europe and America, are still suffering from the pandemic while their purchasing power has not increased.

It is extremely difficult to raise issues with European and American customers at this time, said Lam Viets Liem.

According to Liem, most customers buy Vietnamese wood products at free on board prices, meaning that they have to bear the shipping costs. While the value of the goods in each container amounts to just over $10,000, the price of the container has increased from $2,000 to nearly $9,000 after just one year. If Vietnamese manufacturers also add the raw material price increase to their finished product prices, buyers refrain from purchasing at some point.

Moreover, for traders in Europe or America, input prices have been kept stable for around five years. Liem said, The renegotiation of these selling prices could have been still possible if Vietnamese companies had raised the issue last September.

However, the bargaining position of Vietnamese wood product suppliers has changed after efforts to train human resources and invest in and apply high-tech solutions in the operations.

Liem found that more major buyers around the world were working directly with Vietnamese suppliers on product sales. They typically order for a long term, instead of a month or a quarter like years ago. But, the only companies with large scales have this strong bargaining position. Smaller businesses still have to accept each quarter, even every month, he said.

As the pandemic is still progressing, the competitiveness of the Vietnamese wood industry will largely depend on the vaccination strategies of supplying and purchasing markets. Meanwhile, Vietnams goal of exporting wood and forest products worth of $14 billion in 2021 remains in the distance.

VIR

Strategic market identification sought for stronger wood trade Vietnams wood industry is leaving behind a successful 2020, ready to embrace the new advantages that some of last years signed and effective trade agreements bring with them.
Leagas Delaney has been appointed Investec's global brand agency. Founded in London by Tim Delaney, the firm has worked with Investec in the UK for the past three years and is in the process of hiring a dedicated team in South Africa to work on the account...
A garda is recovering in hospital after being dragged 100 feet by a car while she was involved in a drugs search in the Skibbereen area of West Cork at 7.30pm yesterday evening.

The garda, believed to be in her 30s, sustained a number of injuries in the incident.

She was brought to Bantry General Hospital before being transferred and is now being treated in Cork University Hospital.

She received serious leg injuries but they are not believed to be life-threatening.

She was working with other members of the force at the time.

A man in his 20s was arrested and gardai seized around 5,000 worth of cannabis herb and 3,000 in cash.

He is currently detained at Bandon Garda Station under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996.

Further searches were conducted in the Skibbereen area by the West Cork Divisional Drugs Unit, Southern Region Dog unit, and Gardai from Bandon and Skibbereen.

As part of the searches, Gardai seized 600 of suspected cannabis herb, 300 in cash, and a car.

A man, aged in his 30s, was arrested and is currently detained at Bandon Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

He is also being held at Bandon Garda Station.

Read More Walk-in Covid testing site to open in Limerick on Saturday

A garda spokesperson said: At around 7.30pm on April 8, 2021 Gardai from the West Cork Division were on active patrol in the Skibbereen area when they witnessed a suspected drug transaction between a man in a car and a pedestrian.

As Gardai attempted to speak to the driver of the car, the car drove off at and struck a member of An Garda Siochana.

She was then taken to Cork University Hospital where she currently remains.

Her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

All of the suspected drugs will now be sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis.

Jason Collins, Garda Representative Association (GRA) representative for Cork West said: On behalf of all members of the Cork West Division I want to wish our colleague a speedy recovery following last night's traumatic and dangerous incident.

This highlights the increasing dangers gardai are facing in the course of their duties. Over 5,500 gardai have been injured in the line of duty since 2005  the vast majority of which are, according to the GRA, caused maliciously.

As of the end of 2020, some 199 gardai were injured during an assault while on duty.

Injuries sustained by those officers included internal injuries, broken bones, and cuts needing multiple stitches.

Gardai have been shot at, rammed, dragged along roads by cars, and assaulted with a variety of weapons.

These incidents have occurred in both urban and rural settings throughout the country.

Some of these are life-threatening and life-changing injuries.

The GRA has repeatedly called for tougher action against those who assault officers.

It has called for stronger legislation to deal with people who assault members of all emergency services including mandatory sentencing and they want better personal protection equipment such as body camera and tasers.

They have also called for more human resources and vehicles for quicker response and back-up times in rural areas and more armed support units.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, left, and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, right. Getty Images Getty Images

Sen. Bernie Sanders said Amazon workers will inspire other union-organizing efforts.

Workers at the Bessemer, Alabama, Amazon plant voted the union down 1,798 to 738.

Sanders has previously criticized Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for trying to stop unionization efforts.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Sen. Bernie Sanders applauded Amazon workers at the Bessemer, Alabama, factory for taking on the company, even as a majority of votes were against unionizing.

"The willingness of Amazon workers in Bessemer to take on the wealthiest man in the world and a powerful company in an anti-union state is an inspiration," Sanders said on Twitter, in response to news of the failed union attempt. "It takes an enormous amount of courage to stand up and fight back, and they should be applauded."

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The intense campaigning from union activists and Amazon ended with a decisive victory for the online retailer, as 1,798 workers voted against the union, and 738 workers voted for it.

In further tweets, Sanders said he agrees with calls for an investigation into the tactics the company used in its efforts to defeat the organizing attempt.

"The workers were up against a company that was willing to spend vast sums of money and use every kind of tactic there is to defeat them," he said.

"The history of every struggle in this country tells us that we do not always win the first time out," Sanders added. "But I believe, as a result of their courage, workers in Alabama will inspire significant growth in union organizing efforts around the country."

Read more: Amazon employees blast the forced return to offices as unfair, and Facebook and Oracle appear to be trying to poach frustrated remote workers

Progressive International, a global organization that backs progressive ideas, said efforts to create an Amazon union, even as it was rejected, "planted powerful seeds to #MakeAmazonPay."

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In a statement, Amazon thanked employees for participating in the election, and said, "There's been a lot of noise over the past few months, and we're glad that your collective voices were finally heard."

Story continues

"It's easy to predict the union will say that Amazon won this election because we intimidated employees, but that's not true," the statement read.

Sanders had been sparring with Amazon in the weeks leading up to the union vote and even visited workers at the Bessemer, Alabama warehouse.

Prior to that, the Vermont senator criticized Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for not showing up to a Congressional hearing and said had the executive been present he would have said, "you're the wealthiest person in the world. Why are you doing everything in your power to stop your workers in Bessemer, Alabama, from joining a union?"

The company later fired back at the senator, with Amazon Consumer Chief Dave Clark tweeting Sanders "should save his finger wagging lecture until after he actually delivers in his own backyard," referencing minimum wage legislation.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Romania's "Capitan-comandor Al. Catuneanu" naval hydrographic survey vessel docked on April 9 in the military port of Constanta after participating in the Ariadne 21 multinational mine counteraction exercise from a successful mission, according to the Romanian Navy.

The exercise was organised by the Greek Navy in the maritime area adjacent to the Greek port of Patras in the Ionian Sea, agerpres.ro confirms.

For almost three weeks, the Romanian military vessel travelled over 1,800 nautical miles and transited the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, in both directions.

"The operations carried out at sea, together with NATO allies from Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Turkey, represented to the Romanian crew a real opportunity to improve the level of their training in the field of mine counteraction, while also being a good opportunity to increase the level of interoperability between the Romanian Navy and the NATO partners."

According to the Romanian Navy, the naval hydrographic survey vessel "Capitan-comandor Al. Catuneanu," a naval platform specialised in underwater hydrographic research and the creation of an integrated information support, has a crew of 46 soldiers and is commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Toma Laurentiu. To participate in the mission, a group of EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) fighters was also on board with an autonomous underwater vehicle, a specific piece of equipment for searching, discovering and identifying underwater mines.

"The participation of the Romanian military sailors in the Ariadne 21 exercise is further proof to the Romanian Navy's action in support of consolidating collective defence measures and developing the capacity of NATO forces to adapt to the changes of the security environment on the south-eastern flank."
Earl Simmons, the snarling yet soulful rapper known as DMX, who had a string of No. 1 albums in the late 1990s and early 2000s but whose personal struggles came to rival his lyrical prowess, died on Friday in White Plains, N.Y. He was 50.

His family announced the death in a statement. He had been on life support at White Plains Hospital after suffering what his family called a catastrophic cardiac arrest a week earlier.

Earl was a warrior who fought till the very end, the Simmons family said. He loved his family with all of his heart, and we cherish the times we spent with him.

Mr. Simmons had a heart attack at his home in White Plains on April 2. In the days that followed, his representatives said he was on life support in a vegetative state. Outside of the hospital, family and friends gathered with hundreds of fans, playing DMXs music aloud and praying, holding up their arms in the shape of an X.
Baghdad, April 9 : The total number of Covid-19 cases in Iraq has surpassed 900,000 as the daily infections reached the highest level of 8,000 in recent days, threatening to run out of control.

A statement by the Iraqi Ministry of Health on Thursday reported 7,817 new Covid-19 cases during the past 24 hours, raising the total nationwide number to 903,439, Xinhua news agency reported.

It also said 34 new deaths were recorded during the day, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 14,606, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 4,883 to 799,327.

A total of 8,380,401 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 49,388 done during the day, the ministry said.

Despite the recent surge in infections, Iraqi Minister of Health Hassan al-Tamimi told the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the ministry's health institutions are so far in control of the epidemiological situation.

However, "what we are always afraid and warn of is that the rate of infections may outpace the capacity of the ministry's institutions, amid citizens' continuous non-compliance with the health protective measures," al-Tamimi was quoted by INA as saying.

"The rate of infections in recent days has increased from two percent to 18 percent of the total daily coronavirus tests," the minister noted.

Sayf al-Badr, spokesman of the health ministry, also warned in a press release of the recent dangerous epidemiological situation, saying "Iraq recorded unprecedented numbers during the past few days." "Like any other health system in the world, the Iraqi health system has a limit in dealing with numbers of infections that occur at the same time," al-Badr added.

He called on citizens to adhere to health protective measures and urged the media to raise awareness campaigns for vaccination, noting all the vaccines that entered and will enter Iraq are safe, effective, and approved by the World Health Organization.

According to the ministry's statement, 8,657 people were vaccinated during the past 24 hours across the country, bringing the total number of doses received to 126,791.

Iraq has taken a series of measures to curb the recent rise in infections after the health ministry announced on February 15 the detection of a new strain characterized by faster transmission and a higher level of severity.

On March 2, Iraq received a shipment of Covid-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help combat the pandemic.

The Iraqi National Board for Selection of Drugs has approved the emergency use of the Sinopharm vaccines, in addition to AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sputnik V vaccines.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 00:06:20|Editor: huaxia

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TASHKENT, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan will build a hydrogen energy infrastructure to help the nation with its transition to a green economy, the Uzbek Justice Ministry said Friday, citing a presidential decree.

The decree considers structural changes in demand for energy resources, and envisages a widespread introduction of innovative technologies to develop hydrogen energy and renewable energy sources, the ministry said.

The National Research Institute of Renewable Energy Sources, with a research center of hydrogen energy and a laboratory of renewable and hydrogen energy technologies, will be created under the ministry, according to the document.

Uzbekistan is committed to tackling climate change and introducing eco-friendly renewable energy sources into the country's energy mix, Uzbek Energy Minister Alisher Sultanov said in a separate statement.

"Today's decree, supporting the construction of a hydrogen energy infrastructure and further development of renewable energy sources, is a great step forward in this process," he said. Enditem
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. Parents of the servicemen who are missing in action in the 2020 Karabakh war and those who are still held captive by Azerbaijan are protesting outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Yerevan. The families demand a meeting with Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan and Chief of General Staff Lt. General Artak Davtyan.

Heavy police presence is in the area.

The demonstrators attempted to break into the building by breaching the front gate at the main entrance. Police officers removed the protesters and cordoned off the building.

National police chief Vahe Ghazaryan personally arrived to the scene to de-escalate the situation.

This latest demonstration began in the evening of April 8, when an aircraft which was supposed to return PoWs from Azerbaijan landed without them in Yerevan in what the government described as a delay of the repatriation related to Azerbaijans failure to implement the terms of the armistice.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
FLINT, MI -- Consumers Energy Foundation is supporting Kettering Universitys COVID-19 relief efforts with a $10,000 donation to the Keep Me Kettering Emergency Fund, the university announced Friday.

The Keep Me Kettering Emergency Fund is used to help students pay tuition. It was created last year to assist students who were battling the economic challenges of the pandemic, according to a news release from Kettering.

Like many families across the country, the pandemic presented unexpected economic challenges to some of our Kettering students and their families, said Susan Davies, vice president of University Advancement and External Relations. The generosity of alumni and friends, like the Consumers Energy Foundation, has provided the assistance that our students needed to remain in school.

Consumers Energy is one of many of the universitys co-op partners, which include GM, Ford Motor and Spectrum Health.

Consumers Energy is dedicated to ensuring all Michigan residents have access to world-class educational resources, especially to develop and retain talent with STEM and skilled trades expertise, said Carolyn Bloodworth, secretary/treasurer of the Consumers Energy Foundation. The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented circumstances, including for students. As part of our commitment to our states future workforce, its a privilege to provide additional support to developing talent in Michigan.

Kettering University is a Flint-based private, nonprofit university that specialized in science, technology and engineering programs.

Related:

UM-Flint, Kettering University intend to freeze tuition for 2021-22 academic year

MSU announces Flint-exclusive Master of Public Health scholarship

UM-Flint students craft plan to honor graduates individually amid COVID pandemic
MUSKEGON, MI -- Four Muskegon County Jail corrections officers accused in an inmates death are getting backing from their union, which is questioning the state Attorney Generals decision to issue charges.

David Willis, director of labor services for the Michigan Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council, issued a statement Friday, April 9 after charges of involuntary manslaughter were filed against four corrections deputies and a contracted nurse through Wellpath.

The charges stem from the April 4, 2019 death of 39-year-old Paul Bulthouse in a jail cell near the booking center. Attorney General investigators said he died after suffering 22 visible seizures over five and a half hours.

State investigators said the deputies were in a position to observe Bulthouse both on surveillance cameras and in-person, but did not adequately do the job. He was on suicide watch in a detoxification cell and was supposed to be checked every 15 minutes, Attorney General investigators said.

Related: Death of Muskegon jail inmate caused by gross neglect by staff, attorney general says

In the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council statement, Willis referenced an independent examination from the Michigan Sheriffs Association Mission Team which found no wrongdoing by the deputies.

He described the Mission Team as an independent, highly trained group of investigators from around the state and said the investigation was exhaustive.

These Corrections Deputies are not doctors or nurses, they must rely on decisions and recommendations made by the contracted medical services for care of inmates in the jail, Willis said.

The Attorney Generals investigation started a few months after the Sheriffs Association began looking at the case.

Willis said the union is providing criminal defense attorneys for the deputies.

In this time of intense law enforcement scrutiny, the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council will ensure that the true facts of this incident become fully known and understood by both the public and the Courts, he wrote.

Related stories

Family alleges coverup in inmates death at Muskegon County Jail

After AG charges 5 in inmates death, attorney questions Muskegon Countys earlier investigation

Muskegon County sheriff reopens investigation into inmates death
Australia will ship tens of thousands of locally manufactured AstraZeneca vaccines from its Melbourne plant to Papua New Guinea and East Timor within weeks, with both countries battling major outbreaks of the virus.

The Australian government will from this month send 10,000 doses a week of the vaccine to Pacific countries with an intention to ramp up that number after domestic production is boosted, according to senior government sources.

Papua New Guineas frontline health services are straining under the impact of the pandemic. Credit:Nine

The plan, first revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age two weeks ago, was flagged by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday after an alarming new outbreak in East Timor was confirmed with the country suffering its first COVID-19 death and 98 new cases. PNG has recorded almost 8000 cases and 68 deaths - but with low testing rates the outbreak is feared to be much worse.

Australia last month sent 8,480 AstraZeneca vaccines to PNG, and the country has used these to vaccinate several hundred frontline health workers in the capital, Port Moresby. It is due to receive 132,000 doses on Tuesday under the international initiative known as COVAX.
Sri Lanka: Proper training on fisheries industry and technology for the youth entering the industry

April 09,2021 | Source: The Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka

The Fisheries Ministry affirmed that measures will be taken to uplift the fishing industry to a higher level by providing better training and technological knowledge to the youth who join the industry and the required funds have been allocated through the 2021 budget proposal in this regard. This was confirmed by the Ministry of Fisheries in a special press release issued on April 07. Accordingly, the aim is to launch a number of courses in collaboration with the Ocean University of Sri Lanka with the aim of awarding an internationally recognized N.V.Q level certificate. Courses such as boat engine repair, scuba swimming, and underwater welding, lagoon aquaculture, yacht pilot course, use of marine communication equipment, fishing gear technology, postharvest technology, etc. are planned to be commenced at several branches of Sri Lanka Ocean University namely Mattakkuliya, Panadura, Galle, Tangalle, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Jaffna, and Negombo.
The Oregon Health Authority on Thursday reported five COVID-19 deaths and 678 new cases, the highest daily case count in more than two months.

Oregon is now averaging 467 cases a day over the past week. Thats up 50% from two weeks ago and is nearly double the average daily caseload reported a month ago.

Thursdays tally marked the most for Oregon since Feb. 5, when the health agency announced 846 confirmed or presumed cases. The test positivity rate associated with Thursdays cases was 4.8%, just below the 5% benchmark officials use for determining if more screening is needed to keep pace with spreading infections.

State officials have warned a new wave is on Oregons doorstep. But the rise in cases, while pronounced, has not yet matched the jaw-dropping upward trajectory seen last fall.

Modeling released by Oregon Health & Science University last week indicated the state could see around 1,000 coronavirus cases a day by May. But infections could precipitously decline by mid-month, fueled by the growing number of Oregonians being vaccinated against COVID-19.

Oregon is expected to set records for vaccination levels this week and into next, thanks in large part to the arrival of nearly 125,000 doses of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Vaccines: Oregon reported 50,429 newly administered doses, which includes 27,783 Wednesday and the remainder from previous days.

Where the new cases are by county: Baker (4), Benton (4), Clackamas (65), Clatsop (6), Columbia (10), Coos (7), Crook (4), Curry (3), Deschutes (47), Douglas (14), Gilliam (1), Grant (7), Hood River (5), Jackson (88), Jefferson (5), Josephine (27), Klamath (42), Lane (47), Lincoln (8), Linn (18), Malheur (1), Marion (48), Morrow (1), Multnomah (108), Polk (14), Tillamook (8), Umatilla (6), Union (1), Wasco (1), Washington (69) and Yamhill (9).

Who died: Oregons 2,435th COVID-19 death is a 75-year-old Baker County man who tested positive March 24 and died April 3 at his residence.

The 2,436th fatality is a 66-year-old Jackson County man who tested positive March 13 and died April 5 at Providence Medford Medical Center.

Oregons 2,437th death is a 64-year-old Jackson County man who tested positive March 16 and died April 6 at Providence Medford Medical Center.

The 2,438th fatality is a 94-year-old Washington County man who tested positive Feb. 24 and died March 4. State officials are determining where he died.

Oregons 2,439th death is a 79-year-old Polk County man who tested positive April 1 and died April 6 at Salem Hospital.

Each person had underlying health conditions or state officials were working to determine if the person had underlying medical conditions.

Hospitalizations: 168 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 are hospitalized, down three from Wednesday. That includes 38 people in intensive care, down four from Wednesday.

Since it began: Oregon has reported 168,795 confirmed or presumed infections and 2,439 deaths, among the lowest per capita numbers in the nation. To date, the state has reported 2,117,703 vaccine doses administered.

-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt
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.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9) The Food and Drug Administration can be held liable after approving a hospitals request for a compassionate special permit, or CSP, to use ivermectin against COVID-19, former Health Secretary and now Iloilo Representative Janette Garin warned Friday.

Definitely yes, Garin told CNN Philippines The Source when asked if there is a possible liability on the part of the FDA.

The health official turned congresswoman cited Administrative Order No. 4 series of 1992  the official guidelines and requirements to avail of such a special permit  amended by the DOH in July 2020.

A copy of the document showed that a CSP can be issued to a specialized institution or a specialty society even for an investigational product provided that:

 The requested product must have ongoing Phase 3 clinical trials in its country of origin or other countries, or there is an ongoing clinical trial in the Philippines but the enrolment of a patient in the trial is not possible; or

 The product is in the process of applying for market authorization in the country of origin or in the Philippines.

Garin argued that most of the prerequisites for the ivermectin CSP application have not been complied with. She noted how the FDA has not been transparent about the institution it gave the green light to.

First, you cannot say that its for purposes of privacy that you cannot reveal the hospital. Thats a no-no, there should be full transparency, especially if this is a clinical trial, Garin pointed out. Second, it should be a specialty institution or a specialty society.

Its very clear in the guidelines the issuance of CSP for ivermectin is way beyond what is bounded in that. You cannot just give outright permits without consulting the experts, she added.

Another former Health Secretary, Esperanza Cabral, also agreed that the issuance of such permit must follow the guidelines laid out by the FDA itself and the DOH.

We need to find out if the issuance of the guideline actually did that or not, and if not, what happened, Cabral said in the same program.

Garin meanwhile lamented how the countrys regulatory agency was seemingly pressured and bullied to allow the limited use of ivermectin, despite previous warnings from medical experts, the DOH, and the World Health Organization that there is no sufficient data it can cure or prevent the coronavirus.

READ: Irresponsible to distribute Ivermectin pending data vs. COVID-19; testimonials on use insufficient evidence  FDA

Pardon me for this, but FDA is allowing itself to be bullied, Garin said. And thats a very scary thing. Because the very institution that should be independent is now submitting itself to the outside pressures of the world.

FDA: We follow all rules and regulations

In response, FDA Director General Eric Domingo said the hospitals application for the ivermectin use was approved as all requirements were submitted.

He maintained the agency will not issue such permit if the product in question was ineligible.

The FDA follows all of our rules and regulations, Domingo said in a separate media forum, denying the agency was pressured by opinions of other parties.

And when we make decisions its really based on set rules and regulations, if we give permits or we deny them.

On the issue of transparency, Domingo stressed that the name of the concerned hospital cannot be divulged due to privacy purposes for patients.

False hope?

Garin, on the other hand, clarified she is not against ivermectin, particularly if it is undergoing clinical trials.

However, she stressed that the the FDAs latest decision may only give false hope to the Filipino people.

There have been similar studies in other countries, and there was no benefit generated, Garin said. This is the worse thing. It is giving our people false hopes that it can cure COVID.
At least one person has been confirmed dead as a rainstorm ravaged Ilupeju Ekiti community in Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State, on Thursday.

About 10 people sustained varying degrees of injuries and were hospitalised as a result of the disaster.

The rainstorm also blew off the roofs of about 200 buildings, including private residences, churches, schools and business centres in the community.

Some of the affected buildings collapsed after the roofs were pulled off by the storm.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that some of the residents have become homeless as a result of the incident.

The areas badly affected are Ewo, Igesun, Odogba, Iremo, Ilugbo, Isasa, Ilidan, Ila and Ilese parts of the town.

The Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Bisi Egbeyemi, who visited the people of Ilupeju Ekiti on Friday, expressed his sympathies over the devastation caused by the storm.

He also expressed condolences for the loss of life during the storm.

He described the incident as unfortunate, noting that the state government was concerned about the plight of the people.

Mr Egbeyemi, who was accompanied by the General Manager of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Jide Borode, and other government officials said the government would look into ways to assist the victims.

We are here on a fact-finding visit and we sympathise with the people of Ilupeju Ekiti, he said.

This incident is very unfortunate and we pray it will not repeat itself here and in other parts of our dear state.

We have come here to assess the level of damage done to see how we can assist the victims. You can see the officials of SEMA on ground for that purpose.

Many of the residents who were still in shock on the impact of the rainstorm called on the state government to assist them to rebuild their damaged structures, saying life has been difficult since the incident occurred.

Mr Borode said SEMA had been receiving and collating evidence from victims for proper action.

A youth leader in the town, Sesan Oniyelu, expressed sadness over the havoc wreaked by the rainstorm and urged the state government to assist the victims.

We want to call on the state government led by our Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi to assist us, Mr Oniyelu said.

The visit of the Deputy Governor is an indication that government is concerned with our situation.

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The rainstorm has inflicted a colossal damage on private individuals, families, businesses and corporate organisations.

We want the government to help our people return to their normal lives.

Many of them have been displaced and rendered homeless. We plead with the government to act as soon as possible and we shall be very grateful if our request is granted.

Ondo storm

Also, residents of Okeagbe, Akoko Northwest local government area of Ondo State, were yet to recover from the agony and loss of properties suffered as a result of a rainstorm in March when on Wednesday, another devastation visited them in a similar manner.

Last month, over 200 houses were destroyed by a storm. Half of that figure was affected on Wednesday.

A Radio Nigeria Positive FM community correspondent, Ibrahim Kilani, reported that the storm, which lasted for 40 minutes, saw residents panicking and scampering for safety in all directions.

The traditional ruler, the Ewi of Aje, Oloruntoba Bello, also went round and sympathised with his people.

He said the disaster was beyond the local and state governments along, urging that the federal government should assist the state in restoring normalcy to the area.

The state governments delegation had earlier visited the community after the first storm, promising to send help.
[April 09, 2021] Donation platform Txt2Give acquired by LTV SaaS Fund, LLC

NEW YORK, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- FE International, Inc., the global market leader in mid-market technology mergers and acquisitions (M&A), announces the acquisition of Txt2Give , the first-of-its-kind mobile donation platform, by LTV SaaS Growth VII, LLC (LTV Fund). Founded in 2012, Txt2Give is a service that makes it easy for an organization to receive donations via a simple text message. A donor is walked through the donation process using text messaging, and the donation is charged to their credit card. "As an industry leader with nearly a decade of operational history, Txt2Give allows both for-profit and non-profit organizations to transition to an entirely digital donation collection model, which has proven increasingly valuable for businesses across all industries," said Nikita Pashkin, VP of Investment at LTV Fund. "We will ow be looking to utilize our operational expertise and best practices to build on Chad's great work and take Txt2Give to the next level."



Chad Boyd, the founder of Txt2Give, added, "It was an honor to grow Txt2Give to the caliber that it is today. I loved seeing the idea come to fruition on a platform that has raised over $1.5 billion for non-profits nationwide. I look forward to Txt2Give's continued success under the new ownership of LTV." FE International served as the sole sell-side M&A advisor on the acquisition of Txt2Give.

"SaaS M&A remains one of our core verticals, and we were pleased to bring that experience to the Txt2Give acquisition," said Thomas Smale, CEO of FE International. "I'm excited to see the LTV Fund continue to grow the great resource Chad developed." To view other SaaS businesses FE currently has available, or to request a free valuation of your own SaaS business, visit feinternational.com About LTV SaaS Growth VII, LLC LTV SaaS Growth VII LLC is a U.S. investment fund focused on SaaS and software investments in privately held businesses. With $20M-$100M in assets under management, LTV Fund has become a global leader in small and mid-cap SaaS acquisitions. More information can be found at https://ltv.fund/ About FE International, Inc. FE International is an award-winning global M&A advisor of SaaS, e-commerce and content businesses, with over 1,000 closed transactions. It is also the preeminent valuation thought leader in the industry. Founded in 2010, FE is known for its extensive network of pre-qualified international investors. Its team includes experts in exit planning, valuation, accounting, legal and more. With headquarters in New York and regional offices in Miami, San Francisco and London, FE is an international company serving clients worldwide. It was named the 8th fastest-growing financial services company in the Americas (133rd overall) by the Financial Times in 2020 and is a two-time Inc. 5000 company. Kevin Oh

FE International, Inc.

+1 (800) 403 9067

info@feinternational.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/donation-platform-txt2give-acquired-by-ltv-saas-fund-llc-301266019.html SOURCE FE International

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The United States has imposed visa restrictions on two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps interrogators in the first designations it has imposed on any Iranian official or entity since the start of the Biden-Harris administration.

In a written statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the two men, Ali Hemmatian and Masoud Safdari, were designated for their involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely the torture, and/or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of political prisoners and persons detained during protests in 2019 and 2020.

The designation means the two men and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.

The action was taken the same day the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran Javaid Rehman delivered his annual report to the U.N. Human Rights Council. His report details multiple egregious rights violations in Iran, including the violent responses by security forces to peaceful protestors that have been followed up with no investigations or accountability. It also notes the abusive actions by interrogators in their attempts to force detainees to confess to crimes.

At a press briefing, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said the message the United States is sending by designating the two IRGC interrogators is clear:

The United States is committed to promoting accountability for those responsible for human rights violations and abuses. That includes in Iran, as well as any other country around the world.

In recent weeks, the United States has made known that it is willing to engage with Iran to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA. Spokesperson Price noted that the United States can pursue diplomacy with Iran on the one hand, and uphold and act in accordance with our values on the other.

And it is consistent with our values to make clear that there will be consequences for the sort of gross violations of human rights that these individuals engaged in. We can absolutely do both.

In his statement, Secretary Blinken said, We will also work with our allies to promote accountability for such violations and abuses. The United States will continue to support the rights of people in Iran and demand the Iranian government treat its people with respect and dignity.
 Fifth Circuit latest to issue notable ruling on federal compassionate release authority after the FIRST STEP Act | Main | North Carolina Gov creates "Juvenile Sentence Review Board" to make clemency recommendations 

April 8, 2021

Ninth Circuit provides yet another ruling on post-FIRST STEP Act federal compassionate release authority

When it rains it pours, at least wih respect to compasionate release rulings these days. In this last post, I called a Fifth CIrcuit decision handed down yesterday the latest such ruling. But, thanks to people on Twitter smarter than me, I learned that the Ninth Circuit issues a ruling on this topic today in US v. Aruda, No. 20-10245 (9th Cir. April 8, 2021) (available here). Here is the start and a key paragrph of the ruling:

Patricia Aruda appeals from the district courts order denying her motion for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C.  3582(c)(1)(A)(i). We hold that the current version of U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual (U.S.S.G.)  1B1.13 is not an applicable policy statement[] issued by the Sentencing Commission for motions filed by a defendant under the recently amended  3582(c)(1)(A). Because the district court relied on U.S.S.G.  1B1.13, we vacate and remand so that the district court can reassess Arudas motion for compassionate release under the correct legal standard.... We agree with the persuasive decisions of our sister circuits and also hold that the current version of U.S.S.G.  1B1.13 is not an applicable policy statement[] for 18 U.S.C.  3582(c)(1)(A) motions filed by a defendant. In other words, the Sentencing Commission has not yet issued a policy statement applicable to  3582(c)(1)(A) motions filed by a defendant. The Sentencing Commissions statements in U.S.S.G.  1B1.13 may inform a district courts discretion for  3582(c)(1)(A) motions filed by a defendant, but they are not binding. See Gunn, 980 F.3d at 1180.

A few of many, many prior related posts:

April 8, 2021 at 08:56 PM | Permalink

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Dr. Andrew Baker, Hennepin County Medical Examiner - Court TV

The police's restraint of George Floyd was more than he "could take" given the condition of his heart, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy of the 46-year-old said on Friday.

Dr Andrew Baker was testifying in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who knelt on Mr Floyd for more than nine minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis last May.

Dr Baker, who has served as the chief medical examiner of Hennepin County, Minnesota, since 2004, said the police officers' compression of Mr Floyd's neck and the restraint of his body were the primary causes of his death.

Dr Baker was one of the most heavily anticipated witnesses to take to the stand in the closely-watched trial.

His testimony added significant heft to the prosecution's case that Mr Chauvin killed Mr Floyd when he pinned the unarmed and handcuffed black man to the ground until he could no longer beg for air.

Mr Chauvin's lawyer, Eric Nelson, has suggested that the fentanyl and methamphetamine found in Mr Floyd's system and existing heart disease might have caused his death.

But in his testimony on Friday, Dr Baker said while those factors contributed to Mr Floyd's death, they were not the cause.

Dr Baker confirmed that Mr Floyd had severe underlying heart disease and an enlarged heart that needed more oxygen than normal to function, as well as narrowing of two heart arteries.

But he added that the stress and pain of being pinned to the ground would have caused him to produce adrenaline, which asks the heart to beat even faster and supply more oxygen.

"And in my opinion, the law enforcement subdual, restraint and the neck compression was just more than Mr Floyd could take by virtue of that, those heart conditions," he said.

Other medical experts, including a world renowned breathing specialist, have gone further, testifying that Mr Floyd ultimately died from a lack of oxygen because of the way he was restrained on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back, his face jammed against the ground and Mr Chauvin's knee in his neck and back.

Story continues

Bystander footage of Mr Floyd crying out "I can't breathe" as he was pinned to the ground by Mr Chauvin, a white police officer, on May 25 last year triggered a national reckoning on systemic racism and brutality in US policing.

Mr Chauvin, 45, is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter and third-degree manslaughter.

The defence lawyer Mr Nelson has argued that the now-fired officer did what he was trained to do in his 19-year-career and underscored the fentanyl and methamphetamine found in Mr Floyd's system as well as his underlying health problems.

Under cross-examination, Dr Baker agreed with Mr Nelson that Mr Floyd's heart disease and drug use "played a role" in the death.

Dr Baker noted that the amount of fentanyl found in Mr Floyd's system would be a "fatal level" in other circumstances, for instance if he had been found "home alone in his locked residence with no evidence of trauma".

But he noted that interpreting levels of fentanyl is very "context dependent".

Other medical experts called as prosecution witnesses also said Mr Floyd's death was caused by being pinned to the ground.

Dr Lindsey Thomas, a now retired forensic pathologist who taught Dr Baker, testified earlier on Friday that she agreed with his findings, but appeared to go further, saying the "primary mechanism of death" was asphyxia, or insufficient oxygen.

She said she reached that conclusion mostly from the viral bystander video that showed Mr Floyd struggling to breathe.

"This is a death where both the heart and lungs stopped working. The point is, it's due to law enforcement subdual, restraint and compression," Dr Thomas said.

The National Guard stand watch outside the courthouse in Minneapolis - Stephen Maturen/Getty

During cross-examination, the defence asked Dr Thomas about what could cause a heart to suddenly stop beating, noting that Mr Floyd's bigger heart needed more blood and was working hard in a moment of stress and adrenaline, and that one of his arteries had a 90 per cent blockage.

Dr Thomas said any blockage over 70 per cent to 75 per cent could be used to explain death, in the absence of another cause. But she also said some people can live just fine with an artery that is fully blocked.

For the first time during the ten days of testimony, a seat designated for Mr Chauvin's family was occupied on Friday by a woman. She did not wish to be identified when approached by reporters.

Mr Chauvin's marriage ended in divorce in the months after Mr Floyd's death.

Also on Friday, Judge Peter Cahill called in a juror and questioned her about whether she had been subject to any outside influences. She told the judge she had not discussed the case with anyone and was allowed her to remain on the jury.
This could never happen, said those who called my stance against Bill C16 alarmist. I read the law and saw that it was, to the contrary, inevitable. Dr Jordan B Peterson

In my last article, I brought you the story of the jailed Canadian Pastor awaiting his court date for opening his church, even though the maximum penalties for which he is charged holds no jail time and his church continues to hold services without him.

This week Im bringing you a story you probably havent seen from any MSM.

A father in Canada has been imprisoned for calling his biological female child his daughter.

No theres no typo in what I just wrote unfortunately this is where we are at as a society.

In all my years of writing, this has been one of the hardest articles to write. The pain I feel in researching this story could only be less than the pain Robert Hoogland must be going through as he fights for his child to the point of going to jail for her. After losing a recent hearing.

Are 13 year olds considered developed enough to drive or vote? The Canadian legal system doesnt believe anyone under the age of 16 is old enough to make medical decisions for themselves which is one of the many perplexing parts of this case.

The Canadian legal system has essentially ruled parents are no longer relevant in the rearing of a child. The childs mother has agreed to go along with the courts orders, while the father continues to fight them. He is concerned that if in the years ahead she chooses to desist in her belief that she is a boy, that medically it will be too late. The court ordered testosterone has already started to change the childs voice and facial hair growth. His concerns statistically are sound, with an estimated 85% of children switching back after puberty. More medical information can be found here. If she is among the majority she wont be able to have children.

There are many legal precedents this case is setting and only time will tell how this story ends. What if she does change her mind and then decides to sue her mother, the medical system, or the legal system? There is such a legal case in the UK.

As part of the court orders, Hoogland was told not to refer to his child as female by British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Francesca Marzari as part of her transitioning. He has since been found guilty of the criminal offense of family violence for not using the court ordered words.

The medical treatment the child is on is experimental. The endocrinologists recommending the treatment do not know the long term health effects. The father wanted to pursue mental health solutions that didnt involve drugs. A report into the known effects of puberty blockers is alarming. With an increase rather than a decrease in children suffering from self harm thoughts. The children also lost bone density making them more susceptible to broken bones and osteoporosis.

If you have children or are thinking of having children do you want to be able to raise them how you choose, or do you want the government to be able to do whatever they want to your children? Its a very slippery slope and slippery slopes are always easier to slide down than climb back up.

We are one step away from The Minority Report where you can be found guilty of thought crimes.

If a pastor can go to jail for trying to help his community, if a parent can go to jail for trying to help their child..

My head is spinning at where we are at as a society. The answer of living our lives as God designed them to be, seems so simple, yet increasingly so controversial. Maybe the life you are living hasnt been adversely affected yet. Maybe you think things will go back to the way they were next week, month, year. The saying that keeps reverberating in my brain is if nothing changes, nothing changes. Its time for you to be the change!



Are you willing to go to jail for your children?
It would be a big fucking deal.

I had asked Gabriel Zucman, the influential University of California, Berkeley economist, to weigh in on the Biden administrations plan for transforming how the whole world taxes large multinational companies, which so far has flown a bit under the radar compared to other parts of its agenda. The White House has promised to pay for its $2 trillion American Jobs Plan by raising taxes on behemoths like Apple and Google while ending what it calls the international race to the bottomthe decades-long spiral of beggar-thy-neighbor competition, in which countries have courted business investment by slashing their corporate rates lower and lower.* The administrations strategy involves convincing other developed countries to adopt a global minimum tax for corporations, while reshaping the United States own tax code to stamp out the advantages companies currently get from booking their earnings in tax havens.

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In other words, the administration is vowing to fund a historically ambitious infrastructure and economic modernization plan in part by solving one of the thorniest problems created by global capitalism. As his use of everyones favorite Bidenism would suggest, Zucman is pretty stoked about the whole idea. If implemented, such an international agreement would lead to a collapse of the development model of tax havens, he wrote to me. A high global minimum tax can change the face of globalization.

Zucmans response isnt exactly a surprise, since the administration is essentially singing his own tune on this issue. The 34-year-old is known for his work on wealth inequality and his dogged efforts to track how businesses and the rich use tax havens to their advantage. Bidens plan leans heavily on proposals Zucman has promoted in work with fellow Berkeleyite Emmanuel Saez and former UCLA economist Kimberly Clausing, a widely respected authority on corporate tax issues now at the Treasury Department, where she is one of the key figures leading the administrations push. Its one more example of how Bidenworld has somewhat unexpectedly embraced personnel and policies from the progressive cutting edgeand then sold them as a simple matter of fairness.

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Now about that race to the bottom. Between 1985 and 2020, The average corporate tax rate across major economies fell from 49 percent to about 23 percent as countries tried to spur more investment at home and make themselves more appealing destinations for big multinationals looking for lighter levies. Tax havens like Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland have led this downhill stampede by cutting their corporate rates to the bone or by offering massive incentives that let companies slash their tax bills. Using creative accounting techniques with names like a double Irish with a Dutch sandwich, businesses have been able book their profits in these jurisdictions without necessarily doing much actual business in them, often keeping a modest office footprint, or less. This situation has been excellent for corporate shareholders, but less so for governments struggling to raise revenue.

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When the Trump administration cut the top U.S. corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent in 2017, it imposed a few measures meant to discourage tax-haven abuse. They included a somewhat weak minimum tax on overseas profits known as the GILTI, which was designed to eventually max out at about 13 percent, and was mostly aimed at profits from intellectual property. The results havent been impressive so far. In 2019, U.S. multinationals still booked 61 percent of their post-tax profits in the seven biggest tax havens, according to a paper by Clausing, essentially unchanged from past years. She predicted that number would fall a bit in the future as companies adjusted to the new rules, but not dramatically.

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The Biden approach is vastly more aggressive, and uses Americas enormous economic sway to force global change.

Part of the effort is diplomatic. For years now, there have been ongoing discussions at the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Developmentthe club of developed countriesabout establishing a global minimum tax on corporate profits. Officials have been hoping to wrap up negotiations this year, and recently Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called on the group to establish a 21 percent minimum rate. Previously, the talks had focused on a much lower number, perhaps 12.5 percent (not coincidentally, thats Irelands corporate rate). The Biden team is essentially urging Americas peers to go big in the agreement.

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If other countries are hesitant, the White House has essentially signaled it will use Americas own tax code to nudge them along. The plan the president has proposed would raise Americas tax rate on domestic corporate profits to 28 percent. At the same time, it would require our companies to pay at least a 21 percent rate on their overseas earnings once foreign and U.S. taxes are combined. So if a tech giant paid a 12.5 percent tax on its Irish profits, it would have to fork over another 8.5 percent to the U.S. If it paid a 17 percent tax in Singapore, it would owe another 4 percent to Uncle Sam.

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Crucially, companies would have to calculate and pay the minimum tax on profits separately for each nation where they do business. This country-by-country approach, which Clausing and Zucman championed together, is designed to wipe out the incentive for U.S. multinationals to book any profits in tax havens, since they would owe at least 21 percent on money earned anywhere in the world.

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At the same time, the Biden plan would penalize companies that are based in ultra-low tax countries by denying their U.S. operations important deductions. (The provision has been given the Marvelesque acronym SHIELD). By promising to wage its own unilateral war on tax havens, the U.S. is hoping it can enlist other rich nations to join the effort, solving the collective-action problem that has spurred the race to the bottom.

One reason to be optimistic about this plan is that the United States does not need every country in the world to go along with its idea for a global minimum tax to be effected. As Zucman and Clausing have pointed out, just 10 countries are home to the companies that generate about 80 percent of profits from multinationals. If only handful followed the U.S.s lead, it would make a major difference.

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But pulling this off could be politically challenging, both diplomatically and in Congress. Its not clear if other rich countries will get on board with Yellens call for a 21 percent minimum; European officials have said some generically positive things about the Biden administrations stance, but not much about the number itself. Its hard to see the OECD going along with what the U.S. has proposed, Alan Auerbach, a Berkeley tax economist known for his more moderate streak, told me. I view this as the first step in a negotiation with other countries. And if Biden cant get other countries to go along, some members Congress might get nervous about putting U.S. companies at a disadvantage by taxing their global profits compared to their foreign competitors. The Biden plan includes some strong provisions aimed at stopping corporate inversions, where companies use mergers to self-deport abroad for tax purposes. But the old fears about scaring away investment might return. Senate Democrats have put forward a corporate tax plan that embraces some of Bidens ideas, but is less stringent in some respects.

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And the fight will only get more intense. The Chamber of Commerce has already begun lambasting Bidens planThis plan would make America less competitive, which would mean less U.S. economic growthand corporate executives have started grumbling to the press, though not always on the record. As one put it to Politico, jobs will go if we do this stuff.

Of course, that kind of logic is how we got the race to the bottom in the first place. The world seems overdue for a fresh approach.

Correction, May 25, 2021: This post originally referred to the American Jobs Plan as the American Rescue Plan.
CLARION, Iowa  A man accused of stabbing three people is going to prison.

David Hernandez, 32 of Webster City, was sentenced Friday in Wright County District Court for attempted murder. He will serve between five and 25 years behind bars for stabbing Carl Burras in Eagle Grove multiple times with a screwdriver on July 10, 2019.

Investigators say DNA evidence identified Hernandez and Burras attacker.

That 25 year sentence will be served concurrently with whatever Hernandez receives in another attempted murder case in Hamilton County. Authorities say Hernandez attacked Samantha Gray at her home in Webster City on June 22, 2019. Hernandez is accused of stabbing Samantha Gray numerous times with a knife and stabbing her son as well when he ran for help.

A plea hearing in that attempted murder case is set for May 3.
In 1971, after Chong finally opened that studio door for Dave, he told a visibly agitated Marin, Listen, listen, listen  play back the tape. They knew right there they stumbled onto comedic Maui-Waui, but not something that would be played back for every new generation. Somewhere today a teenager is answering his door with Daves not here, man.
Kolkata, April 9 : With masks vanishing from public life and Covid protocols being ignored in election rallies and meetings there has been a more than 14-fold rise in the number of Covid cases in West Bengal in the last one month. The state government has started imposing restrictions on public life to check the spread of the virus.

The Covid-19 case count in Bengal this year shows the infection rate has doubled since last year. While it took two months for the number to increase 10 times last year, this year it has happened in less than a month. Going by the health department statistics on May 24 last year, the state had recorded 208 fresh daily cases. It took a little more than two months for the daily cases to rise 10-fold when Bengal reported 2,198 cases on July 18. This year, 255 new cases were reported on March 16 and the fresh cases of Covid reached 2783 on April 8.

The massive surge in Covid cases has prompted the state government to go back to 50% employee attendance in government offices. The state government in October last year decided to reduce the number of employees attending office to 50% and asked them to work on a rotational basis. However, with the improvement in the situation there was relaxation and more employees started coming to office. Chief secretary Alapan Bandopadhya in a meeting on Thursday decided to go back to the rotational method of 50% attendance while the rest of the employees were asked to work from home.

Not only that the steep surge has prompted the state health department to call back senior doctors, including infectious diseases specialist Yogiraj Ray, who had played a sterling role in combating Covid during the first phase of the infection, to Beliaghata ID Hospital. The nodal hospital for Covid care currently has 265 beds and 100 more are ready to tackle the surge in patients. Ray was released from the ID Hospital to the School of Tropical Medicine about a couple of months ago. In addition to Ray, the health department has also called in two more senior doctors, Rajarshi Basu and Arijit Sinha, both from NRS Medical College, for Covid duty at Beliaghata hospital.

It has also asked government hospitals as well as private facilities to gear up to meet all eventualities. "All the hospitals that had Covid facilities have been asked to reactivate them so that they can meet the increasing needs of the Covid patients," a senior official of the health department said.

The Calcutta High Court is also thinking of restricting the number of lawyers according to their cases as was done during the previous phase.

"The speed of vaccination is crucial at this juncture. Now with the 45 plus (workforce) included in the inoculation programme and the daily number of vaccinations hitting above 30 lakhs in about 10 weeks, about 30 crore people should have some protection. If this vaccination speed jumps up further, we will hopefully reach a baseline by July end," the official said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Following a review Thursday of write-in ballots and the processing of about 100 mail ballots, Tyson Manker is projected to be the new South Jacksonville president, receiving 289 votes against Trustee Richard Samples 281.

Manker has mounted a write-in campaign after being removed from the Tuesday election ballot over a filing technicality.
Expressive language sampling (ELS) is a useful tool for measuring communication development in youth with Down syndrome, a new multi-site study has found.

The study, co-led by Angela Thurman and Leonard Abbeduto from the UC Davis MIND Institute and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, focused on language as an outcome measure to detect meaningful changes in communication skills of individuals with Down syndrome. It successfully tested and validated ELS as a reliable set of procedures for collecting, measuring and analyzing the spoken language of participants interacting in a naturalistic setting.

Down syndrome and language delays

Down syndrome is the leading genetic cause of intellectual disability. Approximately one in every 700 babies in the United States is born with Down syndrome. Individuals with Down syndrome frequently have speech and language delays that might severely affect their independence and successful community inclusion.

Interventions leading to improvements in language would have great impacts on the quality of life of individuals with Down syndrome. To develop and evaluate such interventions, we need a validated measurement tool and ELS provides that." Leonard Abbeduto, Director, UC Davis MIND Institute, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Study Senior Author

The ELS procedure

During the ELS procedure, researchers collect samples of participants' speech during two types of natural interactions: conversation and narration.

In conversation, trained examiners engage participants on a variety of topics in a sequenced and standardized manner. They start the conversation with a subject the participants find interesting then introduce a topic from predetermined age-appropriate lists. In their interactions, they follow a script to minimize their participation and maximize the participants' contribution. On average, the conversation lasts around 12 minutes.

In narration, the participants independently construct and tell the story in a wordless picture book. This process usually takes 10 to 15 minutes.

The researchers analyze the collected conversation and narration samples. In a previous ELS application involving participants with fragile X syndrome, the researchers derived five language outcome measures: talkativeness, lexical diversity (vocabulary), syntax, dysfluency (utterance planning) and unintelligibility (speech articulation).

Validity and reliability of the ELS measures in Down syndrome studies

For this study, four university testing sites recruited 107 participants with Down syndrome (55 males, 52 females). Participants were between the ages of 6 and 23 (mean age of 15.13 years) and with IQ levels under 70 (mean IQ of 48.73).

The participants came for a first visit to complete the ELS procedures and to take assessment tests of their IQ, autism symptom severity and other measures. Four weeks later, they revisited for a retest of the ELS procedures. This retest was to assess practice effects over repeated administrations and to check the reliability of ELS measures.

The study found that the ELS measures were generally valid and reliable across ages and IQ levels. It showed that the vocabulary, syntax and speech intelligibility variables demonstrated strong validity as outcome measures. Also, the ELS procedures were feasible for the majority of participants who successfully completed the tasks. Youth who were under 12, had phrase-level speech or less, and had a 4-year-old developmental level or lower found it more difficult to complete.

"Spoken language is the primary way we interact with the people around us, making language a frequent target of treatment. However, we have not had tools sensitive and accurate enough to confidently measure change in language treatment studies," said Thurman, associate professor of psychiatry and first author on the study. "The data from this study provide a critical first step indicating these procedures can be used to effectively measure language for people with Down syndrome."

The study, published April 8 in Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, is available online. The researchers provided online manuals to help other investigators with the administration, training and assessment of fidelity of ELS procedures.
VKumar BHPian



Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: Dehradun Posts: 842 Thanked: 6,380 Times

Re: 7-seater Hyundai Creta (aka Alcazar) spied testing



For the first time I am saying this, really for the first time"

"Finally someone, who may snatch some sales from even the Crysta"



If priced well, this is not going to spare anything right from compact SUVs which are priced around 15 lac to even the likes of Crysta etc. The customers who have excess of budget , they may upgrade their plan. Then value conscious customers may come down from the likes of Safari, Crysta etc for this. Even if Hyundai prices it in a very aggressive manner in beginning, they may get the volumes high enough to compensate the thinning up of margins too.



Quote: swarnava.ch Originally Posted by 1. RWD Crysta I feel will drive and ride better than a FWD Creta+ / Alcazar?



Quote: 2. What are the dates for the release of Alcazar ? Booking start dates etc ?



Quote: 3. Safety ratings expected ?



Quote: 4. Love the wheelbase and design options speculated so far. My choice will be 2 NA Petrol AT Top end.

5. Price expectations ?



Hyundai and Toyota, both are equally greedy. One increases the prices, one cuts the corners where they are hidden - you choose. Looking at the pics, I must agree that this product is indeed less polarizing than the Creta. Just put another grille, and it's indeed an entirely different car itself - as suggested by @Padmrajravi.For the first time I am saying this, really for the first time"If priced well, this is not going to spare anything right from compact SUVs which are priced around 15 lac to even the likes of Crysta etc. The, they may upgrade their plan. Thencustomers may come down from the likes of Safari, Crysta etc for this. Even if Hyundai prices it in a very aggressive manner in beginning, they may get the volumes high enough to compensate the thinning up of margins too.Being very true, you can't even tell the difference until you are climbing a steep and slippery slope with 7 people on board. But Crysta will offer you more long distance comfort any day, especially when the vehicle is loaded with pax.Nice question. God knows the answer!It's Hyundai, I doubt if they will be good enough with this one too. They are greedy, and they cut the cost when you can't see, but you can feel - in a crash. Your call now.Most probably, the 2.0 NA petrol will cost you slightly over the 2.7 GX Crysta. Now you have to decide between a more comfortable, more powerful with bigger motor, and more expensive MPV, vs a toy loaded stretch compact UV. Both have very different set of pros and cons, which I will find hard to put all in a single post. Innova is going to be more comfortable and reliable for sure is what I can assure. This one will give more features to keep you entertained. If safety is among serious concerns, then look at Innova only is what I would suggest.Hyundai and Toyota, both are equally greedy.- you choose. Last edited by VKumar : 8th April 2021 at 13:23 .
PHILIPSBURG:--- La Soufriere volcano in St. Vincent has erupted and displaced thousands of people, which Member of Parliament for the United People's (UP) Party Omar Ottley says "its a sad turn of events for the entire Caribbean."

In a Press Release issued Friday Morning, the MP also said the volcanic eruption and displacement of St. Vincent and the Grenadines people should be "a wakeup call for those who are responsible for making the decision that impacts St. Maartens ability to recover."



"As people of the Caribbean, whenever one of our neighbors suffers, we feel their pain because we are all connected by blood and water," said Ottley. He issued a plea to the people of St. Maarten to "keep St. Vincent and the Grenadines in your prayers."



Ottley is also calling on the Nature Foundation on St. Maarten to "pay keen attention to oceanic developments that may result from the volcanic eruption." Studies show that after a volcanic eruption, evaporation decreases over the ocean. This change in sea conditions can lead to sea creatures migrating to other areas for haven.



"We will need to count on the expertise of the Nature Foundation and others to advise the government on what effects can be expected here in St. Maarten due to volcanic eruption and how best we can prepare," said MP Ottley.



Ottley said that at this critical time, organizations like the World Bank that manages the Sint Maarten Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience Trust Fund, which is financed by The Netherlands, should be paying attention to what the new era of natural disasters are like.



According to MP Ottley, the World Bank, St. Maarten has been waiting since Hurricane Irma's aftermath in 2017 to see tangible signs of recovery.



"World Bank must be mindful of the supernatural acts such as hurricanes and volcanos that are no longer occurring at regular rates or with normal force." I urge you to see this latest development as yet another sign and make it your priority to rebuild and prepare St. Maarten as we enter a hurricane season that has already been predicted will be above average in the coming months.



St. Vincent's National Emergency Management Organization, NEMO, announced early on Friday that "La Soufriere experienced an explosive eruption." It released over five (5) miles of ash plum, which could see for miles while they were rushing to waiting ferries to take them off the island.

"Our lives will forever change, and for us here in St. Maarten, we know only too well what the impact of natural disasters can do to displace people and change lives."

According to MP Ottley, generations to come will be reminded of the tragic experience for the people of St. Vincent. "We in the Caribbean are just beginning to experience the real effect of the Corona Virus COVID-19 that has devastated global economies. I cannot imagine what life would be for the people of St. Vincent now that they have the added burden of this volcanic eruption," said Ottley.
Kyiv City Council appeals to the Ministry of Health and the Cabinet of Ministers to allow the city authorities using all dministerial hospitals in Kyiv to accommodate patients with coronavirus, mayor of the capital Vitali Klitschko said during a briefing on Thursday.

"Kyiv City Council has appealed to the government and the Ministry of Health with a request to use the medical base of ministerial hospitals located in our city, in the capital, to receive and treat patients with coronavirus. And this is more than 10,000 beds that the city really needs," the mayor of Kyiv said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 20:57:35|Editor: huaxia

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VIENNA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. promise on lifting unilateral sanctions must be put into action immediately, said Wang Qun, Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, on Friday, after a meeting with other senior diplomats concerning the Iran nuclear deal.

"Regarding the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States, China and the parties concerned clearly expressed their concerns at the meeting, and it must be lifted immediately," Wang told Xinhua after the talks on the resumption of implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by the United States and Iran.

Wang said that "such sanctions problems were all caused by the previous U.S. government's illegal sanctions on entities and individuals that implemented the JCPOA."

He stressed that the lifting of these sanctions is "not only a bilateral issue, but also an important aspect of safeguarding the JCPOA, which is the result of multilateralism."

"We have noticed that the U.S. side recently released some positive messages about the lifting of such sanctions, and we call on the U.S. to take practical actions immediately to facilitate the complete and effective implementation of the JCPOA," Wang added.

The Joint Commission of the JCPOA, known as the Iran nuclear deal, resumed talks here again on Friday, following Tuesday's meeting. The Iran nuclear deal was struck in 2015 but paralyzed by the U.S. withdrawal in 2018.

Wang told Xinhua that Friday's meeting was "constructive in general, as all parties have actively implemented the consensus reached at the joint ministerial meeting last December, and that the parties were moving in the right direction."

Intensive work has been carried out upon the two processes launched in the current meeting, namely, the nuclear implementation and sanction-lifting working groups' work, and the "proximity talks" with the United States, Wang said.

"Through these four days of meetings, the differences between the parties concerned are narrowing, and we have seen the momentum towards gradually forming a consensus among parties concerned. And this has created a beneficial atmosphere for the next step towards a good prospect," he added.

Wang said the parties will continue negotiations here next week. "We hope that the positive and constructive momentum of this week's meeting can be continued."

"Vienna is the place where the negotiations on the JCPOA started and reached," Wang said. "China hopes that Vienna will also witness all parties reaching an arrangement for the United States and Iran to resume the implementation of the JCPOA." Enditem
To the Editor:

In an April 5 Letter to the Editor, Tom Noonan once again resorts to name calling in an effort to denigrate those who support actions or espouse views that contradict his own. He criticizes the Washington Township lowly board of supervisors for declaring their township to be a Second Amendment Sanctuary. He also accuses the board of having a gun fetish and points out that (ostensibly much brighter) judges and legislators make laws, not a bunch of local township board members. He states that these people cant pick and choose laws that they will or will not enforce, nor do they have the right to spend public funds in doing so.

I doubt that Mr. Noonan knows any of these board members personally, nor does he care to know the reasons behind their actions. He apparently wants to label them as some sort of vigilante group who consider themselves above the law.

I wonder why Mr. Noonan never expresses concern with Democrat mayors and city council members who declare their cities to be sanctuary cities and refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. There are currently 17 counties that host sanctuary cities in Pennsylvania. I guess Mr. Noonan thinks its OK to pick and choose the laws they ignore.

Mr. Noonan emphatically implies that laws must be enforced. If so, shouldnt Hunter Biden be in jail for reportedly falsifying an application for a federal gun permit? Shouldnt the FBI and Secret Service personnel who allegedly covered up this violation of federal law be indicted? Is it acceptable for the presidents son to violate federal gun laws while persecuting local township supervisors who try to defend the rights of law-abiding gun owners?

Lets take a look at some other highly educated law enforcement officials, who dont believe that laws should be strictly adhered to. District attorneys in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York (to name a few) allegedly flat out refuse to prosecute offenders to the full extent of the law. You might be aware of a liberal activist named George Soros. His claim to fame is that he pumps millions of dollars into the campaigns of district attorneys who allegedly refuse to prosecute felons in accordance with federal law. Many of these DAs have downgraded first-degree murder charges to misdemeanors. Hows that for justice, Tom?

How about Joe Bidens 100-day moratorium on deporting illegal aliens that have been convicted of rape, murder, child abuse and a litany of other crimes in this country? Instead of deporting or prosecuting them, he wants to make them citizens and give them the right to vote. Shouldnt he be prosecuted? After all, he has sworn to protect and defend the Constitution.

I have great respect and admiration for judges and legislators who actually enforce our laws and keep our communities safe. The real threat doesnt come from the lowly board of Washington Township supervisors, it comes from liberals who think people dont have a right to bear arms and believe the Constitution is just another meaningless piece of scrap paper. Personally, I trust the judgment of the township supervisors much more than I trust people backed by George Soros and other intelligent people that make a mockery of our justice system.

William C. Wagner

Frackville
Biden Administration 'Caves' on Beijing 2022 Olympics Boycott Discussions After the Chinese Government Issues Warning of 'Robust Chinese Response' to a Potential Boycott

Protest and News Conference Outside of the White House on Saturday, April 10, at 1:00 P.M.



NEWS PROVIDED BY

Christian Defense Coalition

April 9, 2021



WASHINGTON, April 9, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- A State Department spokesman indicated in an exchange with reporters Tuesday that the U.S. was discussing whether to skip the Olympics in Beijing as part of a boycott with allies.



Tragically, after a threat from the Chinese Government, the Biden Administration pulled back and later said; "We have not discussed and are not discussing any joint boycott with allies and partners."



It is deeply troubling President Biden has been bullied and intimidated by the Chinese government into reversing course on any Beijing Olympic boycott discussions.



This "flip flop" and reversing of position by President Biden shows a troubling lack of commitment to human rights in China and betrays all those being oppressed and brutalized by the Chinese Communist Party.



Human rights activists will have a protest and news conference outside of the White House on Saturday, April 10, at 1:00 P.M. on the south public sidewalk on the corner of 16th St. and H St. NW.



They will be calling for President Biden to lead a coalition of nations to boycott the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games and stand for human rights in China.



Here is a link to a news article of 180 worldwide human rights groups urging a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics: https://thehill.com/policy/international/537363-180-human-rights-groups-urging-boycott-of-beijing-olympic-games.



Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington, D.C., has been an outspoken critic of the human rights abuses in China for over 40 years. In 2008, he was involved in an effort to boycott the Beijing Summer Olympics and was arrested in Tiananmen Square during the Olympics speaking out for human rights. He was threatened with six months in prison and is currently banned from China.



Rev. Mahoney states;

"It would be unconscionable for America to participate in the Beijing Olympic Games while China is committing genocide against the Uyghur's, oppressing Hong Kong, bulldozing churches, persecuting religious minorities and crushing free speech and human rights against their own citizens.



"We call upon America and the world not to give the Chinese Communist Party an international propaganda platform before billions of people worldwide through the Olympic Games. How can we honor a country where Uyghur's are living in concentration and forced labor camps, Hong Kong democracy leaders are sitting in prison with no bail, Christian Churches are bulldozed, political and religious dissidents are daily being brutalized and persecuted and so many more human rights atrocities?



"Simply stated, America must say no the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games."

For more information or interviews contact

Rev. Patrick Mahoney at 540.538.4741



SOURCE Christian Defense Coalition



CONTACT: Rev. Patrick Mahoney, 540-538-4741


Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is calling on Russia to stop denying entry to foreign reporters in the South Caucasus disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, and is urging the United Nations and Council of Europe to ensure respect for the right to the freedom to inform.

Russian peacekeepers controlling access to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia via the Lachin Corridor have denied entry to at least 10 foreign journalists since February, the Paris-based media freedom watchdog said in a statement on April 9.

A growing number of foreign journalists are being systematically refused entry by Russian soldiers, said Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSFs Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.

Cavelier warned that without international media, Nagorno-Karabakh is liable to become a news and information black hole.

Last fall, Azerbaijani and Armenian forces fought a brief war over Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has been controlled by ethnic Armenians since the early 1990s.

The six-week fighting concluded in November 2020 with a Russian-brokered cease-fire, under which a chunk of the region and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by ethnic Armenian forces.

It also resulted in the deployment of around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers along frontline areas and the Lachin Corridor connecting the disputed territory with Armenia.

More than 6,000 people died in the fighting.

According to RSF, a French photographer, a reporter for the French TV channel M6, and a Canadian freelancer for The Guardian and CNN, were among the journalists who were denied entry in Nagorno-Karabakh since February.

The group said access to the region is also restricted via Azerbaijan. It cited the case of TV crews from France 24 and the European channel Arte which made highly controlled visits from Azerbaijan and were not able to report freely.

The Russian-brokered cease-fire agreement has no specific provision for the entry of journalists, RSF pointed out.

It said press accreditation is issued by the consulate of Nagorno-Karabakhs separatist authorities or by the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

However, the Russia peacekeepers grant or refuse entry to foreign citizens, who are notified of the decision on the eve of their planned visit, while Armenians and Russians just need to show their passports in order to enter the region.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 00:22:07|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's central bank said Friday it plans to boost the level of foreign exchange inflows by lowering the cost of diaspora remittances.

Patrick Njoroge, governor of Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), told a virtual meeting in Nairobi that local banks and telecom companies have been encouraged to partner with foreign banks and other entities in order to reduce the cost of sending money into Kenya.

"Our target is to reduce the cost of transferring funds to Kenya to between two and three percent of the funds transferred in order to increase Diaspora remittances," Njoroge said during a meeting between CBK and officials of Kenyan missions abroad and the Kenyan diaspora.

Njoroge observed that there are an estimated 1.5 million Kenyan adults in the diaspora who can play a huge role in the country's economic development through sending money back home.

He said that Kenya will also seek to boost the level of diaspora remittance by enhancing overseas marketing of investment opportunities available in the country.

Njoroge noted that the country is one of the most open economies in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of allowing foreign direct investments into the country. Enditem
Terror attack in educational institution prevented in Crimea  Russian Federal Security Service

 TASS, Vitaly Nevar

13:20 09/04/2021

MOSCOW, April 9 (RAPSI)  The Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia has prevented a terror attack in Crimea, the body's Public Relations Center informs RAPSI on Friday.

Two citizens of the Russian Federation, born in 1992 and 1999, supporters of an international terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, who were preparing an armed attack using improvised explosive devices on one of the educational institutions of the city of Simferopol were detained, the Center said in the statement.

Investigators believe that after the crime was committed, the terrorists planned to flee via Ukraine and Turkey to Syria in order to join an international terrorist organization.

Components for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices with damaging elements, as well as explosives, were seized at the addresses of the criminals. Instructions for the production of explosives and explosive devices, correspondence and records of voice messages with emissaries of international terrorist organizations discussing planned terrorist acts, confirming the involvement of the detainees in the propaganda and financing of terrorism, were found in the seized communications equipment, the document reads.

The case was initiated under provisions of the Russian Criminal Code on assistance to terrorist activities, propaganda of terrorism and illegal manufacture of explosive devices.
WILMINGTON, Del., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Social media has reshaped the digital landscape, yet people worldwide feel more disconnected than ever. The big giants have all innovated successfully, but constant monetisation efforts for the sake of corporate profit have done away with interpersonal connections, and have therefore transformed the user into the product.

Omni are taking this concept and making it a thing of the past by creating a true alternative to today's social media platforms. Omni will introduce a holistic, user-focused ecosystem that rewards engagement and forges new connections between users. Omni combines the best features available today in the social media world into a singular app suitable for messaging, streaming, sharing, and interacting with content and its creators. This is all packaged nicely with market-leading gamification that yield the user profit linked to the performance of the company in the form of OMNI coins.

Announcing the Omni Whitepaper

As Omni is getting closer to reaching its goal of building genuine online communities, the platform has now released its much-anticipated whitepaper. A quick read will unveil Omni's immense value proposition and its bid to help users regain control over their online interactions.

Whitepaper readers will come to learn more about Omni's blockchain-based revenue-sharing model. In brief, each interaction via the mega social media app will yield OMNI coins, which can be redeemed within the app at a rate directly correlated with company profits. Earning OMNI is simple, and happens passively, while users do the things they already do on a daily basis, like following a post, sharing statuses, building connections with new friends, or live streaming.

Valuable information on OMNI's tokenomics is also provided, with readers learning more about long-term value growth sustainability for the native token. Relevant know-how on the usage of investment funds, as well as plans on DEX listings and Omni's marketing strategy are also provided.

The whitepaper's rewards structure shows how engagement efforts will be converted into redeemable coins which can be sold back to the company in exchange for profits. Loyal users will be rewarded generously, whereas content creators will obtain fair revenue shares in exchange for their hard work.

The whitepaper goes on to showcase Omni's ambitious plan to become a true alternative to the big social media platforms, infamous for forgoing user experience in hopes of attaining higher profits. With the focus being placed on providing a user experience that's beyond immersive, Omni's whitepaper unveils what social media should be all about.

Readers will also discover Omni's plans for NFT integrations. In a nutshell, content creators are enabled to easily transfer or license ownership of their works. By integrating NFTs within its value proposition, creators worldwide will fairly and transparently earn royalties within Omni's social ecosystem. Combined with the revenue-sharing incentive via the OMNI coins, the social media game is transformed into actual revenue streams.

Unveiling Omni's Social Features

Omni is serious about its goals of reshaping the social media industry. As such, Omni's whitepaper proposes multiple features, including secret chats, ecommerce capabilities, channels, viral content, dub & duet integrations, and more. While such features are normally accessible via multiple social media apps, Omni combines them within a single interface, building a seamless user experience.

As shown in the whitepaper's section on user data security and privacy, user interactions like messages remain accessible only to the intended recipients. Omni does not snoop into everyone's private affairs, but rather breeds unparalleled engagement with family, friends, brands, content creators, and more.

About Omni's Total Addressable Market

By this point, Statista reports that 3.6 billion people used social media in 2020, with the number expected to grow beyond 4.41 billion in 2025. With millions of hours spent browsing feeds on a daily basis, Omni can expect a huge inflow of users, content creators, and brands over the next few years. The app's potential is virtually limitless, as it retains everything that's great about social media, yet drops anything that users dislike. This is deeply discussed in the whitepaper section tackling market analysis and the competitor landscape.

With these aspects in mind, Omni bids farewell to cumbersome user interfaces, lack of synergy, invasive ads, and privacy concerns by setting new standards in the social media industry. It's finally time to welcome genuine user engagement powered by gamified incentives, with sufficient features to serve as a true competitor for today's social media giants.

Don't be a product of your environment. Make your environment your product. Check out the Omni website today to learn more at omni.ai

Join the community on Telegram: https://t.me/omni_app

Media Contact Details

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Pressure is building on No10 to accelerate its roadmap out of lockdown in England after Wales announced Covid restrictions would be lifted ahead of schedule.

Two households will be able to meet indoors on May 3 rather than May 10 because of 'improvements' in the public health situation and the vaccination roll-out, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said.

Gyms and leisure centres will also be opened up at the same accelerated pace and outdoor activities for up to 30 people will be able to tale place from April 26 instead of May 3.

But experts say the data - which Boris Johnson has promised to follow in his roadmap back to normality - doesn't necessarily show Wales is in any better place than England.

England is currently beating Wales in the vaccination roll-out. Department of Health figures show 60.7 per cent of adults have now had a first dose in England, compared to 60.2 per cent in Wales. Though, the opposite is true for top-up jabs.

England's coronavirus hospitalisation rate is much lower than Wales' and has been since the end of January, with 4.4 infected patients currently occupying an NHS bed per every 100,000 people in the country. For comparison, the rate in Wales now stands at 7.2.

Death rates are similar between both nations, while Wales is currently recording fewer positive tests. England's infection rate stood at 29.6 cases per 100,000 residents in the most recent seven-day spell, whereas the figure in Wales was 18.2

Cases per 100,000 people are slightly higher in England than in Wales and falling at a slightly slower pace than in Wales

England's rate of hospitalisations (4.4 per 100,000) is much lower than in Wales (7.2 per 100,000) at the current time and has been since January 26

England's death rate per 100,000 people is at the same level as Wales, with numbers falling at a faster pace

Figures from the Department of Health show that 60.7 per cent of adults have now had a first dose of the vaccine in England, compared to 60.2 per cent in Wales

GRANT SHAPPS SAYS PEOPLE CAN 'START TO THINK' ABOUT HOLIDAYS Britons can 'start to think' about booking a summer holiday abroad, the transport secretary has said. In a boost to the travel-starved nation, Grant Shapps said: 'Im not telling people that they shouldnt book summer holidays now, its the first time that Ive been able to say that for many months.' He said people would want to book holidays to a 'green country' and they would only have to wait a few weeks before the list was unveiled. 'For the first time, people can start to think about visiting loved ones abroad, or perhaps a summer holiday. But were doing it very, very cautiously, because we dont want to see any return of coronavirus in this country.' Lockdown easing plans will currently see foreign holidays permitted from May 17. Pubs and restaurants will open for outdoor service from Monday, and hairdressers and shops will also be permitted to lift the shutters. It comes after ministers set out more details of their traffic light scheme for allowing summer holidays which will see countries rated green, red or amber based on criteria including vaccination levels and case numbers. Mr Shapps warned today it was 'too early' to categorise countries, but that a definitive list would be published in the coming weeks. Advertisement

Dr Simon Clarke, an infectious disease expert at the University of Reading, told MailOnline: 'It's not entirely clear that Wales is in a better place overall, because while their infections are lower, their hospitalisations are higher.

'But Wales will act as a good case study for the three other governments in the UK.

'If lifting restrictions pay off then I expect some restrictions in England that are planned to be lifted on June 21 may be brought forward to May 17.

'And we may find certain restrictions that are expected to stay in place in June  such as mask-wearing in pubs and social distancing in our homes  may not need to stay in place.'

One economic think-tank today called on the English Government to be 'more responsive to data' and not care less about planned dates.

The Adam Smith Institute said the Welsh Government's decision to open up earlier shows it is safe enough to do so across the UK.

A spokesperson said: 'It should be a wake-up call to the Conservatives at Westminster that the Welsh Labour Party is more responsive to data and not stuck to dates.

'Each week with restrictions is costing the country's taxpayers upwards of 5billion.

'The quicker we reopen without viral risk via the protection of antibodies and vaccines the quicker we can steal a march on our European neighbours that are still hunkering down under a third wave.'

They added: 'If it's safe to reopen, it is safe whatever side of Offa's Dyke.

'As we move back towards more normal life resuming we should demand a One Nation approach to reopen the UK together rather than difference for difference's sake under devolution.'

And James Lawson, a fellow at the think tank, argued the Prime Minister should follow Wales' example of opening up gyms earlier if he is serious about his obesity drive.

He said: 'Gyms and leisure are essential to the health of the nation  mental, physical and economic. They should be opened as soon as possible.

'The recent announcement of a 70m fund to tackle the obesity crisis is incoherent while the restrictions continue to hinder our ability to exercise.'

Reviewing the data, Dr Clarke said while the data does suggest England and Wales are on fairly level pegging, he does not expect politicians to accelerate lockdown in England.

He said: 'If you look at the latest data, England is still about fifty per cent ahead of Wales in terms of infections.

'But Wales have, per capita, more hospital cases than England despite having fewer infections, which suggests their infections are in older people or in less well people.

'We're not entirely sure what the thresholds are for the different governments which would allow restrictions to be lifted earlier.

'And I expect the governments are deliberately not telling us what those thresholds are so there isn't public uproar calling for lockdowns to be gotten rid of.'

Professor David Alexander, an expert in risk and disaster reduction at University College London, warned opening up too soon in Wales or England could be dangerous, given the lack of data showing how significantly vaccines stop the spread of infection.

He told MailOnline: 'There is definitely a correlation between restrictions on opening and movement and rates of infection.

'Half of the UK population hasn't yet been inoculated and another large proportion hasn't had their second dose... We still do not know to what extent, if at all, vaccines inhibit the spread of infection.'

Professor Alexander also added that relaxing restrictions would be definitely welcome 'but enormous dangers are associated with international movement', which will be allowed to restart on May 17.

The Welsh Government yesterday said that coronavirus cases in Wales had dropped from 37 to fewer than 21 per 100,000 this week.

Wedding receptions for up to 30 people will also be permitted outdoors from April 26  again a week earlier than previously announced.

The reopening of gyms, leisure centres and fitness facilities will now be allowed from May 3, brought forward a week from May 10. This will include for individual or one-to-one training, but not exercise classes.

An extended household rule will again allow two households to meet and have contact indoors from May 3, rather than May 10.

All dates are 'subject to the public health situation remaining favourable' and will be confirmed at a review of coronavirus regulations on April 22, the Welsh Government said.

Mr Drakeford said: 'The public health situation in Wales continues to improve thanks to everything you are doing to help us control this awful virus.

'Cases of the virus are falling and our incredible vaccination programme continues to go from strength to strength.

'Last week, we set out our programme to further reopen the economy and relax the restrictions we have lived with for so long, as part of our careful, step-by-step approach to keeping everyone safe.

'This week, because of the improvements we continue to see, we can bring forward some of our plans.

'This is only possible because of the efforts everyone is making to protect themselves and their loved ones.'

Other relaxations of restrictions are still set to go ahead from Monday.

This includes the return of children to schools, all post-16 learners back at further education and training centres and university campuses reopening for blended face-to-face and online learning.

All remaining non-essential retail and close contact services will reopen.

Restrictions on travel in and out of Wales are also set to be lifted but people will not be able to travel to countries outside of the Common Travel area  the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Ireland  without a reasonable excuse.

Restrictions on political canvassing will be removed, so long as it is done safely, and wedding 'show-arounds' by appointment will be allowed.

From April 26 outdoor attractions, such as funfairs and theme parks, could be allowed to reopen  the date for which has not been changed.

Outdoor hospitality, including at cafes, pubs and restaurants, is also set to resume from the same unchanged date.
While 2021 remains a special year in many ways, it also marks the 220th anniversary of the creation of the tourbillon and should therefore bring good luck to Purnell, whose slogan is Only Tourbillon. The Escape II collection is best-known for its ultra-creative and complex timepieces that come in strictly-limited series and unique pieces that are created around the brands double triple-axis tourbillon, the famous Spherion, that was unveiled in 2020. When haute horlogerie is fused with high speed (three cages turn on themselves in 8, 16, and 30 seconds), these sophisticated satellites increase the wow effect for the unconventional collector. This was definitely the case last year with Purnells tourbillon cages coated with luminescent material that created a truly hypnotic night show.

Escape II Absolute Sapphire  Purnell

Seductive Sapphire

Unveiled during Watches and Wonders 2021, the Escape II Absolute Sapphire does justice to its lineage. Not only is the dial made of sapphire but the bridges are too, along with the power reserve indicator at 9 oclock, the hour wheel, and most importantly, the monobloc case and the domed sapphire crystal, showcasing a real technical feat. The 48mm case is water-resistant to a depth of 30 metres.



As with all the elements that make up a Purnell watch entirely made in Switzerland, the sapphire work is entrusted to a Swiss partner, Novo Cristal. Based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the company designed all the sapphire elements and carried out the exceptional level of polishing, devoting three blocks of raw sapphire and over 150 hours of machining to each watch.



Maurizio Mazzocchi, CEO of Purnell, is proud to work solely with Swiss suppliers and believes that his brand is one of the very few to apply this principle to sapphire components as well. While the transparency of the Swiss Made watch is unmistakable, the appearance of Absolute Sapphire is tinged with a touch of blue. The indexes are crafted using baguette-cut blue sapphires (1.04 carats). This blue is also found on the hands that match the exact same shade thanks to a galvanization treatment. Continuing the blue theme, the tourbillon cases are made from blued titanium.

Escape II Absolute Sapphire  Purnell

Cages Set with Diamonds

Although the setting of the Spherion cages dates back to 2020, we never tire of the spectacle. What dexterity and precision to set each titanium tourbillon cage with 152 brilliant-cut diamonds! Four barrels are perfectly aligned, providing the necessary energy for the rotation of the triple-axis tourbillon cages that turn at an astonishing speed. The two cages turn in opposite directions thanks to the differential system. In total, the movement has 386 components and weighs a mere 15.7 grams (without the diamonds). Its sophistication is also reflected in the power reserve indicator mechanism that features a sensor on the main spring that is connected to a suspended mobile cone!



Purnell tourbillon buyers can play with a wide range of customization options. Maurizio Mazzochi also warns that a collection of unique pieces with tinted sapphires in different colours will follow later in the year, such as pink, green, and blue. When asked about the positioning of the brand, whose average price is probably the highest on the market, he emphasizes the watchmaking coolture!
Community groups and local agencies have been encouraged to apply for money to realise their project by the local agency that has just been given 2.1 million to award in grant support in Laois.

Laois Partnership Company has welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Rural & Community Development Heather Humphreys TD, of an increased allocation of 70 million nationally for 2021 & 2022 under the LEADER Programme.

Peter ONeill, Laois Partnership Company Chairman said the money can help local people who are best placed to apply.

"As the deliverers of LEADER in County Laois we are greatly encouraged by todays announcement of our increased funding of 2,104,992 to the end of 2022 and endorse the Ministers statement that LEADER has always been about a ground-up, community-led approach and that every town, village and parish is different and that means the people best placed to effect change in their communities are the people who live there.

"The new programme is now open for applications and I would encourage communities and local enterprises who wish to avail of funding to make contact with us to discuss how the LEADER Programme can assist their plans," he said.

Catherine Cowap is the Acting CEO of Laois Partnership Company.

The LEADER Programme offers the ideal vehicle for the delivery of development funding to rural areas in the most effective manner. This increased funding will deliver critical stimulus and innovation to rural areas to help drive the post Covid recovery by building capacity and empowering local communities, embracing opportunities in the green economy, supporting remote working and the digital transformation, developing our outdoor amenities, and creating jobs in rural areas in line with the recently published Our Rural Future strategy of which LEADER is key," she said.

Laois Partnership is a member of the Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) which represents the 35 Local Development Companies (LDCs) who deliver the LEADER Programme nationally.

LEADER is a rural development programme co-funded by the EU which operates a locally-led, bottom-up, approach to meeting the needs of local communities and businesses. The programme supports private enterprises and community groups in rural areas. LEADER forms part of Irelands multi-annual Rural Development Programme which is co-financed by the EU and is part of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).

See full breakdown by county.

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys announced on April 9the details of the allocation of the 70 million Transitional LEADER programme for the period 2021-2022.

 65 million is being allocated to support locally-led rural development projects across the 29 Local Action Groups (LAGs)

 3 million is being allocated to support the LEADER Co-operation measure which encourages rural areas to work together on collaborative projects

 2 million will be allocated to prepare for the next LEADER Programme
Mumbai, April 9 : Actor Maniesh Paul took to Instagram to share a positive message with fans on Friday.

The actor posted a picture looking upwards, dressed in blue printed PJs with a mug in hand. He wrote about how he is full of gratitude for everything happening in his life.

"I start my day with looking up and saying thank you to that magician up there...smile,be happy,spread love,be kind...have a fantastic day...love you all #mp #love #life #goodday #goodlife #gratitude," he wrote.

Maniesh will be seen in the film "Jug Jugg Jeeyo", which stars Varun Dhawan and Kiara Advani along with Neetu Kapoor and Anil Kapoor. This is the first time that Maniesh is collaborating with Karan Johar's production house Dharma Productions. The actor started shooting for the film in November last year.

Known for his signature hosting style, Maniesh has anchored shows such as "Mujhse Shaadi Karoge" and "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs 2020". He has also been part of films such as "Tere Bin Laden 2", "Ranbanka" and "Mickey Virus".
ROCHESTER, Minn.  After a pandemic delay and a second arrest, a plea is finally entered over a Rochester police pursuit.

Conrad William Jopp, 24, is charged with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, DWI, and driving after revocation. He was initially arrested on March 15, 2020.

Rochester police say they were called around 11:45 pm about a traffic complaint near Countrywood Drive in Marion Township. Court documents say Jopp refused to pull over, drove through a yard, turned around and started driving toward a police vehicle.

Police say an officer turned his spotlight on Jopp and stopped the pursuit. Law enforcement says Jopps vehicle was spotted again near 4th Street and finally disabled in the parking lot of Dennys when a deputy ran his vehicle into the rear of Jopps car, damaging its back tires.

No trial date has been set. Court proceedings against Jopp were delayed first by the coronavirus pandemic and them when Jopp failed to appear for a court hearing. He was picked up on an outstanding warrant six months later.
RIVERSIDE, Calif., April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Manuel Contreras ("Contreras"), a former Sanitation Department employee for Green Thumb Produce, in Banning, California, is claiming that he was fired for reporting suspected California Labor Code violations by his employer to the California Office of the Labor Commissioner. In his lawsuit, filed on March 15, 2021 in Riverside County Superior Court, Mr. Contreras claims that he had been deprived of a raise for two years, despite him taking on additional job duties, and despite that employees he had trained were being awarded raises. Mr. Contreras contacted the San Bernardino office of the California Labor Commissioner given his suspicion that this wage disparity might violate state law.

In the lawsuit, Mr. Contreras states that he spoke with a Deputy Labor Commissioner who affirmed his suspicions and provided him with literature on the relevant Labor Code sections that Green Thumb Produce may be violating.

On September 3, 2020, Mr. Contreras showed this literature to some of his co-workers and asked them if they would accompany him to a meeting with the Human Resources Director, Sendy Ochoa ("Ochoa"), regarding these allegations. Before Mr. Contreras could convince any co-worker to accompany him, Ochoa summoned him to a meeting in her office. Mr. Contreras's direct supervisor, Miguel Ramos ("Ramos"), and Ochoa's assistant, Tricia Balderrama ("Balderrama") were also present.

At this meeting, Mr. Contreras asked for his long-awaited raise, which Ochoa denied. Mr. Contreras then showed her the literature from the Labor Commissioner stating "I know the law." Ochoa refused to look at this material and immediately ordered Mr. Contreras to go home for the rest of the day.

Upon reporting to work the next day, Mr. Contreras was fired. In his complaint, he alleges this firing was unlawful retaliation in violation of the California Labor Code.

Mr. Contreras is represented by attorneys Kyle Todd and Troy R. Candiotti, of Kyle Todd, P.C. Requests for comment can be directed to attorney Todd at [email protected] (323) 208-9171.

SOURCE Kyle Todd, PC

Related Links

https://www.kyletodd.com


Rome, April 9 : Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a "dictator" in front of the press, causing a stir.

Draghi spoke to the press in Rome on Thursday evening about the visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel to Erdogan on Tuesday, reports dpa news agency.

Von der Leyen was not given a chair at the meeting, but sat somewhat apart on a sofa.

Draghi classified this as a "humiliation" of the head of the commission.

"I was very displeased for the humiliation that the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen had to suffer.

"With these dictators, let's call them what they are - who however are needed - one must be honest in expressing one's diverging ideas and views about society.

"But one must also be prepared to cooperate with them in the interest of the country. The right balance is needed," Draghi added.

The choice of the word dictator made many headlines in the Italian media and angered Ankara, with Turkey's Foreign Ministry summoning the Italian ambassador.

"We strongly condemn appointed Italian PM's unacceptable remarks on our elected President, return the impudent remarks," Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a tweet.
Government denies vaccine monopoly rumours

THAILAND: The government insists it has not barred private sector companies from ordering COVID-19 vaccines for commercial distribution in Thailand, saying that the actual problem is the shortage of vaccines in the global market.

ChineseCoronavirusCOVID-19healthVaccine

By Bangkok Post

Friday 9 April 2021, 08:52AM

Containers of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Chinas Sinovac are checked as they arrived in Surabaya in January. Photo: AFP.

There is a clear policy for companies that are able to source supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine, that if they do so, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be ready to issue them with a licence, deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said yeserday (Apr 8).

The government has no problem at all with allowing private companies to import these vaccines, while the real problem is a global undersupply of vaccines, she said.

She was responding to endless rumours that the government was monopolising COVID-19 vaccine imports while barring private companies interested in importing the vaccine for sale in the country from doing so.

These rumours have continued to mislead the public and have not disappeared despite government explanations about the issue on several occasions, she said.

The fact is since all COVID-19 vaccines are only intended for emergency use now, the government, not vaccine producers, is solely responsible for any negative consequences of these vaccines, she said. And as COVID-19 vaccines are at this stage considered public goods, most countries only allow government agencies to handle the procurement, while not a single country has allowed the commercial distribution of any imported vaccines just yet, she said.

And before commercial distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is possible, the government will have to bring into place a mechanism to strictly regulate it to ensure quality and prevent problems such as fake vaccines, she said.

At present, three suppliers have successfully registered their COVID-19 vaccines for distribution in Thailand, namely Chinas Sinovac Biotec, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, she said. Still pending registration with the FDA is Covaxin, Indias homegrown COVID-19 vaccine developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, she said.

The FDA is in talks with three other COVID-19 vaccine suppliers that wish to register their jabs here, which are the Moderna, Sputnik V and Sinopharm vaccines, from the US, Russia and China respectively, she said.
What Is God's Promise to Abraham?

In Genesis 11 we are introduced to the person of Abraham, he was Abram at the time. During this introduction, we see that he set out with his father Terah, his wife Sarai (who would become Sarah), and his nephew Lot. Leaving from Ur of the Chaldeans they set out for Canaan but ended up settling in Harran. It is from Harran that God spoke to Abraham and gave him this instruction and this promise. The Lord had said to Abram,

Go from your country, your people and your fathers household to the land I will show you.

I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;

I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.  Genesis 12:1-3

This was not only an incredible promise but it was an incredible ask because Abraham was 75 at the time and God was asking him to leave everything he knew. Abraham didnt even know where he was going yet; in spite of this, he obeyed God and went anyway. Ill be honest I dont know if I could have done that. Imagine God asking you now to sell everything, take your family, pack up the moving truck, start driving and I will tell you where to go. Like I said that was a big ask. Yet there are some things to know about Gods promise to Abraham that can be an encouragement to you and I today.

Here are five things to know:

1. It didnt make sense based on Abrahams circumstances.

After asking him to leave the first thing God did was to tell Abraham he would make him into a great nation. This didnt make sense, as Abraham was 75 years old and Sarah was not only past the childbearing years, she couldnt have children when she was in those childbearing years. This is one reason that demonstrates how much faith Abraham had. He obeyed God and trusted his promise when there was no way possible for him to decipher how God would make it happen, yet he obeyed anyway. For you and I Gods promises often work the same way. They are usually made when the situation and circumstances dont match what God is telling you. Yet that is the beauty of Gods promises they dont have to. God is not limited by your circumstances. He is able to move and do in spite of your circumstances, which is exactly what he did with Abraham.

2. He was blessed to be a blessing.

There is a simple truth to the blessing of God on Abrahams life. God blessed him so that he could bless others. This truth is not just for Abraham it is true for you and I as well. When God blesses he never intends for it to be kept to yourself. That goes against Gods character. God takes from his best and shares it with you. He expects you to do the same. Everything God gives you may be for your enjoyment but it is not for your exclusivity. God blessed Abraham so he could be a blessing. God blesses you for the same reason. Whatever degree God has blessed you, you should in turn bless others. If God has given you great wisdom and knowledge, bless others with it. If he has given you artistic and creative ability, bless others with it. If he has given you leadership and business acumen, bless others with it. Whether God has given you much or little you should bless others with it. I believe sometimes its one of the things about Gods promise to Abraham that can be overlooked.

How Did God Fulfill His Promise to Abraham?

3. The promise of Genesis 12:3 has greater reach.

In verse 3, here is Gods promise to Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse."

Most of the time this promise is viewed in relationship to Israel and rightfully so. But I want to add another thought to this promise because this promise has a greater reach than just Israel. I think there is probably a question mark in your head right now so let me explain. This promise did not just apply to Abraham but to Abrahams seed. Because of this there are two parts of this promise that are relevant for us today.

First, the greatest offspring that came from Abrahams lineage was Jesus Christ. Therefore, this blessing and cursing does not just apply to the way you treat Israel it applies to the way you treat Jesus. For those who bless Jesus, God will bless them. For those who curse Jesus, God will curse them. Second, however, this promise also applies to those who are in Christ. Consider these 3 scriptures.

"Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ."  Ephesians 2:12-13

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with Gods people and also members of his household."  Ephesians 2:19

"This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus."  Ephesians 3:6

Gods promise to Abraham, especially the part in Genesis 12:3 goes beyond the nation of Israel. Paul is clear here that those who are Gentiles have now been included in this citizenship in Israel. Therefore the promise of Genesis 12:3, while still relevant for the people of Israel, also extends to everyone who is found in Christ. If you are in Christ then this promise applies. Those that bless you God will bless and those that curse you God will curse.

4. All the nations of the earth have been blessed.

Of all the things to know about Gods promise to Abraham, this one was probably the hardest to execute. How would it be possible that all the nations of the earth would be blessed because of Abraham? Remember this is an eternal promise because God did not put an expiration date on it. The fulfillment of this promise is not in Abraham himself or the nation of Israel. The fulfillment of this promise is in Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus and the sacrifice that he made it is now possible that all the nations of the earth can be blessed and God can fulfill this promise he made to Abraham. When God made this promise to Abraham I believe God was thinking well beyond the nation of Israel. I believe he was thinking of all those who would eventually be part of his family because of the sacrifice of Jesus, thereby blessing all the nations of the world.

5. It wasnt about Abraham, it was about God.

The last thing I want you to know about Gods promise to Abraham is that it was dependent on God to bring it to pass, not Abraham. Here is what God promised to do.

-I will show you where to go.

-I will make you into a great nation.

-I will bless you.

-I will make your name great.

-I will make you a blessing to others.

-I will bless those who bless you.

-I will curse those who curse you.

-I will bless all the people on earth through you.

Eight times God said I will. There was only one requirement necessary to set these promises of God in motion. Abraham had to go. He didnt have to work it out. He didnt have to figure it out. He didnt have to make it happen. He didnt have to try to bring them to pass. All he had to do was go. This same truth applies in your life with the promises of God. It is up to God to bring them to pass. It is up to you to act in faith and obedience. Dont worry about the how, trust in the Who. If God says I will, like he did for Abraham, he will do for you.

The beautiful thing about God is he has not changed. His promises have not changed either. He is still the promise keeper and most of all he can be trusted. Abraham trusted Gods promise and though he didnt live to see the fulfillment of everything God said, his faith set in motion the plan of God to be fulfilled. I encourage you today to be like Abraham and trust Gods promise. Whether he fulfills it all in your lifetime or not you can know for sure that God will do what he has said he will do.

Photo credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/Inner_Vision

Clarence L. Haynes Jr. is a speaker, Bible teacher, author and co-founder of The Bible Study Club. He has spent more than 30 years serving the body of Christ in various capacities and has just released his first book, The Pursuit of Purpose. If you have ever struggled trying to find Gods will, this book will help you discover the different ways God leads you into his perfect will. To learn more about his ministry please visit clarencehaynes.com.
Budget & Finance Specialist, New York

Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Childrens Fund

Country: United States

City: New York, USA

Office: UNICEF New York

Grade: P-3

Closing date: Thursday, 22 April 2021

Budget & Finance Specialist, P-3, Temporary Appointment (364 days), End Violence Against Children, EVAC, New York, NY Post # 109734

Job no: 539443

Position type: Temporary Appointment

Location: United States Division/Equivalent: UNITED HOSTED FUNDS

School/Unit: UNITED HOSTED FUNDS

Department/Office: END VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN

Categories: Finance and Administration, P-3

UNICEF works in some of the worlds toughest places, to reach the worlds most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, hope...

The Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children (EVAC) is seeking an experienced, highly organized and reliable Budget and Finance Specialist to manage and oversee all aspects of the organizations budget and financial management. S/he will be responsible for tracking, analyzing and reporting income and expenditures, including donor contributions, and will be accountable for analyzing needs, preparation, management and monitoring of resources, involving all sources of funds and in-kind contributions across the End Violence Secretariat and Fund, thus contributing to the effective planning and management of the organization. S/he will collaborate closely with UNICEFs Funds Support Office and contribute to overall strategies related to contribution and budget management and reporting and capacity building of End Violence, ensuring compliance of all financial operations with UNICEF policies, procedures, guidelines, standards of performance, ethics, and integrity. The successful candidate will be highly responsive, proactive and results-oriented, with a flexible approach and a commitment to building a thriving, collaborative work environment.

Every year, over 1 billion children experience violence. Violence in childhood undermines all other investments in children: in their health, education and development, often with negative lifelong consequences and intergenerational impact. Recognizing the devastating impacts of violence against children, in 2015 world leaders committed to end all forms of violence, abuse and neglect by 2030, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. In July 2016, the UN Secretary-General launched the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children and an associated Fund.

The End Violence Partnership includes governments, UN agencies, international organizations, civil society, faith groups, the private sector, philanthropic foundations, research practitioners, academics and children themselves - uniting their voices, actions and resources in a unique public-private collaboration focused solely on ending all violence against children.

In five years, the Partnership has helped develop and promote the INSPIRE solutions to end violence; enrolled more than 30 governments as Pathfinder countries; launched an innovative initiative with education sector partners to end violence in and through schools; awarded some $57 million in grants to tackle childhood violence online, in schools and in humanitarian situations; welcomed over 550 organizations as members; and galvanized those working to end violence through collective advocacy and events including an inaugural Solutions Summit.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put children everywhere at even higher risk of violence and abuse and threatens to undermine progress made in recent years. But COVID-19 has also heightened awareness, inspired new collaborations and ways of working, and demonstrated the value of the End Violence Partnership as a global platform for collective and evidence-based advocacy, action and investments. Together, we have a window of opportunity to start to translate the rhetoric of building back better into a reality for children in the coming years.

Purpose of Assignment

The Budget and Finance Specialist will be hired on a UNICEF Temporary Appointment from May 2021 to April 2022, for a total duration of 364 days. The position is based in New York and reports to the Deputy Director of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children. S/he will work in close collaboration with the End Violence Executive Director and members of the Leadership Team. S/he will contribute to a culture of professionalism that emphasizes curiosity, learning, collaboration and delivery.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Deputy Director, the Budget and Finance Specialist will be responsible for the following key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

Support to financial planning and management

Control of accounts

Knowledge and capacity building

Support to financial planning and management

Prepare/analyze financial data/estimates and documentation, verifying relevancy, accuracy and completeness to facilitate financial planning for the End Violence Secretariat and Fund. Provide technical and operational support and advice during strategic planning exercises and throughout the financial planning and implementation process.

Lead the financial oversight management, monitoring and reporting of the End Violence budgets, and where applicable stakeholders budgets; proactively analyse financial data and make recommendations for the Executive Director and Deputy to take risk-informed decisions.

Provide technical and operational support on the application, interpretation and implementation of financial policies, procedures and guidelines to the Executive Director, Deputy and other staff and stakeholders. Resolve routine financial issues and/or recommend (and record) deviation from procedures and guidelines to meet objectives.

Evaluate financial and reputational risk in transactions carried out by the office and alert when actions are needed by management.

Support resource mobilization for the End Violence Secretariat and Fund in the formulation of donor proposals and partnership agreements and contracts; and in systematic contribution management, monitoring and donor reporting.

Provide technical support to the Deputy Director and grant managers in reviewing financial plans and budgets of implementing partners; monitor compliance with HACT framework, including support to financial assessments, assurance and capacity development of implementing partners.

Prepare workplans for supervisee/s, provide timely technical guidance, monitor work in progress and review work completed to approve transactions and/or certify/verify accuracy of work and compliance with IPSAS and UNICEF regulations and rules, policies, procedures and guidelines.

Control of accounts

Review budget implementation according to approved workplans and certify compliance with policies and procedures. Keep stakeholders informed for timely action.

Process and/or review (as per delegated authority) the accurate and timely submission of payments and other financial transactions within scope to the UNICEF Global Shared Services Centre, ensuring compliance with budgetary limits, IPSAS and UNICEF regulations, rules, policies, procedures, standards of accountability and ethics. Monitor business transactions submitted to and processed by GSSC from a perspective of efficiency, performance and risk management. Take timely action on outstanding accounts to resolve pending issues.

Monitor and analyze financial transactions, accounting reports and reconciliation of accounts to ensure accurate and current financial information for applicable compliance (e.g. IPSAS, donor reporting, internal policies) and management oversight, planning and/or action.

Support supply and logistics strategies and interventions to meet organizational needs while ensuring value for money, including procurement of fit-for-purpose services and products and providing technical and advisory support to the Executive Director, Deputy and other stakeholders.

Liaise with the UNICEF Funds Support Office (FSO) in tracking donor contributions to the End Violence Fund and Secretariat to ensure their timely deposit and recording in UNICEF systems. Coordinate with FSO on funds disbursement to implementing partners.

Prepare or contribute to management/statutory office financial and accounting reports to the End Violence Board/Executive Committee/Working Groups/donors/ UNICEF, verifying reliability of data and compliance with organizational guidelines.

Provide support to the Executive Director, Deputy and other Secretariat staff in collaborating with oversight bodies (e.g. End Violence Executive Committee, Working Groups, OIAI, donors, etc.) to provide answers and to follow up on resolution of financial observations and recommendations. Advise management on actions to be taken to enforce and strengthen accountabilities. Manage all aspects of internal audit exercises, if required.

Assure proper and timely completion of accounts closure activities (monthly, quarterly and yearly).

Manage and review credit card accounts transactions and operations in accordance with UNICEF/UN financial regulations and rules, policies, procedures and banking practices. Keep abreast of procedures and regulations regarding maintenance of bank accounts. Keep supervisor and relevant colleagues informed for timely action.

Periodically review table of authority and financial delegations to ensure compliance with existing policies, and that accountabilities are clear, documented, and placed at adequate levels as per global policies and/or best practices.

Knowledge and Capacity Building

Contribute to a culture of the highest ethical standards and behaviour in management and oversight of financial resources.

Support and update Deputy Director and staff on budget implementation, ensuring alignment with relevant financial policies, procedures, rules and regulations.

Support institutional memory within the office through maintenance of well-organized financial record-keeping and tracking.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have...

An advanced university degree in financial planning/management, business management, accounting or other relevant disciplines; a first-level university degree in combination with 7 years of relevant experience in the below fields may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

A minimum of five years of professional experience in financial and contributions management, budget planning and monitoring, donor proposals and reporting in an international development organization or large corporation is required.

Experience in grant management and/or enterprise risk management is desirable.

Knowledge of other relevant technical or operational area, such as data analytics, administration, human resources, supply and logistics, or information and communications technology would be an asset.

Experience in a UN system agency or organization, some of which served at global level and/or in a developing country or humanitarian context, is considered an asset.

Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office, especially Excel, is required.

Experience in database packages, web based management systems and ERP systems (preferably SAP financial modules) is considered as an asset.

Experience with IPSAS and/or IFRS is considered as an asset

Strong project management skills, with an ability to prioritize work and set clear goals for self and team in a fast-paced, evolving setting (e.g. wide range of tasks, ambiguity, flexibility).

Demonstrated ability and commitment to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment in an international organization with a complex stakeholder network.

Strong communication and interpersonal skills; analytical and strategic ability;

Oral and written fluency in English is required; knowledge of other UN languages is desirable.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEFs values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

Core Competencies

Nurtures, leads and manages people (1)

Demonstrates self awareness and ethical awareness (2)

Works collaboratively with others (2)

Builds and maintains partnerships (2)

Innovates and embraces change (2)

Thinks and acts strategically (2)

Drives to achieve impactful results (2)

Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

Functional Competencies

Analyzing (2)

Applying technical expertise (2)

Planning and organizing (3)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEFs values and competencies.

EVAC/UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

EVAC/UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.

This position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/ assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Your appointment is limited to EVAC, a UNICEF hosted fund. While UN staff regulations and rules, as well as UNICEF policies and procedures, apply to you during your appointment, certain provisions therein may apply to you differently due to the limited scope of your appointment. In particular, you will not be subject to rotation exercise as per the Executive Directive on Staff mobility and rotation (CF/EXD/2015-002) or any revision thereof. In addition, during your appointment in EVAC, you will not be considered eligible for conversion to a Continuing Appointment as per UNICEF Administrative Instruction on Continuing Appointment (CF/AI/2017-002) or any revision thereof. In the event that your post is abolished, the priority granted and other support provided to staff on abolished posts in staff selection processes will only be extended to posts within EVAC and not to other posts in UNICEF.

To secure a UNICEF appointment outside EVAC, you will need to be selected in a competitive recruitment exercise. Upon selection for a UNICEF post outside of UNICEF hosted funds, the period you have served with the UNICEF hosted fund will count towards the calculation of the tour of duty in your duty station and eligibility for a continuing appointment.

Advertised: Apr 07 2021 Eastern Daylight Time Application close: Apr 21 2021 Eastern Daylight Time

Link to the organizations job offer: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1617840875754
(Natural News) A woman from Long Island in New York tested positive for COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated, according to a recent report from Health.

Melanie Rosen, a Hewlett-Woodmere School District employee, received the two shots of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 17 and Feb. 20. She attended the wake of a friends father on March 15 without wearing a mask. Rosen recalled staying there for over an hour and hugging the 10 or so family members present.

The night after the wake, Rosen had a stuffy nose. She said she thought it was related to her allergies. However, she began feeling body aches as well. Her legs were particularly affected, which led her to believe the aches were due to sitting for long periods at work.

She later learned that three of her friends family members who were at the wake tested positive for COVID-19. She went to get tested on March 19, and her results came back positive on March 22. Rosen said she was shocked that she was part of the 4.9 percent that received the Moderna vaccine and still became infected.

Since testing positive, Rosens case has been mild. She said her legs hurt the week after she received her results but that the aches have since disappeared. However, her stuffy nose remained.

Rosen said she hopes what happened to her would serve as a reminder to others that COVID-19 is still a threat. You can still get it; you can probably still spread it, she warned. I want people to know its not over.

Rare but possible

Rosen is one of the handfuls of people who still became infected with the coronavirus following vaccination. But while such cases of infection are rare, health experts emphasize that they are still very much possible. This isnt surprising since none of the coronavirus vaccines approved for use offer 100 percent protection.

Based on the results of clinical trials, Moderna said its vaccine is 94.1 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 cases with symptoms. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE is 95 percent effective in preventing symptomatic cases, as per the results of clinical trials.

In another breakthrough case of a person testing positive for COVID-19 after getting vaccinated, a Minnesota nurse was forced to quarantine in a hotel in Mexico after she tested positive for COVID-19. (Related: 51 Recovered patients in South Korea test positive AGAIN for coronavirus.)

Diane Schmidt flew to Mexico as part of her daughters senior trip. She took the required COVID-19 test so she can be cleared to return to the United States. When her results came back positive, Schmidt was ordered to quarantine in a hotel. She had to pay the hotels $30 COVID-19 insurance to stay for 14 days in the room.

Schmidt said she was vaccinated prior to the trip. In fact, she was the only one vaccinated in the group of people she stayed with during the trip. She was also the only one to test positive before their return flight.

Schmidt said she hopes her case would be a lesson for other people who are considering travel. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had recently updated its travel guidance for fully vaccinated individuals, saying that they can travel in the U.S. and abroad.

Because the vaccines are not 100 percent effective, health experts continue to stress the importance of wearing masks and following health protocols like practicing social distancing and avoiding indoor gatherings.

Vaccinated individuals shouldnt put themselves at risk of contracting COVID-19, said Charles Bailey, medical director of infection prevention at St. Joseph Hospital and Mission Hospital in Orange County, California.

Recent guidelines from the CDC state that fully vaccinated individuals can gather indoors with other fully vaccinated individuals without wearing a mask. However, fully vaccinated individuals are still advised to mask up in public. They should also practice social distancing and avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces.

Follow Pandemic.news for more articles with the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

Health.com

LIHerald.com

KARE11.com
At night in Saint Peters Square, Rita walks with her head held high, clasping the wooden Cross in her hands. Rita is used to addressing crosses as you, to the point that she does not even consider them to be crosses but natural. And perhaps she is right. A week ago she turned 39 and she is here tonight, raising her head and the Cross, in Saint Peters Square, in front of Pope Francis.

Rita has Down syndrome.

But that is not why she is representing her parish community of the Holy Martyrs of Uganda, in the Ardeatino neighbourhood of Rome tonight. She is representing it  and in her own right  because she is a point of reference for the people in her neighbourhood. In fact, and not because of easy symbols or petty rhetoric. But how can it be that the discarded become the cornerstones that support the whole? Apart from the Gospel, if one can say that, all it takes is a parish priest who seriously believes it and understands that there is no present and no future if the most vulnerable people are excluded or if they are regarded as recipients of services. Good Friday is probably the best day to remember this.

Rita Minischetti carried the Cross from the Fifth to the Sixth Stations of the Via Crucis presided by Pope Francis on the evening of 2 April, on the parvis of the Vatican basilica.

And yes, Rita, with her usual shoulder bag, is not different, she looks quite good for having an extra chromosome. She is a beautiful woman, just as she is. In the middle of the Via Crucis, in Saint Peters Square, she thought of encouraging her friend Dustin Lopez with an exchange of glances and accompanying gestures when it was his turn to carry the Cross. The boy from Ecuador, who will turn 14 on 21 April, like Rita and other particularly vulnerable people, lives in the rectory of the Holy Martyrs of Uganda with the parish priest Father Luigi DErrico.

Just like last year, due to the pandemic,  when the key figures were inmates from the Due Palazzi prison in Padua and the staff of the Health and Hygiene Directorate of the Governorate of Vatican City State  the rite presided by the Pope was held in Saint Peters Square and not in the traditional setting of the Colosseum.

The youths, taking turns carrying the Cross and the torches as well as reading the Fourteen Stations, were the authors of the texts of the meditations: youth from the agesi Foligno I Scout Group and children from the catechism class in Ritas parish. With them, accompanied by their teachers, were children and young people from Romes Mater Divini Amoris and Il Tetto Casal Fattoria foster homes who made the drawings to illustrate the meditations.

The names and surnames of these children show a history of migration and marginalization. Their faces speak of neglect. But their expressions and smiles are open to the hope of having a better life than that of their parents. What strikes one first of all is the trust they have in their teachers, Sisters and laity: stretching out their hands for safety, reassurance. Yes, they are travelling companions on a true, daily Via Crucis, which does not last just one evening.

Broadcast worldwide, the rite presided by the Pope began at 9.00 pm . The procession with the Cross, escorted by two torches, started from the obelisk in the centre of Saint Peters Square to reach the parvis, through a suggestive torch-lit pathway. The lights outlined a huge Cross, in keeping with the wide-open arms of Berninis colonnade, stretched out to women and men, wherever they live.

At the Fourteenth and last Station a little girl called Selvaggia, born on 1 January 10 years ago,  in a fuchsia jacket with her hands in her pockets to overcome her shyness  (she only pulled them out when she had to be the Cross-bearer)  handed the Cross over to the Pope who, at the end, imparted the Apostolic Blessing. And just as they were leaving the Square, four children from the two foster homes ran to hug Francis who greeted them affectionately.

Among those present, were nine Cardinals, including Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, as well as Archbishops Edgar Pena Parra, Substitute of the Secretariat of State, Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States, and Jan Romeo Pawowski, Secretary for Pontifical Representations. With them, on the parvis, were also representatives of the four groups that enlivened the Via Crucis. And the young Swiss Guards, standing nearby, will certainly have found in these testimonies greater motivation for the service they are carrying out. Lastly, the Sistine Chapel Choir performed the singing.

Moreover, at 9:37 pm , on Friday 2 April, somehow an extra presence was felt: that of Saint John Paul II, with his personal testimony of the Via Crucis, as he passed away exactly 16 years ago.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-07 20:05:21|Editor: huaxia

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People line up to enter a store in Riga, Latvia, on April 7, 2021. As the state of emergency, which had been in force since Nov. 9, 2020, ended on Wednesday, Latvia's retailers were rushing to reopen their stores to shoppers. During the state of emergency, only grocers and retailers selling essential goods could remain open. (Photo by Edijs Palens/Xinhua)

RIGA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Although the nationwide emergency that was declared in Latvia to curb COVID-19 has ended, most safety rules, including retail trade restrictions, still remain in place.

As the state of emergency, which had been in force since Nov. 9, 2020, ended on Wednesday, Latvia's retailers were rushing to reopen their stores to shoppers. During the state of emergency, only grocers and retailers selling essential goods could remain open.

However, the permission to restart trade does not apply to Latvia's large shopping malls and their numerous tenants are now looking for alternative ways to reopen.

Experts believe that the epidemiological safety risks from large numbers of people gathering at shopping centers are too serious to allow them to reopen.

But with outdoor trade permitted as of April 7, many retailers who had been operating in shopping centers are now installing stands and tents outside the malls to become street vendors.

If local authorities approve the solution, consumers will be able to buy goods like clothes and footwear on the street without visiting the large shopping malls.

Meanwhile, shopping mall operators are angry about the government's decision to keep the malls shut and to only allow small shops reopen. They see it as a crippling of competition.

"We have invested a lot of money in various safety measures. What we get in return from the government are absurd decisions fostering unfair competition," said Iveta Zvaigzne-Alere, marketing manager at the Domina Shopping mall in Riga. Enditem
[April 09, 2021] Edgewater Closes First Tranche of $0.13 Financing

Edgewater Wireless Systems Inc. (YFI: TSX.V) (OTCQB: KPIFF), the industry leader in Wi-Fi Spectrum (News - Alert) Slicing technology for residential and commercial markets, is pleased to announce that the first tranche of its $0.13 non-brokered private placement announced on March 18, 2021 (the "Offering") has closed (see news releases dated March 18 and March 30, 2021). In the first tranche closing, the Company issued 9,681,189 units (each a "Unit") for total proceeds of $1,258,5554.83. Each Unit is comprised of one common share (a "Share") and one warrant (a "Warrant") of the Company. Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one additional Share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.23 for twenty-four (24) months following the closing of the Offering. It is anticipated that the second tranche of the Offering, for aggregate proceeds of approximately $88,000, will close in mid-April 2021 and that the second tranche of the Company's $0.115 financing (see news releases dated March 12 and March 30, 2021), for aggregate proceeds of approximately $75,000, will close at the same time. It is intended that the proceeds of $1,225,372.38 from the Offering will be used for: Operating Expenses, including sales, marketing and business development ($245,074); Engineering and Product Development ($673,954) and Working Capital ($306,343). The Company may reallocate the proceeds from the Offering as may be required depending upon the development of the Company's business. In connection with the Offering, the Company paid aggregate cash finders' fees of $33,182.45 and issued an aggregate of 255,248 finders' warrants. Each finders' warrant entitles the holder to acquire one additional Share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.23 for twenty-four (24) months following the closing of the Offering. The securities issued in connection with the first tranche of the Offering are subject to a four-month hold period expiring August 2, 2021. The Offering is subject to final acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"). In connection with the Offering, the Company issued Units to certain insiders of the Company. As a result, the Offering constitutes a related party transaction puruant to TSXV Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101"). The Company has determined that exemptions from the requirements of TSXV Policy 5.9 and MI 61-101 are available for the issuance of the Units to related parties. The Company is relying on section 5.5(c) of MI 61-101 for an exemption from the formal valuation requirement on the basis that the transaction is a distribution of securities for cash, and on section 5.7(1)(b) of MI 61-101 for an exemption from the minority shareholder approval requirement, as the fair market value of the transaction, insofar as it involves related parties, will not be more than $2,500,000.



About Edgewater Wireless We make Wi-Fi. Better.

Edgewater Wireless (www.edgewaterwireless.com) is the industry leader in innovative Spectrum Slicing technology for residential and commercial markets. We develop advanced Wi-Fi silicon solutions, Access Points, and IP licensing designed to meet the high-density and high quality-of-service needs of service providers and their customers. With 24+ patents, Edgewater's Multi-Channel, Single Radio (MCSR) technology revolutionizes Wi-Fi, delivering next-generation Wi-Fi today. For more information, visit www.edgewaterwireless.com or www.aera.io. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. 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 or statements. Although Edgewater Wireless believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements and information because Edgewater Wireless can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. By its nature, such forward-looking information is subject to various risks and uncertainties, which could cause Edgewater Wireless' actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed. These risks and uncertainties, include, but are not limited to access to capital markets, market forces, competition from new and existing companies and regulatory conditions. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this news release or otherwise, and to not use future-oriented information or financial outlooks for anything other than their intended purpose. Edgewater Wireless undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, 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. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005238/en/

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Editor: Boo hoo  like Benedict Arnold, U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, of Dallas, is a misunderstood patriot.

He wraps himself daily in the American flag and loves all mothers and babies.

However, Im a bit confused by his response to The Times-Tribune editorial comparing the violent military overthrow of a democratically elected government in Myanmar with the objection to the certification of electors in the U.S. House (Rejection of state vote explained, March 30).

He maintains that the objection that he brought forth was simply not to approve the highly irregular and alleged unlawful actions taken by Pennsylvanias secretary of state. He acknowledges that there was a 0% chance that the results of the 2020 election would have been affected or overturned.

So, from his statement I can deduce that he didnt want to throw out the votes in Pennsylvania. Was this before or after he joined the Texas attorney general and seven other Republican Pennsylvania congressmen to try to toss out all the votes from Pennsylvania? So, was he for the outcome of the election before he was against it, or was he against the outcome before he was for it? Im confused.

JAMES J. FERGUSON

DUNMORE

Editor: Dan Pryor (No doctrine change, March 23) knows the Bible was written by men. The Old Testament is a history of Jewish tribes and the New Testament purports to be a history of Christ and others teachings.

Christ advised followers to love God and love your neighbor. The Romans slew Christians in the arena and that was evil. When Christians came to power after Constantine they burned some non-Christians. Witches went into the fire head first. Christians thought they were sending them to hell for an eternity of torment. How does that sound?

That activity went on for more than 1,000 years, along with Christians enslaving people they should have helped and educated.

Please dont quote the Bible; it is only followed when convenient. Our society is trying to evolve into what Christ taught without the churchs doctrinaire interference. People are born straight or not, get over it.

JOSEPH BRADY

SCRANTON

Editor: According to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a right-wing advocacy organization, for every 39 cents the oil and gas industry received in federal taxpayer subsidies from 2010 to 2019 the wind industry received $18.86, 48 times as much, and the solar industry received $82.46, 211 times as much.

ExxonMobil pays millions to market its products while wind and solar get a free ride. Why are we investing in unreliable sources instead of seeking solutions that increase reliable generation?

In addition, ExxonMobils 2020 annual report states that affordable, reliable energy is essential to facilitate improvements in quality of life, including longer life expectancy, higher education and increased gross national product per capita, regardless of location.

On another matter, President Biden recently tripped while ascending Air Force One and CNN devoted two minutes to it. When President Trump tripped at West Point last June, CNN devoted 22 minutes.

Also, The Washington Post reported that Trump asked a Georgia official to find the fraud and the statement was used at Trumps impeachment trial. Now we know the tapes prove that was not true.

Meanwhile, Russia and especially China beef up their military with well-fit and trained men while we consider putting women in combat. Why not? Transgender boys can now beat up on girls.

Finally, Republicans are not trying to suppress anyones voting rights. We believe voter ID cards increase transparency and honest elections. If you want to get into the White House or the Democratic National Convention you need ID, which is smart.

PHIL STEVENS

DALTON

Editor: Twelve states filed a lawsuit in March to fight President Bidens executive orders on climate change, arguing that his administration doesnt have authority to establish the social costs of greenhouse gases to be used in federal rule-making.

The 12 Republican-led states championing continued fossil fuel use argue that we should not consider social costs when determining how to defeat climate change.

To make this clear, the term social costs is not related to socialism, which is an economical means of production. Social costs are the actual expense to our communities calculated by examining all factors, including the usually ignored hidden consequences of health care, national security, damaged infrastructure, land loss, sea level rise, crop failure, habitat destruction, loss of life, mass extinction, environment degradation, economic collapse and many other impacts expected from extreme climate change.

If we decide that the preservation of a habitable Earth is not a social cost to consider, we will rush full speed ahead into economic and ecological collapse, social disruption and the end of the civilization and prosperity we now enjoy. So, lets get real and include social costs when we plan for our future. We are in this mess because social costs have been ignored for many years by those in power who do not care about us or our communities, so long as they profit and remain in power.

Let us end fossil fuel addiction now and defeat global heat destruction of our wonderful world.

DAVID THOMAS ROBERTS

BELLEFONTE, CENTRE COUNTY

Editor: Why is it that many opinions in letters are about former President Trump?

Is it because there is nothing to say about how terrible this president is doing? Just look at what is happening at the border. The stimulus bill has pork in it and nothing to do with the coronavirus. We are heading toward socialism and if you cant see it then people will suffer. Blame the Democratic Party, which once was for the people and now its for power and more power.

Why blame Democrats? The Times-Tribune and others in the news media do not say anything against this corrupt party. All you see in the paper is blame for Trump.

EMIL KONZMAN

CLIFFORD TWP.,

SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY
Health minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has announced that the second phase of the country's vaccination will begin on 17 May, as millions of doses of vaccine are set to land on South African shores over the next few weeks.

31-million from Johnson & Johnson (J&J)

20-million from Pfizer

1.2-million vaccines from Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access, Covax.

Healthcare workers

Johnson & Johnson

AstraZeneca

The country has secured a combined 51-million jabs in the agreements that have been signed with various drug makers, to innoculate 42-million people.This means we can now move ahead with confidence as we finalise our plans for our mass rollout campaign. We said the second phase should take us six months and therefore, were still sticking to that, he said, adding that it will be wrapped up in October.Mkhize said government is still working hard to procure more jabs to ensure that those who may be unaccounted for or undocumented, are also immunised to reach herd immunity.Meanwhile, he said, the final tranche of 200 000 J&J doses for the Sisonke Protocol is expected this weekend.The protocol has enabled government to make the Covid-19 vaccine immediately available to healthcare workers using a research programme.Mkhize reiterated that the protection of health workers against Covid-19 is paramount and vowed that government will continue to prioritise their lives.I want to say to our healthcare workers, we value you for the work you have done and thank you for your patience as we wait for all the vaccines to be available.He assured all frontline workers that they will be vaccinated before the mass rollout and believes government will meet its target as more jabs are scheduled to arrive in the country.The minister also announced that J&J has confirmed that South Africa will receive over 1.9-million doses, produced locally, this month.The advantage is that it has shortened the dispatch from the plant and the delivery to the vaccination centre, he said.He added that 900,000 doses will be delivered in May, while another batch of 900,000 will follow in June.He said South Africa has distributed the AstraZeneca vaccine to various African countries. In February, the country suspended the rollout of the procured 1.5-million AstraZeneca doses after studies showed that it is less effective against the mutated 501Y.V2, first discovered in the country.Meanwhile, he said Treasury has confirmed that the Serum Institute of India has fully refunded South Africa for the remaining 500,000 doses of vaccines that have not yet been delivered.The money is already in our bank account this closes the matter of the AstraZeneca vaccine and we close it without incurring fruitless expenditure, he said.
Thousands lined up for food at Traders Village a year ago in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. What they received far exceeded their expectations.

Emma Ortega, 83, arrived at 7 a.m. that day and estimated that there were hundreds of cars ahead of her. Hours later, she realized she was among thousands of vehicles filled with people in need at the drive-thru event hosted by the San Antonio Food Bank on April 9, 2020.

The rows of cars resembled a mammoth, multicolored quilt from the air. They covered almost every inch of the huge parking lot as the retired art teacher steered her car into long lines that had started forming the day before and stretched for miles onto Loop 410.

Sitting in the blistering heat among the masses, Ortega was struck by just how many San Antonians needed help. She thought about parents struggling to feed hungry children and about seniors, like herself, who may have felt ashamed to ask for assistance. It was a thrill seeing people around her receiving aid.

On ExpressNews.com: We just cant feed this many

By noon, volunteers had filled Ortegas vehicle with boxes of food. To show her gratitude, she made a sign that read, Thank You. God Bless, and held it up to the volunteers.

It wasnt just the distribution of the food, she said Friday. We were picking up on their positive energy. Sometimes that energy can heal more than the food that we put in our bodies. You werent made to feel ashamed that you were in that line.

A month after the drive-thru, Ortega fell ill and was diagnosed with pneumonia. She continued to receive help from the food bank, and the organization even helped her prioritize bills and apply for federal benefits to ensure food wasnt a daily worry.

Some believe the drive-thru, organized at the beginning of the worldwide pandemic, was the largest one-day domestic hunger relief effort in the nations history.

San Antonio Express-News photographer William Luther captured the seemingly endless lines of cars in an iconic photo that put San Antonio and food insecurity in the national spotlight.

City Manager Erik Walsh, District 4 Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia and Ortega joined San Antonio Food Bank CEO Eric Cooper on Friday morning to commemorate the historic event. A much smaller crowd gathered at the nearly empty South Side parking lot that had been packed last year with 10,000 cars representing about 50,000 individuals.

Cooper said the food bank was prepared to help residents at last years drive-thru with 37 trucks filled with a million pounds of food. After the volunteers shift ended at 2 p.m., there were still 2,000 cars in line. Cooper called Walsh for help, and the city manager complied with more volunteers.

Some waiting motorists ran air conditioners, while others hoped for a breeze through opened windows. San Antonio police officers helped drivers whose cars ran out of gas and batteries died.

Walsh said the event was a prime example of work that needs to continue.

At the end of the day, we work together. We use the resources we have, he said. Were all rowing in the same direction and trying to address the same issues.

On ExpressNews.com: We just cant feed this many

Food Bank spokesman Michael Guerra read testimonials from several recipients who were unable to come to the anniversary Friday.

One resident, Mari Morales, recalled waiting five hours for food she desperately needed. Not long afterward, Morales and her children contracted the coronavirus. She thanked the food bank for helping her family during the health crisis.

Army veteran Edward Kirkwoods thoughts that morning were of his son and daughter. He said the food was like gold  items he couldnt find in grocery stores anywhere.

When I got my groceries, I felt like I could breathe again, Kirkwood said, as if weights were being lifted off of my chest.

Cooper thanked his staff, workers, volunteers and partners for their response to lessen residents struggles during the onset of the pandemic. The 2020 event ended at 6 p.m., four hours after the scheduled closing time.

It was the right location for us to meet this unprecedented need, Cooper said. It was a privilege to be here. It was a day we wont ever forget.

vtdavis@express-news.net
Multiple regional outlets reporting that a summit in Istanbul, Turkey  proposed by the United States  is hoped to begin on April 16. In Doha, negotiators from various involved parties  the Afghan government, the Taliban, the United Nations, the U.S., Turkey, and Qatar  are reportedly discussing the details of the conference, The Diplomat reports. Sources speaking to TOLOnews suggested that U.S. Afghanistan envoy Zalmay Khalilzad had shared with both the Afghan government and Taliban sides details on the upcoming conference.

The Biden administration has made no secret of its desire to exit Afghanistan, but the precise timing is undefined. Some reports indicate that the administration is seeking a six-month extension on the May 1 deadline, allowing for a responsible exit from Afghanistan. The proposed Istanbul summit has been characterized as a huge, last-second gamble at which Washington hopes to settle that extension and override the looming May 1 deadline set out in the February 2020 deal.

At the same time, there are ambitious hopes that the summit can form some kind of consensus on a way forward, likely involving a ceasefire and a new government. As VOA outlined earlier this week, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani unveiled his own roadmap to peace at the Heart of Asia in Tajikistan last week. His plan begins with a negotiated political settlement with the Taliban and a ceasefire, before moving forward to new presidential elections and the establishment of a government of peace.

Ghanis plan is similar to a U.S. proposal that Afghan leaders pushed back against for being coercive before seriously considering it. Where the plans differ is the timing of possible government transition, with the U.S. plan emphasizing a transitional interim government earlier than Ghanis most recent proposal. Ghani had stated that The transfer of power through elections is an uncompromisable principle for us and his plan appears to work a transition into the existing constitutional framework of Afghanistan.

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The Taliban rejected Ghanis proposal of elections within six months of a peace deal. The group has also not appeared as keen as the Afghan government and the international community on the Istanbul summit. The Afghan government, in the form of the High Council for National Reconciliation is discussing whom to send; the Taliban has not been reported to be having such discussions yet.

Meanwhile, the war continues in Afghanistan. A series of recent attacks and targeted assassinations perpetuates the atmosphere of instability, violence, and fear.

While all sides appear to agree that a political settlement, rather than a battlefield victory, is the only viable path to peace, thats where the agreement ceases. The proposed Istanbul summit is, for the United States, an opportunity to eke out a path beyond May 1 that allows it to avoid directly reneging on its agreements with either the Afghan government or the Taliban. The United States could press on the fact that the Taliban has not necessarily adhered to the entire deal either, but that doesnt move Washington any closer to its end goal: leaving Afghanistan. For the Afghan government, the Istanbul summit will be a mustering of international support and pressure on the Taliban to cut a deal, one that includes a long-sought ceasefire. Its another opportunity to get talks moving. The wildcard remains the Taliban and whether the group judges the time ripe to settle up, or decides the current state of affairs and trajectory of the conflict is on its side.
Seven developers of the Asian giant have been sanctioned, accused of cooperating with the Armed Forces of their country. The super processors are used to produce new generation missiles: The Chinese ones are among the fastest in the world. The US Congress announces a new measure against Beijing.

Washington (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Biden administration has placed seven Chinese supercomputer developers on a blacklist because of links with the armed forces of their country.

The US Commerce Department yesterday announced trade retaliation, the first adopted by the Democratic president against China, part of a growing technological conflict between the two powers.

The newly blacklisted entities are Tianjin Phytium Information Technology, Shanghai High-Performance Integrated Circuit Design Center, Sunway Microelectronics, the National Supercomputing Center Jinan, the National Supercomputing Center Shenzhen, the National Supercomputing Center Wuxi, and the National Supercomputing Center Zhengzhou.

Unless licensed from the US government, they will not be able to purchase US technology products, including microchips, software and hardware. Unlike the ban on Huawei, the seven Chinese developers will be able to buy chips from other countries, without them incurring US sanctions.

Supercomputers are used for the development of the most modern weapons and security systems, such as next generation nuclear and hypersonic missiles. Chinese super processors are among the best in the world: 214 are included in the list of the fastest 500 (the US has 213); the one developed by the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi is the fourth most powerful.

Washington's goal is to block Beijing's technological advances, just as Xi Jinping aims for national self-sufficiency in the sector. With the Made in China 2025 plan, the Chinese president wants his country to produce 70% of the microchips needed for hi-tech industries by 2025.

The Biden government sanctions came on the same day that Republicans and Democrats presented a joint bill to Congress to regulate relations with China. Washington lawmakers want to punish the Chinese harder in cases of intellectual property theft and violence against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. It also includes measures to strengthen diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
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Jill Biden learned about chemical reactions and early childhood learning during a visit to Birmingham on Friday to tout her husband's $2trillion American Rescue Plan and claim it will cut childhood poverty rates in half.

'The American Rescue Plan is going to cut child poverty in half,' she said, calling it a 'life raft' for struggling families.

Children have been one of the groups hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic with the poverty rate rising as parents lost jobs amid the economic down turn.

'I've heard the frustration, again, again, you know, what do I do,' she said. 'Parents are at the breaking point, you know, trying to keep their jobs and take care of their kids. Families are struggling.'

In her remarks, Biden said was speaking as a mom to all the parents out there: 'So many of us find ourselves sitting at the kitchen table, you know, long after the kids are in bed, surrounded by bills, you know, trying to figure out the impossible math. What gets cut when the only things left our necessities.'

Jill Biden learned about chemical reactions and early childhood learning during a visit to Birmingham on Friday to tout her husband's American Rescue Plan and claim it will cut childhood poverty rates in half

She then touted the expanded child tax cuts in the Biden administration's COVID relief plan and the stimulus checks coming out.

During her stop in the state, the first lady met with pre-K children at the James Rushton Early Learning Center to highlight the $1 billion in funds the American Rescue Plan gave Early Head Start programs like ones at the center.

The kids, all wearing face masks, giggled and squirmed ahead of her arrival, waving to reporters as they bounced in their seats. They cheered when Dr. Biden, a teacher herself, walked into the classroom.

'The American Rescue Plan is going to cut child poverty in half,' she said, calling it a 'life raft' for struggling families.

'Hi,' the first lady said, waving to them. A sign, hand-written in marker, read: 'Welcome To The Owls Pre-K Dr. Biden!!'

Biden joined the kids in their learning for the day.

She sat in a tiny chair with a table of children to help them put baking soda into muffin tins and then add droppers of various liquid into them to see the reaction.

The kids had various predictions about what would occur - explosions was a popular pick - but the liquids just bubbled or did nothing at all.

The first lady was originally scheduled to be accompanied by Jennifer Garner but the East Wing said due to 'severe weather,' the actress was unable to travel. Storm clouds rolled in as Dr. Biden wrapped up her short stay in the state. She spent about two hours on the ground.

The trip was originally scheduled for March and had to be rescheduled after a tornado caused severe damage throughout the state, resulting in at least five deaths.

Biden was in Alabama part of the Help is Here tour to amplify how the American Rescue Plan addresses childhood poverty.

Alabama has a 25 per cent childhood poverty rate, one of the highest childhood poverty rates in the nation.

The first lady has been a major player in President Joe Biden's quest to sell his $1.9 trillion COVID relief package. Most of Biden's focus has been on the education benefits and reopening schools, but this visit focuses on childhood poverty.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the childhood poverty rate in America increased three points to a high of 21.4 per cent, according to Columbia University's Center on Poverty & Social Policy.

'I've heard the frustration, again, again, you know, what do I do,' she said. 'Parents are at the breaking point, you know, trying to keep their jobs and take care of their kids. Families are struggling.'

In her remarks, Biden said was speaking as a mom to all the parents out there: 'So many of us find ourselves sitting at the kitchen table, you know, long after the kids are in bed, surrounded by bills, you know, trying to figure out the impossible math. What gets cut when the only things left our necessities.'

And the rate for black and Hispanic children is twice that of white children: 12.3 per cent for white children compared to 26.3 per cent for black children and 26.9 per cent for Hispanics.

There are an estimated 17 million children struggling with hunger in America  6 million more than before the pandemic, according to Save the Children.

President Biden's American Rescue Plan provides working and middle-class families an expanded child tax credit worth up to $3,600 for each child under the age of 6, and $3,000 for each child ages 6 through 17.

The plan contains enhanced Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, unemployment benefits, family and child care tax credits, and direct cash payments in form of stimulus checks - $1,400 for each individual and dependent for families earning less than $150,000.

The White House claims the plan can cut childhood poverty in half.

An Urban Institute analysis found the child poverty rate in 2021 will fall by more than 52 per cent, largely from changes in tax law and the $1,400 stimulus checks.

But the tax provisions will only remain in affect for a year or two and the stimulus checks are a one-time boost  leaving unclear how long the benefits of the plan will last.

In recent weeks, top administration officials  including the president, the first lady, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff - have visited Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Georgia and Florida to discuss the American Rescue Plan.
Michelle Adams

Michelle Adams is a Professor of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she teaches Constitutional Law, Federal Courts, and Federal Civil Rights.She recently appeared in 'Amend: The Fight for America,' a 2021 Netflix documentary about the 14th Amendment

Michelle Adams is a Professor of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she teaches Constitutional Law, Federal Courts, and Federal Civil Rights. At Cardozo, she is a Director of the Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy and was a Board Member of the Innocence Project. Adams has published in the Yale Law Journal, the California Law Review, and the Texas Law Review. She recently appeared in 'Amend: The Fight for America,' a 2021 Netflix documentary about the 14th Amendment. She is the author of The Containment: Detroit, The Supreme Court, and the Battle for Racial Justice in the North, forthcoming in 2022 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Previously, she was a Law Professor at Seton Hall Law School, practiced law at the Legal Aid Society, and served as a Law Clerk for Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV in the Southern District of New York. Adams holds a B.A. from Brown University, a J.D. from City University of New York Law School, and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School, where she was the first Charles Hamilton Houston Scholar. She is a two-time recipient of Cardozo's Faculty Inspire Award.

Kate Andrias (Rapporteur)

Kate Andrias is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan who focuses on problems of economic and political inequality

Kate Andrias is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan. She teaches and writes about constitutional law, labor and employment law, and administrative law, with a focus on problems of economic and political inequality. Her work has been published in numerous books and journals, including the Harvard Law Review, the NYU Law Review, the Supreme Court Review, and the Yale Law Journal. In 2016, Andrias was the recipient of Michigan Law School's L. Hart Wright Award for Excellence in Teaching. Andrias previously served as special assistant and associate counsel to President Obama, and as chief of staff of the White House Counsel's Office. A graduate of Yale Law School, she clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Hon. Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Jack M. Balkin

Jack M. Balkin is Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School. He is the founder and director of Yale's Information Society Project, an interdisciplinary center that studies law and new information technologies. He also directs the Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression, and the Knight Law and Media Program at Yale. Balkin is a member of the American Law Institute and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and founded and edits the group blog Balkinization. His most recent books include The Cycles of Constitutional Time, Democracy and Dysfunction (with Sanford Levinson), Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking (7th ed. with Brest, Levinson, Amar, and Siegel), Living Originalism, and Constitutional Redemption: Political Faith in an Unjust World.

Bob Bauer (Co-Chair)

Bob Bauer is Professor of Practice and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the New York University School of Law and Co-Director of NYU Law's Legislative and Regulatory Process Clinic. Bauer served as White House Counsel to President Obama from 2009 to 2011. In 2013, the President named him to be Co-Chair of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. He is co-author with Jack Goldsmith of After Trump: Reconstructing the Presidency (2020), books on federal campaign finance and numerous articles on law and politics for legal periodicals. He has co-authored numerous bipartisan reports on policy and legal reform, including 'The American Voting Experience: Report and Recommendations of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration' (Presidential Commission on Election Administration, 2014); 'The State of Campaign Finance in the United States' (Bipartisan Policy Center, 2018); and 'Democratizing the Debates' (Annenberg Working Group on Presidential Campaign Debate Reform, 2015); ; He is a Contributing Editor of Lawfare and has published opinion pieces on constitutional and political law issues in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic, among other publications.

William Baude

William Baude is a Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Constitutional Law Institute at the University of Chicago Law School

William Baude is a Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Constitutional Law Institute at the University of Chicago Law School, where he teaches federal courts, constitutional law, conflicts of law, and elements of the law. His most recent articles include Adjudication Outside Article III, and Is Quasi-Judicial Immunity Qualified Immunity? He is also the co-editor of the textbook, The Constitution of the United States, and an Affiliated Scholar at the Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the Yale Law School, and a former clerk for then-Judge Michael McConnell and Chief Justice John Roberts.

Elise Boddie

Elise Boddie is a Professor of Law and Judge Robert L. Carter Scholar at Rutgers University. An award-winning scholar, Boddie teaches and writes about constitutional law and civil rights and has published in leading law reviews. Her commentary has appeared multiple times in The New York Times, as well as in The Washington Post, among other national news outlets. Boddie has served on the national board of the American Constitution Society and the board of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and is the founder and director of The Inclusion Project at Rutgers. Before joining the Rutgers faculty, Boddie was Director of Litigation for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. and supervised its nationwide litigation program, including its advocacy in several major U.S. Supreme Court cases. An honors graduate of Harvard Law School and Yale, she also holds a master's degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Boddie clerked for Judge Robert L. Carter in the Southern District of New York. She is a member of the American Law Institute and an American Bar Foundation Fellow. In 2016, Rutgers University President Barchi appointed Boddie a Henry Rutgers Professor in recognition of her scholarship, teaching, and service. In 2021, Boddie was named the founding Newark Director of Rutgers University's Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice.

Guy-Uriel E. Charles

Guy-Uriel E. Charles is the Edward and Ellen Schwarzman Professor of Law at Duke Law School. He writes about the relationship between law and political power and law's role in addressing racial subordination. He teaches courses on civil procedure; election law; constitutional law; race and law; legislation and statutory interpretation; law, economics, and politics; and law, identity, and politics. He is currently working on book, with Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, on the past and future of voting rights, under contract with Cambridge University Press. He is also co-editing, with Aziza Ahmed, a handbook entitled Race, Racism, and the Law, under contract with Edward Elgar Publishing. This book will survey the current state of research on race and the law in the United States and aims to influence the intellectual agenda of the field. He clerked on the Sixth Circuit for the late Judge Damon J. Keith. He has published numerous articles in top law journals. He is the co-author of two leading casebooks and two edited volumes. He is also a member of the American Law Institute. On July 1, 2021, he will become the inaugural Charles J. Ogletree Jr. Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

Andrew Manuel Crespo

Andrew Manuel Crespo is a Professor of Law at Harvard University where he teaches and writes about criminal law and procedure. Professor Crespo's scholarship has been published in multiple leading academic journals including the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, and the Columbia Law Review. Prior to beginning his academic career, Professor Crespo served as a Staff Attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, where he represented over one hundred people accused of crimes who could not afford a lawyer. Professor Crespo graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review and was the first Latino to hold that position. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit before going on to serve for two years as a law clerk at the United States Supreme Court, first to Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and then to Associate Justice Elena Kagan during her inaugural term on the Court.

Walter Dellinger

Walter Dellinger is the Douglas Maggs Emeritus Professor of Law at Duke University and a Partner in the firm of O'Melveny & Myers. He was named one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America by the National Law Journal and is the recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Lawyer, the American Constitution Society and the Mississippi Center for Justice. Dellinger served in the White House and as Assistant Attorney General and head of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) from 1993 to 1996. He was acting Solicitor General for the 1996-97 Term of the US Supreme Court, He has argued 25 cases before the United States Supreme Court and has testified more than 30 times before committees of Congress. He has published in academic journals including the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal and the Duke Law Journal, and has written extensively for the Washington Post, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Slate, and other publications. In 1987-88 he was a scholar at the National Humanities Center and has lectured at universities throughout the United States and other countries including China, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Brazil, and Denmark. He graduated from University of North Carolina and Yale Law School and served as law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black.

Justin Driver

Justin Driver is the Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He teaches and writes in the area of constitutional law, education law, and prison law. His book, The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind, was selected as a Washington Post Notable Book of the Year, an Editors' Choice of the New York Times Book Review, and received the Steven S. Goldberg Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Education Law, among numerous other honors. A recipient of the American Society for Legal History's William Nelson Cromwell Article Prize, he has a distinguished publication record in the nation's leading law reviews and has also written extensively for general audiences. He is an editor of the Supreme Court Review and an elected member of the American Law Institute. He holds degrees from Brown, Oxford (where he was a Marshall Scholar), Duke (where he received certification to teach public school), and Harvard Law School (where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review). After graduating from Harvard, he clerked for Judge Merrick Garland, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (Ret.), and Justice Stephen Breyer.

Richard H. Fallon, Jr.

Richard H. Fallon, Jr., joined the Harvard Law School faculty as an assistant professor in 1982 and is currently Story Professor of Law. He is also an Affiliate Professor in the Harvard University Government Department. Fallon is a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School. He also earned a B.A. degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. Before entering teaching, Fallon served as a law clerk to Judge J. Skelly Wright and to Justice Lewis F. Powell of the United States Supreme Court. Fallon has written extensively about Constitutional Law and Federal Courts Law. He is the author of The Nature of Constitutional Rights: The Invention and Logic of Strict Judicial Scrutiny (Cambridge University Press, 2019); Law and Legitimacy in the Supreme Court (Harvard University Press, 2018), The Dynamic Constitution (Cambridge University Press, 2d ed. 2013), and Implementing the Constitution (Harvard University Press, 2001) and a co-editor of Hart & Wechsler's The Federal Courts and the Federal System (7th ed. 2015). Fallon is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Law Institute. He is a two-time winner of Harvard Law School's Sacks-Freund Award, which is voted annually by the School's graduating class to honor excellence in teaching. In 2021, the Federal Courts Section of the American Association of Law Schools honored Fallon with its lifetime achievement award.

Caroline Fredrickson

Caroline Fredrickson served as the President of the American Constitution Society from 2009-2019. Fredrickson has published works on many legal and constitutional issues and is a frequent guest on television and radio, including serving as a regular on-air commentator on impeachment. Before joining ACS, Fredrickson served as the Director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office and as General Counsel and Legal Director of NARAL Pro-Choice America. In addition, she served as the Chief of Staff to Senator Maria Cantwell, of Washington, and Deputy Chief of Staff to then-Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, of South Dakota. During the Clinton Administration, she served as Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs. Fredrickson is currently an elected member of the American Law Institute, co-chair of the National Constitution Center's Coalition of Freedom Advisory Board, a member of If/When/How's Advisory Board, and on the boards of American Oversight and the National Institute of Money and Politics. In 2015 Fredrickson was appointed a member of the Yale Les Aspin Fellowship Committee. Fredrickson received her J.D. from Columbia Law School with honors and her B.A. from Yale University in Russian and East European Studies summa cum laude, phi beta kappa. She clerked for the Hon. James L. Oakes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Heather Gerken

Heather Gerken is the Dean and Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law at Yale Law School and one of the country's leading experts on constitutional law and election law. A founder of the 'nationalist school' of federalism, her work focuses on federalism, diversity, and dissent. Gerken's work has been featured in the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, and the Stanford Law Review as well as The Atlantic, TheBoston Globe, NPR, and TheNew York Times. In 2017, Politico Magazine named Gerken one of The Politico 50, a list of idea makers in American politics. At Yale, she founded and runs the country's most innovative clinic in local government law, the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project (SFALP). Gerken is also a renowned teacher who has won awards at both Yale and Harvard. She was named one of the nation's 'twenty-six best law teachers' in a book published by the Harvard University Press. She became dean of Yale Law School on July 1, 2017.

Nancy Gertner

Nancy Gertner was United States District Court Judge (D. Mass.) from 1994-2011. She retired to join the faculty at Harvard Law School and has been a Visiting Lecturer at Yale Law School. Prior to 1994, Gertner was a civil rights and criminal defense lawyer. Named one of 'The Most Influential Lawyers of the Past 25 Years' by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, she has published widely on sentencing, discrimination, forensic evidence, women's rights, and the jury system. Her autobiography, 'In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate,' (Beacon Press) was published in 2011. She is coauthor of 'The Law of Juries' (Thomson Reuters, 2021). She is the author of an edited volume of the dissenting and majority opinions of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Talbot, forthcoming). She is writing a memoir, 'Incomplete Sentences' (Beacon, forthcoming) about the men she has sentenced. A graduate of Barnard College, with a M.A in Political Science and J.D. from Yale, she clerked for Justice Luther Swygert, Chief Judge, 7th Circuit. She has received numerous awards, including the ABA's Margaret Brent Award, the National Association of Women Lawyers' Arabella Babb Mansfield Award, and the Thurgood Marshall Award from the American Bar Association. In October 2014, she was a resident scholar at the Rockefeller Foundation in Bellagio, Italy.

Jack Goldsmith

Jack Goldsmith is the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and co-founder of Lawfare. He teaches and writes about national security law, presidential power, cybersecurity, international law, internet law, foreign relations law, and federal courts. Before coming to Harvard, Professor Goldsmith served as Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel from 2003-2004, and Special Counsel to the Department of Defense from 2002-2003.

Thomas B. Griffith

Thomas B. Griffith served on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit from 2005  2020. He is now Special Counsel at Hunton Andrews Kurth, a Senior Advisor to the National Institute for Civil Discourse, and a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. During his tenure on the D.C. Circuit, Judge Griffith served on the Judicial Conference's Committee on the Judicial Branch, which is concerned with the federal judiciary's relationship to the Executive Branch and Congress, and the Code of Conduct Committee, which sets the ethical standards that govern the federal judiciary. Prior to his appointment to the D.C. Circuit, Judge Griffith was the General Counsel of Brigham Young University. Previously he served as Senate Legal Counsel, the nonpartisan chief legal officer of the U.S. Senate, and before that was a partner at Wiley, Rein & Fielding. Judge Griffith has long been active in the American Bar Association's rule of law projects in Eastern Europe and Eurasia and is currently a member of the International Advisory Board of the CEELI Institute in Prague. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and the University of Virginia School of Law.

Tara Leigh Grove

Tara Leigh Grove is the Charles E. Tweedy, Jr., Endowed Chairholder of Law and Director of the Program in Constitutional Studies at the University of Alabama School of Law. After graduating summa cum laude from Duke University and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, Grove clerked for Judge Emilio Garza of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She then spent four years as an appellate attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, arguing fifteen cases in the courts of appeals. Grove has written extensively about the federal judiciary, exploring issues related to judicial legitimacy and judicial independence. Grove's work has been published in prestigious law journals, such as the Harvard Law Review, the Columbia Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the New York University Law Review, the Cornell Law Review, and the Vanderbilt Law Review. Grove has served as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School and Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.

Bert I. Huang

Bert I. Huang is Michael I. Sovern Professor of Law at Columbia University, where he received the Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching from the law school's graduating class. The university has also recognized him with its Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching. At Columbia, he created the Courts & Legal Process colloquium to bring judges, students, and faculty together to discuss new academic research about the judiciary; and he previously served as a vice dean. He has also taught at Harvard. He served as the president of the Harvard Law Review and as a law clerk for Justice David H. Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court. He also clerked for Judge Michael Boudin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He completed his J.D. and Ph.D. at Harvard University, where he was a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow. After receiving his A.B. from Harvard, he was a Marshall Scholar at the University of Oxford and worked for the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

Sherrilyn Ifill

Sherrilyn Ifill is the President & Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation's oldest and premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality. Ifill began her career as a Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union, and then as an Assistant Counsel at LDF where she litigated voting rights cases in the South. In 1993 Ifill joined the faculty at University of Maryland School of Law, where she taught civil procedure, constitutional law, and a broad range of civil rights and clinical offerings. Her scholarship focused on the critical importance of a racially diverse judiciary to the integrity of judicial decision-making. Ifill also studies and writes about racial violence. Her critically acclaimed book, On The Courthouse Lawn: Confronting The Legacy Of Lynching In The 21st Century, is credited with inspiring contemporary conversations about lynching and reconciliation. Since returning to LDF as its 7th President & Director-Counsel in 2013, Ifill has led the organization's bold advocacy in the federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, on behalf of clients fighting voter suppression, racial discrimination in the criminal justice system, and a broad array of other urgent civil rights issues. Ifill is a member of the American Law Institute and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She holds an undergraduate degree from Vassar College, a J.D. from New York University School of Law, and numerous honorary doctorates.

Michael S. Kang

Michael S. Kang is the William G. and Virginia K. Karnes Research Professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and nationally recognized expert on campaign finance, voting rights, redistricting, judicial elections, and corporate governance. His research has been published widely in leading law journals and featured in TheNew York Times, The Washington Post, and Forbes, among others. His recent work focuses on partisan gerrymandering; the influence of party and campaign finance on elected judges; the de-regulation of campaign finance after Citizens United; and so-called 'sore loser laws' that restrict losing primary candidates from running in the general election. Kang previously served as the Thomas Simmons Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law. He received his BA and JD from the University of Chicago, where he served as technical editor of the Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif. He also received a PhD in government from Harvard University and an MA from the University of Illinois. After law school, he clerked for Judge Kanne on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and worked in private practice at Ropes & Gray in Boston.

Olatunde Johnson

Olatunde Johnson is the Jerome B. Sherman Professor of Law at Columbia Law School where she teaches and writes about legislation, administrative law, antidiscrimination law, litigation, and inequality in the United States. In February 2020, she was appointed by the United States Department of Justice to the Resolutions Committee honoring Justice John Paul Stevens. In 2016, she was awarded Columbia University's Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, and Columbia Law School's Willis L.M. Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Previously, Professor Johnson served as constitutional and civil rights counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee and as an attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Professor Johnson graduated from Yale University and from Stanford Law School. After law school, she clerked for Judge David Tatel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Justice John Paul Stevens on the United States Supreme Court.

Alison L. LaCroix

Alison L. LaCroix is the Robert Newton Reid Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. She is also an Associate Member of the University of Chicago Department of History. Professor LaCroix is the author of The Ideological Origins of American Federalism (Harvard University Press, 2010), and in 2018 she was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for her current book project, titled The Interbellum Constitution: Union, Commerce, and Slavery From the Long Founding Moment to the Civil War (Yale University Press, forthcoming). Before joining the University of Chicago faculty in 2006, she practiced in the litigation department at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York. Professor LaCroix received her B.A. and J.D. from Yale University, and her A.M. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Margaret H. Lemos

Maggie Lemos is the Robert G. Seaks LL.B. '34 Professor of Law, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, and faculty co-advisor for the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law School. She is a scholar of constitutional law, legal institutions, and procedure. Her current research focuses on the institutions of law interpretation and enforcement, including both public and private lawyers, and their effects on substantive rights. Lemos is also a co-author of a new multidisciplinary coursebook on judicial decision making. She teaches courses on civil procedure, legislation, and judicial process, and was awarded Duke's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2013. Prior to joining the Duke Law faculty, Lemos was an associate professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; a Bristow Fellow at the Office of the Solicitor General; and a law clerk for Judge Kermit V. Lipez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. She received her J.D. from New York University School of Law and her B.A. from Brown University.

David F. Levi

David F. Levi is the Levi Family Professor of Law and Judicial Studies and Director of the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law School. Levi was previously the James B. Duke and Benjamin N. Duke Dean of the Duke Law School. He served as dean for 11 years from 2007-2018. Prior to his appointment at Duke, Levi was the Chief United States District Judge for the Eastern District of California with chambers in Sacramento. He was appointed to the district court in 1990. From 1986-1990 he was the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California. Following graduation from Stanford Law School in 1980, Levi served as a law clerk to Judge Ben C. Duniway of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and then to Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., of the U.S. Supreme Court. Levi has served as member and chair of two U.S. Judicial Conference committees  the Advisory Committee on the Civil Rules and the Standing Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure. He was chair of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the American Judicial System (2014-2016). He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author or co-author of several books, articles, and published speeches mostly on the judiciary, judicial independence, and judicial decision-making. He is President of the American Law Institute.

Trevor W. Morrison

Trevor Morrison serves as Dean of NYU School of Law, where he is also the Eric M. and Laurie B. Roth Professor of Law. He previously held faculty appointments at Cornell Law School and Columbia Law School. Morrison's research and teaching interests are in constitutional law (especially separation of powers), federal courts, and the law of the executive branch. After graduating from Columbia Law School, he served as a law clerk to Judge Betty Fletcher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court. Between those clerkships, he was a Bristow Fellow in the U.S. Justice Department's Office of the Solicitor General, an attorney-adviser in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, and an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale). Morrison also served as associate counsel to President Barack Obama. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and a member of the American Law Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Caleb Nelson

Caleb Nelson is the Emerson G. Spies Distinguished Professor of Law and the Caddell and Chapman Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law. He earned his A.B. from Harvard College and his J.D. from Yale Law School. After law school, he clerked for Judge Stephen F. Williams on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Clarence Thomas on the United States Supreme Court. He joined the Virginia faculty in 1998. At Virginia, he has taught Federal Courts, Civil Procedure, Legislation, and Constitutional Law. His articles have appeared in the Columbia Law Review, the Harvard Law Review, the Michigan Law Review, the NYU Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review (forthcoming), the Virginia Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal. He is also the author of a casebook on statutory interpretation, published by Foundation Press. He is a member of the American Law Institute and a past winner of the University of Virginia's All-University Teaching Award. He has also taught as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School and as the James S. Carpentier Visiting Professor at Columbia Law School.

Richard H. Pildes

Professor Richard H. Pildes is Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University School of Law and one of the country's leading experts on the legal aspects of American democracy and government. His academic work focuses on all aspects of the political process, as well as legal issues concerning the structure of American government, including the powers of the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court. His two casebooks, The Law of Democracy and When Elections Go Bad, created the law of democracy as a field of study in the law schools. In addition to editing the book, The Future of the Voting Rights Act, he has published more than seventy academic articles. Pildes has represented numerous clients before the Supreme Court. He served as a law clerk at the Court to Justice Thurgood Marshall and to Judge Abner J. Mikva of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He has testified several times before the United States Senate and House of Representatives. Born in Chicago, he began his teaching career at the University of Michigan Law School, before moving to NYU. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute, as well as a Guggenheim Fellow.

Michael D. Ramsey

Michael D. Ramsey is Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, foreign relations law, and international law. He is the author of The Constitution's Text in Foreign Affairs (Harvard University Press 2007), co-editor of International Law in the U.S. Supreme Court: Continuity and Change (Cambridge University Press 2011), and co-author of two casebooks, Transnational Law and Practice (Aspen 2015) and International Business Transactions: A Problem-Oriented Coursebook (12th ed., West 2015). His scholarly articles have appeared in publications such as the Yale Law Journal, the University of Chicago Law Review, the Georgetown Law Journal and the American Journal of International Law. He received his B.A. magna cum laude from Dartmouth College and his J.D. summa cum laude from Stanford Law School. Prior to teaching, he served as a judicial clerk for Judge J. Clifford Wallace of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Justice Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court, and practiced law with the law firm of Latham & Watkins. He has taught as a visiting professor at the University of California, San Diego, in the Department of Political Science and at the University of Paris  Sorbonne, in the Department of Comparative Law.

Cristina M. Rodriguez (Co-Chair)

Cristina Rodriguez, a Yale Law School professor, served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel under Obama

Cristina M. Rodriguez is the Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Her fields of research and teaching include constitutional law and theory, immigration law and policy, and administrative law and process. Her new book, The President and Immigration Law (with Adam B. Cox) was published by Oxford University Press in September 2020, and explores the long history of presidential control over immigration policy and its implications for the future of immigration law and the presidency itself. Rodriguez joined Yale Law School in 2013 after serving for two years as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice. She was on the faculty at the New York University School of Law from 20042012 and has been Visiting Professor of Law at Stanford, Harvard, and Columbia Law Schools. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute, a non-resident fellow at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., and a past member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is also a past recipient of the Yale Law Women Award for Excellence in Teaching. She earned her B.A. and J.D. degrees from Yale and attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, where she received a Master of Letters in Modern History. Following law school, Rodriguez clerked for Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kermit Roosevelt

Kermit Roosevelt is a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where he teaches constitutional law and conflict of laws. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School. Before joining the Penn faculty, he practiced appellate litigation with Mayer Brown in Chicago and clerked for D.C. Circuit Judge Stephen F. Williams and Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter.

Bertrall Ross

Bertrall Ross is the Chancellor's Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, election law, administrative law, and statutory interpretation. Ross's research is driven by a concern about democratic responsiveness and accountability, as well as the inclusion of marginalized communities in administrative and political processes. His past scholarship has been published in several books and journals, including the Columbia Law Review, the NYU Law Review, and the University of Chicago Law Review. Ross is currently working on book projects related to separation of powers, gerrymandering, and voter data as a tool for disfranchisement. Ross has been the recipient of the Berkeley Law Rutter Award for Teaching Distinction, the Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin, the Princeton University Law and Public Affairs Fellowship, the Columbia Law School Kellis Parker Academic Fellowship, and the Marshall Scholarship. He is currently a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. Ross earned his law degree from Yale Law School and Masters degrees from the London School of Economics and Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs. Prior to joining Berkeley Law, he clerked for Judge Dorothy Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Myron Thompson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

David A. Strauss

David Strauss is the Gerald Ratner Distinguished Service Professor of Law and the Faculty Director of the Supreme Court and Appellate Clinic at the University of Chicago. He is the author of The Living Constitution (Oxford University Press, 2010) and the co-author of Democracy and Equality: The Enduring Constitutional Vision of the Warren Court (Oxford University Press, 2019), and he has written many academic and popular articles on constitutional law and related subjects. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a co-editor of the Supreme Court Review. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard and Georgetown. He has served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States, in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, and as Special Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. He has argued nineteen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Laurence H. Tribe

Laurence Tribe is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law Emeritus at Harvard University. Tribe has taught at Harvard since 1968 and was voted the best professor by the class of 2000. The title 'University Professor' is Harvard's highest academic honor, awarded to a handful of professors at any given time and to fewer than 75 professors in Harvard University's history. Tribe clerked for the California and U.S. Supreme Courts; was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1980 and the American Philosophical Society in 2010; helped write the constitutions of South Africa, the Czech Republic, and the Marshall Islands; and has received eleven honorary degrees, most recently a degree honoris causa from the Government of Mexico in March 2011 (never before awarded to an American) and an LL.D from Columbia University. Tribe has argued 35 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. He was appointed in 2010 by President Obama and Attorney General Holder to serve as the first Senior Counselor for Access to Justice. He has written 115 books and articles, most recently, 'To End A Presidency: The Power of Impeachment.' His treatise, 'American Constitutional Law,' has been cited more than any other legal text since 1950.

Adam White

Adam White is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and an assistant professor of law at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School, where he directs the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State. He writes on the courts, the Constitution, administrative law, and regulatory policy. He is a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States, and he serves on the board of the Land Conservation Assistance Network. Previously he practiced constitutional and administrative law in Washington, D.C., and he clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In 2005, the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy published his study of the Senate's constitutional power to grant or withhold its 'advice and consent' for judicial nominations.

Keith E. Whittington

Keith E. Whittington is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University and is currently the chair of Academic Freedom Alliance. He works on American constitutional history, politics and law, and on American political thought. He is the author of Repugnant Laws: Judicial Review of Acts of Congress from the Founding to the Present and Political Foundations of Judicial Supremacy: The Presidency, the Supreme Court, and Constitutional Leadership in U.S. History, among other works. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, and the University of Texas School of Law, and he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Texas at Austin and completed his Ph.D. in political science at Yale University.

Michael Waldman

Michael Waldman is the president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to strengthen the systems of democracy and justice so they work for all Americans. The Center is a leading national voice on voting rights, money in politics, criminal justice reform, and constitutional law. Waldman has led the Center since 2005. He is the author of The Fight to Vote (2016), a history of the struggle to win voting rights for all citizens, The Second Amendment: A Biography (2014), and five other books. Waldman served as director of speechwriting for President Bill Clinton from 1995-1999, and special assistant to the president for policy coordination from 1993-1995. He was responsible for writing or editing nearly two thousand speeches, including four State of the Union and two inaugural addresses. He is a graduate of NYU School of Law and Columbia College.
Alvin Willie George, 25, was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for cyberstalking.

A Florida man has been sentenced to just over five years in prison for using his Facebook to cyberstalk the surviving victim of a 1999 attack by serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells.

Alvin Willie George, 25, was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for cyberstalking.

George has also been ordered to pay $525.31 in restitution to one of his victims, according to a release from the U.S. Attorneys Office District of Idaho.

Krystal Surles was just 10-years-old in 1999 when serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells slashed her across her throat.

The drifter had broken into her friend Kaylene Harris's South Texas house while her family was asleep and stabbed the 13-year-old to death. Surles was sleeping in the top bunk when the attack occurred.

Following the attack, Surles ran to a neighboring home and alerted neighbors that the family had been attacked by writing on a notepad, CBS News reported in 2009.

Krystal Surles (left) was attacked by drifter Tommy Lynn Sells in 1999, who also killed her friend, 13-year-old Kaylene Harris (right). Surles was then cyberstalked by George who became obsessed with the crime and her, after reading about it online

Tommy Lynn Sells was a drifter who was on Texas death row for 13-year-old Kaylene Harris' slaughter after he broke into her South Texas house while her family was asleep and stabbed her. Sells was executed in Texas in 2014

Texas Ranger Johnny Allen described the scene as one of the worst he had ever seen.

Authorities found the 11-inch butcher knife used in the attack in a nearby field, following the slaughter, and were able to identify Sells quickly after Surles worked with forensic artist on a sketch of him.

Sells was arrested and was held on death row until his execution in Texas in 2014.

According to the release, George began sending photos from the 1999 crime scene to Surles and her sister in or around November 2016. He would send the graphic images to the family over the 'next several months.'

Surles was sleeping in the top bunk when the attack occurred

Authorities found the 11-inch butcher knife used in the attack in a nearby field

Authorities were able to identify Sells quickly after Surles worked with forensic artist on a sketch of him

At the time he was sending the images, all of the sisters lived in Idaho.

The release states that George did not know the sisters and researched the attack on the internet.

He made a series of Facebook accounts to send the 'harassing and intimidating messages to these women,' threatening to rape and kill them.

According to Florida Department of Correction records, George has a previous Dec. 2017 arrest for shooting and throwing missiles at vehicles.
Mr. President,

At the outset, I wish to extend warm congratulations to you on the appointment as Foreign Minister of Vietnam and welcome you to the meeting. I also appreciate the work done by Vietnam as President of the Council. China thanks Secretary-General Guterres for his briefing. I have also listened to the statements by Ms. Michelle Yeoh, Ambassador Toscano and Ms. Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh.

At present, the international security landscape is complex and grim, evidenced by intensifying geopolitical competition among major powers, incessant outbreaks of regional conflicts and hotspot issues, and the spread of terrorism. The humanitarian consequences of the indiscriminate use of conventional weapons are more salient than before. Among them, landmines, ERWs and IEDs threaten the safety and security of personnel, hinder humanitarian development activities, disrupt the normal life of local communities, and create obstacles to achieving lasting peace and development in conflict areas.

For many years, the international community has given importance to the issue of arms control for conventional weapons, which is regarded as disarmament that saves lives by Secretary-General Guterres in his agenda for disarmament. The international community has taken sustained action on the landmine dossier and achieved good results. In some countries and regions where landmine contamination was prevalent, the situation has been alleviated. That said, the number of landmine casualties remain high. In recent two years, tens of thousands of people have been killed or maimed. As we speak, there are still nearly 30 countries whose population still face landmine risks, especially Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, and Yemen. In South Sudan, Mali, Western Sahara and other peacekeeping mission areas, UN peacekeepers and humanitarian workers are also exposed to safety and security risks of explosives, such as landmines. Therefore, the international community should continue to step up its efforts. To this end, I would like to emphasize the following:

First, we should make utmost efforts to ensure the safety of civilians, which is the priority of international mine action. The international community should be proactive in helping countries concerned to raise landmine awareness, upgrade demining technology, control explosive supply chain, and strengthen integrated mine clearance capacity, so as to holistically reduce the safety risks of landmines to the civilian population. The parties concerned must do their level best to keep a record of the mines laid, and at the end of hostilities, remove them promptly or take other measures to protect civilians from harm. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen international cooperation and assistance and actively help landmine-affected countries build up their own capacity to ensure sustained mine action. Countries that have left ERWs in other countries should shoulder their due historical responsibility and provide necessary support for clearance and destruction.

China is actively engaged in international humanitarian demining assistance and cooperation. The Chinese government has, through donations, equipment provisions, training programs and field guidance, provided humanitarian demining assistance totaling over 100 million RMB yuan to more than 40 countries. China has also trained more than 1,000 professional demining technicians. In September 2015, President Xi Jinping announced at the UN Peacekeeping Summit that China would undertake ten demining assistance projects in the next five years. Since then, China has carried out 24 demining assistance projects, with a total exceeding 55 million RMB yuan, meeting and surpassing the targets ahead of schedule. Last year, China assisted Cambodia and Laos with 9.5 million RMB yuan worth of mine detection and clearance equipment and humanitarian supplies.

Second, the UN must play an active role. Secretary-General Guterres once said that peace without mine action is incomplete peace. Mine action has become an important part of UN peace operations. Member states and the Secretariat should upgrade demining equipment used in PKOs, provide mine clearance training and improve the capacity of peacekeeping operations to help host countries in mine action. This will also contribute to the reduction of landmine threat to peacekeepers and humanitarian workers.

We should attach great importance to the disposal of IEDs. China has sent experts to participate in the review and revision of the international mine action standards. As the Co-Chair of the UN Working Group on the IED disposal standards, China worked along with experts from other countries to study and formulate the UN IED disposal standards. We hope that this would provide useful reference information to countries around the world. China accords attention to addressing the humanitarian concerns resulting from the indiscriminate use of IEDs by non-state actors. China supports the formulation of sensible and viable solutions under the framework of the CCW.

We should also give full play to the role of peacekeeping operations in mine clearance. Chinese peacekeepers have been present in the mission area in Lebanon since 2006. To date, they have found and removed more than 10,000 landmines and explosives. They are known for their exceptional performance of demining operations with zero casualty, zero accident, fastest speed and the largest quantity of mines and explosives cleared. We also set store by the safety and security of peacekeepers and provided demining and security training to peacekeepers from multiple countries.

Third, we should adhere to the balanced approach principle. It is necessary to properly address the humanitarian concerns and give consideration to the legitimate military security needs of various countries on the basis of the respective security environment and the differences in military strength. China is a state party to the amended Landmine Protocol of the CCW. China strictly abides by the provisions pertaining to the restrictions on the production and use of landmines and submits its national compliance report to the Conference of States Parties to the Protocol every year. China subscribes to the purposes of the Ottawa Convention and supports the ultimate goal of comprehensive landmine ban. China maintains good communication and cooperation with the States Parties to the Convention.

As a former victim, China empathizes with the humanitarian concerns caused by landmines, ERWs and IEDs. We will continue to rigorously fulfill relevant international obligations and provide assistance where we can to the developing countries and people who have been affected. We stand ready to work with the international community and play a constructive role in addressing the security and humanitarian risks caused by the indiscriminate use of conventional weapons, including landmines.

I thank you, Mr. President.
DMX, one of the best-known rappers of the 1990s and early 2000s, died on Friday at age 50.

His death was confirmed by a statement from DMXs family, which said:

We are deeply saddened to announce today that our loved one, DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, passed away at 50-years-old at White Plains Hospital with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days. Earl was a warrior who fought till the very end. He loved his family with all of his heart and we cherish the times we spent with him. Earls music inspired countless fans across the world and his iconic legacy will live on forever. We appreciate all of the love and support during this incredibly difficult time. Please respect our privacy as we grieve the loss of our brother, father, uncle and the man the world knew as DMX. We will share information about his memorial service once details are finalized.

A Friday statement from White Plains hospital said DMX passed away peacefully with family present after suffering a catastrophic cardiac arrest.

DMX had been hospitalized since April 2 and was in critical condition after suffering a heart attack. The rappers lawyer, Murray Richman, told the Associated Press on April 3 that DMX was on life support. Richman said he could not confirm reports that DMX overdosed on drugs, and said he was not sure what caused the heart attack.

An April 4 statement from the rappers family confirmed that he was in a coma and on a ventilator.

On Thursday night, DMXs manager, Steve Rifkind, posted an Instagram video refuting rumors that DMX had died, and urged fans to be considerate of the rappers loved ones. Let the family relax for a night, Rifkind said.

DMX, a native of Mount Vernon, New York, burst onto the rap scene in 1998 with his debut studio album, Its Dark and Hell Is Hot. The record debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold millions of copies, earning multiplatinum status from the Recording Industry Association of America.

DMX followed that with a string of albums that also reached Billboards No. 1 status: Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood (1998), ... And Then There Was X, (1999), The Great Depression (2001) and Grand Champ (2003). His last studio album, Redemption of the Beast, came out in 2015.

DMXs signature tracks as a solo artist included Ruff Ryders Anthem, Party Up (Up in Here), Get at Me Dog, X Gon Give It to Ya, Where the Hood At? and Slippin. DMX also was the featured artists on tracks released by other stars, such as Jay-Z, Ice Cube, Nas, Busta Ryhmes, Ludacris and more.

Everything about DMX was unremittingly intense, from his muscular, tattooed physique to his gruff, barking delivery, which made a perfect match for his trademark lyrical obsession with dogs, the rappers publicist said in a statement. Plus, there was substance behind the style; much of his work was tied together by a fascination with the split between the sacred and the profane. He could move from spiritual anguish one minute to a narrative about the sins of the streets the next, yet keep it all part of the same complex character, sort of like a hip-hop Johnny Cash.

DMX earned three Grammy nominations in the early 2000s and won back-to-back American Music Awards for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist in 2000-2001. He also forged an acting career, appearing in movies ranging from Belly to Beyond the Law.

DMX made TV appearances on series ranging from Moesha to Chappelles Show to Fresh Off the Boat. A reality TV series about his life, DMX: Soul of a Man, aired on BET in 2006.

DMX wasnt a frequent visitor to Alabama on his concert tours, but he performed in Birmingham at least once, in December 2000 as an opening act for Limp Bizkit at the BJCC arena.

Here are more stories of those we have lost in 2021
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 00:18:30|Editor: huaxia

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Aerial photo taken on July 11, 2020 shows the Karuma hydropower project under construction along River Nile in the midwestern Ugandan district of Kiryandongo. Chinese and Ugandan engineers are putting the final touches on the Karuma Hydropower Plant, Uganda's flagship project that promotes clean energy and limits its carbon footprint on the Nile River.(Xinhua/Jia Junwei)

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has saluted the Communist Party of China for "its support towards African countries political struggle for independence and economic development."

KAMPALA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has saluted the Communist Party of China (CPC) for "its support towards African countries political struggle for independence and economic development."

Emmanuel Batibwe (L) Director of China-Uganda Friendship Hospital interacts with the Chinese medical team in Kampala, capital of Uganda, Jan. 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Nicholas Kajoba)

Museveni, according to a State House statement released on Thursday, made the remarks while biding farewell to the outgoing Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Zheng Zhuqiang.

"China has been a friend to Africa since 1950s," the president said.

Museveni's comments come as the CPC is slated to celebrate its 100th founding anniversary this year.

Museveni commended the Chinese ambassador for strengthening the relationship between the two countries and for maintaining high-level exchanges among their peoples, according to the statement. 
The operational capabilities of Turkish combat drones have made the headlines numerous times recently. These discussions are generally centered around their success at picking and hunting armored vehicles much bigger than themselves on the field, whether operated by Turkey or other purchasing countries, Daily Sabah reports. However, another key aspect is how this technology, previously owned by just a few countries, namely the United States and Israel, has now elevated Turkey to a position where it has become a major broker and exporter of the technologies, allowing Ankara to have a say in regional politics, as most recently pointed out by the prominent American political scientist, political economist and writer, Francis Fukuyama.

Fukuyama drew the worlds attention to the Turkey-made drones once more in his article, Droning on in the Middle East, which was published on April 5 on Americanpurose.com. Recalling his speculations made in a Financial Times article back in 2012, published under the title Why we all need a drone of our own, Fukuyama argued that if others also have access to the drone technology, largely controlled by the U.S. and Israel, it would have big implications for global politics, and inevitably change the nature of interstate conflict.

He said although the drones are not yet largely used in missions such as against the protection of critical infrastructures like nuclear plants, the global landscape has already been changed by military drones.

This is where Turkey enters the stage, a country that previously relied on imports like Israeli Heron drones but did not achieve their widespread and effective use, thus developed its own technology. Like many, Fukuyama stressed that the embargoes imposed by the U.S. in 1975 or the NATO-ally rejecting the sales of Predator and Reaper drones led Turkey toward domestically producing the aerial vehicles.

Drones are, however, not that hard to manufacture, and the most recent Turkish ones are quite impressive. The TB2 can stay aloft for 24 hours, and can perform both reconnaissance and attack missions, he wrote.

Currently, there are two major drone manufacturers in Turkey, Baykar  led by MIT-educated Selcuk Bayraktar  who sold its Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) to several brotherly and allied countries, namely Azerbaijan and Ukraine, and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) who has most recently signed an export deal for its Anka UCAV with Tunisia.

According to Fukuyama, Turkeys use of drones brings a change in land power similar to the change created by British battleship Dreadnaught that obsoleted earlier classes of battleships, or the aircraft carrier made battleships themselves obsolete at the beginning of World War II, marked a new era in the naval history.

What Turkish drones achieved in marking this new era is, according to the American intellectual, is challenging the once-widely accepted argument of only a tank could destroy another tank. One of the little-known facts about the 1967 Middle East War was that only a couple of Egyptian tanks were killed from the air in Israels massive opening air strike, because it was too difficult to hit so small a target with an airplane. In the intervening years, precision-guided munitions began to proliferate, making the targeting of tanks much easier, but they still required expensive platforms like the A-10 close-support attack aircraft, which in turn necessitated expensive air defenses to operate against a sophisticated opponent, Fukuyama wrote, adding that "however, now relatively cheaper, hard to defeat, and smaller crafts are being used to destroy those tanks, or air defense systems and they dont even risk the life of human pilots."

Turkey used the drones successfully to destroy enemy positions in several recent military conflicts, he said, including Libya, Syria, and in the Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and, more particularly, in the fight against the PKK terrorist organization inside its own borders.

In the process, it has elevated itself to being a major regional power broker with more ability to shape outcomes than Russia, China, or the United States, Fukuyama emphasized, stressing that the effectiveness of these weapons was first demonstrated beyond Turkeys borders in Syria in March 2020, where in retaliation for a Russian-backed Syrian attack that killed 36 Turkish soldiers, Ankara launched a devastating attack on Syrian forces that were moving into Idlib province along the Turkish border.

Video footage showed them destroying one Syrian armored vehicle after another, including more than 100 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and air defense systems. Fukuyama highlighted that the operations carried out in retaliation brought the Syrian offensive to a complete halt, thus making the Idlib province "a haven for refugees, and defeated what would have been a genocidal act against the refugees who had sought shelter in Idlib province.

The Turkish drones were then operated to attack an airbase in Libya used by United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Khalifa Haftar, halting the Libyan warlords offensive against the U.N.-recognized Tripoli government. Most recently, during the Nagorno-Karabakh war, Turkish drones intervening for Azerbaijan against Armenia occupier forces, Fukuyama noted, destroyed an estimated 200 tanks, 90 other armored vehicles, and 182 artillery pieces, forcing the latter to withdraw from the territory.

Drones have done much to promote Turkeys rise as a regional power in the year 2020, Fukuyama concludes, making the Middle East more genuinely multipolar as Ankara neither entirely sides with the Sunni Gulf States or Shiite lines that previously seem to be separating the region into two, but asserting its power by acting with profit.

It has opposed its fellow Sunni powers, the Gulf States, in Libya; simultaneously sided with Russia by buying the latters S-400 air defense system while attacking Russian forces in Syria, he said, and also selling TB2 drones to Ukraine which might as well be a game-changer in the conflict there as well. Such use of the combat drones led world militaries to scrambling to figure out how to defend themselves against drones, and it is not clear who will win the arms race between drones and drone countermeasures.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has held talks on bilateral cooperation and issues of common concern, including coordination aimed at curbing the coronavirus pandemic, with his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, the French Foreign Ministry said.

"The minister [Le Drian] referred to the very dense bilateral relations between France and Morocco and the issues common to our two countries, in particular the consequences of the health crisis, the coordination between our two countries to deal with it as well as migration issues. The minister praised the quality of security cooperation between our two countries that we regularly have the opportunity to observe, particularly in the fight against terrorism," the ministry said in a statement released late on Thursday.

The diplomats also addressed the situation in Libya, challenges faced by Africa's Sahel, and the situation in Western Sahara.

The French minister reiterated the support of Paris for the peaceful and lasting political solution in Western Sahara and called for the "rapid appointment of a new special envoy of the UN secretary-general" as part of diplomatic efforts.

Le Drian also confirmed that Morocco was a strategically important partner of the EU, the statement concluded.

Since the 1970s, Morocco and the Polisario Front movement backed by Algeria have fought with each other over control of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was transferred under control of Morocco and Mauritania in 1973. Three years later, the Polisario Front established the partially recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) on a very small part of the disputed territory. Morocco, which controls much of Western Sahara, has been pushing for the region's autonomy within its territory, while the United Nations and SADR have been in favor of a referendum on its self-determination.
Indiana legislators gave final approval to a bill that wont require businesses to make accommodations for pregnant workers, despite an appeal from Gov. Eric Holcomb for a law requiring more protections.

The proposal allows a pregnant employee to request accommodations and requires the employer to respond in a reasonable time frame, but it does not mandate managers to grant any of the requests.

Such steps, such as longer breaks or transfers to less physical work, are cast by supporters as ways of improving Indianas infant mortality rate, which federal statistics show was the countrys 14th worst in 2018 with 525 infant deaths.

But Republicans who dominate the Legislature have sided with major business groups rather than the GOP governor on the issue. Lawmakers also rejected a separate Holcomb-backed bill last year that would have ensured similar accommodations.

If we truly set forth to provide support and accommodations to pregnant workers to help ensure that they can get the help they need at work to stay healthy and safe through a pregnancy, then this is not the bill, said Democratic Sen. Shelli Yoder, of Bloomington. What this ends up doing is it gives legislators an opportunity to pat ourselves on the back to say we did something, we passed this, when really its more of a slap in the face of pregnant workers.

The latest measure passed the House in February by a 95-2 votes as even lawmakers wanting tougher regulations supported it as a way of getting some protections for women into state law. Senators voted 31-19 on the bill, sending the measure Holcomb.

Federal laws already require larger companies to provide pregnancy accommodations, but top Holcomb administration health officials have advocated for the state accommodations requirement as a way of helping pregnant women who dont face clear rules in the workplace.

The governor said after the House advanced the weaker bill in February that his goal was not going to come to fruition, thats been a message received from lawmakers.

Holcomb said he would issue an executive order ensuring such accommodations for state employees to demonstrate to business owners how such accommodations can work. He has yet to issue such an order.

Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray said many lawmakers were hesitant to put more regulations on businesses, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some major business groups, including the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana Manufacturers Association, additionally raised worries about possibly exposing more businesses to lawsuits by requiring them to provide accommodations.

I feel that many women will come forward because of this bill. And the good companies will accommodate them. And the bad eggs  they wont, said bill author Republican Sen. Ron Alting, of Lafayette. When youve been around this chamber a while, youll learn once in a while you better take what you can get. For many of us this bill is not far enough  but its a step in the right direction.

Casey Smith is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.

Associated Press writer Tom Davies contributed to this report.

Topics Politics Indiana
The NSW government has resumed administering the AstraZeneca vaccine at its state-run clinics after a brief pause following warnings from Australian medical experts of rare but potentially dangerous blood clotting side effects.

The short suspension of AstraZeneca at NSW Health-run COVID vaccination clinics came less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced an overhaul of the countrys vaccine program, with Pfizer confirmed as the preferred product for people aged under 50.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian addresses the media. Credit:Nick Moir

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the rollout was paused on Friday morning to allow time for informed consent information relating to the vaccine to be updated.

As of a few hours ago, everybody over 50 years of age is continuing to receive the vaccine in NSW and, from Monday, those under 50 who choose to have the vaccine can do so, she said on Friday afternoon.
Other than by misspelling "fjord," how would an American geologist draw the ire of a pair of Norwegian politicians? Answer: Write a book that counters the notion that human activity is causing the globe to warm with catastrophic consequences.

Gregory Wrightstone's 2017 book, Inconvenient Facts: The Science that Al Gore Doesn't Want You to Know, was published in Norway and is being promoted by the Climate Realists, a Norwegian organization, which shares the author's view that modern warming is neither unusual nor unprecedented.

Backed with 90 illustrations and 15 pages of references, the book presents 60 footnoted facts inconvenient to the Western elite's absurd narrative about global warming. Among them: Most of the last 10,000 years have been warmer than today, including the Medieval Warm Period, when Vikings raised barley on Greenland, and the Roman Warm Period, when citrus grew in northern England.

After the Climate Realists announced plans to distribute the book to all 356 of Norway's mayors, two members of Norway's unicameral Stortinget  Tom-Christer Nilsen and Lene Westgaard-Halle  wrote the mayors a letter discouraging them from accepting a book that is popular "because lies are more entertaining" than the truth.

Mr. Wrightstone, recently named executive director of the Arlington, Virginiabased CO2 Coalition, responded with a letter of his own, noting that he has been accepted as an expert reviewer by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

"The two politicians claim to be supporters of an open exchange of words.' However, that is apparently only true if they agree with you," says Mr. Wrightstone, whose book has been banned from his home library north of Pittsburgh and whose smartphone app was removed briefly from the Apple Store.

"The book is brilliant, very easily read," says Morten Jdal, Climate Realists chairman of the board. Mr. Wrightstones rebuttal has been published in Norwegian newspapers, and distribution of the book to mayors will proceed in a few weeks, reports Mr. Jdal, a biologist and author of Environmental Myths, another book that critiques the global warming fraud.

Formerly head of the University of Oslos Center for Environment and Development, Mr. Jdal says, "Slowly, slowly I realized that the environmental movement is not competent. I started waking up to the fact that many environmental crises being described do not exist."

Why would global warming be of interest to a country split by the Arctic Circle and 90 percent reliant on hydropower, an electricity source whose operations emit virtually no carbon dioxide  the bogeyman of global warmists?

"Politicians today talk about saving the world, beyond their own country," says Mr. Jdal, who once worked at the Research Council of Norway. "They are convinced that the globe is threatened."

Some climate alarmists say global warming will shut down the Gulf Stream and destroy its moderating effect on Norways climate, ensuring doom for everybody, Mr. Jdal scoffs.

A government proposal to eliminate the countrys 50 million tons of annual carbon dioxide emissions, without acknowledging its huge costs and lack of any benefit, is "totally ridiculous," he says.

Norways vast forests and algae-rich coastal waters, he adds, probably absorb more carbon dioxide than the countrys 5.4 million people emit.

Mr. Wrightstone predicts that the controversy will allow his fact- and science-based views on climate change to be presented to a much wider audience.

Three years after publication, Inconvenient Facts continues to be listed by Amazon as a best-seller in the public policy category. It will soon be published in Korean and is being considered for publication in Brazil.

Gordon Tomb is senior advisor for the CO2 Coalition, Arlington, Virginia.

Image: max_gloin via Pixabay, Pixabay License.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
When the first COVID-19 vaccines were approved for emergency use in December 2020, healthcare systems across the Unites States needed to rapidly design and implement their own approaches to distribute COVID-19 vaccines equitably and efficiently.

This new role has required Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH) to develop new strategies and build large operational teams to organize and successfully vaccinate more than 14,000 patients a week across Eastern Massachusetts.

In an Insight article published in JAMA Health Forum, Leonor Fernandez, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Peter Shorett, MPP, Chief Integration Officer at BILH, identify five key lessons about health equity that have emerged from BILH's vaccination campaign for the health system's approximately 1.6 million patients.

This is an unprecedented public health campaign for a health system. Organizing our approach to COVID 19 vaccination is teaching us a lot about what we do well and how we can further advance the delivery of equitable health care. To ensure that all patients, including Black, Latinx, and other marginalized communities can access these life-saving vaccines, we have to be able to reach out, create trust, and speak their language." Leonor Fernandez, Primary Care Physician and Director of Patient Engagement, Health Care Associates, Primary Care Practice, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Fernandez and Shorett describe five actions that help promote vaccine equity: obtain reliable patient demographic data; address structural inequalities intentionally in order to achieve equitable results; communicate with patients in understandable terms and in their preferred languages; involve diverse stakeholders in decisions; and embrace equity, diversity and inclusion as fundamental organizational values.

Obtain reliable patient demographic data The authors note that accurate and complete demographic data are essential to identifying and deploying strategies to reach and engage patients, but data are not consistently elicited or accurate. Information about patients' race, ethnicity, preferred language and geography is helping drive greater understanding and accountability in the health system's efforts to address historic racial and ethnic health disparities.

Intentionally addressing structural inequalities and speaking patients' languages "BILH's strategy has been to invite patients in three waves for each eligible phase, focusing first on our patients associated with our healthcare centers in Dorchester and Chelsea," said Shorett, who led the patient vaccination efforts for the health system. "We then move to patients in towns and neighborhoods in our region that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and shortly after that to randomized cohorts of eligible patients."

BILH teams developed a broader communications approach, deploying a mix of SMS texting, outgoing phone messages in many languages, and live phone outreach to patients in highly affected communities. Community health centers and primary care practices in highly affected communities have been and will continue to be critically important in the vaccination invitation, outreach and communication process as trusted messengers for their patients.

"Relying exclusively on digital invitations can mean that patients and those who lack familiarity and access to digital technology or speak a language other than English will have less access to vaccination," said Fernandez, who is also a member of the health system's vaccination leadership team.

Involving diverse stakeholders for better decision making and embracing equity as a fundamental value to create greater change

Following the widespread civil unrest in response to several high-profile incidents of police brutality, BILH's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Taskforce developed recommendations for action incorporated in part from listening sessions including thousands of employees.

This backdrop, along with extreme health disparities observed during the pandemic, made the issue of health equity both more familiar and more urgent within the health system. "The integration of diverse institutional and community stakeholders into decisions enables better recognition of structural inequities, provides needed knowledge and skill sets, and supports more effective strategies to help the health system address health disparities," noted Shorett.

Vaccinating the U.S. population against COVID-19 will require an unprecedented ongoing public health campaign. "Sustaining this positive momentum will rely on the shared understanding that when it comes to health, we are all in this together," said Fernandez.
Paris, April 9 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Apr, 2021 ) :Unless nations dramatically improve on carbon cutting pledges made under the 2015 Paris climate treaty, the planet's richest concentrations of animal and plant life will be irreversibly ravaged by global warming, scientists warned Friday.

An analysis of 8,000 published risk assessments for species showed a high danger for extinction in nearly 300 biodiversity "hot spots", on land and in the sea, if temperatures rise three degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, they reported in the journal Biological Conservation.

Earth's surface has heated up 1C so far, and the Paris Agreement enjoins nations to cap warming at "well below" 2C, and 1.5C if possible.

National commitments to slash greenhouse gas emissions -- assuming they are honoured -- would still see temperatures soar well above 3C by century's end, if not sooner.

So-called endemic species -- plants and animals found exclusively in a specific area -- will be hit hardest in a warming world.

From snow leopards in the Himalayas and the vaquita porpoise in the Gulf of California to lemurs in Madagascar and forest elephants in central Africa, many of the planet's most cherished creatures will wind up on a path to extinction unless humanity stops loading the atmosphere with CO2 and methane, the study found.

Endemic land species in biodiverse hot spots are nearly three times as likely to suffer losses due to climate change than more widespread flora and fauna, and 10 times more likely than invasive species.

- Trapped in an enclosed sea - "Climate change threatens areas overflowing with species that cannot be found anywhere else in the world," said lead author Stella Manes, a researcher at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

"The risk for such species to be lost forever increases more than 10-fold if we miss the goals of the Paris Agreement." More and more scientists concede that capping global warming at 1.5C target is probably out of reach.

But every tenth of a degree matters when it comes to avoiding impacts, they say.

Some concentrations of wildlife are more vulnerable than others.

In mountain regions, 84 percent of endemic animals and plants face extinction in a 3C world, while on islands -- already devastated by invasive species -- the figure rises to 100 percent.

"By nature, these species cannot easily move to more favourable environments," explained co-author Mark Costello, a marine ecologist from the University of Aukland.

Marine species in the Mediterranean are especially threatened because they are trapped in an enclosed sea, he added.

Overall, more than 90 percent of land-based endemic species, and 95 percent of marine ones, will be adversely affected if Earth warms another two degrees, the international team of researchers found.

- Safe havens not so safe - In the tropics, two out of three species could perish due to climate change alone.

The findings may impel conservationists to rethink how to best protect endangered wildlife.

Up to now, the main threats have been habitat loss due to expanding urban areas, mining and agriculture, on the one hand, and hunting for food and body parts to sell on the black market, on the other.

A key strategy in the face of this onslaught has been carving out protected areas, especially around biodiversity hot spots.

But these safe havens may be of little use in the face of global warming.

"Unfortunately, our study shows that those biodiversity rich-spots will not be able to act as species refugia from climate change," said co-author Mariana Vale, also from Federal University.

Even before the impact of global warming has truly kicked in, scientists have ascertained that Earth is at the outset of a so-called mass extinction event in which species are disappearing at 100 to 1,000 the normal, or "background", rate.

There have been five previous mass extinctions in the last 500 million years.
More than 5,000 women receiving pensions of just over 1 a week could be owed sums similar to a small lottery win of 45,000, an expert said yesterday.

The Government is currently sending out thousands of letters to wives, widows and divorcees who were underpaid state pensions for years in a scandal expected to cost 3billion.

Former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb said 5,159 of the women could be owed an average of 45,000.

They were unable to claim a state pension in their own right, but could have done so on their husband's work record.

More than 5,000 women receiving pensions of just over 1 a week could be owed sums similar to a small lottery win of 45,000, an expert said yesterday. Pictured: Sir Steve Webb

Instead they had minuscule 'graduated retirement benefit' (GRB) pensions paying an average of 1.24 a week.

Sir Steve said the group should contact the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as soon as possible.

He said: 'It is incredible there are thousands of women getting such tiny pensions, but even more incredible that many could potentially be entitled to tens of thousands in back-payments.

'It is as if they are sitting on unclaimed winning lottery tickets.

'It is very important that women on these very small pensions make contact with the DWP as soon as possible to see if they could be entitled to a windfall.'

The 5,000 are able to claim back the money they missed out on because the DWP considers they have simply deferred their claim to the married woman's state pension they were entitled to when their husband turned 65.

Former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb said 5,159 of the women could be owed an average of 45,000

Sir Steve, now a partner at consultants Lane Clark and Peacock, said the amount owed to women receiving tiny GRB payments could easily be 250million.

The former Liberal Democrat MP stressed that women he had helped included one who was entitled to more than 60,000. Carole Davies, 76, of Merstham, Surrey, recently found out she was owed 56,000 because she had not claimed a married woman's pension since her husband retired in 2005.

When she retired in 2003, she could only collect a GRB pension worth 40p a week.

In March, documents revealed in the Budget showed thousands of other women who were underpaid the state pension were in line for top-ups, with the overall bill put at 3billion.

A DWP spokesman said: 'Anyone impacted will be contacted by us to ensure they receive all they are owed.'
The court refused to order the release of nearly 150 Rohingyas detained in holding centres in Jammu

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan referred to the order passed by the International Court of Justice to highlight that Rohingyas faced genocidal threat there.  PTI file photo

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday permitted the deportation of Rohingya refugees detained at Jammu. Passing the order on the PIL moved by Mohammad Salimullah for the protection of Rohingyas, the court refused to order the release of nearly 150 Rohingyas detained in holding centres in Jammu and allowed their deportation to their parent country as per procedure of law.

It is not possible to grant interim relief. However, it is made clear that the Rohingyas in Jammu on whose behalf the application has been moved shall not be deported unless the procedure prescribed for such deportation is followed," ruled a bench headed by Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde, also comprising Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice V. Ramasubramanian.

During the hearing on March 23, lawyer Prashant Bhushan had pleaded that sending the Rohingyas to Myanmar when it is under a military junta will endanger their life, noting that the principle of non-refoulement forbids expulsion of a refugee if there is a clear and certain danger to life in the original country.

He also referred to the order passed by the International Court of Justice to highlight that Rohingyas faced genocidal threat there.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre had opposed the application on behalf of Rohingya refugees seeking to stall their deportation. He had cited a similar application concerning the Rohingyas in Assam that was dismissed in 2018.



Mr Mehta had submitted that the deportation is done in accordance with the procedure established by law, and hence it cannot be held to be violative of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Centre also disputed that Rohingya detainees were refugees and called them "illegal migrants".

"India cannot be a capital for all illegal migrants of the world", the SG said.

During the hearing, the CJI made oral observations acknowledging the threat faced by Rohingyas in Myanmar but added that the court cannot do anything about it.
Superintendent of Public Instruction airs concerns

CHEYENNE  During the final days of the 2021 legislative session, Wyoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow expressed both praise for an imminent K-12 school funding deal and concern for the long-term future of the states school funding model.

With the fall of coal and the political attack on domestic oil and gas production, our mineral revenue- dependent education system is seriously just several biennia away from collapse, Balow said Friday afternoon. She was attending the first in-person monthly luncheon of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce since...
Jaidan Raine Higueros was charged with false personation of an officer after convincing airport security he was carrying a gun on a plane because he was transporting it for the FBI

A Fort Campbell soldier went AWOL and carried a handgun onto a flight from Chicago to Nashville earlier this year, claiming he worked for the Defense Department and was transporting evidence for a court case.

Jaidan Raine Higueros was charged in a criminal complaint filed Monday with carrying a weapon or explosive on an aircraft and false personation, officer or employee of the United States.

A Federal Air Marshal aboard the February 15 flight noticed Higueros was 'acting suspiciously' and determined he 'was carrying a firearm inside a duffle bag in the passenger compartment of the aircraft' according to WKRN.

Higueros first flew from Nashville International Airport to Chicago O'Hare Airport to on February 11, carrying a Glock 43 9mm pistol in his checked luggage without incident.

The soldier had a flight scheduled back to Nashville on February 15 but missed it, and attempted to get on the next United Airlines flight from Chicago.

When a customer service supervisor informed him the check-in process for his firearm would take too long and that he would miss the flight, Higueros showed his military identification card and claimed he was a law enforcement officer who needed to get the gun back to Nashville for a court case.

A commander at Fort Campbell confirmed that Higueros was AWOL and not traveling under any official capacity

Higueros carried a Glock 43 9mm pistol in his baggage while flying from Chicago to Nashville

When Higueros boarded the aircraft, he informed the pilot that he was carrying a firearm and assured him there was 'no reason for concern.'

A TSA Air Marshal on the flight was told Higueros worked in law enforcement, but witnessed him 'enter the aircraft lavatory with a duffel bag' after he had been acting suspiciously.

Higueros gave the marshal consent to search his bag, which is how he found the unloaded pistol, a magazine with six rounds of ammunition, and one empty magazine.

When the soldier was unable to provide credentials to prove he was a law enforcement officer, he was handcuffed and detained for the rest of the flight until it landed in Nashville and he was taken into custody.

Higueros was able to bypass security and was not caught until an air marshal aboard a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Nashville noticed he was acting suspiciously (File photo)

Higueros lated confessed that he was traveling for personal reasons and lied because he wanted 'to get home' and 'had no malicious intent for his actions.'

A commander at Fort Campbell confirmed that Higueros was not traveling under any official capacity and had left a 250-mile radius around the fort without approved permission.

Higueros was identified as a Private Second Class in the U.S. Army, assigned to the 561st Military Police Company at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
SAN ANTONIO, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Apogee Engineering (Apogee), an award-winning small business contractor within the federal market, is marking its 1-year anniversary by adding to its contract with Air Combat Command's Intelligence Directorate (ACC/A2) to provide requirements analysis, systems engineering, and operational subject matter expertise in the Air Force Cryptologic Office's (AFCO) Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR)-Cyberspace and Multi-Domain Innovation Division. In this role, Apogee provides highly qualified staff support to help Sixteenth Air Force (16 AF) fulfill its mission to integrate multi-source ISR, cyberspace operations, electronic warfare (EW), and information operations (IO) capabilities across the conflict continuum to ensure the USAF is fast and fully integrated in both competition and war.

In supporting the Cyber Multi-Domain Innovation Division, the Apogee Team conducts studies, analyses, and evaluations to advance multi-domain requirements definition, capability development, force modernization, and experimentation activities. Apogee also provides assessments and evaluations related to the development of urgent operational capabilities that deliver multi-domain, cross-functional effects to air component commanders and integrate cyberspace operations, ISR, and EW technologies through rapid development of innovative multi-domain operational capabilities and non-kinetic operations planning support.

In its Defensive Cyberspace Operations (DCO) support role, the Apogee Team applies its knowledge and experience with USAF DCO and ISR operations to advise and assist 16 AF staff on ACC, USAF, National Security Agency, and USCYBERCOM cyber-related intelligence and ISR issues. Apogee supports the 16 AF information warfare mission by analyzing and providing technical advice on "ISR for DCO" capabilities and tactics in competition and war.

"As illustrated in President Biden's Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, the global security landscape is being shaped by the convergence of actors, technologies, threats, and vulnerabilities in the dimensions of ISR, space, cyber, IO, and EW  all overlaid on a digital matrix of next gen communications, big data, and artificial intelligence." said Frank Varga, Apogee Vice President of Operations. "We look forward to continuing to work side-by-side with Air Combat Command and 16th Air Force develop integrated, multi-domain capabilities to meet the challenges described in the President's guidance."

Primary work for Apogee's ACC and 16 AF support will continue to be conducted at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Virginia and Joint Base San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas.

About Apogee Engineering

Apogee leads the advancement of national security and defense solutions with premier teams of empowered professionals. They value visionary leadership, family-oriented engagement, and a passion for excellence. Apogee specializes in identifying, mitigating, and resolving customers' most complex challenges. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO, with management offices in Dayton, OH, Suffolk, VA, and Tampa, FL, Apogee provides expertise in the following functional areas: Engineering & Science, Research, Training, Tech & Management Services, Cyber, and Analysis with Domains across Air, Cyber, Intel, Space, Science & Technology, and Land & Sea. Learn more at www.apogeeengineering.net

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New Mexico senior citizens, like their counterparts around the nation, have had a rough go of it since the COVID-19 outbreak began in earnest last March. In fact, they have borne the brunt of isolation, hospitalizations and deaths, so every bit of good news is welcome.

And the estimated 153,000 New Mexicans over age 75 got a bit of that on Tuesday.

Under legislation signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexicans 75 years or older who have been summoned for jury duty can be permanently excused simply by requesting an excusal through the state court systems jury website. (They can also call the local court for more information. And while an ounce of prevention may be worth a pound of cure, you can only request a permanent excusal once you have received a summons for jury duty.)

State law previously allowed seniors to be excused only by submitting a notarized affidavit  which Artie Pepin, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, said could be difficult for senior citizens to obtain and submit. And, courts had to process the paperwork.

Of course New Mexicans 75 and older can continue to serve on juries if they wish and feel they are able to do so. That service will undoubtedly be to the benefit of the justice system. But if obstacles such as health and travel make that difficult, the courts and Legislature have wisely found a way to quickly pivot to other prospective jurors.

Under the new system, a statewide computer system used by courts for jury management can automatically verify an individuals date of birth. The database is updated twice a year from income tax, voter registration and driving records.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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New Mexico courts sought the change to offer more convenience for our senior citizens and allow courts to operate more efficiently, Chief Justice Michael Vigil said. We anticipate this will be useful especially for those senior citizens who are hesitant about jury service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

House Bill 185 was sponsored by Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Santa Fe, and Sen. Elizabeth Liz Stefanics, D-Cerillos.

Along with the judiciary, they deserve a thank you from New Mexicos senior citizens.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Author

David Bone, a Director of Business Development with HVS Austin, has conducted hundreds of consulting and appraisal assignments for limited-, select-, and full-service hotels and resorts in markets across Texas and throughout the U.S. Davids articles on the hotel industry include The Reciprocal Value of City Development, which was republished on multiple independent hospitality websites; he has also been quoted in the New Mexico Business Weekly. Before joining HVS, David gained front-line hotel experience at the Omni Parkwest Hotel in Dallas, where he worked in the rooms division and engaged in all aspects of operations. David earned his bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University. He is a state-certified general appraiser and is based near San Antonio.

More about David R. Bone
The women working in Florida Representative Matt Gaetz's office released an open letter defending him from accusations against him.

In Gaetz's website, the women staff said that they were shocked as allegations on their boss' involvement in sex trafficking came out from the press last week.

"After the shocking allegations last week in the press, we, the women of Congressman Matt Gaetz's office, feel morally obligated to speak out. During Congressman Gaetz's time in office, we have been behind the scenes every step of the way. We have staffed his meetings. We have planned his events. We have traveled with him. And we have tracked his schedule. Congressman Gaetz has always been a principled and morally grounded leader. At no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect. No hint of impropriety. No ounce of untruthfulness," the women said in the statement.

The female staff also described the kind of environment the congressman had in the office, which actually respects and encourages women.

"In our office and under Congressman Gaetz's leadership, women are not only respected, but have been encouraged time and time again to grow, achieve more, and ultimately, know our value. Many of us started in entry-level positions and have been promoted to positions of leadership within the office," they added.

"In our professional ecosystem, women are given every opportunity to advance and utilize our talents to help the country in the best possible way. On every occasion he has treated each and every one of us with respect. Thus, we uniformly reject these allegations as false," they continued.

The women went on to say that their boss will "continue to lead by example and stand for" the American people that were "maligned by the liberal elite." The women professed their support for their the Representative fully aware of the consequences of their action and invited other elected officials to speak out for Gaetz as they did.

"And we will stand with him. While we recognize the scrutiny we will face for making this decision, we take comfort in the hope that more Americans and elected officials will stand up and refuse to remain silent," they stressed.

The Hill reported that the New York Times claimed that Gaetz was being investigated by the US Department Of Justice for having an "inappropriate relationship" with a 17-year-old-girl whose travel he paid for and for paying multiple women recruited online for sex. The Hill added that Gaetz said the reports are extortions of former Justice Department official David McGee who denied such claims. Gaetz also denied allegations against him.

Gaetz tweeted the extortion on March 31 before the NYT released their "expose." He said that he and his family were "victims of an organized criminal extortion involving former DOJ" who is demanding $25M from them with a threat to "smear" his name. The matter, he said, have been reported to the federal authorities already.

On the other hand, CBS News reported that a federal probe on Gaetz's trip in late 2018 or early 2019 is ongoing. The said trip Gaetz had was with Jason Pirozzolo who is said to be a hand surgeon and a marijuana entrepreneur. Pirozollo is said to have paid for the trip's expenses including accommodations and their female escorts. The federal probe is looking into any illegal trafficking across state or international lines for sex purposes involving the female escorts, which is said to be a red flag for prosecution.

The National Pulse raised the contradictory report of the New York Times in its treatment of those alleged with sexual offense for Democrats and Republicans. The media outlet raised that after making the expose on Gaetz, a Republican, the NYT is currently busy making excuses for then-President Bill Clinton's sexual misconduct. The National Pulse cited NYT Editorial Board Member Gail Collins in stating Clinton was "entitled to a defense in his sexual exploits because he grew the US economy," as if that's an excuse for misdemeanor.

The NYT has been running a string of reports on Gaetz, especially on the issue. The big media outlet said the Department of Justice will be looking into Gaetz's cash receipts and that Gaetz's lawyer Joel Greenberg will be pleading guilty on the issue.

They also reported a review on Gaetz's political career, that Gaetz have sought a blanket of pardon from former President Donald Trump on the matter, and that some staff such as Gaetz' Communication officer have already resigned because of the issue.

President Trump, in defense of Rep. Gaetz, said, "Congressman Matt Gaetz has never asked me for a pardon. It must also be remembered that he has totally denied the accusations against him."
BOISE - On the evening of Tuesday, April 7, legislation protecting Idaho childrens access to in-person education cleared the Senate by unanimous vote and now heads to Idaho Governor Brad Littles desk for approval.

This was my top priority for this legislative session, and I am grateful lawmakers recognize its importance, Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra said. Educators and parents throughout Idaho agree that in-person interaction with teachers and peers is an essential part of an effective education, especially for our students with special needs. Idaho law will now reflect that priority while preserving districts ability to respond to local safety conditions.

Most Idaho schools are now back to in-person learning, and that is a huge relief and a positive signal for the coming months, Superintendent Ybarra said. But we dont know what future emergencies might arise, and it is important to have a policy in place prioritizing in-person education as part of our mission to maximize all students ability to succeed in school and in life.

House Bill 175, which previously passed the House, calls for school districts and charter schools to offer in-person instruction to the greatest extent possible but retains local control for school boards.
[April 09, 2021] K-12 Education Support Workers Invite Community to Help Them Fill School Buses for Kootenay Food Banks

Canadian Union of Public Employees:







What: CUPE Local 1285, K-12 education support workers, are collecting donations for local food banks at the "Help Fill the Bus Food Drive." Who: This event is organized by CUPE 1285 who support students and schools in Trail, Castlegar, Rossland and Fruitvale. Everyone in the community, including other unions and groups, are invited to support local food banks and families in need by dropping by with their donation. When: Saturday, April 10, 2021; 10:00 am - 3:00 pm Where: No Frills parking lots in CASTLEGAR (1502 Columbia Avenue) and TRAIL (8100 Rock Island Highway, 3B, Waneta Plaza) Look for the big yellow School District 20 bus. Why: CUPE 1285 members have seen a greater need for support in the community and recognize the hard times everyone is going through because of the pandemic. The idea for the FILL THE BUS food drive came from wanting to help. Rural communities have limited resources and shelters; supplies in food banks get depleted quickly. CUPE 1285 hopes that this food drive will refill the shelves of local food banks and organizations that provide meals for those in need, to help families in the area.

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Vicky Tsai, 42, whose parents emigrated from Taiwan to Texas more than 40 years ago, is the founder of Tatcha, a skincare brand based on Japanese beauty rituals. She started the line in 2009 with blotting papers and financed the first batch by selling her engagement ring and car, and moving into her parent's house with her husband. Her company ranked at No. 21 on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private U.S. companies in 2015.

Tsai's cultural background and the subtle biases she faced growing up are key to her journey as an entrepreneur. Unilever purchased Tatcha in 2019 for an estimated $500 million, and Tsai stepped down as CEO shortly thereafter. She recently returned and is leading the company she created. --As told to Shivani Vora

My parents immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan right before I was born. We moved to Houston when I was a teenager. Right away, I became aware that there was one standard of beauty that I would never fit into. When I was in high school, my mother owned a beauty store that sold luxury Western skincare brands and products. At home, however, she would mix herbs and create more traditional Chinese remedies that she had learned from her own mother. I was always more fascinated by the beautiful jars and expensive creams on display in her store than I ever was by the pot of herbs simmering in the kitchen--an unconscious bias I now recognize as stemming from my desire to fit in as one of the only Asian students at school.

My twenties were spent traveling around the world for work, including in Asia. That global exposure to beauty in all forms, shapes, and shades is what made me finally embrace what I saw when I looked in the mirror. In 2008, my travels eventually took me to Japan, where I fell in love with the country's rituals of well-being. I never set out to launch a company, but creating Tatcha brought me a gift: The ability to recognize the beauty and power of the Asian heritage I had struggled to see in my youth.

In 2009, when I began to approach potential retail partners for Tatcha, I was explicitly told that "Asian beauty is not aspirational in the U.S.," and that Tatcha was "too niche" and "too exotic" for the Western woman. It felt like high school all over again, but it made me only more passionate about bringing a different perspective on beauty to the U.S.

My background as an Asian woman is what led me to create Tatcha, which is founded on the Japanese beauty rituals that I religiously adhered to. But it also presented a challenge. In the 10 years I spent leading Tatcha, I never felt comfortable or worthy of being called the CEO. I came up with the title of "chief treasure hunter" to throw people off the scent, and hid that I had gone to Harvard Business School to avoid seeming boastful.

During a private equity deal, I was told I was not qualified to lead the company I had successfully helmed for nearly a decade. Not wanting to put my ego ahead of my company's success, I took their advice and stepped down. Looking back now, I realize that I let two middle-aged male consultants mansplain me out of a job I had done exceptionally well. Two years later, I was asked to return as CEO and am now leading my company out of Covid.

Looking back as Tatcha is almost 12 years old, and in a moment where so many powerful voices are being raised in the Black and Asian communities, it has been a time for reflection. For a long time, I tried to ignore my heritage and become something else. I kept my head down and allowed people to tell me that I wasn't good enough at my job. As a mother, I would never want my daughter, who is now 11, to go through that.

We are in the midst of an opportunity for change. Over the past year, I've realized just how much being part of a marginalized community impacts our safety and our sense of self--and invisibility is at the heart of those issues. We have the opportunity to work together across our different communities to tell our stories, use our resources, and create change. If we want to leave a better world for our children, every one of us is responsible.

I'm so grateful for the journey that I have been on because I now have the platform and the lived experience to support others. My top priority now is to turn passion into progress--for my daughter and for all our children.

EXPLORE MORE Female Founders COMPANIES
CARROLLTON, Ala. (WTVA) - A man will serve 30 years in prison for breaking into an elementary school in Berry.

According to the office of District Attorney Andy Hamlin, 43-year-old Nathaniel Cannon entered a blind guilty plea to third-degree burglary.

He received his sentence on Thursday.

The burglary happened at Berry Elementary School on Nov. 15, 2018. Eleven handheld radios, two iPads, cash and other items were stolen from the school.

Cannon, who has a lengthy criminal history, had been previously convicted of burglarizing the same school.

We were able to prove Cannons eight prior felony convictions as well as the fact that he has previously burglarized this school," Hamlin said. "We were more less able to show to the court that he is a career criminal. Obviously, that resonated with the court given the sentence that was handed down."
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Yes, Theyre Open is a web series highlighting local bars and restaurants that are open for takeout, delivery, pickup or dining during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Live streams from the featured restaurants are broadcast on the Advance Facebook page every weekday at around 3 p.m.

On Friday, the Advance/SILive.com visited Beso at 11 Schuyler St., which offers indoor dining, outdoor dining, pickup and delivery within a 2.5-mile radius. The restaurant is open from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

YES, THEYRE OPEN: Beso is open for indoor dining, pick up and delivery within a 2.5 mile radius at 11 Schuyler St. The restaurants hours are 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday brunch is from noon to 3 p.m. Call 718-816-8162 for reservations and more information. Posted by Staten Island Advance on Friday, April 9, 2021

The restaurant recently announced a brunch menu available from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Call 718-816-8162 to make reservations, or visit besonyc.com for more information.

Staten Island restaurant owners: If you would like your establishment featured for free as part of Yes, Theyre Open, email reporter Victoria Priola at vpriola@siadvance.com.

WANT MORE YES, THEYRE OPEN?

Check out the listings below or check out all of our previous coverage here.

Filoncino Cafe, 4569 Amboy Road

The Colonnade Diner, 2001 Hylan Blvd.

Joyces Tavern, 3823 Richmond Ave.

Sagara Food City, 98 Victory Blvd.

Twisted Vineyard, 500 Bay St.

Rocket Fizz, 2955 Veterans Road W.

Zio Toto, 86 Page Ave.
Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer agreed to halt campaigning for next month's local elections until after the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral.

The Prime Minister was informed of the duke's death while working in Downing Street yesterday morning. He called the Labour leader to agree the suspension.

Campaigning in the elections for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly has also been halted and Downing Street has imposed a near blackout on government announcements. Parliament has been recalled from the Easter break on Monday, a day early, to allow MPs to pay tribute to the duke.

Government sources said only 'essential' announcements would be made, mostly linked to the pandemic.

No10 said the next stage of the road map out of lockdown will go ahead as planned on Monday, allowing shops, gyms, hairdressers and beauty salons to reopen.

Pubs and restaurants will also be allowed to reopen for outdoor service. The Prime Minister had said this week that he would be visiting a pub on Monday and 'cautiously but irreversibly raising a pint of beer to my lips' to mark the latest stage in the road map. But No 10 said last night the trip would now be cancelled.

Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer spoke this afternoon and agreed to suspend campaigning ahead of elections in May

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip watching a flypast of Spitfire & Hurricane aircraft on July 10, 2015

Ministers have been ordered to cancel media interviews in the coming days and will not appear on the normal Sunday morning political shows.

Senior ministers were also issued with guidance on how to conduct themselves.

Any ministerial announcements will have to be cleared by No10. Cabinet ministers attending public engagements have been advised to wear dark clothes, with male ministers asked to wear a black tie.

The guidance is part of the Operation Forth Bridge plans for the duke's death.

Downing Street said arrangements for the funeral were 'a matter for the Palace'. But sources confirmed that it would be covered by Covid regulations, which limit the number attending to 30.

Mr Johnson will make a statement to MPs on Monday about Prince Philip's death and will lead tributes to his life. Sir Keir is expected to respond for the Labour Party.

Parliament will sit until 10pm but sources said tributes could run into Tuesday if time runs out.

Prime Minister's Questions will take place as normal on Wednesday but will probably also be dominated by the duke's death.

A man thought to be a member of the armed forces stands to attention at Buckingham Palace after leaving a floral tribute

Buckingham Palace announced the death of Prince Philip at just after midday today - and described the Queen's 'deep sorrow'

The Labour Party said: 'As a mark of respect following the sad death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Labour Party has today suspended all campaigning.'

Amanda Milling, co-chairman of the Conservative Party, tweeted: 'In light of the sad news from Buckingham Palace all campaigning has been paused until further notice.'

Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: 'As a mark of respect to the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen and the Royal Family, the Liberal Democrats are suspending the national election campaign today.'

Scotland's major political parties have suspended campaigning for the Holyrood election.

The SNP tweeted: 'We have suspended our election campaign with immediate effect.'

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: 'This is not the time for political campaigning. It is a time for national mourning.

'Out of respect for Prince Philip, Her Majesty The Queen and all of the Royal Family, we have now suspended our campaign until Monday.'

The Cabinet met last night to pay tribute to Philip and MPs on all sides released statements paying their condolences.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn faced criticism after his initial response to the duke's death was to tweet a message in 'solidarity' with socialists in Bolivia.

Mr Corbyn, a lifelong republican, later deleted the message and posted a tribute, saying: 'Losing a loved one, as so many families have this past year, is always heartbreaking. My thoughts are with Prince Philip's family and all who loved him.'

Staff of some Labour MPs exchanged messages complaining that Monday's Commons tributes to the duke would be 'intolerable', the Guido Fawkes website claimed.
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. The Chair of Parliaments Defense and Security Committee Andranik Kocharyan believes that the reason behind a failed transfer of PoWs is that some agreements have been violated.

Kocharyan was speaking about the arrival of an aircraft which was supposed to repatriate Armenian PoWs from Azerbaijan but landed without them in Yerevan on April 8.

Of course they didnt know anything, Kocharyan told reporters when asked whether or not the Armenian government was aware that the aircraft wasnt carrying any prisoners. I assume that Muradov was on board the aircraft, he said, referring to the Russian peacekeeping missions commander in Nagorno Karabakh Lt. General Rustam Muradov. And this means that there were agreements which have been violated. If there were no agreements, then why would the aircraft fly there.

He said he doesnt know the reasons of the failure but assumes that Azerbaijan is once again trying to change the rules of gameplay.

Kocharyan says he believes that Azerbaijan is not releasing the PoWs with the intention to cause tension in Armenia. We will continue the process of returning prisoners in different ways, he said. The lawmaker reminded that this issue was raised during the latest Pashinyan-Putin meeting in Moscow. This was a step where we clearly saw that Russia tried to contribute its participation in the solution of the issue. This is why Lt. General Muradov departed to accompany the prisoners back to Armenia.

Andranik Kocharyan reiterated that the repatriation of the prisoners will be completed, because this issue is the primary obligation of the government.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
In the state Senates recent hearing about funding Pennsylvanias State System of Higher Education, PASSHE Chancellor Dan Greenstein sought to drive home the fact that our state schools are in serious financial trouble.

So much so, that if nothing changes, his recommendation would be to disband the system.

The key point being: If nothing changes.

But some of my colleagues and those in academia were quick to panic, seemingly understanding Greensteins frank comments as a plan to shut down our state schools. It has caused unnecessary uproar considering that PASSHEs financial woes arent new. This was evident to the Legislature last year when we passed Act 50, which authorized needed reforms and independent reviews of the system.

Ive served for six years on PASSHEs Board of Governors, a 20-member board responsible for planning, development and operation of the entire system. Ive invested time and energy into my role because I believe quality, affordable education can bring about meaningful change to the students served and to our commonwealth.

The last few years have been difficult for public and private higher education, even prior to the pandemic. Its a buyers market and students have their pick of schools. PASSHEs main sell for years was its affordability, but the economy has negated that. Striking a balance between keeping education affordable, while attracting and retaining top-notch professors and staff, is difficult.

Keep in mind that a few years ago, our 14 PASSHE schools annual state support was slashed by hundreds of millions of dollars. Although some of those cuts were restored, PASSHE is operating at the same appropriation level it did in 2000. And, primarily due to demographic changes, our systemwide enrollment has dropped to about 95,000 from a peak of 119,000 in 2010.

Our state schools are an integral economic asset to our state, especially for workforce development; their continued health is vital to the economic success of Pennsylvania.

PASSHE is in the process of redesigning itself with three priorities in mind: ensuring student success; leveraging university strengths; and transforming the governance/leadership structure. The plan is in its third and final phase. We need to let this process finish and review its recommendations. The intention was never to close schools but to better position them to survive.

For sure, there is more to be done and more can be done. For example, our state schools could forge stronger relationships with community colleges to create a pipeline of students and find ways to provide educational opportunities for retraining and up-skilling our workforce. Its also imperative that we empanel a higher education funding commission to make recommendations to the governor and the General Assembly on funding public higher education.

I wish Greensteins remarks had instead inspired my colleagues into finding ways to support and further invest in our state system. If we cant get beyond the outrage, our students, particularly those of lower income and color, will suffer the most.

Higher education is supposed to be a great equalizer. This is not the time to abandon that goal.
New Delhi, Apr 9 (UNI) India and the Netherlands will institute a "strategic partnership on water" to deepen their cooperation in the water related sector.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a virtual summit with his Netherlands counterpart Mark Rutte and agreed to diversify and expand ties in trade and economy, agriculture, smart cities, science and technology, healthcare and space.

The two leaders had a detailed review of the entire spectrum of bilateral relation and agreed on instituting a Strategic Partnership on Water to further deepen the Indo-Dutch cooperation in the water related sector, and upgrading the Joint Working Group on water to Ministerial-level. said the Ministry of External Affairs.

The leaders also exchanged views on regional and global challenges such as climate change, counter-terrorism and Covid-19 pandemic and agreed to leverage the emerging convergences in new areas like Indo-Pacific, Resilient Supply Chains and Global Digital Governance.

In his discussion wih Rutte, Modi said the post-pandemic world will throw up throw up new opportunities that India and the Netherlands would work together and strengthen the relationship.

"I have complete faith that in the post-covid world, some opportunities will come up to the fore, where like-mided countries like ours can build bilateral cooperation," Modi said in course of a virtual summit he held with his Netherlands counterpart Mark Rutte.

"We will get to talk about many new opportunities during the COP26 and India-EU summit," said Modi.

The prime minister said that the approach of the two countries towards global challenges like climate change, terrorism and pandemic is similar. The two sides are building convergence in new areas such as Indo-Pacific, resilient supply chains and digital governance. "Our strategic partnership on water will give this a new dimension," he added.

Both countries have wide ranging cooperation including in areas of agriculture and food processing, healthcare, smart cities and urban mobility, science and technology, renewable energy and space. The Netherlands is the third largest foreign investor in India.

Modi said that establishment of fast track mechanism for investment promotion will give new momentum to the robust economic cooperation between the two countries.

Rutte thanked Modi for India's support to Dutch investors and two-way trade during the pandemic. There are over 200 Dutch companies present in India with a similar presence of Indian businesses in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is one of India's top 10 trading partners in terms of volume. The two leaders also exchanged views on the regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Rutte said For EU, India is a crucial partner both in the region and the world at large. He supported India's bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, saying that "India is an obvious candidate for a permanent seat in an expanded Security Council."

He also praised India's Vaccine Matri programme.

The summit follows the recent victory of Prime Minister Rutte in the parliamentary elections and will sustain the momentum in the bilateral relationship provided by regular high-level interactions, said the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Netherlands is home to the largest Indian diaspora in continental Europe.

UNI SRJ JAL 2354
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Buckingham Palace in a statement has said that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

LONDON: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-April 9th, 2021) Britains Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II died on Friday.

He was 99.

Prince Philip was a stalwart supporter of his wife Queen Elizabeth II for last seven decades.

It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," Buckingham Palace said in a statement Friday.

It said:His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family joins with people around the world in mourning his loss,.

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born June 10, 1921, in a villa on the Greek island of Corfu. His parents were Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg.

He was known as one of the hardest-working members of the royal family during his tenure alongside the countrys longest-reigning monarch.

Prince Philip married then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947 and fulfilled thousands of royal duties.

Prince Philip retired from his official royal duties at the age of 96 in August 2017, with the full support of queen, said the Buckingham palace.

According to ABC news, Prince Philip completed 22,219 solo engagements since 1952, gave 5,496 speeches in his travels to more than 76 countries, authored 14 books, served as patron to 785 organizations and made 637 solo overseas visits, Buckingham Palace said.

In his customary good humor, Philip joked to a well-wisher who said he was sorry the Duke of Edinburgh was standing down shortly after the retirement announcement, saying, "Standing down? I can barely stand up these days."

Even after his official retirement, Prince Philip still appeared at Queen Elizabeth's side for events like Remembrance Sunday, but took a step back and spent more time at Windsor Castle and Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate to enjoy painting, carriage riding and his other hobbies.

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth married in 1947 and marked their 73rd wedding anniversary on Nov. 20, 2020.
Travis Barker has paid tribute to his girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian in a big - and very permanent - way, by getting her first name tattooed on his body.

The 45-year-old Blink-182 drummer debuted the new ink, located just above his left nipple, while shooting an undisclosed project in Hollywood on Thursday.

Barker, who is no stranger to tattoos, proudly displayed the cursive-style script, while making his way around set without a shirt on.

Committed: Travis Barker has paid tribute to his girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian in a big - and very permanent - way by getting her first name tattooed on his body

Besides his brand new ink, Travis also happened to be rocking a black backwards cap and a pair of fitted black trousers for his video shoot.

To complete the ensemble, he slipped into a pair of Converse All Star sneakers and shielded his bright blue eyes with some RayBan shades.

Kourtney posted an Instagram picture Friday morning of her hand caressing Travis right near the tattoo of her name.

His sighting came hours before he left a raunchy comment on his girlfriend's sultry Instagram post, as she shared an image of her curvy body sprawled across a bed.

In the image, the reality star, 41, was seen wearing a mauve ensemble while lying on her chest as her long plaited raven locks snaked down to her shapely posterior.

Big debut: The 45-year-old Blink-182 drummer debuted the new ink, located just above his left nipple, while shooting a an undisclosed project in Hollywood on Thursday

His lady: Travis' grand gesture comes a little over two months after he and Kourtney Kardashian made their romance 'Instagram official'; Kourtney pictured Wednesday

Flirty: Meanwhile, Kardashian took to Instagram hours after Barker's video shoot to share a sultry snapshot, which earned a raunchy comment from her man

Captioning the pic, which didn't show her face, Kourtney referenced Ariana Grande's track 34+35, as she wrote: 'watchin movies, but we aint seen a thing tonight.'

Musician Barker soon showed his appreciation for the suggestive snap and caption, as he commented with a simple ''  often used to denote amorous feelings.

For his day of filming, Barker was seen drumming atop a giant, double-decker Hollywood tour bus, often used to show tourists the city's most iconic landmarks.

The railings on the upper level of the bus were decked out in multicolored balloons that blew around as Travis and his crew drove around the Boulevard.

Keeping it simple: Besides his brand new ink, Travis also happened to be rocking a black backwards cap and a pair of fitted black trousers for his video shoot

Shady: To complete the ensemble, he shielded his bright blue eyes with some RayBan shades

Check it out: Barker, who is no stranger to tattoos, proudly displayed the cursive-style script, while making his way around set without a shirt on

He had his cellphone in his hand during some brief downtime, while also conversing with his costars.

At one point during the shoot, the Crossroads restaurant owner flashed a 'Rock on!' hand sign at passersby surveying the commotion.

After getting the proper shots, Barker retrieved a white tee and slipped it over his slender form before venturing off with his crew.

Travis' tattoo tribute to Kourtney comes a little over two months after they made their romance 'Instagram official' by sharing a photo of themselves holding hands to the platform.

Tourist: For his day of filming, Barker was seen drumming atop a giant, double-decker Hollywood tour bus, often used to show tourists the city's most iconic landmarks

Walking along: Barker strolled around set in his favorite pair of black Converse All Star sneakers

Although this is his first obvious ink homage to the 41-year-old POOSH founder, fans suspected last month that Barker had the True Romance quote 'You're so cool!' tatted on his body after Kourtney seemingly penned it to him in a love note.

The writing style looked eerily similar to what appeared to be Kardashian's writing in the note, which was shared to both of their Instagram Stories at the time.

Since taking their relationship public, the couple have been virtually inseparable.

Kourtney and Travis recently enjoyed a snow-filled getaway to the Deer Valley ski resort in Utah with their respective children.

Rock on! At one point during the shoot, the Crossroads restaurant owner flashed a 'Rock on!' hand sign at passersby surveying the commotion

Social butterfly: He had his cellphone in his hand during some brief downtime, while also conversing with his costars

Kardashian shares three children with ex boyfriend Scott Disick, while Barker shares two children with ex wife Shanna Moakler.

He is also still extremely close with his step-daughter Atiana, 22, whom Moakler happens to share with ex and former professional boxer Oscar De La Hoya.

During her wintry adventure with Travis and their offspring, Kourtney uploaded a slew of snapshots to Instagram, including a sweet photo of her and her son Reign.

The Poosh founder was in grey ski gear while the little boy sported bright orange duds.

Drummer boy: Travis showcased his drumming skills atop the bus

Bye bye! After getting the proper shots, Barker retrieved a white tee and slipped it over his slender form before venturing off with his crew

'Chilling,' Kourtney captioned the gallery, which also contained video snippets of marshmallow roasting and hot chocolate.

Another gallery saw the eldest Kardashian sister on snowmobiles with Travis's daughter Alabama Luella, 15, and her half-sister Atiana De La Hoya, 22.

'up to snow good,' she cleverly captioned those snaps, which saw the ladies posing in front of snowy vistas.

Travis also posted wonderful moments from their getaway, including a video of the loving pair hurtling down a snowy hill on a blue tube.

The look of love: Kourtney posted an Instagram picture Friday morning of her hand caressing Travis right near the tattoo of her name
Photo taken on April 8, 2021 shows a human skeleton unearthed at the "Lost Gold City" in Luxor, Egypt. (Xinhua/Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities) Image Source: IANS News

Photo taken on April 8, 2021 shows an animal skeleton unearthed at the "Lost Gold City" in Luxor, Egypt. (Xinhua/Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities) Image Source: IANS News

Cairo, April 9 : An Egyptian archaeological mission announced the discovery of a 3000-year-old "Lost Gold City" (LGC) in the monument-rich city of Luxor.

The mission, headed by renowned Egyptian archeologist Zahi Hawass, in collaboration with the country's Supreme Council of Antiquities, found the city that was lost under the sand, reports xinhua news agency.

The city known as "The Rise of Aten", dates back to the reign of Amenhotep III, and continued to be used by king Tutankhamun.

"Many foreign missions worked in this area in search for the mortuary temple of Tutankhamun because the temples of both Horemheb and Ay were found here," Hawass said in a statement on Thursday, adding those missions failed to find the city.

Terming the discovery as the largest city ever found in Egypt, Hawass explained that "the LGC was founded by one of the greatest rulers, Amenhotep III, the ninth king of the 18th dynasty who reigned from 1391 till 1353 B.C.".

His son, the famous Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton), helped Amenhotep III in ruling the city for eight years, he added.

The LGC was the largest administrative and industrial settlement in the era of the Egyptian empire on the western bank of Luxor, he said, pointing out the mission unearthed some of the city's streets that are flanked by houses, with walls are up to 3 metres high.

The Egyptian mission, that started working on the discovery in September 2020, has found a well-preserved city with almost complete walls, and with rooms filled with tools of daily life.

"The discovery of this lost city is the second most important archeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun," said Betsy Brian, professor of Egyptology at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

She added the discovery will help shed light on one of history's greatest mystery: why did Akhenaten and Nefertiti decide to move to Amarna, which is an extensive Egyptian archeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly established in 1346 B.C. and built by Akhenaten in late the eighth dynasty.

The excavation area is sandwiched between Rameses III's temple at Medinet Habu and Amenhotep III's temple at Memnon.

The mission's first goal was to date the establishment of the city, according to the statement that added hieroglyphic inscriptions found on clay caps of wine vessels.

The new discovery consisted of three royal palaces of Amenhotep III, as well as the Empire's administrative and industrial center based on the historical references.

Rings, scarabs, coloured pottery vessels, and mud bricks bearing seals of Amenhotep III's cartouche that were found during the discovery confirmed the dating of the city, Hawass added.

In the southern part of the city, the mission found a bakery, a cooking and food preparation area completed with ovens and storage pottery.

"From its size, we can state the kitchen was catering a very large number of workers and employees," Hawass added.

The second part of the city, which is still partly uncovered, is predicted to be the administrative and residential district with larger and well-arranged units.

It is fenced in by a zigzag wall, with only one access point leading to internal corridors and residential areas.

Zigzag walls are one of the rare architectural elements in ancient Egyptian architecture, mainly used at the end of the 18th Dynasty, Hawass added.

Meanwhile, the third area is the workshop that included the production area for the mud bricks used to build temples and annexes. The bricks have seals bearing the cartouche of Amenhotep III.

Investigations are underway over the finds of two unusual burials of a cow or bull found inside one of the rooms, as well as a burial of a person with arms outstretched to his side, and remains of a rope wrapped around his knees, he added.
Varying coronavirus health outcomes are the result of intersecting forms of disadvantage, including structural inequalities faced by certain communities, experts have said.

A combination of political, economic and social factors can have exponential impacts on certain groups, according to a paper from the ethnicity subgroup of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).

The paper was considered at a Sage meeting on March 25 and published on Friday.

It follows a Government-commissioned report last week, which was accused of failing to recognise the impact of institutional racism in British society.

The sub-group, which advises the Government on the Covid-19 risks and impacts for minority ethnic groups, noted that people from all minority ethnic groups had a higher risk of dying with coronavirus compared to white British people in the first wave.

People from minority ethnic groups had a higher risk of dying with coronavirus than white British people in the first wave, according to findings (Danny Lawson/PA)

During the second wave, the elevated risks among black African and black Caribbean groups had attenuated somewhat but remained considerably higher for Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups.

The paper said evidence suggests the continued high mortality rates in Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups are due to the amplifying interaction of four key factors.

These are long-standing health inequities, occupation and housing factors, barriers to accessing care, including stigma and racism, and the potential influence of policy on behaviour.

Many co-morbidities associated with severe Covid-19, such as diabetes, are more prevalent among British Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups, the paper notes.

These groups are also more likely to work in occupations with a greater risk of exposure, such as in hospitality and retail, have precarious work, making it harder to take sick leave, or be self-employed with uncertain incomes.

Measures addressing their economic situation and workplace rights will help decrease exposure and transmission, the paper says.

The report shows certain groups are more likely to worth in sectors more vulnerable to Covid exposure such as retail (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

It says evidence shows that increased self-isolation payments would assist all low-paid workers, and further support through food delivery, paid care workers and paid for accommodation outside the home may be required to help family members isolate.

And introducing workplace vaccination schemes in high-risk workplaces, and incentivising or legally requiring employers to give paid time off for vaccination, could improve rates.

The paper also said that members of larger, multigenerational households are at higher risk due to poor quality, dense housing, older members at risk of exposure from younger relatives and care networks linking households.

A focused public health campaign explaining the importance of testing in schools to prevent transmission into the family home could help improve uptake in disadvantaged, minority community areas, the authors say.

The paper also notes evidence that suggests that stigma, including racism, is a fundamental cause of health inequalities and drives morbidity and mortality, undermining access to housing, employment and health care.

A history of experiencing stigma can directly affect an individuals health as well as stop people from accessing care, it says.

The paper notes that stigma, including racism, is a fundamental cause of health inequalities and drives morbidity and mortality (Danny Lawson/PA)

Recent research suggests some Government interventions unintentionally increased stigma, for example introducing restrictions before Ramadan and Eid last year fuelled disproportionate public emphasis on transmission within this religious group.

Multigenerational households have also been singled out as a source of transmission, fuelling division and stress for certain groups, the authors added.

The Sage members also said the Black Lives Matter movement may have created empowerment resulting in greater use of cultural, religious and collaborative approaches to reducing risk and transmission of Covid-19 in black communities.

But Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups have not reported similar feelings, and establishing or rebuilding trust in these communities may take longer in the absence of an equivalent national movement, the authors said.

They write: It is essential that the public environment changes, particularly during the vaccination rollout and with the implementation of local interventions to prevent local transmission or surge testing in areas where new variants emerge.

If Covid-19 becomes endemic in a local area, public communications and media should clearly state this is due to the structural driver of socio-economic disadvantage, and supportive messages should be given to avoid compounding stigma and exclusion, and thereby worsening health outcomes from Covid-19.
New Delhi:

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday urged people to help Geeta in finding her parents. Geeta, a deaf and mute girl, had returned to India from Pakistan in 2015.

Sushma also announced a reward of Rs one lakh to the person who will extend help in finding her parents.

Geeta was staying at an institute for hearing and speech impaired persons since her returning.

Earlier, several couples had come forward claiming to be Geeta's parents, but she did not recognise any of them and could not substantiate their claims.

EAM Sushma Swaraj appeals people to help Geeta (Indian girl brought back from Pakistan in 2015 ) in finding her parents pic.twitter.com/hBdQT83qn2  ANI (@ANI) October 1, 2017

Sushma had assured Geeta that the Centre is making every effort to trace her parents.

Main ye bhi ghoshna karti hoon ki jo vyakti hamein Geeta ke maa-baap ko milwa dega hum ussey 1 Lakh rupaiye ka inam denge: EAM Sushma Swaraj  ANI (@ANI) October 1, 2017

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New military online shooter Enlisted is now available for free to everyone





[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press.]

Gaijin Entertainment and Darkflow Software announce that the new military online shooter Enlisted is now available to everyone on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. The Battle for Moscow and Invasion of Normandy campaigns are included, both being significantly improved during the Closed Beta test period. New campaigns will be added regularly in the future.



Enlisted is a World War II shooter that carefully recreates the atmosphere of massive infantry battles with tank and aircraft support. The game developers have shown a lot of attention to authenticity in the weapons and gear, as well as their historical availability. For example, a Tiger tank in the Battle of Moscow campaign will not be seen, because at that time in 1941, it wasnt in service with the German army yet. At the same time Enlisted is easier to get into than most simulation-type games. A player can jump into the middle of the action fast and spends most of the time actually fighting.



We focused on making Enlisted feel like real World War II battles, but we never forgot that its a game first and foremost. We strive for a golden middle ground between fluid and fun gameplay of shooter games and the unforgiving realism of military simulators,  explains Eugene Guskov, a game director of Enlisted.



Each player has a squad of up to nine soldiers controlling one of them directly, while others follow orders. It is possible to freely switch between active soldiers at any time to react to combat situations on the fly. When killed, a player can continue the fight by assuming control of one of the surviving squad members. This allows a player to retaliate immediately, without having to wait for a respawn first. When the whole squad perishes, a player continues the fight using the next one available: it could be infantry of 12 existing classes, a tank crew or an aircraft pilot. Thanks to this, its possible to try various distinctive roles during one battle, like leading the charge in a tank, providing support as a mortar squad or a battlefield engineer constructing gun positions, cleansing buildings with flamethrowers or raining fire down from above in a dive bomber. Enlisted also features more traditional modes with each player controlling one soldier only.



Enlisted is our biggest product launch in recent years, and were planning to support and expand the game, - says Anton Yudintsev, the co-founder of Gaijin Entertainment.



The updated version of Enlisted features new missions, weapons and gear that were not seen during the Closed Beta Test. For example, the new Fortified District map in the Battle for Moscow campaign is a frozen battlefield, where the attacking side crosses the river to storm a massive fortification under dynamically changing weather conditions. The game progression system has also been drastically changed, and the Battle Pass is now the main way of getting new soldiers and equipment. The first Battle Pass season began on April 8th and will last for 75 days. The most interesting rewards are the rare collectible weapons: Berdan No.2 and Gewehr 1888 rifles, Schmeisser MK36 III SMG and Springfield M1903 semi-automatic carbine with Pedersen device. Many Battle Pass rewards are available for free, while others require a purchase of a premium Battle Pass.



More information on Enlisted is available at the official website: https://enlisted.net

About Gaijin Entertainment

Gaijin Entertainment is the developer and publisher of the online games War Thunder, Crossout, Enlisted, Cuisine Royale and Star Conflict as well as PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, iOS and Android titles across several genres. The companys diverse portfolio has received a range of mass media and game industry awards including such as Gamescom Award and many more. Official website: Gaijin Entertainment is the developer and publisher of the online games War Thunder, Crossout, Enlisted, Cuisine Royale and Star Conflict as well as PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, iOS and Android titles across several genres. The companys diverse portfolio has received a range of mass media and game industry awards including such as Gamescom Award and many more. Official website: http://gaijinent.com/ About Darkflow Software

Darkflow Software is a game studio founded in 2016 by video game industry veterans and is located in Riga, Latvia. Currently, the company is working on the squad based multiplayer WW2 shooter Enlisted and online shooter CRSED: F.O.A.D. About Enlisted

Enlisted is a squad-based first person MMO shooter covering key battles from World War II. The game carefully recreates weapons, military vehicles and the atmosphere of that era, while demonstrating really massive clashes of numerous soldiers, tanks and aircraft with artillery and naval support. Official website: Enlisted is a squad-based first person MMO shooter covering key battles from World War II. The game carefully recreates weapons, military vehicles and the atmosphere of that era, while demonstrating really massive clashes of numerous soldiers, tanks and aircraft with artillery and naval support. Official website: https://enlisted.net
Highlights HMD has launched its premium smartphone called the Nokia X20.

The Nokia X20 brings a Snapdragon 480 processor with 5G support.

The Nokia X20 is likely to be launched in India soon.

Nokia Mobile, or better HMD Global, went bonkers yesterday. It launched not one or two but six smartphones at the grand event on Thursday. The phone in the spotlight, however, is the Nokia X20. The Nokia X20 is the company's first affordable 5G phone and while that may not be important news to you, it is to Nokia loyalists. HMD has so far skirted around the talks on specifications and that the Android experience should weigh much more than that. But this time, things seem to be changing. HMD is realising the market needs and 5G is what will take it forward in the race.

The Nokia X20 is the highest-end phone in the lot. HMD calls it a premium phone, but its specifications are not that premium. However, we still cannot rule out a few things that are good about the Nokia X20. Apart from 5G, you have three years of promised Android upgrades and that is something customers should be happy about. There are a few smartphone companies that promise timely updates and Nokia happens to be one of them. Even though the specifications of the phone cannot be passed off as premium, the phone looks can certainly be. And on top of that, you have several features. Let us talk about them in this rundown of specifications, features, and price of the Nokia X20.

Nokia X20 specifications

Display: The Nokia X20 features a 6.67-inch Full-HD+ punch-hole display with flicker-free dimming tech.

Processor: Inside the Nokia X20 is an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 processor that brings 5G connectivity.

RAM and Storage: You get 6GB and 8GB RAM variants while for storage, you have just 128GB on the Nokia X20. You can add a microSD card of up to 512GB too.

Rear Cameras: Nokia X20 comes with a 64-megapixel autofocus main camera, a 5-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 2-megapixel depth camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. The cameras are driven by ZEISS optics technology.

Front Camera: For selfies, you have a 32-megapixel camera on the Nokia X20.

Battery: Keeping the lights on the X20 is a 4470mAh battery with 18W fast charging.

Operating System: The Nokia X20 runs on Android 11 software. Also, you get three years of promised Android upgrades on Nokia phones.

Nokia X20 features

The Nokia X20 uses the ZEISS Optics on its 64-megapixel quad cameras, which means you get an expert-level setting that will help you with good photos. There is a Dual-Sight multi-cam setting that allows you to use any two sensors to click one photo with images from both cameras. You can use an ultra-wide sensor and the front camera, a macro sensor and the main sensor, the main sensor and the front camera, and so on. The phone has OZO Audio recording for better sound captivity in videos. And the Nokia X20 comes with free unlimited storage in Google Photos, so you can store whatever you want.

Nokia X20 price

HMD has launched the Nokia X20 for a starting price of EUR 349, which translates to roughly Rs 31,000. It comes in Midnight Sun and Nordic Blue colours. The sale begins in May in select markets. It is likely the Nokia X20 will arrive in India.
April 9, 2021

 A three-person crew embarked for the International Space Station on Friday (April 9), launching just three days shy of the 60th anniversary of the first human spaceflight.



Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei lifted off aboard Russia's Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft for a three-hour, two-orbit rendezvous with the space station. The Soyuz took flight at 3:42 a.m. EDT (0742 GMT or 12:42 p.m. local time) from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, near where cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made history becoming the first person to fly into space on April 12, 1961.



To honor the anniversary, the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft was christened the "Yu.A. Gagarin" and bore the name on its exterior insulation.



"It is a big honor for us to fly and celebrate the anniversary of the first flight into space," said Novitskiy, addressing the Russian state commission that approved the crew's launch on Thursday.



"For me," added Dubrov, "it is a special honor to have my first flight on such an important date when we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the first flight into space."



That the crew included an American underscored one of the key advancements made since Gagarin's one-orbit Vostok mission, said Vande Hei.



"Of course, when we started, we were competing with each other and that was one of the reasons we were so successful at the beginning of human spaceflight," he said. "As time went on, we realized that by working together we could achieve even more, and that continues today, and I hope will continue into the future."



At present, Vande Hei is the last U.S. astronaut scheduled to fly on a Russian Soyuz, after 26 years of joint missions. Vande Hei's place on the Soyuz MS-18 mission came as the result of a barter between NASA, the U.S. space services company Axiom Space and Roscosmos.



It is expected that joint flights will resume once an agreement can be worked out for Russian cosmonauts to fly on U.S. commercial crew vehicles, including SpaceX's Dragon and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, but when that will occur is not yet known.





Novitskiy, Dubrov and Vande Hei are scheduled to arrive at the space station at 7:07 a.m. EDT (1107 GMT) on Friday, docking their Soyuz to Russia's Rassvet module. (Update: Soyuz MS-18 docked with the space station at 7:05 a.m. EDT [1105 GMT].) Their arrival will briefly increase the orbiting laboratory's complement to 10 crew members, including Expedition 64 commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos and flight engineers Sergey Kud-Sverchkov also of Roscosmos, NASA astronauts Kate Rubins, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).



Ryzhikov, Kud-Sverchkov and Rubins are scheduled to return to Earth aboard Soyuz MS-17 on April 16, beginning Expedition 65 aboard the station.



Hopkins, Glover, Walker and Noguchi are scheduled to depart aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon "Resilience" on April 28, six days after the arrival of SpaceX's Crew-2 on the Dragon "Endeavour," including NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Thomas Pesquet with the European Space Agency (ESA) and JAXA astronaut Aki Hoshide.



Novitskiy, Dubrov and Vande Hei are scheduled to stay aboard the space station through at least October. Dubrov and Vande Hei's stay may be extended out to a year depending on if Russia proceeds with its plans to launch a Russian filmmaker and an actress on a short-stay mission to film a movie aboard the space station in September. If the film crew launches, they will return to Earth with Novitskiy, filling Dubrov's and Vande Hei's seats aboard Soyuz MS-18.



"For me, it's just an opportunity for a new life experience," said Vande Hei in March when the prospect of the longer stay first became public. "I've never been in space longer than about six months, so if someone tells me I got to stay in space for a year, I'll find out what that feels like. I'm really enthusiastic about it."



Within their first six months together in space, Novitskiy, Dubrov and Vande Hei are expected to help perform over 260 experiments, with more than 40 taking place for the first time during Expedition 65. All three are also expected to conduct spacewalks for the purpose of extending the capabilities of the space station.



Vande Hei may assist with the installation of new solar arrays to increase the available power supply for expanded commercial activities on the orbital complex. Novitskiy and Dubrov are scheduled to prepare for and begin the integration of a new Russian multipurpose laboratory module, "Nauka," slated for launch in July.



The launch of Soyuz MS-18 marks Novitskiy's third mission to the space station, Vande Hei's second and Dubrov's first.



A 49-year-old former Russian Air Force pilot, Novitskiy previously served as a member of the Expedition 33/34 and Expedition 50/51 crews in 2012 and 2017, respectively, logging 340 days in space.



Dubrov, 43, was working as a software engineer when he was selected to train as a cosmonaut in 2012.



Vande Hei, 54, was previously a member of the space station's Expedition 53/54 crew in 2017. A retired colonel in the U.S. Army, he has already logged 168 days in space, including 26 hours and 42 minutes on four spacewalks.



Soyuz MS-18 "Yu.A. Gagarin" is Russia's 64th Soyuz spacecraft to launch for the International Space Station since 2000 and 147th to fly since 1967.
Recently, President Biden called on states to stop opening up businesses and to keep mask mandates in place. Dr. Fauci was asked if kids could go to summer camp and responded that he didn't "know that for sure." The Biden administration proposed an "infrastructure" bill that pays off more unions than it does roads. President Biden, the "moderate," continues to drag out COVID to push leftist policy. The thing is, COVID is not much of an emergency anymore.

Biden's new $2-trillion bill is being framed in the media as an "infrastructure" bill. The funny thing is, only about 5% is going to roads and bridges. Even when extending the definition of infrastructure to plumbing and water, it accounts for only a third of the bill. The rest of the money is going to numerous other causes  one of them being unions. The administration is just trying to get this passed by exaggerating COVID to make this an emergency economic recovery bill. To accomplish this, he is encouraging states to re-employ mask mandates and other restrictive policy to keep the impression COVID is still a big problem. This, despite the fact that the pandemic is dwindling as vaccines go out to the vulnerable.

What is being ignored by them is the stress COVID and restrictive policy puts on Americans. This is most apparent in statistics like this one from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which found that 30% of "nonessential workers" have symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorders, and 8% considered suicide in the 30-day period before the survey was done. I cite this statistic, though I assume anyone could guess that the consequences of the lockdowns would be significant.

It seems that the restrictions have the same negative effect on college students. Though they are some of the most privileged people in society, a blog called One Class conducted a survey on 14,000 college students asking them about the negative effects of the pandemic. Eighty-five percent said the pandemic has negatively affected their academic performance. In terms of mental health, the statistics are not any better, with The Journal of Medical Internet Research finding that 71% of students had increased stress or anxiety.

Now, it is a well known fact that the right has a grudge against college students. But putting aside political battles for a minute, these young adults are a perfect example of how restrictive policy hurts the lives of even those who generally agree with the lockdowns as a policy.

After seeing all the negative effects, it is clear that lockdowns are not a preferable way to deal with the pandemic. Any politician who cares about his people would want to find a better way to deal with the pandemic that keeps his people safe and does so without all the negative side-effects. As it turns out, Florida found a way to do this.

Florida has the second highest elderly population and should logically have a high COVID death count along with it. According to a statistic from the Kaiser Family Foundation, California and Florida have similar deaths per 100,000. This, despite the differences in the average age for their residents and the differences on how they ran their states during the pandemic.

California completely shut down. Meanwhile, Florida had minimal regulations on COVID. Florida's Governor DeSantis shut down for a short time during the beginning of the outbreak but opened back up as soon as possible. He did this while the media shouted him down and ditched him for months.

On Ben Shapiro's show, DeSantis was asked what policies he pursued to allow his state to stay open without causing an uptick in deaths. He said, "It was a number of things, but partly, we supported strong policy to protect nursing homes early. Some of the Democrat governors were sending the contagious COVID patients back into nursing homes[.] ... We didn't do that of course, but we banned hospitals from doing that because we knew the hazard that would be."

So basically, as long as you isolate the vulnerable parts of the population, everything does not have to shut down. This gets even better as over 51 million Americans have been vaccinated, with one of the vaccines being 90% effective at stopping transmission.

The White House knows this. Biden's people are using COVID as a mask to get the bill passed. If this passes, that will be four billion dollars in four months. This kind of money equals the total cost of World War II. It's imperative that we put a stop to this now unless we want to wear masks for another four years.

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

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has sent condolences following the death of Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband, who has died aged 99.



"My deepest condolences to the people of the United Kingdom," Mr Mnangagwa tweeted.









My deepest condolences to the people of the United Kingdom and the @RoyalFamily on the death of His Royal Highness Prince Phillip. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

 President of Zimbabwe (@edmnangagwa) April 9, 2021

Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan has also sent her country's "most profound condolences" to the queen, the Royal Family and the people of the UK.Prince Philip "passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle", Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.The duke, who was the longest-serving consort in British history, had returned to Windsor Castle on 16 March after spending a month in hospital.

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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Some gunmen have reportedly kidnapped the General Manager of Prosperous Filling Station, Itakorodo Adebayo, at Isan-Ekiti in Ekiti State.

The incident, according to the police, occurred around 7:00 p.m. on Thursday when the gunmen stormed the filling station.

They came with six motorcycles and shot sporadically before whisking away the victim.

The police spokesperson in Ekiti, Sunday Abutu, in a statement confirming the incident said the police and other security agencies have been deployed to the bushes to rescue the victim.

A team of Police Operatives and Detectives including the Amotekun Corps and the local Hunters have been deployed to rigorously comb the bushes and the forests across the State to ensure the rescue of one Itakorodo Adebayo, the General Manager of prosperous filling station, Isan-Ekiti, who was abducted by unknown gunmen numbering about eight(8) at about 1900hrs on Thursday 8th April, 2021.

It was gathered that the gunmen stormed the filling station through the bush on about six(6) motorcycles and started shooting sporadically before whisking the victim away.

The Ekiti State Police Command, in addition to the rescue teams deployed, has contacted all the States bordering Ekiti State for possible assistance towards the rescue of the victim and the arrest of the perpetrators.

The Ekiti State Commissioner of Police implores anyone with useful information that could assist the Police to rescue the victim and apprehend the culprits to inform the nearest Police Station or call 08062335577, the police statement read.
The biblical-era pottery figurine found by an 11-year-old Israeli boy on a family trip to the Negev.

(JNS) - An 11-year-old Israeli boy has uncovered a rare, 2,500-year-old amulet during a family excursion in the northern Negev Desert, the Israel Antiquities Authority said on Tuesday.

Zvi Ben-David of Beersheva came across the pottery figurine in Nahal Besor. He showed it to his mother, a professional tour guide, who contacted the IAA.

According to Oren Shmueli, the IAA's district archaeologist for the western Negev, the statuette, depicting a bare-breasted woman wearing a scarf, was believed to protect children or increase fertility.

"The figurine that Zvi discovered is rare and only one...
Global software and IT services company Tribal Group has acquired Semestry, a supplier of cloud scheduling and timetabling software to the higher education market.

Tribal says the acquisition of Semestry will expand its product portfolio, adding scheduling and timetabling capability to the Tribal Edge ecosystem of higher education solutions.

Under the deal Semestry will continue to run as a separate company under its own brand.

Semestry currently services 21 customers across five countries in Europe, including the University of Cambridge, University of York, Manchester Metropolitan University, Birmingham City University, University of Amsterdam, Aarhus University (Denmark), Universiteit Hasselt (Belgium) and Reykjavik University (Iceland).

According to Tribal the acquisition of Semestry will enable the company to provide a more comprehensive offering to its existing and new customers, supporting the Tribal Edge strategy in the UK, Australia and New Zealand - and TermTime and ExamTime will help extend Tribals reach into other markets, such as South East Asia and North America.

We are delighted to have completed the move to Tribal and see this as the next step in the development of our business, said Steve Harrison, Founder and Director of Semestry.

With Tribals focus in education, investment and wider market reach, we will be able to accelerate our development plans, extend our team, and serve new markets, continuing our rapid growth.

Our solutions are helping education institutions to deal with the current and emerging situation facing students and educators. Demands for more agile space, more flexible and small group spaces, and a more individualised response to students significantly impact the role of timetabling. We have designed our solutions to help address these challenges.

Mark Pickett, CEO of Tribal Group, said: We are delighted to welcome the Semestry team to Tribal Group. This is a significant step toward delivering on our strategy to provide complete, integrated Student Information Systems delivered as SaaS solutions in the public cloud.

Semestry's market-leading SaaS solutions, with their strong client relationships, will open up an exciting opportunity for Tribal. Semestry's timetabling and scheduling solutions expand our Tribal Edge ecosystem of best-in-breed student management applications.
The Canada Revenue Agency sign outside the National Headquarters at the Connaught Building is seen in Ottawa, Monday, March 1, 2021. An advisory committee is calling on the Canada Revenue Agency to promote access to the disability tax credit in Indigenous communities and to develop tax credit assessments tailored for Indigenous claimants. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Out of all the unlikely things that happened in 2020, the most surprising one for me was that I became a legitimate fan of Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift was unavoidable growing up, and I could not stand her. I thought she was clueless and petty and manufactured, focused solely on making a lot of money through increasingly empty pop. And then I would secretly scream along to Style in my car when it came on the radio on the way home.

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But in July of 2020 when she surprise released folklore and I spent hours listening to it, I couldnt quite remember why I hated her so much. Folklore had effectively revoked my status as a Taylor Swift Hater, perhaps it was time to give her a real shot. So in preparation for the release of her re-recording of Fearless and the rest of her back catalog, I embarked on a personal project of revisiting her old songs the way she was now.

I started from the beginning, making my way through her debut, Fearless, Speak Now and Red, recognizing I probably would have loved a lot of these songs way sooner had I actually listened to them. It wasnt until I was in the middle of 1989, the album that came out when I was a senior in high school, that Id realized why Id hated her for so long: She was just so openly earnest at all times.

Earnestness was something that felt unavailable to me, something I couldnt embrace if I wanted to make it far in life. Earnestness was uncool, and I didnt want to be the kind of girl who wallowed in or even outwardly acknowledged my heartbreak, embarrassments, or loneliness. Honest earnestness felt like handing someone the weapon to use against me later, and Taylor Swift seemingly opened the whole armory and offered everyone a choice, blatantly writing about those who had wronged her and how much it hurt.

I made fun of her commitment to that earnestness and played tougher than I was. Where I buried my emotions under a brave face and sarcasm, Taylor Swift reveled in hers and brandished them proudly in a catchy hook. And I hated her for it, the way she embraced a part of life I felt like I couldnt have.

REALLY?: Sean Combs' tone-deafness rears its ugly head once again

Taylor Swift put on display the things were taught to hate in women and taught to hate in ourselves as women -- sincerity, pettiness, confidence, sentimentality, vulnerability. And shes far from the first, but she established early in her career that her emotions were meant to be taken seriously and she wasnt going to hide them from anyone.

And she did it as a 16-year-old girl, the age where it often feels the hardest to be taken seriously and have our emotions acknowledged and valued. I examined my own emotions then from a lens of, Is this going to seem stupid to 24-year-old me when I look back? And now, 24-year-old me looks back after listening to Enchanted (again) and stings for the person who didnt feel like her emotions were worth her own thoughts and hated someone who gave those same teenaged emotions weight.

I confused emotional endurance for strength and earnestness for weakness. And I still do, sometimes. It took a long time for me to learn that I could flinch when I was hurt and my world wouldnt fall apart if someone saw. And maybe this was a lesson I could have learned at 17. Maybe not through just listening to Taylor Swift or Lana Del Rey or whoever else I hated at that time for being too wallow-y. But I definitely didnt learn it by making fun of Taylor Swifts open love for her friends, how seriously she took short-lived romances, or her general sincerity.

SORRY, AUSTIN: Houston is, in fact, the unofficial capital of Texas. And we don't care who disagrees

Taylor Swift has acknowledged many times how insecure she actually is, something I didnt perceive at the height of her fame -- I would have expected someone deeply insecure to bury their emotions the way I did. But from a relative outsiders perspective, knowing this about her as I revisited songs she wrote years ago just told me again sincere earnestness is not worth being insecure about. Burying my emotions wasnt worth holding on to a chill persona in the hopes that it might help someone to take me more seriously. People didnt and dont always take Taylor Swift seriously, but she also didnt have to constantly train herself to be radically open and honest. And admittedly, sometimes it feels good to just wallow.

Six months after she put out folklore, she released evermore. I stayed up late to listen to it as soon as it was available, putting on my best headphones and settling on my couch. And I openly cried at least three times. And now you know that, and thats fine.
WASHINGTON  At a panel discussion this past week, David Malpass, the World Bank president, described climate change as an immense issue for the globe and talked about the need for nations to transition away from coal.

A lot of countries have coal miners that are dependent on coal, and yet the world knows that there needs to be a way to a better future on that, Mr. Malpass said during a conversation with Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the International Monetary Fund, at the annual spring meetings of the I.M.F. and the World Bank.

Such a comment from Mr. Malpass, who was selected for the job by former President Donald J. Trump, would have been startling just a year or two ago. These days, with the Biden administration seeing climate change as an existential threat, Mr. Malpass has refashioned himself as an environmentalist, giving speeches about green growth and a net-zero carbon future.

The transformation reflects the changing political winds in Washington  one that could have important consequences if the World Bank can resume its central role in the fight against climate change, which stalled during the Trump years.
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Police in Akwa Ibom State said they have arrested an inmate who recently escaped from the prison in Imo State, Nigerias South-east.

The police spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, Odiko MacDon, identified the arrested inmate as David Ubong, from Ibaka in Mbo Local Government Area of the state.

(The) suspect confessed to be one of the inmates who escaped from the Nigerian Correctional Service in the recent jail break at Owerri, Imo State on 5/4/2021. Until his conviction, the suspect was a resident of Obinze in Owerri, Imo State, Mr MacDon, a superintendent of police, said in a statement issued on Friday in Uyo.

Suspect will be sent back to face his jail term, he added.

Some 1,844 prisoners were freed when gunmen attacked the prison headquarters in Owerri on April 5. The police headquarters in the state was similarly attacked by gunmen.

Francis Enobore, the spokesperson of the correctional centre, said the gunmen used explosives to blast their way through the centres administrative block before gaining entrance into the prisons yard.

Six inmates have so far voluntarily returned to the facility while 35 inmates refused to escape from custody during the attack, Mr Enobore had said in a statement, shortly after the incident.

Several states in Nigeria are grappling with various security challenges, including kidnapping for ransom, communal conflicts, and frequent clashes between herders and farmers.

The security challenge is getting more complicated with the spate of gun attacks on police and other security agencies, especially around Nigerias South-east and South-south regions.
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London, England--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - Net Savings Link, Inc. (OTC Pink: NSAV), a cryptocurrency, blockchain and digital asset technology company, today announced that NSAV will exercise its option and acquire an additional 25% stake in SBCDF Investment, Inc. (SBCDF), which increases the Company's shareholding to 50%. SBCDF will soon launch its STUX (SBC Token Unix X). The STUX token will be marketed via all the major social media channels such as Reddit, Discord, Telegram, Twitter and Medium. To complete the transaction, NSAV will issue 500 million restricted Preferred B shares, which when converted, have an estimated value of over $10 million. On March 15, 2021, NSAV announced that it had acquired its initial 25% stake in SBCDF under the same terms.

SBC Financial Group https://www.sbcfinancialgroup.com.hk will structure the transaction and advise on the token launch and strategy related to how the token will drive the NSAV ecosystem.

SBC Financial Group has a broad range of disciplines on a commercial level. SBC has a strong group of partners in a wide range of disciplines with seasoned experience in finance, management, and professional practice.

James Tilton, President of NSAV stated, "I am pleased that we have exercised our option so soon after the initial acquisition and now have a 50% stake in a project with such massive potential. Once again, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with a company of SBC's proportions. SBC is not only a force on Wall Street, but around the globe."

NSAV's vision is the establishment of a fully integrated technology company that provides turnkey technological solutions to the cryptocurrency, blockchain and digital asset industries. Over time, the Company plans to provide a wide range of services such as software solutions, e-commerce, advisory services, financial services and information technology.

For further information please contact NSAV at info@nsavholdinginc.com.

The NSAV Twitter account can be accessed at https://twitter.com/nsavtech.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Investors are cautioned that, all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the ability of Net Savings Link, Inc. to accomplish its stated plan of business. Net Savings Link, Inc. believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward- looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by Net Savings Link, Inc. or any other person.

Contact

Net Savings Link, Inc.

info@nsavholdinginc.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/79936
Cancer diagnostics company, Pacific Edge Limited is pleased to advise that its Cxbladder bladder cancer diagnostic tests are now covered by United Healthcare, the largest healthcare group in the US.

Effective from 1 April 2021, Cxbladder is now being covered as a medically necessary bladder tumor marker test, under United Healthcares Molecular Pathology/Molecular Diagnostics/Genetic Testing (Medicare Advantage) - Medical Policy.

United Healthcare has over 50 million members with more than 5.7 million Medicare Advantage members. In 2019, UnitedHealth Group had a 14.1 percent share of the U.S. health insurance market, with direct premiums written amounting to approximately US$107 billion . The organisation partners with 6,500 hospitals and care facilities nationwide, and more than 1.3 million physicians and other providers.

Including the positive coverage decision issued by the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2020, more than 110 million Americans now have coverage of Cxbladder non-invasive, highly accurate tests for the detection and management of urothelial and bladder cancer.

Pacific Edge CEO David Darling states: Gaining coverage with the US largest insurer is a significant achievement for Pacific Edge and will be of benefit to millions of Americans seeking better clinical solutions and health outcomes for bladder cancer diagnosis.

This positive coverage decision reflects the validation that comes from independent published clinical evidence, inclusion in guidelines and coverage with other providers such as the CMS. It adds further validation of Cxbladder and a point of inflexion for other healthcare insurers.

Please see the link below for details:

United Healthcare Issues Positive Coverage Decision for Cxbladder

Source: Pacific Edge Limited

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The Ebonyi State Government on Wednesday directed security agencies in the state to defend themselves and relevant facilities when attacked by gunmen.

Kenneth Ugbala, the secretary to the state government, gave the directive in Abakaliki, while briefing reporters after an enlarged states Security Council meeting.

Mr Ugbala said from now on, the government would shut any police station, divisional headquarters and other facilities belonging to security agencies but destroyed by gunmen.

The concerned security agents would also face disciplinary measures as it is their primary responsibility to protect themselves, facilities and the citizens.

We are worried that men who are commissioned to defend the people are being attacked and we are living as if we have been conquered, he lamented.

Mr Ugbala said the directive was aimed at making the security agencies proactive to protect the people.

What would be the fate of the citizens who are not trained to bear arms if security agencies are attacked? he queried.

The situation would make the society appear lawless where people would wake and do whatever they liked.

He said in addition to bearing machetes, the various vigilance outfits to be constituted across the state would be allowed to bear dane guns.

This is provided under relevant laws of the state and we would not go contrary to such by allowing the vigilantes to bear sophisticated arms, he said.

In his remarks, Stanley Okoro-Emegha, the commissioner for Border, Peace and Internal Security, said the government has realised the enormity of the task ahead and would provide necessary facilities needed by the security agencies.

We have to determine structures which need re-roofing, fencing or total overhaul and install relevant security gadgets to ensure optimal performance, he said.

Mr Okoro-Emegha enjoined security agencies to adhere to the governments directive to demobilise anyone approaching them with arms without waiting to be attacked.

(NAN)
The county working with Cal Fire will also have 46 state firefighters who will staff a 24-hour fire crew, county officials said.

Dunn said he is happy to have the helicopter in Napa County this fire season. But the helicopter could be called away from the county for a wildfire in another place.

He still wants the two Fire Boss planes here, filled with water and ready to take off at any time. When theres a fire, assets are short, Dunn said.

Several speakers during Tuesdays Board of Supervisors meeting also asked that the county accept the offer for the Fire Boss planes. They addressed supervisors during public comments.

These planes can carry 800 gallons per trip. In a matter of an hour, they probably could go anywhere from 9,000 gallons to 14,000 gallons, local farmer Cio Perez said.

Mount Veeder area resident Patricia Damery said shes grateful a group is willing to be so generous as to offer the Fire Boss planes.

It feels really important, given our terrain, that we have this immediate action that can happen when lightning strikes in a remote area, which a lot of Napa County is, she said.
The Bachelorette's Georgia Love and Lee Elliott were reunited with their missing cat Pawdrey Hepburn on Friday afternoon after a desperate 24-hour search.

But the happy news of the cat's discovery was tinged with sadness, as the friendly neighbour who found Pawdrey and alerted the couple is still missing his own pet.

Pawdrey had escaped Georgia and Lee's home in Richmond, Melbourne, on Thursday evening and remained missing during the heavy rain overnight.

Phew! The Bachelorette's Georgia Love (right) and Lee Elliott (left) were reunited with their missing cat Pawdrey Hepburn on Friday afternoon after a desperate 24-hour search

A relieved Georgia, 32, announced on Instagram that Pawdrey was home safe.

The Seven News reporter wrote: 'She's home! After nearly 24 excruciating hours, our baby girl is home.

'A very kind neighbour found her a few streets away and brought her in, and the power of social media meant he found out who she was and was able to contact us.

'A very kind neighbour found her a few streets away': A relieved Georgia, 32, announced on Instagram that Pawdrey was home safe

'Thank you everyone for sharing. Now to weld shut all windows and doors. None of us are ever leaving the house again.'

Lee, 40, also shared a post on Instagram thanking his neighbour Neville for finding Pawdrey and getting in touch.

While he was delighted to be reunited with his furry friend, the mechanical plumber said that Neville's cat - which looks a lot like Pawdrey - was still missing.

Bittersweet: The happy news of the cat's discovery was tinged with sadness, as the friendly neighbour who found Pawdrey and alerted the couple is still missing his own pet

'My best mate is home safe and sound!' he wrote.

'To absolutely everyone that helped look for our beloved Pawdrey Hepburn today, Georgia and I cannot thank you all enough!

'From all our incredible friends and a few amazing strangers that scoured the streets for hours and put up posters, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

'And lastly but certainly not least this absolute gentleman and Pawdrey's new friend Neville for finding her, taking her in and looking after her - thank you!

'Neville's cat "Random" is still missing and looks awfully like Pawdrey, so Richmond peeps please keep an eye out for him.'

'Neville's cat is still missing and looks awfully like Pawdrey': Plumber Lee, 40, revealed on Instagram that the neighbour who found Pawdrey was still missing his own cat Random

The news of Pawdrey's discovery comes hours after Georgia and Lee revealed their cat had gone missing overnight, sparking a frantic search.

Georgia sent out an impassionate plea to her Instagram followers on Friday morning, begging them to help her find the white and chocolate Ragdoll.

'Our baby has gone missing. We are beside ourselves. [She] jumped the fence in Fraser Street, Richmond, last night and hasn't come home. We're very worried after all the rain overnight. She's never been gone more than two hours before,' she wrote.

'Please share to help find her.'

Social media campaign: The news of Pawdrey's discovery comes hours after Georgia and Lee revealed their cat had gone missing overnight, sparking a frantic search

Lost: Georgia also posted a missing poster of the feline, describing all of her cat's features, along with her phone number

She also posted a missing poster of the feline, describing all of her cat's features, along with her phone number.

Georgia and Lee tied the knot in a stunning ceremony in Tasmania in early March.

The couple said 'I do' at the Frogmore Creek Winery, just 20 minutes outside of Hobart's city centre, followed by an outdoor reception at the nearby Shene Distillery.

The bride wore a custom gown by Australian designer Jason Grech, while the groom donned a white tuxedo jacket and bow tie by YSG Tailors.

Georgia and Lee, who met on The Bachelorette in 2016, were due to marry in Italy last year, but were forced to cancel their plans due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Disney has finally released the computer visualizations of the Avengers Campus, offering a sneak peek at the first images of the attraction that will open on June 4 at California Adventure park.

After more than a year of closure, the shutdown is about to end as the theme park, together with next-door Disneyland in Anaheim, will have its reopening on April 30. But it will be initially offered for residents of California and will have limits in terms of capacity.

According to Deadline, Disney's executives shared in a press briefing and a blog post the latest details regarding the widely anticipated "Marvel-ized" portion of the theme park.

In the blog post, the executives promised that the fans and patrons would be invited to team up with their favorite Avengers heroes together with their allies, living out their "Super Hero dreams."

Moreover, the executives also mentioned that the Avengers Campus is composed of numerous heroic locations that are hosted by different Avengers. Each Avenger will share their technology and knowledge with the recruits based on their powers.

READ NEXT: Theater Scraps Its 'Cinderella' Production Because the Cast Was' 98% White'

Avengers Campus Tour

One of the areas is the WEB or the Worldwide Engineering Brigade, which Spider-Man heads. The location will feature "WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure," the first Disney ride-through attraction with Spidey, voiced by Tom Holland, the latest actor who portrayed the famous comic character.

Disney added that Spider-Man would be swinging into action high above the Avengers Campus with never seen before gravity-defying acrobatic stunts in a Disney theme park.

The film franchise, which is a rare Marvel property, does not belong to Disney. However, it can use it for theme park purposes.

Another area of the campus features the Guardians of the Galaxy. There is also a section intended for Doctor Strange aside from other characters who will roam inside the campus.

Disney also teased Marvel fans that they may have heroic encounters with superheroes like Iron Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, and partners like Ant-Man and The Wasp.

The Campus will also feature superhero Thor and his villain brother Loki which means that villains will also be present at the campus. Some of the villains will be making their first appearances at the Avengers Campus, Movieweb reported.

Disney's New Team

Meanwhile, Josh D'Amaro, the chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, shared that Disney is creating a multidisciplinary team. The team will be in charge of developing groundbreaking ideas that will be shaping extraordinary guest experiences.

The overall approach to the theme parks business has undergone a reappraisal due to the absence of crowds. Some of the changes currently imposed in this time of pandemic are so huge based on the executives.

D'Amaro noted that the Avengers Campus would give patrons a different Marvel experience. He also promised that the parks would be technology-ridden and will be exploring the metaverse. Aside from the featured superheroes, the Disney park will also be offering futuristic features, SYFY Wire reported.

READ MORE: San Diego Comic-Con May Happen on Thanksgiving Weekend and Fans Are Not Happy About It

WATCH: Disney Announces Opening of Avengers Campus at Anaheim Park - CNBC Television
On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced its intent to modify or replace the Title IX regulations adopted last year by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Those regulations gave accused students a chance for fairer treatment in Title IX tribunals by ensuring the presumption of innocence, access to evidence the university gathered in the investigation, and adjudication through a hearing with cross-examination conducted by a lawyer or advocate for each of the parties.

In targeting the rights of college students accused of sexual assault, the Biden administration selected an appropriate anniversary. Fifteen years to the day of Bidens Title IX move, Duke Universitys Group of 88 released a public statement in response to a Durham, N.C., womans claim that three Duke lacrosse players had brutally raped her. Political commentator David French recently deemed the professors document one of the worst public rushes to judgment in modern times.

Bidens move was unsurprising: During his time as vice president, he had championed a Title IX system that, as DeVos observed, too often subjected accused students to kangaroo courts. Despite a wave of appellate court rulings favorable to accused students, during the 2020 campaign Biden denounced DeVos efforts and promised a return to Obama-era policies.

In a conference call explaining the move, Suzanne Goldberg, acting head of the Education Departments Office for Civil Rights, promised new procedures that were not only fair, equitable, and prompt (boilerplate language in this area of the law that the Obama administration also used to describe its one-sided policies) but also cognizant of the sensitive issues that are often involved. Thus, the Biden administration furnished in advance a highly subjective and amorphous criterion that college administrations can use to diminish accused students ability to meaningfully defend themselves.

Campus activist groups have consistently opposed what they claim is a retraumatizing process in which accusers face tough questions about their allegations. Goldberg herself, during her time as a Columbia law professor, maintained that an accused student would be just as well served through questioning by a neutral college administrator than by cross-examination from his own lawyer. In any case, the acting OCR head added, Many scholars say that aggressive, adversarial questioning is more likely to distort reality than enable truth-telling. Tell that to the Supreme Court, which has referred to cross-examination as the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth.

Goldberg would have been quite at home at Duke 15 years ago. Amid a barrage of ethically improper statements from local District Attorney Mike Nifong, the Group of 88 took to the pages of the campus newspaper to assert that something happened to accuser Crystal Mangum. (Nothing, it turned out, had happened to her.) The Duke professors thanked protesters who, among other things, urged the castration of the lacrosse captains and blanketed the campus with wanted posters containing the student-athletes photographs.

The students ultimate exoneration prompted no reconsideration from the Group of 88. Nearly all signed onto another statement rejecting requests that they apologize. In words that could have come from the Biden officials on Tuesdays call, this statement framed the lacrosse case -- an incident in which their own students were falsely accused -- as actually illustrating an atmosphere that allows sexism, racism, and sexual violence to be so prevalent on campus.

The Group of 88 serves as a reminder that the presumption of innocence has been in short supply on American college campuses for a while. The DeVos regulations provided a check against campus environments that effectively presumed guilt in Title IX cases. Just as the Group of 88 prioritized their crusade to revolutionize campus culture over their own students well-being, so too do Biden officials seem indifferent to the rights of accused students as they seek to vindicate the claims of those who describe themselves as survivors.

This hostility to due process does have one important exception: allegations against powerful Democratic officials. During the campaign, after former aide Tara Reade accused Biden himself of groping her, the Biden campaign cited an obligation to rigorously vet those claims. (So much for procedures cognizant of the sensitive issues that are often involved.) As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reminded reporters, There's also due process in evaluating sexual assault allegations  at least when her partys presidential nominee was the one being accused. This was the same Speaker Pelosi who had dismissed Betsy DeVos efforts to ensure due process for college students as callous, cruel and dangerous.

A similar dynamic unfolded in New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who backed a 2015 law that undermined protections for students accused of sexual misconduct, has faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault. Like Biden, Cuomo has embraced aggressive tactics of the very type he deemed out of bounds for college students facing life-altering allegations. Also, like Biden, Cuomo has received support from key political allies in his effort. New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, for instance, privately invoked the importance of due process, arguing that the Assembly needed to hear from people under oath. They may have made false statements, the speaker maintained.

Thats certainly possible. But a system in which powerful politicians receive the due process they actively seek to deny to accused college students is a fundamentally unfair one. As the Biden administration races toward reimposing a one-sided Title IX system, it might recall the Group of 88s fate. History looks unkindly on those who willingly sacrifice the innocent in pursuit of an asserted greater good.
Mumbai, April 9 : The country's financial capital reeled under a massive shortage of the Covid-19 vaccines, with several government and private inoculation centres downing shutters temporarily, here on Friday.

The city's biggest centre at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) had barely 150 doses left by this afternoon and that was being administered to the people as per the rules, frontline workers and those above 45 years, said an official.

Among the estimated two-dozen plus centres that have already discontinued vaccination for the time being is the BKC jumbo facility, NESCO in Goregaon, besides many others run by private hospitals.

Printed or hand-scrawled notices have been pasted outside many centres in the city and the state announcing that owing to shortage of doses, the vaccination process has been discontinued temporarily.

A worried Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar assured that some stocks are expected later this evening (April 9) from the Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune.

"Many vaccination centres in Mumbai have come down to zero doses now and inoculations have been stopped there. We understand that between 75,000-1,00,000 doses may be received this evening and await official confirmation," Pednekar told mediapersons.

Pednekar, Mumbai Guardian Minister Aslam Shaikh, state Congress President Nana Patole, Nationalist Congress Party President and Minister Jayant Patil besides Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray have appealed for an end to politicizing the critical issue of providing vaccines and urged that all must join hands to mitigate the peoples' sufferings.

The scarcity situation was similar in several other districts, major cities or towns with vaccine stocks expected to be exhausted by this evening, as per reports trickling in.

In view of the high population and the highest number of Covid cases and fatalities in Maharashtra, top state leaders have urged the Centre to provide the maximum number of doses to help control the pandemic.

Meanwhile, serpentine queues of anxious people were witnessed outside the BKC and NESCO centres where people thronged with prior appointments from distant places in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) since this morning for their life-saving jab.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
CAIRO - The discovery of the largest urban settlement ever found in the country has been announced in Egypt. The 3,000-year-old city lost to the sands of Egypt has been presented as the second most important discovery after the tomb of Tutankhamon. As reported by the Facebook page of the Egyptian ministry of antiquities, it is the "lost golden city" found by a mission led by famed Egyptian archeologist Zahi Hawass on the western shore of the Nile near Luxor, in southern Egypt.



"Zahi Hawass announces the discovery of the lost golden city in Luxor", the ministry highlighted, without however providing elements justifying the golden reference. The name of the settlement was said to be The Rise of Aten and dates back to the reign of Amenhotep III although it was still inhabited during the reign of Tutankhamon and his successor, Ay. "Many foreign missions have looked for this city and have never found it", said Hawass. He added: "we started our work looking for the funerary temple of Tutankhamon".



Betsy Brian, a professor of Egyptology at John Hopkins University in the US said the "discovery of this lost city is the second most important archaeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamon", according to the post.



It is "the largest city ever found in Egypt", according to the ministry, which spoke about "the largest administrative and industrial settlement on the western shore of Luxor in the era of the Egyptian empire".



Founded by one of the great sovereigns of Egypt, Amenhotep III, who ruled from 1391 to 1353 BC, the city was active during the joint reign of his son, the famous Amenhotep IV/Akhenaton.



The study of the lost city, said Brian, "will help to shed light on one of the greatest mysteries of history: why Akhenaton and Nefertiti decided to move to Amarna".



Excavation work only began in September and the city, which remained for 3,000 years under the sand, is described as "in good condition of preservation, with nearly complete walls and rooms full of tools of everyday life". In the southern part, the remains of a bakery with ovens and ceramics were found and, from its dimension, the place was believed to have a "great number of workers and employees". The dig also revealed parts of industrial activities like textile, the production of glass and of amulets and decorative elements for temples and tombs. In particular rings, beetles, colored paintings, tiles with the cartouche of Amenhotep III to confirm the period of the settlement. An area with a "zig zag" wall and only one point of access is proof of a security system in an administrative and residential district with larger and well-structured areas which are still in part underground.
A 34-year-old Bush man was killed Thursday evening when he crossed into the southbound lane on Louisiana 21 in St. Tammany Parish and hit a tractor-trailer head-on, according to State Police.

Randy Len Dupriest Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene.

He was heading northbound when he traveled into the southbound lane and struck the tractor-trailer, according to a news release from Troop L.

The driver of the tractor-trailer was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for injuries.

Both drivers were wearing seat belts.

Troopers do not suspect impairment on the part of the driver of the tractor-trailer. Toxicology tests are awaiting analysis.
FX markets are susceptible to a range of factors which affect their volatility, and many traders look to tailor their strategies to capitalize on the most volatile currency pairs.

Currency volatility, often measured by calculating the standard deviation or variance of currency price movements, gives traders an idea of how much a currency might move relative to its average over a given time period. Traders can also gauge volatility by looking at a currency pairs average true range or by looking at range as percent of spot.

The higher the level of currency volatility, the higher the degree of risk, and vice versa. Volatility and risk are usually used as interchangeable terms.Different currency pairs have different levels of volatility on average.

Some traders enjoy the higher potential rewards that come with trading volatile currency pairs. Although, this increased potential reward does present a greater risk, so traders should consider reducing their position sizes when trading highly volatile currency pairs.

What are the most volatile currency pairs?

The most volatile major currency pairs are:

Other major currency pairs, like EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD and USD/CHF, are generally more liquid and less volatile as a result. That said, emerging market currency pairs, such as USD/ZAR, USD/TRY and USD/MXN, can clock some of the highest volatility readings.

MOST VOLATILE CURRENCY PAIRS

Majors - AUD/JPY, NZD/JPY, AUD/USD, CAD/JPY, GBP/AUD

Emerging Markets - USD/ZAR, USD/TRY, USD/MXN

Aside from relatively low liquidity, emerging market currencies tend to be highly volatile in particular due to inherent risk underpinning emerging market economies. The chart below gives an example of how volatile emerging market currencies can be, which shows USD/ZAR (US Dollar/South Africa Rand) exploding nearly 25% higher in just over a months time. There are several other examples of emerging market currency pairs swinging drastically like this throughout history.

What about the least volatile currency pairs?

The least volatile currency pairs tend to be the major currency pairs which are also the most liquid. Also, these economies tend to be larger and more developed. This attracts more trading volume and facilitates greater price stability in turn. To that end, considering EUR/USD, USD/CHF and EUR/GBP trade with high volumes of liquidity, it comes as little surprise they are among the lease volatile currency pairs.

Illustrated below, the average true range (ATR) on USD/CHF ranges between 45-pips and 65-pips, a low average true range compared to other pairs. The average true range of a currency is one of the many ways to measure the volatility of a currency pair. Bollinger Band width is another popular technical indicator used to measure volatility.

Correlation between two currencies can also have an impact on their volatility. The more positively two currencies are correlated to one another might lead to less volatility. Continuing with our USD/CHF example, we note that the US Dollar and Swiss Franc are both viewed as safe-haven currencies.

The US Dollar and Swiss Franc tend to strengthen against their sentiment-linked peers when the market experiences episodes of risk aversion, but the two currencies may not deviate much from each other. This contributes to relatively low volatility readings for USD/CHF.

How to trade currency pair volatility

Forex traders should take into account current readings of volatility and potential changes in volatility when trading. Market participants should also consider adjusting their position sizes with respect to how volatile a currency pair is. Trading a volatile currency pair might warrant a reduced position size.

Awareness of volatility can also help traders determine appropriate levels for stop loss and take profit limit orders. Furthermore, it is important to understand the key characteristics separating themost volatile currencies from currencies with low volatility readings. Traders should also know how to measure volatility and have an awareness of events that might create big changes in volatility.

The difference between trading currency pairs with high volatility versus low volatility

Currencies with high volatility will normally move more pips over a certain period than currencies with low volatility. This leads to increased risk when trading currency pairs with high volatility. Currencies with high volatility are more prone to slippage than currency pairs with low volatility. Due to high-volatility currency pairs making bigger moves, you should determine the correct position size to take when trading them.

There are several ways to measure volatility

To determine the correct position size, traders need to have an expectation of how volatile a currency can be. A variety of indicators can be used to measure volatility like:

Average true range (ATR) .

Donchian channels .

Moving averages (by comparing the moving average to the current price).

Traders can also look at implied volatility readings, which reflect the level of expected volatility derived from options.

Key things traders should know about volatility:

Big news events like Brexit or trade wars can have a major impact on a currencys volatility. Data releases can also influence volatility. Traders can stay ahead of data releases by using an economic calendar.

Volatile currency pairs still obey many technical aspects of trading, like support and resistance levels, trendlines and price patterns. Traders can take advantage of the volatility using technical analysis in combination with strict risk management principles .

Staying up to date with the latest forex pair news , analysis and rates can help you predict possible changes in volatility. We provide comprehensive trading forecasts to help you navigate the market.

DailyFX hosts daily webinars to answer questions and help traders prepare for volatile market conditions.

Supplement your forex learning and strategy development with the DailyFX Education Center .

If youd like to follow prices in the pairs listed above, the demo account can allow access to a live price feed along with a full suite of tools, charts and indicators. Click here to request a free demo with IG group
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN  Help in getting over the digital divide is being provided at senior community centers in the county, thanks to a program by Diakon Community Services for Seniors.

On Thursday, the centers in Schuylkill Haven and Pottsville hosted training for three seniors at each location using Apple iPads, which when the training was completed were given to the trainees to take home and use at their convenience.

The training was provided by PA Link lead coordinator Melissa M. Bottorf and Wendy Weaver, owner of Weaver Wireless Consultants LLC, Williamsport.

Debbie Herb is the coordinator of the senior centers operated by Diakon, which operates the centers under a contract with the Schuylkill County Office of Senior Services and with funding provided by the state Department of Aging.

We actually got a Pennsylvania Department of Aging grant last year, so we were able to buy new computers (the iPads and others) for all of our centers, and then COVID hit, Herb said. So our members havent even had the opportunity to get their hands on those computers. Hopefully when everyone has their vaccinations, we can open up more and they can come in and play on our computers.

As to the iPads, three active members at each of the countys five senior centers who wanted to take part were selected for the training. Theyre encouraged to bring the devices back for use by other members if they are no longer using them. More funding may be obtained to get more.

Herb said the pandemic has caused seniors and others to be more isolated from their families and friends, and programs to teach how computers can be used to reduce that isolation are very good.

Technology has definitely played a big part in COVID. We all know that. I think we have all gotten better at it because we didnt have choice, Herb said.

Bottorf said senior action centers were some of the first places to close when the pandemic hit, and many are still not open.

The lifeline was gone. Seniors were alone and isolated from their families, friends and centers, she said.

In January, PA Link contracted with Weaver Wireless to visit many of the centers and provide an extensive, personalized training in an effort to re-engage those seniors and help them feel less isolated.

Thursday at Schuylkill Haven, three seniors were assisted in setting up their fully-charged iPads and learning the basics.

Diane Weaver, of Schuylkill Haven, enjoyed her lesson from Bottorf.

I have a computer at home, but I never had one of these iPads because I didnt know what to do with them, Weaver said. Getting training like this is really good.

Mary Allen, of Pine Grove, and Barb Peters, of Pottsville, were in good hands being guided by Wendy Weavers computer expertise.

Allen does not have a computer, but has some familiarity through her granddaughter, who used Apple devices at college.

She knows the computers, having grown up with them, Allen said.

Peters has a computer at home but does not use it, though she is familiar with using a smartphone.

I love learning about the computer here, Peters said. I have grandchildren over in Bahrain, so this is going to allow me to see them better (on a bigger screen). Im excited about that. I also want to listen to music. That is going to be awesome. When we finished, Im going to call my granddaughter.

Senior community centers offer a variety of programs and services for those 60 and older. Beginning this month, the senior centers are open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon by reservation only because of CDC guidelines and the need for physical-distancing. Seniors must call a senior center to make a reservation to ensure adequate space is available. CDC guidelines are followed, including the use of appropriate facial masks. Meals will not be served, but coffee is available. Activities are planned, so ask about them when making a reservation at any of the centers. New members are always welcome.

The centers are in Mahanoy City (570-773-0738); Pottsville (570-628-3513); Schuylkill Haven (570-385-5611), Shenandoah (570-462-1965); and Tremont (570-695-3500).

For general information on the centers, email Herb at herbd@diakon.org or call 570-624-3016.
Secretary of State Iulia Matei had, on Friday, consultations with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Faruk Kaymakci, in a videoconference system a context in which the Romanian side expressed support for continuing an "open and constructive dialogue" between Turkey and the European Union.

According to a Foreign Ministry (MAE) release sent to AGERPRES, in the context of marking this year the 10th anniversary of the signing of the bilateral Strategic Partnership, the common interest for the development of economic and sectoral cooperation was expressed, as well as for the continuation of discussions within intergovernmental working formats in the economic field, in order to make the most of the existing potential and to even the trade balance, agerpres.ro confirms.

Developments in EU-Turkey relations have also been discussed, including in the light of the recent European Council Declaration of March 25, 2021.

The Romanian side expressed support for the continuation of an open and constructive dialogue between Turkey and the European Union and voiced hope that "the offer of the positive agenda agreed at European Council level aimed at economic cooperation, relaunching high-level dialogue formats in areas of common interest, promoting mobility and interpersonal contacts will be able to materialize in the next period", the Romanian ministry transmits. Also, according to the MAE, the Romanian official encouraged, at the same time, the maintenance of a sustained and constructive commitment on the part of Turkey to facilitate this objective.

The discussions also focused on regional cooperation. In this sense, the good cooperation of both states within the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization and the South-East European Cooperation Process was highlighted, in the context of Turkey's presidency of this body in 2021.
Srinagar: Seven terrorists, including terror outfit Ansar Ghazwatul Hind's chief Imtiaz Ahmad Shah, were gunned down by security forces in two encounters in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian and Pulwama districts, police said on Friday. "Five terrorists have been killed in a Shopian operation, while two others were killed in the encounter at Nowbugh in Tral area of Pulwama district," a police official said.

Earlier, the Kashmir Zone Police had said that efforts were being made to get two militants hiding inside a mosque in Shopian after an overnight encounter to surrender. "Brother of holed up terrorist and local imamsahab sent inside mosque to persuade the terrorists to come out and surrender. Efforts are on to save the mosque," police had said in a tweet. They had also tweeted about the Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGuH) chief being trapped inside the mosque. "Chief of proscribed terrorist outfit AGuH (JeM) trapped," police had said.

The encounter in Shopian town broke out on Thursday evening and giving an update about the operation on the same day, police had said that three militants have been killed and four security forces personnel injured. Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar told reporters that AGuH chief Imtiaz Shah, who was active since 2019, was actually killed in the gunbattle at Tral in Pulwama district. "While laying a cordon in Shopian, two militants managed to escape after hurling a grenade," Kumar said. He said acting on inputs that the militants had moved towards orchards in the Tral area, another operation was launched in Nowbug and the two ultras were killed. One of the slain militants was identified as Imtiaz Shah, Kumar said.

(Mosque damaged in Shopian encounter)

The officer said three people, who hurled stones on security forces when they were laying the cordon, suffered pellet injuries. The army's 15 Corps' Commander, Lt Gen D P Pandey, said the security forces had conducted the Shopian operation with utmost restraint and respect for the place of worship where the two militants were hiding. "It was ensured that there was no disrespect to the place of worship (the mosque)," he said.

Live TV

Lt Gen Pandey said security forces gave ample opportunity to the militants to surrender. "We want the misguided youth to comeback," he said, but warned that anyone who takes to arms against the state will be neutralised. On the orders asking the media not to cover live encounters and law and order situations, IGP Kumar said he had written to all senior superintendents of police, keeping in mind the safety of journalists and to ensure media coverage does not hamper operations. "I have directed the district SSPs concerned to brief the media after the operations are over," he added.
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Joe Biden led tributes to Prince Philip from US Presidents on Friday morning, saying his legacy 'will live on' long after his death at the age of 99.

Prince Philip died on Friday, peacefully at Windsor Castle, 74 years after marrying Queen Elizabeth II and 68 years after her coronation. During his extraordinary life, he saw 13 different presidents serve in the Oval Office, and has outlived many of them.

When the Queen ascended to the throne in 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower was in office.

Since then, JFK, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W., Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden have taken office. Prince Philip met them all apart from Trump and Biden. When Trump visited the UK in June 2019, Prince Philip had already retired from royal duties, so did not take part in the state dinner.

Biden released a statement saying: 'Over the course of his 99-year life, he saw our world change dramatically and repeatedly. From his service during World War II, to his 73 years alongside the Queen, and his entire life in the public eye - Prince Philip gladly dedicated himself to the people of the UK, the Commonwealth and to his family.

'His legacy will live on not only through his family, but in all the charitable endeavors he shaped.'

Later, in the Oval Office, he said he was 'one heck of a guy' and added 'he will be missed'.

'I think hes going to be missed, particularly in the United Kingdom. 99 years old and never slowed down at all which I admire the devil out of,' he said.

Trump never met Philip but nonetheless shared a heartfelt tribute which read in part: 'The world mourns the passing of Prince Philip, a man who embodied the noble soul and proud spirit of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

President Joe Biden released this lengthy statement on Friday afternoon

Former Presidents George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter led the U.S. in paying tribute to Price Philip, who died overnight at the age of 99

'Melania and I send our deepest and most profound condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and to the entire Royal Family. We send our most heartfelt sympathies to the British people. This is an irreplaceable loss for Great Britain, and for all who hold dear our civilization.

'Prince Philip defined British dignity and grace. He personified the quiet reserve, stern fortitude and unbending integrity of the United Kingdom'.

He honored Philip's military service and service to the Queen, concluding: 'As we grieve his loss, we celebrate his memory and rededicate ourselves to the values to which he devoted his extraordinary life. He will be greatly missed.'

Barack Obama tweeted earlier in the day: 'Through his extraordinary example, His Royal Highness Prince Philip proved that true partnership has room for both ambition and selflessness  all in service of something greater.

'Our thoughts are with Her Majesty the Queen, the Royal Family, and the British people.'

Michelle retweeted his statement.

They both shared a photograph with the Queen and Prince Philip that was taken in 2016 at the Queen's birthday lunch at Windsor Castle.

President Joe Biden said in a statement: 'Prince Philips legacy will live on not only through his family, but in all the charitable endeavors he shaped.

'Jill and I are keeping the Queen and Prince Philips children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and the people of the United Kingdom in our hearts during this time.'

Prince Philip with President Eisenhower, Mamie Eisenhower and the Queen at the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959

Prince Philip and the Queen with JFK and Jackie Kennedy at Buckingham Palace in 1961. JFK was killed two years later

Prince Philip with President Lyndon Johnson after JFK's funeral in 1963 (left) and with Richard Nixon (right) in 1969

Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh with with President Gerald Ford during a State Visit on July 29, 1976 in Washington, DC

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip with US President Jimmy Carter in the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace, London, 10th May 1977

Queen Elizabeth II And Prince Philip pose with President Ronald Reagan And First Lady Nancy Reagan on March 3, 1983 at Their Mountain Top Getaway, Rancho Del Cielo, in Santa Barbara

US President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush, the Queen and Prince Philip at the start of the Orioles vs Oakland Athletics baseball game in Baltimore in May 1991

Prince Philip with Hillary Clinton, the Queen and Bill Clinton in 1995. The Clintons said in a statement: Hillary and I mourn the passing of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, and we join people from all around the world in giving thanks for his remarkable life of service. We enjoyed every opportunity we had to visit with him through the years and will always be deeply grateful for the kindness he showed us.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with President George W Bush and his wife Laura Bush, attend a State Dinner at the White House on the fifth day of their USA tour on May 7, 2007 in Washington, DC

Former Presidents George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter expressed their condolences too.

'Laura and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh,' Bush sent in a statement from himself and former first lady Laura Bush.

'Throughout his long and remarkable life, he devoted himself to worthy causes and to others,' he continued in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II's husband. 'He represented the United Kingdom with dignity and brought boundless strength and support to the sovereign.'

A statement from Carter's Presidential Library states: 'We are sorry to hear that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, has passed away.'

Both Bush, 74, and Carter, 96, met with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip when they were in office.

Carter's library included an image of him and other heads of state dining with them in May 1977 during the G7 Summit in London.

Bush also remembered: 'Laura and I are fortunate to have enjoyed the charm and wit of his company, and we know how much he will be missed. We join those around the world offering heartfelt condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the entire Royal Family.'

US President Barack Obama and his wife First Lady Michelle Obama are greeted by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh after landing by helicopter at Windsor Castle for a private lunch on April 22, 2016

Queen Elizabeth II with Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace on June 3, 2019. Prince Philip had by then retired from royal duties

No statement has been released yet from the White House or from the other living former presidents, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement Friday on behalf of the entire U.S. Congress.

'The US Congress extends condolences over the passing of Prince Philip, whose life was distinguished by an inspiring ethic of dedicated service,' she wrote on Twitter. 'May it be a comfort to Her Majesty & the Royal family that so many mourn with & pray for them at this sad time.'

The Queen announced on Friday morning with 'deep sorrow' the death of Philip at the age of 99, her 'strength and guide' throughout their 73-year marriage and her 69-year reign.

The Duke of Edinburgh spent his final days at Windsor Castle with his wife, who he lovingly called Lilibet throughout their long life together, after a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

The Royal Family said in a statement: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss'.

Her Majesty, who remains at Windsor Castle, is now expected to enter an eight-day period of mourning.

She will not carry out any duties, even in private, while laws will not be given the Royal Assent and affairs of state will also be paused.
A 13-year-old who drowned while swimming at a popular waterfall has been remembered by his distraught mother as a 'loving boy'.

Aiden Braumann was playing in the water at Cedar Creek Falls on Queensland's Gold Coast with a friend at 4.45pm on Thursday.

Even though the boys were being supervised by an adult, they got into trouble and only one made it back to the shore.

On Thursday night, Aiden's mother Sherry Caroll said losing him is 'the hardest thing' she had had to face.

The body of Aiden Braumann (pictured) was pulled from the water at Cedar Creek Falls on Thursday evening

'I don't know how I'm going to get through it my son, Aiden Braumann. I love you so much,' she wrote on Facebook.

Ms Caroll also said she would miss being able to hold and talk to him and 'everything about him'.

One woman replied and said she could not believe Aiden was gone because he stopped by her place before the fateful swim.

'Omg he was just here for a visit before he went swimming,' she wrote.'

'Our deepest sympathy to you and all the family. We are going to miss his smiling cheeky grin. Xxxx'

Even though the boys were being supervised by an adult, they got into trouble and only one made it back to the shore (Cedar Creek Falls pictured)

Devastated friends and family flocked to social media with tributes.

'R.I.P Aiden braumann I love you so much you will be miss you will be in my heart and I will remember all the good times,' one friend wrote.

'I love you so much my nephew and miss you a f**k tonne,' another wrote.

Specialist police, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and Queensland Ambulance searched for the teenager into the night.

His body was found at about 10pm, just three hours after Ms Caroll begged anyone with information about his whereabouts to come forward.

'This boy is 13 was last seen with friends swimming at cedar creek all his friends say he just disappeared pole air police and water rescue are all looking please is you see my son ... call police or sms me so we know he's OK,' she wrote on Facebook.

Police thanked fire and ambulance crews for their help searching for the boy.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/09/2021 -- A new business intelligence report released by HTF MI with title "Global Staffing Agency Software Market Research Report with Opportunities and Strategies to Boost Growth- COVID-19 Impact and Recovery" is designed covering micro level of analysis by manufacturers and key business segments. The Global Staffing Agency Software Market survey analysis offers energetic visions to conclude and study market size, market hopes, and competitive surroundings. The research is derived through primary and secondary statistics sources and it comprises both qualitative and quantitative detailing. Some of the key players profiled in the study are Jobvite, JobAdder, COMPAS, PCRecruiter, Talent Rover, BrightMove, Zoho Recruit, Big Biller, CURA, Crelate Talent, Bullhorn, HROffice, JazzHR & JobDiva.



What's keeping Jobvite, JobAdder, COMPAS, PCRecruiter, Talent Rover, BrightMove, Zoho Recruit, Big Biller, CURA, Crelate Talent, Bullhorn, HROffice, JazzHR & JobDiva Ahead in the Market? Benchmark yourself with the strategic moves and findings recently released by HTF MI



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If you are involved in the Global Staffing Agency Software industry or aim to be, then this study will provide you inclusive point of view. It's vital you keep your market knowledge up to date segmented by Applications [Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) & Large Enterprises], Product Types [, On-premises & Cloud-Based] and major players. If you have a different set of players/manufacturers according to geography or needs regional or country segmented reports we can provide customization according to your requirement.



This study mainly helps understand which market segments or Region or Country they should focus in coming years to channelize their efforts and investments to maximize growth and profitability. The report presents the market competitive landscape and a consistent in depth analysis of the major vendor/key players in the market along with impact of economic slowdown.



Furthermore, the years considered for the study are as follows:

Historical year  2015-2020

Base year  2020

Forecast period**  2021 to 2026 [** unless otherwise stated]



**Moreover, it will also include the opportunities available in micro markets for stakeholders to invest, detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product services of key players.



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Top Players in the Market are: Jobvite, JobAdder, COMPAS, PCRecruiter, Talent Rover, BrightMove, Zoho Recruit, Big Biller, CURA, Crelate Talent, Bullhorn, HROffice, JazzHR & JobDiva



Region Included are: North America (Covered in Chapter 9), United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe (Covered in Chapter 10), Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Others, Asia-Pacific (Covered in Chapter 11), China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, South America (Covered in Chapter 12), Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Middle East and Africa (Covered in Chapter 13), UAE, Egypt & South Africa



Important Features that are under offering & key highlights of the report:

 Detailed overview of Staffing Agency Software market

 Changing market dynamics of the industry

 In-depth market segmentation by Type, Application etc

 Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value

 Recent industry trends and developments

 Competitive landscape of Staffing Agency Software market

 Strategies of key players and product offerings

 Potential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growth

 A neutral perspective towards Staffing Agency Software market performance

 Market players information to sustain and enhance their footprint



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Major Highlights of TOC:

Chapter One: Global Staffing Agency Software Market Industry Overview

1.1 Staffing Agency Software Industry

1.1.1 Overview

1.1.2 Products of Major Companies

1.2 Staffing Agency Software Market Segment

1.2.1 Industry Chain

1.2.2 Consumer Distribution

1.3 Price & Cost Overview



Chapter Two: Global Staffing Agency Software Market Demand

2.1 Segment Overview

2.1.1 APPLICATION 1

2.1.2 APPLICATION 2

2.1.3 Other

2.2 Global Staffing Agency Software Market Size by Demand

2.3 Global Staffing Agency Software Market Forecast by Demand



Chapter Three: Global Staffing Agency Software Market by Type

3.1 By Type

3.1.1 TYPE 1

3.1.2 TYPE 2

3.2 Staffing Agency Software Market Size by Type

3.3 Staffing Agency Software Market Forecast by Type



Chapter Four: Major Region of Staffing Agency Software Market

4.1 Global Staffing Agency Software Sales

4.2 Global Staffing Agency Software Revenue & market share



Chapter Five: Major Companies List



Chapter Six: Conclusion



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The US Navy conducted a Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) in the Indian Ocean region when its warship ventured into India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) near Lakshadweep Islands without the latter's permission.

The operation was in accordance with international law and challenged India's "excessive" maritime claims, the US Navy said in its statement.As per a statement issued by the Commander of the US seventh fleet, the exercise was undertaken by guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones on April 7.

Also Read: India, US kick-off two-day naval exercise in eastern Indian Ocean Region

"On April 7, 2021 (local time) USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) asserted navigational rights and freedoms approximately 130 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands, inside India's exclusive economic zone, without requesting India's prior consent, consistent with international law," the US Navy said in its statement.

Prior consent from the Indian government is required for military exercises or manoeuvres in the country's exclusive economic zone or continental shelf, which the US Navy said is "inconsistent with international law."

"This freedom of navigation operation ("FONOP") upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law by challenging India's excessive maritime claims," it said.

Also Read: US Navy band sings 'Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera'; Shah Rukh Khan, AR Rahman react to viral video

US forces operate in the Indo-Pacific region on a daily basis.

All operations are designed in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, the statement said.

"We conduct routine and regular Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs), as we have done in the past and will continue to in the future.

FONOPs are not about one country, nor are they about making political statements," it added.

(With inputs from PTI.)
A mother-of-two tried to take her own life due to her 'life-destroying' addiction to Googling health symptoms.

Cherelle Farrugia, from Fairwater, Cardiff, would spend up to eight hours a day searching the internet for various medical diagnosis.

The 28-year-old said she would panic over mild aches or pains and convince herself she was suffering from life-threatening illnesses.

Her addiction got so bad her family took her phone away and changed the passwords to their computers - only for Cherelle to walk to the library.

Cherelle's worries did not ease and the searching ultimately caused her to suffer seizures before she attempted suicide just six days after her son was born.

Cherelle Farrugia, from Fairwater, Cardiff, would spend up to eight hours a day searching the internet for various medical diagnosis

Cherelle said she had suffered from mental health issues in the past but that her obsession coincided with the birth of her daughter Willow three years ago.

She said: 'I've always had issues with my mental health but it was the birth of my first child that triggered it.

'I've always been anxious, just not about my health, but I think when I became a mother it was very much that responsibility of "oh my goodness I've got to stay alive".

'I saw my mum lose her own mother and what that did mentally and I think that was what triggered it, the responsibility of being a mother and being obsessed with this idea of me wanting to be around for them forever.

'After I had Willow, my first child, I think about two weeks after I had her, I found a swollen lymph node in my groin.

'I decided to Google it, which is not something I've ever done before - in the past I would just ring the doctor. That was literally where I made my first fatal error.

'I remember that day I Googled for about six hours non-stop while I was breastfeeding, just reading, reading, reading and I convinced myself that I had lymphoma.

Cherelle said she had suffered from mental health issues in the past but that her obsession coincided with the birth of her daughter Willow three years ago

'That was the start of it. For about three months I was very, very mentally unwell.

'I was convinced I had lymphoma, I had multiple scans, paid privately, paid hundreds to get this thing checked out and everyone said "no, it's fine".

'I started writing letters to my daughter, I was putting together photo albums because I really, truly, believed my own delusion.

'I'm a relatively intelligent person but when it comes to health anxiety there's no logic.

'It feels like tunnel vision, you zoom in on one thing and there's no room for anything else no matter what doctors say.'

Cherelle would search one disease after another including the symptoms, treatments, survival rates and any other information she could find.

She said: 'I would Google every chance I could.

'I feel ashamed to say it but I'd neglect other things, the washing wouldn't be done, the dishes wouldn't be done because in my mind, my priority and the way I used to look at it was I needed to figure out what was wrong with me because no-one else believed me and I had this responsibility to figure it out for myself.

'Maybe one out of 100 times you read something that calms you down but you don't leave it there, you don't stop, you read more and more and more.

Cherelle would search one disease after another including the symptoms, treatments, survival rates and any other information she could find

'Every time I would know Googling isn't really going to help me but because of that glimmer of hope you continue to do that.

'It went from the lymphoma, I eventually let that go, then it was breast cancer.

'I've gone through almost every cancer there is, even the ridiculously obscure ones that just don't happen in women of my age like pancreatic cancer, neurological diseases, rare illnesses, rare infections.

'Whatever symptom I had at that time I would Google it and attach myself to whatever illness I thought it was.

'I'd say things like I'm going upstairs to have a bath and I'd be up there for about two hours because I'd be Googling.

'On an iPhone you can see how much time you've spent on there and at my worst it would be eight, nine hours a day.

'That went on for a couple of months until my family had a bit of an intervention, they took my phone off me.

'I was a 26-year-old mother but I had my phone taken off me, they changed the password to their own phones, to the laptop.

'One day I was so desperate I walked down to the library to Google, I was that obsessive because I didn't have access to anything else.

'It was like taking alcohol from an alcoholic, I was shaking, I was having panic attacks.

'I understand why they did it, they were at a place where it was getting ridiculous, but I now know from experience that it's probably not the best way to do it.

'My mum bought me a 17 phone, it looked like a drug dealer phone'.

For a six-month period the situation regained normality due to techniques such as 'worry time' - a designated five-minute period Cherelle would give herself to ring the doctor or to seek reassurance if she felt her mental health had started to worsen.

But, when she became pregnant with her son River, Cherelle's anxiety began to spiral again due to health complications that doctors could not investigate properly until the baby was born.

The mother-of-two became convinced she had a brain tumour, or brain aneurysm, despite an angiogram finally proving otherwise.

Cherelle also suffered from seizures brought on by extreme stress.

She said: 'I became really, really bad to the point where I was in the hospital every single day. I was under the crisis team, I was on diazepam because I just couldn't function.

'As soon as my son was born, when he was six days old, I tried to take my own life.

'I was convinced it [the aneurysm] was there, I was convinced it was going to kill me and because of that I decided I didn't want my family to find me dead on the floor because this aneurysm had burst.

'Really, genuinely, health anxiety nearly took my life, it sounds a bit dramatic but it got that bad.

'The help from all the teams was brilliant but I was just so unwell. I think in hindsight I probably did need to be sectioned but they wanted to take me to England with my son which meant my daughter couldn't come and I didn't want to do that.'

By sharing her darkest moments, Cherelle wants others to know just how serious health anxiety can be and how recognition and understanding around it is vital.

She also wants those who are suffering from it themselves to know things can get better even after hitting rock bottom.

Over the last year Cherelle has gone from strength to strength with the help of counselling and mindfulness and has left Google behind in favour of a toolkit that helps her daily.

She said: 'I've been good for about a year now. I think for me hitting absolute rock bottom and being suicidal, I know it's weird to say, but it was the best thing that could have happened to me.

'What scares me more now, more than any disease or illness is being back in that place. Being so low, I found this strength I didn't know that I had. I just said 'enough, no more,' that kind of thing and now I don't Google.

'I'm not doing any of those safety behaviours, like checking, Googling, asking for reassurance because that doesn't help.

'I just do a lot of mindfulness, I do my very best to feel grateful for every day.

'If I feel myself going a bit downhill I talk to people.

'I just treat myself with a lot of self care really, I go on daily walks, I eat better, I make sure I get enough sleep, or as much as I can with two toddlers!

'I just really try and take each day as it comes and I think for me fundamentally it was hitting rock bottom that opened my eyes.'

As part of her journey Cherelle started a video diary to make a note of her thoughts and feelings.

Since then she has launched a YouTube channel that receives thousands of views, sharing her own experiences with health anxiety and speaking to others about managing their mental health challenges.
(Newser)  Police called to a Texas industrial park Thursday afternoon found one person shot to death and five others wounded, four of them critically. The shooter, whom police believe to be an employee of the business, Kent Moore Cabinets, was gone, CNN reports. "When law enforcement showed up, it was already over with," a police official said. A Texas trooper later was shot while pursuing a suspect, per KXAS, and was in serious condition at a hospital.

story continues below

The gunman apparently used a handgun, per the AP, and acted alone. Employees of the company, which has more than 600 workers in Texas, were interviewed by police and identified a suspect to them. He was taken into custody after the manhunt in Iola, about 30 miles from Bryan, where the shootings took place. Police said they don't know of a motive. Bryan is about 100 miles northwest of Houston. (President Biden has announced measures to curb gun violence.)
Everyone has a right to speak their mind
Matt Gaetz made a late-night transaction to accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg in May 2018, with Greenberg then transferring the exact same sum to three women, it was reported on Thursday night.

The $900 transaction, made via the app Venmo, was reported by The Daily Beast.

Greenberg, early the next morning, transferred $900 in total to three different women - one of whom is now reportedly working as a porn actress. None of the three were under the age of consent - 18 in Florida - at the time.

Gaetz named one of the women in his reference for the transaction to his friend, using her nickname. Greenberg's three transfers to the women were labeled as 'tuition' and 'school'.

Greenberg, currently in jail, is said to be cooperating with prosecutors - in what his lawyer said was bad news for Gaetz.

Auditors flagged $300,000 in suspicious expenses claimed by Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector.

The pair were described by one auditor as being incredibly arrogant.

On Thursday a statement was issued by the 'women of the office of Congressman Matt Gaetz'

Joel Greenberg (right) is photographed hanging out with Rep. Matt Gaetz (center) and former President Donald Trump's longtime political adviser Roger Stone (left) in a post from Gaetz's Facebook account from 2017

Greenberg used his taxpayer-funded credit card for some of the Venmo transactions, The Daily Beast reported.

Greenberg has been federally indicted on 33 counts, including sex trafficking crimes involving a 17-year-old.

Court documents say Greenberg was 'engaged in 'sugar daddy' relationships.'

Gaetz has vehemently denied being involved in sex trafficking, and said he has never paid for sex.

He is yet to respond to questions as to why he paid Greenberg $900, and why that sum was transferred to women.

'That's incredibly powerful evidence,' said David Bear, an attorney who worked for the Orange County State Attorney's office before setting up a private practice.

'If you operate through an intermediary you are just as responsible - whether it's a financial crime or whatever.'

He told CNN's Chris Cuomo that there was no 'insulation' from the charges.

The Daily Beast was able to obtain Greenberg's credit card data through a public records request, which showed how he used his taxpayer-funded card for unexplained transactions.

'No one has any idea what he was doing. Zero,' said Daniel J. O'Keefe, an accountant who conducted a forensic audit for the county.

'The arrogance of these guys. They just felt they were above the law.

'I've never seen it this bad.'

O'Keefe was particularly puzzled by weekend expenses, hotels, unspecified high-dollar 'consulting' fees, and cash advances that Greenberg made to himself and others, he told the site.

Gaetz and Greenberg share two direct Venmo connections with women who received payments from Greenberg.

In 2018, Greenberg paid one of those women several thousand dollars using his Seminole County-issued Wells Fargo Visa card, according to county financial records obtained by The Daily Beast.

Auditors flagged the transactions, saying that, despite having a contract and invoice from the company, they 'do not know what it was for.'

The bombshell revelations came after Gaetz's office issued a statement in his defense from who they claim are women working in his office - although not one of the character witnesses has put her name to the testimony.

The 38-year-old Florida congressman, who is fighting off accusations of sex trafficking and prostitution, is pushing back with every means at his disposal.

On Thursday that included a press release signed by the 'women of the office of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz' - who said they felt 'morally obligated' to speak out.

'At no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect,' the release said.

'During Congressman Gaetz's time in office, we have been behind the scenes every step of the way. We have staffed his meetings. We have planned his events. We have traveled with him. And we have tracked his schedule.'

They described him as a 'principled and morally grounded leader,' added that none of them had 'experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect. No hint of impropriety. No ounce of untruthfulness.'

The letter continued: 'In our office and under Congressman Gaetz's leadership, women are not only respected, but have been encouraged time and time again to grow, achieve more, and ultimately, know our value.'

The nameless women concluded by saying that they 'uniformly reject these allegations as false' and that Gaetz has always treated every woman in his office with respect.

The 'women' spoke out, as it emerged Gaetz's associate is cooperating with prosecutors and will likely take a plea deal - which will put more legal pressure on the embattled Florida Republican.

'All of these stories we keep hearing are trouble for Matt Gaetz,' said Preet Bharara, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Bhrarara told Wolf Blitzer on CNN that Gaetz could potentially be facing questions about federal law infringements, sex trafficking and campaign finance violations.

CNN reported from court on Thursday that Joel Greenberg's lawyers and prosecutors told the judge that a plea deal was in the works and could be finalized within weeks.

With Greenberg cooperating with the Justice Department, prosecutors may be able to determine if Gaetz broke any sex trafficking or prostitution laws.

Greenberg's lawyer Fritz Scheller told reporters outside the hearing: 'I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today.'

Scheller was also asked if Greenberg introduced Gaetz to any underage girls for sexual relations.

'I apologize, I just can't answer that question,' Greenberg's attorney said.

Lawyers for Joel Greenberg (pictured) and prosecutors told a judge Thursday that Greenberg was cooperating with the Justice Department and they were working on a plea deal

CNN's Paula Reid captured Joel Greenberg's lawyer Fritz Scheller outside the courthouse Thursday

Greenberg is the former tax commissioner of Seminole County, Florida and has been charged with 33 counts ranging from sex trafficking of a minor to identity theft.

Gaetz, a third-term congressman from Florida, has not been charged with a crime, and he has vehemently denied the various accusations against him, among them that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

He called them a 'lie.'

But the unsettling series of allegations - including that he may have broken federal sex trafficking laws and been involved in a scheme to recruit and pay women for sex - has put the 38-year-old conservative's political future in doubt, just as he was being seen as an increasingly potent force in the Republican Party.

On Thursday it further emerged that Donald Trump, who counted Gaetz as among his most fervent supporters, had to be talked out of issuing a whole-hearted exoneration of his fellow Floridian.

'His first impulse was that he wanted to defend Gaetz, you know: 'He's one of our people,'' said Maggie Haberman, who covered Trump for The New York Times while he was in the White House.

'They have been very close, and it's been because Gaetz is a presence on television, he's from Florida, and he's willing to defend Trump vocally no matter what happens.'

Trump, pictured with Gaetz, had to be talked out of issuing a strongly-supportive statement

Some former White House officials reportedly described Gaetz as 'meanest person in politics'

Trump on Wednesday issued not a full endorsement, but rather a carefully-worded statement saying that Gaetz never sought a pardon from him, personally. The New York Times reported that Gaetz asked the White House for a pre-emptive pardon.

'Several of his advisors had told him that's a very bad idea, that the nature of what Gaetz is being investigated for is so serious that this is not something that former President Trump should be out there on a limb' for, Haberman told CNN.

She said that Trump had been 'staying away from this, and I think it will continue.'

Some within the former president's orbit even celebrated the controversy, with one former White House staffer telling Insider last month: 'He's the meanest person in politics.'

On Wednesday, CBS News reported that federal agents were investigating a trip the Florida congressman took to the Bahamas with a marijuana entrepreneur in late 2018 or early 2019.

Gaetz reportedly traveled with Dr. Jason Pirozzolo, a hand surgeon and co-founder of The American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association.

Pirozzolo paid for the travel and accommodation and also for female escorts, according to the report.

Investigators are probing whether the escorts were trafficked across state or international lines for the purpose of having sexual relations with the congressman.

'Traveling across state lines is what creates a federal hook for a prosecution,' Arlo Devlin-Brown, a former prosecutor and partner at Covington & Burling, told CBS.

'It doesn't matter that [Gaetz] personally paid them as long as he knows someone is doing that,' he added.

Investigators are also looking into whether Gaetz was trading political access for the sexual rendezvous.

The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, last week acknowledged the allegations were 'serious' and could lead to severe repercussions, but said he wanted to see more of the facts.

Joel Greenberg was captured leaving the federal courthouse in Orlando in June 2020 after making his first court appearance

'If it comes out to be true, yes, we would remove him,' McCarthy told Fox News.

Gaetz has pushed back forcefully against the allegations and sought to divert attention from the DOJ investigation by insisting he and his family have been victims of an extortion scheme.

He says two men, including former Air Force officer Robert Kent, approached Gaetz's father seeking $25 million to fund their bid to locate and free American Robert Levinson, who disappeared 14 years ago in Iran.

Kent acknowledged texting the congressman's father Don Gaetz, a former Florida Senate president, telling him he knew of an 'indictment' soon to be filed against his son, and that 'I have a plan that can make his future legal and political problems go away.'

Speaking to CNN, Kent said mentioning Gaetz's legal trouble was merely a 'teaser,' and he explained to the father 'that this was not an extortion attempt,' but a legitimate offer to help rescue Levinson while potentially showing Representative Gaetz in a positive light.

Levinson's family said in 2020 that US officials had told them that the ex-FBI agent had died while in Iranian custody.

Brash and combative, Gaetz has taken controversial steps in Congress, wearing a gas mask on the House floor last year during a vote on an early coronavirus response package.

In 2019 he delayed impeachment proceedings against Trump when he led dozens of Republican lawmakers who burst into closed-door witness depositions and refused to leave for several hours.

And in January Gaetz traveled to Wyoming to help stir up opposition to senior congresswoman Liz Cheney, one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump.

He had volunteered to leave Congress and defend the ex-president during Trump's second Senate impeachment trial, over the January 6 MAGA riot.

Salacious details of Gaetz's behavior have emerged.

According to CNN, Gaetz bragged about his sexual escapades to fellow lawmakers, showing them nude photographs of women he claimed to have slept with.

Gaetz has dug in, penning a column in Monday's Washington Examiner.

'The swamp is out to drown me with false charges, but I'm not giving up,' he wrote.

And earlier this week another ex-staffer came held a press conference in Florida, defending the congressman after speaking with the FBI.

But the DOJ investigation - which was launched while Trump was still in office and not by Gaetz's political opponents - could halt the ambitious Republican's rise.

It centers on Gaetz and Greenberg, who was indicted last year on a federal child sex trafficking charge.

According to the Times, people close to the investigation said they believe Greenberg met women through websites and introduced them to Gaetz, who had sex with them.

The DOJ is also investigating whether Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old.

Most Republicans meanwhile have withheld comment on Gaetz's scandal.

He is scheduled to speak Friday at the Trump National Doral Miami, during the 'Save America Summit' sponsored by a pro-Trump women's group.
ROCKY HILL  State police have arrested a third person in the killing of a 75-year-old man who was found dead in his Pondside Lane Home this week.

Hartford resident Melissa Feliciano, 31, was charged with murder, felony murder, first degree robbery and sixth-degree larceny, according to a copy of her arrest warrant provided by state police.

Earlier in the day police announced a third person had been apprehended in Windsor in connection with Robert Iacobuccis homicide.

State police had named Feliciano as a suspect in that case earlier this week. State police have also charged Madeline Dickey, 35, and Franklyn Cruz, 42, both of Chapman Court in New Britain, with murder and robbery offenses.

According to a police investigative report obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media, authorities believe all three suspects physically beat Iacobucci, while demanding money and valuables from him.

Feliciano was described in the report as Iacobuccis live-in nurse.

Police responded to Iacobuccis home for a welfare check after they were tipped off about the burglary and robbery by a relative of one of the suspects, the investigation report said.

Officers found Iacobucci dead in a bedroom on the second floor of the home with his hands tied behind his back, police said.

Police believe Dickey and Cruz planned to move themselves into (Iacobuccis) residence, essentially taking it over, according to the report.

The relative told police the suspects planned to return to Iacobuccis home later Monday night where they would get rid of him, the report said.

Both were apprehended in New Britain earlier this week. Police said they also recovered Iacobuccis vehicle, which had been stolen.
Capelle aan den IJssel, The Netherlands - 9 April 2021 - GeoJunxion (GOJXN.AS) announces today that its CEO, Thierry Jaccoud will resign at the end of May 2021.

Thierry Jaccoud, CEO and Managing Director of GeoJunxion N.V., has decided to resign from both roles at the end of May 2021 for personal and family related reasons.

Ivo Vleeschouwers, CFO, will take over the CEO function starting June 1st, combining the two positions until a successor can be appointed. We are confident that we can be successful in that respect in the not-too-distant future.

Under the leadership of Mr. Jaccoud and Mr. Vleeschouwers, GeoJunxion has transformed from a traditional digital map supplier, focused on one-off large deals, to a premium location content and location intelligent service provider, with a subscription based, recurring "data as a service" revenue model.

Thierry Jaccoud stated: "It has been a fantastic experience to be so instrumental in the turn-around of the company. I am very happy we have redesigned the organization and identified a new direction to foster safety and sustainability for the future. For personal reasons, I have now decided to pursue a new opportunity in order to be near my family in Germany and overcome the ongoing travel restrictions caused by COVID-19."

With the new direction set and the first positive results received, I am confident in the company's future. I am leaving it in the very capable hands of the leadership team,that will drive the company further along the path we have identified.

I want to thank the board, all employees, customers, and investors for their ongoing trust in GeoJunxion."

We thank Mr. Jaccoud for his efforts, his energy and inspiration in redefining the companies' strategy and wish him success and all the best in his future endeavors.

Signed by

The Supervisory Board

The Management Board

Ends

About GeoJunxion

GeoJunxion is the crossroads where fundamental, location-aware content connects with superior, customised intelligence and highly focused innovations to empower exceptional experiences. With an emphasis on safety and sustainability, we are constantly expanding our portfolio to meet the demands of a diverse and fast-evolving market. Building on decades of experience in mapping, the company focuses on high value, dynamic content and building environmentally conscious applications, which enrich safety in everyday life. With location-aware content at our core, we know where our strengths lie and have the know-how and technology needed to offer unrivalled, intelligent products and services.

GeoJunxion NV is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Amsterdam, under the symbol GOJXN.AS.

GeoJunxion Press Contact

Caroline Bombart, Head of Marketing

Tel: +31 (0)10 885 1200
She recently returned home to Rome after spending several weeks filming her upcoming movie Across The River And Into The Trees in Venice.

And Matilda De Angelis enjoyed quality time with her fiance William Mezzanotte as they enjoyed a romantic stroll while taking their dog for a walk on Thursday.

The Undoing actress, 25, looked smitten with her rapper beau, 26, who gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek during their outing.

Smitten: Matilda De Angelis put on a loved-up display with fiance William Mezzanotte as he sweetly kissed her on the cheek during a romantic stroll with their dog on Thursday

Matilda put on a casually chic display as she teamed a black jacket that featured PVC style panels along the arms and one side of her torso.

She completed her look by teaming a pair of black denim jeans with a pair of white shoes, while she accessorised with a cross-body handbag.

The actress styled her brunette locks into a sleek, straight style, and she kept safe by wearing a white surgical face mask.

William, meanwhile, paired a black padded jacket with a pair of grey jeans and high-top monochrome trainers.

Glamorous: Matilda put on a casually chic display as she teamed a black jacket that featured PVC style panels along the arms and one side of her torso

Matilda has previously remained coy over her love life and William is absent from her social media feed, but Italian site Tuttosul Gossip reported the couple are engaged.

On his own social media page, musician William, known professional as Nayt, includes photos with his friends but also does not feature Matilda.

Mezzonotte is an Italian rapper and he debuted in 2011 with the single No Story and his first album titled Nayt One was released in May 2012.

Nayt is best known for his trilogy Raptus (2015), Raptus 2 (2017), Raptus 3 (2019), re-released in a collection box edition by Jive Records in 2019.

Stylish: Matilda completed her look by teaming a pair of black denim jeans with a pair of white shoes, while she accessorised with a cross-body handbag

Little has been revealed about Matilda's upcoming film Robbing Mussolini, which she is now shooting in Rome, but it is likely to focus on the ruthless Italian dictator of the same name, who ruled over the country from 1922 to 1943.

Forming the Fascist party in 1919, the journalist used his organised of ex-war veterans to - known as Black Shirts - to terrorise his political opponents, and after joining the coalition government in 1921, gradually took power as dictator.

Eventually Mussolini was overthrown by Allied troops at the height of the Second World War, and after fleeing north, was captured by Partisans and shot in 1945.

Despite being buried in an unmarked grave in 1946, Mussolini's body was famously stolen by Fascists supporters before being recovered, missing a leg, four months later.

Romance: Matilda has previously remained coy over her love life and William is absent from her social media feed, but Italian site Tuttosul Gossip reported the couple are engaged

It's been an exciting few months for the thespian after she soared to fame at the end of last year due to her role as Elena in The Undoing alongside Hollywood stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant.

More recently, the brunette was filming Across The River And Into The Trees alongside Liev Schreiber in Venice.

In the film, Matilda plays an 18-year-old Italian contessa called Renata, while Liev's character Colonel Richard Cantwell falls in love with her.

Set in post WW2 Venice, US Army Col. Cantwell, haunted by the war, is a hero who faces news of his illness with stoic disregard.

Determined to spend a weekend in quiet solitude, he commandeers a military driver to facilitate a visit to some of his old haunts in Venice.

As Cantwell's plans begin to unravel, a chance encounter with a remarkable young woman begins to rekindle in him the hope of renewal.

Based on the last full-length novel by Ernest Hemingway, the movie captures a fleeting moment of immortality where time stands still.

Matilda has previously revealed that her first ever role was the lead in an Italian film after an open casting call and she got the part as the director was looking for a 'non-professional actress who had a specific accent from a specific region in Italy'.

The star said that she has never studied acting and has instead learnt on the job, which can be both 'great' and 'frightening'.
Houston ISD trustees unanimously voted Thursday to change the name of Woodrow Wilson Montessori School, citing the former presidents racist actions and beliefs.

The 600-student, Montrose-area campus will be renamed effective Friday after Ella J. Baker, a leading organizer during the civil rights movement.

A committee of Wilson Montessori staff and family members supported the name change after learning that Princeton University, where Wilson served as president, removed his name from its School of Public and International Affairs, as well as one of its residential colleges.

Wilson opposed admitting Black students to Princeton while he led the university in the early 1900s. As the nations 28th president, Wilson backed the racial segregation of federal agencies.

The name change comes as entities across the country consider whether to continue honoring historical figures whose views and actions, while perhaps common during their era, no longer are considered acceptable. Supporters of the movement often argue that the changes heal deep cultural wounds, while opponents frequently counter that such efforts unnecessarily paper over American history.

HISD officials estimated the Wilson Montessori name change will cost no more than $100,000.

Trustees also voted 6-2 on Thursday to approve a three-year contract with Teach For America, a national organization that helps train and place top college graduates who want to work in high-needs schools but lack a teaching background.

The board voted in 2019 to halt the districts relationship with Teach For America, but trustees reversed that decision in 2020 after new members were elected.

Teach For America boosters say many of the graduates, known as corps members, help fill hard-to-staff positions and later make significant contributions to their communities. Critics of the organization argue too many corps members leave the profession soon after joining and are not worth the added cost, which totals about $4,000 over two years.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com
The grounds where Jung Kuenbae and his forbears have caught fish for three generations are going to be turned into the world's largest offshore wind farm and hes not bothered.

I initially opposed the idea when the plan was proposed because it will destroy our livelihood, said Jung, who leads a group of local fishermen in 200-odd ships that drop nets off the southwestern tip of the Korean peninsula. But I realised the project is part of the countrys transition to cleaner energy, which is something we have to come to terms with, rather than fighting against it.

The 48.5 trillion won (31.5bn) wind farm, to be built over a decade, would generate up to 8.2 gigawatts of power and is one of a catalogue of grand projects the government wants with private-sector backing to meet its ambition of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

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Its a momentous challenge. South Koreas industrial ascent since the 1960s has made it one of the worlds top 10 energy users. Electricity consumption per capita is above both Japan and Germany and two thirds of that comes from fossil fuels. Renewable energy accounted for only 6.5 per cent of generation in 2019. Nuclear makes up the balance.

South Korea will have to source almost all of its electricity from renewable energy if its ever going to reach climate neutrality by 2050, says Lee Sanghoon, president of the New and Renewable Energy Center at the Korea Energy Agency, a daunting task.

To ease conflict with the community, the Shinan government in 2018 passed rules allowing them to acquire a 30 per cent stake in local renewable energy projects

A record 96.3 gigawatts of wind turbines were installed globally last year, according to clean energy research group BloombergNEF, enough to power about 36 million US households. The International Energy Agency estimates that at least 160 gigawatts of wind has to be added per year by 2025 in order to meet Paris Agreement goals.

President Moon Jae-ins Democratic Party stayed in power last year on the promise of a Green New Deal. It has brought a new urgency to the transition, with a proposal to get more than 20 per cent of energy from renewables by 2030. For South Korea, its not just about curbing emissions. Apart from a tiny amount of gas and coal, all its fossil fuels are imported, costing the nation 53bn a year.

With its conventional hydropower resources almost fully utilised and a climate and topography ill-suited for large solar and onshore wind plants, the country is looking out to sea. It already has the worlds biggest tidal power plant at Sihwa Lake but the government sees one of its best prospects is to harness 12 GW from offshore wind by 2030, compared with less than 0.2 GW now.

The open seas have more consistent wind speeds and provide space to install the biggest, most-efficient turbines. Just by using sites in shallow water that are near to shore, the world could get enough electricity to meet all global demand. With floating turbines that go further out to sea, wind power could satisfy more than 10 times the worlds total electricity demand by 2040, an IEA analysis showed.

A maintenance boat approaches a wind farm in the Southwest Sea (Bloomberg/SeongJoon Cho)

So far, Britain, Denmark and Germany have dominated the offshore wind industry, thanks to generous government subsidies and unusually shallow waters of the North Sea. But thats starting to change. Last year, China installed a record number of offshore wind turbines to become the world leader in total capacity. US President Joe Bidens administration plans to rapidly increase wind farms off its east coast.

About 80 miles from the Korean island of Shinan, where fisherman Jung lives, maintenance workers in helmets and orange life jackets climb a 200 metre tower at the nations biggest existing commercial offshore wind farm, 30 minutes by boat from the port of Buan. The projects 60 MW capacity is less than 1 per cent of the proposed new wind farm in Shinan.

The complex, in the Southwest Sea, will be expanded to 2.46 GW after 2027, according to Korea Offshore Wind Power Corp.

One of the major challenges to achievement is local opposition. A BloombergNEF report in September predicted that South Korea could fall short of the governments target wind power by 4.6 GW, mainly due to severe opposition from locals.

To ease conflict with the community, the Shinan government passed rules allowing them to acquire a 30 per cent stake in local renewable energy projects. That will provide a windfall for residents of six of the islands in the archipelago this month when last years profits from two solar plants are distributed.

Workers inspect switchgear at the wind farms substation (Bloomberg/SeongJoon Cho)

Renewable energy will become a stable source of income for Shinan residents, who are mostly in their 70s and 80s, said Kim Jung Dae, 63, a farmer who represents a group of locals. I wouldn't be surprised if Shinan became the most well-off island in the country.

There are other challenges. Wind power in South Korea currently costs about $220 per megawatt hour, according to IHS Markit, among the highest in the world.

Youd need the wind to blow at 13 metres per second all day every day to run at full capacity of 8.2 gigawatts, which is impossible, said Joo Han Gyu, a professor at Seoul National Universitys department of nuclear engineering. The economics of these wind turbines make no sense and the increased cost will eventually fall upon individuals.

South Koreas wind ambitions also rely on a sustained effort from dozens of private companies. The Shinan wind project, for example, is composed of about 20 separate ventures by corporations including SK E&S Co and Hanwha Engineering & Construction. That means plans could get scrapped or modified as each company goes through the long process of obtaining permits and calculating costs.

To help accelerate installations, a one-stop shop bill will be proposed in the first half of this year that will allow the government to take the helm in exploring potential offshore sites and getting required permits, says Yoon Sunghyuk of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Read More:

One answer may be to develop floating plants that can be moored further out than fixed turbines, which are limited to shallow water, said Lee Sanghoon from the Korea Energy Agency. Several such projects are planned by companies including Korea National Oil Corp. and Equinor ASA, which aim to jointly construct a 200-megawatt complex in the East Sea near Ulsan.

For Jung, sitting in his office, the countrys interest in offshore wind has led him to see the energy transition as an opportunity, rather than the end of his career.

No one knows the sea here better than us. Im sure there will be plenty of work we can do, Jung said. If you cant turn the tide, its better to embrace the flow.

 The Washington Post
South Korea unveils its KF-X plane, the country's first fighter jet, on Friday, Apr.9. President Moon Jae-In claimed that the country's new aircraft could be its air force's future backbone.

@byMBDA Today, South Korea has newest fighter jet KF-X roll out.

I think MBDA and South Korea should work together to build a better missile system. pic.twitter.com/DPddWem5dF  Jeong kuhyun (@CEO_Jeong_8197) April 9, 2021

According to The Strait Times' latest report, the Asian country's new fighter jet was developed by Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd or KAI. It is expected to be the cheaper version of South Korea's U.S.-built F-35 fighter jet.

However, KF-X could be less stealthy than the American-built fighter jet, which the country's defense currently relies on.

"A new era of independent defense has begun," said President Moon Jae-In. "Whenever we need it, we can make it."

South Korea's president is expecting that this new fighter jet would boost the defense industry of his country not only in war-related situations, but also in economic growth through exports.

KF-X's possible features

As of the moment, South Korea's first fighter aircraft is still a prototype. This means that the jet is still unfinished. President Jae-In said that it would be complete and combat-ready by 2028, with more than 40 units to be produced.

4.5 nesil bir avc olarak adlandrlan KF-X ucag, stealth bir ucak degil, ancak yetkililer, gelecekte ek ozelliklerle olas bir donusum icin arastrmaya devam edeceklerini soyledi. pic.twitter.com/GAF1KpYQoX  TF-X FIGHTER JET (@KRCBEY28) April 9, 2021

Also Read: US Presidential Supersonic Jet's Leaked Details: Release Date, 2x the Speed of Sound, and More! Here's Its First Look

He added that more than 100 KF-X fighter jets will arrive in 2032. Right now, KAI hasn't released any specific info about the exact features of its new fighter plane.

But, the developer said that it is planning to test the next-gen fighter jet this coming 2022. The company only confirmed the speed and range of its KF-X fighter aircraft.

KAI said that it could have around Mach 1.81 maximum speed. On the other hand, the plane's developer claimed that it has a range of around 2,900 kilometers at full tank.

Aside from this, KAI expects its new aircraft to have a maximum payload of 7,700 kilograms. Defense World also reported that the new jet could also have ten missile pods, which could carry some air-to-air missiles, such as MBDA's active radar-guided Meteor missiles and Germany's IRIS-T.

Is it faster than China's J-20?

Right now, China's J-20 is still a little faster than South Korea's KF-X since its maximum speed can reach Mach 2, which is twice the speed of sound. On the other hand, it also has the upper hand when it comes to the range since it can cover around 3,000 kilometers when in a full tank. If you want to know more details, you can click this link.

For more news updates about KF-X and other new fighter jets, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: China J-20 Receives Stealth Capability: What It Means for Country's Most Advanced Fighter Jet

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Giuliano de Leon

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Amid the ongoing row over vaccine shortage in the country, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, during the 24th meeting of the high-level group of ministers on COVID-19 today, said the country has exported 6.45 crore doses to as many as 84 countries. This includes 1.05 crore doses to 44 countries as grants, 3.58 crores to 25 countries as commercial contracts and 1.82 crores to 39 countries through the COVAX facility of the World Health Organisation.

He said on the other hand, 9.4 crore vaccines have been allocated to different states of India as part of the government's mega vaccination programme. In the past 24 hours alone, he said, 36.9 lakh doses were dispatched to states. "Last week we even gave 43 Lakh doses one day, probably the highest given anywhere in the whole world," said Dr Vardhan.

Also read: 'Don't worry if Covid numbers are high, focus on testing more': PM Modi amid Centre-Maha row

Elaborating on inoculation data about healthcare and frontline workers, Dr Vardhan said over 89 lakh healthcare workers have got the first dose and over 54 lakhs have got the second dose. As far as frontline or field level workers are concerned, over 98 lakhs got the first dose and over 45 lakhs have got the second dose, he said.

As per the health minister, for those between 45 and 59 years of age, the first dose has been received by over 2.61 crore people and the second dose by 5.2 lakh. Among those above 60 yrs of age, over 3.75 cr have received the first dose and over 13 lakh second. "Right now 0.46 per cent of the active critical patients are on ventilators, 2.31 per cent on ICU (intensive care unit) and 4.51 per cent on oxygen-supported beds," he said, adding the country's fatality rate continues to come down and at present, it is 1.28 per cent.

He said 149 districts have not seen even a single case of COVID-19 in the last 7 days; 8 districts have not seen a case in the last 14 days; 3 in the last 21 days; and 63 in the last 28 days. He said 1.19 crore people have totally recovered so far, and that India's recovery rate has now come down to 91.22 per cent from 96-97 per cent two-three months back.

Also Read: Coronavirus vaccine: How India will prevent black marketing of COVID-19 cure

India is currently facing the severest Covid-19 surge in the world, with the country recording over 1.31 lakh news cases on Thursday alone. The sudden spurt in infection has not only put pressure on the country's healthcare system but has also caused difficulties to common people as various state governments have resorted to Covid-19 induced curbs and lockdowns.

Meanwhile, the Centre has said the government will not stop the supply of made-in-India vaccines to other nations but at the same time, it'll also ensure the country's domestic needs are taken care of. "We have always said the supply of made-in-India vaccines abroad would continue taking into account our domestic requirements," said Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

Also read: Govt panel to probe side effects of Covishield, Covaxin vaccines

Also read: Covid-19 update: Two arrested for Remdesivir black marketing in Mumbai
It is a contradiction that is accepted by seasoned investors, but rarely mentioned in general conversation  financial markets arent always the best arbiters of value or allocators of capital.

If this is a problem for those smaller, growth companies out there banging the drum for good assets or projects, then it is an opportunity for those smart enough to spot this anomaly.

Glenn King is one of those people who has always had a keen eye for where the market has flatly mid-priced the risk-reward (or should I say reward-risk) equation.

He reveals he was a successful early investor in Strategic Minerals and Sirius Minerals before parlaying that experience into his business, Oakmount & Partners, which he set up in 2009.

Oakmount sources much-needed growth capital for projects, mainly in natural resources and usually ones with a green slant to them.

It does this by tapping into a pool of high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth investors who share Kings foresight.

In return for providing this capital, they are looking for a better than market return for their backing with the added kicker of capital growth.

This circle is squared by using a convertible loan note structure that might pay an annual yield in the 7-12% range but also provides the upside potential of a price increase you might enjoy buying equity.

Oakmount has provided capital for London-listed Tasmanian miner NQ Minerals, and its expansion plans outside the island.

And it has also helped fund the pre-IPO development of Australia-focused InterGroup Mining, owner of the wonderfully named Brilliant Brumby and Brandy Creek gold projects.

We've raised extensive amounts of capital for both of those businesses so that they have been able to go on and broaden their mining tenements and assets in both Tasmania and Queensland, says King.

In doing this investors earn an attractive yield on their invested capital and theres the addition of significant upside potential from a capital growth perspective.

NQ is looking to move its listing to the LSE from the Aquis exchange in the near future, providing it with a new investment audience, while InterGroup is preparing to float in the UK this summer.

Oakmounts third major current investment is Direct Energy, a hydrogen play focused on green, clean power generation and solid oxide electrolyser cell technology, which, King says, adds an extremely important green element to the basket of assets.

The companies all have one thing in common  the backing of serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist Walter Doyle. Adding some spice at NQ is the involvement of the irrepressible David Lenigas.

We have excellent relations with Walter and the team. We only work with them. We know their products, and they inspire confidence across our broader community of investors, says King.

There are two defining characteristics about the way Oakmount does business that marks it out from other boutique investment houses  the level of personal due diligence done on the assets and the laser focus on just a small handful of opportunities.

On the first point, King explains: We have feet on the ground. Our interest goes way beyond just looking at a corporate prospectus that is glossy but lacks detail. We have to understand the asset, the industry and the management.

Being able to keep on top of the fine detail, an approach that befits a former tailor, means Oakmount doesnt look at wide diversification.

Ultimately, you can leave yourself a little bit thin on the ground if you invest in too many opportunities, King says.

If you understand your asset allocation and the marketplace, then a handful of options is perfectly suitable for our family of investors.

In doing this, King and the Oakmount team aim to optimise performance over the short, medium and long-term without exposing investors to unnecessary risk.

A risk that couldnt be mitigated by that tight focus and due diligence was one posed by the global pandemic, which left King sweating a little.

I can't say that things didn't become a little bit tense and nervous last year, he adds.

However, the momentum quickly changed, allowing Oakmount to build on the successes of the past 12 years.

As mining is classified as an essential workforce in Australiaso it has been largely business as usual, Glenn King explains.

From an investor standpoint, we had an exceptional year last year. Long may this continue.
An off-duty Pentagon police officer was arrested Friday on murder charges after authorities said he shot and killed two people he believed were breaking into a car in Maryland.

David Hall Dixon, an officer for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of use of handgun in a commission of a felony and one count of reckless endangerment, the Takoma Park Police Department said.

Dixon was placed on administrative leave Wednesday after the fatal shooting of Dominique Williams, 32, and James Lionel Johnson, 38, both of Maryland, authorities said.

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Shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday, Takoma Park police officers responded to multiple reports of shots fired at the Takoma Overlook Condominiums on New Hampshire Avenue.

After they arrived the officers were approached by an off-duty PFPA officer who stated that he had fired his service weapon at the men, saying they fled after not obeying his commands when he confronted them for what he believed was an in-progress car break-in.

The two victims, Williams and Johnson, were taken to Prince George Hospital where they later died from gunshot wounds, Takoma Park police said.

According to police, Dixon also fired into a vehicle driven by Michael Thomas, 36, of Washington, D.C. He faces charges of attempted second-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commision of a felony in connection with that assault, the department said.

Thomas' condition was unknown.

"We understand that there is tremendous public interest in this case," the Takoma Park police wrote. "We ask that the public remain patient as we fully investigate the incident."

The Montgomery County State Attorney's office is reviewing and investigating, the police said.

Jacqueline Yost, spokesperson for the PFPA, said that the officer in question has been with the PFPA since July 2019.

"He was previously a federal police officer, 2009  2019, and also served as a U.S. Army Military policeman and in the US Air Force as a combat crewman. The officer is current on all use of force and firearms qualifications," Yost wrote.

It was unclear if Dixon had a lawyer.

A press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday.
A colourful Melbourne bouncer who goes by the nickname Mr Ugly has faced court charged with the indecent assault of a woman at a King Street nightclub.

Martin Debono, 67, was not present during an online hearing of the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday afternoon.

Martin Debono, who also goes by the nickname Mr Ugly.

The 67-year-olds lawyer, Paul Simon, said he would seek a suppression order as defamatory remarks were being made about his client on social media.

We may seek a suppression order in this matter because the comments were in fact really quite derogatory towards Mr Debono and caused him severe distress, he said.
The Aboriginal actress who claims she suffered 'racist traumas' on set of Channel 10 soap Neighbours has responded to a statement from production company Fremantle Media announcing an investigation into the show's workplace.

Wentworth star Shareena Clanton, 30, alleged in a lengthy Instagram post on Tuesday that producers fostered a toxic workplace environment and that the show was a 'culturally unsafe space'.

After Fremantle Asia Pacific CEO Chris Oliver-Taylor revealed on Thursday the company had hired an Indigenous-led consultancy company to investigate the situation, Ms Clanton told NITV News his statement simply wasn't good enough.

Shareena Clanton, the Aboriginal actress who claims she suffered 'racist traumas' on set of Channel 10 soap Neighbours, has responded to a statement from production company Fremantle Media announcing an investigation into the show's workplace

In response to Ms Clanton's initial complaint, Mr Oliver-Taylor had told TV Tonight 'all complaints are taken seriously and we are investigating all allegations fairly'.

'Fremantle is committed to providing an environment where employees and others in the workplace are treated fairly and with respect, and are free from unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and bullying,' he added.

'We do not tolerate behaviour that does not align to our Anti-Discrimination, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Harassment & Bullying Policy and take all complaints very seriously, investigating all allegations fairly and thoroughly.'

Fremantle has asked Campfire X, creative leaders in Indigenous Cultural Protocols, to 'conduct an independent review of Neighbours and the production process'.

Ms Clanton told NITV News on Thursday afternoon she had mixed feelings about Fremantle's statement.

While she said she was glad there would be an investigation, she felt Fremantle's claim of Neighbours having a 'fair' and 'respectful' workplace was 'problematic'.

'[It] will hopefully encourage others to speak up and out in confidence without fear of repercussions,' Ms Clanton said of Campfire X's independent review.

Ms Clanton, 30, alleged in a lengthy Instagram post on Tuesday that producers fostered a toxic workplace environment and that the show was a 'culturally unsafe space'

But she added: 'Neighbours has not fostered a "fully inclusive" environment because if it did, we wouldnt be having these conversations and multiple situations occur in the past and present days of filming.

'That is absolved of any accountability, reform, action, remorse and regret. That is not a response. That's a level of complicity that's equally a part of the problem. That response from Fremantle media is problematic.'

Ms Clanton also claimed she had spoken to 'multiple individuals' who have allegedly experienced 'various levels of inappropriate, sexual misconduct, of varying degrees of racial, cultural, gender ignorance' on set of Neighbours.

In her bombshell Instagram post on Tuesday, Ms Clanton accused Neighbours of racism and vowed to never work on the show again.

Among several complaints, the actress accused a staff member of making crude remarks and claimed she heard the N-word used on set twice.

'I'm struggling to post anything positive about the months I endured on Neighbours after multiple racist traumas and navigating ongoing counselling from this highly problematic show,' she wrote.

'It's been lonely, triggering and traumatising to work in such a culturally unsafe space.'

While she didn't name specific staff members, Ms Clanton listed several 'racist' and problematic incidents she apparently witnessed during filming.

She claimed: 'A [staff member] thought it funny and appropriate to openly laugh at the word 'cum slut' by a cast member who loudly spoke about 'cum', 'cum', 'cum' in front of other cast and crew.

'Due to my insistence of engaging a Wurundjeri Elder to be included for ongoing cultural safety reasons like cultural protocols followed and debriefing, I was told "this is not a film production, Shareena" and that "we simply don't have the budget".

'The humble few hundred dollars a week Aunty and I proposed was in contrast to the thousands of dollars actors were receiving each pay. I paid Aunty directly out of my own income to make up for this lack of budget.'

After Fremantle Asia Pacific CEO Chris Oliver-Taylor revealed on Thursday the company had hired an Indigenous-led consultancy company to investigate the situation, Ms Clanton (pictured on Wentworth) told NITV News his statement simply wasn't good enough

She continued: 'A senior staff member openly laughed whilst using the term 'slave driver' in reference to him 'working hard'. My management at the time didn't help as they endorsed/encouraged this 'office banter'. I fired the agent.

'Overt and covert levels of racism were rife, often disguised as 'jokes', like a white actress openly calling another actress of colour a 'lil' monkey'.'

'Twice I endured the N-word openly being used on-set and in the green room. I was even told to 'go somewhere else' by staff when confronting the actor directly because I was making others 'uncomfortable',' she added.

'A white actress openly laughed at the racist N-word to only lie about laughing about it when questioned by HR. She said that I 'misconstrued' what she was 'laughing at' and that she was laughing at 'something else'. That is a blatant lie.

'The retaliation for calling out this misconduct and racism often left me ostracised and further marginalised. What was meant to [be an] HR follow-up [to] discuss this led to them saying they were unsure of 'what else they could do'.'

Accusations: Among several complaints made on Tuesday, Ms Clanton accused a staff member of making crude remarks and claimed she heard the N-word used on set twice

Ms Clanton's guest appearance on Neighbours is set to air next week.

A Freemantle spokesperson told TV Blackbox: 'Neighbours strives to be a platform for diversity and inclusion on-screen and off-screen.

'Our quest is always to continue to grow and develop in this area and we acknowledge that this is an evolving process.'

'Shareena's involvement in the creative process and on set was invaluable and hugely educational and will benefit the series moving forward.

'There have been significant and lengthy discussions with Shareena during her time on Neighbours and we will continue to work with all cast and crew to ensure Neighbours continues to be a fully inclusive environment.'
The on Friday questioned the Centre's policy on the export of COVID-19 vaccines amid a shortage in the country and asked whether it is necessary to save the lives of Indians or send the vaccines to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In response, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of running an anarchic campaign, trying to create an atmosphere of fear and confusion.

Addressing a press conference, spokesperson Raghav Chadha said on one hand, the BJP-led Centre claims that Pakistan exports terrorism to India and on the other, India is exporting vaccines to the neighbouring country.

"India is directly or indirectly exporting more than six crore vaccine doses to Pakistan. Today, there is a shortage of the vaccines across the country, yet the Centre has exported 6.45 crore doses to 84 countries.

"After the vaccination of the 135 crore people of the country, the (Narendra) Modi government should export the vaccines and earn trivial appreciation, we have no objection," he said.

Chadha said when countries like the US, the UK, Hungary and Canada have accumulated enough stocks of vaccines "to vaccinate their entire population thrice, our government is busy exporting vaccines to other countries".

Due to a shortage of the vaccine doses, 109 vaccination centres in Pune, 26 in Mumbai and more than 700 in Odisha have been shut down, he said.

"If the Centre removes all restrictions vis-a-vis eligibility and makes stocks available, the (Arvind) Kejriwal government will vaccinate the entire population of Delhi in three months," the leader said.

Reacting to Chadha's remarks, Delhi spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the AAP's continued statements alleging a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in the country are a part of its anarchic strategy.

"Today, when the country is successfully running its COVID vaccination campaign, leaders like Arvind Kejriwal and Raghav Chadha, with their anarchic campaign, are trying to create an atmosphere of fear and confusion," he said.

Chadha quoted figures of different states but kept mum on Delhi's vaccine stock availability because there is no shortage in the national capital, Kapoor said, adding, "Every state gets the vaccine stock as it can stock and use and the production of vaccines is an ongoing process."



He further said in a bid to be seen on a national platform, the AAP is trying to create confusion on the vaccine stock, but the truth is that there is no shortage of the vaccines and their production is ongoing in the 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.)
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - Israel's Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich announced on Tuesday that he plans to recommend that Israel's President Reuven Rivlin task Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with forming the next government.

"Based on the prime minister's commitment that he will form a right-wing government that will safeguard Israel's Jewish identity, bolster the Judea and Samaria settlement enterprise, and pursue the necessary reforms in the judiciary, the Religious Zionist Party will recommend that the president task Netanyahu with forming a government representing the...
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. Armenian MPs are going to raise the issue of the prisoners of war who are held captive in Azerbaijan, as well as the Azerbaijani vandalism against the Armenian cultural heritage in the territories under its control, during the upcoming session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on April 19.

Of course, the number one issue will be raising the issue of the POWS in different possible formats both within the frames of the plenary session, the session of the committees and in the political groups. The ongoing Azerbaijani encroachments against the Armenian cultural heritage are also among the key issues, which are not something new, but a continuation of a clearly defined policy. This issue is also under our spotlight, MP from the ruling MP faction Tatevik Hayrapetyan told Armenpress.

The delegation members assure that they will use that four days to present the post-war situation, also expecting respective assessments over the policy run by Azerbaijan. Currently, the Armenian delegation members are conducting preparation works for achieving their desired result. Like in the past, this time as well both formal and informal meetings with foreign MPs are expected.

Lawmaker from the opposition Prosperous Armenia faction Naira Zohrabyan says its definitely possible to raise pressure on Azerbaijan over POWs at the PACE platform. And we should do everything to increase the international pressure on Azerbaijan at the PACE platform because Azerbaijan is ought to fulfill the provisions of the third Geneva Convention which supposes return of prisoners of war and all captured citizens, after the signing of the trilateral statement. However, Azerbaijan still refuses to do that, she said.

Zohrabyan also reminded that the European Court has already applied to the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, proposing to apply measures against Azerbaijan as the latter refuses to provide concrete information about the Armenian POWs to the Court.

We see what is happening. We witness an act of Azerbaijani vandalism almost every day, the MP said.

In his turn head of the opposition Bright Armenia faction Edmon Marukyan also assured that they will do everything to make the POW issue a subject of discussion. We will use all our mechanisms, he said, adding that at this moment the PACE is the only platform where the issue is presented in an influential way. The PACE is the only body where national parliaments of 47 countries, people who have an impact on the state agenda of their countries, are represented. Therefore, lobbying on that people has an influence on the foreign policy of these 47 countries, the lawmaker said.

According to MP Tatevik Hayrapetyan, the parliamentary diplomacy is one of the key parts of diplomacy. It sometimes provides an opportunity for more direct communication, and it can really give very tangible results if applied correctly. We in our turn are trying to maximally use that platform, and PACE is one of these key platforms, she noted.

A number of important meetings, Q&A sessions will be held within the frames of the PACE session. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will deliver remarks. There will be a discussion also over human rights situation in Turkey.

Interview by Anna Grigoryan

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Leila Abdallah was on her knees praying before and after the sentence for the man who killed her children. On her jacket, she wore two badges; one with the face of her three children and the other of their cousin who also died in the horrific incident.

It has been more than a year since drunk driver Samuel Davidson ploughed into a group of seven children, who had left a family gathering to get ice-cream at a nearby shop, in Sydneys north-west on February 1, 2020.

Daniel and Leila Abdallah arriving at Parramatta Court for the sentencing of Samuel William Davidson on Friday. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Siblings Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna Abdallah, 8, and their 11-year-old cousin Veronique Sakr died in the tragedy.

On Friday, Davidson, 31, was sentenced to 28 years in prison but will be eligible for parole on January 31, 2041.
The weather is warming up. The COVID vaccines are flowing. And now, an over-the-top milkshake restaurant is getting ready to open in Vancouver.

The Alabama-based milkshake chain The Yard, known for extreme shakes that are topped with things like a whole slice of cheesecake, will open up shop in June on the Vancouver waterfront.

The pandemic has been good for the milkshake business apparently.

The Yard opened its first location in Gulf Shores in 2017, and the last year has seen major growth for the company, according to cofounder Chelsea Green.

We opened in Georgetown, Texas, we opened Atlanta, Georgia, we opened Flowood, Mississippi, which is a suburb of Jackson, and then we also opened Virginia Beach, Green told AL.com. They were already planned to open, everything was in the works before COVID hit, so some of them were pushed back, but we had great success with all of them.

Milkshakes at The Yard arent for the faint of heart, or anyone with a heart condition, probably. They come in pint and quart mason jars and are topped with more desserts. And they arent cheap -- most start at $15 for the pint and $20 for the quart.

Basically what weve seen is people still want to have a little bit of enjoyment, or get out a little bit, maybe if its a special occasion, Green said. Theyre still pretty excited about dessert. So thats been really beneficial to us. Now that people are feeling a little more confident and getting out more, its making our business even better.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052, lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker
MIAMI, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Cansortium Inc. ("Cansortium" or the "Company") (CSE: TIUM.U), (OTCQB: CNTMF), today announced the second and final closing of its previously announced private placement of units ("Units") at a purchase price of US$0.70 per Unit (the "Private Placement"). The second closing was approximately US$5.2 million, bringing the total Private Placement investment to US$17.1 million. Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (each, a "Share") and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one common share of the Company (a "Warrant Share") for a period of 24 months following the closing date at an exercise price per Warrant Share equal to US$0.90.

As previously announced, proceeds from the Private Placement will provide the necessary capital to accelerate the Company's growth initiatives in both Florida and Michigan. In Florida, where the Company currently operates two cultivation facilities and 24 retail dispensaries (with 3 more to be opened shortly), the proceeds from the Private Placement will be used to: (i) immediately complete Phase 2 of the Company's new Sweetwater cultivation facility, more than doubling that facility's annual production capacity from 3,000 lbs. to more than 6,000 lbs. of high quality flower, (ii) construct a new building at the Sweetwater facility to more efficiently trim, process and package the increased flower supply; and (iii) create four additional grow rooms in the Tampa cultivation facility to increase the supply of flower and biomass by approximately 2,400 lbs. annually and to improve operating efficiencies. In addition, proceeds from the Private Placement will help accelerate opening two new dispensaries in Pennsylvania and an additional two in Florida by year-end, thereby increasing the Company's dispensary footprint to 31 locations. In Michigan, the Company will expand its existing cultivation facility and construct additional support infrastructure to capitalize on the strong demand for recreational cannabis throughout the state.

Canaccord Genuity acted as Financial Advisor to Cansortium on the Private Placement.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares and Warrants and any underlying securities shall be subject to a four month hold period from the closing date for Canadian investors. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws. Accordingly, these securities may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of Cansortium in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Cansortium Inc.

Headquartered in Miami, Florida, and operating under the Fluent brand, Cansortium is focused on being the highest quality cannabis company in the State of Florida driven by an unrelenting commitment to operational excellence from seed to sale. Cansortium has developed strong proficiencies in each of cultivation, processing, retail, and distribution activities, resulting in successfully operating in the highly regulated cannabis industry. In addition to Florida, Cansortium seeks to create significant shareholder value in the attractive markets of Texas, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, where the Company has secured licenses and established operations.

Cansortium Inc.'s common shares trade on the CSE under the symbol "TIUM.U" and on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol (OTCQB: CNTMF). Investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the Company on www.otcmarkets.com.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain information in this news release may constitute forward-looking information. In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "an opportunity exists", "is positioned", "estimates", "intends", "assumes", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management's expectations, estimates, and projections regarding future events.



Forward-looking information is necessarily based on many opinions, assumptions, and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of this news release, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to the factors described in the public documents of the Company available at www.sedar.com. These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect the Company; however, these factors should be considered carefully. There can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements containing any forward-looking information, or the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE Cansortium Inc

Related Links

www.cansortium.com


Minh Nguyen, senior associate of ACSV Legal

The entry into force of the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018 was a wake-up call for companies in Vietnam which have business relationships with EU-based companies or employ EU citizens. The main reason was because the GDPR has an extraterritorial effect under which the supervisory authority of each member state of the EU is empowered to penalise non-EU companies violating the GDPR while having business transactions with EU individuals or companies.

Using a model similar to the GDPR in sanctioning the non-compliance activities, the highest level of fine might be calculated based on the annual turnover of the violator of the preceding financial year. The draft decree on personal data protection (DPDP) is therefore foreseen to have a significant impact on all businesses operating in Vietnam, especially foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) which often have cross-border data transfer activities.

The personal data protection (PDP) committee is an independent governmental body to be established under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) of Vietnam. The PDP committee will function as the supervisory authority which oversees PDP activities in Vietnam.

Some of its duties include developing and running a national portal of personal data protection; approving data privacy policies of companies and organisations before they are rolled out; examining registration dossiers for the processing of sensitive personal data and transferring personal data cross border and requesting the MoPS to approve or reject the registration dossiers; requesting the MoPS to inspect suspected violations in PDP activities or to sanction the violations; issuing guidelines to implement the DPDP; and proposing inspection plans to the MoPS which might be conducted maximum twice a year, save for the case of a manifest violation.

Sensitive personal data

The definition of sensitive personal data is introduced for the first time in Vietnam by the MoPS to distinguish between that and the definition of basic personal data. Sensitive personal data includes genetic and biometric data, data concerning health, gender, sexual orientation, financial status and income, criminal records, location, and social relations of an individual.

According to the draft DPDP, the list of sensitive personal data is not an exhaustive one as any signature data of a person which requires a high level of confidentiality and special protection of the laws will be considered as sensitive personal data. Due to this special characteristic of the sensitive personal data, any processor wishing to process such data must register the data with the PDP committee in advance, save for certain exceptional circumstances.

The registration process would take maximum 20 working days from the date the PDP committee receives a sufficient registration dossier. Violation of the registration requirement might expose the processor to a fine of up to $4,300. Fintech companies, banks, hospitals, fitness centres and healthcare clinics would be the first ones that would get hit by this regulation when the DPDP takes effect.

According to the draft DPDP, cross-border transfer of personal data of Vietnamese citizens is restricted to a large extent. Specifically, cross-border transfer is conditional upon the satisfaction of four elements: the data subject consented to the transfer; the original data is stored in Vietnam; the country or the state where the data recipient is based offers the same or a higher level of data protection in comparison with Vietnam; and the PDP committee approves the transfer.

Although the draft DPDP sets out an exception where the cross-border transfer would be permissible without satisfying the four aforesaid elements, the prerequisites for this exceptional case need to be clarified in the subsequent drafts of the DPDP as they are still very obscure in this draft.

It is worth noting that in respect to the fourth element as set forth above, it would take a maximum of 20 working days to obtain an approval from the PDP committee after a sufficient registration dossier is lodged. Again, violation of the aforesaid requirement regarding cross-border transfer might expose the data transferor to a fine of up to $4,300.

As FIEs, as well as branches and representative offices of foreign investors in Vietnam, are often involved in multiple cross-border transfer activities, the draft DPDP proposes to apply a very severe fine, being 5 per cent of the total revenue in Vietnam, to violators of the regulation.

Data protection officers will soon be in high demand across Vietnamese organisations. Photo: Le Toan

Additional requirements

Similar to the concept of data controller in the GDPR, the draft DPDP requires a company or organisation which conducts data processing to set up or designate an internal department to function as a personal data protection department; and appoint a data protection office.

The main responsibilities of the PDP department and the data protection officer are to supervise activities within the organisation and to be the contact point for liaison with the PDP committee. The contact details of such department and officer must be notified to the committee.

The draft DPDP also requires a company or organisation which conducts data processing to issue a policy on PDP and applicable templates in implementation of the DPDP; and internal regulations governing the process of handling complaints and whistle-blowing reports with regard to personal data protection.

Last but not least, the draft DPDP requires a company or organisation which conducts cross-border transfer of personal data to store the records containing the timing of the transfer, recipient identity and contact details, and nature and volume of the data transferred within three years from the date of the transfer.

The draft DPDP sets out different types of administrative sanctions against violations of PDP, for example monetary penalty, suspension of personal data processing, or revocation of the rights for processing sensitive personal data and cross-border transfer of personal data. Some of these have been mentioned before.

Of note, similar to GDPR, the draft DPDP proposes to apply a very severe fine, being 5 per cent of the total revenue in Vietnam, to violators of the DPDP.

Although the draft is still in the process of being completed, given the fact that it is proposed to take effect in December, both local and foreign-invested enterprises should develop action plans as soon as possible to address new requirements imposed by the DPDP, for instance an internal policy regarding data protection, and setting up a department and appointing a data protection officer to oversee and censor data processing activities within the company.

This might require the involvement and collaboration of different departments in a company such as legal, HR, IT, and finance. Companies and organisations operating in Vietnam should keep the developments of the draft DPDP on the radar in the coming months.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 00:06:51|Editor: huaxia

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LUSAKA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday that more support from the international community is needed to ensure the full empowerment of refugees in Zambia.

While commending the Zambian government for efforts made in ensuring that refugees living in the country were empowered, and the support given so far, UNHCR Representative in Zambia Pierrine Aylaras said more support from the international community is required to attain full rights and attaining full empowerment and self-reliance of refugees.

"May I also take this chance to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to all the humanitarian and development actors that have supported us in this journey. I wish to also say we have not arrived yet. We still need more support from the international community to help us reach our destination," she said during a multi-stakeholder consultation meeting held virtually in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting was called to review the refugees' works done in Zambia since 2019 under the multi-partner protection and solutions strategy for 2019-2021.

It was also called to get inputs from stakeholders for the development of the second strategy to run from 2022 to 2024.

United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Zambia Coumba Gadio said the organization was committed to ensuring that refugees fully enjoyed their rights and attain self-sufficiency and contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of Zambia.

The UN representative noted that the refugee situation in Zambia continues to face silent emergencies compounded by several protracted crises, adding that the living conditions in some settlements require the international community to provide basic humanitarian needs.

"This is the case because they have not yet achieved self-sufficiency. It is my sincere hope, therefore, that the resilient strategy of these consultations will build on the work done so far and move us closer to ensuring that refugees, former refugees and their Zambian hosts are empowered," she said.

Commissioner for Refugees in Zambia's Ministry of Home Affairs Abdon Mawere said the meeting was important in the harmonization of all activities aimed at improving the welfare of refugees.

"This meeting is therefore critical in providing long-term strategic direction to address challenges that Zambia faces in fulfilling its provision for international responsibilities," he said.

According to him, the implementation of the strategy would result in pushing activities for refugees and the host communities.

Zambia currently hosts about 97,000 refugees, asylum seekers, former refugees and stateless persons. Enditem
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  With hospitals getting overwhelmed by the alarming surge in COVID-19 cases, a telemedicine platform is stepping up to allow Filipinos to reach out to doctors about health concerns without leaving their homes.

"KonsultaMD gives you access to licensed doctors all through your phone. What makes this service unique is that it's 24/7, it's unlimited and it's no appointment needed," KonsultaMD chief operating officer Cholo Tagaysay said.

While its services are subscription-based, Tagaysay said the public may avail of their health plan for free for an entire month by texting "KMD" to 2256602. The application can then be downloaded from Google Play Store or the App Store.

"We're helping decongest hospitals by being the first point of contact for people wondering if they have COVID," he added, noting their doctors can likewise classify callers as mild, moderate, or severe cases, and what steps should they take moving forward from getting tested for the coronavirus disease to actually seeking in-person medical attention.

The platform may also send an ambulance to a caller's home if they're relaying an emergency situation, owing to KonsultaMD's partnership with ambulance service provider Lifeline.

KonsultaMD's doctors can also provide callers e-prescriptions, e-laboratory requests, e-medical certificates, proper medication, general health information, and mental health assistance.

KonsultaMD's website also lists the following specializations handled by their doctors:

- General medicine

- Family medicine

- Dermatology

- Dentistry

- Internal medicine

- Obstretics and gynaecology

- Ophthalmology

- Pediatrics

- Psychology

- Surgery

Tagaysay also assured the privacy and security of callers, saying they will enjoy the same confidentiality as in-person consultations.
A LIMERICK GP says he will pull out of the next phase of the Covid-19 vaccine delivery  adding there are unrealistic expectations around the programme.

Dr Kieran Murphy, who is based in Athea, says he and his staff have received a number of intimidating calls from people complaining they or their relatives have not received the jab. He said the sooner the age-based scheme commenced, the better.

There can be no quibble about a date of birth, he said adding he and his colleagues had been awake at night worrying how the rollout would work.

This, coupled with telephone calls, meant they could not take any more.

The HSEs chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said Dr Murphys experience reflects the fear at one level of the Covid-19 side-effects and the consequences  and that peoples enthusiasm for the vaccine remains strong.

While HSE director general Paul Reid said the introduction of age cohorts will give people a level of predictability not seen before.

People are anxious to get there. I think we can give them reasonable sight now of the road ahead, he said in a media briefing.

Over Easter, Dr Murphy became unwell and was admitted to University Hospital Limerick.

I got an episode, they feel that stress may have had a part to play. I didn't physically feel stressed, but the level of stressors in the past number of months has been gigantic, he told Liveline on RTE Radio One.

We live in a very small community so the word got out that some people, particularly in the age range 75 to 80, had been vaccinated while others hadn't, and we then began getting intimidating phone calls as to why particular people had been vaccinated and others hadn't. I think the thing that the general public don't realise is the level of work that goes into a practice to organise the vaccines and to be as fair as we possibly can in allocation, he explained.

These people who weren't vaccinated just had to wait two weeks until we got a further delivery to get their vaccine, but it came across as a sense of entitlement as to why they were left out while other people got their vaccines. As a result of that we've decided that we can't really take part in the next phase of vaccination. Determining who is high risk and who isn't is very difficult, it's not black and white  age groups are black and white, he confirmed.
Update on tanker commercial employment market

We spoke to Eleven Recruitments Peter Morgan about the changes happening to the employment market in tanker shipping.

As you might expect, salaries are under pressure in commercial tanker roles in most companies. There is less of a differential in earnings between companies, so those in the industry have a reduced incentive to change position, says Peter Morgan, oil trading and commercial shipping desk lead, at Eleven Recruitment. The company specialises in recruiting for the downstream commercial oil market, including trading and shipping. Within the shipping sector it is more involved in the commercial side rather than technical appointments. Mr Morgan runs the companys commercial shipping side and physical oil trading hires. Eleven Recruitment, formerly known as Oil Recruitment, is based in London and Cheshire, UK. Its parent company, Ashley and Dumville, was involved in oil trading and shipping since the 1950s. Its clients include oil trading houses, oil majors, refiners, banks which are still involved in shipping and physical oil trading, and ship owners. It covers crude and products shipping, and LNG. There is a focus on London, Switzerland, Singapore, the Middle East and US. 2020: changes in demand Due to market pressures, there is not a great deal of growth in demand for tanker chartering professionals however Peter has seen increasing and continued growth in demand for people with LNG expertise over the past few years. London has seen a few departures of commercial offices of tanker operators in the past few years which has reduced the career options for the candidates in the market. As a result many tanker professionals are finding themselves in different environments such as competitive broking. Oil company marine departments have an increased focus on "optimisation", ensuring logistics are streamlined and efficient which has led to further emphasis on commercial operations, he says. There have also been banks making an exit from physical oil trading. Previously, some banks had their own chartered fleets, he said. Banks had a big impact on the employment market for oil shipping professionals, because they were able to offer very strong packages  this had encouraged movement, and had a chain reaction effect through other sectors of the employment market. As a general point, the number of people which shipping companies hire has a direct correlation with the size of their fleet, taking on more people as the fleet grows, and vice versa, he says. Desired skills In terms of the skills employers are looking for, shipping companies still place a lot of value on candidates with a sailing background. They like people who have been to sea, know the bow from the stern, and can't have wool pulled over their eyes. This is invaluable experience to have, particularly in operations departments, he says. There is less of a need for people like that in oil/trading companies who dont have their own owned time charter fleets. For chartering roles, generally speaking, companies look for people who have already worked in specific sectors within the tanker market. The trading companies do like candidates coming from other similar businesses whereas tanker owners seem generally more open to candidates coming from both sides of the fence. Shipping is a people business. You have to have those commercial skills, get on with people, build robust relationships and maintain those relationships, he says. The markets are moving daily so you need strong mathematical acumen to take a view on the market and decide what's a good voyage and a bad voyage. Graduates A first port of call for many graduates is still working in demurrage (charges payable after a failure to load the ship at the time agreed, the equivalent of a taxi drivers waiting charges). Demurrage is a good starting point for many grads to get a foothold and understand the general mechanics behind commercial shipping. From there, the traditional path was always to commercial operations: if you show promise and commercial potential, you may get the opportunity to progress to a chartering role. Generally graduates who have a clear drive to be involved in the market, through shipping related degrees, or internships, will be looked on more favourably than those who dont. Where are the opportunities? As we know, the main commercial shipping hubs are still Houston, London, Geneva, Athens, Dubai, Singapore, he says. London is still seen, I feel, as the epicentre for shipping in Europe. A lot of the brokers are here, charterers are here, and a good few ship owners are here. London is still very much crucial to the market. Singapore however, has shown consistent growth over the last 5-10 years. If you want to be in shipping, Singapore isn't a bad place to be for sure. The green future Looking to the post Covid world, the green energy transition continues to build momentum and importance. Indeed we have seen the oil majors announce their restructuring plans and set out significant changes for a new direction. This year we have also had IMO2020 and we can see our clients beginning to future proof their businesses, developing decarbonisation plans and being alert for any new environmental legislative changes that may affect them. But, there are no clear signs yet about how great the impact will be on the hiring market, Mr Morgan says. Over the medium term at least, ships are still going to exist; oil is still needed; and while that is the case our clients need operators to operate them and charterers to fix them, he says.




Florida Rep. Kat Cammack has blasted Joe Biden's border policies, labeling him the 'trafficker-in-chief' as the number of migrant children crossing into the United States from Mexico reaches the highest level in history.

Cammack was among the Republican Congresspeople who toured the border earlier this week, and she recounted the harrowing conditions in an interview with Fox News on Thursday.

'Just 24 hours ago I was there in Mission, Texas. I saw firsthand young girls under the age of 10 that had been gang-raped. They had been screaming so loud that their vocal cords had given out. This is a humanitarian crisis,' Cammack declared.

'I can't even in good conscience call President Biden president, I have to call him "trafficker-in-chief" because these kids are being trafficked.'

Florida Rep. Kat Cammack has blasted Joe Biden's border policies, labeling him the 'trafficker-in-chief' as the number of migrant children crossing into the United States from Mexico reaches the highest level in history

Last month, a whopping 170,000 migrants were apprehended crossing the southern border illegally

Biden has come under fire for reversing tough Trump-era immigration policies, which his administration admits has fueled the rise in border crossings since he took office

Biden has come under fire for reversing tough Trump-era immigration policies, which his administration admits has fueled the rise in border crossings since he took office.

Biden has lifted the Trump policy that forced migrants to remain in Mexico while going through the legal process to enter the US, narrowed ICE's criteria for arrests and deportations, and stopped the building of Trump's border wall.

Last month, 170,200 migrants were apprehended crossing the southern border illegally.

March also saw the most migrant children crossing the border in history, with 18,890 unaccompanied minors being taken into cramped shelters. The previous record was around 11,000 back in May 2019.

'When you have 20,000 children in custody and the border patrol agents are stretched thin to the max and we're watching cartel members taunt our border patrol agents as they're sending these children under six years old across the river by themselves, this is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportion,' Cammack stated.

Meanwhile, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise similarly slammed Biden and spoke of harrowing instances of child abuse during a Thursday appearance on Fox and Friends.

'I've talked to a lot of people that have been on the ground, it is beyond a disaster. What they've done not only to these border towns, the mayors, you hear them, Democrat and Republican, expressing outrage over what President Biden created,' he stated.

Meanwhile, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise similarly slammed Biden and spoke of harrowing instances of child abuse during a Thursday appearance on Fox and Friends

Last month, a whopping 17,0200 migrants were apprehended crossing the southern border illegally

'Over a third of the girls are being sexually assaulted or raped along the journey. Then they get to the United States and you've seen how they're being treated - not given proper food and shelter, being put next to somebody six inches apart with COVID.'

It's unclear where Scalise obtained his statistics, but Biden officials have conceded that migrant holding facilities are dangerously overcrowded.

Cammack and Scalise's claims of child abuse come after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott revealed Wednesday that there have been 'credible' reports of underage migrants being abused at a facility in Texas.

Abbott said he was alerted to the alleged incidents inside the Freeman Expo Center in San Antonio, which is currently holding 1,370 migrant children.

'This facility is a health and safety nightmare,' Abbot declared.

'The Biden administration is now presiding over the abuse of children. To end this abuse, the Biden administration must immediately shut down this facility.'

Police register names as a group of migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador arrives in the U.S. after crossing the Rio Grande river on Wednesday

A group of migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador arrives at a bus terminal in the U.S. after crossing the Rio Grande river from Mexico

The border crisis shows no signs of abating for Biden, with the number of unaccompanied children arriving in the US soaring.

Some facilities are running low on food, and there are reports of children going hungry and sleeping on the floor.

In one facility, human rights lawyers say children only have access to showers intermittently.

It was also revealed on Thursday that Biden's Department of Health and Human Services is spending $60million a week to house the child migrants in 10 shelters across the country.

Figures seen by The Washington Post show the cost of caring for one of these youths is $290 a day, and the 7,700 available beds have already been completely overwhelmed.

President Joe Biden also tried to characterize the influx as normal seasonal upticks during his late March press conference.

'It happens every single solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March - it happens every year,' Biden said at the time.

However, top House Republican, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, tweeted Thursday: 'President Biden said the surge was seasonal. But the #'s dont lie  172k migrants were taken into custody last month, a two-decade high.'

Speaking last week, Biden refused to call the situation a crisis, despite human rights lawyers claiming migrant children were going hungry and showering only intermittently. Pictured: Children inside the Donna Migrant Facility in Texas

However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Republicans are actually to blame for the spike, and conditions are improving under President Biden.

'The fact is that we're on a good path at the border under the leadership of President Biden,' Pelosi insisted during an event in California on Thursday.

She added: 'It's about restructuring how we do what is happening there, because we were in a very bad situation under the Trump administration.'

The House speaker is helping push the Democratic narrative that former President Donald Trump and Republicans are to blame for the growing crisis at the southern border.
Concerned Shareholders respond to Fancamp's press release dated April 1, 2021 regarding the termination of the Consulting Agreement with Peter H. Smith, and the groundless and inflammatory allegations made against him.

Concerned shareholders renew their demand that the entrenched board and management start acting in the best interests of the Company by calling the long overdue AGM as soon as possible and allowing shareholders to vote on the ScoZinc Transaction.

Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2021) - Incumbent director of Fancamp, Dr. Peter H. Smith, who, together with joint actors, holds directly and indirectly an aggregate of 15,854,097 shares, representing approximately 9.55% of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares of Fancamp Exploration Ltd. ("Fancamp" or the "Company") (the "Concerned Shareholders"), regards the Company's press release dated April 1, 2021 as a preemptive smear campaign to tarnish the reputation of its co-founder, Dr. Peter H. Smith, and punish him for actually acting in the best interest of the Company. The fact that since Dr. Smith first requested and demanded that the board and management of Fancamp consider shareholders' interests and rights with respect to the highly dilutive plan of arrangement with ScoZinc Mining Inc. ("ScoZinc"), Fancamp board and management stopped paying him as per the terms of the consulting agreement ("Consulting Agreement") as a part of their continued bully tactics and threats that verge on intimidation if he was not to align himself with the Fancamp board and management. The actions taken on April 1, 2021 are not only deplorable, they show the lack of respect for an individual that has given more than half of his life to the betterment of the Company. Dr. Smith has been at Fancamp for over 35 years and has steered the Company in the right direction to the best of his abilities and it is now the current board and management's desire to put their own interests first through this ScoZinc transaction. There was no just cause for the termination of Dr. Smith's Consulting Agreement. The truth is this action has been taken as manner in which to avoid a discussion of the real issues of bad corporate governance, poor disclosure and lack of transparency.

The allegations made in Fancamp's April 1, 2021 press release are groundless, inflammatory and wrongfully portray Dr. Smith's character, motives and actions inside and outside the boardroom. Board and management's so called "multiple attempts to reason" have consisted of stonewalling on the long overdue annual general meeting ("AGM"), disclosure and transparency issues surrounding the proposed ScoZinc transaction, and threats and intimidation which have culminated in the unjustified termination of his Consulting Agreement because Dr. Smith will not play ball with the Fancamp board and management.

Corporate and securities laws demand that all the directors of Fancamp, including Dr. Smith, have a duty to act honestly and in good faith for the best interests of the Company and to avoid situations where that duty comes into conflict with their other obligations or personal interests. The record shows that during his last 35 years, Dr. Smith has consistently put Fancamp's interests ahead of his own. He has always understood that the responsibility of corporate governance is given to directors and must be confirmed by a vote of shareholders at each annual general meeting. The last annual general meeting was held 17 months ago. Dr. Smith has repeatedly stated that the mandate of the current board has lapsed, that the board should call the long overdue AGM and that the board should not approve any transactions that will fundamentally change the share capital or the business of the Company.

In contrast, the current board stubbornly continues to deny shareholders their right to an AGM citing the COVID-19 pandemic repeatedly as the reason, which is disingenuous given all the steps the Company has taken when it suits it, including entering into the ScoZinc Transaction. This reckless disregard for good corporate governance is not in the best interests of the Company, has created uncertainty about Fancamp in the markets and has led to widespread shareholder dissatisfaction. This problem has been exacerbated by the murky circumstances surrounding timing, due diligence, disclosure, transparency and related party issues related to the ScoZinc transaction.

Dr. Smith has repeatedly stated that shareholders should be entitled to vote on the proposed arrangement with ScoZinc. In response, the Company has given Dr. Smith threats of financial ruin and humiliation in a clear attempt to intimidate him. All of the steps taken by Dr. Smith have been in good faith and in the Company's and shareholders' best interests.

The April 1, 2021 press release demands that Dr. Smith resign as a director of the Company. Dr. Smith will not be resigning his position as a director of the Company, nor does the board have the lawful authority to remove him. If the current board and management wish to see Dr. Smith replaced on the board that, they can do so by calling the long-awaited AGM and let the true owners of Fancamp - YOU, the shareholder make the final determination as to whom shareholders wish to steward the Company now and in the future.

Advisors

The Concerned Shareholders have retained Gryphon Advisors Inc. as its strategic shareholder services advisor. Farris LLP is acting as legal counsel to Dr. Smith.

For more information regarding the Concerned Shareholders' position please contact:

Gryphon Advisors Inc.

Tel: 1-833-461-3651

Email: inquiries@gryphonadvisors.ca

Information in Support of Public Broadcast Solicitation

The information contained in this press release does not and is not meant to constitute a solicitation of a proxy within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Although the Concerned Shareholders have approached several nominees for election to the Company's board of directors at the company's next general meeting of shareholders, there is currently no record or meeting date set and shareholders are not being asked at this time to execute a proxy in favour of any matter. In connection with the meeting, the Concerned Shareholders may file a dissident information circular in due course in compliance with applicable securities laws.

The information contained herein, and any solicitation made by the Concerned Shareholders in advance of any general meeting of shareholders, or will be, as applicable, made by the Concerned Shareholders and not by or on behalf of the management of Fancamp. All costs incurred for any solicitation will be borne by the Concerned Shareholders, provided that, subject to applicable law, the Concerned Shareholders may seek reimbursement from Fancamp of the Concerned Shareholders' out-of-pocket expenses, including proxy solicitation expenses and legal fees, incurred in connection with a successful reconstitution of the Company's board of directors. The Concerned Shareholders are not soliciting proxies in connection with a general meeting of shareholders of the Company at this time.

The Concerned Shareholders may engage the services of one or more agents and authorize other persons to assist in soliciting proxies on behalf of the Concerned Shareholders. Any proxies solicited by or on behalf of the Concerned Shareholders, including by any other agent retained by the Concerned Shareholders, may be solicited pursuant to a dissident information circular or by way of public broadcast, including through press releases, speeches, or publications and by any other manner permitted under Canadian corporate and securities laws. Any such proxies may be revoked by instrument in writing executed by a shareholder or by his or her attorney authorized in writing or, if the shareholder is a body corporate, by an officer or attorney thereof duly authorized or by any other manner permitted by law.

The registered address of Fancamp is located at 3200 - 650 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 4P7. The mailing and head office address of Fancamp is 7290 Gray Avenue, Burnaby, British Columbia V5J 3Z2. A copy of this press release may be obtained on Fancamp's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/79959
The Western Union Foundation today announced its first-quarter 2021 programs, investing more than USD 1.25 million to mobilize youth to access jobs in the healthcare industry, assisting with COVID-19 vaccine education and distribution, and to enable economic recovery through workforce training. This investment furthers the Western Union Foundations Opportunity Beyond Borders three-year USD 15 million commitment to provide migrant and young adults with resources to gain sustainable employment and provide relief and preparedness for crises.

The Western Union Foundation recognizes that this momentas the global pandemic recovery effort begins in earnestis a crucial one for the communities we serve, said Foundation Executive Director Elizabeth Roscoe. We are determined to do everything we can to keep people who are already on the margins from falling farther behind because they lack access to vaccines or opportunities to participate in the formal labor markets as economies progress toward recovery.

In 2020, the first full year of Opportunity Beyond Borders, the Western Union Foundation invested more than USD 6 million to help 200,000 people in 33 countries, as detailed in its 2020 Global Impact Report.

COVID-19 vaccine education, preparedness, and distribution programs

Research has shown a large portion of the population in many low-income countries is hesitant to get the vaccine, often due to lack of education about the vaccine and logistical challenges to reach vaccine centers. The Aspen Institute and International Medical Corps will receive funds from the Western Union Foundation to address these challenges.

In Kenya and India, the Aspen Institute will partner with leading community-based organizations to support vaccine education and distribution efforts by skilling youth and women in the community in vaccine awareness, preparedness and access.

In the Philippines, the International Medical Corps program will address vaccine hesitancy by driving awareness and coordinating transportation for vulnerable populations to vaccine centers.

In Pakistan, host to the third-largest number of refugees in the world, International Medical Corps will train volunteers in refugee villages to raise vaccine awareness and promote health and hygiene best practices.

Western Union and the Foundation are further enabling vaccine adoption by donating funds on behalf of each vaccinated Western Union employee and allowing employees to donate directly to the cause. This program will provide up to $350K to help inoculate thousands more in rural communities.

Workforce training for entrepreneurship and career pathways

In addition to the COVID-19 community resilience programs, the Foundations first-quarter investment aims to enable economic recovery for migrant and refugee communities affected by last years lockdowns. The following are a few of the programs:

In Mexico, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative will scale entrepreneurship programs by training young business leaders and incubating micro-businesses that provide essential services and products to their local communities.

In Jordan and Lebanon, the Kiron Open Higher Education program will work with the most vulnerable populations residing in refugee encampments and will offer skill-building opportunities to prepare individuals for and give access to career pathways.

In Jordan and Palestine, Education for Employment will launch a research study about relevant jobs post-COVID-19 and provide customized training to business owners, with the majority female, helping them adapt and grow their businesses in response to the effects of COVID-19.

To learn more about the impact the Western Union Foundation has made to people and partners over the past year, check out the stories of impact on their newly launched website.

About the Western Union Foundation

The Western Union Foundation believes that education is the surest pathway to economic opportunity. After 20 years of impact, we continue to deliver on our mission with Opportunity Beyond Borders, focused on empowering forcibly displaced and marginalized youth with the training and education needed to succeed in todays technology-driven global economy. The Foundation also provides funding for humanitarian efforts for communities in crisis and disaster, one key reason for forced migration. To date, we have funded more than $131 million for projects and scholarships. The Western Union Foundation is a separate, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable corporation and receives support from The Western Union Company, its employees, agents, and business partners. Contributions to the Foundation are tax-deductible for U.S. income tax purposes. To learn more, visit www.westernunionfoundation.org or follow us on Twitter @TheWUFoundation.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210408005454/en/
Accademia di S. Cecilia has announced that Antonio Pappano, the present music director, will become its music director emeritus at the end of his contract in October 2023.

The announcement of this new position comes soon after the news that Pappano is moving on to become the chief conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra.

The emeritus position will however mean that he will still have important ties with Rome's orchestra, which has made enormous strides onto the international scene under his leadership.

Pappano's position as music director of S. Cecilia, which he has held for 17 years will go to Daniele Gatti, whose contract as music director of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma orchestra expires at the end of this year.

Corriere della Sera is reporting that Gatti's position at the Teatro dell'Opera will then be filled by Michele Mariotti, who is at present the music director at the Comunale di Bologna and who has conducted many of the world's most prestigious orchestras, such as the Wiener Staatsoper, the Met in New York and the Royal Opera House in London.

Mariotti is scheduled to conduct Luisa Miller by Verdi in concert form at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma on 20-21 April and the symphonic concert of music by Verdi on 28 April, both to be broadcast live on Radio Rai 3.

This lineup of talent secures a place for Rome as one of the important cities on the European if not the international music scene, moving ahead of Milan, where La Scala has been falling behind during the covid-19 pandemic.

Both S. Cecilia and the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma have been very active during these difficult times, not just with streamed repeats of previous productions and performances but also with challenging and imaginative new work.

Photo RAI Cultura
Here we are, finally on the cusp of our long-awaited Hot Vaxx Summer. About 112 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and if you havent gotten one yet, chances are you will be able to soon: Starting April 19, the general public over 16 will become eligible. Among people who are enthusiastic about vaccination, theres a mix of excitementafter more than a year of living through the pandemic, some light at the end of the tunnel!along with some nervousness about side effects. Some who have been lucky enough to be vaccinated already have reported chills, fevers, fatigue, or even vomiting after receiving a vaccine dose. (Side effects are more common after the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.)

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As a result, people are getting all sorts of advice about what to door not to doin the hours leading up to and following a COVID-19 vaccination. Slate staffers report receiving general advice, like staying hydrated or avoiding alcohol. Meanwhile, my parents were advised to adhere to a very specific routine: Drink one glass of water before the shot with three days worth of Vitamin C supplements, then one glass of water after.

Other advice, especially around taking over-the-counter painkillers like ibuprofen or acetaminophen has been contradictory.* One friend told me the nurse who administered her shot told her to take ibuprofen afterward; meanwhile, on social media, people have posted about taking pain meds even before their vaccination appointment, in hopes it could head off soreness at the injection site or muscle aches. But others tell me theyve heard to specifically avoid ibuprofen and use acetaminophen instead, or advised to avoid pain killers entirely. What does the science say?

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To understand that, its worth reviewing what vaccines actually do. While the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use a different method from Johnson & Johnsons vaccine, the result is the same: The vaccine teaches your immune system to recognize coronavirus. In that process, your body recruits specific types of cells to identify and clean up invader cells. One type of cell, called helper T-cells, aids another, called B-cells, which release antibodies that target coronavirus. Essentially, the vaccines serve as a rehearsal for your immune system to practice how to spot and clear coronavirus cells, so that if it encounters the real thing, its ready.

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A natural part of that process is inflammation, says Sujan Shresta, a viral immunologist at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology. For proper development of the immune system, there needs to be the right balance of molecules called cytokines, which help the T cells and B cells be fully activated, she says. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen, get rid of some inflammatory cytokines, which may reduce activation of immune cells and antibody responses. Though there is limited data, Shresta says, most scientists and physicians will advocate for not taking anything if at all possible.

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Thats what Rachel Roper, associate professor of microbiology & immunology at East Carolina University, told me as well. Taking over-the-counter painkillers before the vaccine is definitely unnecessaryafter all, you wont know until after the shot if youll have any unpleasant response. All these side effects you get are basically a reaction to your immune response turning on, so it doesnt seem like a good idea to take something that blocks that, says Roper. If its two days after the vaccine and youve still got chills and high fever, then I think it might be reasonable to take it, because youve got an overreactionbut I wouldnt take it before, and I wouldnt take it a day after either, unless youre really miserable.

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But if you do end up taking over-the-counter painkillers with your vaccineor already didits probably not a huge deal. The overall effect of NSAIDs is likely pretty small. Among the small body of existing studies looking at the effect of NSAIDs on post-vaccine antibody production in children, researchers did find some evidence of reduced antibody responses, but that did not affect the efficacy of vaccines. A 2009 paper examining the effect of OTC painkillers in mice and human cells in a lab found a similar result: Ibuprofen, but not acetaminophen, dampens antibody responses. But, of course, humans are not mice, and our cells may behave differently when theyre actually inside of us rather than in a petri dish. This is not an FDA-sanctioned clinical trial that shows [NSAIDs] have an effect on vaccinations, which is what you really need to do, says David Topham, a co-author of that study and a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Rochester. I think if they did the trial, the effect would be modest. Still, based on his results, Topham says that if he had a choice, hed take acetaminophen and not ibuprofen. And, if it makes you feel any better, Shresta told me she actually caved and took some ibuprofen the day after her second vaccine dose. I had a major deadline the next day and with the headache, there was no way that was going to happen, she says. Life happens.

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As for the other advicestaying hydrated, avoiding alcohol, or taking vitamin supplementsthere simply isnt good data on it yet. These vaccines are still quite new, and scientists have (rightfully) been focused on testing its overall efficacy, rather than examining the effect of these other variables. While theres some data suggesting alcohol can inhibit immune responses, its unlikely that any single behavior is going to strongly affect your vaccines efficacy.

Rather, all this advice centers around putting your immune systems best foot forward. Roper recommends getting a good night of sleep before getting vaccinated and not doing a super hard workout the day before or after. (This was the point in our phone call where I had a moment of panic that Id done it wrong: I tried a hard running workout the day after my first dose, but Roper said it was probably fine.) Stay hydrated and eat well, of course, but theres no need to go out of the way to drink a ton of water or vitamin C supplements; neither has any particular effect on your immune system. Perhaps one upside of prescribing this kind of routine to patients is a type of placebo effectit makes people feel like theyre prepared, and can reduce anxiety about going to their appointment. Maybe, Roper said, my parents doctor told them this just to make them feel better.

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The bottom line that all researchers stressed? Just go get the vaccine. Avoid over-the-counter painkillers and alcohol if you can, but at the end of the day, the best thing you can do for yourselfand our society, which is struggling to control the spread of COVIDis to get the shot when youre able. The world is really at a critical phase with these variants, and we need everyone to be vaccinated as quickly as possible, says Shresta.

Correction, April 12, 2021: This article originally misidentified acetaminophen as a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. It is not.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Congress may have extended the Paycheck Protection Program through May, but with only $68 billion left in its coffers, the PPP may sunset well before then. That shouldn't deter you.

Here are four reasons to apply for funds as soon as possible.

1. Funds could run out soon.

During a March 24 Senate hearing on the efficacy of Covid-19 relief initiatives, Patrick Kelley, of the Small Business Administration's Office of Capital Access, noted that the PPP program could exhaust its funding as early as mid-April. At the time, there was just $79 billion left. Two weeks later, as of March 4, there's just $68 billion left, out of a total of $291 billion.

After reopening for a third time to certain lenders on January 11 with $284.5 billion, the program was replenished with another $7.25 billion with the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act on March 11.

2. You can apply for a second-draw loan ASAP.

The SBA recently ruled that business owners may apply for a second-draw PPP loan, even if they don't wait eight weeks after receiving their first-round checks. Previously, first-draw borrowers needed to both wait the requisite eight weeks--that is, the term for the minimum covered period--and to spend down most or all of their first-draw loan's proceeds before they could access a second-draw loan. To qualify now, businesses with 300 or fewer employees must only spend down all (or most) of their first-draw funds, and they must have experienced a revenue reduction of at least 25 percent due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

3. Congress may appropriate more money to the PPP.

Although some business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, suggest letting the PPP phase out either on May 31 or when funds run out--whichever comes first--many lawmakers have recently focused on fixing key problems with the PPP.

Many PPP stakeholders, including lawmakers, want to allow sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed entrepreneurs to retroactively apply for more money. This follows the Biden administration's February 22nd request that the SBA change the formula these borrowers use to calculate their PPP loan. Rather than using net income, which removes taxes and other expenses, these borrowers may now use gross income, which allows them to book higher loan amounts.

A March 3 notice from the SBA stated that this change would not be retroactive. However, several senators--including Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)--want to change this. The lawmakers say they support a legislative fix that would allow solopreneurs who've already received a PPP loan to retroactively apply for more money. And they're not going to like it if the program runs out of cash before they're able to do so. As such, Mark Peterson, executive vice president of advocacy at the American Institute of CPAs, said in a town hall session on Thursday that there's a good chance Congress will appropriate more funds--and issue a retroactive fix--as early as mid-April. "We believe they'll come back next week and focus on this," he said.

4. SBA has an error-code resolution plan.
Peachland Mayor Cindy Fortin shows an invitation to book a COVID-19 vaccination letter that she received from Interior Health. She won't be getting an early shot, saying she believes there are "many more people who need to get this vaccine ahead of me".
Former No Limit rapper McKinley "Mac" Phipps Jr. has been granted clemency by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards after spending more than two decades in jail for a manslaughter conviction, the musician's family said Friday.

A spokesperson for the governor confirmed the news.

It's at least the second time Phipps has applied for clemency. His 2016 clemency request was unsuccessful.

This time, he appeared before the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole in February. The board members agreed that Phipps should receive immediate parole eligibility, according to a statement from AMP PR, the public relations company that represents him. Edwards reviewed the recommendation in March and granted Phippss clemency request, the statement said.

Phipps has served 21 years of a 30-year sentence in connection with the shooting death of a man at a club in Slidell. He has been in a work-release program in Lafourche Parish since February, according to his wife, Angelique Phipps.

The next step for Phipps is a June 22 parole hearing before he is given a release date, his wife said.

We are approaching the finish line to securing Macs freedom, Angelique Phipps said in a statement. We are grateful to Governor John Bel Edwards for granting his clemency and to those who have supported him along the way.

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A St. Tammany Parish jury found Phipps guilty in 2001 of killing 19-year-old Barron Victor Jr. the previous year at a crowded Club Mercedes in Slidell. Victor was shot during a show that Phipps, then a 22-year-old rising entertainer with a new record deal, had at the club.

Phipps has maintained that he was wrongfully convicted of manslaughter.

His case got national attention in 2015 when five witnesses told The Huffington Post they were coaxed or forced into saying that Phipps as the shooter.

Clemency is a legal mechanism for a governor or president to pardon a person or commute their sentence. The governor's office didn't immediately release more details about the decision.

During a 2015 press conference, Phipps sister Tiffany Phipps Cave read a statement from the rapper.

I did not kill Barron Victor Jr. and it is my hope that the evidence brought forth is more than enough to support that claim, the statement said.

+12 Convicted St. Tammany rapper's parents plead for a new trial for their son The parents of convicted Slidell rapper McKinley "Mac" Phipps Jr. made an emotional plea Thursday for a new trial for their son. Phipps' 2001 

Staff writer Faimon A. Roberts III contributed to this story.
Biotech giant CSLs finances wont be impacted by the shock overhaul of the federal governments COVID-19 vaccine strategy but the company cannot shift its focus from making AstraZeneca doses to alternatives such as Novavax.

The $120 billion company said it would continue to make the AstraZeneca vaccine in its facilities in Melbourne, as part of an agreement with the federal government to produce 51 million doses in Australia.

Its commitment to AstraZeneca comes despite new federal guidance on Thursday recommending the use of the Pfizer vaccine over AstraZeneca for under-50s due to blood clot concerns.

A worker rolls a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines onto a truck at a CSL factory in Melbourne. Credit:Getty Images

A CSL spokeswoman said the new vaccine advice from the government would not have an adverse effect on the biotech firms bottom line. The ASX-listed company expected to continue to be able to keep making doses according to the agreement with AstraZeneca and the Australian government.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 04:13:59|Editor: huaxia

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BRUSSELS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Council of the European Union (EU) on Friday approved additional funding of 121.5 million euros (144.6 million U.S. dollars) from the bloc's budget to address urgent needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, the EU Council said the additional funds will be used to prepare for digital green certificates to facilitate free movement and develop further the exchange platform for passenger locator forms.

The funds will also be used to strengthen the capacity of EU member states to detect and monitor new variants of the coronavirus, while ensuring sufficient testing capacity in the member states.

The Council said the funds will be drawn from the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve, which is intended to help member states and third countries in emergency situations. They will be channelled through the Emergency Support Instrument and the EU contribution to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

The European Parliament is expected to discuss the package next week, aiming for approval in its plenary at the end of April.

The COVID-19 death toll in Europe surpassed one million on Friday, reaching 1,001,313, according to the dashboard of the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Europe. Enditem
For die-hards, no horror movie can be too scary. But for you, a wimp, the wrong one can leave you miserable. Never fear, scaredies, because Slates Scaredy Scale is here to help. Weve put together a highly scientific and mostly spoiler-free system for rating new horror movies, comparing them with classics along a 10-point scale. And because not everyone is scared by the same thingssome viewers cant stand jump scares, while others are haunted by more psychological terrors or simply cant stomach arterial spurtsit breaks down each movies scares across three criteria: suspense, spookiness, and gore.

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This time: The Empty Man, an uncategorizable two-and-half-hour mindfuck originally filmed in 2017, left partly unfinished, and then shelved for several years before it was finally dumped in theaters last October. At first the story of missing hikers in the 1990s, and then the story of an ex-cop on the trail of a neighbors missing daughter, and then  a lot more than that, the movie attracted little notice initially, but in the months since it arrived to streaming in January, it has summoned a steady drumbeat of horror-nerd plaudits. Theyve variously dubbed it the next great cult horror film and the pandemics horror cult classic, and the movies profile just keeps rising. What is this strange horror epic, and, more important, would it be tolerable for you, a certified scaredy? We break it down below.

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Sorry to say The Empty Man mostly knows what its doing with its shocks, and they are early and plentiful. You know that thing in horror movies where a menacing figure is just standing there in the distance, then all of the sudden sprints toward a probable victim? I hate that thing. This one has a doozy in the first 15 minutes.

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There will be viscera: stabbings, shootings, decomposing dogs, hangings, you name it. This is no Saw, howeverif you are fine with most slasher movies, youll probably be fine with this.

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The Empty Mans bravura 22-minute prologue, as four hikers deal with an accident and a very unfortunate discovery in the Bhutanese mountains in 1995, had me reeling. I should not have watched that shit home alone. If that had been the whole movie, I would tell all scaredies to run. But there are still two hours to go, and as The Empty Man proceeds, it becomes a quite strange mishmash of horror genres that is more beguiling than truly horrific. Haunted I am not. But  that opening sequence. And lots of other terrible stuff! If you have a hard time getting gory images or disturbing scenarios out of your head, this one may not be for you.

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It is above the Scaredy Scales pay grade to determine if The Empty Man is a new horror cult classicand in any case, thats typically determined by time, not contemporary viewers. But the sheer amount of movie here manages to pack in plenty of terrible things that flip our meter well past midway in every category. Tread lightly, fraidy nation.
Five officers who were placed on paid administrative leave following a Midland County jail inmates death on March 7 have returned to duty.

Sheriff David Criner confirmed Thursday that the officers have returned to work but said the Texas Rangers are continuing to investigate the incident. The names of the officers involved have not been released.

The morning of Feb. 20, Catarino Humberto Rodriguez-Borjon was in a holding cell following an arrest for public intoxication two days earlier. During roll call, he allegedly walked toward an officer and an unsecured door and refused verbal commands to step back, according to a custodial death report filed with the Texas Attorney Generals Office.

The officer then pushed 51-year-old Rodriguez-Borjon, causing him to lose his balance and hit his head on a concrete bench, the report states.

Aid was administered and emergency medical staff were called to transport Rodriguez-Borjon to Midland Memorial Hospital. The report states that at some point he stood and walked to a stretcher on his own power.

However, he was placed on life support after arriving at the hospital and never regained consciousness before he died on March 7.

The five employees were placed on administrative leave after approval from the Midland County Commissioners Court on March 22 during an executive session, which was closed to the public.

A Sheriffs Office patrol unit responded to a residence on East County Road 64 at 8 p.m. on Feb. 18 in response to a call for a vehicle burglary in progress, according to Rodriguez-Borjons arrest affidavit. When the deputy on duty arrived, the complainant alleged Rodriguez-Borjon had attempted to open his truck door.

The deputy located Rodriguez-Borjon in the backyard of a nearby residence and instructed him at gunpoint to walk toward the officer, the affidavit states. Rodriguez-Borjon complied and was placed under arrest.

The complainant, identified as a neighbor, declined to press charges for attempted burglary. Rodriguez-Borjon was charged with public intoxication because he allegedly had slurred speech, was unbalanced and had a strong odor of alcohol, according to the affidavit.
The family of Ghislaine Maxwell has launched a website in support of the British socialite, insisting she's 'no monster' and protesting her innocence, as she awaits trial on charges she procured underage girls for billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The site, realghislaine.com, went live on Friday, weeks before Maxwell is scheduled to appeal her thrice-rejected application to be freed on bail.

Her family invited people to 'get to know the real Ghislaine' on the website, where they shared biographical details, information about her upcoming trial, jail conditions, as well as the books she is reading behind bars.

'This website has been developed and is maintained by brothers, sisters, family & friends of Ghislaine Maxwell, the people who have known the real Ghislaine all her life, not the fictional one-dimensional character created by the media,' it states.

'We believe wholeheartedly in our beloved sister's innocence and encourage visitors to this site to sign up for updates from the family on her case by providing your e-mail address below in the strictest of confidence.'

Ghislaine Maxwell's older brother Ian spoke out in his sister's defense in a video on the family's new website, realghislaine.com

Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, in June 2019 with her six living siblings. Ian Maxwell, her older brother, top right, shared it this weekend. A month after it was taken, Jeffrey Epstein was arrested and Ghislaine went into hiding with her husband, Scott Borgerson. The siblings, L-R, are: Anne, 73, Kevin, 62, twins Isabel and Christine, 70, Philip, 71, and Ian, 64

The launch of the webpage is a notable shift in tone by the famously tight-lipped family, who appear to be trying to salvage Maxwell's reputation ahead of her trial in July.

Maxwell, 59, has been detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since her arrest last July and has been denied bail multiple times.

She has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking underage girls in the 1990s and early 2000s for Epstein, her one-time boyfriend.

In a video statement included on the site's home page, her brother Ian claimed she has been wrongfully detained in solitary confinement and said she is now preparing to appeal her denied application for bail.

'I and my brothers and sisters love her very much. We believe in her innocence and that she'll be exonerated in the end, which is why it's so hard for us to see her held in an American prison in solitary confinement without bail for over 260 days and counting,' he says.

'My sister is no monster. Ghislaine is a stepmother. A wife. A friend to many. A sister to me. No one deserves to be tortured when they're presumed innocent.'

Ian said his sister is awaiting trial 'based on allegations that date back 25 years by accusers whose names not even her own lawyers know.'

The launch of the webpage is a notable shift in tone by the famously tight-lipped family, who appear to be trying to salvage Maxwell's reputation ahead of her trial in July

The website also includes a 'FAQ' section detailing her jail conditions, as well as the books she's reading behind bars

He also claimed she has been unable to properly prepare for her defense because she is locked in a tiny cell for '12 hours a day.'

The website attempts to paint Maxwell in a positive light, describing her as 'kind and compassionate' and includes a biographical section with details of her family, work and accomplishments over the years.

It makes no mention of her husband, Scott Borgerson.

'Today, [Ghislaine] remains close to her family and friends. Like all detainees in these times of COVID, she is unable to receive their visits, but she is buoyed by their love and the knowledge of their support on the outside which is conveyed to her by their letters.

'Ghislaine is extremely grateful for the hundreds of beautiful and supportive letters from strangers some of whom write her on a daily basis.'

The family claims more than a dozen letters of support 'affirming her honesty and integrity' have been submitted to the court in a bid for Maxwell's release.

An FAQ section also provides details of her 'restrictive' jail conditions, which include multiple physical searches a day that involve guards looking inside in her mouth and pointing a flashlight into her cell 'every 15 minutes during the night, making sleep impossible for her.'

'There is no flat surface in her cell for her to work on the legal documentation for the long hours she is left to languish in there,' the website states.

'The drinking water is full of contaminants and the food is inedible. Food has been fed to her on plastic trays that have melted when exposed to microwaved heating, making the food inedible and unsafe.'

Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged 'madam' for Jeffrey Epstein, was told off by guards at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for failing to flush her toilet

Prosecutors said, in a letter filed in federal court, that the British socialite 'frequently did not flush her toilet after using it, which caused the cell to smell'

It also reveals Maxwell has been keeping busy behind bars by reading books including 'The Oregon Trail' by Rinker Buck, 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine,' by Gail Honeyman, 'The Black Swan', by Nicholas Taleb, among others.



Maxwell is the youngest of seven surviving siblings including Anne, 73, Kevin, 62, twins Isabel and Christine, 70, Philip, 71, and Ian, 64.

Prior to its launch, the family had promoted the website on a new Twitter account with the handle @RealGhislaine.

'We believe in Ghislaine's innocence and that she will be exonerated in the end. Get to know the real Ghislaine and get more facts, and information by visiting our website, live today!' they said in a tweet.

Just one day earlier, Maxwell refuted claims about her alleged behavior behind bars including that she doesn't flush the toilet in her cell.

In a filing on Tuesday, prosecutors said jail staff recently ordered Maxwell to clean her 'very dirty' cell, which smelled because she 'frequently did not flush her toilet after using it.'

Her lawyer Bobbi Sternheim responded to the claims, accusing prosecutors of trying to 'publicly embarrass and humiliate Ms. Maxwell in the hostile court of public opinion' and jeopardizing her right to a fair trial on charges.

'To suggest she willingly lives in squalor is absurd,' Sternheim wrote on Wednesday night to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan, who oversees Maxwell's case.

retaliation for Maxwell's having complained about a routine pat-down search.

Sternheim countered that the sometimes 'overwhelming' stench resulted from toilets overflowing in a nearby cellblock.

'Due to lack of privacy, Ms. Maxwell refrains from using the toilet in the isolation cell and, as directed by the guards, she flushes frequently to avoid plumbing problems,' she wrote.

Sternheim said inmates, including Maxwell, must drink dirty tap water and are surrounded by mold, vermin, cockroaches and rodents.

She also rejected prosecutors' assurances that Maxwell, now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, is healthy and not suffering weight and hair loss, and said Maxwell's eyesight is 'failing.'
Over 600 people with appointments were turned away from the "Vaccines for All" event at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Wednesday after a number of people had an adverse reaction to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to a statement from Centura Health.
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Agricultural Bank of China LimitedGlobal Credit Research - 09 Apr 2021Hong Kong, April 09, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Agricultural Bank of China Limited and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review discussion held on 1 April 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.Agricultural Bank of China Limited's (ABC) A1 long-term deposit rating incorporates the bank's baa2 baseline credit assessment (BCA) and four notches of uplift from the support by the Government of China (A1). We believe that there is a very high probability for the bank to receive government support in times of need.ABC's BCA of baa2 reflects the bank's improved level of asset quality, with increased efforts in non performing loans work out in the past years and the bank's weaker capitalization level compared with the average of the big 4 commercial banks. ABC is one of the four G-SIBs in China, and therefore the bank is subject to 1% of common equity tier 1 ratio surcharge. ABC has a very strong presence in the rural areas and that contributed to the bank's strong funding and liquidity positions. On balance, its BCA reflects the cyclical pressure posed to the bank's solvency metrics by an expected uneven recovery in China after the disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak. However, the medium-term outlook on these financial metrics would improve as China's economy recovers.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 March 2021. 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. 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. Chen Huang Senior Vice President Financial Institutions Group Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd. 24/F One Pacific Place 88 Queensway Hong Kong China (Hong Kong S.A.R.) JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Yat Man Sally Yim, CFA MD - Financial Institutions Financial Institutions Group JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd. 24/F One Pacific Place 88 Queensway Hong Kong China (Hong Kong S.A.R.) JOURNALISTS: 852 3758 1350 Client Service: 852 3551 3077  2021 Moodys Corporation, Moodys Investors Service, Inc., Moodys Analytics, Inc. and/or their licensors and affiliates (collectively, MOODYS). All rights reserved.CREDIT RATINGS ISSUED BY MOODY'S CREDIT RATINGS AFFILIATES ARE THEIR CURRENT OPINIONS OF THE RELATIVE FUTURE CREDIT RISK OF ENTITIES, CREDIT COMMITMENTS, OR DEBT OR DEBT-LIKE SECURITIES, AND MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND INFORMATION PUBLISHED BY MOODYS (COLLECTIVELY, PUBLICATIONS) MAY INCLUDE SUCH CURRENT OPINIONS. MOODYS DEFINES CREDIT RISK AS THE RISK THAT AN ENTITY MAY NOT MEET ITS CONTRACTUAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS AS THEY COME DUE AND ANY ESTIMATED FINANCIAL LOSS IN THE EVENT OF DEFAULT OR IMPAIRMENT. SEE APPLICABLE MOODYS RATING SYMBOLS AND DEFINITIONS PUBLICATION FOR INFORMATION ON THE TYPES OF CONTRACTUAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS ADDRESSED BY MOODYS CREDIT RATINGS. CREDIT RATINGS DO NOT ADDRESS ANY OTHER RISK, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: LIQUIDITY RISK, MARKET VALUE RISK, OR PRICE VOLATILITY. CREDIT RATINGS, NON-CREDIT ASSESSMENTS (ASSESSMENTS), AND OTHER OPINIONS INCLUDED IN MOODYS PUBLICATIONS ARE NOT STATEMENTS OF CURRENT OR HISTORICAL FACT. 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China urged the international community to resist "vaccine nationalism" and to coordinate policy to make vaccines accessible for developing countries in order to contain the pandemic and for the sake of the global economy.

Yi Gang, Governor of the People's Bank of China, said in a statement delivered to the International Monetary Fund's steering committee on Thursday that the pick-up in global growth was "slow and uneven", and a fair distribution of vaccines was key to achieving a sustainable recovery.

"The international community should work together to resist 'vaccine nationalism,' strengthen cooperation and policy coordination to fight against COVID-19, and improve the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries in a meaningful way," Yi said.

China's President Xi Jinping had delivered the same message on vaccines in a telephone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier this week.

The central bank chief also gave an assurance that China would continue to provide necessary monetary support to the economy and refrain from abruptly unwinding stimulus measures.

"The sound monetary policy will be implemented in a flexible, targeted, reasonable, and appropriate manner," Yi said.

Fiscal policy in China would focus on "quality, effectiveness and sustainability," as the country's economy is expected to continue recovering this year with gross domestic product (GDP) growth projected to be over 6%, he said.

Beijing has repeatedly called into question the assumption that the new coronavirus originated in China, and has embarked upon a vaccine diplomacy campaign to send Chinese-developed shots against COVID-19 around the world.

Yi said China either provided or plans to offer vaccine assistance to 80 countries, while exporting vaccines to over 40 countries. It also provides 10 million doses of vaccines to global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX, he added.

Also read: Australia, Philippines, African Union ban AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot

Also read: SII fully refunds South Africa for 500,000 undelivered COVID-19 vaccine doses
ALBANY  Dozens of Capital Region school districts will soon be able to establish free childcare facilities for 4-year-olds with the help of funds in the 2021-22 state spending plan.

The enacted New York budget pumps $105 million into an expansion of universal pre-kindergarten in 210 upstate New York and Long Island districts that don't currently offer pre-school programs.

Universal Pre-Kindergarten is a state grant-funded program to prepare 3- and 4-year-olds for kindergarten. Guilderland, Menands, East Greenbush, Shenendehowa, Mechanicville, Schodack, and Bethlehem are among the districts that will get UPK grants for the first time this year, according to the state aid numbers released by the state Department of Education this week.

State education officials praised the state's investment in early education but raised concerns about the long-term sustainability of these new programs, which are largely funded by COVID-19 relief dollars.

"While the Regents have long supported increased funding for prekindergarten programs, we are concerned with the budgets use of time-limited federal funds to support this increase and will continue to advocate for these programs to be fully funded with state dollars in the future," Board of Regents Chancellor Lester Young and State Education Department Commissioner Betty Rosa said in a statement.

Pre-K funding has existed in the state in some form since the 1990s, but in 2014, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo vowed to universalize access to free, high-quality preschools across New York.

Currently, about 400 of more than 700 New York public school districts offer some form of part-time or full-time pre-kindergarten. While big city districts in New York City and Rochester have successfully made full-day pre-kindergarten available to all families who need it, access to free, full-time preschool in the rest of the state is patchy.

In the Capital Region, pre-kindergarten options in suburban and rural districts are particularly scarce. Across 11 regional districts, just 37 percent of 4-year-olds are served by state-funded preschool programs, according to state data.

Six districts in New York still do not offer full-time kindergarten, including Shenendehowa, which cites a lack of classroom space. Efforts to mandate full-time kindergarten legislatively have been unsuccessful.

Statewide, 34 percent of public school superintendents say their community's preschool needs are being met by existing public and private programs, according to a survey conducted in August 2019 by the New York State Council of School Superintendents.

More than half of superintendents surveyed cite insufficient state funding as the largest hurdle to the implementation of full-time early childhood programs in their districts, according to the poll, which sheds light on the haphazard implementation of New York's universal pre-K push in recent years.

Roughly 77,000 4-year-olds across the state still lack access to state-funded pre-kindergarten programs, according to the Alliance for Quality Education. The advocacy group earlier this year warned that 2021's pandemic-related budget cuts, which threatened to cut into districts' state aid allocation, could pose an additional setback to the state's universal pre-kindergarten goal.

The state's investment in preschool education, plus its three-year commitment to reimburse districts for owed Foundation Aid -- a formula-based aid that directs state dollars to districts with the greatest need -- is a major victory for public school education, according to AQE policy director Marina Marcou-O'Malley.

"The Pre-K dollars included in the budget are an incredibly positive step in the right direction towards achieving 'Pre-K for all' in our state," Marcou-O'Malley said. "Combined with the childcare investment through federal dollars and the commitment to fully funding Foundation Aid within three years, we can begin to build a solid foundation for our children."
By the initiative and decision of the Vilkyskiu pienine AB (company code 277160980) Board, the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Vilkyskiu pienine AB is convened at the office of Vilkyskiu pienine AB (P. Lukosaicio str. 14, Vilkyskiai, LT-99254 Pagegiu sav.) on 30 April 2021 at 1 p.m.

Shareholders' registration starts from 12 p.m. until 12.50 p.m.

The Agenda for the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders:

1) Approval of Company's consolidated annual report for the year 2020.

2) Auditors Report regarding the Companys consolidated and separated financial Statements for 2020.

3) Approval of Company's separated and consolidated financial statement for the year 2020.

4) Net profit (loss) appropriation for the year 2020.

5) Approval of supplemented Remuneration policy of Vilkyskiu pienine AB.

6) Approval of the Remuneration Report of the Company for 2020 which is part of the Annual Report.

Taking into account the fact that the announced quarantine in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania by Government Resolution is also valid on the Meeting Day, we recommend the shareholders of Vilkyskiu pienine AB to express their opinions and vote on the issues announced at the General Meeting of Shareholders in advance by submitting a written vote by advanced bulletin (attached as an annex).

The Company shall not provide the possibility for shareholders to participate, vote and give the mandate to represent them in the General Meeting of Shareholders through electronic communication channels.

The account date of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders is 23 April 2021. In General Meeting of the shareholders have the rights to participate and vote persons who were company's shareholders at the end of accounting date of shareholders meeting personally or their authorized persons, or persons with whom voting rights transferring contract is signed.

The rights accounting day is 14 May 2021. Property rights are possessed by persons who are shareholders at the end of the 10th working day after the shareholders' meeting that issued appropriate decision.

Ex-Date, the date since which Vilkyskiu pienine AB shares (VLP1L, ISIN kodas LT0000127508) bought via stock exchange with settlement cycle T+2 do not provide the right to dividends for year 2020, is 13 May 2021.

The agenda of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders may be supplemented by initiative of shareholders who own shares carrying not less than 1/20 of all the votes. Proposals to the agenda of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders may be submitted not later than on the 16 April 2021. Along with a proposal to supplement the agenda of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders it is required to submit the drafts of proposed decisions or, if decisions shall not be adopted, explanations on each of the proposed issues.

Shareholders who own shares carrying not less than 1/20 of all votes own the right at any time before the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders or during the meeting have the right to propose new draft resolutions regarding the items included or ones that will be included in the meeting agenda. Draft resolutions shall be submitted in writing by sending them via a registered mail at the above-specified head-office address of the Company or by e-mail info@vilvi.eu .

The shareholders shall have the right to present questions related to the 30 April 2021 Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders agenda issues to the Company in writing by e-mail info@vilvi.eu or at the head-office address P. Lukosaicio str. 14, Vilkyskiai, LT-99254 Pagegiu sav. The Company undertakes to respond if the questions are received not later than 3 working days before the General Meeting of Shareholders.

On decisions, which are included into Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders agenda, can be voted in writing by completing the general bulletin. On shareholder's request, send the general bulletin by registered mail free of charge or by hand against receipt. The filled in general bulletin must be signed by shareholders' or a person authorized by him. The vote of the shareholders' authorized person voting particulars must be added the right to vote in a document.

Shareholders who participate in General Meeting must submit an identity document, the authorized person  an identity document and the letter of attorney in accordance with the procedure laid down by the law. A person who is not a shareholder, besides this document, must also submit a document confirming the right to vote at General Meeting of Shareholders.

Shareholders can get acquainted with the companys documents related to the agenda of shareholders meeting at the company's office located P.Lukosaicio str. 14, Vilkyskiai, LT-99254 Pagegiu sav., or on the webpage of the company ( www.vilvigroup.lt ). Taking into account that on the date of this announcement quarantine is in force in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania- we invite shareholders of the Company to give priority to familiarization with the information provided in the Companys website section For Investors.

Additional information authorized to provide Economics and Finance director Vilija Milaseviciute, phone +370 441 55102
She waited out the pandemic in her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, with her husband and son.

But on Thursday, Ashley Graham was back at work in the Big Apple as she walked in the Michael Kors show as part of the 2021 New York Fashion Week.

With COVID-19 still a threat, the runway show took place outside and Ashley joined Irina Shayk, Naomi Campbell and Bella Hadid on Manhattan's Broadway.

Concrete catwalk: Ashley Graham walked in the Michael Kors fashion show, held outdoors due to the pandemic, as part of the 2021 New York Fashion Week on Thursday

Ashley, 33, sashayed down the street in a black dress decorated with sequins and with cut out panels at the waist.

The fabric was gathered at the navel with a ring.

The top of the figure-hugging outfit had a turtleneck and long sleeves while the skirt fell to below the knee.

The plus-size model strutted her stuff in a pair of black stilettos and wore her long hair sleekly styled back from her face in a long ponytail.

Designer duds: Ashley, 33, sashayed down the street in a black dress decorated with sequins and with cut out panels at the waist. The fabric was gathered at the navel with a ring

Working it: The top of the figure-hugging outfit had a turtleneck and long sleeves while the skirt fell to below the knee

Style showcase: The plus-size model strutted her stuff in a pair of black stilettos and wore her long hair sleekly styled back from her face in a long ponytail

Top models: Ashley joined Irina Shayk, Naomi Campbell and Bella Hadid on Manhattan's Broadway for the show

Earlier in the day, Ashley had been seen arriving for the event wearing a black leather jacket over a ribbed tank and matching harem pants.

She carried a black studded Chanel purse and stepped out in white trainers.

Right before traveling to NYC, she had enjoyed a brief vacation in Venice Beach, California, with husband Justin Earvin and their one-year-old son Isaac.

Casual: Earlier in the day, Ashley had been seen arriving for the event wearing a black leather jacket over a ribbed tank and matching harem pants
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The head of a South Beach-based technology company who bilked a federal program serving disadvantaged kids in Brooklyn Catholic schools, must shell out nearly $900,000 in restitution, forfeiture and a fine.

But the good news for John Comito is hes not going to jail.

Comito, 69, was sentenced Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court to five years probation in addition to the monetary penalties for wire fraud.

The defendant, the chief executive officer of AutoExec Computer Systems Inc., was busted in December 2019.

In announcing his arrest, authorities accused Comito of two counts of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud with respect to the E-rate program.

The program distributes money to schools and libraries serving impoverished kids to buy telecommunications services, Internet access and related equipment, said authorities.

The E-rate program defrays approved costs by up to 90 percent, said authorities.

To qualify, educational institutions must certify that they are purchasing equipment and services from a private vendor.

Between 2013 and 2017, AutoExec contracted with 26 elementary, middle and high schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn to provide telecommunication services and equipment, officials said.

At least eight schools received no equipment or services, said authorities.

The other 18 schools received partial, substandard or non-approved equipment and services, officials said.

Comito pleaded guilty to wire fraud last September.

He told the judge then he had neglected to supply schools with some of the equipment they were supposed to get.

Comito said he submitted an invoice in October 2015, in which he falsely claimed his company had provided certain Internet services and equipment to schools under the program.

Brooklyn federal prosecutors said the company illegally obtained $433,000.

Comito personally profited to the tune of $133,240, said prosecutors.

I wish to express to the court how sorry I am for my conduct, Comito said at his plea hearing.

Public records indicate AutoExec is located on Sand Lane.

Those records also show addresses for Comito in the Mid-Island.

In a sentencing memorandum, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Philip Pilmar and Francisco J. Navarro requested a jail sentence of no more than 27 months.

They also sought a fine of over $1 million and restitution of more than $505,000.

Despite his privileged financial circumstances, the defendant still chose to defraud the government and economically-disadvantaged schools out of hundreds of thousands of dollars of needed equipment for the education of children, they wrote.

Defense lawyers Michael F. Bachner and Howard Weiner asked the court to follow the Probation Departments recommendation of a non-custodial sentence.

They cited Comitos lack of a criminal history and his negligible risk for recidivism.

The attorneys also highlighted numerous letters of support for their client submitted by priests, nuns and the heads of several schools.

Johns misconduct in this case is but a small part of who he is, and the crime committed in this case is an aberration in the otherwise law-abiding and altruistic life of this 69-year-old father, husband, friend and colleague, wrote the attorneys.

Under the sentence, Comito must pay restitution of $505,403, plus a $250,000 fine.

He has already forfeited nearly $133,240.
"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
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  A South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars seized by Seoul was freed and sailed away early Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal.

MarineTraffic.com data showed the MT Hankuk Chemi leaving Bandar Abbas in the early morning hours. By Friday afternoon, it was off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, having passed safely through the Strait of Hormuz.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said Iran released the tanker and its captain after seizing the vessel in January. The ministry says the Hankuk Chemi left an Iranian port at around 6 a.m. local time after completing an administrative process.

Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, later confirmed that Iran had released the vessel.

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At the request of the owner and the Korean government, the order to release the ship was issued by the prosecutor, Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying by the state-run IRNA news agency.

The ships owner, DM Shipping Co. Ltd. of Busan, South Korea, could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Hankuk Chemi had been traveling from a petrochemicals facility in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when armed Revolutionary Guard troops stormed the vessel in January and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran.

Iran had accused the MT Hankuk Chemi of polluting the waters in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. But the seizure was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Seoul to release some $7 billion in Iranian assets tied up in South Korean banks amid heavy American sanctions on Iran. Iran released the 20-member crew in February, but continued to detain the ship and its captain while demanding that South Korea unlock frozen Iranian assets.

Irans Foreign Ministry did not acknowledge the fund dispute when announcing the ships release, with Khatibzadeh saying only that the captain and tanker had a clean record in the region.

But an official from South Koreas Foreign Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity under regulations, said Seouls willingness to resolve the issue of Iranian assets tied up in South Korea possibly had a positive influence in Irans decision to release the vessel.

The official said Iran had acknowledged South Koreas attempts to resolve the dispute as it became clear the issue was not just about South Koreas ability and efforts alone and was intertwined with negotiations over the return to Tehrans foundering nuclear deal.

Unfreezing the funds involves the consent of various countries including the U.S., which in 2018 imposed sweeping sanctions on Irans oil and banking sectors. The official said South Korea has been closely communicating with other countries over the frozen Iranian assets.

In January, the U.N. said Iran topped a list of countries owing money to the world body with a minimum bill of over $16 million. If unpaid, Iran could lose its voting rights as required under the U.N. Charter.

Were expecting to make a considerable progress in terms of paying the U.N. dues, an unnamed South Korean Foreign Ministry official was quoted by the countrys Yonhap news agency. We have also exported some $30 million worth of medical equipment since we resumed the humanitarian trade with Iran last April.

Iran later announced it expected South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun to travel to Tehran for a two-day visit beginning Sunday. Yonhap said the trip would be the first visit of a South Korean premier to Iran in 44 years  before Irans 1979 Islamic Revolution. Chung previously visited Iran in August 2017 as the then-speaker of the National Assembly.

The development came as Iran and world powers were set to resume negotiations in Vienna on Friday to break the standoff over U.S. sanctions against Iran and Iranian breaches of the nuclear agreement. The 2015 nuclear accord, which then-President Donald Trump abandoned three years later, offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

___

Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
STANTON  President Biden recently stopped the Wuhan probe into what caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Why would he do that unless he was trying to cover up the cause? It is widely known that the Bidens profited heavily from their financial dealings in China and elsewhere during Joes vice presi
People check in to vote at a polling place in Sun Prairie, Wis., on April 7, 2020. (Andy Manis/Getty Images)

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules State Shouldnt Purge Thousands of Voters Who May Have Moved From Rolls

Wisconsins Supreme Court, in siding with Democrats, ruled that the state should not purge voters from rolls after they are flagged as possibly having moved out of the state.

The courts 52 ruling (pdf) means about 69,000 people on the list of likely movers wont have their voter registrations deactivated. Republicans had sought to purge the voter rolls for years.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), a conservative group, argued that Wisconsins election commission broke the law when it didnt remove voters from rolls after they did not respond within 30 days to a mailing effort in 2019 that indicated they were identified as someone who potentially moved out-of-state.

The lawsuit was first brought in 2019, and at that time, about 234,000 were on the list. Of those who remain, none voted in the 2016 presidential election, said the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

The court ruled that the job of removing voters from rolls is up to local election officials, not the state election commission.

There is no credible argument that it does apply to the commission, Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote for the majority.

Dissenting judges said that both state and local officials are responsible for clearing up voter rolls for people who have moved.

The majoritys decision leaves the administration of Wisconsins election law in flux, at least with respect to ensuring the accuracy of the voter rolls, Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote for the minority.

Representatives for President Donald Trump, looks over a ballots during the presidential recount vote for Dane County in Madison, Wisc., on Nov. 20, 2020. (Andy Manis/Getty Images)

WILL head Rick Esenberg said the ruling is a disappointing setback.

This is a disappointing setback for those who expect Wisconsin state agencies to follow the law  WILL remains committed to the rule of law and to a reasonable set of election rules that acknowledges that the right to vote involves convenience, accuracy, integrity, he said.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a Democrat, hailed the victory and said that the mass removal of legitimately registered voters would have been shamefully unfair.

I appreciate the Supreme Courts conclusion that the authority and responsibility to maintain voter rolls belongs to local elections officials, Barrett added.

Marc Elias, a top Democratic Party election lawyer, also praised the state Supreme Court, calling it a big win on Twitter.

Separately, the state of Pennsylvania this week agreed to remove the names of deceased voters from rolls, according to a watchdog, which said it discovered 21,000 registrants on the list had diedincluding several thousand who had died more than a decade ago.

After the Nov. 3, 2020, election, several election-related lawsuits were filed in Wisconsin on behalf of former President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden won the state by fewer than 21,000 votes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A drugs boss was let out of jail to marry his sweetheart seven months into a six-year sentence for trafficking 120,000 of cocaine.

Benjamin Connor, 27, claimed he had a 'right to marry' Adele Hunter, 26, in Goole Register Office under human rights laws.

The governer of HMP Humber has been blasted for the move - which is said to have left Justice Minister Robert Buckland 'absolutely furious'.

Connor rammed a police vehicle when it tried to stop him at a roundabout before driving the wrong way on a slip road heading towards the M1 in July in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

When police stopped him by crashing into his car, Connor was found to be carrying seven pounds of cocaine in a shoe box in his footwell.

Benjamin Connor, 27, claimed he had a 'right to marry' Adele Hunter, 26, (pictured on their wedding day) under human rights laws

Benjamin Connor, 27, (pictured) claimed he had a 'right to marry' Adele Hunter, 26, under human rights laws

More drugs and 3,500 in cash were found in his home.

He admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply and having criminal property - along with a driving charge - and was sentenced to six years in prison.

But, on Tuesday, two prison officers drove Connor 30 miles from HMP Humber to Goole Register Office, The Sun reports.

Ms Hunter - now Mrs Connor - shared pictures of their wedding day online.

She posed in a white wedding dress while he donned a grey suit.

Connor's two young children also attended the ceremony.

A top Conservative Party source said: 'Mr Buckland is absolutely furious a governor thought this a sensible use of temporary release.

On Tuesday, two prison officers drove Connor 30 miles from HMP Humber to Goole Register Office for his wedding (pictured)

'This rule is in place to visit dying relatives, not to go on a jolly. What next?'

They stressed that letting drug dealers out of prison to get married was not Government policy.

Connor had previously served a three year and nine-month sentence for possessing cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply.

During his trial in 2020, Connor claimed he was moving the drugs - which he said did not belong to him - to settle a debt, The Yorkshire Evening Post reported.
The world's premier interfaith convening organization is accepting program proposals for its 8th global gathering focused on a theme of opening our hearts and compassion in action

CHICAGO, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Parliament of the World's Religions (PoWR), the world's premier interfaith convening, invites proposals for programs, presentations and religious observances at the 2021 Parliament of the World's Religions, to be held virtually, October 17-18.

Parliament convenings have featured luminaries such as His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, Nobel Laureates President Nelson Mandela, President Jimmy Carter, Shirin Ebadi, and United Nations Messenger of Peace Dr. Jane Goodall. The 2021 Parliament Call for Programs provides featured presenters the opportunity to join a historic group of select scholars, religious and spiritual leaders, and activists from around the world.

The Call for Programs for the Parliament of the World's Religions opened on Friday, April 2nd inviting people of faith and conscience from around the world to propose a program, presentation, or religious observance for the upcoming 2021 Parliament of the World's Religions. The program will be anchored in a deep acknowledgment of the grief, setbacks, and hardships faced by communities around the world and the critical hope and compassion offered by the faith and spiritual traditions of the world in healing, restoration, and the promise of a just, peaceful and sustainable future.

The theme of the 2021 Parliament is Opening our Hearts to the World: Compassion in Action . This theme aims to encompass the truly global opportunity provided by the virtual nature of the 2021 Parliament and the critical emotional and spiritual needs of people around the world, while acknowledging the critical need of a just and compassionate plan to move the world forward.

The theme and call for programs are a special ask from the Parliament, which invites diverse peoples of faith, conscience, and spirituality to share their hopes, sorrows, and hearts with the global interfaith movement. Programs can be proposed as panels, lectures, oral presentations, academic papers, seminars, religious and spiritual observances, workshops and training, art, films, virtual tours, music and performances. All interested individuals are welcomed and encouraged to register and submit a program proposal by May 31, 2021.

Presenting is only one of the ways in which interested individuals, communities, and organizations can get involved. The 2021 Parliament of the World's Religions provides a cost-effective way to maximize an organization's exposure to thousands of participants from 80 different countries and over 50 faith and spiritual traditions by serving as a sponsor and exhibitor. Individuals can network with leaders from communities around the world and connect with thousands of multi-generational, media-savvy, and culturally aware participants. Interested parties can take advantage of the discounted pricing available until May 31st for registrants; and till August 31 for exhibitors and sponsors.

Learn more at ParliamentOfReligions.org/parliament/2021-virtual

For more information about the Parliament of the World's Religions, please visit www.parliamentofreligions.org

Follow the Parliament on Twitter @InterfaithWorld, Instagram @InterfaithWorld and Facebook @Parliament of Religions

About The Parliament of the World's Religions

The Parliament of the World's Religions cultivates harmony among the world's spiritual traditions and fosters their engagement with guiding institutions in order to achieve a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. Its origins are rooted in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where the historic first convening of the World Parliament of Religions created a global platform for engagement of religions of the east and west. Headquartered in Chicago, Il, USA, the Parliament of the World's Religions is an international 501c3 NGO affiliated to the United Nations Department of Public Information.

The Parliament hosts the world's premier interfaith convening in cities across the globe. Past Parliaments have convened nearly 60,000 people across the world in Chicago, IL, USA; Cape Town, South Africa; Barcelona, Spain; Melbourne, Australia; Salt Lake City, USA; and Toronto, Canada.

For More Information Please Contact:

Miriam Quezada

Program & Communication Manager

miriam@parliamentofreligions.org

312-971-3096

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The relatives of the residents of Shirak Province of Armenia (captured in Khtsaberd after the war in Nagorno-Karabakh) continue to keep the Yerevan-Gyumri road, as well as the Isahakyan-Bayandur sector of the railway in Gyumri closed and demand that the authorities clearly state when their relatives will be returned to Armenia.

During a conversation with Armenian News-NEWS.am, the mother of one of the prisoners of war, who wished to remain anonymous, said she and the other relatives are outraged and feel that they have been deceived since yesterday when they were told that prisoners of war were being returned, but saw that the plane arrived empty.

We all went to the airport and found out that 34 captives were going to be returned and that 28 of them are from Shirak Province. When we saw that they hadnt arrived, we went to the Ministry of Defense. Nobody received us, and we shut down the roads. Why did they deceive us? We wont open the roads until our boys return. Let them do whatever it takes to bring our boys back, she said.

Earlier, Armenian News-NEWS.am reported that the relatives of the missing Armenian servicemen are outside the MOD grounds since Thursday. During the day yesterday, they closed off the entrances of the MOD building, and therefore the ministry employees were unable to leave the building.
Federal stimulus money allotted for schools is expected to provide Midland ISD with $47 million in an additional funding.

Thats what the school district reported this week.

There have been concerns that the stimulus money has not yet been allocated to school districts  as they are supposed to help with the demands of the coronavirus pandemic, according to reporting this week from the Texas Tribune.

Most states have used that pot of stimulus funds as Congress intended: buying personal protective equipment for students and teachers, laptops for kids learning from home, improved ventilation systems for school buildings to prevent virus transmission and covering other costs, according to report on the Tribunes website Wednesday.

The news organization reported that in Texas, local schools have yet to see an extra dime from the more than $19 billion in federal stimulus money given to the state.

A spokesperson for Gov. Greg Abbott told The Texas Tribune that state leaders are waiting for more guidance from the U.S. Department of Education before opening the spigot and letting billions flow down to school districts.

Midland ISD reported that if these funds are distributed, the district would stand to access approximately $14 million from Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund II and $33 million from ESSER Fund III.

Midland ISD Superintendent Angelica Ramsey said this week that the COVID recovery requires a multi-year plan as it will take that long to bring some students back to where they need in terms of academic performance. The millions Midland ISD receives, she said, will be used toward that recovery effort, she said.

Ramsey told the Reporter-Telegram that not knowing when it might receive the money makes it tough to be proactive with the spending of the money. She called the delay in funding counter intuitive.

Midland ISD is currently going through its budget process for the 2021-22 school year.
ASHEVILLE, NC / ACCESSWIRE / April 9, 2021 / What are the potential pitfalls that investors should avoid when funding a Self-Directed IRA? According to a recent post at American IRA, a Self-Directed IRA administration firm based in Asheville, NC, pitfalls include not putting enough research into understanding the various funding methods, or not taking action quickly enough to make sure that a rollover is complete, which can potentially create a taxable event with the IRS.

In the post, American IRA highlighted the different funding methods available for investors. For example, some investors simply choose to open an account and begin funding via direct contribution. This funding method is the most straight-forward and comes with straight-forward rules as it applies to contribution limits. For example, if a Self-Directed IRA investor opens a Self-Directed Roth IRA, they would be subject to the contribution limits of their age. But this arrangement also makes it easy to open an account and begin investing.

Other investors, the post notes, may have different investing needs. For example, it is possible to rollover an existing account into an IRA, which can potentially create a taxable event if investors aren't careful. The post details the kind of research that an investor should perform before taking on a rollover. It also details other methods of funding Self-Directed IRA accounts, such as transfers.

"It's important for investors to know their options when funding," says Jim Hitt, CEO of American IRA. "This post outlines the pitfalls that investors should avoid if they're going to do it effectively. Because when it comes to funding an IRA, there are certainly wrong ways to do it. And knowing these wrong ways can help investors avoid pitfalls that create a taxable event and incur penalties."

The post expands upon these concepts in greater detail and explores the various funding methods available to certain investors-while noting that these funding methods can differ, depending on each investor's situation.

For more information about these pitfalls, be sure to visit the website at www.AmericanIRA.com. Interested parties may also contact the Self-Directed IRA administration firm by dialing 866-7500-IRA.

About:

"American IRA, LLC was established in 2004 by Jim Hitt, CEO in Asheville, NC.

The mission of American IRA is to provide the highest level of customer service in the self-directed retirement industry. Jim Hitt and his team have grown the company to over $500 million in assets under administration by educating the public that their Self-Directed IRA account can invest in a variety of assets such as real estate, private lending, limited liability companies, precious metals and much more.

As a Self-Directed IRA administrator, they are a neutral third party. They do not make any recommendations to any person or entity associated with investments of any type (including financial representatives, investment promoters or companies, or employees, agents or representatives associated with these firms). They are not responsible for and are not bound by any statements, representations, warranties, or agreements made by any such person or entity and do not provide any recommendation on the quality profitability or reputability of any investment, individual or company. The term "they" refers to American IRA, located in Asheville and Charlotte, NC."

SOURCE: American IRA, LLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/636449/American-IRA-Discusses-What-Are-the-Potential-Pitfalls-When-Funding-a-Self-Directed-IRA
FLINT, MI -- As Governor Gretchen Whitmer asks schools to consider two-week pauses due Michigans surging COVID-19 numbers, the Genesee County Health Department is still taking its recommendations to local schools on a case-by-case basis, said Kayleigh Blaney, deputy health officer.

Whitmer asked, but didnt order, high schools to go virtual at a news conference Friday morning. The request comes after more than 80 COVID-19 outbreaks were identified across the states K-12 schools throughout the last week of March.

A request by the governor is a lot different than a recommendation by a governor or state health department, Blaney said. Were going to support our schools in whatever way we see fit based on what they need.

Multiple schools in the Flint area have recently announced their decision to go virtual indefinitely or for a two-week period. Carman-Ainsworth was the first to announce on April 6, followed by Flint Community Schools on April 7 and two more public charter schools on April 8.

If a school feels like a two-week pause is appropriate for them, we are going to support them in that decision, Blaney said. We work very closely with superintendents to evaluate their situation in their school district, because we know that a one-size-fits-all approach is not going to be right for every school district within a large geographical county.

There are some school districts in Genesee County where a pause on in-person learning may not be appropriate, Blaney said.

Health officials warned to not get complacent in the fight against COVID-19. People are getting tired of not being able to see their families, go out for dinner and do things, Blaney said.

I think that because we had such low case numbers for a while, I think we all started to get complacent again by letting those social circles become a little bit bigger, Blaney said. We started to feel like things were going back to normal. Its disheartening to be in this position again.

Genesee Countys COVID-19 numbers have steadily risen since the second week of February. More than 800 cases have already been reported since Monday, April 5. Michigans surge of cases is leading the country, according to an earlier MLive report.

Genesee County COVID-19 vaccination information can be found here.

Related:

Whitmer asks high schools, youth sports to pause for two weeks  but doesnt order it

Two more Flint-area schools announce return to virtual learning

With cases rising, Genesee County health officials push for vaccine sign-ups

39% of Michigan adults have received first vaccine dose; see numbers in your county
MALTA  Two men were arrested after being accused of plying a teenage girl with drugs and alcohol and filming their sexual activities in a Malta hotel room, police said.

Authorities allege Vincent Avila, 21, and Michael May, 25, brought the 16-year-old girl to the hotel overnight on Jan. 27 and 28.
A former Canadian judge who was jailed nine years ago for shooting dead his wife is allowed to be released from prison ahead of a new murder trial after his defense presented new evidence that she killed herself.

Jacques Delisle, 85, was on Friday granted his request to be released from prison in Quebec.

It comes after the Justice Department ordered a new murder trial for the ex-judge after an extensive review concluded a miscarriage of justice likely occurred in his case, CTV reported.

Delisle was jailed back in 2012 after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his 71-year-old wife Marie Nicole Rainville.

He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

His wife of 49 years was found dead in their Quebec home back in 2009 after suffering a gunshot wound to the head.

Delisle, who had already retired as a judge at that point, has always denied killing her.

Jacques Delisle, 85, was on Friday granted his request to be released from prison in Quebec. He was jailed nine years ago for shooting dead his wife, but his release has been ordered ahead of a new murder trial after his defense presented new evidence that she killed herself

Delisle was jailed back in 2012 after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his 71-year-old wife Marie Nicole Rainville, pictured above

His lawyers now say an error was made during Rainville's autopsy, which meant the trajectory of the bullet wasn't properly examined at the time of his trial.

They argue that a new analysis from 10 different ballistic experts, which was completed in 2015 after he was jailed, proves that Rainville pulled the trigger herself.

During his initial trial, which was widely publicized in Quebec at the time, prosecutors had argued that Delisle planned to kill his wife so he could start a new life with his mistress.

They argued he wanted to get away from her because she was depressed and paralyzed on her right side after suffering a stroke.

Former Quebec judge Jacques Delisle, left, walks into court with his granddaughter Anne Sophie Morency in court in 2012; this week, he was released from prison ahead of a new trial

In an interview after he was jailed, Delisle said in The Fifth Estate documentary that his wife had told him she intended to kill herself.

'I did my best to convince her not to go further in her thinking, but she was convinced,' he said.

He said his wife had asked him to leave her his handgun.

Delisle admitted to leaving the gun on the table and then leaving their home.

He said in the documentary that he did not believe his wife would use the gun. Delisle returned home after an hour and said he found Rainville dead on their couch.

Former judge Jacques Delisle, 85, has been granted a new trial over the murder of his wife in 2012. His defense lawyers, Jacques Larochelle (right) and James Lockyear (left) spoke to media on Friday after the Justice Department made the decision to release him. Delisle's defense has been that his wife committed suicide

Delisle admitted that he did not tell police he had left his wife with the gun.

He also never testified in his own defense.

'Now I realize that was a mistake, but it's too late,' Delisle said. 'That was not a smart decision to make. That was a sentimental decision I made. I thought of my family first.'

Following his conviction, Delisle's appeal was dismissed in 2013 by the Quebec Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear his case.

Justice Minister David Lametti ordered a new trial this week after reviewing the new evidence that wasn't available during Delisle's trial or appeal.

The former judge's defense argued in court that the new evidence reviewed by Lametti suggests Delisle is innocent and that Rainville's death was a suicide.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged carrying forward the momentum of poverty elimination to accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, and promote the rural vitalization in an all-round way.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in his recent instruction on the work related to the collaboration and paired assistance between the eastern and western regions of the country.

Conducting collaboration and paired assistance between the eastern and western regions is a major decision made by the CPC Central Committee to promote coordinated regional development and common prosperity, Xi said.

He stressed expanding the fields for paired assistance and optimizing related mechanisms.

Efforts should be made to strengthen industrial cooperation, resource complementarity, the transfer of laborers and exchange of talents to foster a sound momentum of coordinated, collaborated and common regional development, Xi said.

The whole Party should carry forward the momentum of poverty elimination, and build on this achievement to speed up the modernization of agriculture and rural areas and promote rural vitalization in an all-round manner, Xi said.

On Thursday, a conference on promoting the collaboration and paired assistance between the eastern and western regions was held in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, during which Xi's instruction was delivered.

Vice Premier Hu Chunhua, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting and delivered a speech.
Im always proud of Team OMG, but after what we accomplished in 2020, I realized this is the Team and company of a lifetime," commented OrderMyGear CEO Dave Dutch.

OrderMyGear (OMG), the leading eCommerce platform for the Promotional Products and Team Sporting Goods industries, was recently ranked for the second consecutive year on Inc. 5000 Regionals list of the fastest-growing private companies in Texas. As a Dallas born-and-raised company, OrderMyGear is honored to be recognized for supporting the growth of the Texas economy and the employment of over 100 Dallasites.

Im always proud of Team OMG, but after what we accomplished in 2020, I realized this is the Team and company of a lifetime, and I cant wait to be a part of the ride as we tackle this next phase of growth, commented OrderMyGear CEO Dave Dutch.

The finalists in this category represent a unique look at the most successful private companies in Texas, which show stunning rates of growth across all industries. Between 2017 and 2019, these 250 private companies had an average growth rate of 210% and, in 2019 alone, employed more than 44,000 people and added more than $9 billion to the Texas economy.

"This list proves the power of companies in Texas no matter the industry," said 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."

To see the complete list of results, including company profiles, visit: https://www.inc.com/inc5000/regionals/texas


Foreign Affairs Minister Bui Thanh Son has more than 30 years of experience working in the diplomatic sector, in various positions related to international relations research, foreign policy, international economics and negotiation.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son.

Son was born in 1962, a native of Hanoi. He has been with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more than 30 years and has built up a wide range of experience and expertise in various fields of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.

He graduated in 1984 from the University of Diplomacy (now the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam) and obtained a Master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University (USA) in 1993.

Son began his diplomatic career in November 1987 as a researcher at the Institute for International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

From March 1996, he was designated as the Deputy Head and then the Head of Euro-American Committee, Chief of Office, Institute for International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He was elected as the Deputy Director General, the Deputy Director of the Institute for International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs from March 1996 to January 2000.

From March 2000 to July 2003, he was the Minister Counselor at the Embassy of Vietnam to the Republic of Singapore, before returning to the Department for Foreign Policies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Between September 2008 to November 2009, he acted as the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Director General of the Department for Foreign Policies. He was Vietnams Chief Negotiator for the Partnership and Comprehensive Cooperation Agreements (PCA) between Vietnam and the EU from November 2008 to June 2012.

Son has been a member of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam since January 2016 and a member of the National Assembly since June 2016. In February 2015, he was reappointed as First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs after his first appointment as a Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in November 2009.

Thoi Su
WASHINGTON  Tracey Fountain, a mother and medical lab technician from Glenmont, felt a ripple of hope as she watched on her phone while President Joe Biden announced six new executive actions to curb gun violence Thursday.

Hundreds of miles away, the White House Rose Garden bustled with the nation's most prominent gun violence prevention advocates, many of whom had long advocated for reforms like Fountain; most of whom had lost a child, spouse, sibling or were injured themselves by a firearm.

Biden called gun violence an epidemic and shared new steps his administration would take to address the problem on the heels of multiple recent mass shootings. Biden has been under immense pressure from advocates and Democrats to use his presidential powers to act after legislation on firearms has stalled in Congress for years.

In a 15-minute speech, Biden called gun deaths in the U.S.  more than 11,000 this year  an international embarrassment and a blemish on our character as a nation.

Bidens new actions include directing the U.S. Justice Department to develop a rule so ghost guns  weapons built from kits  are assigned serial numbers and buyers are subject to federal background checks. He said the Justice Department will also issue a rule to regulate certain firearm devices that can effectively turn pistols into short-barreled rifles, like the weapon used in a March shooting in Boulder, Colo.

Biden also directed the Justice Department to publish model red-flag law legislation for states to implement to help courts temporarily remove guns from people who pose a threat to themselves or others, and to release an annual report on firearm trafficking, the first since 2000. Biden appointed a gun-control advocate and former federal agent, David Chipman, to lead the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. The administration will also invest in community violence intervention programs.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., hailed the actions as "significant steps" to save lives.

"As the original author of the Brady Law, I have long championed the strong gun-safety measures the president discussed today, including recently calling for commonsense regulation of the sale of ghost guns," Schumer said.

Very few states, including New York, have laws specifically prohibiting the purchase, possession or sale of ghost guns. Several lawmakers have proposed bills that would do that.

But state Attorney General Letitia James has asserted that the sale of even unfinished assault weapons violates state penal and general business laws.

The state Senate passed a proposal in February to specifically regulate ghost guns in New York, but it faces opposition in the state Assembly. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed a "red flag law," or extreme risk protection order preventing people who shows signs of being a threat to themselves or others from purchasing or possessing firearms.

Some Americans worry the further regulation of gun sales and possession will make it harder for them to use firearms for legal recreational purposes or protection.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, said Biden on Thursday proposed to take away Americans' guns and she has emphasized in recent fundraising messages to supporters that he intends to pass more "bans on guns."

"President Biden's series of gun grab executive orders are unconstitutional and bypass the will of Congress and the American people," Stefanik said. "President Biden and the House Democrats anti-2nd amendment agenda is unconstitutional and infringes on the rights of law-abiding citizens in the North Country and across America.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Biden is "soft on crime" but tramples Second Amendment rights.

By the standards of some gun safety advocates, Biden's executive actions are modest first steps; Biden framed them as his initial efforts, with more to come. The president also outlined his goals for legislation, including bolstering federal background checks, making it easier for law enforcement to remove guns from domestic abusers, limiting the availability of assault-style weapons and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers.

Schumer said it is essential to pass gun reform legislation and he reiterated his commitment to bring a bill to the Senate floor. It's unclear that either of the recently passed House bills to reform the federal background check system for firearms can win enough Democratic votes to pass.

Fountain said she and other mothers in the group Moms Demand Action are launching a road-trip to pressure senators in 22 states to pass legislation to expand federal background check laws to gun sales and private transactions. Fountain said she will participate "virtually" by sharing letters, stories and photos.

"Having a daughter is a huge part of it for me," she said. "I'd like there to be less gun violence in general, just so I know she is growing up safer."
[April 09, 2021] Government of Canada invests over $379,000 to bring high-speed Internet to 1,184 homes in rural Newfoundland and Labrador through the Universal Broadband Fund

Residents of Goose Cove, Great Brehat, St. Anthony, St. Anthony Bight and St. Carols to benefit from increased connectivity OTTAWA, ON, April 9, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how much we rely on our connections. Now more than ever, Canadians across the country need access to reliable high-speed Internet as many of us are working, learning, and staying in touch with friends and family from home. Right now, too many Canadians living in rural and remote communities lack access to high-speed Internet. Through the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) Rapid Response Stream, the Government of Canada is taking immediate action to get Canadians connected to the high-speed Internet they need. Today, Gudie Hutchings, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development and Member of Parliament for Long Range Mountains, on behalf of the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, announced over $379,000 in federal funding to bring high-speed Internet to rural residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, with an additional investment of over $1 million from Bell Canada. This project will help connect 1,184 underserved households to high-speed Internet in the communities of Goose Cove, Great Brehat, St. Anthony, St. Anthony Bight and St. Carols. The project being announced today was approved within five months of the November 2020 formal launch of the $1.75-billion UBF. Projects funded under the UBF, as well as through other public and private investments, will help connect 98% of Canadians to high-speed Internet by 2026 and achieve the national target of 100% connectivity by 2030. Today's announcement builds on the progress the Government of Canada has already made to improve critical infrastructure in Newfoundland and Labrador. Since 2015, the federal government has invested over $428 million in over 662 infrastructure rojects in Newfoundland and Labrador communities. These investments mean 612 km of new or upgraded roads that are making our communities safer; more than 97 projects to provide residents with cleaner, more sustainable sources of drinking water; and more than 28 additional housing units built in rural communities, helping ensure all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have a safe place to call home.



Quotes "This important high-speed Internet investment of over $379,000 is incredibly welcomed and will positively impact rural residents of Newfoundland and Labrador. In order to drive economic and social prosperity, it is important to encourage local Internet service providers to submit proposals and access historic federal UBF funding to get shovel-ready projects to fruition. I am looking forward to future collaborations with municipalities, Indigenous communities, organizations and local service providers to ensure Newfoundland and Labrador communities have access to affordable and accessible broadband. Congratulations to the municipalities involved on their successful collaboration with Bell Canada on this initiative."

 Gudie Hutchings, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development and Member of Parliament for Long Range Mountains

"Broadband connections will be key to the recovery from COVID-19 and to Newfoundland and Labrador's ongoing economic growth and prosperity. Bell is the largest investor in rural networks in the province, and we have committed to further accelerating our capital investment plan over the next two years to bring broadband connections to even more communities. We're proud to invest $1.26 million in this latest partnership with the Government of Canada, and we look forward to serving the residents of Goose Cove, Great Brehat, St. Anthony, St. Anthony Bight and St. Carols with Fibe Internet later this year."

 Glen LeBlanc, Chief Financial Officer & Vice Chair Atlantic Canada, Bell Canada

Quick facts Canada's Connectivity Strategy aims to provide all Canadians with access to Internet speeds of at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download / 10 Mbps upload.

The Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) is a $1.75-billion investment designed to help connect all Canadians to high-speed Internet. Applications to the UBF were accepted until March 15, 2021 , and are now being evaluated.

investment designed to help connect all Canadians to high-speed Internet. Applications to the UBF were accepted until , and are now being evaluated. The UBF is part of a suite of federal investments to improve high-speed Internet. The suite includes the Connect to Innovate program, which is expected to connect nearly 400,000 households by 2023, and the recently announced $2-billion broadband initiative from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Associated links Backgrounder: Universal Broadband Fund and Telesat low Earth orbit satellite capacity agreement

Universal Broadband Fund

Connect to Innovate Program  Project status updates

Canada Infrastructure Bank announcement

High-Speed Access for All: Canada's Connectivity Strategy Stay connected Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on Twitter: @ISED_CA SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

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BOISE - Idaho Governor Brad Little has signed a proclamation establishing April as Financial Literacy Month in Idaho, with the goal of promoting financial education throughout the state.

Governor Little sends an important reminder to all Idahoans: As the financial marketplace grows more complex, Idahoans must be prepared to make the well-informed decisions that best meet their needs. Director Patti Perkins added, Financial literacy is a skill that requires lifelong learning. The Department of Finance is proud to be a trusted resource of a range of financial literacy topics for consumers during every stage of life.

The Idaho Department of Finance, the Idaho Financial Literacy Coalition, the Idaho Military Financial Alliance, and Idaho Public Libraries have joined together to sponsor Financial Literacy Month in April. The Idaho Financial Literacy Coalition (IFLC) (www.idahoflc.org), a partnership of private- and public-sector financial educators, is an affiliate of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. The Department and the IFLC are pleased to take part in Financial Literacy Month to draw attention to the importance of financial education for all.

A proclamation ceremony with Governor Little and members of the Idaho Financial Literacy Coalition is planned for Thursday, April 8 at the Idaho State Capitol. The ceremony will kick off Financial Literacy Month and include a presentation of awards to students who have won in selected categories of the Piggy Bank Beauty Contest.

Piggy Bank Beauty Contest

The Piggy Bank Beauty Contest, organized annually by the IFLC, is a contest for Idaho students in 3rd through 6th grades. Students create and/or decorate a piggy bank using virtually any materials and their own ingenuity. Each of this years winners will receive a $75 scholarship to start their very own Idaho College Savings account, provided by IDeal. As a state-sponsored college savings program, IDeals mission is to help Idaho families create more opportunities for their children by preparing early for the costs of higher education.

Financial Literacy Month Tip of the Week press releases will be issued by the Department each week during April, focusing on timely financial topics.

The Department also supports financial literacy throughout the year:

Along with a variety of non-profit entities and government agencies, the Department, as a member of the Idaho Scam Jam Alliance, is committed to continuing its work in spreading scam and fraud awareness. The Alliance is currently considering the best avenue to resume outreach events in 2021. Please visit www.idscamjamalliance.org for updates and announcements pertaining to this years Scam Jam events.

The Department participates in the ongoing Bank On Treasure Valley, a non-profit program designed to help un-banked and under-banked individuals obtain low-cost, starter checking and savings accounts along with free financial education from participating financial institutions.

The Department is a proud sponsor of the Smart Women Smart Money Conference. The conference was conducted virtually February 19 th drawing just over 700 attendees.

The Departments website resources contain financial literacy topics, which include Fraud Prevention Tips, Mortgage Loans, Research Your Broker, Information for Service Members, and more. The website can be found at www.finance.idaho.gov; click through to Consumer/Financial Literacy.

The Department posts periodic consumer alerts, enforcement updates, and scheduled outreach events on its social media channels including on Twitter at @IdahoFinance, and on Facebook at @IdahoDOF.

Finally, the Department offers free financial education presentations to Idahoans at high schools, senior citizen centers, universities, and community groups.

To schedule a presentation, or for more information on any of the above events, please call Celia Kinney or Nancy Ax of the Idaho Department of Finance at (208) 332-8000 or toll-free within Idaho at 1-888-346-3378. All presentations are free and are scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday called for the federal government to close a San Antonio facility housing unaccompanied migrant children after he became aware of allegations of sexual assault.

In short, this facility is a health and safety nightmare, Abbott said at a press conference outside the Freeman Coliseum, which is reportedly housing more than 1,300 teens who recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without a parent or guardian.

The announcement came as Texas and the federal government are locked in battle over a recent increase in the number of migrants crossing the states southern border.

RELATED: Abbott wants Freeman Coliseum shelter closed amid complaints children were allegedly abused

Abbott said complaints about sexual assault were reported early Wednesday to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services as well as the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The governor did not know the identities of those who alleged assault, nor did he provide many details. He said he was concerned more than one child may have been assaulted. He also said that DPS will investigate the allegations.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to questions after Abbott's announcement.

The press conference, Abbott said, was to alert President Joe Bidens administration and push them to move the children housed in the coliseum to other federally run facilities with more space, personnel and resources to ensure safety. He also said the facility was short on staff, some kids were not eating enough food and those infected with the coronavirus were not separated from healthy teens.

A spokesperson for Abbott said the governor told federal officials about the allegations before the press conference.

Rebeca Clay-Flores, a Bexar County commissioner, painted a different picture of the conditions than the governor described, however. She said, having been in the facility many times, she saw children being well cared for. The Freeman Expo Center in San Antonio, which KSAT-TV reported held 1,370 teens on Monday, has the ability to house up to 2,500 children, according to the federal health department.

What I saw when I went in there on several occasions, it was well-staffed, the children are very happy and very excited to be here, she told reporters after Abbott left. This is not a political issue. This is about children who deserve protection from adults.

Abbott acknowledged to reporters that he had not been inside the coliseum.

READ ALSO: Ted Cruz says Biden staffer stopped him from filming migrant facility in Texas

Vulnerable children are often victims of sexual assault. In Texas, children kept in foster care and state-run juvenile lockups often report sexual assault, as well, without the governor's immediate intervention. Last fall, juvenile justice advocates pleaded for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate sexual abuse in Texas' youth lockups, which have been plagued by scandal for more than a decade.

Abbott and many other Texas Republicans have repeatedly criticized the Biden administration as it struggles to address an increase in migrants being apprehended near the U.S.-Mexico border. Almost all single adults are being immediately expelled under a pandemic health order issued by Trump that Biden has kept in place, although the current administration is allowing in unaccompanied minors and some families to await their immigration court hearings in the U.S. But Democrats are also loudly questioning where the conservative compassion was less than two years ago under President Trumps watch, when apprehensions hit near-record figures despite his crackdown on the border.

The number of people crossing the border illegally increases nearly every spring thanks to the weather getting warmer. The past three presidents have struggled at times during their tenures with surges in border crossings. But the number of children being apprehended has been particularly high in recent months, straining federal facilities.

As of Tuesday, the Biden administration had more than 4,200 unaccompanied migrant children in Border Patrol custody and roughly 16,000 in the care of federal shelters run by the federal Department of Health and Human Services. By law, unaccompanied children are not supposed to be held in Border Patrol custody for more than 72 hours except for in emergencies. Since Feb. 22, the White House has opened at least eight emergency influx sites of unaccompanied migrant children in Texas, including Freeman, with a total capacity of about 14,000 beds.

Lomi Kriel, Shawn Mulcahy and Patrick Svitek contributed to this report.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has called the effort to recall him a partisan distraction. Judging by his campaign to remain in office, he meant that as a compliment.

Whatever the merits and motives of the recall, one could hardly find a more deliberately distracting appeal to partisan impulses than Newsoms nascent campaign against his de-election. Rather than try to defend his rocky record as Californias chief executive, the governor is playing directly to his fellow Democrats tribal loyalties by smearing the recall with every available right-wing epithet and association.

The Republican recall, Newsom called it recently, backed by mega Trump donors. He was just getting warmed up: Conspiracy theorists and militia members are behind it, he told the hostesses of ABCs The View. The Proud Boys and QAnon are in on it, too, the governor confided - quite literally, just in case anyone thought he meant QAnon as a metaphor. The lead proponent of this ... believes we should microchip immigrants, he told CNNs Jake Tapper. And dont forget anti-mask and anti-vax extremists.

That was a bold critique coming from a governor who went out of his way to weaken a vaccination bill and doffed his mask to fine-dine with a dozen or so of his closest friends and lobbyists. But Newsoms people had done their research. Especially in the early stages of the improbably drawn-out recall drive  which, as the governor pointed out, predated the pandemic often cited as its justification  the effort was peopled with enough wingnuts to tie at least one of them to each of the fringe groups and concepts with which the governor wowed Whoopi Goldberg and company. Even the part about microchipping migrants, whatever that means, came from a real social media post by recall ringleader Orrin Heatlie.

Back in January, when state Democratic Chair Rusty Hicks denounced the recall as a California coup, even some Democrats hesitated to join him in equating a constitutional political process with a forcible government overthrow. In retrospect, however, it seems Hicks chief mistake, at least from his fellow partisans perspective, was to roll out the talking point so soon after an actual attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol. By last month, the governor was mentioning the Jan. 6 insurrection in the same breath as the recall.

If he keeps it up, the at least 40% of likely voters who are open to a recall  and who cant all be in favor of microchipping anybody  could get the irritating idea that Newsom is disparaging them.

The governors fixation on the GOP is understandable, though. When California Republicans arent cooking up recalls  which, to be fair, is not very often  theyve been reduced to clinging to a legislative nano-minority, scrapping for congressional seats once considered their birthright, and defending a president most Californians couldnt stand with fake ballot boxes and a failed putsch. As our last recall-assisted Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, put it recently, the California Republican Party effectively doesnt exist. So of course Newsom wants to run against them.

The trouble for the governor is that he isnt running against them. The recall is the rare election that pits the incumbent against the most dangerous foe in politics: an unidentified alternative.

Because the ballot would start with the binary question of whether to retain or recall the governor, Newsom doesnt get to run against John Cox, the Chicagoland transplant he politically massacred three years ago; Kevin Faulconer, the former San Diego mayor with the risky strategy, for a post-Trump Republican, of trying to seem reasonable; or Doug Ose, who according to reports once served in Congress. He has to run against all of them and none of them, because every voter saying yea or nay to Newsom can at that moment imagine his or her own ideal governor.

Thats why there is so much free-floating angst around the possibility that a Democrat could join the inevitable rabble that would run to replace Newsom on the same ballot should he be recalled. The fragile fiction that the governor is running against right-wing Republicans will be shattered as soon as someone like Tom Steyer gets as bored as he must have been when he decided to run for president.

The Newsom campaigns strategy amounts to an admission that the governors greatest strength is not his competent governance but his implausible opposition. That puts him in the precarious position of counting on the continued haplessness of his opponents, who have already come a long way from muttering about microchips.

Josh Gohlke is The Chronicles deputy opinion editor.
Some big employers are giving up square footage as they juggle remote work. That could devastate building owners and cities.

As office vacancies climb to their highest levels in decades with businesses giving up office space and embracing remote work, the real estate industry in many American cities faces a potentially grave threat.

Businesses have discovered during the pandemic that they can function with nearly all of their workers out of the office, an arrangement many intend to continue in some form. That could wallop the big property companies that build and own office buildings  and lead to a sharp pullback in construction, steep drops in office rents, fewer people frequenting restaurants and stores, and potentially perilous declines in the tax revenue of city governments and school districts.

In only a year, the market value of office towers in Manhattan, home to the countrys two largest central business districts, has plummeted 25 percent, according to city projections released on Wednesday, contributing to an estimated $1 billion drop-off in property tax revenue.

JPMorgan Chase, Ford Motor, Salesforce, Target and more are giving up expensive office space, and others are considering doing so. Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, the largest private-sector employer in New York City, wrote in a letter to shareholders this week that remote work would significantly reduce our need for real estate. For every 100 employees, he said, his bank may need seats for only 60 on average.

And just as Coca-Colas profits would take a seismic hit if consumers abruptly cut back on sodas, owners of office buildings, many of which are owned by pension funds, insurance companies, individuals and other investors, could be pummeled if many businesses rent less space.

The pandemic has proven that work from home is viable, said Jonathan Litt, chief investment officer of Land & Buildings, a real estate investment firm that has taken a bearish view of the New York office market. Its not going away; businesses are going to adjust, and office real estate is going to take it on the chin during that adjustment period.

Across the country, the vacancy rate for office buildings in city centers has steadily climbed over the past year to reach 16.4 percent, according to Cushman & Wakefield, the highest in about a decade. That number could climb further, even as vaccinations allow some people to go back to work, if companies keep giving up office space because of hybrid or fully remote work.

So far, landlords like Boston Properties and SL Green have not suffered huge financial losses, having survived the past year by collecting rent from tenants locked into long leases  the average contract for office space runs about seven years.

But as leases slowly come up for renewal, property owners could be left with scores of empty floors. At the same time, many new office buildings are under construction  124 million square feet nationwide, or enough for roughly 700,000 workers. Those changes could drive down rents, which were touching new highs before the pandemic. And rents help determine assessments that are the basis for property tax bills.

Many big employers have already given notice to the owners of some prestigious buildings that they are leaving when their leases end. United Airlines is giving up some 150,000 square feet, or over 17 percent of its space, at Willis Tower in Chicago, the third-tallest building in the country and a prized possession of Blackstone, the Wall Street firm. Salesforce is subletting half its space, equivalent to roughly 225,000 square feet, at 350 Mission Street, a San Francisco tower designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and owned by Kilroy Realty.

Roughly 17.3 percent of office space in Manhattan is available for lease, the most in at least three decades. Asking rents have dropped to just over $74 a square foot, from nearly $82 at the beginning of 2020, according to the real estate services company Newmark. Elsewhere, asking rents are largely flat from a year ago, including in Boston and Houston, but have climbed slightly in Chicago.

The Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo, whose United States headquarters are in Manhattans SoHo neighborhood, recently moved to another building nearby, an open layout with tables designed for 130 people who will go into the office only a few days a week. Many of its office workers will keep working remotely, while some employees, like those in marketing, will occasionally meet in SoHo.

As a leader, it has been challenging because meeting people face to face is so important, said Daisuke Tsukagoshi, the chief executive of Uniqlo USA. However, since we are a Japanese company with global reach, the need for remote collaboration among many centers has always been part of our culture.

The stock prices of the big landlords, which are often structured as real estate investment trusts that pass almost all of their profit to investors, trade well below their previous highs, even as the wider stock market and some companies in other industries that were hit hard by the pandemic, like airlines and hotels, have hit new highs. Shares of Boston Properties, one of the largest office landlords, are down 29 percent from the prepandemic high. SL Green, a major New York landlord, is 26 percent lower.

Fitch Ratings estimated that office landlords profits would fall 15 percent if companies allowed workers to be at home just one and a half days a week on average. Three days at home could slash income by 30 percent.

Real estate executives claim not to be worried. They said working from home would fade once most people were vaccinated. Their reasons to think this? They say many corporate executives have told them that it is hard to effectively collaborate or train young workers when people are not together.

These landlords also contend that the properties they own  known in industry jargon as class A buildings  will hold up much better than more pedestrian offices or hotel and retail buildings. We believe differentiated office product like Willis Tower will continue to attract quality tenants, and that buildings that have invested in amenities, services and technology will be well positioned moving forward, Nadeem Meghji, head of real estate for the Americas at Blackstone, said in a statement.

Landlords also said that even if employees didnt go in daily, they would want designated desks and cubicles that were socially distanced. Some companies are eager to get people back into offices. Tech companies, including Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple, have added office space in New York City during the pandemic, and some are also expanding elsewhere.

Last week, Amazon told employees that it would return to an office-centric culture as our baseline. Companies that work in person are going to be more successful going forward than those that work virtually, Owen D. Thomas, chief executive of Boston Properties, said.

The pandemic recession is different from past ones in ways that could benefit landlords. After the financial crisis, banks, insurance companies and similar businesses shed some 600,000 employees. But now companies that employ lots of office workers have been relatively unscathed.

Our customers are doing well  most of them are not experiencing a recession, Mr. Thomas said. Colin Connolly, the chief executive of Cousins Properties, a landlord based in Atlanta, said tech companies would largely keep their office space and expand in places like Atlanta and Austin, Texas. Cousinss four largest tenants are technology companies. Our view is that they arent making those relocation decisions to work from home, Mr. Connolly said.

But technology companies appetite might not be quite as big as it was earlier. Facebook and Cousins had been negotiating a lease for 353,000 square feet in downtown Austin, but the Austin Business Journal reported in March that Facebook had backed away. The companies declined to discuss their negotiations.

We are committed to Austin, as evidenced by our over 1,200 employees who call Austin home, said Tracy Clayton, a Facebook spokesman.

Predictions of a return to offices have often come up empty. A year ago, many real estate executives said lockdowns would be relaxed by the summer. A year later, states have eased restrictions, and many Americans are getting vaccinated. Yet, on average, just a quarter of workers in the 10 biggest urban areas have returned to offices, a rate that has stayed mostly the same for months, according to Kastle Systems, a security company.

The cities with the lowest return rates are on the coasts, including New York, San Francisco and Washington, Kastle said, where long commutes, often on dysfunctional transit systems, are common. We are just going to be bleeding lower for the next three to four years to find out what the new level of tenant demand is, said Mr. Litt, the investor.

Peter Eavis, Matthew Haag

: nytimes.com
As the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines neared its end, soldiers were not giving up.

They had plenty of ammunition to fight one enemy but ultimately not enough to fight the other  malaria.

Frank Hewlett, a United Press Correspondent, wrote in The Patriot on April 18, 1942,

In the last desperate showdown, the Battle of Bataan ended because the quinine pills ran out.

I saw the last scenes of the drama and this is our story.

Ten thousand of our troops lay in two field hospitals, most of them ill with malaria. Another 10,000 were confined to camps with lighter cases of malaria.

(There were 36,800 troops in all of Bataan, according to War Department figures. Thus, more than half were incapacitated in the final phase of the battle.)

There was ammunition in plenty to fight off the enemy when I saw American and Filipino soldiers in their last fighting against an overwhelming enemy.

When the end came, a million rounds of .30 caliber ammunition was blown up by our own troops.

There was courage in plenty, too, to pit against the Japanese in those terrible days before Bataan collapsed.

But there was no quinine to fight the deadliest of our enemies  malaria.

Hewlett said of the soldiers, No one starved on Bataan but during the last month everyone lost weight. Early in January, the Army went on half rations with two small meals daily instead of the customary three big meals a day. Then, during the last few weeks, rations were again slashed by at least another 50 percent.

Every carabao (water buffalo) on the island was slaughtered for food as well as the 26th Cavalrys horses and most of the defenders pack mules. The soldiers liked mule meat best and didnt mind its toughness.

Getting supplies to Gen. Douglas MacArthurs soldiers was not possible. Navy ships had been decimated at Pearl Harbor and a Japanese blockade prevented food and medicine from getting through.

When Bataan fell to the Japanese, field commander U.S. General Edward King surrendered his troops, about 10,000 Americans and 66,0000 Filipinos. They became prisoners of war.

The soldiers were already ill and hungry and then were forced on April 9, 1942, to march north 65 miles from the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula to San Fernando and Camp ODonnell where they were imprisoned. The soldiers were separated into groups of 100 each. It took each group about five days to make the trek, according to history.com.

American prisoners of war carry their wounded and sick as they begin the Death March on Bataan in April 1942. This photo was stolen from the Japanese during their three year occupation of the Philippines. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)ASSOCIATED PRESS

During the march prisoners who fell or tried to escape were beaten and shot. Some died of starvation and disease while thousands more died at the prison.

At Camp ODonnell there was no running water, little food and no medical care. Disease was rampant.

The exact figures are unknown, but it is believed that thousands of troops died because of the brutality of their captors, who starved and beat the marchers, and bayoneted those too weak to walk. Survivors were taken by rail from San Fernando to prisoner-of-war camps, where thousands more died from disease, mistreatment and starvation, according to history.com.

The United Press reported on the front page of The Patriot on April 10, 1942, One of the most gallant stands in United states history, the battle of Bataan, came to its inevitable end today  disease, short rations and exhaustion of the defenders giving to Japanese the victory their overwhelming numbers alone could not accomplish.

Resistance of the 36,800 American-Filipino defenders, which continued a full three months after it had been believed they must be overwhelmed, had been termed a miracle by military men. And they were still fighting even as the Nipponese tide rolled over them.

How many were left when the last day came was not known, nor was it known how many could be evacuated to Fort Mills, the big bastion on Corregidor Island in Manila Bay, or to the other smaller forts  Hughes, Franks and Drum.

The big American guns of the forts still roared defiance, however, and it was plain that, for a while at least, their resistance would continue.

Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson said, Our troops, out-numbered, worn down by attack, exhausted by insufficient rations and disease prevailing in that area, had their lines broken and enveloped by the enemy. Our defenses on Bataan have been overthrown. Corregidor is still fighting. A long and gallant defense has been worn down and overthrown.

There is nothing but praise for the men who have so ably conducted an epic chapter in the history of the Philippines.

According to bataanmarch.com, the prisoners of war were not released until 1945 when U.S.-Filipino forces recaptured the Philippines. The website reports that a third of the prisoners died after they were freed.

At the end of World War II, the Japanese commander responsible for the march and atrocities at Camp ODonnell, Lt. Gen. Homma Masaharu, was tried and convicted by the U.S. military commission. He was executed by firing squad on April 3, 1946.

Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, above, former commanding officer of Japanese forces in the Philippines at the time of the infamous Bataan Death March, looks from behind jail bars at a prison in Yokohama, Japan, on Oct. 5, 1945, following his arrest on war crime charges. (AP Photo/Max Desfor)AP

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The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units across the country has reached a near record as the spread of more contagious variants drives up hospitalizations, prompting Ontario officials to scale back on non-urgent procedures.

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Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam speaks during a technical briefing on the COVID pandemic in Canada, Friday, January 15, 2021 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units across the country has reached a near record as the spread of more contagious variants drives up hospitalizations, prompting Ontario officials to scale back on non-urgent procedures.

Canada's chief public health officer says the number of new COVID-19 cases linked to variants of concern has doubled over the past week, with B.1.1.7, first identified in the U.K., "essentially replacing" pre-existing versions of the virus.

Dr. Theresa Tam said the predominance of these strains is fuelling a rapid COVID-19 resurgence that is sending more patients to hospital with severe illness, including young people, and threatens to push intensive care units to their limits.

"The race between the vaccine and the variants is at a critical point," Tam told reporters Friday. "It is clear that we need stronger control to combat variants of concern that are driving rapid epidemic growth in many areas of the country."

Last week, hospitals treated an average of more than 2,500 patients with COVID-19 each day, up seven per cent from the previous week, said Tam.

That includes 860 patients in intensive care, she said, amounting to a 23 per cent increase over the previous week.

The recent rise in critical cases is approaching a peak seen earlier this year, when for the seven days ending Jan. 19 officials reported an average of 880 people in the ICU and 4,775 in hospital overall.

An average of more than 6,800 new cases and 30 deaths were reported daily over the past week, said Tam.

She said these numbers are consistent with the rapid resurgence trajectory outlined in federal forecasts two weeks ago.

Even as several provinces tightened public health restrictions this week, Tam warned that case counts will likely continue to climb as the fallout from holiday gatherings emerges.

"Many of my colleagues are of course worried about what happened at the Easter long weekend, so all of that will be playing out," said Tam. "Right now, what is of concern to me is the ICUs filling up."

To avoid this deadly scenario, Ontario hospitals have been instructed to start ramping down elective surgeries and non-urgent procedures next week to ensure they have resources to treat a growing number of COVID-19 patients.

The president and CEO of Ontario Health  which oversees the province's health system  told hospitals to make the move as the number of COVID-19 patients in the province's intensive care units hit a new high.

"We are facing mounting and extreme pressure on our critical care capacity," Matthew Anderson said in a memo issued Thursday night, asking hospitals to identify staff who may be redeployed to other sites if necessary.

There were 552 patients with COVID-related critical illness in Ontario intensive care units as of Friday morning, according to the Ministry of Health.

The province reported 4,227 new cases of COVID-19 and 18 additional deaths from the virus.

Premier Doug Ford said the province is doing its part to address the health-care capacity crunch by ramping up its vaccine rollout to give 40 per cent of adults in Ontario their first shot over the next four weeks.

"The quicker we can get these vaccines into people's arms, the quicker they're going to be able to resume the surgeries,'' Ford said.

In Saskatchewan, a group of 285 doctors banded together to urge the provincial government to implement stricter COVID-19 health measures and vaccinate younger essential workers.

The letter sent on Friday to Premier Scott Moe and Health Minister Paul Merriman says intensive care admissions are at an all-time high with younger, previously healthy people.

Provincial health officials reported 358 new cases of COVID-19 in the province and six new deaths.

Also on Friday, Quebec announced a new single-day record of 69,148 COVID-19 vaccines administered on Thursday as stricter public health protocols take hold in some parts of the province.

The provincial government has extended a health order in Quebec City, Levis, Gatineau and several municipalities in the Beauce region until at least April 18. Emergency measures include closing schools and non-essential businesses in those areas and applying an 8 p.m. curfew.

Starting Sunday, Montreal and Laval will also return to an 8 p.m. curfew.

Quebec reported 1,683 new COVID-19 cases Friday and eight more deaths related to the virus. There were 569 hospitalizations and 134 people in intensive care, said health officials.

Meanwhile, Manitoba lowered the minimum age for vaccination to 40 and older for First Nations people, and 60 and older for others.

Health officials reported 179 new cases on Friday, the biggest daily jump since late January. The province also detected 37 more infections linked to variants.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a news conference that the federal government has delivered more than 10.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the provinces and territories.

Canada is expected to have received at least 44 million doses from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca by the end of June, Trudeau said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April, 9.
Hundreds of workers at Google parent Alphabet signed a letter Friday demanding the company do more to protect victims of workplace harassment, after a former engineer wrote about her experience with harassment while at the company. More than 200 workers affixed their names to the letter, which said more than 520 had signed on.

Alphabet does not provide a safe environment for those who face harassment in the workplace, the letter signed by Alphabet employees read.

In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Emi Nietfeld described her experience of alleged harassment at the hands of a male superior, saying she was forced to continue to work with the person and found little to no help from the companys human resources department.

Were deeply aware of the importance of this issue. We work to support and protect people who report concerns, thoroughly investigate all claims and take firm actions against substantiated allegations, a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement. Weve made significant improvements to our overall process, including the way we handle and investigate employee concerns, and introducing new care programs for employees who report concerns. Reporting misconduct takes courage and well continue our work to improve our processes and support for the people who do.

Addressed to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, the letter demands that harassers not be allowed to manage or lead any teams, and that where there are verified claims of harassment, that person be automatically moved to a different team so as to stop them from working with the person they harassed.

It pointed to Nietfelds example as the latest in a line of long-running instances of sexual and harassment and misconduct at the company

High-profile departures have included a payout worth a reported $90 million to the creator of Android mobile software, Andy Rubin, after a woman accused him of coercing her into sex acts.

Another former executive, Amit Singhal, reportedly received $35 million and was forced out under the cloud of a sexual assault investigation.

In 2018, 20,000 Google employees walked off the job to protest sexual harassment and what they said was a lack of transparency at the company, whose original founding ethos was Dont be evil.

Since the walkout, the company has ended the practice of forcing employees to settle disputes with the company in private arbitration, allowing them to bring lawsuits in open court, among other options.

The letter posted Friday said that was not enough, pointing to the companys large workforce of people who are not full employees who do not have the same rights.

Alphabet has not changed, and did not meet any of the Google Walkout demands (temps, vendors, contractors, and workers from Alphabet companies other than Google are still forced into arbitration), the employees wrote.

Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available.

In part to address some of these demands and other workplace issues, several hundred Alphabet workers  employees and contractors alike  announced the formation of the Alphabet Workers Union earlier this year, in affiliation with the Communication Workers of America.

The letter released Friday was signed by union members but was not issued by the union.

While the walkout took thousands of Google workers across the world to get the companys attention, advocating for change at the company though an organized union now takes hundreds, not thousands of voices. We can move a lot faster because we have a body for it, said Raksha Muthukumar, a software engineer who signed the open letter.

In a Twitter thread Friday morning, the union said: Alphabet is not a safe place for those who suffer from harassment. The union said it is furious after reading about Nietfelds experiences, adding, Harassers should not have anyone directly report to them & must be removed from teams where they harassed coworkers.

Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  A union complaint about whether an Oklahoma meatpacking plant is doing enough to protect workers from the coronavirus could test the industrys response to the pandemic because Seaboard Foods says it is following recommendations from the government and trade groups.

The local United Food and Commercial Workers union filed a complaint this week with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration about the Seaboard Foods pork processing plant in Guymon, Oklahoma. The union says Seaboard should be doing more to promote social distancing at the plant and to encourage workers exposed to the coronavirus to stay home from work.

The complaint offers regulators in the Biden administration an opportunity to say whether they believe the meatpacking industry is doing enough to protect workers because Seaboard officials said they have taken a number of steps similar to what other companies have done, including checking employee temperatures before work, installing plexiglass barriers between some work stations and in the cafeteria and stepping up sanitization of the plant.

Industry officials have credited those measures with slowing the spread of the virus that tore through meatpacking plants last spring and prompted many plants to close temporarily after major outbreaks.

It well could be a good test for the administration to really address the needs of the meatpacking workers, said Martin Rosas, president of the local union that filed the complaint. We want OSHA to set an example to companies like Seaboard that worker safety must be a priority. Period.

OSHA officials said they have opened an investigation into the Seaboard complaint.

In the past, the UFCW union has criticized OSHA for issuing only voluntary guidelines for the meatpacking industry last year on steps companies should take to protect workers from the virus. The industry is waiting for OSHA officials to decide this year whether to replace those guidelines with a set of mandatory requirements to protect workers from the virus. An executive order Biden signed in January directed OSHA to consider issuing federal emergency standards on workplace protections.

Labor Department spokeswoman Denisha Braxton said Wednesday that OSHA is focusing its enforcement efforts on industries where workers are at the greatest risk of getting sick with the virus, including meat production plants.

The agency is working to continually improve our ability to protect workplaces in these critical industries where workers are in close proximity to each other, Braxton said.

Workplace safety expert Celeste Monforton said the Oklahoma complaint and others like it offer OSHA the chance to change its approach to the virus in meatpacking plants. At least two other complaints related to COVID-19 have been filed this year about meatpacking plants in Kansas and Wisconsin, according to OSHA records.

This will be really interesting to see how this plays out, said Monforton, a lecturer in public health at Texas State University who is active with the American Public Health Association.

Seaboard said that since the start of the pandemic, six of its workers have died from COVID-19 and 1,014 of the plants roughly 2,500 workers have tested positive for the virus, which includes when 440 workers tested positive last May during mass testing at the plant. But the union said the company has only reported a handful of those cases to OSHA because Seaboard decided most werent work related.

Seaboard spokesman David Eaheart said the company is trying to ensure worker safety, and the plant has gone through millions of face masks and more than 4000 gallons (15141.65 litres) of hand sanitizer as part of that effort.

Seaboard Foods continues to adapt to ensure our Guymon, Oklahoma, pork processing plant remains a safe place to work while producing much-needed food for tables across our communities and the country, Eaheart said. We want to make sure were doing everything we can to help protect our employees while still working to meet our commitment as an essential business.

The company hosted a vaccination clinic at the plant earlier this month, and more than 900 workers have received at least one shot as part of being vaccinated for the virus.

Seaboard said it also provides two weeks of sick leave for workers who test positive for COVID-19 although the union complained that the company doesnt do the same thing for workers who have been exposed to the virus but havent tested positive.

Rosas with the union said the plant isnt doing as much as other meatpacking plants have to ensure worker safety. For instance, he said the plant has installed plastic barriers only in limited parts of the production line and educational materials about the virus have been provided only in English and Spanish _ not the native languages of the many workers at the plant from South Africa and Laos.

Seaboard has not even performed the simplest task of consistently placing markers on the ground where workers should be standing. Instead, the workers on the line stand less than arm lengths apart_almost shoulder to shoulder. On first shift, there are approximately 120 employees working on the kill floor and 500 employees in the fabrication department, all crowded together, nearly shoulder to shoulder, the union said in its complaint.

Rosas, who visited the plant on Monday, said hundreds of workers routinely crowd into a small cafeteria on breaks where they eat with only a plastic shield dividing the small tables in half to limit the spread of the virus. Rosas said more space is needed and break times should be staggered to reduce crowding.

About the photo: In this photo taken Nov. 11. 2015, at Seabord Foods Ladder Creek hog feeding operation near Tribune, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Shahdol, April 9: In a shocking incident that took place in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol district, a healthcare worker, who was carrying a patient infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) in an ambulance to the hospital, stopped the vehicle midway to drink sugarcane juice. The video of the incident showing gross callousness emerged on social media today and is going viral. Ujjain: COVID-19 Patients Died Due to Lack of Oxygen Supply, Allege Kin.

In the video, the health worker, dressed in PPE kit, is seen waiting for sugarcane juice at the roadside shop and his face mask is pulled down to his chin. Another healthcare worker, also wearing the PPE kit, sits inside the ambulance while waiting for their order. They were transporting a COVID-19 patient. "You are transporting a corona patient and also not wearing mask properly," asks the bystander who shot the video. COVID-19: No Oxygen Supply Crisis in MP, Says Chouhan.

"I don't have corona. I am just transporting the patient. Let me drink," the healthcare worker responds. He then properly covers his face with the mask. The video of the incident is widely circulated on social media. Madhya Pradesh is among 12 states that are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new COVID-19 cases, according to the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Presently, there are 3,41,887 active COVID-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh. More than 54,000 people have died of COVID-19 so far in the state. As many as 2,90,165 patients have also recovered.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 09, 2021 01:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
A Seattle nursing homes insurer has agreed to pay $8 million to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of a disabled woman who was sexually assaulted while in the facilitys care.

Foss Home and Village agreed to settle the 2019 lawsuit claiming the facility was negligent in its hiring and its failure to have a system in place that ensured the plaintiffs care was monitored and properly supervised.

The lawsuit was filed after the woman, who is in her 50s with multiple sclerosis, told relatives about the abuse. One relative placed a hidden camera in her room, the Seattle Times reported.

The video captured the woman being repeatedly raped by a male employee, according to King County prosecutors who charged Nshimiyiana Hamzat with rape and indecent liberties two years ago.

Hamzat remains in jail awaiting trial.

An independent investigation by the Department of Social and Health Services Adult Protective Services, Seattle Police Department and Foss all concluded that the abuse occurred, Cochran said.

According to the suit, Foss Home and Village failed to provide care to vulnerable clients in a reasonable, safe and prudent manner, including failing to exercise care in hiring, retaining and supervising employees.

Foss Home and Village CEO and President Rick Henry said in an emailed statement that they were heartbroken and devastated that a resident was sexually assaulted.

Had we known, we would have immediately contacted the police in alignment with our established policies and procedures. As soon as we did know, the offending employee was immediately suspended and later terminated.

Henry also said Foss continually reviews its hiring processes and uses ardent background checks which exceed state and insurance company guidelines.

Cochran said that while the $8 million settlement got Foss attention, everyone should be on the alert for their elderly family and friends because sometimes assistant living homes have good policies but really bad practices.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Abuse Molestation Washington Senior Care
Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Thunderstorms early, mainly cloudy overnight with a few showers. Low around 65F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms early, mainly cloudy overnight with a few showers. Low around 65F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
New Delhi, April 9 : The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre to deposit Rs 10 crore compensation, received from the Italian government to be paid to the families of fishermen killed by the two Italian marines, with the court within a period of one week.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian said the compensation will be deposited with the court for disbursement among the victims, and the case against the marines will be closed only after compensation is deposited.

The Central government and the Kerala government informed the top court that victims' families have agreed to a compensation of Rs 10 crore, over and above ex-gratia amount received earlier from Italy.

Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, representing the Kerala government, submitted that compensation was acceptable to the families. Advocate Unni Krishnan, appearing for a victim's family, requested the court that cases should be quashed only after compensation has been disbursed.

At this, the bench said: "We are asking the amounts to be deposited in this court... after that cases will be closed." Senior advocate Suhail Dutt, appearing on behalf of Italy, submitted that the amount of compensation payable in terms of the award dated May 21, 2020 will be deposited by his client with the Indian government in the particular account to be specified by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the top court that the Indian government has negotiated a good deal with the Italian government and cited the international tribunal order, which ruled that the criminal proceedings will be carried out against the marines by the Italian government.

Urging the court for the closure of cases, Mehta said the difficulty is that criminal proceedings are pending in international court and if international tribunal's order is accepted, the trial court will have no jurisdiction. And, under these circumstances, only the top court can close the cases.

Mehta told the bench that after the Indian government receives money from the Italian government, it will be transferred in the top court account within three days.

At this, Chief Justice Bobde told Mehta: "We wish the government showed such promptness in other cases listed before us." The SG, in a lighter vein, replied: "It depends on which ministry is involved in a case." The Italian government had offered a compensation of Rs 10 crore, out of which Kerala government proposed to disburse Rs 4 crore, to the dependents of each deceased and Rs 2 crore to the owner of the boat St. Antony.

"We direct that after the amount is received by the Union of India, the same shall be deposited in this court within a period of one week. List the matter on 19th April, 2021," the top court said in its order.

In February 2012, two Italian marines, Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre, on board the MV Enrica Lexie -- an Italian flagged oil tanker -- were accused of killing two Indian fishermen who were on a fishing vessel in India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), mistaking them for pirates.

The top court in August last year had told the Centre that it would not pass any on closure of cases against the two marines without hearing the victims' families.
In a recent report posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server, researchers from the United Kingdom and Uganda reveal unique protein features of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) relative to other representatives of Sarbecoviruses.

The causative agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), SARS-CoV-2, belongs to the Betacoronavirus genus and Sarbecovirus subgenus of the Coronaviridae family, which is a group of enveloped, single-stranded RNA viruses.

Other representatives of Sarbecoviruses include SARS-CoV (which was the coronavirus that led to the SARS outbreak in 2002 and 2003), but also a myriad of SARS-like bat coronaviruses that have been identified and analyzed in depth.

Among the viral structural proteins, the spike glycoprotein has a pivotal role in the host range, cell tropism, and entrance, as well as infectivity traits. Hence, it is no wonder that it is considered a prime target of the host immune response.

Therefore, a thorough comparative analysis of viral proteins would help immensely in our better understanding of viral biology and pathology, providing insights into its origin, as well as the conditions that led to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

This is why Dr. Matthew Cotten, Dr. David L. Roberston, and Dr. My V.T. Phan from Uganda and the United Kingdom aimed to identify unique peptide regions of SARS-CoV-2 when compared to all available Sarbecoviruses in order to appraise the features that might enable SARS-CoV-2 to replicate and transmit efficiently among us.

Study: Unique protein features of SARS-CoV-2 relative to other Sarbecoviruses. Image Credit: NIAID

Comparing genomes and appraising evolutionary distances

In a nutshell, this research group has explored the genomes across the Sarbecovirus subgenus by using profile hidden Markov models. This modeling approach is based on a statistical description of the properties of viral proteins and their amino acid sequences.

More specifically, ten early SARS-CoV-2 genomes were compared to a representative subset of Sarbecovirus genomes obtained from human individuals, bats, pangolins, and civet cats. These were selected after the same analysis has been applied to all available Betacoronavirus genomes in order to avoid missing any surprisingly close viral genome regions.

In order to appraise total domain distances between viral groups, normalized bit-score sums (grouped into SARS-CoV-2 and Sarbecoviruses from human, bat, pangolin and civet cat) were summed for all domains and for each genome.

Analysis scheme. (A) Profile Hidden Markov Model (pHMM) domains were generated from a set of 35 early lineage B SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences. All open reading frames were translated and then sliced into either 44 amino acid peptides with a step size of 22 amino acids or 15 amino acid peptides with a step size of 8 amino acid. The peptides were clustered using Uclust (13), aligned with MAFFT (14) and then each alignment was built into a pHMM using HMMER-3 (10). (B) The set of pHMMs were used to query Sarbecovirus genome sequences, bit scores were collected as a measure of similarity between each pHMM and the query sequence. (C) Bit-scores were gathered an analyzed to detect regions that differ between early SARS-CoV-2 genomes and query genomes.

Unique nature of SARS-CoV-2

Detected changes in spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2  in comparison to a large set of known Sarbecovirus  reveal that the recent zoonotic source of this virus is yet to be found but also underpin a rather unique nature of the SARS-CoV-2 genome.

In line with previous reports, a small set of bat and pangolin-derived Sarbecoviruses demonstrate the most significant similarity to SARS-CoV-2, while a measure of proteome similarity showed that it is unlikely that bat Sarbecoviruses are the direct source of the pandemic virus.

Furthermore, the regions of variance that were identified in this study may indicate either functional changes in SARS-CoV-2 proteins or amino acid positions that can be modified without compromising the requisite functions of the protein.

The detailed spike analysis revealed 82 domains of 15 amino acids that have demonstrated high variation in the Sarbecoviruses, while 29 of these domains show changes in variants of concern relative to the early lineage of SARS-CoV-2.

Proteome differences in SARS-CoV-2 vs close Bat, Human and Civet cat Sarbecoviruses. All forward open reading frames from the 35 early lineage B SARS-CoV-2 genomes were translated, and processed into 44 aa peptides (with 22 aa overlap), clustered at 0.65 identity using Uclust (11), aligned with MAAFT (12) and converted into pHMMs using HMMER-3 (10). The presence of these domains was sought in a set of Sarbecovirus genomes plus the SARS-CoV-2 genomes and genomes were then clustered using hierarchical clustering based on the normalized domain bit-scores (e.g. the similarity of the identified query domain to the reference lineage B SARS-CoV-2 domain). Each row represents a genome, each column represents a domain. Domains are displayed in their order across the SARS-CoV-2 genome, Red = low normalized domain bit-score (lower similarity to lineage B SARS-CoV-2) = distant from SARS-CoV-2, Darkest grey = normalized domain bit-score = 1 = highly similar to lineage B SARS-CoV-2. Groups of coronaviruses were indicated to the right of the figure. (A) Domain differences across the Sarbecovirus subgenus. (B) For each domain the mean bit-score was calculated across the entire set of Sarbecovirus genomes and the value 1-mean bit-score was plotted for each domain. Domains are colored by the proteins from which they were derived with the color code indicated below the figure.

Being wary of the viral adaptation

This study gives credence to the notion of continuous genomic variant surveillance, which should then translate to the preparedness of vaccine producers to accommodate such spike glycoprotein changes in the next generation of vaccine updates.

"In broad terms, the SARS-CoV-2 evolution observed in the current variants of concern has sampled only 36% of the possible spikes changes which have occurred historically in Sarbecovirus evolution", say study authors in this bioRxiv paper.

"It is highly likely that a large number of new SARS-CoV-2 variants with changes in these regions are possible, compatible with virus replication and expected in the coming months unless global viral replication is severely reduced", they add.

In conclusion, such a high mutation rate of SARS-CoV-2 in combination with the remarkable number of SARS-CoV-2 infections worldwide gives rise to massive viral adaptation. Hence, further experiments will be necessary to discern true functional changes from neutral evolution.

*Important Notice

bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
A dispute over a proposed lease agreement between the state Department of Environmental Protection and a local historical society is keeping one of New Jerseys oldest lighthouses closed to the public.

The 172-year-old East Point Lighthouse and museum, a sentinel at the mouth of the Delaware River in Maurice River Township, some 30 miles north of Cape May, has been closed to visitors since early January after the society closed the doors to the lighthouse and museum when it reached an impasse with the DEP over the renewal of an expired lease. The grounds surrounding the lighthouse remain open, according to a DEP spokesperson.

This is not the first time Maurice River Historical Society and the DEP havent seen eye to eye regarding the iconic property, the oldest land-based lighthouse in the state and second oldest overall in New Jersey behind Sandy Hook Light in Monmouth County. The issue over the last five years has been over how to best protect the historic structure from encroaching tides, it was previously reported.

Now, the issue is over a long-term lease, which expired in March 2020. An interim license agreement presented to the society by the DEP has not yet been signed, according to DEP spokesperson Larry Hajna.

(Maurice River Historical Society) has not signed that agreement to date and recently announced their intention to not operate the interior of the lighthouse for public access under the proposed license agreement, Hanja wrote in a statement provided to NJ Advance Media. The DEP is currently assessing its options on how the interior of the structure may be made accessible to the public and remains committed to working with MRHS should it reconsider its decision.

The MRHS has not yet reached out directly to the DEP about any specific concerns in the draft agreement.

Nancy Patterson, president of the society, told NJ Advance Media the organization decided to close the building and museum because it cannot agree to the proposed lease while the DEP continues to propose a site stabilization project that calls for the raising of the first floor which, she said, does not address beach erosion and flooding.

She said that work would make the lighthouse inaccessible to the public and effectively will shutdown the museum and sideline the historical society, which has raised money through donations and grants for lighthouse preservation.

We look forward to partnering with the department to preserve both the lighthouse and its accessibility for citizens and visitors alike to see, Patterson said in a statement. We first request that the department state its intent to negotiate in good faith, to resolve the problems that will prevent us from achieving a plausible working relationship. The site must remain closed until these issues are resolved.

Over the years the shoreline has eroded 400 feet, putting the two-story Cape Cod-style structure 100 feet from the waters edge. The society has previously said it wants a berm and perhaps a retaining wall and bulkhead to be built to protect the structure. The state has deployed a sand-filled Geotube to fortify the shoreline, which, according to Patterson, has been ineffective.

As the lighthouse remains closed ... and the emergency work greatly needed to help protect the lighthouse remains on... Posted by East Point Lighthouse on Friday, March 26, 2021

The proposed lease, Patterson said, includes a provision that should the agreement be terminated in the future, any funds held by the society for the lighthouse would be turned over to the DEP, something the society cannot agree to doing.

The historical society spearheaded a $650,000 restoration of the lighthouse completed in 2017. It was funded by the New Jersey Historic Trust Fund and the federal Department of Transportation.

Its so, so one-sided, Patterson told NJ Advance Media. Weve taken it from a dilapidated building to a fully-furnished museum. Now we had to close down.

Patterson said the society is concerned that unless work starts soon to protect the lighthouse, it could be further damaged by encroaching waters.

Patterson said she has spoken to U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd Dist,, the area congressman and state Sen. Michael Testa, R-1st Dist., about helping mediate the dispute. Requests for comment from Van Drew and Testa were not immediately returned.

She said the historical society wants to continue as stewards of the lighthouse but doesnt know how long the dispute with the DEP will continue.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism you rely on and trust.

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com.
VPLS, a cloud-to-edge computing and solutions provider, announced today that CRN , a brand of The Channel Company, has named VPLS to its 2021 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Elite 150 category. The list, released annually, recognizes the leading North American solution providers that have demonstrated innovative and forward-thinking approaches to managed services. These services help end users improve operational efficiencies and navigate the ongoing complexities of IT solutions, while maximizing their return on IT investments.

VPLS was selected for the MSP Elite 150 list because the company demonstrates the gold standard of cloud-to-edge services with off-premises professional services that include network and security optimization, all while bringing its services back to the data center with expert migration services, managed colocation, and more. The wide range of services offered by VPLS, paired with its professionalism and industry expertise, has positioned the company as one of the nations best MSPs.

We are thrilled to be once again recognized on the CRN Elite 150 list, states John Minnix, President and COO of VPLS. VPLS continues to support its customers with best-in-class services as they grow their businesses alongside our global datacenter and MSP network. We look forward to helping even more businesses transform their IT as we move further into 2021.

Effective MSPs enable companies to focus on their core objectives while improving the quality and reliability of their cloud computing capabilities, said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. The solution providers on CRNs 2021 MSP 500 list deserve recognition for their innovative and forward-thinking approaches to managed services, and the ability to optimize operational efficiencies and systems to maximize return on investments.

With cutting-edge approaches to delivering managed services, MSPs have become an integral part of the success of businesses worldwide. They help empower organizations to leverage complex technologies, keeping a strict focus on their core business without straining their budgets. CRNs 2021 MSP 500 list identifies the markets key managed services players who are setting themselves apart with best-of-breed solutions that provide the business outcomes customers need.

The MSP 500 list is featured in the February 2021 issue of CRN and online at http://www.CRN.com/msp500.

About VPLS

VPLS is your trusted global provider for cloud-to-edge computing and technology services. For more information, please visit http://www.vpls.com.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Students learning virtually at Kalamazoo Public Schools are not required to come into school for the annual state assessments this year.

After a federal ruling denied the states waiver to cancel standardized tests this year, the Michigan Department of Education said virtual students will not be required to take the state assessments since they must be done in-person. In the case of KPS, which is operating entirely virtually because of the pandemic, the state assessments will be voluntary for all students, Superintendent Rita Raichoudhuri said.

Parents of virtual students who feel safe and are interested in their child taking the in-person test must register online by midnight Sunday, April 18, the superintendent said.

KPS has developed a plan with our safety protocols in place for testing in select buildings during the allowed testing window, the superintendent said in a statement. The testing site for your child will be determined by the number of students who register to take the test.

MDE said all districts must offer the test to all students, but virtual students wont be required to come into a school building solely for the purpose of taking the test.

The district will provide transportation but said it cannot guarantee that students will be social distanced on the bus. Parents are encouraged to transport their own children to school on the day of the testing.

The following testing dates are scheduled but subject to change by the Michigan Department of Education, the superintendent said:

Third grade: May 11 for ELA and May 12 for math

Fourth grade: May 11 for ELA and May 12 for math

Fifth grade: April 27 for ELA and April 28 for math and April 29 for science and social studies

Sixth grade: May 11 for ELA and May 12 for math

Seventh grade: May 11 for ELA and May 12 for math

Eighth grade: April 28 for science and social studies and May 5 for the PSAT

Ninth grade: May 5 for PSAT 9

11th grade: April 28 for WorkKeys and M-STEP science and social studies

State Superintendent Michael Rice requested the waiver in a letter to acting U.S. Education Secretary Phil Rosenfelt Jan. 25, citing inconsistent instructional methods between Michigan schools as one of several reasons to grant waivers from assessment and accountability requirements.

In his waiver request, Rice said the tests cannot be administered fairly and safely while thousands of students are still at home learning remotely  many lacking consistent Internet access.

Also on MLive:

Ann Arbor Public Schools moves back return to classroom for some grades

Bronson Park could switch hands from Kalamazoo County to the city for $1

COVID-19 risk from touching contaminated surface is less than 1 in 10,000, new CDC study says
The latest clash between two of Nigerias richest men, Aliko Dangote and Abdul Samad Rabiu, is over sugar. It is a dispute over who controls the sugar market in Africas biggest economy.

While Mr Dangote accuses his competitor of attempting to appropriate undue advantage, Mr Rabiu says Mr Dangote, Africas richest man, wants to monopolise the market and manipulate prices. Mr Dangote denied the price-fixing allegation in a statement Friday.

But documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES shed light on the accusations and counter-accusations by the two sides, and the governments role in the feud.

In January, Dangote Sugar Plc, supported by Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, accused rival BUA International Limited of skirting the backward integration policy of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) by setting up a sugar refinery in Port Harcourt.

Backward integration is a business model in which a firm expands into its supply chain rather than buy raw materials elsewhere. As an example, instead of buying maize from external suppliers like farmers, a company producing infant food may choose to invest and own maize farms and supply itself. This often helps in reducing cost. There is also forward integration, in which a company buys its own products for other purposes.

In the sugar context, the Nigerian government through the regulator, NSDC, has mandated sugar companies to not just build refineries and process imported sugar extract, but invest in developing the supply side  namely, sugar cane plantations. This is expected to reduce Nigerias import-dependence, stimulate the economy, create jobs and support the Naira.

While that is being developed to meet the countrys demand volume, the NSDC allocates quotas of sugar extract firms can bring into the country based on its backward integration investment size.

Dangote Sugar Plc, supported by Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, two of Nigeria largest sugar makers, argues that BUA has not met the backward integration requirement of the government to set up a new refinery, which they believe would confer an advantage on the firm. The government had in 2019 assured that no new sugar refinery would be allowed for now, they said.

In a joint letter to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, Mr Dangote and John Coumantaros, respectively chairs of Dangote Sugar and Flour Mills of Nigeria, argued that BUAs new refinery in Port Harcourt could stand-in the way of the attainment of the National Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) and the sustainability of Nigerias local sugar industry.

Under the revised guidelines released by the NSDC, it makes it absolutely clear that the allocation of quotas henceforth, shall be based on quantitative and verifiable improvements in the Backward Integration Programmes of players in the Industry.

The mid-term review conducted by the NSDC was clear in its conclusions  BUA has failed to invest substantively in local production or comply with its undertakings under its BIP, they wrote.

Messrs. Dangote and Coumantaros alleged that BUA only had the intention of bringing raw sugar imports into the country despite its pledge to commit money to sugar cultivation, so as to obtain quota allocation to import raw sugar, refine and sell.

The impunity with which BUA has contravened the provisions of the NSMP, has placed the other players, who are abiding by the regulations, not only at a significant disadvantage, but has discouraged them from undertaking the huge investments that would deliver the desired objective of 100% local production of sugar, unless of course, the ministry wades in and addresses the situation, the document said.

Both men requested the minister to launch a probe into the volume of raw sugar imported by BUAs Port Harcourt refinery and the appropriate penalty in terms of duty (60%) and level (10%) to be charged on the company.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment in February requested BUA to respond to the allegations. He warned of action if a response was not promptly given.

Buhari Approved Our Refinery  BUA

BUA Sugar, in a response in February, took serious exception to the ludicrous claims by its two major competitors that it aims to circumvent the BIP of the sugar industry and said it has invested billions of Naira in the backward integration policy of the government.

The company has three sugar holdings in Nigeria, namely, a 720,000 metric tonnes sugar refinery in Lagos, a 20,000-hectare Lafiagi Sugar Plantation and Ethanol Production Complex and an 850,000mt export-focused sugar refinery in Port Harcourt.

To thus claim that the BUA PH export focused refinery in an Export Zone will amount to an undermining of the NSMP is false, the letter signed by Mr Rabiu said.

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BUA argued that its project in Port Harcourt was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, but cited a different law  Nigerias free trade zone law, the NEPZA Act. It said the law allows it to operate the refinery to support its role as a counter-balance to the Dangote and Flour Mills duopoly and alleged price manipulation.

It said the Ministry of Trade and Investment that wrote to it was aware of the refinery as it was the one responsible for recommending and seeking the presidents approval.

We are wont to believe that the ministry is aware of the entire process leading up to this approval. As you are aware, Honourable Minister, the approval went through a rigorous two-year process before it was finally assented to by Mr. President.

The attempt by Messrs Dangote and Coumantaros to call the presidential approval upon which that project is sited to question  is to call to question, the authority of the presidents powers and the diligence of your ministry, Mr Rabiu said.

Mr Rabiu accused Dangote Sugar and Flour Mills of attempting to sabotage the country and its institutions and get rid of competition towards achieving a monopoly that holds the country to ransom.

The NEPZA Act upon which this project is based, gives the permission to process, add value and export at the same time. Companies under this Act are allowed to process, and if they so wish, sell 100 percent of their production in Nigeria with payment of duties based on the current raw materials tariff.

As a matter of fact, Aliko Dangote of Dangote Industries, who is one of the complainants alleging and attacking this approval has also applied and obtained the same approval for his Refinery Project in Lekki, Lagos State, where is currently enjoying the same benefits of being in an EPZ, it said.

Nonetheless, the company said its Port Harcourt sugar refinery is focused on exports, not the Nigerian market.

It, however, said in the event the two competitors (Dangote and Flour Mills) try to increase prices with wanton abandon locally, we are permitted under the extant laws and regulations to intervene, act as a buffer and sell locally as per the NEPZA approval. This is what threatens them the most  an end to arbitrary collusion to create sugar scarcity and keep prices high.

On backward integration, BUA claimed it was doing more than its competitors. It said it has a 20,000 hectares Lafiagi Sugar Project that has 10,000 tonnes per day sugar mill, 200,000 tonnes per annum sugar refinery, 20 million litres ethanol plant and a 35 mw power plant from Bagasse.

It said the firm is the only one amongst the three producers with a plantation, sugar mill for crushing sugar canes, a refinery to produce white sugar, and an ethanol plant. It accused Dangote Sugar and Flour Mills of not doing as much as it does, and being hypocritical on the issue of backward integration.

BUA, in addition, obtained a court injunction restraining the government from moving against the companys sugar operations.

Dangote Responds

In a statement Friday, Dangote Sugar vehemently refuted allegations of price manipulation.

DSR does not engage in artificial price manipulation of its products, either during the Holy month of Ramadan or at any other time. We have never ever increased price of our food items or commodities during the Holy month of Ramadan in the history of our operations, according to the Group Managing Director, Mr. Ravindra Singhvi.

He also added that the Company is socially responsible and considers price-fixing to be unethical.

Such allegation is highly mischievous and a calculated attempt to smear the reputation of DSR. DSR can only sadly conclude that the online publication is mischievous and geared at creating some form of undue advantage to some Industry players, he said.

He said the company began its Backward Integration Programme (BIP) with a 10-year sugar development plan, to produce 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum of sugar from locally grown sugarcane. The project commenced with the acquisition of large expanse of land in strategic locations such as Taraba State, Adamawa State and Nasarawa State.

To this end, three (3) BIP sugar companies; Dangote Taraba Sugar Limited, Dangote Adamawa Sugar Limited, Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited were incorporated.

The company said it commenced rehabilitation and expansion of its Sugar Factory at Numan. Sugarcane planting has also commenced in the two other BIP locations.

DSR has a responsibility to the Government, the good people of Nigeria and the Sugar Industry and all other stakeholders to protect the integrity of the Sugar industry and wishes to assure its stakeholders as follows: It will do all that is necessary to protect the integrity of the Sugar Industry, it is not engaged in price fixing and it encourages healthy competition amongst the players, the statement said.

Frosty relations

Relations between Messrs Dangote and Rabiu became frosty in June 2020 when BUA Cement, majority-owned by Mr Rabiu, got a restraining order against Dangote Cement, where the Africas wealthiest man wields the majority stake, after the police invaded its three sites in Obu Okpella, Edo State.

BUA entered a pact with Frances hydrocarbons group, Axens, in September 2020 for the development of a 200,000 barrels per day refinery and petrochemical plant Akwa Ibom State, a little more than a year to the start of Mr Dangotes own 650,000 bpd refinery in Lagos.

The Nigerian government last year allowed only the cement arms of Dangote Group and BUA Group as well as one other unidentified firms from its freeze on cross border trade more than one year after it placed the bar.

Mr Dangotes fortune stands at $12.1 billion, while Mr Rabiu, Nigerias third most affluent person, is worth $5.5 billion, according to Forbes.
The remains found in Gibson, LA on February 24, 2021 have been positively identified as Jake Menard 36, of Lafayette, LA. Menard was reported missing to the Lafayette Parish Sheriffs Office in November 2019. A short time later, Morgan City Police Department Detectives began receiving information that Menard was murdered in the Gibson area. Information received was that Menard was brought from Morgan City to Gibson to settle an unpaid drug debt, where he was murdered and buried. Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office detectives began investigating with Morgan City Police Department and Lafayette Parish Sheriffs Office detectives until Menards remains were located in February 2021.

Sheriff Soignet announced the arrest of Seth Lovett (33 years of age residing in Morgan City, LA) with one count of First-Degree Murder; Alvin Fitch (34 years of age, residing in Morgan City, LA) one count of First degree murder; Christopher Martin (34 years of age residing in Berwick, LA) one count of First Degree Murder; Chance Boudreaux (26 years of age residing in Morgan City, LA) one count of Accessory after the Fact to First Degree Murder.
Missing teenage twins from London have been found safe and well after six days, according to police.

On Thursday, the Metropolitan Police launched an appeal for information over the 13-year-olds from southwest London who were reported missing last Saturday.

The Met told The Independent the teenagers had been found safe and well on Friday morning.

The twins had been last seen in Twickenham in the afternoon of 3 April and reported missing later that day.

After urging the public on Thursday to call police if they saw the twins, Richmond Police later said they believed the girls had been in touch with friends earlier that day.

They asked those friends or their parents to get in contact with the force.

On Thursday, police said they believed the twins may have travelled to Hillingdon and have strong links to the borough in west London.

A missing person investigation was launched for the teenagers, who are both of slim build and around 5ft 2in tall.

One twin was last seen wearing a long white coat and knee-length riding boots in Twickenham, while the other was last seen wearing black trousers and black platform boots.

The Met had issued an appeal to parents who thought their children may be friends with the teenagers to ask their children if they have been in touch with them and to contact police with any relevant information.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  The top diplomats of the Philippines and the United States discussed the two countries' alliance as Chinese vessels lingered in the West Philippine Sea despite demands for them to leave.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin, Jr. and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken talked over the phone on Friday, their departments announced.

"Both sides reaffirmed the importance of working closely to enhance the Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the United States that has stood strong for nearly 70 years, in light of the recent geopolitical developments and challenges in the Asia Pacific region, particularly in the West Philippine Sea," Manila's Foreign Affairs Department said in a statement.

The State Department disclosed more details, saying Locsin and Blinken "expressed their shared concerns" over the massing of Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea, including Julian Felipe Reef or Whitsun Reef, where over 200 Chinese ships were spotted in March. Last week's aerial and maritime patrols showed 44 Chinese vessels were still moored at Julian Felipe Reef, while more than 200 others are in other areas in the Kalayaan Island Group.

China claims the entire KIG, which the Philippines considers part of Palawan province. The Philippines has filed diplomatic protests and demanded that China "promptly withdraw" its vessels from the area.

Ned Price, spokesperson for Blinken, said the US Secretary of State also reiterated calls for Beijing to abide by the 2016 arbitral ruling which already invalidated its sweeping claims to the South China Sea, including areas in the West Philippine Sea.

"Secretary Blinken and Secretary Locsin welcomed enhanced bilateral and multilateral cooperation on the South China Sea," Price said.

"Secretary Blinken also reaffirmed the applicability of the 1951 US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty to the South China Sea," he added.

The MDT, signed by Manila and Washington in 1951, states the two countries will provide military aid to each other in case their metropolitan areas or territories in the Pacific are attacked by a foreign force.

In February 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte moved to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement, which complements the MDT, but he has since suspended the abrogation.

Duterte's foreign policy is seen as a pivot toward China and away from traditional allies like the US, although his administration calls it an independent "friend to all, enemy to none" policy.

The US does not claim any part of the South China Sea but conducts freedom of navigation operations, and calls out Beijing's alleged militarization and expansive territorial claims.

China has repeatedly told the US not to intervene in regional matters while maintaining that the Philippines is its "friendly neighbor."

"Respect regional countries' efforts in resolving differences and maintaining stability on the [South China Sea and] stop driving wedges!" Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lijian Zhao said in a recent statement addressing the US.

Aside from the presence of Chinese vessels in the KIG, the Armed Forces of the Philippines also reported seeing "illegal" man-made structures in the area. It is also investigating ABS-CBN's report that its news crew, onboard a Filipino civilian vessel, was chased down by two missile attack craft of the Chinese Navy just around 90 nautical miles from mainland Palawan, well within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following article contains images and names of deceased people.

Private Harold West, a proud Murrawarri man who became known as The Ghost of Kokoda, was so good at his work that it was said he could track a Geegar (little black ant) up a crowbar after six inches of rain.

Private George Leonard (L) and Pte Harold West, 14th Reinforcements to the 2/1st Battalion, embarking at Sydney. Credit:AWM

He enlisted in Paddington on August 23, 1941, for World War II at the same time as his best mate, Private George Leonard. They are remembered on a memorial in the NSW town of Goodooga, near the Queensland border, as brothers in childhood, brothers in arms and brothers beyond.

How Pte West became known as The Ghost of Kokoda, and inspiration for the Coloured Digger march and poem, will be remembered on Thursday in service at the Anzac Memorial.
Saving 31 Species the Trump Administration Left Behind

This month the Center for Biological Diversity's lawyers are working hard to rescue 31 rare species the Trump administration neglected to protect  or outright denied safeguards.

First we sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for indefinitely delaying protections for 10 species in dire need, including northern spotted owls and monarch butterflies. Trump's Service claimed that although all 10 needed help to avoid extinction, the administration had more important things to spend its money on.

Then, this Wednesday, we filed a notice of intent to sue the Service for completely denying protection to 21 other species under Trump. From the MacGillivray's seaside sparrow on the Atlantic Coast to the Kirtland's snake in the Midwest, these species face serious threats from habitat destruction, climate change, invasive species and pollution.

The Trump regime's nihilistic approach to nature and wildlife left it with the worst conservation record since the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973: In four years it protected only 25 species.

Help us protect rare species by donating to our Saving Life on Earth Fund.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  The Department of Health has yet to receive any report of unusual blood clotting among those who received AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine.

"Sa ngayon naman wala pa tayong nano-note na ganitong mga blood clotting or other adverse events with regard to AstraZeneca vaccine," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told a virtual briefing Friday.

[Translation: Currently, we have not noted any incident of blood clotting or other adverse events with regard to the AstraZeneca vaccine.]

This comes after public health authorities decided to temporarily stop giving the vaccine to people under 60 years old after European regulators found a link between the coronavirus shot and a few cases of blood clots with low platelet count.

Food and Drug Administration Director General Eric Domingo said this is a good time to study the effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine since the country has almost used up all its supply and the administration of the second dose will be only after 8 to 12 weeks, just in time for the arrival of the next batch from the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility. Vergeire said all 525,600 doses of the vaccine were already distributed to vaccination centers.

READ: WHO: Next batch of vaccines via COVAX may be further reduced due to supply shortage

"Ito iyong magandang panahon na aralin itong mga reports na ito kasi wala na tayong AstraZeneca vaccines [stocks] talagang paubos na at iyong next batch darating pa lamang possibly towards the end of the month," Domingo said.

[Translation: This is a good time to study these reports because we already used up our AstraZeneca vaccines stocks, they are almost used up, and the next batch will possibly arrive towards the end of the month.]

He also noted that the adverse effects were only observed after the administration of the first dose. Those who will not experience side effects may receive their second dose once the new batch arrives, he added.

AztraZeneca's use on senior citizens will also not be halted since they will have the most benefit out of it, given the high risk of them getting infected and dying due to the coronavirus, Domingo explained.
MINNEAPOLIS  George Floyd died of a lack of oxygen from being pinned to the pavement with a knee on his neck, medical experts testified at former Officer Derek Chauvins murder trial Thursday, emphatically rejecting the defense theory that Floyds drug use and underlying health problems killed him.

A healthy person subjected to what Mr. Floyd was subjected to would have died, said prosecution witness Dr. Martin Tobin, a lung and critical care specialist at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital and Loyola Universitys medical school in Illinois.

Using easy-to-understand language to explain medical concepts and even loosening his necktie to illustrate a point, Tobin told the jury that Floyds breathing was severely constricted while Chauvin and two other Minneapolis officers held the 46-year-old Black man down on his stomach last May with his hands cuffed behind him and his face jammed against the ground.

The lack of oxygen resulted in brain damage and caused his heart to stop, the witness said.

Tobin, analyzing images of the three officers restraining Floyd for what prosecutors say was almost 9 1/2 minutes, testified that Chauvins knee was virtually on the neck more than 90% of the time.

He said several other factors also made it difficult for Floyd to breathe: officers lifting up on the suspects handcuffs, the hard pavement, his prone position, his turned head and a knee on his back.

Chauvin kept his knee on Floyds neck for 3 minutes, 2 seconds, after Floyd took his last breath, Tobin said. After that last breath, Floyds oxygen levels went down to zero and Floyd reached the point where there was not one ounce of oxygen left in the body, he said.

As prosecutors repeatedly played a video clip of Floyd on the ground, Tobin pinpointed what he said was a change in the mans face that told him Floyd was dead. That moment happened around five minutes after police began holding Floyd down.

At the beginning, you can see hes conscious, you can see slight flickering, and then it disappears, Tobin said. He explained: Thats the moment the life goes out of his body.

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyds death May 25. Floyd was arrested outside a neighborhood market after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. Bystander video of Floyd crying that he couldnt breathe as onlookers yelled at the white officer to get off him sparked protests and scattered violence around the U.S.

Tobin also testified that just because Floyd was talking and can be seen moving on video doesnt mean he was breathing adequately. He said a leg movement seen in the footage was an involuntary sign of a fatal brain injury, and that a person can continue to speak until the airway narrows to 15%, after which you are in deep trouble.

Officers can be heard on video telling Floyd that if he can talk, he can breathe.

During cross-examination, Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson pressed Tobin on that common misconception, pointing to earlier testimony that Minneapolis officers are trained that if people can speak, they can breathe.

Nelson has argued that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyds death was caused by illegal drugs and underlying medical problems, including high blood pressure and heart disease. An autopsy found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system.

Tobin said he analyzed Floyds respiration as seen on body-camera video and explained that while fentanyl typically cuts the rate of respiration 40%, Floyds breathing was right around normal just before he lost consciousness.

Tobin also said the high blood level of carbon dioxide measured in the emergency room can be explained by Floyd not breathing for nearly 10 minutes before paramedics began artificial respiration, as opposed to his breathing being suppressed by fentanyl.

Another prosecution witness, Dr. Bill Smock, an expert on deaths from asphyxia, backed up Tobins assessment. Smock said Floyd did not have symptoms of a fentanyl overdose such as constricted pupils and decreased breathing. He said Floyds actions were the opposite, because he was pleading for air.

That is not a fentanyl overdose. That is somebody begging to breathe, said Smock, the police surgeon for the Louisville, Kentucky, department and a former emergency room doctor. He said Floyd died of positional asphyxia, a lack of oxygen because of the position of the body.

On cross-examination, Nelson questioned Smock about Floyds history of heart disease, getting Smock to agree that a struggle with police could put stress on the heart and that shortness of breath could be a sign of a heart attack.

But when questioned again by the prosecution, Smock said there was no evidence that Floyd had a heart attack or sudden death from arrhythmia, saying his death was caused by a gradual decrease of oxygen over several minutes because of the pressure being applied to his back and neck.

Also Thursday, a forensic toxicologist said that he tested blood drawn from Floyd at the hospital, as well as urine from his autopsy, and found a very low amount of methamphetamine. Daniel Isenschmid said fentanyl and a byproduct of its breakdown also were in Floyds system.

Isenschmid put the level of fentanyl in Floyds blood at 11 nanograms per milliliter. For perspective, he said that testing of more than 2,000 people arrested for driving under the influence of fentanyl revealed an average concentration of 9.59, and dozens of them had levels higher than Floyds  and survived.

In this image taken from video, defense attorney Eric Nelson questions witness Daniel Isenschmid, a forensic toxicologist as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides Thursday, April 8, 2021, in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn. Chauvin is charged in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. (Court TV via AP, Pool)AP

On cross-examination, Nelson suggested there was no way to know how much fentanyl Floyd had ingested, and Isenschmid agreed. The defense attorney also said its impossible to know the concentration of fentanyl in street drugs.

Every single pill you take, it becomes a unique experience for the person, right? Isenschmid agreed.

In his own turn on the stand, Tobin used simple language, explaining that when the airway narrows, breathing becomes far more difficult, like breathing through a drinking straw.

At one point, the doctor loosened his tie and placed his hands on his own neck and the back of his head to demonstrate how the airway works, inviting the jurors to examine their own necks. Most of them did so, though the judge later told them they didnt have to.

A person videotapes across the street from the Hennepin County Government Center, Thursday, April 8, 2021, in Minneapolis where testimony continues in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin is charged with murder in the death of George Floyd during an arrest last May in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)AP

The expert calculated that at times when Chauvin was in a near-vertical position, with his toes off the ground, half of Chauvins body weight with his gear included  or 91.5 pounds (41.5 kilograms)  was directly on Floyds neck.

He said it appeared that Floyd was getting enough oxygen to keep his brain alive for about the first five minutes, because he was still speaking. Tobin said that where Chauvin had his knee after the five-minute mark was not that important, because at that point Floyd had already suffered brain damage.

Chauvins attorney has repeatedly shown the jury still images from the video that he said depicted Chauvins knee on Floyds shoulder blade, not his neck. But nearly all of those images were captured after the five-minute mark, according to the time stamps.

___

Amy Forliti, Steve Karnowski and Tammy Webber of The Associated Press wrote this story. Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan.

Find APs full coverage of the death of George Floyd at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Everybodys concerned about the COVID-19 variants that keep popping up.

Even though, yes, viruses do mutate on a regular basis, so variants arent a shock.

And everybodys worried about the spike in cases that were seeing in the United States and other parts of the world.

Even if, yes, the numbers arent close to what we saw during the winter surge. And even if the increase here is mainly in five states: New York, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

But even Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White Houses top pandemic advisor, cant seem to make up his mind about whether we should be worried.

This is the person were supposed to follow out of the pandemic?

Fauci on the Morning Joe show on Tuesday said that while he was concerned about the variants and about the possibility of a surge, he said that the national vaccination effort should be enough to keep any spike from becoming a full-blown outbreak.

As for the possibility of a fourth wave, Fauci said, I dont think its gonna happen.

Which only makes sense: The millions of vaccines administered, added to the number of people whove recovered from COVID and now have anti-bodies, should be enough to provide at least some protection to the general population.

Thats science. Thats why even strict lockdown states like New York are opening the shutters again and getting back to business.

But on Wednesday, Fauci backtracked, telling CNN that the number of COVID cases was disturbing and that there was a risk of getting a surge back up.

Which one is it, doctor?

Faucis flip-flop came on the heels of the updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on COVID surface spread. Which said that we have a low chance of getting COVID off surfaces, and that Americans should stop bleach-bombing their homes.

Its another move of the goal posts by the CDC, which has had us so worried about surface spread.

But its certainly a better message than the one that Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, laid on us the other week, when she said that she had a feeling of impending doom and was scared of the increasing COVID numbers.

Not exactly a profile in courage. Imagine how New Yorkers would have felt if Mayor Rudy Giuliani had said he was scared as he walked through the rubble of 9/11.

And continuing its Jekyll-and-Hyde act, CDC officials on Thursday said that they expect students will be back full time for in-person learning by September.

The CDC said that vaccination of school staffers and increased overall testing should be enough to take care of any surge concerns in schools.

So what kind of peril are we actually in? After studying COVID for a year, dont the experts know?

Meanwhile, New York City has vaccinated 4.7 million out of 8 million residents. Its getting to the point where its perfectly legitimate to ask when well reach the herd-immunity tipping point here and can truly get back to normal.

Im not going to tell anybody how to live their life. Ive had COVID and recovered. Im fully vaccinated. Im not walking on pins and needles about the virus. I feel confident that I can get back out there and start living again.

I was on the South Beach boardwalk for a work assignment the other day and it took me a few minutes to remember to mask up. Because it was a beautiful spring day. And because probably 75 percent of the people I saw walking or biking were without masks.

It was a nice feeling, to not even think about taking a COVID precaution. It was a natural feeling.

Maybe there is some daylight at the end of all this. Maybe we will get back to the ordinary world again.

If only the experts could figure it out.
By Oliver Hirt, Pamela Barbaglia and David French

ZURICH (Reuters) - BlackRock and Jean-Pierre Mustier's blank-check firm are among investors expressing interest in Credit Suisse's asset management arm, three sources told Reuters, as the Swiss lender explores options for the unit after a run of costly scandals.

U.S. investment firm State Street Corp is also eyeing a rival bid for all or part of the Swiss bank's fund management business, while European asset managers including Germany's DWS are waiting in the wings, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Former UniCredit boss Mustier's blank-check firm Pegasus Europe, which focuses on financial services investments, is due to list in Amsterdam between the end of April and early May, two sources said.

A spokeswoman for Credit Suisse said the bank had no plans to sell all or any parts of its asset management business. BlackRock, State Street, DWS and Pegasus Europe all declined to comment.

Switzerland's second biggest bank has been reeling from its exposure to the collapses of Greensill Capital and Archegos Capital Management, with a 4.4 billion Swiss franc ($4.75 billion) charge hitting its balance sheet after Archegos failed to meet margin commitments.

The scale of the charge - close to three times the investment bank's profit last year - and a 25% drop in its shares since the end of February mean Credit Suisse boss Thomas Gottstein needs to take radical action.

The sources said Credit Suisse is in the early stages of a strategic review of its asset management arm and has yet to entertain in-depth discussions with interested parties.

The bank will need to wait for former Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio to take over as chairman in May before any decision on whether to sell or spin off the unit can be taken, the sources said, cautioning no deal was certain.

Credit Suisse's latest run of problems started when its asset management arm was forced to suspend $10 billion of supply chain funds that invested in bonds issued by Greensill Capital after the UK firm lost insurance coverage for its loans.

Story continues

"They have started talks with some of the parties, but not due diligence, no data room yet. Some of the potential buyers want the entire business, others just parts," one of the sources said, referring to the bank's asset management unit.

"Credit Suisse is still in crisis mode and they have not decided how to proceed yet."

OVERHAUL

Credit Suisse in March announced an overhaul of the asset management unit amid the fallout from the Greensill debacle, bringing in former UBS executive Ulrich Koerner to lead the unit and separating it from international wealth management.

It said at the time the creation of a separate asset management division would serve to emphasize its strategic importance for the bank.

Gottstein also raised the prospect of parting ways with the business in a Bloomberg Television interview in March, saying the idea of separating the unit was "potentially part of the plan", and that "having a holding company around that could be something we are pursuing".

The bank's fund management business had 440 billion Swiss francs of assets under management in 2020 and a loss before tax of 39 million Swiss francs.

The sources said the business could be valued at roughly $3.7-4 billion, with one adding Credit Suisse is likely to opt for a cash and stock deal that would allow it to extract future returns from the business.

"A potential disposal of Credit Suisse's asset management business has been discussed in the past," said Filippo Alloatti, a portfolio manager and credit analyst at Hermes. "They themselves saw the business as lacking scale and discussed merging it with someone else."

Credit Suisse is expected to try to retain a stake in any deal involving the business, which could also be spun out and listed in Zurich, the sources said.

The business could also be listed through a deal with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), potentially involving Mustier's vehicle or another blank-check firm, they said.

France's richest man Bernard Arnault is sponsoring Mustier's SPAC along with French investment firm Tikehau Capital and former banker Diego De Giorgi, who worked closely with Credit Suisse's new investment banking boss Christian Meissner at Bank of America.

Formal discussions with Mustier or his team cannot take place until Pegasus Europe finalises its listing in Amsterdam due to regulatory restrictions.

Former Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam is also raising about $250 million for his own SPAC firm to invest in financial services businesses in the developed and developing world.

($1 = 0.9262 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Oliver Hirt, Pamela Barbaglia and David French, additional reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan, Brenna Hughes-Neghaiwi and Tom Sims; Writing by Pamela Barbaglia; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 21:13:10|Editor: huaxia

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A health worker takes a swab sample from a passenger at North Delhi railway station in New Delhi, India, April 9, 2021. (Photo by Partha Sarkar/Xinhua)

NEW DELHI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Delhi government on Friday announced the suspension of all ongoing examinations in schools in the wake of the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases in the national capital.

Announcing the closure of all schools (government and private), Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that "In the wake of surge in COVID-19 cases, all schools (government and private) in Delhi shall remain shut till further orders."

Meanwhile, an official circular issued by the Directorate of Education of the Delhi government said that all examinations in schools shall remain suspended till further orders.

"In view of the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases in Delhi, all schools are hereby informed that conduct of all academic and examination activities through physical mode shall remain suspended with immediate effect till further orders," read the government circular.

Delhi has been witnessing a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases over the past few days. As per the official figures issued on Friday morning, as many as 7,437 new COVID-19 cases and 24 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.

So far 11,157 people have died in the national capital due to COVID-19.

Similarly, as many as 5,506 new cases and 20 deaths were reported on Thursday morning, while 5,100 new cases and 17 deaths were reported on Wednesday, 3,548 new cases and 15 deaths on Tuesday, and 4,033 new cases and 21 deaths on Monday. Enditem
Allegations of abuse and neglect of migrant children at San Antonio's Freeman Coliseum raised this week by Gov. Greg Abbott stemmed from complaints of sexual acting out by teenage boys at the temporary facility there, as well as the bullying of children who may be homosexual, state officials said.

The new details were provided in a memo sent to Abbotts office by associate commissioners at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Health and Human Services Commission. Both agencies received separate reports of the allegations this week.

At a hastily called news conference on Wednesday in front of the Bexar County-owned coliseum, Abbott framed the complaints as allegations of sexual assault and neglect of the children and demanded the federal government shutter the facility.

On Friday, Abbott penned a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris in which he repeated his demand to close the federally run facility based on allegations of sexual assault, a shortage of staff to properly supervise the children inside the facility, and that the children in the facility are not eating throughout the day.

He also cited a complaint that COVID-19 protocols are not being followed inside the facility.

In his letter to Harris, Abbott included the memo from state officials detailing the complaints.

The memo said a report was received at 9:32 a.m. Tuesday alleging that the bathrooms are not supervised during showers; the boys are not properly monitored and are engaging in sexual behavior in the showers; there is concern about staff ratio at night; there is no staff training; there are no first aid or CPR certifications for direct staff; and the children are not being reunified.

Another report was received Tuesday just one minute later, at 9:33 a.m., alleging that the children do not have enough to eat throughout the day; there is not enough staff watching the children and children may be left with no supervision overnight; there is sexual acting out between children; and children who are homosexual may be bullied.

At 1:31 p.m. on Wednesday, a third report was received that echoed the complaints about food, supervision and the bullying of children who may be homosexual.

County officials, including Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores, have rebutted any complaints of neglect, saying the migrant children  about 1,370 boys ages 13-17  all are appropriately supervised and fed three meals a day. The facility will remain open as federal and state authorities investigate the complaints.

Texas Democrats plan to show up in force later today at the coliseum to vet the complaints of mistreatment. Congressman Joaquin Castro will join eight Democratic state representatives from across the state to tour the facility and address media.
For Portland-area restaurants, the last few months have felt like the light at the end of a very long tunnel. In February, plummeting COVID-19 cases prompted Gov. Kate Brown to reopen dining rooms for the first time in three months. By March, Portland restaurants were allowed to expand indoor capacity further. And April has brought a sunny glimpse of the summer ahead -- patio season is almost here.

Some of those gains will be reversed on Friday, when two of Oregons three largest counties -- Multnomah and Clackamas -- will return to the high-risk category, once again limiting restaurants to 25% capacity indoors, Gov. Kate Brown announced Tuesday. In all, six counties representing three fifths of Oregons population enter the higher risk category Friday (Deschutes, Klamath, Linn and Tillamook are the others).

For restaurants with smaller dining rooms and those sticking with takeout service, the new restrictions wont have much impact. Indoor dining will still be allowed, albeit at a reduced figure. Table size remains fixed at six people per party max. Businesses will still be required to close at 11 p.m.

But for others, including longtime Northeast Portland Italian restaurant Amalfis, the reversal represents a major step back for an industry still reeling from a year of cascading crises.

Its a gut punch, Amalfis owner Kiauna Floyd said by phone Wednesday. It hurts. We are currently under construction to build an outdoor space that is not complete, so we cant take advantage of that. Its devastating to an already devastated industry.

Floyd estimates her restaurant will lose between six and eight tables on Friday, each of which would have been filled several times each night. Last summer, the restaurant might have moved guests to the patio built on its large parking lot at 4703 N.E. Fremont St. But surface repairs aimed at filling potholes and smoothing out bumps arent expected to wrap up until May.

For Floyd, after a year of figuring out how to manage a business safely during a pandemic, the back-and-forth yo-yoing of her business has been devastating.

I fully realize that next to running and operating a restaurant, theres no more impossible position to be in than governing this situation, Floyd said. But from an equity standpoint, its frustrating as a business owner to know that we can travel. We can hop on an airplane and go to a different state. We can convene in households without wearing masks. And yet its the restaurants and bars that get penalized.

Campana, also in Northeast Portland, is among the restaurants not expecting much of a change come Friday. Even when Multnomah County moved to the moderate risk category in March, George Kaden and Annalisa Macedas year-old restaurant didnt have enough room to expand indoors while still keeping tables at least six feet apart.

We never went up when they increased capacity, Maceda said. There was just no way with the way our layout is.

Campana, a new Italian restaurant that started life as a pop-up at Grand Army Tavern, will replace the Northeast Portland bar full-time starting Friday.Courtesy of Campana

For now, the restaurant, which replaced the couples Grand Army Tavern at 901 N.E. Oneonta St. during the pandemic, is focused on helping the remainder of its staff access the vaccine, and gearing up for patio season. Monday was the first day restaurant workers and other frontline workers officiallyl became eligible for vaccination in Oregon. But even here, the restaurant is taking things slow, choosing not to renew its on-street seating permit.

We did that last year, but were just going to go with our regular patio seating on the sidewalk for now, Maceda said. Because its not just about increasing capacity. Its about doing it in a way thats safe, so we dont have to hire a bunch of people that we have to lay off in four weeks.

David Kreifels was just getting used to inviting diners back indoors at Laurelhurst Market, the steakhouse he opened at 3155 E. Burnside St. with Jason Owens and Ben Dyer in 2009. And then, on March 17, an employee tested positive for COVID-19.

Kreifels and his partners consulted various agencies to figure out the best course of action, eventually shutting down the restaurant for two weeks, disclosing the exposure on Instagram. When the restaurant reopened on March 31, it stuck with takeout service through its in-house butcher counter.

The underlying message for me is just trying to keep everybody safe, Kreifels said. Its such a downer. Weve been doing so good, and then this happened, and it was kind of eye-opening. And thats why were not opening indoors right now.

Kreifels doesnt foresee an immediate return to indoor dining, though hell be open to the possibility should COVID-19 cases fall or spring temperatures rise to the point where he can open my doors and windows without freezing out my customers.

Outdoor dining, meanwhile, has returned to the restaurants large deck, which was built during the first few months of the pandemic and opened last summer.

I feel bad for people who dont have that, Kreifels said. Without a parking lot to build that deck on, wed be in a whole different ball game.

-- Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com, @tdmrussell
High index surfaces-exposed PtCu3@Pt3Cu@Pt nanodendrites as ORR electrocatalyst

Alloying is a general and efficient strategy to boost the catalytic activity of Pt catalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) through electronic and geometric effects. Besides, high-index surfaces (HISs) of Pt also exhibit superior ORR activity, mainly originated from low-coordinated step or kink atoms. Thus, a combination of the alloying and HISs would be a promising method to further develop excellent catalysts for ORR. However, simultaneous control of alloy composition and HISs exposure in nanoscale remains challenging.

Recently, a research team led by Prof. Shengli Chen from Wuhan University, China designed a nanodendrite Pt-Cu alloy electrocatalyst possessing rich spiny branches exposing n(111)x(110) HISs with a graded composition of PtCu 3 @Pt 3 Cu@Pt. The electrocatalyst was obtained through an atmosphere-modulated solution-phase synthesis followed by electrochemical dealloying. The results were published in Chinese Journal of Catalysis (DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(20)63735-4).

Nanodendrite morphology of PtCu 3 alloy is achieved through controlling the reaction atmospheres, more specifically, by initially applying an oxidative atmosphere to form concaved nanocubes of Pt-Cu seeds, and then switching to an inert atmosphere under which an explosive growth of dendrites takes place. When keeping the oxidative atmosphere, the Pt-Cu concave cubes continue to grow. If initially applying for an inert atmosphere, five-fold twins of Pt-Cu crystals form to minimize the surface energy. The five-fold twins further grow to nano-polypods under the inert atmosphere, but transform to concave cubes if switching to an oxidizing atmosphere because of the dislocations in the five-fold twins. The PtCu 3 nanodendrites are surrounded by a high-index surface with a large number of steps, with the (111) planes exhibiting a lattice fringe spacing of 0.214 nm, which corresponds to a 5.3% lattice shrinkage as compared with the 0.226 nm of Pt(111).

Electrochemical dealloying, performed through 100 cycles of cyclic voltammogram (CV) with a scan rate of 500 mV s-1 between 0.06 ~1.3 V (vs. RHE) in O 2 -saturated 0.1 M HClO 4 solution, was used to obtain HIS catalysts with gradient composition from the as-prepared Pt-Cu nanocrystals. A Pt-rich surface was obtained while the HISs is retained, leading to composition-graded PtCu 3 @Pt 3 Cu@Pt nanodendrites.

The nanodendritic structure and low Pt content together provide a high specific ECSA to improve the Pt utilization, and the HISs and gradient composition of catalysts together provide a high oxygen reduction catalytic activity. PtCu 3 @Pt 3 Cu@Pt nanodendrites exhibit excellent mass and area activities of Pt for ORR in 0.1 M HClO 4 solution, which are 15 and 24 times higher than that of Pt/C, respectively. DFT calculations reveal that Cu alloying and HISs both have contributed to the significantly enhanced activity of Pt, and that the oxygen binding energy on the step sites of HISs on the PtCu 3 @Pt 3 Cu@Pt nanodendrites approaches the optimal value to give ORR activity near the so-called volcano top.

###

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21832004 and 21633008), Shanghai Rising-Star Program (18QB1404400) and Shanghai Scientific Research Project (18511110803). The DFT calculations in this paper have been done on the supercomputing system in the Supercomputing Centre of Wuhan University.

About the journal

Chinese Journal of Catalysis is co-sponsored by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Chemical Society, and it is currently published by Elsevier group. This monthly journal publishes in English timely contributions of original and rigorously reviewed manuscripts covering all areas of catalysis. The journal publishes Reviews, Accounts, Communications, Articles, Highlights, Perspectives, and Viewpoints of highly scientific values that help understanding and defining of new concepts in both fundamental issues and practical applications of catalysis. Chinese Journal of Catalysis ranks among the top six journals in Applied Chemistry with a current SCI impact factor of 6.146.

At Elsevier http://www. journals. elsevier. com/ chinese-journal-of-catalysis

Manuscript submission https:/ / mc03. manuscriptcentral. com/ cjcatal

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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Nyxoah Reports Full Year 2020 Results

Conference call and webcast today at 3pm CET / 9am ET

Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium  9 April 2021  Nyxoah SA (Euronext Brussels: NYXH) (Nyxoah or the Company), a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative solutions to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), today reported financial and operating results for the full year ended December 31, 2020.

Olivier Taelman, Chief Executive Officer of Nyxoah, said: 2020 was a year marked by key accomplishments for Nyxoah, with important milestones showing focused execution across business units. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact on Nyxoahs activities was limited and our manufacturing facilities remained operational, with sufficient production to meet our needs.

Key Points

Financial 25M round onboarding ResMed as new investor 85M IPO on Euronext Brussels

Clinical BETTER SLEEP study enrolment close of 42 implanted patients M6 data to be expected Q2 2021 IDE trial approval by FDA in June 2020, with first US and international implants by end 2020 EliSA implants on 15 patients for long term safety & efficacy, trial expected to follow patients over a five-year period

Commercial Germany G-BA approving NUB reimbursement at a similar reimbursement level as other neurostimulation-based OSA therapies First revenue generation in Germany

Operational No production stop despite COVID Tech transfer to a second independent manufacturing site in Belgium started

R&D MRI compatibility full body 1.5T and 3T Next Gen of Genio system with improved features for the implantable and external components



Highlights of 2020

In 2020, the Company continued to advance its goal of further expanding its footprint and providing more patients suffering from OSA access to the Genio solution, thereby addressing a significant current unmet medical need.

The German federal joint committee (G-BA) confirmed in March 2020 that the Genio system is entitled to join the existing NUB for hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HGNS) systems at a similar reimbursement level as other neurostimulation-based OSA therapies. As a result, the Company generated its first commercial revenue in 2020, albeit that such revenue was limited due to the NUB-specific negotiation path. As of 2021, the reimbursement will move away from NUB into a DRG system which should allow the Company to fully ramp up its German commercialization strategy.

Despite Covid-19 related disruptions, the Company was able to continue producing Genio devices in sufficient quantities to meet needs.

Clinical development

In November 2020, the Company completed enrolments in the BETTER SLEEP trial, conducted in Australia. In total, 42 patients were enrolled in this pre-marketing study, designed to assess the safety and efficacy / performance of the Genio system for the treatment of OSA in adult patients who either exhibit or do not exhibit a complete concentric collapse (CCC) of the soft palate. The study is planned to have a 36-month follow-up and the end of the study is expected by the end of 2023. Six-month follow-up results are expected to be available in the second quarter of 2021.

If the primary endpoints of this study are reached, the Company plans to request a therapy indication expansion that would allow the Genio system to be used to treat CCC patients that are currently excluded from HGNS. In the meantime, the discussion with the European notified bodies has been initiated. If the Company obtains marketing authorization for the Genio system in the US, the Company plans to leverage the clinical data from the BETTER SLEEP study to expand the authorized indication to include the treatment of CCC patients in the US.

In 2020, enrolment continued, but was slowed down due to Covid-19, in the EliSA trial, the Companys multicenter post-marketing trial being conducted throughout Europe which is designed to gather long-term safety and clinical data regarding the Genio system in adult patients suffering from moderate-to-severe OSA. As of 31 December 2020, 15 patients out of the total intended 110 patients were enrolled in the study coming from five different countries (Germany, Switzerland, France, the Netherland, Belgium).

In June 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application for the Companys DREAM trial. This study aims to confirm the safety and effectiveness of the Genio system and is designed to support marketing authorization of the Genio system in the United States. The study will enroll 134 moderate-to-severe OSA patients who failed first line CPAP therapy. Up to 19 US sites in combination with 7 international sites have been selected to participate in the study. By the end of 2020, the first US and international implants took place.

Research and Development

Throughout 2020, the Company continued to invest in improving the Genio system with a goal of developing next generation products with improved features with respect to patient comfort, therapy efficacy, reliability and patient and market acceptance.

In 2020, the Company performed the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) compatibility testing of the Genio system, resulting in CE mark and FDA conditional MR labeling approval in early 2021.

Financial highlights

In February 2020, the Company raised 25 million in a private financing round, whereby ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD; ASX:RMD), a world-leading digital health company in the OSA field, joined the Company as a new shareholder. All major shareholders at that time participated in this financing round onboarding ResMed Inc.

In September 2020, the Company raised 85 million ($100 million) as a result of the initial public offering (IPO) of new shares of the Company on Euronext Brussels under the symbol NYXH. The IPO resulted in an initial market capitalization of 375 million (taking into account the exercise in full of the over-allotment option in the framework of the IPO).

Subsequent Events

After the close of the financial year, the Company signed an exclusive license agreement with Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN, USA). This agreement allows Nyxoah to develop new neurostimulation technologies for the treatment of sleep disordered breathing conditions based on inventions and patents owned by Vanderbilt University, which could potentially expand Nyxoahs future pipeline.

On February 22, 2021, the Company issued 10,000 shares pursuant to an exercise of subscription rights. Consequently, on the date of this Annual Report, the Companys registered capital amounts to EUR 3,797,765.64, represented by 22.107.609 shares.

Outlook for 2021

Our business, operational, and clinical outlook for 2021 include the following:

Ramp up EU revenue and build a dedicated sales team in Germany

Obtain reimbursement in Switzerland

BETTER SLEEP trial 6 month results, basis for Complete Concentric Collapse (CCC) therapeutic indication expansion

Open second independent manufacturing site in Belgium, in addition to existing site in Israel

Complete DREAM pivotal trial enrollment

Full Year 2020 Financial Results

Income Statement

For the first time since its inception, the Company began generating revenue as of July 2020. The revenue of KEUR 69 was generated under the existing HGNS NUB coding in Germany. The total cost of goods sold was KEUR 30.

Operating costs increased to KEUR 11,224 in 2020 from KEUR 7,715 in 2019, or a change of KEUR 3,509, due to increases of activities in all departments. The Company is currently conducting three clinical trials to continue gathering clinical data and obtain regulatory approvals. In June 2020 the Company obtained FDA approval to start the DREAM study in the US. In line with its strategy, the Company continues investing in research and development to improve and develop the next generation of the Genio system and preparing for scaling-up of production capacities.

General and administrative expenses increased by 78% to KEUR 7,522 in 2020 from KEUR 4,226 in 2019. The increase is due to consulting expenses, staff and legal fees to support the Company growth. The increase in consulting and contractors fees includes variable compensations of KEUR 1,981 related to a cash-settled share-based payment transaction (2019: KEUR 1,199). The increase of KEUR 159 in legal fees is due to services and not to any ongoing disputes.

Research and development expenses increased by 29% to KEUR 3,066 in 2020 from KEUR 2,375 in 2019, before capitalization of KEUR 2,593 in 2020, due to the increase of development costs of the Genio system. Research and development expenses consist of product development, engineering to develop and support our products, testing, consulting services and other costs associated with the next generation of the Genio system that do not meet the development capitalization criteria. The Company continues to invest in improving the Genio system to develop next generation products with improved features with respect to patient comfort, therapy efficacy, reliability and patient and market acceptance. These expenses primarily include employee compensation and outsourced development expenses.

Clinical expenses increased by 50% to KEUR 4,316 in 2020 from KEUR 2,881 in 2019, before capitalization of KEUR 3,263 in 2020. The increase in the expenses was mainly due to an increase in staff and consulting to support the completion of the BETTER SLEEP study implantations, continuous recruitment for EliSA study and the launch of the new DREAM IDE study in the US. Clinical expenses consist of clinical studies related to the development of our Genio system, consulting services and other costs associated with clinical activities. These expenses include employee compensation, clinical trial management and monitoring, payments to clinical investigators, data management and travel expenses for our various clinical trials.

Manufacturing expenses increased by 109% to KEUR 3,802 in 2020 from KEUR 1,812 in 2019, before capitalization of KEUR 3,342 in 2020. The increase in the expenses was mainly due to increases in staff for the production and engineering teams to support capacity and yield improvement, and also due to purchasing raw materials to support increase in the production. Manufacturing and operation expenses consist primarily of acquisition costs of the components of the Genio system, scrap and inventory obsolescence as well as distribution-related expenses such as logistics and shipping costs.

Quality assurance and regulatory expenses increased by 58% to KEUR 1,474 in 2020 from KEUR 928 in 2019, before capitalization of KEUR 1,247 in 2020. The increase in the expenses was due to staff increases and QA & regulatory activities to support manufacturing scaling up process. Quality assurance and regulatory expenses consist primarily of quality control, quality assurance and regulatory expenses. These expenses include employee compensation, consulting, testing and travel expenses.

Therapy development expenses increased by 107% to KEUR 1,864 in 2020 from KEUR 902 in 2019. The increase in the expenses was due to an increase in staff and consulting to support the commercialization in Europe. Therapy development expenses consist of compensation for personnel, spending related to market access and reimbursement activities. Other therapy development expenses include training physicians, travel expenses, conferences and consulting services.

Balance Sheet

The Company started recognizing the development expenditure as an asset as of March 2019, triggered by obtaining CE mark. Development costs primarily include employee compensation and outsourced development expenses. In 2020, the Company had capitalized developments costs of KEUR 9,874.

Property, plant & equipment shows a total additional net book value of KEUR 391 at balance sheet date consequently to leasehold improvements in the Companys offices in Belgium and Israel. Right of use assets shows a total additional increase by KEUR 2,217 due to new leases signed in 2020.

Cash and cash equivalents show a total additional increase of KEUR 86,445. This increase was due to total capital raises of KEUR 103,583, net of transaction costs, in February 2020 and in September 2020 (Initial Public Offering (IPO)). Cash from financing activities was offset by cash used in the operating activities of KEUR 7,015 and cash used in the investing activities of KEUR 10,693.

The share capital and the share premium have increased, respectively, by KEUR 1,315 and KEUR 103,268 due to the capital increases in cash in 2020 for a total amount KEUR 103,583, net of transaction costs and capital increase in kind (conversion of loan in shares) of KEUR 1,000.

Lease liabilities shows a total additional increase of KEUR 2,242 due to new lease agreements in Belgium and Israel.

Other non-current and current payables have increased by KEUR 1,303 from KEUR 2,820 to KEUR 4,123 due higher cash-settled share-based payment liability of KEUR 473, higher accrued expenses of KEUR 557 and higher payroll related payables of KEUR 134.

Cash Flow Statement

The net cash burn rate for 2020 is a net cash inflow amounting to KEUR 86,445 compared to a net cash outflow of KEUR 10,950 for 2019.

The cash outflow resulting from operating activities amounted to KEUR 7,015 in 2020 compared to KEUR 5,965 in 2019. An increase of cash outflow of KEUR 1,050 due to KEUR 3,768 higher losses mainly from increased general and administrative expenses and therapy development expenses and higher interest and tax paid, net of KEUR 166, offset by KEUR 2,421 higher non-operating cash adjustments (KEUR 2,202 higher share-based payment expense) and a positive variation in the working capital of KEUR 463.

Cash flow from investing activities represented a net cash outflow of KEUR 10,693 for 2020. An increase of KEUR 4,898 compared to 2019 mainly explained by higher capitalization of development expenses in 2020.

The increase in cash inflow from financing activities is primarily due to the IPO completed in September 2020 and the proceeds from the February 2020 capital raise.

Financial Information

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the EU. The financial information included in this press release is an extract of the full IFRS consolidated financial statements, which will be published on 9 April 2021. The statutory auditor, EY Bedrijfsrevisoren /Reviseurs d'Entreprises SRL, represented by Carlo-Sebastien D'Addario, has issued an unqualified audit opinion with emphasis of matter paragraph relating to a restatement for the year 2019 and the balance at 1 January 2019 to reflect the adjustments relating to a share based compensation accrual.

2021 Financial & Events Calendar

09 April 2021 Full Year 2020 Financial and Operating Results & Annual Report

09 June 2021 Annual Shareholders Meeting

31 August 2021 Interim Financial Report H1, 2021

14-15 September 2021 Baird 2021 Global Healthcare Conference (virtual)

Conference Call & Webcast

Nyxoah will host a conference call with live webcast today at 3pm CET/9am ET. The webcast may be accessed on the Events page of the companys website or by clicking here. A replay of the webcast will be available on the Nyxoah website.

For further information, please contact:

Nyxoah

Fabian Suarez, Chief Financial Officer

fabian.suarez@nyxoah.com

+32 10 22 24 55

Gilmartin Group

Vivian Cervantes

vivian.cervantes@gilmartinir.com

About Nyxoah

Nyxoah is a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative solutions to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Nyxoahs lead solution is the Genio system, a CE-validated, patient-centered, next generation hypoglossal neurostimulation therapy for OSA, the worlds most common sleep disordered breathing condition that is associated with increased mortality risk and comorbidities including cardiovascular diseases, depression and stroke.

Following the successful completion of the BLAST OSA study in patients with moderate to severe OSA, the Genio system received its European CE Mark in 2019. The Company is currently conducting the BETTER SLEEP study in Australia and New Zealand for therapy indication expansion, the DREAM IDE pivotal study for FDA approval and a post-marketing EliSA study in Europe to confirm the long-term safety and efficacy of the Genio system.

For more information, please visit http://www.nyxoah.com/ .

Caution  CE marked since 2019. Investigational device in the United States. Limited by U.S. federal

law to investigational use in the United States.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect the Company's or, as appropriate, the Company directors' or managements' current expectations and projections concerning future events such as the Company's results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which the Company operates. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other

factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, assumptions and factors could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, competition and technology, can cause actual events, performance or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities are not guarantees of future performance and should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. In addition, even if actual results or developments are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in future periods. No representations and warranties are made as to the accuracy or fairness of such forward-looking statements. As a result, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based, except if specifically required to do so by law or regulation. Neither the Company nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its subsidiary undertakings or any such person's officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such

forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.





Consolidated Income Statement

For the year ended 31 December (in EUR 000) 2020 2019

Restated * Revenue 69 - Cost of goods sold (30) - Gross Profit 39 - General and administrative expenses (7,522) (4,226) Research and development expenses (473) (630) Clinical expenses (1,053) (848) Manufacturing expenses (460) (489) Quality assurance and regulatory expenses (227) (227) Patents Fees & Related (123) (267) Therapy Development expenses (1,864) (902) Other operating income/ (expenses) 459 (126) Operating loss for the period (11,224) (7,715) Financial income 62 71 Financial expense (990) (740) Loss for the period before taxes (12,152) (8,384) Taxes (93) (70) Loss for the period (12,245) (8,454) Loss attributable to equity holders1 (12,245) (8,454) Other comprehensive (loss) / income Items that may be subsequently reclassified to profit or loss (net of tax) Currency translation differences (58) 168 Total comprehensive loss for the year, net of tax (12,303) (8,286) Loss attributable to equity holders1 (12,303) (8,286) Basic Earnings Per Share (in EUR) (0.677) (0.568) Diluted Earnings Per Share (in EUR) (0.677) (0.568)





Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

As of and for the year ended 31 December (in EUR 000) 2020 2019

Restated* ASSETS Non-current assets Property, plant and equipment 713 322 Intangible assets 15,853 5,734 Right of use assets 3,283 1,066 Deferred tax asset 32 21 Other long-term receivables 91 78 19,972 7,221 Current assets Inventory 55 - Trade receivables - 60 Other receivables 1,644 2,048 Other current assets 109 11 Cash and cash equivalents 92,300 5,855 94,108 7,974 Total assets 114,080 15,195



EQUITY AND LIABILITIES Capital and reserves Capital 3,796 2,481 Share premium 150,936 47,668 Share based payment reserve 2,650 420 Currency translation reserve 149 207 Retained Earnings (60,341) (48,415) Total equity attributable to shareholders 97,190 2,361 LIABILITIES Non-current liabilities Financial debt 7,607 7,146 Lease liability 2,844 735 Pension Liability 37 30 Other payables - 547 10,488 8,458 Current liabilities Financial debt 616 378 Lease liability 473 340 Trade payables 1,190 1,385 Other payables 4,123 2,273 6,402 4,376 Total liabilities 16,890 12,834 Total equity and liabilities 114,080 15,195

____________________________________

* The year 2019 has been restated to reflect the adjustments as explained in our 2020 Annual Report Note 5.2.3



Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

For the year ended 31 December (in EUR 000) 2020 2019

Restated * CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Loss before tax for the year (12,152) (8,384) Adjustments for: Finance income (62) (71) Finance expenses 990 740 Depreciation and impairment of property, plant

and equipment and right-of-use assets 620 433 Share-based payment transaction expense 2,549 346 Pension-related expenses 7 30 Other non-cash items2 (134) 70 Cash generated before changes in working capital (8,182) (6,836) Changes in working capital: Increase in Inventory (55) - Decrease/(Increase) in Trade and other receivables 365 (1,385) Increase in Trade and other payables 1,109 2,342 Cash generated from changes in operations (6,763) (5,879) Interests received 3 8 Interests paid (151) (33) Income tax paid (104) (61) Net cash used in operating activities (7,015) (5,965) CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Purchases of property, plant and equipment (562) (51) Capitalization of intangible assets (10,118) (5,734) Increase of long-term deposits (13) (10) Net cash used in investing activities (10,693) (5,795) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Payment of principal portion of lease liabilities (479) (341) Repayment of other loan (63) (82) Recoverable cash advance received 190 1,196 Repayment of recoverable cash advance (55) (40) Proceeds from convertible loan 1,000 - Proceeds from issuance of shares, net of transaction costs 103,583 - Net cash generated/(used) from financing activities 104,176 733 Movement in cash and cash equivalents 86,468 (11,027) Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents (23) 77 Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January 5,855 16,805 Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 92,300 5,855

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

Attributable to owners of the parent (in EUR 000)



Notes Capital Share premium Share based payment reserve Currency translation reserve Retained earnings Total Balance at 1 January 2019* restated  2,481 47,668 80 39 (39,967) 10,301 Loss for the year (8,454) (8,454) Other comprehensive income for the year 168 168 Total comprehensive income/(loss) for the year 168 (8,454) (8,286) Equity-settled share-based payment plan 340 6 346 Total transactions with owners of the Company recognized directly in equity 340 6 346 Balance at 31 December 2019 restated * 2,481 47,668 420 207 (48,415) 2,361 Balance at 1 January 2020 restated * 2,481 47,668 420 207 (48,415) 2,361 Loss for the year (12,245) (12,245) Other comprehensive loss for the year (58) (58) Total comprehensive loss for the year - - - (58) (12,245) (12,303) Equity-settled share-based payment plan 2,230 319 2,549 Issuance of shares for cash 1,304 108,857 110,161 Issuance of shares in kind 11 989 1,000 Transaction cost (6,578) (6,578) Total transactions with owners of the Company recognized directly in equity 1,315 103,268 2,230 319 107,132 Balance at 31 December 2020 3,796 150,936 2,650 149 (60,341) 97,190

____________________________________

* The year 2019 and the balance at 1 January 2019 has been restated to reflect the adjustments as explained in our 2020 Annual Report Note 5.2.3









1 For the years ending 31 December 2020 and 2019, the loss is fully attributable to equity holders of the Company as the Company does not have any non-controlling interests.

* The year 2019 has been restated to reflect the adjustments as explained in Note 5.2.3







2 The other non-cash items include (i) the impact of the initial measurement and re-measurement of recoverable cash advances (see our 2020 Annual Report notes 5.14 ,5.24 and (ii) the evolution of the deferred tax assets.

* The year 2019 has been restated to reflect the adjustments as explained in our 2020 Annual Report Note 5.2.3







Attachment
Ministers have confirmed that a traffic light system is in the works for international travel, with holidays permitted as early as May 17th.

The warm weather is slowly creeping upon us, and with it, the burning need to flee to countries full of sand. UK ministers have delivered the good news that international travel will be permitted as early as the 17th of May but will depend on a traffic light system.

How will the traffic light system work?

The traffic light system will categorise destinations into the colours green, amber and red based on their corresponding coronavirus risks. A green watchlist will also be in place for destinations considered safe but are at risk of sliding into the other categories. Those travelling from green-lit countries will also not be required to self isolate upon their return, and travellers will no longer have to provide a valid reason for leaving the country.

Those arriving to the UK from amber countries will be subject to 10 days in quarantine and will be required to take a PCR test before departure and on both days two and eight. Amber light travellers will also have the option to end quarantine early on day five if their first two tests return negative.

Red light country arrivals will be required to adhere to the current procedure consisting of a full 11-night stay in quarantine, a pre-flight PCR test as well as additional tests on days two and eight.

For now, those itching to book holidays to France, Spain or Italy will have to wait as the government has yet to release any details on which destinations will be given the green light. The Department for Transport revealed: It is too early to predict which countries will be on which list over the summer, and the government continues to consider a range of factors to inform the restrictions placed on them.

We will set out by early May which countries will fall into which category, as well as confirming whether international travel can resume from 17 May.

Factors that will be playing into each countrys risk assessment include their vaccination rate, the emergence of any new variants, infection rates, and access to scientific resources. The Department of Transport added that restrictions would be reviewed June 28th, and again at the end of July.

Expensive PCR testing set to deter travellers

Alongside the traffic light system, travel to and from all international destinations will require aPCR test that could cost as much as 200. This expensive test has triggered fears that travel will initially only be accessible to those most fortunate. Chief executive of Airlines UK Tim Alderslade expressed his concerns about the new system stating:

The insistence on expensive and unnecessary PCR testing rather than rapid testing - even for low-risk countries - will pose an unsustainable burden on passengers, making travel unviable and unaffordable for many people.

Transport Secretary Grant Schapps has since insisted that the UK will be working closely with the travel industry and testing providers to ensure that testing costs will be kept accessible.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also expressed interest in removing PCR testing for green light countries in favour of cheaper lateral flow testing in order to make things as flexible and as affordable as possible. However, this move will most likely be a long way off.
Seoul, government should closely consult to prevent blunders



Oh Se-hoon took office as the new Seoul mayor Thursday, so all eyes are turning to which housing policies he will come up with. As one of his main campaign pledges, Oh pledged to speed up deregulation to provide 185,000 houses in the next five years by invigorating the private sector-led reconstruction and redevelopment of urban areas.



Apparently affected by Oh's pledges, the prices of apartments in the prosperous Gangnam area of southern Seoul have begun soaring again. For instance, the prices of units in the Eunma Apartment complex in Daechi-dong have reached record highs, while a unit in the Hyundai Apartment complex in Apgujeong-dong has skyrocketed by 1 billion won ($830,000) in just a month, in the aftermath of the April 7 by-election.



Oh's private sector-led housing pledges are different from the Moon Jae-in administration's Feb. 4 plan for a public-led expansion of the housing supply. In an apparent bid to preempt Oh's plan, Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki said, "An adequate housing supply is not something that can be accomplished by a local government alone," during a meeting of real estate-related ministers, Thursday.



As Oh's term ends in June 2022, he may face diverse setbacks in his bid to push for deregulation for his reconstruction policies. Well aware of the limit, Oh said that he would recommend relevant housing stimulus policies to the central government. Yet, he can revise related regulations to permit the construction of more than 35-story apartment buildings, which former Mayor Park Won-soon banned.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, in its Aug. 5 plan last year, said that it would allow up to 50-story apartments in reconstruction projects initiated by the public sector. The ministry's stance was different from that of the Seoul Metropolitan City, as the then mayor had opposed any plan to raise the height limit above 35-stories.



There are growing concerns that housing prices, which have recently been showing signs of stabilizing, can pick up again should the government and Seoul City fail to coordinate policies. Given this, Oh should seek close consultation with the central government rather than sticking to his campaign pledges, to help stabilize housing prices and enhance resident's welfare.



Oh's election as the mayor was mainly attributed to the rising pubic anger over current government's policy blunders that have produced spiraling housing and rental prices. This is the reason why the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) should closely cooperate with Oh to solve the real estate problems.



Oh is expected to face diverse difficulties in carrying out his policies as the DPK has a monopoly on city's council, occupying 101 out of 109 seats and 24 of 25 district leaderships. The DPK should attentively pay heed to the voices of voters reflected in the by-elections. Oh, for his part, should also present measures to abide by his pledge to ease the tax burden and various regulations on owners of one home.


Kim Kardashian has seriously boosted her bank balance in the past couple of months. In less than six months, the 40-year-old "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star became part of Forbes magazine's billionaires' list.

Her stake in business ventures SKIMS, her shapewear line is reportedly $225 million. Her line, KKW Beauty, which was launched in 2007, is reportedly worth $1 billion.

The mom-of-four also has her long-running reality show to thank. However, after her incredible success in her many business ventures, Kim Kardashian revealed she isn't planning to create any new brands for the time being.

In an interview with WWD, the media personality revealed that her main priority is finishing law school.

Until she finished up her legal education, she will not focus on or do any new business projects. Kim told the outlet, "I want to finish that, before I connect with something else."

Kim Kardashian, who is currently in the middle of a divorce from Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West, follows in her father's footsteps in the legal industry.

In an interview with Good Morning Vogue, she revealed she has two years left.

The Instagram sensation even joked, "I actually am not doing an essay and doing this interview instead." She added, "I'm gonna have to get up really early tomorrow to write like a two-hour essay. So that is really steady and a lot of work."

The mom of North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm made it no secret that one of her life passions is prison reform which was detailed more in her documentary "Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project."

READ ALSO: KUWTK: Khloe Kardashian Not Getting Sympathy From Fans After Speaking Out on Leaked Photo

How Kim Kardashian Became A Billionaire

From $780 million in October now, Forbes reported that Kim Kardashian has a new net worth of $1 billion, with her business brands pushing over the threshold for her new billionaire status.

Aside from KKW Beauty and SKIMS, she also has lucrative endorsements and TV deals. Last year, Kim sold 20% of KKW Beauty to beauty giant Coty.

This is far from her first job as Paris Hilton's assistant, making only brief appearances with the hotel heiress, to being paid to make an appearance for millions.

Kim Kardashian could also thank KUWTK and its many spin-offs, which undoubtedly contributed to her new wealth.

Her estranged husband Kanye West is also part of the billionaires club. Still, thankfully the pair have a prenuptial agreement in place just before they decided to end their failing marriage.

READ MORE: DMX Update: Health Condition Takes a Turn for the Worse After Overdose and Heart Attack

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
Unrest continues in Northern Ireland

Almost a week of violence familiar from Northern Irelands brutal past, in sensitive parts of Belfast, has been a reminder of the fragility of the peace process, which was crafted more than two decades ago and is under growing political and sectarian strain.

Politicians have pointed to different reasons for the explosion of anger from parts of the Protestant, so-called Unionist or Loyalist, community, which is determined to keep its link to the rest of the United Kingdom.

The rioting, some involving teenagers as young as 13, has shocked politicians, prompting condemnation from Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, and Northern Irelands power-sharing executive, which has called for calm. On Thursday, bus drivers parked outside City Hall to protest the hijacking and burning of a colleagues vehicle.

Analysis: In the febrile aftermath of Brexit, Unionists feel betrayed by the British government and feel that Northern Irelands place in the union is very much under pressure as a result, so that sense of insecurity definitely raises the stakes, said Katy Hayward, a professor of political sociology at Queens University, Belfast.
KAKINADA: As many as 22 prisoners lodged at the Central Jail in Rajamahendravaram of East Godavari district have tested Covid-19 positive.

Jail superintendent S. S. Rajarao said a prisoner had been brought to the jail on remand four days ago. He was tested for Coronavirus when he started suffering from fever and was found positive. Subsequently, tests were carried out on other prisoners who had come in contact with the remand prisoner. 21 of them tested positive.

The superintendent said they have all been given treatment at the government hospital in Rajamahendravaram. They are currently in isolation at a special barrack and a team of doctors is treating them. Rajarao said special food is being served to these prisoners to increase their immunity levels.

Meanwhile, West Godavari district collector Revu Muthyala Raju has instructed medical and health department officials to be alert about Covid-19 cases. Reviewing the Coronavirus situation at Eluru on Friday with joint collectors and medical and health department officials, he pointed out that 37 new cases have been registered on Thursday.

The collector said 400 beds are being readied at ASRAM Hospital in Eluru, apart from 30 beds each in Tanuku, Palakollu and Jangareddygudem hospitals for treating Covid-19 patients. The full capacity at Tadepalligudem and Bhimavaram primary health centres will be utilised for the purpose. AP Tourism Development Corporation will be entrusted the task of supplying food to patients afflicted with Coronavirus.

Officials informed the collector there are no oxygen cylinders at Jangareddygudem hospital. Muthyala Raju instructed officials to prepare proposals for purchasing 30 cylinders. He ordered that the number of vaccinations be increased to 25,000 daily.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 05:56:38|Editor: huaxia

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LIMA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed and 20 others injured in Peru after an inter-provincial bus skidded off the road in the southern region of Ayacucho, local media reported on Thursday.

The bus, which was heading to the southern city of Cusco from Lima, skidded and overturned on the Interoceanic Highway in the district of Puquio in the Lucanas province.

According to local authorities, the vehicle, belonging to the interprovincial company CIVA, left the Peruvian capital on Wednesday afternoon.

The injured, who were quickly helped by carriers that cover the route, said the bus was speeding.

The driver allegedly lost control of the steering wheel upon reaching the Condorcocha sector.

Firefighters and police arrived at the scene to rescue the people who were trapped in the bus. Enditem
Life has a way to turn a tragedy into a triumph.

In 1829, an inseparable duo came to America as entertainers. However, they did not find it funny when their boss ripped them off. In their synchronized minds, immigrants were free people. Free people should be free from exploitation. So, they sued their boss for breach of contract, as typical Americans would do in their situation.

They spoke no English. They knew next to nothing about English contract law practiced in America. They just had blind faith in the American justice system. Perseverance won them sympathizers.

America was already a land of law before the American Revolution. In a New England courtroom, John Adams defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre of 1770. No one ran him out of town for practicing law. He went on to get elected as the second American president in 1797.

Astute Chinese merchants such as Howqua (Wu Bingjian) paid attention to what Adams and men like him brought to the table. As early as in 1805, through their legal representatives in the U.S., they started suing their deadbeat American trade partners. Yes, Chinese preferred America to China when seeking protection of their legitimate interests. The pair of immigrants in our story, Chang and Eng Bunker, did just that.

The Bunkers actions spoke louder than words. For them, life was no laughing matter. Against all odds, they rose to their unimpressively full heights and fought a fully impressive fight, which lasted three years. Not only did they come out winning as plaintiffs, they also ended up enjoying America the way unimaginable when they were fresh off the boat.

Chang and Eng Bunker, fused at their rib cages, were the so-called original Siamese Twins who were actually ethnic Chinese born in Thailand in 1811. Vindicated under the U.S. justice system, the conjoined twins ran their own roadshows and became their own bosses. As successful American businessmen, they lived comfortably, hunting games in the countryside and vacationing in Europe. Thanks to decades of American experience, they finally came across as fluent English speakers with an adopted English surname. They talked politics in their shows and voted in public. Well-off enough, they settled down on a 100-acre plantation, with slaves, in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. On top of that, they married Sarah and Adelaide Yates, two Southern sisters they had been courting together. In total, 21 children were born into the Bunker families. Slave-free after the Civil War, the Bunker twins continued to live their Southern gentlemens lives until they died, a few hours apart, in 1874.

--- Lingyang Jiang

The Bunker twins households (source: Wikipedia)
Im kind of a misfit. Thank God the kingdom is so diverse that Gods got a demographic of people that like what I do. I may be in an old Western town doing a Marty Robbins-style song, but its got the message of Jesus."

Carroll Roberson

singer/songwriter

Quote
Germany needs to implement nationwide measures to break the current wave of coronavirus infections as quickly as possible, its health minister said on Friday.

'We need a lockdown,' Jens Spahn told journalists in a news conference, adding that nighttime curfews may be necessary to further reduce social contacts.

He said that there were currently nearly 4,500 patients in intensive care in Germany, adding: 'If this continues, it will be too much for our health system.'

Germany needs to implement nationwide measures to break the current wave of coronavirus infections as quickly as possible, its Health Minister Jens Spahn warned on Friday

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany rose by 25,464 on Friday to more than 2.95 million, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said

Minister Spahn said there were at least 4,500 people in intensive care units across Germany, threatening to overwhelm the healthcare system

Angela Merkel also called for a 'short national lockdown' to curb Germany's coronavirus crisis on Wednesday.

Merkel's entreaties come just two weeks after she apologised for suggesting a five-day Easter shutdown.

The country is struggling to tackle a third wave of the pandemic and has recorded an average of 15,000 cases every day for the last week - the fifth highest infection rate in Europe.

Chancellor Merkel's spokeswoman on Wednesday announced her boss was backing calls from several federal leaders for a short, sharp lockdown as the country tries to vaccinate as many people as it can.

It comes a fortnight after Merkel made a humiliating apology for the 'mistake' of trying to impose a five-day Easter lockdown.

He told journalists Germany needs a lockdown to curb the spread of the virus as the current caseload threatens to overwhelm the country's healthcare system

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a cabinet meeting in Berlin last week

The Christian Democrat leader was forced to beat a swift retreat after she provoked uproar with her plan to close all shops from April 1 to April 5.

'I deeply regret it, and for that, I ask all citizens' forgiveness,' the 66-year-old leader said in a grovelling speech in parliament.

'The mistake is my mistake alone,' Merkel added. 'A mistake must be called just that.'

But on Wednesday, her spokeswoman, Ulrike Demmer signalled another flip-flop by the Chancellor as she told reporters that a rising number of intensive care patients meant 'every call for a short, uniform lockdown is right.'

Countries reporting most cases in Europe FRANCE: 34,910 POLAND: 20,362 ITALY: 16,717 UKRAINE: 16,156 GERMANY: 14,465 *Latest 7-day average reported Advertisement

'We need a stable incidence below 100,' she said, referring to the number of cases over seven days per 100,000 inhabitants.

The incidence rate is currently 110.1, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

New infections stand at 59 per cent of the peak which was recorded at Christmas.

Meanwhile the country is averaging 144 Covid deaths per day, continuing a downward trajectory since early January.

Like the rest of Europe the vaccine programme is inextricably linked to the EU's woeful roll-out.

Germany has vaccinated about 8.6 per cent of the country, whereas Britain has vaccinated nearly half its population.

At their last meeting in March, Merkel and the leaders of Germany's 16 states agreed national rules including strict shutdowns and possible curfews in areas with more than 100 new infections per 100,000 people over seven days.

But under Germany's federal system, each state can ultimately decide its own rules.

Some have failed to impose more restrictions in the face of more cases and even gone ahead with reopening measures.

The patchwork of rules 'is not contributing to security and acceptance at the moment,' Demmer told reporters.

'The health system is under intense pressure,' she said, noting a five percent increase in occupied intensive care beds in just 24 hours.

Tables and chairs are empty outside a bratwurst kiosk in Berlin amid the lockdown on Tuesday

Voices calling for a short, sharp shutdown in recent days have included Armin Laschet, the head of Merkel's CDU party, who called for a 'bridge lockdown' to tide the country over until more people have been vaccinated.

Merkel and the regional leaders are next due to meet on Monday.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany rose by 25,464 on Friday to more than 2.95 million, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said.

It has warned that the numbers may not yet show the full picture as not all cases were registered over Easter. Some 78,003 people have died.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) late Thursday called for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to resign amid a federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations.

Why it matters: Kinzinger is the first congressional Republican to publicly demand Gaetz step down. Gaetz has denied allegations of being sexually involved with a 17-year-old, telling Axios in an interview last month that the investigation is "rooted in an extortion effort against my family for $25 million."

Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.

Gaetz also denies claims he shared naked images of women to other Congress members.

In a Washington Examiner op-ed earlier this week, Gaetz said he's "absolutely not resigning."

What they're saying: "Matt Gaetz needs to resign," Kinzinger tweeted late Thursday, linking to a Daily Beast article about allegations against Gaetz.

The article alleges that Gaetz paid his close friend Joel Greenberg, who is said to be negotiating a plea deal on sex trafficking charges, $900 in two late-night Venmo transactions.

Greenberg then sent three young women Venmo transactions totaling $900, with the captions Tuition, School, and School," according to the Daily Beast.

A Gaetz representative from PR firm the Logan Circle Group told the Beast in a statement: "The rumors, gossip and self-serving misstatements of others will be addressed in due course by my legal team."

Go deeper:

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The NIA on Thursday filed a supplementary charge-sheet against three persons for their alleged involvement in selling smuggled heroin and channelling the proceeds through hawala to further the activities of banned terrorist organisation Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), an official said.

The supplementary charge-sheet was filed against Rajender Singh, 29, of Amritsar, Parminder Pal Singh, 47, and Jasmeet Singh Hakimzada, 41, both from New Delhi but currently living in Dubai, under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the NIA official said.

The case relates to the seizure of 500 grams of heroin and drug proceeds amounting to about Rs 1,20,000 in May last year from one Jajbir Singh Samra and two others.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) re-registered the case and filed a charge-sheet against 10 accused under various sections of the IPC, the NDPS Act and the UAPA.

Rajender was instrumental in selling the smuggled heroin in India, while Parminder played an important role in channelling the proceeds through hawala from India to Dubai, the NIA official said.

Jasmeet, a Dubai-based international drugs smuggler and money launderer, in turn, transferred the funds to entities based in Pakistan to further the activities of banned terrorist organisation KLF, the official said.

Jasmeet and Harmeet Singh, Pakistan-based self-styled KLF chief, have been instrumental in running a narco-terror network to strengthen the terrorist activities of the KLF, the NIA official said.

A network of narco-traffickers, terrorists and hawala operatives based in Punjab, Delhi and Dubai was operating at the behest of Harmeet and Jasmeet and indulging in subversive activities against India, the official said.

Further investigation against the absconding accused continues.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Planned EU rules for country-by-country tax reporting by multinationals would have serious implications for Irelands competitiveness and ability to attract investment to the country, a Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment briefing said.

The briefing said it was strongly recommended that Minister of State Robert Troy should make an intervention to oppose the tax changes at a public debate.

The EU wants the new law to force multinationals to report their tax payments and activities for each member state to increase transparency.

However, a departmental briefing warned this would not benefit Ireland and was likely to impact investment from inside and outside the EU.

The brief said: This proposal has serious implications for our competitiveness and ability to attract FDI [foreign direct investment] from both within and outside the EU, as countries including the US and Japan oppose publication of tax information.

Possible conflict

It also warned Mr Robert Troy of a possible conflict where he would be speaking against the change while it was being supported by Irelands EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness.

The briefing said it was strongly recommended that Minister of State Robert Troy should make an intervention to oppose the tax changes at a public debate. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

This means a commissioner from Ireland will speak in favour of a proposal while Ireland will intervene in opposition, the record said.

Access to the briefing had originally been refused by the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment but was released following an appeal.

Mr Troy was told the matter had been deadlocked since 2016 but that the EU Presidency now had enough support  18 member states  to move it forward.

It said Ireland should continue to speak against the proposal, along with what were described as six other like-minded member states.

Principled opposition

The briefing said any comments Mr Troy made were unlikely to halt the changes but would reinforce Irelands principled opposition to the move.

The briefing note said: [Your remarks] are unlikely to change the Commissions or supporting EU member states views on the legal basis of the file.

However, Irelands position should be maintained to ensure our principled opposition to the file proceeding  on the current legal basis is noted along with our commitment more generally to transparency.

It said an intervention was strongly recommended and that this approach had been discussed with both Tanaiste Leo Varadkar and Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe.

Tax measure

Ireland has consistently opposed the changes because they consider it a tax measure, which the Government claims should be dealt with using different legislation and by finance ministers.

This would mean unanimous support would be required rather than a qualified majority, meaning the new laws could be vetoed by a member state.

The briefing also provided a background note for Mr Troy, saying the taxation move was very controversial.

Ireland has consistently voiced our opposition to the file proceeding  on a principled basis, it added.

Asked about the briefing, a department spokeswoman said: A public policy debate on public country-by-country reporting took place at the Informal Competitiveness Council on 25 February. Robert Troy  set out Irelands position at this council meeting.
BRIDGEPORT  James McClain was flush with cash and allegedly eager to buy drugs, according to police.

Laquan Victoria was fresh out of prison with a folding knife in his pocket, they said.

On Friday, the 33-year-old Victoria was charged with felony murder, murder and first-degree robbery for the death of the 58-year-old McClain, found stabbed near Went Field on March 19.

This is a very serious case and the defendant has a serious prior criminal record, Senior Assistant States Attorney Nicholas Bove said Friday afternoon as Victoria watched the court proceeding via video, his arms resting on the bar of his cell in the courthouse lockup.

Superior Court Judge Kevin Doyle agreed. He ordered Victoria held in lieu of $1.3 million bond and continued the case to April 27.

Shortly before midnight on March 19, police said they received a call of a man unresponsive on the sidewalk at the intersection of Norman Street and Railroad Avenue. They found a man later identified as McClain with a stab wound in his chest, his wallet missing.

A friend of the victim told detectives that earlier that night, he and McClain had gone to a store on State Street to get cash out of the ATM machine there, police said. Cash in hand, McClain had then been approached by a man identified later as Victoria, police said.

Police said the victims friend told detectives the last time he saw McClain, McClain and Victoria were walking south on Iranistan Avenue supposedly to buy drugs.

The following morning, police said officers were called to the corner of Iranistan Avenue and Seeley Street for an attempted robbery.

Police said a young woman told them a man had threatened her with a knife and attempted to rob her.

Police said Victoria was stopped nearby and found with a small folding knife in his waistband. While being booked in the Police Department, police said Victoria pulled several items out of his pockets including a wallet that contained McClains identification and debit card.

Police said they also noticed that Victoria had blood on his pants. They said the DNA of the blood matched McClains DNA.

Police said Victoria is also a suspect in an earlier stabbing.

On March 12, a woman was robbed and stabbed in a Fairfield Avenue apartment building. Police said the victim has since identified a photo of Victoria as her assailant.
Professor Truong Nguyen Thanh says four challenges exist for the development of applied research in Vietnam.

The director of the HCMC Department of Science and Technology Nguyen Viet Dung

First, there are challenges from the systems of education and scientific research. Vietnam bears the influence of the old Russian model under which universities focus on training, while carrying out scientific research is the task of research institutes. The model determines the budget for research and basic infrastructure development.

Second, the demand for research development at universities has begun increasing as schools want to improve their ranking. Previously, university lecturers just needed to give lectures, but now they have to conduct research as well.

Since advising postgraduates is not considered part of work for university lecturers, they have to undertake a high number of teaching hours.

The National Foundation for Science and Technology of Vietnam (NAFOSTED) now provides funding for scientific research, but this is not enough to satisfy demand for applied research because the investment for laboratories is very high.

Third, while the mechanism for official acceptance of scientific articles is simple, applied research projects are difficult, especially experimental projects. As a result, many researchers would rather just write articles.

All of this makes scientific research in Vietnam different. Why do researchers just want to write articles, but not do applied research? It is too difficult to have the research receive official acceptance, and it is easier to write articles. Having published articles is also a requirement for candidates for the professorship title.

Thanh said when he worked for the HCMC Institute for Computational Science and Technology, he had an applied research project officially accepted by the HCMC Department of Science and Technology.

I told the then-director of the Department, Phan Minh Tan, that I will never implement an applied research project and submit it to the department. Why? Because the acceptance council greatly lacked experience. The members of the council were not experienced enough on deep scientific research, and not qualified enough to criticize, Thanh said.

According to Thanh, Vietnamese researchers are capable of doing applied research, but it takes a long time to go from the lab to the market. In the lab, researchers just need to show proof of concept, while the market needs economic efficiency, including market analysis and a business model.

In addition, the procedures to bring scientific research results from the lab to the market are complicated.

Fourth, the reporting mechanism in Vietnam is complicated. Doing scientific research, by nature, is finding new things, work which has high risks. But in Vietnam, risks are not wanted in science management. This explains why many scientists choose to research old topics that were done in other countries in the past. They just "modify" the foreign research to create "new things" of their own. Doing this is safe and not risky for them.

To change the viewpoint, it is necessary to change demand, which will lead to changes in behavior. If they don't need to have a doctorate to hold a certain position, they wouldnt be foolish to spend money to study for a doctorate," Prof Truong Nguyen Thanh

Why do civil servants need a doctorate? The director of the HCMC Department of Science and Technology once said he did not understand why civil servants wanted to study to obtain a doctorate. PhDs conduct scientific research, while civil servants need to study public policy. What do you say about this?

Thanh: An individual wants to study for a doctorate if he or she wants to do deep scientific research on some issue. This is the answer to the question about civil servants who want a doctorate.

However, there is supply only when there is demand. Why do so many people have to spend money to obtain a doctorate if the demand is low?

Do you mean titles and academic qualifications determine job promotion?

Thanh: In other countries, professor is a job responsibility. But it is different in Vietnam. If you get the title of professor, you will forever be a professor.

I can see that many Vietnamese people have enough quality to do significant scientific research. Vietnamese researchers do very well in foreign countries and can prove their positions. In Vietnam, PhDs spend most time to give lectures. If scientists stop doing research for three years, they will lose the capability of doing research.

Do think that state agencies also need officers with a doctorate for some posts? For example, the officers who draft legal documents or give advice in policy design?

Thanh: It is true that some positions in state agencies need officers who have a doctorate. This is seen in other countries as well. They work in research institutes which give advice in policies. And there are professors from universities collaborating with institutes that provide professional knowledge.

But for other officers, why do they need a doctorate? What would you recommend to do to settle the current problem?

Thanh: It is necessary to change the awareness of the issue. But to change the viewpoint, it is necessary to change demand, which will lead to changes in behavior. If they don't need to have a doctorate to hold a certain position, they wouldnt be foolish to spend money to study for a doctorate.

Le Huyen

Quantum leap in scientific research achieved by Vietnamese PhD student The replacement of fossil fuel-derived energy with environmentally-friendly energy is the focus of research by a PhD student from Hue who is studying in Taiwan.
Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Christian Orthodox Church on Friday issued a message of condolence to the Prince of Wales, His Royal Highness Charles, on the death of his father, Prince Philip, husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, agerpres.ro confirms.

"With deep sadness, we have received the news of the passing away, on the 9 of April 2021, of your venerable father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. We kindly ask Your Royal Highness to transmit our sincere condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II and words of comfort to Her Majesty, in these moments of great distress. At the same time, we pray God to place his soul in the light, peace and love of the Most Holy Trinity, to console the sorrowful British Royal Family and to bless all those who in these days of mourning show respect to late Prince Philip's memory. May his memory be eternal!" reads the official message.

Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth, has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace said on Friday, according to the Reuters news agency.
Como is finally getting in on the high-rise action around Canning Bridge, with a proposal lodged for a $107 million triple-tower apartment and commercial building funded by Baptist Financial Services Australia.

Either side of Canning Bridge, a transport hub a 10-minute drive or single train stop from the city, has been upzoned in a cross-council activity centre plan to enable future population growth close to the city.

Artists impression of the development with The Raffles visible in the background. Credit:Artists impression

And while Como, Applecross, Mount Pleasant, Manning and South Manning are currently leafy, low-rise areas, the resulting rash of apartment proposals on either side of the bridge speaks to the future.

So far, most major applications have been on the Mount Pleasant side, with high-profile towers The Precinct and Sabina now keeping The Raffles company on the skyline.
Blunt, often wickedly funny but just as regularly indelicate to the point of causing offence, Prince Philip spent much of his life sending a jolt through the most polite of gatherings.

No one was likely to forget a conversation with the Queens consort.

Prince Philip, pictured on tour in Ethiopia in 1965, seemed determined to carve out his own identity.

The Melbourne Cup? demanded the Duke of Edinburgh, as if I had released something unpleasant in the palace halls.

His one-liners made headlines and inspired long lists of what tend to be labelled gaffes, but which were at least culturally insensitive, sometimes plain racist or sexist and regularly uncharitable.

He once upset the Chinese by declaring, If it has four legs and is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but it is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it. And of Indigenous performers in Cairns in 2002, he inquired do you still throw spears at each other?

He told women they were anorexic and children they were fat, and declared to an old man at an alms house: you look starved.

His own family was not spared. He told Prince Andrew and then wife Sarah Ferguson in 1988 that their opulent new home looks like a tarts bedroom.
Relatives mourn over the coffin of the former governor of Jalisco state who was murdered in December 2020 (AFP or licensors)

The grim and growing toll of disappeared in Mexicos 15-year-old ongoing drug war has reached 85,000, according to the government.

By James Blears  Mexico City

Billboards on street corners, stretching along the winding passageways of the metro system or clinging to telegraph polls, show the fading photos of thousands of faces, mostly young, of the gone, but never forgotten.

In those photos lies the imprinted, forlorn hope that they might somehow and someday miraculously reappear, but in reality, this happens once in a blue moon.

A Mexican government report just issued portrays a bleak picture, contrasted against the backdrop contrast of quarter of a million slain in the deadly cat and rat war between the Mexican government, its armed forces plus police, pitted against powerful, ruthless and ultra-violent drug cartels.

Their gunmen known as sicarios, use murder, which remains largely uninvestigated, as a terror tool of intimidation.

Cycle of violence

The Deputy Secretary of Human Rights, Alejandro Encinas, confirms the statistic as 85,006. He says that corpses are mostly unearthed in shallow clandestine dumping grounds in the States of Sinaloa, Sonora, Jalisco, Colima and Guanajuato, which bear the brunt of the never-ending cycle of violence.

Families, desperate for final closure invariably do most of the digging themselves, and then its up to forensic scientists to confirm their worst fears, via remnants of clothing, but more often dental records of the skeletal remains.

Terrifying silence

But this is literally scratching the surface. Many families, from whom theyve vanished off the face of the earth, are too terrified to report them missing.

The cartels know full well where the families live, work and gather, so they can and they do come back, to kill again in retribution, in broad daylight or in the depth of the darkest nights.
Workers who voted against a union at Amazons Bessemer fulfillment center Friday expressed relief that the nearly five-month organizing effort was over, while organizers vowed to fight on after the online retailer appeared to successfully beat back a historic union challenge.

Unofficial results tallied Friday morning by the National Labor Relations Board were 1,798 no votes against unionization, 738 yes votes for the union, 505 challenges and 76 voided ballots. The NLRB said 5,867 employees were eligible to vote. Turnout was about 55 percent.

The spectacle of Amazon, a company which had previously beat back organizing efforts, facing one in a right-to-work state, seized attention from the White House, members of Congress, entertainers and professional athletes. But the workers themselves who spoke following the vote count said they were not persuaded that the union would improve their positions.

Speaking from the Bessemer center this afternoon, Amazon worker William Stokes, a process assistant, said he felt the union effort failed because a majority of employees realized that a lot of things that Amazon already has are better than what the union can offer.

Here is full coverage of the Alabama Amazon unionization effort

J.C. Thompson, another process assistant, said the vote showed that some employees at the center have issues, but overwhelmingly we are happy, that this was a win for our co-workers, not a win for anybody else but us. And were looking forward to changing the narrative here. Thompson said he was sad that workers who voted for the union had not had the same experience as he and others have had on the job at Amazon.

This is just the spark

As for the union, its leadership announced today it will file objections to the conduct of the election and related unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB, saying Amazon interfered with the election. RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said Amazons extraordinary turnover rate might have been a factor, as well as fears the center might close if the union vote succeeded. He also cited mandatory training sessions for employees before the election that the RWDSU said were forums for anti-union messaging.

They were doing that because they didnt want them to have the opportunity to engage with the union after having attended mandatory captive audience meetings, he said.

What I think you saw in the results...was a real fear that they were going to lose their jobs if they voted for the union. And thats because they felt Amazon knew everything they were doing and Amazon worked very hard to get a very strange mailbox installed on their property and insisted that people vote at that box.

The union is calling for an investigation into a postal collection box installed during the election for ballots.

Emmit Ashford, an Amazon employee who supported the union, said it was an emotional time for workers. After weeks of national attention and shows of support that included President Joe Biden, the vote failed.

Of course, were going to be disappointed, frustrated, angry about the way this election has turned out, because of being misled and manipulated and lied to, Ashford said. But not only that, Im feeling hope and joy today...this is just the spark that has started a fire across the United States. We will have to go to work tomorrow, and this experience has bonded us.

Linda Burns, another worker supporting the union, said she was not discouraged. Im happy, Im proud. This is the beginning. This is not over. Even if I leave Amazon today or tomorrow, Im still going to be in it. (Amazon CEO Jeff) Bezos, you are wrong. Youre wrong all the way around.

Michael Big Mike Foster, an RWDSU organizer who has been on the ground in Bessemer since the effort began, was similarly defiant. He said workers in Alabama had sent a message to Bezos, one of the worlds richest men, and inspired other unions around the world.

They should not hang their head down for anything, Foster said. They have done something awesome, and I dont think it could have happened in a better area than this right here. This can happen anywhere. All you have to do is stand up and fight.

A lot of things on the table

The workers who voted against the union said they believe they can work with Amazon to address issues that led to the union effort. Organizers cited several factors, including issues with management, the pace of work and COVID-19 precautions.

William Stokes said there are a lot of things on the table and that Amazons Bessemer employees have already been in discussion with leadership. He thinks those changes can be made without a union.

Were talking with senior management and over the next 100 days, were already talking about things we want to change, so change will come, he said. We want to show the rest of the country, the rest of the world, that you dont have to have a union to make changes and do the necessary things you need to do.

Lavonette Stokes, who works in flow management, mentioned managers needs sensitivity and unconscious bias training so they can be more empathetic to the issues that we have. Thompson agreed, saying that degrees are good, but if we dont get a degree in people, we are gonna be right back at this juncture again.

Carla Johnson, another worker, said management could become more empathetic and more personally engaged with employees. She said her experience had been positive. About two months after she got hired at Bessemer, she was diagnosed with brain cancer. She said she believes her benefits saved her life.

I was able to receive all the necessary treatment that I needed with no issues, Johnson said.

The road ahead

Its too early to tell what effect the Bessemer vote will have on the future of organized labor in the United States. Supporters during the drive talked of making inroads with online retailers and Big Tech companies, and further organizing efforts in other fields, such as auto manufacturing in Alabama.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the employees fight for justice and dignity and safety endures.

Working people in Bessemer understand something Amazon never will: This union election was about reclaiming our rightful share of power and shaping the future for generations to come, he said. Not just for Amazon workers in Bessemer, but all working people across America. There is a surging movement for workplace democracy that is reaching every corner of the country. Its reverberating far beyond a small town in Alabama.

Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield said the state looks forward to working with Amazon on future growth in Alabama.

Its not surprising Amazon employees in Alabama voted overwhelmingly against unionization, as the company provides world-class benefits and a safe, quality work environment, he said. Were proud that Amazon chose Alabama, and we are proud to be a Right-To-Work state. Alabama has an unwavering support for its workforce, just as it supports the growth of business and economic development so vital for our citizens and communities.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville said in a statement that, The folks at Amazons Bessemer facility made the decision they felt is best for them, their families, and their community. But the important thing is that they had the choice. Alabamas Right to Work law gives workers a choice in whether they want to unionize or not.

At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, and when workers have little power on the job, I applaud the pro-union Amazon workers in Alabama for their courage and willingness to stand up for their rights. Theyve inspired workers everywhere.  Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 9, 2021

Will Brucher, a teaching instructor at Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, said, Amazon won this battle, but the war may not be over.

Pro-union workers can continue to organize, press for improvements in working conditions, and perhaps win another election in the future, he said. Community-based, grassroots organizing can succeed, even against a powerful employer like Amazon.

U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, (D-Mich.), a former union organizer who is vice chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, said Amazon won recognition as the very symbol of corporate oppression of worker voice, of income and wealth inequality, and of the dehumanization of work.

The goal of a company like Amazon in one of these elections is not to win hearts and minds, not to persuade people, not to have a truthful debate about the pros and cons of workers having a union, Levin said. They know it would be hard for them to win such a debate. The companys goal is to create so much pressure, anxiety and fearand to make workers feel that the pressure will never go away as long as the union is aroundthat workers feel they have no choice but to vote no, like someone crying uncle when they have been threatened relentlessly for days, weeks and months.
Gennaros talk followed introductions by Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry John T. Butler, S.J., and Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. Vice President Joy Moore, executive director of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success, served as moderator and Gennaros conversation partner for the event.



Quigley said Gennaro was one of her generations most distinguished nurses. He highlighted her myriad accomplishments and called her deanship from 2008-2021 a remarkable, lucky 13 for the University and an extraordinary period of leadership and distinguished service.



He also described how her participation in the Ignatian Colleagues Programa national program of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities designed to educate and form administrators and faculty more deeply in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition of higher educationaffected her and her work on campus. Susan took those lessons to heart and became an exemplar on campus. She, as much as anybody that Ive known over these 13 years, has brought this [ICP] mission to new and powerful life.



Quigley concluded by acknowledging Gennaros leadership of the Connell School during the pandemic. He called her an indispensable leader who has demonstrated incredible grace and willingness to share her expertise.



Fr. Butler, the son of a nurse, shared a personal story about Gennaro who, along with her husband William Fehder (a retired CSON faculty member), regularly visited with and provided care and comfort to his mother after her cancer diagnosis.



I have great love for our dean because she loved me and my family, said Fr. Butler. My friend is a nurse who took care of one of the dearest and closest people in my life, and in so doing so, took care of me.



Gennaro discussed change, something most new leaders are tasked with creating. She recalled advice she received from nurse leader Angela Barron McBride about the importance of the pace of change: People need time to change. If you come in and try to do too many things too quickly, its like theres a tornado thats come. Things change, but its destructive.



As a new dean, Gennaro talked with every Connell School faculty member to help inform the path forward and the schools strategic aims. She asked them three questions: What is so important and precious at the Connell School that it should not be changed? What would you like me to change? What do you need to be able to do your job the very best you can?

Gennaro shared another piece of advice she got from Claire Fagin, who served as dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing: You can go anywhere you want as a leader, but youre not a leader if no one is following.

Early on, she created a vision task force and it made clear what the priorities of the school were; consistency of messaging about those priorities helped to build trust.

Gennaro said participating in opportunities that BC offered, such as retreats and other programming, led to her forming invaluable relationships with University colleagues outside the Connell School, senior leadership, and benefactors.



The last year-and-a-half of Gennaros deanship will forever be connected to the pandemic, which completely upended nursing education in the classroom and in clinical settings. To figure out how to educate nursing students in accordance with licensing requirements while also keeping them safe, recalled Gennaro, I had to draw on every single leadership quality, every relationship I had, and every communication skill Ive developed.



Gennaro expressed gratitude to the CSON faculty, particularly the department chairs, and CSONs leadership team, as well as her family, especially her husband, the wind beneath my wings.

Kathleen Sullivan | University Communications | April 2021
New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan will on Friday chair the 24th meeting of the High-level Group of Ministers (GoM) to discuss the current national and international scenario of coronavirus pandemic and strategies that are to be adopted for availability and distribution of vaccines in the coming days.

The meeting will take place at 10:30 AM at the Nirman Bhawan. The matters to be discussed are important in view of the recent developments in the country.

While ruling out a lockdown, PM Narendra Modi had on Thursday noted that administration was appearing lax in many states with daily COVID-19 cases hitting new peaks.

The Prime Minister urged the chief ministers to strengthen their efforts for the next 2-3 weeks to check the spread of the virus on a "war-footing" and proposed to call the night curfew clamped in many places as "corona curfew" to maintain public awareness about the pandemic.

He also called for observing a vaccine festival between April 11-14 to inoculate the maximum number of eligible beneficiaries. April 11 is the birth anniversary of noted social reformer Jyotirao Phule, he noted.

In his virtual interaction with chief ministers to discuss the pandemic situation and the ongoing vaccination drive, PM Modi strongly defended the current eligibility criteria for vaccination amid demand by some states, ruled by opposition parties, to open the shot for all above 18 years.

Amid a massive spike in COVID-19 cases in India, several states including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand have complained about a shortage of coronavirus vaccine.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 cases hit an all-time high in India on Thursday, surpassing the 1.26 lakh mark in a single day.

Live TV
An exiled Russian businessman was strangled with a dog lead by his killer who tried to pass off the murder as suicide, an inquest was told.

Nikolay Glushkov, 68, was found by his daughter and partner lying face down with the leash around his neck in the hallway of his New Malden, south West London, home in March 2018.

The father-of-two, who was deputy director of Russian airline Aeroflot and a close friend of Vladimir Putin critic Boris Berezovsky who was found hanged at his Berkshire home in 2013, was discovered with fractures and bruises matching a 'garrotted sleeper hold', West London Coroner's Court heard.

A step ladder was placed beside his body while a blue cord was wrapped around a nearby stairway handrail.

Nikolay Glushkov, 68, was found with a leash around his neck in March 2018 in the hallway of his home in south west London

Bruising and fractures to his upper back and neck suggested he had been strangled from behind, while another break near his right knee suggested he had been struck on the shin, the inquest was told.

The police report presented to the inquest concluded 'a neck hold had been employed to rapidly subdue Mr Glushkov which was then maintained.'

It added 'a staged scene was set up' and the victim had died at least 24 hours before he was discovered.

In a statement, daughter Natalia Glushkova explained she had been unable to contact her father and went to his home with his partner Denis Trushin to investigate.

But when they arrived at the address, at around 10pm, they found him lying face down on the floor.

His watch and religious cross, which the court heard he only removed to sleep and shower, were on his bedside table.

Reading her statement to the court, Coroner Chinyere Inyama said: 'I saw my father lying on the floor in the corridor. He was lying on his stomach. I noticed a step step ladder next to his feet.

Daughter Natalia Glushkova found her father lying face down when she went to his home with his partner Denis Trushin to investigate when he did not answer his phone

'He had a dog leash around his neck and red blood marks on the part of his face visible to me.'

When a paramedic arrived around 40 minutes later he believed the fact that the step ladder was upright was suspicious an police were called and a murder investigation was launched.

A pathology report said: 'There is a lack of injuries to suggest prolonged grappling or restraint with the third party, and a lack of injuries of a defensive nature to the upper limbs.

'This would suggest the victim had been rapidly incapacitated - garroted sleeper holds are known to cause unconsciousness within seconds.'

Police standing guard outside the home in south west London in March 2018 as investigations got under way

'I have no doubt this man died at the hands of a third party.'

Closing the short 30-minute hearing, Mr Inyama recorded a conclusion of unlawful killing and said the cause of death was compression of the neck.

Addressing Ms Gushkova, who attended via audio link, he added: 'Please accept the court's condolences.'

Hours before the inquest was held counter-terror police renewed an appeal for information into the mysterious death.

Despite contacting more than 1,800 witnesses, taking more than 420 statements, and sifting through 2,200 hours of CCTV footage as well 1,200 exhibits, detectives have still not identified a motive or killer.

Head of the Met Police's counter-terrorism command Richard Smith said questions remain about his death.

It was a week after the Novichok poisoning of the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

He said: 'This has been a hugely complex, challenging investigation from the outset.

Head of the Met Police's counter-terrorism command Richard Smith has renewed calls for information into the death

'Officers have taken hundreds of statements and collected a large amount of evidential material, but so far no arrests have been made.

'Three years have passed and we are again asking the public, particularly people who live in or visit the New Malden area, to cast their minds back to March 12 2018.

'Did you see a black Volkswagen van in or around Clarence Avenue that day? Did you see anything that in retrospect was unusual or suspicious?

'Anything you can recall might be crucial to our investigation.'

Mr Glushkov fled Russia after being accused of fraud during his time as deputy director of the Russian airline Aeroflot.

In 2017, during a trial in absentia, he was sentenced to eight years in a Russian prison, convicted of stealing 87million from the airline.

He was due to attend the commercial court in London to defend himself on March 12, the day his body was found.
OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. -- The City of Ocean Springs has a plan in place to buy a piece of Front Beach which has been privately owned since 1948, but that plan hit a snag when the Mississippi Legislature rejected the Citys funding request.

City aldermen had given grants administrator Carolyn Martin approval to submit an application for Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) funding in excess of $2 million.

Those funds would be used to purchase the property at the foot of Jackson Avenue, which has been owned by the Fayard family since 1948. The parcel was the site of the Fayard seafood business until Hurricane Katrina destroyed the building in 2005.

In the years since, there have been multiple attempts to purchase the property, but each time the deal fell through -- including previous attempts by the City to acquire the property. Past requests for Coast Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) and RESTORE Act funds were also rejected.

Martin said it had been her understanding the legislature wanted to see a contract for the sale of the property in order to proceed with the GOMESA request because, she said, nobody believed Earl (Fayard Jr.) would sell the property.

So included in the application was a contract, signed by Fayard, which agrees to sell the property at fair market value as determined by the average of two appraisals.

The last appraisal, Martin said, indicated a value of $1.4 million for the property. The Citys request for more than $2 million was to allow for improvements.

The project entails buying the Fayard property, but also making some improvements to the property and fixing the drainage at the foot of Washington Avenue, she said.

Improvements to the section of the beach would include a public pavilion amenity to potentially include vendors and other sponsored public activities.

The property is zoned C-2 commercial. Other than the Ocean Springs Yacht Club property, it is the only commercially-zoned property on either of Ocean Springs two beaches. C-2 zoning allows for a wide range of development.

For now, however, the Citys plans remain in limbo.
By Prossy Kisakye

Individuals who will be convicted of participating in human sacrifice are likely to face a death sentence.

The Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Bill, 2020 was presented for first reading by Ayivu County Member of Parliament, Bernard Atiku.

The bill provides a unique legal frame work that criminalizes the act of human sacrifice which is not the case in the penal code Act, the penal code Act considers the act of human sacrifice as murder while this bill considers it a criminal offence that needs to be criminalized alone.

Atiku is pushing this bill on grounds that despite the government effort to protect an individuals right to life and degrading acts, ritual killings and human sacrifice practices are on the rise in Uganda with children being the common victims.

He asked parliament to pass this bill before the end of the 10th parliament.

The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has referred the Bill to the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee for further scrutiny.
Experts have uncovered a new molecular reason why faecal transplants are highly effective in treating infections such as C. difficile (a nasty bacteria that can infect the bowel), which could lead to more targeted treatments for this and other similar diseases.

The study, published today in Gastroenterology, was led by experts from the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University.

Clostridium difficile, also known as C. difficile or C. diff, is a bacterium that can infect the bowel and cause diarrhoea. The infection most commonly affects people who have recently been treated with antibiotics. It can spread easily to others. A stool transplant - or to give it its full title "a faecal microbiota transplant" (FMT) - aims to repopulate the patient's gut with the microbes from a healthy person, making it a successful therapy against C. diff and other similar diseases. An FMT is only considered if a patient suffers recurring bouts of the infection or has not responded to traditional treatments. FMT is effective in at least 80% of cases in treating the condition.

After a poo "sample" is produced, it is mixed with water. There are two routes for getting the sample into the required location in the bowel - down through the mouth straight into the stomach, or as a colonoscopy, up through the rectum.

Whilst the technique is highly effective in treating the infection, little is still known about how it does so. In this new study, a team of experts set out to understand how FMT works at a molecular level.

Dr Tanya Monaghan, Clinical Associate Professor, Honorary Consultant in Gastroenterology, and Anne McLaren Fellow in the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham, and co-lead author of the research said: "It is not fully understood how an FMT works at a molecular level. That is a problem because if we knew how it worked at this level, then we could refine the treatment, which would mean a full transplant may not be needed."

The team used blood samples from two clinical FMT trials which were undertaken in Canada by co-lead Dr Dina Kao (University of Alberta) and collaborator Prof Christine Lee (University of British Columbia). From these data, they could see that following successful FMTs, there were alterations in patient microRNAs in the blood.

MicroRNAs are a class of short non-coding RNA molecules. With more than 2,000 microRNAs discovered in humans to date, many of them have already been implicated in common human disorders.

Dr Christos Polytarchou, Associate Professor in the School of Science and Technology at Nottingham Trent University, and co-author of the research, said: "MicroRNAs are characterised as master regulators of gene expression. A single microRNA can modulate multiple RNA and protein molecules, affecting a vast array of cell functions."

The researchers wanted to specifically look at whether microRNAs changed following a successful FMT.

The team, which also included investigators from the universities of Vanderbilt (Prof Borden Lacy and Dr Nick Markham) and Clemson (Dr Anna Seekatz), discovered that following successful transplant, there was an increase in specific microRNAs in the blood, which resembled similar changes also seen in the human and mouse intestine.

Dr Polytarchou added: "We found that C. diff utilises its toxins to highjack the molecular mechanism important for microRNA maturation, a process important for microRNA activity. We went on to identify specific microRNAs, which contribute to disease pathogenesis."

The team then looked at whether or not the combination of specific microRNAs could protect bowel cells from the damage that is induced by toxins from the bacteria, and they could.

Dr Monaghan said: "We have discovered a new mechanism by which the transplants work, which will now help us to develop a new method of therapeutics, which specifically target microRNAs. MicroRNA-based drugs are already being investigated to treat cancers, heart abnormalities, and kidney disease, but this is the first time microRNAs have been looked at as a means to treat C. diff infections. If used with antimicrobials, microRNA drugs could be extremely effective in treating C. diff and potentially other diseases"

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Barcelona-based stylist and hairdresser Alexis Ferrer has spent years developing a technique that allows him to digitally print colorful design onto human hair.

Alexis Ferrer started experimenting with hair printing in 2012, after being asked by haircare brand Wella Professionals to interpret a collection at that years International Trend Vision Awards. The aim was to was to innovate with a technique not usually used in hairdressing, and photographic printing on hair seemed like the perfect way to graphically tell a story. Ferrers first attempt managed to get a lot of attention in the world of fashion, and he has been working on refining hair printing techniques ever since.

Photo: @rafa.andreu/Instagram

Ferrers first foray into hair printing had him create create blond hair extensions with faces of female protagonists from horror classics like The Shining or Hitchcocks Psycho printed on them. The models paraded with the hair draped over their faces, and the extensions were fixed with a net to the allow hair to adapt to the movement of the model.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alexis Ferrer  Creative Hair (@alexisferrer01)

Then, in 2017, for the 080 Barcelona Fashion Week, the Spanish hairdresser teamed up with designer Txell Miras, on a collection inspired by shipping containers and fishermen. This time, he had photographic portraits of bearded fishermen printed on long hair extensions, which was a first in the world of hairstyling.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alexis Ferrer  Creative Hair (@alexisferrer01)

Then, earlier this year, Alexis Ferrer, showcased the most recent version of his hair printing technique, which now allows him to have colorful, vivid designs digitally printed onto human hair. Although the process was no revealed, the hairstylist described it as a combination of artisanal styles mixed with technology.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alexis Ferrer  Creative Hair (@alexisferrer01)

I must admit that the first impressions on the hair were a challenge. It took two months to get good results with high definition Mixing technology with our knowledge of crafts has allowed us to recreate those wonderful patterns on the hair, Ferrer said in an interview with INFRINGE.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alexis Ferrer  Creative Hair (@alexisferrer01)

His latest collection of hair printed designs, called La Favorite, was inspired by the best fabrics for the French bourgeoisie during the XVIII century, and features a variety of Baroque-style motifs, like colorful peonies, butterflies, and birds.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alexis Ferrer  Creative Hair (@alexisferrer01)

Hair printing isnt yet available as a commercial service, but its definitely proof of the innovation made possible by technology in hairstyling and fashion in general.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The months-long battle between the city and a Grant City bar over coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions boiled over on Friday when sheriffs deputies served the owner and manager with criminal summonses, some of which had been dismissed late last year.

Keith McAlarney, the owner of Macs Public House, angrily ripped up the papers and tossed them at the two sheriffs deputies who served them.

You guys are a waste, said McAlarney, in a video provided by Mark J. Fonte, one of his lawyers.  You guys lost. Youre going to come after me three months later? Just following orders? Give up your paycheck.

McAlarney; Daniel Presti, Macs general manager, and Louis Gelormino, another attorney representing them, were each served Criminal Court appearance tickets in Fonte and Gelorminos Willowbrook offices.

The three men, as well as others at Macs, had been hit late last year with fines and criminal summonses totaling more than $40,000 after the bar remained open in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions. McAlarney and Presti had declared the pub an autonomous zone.

However, those summonses were tossed out just before Christmas.

A notification of dismissal said the city sheriffs office had failed to file a legally acceptable accusatory instrument with the court.

Afterward, a spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration said the summonses had been mistakenly thrown out due to a clerical error within Manhattan Criminal Court.

He said then the court cases would be rescheduled in Staten Island Criminal Court, although he couldnt say when. That process started Friday with the re-issuance of the summonses.

In an email, Sheriff Joseph Fucito said Presti and McAlarney were each served Criminal Court appearance tickets for alleged violations of the states Alcoholic Beverage Law, which were observed on Dec. 1 and erroneously dismissed by the court.

They were also served for new violations of the law, allegedly seen on March 19.

Gelormino was issued an appearance ticket for allegedly violating emergency orders for offenses observed on Dec. 1 and erroneously dismissed by the court, said the sheriff.

In this file photo, Keith McAlarney and Danny Presti, co-owners of Mac's Public House, Grant City, addressed the media outside of the business Monday morning, Jan. 25, 2021 (Staten Island Advance/ Jan Somma-Hammel)

Fucito said the sheriffs office regularly investigates illegal alcohol sales on a citywide basis.

The office is statutorily required to notify the State Liquor Authority of establishments that pose a significant threat to the public health, he said.

The actions of the deputy sheriffs in regards to Macs Pub comport to the letter and spirit of the ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) law, which is the authority that regulates safe alcohol sales in New York state, he said.

Mitch Schwartz, deputy press secretary for the mayors office, backed the sheriff.

Thousands of bars in this city will pour you a pint and work hard to keep you safe from COVID-19. This isnt one of them, said Schwartz. The city will hold bad actors accountable and do everything we can to end this pandemic once and for all.

Fonte, Macs lawyer, said the sheriff is wrong.

None of the summonses issued had to deal with alcohol sales, he said. They were all violations of the illogical Orange Zone restrictions which we now know were unconstitutional and had no basis in science. He can state his ridiculous defense to the court once he is personally sued.

Macs community and other parts of the Island were placed for a time in an Orange Zone, which imposed tighter restrictions on businesses, residents and schools than in other areas.

Fonte denounced the summons-serving as targeted law enforcement.

This action by the sheriff is unprecedented in law enforcement. With the city on fire and crime rates soaring, the sheriffs department doggedly and relentlessly pursue this diminutive bartender, Fonte said, referring to the short, slender Presti, who has become a flashpoint in the bars struggle with authorities.

In the age of qualified immunity, it is our intention to not only go after the sheriff, but to personally sue the officers who issued the summonses, said the lawyer.

The City Council recently voted to ban qualified immunity as a defense for law enforcement officers.

Qualified immunity shielded police and government officials from liability unless it was proved they had violated a clearly established statutory or constitutional right of which a reasonable person would have known.

Fonte said McAlarney and Presti cant feed their families, while the sheriffs have not missed a single paycheck.

With qualified immunity rescinded, these sheriffs will finally suffer some personal consequences for their actions, said the attorney. Let them explain to their spouses why there are liens on their houses.

LATEST SALVO

Service of the summonses reopens another legal front in the fight between the bar and the city.

Two weeks ago, a justice in state Supreme Court, St. George, issued a temporary closure order shutting down Macs Public House after the city said alcohol had been served at the tavern several days earlier despite the suspension of its liquor license on Nov. 27.

Besides serving alcohol, Macs was also flouting coronavirus (COVID-19) requirements on mask-wearing and social distancing, the city alleged.

Justice Catherine M. DiDomenicos ruling subjects McAlarney, Presti, and tavern personnel to criminal contempt charges should they violate the order.

The closure order, however, only shuts down Macs for the time being.

The judge must still rule on the constitutionality of the governors executive orders instituting the coronavirus restrictions, as well the citys application to shutter the bar for a year as a public nuisance.

A hearing scheduled for Friday was adjourned to April 29.
I for one will be quite reluctant to go anywhere people are gathering in proximity and in large numbers without some assurance that those people have been vaccinated. Even though I have been vaccinated, I do not want to unnecessarily increase my risk of contracting the virus and becoming ill  or, even worse, being asymptomatic and unknowingly passing the virus to others who may not be vaccinated. Unfortunately, many of the people refusing to be vaccinated may be engaging in risky behaviors.
Former Presidents George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter expressed their condolences Friday morning in paying tribute to Prince Phillip after news broke of his death.

'Laura and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh,' Bush sent in a statement from himself and former first lady Laura Bush.

'Throughout his long and remarkable life, he devoted himself to worthy causes and to others,' he continued in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II's husband. 'He represented the United Kingdom with dignity and brought boundless strength and support to the sovereign.'

A statement from Carter's Presidential Library states: 'We are sorry to hear that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, has passed away.'

Both Bush, 74, and Carter, 96, met with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip when they were in office.

Former Presidents George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter led the U.S. in paying tribute to Price Philip, who died overnight at the age of 99

Carter's Presidential Library released a photo of him and other heads of state dining with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at the G7 Summit in London in 1977

Here Bush shakes hands with Philip, as Queen Elizabeth II and then-first lady Laura Bush stand by their side, during a state visit to London in 2003

Carter's library included an image of him and other heads of state dining with them in May 1977 during the G7 Summit in London.

Bush also remembered: 'Laura and I are fortunate to have enjoyed the charm and wit of his company, and we know how much he will be missed. We join those around the world offering heartfelt condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the entire Royal Family.'

No statement has been released yet from the White House or from the other living former presidents, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement Friday on behalf of the entire U.S. Congress.

'The US Congress extends condolences over the passing of Prince Philip, whose life was distinguished by an inspiring ethic of dedicated service,' she wrote on Twitter. 'May it be a comfort to Her Majesty & the Royal family that so many mourn with & pray for them at this sad time.'

Pelosi released a statement on behalf of the entire U.S. Congress expressing their condolences

The Queen announced on Friday morning with 'deep sorrow' the death of Philip at the age of 99, her 'strength and guide' throughout their 73-year marriage and her 69-year reign.

The Duke of Edinburgh spent his final days at Windsor Castle with his wife, who he lovingly called Lilibet throughout their long life together, after a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.

The Royal Family said in a statement: 'It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss'.

Her Majesty, who remains at Windsor Castle, is now expected to enter an eight-day period of mourning. She will not carry out any duties, even in private, while laws will not be given the Royal Assent and affairs of state will also be paused.
Thursday, April 8, 2021

This week's Funnies are going to press earlier than usual because I am scheduled to receive my second COVID-19 vaccine shot, and from what I've read on the internet, which never lies, I will get sick within 24 hours as the cyber tracker takes effect. When it does, Bill Gates will know where I am 24 hours a day. This is great because I don't even know where I am 24 hours a day. Sometimes, I wake up, look around, and wonder "Where the hell am I?" If that happens in the future, all I have to do is call Bill Gates and he can tell me where I am. Whew.

I am hoping that I don't suffer any ill effects from my second shot. The first one didn't bother me at all, aside from the third nipple that popped up, so I don't envision any problems with this one. And even though I will be fully vaccinated, I will continue to wear my mask but I will be able to start touching my face again. Ah, the good old days.

I don't know if these times will be considered as the good old days, but after reading this week's Funnies, you might call them the weird old days.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

As you probably know by now, one of the things we sent to Mars is a helicopter which prompts taxpayers everywhere to respond, "What?" I have to agree in that response in that they don't need a helicopter up there yet. There are no tourists to fly around and since there is no traffic, you can drive the rover anywhere on the planet. Scientists said that the helicopter will provide important information about Mars. What are they going to find?

Do they think there are cities or theme parks in the area? Seeing pictures of Mars, I have come to the conclusion that 1) it's red, 2) It's very dry, and 3) ain't nobody home. So please don't waste our money with helicopters. Next time send up something more practical like a Tesla.

THOSE WACKY CHINESE

If you miss Donald Trump, a sculptor in China may be able to help you. The sculptor made a statue of Trump seated in a Buddha like pose. Legs crossed, hands in lap, eyes closed, and hair that looks much better than in real life. The cast of the statue is 4.6 meters tall and is priced at about $600 US. So far, the company has produced 100 copies and has sold out. They are currently making more.

This is perfect for Trump fans who aren't ready to give up. One of these statues outside your mobile home would tell everybody that you are, in fact, an idiot who spent his stimulus money on a Trumbuddah. I don't know how the Buddhists are taking to this other than their new slogan, "Make Buddhism Great Again."

NEVERMORE

If you live in Anchorage, Alaska and shop at Costco, be very wary when carrying your groceries to the car. It seems that an unkindness of ravens - yes, that what you call a group of ravens, waits outside the Costco and dive bombs people who are leaving the store. They aim for the food and have been seen grabbing a package of short ribs, fruit, vegetables and flying away with the booty. And God forbid you walk out of the store with a 99 cent hot dog in your hand.

The only solution that seems to be working is to cover your cart with kale. Even Ravens won't eat that.
Washington, April 9 : Three retired senior officials of the US Department of State have urged the current administration to pay the arrears the country owes to the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping budget.

These dues have been accruing for four years and total more than $1 billion, according to the writers -- former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, and former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

"In 1999, the United States' vote at the UN General Assembly was threatened because of lack of payment," they said in the op-ed piece titled "The United States Must Pay the United Nations What It Owes" that was published last week on the Foreign Policy website.

"US credibility was on the line; it appeared hypocritical to advocate for robust multilateral action while also withholding the dues to support such activities," the article read.
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
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-10 05:38:03|Editor: huaxia

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LA PAZ, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia on Friday said it decided to keep its border with Brazil closed for another seven days to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus disease, especially the Brazilian variant of the virus considered to be more contagious and possibly more lethal.

Bolivia first closed its border with Brazil on April 2, with provisions for cross-border trade, and was to lift the ban on Friday.

"An epidemiological evaluation has been made on the border with Brazil and we consider it necessary to extend the closure for another week," Deputy Foreign Trade and Integration Minister Benjamin Blanco said.

"At the end of this period we will return to work on the situation in the border regions to take action," he said.

Bolivia has also taken more general measures to curb the outbreak, including requiring visitors to show the negative results of a recently-taken COVID-19 test.

A year and a month since the first two cases of COVID-19 were detected in Bolivia, the Ministry of Health reported 279,207 cases and 12,412 deaths from the disease as of Thursday. Enditem
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (April 8) said that night curfew implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19 should be referred to as 'corona curfew' to spread awareness about the infection.

Addressing a virtual meeting with the chief ministers of states and union territories (UT) to discuss the coronavirus pandemic situation and the ongoing vaccination drive, PM Modi said that where ever night curfew is imposed, it should be called corona curfew.

"Where ever night curfew is in place, there the phrase 'corona curfew' should be used so that awareness regarding coronavirus is maintained, he said.

Dismissing people questioning the benefit of night curfew, the senior BJP leader said, "Some people have this intellectual debate that 'does corona only come in the night'. In reality, the world overnight curfew has been an accepted experiment because every person during the curfew time is reminded that I am living in Corona-era and lifestyle is not affected to a large extent.

Night curfew has been implemented in various places across the country including Mumbai, Delhi, Noida, Lucknow, Kanpur in view of the daily rising coronavirus cases.

The PM also called for states to mark vaccine festival or Tika Utsav between April 11-14 to inoculate the maximum number of eligible beneficiaries. April 11 is the birth anniversary of eminent social reformer Jyotirao Phule and April 14 is the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar, he noted.

Meanwhile, PM Modi also rejected opposition-ruled states demand to open vaccination process for all above 18 years of age. Defending the current eligibility criteria of vaccination for all 45 years, he said, "India's criteria are no different from the most prosperous countries in the world, and it will have to prioritise the vaccination."

(With PTI inputs)

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Minutes after State Police officer Darian Jarrott pulled over Omar Cueva along Interstate 10 east of Deming, he noticed a firearm in the truck.

Do you mind if I take it off you, for my safety? Jarrott asks through the passenger side window.

The officer never got the chance.

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As the two men walk to the back of the truck, Cueva raises the rifle and shoots an unsuspecting Jarrott. The officer falls to the ground, reaching for his gun, and Cueva moves around the truck, shooting him several more times.

Cueva puts the rifle to the back of Jarrotts head and fires once more before he jumps into the truck and speeds off down the highway.

Two agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrive soon after, one of them saying hes dead and spewing expletives.

On Friday State Police released lapel and dash cam footage and details of the Feb. 4 fatal shooting of the 28-year-old Lordsburg native, a father of three who had a fourth child on the way.

The man who shot him, 39-year-old Cueva, was killed in a gunfight with authorities in Las Cruces soon after. Jarrott was the first New Mexico State Police officer shot and killed in the line of duty in more than 30 years.

State Police had previously said that, at the time of the traffic stop, Jarrott was assisting HSI with an investigation and Cueva was on his way to do a drug buy. Cueva had previously served time in prison in California on drug charges after he was caught with 15 pounds of methamphetamine and a loaded assault rifle, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

An HSI spokeswoman previously said State Police was helping the agency in an ongoing narcotics investigation when Jarrott was shot. The HSI spokeswoman did not respond to calls for comment on Friday.

State Police spokesman Ray Wilson declined to comment on HSIs involvement.

Up until Friday, authorities had not released many details about the events surrounding Jarrotts death as the investigation was ongoing.

It was about noon when Jarrott stopped a white pickup on eastbound I-10 east of Deming. In lapel video Jarrott tells the driver, Cueva, that he pulled him over because his window tint was too dark.

Jarrott asks Cueva to exit the truck and bring his license, registration and insurance before he notices a gun in the truck. He asks Cueva to give him the rifle once he gets out of the truck.

The dash camera footage shows the two men walk to the back of the truck, Cueva holding an AR-15 style rifle in one hand and what looks like a walkie-talkie or police scanner in the other. Without warning Cueva raises the rifle and opens fire, shooting Jarrot multiple times as vehicles drive by on the highway.

Within minutes, the video shows Homeland Security Investigations agents show up and begin trying to render aid to Jarrott. At one point, a bystander walks up, his hands in the air, and tells the agents he saw everything.

Wilson said State Police officers Lionel Palomares and Sonny Montes caught up to Cueva headed east on I-10 and Cueva pulled over and fired at the officers. Both officers fired back at Cueva who got back into the truck and continued east.

He said, soon after, authorities with the Las Cruces Police Department, the Dona Ana County Sheriffs Office, and U.S. Border Patrol jumped into the pursuit. Wilson said State Police used spike strips on the truck near the Picacho exit on I-10, but Cueva continued to flee.

He said various law enforcement officers fired at Cueva as he fled, including DASO Deputy Jerod Huston, DASO Deputy John Signore and USBP Agent Oscar Delgado. Wilson said LCPD officer Adrian De La Garza used a pursuit intervention technique, or PIT maneuver, and, before the truck came to a stop, Cueva got out and fired multiple rounds at authorities.

He said De La Garza and DASO Deputies Diego Herrera and Obed Marte returned fire and Cueva was struck several times by gunfire. Wilson said, in the gunfight, De La Garza was struck by gunfire and airlifted to a hospital in Texas where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

He said Cueva was pronounced dead at the scene.

Of those who opened fire during the incident, Wilson said State Police officers Palomares and Montes had eight and six years of service, respectively. LCPD officer De La Garza had 17 years of service. DASO deputies Huston, Signore, Marte and Herrera had 16, 13, 11 and 19 years of service, respectively. USBP Agent Delgado had 11 years of service.

The New Mexico State Police officers were placed on standard leave and have since returned to duty, Wilson said.  Officer Darian Jarrott was laid to rest on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, at Shakespeare Cemetery in Lordsburg during a private burial.

Jarrott was sworn in as a State Police officer in July 2015.

We appreciate the publics support during this difficult time, State Police Chief Robert Thornton said in a statement. We will honor Officer Jarrotts sacrifice by continuing to serve and protect the citizens of New Mexico.
Edmon Marukian said they both must leave and free the political arena because Armenia needs to a follow a third path represented by his Bright Armenia Party (LHK), one of the two opposition groups represented in the current parliament.

Armenia has no right to remain stuck: this is what Pashinians reelection would mean. Nor does Armenia have a right to move backwards, he told RFE/RLs Armenian Service.

Marukian dismissed suggestions that the political forces led by Pashinian and Kocharian will be the main election contenders.

Most voters now reject both the current and former authorities, he claimed. He said his meetings with many citizens have exposed a deep disappointment with Pashinians government.

Hrachya Hakobian, a pro-government lawmaker and Pashinians brother-in-law, shrugged off the LHK leaders comments.

Edmon Marukian cannot decide who must leave the arena, he said. Armenias citizens will decide that through the elections.

Kocharian reaffirmed this week his plans to participate in the elections. He said he will lead an electoral alliance comprising at least two opposition parties.

The ex-president, who had ruled Armenia from 1998-2008, predicted earlier this year a bipolar parliamentary race, implying that he will be Pashinians main challenger.

For his part, Pashinian referred to his principal political foes late last month as wolves seeking to come to power.
The entrance to the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on May 14, 2020. (Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)

Officials Announce Reopening of Hollywood Bowl, Ford Amphitheater

LOS ANGELESThe Los Angeles Philharmonic Association (LA Phil) April 9 announced plans for the reopening of its outdoor concert venuesthe Hollywood Bowl and The Fordfor the 2021 season, starting with four free concerts for health care workers, first responders and essential workers as a gesture of thanks for their work throughout the pandemic.

Based on county Public Health guidance, the Hollywood Bowl will be able to welcome a limited-capacity audience of 4,000 people when concerts resume beginning in May. The LA Phil anticipates ramping up to greater capacity later in the summer as guidelines evolve.

In Los Angeles County, which recently advanced to the orange tier of the states Blueprint for a Safer Economy, outdoor venues are restricted to 33 percent capacity.

Beginning in July, the Bowl will present 14 weeks of concerts, including crowd favorites such as Fourth of July fireworks, Tchaikovsky Spectacular and Sing-A-Long Sound of Music.

The Fords season, featuring an array of local and regional Southern California artists and national acts, will open in late July and run for 15 weeks. According to the LA Phil, the Ford is committed to representing the county on its stage and in its audience will make 20 percent of its performances free to the public.

Detailed information on programming, dates and ticketing for the Bowl will be announced May 11 and for the nearby Ford amphitheater on May 25. An announcement concerning the reopening of downtowns Walt Disney Concert Hall is expected in June.

Its not possible to overemphasize the incredible support weve seen across our community during this unprecedented crisis, said LA Phil chief executive Chad Smith. Were looking forward to bringing our audiences back together with one another and with live music.

Smith said that while the philharmonic was forced into budget cuts and dozens of layoffs after the Bowls season was cancelled last year, the organization is moving forward, hiring seasonal staff and implementing policies and procedures designed for the safety of returning audiences, artists and

staff.

Three of the first free concerts at the Bowlmade possible through a partnership with Kaiser Permanentewill include performances by LA Phil Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel and the orchestra, May 15 and 22, playing repertoire from Beethoven to Marquez, with artists to be announced for the third event on June 26.

The fourth free concert will be with local artists Thundercat and Flying Lotus on June 12, their first performance since winning a Grammy Award for best progressive R&B album earlier this year.

I cannot describe the joy and hope that I feel at the thought of returning to the stage with our musicians, in front of a live audience, Dudamel said. We have found so many extraordinary and creative ways to share music together over the course of this pandemic, but truly nothing can take the place of performing in person. And nothing can compare to the magic of making music at the Hollywood Bowl, where the sound waves mingle with the soft breeze of a Southern California evening. My friends, we have missed you, and we cannot wait to share music in person again.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, whose third district includes the Bowl and Ford, added: This milestone in our recovery journey means that vocalists can start warming up, instrumentalists can start tuning up, and audiences can actually again make plans for a summer of inspired performances under the stars.
Company to leverage its deep data technology to facilitate power, performance and reliability in datacenters

HAIFA, ISRAEL April 8, 2021 - proteanTecs, a leading provider of health and performance monitoring solutions for advanced electronics, announced today that it has joined the Open Compute Project (OCP) as a Community Member. The OCP Foundation, launched by Facebook in 2011, is a collaborative community whose mission is to innovate hardware technology and efficiently support the growing demands on datacenter IT infrastructure.

Acceleration of cloud and edge computing, AI and as-a-service solutions are driving massive growth in the datacenter market. As a result, new challenges related to higher-power workloads, HW interoperability and maintenance arise. proteanTecs' deep data monitoring solutions deliver end-to-end visibility, providing significant power, performance and cost efficiencies. Based on UCT (Universal Chip Telemetry), datacenter operators can track system health, in mission-mode, while drawing on historical data from production, to prevent failures and ensure continuous service availability.

The OCP is taking a whole new approach to cloud-scale computing, said Uzi Baruch, CSO at proteanTecs. They recently shared their mission for HW fault diagnostics, stating high replacement rates, long mitigation cycles and gaps in telemetry solutions as key challenges. What we are doing falls directly in line with that. Enabling datacenters to transition to a predictive strategy will allow them to maximize dollar per GHz, detect early failures, optimize compute performance, and provide instantaneous visibility into hardware faults.

Serving customers across several mission-critical sectors, including Datacenter, Automotive and Communications, proteanTecs is rapidly expanding into a wide range of cutting-edge designs. The companys solutions are embedded in various types of systems, spanning AI, HPC, networking and storage applications.

We are working closely with hyperscalers, semiconductor companies and system integrators to rapidly increase scalability in the cloud, added Baruch. Joining the OCP will allow us to better tailor our roadmap to industry needs and provide our expertise for next-generation infrastructure.

About OCP

The Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) was initiated by Facebook in 2011 with a mission to apply the benefits of open source and open collaboration to hardware and rapidly increase the pace of innovation in, near and around the data centers networking equipment, general purpose and GPU servers, storage devices and appliances, and scalable rack designs. OCPs collaboration model is being applied beyond the data center, helping to advance the telecom industry & EDGE infrastructure.

About proteanTecs

proteanTecs develops revolutionary Universal Chip Telemetry (UCT) for electronic systems throughout their entire lifecycle, increasing their performance and reliability. By applying machine learning to novel data created by on-chip UCT Agents, proteanTecs provides meaningful insights and visibility unattainable until today, leading to new levels of quality, reliability and scale. Founded in 2017, the company is headquartered in Israel with offices in New Jersey, California and Taiwan.






In early February, in the days after Myanmars military overthrew the elected government, E. Tammy Kim spoke, for CJR, with Swe Win, the editor of Myanmar Now, a news outlet based in Yangon. Kim first encountered Swe Win in 2019, when he was enmeshed in a long running defamation case; he was subsequently shot in the leg, apparently at the directive of military leaders, and decided to go into exile. When the coup took place, he wasnt in Myanmar. He instructed his colleagues on the ground to evacuate the newsroom and stay with family or friends, but some staffers quickly went back to work to cover burgeoning protests. It would be a shame if we missed the entire public opposition, Swe Win told Kim. It would be psychologically devastating to all of uswed feel very irresponsibleso I put half the team back at work. But still, were in disarray. Theyre still grappling with the trauma of the coup. He also spoke with donors about opening a newsroom outside Myanmar.

Journalists in Myanmar have been grappling not only with trauma, but with uncertainty; initially, the military did not directly target the press, though it did shut off internet access in parts of the country, and some broadcasters went off air. As Kyaw Hsan Hlaing and Emily Fishbein reported for CJR, things soon got much worse. The day after CJR published Kims interview with Swe Win, the junta ordered reporters not to call it a junta, and also sought to ban the words regime and coup. In early March, authorities raided the newsroom of Myanmar Now, seizing documents and electronic equipment. They revoked the sites license to operate, and did the same to four other independent newsrooms: Mizzima (which was also raided), 7 Day News, Democratic Voice of Burma, and Khit Thit Media. Officials charged another news site, The Irrawaddy, under an Orwellian security law criminalizing reporting that, in the eyes of the state, could encourage soldiers to mutinymarking the first time the law has been wielded against a whole news organization, rather than an individual journalist. Every newspaper not run by the state has ceased printing. Internet restrictions are getting harsher; yesterday, according to the Associated Press, following a clampdown on social media and mobile data, fiber broadband started flickering out, too. And officials in some areas have used loudspeakers to order residents to hand over their satellite TV dishesand with them their remaining access to international news channels.

ICYMI: Could NFTs help the media, or are they just a sideshow?

Then theres the physical violence. Soldiers have shot and wounded at least three photojournalists, including Ko Htet Myat Thu and U Si Thu, who believes that a military gunman was aiming for his head. (He was hit in the hand as he took a photo.) Around sixty journalists have been arrested, including Ma Kay Zon Nway, of Myanmar Now; Ko Zaw Zaw and Ko Than Htike Aung, of Mizzima; Thein Zaw, of the AP; Aung Thura, of the BBC; and Robert Bociaga, who was on assignment for the German press agency dpa. The AP published a video showing police putting Thein Zaw in a chokehold; Bociaga was beaten by soldiers. Both have subsequently been freed, as has Aung Thura. (Bociaga was deported.) But thirty or so reporters remain behind bars, and many of them, including Ma Kay Zon Nway, face lengthy potential sentences under the mutiny law. This week, a number of journalists faced preliminary hearings in their cases. One of them, a freelance video journalist named Aung Ko Latt, has tested positive for COVID-19 since his arrest. His hearing coincided with the birth of his son.

Reporters who are not already in Myanmar have struggled to gain access. Ari Ben-Menashea lobbyist hired by the junta who has called coverage of the coup nonsenserecently brokered entry for a CNN team led by Clarissa Ward, and for Allegra Mendelson, a reporter with Southeast Asia Globe; they were transported around the country under armed guard, then taken to meet with officials and others who told them flimsy tales of protesters perpetrating abuse. The visit became a clumsy attempt by the regime to remake its global image, Mendelson writes. Escorts monitored our every move, with cameras and phones raised to record us. They even tried following us into bathrooms at times. Locals nonetheless made their views heard, banging on pots and pans as the foreign reporters passed, and in some cases approaching them on the street, despite the nearby soldiers; at least eight people were arrested for talking to CNNall of whom, the network says, have since been released. Speaking on air yesterday, Ward hailed them as extraordinarily bravebut CNN has been criticized, by some regional media-watchers, for exposing them to danger. Such critics also accused CNN of parachute and celebrity white savior journalism, and, as Vice put it, of glossing over the tireless work of plenty of journalists on the ground in Myanmar as well as elsewhere in Asia.

Ward is now back in London. The journalists on the ground are still there, and in an increasingly dire situation. Yesterday, security forces killed at least eleven protesters in the town of Taze, taking the civilian death toll since the coup above six hundred, according to one widely-cited count. Richard C. Paddock, of the New York Times, reports that despite the extreme danger of protest, journalists are increasingly looking to blend in with the demonstrators, and have stopped visibly identifying themselves as press after doing so made them targets; many, Paddock writes, also keep a low profile by not receiving credit for their published work and avoiding sleeping in their own homes. And the line between citizens and journalistsalways and everywhere, to some extent, imaginaryhas blurred professionally, too, with citizen journalists, or CJs as they have become widely known, helping under-pressure reporters document the carnage. They are targeting professional journalists so our country needs more CJs, Ma Thuzar Myat, who is among their number, told Paddock. I know I might get killed at some point for taking a video record of what is happening. But I wont step back.

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Other notable stories:

ICYMI: Ron DeSantiss narrative whiplash

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Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- As coronavirus cases continue to soar among young people, Syracuse colleges are bringing Covid-19 vaccines to campus.

Syracuse University started vaccinating staff and students on campus on Thursday, and Le Moyne College ran a clinic today in partnership with the Onondaga County Health Department. New York state on Tuesday made the vaccine available to anyone 16 years or older.

Its part of a race to vaccinate those most likely to catch and spread the virus. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said the majority of recent coronavirus cases have come from people under the age of 40. On Thursday, the county reported 143 new cases, the most in one day since Feb. 1. Of those, 79% were people under 40, McMahon said.

SU has reported 206 confirmed student cases so far in April. Le Moyne has had 19 confirmed student cases since March 29.

Le Moyne expected to vaccinate about 300 people at todays clinic, which was open to students and employees, said Joe Della Posta, the colleges director of communications and public affairs. The college and county administered the Johnson & Johnson vaccines, which requires just one shot. The other two vaccines in use, Moderna and Pfizer, each require two doses given several weeks apart.

SU announced this week it will require all students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated for the summer and fall semesters. The university said it will allow medical and religious exemptions. Cornell University will also require vaccinations.

Le Moyne has not decided whether it will make vaccinations mandatory, Della Posta said.

Mass vaccination sites like the New York state fairgrounds have immunized the first wave of people motivated enough and able to make appointments and drive there. Experts say the next step is bringing the vaccines to the people, at high schools, in neighborhoods and on college campuses.

You have students who say, I dont want to go to the fairgrounds or the OnCenter, but Ill go to the (campus) health center to get a shot, said Brian Leydet, an epidemiologist and infectious disease professor at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Ease of access is important.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

As Covid vaccine slots lie unused in CNY, the hard work begins to bring shots to people

Onondaga County logs highest number of Covid-19 cases in 2 months

Syracuse University makes Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for students, staff
COVID Outbreak at McCracken County Jail

By Tim Brockwell

PADUCAH - McCracken County Jailer David Knight says the jail is experiencing its second COVID-19 outbreak since the pandemic began.Knight told West Kentucky Star 21 inmates at the jail have tested positive for the virus as of Thursday afternoon. He said all of the infected inmates are women, and are in the same cell block."They've all been quarantined, and anybody who's been exposed to them is quarantined. Nobody will be going in or out of those cells until the 14 days is up." Knight said.Knight said all of the inmates who have tested positive are being monitored around the clock. He said so far none of the women have exhibited anything more than mild symptoms.This is the second outbreak of COVID-19 at the jail. In December about 47-49 people at the facility, including several employees, came down with the virus. Knight said this time infections have been limited to the inmate population.Knight commended his staff for limiting virus cases at the jail, citing the number of cases compared to the total inmate population since the start of the pandemic."We've booked in roughly 6000 people since this pandemic started, and for us to be at 69-70 over two different outbreaks, to me that's pretty impressive that we've kept it out that long," Knight said. "Once it gets in here, even keeping it contained within the building, I think my people are doing a great job. For us all to be under the same roof I think we're doing a pretty great job of keeping it under control."Knight said right now jail staff are collecting names of inmates who want to be vaccinated, and that process could start as early as next week."We're gathering a list of what inmates want [the vaccine] now. Of course, I can't make them take them, but we're offering them," Knight said, adding that about 200 of the jail's 480 current inmates have expressed interest in getting the shot.Knight credited the jail's rigorous testing, cleaning and quarantine policies for helping keep case numbers low at the facility."Before they ever come into the jail [the inmates] are screened for temperature and given a questionnaire. Once they come in they're quarantined for at least 14 days before they move to general population," Knight said. "They're given two masks, and our people are required to wear masks. We have tons of cleaning supplies, and clean continuously. We go through probably 55 gallons of COVID cleaner a week. We have tests on hand, and anyone who wants a test for any reason can get one any time."
Sectarian violence not seen in nearly a decade has broken out in Belfast, Northern Ireland, with gangs of young British unionists and Irish nationalists throwing rocks, fireworks, and petrol bombs at each other over a "peace fence" for a second night Thursday. Earlier Thursday, leaders of the five-party Northern Ireland unity government jointly called for calm, as did British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin, and U.S. President Biden.

Northern Ireland police used water cannons and riot gear to try and break up Thursday's riots, following a violent Wednesday night, when rival unionist and nationalist gangs briefly smashed open the peace wall dividing the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods, and the unionists hijacked a bus and set it aflame. Since the unrest started March 29, 74 police officers have been injured, including 19 hurt in Thursday night's melee. It isn't clear how many rioters have been injured, as they "often avoid hospitals for fear of arrest," Politico reports.

"Northern Ireland leaders unanimously condemned rising street violence," Politico's Shawn Pogatchnik reports from Belfast. "But even at critical moments of conflict, the two sides cannot agree on what people are rioting about." Irish nationalist say unionist politicians are inciting violence with their charged rhetoric around the post-Brexit Irish Sea border, or European Union custom checks on British goods coming into Northern Ireland. Unionists accuse the police of giving special treatment to the nationalists. The violence started when prosecutors decided last week against prosecuting 24 Sinn Fein leaders who broke COVID-19 protocols to attend an Irish Republican Army funeral in June.

"Locally, much blame is heaped on Johnson for choosing a 'hard' Brexit that left Northern Ireland in the EU single market," Pogatchnik explains. "That move shocked unionists who had backed Brexit on the assumption that the entire U.K. would leave together. Reflecting its disengagement to date, the British government announced Thursday it would seek to defuse tensions by dispatching its Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, to ... Northern Ireland."

There have long been concerns that Brexit would reignite decades of Catholic-Protestant bloodshed put to bed with the 1998 Good Friday agreement.

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The relatives of the captive Armenians in Azerbaijan on Friday morning blocked the Yerevan-Gyumri motorway at an intersection in Shirak Province of Armenia.

They demand from the authorities a clear answer as to why the aforesaid POWs did not return to Armenia Thursday night, about which was announced in advance.

They added that the motorways of Jajur and Ashotsk villages are closed off, too.

"We will stay here until they [the authorities] bring the children [back]," they said.

Another one added that the matter was about the 54 captives from Shirak Province and they should all be brought back.

These servicemen were captured by Azerbaijan in Khtsaberd village of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) on December 16, 2020.

It was reported Thursday that Armenian POWs were being brought from Azerbaijan on board a plane, but their number was not mentioned. Later it became clear that the said plane had arrived in Yerevan, but without any POWs. The office of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan had stated that the return of these captives was being postponed again because Azerbaijan was not fulfilling point 8 of the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement, which is a gross violation of the post-war humanitarian process.
China is a land of industrial science which is powering its rapid growth. The appetite for technology in the country is only growing and it shows with every new high-tech innovation.

The latest addition seems to fulfil Chinas two burgeoning loves: pets and technology. Enter AlphaDog, a robotic hound which uses sensors and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to hear and see its environment  and can even be taken for walks.

AFP

Its really very similar to a real dog, Ma Jie, chief technology officer at Weilan, the company behind the product, told AFP.



AlphaDog follows in the footsteps of Spot, a four-legged machine designed for industrial use by Boston Dynamics that became an internet sensation after appearing in a series of viral YouTube videos.



Their Chinese counterparts, behind the creation of AlphaDog, though, claim that their robot dog is targeted for the consumer market and say that it's fastest on the market  which moves at a speed of almost 15 kilometres (nine miles) per hour. In addition, it also spins on the spot like an excited puppy.

With four metal legs it is more stable than a real dog, Ma claims.

AFP

It can predict the friction and height of the ground (to) adjust its height, adjust the stride frequency, and adapt to the environment, he tells AFP, as the robot slowly navigates going up a set of stairs.



The creators are using 5G technology, super-fast internet speeds with immediate reaction times, to make the robot operate autonomously.

Dog ownership was banned under the leadership of communist Chinas founder Mao Zedong  but has since boomed dramatically.

And in the first month of sales, more than 1,800 AlphaDogs have been sold, despite the hefty price tag of 16,000 yuan ($2,400).




COLUMBUS, Ohio  Republicans in dozens of state legislatures across the country have introduced bills proposing controversial new restrictions on voting following former President Donald Trumps election loss.

But Ohio isnt one of them.

Republican lawmakers who control the state legislature here actually havent introduced a single bill proposing changes to elections rules, making Ohio one of only a handful of states to not yet tackle the issue.

That will change soon.

Republicans in the Ohio House and Senate have been coordinating as they discuss introducing separate elections bills, according to people involved with the talks.

Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati-area Republican and number-three ranking member of House leadership, declined to say what would be in the House version, in part because it remains a work in progress. He said something will be coming in the next week or so, and he expects it to garner support from the caucus.

Im not going to get into it, because theres 215 things in there. But Im going to tell you, theres something in there for everybody to either love or hate, he said.

Seitz said a major aim for the bill will be to codify Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRoses policies into law. Ohios election rules dictating how and when people can vote, especially as it applies to early voting, are a patchwork of laws, court orders and administrative policies.

One issue that could be addressed, Seitz said, is automated voter registration, a dialed-back version of automatic voter registration policies favored by voting-rights activists. LaRose has proposed allowing voters to automatically update their voter registration when they visit the BMV, resetting the clock on a process that can purge voters from the rolls for voting inactivity.

In an interview, LaRose said hes optimistic the Republican elections bill also will include proposals to allow people to request absentee ballots online, compared to the current rules, which require a paper form.

Im hopeful such a package will not move us in the wrong direction on the work Ohios done to make us a national leader in making sure elections are secure and accessible, LaRose said.

Ballot drop boxes likely to be limited

A likely target of the coming legislation is ballot drop boxes, a hotly contested issue during last years presidential election.

Although a few large counties have had them for years, the Ohio legislature last year formally regulated them for the first time, requiring counties to temporarily offer them for the primary election last year.

LaRose, a Republican, unilaterally extended the policy through the general election, requiring each county to offer them at their Board of Elections headquarters. But he fought lawsuits from Democrats and voting-rights groups to allow counties to set them up at more than one location, prompting criticism from national liberal pundits and even Cleveland Cavaliers player Larry Nance Jr., who grew up in Summit County.

Seitz has indicated during private talks that he plans for the House version to propose eliminating ballot drop boxes, except during declared emergencies. That would effectively ban them, given the historic nature of the coronavirus pandemic and Republican state lawmakers recent efforts to restrict the governor from issuing health orders.

The Senate version of the bill meanwhile could propose formally setting a limit of a single drop box per county.

Ohio House Democrats have introduced a bill that would mandate at least one drop box per county, and allow counties to set up more if they want to. Its this legislatives sessions only major voting proposal. The bill, House Bill 209, has no Republican sponsors and has yet to receive a committee hearing.

But another proposal thats been discussed is online absentee ballot applications, which would make voting significantly more accessible.

The current system requires Ohioans to print off a paper form or request one and submit it to their county board of elections. The process is informal enough that voters even could hand-write an application, as long as it contains the required information. Lawmakers have discussed making tougher rules for online absentee applications, requiring voters to provide additional personal information.

Lawmakers drafting the bills also have discussed eliminating early in-person voting on the Monday before Election Day and adding the hours to other days, moving the deadline earlier for requesting an absentee ballot application and requiring counties to record when voters sign petitions as voter activity for purposes of resetting the clock on the voter-roll purge process.

Seitz also said the bill will incorporate elements of House Bill 680, which cleared the House last June but died in the Senate, which would have prohibited the state from providing postage-paid envelopes with absentee ballot applications.

An earlier version of HB680 would have eliminated in-person early voting in the Saturday, Sunday and Monday prior to the election, but Republicans removed the provision following intense public criticism.

Aaron Ockerman, executive director of the Ohio Elections Officials Association, which represents county boards of elections, declined to talk about any specific proposals that lawmakers are discussing.

Generally speaking, Im pleased the legislature is taking a thoughtful approach and engaging stakeholders and getting feedback instead of just passing something based on what Pennsylvania or Arizonas doing that may not be applicable in Ohio, he said.

Jen Miller, leader of the Ohio League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan voter-rights group, said she plans to follow any elections bill closely.

We want to work with the Ohio General Assembly to solve problems that actually exist, she said. Voters need more drop boxes, more early-vote centers and a better system for requesting absentee ballots. Anything that reduces access is a nonstarter, she said.

Republicans pursue voting changes after November election, coronavirus pandemic

Voting security has been a hot-button issue for Republicans since Trump lost the November election. The former president falsely claimed victory on election night, while late-arriving absentee ballots were still being counted in key swing states.

In the weeks before leaving office, Trump continued his attacks on the election, claiming widespread fraud in the states he lost. Dozens of courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, rejected Trumps claims, as did Republican officials in Georgia, a key focus of Trumps ire, and top congressional Republicans like former Senate President Mitch McConnell and Trumps former attorney general, Bill Barr.

The Brennan Center for Justice, a left-leaning but nonpartisan advocacy organization, says 47 states now are considering laws restricting voting. (Another 47 states, a slightly different set, are considering bills expanding voting.) Democrats and voting-rights activists have accused Republicans of voter suppression, saying theyre changing the rules in response to false claims from Trump.

Trump hasnt criticized officials in Ohio, which has a permissive mail-in voting system similar to those in other key swing states, and which the former president won by 8 points.

But Trumps allies also have made conspiratorial claims about voting machines, including those made by Dominion, a company that provides supplies machines in Ohio. These false claims have prompted Republican Stark County commissioners, pushed by local pro-Trump activists, to attempt to block the county board of elections efforts to buy them. Stark County elections officials have sued the county in the Ohio Supreme Court.

LaRose said concerns that emerged following the election were a mix of conspiracy theories as well as some really legitimate concerns. Without directly criticizing Trump, LaRose has said he doesnt believe widespread fraud occurred, and has criticized what hes said is trend of politicizing elections administration by challenging the results of elections if people dont like who won.

I dont want to claim too much credit for this, but I think weve been very pro-active about communicating this and working with members of the legislature and getting to hear their concerns, while reminding them we shouldnt react to concerns of other states by modifying our state law when what other states should do is modify their states to look like Ohios, LaRose said.

But even before Trump claimed irregularities cost him the election, Republican lawmakers in Ohio were considering making changes to Ohios elections system.

The review began after Gov. Mike DeWine unilaterally postponed the March 2020 primary hours before polls were to have closed and after he lost an 11th-hour court case. The move happened in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, and DeWine said carrying out the election would have forced Ohioans to choose between their safety and their voting rights.

The move angered Republican legislators, who after approving rules for an all-mail April 28 primary, passed a law restricting DeWine and other governors from making future changes to elections.

Lawmakers planned to take up a more comprehensive elections bill, but like other issues, it went by the wayside after the FBI arrested then-House Speaker Larry Householder last July as part of a federal bribery probe.

Unlike some other states, Ohios elections are run on a local, bipartisan basis, with Republicans and Democrats splitting administration and oversight duties.

Ohio also has relatively liberal early-voting policies, including regular statewide absentee ballot application mailings to all registered voters and almost 30 days of early voting, including weekday and weekend in-person early voting.

The states voting system also features some restrictions meant to promote security, like voter ID requirements, although voters are allowed to show alternate forms of ID like a utility bill, and regular purges of voters after years of inactivity. Voting-rights activists have opposed these policies, saying they result in people being wrongly denied the right to vote.

As research has found nationally, voter fraud is rare in Ohio, repeated post-election audits have found. After the 2016 election, officials found 153 irregularities in Ohio identified during the 2016 election out of 5.6 million votes cast, according to former Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican who now is lieutenant governor.

LaRose has been making the rounds, touting Ohios election as other states consider imposing new restrictions. He testified before the Pennsylvania legislature last month, bragging about the states record voter turnout and low rejection rate for absentee ballot requests.

LaRose told cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer he thinks Ohios election processes, like Floridas, have been refined by the years of scrutiny and lawsuits.

And Ive been very clear for those who have asked in the legislature -- they shouldnt overreact to concerns they have in other states, and they shouldnt mess up what we have in Ohio, he said.
ROME, APR 9 - Italy has topped 12 million COVID-19 vaccine shots, according to the government's website. As of eight o'clock Thursday night the total was 12,012,470. Some 3,694,019 had had both doses and 8,318,451 the first dose. Some 77.2% of the 15,568,730 doses distributed to the regions had been administered. (ANSA).
Prayers sought for evangelist Voddie Baucham as he recovers from a quadruple bypass surgery on Monday.

Sharing a quick update on Baucham's surgery is Thomas Ascol who's also the senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church at Cape Coral. He posted the following on Twitter:

"Quick Update on @VoddieBaucham. He came through quad bypass surgery well late last night; had a good night; has been awake & responsive. Next 24-36 hours are crucial. Thank you for praying. He has a long road of recovery ahead. Praise God for His mercies on display!"

Soon after Ascol posted the tweet, thoughts and prayers poured in the comment section.

Baucham's recent quadruple bypass surgery was a "complicated procedure with a very low mortality rate (2%-3%)," explains one report. This second surgery was an immediate decision when doctors found a new complication during Baucham's final test. He was supposed to be discharged from the hospital last week, said Ascol in an earlier tweet.

Health Crisis

Dr. Baucham, the cherished preacher and dean of theology at African Christian University in Zambia announced in February that he was diagnosed with heart failure and that he will undergo treatment, reports CBN News.

Baucham explained that he started feeling unwell while wrapping up all his December preaching engagements in Zambia. He first thought that it was probably due to fatigue but soon learned that his condition is far more serious.

He then solicited prayers from friends and fellow believers for whom he specified his prayer requests: "God's providential healing," for his "terrified" children, and "for (his) dear wife as she walks through yet another valley - this time with her 'rock' leaning on her," quoted CBN in an initial report.

"Please pray for the doctors who will treat me," he wrote on a Facebook post."Please pray for finances to come through as we are currently uninsured and will have to cover everything out-of-pocket."

Following his successful surgery on February 25, Baucham said in a video update that things went "better than expected" and that he was "expected to make a full recovery."

On a March 24 update, the preacher assured fellow believers that he's "getting stronger every day" and that he's "prepared for the possibility that there's more ahead."

"I appreciate your prayers, your support and I look forward to the day I can give you an update that says this is all behind me. In the meantime, please keep praying for us," requested Baucham.

To help lessen the financial burden of his medical expenses, a GoFundMe account was created for Baucham. More than one million dollars was raised for the Christian preacher.

Baucham and his family covet the prayers of fellow Christians as they get through the ordeal of another medical surgery.

Readers are also urged to check out his new book, "Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe." In it, Baucham exposes how the obsession over the contemporary social justice movement dulls Christians' perception of Biblical justice -Much as they have good intentions in joining the movement, Christians are unwittingly bordering on the humanistic ideologies powering it.
In February 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic triggered the closure of textile and clothing factories in China as the country looked to curb the spread of the outbreak. This had a knock-on effect at apparel suppliers around the world, with material delays and shortages disrupting production. One year on, an increase in total apparel shipment volumes to the US comes as no surprise, with China and Pakistan booking the largest increases.

The latest figures from the Department of Commerces Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) show the volume of US apparel imports from all sources was down 3% month-on-month in February to 2,070 million square metres (MM2), dropping from 2,135 MM2 in January.

While the figures for February are up compared with the same month last year  rising 3.19% from 2,006 MM2  such comparisons are difficult because of the pandemic, with last February marking the post-holiday season lull in imports. This year, in contrast, retailers are importing merchandise faster than ever in a bid to capitalise on higher consumer spending and to try to work around ongoing congestion at US ports.

Three of the ten largest suppliers of apparel to the US saw shipment volume growth during the month, including super-suppliers China and Bangladesh.

China, the largest supplier of apparel to the US, booked a 23.99% year-over-year increase in exports during the month at 718 MM2, just behind Pakistan whose shipments rose 25.03% year-over-year. But in terms of scale, Pakistan remains one of smaller suppliers, shipping just 62 MM2 compared to 50 MM2 for the same period last year.



Vietnam, the second-largest apparel supplier, saw shipment volumes slide 0.47% to 333 MM2. Bangladesh, in third place, saw its volumes grow 2.29% to 194 MM2 on a year-over-year basis.

Indonesia booked the biggest decline in shipment volumes at 20.9% to 75 MM2 year-over-year, followed by Honduras with a 17.14% fall to 67 MM2. Indias apparel volumes declined 14.76% to 95 MM2, while those from El Salvador dropped by 14.42% to 48 MM2.

Mexicos shipment volumes fell 2.66% year-over-year to 63 MM2 and Cambodias fell 0.01% at 95 MM2.

Combined textile and apparel imports from all sources, meanwhile, climbed 21.47% year-on-year to 5,807 MM2, but dropped 2.3% in value terms to $7.62bn. Textiles from all sources jumped 34.7% in volume terms to 3,738 MM2 and were up 18% in value terms to $2.23bn.

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Facts behind the figures.

China was the first country hit by Covid-19, and factory closures commenced early last year factory as the country attempted to curb the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. This caused a knock-on effect, with suppliers around the world  including those in India, Vietnam and Cambodia  having to close due to raw material shortages.

Makers in Central America also saw delays of up to a month in essential Chinese fabric supplies as a result of the outbreak.

So its no real surprise that apparel shipment volumes to the US this February were higher than the same month last year.

China continues to remain the leading source for apparel supply. As well as one of the worlds most complete textile and apparel supply chains, it also has a skilled worker base and has been able to maintain low prices. According to data analysis by just-style, Chinas per-unit cost for clothing fell 20% in 2020 to a ten-year low.

Pakistan, which saw the largest year-on-year rise in shipment volumes to the US in February, came in as the second cheapest supplier of clothing in 2020. But its price was still 21% higher than China on a per-unit basis.

Even so, while the country continues to gain ground, its shipment volumes pale in comparison to the top three suppliers  China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

For an in-depth look at how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted these three countries, click on the following link: Sourcings new order  Covids impact on worlds top three apparel exporters
Police in Cincinnati said they are probing multiple reports of five loose monkeys on the west side of the city, but have not yet confirmed their presence.

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Residents said they spotted five monkeys swinging from trees in St. Joseph's Cemetery in the East Prince Hill area Wednesday night, and one witness captured video that appears to show animals in the trees, but police said the footage is not clear enough to confirm that the animals were monkeys.

Cincinnati police responded to the cemetery Wednesday night, but did not encounter any monkeys, officials said.

The Cincinnati Zoo said all of its monkeys are accounted for, but the facility would assist police in searching for the primates if their presence in the city is confirmed.

"There's not much we can do until we have a confirmed sighting by Cincinnati police," David Orban, the zoo's director for animal science and strategy, told WXIX-TV.

Police said that if there monkeys are loose, they likely escaped from a private collection, but no one has contacted police to report their exotic primates missing.

Police officials said anyone who spots monkeys in Cincinnati should keep a safe distance from the animals and contact the department.
As a Member of Congress, I had the privilege of knowing several recipients of the Medal of Honor. In fact, I was honored to be a speaker at the funeral of the extraordinary Desmond Doss.



My relationship with Charles Coolidge was very different for all the right reasons......



Yes, when he finally left this earth Tuesday with a direct ticket to his Savior the Lord Jesus, Chattanooga lost its most prominent citizen.



And as the oldest Medal of Honor recipient, our still great nation lost one of its true-to-life heroes.

But I got to know Charles Coolidge in a much more personal way. When he was not able to attend his beloved First Presbyterian church, he would often attend Red Bank Baptist church on Dayton Boulevard.



His son Bill sings in the choir at Red Bank and would often roll his father's wheel chair up the aisle and park his dad right next to me as I sat in the aisle near the back of the church with my family most every Sunday while I had the privilege to represent the Third District.



In those many conversations before and after church, I got to know one of the most humble, caring, gentle, decent and respectful human beings that I ever knew.



No doubt he was an extraordinary American hero. But Charlie Coolidge was just a really good man.

What a life! What a person! We are all better because he lived and worked among us. May he never be forgotten and always appreciated.



Zach Wamp-

Member of US Congress 1995-2011
Tank Noodle restaurant in Chicago has to return a $150,000 state grant after officials say owners lied on the application about breaking the law.

The restaurant, which was the subject of a U.S. Department of Labor investigation announced last month, must pay back the Business Interruption Grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, according to a department spokesperson.

After a review of Tank Noodles grant, DCEO has found them in violation and has requested the return of the award, the department said in a statement. DCEO is actively working with the business owner to develop a payment plan to recover these funds.

The BIG program, the largest of its kind in the country, was developed to help small businesses hit hardest by COVID-19. The average grant award was $30,000. Business owners were meant to use the money for essential expenses, such as payroll.

According to the state, all businesses were required to certify they were in compliance with local and federal laws at the time of application. Grantees also were asked to certify their business had no lawsuits, claims, suits, proceedings or investigations pending to their knowledge, and also that they are not subject to any criminal investigations or charges.

The news comes following a federal investigation into owed wages to 60 employees spanning a two-year period. In March, the U.S. Department of Labor revealed that Tank Noodles owners had agreed to pay nearly $700,000 in back wages to the workers.

The department notified owners about the investigation in October, one month after it applied for the grant, officials said. The BIG recipients were chosen in November.

In January, the owners of the Vietnamese restaurant in the Uptown neighborhood posted photos on social media while on a flight to Washington, D.C., and attending the Save America Rally. Following thousands of critical comments and national news coverage, they posted again days later to say that none of their friends or family participated in the storming of the United States Capitol building.

Story continues

Tank Noodle recently posted a help wanted notice on its Facebook page April 1, seeking servers and offering $8.40 per hour. The hourly offer is the minimum wage for tipped workers required for Chicago employers with at least 21 workers.

The restaurant owners could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.

What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. Sign up for our Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.
A fast developing line of thunderstorms is expected this afternoon and evening, mostly across the eastern half of Lower Michigan. This line of storms could bring very spotty high winds gusts.

This is not expected to be a widespread, massive severe weather outbreak. The storms could have relatively small, several mile long strips of brief 60 mph wind gusts. The second strength of these gusts is they can come up in just one minute and produce a lot of force quickly.

This isnt a major worry to most of you, unless you have a building project in progress and is exposed to the wind.

Heres the severe thunderstorm outlook from the Storm Prediction Center.

Brown shaded area over eastern Michigan has a five percent chance of a severe thunderstorm.

The expectation is a broken line of thunderstorms will develop over western Lower Michigan in mid-afternoon, and gain some strength as it heads into eastern Lower Michigan.

Heres the radar forecast to give you a sense of timing and the potency of the storms.

Radar forecast from noon today to 10:00 p.m. today, Friday, April 9, 2021

Between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. the initial thunderstorms are expected to develop around Muskegon, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Lansing. The thunderstorms will then move east into the Thumb, Detroit area and Ann Arbor area between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.

At the moment the most potent thunderstorms are expected in the eastern Thumb.

If you get a severe wind gust, it will only last a few minutes. If you do have a project that is out in the wind and you can protect it, do your protection before mid-afternoon.
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WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden released a $1.5 trillion wish list for his first federal budget Friday, asking for substantial gains for Democratic priorities including education, health care, housing and environmental protection.

The request by the White House budget office for an 8.4% increase in agency operating budgets spells out Bidens top priorities as Congress weighs its spending plans for next year. Its the first financial outline of the Democrats broader ambitions since the expiration of a 2011 law that capped congressional spending.

Im hoping itll have some bipartisan support across the board, Biden said before an Oval Office meeting with his economics team, though prominent Senate Republicans immediately complained the plan would shortchange the military and national security in boosting domestic programs.

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Bipartisanship in 2011 also restricted Democrats ambitions, a problem theyre now trying to address. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration was inheriting a legacy of chronic underinvestment because of the caps.

The president is focused on reversing this trend and reinvesting in the foundations of our strength, she told reporters at a briefing.

At stake is discretionary spending, roughly one-third of the huge federal budget that is passed by Congress each year, funding the military, domestic Cabinet department operations, foreign policy and homeland security. The rest of the budget involves so-called mandatory programs with locked-in spending, chiefly Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

The Biden request provides a significantly smaller 1.6% increase for the $700 billion-plus Pentagon budget than for domestic accounts. Homeland security accounts would basically be frozen, reflecting opposition among Democratic progressives to immigration security forces.

Senate Republicans were quick to criticize the modest proposed increase for defense, with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Oklahomas Jim Inhofe, Floridas Marco Rubio, South Carolinas Lindsey Graham and Alabamas Richard Shelby releasing a joint statement.

Talk is cheap, but defending our country is not, they said. We cant afford to fail in our constitutional responsibility to provide for the common defense. To keep America strong, we must balance domestic and defense spending priorities.

The appropriations process was one of the few consistent success stories of former President Donald Trumps tumultuous four-year tenure in office, but this years budget cycle is not governed by the formal spending caps of a broader outline. The lapse of those caps opens the door to more domestic spending favored by Biden and Democrats but invites a battle with Republicans over military accounts.

The Biden administration believes the caps, imposed by a long-abandoned 2011 budget deal, caused a decade of severe underinvestment in public services that the president is now trying to turn around with large increases that would mostly bypass national security programs.

The administration says the request would bring spending in line with historical averages. It seeks $769 billion in non-defense discretionary funding, about equal to the 30-year average relative to the overall U.S. economy.

Biden wants to increase the Education Departments budget by a massive 40.8% to $102.8 billion, which includes an additional $20 billion in grants for high-poverty schools.

The Department of Health and Human Services would get a 23.1% boost to $133.7 billion. There would be additional funds to combat opioid addiction and for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose mission took on new urgency during the coronavirus pandemic. The administration is also asking for $6.5 billion to establish a biomedical research agency to address cancer, diabetes, Alzheimers and other diseases.

Biden is seeking a $14 billion increase across government agencies to address climate change. Its part of a whole-of-government approach to the climate crisis that includes billions to boost environmental justice for communities near refineries, power plants and other hazardous sites.

Housing and Urban Development would get a 15.1% increase to $68.7 billion, primarily to provide housing vouchers for an additional 200,000 families. The administration also seeks more money for civil rights enforcement and addressing gun violence as a public health epidemic.

Passing the presidents plan as written through Congress is typically a long shot. Recent history and guaranteed conflicts with Republicans are likely to force lawmakers to put discretionary accounts on autopilot for months after the Sept. 30 expiration of the budget year.

The plan also details how the Biden administration will try to deal with the influx of arrivals at the U.S. southern border. It includes $861 million to invest in Central America to address the forces driving people to migrate to the United States. An additional $345 million would go to immigration services to resolve delays in years-long naturalization and asylum cases. The budget for the Executive Office of Immigration Review would jump 21% to $891 million in order to hire 100 new immigration judges and support teams to reduce the existing backlogs.

The president seeks modest increases for national security. Defense  the largest department in the discretionary plan  would get a 1.6% increase to $715 billion. Homeland Security would edge up 0.2% to $52 billion.

But the administration views diplomacy as a way to engage with the wider world. Its pursuing a 12% increase in funding for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, taking their spending to $63.5 billion.

Fridays request does not include plans for tax revenues or mandatory federal spending. Nor does it include the planned spending in Bidens infrastructure plan. A fuller budget proposal will be released later this spring.
Image: Canva

Earlier this month, Christianity Today published an article from A. J. Swoboda and Nijay Gupta entitled,  Jesus Was the God-Man, Not the God-Superman . (Note: Swoboda has a new book on doubt .) The article was widely debated and received significant pushback. As I read the twitter responses, some measured and some not, I thought it would be helpful to invite a charitable response that looked at the scriptural texts involved. So, Ive invited Brandon Smith from Cedarville and Madison Pierce from TEDS to respond to that article.

The paradox of the Incarnation is not the stuff of legend, but it is the stuff of many theological debates. The mystery of the Incarnation always has been a source of wrestling. We ask, Jesus by all accounts is divine, and yet he takes on human frailty. How can that be, and what does it mean?

In a recent article, A. J. Swodoba and Nijay K. Gupta argue that one (consistent) aspect of Jesuss human experience was doubt. We are grateful for Ed Stetzers invitation to respond, and we want to honor Drs. Swobodas and Guptas concern for those who doubt. We deeply appreciate their pastoral posture.

We feel, however, that our brothers have come to the wrong conclusion(s) on these tough questions about Jesuss humanity. Rather than cast aspersions or quibble with definitions, we hope to offer below an alternate perspective on some of the passages Drs. Swodoba and Gupta cited. First, however, we want to acknowledge a basic Christological foundation that might help us along the way.

(Note: space limits our response here, so we recommend listening to our longer conversation about Jesuss humanity on a recent episode of the Church Grammar podcast, recorded before their article released.)

A Word about the Incarnation

The eternal Son of Godthat personput on flesh and dwelt among us (e.g., Matt. 1; John 1:14; Phil. 2:611). This has led theologians for centuries to talk about his impeccabilitythe idea that, because he is fully God, he is incapable of sinning. Since this is a basic affirmation of the unchanging perfection and holiness of God, this must always be true of the Son, even in the Incarnation. To be less than God is to not be God at all. So his divinity must inform whatever we say about his humanityincluding temptation and doubt.

The Chalcedonian Creed aptly summarizes the biblical witness by saying, one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation. Put simply, he didnt become a little less than God; he didnt become a superhuman half-breed. Notruly God, truly man. Two natures, one person.

Biblical Passages

Certain texts seem to press against this basic biblical-theological-historical foundation. In what follows, we would like to offer an alternative reading of these texts in the spirit of charitable dialogue.

Human in Every Way (Heb. 4:15; 2:17-18; 5:1-10)

Though often lauded for its presentation of the exalted Christ, Hebrews offers some classic texts on the Incarnation. Jesus shares in the humanity of his siblings (2:14). Christs human experience goes beyond physical solidarityhis sharing blood and flesh (2:14)to his emotional solidarity. He was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin, and as a result, he can empathize (4:15). Yet Hebrews offers no clarity on what this experience looks like. Is this a comment on his full experience of humanitybirth to death? Or is Hebrews saying that Jesus had every experience that every person has had?

No. Jesus was finite and socially-constrained in his humanity. That doesnt diminish the fact that Jesus is God with us in our suffering, but we cannot assume that taking on flesh requires the assumption of every aspect of humanitys fallen heart, mind, or will.

Jesuss Temptation in the Wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11)

Here Jesus shows the first clear stages of his intentional recapitulation of the human story by reliving and redeeming Adam and Eves temptation and Israels wilderness temptations. After his baptism, he is led (even driven) by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted, showing the intentionality with which he prepares for and even seeks out this encounter.

In fact, as Satan peppers him with diversions, Jesuss resolve appears to completely outmatch Satan. This man is not like those doubting humans hes knownhe is the God-man, the very Son of God. In fact, his demons acknowledge and tremble at his power and authority over them in several places (cf. Matt. 8:29; cf. Mark 1:24, 5:7). Satans queryif you are the Son of Godhas no effect on Jesus, especially on the heels of the Fathers affirmation of his sonship at his baptism.

The Prayer at Gethsemane (Mark 14:36; Matt. 26:39; Luke 22:43)

After his last meal with his disciples, including the one who betrays him, Jesus doesnt pick up a little sword; he goes out to pray. There we overhear him say, Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will (Mark 14:36). Is this doubt? Does he think that God is unable to raise him or even that he will not? No. Jesus is not asking to avoid the Cross; he is asking the Father to remove the cup of wrath from him once he drinks.

Perhaps merely asking the question implies doubt, but throughout his life, Jesus expresses certainty about the resurrection (Matt. 12:3940, 16:21; John 2:2022, 11:2526), and even says that he has the authority to lay [his life] down and authority to take it up (10:18). Soon after this prayer, he tells the crowd that his betrayal must come to pass, since it would fulfill the Scriptures (Matt. 26:5556). He prays something that he expectsjust as we pray for God to be present with us or to forgive us our sinsbut in speaking this prayer, he models submission to the will of the Father in his humanity.

The Cry of Dereliction (Mark 15:33; Matt. 27:46)

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? These words quoted from Psalm 22:1 are jarring. Did Jesus believe that his Father really abandoned him, even for a moment? Moreover, could God ever abandon God?

In Psalm 22, the psalmist cries out to God in anguish. But the story doesnt end there. Later he says, He did not hide his face from [the afflicted] but listened when he cried to him for help (22:24). Jesusand Mark and Matthewsurely knew the entire context of this Psalm. Jesus identifies with the afflicted servant who cries out and knows he will be heard. His cry is not a last-ditch hope of a doubting sufferer, but rather a cry driven by faitheven assurednessthat he would be answered. He knew his Fathers ear was turned toward him, as it always has been. Faced with the sure substitution for the sins of the world, Jesus experienced true pain and anguish, but the text and context give us no reason to assume his cry was one of doubt.

Conclusion

Defining doubt would demand more space than we have here. But we think it is helpful to say that, generally, Jesuss life and ministry was not marked by doubt. Instead, it was marked by perfect obedience and steady confidence in his identity and vocation. As we have sought to demonstrate, emphasizing these things is more faithful to the tough texts above. Doubt is not proper to humanity, and certainly not necessary in Gods mission to redeem humanity. The doubt brought about by Satan's temptation of our first parents blossomed into sin and death, but Christs full faithfulness secured our redemption. Our comfort in times of doubt rests on this truth.

We affirm Jesuss full humanity, as well as the weaknesses and frailty that came with it. But we must remember: he is true God and true man. What does it mean to be God? To be sinless, to be fully faithful and authoritative, to radiate with unapproachable glory. What does it mean to be truly human as God created and intended? To be sinless, to be fully obedient, to glorify God unfailingly and without hesitation. God himself came to us because no other human in history could remain sinless. The God-man Jesus Christ is the walking, talking imago Dei, and we are transformed into his image (2 Cor. 3:18).
[April 09, 2021] Essent Group Ltd. Schedules First Quarter Earnings Conference Call For May 7, 2021

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) today announced that it will hold a conference call on Friday, May 7, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the Company's first quarter 2021 results, which will be announced prior to the market open on the same day. The conference call will be broadcast live over the Internet at http://ir.essentgroup.com/events-and-presentations/events/default.aspx. The call may also be accessed by dialing 833-287-0797 inside the U.S., or 647-689-4456 for international callers, using passcode 4881985 or by referencing Essent. A replay of the webcast will be available on the Essent website approximately two hours after the live broadcast ends for a period of one year. A replay of the conference call will be available approximately two hours after the call ends for a period of two weeks, using the following dial-in numbers and passcode: 800-585-8367 inside the U.S., or 416-621-4642 for international callers, passcode 4881985. In addition to the information provided in te Company's earnings news release, other statistical and financial information, which may be referred to during the conference call, will be available on Essent's website at http://ir.essentgroup.com/financials/quarterly-results/default.aspx.



About the Company Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company (collectively with its subsidiaries, "Essent") which, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, Inc., offers private mortgage insurance for single-family mortgage loans in the United States. Essent provides private capital to mitigate mortgage credit risk, allowing lenders to make additional mortgage financing available to prospective homeowners. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Essent Guaranty, Inc. is licensed to write mortgage insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and is approved by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Essent also offers mortgage-related insurance, reinsurance and advisory services through its Bermuda-based subsidiary, Essent Reinsurance Ltd. Essent is committed to supporting environmental, social and governance ("ESG") initiatives that are relevant to the company and align with the companywide dedication to responsible corporate citizenship that positively impacts the community and people served. Additional information regarding Essent may be found at www.essentgroup.com and www.essent.us.

Source (News - Alert) : Essent Group Ltd. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210409005041/en/

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The Bachelor star Ben Higgins is in mourning, after losing his beloved grandfather last week at 95 years of age.

The 32-year-old Indiana native, who appeared on Season 20 of The Bachelor in 2016, shared a number of photos and videos of himself with his WWII veteran grandpa.

He also shared a heartfelt post about what his grandfather meant to him throughout his life.

Mourning: The Bachelor star Ben Higgins is in mourning, after losing his beloved grandfather last week at 95 years of age

'Over the last few days I have been processing the loss of my grandpa. He was 95 years old when he passed last week,' Higgins began.

'If he knew it or not I looked up to my grandpa in all that he did. His approval and attention always mattered to me,' he added.

Higgins, who now hosts the Almost Famous podcast with Ashley Iaconetti, added he, 'admired him and watched carefully his every move. He was a larger than life personality to all of us and he seemed to have an influence on everyone around him.'

Processing: 'Over the last few days I have been processing the loss of my grandpa. He was 95 years old when he passed last week,' Higgins began

The reality star added his grandfather, 'made people laugh, he told stories better than anyone I have ever met, and he had an appreciation for life that lasted him until his last days.'

'My grandpa Higgins who was a WWII veteran is someone who will forever be a type of super hero in my mind,' he added.

Higgins also shared a few photos and videos of him and his grandfather, adding the videos were the 'last time in person with him.

Storyteller: The reality star added his grandfather, 'made people laugh, he told stories better than anyone I have ever met, and he had an appreciation for life that lasted him until his last days'

'He drove me around in his new gator and I would want to remember him in no other way. Until his last breath he was moving fast, taking risks, and making us all laugh along the way,' Higgins said.

'With a tear in my eye but a peace in my heart I say rest in love grandpa and may your legacy forever go on within the Rocking H,' he added.

'One day soon I hope to go back to Buffalo, Wyoming and thank you for the memories created,' the author said.

Grandpa's Gator: 'He drove me around in his new gator and I would want to remember him in no other way. Until his last breath he was moving fast, taking risks, and making us all laugh along the way,' Higgins said

He added that, 'You wont see me get married but I promise you believe it or not it will happen and I am a very lucky guy,' referencing his engagement to Jessica Clarke.

'From helping me harvest my first deer to teaching me how to build a fence I love you gramps and remember to always keep your powder dry,' Higgins concluded.

Higgins wrote a memoir entitled Alone in Plain Sight: Searching for Connection When You're Seen but Not Know which was published in February.

Author: Higgins wrote a memoir entitled Alone in Plain Sight: Searching for Connection When You're Seen but Not Know which was published in February
Completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction will significantly weaken Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Reznikov claimed in an article published in The Wall Street Journal Thursday.

According to him, the successful completion of the project "will have entirely predictable consequences for" Ukraines "national security." "Ukraine will be irreparably weakened as soon as Russia has a new direct gas link to Germany," Reznikov believes.

The deputy prime minister notes that Ukraine will be decoupled from Western Europe from the energy security point of view after Nord Stream 2 is launched. According to him, in this case Moscow will not have to keep in mind that "a large percentage of Russias gas reaches Europe through Ukraine." "If Nord Stream 2 is built, this consideration will be null and void," he added.

Reznikov argues that Germany has no commercial need for another gas pipeline, noting that Berlin would win little while Kiev can lose billions of dollars worth of transit. At the same time, the official assures that Ukraine in this case comes from security concerns rather than financial motivation.
Sanaa, April 9 : Yemeni government forces claimed to have killed and injured dozens of Houthi rebels following an offensive launched in the country's oil-rich province of Marib.

"The national army forces managed to defeat the terrorist Houthi militia after launching a well-planned military attack and shelling on several rebel-held locations in Marib," Xinhua news agency quoted the Defence Ministry as saying in a statement on Thursday.

The government forces raided Houthi trenches in western Marib, killing and wounding dozens of Houthi fighters as well as destroying their weapons, it added.

Meanwhile, warplanes of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition carried out a number of airstrikes against Houthi gatherings in separate locations in the west of Marib, causing casualties, according to the statement.

Escalation of fighting between the Yemeni government and the Houthi militia has so far displaced thousands of families from western Marib.

Hundreds were either killed or injured from both sides in the non-stop armed confrontations in Marib amid heavy airstrikes carried out by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition.

According to the UN, the violence has forced up to 15,000 people to flee their homes in Marib.

Roughly 60 per cent of the displaced are reportedly camping in informal settlements and crowded sites with services overstretched, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said last month.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni military conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi's government.

Across Yemen, 20.7 million people need humanitarian assistance, many of them at the brink of starvation.
An Alabama lawmaker who served with John Merrill in the House of Representatives said there should be an investigation into whether the secretary of state misused state property in carrying out an extramarital affair.

Merrill admitted to the affair Wednesday after the woman involved gave AL.com a recording of a phone call that refuted Merrills earlier denials.

Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, said the situation raises concerns that could be similar to what happened with former Gov. Robert Bentley, who resigned in 2017 after the House started impeachment proceedings and the Alabama Ethics Commission found probable cause against the governor. An impeachment investigation produced a report that accused Bentley of using state law enforcement to hide evidence of an extramarital affair with his top adviser.

I do feel that with regards to anything dealing with state funds, state vehicles, state property, I think that there should be a hard look on any matters that will address whether or not the secretary of state was in violation of any state laws, Givan said.

During an interview with an Al.com reporter Wednesday night Merrill was asked about whether he misused state property. Merrill said at that point he would have no further comment on the situation. Merrill has not returned a call about Givans comments today.

Merrill at first denied having an affair Cesaire McPherson in an interview with AL.com on Wednesday morning. But McPherson gave AL.com a 17-minute recording of an October 2020 conversation that led to Merrills admission of an inappropriate relationship. Merrill said he had no excuse for the affair that McPherson said lasted three years. Merrill, who has served as secretary of state since 2014, announced Wednesday he would not run for the U.S. Senate or any other public office in 2022 because of the scandal.

I hope someone can use me as an example of how they have the opportunity to accomplish things, but because of poor choices and poor decisions in things, it can result in a negative impact for a lot of people that you did not intend to impact, Merrill said. Thats because I exercised poor choices and poor discipline. Maybe some good can come out of this for somebody else.

Wednesday night, Merrill denied McPhersons accusation that he referred to Black people as the Coloreds.

I never referred to African Americans and Black folks as coloreds, he said. I dont do that. Ive never done that.

Givan said the allegation was serious.

He has had an excellent relationship with the African American, Black community in the state of Alabama, Givan said. Black folks have stood by John Merrill far beyond anyones imagination. And for us to receive information that he may have made those comments, Im very disappointed.

Givan spoke to reporters in the press room on the House floor while representatives met today. There was little or no open talk about Merrills situation among lawmakers. But Givan said that could change. She was asked if she thinks there will be a move to impeach Merrill.

Im sure there will be a hard discussion, and Im sure there will eventually be a hard discussion in the Alabama Republican Party, she said.

House Speaker Mac McCutcheon declined to comment on Merrills situation or speculate whether it could lead to another impeachment case like four years ago.

Its just a sad situation, McCutcheon said. I hate hes going through that with him and his family.

Givan said her purpose was not to sit in judgment on Merrills personal behavior but noted that he holds one of the most important elected offices in the state. The Secretary of State is Alabamas top election official, among other responsibilities.

I think it would just be in Johns best interest, if he truly loves the state of Alabama, that he would step down, Givan said.

Every year I get a Christmas card from John Merrill and it has his family on it. And it breaks my heart.  We all have fallen short, Givan said. Im not here to judge him in that regard. But in this instance, he is a public official. Had that been me, I would have been asked to step down yesterday.

Wade Perry, executive director of the Alabama Democratic Party, said Wednesday that Merrill should resign if the allegation about the racist language was true.

Merrill said Wednesday night he would have no further comment on the situation.
An inner-city Instagram star accused of a litany of drug offences was granted permission by a court to move to one of Australia's most stunning oceanside hamlets.

Matt Bodley, 33, was charged with five drug offences on February 19 in Sydneys Woolloomooloo after allegedly being linked to array of narcotics.

Police allege the fitness model who has now deleted his public social media profiles was supplying party drugs ice, MDMA and GBL and was found in possession of cocaine and alprazolam.

Matt Bodley, 33, was charged with five drug offences on February 19 in Sydneys Woolloomooloo after allegedly being linked to array of narcotics

Matt Bodley is pictured (middle back) with at a gathering with actor Hugh Sheridan

The inner-city Instagram star accused of a litany of drug offences was granted permission by a court to move to one of Australia's most stunning oceanside hamlets Callala Bay on the NSW South Coast

At the time he was charged, Bodley lived at an address in Potts Point, the Daily Telegraph reported.

But he has now been given the all clear by the Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday to change his bail conditions, allowing him to relocate to a unit in Callala Bay on the picturesque south coast of New South Wales.

As part of the arrangement Bodley must report to Nowra police station three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday.

His lawyer had tried to free up his weekend by suggesting he could switch his Sunday check-in to Friday.

He told the court that poor public transport made it difficult for his client to travel to Nowra on Sunday.

The court rejected his request.

Bodley is yet to enter a plea and will appear in Downing Centre Local Court later this month.
RTHK: Iran releases seized South Korean tanker, captain

Iran released on Friday a South Korean ship and its captain detained since January after South Korea promised to try to secure the release of Iranian funds frozen in South Korean banks under US sanctions, a South Korean official said.

Iranian authorities seized the chemical tanker in the Strait of Hormuz off Oman. They accused it of polluting the waters with chemicals.

The issue triggered a diplomatic dispute after Iran demanded that South Korea release US$7 billion in funds frozen in South Korean banks under US sanctions.

Iran agreed to free all of the ship's 20 crew members except for the captain in February, after a South Korean vice foreign minister visited Tehran.

A South Korean foreign ministry official told reporters that both sides had agreed the ship and the funds were not related issues and South Korea promised to help get the money released.

"We have expressed our firm willingness to resolve the fund issue," said the official, who declined to be identified.

The South Korean ministry said in a statement the ship had left Iran after completing administrative procedures. It made no mention of the demand for the release of funds.

"The captain and sailors are in good health," the ministry said.

South Korea said the vessel did not cause any pollution. The ministry official said Iran dropped a plan to pursue seek criminal charges against the shipping company.

Iran has denied allegations that the seizure of the tanker and its crew constituted hostage-taking, saying it was South Korea that was holding Iranian funds hostage.

The freezing of the funds is linked to US sanctions that Washington reimposed on Tehran in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Under the Joe Biden administration, the United States and Iran have begun indirect talks over a return to the accord.

The United States has recently agreed to allow Iran to use the funds for non-military purposes and it has spent some on coronavirus vaccines secured via the global Covax initiative, the ministry official said, without giving a precise amount. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
John Fonte has written an excellent article called End Nationalism, End America. For many on the left, thats the point. They may dislike nationalism, but what they really cant stand is America. Their target isnt the nation state; its our nation state. Thats why they want to cede as much of our sovereignty as they can get away with to international bodies.

Fonte writes:

If progressive liberal esteem for the democratic nation-state is low, the mainstream Lefts depiction of the American nations particular culture, people, institutions, and mores is even more negative. . . . For more than 50 years, Americans have been educated by liberals who have told them that they are too racist, sexist, xenophobic, individualistic; too attached to their guns, religion, violence, and a glorified version of their history. Last year, progressivisms discontent with American society exploded. The steady promotion of multiculturalism, diversity, inclusion, and intersectionality has now morphed into a militant denunciation of the entire American project as systemically racist, calling for revolutionary anti-racist action. The flagship of American liberalism is the New York Times. Its 1619 Project is the spearhead of an anti-racist ideology which seeks to reshape the American regime. Leading educational institutions, from Princeton University to the American Association of School Administrators, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Council of Teachers of English, and myriad others, have joined the anti-racist crusade.

(Emphasis added)

Left-liberals dont just dislike American culture, people, institutions, and mores. They dislike our Constitution. Fonte points to a survey finding that 79 percent of Americans who describe themselves as very liberal (which comprised 40 percent of all liberals) and 70 percent of the just plain liberals favored replacing our Constitution.

Ceding sovereignty to international bodies is a way to negate the Constitution.

Fonte notes that political thinkers from Plato and Aristotle to Montesquieu and the American Founders have explained that an emotional attachment to ones political community is necessary for its survival. But that presents no problem to those on the left who dont want our political community to survive.

And thats the sentiment of a great many American leftists. We can infer this from the same survey mentioned above. It found that 41 percent of very liberals and 33 percent of plain liberals would like to see our country renamed.

Ditch our nations Constitution and its name, and in a very real sense, you have ended America.

The internationalism of left-liberals is therefore a means to an end  the end of America. Fonte concludes:

Since leftists see Americans as too racist, sexist, and war-like, they naturally conclude that subordinating American power to global authority would help mitigate this problem. Fortuitously for the Left, this means power would reside with people like themselves: international lawyers, NGO advocates, and deracinated global citizens. At home, as Christopher Caldwell described in The Age of Entitlement, power would shift from elected officials to administrators and judges, because these experts are necessary to enforce equal outcomes for oppressed racial and gender groups. This utopian dream of substantive equality for groups, of course, will never be achieved in a free society. Instead the Lefts agenda, if successfully implemented, would mean less freedom and less self-governmentit would mean an overall move from republicanism (i.e., American constitutional democracy) towards administrative-judicial oligarchy. That is to say, if given free reign, this new leftism will ironically produce less true liberalism, and less democracy.

(Emphasis added)

And thats the goal of the new leftism.
RTHK: US eases rules on officials' contact with Taiwan

The US State Department said on Friday it had issued new guidelines that will enable US officials to more freely meet officials from Taiwan, a move that deepens US relations with Taipei amid stepped up mainland military activity around the island.

"These new guidelines liberalise guidance on contacts with Taiwan, consistent with our unofficial relations," US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in statement.

The aim, he said, was "to encourage US government engagement with Taiwan that reflects our deepening unofficial relationship".

Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced in January he was lifting restrictions on contacts between US officials and officials in Taiwan.

Price said the new guidelines had followed a policy review and would "provide clarity throughout the Executive Branch on effective implementation of our "one China" policy"  which the US introduced on establishing diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1979.

The statement provided no details of the guidelines, but a report on the Financial Times website shortly before the release of Price's statement said they would mean US officials would be able to host Taiwanese officials regularly at federal government buildings.

US officials would also be permitted to meet counterparts at Taiwans economic and cultural offices in the United States and be able to attend events at Twin Oaks, an estate in Washington that served as the residence of Taiwan's ambassador until the United States ceased to recognise the Taipei government in 1979, the paper said.

However, it quoted a US official as saying there would still be some guard rails, such as not allowing officials to attend functions at Twin Oaks on major Taiwanese holidays that might complicate the US One-China policy.

The State Department announcement comes at a time of raised tensions over Taiwan. Taiwan has complained over the last few months of repeated missions by Beijing's air force near the island.

Beijing believes the United States is colluding with Taiwan to challenge Beijing and giving support to those who want the island to declare formal independence. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2021-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Fewer people were working in greater Kelowna last month compared to February bu the region's unemployment rate still fell, to five per cent, because the total labour force contracted significantly.
Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod affirmed Denmark's support for Ukraine in light of aggravation of the security situation in Donbas, the Crimean peninsula and along the border with Russia, the Danish Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"Russia's current military build-up and hardened rhetoric only raises tensions in the now seven year-long conflict. Russia must now take responsibility to de-escalate the conflict," Kofod said in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

"In the conversation with my Ukrainian colleague, I underlined Denmark's unwavering support to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ukraine must know that they are not alone. We follow the situation closely and are in close contact with allies and partners in NATO and the EU to show support to Ukraine and contribute to a de-escalation of the situation," he said.

The Ministers also discussed the close bilateral relations as well as Ukraine's continued work on reforms, where Denmark plays an important role in the fight against corruption.

"Ukraine is in a very different place now compared with 2014. The continued reforms strengthen Ukraine's stability, democracy and European approximation. I look forward to discussing with my colleagues in the EU how we can further support the population of Ukraine in their European aspirations and desire for peace," Kofod said.
Low-cost flights to sun holiday destinations are set become a thing of the past, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has warned.

In order to meet climate change targets, the transport minister has said we will need to change the way we travel and suggested that 10 flights will end.

Mr Ryan said in order to halve emissions in transport, people will also need to travel less.

Asked if people will still be able to buy special low-cost flights, he said: "No, they won't be going for 10, I don't expect that, but people will still be flying."

Phasing out bargain flights

Mr Ryan added that the European Council is already looking at phasing out bargain flights from low-cost airlines.

We had a transport meeting last week and one of the items on the agenda was consideration down into the future whether we should regulate so that the really low-cost, the sort of flights for 10, aren't the norm.

"That will come from the European level rather than national level because it requires international cooperation," he said.

However, Mr Ryan said some positive can come out of Covid and he urged people to continue to change their behaviour in a way that reduces carbon emissions.

"I think what we can do is to come out of this Covid crisis, for all the hardship and difficulties it has brought, but bring some of the benefits in remote working."

He said a new town-centre approach, which would bring housing closer to urban centres to allow residents walk to schools, pubs and churches, would improve the quality of life in communities.

Hotel quarantining system

Mr Ryan also defended the current hotel quarantining system by claiming the Government was following health advice. He added he favours the addition of countries such as France and German to the mandatory quarantine list.

"The Government next week is to to meet to consider the advice of the health authorities, who are saying we should be looking at countries like France and Germany, and including them on a quarantine list now because of the very high incidence and the concern about variants in those countries," he told RTE's Today with Claire Byrne show.
Prince Philip, the husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth has died, Buckingham Palace has announced. What happens next?

There will be no lying in state and no state funeral for Philip, in accordance with his wishes.

His ceremonial royal funeral and burial are expected to take place in St Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle.

The Duke of Edinburgh insisted he did not want to lie in state (Hannah McKay/PA)

But the coronavirus pandemic  with the ban on mass gatherings and England in national lockdown  means the exact plans for the aftermath of Philips death have had to change.

Buckingham Palace will confirm the arrangements for the princes funeral in the next day or so.

Here is a look at the events which might take place over the coming eight days:

 Forth Bridge

Britain's Lord Chamberlain will finalise the long-held master plan  codenamed Forth Bridge  for Philips funeral and the days leading up to it with the Queen and set in motion the carefully orchestrated programme of events.

Philip helped draw up the details himself and was determined there should be a minimum of fuss.

Behind the scenes, aides and household staff will already have a contingency plan for use during the coronavirus outbreak, but will be busy adjusting it in line with current advice.

 Tributes and flowers

Tributes will flood in from around the world from presidents, prime ministers, heads of state, foreign royals, charities and the military.

Members of the public usually leave flowers at the gates of Buckingham Palace, but stay at home advice means people are forbidden from going out unless necessary.

The Queen and duke look at flowers left for Diana, Princess of Wales, at Buckingham Palace (John Stillwell/PA)

At some point, there will be gun salutes in his honour  if the military are able to facilitate this.

 Flags

Union flags on royal buildings where the monarch is not in residence will fly at half-mast.

The Royal Standard never flies at half-mast because it represents the British sovereign and the United Kingdom, and is a symbol of the continuation of the monarchy.

The Royal Standard always flies full-mast (Chris Jackson/PA)

If the Queen is in residence at a royal palace or castle, the Royal Standard will fly there full-mast as is the tradition.

The Union flag does not fly there at the same time.

The Union flag will fly at half-mast over the Houses of Parliament and other key sites.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is in charge of lowering flags on UK government buildings.

 Royal Familys Mourning

The Queen has to decide whether the royal family enters Court Mourning  dressing in black and using black-edged writing paper  or the alternative, shorter Family Mourning  dressing in black  and how long this will last.

The Queen in mourning dress following the death of the Queen Mother (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)

Some official engagements may continue, but social engagements  all on hold anyway because of the pandemic  are usually cancelled after the death of a senior member of the royal family unless in aid of charity.

Family Mourning for the Queen Mother in 2002 lasted three weeks.

 National Mourning

The British government decides on the length of any National Mourning.

A nationwide two-minute silence could take place, as it did for the Queen Mother on the day of her funeral.

 Parliament

Parliament is likely to honour Prince Philip, with politicians gathering for special sessions in both the Commons and the Lords.

But arrangements will depend on what the British government is advising in terms of MPs socially distancing in Parliament.

Members of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh stand in silence in honour of the Queen Mother in 2002 (David Cheskin/PA)

 Queen may address the British people

The Queen may record a televised speech in tribute to her husband, just as she did for the Queen Mother in 2002, but it will depend on how she is feeling.

The rest of Philips family are likely to release their own statements about the royal patriarch.

The royal familys website and social media channels will also honour the prince.

 Books of condolence

Books of condolence would usually be opened at certain royal residences, town halls across the UK, and at British embassies around the world.

But this could lead to queues of people, which the British government will want to discourage.

It is likely online books of condolence will be set up to allow people to pay tribute.

 Television and media

Hundreds of journalists and broadcasters are still likely to descend on London and Windsor, leading to a mass gathering of reporters, photographers and television crews.

TV broadcasters gathering outside Buckingham Palace in preparation for the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 (Rebecca Naden/PA)

Scheduled programmes will be abandoned to pay tribute to Prince Philip.

In the coming days, key events including the funeral will be expected to be televised live by the BBC and other broadcasters.

 Coffin at rest

Traditionally, Prince Philips coffin would have been moved to the Chapel Royal at St Jamess Palace to remain at rest for several days, but this is unlikely to be necessary if there is no longer a London element to the plans.

The Queen retreated to Windsor Castle for the lockdown period so events look set to be focused there instead.

The monarch and the royal family will pay their respects in private, as will household staff.

Philips children are likely to hold a private vigil at some stage around the coffin if restrictions permit.

 Behind the scenes

The funeral was due to have a strong military presence in recognition of his naval career and his links with the armed forces.

But the prospect of creating a spectacle that could potentially attract hundreds of thousands of people means there is no longer expected to be a military procession in London or any processions through Windsor.

A military involvement is expected to take place within the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Those servicemen and women taking part will rapidly begin their preparations, from practising routines to polishing helmets and swords.

Early morning rehearsals by the military for the Queen Mothers funeral (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Royal dressers will be fastidiously choosing and preparing black mourning ensembles.

The Metropolitan Police will be tasked with dealing with the security needed in the days ahead, and preventing mass gatherings.

 Lying in state

Prince Philip's coffin will not lie in state.

This has long been reported as the plan but, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, has the added benefit of freeing the British government and the Royal Household from a series of logistical nightmares.

The Queen Mother  the last sovereigns consort to die  lay in state in Westminster Hall, allowing hundreds of thousands of people, who queued for hours, to file past to pay their respects.

But Philip always insisted he did not want this honour.

The Queen Mothers coffin lying in state in Westminster Hall (John Stillwell/PA)

 Funeral

The funeral will not be a state funeral; instead it is set to be a ceremonial royal funeral.

This is in keeping with protocol. The Queen Mother was also given a ceremonial royal funeral.

The funeral is expected to take place at Windsor Castles St Georges Chapel eight days after his death.

Philips children and older grandchildren were likely to have walked behind the coffin, similar to the processions for the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the Queen Mother.

The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and the Prince of Wales walking behind the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales (Tony Harris/PA)

The televised funeral service  for which the order of service is already set  was originally planned for 800 guests, but will now have to take into account the strict limit on numbers during the pandemic.

At present, only 30 guests are allowed to attend a funeral in England.

The Queen will have to decide which family members to invite.

In the coming days, Buckingham Palace aides will confirm the finalised plans, with how they should be handled during the worst public health crisis for a generation at the forefront of their minds.

 Burial

Prince Philip is expected to be buried in the Royal Vault in St Georges Chapel on the same day as the funeral.

This interment service will be private, attended by the Queen and senior members of the royal family.

 No memorial service

In accordance with Philips wishes, there will be no official memorial service.

This might change, however, because of the scaled-back funeral  but only with the Queens agreement.
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Looking for something cosmic for your next holiday?

Then try a simulated space mission inside a former nuclear bunker near the Polish city of Pila that has been repurposed to mimic the International Space Station - and the surface of the Moon.

The ex-military airport installation, once used to store SU-22 fighter-bombers, has been transformed into the Lunares research station, which runs two-week stays - or 'missions' - for six hand-picked recruits. They pay 1,505 (1,750) each for the chance to sample an astronaut's life in space, complete with freeze-dried food, 'Moon walks' and science experiments. But minus the zero gravity.

Lunares research station runs two-week stays - or 'missions' - for six hand-picked recruits. They pay 1,505 (1,750) each for the chance to sample an astronaut's life in space - and on the Moon (pictured)

Recruits need to be Covid-tested before entering the bunker and must have a relevant bachelor's degree and good English. Unsurprisingly, it is not recommended for claustrophobia sufferers

Benjamin Pothier, 46, a scientist from France, led a two-week trip 'to space' at Lunares in February. These pictures he took show the station's six-person dormitory. Pothier said that the beds were very comfortable and that he slept well each night

Recruits need to be Covid-tested before entering the bunker and must have a relevant bachelor's degree and good English.

Unsurprisingly, it is not recommended for claustrophobia sufferers.

Benjamin Pothier, 46, a scientist from France, led a two-week trip 'to space' at Lunares in February.

He was physically shut off from the outside world with no natural light and no escape from his fellow guests and told MailOnline Travel that the constant pandemic lockdowns were good training for the exercise. His academic background also helped.

He said: 'I was the commander and I am a human factor expert for these kinds of experiences for international institutions like the Human Spaceflight Committee of the International Astronautical Federation.

'So I was quite prepared. The overall crew was well composed, with a gender balance and everything went really well between us.

'We had some very small issues on some topics, but nothing important. We did a group morning yoga session every day and that probably helped a lot.'

The main point of their 'mission' was to investigate how greywater from showers and sinks could be filtered and repurposed for the likes of flushing the toilet and watering plants.

While staying at the Lunares base, participants carry out various experiments to help further our understanding of the impacts of living in confinement and without daylight

All of the meals at the Lunares base are freeze-dried, as they would be in space. Pothier's favourite was penne Bolognese

Spaced-out: While 'on the surface of the Moon', the team test various pieces of equipment, including robotics, to contribute research data for future developments

Several hours a day were spent wearing spacesuits in an adjoining hanger carpeted in rubble and dust to simulate the surface of the Moon.

The spacesuits have a rigid bottom half so that movements are restricted, similar to how they would be when walking in space.

While they are 'on the surface of the Moon', the team test various pieces of equipment, including robotics, to contribute research data for future developments.

During Pothier's mission, he said that a typical day in the bunker started with a wake-up call at 7.30am, followed by the morning yoga session, a hearty bowl of freeze-dried porridge, and several medical checks for heart rate, weight and blood pressure.

Next came experiments that tracked the team's grip strength and stability to monitor the impact of living in isolation on selected motor abilities and posture.

The Lunares recruits do not live in zero gravity as they would on the actual International Space Station (pictured), but they do spend several hours a day in awkward spacesuits

A simulated airlock door between the living quarters and the 'lunar landscape' inside the Lunares bunker

From left to right, former Lunares guests Ola Kozawska, Alicja Musial, Dr Benjamin Pothier, Sara Sabry, Eduardo Salazar Perez and Marcin Baraniecki

Sara Sabri, Alicja Musial, Eduardo Salazar Perez, Commander Benjamin Pothier, Vice Commander Ola Kozawska, and crew media officer Marcin Baraniecki during a chemical leak mock-up drill. Pothier said that a similar training session is conducted onboard the International Space Station, but stressed that 'there are no real potential gas leak issues at the Lunares habitat'

After they had their medical tests, the team would carry out various tasks including cleaning, ensuring the water supply was working and preparing lunch.

In the afternoons, they conducted their 'Moon landings' with two people at a time going for 'Moon walks' with the resident lunar rover, Leo.

Once everyone was 'back on board', an hour of mandatory physical training would begin. The station is equipped with a treadmill and various training accessories.

During real space missions, due to the weightlessness, 'astronauts need to practice two mandatory hours of physical training to prevent muscle and bone mass loss due to the effects of gravity and it's also good for some mental time-out'.

In the evening was more freeze-dried food - Pothier's favourite was penne Bolognese - and perhaps a movie or two.

Pothier said: 'There was a TV and Wi-Fi, the way it will probably be in a couple of decades' time on the Moon. Of course, we had some movie nights together, and we watched a lot of space-related movies and documentaries.'

Afterwards came a good night's sleep.

Pothier said: 'I slept extremely well. Though we were in a dormitory the ventilation system is excellent and the bed was very comfortable. The busy daily schedule might be another reason why I slept so well.'

The lack of natural light is found to affect many people and a survey of U.S. space shuttle crews found that half depended on medication to go to sleep in orbit.

In the afternoons, the crew conducted their 'Moon landings' with two people at a time going for 'Moon walks' with the resident lunar rover, Leo (pictured)

Pothier said that the constant pandemic lockdowns proved to be good training for the Lunares stay. Pictured is rover Leo exploring the 'lunar terrain' yet again

Pothier, pictured, is a human factor expert for international institutions like the Human Spaceflight Committee of the International Astronautical Federation

Eduardo Salazar Perez, Pothier (centre) and Ola Kozawska prepare for another mission

Other space-dwellers have reported disrupted body clocks, a condition that has been linked to various health problems. Lighting aboard the International Space Station has been updated over the years to try and counteract this impact.

Pothier said the lack of natural light didn't bother him, although he did miss 'waking up with the warm rays of the sun on my face'.

The space expert will be going on to participate in a Mars simulation later this year in the U.S. with the Moab desert the substitute for the alien red-rock landscape.

Some of the crew inside the atrium, which was used as the control room, after a Moon expedition

He concluded: 'It's really important to perform these kinds of experiments here on Earth and simulate as many aspects of space missions as possible. They are extremely useful if we are going to make a human base on Mars and for our next Moon landing, which will take place in 2024 as part of the Artemis III program.

'I have taken part in many of these studies, including an isolation experiment conducted by the European Space Agency at a Nasa habitat in Hawaii pre-Covid-19.

'Without doubt, these exercises are the best way to see how people cope in such environments, with limited room and human interaction, looking at the psychological and physical impacts.

'They also provide a useful pool of data for researchers in disciplines as diverse as nutrition and food studies, psychology, human behaviour, biomechanics, neurology, and so forth.'

The bunker was repurposed as a simulated lunar base in 2017 and it is the only facility of its kind in Europe. Since its opening, dozens of simulated space missions have taken place with data collected from each expedition. The next Lunares mission is set to 'take off' on April 14, with seven more planned for 2021. For more information visit lunares.space. Benjamin Pothier can be found tweeting at twitter.com/benjaminpothier.
Access the Experts: Brady DeSanti In this installment, DeSanti answers: "Are there any Native American languages that are still spoken in Nebraska, and which ones are available for everyday folks to learn?

In This Installment of Access the Experts Native American Studies Director and Associate Professor of Religious Studies Brady DeSanti, Ph.D., answers the question: "Are there any Native American languages that are still spoken in Nebraska, and which ones are available for everyday folks to learn? About DeSanti An enrolled citizen of the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Nation in Wisconsin, DeSantis research interests include Native American religious traditions and religion and popular culture. He also examines Native American history and the relationships between Native American peoples and anthropologists and historians. His research touches upon many topics within Native American Studies.

Access the Experts

Access the Experts is an innovative partnership between the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and News Channel Nebraska (NCN), where viewers submit their questions to be answered by UNO faculty members.

New segments of Access the Experts air every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:46 A.M. and 6:46 P.M. If youre not sure how to tune in, visit News Channel Nebraskas website to view their coverage areas.

View all segments on our Access the Experts page.

About the University of Nebraska at Omaha

Located in one of Americas best cities to live, work and learn, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is Nebraskas premier metropolitan university. With more than 15,000 students enrolled in 200-plus programs of study, UNO is recognized nationally for its online education, graduate education, military friendliness and community engagement efforts. Founded in 1908, UNO has served learners of all backgrounds for more than 100 years and is dedicated to another century of excellence both in the classroom and in the community.

Follow UNO on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Migrants entering Sweden will be required to speak Swedish in order to become citizens under new laws the country is expected to introduce this summer.

A bill has now been submitted by Sweden's centre-left government after proposals were drawn up in January this year.

Under the new laws, anyone seeking permanent residency in the Scandinavian country will be required to prove that they can speak the language, as well as prove that they can support themselves while living in the country.

'We think that a basic knowledge of Swedish and knowledge of society is a reasonable demand to make,' said the country's Justice Minister Morgan Johansson, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Migrants entering Sweden will be required to speak Swedish in order to become citizens under new laws the country is expected to introduce this summer. Pictured: Swedish Police Evict Migrants From an illegal camp in Malmo, Sweden, November 3, 2015

Sweden opened its doors to thousands of migrants flooding into Europe in 2015 but has since been rocked by a surge in gang violence, bombings, shootings and sex attacks that has caused unrest.

Johansson said the new policy has been designed to be tougher than the legislation that was in place before the 2015 migrant crisis, that saw 160,000 people seeking asylum in the country - more per-head than any other country in Europe.

'This means that we will be in line with other EU countries, which among other things will mean that Sweden is no longer a magnet for asylum seekers as we were during the refugee crisis in 2015,' he said, according to the newspaper.

The bill has been proposed by Sweden's ruling minority coalition. This is made up of the leading centre-left Swedish Democrats who are in alliance with the Greens.

The law will make some of the restrictive measures in place in temporary emergency legislation - that was brought in at the height of the crisis - permanent.

One of the more controversial measure sis that successful asylum seekers will not be granted permanent residency by default, and instead will have to wait three ears to meet a list of requirements before applying for citizenship.

Migrants will have to show proof of Swedish language skills and understanding of the country's culture in order to become citizens. Pictured: The Swedish and EU flags fly in front of the Swedish Parliament on April 16, 2020 in Stockholm

Morgan Johansson (left), Sweden's justice and migration minister is behind the proposals that will require migrants to learn Swedish languages skills in order to attain permanent residence

Talks over the new legislation have led to disagreements within the minority coalition, with the minority Liberal party threatening in February to pull out of the inter-party agreement that props up the ruling coalition.

Their threat to leave was due to a mercy clause - that was added to placate the pro-immigration mercy clause - which would mean permanent residency can be considered in specific circumstances.

These include 'especially distressing circumstances', for children, and adults who have temporary residency and have developed a 'special attachment' to the country, even if they do not otherwise meet the criteria.

Following the publication of the bill, the centre-Right moderate party complained saying the mercy clause was 'an effective amnesty' for the child asylum seekers from Afghanistan who came to Sweden in 2015.

On that basis, the Right-wing populist Sweden Democrats said it would campaign for the new law to be 'ripped up'.

The language tests - in which applicants will have to prove their speaking, listening, reading and writing levels - cost 2,000 kronor (175), while the civil component costs 500 kronor (45).

Pictured: Romany immigrants gather in Sergels Torg public square near Stockholm Central Station. Sweden opened its doors to thousands of migrants flooding into Europe in 2015 but has since been rocked by a surge in gang violence, bombings, shootings and sex attacks that has caused unrest. There has also been a rise in far-Right attacks

Applicants can also provide proof of citizenship by passing Grade 9 in a Swedish high school, equivalent to Year 11 in the UK.

Stateless, disabled and illiterate people have to show they have tried to reach the required level even if they are unsuccessful.

Other Nordic citizens will not have to take the test as they do not need to apply for citizenship, The Local reported earlier this year.

It is expected that the bill will be put to parliament and come into force before the summer.

Sweden opened its doors to thousands of migrants flooding into Europe in 2015 but has since been rocked by a surge in gang violence, bombings, shootings and sex attacks that has caused unrest.

As a result the country has seen growing support for far-right anti-migrant parties, which the Social Democratic Party is hoping to stem by shifting to the right itself.

The country saw 257 bombings and more than 300 shootings reported in 2019, and there has also been a rise in far-right attacks and the resurgence of the former white nationalist group Sweden Democrats, now the third biggest party in government.

Sweden's approach to immigration has divided opinion in the country and led to a rise in the far-right and the resurgence of the former white nationalist group Sweden Democrats, now the third biggest party in government

A recent controversial case saw a Swedish judge refusing to deport two Eritrean nationals who were convicted of aggravated rape because the pair were military deserters who would face punishment on their return.

The men, aged 30 and 32, were convicted in a Stockholm court of raping the woman for hours in an apartment in the city while threatening her with a knife.

The pair have been living in Sweden for several years and have been granted refugee status by the government.

If returned, the UN warned the deserters faced arbitrary detention, extrajudicial punishment and conscription that amounts to forced labour.

Sweden has also been struggling to control criminal gangs from the Middle East.

Erik Nord, Gothenburg's chief of police, told MailOnline in January: 'These criminal clans have a completely different culture that makes them very difficult to tackle with normal police methods.

'We need more police and our courts and prisons need to be reinforced to deal with this situation urgently. Otherwise we will turn into a gangsters' paradise.'
JAZZ

The Heads

THE PUSSYCAT TAPES VOL 1 (davemacrae.bandcamp.com)

 The Pussycat Tapes, volume 1. What hits you between the eyes is the sheer energy! Four 24-year-olds playing their take on bebop at full throttle and with no seatbelts. You feel it in your nerve endings and racing heart, as if becoming a participant in the spiralling excitement. The Heads were future Oz jazz royalty: Bernie McGann (alto saxophone), Dave MacRae (piano, marimba), Andy Browne (Bass) and John Pochee (drums), who in 1964 accepted a four nights a week residency at Melbournes Fat Black Pussycat. Some gigs were bootlegged, and those tapes, tidied up and released by McRae, are a treasure both musically and historically. Here was modern jazz unfolding in Australia on its own terms, McGann already sounding like no one else on the planet: his braying, coarse sound, mostly one of jubilation, was also flecked with moments of sweeter sadness. McRaes piano playing is super-sophisticated and rhythmically infectious, and his marimba playing a revelation. Pochee, too, was already a master of making his propulsive grooves radiate warmth. If Browns driving bass suffers somewhat from the imperfect recording, just turn up the volume to Pussycat level, and be transported back to a thrilling time in Oz jazz. JOHN SHAND

CHAMBER MUSIC

Brooklyn Rider

HEALING MODES (In a Circle)

 Healing Modes album by Brooklyn Rider. In the centre of Beethovens String Quartet Opus 132 in A Minor lies the movement that inspired this study of hardship and healing. Beethoven wrote Song of Thanksgiving from a Convalescent to the Deity, in the Lydian scale, a mode that Plato, among others, considered soft and calming. On Healing Modes, the string quartets five movements are separated by further probes into healing: modern works on subjects from global politics to human rights and personal illness. The virtuosic whine and scrape of textural exploration in Matana Roberts Borderlines makes for a breathtaking prelude to Opus 132s first movement. But if we catch our breath on the familiar phrases, Reena Esmails Zeher (Poison) soon knocks it from us with a spine-tingling combination of raga-influenced melodies. So the journey goes, from Beethoven to the modern day and back again; a choice that could well have been disastrous were it not for the masterful curation and impeccable execution of each work by Brooklyn Rider. When the hallucinogenic fog of Du Yuns I Am My Own Achilles Heel slides effortlessly into Song of Thanksgiving, this utterly daring attempt at cohesion is indisputably successful. JESSIE CUNNIFFE
New York, April 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market Research Report by Test, by Product, by End User - United States Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06015209/?utm_source=GNW



Market Statistics:

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



The United States Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market is projected to grow with a significant CAGR in the forecast period. Economic development and substantial infrastructure development have constituted regional revenue generation. Further, the patterns associated with domestic production, import and export, and consumption have helped market participants to analyze and capitalize on potential opportunities. Besides, the qualitative and quantitative parameters provided in the report with detailed analysis highlights the driving and restraining factors of the United States Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Clinical Chemistry Analyzer to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Test, the Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market studied across Basic Metabolic Panel, Electrolyte Panel, Lipid Profile, Liver Panel, Renal Profile, Specialty Chemicals, and Thyroid Function Panel.



Based on Product, the Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market studied across Analyzer and Reagent. The Analyzer further studied across Large (1200-2000 Tests/H), Medium (800-1200 Tests/H), Small (400-800 Test/H), and Very Large (2000 Tests/H). The Reagent further studied across Calibrator, Control, and Standards.



Based on End User, the Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market studied across Academic Research Institutes, Diagnostics Laboratories, and Hospitals.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

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



360iResearch FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The 360iResearch FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market on the basis of Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



360iResearch Competitive Strategic Window:

The 360iResearch Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies. The 360iResearch Competitive Strategic Window helps the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. During a forecast period, it defines the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

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

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

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

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

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



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the United States Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the United States Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the United States Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the United States Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the United States Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market?

6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the United States Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06015209/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

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



__________________________
WKCTC Economic Development Symposium Thursday

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - West Kentucky Community and Technical College will host its second annual Regional Economic Development Symposium on Thursday, April 15.The free event, titled "Re-tooling Post COVID," will be held virtually from 9 am to 11:30 am.The symposium will include panel discussions with presidents of area chambers of commerce, local economic development leaders, and local state legislators about their roles in navigating workforce and economic needs following the pandemic."We're excited to hold our second annual symposium this year, all be it virtual. There is a great agenda," said Kevin O'Neill, WKCTC vice president of regional workforce training and economic development.Keynote speakers include Matt Tackett, president and CEO of the Kentucky Association of Economic Development, and Kate Shanks, vice president of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. Paducah Bank is sponsoring the presentations.O'Neill hopes everyone can take away something useful from the event."My hope, above anything, is that you come away with one thing that you can apply to your business that could work, that you maybe haven't thought about. I hope that will be the case," he said.Although the event is virtual this year, O'Neill told West Kentucky Star he expects to have a good turnout.He said, "We're on track to what we did in person two years ago. I'm happy with that in and of itself."You can register for the event by contacting Tina Clark at tina.clark@kctcs.edu or by calling 270-534-3821. After registration, viewers will receive an invitation with login information via email.
YEREVAN.  We have nothing to add to the announcement made yesterday. Nzhdeh Hovsepyan, spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan of Armenia, on Friday told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am, referring to the statement Rustam Muradovcommander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent that is stationed in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict zone to monitor the ceasefire therethat a return of captives was not planned Thursday and that disseminating such reports was a provocation and aimed at misleading the population.

The Prime Minister's spokesperson, Mane Gevorgyan, on Thursday had confirmed to a media outlet that Armenian POWs were returning from Azerbaijan on board a plane, but no number was mentioned.

Later it became clear that the said plane had arrived in Yerevan, but without any POWs.

And the office of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan had stated that the return of these captives was being postponed again because Azerbaijan was not fulfilling point 8 of the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement, which is a gross violation of the post-war humanitarian process.
Boston University is requiring that all its students get the COVID-19 vaccine before the start of the fall semester, the college announced on Friday.

The university will make every effort to vaccinate students if they arrive on campus without vaccination in the fall, university officials said. As we do for other required vaccinations, we will have a process for accommodating medical and religious exemptions.

The higher education institution says its mulling over whether to mandate the vaccine for faculty and staff as well, adding that it will continue to consult with public health experts and use the best scientific evidence available in the weeks ahead as we make this decision.

Boston Universitys mandate follows Northeastern Universitys announcement earlier this week that it will be requiring all its students to get shots before the fall term. The measure, which applies to all undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students across Northeasterns campuses, will help the university build up to a full return to campus activities, according to a message from Ken Henderson, chancellor and senior vice president for learning.

Boston University students must provide the college with proof of the vaccine after they get it.

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Investment Community Teleconference Set for May 7, 2021 at 8 a.m. ET

TORONTO, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Hydro One Limited (TSX: H), the largest electric transmission and distribution utility in Ontario, plans to release its first quarter financial results the morning of May 7, 2021 before North American financial markets open. A summary of the results will be distributed by newswire and the complete MD&A and financial statements will be posted at hydroone.com/investors and www.sedar.com.

Hydro One's management will host a teleconference with the investment community at 8 a.m. ET that same morning to discuss the results and outlook. Those wishing to listen to the teleconference should access the live webcast on the Investor Relations Events and Presentations section of Hydro One's website at www.hydroone.com/investors. A rebroadcast of the teleconference will be available following the call at the same link.

Those members of the North American financial community wanting to ask questions during the call should dial 1.866.221.1674 at least ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time and request Hydro One's first quarter results teleconference, conference ID 3790693 (international callers should dial 1.270.215.9604). Other interested parties and media are welcome to participate on a listen-only basis.

Hydro One Limited (TSX: H)

Hydro One Limited, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is Ontario's largest electricity transmission and distribution provider with approximately 1.4 million valued customers, approximately $30.3 billion in assets as at December 31, 2020, and annual revenues in 2020 of approximately $7.3 billion.

Our team of approximately 8,700 skilled and dedicated employees proudly build and maintain a safe and reliable electricity system which is essential to supporting strong and successful communities. In 2020, Hydro One invested approximately $1.9 billion in its transmission and distribution networks and supported the economy through buying approximately $1.7 billion of goods and services.

We are committed to the communities where we live and work through community investment, sustainability and diversity initiatives. We are designated as a Sustainable Electricity Company by the Canadian Electricity Association.

Hydro One Limited's common shares are listed on the TSX and certain of Hydro One Inc.'s medium term notes are listed on the NYSE. Additional information can be accessed at www.hydroone.com ; www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov .

SOURCE Hydro One Limited
Leaders across the world are paying tribute to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, after Buckingham Place announced his death at the age of 99.

Prime ministers, presidents and kings from all over Europe, the Commonweath and the rest of the planet are among those paying condolences after his passing was confirmed at midday on Friday.

A man of conviction, a grand figure of the century and a staunch exemplar of public service have all been among the descriptions lauded on the Queens husband.

Achievements mentioned within the hundreds of high-level international tributes were helping establish the post-war friendship between the UK and Germany, winning a place in the hearts of millions of Russians and changing the lives of children across the globe with his Duke of Edinburghs Award.

Even the Sinn Fein leader in Ireland, Mary Lou McDonald, was moved to offer condolences to the Queen.

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison set the tone within minutes of the announcement, declaring that Philip embodied a generation that we will never see again.

Recalling that Philip had visited the country more than 20 times, he said: Australians send our love and deepest condolences to her Majesty and all the Royal family. The Commonwealth family joins together in sorrow and thanksgiving for the loss and life of Prince Philip. God bless from all here in Australia.

His words were echoed by others across the Commonwealth,

New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern said her thoughts would be with the Queen at this profoundly sad time.

She added: Prince Philip will be fondly remembered for the encouragement he gave to so many young New Zealanders through The Duke of Edinburghs Hillary Award. In over fifty years of the award in New Zealand, thousands of young people have completed life-changing challenges through the programme.

The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi also expressed condolences, saying my thoughts are with the British people and the Royal Family.

Philip, he said, had a distinguished career in the military and was at the forefront of many community service initiatives.

Mr Modi met the Queen twice since he was first elected prime minister seven years ago - once in 2015, and once in 2018 when he also met Prince Charles.

During that second meeting, the Queen gifted Mr Modi a wedding present that she and Philip received in 1947 from Mahatma Gandhi. It was a piece of crocheted cotton made from yarn spun by Gandhi himself, featuring the words Jai Hind (Go India!) as its central motif.

And in Canada, prime minister JustinTrudeau, praised the the duke as a man of great purpose and conviction, who was motivated by a sense of duty to others.

He added: Prince Philip contributed so much to the social fabric of our country - and the world.

The German ambassador to the UK, Andreas Michaelis, was among European leaders and officials s who also paid tribute.

He said Philip had helped the two nations build a close relationship over the course of his lifetime and would be sorely missed in both countries.

He added: It is a great privilege that he visited Germany on so many occasions and helped us develop a very close partnership between the UK and Germany.

The countrys president Walter Steinmeier went further, praising the Prince's war record in fighting "Nazi terror".

Prince Philip fought for the liberation of Europe, he wrote. His contribution to democracy and peace will remain in our memories. We Germans mourn a winning personality who made an important contribution to the reconciliation of our nations after the horrors of the Second World War."

In Sweden, King Carl XVI Gustaf, praised Philip as a good friend of our family, declaring his service to his country will remain an inspiration to us all, while Irelands foreign minister Simon Coveney tweeted condolences.

Our thoughts and solidarity are with you on a very sad day for the United Kingdom, he wrote.

And, although reaction in staunchly republican France was rather muted, Europe minister, Clement Beaune tweeted teh highest of praise. Prince Philip, he wrote, was a grand figure of the century.

The Russian embassy to the UK made reference to the fact that Philip was the great-great-grandson of their own Emperor Nicholas I in a tweet. He was, it continued, admired and will be mourned by many Russians. May his soul rest in peace.

President Vladimir Putin said he had sent the Queen a telegram expressing his deep condolences and wishing her courage and fortitude in the face of a grievous and irreparable loss".

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted: I am saddened to hear of the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip. I would like to extend my sincere sympathy to Her Majesty The Queen, the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom on this very sad day.

Further afield, the president of the Maldives, another former Commonwealth country, sent his Condolences and sympathies to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, [the royal family] and the people of the UK on the passing of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said Philip was a staunch exemplar of public service. Maldivians fondly recall His Royal Highness visit to Maldives with HM Queen in 1972, he added.

In Israel, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted that Prince Philip was the consummate public servant and will be much missed in Israel and across the world.

The Duke of Edinburgh had won special affection in the country after breaking with royal protocol to visit Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories where his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, is buried in east Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives.

And in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted his - and his countrys - condolences.

Others offering their thoughts included prime minister of the Netherlands Marc Rutte, King Harald of Norway, the Belgian royal family, Pakistan leader Imran Khan and the emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Biden made a campaign pledge to fix the border with Mexico. Let's investigate how he's doing starting with pols then the hard facts.

Only 24% Approve How Biden Is Handling Border Kids

According to an AP NORC Poll few are satisfied with President Bidens approach to immigration, border security, and particularly toward the recent surge of unaccompanied children at the southern border.

That question specifically addressed children.

Overall, Biden has a 44% approval rating on his handling of the border, heavily skewed towards 74% of Democrats who say they like what he is doing.

That means 74% of Democrats and 44% of people overall are clueless or simply refuse to think.

Biden Blames Trump

Politico reports Biden Bets That He Can Change How America Thinks About Migration.

I bet he can't, especially with millions of US citizens in search of a job. Meanwhile here's a Q & A

Q: What do politicians do when facing a situation that's out of control?

A: Blame their predecessor.

In calls with House lawmakers this week, Biden administration officials repeatedly stressed that they inherited a disaster from the Trump administration, and said that the solutions would not be painless or quick. In a separate call with Democratic communications aides on the Hill, White House officials reiterated that the real crisis is in Central America, according to several people on the call. Biden and his team are emphasizing the root causes of migration surges, and their renewed diplomatic efforts with Central American countries, which lapsed under the Trump administration.

The problem is complex, and Trump did not create it. It's been ongoing for decades.

Biden did downplay it just as Angela Merkel did with a huge surge of immigrants attempting to escape Mideast wars, especially in Syria.

Send Them Back

Biden roundly criticized Trump for sending them back and turning them away.

Q: What's Biden doing?

A: Sending them back and turning them away.

The number of unaccompanied children arriving at the border hit a monthly-high in March, exceeding the last record-high in May of 2019. In total, some 170,000 people were apprehended by border patrol last month. About 100,000 of those migrants were single adults, who have been routinely removed from the U.S. by the Biden administration under a Trump-era public health authority. Theres also simmering Democratic and activist frustration with Bidens continued use of the Trump-era authority  known as Title 42  to expel the majority of people encountered at the border. Publicly and privately, the White House has told reporters and Hill staff that they have no timeline to stop using the authority.

Non Solutions

Proving he cannot think clearly, Biden wants to house illegal immigrants in churches, stadiums, and summer camps.

His administration is also racing to expand capacity to humanely house a growing number of child migrants in emergency intake sites  like stadiums, church facilities and summer camps  rather than keep them in tightly-packed border patrol facilities.

Three Q's, Obvious Answers

Q: What happens to the numbers when the word gets out we are housing and feeding all comers in stadiums?

Q: What the hell do you do when the stadiums fill up?

Q: What happens to Summer camps in the Winter?

Hey, Let's Put Kamala Harris On the Mission

In addition to bribing Central American countries and filling up stadiums, Biden put Kamala Harris in charge of the mission.

That brings another question to the forefront: Why did Biden put Harris in charge of the border crisis?

The average annual income in El Salvador is $4,000; in Guatemala it is $4,610; and in Honduras it is $2,310. People are still leaving those countries to come here; moreover, there is little  if any  reason to think it ever will [stop]. The differences between conditions in Central America and the United States are too great, particularly economic conditions. When asked on the second night of the 2019 Democratic debates if an undocumented alien should be deported if his only offense is not having documents, her response was, I will say, no, absolutely not. They should not be deported. Is she an effective negotiator? Harriss record as a senator indicates that being able to change the minds of people she disagrees with isnt one of her strong points, and she seems to be aware of this shortcoming. When she was a candidate for the presidency, she admitted that she would not be able to persuade Congress to pass immigration reform legislation. Her plan was to rely instead on executive actions. She was one of just three Democrats who voted against a compromise that would have given the Trump administration billions of dollars for a border wall in exchange for a path to citizenship for Dreamers. So why would Biden choose her to lead his administrations efforts to work with the Central American and Mexican governments to stop the flood of illegal crossings? Apparently, he doesnt want to secure the border either.

The Pledge

In December 2020, Biden told reporters that he would establish a more humane policy at the borders but that he would need probably the next six months to rebuild a system to process migrants and secure funding for immigration judges.

Three months down and three to go before the buzzer sounds.

Not to worry. Biden is unlikely to last a full term anyway. Soon the problem will be someone else's.

Oh, wait a second. What will president Harris do?

Addendum

As expected, this post brought up multiple charges of me supporting Democrats. I didn't and did not vote for Biden.

One reader, ThreeBlindMice got it right.

My bet is that the American public would go with the (to me) obvious answer of 1. securing the border and 2. granting amnesty (legal residency) to those here. Without a secure border, we'll need amnesty again soon. We're not going to deport millions who've been here for years. And we can't take anyone who wants to come in.

Trump had on his plate an offer from Chuch Schumer to build a wall for $20 billion in return for amnesty for long-term residents with no crime record. He turned it down. And here we are.

It makes no sense to kick out millions of productive people who have been in the US for a long time.

ThreeBlindMice is also correct about taking in all comers. Milton Friedman said: "Open borders and free services are not compatible." It does not matter if free services is why they come or not.

Trump did not cause the problem but he turned down a golden opportunity to make things much better.
Rethinking Everything



There are moments of discovery and experimental success that are so unexpected and profound they nullify everything before them and restructure everything that follows.



For years, everyone knew people couldnt fly. Birds could fly, but they had wings. People didnt have wings. Then, in a little place in North Carolina, the Wright brothers got an airplane to stay in the air for a couple of hundred feet and everything changed. The next thing we know, we are flying across the oceans, faster than the speed of sound.



In a moment, everything changed.



Copernicus proposed a new way of understanding the universe. According to his calculations, the earth revolved around the sun and not the other way around. This changed a lot of things. For one thing, it meant our planet earth wasnt the center of the solar system, and if earth wasnt the center of the solar system, then humanity wasnt the center of the universe.



Everything changed.



The discovery of fire, the birth of agriculture, the establishment of cities  one moment our world is one way and the next moment its totally changed.



Like Easter.



One moment, the followers of Jesus understood the world one way, and the next moment, everything had changed.



One moment, they were in grief, and the next moment, they were sharing indescribable joy.



One moment, Jesus was dead. Now, Jesus was alive.



One moment, all hope was lost, and the next moment, hope was made eternal.



Now, everything had to be rethought. What we thought we knew about God, Jesus, salvation, death, life hope, meaning and purpose, creation and eschatology  all of that changed. We had to rethink everything.



For instance, we were wrong about Jesus. For most people, Jesus was a prophetic rabbi from Galilee. He had some intriguing concepts about life and love, and listening to His teachings seemed to make a lot of sense. His miracles added a depth of power we had seen in few, if any, teachers.



But now, Jesus has been raised from the dead. His resurrection underlines and ignites His words in way weve never seen before. More than a very wise teacher, Jesus is now the conqueror of death. His is the Son of God, the Promised Messiah. Jesus is Lord.



Jesus doesnt accurately describe reality. Jesus defines reality. Jesus doesnt offer us an informed opinion. He brings ultimate truth to us.



Wed better reread the gospels. Theres more to Jesus than we first thought. We need to rethink Jesus.



And we need to rethink the cross. For the early followers of Jesus, the cross was the ultimate tragedy. Jesus had come to do so much good and the powers around Him had conspired to have Jesus executed. His death was seen as the loss of our last hope.



Now, Jesus is alive. So, what does the cross mean in light of the resurrection? The answer cant be written in the time or space we have. John is right. If the sky was a scroll and the oceans ink, we still wouldnt have the space or time to fully capture the meaning of God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Christ, the sinless One, dies for sinful and humanity. He pays in His death the price none of us could pay.



And in raising Him from the dead, the Father validates the mission and ministry of Christ. The cross marks the way of suffering and self-denying love, and it marks the only way to life.



We need to rethink the cross.



God placed the Cross of Jesus Christ in the center of history and time. From Easter, we look backwards and understand our history and Gods salvation plan played out across the generations. We understand the call of Abraham in a new way. We interpret the life of the nation of Israel through a new lens. We see, as the Bible tells, how just at the right time, God in Christ came into our history.



From the Cross, we understand how the church is called to join Christ in His redemptive work of individuals, families, communities and creation. With His resurrection, Christ has revealed the reality of eternal life and pulled the weight of its future glory into the present. We follow Him into that future, the same future Christ is bringing in Himself to us.



We have to rethink failures and loss.



We have to rethink life and meaning.



We have to think hope and endurance.



We have to rethink love.



We have to rethink everything. Jesus was dead and now Hes alive, and that changes everything.



Every day is a new chance to know Christ. The radical teaching of Christianity is our Rabbi is alive and Hes promised, if we will be still and listen and seek His presence, Hell teach us just as He taught Peter and John and all of the other disciples.



Every day is a chance to see a little Easter. A broken marriage is restored, a lost child finds their bearings, hate is buried is love, and life is pulled from death in all kinds of moments, both big and small.



We face giants. We deal with our demons. We do it all because our Savior is alive. He loves us so much not even death can keep Him away.



Jesus is still teaching, still showing, and still calling us to follow. His resurrection has made us rethink everything.



Jesus is alive! What does that mean?



Following Christ is the adventure of figuring that out.
I have already been contacted by two doctors who have said Im out, were not going to do this anymore. There are a lot of doctors weighing it all up and they are saying the hassle for the output is just not worth it, he said. And thats entirely reasonable because the support from the federal government has been woeful. Doctor Bernard Shiu Credit:Wayne Taylor Bernard Shiu, the director of Geelongs Banksia Medical Centre, is on the verge of pulling out of the vaccine program. Dr Shiu said 20 of his patients did not turn up for their scheduled vaccine appointments on Friday and more than 100 vaccine doses promised to the clinic for next week had not arrived. It is very stressful here, said Dr Shiu, who is also the deputy chair of the Victorian branch of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. The impacts of this will be enormous. We dont know how many patients will turn up next week. We need to see at least 10 patients an hour to make it viable.

Nathan Pinskier, who runs multiple GP practices across Melbourne, some of which have been given only 50 doses of vaccine a week, said phones at his clinics had been hammered by patients desperate to book in their shots for weeks. Now, he expects many people will pause on getting their immunisation. It will take more time in terms of going through the consent process with patients now, he said. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Dr Pinskier said the real test will come over the weekend with more than 500 people booked in to get vaccinated on Saturday and Sunday at his six clinics. Loading

We are already getting calls from people cancelling their appointments, he said. After weighing the risks and benefits, 44-year-old John Grainger, who has underlying health conditions and helps care for his father who is undergoing cancer treatment, will still roll up his sleeve for his first AstraZeneca shot on Saturday. I look at this way: today I drove to work and tomorrow I will get the AstraZeneca vaccine, he said. Of those two activities, the daily drive to and from work is more likely to put me in hospital or kill me than the vaccine. All medications come with a risk, but I think the benefits of being immunised against this is virus overrides the risks. Melbourne man John Grainger will still get the AstraZeneca vaccine. Following discussions with her doctor, Michelle Cafaraella, 40, who takes immunosuppressants for ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease, has opted not to get the AstraZeneca vaccine, despite still being eligible for it.

Even though they are saying the very risk is rare, its the uncertainty around it, she said. Its not a risk I am willing to take. Altona GP and former president of the Australian Medical Association Mukesh Haikerwal said his clinic had spent Thursday evening calling patients booked in for the vaccine shots on Friday. By 8am this morning we had more than a dozen people cancel their appointments, he said. The phones have not stopped ringing. Dr Haikerwal said if large numbers of general practitioners pulled out of the national immunisation program if would further delay the rollout which was already 3 million jabs behind where the nation was supposed to be eight days ago. There is a real danger here, he said. Vaccination has to be the strategy. It is the only way out of this crisis.

But Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Victorian chair Anita Munoz said the change in advice demonstrated to the public that risks of the AstraZeneca vaccine were being taken seriously. This decision is evidence of science in action, which is a double-edged sword, Dr Munoz said. It means that as more information comes to light, we act on that. This is a really good thing, but on the other side of all this, it does create mixed messages and confusion for the public. Dr Munoz said she had been contacted by vaccine-eligible patients under the age of 50, including people with underlying health conditions, who were anxious about whether to go ahead with their scheduled shots of AstraZeneca.

They are unsure, she said. One particular patient I spoke to, who has cancer, really wanted to protect themselves from COVID because they know that they are really high risk if they get that disease. They decided to go ahead with it. But Royal Australasian College of Physicians president John Wilson called for calm and said the new advice should not stop eligible Australians, including those under 50, from getting immunised with AstraZeneca. It is still far better to be protected from COVID-19 than not, the Melbourne respiratory physician said. AstraZeneca can be used in adults aged under 50 years where the benefits are likely to outweigh the risks for that individual and the person has made an informed decision based on an understanding of the risks and benefits. He said it was also important to note that those who were given their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine without serious side effects, including those under the age of 50, can be safely administered with their second dose.
German firms put forward proposal to rebuild Beirut port View Photo

BEIRUT (AP)  Representatives of several German companies on Friday outlined a multi-billion-dollar plan to rebuild the port of Beirut and surrounding neighborhoods that had been devastated by a massive explosion last year.

The horrific Aug. 4 explosion of nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical used in fertilizers, killed 211 people and injured more than 6,000. The material had been stored at a port warehouse for years. The blast  one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history  badly worsened Lebanons economic crisis that saw hundreds of thousands plunged into sudden poverty.

Several countries are said to be interested in rebuilding the port and the surrounding areas, including Turkey and China, but Germanys consortium, led by Hamburg Port Consulting and Colliers, was the first to visit Lebanon with a plan in hand that they presented to Lebanese officials.

Beiruts port, with an area of 1.2 million square meters (12.9 million square feet), is by far the largest in Lebanon, a tiny nation of 5 million on a strategic Mediterranean crossroads between Asia and Europe.

But the proposal to rebuild the port cannot proceed until a new government is formed in Lebanon and like most international donors and foreign companies, the German delegation made it clear no money would be spent in Lebanon before major reforms are undertaken to fight widespread corruption.

Money flows where trust goes, Suheil Mahayni, managing director at Hamburg Port Consulting, told reporters at the end of the visit. A new government would need to ensure full transparency so that the money invested is spent to the benefit of the Lebanese people.

Alia Fares of the Lebanese German Council for Archaeology and Culture said the study includes spending $300 million on restoring historic neighborhoods surrounding the port.

After Lebanons 1975-1990 civil war ended, a private company was in charge of rebuilding Beiruts downtown, leading to high rises with multi-million dollars apartments and restaurants and shops out of reach of many poor Lebanese.

The office of Lebanons caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab said he met with the German delegation on Thursday and received its preliminary study on how to reactivate the port of Beirut for trade and tourism. There were no further details.

Lebanons government resigned just days after the port blast. In October, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri was named to form a new Cabinet but has failed to do so since amid political bickering. The country meanwhile has slid deeper into crisis, with the national currency losing around 85% of its value.

According to the study, a total of $7.2 billion will be spent over the years to rebuild the port, nearby residential areas, outdoor facilities, technical infrastructure, land reclamation and a new beach. The project will make $30 billion of indirect profitability and create 50,000 permanent jobs over a period of 30 years.

International donors demand that Lebanon implement economic changes in order to get loans and grants pledged at the CEDRE economic conference in Paris in April 2018. They have pledged $11 billion for Lebanon but the money is still blocked as they seek assurances the funds will be well spent in the corruption-plagued country.

Germanys Ambassador to Lebanon Andreas Kindl said there is a clear international commitment there would be no financial support for any reconstruction before there are substantial reforms, credible reforms, economic and political reforms.

By BASSEM MROUE

Associated Press
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 21:04:16|Editor: huaxia

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ISTANBUL, April 9 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish military trainer aircraft on Friday crashed into the Aegean Sea off Turkey's western coast, and two pilots were rescued, according to the National Defense Ministry.

The KT-1 type aircraft crashed off the coastal town of Foca in Izmir province during its regular training flight, the ministry said on Twitter.

The pilots were sent to a hospital after being pulled out of the sea and were in good health, it said, adding that an investigation has been launched into the accident.

According to preliminary reports, an engine failure of the plane occurred before the crash, the ministry noted. Enditem
Lex Greensill boasted of David Cameron's praise for Australian prime minister Scott Morrison in a botched lobbying attempt, it was claimed today.

Mr Greensill apparently urged Mr Morrison to introduce a lending scheme for government workers and mentioned that Mr Cameron 'speaks most highly of you'.

But the October 2019 WhatsApp message from the Australian financier was mistakenly sent to the wrong number, according to the Financial Times.

It emerged amid growing calls from Labour for a 'full, transparent and thorough investigation' into text message sent between Mr Cameron and Chancellor Rishi Sunak as the former lobbied on behalf of the financial firm Greensill Capital.

Messages released by the Treasury showed Mr Sunak had told Mr Cameron, who became an adviser to the firm back in 2018, he had 'pushed the team' to consider proposals put forward by the former premier.

Labour questioned whether the Chancellor had broken the ministerial code but Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, today insisted Mr Sunak had 'followed absolutely to the letter what you should do'.

Mr Shapps also defended Mr Cameron as he said he is a 'private citizen' who is 'free to do what he likes'.

Lex Greensill boasted of David Cameron's praise for Australian prime minister Scott Morrison in a botched lobbying attempt, it was claimed today

It emerged amid growing calls from Labour for a 'full, transparent and thorough investigation' into text message sent between Mr Cameron and Chancellor Rishi Sunak as the former lobbied on behalf of Greensill Capital

Mr Sunak has said the former prime minister 'reached out informally by telephone' to him, as well as Economic Secretary John Glen and Financial Secretary Jesse Norman, over access to Covid loans schemes for Greensill Capital.

Greensill had approached Treasury officials regarding access to the Covid Corporate Finance Facility (CCFF), administered by the Bank of England.

Mr Sunak said the meetings covered requests made by Greensill to change the terms of the scheme or broaden its scope to allow them access to it, both of which were rejected.

Greensill subsequently filed for insolvency, rendering Mr Cameron's share options in the firm worthless.

The Chancellor defended the decision to listen to the requests given the desire to help businesses survive the Covid-19 pandemic, before confirming Mr Cameron's lobbying activities.

Mr Sunak also published two text messages he sent to Mr Cameron in April 2020, although messages sent by Mr Cameron have been withheld by the Government.

The Treasury, responding to a Freedom of Information request, said: 'These communications were made by David Cameron in his capacity as an employee of Greensill, and with an expectation of confidence.'

The first message from Mr Sunak to Mr Cameron, sent on April 3 2020, read: 'Hi David, thanks for your message. I am stuck back to back on calls but will try you later this evening and if gets too late, first thing tomorrow. Best, Rishi.'

The second message from Mr Sunak sent on April 23 said: 'Hi David, apologies for the delay. I think the proposals in the end did require a change to the market notice but I have pushed the team to explore an alternative with the Bank that might work.

'No guarantees, but the Bank are currently looking at it and Charles should be in touch. Best, Rishi.'

The Treasury also published messages sent to and from its second permanent secretary, Charles Roxburgh.

Asked if Mr Sunak had behaved appropriately, Mr Shapps told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I don't think there is any issue here of impropriety at all.

'He has followed absolutely to the letter what you should do. It actually says in the ministerial code, if you get contact like this, what you must do is forward it on and let it be dealt with via the usual channels. Which is exactly what happened, to a negative result.'

On whether Mr Cameron had behaved appropriately, Mr Shapps said: 'He is a private citizen, he is not within the couple of years where the rules apply after you leave public office and he is free to do what he likes.'

Mr Sunak, in a letter sent to shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds yesterday, explained Greensill's requests to change the CCFF.

He then wrote: 'I can confirm that David Cameron reached out informally by telephone to me, and to the Economic Secretary and the Financial Secretary, on the matter of Greensill Capital's access to the CCFF.

'The matter was referred to the relevant officials and, following appropriate consultations as outlined in the previous requests, the request was turned down.

Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said the text messages 'raise very serious questions about whether the Chancellor may have broken the ministerial code'

'During this process, this was communicated to Greensill Capital by officials and, in parallel, by me to David Cameron.'

Ms Dodds said: 'These messages raise very serious questions about whether the Chancellor may have broken the ministerial code.

'They suggest that Greensill Capital got accelerated treatment and access to officials, and that the Chancellor 'pushed' officials to consider Greensill's requests.

'The Chancellor's decision to open the door to Greensill Capital has put public money at risk.

'There must be a full, transparent and thorough investigation into the chain of events that saw Greensill awarded lucrative contracts, the freedom of Whitehall and the right to lend millions of pounds of Government-backed Covid loans.'

Mr Cameron has been exonerated by a watchdog over the issue.

The Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists concluded Mr Cameron was an employee of Greensill so was not required to declare himself on the register of consultant lobbyists.
Minneapolis (Minnesota), [US], April 8 (ANI): Composed of climate scientists and ecologists from leading research universities internationally, a team of scientists found that more research is needed to understand the ecological impacts of solar radiation modification (SRM) technologies that reflect small amounts of sunlight back into space.

Published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, researchers in the Climate Intervention Biology Working Group -- including Jessica Hellmann from the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment -- explored the effect of solar climate interventions on ecology.

They explored the effect of solar climate interventions on ecology. The team emphasises that greenhouse gas emissions reduction and conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functions must be the priority.

The team focused on a specific proposed SRM strategy -- referred to as stratospheric aerosol intervention (SAI)) -- to create a sulfate aerosol cloud in the stratosphere to reduce a portion of incoming sunlight and radiation. In theory, this cloud could be controlled in size and location.

SAI is like placing tiny reflective particles in the atmosphere to bounce a portion of the solar radiation back to space so that some of the radiation does not reach -- and warm -- Earth.

The team emphasizes that greenhouse gas emissions reduction and conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functions must be the priority.

"We are just starting to consider the risks and benefits of geoengineering, and it's critical that we include ecosystems in cost-benefit studies," said Hellmann, director at the U of M Institute on the Environment. "We should only pursue geoengineering if its benefits strongly outweigh its downsides. Because our efforts to stem climate change are modest and slow, the case for considering geoengineering is growing, and this paper represents the ecologists chiming into the geoengineering conversation."

The complexity of cascading relationships between ecosystems and climate under SAI -- in combination with the timing, amount, length, and termination of SAI scenarios -- means that SAI is not a simple thermostat that turns down the heat a couple of degrees. Other potential effects of SAI include shifts in rainfall and increases in surface UV rays. While SAI might cool an overheated Earth, it would not be able to counter all of the effects of rising atmospheric CO2, such as halting ocean acidification.

"When we approach complex questions like these, there is a broad scale, theoretical understanding of the inherent patterns of biodiversity across the surface of Earth, but this understanding is often informed by finer-scale experiments that test the biological and physical mechanisms underlying those patterns," said Phoebe Zarnetske, study co-lead, and an associate professor in Michigan State University's Department of Integrative Biology and the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior program.

"I hope the paper can convince ecologists that research about nature's responses to solar geoengineering is not just important, but also interesting -- touching on core ecological questions about topics as varied as photosynthesis and animal migration," said U of M alum Shan Kothari, who contributed to the study during his time at the College of Biological Sciences before going to the University of Montreal.

Kothari said that an example of how other scientists can consider the study's findings is to contemplate the unique conditions resulting from solar geoengineering scenarios that may aid or impede the ability of ecosystems to store carbon.

He added that such research could help the international community consider solar geoengineering with a stronger awareness of the potential risks and benefits involved. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
OSLO, Norway, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Nel ASA (Nel, OSE:NEL) has entered into a framework agreement with the global consulting and engineering company Wood (LSE: JOHN). The companies will collaborate to develop and execute large scale, complex green renewable hydrogen projects in select regions across the world.

"We are very excited to be entering into this agreement with Wood, who has extensive experience from large, complex projects worldwide. As green hydrogen projects are growing in size and complexity, it is crucial for our success to have strong partners to strengthen our project management- and execution capabilities. This is a long-term commitment, and we look forward to working together to further strengthen our competitiveness through leveraging our experience and competence." says Jon Andre Lkke, CEO of Nel ASA.

Wood is a global leader in consulting and engineering across energy and the built environment, providing consulting, projects and operations solutions in more than 60 countries, employing around 40,000 people.

"We are excited about the opportunity to support NEL Hydrogen as they play their part in the green hydrogen revolution, and as we unite on our commitment to create a more sustainable and cleaner energy future. We look forward to leveraging our global engineering and project implementation capabilities to support our client on their delivery of impactful solutions around the world," says Craig Shanaghey, Wood's President of Operations for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The process of phasing in Wood on ongoing projects is underway.

For further information, please contact:

Jon Andre Lkke, CEO, +47 907 44 949

Kjell Christian Bjrnsen, CFO, +47 917 02 097

About Nel ASA | www.nelhydrogen.com

Nel is a global, dedicated hydrogen company, delivering optimal solutions to produce, store, and distribute hydrogen from renewable energy. We serve industries, energy, and gas companies with leading hydrogen technology. Our roots date back to 1927, and since then, we have had a proud history of development and continuous improvement of hydrogen technologies. Today, our solutions cover the entire value chain: from hydrogen production technologies to hydrogen fueling stations, enabling industries to transition to green hydrogen, and providing fuel cell electric vehicles with the same fast fueling and long range as fossil-fueled vehicles - without the emissions.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/nel-asa/r/nel-asa--enters-into-framework-agreement-with-wood,c3322401

The following files are available for download:

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(Adds quote, detail)

By Essi Lehto

HELSINKI, April 9 (Reuters) - The Finnish government plans to gradually begin to ease the country's COVID-19 restrictions, Prime Minister Sanna Marin told a news conference on Friday.

She added, however, that the spread of the virus is still severe and restrictions should not be lifted prematurely.

"Our goal is that when school ends, children can go to summer camps and people can start planning midsummer parties at the cottage," Marin said. Finland's school year ends on June 5.

The government's draft exit plan, which is dependent on the rollout of vaccines, aims to begin with the lifting later this month of a state of emergency that was declared on March 1.

Restaurants are also expected to reopen this month with limited seating and opening hours, a government official said.

In May, travel for business reasons from European Union countries into Finland will be allowed, and in June the plan is to lift restrictions on public gatherings and allow travel from most other European countries. Travel for business reasons from outside the EU into Finland may be permitted from July.

Marin said that the government will allow the public to comment on the exit plan through a website. Last week, it withdrew a home lockdown proposal after it was deemed unconstitutional.

The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people has recorded 80,842 coronavirus infections and 866 deaths, making it one of the least affected countries in Europe. It currently has 235 people in hospital with COVID-19. (Reporting by Essi Lehto, editing by Terje Solsvik and Edwina Gibbs)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-09 11:42:41|Editor: huaxia

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CANBERRA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has declared that "nothing is off the table" in order to make up for a shortfall in COVID-19 vaccines.

Kelly on Friday called for Australians to remain confident in the country's coronavirus vaccine rollout after use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine was limited.

Kelly and Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Thursday evening that access to the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, which Australia has acquired 53.8 million doses of, would be limited for Australians under the age of 50 on the advice of medical regulators.

It came after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) advised that "very rare cases of blood clots" were a side effect of the vaccine.

Kelly on Friday said he understood that the announcement could undermine confidence in vaccines but reassured Australians that authorities were working to secure additional doses of safer jabs.

"Of course something like the announcements overnight can affect vaccine confidence," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

"The important thing is for the Australian public to know that as soon as we've known something, as soon as our expert advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ATAGI) gives us the guidance on immunization, we went out (and informed the public).

"We've made this preference for not using AstraZeneca in the under 50s on the basis of that safety concern but ... I would really urge people to make sure that they are lining up when their turn comes to get the appropriate vaccine."

Kelly and Morrison said that the Pfizer vaccine, which Australia has only 10 million doses of, is "preferred" for adults under 50 who have not already received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Thursday night's announcement is the latest in a series of significant blows to Australia's vaccine rollout, which has been delayed by supply issues.

On Thursday Australia surpassed 1 million vaccine doses administered. In January the government promised that 4 million people would be vaccinated by the end of March.

Kelly told the ABC that "nothing is off the table" as the government seeks to address vaccine shortfalls, flagging a deal with Moderna.

The federal government has previously agreed to acquire 51 million doses of Novavax's vaccine, which has not yet been approved for use by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

"We are looking at all of those options right now. We know that Novavax, we have 51 million doses on order, but that is not yet approved by the TGA," Kelly said.

"The TGA ... will absolutely expedite that matter. And as soon as Novavax is ready to supply to Australia we will be going through those processes."

Despite Thursday's announcement that use of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be limited, biotechnology company CSL, which was contracted by the government to manufacture 50 million doses locally, said it would continue to produce it.

"CSL remains committed to meeting its contracted arrangements with the Australian government and AstraZeneca for locally produced AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines," the company said in a statement on Friday. Enditem
At the end of his life, theater artist and teacher Greg Hinojosa experienced something rare: He got to say goodbye to those he loved, and they got to say goodbye to him.

Hinojosa, 57, died early Thursday morning following a brief battle with liver cancer. He spent his final days at the beach in Port Aransas with his husband, Daniel Acosta, and a handful of close friends.

His impact reached much farther than that small circle. In more than 30 years as a prominent member of the citys theater community, he touched innumerable lives as an actor, director, designer, mentor and advocate for the LGBTQ community.

Hinojosa was diagnosed with stage four cancer in October, but he didnt share the news with many people until a March 14 post on Facebook. He acknowledged how dire things looked but also wrote, I am determined to win and turn this poison into medicine. I can make the impossible possible.

In a post on Saturday, he shared that he had been told he had just a few weeks left.

In the three weeks between those posts, people close to Hinojosa encouraged mutual friends to reach out and let him know what he had meant to them, sparking an outpouring of love. Hundreds of people left notes for him on Facebook, made calls and sent texts thanking him for his friendship, for mentoring them as artists and for moving them with his performances.

I never realized how I have touched so many lives, he wrote in that last post.

Hinojosa covered a lot of ground in his lifetime. He was a founding member of Magik Theatre and also ran the Woodlawn Theatre for a few years. He was the first person in San Antonio to stage the The Rocky Horror Show, which was a staple of the theater community for years. And, as an actor, he was able to slip into roles ranging from camp to Shakespeare.

Richard Solis met Hinojosa about 30 years ago when they both worked at Fiesta Texas and later worked with him at Magik. Hinojosa mentored him when he was just starting out, helping him develop the foundation for his own long career as a theater artist.

He was in Port Aransas for that final farewell.

Its very sad that he has passed on, but its a happy thing to have known him, Solis said. And Im happy that he was able to experience the love of a lot of people and that he didnt suffer too much.

Hinojosa was born and raised in San Antonio. His grandparents had performed in carpas, Mexican traveling circuses.

Performing may have been in his blood, but his original plan after he graduated from Holmes High School was to study nursing, he said in a 2010 interview with the Express-News. After taking a few theater courses at San Antonio College, he spent a summer working at the Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival and earned a scholarship to study theater at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

He swiftly fell in love with the art form. After graduating, he spent a few years touring with Repertory Theater of America before coming home to San Antonio.

He was soon cast in a production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum directed by Richard Rosen. When Rosen founded the Illegitimate Theatre (later renamed Magik Theatre), he invited Hinojosa to come along.

Rosen remembered him as a consummate professional who was always willing to share his knowledge and his talent, making a big mark on San Antonios theater scene

He mentored so many young artists, Rosen said. He left a great legacy, and I hope he knew how much he helped people.

Hinojosa frequently worked with Kevin Murray, a fellow San Antonian with whom he struck up a friendship when they roomed together in college, first in a dorm, then in a garage apartment that cost them each $67.50 a month in rent. They directed one another and also appeared opposite each other in countless shows.

We were both character actors, but we didnt play the same characters, and so the competitive side to it never really was an issue, said Murray, who was also at the beach to say goodbye. And we made each other laugh a lot. Ive always loved his humor, and I know he loved my humor. We just kept each other laughing for 40 years.

Hinojosa played many memorable roles over the years  an entire community in I Am My Own Wife, the insecure drag artist Zaza in La Cage aux Folles, the title character in The Elephant Man, a thuggish millionaire in Born Yesterday, a mother with a dark secret in Psycho Beach Party, Caliban in The Tempest and the king of Siam in The King and I.

He also was a designer and a director. One of the shows he directed was Corpus Christi, Terrence McNallys controversial play depicting Jesus and the apostles as gay men, in the Cellar Theater of the San Pedro Playhouse (since renamed The Public Theater of San Antonio). The play drew protesters, and Hinojosa wrote a commentary for the Express-News explaining why he had decided to take it on.

Corpus Christi is set in the 1950s, and, Hinojosa noted, reflects the stigma that existed for gay people back then  as well as in the 1970s, when he was growing up, and in 2011, the year he directed it.

Teens in this country continue to kill themselves at an alarming rate, he wrote. Too many of our young people dont have role models to whom they can turn. It is important that change begin with one individual. I choose to become that individual.

Actor Lee Marshall said Hinojosa was the first person to stage The Rocky Horror Show, the campy musical with a message of acceptance, in San Antonio in the 90s. Hinojosa brought Marshall down from Austin to play the transvestite Dr. Frank N. Furter, a role hed long wanted.

Marshall, too, was part of the group in Port Aransas. He said they sat around a table into the wee hours Tuesday night, sharing stories and talking about shows.

I was just looking back and realizing what an important part he played in San Antonio theater, he said. He really pushed the envelope a lot to where some people would be very uncomfortable, his vision was so progressive.

And he was a man that could play any character, from the Elephant Man to Marilyn (Monroe).

Hinojosa also worked behind the scenes. He and Acosta created Fiesta Frenzy, an unofficial Fiesta event that raised thousands of dollars for nonprofits, including Pride San Antonio and the Gay and Lesbian Community Center. And he ran the Woodlawn from 2012 to 2015, hiring Christopher Rodriguez to run the education program. They also staged shows together, with Hinojosa directing and Rodriguez choreographing.

I learned so much from him, said Rodriguez, who succeeded Hinojosa as director of the Woodlawn. I owe a lot to him, and I think the community for sure, will miss him.

Hinojosa recently had started teaching special needs students at Howsman Elementary School, but he remained active in the theater community. He was writing a play about his grandparents that he had hoped to stage at the Overtime Theater, but he ran out of time.

In his March Facebook post, he thanked Acosta, his family and the Buddhist community he was a part of for their love and support. He also made a request.

I ask you all to live, laugh and love one another, he wrote. No one knows ones destiny. We are all struggling silently. So, smile more. It makes all the difference in the world.

Hinojosa is survived by his husband, Daniel Acosta, and by his mother, Josie Hinojosa, his sister Viola Hinojosa and nieces and nephews.

A memorial service is being planned.

dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN
Air traffic resumes in Tirana amid controllers' strike Locals replaced by workers from Turkey and Greece

(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 9 - Air traffic on Friday resumed regularly at Tirana's Mother Theresa, Albania's only international airport, which had been blocked since Wednesday by a strike organized by air traffic controllers whose salaries were slashed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The crisis, which risked to halt the airport for a long time and also created problems for the management of Albanian air space, was resolved by the intervention of authorities who decided to replace the air traffic controllers on strike with controllers from Turkey and with another group expected to arrive Friday from Greece.



"They will work together to guarantee activity. It was an act of solidarity in a very serious situation and incomprehensible for anyone", said the Premier Edi Rama in an interview to Albanian broadcaster ABC News.



Since last April, the company Albcontrol reviewed the job contract of air controllers, nearly halving their monthly salary to almost 2,000 euros after revenues plummeted due to reduced air traffic caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Presenting a united front, controllers handed to the company's directors a statement in which they said they were "unable to work due to stress".



Authorities claimed instead that it was an "illicit strike".



Albcontrol reported the case to judicial authorities and prosecutors started an investigation. Over 20 air controllers were questioned and detained on charges of "abuse of office".(ANSAmed).




Islamabad, April 9 : Pakistan and India relations may have hit a small bump with the recent decision by the Imran Khan-led government to refrain from importing cotton and sugar from New Delhi and reopening the trade, a decision approved and then disapproved within 24 hours after deference by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and the federal cabinet; experts still believe that there is a positive and cautious optimism in Islamabad that the defrosting in relations with India is still holding ground.

Insiders, who are monitoring the ongoing situation of relations between India and Pakistan closely, maintain that despite the recent bump, which certainly sparked some flames of uncertainty in the defrosting process of relations between the two nuclear-powered arch-rivals, the process has not been derailed or halted, with prime reason being that too much time and efforts has been put in by both sides through active backdoor and backchannel engagements.

As per sources, engagements through backdoor channels between India and Pakistan started way back in 2018, with high level people with relevant seniority from both capitals initiated active but quiet talks, with an aim to de-escalate tensions and pave way towards normalcy.

Further details revealed that the process of backdoor engagement continues till August 2019.

However, after India abrogated Article 370 and 35A and changed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, this process of engagement and defrosting of tensions was bushed to an immediate stop.

Both sides got engaged in a major confrontational footing throughout 2019 as both kept coming closer to a brink of an all out war.

Pakistan stood its position that there can be no compromise on its principal position on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

However, experts maintain that both sides were well aware that there was always space to engage and talk while holding on to principle positions, especially in adverse circumstances.

The realisation from both sides later prompted them to re-engage through quite engagement during the spring of the year 2020.

As per insiders, both sides had a series of meetings at various locations outside Pakistan and India as the initiative was encouraged and supported by influential countries, who urged both sides to keep the contacts alive.

Sources also revealed that the restart of engagements were the reason why both sides agreed to de-escalate tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) and enforce ceasefire.

Both sides, as per sources, have been all ears for each other, when it comes to hearing the concerns. Pakistan has expressed its concern over the issue of statehood, being enforced in Jammu and Kashmir. Indian officials have responded to the concern, stating that they could even talk about not bringing any changes demographics, the insider source confirmed.

India, on the other hand, has raised its concern over cross-border terrorism, being exported from Pakistan. Pakistan responded and assured the Indian side that Islamabad was strictly following policy of zero tolerance towards non-state actors, who engage in any armed activity.

With both sides actively engaging with each other in closed doors, results of the engagements do give hope of positive movement towards normalisation between the two countries.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Steinhausen, April 9, 2021 - Schweiter Technologies is strengthening its 3A Composites core materials business by a PET foam production extension in Poland and has simultaneously signed and closed an agreement to acquire 40% of JMB Wind Engineering ("JMB").

JMB), based in Goleniow, Poland, is a leading company in core materials kit design and production, mainly for wind turbines, with operations in Poland and Portugal.

After the successful start of a PET production line in China in 2020, to expand the capacities in Europe another satellite PET production site is planned for at JMB in Poland, which offers ideal production facilities and logistics.

JMB will continue to operate as a stand-alone entity, with the existing management team continuing to run the business from its bases in Poland and Portugal. The minority stake in JMB forms the basis of a strategic partnership with a leading European kitting company that will allow both groups to better serve their customers.

For further information please contact:

Martin Kloti, CFO

Tel. +41 41 757 77 00, Fax +41 41 757 70 01, martin.kloeti@schweiter.com

Please find the Media release in the PDF attached:

Media release
Police arrested or took other actions against 2,889 foreign nationals with technical training visas in 2020 for their alleged involvement in crimes, a National Police Agency report showed Thursday.

The figure, up 786 from the previous year, is the highest since the statistics started in 2012, according to the NPA. The rise is believed to reflect an increase in the number of foreign technical trainees.

By nationality, Vietnamese trainees accounted for 70% of the total, followed by those from China.

The agency said police dealt with 681 Vietnamese technical trainees for alleged criminal offenses, including murder and theft, up 231. The number of those detected for illegal stay in violation of the immigration control act and other similar offenses rose 417 to 1,401.